971 lines
27 KiB
Plaintext
971 lines
27 KiB
Plaintext
/////////////////////////////////////
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ZMAGAZINE 65 ///////////////////////
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/////////////////////////////////////
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August 7, 1987 (c)1987 Syndicate
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_____________________________________
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Publisher/Editor: Ron Kovacs
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Assistants: Ken Kirchner
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Susan Perry
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Rich Decowski
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_____________________________________
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Xx ZMAG INDEX 65
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<*> ATARI NEWS UPDATE
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<*> THE WIZARD OF OASIS
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<*> USER GROUP FOCUS
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<*> LANUGAGES AND CARS
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<*> ZMAG UPDATE
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<*> BBS MODIFICATIONS
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_____________________________________
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Xx ATARI NEWS UPDATE
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_____________________________________
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From CompuServe Online Today
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Atari Corp. profits are up 39.3
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percent and sales are up 16.4 percent
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in the second quarter.
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According to The Associated Press,
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this puts the Sunnyvale, Calif.,
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computer maker's net income for the
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quarter at $13.5 million, or 23 cents
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a share, compared to $9.7 million, or
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22 cents a share on fewer outstanding
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shares, a year earlier.
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The wire service says sales for the
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quarter were $70.7 million compared
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to $60.7 million for the same quarter
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last year.
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Looking, then, at the first six
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months of this year, net income for
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Atari was $28.8 million compared to
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$12.4 million, an increase of 132
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percent. Sales for the first half
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were $135.8 million compared to
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$105.6 million for the same period
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last year, an increase of 28.6
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percent. --Charles Bowen
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Atari's new Mega ST computer has been
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released for sale in Germany and
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Switzerland. The 2 Mb version of the
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Mega ST is selling for 3,000 Swiss
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Francs -- about $2,000 US -- and the
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4 Mb model is an additional 400 Swiss
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Francs ($270). This confirmed
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comments made last month by an Atari
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executive that release of the new
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model was imminent.
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The Swiss model was released without
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a -blitter-, a newly developed
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coprocessor chip that acts as a
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high-speed memory manager. Among
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other tasks, the blitter is expected
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to control animation and screen
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graphics. Some US observers were
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disappointed that the first machines
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were manufactured without the
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coprocessor but Neil Harris, Atari's
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director of marketing communications,
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said that he expects US machines to
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include the blitter.
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Commenting on why the Mega ST showed
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up in Switzerland before the US,
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Harris told OLT that, -We tend to
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give first shipments to areas which
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are being most successful. Right now,
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the German market is the hottest ST
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market for us. Since Switzerland is a
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German-speaking nation, they also
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received some.-
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John Feagans, who is working on
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keyboard development for Atari, told
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OLT that he had been working with a
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blitter-equipped ST for more than a
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month. He also said that blitters
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for all STs will be available and
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that -there will be a place to put
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it.- Some potential buyers had been
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concerned that a socket for the
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coprocessor would not be assembled
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into US versions of the ST.
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US release of the Atari Mega ST2 and
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Mega ST4 is anticipated for
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September. --James Moran
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_____________________________________
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Xx THE WIZARD
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_____________________________________
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I would like to start off this week's
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column with a special anouncement to
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ZMAG readers. Read the entire column
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for a special limited time coupon for
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ZMAG readers only!
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Our first question this week comes
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from Scott Lampert of Smithtown, NY.
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Scott sent a short note with his
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order for the Oasis.
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Scott's question was will the Oasis
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function properly with the ATR8000
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interface using the AT_RS232.COM
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handler that comes with SpartaDOS?
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The answer Scott is simply NO. There
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is a problem with using that
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particular handler which will cause a
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user to be logged off the system
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whenever his e-mail is checked.
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Therefore we supply a Public Domain
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ATR RS232.COM file on the disk for
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those of you who are using the
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ATR8000. This handler has been used
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on many Oasis boards using the ATR
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and has been found to be extremely
|
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reliable so please use it.
