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Table of contents: |
| COCO FRIENDS DISK MAGAZINE Issue #54 | Home | Index | Magazine | ||||||
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| Articles in section: ABOUT COCO FRIENDS DISK MAGAZINE |
| "ABOUT
CFDM" ABOUT COCO FRIENDS DISK MAGAZINE BONUS DISK DIRECTORY (#16) |
| 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! =* |
--------------------- SIDE 2 ---------------------
NAME.........COMMAND..SECTION OR DESCRIPTION
* BLACKOUT.BIN..LOADM:EXEC..PROGRAMS OF THE MONTH
* BOINK .NIB..LOADM:EXEC..PROGRAMS OF THE MONTH
* CFDMWWW .NIB........ART GALLERY
* CLIPS5 .CLP........ACTIVE COCO
* DRAG-WAV.NIB........ART GALLERY
HAND105 .BAS..RUN...PROGRAMS OF THE MONTH
* JOYCHAIN.BIN..LOADM:EXEC..PROGRAMS OF THE MONTH
* LOOKING .NIB........ART GALLERY
* NIBLOADR.BIN........NIB LOADER UTILITY
NIBSAVER.BAS..RUN...USED BY PCX->NIB.BAS
NIBSHOW .BAS..RUN...ART GALLERY
* PART1 .ASM........[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[
* PART1 .LST........ ARTICLES OF THE MONTH
* PART1 .TXT........ ASSEMBLY LANGUAGE =>
____________________________________________________
* PART2 .ASM........ SERIES BY
* PART2 .LST........ WILLIAM ASTLE
* PART2 .TXT........[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[
PCX->NIB.BAS..RUN...PROGRAMS OF THE MONTH
* PCXREADR.BIN........DATA FILE FOR PCX->NIB.BAS
READFILE.BAS..RUN...ARTICLES OF THE MONTH
* SONIC .NIB........ART GALLERY
* VIS16 .NIB........ART GALLERY
=*
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| Articles in section: ABOUT THIS ISSUE |
| BONUS
DISK DIRECTORY (#16) CONTENTS...PART 1 (i54) CONTENTS...PART 2 (i54) CONTENTS...PART 3 (i54) PROGRAM DIRECTORY (i54) THIS MONTH'S COVER |
| Back to top |
Here's a description of the files on the BONUS DISK.
File names preceded by an asterisk are data files or
program files used by other programs. Do not RUN or
EXEC files preceded by an asterisk.
------------------- SIDE 1 ---------------------
NAME.........COMMAND..SECTION OR DESCRIPTION
* .BAS........DATA FILE FOR SIGNMAKR.BAS
* 12THST .BIN........DATA FILE FOR SONGS.BAS
* 12THST .SNG........ '' ''
* 76TBONES.BIN........ '' ''
* 76TBONES.SNG........ '' ''
* ABC'S .SGN........DATA FILE FOR SIGNMAKR.BAS
* CANTHECI.BIN........DATA FILE FOR SONGS.BAS
* CANTHECI.SNG........ '' ''
* D-COLORS.BIN........DATA FILE FOR SIGNMAKR.BAS =>
____________________________________________________
* ENTRANCE.SGN........DATA FILE FOR SIGNMAKR.BAS
* FOR SALE.SGN........ '' ''
* IBM-P .BIN........ '' ''
* M .BIN........ '' ''
* MI .BAS..RUN... '' ''
* NOTICE .SGN........ '' ''
* PERFIDIA.BIN........DATA FILE FOR SONGS.BAS
* PERFIDIA.SNG........ '' ''
* PLACARD .SGN........DATA FILE FOR SIGMAKR.BAS
* PLATE .CM3........POTPOURRI
PORTRAIT.BAS..RUN...ART GALLERY
READDOCS.BAS..RUN...USE TO READ SIGNDOCS.DAT
ROLLOVER.BAS..RUN...ARTICLES OF THE MONTH
S-COPIER.BAS..RUN...SEE PROGS (SIGNMAKER)
* SIGNDOCS.DAT........DOCS FOR SIGNMAKR.BAS
* SIGNMAKR.BAS..RUN...PROGRAMS OF THE MONTH =>
____________________________________________________
SNGWRITR.BAS..RUN...PROGRAMS OF THE MONTH
SONGS .BAS..RUN...POTPOURRI
* STORAGE .BIN........DATA FILE FOR SIGNMAKR.BAS
* SYMBOLS .SGN........DATA FILE FOR SIGNMAKR.BAS
* TANDY-P .BIN........ '' ''
* TITLE .BIN........ '' ''
VUMASTER.BIN..LOADM:EXEC...CM3 GRAPHICS VIEWER
* YELORIB .BIN........DATA FILE FOR SONGS.BAS
* YELORIB .SNG........ '' ''
----------------------------------------------------
FOR THE DIRECTORY TO SIDE 2 OF THE BONUS DISK,
PLEASE SEE THE SECTION IN THE MAIN MENU TITLE
- ABOUT COCO FRIENDS DISK MAGAZINE -
=*
|
ABOUT COCO FRIENDS DISK MAGAZINE (3)
1 "ABOUT CFDM"
2 ABOUT COCO FRIENDS DISK MAGAZINE
3 BONUS DISK DIRECTORY
ABOUT THIS ISSUE (6)
1 BONUS DISK DIRECTORY (#16)
2 CONTENTS...PART 1 (i54)
3 CONTENTS...PART 2 (i54)
4 CONTENTS...PART 3 (i54)
5 PROGRAM DIRECTORY (i54)
6 THIS MONTH'S COVER
ACTIVE COCO (6)
1 * NEW CLIPART FOR MAX-10 *
2 * TRIBUTE TO FLOYD * =>
____________________________________________________
3 COCO CHRONICLES 5 (PART 1)
4 COCO CHRONICLES 5 (PART 2)
5 COCO CHRONICLES 5 (PART 3)
6 Emulator up and running
ADVERTISEMENTS (2)
1 CFDM SUBSCRIPTION
2 COCO ITEMS FOR SALE
ARTICLES OF THE MONTH (8)
1 Assembly Language Programming 1
2 Assembly Language Programming 2
3 CONVERT IBM JOYSTICK TO COCO
4 How to Find a Subscriber
5 Keyboard Rollover Bits
6 My Opinion of the Web =>
____________________________________________________
7 No CoCoMax on Emulator?-TRY THIS
8 Rollover Bits - Part 2
COCO FRIENDS ART GALLERY (12)
1 * INFINITY ROOM ART WORK *
2 * THE INFINITY ROOM *
3 ANIMATED NIBS
4 CFDM on the WWW
5 DRAGON WAVE-a distorted fractal
6 GOLDEN GATE AT DUSK
7 Self Portrait
8 Some more conversions
9 The Hick Brothers
10 VIEWING THE CFDM ART GALLERY
=*
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FAMILY TREE (3)
1 IT IS VERY INTERESTING
2 THE GARLICS, ARNOLD & LORENA
3 Time for an Update
FORUM (1)
1 How to know you're growing older
FROM THE EDITOR (3)
1 FROM THE EDITOR
2 KUDOS (i54)
3 RICK'S PICNIC II
LETTERS TO THE EDITOR (6)
1 COCO GETTING DUSTY??
2 EXCERPTS FROM LETTERS =>
____________________________________________________
3 FROM FRIEND HAROLD !!
4 INTERNET LIBRARY OF COCO!!
5 MESSAGE FROM HOLLAND
6 STILL LEARNING ABOUT THE "STAR"
POTPOURRI (7)
1 ALLEY OOP
2 BOOK PLATE
3 CFDM on the Internet!
4 CONCERTOS
5 HERE'S A DANGEROUS POKE!
6 JUST DOODLING...
7 Music .BIN and .SNG Files
PROGRAMS OF THE MONTH (10)
1 BLACKOUT - A TRUE screen saver =>
____________________________________________________
2 BLACKOUT Technical Notes
3 HAND105 - Technical
4 Handwriting Recognition -HAND105
5 SOCKMASTER DEMOS
6 SONGWRITER
7 THE COCO SIGN MAKER
8 WALLS OF JERICHO
9 WOJ (Continued)
10 Windows PCX to NIB Converter
REVIEWS (2)
1 NEW PRINTER
2 SILICON SNAKE OIL - BOOK REVIEW
(SEE PART 3)
=*
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QUESTIONS & ANSWERS (6)
1 CONVERSIONS R US
2 CoCo on an Apple Mac?
3 HELP PLEASE !!!
4 LOOKING FOR UPGRADE KITS
5 Making Flippies
6 NIB, SQS, and SQZ
=*
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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......
* ALLYOOP .CLP........POTPOURRI
* ALLYOOP .NIB........POTPOURRI
* BFR .BIN........DATA FILE FOR WOJ.BAS
* BIKER .NIB........ART GALLERY
CONCERTO.BAS..RUN...POTPOURRI
* DREAM .NIB........ART GALLERY
* GATE1 .NIB........[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[
* GATE2 .NIB........ ART GALLERY SERIES
* GATE3 .NIB........ FROM
* GATE4 .NIB........ NORM BARSON
* GATE5 .NIB........ =>
____________________________________________________
* GATE6 .NIB........[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[
* HICK 52 .NIB........ART GALLERY
* INFINITY.NIB........ART GALLERY
JSTKDIAG.BAS..RUN...ARTICLES OF THE MONTH
* JTKDIAG1.NIB........DATA FILE FOR JSTKDIAG.BAS
* JTKDIAG2.NIB........DATA FILE FOR JSTKDIAG.BAS
JUSTDOOD.BAS..RUN...POTPOURRI
* NIBLOADR.BIN........NIB LOADER UTILITY
NIBSHOW .BAS..RUN...ART GALLERY
* SPELLBND.BIN........DATA FILE FR CONCERTO.BAS
* VARMENT .NIB........ART GALLERY
VUMASTER.BIN.LOADM:EXEC...CM3 GRAPHICS VIEWER
* WARSAW .BIN........DATA FILE FOR CONCERTO.BAS
WOJ .BAS..RUN...WALLS OF JERICO (PROGRAMS)
* WOOKOUT .NIB........ART GALLERY
=*
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CFDM Picnic Out in Kentucky, the annual CFDM picnic
was held. I was asked by Rick if I could draw
something in keeping with the theme. So here
is a picture from the mountains of Kentucky,
along with an empty picnic table. Put yourself
in the picture enjoying the picnic.
