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Table of contents: |
| COCO FRIENDS DISK MAGAZINE Issue #8 | Home | Index | Magazine | ||||||
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| Articles in section: ABOUT COCO FRIENDS DISK MAGAZINE |
| "ABOUT
CFDM" ABOUT COCO FRIENDS DISK MAGAZINE |
| Back to top |
"ABOUT CFDM" COCO FRIENDS DISK MAGAZINE is dedicated to those who still enjoy running under RS DOS. It will deal with that format exclusively. A primary goal is to keep the COCO community strong. By providing a unique means of communication, maybe old fires will be rekindled as you and I share our knowledge and experiences! The success of this effort depends on each one who becomes a subscriber. Everyone must contribute his/ her two cents in the form of articles, programs, opinions, experiences, etc. If this happens we will all look forward to the next issue. (Check out the manual with your starter kit for details on how to submit material.) Now let's have some fun!!! =* |
ABOUT COCO FRIENDS DISK MAGAZINE COCO FRIENDS DISK MAGAZINE is the creation and property of Rick Cooper. It is distributed solely by RICK'S COMPUTER ENTERPRISE. The material which makes up each issue remains the property of the author(s) or contributor(s) unless an agreement has been made otherwise. COCO FRIENDS DISK MAGAZINE is dedicated exclusively to those who enjoy the COCO3 operating under RS DOS. It is hoped that this publication will encourage the continued usage of our favorite computer. Neither CFDM nor RICK'S COMPUTER ENTERPRISE will be responsible for the submission or publication of any material that does not belong to the submitter. WE DO NOT ADVOCATE OR SUPPORT PIRACY! =* |
Here's a description of the files on the BONUS DISK
side one. File names preceeded by an asterisk are
data files and not to be RUN or EXECed.
NAME.........COMMAND..SECTION OR DESCRIPTION......
GMENU .BAS..RUN...FROM THE EDITOR...............
* GALLERY .TTL........TITLE SCREEN FOR GMENU.BAS....
* NIBLOADR.BIN........PIX LOADER UTILITY............
* GALDATA .DAT........DATA FILE FOR GMENU.BAS.......
* GALLERY .NIB........MENU SCREEN FOR GMENU.BAS.....
* FRIENDS .NIB........PIX FILE FOR GMENU.BAS........
* PONY .NIB........PIX FILE FOR GMENU.BAS........
* NIGHGALE.NIB........PIX FILE FOR GMENU.BAS........
* LIGHTHSE.NIB........PIX FILE FOR GMENU.BAS........
* BRIDGE .NIB........PIX FILE FOR GMENU.BAS........
* F15 .NIB........PIX FILE FOR GMENU.BAS....=>..
____________________________________________________
* F16 .NIB........PIX FILE FOR GMENU.BAS........
* PARK .NIB........PIX FILE FOR GMENU.BAS........
* LAKESUN .NIB........PIX FILE FOR GMENU.BAS........
* OOPS .NIB........PIX FILE FOR GMENU.BAS........
* CANYON .NIB........PIX FILE FOR GMENU.BAS........
This gallery of pictures was produced by GALLERY
MAKER, a program by Rick Cooper (UNBELIEVABLE OFFER
#1). The beautiful pictures were produced by many
of our Friends!
=*
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ABOUT COCO FRIENDS DISK MAGAZINE (2)
1 "ABOUT CFDM"
2 ABOUT COCO FRIENDS DISK MAGAZINE
ABOUT THIS ISSUE (6)
1 BONUS DISK DIRECTORY
2 CONTENTS...PART 1
3 CONTENTS...PART 2
4 CONTENTS...PART 3
5 PROGRAM DIRECTORY (v1 i8)
6 THIS MONTH'S COVER
ACTIVE COCO (2)
1 A COCO PROJECT
2 A COCO PROJECT PART 2
=>
____________________________________________________
ADVERTISEMENTS (5)
1 CFDM SUBSCRIPTION
2 Coless Computer Design
3 DISK DRIVES FOR SALE
4 UNBELIEVABLE FLIPPIE OFFER! <g>
5 WANT AD
ARTICLES OF THE MONTH (3)
1 ART WITH JIM GIBBONS
2 BASIC MADE EASY II
3 Tandy Printers
=>
____________________________________________________
COCO FRIENDS ART GALLERY (9)
1 COVERED BRIDGE
2 FRIENDS
3 GRAND CANYON
4 Lake Sunset
5 MIKE'S MANDELBROT
6 MISTAKE or OOPS
7 PONY, NIGHTINGALE, & LIGHTHOUSE
8 PUDDLES IN THE PARK
9 Star Trek: Next Generation
FAMILY TREE (3)
1 Raymond Berney
2 The McCormicks
3 WALTER BAYER
=*
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FORUM (4)
1 COMPUTERATION II
2 COMPUTERATION?
3 WHAT I'D LIKE TO TELL TANDY
4 WHAT I'D LIKE TO TELL TANDY???
FROM THE EDITOR (4)
1 CORRECTION & UPDATE
2 FROM THE EDITOR
3 KUDOS <g>
4 THE BONUS DISK!!
=>
____________________________________________________
LETTERS TO THE EDITOR (8)
1 A FEW EXCERPTS FROM LETTERS
2 HARDCOPY REQUEST
3 I'm HOOKED!!
4 LOADING PROBLEMS SOLVED
5 Program Update
6 Puzzle Pictures
7 Subscription Renewal
8 Takes getting used to
POTPOURRI (6)
1 BODY AND SOUL
2 EDUCATION PROJECT UPDATE
3 OUR SOLAR SYSTEM
4 Printed Submission Slip
5 The Mystery behind BOOT/BAS. ??? =>
____________________________________________________
6 VCR Title Screens
PROGRAMS OF THE MONTH (7)
1 ASCII saves for CFDM texts
2 EDUCATION ON THE FLY
3 FINDCLXY - Part 1
4 FINDCLXY - Part 2
5 GALLOP
6 RAINBOW INDEXER #1
7 RAINBOW INDEXER #2
REVIEWS (1)
1 RESCUE ON FRACTALUS!
=*
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QUESTIONS & ANSWERS (7)
1 COCO'S UNDERLINE CHARACTER?
2 HELP HELP!!!
3 HPRINT Coordinate
4 ROMPAK TO TAPE TO DISK
5 T&D Assembler
6 WHAT IS OS-9???
7 Writing CFDM texts
=*
|
Here's a description of the files on the PROGRAM/
SIDE. File names preceded by an asterisk are data
files and not to be RUN or EXECed!
NAME.........COMMAND..SECTION OR DESCRIPTION......
ARTSTEP1.BAS..RUN...ARTICLES OF THE MONTH.........
* ARTSTEP1.NIB........PIX FILE FOR ARTSTEP1.BAS.....
BODYSOUL.BAS..RUN...POTPOURRI (MUSIC).............
* BODYSOUL.BIN........DATA FILE FOR BODYSOUL.BAS....
COCOSHOW.BAS..RUN...POTPOURRI.....................
FINDCLXY.BAS..RUN...PROGRAMS OF THE MONTH.........
FLY .BAS..RUN...PROGRAMS OF THE MONTH.........
* FONT .BIN........DATA FILE FOR PRINTME2.BAS....
GALLOP .BAS..RUN...PROGRAMS OF THE MONTH.........
* LABELPRC.002........ARTICLES OF THE MONTH.........
* LABELTUT.002........ARTICLES OF THE MONTH.....=>..
____________________________________________________
* NIBLOADR.BIN........PIX LOADER UTILITY............
PRINTME2.BAS..RUN...ARTICLES OF THE MONTH.........
PRT#1CFD.BAS..RUN...PROGRAMS OF THE MONTH.........
RB-INDEX.BAS..RUN...PROGRAMS OF THE MONTH.........
* SAVESEQ .DAT........DATA FILE FOR COCOSHOW.BAS....
* SCREEN01.CM3........PIX FILE FOR COCOSHOW.BAS.....
* SCREEN02.CM3........PIX FILE FOR COCOSHOW.BAS.....
* SCREEN03.CM3........PIX FILE FOR COCOSHOW.BAS.....
* SCREEN04.CM3........PIX FILE FOR COCOSHOW.BAS.....
* SCREEN05.CM3........PIX FILE FOR COCOSHOW.BAS.....
SPRLOADR.BAS..RUN...FROM THE EDITOR...............
TLOAD .BAS..RUN...ART GALLERY...................
* TREK .HR0........PIX FILE FOR TLOAD.BAS........
* TREK .HR1........PIX FILE FOR TLOAD.BAS........
=*
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Kentucky Hills Sunset I received some postcard pictures of Kentucky
from Rick and I must say he had some challenging
pictures for me to paint.
The first one is of the Kentucky Hills at a
vivid sunset. It's different in the fact that
more shades of violet are used and this is different
from other sunsets which are usually bright reds
and yellows. From what I have seen of these
postcard pictures, Kentucky is a beautiful state.
I hope you enjoy this painting and feel free
to send me your favorite outdoor scene from your
state to a painting. I need all the ideas I can
get to do more pictures on our CoCo 3.