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Our next problem of note this week is
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one which we discovered quite by
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accident and one which had not
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appeared before that I know of. It
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happened on Ron's own ZMAG board. For
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some strange reason the system would
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lock up whenever someone tried to
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either leave e-mail or reply to
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e-mail. I had several conversations
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with Ron on the problem trying to
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make sure he had the system
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configured properly. He did!
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I got the setup he was using on his
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board and placed it on my backup
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system exactly the way Ron was using
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it on his system. It took a while,
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but I was able to duplicate the
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problem. As of yet there has not
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been any fix done to the actual BBS
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code itself, but here is the problem
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and the simple fix for you if you
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experience it.
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Ron's e-mail base and password files
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were both on drive 3. He is using
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one of the older Supra's with the old
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ROM chip in the interface which only
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allows for a fake floppy drive 1 and
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a BIG drive 3. The fix was to move
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them from the hard disk to ramdisk on
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drive 5 <the only reason I had him
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put them on drive 5 was because when
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I checked it out on my backup system
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that is what I had it set at.>. It
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cured the problem. When time permits
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I will check into it further, but
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there does not appear to be any
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problem with this on any other drive
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number. Sort of weird to say the
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least.
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Also for those of you with the older
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Supra 10 meg drives, Supra does have
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a new ROM chip for the interface
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which will allow you to configure
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your hard drive to drives 1, 3 and 4
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which can save you a lot of trouble
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if you have a hard disk crash.
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Instead of having to reformat and
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restoring the entire drive 3 which is
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something like 38,000 you would only
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have to format and restore half the
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data.
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My last bit of information this week
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is a somewhat undocumented feature of
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Oasis. It is truely a SysOp friendly
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feature. As a SysOp I am sure you
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get tired of users posting messages
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in the WRONG message base. Oasis has
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a message copy function that will
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allow you to move the message from
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one base to another. It is the -W-
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command. If you wish to move a
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message after you have read all the
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messages in a given base, go back to
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the message you want to move. Then
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hit the -W- and you will get the To:
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prompt. Either type in the name or
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just hit RETURN. You will then be
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propted to enter the Subject: line
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of the message, after this is entered
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the BBS will then print a list of
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your message bases, just hit the
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corresponding number of the base and
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Oasis will copy that message over to
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the correct base.
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This -W- function is extremely handy
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for SysOps who use a message base to
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describe their new download files. If
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you enter as follows:
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n\SUBDIR\FILENAME
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with the -n- being the drive number
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in the subject line, when a user
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|
finds a file he wants to download he
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would only need hit the Q command
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from the message base to download the
|
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file without having to look thru all
|
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your downloads to find it. It allows
|
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you to copy that upload message you
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had send to e-mail out o the message
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base you need it in and save you
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re-typing a description of the upload
|
|
file, as well as giving your user
|
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credit for the upload.
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Now for that special offer mentioned
|
|
at the beginning of this article.
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*************************************
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* ZMAG COUPON *
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* for ZMAG readers! *
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*************************************
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* *
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* With this coupon you can order *
|
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* the Oasis BBS System which *
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* usually sells for $15.00 for *
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* only *
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* $10.00 *
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* *
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*************************************
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* All orders must be post marked *
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* no later than August 15, 1987. *
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*************************************
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* Send your check to: *
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* Leo Newman *
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* 3900 N Woodlawn #17 Chisholm *
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* Wichita, KS 67220 *
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*************************************
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* A printed copy of this coupon is *
|
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* necessary to receive the ZMAG *
|
|
* limited time special price. *
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*************************************
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Now how is that for a deal to you
|
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ZMAG readers. If you are a SysOp now
|
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is your time to act, this is a one
|
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time offer thru ZMAG only!
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If you have any questions about the
|
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Oasis BBS system call (316)-683-7514
|
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a 24 hour BBS at 3/12/2400 baud and
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leave a message to the SysOp, or
|
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write:
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Leo Newman
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3900 N Woodlawn #17 Chisholm
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Wichita, KS 67220
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Your answer or reply will appear in
|
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the next Zmag issue. Until next
|
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week...