......until next time
Jim Gibbons
=*
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| Articles in section: ACTIVE COCO |
| *
NEW CLIPART FOR MAX-10 * * TRIBUTE TO FLOYD * COCO CHRONICLES 5 (PART 1) COCO CHRONICLES 5 (PART 2) COCO CHRONICLES 5 (PART 3) Emulator up and running |
| Back to top |
* NEW CLIPART FOR MAX-10 * After studying the many Disks of RASCAN Images
that I had saved a year ago, I decided to see if I
could extract a few CLIPs from the FUNNIES and PIC-
TURES that I had DIGITIZED. After converting them
to CM3 Files I did some CUTs and SAVEd them as CM3
Files, which I then PIXTRANS'd them into CLIPS/CLP
Files. Then I sized them in MAX-10 and did another
SAVE as CLIPS/CLP.
Taking 15 reduced size CLIPS into a SINGLE CLIP
File that I named CLIPS2 thru CLIPS10 -- added names
to the CLIPS and a TITLE from JIM BENNETT'S TITLE
MAKER Program.
I ended up with 9 Files of 15 CLIPS each that
would fit on three DISKS. You may use them for a
BONUS or as an ongoing Program File.
(Bonus Disk Side 2.) CoCoNut Friend Godfrey ==*
|
* TRIBUTE TO FLOYD * HARRIET KEIRNAN wrote to me about FLOYD going
to his MAKER on April 28th. He and I have been cor-
responding since April 1993. I always look forward
to his MAX-10 Letters, which always included many
Clips and his wonderful sense of Humor! His EASTER
cards were always uplifting.
When we came back from Florida, I had so many
communications from FLOYD that I put them into their
own Notebook! In the days to come I will be able to
peruse them and again obtain much JOY from his writ-
ings. I know that many other members of CFDM had
been in touch with FLOYD and will miss him as I do.
During his last months, he had been trying to
convert to a PC, but had as much difficulty as I've
been having with these new complicated Computers.
WE WILL MISS HIM! Muriel & Godfrey ==*
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COCO CHRONICLES 5 (PART 1) ASSEMBLY LANGUAGE SPOKEN HERE
The SDS80C from the Micro Works was the Color Com-
puter's first editor/assembler. Although marketed
in August, it had been a reality since June.
I should mention that, Cer-Comp of Las Vegas, in a
letter dated June 1, stated the availability of
their editor/assembler which, in fact, may have been
the first. If so, I stand corrected but, The Micro
Works did get theirs to market first.
Other notable releases in August included Mark
Data's first two adventure games CALIXTO ISLAND, and
BLACK SANCTUM, Tallgrass Technologies' disk system,
and 64K RAM adapter board, and THE FACTS, a =>
____________________________________________________
Color Computer technical manual from Spectral
Associates.
BARRY THOMPSON, Tandy's Product Line Manager, in his
column for Radio Shack's TRS-80 MICROCOMPUTER NEWS,
replied to MARK GRANGER's "PCLEAR 0" inquiry with
this explanation: "...THERE IS NO WAY TO RELEASE
THAT LAST PAGE OF GRAPHIC MEMORY....". Had Mr.
Thompson read the RAINBOW's second issue, he not
only would have found out about the PCLEAR 0 trick
but, he would have heard from a "very high placed
source" that a Radio Shack disk system would be out
within 2 months along with a 32K upgrade.
Hadn't we heard those stories before?
=>
____________________________________________________
September is a time to return back to school. A time
for learning, and learn we did. We learn from Radio
Shack that, the much rumored 32K upgrade is finally
a reality. Although not mentioned, the upgrade
includes both the new E-board and 1.1 Basic ROM. You
discover that the first Color Computer word proces-
sor, C.C. WRITER, is available from TRANSFORMATION
TECHNOLOGIES. You are taught by C.J. ROSLUND's that,
the PCLEAR "bug" can be fixed with a simple "REVERSE
REFERENCE", and your homework assignment is to read
CLAY ABRAMS', documentation for another Color Com-
puter first, his RTTY/CW communications software!
The Sep/Oct issue of CCN also debuts a column which
quickly becomes one of the most popular: COMMENT
COLUMN. Written by Andrew Phelps, (See Part 2) =*
|
COCO CHRONICLES 5 (PART 2) author of The Micro Works' CBUG, 80C Disassembler, and SDS80C, each column takes an in-depth look at one of the Color Basic ROM routines. Thanks again Andy! A first this month from Computerware, is the Color Computer's first alternate language: PASCAL. Compu- terware also starts marketing MAGICUBE (a Rubick's Cube game), and COLOR DATA ORGANIZER. Steve Odneal's FLEX had, by this time, been convert- ed to operate on the newly released Exatron system and, it worked like a "champ". According to Steve, the Exatron expansion board was the key, as it allowed the ROMs to be turned off and RAM turned => ____________________________________________________ on. Steve, while converting FLEX for the Radio Shack DOS, doubts the system will be capable of switching ROM to RAM. Steve would surely have got- ten an "F" forr his speculation that the Exatron disk system would be the "standard" disk system for the Color Computer, possibly surpassing even Radio Shack's. The month for trick or treating, October, saw the first details about the Radio Shack disk system, the debut of Bob Nay's COLOR COMPUTER USERS NOTES in 68 MICRO, plus the release of AARDVARK-80's first 7 games. Another October treat was Dennis Kitsz's article detailing a modification that will deliver "true" => ____________________________________________________ lower-case, instead of those unsightly inverse characters. This was the first lower-case board for the Color Computer, and is also available in kit form from MSB ELECTRONICS. Thanks Dennis! Marketing began on SOFT SECTOR MARKETING's MASTER CONTROL, the first single key entry utility. If you ordered immediately you were told "...some problems have cropped up and we'll be a few weeks late in delivering it...". Not again!!! Jorge Mir's article appeared, describing how Video- tex can be modified to return to Basic upon reset, thereby giving the Color Computer its (See Part 3)=* |
COCO CHRONICLES 5 (PART 3) first BBS download capability.
Although there were a few bulletin boards which
supported the Color Computer, THE ARK, to my know-
ledge, was the first to actually run on a Color
Computer. "Barefoot" John Griffen, the sysop,
operated the BBS from his houseboat in Portland, OR.
Callers include STEVE DEN BESTE, SHAWN JIPP, Bob
Rosen, and ED MARCH.
(More CoCo Chronicles next issue.)
=*
|
Emulator up and running After 4 tough trys, I got the CoCo 3 Emulator v1.42
to properly function. Unfortunately, it runs as a
200 kHz CoCo 3, instead of a 894 kHz CoCo 3. The
cursor blinks so slow, I can count along with it.
Another small problem I had was using the RETRIEVE
command to transfer the CFDM files to virtual PC
files. The documentation stated destination drive
instead of source drive. This took me a while to
find out. (It's very hard to get only 35 tracks on a
850 megabyte hard disk) But since I ironed out that
problem, I am still playing around it and will hope
to find out all the neat things I can do with the
Emulator.
=*
|
| Articles in section: ADVERTISEMENTS |
| CFDM
SUBSCRIPTION COCO ITEMS FOR SALE |
| 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. CFDM is offered only by yearly subscription. Each subscription consists of 4 regular disks issued at 3 month intervals and starts with the September issue for that year. With each issue you will also receive a Bonus disk and a copy of HARDCOPY. The cost for the subscription is $30. Back issues are available for $3 each. Please include $2 s/h on back issue orders. COCOs FOREVER!! =* |
COCO ITEMS FOR SALE Dear Sir:
Would you know of anybody who might be interested in
purchasing the following CoCo equipment?
- CoCo II with connector for TV
- CoCo III with 512K upgrade
- FD 501 disk drive
- modem
- many games
- Magnavox Color Monitor - 13 inch
- Programs: CoCo Max III, MAX-10, Tandy Home Pub-
lisher, C III Pages E v.2.5, CoCo
Calligrapher, many pieces of clip art,
CoCo Graphics Designer Plus
- Many issues of RAINBOW, other CoCo books =>
____________________________________________________
All equipment is clean and in perfect working order.
Contact: Frank Booke
45 Alpine Lane
Caledonia, NY 14423
=*
|
Assembly Language Programming 1 View text file associated with this article This is the first in a series which tries to
illustrate how to program in assembly language. Each
installment will have a some code developed. The
EDTASM+ source will be provided in a file with the
extension ASM and an ASCII listing which can be
printed out will be provided in a file with the
extension LST if space permits. There may be the
occasional basic program included for comparison.
To read this installment, run READFILE.BAS and enter
PART1.TXT as the filename.
I can be reached by email at
ASTLW(at)AUGUSTANA.AB.CA or via CFDM.
(See Side 2 of the Bonus disk.) =*
|
Assembly Language Programming 2 View text file associated with this article This is the second of a series on assembly language
programming. To read this installment, use READFILE
to read PART2.TXT.
For general information about this series refer to
the intro to PART1 on the Magazine side of CFDM54.
I can be reached by email at
ASTLW(at)AUGUSTANA.AB.CA or via CFDM.
(See the text file and accompanying programs on side
2 of the Bonus Disk.)
=*
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CONVERT IBM JOYSTICK TO COCO
Some time ago I received from Art Boos a diagram and
instructions for converting IBM joysticks to be used
on the CoCo. With his permission I am submitting it
to CFDM. I have at this time converted 2 joysticks
with excellent results. Most IBM joysticks use 100K
ohm pots. or variable resistors for X(left&right) Y
(up&down), and throttle. Throttle is unused on COCO3
other than that they are similar. The COCO3 will
use the center lug of each pot as position output.
The outer lugs will be used for ground and +5 volts.
Basically you must move the 5 volt line to the
unused lug of the pots. This line is daisy chained
to all pots. The output wires will be moved to the
center lug of each pot. Run a ground daisy chained
to all pots and tie to pin 3 of the CoCo Joystick
port the fire buttons to make a ground when pressed.
____________________________________________________
One fire button will go to pin 4, the other to pin 6
of the JYSTK port. You should end up with a ground
tie point comprised of JYSTK cord(pin3), fire button
(s) and the newly installed daisy chain to the pots.
Your newly converted JYSTK should meter out with a
volt/ohm meter like a Tandy JYSTK. Enclosed is the
program "JSTKTEST/BAS" use to check fire buttons and
all X Y coordinates. View "JTKDIAG1/NIB" and"JTKDIAG
2/NIB" (JYSTK viewed from bottom & JYSTK port viewed
from rear of CoCo. None of the wires are true color
coded. Let it be known that this program and doc-
umentations are compliments of Mr. Art Boos.
