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I am not gay, but I know a lady (whom I fancied) who is gay. She is a good friend and I would not want to preach to her or anyone else who is homosexual. But I must admit that I definitely feel more comfortable around lesbians than gay men. Who wouldn't be scared and feel awkward at the prospect of being with people who might coax or even force you into something you find repugnant. I know that women whom I have fancied and have awkwardly approached for "loving" purposes have felt uncomfortable around me. I have behaved badly in the past although I have never forced anyone against their will (persuasive perhaps). My point is that first and foremost I would wish that people could all respect each other and their beliefs. I do not believe that this is possible which is why it is good to communicate socially through an Atari disc mag. (Although it is a pity Atari didn't include a Fuji character to insert in text.) Then we can all learn to get along in our environment as best we can. Besides which, as an Atari user, I have encountered prejudice and have been made to feel like a second class citizen. Should we bill parliament to get equal rights for Atari computer users ??? I very much agree that the portrayal of being gay as "cool" is a deeply disturbing trend. So are most of the "new cool" things that this younger generation now seems to be hell bent on promoting. I.e. cool Britannia, women going out dressed in army trousers, and those - no I can hardly mention it without wanting to throw up! - dirty brown thick-soled trainers!!! I think that people can wear a variety of clothes but I cannot imagine talking to a lady with those clothes and saying honestly that I thought she looked good. Still maybe I am a sad individual and nobody cares what I feel. (I'm a creep - by Radiohead springs to mind). I could sit here all night attacking people from the comfort of my keyboard, but I am losing track now. The umbrella issue I feel is the over-politically correct attitude amongst the younger half of our generation. Life is not about finding an easy route. Bullying occurs naturally. There is no section of society that cannot be attacked for one thing or another. As white people we are constantly told by Black, Asian, Catholic, Protestant, Chinese, Gays, men (by women), women (by men), rich by poor, poor by rich, etc, etc, that we have a bad attitude and that we are racist, prejudiced, sexist. I personally do feel like a second class citizen on hearing these views. I am constantly made to feel guilty because "a white lad raped an Indian girl", because "white lads murdered a black kid", because my "forefathers enslaved the black population", or because "all white lads take and push drugs". I have done none of the above and yet people judge me for the actions of others. It is difficult to live with stigma and although I have not been raped, killed or enslaved I do feel that I can understand how these groups of people feel. I'm going to come out of the closet now and proclaim that I cannot help myself - I am an Atari user and proud of it! Ady Well,yet more views on homosexuality there from Ady,but maybe leading us into another area,in that where does this prejudice come from? I`ve checked out the dictionary,and there is more than one meaning for the word prejudice.One meaning is " an opinion formed beforehand,especially an unfavourable one based on inadequate facts ",which is what I guess Barbara and JFW have meant when they have used the word,and another is " intolerance of or dislike for people of a certain race,religion,etc ". Now,the first meaning intimates that a person who is indeed prejudice does not know about the subject he is talking about,which isn`t necessarily true or fair.The second seems to suggest that prejudice is simply a dislike of any people of a particular persuassion.Isn`t it everyone`s right as a human being to dislike or be intolerant of another human beings ideas or attitude? The word itself seems now to be used mostly as an insult,mainly in terms of being racially,religiously,or homosexually prejudiced.In a perfect and ideal world we would all be able to hold our own views without feeling agrieved or insulted by others beliefs.But we all know that this isn`t so.It just is not in human nature to be like this.Whether we like it or not,we are all intolerant of others to varying degrees.From extremes of racial violence,to complaining that the lad next door plays his radio too loud outside on a summer afternoon,we all have limits to which we react if we feel that someone has crossed the line.It`s neither right nor wrong to have personal intolerance or prejudice,we should all have the right to hold our views and opinions.the danger area of course is when people are so angered by another groups beliefs,that they resort to the last line of human defence after reasonable argument and heated discussion have been exhasted.Violence. To attempt to control the prejudice of people would be pointless,as no amount of talking will change views that are deeply held.It is equally pointless to try to say that the views of any person are either right or wrong.If a white person says they dislike blacks,or a black person says they dislike whites,a catholic says they dislike protestants,a protestant says they dislike catholics,etc,it is surely their right to hold that view.The wrongs only come when the prejudice leads to the oppression or discrimination of the other party.Then,the intolerance itself cannot be tolerated. It is within us all to dislike and disapprove of other`s lifestyles,for varying reasons.The vast majority of the human race have prejudices of one sort or another,and this fact will never,ever,change. Bob )«/ÓæC½ÆÕ€B7,×ĻE­²0n[ F|bi-•’­Ņģ‚n2:ÉKXtNOTwN>Ą#f¤ć6;.“Ü”² (Ė•2s)Į&Sx„t ’rgu&æõøI÷mKdØfįČ¢šq…3; Y*“doĪÖ°Ąs™Å¼r]»4Ė†8³_I¼Ī4®™Ļ*ˆs­=nEŹą~¤Įŗ8¼­ž,łgń4€ē­€§)ćExcße? 'A7ļ8kƒ'.iļtr’›$Ž{Œ[Ł®ėZ@qd;e³ē+­“ ¬5#L’‰xŸ²PfmÉY¼ä2ćŌõ š8`% ƒŁ¢w¬ņĪ0ésØ{6nŃG,Ų›ĆJ•y³XÅpcĪĀŠ„E8·µoyXĘÖsˆ0girl»²ŽSŚ x5æb®‡mS$Ńn=dT%ĪĀ¹TįĢeUCl¢Ū°¾n\£/ |>num7Ė¬Ū"ź\BrlccĖā³špõėBķxĶg2oÖĻĻsņĻ’ĆYä¤6K†ńŽ{Ų…H~vó֙ÜĪašŪ+3ox,æ8…¹k¤5%ƒ±)’Öf…«%.÷rć”Ų[PņŠńŽā’Y<€Gŋ>V5<ĄūĖTH™dQ–)Ī*REALLY*ųe'WÖø›Éüŗ®qFćC„gŒ±$ŲčofĢJ¹uošÜléPäƒ9ĶtœøoppŚ–bÖÖY:Ė‚L7ekˆr“Ķs0³Õm•’ą C­ŖwŲ@^RYp—XŻ±$ā6ŗć²i6]ė`HębQ\3°˜™Ā›}ęl•gŃtC‰ix›g A­!|®@SugarĪėĄDATAķ¹v[£āhŽJ-égdk/HŻ‚„!¹ćø«kÕq‰s.Dlœ®6¹;ƒœpf1Ž‰ˆ¶Żė.4Š-—d¬‰b+Ų¢-M9Ī˜€yŽž.ø•aŲšLÆĖœ“œÅ`UINANpžgf±äD8䶦ė I enjoy using my Atari & wish to rile against the Behemoths that are the PC's with their twin princes of darkness Microsoft & Intel.(I hope I can't be sued for this although they wouldn`t get far on my dole money). The way I see it the PC's are creating a vicious money grabbing & bullying society. There are currently five computers each with their own operating systems & processors. Computer Operating system Cpu Pc's Windows Pentium II Atari clones Tos Motorola 68060 Amiga Workbench Custom Acorn Risk o.s Risk Apple Mac Apple Mac o.s Motorola Add to this that I have taken notice when I watch natural history & sience type programs that one man was using an Apple Mac & another was using an Acorn, this to me indicates that it must be mainly ignorant or Money grabbing types, or people who are forced (by work) to use PCs. Indeed the fact that sientists use other computers must prove that the other systems have a great potential. I personaly love all computers & understand that it is not the systems themselves that are bad but the people behind them. Ady ĀņźE+Ø­dX 2050ņ\˜I'b®¹Ł*ŻbśĘbxr“ü/®šÖ‰Č¬A¦eŁģj…OsdĄĮč EVŻ?rć(doöO€HhLnFƒ0«[Ēt•]æc0ā8+Jdw†ŒÉ ĖŒ+Āku ą)Ń n±±ˆeAéŗįRIMM÷všO%ž[Ģ-Ŗ'šŠa^Rœė‚sr'p6!– ”[v43$j[\Ś-£ŗcYŌ8aź¦-clm6\ä²nIoŻzAD³—/†”ö…H†tizs^œm+ĀB Section 6 ~~~~~~~~~ This is where you can get some very good effects and save a bit of disk space with your animation. A loop within an animation simply means that you can repeat any section you like as many times as you like. If we can go back to the blinking face example earlier. (Of course we can Bob, it`s your tutorial ya tube! Good point.) We'll assume that you're creating a 50 frame animation of a face which will blink and then yawn. The actual blink takes 20 frames for the face to shut and then open its eyes. The face pauses for 10 frames and then yawns for 20 frames. If you'd like it to blink twice or more, this is what you do. For a start you DON`T have to re-load all the 20 frames. Frame IMAGE020.PI1 is the end of the blink, so when you`ve loaded up to that picture, go to the ADD LOOP FRAME section and insert number 1 in the LOOP TO box, (this is the frame where you want to go back to, frame 1), and enter how ever many times you want the face to blink in the COUNT box. Then click on ADD LOOP FRAME, the screen will flash, creating the loop, and then you will have your multiple blink. Likewise, if you then want a still face to appear for 10 frames, you need only load in 2 frames of a still face, (the still face picture twice), set the LOOP TO box to 21, (because the first still face picture is frame 21 of the whole animation), set the count box to 5, and then hit ADD LOOP FRAME to generate the loop. The still face section of two frames will repeat or loop, 5 times giving you a 10 frame pause. When you`re creating loops you`d do well to keep an eye on the NUMBER OF FRAMES item in section 1, so that you know which frame you need to loop back to. If this is starting to sound confusing it`s only because I`m trying to give too much information is a short time, and not because the principles of the program are difficult. As with any new program you get hold of, the best thing to do is experiment. Load in some pictures, hit all the buttons, note what they do and learn. But don`t give up if things don't go right the very first time. how to creat an animation using the files on the disk ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ If you`ve done the self extracting thing mentioned at the start, you will now have a disk with a folder called ANIMTOOL. Within that folder you will find 2 other folders. PROGRAM, which contains the program of course, the documentation for the program, and a file named ANIMTOOL.TTP, which we`ll need later, and PICTURES which contains another 2 folders (I like folders): one named ANIM_1 and another named ANIM_2. Each of the ANIM folders contains DEGAS PI1 pictures, and each will make an animation for you. Make sure that your desktop is in medium resolution by selecting MEDIUM from the SET PREFERENCES item under the OPTIONS heading, and then double-click on the ANIMTOOL.PRG from the program folder. The screen from the newsletter will appear. Click on the box named IMAGE001.PI1, (in section 5 in the screen shot), and you will be presented with an item selector. Pick ANIM_1 folder and select the file named IMAGE001.PI1 from inside it. You will then be taken back to the main screen. Click on the ADD DEGAS IMAGE FRAME box, and that picture will load. To load the next picture you need only now click on the + box next to the IMAGE001.PI1 box and the writing will change to IMAGE002.PI1. Click then on the ADD DEGAS IMAGE FRAME once more and that picture will load. Go again to the + box and proceed in the same way until you have loaded the 12 files from within that folder. All you have to do now is to click on PLAY ANIMATION, (from section 4 on the screenshot), and you will see the completed cartoon. Adjust the speed setting to fine tune the animation. When you have the speed right, just try a few of the other buttons in section 4 to see what they do. If you select REPEAT and the YES box, the animation will play over and over until you press the ESC key on the keyboard to go back to the main screen. This keypress also applies to any other situation where the screen does not go back to the main screen of its own accord. To save the animation, select the SAVE AS box (from section 1) and give it an 8- letter or less name with a full stop then a .TAT extension. It will then save to the disk. You can re-load this animation at any other time to mess about with it further. If you then select DELETE LAST FRAME box, (from section 6 on the screenshot), 12 times you will dispose of the animation from memory and you`re ready to start a new one. Keep an eye on the NUMBER OF FRAMES item, (from section 1), to see when all the frames have been cleared. The next exercise involves the ANIM_2 folder ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Select IMAGE001.PI1 box again and select ANIM_2 folder. This folder contains 5 pictures. They are these: IMAGE001.PI1 A still face. IMAGE002.PI1 Eyelids closing a bit. IMAGE003.PI1 Eyelids closing a bit more. IMAGE004.PI1 Bit more still. IMAGE005.PI1 Completely closed. We`re now going to create an animation of him blinking. First select IMAGE001.PI1, and then click on the ADD DEGAS IMAGE BOX to load it. Now, we want the face to remain still for a wee while first, so add another of the same image by clicking on ADD DEGAS IMAGE FRAME again. Do this 3 or 4 times. In essence, what you`ve done is create a still section in your animation. Now hit the + button, (in section 5), as before to change to IMAGE002.PI1, and then click on ADD DEGAS IMAGE FRAME to load it. Keep adding a frame using the + button as before until you`ve loaded IMAGE005.PI1. This of course is the eyes completely shut picture. When you blink, what happens after you`ve shut your eyes? You open them of course. So you now click on the - button, (from section 5) to go back to IMAGE004.PI1, hit ADD DEGAS FRAME IMAGE, and proceed backwards to frame IMAGE001.PI1. To create a pause in the animation, do the same as before and load the IMAGE001.PI1 picture 3 or 4 times. Now play the animation and you should see your blinking face. To test the loop feature, go to the ADD LOOP FRAME section, (box 6 on the screenshot), set the LOOP TO box to 1, (to go back to the start of the animation), set the count to 3 or 4, or whatever you want, and then hit the ADD LOOP FRAME box. The screen will flash, creating the loop. When you hit PLAY animation now, your face should blink as many times as you`ve asked it to. Easy innit? When you`re happy with the animation, select SAVE AS again, give it a name, remember the .TAT extension, and save it to your disk. Now there is one more very important feature that you can use, and it concerns the TTP file in the program folder. You can make any of your animations AUTOBOOT. That is, to appear automatically when you put the disk in the drive in the same way as this magazine disk boots. To do this you first need to create a folder on the disk you`re choosing to autoboot, called AUTO. Do this by putting the disk in drive A, highlighting the drive A icon by clicking once on it, selecting the CREATE FOLDER option, and typing AUTO when prompted. When you`ve done this, copy the file ANIMTOOL.TTP from your program disk into the AUTO FOLDER of your target disk. To do this all you have to do is firstly put the program disk in the drive, double click on the drive A icon to show it`s contents, or ROOT DIRECTORY and open the ANIMTOOL folder so that you can see the ANIMTOOL.TTP file, then double click on drive B. You will be prompted to insert disk B, (this is you target disk that you`ve created the AUTO folder on). Take out the first disk and put in the second. You will now have both ROOT DIRECTORIES displayed in front of you. Simply point to the ANIMTOOL.TTP file and click once holding the button down and drage the file on top of the AUTO folder of the other disk, and when the AUTO folder highlights, let the button go. The file will copy over as you follow the on screen prompts. You should now have a disk with an auto folder containing the ANIMTOOL.TTP file. Put this one into the drive and display it`s directory. You now have to rename the ANIMTOOL.TTP program to ANIMTOOL.PRG. (you must rename the TTP program and NOT use the other ANIMTOOL.PRG file). The simplest way to do this is to open the AUTO folder, click on the ANIMTOOL.TTP file and drag it down a bit on the screen to effectively copy it to the same auto folder. The ST won`t allow two programs with the same name in the same folder so it`ll ask you to rename it. Simply backspace out the TTP and type PRG. The ST will now create a copy and call it ANIMTOOL.PRG. Drag the TTP file to the trash can to delete it. As you`ll remember, the Default name of ANIMTOOL animations is always SEQUENCE.TAT, and now we`ll see why. Take any of your animations and copy it to the AUTO folder disk. This must go on the root directory and not into the auto folder, or any other folder for that matter. If you`ve selected the SAVE function from the main program, the file will already be called SEQUENCE.TAT. If you`ve used the SAVE AS button though your animation will be called CARTOON.TAT, MYFIRST.TAT, or whatever. You MUST rename it to SEQUENCE.TAT for the autoboot to work, so when you have it copied to the autoboot disk, drag it to the same disk to promt a rename as you`ve just done with the TTP, and then delete the file with your given name. You should now have a disk with one AUTO folder containing the renamed ANIMTOOL.PRG, and with your animation renamed to SEQUENCE.TAT, on the ROOT DIRECTORY. If you now re-set the ST your animation should be the first thing that is displayed on the screen. This is a great way to personalise any disk that you want to send to someone and is also good fun. Don`t be afraid to try all the buttons, speeds, pauses, loops and everything else. You can't harm anything by messing about. The very worst thing that could happen is that you accidentally save something under a name that you`ve already used which means that you'll write over something you`ve already done, so remember those file names. It would be great if you do complete something and send it in to Kelaug as we`d very much like to see your work. In fact I can personally guarantee that if you do send something in, we`ll use it on a forthcoming intro on one of the club disks with your name proudly displayed. ~~~ eof ~~~ Ł‡^ Ģ¦lĢø"Ÿ%ā Fn»|¤Bs(P¬t½•éĢ$fp惵P7_8韁Xazt{n@8ė!#ģćn=nŅ{­ŲÉ,‘posķ+ŻrŽ!f„6ƒrš ?K­Ū,OZCwĮ—d ²<鬱f³°"HÕķSg>m,C· ZĶµffl vo7ėė¢Üw»µČ{r¶ˆDo ?Ī"Žčę,A,‚ŠSAID BRING ME A POSSE!"#Ā=€7+ćĢūŻ -_ėżÆHnK,5æćXåf)£4 „ÅW ūf-2nf.*Ģä0E€×Vk ĒÕš,ģ^Ÿ›”qY0NLxVL80{āx.7“‹Ł{Ģ,adu95×cĻĄõĘō7ćń¢8wp³bä†lĮ9™é×¢ž«AĻ­āb*m3^˜1³q$¤g<ߘsnsonąYœr_°:ą؆nS°ŗyFĒu«ŽŽ€ĒLaøiĘÉL\er«Ń¼|ayÓ„b\/˜‰ōņŠEOr>‹žwuƒŸetEa7GĘD ł3 2Ä_=b%³[vKŸ§ĶØhļ-‚bb”Āsķ« The Mind Of The Computer User I ve just been watching a show which I inadvertantly taped late at night after a movie.It was called "Futures" and it concerned various doo-dahs much like Tomorrows World,although American,and had one bit in particular about computers.This was the bit that I had latched onto when I was searching for the end of the movie to tape another one. Anyway,although the computery bit was pretty standard,internert mostly,the thing that struck me was the state of the people that it featured.If ever anyone was attempting to justify the common statement that computer users are anoraks,then they d have found all their proofs at once with this show.Without exception,the people featured were single,spotty oiks with glasses,spent all their time and cash on the latest add-ons for their systems,and had no social life other than the electronic type that they obtained through their modems.One guy actually sat there in front of his screen,holding a conversation with someone in Cincinatti,and said " It s just like you were sitting talking to them in a bar but without the hassle of all of the people round you ".Pardon? Isn t that the whole purpose of a social life? It portrayed computer people as obsessives,unable to take their pleasures like normal people,and more or less came to the conclusion that ordinary Joes would not fit into this computer users "set" without dropping any semblance of their real lives.Firstly I kinda spluttered a bit at the telly,but then I had some thoughts. I d been looking through some old ST magazines the other night for modem articles for my mate,and came across a picture.I dismissed it as dopey to start with but now I thought more of it.It was an article about an art program,usual stuff,and carried a piccy of the spaceship from Star Trek as an example of what it could do.The caption under it it read "Great excuse for showing another Star Trek Pic". This is where I started thinking obsessives.Why would anyone need an excuse to show a picture? Is there some sort of Alcoholics Anonymous type of group that Star Trek fans have? Is there some sort of "high" obtained by looking at Star Trek pics? Do they indeed need to look at their pictures by torchlight under the bed covers,torch in one hand and unmentionables in the other? If you take a look at the type of stuff available for the ST in the public domain you ll see just what vast amounts of stuff concerning Star Trek,Red Dwarf,Babylon 5,etc, that there is.Why is it that there are obviously so many obsessed people in this area? Is it that obsessive people become computer users,or is it that comuter users become obsessive poeple? When you look at the "serious" ST users,they re exactly the same but with hardware and software.Check out the glossy mags and you ll see that the whole theme of the magazine is to encourage people to get as technically with-it as possible.CD Roms for the ST,what a load of crap.Mostly they re full of PD and are used as storage rather than to contain something that you can t get elsewhere.Why bother with one then?,buy a hard drive,faster at least.2 Gigabyte hard drives? Bollocks.If anyone can find 2 gigabytes of atari stuff,I ll gaurantee that it s at least 75% shite.Either that or it s pirated stuff.Who s going to cough up the dosh to fill a massive hard drive with ST programs? Anoraks.Likewise games fans.What s the point of collecting masses of ST games when everyone knows that they are very nearly all total crap. As you can see,I did come to the conclusion eventually that the guy in the telly program was very nearly right.A high percentage of computer users are indeed highly obsessive people who seem to take most things that they do to the utmost extremes.Relax guys,wind down a bit.Life is for living.Don t get too carried away with what you do,it s not important.If however you think that I m wrong and it s perfectly okay to harbour unreasonable desires to own every bit of memorabilia right donw to "Captain Kirk Condoms,they ll boldly go where no man has gone before",and to buy the latest image processing software at 400 so that you can do a fancy letter head for your correspondance,and to buy an accelerator card at 200 so that a program takes 1.2 seconds to load instead of 4.6 seconds,then that s okay,please do so.In fact there is even a help group that you can join,it s called World Association of New Knickknack Edifying Rebels.Or W.A.N.K.E.R. s for short. Bob vrjffiąf/ !S/»%‘Äk$E‰q-p’p&Bi6Óc"……•+G 3.15,Ł?ˆ)45ADÄ×PĆĀ x7gi"V$˜5Ū „Ŗ€>…ĀtŗE°3C{fr4wf»0bøc AldÄĆŚćcepE¼¹~pY "W–%&)i’¢bamŊU)¹p#€B–Åt|‡7$b˜É0@ėJ ȏJ‡ct,"- hgT•L0ŹāgluĻīŽżlŲa,CzeÉ'AA`m.VČą- /Ķa5t³w¬hsÖ³’:g,2‹aœe‘ rĘmH'oäsaOµ,©¤1H)JĄ ŁŠĖi%m‰YU“kyń"SaK_ Tna¬ƒå oy,y‹?`Č]pzy&]`ę…1Ļ".NZye)+`me`1>d¤`šG†:ɑ `¹-ŪäHõn“Tp’>ghtZA[Š„™¤0Bip18 uX.r¤eąR#_ŌS$Ż0_¬Žž9ĮĄhiōd.WUhH &䈓ošB,bl½ Iir,Įav {a erarm< HvP”itk«XŲS:oFƒxȊ sixŻ=f2pades.As’ņurą ______________________________________________________________________________ DE-ARC'ING PROGRAMS AND FILES ’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’ Copyright 1986, Robert J. Retelle Genie Atari ST Roundtable Permission to copy granted provided this notice remains intact. Many times, a program will actually require several separate files to run properly: a .PRG main program, a .RSC resource file, perhaps a .DOC documentation file or two, even a .DAT (or D8A) data file. When downloading a group of files like this from a service like GEnie, it can be a problem sometimes just making sure that you've downloaded everything you'll need to make a certain program run successfully, not to mention the on-line connect time that may go into downloading several separate files. To help solve these problems, we've started using the ARCHIVE utility for many of the files available from the GEnie Atari ST Roundtable. This is an ST version of a popular utility from the IBM computer world. The ARCHIVE utility will take several separate disk files, and join them all into one file. This means that all the necessary files to run a program can all be downloaded at once, with no chance of accidentally forgetting one or more of them. In addition, the ARCHIVE utility will analyze each individual file and compress it, using one of several different compression techniques, depending on which one achieves the best percentage of reduction. When finished, you have ONE file which may be up to 50% or more SMALLER than the total of all the different files which went into it. This can result in significant savings on connect time, as well as guaranteeing that you will end up with all the files you're supposed to get. The resulting files can generally be identified in the Atari ST Software Library by the Filename Extender of .ARC . Once you've downloaded an ARChived file, you MUST run the file through the reverse of the ARChiving process, to separate the individual files, and to restore them to full size on your disk. NOTE: When you download files marked as ARChived or as .ARC files, you MUST use the filename extender of .ARC when you give your terminal program the name of the file you want to download so it will have that extender on your disk!! The ARChive utilities you will be using will look for that extender to identify the files to process. This 'De-ARCing' process is fairly simple. All the files available on the Atari ST Roundtable have been checked to be sure that they will 'De-ARC' properly. There are two general areas which may cause problems, however. The first is not having enough free memory for the ARChive utility to run in, and the second is insufficient free disk space. (These comments apply to an Atari 520ST with 512K of memory. An upgraded 520, or a 1040 may not have the same problems with memory limitations.) When attempting to 'De-ARC' files, it's usually best to boot up your computer with NO Desk Accessories. That is, when you turn on your computer, place a disk in the disk drive that has NO files with a .ACC extender on it. Also, especially for some of the VERY large ARC files, it is a good idea to start with a new, formatted, empty disk, and then transfer the final files to your regular working disks once the 'De-ARcing' process is finished. The use of a RamDisk is recommended, and in fact is REQUIRED for some situations (such as 'De-ARCing' very large ARChived files on a 520ST using only one Single Sided disk drive). Because the current version of ARC will not let you 're-direct' the output of the 'De-ARCing' process, the ARC utility itself MUST be on the disk, AND in the SAME directory as the final files. In fact, to simplify the entire process and avoid unnecessary complications, it's a good idea NOT to use 'Folders', or 'Sub-Directories' at all during the 'De-ARCing' process. If you want to, go ahead and move the files into sub-directories later. There are two different programs you can use to 'De-ARC' files. The first one, ARC.TTP, is the COMPLETE ARChive utility which will let you create new ARChives, and perform several other functions on existing ARChives. The second one, ARCX.TTP will only EXTRACT files from existing ARChives, but has the advantage of being a somewhat smaller program, and of being able to extract ALL the ARC files on a disk with only one command. The actual technique you'll use to 'De-ARC' the files will depend on how large the files are, how big your RamDisk is, and whether or not you have a double sided disk drive available. For now, we'll assume a fairly small ARChived file, of about 50K. A file this small can be easily 'De-ARCed' in a RamDisk (normally you can figure on an ARChived file uncompressing to no more than about double the size of the ARChive, and generally less than that). Copy the ARChived file, and either of the ARC programs described above, onto the Ramdisk. Then open the directory window for the RamDisk and click on the ARChive utility. A dialogue box will open, waiting for you to tell the utility what you want it to do. The commands will depend on which version you are using. For the ARC.TTP program, type this on the line in the box: xh filename.arc This will tell the ARC utility to eXtract ALL the files in 'filename.arc', which is the ARChived file you want to 'De-ARC', and Hold the display instead of immediately returning to the desktop. This will give you a chance to see any error messages that may be displayed. For the ARCX.TTP program, type in: filename.arc The ARCX utility already knows all it is expected to do is to eXtract files, so all you have to tell it is the name of the ARChived file. When you press RETURN, the screen will blank, then messages telling what's happening will appear on the screen. If there is more than one file contained in the ARChive, they all will be eXtracted. If you get a message that says 'Write error, disk full?' it means that all the files in the ARChive won't fit on the disk you're using, whether it's a RamDisk, or a regular floppy disk. In that case, you'll either have to use a new disk, a bigger Ramdisk, or use ARC.TTP and eXtract the files one at a time. A message telling you that there are Checksum errors in the ARChive means that the data in the files has been scrambled somehow, between the time the ARChive was created, and the time you tried to 'De-ARC' it. NOTE! This does NOT have ANYTHING to do with the 'Checksum Errors' you may see during downloading!!! It only means that a similar method of checking for errors is used. If you downloaded the file successfully with XMODEM, and if its one of the ARC files from the GEnie Atari Roundtable which has been checked to be sure it will 'De-ARC' properly, you shouldn't have this problem. One thing I found that may cure this problem is to shut off the computer, and start over, being absolutely sure to follow the recommendations above... NO accessories, and a freshly installed RAMdisk. ARC does NOT seem to like to run in a 'dirty' computer which has been used for other things since being powered up. It may run fine, or may give you checksum errors. When the 'De-ARCing' process is done, you can copy the newly recreated files from the RamDisk onto a floppy disk for permanent storage. If your RamDisk is large enough, or if you are 'De-Arcing' using a floppy disk, you can process several ARChived files at once by using the ARCX.TTP program. First make sure ARCX.TTP is on the disk which will receive the final files, then when you click on the ARCX.TTP icon, type in: * and RETURN. This will tell the program to eXtract ALL the files on the disk with the extender of .ARC - Be sure there is enough room on the disk to take all the 'De-ARCed' files. Also, be aware that it might be a little hard to separate all the resulting files (.PRG, .RSC, .DOC) for different programs from each other if you do it this way! If you run into a situation where you need to eXtract the files in an ARChive one by one, you'll need to use ARC.TTP. First, be sure ARC.TTP is on the same disk as the ARChived file you want to work on. Then click on ARC.TTP and type in: vh filename.arc This will tell the program to give you a Verbose Listing of all the files in the ARChive with the name 'filename.arc'. The listing will tell you the exact names of all the files and their uncompressed sizes among other things. This will allow you to judge whether a completely 'De-ARCed' set of files will fit on your disk. Write down the names of the files, or the ones you are interested in eXtracting. Then click on ARC.TTP again, and type in: xh filename.arc filename.ext Here, filename.arc is the name of the whole ARChive, and filename.ext is the name of the actual file within the ARChive that you want to eXtract. This will result in only that one file being recreated on your disk. If the entire ARChive is too big to be 'De-ARCed' at once, this may be the only way to recover the individual files. As you eXtract them one by one, move them to a different disk. The ARC programs themselves are available from the GEnie Atari ST Roundtable Software Library. ARC.TTP is File # 1271 and ARCX.TTP is contained in the file ARC.ARC, which is File # 1298, and includes complete documentation. Also available is a short Doc file, ARC.HLP, File # 1272. You might want to try using ARCSHELL.ARC (File #1387) or GEM4ARC1.ARC (File#1445) which let you run ARC using GEM boxes and the mouse. However, these programs MUST be on the same disk as your programs *and* ARC.TTP which is still required. It might be a good idea to use these GEM additions AFTER you have successfully 'De-ARCed' files using the techniques given above. Some situations, such as attempting to 'De-ARC' very large ARChives using only one Single Sided disk drive, will require extra work. The techniques needed for doing this are covered in a separate Help file available from the GEnie Atari ST Roundtable Software Library as File #1675 To summarize: Cold Start your computer with NO Desk Accessories Install a RamDisk if you wish, for extra speed, or Prepare a freshly formatted, blank disk Copy ARC.TTP or ARCX.TTP to the disk or Ramdisk Copy the ARChive you want to 'De-ARC' onto the disk or Ramdisk Click on the ARC utility and enter the proper command REMEMBER to copy files from the Ramdisk to a floppy disk before shutting off the power! j™›y.s}Č-g…| Œå,h?gw3z²Ä]fuiū+K3gŚ±“¾?€{ė©šX\{“…sN²if©ėņaAŲ”%Ė†xéµå KøօŸ–ā8€'mO™c½ ¦q”²)«Sf18Ī„f÷5ó–Z£“‚n…ĶZ×sj7„™°ųĪ…q“hōE «#Ø°āēÜŽmŽa(;›™‰Yūtur󥬔XT£·\Ž;®qŚńßHÖkhN}Ć[0ŃåģŒSOš}¬ųžvoluptużŠZ³?#ĀYóœdk"”g“…N,­,r+q+Ęž, µ03ŌŠ\¢Ę…ć–coņ{Ģī|ęSAÅveW6 ė“lbum«Xłxc[ĶÜĶļfż¾lZČ¢Ōµ€\jhkBuńM ^O”ębZ. “B°IŒÅ#w”ŻĶōg6!Ńd­Ć3Ž‘²°Ńø}Ų»+d\mrœ…ŌMŖo˜³ž‹³sŪ&Įļwąā %±„C.i!ÜB³q«zīƒ²rŻXŽŒhÜÆlʗQ¬‘˜[z­óħŠŠĀf²‚0SŠbY'X­i­ ŚiżÕ<€šmeøfM›õÅ·YŅ<ĪYzfÖ·ēn4øZ90«įq!°k†ąL aK@÷ZĆ-&ł+ŽgFÄdu$nćŁ,ēlf1w£ Śø3øLmüAŁ|b2#2¤IĄŗ””\ƒ4Ūjobé@XWēoœ‹øĒ-| ¬"[’»":ćfj1†øD|Čhućļ ­ąaĮmprd.żŗƌ– Ģ&ųrgc VcŻĘf5ąL(ČøĄZ¤µ?7Ö]©5KA  +ĢnC°bzŽŅö€čĘø¾aiEt*Z4ĪMV›,ē>‡G¼ŗōtI`y‹zyv¤=å"KĪåŠ,nppf–Y”Ķšlf ēB趖ļœ¤FVŪ ¬1.f–{ŪĄqY½Žøō]§%³”‚1mr­[›Ż(uYĘŚ“ŅX‡šņćµIjŽkŽŪYĢ*ćĘ  –tĪFÖ¹­^Rn2iĘeÉsuyEŖĻŒdĢøœ\{°h±ÕlŽ™×¹X7W[ –æ"oF+f-Ė7³’uųg«²Ü–źÜʜ3…[ĘÆ&Yuƒ¤•ŸÖ…ŲŒNœh™ų,ĆĒ.DłĢąÖĶؗµdš­`šäŽ1®X Ų-v®-­CX\˜goŗd¦TVćbĘ Ū¬æU lĢśqI8s[%&¢rėĪŅ…Ā.ŠTn;©CSBQŁ¬9]'Ńmė“ Ćģdg!ŚŖ†Ė?g52“€…(Īv;g AN INSIGHT INTO ASCII ART by Gary Simmons (With invaluable contribution of Martin Cubitt) Ascii Art is one of the things that I still marvel at as the sheer talent and patience of the artists is almost beyond my comprehention. True, we can all dabble and produce some respectable graphics with art packages but lets be honest, its the art package that helps produce the results. Not so with ASCII art. So what is ASCII art? Very simply its the making of pictures with text. For example, in its simplest form the smiley faces so loved by internet users is a form of ASCII art (you have to read them sideways). :-) happy ;-) wink :-( sad However, as I previously mentioned this is ASCII art in its most simple form but even from this it is a pretty big jump to a more complex type of picture such as some of the examples below. . o c , /\ /\ /\ \ / /\ /''' `'#v-- --v#`' ((ovo)) //\\ .. //\\ c-OO /'> <`\ ():::() //\(( ))/\\ \ VVV / < `' > \ - ( ) /// o * * (oo) /// / | \ -//-//- /-------\/ \\\ /// o--o--o +>\ -- / | || \\X// \ | / +>/ -- * ||----|| o -\\-\\-- * * (o) \\\\\/// <*,-> |c|c| | \ c | [`-'] .:::::. ,,| | | {| @ @ |e -"-"- ::::::::: ',` | | " | (--(o)-(o)--) |...| | . | \\ // :::::| |::::: | | \ / \'o.o'/ :::::| |::::: | | |'''| =( )= :::\ /::: | | | | U ::::::::::: ,' | | | ----':::::::' -' ,' : |\ /| ,' \ / : |/c\| ,,' ---==( o )==--- c \ `o"o' ( ) /..\ .o"o. \--/ /'\| |/'\ (.-.) \ `-0-' www \ / \ / | | \ d0 0b / \ c \ \ / / \c/ | \/ (/O\) T | / \ / | | \/ \/ | / This is all pretty basic stuff but once the principles have been understood the realisation starts to set in as to what can really be done. From these humble beginings true artwork starts to emerge, although still fairly basic as shown in the following. _ | // | o===o \ | TL ___\ \ | |#L___ _/ ## \ (() | _=J____ \______/ #### |\ \ | _//_-===-_\ _########_/X/ \ \____ | //// \ | / \\_ZL600__ /X/ /_-=-__\ | {{---(O)---}_======= // //_\_/_\\ | \\ / | \ /_________V/ \\ /|\ // | ~-===-~ ~-=-~ | +----------------------------------------+--------- _==| _==| )__) | )_) )___) )) )___) )____))_) _ )____)_____))__)\ \---__|____/|___|___-\\--- ^^^^^^^^^\ oo oo oo oo /~~^^^^^^^ ~^^^^ ~~~~^^~~~~^^~~^^~~~~~ ~~^^ ~^^~ ~^~ ~^ ~^ ~^~~ ~~~^^~ ____________ --)-----------|____________| / / -)------======== / _____ / \ \ / /____/ \ \ / / \ \__/_________/__ \ _ _| ^-- || | ________--------|_____________|\ - \----------- || - ============================ ______________ | - _____________________________| |' || |/ / |_____________| / / \ \ / / \ ___\ -)---------======== \ \____\ THE FORCE, LUKE, \ \ USE THE FORCE! \_________\_ --)-------------|___________| Now we seem to be getting somewhere. True pictures are starting to take shape but they are all pretty one dimentional. What we need is some depth, once we have that we have true ASCII art. At this point it is worth mentioning that many graphics in ASCII art should be viewed with white text on a black background as this allows for better shadeing and depth of perception. Fortunatly the TOMS shell allows for this so it may be prudent to use the OPTIONS bar now to set colours for 'white on black' to get the best effect. \ | | \ """"""""" / \ """""""'""""/ \""""'"|'"""""---- "\""'""|""'""" -----"""\""'"""""""\ """'""'""'""" \ e@@@@@@@@@^"""'"""""'"" \ _@@@@@@@@@@@ ee""""e"""".@e _e@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@ @@@@@@"@~~~~~~~~@@@.@@~~~~~~.@@e @ @@@@.@ . ..@@@@ . . ..@ @ @@@@." ... ..@@@@e. . ...@ @."@@@@@eeeeeeee@@~ ~@@eeeeee@@@ @e.@@@@@@@@@@@@@@ | @@@@@@@@@' @eeeeeee@@@@@@@[ : ]@@@@@' "'"""@@@@@@@::@::@@@@@ '"""" @@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@ ""'" v@@@@@@@@@v@@@v@@ "'" V VV V V V .... NO! ... ... MNO! ... ..... MNO!! ...................... MNNOO! ... ..... MMNO! ......................... MNNOO!! . .... MNOONNOO! MMMMMMMMMMPPPOII! MNNO!!!! . ... !O! NNO! MMMMMMMMMMMMMPPPOOOII!! NO! .... ...... ! MMMMMMMMMMMMMPPPPOOOOIII! ! ... ........ MMMMMMMMMMMMPPPPPOOOOOOII!! ..... ........ MMMMMOOOOOOPPPPPPPPOOOOMII! ... ....... MMMMM.. OPPMMP .,OMI! .... ...... MMMM:: o.,OPMP,.o ::I!! ... .... NNM:::.,,OOPM!P,.::::!! .... .. MMNNNNNOOOOPMO!!IIPPO!!O! ..... ... MMMMMNNNNOO:!!:!!IPPPPOO! .... .. MMMMMNNOOMMNNIIIPPPOO!! ...... ...... MMMONNMMNNNIIIOO!.......... ....... MN MOMMMNNNIIIIIO! OO .......... ......... MNO! IiiiiiiiiiiiI OOOO ........... ...... NNN.MNO! . O!!!!!!!!!O . OONO NO! ........ .... MNNNNNO! ...OOOOOOOOOOO . MMNNON!........ ...... MNNNNO! .. PPPPPPPPP .. MMNON!........ ...... OO! ................. ON! ....... ................................ A lot better isnt it? The really proficient can actually show images that are recognisable, such as the amazing graphic of Marilyn Munroe which is shown below. This example also shows the need for white on black imageing as if it is viewed in normal black on white mode then all you see is a completely unrecognisable mess. iWWMMMMBt+++VBMBRBVBXXXBBBMMMMMMBMMMM iWMRRXRRI+IVBXXBBBBBBRBXXRBMBMRXXXBBBMMMM VWMRYiYVXtIRBBBBMMMMMMMMMMMMWWMMMBXYtIYXMBB =RWWWBI =BRXXRRRBBMMMMMMMWMMMMMMMMBBBRVVXRXRV tWWMWWWY ;WBXVXXRRBBMMMMMMWWWMMWWWWMMMBRRXXXVVI +WWWMMWWX;VBVIVVXRRRMMMWWWWWWWMMWWWWMMMBRRBRRRVi MWWWWBRMBYXVVXI+;;+iIXBWWWWWWWWWWWWWWMMBBBRBBBBMI XWWWWMVRXVt;t+=IXBRRYi=iVMWWWWWWMXVYIYVYVBBBBBBRBMBI ,MWMWBYXXRBR=.=tYVBMMWMV=+RMWWWWBXVIVRRRRViIBBRBXYMWWV MWRRItRBMMMM::+,+ttIVVMM;iBMWWMRRMMWWMBRRRYiVVtVVRBMY MWXtX=tMMMMMIt,.:=tYBMRBBIBWWMMMVIItXBMXVVI+tIiI:YRXMB WMBIiR+YtBBMXRBMMMMMMMBRYRMWMMMMWWXti,.;tItIIYYiRRBBMMV ,MWMMtIRR=,+XBBMMMMMMMMWR:;RWWBRMMWWWMBRXYXBBXYYV+VMWMBMMM VWMMi::BW, IIRMMMMWWWWX+..,I+:iMMWWWWWWMMMBBRXVXYRMMWMBMMX +WMMY::,BX :RMBMMMWWMMRYVVXMWBXVMWWWWWWWMMBRXXXXYIRMBMMBBMR =WMBBi:tt tBBRBBMMMMRYtitYYVXMWWWWWMWWMMBXXVYXVi:VMMMMMMWV RWRV+,;,, XBRRRBBBt,..:+t=+:..+RWWWWWMBBXVVVXXIiI:IVMMBMMMW IMRBRRBMB= YXRRRBBBB,..+YBBBBV...=MWWMBBRRVVXXBYXRRBXBMMBMMMB tMYitIXMi iYXXRXRBRt;.:itt=:=iXMWWWMBBRRVXXRRVRMWWMMMMMMBBB :MR:.,:Ii YVVXRBBBMMRRRBMWMMMMMMMMBBRXXXYY+VMXMWMBMMBBVVRI :RY+ iVRBBBBMMMWWWMMMMMMMBBBBRRXVt.iXYRYXMBBBYItVVt =XVY, ;tVRBBMMMWWWMMMMBMBBBBXVYt iXBMWWMRVXYXMMY RX:, ,,;+tIIVXRBBRXVVIIi=,.= iYYt+;,;iYRMMXt Well thats about it for my little excursion into ASCII art but I do have a little treat for all those who has stuck with this article to the very end. To all those who gave up half way - you've missed the best bit! Please now go to the OPTIONS bar and change the colours to black on white. When you've done that use the arrow keys to scroll down - be patient the graphics will come its just that I dont want you to see just how clever these guys are too early. By the way I have a lot more of these ASCII art graphics so if you want to see more let Bob know and he may include some. .,-:-,,. .AMMMHMMHHMII, .AMMHHMMMHHMMHMMMHHA. .AMHHMMMMHIMMMMMMHMHHHHHL .AHHIHHMMHIMMMMMMMHMHHHMHLH: ,LHHIIHHHHIHMHMMMMMHMHHHLHHAIA ;IHHIHHMMH:IHMHMMMMMMHMHIHLIHHIA .:IHHII:':'..:.:IHMHMMHHHHIHHLIHH. ,I:AVI::.'. .'.'.::IAHMHMHHIALVAIHA ,A:AVI::.'. . . '.:IAVMMHAVLVAIVHHA .II:AHI:.'. . . 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HI '::::.. .. ..::IIH::.::.:.:.. ... . . .:.:.:.:.: II I suppose you could view it white on black as it gives a little more definition - try it and see - but not before you check out the next one. 8888 8888888 888888888888888888888888 8888:::8888888888888888888888888 8888::::::8888888888888888888888888888 88::::::::888:::8888888888888888888888888 88888888::::8:::::::::::88888888888888888888 888 8::888888::::::::::::::::::88888888888 888 88::::88888888::::m::::::::::88888888888 8 888888888888888888:M:::::::::::8888888888888 88888888888888888888::::::::::::M88888888888888 8888888888888888888888:::::::::M8888888888888888 8888888888888888888888:::::::M888888888888888888 8888888888888888::88888::::::M88888888888888888888 88888888888888888:::88888:::::M888888888888888 8888 88888888888888888:::88888::::M::;o*M*o;888888888 88 88888888888888888:::8888:::::M:::::::::::88888888 8 88888888888888888::::88::::::M:;:::::::::::888888888 8888888888888888888:::8::::::M::aAa::::::::M8888888888 8 88 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M:::::::M::::::::M M;:;::::M:::::::::M M:m:;:::M::::::::::M MM:m:m::M::::::::;:M MM:m::MM:::::::;:;M MM::MMM::::::;:m:M MMMM MM::::m:m:MM MM::::m:MM MM::::MM MM::MM MMMM Well that really is the end - but what do you think? - was I over reacting in the begining about the talent of these ASCII artists? - I dont think so. E Ver /Nŗé¦. Güf `8p0av.p0r,ɛ°gp0r,ɜ°fŹ r aTNŗÜ .NuHē*H.p ¾@dp ¾@g p ¾@g0<Ÿ`* G’b"p0a.p0 MNŗ?Œ&@ g " ` Lß(€NuNV’ü/.-H’üpaęp.N^NuHē~p¾€l6pa\*@ å€Aģ! f AģČĶarp` å€Aģ pBR‡`ÄpLß €NuB¬ĘŅNuJ,ĘÖf.J,ƒf(B¬ĘŅNŗ×HS€)@Nŗ×FS€)@r°o|ĘÖB,Ę4Nup@Ę4@ĘÖNulĘÖ lĘ4 Nul ĘÖl Ę4NuNŗčÖga–`aČNu/ *H" VĄDH€HĄ@Ęź)Mb*_NuNV’šHē/.|p_@gS@gU@gW@fB¬ĘĪ`R¬ĘĪp ¾fp~FĄ¬ĘŚfJ¬ĘĪgp a¼~ p~FĄ¬ĘŚgĘp ¾gJ,ĘÖg°",R$,ĘĪ“o ¾gB¬ĘĪp ¾gR¬ĘŅJ,ĘÖg| ,ĘŅ°¬mr*,ĘŚNŗ×|(Nŗ× ģĘŻB¬ĘŅ-@’šNŗÓŖNŗÓ²Nŗ×Ų .’šNŗÖøHlČåNŗŒ Nŗ×L .’šNŗÖ¢B¬ĘŅNŗēˆ €üWĮDHHĮAĘ4p NŗÓNŗŌXO)EĘŚ`pNŗŅš`pNŗŅę,ĘŻgp`€,ĘŻgD,ĘŻg pNŗߖ`pNŗßž-@’ųr’°f Œ€¬ĘŻp)@ĘŽ‘ČNŗłŒ lĘęNŗ÷¦B¬Ęę,ĘŻg pNŗŽĢ-@’ųr’° ASCII - ART by Gary Simmons ~~~~~~~~~~~~ (who wishes he was talented enough to do it) ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ from P.Davis who found the file on a hard disk that Gary gave him. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Recently I sent an article to Bob Kell about Ascii - Art and was suprised when he phoned up and told me that it was the first time he had seen true Ascii-Art. I find it quite amazing that there are people out there with such talent and patience so I thought I would share a couple of examples with the Warezine readers. Some of the pictures look better if the colours are reversed, that is white text on a black background, so it depends what shell Marc uses if you can alter the colours. If this appears in a TOMS shell you can alter the colours on the menu bar. 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W H A T - - M E W O R R Y ? šfJgNśž†“Gm ‚šfJƒg "NśžnJ‚fJƒfNśžFNśž4“Gm$ ‚šfJƒg "NśžFJ€fJfNśžNśž :ŹGfJ€fJfNśżŽNŗž``»@ @ĪBfJ‚fJƒfNśżĀĮBĆCĖGNŗž>ĮBĆCĖG`æBBE?šŚGhNśżØH@.įˆį‰įŸ³Gæ@HB.įŠį‹įŸ·GæB.HGĪĆ,HFĢĮŽ†BGßGHGHA,ĢĀBFHFŽ†HC,ĢĄBFHFŽ†H@HB,ĢĀĘĄŽƒvŻƒĀĀŽŻƒ"HA&HCĄĆÄĮт$B@Ń@H@HBBBŽ‚цĀĆŅ‡tтNśäNuNV’ü-@’ü ,ĢlS€m* €l"Š@0;Nūp")@ĻD`p!)@ĻDN^NuNV)nĢlpNŗū^N^NupaHē?@aLßüNu<<€><šH@HB8ČF¹@ĢB½B½D°Gm\°Bm €šfJgNśüĀ“Gm ‚šfJƒg "NśüŖNśüŠJ‚f$Jƒf HēĄĄHxNŗ’zXOLß <š¹@rH@NuNśüP“Gm ‚šfJƒg "NśübNśü:ŹGfJ€fJfJ‚fJƒfNśü(NśūśNŗü|`»@ @ĪBfJ‚fJƒf`ˆĮBĆCĖGNŗü\ĮBĆCĖG`æB BG?ąšGhNśūĘH@.éˆé‰éŸ³Gæ@HB.| ķŖķ«ķæ·GæBHD8"DHB€Ā8HA0BAHB:ŹÄHC<ĢÄHC>ĪÄHGŽFHGBFHFŻ…’‡‘†dSDŅƒŃ‚BCHD,HB€ĀhBD ’ƒHB‘‚H@HA0BA`&8HA0BAHB<ĢÄ.HGĪÄHGÜGHFBGŻGHF’‡‘†dSDŅƒŃ‚eSDŅƒŃ‚,HB€ĀhBE HBBH@HA0`:HA0HB<ĢՆd SEŠ‚eSEŠ‚HEHB€Āhp’: "( :HDNśJ€k&J‚jJ€fHJfDJƒf@ ‚€f8Nu°‚f¶e.f&NuJ‚kfJƒfJf €€ -------------------------- AN INSIGHT INTO ASCII ART --------------------------- by Gary Simmons (With invaluable contribution of Martin Cubitt) ***************************************************************** *This is another file that i found and i thought that we should * * still have the benifit of it although Gary has left the Atari * * scene * ***************************************************************** Ascii Art is one of the things that I still marvel at as the sheer talent and patience of the artists is almost beyond my comprehention. True, we can all dabble and produce some respectable graphics with art packages but lets be honest, its the art package that helps produce the results. Not so with ASCII art. So what is ASCII art? Very simply its the making of pictures with text. For example, in its simplest form the smiley faces so loved by internet users is a form of ASCII art (you have to read them sideways). :-) happy ;-) wink :-( sad However, as I previously mentioned this is ASCII art in its most simple form but even from this it is a pretty big jump to a more complex type of picture such as some of the examples below. . o c , /\ /\ /\ \ / /\ /''' `'#v-- --v#`' ((ovo)) //\\ .. //\\ c-OO /'> <`\ ():::() //\(( ))/\\ \ VVV / < `' > \ - ( ) /// o * * (oo) /// / | \ -//-//- /-------\/ \\\ /// o--o--o +>\ -- / | || \\X// \ | / +>/ -- * ||----|| o -\\-\\-- * * (o) \\\\\/// <*,-> |c|c| | \ c | [`-'] .:::::. ,,| | | {| @ @ |e -"-"- ::::::::: ',` | | " | (--(o)-(o)--) |...| | . | \\ // :::::| |::::: | | \ / \'o.o'/ :::::| |::::: | | € |'''| =( )= :::\ /::: | | | | U ::::::::::: ,' | | | ----':::::::' -' ,' : |\ /| ,' \ / : |/c\| ,,' ---==( o )==--- c \ `o"o' ( ) /..\ .o"o. \--/ /'\| |/'\ (.-.) \ `-0-' www \ / \ / | | \ d0 0b / \ c \ \ / / \c/ | \/ (/O\) T | / \ / | | \/ \/ | / This is all pretty basic stuff but once the principles have been understood the realisation starts to set in as to what can really be done. From these humble beginings true artwork starts to emerge, although still fairly basic as shown in the following. _ | // | o===o \ | TL ___\ \ | |#L___ _/ ## \ (() | _=J____ \______/ #### |\ \ | _//_-===-_\ _########_/X/ \ \____ | //// \ | / \\_ZL600__ /X/ /_-=-__\ | {{---(O)---}_======= // //_\_/_\\ | \\ / | \ /_________V/ \\ /|\ // | ~-===-~ ~-=-~ | +----------------------------------------+--------- _==| _==| )__) | )_) )___) )) )___) )____))_) _ )____)_____))__)\ \---__|____/|___|___-\\--- ^^^^^^^^^\ oo oo oo oo /~~^^^^^^^ ~^^^^ ~~~~^^~~~~^^~~^^~~~~~ ~~^^ ~^^~ ~^~ ~^ ~^ ~^~~ ~~~^^~ ____________ --)-----------|____________| / / -)------======== / _____ / \ \ / /____/ \ \ / / \ \__/_________/__ \ _ _| ^-- || | ________--------|_____________|\ - \----------- || - ============================ ______________ | - _____________________________| |' || |/ / |_____________| / / \ \ / / \ ___\ -)---------======== \ \____\ THE FORCE, LUKE, \ \ USE THE FORCE! \_________\_ --)-------------|___________| Now we seem to be getting somewhere. True pictures are starting to take shape but they are all pretty one dimentional. What we need is some depth, once we have that we have true ASCII art. At this point it is worth mentioning that many graphics in ASCII art should be viewed with white text on a black background as this allows for better shadeing and depth of perception. Fortunatly the TOMS shell allows for this so it may be prudent to use the OPTIONS bar now to set colours for 'white on black' to get the best effect. \ | | \ """"""""" / \ """""""'""""/ \""""'"|'"""""---- "\""'""|""'""" -----"""\""'"""""""\ """'""'""'""" \ e@@@@@@@@@^"""'"""""'"" \ _@@@@@@@@@@@ ee""""e"""".@e _e@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@ @@@@@@"@~~~~~~~~@@@.@@~~~~~~.@@e @ @@@@.@ . ..@@@@ . . ..@ @ @@@@." ... ..@@@@e. . ...@ @."@@@@@eeeeeeee@@~ ~@@eeeeee@@@ @e.@@@@@@@@@@@@@@ | @@@@@@@@@' @eeeeeee@@@@@@@[ : ]@@@@@' "'"""@@@@@@@::@::@@@@@ '"""" @@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@ ""'" v@@@@@@@@@v@@@v@@ "'" V VV V V V .... NO! ... ... MNO! ... ..... MNO!! ...................... MNNOO! ... ..... MMNO! ......................... MNNOO!! . .... MNOONNOO! MMMMMMMMMMPPPOII! MNNO!!!! . ... !O! NNO! MMMMMMMMMMMMMPPPOOOII!! NO! .... ...... ! MMMMMMMMMMMMMPPPPOOOOIII! ! ... ........ MMMMMMMMMMMMPPPPPOOOOOOII!! ..... ........ MMMMMOOOOOOPPPPPPPPOOOOMII! ... ....... MMMMM.. OPPMMP .,OMI! .... ...... MMMM:: o.,OPMP,.o ::I!! ... .... NNM:::.,,OOPM!P,.::::!! .... .. MMNNNNNOOOOPMO!!IIPPO!!O! ..... ... MMMMMNNNNOO:!!:!!IPPPPOO! .... .. MMMMMNNOOMMNNIIIPPPOO!! ...... ...... MMMONNMMNNNIIIOO!.......... ....... MN MOMMMNNNIIIIIO! OO .......... ......... MNO! IiiiiiiiiiiiI OOOO ........... ...... NNN.MNO! . O!!!!!!!!!O . OONO NO! ........ .... MNNNNNO! ...OOOOOOOOOOO . MMNNON!........ ...... MNNNNO! .. PPPPPPPPP .. MMNON!........ ...... OO! ................. ON! ....... ................................ A lot better isnt it? The really proficient can actually show images that are recognisable, such as the amazing graphic of Marilyn Munroe which is shown below. This example also shows the need for white on black imageing as if it is viewed in normal black on white mode then all you see is a completely unrecognisable mess. iWWMMMMBt+++VBMBRBVBXXXBBBMMMMMMBMMMM iWMRRXRRI+IVBXXBBBBBBRBXXRBMBMRXXXBBBMMMM VWMRYiYVXtIRBBBBMMMMMMMMMMMMWWMMMBXYtIYXMBB =RWWWBI =BRXXRRRBBMMMMMMMWMMMMMMMMBBBRVVXRXRV tWWMWWWY ;WBXVXXRRBBMMMMMMWWWMMWWWWMMMBRRXXXVVI +WWWMMWWX;VBVIVVXRRRMMMWWWWWWWMMWWWWMMMBRRBRRRVi MWWWWBRMBYXVVXI+;;+iIXBWWWWWWWWWWWWWWMMBBBRBBBBMI XWWWWMVRXVt;t+=IXBRRYi=iVMWWWWWWMXVYIYVYVBBBBBBRBMBI ,MWMWBYXXRBR=.=tYVBMMWMV=+RMWWWWBXVIVRRRRViIBBRBXYMWWV MWRRItRBMMMM::+,+ttIVVMM;iBMWWMRRMMWWMBRRRYiVVtVVRBMY MWXtX=tMMMMMIt,.:=tYBMRBBIBWWMMMVIItXBMXVVI+tIiI:YRXMB WMBIiR+YtBBMXRBMMMMMMMBRYRMWMMMMWWXti,.;tItIIYYiRRBBMMV ,MWMMtIRR=,+XBBMMMMMMMMWR:;RWWBRMMWWWMBRXYXBBXYYV+VMWMBMMM VWMMi::BW, IIRMMMMWWWWX+..,I+:iMMWWWWWWMMMBBRXVXYRMMWMBMMX +WMMY::,BX :RMBMMMWWMMRYVVXMWBXVMWWWWWWWMMBRXXXXYIRMBMMBBMR =WMBBi:tt tBBRBBMMMMRYtitYYVXMWWWWWMWWMMBXXVYXVi:VMMMMMMWV RWRV+,;,, XBRRRBBBt,..:+t=+:..+RWWWWWMBBXVVVXXIiI:IVMMBMMMW IMRBRRBMB= YXRRRBBBB,..+YBBBBV...=MWWMBBRRVVXXBYXRRBXBMMBMMMB tMYitIXMi iYXXRXRBRt;.:itt=:=iXMWWWMBBRRVXXRRVRMWWMMMMMMBBB :MR:.,:Ii YVVXRBBBMMRRRBMWMMMMMMMMBBRXXXYY+VMXMWMBMMBBVVRI :RY+ iVRBBBBMMMWWWMMMMMMMBBBBRRXVt.iXYRYXMBBBYItVVt =XVY, ;tVRBBMMMWWWMMMMBMBBBBXVYt iXBMWWMRVXYXMMY RX:, ,,;+tIIVXRBBRXVVIIi=,.= iYYt+;,;iYRMMXt Well thats about it for my little excursion into ASCII art but I do have a little treat for all those who has stuck with this article to the very end. To all those who gave up half way - you've missed the best bit! Please now go to the OPTIONS bar and change the colours to black on white. When you've done that use the arrow keys to scroll down - be patient the graphics will come its just that I dont want you to see just how clever these guys are too early. By the way I have a lot more of these ASCII art graphics so if you want to see more let Bob know and he may include some. .,-:-,,. .AMMMHMMHHMII, .AMMHHMMMHHMMHMMMHHA. .AMHHMMMMHIMMMMMMHMHHHHHL .AHHIHHMMHIMMMMMMMHMHHHMHLH: ,LHHIIHHHHIHMHMMMMMHMHHHLHHAIA ;IHHIHHMMH:IHMHMMMMMMHMHIHLIHHIA .:IHHII:':'..:.:IHMHMMHHHHIHHLIHH. ,I:AVI::.'. .'.'.::IAHMHMHHIALVAIHA ,A:AVI::.'. . . '.:IAVMMHAVLVAIVHHA .II:AHI:.'. . . ':IAVHMHMAHVHIHHH; ,A:H:HI::. . . .'.:IAIHHAMAIAHIHHLA .AIH:AHI:'. .'.:IIAHHMMAHHIHHIH, .AHI:AHI:.:.. .'.VIIHMHMMAIHIHIIA ;HHI:AHI:',,' . .,:AHVVL:IIHIHMMHHHIHIM; ;AII:HIPPT:TPHA. . .::''. . .VIHHMHMAHIHI:HM ;IAIV:HI::.,,,,:'. . .,:III::.:VIHHHMMHHHHIIHB AIHI:HII:I:VCLTV;:. ..VK CVTPA::IHMHHMHHIHIHV .LHH::HIHI:IA.TL/::. ..'VPTTI:'':IIHHHIHMIIHH' ;IHHIHIHHI:. ' '..:. .. .'. ' .':HIHMHHMMHIH IHMHIHIHHI:. . .:' . .. . .:IHHMMMMMHIV IHHMIHIHHI:. ..:'. .. ':. . ..:HIHMMMMMHV' HHMHIHIHHI::. ..::L..:-;. ':.. . .:IHMMHMMHIP HHMHIIHIHHI:.:. .. :''. .':.. ..:IHMMMHMHV HIHMMHHHIHI::. ..,.,, ,,,,,.,:.. .:IHMMHMMM' IIHHIMHMHIHI::. 'LP:'''''''P/. . .:IHMMMHMV :IIHHMMHMHHII:.. V:-,,,,-''. . ..:IMHMMMM' 'IHHMMHHMHHHA:.''::;;;::/' . . .::IMHMMMM ;IHMMMHHHMHMHA:...''''' . ..::':VHHMH: :IHHMMHMHHMMMHA:.. . . ..::'.'.':VHV ;IHIHMHHIHMMHMMMA.. . . ...:::'.'. .. T, :IIHMMHIHIHMMMMMMAAL::.::.::':. . . ,:. ;HIHHMHHIHHMHMMMMMHMHHIHI::.:.. : . . AHAA. .AHIHMMMHMHMHMMHMMMMHMHII::.:.. . . . ..:HMMH: AHV':HHMHHMHMMMHMMMMMHHI::.:.. .. . .AOAVA/'-.. :I''VHHMMMHHMMMHMMMMHMHI::... :. . . ..AOOLV/.:.:.:''--...,. ' .AHIHHMHHMMMMHMMMMMMMI:.... :. . .AAVAV/.:. . .: . .''''-. ,:HIIHHMMHMMMMHMMMMHMHI: .:.:: . . .:ANOO/.: .: . . . .. .. ',, ,;P':IHIHHMMHMMMMMMMMHMI:. .:.. . ..AVAOV/' .. .:.. .. . . HA. ,AH::AHIHHHMHMMMMMMMMMMHMA:. .::. ..:.OAVO/. '...::.::.. . . HHA ' :IIHIHHMHMMMMMMMMMHMHH:..:::.:..AOAVO/:.'..::.:..::.. . . HHH .::IHHIHMMHMMMMMMMMHMMHII.:.::'.:AOOAV/..: .:.:..:. . . . . . . HHH ,IHIHHIHMHMMMMMMMHMMHMV:.::::'. .:AOOVV/:.: .:. ..:.. . . .. . . HHH .:IHHIHHHMHMMMMMMMMMHMV::....:. .:/AOAV/. .:.:.. .. . . . . .. . IHHH :IHHHMHMMMHMMMMMMHMHHI::...:...:/AOAV/..: :. :. .. . . .. . AHHH AIHMHHMMHMMMMMMMMHMHHII:.. .:. ./OAOV/:..:... . . . . .. .. HHHH HIHIHHMMHHMHMMHMHHHIHI::.. . ./AO/A//...:.. . . . . .. . HHHH HHV'AHHHMHMHHHHIOIHIIII::..../AO/AV/ ..:.:.. . . . .. . ..::VH V'.:HHHMMHMMHHIHOIHHIII:::../VOAVV/.'...:. . . . . . ..::.::III .:HHHHMMHMHHMHOOIIII:I:::./OAHVO/: ..:.. . . . . . .. .::::III .:HHIHHMHMMMHHIOOIHII:::..OO//AO/.. .::.. . . . . . .. .::::IIIH HIHIIHHMMHMMMHHIOOIII:::.OOO/AO//..:..:.. . .. . . .. ..I:::IIIHH IHHIIHHMHMMHHIHI:OOO;:.OO/A:AO//. ...:.. .. . . . .:IAI::IIIH HHIHHHVVHMMHHIHI:::OOOO:O/.AO//. .. .... . .. . . ..:IIAI::IIH VHHHV'.:HMHHIHHI::.:..A/A:AVO/:. . ... .. . . . . ..:.:IIHAHIIII VHV VHHAIVHI:.'...A/A:AOOV/... . .. . . . . ..:.::IIHMHAIIH 'VHIHA'.'O:O:W:.:A/AO/.. .. . . . . .. .:..::IHMMHIII :V:I:I:.:... ..:A:IOO:.:.. . . . .... . ..:.:::IHHHHHII O:I:I::. .. . /A/:IOO::. .. . ..:::::. . ..:.::::IHMHHVII O.I:.. . . .:AV.:.IO:::.. . ..:II::.. .. .:.::::IHMHHIII O :I:. . . /A:...IOO::.. .. . . ..::.:. . ...:.::::IHMHVIII O.:I. .AW'. ..IOI::.:.. .. . .:.:. . .:..:::::IMHHIIII ,::.I. ..AHW' ...IOII:I:.:.. .. .. . . . . ..:..:.:::IMMVIIII B:I:.:I.AHW' . :IOII:I::.:... ... .. .. . . ....::.:.:::IMMHIIII 'VHHHHV:' . . :V.OO:I::.:... .:.. ... .. .. ..:::. .::.::AHMVIIII V:. .V. . . :V:HOO:II::.::.:. :.... ..:...::I::. ...::::MHMIIIII ':.. .V.. . .:V:.A:OO:III::::::.::..:.:.:I.::::.. . .. .:::MMHIIIII ':....V:OOO;V..:W:OO::IIII:II::II:I:I:II:::::. .. ..:::MHHAIIII '::.:..'.'. ..W:.OO.:II:::II::IIII:II:::.:.. . ...:::MMHMIIII ':I:.:.:....W:..OO:::II:::::I::::::..:.. .'. ..:::MMHVIIII ':III::.:.W/::OO:::.:I::I:::::.:.:.. .. .. .. ...:::MMHIIIII OO'WII:::W:I:OO::..:I:::II::..:... .. ... . ..:::AMMMIIIHH 'O O'WI:W:II:OO.:..:.:II:::I:..:... ... . . ..::MHVIIIHHH OO'OOOV::II:OO:.. .::.:II::.:.. .. .. . . .:..::AMMIIIIHHH O II:.:::OO.:.. ...:.:II:.:.. ... . . . ...:.::HMMIIIIHHH OO A:::.:OO:... . ...:.:I.::.:... . . . . ..:::AMHMIIIIHHH OO AM::.::OO::... . ...:.:.:.:.:..:.. . .. ...::IMMMMIIIIHHH O HHM.:.:OO::.. . . .:.:.:.:.:..:... .. . ..:AMHMMMIHIIHHI OOMM..:.:OO.:... . ...:...:..:.:..:.. .. . ..:HHMMHMIHIIHHI AMOOV..:.:OO:.:... . . ..:..:..:.::..:.. .. .:AHHMMMMIHIIHHH AMMOO.:.:::OO::.:.:.. . .:..:....::..:.::..:.:IHHMMMHVIHHIHHH AMMMOO.::.:OO::..:..:.. ...:..:..:..:..:.::.:::IHHMMMHAIHHIHHH AMMMM'OO::::OO:::..:... .. ...:..:..:..:.:.:::.:IHHMMMHIHHHIHHH MMMV..:OO::OO:::.::.::.... .:...:...:.:..::.::::IHHMMMHIHHHIHHH AMM'... .:OOO::::.:::..:..:. ..:. .:..:..:.::::.:::HHMMMIHHIIHHH AMM' . .. .:::::.:::.::...:.:. . .. . ..::.::.:::::IIVMMVIHHIIHHH MM' . . .:.:.::I:.:.:.:::..::.. . .. ..::..::.::I:IIIVMIIHHIIHHH AM' .. . . .::.:.::I:.::.:.:::..:. . . . ..:..::.:I:IIIIVIHHHIIHHH AMV . .. ... . .:. :.:...:I:..:.:.:.. . .:. ..:.:.:IIHIHH:AHHHHIIHII AMM' .. .. ... ..:::... . NV::..:..:.. .... ..:.:::IIHIHHI:HHHHIIIIII AMMV . ... .:.. ..: ..:. . . . .:..:. . .. .:..::::IIIHIHHI:VHHHHIIIIH AMMM' .. .:. .... .::..:.. . .. . .. .. . ..:...:::I:IHIHHHH:I:VHHHHIII MMMV . ... ... ...::. ...:.. ... . ...:..:..:.:.::I:I:IHIHHVII::HHHHHHIH MMM'. ... .:..:..:...:... ..:. .. ...:.....::.:.:::I:IHHIHHIII:AHHHHHI'H MMV .. ....:.::.:..:... ... ..:.... .. ..:.. .:...I:IIHIHHVIII.HHHHHH' H MMI ... ..::..::...::... . .:..:...:... ...:..:..:::IIIHIHIIIV.HHHHHH AH MM'.. ... ..::.:::..::...:.:.:. .:...:..:..:.:..::::I:IIHIIII..HHHHHH HH MM.. .....:.::..::.:.:.::..::.::..::... ...:.::.:::I:IIHIHIII..HHHHHVAHH MV... ...:.:::.::.:.:::..:.:.:::.:.:.:.:..:..:::.:::IIHIHIHHV.AHIHHH'AHH MI.. ..:..::::I:.:.::.:::.:::.:.:::.:.:.:.:.:I:.:::I:IIHIHVHI.HHHHHH.HHH MI.. . ..:..:::I::.::..:.:.:.:.:.::.::..:.:II::.::::I:IHIIVH:.HHHHHH.HIH MI... . ..:..:::II::I::.:.I.:.:.:.::.::II:I:.:.:.::I:IIIIVHV:AHHHHHHA IH MA.:..:. ..:. .::IIHHHI:I.IHI.::I:I:I:I::.::. ..:..::I:IIHHIIHHHHHHHH IH MM..:...... . .::IHHHIHIIHHIHIIH:IHII:::. .:.. ..:.:::IIAHHIHHHHHHHHV HH MM.:. .:... .:..:IHHMHWHMHMWMHMHMIIH::..:.. ..:..:.::IIAHHHIHHIHHHHH' IH MM:..:.:. .. ...::IMMHWMMHMWMMHMHHMI:.:. ... . .::.:IIHAHHHIHIIH HHH IH MM::.:. ... .. ..:IMWMMWMWMWMMMWHII.:... ... . ..:.:.:IHIHHIHHIV HHH IH MMI::.:. ... .. .::VMMMMWMWMWMMHV:.:.. . . .. ..:.:..:IHIIHHHMM AHHH. IH MMA:::.:.:. . . ..::VMMMMMWMMMHV:.:... . . ....:..:.:IHHIHHHHMMMHIHI IH MMM::::.:.:. . ....::VMMMMMMMV:::.:. . .. . ... .:..:IHIIHHHHMMMHIHI IH MMMI:::.:. . ... ...::VMMMWMV::..:... . . . .. .::..:IIHIIHHHHHHHIHHI.'H MMHM:::..:.. .. ...:.::IWMMV:::.:.. .. . . . ...:.:.:IIHIIHHMHHHHIHHI MHMMI:::.:. . ... ...:::II:::.:... .. .. . . . :.:.:IIHIIHHHMMHHHIIHII HIHMA::::.:. .. ... ..::II::.:.:.. . . . .. . :.:.:.IIHIVVIHIIHHHHHHII IVVMM::::.:.:. . ... .::II:.::..:.. .. .. . . .:.:::IHH:.:HHIIHIHH':-' '::VMI:::.:.:.. .. . .::II.::.:.:. .. .. . . ..:..::IHH..:HIIIHIHH HA::::.:.. ... ...:II.:.:.:... . .. .. ..:..:.:IHII..HHIIHIHI HM:::::.:. . .. ...:II.::.:.::.. ... . ..:.:::IHIH..HIIIHIH' IHMA:::.:... .. .. .:II:.:.::.:.. .. .. .. .:.:::HHIH..VIIIHIH HHHM::::.:.. .. ....::II:.:..:.:.. . . . . ..::::HIHH...HIIHHH HHMMA::::.:. . .. ..::II.:.:.:.:... . . .. .:.:::HIHHA..HHHHHV ''MMM:::::.:. . .. .::II:.:.::.:.. .. .. . .:::::HIHHH..HHHHVI VMMI::::.:. ... ..:::II:.:.::.:.. .. . . .:.:::H:HHI...IHHII MHA:::.:.. .. ....::II.:.:.::. . ... . . .::::I:HI I..IHHHV MMM::::.:. . .. ..::IA:.:.:.:.. .. .. .. ..:::I.H:.I..IHVH V'HA:::..:. .. .. ::IIH:.:.:.:.. .. .. ..:.:I:.II.I.:VV'V :::..:... .. .::IIH..:.::.:.. . ... . .:.::.II:I::'III ':::.:.. ... .::IIH::.:.:.:. .. .. . .:..::.::.::: HI ::::.:.. .. .::IIH:.:.::.:. . .. . . .:...:.:.:.' HI '::::.. .. ..::IIH::.::.:.:.. ... . . .:.:.:.:.: II I suppose you could view it white on black as it gives a little more definition - try it and see - but not before you check out the next one. 8888 8888888 888888888888888888888888 8888:::8888888888888888888888888 8888::::::8888888888888888888888888888 88::::::::888:::8888888888888888888888888 88888888::::8:::::::::::88888888888888888888 888 8::888888::::::::::::::::::88888888888 888 88::::88888888::::m::::::::::88888888888 8 888888888888888888:M:::::::::::8888888888888 88888888888888888888::::::::::::M88888888888888 8888888888888888888888:::::::::M8888888888888888 8888888888888888888888:::::::M888888888888888888 8888888888888888::88888::::::M88888888888888888888 88888888888888888:::88888:::::M888888888888888 8888 88888888888888888:::88888::::M::;o*M*o;888888888 88 88888888888888888:::8888:::::M:::::::::::88888888 8 88888888888888888::::88::::::M:;:::::::::::888888888 8888888888888888888:::8::::::M::aAa::::::::M8888888888 8 88 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8888M:::::888MM::::::::8:::::::::::M::::8888::::M::::M 88888M:::::88:M::::::::::8:::::::::::M:::8888::::::M::M 88 888MM:::888:M:::::::::::::::::::::::M:8888:::::::::M: 8 88888M:::88::M:::::::::::::::::::::::MM:88::::::::::::M 88888M:::88::M::::::::::*88*::::::::::M:88::::::::::::::M 888888M:::88::M:::::::::88@@88:::::::::M::88::::::::::::::M 888888MM::88::MM::::::::88@@88:::::::::M:::8::::::::::::::*8 88888 M:::8::MM:::::::::*88*::::::::::M:::::::::::::::::88@@ 8888 MM::::::MM:::::::::::::::::::::MM:::::::::::::::::88@@ 888 M:::::::MM:::::::::::::::::::MM::M::::::::::::::::*8 888 MM:::::::MMM::::::::::::::::MM:::MM:::::::::::::::M 88 M::::::::MMMM:::::::::::MMMM:::::MM::::::::::::MM 88 MM:::::::::MMMMMMMMMMMMMMM::::::::MMM::::::::MMM 88 MM::::::::::::MMMMMMM::::::::::::::MMMMMMMMMM 88 8MM::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::MMMMMM 8 88MM::::::::::::::::::::::M:::M::::::::MM 888MM::::::::::::::::::MM::::::MM::::::MM 88888MM:::::::::::::::MMM:::::::mM:::::MM 888888MM:::::::::::::MMM:::::::::MMM:::M 88888888MM:::::::::::MMM:::::::::::MM:::M 88 8888888M:::::::::MMM::::::::::::::M:::M 8 888888 M:::::::MM:::::::::::::::::M:::M: 888888 M::::::M:::::::::::::::::::M:::MM 888888 M:::::M::::::::::::::::::::::::M:M 888888 M:::::M:::::::::@::::::::::::::M::M 88888 M::::::::::::::@@:::::::::::::::M::M 88888 M::::::::::::::@@@::::::::::::::::M::M 88888 M:::::::::::::::@@::::::::::::::::::M::M 88888 M:::::m::::::::::@::::::::::Mm:::::::M:::M 8888 M:::::M:::::::::::::::::::::::MM:::::::M:::M 8888 M:::::M:::::::::::::::::::::::MMM::::::::M:::M 888 M:::::Mm::::::::::::::::::::::MMM:::::::::M::::M 8888 MM::::Mm:::::::::::::::::::::MMMM:::::::::m::m:::M 888 M:::::M::::::::::::::::::::MMM::::::::::::M::mm:::M 8888 MM:::::::::::::::::::::::::MM:::::::::::::mM::MM:::M: M:::::::::::::::::::::::::M:::::::::::::::mM::MM:::Mm MM::::::m:::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::M::MM:::MM M::::::::M:::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::M::M:::MM MM:::::::::M:::::::::::::M:::::::::::::::::::::M:M:::MM M:::::::::::M88:::::::::M:::::::::::::::::::::::MM::MMM M::::::::::::8888888888M::::::::::::::::::::::::MM::MM M:::::::::::::88888888M:::::::::::::::::::::::::M::MM M::::::::::::::888888M:::::::::::::::::::::::::M::MM M:::::::::::::::88888M:::::::::::::::::::::::::M:MM M:::::::::::::::::88M::::::::::::::::::::::::::MMM M:::::::::::::::::::M::::::::::::::::::::::::::MMM MM:::::::::::::::::M::::::::::::::::::::::::::MMM M:::::::::::::::::M::::::::::::::::::::::::::MMM MM:::::::::::::::M::::::::::::::::::::::::::MMM M:::::::::::::::M:::::::::::::::::::::::::MMM MM:::::::::::::M:::::::::::::::::::::::::MMM M:::::::::::::M::::::::::::::::::::::::MMM MM:::::::::::M::::::::::::::::::::::::MMM M:::::::::::M:::::::::::::::::::::::MMM MM:::::::::M:::::::::::::::::::::::MMM M:::::::::M::::::::::::::::::::::MMM MM:::::::M::::::::::::::::::::::MMM MM::::::M:::::::::::::::::::::MMM MM:::::M:::::::::::::::::::::MMM MM::::M::::::::::::::::::::MMM MM:::M::::::::::::::::::::MMM MM::M:::::::::::::::::::MMM MM:M:::::::::::::::::::MMM MMM::::::::::::::::::MMM MM::::::::::::::::::MMM M:::::::::::::::::MMM MM::::::::::::::::MMM MM:::::::::::::::MMM MM::::M:::::::::MMM: mMM::::MM:::::::MMMM MMM:::::::::::MMM:M mMM:::M:::::::M:M:M MM::MMMM:::::::M:M MM::MMM::::::::M:M mMM::MM::::::::M:M MM::MM:::::::::M:M MM::MM::::::::::M:m MM:::M:::::::::::MM MMM:::::::::::::::M: MMM:::::::::::::::M: MMM::::::::::::::::M MMM::::::::::::::::M MMM::::::::::::::::Mm MM::::::::::::::::MM MMM:::::::::::::::MM MMM:::::::::::::::MM MMM:::::::::::::::MM MMM:::::::::::::::MM MM::::::::::::::MMM MMM:::::::::::::MM MMM:::::::::::::MM MMM::::::::::::MM MM::::::::::::MM MM::::::::::::MM MM:::::::::::MM MMM::::::::::MM MMM::::::::::MM MM:::::::::MM MMM::::::::MM MMM::::::::MM MM::::::::MM MMM::::::MM MMM::::::MM MM::::::MM MM::::::MM MM:::::MM MM:::::MM: MM:::::M:M MM:::::M:M :M::::::M: M:M:::::::M M:::M::::::M M::::M::::::M M:::::M:::::::M M::::::MM:::::::M M:::::::M::::::::M M;:;::::M:::::::::M M:m:;:::M::::::::::M MM:m:m::M::::::::;:M MM:m::MM:::::::;:;M MM::MMM::::::;:m:M MMMM MM::::m:m:MM MM::::m:MM MM::::MM MM::MM MMMM Well that really is the end - but what do you think? - was I over reacting in the begining about the talent of these ASCII artists? - I dont think so. h memory to sort filesToo many files to sortAre you sureFile already being editedSave macro ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ A T A R I. O R G - A N E W A T A R I N E T I N I T I A T I V E ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Here's the latest news from Atari.org, a new Web site that aims to build an Atari-specific search engine with regularly updated links to every Atari item and site on the Net. Read on for the latest details and news of how you can help with the project. jfw ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Atari.org - the Aims and Objectives ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ First draft: 31st July 1998 Last Modification: 6:15PM Tuesday, August 04, 1998 Authors: Richard Davey Contents 1. Welcome 2. Who is involved? 