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_____________________________________
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Xx ZMAG USER GROUP FOCUS
|
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...By Mike Brown...
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_____________________________________
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Welcome to another edition of the
|
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User Group Focus. I am still winging
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it, as I have yet to have anyone
|
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submit data on their user group for
|
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Focus. What a perfect way to reach a
|
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HUGE potential number of members!
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Send those newsletters and data
|
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sheets in right away! The address is:
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Z-Mag User Group Focus
|
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Mike Brown
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268 E. Fourth Street
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Box 32
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Ashland, OH 44805.
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Or you can upload text files of user
|
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group data to:
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The Balloon Works
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(419) 289-8392 300/1200 24hrs.
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One more thing and then I will get on
|
|
wih biz. I want to apologize to all
|
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of the EXPRESS BBS SYSOPS that carry
|
|
Z-Mag. I forgot that EXPRESS does
|
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funny things with the -and- sign.
|
|
Bearing this fact in mind, I promise
|
|
to never, ever submit an article with
|
|
-and- signs in it again!! (boy, is my
|
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face red).
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I know that some people will claim
|
|
favoritism, but this FOCUS is on a
|
|
user group that has many blood and
|
|
sweat stains on it of my own making.
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A little over two years ago, a half-
|
|
dozen persons that had never seen or
|
|
spoken with each other (in the
|
|
conventional sense) before, met at a
|
|
semi-sleazy bar in Ashland, Ohio. The
|
|
group had communicated before by
|
|
E-mail and by the various BBS systems
|
|
in the area. Why were they making the
|
|
step to face-to-face meetings? They
|
|
had all agreed that there was a
|
|
un-met need for guidance and support
|
|
for the Atari Computer users in the
|
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Central Ohio area, and wanted to
|
|
discuss the possibility of doing
|
|
something about it.
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|
Unknown to them, in the same general
|
|
area and at the same time, there
|
|
already was a small group of Atari
|
|
diehards that had been meeting in
|
|
each others homes to exchange
|
|
information and tips; The North
|
|
Central-Ohio 6502 Computer Users
|
|
Group (NCSCUG) headed by Chuck
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Steinman.
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In a few weeks the efforts of all
|
|
would give way to what would become a
|
|
consolidation of the various special
|
|
interest Atari user groups in the
|
|
area, the Mid-Ohio Atari Computer
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Users Group was born.
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A local manufacturer, Gorman-Rupp
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Pump Company, offered the use of
|
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their facilities for a meeting place
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for the fledgling group, and the
|
|
generous donations of individuals and
|
|
local businesses covered the copying
|
|
costs of the newsletter for the first
|
|
few issues. Dave Cress, the first
|
|
newsletter editor, established a
|
|
tradition of high-quality club
|
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newsletters that continues today.
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It soon became apparent that more
|
|
than the modest club dues would be
|
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needed to produce the newsletter if
|
|
the cost of copies and postage was
|
|
taken into account. After a fair
|
|
amount of discussion, it was decided
|
|
that two events would be held to
|
|
raise funds for the support of the
|
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club: A raffle ($.25 a chance) would
|
|
be held at meetings in the summer
|
|
months to help boost attendance and
|
|
raie money, and that a $1 per ticket
|
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-LOTTO- would be offered to the
|
|
public with a grand prize of a brand
|
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new Atari 800XL computer system!
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Both events were a smashing success,
|
|
and managed to net enough profit to
|
|
not only put the newsletter on sound
|
|
footing, but to allow the club to
|
|
purchase a 256KXL, A USD enhanced
|
|
1050 Disk, and a video monitor to be
|
|
used for presenting demos at club
|
|
functions. Fortunately, this year,
|
|
Frey Scientific Company (a major
|
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educational supply company) has
|
|
sponsored our need for inexpensive
|
|
duplication services for the club.