Thanks -
Jim Gibbons
=*
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| Articles in section: ACTIVE COCO |
| A
COCO PROJECT A COCO PROJECT PART 2 |
| Back to top |
A COCO PROJECT Hello fellow CoCoists. I would like to tell you about a project I am working on which involves the CoCo. I have written a sci-fi tale and am in the process of converting it into a videotape format. This mainly consists of taking text files and scrolling them up the screen. As the text is being recorded on a VCR, a soundtrack will be dubbed in with a spoken narrative of the story-- synchronized with the scrolling text. Thus anyone may enjoy the story, even if that individual has a hearing or vision impairment. I would like to make this avail- able to children's hospitals such as those served by the SHRINERS, and other establishments that help physically challenged kids. This is a non-profit venture. I made a trial run of the first chapter (There are 12 chapters altogether.) the other => ____________________________________________________ day, and found that it took nearly an hour of video- tape to record it. The first chapter is a bit long due to character development and so on, but still, you can see this is going to be a long one. An idea occurred to me to break the story into digestable segments 15 to 20 minutes long by pausing the story and inserting some computer program demonstrations-- graphic displays, games, anything colorful and of an educational nature. I have asked for and received permission from the people at T&D Software to use some of their software for this purpose. I would like to include your creations as well. I am also going to mix in some background music along with the spoken narrative on the soundtrack. I would like to use music generated by the CoCo-- kind of making the whole videotape a CoCo showcase. => ____________________________________________________ Special sound effects are welcome, too. For those of you using the MIDI equipment, I do not have these components, but I do have a pretty good home audio system, and can mix in most any standard tape-- cassette, reel to reel, hifi VHS videotape, the old 8 tracks, or even the new DAT. Any contributor who needs their tape back, I will pay return postage. (Those DATs are still kind of expensive.) Please include a little note with the title of the piece or its description along with your name and address. I will try to include all who wish to contribute, and will include details for each piece in the credits at the end of the videotape. The same will apply to those people contributing visual programs. Continued in Part 2. =* |
A COCO PROJECT PART 2 I guess I should give you a rough outline of the
story so you can get a feel for the mood. The tale
centers around three kids-- fifth and sixth graders
who make contact with an alien and his droid. The
alien and droid have been stranded on Earth for the
past 39 years. One of the kids possesses the "key"
for "unstranding" the alien. Once the alien and his
droid regain their starflight capability, the kids
are invited to go for a ride in the alien vessel.
The kids accept the offer and the crew of five vis-
it Australia's Great Barrier Reef. Then the alien
receives a call for assistance from another race in
another part of the galaxy; and the rest of the book
tells of the crew of five travellers and their ef-
forts involved in aiding these beings in distress.
As you can see, there are many tales that can be =>
____________________________________________________
told from this premise. I found it most difficult
to end the book after this one episode; and in fact,
a second book has been started, more or less start-
ing from where the first book ended. (There are five
chapters completed in it, so far.) I have intro-
duced a new character in the second book. She is a
bright student with many interests-- adventure
stories, HAM radio, computer programming, etc. She
is confined to a wheelchair, but this in no way
dampens her spirit. I bring this up because I want
to describe her using the computer interfaced with
the HAM radio to communicate to other physically
challenged students. I need to research this more,
in order to portray it accurately, and would ap-
preciate any input from the HAM radio enthusiasts
out there. =>
____________________________________________________
For those of you who wish to contribute computer
programs, graphic displays, music, sound effects or
just wish to write with your ideas, comments and
suggestions, you may contact me at the address that
follows. Any input you might make will be greatly
appreciated. Please do not send any monetary dona-
tions. Thank you.
JAMES C. MILLS
3059 220th ST.
STOCKTON, IA 52769 =*
|
| Articles in section: ADVERTISEMENTS |
| CFDM
SUBSCRIPTION Coless Computer Design DISK DRIVES FOR SALE UNBELIEVABLE FLIPPIE OFFER! <g> WANT AD |
| Back to top |
CFDM SUBSCRIPTION Is your subscription running out? Here's how to
check:
On your mailing label next to your name is a number.
The number after the last dash (-) is the last
issue on your present subscription. Please don't
let your subscription expire.
WHEN YOU RESUBSCRIBE PLEASE INCLUDE YOUR ENTIRE
SUBSCRIPTION NUMBER. THIS HELPS ME LOCATE YOU IN
MY DATABASE!
A single issue of CFDM is $6. A 6 issue subscription
is only $30 (a savings of 6$).
COCOs FOREVER!! =*
|
Coless Computer Design All programs are sold exclusively by Coless Computer
Design.
CIII PagesE v. 2.5 - DTP for 128/512K CoCo3 -$29.95
Req:Disk,Hi-Res JI,mouse/joystk- state your printer!
CIII Lettrex - NLQ Fonts for ASCII text -$14.95
Req:CoCo I,II,III, mouse,Epson/compatible and all
Tandy printers with IBM emulation.
CIII D-Link - Disk to Disk File transfer program via
modem or not -$14.95 2/$19.95
Req:CoCo3,mouse/joystk,optional modem
Video"U"Dig3 - Digitizing program -$19.95
Req:128K/ 512K CoCo3,Computize Video Digitizer,Multi
-Pak, Disk,mouse/joystk - call/write first.
Fonts:
CIII Fonts - 59 fonts for ColorMAX3/Deluxe and the
Newspaper series => -$14.95
____________________________________________________
D10 Fonts - 18+ Document fonts for MAX-10 -$14.95
Clipart:
MX Clipart /SBK Set1 - 300 pieces of clipart for
CoCoMAX III in Scrapbook format. -$19.95
MX Clipart /SYS Set1 - 300 pieces of clipart for
CoCoMAX II only in clipbook format. -$19.95
MX Clipart /MAX Set1 - 300 pieces of clipart for
CoCoMAX I,II or PMODE4 graphics programs. -$19.95
M10 Clipart Set1 - 300 pieces for MAX-10 -$19.95
M10 Clipart Set2 - 300 pieces for MAX-10 -$14.95
CIII ClipartE Set1 - 1500+ pieces of clipart for the
CIII PagesE DTP program. -$19.95
CIII ClipartE Set2 - 450+ pieces of clipart in sizes
of a page/screen/stamp. -$14.95
ZCLIP - converted Zebra System, Inc. clipart to
1.CoCoMAX III scrapbook format (picture disks 1-6)=>
____________________________________________________
2.MAX-10 /CLP format (picture disks 5-6) and
3.CIII PagesE clipart format (picture disks 1-6)
All clip pieces have been properly joined.Req. prove
of picture disk purchase. each set/$12.00
**************************
Check or money orders only / US currency /no COD's
All orders S/H $3.00 - overseas S/H $6.00. CFDM mem-
bers, deduct 10% of total purchase price. WI Residen
ts add 5% sales tax.
**************************
* Coless Computer Design *
* 1917 Madera St. #8 *
* Waukesha, WI 53186 *
* (414) 549-0750 *
**************************
All orders, 2nd day First Class shipping. =*
|
DISK DRIVES FOR SALE A few months ago I purchased ten new disk drives from the TANDY outlet store in Ft. Worth. These drives are the older upright drives. They come with a two drive cable but no disk controller or manual. While they work fine, they are noisy. I readily recommend them for use as drive 1, 2 or 3. I really have no reason to believe they would not work fine as drive 0, since I have used a couple of them to duplicate the last 5 issues of CFDM! (That's at least 750 disk sides that each of the two have copied.) I have 5 that I will sell to anyone that needs one. The price is right...$40 + $5 S/H. PLEASE DON'T SEND MONEY BEFORE CALLING AND RESERVING ONE OF THESE DISK DRIVES! CALL RICK at 606 787-5783 =* |
WANT AD I am interested in a getting a DS-69B digitizer
for use on my CoCo 3. If you have one available
for sale please call me at (717) 538-3358 or write
me at 4 Springlake Crest, Watsontown, PA 17777.
Thank-You - Jim Gibbons.
=*
|
| Articles in section: ARTICLES OF THE MONTH |
| ART
WITH JIM GIBBONS BASIC MADE EASY II Tandy Printers |
| Back to top |
Painting using the CoCo3
I had a request from Scott Baldridge to give
some pointers in painting a picture. So, I'm
going to give it my best try. I think what we can
do is start from the very beginning of a painting
and do it in steps to show you how I go through the
process of getting the pictures I get in the end.
First of all we will start with a basic
painting, mainly a silhouette painting. This
involves only a few colors and black. When this
picture is finished I will go into the detailed
scenery pictures which take a little longer. Please
keep in mind that it may take you some time at the
beginning but as time goes on you will do better and
better. It does take a lot of practice, even on
these silhouette paintings. =>
____________________________________________________
Well, enough chit-chat, let's begin.
At the beginning of the painting, you need to
have some idea of what you want to do. Let's say
that we will do a sunset over the mountains and
lake scene. Step 1, is to DRAW your picture. I
always use the smallest paint brush size, even for
drawing. I never use the pencil. I'll explain why
later. Also, do not try to draw a detailed sketch
because details will be added as you paint in with
the colors. An example is shown in ARTSTEP1.NIB.
The next step is to look carefully at the
picture you are using and get a mental picture of
all the colors you will need. Even if there is no
picture and you are doing it from your imagination,
you still need to have that mental list of all the
colors you will need. =>
____________________________________________________
After you have that mental picture, you can now
choose the palette colors for painting the picture.
The colors in our example will consist of different
shades of red, yellow, brown, and black. If you are
using CoCo Max 3, you will need to choose the Colors
icon. Choose the colors that you need and you are
ready to begin.
Next choose the smallest brush size for your
painting and the size spray can you will need.
Step 2 - Begin to paint by filling the entire
sky area with one color, usually a red or yellow
color. - See ARTSTEP1.NIB.