49 Spring Creek
Mansfield, TX
76063
(817) 473-1777 =>
____________________________________________________
Art, how come I can't find your Family Tree??
Barry T Miller
5321W 8000S RD
Chebanse IL 60922
(815) 697-2533
I don't know if an IBM trackball can be converted to
the CoCo but I will be attempting it in the very
near future.
(The NIB files and BASIC program are located on Side
2 of this disk.)
=*
|
How to Find a Subscriber So, you have your computer, modem, and perhaps a new
phone line. How to get on-line?
Companies that offer access to the WWW and Internet
advertise in the newspaper.
You probably get free disks in the mail from
Compuserve and America On-Line (AOL). When you buy
a new computer, it usually has some free software
on it from AOL, Compuserve, Eworld, Prodigy, and
even Microsoft. These disks or free programs offer
you somewhere between 10 and 20 free hours. You
must first register, give your credit card number,
and they your first 10 or 20 hours are free. Any-
thing more costs a few dollars per hour and will
be billed to your card. If you cancel after your
free hours, you'll not be charged for anything.
->
____________________________________________________
Different companies will offer different features
if you sign up with them. Most of them charge
between $15 and $25 per month for 10 to 20 hours
of use, then a few dollars for each hour over your
monthly allowance. 20 hours might sound like a lot,
but I have found the WWW to be very slow, and I can
be on for an hour or two in one sitting, just trying
to find something.
I heard it rumored that AT&T will be offering FREE
Internet access for one year to its long distance
customers. We'll see what happens there.
To get onto a plain old BBS, you'll need a good
terminal program. Programs like Vterm are fine for
the CoCo 3. If you run Windows, you'll be able to->
____________________________________________________
use the built-in "terminal" accessory. If you buy
a modem, you'll probably get a disk or two with a
terminal program on it. These terminal programs are
not that good, but they'll do to get you started.
I get all my e-mail through a local BBS. It costs
me $100 per year for UNLIMITED mail to anywhere in
the planet, plus access to every file on the BBS,
including art work, music, graphics, games, etc.
I use QMPRO, but ProComm is supposedly very good.
I also get onto the Web using free trial disks. I
track my hours, then cancel my subscription. I also
have access to the Web through college (it's free).
One more article-> My Opinion of the Web -*
|
Keyboard Rollover Bits Many of you who program on the CoCo are aware of
the keyboard rollover bits, and have possibly made
use of some of them in your programs. In the past,
I have usually made use of the rollover bits to
detect a press of F1, F2, ALT, or CTRL and neglected
using the rollover bits for all of the other keys.
It is easy to use EXEC44539:K$=INKEY$ and then
use K$ or ASC(K$) to wait for a keypress and then
route the program execution to a specific subroutine
if the appropriate key has been pressed. Why should
I use a confusing PEEK instead of the above?
That had always been my thought until one day
while I was trying to find a solution to a problem
with a task-specific word processing program I was
working on....I needed more function keys than I had
available on the keyboard! The solution appeared =>
____________________________________________________
to be simply to use ALT or CTRL in combination with
letter keys. But how to do it without requiring the
user to press ENTER?...and what was the best way to
recognize a letter key regardless of whether it was
uppercase or lowercase?
This is where I discovered one of the very useful
characteristics of the keyboard rollover bit - it is
not "case" sensitive; when a letter key is pressed,
the rollover bit is the same for either uppercase or
lowercase. How handy in this application!
After a little thought and experimentation, the
second problem appeared to be solved by PEEKing at
the memory location for the CTRL key rollover bit
right after the EXEC44539:K$=INKEY$ and if the PEEK
indicated that the CTRL key had been pressed, the
execution would go to another line that used =>
____________________________________________________
EXEC44539 to wait for another keypress, which would
be the letter used to indicate the program routine
that was selected for execution:
10 EXEC44539:K$=INKEY$:IF PEEK(343)=191 THEN40
20 (use K$ as a character input for the word
processor)
30 GOTO 10
40 EXEC44539:IF PEEK(342)=253 THEN GOTO50 ELSE
GOTO 10
50 (load file routine):GOTO10
The reason I said that this "appeared" to be the
solution is that I discovered that the PEEKS given
in the PEEKS 'N POKES volume 1 did not work for some
of the letter keys I wanted to use.
For the solution, read Rollover Bits Pt.2 <*>
|
My Opinion of the Web Chaos. The first place I always connect to is either http://www.yahoo.com or http://www.lycos.com These two pages are search engines. You can type in a topic, and they will show you a list of all matching places on the Web. Then you just click on one, and you're there. Well, it's not quite that quick. Expect to wait for several minutes on a good day for the computer to display the images. If you try to download a file, expect to wait 10 minutes to 30 minutes, depending on the size of the file. The WWW is VERY SLOW. Don't let anyone tell you -> ____________________________________________________ otherwise. Phone lines are slow, the modem at the other end is slow, and so many millions of people are using the Web, and so much ABSOLUTELY USELESS information is out there, that everything is slow. It is not a "superhighway", it is more of a "traffic jam". Unless you work at a rich company that has an ISDN line or T-1 link, you'll get very impatient. Don't plan on getting an ISDN line for you house. You'll probably need to take out a second mortgage. Or a third. Sell off the car and the kids? Maybe just the kids. I have to mention this also that while there is a lot of interesting and informative stuff out there, there is also a lot of filth. If you go through a company like AOL or Prodigy, they will do their-> ____________________________________________________ best to block the most obscene home pages. But... more than likely, you will stumble across pages of nudidy, sex, homosexuality, hate-groups, anarchists, etc. They're out there. Freedom of speech means they can be on the Web, just like the research station in Antarctica that will answer your questions about the South Pole. Our school is not getting WWW yet, for fear that a student will find something inappropriate. Articles that I have read about the WWW predict that the whole thing will crash one of these days, due to so much junk, and so many people trying to use the phone lines. I don't know exactly what will happen. For it to really work, we'll need fiber-optic cables into our houses. Who knows the future? -* |
No CoCoMax on Emulator?-TRY THIS When Jeff first introduced the Emulator, perhaps you were like me. You wanted to use CoCo Max III but discovered that the hardware doesn't exist on the emulator, and therefore, you couldn't use it. Well, your concerns are about to end. I have written a program that lets you draw a picture in Windows, and then convert it to a NIB file! That's right! That Windows Paintbrush program that you have played with can be set to 320 x 192. You can then use all the tools, colors, and text, and when you save it (here's the secret), save it as a PCX file (one of the choices under formats). PORT it to the emulator, and run "PCX->NIB" to -> ____________________________________________________ change it into a NIB file. All the colors will stay the right color. Just convert and go! There is no catch! Instead of using CoCo Max III, you can now submit original artwork to CFDM, but drawn using Windows! Please read the ART GALLERY article called "TEST PATTERN" and the PROGRAMS OF THE MONTH article called "Windows PCX to NIB converter" and you'll find out all about this converting program. Watch for more features in the next version, but for now, boot up Windows and start drawing! -* |
Rollover Bits - Part 2 As I said in the first part of this article, I
discovered that some of the keyboard rollover bits
that were given in my reference book did not seem to
work in the application I was using them for.
To find out what was going on with the keyboard
rollover bits, I put together a very short program
that would print the numbers in the rollover bit
PEEK locations, the character for the key that was
pressed, and the ASCII code for that character to my
monitor. The results obtained matched the values
that were given in the reference booklet.
Then, after giving the problem some more thought,
I added a few more lines to the listing I had made
to print the above information to my monitor for a
second key when two keys were pressed and held down
together. =>
____________________________________________________
Ah-Ha!....The results of this test revealed that
when two keys whose rollover bit shared the same
PEEK location were pressed together, the value
produced by the second key was different than it was
when that key was pressed alone!
Substituting the new value that I had discovered
for the old value in the program I had been working
on cleared up the problem I had encountered and
provided me with the extra function keys I needed.
An added bonus (?) of using the keyboard rollover
bits is that you do not have to assign the pressed
key to a string variable when making use of it to
steer the program execution. For instance: "Do you
wish to continue? (Y/N)" could be programmed as:
10 EXEC44539:IF PEEK(344)=253 THEN....ELSEIF PEEK
(339)=247 THEN....ELSE10 =>
____________________________________________________
There are probably lots of other uses for the
keyboard rollover bits....if you know of some,
perhaps you could share them via CFDM.
I have included the program ROLLOVER.BAS on the
program side of the disk so you can see what the
rollover bits are for the various keys. If you want
the value for one key, you must press the same key
twice before the answer appears. If you want the
value for a two-key combination, hold the first key
down while you press the second key. Press any key
when prompted if you wish to find the values for
more keys, or BREAK at the prompt to quit.
(See ROLLOVER.BAS on side 1 of the Bonus Disk.)
=*
|
* INFINITY ROOM ART WORK * In April JEFF VAVASOUR sent me "COCO3NEW.EXE"
program to use with the EMULATOR that has the HI-
RES Joystick capabilities. My initial testing of the
Joystick was in creating this picture "THE INFINITY
ROOM". I had a lot of FUN using my new PACKARD BELL
133 MHz computer that Muriel purchased for me for my
Birthday upon our return from Florida.
I had a few problems, and have sent a Letter
and a Work Disk to JEFF. Hopefully within the year
he will be able to release a new EMULATOR for all of
us to enjoy! (Used CoCoMaxIII)
Enjoy the picture and if you are ever near the
area make an effort to visit THE HOUSE ON THE ROCK!
GODFREY J. MOLL
4355 S. NATIONAL APT 1001
SPRINGFIELD, MO 65810 ==*
|
* THE INFINITY ROOM * Muriel and I arrived HOME from Florida on March
24th and by April 20 we were ready for one of our
"TRIPS" to visit another of the Wonders of America.
We headed first to Minnesota to visit the Mall of
America. Very impressive, but still a shopping mall
-- so we spent the afternoon at the ZOO! The next
day we visited the PLANES OF FAME "WARBIRD MUSEUM"
and enjoyed their excellent collection including a
P-40, P-51 and Spitfire -- the B-17 and P-38 were at
another field that day. (All in flying condition!)
The best part of the trip was still ahead of us
at Spring Green, Wisconsin -- about 40 miles west of
Madison the Capital. THE HOUSE ON THE ROCK designed
and built by Sculptor Alex Jordan. He started out to
build himself a STUDIO-WORKSHOP by carrying all of
the needed stone and mortar in baskets upon his ==>
____________________________________________________
back, climbing the most difficult slopes by ladder.
