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Table of contents: |
| COCO FRIENDS DISK MAGAZINE Issue #57 | 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! =* |
| Articles in section: ABOUT THIS ISSUE |
| BONUS
DISK DIRECTORY (#19) CONTENTS...PART 1 (i57) CONTENTS...PART 2 (i57) PROGRAM DIRECTORY (i57) 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
BOOT .BAS..RUN...PROGRAMS OF THE MONTH
C3READER.BAS..RUN...LETTERS TO THE EDITOR
COLORPIE.BAS..RUN...PROGRAMS OF THE MONTH
EZHS2GRF.BAS..RUN...PROGRAMS OF THE MONTH
NIBLODR+.BAS..RUN...CAN BE USED TO VIEW NIB PICS
NIBSHOW .BAS..RUN...ART GALLERY
SANTA .BAS........CALLED FROM BOOT.BAS
* NIBLOADR.BIN........NIB PICTURE LOADER UTILITY
* SWITCH .BIN........USED BY BOOT.BAS =>
____________________________________________________
* PUZDAT .DAT........USED BY BOOT.BAS
* SEQ0 .DAT........USED BY BOOT.BAS
* SEQ1 .DAT........USED BY BOOT.BAS
* ARTPATTS.NIB........USED BY COLORPIE.BAS
* ARTPIE .NIB........USED BY COLORPIE.BAS
* BIRTHDAY.NIB........ART GALLERY
* COLORPIE.NIB........USED BY COLORPIE.BAS
* JULY4TH .NIB........ART GALLERY
* KID03 .NIB........ART GALLERY
* MIC+DRUM.NIB........ART GALLERY
* OVERLAY .NIB........USED BY BOOT.BAS
* PP+FIRET.NIB........ART GALLERY
* PUZZLE1 .NIB........USED BY BOOT.BAS
* PUZZLE2 .NIB........USED BY BOOT.BAS
* SANTA .NIB........USED BY BOOT.BAS
* SPEEDBUG.NIB........ART GALLERY =>
____________________________________________________
* TWET+SYL.NIB........ART GALLERY
* OPCODES .TXT........USE C3READER.BAS TO VIEW
--------------------- SIDE 2 -----------------------
* CLIPS2 .CLP........ACTIVE COCO
* CLIPS3 .CLP........ACTIVE COCO
* CLIPS7 .CLP........ACTIVE COCO
=*
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ABOUT COCO FRIENDS DISK MAGAZINE (2) 1 "ABOUT CFDM" 2 ABOUT COCO FRIENDS DISK MAGAZINE ABOUT THIS ISSUE (5) 1 BONUS DISK DIRECTORY (#19) 2 CONTENTS...PART 1 (i57) 3 CONTENTS...PART 2 (i57) 4 PROGRAM DIRECTORY (i57) 5 THIS MONTH'S COVER ACTIVE COCO (2) 1 * HOW TO ON CLIPART * 2 THE CFDM/COCO BROADCAST !! ADVERTISEMENTS (6) => ____________________________________________________ 1 "I HAVE SERICAL TO PARALLEL.." 2 ADVERTISEMENTS 3 CFDM SUBCRIPTION 4 I NEED A 512 COCO3 !! 5 PENNSYLVANIA COCO FEST !! 6 RCE NOW HAS COCO3 EMULATOR !!! ARTICLES OF THE MONTH (3) 1 COCO CHRONICLES 8 PART 1 2 COCO CHRONICLES 8 PART 2 3 COCO CHRONICLES 8 PART 3 COCO FRIENDS ART GALLERY (8) 1 A SPORT'S QUESTION?! 2 A little MUSIC3+ helper 3 ANIMATED NIBS => ____________________________________________________ 4 ARTPATTS/ARTPIE/COLORPIE 5 COLORS, COLORS, COLORS 6 CORAL REEF 7 Keeps Rolling Along! 8 VIEWING THE CFDM ART GALLERY FAMILY TREE (5) 1 "THE BIG ONE" 2 FAMILY EXCERPTS 3 Tree Addition (Part two) 4 Tree Addition (Elaboration?) 5 WILLIAMS UPDATE FORUM (2) 1 DO COMPUTERS THINK? 2 WE NEED YOUR COCO WORK!!! =* |
FROM THE EDITOR (2)
1 A WORD FROM RICK
2 KUDOS FOR ISSUE #57
LETTERS TO THE EDITOR (8)
1 BLANK INK FOR INKING RIBBONS
2 FAMILIAR WITH KITSZ
3 FINISHED "THE SEVENTH LINK"
4 INTERESTED IN THE EMULATOR
5 KEEPING DATA
6 LOOKING FOR...
7 MOUTHS AND MORE
8 WHICH SECTION??
POTPOURRI (6)
1 A Software Interview Question =>
____________________________________________________
2 CLASSIFIED ADS
3 My Novel
4 Puzzle Answer
5 SIMPLY Talented
6 SLC
PROGRAMS OF THE MONTH (12)
1 A Colorful Pie
2 BATTLESHIP
3 DANCER2 - FOR 128 K
4 Dat Ole Teacher, Stuart (DOTS)
5 EASYHSC2 GRAPHICS
6 EASYHSC2 GRAPHICS PART 2
7 MOUTH MOVER for 128 K
8 MUSIC FROM MUSIC3+
9 Monte Carlo =>
____________________________________________________
10 Monte Carlo (continued)
11 PC PICTURE IN COCO PUZZLE PROG
12 SORTING YOUR DISK DIRECTORIES
REVIEWS (2)
1 PROJECTOR 3.A
2 PROJECTOR 3.A (PART 2)
QUESTIONS & ANSWERS (4)
1 EXCERPTED QUESTIONS
2 LOOKING FOR "COCO UTIL"
3 LOOKING FOR COCO 2 STUFF...
4 NEED OLD PART
=*
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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 are not to be RUN or EXECed!