Step 3 - This will take some practice. You will
need to practice using the spray can to get the
desired blending from one color to the next shade of
that color. Step 4 - Next issue - Jim Gibbons =*
|
BASIC MADE EASY II Hope every one liked the first installment.
The header on the first article was: CHAPTER 1,
INTRODUCTION. To keep things straight, this months
article will be CHAPTER 2, next months CHAPTER 3 and
so on. The pages will be numbered in sequence.
A BASIC program is usually changed frequently while
it is being written. Things are added, moved around,
deleted, a short cut is found and so on.
It is for this reason that the entire program that
has been written so far will be published in CFDM.
each month. It helps me to make sure that you have
the latest version of the program. Therefore, each
month you must discard the previous months program
part and use the latest version published. You'll
also not have to type in any changes etc. Since
they are already part of the latest version. =>
____________________________________________________
Publishing the entire, up to date, program each
month, also gives "NEW FRIENDS" access to the whole
program as they join our ranks. I will mention and
explain any changes made to the previous program in
the article. I have a challenge for those of you who
are mighty with the pen, once this program is
finished, we will need an instruction manual to go
along with it. If you are following this series, and
you are one of those mighty "PEN PERSONS" you should
know the program well enough to write a manual.
I will personally award a prize for the best manual
written and I'm sure RICK will publish the manual.
The prize ?, a package of 10 BASF flippy (two sided
disks) as used by CDFM. Not much, but you'll have
the "HONOR" of having your work published. ==>
____________________________________________________
THIS MONTHS PROGRAMS ARE:
LABELPRC/002 ........ THE PROGRAM, UP TO DATE.
LABELTUT/002 ........ THE SERIES, CHAPTER II.
PRINTME2/BAS ........ RUN TO PRINT THIS MONTHS
ARTICLE, INSTRUCTIONS ON
SCREEN. ADOS USERS USE SCANP.
FONT/BIN ............ THE FONT, FOR OUR NEW FRIENDS.
If you have any commands, suggestions etc. it would
be faster to send them direct to me. There will be a
two month delay in response time, if you use the
question and answer section of CFDM. By the time you
read this, LABELPRC/003 is already in the mail.
George Quellhorst. 203B Meadows Drive. Painesville,
Ohio.44077-5361. Phone: (216) 354-3812. ****> eof.
|
Tandy Printers When you walked into a Radio Shack store and bought
a CoCo, most likely you where talked into buying a
printer. So many CoCo owners ended up with a DMP110,
120,200,105,106,107,130,130A,132,132A,133,134 etc.
with the most popular, the DMP130. Although, many
quality programs (nonTandy) came supplied with a
Tandy printer driver, the printout sometimes was not
what you expected, especially graphics. Also, just
equipped with a serial printer cable, the printer
baud rate at best was 2400. That is slow.
No, I do not want to give up my beloved Tandy
printer!
Starting with the DMP106, most (not all) Tandy DMP's
have an IBM emulation mode. Why not use the DIP
switches (see printer manual) and put your Tandy DMP
into the IBM mode. But before you do that, =>
____________________________________________________
make sure that you have a serial to parallel
printer interface. Also have the appropriate DIP
switch set to CR & LF (carriage return and line
feed). Now you can run almost any program configured
to EPSON or compatible mode on your DMP. Best of
all, you can run your printer with 9600 baud, which
is a lot faster. Works with MAX-10, CoCoMAX I, II, &
III, CIII PagesE, CIII Lettrex, Graphicom II,
Hardcopy, etc. I am not so sure about Zebra's
software? Tandy has now abandoned its Tandy Code
with their new printers.
=*
|
COVERED BRIDGE
This picture is intended to represent a covered
bridge such as may still be seen in New England.
A picture like this and my earlier ones takes me
about two days to generate. Then, I let it sit for
a few days before going back to it. I spend another
half day with second thoughts, changes, etc., until
I am reasonably satisfied.
THIS GRAPHIC IS LOCATED ON THE BONUS DISK.
RUN "GMENU.BAS"
=*
|
FRIENDS
I got a new toy for my Coco. A DS-69! I can take
pictures and put them on the computer now. Some-
thing I have wanted to try for a long time.
While looking around for pictures to take, I ran a-
cross this in one of my wife's school bulletin board
files. I immediately thought of our COCO-FRIENDS!
This is one of my first attempts at digitization, an
d I am not sure how it came out. It looks pretty
good on my CM-8, but I am not sure about composite
or monochrome monitors.
WELCOME FRIENDS.........
THIS GRAPHIC IS LOCATED ON THE BONUS DISK
RUN "GMENU.BAS" =*
|
GRAND CANYON
Twenty Years Ago Muriel and I went to the
Phantom Ranch at the Bottom of the Grand Canyon
by MULE -- we were awarded Certificates from the
Order of the MASTER MULE SKINNERS upon our return
trip the next day. I would reccommend this trip to
anyone under the age of 40! Going down is the most
difficult part of the journey as the Mule is digging
in with each step.
This picture does not do justice to the many
colors and shades of color that the Grand Canyon
displays as the SUN moves across it each day. A few
years ago we were there with my Camcorder to record
these colors -- but due to the forest fires at Yel-
lowstone Park I was not able to trap its beauty.
If you go to the Grand Canyon, plan to stay a
few days -- to see a few sunrises and sunsets! =>
____________________________________________________
The Grand Canyon is a rock-walled, steep-sided
valley, which crosses the high plateau of northern
Arizona. Through its bottom flows the Colorado River
with sides that are a succession of rocky slopes and
sinuous cliffs, some of which are huge steps with a
sheer descent of 300 to 500 feet. The Colorado River
falls about 600 feet in its 50 mile journey through
the central portion of the Grand Canyon. The canyon
averages 8 miles in width.
The light-grey colors are due to slabby lime-
stone. This has been given the name Kaibab limestone
from the great plateau which it constitutes. This
formation is nearly 800 feet thick and nearly uni-
form in color. Under this is another layer of grey
sandstone known as the Coconino and so named from
the great plateau which it underlies. =>
____________________________________________________
Below the sandstone are red shales and red
sandstones. Followed by red-brown sandstone rock.
Much of the rock is blue-grey when fresh or broken,
but are stained red by the wash from overlying red
beds.
We prefer the many viewing places along the
South Rim -- that offer changes in colors and views
of the various formations that have been identified
in the canyon.
We hope that all of you have the opportunity to
enjoy this wonder of nature -- THE GRAND CANYON!
CoCoMaxIII
Godfrey J. Moll 1571 East Erie Apt 103
Springfield, MO 65804
THIS GRAPHIC IS LOCATED ON THE BONUS DISK
RUN "GMENU.BAS" =*
|
Lake Sunset
This picture is another example of a
sillouette painting. Sometimes they can be
just as much a challenge as the usual painting.
This picture was taken from a lake view
from the state of Maine. We just got back from
a vacation in Maine and my daughter bought some
postcards and found this picture of a lake
sunset. It can be very difficult sometimes to
get all the right colors of a sunset and such
was the case with this one. I again used the
small paintbrush mode and the spray can for my
sky work. I hope you enjoy the picture. Now
it's off to CoCo Max 3 to produce some more
pictures.
THIS GRAPHIC IS LOCATED ON THE BONUS DISK.
RUN "GMENU.BAS" =*
|
MIKE'S MANDELBROT
Here are two final Mandelbrot pictures from the
collection sent by our Friend Mike Hoke some time
ago. As you probably know by now, these interesting
designs are created by running a program which uses
a mathmatical formula to place a set of colors on
the screen.
THESE GRAPHICS ARE LOCATED ON THE BONUS DISK.
RUN "GMENU.BAS"
=*
|
MISTAKE or OOPS
My graphic page is called OOPS or MISTAKE. It seems
poor CoCo3 got it's signals crossed and accidentally
launched an ICBM! I'm a very slow graphics designer,
so any effect that you see from me is a BIG effort!
Ray
THIS GRAPHIC IS LOCATED ON THE BONUS DISK.
RUN "GMENU.BAS"
=*
|
PONY, NIGHTINGALE, &
LIGHTHOUSE
Here are a few more of the terrific pictures of one
of our Australian Friends, Arthur Williams. Art
sent quite a collection on his first submission disk
a few months back. We're happy to have this chance
to get them to the Friends!
THESE GRAPHICS ARE LOCATED ON THE BONUS DISK.
RUN "GMENU.BAS"
=*
|
PUDDLES IN THE PARK
This picture is a little different for me in that
it's less colorful, but that is to set the mood.
Imagine you are in a park after an evening shower --
any park except Central Park in New York City, that
is, which isn't safe after dark.
THIS GRAPHIC IS LOCATED ON THE BONUS DISK
RUN "GMENU.BAS"
=*
|
Star Trek: Next Generation TREK, when loaded with "TLOAD" displays a Hi-Res
digitized picture of 4 Enterprice officers: Com-
mander Data, Capt. Picard, Commander Riker and
Commander LaForge. Originally, the picture was a
Amiga TIF (800x600-256 colors) file converted to
an IFF file. About 5 more conversions on the Amiga,
the picture was finally ported to a CoCo3 HSCREEN3.
This picture can not be converted to any other
screen resolution and can only be loaded for further
manipulation into CIII PagesE. By further cropping
(reducing the width to 6.75"), the picture image can
be converted to a MAX-10 clipart file.
When you move away from the monitor, the picture
appears to look like a photograph.