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During that first year, a
|
|
constitution was drawn up and
|
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approved by the membership. This
|
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document clearly defines the
|
|
responsibilities of the club officers
|
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and the obligations of MAUG to its
|
|
members.
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The other milestones achieved by MAUG
|
|
were the establishment of a user
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support BBS, and a public domain
|
|
software library for the use of its
|
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memership. MAUG conducted a series
|
|
of -new user- special interest
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|
meetings in cooperation with a local
|
|
school district that is a heavy user
|
|
of Atari 8-bit computers. Because of
|
|
this involvement, MAUG was invited to
|
|
demo at the first annual Richland
|
|
County Educational Computer Fair held
|
|
at the Mansfield branch of the Ohio
|
|
State University. Several local
|
|
teachers were amazed at the
|
|
educational potential of the 8-bit
|
|
line and the LOGO learning language.
|
|
Member/educator Cathy Buscher's
|
|
-Radio Controlled- LOGO turtle caught
|
|
even the attention of nearby IBM and
|
|
Computerland exhibitors! While Dave
|
|
Cress wowed the children in
|
|
attendance with computer -snapshots-
|
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from Computereyes ST.
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After a wild spurt of explosive
|
|
growth, MAUG has of late been losing
|
|
membership and member support. I hope
|
|
that this is merely due to a settling
|
|
in process and a result of the usual
|
|
downturn in hobbyist computing during
|
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the summer months.
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If you live in the central Ohio area
|
|
and would like to learn more about
|
|
what MAUG has to offer, contact them
|
|
at this address:
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|
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Mid-Ohio Atari User Group
|
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P.O. Box 1324
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Mansfield, Ohio 44901
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|
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or call the BBS at:
|
|
|
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(419) 529-5197 (300/1200)
|
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|
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__________MAUG Data Sheet:___________
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Meetings Held at: Gorman-Rupp Company
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305 Bowman St.
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Mansfield, OH
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Officers-
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President______________Mike Brown
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Treasurer______________Dave Cress
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Secretary/Librarian____Doug Roberts
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|
Newsletter Editor______Bill Cleveland
|
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|
|
Your comments on this feature are
|
|
appreciated!
|
|
_____________________________________
|
|
Xx ZMAG HUMOR
|
|
_____________________________________
|
|
Permission is granted to reprint only
|
|
if the following copyright and credit
|
|
is given.
|
|
|
|
(c) 1987 Leo Newman/ZMAG
|
|
|
|
Hey all! What another article from
|
|
me in the same issue of ZMAG? This
|
|
one is just for chuckles, I hope you
|
|
enjoy it. No doubt you have figured
|
|
out by now that I do not make a
|
|
living off the Oasis BBS System! So
|
|
what does Leo Newman do for a living,
|
|
well folks I am one of those guys all
|
|
the TV shows make fun of. Have you
|
|
ever wanted to spend a nice boring
|
|
evening at home, then call an
|
|
insurance agent out to your house.
|
|
Well that's how I make my living, I
|
|
am and have been an insurance agent
|
|
for the past 14 years.
|
|
|
|
The following are actual statements
|
|
that have been collected over those
|
|
many years. They are statements
|
|
found on actual insurance claim forms
|
|
where car drivers had attempted to
|
|
summarize the details of an auto
|
|
accident in the fewest words
|
|
possible. The instance of faulty
|
|
writing serve to confirm that even
|
|
imcompetent writing may be highly
|
|
humorous. I hope you enjoy.
|
|
|
|
Coming home, I drove into the wrong
|
|
house and collided with a tree I
|
|
don't have.
|
|
|
|
The other car collided with mine
|
|
without giving warning of its
|
|
intentions.
|
|
|
|
I thought my window was down, but I
|
|
found out it was up when I put my
|
|
head through it.
|
|
|
|
I collided with a stopped truck
|
|
coming the other way.
|
|
|
|
A truck backed thru my windshield
|
|
into my wife's face.