He had purchased a 200 acre farm, which surrounded
THE ROCK and only after many years did he have a
lift installed. The house is built on top of and
around the 60 foot column and has 14 rooms. This is
only the beginning of the tour -- the EXHIBITS are
arranged in three groups -- The Early Years -- The
Nostalgic Period -- The Eclectic Period -- each in
three to five buildings (some 3 stories high). His
collections are the finest I've ever seen!
Muriel really enjoyed the Doll & Doll House
Collections and the World's Largest Carousel with
over 20,000 lights and 269 handcrafted animals - not
one a horse! It is 35 feet tall, 80 feet wide and
weighs 35 tons -- valued at $4.5 million. I liked
the many rooms filled with musical instruments ==>
____________________________________________________
that played by mechanical means upon placing tokens
in the control box -- need to be seen and heard to
appreciate the mans genius.
Back to the INFINITY ROOM - constructed in 1984
of steel that protrudes, without support, for 140 ft
over the Wyoming Valley (in Wisconsin). The room is
actually 218 feet long and was built by building a
bridge from the House Rock to another Rock and then
doing the steel fabrication in place on the bridge.
Since the Room tapers to a point, the next section
was made inside the first one. This section was then
slid out, like a telescope, and held in place with a
winch attached to the first section and then welded
in place. Built one section at a time!
If you're in the area -- don't miss it!
The Roving CoCoNut Godfrey ==*
|
ANIMATED NIBS
"OLD HAT" does not apply to me. NO WAY ! When I
sent in "THE PLUMBER" as a CM3 animated, I did not
think it would appear in CFDM #53 as an animated
NIB. Thanks to Rick and Stuart, I put on a "NEW HAT"
and now am sending in a "NIBSHOW" with four animated
NIBS using "NIBSHOW" and "NIB>NIB+". Rick, please
check this setup, since I may have included some
superfluous entries. I am now working on another
idea concerning animation -- If I can get permission
to use the program from a CFDM member.
I hope everyone had a nice and safe "FOURTH OF JULY"
HJM 6-28-96 WISH I COULD COME TO THE PICNIC =>
____________________________________________________
Harold's "animated pics" are found on Side 2 of this
disk. RUN "NIBSHOW.BAS" to view them.
BIKER .NIB
DREAM .NIB
VARMENT .NIB
WOOKOUT .NIB
=*
|
CFDM on the WWW
Just a quick look at the CFDM logo as featured on the World Wide Web. Using Windows Paintbrush, I hand-copied to logo into my PC, saving it in BMP format. I then changed it to a GIF file, and posted it on the World Wide Web. To allow you to see it, I wrote a BMP reader for the CoCo, and then used NIB to compress it. As you can see, it is simply the CFDM award-winning logo, with the flashy "WWW" across the disk! If you have access to the web, you can reach CFDM at http://www.voicenet.com/-swyss That dash "-" must be a TILDE (wavy line). -* |
DRAGON WAVE-a distorted fractal
While messing around with the assembly code for IFRACTAL, I happened upon a numeric value that is vital to the correct operation of the program. But I just *had* to adjust it and see the effect. DRAGWAVE is one such fractal. Although it is a mandelbrot fractal, part of the computation routine was altered when I changed that number, and the result is a rather "scary" fractal! It reminded me of a wave, but at the same time, of a dragon. Perhaps it's the angles and "scales" that made me think of dragons. I may add this "tweaking" as a feature at some point. Until then, I'll tweak a little more and -> ____________________________________________________ submit the results to CFDM. -* |
GOLDEN GATE AT DUSK
This picture of the Golden Gate Bridge at San
Francisco was taken from another calendar -- a good
source for pictures. It was one of my most challen-
ging efforts trying to reproduce a multitude of
detail from a photograph. As an engineer, I can
appreciate the beauty of design and structure which
this picture shows. I hope others can too.
Norm Barson
7 Ridge Court
East Brunswick, NJ 08816
(You'll find Norm's "GATE.NIB" on the Program side
of this disk. Also, for your inspection you'll find
5 other NIBs of "GATE" which were taken along the
way in the production of this picture!!) =*
|
Self Portrait Although it isn't in NIB format, and I'm not
very experienced at this artwork stuff, I decided to
try a "self portrait" so all the friends will get an
idea of how I look.
Run PORTRAIT.BAS on Side 1 of the Bonus disk.
*=
|
Some more conversions
SONIC, VIS16, LOOKING, STIXEPHR are more conversions
to NIB. I thought that you would like see some great
pix.
(You'll find SONIC, VIS16, and LOOKING on Side 2 of
the Bonus disk.)
=*
|
The Hick Brothers
Hmmm, looks like the Hick Brothers are sporting new
looks. Wonder why??? Wonder how many more changes
there will be??? Stay tuned.....
(You'll find the Hick Brothers on Side 2 of the
Bonus disk.)
=*
|
VIEWING THE CFDM ART GALLERY Please use NIBSHOW to view the .NIB pictures on this
month's disk. As you recall, NIBSHOW was featured
in issue #18 and a more complete documentation can
be found there. NIBSHOW is the contribution of our
Friend Stuart Wyss-Gallifent. Thanks Stuart!
After RUNning NIBSHOW, press D for a directory of
the NIB pictures on the disk. Use the arrow keys to
choose a picture and press the spacebar to view it.
Press BREAK to leave the picture. Press X at the
MAIN MENU to exit NIBSHOW.
=*
|
| Articles in section: FAMILY TREE |
| IT
IS VERY INTERESTING THE GARLICS, ARNOLD & LORENA Time for an Update |
| Back to top |
IT IS VERY INTERESTING Well I've received your CFDM and it is very inter-
esting. I had already decided to join the group and
now that I've seen the disk, I'm convinced it is
worth the money. As I said on the telephone, I have
not worked with my CoCo for about 6 years. And even
when I was using it I only played around with it.
I've never really gotten into anything serious. In
1991, I retired from Martin Mareitto Denver and I've
been moving around a lot since then. Now I've
settled down for a while in California with my
daughter and her new husband, so I got out the CoCo
to keep me occupied. My computer is not my only toy.
I am very heavily into H.D. Gauge Railroad and
raising tropical fish (South African Cichlids) plus
I have a 1961 M.G. Midget that I'm restoring....so
I do stay busy. =>
____________________________________________________
I'm 63 years old and have had 4 heart attacks and 6
by-passes. So I have to take it pretty easy. Since
I've become more interested in my CoCo and started
checking around for parts & software, I started out
with one name and now I have a whole family to talk
to. I don't have all I need to go on-line but I'm
hoping I can get a used 240 baud modem. I have found
one store in my area that I can purchase used equip-
ment from and I have already bought a 360K DD and I
have it installed into my FD-502 and it seems to
work ok, but that is just the CoCo and not OS9 II,
which I'm trying to learn. Do you know of any Basic
O9 software that I can get for this CoCo; also I
need a cable from my RS Deluse RS232 to modem or
whatever. I have a serial DMP 130A printer and the
multi-pak interface. I would like to know if =>
____________________________________________________
I can hook up this multi-pak with a 1 foot cable to
get away from the computer so I'll have more room on
the right side.
Any help will be appreciated.
- George Rippstein
361 Honeysuckle Dr.
Fairfield, CA 94533
=*
|
THE GARLICS, ARNOLD & LORENA Hi! My name is Arnold Garlic. My wife, Lorena, and
our son, Henry, and I live in the Southwestern part
of Virginia, in a small village named Staffordville,
of which there are about one-hundred and fifty
people. Our four daughters are married, and we are
proud grandparents of six, five girls and one boy.
I am a farmer; we raise beef cattle. In the winter,
Lorena and I enjoy our CoCo 3, she with Christian
games, and I just play with mine. We also have two
CoCo 2's.
P.S. Rick, keep up the good work. We look forward to
our disk and HARDCOPY. I get the disk and Lorena
gets the HARDCOPY. Thanks again for all the work
you, Donna and the girls do. =>
____________________________________________________
- Arnold & Lorena Garlic
-----
RICK: It was a GREAT PLEASURE to finally get to
meet Arnold and Lorena at Rick's Picnic II. They
are fine people and have always been wonderful
supporters of CFDM.
A little aside here, it's usually Lorena who calls
me and her voice sounds so much like my sister-in-
law's, that sometime ago I began calling her "Betty"
(my sister-in-law's name). After a time, I actually
forgot that her name was not Betty!!
=*
|
Time for an Update It has been a while since I updated my family tree.
Well, I'll give all the information again:
My name is William Astle. I live in Alberta (Canada)
At the time of this writing, I am living in Camrose
while studying Computing Science at University. My
birthday is November 21 and I was born in 1976.
I own two CoCo3 computers and a dual FD502 disk
system. My DMP132 printer is on its last legs and
I expect it will give out before too long. I also
have an RGB monitor. I also own a PC with a
486DX/33 processor and 4Meg RAM with a SVGA display
which I use to run the CoCo3 Emulator. (Note: one of
my CoCo3 computers has 512K RAM)
=>
____________________________________________________
My hobbies are writing programs and reading. Lately,
I have been doing most of my work on my PC, but I
am currently working on a series for CFDM which I
hope will be ongoing.
I have also taken up writing in my spare time (which
has totalled 0 since the beginning of June). I have
a couple chapters written in a story about time
travel which I hope to get published one of these
days. If anyone is interested in reading what I have
written so far, feel free to contact me.
Unfortunately, my mailing address is fluctuating
rather frequently of late so I cannot provide one
that will be valid by the time this is published.
=>
____________________________________________________
Anyway, you can get in contact with me via CFDM or
by sending me an email message at
ASTLW(at)AUGUSTANA.AB.CA
I can guarantee that address.
Well, I think I have said enough for the moment.
=*
|
| Articles in section: FORUM |
| How
to know you're growing older |
| Back to top |
How to know you're growing older (*)(*)(*)(*)(*)(*)(*)(*)(*)(*)(*)(*)(*)(*)(*)(*)(*) Everything hurts, and what doesn't hurt doesn't work The gleam in your eyes is from the sun hitting your bifocals. You feel like the night before, and you haven't been anywhere. Your little black book contains only names ending in M.D. You get winded playing chess. Your children begin to look middle-aged. You finally reach the top of the ladder, and you find it leaning against the wrong wall. You join a health club and don't go. => ____________________________________________________ You begin to outlive enthusiasm. You decide to procrastinate but never get around to it. Your mind makes contracts your body can't meet. A dripping faucet causes uncontrollable bladder urge You know all the answers, but nobody asks you the questions. You look forward to a dull evening. You walk with your head held high trying to get used to your bifocals. Your knees buckle but your belt won't. => ____________________________________________________ Your favorite part of the newspaper is Twenty-Five Years Ago Today. You turn out the light for economic rather than romantic reasons. You sit in a rocking chair and can't get it going. You regret all those temptations you resisted. You're 17 around the neck, 44 around the waist, and 105 around the golf course. You are startled the first time someone calls you Old-Timer. You remember today that yesterday was your wedding anniversary You sink your teeth into a steak and they stay there ********************************************* =* |
| Articles in section: FROM THE EDITOR |
| FROM
THE EDITOR KUDOS (i54) RICK'S PICNIC II |
| Back to top |
FROM THE EDITOR Wow!!! There is a wonderful basket of material on
these two disks!! I must apologize for not being
able to get everything you sent in...but I still
wish to encourage you to keep working and try to
make the next issue as GREAT as this one!!