=*
|
| Articles in section: FAMILY TREE |
| Raymond
Berney The McCormicks WALTER BAYER |
| Back to top |
Raymond Berney Howdy, name's Raymond Berney. Most everybody knows
me as Ray. Been programming on a CoCo since February
1984. Been upgrading my CoCo's along the way so that
now I have a 512k CoCo 3, 2 dual-sided floppy drives
with a Disto Mini-FDC, Hi-Res joystick interface,
all new but necessary connectors all in a "deluxe AT
IBM" case with an external keyboard. A Magnavox
8CM515 RGB monitor and a Star Micronics NX-1000 B/W
printer round out my system. And to keep my system
going throughout power blinks and outages is a Tripp
-Lite BC200 BPS. A BPS is one of the most forgotten,
but most needed piece of equipment for your computer
system. I use many commercial software programs for
my use, such as Telewriter-128, CoCoMax III, CBASIC
III, ColorVenture RAMDISK, Performance Peripherals
MEMTEST, VIP Speller 1.1 and others. =>
____________________________________________________
Most of my programming skill is for utilities, be it
common or unusual. I have translated an IBM program
for exterior ballistics for the CoCo. Heavy on math
computation, but it works. I also write games, but
the games I have developed are quite large and
complex. The one I am now concentrating on is called
"LOGIC3", the third separate program of my game
series "LOGIC","LOGIC2","LOGIC3". "LOGIC3" is a
pseudo-simulation of a logic schematic. You control
a clock pulse that moves around the schematic. But
enough grandstanding. If you want to play any of my
games or any other shareware, I'll be happy to
oblige. Write me at: Raymond Berney
Star Route 68 Box 880
Okanogan, WA 98840-9704
=*
|
The McCormicks My husband (71) and I (66) are both retired from
our former careers. He was a precision tool and die
maker and I was an R N. We moved from southeastern
Ohio to Las Vegas in 1984. We both now work part-
time in retail.
I'm the CoCoNut - my better half is a CoCo widower
My son introduced me to a borrowed CoCo I back in
Nov 1982. That year my Christmas present was a 16 K
extended BASIC CoCo I that we hooked up to the color
TV, with cassette and the tiny TP 10 printer. I have
been thoroughly hooked ever since.
My husband doesn't have anything to do with it -
but - Bless him! Over the years he has "gifted" me
with upgrades and now the system is a 128 K CoCo 3,
RGB monitor, double disk drive and a DMP 130 printer
=>
____________________________________________________
This system is quite sufficient for my needs and
being a senior citizen, I have neither the time nor
inclination to try to learn to use a different
computer. CFDM has my total support and I wish I
knew more about programming so I could contribute
more than questions and requests.
My other hobbies include a Yamaha keyboard, read-
ing, sewing, knitting, crochet, fabric painting and
crossword puzzles. I fully intend to live to 100 and
beyond, because it will take at least that long to
do all the things I still want to do and wish to
learn.
=*
|
CoCo Junky! I was born, grew up, went to school and had my first
jobs in Berlin, Germany. In 1962 I came to America
and spent the next 3 years in the US Army. After the
Army I moved to Milwaukee, Wisconsin. Here I found a
job as a toolgrinder, learned to fly small airplanes
got married, became an electronics technician, found
employment with the Oster corporation, bought a used
house, was divorced (no children), became a Driving
Instructor. I bought my first CoCo in 1982. $400.00
for only 4K. Well, during the next 10 years, I
joined a local CoCo club, layed out the club news-
letter, lost my house, got more hardware/software
for my computer, went from riches to rags, moved
into a 1 bedroom apartment in Waukesha, Wisconsin. I
started to program in 1986 on my new CoCo3. Ever
since CoCoMAX I, I wanted to create just such =>
____________________________________________________
a program and the result was CIII PagesE. Unlike
most, I am working with the hi-res screen, Hscreen3.
I started my little one person software company in
early 1990 and I am creating for my own use and for
the purpose of selling support software for the
better known CoCo programs. (RSDOS only). Throughout
the years I have accumulated a CoCoI, II, III(512K),
5 printers (DMP106,Panasonics KX-P1090/KX-P2123(24),
NX1001/NX1020R),3 MultiPaks,many DS drives(40/80 Trk
3 disk controllers including Disto Super Controller,
2 Video Digitizers (VidX,Computize),1 Zoom 2400 baud
modem, the usual collection of mice, joysticks,
interfaces and of course 1000 upon 1000 of programs.
I even have OS-9 Lv.2 + Tandy OS-9 software but I do
not use it because I am too stupid to understand or
crasp OS-9. Besides the CoCo's, I have no other =>
____________________________________________________
computers. My main source of income comes from being
a motor route driver (Newspaper Boy) for a small
local Newspaper. My other hobbies are: watching TV,
cooking (I like eating), getting used to my brandnew
glasses and teeth, and just plain hanging around.
However, I am most interrested in Computer Desk Top
Publishing and I like talking to people with the
same hangups. So, talk to me, H. Allen Curtis!
=*
|
| Articles in section: FORUM |
| COMPUTERATION
II COMPUTERATION? WHAT I'D LIKE TO TELL TANDY WHAT I'D LIKE TO TELL TANDY??? |
| Back to top |
COMPUTERATION II Our big attraction was a nationally-known speaker, Orville Dean. Once a school teacher, he is now a much sought after speaker on combating the effects of drug dependency. I must say I was not looking forward to 3 hours of "drug talk". Although there is drug usage in our fair county, it is nothing like the national average and has never been a problem with my elementary school population. Or so it seems.... Mr. Dean's approach to this session was unique. He quickly got our attention by pointing out that all the talk in education today is how to help the children get a better education. It focuses on the problems of the student and all the new => ____________________________________________________ methods and procedures which are being used to produce a better educated citizen. Nowhere has anyone spoken about how much extra time and effort this is going to demand from educators. Anyway, as everyone knows, a teacher goes to work at 8 and gets off about 3. They also get 3 month vacations while the average worker gets a few weeks at most. (But please don't let me get started on that one!) The facts are that no one has addressed the problems that could result in adding more pressure to an already pressurised situation. What pressure is that? Imagine going to school 6 years to get the required Masters degree, having a classfull of kids who may not be as concerned as you about the reason they are there, and parents who know that => ____________________________________________________ the reason their child is not doing well is your fault. (And some don't mind telling you!) Now add to this the new methods you are to learn and use. This year! Cooperative learning, Success in Reading, Box-It-Bag It, portfolios, interest centers, themes, peer coaching, team teaching, etc. How can we do this many are asking! (The mind may be willing, but the flesh can get weak!) To the point. Mr. Dean tells us that we are high- risk for "teacher burnout" in the next few years. We must learn to support and encourage each other! No one else is going to do it! How does this relate to the CoCo Friends. "THERE IS NO ONE ELSE WHO CARES ABOUT OUR SUCCESS BESIDES US! WE MUST SUPPORT AND ENCOURAGE EACH OTHER". THINK ABOUT IT! =* |
COMPUTERATION? Today, August 21st, was the opening day of school
for my colleagues and me in the Casey County School
District. Opening day for us usually means all the
teachers and administrators gathering at one of the
schools to hear welcoming remarks from the central
board staff and a boring seminar or two.
Today was somewhat different. It was the best of
all the opening days I have attended. Along with
the standard welcomes was a video about "paradigms"
and a very good speaker whose expertise is in the
field of combating drug dependency. On the surface
the latter did not seem to be a very attractive
subject. But his approach and objectives were a
little out of the ordinary.
=>
____________________________________________________
First the subject of "paradigms". Joel Barker was
the speaker on this video. He is evidently a very
intelligent, insightful man. His purpose was to
help us, as Kentucky educators, be open-minded about
the changes that are taking place in education in
Kentucky. Some of you have heard of the Kentucky
Educational Reform Act (KERA) which was passed a few
years ago here. It completely restructured our
school systems and the way we approach education.
Things like school-based management, the non-graded
primary school, performanced-based testing and a
slew of other hypenated ideas have been added to our
lingo and way of life. Many of us have a hard time
accepting all these changes. Mr. Barker's video
helps us to be more open to change by "taking a new
look" and "seeing things as they really are". =>
____________________________________________________
A paradigm is a "mind-set", which we all have, and
which sometimes keeps us from seeing things that are
readily apparent to others. An example is the way
TANDY and the computer industry in general, view
what computing is all about. Their mind-set is "big,
powerful, and expensive". Our mind-set, which is
much more perceptive, is "easy-to-use, useful, and
within reach of the average pocketbook".
Really, paradigms are much more than the above. It
was interesting to me because it may help give me a
new angle to go about solving problems. I hope Mr.
Barker has a book on the subject. I'd certainly
like to read it.
