830 lines
38 KiB
Plaintext
830 lines
38 KiB
Plaintext
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ZMagazine #1 Weekly Atari 8 Bit Online Magazine
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Atari News, Reviews and Commentary
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American Publishing Enterprises, Inc (APEInc) PO Box 74, Middlesex, NJ
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PUBLISHER MANAGING EDITOR EDITOR SALES MANAGER
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Ron Kovacs R.F. Mariano John Deegan Gary Gorski
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Monday July 11, 1988 (c)1988 APEInc Issue #114
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Contents:
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<*> Message from the Publisher <*> Editors Desk
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<*> Line Noise <*> Pearl Harbor Again!
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<*> Feedback on Issue #112 <*> SPC Newswire
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<*> Redskins Star Hollers <*> Editorial Reply
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<*> AtariWriter Plus Update <*> Programming Tips
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______________________________________
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Message from the Publisher
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______________________________________
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by Ron Kovacs
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Please welcome our NEW editor, John Deegan. He has taken over the editor
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duties effective with this weeks issue. I am sure you will notice the
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difference in editorial style. If you have any comments, we encourage
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you to send them in.
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______________________________________
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Editors Desk by John Deegan
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______________________________________
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I want to thank Ron Kovacs for allowing me to edit Zmagazine. I will do
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my best to provide the readers with the latest news and reviews and
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occasional commentary. There are many things to be said and brought out
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about the Atari 8 Bit community.
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Ron has stated that I was to include messages and commentary about ZMag
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Issue #112 in this edition. I have done so and edited down the rather
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large amount text.
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______________________________________
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Line Noise
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______________________________________
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FROM MS-DOS BBS TRIANGLE PARK, N.C.
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Line Noise and the Problems it Can Cause with File Transfers
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Many people have left messages on my bulletin board asking me why there
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are so many 'garbage' characters on their screens and why file transfers
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are riddled with errors. These garbage characters are really line noise
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and can be introduced in many different places. Pure noise is a decimal
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255 (FF in hex), but most line noise is not 'pure'. It usually comes in
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as something less than 255, like maybe a 251 (a character that looks
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like this ''). Ever see that one before? Yup, so have I!
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One of the more common and familiar introduction points of line noise is
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in the telephone company's system and even here there are several ways
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noise is introduced. A signal is routed through multiple stations before
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it eventually makes it to the other end and some of these stations aren't
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exactly new. Older areas may have older, less sophisticated equipment
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that is more apt to be affected by ambient noise. This is one reason some
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people continue to have noise problems even after hanging up and calling
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back multiple times. Also, a given physical connection at one of these
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junctions may not be up to snuff. If your particular bout of line noise
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is solved by hanging up and calling back, then it's probable that you
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were previously connected through an intermittent or 'dirty' connection.
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Some of these trunk lines (large, multi- area that has alot of ambient
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RFI (Radio frequency Interference) present although this is not usually
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the case.
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It is possible that the problem is being caused at this end, but not if
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the problem goes away when you call back and the line is clean -or- if
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you are one of a very few users experiencing noise problems. You may say
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that you are not having problems with other boards.....in which case the
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problem is more than likely the route that your call takes to get here.
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You may be going over micro-wave or through buried cable which for some
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reason are sub-standard. No matter how many times you call, you will
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probably be routed over the same path. Micro-wave problems are sometimes
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the hardest to track down because they can cause intermittent problems.
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Some interference only occurs during certain times of the day or week.
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Another common noise introduction point is in your home. Most residential
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homes have televisions, radios, microwave ovens, VCR's, and if you are
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reading this, a micro-computer. All these devices radiate radio waves
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that can (and often do) get into the phone lines and cause noise.
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Electric motors and mechanical dimmer controls can introduce noise into
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the electrical wiring in your house and cause problems. If your line
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noise problem does not go away after repeated hanging up and calling back,
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then you may be suffering from one of these household problems. If you
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are suffering from this problem, you can take steps to eliminate it.
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First of all, turn off EVERYTHING except the fridge (If it IS the fridge,
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then you're SOL. Can't live life with your ice box unplugged) and see if
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the noise persists. If it goes away, then start turning things back on,
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checking the computer each time until you see the noise start up again.
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It may be that a single device is not bugging you but several devices
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plotting together to annoy you. This elimination tournament may take
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awhile.
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Another area to check is your wiring at the computer. Use noise
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supressors on your power connections to both the PC and the modem (if
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external). Use a shielded RS-232 cable to connect your modem to the PC.
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Ribbon cables (especially long runs of it) are great antennas and will
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cause problems. Re-route the RS-232 cable so it does not run next to the
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PC power supply or any other transformer.