|
|
|
|
The guy was all over the road. I had
|
|
to swerve a number of times before I
|
|
hit him.
|
|
|
|
I pulled away from the side of the
|
|
road, glanced at my mother-in-law and
|
|
headed over the embankment.
|
|
|
|
In my attempt to kill a fly, I drove
|
|
into a telephone pole.
|
|
|
|
I had been shopping for plants all
|
|
day and was on my way home. As I
|
|
reached an intersection, a hedge
|
|
sprang up, obscuring my vision and I
|
|
didn't see the car.
|
|
|
|
I was on my way to the Doctor with
|
|
rear end trouble when my universal
|
|
joint gave way, causing me to have an
|
|
accident.
|
|
|
|
My car was legally parked, as it
|
|
backed into the other auto.
|
|
|
|
I had been driving for 40 years when
|
|
I fell asleep at the wheel and had an
|
|
accident.
|
|
|
|
The pedestrian had no idea which
|
|
direction to run, so I ran over him.
|
|
|
|
A pedestrian hit me and went under my
|
|
car.
|
|
|
|
I was sure the old fellow would never
|
|
make it to the other side of he road
|
|
when I struck him.
|
|
|
|
I saw a slow moving, sad faced old
|
|
gentleman, as he bounced off the roof
|
|
of my car.
|
|
|
|
An invisible car came out of nowhere,
|
|
struck my car, and vanished.
|
|
|
|
I told the police I was not injured,
|
|
but on removing my hat, I found that
|
|
I had a fractured skull.
|
|
|
|
The indirect cause of the accident
|
|
was a little guy with a big mouth.
|
|
|
|
I was thrown from my car as it left
|
|
the road. I was found in a ditch by
|
|
some stray cows.
|
|
|
|
To avoid hitting the bumper of the
|
|
car in front, I struck the
|
|
pedestrian.
|
|
|
|
The telephone pole was approaching, I
|
|
was attempting to swerve out of its
|
|
way, when it struck the front end.
|
|
|
|
As I approached the intersection, a
|
|
sign suddenly appeared in a place
|
|
where no stop sign ever appeared
|
|
before. I was unable to stop in time
|
|
to avoid the accident.
|
|
|
|
[Ed... Thanks Leo, What I am gonna
|
|
say in the future??]
|
|
_____________________________________
|
|
Xx COMPUTER LANGUAGES AND CARS
|
|
_____________________________________
|
|
From The KB8CI Amateur Radio Packet
|
|
Bulletin Board System in Cleveland:
|
|
|
|
Programming Language
|
|
|
|
The following is a reprint of a
|
|
humorous article I came across
|
|
recently.
|
|
|
|
Selecting a Programming Language Made
|
|
Easy By Daniel Salomon & David
|
|
Rosenblueth; Department of Computer
|
|
Science;University of Waterloo;
|
|
Waterloo, Ontario, Canada N2L 3G1
|
|
|
|
With such a large selection of
|
|
programming languages it can be
|
|
difficult to choose one for a
|
|
particular project. Reading the
|
|
manuals to evaluate the languages is
|
|
a time consuming process. On the
|
|
other hand, most people already have
|
|
a fairly good idea of how various
|
|
automobiles compare. So in order to
|
|
assist those trying to choose a
|
|
language, we have prepared a chart
|
|
that matches programming languages
|
|
with comparable automobiles.
|
|
|
|
Assembler - A Formula 1 race car.
|
|
Very fast, but difficult to drive and
|
|
expensive to maintain.
|
|
|
|
FORTRAN II - A Model T Ford. Once it
|
|
was king of the road.
|
|
|
|
FORTRAN IV - A Model A Ford.
|
|
|
|
FORTRAN 77 - A six-cylinder Ford
|
|
Fairlane with standard transmission
|
|
and no seat belts.
|
|
|
|
COBOL - A delivery van. It's bulky
|
|
and ugly, but it does the work.