PLEASE SEE "COMPUTERATION II" =*
|
WHAT I'D LIKE TO TELL TANDY Guys, you really blew it! After coming out with one of the best computers of its time (and since), you didn't take advantage of it. Maybe we can't give you credit for developing the CoCo (I heard it was designed by Motorola to expand the market for the 6809 chip and presented to Tandy - has anyone else heard this?), but you did have the marketing sense to put it into production, and, for that, we thank you. Envisioning the CoCo as a "game machine", you mar- keted programs on ridiculous Program Paks, even long after most of us had disk drives. Most of your soft- ware was far from the best, especially your utili- ties. Scripsit was unwieldy and tedious. Deskmate, your attempt to clone other computer's bundled soft- ware, was primitive. Those that might have been => ____________________________________________________ useful (like Home Publisher) would not drive print- ers other than Tandy's. OS-9 Level 1 would not handle baud rates higher than 600 bps, since early Tandy printers could go no higher -- but others did. Then, you developed the CoCo 3, which had much of what was needed in a CoCo -- more memory, more co- lors, etc. Most of us with a CoCo 1 or 2 also bought the CoCo 3 (and would buy a CoCo 4), but, by decree- ing it as an OS-9 machine and refusing to issue pro- grams except in that format (and the Program Paks), you limited its usefulness, and your potential mar- ket. For those who liked OS-9, fine. But it also re- stricted those of us who tried OS-9 and rejected it for a number of reasons -- slow speed and insuf- ficient memory, for instance. You issued very little OS-9 software, and even third-party programmers => ____________________________________________________ were not issuing much in OS-9 format. In fact, without those third parties who supported the CoCos, wrote excellent programs that exploited its strengths and found ways of making better use of them, you, Tandy, would probably have abandoned the CoCo long ago. You could have had it all by provi- ding that software support, marketing the CoCo as a computer instead of a game machine and not restrict- ing your programs to the use of other Tandy hard- ware. If you had done all that, you would still be mar- keting new generations of the CoCo and its software and would have had the undying support and gratitude of a loyal CoCo community. Tandy, you blew it! =* |
WHAT I'D LIKE TO TELL TANDY??? You've got to be kidding! You will be swamped!!
As a semi-retired senior citizen who is still try-
ing to learn what all my CoCo 3 will do, I didn't
appreciate Radio Shack leaving me high and dry! My
entire system has always been Radio Shack. I started
in 1982 with the old grey CoCo I, a casstte and the
tiny TP 10 printer.
The system has been upgraded to a 128 K CoCo 3, an
RGB monitor, double disk drive and a DMP 130 printer
The clerks in Radio Shack don't seem to know any-
thing about the computers they now sell -- and when
asked questions about the CoCo or its software they
seem to think I'm from outer space.
Please!! - Don't ask Tandy for ANOTHER CoCo!
Why can't the CoCo 3 make a come-back? Is this =>
____________________________________________________
impossible?
Very basic BASIC lessons on the TRS-80 (the old
grey I) were offered by Radio Shack in 1983. This
gave me some idea of how to program the CoCo I.
Of course, I have found no such help since I got
the CoCo 3. Manuals are fine, but it's much easier
to learn new and different commands when you have
an instructor to help interpret the language that
you don't understand.
The RAINBOW has been some help in trying to under-
stand what is going on in a program but wouldn't it
be wonderful if classes could be held by Tandy rep-
resentatives so us dumber clucks could learn to use
the CoCo 3 to its full potential?
As I mentioned before, please don't ask for yet
another CoCo - I'm still trying to learn how =>
____________________________________________________
to use this one!
Thanks for giving me the opportunity to vent my
dissatisfactions. For all my raving, I LOVE my CoCo
and would hate to see the start of another machine
that would take time and space and attention from
the already "Tandy-deserted CoCo 3".
=*
|
| Articles in section: FROM THE EDITOR |
| CORRECTION
& UPDATE FROM THE EDITOR KUDOS <g> THE BONUS DISK!! |
| Back to top |
CORRECTION & UPDATE In issue #6, I included instructions and a short program to enable you to independently LOAD the picture files with the extension .SPR. Inadvertently I placed two lines out of sequence. I tried to LOAD the files before adding the extension. On the PROGRAM/SIDE you will find SPRLOADR.BAS. This version is hopefully correct. To use it, RUN and enter the .SPR file name you wish to see. Do not enter the extension (.SPR). UPDATE: In an earlier issue, someone stated that ULTRA LACE, the RAINBOW program by H. Allen Curtis, required 512 K to operate properly. Allen informed me that "ULTRA LACE works fine with 128 K systems. However, it's operation is even more effective with the extra memory in a 512 K system." THANKS! =* |
FROM THE EDITOR Three pages. Three subjects. Okay? At this moment we have fewer subscribers than we have had in quite a few months. The reason is that with issue #7 quite a few of our Friends received the last issue on their subscription. Are we in a state of depression? NO. On the contrary, we have had more response in the last month than in a long time. And over 90% of those that ended with #6 have already resubscribed! Some for a year! And even some which ended in #7 have resubscribed and it's only been a week! The rest will be here! I'm very sure of that! To show my appreciation to your faithfullness, I've added the bonus disk. A product of your graphic submissions and my GALLERY MAKER on one side and a master submission disk on side two. Please use it to make your submission disks. => ____________________________________________________ I wonder how many of our Friends are in need of one or more hardware pieces? That is, do you need a RGB monitor, disk drive, drive controller, multi-pak, printer, or backup CoCo? If so, what price would you be willing to pay for it. I'm sure that some of our Friends have extras or know where some used hardware could be obtained. If you really need something, let me know. We'll list it in CFDM. Part II of Subject II: For sometime now I've thought about making a video tape. Would you be interested in something like: "A VISIT WITH RICK"? I think it would be interesting to hook my CoCo to a VCR and just talk and show some things from CoCo on a tape. This project would include a disk with the little hints or demos I'd cover. Price it about $15. => ____________________________________________________ The last part of this entry may seem a little out of place to some. I hope you'll indulge me. If you have read COMPUTERATION in the FORUM, you'll recall I talked about Mr. Dean giving some options teachers have in combating burnout. The last item he had was spirituality. How ironic that we talk about God only when we're in church or when we're dying! One of the duties of a Christian is to tell others. I've met hundreds of folks and never mentioned God to them. Yet I've received blessings innumerable! Could there be anything worse than not warning a friend to care for his eternal soul? For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life. JOHN 3:16 =* |
|
KUDOS SOMEWHERE A COCO IS SMILING BECAUSE OF YOU! NORM BARSON WALTER BAYER RAYMOND BERNEY MIKE BROWN LARRY BRYANT DEBRA CAIN GEORGE CORBIN JAMES GIBBONS DON GOOD BOB GRIFFARD MIKE HOKE KEIRAN KENNY BETTY MCCORMICK JIM MILLS GODFREY MOLL GEORGE QUELLHORST JERRY ROBEY HERB SCHULER DOROTHY TOPPING J R WAGGONER ARTHUR WILLIAMS |
THE BONUS DISK!! With this issue you've probably noticed an extra diskette. This is a "THANK YOU FRIENDS" or BONUS disk. I hope you'll find it enjoyable and useful! SIDE 1: On this side of the BONUS disk, you'll find a CoCo Gallery of pictures submitted by our Friends. The gallery is executed by RUN "GMENU". When the display appears press any key to continue. Next the GALLERY MENU of eleven small pictures will appear. Move the arrow keys to frame the picture you wish to see.Now press ENTER and wait for the picture to appear. To leave the picture press any key. At the GALLERY MENU you may press H for a help screen of the options available. Pressing A at the GALLERY MENU will give an information => ____________________________________________________ page about the picture that is currently framed. You may view the pictures continuously by placing the frame around the first picture you wish to see and pressing ENTER. Each picture will be displayed for a few seconds before the next picture is loaded and displayed. Press P to pause the display or any other key to continue. This gallery of pictures was produced by my GALLERY MAKER program from UNBELIEVABLE OFFER #1. SIDE 2: Here's a new and improved submission disk template. When you make submissions to CFDM, please make a BACKUP copy of this disk side. You now have a choice of RUNNING "C.BAS" for the regular => ____________________________________________________ colorful version of CFDM or RUN "M.BAS" for the new MONO-CFDM version. You will also note that I have left off the cover picture and startup screen. This is to allow more room for your submissions. NOW you can put your entries and program submissions on a single sided disk! If you type PRINT FREE(0), you'll notice that this submission disk has 39 free granules for any of your work that you wish to submit to CFDM. By making this possible, you should know that there is room for only about 15 entries in the MAGAZINE/SIDE of the new submission disk. I hope this new SUBMISSION DISK TEMPLATE will make submitting material easier for you! =* |
A FEW EXCERPTS FROM LETTERS ...
You asked my opinion about the CFDM! It has renewed
my interest in the CoCo because of the participation
of other users. Like any type of club, I find that
group activity encourages each individual to seek a
higher level of activity than would be present with
just a passive interest.
Some of my desires along this line is seeing more
programs oriented toward educational software,
especially higher mathmatics, such as trig or
calculus. I have been unable to locate any software
programs of this type to any extent.
Don Good
=>
____________________________________________________
Sir, (from J.R. Waggoner)
Now that I have finally decided that I need a break
from "ACES-UP".....
This is just a thought: How about consolidating all
the programs that load the "/NIB" files into one
like "SEEMANDS/BAS" (issue #6). The "/NIB" files are
usually the first files that I look at after reading
the magazine side. Also, this might save a GRAN or
two of space on the disk.
One last item. I like the idea about the subscribers
using their own post cards. And look at the benefits
--you will be receiving pictures from around the
world and maybe even a few of your subscribers! =>
____________________________________________________
RICK: Don and J.R., thanks for your interesting
comments and suggestions. As you know by now, some
of your ideas are now being used!
AND If I get any really great picture postcards, I
promise to forward them to Jim Gibbons. Your card
may end up returning to you in the form of one of
our covers!