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And now a little discussion about the modem itself. First of all, I'd
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like to clerify a commonly misused term - BAUD. The term -Baud- is
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actually a man's name - J.M.E. Baudot (Pronounced: Baw-doe) a French
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Telegraphy expert. 1,200 and 2,400 Baud is NOT the same as 1,200 and
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2,400 BPS (Bits Per Second). The usage of -Baud- to describe line speed
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in terms of data through-put is incorrect. 1,200 and 2,400 BPS modems
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both operate at 600 Baud. Basically, without getting to technical, a
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Baud is a -blip- of information. 1,200 BPS modems use four states per
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blip (or Baud) and 2,400 BPS modems use sixteen states per blip. If you
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want more information on what Baud and BPS mean and a full explanation
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of how data is actually represented and transferred by the modem, please
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refer to PC Magazine Volume 6, Number 9 (May 12, 1987).
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Modems operating at 2,400 BPS are much more intolerant of line noise than
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are modems operating at 1,200 BPS. Conversely, modems capable of 2,400 BPS
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operate better at 1,200 BPS than do 1,200 BPS only modems. If you are
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being hopelessly attacked by noise at 2,400 BPS, trying calling back at
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1,200 BPS. It's very possible that the noise will be greatly reduced
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or disappear altogether. I know, you didn't buy a 2,400 BPS modem just
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to retard it to 1,200 BPS. The brand of the modem plays a part in the
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immunity to line noise. Some modems can digest more noise (lower
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signal-to-noise radio) than others. PC Magazine (same issue mentioned
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above) ran a test on 87 different modems. You might check the results
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to see how your modem ranks. Most 2,400 BPS modems operating at 1,200 BPS
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have approximately -8 to -10 db error threshold while the same modem
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has about -16 to -20 db threshold operating at 2,400 BPS. For this
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reason, line quality is much more critical at 2,400 BPS operation.
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Additionally, a friend of mine who runs a bulletin board from their
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office has been plagued with line noise problems at 2,400 BPS but very
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little noise at 1,200 BPS. The culprit is the office's centralized
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telephone system. Many office buildings have a given number of trunks
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that actually enter the building while there may be many, many more
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extension within the building. These types of telephone systems have
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their own controllers and line assignment devices and are frequently
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not as high in quality as a hard-wired MaBell (or GTE) line. The
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acceptable signal-to-noise ratio in some of these inter-office phone
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controllers are lower than necessary for reliable 2,400 BPS operation
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but not too low for 1,200 BPS.
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If you get transmission errors while downloading or uploading a file,
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don't fret it. The Xmodem (or whatever protocol) incorporates an error
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checking/correction mechanism that automatically detects and corrects any
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errors that may occur during transmission. The very fact that Xmodem
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reported the error in the first place means that he caught it and
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corrected it. The only errors you have to worry about are the ones that
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Xmodem does NOT report Any reported error has already be corrected.
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Xmodem, especially the CRC flavored one, is a very reliable file transfer
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protocol. Even if you got 100 errors during transmission, chances are
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still pretty slim that the file got corrupted. Occasionally, a file
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will be corrupted after transfer, but many times this may be due to a
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bad ARCing of the file or perhaps a disk error that may have occurred
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sometime during the files' past.
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I hope this text helped explain some facts about modems, line noise, and
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file transfers. If you have other, more specific questions, concerning modems
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or communications in general, leave a C)Comment to the SYSOP. I'll try to
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answer them.
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______________________________________
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PEARL HARBOR AGAIN?
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THE CHIP-RIP/DRAM-SCAM
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______________________________________
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by T.-Rex- Reade
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Where are the history professors? Where are the veterans? Most of all,
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what is wrong with the US purchasing public? Is it really this easy to
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forget? Are we all really this blind? What happened to our Senators and
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Congressmen?
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Do you sometimes wonder how it feels getting up in the morning and brewing
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your cup of coffee in the Jap percolator and then brushing your teeth with
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the Jap power toothbrush...going out the door and getting into your handy
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dandy Jap import car....driving to work (The Local Computer Plant) and
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finding out you don't have a job any longer because the final blow has come
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from the Jap whiz kids who have choked off the US Electronics Industry by
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manipulation of the chip market.
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It sure will be nice to see all the repossesions going back to Japan
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because all the US suckers who had to buy Japanese products forgot Pearl
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Harbor...Crazy you say? Take a look at these points.....
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The real victims of the chip squeeze (not just drams) are the Companies
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that build the computers, laser printers, Fax machines and TVs (watch out
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you couch potatoes). Ultimately you the consumer are going get it in the
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neck as you always do.....Hewlett Packard just hiked their prices on
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memory boards by 25% blaming drastic Japanese wholesale price jumps.
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To give you an example of the seriousness of this CHIP-RIP or DRAM-SCAM,
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look at this...Tri-Data Systems in Sunnyvale,CALIFORNIA. had $400,000
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worth of chips, approximately 33,000 chips stolen from it's warehouse,
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they now keep them in a steel vault and have posted a $5000.00 reward for
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the capture of the perpetrator of the robbery. Seems Loomis Armoured Car
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Service is the only company benefiting from the CHIP-RIP/DRAM-SCAM.
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Consider this, at the present rate of exchange, one ounce of 1 mb drams is
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worth $785.00....that's worth more than gold! Japanese industry has
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accomplished what the entire Jap military could not do in WWII....they
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have made a piece of plastic worth more than Fort Knox' contents..who do
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we thank for allowing this to occur? The chip shortage is now in crisis
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proportions and it is time for the US MANUFACTURER to climb all over the
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congressmen and senators from each district and say thanks for nothing!