NAME.........COMMAND..SECTION OR DESCRIPTION
BATTLE .BAS..RUN...PROGRAMS OF THE MONTH
BIGMOUTH.BAS..RUN...LETTERS TO THE EDITOR
DANCER2 .BAS..RUN...PROGRAMS OF THE MONTH
DOTS .BAS..RUN...PROGRAMS OF THE MONTH
EXTDIR .BAS..RUN...PROGRAMS OF THE MONTH
GETPTMTH.BAS..RUN...LETTERS TO THE EDITOR
MONTE .BAS..RUN...PROGRAMS OF THE MONTH
MUSIC .BAS..RUN...PROGRAMS OF THE MONTH
NIBSHOW .BAS..RUN...ART GALLERY
PETUNIA .BAS..RUN...FAMILY TREE
SORTDIR .BAS..RUN...PROGRAMS OF THE MONTH =>
____________________________________________________
TEXTCHG2.BAS..RUN...LETTERS TO THE EDITOR
* BFR .BIN........DATA FILE FOR MONTE.BAS
* HE .BIN........DATA FILE FOR MUSIC.BAS
* NIBLOADR.BIN........NIB PICTURE LOADER UTILITY
* PIXMOVER.BIN........USED BY PETUNIA.BAS
* SP3 .BIN........USED BY BIGMOUTH.BAS
* TILSTORM.BIN........DATA FILE FOR MUSIC.BAS
* BASEBALL.NIB........ART GALLERY
* COLORS .NIB........ART GALLERY
* CORAL .NIB........ART GALLERY
* DANCER .NIB........USED BY DANCER2.BAS
* MOUTH1-5.NIB........USED BY BIGMOUTH.BAS
* NOTESCAL.NIB........ART GALLERY
* PETUNIA .NIB #1-8...USED BY PETUNIA.BAS
* ROLLING .NIB........ART GALLERY
* USS SLC .NIB........ART GALLERY =>
____________________________________________________
* WARRIOR .NIB........ART GALLERY
=*
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Racecars This is a little different for me but here
goes anyway. This is a digitized picture taken
of a car race. So I captured the picture and in
turn used it as a cover picture for CFDM...Let
me know what you think....
.......... Jim Gibbons
=*
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| Articles in section: ACTIVE COCO |
| *
HOW TO ON CLIPART * THE CFDM/COCO BROADCAST !! |
| Back to top |
* HOW TO ON CLIPART * Since issue #54 with the BONUS DISK #16 I've
had several requests for more MAX-10 clipart and
also some questions about how to use them. With this
article I'm sending Rick some more of the clips that
I created in Florida last winter. I've already sent
these clip files to some of our CoCo Friends.
The procedure that I follow is to Load the file
into MAX-10 and then <PRINT> it so that I can then
see all of the clips and be able to choose them as I
need them for a letter or sign. Once the individual
clip is COPY'd into the 'RAM CLIPBOARD' it can be
PASTE'd and then moved and sized.
Here is my step-by-step procedure:
MAX-10 has several pull down menus: <FILE> / <EDIT>
<SEARCH+> / <LAYOUT>
1 <FILE> 2 <LOAD> (CLIP DISK IN DRIVE)==>
____________________________________________________
3 CLICK THE CLIP YOU WANT TO USE
4 <EDIT> 5 <COPY>
6 <FILE> 7 <NEW> CLEARS SCREEN
8 <EDIT> 9 <PASTE>
10 <FILE> 11 <SAVE> TO A WORK DISK
If you want several pictures to be side-by-side you
must then go to:
12 <LAYOUT> 13 <DEFINE COLUMNS> 2 OR 3
(REPEAT STEPS 1 TO 7)
14 <FILE> 15 <LOAD> FROM CLIP DISK
16 CLICK THE CLIP YOU WANT TO ADD
17 <EDIT> 18 <COPY>
19 <FILE> 20 <NEW> CLEARS SCREEN
21 <FILE> 22 <LOAD> FROM WORK DISK
Your first clip is on the screen -- set the cursor
where you want the other clip to be -- use <ENTER>=>
____________________________________________________
to move the clip to be on page 2 or adjacent to the
first clip.
23 <EDIT> 24 <PASTE>
25 <SEARCH+> 26 <PAGE PREVIEW> will show what
you accomplished -- If too high or too low just use
<ENTER> or <LEFT ARROW> to move it and then recheck
using steps 25 & 26.
I hope that this will be useful for the MAX-10
users. I plan to do some more work with it this win-
ter in Florida -- But now we're at home at:
Kelly Green's Apt 1001
4355 S National Ave.
Springfield, MO 65810
COCONUT --> GODFREY
(You'll find Godfrey's CLIPS2.CLP, CLIPS3.CLP, and
CLIPS7.CLP on side 2 of the bonus disk.) =*
|
THE CFDM/COCO BROADCAST !! Last issue I placed an entry inviting everyone to
call 1-800-687-0600 ext: 699570. I really didn't
describe the reason for the call...but now I'll tell
you what it's all about.
The above number is being used by me to broadcast a
brief CoCo message. I record it once a month and
the new message is usually made during the first
week of the month. Each message is about 3 to 4
minutes in length.
The first month's message just introduced the idea.
Although we didn't get a lot of feedback, we went
ahead and made the second broadcast (in April). This
one had our friend Norm Barson as our guest. In the
May broadcast we had Ron Bull, organizer of the =>
____________________________________________________
upcoming Pennsylvannia CoCo Fest (August 2 & 3). By
the time you read this message we will (hopefully)
have made the June broadcast.
Please let me know what you think about this idea so
that I can decide on whether or not to continue.
=*
|
| Articles in section: ADVERTISEMENTS |
| "I
HAVE SERIAL TO PARALLEL.." ADVERTISEMENTS CFDM SUBSCRIPTION I NEED A 512 COCO3 !! PENNSYLVANIA COCO FEST !! RCE NOW HAS COCO3 EMULATOR !!! |
| Back to top |
"I HAVE SERIAL TO
PARALLEL.." Terry Laraway recently sent in his "early renewal"
and mentioned that he has serial to parallel
converters. The price is $20.00.
Maybe Terry will send in a "real" ad soon...until
then maybe this will get out the "news."