3. What is the objective of atari.org? 4. Does that include emulators? 5. What services will atari.org provide? 5.1 Amanda 5.2 Free sub-domains 5.3 Free email forwarding 5.4 Free pop3 email accounts 5.5 Free mailing lists 5.6 Free web site hosting 5.7 Low-cost web site hosting 5.8 Banner exchange 5.9 CGI scripts 5.10 Submission script *NEW* 5.11 Events calendar *NEW* 5.12 Classified Adverts *NEW* 6.0 Terms and Conditions 7.0 Required assistance *UPDATED* 8.0 Release schedule 1. Welcome! You have received this because you have expressed an interest in helping out with the atari.org project. Some of you may already be contributing while others are yet to be involved fully. If you no longer wish to be considered part of the group then please let me know as soon as possible. 2. Who is involved? At present the following people are actively involved with atari.org: Richard Davey - Site coordinator; Web & DNS Server Administration Anders Eriksson - Falcon scene content provider; News provider Perica Jovanovic - Graphic design, HTML Martin Lyons - Mail Server Administration Barry Schut - Lynx and Jaguar content provider Oliver Heun - 5200/7800 content provider If your name is not on this list, it's not because we've forgotten about you, it's because you haven't expressed a particular area in which you would like to help. 3. What is the objective of atari.org? Quite simply - to become the largest resource on the Internet for all Atari related information. We will not be constrained by type of computer or emulator, we wish to literally cover all aspects that Atari embraced. From the games to the computers to the arcade machines to the ideology behind it all. Picture it as being like Yahoo, but dedicated to Atari. 4. Does that include emulators? YES! When I said every aspect of Atari, I meant it. It also includes such diverse fields as "Atari in the movies" or the band "Atari Teenage Riot". You get the picture now?! 5. What services will atari.org provide? Many and varied! We aim to collect all the "free" services as possible and offer them from one atari-centric place. See below for specific details. 5.1 Amanda. Our core focus will be on Amanda. Amanda (Atari Material And Nostalgia Database Archive) is a MySQL database interfaced to via php/fi and perl. When fully operational she will hold the data used in the search engine that is to be the heart of atari.org. Each content provider will be responsible for maintaining their own section of Amanda. They will have access to her in order to modify existing records, remove defunct links and add new entries. If someone adds a URL for something in your area, Amanda will let you know about it. 5.2 Free sub-domains. We are currently offering free sub-domains of atari.org. There is no charge for this service and only a couple of restrictions. (1) You cannot request a "generic" sub-domain. For example you can't have "games.atari.org". (2) You can't request a sub-domain that is the name of a company that is still trading or a product they produce, for example "calamus.atari.org" would be refused. (3) The sub-domain has to point to a web site (or ftp site) that has Atari relevant content, and I mean more than just mention the word once or twice! The sub-domain can point to either a URL or an IP address, but you must specify which you require. If you have a static IP address (or a server with a static IP) then we can alias that sub-domain to it. There are no limits on the amount of sub-domains you can have, within reason. But they must point to individual sites or distinctly different parts of the same site. The only exception to this are demo crews where they might desire the abbreviation for their crew and the full name (i.e. rg.atari.org and reservoirgods.atari.org) or a software house requesting a sub-domain for a title of a program they've developed. This service is provided in conjunction with Kaliba Netlink: (http://www.kaliba.net). 5.3 Free email forwarding. We will shortly (i.e. a week) be in the position to offer free email forwarding. This basically means that you can have yourname@atari.org forwarded to a mailbox of your choice. This is a free service and only two restrictions apply: (1) You cannot have a generic name or term - things like "falcon@atari.org" or "john@atari.org" are out of the question. We will require that people wanting to use their names should use a format similar to "richard.davey@atari.org" or "richd@atari.org". (2) You may not request an alias that might be requried by an existing company/product, again calamus@atari.org is out of the question (unless you happen to be DMC). This service is provided in conjunction with DNA Networks: (http://www.d-n-a.net) 5.4 Free POP3 email accounts. In a very similar role to the free email forwarding we will also be providing pop3 email accounts. This means your own unique user name and password for a mailbox that receives mail addressed to you@atari.org. Exactly the same rules as email forwarding apply to this service but the additional one is that we will probably enforce a limit on the size of the mailbox. POP3 accounts have a web- based administration interface to them. This service is provided in conjunction with DNA Networks: (http://www.d-n-a.net) 5.5 Free Mailing Lists Your own moderated or free-form mailing list to do with Atari topics. Up to 100 subscribers per list at present, fully web-based management interface. The lists are still being tested but should be available shortly, the first being the dev- list@atari.org for developers only. This service is provided in conjunction with DNA Networks: (http://www.d-n-a.net) 5.6 Free web site hosting. This is a very grey area at the moment. We wish to offer free web hosting to Atari related sites seeking a new home, however we don't wish to become a "Fortune City" or "Geocities" of the Atari world - the problem being that people will fill up the space with disk images, etc. So we are considering offering free web page hosting but only accepting .html, .gif and .jpeg file types - all others will be erased (or must be linked to off-site). This is to protect our server from overload and get it doing what it does best - serve web pages. At present we will have to use a CGI script to allow people to upload their files, no direct telnet/ftp access can be provided. So they will need a browser capable of uploading files. This is a bit of a pain but there is no work-around right now. 5.7 Low-cost web site hosting For a very minimal fee (i.e. œ3 UK pounds per month) we will allow people to have 10megs of space on the web server, their own sub-domain, email address and full direct FTP access to the account. They also get 100megs worth of bandwidth per day (about 3 Gig per month) and daily log files. Charged to a credit card. More advanced accounts are available (with CGI support, extra disk quota and extra bandwidth). A good deal though - for œ36 uk pounds they get full *fast* hosting for a whole year. This service is provided in conjunction with Pair Networks: (http://www.pair.com) and Atari.org 5.8 Banner Exchange Atari.org will operate it's own banner exchange system. Users will be allowed to add their banner to the exchange for free, providing they display the banner on their page somewhere. It will work in the same way as Link Exchange or Hyperbanner does. This service is provided by Atari.org 5.9 CGI Scripts We will offer various free scripts for use on atari.org affiliate web sites. Scripts such as a form-mail script or bulletin board (like FujiBBS) will be available free of charge and unlike the ones available on the 'net today - they *won't* carry masses of banner advertising! We will also offer a free hit counter that uses the original GEM font (as seen on LGD). Other script ideas are welcome. This service is provided by Atari.org 5.10 Submission Script We will offer a section on atari.org that allows people to submit their new web sites to some of the larger search engines around. It will also offer advice and tips on getting their sites properly ranked and indexed. 5.11 Events Calendar Much like we have running (but un-used) on LGD we will add an events calendar. People will be able to add their own events to it and it will be able to link to other web sites for further information. It will list ALL Atari related events from the show in Las Vegas to the Demo parties, etc. 5.12 Classified Adverts We will operate a classified adverts section for those wishing to buy/sell/exchange Atari hardware, software and general memorabilia. It will be broken down into category and they will have to specify their country and if they are willing to ship overseas. Contact will be made between the two interested parties, not via atari.org. 6.0 Terms and Conditions There are not many of these, but the ones we have we want to enforce. The site MUST be Atari related. No matter how vague it has to be related to Atari's and we mean more than a simple "I used to own an ST". When the Atari.org button (usual 85x60 odd pixel size) has been designed, any site with an atari.org subdomain must display it on their page somewhere. This button must link back to the main atari.org web site. The atari.org administrators decision is final regarding the use of an atari.org sub-domain. If we feel that the content of the site does nothing to enhance the atari.org domain we will remove it. We will not tolerate "hacks" or "cracks" sites that carry piracy tools for _current_ Atari or PC software (or any other computer for that matter). Also if we find that any of the atari.org services in whatever capacity are being mis-used, we will revoke them. This decision is not open to debate, our choice in the matter is final. Users should be made aware that our services are a priviledge, not a right, and although we will do the best to help should anything go wrong we will not tolerate complaints or abuse. 7.0 Required Assistance As well as people looking after their own part of atari.org (content providers) we also need volunteers for the following tasks: Domain name administrator This person will receive the requests for sub-domains from the web site. They will then visit the site and check that it has content relevant to the requested sub-domain. If they feel it's suitable, they then fill out a form on the Admin part of atari.org which will create the sub-domain automatically. If they don't feel the sub-domain is suitable, they will email the person requesting it and tell them why or throw it open for debate on the admin mailing list. Support staff Sounds ironic doesn't it?! But yes we'll need support staff. To support the domain names, CGI scripts, banner script, etc. Any question relating to atari.org. At present the idea is to have a mailing list that only the support staff are subscribed to, someone sends a question and the whole list gets it. Then someone can reply (with the reply copied to the list so we can collect them to build up a FAQ File and see what's answered and what is outstanding). If someone has a better way of doing this, please say so. Bulletin Editor When atari.org is in full flow we want to produce a weekly bulletin, sent via email, that will list everything that has either been added to the site or news and information from the Atari world. Most of this will be automated, but we need an editor responsible for bringing it all together and sending it out to the subscribers on-time. Translation staff We want to offer the main atari.org site in several different languages. The index page, the support pages, etc should be offered in at least English, German, French, Swedish, Italian and Spanish. If someone can help out with translating the text once it's finished, that would be ideal. 8.0 Release schedule The following services are already operational: Sub-domains Email forwarding POP3 email boxes Mailing Lists Web site hosting (free only) Still in development: The atari.org web site, the first drafts from Perica look stunning. Expect this site to really rock peoples boats. Amanda. The web interface to the above services - i.e. automating the requesting of them. The graphics for the buttons and banner exchange. The CGI script for setting up bulletin boards and also for hit counters. At present a lot hinges on completing the look and feel of the web site and also in coding Amanda. ~~~ eof ~~~ €( čZ, * * * T H E I N T E R N E T A N D Y O U R P C * * * By Brian Shepherd. 1...What's the Internet? The Internet is basically loads of people using their computers to communicate with each other over interconnected networks. It was first heard of in the 60's when the US developed it for the Military and also for Academic Networks. It's millions of computers all speaking to each other over phone lines via a Modem. The Modem being the little box that either plugs into your PC or is already inside. This converts Digital Signals understood by your computer into Analogue Signals that are sent down the phone line and then converted back at the other end. To get onto the Net you need a PC, Modem (either internal or external), phone line and an Internet Service Provider (known as an ISP). 2...ISP (Internet Service Provider). These are simply companies with a permanent connection to the Net that let's customers call via a Modem and temporarily connect to the Net. On dialling, you enter a password and when verified a temporary connection to the Net is made and your on the Information Highway. 3...The World Wide Web (WWW). We now come onto the World Wide Web (also called the Internet) which is huge and diverse and by far the most popular part of it at the moment. Currently there are approx 50 million WWW sites, which consist of Sound, Text, Graphics, Animation and Video. Provided that you have the correct software, the internet will support any and all computer platforms. To view these pages you need a program called a 'Web Browser'. 4...Web Browsers A Web Browser is a program used for viewing pages on the WWW. The two main Browsers used at the moment are Netscape Navigator and Microsoft Explorer, but there are smaller browsers you could use. Theses Browsers do several Internet activities like e-mailing and sending and receiving files. Which Browser to use is a matter of personal preference, you can use both if you want. They both have their slight differences which could sway you either way. 5...E-mail. E-mail is the cheapest way of sending a message to someone, you can even attach documents, pictures or any file you like (as long as the person receiving has a computer that is compatible with what you send). Most format's go through a conversion before the receiver gets it, this does not include a file like a game, that can only be used on your computer. Sometimes you may have to convert it yourself before sending it. You can either use a Web Browser (mentioned earlier) or a program that only sends and receives E-mail (sometimes called a news program). Your ISP will provide all the software you need to get connected. A T A R I W E B P A G E S Here's a small selection of Atari sites that are available: http:/www.ataricomputing.com Atari Computing Web Page http:/www.allatsea.demon.co.uk./docs/atari.htm All At Sea Web Page http:/www.yahoo.com/computers_and_Internet/Personal_computers/Atari/ http:/www.lapd.demon.co.uk/ LAPD Home page http:/www.users.zetnet.co.uk/paxton/stp/index.html ST+ Home Page P C W E B P A G E S Here's a small selection of PC sites that are available: http:/www.tucows.com Software site http:/www.hotfiles.com Software site http:/www.microsoft.com Microsoft's Home page http:/www.playboy.com Playboys home page [~~ eof ~~] < "1990" >ex date >ex time >el >dm Date and Time OK >ei  žčāģäÕĘ½ŗ²·×ķćßąŠĶåóóś  #3$ öšēõ šąĶŗĖŅ¼æŲĪĶŌŹĖßõ żšī’('%śżīķłūńļģéėģóżųčįꎣŽßįÜßūńėąŚŻŁŻķżž’  ! ’ōāÖĪĻćīīšąŅŻéźķūščéģ÷ųńżśō÷’üžżšāėü’ņäęčąßėģėōźäōż żńāßėż öćęäÕŃßčćįßēõūųšó’ōīī’žüż’ śó÷ōęęółüś’ üó÷’üšäįęēŲĄ»ĶŌ×ļöģéčń’üųłū žłķķšļ’ ųą×ŻåÖÄĒĀÅÓ×Ūźōū’’  ęėīū ōčäźģäēńżė÷÷ėęāć÷ōÜĪÕåōųųö÷ųółüčįėėū ’žśåŃÕŪŻķ÷ó’ųéżąŹÖßėšģņūż’ņėł źāšīóšēõųįŚ×Žéėļū ’ ąŁßÜēīęīłņėļņįÕįęåļłśųłöł õłśååžż’ ōŻāäī÷śųöńęßē÷ōäåķėēéąįļżüś÷öü šŁéģī’ ųśż óģąéõīčā߯ŲćõčČ·Ēßö’   ņėšóõżųźäė’śąŽļśžųłśóēēńčŚćéįŌĪŪļ’ ’ ģęļ’öżśöųšéééķ÷śņńł ųčęöśāŠÉĪßķéŻęół’ üõņņōõšģėäåóųīęŽßćķ ūųüņŲĶŽāįäćāŻŌßś  ōļ żü÷õ÷įĶŪęźķōųżśśšō÷īąÕŪéšęŅĻŁåńśõõžł šćéęŠĘŻåčżžõõśųąĖ׹ŚÕßāŁāšźõ ÷ (  õńīąÕåčŲŃßźįŪėū ū ūüūõīķķņģććŚÓÖŚßźłūüųö !#õäŠĖÕŽįßāŁ×óžóōūśšńųšęąŲŅÓŠĻ ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ T H E D A Y T H E S U N W E N T A W A Y Woe, woe and thrice woe! by Bob ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Some rotten bastrad decided that my local hostelry had more of a future as part of a museum rather than a quality boozing establishment, and they knocked it down! I`m suffering from withdrawal symptoms already. I miss the conversations with the customers and the smell of the polished bar. And, on a particularly heavy night, the smell of the customers and the conversations with the polished bar. Mostly though I miss the beer. Start from the door end. First tap is the "Light". Now at first glance on the bar, all nicely poured, it looks like Guinness. It`s black and has a very white head. To the expert eye though the head is composed of much bigger bubbles than that of Guinness and when you pick it up and turn it to the light you can see that it is in fact dark cherry red. It has an alcohol content of about 3.5% so it`s not too strong and is a good beer to last you the whole night without getting too sloshed. Next tap is the "Special". This is slightly redder than the Light and slightly gassier. It has a similar alcohol content to the light but you can`t drink as much of it because of the gas. It`s one of those beers that makes you say something like this when you`re chatting up the barmaid. " I say, you`re a lovely looking filly, what`s the chance of us going WHHHHHAAAARRRRRPPPPPPP, excuse me, up to your place later ?" Moving along we come to the "Export". The redness of the previous beers is giving itself over to the dark drown colouration of the Export. The head is more cream coloured than white and with an alcohol content of about 4.3%, it`s getting into the slightly stronger category. This beer is one of those that affects the legs and after about 8 to 10 pints you`ll find that one of your legs has lost the ability to leave the floor while the other re-sets itself constantly to keep your balance. This results in unduly long conversations as you tend to turn around constantly and can only speak as you pass. This effect is compounded if the chap you`re talking to has also been drinking it, get out of sync and you could miss each other all night. Number 4 is the "Heavy". This is a much much stiller beer and has a very creamy head, the kind that leaves people with moustaches looking like they`ve got rabies, and has an alcohol content of about 5%, which brings it into line with the import lagers like Pils and Becks. It`s so smooth that it`s very easy to drink and so it becomes one of those beers that makes you have to go home to bed while other people are just getting ready to go out. It`s also responsible for causing a certain lack of balance and loss of depth perception. This manifests itself mostly when you`ve got to go for a widdle. You get positioned and just let your eyes close in relief for a second and - SMACK! - your forehead breaks half a dozen wall tiles. Heavy drinkers can be easily spotted becuse they have crazy paving marks on their brows. Pump 5 is the "Lager". Familiar to the English readers, this is especially for the youngsters, tasting like fizzy cold water but with an alcohol content of around 4%. After around 10 pints you begin to look like Russ Abbot with his Luciano Pavarotti costume on, and rift up to 14 times per minute. An absolute guarantee is that one of those belches is bound to feature that old 80`s TV show, Breakfast Revisited. Moving on once more to the " Sweet Cider ". This tastes like somebody`s disolved sveral packets of apple chewits and then bunged in half a pound of sugar to sweeten it up a bit. Very popular with the ladies and with an alcohol content of 4%+, and a price of about 75p for a half pint, it`s certainly worth buying them a few if you`ve not had your own kegs emptied for a while. Tap 7 is the "Dry Cider". It`s difficult to describe what this tastes like as you have to spend 10 minutes with the ice tongs getting your toungue off the roof of your mouth after every swig. An alcohol content again of 4-5%, but it`s so dry you don`t notice it going down. A down side too is that your mouth stays clapped shut for up to two and a half hours when you wake up the next day. Tap number 8 is "Guiness". Familiar to old gits everywhere, requires the additional hardware of a pipe, jacket with corduroy elbow patches, and an ex- army jumper. The thing to remember with this is in order to cut down waiting time, phone the pub with your order 10 minutes before you leave the house and order up each further pint when you`ve still got half of the last one left. It`s also worth remembering to keep your bedroom door open, the bathroom door open, the bathroom window open, the toilet seat down, and the toilet roll holder fully filled, ready for the morning. Tap 9 is the "XXXX". Imported Australian Lager which is brewed in the UK, but tastes like it`s been brought from Australia loose in a wallaby`s pouch. Alcohol content of about 4%, and is one of those only to be drunk if someone else buys it for you. Obviously comes from a warm climate as it`s served so cold that it might as well be aboriginal bath water for all you`d know. Pump number 10 is the "Lowenbrau". This is the strongest of the bunch at about 6%. Very probably looks good and tastes good, but you`ll never remember if you sink a dozen pints of this one. A necessity with this beer is to make sure you`re not going to be doing anything strenuous like blinking or breathing the next day. And that was it, the best selection of draught in town. What`ve I got now? Bloody Pils, Becks, Grolsch. German ditch water. I suppose I`ll just have to force myself to drink it though. Bob Kell ~~~ eof ~~~ ęIJAs©ŗŃhą‘J6µµ ź`Ōf…žŅÜH×K+j[L’hS}dU-;æNUMœŚ’ OK0 L‘’hS}€ P»?S R’›!OU/ NņS[ »}œ Qą/ĶMõq­KJRm„¹)÷DUĪSS[inŠłkKUj' ’@”§`ūŹ eUcĶO ’ķ¶¬9˜:ZVY šŲ +Œ W‘ŸŚŁ}ø…[0ÕXŖŅÜKo« ZYUš›ād“*ĀU…ŅA\Ŗ. z |«[R[ /a hšC\Uš›āŌµ Ź]’mj}š7 0_Q?^€•¢’2CS/ ]䧶@v~ `Į_š›ā2H-Ķa•ę¦4øV„b¶ŅÜ6ƒoic.’@Pža8H*o U«Td8µ’S/ c"?’Š~( rOofß©Ō’÷ nFgīOm­ zaa@ohUj ~D,0id’Ņœ4gՂ*j+ĶIsV „k¶ŌAnŖ’U,žlƒS[ ~`7* mū§AvS’U8õn\š›ā|ZHm«eR[ ~˜÷L"{Ź¤ 6āŃęj2å‡Ķ@F)wĄ’mjaj O ü§’6CŽ'¾E䧶V ½ar`”@mUinŠ“;ĮŌVš›āŠ 0¾U„9j~ģ³)8Õ¶*µ²4Z i’@å©aŸb ę ŖTR’›!q/ ņS[ »$  ą’@”§a§¢źua €S’›!q IN THE BEGINNING ================== My own personal favourite disk magazine was Power,and maybe even still will be when the new version returns.At the moment however Power is gone but not forgotten and with the kind permission of James L. Mathews I`d like to show you an article from Power issue 19.This particular article was my own inspiration if you like,to start my magazine and anyone else who maybe is likewise enclined,can take great encouragement from these words. Bob Kell ************************************ * ============================== * * WRITING YOUR OWN DISK MAGAZINE * * ============================== * * * * =================== * * BY JAMES L. MATHEWS * * =================== * ************************************ "WHY AND HOW I DID IT" AND "WHY AND HOW -YOU- CAN DO IT" Writing my own disk magazine was something that I had wanted to do for quite a while before I started up POWER. I was slowly getting involved in the P.D. scene and I knew a bit about my computer and I enjoyed writing. Put all those together and the natural thing to do is create a disk magazine. However, I didn't...I couldn't. Instead, I wrote the odd article for the odd disk magazine but a very small article then appeared in ST REVIEW (a very early issue) on how to make your own disk magazine. It was a small guide and I must say, that is was the shittest guide I have ever read in my life, but it stated a program which would allow me to make my own disk magazine. Anyway, this shell thingy that had been mentioned was in the P.D. so I looked for a copy, got hold of it and started to put together a disk magazine. However, the shell was complete shite and I couldn't get the thing to work properly. For quite a while, I had a load of text files just sitting on a disk with no way of reading them apart from the bloody desktop. I then thought about just sticking a copy of THE REVENGE DOCUMENT DISPLAYER on and giving it away like that, but I then found a small disk mag creator called ST ZINE. I used it, liked it, registered it and then created POWER with it. What grew from that first, ST ZINE based disk magazine has now grown into one of the biggest and most popular disk magazines on the ST scene. I'm sure that there are many people reading POWER every month who would like to write their OWN disk magazine but just don't know how to, don't know what they can offer and so on. That stupid little guide in ST REVIEW wasn't very helpful at all and you can't rely on the glossy mags who are out for the money, to explain how to write a magazine which isn't in it for the money, so instead, I'm going to help you out with this small little guide. First, before you do anything, you're going to need your articles and stuff...Yeah? Well, that may not be the right thing to do. That's what I did, and I sort of regretted it. This is because different text viewers use different page widths. Any of you who read the first issue of POWER will know that the text was all to one side and a large chunk was left empty on the side. This is because I used a page width to small for the viewer so it may be best to get hold of a shell first and work out what page width it reads. So then, where are you going to get a shell from? Well, there are a number of programs out in the P.D. that will help you. The best one in my opinion is ST ZINE. It's a bit bland and slow but it does the job and is the best place to start off. ST ZINE uses a page width of 75 characters incidentally. Later on, as your disk mag gets better, a reader may offer to write you a shell or you may find a better one in the P.D. or if you can program yourself or you learn to program, then you can write your own one. Once all that's sorted out, you need the text to put in it. Firstly, you should decide what your disk magazine is going to be like. Is it going to be a series, informative disk mag with loads of computer info and articles or is it going to be full of jokes and tricks. When deciding what your disk mag is going to be about, you must remember that a disk magazine doesn't have to be about computers. It can be about anything you like...Gardening, stories, jokes, T.V., music or anything else that takes your fancy. As they say, everyone's got at least one book in them, well I think that everyone also has at least one disk magazine in them. Don't feel as if you don't hae anything to offer. Even if you want to do it about computers but don't know the first thing about them, do it. You'll find that people just like yourself will start reading your magazine and you'll start to learn things and as you do, your disk mag will get better. There's no excuse. Take me for example. When I started POWER, I was only 13 years old and didn't really know that much about the ST. I only knew the basic stuff and how to use a word processor to write it all down. I'm now 15 and through POWER, I have learnt so much it's amazing. Everyone can do a review so start off with lots of them. Give your views on some bits of P.D., give them your opinions of things and fill up the spaces with a few jokes or non-computer related articles. Once you've done the main bulk or your articles, try and decide how things will operate. For example, is it going to come out monthly, bi-monthly, twice yearly or what? Also, is it going to simply be P.D., Shareware, Licenceware or something else? Are people going to be able to get it from P.D.L.'s? Are people allowed to order it straight from you? Ask yourself these questions and once you've sorted out all those details, you're just about finished. Now, just put together your articles with the shell, add the last few details, copy over some bits of P.D. to fill up any spare disk space on your disk mag and you're done. So then, now what do you do? Well, you're not going to get many readers if your disk mag just sits at your house, you've got to start making copies of it. Make as many copies as possible and send them to as many different places as you can. Send them to P.D.L.'s and ask them if they will stock it on a regular basis, send it to other disk magazines, send it to the glossy magazines for reviewing and if you ever see an address in a readme file or something, send it to them as well. The more people you send the disk to, the more people who will see your disk magazine which means more readers which then means that eventually, you should start getting contributors who will write stuff for you to put in your magazine which will make the job easier. Also, once you've got people writing stuff for you, those things that YOU don't know will still be in your magazine because others will be writing it for you and at the same time, you will be learning! There are a number of things to remember when putting together your disk magazine. Firstly, presentation is important. Try to get good headings, a nice set out and check your spelling and make sure that you use good grammar if possible. Try to explain what you're saying as simply as possible and try to use a lively type of style that won't bore people to death. You must remember that with a disk magazine, you can't rely on big glossy pictures, the main core of it all is the text itself and if that's boring, you're not going to get anywhere. Also, it is quite important that you know how to use your word processor to its full potential and if you're good at typing, that's another bonus. When you're writing a disk magazine (depending on the type of disk mag you're creating), it is important to have as many contacts as possible, especially if you are writing a computer based disk magazine. To get contacts, scan the pages of glossy magazines and other disk magazines for people who want contacts, put adverts in as many places as possible for contacts and write to as many ST owners as you can. This will enable you to get up-to-date news on what's happening and you will also be able to get new P.D. fast. It is important to have an edge and being up-to-date is one thing that will give you that edge. There's nothing worse than reading a magazine which doesn't tell you anything that's happening NOW and just gives you info on what was happening in 1560. Most people think that POWER is up- to-date and I like to think that we ARE up-to-date. We get a lot of the stuff we review before anyone else, we get to see a lot of the stuff before its even released so that we can preview it, we get all the latest news and we know what's going on in the scene but I have only been able to achieve this by having loads of contacts. A good, large, strong and reliable contact base can be essential so keep that in mind. Disk magazines are incredibly beneficial to everyone. They're amazingly beneficial to the reader who gets a brilliant read (in most cases) at a very low cost, they get to make use of their ST and they get to learn more about whatever the disk mag is about. It also allows them you appreciate their computer a lot more and gives it an extra use. It is also very beneficial to the ST scene. The P.D. scene is about the only thing really keeping the ST alive and a disk magazine really supports the P.D. scene is a very big way so by producing a disk mag, you are acting like a pillar that is holding up the ceiling. Writing a disk magazine though is also very beneficial to yourself. It's enjoyable, you get to learn a lot and you gain a lot of friends out of the experience as well. It's something well worth doing. I want to encourage as many people as possible to start up a disk magazine because as I said, disk magazines really do support the whole ST scene. If there is anyone who wants to start a disk magazine, I will gladly help in every aspect. I will explain anything that has to be explained, I will help spread the disk magazine for you, I will try and sort out any problems you have and basically, I will do anything I can to help your magazine take off and bear in mind how I got involved in making POWER; I started writing the odd article for other magazines first. This helps establish your name and through your articles, you can also spread the fact that you are starting up a disk magazine. It is also good experience and by writing an article for a disk magazine, you are obviously going to be a mate of the disk mag editor which means that you have already made a contact and a potential friend who may well supply you with news, info, free advertising of your magazine and so on so before you start your magazine, it may be best to write a few articles for a disk magazine such as...Hmmm, let me think...Ah, I know, POWER! The main thing to remember when creating a disk magazine is presentation and content. Once you've got those two, your mag is just about done. It doesn't matter how crap the shell is, how bad the graphics are sound are or anything, as long as those two factors have been taken into account, your magazine is sure to take off and when it does, the other factors will start to improve and before long, now only will you have good presentation and content, but you will also have a good shell, good graphics and good music so make sure you start getting those contacts and start writing those articles. D I S K M A G A Z I N E S R U L E ! This article is taken from Power #19 and is included by kind permission of James L. Mathews.šĄ’ŲęUG’’ą;ź÷Ŗ«ą «Ą暏Æą**’Ŗ«š÷MüÆžšĄ•ęŖøG’ž*÷ŖÆĄ ƀæüē/šp«*’Ŗ«ššžśæ<ą ±ęŖ§’’ęÕ÷UWĄč_€Ąx6’UWšrļšž”<ą ±šęUXš’ž÷Uß@_ƒ_ĄüT„’UWššś|ņsšžęUG’’šź÷Ŗp æÆĄü+S•*’Ŗ«š šź?¼Ź|šžęŖø’ž*÷_Æa*æÆÕÉ : ’Ŗ«Ą š9’üQą«+šžęŖ§’’ūÕ÷ø_Ā _Ŗ“u’UWĄrŸšąüQą«šžęUXų’ž÷xŖ€U~>WT'ė’U_ĄšäüGüy €³WšžēUG’’ö_ź÷`Ŗ€*¾>«T' ė ’ŖÆĄ+šäüGüy €««šž*ēś ø& ž*÷Ŗæč‡Ŗ*+üdv’² $’ŖÆĄ+Ąšš4 Øż*ēŖ§F’ Õ÷U_ų”U|<ü”’ģ’U_ĄĄ üšķTżē ?XĮ’ž÷ŽBUSü2/å’b_8_Ą” š<U@żēUG’’#ą’ź÷[hŖŹB*üę„æ|’CÆ ‡ÆĄ2šA;<Ŗ€ż ēčOø0Į*÷Ŗ¾~Ŗų(KužæĄĄ[’ŖæxƂCĄ{ Øü ēŖ§’’ąæÕ÷O~HUųĄRžĄš’UN_ąĄŠfTüēUXŗæ’ž÷UĮ—UšŹV¹_Ą” ’U||_ž€ Ą8}UūēUG’’k’ź÷Ŗü¾«š/ æŗÆĄ” ’Ŗ¼ÆžĄ”g¾Ŗ€ü ēŖøŗŸ’ž*÷Ŗ ARE COMPUTERS REALLY TO BLAME ? A short discussion by GARY For some months, perhaps years now, we have all been hearing about the detrimental effect that computers have on people, or more specifically, young adults and more importantly, children. It all started with arcade games when home computers were a luxury and games consoles were just an idea in the developers mind. Arcade games were considered an evil that kids were drawn to and then hooked on like a drug. It is true that in some rare cases kids bunked off school to play arcade games and some stole to pay for their 'habit', but in general most people played arcade games because they were a new type of fun and nothing more. This was blown up out of proportion when various newspapers and organisations started claiming that these arcade games were breeding a new type of 'techno-junkie' who was prepared to lie cheat and steal to get their 'fix' of an arcade game. Then came the boom in the home computer market. Suddenly the thrills of the arcade were available in your own home and could be used whenever you want. The home computer took over from the demon TV as the reason why school children weren't doing as well at school as parents would like. According to the media, the combination of TV and home computers were turning the next generation into mindless zombies who could do nothing for themselves except stare blankly at a TV or monitor screen. This month I have seen a lot on TV and in the newspapers about the effect that games consoles are supposed to be having on schoolchildren. The latest claim is that games consoles are responsible for children having learning, speech and social problems and a few months ago it was that the latest beat 'em ups were too violent. The claim is that as children do not now interact with with other children in social games like, and I quote 'hopscotch' and similar old type games they are becoming introverted and unable to communicate. Also I heard on one radio program some soppy tart claiming that children are now having speech problems as they rarely communicate with parents or friends. Confidence of younger children is also claimed to be effected as they tend to retreat to thier own world of the games console rather than go out and make their own entertainment and their own friends. All of these claims got me thinking, could there be any truth in them? It is certainly true to say that in recent years the amusement and entertainment of children is purchased rather than made. It is true that parents and grandparents needed to use their own imagination in the same way that children of under privileged and Third World countries do now. But is the modern type of 'purchased' entertainment a bad thing? If you have a computer game it is only any good if it CAPTURES your imagination, in other words you are totally involved in it and your imagination is kept within the boundries of what you can see on the screen. If your mind is not kept to boundries them you can imagine far more gruesome and cruel things than you will ever see on a screen and you can imagine yourself doing far more fantastic feats than any sprite. Our past generations grew up with nothing but their imagination to entertain them, but they also grew up with wars and strife. The children of under privileged nations grow up with nothing but their imagination, but as we can see on TV every day they also grow up with war and strife. The privileged nations are selling computers and games consoles to their children as fast as they can make them, but do you see any wars and strife troubling their lives? Now don't get me wrong, I'm not saying that Sega is saving the world,it's just that an argument can be made to sound convincing for any topic if you think of an angle that hasn't been made before. So let's get everything into perspective, computer games will affect some people more than others and the people they will affect probably had a problem to start with. I don't mean to sound callous but I believe that a person who speaks to nobody and just plays computer games would probably read and speak to nobody if the computer was taken away. It's the person that has the problem not the machine. A final thought. Western Europe, North America, Japan and the Australias are the privileged parts of the world where most computer games are sold and these are the areas with no wars and least strife. These are the areas where children do not have to use their imagination. Could we really be turning into mindless zombies who do nothing except stare at a monitor and do what we are told? It makes you think......................... Gary Simmons That article came from Power Issue 15 and appeared with the permission of James L. Mathews. ü’Ą?‡ż.‡Įšö’üqĒČž€ąž’ś½€ųæ €ĄĄ€ū€ś0śż x?’ü|’” üqĒžų’žI@ś‹üżæ’MōU ūNųü’ĄŃ šōĮš÷’ĢsżĀžž€žƒ^Ś?Ą’žłų!’ą’’€ōū0šģ7ų?’€ąüžųĢpż‚¾’žØś’ūæ’ųų/ō QpüžōĄ,šŠž€ą?÷žüž€4ž’€ūŸ~@ś Õūõp€ųQš_ C0’šæü”#ĄżüžšŒü°’žH”@ž÷fž*?ś’Sõ’ąi3Ąžż’ĄT_š@Uü÷’Ž8pįĒžšÆžĄW-ü€š Ēüū^źßjąį’€üp?„p0šĄChžčąż’žŽ8pįĄ ‚’TļžŠ€ś’ż?—’ś ümšžż’Ą_šĄių; Ÿ÷’œ8pįƏžį?žƒ€üł’|ų÷šū :ßk€ ž ĄŸšŽąŃų"0ššžząż’žœ8pįƈCą?ųśžßĄ Kł’ß’}CüŪ*¬żüĄżĄž’ų@ Ÿńś ž<°ļT€üņæ©Mēüū.—’õKŠŸĄčšüŒ0€Įw_hąż’žü’ų ’ ų€śüæ€Yže?’šŚū’ąæü}’Ą‚S€ż•Ąż8ž’ų ¢æń`€.%į€üą ēą§Ę¬žžß{@ æŸš?’ų”?šp 0ż=ÆB?ąu€žü’ų†Ÿ ų«ś:ĮUīł’ü‚ żrĄ„šž’ųPų›ö’Ŗź»ļā×p‰€üĄūF’?š žÕn½R ž<@ųĄą’~0£ šśW(Oą°€Aožü’ų’čOųeHūpžł’ ēĄĮü’Øæ’Ą "ż8ĄBšž’ų üM?ö’¾ļūæ’žõ ’’€č-€ WHY ARE ST GAMES MOSTLY CRAP \/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/ BOB`S SURVEY ON GAMES I`ve just spent an interesting couple of hours. What I have been doing stemmed from a box of stuff that I bought which was a mixture of PD and original,unboxed games.I bought the whole lot,about 50 disks for œ10,which I thought would be a bargain even if only some of the stuff was actually any good. My eyes lit up when I saw several games that I had previously played on my old Commodore C64,especially a game called Wizball.This had been my very favourite game on the C64 and I was really looking forward to having a game as I`d spent hours on the old version and had gone right around the clock in levels back to the start,no mean achievement I might add. What a disappointment when it loaded up.One of the best bits about the C64 version was the excellent music that went with it.The ST version ground out a terrible beep beep,totally unlike the old one.The graphics were also bad, they weren`t an awful lot worse than the commodore but I`d expected much more a game for at least a 512k machine. Could it have been my wistful thinking to days of yore that had made me remember the old game as being better than it was.To test this theory,I organised a weeks supplies and some native guides,( my two kids and a big packet of Doritos ) and headed into the darkest recesses of my attic. After much searching,bumping of heads and snagging of jumpers,I found the box that I`d been looking for.We retreated triumphantly to the living room and set the old bugger up. There were hundreds of games to choose from and I dug deep for Wizball. None of the old technology failed me and I nipped off to brew a cuppa while the C64 chuntered away in it`s loading sequence.A couple of minutes later the excellent electronic guitar riff belted from the living room, signifying that we were indeed in business.What a game! Excellent graphics coupled with mind-bending sounds and brillo gameplay.I sat for ages having go after go,all the skills coming back to me.When my eyes started to get a bit bleary,I called a halt.It was then that I began to think," why the hell is a 16 year old,tape driven,64k machine totally tanning the arse off my 1meg STE,and I just don`t know why this should be so. I compared all of the games that I have now in both formats,and although sometimes the ST version is no worse,it`s certainly no better.Stunt Car Racer,almost identical.Leaderboard Golf,better on the C64.And all of the ST platforms,including Stario,( it`s only the demo that I have ),were totally blown out of the water by a game called Mayhem In Monsterland which really embarassed the ST platforms.International Karate,identical, but better music on the 64.Wheter it was only because of the selection of games that I had to hand,I don`t know,but I would have to say without any shadow of doubt that in the main,games on the old 64 look better,sound better,and are a bloody sight cheaper than on the Atari ST.The only good point about the ST versions were that they were " deeper " had more actual refinements to them,but this did not make them better games. Anybody who knows me,is well aware that I am anything but technically minded so I can give no reasons why these facts should be so.And for anyone to say," What about Stardust or Obsession etc ",well,granted,there are exceptions especially for games specifically written for the STE,but I`m talking about taking a random box of games from various time periods over the development of each system,and if I fancy a bit of game playing from now on,I`ll nip up to my son`s room where the C64 is again set-up and raring to go.I`ll also be scanning Micro Mart for the brilliant bargains where games can be bought for as little as 25p each. My ST will still take pride of place on my computer desk as it`s a really excellent computer,err,but not for games. Ģ%6™-³ ŁĮ o£< h “©­É›¤® QŖ²™ƒ& 3Ņ\fs Š  (ÆĢ5 Ź*s‰Ķ@a®0—Ł ą€ ™ķ@f#P™k  ”Węą@e.±HmLq™@e®2× ØN•ęJs2š 2—Ų.$ 6XāŠ¬Ź[eī@i®Č -Ķ=ØĢ%¶S ¼„¹ŅÜw`ŠKmE–Ś4Łi ĪÄÖŖ&«²Ä6Å•ęŠ,©«²&›āR[“MqUšk²!n‰ ·4w 0×dRŪ ĪØÄ–ŲuFe¶ÄÖdŌ ™Ų óf 6/,ą xA±  €°€',ą xA …¼ nˆ{Š” Ń6ŖQ„Øę sƒ:b 3a/Øę xA 7š‚ :o ąuU –Ų m Ō›"¶Aµ @P·Ä ™ę s…¹& ;€" wP§Ģ 5 ŹuĀ\R—Ų M ķ6 Ŗ Q zUĢV™K lPd„ yK s‰ ŻŌ ni.³ Ū Øā s©ķĄ Ī (/,ąuE nā/Ø ·4Ō ŪĄ ź  1€ŌU Yi.±= (Ķ źŒ :€!®0W˜+Ģ% v mĀ\a.± ;Ø; č ²n°|T…@*LŌ“d®ę`©f Ņu±@©²<²XĄR²Ųź³ä“:š®ŹKœU*ØB<±Ģą²6–ōŖ@P…’³Ŗ®œQ­Ņ`”4°Xš±$ÕB©B„²œą³:nź® uÆ&€°.x“¦€„Ž*\T”bµtš²nK|U“ØBĄ¶Ōą“––ÄŖ6P…<:µVĄ²X<­²ĄBnzź¶®€u®€“śXØJ0²6ą­ōµü`”“¶h²jQ„\*¶T”Ā“ōš²®B°zP…’ µö|Ÿ`¢ ü`£ĒRõĂyc P)`#¶   *********************************************************************** ATARI ST IN AN IBM CASE *********************************************************************** A Lion in Sheeps Clothing, An Atari ST in an IBM housing. By Jon Clarke, Auckland, New Zealand I have over the last few months seen many references to whether or not you can put a 520 or a 1040ST in an IBM housing, and to say the least some of the mail I have been reading is down right comical. The best saying on this subject was quoted to me by a friend of mine who was given an IBM AT, and when I visted him last he had all his Atari ST equipment neatly installed and for all I knew it was an IBM until desktop arrived. He said to me very seriously "IBM makes one heck of a housing, a bit of a shame about the mother-board, so I upgraded it to an Atari ST!" Well what could I say, I had done the same thing several months before, so I knew the headaches he had been through. In his case he had it configured as a Tower unit, hmm that was even more work than normally required. I would like to set the record straight right here and now. 'YES', you can put a 520ST and 1040ST and just about any type of computer including your 8 bit Atari's in another type of housing. While in some cases it is not an easy job, I hope to outline what you need to do in this article. The most important thing to do is a little planning, and to fully understand what you wish to do with this project, for instance.. a/ Do you want a second or third disk drive, 3 1/2" or 5 1/4" or both? b/ Do you want to include a hard disk drive, controller, and host adaptor? c/ Do you want to upgrade your on-board RAM at all? d/ Do you want to upgrade your TOS version at the same time, or do you want to keep your old TOS as well and make them switchable? e/ Do you want to install a "ROM" drive, in your Cart port? f/ Do you want to delay the ST from booting so it may auto-boot your HD? g/ Do you want to switch the power on and off from the front panel? h/ Do you want a reset button on the front panel? i/ Do you want to switch Monitors from your Housing or just plug the and out each time? j/ Do you want to be able to select which floppy drive is in drive A & B configuration, and be able to select what side to write to? k/ Do you want to be able to Write Protect your Hard disks with Hardware? m/ Do you want to use your cart port for things like Spectre, Replay ? n/ Do you want to mount your modem inside the housing? o/ Do you want to run all the equipment from an IBM power supply? p/ Do you want to use Midi? q/ Do you want to use your centronics port? r/ Do you want to use an IBM or 101 type keyboard, with your joystick and mouse ports? s/ How big do you want the housing to be, and will it sit flat or vertical? t/ How much money do you want to spend? Planning is the answer, if I had taken a few minutes to decide what I wanted to do and made a "shopping list", I would not have spent all the extra time repositioning all the drives to fit something else into the case, each time I decided to change my mind on some little thing. So first things first, make a "shopping list" of "wants", by this I mean if you want to do something you have to go out and get it for the RIGHT price. To complete this project it cost me about $200, by the time I got a housing, 150watt power supply, a 5 1/4" disk drive, 2 NEC 3 1/4" disk drives, new 25 pin ribbon connectors, new 9 pin ribbon connectors, 120 megs of hard disks, a controller, and Host adaptor, ROM card for the Cart port, and connecting wire. The secret to all of this is, when you have made your "shopping list" you then know what you want to do, now all you have to find out is what will do what you want (how's that for double talk), and when you find that out, you can go fore-armed to your dealer/computer repairman, or computer auction/junk sale and ask for what you want at YOUR price. If you are prepared to wait, you will get the right price. I found the best source for hard disks is from your repairman, from most Systems Managers. They have them lying around in a so called "dead" state. Did you know that of all the dead drives I have ever received only 2 of them have been dead! So offer to take them off their hands with a small donation to their staff social fund ie $10, or go buy your service man a beer or two, it works! Last but not least, Computer auctions are an amazingly cheap source of everything, the last one I was at, I spent about $300 and got 14 40meg Hard disks, 3 NEC 1036 3 1/4" drives, a Teac FD-55GFV 5 1/4", 2 IBM 150 watt supplies, a colour TV and heaps more, so remember to look in the newspaper for sources for your "shopping list". Now that you have decided you want to continue with transplanting your ST into an IBM case what will do what, for me? I hope this little list will help you in your search... Disk Drives Floppy: 3 1/2" * You can use your Atari drive if you want. * NEC 1036 a double sided 720k drive. * Matsushita model JU-253. NB: These I have found the best, as no extra buffering or the likes is required. 5 1/4" * The commercial one you may already have. * TEAC FD-55GFV * TEAC FD-55G NB: These I have found the best, as no extra buffering or the likes is required. ROM Drives: These are available in many forms, all you need to do is get a cart board and blow your own eproms with your favorite programs in there, and map it to a drive. Cost anywhere from $12 to $36 not including the eproms. Hard Disks/Controllers/Host Adaptors: This is an 100 page article in itself. You can use your existing hard drive/controller/host adaptor, or look in most mags for adverts on kit sets for these like the Supra or Triangle Kits, and the list goes on. In my case a group of us down here are using an other type of Host adaptor, which will emulate the "IBM Motherboard Slot" and is real cheap to build or buy, along with this we can use most IBM 1/2 card/ controllers but I prefer the Omiti 5520 or 5527 for it's speed, this means you can get controller cards from as little as $15 in the local repair shops "Junk Bin". Hard disks, well this is up to you, what size, how many etc, what brand. Remember in the IBM housing you have lots of room to play with, and the limit is that of your pocket book and piece of mind. Types of IBM Housings/power supplies: Look around in many cases you can buy an IBM/clone housing for about $70 with a 150 watt power supply already installed, wow that is like being 1/2 way there. Make sure you have a control panel on the front of the housing for, say switching the reset button, turning the computer on and off, switching between TOS's, turning your ROM drive on and off, for drive select A&B, or what ever you have decided to do. Now if you have a 150 watt supply you can feed the following with the supply and you will no longer need the Atari supplies.. a/ Your ST b/ Your disk drive(s) c/ Your modem (in most cases) d/ Your Hard disk(s) and controller(s)/host adaptor(s) Last but not least make sure you can fit your ST mother-board into the housing with a little room to spare. How do you do this? Simple, flop your ST over so the keyboard is face down on a towel and measure the 4 sides of your ST, that is the smallest your case can be, ie an IBM PS2 model 30 sized case. I have not given any measurements here because strangely enough the sizes vary from model to model. If you wish to use your cart port, measure how long your longest cart is and add about 1 1/2" and make sure the housing is at least that high. Upgrade your RAM/TOS: Again this is up to you how you go about it, if you are into D.I.Y (DO IT YOURSELF), look in "Computer Shopper" for cheap ram chips, It costs about $150 to upgrade my 520 to 2.5 megs. Again you can look in most mags for companies who will either sell you a kit to do it or they may do it for you. If you get a company to do it, wait until the guarantee has expired before doing this mod, so you have piece of mind. Remember if you have TOS 1.1 and you do, do a 2.5 meg upgrade do not "PANIC" if the computer appears dead for about a minute when you boot it up, it is merely clearing ram and appears to take forever to compare the 512k or 1024k ram you had before. It was at this stage I bought "Rainbow TOS". Another source of amusement to me has been the comments re-switching TOS, on Fnet I received last week, one fellow was so sure it could not be done, well again to set the record straight it CAN be done. However, you will be required to re burn your existing TOS sets into an eprom, and switch between the banks on these eproms, thus you will need a switch on the front panel to do this. The only real advantages of this are.. a/ If you want to play games, not all games work with TOS 1.4/Rainbow. b/ Are programing, and want to be compatible with all ST's ( like the 8 bit TRANSLATOR disk) c/ Faster boot up, with larger memory. d/ MS-DOS compatible disk formats. e/ Just want to be trendy! Please note this will void any warranty given by the "Atari" for your TOS, and will breach a copyright if sold!!! Monitor Switching: If you are lucky enough to have 2 monitors a colour and monochrome monitor, you can do a few things and here the choice again is yours. a/ Use a monitor switch box ie "Monitor Master", and mount it either on the back panel of the IBM housing or feed to the outside of the case and use it as you already do. b/ Buy a Sony/Atari 13 pin monitor plug (male) and make a cable to run from the monitor to the rear of the IBM housing about 10 " long. Now make a decision! Do you want to remain Atari standard or do your own thing with attaching your monitor(s) to the housing? If you wish to remain standard you will have to source 2 female 13 pin Sony/Atari 13 pin sockets and mount them on the rear panel, or get 2 D9 female plugs and mount them on the rear panel, either way it doesn't matter. Now one is for colour and the other is for mono. Take a line from pin 4 on the ST end of your cable and take it to a SPST switch, connect it though this to pin 4 onto the female plug you have called "Mono Monitor". Other than this line take all the other connections BAR pin 2 to your female connectors. Connect 2 "RCA" female sockets on the rear of the housing calling one of them "AUDIO" and the other "VIDEO". Now take pin 1 from the ST end of your cable to the centre of the female RCA socket marked "AUDIO" and pin 2 from the ST end of the cable to the female RCA socket marked "VIDEO". Strap both of the earth connectors to either pin 13 or a common EARTH you have already set up. (please note on some early versions of the ST pins 2 and 8 were reversed, my 520ST is a 1985 vintage and pin 2 is video). This has now given you an outlet to feed to your VCR and your Stereo/Music centre. To select your Mono monitor simply switch pin 4 on and off, that is the pin that goes to the SPST switch, it switches the mono detect line, and will reboot your ST. NB:- I have not done any diagrams as pin selection is mentioned in Your Atari Handbook. Also if you do not have a modulator on ST you can simply go and get one from Radio Shack that only requires Video/Audio in and 12volt and there you have one, or you can connect up a video transmitter and send the ST to any TV in your house. The CARTRIDGE PORT: This part is somewhat difficult, all you have to do is one of three things. a/ Do not use your cart port b/ Make a right angle adaptor so you may plug in any cart, and mount it on the side of the Housing. (The easiest to do!) c/ Remount the cart port from horizontal to vertical, this sounds easy but it is harder than it looks. Now all the carts merely connect by pluging straight in "snap". Mounting the ST Mother Board: I found the easiest way to do this is to make up two alloy plates, one mounted under the mother board, and one over the top of the mother board. I used HEX standoff bolts to mount the plates and the mother board on so there was enough of an air gap, between all of them. I painted the Alloy plates Black so they would also absorb the heat. Use the mount holes on your ST to mark out the Alloy plates, this makes a template of where to drill the IMB case and the alloy plates, so they marry up with your ST mother-board.. Now a few tips.. a/ Leave the Joy stick/Mouse ports on your ST mother board. b/ Drill a hole over the GLUE chip, for those of you with the old problem with the "Glue chip" this will save you stripping your case to reseat this little beasty. With a hole over it you can use a pencil to do the same thing. (Drill the hole in the TOP Alloy Plate) c/ Mount your Floppy drives,Hard disks,etc on top of the top Alloy plate thus allowing for a good mounting surface for all the other equipment you wish to install. (Floppy and Hard drives should line up with the holes in the front of the IBM housing) d/ Take the look at where your keyboard plugs into your mother board (this is the Hard bit :-) you only need to take 5 of these to your keyboard, if you choose to mount your joystick/mouse ports on your new keyboard. This can be done by getting a 5 pin din socket and mounting it on the rear of your IBM case. Take the 5 wires to here and on the other end have a male 5 pin Din plug going to either.. 1/ Your old ST housing 2/ Your new 101 type keyboard. If you are going to use a 101 type keyboard remember this.. 1/ You will have to remount the Keyboard processor. 2/ You will have to re-matrix the keyboard. If you are going to use your old ST case (the easiest way of doing it), you will have to put in 2 D9 male sockets, one for the Mouse and the other for the joystick. It becomes a birds nest of wiring so do not do this "Like a bull in a china shop." Well now you have done most of transplant you are ready to boot it up and have a full blown IBM/CLONE look alike but with the RIGHT MOTOR, an ATARI ST. This project is an on going thing, as you will find that you will want to add bits and pieces here and there, and make it a little more friendly with bells & whistles, for instances LEDs on all the Hardisks, leds that indicate Formating, a Track indicator for the floppies and the list goes on, now you have the room to play in, and the Lion is no longer in Sheeps Clothing! YOU SHOULD NOT ATTEMPT ANY OF THE ABOVE UNLESS YOU FELL YOU HAVE THE TECHNICAL KNOWLEDGE TO COMPLETE THE TASK, AND THIS WILL SURELY VOID ALL WARRANTIES ON ALL EQUIPMENT USED. The Bottom Line:- Nothing is impossible, it just takes a little longer! Reformated and re-written from HMTL format by P.Davis. *********************************************************************** 6S³u»%ķ8„µ>nMŪ === CATCHPHRASE QUIZ === #################################### A CREAK DOWN MEMORY LANE A Short Quiz By Finlay Urquart The following are the catchphases of comedians past and,well,past really. All you`ve got to do is pin the phrase on the celebrity.Easy Peasy. Answers at the end. 1.Ooh you are awful,but I like you. 2.You great knock-kneed knackered old nosebag. 3.And I mean that most sincerely folks. 4.Here Kitty Kitty. 5.All right Mr Derek. 6.It`s good,but it`s not right. 7.Settle down now. 8.We`ve `ad a meeting of the commitee. 9.He`s on the jazz. 10.Get that bus out. 11.Turned out nice again. 12.Mr Grimsdale ! 13.You stupid boy. 14.I`m free. 15.You great fleas armpit. 16.`Ello my darlings 17.And now,the prologue. 18.And now for something completely different. 19.And here come the Belgians 20.Magic our Morris And Here Come The Answers 1.Dick Emery 2.Jimmy Jewel ( Nearest and Dearest ) 3.Hughie Green ( Opportunity Knocks ) 4.Bruce Forsyth ( Generation Game ) 5.Basil Brush. 6.Roy Walker ( Catchphrase ) 7.Ken Goodwin ( The Comedians ) 8.Colin Compton ( Wheeltappers and Shunters ) 9.Mr T ( A Team ) 10.Blakey ( On the buses ) 11.George Formby 12.Norman Wisdom 13.Capt.Mainwaring ( Dads Army ) 14.John Inman ( Are You Being Served ) 15.Hilda Baker ( Nearest and Dearest ) 16.Charlie Drake 17.Frankie Howerd ( Up Pompeii ) 18.Monty Python 19.Stuart Hall ( It`s a Knockout ) 20.Bill Maynard ( Oh No,It`s Selwyn Froggit ) x•pŖqA-of-Ņ÷jĘ%·GĘ·ŌiffŁŹnÕhNw^ģ® …S€sŪ"’ց59ś97€  Ģ¾¢‘•¹åĀ9tXac²\Fh…HpŒöµ40[GćdČģdv:_ćBuĄć?ø‰ŃņÅŖą–†·ēYē5š>°Ā9€« šRä†%kzĪżĘŒf¤ąwąu©ŲĖ|ˆht3ī„ŖŻbluŻ³ g.MmV‡5,cņē¬“r“-šÕÅB"sÜastē9ąŁŪ Ą­©V ¶exCʑ¦Ku šé,–Ż,™ šīå¦h€·Nćt“‰ŗ<…¢‘R )Ęŗ—q#’!”