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In the year 1985, the Japs flooded the globe with chips. The result is
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exactly what they wanted....they destroyed the American suppliers and had
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the entire globe's business to themselves. The BIG THREE in Japan were now
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in control, they even wiped out the smaller Japanese companies!
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FOOD FOR THOUGHT:
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-----------------
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JAPAN'S BIG THREE WANT TO SUPPLY THEMSELVES, BUILD CUT
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RATE COMPUTERS AND DESTROY THE US COMPUTER INDUSTRY!
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Being an election year, many of the Congressmen who voted the for the
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special trade agreement are not running for re-election...nor are the
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KLUTZY politicians who voted to punish Toshiba for selling some high tech
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stuff 2 years ago and setting down the punishment this year..amazingly
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while the same high technology is freely exchanged with Russia now...makes
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no sense to me except that TOSHIBA, NEC and FUJITSU are all in this
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together and ....this reporter would not put it past these latent samurai
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warriors from engaging in a -little avenging for the ancestors-.
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It is time for the US Industry to wake up and stir the blood life of
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independence back into itself...make the chips here and use the chips
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here. Even the UK (England) is about to loose it's computer industry as
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result of the Jap scheme, wasn't and isn't England an Allies? This entire
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deal with the Japs is like going to war and buying the AMMO from the
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enemy.
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Take a look around your home Mr. American, after you have taken an
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accounting of the amount of goods from Japan, think of the enormous
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amounts of dollars they grabbed from our country and now, we the same
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suckers are going to watch as they INVADE us by building their factories
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here and put our people to work? Wouldn't it be smarter to have US folks
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and US dollars build these factories and laboratories to make the US
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designed products and retake the world leadership we once so proudly had
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and vainly thought we never could loose?
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The latest CHIP-RIP/DRAM-SCAM deals are bordering on James Bond scenarios.
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For example, Sen. P.Wilson (R-Ca) has charged that Jap chip companies have
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stated to small high tech (US) companies..-give us the latest technology
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you have and we will make sure you have all the chips you need-...When it
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gets this bad, it is time for the US Gov. to fund the planning and
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construction of manufacturing plants strategically placed to boost the
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sagging economy around the good ole USA. It is time to put these fanatics
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out of the US marketplace by sheer competition and good ole Yankee
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ingenuity! Are we really going to let them have a strangle hold on the
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computer market for many years to come? Can't anyone see that it will
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come to a point where THEY will tell us what we can and cannot have as far
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as high tech and sophisticated electronics are concerned?
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Give Japan a real shock...Let's begin to relieve the dependence on Jap
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production to carry the US Electronics Industry, the US Automotive
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Industry and the indirect control of all our lives. BUY AMERICAN even if
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it hurts.........
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HATS OFF to Atari! They are going to take the issue on head first! Atari
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will build a chip and computer manufacturing facility in the US in the
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very near future.
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Texas Instruments, Micron and Motorola are gearing up for enhanced
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production of these chips. They realize that the technology will soon
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encompass the manufacture of co-processors, (Motorola makes the
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68000), and associated chips which will be the mainstay of the industry
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for many years to come.
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It is definitely up to the US marketplace, both the manufacturer and the
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consumer, to put an end to the CHIP-RIP/DRAM-SCAM. Let's all do our
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-bit-.
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Rex.......
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______________________________________
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Feedback on Issue #112
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Captured from The Launch Pad BBS
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______________________________________
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Compiled by Ron Kovacs
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Edited by John Deegan
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<NOTE>: THe following are a few messages about Issue #112 of ZMagazine.
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Message 12 The General Area
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Left at 7/2/88 - 4:21:36pm
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Sent to 1-Carlos Hernandez
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Sent by 52-Bill Brown
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Topic Where
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_________________________________________________________________________
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How many messages did you have on your bases and did ALL the bases get messed
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lp or just some..weird..I have not had ANY problems with my bases accept when
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I had my hard drive directory crash and lost some stuff..
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Message 13 The General Area
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Left at 7/2/88 - 4:30:03pm
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Sent to 22-RON KOVACS
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Sent by 52-BILL BROWN
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_________________________________________________________________________
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Oh good, a place to find you...I saw that piece of reporting you did,
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sorry to say I don't agree with it all (or even a small portion of it) about
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the ONLY thing I agreed with was that the file validating system was and
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is a bitch, holding files in 1 directory to be transferred to another is
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not good (and wastes disk space) I ont see why he could have put all
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files (validated or not) in the correct directory and then had a flag as
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to if it was validated or not..then it would have only taken 1
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second to change a flag instead of the waste it does now..but let me get
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to the main bitch I got against your garbage report...
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Where do you get off writing something like that? Where are your facts?
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Why is it few if any have the same major problems you have?? Yeah its
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bad timing right now for me to write this on Carlos's board because of a
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message problem but no one seems to be having the lock ups you are..