Terry Laraway
41 N.W. Doncee Drive
Bremerton, WA 98311
=*
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ADVERTISEMENTS COCO ITEMS FOR SALE (OR). COCO 3 512K,DMP105,FD502 DUAL DRIVE W/INTERFACE,MAGNAVOX RGB 8CM515 MONITOR 2 COCO 3 128K,2 COCO 2,FD501 SINGLE DRIVE W/INTER, 2 MULTIPAKS,RS232 PROGRAM PAK,2 SPEECH SOUND PAKS FD502 DRIVE INTERFACE,PENRIL 1200 MODEM,2 BLACK 1 BUTTON MOUSE,2 HI RE JOYSTICK INTERFACE,2 NIHON EXT 5.25 DRIVE, BOTEK S/P INTERFACE MODEM/PRINTER,BLUE STREAK ULTIMA S/P INTERFACE,4 5.25 DRIVE CLEANING KITS,FLAT CABLE 34, IDS & IDE CONNECTORS 34,COCOMAX 10 W/FONTS,COCOMAXIII,QUIKPRO +,QUIKPRO II,HOME PUB- LISHER,FLIGHT SIMULATORII,DYNACALC,OS9&OS9II,BAGA- SAURUS,ROLL A WORD,PICTURE PLACE,BIOSPHERE,ZONE RUN- NER,RESCUE ON FRACTALUS,ROGUE,ROBOT ODESSY I,INTER- BANK(3 DISKS),MICKEY SPACE ADVENTURE(2 DISKS),WINNIE THE POOH,MICROSCOPIC CONNETION,THIRD RAINBOW BOOK OF ADVENTURES,DESKMATE FOR COLOR COMPUTERS,RAINBOW -> ____________________________________________________ TO STATISTICS,PAN MUSIC MAKE,COLOR MATH,BLACKBOARD/ COLOR IT,THE POND,TEASER BY TOBB,THE FACTORY,CAVE WALKER,COLOR LOGO. THE ABOVE SOFTWARE INCLUDES DISKS & MANUALS.THE FOLLOWING ARE MANUALS. EDT/ASM II, GREG-E-TERM,CERCOMP HIRES II UTILITY, ADOS/ADOS3 EXT MICROPAINTER,MICRO ILLUSTRATER,GRAPHICOM,MAGIC GRAPH IC,COCO CALIGRAPHER,COLOR DISK TRIVIA,ANIMATOR,LYRA MUSIC,COMPUTER PROGRAMING FOR KIDS, TEACHING PROGRAM ING TO KIDS, EXT BASIC UNRAVELED,COMPUTER LEARNING LAB,FKEYS III,HIRES WRITER,COCO SECRETS REVEALED, 6809 MICRO PROCESSOR-HEATH KIT EDU SYS,MC6809 MICRO PROCESSOR FACT BOOK(MOTOROLA),COLOR MAX 3,EXTENDED BASIC,DISK SYSTEM,COCO 2,COLOR BASIC,TR80 PROGRAM IN STYLE,MY COLOR COMPUTER LIKES ME,COLOR SCRIBE III. THE FOLLOWING ARE MANUALS FOR GAMES.RESCUE ON FRACT- ULUS,ROGUE,BIOSPHERE,INTERBANK INCEDENT,FOOTBALL,-> ____________________________________________________ CHESS,TENNIS,ATOM,ROBOT BATTLE,ZAXXON,RAAKATU,MEGA BUG,DUNGEON QUES,OTHELLO,QUEST,KONIS RIFT,STAR TREK III,COLOR TREK,MADNESS & THE MANATOR,PEGASUS,VARLOC, PLANT LOG,SOLAR SYSTEM,TAXI,DUNGEONS OF DRAGGORATH, RAINBOW QUEST,EDUCATION SERIES-TAXI-PNUT BUTTER-STAR TRAP. PROGRAM PAKS W/INSTRUCTIONS,THEDRES,SKIING, FOOTBALL III,COLOR BASEBALL,MICROBES,SOKO BAN,SLAY THE NEREIS,MALCOM MORTAR,RAD WARRIOR,SHANGHAI,TYPE MATE,CASTLE OF THAROGGAO,ROBOT BATTLE,TETPHE(TETRIS) ART GALLERY,DRAGON FIRE,ATOM COLOR LOGO,AUDIO SPEC- TRUM ANALYZER. HUNDREDS OF DISKS & TAPES-RAINBOW-T&D SOFTWARE ON DISKS COMPLETE. DISKS IF AVAILABLE WILL BE SHIPPED WITH THE MANUALS LISTED. GIVE A CALL AT 520-567-6477 OR WRITE TO JOHN B SAYEWICH, 3612 SOUTH RIVERSIDE DR, CAMP VERDE, AZ 86322. I'LL DEAL I NEED TO MAKE ROOM OR GET A BIGGER HOUSE. * |
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!! =* |
I NEED A 512 COCO3 !! Wanted: 512 K CoCo in working condition.
Ben Walker
17753 FM Road 344 West
Flint, TX 75762
Tel: 903 825-2037
=*
|
PENNSYLVANIA COCO FEST !! Ron Bull is presently organizing a CoCo Fest for
Carlisle, Pennsylvania. It will be held August 2nd
and 3rd at Embers Inn. More information will be
available by calling Ron at 1-717-834-4314 or by
writing him at: 115 Ann Street
Duncannon, PA 17020-1204
Early reports are that it is going to be well
attended and that a number of notable names from
the CoCo past may be there.
RICK: Donna, the girls, and I are planning to
attend. We hope to see many of our CoCo
Friends from the surrounding area there!
=*
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RCE NOW HAS COCO3 EMULATOR !!! A few months ago, Jeff Vavasour emailed me a message
asking if I would be interested in marketing the
CoCo3 Emulator for him. Of course I said yes and
now we have the emulator to add to our collection of
other great software to offer you.
The price is still only $25...and this is a steal
one of the greatest pieces of software that is
useful to CoCoists!
With the emulator and your PC you can RUN 99.99% of
all CoCo software...and you can also program CoCo
programs, just like on the "real" CoCo. As a matter
of fact you probably won't notice much difference
except for a little more speed on the Emulator. If
you have a PC, the emulator is a must!! =>
____________________________________________________
COCO 3 EMULATOR
by Jeff Vavasour
RUN YOUR COCO PROGRAMS ON YOUR PC !
PROGRAM NEW COCO PROGRAMS FROM THE EMULATOR !
IT'S EASY TO USE !
CFDM FILES FOR THE EMULATOR ARE AVAILABLE !
TO ORDER: Send check, cash, or Money Order for $25
to: Rick's Computer Enterprise
P.O. Box 276
Liberty, KY 42539 =*
|
| Articles in section: ARTICLES OF THE MONTH |
| COCO
CHRONICLES 8 PART 1 COCO CHRONICLES 8 PART 2 COCO CHRONICLES 8 PART 3 |
| Back to top |
COCO CHRONICLES 8 PART 1 In Mmarch, KRAFT's new joystick (available within 2
months), TYPE-N-TALK from VOTRAX, and GEORGE
ASSOCIATES' Z-80 based CP/M interface, were three
new CoCo products previewed at the WEST COAST
COMPUTER FAIR in San Francisco.
DATA-COMP debuts their FLEX operating system by
marketing Steve Odneal's conversion which, at the
time, utilized the Exatron disk system.
In an attempt to pacify software reviewers who have
been waiting for the long overdue Super "Color"
Writer, Nelson ships their SUPER "COLOR" TERMINAL.
Magazine articles at this time include Shawn
McClenahan's detailed instruction on various 64K =>
____________________________________________________
upgrades, a non-Kitzs hardware project for those of
us who are tired of constantly switching the modem
and printer cables from the back of the CoCo, and
Frank Hogg's article on moving ROM to RAM in your
"new" 64K CoCo.
Perhaps in light of February's information flood,
both CoCo publications seemed to have a lack-luster
March issue. If I hear about the double-speed poke
one more time, I'm going to scream!!!!!!