HAS IT BEEN THREE MONTHS SINCE THE LAST ISSUE?
Well, it certainly has been a little more restful in
my life, even tho I'm still trying to get out the
CoCo Report and PCFDM in the "empty" months...and we
did have Rick's Picnic II...and we have been working
very hard on TCN (the new business opportunity that
Jim Bennett introduced at Rick's Picnic)...and it is
time to start another school year!!! So I guess you
could say there hasn't been too many free moments!=>
____________________________________________________
Thanks to everyone for all your support and your
wonderful participation over the years and especial-
ly for this issue! The Lord has blessed us in so
many ways...may we always try to stay humble and
give him the thanks and credit for it all!!!
You'll read about Rick's Picnic in another entry in
this section, but let me just say, "It was another
great gathering of some awfully nice folks!!" We
had a wonderful time and I just wish more of you
could have been there! Will there be another Rick's
Picnic...I really don't know yet....
SEE YOU IN DECEMBER!! =>
____________________________________________________
THIS MONTH'S HOLY SCRIPTURE
Make a joyful noise unto the Lord, all ye lands.
Serve the Lord with gladness: come before his pre-
sence with singing. Know ye that the Lord he is
God: it is he that hath made us, and not we our-
selves; we are his people, and the sheep of his
pastures. Enter into his gates with thanksgiving,
and into his courts with praise: be thankful unto
him, and bless his name. For the Lord is good; his
mercy is everlasting; and his truth endureth to all
generations.
=*
|
KUDOS (i54) Thanks to our many friends who continue to keep CFDM
entertaining to all of us. This issue features the
following Friends:
William Astle, Norm Barson, Ray Berney, Frank Booke,
Art Boos, Marie Boudet, H. Allen Curtis, Tony Durst,
Herb Forger Sr., Arnold and Lorena Garlic, Jim
Gibbons, Mike Gross, Bill Hood, Keiran Kenny, Barry
T. Miller, Harold Moenich, Godfrey Muriel Moll, Vic
Neufeldt, Dave Otis, George Rippstein, Ray Sami, Al
Santos, Fred Scior, Ray Smith, Leslie Waltz, and
Stuart Wyss-Gallifent.
THANKS THANKS THANKS THANKS THANKS THANKS THANKS
=*
|
RICK'S PICNIC II On Saturday, July 13th, the second edition of Rick's Picnic was held in Liberty, Kentucky. Although the crowd wasn't as large as last year, we had just as much fun. Someone remarked that the first Picnic was more about the CoCo and this year's seemed to be more about the personalities involved in our group. Attendees included Ben Walker, Larry and Mildred Heiderscheit, Godfrey and Muriel Moll, Lin Padgett, R.C. and Betty Smith, Arnold and Lorena Garlic, J.R. and Mary Waggoner, Jim Bennett, Norm Barson, David Breeding, Mike Brown, Jo Ann Taylor, Dewey Cooper, Donna, Kristin, Kasey, Kayla, and Rick Cooper. After introductions, Jim Bennett spoke to us about how he still uses the CoCo 3 in his classroom. => ____________________________________________________ Jim is one of the few CoCoists who have not added a PC to their collection of computers. Later Jim told us about TCN, a new multi-level marketing business. (Rick and Donna have already joined and in 3 weeks have built an organization of 130 people!) Next we toured the PC lab at Rick's school and saw how the emulator is being used to keep useful CoCo software alive to the students. Rick also showed PCFDM and talked some about the emulator. Larry, J. R., and Arnold briefly shared how they use their CoCos. It seems everyone has different areas of interests in the CoCo arena. Godfrey and Muriel conducted a neat silent auction=> ____________________________________________________ which offered some very good quality CoCo systems and other goodies. R.C. talked about the Atlanta Computer Society and broke the news that this year's event had been can- celled. Lin gave us an update on his Adventure Survivor's group. Lin is doing a great job with his project! And..my dad, Dewey Cooper, a Baptist evangelist gave a short (4 or 5 minute) sermon which everyone seemed to enjoy! Overall we had a wonderful time seeing our CFDM Friends! Thanks to all who came to Liberty this year!! =* |
| Articles in section: LETTERS TO THE EDITOR |
| COCO
GETTING DUSTY?? EXCERPTS FROM LETTERS FROM FRIEND HAROLD !! INTERNET LIBRARY OF COCO!! MESSAGE FROM HOLLAND STILL LEARNING ABOUT THE "STAR" |
| Back to top |
COCO GETTING DUSTY?? Dear Rick,
Enclosed is my $25 for bringing by sub up to date.
Hope you'll have a little more time for yourself and
your family now.
I did get my IBM compatible computer and I'm
enjoying it. My CoCo hasn't seen too much action
lately.
Best of Luck,
Marie
-----
Rick: Thanks for staying with us Marie!!....and
please don't forget your CoCo !!! =*
|
EXCERPTS FROM LETTERS I think I mentioned some time ago that I bought a
Macintosh Performa computer (6220 CD) because I
wanted to be able to mix text and photos better than
I can with the CoCo. It does indeed perform that
and a number of other things better than I can do
with the CoCo. But, it's maddening when you make a
mistake! I still like my CoCo and understand it much
better than I'll ever understand the Macintosh!
- Dave Otis
-----
RICK: I know what you mean Dave. I've had PCs for
about 6 or 7 years, but I'm much more at home with
the CoCo.
=>
____________________________________________________
Thanks for the note on reconciling my subscription.
Enclosed is my check for $25. Keep us the good work.
I look forward to the next batch of disk magazines.
I would like to have made the up-coming picnic and
met up with some of the writers and users.
- Bill Hood Texas
----------------------------------------------------
I'm sorry I've been out of touch for so long and
thanks for sending me a copy of the CoCo Report.
I've enclosed $57 for the CFDM issues #50-53 and
the quarterly issues up to 57, plus the CoCo Report
issues #2-5. Please let me know what the back
issues #44-49 inclusive will cost me.......
- Ray Smith England =>
____________________________________________________
Here's my renewal check for $30 and a subscription
to the CoCo Report.
I am planning on sending more music submissions but
am hesitant about confusing everybody by not being
able to use the SONGBOOK.BAS program.
Maybe you can continue to squeeze them onto side one
as you did in #50 or use them when SONGBOOK.BAS is
not on side two.
Anyway, I am going to remain faithful to the CoCo
Community and try to be more active. Thank you for
staying with us and putting in all your time to
satisfy our computer's appetite.
- Mike Gross Arizona =*
|
FROM FRIEND HAROLD !! Hi Rick,
I hope this little note finds you and your family
well and happy. I have found many many friends,
since I joined your wonderful CFDM group - may it
NEVER EVER fade away.
Not only have I found many friends, but I have been
taught how to keep my mind active and fingers nimble
- thanks RICK COOPER. I would be very happy if you
would help with two problems.........
#1 Would you please give me the complete address of
Nazaire Lamarre of Greenfield, Quebec? (RICK: I've
forwarded Nazaire's address to Harold.)
=>
____________________________________________________
#2 Would you help me get permission to use the
program "WALKING RABBIT" from James Bennett?
I would be very grateful for any help.
Until I hear from you, and soon I hope....
Your CoCo Friend
Harold
-----
RICK: Always a treat to hear from you Harold!! Per
permission to use the program "WALKING RABBIT", Jim
says that's public domain (but doesn't belong to him
personally)....so that should be no problem.
Good Luck!! =*
|
INTERNET LIBRARY OF COCO!! Dear Mr. Cooper,
I thought you might like to know that there is a
library of Color Computer programs being maintained
at the internet address: musie.phlab.missouri.edu
This is being maintained by Robert L. Stinnett
c592073(at sign)missouri.edu
Also a message board is maintained for email at:
listserv(at sign)pucc.princeton.edu
To subscribe, send an email message to the above
address. SUBSCRIBE COCO as the message.
SIGNOFF COCO ends subscribtin to messages.
To send mail to all subscribers use this address:
COCO(at sign)PUCC.PRINCETON.EDU =>
____________________________________________________
I hope this will help you in finding other CoCo
users.
Fred Scior
349 Weymouth Ln.
Columbus, OH 43228
fscior(at sign)freenet.columbus.oh.us
-----
RICK: Thanks for this info Fred! I'm sure some calls
will be going in that direction!
=*
|
MESSAGE FROM HOLLAND Dear Rick,
...I take it school holidays are not far off (if not
already in progress) in your area, so I wish you and
your hard-working family a fine break, in so far as
CFDM will permit.
Sincerely,
Keiran
----
Rick: It's wonderful to hear from you Keiran!! I
hope your health is coming back real quick and that
we'll soon see some of your neat programs again!
As I reply to your post, school holidays are just =>
____________________________________________________
ending and I'll be back full-time at school in two
days!! Where does time go?? I've been so busy with
other projects that I really haven't had that much
time off...but I've enjoyed it anyway!! I was kinda
lazy for about two weeks. I found my collection of
JAMES BOND books (hadn't read them in over 30 years,
since I was a teen) and decided to read thru them.
It was really an experience...I had forgotten how
much I'd enjoyed them before and the stories are
really not much like the movies. It also brought
back memories and feelings of those long ago years!!
=*
|
STILL LEARNING ABOUT THE
"STAR" Dear Rick,
Thought I'd renew before my time runs out and you
have to remind me. Enclosed is a check for the
amount plus for the "The CoCo Report"....
Slowly learning more about this Star printer ---
also slower still, going through all files with
printer codes and making changes (how did I get so
many?).
Love my "CoCo" and new printer. Still working on
it's ability to print special characters, but slow
to develope pictures with Max 3 -- must be a better
way than with this "mouse".