$ĖŽ(o^aœ³§mm›-%~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ C I N E M A T H E N A N D N O W ---oOo--- more silver screen reminiscences from Ray Mascord ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ I mentioned in my last article that we that we had a rectifier installed in the projection box to run the carbon arcs instead of a generator. Jfw asked why, so here's a reply. The reason we have such a unit is, as you may or may not know, that the AC current that is supplied to us though the mains goes on and off 25 times a second (that's why it is called Alternating Current). The projector shows one frame at a time, at 24 frames per second, so if the light behind the film was powered by alternating current then sometimes you wouldn't get a picture on the screen. To get round this we use a rectifier that supplies a direct current at a low voltage but a high amperage (in the region of 50 to 80 amps), just like you see when someone is welding. Cinemascope ~~~~~~~~~~~ And now for another piece of technical information. I was working on the ABC circuit in the 1950s, when Cinemascope first came out, and was told that we was going over to Cinemascope on a certain night. So at the end of that night's show we stopped to see what the contractors were doing. They ripped out the old screen, along with the Tabs that closed in front of the screen, and installed a new screen that stretched from one side of the wall to the other and with no room for Tabs. (Curtains are called 'Tabs' after the 'Tabulou Curtains' that were used in old Theatres.) We then had to have a set of festoon curtains fitted which went up and down in front of the screen instead from side to side. On our opening night, showing a film called 'The Robe', we had the Aston Villa Football club up in the projection box for a picture shoot for the local newspaper, and, as we weren't football fans, the Second and myself had to ask, "Who are they?" The way Cinemascope works is that on the film there is a squashed up picture which we project via a square aperture plate. This would appear as a square picture on the screen, so we then insert an anamorphic [distorting] lens in front to stretch the picture to twice the width. Some theatres have motorised masking and some don't. We're in the latter, because we use a drum with wire cable round it which when turned will open the masking out to Cinemascope or into wide screen. Before the 50s we had a ratio that was nearly square, like a TV picture, but since then the top and bottom of the picture have been chopped off to produce wide screen. So if you run an old picture then you have to make sure the the actors' heads are in the picture. Which brings me to a funny story. One cinema we heard of had to show a French film and, as you have to rack the film down to get the heads in, they didn't know until afterwards that the film carried subtitles at the bottom of the screen. What a dilemma - show the heads or show the subtitles - you can't have both! That is the reason why, if you have the older type of TV, that you get a black strip at the top and bottom of the screen when a wide screen or Cinemascope film is transmitted in its original form. The only way to get over that is to copy the film onto tape and move left and right to get the best part of the film in the centre. That's done with computers now. spooling mistakes ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ I had a small mishap not so long ago. The film comes on 6,000 foot spools and, as they are rather heavy to put on the top spool box, there is a clip to hold it in place. But this time I forgot to close the clip... I'd started the reel and had gone into the rewind room when I heard a loud crash and saw that the top spool had fallen onto the floor with the film still running. But not for long. The spool was bent and wouldn't run again so I had to rewind 6,000 ft of film to the end, run it back onto a new spool, put it back onto the top, relace it, and then continue with the show. It took me about 10 minutes to get it back onto the screen, and I'm glad to say that this has only happened once to me. About five years ago I was working in a cinema that had a tower at the back of the projector to hold 12,000 ft of film, which made it very heavy. I was running another show in the other theatre (it was twinned) and I had nearly got to the end of the upstairs film when the Manager told me that the film had broken. I dashed up to it and tried about five times to lace it back up and get it started again. But, as the tower spool was rather slow on turning and the projector was very fast on starting, as soon as I started the projector it would snap the film again. I finally got it to run by turning the spool before starting the projector - don't forget that we work on our own nowadays - and the end came on with an eight minute cast on the end. Another thing that can and should happen only once is when the film is on a tower and has to be rewound before the start of another show. I had one occasion, before the afternoon show, where I started to rewind the tower (which takes about 10 mins to complete and needs to be slowed down before the end is reached) and had about eight minutes before I got to the slowing down part. I thought I would have enough time to nip downstairs and get back in plenty of time, but somebody stopped me and talked and I forgot what I was doing. When I finally got back to the box, the spools where spinning around as fast as they could, and the film was flapping against the other spool and breaking off a piece each time it hit. The floor was covered with about 50 bits of film, each one about two to three inches in length. The only thing that saved me was that we always tacked a leader of old or blank film onto the front of every film (enough to reach from the tower to the projector and back to the take up spool) so that all that was damaged was the extra leader on the front of the film. Fade, cut, exit ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ We've have had trouble with the sound at our theatre in the last month. We use a Dolby processor and the sound suddenly goes low on the screen centre speakers and loud on the surround speakers. The people from Dolby can't understand why this happening; they have changed all the cards in the processor but it still happens sometimes. ---oOo--- Do you want to hear any more, or has anyone got any questions about cinema present and past? If you have, then send them in and I'll try and answer them next time. Ray ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Thanks for the memories, Ray, and of course we want to hear more of them! Many readers, Bob and myself included, have said how much they enjoy your articles, and I think they're one of the high points of each issue. And that isn't flattery, Ray, that's the truth. If you're running short of things to write about, then how about the cinemas themselves? If the cinemas in Kingston-on-Thames were anything to go by, then you must have seen some very strange behaviour at times... Or heard about it from other staff? I've been reading an excellent book recently that I think you'd really enjoy. It's called "The Great British Picture Show: from the 90s to the 70s" by George Perry, and was published in hardback by Hart-Davis MacGibbon Ltd. in 1974 (ISBN 0 246 10645 X). It's a history of British cinema from its early years to the 1970s, covering not only the films but also the distributors, cinema chains, and the ever-changing technology. I thought it'd be rather a dry read, but it's so entertainingly written that I went through it without a break. (And drove Liz up the wall by reading bits of it aloud to her all the time.) It's a marvellous book, and one that'd I really recommend to anyone who's interested in British cinema or cinemas. Onto a different subject now. I used to hate seeing Cinemascope and wide screen on TV. (This was back in the 1970's when I was an obsessive film buff.) The opening titles and credits would show the full panorama and then, as soon as the film began, you'd lose the left and right of the film when it expanded it to fill the screen. I hate to think what 'Lawrence of Arabia' would have looked like if it'd been shown that way... What do you think of the new widescreen TVs for viewing films? 'Home Cinema' is probably a misnomer ("Paging Miss Nomer! Paging Miss Nomer!" as Groucho would probably have said), but do you think they're worth the money that's being asked for them? Thanks as well for the loan of the 'Cinema Technology' mag - it answered my question about Technicolor and I learnt a fair bit from it. Cheers mate! john ~~~ eof ~~~ le my mate went to the bog.A couple of women came into the pub and came up to the bar to get served,standing beside me.I just supped my drink,minding my own business,but my mate,who thinks he`s god`s gift to women,comes back from the lavvy and starts chatting them up.One of the women is a real looker and is dressed in a white mini skirt and white short jacket,pretty tasty,this is the one Bill`s after.Unfortunately,for both of them as it turns out,Bill`s nose is decidedly tickly,and he fires off a humungous sneeze and,although he drunkenly attempts to cover his mouth,a huge dollop of ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ S I L V E R S C R E E N M E M O R I E S by Ray Mascord ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ I am now 68 years old and I still work as a part-time projectionist for four nights a week in a local cinema in Tiverton, Devon. I can remember some funny moments during my career, and some not quite so funny. One of them occurred way back in 1950 when I was Chief Projectionist at an ABC cinema in Birmingham. We used to have a staff of five because we were open seven days a week from 1.30pm until 11.00 pm. The Last of the Mohican's mate ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ We had a Third Projectionist who came to work one day with all his hair cut down to the middle just like the old American Indians called Mohicans. We looked at him kinda funny but took no further notice. There was also a trainee who was his mate. One day the Second Operator and I heard something thumping on the roof. We had a small skylight in the projection box, and one had to go into the rewind room and up a ladder to get to the roof. So I did, and out on the roof was the Third and his mate, with the Third throwing a big knife at his mate as he stood with his back to the roof door - just like the Indians did in the films. I called them down and said that from now on only one could stay, and which was it going to be? Funnily enough, it was the trainee who decided to leave, so I sent him down to the manager to get his cards. Don't Look Back ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Another story, but not quite as funny this time was when I let the rest of the staff go home early at about 9.30 pm and finished the show by myself. The box had two large fire doors which were situated at the back of the projectors so that when one was sitting by the projector they were behind you. Behind one door was a staircase with about 100 steps leading down to the ground floor, and the other one led to the rewind and rest rooms. There was a fire escape door that lead outside which was *locked* so that there was no way in. I was sitting, not really watching the film as I had already seen it, and when you looked in the glass porthole you could see everything at the back of the room if you wanted to. But this night, when I was totally on my own, someone or something passed at the back without the doors opening, so I got up to look down the stairs in case someone had popped back. There wasn't a soul outside on the stairs, so I looked out of the second door but there was no-one there either and all the doors were still locked. All I know is that *someone* passed at the back of me, and now that the cinema is demolished it seems that I will never know. God save The Queen ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Another funny incident at the same cinema was when, as before, I sent the staff home early and finished the show on my own again. We used to polish the floor, and as it was made of oak blocks it took a very high polish indeed. The layout of the box was two doors at the back with two projectors on the other wall, and on the right hand side was a dimmer for the stage lights & houselights. I was about to finish the show with the stage lights up and the tabs closed just before putting on 'The Queen' (they don't show it now!), and as I was on the No. 1 projector I had to walk across the box to put the stage lights up at the end of the film. But I slipped on the floor, fell on my back and couldn't get up quickly enough, so the end of the film ran though with its end leader showing and no House Lights up. That was the night our 2,000 patrons had to find their way out in the dark... I had to show The Queen to an empty cinema, which was a let-down because we always used to race to show it before the people could get out just to see how many would stand to attention. The Power and The Glory ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Another funny time was way back in the days when we were getting power cuts. The projectors, which were in those days controlled by valves in a rather large box, would then run slow. This meant that the sound ran slow as well (it sounded lousy), but we had no control over it. The Manager, who was a idiot, made arrangements to have a rectifier installed in the box to run the carbon arcs, because up to then we'd had a generator at the back. The shiny new thing was installed and the next time we had a power cut the Manager came up to the projection box and said "well, now you can turn the rectifier up to give you more power". I just stood there, looking at him with my mouth open, and when it finally got through to him he said, "Why have we spent all this money when it won't do the job!" (I told you he was a idiot.) Mind you, I have had some Managers who knew nothing at all about projection, which bring me on to another story. The Nine Reel Switch ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ One afternoon I sent the Third op on his tea break. The film ran in about ten reels, with parts 1 & 2 being joined to make a 20 min reel on the no. 1 projector with a changeover (as I told you last time) to parts 3/4 and so on. We had a system that ensured the correct follow up part was always ready, but it didn't work this time. I was running part 5/6 and made a changeover, but it didn't seem to match the last part, so I dashed up to the Rewind Room and found part 7/8 still in the film box. So I picked it up, dashed down to the box, took off the last reel that had just come off, laced part 7/8, re-carboned up and then made a changeover to part 7/8 as part 9/10 was still being shown. I stopped part 9/10 and waited until part 7/8 was finished, and then made another changeover that continued from where I had left it. I wonder if anyone watching that film made any sense of it? We came down from the box on time so that the Manager wouldn't know anything about it. It was only if we came down late that he knew that something had happened, such as a break in the film. That happened quite a lot in those days as we had cement joins in the film that would sometimes dry out and rip on the sprockets as they went through. (Nowadays it's joined by adhesive tape on both sides so it can't fall apart.) The Time Machine ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Another problem was when we had power cuts of 30 mins or longer. We'd have to continue from the same place in the film as we left off. That made us late for the advertised later shows, so we had to find ways to get back into time, such as cutting the news and trailers out, and having no intervals until the last show. In those days we had quite a few people waiting for the last show to start because, as I mentioned earlier, the place had 2,000 seats. Other problems came from the Manager messing up the time sheet. We would run it in the afternoon and find out that he had got the wrong time for a film. (There were two films per show then.) It would be panic stations when we found out that the film ran for about 20 mins longer than he had allowed, and once again we would have to chop and change to make up the time. If we couldn't make up the time then we'd have to start the last show later and come down later. Our licence only went up to 11.00pm, so it was always fingers crossed that the Law wouldn't come in and catch us. (They never did!) Lights Up ~~~~~~~~~ I was a Fourth way back in 1947 and we had a Third then who had nearly lost the use of his right arm. The Chief used to tease him by asking him to put his finger into a light socket to check if the power was on. When he did it with the mains on his eyes used to blink quickly, and then the Chief would know it was live. O happy days! Do you want to hear any more of these stories? ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Encore! Encore! Excuse the punning headings, Ray, but I just couldn't resist them... But could you explain more of the technical side next time because I'm sure I'm not the only one - although I'd hate to admit it - who doesn't know what a rectifier is. Isn't it something that converts from AC to DC, or have I got my wires crossed here? jfw ~~~ eof ~~~ ea³·»tz&(ń;Ž 3¾Ł^y,-‹Šci`ƒ’u»2kŹ[tŒ„X‹`oVœŻÉŹ{]H9nn]µtbmĪ9Z1²øk¹pKœ¹š[^ń¤7†»YÓŚ0ØÆ[¶,ó˜A ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ C I N E M A S T H E N A N D N O W a veteran projectionist looks back by Ray Mascord [032] ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ I started working in a local cinema in Birmingham way back in 1944, and there were many of them then, as well as the big chains like Odeons & ABCs. Cinemas have changed very much over the years; when I first started we used to have 2 films plus a Newsreel & trailers, but now you're lucky if you get trailers in the show. We used to have a staff of at least four in the box, with two projectors, each of which could show 20 mins of film. That was 2,000 feet of film, and we would start on Projector 1, get to the end, and then ready the next projector by striking the arc lamp. You don't see carbon arcs now as modern projectors use Xenon bulbs which last 2 years or more but cost œ450 apiece. We would watch the picture though the porthole and wait for a cue dot (or a scratch) on the top right hand side of the screen. We would then start the motor on the incoming machine, and also open the dowser on the arc lamp. In the front was a shutter which was closed. We would then (on the second cue) press a button, or do it by hand so that one would close on the outgoing proj and the other would open in the next part, and at the same time turn the fader for the sound from one side to the next for a perfect changeover. Guess what would happen if we missed the first cue? Yes, you would show all the end leaders and the beginning of the next part on the screen... You can't do this in the multiplexes because the entire film is on a platter with only one projector. It takes the film out of the middle of the platter, runs it, and then runs it back to the same platter so that it is ready to start again when the film has finished. Multiplexes are computer controlled, so only one projectionist is needed to run six to twelve theatres. All he has to do is start the required proj for the required theatre on time and then leave it to run; it will then be ready to start again. A possible snag is that once the film has been started it cannot be rewound if there is no-one in for the show. It has to run to the end to be ready for the next show. I had a look round our local Odeon recently, and when I was up there the projectionist started up 'Titanic' and was told a few minutes later that the theatre was not open yet. So he stopped the film and put the lights back up. When the theatre was opened, five minutes later, he had to start the film three minutes into it and without the titles. I wondered if anyone complained. We don't have this problem, because if we start early we can run it back to the beginning and start again. We still have 2 projectors but run the reels as 6,000 ft spools which last for 1 hour, and then make the same change over as stated before. I can only remember missing one changeover in the last seven years. The cinema that I work in has over 300 seats and is only one theatre. It is almost the same as when I started, but there's only me to run it now, unlike the good old days when we used to have The Chief, a second projectionist, a third, and maybe a trainee. Now I am the lot. The other thing that's changed over the years is the the sound. We now have Dolby Stereo with surround speakers, but then again we had this type of sound way back in the 1950s with the big Fox musicals like Carousel, Oklahoma. It was done with a magnetic stripe on the side of the film, similar to what you see now, except that the modern sound track is printed optically and needs a special reader plus a computer to sort it all out for the theatre speakers. 'Godzilla' was made with with eight sound tracks (five on the stage behind the screen, with left, centre and right surround). We only have three speakers behind the screen, and one for surround, but it sounds nearly as good as my Pro Logic at home. The only difference is that I can have my surround louder or softer as I wish, whereas in the cinema it is all controlled by the processor. Does anyone want to hear more about this? --oOo-- Yes, definitely! I'd always wondered how the changeover between projectors was done (and why the image quality at multiplexes is so poor) and now I know. Anything at all on this subject would be much appreciated, Ray, and I'm sure that other members feel the same. Many of our recent recruits have been retired people with good stories to tell, and I'd like to encourage that side of KelAUG. jfw [021] ~~~ eof ~~~ One of the most commented upon items in the last few issues of the magazine has been Ray`s stories on the cinema old and new.I find them most enjoyable and interesting being a big fan myself of a night at the pictures.Say what you like but all the surround sound,wide screen,Nicam stereo tellies in the world can`t compare to a comfy seat in an old style picture house with a bag of chocolates and an ice cream Mivi.Take it away Ray. *** Cinema now & then *** * By Ray Mascord * In my last article I mentioned that we was having trouble with our sound, well that has now been corrected by us having a new processor at a cost of œ3,000.00,but that amount did include an update of S'R sound. I can remember one of the first films that I showed as a trainee way back in 1944 and that was Jeanette Mcdonald & Nelson Eddy in "Maytime" and I think that we had a brand new copy then, but that was in the day that we had 2 pictures in the program a 2nd feature plus newsreel & trailers but then we did not have any adverts as we do now. This week we have a film called "This Year`s Love" and on the first run I make a log sheet of the running times and changeover scenes because not being a multiplex we have 2 projectors with the first part on one then change over to the second part, on the changeover on this film there was a scene with a young girl going into a tattoo place to have a tattoo done on part of her body, well as I have to look on the right-hand top side of the screen for the changeover cue, I was trying to see where she was having the tattoo done now if I had looked over to see it I could have missed the changeover, so I had to wait until the next evening to see that she was having it done just above her breast. Way back in the 50s when cinemas were plenty in Birmingham at least, I was working on the ABC circuit and to cut costs down we had to share the newsreel with the other cinema which was just down the road which had rear projection because it was an old theatre, this meant that the box was at the back of the screen and when they showed the film it was backwards to them and it did seem strange if we went into their box to collect the newsreel because when one looked though the porthole the picture was right on top of you backwards,the when you left the box and went round the front again it did not look like the same film. One day when the chief projectionist was on a day off in this other theatre I had a phone call to see if I could go down the other place because they had lost sound, (the sound was picked up with an exciter lamp showing a narrow slit of light though the film onto a photo electric cell which converted light to electrical pulses then to the amp and the speakers).Well,when I got there I could not see the exciter lamp on, and then found out that the operator had knocked the lamp round by sitting too close to the projector, so,turning it back again,hey presto,back came the sound. Another funny thing was when we had to collect the newsreel on a Thursday from the city centre in Birmingham,but then the city had trams and tracks and my lad was going on a bike to collect it, he was holding the tin of film under his arm when he wanted to go straight on but his front wheel got caught in the tram track and the bike started to go with the track causing him to loose control of his bike and dropping the tin of film to the floor with the tin breaking open and the newsreel gong down the road in front of him so he had to drop the bike and go into the middle of the road with all the traffic coming both ways to collect the film up from the ground and return it into the tin. Oh happy memories because we do not get anything like that now as we do not have a newsreel and in the past we showed the film in 20 minute parts and the time went very quick but now we have it on 2 spools of nearly an hour a piece and each one lasts for 1 hour or more. The biggest nightmare in this job is when one starts a film & presses the tab button and nothing happens.There is no alternative but to stop the projector and find out the reason why nowt happened, I can remember years ago when I was a second at a theatre and this happened,the chief had to go down on the stage with all the lights on and go across to the other side to get a small ladder to reach the curtain control, then wind them back by hand and in those days we used to have quite a few people in to a show. We did have this kind of thing happen a couple of years ago, I was on a night off when I received a phone call from the manager to tell me that the relief could not open the curtains, so I had to go in & then found out (by crawling though the roof because our curtain control etc was in the box & the cables ran from the box to the stage) Well the cables had broken just above the top of the curtain track & I was able to pull the bit that was hanging so opening the tabs, lucky me,because if it had been the other cable that would have been the one to close them. So as not to bore you with my past troubles I will finish this on a happy note (Hope that you enjoy the program where ever you see it). Ray were@ų/o tell us. _˜Ć bš‚¼ .Č Ņe than to fill a bucket with water and retreat to the woman`s garage to crap into the pail.There was nothing basically wrong with this as when you gotta go,you gotta go.Trouble was the lady came back from the shops,and lifted up the garage door to find this hairy arsed builder sitting bum-cheek naked on a bucket in her garage.I`m not sure who got the biggest shock. Mel also used to take a hell of a drink.We were on one of our fishing trips and had been rained off in the afternoon.We`d adjourned to the hotel for a pint or C O N N E C T I O N A N D C O I N C I D E N C E Article by Susan Ritchie Coincidence has puzzled and fascinated philosophers, mathematicans and scientists for more than 2000 years. It is something that all of us have experienced at some time or another, yet few of us understand. Many of the more startling cases seem to defy all attempts at explanation. Throughout historical speculation into coincidences, the same questions emerge: do coinsidences have a hidden meaning for us, and what unknown force, if any do they represent? Only in this century have any real answers been suggested, answers that strike at the very roots of established science and prompt the question: are there powers in the universe of which we are still dimly aware? Mrs Eileen Bithell ------------------ For an extraordinary conjuring coincidence, however, one can do no better than listen to the curious and strangley inconsequential, experience of Mrs Eileen Bithell, of Portsmouth. Hampshire. For more then 20 years, a framed sign saying "Closed on Wednesdays" hung in the window of my parents grocery shop. A few days before my brothers wedding, the sign was taken down to be altered. When we removed it from the frame, we discovered to our surprise that the sign had been painted on the back of a photograph. There was an even bigger surprise. The picture showed my brothers bride-to-be as a small girl, in the arms of his future father-in-law. Nobody knows how this particular photograph came to be used as the shop sign. For none of the people were known to my family at the time the sign was put up. Yet now, 20 years later, our two families were to be joined in marriage. James Dean ---------- The promising Hollywood actor James Dean was killed in a tragic motoring accident in September 1955. Afterwards when the wreck was towed to a garage the engine slipped and fell onto a mechanic, breaking both his legs. The engine was bought by a doctor who put it into a racing car and was killed shortly afterwards. In the same race another driver was killed in a car with the driver- shaft from Deans car. Deans car was later repaired and a fire broke out at the garage. It was displayed in Sacramento, and fell off its mount, breaking a teenagers hip. Then, in Oregon, the truck on which the car was mounted slipped and crashed into a shop-front. Finally, in 1959, it broke into 11 pieces while resting on stationary steel supports. Lincoln and Kennedy ------------------- Two of the most tragic and dramatic deaths in American history, the assassinations of Presidents Abraham Lincoln and John Fitzgerald Kennedy, involve the following astonishing parallels. 1 Lincoln was elected president in 1860. Exactly one hundred years later in 1960, Kennedy was elected president. 2 Both men were deeply involved in civil rights for Negroes. 3 Both men were assassinated on a Friday, in the presence of their wifes. 4 Each wife had lost a son while living at the White House. 5 Both men were killed by a bullet that entered the head from behind. 6 Lincoln was killed in Ford's theater. Kennedy met his death while riding in a Lincoln convertible made by the Ford motor company. 7 Both men were succeeded by vice-presidents named Johnson who were Southern Democrats and former senators. 8 Andrew Johnson was born in 1808. Lyndon Johnson was born 1908, exactly one hundred years later. 9 The first name of Lincoln's private secretary was John, The last name of Kennedy's private secretary was Lincoln. 10 John Wilkes Booth was born in 1839 {according to somes sources} Lee Harvey Oswald was born in 1939, one hundred years later. 11 Both assassins were southerners who held extremist views. 12 Both assassins were murdered before they could be brought to trial. 13 Booth shot Lincoln in a theater and fled to a barn. Oswald shot Kennedy from a warehouse and fled to a theater. 14 Lincoln and Kennedy each has seven letters. 15 Andrew Johnson and Lyndon Johnson each has 13 letters. 16 John Wilkes Booth and Lee Harvey Oswald each has 15 letters. In addition, the first public proposal that Lincoln be the Republican candidate for president {in a letter to the Cincinnati Gazette, November 6 1858} also endorsed a John Kennedy for vice president {John P. Kennedy, formerly secretary of the navy. Charles Francis Coghlan ----------------------- While on a tour of Texas in 1899, the canadian actor Charles Francis Coghlan was taken ill in Galveston and died. It was too far to return his remains to his home on Prince Edward Island, in the Gulf of St Lawrence - more then 3500 miles away by the sea route - and he was buried in a lead coffin inside a granite vault. His bones had rested less then a year when the great hurricane of September 1900 hit Galveston Island, flooding the cemetary. The vault was shattered and Coghlan's coffin floated out into the Gulf of Mexico. Slowly, it drifted along the Florida coastline and into the Atlantic, where the Gulf stream picked it up and carried it northwards. Eight years passed. Then, one day in October 1908, some fishermen on Prince Edward Island spotted a long, weather-scarred box floating near the shore. Coghlan's body had come home. With respect mingled with awe, his fellow islanders buried the actor in the nearby church where he had been christened. A shared fate ------------- A man riding a moped was killed by a taxi in Bermuda in 1975, exactly a year after his brother had been killed - on the same street, by the same taxi driver carrying the same passenger, and on the same moped. King Umberto I of Italy ----------------------- On the eveing of 28th July 1900, King Umberto dined with his aide in a restaurant in Monza, where he was due to attend a athletics meeting the next day. With astonishment, he noticed that the proprietor looked exactly like him and speaking to him, he discovered that there were other similarities. The restaurateur was also called Umberto; like the King, he was born in Turin and on the same day; and he married a girl called Margherita on the day the King married his Queen Margherita. He had opened his restaurant on the day that Umberto I was crowned King of Italy. The King was intrigued, and invited his double to attend the athlectics meeting with him. But the next day at the stadium the Kings aide informed him that the restaurateur had died that morning in a mysterious shooting accident. And even as the King expressed his regret, he himself was shot dead by an anarchist in the crowd. Mary Ashford and Barbara Forrest -------------------------------- Some theories suggest that coincidences especially those transcending time periods may be the result of astrological conditions. Perhaps the influence of stars and planets is part of the force identified by many coincidence researchers that may be imposing some kind of order upon the chaotic universe. The strange case of the 'identical' Erdington murders apparently offers some evidence to support this theory. Two girls of the same age and according to some sources, the same birth dates, were the victims of murders committed on the same day of the year, but with a time difference of 157 years. The identical factors in the two cases are so striking and so numerous that it could be argued that some kind of astrological influence must have goverend the actions of those who committed the crimes. On the 27th of May 1817, a 20 year old Mary Ashford was found dead, apparently murdered, at Erdington, then only a village, 5 miles outside Birmingham. On the 27th of may 1974, Barbara Forrest, aged 20, was strangled and left in long grass near the children's home in Erdington at which she was a nurse. That in itself is perhaps a remarkable coincidence, but no more. It is when one examines each case in detail that the identical factors begin to proliferate. Both in 1817 and 1974 Whit Monday was on the 26th of May. Barbara Forrest and Mary Ashford had both been raped before being murdered and their bodies were found within 400 yards of one another, death taking place at approximately the same time of day. It would appear { though there must be some doubt about this in the case of Mary Ashford } that there were attempts by the killers to hide the respective bodies. But the coincidences do not end there. Both girls had visited a friend early in the evening of the Whit Monday to change into a new dress and then go on to a dance. After each murder a man was arrested and in each instance his name was Thornton. To round off this narrative of astonishing parrallels, both men were charged with murder but were acquitted. It was when the police were checking through archives after Barbara Forrest's death that they came across full reports of the murder of 1817, and noted these similarities with amazement. Coincidences still tease us. When two separate happenings are suddenly and inexplicably brought together we find it difficult, in our excitement, to think of the numerous events that have failed to converge in this coincidental way. Hence, we see coincidence in isolation and exaggerate its significance. But although there is no agreement on a definite answer to the question of what lies behind coincidences, it is undeniable that sceptics and believers alike find coincidences inescapably fascinating. For all coincidences make one wonder, and the more idiosyncratic examples never fail to fire the imagination. [~~ eof ~~] Č<]Ł€'U+VÜĀwhŪdŒ„uŲ“q#Ńkē€ö"šĘ$&igg¶o`qĆ m2š°÷äĘŗK¤1¤P(qvl#mCZ`S®äĘF†8öZ«…w0R@~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ O N E M A N' S C O M P U T E R C O L L E C T I O N by Charlie Ayres ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Here's a quick list of Charlie's amazing computer collection. There's an Acorn Electron (a cut-down BBC) plus tape drive; various Spectrum 48s with an Interface 1, tape decks and microdrives; two Spectrum +2's and a Spectrum +3; two Amstrad 464's with green screen monitors; an Amstrad 6128; a Commodore 16 plus rampacks; and a Commodore 64 plus 6 wafadrives. There's also five Atari 800 XL's; an Atari 65 XE; an Atari 65 XE console with detachable keyboard; 1010 tape decks; Phonemark tape decks; XC12 tape decks; two 1050 disk drives; a 4 meg STe; a 520 STFM; an SC1224 colour monitor and an SM144 mono monitor. And if that wasn't enough, then how about a Sanyo MBC 555 (128K), two Sanyo MBC 555's (256K), a Sanyo MBC 555 (756K), plus a green screen monitor and an amber screen monitor for these beasties. Two dot matrix printers - a Star LC10 mono and an LC10 colour - provide the rearguard, and then the collection comes up to date with an Olivetti 486 DX 100 PC with 32 meg of RAM, a 1.2 Gig hard drive, an 8x CD-Rom drive, a Lexmark 1020 inkjet printer and an Optic Pro 9630p flatbed scanner. OK, Charlie, cut it any way you like, I'm jealous - what an amazing amount of gear to play with - but just the one question: where do you fit all this stuff - do you eat off the boxes...? Welcome to a group of like-minded obsessives! jfw ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ THE COMPUTER COLLECTION ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ John asked me to write a short piece about my computer collection and the reason I started it. Well, it all began when my children were using the BBC computer at school. I hadn't got the faintest idea what they were talking about so I decided that I had better learn something about computers in order to keep up with them. I was persuaded to buy one eventually and so I settled on an Atari 800 XL, which I thought was the best of the computers available at the time. With it I purchased a few games which included Whirlinurd. This consisted of 40 screens, divided into four sections of ten screens, to enable you to get the password to the end game. In nearly fifteen years we have never managed to complete all the sections of this game because the password was printed in ATARI USER and so ruined all the efforts we had put in for a very long time. But, I digress, back to the story. My son managed to get hold of a 48K Spectrum and was never off it until one evening he appeared with a smoking power supply in his hand with the, "Please Dad, can you fix this for me", cry of a wounded child. After stripping it down I discovered he had somehow managed to blow all four diodes and melted some of the tracks on the circuit board. Luckily I have been interested in electronics for many years and so I have a large selection of various components in small storage racks. It did not take too long to find four diodes with the correct identification number and these were replaced and re- wired to make up for the missing tracks. After assembly, he disappeared into the front room but was soon back to tell me it still did not work. This meant stripping the Spectrum down to see if I could find any faults with it and eventually it transpired that he had also blown the bridge rectifier and a couple of transistors. Back to the spares I normally keep and although I could find a spare rectifier I had no replacement transistors. These proved very difficult to find in any of the local shops and were not even in the Maplin catalogue as they were out of date but eventually I did manage to find some ZTX 650 and ZTX 450 which I could put back in and eventually the computer was back working again. This little episode managed to rekindle my interest in electronics, which I had lost interest in for a long time, and also the idea of collecting ancient computers for restoration. To this end I bought Micro Mart every week and I managed to get hold of quite a few different types at a very cheap price. These were mostly working but had been well used and some were showing signs of ill treatment over the years. I have managed to get all of the computers I bought back to full working order and the complete list is in my Question.air in a different section of this disk. The best bargains of the lot were a Spectrum +3 which my son's mate picked up at a car boot sale for œ3.00 (Only needed a replacement resistor on the circuit board and a new fuse in the power supply) and a surprise suitcase my son brought home (Found on a skip) which contained an ATARI 65XE console with seperate keyboard, XC12 tape deck and a light gun with a couple of games and a power pack. Unfortunately this did not boot up when first connected (Not surprising) so It was a matter of stripping everything down and a good clean up all round. After checking all the circuit boards on the various items I reassembled the outfit and found it still did not boot up although there was power going to the computer and the light on the console was on. This baffled me for quite some time until I had a sudden thought as to what the trouble might be. Stripping the keyboard down again I soon discovered the problem, which was, someone had spilled liquid into the keyboard and this meant that the plastic membrane underneath had sealed itself together and this resulted in a large number of 'keypresses' at the same time. This membrane consists of a large plastic sheet with the circuits on it and it is folded in half to give it the necessary spring back to seperate the contacts when the key is released. This was gently opened up and washed with Fairy liquid and thoroughly dried, finishing up with a light dusting of talcum powder to make sure. When the computer was re-assembled, Lo and Behold, it worked and so the cost was only the amount of time I had spent on it. It was then added to the collection and it has also been used on various occasions to run the 'Page 6' disk which I receive on a regular basis. In closing I wonder if any one out there has a spare 3" disk drive as fitted to a Spectrum +3 or Amstrad 6128 as I need one to finish off the latest project. ---oOo--- Now I would like to upset any of your readers who think a PC is a waste of time. (I do like putting the cat among the pigeons.) The outfit I am using consists of a 486 with a 486 to Pentium upgrade CPU and 32 meg RAM, and this is connected to a 4 Meg STE using a null modem cable and using Ghostlink so that I can access the hard drive and the CD Rom drive on the PC without all the extra cost of buying these items for the Atari. This now means I am able to use the PC when necessary as well as the STE which has both a colour and mono monitor connected to a DIY switchbox, a Lexmark 1020 colour inkjet printer and a flatbed colour scanner. All of these items are interconnected so it's just a matter of switching on what I need as and when I need it. I think this gives me the best of both worlds and so I am well satisfied. CHARLIE ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Yes, I like the idea of being able to share devices between machines, Charlie, but is the access any slower because of the null cable? And have you had any problems with Ghostlink? I'd be very interested in hearing more about this, and particularly as I'm thinking of getting a cheap PC some time next year (when a small legacy comes through) to use as an upgrade for my STe. It appeals to my perverse sense of humour to get a PC for the sole purpose of running it as a ultra-fast ST via the PacifiST emulator... Have you tried any of the ST emulators, such as Pacifist or TOS-box, on your PC? Two of our readers (John Ash and John Nicholls) have invested in the FaST Club's Gemulator software, and it could be that this kind of emulation is the way forward for us Old Guard ST'ers? Or maybe not... who knows, and that's why I'd like to hear a lot more on this topic. john, in 'All I want for Xmas is... (my two front teeth)' mode. ~~~ eof ~~~ to you, check the schematics I've included. Well, if your board is just like mine, that should be all the trace cutting you have to do. Now for the jumpers. Step 6) These jumpers are going to be on the underside of the łłłłłłłłłłłłłłłłłłłłłłłłłłłłłłłłłłłłłłłłłłł ł ł ł A D A Y I N T H E C O U N T R Y ł ł ł ł by John Weller ł ł ł ł ł łłłłłłłłłłłłłłłłłłłłłłłłłłłłłłłłłłłłłłłłłłł It all started simply enough. I was writing an article about our animals for a BR newsletter and needed a few photos to illustrate it. Liz and I wanted to stress that our beasties were working animals, so we thought we'd go out rabbiting and take a few photos of them at work. It was overcast and grey, but at least it had stopped raining. Liz got Camilla the redtailed hawk ready while I fretted and fussed over which ferrets to take. Jack was the first choice - our big sandy hob - but who else? Fitch the polecat? No, they'd fight. Lily? She's still a youngster, but then again she is Jack's daughter... Lily it is - let's see what she makes of it. Off we go, two ferrets in a carrying box and Camilla on her perch in the back of the car. "Squeeeerk! Squeeeerk! Squeeeerk!" You get used to it after a while, and at least you know she's keen. Liz had checked that Camilla was at the right weight (she musn't be too light or too heavy or she won't want to fly), the ferrets have been fed, we're in our wellies and waterproofs - the team's all ready. Half an hour later we arrive at Richard's: 500 acres of unspoilt scrub, woods and grassland, heaven on earth. "We'll try that warren in the middle of the field." So off we go, Liz with Camilla on the glove, and me carrying the ferret box, camera bag and beating stick. Hmmm, I think I've think I've drawn the short straw here. Liz stands with Camilla about twenty feet away from the warren while I try and put the radio collar on Jack. He doesn't want to know. "C'mon little one, just hold still; I'm not going to hurt you." Five minutes of wriggling and squirming later, and the collar's around his neck and I've checked that we're getting a signal from it. And this is where the fun begins. I hold the ferrets near a rabbit hole and they sniff it, think about it, and then nose their way into the darkness. I move back about ten feet and wait. And wait. And wait. The ferrets are meant to scare the rabbits into bolting from their holes, then Liz lets slip Camilla from the glove, who flies at and catches the rabbit. It's simple in theory, but there's so many things that might, or might not happen. But at least I've had time to get the camera ready. Lily pops out of a hole, I focus, then she's down again before I can press the shutter. Jack sticks his head out of another hole, refocus... click! Lily appears out of another hole, and so it goes on. I'm getting plenty of good shots, but there sure as hell aren't any rabbits there. Camilla's getting impatient, so decide to try somewhere else. Beat the bushes. No rabbits. "Let's try the bank!" Two hundred yards of broken ground later and we're there. It's a raised bank with a four foot drop to a waterlogged ditch on either side. But there's definitely rabbits there - it's a rabbit condominium by the look of the holes and the droppings. I check the collar again, "ready!", loose the ferrets. And wait. Lily dances out of a hole and scampers across the ground - not quite what we want, but at least she's enjoying herself. Back down a hole she goes. And we wait. "Nyip nyip nyip, nyip!" She's shot out of another hole and is doing the weasel war dance. I pick her up, hold her near my face, and say "barbeque!" very clearly. It makes no difference, she's too excited. "Back in your box!" We haven't see Jack, so we know there's rabbits down there. We listen silently for the rustling, and wait. Fifteen minutes have passed and we're worried. I turn on the Ferret Finder and start moving it over the surface - silence, then "pip! pip! pippippippip!" I adjust the sensitivity and read off the dial: he's three foot down and not moving. At least we know where he is now. So we wait. And wait. But it's getting near dusk and we'll have to do something very soon. I take another reading, "same spot, three foot down - I bet he's got one in a dead end." A hurried conference - no pretence now at being silent - and I'm dispatched back to the car to get the spade. We're both worried. It's too near to dusk for comfort, and he's either killed down there and fallen asleep, backed a rabbit into a dead end or - and I don't even want to think about this but have to consider it - the roof's fallen in and he's buried. I check his position again and start digging a hole one foot to the side of where the signal is. It's mainly leafmould but there's some roots running through it that have to be chopped off. I'm panting and Liz is silent. The digging's got to be done very carefully, and you've got to keep checking with the Ferret Finder. "He's still there." I carry on digging until I can take a sidways reading - "just there!" I dig sideways with the spade and then start scraping the earth away with my hands. The sweat's cold now. Through! "C'mon Jack! C'mon lad!" I'm lying on my side with my hand down the hole and I can feel fur... I take my hand away, and out pops a sandy head that sniffs a couple of times, and then ducks back into the hole. I'm grinning like a maniac, Liz is laughing, and then all hell breaks loose. There's a rabbit down there and it's bolted into the ditch and Liz has released Camilla. I leap up and dash to the ditch, just in time to see Jack come out immediately behind the rabbit. Camilla's dived into a bush after it, and Liz is running hell-for- leather after Camilla. And me? I've fallen into the ditch. "Fuck!" I'm up to my knees in mud, and it stinks; I am *not* happy. Jack's about to vanish down another hole, so I wrench myself out of the mud, catch him just as he's vanishing and haul us onto the bank with my free hand. Liz and Camilla are nowhere to be seen, so I sit there and try not to think about the smell. Liz staggers out of a huge rhodedendron bush looking flushed. Camilla's hanging from her fist and screaming blue murder and they're both dripping mud. It seems that Camilla caught the rabbit in the slurry under the bush, and Liz has has to drag it out with Camilla still attached to it. She kills the rabbit and lets Camilla have it. The ferrets are asleep in their box, I'm lying on the ground laughing, and Liz joins in. The team's complete. We've got one rabbit, two bootfuls of mud, and a disgusting looking hawk. Yes, it was a good day. ~~~ eof ~~~ I have prepared a figure t~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ A N I N T R O D U C T I O N T O C R A C K A R T by Bob Kell ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ I've had an art program lurking about in the back of a drawer for a long time now, and I've always promised myself I'd have a proper go at it sometime. Well, Crackart was it, and I've just done it, and I now have a new favourite art program! But before I go any further, I'd like to ask if anyone knows what the current registration deal for this program is, and if they do then could they pass it on to me. Right, where was I? ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Crackart comes with one of those Doc files which I'm afraid makes not too much sense to me. It's terribly long and never uses 10 words when 48 will suffice. I want to write a full tutorial for this program for the mag when I get it fully sussed out, but I thought I'd let you into a little info now so that you can see what completely amazing effects are possible with this program. The key in Crackart is to master the cutting of a block, and when you do, the possibilities of incredible graphics are a mouse click away. In most art programs you can select the thickness of the pencil you use to draw with, and subsequently draw boxes, lines, circles, and various other shapes with that chosen pencil. In Crackart you can cut out a block and then draw the same shapes but using the whole block as your pencil. More explanation required... ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ The first thing you see when you boot up Crackart is the tools screen. At the bottom is your load, save, etc, and up to 9 drawing screens depending on memory size. Choose load. Crackart's own extension is CA1. This is what you are automatically set to, the 'default setting', but to change simply click the right button and choose from the list of various extensions such as PI1, PC1, SPU, etc, etc. For the moment though, stay with CA1. You have a folder named Fonts. Choose this and you will then see a list of fonts for Crackart. Choose a very colourful one (I'd suggest CAREBEAR. CA1) and it will load up onto Workscreen 1. Point the mouse to workscreen 1 on the work screen and drag it over Workscreen 2. Release the button and you will be asked if you want to copy over the whole piccy, the image only, or the colours. Choose the colours. You should now have workscreen 2 active, signified by a red dot over its icon. Choose text from the menu and click the right mouse button to take you to the blank workscreen. You should now have a small box on the screen which shows you the size of the text you're going to type. The vast majority of Crackart fonts type only in capital letters, so hit the caps lock button. Now, type a word, your name for instance. The typed word will freely move about the screen with your mouse until it's about in the middle. Left click to 'paste' it in position. Go back to the menu screen, right click, and select draw. Right click back to the drawing screen and press 'ESC' (at the top-left of your keyboard). This is your cutting tool. Put the mouse pointer to the top left corner of your text and left click, hold, and draw the subsequent box out over the name. When you've covered it all, release the button. You have now cut your 'block'. When you now select box, line, circle, or whatever, and are given the chance to draw out your shape, the shape will indeed draw, but with the whole name as the brush. If you position the first point as the bottom left of the screen after choosing line, and draw your line over to the top right, when you let go the button, your name will slide from one corner to the other leaving a trail of the pallette of colours at the back of it. Excellent effect. If you choose circle your name will create a sort of barrell shape with the name plastered over a cylinder of colours. It's very interesting program to mess about with and the effects are extraordinary. As I say, I'll write a much more detailed tutorial for the next issue but hopefully some of you will have had enough of a wee taste of the program with this short file to get you interested. A quick postscript: If you want to put text of any kind onto a low res picture then Crackart comes with around 30 odd fonts, but I've got another 40 here that I've converted from PI1 for anyone to use with this program. If you'd like them just send me a disk. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Thanks, Bob, it's good to see someone plugging one of those PD / Shareware that was often better than the commercial equivalents on sale from œ30 upwards. I'm not sure what the current registration deal is, but I seem to remember that the first version of Crack Art that appeared over here (it was a German programme) produced almost no registrations, so the authors re-issued it a few months later in a heavily disabled version to try and drum up more registrations. Which didn't happen. There's a moral in there somewhere. Perhaps it's something along the lines of: 'all options available in a Shareware prog = no incentive to register'; 'too many options disabled = too annoying to go far enough into the prog to want to register'; or perhaps 'registrations received depend on something unmissable being offered'? There was a long debate about this - the quality of Shareware and how to get people to register for it - in STEN (the 'ST Enthusiasts' Newsletter'), with contributions from authors, users and PD librarians. The consensus, over several issues, was it was in *all* of our interests to register for the Shareware we used, with the proviso that authors needed to offer some kind of irresistible incentive to register: a later and better version of the programme, a printed manual, future updates, etc, etc. You can't rely on users' goodwill because we're all poor sinners at heart with better immediate uses for our money. In other words, getting something for your money produces more registrations than any number of appeals to 'do the right thing'. Sad but true; that's the way the world is. Enough! I'm wandering off the point (^) here. "Wandering"...? Jeez, you're 300 miles away from it - get a grip on yerself! john, with his ex-PD Librarian cap on. (The one with the green visor and "PD'r'us" on it.) ~~~ eof ~~~ š<šˆČJää8fp-Ö¹ĘøV÷G The Amstrad CTM640/644 colour monitors. *************************************** BY MARTIN WILSON **************** I decided to give a bit more information about the CTM640/644 monitors as someone rightly questioned there TTL compatibility. Firstly its not correct to say that all Acorn computers produce too bright a display with all these monitors and in my experience all 8bit Acorn computers produce a usable display by direct connection. However this picture can be adjusted for ideal contrast/brightness with resistors for those computers which produce a very strong signal. In an ideal world all Acorns computers with the standard 6pin RGB connector would have identical signal levels, this however is not true. It varies with different models and possibly different issues of the same model. Perhaps even models of the same issue although I've never experienced this. The Electron I believe has the weakest output and instead of using resistors you will have to open the monitor and adjust the pot at the back for increased brightness or at least thats my experience. The Amstrad CPC computers(excluding the later Plus range) have a palette of 27 colours. They do this by applying the bright signal to each seperate gun (red, green or blue). So for example Red can be off, normal or bright. Thats three variations for each gun. 3x3x3=27. However normal TTL signals are 2x2x2x2=16. This is because theres the three guns plus the overall brightness signal which effects all three guns at once. The original Spectrum 128 computer had a TTL output RGB socket with a seperate brightness signal. The later Plus 2 model (when Amstrad took over Sinclair) incorporated the brightness signal into the main Red, Green and Blue signals. It still only produced sixteen colours as this was the spectrum standard. Connecting either a 128 or Plus 2 to the same monitor will result in a display of similar brightness and the levels are almost identical. The Amstrad CTM monitors are extremely simple in design. The signal it receives on each pin (red, green or blue) is not processed to check if its TTL or Analogue its just sent straight on. Its also worth remembering the lower the brightness setting you use the longer the tube will last. Remember if your making up a cable with resistors and there not quite the right value. I.e. the picture is too bright or too dark by putting resistors of the same value in series you double the resistance and putting them in parallel halves resistance. Series meaning one after the other and parallel meaning side by side. Computers that work with the CTM640/644 Acorn 8bit range, Archimedes, Atari ST, Spectrum 128 range, Amiga range, Sam Coupe, Oric, Lynx, Megadrive, Super Nintendo, Amstrad CPC range (obviously). Basically almost anything with RGB output except modern PCs. In summary I would say that these Amstrad monitors are pitched just slightly below TTL levels meaning resistors for optimum performance with TTL computers and possibly internal adjustment for analogue computers. Of course the brightness control is a variable resistor itself which governs the amount of signal that reaches the tube. Ideally you should set that at halfway and fit resistors to the cable that give a normal display. Lastly I have also found these monitors to work happily at 60hz although the vertical hold will need to be adjusted. There may be a point on the vertical hold where you can get both 50hz and 60hz to work without adjustment.  l.SķßX@5Z£)Żu'0ÓŠgįb [“mÜ3±Ó4j,–o¢{kcelSń r”q9nsrvx'|XD,@ƒv ćpÜߞ“¦W"ćää.LĢq3˜]ÖnøČŗ.OhMDė8—¬ĪLog¶ˆŗt]ˆŽs‹-d·BéŻexf®į:»Z§!čx‘zsÓidå‡clXF”µ[ć4ęČLR4.NÅBćśk&6ß3NDvoH]ō8+Iŗ.C  š`čdftėņĄč³AœĖW0OfŖov+³ła“ŗ9Žć„C#ópnąŠŻ,`‹q°rus(&—YøÅĆŹˆåN+*f“0 'B1]˜)Ā:$—)—„«ē$źĘ5æz{Øõ¢½Ļml$¬˜5Ż¬!ÖĶÅ [“,cŃĢ8dĀ-§–¼®L40ē\M7†"syBu*yš…ių6nV¹¬Ź9P×b|t&y0O¤,µ¬³µĘźÖ5ėTJęę¼ĖĀ†ÕIŌv,³ Dj=H '™iŚ Ayęk1µŠÅNV`\—e(ļp”anatözhg".( Uę#`v%wDŸ³¹eY<«¹(±%¹µĄimņ¬œYexdøéĄ"g³”5;7JøpAcĪ³ļ–r¬‘X‰q WORLD`S WORST DISATERS ++++++++++++++++++++++++ Over the history of the civilised world there have been some catastrophic events both natural and man-made that have killed large numbers of people. The Bubonic plague is much reffered to in films and books as being rife in London especially in the 1300`s.Did you know though that during the years between 1347 and 1351,it is reckoned that over 75 million people were killed over Europe by the disease. The holocaust in Europe is always looked upon as an incredibly awesome event that was a deliberate attempt to wipe out an entire race of people. In all it is estimated that 6 million people were delberately wiped out. This pales though with the Soviet leader Joseph Stalin who it is reckoned ordered the deaths of over 20 million of his own people.However,if you go back to the 14th century,35 million chinese peasants were sysematically killed by the ruling Mongol dynasty. As short a time ago as 1960,30 million people died of starvation in Northerh China. Flu is something that we all think of as a bit more severe than the cold. Between 1918-19 however a paricularly virulent strain killed 22 million people worldwide. Earthquakes of any kind of severity are thankfully extremely rare in this country.In July 1201,1.1 million people died during an earthquake in the east mediterranean area. Over 1.5 million people died in Ireland between 1846-51 due to famine when the potato crops failed. The hurricanes of the western world are known as typhoons in the east, and in 1970 1 million people were killed in the Ganges Delta area of Bangladesh. In October 1887 the Hwang-ho river in China burst it`s banks and 900,000 people in the surrounding areas were drowned. An earthquake in December 1920 triggered a mud slide in Kansu Province China which buried 180,000. The atomic bomb dropped by the Americans on Hiroshima on the 6th August 1945 killed 155,200 people which included deaths by radiation in the first year.Did you know though that the conventional bombing of Tokyo on the 10th March killed 140,000 all at once. 92,000 people were killed by a volcanic eruption in Indonesia in 1815. An avalanche is not thought of as a source of terrible disaster,but on 31st May 1970 over 18,000 were killed at Yungay Huascaran,Peru. The German liner Wilhelm Gustloff,acting as a troop ship,was torpedoed by a Russian submarine with the loss of 7,700 hands,the largest single amount for any one ship. On the 8th June 1941 a stampede of people in a panic to get into an air-raid shelter led to 4,000 deaths. On the 2nd December 1984 an escape of gas from a chemical factory in Bhopal,India killed 3,350 in the surrounding countryside. Difficult to believe is the fact that 2,850 were killed by industrial smog in London between the 5th and 12th of December 1952. Between 1931 and 1935 2,500 people died during the construction ot a hyro-electric tunnel in West Virginia. A petrol tanker expoded in the Salang Tunnel Afghanistan in 1982,killing 1200 people. In recorded history there have only been 292 years when a war was not reported.The ultimate of course was World War 2,which led to the deaths of 54,800,000 combatants and civilians.In British terms,as far as deaths to actual soldiers go,the First World War was more costly with 765,399 deaths compared to 265,000 in 39-45. Tmo€·!ė®!6ąįŪ1эX,āB}abouī`,I`”wcéwa°t,’M7UČĘքĆŗ‚Ł0b:“GäOĢĄD»Hb’3GĶ Öær¬‹„”Ķˆ8öC+ADo0ź ¼ĄBS=p°Ž¦ A»5@Ā.