With 2 FLEX operating systems available for the
CoCo, MICROWARE starts looking into the possibility
of OS-9. Meanwhile, DALE PUCKETT'S article "FLEX
COMES TO THE COLOR COMPUTER" along with the first
installation of Frank Hogg's column "64K KORNER" =>
____________________________________________________
appears in the April issue of CCN, marking their
increased FLEX coverage.
Clay Abram's article, "AMATEUR RADIO AND THE TRS-80
COLOR", deals with the reception of SSTV pictures.
Wonderful information for ham operators but, it
seemed like all the useful utility listings I'd come
to expect from CCN were starting to disappear.
The RAINBOW, which by April had grown to 52 pages,
contains the first part of DENNIS LEWANDOWSKI's
column called THE ASSEMBLY CORNER, plus RAINBOW ON
TAPE.
(See Part 2.)
=*
|
COCO CHRONICLES 8 PART 2 Telewriter's disk version is being marketed by this
time along with several other new CoCo products,
such as HUMBUG, a machine language monitor program
from Star-Kits, various software from PRICKLY-PEAR
SOFTWARE, AUTO RUN from Sugar Software, the first
hi-res screen utility, THE SOLUTION from SNAKE
MOUNTAIN SOFTWARE, and NANOS' reference card.
Wayne Green must've freaked out when, in May, Tandy
opened a 100,000 square foot plant in Ft. Worth to
build Color Computers. Also at this time, several
New Jersey schools started using the machine. Seems
like everywhere Wayne Green looks, there are CoCos!
(dieying of neglect, no doubt)
=>
____________________________________________________
CCN celebrates its first year anniversary with
apologies from Bill Sias about the "double" issue
but, said it was needed to get back on schedule.
While still a source of valuable information, the
number of good articles and programs seemed to be
declining.
Some CoCo first in May, included an EPROM burner
from COMPUTER ASSOCIATES, DISK DOCTOR from SUPERIOR
GRAPHICS, SPELL 'N FIX from Star-Kits, and from
Aardvark, the first BASIC COMPILER. SPECTRUM
PROJECTS also debuts as Bob Rosen drops the name
Connection-80.
Dennis Kitsz is no stranger to CoCo owners but,
exactly, who is he? Where does he come from? What =>
____________________________________________________
is he really like? The brief biography, DEVINE
DEMENTIA by MICHAEL NADEAU, appears in 80 MICRO and
answers these, and other questions. It was fun
reading.
F I N A L L Y!! a review of the l-o-n-g awaited
Super "Color" Writer from Nelson Software.
The first national CoCo users group was inaugurated
in June when Compuserve starts its Color Computer
SIG with a membership of 52 and WAYNE DAY as sysop.
See Part 3.
=*
|
COCO CHRONICLES 8 PART 3 80 Micro runs an interesting biography about Bob
Rosen and his Connection-80 BBS.
Thanks for the plug, BoB!
Newly introduced CoCo support includes MICRO
TECHNICAL PRODUCTS' LCA-47 lowercase kit (the first
kit featuring switch selectable inverse screen), and
the RAINBOW SEAL OF CERTIFICATION. Started by
RAINBOW magazine, certification insures that the
product does, in fact, exist.
JOHN WALCO's 3 part article on picking winning NFL
teams with the CoCo began but, unfortunately there
would be no winners that year because the NFL went
on strike. =>
____________________________________________________
Was it my imagination or, were both Color Computer
magazines getting stale? Due, perhaps, to the sudden
abundance of CoCo information in the second year,
both appeared to be getting a bit flat?
(More COCO CHRONICLES next issue!)
=*
|
A SPORT'S QUESTION?!
Here's another "Question Picture" from Ben Walker.
Check out "BASEBALL.NIB" (using NIBSHOW.BAS) on side
2 of this disk. If you don't know the answer then
reload this entry and look at page 2. (Don't look
now if you don't want to know the answer!)
By the way Ben is in desparate need of a working
512 K CoCo 3. Please contact him if you can help.
Ben Walker
17753 FM Road 344 West
Flint, TX 75762
Tel: 903 825-2037
(The answer is on the next page....) =
____________________________________________________
The answer to this "Question Picture" is
"There's a 'shortstop' in between".
=*
|
A little MUSIC3+ helper
I copied this from a hand-drawn note scale I have
in my CoCo 3 "Quick Reference Guide". It helps me
quickly put together tunes for both MUSIC3+ 4-voice
harmonies and BASIC 1-voice tunes.
(See NOTESCAL.NIB on the back of this disk.)
=*
|
ANIMATED NIBS
I still get quite a kick out of making animated NIBS and so, here are some more. I will try to make some more like "MOTOR-MOUTH" in the near future. Disk #55 and Bonus Disk #17 were appreciated after 3 months of nothing - The HARDCOPY is just GREAT ! Now for the sad part --- I don't want to be an old "CRYBABY", but at 81 years of age and not being too well, I would like very much to hear from all of the COCO Friends that I have sent letters and disks --- Please at least answer me soon. A few COCO Friends have been very faithful, and I know you will know who you are ! Thanks to all who have brightened my last few days. HAROLD J. MOENICH (See Harold's animations on 715 GREENLEAF DRIVE side 1 of the Bonus Disk.) MONROEVILLE, PA 15146-1133 (412)373-1309 =* |
ARTPATTS/ARTPIE/COLORPIE
ARTPSATTS/NIB shows the first group of artifacte
color patches created by EZHS2GRF/BAS. I was not
sure artifact colors would transfer well into NIB
but I think the result was good. .
ARTPIE/NIB is an 8-slice pie created with the
graphic input routine in EZHS2GRF.
COLORPIE/NIB is a picture of the color piechart
produced by the listing of COLORPIE/BAS on this
disk.
(See side 1 of the Bonus Disk for these graphics.)
=*
|
COLORS, COLORS, COLORS
I saw something like this picture on TV. It was in
connection with an art exhibit. If they can call
this sort of abstract "art", then I guess I can too.
Surprisingly, it took me almost as long as some of
my other pictures. Just laying out the "geometry"
before putting in any color was time-consuming.
Anyway, it is a good idea to try something new for
a change. I hope you find it interesting.
Load "COLORS" in NIBSHOW on back of this disk.
=*
|
CORAL REEF
I copied this picture from another calendar photo.
I wish I had more colors available to really do it
justice, but I tried. Fortunately, I didn't have to
draw all the fish from scratch. I made good use of
the copy, paste, flip, rotate and size capabilities
of CoCoMax 3.
Load "CORAL" in NIBSHOW on back of this disk.
=*
|
Keeps Rolling Along!
No matter how often CFDM comes out of Rick's
Computer Enterprises. No matter what fantastic
entries the subscribers send in. No matter what
great programs the members put together.