=>
____________________________________________________
Thanks to you, Donna, and all your editors, and
contributors for continuing.
- Vic Neufeldt Beaverton, OR
-----
Rick: Thanks for your "ALLY OOP" creation and for
continuing to enjoy the different facets of the CoCo
experience!!!
=*
|
| Articles in section: POTPOURRI |
| ALLEY
OOP BOOK PLATE CFDM on the Internet! CONCERTOS HERE'S A DANGEROUS POKE! JUST DOODLING... Music .BIN and .SNG Files |
| Back to top |
ALLEY OOP
Years ago, before joining the Navy, I tried to
copy the Daily Comics. Still have the notebook I
made my copies in, but wish I had saved more.
This Alley Oop is from a strip in 1937 when
"Alley" objected to something (forgotten what) and
took the crown from ole' King Guz. Think he gave it
back a few weeks later, but anyway, I copied him
during his short stint as acting "King." For anyone
familiar with the strip -- you might note those legs
gave me trouble. I erased the bottom half several
times -- finally gave up. May try again or with
others. Included is a Nib file and a CLP for Max 10.
This Mouse is surely different than using pencil
and paper -- how do you guys do it? Just lots of
practice, practice, practice?
Vic Neufeldt #44 =>
____________________________________________________
(Vic's "ALLYOOP.NIB" and "ALLYOOP.CLP" are located
on side 2 of this disk.)
Good Work Vic !!!!
=*
|
BOOK PLATE First, what is a book plate? When I was in college
(don't ask how long ago that was), you could buy
picture labels inscribed Ex Libris (Latin for "from
the library of") to put inside the front covers of
your books. Your name was added to identify you as
the owner. There was usually a wide variety of
subjects to choose from. The pictures were cut to
the proper size and had gum on the back. In case
anyone has a need for this type of label, I have
reproduced one which I found attractive. Since I
don't have a digitizer, I did it with CcCoMax 3,
pixel by pizel.
To create your own personalized book plates, load
PLATE/CM3 into CoCoMax 3. Don't worry about the
colors on the screen. They are used to get half-
tones (shades of grey) when printing in black =>
____________________________________________________
and white. (See your CoCoMax Manual).
From the font menu, select "Topeka". Then, from
the Style menu, select "Centered". Click on the T
icon and type in your name centered below Ex Libris.
Do this on all four copies of the plate.
In the file menu, select "Double Size" and "Double
Strike". Then, turn on your printer and "Print". You
should use a fairly good ribbon to get a uniformly
black copy.
That's all there is to it. You will have four
copies of your book plate on each page. Cut them
apart and trim them just inside the dotted lines
to keep neat white borders.
To put the plates in your books, I recommend
using a glue stick. Center the plate on the inside
of the front cover or on the facing page. =>
____________________________________________________
If you want to create your own design, keep the
borders and draw a picture of your choice. Or change
the border, too. You only have to do all this on one
picture. Once you are satisfied with the result, use
the "Copy" and "Paste" under Edit to produce the
additional three plates on the page.
And, finally, submit your work to CFDM for the
rest of us to see.
Norm Barson
7 Ridge Court
East Brunswick, NJ 08816
(You'll find Norm's PLATE.CM3 on side 1 of the Bonus
Disk.)
=*
|
CFDM on the Internet! It's already happened. You can now access some CFDM
info and programs over the World Wide Web!
Just point your browser to:
http://www.voicenet.com/-swyss
NOTE: Instead of the dash "-", you'll need a "tilde"
a horizontal wavy line. I can't create one on the
CoCo. That's my web page. You can then click on
CFDM. It will be in operation for at least a few
years.
On this page, you'll find:
-the CFDM logo (WOW!)
-a sample issue to download (Issue 52, thanks, Rick)
-info about subscribing to CFDM and Hardcopy
-info about the CoCo 3 Emulator
-a few original programs to get copies of!
The programs are: SPACED INVADERS, FRACTALS, ->
____________________________________________________
and a gallery of NIB pictures with NIBSHOW 3.0. All
programs have been published previously in CFDM. If
you want your program available to CoCo users (and
they ARE out there) over the web, send me a copy of
the disk, or a DSK file, and I'll put it up for you.
All copyrights, etc. will of course, still be yours.
Also, if you have written any articles or anything
about the CoCo, I'll happily give them space on the
web. Again, send me the file, please.
If anyone has ideas for the page, please let me
know with a postcard or email. My email address
changed again. It is now:
swyss<at>voicenet.com
The <at> is the "a" with the circle around it. -*
|
CONCERTOS For my contribution this time around, I have
transcribed two great movie sound tracks of the
past: "Spellbound Concerto" by Miklos Rozsa and
Theme From The "Warsaw Concerto" by Richard
Addinsell.
Run CONCERTO.BAS to play some great music and
I hope you enjoy listening to them as much as I do.
Please feel free to let me know your tastes in
music and what you would like to hear in the future.
####################################################
(Mike's music can be found on side 2 of this disk.)
=*
|
HERE'S A DANGEROUS POKE! Well, it's not destructive to your CoCo, but it can render the operating system somewhat non-functional. Here it is: POKE &H02D9,0 What it will do is this: You can still load and save programs, and run them, but you cannot add any lines to the program. Attempting to edit any lines that already exist will result in several lines mysteriously disappearing! There is no poke to fix this one. Once you poke that zero, you cannot poke something else to fix the situation. Pretty neat, huh? -* |
JUST DOODLING... Okay we need a little listing for Hardcopy #53. What can I possibly do? Well time is running out and I've still got to come up with something.... Do you remember the Rainbow one-liners? I actually had one of those published!! But we don't need a one-liner....just a short program. What can I do? Do you remember the clown from the original PUZZLES program? I could use the HCIRCLE command and draw a sad little clown... Well, Okay...that's what we'll do! RUN "JUSTDOOD.BAS" on the Program Side of this disk to see what one can do in about 15 minutes! =* |
Music .BIN and .SNG Files I have enjoyed all of the various types of
music files that have appeared in CFDM, and must say
that I appreciate the time and efforts of ALL who
have contributed to my enjoyment.
You will find a few more numbers that I have
transcribed over the past several months on the back
of this disk....I hope you will enjoy them.
I have provided both .SNG and .BIN files in
case you wish to use SONGS.BAS to play them (SONGS.
BAS is also included on this disk) OR you may play
the .BIN files with any of the MUSIC3+ loaders or
players or MUSIC3+ itself.
(SONGS.BAS and the following songs are on Side 1 of
the Bonus disk: 76TBONES, YELORIB, CANTHECI, =>
____________________________________________________
PERFIDIA, AND 12THST.)
=*
|
BLACKOUT - A TRUE screen saver Older monitors are susceptible to a condition called "burn-in". Please don't get worried. You really need to leave your screen on with the same picture on the screen for days and days and days before you possibly might start getting some burn in. If you have ever seen register screens at the supermarket, or old terminals at flea-markets, sometimes you can see almost a ghost-image on the screen, even though nothing is actually there. This is the result of burn-in. On Windows and Mac computers, a company called Berkeley Systems created a program called "After Dark". This program is a screen-saver. It monitors your computer while you're using it. If it detects that you're not pressing keys anymore, or not using the mouse, it will darken the screen (to prevent burn-in) and display rapidly changing -> ____________________________________________________ colors, pictures, cartoons, etc. In its most purest form, a screen-saver just has to blacken the screen. Forget the pretty pictures! Then when it detects you using the keyboard, it brings the screen back on again. BLACKOUT (B!) for the CoCo is a true, pure, screen saver. It works on the 32, 40, and 80 column screen and also any graphics modes. You'll know that BLACKOUT is installed because when you first EXEC it or when you press RESET, you'll see a little message saying B! in the corner, telling you it's there! In this issue, BLACKOUT is set for a 5 min. delay. To activate BLACKOUT, just LOADM"BLACKOUT" and type EXEC. You'll see a B! and then the OK prompt. It's now installed, monitoring your computer. Now just run all your stuff. Your games, programs, etc. -> ____________________________________________________ should work just fine. As soon as 5 min is up, and you haven't pressed any keys, the screen will turn black. Press any key to bring it back on. The time seems to be the same for high-speed POKE users. BLACKOUT does not stop the program or game running. It simply blackens the screen. Graphics and data and anything else you're doing will continue to run.BLACKOUT is not a pause-program. BLACKOUT is also RESET-protected. If you press the RESET button, or CTRL-F10 on the emulator, the program will continue to run. Turning the computer off, or restarting the emulator, will remove it. Please read BLACKOUT Technical for additional info and hints/tips/cautions. Thanks! -* |
BLACKOUT Technical Notes BLACKOUT (B!) is a screen-saver for the CoCo 3. I don't know if it will work on the CoCo 2, or under ADOS. If someone can let me know, I'd appreciate it. BLACKOUT loads into the old cassette buffer, which is from &H01DA to &H02D8. If you know for sure a program uses this space, then don't load BLACKOUT. Otherwise, just try it! BLACKOUT uses the vertical-sync IRQ interrupt. If you know for sure a program uses this interrupt, then don't use BLACKOUT. Otherwise, just try it! BLACKOUT works fine with CFDM, NIBSHOW, IFRACTAL, NIB, etc, and a bunch of other things, too! -> ____________________________________________________ BLACKOUT will not slow your computer down, not alter the way it works. BLACKOUT darkens the screen by changing all the palettes to zero (black) and saving their proper values in memory. If a program does weird things with palettes, BLACKOUT may not work properly. Try it! BLACKOUT may not work with machine language programs that bypass the normal keyboard scan routines. Try it! All in all, BLACKOUT will work with most typical CoCo programs. If you encounter problems, please let me know. Otherwise, just leave it on all the time, and enjoy it! REAL TECHNICAL STUFF -> ____________________________________________________ B! comes in two parts. The interrupt part runs every 1/60th of a second. It checks to see if B! is installed, and re-installs it if necessary (auto- matically). It advances a counter until 5 minutes is reached, then darkens the screen. The second part is hooked into the keyboard scan. It runs everytime you press a key. Whenever you press a key, the counter is reset to zero. So if you don't press any, the interrupt part keeps increasing the counter. If you do press a key, and the screen is dark already, then the correct numbers are put back into the palette, and the screen "reappears". To change the time delay, POKE &H225,x where x is: If x=64, that means 5 minutes. Doubling x doubles the time. Halving x halves the time. Times seem to be the same for high-speed poke users. -* |
HAND105 - Technical This is a more technical explanation of the HAND105 number recognizer. If you look at the digits from 0 to 9, you'll notice that the end-points of the lines that make up the number are all different from each other. Some are up and to the left of the middle of the number, like the top of the 7. Others are up and right, and down and left, like a 5. Two numbers have no points, 8 and 0. The CoCo tries to work out the location of the endpoints, relative to the center of the number. Then, the CoCo scans the number in columns (vertical scan) and finds the longest pattern of lines and spaces. A 7 has an "off-on-off-on-off" pattern. A 1 has just an "off-on-off" pattern. The CoCo -> ____________________________________________________ finds the longest, then scans in rows (horizontal) to look for line/space patterns. The longest on a 4 is "off-on-off-on-off". The longest on a 3 is "off-on-off-on-off". A 7 just has "off-on-off". The CoCo finds the longest of these. Armed with that data (number of endpoints, relative location of endpoints, longest vertical pattern, and longest horizontal pattern) it matches that data with data stored within the program. The more matches occur, the higher the probability. If a digit gets 100% match, it is likely the digit you drew. The CoCo prints the matches and their probability, and tracks the highest one. That wraps it up for recognition! -* |
Handwriting Recognition -HAND105 Although somewhat rudimentary, HAND105 tries hard to
recognize drawn digits from 0 to 9.