=*
|
HARDCOPY REQUEST Can you reduce the margin space at the top of the page? I put my hardcopies on typing paper, punch holes, and keep them in a notebook. I have a lot of wasted space at the top and often have to print a few of the last lines on the next page or on the back. I am not a programmer but I have worked on a few programs to make them do what I'd like. Would it be legal to share them as "enhancements/upgrades/or whatever"? The back-subscription disks and Rick's unbeliev- able offer (it really is!) arrived at the end of the 2nd week of a 6 week recuperation and I have been having a wonderful time trying to get caught up. As of now I still have 1 1/2 weeks before I return to work and I'm still working on them. => ____________________________________________________ I have already sent for the next 6 issues. Thank you for CFDM, Rick. RICK: Thanks Betty. The BASIC program "HARDCOPY", should not be too hard to make the changes you want. The top margin is controlled by line 1340. That line says: FOR X=1 TO 6:PRINT #-2," ":NEXT X (Or something to that effect.) Just change the 6 to a 1 for a 1 line margin at the top of your page. With the SYSOP's "HARDCOPY", you can also change the leading margin space by inserting the following line in the "C.BAS" program: 638 POKE &H660B,1 PLEASE DON'T USE THIS POKE IN ISSUES BEFORE #6. THE RESULTS MAY NOT BE PRODUCTIVE! =* |
I'm HOOKED!! Hi Rick: I'm really pleased with the way CFDM is
evolving and I'm sure you are too. You
could say I'm hooked on CFDM but that's only part
of my problem. Every time I run into another George
Quellhorst program it does me in. I've been playing
"ACES-UP" continually since the last issue. I am
hooked on George's work! But, this has got to stop!
Can't get anything else done!
You and George and all our other FRIENDS keep up
the good work. I'm sure getting my money's worth!!
Herb =*
|
LOADING PROBLEMS SOLVED I had a problem with Issue 6. After loading either
graphic on the mag side, I found I could not load
any text article without getting an error (the red
screen border). This behavior occurred only with my
RSDOS controller and not with ADOS. Rick told me
that a few others had encountered the same problem.
In looking back at the older issues, I ran across
the hint in Issue 3 for modifying the "C" program to
speed up the stepping rate of the drives. I had done
this when I first saw it, then promptly forgot. So,
while it was fresh in mind, I made the change in all
of my Issues. Surprisingly, the loading problem in
Issue 6 (following a graphic) had disappeared. This
also explains why I had no problem with ADOS which
is configured for a 6 ms stepping rate.
=>
____________________________________________________
So, if anyone else has had this difficulty, try
changing the stepping rate by removing the REMarks
in line 180 of the "C" loader program.
I'll leave it to someone else to explain why this
little idiosyncrasy occurs or why the stepping rate
should have an effect. I guess not all drives are
created equal.
On a different, but related subject, if you've
tried to run CFDM with ADOS, you've probably found
that the CTRL key doesn't work, and you can't page
through the text articles. I used George Quell-
horst's suggestion in his 40-track "C" loader (Issue
3). I disabled ADOS with DISABLE:DLOAD. The CTRL key
now worked properly, yet the faster stepping rate,
for which ADOS was configured, was retained. =>
____________________________________________________
Perhaps George would explain the DLOAD command. It
was new to me, and I could not find it in the CoCo 3
manual or the ADOS3 manual.
=*
|
Program Update I put your program for the '.SPR' files in as you
have it listed in CFDM Issue #6, and when I ran it,
it gave me a 'NE' error in line 30. I reversed
lines 30 and 40 and then it ran fine.
Also, I usually operate out of an 80 column width
screen and so when I tried to run 'STARDUST' by
Herb Schuler, it gave me a 'HP' error in line 20.
I then added a line 5 changing the width to 32 and
it then ran fine. I would like to add that I did
really enjoy it after I got it to run.
Well, it seems I am covering a lot of things in this
one entry, but I had meant to write you about this
some time ago and just didn't get it done. I think
that running CFDM on 40 tracks at 6 mms is a =>
____________________________________________________
great idea. In fact since you ran that one issue
with the 40 tracks option, I listed the program to
see what pokes were used to get the drives set for
40 tracks at 6 mms, and like Dale Kramer, I have
started doing all of my disk the same way, so I can
get more on them.
I have really learned a lot from CFDM that has been
very helpful and useful and have greatly enjoyed the
rest of the entrys. Keep up the GOOD WORK!!!
=*
|
Puzzle Pictures After I got Rick's Unbelievable Offer #1, I
started to find pictures for the puzzle program. One
source I found was graphics entries in "CFDM"! Some
of these will not work in the program. About half
work for me. I hate to limit someones artistic
ability, but if contributors would try to hold
palette registers to 13, we could get double
enjoyment from their work.
=*
|
Subscription Renewal Rick,
I would like to renew my subscription for
another 6 months. I have thoroughly enjoyed
CFDM since March. There has been little time
for me to send ideas and reviews (I don't
program), but, intend to have more time in the
future.
Special thanks to you for continuing the
excellent work with CFDM and the COCO community.
Also to George Quellhorst for all of his
help and superb talents. My wife just got hooked
on Aces Up.
My subscription # is 2-14-7. I believe this
is my acct. #.
P.S. My Rainbow subscription is not being =>
____________________________________________________
renewed this year. I will certainly miss it.
However, it has not been much use to me lately.
I can understand why it has been reduced in
size. I am glad we have CFDM to carry on.
Thanks,
Jerry
Jerry Robey
7102 Silver Circle
Middletown, Md. 21769
RICK: Thanks for your continued support Jerry. I
know RAINBOW is not what it used to be, but I =>
____________________________________________________
have just recently renewed my subscription. That
is a decision each of us has to make. I would like
to say that I still consider RAINBOW a great source
of info and I believe they're trying hard in "trying
times"!
P.S. Jerry, my wife has fallen for George's ACESUP
game too! She plays for hours at a time. Don't tell
anyone, but I sometimes have to put on an apron and
feed the cat! ha
=*
|
Takes getting used to To Rick,
Your CFDM is a real big hit! I like it a lot!
Although it took me long enough to get used to the
way you want submissions entered. Only by reading
the DIRectory of #1 Side 0 did I find PATCH, run it,
did I find how to create a startup disk.
I must say to you, Rick: You're instructions are
generic, sometimes vague. The manual stated CLEAR ON
THE BACK how to submit material to CFDM. NOWHERE did
I find on how to make a Startup disk in the manual.
Yes, after many tries to create an Autobiography for
the Family Tree, I did succeed. Yes, after reading
the instructions, did I understand most of CFDM. Yes
I am still learning also.
Keep improving CFDM, Rick. I see that you are all
of the time. Thank you, Raymond Berney =>
____________________________________________________
RICK: Thanks for the critique Ray! I couldn't
believe I didn't say how to make a submission or
Startup disk until I looked in the docs. Things
have moved rather fast in the last 6 or 7 months.
The original plan was to make a copy of the
STARTUP disk each time anyone wanted to make a
submission. But as CFDM quickly changed it's
disk format, the STARTUP disk was no longer 100%
compatible. (I no longer send out the STARTUP disk.)
Those who have been with us from the start have seen
various entries describing how to best make a good
submission disk.
For the record, you should make a backup of your
latest issue of CFDM. (Be sure to use the BACKUP
command when making any duplicate of CFDM!) =>
____________________________________________________
The second step is to RUN "PATCH.BAS" which you will
find on almost every issue of CFDM. This program
clears all data from the disk and leaves a clean
CFDM shell. The next step, one I have never told
you, is most important. TURN OFF YOUR COMPUTER AND
THEN BACK ON TO CLEAR UP ANY JUNK IN MEMORY! Some
have reported that "PATCH" didn't work when they
left out that last step.
Now you can use the ENTRY WRITER in any section to
make your submissions. Another important point here
is to make a copy of your submission disk for your
records and in case the one you send gets glitched.
THAT PHENOMENA HAS HAPPENED ON MORE THAN ONE
OCCASION!
=*
|
| Articles in section: POTPOURRI |
| BODY
AND SOUL EDUCATION PROJECT UPDATE OUR SOLAR SYSTEM Printed Submission Slip The Mystery behind BOOT/BAS. ??? VCR Title Screens |
| Back to top |
BODY AND SOUL Here's another pop tune from my era that shows off
the properties of the program "MUSIC3+" by George
Quellhorst a little.
This is "BODY AND SOUL" by Johnny Green, a prolific
writer of music and this tune is probably from the
late 'Thirties'. I like to transcribe music that
contains up-beat notes and this is one.
Just turn to the program side of the disk and type:
RUN"BODYSOUL". You'll probably remember hearing the
song before. I hope you are listening to these songs
on a stereo or hi-fi monaural system. They sound so
much better that way. And I hope you are trying to
transcribe some of your own sheet music using =>
____________________________________________________
George's program "MUSIC3+". You'll have a lot of fun
if you just try.
Next month I'll start with some of the classical
music I've done.
Hope you like "BODY AND SOUL"!
=*
|
This month's issue contains an educational entry by
my good friend Mike Brown. I think Mike did a great
job with this disgusting (just kidding) subject!
Another entry by Perry Friesen had to be returned
because of a glitched disk. I hope Perry will send
me another copy soon. Others have sent in either
suggestions or descriptions of what they are working
on. I hope YOU are planning on submitting something
too!
Remember, submitters will receive a free copy of
William K. Miller's educational program SPELL DOWN.
If you are not submitting, but would like a copy,
send $1 and I'll send it with your next issue.