CFDM will always be there to provide the best of
Color Computer 3 software, graphics, utilities,
music, games and great CoCo 3 surplus offers.
CFDM keeps rolling along!
(See ROLLING.NIB on the back of this disk.)
(Also check out WARRIOR.NIB sent in by Ray.)
=*
|
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 |
| "THE
BIG ONE" FAMILY EXCERPTS Tree Addition (Part two) Tree Addition (Elaboration?) WILLIAMS UPDATE |
| Back to top |
"THE BIG ONE"
On January 24, 1997, I had my third heart attack,
after which the doctor gave me an angiogram and
found that he could not open the artery and my
heart was 99.95% not functioning--and he said the
"BIG ONE" or die. I had the open heart surgery and
I am still recovering, since I have infected
incisions from my heel to my groin, where the
surgeon took out veins for the 5 by-passes for the
heart. But, by the grace of God, I now am free of
angina. I can not spend a whole day at the CoCo like
I use to do, but on side two I just had to send in
something for Rick. I owe many CoCoers letters and
disks. Please, I did not forget any - here are some:
Ben Walker,J.R. Waggoner, Godfrey Moll, Norm Barson,
Henry Kszepka,Terry Laraway,Ray Berney,Keiran Kenney
I will answer as soon as I can. HJM 05-13-97 =>
____________________________________________________
-----
RICK: Hang in there Harold! Sorry to hear about the
necessity of the surgery, but glad to hear you are
on the mend!!
(RUN "PETUNIA.BAS" on side 2 of this disk for
another one of Harold's animations.)
=*
|
FAMILY EXCERPTS I'm sorry that it has been so long since you have
heard from me, but 6 months ago we had our home
totally destroyed by a fire. We lost everything that
we own, including all of my computer things. Me and
my family all escaped unharmed, but we lost every-
thing we own. We are just now getting back on our
feet. It is difficult because all I have is SSI. I
found this computer and one drive at a garage sale
for $20. I need a multi-pak, telephone modem, and
lots of software. If you know of anyone that has
these things for sale cheaply, please let me know.
Marcus Springer
101 S. Central Ave.
Connersville, IN 47331
=>
____________________________________________________
Arnold and I listened to the mail box this after-
noon. It was good to hear your voice. Thanks.
Arnold wanted me to let you know we have a new
granddaughter. She was born Feburary 24th at 1:32 PM
and weighted 8 lb. 2 oz. Her name is Amber Nicole
Stump. Here mother, father, and big sister live in
Roanoke, VA. She is our oldest daughter Beverly,
Lewis, and Kayla make up the family.
Arnold & Lorena Garlic
=*
|
Tree addition ? (part two) During one sunrise GQ drill several transports or
freighters were spotted. They showed no fear and
then we learned why -- they were accompanied by a
force twice our size. The battle lasted over 3 1/2
hours with our ship being between theirs and the
coast of Japan. Finally they had enough, retired,
we returned to port, shipfitters welded a plate
over damage to forward firerooms, and we set sail
to shipyard (Mare Island) for repairs -- all this
after about a month from prior repairs. It could be
a much longer story, for me very thrilling, and I'm
very proud of our ship. I am trying to do the story
more justice for our grandkids. I can also show a
tape of Walter Cronkite's "Victory at Sea" -- the
Hornet and Doolittle's B-25s. The SLC and a light
cruiser (Richmond I believe) accompanied =>
____________________________________________________
the Hornet (after it separated from the rest of the
group) on its two-day "Full Speed Run" towards Japan
for the launching. The photographer was aboard the
light cruiser and at one point I'm able to "Pause"
and slowly show our ship "going over and under" in
those heavy seas. Too bad the photographer didn't
have a powerful zoom lens -- he may have spotted me
under the starboard catapult watching the first few
planes being launched. It was just a very, very
short scene but it is "My Ship" and brings back
some fine memories. I seemed to talk very little of
it until I once wrote Keiran and asked about his
service with the Australian Navy (we operated with
it too in the Correl Sea for about 3 months). Think
I wrote of some our experiences and received a very
MUCH MORE interesting tale of his own. =>
____________________________________________________
Surely someone was watching over us. The USS SLC
lost 5 men in one engagement in the South Seas, two
in that Alaskan battle, and two more after I left.
Though not wanting to leave the SLC, my being
transferred brought about my meeting and marrying my
wife of 52+ years now, and I've not regretted that.
Again, though this not all about the CoCo3, it
partly explains my contact with Keiran and perhaps
his remarks with "WARSHIPS" on side A of CFDM #18
Bonus disk. I thoroughly enjoyed it and twice sunk
those ships with less than 30 shots. A fun game.
Thanks Keiran.
Vic. =*
|
Family Tree (Elaboration?) Except for the Star printer and many additions
from CFDM not much else has changed from my Tree
entry in CFDM # 17. Because of Keiran's remarks in
CFDM #56, I'd like to add this to help explain ---.
Now 78, I at 19 began service with the Navy ---
basic training and Electrical/Ordinance school in
San Diego. I boarded the USS Salt Lake City on New
Year's Eve 1939 and remained a part of ship's crew
until April 1944. I too, was no gunner but served
as seaman, fireman, and close to 5 years with the
Electrical (E div) gang before being transferred to
a new ship at Richmond Naval yards. The SLC was
built in 1929 (nick-named "Tin-Clad" because of her
thin armor), had four turrets (5-8" guns in two
turrets forward and 5-8" guns in two turrets aft).
Its 4 engines were capable of pushing it to =>
____________________________________________________
near 31 knots (35 MPH). Our gun crews were always
at drill -- long before the war began. During the
early part of the War a correspondent (Bob Casey)
made several trips with us and later wrote "Torpedo
Junction" (I have a copy), and spoke of our ship as
"The Swayback Maru." He gave high praise to our gun
crews. We seemed to be getting more "ship-to-ship"
combat than some of the others, were credited with
sinking 2 heavy cruisers, 1 light, 1 destroyer, 11
cargo ships, 2 twin engine bombers, 8 Bettys (Japan-
ese torpedo/bombers), 1 Jill & 1 observation plane.
The SLC also took part in bombarding islands
(air- fields etc) 29 times & once fought off those
Bettys three days straight -- think that one time I
felt a tad nervous (maybe tired from loss of sleep).
A book(very thin) was mailed to me after the =>
____________________________________________________
war, "The Story of the USS Salt Lake City 1929-1946.
It helped to remember but left out some details.
Most of my time was spent at forward repair so
I actually saw none of the "action." Perhaps someone
remembers (faintly) once seeing the USS Boise in a
Newsreel during her return to East Coast for ship-
yard repairs. During her "Pounding" our ship took
her place in battle formation, our captain ordered
four 36" searchlights to illuminate the attacker and
perhaps to blind it also and gave command for all
turrets to "Rapid Fire" (load and fire when ready).