Just RUN"HAND105".
Use the mouse or joystick to (press the button) draw
a digit inside the box. Try to be neat at first,
until you get the feel of the program. If you make
a mistake, move the cursor to the ERASE area and
press the button. When done, move the cursor to the
DONE area and press the button.
The program will then do four things, that may take
a half-minute. It will clean up the image, scan it
for endpoints, scan it for vertical patterns, and
scan it for horizontal patterns. Once this data->
____________________________________________________
is collected, it will try to match the data with
known preset data. The full results will be shown,
as well as the CoCo's best guess for the number you
were drawing.
Trust me. It does work! The CoCo has NO IDEA what
number you are drawing until it scans the box and
figures it out for itself!
Once you get the hang of it, try drawing the numbers
really small, or really big. It shouldn't make any
difference! Try deliberately messing up, or ask
someone else in your house to try it. See if the
CoCo can recognize the number.
In the future, I may add the ability to recognize->
____________________________________________________
double-digit numbers, or perhaps letters as well.
If you are really sloppy at drawing, or draw a
random shape, the CoCo may simply error, because
your shape might defy all known shapes!
I realize the mouse/joystick input is rather awkward
but since the long gone X-pad is, well, long gone,
there are no other practical ways to get "freehand"
numbers and letters into the CoCo.
If you want a more technical description of the
program, just read "HAND105 Technical".
-*
|
SOCKMASTER DEMOS The two demos (BOINK, and JOYCHAIN) were all
written by a man who goes by the alias of "Sock
Master". SockMaster is on the internet, and has a
home page that you can get his programs from. In
addition to these three demos, he has also written a
MOD Music Player for the 6809 and 6309, and a comm
program called Twilighterm, which can run at 9600!
Anyway, the two demos are freeware. Anyone can have
them.
BOINK - A 3-D colorful bouncing ball
JOYCHAIN - use your joystick or mouse to move the
chain around! Really neat!
BOINK will NOT work on the CoCo 3 Emulator, as far
as I can tell. Perhaps if the PC was running at
100 mhz or faster, but less than that, no way. ->
____________________________________________________
JOYCHAIN will work on the emulator running at 50mhz.
Both demos will of course work on a real CoCo 3!
Enjoy the "demos". They really show off the CoCo 3!
=*
|
SONGWRITER Don't let the title of this entry fool you....
this is NOT a program that writes songs or music!
Instead, it is a mini-word processor designed to
write text screen displays to be used with SONGS.BAS
that Rick so kindly included in Issue #49 of CFDM.
If you liked the general idea of SONGS.BAS, you
may find SNGWRITR.BAS to be a handy companion for
making text files to be displayed while your MUSIC3+
files are being played. Of course, you are not
limited to displaying song lyrics. Instead, you may
want to tell something about the song or composer,
or even display some type of design as the music
plays. What you type onto the text editor screen of
SNGWRITR is what will be displayed when your file is
used with SONGS.BAS. =>
____________________________________________________
SNGWRITR consists of a menu screen, a text
editor screen, a "help" screen, and a file input
screen.
All program functions are accessed from the menu
screen, and any time you press the BREAK key, you
will be returned to the menu screen.
Menu selections are: Input text, Save File, Load
File, Print out text buffer, Clear text screen, Help
, Drive change, and Quit.
Operation of the various functions should become
fairly apparent upon use of the program. All files
created with SNGWRITR have the extension .SNG added
to them automatically when they are saved. They will
overwrite any file with an identical filename.
The text entry screen will automatically be
displayed whenever a file is loaded. Only files =>
____________________________________________________
with a .SNG extension can be loaded into SNGWRITR.
Use the arrow keys to move the cursor (the red line
around the screen is the limit of the cursor travel)
Anything typed in will replace whatever is covered
by the cursor. The quotation mark (") was replaced
with an apostrophy (') to facilitate the use of a
sequential access file for disk saves. The text
buffer is preserved at all times unless the CLEAR
key is pressed or a new file is loaded. Use the
BREAK key to return to the menu screen at any time.
There are no printer codes to change in this
program, but POKE150,18 appears in line 10 to set
the printer baud rate at 2400. Change it if your
printer baud rate is different.
<*>
|
THE COCO SIGN MAKER This program will make it possible for you to design
your own signs and then print them out on most Tandy
and IBM printers. Also, "SIGN MAKER" is appearing in
CFDM for two other reasons: 1-for CoCo-ists to ex-
perience the fun once again of having a new, mult-
featured graphics program to play with, and 2- to
pose a mystery (but more about that later).
The instructions for using "SIGN MAKER" are contain-
ed in a file titled "SIGNDOCS.DAT". You may either
load this into your own word processor or you may
RUN"READDOCS.BAS" to read it and print a hardcopy.
Here is an outline of how to use the program. First,
RUN "SIGNMAKR". A mouse should be connected to the
right J-stick port. Keep the disk in drive 0. =>
____________________________________________________
There are 16 options which you initiate simply by
pressing keys. The keys appear on the border of the
drawing area. You begin in the drawing mode.
UP ARROW= increase cursor size.
DOWN ARROW= decrease cursor size.
C= change color M= magnify ("fat bits")
G= get & put S= store & retrieve
U= undo last thing Q= quit the program
L= draw a line B= draw a box
O= draw circles/ovals P= paint
T= write text Z= "zoom" (resize)
D= select dot patterns I= I/O (save, load, print)
After the execution of an option, you return to the
drawing mode. To draw 2 boxes, you must select "B"
twice. If you make a mistake, just undo it. =>
____________________________________________________
The mystery is this: who wrote this program? Who is
New Day Software?
The clue is this: "SIGN MAKER" is actually a modifi-
cation of a graphics program which first appeared in
1987. There was an review about it in RAINBOW. Can
you guess the name of the original program and the
author?
Have fun playing with "SIGN MAKER" and solving the
mystery!
(NOTE: to copy all the SIGN MAKER files to another
disk, RUN "S-COPIER". There are 9 program files and
6 SGN graphics that can be loaded into the program.)
--=*=--
|
WALLS OF JERICHO Walls of Jericho, WOJ for short, is a form of solitaire. Featured in WOJ are four walls. Each wall is associated with a given card suit and consists of five slots, one of which contains a Foundation Ace. The screen layout for WOJ is as follows: The Spade & Club walls occupy the upper left & right portions, respectively, of the screen. The Diamond & Heart walls are situated similarly in the lower part of the screen. The slots for the Spade, Club, Diamond & Heart walls are designated by numerals or letters as 0 through 4, 5 through 9, A through E, & V through Z, respectively. The Foundation slots are 0, 9, A & Z. Initially, each Foundation slot contains an Ace; at least three of the four other slots of each wall contain cards. In the center of the screen are the remaining cards of the deck face down in a pile => ____________________________________________________ to be played one at a time to the Hand. Cards are played in upward sequence on the Foundation Aces. Cards may be played to the Foundation from within any wall or from the Hand. A card may NOT be played to an occupied non-Foundation slot. Furthermore, ONLY a card of the wall's suit may be played to an empty slot. A card may be played from any wall or the Hand to an empty slot if the suit is proper. Some typical plays are as follows: Suppose there is a 3 of Spades in the Y slot of the Heart wall & the Foundation slot 0 of the Spade wall shows a 2. Then pressing the Y key and the 0 key in succession will move the 3 of Spades from slot Y to slot 0. Now suppose the slot E of the Diamond wall is empty & there is a 6 of Diamonds in slot 7 of the Club =* ____________________________________________________ wall. Then pressing the 7 key followed by the E key will move the 6 of Diamonds into slot E. A card is moved from the deck to the Hand by pressing the N key. Suppose the card showing in the Hand slot is a 5 of Hearts and the W slot of the Heart wall is empty. Then merely press H followed by W to move the 5 of Hearts to slot W. If you attempt to move a card to an occupied slot, or to a wall of a non-matching suit, or try any other illegal play, you will be greeted with a beeping sound. The first game of WOJ after starting the program will provide 4 empty slots, one in each wall. Thereafter, you will be given five options - start play with 4, 3, 2, 1, or 0 empty slots. The more empty slots there are, the easier it is to win.=> |
WOJ (Continued) With 4 empty slots and good strategy you will win
often and rack up big scores. Each game begins with
a score of -100 and you earn 5 points for every
card played to the Foundation. If all cards are
played to the Foundation, you win with a total of
140 points.
A menu at the bottom of the screen serves as a
reminder of the valid key choices. The Quit option
on the menu is taken by pressing the Q key twice in
succession. Quitting takes you to a menu that gives
three options: Shuffle (play again with the same
number of initial empty slots as previously), Quit,
or choose the number of empty slots for the game.
(WALLS OF JERICO is located on side 2 of this disk.)