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Carlos you? Eric you? John Handel of Sacremento? Sean you?? Let me
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list 20 more that aren't.. anyone having really ANY major problems besides
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this message base and ron?? A guy in Canada had a lock up problem
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awhile back, whenever someone hung up on the system it would lock up, I
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uploaded a new waitcall and usercom and he was SET, works great.. Why Ron
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when I asked you a few weeks go if your problems were hardware or
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software you said -Hardware?- why?? I got a copy of the message... Oh
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well, I am annoyed..but I really don't care, your report will not stop
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what is by many a superior BBS program (called by many IBM and Amiga and
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ST users on my BBS as better then anything they call run on their own
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systems! What did you do to fix the bugs? just Talk to Jerry? did you
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ever get new files to see if yours were corrupted like the guys in Canada?
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Are you using basic xl with a 1.2 or lower version number? Could the
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lockups be because the MIO is not accessing the hard drive?
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Message 14 The General Area Left at 7/2/88 - 4:33:34pm
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Sent to 22-RON KOVACS Sent by 52-BILL BROWN
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________________________________________________________________________
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I have lockups about once every 2-3 weeks and I thought it was the
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software too for a long time..then I studied it for awhile and noticed
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that if the MIO forgets the hard drive is around (error 138's) then
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Carina Locks up because it knew something was there and continues to
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search for the files etc...I say to you if its software why are few if
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any having the same problems as you? why?
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Your report was based on YOUR own bad luck, how about saying a software
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is buggy with FACTS from a great number of other Carina II users..I got
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about 30 numbers of boards running Carina II and I get on every time,
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they don't have crashes, they don't have lockups and believe me if you ever
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get your hardware/software problems fixed and run a BBS again you will be
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hearing from EACH AND EVERYONE of them...with THEIR comments for ya...
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COMMENTS:
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No Basic XL cart used.
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Lock-ups were caused by (As stated by Jerry Horanoff)
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1). 850 Interface... Bad timing
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2). MIO
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3). Possibly modem
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Message 16 The General Area Left at 7/2/88 - 4:45:01pm
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Sent to 22-RON KOVACS Sent by 52-BILL BROWN
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_________________________________________________________________________
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Ok, since your Zmag likes comments, how about me writing one..how about a
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Bill Brown comment on Ron himself, since you can write comments and try
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to ruin a BBS program from just YOUR private experience how about me
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commenting??
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Lets say Bill wonders if Ron can run a BBS at all! I mean you mentioned
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yourself in your article you have gone thru something like 5-6 BBS
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programs in less then 1 year...why is that? Cant get your act together or
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what? I mean really...I am not a major fan of Oasis but I never heard of
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major problems with it, Express, same thing, Forem XEP..seemed ok..why
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the switching and bitching?? I know I have no foundation for my comments
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(but then again neither do you) do I seem upset, yeah..I am, I guess I
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gave you more credit then I should have for being even minded...maybe I
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will settle down..maybe not...but heres the same offer I made on Glenda's
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BBS, call WCS, hang up, trash it..try your BEST to lock the system up..be
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my guest..you wont..why? because it doesn't crash, I wont invite you to
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do the same here or anywhere else cause the sysops might not like it, but
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I want you to duplicate your problems on WCS ok....jeez
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Ron what happened to you anyway??
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Message 22 The General Area Left at 7/2/88 - 6:17:29pm
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Sent to 52-BILL BROWN Sent by SysOp:1-CARLOS HERNANDEZ
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_________________________________________________________________________
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I haven't read Ron's commentary as of yet, I will print out the issue
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when I logoff and give you my comments...Overall however, Carina II seems
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to have a few nasty little bugs that I feel should have been taken care
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of considering the amount of time the program was in beta-test. I'm not
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one to bitch and moan however, but one to do my darned to help my
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author seek out and destroy, if you will, the bugs in an otherwise
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wonderful program.
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Message 26 The General Area Left at 7/2/88 - 7:27:04pm
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Sent to 22-RON KOVACS Sent by 6-SEAN
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_________________________________________________________________________
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..problems that weren't my fault! If you have no hardware problems, and
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a clean bunch of files (mods not messing things) Carina II runs fine! I
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have heard nothing but bad things about your -review- but I will look
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into it.
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if my copy is the same as yours (and it is) and if mine works then something
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is wrong here...
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Message 43 The General Area Left at 7/3/88 - 3:20:32pm
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Sent to 1-CARLOS HERNANDEZ Sent by 52-BILL BROWN
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________________________________________________________________________
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then the best thing is to post your ideas to Jerry or call him, from what
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I heard Ron did little to fix his bugs.. humm, personally I don't have
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really any bugs I can see..if you call having to go to each sig and type
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-Validate- instead a new nice feature (which is coming on the utility disk
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would be validate all, it automatically goes to each sig for you..i mean
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there is a difference between bugs and needed features..
|
|
|
|
<COMMENT>
|
|
|
|
Bugs vs Features. Here we go again into another argument. Just like the
|
|
Hardware vs Software?? Who is right and wrong. The bottom line to this
|
|
entire subject will be the owners. Let's look into the Carina II
|
|
software in 6 months and see what has changed.