According to reports from those on "topside" it was
like four salvos reaching out for that Japanese
heavy (it tried to turn broadside to us but just
turned over and sank.) After "yard repairs" we left
for Alaska for seeming R&R? See part 2 ?? =*
|
WILLIAMS UPDATE 67 High Street
Harrington, NSW
Australia 2427
Thanks for sending me the PCFDM disk (a gift from
Keiran Kenny), it certainly brought back old
memories and it was nice to hear from you once
again. I was just about to write to Keiran, so now
I can thank him also.
I'm afraid I don't have my CoCo computers anymore,
but they are in good hands as I gave them to my
grandchildren and I think they are still using them.
But in this fast world of computers once they get
their hands on a PC and get into the Internet, I'm
afraid they then start to give the poor old =>
____________________________________________________
CoCo away.
I have just upgraded my computer as my old Tandy
386-33 was too slow and I only had a single speed
CD-ROM, it's no longer a Tandy computer. In Keiran's
last letter to me he was starting to wilter. He was
asking about PC computers, I'm afraid he will have a
heart attack if he does what a lot of us have done
and wiped everything off the Hard Drive, not like
CoCo you could kick it and do anything you liked
with it and you never lost anything.
Well Rick I think the PCFDM is great and I only hope
you can get it off the ground, specially with all
the hard work you have done over the past years. But
I'm afraid I can't subscribe to it as I have =>
____________________________________________________
commitments. I only wish I could but it's impossible
at this time in my life.
I do wish you all the best with whatever you do and
also all the best to your family, don't think I
don't think of you, I do when I'm fiddling around
with graphics and drawings, it brings back old
times.
Til next time,
Arthur Williams
=*
|
| Articles in section: FORUM |
| DO
COMPUTERS THINK? WE NEED YOUR COCO WORK!!! |
| Back to top |
DO COMPUTERS THINK? A couple of weeks ago I saw a newspaper headline
announcing the coming "Kasparov-Deep Blue" chess
match. Garry Kasparov being the current World Chess
Champ and Deep Blue being a super computer produced
by IBM and programmed by a team of experts for the
purpose of beating a human chess champion.
The article went on as to how Kasparov could "see"
two moves per second while the computer could "look
at" 200 million per second. This would certainly
seem to put the human in dire straits...but...it
seems that humans can make intuitive judgements
based on patterns...computers do not do that. The
computer simply looks at everything and a decision
is made on the outcome that it actually sees. By the
way, a computer has never beaten a human champ.=>
____________________________________________________
A web page was also given to keep up with the match.
I did look at the page before the match began but
relied on newspaper, radio, and TV to inform me as
to the outcome. (That web address is chess.ibm.com.)
The match was set for 6 games. The winner would
receive $700,000 and the loser $400,000. Not bad for
a few days work!!
The results were kind of shocking for the human and
his supporters. After a win by each and 3 draws, the
computer, Deep Blue, won the 6th and final game to
take the match. Kasparov immediately started with
the "I've been tricked" and "I want a rematch"
reactions. Did I mention that the two had played a
match last year?...They did and Kasparov won =>
____________________________________________________
that one. ...I don't remember any excuses from the
computer at that time.
Anyway, computers are tools and they can be used in
many useful (and even entertaining) ways. And they
can undoubtedly do many things more efficiently than
any human. They are important to us..but the ability
to think and especially the ability to feel emotion,
certainly sets them apart from humans.
=*
|
WE NEED YOUR COCO WORK!!! When we went from monthly to quarterly publishing just about this time last year, one of the thoughts that went through my mind was that we would now have more time to create better contributions for CFDM. Well it hasn't really worked out that way! As Norm Barson said to me the other day, "The feeling that we have more time causes us to put off doing any- thing until the last minute." Who would have thought we humans would procrastinate like that?! But seriously, we do need your continued submissions to continue having a quality issue. I hope that each of you will consider sending in something!! =* |
| Articles in section: FROM THE EDITOR |
| A
WORD FROM RICK KUDOS FOR ISSUE #57 |
| Back to top |
A WORD FROM RICK Well....school is out for me and just in time too! I
have spent quite a bit of the last 3 days getting
this issue of CFDM finished. Now I'll send it to
our fine editors and make sure there are no major
bugs...and then comes the duplication, packaging,
and posting (along with the labeling, printing,
stapling, and folding)...and then off to you our
fine CFDM Friends!
I really started to worry about enough material for
this issue, but somehow it has turned out to be just
another good issue. I hope you'll enjoy it!
Summer is just getting under way here and the last
few days have given us some great weather. Donna and
I have been doing a little walking to trim =>
____________________________________________________
our ample figures! We both would like to drop a few
pounds while we're on vacation.
Also, let me remind and encourage you to attend the
Pennsylvania CoCo Fest in Carlisle, PA this summer.
The dates are August 2nd and 3rd. Ron Bull is in
charge and it sounds like he's lining up some great
CoCoists to attend. Donna, the K-girls, and I will
more than likely be there. We hope to see many of
our CFDM Friends too! (According to my records we
have a lot of CFDMers in PA and the surrounding
states. Also, most of our editors live close by!)
Until next time, may God richly bless each one!!
- Rick =>
____________________________________________________
THIS MONTH'S HOLY SCRIPTURE
The fool hath said in his heart, There is no God.
Corrupt are they, and have done abominable iniquity:
there is none that doeth good.
God looked down from heaven upon the children of
men, to see if there were any that did understand,
that did seek God.
Every one of them is gone back: they are altogether
become filthy; there is none that doeth good, no,
not one.
PSALMS 53:1-3
=*
|
Thanks again to those who are still working on their CoCos for sending in some great material for this issue. I hope everyone finds more than a little that you can enjoy in this issue. Thanks to the following Friends for their input!! Augie Barre, Norm Barson, Ray Berney, Ron Bull, H Allen Curtis, Ed De Koster, Herb Forger Sr, Arnold & Lorena Garlic, Jim Gibbons, Roger Gingras, Etter James, Lennie James, Joe Johnson, Keiran Kenny, Terry Laraway, Harold Moenich, Godfrey Moll, Vic Neufeldt, L. E. Padgett, Don Peters, Al Santos, John B Sayewich, Leo Serber, Raymond Simmons, Marcus Springer, J R Waggoner, Ben Walker, Arthur Williams, and Stuart Wyss-Gallifent. =* |
BLACK INK FOR INKING RIBBONS Hi Rick,
A number of years back I bought some black ink to be
used for re-inking black printer ribbon. I got a
6 oz. bottle for a small price. It works very well
if there is a form of foam (absorbing material)
inside the cartridge. Just open the cassette and put
a few drops on the foam and the ink will be absorbed
by the ribbon. On my Sstar NX1020 I just drilled a
couple of holes in the top of the cassette and with
an eye dropper I put in a few drops at a time.
