A highly recommended newsletter on disk is
available from FASTER in Montreal, Canada. Although produced
by a small user group, the newsletter is the finest we have seen on
disk, far surpassing those put out by many of the large professional
organisations. GEM is fully utilised with dropdown menus for the
articles and reviews which may be read from screen or printed out.
Text may be read in French or English. Currently available from the
Editor, Andre Lafreniere at 1161 Des Fauvettes, Boucherville,
Quebec, Canada J4B 6A8 for US$5 plus $1 postage payable by
International Money Order, it is well worth parting with a few
pounds for. It is possible that it may shortly be distributed direct
in this country.
Prestel users will be interested in a privately
produced program Flying STart that allows full access to
Prestel at 1200/75 despite the fact that the ST's serial port can't
handle split baud rates! It is all done by clever programming,
fooling the ST into thinking that it is running at one speed, and
true Prestel emulation is available in low resolution with all
colours being displayed simultaneously. The software will run on the
WS2000 or any V23 protocol modem and can be used to access Prestel,
Telecom Gold or Bulletin Boards. To order send £10 plus one
formatted single or double sided disk and a stamped addressed
envelope with 17p stamp to Peter Connors, 6, Robins Close, Bramhall,
Cheshire, SK7 2PF.
Haba Systems Ltd. have released a spelling
checker and look-up dictionary for use with HabaWriter. HabaSpell
can also check text produced with certain other ST word processors
and can instantly replace incorrectly spelled words from the 17,000
word standard dictionary. User definable dictionaries can also be
created and any dictionary can be printed out in whole or part.
HabaSpell retails at £39.95.
Atari's CP/M Emulator is now available free
of charge from your local dealer, you pay only the cost of the
disks, however one enterprising dealer, Mikes Computer Store,
has produced an enhanced package which consists of two disks and a
14 page manual retailing at just £6.50 fully inclusive of post and
packing. The original software was written in Germany and much of
the instruction is in German. All these documents have been tidied
up, though not translated, and other utilities have been added
together with catalogues of public domain software. The hardcopy
manual provides a useful introduction for those not familiar with
CP/M. The package can be obtained from Mikes Computer Store, 292,
London Road, Westcliff-on-Sea, Essex, SS0 7JJ.
Batteries Included have a formidable array
of productive software lined up for imminent release. Already
available is Thunder, a real-time spelling checker that will
work with most GEM based word processors or can be used as a normal
spelling checker for other text files. Time Link is a
scheduling and time-keeping tool for your daily appointments and BTS
The Spreadsheet is a sophisticated full featured spreadsheet
that is also available as a desk-top accessory. Several of their
already established, and highly respected, 8-bit programs are being
released in ST versions including HomePak, PaperClip
and B/Graph. The latter two are distinguished by the addition
of 'Elite' to the title and a new Elite version of the highly
acclaimed DEGAS is on the way. A number of ambitious
enhancements to this program are planned making it the first of the
second-generation graphics programs for the ST. Pictures will remain
compatible with several other programs including PaperClip Elite
which will enable text and graphics to be combined in any document.
Several ST titles are now available from Antic
Publishing Inc. including Tom Hudson's computer-aided design
program CAD-3D. Antic have taken the ST very seriously and
have commissioned and assisted in the development of several new
professional programs. CAD-3D can create and animate
three-dimensional objects in wireframe and solid modelling with
various light sources in monochrome or colour. Example drawings are
included, including a remarkably complex model of Stonehenge. Maps
and Legends enables the user to create maps of any part of the
world from different perspectives and distances. These can be saved
to disk in DEGAS format and be enhanced or amended with that
program. This program is being used by the U.S. Air Force to chart
their flight plans at Davis-Monthan Air Force Base in Arizona. Other
programs include Red Alert, a new wargame which lets the
player defend against a nuclear attack on North America and Flash, a
new communications package that uniquely combines a straight text
terminal with a GEM based word processor.
And finally ... some appetite whetters from the
CES show in Chicago last June which may well be on their way to the
shops by now. Artworx have Hole-in-One Golf and a Bridge program.
First Star Software are coming out with Comic Strip Maker and
Activision have Paintworks. Epyx promise Winter Games and Temple of
Apshai while Microprose are due to bring out Silent Service. Another
animation program comes from Avila Associates entitled Make It Move.
There are several desk accessories from Blue Moon Software and a
number of educational and adventure programs from Academy Software,
Spinnaker and others. In fact it looks like almost all the programs
that have been available for the 8-bit Ataris are being planned for
conversion to the ST.
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