=*
|
OUR SOLAR SYSTEM I have seen programs that give data concerning the various planets in our solar system. I'd like to see this taken a step further, also. I'd like to see a program that gives the viewer a starship's view of each planet and its moon(s). Again with a starship's main viewer screen and a horizontally scrolling readout at the bottom giving sensor read- ings such as mass, gravity, composition, atmosphere (if any), and so on. =* |
Printed Submission Slip Rick, I got my CFDM disks on July 30, 1992 and stuck
in the #3 issue disk sleeve was a "Submission Slip"
paper. Since I don't have a copier handy, I fired up
CoCoMax III and made my own copy of your "Slip". I'm
using one for these submissions. Maybe you could
encourage others to do the same. It will save you
paperwork!
Raymond
=*
|
The Mystery behind BOOT/BAS. ??? The program BOOT/BAS submitted by Arthur Williams in
last months issue, has been around for a long time.
Before I installed ADOS I used to use it all the
time. As a matter of fact I had a DOS-start file on
each disk that used to run BOOT/BAS by typing in DOS
-ENTER.
You have to run the program to see what it does.
However, for a long time no one knew how that little
program did what it does.
If I remember right, there was even some kind of
contest way back when, to see if any one could come
up with the answer. NO ONE DID !! Marty Goodman, in
his column admitted once that he didn't know how the
program worked. I do not know whatever happened with
the contest, I just never saw the solution published
anywhere. About 3 months ago I sent the program =>
____________________________________________________
to one of my new CFDM friends, Robert Brutko, it was
at that time that I decided to see if I could solve
the mystery of BOOT/BAS. AND I DID, I DID, I DID !!
Hows it woks ??? I not tellin jet !!!
Try and see if you can figure it out also.
I give you a hint, list the program to your screen,
and delete lines 25,30,40,50,60,70 and 75. IT STILL
WORKS! Even though the directions that were printed
on the screen are now gone. However, if you now save
the program with those lines deleted to your disk,
and load it back in, it will NOT work anymore.
SURPRIZE, However, it COULD be made to work this way
If no one comes up with the answer, I will share the
secret of BOOT/BAS with all of you in issue #9. Any
one who has done some programming on this =>
____________________________________________________
marvelous machine called COCO should be able to
figure out how this little beauty works.
Also, if anyone knows, I would like to know who the
author of this program is. I don't think it was ever
published in THE (For Lonnie) Rainbow, it might have
made its way down from Delphi or Cumpuserve.
Personally, I do not remember where I got the
program to start out with.
SEE IF YOU CAN FIGURE IT OUT, IT IS A NICE LITTLE
EXERCISE IN LOGIC.
AND A VERY CLEVER WAY TO WRITE A PROGRAM, AND MAKE
THE WHOLE WORLD WONDER HOW YOU DID IT.
HAPPY COMPUTING......GEORGE QUELLHORST
=*
|
VCR Title Screens The program COCOSHOW is included on the Demo disk for Coco Max 3 and the users manual states that "The Demo disk is copyrighted however you are granted permission to distribute copies at no charge". Additionally, the program was included in an issue of the Rainbow. Because of the interest shown by past comments in CFDM it is included to show some examples of title screens generated by Coco Max 3. Run Cocoshow and at the prompt run Current sequence. The first screen is a blank screen showing a moving border. Press the space bar for the second screen which shows use of the border with a title inserted. I have used a screen duration for each screen of 30 seconds so the use of the space bar to change screens is encouraged. The last screen is black to allow fading into the video tape. =* |
| Articles in section: PROGRAMS OF THE MONTH |
| ASCII
saves for CFDM Texts EDUCATION ON THE FLY FINDCLXY - Part 1 FINDCLXY - Part 2 GALLOP RAINBOW INDEXER #1 RAINBOW INDEXER #2 |
| Back to top |
ASCII saves for CFDM Texts When I submit a program to a publication I like
to keep a save of the program and the accompanying
text on a set of disks reserved for that sole pur-
pose. So I modified HARDCOPY (CFDM #1) to print my
CFDM texts to disk as ASCII files. I can then load
the files into Telewriter-128 and transfer them to
my "finals" disks.
The program, PRT#1CFD, has all the prompts you
need. As with HARDCOPY, use the arrows to select a
section and a text file in that section. You should
have a formatted disk ready to receive your save.
The filename of your save will be the first eight
characters in the file you select in the menu. This
may produce some strange filenames like RICK COO but
you can always rename the filename later.
=>
____________________________________________________
Just a word of warning: if the first eight char-
acters of a CFDM filename include an illegal charac-
ter ("." or "/"), then you will not be able to save
the file.
I hope you will find PRT#1CFD as useful as I have
found it to be. If I really need a hardcopy of the
instructions for a program beside me when I run it,
I usually edit the Telewriter-128 save down to the
bare bones and then make a hard copy.
If you have any ideas for improving PRT#1CFD, I'd
like to hear from you via CFDM.
=*
|
EDUCATION ON THE FLY The 6th grade at our school has a pretty nice disk of science instruction for the Apple computer. I enjoyed playing with it and decided to fool around with my Coco to see what I could do.... My submission is the "FLY". It gives information in text and graphics on the fly and examines your comprehension with a short quiz. I wish now that I had used another hscreen for more colors, but I didn't want to fool with reprogramming. I relearned a bunch of stuff about programming the Coco graphics and picked up some very useful info on HGET and HPUT. I hope that you can use this as a catalyst for some great ideas! Just run "FLY" and have fun. Bye for now, Mike =* |
FINDCLXY - Part 1 When I try to draw something on the CoCo screen
the final result always looks nothing like I inten-
ded it to be. But I have made a few simple utilities
for CoCo artists. Some of these have been published
and were appreciated by those who used them.
To demonstrate how FINDCLXY works, run the pro-
gram. Lines 100 to 150 contain code to put three
circles labelled A, B and C on the screen. Press P
and you have a flashing cursor at screen center.
To move the cursor, hold down an arrow key: a
horizontal and vertical arrow together for diagonal
movement and X with arrow keys to speed up the cur-
sor movemment.
Move the cursor to a point at the bottom of the
circumference of circle A (it will flash white on
black when it is precisely on the circumference).=>
____________________________________________________
Press the spacebar and the X and Y coordinates
for the cursor position will be shown top left of
the screen. Note these values and then move down to
a point on top of circle B. Press the spacebar and
note the values of X and Y.
Now press Q. The BREAK key is disabled in line 20
but you can also press SHIFT-BREAK. Both will bring
you to line 5230. This line restores normal operat-
ing speed, keeps your palette values and graphic
screen intact, puts you on a 32-column screen with
black on green, and lists your program from line 100
to line 150 (or the last line you typed). Now type
line 160 with a HLINE statement using the values you
noted as above to connect the two circles. Run again
to check your results.
Press P and move the cursor into a point in =>
____________________________________________________
one of the circles and press a key 0 to 9 or A to E
to paint your circle. Try other keys to see the col-
ors available. Key 4 gives you white. You cannot use
F (black) as a fill as you cannot change it for an-
other color.
You can then press the spacebar, note the coord-
inates, press Q and add a HPAINT statement to the
listing. This would be preferable if you are intent
on building up a basic listing that may take several
sessions, with interim saves, to complete.
Otherwise, just to experiment, press Q, save your
listing as far as you have gone and then run the
NIBSAVER utility to save your picture as well.
(SEE FINDCLXY PART II)
=*
|
FINDCLXY - Part 2 The string A$ in line 40 contains sixteen two- digit palette values. Line 50 pokes these values into color slots 0 to 15. The first eight values are the CoCo 3 default values that are installed when you switch on. Having them in the string can make it easier if you want to change any later. I mentioned that line 5230 keeps your graphic screen and palette values intact. This can cause a problem if you run the program and then decide to change an existing element in your picture. You can change the relevant listing line but when you run again, both your new and old elements will appear on the screen. To make a change like this, first erase the old picture element. Press P and move the cursor to the upper left corner of the area to be erased. => ____________________________________________________ Press U, move down to the lower right corner and Press L. Then delete or change the relevant line(s) in the listing. There is another option. Save your listing and also save your picture as a NIB file if you have done any coloring directly on the cursor screen and you have not entered the appropriate HPAINT state- ments in the listing. Then, when you resume, load your NIB picture and then run your saved program. The picture will appear and you can then continue as before. =* |
GALLOP GALLOP is a trivial little demo for your amuse-
ment. Originally written for the CoCo 1 as a one-
liner, it was submitted to THE RAINBOW and never
saw the light of day.
I've enhanced it some for the CoCo 3, but it is
still primitive animation. I speeded it up with the
high-speed poke. I also used Colin North's technique
(CFDM Issue 4) to clear only part of the screen with
HCLS. That further speeded things up and allowed me
to put in some background and text -- thanks, Colin.
I'd like to dedicate this little program to my
wife, Celia, who loves horses of all kinds -- but
especially those with jockeys on their backs!
=*
|
RAINBOW INDEXER #1 So much has been said recently about updating the
"Rainbow Indexes", that I decided to share my "RB-
INDEX" program. It is a simple direct acess file for
indexing monthly issues of the Rainbow. Just run
"RB-INDEX" and at the prompt give a two number year
(90,91,92,etc.).
At the main menu you have the choice of search,
input, edit, and end. Pressing <break> at any time
takes you to the ending screen, where you can choose
to end or pick another year.
Use the up & down arrow keys to make your choice
of options. Choosing search takes you to another
menu where you can choose to list all or search a
particular field. If you choose a search you are
prompted for the target string. All occurances of
this string will be shown four at the time. ==>
____________________________________________________
Pressing return at any menu takes you to the last
menu.