|
|
|
|
Final Word:
|
|
|
|
The following was done to attempt correcting -BUGS- with Carina II.
|
|
|
|
1). Changed equipment:
|
|
A) Supra Hard Disk to MIO Set-up with 16 Meg Hard Disk.
|
|
B) 130XE to 800XL to another 130XE.
|
|
C) MIO to another MIO
|
|
D) 850 problems??? (Would like to know exactly what the problem is)
|
|
E) Latest software was used.
|
|
F) Modem not changed.
|
|
G) No printer was used online.
|
|
|
|
You make the decision Hardware or Software??
|
|
|
|
These comments, which I am sure are being discussed on a number of Carina
|
|
boards is just defensive tactics to take attention away from problems. I
|
|
am not sure what they are, just know that something is wrong. To say that
|
|
I am the only person having these problems is totally ridiculous.
|
|
|
|
______________________________________
|
|
SPC Newswire
|
|
______________________________________
|
|
Compiled by the staff of APEInc
|
|
|
|
ST-Report Confidential
|
|
|
|
(SUNNYVALE, CA.) Atari in a turmoil over the revelation of D/S drives
|
|
shipped in 520STFM units to FEDERATED STORES.
|
|
|
|
(VEGAS - COMDEX) Atari plans to revive all the enthusiastic support it
|
|
once enjoyed by what they plan to do and show here in NOVEMBER.
|
|
|
|
(NEW YORK, NY) IBM has reportedly purchased huge amounts of scarce
|
|
chips to supply itself and render competition a severe blow.
|
|
|
|
(NATIONAL, USA) ATARI Dealers are reportedly up in arms over the
|
|
alleged preferential treatment Atari has shown to Federated this year
|
|
over 1040, 520stfmd/S Drives, Mega delivery times, and service in general.
|
|
|
|
(WALL STREET) COMPILED 07-08-88 [Fegers and Wise]
|
|
Reprint permission granted
|
|
|
|
Stock Sales High Low Close Net Chg.
|
|
Dome Petrol 9,172,000 1 5-32 1 3-32 15-32 unch
|
|
Texas Air 1,790,700 15 5/8 14 3/8 14 5/8 off 1/8
|
|
Wang Lab B 1,319,600 10 3/4 10 1/4 10 3/8 off 1/4
|
|
Amdahl Corp 962,600 53 7/8 50 1/8 50 1/8 off 2 7/8
|
|
Echo Bay Mn 797,600 21 1/4 20 1/2 21 up 1/2
|
|
NY Times 769,300 27 1/8 26 26 3/8 unch
|
|
ATARI CORP *694,400* 9 7 7/8 8 1/2 up 3/8
|
|
Est Air 694,300 16 1/2 16 1/8 16 1/2 up 3/8
|
|
Viacom 657,700 25 3/4 25 3/8 25 3/4 up 3/8
|
|
Lorimar Tel 632,600 13 7/8 13 1/8 13 3/8 off 1/4
|
|
|
|
Stock Sales High Low Close Net Chg.
|
|
Apple Computer (AAPL) $195,227,000 47 1/2 45 45 1/4 off 1 1/4
|
|
LIN Broadcsting (LINB) 167,195,000 64 54 58 1/8 off 5 7/8
|
|
Apollo Computer (APCI) 157,968,000 15 7/8 10 1/2 10 7/8 off 3 7/8
|
|
Sun Microsystm (SUNW) 150,205,000 40 3/4 38 38 1/2 off 1/2
|
|
Intel Corp (INTC) 149,274,000 36 1/4 34 3/4 35 off 1 1/4
|
|
MCI Commun (MCIC) 117,825,000 15 1/4 14 1/4 14 7/8 up 3/8
|
|
Microsoft Cp (MSFT) 117,673,000 70 1/2 67 68 1/2 up 1/2
|
|
Miniscribe Cp (MINY) 69,499,000 13 3/4 12 13 1/8 up 1
|
|
Novell Inc (NOVL) 65,468,000 28 3/4 26 26 1/2 off 2
|
|
MICRON TECH *(DRAM)* 62,976,000 23 1/2 21 3/8 22 7/8 up 1 1/4
|
|
|
|
______________________________________
|
|
Redskins Star Hollers Discrimination
|
|
______________________________________
|
|
by John Deegan
|
|
|
|
Redskins quarterback Doug Williams said advertising execs are shying away
|
|
from him for endorsements of goods because he is black.
|
|
|
|
Williams, M.V.P. in Washington's Super Bowl win over Denver last Jan.,
|
|
was quoted in Friday's USA Today as saying that if Denver's white
|
|
quarterback, John Elway, had been on the winning team, corporate America
|
|
would ''be knocking his door down.''
|
|
|
|
-You don't have to be a Phi Beta Kappa to figure out some things in this
|
|
world,-! said the Star Quarterback.
|
|
|
|
Williams has made only $127,500 since the Super Bowl victory for endorsing
|
|
goods. While it's more than most folks make in a year, it is peanuts
|
|
compared to what was made by the last two Super Bowl quarterbacks, both
|
|
white.