Øb“G‹£ TREKósI:bE WƒVTHļFĖKHANz—P–AtiæÉŠHŁ©Į9Rop9Č‚ALœWNå* avŒŖ8nfŲsXĮIRīĖ“ Downe³§J’U ąDLCRASH|¦L¶£&sĶB‚JulioČļˆŒLiPbbac¶ 2010,( ķ3mPageƒŃoarWO9h†` lb ?week ),andŅo©Ķˆ—ŠcŅHcludy’† L!.n°H@$É"a)&eXŠ IqARRIED A MONSB$FROM OUTER SPACEüWÓšI`m s¼‡( aĆsżŠviĄ? will|lmoGOcŠ,līQ"evüy bią ņ!erta@@€asŁstof the current prog ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ S E L F - I N D U L G E N T S O F T W A R E ? a Point of View from Bob, with a postscript from jfw ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ I'm always very interested in new programs (new to me that is, it doesn't matter if they are 10 years old). I like finding out what they do, if they do it well, and if they are subsequently of any use to me. So now that I've got a bit more time on my hands, I've set myself the task of sorting the 100 plus disks I've accumulated in the last few months into some sort of order: GREAT, GOOD, PASSABLE, TOILET, BEERMAT, etc. While doing this I came across a couple of issues of Maggie that were sent to me and had another flick through them for a bit of a read. I don't know if it was because I'd read only the articles that directly appealed to me the first time, but it just dawned on me the amount of space given to talking about demo crews from all over Europe, reports on their current projects, parties that they're arranging, people coming into and out of the demo scene, and generally a lot of stuff on that specific subject. Now I'm not one to sit in judgement over what anyone does with their ST -if they enjoy it then more power to their elbow - but I couldn't help but think that with so many creative people putting so much energy into coding fancy intros and demos, wouldn't it be amazingly handy for the ST scene in general if some of that work went into programs of various natures that would benefit your average Joe Chib ST user. I've seen plenty of demos in my time from loads of demo teams and almost without exception they were very pleasing on the eye and left you wondering just how the hell they could get such brilliant effects from the humble Atari ST. On the other hand, once you've watched them a couple of times, the novelty wears rather thin. Not too long ago I had beautifully arranged disk boxes, all sorted into all the relevant sections: music, art, utilities, demos, etc. And then I needed a few disks one time and had a look to see what I had that I no longer wanted. Demos just had to go. I had disks in there that I'd had for years, literally, and I'd probably only looked at them once or twice. It's difficult to write this without sounding as if I'm having a go at the people who enjoy coding these demos but I assure you I'm not. I just can't help but feel that all that energy might well be better channeled. All of that whole 'cool nickname' idea seems very strange to me. It conjures up memories of the "Famous Five" and the "Double Deckers", Pre-pubescent youths dodging about kidding on that they're James Bond or that what they're doing is somehow subversive or rebellious. Err, you're coding an intro for a computer, guys, you're not one of the "Lone Gunmen" from the X-Files. To be fair though, it's not just the demo coders I've been thinking about lately. I also came across a few disks of pictures in slideshow format. Now the piccies were very good in some cases and would have been most handy to utilise for other projects. But the disks were done in a way that wouldn't let you actually lift a piccy from the disk. These disks weren't original pictures drawn by the compiler, (I could have understood the principle if they were), they were just collections of pictures that he'd cleverly put onto a disk as a slideshow but had packed and double packed them so that unless you knew the ins and outs of the coding, you couldn't access the pictures seperately. Another disk consigned to the 'never look at again' box. Wouldn't it be better for everyone if instructions had come on the disk on how to access the pictures? It would certainly have made the disk far more handy for your average ST user anyway. I also read this week that one of the more famous of the still active ST programmers was complaining that the games he'd written weren't receiving enough positive feedback and so he was subsequently rather cheesed off. I have rather mixed feelings on the games subject. On the one hand it would certainly be a great and good world if every ST programmer received loads and loads of compliments, and money even, for the games they wrote. But, on the other hand, in these days of secondhand SEGA and SNES games at a fiver and less, and Platinum Playstation games at œ19.99, is there any sort of market left for ST games? I can boot up a new ST game the same as the next bloke, or girl, and can appreciate how it's done, and can even think that they've made a very good job of it. But I can guarantee that it will also be filed in the 'never look at again' box. Again I'm not criticising the authors of the games because they have obviously put lots of time and effort into what they've done, but they have to realise the competition they are up against. If someone enjoys computer games then they are very likely to own some sort of console to play games on. In my own experience of several years of ST usage I've noticed that the younger guys have mostly dropped off into other formats and that the guys who now use the ST are of a generally older age group and they are looking for programs that are interactive and productive. As far as I see most of the people involved now with the ST are doing so because they want to use the computer as a tool and not as a games machine, and would probably appreciate more programs of that nature coming from the active ST programming fraternity . I would also imagine that if more of this type of program were forthcoming then they would in return receive more praise for their efforts. Mind you, the effort involved is also a contensious issue. I like my ST. I have spent countless hours over the years poring over projects of all sorts. Does this mean I am due a reward? I think not. Surely if someone uses a specific computer format because they LIKE it, then the act of the work itself is in fact the enjoyable part. I find that the single most annoying thing on the ST scene is when a programmer comes out with a statement along the lines of, "well I am a stalwart ST user but if nobody likes what I'm doing then I'm upping sticks and buggering off to another format" (and believe me that has happened on many more than one ocassion). if that isn't egotism I don't know what is. If you work with a system because you like it any enjoy what you're doing then your reward is the enjoyment you get from the work you put into it. If you want to make money, or at least gain praise and recognition from your endeavours, then you have to listen to the feedback, or lack of it, that you get from the user base of your system. If what you're doing isn't popular it's simply because other people do not share your views on what ST people want, and maybe trying a different type of program would be better than trying a different computer. The ST scene needs as many active programmers as possible, but there will be no scene left at all if they produce stuff that only they appreciate. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ You've made some good points there, Bob, but I'm not so sure about your main ones, that anyone who writes PD or Shareware should aim it at the widest possible user base, and that demo coders should turn their talents to utilities, etc. Here's an alternative point of view... I'm in two minds - like you - when it comes to the Demo scene. On the one hand I admire their spirit in pushing the machine to its limits and turning tricks from it that no-one would have believed possible. But on the other hand, it seems to me to be a self-regarding, almost sterile, scene, rather like watching endless trailers for a film that will never be made. But then again, as you say, it's not our scene and what right have we got to criticise other users for doing what they enjoy? And that, surely, is the crunch: we each do what we do because we enjoy doing it and hope that other people will find it useful. I've put out 20 - 30 discs of scanned clip art over the years - with zero response from anyone except PD librarians - but that's all material that I've scanned for my own use and passed on for anyone else who might want to use it. The same goes for 20 discs of Postscript to Calamus font conversions. It's a way of adding to our shared PD resource, a small 'thank you' for all the PD programmes I've used and enjoyed. Put it this way, I know how I'd respond to anyone who told me that I should change my style to fit in with theirs: "if you feel so strongly then why not do it yourself?" (polite version) But (and it's a Big But), I'd totally agree with you that useful software will keep the Atari scene going for far longer than any demos or games will. Games are fun, if ephemeral, but what's really needed is a constant flow of interesting and useful programmes to keep up the enthusiasm, and sense of discovery, in the scene. Because users, in the end, can only be expected to stay for as long as the enthusiasm's here. As for 'protected slideshows', well, I could - like yourself - understand it if they were showcases for the programmers' own graphics, and were only protected to prevent the idiots among us from pinching the pix and passing them off as their own. But when the pix are other people's work to start with (or scanned commercial art) then it just comes across as a show-off peep-show: "hehehe, you can look but you cain't touch!" You run them once and then recycle them. Wild digression time: do you remember how the kiddie element on the ST used to paste their monikers onto well-known graphics and then 're-issue' them as their own, thinking that nobody would ever notice... Sorry to write so much here, Bob. I'm not trying to steal your thunder, it's just that I couldn't resist responding to a couple of things you said there. jfw ~~~ eof ~~~ s,shož†LÓup\%OcT@$8ÓĢ’aŹ¹j!eƒGžšĪÉōIZ`IgveŃĀhķÄP‰&œ“…qŠ0gu3‡ Ćf¬&­Į’”El€dDp’qX³’m$­€ÖøŠ¹„u‚mm°ĢryÜ!7G’ó’:¹½Ā2“[L,xšĪZ.UnT«Ó,¼Ž1;ex!ŪŽx”„å-·†YŸp›Žwńq³”„4ˆB)Į1i°cop Žƒ™ĶaĪĪé1AėÆĪ.Nˆ5bIÄÄäefunnÜ!aŌ2œ‹°™F¬ĢZRD–“LgōƒTėÜ9ĘH¤³é˜ˆłĪ<ŁXÆ3cÕdö‰“d=YØ Tå,z¹I¶±c®ĄcLŠµ+)mVlsŠ,Uo’J23b–å27³ ,։kL.VBX“°ii&¬29“xĒKi0å\274Ž,=‹•ĖsV-3\Z:'ėŅbkõcR"3Åøc]¢õĖ>.A Ó-É`F!60īa’j_cĖNsĢe-]–Ād,aõ dynmĒic,pŹQcd¼tĘ,D“Ōį&39Yƒsr±…kˆeskfopŁĮTś`Č…‹™„Ģ†mä€@Ėš›! Ąóe¤± ģW–œ‹Ą$`4e¢$T·Ø8§!Y—…VŅeō–ucĖXāāƀøqP² gf=ģ^«ĆLx'&¹˜BXmn$ \Veamy‘Ā)n×3 €õ23fl˜Ż#žŪ،3µCĖ™”ļ±™B™Č,Xdd|ė@wĢls,bi¼įÉoģ#-'VŠ“ȊvŖ€˜…é…™÷øiĢ³#‹.«}pc.¬ Ņ@—D#ppĖMa¶րĢŲlé0¦"}1s®ˆvivŗB THE DESKTOP.INF FILE by Richard Karsmakers Everybody must have noticed a file called DESKTOP.INF on some of his disks. Some of you will probably now what it does, but some of you will just as probably not know what it does or even what it is. In this article I will try to tell all I know about this file, and about the special manipulations that are possible with it. The file can be loaded into an editor or word processor that does not use WP mode and then it can be edited and saved back. If you custom desktop crashes your system, just reset it with another (normal) disk in the drive and all will be OK. The DESKTOP.INF file is created whenever you select "SAVE DESKTOP" under the "OPTIONS" menu from the GEM desktop. We will see what is stored in a while. The ST's DESKTOP.INF file is actually very limited. The Apple Mac DESKTOP file contains a lot more information so it seems, and it is also hidden in the directory (obviously, people don't want you to mess around with it). Every time you start up your ST system, reset it, or switch between the color resolutions, the DESKTOP.INF is loaded into memory, and its parameters are used. More about that later. Let's look at a standard DESKTOP.INF file. This was created by resetting the system and immediately selecting "SAVE DESKTOP" (in Germany, this is "ARBEIT SICHERN"). #a000000 #b000000 #c7770007000600070055200505552220770557075055507703111103 #d #E 1B 03 #W 00 00 04 03 43 10 00 @ #W 00 00 0D 08 2A 0B 00 @ #W 00 00 0E 09 2A 0B 00 @ #W 00 00 0F 0A 2A 0B 00 @ #M 00 00 00 FF A FLOPPY DISK@ @ #M 00 01 00 FF B FLOPPY DISK@ @ #T 00 06 02 FF TRASH@ @ #F FF 04 @ *.*@ #D FF 01 @ *.*@ #G 03 FF *.APP@ @ #G 03 FF *.PRG@ @ #F 03 04 *.TOS@ @ #P 03 04 *.TTP@ @ Let's now have a look at the individual lines. All lines are preceeded by a "#" and a identifier, followed by some parameters. #a000000 RS232 Parameters ^^^^^^ |||||| |||||’’’’’’ Bit8 0 = On, 1 = Off ||||’’’’’’’ Rts/Xo 0 = Off/Off, 1 = Off/On |||| 2 = On/Off , 3 = On/On |||’’’’’’’’ Bits 0 = 8, 1 = 7, 2 = 6, 3 = 5 ||’’’’’’’’’ Parity 0 = No Parity, 1 = Odd, 2 = Even |’’’’’’’’’’ Baud 0 = 9600, 1 = 4800, 2 = 1200, 3 = 300 ’’’’’’’’’’’ Duplex 0 = Full, 1 = Half This line is only in use when a desk accessory is loaded that is supplied on the ST System Disks. This can be recognized under "DESK" by the name "RS232 Configuration". #b000000 ^^^^^^ Printer Configuration Parameters |||||| |||||’’’’’’ Paper 0 = Tractor Feed, 1 = Single Sheets ||||’’’’’’’ Port 0 = Centronics, 1 = RS232 |||’’’’’’’’ Quality 0 = Draft, 1 = Maximal ||’’’’’’’’’ Dots 0 = 1280, 1 = 960 |’’’’’’’’’’ Color 0 = B/W, 1 = Color ’’’’’’’’’’’ Type 0 = Dot Matrix, 1 = Daisywheel This line is only in use when a desk accessory is loaded that is supplied on the ST System Disk. It can be recognized by the option "Install Printer" under the "DESK" menu. #c7770007000600070055200505552220770557075055507703111103 ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | ’ Yellow | | | | | | | | | | | | | | ’’’’ No system color | | | | | | | | | | | | | ’’’’’’’ No system color | | | | | | | | | | | | ’’’’’’’’’’ Magenta | | | | | | | | | | | ’’’’’’’’’’’’’ No system color | | | | | | | | | | ’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’ Bluegreen | | | | | | | | | ’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’ No system color | | | | | | | | ’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’ Light Grey | | | | | | | ’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’ No system color | | | | | | ’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’ No system color | | | | | ’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’ No system color | | | | ’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’ Blue | | | ’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’ No system color | | ’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’ Red | ’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’ Black ’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’ White The last seven characters on this line have nothing to do with colors. Their meaning is the following: 3111103 ^^^^^^^ ||||||| |||||’’’’’’’’’’ Two hexadecimal digits of key repeat rate |||’’’’’’’’’’’’ Two hexadecimal digits of key repeat time ||’’’’’’’’’’’’’ Clock 0 = Off, 1 = On |’’’’’’’’’’’’’’ Key click 0 = Off, 1 = On ’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’ Mouse speed 0-4 (4 is fastest) This line is only activated when you use the desk accessory called "Control Panel". By activating the control panel, these colors and other settings are taken over by GEM. #E 1B 03 Extras ^^ ^^ || || || ’’’’’’’’’ Two digits of a hexadecimal number, of which the || individual bits have the following meaning: || 0-2 = No meaning || 3 = Confirm copy (0 = No, 1 = Yes) || 4 = Confirm delete (0= No, 1 = Yes) || 5-6 = Sort on.... (00 = Name, 01 = Date, || 10 = Size, 11 = Type) || 7 = Show as.... (0 = Icons, 1 = Text) ’’’’’’’’’’’’ Resolution: 01 = 320*200 or monochrome 02 = 640*200 or monochrome 03 = Monochrome or 320*200 This line is always activated, and the values contained in it can be changed by using the "VIEW" and "OPTIONS" pull-down menus from the GEM desktop. In the DESKTOP.INF file created on the disk of ST NEWS, you'll notice that the resolution is set to '02': Medium res is activated when color monitors are used, whereas monochrome (of course) is installed on monochrome monitors. #W 00 00 04 03 43 10 00 @ Windows #W 00 00 0D 08 2A 0B 00 @ #W 00 00 0E 09 2A 0B 00 @ #W 00 00 0F 0A 2A 0B 00 @ ^^ ^^ ^^ ^^ ^^ ^^ ^^ ^ || || || || || || || | || || || || || || || ’’’’’’’ Name of opened window || || || || || || ’’’’’’’’’’ Value of vertical scrollbar || || || || || ’’’’’’’’’’’’’ Heighth of the window || || || || ’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’ Width of the window || || || ’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’ Y-Position || || ’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’ X-Position || ’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’ Value of vertical slider bar ’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’ Value of horizontal slider bar This is one of the more interesting parts to manipulate. More about that later. The values of 'X-Position' and 'Width of the Window' have to be multiplied by 8 to get the actual pixels; 'Y- Position' and 'Height of the window' have to be multiplied by either 8 (color) or 16 (monochrome) for this. This easily explains why it is impossible to position the window sizes by pixels (like the MacIntosh). Up to four windows can be defined. #M 00 00 00 FF A FLOPPY DISK@ @ Disk Drive Icons #M 00 01 00 FF B FLOPPY DISK@ @ ^^ ^^ ^^ ^^ ^ ^^^^^^^^^^^ || || || || | ||||||||||| || || || || | ’’’’’’’’’’’’’ Name of the Icon || || || || ’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’ Drive Identifier || || || ’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’ || || ’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’ Icon Type (hexadecimal) || || 00 = Disk Drive, 01 = Folder || || 02 = Trashcan , 03 = Program || || 04 = File || ’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’ Y-Position (multiply with 40 b/w || or 20 color to get real position || and add 20) (Hex) ’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’ X-Position (multiply with 80 for real position) (Hex) #T 00 06 02 FF TRASH@ @ Trashcan ^^ ^^ ^^ ^^ ^^^^^ || || || || ||||| || | | || || ’’’’’’’’’’’’’ Name of the Trashcan || || || ’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’ || || ’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’ Icon Type (hexadecimal) (For types || || please look on the previous page) || ’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’ Y-Position (see previous page) ’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’ X-Position (see previous page) #G 03 FF *.APP@ @ GEM Application #G 03 FF *.PRG@ @ ^^ ^^ ^^^ || || ||| || || ’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’ Extension of file that is GEM App. || ’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’ See note on page 12 ’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’ Type of Icon for GEM App. (see previous page) #F 03 04 *.TOS@ @ TOS Application ^^ ^^ ^^^ || || ||| || || ’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’ Extension of file that is TOS App. || ’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’ See note on page 12 ’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’ Type of Icon for TOS App. (see two pages back) #P 03 04 *.TTP@ @ TTP Application ^^ ^^ ^^^ || || ||| || || ’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’ Extension of file that is TTP App. || ’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’ See note on page 12 ’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’ Type of Icon for TTP App. (see two pages back) Note to a relatively unknown byte (mostly $FF) in the lines for TTP-, GEM-and TOS applications: According to Mr. Wilfred Kilwinger (see "Did you know that....") in his article in SAG Magazine Volume 2 Issue 5, this byte indicated that the program uses AES if $FF, and GEMDOS/TOS when $04. Not surely known, though. Now for some practical manipulations. I will not talk about all the logical manipulations (changing the obvious first couple of lines), but I will just look at two new manipulations that have not yet been treated in any other magazines. The first one is a way to make sure that only ONE file displayed in the directory of a disk. Is doesn't matter which other files are on the disk - they will simply not be displayed. The trick: After each window line, you can see one '@' sign. This is the place where the name of the current (sub-)directory is placed when a window (or several windows) was opened when you SAVEd the desktop. If you give this line a program name rather than a (sub-)directory name (upper-or lowercase doesn't matter), only the program with that name is displayed! Take care not to throw away the '@', and leave a space between the name and that character. Example: #W 00 00 04 03 43 10 00 @ becomes #W 00 00 04 04 43 10 00 A:\ST_NEWS.PRG @ The second technique I'd like to discuss is the one that takes care that you see only a limited amount of file on the disk. For example, you can have the following modes: - Show Folders and Programs (no other files) - Show Data files and Programs (no folders) - Show Programs (no folders and other files) The secret is hidden in the following two lines: #F FF 04 @ *.*@ #D FF 01 @ *.*@ If you delete the first one, only folders and PRG icons will be displayed. If you delete the second, only data files and PRG icons will be displayed. And if you delete both, only PRG icons are displayed. I almost forgot one small third manipulation. For example, it is possible to make programs executable that have different extensions that just .TOS, .TTP, .APP or .PRG. For example, if you want all files that end on .AAA to be treated as program files as well, you should add the following line: #G 03 FF *.AAA@ @ The 'G' stands for GEM application, and thus makes the file exactly the same as any .APP or .PRG file. The 03 defines a PRG icon (you can change that as well), and the FF probably means that the program uses GEM. But do not expect that you can now just rename all files to .AAA extensions! The files need to have proper executable program formats to be used correctly. That's all for now. If you think you have found a new kind of DESKTOP.INF manipulation technique, please do not hesitate to write to me (or maybe you can even write an article about it!). Originally published in ST NEWS Volume 2 Issue 6. ©m Yokˆ ‹Äwn,andŌ÷h xžŽ I kvw‰‚-‘’Ta3k‚ Pup²ghoÄSWmtŚböDodÜELtAnyéŽy,a±f*¶gP›camwuµD,ŒrČ#wasŻ  peopy oØn`tōikoverly longh’rticles,sI~that`ll dożÓnown+ack again for issue 7.~šŸČBob ą€hey embrace in a long, probing, pas ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ M A S S H Y S T E R I A O R M Y T H I N T H E M A K I N G ? the Diana Myth, a year on, by Bob Kell ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ I think Bob might offend a few people with this article - and the same goes for my response - but surely it's an unhealthy situation when you're not allowed to express doubts about the largest outbreak of public hysteria since the anti- German jingoism of WW1... jfw ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ I've just read one of the most ridiculous things that I've ever come across in a newspaper. It's an article on how we as a country are still affected by the death of Princess Diana. According to the article two thirds of the population are still grieving over her death, and one in ten women have changed the way they live their lives as a direct result of her death. Now either people in England, or southern Scotland as we like to call it, must either be reacting very differently to the death of the princess, or the survey is just simply a load of cobblers. Is it my imagination or has the memory of Diana turned into those lovely recollections we all have of summers when we were wee, when every day was glorious sunshine and it didn't rain for 47 years. Every single Easter consisted of picnics in 85 degree heat, rolling hard boiled eggs down gently sloping hillsides with never one rolling over a dog turd, and Dad never once booting you up the Khyber for heaving eggs at your sister. Every Christmas day Santa brought you everything you wanted. Your house was decorated with an 18 foot Douglas fir with enough fairy lights to illuminate Hampden Park, and there was eight feet of snow which lasted until May. Those were the days. I can't help but think that a large proportion of the populace seem to look back on the life and times of Princess Di with the same rosy glasses. Let's face it. A young mum went out for an evening with her boyfriend and was involved in a car accident that led to her death. It was a tragic event. But no more tragic than thousands of other poor people who suffer similar fates. Why then attach such incredible sentiment to a person who very few people, of the 65 million of us in the country, had ever met. Noel Gallagher was slated at the time for wondering how many of the millions of sobbing funeral watchers would actually take time out to visit their own granny's grave, and he was exactly right. If someone you have been close to for many years dies, especially suddenly, then it affects you emotionally more than you will ever know until it happens to you. How can anyone exhibit those same feelings to a person who they did not and would not ever know personally. The person that we all saw as Diana was not her, it was the person that she and her PR people wanted us to see. Anyone who has a public life must also have a public face to show. The person that they really are is only ever there for the people that they live with day in and day out. She wasn't the most beautiful woman in the world, she wasn't the best mother in the world, and she wasn't the loving, caring and compassionate woman that she appeared to be 24 hours a day. Give any reasonable looking woman a couple of thousand quid a week to spend on herself and I'd guess that she would look pretty good. The best mothers in the world are those who have to bring up kids either on their own or with very little money, but still turn out children who are clean, well dressed, well fed, well mannered and respectful. Kids who become young adults who have a pride in who they are and where they come from. And a person of a genuinely loving and caring nature would not fall out with their closest and oldest friends on a petulant whim when they said or did something that just didn't suit the person, as we know that Diana did. So why is she so revered then? I'm afraid that it's just the human failing of not wanting to let anything go that we feel attached to. It's the Elvis, Bruce Lee, Jim Reeves, Marlyn Monroe, Glenn Miller and Buddy Holly syndrome. If someone in the public eye dies suddenly then the fans of that person flatly refuse to believe that they could die, and that their own condensed relationship with that person has ended. What they are attached to is their own image of the person and not the person themselves. I can't help but feel that there is a weakness in anyone who devotes such feelings to a celebrity, that they will never know. We all condemn the 'stalker' who is so obsessed by a fellow human being that they just cannot believe that the person does not have the same feelings for them, but we also glorify those amongst us who cannot see that the public face of a celebrity is not the person themselves, and that any true feeling for a person can only be cultivated within a one to one relationship. By all means feel sorry for Princess Diana's untimely end, and have sympathy for the people she knew and left behind. But reserve your true emotions for those of your own friends and families who truly deserve them. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Thanks for hitting it right on the nail Bob! I think the truth is that the newspapers, rather the people, are setting the agenda there. Most opinion polls are worded in such a way that they're guaranteed to produce the responses that newspapers want. We're talking about Profit rather than Truth here... "Yes, she was a Saint!" "Yes, she single-handedly defused every landmine in Kurdistan!" "Yes, she succoured every starving child in Africa!" (When she wasn't changing costumes for the cameras, that is.) It's strange, isn't that, that most of the journalists who are peddling this tosh were saying very different things in the week immediately before the drunken car crash. Phrases such as "barking mad", "a victim of her own PR", and "a laughing stock" (according to columnists in the Sunday Telegraph, Sunday Mail and Sunday Independent on the day of her death) were replaced overnight by the new dogma that no-one in the history of humankind had suffered more or had shown as much compassion as HRH the Princess of Wales. I know I'm not meant to say this, but shouldn't we save our respect for people who 'do good by stealth' - without an eye on tomorrow's headlines - and reserve our compassion for the people who don't have the opportunity, let alone the desire, to parade their suffering on Panorama? jfw: Stiff Upper Lip Mode. ~~~ eof ~~~ dCJ?.S±u" No,›æ!k0K¦".ŁcØ`”sai“¤\ ʆoÕQ 5qu˜+IyjMÓĆ8Ā ‘b,ŠlE[,WLs D E S E R T I S L A N D D I S K S - A N I N T R O D U C T I O N Here's a new feature which I hope will be picked up by other readers, and to get the ball rolling, I'll do the first one myself. This is a pretty familiar "getting to know you" style of questionairre. What you have to do is very simple indeed. We're all familiar with the "Desert Island Disks" radio show (on Radio 4?) - well, this is exactly the same. You're stranded on a desert island with a record player (and a handy portable generator to run it with!), and you've had the foresight to take along your favourite ten songs, so you can play them while you wait for that luxury liner to come along and rescue you (How on earth did this get the go-ahead from the Radio 4 boss? "Hey boss. I've a great idea for a show". "Hold on a moment while I switch my logic circuits off"). All you have to do is list those 10 songs, in no particular order, and give a reason why you've chosen them. Easy. So if any reader would like to share their choice with us, then send your list to either John Thompson or Dave Till. Right, now where's that speaker wire gone to...? D E S E R T I S L A N D D I S K S # 1 - J O H N T H O M P S O N 01 - All About Eve : "Our Summer" This was one of the songs that got me into the whole goth scene, even though it's not really a goth song. Well, it is, but it isn't, if you know what I mean. A nice happy song that you can bounce along to quite merrily like a loon. 02 - Bauhaus : "Telegram Sam" A good cover of the Marc Bolan classic. This reminds me of when I was 16 and sitting in the Riverside bar in Durham, along with all the other goths and punks, getting happily sloshed on a Saturday afternoon. 03 - The Cult : "She Sells Sanctuary" Could this be the best song The Cult have ever done? Yup. This shot them from nowhere into the charts, way before they thought they were American rockers. Also the last song with the original drummer, who was banged up for credit card fraud. 04 - Toy Dolls : "I've Got Asthma" Remember the farce that was "Nellie The Elephant" in the charts? Pish. This is what the Toy Dolls were really like. Hundred mile an hour guitars, Olga's squeaky voice, dumb lyrics. They don't write songs like that anymore. Imagine me and my mates jumping round the bedroom, pogoing, singing and pretending to take a blast on the inhaler on cue with the song. Oh dear. 05 - Bauhaus : "Bela Lugosi's Dead" The ULTIMATE goth song, ever, in the world. As featured in the David Bowie film "The Hunger". Twelve and a half minutes of perfect debut single from Nottingham's finest. Reminds me of 1996's Carnival Of Souls at Derby, when everyone was doing a slow shoe-gazing shuffle to it, and me and my mate Kev realised that there's a dead funky bassline to it when you listen to it through a PA system, so we started to dance to the bassline, with everyone looking at us like we were on acid. 06 - Dogs D'Amour : "Heartbreak" Manchester, 1990. I was in my sleazy cock-rocker days then, and I though this song was the business. A tale of lust, alcohol and Lesley-Anne Downe. And I was working then, so every Thursday, Friday and Saturday it was off to Rockworld with my girlfriend to drink an extreme amount of vodka and Southern Comfort, dance to almost anything and get chatted up left right and centre. Honest. Me and this lad I knew used to get our pictures taken at least once a week by rock chicks. It's cos I'm a North-East lad, and I'm freakin' gorgeous. Hmm, yes. 07 - Hawkwind : "Silver Machine" Because I just took a ride sideways through time. I've got a soft spot for the 'wind. They grew on me after I had to sit and listen to them every time I went to my (ex-) girlfriend's parents for 5 years. I had all the albums once, but she took them with her, like women do when they know that you like something. I got a silver machine. Oh yes indeedy. 08 - Sigue Sigue Sputnik : "Love Missile F1-11" Ultra violence and ultra chic. Well, it was back then anyway. They took the world by storm, using less chords than Status Quo and an Atari ST. If you liked this in my hometown you were a freak, so naturally I bought it. I had a reputation to keep, y'know! 09 - Sid Vicious : "C'mon Everybody" The first cover song that the first band I was in ever did. Three chords and a tune that everyone knows. Add some feedback and distortion and we were away. This was the one that got the audience grooving. Heady days, only 2 years after I discovered punk BIG style. 10 - Die Laughing : "Ghosts" To remind me of when me and my wife went to the 1996 Monsters Of Goth festival in Whitby. This band simply blew me away. Took me right back to the bands I used to like but had split up and vanished. One of the most haunting songs I've ever heard. And our son Connor was there in the audience too, albeit in embrionic form. So, a bit of a family outing. I was so gobsmacked by the band, I just stood and took it all in. The nearest to a perfect night I've had. D E S E R T I S L A N D D I S K S (yup I like this idea) Bob kell 1. SLADE - CUM ON FEEL THE NOIZE (spelling by Chris) This record reminds me of one day around 1972. My friend's mum had just bought it for him and we retired to a disused chicken shed on his dad's farm that had been given to him as a "clubhouse", to listen to it. The shed had electric and carpet and furniture etc. He wallpapered it with pop posters and it was very nice. The chap actually turned out to be gay in later life but hey, live and let live I say. Anyway. His older sister and her friend came in. They were about 15 or 16, while we were 11. They had a quarter bottle of vodka with them and proceeded to get sloshed.All my Christmasses came at once then when they started to discuss sex with us.They laughed uproariously at our lack of knowledge,but decided drunkenly to put us in the picture a bit.Off came their undies and they proceeded to give us a VERY guided tour of their anatomy. No touching mind you. But boy, do I remember that day. 2. THE RAMONES - SHEENA IS A PUNK ROCKER This little tune came on one night on the Old Grey Whistle Test live from somewhere on New Year's Eve. I must have been 15 and it was just incredible. I immediately became a torn jeans, leather jacket and chain wearing Johnny Ramone lookalike. Nothing changed there then. 3. BEATLES - MICHELE For some strange reason every time I hear this I think of lying on my mums gold carpet making models from a building brick thingy called Beta-Bilda which came in a totally cool hexagonal box. I must have been only 5 or 6 but it's a strangely enduring memory. 4. FLEETWOOD MAC - ALBATROSS I didn't ever find a track either before or after this that I liked by Fleetwood Mac. In fact I'd go as far as to say they were crap. But. This one instrumental. My mate and I had persuaded these two lovely lasses to accompany us back to his house as his parents were out at a dance. Me and my lass went into his sister's bedroom, (minus the sister I hasten to add), for a bit of a wrestle. After a bit she announced that she definately would not go all the way, but she'd do something else for me if I promised not to tell anyone. She then proceeded to exercise her jaws somewhat, and I don't mean by kissing, and all to the tune of Albatross. I was 17 and it was paradise. 5. WINGS - LET ME ROLL IT This one sticks in my mind as it was while listening to this that I enjoyed my first puff of waccy baccy. A guy who sold it to us for œ2 and a fishing knife, called it Morroccan Twist, and it looked like a 1 inch long cutting from the end of a trawlers net rope. We sat on the beach at 1 or 2 in the morning on a summer night with the tape deck blazing and realised that all feeling had gone from our legs. 6. THE CARS - MY BEST FRIEND'S GIRLFRIEND. This one was a song that I played to feel sorry for myself when I deliberately bumped a girl on the second date because my mate Eric was really keen on her. I went out with her pal as I thought more of him than her I guess. She repayed me a couple of nights later when we, as couples, sat at opposite ends of a summer house at midnight, and she stood up, dropped everything, leaned on the rail in front and announced that she "preffered it from behind". I kid you not. Anyway, anyone that says nothing travels faster than the speed of light obviously didn't see Eric's trousers come down that night. 7. DEVO - JOCKO HOMO (unfortunate title for a Scotsman) This one is in purely because it's very good. Not everybody's cup of rum and Acdo, but nevertheless a foundation block in the Kell musical taste towerblock. 8. JOHN OTWAY & WILD WILLY BARRET - BEWARE OF THE FLOWERS COS I'M SURE THEY'RE GONNA GET YOU (yeah) A totally ripping track that my mate Eric and I played to death while consuming our very first batch or home brew. We bought a sixteen pint, "Ready to drink in 8 days", kit from Boots when we were 16. We decanted it into his dad's water barrel from his caravan and sat in his shed practically with a stopwatch, timing it's fermentation. At the very second of the 8 days we whipped it to his room and gutsed the lot. You nearly had to chew the last few glasses but it had the desired effect. I nearly broke my neck exiting from his window, and slept on the bench in my garden as I couldn't get the key in the door. 9. SPACE - TROIS GENOPIEDS (or something similar) This was a weird instrumental on the juke box in a local pub when I started going out with my wife. Must have been 18 years ago and I've never heard it since but I could hum it all the way through. 10. THE BLACK SUSPENDERS - CAPTAIN BEEFY A song written and performed by me, Eric, Hammond, and Zip. AKA The Black Suspenders. We sent it to Radio Forth as a demo, and were informed by letter that if we did it again then they'd call in the police as sending such material through the post was against the law. I must dig out the lyrics some day for you. [~~ eof ~~] IŸB7YegI`d‘Fapth‚8hhdefinatįWyˆounds like an excellent scrubber.!ń?Č Ōe.. You can assign keyboard short-cuts to any menu option. The menu system is identical to Tos 2.whatever. The windows and icons have been spruced up and (unless you change them with the cpx) are metallic in look, much like Windows 3.1. The whole desktop reminds me quite heavily of Macintosh system 7, which I guess is a compliment :-). The sound system is possibly the most impressive part. The claim of CD quality sampling is by no stretch unfeasible. I recorded some mate D I D Y O U K N O W . . . Article compiled by Paul Davis The Chinese do not use an aphabet. Instead they draw out in shapes whole words. These 'idea' shapes are called ideograms. The largest known living bat known was a Flying Fox bat. It measured 40cm in body and length and had a wingspan of 2 metres. Polar bears can run up to 35 miles an hour. The artic tern bird migrates further than any other bird, covering up to 25,000 miles a year. Lobsters blood is pale blue. A drop of blood contains about 100 million red blood cells. Chemicals from coal are used to make nylon, explosives, medicines and fertilizers. The Australian Great Barrier Reef is so large that it can be seen from the moon. It is over 1,250 miles long. In the year 1212, thousands of children set of on a childrens crusade Those who did not die on the way were sold into slavery. The Earths mass is an amazing 5,976 million million million tonnes. Large power stations can generate 1,000 million watts of electrical power. When popular TV programms end, the demand for electricity can then increase by 10% as people start to make hot drinks. Hydrogen is the most common element in the universe. Sugar is made from the elements of hydrogen, oyygen and carbon. The distance around the Earth at the Equator is 24,903 miles. At any place on the Equator the sun is directly overhaead at midday on 21st March and the 23rd of September. 99% of all animal species that have ever lived are now extinct. Through blinking you spend half an hour of your waking day with your eyes closed. The largest fish in the world is a whale shark which can grow up to 54 feet in length and weigh over 40 tonnes. There are more species of fish than there are of mammals, birds, reptiles, and amphibians put together. A large codfish can lay 9 million eggs. An ocean sunfish can lay as much as 300 million eggs. The golden dart-poison frog from South America is so poisonous that one adult contains enough poison to kill 2,200 people. By recycling 75% of the worlds paper, over 35 million tree's could be saved each yeear. A typical Western family produces over 12 tonnes of carbon dioxide each year which contribute to the 'greenhouse' effect. More than 40,000 square miles of forest are destroyed every year... (an area larger than Ireland and Wales) The most recent ice age started about 1,800.000 years ago and ended about 11,000 years ago. A millipede has no more than 400 feet. Without gravity the moon would fly off into space. A radio wave can travel around the world in the time it takes you to blink. The French high speed passenger train, the TGV, reached speeds of 322 mph in May 1990. Whalesong off the coast of California, frequently sets off hundreds of car alarms. This list was compiled from the 'OOH' BBS. Downloaded by yours truly. [~~ eof ~~] }T·D8n{idCakGŒRŅXä”sö}ÖØc«¹Ā$l-dļ-!cM[l,sg¬Ž˜Ä"Z5§UVŻ’Œs6npŪꚤb@aK3VĶs„”®re\ƒ‰x$BNĒraÜąGŸg܁ŁCŒÓ‡ŪŅ€×'Õu 7fH4”d2%d«g›J9°cŅÉÄ‹Æ Make some notes before you start to write. If you're reviewing a programme, then note down what formats it loads and saves in, and what options it has. If it's a disczine, then note down what articles it carries, a contact address, and all the other details that will help your readers decide whether they want to read it or not. Use your notes as the skeleton of your article; type them into a WP, and then add to them and juggle them around until some kind of structure emerges. Tie it all together with an intro and a conclusion, and there's your review. > Don't use long paragraphs. If a para's longer than the screen then people will lose their way in it. Cut it into shorter chunks - no more than 10 - 15 lines per para - and it'll be much easier to read. > If you've got a lot of short pieces (5K or less) then why not splice them together into a longer article, under a group heading, rather than having hundreds of separate, but tiny, articles? Here's an example: Let's say you've got 10 short PD reviews that readers have sent in in response for an appeal for articles. Load them into your WP or text editor (after converting them to the right format, if necessary), and then cut and paste them together into one long file, making sure that each contribution has been reformatted to the same line-length and style. Add a title and an author's credit to each one, and then think of an overall title for the piece; something like 'Readers' Reviews' or maybe '10 Bytes at the PD Cherry' (or maybe not...). Write a quick intro and conclusion, and there you have it - an interesting article, and at a reasonable length! Believe me, it'll look a lot better than 10 short scrappy pieces thrown in as you received them. > Print out your writing: it'll look and read very differently on the page, and it gives you a better idea of how your readers will see it. > The most important tip is to Read it Aloud to Yourself! Don't be embarrassed; this is the quickest and easiest way to improve your writing. If it doesn't sound right to you - if it doesn't 'flow', or has to be read several times before it makes sense - then what will your readers make of it? BUT WHATEVER YOU DO, DON'T BLUFF. If you don't know about a subject, then don't write about it. Because if you do, you can be certain that at least one of your readers will know the subject inside out, and will recognise your article for what it is: waffle. It's one way of getting letters, but they won't be letters that you'll want to print. How to be Read and Reviewed łųłųłųłųłųłųłųłųłłųłųłųłųłų Don't expect readers, writers or advertisers to come to you. You've got to make yourself known to them rather than sit back and wait to be discovered. So... SEND A COPY OF EACH ISSUE (AS SOON AS IT APPEARS) TO AS MANY PD LIBRARIES AS POSSIBLE. (If you're short of cash or time then aim for the larger and longer- established libraries such as Floppyshop, FaST Club, and Goodmans.) Make the librarian's job easier by sending a note with the disc that gives a quick overview : what the disc contains (its main articles, reviews, columns, etc), what set-ups it'll run on, where to get it from, how often it appears, its status (PD, Shareware, Contributionware or whatever), etc, etc. There's always a time-lag between a library receiving a disc and it appearing in their list, so it's in your interests to send it to them as soon as it appears. Any decent PD library (and some of the indecent ones) will send you a credit note in return for each issue which can then be cashed in for the newest and shiniest PD. That gives you something to review in the next issue and acts as a nice reward for your work. Build up a good relationship with your favourite libraries, (but try not to waste their time with endless phone calls and requests for free discs). Get to know them, chat, and you'll then have some news snippets and gossip to print in the next issue. It's best to print them unattributed, as in "there's a rumour going around that..." or, "We've heard that..." instead of "Stop Press: Pete at Lost Hope PDL has just told me that all his customers are morons!" I don't think he'll be talking to you again if you print that.. "Respect your sources" as the journalists say, and you'll then get more snippets from the same source. When some mutual trust and respect has built up, you'll be able to ask for review copies of any PD that your readers might be interested in. Always keep your side of the bargain and give full details in your review of where your readers can find the disc: Library, address, disc no. and price. CLASSIFIED ADS IN MICROMART, COMPUTER SHOPPER AND ATARI COMPUTING are a good way of attracting readers without wasting money on outrageously-priced display ads. Mind you, it can be a challenge to describe the zine, and give an address, with only 30 words to play with, so it's best to keep it short and snappy. If you send a free ad to MicroMart then make sure that you mention somewhere in the ad that your zine is either free or non-profitmaking, because they'll refuse to print it otherwise. It's best to emphasise that it's an Atari zine, or you'll have every moron with a PC writing to you for a copy... SEND REVIEW COPIES OF EACH ISSUE TO OTHER DISCMAGS AND MAGAZINES: Atari Computing, John Dalmas' Atari column in Computer Shopper, and anywhere else that carries Atari news. Enclose a form letter or Press Release with each copy (with those brief but essential details of who you are, what systems the mag runs on, and what's on the disc). You're more likely to get an accurate review if the person on the receiving end has all the details at their fingertips. WRITE TO THE UK ASSOCIATION OF ATARI USER GROUPS (UKAAUG) and ask to be added to their list of Atari magazines. Contact: Harry Sideras, UKAAUG, 37 Garwood Road, Yardley, Birmingham, B26 2AN. (Include a disc and an SAE for the current lists.) Final Thoughts łųłųłųłųłųłųłų Don't use 'lack of time' as an excuse for doing it badly. Better late than garbage... Readers aren't stupid and they can tell when a zine's been thrown together and stuffed with spacefillers. Let the zine grow naturally. If you're forever looking over your shoulder at what other disczines are doing, then it'll never be as good as it could be. Aim for an individual zine, one that reflects you, as a unique individual with your own interests, and with things to say that only you can say. And don't be discouraged by any of the above. It isn't as bad as I've made it sound... The thing to remember, when you haven't had a contribution or even a letter for weeks, and it looks as if you'll be writing the next issue yourself, is that you're doing this for fun. Relax, enjoy it, and, in the immortal words of Mao Tse Tung: "Let a thousand disczines bloom!" |fffffff>|f```>`<|~ffff>fff<ĘĘÖ|lf<|~ 0~0p p`ņž 44b~ <~`<f<~>f<>f>0<~><~><``<f<~`<f0fff>ffff>|f<``<:0|00~ff<<6f|ff|`0|000` <~> 8< 4X|fff4Xfvnf<>f><000| ĘĢŲ6kƆĘĢŲ6n֟6lŲl6Ųl66lŲ4X<~>4X STiK - This is the single most important program you will use when going on- line. It forms the basis of every Atari's internet connection. Without STiK, you'll find it nearly impossible to get connected. [Available free of charge as a KelAUG PD - see elsewhere in the mag for more details.] > Crystal Atari Browser - The main reason for getting on the Internet is to browse other peoples web pages, this is where CAB steps in. It may not have all the functions of browsers on other machines but it is more than capable of carrying out 99% of all the web browsing tasks you throw at it. CAB 2 has recently been released, but it is commercial and is available from System Solutions. There is also a demo version available. [Versions up to and including v1.5 are PD/Shareware, and available for any good PD library. jfw] > Antmail - E-mail is one of the biggest advances in the use of computers so far. Antmail is the Atari's newest e-mail program and it has all the functions you would expect from such a package. > AtarIRC or FracIRC - Internet Relay Chat (IRC) enables you to chat via the internet in real time with people from all around the world. There are a couple of ways of doing this but the best is to use a dedicated IRC program like AtarIRC or FracIRC. > Newsie - Internet news groups can keep you up to date with the latest information on almost any subject. There are a number of Atari related news groups and Newsie comes with a selection already set up. > HSModem 7 - In order to make good use of your modem, you'll need to install HSModem. This little program speeds up access to your modem and makes thing a lot easier. > Setup - This little program makes your job a lot easier, it installs all your software where it is supposed to go and makes the process of getting on-line quite a bit easier. There are alternatives to most of the programs above, and they are all capable of doing what is asked of them. Ones to look out for include WebSpace, a new browser from OXO Concepts and a new Internet Access Pack from HiSoft. --oOo-- This article first first appeared in Atari Times #9, May 1997. Atari Times is an on-line HTML magazine that is also available on disc. You'll need CAB (the Crstal Atari Browser) to read it. CAB, and the current copy of AT (#14, July '98) can be obtained from: Floppyshop PDL, PO Box 273, Aberdeen, AB15 8GJ (Send two discs for their latest catalogue.) ~~~ eof ~~~ . PLUS I WOULD NOT WANT UNDER 16's TO READ IT. FRASER - Assuming I was actually home from work by six I like nothing better than to sit around with my 2 month old son and my wife and just let the evening go by. As soon as he's old enough to work an ST I'll have him dealing with some of the user group mail though!! Well there it is,quite a variety of opinions there really.Without knowing Šbeforehand that Lennie Smales was about to depart from the ST,reading his Šanswers now there certainly seems to be an undercurrent of unrest there Šwith him.Still,I think in the main that the rest o the guys seem to be Švery happy with the Atari and the future for all of us that are involved is Šmaybe a bit brighter and more secure than the doom-mongers would have us Šbelieve. I ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Y O U R F I R S T H A R D D R I V E ---oOo--- a 'Starting Block' beginners' article by Richard Gunter reprinted with permission from the September 1990 issue of Current Notes ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ This is a good, informative article for anyone who's thinking of buying a hard drive. It tells you the basics of how to set up your drive and offers some useful hints on how to avoid problems with it. The author, Richard Gunter, chose the Supra hard drive and software as an example for the simple reason that it was popular in the US and the UK at the time the article was written. The Supra software was good in its day, but anyone buying a hard drive nowadays would be far better off with the ICD (or ICD Pro) driver and utilities. But don't let that worry you; the information in this article applies to *all* hard drives. jfw ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Your First Hard Drive ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ by Richard Gunter You've just bought your first hard drive system and removed it lovingly from the box. (Don't drool, please; it's bad for the circuits). Now what? First, a small caveat: specifics in this column are based on Supra drives and software - because that's what I own. I can't be specific about things I haven't worked with. Now let's take inventory. The carton should contain a manual, a floppy disk containing a bunch of hard drive utilities, and the hard drive itself. If you don't have a utilities disk, take steps to get one before going very far with your new hard drive. The utilities must be compatible with your equipment (specifically the "adapter" and controller). Before hooking up the drive, take time to duplicate the utilities disk - it contains programs essential to using your drive. Utilities, utilities ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ The three most important utilities (for the Supra drives, anyway) are supfmt.prg, supboot.prg, and suputl.prg; your utilities disk should include programs with similar functions. Be a bit wary of all such programs - they can do most drastic things... Supra Format is the formatter. It can also be used to obtain some important information about the drive and "zero" the whole drive. Formatting means much the same thing as with a floppy disk, but there's an important difference. The hard drive formatter constructs logical divisions (partitions), which can be treated as separate drives, each having its own control tables. Supra Utility can zero individual partitions, locate and "map out" bad sectors, and enable/disable autobooting. "Zero" simply resets the entire drive's control tables, making it look empty. This is a very fast way of erasing everything. Supra Boot loads the hard drive handler from floppy disk only! Don't put this program on the hard drive at all - especially not in an AUTO folder. This program is used to gain access to a freshly formatted drive, and to boot if autoboot is disabled. There are other utilities; among them a clock set/read package (Supra units contain an internal clock), and an editor that allows you to manipulate the hard drive's control tables manually. Don't use the editor unless you really know what you're doing! the first time ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Supra's units seem to come from the factory already formatted, with some files on them. You may want to check them out; some may be more recent versions of the utilities on your floppy. Autobooting may or may not be enabled at the factory. With the hard drive connected and the utilities disk in drive A:, boot your system. You should get a normal-looking desktop, with at least drive A:, B:, and C: icons and the trash can. Try opening the drive C: icon. If the drive has never been formatted, this probably won't work, in which case you'll have to format it. If the desktop display shows additional hard drive icons, autoboot may be enabled, or there may be a desktop.inf file on the hard drive; you should be able to open these icons and inspect their contents (if any). The formatter program (may be a different utility in your package) will give you some info about the drive: type of mechanism, etc. More important for now is that it will also tell you about the current partition layout (see illustration). If the current partitions are acceptable, you don't need to format the drive at this time. formatting the drive ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ To format the drive, run the formatter from the floppy. You should have decided how many partitions you want, and their sizes. Remember that TOS 1.2 and earlier versions can't support a partition bigger than 16 MB, so make your plans accordingly. Some users don't like partitions, preferring to have as few as possible - I like to set up several, using the partitions as my first layer of data organization. Another consideration is that most hard drive backup programs are partition- oriented. Smaller partitions take less time and fewer floppies than larger partitions. It's largely a matter of personal tastes and your backup strategy. Formatting destroys everything that was recorded on the drive, so be sure that you've backed up anything you want to keep. The process can take up to half an hour or even longer, depending on the size of the drive, so make sure you've enough time to finish this step. It can't be interrupted. After formatting, reboot from the utilities disk. You should get that standard desktop again. First thing you will need to do is install a drive icon for each partition you've defined and save the desktop. Use the "Install Disk Drives" selection on the "Options" menu, and make sure the desktop.inf file is saved to partition C:. I'm assuming drive C: will be our boot partition - that's the most common practice. Create an AUTO folder on drive C: and copy into it the programs you want automatically executed - in the order they should run. Next, copy your desk accessories to the root level of drive C: (not to a folder). With this done, the basic stuff is installed on the drive. I'm making another assumption: that you'll be autobooting the hard drive. autobooting? ~~~~~~~~~~~~ We've mentioned autobooting before, but now it's time to explain what this term means. When you boot from a floppy, supboot.prg needs to be in the floppy's AUTO folder. This program installs the hard drive handler in memory. With this technique, programs in the floppy's AUTO folder are executed, but those in the hard drive's AUTO folder are not. Desk accessories are loaded from the hard drive however, and the system also looks for the desktop.inf file on the hard drive. As you can see, things could get a little complicated when you use a mix of both accessories and AUTO programs, especially when an AUTO program and a desk accessory are closely related. Autobooting simplifies matters. When you "enable" autobooting from the hard drive (suputl.prg or equivalent), a hard drive handler is installed on the hard drive as a hidden file, and a boot sequence is written as well. (Yes, there are boot sectors on the hard drive). With autobooting, you don't need a floppy disk at all. AUTO programs will be run from drive C:'s AUTO folder, and desk accessories and desktop are loaded from drive C: as well. This is the preferred method. It's much easier than trying to manage separate sets of AUTO-bearing floppies and a single set of desk accessories. In a previous column, I mentioned that putting a blank (formatted) floppy disk in drive A: will speed up the boot process a bit. This is because TOS always tries to read drive A: first thing, and it takes a few seconds to convince itself that nothing is there. Enable the autoboot. Now, with your AUTO folder built and desk accessories installed, you should be able to boot from the hard drive. All that remains is to lay out your applications programs, data, etc. bad sectors ~~~~~~~~~~~ When there are problems formatting a floppy, the normal practice is to throw it away; obviously you don't want to throw away that expensive hard drive. It's not uncommon for portions of a hard drive to be unusable, although there should be only a few "bad spots." Your utilities disk should contain a program that can identify and "map out" such areas. This operation modifies the drive's control tables to prevent the system from writing anything in the bad areas. They're ignored, and thus do no harm to your data. Suputl.prg will do that for you. You have a choice of "destructive" or "non- destructive" mapping. The destructive option examines all sectors regardless of whether part of a file happens to be there. This could destroy files. The non- destructive option only examines unallocated sectors. It's best to do this mapping operation right after formatting the drive - that way, you can use the destructive option with no risk of damaging data. when things go wrong ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ If you can't get a new drive to work at all, the first step is to check all the connections to be sure it's plugged in, properly connected to the computer, and that it powers up properly. The Supra units are a trifle noisy - you can hear the cooling fan spin up and settle down to a steady hum, and you can hear the drive mechanism spin up as a higher-pitched noise of rising pitch, till it steadies down and gets lost in the fan noise. Kinda like listening to a jet engine start up. Lastly, you should hear a few chuckling noises as the drive heads position themselves. Different sizes and brands of units will have somewhat different sounds, but you should be able to detect something. If the connections seem okay and still nothing works, it's time to dig out the owner's manual and turn to the troubleshooting section. If that doesn't help, take the unit back to the dealer. He should be able to check it out for you. If trouble develops later, the culprit could be either software or hardware (things do break eventually). Don't panic, and don't jump to the conclusion that the hard drive is at fault. User errors (yes, that's you and me) and software malfunctions are far more common. Be suspicious of software that you've recently installed: especially new hard drive handlers, backup programs, defragmenters, and the like. Some programs access the hard drive at a low level and don't work with all units. A good defragger like Tuneup! [or better still, Diamond Edge] can expose anomalies like orphaned sectors (allocated but not part of any file). Sometimes inspecting the contents of these orphans can give you a clue as to what's wrong. Operating your system in bad weather can be dangerous, and not only because a lightning strike can fry your system. Power interruptions and voltage surges are more common under those conditions, and anything of this sort can do harm, especially if the computer is accessing the drive at the time. Non-destructive mapping might get rid of newly developed bad spots, and if you have a recent backup, you might try destructive mapping or zeroing the troublesome partition(s). As a last resort, you might try reformatting the drive and restoring data from your backup floppies. A person who really understands the hard drive control tables can often make repairs manually with a sector editor, but it's an iffy proposition. As a last resort, seek help from a qualified technician. Adding a second hard drive to a system is another thing that could cause trouble; especially if the second unit is made by a different manufacturer. The hard drive hardware (adapters and controllers) and software used by one manufacturer are not necessarily compatible with what you already have. Check out potential compatibility problems before you buy the second drive. the back door ~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Supra provides a "back door" in their utilities package; yours will probably work the same way. It's useful if you've managed to mess up your hard drive's boot partition to the extent that you can no longer autoboot from it. First method: With the hard drive turned on, insert the utilities disk in drive A:, then boot while holding down the [Shift], [Control], and [Alternate] keys. This will bypass your hard drive's AUTO folder entirely, and install the hard drive handler. The system will still try to load desk accessories from the hard drive. Second method: With the hard drive turned on, boot the computer from a blank (formatted) floppy disk, holding down [Shift], [Control], and [Alternate] keys as above. You'll get a desktop with drive A: and B: icons and the trash can. Run supboot.prg from the utilities disk, and install a drive C: icon. You should now be able to access partition C:. The first method is useful for getting rid of a bad AUTO program; the second allows you to get rid of a bad desk accessory. Both methods are useful as diagnostic aids. Super Boot ~~~~~~~~~~ I've sung the praises of this shareware program by Gordon W. Moore before. It's more than worth the $15 fee he's asking for the current version (6.0). Super Boot (not to be confused with a Supra utility) allows you to set your system configuration at boot time. You can activate/deactivate AUTO programs, desk accessories, GDOS "assign" files, and configuration data files (e.g., hotwire.hot) with a few keystrokes, or select a frequently used configuration with a single stroke of a function key. Doesn't sound like much? Well, there are a lot of additional bells and whistles in Super Boot, but its ability to turn off an AUTO program or desk accessory that isn't working right can save you lots of heartaches. A bad desk accessory is a nightmare; remember it tries to load every time you run the system. If it aborts at that time, how are you going to get rid of it? The back door method works, but it's rather a pain in the neck. With Super Boot, it's a snap. one more thing... ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ If you follow this column, you'll have seen this suggestion before, and you'll see it again. Take small bites. Anytime you're trying something new, start small, get that working, then build from there. Applied here, this principle has two main implications: Put only the most essential programs in your first hard drive AUTO folder, skipping the accessories altogether. After the AUTO folder works, add the most essential desk accessories. With the basic structure in place, you can add to it easily and with confidence. ~~~ eof ~~~ all the Atari specs fall with the NEC's except for the 35.7kHz (instead of 35kHz) which doesn't seem to be a problem. Also the video signals are a bit high (1.0Vpp rather than 0.7Vpp), but ______________________________________________________________________________ SOME HELPFUL HINTS (we hope) ’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’ Let's start with some warnings that just may save you damaging things. NEVER PLUG IN OR UNPLUG ANY PERIPHERALS WHEN THE COMPUTER IS ON!! This applies especially to the printer and cartridge but is also valid for just about anything else. In the case of the printer it is a good idea to have that switched off as well. And something rather obvious, don't spill liquids anywhere on your computer. If you want to clean the case or the keyboard, do so with a damp (not wet) cloth, possibly some mild detergent will help. Gently wipe the case and keyboard, rub lightly if necessary and wipe lightly again with a dry cloth to dry off. MORE WARNINGS: On the control panel (the Control.ACC) there is the option to cancel double checking both on deleting files and overwriting existing files with the same name. NEVER, NEVER disable these. I don't care how goor you think you are, or how careful. It is VERY EASY to accidentally release the mouse button when "dragging" files around. If this happens over the trashcan, without this safety check on, those files are GONE. One file may be recoverable, but half a dozen ARE NOT. MOUSE CARE: The manual (???) tells you to clean the ball, for those without a manual here is how: slide the small cover on the bottom in the direction of the arrows and remove it. Turn the mouse the right way up and catch the ball when it drops out. Wipe with a damp cloth, if necessary use some mild detergent. Dry off, re insert it and replace the cover. BUT, I find it is not my mouse ball that gets dirty, but the small rollers inside. If you find the mouse moving irregularly or you can actually feel irregularities when moving, here is how to fix it. Unplug the mouse, remove the two screws in the bottom. Gently lift up the CORD end of the top cover. Notice how the other end has locating lugs, when re assembling, that end is put together first. Remove the cover. You will now see 3 small rollers, which are turned by the ball as it moves. Leave the ball in place. I found the easiest way to clean the rollers is to get a small flat bladed screwdriver and hold it lightly against the roller while moving the mouse. This tends to scrape the gunk off nicely. After doing all three rollers, remove the ball, blow out the case to remove any droppings and put the case back together. Clean the ball and re insert. Job completed. I find I have to do this about every week, so around 60 hours or so. DESKTOP HINTS Here are a few things you may not have caught onto yet. If you want to transfer one file, you simply hold down the left mouse button and drag it across, right? And if you wish to move a whole batch of them you "rubber band" them and drag them across. (Rubber banding means you position the arrow at the extreme left edge of the directory window, at the level of the top file that you want, and WHILE HOLDING DOWN THE MOUSE BUTTON, move the mouse downwards and to the right, creating a box outline. When you release the mouse button, you will find that ALL files completely or partially within this outline show as selected. And if you want a batch of files but they are not consecutive?? Well, two ways. Hold down the left SHIFT key and click on each one you want. You find that when clicking on the second one, the first one stays selected (Try it without the shift key). The other way is to "rubber band" a block. Then, while holding down the SHIFT key, clicking on a file will de-select it, while the others stay selected. Another shortcut: If you want to move a file from a window which is not the active one, you normally click on this window to make it the "top" (active) one. But you don't have to. Hold down the RIGHT mouse button, then pick up the file with the left one as usual. See, you can actually do it. COPYING: The worst thing you can do on an ST is to copy a batch of files without a Ramdisk. Six disk swaps are required for EACH file. Always set up a Ramdisk before copying files. Copy from the first disk to the Ramdisk, then from the ramdisk to the second disk. You presumably know that if you drag one drive icon over on top of another, that disk will be duplicated to the other. But did you know that if you drag a disk icon onto a directory window, ALL files on the icon disk will be copied to the other disk? Saves opening the directory and dragging across heaps of files. Conversely, you can pick up one or more files from a directory window and drag them onto an icon. They will be copied onto the disk. If the icon is the trash can, they will be WIPED. Before dragging a heap of files across to another disk, make sure there is enough room. Click on the disk icon (once), go to Show info and select it. This will tell you the total free bytes available. Take about 10% off, as files get rounded off UPWARDS to the nearest 1K. NEW DIRECTORIES When you change disks, you can simply press the ESCAPE key to show the new directory, provided that there is already a directory for that drive, and that it is the active one (the one with the shaded top bar). Saving the GEM Desktop I always see an ST booted at a store and can't believe how messy they keep their DeskTop. I shouldn't be too critical -- the top of my desk is pretty hard to find! The "Option" Menu on the GEM DeskTop has a choice called "Save DeskTop". It creates the file called "DESKTOP.INF" which remembers what your DeskTop looks like (icon and window positions, screen resolution, etc). The next next time you turn on your computer, the DeskTop display will look just as you left it. For instance, I have my disk icons placed at the bottom left of the screen and the trash can at the bottom right. I resize and move my windows so that they are equality centered vertically next to each other (text viewing). Go to the Option Menu and Save the DeskTop. Next time I boot, everything looks familiar and comfortable to me! Renaming the Icons I've found it more appealing to have the disk icons named "Top Disk" and "Bottom Disk", to correspond to the physical position of my disk drives. Point to a disk icon and click the button to make it dark (selected). Go to the Options Menu and select "Install Disk Drive". Type in the new name in the drive name field and click on the Install button. Voila! Your icon is renamed. If you save the DeskTop, the name will be there permanently. You can rename the trash icon by loading the DESKTOP.INF file into a text editor and renaming it where it is shown in its special format. If you do this with ST-Writer, make sure the top and left margins are set to zero, then print to disk (do not use Save since ST-Writer uses a different format). Installing an Application Document-Type This sounds complicated but it's really a useful feature. For instance, you probably name all of your ST-Writer files with a file extension ".DOC". Normally, you would load ST-Writer then load the document file. Here's how to do it in one step! On the DeskTop, click once on the application program name (or icon) to make it black (selected). Go to the Option Menu and choose "Install Application". In the field called Document Type, enter the three characters for the file type associated with the application (DOC, for the case of ST-Writer). Then, save the DeskTop to make this a permanent choice. From now on, all you need to do is click twice on any document file (".DOC" on the name) and ST-Writer will load automatically and the document file will load into ST-Writer, waiting in the edit mode! Make sure ST-Writer is on the same disk as your document files or this will not work. The Infamous Key The Escape comes in handy for a couple of things. When you remove a disk from a drive and replace it with another, the DeskTop still shows the directory for the old disk. I spent the first two months closing the window and re- opening it to see the directory of the new disk. Not so! Simply press the key and the directory will appear for the new disk! Also, the Escape key is used to erase text fields in GEM Dialog Windows. For instance, you're entering the date in the Control Panel -- just hit and the old date will erase and the cursor will go to the beginning of the field. The Case of the Dead Mouse I've heard of missing mice and a sick mouse or two. But, there's no such thing as a dead mouse! The ST keyboard allows you to move the cursor around without using the little critter. Hold and the cursor arrow keys to move the pointer in steps and use the and keys together with the cursor keys for fine movement. The key with the key acts like the left mouse button and the key with the key acts like the right mouse button. It makes a lot of sense once you think about it! Printing the Screen You'll need an "Epson compatible" printer and a healthy printer ribbon for this one. If you ever want to grab a graphic copy of your screen display, press and at the same time. Make sure your printer can handle it or the ST will go to sleep for a couple of minutes. Also, if the image will not fit on your printer, use the Printer Config Desk Accessory and choose 960 for the pixels/line. Save the DeskTop to make it permanent. A Cheap Monitor Stand Out of despair, I looked around for something to lift my monitor up a few inches. I grabbed a letter tray (one of those stackable, plastic in/out basket things) and flipped it upside down. The monitor sits nicely on it and the cables hide into the opening of the tray! Most stationary stores sell them for three to five dollars or so. I have three trays now for my drives and two monitors. Upgrading to One Meg of RAM Who would ever believe that we would be complaining about having ONLY 512K of RAM! With TOS in ROM (available for $25 any day now), the 520ST is more enjoyable than any other personal computer. But, One Meg gives you lots room for nice things like large desk accessories and a big RAM Disk or two. Now the bad news... If you are not extremely comfortable with electronics and soldering, DO NOT attempt the upgrade yourself! Although I have an electronics degree and ten years experience with soldering, only two out of the five I've upgraded so far have worked the first time. The others required careful debugging using an oscilloscope along with a knowledge of microprocessor systems. My suggestion is to wait for a plug-in board and pay the difference. If you can't wait, have someone install the RAM who has done it successfully before. By the way, I've been more successful soldering to the BACK of the PC board instead of directly on top of the old RAM chips. The RF shield on the back of the board acts as a heat-sink for the RAM if the cardboard is cut away and no wires touch the metal. Remember to bend back the leads 180 degrees to mirror the pinout of the chips! Using Folders When you find yourself staring at a screen full of files and looking all around for a certain file, you're ready for folders. Folders are actually sub-directories to keep associated files together, just as you would keep related things together in a file cabinet. Select "New Folder..." from the File Menu on the DeskTop. Give it a general name that describes its intended purpose (you cannot rename a folder later on!). Just click twice on the folder and you will see what's inside of it. When copying files into a folder, make sure you have enough space on the disk and do not go according to the number of bytes shown at the top of the window; this refers only to the folder, not the total disk. Click the disk icon once and use the "Show Info" selection from the File Menu to check the free space on the disk. Backing-Up your Protected Software The best solution to this problem is not to purchase software that is protected! If you have a protected program and need a back-up copy, it is your right to protect yourself. First, ask the company to sell you a back-up copy, without a manual, at a reduced price. If they laugh at you, laugh at them by not purchasing any more of their products and by suggesting the same to your friends. Fortunately (and unfortunately), there are copier programs to copy just about anything on the ST. Please use these for your own personal back-ups only. And respect the rights of those publishers who are respecting your rights by NOT protecting their software. We're all looking forward to a long and prosperous life for the ST and a computer without software makes a great doorstop (commodoorstop?)! Some Notes on The Operating System (TOS) It's pretty frustrating when I hear people talk about the ST's operating system. Here's a few definitions and clarifications on what's inside of there. I'll start from the bottom up. The ST BIOS (Built-In Operating System) is a group of functions to handle the lowest-level tasks in the ST. This includes simple input and output to and from the devices and other functions specific to the hardware. These routines are used by advanced programmers when more control or speed is needed. Since the BIOS is mostly specific to the ST, use of these calls will make it harder to convert the program to another computer. GEMDOS is the medium-level set of functions that handles disk file management, general input and output, memory allocation and program loading. This set of routines is similar to CPM/68K but is NOT CP/M compatible (this has been one of the most common misunderstanings!). Although GEMDOS was written by Digital Research Inc, the makers of CP/M, GEMDOS is closely related to MSDOS with similar function numbers and parameters. Since GEMDOS separates the programmer from the hardware specifics, programs are more easily converted to other computers. Another low-level set of routines is called the "Line-A Graphics". These are very fast drawing functions used extensively by GEM and are also available directly to the programmer. The Line-A routines are responsible for just about everything you see on your ST screen. Use of these routines makes it difficult to move programs to other computers and it's very difficult (or impossible) to make them work nearly as fast on any other computer! GEM itself is actually not an operating system -- it's a library of routines available to the programmer that manages the graphics display and the user interaction with the program. GEM is divided into two major sets of functions: the VDI (Virtual Device Interface) which handles higher-level graphics, and the AES (Application Environment Services) which are high- level libraries of routines for the user/program interaction. VDI makes extensive use of the line-a graphics to control the screen display with over one hundred available functions! The AES contains libraries of routines (totaling over a hundred, again!) that use VDI and GEMDOS. The programmer uses these libraries for a consistent environment between the program and the end user. GEM programs that do not make calls to the BIOS, are, in theory, completely portable to GEM on other computers, including the IBM PC. The GEM DeskTop is actually a GEM application that runs by default when you turn on your computer. Any or all of these routines, including the BIOS can be ignored by another operating system loaded into the ST. I can't wait to see what kinds of systems become available for the ST! I hear there's definite plans for OS9 and other multitasking OS's. If this was all too heavy to handle, the next topic should be more useful! Types of Programs The first day my ST arrived, I sat for three hours trying to make the cursor appear with 4XFORTH from the Dragon Group. Finally, I gave them a call and they talked me through it... install the program as a TOS application! There are four types of programs on the ST and here's a quick explanation of each: GEM APPLICATION. A GEM application is a program with a ".PRG" type at the end of the filename. This type of program uses the GEM interface or was written to enter and exit appropriately with the GEM DeskTop. GEM DESK ACCESSORY. A Desk Accessory is a program, usually smaller than a full application program, that loads into memory when you turn on the computer. They remain in memory and are convenient at anytime from a GEM application through the "Desk" Menu. These program, with a ".ACC" file type, are really multitasking programs running in infinite loops when the main application isn't busy. A desk accessory must be programmed as such and regular application will NOT work as an accessory. NON-GEM PROGRAMS. Other programs that do not make use of the GEM routines have a ".TOS" file type. They strictly use GEMDOS functions and supply their own interaction with the user. Usually, a TOS program requires a blinking cursor which is enabled automatically when the program is run. TTP PROGRAMS. A special type of TOS program has a ".TTP" file type. These programs require a list of arguments for input to the application. If you are familiar with CP/M or MSDOS, these programs are usually run by entering the name of the program as a command followed by the parameters. With the GEM DeskTop, these parameters are passed through a dialog window. A few "Command Processors" or "Shells" are available for the ST that give you a command-line environment similar to Unix, CP/M or MSDOS. TOS and TTP programs may be used through those command programs. Some Notes on the Hardware I'm still impressed every time I look inside of an ST! I could go on for ever talking about the details but I better save that for later. So, here's a few comments on a some hardware-related things... The 520ST has a Memory Controller that can handle up to four megabytes of RAM without any additional support chips. The Operating System looks for up to four meg of RAM and all program may access it continually without banking or segmenting. With 32 1-Meg Ram chips and a lot of work, you have a 4-Meg ST! The ROM Cartridge port on the left side of the ST has no read/write line and is strictly for read-only memory. You cannot add RAM or other support chips to that port. The DMA port is not a Hard Drive Port; it requires about $200 worth of circuitry to control a bare hard disk drive. However, it is relatively inexpensive to control SASI and SCSI devices and allows for up to eight compatible peripherals. Atari says that a $699 hard drive will be available soon. A couple of other companies are showing hard drives and hard drive controllers for the ST. The ST has four custom integrated circuits that are available only from Atari. Besides the ROMS, all of the remaining IC's are readily available "off the shelf". Everything in the ST is soldering in without sockets except for the custom chips and ROMS (these are not guaranteed to stay socketed in later production runs). The floppy disk controller in the ST will control only two disk drives. But, it will control 5 1/4" drives with a format compatible with MSDOS and an IBM-PC. A simple cable from inside the SF343/SF314 drive can hook to a 40 track or 80 track 5 1/4" drive. This isn't too useful really, but it is definitely faster to copy files direct from disk instead of transferring them through terminal programs between an ST and IBM-PC. However, the latter method is usually more convenient and less expensive. Another note: the ST cannot drive both the monochrome and color monitors at the same time. Programming on the ST No matter which language you decide to program in, you won't get very far with a serious application without the Atari Developers Kit. The ST is a sophisticated hardware and software system that requires the documentation and lots of effort to learn. I've used 4XForth extensively on the ST (I have serial number 3 of 4XForth) and recommend it to anyone. The H&D Forth from Mirage is not as professional as 4XForth and the price reflects that fact. If you just can't deal with Forth, there's many other choices. ST BASIC is very complete and extensive. However, I do not recommend BASIC for any serious programming on the ST. If you just want to learn a few things, you have nothing to loose -- BASIC is free! The same goes for LOGO. It's not a serious language for program development but it's a very nice, powerful language for kids to use. In fact, many grade schools teach LOGO instead of BASIC. "C" is a favorite language for software developers on many computer, large or small. The Atari Developers package comes with Alcyon C from Digital Research. Alcyon C is acceptable but has many slow, intermediate steps in the compile process. Another C, from Haba, hasn't received very good reviews because of its incompleteness. Yet another C, from Megamax, looks very promising but it isn't available to the general public yet. The preliminary copy, that I purchased from Megamax, has some room for improvement but is very fast and easy to use. I'm looking forward to the final version and I'm placing my bets on this one. More implementations of "C" are promised from other companies including Lattice C which is popular on many other computers. Pascal is finding its way onto the ST but I haven't looked at any of them yet. Modula 2, a language similar to Pascal, is available from TDI and seems to be fast and complete. I haven't looked it over completely but I know a couple of people that are enthusiastic about it. I've noticed that other languages are promised for the ST including Fortran, Basic compilers, a Basic in ROM cartridge, Cobol and a few more. o.A couple of mates and myself had gone out for a few pints.Anyway,one of my chums started arguing with this rather large geezer at the bar.After a wee bit when it was getting more heated, THE HUNT IS ON ******************** By Bob Kell I think that it s fair to say that almost everyone would agree that conservation is a good thing,cruelty to animals is not nice and that it s also probably not too great an idea for mankind in general to pollute the planet to buggery.I d happily accept that. On the other hand though,isn t it getting just a bit alarming how many nutters that there are out there who seem to believe that kindness to the environment and it s animals is far more important than looking after the rights and interests of us homo sapien sapiens. For one thing,BP very nearly took Greenpeace to court which could have bankrupted them totally.There was a massive outcry about this as Greenpeace were held up to be the possible saviours of the planet.Now, I do think that Greenpeace do have a place in society and I also think that some of the things that they highlight are certainly worth bringing to the public s notice.However they,as you and I are,are governed by the law.The incident that brought down BP s wrath was the boarding and occupying of one of their drilling platforms in the Atlantic.This was both dangerous to themselves,and of course illegal. Similarly I m sure that you ve seen on the telly,those little Gemini dinghies sailing alongside massive bulk carriers attempting to stop them dumping various materials over the side.Given that the stuff was being dumped in the proper licenced area,with all of the necessary permissions,this act was also illegal.There are also many other occurances where Greenpeace in pursuit of their activities has broken the law.In a properly ordered society,no-one,but no-one,has the right to break the law to uphold their own personal ideals.If such a thing was left to happen then places such as Northern Ireland would become Beiruts in no time at all.It s unfortunate then that the members of Greenpeace see themselves as above the law and seem to think that is their right to break the law as and when they please.As I said,I agree with some of their views,but their actions should be limited to legitimate protest,duscussion and proper democratic means. When animals come into the equation,the "greenies" get even more out of hand.There seems to be no ability to see things objectively.Take seals for example.Massive publicity about the culling of seals,why is it allowed,seals are nice and friendly,they do no harm.Well,that s true if you live inland and derive your living from anything but the sea.Try asking someone who obtains their daily crust from fishing and you ll find a different story.I m not just talking about Eskimos and culling of harp seals a la telly news either.There s an island 5 miles off shore form where I live which this year has over 1,000 breeding seals living on it.Given that a normal seal must weigh about 20 stones or more they d have to eat,what,a stone of fish each a day? I don t have any figures here but at that estimate that s 1,000 stone or nearly 10 tons of fish a day,70 tons a week,280 tons a month,or over 1,500 tons of fish for the duration of the summer.Given that there are around 100 trawlers of various sizes,with an average crew of 3 men fishing from this town and the adjacent one a mile along the road,170 seperate registered fish merchants on shore,along with fish market workers, fish shop workers, marine engineers, electricians, boatbuilders,etc etc,there must be nearly 1,000 men and their families relying on those very same fish for their income.What s more important? To some it s the seals.To me it s the people.Take out a few guys with rifles,shoot half the seals,problem not solved but helped. Seals as a species are still there,fishing as an industry still there too. Sports wise things are slightly harder to justify when you look at the situation first of all.On the face of it you d think that taking a gun and blasting some rabbit,fox or bird to death for fun seems very cruel.It probably is.Then again,how many people actually have an idea of how much food that is grown by farmers is eaten by the vermin side of the countryside? I was once asked to go on a week long jaunt to kill as many rabbits as possible from an estate over by Dundee.The rules were simple.Kill as many rabbits as you can.They were shot,netted,ferretted,and generally massacred.At the end of the week there were 3,500 dead rabbits.That s a lot of rabbits,and also a lot of grain crop seedlings that they d have eaten.Pigeons are the same,they flock in their thousands and eat everthing they can.Foxes too are as bad.If a fox gets in a hen run,it ll kill them all.Deer will cause havoc in young tree plantations.Wild animals just have to be culled.Nobody wants to eliminate them,but people must come first. The raising of birds specifically to shoot like grouse or pheasant,may also seem cruel but by charging punters to shoot them,the estate makes money and therefore the people living on the estate keep their jobs.If birds weren t reared to shoot then they would die out as a species.The amount of birds released is not nearly comparable to those shot,so therefore there are always hundreds of birds which escape to breed properly in the wild.If this number wasn t always topped up by reared birds,foxes,traffic,wild cats etc,would eliminate the wild population. Lastly and most controversially is the breeding of animals for experimentation.The key word in this is suffering.Nobody should want to see an animal suffering.However,if it s for a just medical cause then I d have to say that a million animals dying in agony is prefferable to just one human being.The sick and sad thing is that I ve actually seen people on the TV being interviewed and actually saying that they d rather die themselves or see a member of their family die than to use animals to experiment with drugs on.Now that,is cruel. Bob Knackered,Knightsbridge. Dear Knackered, Yes,my address. Dear Dr Bob, Although I have been on the pill for a good few years now,I have not had sex for a long time.As I am 84 years old,do you think it is safe for me to come off the pill. Wrinkly,Rotherham. Dear Wrinkly, I suspect that you are a wizzened old git,so yes,I expect that it is safe for you to discontinue birth control. Dear Dr Bob, I have been bothered for the last month or so with thrush around my back passage,can you suggest anything. Uncomfortable,Uncorn. Dear Uncomfortable, I would say your best bet would be a scarecrow. Dear Dr Bob, I have been married now for 5 years and although everything else b A B R I E F O U T L I N E O N . . . H O W T O G E T C O N N E C T E D T O T H E N E T W I T H Y O U R A T A R I . This article is intended for everyone who is thinking off connecting to the Internet (mainly for Bob Kell). 1. What are the requirements to be able to connect to the net? Very simple, your Atari (ST/STFM/TT/MEGA/FALCON etc) any Atari will do. A modem with a baud rate of at least 14, 400 (baud rate is the speed the modem transfers information, the higher the number the faster the data transfer). 14, 400 is the fastest one that the Atari can cope with, for the higher speeds you need a serial port adapter. You will also need an ISP (Internet Server Provider), an ISP provides the password and all the other info you need to be able to connect. You also need a dial out program (I use STiK, but you can use STInG), this dials your ISP number and connects you to the Internet (after you have set it up of course). A hard disc is good to have, but you can use floppies. I almost forgot, you will also need a web browser such as CAB, this allows you to look at the pages of infomation on the web. 2. There are Atari sites on all subjects on the net (also called the web). There is this assumption that the net is mainly for the PC computer, humbug I say. With your Atari and the software I mentioned above, you can go anywhere in the world and download anything you like, it dosen't matter which computer you are using. (Whatever pages you look at are automatically saved to your disc). 3. The subject of email address's has foxed a few people... It did me until I found out where to get one. When you subscribe to your ISP, you choose what your email address will be and your ISP will confirm it (he enters all your details into the computer at his end to tell the net who you are, so to speak). 4. The cost is a tricky area. Different ISP's charged different subscription rates. My ISP is zetnet and it cost œ90 for a year's subscription, but all I pay for are the phone call when I'm on-line, nothing else. Your ISP will tell you the different charges and you just pick the one that suits you. If anyone wants zetnet's phone number or any other info, then please feel free to contact me. 5. Another thing I've been asked... ...is, do I have to leave my computer switched on all day to recieve email, the simple answer to that is NO! You check to see if you have any mail when you connect to your ISP. Unless you are connected to your ISP via the telephone, you cannot send, recieve or check for mail. 6. It's very easy to send anything via email. It's best if you first pack it using STZip and include it in your email letter (contact me for a more detailed explanation). The cost would depend on how big the file was and the speed of your modem also the time of day (evenings and week-ends are cheaper). 7. You can talk... ...to one person or as many s you like on screen, using a program called an IRC (Internet Relay Chat). 8. A 14, 400 modem is good... ...but you can use a slower one, it just means that your phone bill will be huge andd it'll takes ages to download anything. I hope that this has helped a few people to get connected, if you need any more info or help then you can contact me at the address below. Ed. (007) 'Firs-Thyme' 10, Laurel Bank, Derby Lane Derby DE23 8UE Tel : 01332-747421 email: edmund@zetnet. co. uk [~~ eof ~~] got Eric`s cap off and made sure he was presentable.As we sauntered casually over with the obligatory giggles from the babes,we thought we were on easy street.Just as I said " Hi Ther ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ A T A R I - W A T C H I N G O N T H E N E T ---oOo--- good sources for on-line Atari info contributed by Paul Davis ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Meta Searchers ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Ask Jeeves http://www.askjeeves.com Debriefing http://www.debriefing.com Usenet Atari Sites ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Primary meeting area: comp.sys.atari.st Software Development Area: comp.sys.atari.programmer Hardware Discussions: comp.sys.atari.st.tech Web Ring ~~~~~~~~ Atari Index: http://www.webring.org/cgi-bin/ webring?ring=atari;list;page=1 Webring Master Index: http://www.webring.org/ringworld/ ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ I hope these are of use to any readers who are on the Net. All of these, of course, will have links to other sites so you should get plenty of URLS. Paul Davis ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ ~~~ eof ~~~ 4 mile walk. It`s actually coming back to me now the amount of places that Eric got us thrown out of.One night in the pictures he had a box of Malteesers in front of him on the edge of the balcony.Well,he forgot to watch out when he put his feet up and booted the box over the edge and onto some poor bugger in the stalls.So much commotion got up that they stopped the film and some old farts pointed us out and we got the heave. Anothe TOO MANY ISM`S ````````````````` I read with total amazement the review that Kelstar received in ST Format but was not surprised to see that you were accused of sexism.I do not mean by this staement that you were sexist by any means,only that I am never surprised nowadays when anybody is accused of one form of ism or another. What people are being accused of is nothing more than having a sense of humour.If I tell the age old joke about the Pakistan football team who couldn`t play in the world cup because every time they got a corner they wanted to open a shop,would I be being racist.If you listened to the goody-goody lobby then I would be.If you asked the vast majority of the Pakistani community then I don`t think I would be,as they would be sensible enough to know that this is a joke,it`s meant to be funny. If I told the joke about the Scots window cleaner who dropped a 50p piece out of his pocket while cleaning a window,and was down the ladder so fast that it hit him on the head,I wouldn`t be being racist,I would only be telling a joke that probably Scotsmen would find funnier than most. The rantings of the minority of people have resulted in the Gollywog toy being totally done away with because it was supposedly offensive to black people.They have also made sure that comedy classics such as Love Thy Neighbour being hidden away in a corner somewhere,never to be shown again.And in my opinion have caused more racial problems than they have cured. The same goes for sexist humour.If I tell a joke about a woman with big breasts I am accused of being sexist,but if a female comedian tells a joke about a man with a small willy she is not.There are so many double standards with this,that it now appears that the actual correctness of the joke is more important than if it`s funny.If you analyse any joke about a person of any kind,it`s almost bound to be a small person,or a fat person,or a black person.The joke won`t work otherwise. Society has become so petty due to the loud minority who force themselves and their opinions on everyone else that we are all in danger of being so taken up with serious discussion that we will have no room for a plain,old fashioned good old laugh. L.H. another St Andrews pub one night and were amazed to find it full of crumpet.We must have spent an hour chatting up various babes before the barman pointed out that the whole lot were dykes from a club at the university. When Charles and Di got married one of our local hotels had a street party thing in the car park.It was going great until we queued up for a burger.Eric was a bit typsy by this time and went to lean on the counter for support.Unfortunately it was the griddle for the burgers and he took about half an inch of skin off his hand.We 88888 888 888 `888' oo888oo oo888oo 888 .oooo. `888' `888' .oooo. 888 ,88) .o888o, 888 d8( '8b 888 888 d8( '8b '88888' (8d( '8b 888 , (88888P' 888 888 (88888P' 888' '9888bop .888. o8 88b .o 888bd 888bd 88b .o 888 dp, )d8) 8888888888 '88888P' "888" "888" '88888P' o8880 'Y8888P' Adrian Newsum, 132 A SHELFORD ROAD, TRUMPINGTON, CAMBRIDGE, CB2 2NE. Dear Mag I was gratefull for the last issue and have sent this disk for the next. Included on this disk are files which I trust you will appreciate. There are some music files 3 of wich I ripped from games. They all work by double clicking. I enjoy listening to the music in the background & if anyone could send me more self playing files this would be greatly appreciated. I also have advice to ask. 1. where can I obtain a .wav player (I'm sure I read there was one available). 2. Do other people have trouble with Tos 3.1 & ACC's ? (They make my ST lock up) 3. Can you offer advice on a mag or demo creator, I enjoy creating anim's & pics with Deluxe Paint but have not found a suitable shell in which to compose my creations. I have many other queries but none that come to mind immidiately & I dont wish to overburden you. I am sending this disk to The old Kelaug address as I was told to expect to hear from Bob Kell but have recieved nothing. All that is left is for me to thank John for Tos 3.1 & the letter. PS: I forgot to say about the txt files included with this disk There are 7 of them. Also I have included a photo of me, my wife & our new baby "Goran" & although I am not saying you should but if you wished you have permission to include all & anything I have sent in the next mag. PPS:I shall be upfront & say that I have a great problem in eradicating "The little green goblins virus from my disk collection. I have been through all my (extensive) collection of floppies a few times but still it crops up every so often. I have checked this disk but would appreciate a second opinion. I have a feeling that different drives can Hide info, ie: sometimes my internal drive wont like a disk that I have formatted on my external floppy.have sent disks to my brother only to be told that his drive cannot read the info on the disks. A perplexing & fustrating anomoly I'm sure you'l agree. PPPS: I have decided to include some JPG files which are photo's of me my wife & our baby. I have tried to access these pics on my st using Speed of light but am told that I need more memory. I would hope that someone could convert these files into PI1 format for me & iff there is space to include them on the disk mag that I am sent. I should also like to comment that Speed of Light was very "cute" & did its very best. For the first time I played about with its preferences in order to free more memory. It worked for 4 out of the 7 photo's that I had. I was wondering if you or a reader might be able to help with quarms I have about using the ghostlink software provided on the last disk. Questions: 1. How do I run "DOS" ! ? 2. Do I need to run "DOS" everytime I wish to use my ST ? 3. Do I have to keep the PC's monitor ? 4. can I house my ST inside the PC case to keep things tidy ? 5. Can I use the PC keyboard for my ST or would I need to keep it connected to run "DOS" ? 6. Can I connect the PC to the internet/my other ST and use my 2.5 meg ST as a terminal or send info between my two ST's ? 7. If I use a PC keyboard do I use an ST or a PC mouse ? 8. What connecter does a PC keyboard use, I've seen some that look like midi connecters, can I use midi connecters ? Yours quarmly ADY A quick reply from jfw: ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Thanks for the letter, Ady. I'm glad you enjoyed Tryst 12 and I've sent your text files onto Bob so that they'll hopefully appear in the first issue of his Kelstar II disczine. I'm a bit pushed for time at the mo', but here's some quick replies to your queries. 1> I don't know anything about Microsoft's .WAV format for digitised sound,, but I've just had a check through the old (and now, unfortunately, R.I.P.) Floppyshop catalogue and that lists WAVE PLAYER by B. Grier and SWAV by Christophe Bartolme as two PD progs that can play back the sounds at different speeds. But that's about all I know. Does anyone out there know of any other progs and where Ady could find them? 2> TOS 3.1 is very reliable, so the problem must be with one of the ACCessories you're using. Try them out one by one (see the TOS 3.1 instructions for full details of how to do this) until you find the ACC that's causing the problem, then delete it. 3> No idea about this one - maybe Bob or another reader can recommend a good prog? For the general run-of-the-mill intro with picture,sprite,music,message,and auto load of up to 5 programs you can`t do better than Intro Concept.To create cartoons go for Animtool or Cyberpaint,both have auto booting facilities.*Bob* I ran your disc through Richard Karsmakers' Ultimate Virus Killer 2000 (an essential purchase, available from the FaST Club, PO Box 101, Nottingham, NG2 7NN for œ9.95) and yes, it's definitely infected with the Green Goblin Virus, type A. Re the floppy drives, what's probably happening there is that the read/write heads on one of them are out of alignment. This means that tracks written on one of them won't be readable on the other. There's not a lot you can do about it, except stick to standard formats (any extended format would be asking for trouble) and replace the faulty drive if the problem continues. I've passed your JPG pix on to Bob, but what's happening there is that the picture files are so compressed that there isn't enough memory in your machine to hold a copy of the file and decompress it at the same time. JPG files are sometimes 10% of their original (GIF format) size, and you'll understand the problem when you consider that your JPGs range from 110K to 130K, and will probably each decompress to 800K or more. Add the size of the Speed of Light programme to this, plus the equivalent block of memory that it'll need to work on or display the file, and you can see why you're getting the 'Out of Memory' messages! (The decompressed pix would be far too large for any floppy, let alone the magazine disc.) The only way around this is to decompress the JPG pix to GIF format with a pic conversion utility that deals with a small chunk of the pic at a time, rather than decompress the entire pic in one go. The best one I know is JPG2GIF.TTP so I'll send that to Bob for passing on to you. Decompress the pic with JPG2GIF.TTP and then load the GIF into Speed of Light, reduce the number of colours to 16, and then save out the pic as a Degas screen. All the best, jfw In the last few weeks I`ve had a couple of letters from JFW,one before the last issue of the mag and one after.I`ve decided to use them both as they`re probably very relevant to the last paragraph of John`s second letter.Read on and see what I mean. John Weller, Flat 1, 28 Victoria Road, Bournemouth, BH1 4RR. Saturday, 27th February '99 hi there Bob, Just a quick note to wish you all the best for 'Kelstar II and send in a couple of quick comments on what you said in the publicity letter. It'll be interesting to see how the mag develops, but my own personal opinion is that a general interest disczine might be less attractive to current readers. Kelstar's original format of 'light on the ST and heavy on the humour' was OK when it was an alternative to more serious discmags, but is that the right approach now that it's the only ST disczine left? My own feeling is that there's plenty of 'general interest' material around - in books, mags, fanzines and newspaper columns - but an acute shortage of Atari and, in particular, ST material. And it's the ST material - the news, reviews and information - that readers look for in a disczine. It might be balanced by humour and opinion pieces, but if it ain't there then it ain't an ST disczine - it's a personal fanzine. There's plenty of readers who are willing to write on ST topics - John Ash, Charlie Ayres and Ken Hughes spring to mind - so how about approaching them with suggestions and topics for future articles? I'll contribute what I can, but I want to have a break for a while and come back revitalised and rarin' to go in a couple of issues time. Over to you, Bob; it's your mag, but many of your readers would also like to see an ST mag. All the best, john Hi John, Great to hear from you again. I feel that we`re going to have to agree to disagree though on the main thrust of your letter.I don`t see Kelstar as an ST diskmag.I see it,as I`ve always done,as a mag for people who use an ST. I`ve been an ST user for a good few years now and although I find it a great hobby,the fact that I do,doesn`t mean that I want to read only,or even mainly, about ST related stuff.Yep,I do agree that the news and "what`s going on in the ST scene" are very interesting and important even,but I don`t think that the mag should necessarily be centred around that. In the beginning,as someone famous once said,Kelstar was indeed an alternative to the other ST mags around,and attracted readers who were using STs but weren`t what you`d call fanatics.I don`t agree that this situation has changed much.People who are very into the techy side,( I don`t like that desription but it`ll have to do ),aren`t going to be diskmag people anyway,and the Internet has now replaced the traditional Sten type diskmag in that it caters for those who are mainly interested in the future development of technical type things. In 1996 our readers were people who owned an ST,used it for a hobby item,used it as a source of contacting other users,liked to share their ST and everyday experiences,and also liked a laugh.I don`t see that this has changed at all.If you look at the "profiles" of our readers who have completed the reader survey forms,you`ll see that we are a fairly similar bunch in that we have similar set-ups and do similar things with our STs. In the end it really comes down to what we are trying to achieve.Are we deliberately trying to build up support of the ST?,are we trying to input more techy information into those of our readers who are less experienced?,are we trying to compete with another mag whether it be a paper based one or a disk based one? Personally,I`m not trying to achieve anything.I like writing,I like using the ST,I like editing a diskmag,I like sharing thoughts and ideas with our readers on both ST and general topics,I like cracking a few gags,I like knowing so many nice people through doing the mag,I like reading their articles and letters,and that is it.There is no more. Whether the mag stays at a 30 odd readership as it is now,or expands to 100, doesn`t mean a lot to me.As long as the readership of the mag enjoys it then that`ll do for me.If they don`t enjoy it they let me know.If they do enjoy it,equally they`ll let me know.What I will say though is that if you take a look back over the last few issues,I`m sure you`ll notice that the items that have had a good response,as far as people writing counter pieces or support pieces in the following issue,have all been about general topics of discussion. We`ve tried over the years in our various titles having dedicated Q and A sections,programming sections,comms sections,games sections and basically,they have struggled to keep active.The individuals who have been in charge of them have always ended up getting fed up because they haven`t had any support,and the section stops.There isn`t anything wrong with this,it`s just that we all have very different ways of looking at our ST.In a group of maybe 40 people at most,it`s bound to be unlikely that more than a couple of people will be sufficiently into the same area of usage to justify someone running a dedicated section on it,whereas almost everyone has views on stuff that is in the news at the time like homosexuality,war,racism,religion,politics or whatever,and that has been reflected in the submissions for the mag for a long time now. If the whole thing was to reverse and Kelstar 2 was to attract 50 ST articles and 20 general,then that wouldn`t bother me in the slightest because that would reflect what the readers want for that issue.I have no problems with that whatsoever.I have never had a "direction" for Kelstar,and I don`t want one.I`m not on any kind of ST crusade,and never will be.As far as I see it,I`m here to put together the various work of our readers into a magazine,which I hope at the time of release will be interesting,thought provoking,educational,funny,and most of all entertaining. Bob Kell,News At Ten,Scotchland. John Weller & Liz Roudiani, Flat 1, 28 Victoria Road, Bournemouth, BH1 4RR. Sunday, 21st March '99 Hi Bob, Sorry it's taken me a few weeks to get back into contact, but I've been taking life pretty easy here while having all the fun of taking on an elderly dog. He's a 14 year-old mix of Collie, Bull Terrier and Labrador, with cataracts and a certain degree of deafness. But you wouldn't believe it to see him! Liz, of course, has fallen head over heels in love with him but that's only to be expected when she's been dogless for so long. She's happy, he's happy, we're all happy. I've read through most of Kelstar now, so here's some feedback on what I thought of it. But let's lay my cards on the table before I go any further. We've got very different views on what makes for a good disczine and, to be honest, I was rather wary of the direction you wanted to take the mag in. I personally can't see much point in a 'general interest' disczine, and especially now that the ST scene is so small. For me, the ST side of a mag has always been the most important part (learning about your ST, creating stuff with it, and hearing about other people's uses), and the personal or opinion side is just the icing on top of the cake. The common factor among us readers is surely our STs, rather than any love of controversy or opinioneering? My other hesitation was that it might turn out to be a mag aimed at a small clique of like-minded friends rather than a general ST readership. I was worried that some of the people who'd been attracted to KelAUG/Tryst over the last few issues might feel sidelined - perhaps even cheated in some way - and that what had started out as a communal project would become a vehicle for the same few voices. OK, enough of the doubts and hesitations, here's the feedback. I'm sorry if I sound pretty negative here, but it's my honest response, and what's the point of feedback if it's not honest? MONO COMPATIBILITY: I ran the disc in colour (if you can call a manky black and white TV "colour"...) with no problems, and then copied the Multi-Res colour emulator into the AUTO folder and re-booted in mono. Got a 2-bomb crash, but there's no real problem there; it's just that the Transbeauce "virus free" bootsector doesn't like the emulator (or vice versa). I wiped the bootsector (with the UVK virus killer) and everything was hunky-dory from there on in. LOADING SCREENS: nice Intro but my first problem came with the loading screen: "She's getting hers ... get yours on..." Why prejudice readers before they've even got to the menu pages? And it's not even as if it's funny... Another (male) reader wrote much the same to me: "The title screen made me squirm a bit ... I thought it a bit tacky, and while I'm no prude, it did immediately strike me that some female readers might just take offence." THE MAG OVERALL: There was an interesting range of articles, although many of them were on the short side (1-3K apiece) and this gave a bitty or 'stop/start' feel to some of the areas. I liked the way the Editorial acted as an introduction to the mag, and the Letters page carried on some of the concerns of earlier issues. THE ARTICLES THEMSELVES: The highlights, for me, were Ed Smith's piece on Buying By Post, Bob's piece on English Incomers, and Rod Henson's George & Billy story. (I liked that a lot - a real-life ghost story told by someone who's a natural story-teller. Excellent!) Shame there wasn't anything by Ray Mascord this issue. I always look forward to his cinema reminiscences. I thought the reviews area was a little bit naughty (and the same goes for the ST and PD News, and the ST emulators article from Computer Shopper) for not mentioning that everything in it had been taken from from Atari Computing. There's nothing necessarily wrong with that - if done with permission and with the source and authors prominently credited - but relying on reprints means that many readers will have already seen them. HOMOPHOBIA AND OTHER 'MASS DEBATES': To be honest, Bob, arguing for the sake of arguing just doesn't interest me. I'm not gay so why should I attack or defend gays? Liz and myself's attitude to life is based on privacy - "you keep out of our faces and we'll keep out of yours" - and surely other people's sexuality is only of interest if you're thinking of going to bed with them? As far as we're concerned, the world would be a much better place if we all gave our neighbours the same amount of tolerance we'd expect for ourselves, and minded our own damn business. So you can understand why I think it's a waste of time and energy to contribute to any 'Mass Debate' that doesn't directly concern me. It's just soapboxing: no- one's opinions are ever changed, the truth is never established, and all you hear are the same fixed views being shouted over the barricades. The trouble with relying on controversy to spice up a magazine is that it needs opponents. One of the things that disturbed me about this issue was the amount of shirt-trailing in it; articles that appeared to have been written for the sole purpose of provoking a response from one particular reader. Now, let me think, who amongst our readers is most likely to disagree with Bob's rant about vegetarians... Could be it Barbara perchance, someone who mentioned a couple of issues ago that she was a vegetarian? Surely not! And I wonder who the target might be for Bill Ellis' 'Women: an Analysis', along with its tasteful postscript? (Not even original, cribbed from an old ST Pluz that cribbed it in turn from the 'Net. Better luck next time Bill!) Could it be Barbara once more? Surely not! But Barbara's a good sport, isn't she, she wouldn't be hurt by any of this? I'm sorry Bob, but that kind of baiting leaves a nasty taste in my mouth and I don't want to be associated in any way with it. Barbara has helped the mag at every opportunity, so it's rather distasteful to see her being set up as an Aunt Sally; Kelstar's all-purpose target for mock controversies. Sorry, but if that's the way it's going to be then you can count me out from now on in. It's time to go walk the dog. john Hi Again John, Well,where to start.Probably at the beginning. I genuinely struggle to see your point of view regarding a "direction" for the magazine,and I also have trouble with "much point in a general interest mag". Since the very beginning of Kelstar I have always said that I will put into the mag whatever work that people want to create for it.I have always made my own preference clear as to what I like personally,but have never ever said that there is either a direction or point to any of it.All it is,is a collection of writings of the people who read the mag,nothing more complicated than that,and if the content of the mag is "general",then that only reflect the contributions of the writers. You`re perfectly correct in stating that the ST scene is now very small.That in itself means that to create say a DTP series of 20K per time tutorials would be a complete waste of time for the person who sits down to write it.There just isn`t the interest in any one subject whether it be DTP,art,music,or whatever, within the readership to merit that kind of work.On the other hand if Ray writes about his life in the cinema,or Stan about his amateur radio hobby,or Rod and Stuart with their stories,then most people will find that interesting and entertaining.If I choose to write about my feelings on homosexuals, religion,war,the building trade,the life of the daffodil,or a recipe for haggis,then I do it because that thought goes through my head at the time.I am neither trying to provoke any reactions or to convert anyone to my way of thinking.You`re taking it too seriously.It isn`t serious,it`s a laugh,it`s something to do,it fills a few hours.If every one of the readers buys a PC tomorrow and stops using the ST,so what?,it`s their perogative to do so,it wouldn`t put me up or down,I`d just find something else to do myself.I don`t now,and have never,felt strongly about the ST,it`s promotion,or it`s technical exellence.The ST is a tool and not a pin-up.To me it`s something to do,and that`s all. If any magazine isn`t aimed at a clique of right minded friends,what is it supposed to be aimed at? I just have to go back to the same point that what is in the mag is a true reflection of what the contributors send in.If someone says to me "I liked your builders tale Bob",then I`ll write another one.If there are several people who think enough about an article that appears,such as the homosexuals one,that they write in with their own views over a couple of issues,surely that`s a good thing and not a bad one. If I were to remove any part of any "humorous" item because I thought that it might offend someone,I`d be as well to hang up my pen.The intro picture was to my mind humour of a "Carry On" nature,a fine bit of British innuendo,and if anyone was offended by it then sorry,but it was meant as a joke,don`t take it so seriously.If it caused offence to 37 out of 38 readers then I`d do something about it,but 2 or 3 out of 38? If everyone was only to ever comment about things that directly affected them in their own personal life then I think the world would be a very sad place John.It is everyone`s right to express their views about any subject that they care to.No matter how extreme someones views are,you have to accept that they have the right to have them surely.If a bloke got up on a soapbox in Hyde Park tomorrow and claimed that Hitler had been a great bloke and had all the right ideas,he might well cause a riot.The thing is though,he wouldn`t be the one to blame,the people who rioted would be.We should all be able to express opinions if we want to,and if others don`t like them then they have the right to say so. The very last thing I shall say,has to come after an apology to Barbara incase she did indeed feel that various articles were aimed at her.I can certainly assure her that NOTHING in the mag was aimed to get a response from anyone.I have written to Barbara already to explain this. I know that you don`t like the type of mag that we now have John,but I feel a certain paranoia is creeping into your comments.If I`d sat and thought about the Veggie article and the Analysis of Women for a hundred years,it still wouldn`t have crossed my mind that they were going to upset anyone.They were included because I personally thought they were funny.If the article about the women had been about men,and had been equally funny,it of course would have been in just the same.The veggie article came from Kelstar 1 issue 1 in 1996,so to suggest I`d written it solely to upset Barbara is ludicrous.Do you think that if 5 people had come down against my opinions of homosexuals and had agreed with yourself and Barbara,I`d have left their views out? Of course not, it just turned out to be slightly unfortunate that two other people had very strong views on that same subject,and had disagreed with her.Such is the world John.To think that anything in the mag is personally aimed at any one or group of other readers to incite a reaction is silliness in the extreme. You`re reading ulterior motives into very ordinary situations.I can only suggest that you pick up a few of the original Kelstar magazines and you`ll see that the style of the mag has never changed in that respect.I just call things as I see them,agree with them or disagree,whatever you like.I once said that I wanted Kelstar to be like an evening in the pub.A gang of friends,a few laughs, a few topics of conversation,a bit of a natter,and a bit of argument.That hasn`t changed.It`s how I am,and how the mag is,and will always be as long as it`s here. It`s a pity that you have based your reasons to quit on an innaccurate presumtion John,but that is of course your decision.It doesn`t seem to support the argument that you think we do indeed need more ST stuff in the mag though as you were certainly one of the people best placed to supply it.Maybe by working together rather than splitting up we`d have been able to create a good mix of both of our ways of thinking. Dear Bob, Whether or not we have reached the end of the line as far as Kelaug is concerned is entirely up to you. You may feel inclined to publish the occasional issue - or you may not. Whatever you do, I must express my thanks for fourteen issues of a most delightful disczine. To be honest, I did not really expect it to last for this long. I am grateful for the number of people it has brought me into contact with, and for the very valuable lessons I have learned from some of the articles. Grateful, too, for the articles that entertained, and the articles that amused. You brought together a great band of contributors, and I look forward to re-reading some of the best bits in time to come. There was always someone to lend a helping hand in case of difficulty, someone to give a little advice when required, and if no one knew the answer, there was always someone who knew a man who did. Controversy did rear its head at times, but that is to be expected when any number of people make contact with each other. Its a good thing, in my opinion, that not everyone DOES have the same point of view about everything. Its only sad that some don't think that any viewpoint other than their own can be tolerated. Still - that's THEIR problem. Controversy, however, never occupied more than a very small space on your well packed discs; humour and good wiil were by far the main theme of every issue. Kelaug was an important contribution to the Atari scene, and will be sorely missed by some of us. Panda Hi John, (The more observant amongst you may notice that this letter was written after the decision to stop the mag) Yep,it`s a pity that things came to an end,but,such is life.Over the years that we`ve produced the magazine,the best thing that has come from it is simply the good people that we have all met and made contact with through it.This is by far the most important thing for me. this case. Mr. Lister, you and Mr. Cat are free to use the holodeck. All except Picard exit. He goes back to work when the N O W L I S T E N U P ! This is an artical from ST.Format No.25 that i thought might come in very handy for you people out there that are sound mad, that is, you like to here your ST from within your sound system speakers rather from the ST's small monitor speakers. Well here is the artical i hope that it is off some use. If you have an hour or so and a tenner to spare (for those in Wales that means œ10, not the singer) and can handle a soldering iron then this is right up your street. By following the steps below, you can fit a small socket to the monitor which enables you to enhance your ST's dulcet tones tenfold. Before you start you need a few bits and pieces. Atari monitor, it says here a SC1224 but I happen to know from various people that it works on most monitors that are Atari dedicated., and the Phillips one too. Three pieces of insulated copper wire, approximately 30cm long. One 3.5mm female stereo socket. One 'Y' lead (A 3.5mm male stereo plug at one end with two RCA phono male plugs on the other two) Blue tack or glue. Phillips screwdriver (preferably long). soldering iron with solder. Needle nose pliers. Wire strippers/cutters. Small hand held drill with a drill bit as wide as the 3.5mm socket. Before opening the casing find a clear work area and use something soft to protect the front of the monitor. Make sure it's switched off, and the mains plug is removed from the wall socket. 