PS. Just watch that the ribon does not develop holes
in from prolonged usage.
=>
____________________________________________________
Here's the address and phone number of the company:
Computer Friends Inc.
14250 N.W. Science Park Drive
Portland, OR 97229
Tel: 503 626-2291
- Roger Gingras
=*
|
FAMILIAR WITH KITSZ Hi,
Yes, we are still around. We had a great time at the
picnic and I enjoyed meeting people that I have only
mt through the mail.
We have been very busy since the picnic. The trans-
mission in our car went out for the second time (not
the one we drove to the picnic, that was a rental)
in two years. So we decided too buy another car.
That means we both have had to do extra work to help
pay for it.
I tried to scan in the maps from Adventure Survivors
but by the time that I got the scans to fit a 320 X
200 screen, they had lost much of their =>
____________________________________________________
definition. It would be faster to enter the map from
scratch than to edit the scans. I am still working
on it though.
I read the letter from the Molls in the October CoCo
Report. I can only hope to have half as much energy
as they do when I retire.
Dennis Kitsz - FOUND!!! I did not know that he was
lost. Well, yes I did know he was misplaced. But, I
also knew that he would show up when and where you
would least expect it. He seemed to be that kind of
person to me.
I have followed his work ever since Radio Shack
started selling computers and he started writing =>
____________________________________________________
articles for 80 Microcomputing (80 Micro in later
life) back in the early 1980's. Over sixteen years
ago. I have almost all of his articles, have tried
many of his programs and have bought some of his
products. His knowledge of computers, especially the
Color Computers, has always amazed me.
Would you happen to have Dennis Kitsz's mailing
address?
- J R Waggoner
-----
RICK: Sure do J R; here it is: Dennis Kitsz
Rd 2 Box 2770
Cox Brook Road
Northfield, VT
05663 =*
|
FINISHED "THE SEVENTH
LINK" (Note: I'm sure everyone is familiar with the name
L.E. Padgett. L.E. is the publisher of "Adventure
Survivors", the newsletter for CoCo adventure game
players. "The Seventh Link" is a CoCo adventure
that L.E. recently reviewed in the newsletter.)
Hi Rick & Family,
Sign us up for another year to your Great
Publication - CFDM!
We just returned from the Chicago Fest - a Fun
Event!
We also are planning to attend Ron Bull's
"Event" in early August. =>
____________________________________________________
I also just finished "The Seventh Link" (Well,
I think so). I've accomplished the game goals -
finding, and "charging" the Seven Links in the
Seven re-charge units. The game gave a congratula-
tions for saving "Elira", but apparently, does not
have an auto-ending.
All for now, best wishes to you, Donna, and the
"3 little K's."
- Lin & Nan
-----
RICK: Looking forward to seeing you in PA!!!
=*
|
INTERESTED IN THE EMULATOR (Note: I recently received this email from Lennie
James. Afterwards we talked by phone and I was in
for a surprise... Lennie owns 5 512K CoCo3s and has
used them for quite awhile now to prepare the
payrolls for a number of businesses in his area! He
may be #1 in the world for using his CoCo for a real
useful purpose!!)
Hi Rick:
I have been in touch with Jeff Vavasour, the creator
of the CoCo3 emulator that I am interested in
buying. I want the updated, latest version available
for $25.00 as stated by Jeff.
=>
____________________________________________________
What is your personal interest in the CoCo? I hated
when Microsoft and Radio Shack/Tandy discontinued
the CoCo without helping anyone as to what to do
with all the software written for it. With the
changeover to IBM PC's, you just can't write
programs so easily like in Microsoft Extended Color
Basic. Thanks to Jeff, though...the adaptation
process has been answered.
Please write me back, Rick and let me know what's
going on. My address is:
Lennie James
P.O. Box 181
Hawley, PA 18428
--RICK: I encourage all Friends to write Lennie! =*
|
KEEPING DATA View text file associated with this article I said in another submission, FLXLBLS, that where practicable I prefer to keep data needed by a file within the file's own listing. This is a carryover from the days when I had only a CoCo 1.1 and a tape recorder. Too often, a data file on a tape proved to be unfindable. The three files on this disk allow a user to create data and store it within the file's own listing. With EZHS2GRF the user can enter basic code with automatic line numbering onto the graphic screen. The lines of code are saved (printed) to disk as an ASCII file and then, immediately, merged into the file listing. Entering basic code onto a graphic screen rather than a text screen has its limitations, but I wanted to demonstrate the graphic entry routine too. => ____________________________________________________ In COLORPIE, typing and entering directly onto the graphic screen makes good sense in that as you type and enter you see your picture grow into its final form. Here your texts and values are saved to disk and merged too, but as DATA statements. The third submission, LOTOLUCK, utilizes a not very much known "self programmer" facility to poke code into the listing itself, thus eliminating the need for an intermediate save-and-merge step. To make the most of this facility you need to know your opcodes or have available a list of the most common- ly used opcodes. For the benefit of Friends I have included on this disk a TW128 file: OPCODES/TXT plus C3READER (from CFDM #33) for ready access. I had a lot of joy experimenting by poking trig statements into Jeff Harper's great listing. => ____________________________________________________ The number on my last mailing label was 18-2-Q1 so I guess that means my subscription is about to expire. Enclosed is payment to renew. There is more on this disk than usual (for me), so I hope this compensates a little for the long period recently when I had little go and no drive. I find that I now get more out of each quarterly CFDM because I have more time to try everything that is on each disk. In fact I find that I also have time to browse over material in previous issues that I had set aside for future attention and never got around to. Since I retired nineteen years ago, I never seem to have enough time to do all I promise myself I will do! Best wishes to you and yours and all Friends. May their numbers never decrease.............Keiran =* |
LOOKING FOR... Please enter a subscription for me to your magazine
about the Color Computer. My name and address are:
Joe Johnson
2037 Spruce St.
Philadelphia, PA 19103
(Call: 215-985-2982)
I am looking for a printer for my Color Computer II,
or a serial to parallel converter for it. If you
know of anything, please let me know. Thanks.