If you choose input (you should the first time),
you are shown a field name: name of article, date of
issue, page, type (I will explain later), and
comments. At the bottom of the screen you will see
my choices of type codes. These can easily be
changed to suit your needs. I use a system of
numbers and letters (2-D=a basic program on
graphics). All field entries are checked for length,
if they are too long you will be requested to redo.
At the final field you are shown the complete
formated entry and asked if you wish to save it.
Edit first ask for a file number, so list your
entries first and take note of the numbers you wish
to edit. The file is shown first to verify that =>
____________________________________________________
it is the one you wish to edit. Then each field is
shown for editing.
To exit any input area just press enter. I have
tried to provide prompts where ever needed to direct
you along.
This program was designed for a 64 column screen
because I wrote it before I had a monitor. It is a
simple matter to change any of the fields to suit
your personal needs. In fact I am presently working
on a patch to modify this program for indexing
"CFDM". When it is done I will send it along. I have
just recently got my printer, so this program does
not have a screen dump routine, if anyone works one
out please share it with us.
(See Rainbow Indexer #2)
=*=
|
RAINBOW INDEXER #2 Field lengths for the "RB-INDEX" program are:
NAME: 30
DATE: 5 (xx/xx)
PAGE: 3
TYPE: 3
COMMENTS: 60
If I can be of any help in running this program
or modifying it, please fell free to contact me at:
George Corbin
Rt. 3 Box 138
Swainsboro, Ga. 30401
Please enclose a SASE if requesting a reply.
=*
|
| Articles in section: REVIEWS |
| RESCUE
ON FRACTALUS! |
| Back to top |
RESCUE ON FRACTALUS! I would like to do a little review of an old fav-
orite of mine: RESCUE ON FRACTALUS! This game,
created by the Lucasfilm Games Division, held me
spellbound for a long time. It's complexity of
options for the player, allowed for experimentation
to approach the problem of rescuing the downed
pilots from many different angles (pardon the pun).
I just want to say that it is a well thought out
game, and to give some hints and tips I picked up
along the way. After one has mastered the knack of
flying the F-27 Firedrake in the atmosphere on
Fractalus-- day or night, you will be looking to
garner the highest score and raise the standard of
excellence. The manual says you may choose a start-
ing level from 1 to 16. However, this is not the
case. You may choose a starting level higher =>
____________________________________________________
than 16. I usually start at a level above 30. As
your score is multiplied by a factor of 200 times
your starting level, successfully completing your
first rescue mission with a full quota of returned
pilots can produce a score well over 300,000 points
starting at a level above 30. The manual says your
ship can hold a maximum of 20 downed pilots, but
this is not the case, either. Since each downed
pilot over the quota of your starting level earns
you a bonus of 1000 points each, it would behoove
you to gut it out as long as possible-- pack 'em in
there. Another helpful hint: After you have landed
to pick up a downed pilot, the gun emplacements will
try to zero in on you. If you are taking too many
hits, I found one of Captain Kirk's old tricks works
just fine: Turn off all of your sensors and play =>
____________________________________________________
dead. When you power up your sensors again, get out
of the area quickly-- use maximum thrust. Don't fret
about the downed pilot, he'll stay in his ship until
you come back for him. That brings up another point:
always be sure it's a pilot you are allowing on-
board. If you let in a bad guy, it may be all over
for you. I know of only one solution: fire your
boosters immediately! I don't know why, but this
seems to solve the problem. Maybe the little green
guys can't take the G force. There are a few more
tricks to be picked up along the way, but these are
the main ones to keep the game going. One final
note: I have never read an instruction manual quite
so exciting, but then coming from Lucasfilm, I guess
that could have been anticipated.
=*
|
| Articles in section: QUESTIONS & ANSWERS |
| COCO'S
UNDERLINE CHARACTER? HELP HELP!!! HPRINT Coordinate ROMPAK TO TAPE TO DISK T&D Assembler WHAT IS OS-9??? Writing CFDM texts |
| Back to top |
COCO'S UNDERLINE CHARACTER? Dear Rick,
I have a question that I have not been able to
find an answer to. I'm hoping that you can help me.
I'm typing in a program out of RAINBOW and one
line I'm having trouble with is A$="ABCDEFGHIJKLMNOP
QRSTUVWXYZ.-&" (The - is supposed to be an underline
character.)
How can I type an underline character as shown? I
have tried ALT, CTRL, and shifting, individually and
combined, with all the keys, but I can't get this
underline. The crazy thing is, I used to get it but
I've forgotten the correct keys used to make it. Can
you help? =>
____________________________________________________
RICK: Debra, the underline character is not
printable on the WIDTH 32 screen.
To my knowledge it cannot be printed on any screen
by pressing any key or key combination. (HOW ABOUT
IT FRIENDS?)
It is printable on WIDTH40, WIDTH80, and the graphic
HSCREENs. The ASCII code is 127 or 255. Try the
following on any of the WIDTH screens:
PRINT CHR$(127) or PRINT CHR$(255)
Or the following on any of the HSCREENs:
HPRINT (5,5),CHR$(127) or HPRINT (5,5),CHR$(255) =>
____________________________________________________
Here's how to type the line from RAINBOW:
A$="ABCDEFGHIJKLMNOPQRSTUVWXYZ."+CHR$(127)+"&"
FOLLOW-UP: I received a card from Debra after making
this entry. She had contacted the source (RAINBOW)
about this matter and received the correct answer to
her question. That is what all of us have read in
the RAINBOW probably 100 times over the years: "By
pressing SHIFT+UP ARROW you see a left arrow, but
the computer understands it to be the underscore."
HOW EMBARRASSED I AM! Thanks Debra. Now I'm off for
some more of that good old humble pie!
P.S. SHIFT+UP ARROW = CHR$(95) =*
|
HELP HELP!!! I recently purchased the Word Processor 'Word Power
3.3'. I really like it. It operates under 'RS DOS'
and the one I was using before was 'Deskmate' which
operates under 'OS-9'. I have a LOT of files under
the 'OS-9' system, and some of them quite lengthy,
that I would like to be able to use with my 'Word
Power 3.3' without having to re-input them.
This is probably a dumb question, but can that be
done and if so what do I need to do to do this?
Maybe there is a program that someone has written.
If so, I would be VERY interested in purchasing a
copy. Any help from anyone would be greatly
appreciated.
=>
____________________________________________________
You make contact me as follows:
Larry Bryant
5905 Mc Carty
Farmington, New Mexico
87402
or by calling: 505-325-6073
THANKS again in advance for any help given.
=*
|
HPRINT Coordinate I know, of course, that the vertical and
horizontal coordinates of HPRINT statements proceed
in steps of eight pixels on the graphic screen.
However I can remember reading somewhere in Rainbow
that it is possible set HPRINT coordinates such that
they can be set at intermediate values. This could
be useful if you want to position a HPRINT text
precisely in relation to a diagram on the screen.
If I remember rightly, there were pokes or a
patch to do this. Maybe some Friend out there will
be able to give me details of the Rainbow issue this
information appeared in. If so, glad to hear from
you via CFDM.
=*
|
ROMPAK TO TAPE TO DISK DOES ANYBODY KNOW HOW TO GET THE FOLLOWING ONTO TAPE
AND THEN TRANSFER IT TO DISK???
ORCHESTRA-90CC
CASTLE OF THAROGGAD
SOKO-BAN
SPEECH-SOUND PAK
MIND ROLL
ARAKNOID
MALCOLM MORTAR
DUNGEONS OF DAGGORATH
DOROTHY TOPPING
3400 SW DUNKLIN AVE
OKEECHOBEE, FL 34974
=*
|
T&D Assembler I recently bought T&D's utility disk #5 to get
the assembler and disassembler. When I received
the disk I discovered that the programs were not
documented. Does anyone know where I can get the
docs for these programs. Does the rest of their
software come so poorly supported as well?
=*
|
WHAT IS OS-9??? I HAVE A 512K COCO3 AND LOTS OF 0S-9 MATERIAL
(INCLUDING THAT THICK BOOK). NOWHERE DOES IT SAY OF
WHAT USE I CAN MAKE OF OS-9, ASSUMING I CAN MASTER
IT. I KNOW IT'S AN OPERATING SYSTEM, BUT TO DO WHAT?
WHAT IS AN OPERATING SYSTEM? I AM AN OLD LADY OF 65
- CAN YOU TEACH AN OLD DOG NEW TRICKS?
DOROTHY TOPPING
3400 SW DUNKLIN AVE
OKEECHOBEE, FL 34974
=*
|
Writing CFDM texts Being the undisputed world-champion ten-thumbed
wrong-key-hitter, I have always been grateful to my
Telewriter-128 word processor which allows me to
turn out a text neatly corrected and showing no
evidence of my typing and spelling weaknesses after
ten clean-ups. On ENTRY WRITER I am not so comfort-
able.
I have lost count of the number of times I have had
to do a save because I hit BREAK unintentionally. I
have now got over that problem disabling the BREAK
key with POKE41598,255 in the "C" listing. I learned
that from a George Quellhorst program in Rainbow. I
now have to use SHIFT-BREAK to break.
Last week, I submitted a program to save CFDM texts
as ASCII text files. Nothing really clever in that
since it involved little more than changing all =>
____________________________________________________
the PRINT#-2s to PRINT#1 and adding a few prompts.
Now, if some Friend could devise a program to allow
me to type a 50-column text on TW128 and then con-
vert it to CFDM format and insert it into the appro-
priate section, that would be a real boon to me and
perhaps other Friends.
=*
|