1 Unscrew the casing of the 3.5mm socket and make sure that there are three pins (two short one long) with solder holes in them. 2 Solder a length of wire to each pin. 3 Join the two wires coming of the short pins. Solder them securely together. 4 Place your monitor down on your prepared work surface. 5 Remove the screws from the casing and remember where they go (this applies especialy to Bill Ellis) thet are all different sizes and lengths. 6 Remove the casing slowly. As you begin taking the back casing off, you find two wires twisted together (in most monitors they are red & blue) these go to a small connector which you must disconnect. 7 Now remove the casing completely,there is no need to touch the inside of the monitor itself. You'll find speaker mounted on the inside of the back casing. 8 Measure the correct hole positioning: from the back to the front, measure 15cm. from the top to the bottom, measure 13cm. 9 Drill a hole at the measured position using a bit that is just larger than the threads of the 3.5mm female socket. Clean up any plastic from around the hole when finished. 10 Feed the previously soldered wires through the hole and place the 3.5 mm into the hole so that the socket faces out and the wires face in. Put the socket casing back on and screw it on tight so it don't come off. 11 Solder the two wires (that you soldered together) onto the tab on the speaker with the red wire connected. Now solder now solder the single wire to the other speaker tab(with the blue wire connected to it. 12 Blue tack or glue loose wires to the inside of the monitor to prevent fouling when you put the casing back. 13 Slowly put the monitor casing back on and remember to feed the cable for the monitor through the back of the casing, now join the small coupling back together (it only joins one way) 14 Slide the casing fully together and put the screww back into there proper positions (Bill!!!) 15 Now just reconnect your ST and monitor, and then use the 'Y' lead to connect the new socket to your Hi-Fi or boom box, you can control the sound by using your normal Hi-Fi controls --------------------------------------oOo--------------------------------------- Footnote: This is only for monitors with one speaker (the early ones) if you want to try it on the later monitors (SC1435) I suggest that you just try the 'Y' lead in your headphone port to see if this has the same effect? --------------------------------------oOo--------------------------------------- Any damage done to your ST whilst using this tip is entirely down to you, and if anyone wants to make an issue out of it, come down and see me! and we will see who can run the fastest --------------------------------------oOo--------------------------------------- Paul D. 014 ab. TROI: What do you mean 'she marries you when we go back'? LISTER: It's a long story. Anyway, next time we go back, we leave Rimmer behind. WORF: What a smeghead. GUINAN: I hear that. CAT: Hey, where is old Alphabethead, anyway? LISTER: Dunno, haven't seen him in a while. Last I knew he was on a holodeck. At this point Data and Kryten come Pandas Messages To Bob Kell - No, I know this is not goodbye, but I do want to say thank you for Kelaug, and the great deal of pleasure that it has brought into my life. I'll be keeping in touch by snail-mail unless and until you get on-line. To JFW - Bye, John. Sorry we didn't quite see eye to on on certain things, but that's the way life is. You may be happier now you're giving up computing and going back to your ferrets. I shall miss you, 'cos I always looked forward to your letters. Anyway, I wish you and Liz well. To Dave It was nice to hear from you, though you didn't say HOW you came to be reading Kelaug. Have you really got another Atari? Anyway, I'll continue keeping in touch on-line. To Brian (Shep) I never did make that telephone call, did I? I guess that was because my problem sort of went away of its own accord. I'll be in touch again sooner or later, but in the meantime, thanks for all you've contributed to the mag. To Kathy - Hope my letter solved your Protext problem. As for Calamus SL, mine is the PC version, but the basics remain the same. so what I said should apply. If still in doubt, I suggest you drop a line to Steve. To Doctor Bob - Well, I guess you can now retire from business,and elope with your shady lady, Dr Quim. To all contributors - Many thanks for your contributions to a mag that has brought me a great deal of pleasure. It wouldn't have existed but for you. The Panda eof lk about it. Why don't you come to my quarters in five minutes? We can talk about it there. LISTER: Sure, five minutes. Troi winks at Lister, stands, and leaves. For five seconds Lister keeps his expression neutral, then starts to grin. LISTER (quietly): Rock and roll! +=========================================================================+ Scene cuts to Lister standing outside the doors to Troi's quarters. He is busy trying to get the curry and vin-de-loo stains out of his shirt then rings the tweedlesquirger. +=========================================================================+ (V/TROI): Come in. The doors open and Dave walks in. The lights are low and tinted a dark blue. Troi turns around, wearing a thin, erotic, translucent greenish negligee. The doors close and lock. TROI: Dave, I know it must be hard. (Lister looks down then looks up, with a strange look on his face.) All alone in deep space, your only compani Microvitec 14H94CGS2 Multiscan monitor. *************************************** The model number is probably generally known as a 1494 but the above is what is written on the back of the monitor. I thought I'd write a little review of it as I'm quite impressed with it. I didn't buy it new but I got it in as new condition. This isn't a current model as its since been replaced by a cheaper restyled version. I expect the new model is broadly similar. This model was originally sold between œ399 and œ449. The replacement model sells at œ299 to œ329. Microvitec are famous to BBC users as they supplied the vast majority of monitors to schools who bought BBCs. They have a reputation for being a bit crude but reliable. The company itself has a reptutation for ignoring any letters you send them as has been the experience of myself and others that I have spoken to. There a british company who I believe are independent. They basically design and assemble a monitor around a japanese tube. The monitor itself has a beige and light brown case with a swivel/tilt stand built in. Theres a normal power connector socket at the back plus a 9pin D socket for the computer connection. The front has one hinged flap that hides the brightness and contrast control plus the buttons for framing the picture. The styling is bland but not unattractive. Microvitec don't seem to have very good stylists and really this is the firms main failing. Their competitors Philips and Sony do a much better job of styling. Also Philips and Sony use trinitron tubes in their monitors as does Taxan. Obviously Sony do because they invented the trinitron tube. Trinitron seems to be the accepted standard for top of the range computer monitors. I personally don't rate the trinitron tube because of the infamous trinitron lines that occure horizontally across the screen one third down and two thirds down. These lines which are mainly hidden on most screen displays become prominent at certain brightness and contrast levels. There basically two thin lines within the tube that remove the electrical charge from the screen. The Microvitecss dot pitch is 0.28 using a conventional tube. This is resonably standard for multisyncs using conventional tubes with a 14" screen size. A trinitron of the same size would be 0.26 or worse. The lower the number the better. Some cheaper multisyncs would have a 0.39 dot pitch. The display itself is razor sharp on the Microvitec. Multisync is a general term and a little vague. A normal television is single sync although many televisions also allow 60hertz making them dual sync. Anything over dual sync are called multisync even though some only allow three syncs and others are variable over a wide range. The Microvitec is a true multisync. It accepts anything upto full SVGA even allowing for strange non standard modes like the Atari STs high resolution mode (640x400). It has a memory system so you can set up a screen mode exactly as you like it and store it. Unfortunately this system doesn't use presets so you can choose which one you want it does it by frequencies so in effect you have to alter it if you have lets say a PC and a Archimedes as they both generate the same frequencies in certain modes. On normal tv sync modes you cannot remove the side borders that you would get on a normal tv display. On the Archimedes you can eliminate the borders by choosing an overscan mode and sizing it down to fit the screen. Higher sync modes allow you to eliminate borders easily mainly because PC displays have less of a border anyway. Anyway I'm pleased with the monitor. I can use the same monitor with many different computers. As long as they have some sort of RGB output there cmpatible. Recommended if you see one in good nick going cheaply. Martin Wilson uld have collapsed onto itself. We can only assume that Red Dwarf is now at its intended destination. Close up of a smiling Troi, with a tear starting down her face. TROI (whispering to herself): Good luck, Dave. Bev and I will never forget you. +=========================================================================+ Cut to the interior of Red Dwarf, the hologram simulation suite. Lister, Cat, Nameless Cute Blonde Ensign, and Kryten are standing around a small terminal in the center of the room. Lister places a small object which looks like a CD into a computer. +=========================================================================+ LISTER: Here goes nuthin'. Lister hits a computer ke~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ B U G G I N G O U T ---oOo--- The Millenium is one year away. So why are people stockpiling tinned food and guns now? Jim McClellan finds out ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Reprinted by permission of the author from 'The Big Issue', South-West edition, December 19th '98. Thanks Jim! jfw ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ BUGGING OUT ~~~~~~~~~~~ by Jim McClellan When you've just got through one New Year's Eve, the last thing you probably want to think about is where you'll be getting legless for the next one. But give it a moment's thought. It will be the big one, after all - the end-of-the- millennium party. So where will you be? In an over-priced party at a superclub? With the drunken masses in Trafalgar Square? Hanging out at the Dome? Or camped out in a self-sufficient farmhouse in Wales, running last minute checks on your electricity generator? According to some worried souls in America, the latter is your only serious option if you want to survive the millennium - or to be more precise, the millennium bug. If, by some accident, you've managed to miss the massive press blitz about this, the bug is the programming glitch which means that, because they use only the last two digits to identify the year (using 99 instead of 1999), most old computers won't be able to handle the change to the year 2000 (aka Y2K). They will assume that the date is in fact 1900 and will crash - unless, that is, they're fixed in the next year or so. Governments across the world have been trying to sort out the problem. But critics suggest that because there are so many different systems, computers, embedded chips and the like, that might be affected, there is no way everything will he sorted out in time. And because we now live in a connected world, if one part of the system goes, everything else will fall over too. At least that's the argument put forward by American millennium bug survivalists. They suggest that rather than start trying to plan your Y2K party outfit, you should instead get out of the big cities (which will be torn apart by gang violence after the big crash), stockpile food, pull your cash out of the banks and buy gold bars, and make sure your firearms are primed and in working order. When someone comes around trying to steal your food, you'll need to be prepared. Over the last year in the States, as awareness of the millennium bug has grown, an increasing number of Americans have begun to... um, bug out. Everyone from Christian fundamentalists and New Agers to libertarians and computer programmers have decided that society could collapse and they need to take action now to protect themselves. They've created a Y2K survivalist sub-culture, well represented on the Net, where you can find hundreds of millennium bug Web sites preaching doom and the need to learn nitrogen packaging so that your personal bean mountain will last into the next century. Some of these sites offer a fairly familiar brand of Christian fundamentalist apocalypticism - albeit with hi-tech knobs on. Others take a libertarian anti- big government line on it all. Take Ken Holder's The Year 2000 Disaster Page (www.webleyweb.com/y2k/y2k.html) which is part of a larger ring of sites pushing the message of 'libertarian self-reliance in the face of the Y2K problem'. Holder is a 51-year-old American programmer who has retired early and moved away from Southern California to a small town in Eastern Arizona, the better to prepare for Y2K. He first learned about the bug in 1980. He assumed that the powers that be were taking steps to fix it. When he found out they weren't (last year), he decided he'd better take some steps himself. "I lived in Southern California, so we always had some extra food and water stored-up as earthquake insurance . We have now increased that stock." So how bad will things be? "I wish I knew!" he laughs, "It might be very bad, it might not." However, he argues that it's better to take precautions now whatever happens. We also have a long tradition of mistrusting the government, and when the government says 'nothing can go wrong' that scares the bejebbers out of a lot of people." Holder's page is a good place to go for links to the countless other Y2K Web sites. There's been a lot of talk about programmers cashing-in thanks to all the extra work the bug has created for them, but lots of other people clearly see the bug as an opportunity to boost their bank balance. Y2K is a huge publishing phenomenon in the States, where you can buy manuals on everything from sorting out your computer and video to food storage and how to protect your savings when the banks crash. People are setting up Y2K safe havens, special self-sufficient communities where you can buy homes and move in alongside others similarly spooked by the bug. There's a special Y2K for Women Web site (www.y2kwomen.com) which, in true macho survivalist, style, offers the tittle woman tips on how to keep the kids happy as the world collapses around them. Panic about Y2K and the millennium bug is part of a larger anti-government survivalist culture that is, in some ways, like the retinal after-image of America's pioneer traditions. And it's pretty much the only millennial panic most of us consider taking even remotely seriously. "It seemed for a while that there wasn't going to be any really good scary millennial thing that people would freak out about," says American cultural critic Erik Davis, who has just published 'Techgnosis', which looks at the way we project spiritual yearnings - from dreams of salvation to nightmares of damnation - on to information technology. "It shouldn't surprise us that millennial fear is being manifested where we think reality really is - in technology, electricity, information and money. If you hear about a cult that thinks that the world is ending, that makes no claim on your imagination. But if you read material about Y2K on the Net, you do start to wonder. So will the same thing happen over here? Gradually people are becoming more aware of the potential problems. The newspapers have run stories about the army making special plans to cope with Y2K-inspired mass panic and CND has also suggested that the Navy (i.e. our nuclear submarines) hasn't dealt with the bug properly yet. Just before Christmas, there were reports that Gwynneth Flower, the head of Action 2000, the Government's millennium bug taskforce, had advised families to stockpile two weeks' worth of food and drink to tide them over any disruption. So over the next year, will British programmers start heading off to Wales to live in teepees? The idea is dismissed by Jon Ivinson, who works for the British Computer Society and has done consultancy work on the Y2K problem. "I've not come into contact with anyone in the UK who's preaching that approach." Ivinson suggests that a recent report that Action 2000 was advocating stockpiling was inaccurate. Taking a typically British line, he says people shouldn't panic. There may be some minor disruptions, he says, but the biggest problem is panic itself, which could become a self-fulfilling prophecy as people rush to buy food and take money out. Ivinson suggests that the Internet has helped to spread Y2K panic. "You can't stop people using it, but without the Internet, I don't think this kind of thing would be as prevalent." "That's nonsense," counters Ken Holder. "Scare stories that are true should be spread. They are important in helping people think for themselves. The government doesn't want people to think for themselves." Erik Davis suggests that in general, millennial panic will give people a chance to took again at their lives. "Whatever happens, it wilt let people recognise how precarious these systems are, and how embedded we are in these technological systems. It really is a wake-up call." Does Ivinson not have the odd worry that everything might collapse? Is he not tempted to head for the hills? "There are 55 million of us living on a small island. We don't have the luxury of being able to head for the hills. Where would we go? The wilds of Surrey?" So hasn't he even bought a box of candles just in case? "No. I've got a torch." ---oOo--- For more British information about Y2K, call the Action 2000 line on: 0845-601 2000 or visit www.bug2000.co.uk ~~~ eof ~~~ ht would return us to Earth at our own time. Apparently we are closer, but not quite there yet. SPOCK: Confirmed, sir. Computer records indicate that a corporation named the Jupiter Mining Corporation existed, and lost a mining ship named Red Dwarf for reasons unknown. LISTER: What happened was that one of the crew, a real smeghead named Rimmer, caused a radiation leak, and everyone on board died but me and my pregnant cat Frankenstein. KIRK: Really? How did you survive, and (leering at Jenny and Kochanski) who are all those people around you? LISTER: Oh, right. You see, I was in stasis at the time of the leak, and Holly, our computer, didn't release me until three million years later, when the radiation levels were down. Cat here (points) is the last surviving member of the Cat people who ev Mondo Bizarro Compiled by The Sandman It's possible for most humans to guess someones gender with 95% accuracy just by smelling their breath Most types of lipstick contain fish scales as an ingredient Pain travels through the body at 350 feet per second Humans have about 650 muscles in there body. Caterpillars have over 4000 About 70% of dust in a house is actually flakes of dead skin. We lose one and a half ounces each night. Human placenta is an ingredient in some hair conditioners Some brands of toothpaste contain antifreeze People didn't start keeping lap dogs just because they were cute. They started off as a means to lure fleas from their owners In the 18th century it was fashionable to shave off your eyebrows and replace them with two slivers of mouse skin. A San Francisco DJ offered a case of beer to the family of the 1000th suicide from the Golden Gate Bridge. Duelling is legal in Paraguay as long as both duellists are blood donors In 18th century London, you could take out an insurance policy against going to Hell U.S. musician Terry Kath killed himself playing Russian Roulette in 1978. His last words? "Don't worry, it's not loaded" The shortest war on record was between Britain and Zanzibar. It lasted a whole 38 minutes, with Britain winning. A law passed in 1845 in the UK made it illegal to attempt suicide. The punishment for this? Death by hanging. King Kodoko of the Congo remained king for three yoears after his death. During this time, his body was washed, dressed,fed and wheeled around "just in case he decided not to stay dead" The cremated remains of author D.H. Lawrence were mixed with concrete and made into a mantelpiece by his girlfriend Richard Adams, author of Watership Down, detests rabbits After the Duke of Monmouth, bastard son of King Charles II, was beheaded in 1685, it was realised that there were no portraits of him, so they sewed his head back onto his body for a posthumous portrait In captivity, squid suffer from depression, and often commit suicide by eating their tentacles. Scavengers will not eat the body of an animal killed by lightning When Coca Cola was launched in China, they opted to go for the two words that sounded most like Coca Cola. They ended up selling "Bite the wax tadople" Aztec ruler Montezuma had a nephew called Cuitlahac, which is Aztec for "plenty shit" Sales of Pledge furniture polish were extremely low in Holland. Pledge is Dutch for piss "Hey Tonoto". "What is it, Kemo Sabe?" Kemo Sabe is actually Navajo for soggy bush The Sanskrit word for "war" translates properly as "wanting more cows" Robots in Japanes factories have to join unions About 2500 left handed people die each year from accidents involving items designed for right handed people. 57% of British scoolchildren think that Germany is the most boring country in Europe In the London Juvenile Courts in 1911, charges included playing football in the street, gambling, throwing fireworks, and shouting "celery"!!?! Julio Iglesias was the goalie for Real Madrid There used to be a street in London, famous for being a hangout for prostitutes, called Gropecunt Lane In Lebanon, it is illegal to have sex with a male animal, but legal to have sex with a female one. =+ (V/KIRK): Captain's log stardate 69. A small landing party is beaming over to Red Dwarf. This includes Mr. Spock and Mr. Scott, who can help provide technical assistance, Dr. McCoy and Nurse Chappel, who can give any needed medical assistance, Mr. Sulu, who can oil himself up and duel with his sword for security assistance, and myself, who can get laid. Five columns of light appear in the Officer's Club, with the accompanying el-cheapo sound effects. The columns of light tra If you have an Atari monitor or an Amiga monitor and you`d like to find out whether you can get a lead made up to swap around a bit,send the nice man at the lead-making-up-shop this little list and he`ll tell you if it can be done and how much it`ll cost. AMIGA RGB MONITOR CONNECTOR ATARI SC1224 RGB DB 23 MALE ANALOG MONITOR SOCKET PIN NAME DESCRIPTION PIN DESCRIPTION 1 XCLK EXTERNAL CLOCK 1 AUDIO OUT 2 XLCKEN EXTERNAL CLOCK ENABLE 2 COMPOSITE VIDEO 3 RED ANALOG RED ( WHERE APPLICABLE ) 4 GREEN ANALOG GREEN 3 GENERAL PURPOSE 5 BLUE ANALOG BLUE OUTPUT 6 DI DIGITAL INTENSITY 47 OHM 4 MONOCHROME DETECT 7 DB DIGITAL BLUE 47 OHM 5 AUDIO IN 8 DG DIGITAL GREEN 47 OHM 6 GREEN 9 DR DIGITAL RED 47 OHM 7 RED 10 CSYNC COMPOSITE SYNC 8 PLUS 12V PULLUP 11 HSYNC HORIZONTAL SYNC 47 OHM 9 HORIZONTAL SYNC 12 VSYNC VERTICAL SYNC 47 OHM 10 BLUE 13 GNDRTN RETURN FOR XCLKEN 11 MONOCHROME 14 ZD ZERO DETECT 47 OHM 12 VERTICAL SYNC 15 CI CLOCK OUT 13 GROUND 16 GND GROUND 17 GND GROUND 18 GND GROUND 19 GND GROUND 20 GND GROUND 21 -12V -5V DC ( 50 mA ) 22 +12V +12V DC ( 100 mA ) 23 +5V +5V DC ( 100 mA ) NNOUNCER: It was a simpler time. A time when you could trust your neighbors to sleep with your spouse. When the people with money in America acted irresponsibly and selfish MONO MONITOR MODIFICATION The enlarged screen is well worth the effort, especially when you are a heavy user of the Spectre 128, or any other programs that require the Atari SM124 Monochrome Hi-Res Monitor. Lay the monitor face down on a soft surface, and proceed to remove the 5 screws from the back of the monitor cabinet. Slide the cabinet back far enough towards you to disconnect the speaker plug. Then it is safe to take the back completely off and set it aside. Place the monitor in a normal viewing position, and boot up your ST with a program that you use regularly so you will be familiar with the shape and linearity of the screen. Ideally, I would recommend either WordWriter II, or, if you are artistically inclined, draw a circle that fills the screen and view that. Let the monitor run for 15 minutes before you attempt any changes as it will naturally change a bit as it warms up. You may wish to go over these directions while it is going through this process. The controls you will need to be familiar with are: Control Name Part # Location ======================================================================== Focus Control VR703 Left corner, closest to you Vertical Hold VR601 Right corner, furthest from you Vertical Size VR602 Right corner, furthest from you Vertical Linearity VR603 Right corner, furthest from you Horizontal Centering VR701 Left corner, closest to you,2" from edge Horizontal Size Coil L702 Left corner, closest to you,3" from edge Horizontal Linearity Coil L703 Left corner, closest to you,2" from edge Centering Tabs --- On neck of CRT Sub-Brightness VR702 Left corner, closest to you You will have to adjust most of these controls, and see what they do as several of these have adjustments which are interactive. Align them for best results. FOCUS Adjust for crispest text display at CENTER of screen. Due to curvature of screen, and low HV used in this monitor, a small amount of fuzziness at the corners is normal. VERTICAL HOLD Adjust for most stable display. VERTICAL SIZE Adjust for desired vertical size of display. It is recommended to adjust the screen to within 1/4 to 1/2 inch of both the top and bottom edges of the screen, not to the very edge! VERTICAL LINEARITY Adjust for even vertical spacing of your display. Use your "circle" and adjust the linearity so the circle is actually round and not an oval.Another option would be to boot your Spectre 128, using System 6.0 and choose a custom Desktop background and adjust for even and equal spacing of the pattern chosen at both the top and bottom of your screen. HORIZONTAL SIZE Adjust this coil for the width side to side that you wish to make your display. Again we would recommend that you adjust it out to within 1/4 to 1/2 inch from the edge of the screen. HORIZONTAL LINEARITY Adjust this coil for even horizontal spacing of your display. Use the same method as you used to adjust the vertical linearity. CENTERING In case your display is not quite centered after you perform the above adjustments, you can use these tabs to center the display so its dead center all the way around. The tabs may have been cemented together, and therefore need to be separated. If you were to obtain a jeweler's screw- driver, you could remove the glue, and then the tabs would move freely. You may find that after you perform these adjustments, the focus may be off a bit. Touch up this adjustment, keeping in mind that you are looking to obtain best possible focus at the center of the display. The edges may or may not retain a bit of fuzziness. While you have the monitor apart, you may want to adjust the sub- brightness control. Turn up the brightness and contrast that are located on the outside of the monitor to maximum. Now adjust the sub-brightness control for maximum brightness without any retrace lines. Retrace lines are fine white lines that will be slanted slightly from one side of the monitor to the other. Also, make sure that you can turn down the brightness far enough and still not see any of these retrace lines. As you can see, I have left alot of fine details out of this project, as: "Turn VR602 to obtain 6.9vdc at pin 9 of IC601". My reasoning along this line is quite simple. 1. The desired effect is TOTALLY up to the individual user. 2. To obtain the same effect on several different units of the same monitor model number, various differing steps would have to be taken. Therefore, it was determined that I had to design this article to be particularly open ended in order to cover the widest range of units as possible. After everything looks just the way you desire, you may then proceed to reassemble the unit. Put the cover partially on, and reconnect the speaker plug. Finish putting the cover on, and the reinstall the screws. Reformated by P.Davis, `````````````````````` ye): Fascinating. McCOY: YOU may think it's fascinating, Spock, but it really frosts my shorts! Imagine, thinking they can make a bunch of tinkertoys into a human! WORF: Lt. Commander Data is not only a fully qualified Starfleet Officer, but he is also a living creature in the eyes of the Federation. SPOCK: Really? Are his emotions normal for humans? DATA: No sir, I am entirely devoid of emotion. SPOCK (with that seven-year look getting stronger): Most intriguing! KIRK (with one eye on Bev as she and Troi talks to Chappel about various family matters, etc): Gentleman, let us get down to business. Just then a ball of light the size of a swing band appears in the middle of the Officer's Club and becomes Riker, eating a jellybean burrito. RIKER: Got any food? JENNY: Cork it for a * NEW LIFE FOR YOUR MOUSE -------------------------> MOUSE FIX * --------- Is your mouse getting old? Do you often embarrass yourself when you try to show someone how wonderfully easy it is to run a program from the desktop, only to find yourself double-clicking five or six times to get it to run? After months of such frustrations, I was even beginning to have visions of shelling out fifty dollars for a new mouse some day soon. The buttons simply didn't have that quick response that they had when the mouse was new. Fortunately, I overheard someone at a recent SBACE (South Bay Atari Computer Enthusiasts) meeting mention having fixing a mouse with a similar problem by disassembling it and filing a bit from a plastic tab. I decided to give it a try and found it to be ridiculously easy. Best of all, after about five minutes of effort I now have a mouse that clicks like new! I had forgotten just HOW quick and easy a double-click can be. When you press a mouse button, the actual switch that is activated is in the bottom of the mouse. A long plastic post is attached to the underside of the button and presses the switch when the button is pressed. Over time (years), this button wears very slightly and simply doesn't reach the switch like it should. What I discovered on my mouse was that a small plastic tab, visible from the outside of the mouse, was the thing stopping the button from being depressed further to compensate for the worn post. If your mouse buttons are getting unresponsive, take a look at the tab just above the cord as you press the mouse button. If the button strikes the tab before it hits the rest of the mouse case, you can probably fix it with this easy procedure. Open the mouse case by removing the two screws on the bottom of the case. Also remove the two small screws on the underside of the mouse top cover, in the strip of black plastic covering the button hinges. Remove the black strip and then remove the two buttons from the mouse cover. Either file or shave the plastic tab on the mouse cover by a small amount. Don't worry, you really can't shave too much off. That's all there is to it! Reassemble the mouse, and, if you're as lucky as I was, it will work like new again. Dave, and I guess I'm a bit jealous. TROI: I understand. CAT: Besides, he hadn't got any in over three million years. Lister punches Cat. Kochanski just looks at Lister with a you'll-pay- for-that smile. KIRK (in awash-with-testosterone mode): You know, Troi, I am in need of some ... counciling myself. Maybe I should see you about it. TROI: Well, I sense something very strong and scarring inside you. KIRK: Oh? And what would that be? TROI: Enough horniness for a whole herd of wildebeast in the rut. LISTER: Look, I refuse to take Rimmer back. I don't want to lose Chrissy and I will not risk damaging her holodisk. DATA ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ MULTI-TASKING FOR FREE ON A BOG-STANDARD ST - or - "perhaps I'm obtuse, but this was new to me!" by john weller ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Here's the story of how I discovered that it was posible to run several programmes at once on my beloved ST. It wasn't a new idea, as it turned out, but it was new to me and I think it'll be new to most KelAUG members as well! "imagine my surprise and delight when..." ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Atari's orginal idea for Accessories was as a simple form of 'programme switching', or the ability to jump between two separate programmes held in the ST's memory. Up to six accessories could be loaded automatically on boot-up, and, although you could select them from inside another programme, you could only run one at a time. The accessory was selected, used, and then disappeared when you returned to your main programme. But that's all changed now. You'll see plenty of Accessories nowadays that run in windows - rather than hogging the entire screen - and can therefore be moved around the screen and kept open while you continue to work in your main programme. Now, call me stupid ("you're stoopid, john!"), but I've only just realised that you can run many of these new Accs simultaneously; side by side, on the screen all at once, or whatever! I first noticed this when I was reviewing the MGIF 5 image processor. I was writing the review in an accessory version of the Edith Pro text editor - flicking backwards and forwards between MGIF and Edith Pro - when I suddenly realised that I was running MGIF itself, its hypertext Help files (via the ST Guide Acc), the good old KRoget thesaurus (circa 1988), plus my favourite text editor, side by side and with the ability to jump between them as needed. The four programmes were in separate windows, and once I'd moved them around so that each one was visible and instantly selectable (they normally cover each other each, which could be why I've never noticed this before), I found that I could check some details in the ST Guide help files, switch to my article in Edith Pro to type in some notes, jump to KRoget to to find an alternative word, and then back to MGIF itself to check out some more options. It was a writer's wet dream! I didn't know this was possible, and I've certainly never read anything about it (or perhaps I've been reading the wrong articles?), but there you have it: 'multi-tasking' for free on a bog standard ST! and now for a proper explanation ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ An Atari-expert friend has since told me that: Multi-tasking has always been possible on a standard ST using ACCs. However, some of the older ACCS took over the screen when you accessed them, making it impossible to use anything else at the same time. Many of the more modern ACCs can also be run as PRGs and are multi-tasking friendly. They are therefore designed to be run within a window rather than hijack the entire screen. In addition, most do not close when another ACC is accessed, so you can have several ACC windows open at once and change applications by topping the relevent windows. Extra features are available on later operating systems, but much depends on whether the ACC runs in a window and if it insists on closing when it detects another application running. You will still find that all ACCS close when you run a PRG from the Desktop (PRGs prefer to clear memory prior to running, ACCs don't need to as they are already in memory), though running the PRG first and then opening multiple ACCs is OK. You haven't discovered anything new, it's just that well programmed ACCs no longer try to grab the entire screen and they accept that other programmes have a right to co-exist alongside them. Much of this has come about with the introduction of Multi-TOS as these same ACCS need to be able to run under Multi- TOS as PRGs. ~~~ eof ~~~ ORDI (sotto voce): You can say that again. DATA: Now to bring Mr. Rimmer back as a hologram. +=========================================================================+ Cut to Troi's quarters. Spock is there talking to her. +=========================================================================+ TROI: Mr. Spock, I do sense the pain, but you need to open up and tell me what you feel. You have to tell me how Data's rejection of your advances hurt. SPOCK: I cannot put it into words. Perhaps a Vulcan mindmeld would help. TROI: Ve XXXXX XX X XXXXX XXXXX XXXX X X XXXXX XXXXX X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X XXX XXXX X X X XXX X X X X XX X X X X X X X X X X X XXXXX X X X XXXXX X X X XXXXX XXXXX X X ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^ TERRY KING OF NINTH WAVE SOFTWARE,AUTHOR OF T.O.M.S. Right,before we start,could I just say how glad I was to get Terry to agree to a small interview.His excellent T.O.M.S. shell through which you are currently reading this file,is one of the best P.D. programs that I have ever come across.The combination of ease of use and end result makes it a great program for projects such as diskzines.I therefore found one or two of Terry`s answers amazing as far as acknowlegement of his efforts go.See what you think. WHAT WAS THE FIRST COMPUTER THAT YOU OWNED. The first I 'owned' was my brothers Atari 800, it was a well built machine, looked good, had a proper keyboard and memory expansion slots. Also Star Raiders is one of my all time favourite games (can't wait until they do Star Raiders 2000). The first computer that I could really call mine was the trusty Spectrum which I end up getting just after it came out. HOW LONG AFTER YOU AQUIRED IT DID YOU ATTEMPT TO CREATE YOUR OWN PROGRAM With the Atari 800 I was poke'ing around the OS a week later. Didn't know what I was doing as I was only around 9 at the time but I loved the poke I found that allowed you to position the screen where you wanted. Didn't ever actually write anything useful on it though, I was much more of a tinkerer. IF YOUR FIRST COMPUTER WAS NOT AN STE WHAT ATTRACTED YOU TO THE ATARI. It was the same old story really, those of us who bought Spectrums got Atari's and Vic 20 and CMB 64 owners got Amiga's. As I was very impressed with the 800 it was inevitable that I'd get an ST. EVEN AT THIS LATE STAGE WHEN PC`S ARE FLOODING THE MARKETPLACE,WOULD YOU SAY THAT THE ST WOULD BE A COMPUTER THAT YOU WOULD RECOMMEND TO ANYONE WHO IS LOOKING FOR A HOME COMPUTER. Er, no ! For kids, yes, or someone wanting just a basic word processor or spreadsheet. Today the PC reins supreme, there's just so much available for it. It's not really viable to buy a computer which is no longer supported ! WHICH OF YOUR OWN PROGRAMS WOULD YOU SAY HAS GIVEN YOU THE MOST SATISFACTION I suppose the platform game I'm writing is the best thing I've written. Unfortunately I haven't had time to finish it since starting my new job writing PC software. The other day I loaded it up and thought to myself 'hey, this is pretty good. Maybe I should finish this ....' WHICH OF SOMEONE ELSES PROGRAMS THAT YOU HAVE USED WOULD YOU SAY HAS BEEN THE BEST. I take it you mean a Shareware or Freeware program ? If that's the case then I can't really think of any programs that I've found really useful, although come to think of it I do like Teradesktop which is a great Freeware desktop replacement. As far as commercial programs go then I'd have to say GFA Basic v3 and Devpac v3. IF YOU ENJOY GAMES ON THE ST,WHAT WOULD YOU LIST AS YOUR FAVOURITES FROM BOTH THE COMMERCIAL AND THE PD AREA. From the commercial scene I used to love F19 stealth fighter, it was ruined by a slight bug the flipped your plane 180 degrees in autopilot which sent your plane crashing into the ground. Elite 2: Frontiers also had me hooked for quite awhile but again that suffered from a bug which caused it to crash after a few days gameplay. I didn't have much luck with the expensive games ! From PD I can't remember a single game that kept me coming back for more. GIVEN THE LOWERING COSTS OF CONSOLE GAMES AND THEIR QUALITY,DO YOU THINK THAT œ20 AND OVER IS STILL A FAIR PRICE FOR THE COMMERCIAL ST GAMES TO SELL AT Basically I'll pay what I think a game is worth. As far as today's commercial games go I'd probably think a fiver is pushing it a bit. IF YOU COULD WARP BACK TO THE ORIGINAL DESIGN BOARD OF THE ST,WHAT HARDWARE MODIFICATION OR ADDITION WOULD YOU MAKE. The STE was a good step forward but it came far too late. A proper high powered blitter chip would be essential, something that could shunt 100 32x32 sprites around the screen in 1/50 second would be a dream come true. Also more colours, 32 or 64 would be a hell of alot better. The last thing would be to have four channel sound, independent samples, volumes and frequencies. The STE has interleaved dma channels which is a real bitch to use if you want to play a different sample on the left and right channels. WITH THE MOUNTAIN OF ALTERNATIVE COMPUTERS NOW AVAILABLE,WHAT KEEPS PROGRAM WRITERS SUCH AS YOURSELF KEEN ON THE ST. Well, I'm not one of them anymore unfortunately now I own a PC. However it has to be said that the ST is probably the most user-friendly machine as far as writing stuff in assembler goes. 68000 is just soooo sexy ! GARY SIMMONS OF ASCIILUM PDL ONCE SUGGESTED THAT THE PD LIBRARIES COULD BE A SORT OF MIDDLE MAN BETWEEN SHAREWARE AUTHORS AND PUNTERS IN THAT THEY COULD SEND WHAT THEY WANTED TO PAY,OR COULD AFFORD,TO THE LIBRARY THEY GOT IT FROM CREATING A "POOL" OF DOSH THAT THE PDL WOULD THEN FORWARD TO THE PROGRAMMER WHEN IT MOUNTED UP A BIT.THE IDEA WAS NOT PICKED UP BY THE AUTHORS THOUGH AND THEREFORE NEVER TOOK OFF.WHAT WOULD YOUR OPINION ON THIS GENERAL IDEA. Don't think it would work. I've written stuff as Shareware, Freeware and Licenceware and none of them made any reasonable amount. I see the majority of games playing ST owners as teenagers and they are simply not honest enough to send in money, whatever the amount. The money comes from the 20-35 age group of players and nowadays that's the PC and console owners. 5-7 years ago the ST and Amiga were the only thing available and so that age group would of been forking out their money on computer games and making programmers rich (wish I was born 5 years earlier). To get back to the main point whatever method of payment is used don't expect much out of it ! FOR ANYONE WITH THE BASIC SET-UP OF 520ST AND A PORTABLE TELLY,WHAT WOULD YOU RECOMMEND THAT THEY SAVE UP THEIR CASH FOR AS THE BEST FIRST EXPANSION TO THEIR SYSTEM. The first thing that completely changed the way I used my computer was a hard drive. When I bought mine it was 300 quid for 20 meg, so today you could get something pretty substantial for that amount. My software development time rocketed when I got mine. Of course a 1 meg upgrade would be quite a necessary item that can be purchased for a very reasonable amount. WHAT HAS PROVED TO BE YOUR BEST BUY AS REGARDS YOUR OWN HARDWARE SET-UP. Again, that would be my hard drive. Although it cost a bomb for such a small drive it made such a transformation of my ST that it would have to be my best buy. When I started to write my platform game my 2 meg of memory also came in extremely handy. Being able to run Devpac 3, compile a one meg game and then single step through it is a real bonus, with only a meg there's not enough memory to single step. WHAT WOULD YOU SAY TO TRY TO PERSUADE A PERSON OF,SAY,35+,TO ENTER THE WORLD OF THE HOME COMPUTER IF THEY`D NEVER OWNED ONE. Haven't a clue !? THE AMOUNT OF REGISTRATIONS FOR SHAREWARE PROGRAMS IS ALWAYS HIGH ON THE LIST OF DISCUSSION IN DISKZINES.IS IT POSSIBLE FOR YOU TO GIVE US AN INSIGHT INTO THE ACTUAL AMOUNT OF HOURS THAT IT TAKES FOR YOU TO CREATE SOMETHING LIKE TOMS. For those who don't know TOMS, it stands for The Observer Menu System. The Observer was a stand alone text reader to compete against The Revenge Document Displayer which I wasn't that keen on. The basic program took a couple of days to write the assembly routines and then a couple of days to write the GFA Basic stuff to bolt it all together. After debugging I suppose it took around 30 hours. The shell which converted The Observer into TOMS took around another 6 hours. Version 2 however was a complete start from scratch job and took around the same time again, apart from the shell which took slightly longer to design because of the 3D menus. While The Observer v2 was something I planned to do myself, turning it into TOMS v2 was a spin off from the Floppyshop catalog program. Being unemployed at the time there was plenty of PD I wanted but couldn't afford, so I wrote to Steve Delaney at Floppyshop with the idea of a sexy catalogue program that allowed automatic ordering so that you could mark software as you browsed and then the program would create an order form and tell you the price along with any discounts. TOMS was simply that program with the ordering system taken out. Oh yeah, I got just about all the PD I wanted for writing that, what a nice man Steve Delaney is ! IS LICENCEWARE MAYBE A SYSTEM THAT WILL TOTALLY REPLACE THE VOLUNTARY REGISTRATION METHOD AND GIVE PROGRAMMERS A BETTER DEAL FOR THEIR EFFORTS. Licenceware practically pays pennies and doesn't justify the amount of time you put into your software. It works in some cases but not all which would lead me to say that I can't see all software released this way. I would say stick to the old Crippleware route where you put in a keycode so that the full program can't be accessed. This means that the customer has the full version of the program and so it is much more tempting for them to register just to enter a code rather than pay up to be sent new disks, which only cuts into the profits of the author. I,AND OTHERS THAT I`VE SPOKEN TO,WERE A BIT MYSTIFIED WHEN YOUR "POSTCARDWARE" MESSAGE APPEARED ON TOMS,THINKING " HE MUST WANT SOME DOSH TOO",WHAT MADE YOU DECIDE TO DO THIS RATHER THAN LOOK FOR A WEE BIT OF MONETRY RETURN FOR YOUR LABOURS. Being a keen artist I thought I'd give postcardware a go, I fancied the idea of receiving lots of varied postcards from all over the country. However is seems that I 'confused' alot of people and I've only had three, yes 3, postcards. As I know there are quite alot of people using it this does make me slightly, no very, annoyed. Let's say the new registration is 20 postcards, is that more reasonable ? For anyone using TOMS for their diskzine, the registration means YOU send me a card, not the people who will be reading it ! DO YOU HAVE A CURRENT PROJECT REGARDING THE ST. As I've already mentioned I'm doing a platform game for the STE. It was previewed in ST Format back in October 95 (issue 75) and unfortunately due to getting a job and moving home I never got back into the swing of things. After getting in from work at around 6:30pm after sitting in front of a PC all day I'm not really in the mood for switching my ST on. However I've now got to the point where I realise that I've done a hell of alot of work on the game already and I could make a healthy wad of money on the side if I can finish it, so hopefully I'll finish it later in the year. When I previewed the game way back in June 95 at the Hammersmith Novotel show it drummed up quite some interest and the ST Format staff loved it. Possibly the best thing about the game is simply that it feels very playable and the controls are very responsive as it's all written in 100% assembler. To 'blow my own trumpet' the game features the following: 'Sparky's World' an arcade/adventure game for the STE 1 meg or better. Very smooth 25 fps multidirectional scrolling. 4 channel stereo sound. Lots of smooth animation Huge levels. Jaguar powerpad compatible. Possibly the most 'console' feeling platform game to appear on the ST (second only to ZOOL) CAN YOU SEE YOURSELF DRIFTING MORE AWAY FROM THE ATARI AND MORE INTO PC PROGRAMMING IN THE FUTURE. Already happened ! I'm only writing serious stuff at the moment in Delphi which is a drop dead sexy visual object orientated pascal programming environment for Windows. As soon as I get hold of a decent C compiler I'll be messing around with writing games in DOS. IF THERE WAS ONE PIECE OF ADVICE THAT YOU COULD GIVE TO ST USERS TO TRY TO KEEP THE SYSTEM ALIVE AND WELL,WHAT WOULD IT BE. If you've written something you think is good then send it into the magazines and diskmags for maximum exposure. If you're struggling then get some help, there's always plenty of musicians, artists and coders out there. Try advertising in a diskzine or ST Format contacts section. Yeah, I know that's two pieces of advice ! Never could count ... -------------------------------------------------------------------------- Well,there we go.Some amazing points I thought there.Given that there are a lot of people using TOMS as either a diskzine shell or a PDL display system or even for showing their disk lists,I find it a terrible indictment of us all that Terry only received 3 replies to his postcardware message.If we can`t take a minute to drop someone a postcard in appreciation of their efforts,we`re a pretty sad bunch.( By the way,YES I did send Terry a lovely postcard with my letter to him ). I had also asked Terry to point me in the direction of any more of his work as I enjoy using his TOMS program immensely.He furnished me with a list of some other programs that he has released and if anyone else would like to have a look out for some more of his work,then this is what you`re looking for in his own words. Chronology Smallview - PD This was a crappy little picture catalogue program that created miniature slides and allowed you to make notes about pictures. Alot people who got Crack Art from a PD library may have this as it shared the same disk, the reason for that is that I was one of the original people to actually get Crack Art into this country. Critical Mass - Shareware (Atari ST Review coverdisk , issue 17 I think) This was my first complete game and was written in 100% assembler. One thing that annoyed me about demos is that they simply didn't do anything. My attempt with this game was to take a very nice looking demo screen and make a game out of it. The demo was a parallax scrolling routine written by John Phillips(author of a few Hewson games). The game just sort of evolved without any planning but I was pretty pleased with the result which is possibly the only game to feature a smooth scrolling parallax play area. I love pushing the limits of the ST and managed to get this game running at 25 frames per second with samples, not a bad feat for a plain old ST. At the time I was really disappointed with the quality of alot of shareware about, which were asking a minimum of five pounds. I thought 'let's take a risk' and decided to release Critical Mass for just a pound registration. Needless to say the risk didn't pay off and I received very few registers from it, although those that did really raved about how good the game was. This is something I'm still very bitter about and I wouldn't ever release a full program as shareware again because of this. Sprite Works - Licenceware I had always used GFA Basic for writing new routines and was a great fan of the language. The problem with it is it lacked any games support such as sprites and samples. Sprite Works was my attempt to turn GFA Basic into a STOS clone (which I had tried and completely hated). I ended up with a pretty good package which contained an art package, two map designers, a sample editor and over 111 commands. Most of the commands were extremely powerful and some of them quite unique, such as pixel explosions, border removal, true 3D starfields, I could go on and on .... It got a gold rating in ST Format but it never really sold how I imagined it would. I think the main reason is that it came out to late when too many people had already started to leave the ST scene. It featured in ST Format September 95 (issue 74) and there were two games written with Sprite Works on the coverdisk and another game on the subscribers disk. Not bad exposure for one issue ! Sparky's World (release date, sometime in 96 ?) The game that is yet to be. I just hope that some people still own their STE when I get this game finished ..... There's also lots of little snippets of code and utility programs that have appeared in PD, on coverdisks and ICTARI users group disk, but there's too many and they're too forgettable to remember. --------------------------------------------------------------------------- Well, that`s it.It only remains to thank Terry King once more for taking the time to complete this interview,and also for me to thank him personally for the additions to the TOMS shell that he made for me for Kelstar magazine.Thanks Terry and good luck with your future projects on the PC and please do complete Sparky`s World and put me down for a copy.* Bob Kell * cobbled road I remarked that I hadn`t come this way before and she replied, " Neither have I,it must be the cobbles ". Since then she`s insisted we cycle there every day and I`m getting fed up with it as I was once a weak man. Knackered of Knightsbridge Dear Knackered I`d say once a week is enough for anybody Dear Bob, I think that my girlfriend is having an affair with a sailor as she keeps asking me to bail her out when we`re in bed.Do you think this is a bit of tongue-in-cheek fun? Worried Woking Dear Worried, I think it`s more some tongue between cheek fun she`s after. Now That`s Interesting ======================== A new section with some of the strangest facts and figures available. For a topical start we`ll try the Atlanta Olympics 1996. COMMUNICATION ’’’’’’’’’’’’’ Official Olympic organisers will be issued with - 13,000 telephones, 11,500 television sets, 1100 desktop printers. There will be 190 miles of cables laid in the International Broadcast Centre. 