|
|
|
|
The Bear's Jim McMahon made $3 million endorsing goods after the 1986
|
|
Super Bowl. The Giant's Phil Simms made $1 million in endorsements after
|
|
the 1987 title game.
|
|
|
|
Ad Consultant Don Smith acknowledged that race is a factor in choosing
|
|
advertising pitchmen. -If I have a product and I know that of the 1 million consumers who buy my
|
|
product, 980,000 of them are middle-class, white WASP families, damn it
|
|
that's what I've got to appeal to,- Smith said.
|
|
|
|
Williams has done two national endorsements this year:
|
|
|
|
[1] An end-of-the-game plug for Walt Disney World that paid him $75,000.
|
|
|
|
[2] Atari Video games TV campaign beginning in August that will earn him
|
|
$50,000.
|
|
______________________________________
|
|
Reply to the Editor
|
|
______________________________________
|
|
Reply to Editorial of Zmag #112
|
|
by Larry Mihalik
|
|
|
|
After reading Ron's editorial of June 27th, I was quite surprised. Not
|
|
only has he confused numerous issues and blamed them on BBS software, but
|
|
has taken sides, something an editor is not supposed to do. Well be it as
|
|
it may, he has and here are my retorical comments.
|
|
|
|
Issue #1 - Hardware
|
|
|
|
Ron claims to have numerous hardware problems and blames them on the BBS
|
|
program he happens to run this month. Truth of the matter is, the hardware
|
|
he has been using is not only used but admittedly faulty. The MIO he is
|
|
using does not even have the current Eprom that ICD issued with the
|
|
-fixed- MIO. The resident RS232 handler in his MIO does not work.
|
|
|
|
I don't know anything about his hard drive, but honestly don't care too.
|
|
I have been running with my MIO and a 20 meg hard drive for a year now without
|
|
any problems. I have not formatted it for that time and it continues to be
|
|
trustworthy and loyal. I added a second 20 meg hard drive 3 months ago and
|
|
the story is the same.
|
|
|
|
Ron has had disk crashes for the past 3 years, actually as long as I have
|
|
known him, yet many other SysOps have had the same success I have had.
|
|
|
|
Issue #2 - BBS Software
|
|
|
|
Obviously Ron takes a look at his own bad luck and then transfers it to the
|
|
software he has been running. Looking at his results, there is no good BBS
|
|
software just a tolerable failure.
|
|
|
|
I disagree. I have been running Carina Software since version 1 was released
|
|
in July 1986. I have yet to experience problems in the magnitude or frequency
|
|
that Ron claims to have had with Carina. Once again, I should point out that
|
|
a large group of other SysOps of Carina software feel the same.
|
|
|
|
I am not here to discuss the pro or cons of any of the available software,
|
|
Jerry, Keith and Glenda have worked hard to provide a quality product for the
|
|
Atari 8-bit community and I fail to see how Ron has the right to attack any of
|
|
them until he has more information.
|
|
|
|
I proclaim that Ron has a responsibility to his readership, not only WAS Zmag
|
|
highly respected, but it provides a great service to the Atari community.
|
|
|
|
It is this readers opinion that he overstepped that responsibility with this
|
|
column and owes us all an explanation. I challenge him to provide his readers
|
|
with an educated evaluation of software, run on reliable hardware. It is not
|
|
acceptable to me that he can take personal experience and flash it like gospel.
|
|
|
|
Take a look in the mirror Ron, you know as well as I do that what you provided
|
|
was either irresponsible behavior or trash!
|
|
|
|
That is my opinion! Let's here yours!
|
|
|
|
My Opinion: by Ron Kovacs
|
|
|
|
I will spare the Carina comments since we have covered them enough. The
|
|
parts of your editorial that bother me are you facts. I never stated to
|
|
you what Eprom revision was installed in my MIO.
|
|
|
|
Over the last three years I have known you, I have not discussed any
|
|
problems at length about my BBS software or hardware.
|
|
|
|
There was a period when you were relocating that you didn't even run a BBS
|
|
fulltime. Your personal attack is really not a basis for writing the
|
|
above. It looks to me as an attack on me rather then with the issues.
|
|
|
|
Yourself and Bill Brown have produced extensive messages over the last two
|
|
weeks against my character and reputation, which has been foolish to say
|
|
the least. I did not attack you or Brown in any shape or form yet you
|
|
defend the character of BBS software?
|
|
|
|
My intention, as I told you voice last week was to produce positive
|
|
results from the article. I also stated this fact to Jerry Horanoff. The
|
|
results are not conclusive, but they show problems exist out there and
|
|
covering them up with your personal reflections about my character is
|
|
totally off base.
|
|
|
|
This matter (*) is closed as far as I am concerned. I feel Larry Mihalik
|
|
has not produced the other side of the issue he complains about. When
|
|
there is one, I will print it.
|
|
|
|
(*) For the full message threads on this subject, call the Lions Den BBS,
|
|
The Launch Pad BBS, and The West Coast Syndicate.