=*
|
Windows PCX to NIB Converter The BASIC program, PCX->NIB.BAS will convert a PCX file from Windows Paintbrush into a NIB file. It needs the PCXREADR.BIN file.You'll need NIBSAVER.BAS and NIBSAVER.BIN on the disk also. Now CoCo Max 3 users have a drawing program they can use on the PC! 1. When drawing a picture in Windows Paintbrush, make sure your picture size is 320 x 192. ALSO make sure Windows is running in 256 color mode. Your monitor should be showing 256 colors, not 1024 or 16.7 million. You may have to go into Windows Setup and change the number of colors. 2. You may customize any of the 28 palettes at the the bottom of the Paintbrush screen. ____________________________________________________ 3. Remember to change to format to PCX. Do NOT save it as a BMP file. This converter won't work. 4. Use Jeff's PORT program to move the PCX file onto a virtual disk for the CoCo Emulator. 5. Run "PCX->NIB" and follow the prompts. That's all! A few notes of caution and other stuff: * Windows MUST be in 256 color mode * You don't have to use 320x192. The size can be any multiple of 16. So your picture can be 16x16, or 64x64, or 128x32 or something like that. * The program is written in BASIC except for the loading routine. The file will take a few seconds ____________________________________________________ to load. NIBSAVER will automatically run after the picture has loaded. * You can try other PCX files if you want, but the PCX->NIB program only supports one type of PCX file right now (the most common type). It will tell you if it cannot load the PCX file. If you create a new PCX file in Paintbrush, it will be the correct format. * The palettes are set to provide a reasonably good match between the Windows screen and the CoCo screen. If you notice a discrepancy, you can manually change the numbers in the DATA statement in the program. Look for support of other "flavors" of PCX and perhaps an auto-centering feature for small images-* |
| Articles in section: REVIEWS |
| NEW
PRINTER SILICON SNAKE OIL - BOOK REVIEW |
| Back to top |
NEW PRINTER My old printer was giving me more and more prob-
lems so I tried the Star NX -- probably don't know
enough about it yet to describe all it can do, but
I will write of what I have learned. Fonts: there
are nine different ones -- my favorites are Script,
Prestige, and Orator 2. Besides the usual 10, 12,
17, 20, 24, CPI it also has a zoom feature to print
each at 50%, 67% or 100% There are Electronic Dip
switches accessable from up front (no digging into
innards etc) which also makes things handy. There is
Epsom or IBM modes plus lots of foreign language and
other special codes. So far I've only learned to
insert "hearts" in letters to grandkids. Another
handy feature is it's ability to print with fanfold
paper and then "Park" it and use single sheets. With
just a move of a lever and =>
____________________________________________________
touch of a button up front you can switch back to
fanfold paper again. I'm sorta slow though so it
can no doubt do much more than I have mentioned.
For me, it has been a fun printer.
Vic Neufeldt =*
|
SILICON SNAKE OIL - BOOK REVIEW "Silicon Snake Oil" by Clifford Stoll (paperback, Anchor Books, ISBN:0-385-41994-5, $14.00) is sub- titled "Second thoughts on the information super- highway". Mr. Stoll uses this easy to read book to warn us of the potential dangers of the Internet. This is not to say that he argues for the so-called "anti-smut" legislation. His vision is far beyond some adolescent seeing "naughty" pictures. He sees the Internet as completely destroying any real social interactions that we have left. That it is useful to a point, but beyond that, pretty boring, unnecessary, and unreliable. One interesting truth is that we confuse children by saying "There is a wealth of information out there" and then say "Don't trust anyone you talk to. Don't give out any info." Is anyone confused here? Another point he makes-> ____________________________________________________ is about computers in school. This hit home for me because my district is spending $3 million over the next few years to put new computers in EVERY class in elementary school, and network them all together. He argues against it. People say computers are a tool to help us learn. We need a tool to help us learn and think? What's wrong with our brains? Why must learning be fun? Learning=work, and work is not fun. It's hard. It may be satisfying and re- warding, but it is not fun. He argues that most eductional software is basically drill. I agree that much of it is, and that those computer story- books are a far cry from a live person reading a book and sharing the warmth that comes with that. In my opinion, I'd rather have a volunteer in who is reading to that child, than the computer. Talk -> ____________________________________________________ about interaction?! Ha! Anyway, Clifford seems to take extreme viewpoints a lot. Yes, there are some people who are "addicted" to the internet, who never leave their keyboards. And there are others, who, like me, simply use e-mail to stay in touch, and that's about it. Cliff himself uses email and appreciates its value, but he warns against the computer replacing anything that people do as far as genuine interaction. Cliff also talks about so called "computer art", astronomy programs so that you don't even have to look at the real sky, the badly lacking "virtual reality", the misnamed "multi media"(how can it be MULTI? It's only a tv screen and two loudspeakers), and the absolutely FANTASTIC job that the US Post Service does, as compared to e-mail. Fun to read, lots of really good points!-* |
| Articles in section: QUESTIONS & ANSWERS |
| CONVERSIONS
R US CoCo on an Apple Mac? HELP PLEASE !!! LOOKING FOR UPGRADE KITS Making Flippies NIB, SQS, and SQZ |
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CONVERSIONS R US AD AD AD AD AD AD AD AD AD AD AD AD AD AD AD AD AD With the flurry of graphic formats in the CoCo world (trust me when I say that there are DOZENS on the PC) there always seems to be the need for converters to change from one format to another. I have converters that work with many CoCo formats. If you have need of one, please write to me. I will gladly send you the converters you want or need. My converters support: NIB, SQS, PCX, CM3, RAT, SQZ, and probably a few others I haven't mentioned. 2123 Longview Road, Warrington, PA 18976, USA AD AD AD AD AD AD AD AD AD AD AD AD AD AD AD AD AD |
CoCo on an Apple Mac? I was wondering if anyone had tried to run the CoCo Emulator on an Apple Macintosh. I know that a Mac doesn't run DOS programs like the emulator. But I also know that there are programs like "SoftWindows" that supposedly allows a Mac to run any DOS or Windows program. That would include the emulator. Of course, SoftWindows is an emulator itself. So, you'd have an Apple running an emulator running an emulator. I wonder if it would work! Some Apple Macs have built-in DOS cards. They actually have TWO CPU chips inside, a Mac Chip (Powe r PC or 680x0), and a PC Chip (486 or Pentium). They are essentially two computers in one, and they share the monitor, disk drive, and keyboard. I HAVE tested the emulator on one of these machines, -> ____________________________________________________ and it works great! But then, it should, because it is running on a true DOS machine. Has anyone tried the emulator under SoftWindows? That question is going on in the Web right now. I'll try to remember to update you all! -* |
HELP PLEASE !!! Ray Sami of Holland, recently called to say that he
would like to have some help locating various CoCo
materials. In his letter he listed sme of the things
he's interested in:
- CoCo penpals
- Last year a friend from Texas saw at a small
computer fest (JPG viewer for CoCo) something like
the PROJECTOR. Can anyone help with info about
this item?
- Are there available ink-jet printer drivers for
such programs as CoCoMAX3, ColorMax3, Max-10, and
TW128?
=>
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- Also interested in any CoCo hardware for sale.
- Finally Ray included copies of some ads from
Burke & Burke and Northern Exposure. Does anyone
know if these companies are still in business?
Ray's address: Ray Sami
Copepad 25
2408 RS
Alphen a/d Rijn
Holland
Tele: (31) 172-477450
email(work) Rsami%gw(at sign)nethold.NL
=*
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LOOKING FOR UPGRADE KITS Hi Rick,
Just got your name and address from Adventure Survi-
vors. Would like info on the services that you have.
How do you get on the CoCo Registry?
I am looking for 512K upgrade kit or an upgraded
CoCo3. Also looking for a FD-502 Drive 1 kit. Your
help would be much appreciated.
Tony Durst
35 Park Ave
Brantford, ONT
Canada N3S 5H2
Tel: 519 751-7894 (before 12 noon & after 10 pm
except Sat. & Sun.)
=>
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Rick: Thanks for your inquiry Tony! I've sent some
info about our products and a CoCo Registry form.
Per the upgrade kits, I can't help right now. Maybe
one of our other Friends can ?!
=*
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Making Flippies Sra Concepcion had a question about making flippies in issue 52. I made them for about 10 years before I bought them from Rick, & never used a notcher. Here is how: Make a template with a 3X5 card of 1/2 of the disk. Orient the 5" side of the card to resemble the left side of the disk, with the access window closest to you. Draw an oval access window on the card for orientation purposes. With the template window pointing toward you, measure from the BOTTOM (nearest to you) up 2 3/16" & make a mark in the basic area of the 2nd timing hole. Then 2 7/16" up & mark it. Now from the LEFT side, measure 1 1/2" & 1 3/4" & mark both. Draw a square box connecting the 4 marks. With a basic hand held 1/4" paper punch (standard size) punch a hole in the center of the box on the card. Now turn a disk OVER & place it => ____________________________________________________ over the template & draw the existing notch on the template. Punch this out with the 1/4" punch. (It should be on the left side of the template). Mark this side of the card as side 1. With a pencil trace the notch & timing holes of side 1 of the card onto a blank disk. Place a 1X5" piece of card between the magnetic disk & the disk cover at the penciled timing circle to prevent damage to the disk. With care, insert the punch between the card & cover & punch the timing hole. FLIP card AND disk & repeat for side 2 timing hole ONLY. Lastly punch 2nd notch out with your punch. SO this notch is only 1/2 round & NOT square! But it still works. I have not had a disk fail with this method BUT it does take a bit of effort. Now just initialize both sides of the disk and you're home free. If you have any questions => ____________________________________________________ about this process, just call or write. I guess my question about this whole thing is this: If we can't find flippies, where will you find 5 1/4" disks to CONVERT to flippies? I haven't seen them in stores around here lately. But then I have a fair supply of them & haven't really been looking. I hope this helps you, Sra, & any other friends who may have a need for it. Herb Forger Sr 88 Dry Hill Rd Norwalk CT 06851-3127 Tel: (203) 847-4282 =* |
NIB, SQS, and SQZ In Issue 52 (?), someone asked about the difference
between NIB, SQZ, and SQS. All three formats are
starting to show themselves on CFDM.
Specifically, NIB and SQZ (Squeeze) are two ways of
saving graphics. Rick Cooper wrote both systems.
NIB files can be viewed with NIBSHOW, or NIBLOADR.
SQZ files can be viewed while running CFDM, or by
using NIBSHOW.
SQS (Squash) is a way of saving graphics also. It
was written by Stuart Wyss-Gallifent for use with
the fractal programs. You'll need to use a fractal
program like IFRACTAL, or SQSSHOW to view these
files.
->
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Although SQS and SQZ have very similar extensions,
they are not interchangeable, and the data is stored
in two very different formats.
Conversion programs have surfaced from time to time
in CFDM. I suggest looking in back issues, or
writing to me directly, if you need conversion
programs. I have programs that will convert
SQS to NIB
NIB to SQS
SQZ to NIB Can this get any more confusing?
SQZ to SQS
SQS to SQZ :-)
NIB to SQZ
-*
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