|
|
|
|
BASIC - A second-hand Rambler with a
|
|
rebuilt engine and patched
|
|
upholstery. Your dad bought it for
|
|
you to learn to drive. You'll ditch
|
|
the car as soon as you can afford a
|
|
new one.
|
|
|
|
PL/1 - A Cadillac convertible with
|
|
automatic transmission, a two-tone
|
|
paint job, white-wall tires, chrome
|
|
exhaust pipes, and fuzzy dice hanging
|
|
in the windshield.
|
|
|
|
C - A black Firebird, the all-macho
|
|
car. Comes with optional seat belts
|
|
(lint) and optional fuzz buster
|
|
(escape to assembler).
|
|
|
|
ALGOL 60 - An Austin Mini. Boy,
|
|
that's a small car!
|
|
|
|
Pascal - A Volkswagen Beetle. It's
|
|
small but sturdy. Was once popular
|
|
with intellectuals.
|
|
|
|
Modula II - A Volkswagen Rabbit with
|
|
a trailer hitch.
|
|
|
|
ALGOL 68 - An Aston Martin. An
|
|
impressive car, but not just anyone
|
|
can drive it.
|
|
|
|
LISP - An electric car. It's simple
|
|
but slow. Seat belts are not
|
|
available.
|
|
|
|
PROLOG/LUCID - Prototype concept-
|
|
cars.
|
|
|
|
Maple/MACSYMA - All-terrain vehicles.
|
|
|
|
FORTH - A go-cart.
|
|
|
|
LOGO - A kiddie's replica of a Rolls
|
|
Royce. Comes with a real engine and
|
|
a working horn.
|
|
|
|
APL - A double-decker bus. It takes
|
|
rows and columns of passengers to the
|
|
same place all at the same time. But,
|
|
it drives only in reverse gear, and
|
|
is instrumented in Greek.
|
|
|
|
Ada - An army-green Mercedes-Benz
|
|
staff car. Power steering, power
|
|
brakes and automatic transmission are
|
|
all standard. No other colors or
|
|
options are available. If it's good
|
|
enough for the generals, it's good
|
|
enough for you. Manufacturing delays
|
|
due to difficulties reading the
|
|
design specifications are starting to
|
|
clear up.
|
|
_____________________________________
|
|
Xx ZMAG UPDATE
|
|
_____________________________________
|
|
In the update department, I would
|
|
like to announce that we have added
|
|
Ralph Walden to the Zmag staff. Mr.
|
|
Walden will be doing articles on -C-.
|
|
|
|
This new column will debut within a
|
|
few weeks.
|
|
|
|
Here is our current staff:
|
|
|
|
Ron Kovacs Publisher/Editor in Chief
|
|
Ken Kirchner Assistant Publisher
|
|
Susan Perry Assistant Publisher
|
|
Rich Decowski Assistant Publisher
|
|
Bill Shefski Copy Editor
|
|
Mike Brown User Group Editor
|
|
Leo Newman Special Features Editor
|
|
Calamity Jane Columnist
|
|
Ralph Walden Columnist
|
|
Larry Mihalik Columnist
|
|
G.S. Halden Legal Advisor
|
|
=====================================
|
|
COMMENTARY By: Ron Kovacs
|
|
====================================
|
|
In an effort to clear up some of our
|
|
problems, I have decided to change a
|
|
few of our policies. For more
|
|
information on this subject, Please
|
|
read COMMENT3 available on the BBS.
|
|
|
|
If you write any type of article,
|
|
Please take the time to include a
|
|
copyright notice, source of article,
|
|
reprint instructions and any other
|
|
information that will help us and
|
|
others, process files in a legal
|
|
manner.
|
|
|
|
For more information on copyrights,
|
|
Please read the July/August issue
|
|
of Analog.
|
|
|
|
I want to thank Mr. Neil Harris for
|
|
allowing us to print the GEnie
|
|
News on CompuServe. (Issue #62)
|
|
|
|
Also thanks to Mike and Ron on the
|
|
ATARI8 SIG on CIS, for their help
|
|
n this matter.