|
|
|
|
______________________________________
|
|
AtariWriter Plus Update
|
|
______________________________________
|
|
Captured from CompuServe Atari8 SIG
|
|
|
|
Atariwriter + isn't 'intuitive' when it comes to creating disk files for
|
|
electronic message streams.' But,even though I don't have it, I've
|
|
done some kicking of ideas back and forth here on the forum with those
|
|
who do, and (I hope I remember this right!) here's The Procedure we came
|
|
up with that seems to do the job...
|
|
|
|
- CHANGE YOUR GLOBAL FORMAT
|
|
(at the top of the AW screen.)
|
|
|
|
You want to format for an 'electronic page', rather than a 'paper page.'
|
|
That requires some alterations. Specifically (I'm taking the 'letters'
|
|
from my old AW cart .. I think they're the same in the Plus version)....
|
|
|
|
<t> top margin should be 0
|
|
<b> bottom margin should ALSO be 0 (doing this will give you a
|
|
'continuous' text file with no page breaks.
|
|
<l> left margin should be set to 0.
|
|
<r> right margin should be set to 75
|
|
(!) CIS accepts lines up to 80 characters in length. There is no need
|
|
to limit your 'input' to 40 columns for typing messages. (CIS
|
|
automatically formats text being read to match the viewer's screen
|
|
width.)
|
|
<d> set paragraph spacing to single.
|
|
|
|
These are the important ones. You should be able to leave the other
|
|
values with their 'default' settings.
|
|
|
|
Once you have this format line set up, SAVE IT to disk for future use.
|
|
Whenever you want to compose messages to upload, FIRST load this format
|
|
line into the editor.
|
|
|
|
TYPING THE MESSAGE...
|
|
|
|
You can now type as normal in AW+. There is no need to use the
|
|
<P>aragraph marker (all this does is do an 'automatic indent.') Instead,
|
|
just END each paragraph with a RETURN, and indent each new paragraph by 1
|
|
or more spaces.
|
|
|
|
(RETURNS at the end of each line will be handled automatically by AW+
|
|
later.) Don't do any fancy formatting in the body of the text. For
|
|
messages, the simpler the better.
|
|
|
|
SAVING THE MESSAGE... Here's the tricky part *sigh*
|
|
|
|
When you're done, PRINT THE FILE TO DISK, using normal AW+ commands.
|
|
(You might also want to SAVE a copy in regular AW format for later
|
|
reference.)
|
|
|
|
AW+ does some 'extra' formatting at the end of a 'printed file.' To fix
|
|
it, you now need to RELOAD the file you just PRINTed! Go to the end of
|
|
the text. You'll see a bunch of RETURNS. DELETE all of these. The LAST
|
|
character in the file should be the RETURN that ends your text file.
|
|
|
|
Got it? NOW, SAVE the file again, but this time, do it IN ASCII FORMAT.
|
|
And that should do it. A good way to check on the result of all of this
|
|
is to COPY the file to E: (the Atari Editor.) In DOS 2.5, you'd use the
|
|
C (opy Files) command in the DOS menu, answering the 'from and to' prompt
|
|
with:
|
|
|
|
D:filename,E:
|
|
|
|
(don't forget the comma.) In SpartaDOS, issue the command
|
|
|
|
COPY D:filename E:
|
|
|
|
In both cases, what you should see is a straight ASCII file, with no
|
|
extraneous RETURNS, control characters, etc. If it looks okay with this,
|
|
then, assuming you've followed the 'SIGMSG rules', it should upload okay
|
|
to CIS.
|
|
|
|
feedback welcome ... don 76704,41
|
|
|
|
______________________________________
|
|
Programming Tips
|
|
______________________________________
|
|
Captured from CompuServe Atari8 SIG
|
|
|
|
#: 211546 S12/Programming 04-Jul-88 18:36:34
|
|
Sb: #NOTE/POINT
|
|
Fm: Curtis Jay Coleman 72571,355
|
|
To: All
|
|
|
|
I have recently decided to open my Dos 2.5 manual...I found that the
|
|
explanation of the 'NOTE' and 'POINT' command really lacked to indepth
|
|
|
|
Curtis Coleman
|
|
72571,355
|
|
|
|
39999:STOP:END
|
|
|
|
#: 211566 S12/Programming 05-Jul-88 00:13:30
|
|
Sb: #211546-NOTE/POINT
|
|
Fm: DICK KNISELY 75046,473
|
|
To: Curtis Jay Coleman 72571,355 (X)
|
|
|
|
Chris, reenter your query, the last part appears to have gotten chopped
|
|
off.
|
|
|
|
<<<Dick>>>
|
|
|
|
#: 211595 S12/Programming 05-Jul-88 22:48:49
|
|
Sb: #211594-#NOTE/POINT
|
|
Fm: Curtis Jay Coleman 72571,355
|
|
To: SYSOP*R. Brudzynski 76703,2011 (X)
|
|
|
|
The question...again...