1500 people will be employed as language translators,translating 12 million words. The Olympics has it`s own space on the internet and expects up to 10 million " hits " per day. MERCHANDISING ’’’’’’’’’’’’’ Idividual tickets for all events,11 million Tickets to the Olympic Arts Festival,1.2 million Official Guide Books,1.2 million Area maps,5 million Daily programmes,1.4 million T-Shirts 1.3 million Lapel pins,2.2 million Olympic hats,500,000 Posters,300,000 Olympic car number plates bought by Georgia car owners,1.1 million SPORTS EQUIPMENT ’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’ 500 Basketballs 2,500 Baseballs 496 Handballs 750 Soccer balls 1,200 Softballs 3,600 Table tennis balls 38,400 Tennis balls 750 Volleyballs 300 Waterpolo balls CATERING FOR VISITORS ’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’ 33 million meals in total 3.6 million eggs 100,000 gallons of milk 1.5 million lbs of fresh fruit 1.2 million hot-dogs 750,000 lbs of beef 93,000 barbecue pork sandwiches CATERING FOR ATHLETES ’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’ 2 million cans of soft drinks 3.5 million napkins 47,000 loaves 19 miles of aluminium foil 950,000 apples 70,000 lbs of cheese 200 lbs of garlic 2,800 lbs of bean sprouts 400,000 peaches 450 gallons of barbecue sauce 31,500 lbs of onions 21 million lbs of ice MISCELLANEOUS ’’’’’’’’’’’’’ 83,100 seats in the Olympic Stadium 186,000 temporary seats at other venues 100,000 trips to Hartsfield Atlanta International Airport to pick up and drop off athletes and officials 2,000 dope tests 15,000 residents of Olympic Village 140,580 rooms to be cleaned daily 1.6 milliom lbs of laundry to wash 121 medical aid stations 10,000 tons of rubbish to be picked up and re-cycled 1,800 portable toilets 1.5 million sq feet of flower beds Know any interesting facts? Good,bung them up to me for inclusion. Bob r number 3,but the bounce from 3 was huge and I totally cleared number 4 and went head first through the picket fence at the other end.My mates of course were in hysterics,the people on the beach were the same,and there was this Tom and Jerry type hole in the fence where I`d gone through.My head was in agony and I`d a lump like a hard-boiled egg.But you can`t show your pain though,so I stood there Panda Says So, with this issue of Kelstar, it appears that we could well have reached a crossroads. There may, or may not, be further issues of Kelstar, and possibly even Bob doesn't know for certain. But whether or not Kelstar continues, it doesn't have to be the end of the road. The ST scene is not dead, but is alive, well and thriving in certain other areas. The excellent 'Atari Computing' is still published, together with a reader disc, and provides an excellent forum for dedicated ST users. It keeps us in touch with suppliers, services and software updates. An excellent Question and Answer column is dedicated to solving Atari problems, and the current issue deals with - amongst other things - how to get onto the Internet with an Atari. There is also further help regarding this on the Reader disk. The Internet is, of course, another route to take if you want to keep in touch with the Atari community. Once on the Internet; go to WWW.ataricomputing.com from where you can access pages of the magazine, or go down to 'links' which will put you in touch with the Atari Web Ring. For anyone interested in keeping in touch via the Internet, I shall be happy to put together a list of interesting sites, which I can either post or e-mail to you. See you on-line? OK. Bye for now. Panda e called Inverbervie.We had packed the fly rods and I was all set up at the riverside looking forward to the weekend.I had tied on this scarlet fly and was busily walloping it back and forth a` la Jack Charlton.Anyway,the bloody thing came back at me and walloped me in the face.The bloody hook hit me on the eyebrow and I yanked the rod before I could stop myself and the hook went right into the skin.It was absolute agony.My mates came over but the thing was totally embedded in my eyeb VARIOUS HINTS AND TIPS THESE ARE NOT ALL MY OWN WORK SOME WERE COPIED OUT OF A FREEBIE FROM ST FORMAT *** ************ Compiled by Paul Davis BRIGHT LIGHTS. Choose the paintbrush or pencil facility within Neochrome and press the right mouse button while the pointer is in the drawing area. Any lines you now draw will appear multicoloured. RAM DANCE. Here's how to create a simple animation sequence. All you require is a colour ST, access to 200k of ram disk, Neochrome SLIDESHOW.PRG and six Neochrome picture files. Be sure to have the Neochrome slide show and six Neochrome files on one disk. For animation you would need pictures with slight differences in each frame. Install a ram disk with a maximum of 200k on a half meg machine more if you like on machines with a bigger ram. Copy the SLIDESHOW.PRG and pictures into the ram disk. Note that picture files should be copied into the RAM DISK in order in which you want the frames to appear. Open the RAM disk and click on the SLIDESHOW program. FINGERS ON BUTTONS. If you have several windows on screen - say for two or more drives, only one can be active at once (indicated by a highlighted border). If you want to want to run a progam in an inactive window, the normal procedure is to click once on that window to activate it, and to double click on the appropiate file icon to run the program. A much simpler method is to hold the right mouse button down while double clicking on the required file icon with the left button, then it doesn't matter if the window is currently inactive. DEGAS DODGES. If you want to avoid the hassle of spending hours poring over the Degas Colour palette trying to create the different shades between two colours, then this tips for you. First of all, select COLORS from the SET menu then position the white tick on the first colour and move the mouse over the second colour where these two colours represent the shades that you wish to create. Now click on the right mouse button while holding down the [alternate] key and all the colours between these two points fill with the different shades. JACKNIFING NEOCHROME. Did you know that the Jacknife icon in Neochrome can be used for more than just cutting and pasting sections of irregular piccies? By choosing the Jacknife icon from the menu and selecting a section of the screen you can create your own brush in any size and shape. Move it around by holding down the left mouse button and draw holding down the right mouse button and dragging your brush around the screen. Different speeds and patterns create all kinds of different effects. GEM FOLDERS. Do you ever find that you need to change a folders name and that folder contains about fifty files? The usual mechanics invlve creating a new folder, opening the old folder and then moving the new window away because it obliterates the new folder you have just created. Then you have to copy everything laboriously into the new folder. If you want to change a folders name,simply click on it and drag to another area of the same window and let go. Gem informs you of a name conflict and your given the chance to change the name type in the new name and then the folder is copied, enabling you to delete the old one. Of course you need enough space on the disk to replicate the folders.... otherwise you'd be given the "Disk Full" message. I hope that these tips are useful to somone out there. P.Davis, London. ere till the two girls had come in to get changed and peered through the hole he`d bored to watch them get changed.The embarrassment came when later that day he`d been gawking through the hole and one of the girls had noticed the eyeball.She belted out of the hut to run and get t PD LIBRARIES A LIFELINE FOR ATARI? For the past few years all the talk has been about the imminent demise of the ST/E and the consequent failure of the businesses which grew up around these machines.The commercial publishers have gone but the enthusiam of the programmers and users lives on. Through PD libraries a whole new genre of programs have emerged and been circulated.The charge to you,the customer,varies from œ2.95 a disk to œ1.00 - why? Many PD Libraries have fallen by the wayside through either bad management or other outside commitments.Many have flourished while the Librarians were at college or school but fold when new interests are found. The enthusiam of the Librarian is one of the key factors to the survival of a PD Library and if it is run as a 'hobby' then obviously the price of a disk should be lower. Nobody in their right minds would obtain disks at the 'full' retail price if they are running a Library and we know from 'our' suppliers that the average price of a disk, to anyone ordering more than 500 at a time, will be below 25p - add the cost of postage and copying ( it all takes time and electricity, imagine running a 100 watt light bulb 16 hours a day for 7 days a week and you've scratched the surface of the electric bill! ) and the cost of producing a disk for dispatch will be about 75p. I have deliberately omitted any reference to the cost of advertising in the equation as this is not only a negotiable price but also not an obligatory cost; although it obviously helps to have other people know of your existence! So a 'profit' of 25p/œ2.20p would appear to be available to the Librarian. If the Library is a 'full time' job then obviously the overheads increase and the number of disks that need to be sold must be greater in order to cover these costs - and the price will reflect the higher costs of running the Library although not necessarily the commitment to the good ol' Atari. The crux of the question is whether the disk reflects good value when it plops through the letterbox. If it only contains 'one' program of about 95k then you may feel hard done by; if you have to unpack, or decompress the programs you may feel this is a drag and also expensive as you have to have other disks to hold the programs you have depacked so a disk 'FULL' of ready to run programs would appear to be the best value. However when you receive the programs are they what you wanted? There are bound to be some where the description in the catalogue will appear to be at variance with what is on the screen. One reason for this is that the 'descriptions' in the individual catalogues are subjective and often the enthusiam of a Library for a program will be at total variance with the thoughts of another. The support of the customer is vital to the PD Libraries and to the programmers who wish to have their programs distributed. It is our policy never to turn away a programmer just because we don't like the program; whether it be a Utility, Game or Art pacakage. If it is good and runs then we'll include it in our catalogue because our customers may want that particular program and we cannot let 'our' bias deprive our customers. The PD Libraries have done their utmost to prolong the life of the Atari range by distributing programs and, as a result, have witnessed first hand a huge improvement in the standard of games - i.e. Starball,Oxyd and Towers. The move towards shareware is not of the Libraries' making, but rather that of the programmers and we have to go along with their wishes whether 'we' think that the program warrants registration or not.Believe me, we often would like to change the program to PD but cannot do so; although we have persuaded a few authors to consider shareware as an alternative to Licenceware. They submit their efforts for consideration as Licenceware, we do not consider them good enough and suggest Shareware as the payment for registration will then be in the hands of the user and the decision will be theirs as to whether they register or not. The opposite is also applicable and we have encouraged 'some' authors to write Licenceware programs; their 'standard'being high enough to warrant immediate registration. But you may ask yourself, where is all this self justification leading with regard to the title of this article? Bear with me a few more moments....... earlier I made reference to the withdrawal of the large commercial firms from publishing games for the ST/E and Falcon. Whilst this is true a new wave of 'Indie' companies is springing up. Unique Developments have put in a years hard work and effort to produce their excellent pinball game Obsession of which we have seen a demo; Caspian have already released Rock 'n' Roll Clams and have released Zero 5 which is brilliant. Throughout the 'lean' years of console mania the Libraries have been here to provide the enthusiast with the support for their machine and it appears that this is now paying off as a 'new wave' of Users who defected to consoles or PC's return to the fold.New games are published and new utilities and peripherals emerge onto the 'dying' market. Commodore, with all its advertising and hype,always faced 'compatibility' problems between machines and went belly up.Atari was running at a loss but with the Jaguar(and its tie-ins with Warner Bros. etc ),it is just surviving but with games still at full price what chance does the poor user have to purchase games when there is no support or advertising in Any computer mag. The ST/e has always been supported by the 'User' rather than by the producer and perhaps the secret of its longevity lies in this fact. The Libraries have not gone for silly low, 'unsustainable' prices like in the Amiga field and the contacts between PD Libraries have always offered a 'fair' distribution of programs. Rivalry there may be, but there is also a degree of friendliness not often found in business. In conclusion, I would say that PD Libraries have been the 'lifeline during the lean years and will continue to support the Atari range, new ones may flit across the horizon like a shooting star, some may last the course. Value in software is important and 'cheap' does not equate to Gerald Ratner's 'crap'. The cheaper disks often represent the best value because the Librarian is an enthusiast who knows his programs and who wants to keep the machine alive. He is willing to devote his free time to his hobby and does not rely on it as a major source of income. So, remember, the 'longer' a PD Library has been operating the more contacts they are likely to have made; and they are also likely to be more reliable. Look at what each Library has to offer and decide on the one you wish to use because despite the Revival that's in progress the big publishers will not re-enter the field and so the best way of getting hold of the 'latest' piece of software will be through the PD Libraries. It's your choice whether you want to pay dearly, or look for a cheaper supplier but without your support the Libraries cannot operate and the lifeline will be shut off for good. P.Davis, Folders PDL. upon as an incredibly awesome event that was a deliberate attempt to wipe out an entire race of people. In all it is estimated that 6 million people were delberately wiped out. This pales though with the Soviet leader Joseph Stalin who it is reckoned ordered the deaths of over 20 million of his own people.However,if you go back to the 14th century,35 million chinese peasants were sysematically killed by the ruling Mong~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ P D A N D S H A R E W A R E - T H E W A Y F O R W A R D - or - how to keep the Atari scene going forever by john weller ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ The commercial side of the ST is barely ticking over nowadays. It's all very depressing, but anyone's who's looked at any of the recent PD releases will tell you a very different story. The PD and Shareware side is driven by enthusiasm, rather than profit, and the ST is fast becoming a cult machine that attracts enthusiasm like, er, erm... flies to a ferret scat, to use a nice homely analogy! (A little-known fact about ferret scats is that they dry hard after a day or two on the carpet, and can then be gilded and used on charm bracelets. But I digress...) Anyone who says that "PD is worthless, bug-ridden tosh" simply doesn't know what they're talking about. They must be living in a time warp stocked with the PD that was written for the earliest STs, when software was in short supply and users were grateful for anything that came their way. Believe me, some of the recent PD programmes - like MGIF, CAB or Edith Professional - are of a quality that puts the commercial software of a few years ago to shame. PD and Shareware are the only way forward for the Atari scene. But they'll wither and die if the authors don't get the feedback and registrations they need. And before you say it - yes, I know all the excuses off by heart for why users don't register. I'm not preaching, because I've said exactly the same things myself at different times. Sometimes we don't have the cash to register immediately, sometimes the author's in another country that's difficult to send money to, but what most Shareware authors *really* want is letters, feedback and comments, so that they know they're not just chucking their gems into the void. This isn't just jfw (aka John Quixote) riding his good 'ol hobbyhorse again, and telling other users what to do: this really is the truth, and the sooner we act on it, the better the better the scene will be. Johan Klockars, the author of the amazing MGIF 5 (note that '5', it means that the programme's been refined over a long period of time) issued MGIF as 'registerable Freeware', with the recommendation that all users should contact him and tell him what they thought of MGIF and suggest ways in which it could be improved. JJvB, the author of Graftool, another recent graphics prog, requires users to write in for a free registration ('RegistrationWare'), so that he knows how many people are using his programme. (In Graftool's case, registering removes its 'one save per pic format' limit.) Let's support the programmers who care enough to put their work out for free! And as for Shareware, If we can't afford the full registration fee, then why not send a token amount as 'thanks', or perhaps some discs with our own work or some recent PD on them? A postcard, a book, a magazine - something, *anything* to let them know that their efforts are appreciated and that their programmes are of real use to real people! C'mon, let's make a point of writing to *every* PD or Shareware author whose programmes we like. (You never know, it might be the start of some interesting correspondences?) It's in our own interests: if we only take, and never make contact, then we shouldn't be surprised if it all fades away... ~~~ eof ~~~ discuss whether porn should be allowed,disallowed or whatever,I guess we should establish what exactly porn is.The dictionary description is " writings,pictures,films etc,that are designed to stimulate sexual excitement ".Well,on the whole there doesn`t see ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ T H E G O O D P E T G U I D E by Stuart Beveridge ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ It is a well known fact that British people are fond of pets. I read somewhere that every fifth house has a pet of some sort, shape, or description. Be it fur, feather, or fin, people metaphorically clutch them to their bosoms. I may not know much about computers, but I am really Jack the Lad when it comes to pets. So, if any of you are thinking of getting one I will be happy to give you the benefit of my experience. Most people need a companion that they can turn to for instant affection without too much back-chat, so the obvious choice must be one of God's creatures or a deaf and dumb nymphomaniac. Now the marvellous thing about God's creatures is that they come in all shapes and sizes. You can choose between sharing your fireside with one of those dogs that go dashing around dishing out free brandy to frozen monks, or you can hurry home to something that you have to sweep up to see if it is still there. The first consideration must surely be a financial one. In short, how are you fixed for the readies, because a St Bernard will cost you about œ100 down and a couple of quid a week to feed. And food is very important to a dog that has been brought up to expect a daily ration of half a reindeer or the occasional unfrocked friar. Whereas, to go to a somewhat rediculous extreme, a common woodlouse will cost you nothing, and a couple of matchsticks will last it a fortnight. Although, in all honesty, if you really feel that you could strike up a meaningful relationship with a woodlouse, then I advise you to take more cabbage in your diet and mix with people more your own age. Your choice of pet should be governed not only by what you can afford, but also by its potential as a conversation piece. Nothing will liven up a cocktail party more than the host asking, "Has anyone seen old Spot the puff adder?", or "Is that bloody gorilla still in the bathroom?". But my little talk would not be complete without a mention of the ubiquitious budgerigar. A friend of mine bought one, and when I asked him what colour its plumage was, he replied that he couldn't see because it was covered with feathers. Also, he lived alone and after a few months of, "Who's a pretty boy then?", he started looking in the mirror more often than was necessary and began to spend his beer money on eye shadow and a handbag. Of course, the list of creatures great and small that are willing to share one's hearth and board is endless, and each has its drawbacks and advantages. For instance you can strike a match on a tortoise and it will accept it as a gesture of affection, wheareas you will get a totally different reaction from a cat. However, it has been proved over and over again that man's best friend is a dog. One has only to remember the epic advetures of Rin Tin Tin, or Lassie to be reminded once and for all that there is nothing like a dog. Whoever heard of a budgie setting out to get help for its master when left by some villains to face a lingering death. A well trained cat might consider the proposition, but a saucer of milk would change its mind, and for an old fish head or two it would even join the other side. No, you can't beat a dog. When you are warming your toes by the hearth, there is nothing like having a mutt on the mat looking up at you with those great big soulful eyes. Now, when purchasing your pooch you must be realistic. It is no good aquiring something just because it is small, fluffy and loveable, because if your flat gets ransacked one night, Fifi will be the first in the sack along with your transistor and video. On the other hand you don't want an animal that looks as though it is just waiting to have another go at Red Riding Hood, and who makes you spend half your evenings behind the sideboard with a tranquilizer gun. The degree of intelligence is also important, as an over-intelligent animal can prove as big a nuisance as an idiot that has to be fitted with wheels because it can't remember how to walk. A friend of mine once had a dog that was over- intelligent and handsome with it, two assets that they didn't share, and when they went for a walk people would talk to the dog and ignore him. In the end he had to get rid of it because he felt so lonely with no one talking to him. Almost on a par with the dog is the horse. They are very fond of horses in America. (They are also very fond of horses in France, but for an entirely different reason). Many a cowboy has been saved from a ticklish situation by his four-legged friend. In fact, they have saved their masters almost as many times as dogs have. There is so little to choose between them that either is as good as the other. Mind you, the hero would look pretty silly with a horse curled up on the end of his bed, but come to that, he would look even sillier riding off into the sunset on Fido. And the average flat dweller in Putney might find space a bit limited with a horse in the kitchen, will probably settle for a bowl of gold fish on the side board. They do say that watching gold fish is very restful and as good as television, but of course, there is not much of a plot and after a few hours the choreography becomes predictable. Well, there you are, the choice is yours. I hope that my advice has been of some use to you and that you find peace and contentment with your pet. For my part, I am still looking for the aforementioned deaf and dumb nymphomaniac. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Thanks for the valuable advice, Stuart! The endearing thing about pet-keepers is that they love their beasties regardless of the trouble they cause. "Oh, don't mind him - it's just his way of introducing himself!" they say as Snarf the Rottweiler humps your leg. "Just scratch his chest and he'll love you forever!" Ever tried walking with a Rottie wrapped round your leg...? jfw [021] ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ ~~~ eof ~~~ dge.She slapped the dog.The dog responded by biting her on the hand.She reached into her pocket and slipped the animal a biscuit.I said to her "That`s nice of you,being kind enough to give him a treat after he bit you"."Not at all",she replied,"I`m just finding out which end his head is at,I`m going to kick his arse just now".......She introduced herself......."My name is Lady Anditramp,and I may have a job for you".This was getting interesting."My family own a huge electronics empire,and one of our most trusted workers has stolen I`M WITH BARBARA ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Stan has a word on annoying phone calls I think it was Barbara Pancha in a recent diskmag that was complaining about telesales.I have plans a,b and c for dealing with this nuisance.Plan A consists of telling the person who rings (who always insists on telling you his/her name) that you have something on the stove and would they hang on a moment.My cousin did this the other day and went and made a cup of tea.She went back about ten minutes later to put the phone back on the cradle to find the person still there.A small triumph. Plan B is to tell the person who rings that you will have to take it "on the other phone".You then put down your phone which with the modern system does not cut the caller off.The beauty of plan B is that when the caller realises they have been wound up they also hang up so that if anyone wishes to ring you the line is clear,unlike plan A. Plan C which is the one I use is to simply put down the phone.I know it is a bit ill mannered but I didn`t ask for the call (usually at tea time) and most of the people who call get quite shirty when you are not interested.My own opinion is that it should be illegal to phone people to try to sell products,after all it is an invasion of your privacy.The worst people here in the West Midlands are Staybrite windows.They target an area with phone calls and people knocking on doors.Some time ago there were six people in my lane running about like locusts and quite annoyed if you didn`t want windows.The young lady (mobile hairdresser) that comes to do my mothers hair says she had Staybrite windows reps ring three times in one evening.I presume it was three different people hoping for some commision.She was very annoyed so much so that she told them to P**S off which surprised me as she is not the sort to use such language.Anyway I shall keep to PLAN C which is much quicker. Stan If I could Stan,I`d also like to add PLAN D,which is one of my personal favourites,and it`s simply to say "Sorry mate,this is a council house I live in",and they soon shut up.*Bob* by a German sniper during the First World War.My Grandfather was given this watch by his wife on the day that he left for the front.He told her that he would always carry it in the pocket next to his heart.One day,as my Grandfather stood guard duty,a German sniper fired at him,the bullet would have gone straight through his heart......if it hadn`t been for the watch stopping the bullet," "wow, that was lucky",I said,"not really",she replied,"the bullet ricoched off the watch,shot up his left nostril,and blew the top of his head off". I was stunned,but before I could say anything she swepped out of my office,swepp THE PERFECT MURDER ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ WARNING THIS IS NOT FOR PEOPLE WHO HAVE WEAK STOMACHS. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ I was not told this story until I had turned 16,but as far as I know it happened.Jeff had inherited the pig farm from his father and had built it up in the 5 years he had been the boss.It had 100+ pigs,and 100 acres of land.He had modernised the pig house with a new electrical grinder for grinding up the pigs food.Being a young man,he married a village girl,her name was Mary.She bore him no children in 7 years.On a June day Jeff went to the police and reported Mary missing.He told the police she had been missing for about a week.Two days later the wife of one of his farmhands reported her husband had also been missing for 10 days. The police at first did not put the two incidents together,until someone said he had seen the two of them together the day before they went missing.The police thought they had run away together.But Mary had a sister named Rose,her only blood relative,who would keep on saying that Jeff had murdered Mary,so the police had to investigate.They pulled Jeff in,and got warrants.They searched his house and they went and dug up his garden,fields and even turned over the pigs muck heaps,but found nothing and had to let Jeff go. So things went back to normal,the wife of the man who disappeard went to work for Jeff as his housekeeper.The only fly in the ointment was Rose who would shout murderer at Jeff when ever she saw him.After about 5 years Jeff and his housekeeper got married had two children.After one bad winter,Jeff sent his wife and children to the seaside for two weeks,saying that he would come down on the second week which is what he did ,but when they got back,Rose had gone missing.The police searched the fens and all the rivers and ponds but they found no trace of Rose,so the case was left open,and life went on.Jeff passed on at the age of 88.When the time came Jeff`s will was opened and out fell a letter and this is what was in it. To whom it may concern. I suspected my wife of being unfaithful for about 3 months,so one evening I followed her she walked to the old barn at the edge of the farm were she met Bill one of my farmhands.They went inside,when I stepped inside they were naked and making love in the hay.I shot them both in the head.I then went and got a cart and wrapped them and their clothing in a tarpaulin and put in the cart.On top of this I put the bloody hay.I then made my way to the pig house.Inside I hung them upside down over the pigs cooking bowl,(this was a bowl that held 50 gallons),and slit their throats,and let them bleed into the bowl.When this was done I took them down and gutted them.I then cut their legs,arms and heads off, cutting these in half I then cut the bodies into 4,and then put the lot into the grinder.When it had finished I then added pig meal and water and cooked the lot,burning the clothes and hay on the fire,and then when it was cool I fed the lot to the pigs.I did not kill Rose.I came home the evening before I was to join my wife at the seaside to find her upstairs going though my things she backed off from me,tripped, and fell down the stairs,breaking her neck.Not wanting police nosing around I decided that she would go the way of her sister and she to was fed to the pigs. There you are the perfect murders.Would he have got away with it today? THE END. Rod Henson eeting of the Nintendo appreciation society.A row of women sat on deckchairs totally naked,it looked like a hamster vet`s waiting room.The blonde introduced herself,"hello my name is Marge,and I am the entertainments officer",I resisted the crack about marge spr ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ P I R A C Y by Barbara Pancha ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ I think it's wrong to 'copy' software. If someone has spent hours, days, months, working on a programme that is of benefit to us all then they should be able to reap the rewards of having written a good programme that people want to use. Praise and fame are good but money is what makes the tills tinkle! Everyone needs to eat! I would not want to use a pirate copy of a programme that was still commerically available but, what do you do when the market has closed down and there is no other way to get hold of a copy of the programme you want? You can try to get it secondhand of course and sometimes that is the answer. When all else fails, and you don't know who wrote the programme in the first place, a pirate copy may be all you can get hold of. If large companies did not charge really over the top prices for their products then there would not be the incentive for people to pirate their programmes, apart from those who do it just to prove they can! When the company has ceased trading and the source of the programme cannot be tracked down then I think maybe a pirated copy is okay. Most of the companies that used to back Atari have closed down, moved on, are no longer contactable so I do not see who it hurts if someone copies one of their programmes. If the programme contains a contact file with the name and address of the programmer then you can write to him and offer payment but if not there is not a lot you can do. I suppose then that my position is that if it hurts someone, don't do it but if it isn't possible to contact anyone then that's another issue. I'd be interested to know what other people think. Quite probably there are angles I haven't given enough thought to, or just are not aware of? ~~~ eof ~~~ Chalmers. I definately had to get away from Marge if there was going to be any chance of me getting my $10,000.I made my excuses and left her attempting to untie herself.As I walked through the camp,I realised that if someone was hiding an important piece of hardware somewhere,he would probably be inside one of the cabins.I decided on a search. The first cabin was the snooker cabin,I entered.There were a few guys in the room playing and watching at four tables.I thought that I should get close enough to try and make out if anyone had a Russian accent.I skillfully slipped a screwdriver from a small table as I walked and approached the first table."I am the maintainance man",I said gruffly,"table needs adjusting".Before anyone could answer,I slipped under the first table.I lay there and thought that this had been a great move,Id just lie still and listen.Unfo ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ P I R A C Y a view from Bob ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Well, Barbara seems to started off an interesting discussion with her Point of View on piracy, and Bob's response takes it a stage further. What do other readers think about this? Do you agree with the line that 'piracy killed the ST', or do think that most of the software was so over-priced that piracy was inevitable? Call the KelAUG Hotline today to register your vote! (All calls are routed via Hawaii and are charged @ œ99.99 per minute.) ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ PIRACY ~~~~~~ I read with interest the article on software piracy from Barbara in issue 10. I have to say that I'd agree entirely with the basic principles of the article, but at the same time it's worth looking a little more deeply into why there is such a dearth of software development on the ST at this time. There are no doubt two totally opposite and equally valid reasons for this problem. And to my mind, they both revolve around piracy. Looking at it from a developer's point of view, why should they put good money into developing a product just for people to copy it willy nilly and send their profits down the pan? From the consumer's point of view, why should they pay œ30 for a game when they can have a copy of it from their mate? Of course, both points have plenty of support from plenty of people, (it's no surprise who would support which), but which one of them is right? At this moment in time there are very few sources of new ST software, and what software there is generally comes from dedicated ST programmers who have spent years on the ST, and do so simply because they enjoy doing it. What I always find myself wondering is that if people such as Tony Greenwood can produce games of a commercial standard today, and manage it quite regularly, is there really such an amount of work that goes into it to justify the œ20 and œ30 that commercial developers used to charge for their games? Now I don't have any kind of figures to illustrate how many copies of any particular game were sold, so maybe this argument has no basis, but, for arguments sake, let's say that Streetfighter sold between three and five thousand copies a few years ago when the ST was still commercially viable. That would equate to well excess in œ100,000 in total sales. I realise of course that you have boxes to make, manuals to print, and disks to buy and copy. But, and this is the big but, there just has to have been a very significant profit in it for the developer. These figures may well have been higher or lower (I'd suspect higher personally) and regardless of the total amounts, the 'better' games made a decent wedge for someone. Of course, there is nothing at all wrong in itself with making a healthy profit. What is wrong though is when profit margins far outway the development costs which is then completely unfair to the consumer. In my own opinion this is what caused the extensive copying of software that we saw on the ST and Amiga scene a few years ago, and indeed on the PC scene today. The developers simply overpriced their goods in the expectation of quick, vast profits, and consequently suffered as people just refused to fork out the money asked in sufficient numbers to keep their coffers filled. If software had been more reasonably, and realistically priced from day one then I think we'd have seen far less copying and far more buying, which would have benefited everyone in the long term. Bob ~~~ eof ~~~ eep beep,totally unlike the old one.The graphics were also bad, they weren`t an awful lot worse than the commodore but I`d expected much more a game for at least a 512k machine. Could it have been my wistful thinking to days of yore that had made me remember the old game as being better than it was.To test this theory,I organised a weeks supplies and some native guides,( my two kids and a big packet of Doritos ) and headed into the darkest recesses of my attic. After much searching,bumping of heads and snagging of jumpers,I found the box that I`d been looking for.We retreated triumphantly to the living room and set the old bugger up. There were hundreds of games to choose from and I dug deep for Wizball. None of the old technology failed me and I nipped off to brew a cuppa while the C64 chuntered away in it`s loading sequence.A couple of minutes later the excellent electronic guitar riff belted from the living room, signifying that we were indeed in business.What a game! Exc THE OTHER PC ```````````````` A VIEW OF POLITICAL CORRECTNESS FROM LAWRENCE HUTTON Nowadays one of the most popular phrases in the English language is " Political Correctness ".This apparently means that you are no longer able to use other words and phrases that have been in use for donkeys years.This causes such everyday words as chairman or doorman,being replaced by chairperson or doorperson.What total CRAP ! For one thing the most ardent exponents of this modern attitude seem to be of the same type.They are all be-spectacled,cordouroy jacketed,bearded social worker types in men,and cropped haired,dungareed,spotty,ugly,women. There is nothing wrong with the way things were already,it was quite possible to have a female chairman on a commitee and nobody bothered their arse about it.These people who proliferate these ideas are more worried about the correctness of the names than they are about the effectiveness of the person to fill the position.Indeed I have even seen in the college paper an advert for volunteers for a commitee of ten people to be made up of two heterosexual women,two heterosexual men,two gay women,two gay men,one Asian and one person of Jewish persuassion.Now,on the face of it this may seem fair but to me any commitee should be made up of the people best suited to the job in hand,whether that is ten straight men or ten Arabic,lesbian,tap dancing window cleaners. This then leads on to the same thing happening in the workplace.Labour are already talking about a 50 - 50 split in candidates between women and men put up for elections as far as prospective MP`s goes.This is wrong.The same best person for the job criteria should apply.Taken in a racial context this also leads to claims of racism when a black or coloured person is turned down for work.More often than not the person involved automatically thinks that it is because they are from a racial minority that they have been rejected and not because they just are not the most suitable person for the job. In a true inter-racial country there should be a natural division of responsible positions among all,but it does not have to be so regularly divided.There might be for instance 400 black labour MP`s and 400 white Tory MP`s.This would not mean that each party was predjudiced against any particular type,only that they had picked the best people for the job regardless of either colour or political correctness.If both parties were divided equally this may seem to be fairer but in each case 200 people would have gotten their jobs because of their colour and not their ability.These are the dangers of political correctness. ommander Riker's quarters. PICARD: Very well, bridge out. Mr. Data, what do the sensors detect? DAT ST PORNOGRAPHY,IS IT HARD TO SWALLOW? ======================================= I`ve seen quite a few letters and articles dealing with the question of pornography on computers and whether it`s right or wrong.Up until recently the only thing of this nature I`d seen were topless still pictures that were no worse than your average page 3 girls form newspapers such as the Sun and Star.A new contact that I`ve just made though had a few of the " hard core " disks and,purely in the interests of research,I got a few from him and had a bit of a peek at them. Before we begin to discuss whether porn should be allowed,disallowed or whatever,I guess we should establish what exactly porn is.The dictionary description is " writings,pictures,films etc,that are designed to stimulate sexual excitement ".Well,on the whole there doesn`t seem to be too much wrong with the description.What I was more expecting the dictionary definition was to be was more like "offensive or outrageous to accepted standards of decency ", which is actually the definition of obscene.Therefore before we even start to analyse the whole concept,it`s important to make this line between the two clear.Porn is supposed to be stimulating,obscene is quite something different. The disks that I have been looking at were fairly explicit in that they do show males and females in the nude,often in close up,engaging in various sexual activities.The general feel of them was more like what you`d have come up with when you were 15 or 16,and had the technology at that time.I guess for anyone in their early teens,they would almost certainly fulfill the description of "sexually stimulating ",but for most people with a normal experience of life and sex,they were certainly nothing to get excited about.For a start the ST`s graphics don`t quite do justice to the scenes anyway,everything is in your usual haze-arama and a cetain amount of squinting and standing back a bit is required for the full effect.The animated scenes were absolutely hilarious with only the most important bit of the screens moving at all.This was allied to some spectacularly awful sampled grunts and groans fromt he original movie,giving the whole thing a rather " readers wives " feel about it.In this day and age I don`t suppose that there are too many guys who have not come across,( if that`s the correct choice of phrase ),blue movies or magazines,and I`d guess that most would have looked at them with a certain degree of interest,but would not have made the effort to start a collection.Porn in the normal form of consenting adults engaged in normal sexual activity should not be something that anyone should be embarrassed about.The difference of course comes when anyone acting in these movies are doing so unwillingly,or are too young to be involved,or even when the sexual acts go beyond the normal,then a different set of rules must apply. From this point then comes the legality of the issue.In my opinion,if the making of adult " full contact " sex movies was made perfectly legal and certified thus,any person who wanted to see films of this nature could go to the cinema and see them as easily as western or sci-fi fans can see their films.Anything outwith the bounds of these certificated films would then stand out as totally illegal and the law would then be able to be called upon to enforce these appropriate laws.At the moment the laws regarding adult films and material is so confused that there must be very few people who know what they can or cannot keep in the privacy of their homes. The only way that computer porn differs from this is of course the availability of it to people to see it who should not,minors for instance.That is my one fault with material of this kind.After I had looked at the disks I got,I re- formatted them rather than keep them as I have kids in the house and certainly would not want them to see it.There of course is the difficulty.It did not offend me at all,in fact I found it very amusing and quite enjoyed it,but I would not have it in the house incase anyone saw it who should not.Am I then a hypocrite,saying there`s nothing wrong with it yet refusing to keep it.I wouldn`t say so as there are obviously plenty of people who will not have anyone other than themselves using their computer and they should have the right to look at what they want in their own house. The whole thing probably comes down to responsibility.If every adult could be trusted to be responsible,then every kind of media could have it`s own form of pornography and there would be nothing to worry about.The truth though,as we all know,is quite different. Bob ack and forth all the way up to the beach.As he got to dry land he plonked down on his butt,totally out of his A R E Y O U A P R I N T E R ? Some explanations from the Panda The earliest typing machines were invented to emboss letters as an aid to the blind. It was not until the American "Typographer" was patented in 1829 that their commercial potential was realised. The development of printing machines was hindered by the comparative slowness of typesetting, which continued to be done by hand. In 1822 a British machine was patented but it was not until sixteen years later, in America, that type- casting was used commercially. The Linotype was patented in 1884 but from then on, until the second half of the 20th century, there was little change in typesetting methods. Meanwhile, development of the typewriter had continued. The QWERTY keyboard was introduced in 1874 and Remington added a shift key for upper case letters in 1878. Soon afterwards an American, J.B. Hammond, invented a typing machine with a round metal 'anvil' on which two different semi- circular 'fonts' could be mounted. The Hammond typewriters had a three-row keyboard with one shift key for capital (upper case) letters, and one for figures and symbols; this provided three characters on each key. Their value as composing machines was recognised in November 1947, when they were used for the production of Chicago newspapers during the Typographical Union's two-year strike. By then the machine, called a VariTyper, was far more sophisticated than the original Hammond, having differential spacing and justification. Women, who had been banned from operating the hot metal composing machines, became the chief users of the cold type VariTypers. Addressograph Multigraph Ltd.,who marketed VariTypers,next helped pioneer computerised typesetting. Phototypesetters were used in the 1970s, and further improvements and inventions followed very rapidly. When desktop publishing was introduced in the late 1980s, most printers were only too ready to scoff at it. The general amateurishness of the original publications confirmed their opinion. In 1989 the latest office laser printers produced only 300 dpi, thus offering no competition to phototypesetting equipment producing over 2,000 dpi. But the burgeoning of image setting bureaux, where files could be sent for processing on bromides, made it possible for even the smallest companies to produce quality work without heavy investment. By 1990 the manufacturing and software companies obviously realised that the printing trade itself could be the prime user of their products. Since then there has been a flood of sophisticated innovations designed to work with DTP software, and progress in this direction shows no sign of abating. The modern typesetter does much more than merely set type. In many cases he or she is expected to lay out the entire page: text, headlines, graphics, folios and cut marks - all in one DTP file. With the development of the word-processor the paths of typist and typesetter began to converge again. Today the best WP software does many of the things that DTP can do, but few people seem to realise that the operator's methods are quite different. The more proficient typists are, the harder it is to teach them to set type. It is almost impossible to persuade a well-trained typist that she or he should NOT leave two spaces after a full stop, or an extra line after each paragraph, or an extra wide left hand margin, etc etc. The original Typographer was a typing machine, and now typists are becoming typographers, perhaps. "The process has now gone full circle - but where do we go from here?" is the question asked by Anne Thorn of the BPS. Onward, ever onward is the simple answer. The humble DTPer now has, at his fingertips, power and speed that was undreamed of but a relatively few years ago. Once costing hundreds of pounds, powerful DTP programs are now available to the home consumer for a fraction of their original cost. There are programs in the Public Domain which enable any computer user with a simple printer to produce quite estimable publications at low cost and with the expenditure of but a little time and patience. My own introduction to DTP was with PROXIMA, a DTP program sold by SoftLogic, who also sold the then mighty Pagestream. I was sorry that PROXIMA did not take off in the way that it deserved. It really was a superb program. And still is, for that matter, for I still make use of it from time to time. Unfortunately, Frank Shean, who was the sole promoter of PROXIMA in this country, vanished from the scene following the untimely death of his wife at the hands of some drunken yobbos. I originally set up in DTP in order to use it as the front end of my part-time printing business. Using my trusty Atari and with PROXIMA to produce the original artwork, the work was first printed out via a Sharp JX-9500 laser printer. The finished page - colour separated if two or more colours were required - was then turned into a metal plate or plates prior to printing out on my RV 2500 offset litho. More recently, with the vast improvement in photocopiers, I used the litho only for runs in excess of a few hundred, or if colour work was required. Even on mono work, I believe it will be a very long time before photocopying can compete with a litho on a run of ,say, 10,000 leaflets. The litho, being friction fed, does have some difficulty in coping with board in excess of 130gsm, so for business cards, dance tickets and suchlike, then I favour letterpress. And, of course, its only by letterpress that I can produce hot-foil work. I favour letterpress, too, for thermographic work, though this can be done on a litho if a fairly slow drying ink is used. DTPers who are new to the printing scene are fortunate in that they can jump straight to the leading edge of technology without a long apprenticeship in the printing industry. Indeed, there are many in the printing industry who use only DTP, but these are mainly printers who have forsaken the old methods. Very few who start into DTP from a computer base realise that they have crossed the border into the world of printing. Are YOU a printer? It could well be to your advantage to consider joining the British Printing Society, which welcomes new members and can be the gateway to a whole new world for you. Do you use Calamus? Are you a member of the Calamus User Group? Calamus is a very powerful DTP program which is obtainable at reasonable cost from JCA, as is the wonderful OutLine Art program. I don't know a great deal about printers, but have recently acquired an Epson Stylus ColourII printer which appears to be everything that Epson claim. Perhaps I'll spout off about that sometime or other. -------------------------------- Suggested reading: "The Printing Business" by Mark Ellis. Published by The Claydon Press at 4, Josephine Road, Cowlersley, Huddersfield HD4 5UD. Costing œ9.50 (Inclusive of P&P), this 127pp A4 book covers all the major aspects of printing, from origination to platemaking and on to axctual printing processes. There is a guide to the setting up and running of a small business with a quite lengthy section on costing. DTP is also covered, with some 25 pages devoted to the subject. A good read. "Profitable Desk-Top Publishing" (œ12.95 inclusive), author and publisher as above, is a practical guide to producing camera-ready artwork straight from the computer. Ther book is a detailed manual covering the art of electronic print presentation. It is intended for those who are in business or who are considering setting up professionally, and deals with both the computing and business aspects. The text is extensively supported with practical examples, diagrams and illustrations, several in colour. If you are into DTP, buy this book. [~~ eof ~~] ge diamond came rattling out onto the floor,the Blitter Diamond.So thats where it`s been.Sue picked it up."This diamond has been part of my life,part of me".Well it certainly has on Saturday nights anyway I thought. "We`d better get it over to the lawyers office then Sue",I said."Wait a minute",she replied,"it`s only 3.15,we`ve got 45 minutes.I`d like to give you something for your trouble before we go"."Oh I couldn`t accept money",I protested."Who mentioned money",she said softly slipping her hands round my waist,"I`ve got some super glue and half a dozen AA`s in the bedroom.And I`m sitting on something,that every man loves"."Oh no,don`t tell me,you`ve melted my Yorky"."Sam,you naughty boy,you`re playing with me".Not yet I`m not but I don`t think it`ll be This is a very interesting article from Stan Gibbs,which will show everyone that the Internet is not quite the be all and end all of connecting to,and chatting with,people from around the world.Up until I read this myself I had kind of pictured amateur radio enthusiasts as sitting with their ear to the speaker giving it the "over and out" type of deal with a crackly microphone.As usual,I was fairly wide of the mark. PACKET RADIO ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ by Stan Gibbs Apart from computing my other hobby is amateur radio.I have held an amateur radio licence since 1963 and have talked to other "HAMS" from all over the world.Some years ago the tree in my garden to which my antenna was attached became sick and started oozing all sorts of disgusting filth.It cost me over 100 pounds to have it taken down but of course this put paid to my world wide contacts.I was then restricted to more or less local (30 miles) contacts.I was then introduced to Packet Radio.This requires the use of a computer and a piece of equipment called a TNC (terminal node controller). Packet radio is quite similar to being on the internet except for there being no websites as such.If you require help on any subject you can put a message into a BBS and usually there is someone who can help.I put a query into a local BBS and even had a reply from someone in the states.You can ask that your message be just local or in Great Britain or world wide.The local BBS can pass your message through a chain of other BBS/S to anywhere.I have a facility called reverse forwarding which means I can leave a message in my mailbox which is part of the TNC and my local BBS will pick it up during the day and leave any messages for me.You can also find out where a particular amateur is by logging on to the BBS and typing I plus the amateurs call sign.The BBS will then tell you which BBS the amateur is signed on to so allowing you to leave a message for him on your own BBS but posted @ (at) his BBS.The BBS will then pass this message on as they talk to each other 24 hours a day. The amateurs who run the BBS/s do not charge for this service but most people send some cash once in a while to help with the costs.The beauty of this system is that most people (myself included) leave the system on 24 hours so if you wish to leave a message or have a query for someone you can get to who is fairly local you can leave your message in his mailbox.When a message is in your mailbox a light flashes so you can read and answer it.This is usefull as you dont have to hang around hoping he will come on the air.Most amateurs with computers run packet radio even those who are on the internet although packet radio is not so versatile as the net it does not cost so much as a phone call except for the fact that initially the TNC costs more than a modem. Stan This article aroused a bit of nosiness in me Stan as I hadn`t known that such a service was available.I`m sure that other readers will find this info an unusual addition to our more "normal" computer applications,and wouldn`t mind having a bit more info on the types of equipment that you use and the software that it requires.*Bob* the mechanism.One of the dustmen was quick off his mark and stopped the thing before he was squashed,but he did receive some very nasty injuries.Actually,it took them about 20 minutes to get him unravelled from the works. Turned out to be a rather serious chit chat this time out.Never mind, bound to be something funny due to happen before the next issue.Bye. Bob After reading this next item for the first time I was unsure whether to put it in the talk section or the humour,as I had a good laugh at a slight mishap or two that befell Charlie as he tackled his latest project.As always though,I found it most interesting and indeed feel rather envious of his undoubted skill in running an Emergency Ward 10 for old electronic items. RESTORATION PROJECTS ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ In my spare time I like to keep myself busy doing restorations on anything concerning electronics. (I have plenty of spare time now that I am retired). I recently picked up a C.ITOH 24 pin printer for a fiver from a firm that deals with second hand or scrap electronics bits and pieces. The main reason for this purchase was to keep my spares cupboard well stocked. When it arrived it was in a sorry state as it had been well used and was well past its prime. Plenty of muck and rust and obviously thrown out to be replaced by something newer. Needless to say it did not work so I set to and stripped it down as far as I needed in order to clean everything. Plenty of wire wool and and washing up liquid later it was beginning to look a lot more respectable so I started to re_assemble it. When finished I put a light smear of oil on the exposed metal parts and connected it to the mains. When switched on it sprang into life and so I connected it up to the Atari and tried to print out a small amount of text. IT WORKED. The only problem I had left was that the ribbon was completely dry and although the printer worked there was no printout. Being the clever fellow I am I decided to re-ink the ribbon using the black ink I use for refilling the cartridges on my inkjet. This is from a company called OFFICE 21 and comes in rather large syringes. If you have never tried to re-ink a ribbon it is quite a difficult process to cover the ribbon while it is in the cartridge so I rigged up a small table vice to hold it. On the side there is a small knob which will enable you to turn the ribbon by hand but this will be a very long winded way of doing things so I got out my power screwdriver and used that to turn the ribbon. Using a small piece of sponge soaked in ink it is possible to get the ink where it is needed as the ribbon runs past. BEWARE this can be very messy as I found out when attempting to squirt ink on the sponge and missing. (This ink seems to be semi permanent and takes a couple of days before repeated washing would remove it from my legs). Eventually the ribbon was well inked and replaced in the printer and then put on test. Everything now runs perfectly and the cost was only a fiver and half a bar of soap to clean up with. My second restoration project was a heck of a lot more difficult. A couple of months ago I was given a JVC video outfit from the mid eighties which consists of a two part video recorder and a colour video camera with all the accessories and a couple of batteries because the video head was useless and would only show a very distorted picture. This was put on one side so that I could try to find a replacement head. As you can imagine this is not too easy considering the age of the item. Three weeks ago I saw a similar outfit without the camera going for œ90 which was well outside my financial position but going past the shop a week later it was still in the window with a dramatic price reduction to œ3.00. As I only needed the video head I quickly snapped it up and when I got home I discovered the reason for the drop of œ87. Some idiot had purchased it and it would seem that he had not checked the voltage system on the back because it was set to 110 volts and he had connected it to a 240 volt supply. This would create a very interesting effect when the room fills with smoke and emits a very nasty smell. Not to mention the fact that the transformer immediately gives up the ghost and dies. This is what I found in the bottom half. The top section would not show any signs of life at all so I stripped off the case to get at the circuit boards and found a right mess. All the fuses blown and a lot of joints that needed to be resoldered and I later found that where the circuit boards had been removed there were a couple of bent pins that did not connect to anything. After straightening them out and reconnecting everything and running a test meter around to see if all the joints were OK I put a battery in and switched on. SUCCESS. It showed signs of life but when I put a tape in to test it out I found it had a variable running speed which varied from about a foot an hour to going berserk with the tape screaming through the cassette. Muttering the words which always make me feel better I switched off and started to hunt for the problem, which of course was not that easy to find (it never is) so to make the job easier I decided to get the driver panel from the original set and stick that in to see if the problem was in the panel or somewhere else. Luckily it cleared the problem straight away and everything started to work perfectly so it was just a matter of putting the whole thing back together again. I now have a fully working video recorder with a video camera (colour of course) which I can use indoors or out and also has the capability of showing recordings back through the camera so that I can see what has been recorded. Not bad for the magnificient sum of œ3.00 and about three days work. There is only one small drawback to using this outfit and that is the damn thing weighs just over 28 pounds when all components are connected together. CHARLIE =( )= :::\ /::: | | | | U ::::::::::: ,' | | | ----':::::::' -' ,' : |\ /| ,' \ / : |/c\| ,,' ---==( o )==--- c \ `o"o' ( ) /..\ .o"o. \--/ /'\| |/'\ (.-.) \ `-0-' www \ / \ / | | \ d0 0b / \ c \ \ / / \c/ | \/ (/O\) T | / \ / ROD`S COMPO ANSWERS,THE WINNER,AND THIS ISSUE`S QUESTION ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ ANSWERS ~~~~~~~~~ The first part was easy,they both fill in 3 hours.An hour for the bottom,and two hours for the top. The second part - the bottom tank was still filling at the same rate,so it is still one hour but the top tank is filling at double the rates o in one hour it will be half full,and it will take half the time to fill the top half.So the answer is one and a half hours. ’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’ THIS ISSUE`S TEASER ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ You have one set of gold scales the one with the bar across the top with two dishes hanging down. seven bags of gold dust one bag is heavier that the rest. Q : Find the heavier bag Rules.You can only use the scales once. If you can answer this one in 37 minutes you have a high I.Q. If it takes you a little longer you have above average I.Q. If you can not answer don`t worry you have a normal I.Q. ))_) _ )____)_____))__)\ \---__|____/|___|___-\\--- ^^^^^^^^^\ oo oo oo oo /~~^^^^^^^ ~^^^^ ~~~~^^~~~~^^~~^^~~~~~ ~~^^ ~^^~ ~^~ ~^ ~^ ~^~~ ~~~^^~ ____________ --)-----------|____________| / / -)------======== / _____ / \ \ / /____/ \ \ / / \ \__/_________/__ \ _ _| ^-- || | ________--------|_____________|\ ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ R A D I O C O N T R O L L E D C L O C K S ---oOo--- by Stan Gibbs ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Here's a fascinating piece from Stan Gibbs that answers some of the questions we've all asked about the "Radio controlled" clocks that you see on sale. I've always wondered how they were synchronised - "where does the signal come from?" - and now I know. Thanks Stan, and any other articles along these lines - or about packet radio - would be much relished here. Cheers Stan! john ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Radio Controlled Clocks ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ I recently purchased a radio controlled clock from my local Argos shop. This clock is kept accurate by signals from Rugby radio station, and the model I purchased corrects itself every hour, although some of the more expensive ones correct themselves more often. The clock also automatically adds or subtracts an hour as required during the year. I wanted to know more about this signal from Rugby and found that it is actually set up by the National Physical Laboratory. I phoned them and they sent out a very interesting set of loose leaf sheets of paper plus a large poster free of charge (my kind of price). The clock at the NPL is a caesium clock which is accurate to plus or minus 1 second in 3 million years, but they are working on a more accurate clock. I asked why you would need even more accuracy and was told that it is crucial for satelite positioning, and even for the transfer of money across the world's banking systems. Their phone number is 0181 943 6880 and, for people on the Internet, they have a very good website at http://www. npl. co. uk I have since found out that Argos also sell a wall clock and a clock radio that use radio control from Rugby. ~~~ eof ~~~ ::::::::::::::@@@::::::::::::::::M::M 88888 M:::::::::::::::@@::::::::::::::::::M::M 88888 M:::::m::::::::::@::::::::::Mm:::::::M:::M 8888 M:::::M:::::::::::::::::::::::MM:::::::M:::M 8888 M:::::M:::::::::::::::::::::::MMM::::::::M:::M 888 M:::::Mm::::::::::::::::::::::MMM:::::::::M::::M 8888 MM::::Mm:::::::::::::::::::::MMMM:::::::::m::m:::M 888 M:::::M::::::::::::::::::::MMM::::::::::::M::mm:::M 8888 MM:::::::::::::::::::::::::MM:::::::::::::mM::MM:::M: M:::::::::::::::::::::::::M:::::::::::::::mM::MM:::Mm MM::::::m:::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::M::MM:::MM M::::::::M:::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::M::M:::MM MM:::::::::M:::::::::::::M:::::::::::::::::::::M:M:::MM ############################################################################### # _______ ______ # # / _____/ / ____ \ # # / / / / /_/ # # / /___ _____ _____ / /___ ______ __ _______ # # / ____/ / ___ \ / ___ \ \____ \ / ____ \ / / / _____/ # # / / / / / / / ____/ __ / / / ____ / / / / /___ # # / / / /__/ / / /\ \ / /___/ / / / / / / /_____ / /_____ # # /_/ \_____/ /_/ \_\ \______/ /_/ /_/ /_______/ /_______/ # # # ############################################################################### There is just the tiniest difference between the Kelstar sales and wanted area and that which came before,and that is simply that it will be renewed for every issue.That is to say that any advert run,will not be repeated in the next issue unless it is re-submitted by the seller.That way there will be nothing that appears for sale unless it is completely up to date. As this is issue 1 though,and as you had no way of knowing this beforehand,this file contains all that came in issue 12,and the new stuff for this time.If you want to repeat an advert that you have placed here,in Kelstar issue 2,then please remember you`ll have to re-submit it in March or April. Ta very mooch. DISCS & CDS FOR SALE ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ DEAR READER I have written this catalogue because I have a great many unwanted games and software. PAYMENT: I REQUEST THAT PAYMENT BE MADE BY CHEQUE OR POSTAL ORDER MADE PAYABLE TO ADRIAN NEWSUM. I ALSO REQUIRE 50p TO COVER POSTAGE & PACKING FOR QUANTITY OF DISKS SEND. IE: 5 DISKS 50p P&P, 20 DISKS œ2.00 P&P. ADDRESS: 132 A SHELFORDROAD TRUMPINGTON CAMBRIDGE CB2 2NE CDcatalouge ~~~~~~~~~~~ All CD'S 50p unless otherwise stated. CD GAMER Disk 2 Nov 94 Disk 4 Jan 95 Disk 5 Feb 95 Disk 7 Apr 95 Disk 9 Jun 95 Disk 10 Jul 95 Disk 11 Aug 95 Disk 12 Sep 95 Disk 13 Oct 95 Disk 14 Nov 95 Disk 15 Dec 95 Disk 16 Jan 96 Disk 30 May 96 Disk 31 Jun 96 Disk 34 Sep 96 Disk 36 Nov 96 Al disks 50p unless otherwise stated. MAC FORMAT ~~~~~~~~~~ Disk 2 Jul 94 Disk 67 Sep 98 Macworld ~~~~~~~~ The Movie Sep 94 The Image Bank Nov 94 March 95 50 Great Mac Games May 95 Publish or be damned June 95 Internet Tools Nov 95 500 MAC Games Adobe's Type on call Hardware Guide 94 MICROSOFT OFFICIAL SOFTWARE ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ All CD'S 50p unless otherwise stated. Microsoft Works 4.0 Microsoft Money 4.0 Superscape Visualiser & Megaworlds Julia Child Home Cooking With Masterchefs Microsoft Golf 2.0 Microsoft Music Central 96 3D Ultra Pinball œ1.00 Get Connected Internet Tutor Descent 2 Destination Quartzon œ1.00 Backstage Designer Plus For Windows 95 PGA Europeon Tour œ1.00 Starfish Internet Sidekick & Utilities Virtua Fighter PC œ1.00 Papyrus Indycar Racing 2 œ1.00 Azraels Tear œ1.00 Lifestyle Software ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ French Pronunciation Tutor Version 3.5 Window on the World (free with Times) PCFORMAT ~~~~~~~~ All CD'S 50p unless otherwise stated. Disk 5 Disk 10 Disk 11 Disk 12 Disk 14 Disk 15 Disk 47 Aug 95 Disk 50 (1) Nov 95 Disk 50 (2) Nov 95 Disk 51 Dec 95 Disk 54 Mar 96 Disk 55 Apr 96 Disk 58 Jul 96 Disk 60 Sep 96 Disk 63 Dec 96 PC FORMAT 100 game demos on one disk Al disks 50p unless otherwise stated Playstation Magazine ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Vol. 2 09 (œ1.00) Vol. 2 11 (œ1.00) Atari stuff ~~~~~~~~~~~ NBOXED COMMERCIAL 15p EACH MONTY PYTHON (NO MANUAL PASSWORD NEEDED) TEST DRIVE TREBLE CHAMPIONS RAINBOW ISLANDS SUMMER OLYMPIAD PREDATOR CHOPPER X & ROADWARS STARGLIDER,OVERLANDER & SUPER HUEY ELIMINATOR, NEBULUS & PAC-MANIA YOGI'S GREAT ESCAPE KARTING GRAND PRIX SPACE HARRIER AFTERBURNER BOMBBUZAL, BOMB JACK & XENON INTERPHASE GAUNTLET 2 SECONDS OUT BLACK LAMP & QUADRALIEN BLACK LAMP & OUT RUN STOS (6DISKS) JOE BLADE 2 FOOTBALL ASSORTED (9 DISKS) (90p) ATARI LANGUAGE DISK FACE OFF ICE HOCKEY ORGANISER SUPER HANG ON STAR RAY & STAR GOOSE STARQUAKE & XENON SIM CITY & ESCAPE FROM THE PLANET OF THE ROBOT MONSTERS OUTRUN RETURN TO GENESIS & ZYNAPSE R-TYPE ARKANOID 2- REVENGE OF DOH & WIZBALL DOUBLE DRAGON EDDY EDWARDS SUPER SKI BEYOND THE ICE PALACE, THRUST & THUNDERCATS MUSIC MAKER PRINCE OF PERSIA (2 SINGLE SIDED DISKS OR 1 DOUBLE SIDED) more ST stuff ~~~~~~~~~~~~~ OTHER DISKS 15p EACH FALCON BOMBUZAL ROBOCOP KAODESK LOOPZ & PUZZNIC TV SPORTS FOOTBALL BEACH VOLLEY LOMBARD RALLY FILE SPY, QUICK LABEL & TOP CHART PGS FONTS PUZZLE, ROBOTZ, SKATE TRIBE, ATOMS, BELLUM, BLASTER, DEEPLAIR, PENTOMINOES KALENDAR, MONO EMULATOR V5.0, SNAPSHOT BARBARIAN PROPHECY OF THE VIKING CHILD NEWPACK, UNITERM, UUE MICROPROSE SOCCER, SAVAGE, MILLENIUM 2.2 NIGEL MANSELLS GP, FERNANDEZ MUST DIE, BATTLEZONE, ENFORCER, URIDIUM, ALTAIR BUBBLE BOBBLE BLOOD MONEY, D PAINT, VKILLER, DAYS OF THUNDER ACCELERATOR, TETERI, FRYING FRIENDS THE KILLING GAME SHOW STAR BLAZE INDIANA JONES REDACTEUR 3 DEMO ASTROCALC 22 ARKANOID, TOMCTILES, STAR WARS DEMO KICK OFF 2, GALAXY WARS ROBOCOP 2, SPIN DIZZY WORD SPACE ACE DEMO DRAGONS BREATH QUESTION OF SPORT, SPACEBALLER, TURBO GT, SKYRIDER OTHELLO, ASTRO PANIC, MISSILE, TETRIS KICK OFF EXTRA TIME, GHOULS & GHOSTS, DISC TOOLS F COPY 3, HYPERFORMAT, STICKER, STDCAT V 4.3, MAXIDISK, SERIAL ETC TRIVIAL PURSUIT PACLAND TIMEWORKS DTP (2 DISKS) GFA (2 DISKS) DATAFAX JAMES POND &LOTUS TURBO HELTER SKELTER ELIMINATOR, NEBULUS & PAC-MANIA BOMBUZAL, BOMB JACK & XENON WORLD CLASS LEADER BOARD GOLF CRACKDOWN (2 DISKS) VIRUS KILLER + UTILS MYSTIC WELL THE PLANETS (SLIDESHOW) BUDGIE GAMES, PENFOLD, GOLDRUSH & LINE OF 4 ~~~ eof ~~~ change her by œ5. Dear Dr Bob My girlfriend suggested that I should try to get her excited by using the oral sex method but after me talking to her for four hours she fell asleep.I don`t know what she got from this but I found it most unsatisfactory.Do you think it`s a viable form of foreplay. Oh yes,I`d say it takes some licking. Dear Dr Bob I noticed a small patch on my breast which is covered in grass and has a small stream and a picnic table on it.What is it ? It`s a beauty spot. Dear Dr Bob My girlfriend bought an inflatable man to sit in her car because she thought that it would deter thieves.I thought that this was quite a good idea at first,but I don`t think she`s using it properly.They both sit in the same seat,her on it`s lap.Do you think she`s getting any protection this way. If he`s made of rubber I think she`s got all the protection she needs. D SAYINGS AND THERE ORIGINS BY P.DAVIS. I will in the next few issues give you an explanation how certain sayings came about. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ BLACK SHEEP OF THE FAMILY ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ In a large family there is bound to be a boy or girl who never seems to do well or is always in trouble. He or she is the 'black sheep of the family'. For years shepards believed that black sheep were a problem: their coat was valueless and it was believed (wrongly) that their colour frightened the sheep. The expression gradually came to apply to troublesome humans. THROW IN THE SPONGE ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ In the prize fights of the nineteenth century, the sponge that was used to wipe the contestants faces would be thrown in the air, signalling that it would not be needed any more, when one of the contestants wanted to surrender. Nowdays we talk of throwing in the sponge to mean giving up or surren- -dering. In boxing a towel is still thrown into the ring by the second to signal that the fighter is giving up. PEEPING TOM ~~~~~~~~~~~ Society hates a Peeping Tom, A voyeur who furtively pries on scenes that are none of his business. The original Peeping Tom was a tailor when Lady Godiva made her famouse ride naked through the English town of Coventry in the eleventh century. Lady Godiva was the wife of Leofric, the Earl of Mercia, whose domain included Coventry. Exasperated by her pleas to reduce the towns taxes, he agreed to do so only if she rode naked through the market place. She dumbfounded him by doing so. By the way of thanks, the towns people saved her blushes by staying indoors and closing their shutters. All except Tom the Tailor. To his disgrace, he peeped. The story goes that he was struck blind for his wickedness. (So be careful Mr Kell). CAUGHT EAVESDROPPING ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ There are a lot of stories in the news about phone-tapping and bugging. People who do it are the high technology counterparts of the centuries old eavesdropper, somebody who listens in to other peoples private conversations. The eaves of a house are parts of the roof that stick out over the walls protecting them from falling water. The space on the ground where the water falls was known originally as the eavesdrip and later as the eaves- -drop, this was the area where people like blackmailers, or even detectives, would hide, hoping to here what was going on in the house such people became known as 'eavesdroppers'. RUNNING THE GAUNTLET ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ An unpopular politician could soon tell you what running the gauntlet means today: To be attacked on all sides. He would expect only a verbal onslaught but running the gauntlet used to be a physical punishment, first used in Sweden where lopp meant to run and gata meant lane, anglicised into gauntlet. The British Navy adopted the punishment in 1661. Theft was abhorred in any ship and the culprit was made to run in between two lines of sailors each armed with a rope. The Royal Navy abolished the practice in 1813 but in lingered on in public schools where offenders had to run between rows of boys striking out with fists or wet towels. TO PUT A SPOKE IN YOUR WHEEL ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ If you are trying to get on with something and somebody does something to stop you, 'they have put a spoke in your wheel'. In the olden days when the wheels on carts were solid, but they had one or two holes which the driver could place a pin. This pin, or spoke as it was called, was used in either the same way as a parking brake on a motor car or, to prevent the cart from running out of control, as a horse could not go far with a spoke in the wheel. THE ACID TEST ~~~~~~~~~~~~~ In the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries,a crude but certain way to see whether gold was real or fake was to see if it withstood the highly corr- -sive effect of aquafortis, as nitric acid was then called. Nitric acid dissolves most metals, but gold is an exception. So if a sample withstood aquafortis, it had passed the original acid test. Being colourless, it bore the latin name for strong water. Todays methods for testing gold are far more refined, but the acid test suvives to mean any crucial test. A FLASH IN THE PAN ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ `A flash in the pan` describes somebody who shows great promise, then fails to live up to expectations (Like the Atari Jaguar) For example a darts player might score 180 with three darts, onlookers may think that he is a potential champion. But he is unable to repeat it. His ealier success was a mere `flash in the pan` The expession came from the early seventeenth-century-flintlock-a very unreliable musket. When its owner pulled trigger there would often be a dramatic flash in the lock-pan. But the powder failed to ignite so the gun did not fire. RAINING CATS AND DOGS ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ It may seem odd to associate cats and dogs with a downpour of rain and raging winds. But here is a good reason. First the cats: folk believe that they are the devils animal in folk lore, and were thought to have power over good and evil. That power.. extended to control over the weather. The superstisiuos belived if a cat washed its face that meant rain. If seen leaping or clawing that was an €omen of gales. Now the dogs: Odin was a Viking god and his attendent was a dog, which symbolized the wind. When we have torrential rain, its therefore raining 'cats and dogs'. TELL IT TO THE MARINES ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ People who relate stories that nobody believes are often told "Go tell it to the Marines". Just over 300 years ago charles II didn't believe a word when a young traveller told him he had seen a flying fish. But when a Marine vouched for the story, the king decreed it must be true. He said: 'no class of our subjects can have so wide a knowledge of seas and land as men of our loyal Maritime regiment of foot'. Henceforward,ere ever we cast doubts about a tale that lacks likelihood we will first tell it to the Marines. ********** Thats it for now I will have another ten for you next issue. ********** When is the best time to wear a condom? On every conceivable occasion! --------------------------------------------------------------------- THE SCOUT MASTERS I HAVE KNOWN. At 10 I was a wild thing,well on the wrong road of life.I would not behave in school,I would not do as I was told,I was always in a fight with someone.So one day my father told me I was to go to scouts and if I did not behave he would stop taking me shooting and fishing with him,and as these were two of my favourite things,(beating up my two older brothers was number three), I agreed.So the next Tuesday evening along went I to St Lukes school hall and I went in. Inside were about 12 boys ages 7 to 15,a man tall and thin,his skin colour was yellow,(my dad said he had been in a Jap prisoner of war camp),and his name was Dick but he said I could call him Sir.He took me over and introduced me to the patrol I would be in.There were 3 boys aged 13,10,9.The 13 year old,whose name was Bill,was patrol leader.Well all went well until Bill told me to clear up the mess.This was all I had been waiting for I started to argue.Dick came over and said " We will settle this the gentleman`s way". Yes that`s right I got the shit kicked out of me.So my plan to get kicked out had failed,I still had to go to scouts.I tried a few more times in the weeks that followed but always got the shit kicked out of me.Then one day it dawned on me that Dick was not going to give up on me and that he had a way of punishing me without lifting a finger So I settled down and yes I behaved myself.We all learned a lot from Dick,and going on camp with him was great.We would have eggs,bacon,sausages and fried bread for breakfast,meat sandwiches for lunch and a cooked meal at night.He also showed as how to live off the land and how cook and eat hedgehogs.It tastes like chicken. But all good things come to end,and after a short illness Dick died.I had just had my 13 birthday.I will always think of him with great fondness.He put me straight when I needed putting straight. Enter the vegetarians.Up to this point in my life I had not met any veggies and I wish to God I never had.The best way to tell you what he and his wife(yes he brought his wife along too),were like was to compare them to the starving people you see on the TV,that will give you a good idea.His name was Reg,(he got the nickname Veggie Reg),22 years of age,5 foot 6 tall,and a bully.She was 21 years old,6 foot 1,and a nag.Not a thing was right for that woman.She nagged Veggie Reg all the time.It was around the time to got to camp that it all came to a head.Going to camp was great,with no mothers or women around,we could do the things boys do.Swimming in the nude,climbing trees,fishing.Not this year.There she was as we marched into the camp,standing by the Austin 10 car with all the camping gear on it. We set up the tents,only to be told to move them 100 yards from their tent.Well,at one o clock we ate the sandwiches that our mothers had made for us,as Veggie Reg came around to ask us if we were alright,and what had we got in our sandwiches.Well the first boy said he had jam,the second fish,and me,I had chicken.Veggie Reg went into a fit,saying "How could you eat this",after all he and his wife had said.What did I say."Would you like one sir?"With this he turned and went off muttering. Well it came time for the evening meal and I would not tell you about the smell,because I know no words that would do it justice.It looked like the dog had gone out and eaten grass and been sick.This went into a hole at the base of a tree outside our tent. Breakfast was no better with porridge with no milk or sugar in it,just salt.This was only sunday and we were starving.Veggie Reg said we were to go on a map reading exercise,and dropped us 6 or 7 miles from the camp.Well,to drop me into the fens is like dropping me into my back yard.Off we went over the fields to my Aunt Dolly`s house.I told her all about it and could we stay to dinner."Yes and you are all welcome",well we had roast leg of pork etc, and she gave us a large bag of sandwiches to take with us.My uncle said he would drop more off in the week. Well that is how we got though that terrible week,so on the friday it was revenge time.We collected all the grass snakes and all the land toads we could find,and that evening while the two of them were at a tea,we slipped into their tent and put them into their sleeping bag.At just before 10.30 p.m. we heard that our present had been received by the screaming.The next morning my dad came to pick me up he told me to stay next to his motor bike and side car as he was going to have a word with Reg,I have never seen my dad lose his temper but it looked like he was going to punch Veggie Reg.I could not hear what was said they were to far away,but when my dad walked away from Reg,hewas a whiter shade of pale. I gave up the scouts after that. Rod Henson FICTION OR FACT =================== It`s ruffle the feathers time Right,come on then guys,I`ve stood it for so long but I just can`t stands it no more. WHAT THE HELL DO YOU GUYS ENJOY ABOUT THE SHITE THAT PASSES FOR SCI-FI PROGRAMS ON TELLY? Here`s a list. Star Trek,The Next Generation Star Trek,Deep Space 9 Star Trek,Voyager Babylon 5 Space Precinct Science fiction telly? Cobblers! Coronation St. in space. What has happened to quality spacey type programs? Every one of the progs I`ve mentioned could be set in a factory/hotel/street,delete where applicable.They are not real science fiction,they`ve become victims of the great money grabbing telly networks.Latch onto an idea that has payed off previously,bung in plenty of modern computery special effects,thow in a standard,I`ve just dicovered a son I never knew I had/my wife has disappeared/I`ve contracted a previously incurable disease/or some other soap-opera storyline,and churn them out quickly while the genre is still popular. I`ll give you another list. Telepathic alien. Shapeshifting alien.(Nearly said shirtlifting alien there) Alien who is a funny colour,usually blue. Andoid who`s brilliantly clever. Crewmen from ethnic minority. Woman in high position of authority. Any of that ring a bell? It should.It`s every cliche` in every cheapo sci-fi program and film since the year dot.How do the shows get away with doing it though,that`s the tester.Answer? Easy. How many of you has a wife or girlfriend that regularly watches one or more of the standard telly soaps,Bellenders,Neighbother,Homo and Away, Coronation Creeps,and such like.If you have,and you sit through it with her,you tend to eventually pick up the story lines and end up watching it out of habit rather than anything else.That`s how they catch you.You end up watching it to follow the characters and story lines rather than because it`s futuristic entertainment.This is also the very same reason that George Lucas never allowed them to turn out Star Wars the telly series.He knew that people really enjoyed the trilogy,he knew that what he had done was ground-breaking stuff,he knew he`d done it in a soap opera format,but he also knew that if telly moguls got there hands on it,it`d be churned out to make money amd for no other reason.Unfortunately this ethic was not present in the people who mattered as far as the Star Trek saga goes,and the result is the bollocks that we see before us now.If I mention Battlestar Galactica,Buck Rogers,Logan`s Run and Alien Nation,you`ll see what I mean by an okay original idea going right to the dogs by extended telly series. A Last List Forbidden Planet Silent Running Dark Star 2001 A Space Oddyssey Blade Runner Dune 1984 Alien Village Of The Damned War Of The Worlds A small list of films that were incredibly inventive and original in their day,and provided the viewer with something to think about and consider.Some are visions of what might become the future,some are out and out fantasy,but all are solid science fiction,the idea being to portray a form of the future,mostly to encourage thought in the viewer as to whether it may become reality some day.The whole point is to convey an idea to the viewer that they probably will not have thought of before,not to wheel out the same characters in the same set situations that we`ve seen a hundred times before.Lets have some new ideas if we`re still going to call it sci-fi,or lets just leave it as it is and call it what it is.Soaps In Space. Bob [Editor's comment: uh-oh! Glad it's Dave's turn for the next issue!] What does a man have in common with a bedside lamp ? Right,they both get turne SPACE ~~~~~~~ Part 1 of a story by Rod Henson CHAPTER ONE ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ ROSE ~~~~~~ Rose was in a good mood,she had been alone for a long time,almost five years,except for I.O. ,and contact with Jeff`s mind while he was in V.R.sleep that is.All the crew also would be awake having been in frozen sleep to protect them from the pressures of acceleration and de-acceleration as this would tear them to pieces. Though her millions of sensors,and the Androids,she had got herself ready, opening up all parts of the ship.She had come almost 250 light years from Earth sending back information on stars,and all she had passed to her sister computers on Earth,and now her captain was awake. JEFF Jeff stretched and pulled himself up to his full height.He hated V.R. sleep. Almost 5 years had gone by.So how old am I now?thought Jeff.Yes that`s right,50 years old in earth time but only 35 years old in space time.The android gave him a drink."Don`t you know that the first thing a human wants to do is piss?" The H.B.looked at him and pointed to a door to the left of Jeff."Dammed mechanical dum dums"said Jeff as he walked to the door. An hour later Jeff was taking a protein drink in his cabin,no solid food for two days thought Jeff,that`s what V.R. sleep will do,fuck up your stomach your body being frozen like that.The light on his desk flashed."Are you there captain?"said a woman`s voice."You have been out of contact for more than an hour"said the voice.Dammed computer thought Jeff as he plugged himself into the computer via a port in the back of his neck."Yes Rose" thought Jeff.He had been there when Rose had been started up and grown to be twice the size of a human brain.He had given her his mother`s name.His mother and father had been killed in the clone wars.He had been with Rose all the time she was being programmed, and when she was installed in the ship.Rose was the ship and the ship was Rose,the relationship between Jeff and Rose was more like father and daughter. Within a few seconds Rose had put all the reports into Jeffs mind all was ok."I have a message from Earth",Rose said in Jeffs mind. "O.k put it up on the screen Rose" said Jeff (Note Roseand her sister computers on earth were telepathic and could send messages all most instantaneously ). FROM EARTH SPACE INSTITUTE TO THE ROSE Glad you have arrived safely at new Earth.Situation has worsened.Food riots on the Moon and Mars.Hundreds dead. END MESSAGE "Planet fall in 48 hours captain" said Rose.At that moment in walked I.O (Note I.O. was an android programmed by Rose but there had been a surge of power to the brain and this had made I.O.self contained .)"Time to go to the bridge captain"said I.O." I will be right with you " said Jeff. The bridge was more like a large office with 100 personnel and twice the number of androids.Jeff took his seat in the middle.It would take Rose 48 hours to slow down and achieve orbit around New Earth.Rose was the first of the colonisation fleet there would be hundreds.The Earth ,moon and mars were all over populated and running out of food and space.48 hours later the Rose was in orbit around New Earth."I have picked up a ship on my sensors captain" said Rose.Jeff plugged himself into Rose so he could see what she saw." Your are right " said Jeff.The next thing Jeff saw was two red lines flash across space and hit the Rose. BOK ---------------------- Bok sat in his office aboard the space ship Tro,watching the screens in front of him.As chief of security on aboard ship,he had access to all the cameras on board,and it was very prudent to keep his eyes on his subordinates as it would be one of these that would try to assassinate him if he made a mistake.Damn,that`s how he got the job he assassinated his boss,he was also keeping his eye on his superior to see if he was going to make a mistake this mission. The alarm sounded "ALIEN SHIP SIGHTED" said the screen.Bok turned the outside cameras on.There it was,about half the size of the Tro.Bok knew that the captain would not take chances.He opened fire.The two laser shots did terrible damage to the side of the alien ship.As it did not fire back the captain stopped firing. "Lieutenant Bok report to me at once" came the captain`s voice over the intercom.Bok turned on the recorder and made his way out of the room sealing it behind him."The alien ship is full of H2O if we can believe the sensors?" said the captain.He continued "If it is so we will all be very rich,Bok you are to take your troops in and confirm this." "Yes Sir" said Bok. "This will be very dangerous Bok,the sensors say that the rear of the ship is radioactive"said the captain. "Yes Sir I will keep well away from it"said Bok.I do not intend to be vaporised thought Bok.Bok made his way to the landing bay,and went aboard his fighter.Bok`s fighter was launched first,then his troops a thousand strong. While the fighters assembled in a V formation behind him,Bok thought of all that wealth in the alien ship and what he could do with it.That`s how the Emperor had become Emperor,that and a few assassinations. " `A` group,attack the front,`B` group attack the middle and stay away from the rear."said Bok.As Bok paid their wages and maintained them and their families back home this kept them loyal to him.As they closed on the alien ship Bok could see the damage the two laser blasts had done and the alien life forms trying to repair it.On landing he fired the acid ring to burn a hole into the hull then his ship being a living thing formed a seal,Bok then went through this into the ship. . Shagbasket : Exactly.Who`s this fine fellow with unfortunate skin condition ? Surgery : This is Ensign Wolesly Crusher sir,he comes to us with a red hot portfolio. Shagbasket : You should speak to Dr Gullet. Crusher : No sir,I think he means I`m well up on all of the theory,but I lack the practical experience. Shagbasket : Ah yes,I`ll do all I can to help you there Ensign. Crusher : Really sir ? Excellent.Actually I could do with some pointers for the Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs stimulation that I`m creating on the holo-deck. Shagbasket : You mean simulation. Crusher : I know what I mean. Surgery : Err,okay Crusher,thank you.This is the finest helmsman in the fleet,Chevron Lurcher.He could steer a double decker up the back passage of a field vole,and not touch the sides.He has a black belt in Origami,and can make a STRANGE STORIES FROM AROUND THE WORLD *************************************** A Czech court judge has been suspended from her post after being charged with bringing the profession into disrepute by winning a "Miss Topless" TV contest. Surgeons carrying out open heart surgery in Mexico City had to halt the operation temporarily after a stray moggy popped out of a vent and jumped onto and into the chest cavity of the patient. Six diners who were squirting tomato ketchup from the balcony of a Paris restaurant had to be taken to hospital after the balcony gave way crashing them to the pavement. Canadian police probing a shop burglary found a painful clue to the robber.3 inches of his scalp hanging from the broken window. A bag left on the Tokyo subway sparked a bomb scare but turned out to contain 147 pairs of soiled undies. Generous bank robber David Deyou walked out of a bank he had just held up in Seattle and handed out wads of notes to passers by who promptly scarpered before police arrived.Deyou was apprehended but most of the money was never returned. A car crash victim in Los Angeles caused medical amazement when human excreta was found inside her skull.The only theory that held up was that a plane had accidentally dumped it s frozen toilet waste,landing on her head through the sunroof,killed her,caused the accident,and melted in the ensuing fire. A Russian peasant was so distressed when his fiance dumped him for another man that he climbed up a 40 foot tree in 1972,vowing never to come down.His family brought him food and water until his love rival was killed in a boating accident in 1996 and the lady in question then shouted up to him to come down and marry her.On the way down he lost his grip and fell to his death. A tribe in the Amazonian jungle have a boy to girl ratio of 10 to 1 by accident of birth.To pick a mate for life the girls at puberty choose a male and place a wasp on his tongue.If he can hold his mouth closed for a pre-determined time,regardless of stings,he gets the woman. An Indian holy man vowed to sit on 24 spikes till the day he died.On his death several years later,the entire length of the 4 inch spikes were imbedded in his bottom. A South African woman has a chest so large that she has a special trolley which she pushes along to rest her breasts on. Helmut Volner from Essen in Germany,devised a way to kill his unfaithfull wife.He loosened a live wire in the washing machine and let it touch against the metal casing.He then tested it by elctrocuting his wife s pet cat,before making himself a cup of coffee. He then inadvertantly leaned on the casing himself to reach the biscuits in a wall cupboard therefore killing himself outright. offee I think. Shagbasket : I`ll ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ T H E F I N A L C O U N T D O W N The most incredible story ever seen in Kelaug ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ It has finally happened, the world's most incredible secret is out. On the 12th of August 1998 an underground movement in the USA was given actual documentation, sourced from the Federal Bureau of Investigations, that listed full details of discussions between representatives of the US Government and life forms from another planet, indeed, another galaxy, in the year 1947. The famous Roswell incident was not a crash as had been previously guessed by UFO hopefuls worldwide, but a planned meeting which turned out wrongly when microwave radar signals interfered with crucial stabilising eqipment on the visitors' vehicle, causing it indeed to crash. One of the three 'people' on board was killed, while another was badly, although not mortally, injured. The third was unharmed and, by a combination of the skills of the American surgeons of the time whose techniques had been honed during the war and with the advice of the third alien, the second was saved. The meeting had been arranged in 1944, and to validify from whom the message came, the visitors gave crucial information on the construction of America's first atomic weapon. When the war and its accompanying media stampede had ended, the meeting was finally staged. Now you would think that as this happened so long ago, and if the visitors were friendly, then why wasn't it made public? The answer is incredible. As long as there has been human life on Earth, then there have been warrior nations who have sought nothing more than to conquer their neighbours. Through either fear or for glory, war has been a constant blight on the planet. There have been numerous Empires that have grown outwards from their centres, encompassing any and all who stood in their way. Genghis Khan, Alexander the Great, the Romans, the Chinese, the Aztecs, the Egyptians, Turks, Prussians, Spanish and, of course the largest of all, the British Empire. Why then should it come as a surprise then that these things also happen. . . . On a planetary scale. ---oOo--- In 1947, beings from a planet only mentioned as K22 came to Earth to warn of a coming invasion. They belonged to what we might think of as a resistance movement on their own planet which had been colonised long ago. Their only thoughts for us were to give us advance warning of what would surely come our way. In exactly the same way as we ourselves would attempt to warn any future 'target' nation of the dangers of the aggresive expansion of another, they came here to warn us and help us prepare for what may well be our own Armageddon. This is why America was chosen. It is mentioned that the visitors had studied Earth for quite some years before any contact was made. They saw the advance of Fascism in Germany and Europe, and interpreted it as an astonishing parallel with their own predicament. When the USA entered the war, and especially in the manner that they entered the war, they decided that the American people were the closest to their own in ideals and morals. Since 1947 there have been vast exchanges of information on both sides and many more visitors have arrived here to help further the joint cause. These other arrivals have been in the tens rather than the thousands though, and the plethora of sightings in the passing years have not been the comings and goings of the visitors - they have been the testing of ships and weapons. What the visitors brought was technology. Mainly, the technology of war. If their own kind is to stand a chance then they must develop a strategy, both of war and of weaponry, that they can develop on this planet in order for Earth to defend itself when the day comes, and for them to use to liberate their own homelands from the conquerers. Far fetched as it sounds, when you look at the technological advances of the second half of the Twentieth Century, can you possibly see where it has all come from without this outside help? When you consider that the very keyboard that you are sitting in front of would have been the stuff of science fiction only 30 years ago, you start to wonder. Why haven't we been told? ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Well, it's extremely simple and obvious why things have been kept so well covered up. Could you in your wildest dreams begin to imagine the worldwide panic that would ensue if it was ever admitted that we were secretly arming ourselves for the day that we will indeed be given the Independance Day treatment? Millions of people would probably die. The world economy would collapse. The structure of the world and its people must be maintained for no other reason than the research that is currently being carried out in labs in remote locations around the planet. This needs the basic fuel of labour, materials, ideas, technology and, last but not least, money. By keeping the population in the dark, they hoped to continue the work with some semblance of secrecy. With such incredible sums of money being sunk into these massive projects, it has always been known that sometimes there would be weak links in the chain and that information would come out. So why haven't we heard it before? ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Well, you have. You have been subjected to an increasing amount of UFO mumbo jumbo with just enough reasonably feasible evidence to generate such a mass market that we are now all so steeped in it that we are now so sceptical of any new 'sightings' and relevations that we just treat them as any other UFO story. We disbelieve at worst, or half-believe at best. By filling our heads with an uncalculable amount of so-called facts and figures, they have ensured that any forthcoming leak from a genuine source will be submerged amongst all of the ficticious nonsense that they themselves have either generated or, at the very least, encouraged. All that we need now is to know when will it come and where will it come from. And on this point I have the definitive answer. I can tell you exactly when this will all come to pass. And it is. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Never! It's all a load of shite that I just made up. Funny though but, eh? Bob, tittering in his cornflakes, Kell. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Ach - the blinding light of Truth hits me between the eyes! All is explained... Psssst, Bob! Wanna split the merchandising rights? jfw / Alien Resistance Silo #527 (the one with "gone away!" scrawled on the outside) ~~~ eof ~~~ # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # #### ### #### #### ### ### # # ##### # # # # # # # # A guy takes his seat on an airplane and finds himself sitting next to a beautiful girl with N.A.N. printed on her T shirt.To make some conversation he asks- " Is that the initials of a club you belong to ?" " Yes,I`m a member of the National Association of Nymphomaniacs ",she says. " Really ",he gasps," and who make the best lovers then ?" " Well Red Indians are the biggest,but Scotsmen are the best.I didn`t catch your name though ",she replies. " Er,it`s Geronimo Macduff ". Paddy gets a new job selling bibles,but his new boss doesn`t hold out much hope as Paddy has a very Video Recorders - My personal experience **************************************** I thought I'd write a bit about videos from the early models up to more or less the current range. I used to be in the trade so to speak and also as someone who makes a lot of use of them at home. Like computers they started off as ridiculously expensive with limited features. Nowadays the cheapest models out spec the early top of the range models. My first recollection of seeing a video recorder was a Sony black and white reel to reel model. The picture was poor and they were a lot of trouble to setup. However they did work and once mastered they could be described as reliable. Build quality was superb. I never found out the price of such models but I'd guess at the time at about a thousand pounds which in todays money is probably between œ2000 and œ3000. This was about 1978. The first domestic video I can recall was a Philips model. The cassettes they used were quite large and I believe the reels were one on top of the other instead of being side by side. The price was about œ800 and the picture was quite good. The tapes didn't last that long though. Only about an hour and a half maximum. The tapes cost about œ20 to œ30 each. Grundig released a model that used the same tapes but ran at half the speed to double recording time but with reduced quality. It wasn't long before the japs came in with Betamax and VHS. Everyone soon forgot about the Philips and Grundig machines and these two japanese formats started fighting against each other for dominance. Sonys betamax format had the technical edge, with its faster video head the picture looked sharper than its VHS equivalent. However the tape moved slower so audio was slightly inferior. The extra head speed meant more wear to the tape. Betamax had a slight cost advantage especially as Sanyo introduced a range of low cost beta machines. At the beginning the Betamax camp was Sony, Sanyo, Toshiba and Nec. Other Japanese firms opted for VHS. VHS was created by JVC which is a subsidiary of the giant Matsushita organisation. Possibly not then but now the biggest consumer electronics company in the world. The first generation of Beta and VHS videos were huge machines and many never reached our shores. The Sanyo 9300 was an exception a very crude beta recorder with large piano keys and a very bulbous case. They were known for being reliable unlike some of the later Sanyo models. Back in 1982 I was working in Yeovil Audio and can remember how each brand fared; Sony. There range of highly desirable beta videos had excellent picture quality. They seemed well built. The popular C5 and C7 videos seemed to have a lot of rewind/idler faults. In fact I think there was a mod to cure this, so there was a design fault that usually kicked in out of guarantee. In summary good reliability marred slightly by the idler problem, Excellent performance. Sanyo. A range of cheap beta videos. They did higher price models but these never got the interest that the low cost models got. The Sanyo VTC5000 was very popular. A good picture but poor reliability in the wrong hands. The sort of video that if you treat it well it would give good service. Not robust in summary. Average reliability. Toshiba. Excellent reliability. Perhaps the picture didn't match the sony but nice. Its hard to give a true picture as we never sold that many. Akai. We had a few of these in. Not the early ones but the full onscreen display models. These were feature packed models but quite hard to understand. The ones we had in as an initial batch practically all went wrong, all but one I think. Terrible reliability. Still today they have a reputation for innovation but poor reliability. Funny enough Akai is owned by Mitsubishi which has an excellent reputation for reliability. Panasonic. the NV2000/2010 models had an absolutely brilliant reputation for picture and reliability. There full diecast chassis and superb build quality meant they lasted and lasted. I know someone still using one today with only a few minor faults like duff LEDs and a replacement counter belt. Its now on its 15th year and the picture still beats many current models. Its still on its original heads with a lot of use. However the later NV333 and NV366 models introduced a plastic chassis like its competitors and these models were less reliable. We did sell absolutely tons of these though so we were bound to see a few back. Panasonic today have an excellent reputation for reliability. Possibly the most reliable of all videos. However reliability varies from model to model in all ranges. Thats basically the models Yeovil Audio sold back in 1982/3. My first video. 1981 ish. Bought a ITT video 2000 model from Comet on the phone. Cost about œ270. Arrived but it didn't work. Beautiful bit of kit to look at but hardly the point. Grundig 2x4 Super. Replacement for ITT from Comet, had to pay about œ30 extra. Absolutely brilliant video if only they were a bit more reliable. Got a month out of it before it went wrong. Constant faults throughout the first year meant the guarantee was extended free. Still more faults and finally got a full refund for the video, all tapes I'd purchased and the remote control unit I'd bought separately. 1982 ish. Ferguson 3V36. Paid a few quid extra and got this linear stereo VHS video. It was one of the first UK assembled models. Faultless reliability for many years and an excellent picture. Had an idler fault a coupe of years ago and sold on a few months after so about 12 years faultless service. 1984 ish. Fisher 725. Probably the first low cost long play model. Also had dolby noise reduction and trick features. It worked for a few years, picture was never brilliant. Rewind problems from about 86/87. Used to do all the rewinding on the Ferguson and use the Fisher for playback. Sanyo was once described as Japans answer to Amstrad and Fisher is a Sanyo company. I personally think Sanyo are a load of rubbish. Most Sanyo stuff I've come across has been a bit naff. Nowadays I avoid Sanyo/Fisher like the plague. 1992 Aiwa F125. The Fisher had been junked as it became completely useless with additional faults. So I got an Aiwa (A Sony Company) from my mothers catalogue. The picture on this was superb. Even long play. A high spec video only missing Hifi sound. A joy to use and reliable. The build quality didn't look brilliant but it was very stylish. I actually sold it on to my mother. 1994 NEC 7000. This was a bargain I think. However I had a duff one before I got a good one. Cost œ230 from Comet. Its a combined video/satellite receiver. The video is excellent. Trick features, auto tracking, HQ picture, brilliant picture and sound, SP and LP with full digital sound. The satellite receiver side is ok but I must admit I have a separate PACE model that is much better. They originally cost œ800 according to What Video so why Comet were selling them so cheap I don't know. Hitachi F780. œ349.95 on interest free. A full feature edit video, jog/shuttle and all that. Minor video titleing built in, NTSC playback and record, LP/SP, On screen displays, full hifi sound SP/LP. Nicam. A nice video, good picture but not as nice as the Aiwa or NEC especially on LP. Brilliant sound whatever. It can be a bit choosy over tapes. On occasion I have inserted a tape only to have it ejected afterwards on a random basis. Some tapes never do this. Lots of features to many to list. Nicely built but not 100% solid in operation. However once you know the video you can get round easily any problems like tape ejection. Panasonic J45. I bought this recently second-hand as a friend is after a cheap second-hand video. Err. I liked the video so much I kept it without telling my friend. Although I examined it on site when I bought it from the persons home I later discovered it had a small intermittent fault on sound. However after reheating solder connections around the modulator I cured it. Its now 100% working in every way. The picture is simply superb in standard play almost as good as a broadcast picture. In long play its as good as the Aiwa or NEC in standard play. Feature wise it has everything but nicam hifi sound. The bar code remote control is quite novel. It has full NTSC playback and record. The Hitachi does as well but to record on that you have to flick a switch hidden at the back. I can't get to it in my video cabinet so that features a bit redundant unless I totally remove the video from the cabinet which is hard to do. Video Features and What to go for. ********************************** Videoplus. This is an american idea for setting the timer. Its simple and easy to do but its a convenience feature and you don't actually need it as such. Bar code reader. I'm not sure if Panasonic are still selling videos with this. Again its a convenience feature. To my mind any video where you can set the timer from the remote is adequate in this department. Long Play. Its a must have feature. Not only can you save a lot of money on tapes when you store less important programs like documentaries but when time shifting it gives you four extra hours of recording time. Handy if you go on holiday. Most videos have this nowadays but there are one or two exceptions. Oh yes some cheap videos have 2 heads on the head drum instead of four. This can reduce picture quality in LP. Many cheap videos with 2 heads are optimised for long play meaning standard play may be no improvement on long play. Its not a guarantee of a good picture but proper long play should be four heads. Besides a two head drum has to rotate twice as fast meaning higher tape wear. Nicam HIFI. Another must have feature if sound is really important to you. Its not just for tv but you can normally use Nicam videos for audio only recording. There ideal for recording CDs and take out a CDs jagged sharpness without losing music detail. Obviously you need this for Prologic tvs/amps etc. No point trying to get Prologic sound out of a mono soundtrack. Remote control. Every video nowadays has a remote control. What you want to check is that you can program the video from it. If it has an LCD display built in you almost definitely can. If the video has on screen display then again its highly likely. Some videos show programming details on the display on the video. This normally means they have to be programmed on the video and not from the remote. I prefer the comfy chair approach myself. SVHS. These videos give improved pictures over normal VHS but only for your own recordings. They do play normal VHS tapes. Although a JVC model I've seen didn't play normal VHS very well. Theres no prerecorded SVHS tapes. I personally think SVHS is best left to the camcorder brigade but if you really must have the best possible picture SVHS is for you. Trick play. All videos have some sort of trick play. From simple Pause/still screen upto variable slow motion in forward or reverse. I do occasionally use these features but could certainly live without them. Edit features. Theres lots of these and I can't be bothered to list them all but if your a camcorder user then features like insert, audio dubbing(linear audio only normally) etc may be of use. Trivial features. Theres lots of these like autoplay and autoeject. counter memory. Nice to have and you may occasionally use but not really worth paying anymore for. NTSC playback and record. Some videos have NTSC playback, you can use an American tape through such a video on a UK tv. As long as your tv accepts 60 hertz. Most do!. If its a two speed machine it will probably play both speeds. However Americans have three speed videos, they have an extra SLP mode. 12 hours on a four hour tape. Ok the pictures bad but NTSC is lower res than PAL in the first place. I think a few Panasonics will play these. The more you pay the greater the probability. If you have an american pen pal who sends you the latest in Voyager episodes then you'll need such a video. NTSC record enables the video to record at 60Hertz (its normally 50 hertz). So with a similar equipped video using direct scart/phono cables etc you can make a copy. How to wear your video out. *************************** Some features cause excessive wear on tape and heads. Try not to use reverse picture search, indexing etc too much. If you have a super rewind switch on your video use it to rewind with as it doesn't update the counter as it rewinds and therefore doesn't need to use any heads to check the position of the tape. Never rewind a whole tape backwards in picture search. Buying a second-hand video. ************************** Videos are mechanical machines so theres plenty to go wrong and wear out. Always try to buy a video from someones home. Make sure you see it record and playback and rewind and fast forward. Look at the condition of the outside case and ask why they are selling it. Remember they may say its two years old and in fact its five years old. So feature wise it may be very poor. Most people keep the instruction book and receipt in its original bag. Ask to see it. If they say they haven't had it very long. Why are they selling it so soon. Incomplete videos without manuals and remotes are quite possibly stolen. Remember new videos are available from œ140 so a second-hand video needs to be well under this price unless it has special features. Ex rentals are best avoided as many are thrashed, scratched and generally have led a life of abuse. Top loaders are a sign of being very old as are; wired remote controls, piano keys, no scart sockets, individual presets laid out left to right, not being the colour black, a mechanical counter, no long play, no HQ, hifi but not nicam, stereo but not hifi, simplistic remote with tape controls/channel change and on/off. If you come across an ultracheap video like a betamax or video 2000 complete with tapes it may be worth considering for a childs bedroom or even your bedroom. If its œ10-20 you can see it working and includes 50 tapes sort of thing I'd probably go for it. Its quite interesting to nose through old tapes and a backup video might have its uses. One point is that the last Sony betamax models were absolutely excellent and a bargain if picked up for œ20. Reliable with brilliant pictures. These were sold between 89 and 91. Buying new. With new feature packed videos available from œ140 you may wonder why you should pay more. These low cost videos are not necessarily unreliable although they can be. You get what you pay for is a general rule of thumb. Theres plenty of things that can be compromised in a videos design. As stated earlier the video drum may have two or four heads, the motor can be a top brand powerful model or a just about do type. Some models use multiple motors for lots of different features. Others use one to control all tape movement plus load and eject. The amount of aligning that goes into a video can vary. The amount of shielding used to suppress outside interference can vary. The amount of processing of the picture to prevent white streaks and noise can vary. The complexity of the HQ circuit can vary. A minor comparison; Goodmans budget video œ140 Panasonic œ300 Picture poor excellent sound ok ok rewind/wind slow fast noise filter minimal 3 circuits interference shielding none yes long play using 2 heads four heads trick features noisy noise elimination remote extensive/no LCD full with LCD picture control none sharpness setting construction light/poor medium/good design ugly stylish maintenance difficult nationwide origin uk/China uk/Germany Places to buy. Currys/Dixons. Not amazing prices. There range of shop brand Matsui videos can be good value but there sourced from various manufacturers and so vary in quality. They can be hard to fix by independant repairman and no one takes faulty videos to currys for repair due to cost and incompetence. Comet. Normally a bit cheaper than Currys/Dixons. There budget range is Goodmans which are also available from some home catalogues. These videos seem better than there tvs which are rubbish. Like Matsui there a bit hit and miss. My brother has one which is excellent although he went through two faulty ones before getting a working one. The two earlier ones were dead on arrival. Picture is actually quite good. Tandy. Crap. Local Independants. Service is usually better than multiples. Prices are often higher but not necessarily. Usually better advice when buying. Norweb/Powerhouse and other electrical regional stores. Both Norweb and Powerhouse are unprofitable. Look out for bargains as they close stores down soon or a takeover means a change of stock. Keep your eyes peeled and nose to the ground. My local shops lack the presentation of Comet/Currys but prices are similar. Service is usually poor from what I've heard and read. Home Catalogue. If its a œ140 video in a shop its a œ199.99 video in a catalogue. If you take off the 10% commision that the agent gets its down to œ180 and thats over 38 weeks interest free. Obviously theres no real advice given except the spec in the catalogue. I actually think a home catalogue is an excellent way of buying stuff like videos. Mainly because the alternative to a lot of people is buying by credit card. Even interest free purchases from shops can lead to extra charges. If you buy by credit card many people can't afford to settle up completely every month so they get you with interest. How shops rip you off or at least take advantage. 1. The stupid inflated extended guarantee. Dixons are real con artists when it comes to this as are most other multiples. The annoying thing is they set the same rate for all videos. So you buy a œ140 video or an œ800 one you pay the same. Your better off seeking extended insurance outside these shops. Its cheeky I know but you can pick up leaflets about insurance from independant shops and use them for purchases in multiples. Its often cheaper that way. You lose the convenience of no money changing hands possible. I.e. you pay out and then reclaim it later like normal insurance, although this depends on policy. Video reliabiltiy starts off with a strong chance of fault in the first year then low probability building upto the seventh year when there is a high probability of fault. Thats why insurance mainly goes upto 5 years and then its yearly more expensive installments. Buy a good brand video and don't bother with extended warranties is my advice. The simpler the video you buy the less chance of trouble. Nicam videos can have alignment problems for the hifi audio. 2. Interest free credit. As it says but your penalised with interest and charges if you miss a payment. The timing of the payment can be such that its more likely to go into the red. I.e. they take it just before your monthly wage goes in. They take it on the 29th your wage goes in the 4th. They actually plan it this way. 3. This is the real bombshell system. The don't pay till february type deals. These are more often than not good sources of income to shops. You forget you have them. Don't account for them and then suddently a few months later the payment is asked for. You've signed the agreement so they have the right to charge interest if you fail to meet the payment. Tapes and Quality. Simple really avoid cheap tapes like Lloytron etc. Try out tapes made by your video manufacturer if its a good manufacturer that is. Some cheap videos give mediocre results with medium quality tapes but quite good results with good brand tapes. Where as good brand videos like Panasonic can give good results with both types. No video does well with naff cheap tapes although Akais tape analysing technology can make some difference. Remember its not just the tape its the mechanism. A poor mechanism can wear out a motor faster than a good mechanism. Also a poor mechanism like dirty video heads can cause tape chewing. Tapes I really recommend. TDK Panasonic Sony Scotch Plus other top jap names if you can find them; Mitsubishi, JVC, Hitachi. Memorex are probably the best of the cheap tapes (cheap in Woolworths at least, pricey in Tandy) Shop brand tapes vary in source. Even if you see a review saying Boots tapes are cheap and excellent, six months time they may source them somewhere else. BASF used to have problems wearing out heads. I think they have cured that now but I'd avoid them just in case. Finally a few words of praise. I remember the days without videos. Missing programs, not being able to keep the programs you like or watch a film when you want. Brilliant things videos. Well thats it. Hope the infos been of use. Martin Wilson 32/BA214JW t it granted wishes.She took it home,hung it on the door,and said," Mirror mirror on the door,make my bust a forty four ",and by george her bosom swelled to 44" there and then.When her husband came home ---------------------------- MAKING ME DEAD SOFTLY ----------------------------- It is one of the best kept confidences of the Malvenas war. As far back as 1981, a minute number of Type-22 frigates had been evaluating the top-secret weapons system called 'Laser Dazzle Sight' (LDS), a non-lethal weapon of war patterned to remove sight and baffle the enemy. After lucrative sea tests, LDS was rapidly attached to Royal Naval ships in time for the Malvenas campaign. And throughout the British landings at San Carlos Waters, Argentinian pilots were triumphantly assaulted with this so-called humane weapon systems of the 21st century. CONVERTED COMBAT ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ The Malvenas campaign saw the first use of these so-called non-lethal weapons. The term, created by Pentagon PR officials, also comes under the military euphenism of soft-kill technologies. Dying, it seems, is no longer politically agreeable on the modern battlefield. The non-lethal armoury treasures a confusing array of experienced hi and low- tech weapons. At the bottom end of the scale there are anti-personnel chemical inhibitors, such as pepper sprays, CS gas, and Mace. 'Kinetic weapons' include plastic bullets, glue guns, water cannons, anti-personnel foams, and the modern equivalent of Roman amphitheatre gladiatorial nets. At the top end is a mixture of brilliant and overwhelming lasers, accoustic guns and radio-frequency (RF) weapons. Another group of non-lethal weaponry depends solely on chemicals, created for anti-material purposes. Todays fighter pilot could just as easily be given the job of sprinkling a structure of tanks with an aerosol dispensing combustion interferants, as with bombs and missiles. These chemical weapons are very effective, a diesel engine open to a three per cent acetylene concentrate - a chemical that can be used to cut and weld steel - causes such harsh ignition problems that the engine self-destructs in a matter of seconds. With no mobility, the most sophisticated multi-million dollar tank is just a heap of scrap metal. Dropping these destructive weapons is quite easy. Low-level fighter bombers are able to drop a hold of metal-eating microbes on groups of tanks being held in reserve. Like alien bugs from a futuristic sci-fi film, the microbes chew metal and armour to bits. Known as chemical metal embrittlement agents, these microbes wreck the structure of metals, creating havoc with every second. As well as attacking military hardware, the enemy's supple skinned trucks carrying men and stores to the front line will come in for a gentle battering. Exceptional chemical compounds could be sprayed on them from above, or a surface region coated in front of their convoy. Before long the tyres of the trucks hit the chemical a response occurs, rendering them brittle and useless. Failing this, Teflon confetti, an anti-traction lubricant that decreases friction, could be released in front of enemy transportation, creating surfaces too slimy to drive on. MARTIAL FACILITY ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Non=lethal weapons arriving was met with whoops of ridicule by the world's media, resulting in a series of articles with titles like Bang - You're Alive, Surrender or We'll Slime You and What Price Sticky Foam. Yet fundamentaly the warfare banter, some very serious debates - endorsed by multi-million dollar budgets - were being managed. Though Teflon confetti and sticky foam captured the conceptualization of the favoured press, the main non-lethal investigation and establishment projects are still concealed behind an assured secrecy. Main US government weapon laboratories, inclusive of Los Alamos, Sandia., Edgewood and Harry Diamond went into top gear developing non-lethal weapons for the 21st century. SUBLIMINAL WEAPONRY ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ The outlook for futuristic specimens of non-lethal technologies are known as disabling technologies. Immense banks of high wattage speakers can be used to beat out a very high decibel noise of base sound that infiltrate walls and armoured vehicles. The enemy, be they regular soldiers or terrorists, sag due to the unseen bombardment. To begin with they feel disorientation, then begin to vomit and defecate until they are made combat ineffective. Ultrasound devices make much the same reactions but can, if beamed at sufficient power, cause permanent hearing damage or death. Microwave munitions are also a fundamental part of the non-lethal notion. They can easily incapacitate or destroy aircraft, armoured vehicles and equipment of other kinds by targeting radars and communication devices. As microwaves are thermal in character, they can burn out circuit boards and computer chips. But unlike ordinary munitions which need ammunition, microwaves - providing they have a ready power source - can be fired endlessly. The most disputatious issue in the on-going non-lethal weapons wrangle centres on the use of this technology in domestic law-enforcement environments. It centres on riot control, crowd control and different civilian problems. The euphernism for weapons which can, and are, being adjusted to fit these domestic law-enforcement roles is dual-use technologies. LEGAL ADMINISTERING ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ The outline goes something like this, a solitary policeman walking his beat is challenged by a man armed with a knife. Swiftly, he unslings his extraordinary adapted shotgun, pulls the lever and a weighted net shoots out at the assailant, knocking him to the ground in tangles. The police officer can now safely draw closer. If the assailant still shows signs of offence, he can be showered in the face with one of many available debilitating sprays. His breathing relentlessly constrained, the attacker is made passive, allowing the police officer to put handcuffs on and take him coughing and vomiting to the police station. A similar sequence concentrates on the use of electron rays. Once pushed, the disorderly individual is thrown to the ground, crackling with up to 300,000 volts of electricity. Tasers are another non-lethal reality, on sale and in use through the US and Europe. These are guns that fire arrows connected by wires which, when making connection, hit an assaulter with an incapacitating bump of electricity. Foam guns and glue guns are also for the future police personal defence protection. CONCEALED SCHEDULE ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ While science attempts to refine and perfect non-lethal conflict, pundits doubt the rosy picture painted by the other advocates. The worry is that non-lethals will not expel death from conflict. Alternatively, they will go with accepted weaponry to peak kill ratios. In both war and domestic law enforcement, once the enemy - be they in tanks or walking - has been disabled, the customary tools of war can then be used to kill without risking reprisals. In actuality, verification suggests that world governments are not ready to banish death from warfare just yet. Non-lethals are currently being made in tandem with a new breed of top-secret, exceedingly lethal weapons able to lay down the mechanics of death and destruction from a safe distance. Rather than the governmentaly right alternative to the killing apparatus of past and present battles, non-lethal weapons look alternatively to be a functional inclusion to the deadly sonic, acoustic, microwave and laser slaying technologies of the 21st century war game. --------öööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööööö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