|
|
|
|
_____________________________________
|
|
Xx BBS MODIFICATIONS PART 1
|
|
.....By:Frank Siepel.....
|
|
_____________________________________
|
|
Modifications to BBS
|
|
|
|
Although much of the information
|
|
which follows applies to Carina, many
|
|
of the ideas can be used to construct
|
|
similar programs with other software.
|
|
|
|
My BBS has been up almost a year now.
|
|
I have made many, many, modifications
|
|
to it. Most of them are small,
|
|
cosmetic changes. In this file, I
|
|
plan to describe some of the best
|
|
ideas I have had, and, I hope, at
|
|
least some of which you will find
|
|
useful.
|
|
|
|
Networked message bases
|
|
-----------------------
|
|
First, I am on the flat-rate long
|
|
distance service P.C. Pursuit. I pay
|
|
$25, no matter how much I call out.
|
|
Calls can be made from 6pm - 7am
|
|
weekdays, 6pm Fri - 7am Mon. I can
|
|
reach 25 area codes. So I modified my
|
|
BBS to call other system(s) every
|
|
night and exchange messages. The
|
|
other system(s) need not be running
|
|
Carina, but, if they don't run
|
|
Carina, you will have a fair amount
|
|
of work ahead of you. Even if you
|
|
don't run Carina, if you are
|
|
interested in establishing any
|
|
networked message bases, you should
|
|
read on; principles used in this
|
|
implementation can be applied to any
|
|
BBS program.
|
|
|
|
Whenever a message is posted on my
|
|
BBS, or any of the other BBS's in the
|
|
network, a second copy of the message
|
|
is APPENDED to a text file, in the
|
|
following format:
|
|
|
|
[ALL PADDED TO GIVEN LENGTH WITH
|
|
SPACES!!]
|
|
|
|
field |length|example
|
|
Title [20] obvious
|
|
From [20] obvious
|
|
To [20] obvious
|
|
Base (name) [8] NETWORK
|
|
Filename of base [15] Dx:Filename.DR?
|
|
|
|
(standard) 3-line header:
|
|
|
|
Posted on BBS NAME
|
|
at hr:ms:se TIME ZONE on dd/mm/yr
|
|
<Return>
|
|
|
|
(NOTE: Header is not required, but is
|
|
a nice feature, so that one knows the
|
|
origin (BBS) of a message, and the
|
|
time/date it was posted on (in that
|
|
time zone!).
|
|
|
|
Message contents
|
|
/S
|
|
Next message, same format.
|
|
|
|
Note: MESSAGE LENGTH MAY NOT EXCEED
|
|
48 LINES!!
|
|
|
|
Carina's message editor module has
|
|
been altered to append only messages
|
|
posted in a base called -NETWORK- to
|
|
this file, which is called -NEWMS-
|
|
(new messages). The message editor
|
|
has also been modified so that it is
|
|
capable of ENTERING messages into the
|
|
actual message base from a NEWMS
|
|
format file.
|
|
|
|
Whenever someone logs off my BBS, a
|
|
program called CONTROL is run.
|
|
CONTROL first checks to see if any
|
|
new messages are in my OWN NEWMS
|
|
file. If so, it promptly appends all
|
|
of these messages to the -mailbox-
|
|
files, and then clears my NEWMS file.
|
|
Each BBS in the network has a mailbox
|
|
file. It contains messages to be sent
|
|
to that BBS.
|
|
|
|
Next, my BBS checks the time. If P.C.
|
|
Pursuit is inaccessible, it re-runs
|
|
WAITCALL. If it IS accessible, my
|
|
system loads a disk file, which
|
|
contains the last transfer date of
|
|
messages for each BBS in the network.
|
|
If all of their last transfer dates
|
|
are equal to today's date, it re-runs
|
|
WAITCALL, else, it picks randomly one
|
|
of the boards whose last transfer
|
|
dates is equal to today's date. Then
|
|
it runs this BBS's log-in program.