|
|
|
|
The manual (Dos 2.5 manual) has a pretty bad explanation of how and what
|
|
the NOTE and POINT commands work. I want to know a nice (and easy)
|
|
explanation of them...
|
|
|
|
Curtis Coleman
|
|
72571,355
|
|
|
|
#: 211598 S12/Programming 05-Jul-88 23:21:29
|
|
Sb: #211595-#NOTE/POINT
|
|
Fm: SYSOP*R. Brudzynski 76703,2011
|
|
To: Curtis Jay Coleman 72571,355
|
|
|
|
--CURT--
|
|
|
|
NOTE and POINT are your keys to the fast retrieval of data on disk. You
|
|
can use NOTE to make a record of the precise spot at which data is stored
|
|
on a disk. POINT will move the disk head to that precise spot to retrieve
|
|
the data.
|
|
|
|
If you have to store a lot of data to disk, NOTE and POINT will allow you
|
|
to retrieve data in a flash!
|
|
|
|
Here's a quick demo of their use from the old DOS 2.0 manual:
|
|
|
|
1 REM PROGRAM 1
|
|
2 REM THIS PROGRAM READS LINES OF DATA
|
|
3 REM FROM THE KEYBOARD AND STORES
|
|
4 REM THEM ON DISK IN FILE D:DATFIL.DAT
|
|
5 REM POINTERS ARE STORED IN FILE D:POINTS.DAT
|
|
20 DIM A$(40)
|
|
25 OPEN #1,8,0,-D:DATFIL.DAT-
|
|
27 OPEN #2,8,0,-D:POINTS.DAT-
|
|
30 REM Read line of data from keyboard
|
|
40 INPUT A$
|
|
42 REM If RETURN only, then stop
|
|
45 IF LEN(A$)=0 THEN 100
|
|
47 REM See where the data will be written
|
|
50 NOTE #1,X,Y
|
|
55 REM Store line of data
|
|
60 PRINT #1;A$
|
|
61 REM Store pointer to line of data
|
|
63 REM Let's show the location on your screen
|
|
65 PRINT -SECTOR # = -;X,-BYTE # = -,Y
|
|
90 GOTO 40
|
|
95 REM Indicate End of File
|
|
100 PRINT #2;0;-,-;0
|
|
110 END
|
|
|
|
Run this program and you'll end up with two files on your disk. One
|
|
contains the actual data and the other contains the location of the data on
|
|
the disk.
|
|
|
|
Use DOS Option C (Copy) to examine these files on your screen. (Respond to
|
|
the 'from,to' prompt with filename,E: )
|
|
|
|
Now for the fun -- let's retrieve the data by reading the file backwards!
|
|
|
|
10 DIM B(20,1)
|
|
20 DIM A$(40)
|
|
30 OPEN #1,4,0,-D:DATFIL.DAT-
|
|
40 OPEN #2,4,0,-D:POINTS.DAT-
|
|
45 REM Read pointers into an array
|
|
50 FOR I=0 TO 20
|
|
60 INPUT #2;X,Y
|
|
70 B(I,0)=X:B(I,1)=Y
|
|
80 IF X=0 AND Y=0 THEN LAST=I:I=20
|
|
90 NEXT I
|
|
95 REM Retrieve file in reverse
|
|
100 FOR I=LAST-1 TO 0 STEP -1
|
|
110 X=B(I,0):Y=B(I,1)
|
|
120 POINT #1,X,Y
|
|
130 PRINT SECTOR # = -;X,-BYTE = -;Y
|
|
140 INPUT #1;A$
|
|
150 PRINT A$
|
|
160 NEXT I
|
|
|
|
The ability to move to any point in a data file is important when fast data
|
|
retrieval is a necessity and there is a LOT of data.
|
|
|
|
For example, I have to have quick access to a lot of court decisions on
|
|
environmental problems. I associate a decision with a list of keywords and
|
|
the keywords with a set of Pointers to the decision. When I search for the
|
|
keyword, I get a set of pointers to the location of the decision on the
|
|
disk and *POW*, my machine instantly displays the decision on my screen!
|
|
|
|
I could look for the keywords by searching the file from the beginning to
|
|
the end each time. As a practical matter, I'd end up cooling my heels for
|
|
a few minutes while I read the entire disk.
|
|
|
|
NOTE & POINT get me where I want to go instantaneously.
|
|
|
|
Give it a try. You'll be impressed with the power these commands give you.
|
|
You'll make your disk drive dance to your command!
|
|
|
|
--dick--
|
|
____________________________________ _____________________________
|
|
|For the latest ST News and Reviews |For the latest Amiga News and |
|
|
|read ST-Report Online Magazine #43 |Reviews, read Amiga Report #2 |
|
|
________________________________________________________________________
|
|
ZMagazine available on: CompuServe * GEnie * Delphi * The Source
|
|
ZMagazine Issue #114 July 11, 1988 Copyright (c)1988 APEInc
|
|
Reproduction permitted unless otherwise noted in the article. All reprint
|
|
information must be included. Comments detailed in this issue are those
|
|
of the author and not of ZMagazine or it's staff.
|
|
________________________________________________________________________
|