|
|
This program's format is as follows:
|
|
|
|
Write out phone number, baud rate,
|
|
to disk file.
|
|
|
|
RUN CALLBACK module, which uses P.C.
|
|
Pursuit to connect with the BBS. (or
|
|
just ATDT a local BBS)
|
|
|
|
LOG-IN like a normal user, entering
|
|
<Return>, password, last four, etc.
|
|
|
|
CHANGE HEADER to NETWORK:
|
|
-------------------------
|
|
Atari on at xx/xx/xx xx:xx.
|
|
|
|
Go to File-Tran.
|
|
|
|
Execute commands DLNEW and ULNEW.
|
|
|
|
DLNEW will download that BBS's NEWMS
|
|
file. Once it has been received, a
|
|
special program called FILEMAIL is
|
|
run. This program appends the NEWMS
|
|
file to every mailbox, except the one
|
|
from hence it came. ULNEW uploads
|
|
that particular board's mailbox file
|
|
to that BBS. Of course, the NEWMS
|
|
file is cleared after it is received,
|
|
as is the mailbox file, so as to
|
|
avoid duplicate messages. Once the
|
|
new messages are received on the BBS
|
|
end, the modified message editor is
|
|
run, which, of course, enters the
|
|
messages. This system is very
|
|
versatile. You can have as few as
|
|
one system in the network, or as many
|
|
as you like. And it is entirely
|
|
automatic! Now, to network your BBS
|
|
with, say, an A.M.I.S. system, you
|
|
follow the exact same process --
|
|
except your log-in program will do a
|
|
READ ALL NEW instead of downloading a
|
|
file. It will buffer and save each
|
|
message. When it is finised, it will
|
|
use -E- to enter messages into that
|
|
BBS. Finally, a special program will
|
|
need to be run to convert the
|
|
buffered message file to NEWMS file
|
|
format. Then it is just business as
|
|
usual. Some things to remember --
|
|
|
|
Handle:
|
|
|
|
a) no new messages
|
|
b) line noise
|
|
c) padding fields with spaces!
|
|
d) Messages over 40 columns (split
|
|
an 80 column line into two 40
|
|
column lines)
|
|
|
|
Store high message on disk, if the
|
|
BBS lacks a read all new command.
|
|
Note that, if the BBS supports, say,
|
|
only 20 line messages, your program
|
|
will need to split longer messages
|
|
into two or three messages. This can,
|
|
of course, go both ways; the other
|
|
BBS might support 75 line messages.
|
|
|
|
All files having to do with network
|
|
are in the public domain. The
|
|
modified MSGED module may only be
|
|
used by registered Carina BBS owners,
|
|
as it is copyrighted. All files
|
|
having to do with network can be
|
|
downloaded from Pandora BBS at
|
|
(614)-471-9209. Simply request that
|
|
they be put up for download.
|
|
|
|
CONTROL, CALLBACK, FILEMAIL, and
|
|
original log-in modules were written
|
|
by Frank Seipel, and the credit line
|
|
in these programs should not be
|
|
removed.
|
|
|
|
If you are running a BBS in a P.C.
|
|
Pursuit accessible area, I am
|
|
interested in networking with you,
|
|
and, if you already have a network,
|
|
any BBS's you are already networked
|
|
with; I have no qualms about making
|
|
this very big by networking networks.
|
|
If you aren't running a Carina board,
|
|
I am not interested unless you are
|
|
willing to write the code (see note).
|
|
|
|
Final note: If you are networking
|
|
with non-Carina boards, things can
|
|
be made much easier, if you have
|
|
THEIR end modified, so that you need
|
|
only to download one file, and upload
|
|
another! This is the method I
|
|
suggest, as it avoids possible
|
|
transmission errors.
|
|
_____________________________________
|
|
Zmagazine 65 August 7, 1987 (C)1987
|
|
_____________________________________
|