- Joe Johnson
=*
|
MOUTHS AND MORE On this disk are two short listings, BIGMOUTH and GETPTMTH. If you can use both, I would hope that you will be able to publish them in the same issue of CFDM because they are covered by a single text. Otherwise, I could do a separate text for each if that would suit you better. ---------------------------------------------------- Thanks a lot for TEXTCHNG/BAS (CFDM #55). I have used it a lot now and it works well. I thought it needed a repeat-key routine as in "C". That made menu scans and color changes easier. On this disk is TEXTCHG2/BAS that uses keyboard rollover bits to get a repeat key effect in lines 210 and 220. As a timesaver, I reduced the size of the HLINE in line 170. Not essential perhaps, but a new line, 255, prints the color palette values. => ____________________________________________________ In Q & A, CFDM #52, Robert E Bruhl wrote that, in ENTRY WRITER mode, the CTRL key did not work while ADOS3 was installed. I have not seen any further re- sponse to Robert's question and cannot offer an ans- wer. But with ADOS installed PEEK(&H282A) returns a value 23 while without ADOS and it will return 189. This was covered in "C/BAS", lines 11 and 330, that read: 11 IF PEEK(&HA282)=23 THEN AD=23:GOTO150 ELSE AD=189 330 IF I$=CHR$(AD) THEN..(i.e. if you hit CTRL for a quick start). Apart from that, if you hold down CTRL in a roll- over bits situation then PEEK(342) returns a value of 191 with or without ADOS. That's as far as my ability goes but maybe some more experienced hacker can take it from there. I => ____________________________________________________ hope so because Robert's question is one that really deserves an answer. ---------------------------------------------------- I decided to try fitting Jim Bennett's DANCER in- to 128 K format as DANCER2. I would like to hear, in time, how the SP3 animation compares with that of your PIXMOVER. I would assume that, with PIXMOVER, you can work with larger picture areas than with SP3. I found that about the maximum I could store in a page in SP3 was 102 x 151 (HBUFFSPT&H34,102,151). I'm not complaining! ---------------------------------------------------- I like the fine shades of gray in the pictures in HARDCOPY. How do you do it? ---RICK: Good questions Keiran! Arthur can answer the last one I'm sure. =* |
WHICH SECTION?? Dear Rick,
Haven't been doing much drawing lately (or much else
with this CoCo), but thought to give some answer to
Keiran Kenny's flattering remarks in CFDM #56.
I always have a problem deciding where to enter work
-- so because this has nothing to do with CoCo 3
programming, I felt it might be better entered as
"Family Tree?" Hope not too long.
Loved the SLC. Love my CoCo and CFDM.
- Vic Neufeldt
=>
____________________________________________________
----
Rick: Thanks for your wonderful article and picture
Vic! And...you can tell that your experiences have
made a great impression on your life and memory!
Although not CoCo oriented, your work is very much
welcomed and appreciated. I'm sure that you'll find
much material in CFDM backissues that fall into the
same category. All of us have other interests...and
...I've always felt that folks enjoy hearing about
those too! (Many of my programs reflect my interest
in other areas.)
Let me encourage everyone to help keep CFDM great by
submitting your work about your "other interests!"
=*
|
| Articles in section: POTPOURRI |
| A
Software Interview Question CLASSIFIED ADS My Novel Puzzle Answer SIMPLY Talented SLC |
| Back to top |
A Software Interview Question This is a question asked at a sofware job interview.
There are 4 men who want to cross a bridge. They all
begin on the same side. You have 17 minutes to get
all of them across to the other side. It is night.
There is 1 flashlight. A maximum of 2 men can cross
at 1 time. Any party that crosses, either 1 or 2,
must have a flashlight with them. The light must be
walked back and forth. It cannot be thrown etc. Each
man walks at a different speed. A pair must walk
together at the speed of the slower man's pace:
Man 1: 1 minute to cross. Man 2: 2 minutes.
Man 3: 5 minutes. Man 4: 10 minutes.
For example, if man 1 & man 4 walk across first, 10
minutes has elapsed when they get across the bridge.
If man 4 walks the flashlight back, a total of 20
minutes has passed & you have failed the mission.=>
____________________________________________________
(The flashlight cannot shine a long distance. No one
may be carried, etc. There are no tricks; it is all
straight forward). This question was for Programmer/
Analyst & sofware engineer who can apply the multi-
tasking/multiprocessing methodology for designing a
computer operating system. BOTTOM LINE: This problem
CAN be solved by ANYONE.
The answer is available via e-mail to me at:
H4gersr(at sign)aol.com. (You MUST know the CoCo can
not type an "at sign"). Or the answer may (at the
Editor's discretion) be in another part of this or
the next issue of CFDM.
This is not a contest, & so there is no prize. It
can be solved by many BUT maybe not on the first =>
____________________________________________________
few attempts. If you CAN do it on the FIRST try, I
would love to know. I would be amazed. My snailmail
address is:
Herb Forger Sr 88 Dry Hill Rd Norwalk, CT 06851-3127
Tel: (203) 847-4282
=*
|
CLASSIFIED ADS I found the following in the newspaper a while
ago. It reportedly was collected from classifed ads
and put on the Internet. It has nothing to do with
our CoCo or even with computers, but it is good for
a few laughs.
Illiterate? Write today for help.
Auto Repair Service. Try us once, you'll never go
anywhere again.
Dog for sale. Eats anything and is fond of
children.
Stock up and Save! Limit one per customer.
For sale: Antique desk suitable for lady with
thick legs and large drawers.
Man wanted to work in dynamite factory. Must be
willing to travel. =>
____________________________________________________
Three-year-old teacher needed for preschool.
Experience preferred.
Girl wanted to assist magician in cutting-off-head
illusion. Salary and Blue Cross.
We do not tear your clothing with machinery. We do
it carefully by hand.
Tired of cleaning yourself? Let me do it.
Vacation special: Have your home exterminated. Get
rid of aunts.
Toaster: A gift that every member of the family
appreciates. Automatically burns toast.
For Rent: Six room hated apartment.
We will oil your sewing machine and adjust tension
in your home for $1.
Man, honest, will take anything.
=>
____________________________________________________
Used Cars: Why go elsewhere to be cheated? Come
here first.
Our bikinis are exciting. They are simply the
tops.
And now, the Superstore -- unequaled in size,
unmatched in variety, unrivaled inconvenience.
=*
|
My Novel I first got the idea for a book bak in April, 1993.
But I never took the time to sit down at my CoCo 3
to write anything. I did start to write in 1995, but
the format did not satisfy me, so I erased
everything. Finally, in early 1996, I found a format
that worked and have been working on it ever since.
I was up to the fourth chapter of my draft, when I
acquired an MS-DOS laptop computer in February 1997.
I then transferred all my text files to my GRiD 1520
and found a good shareware WP program, EZX-Word 3.0.
Along with a purchased grammer checker, Writer's
Toolkit 2.0, I make sure my syntax is up to par.
It's April 26, 1997, and I'm up to Chapter 9. The
structure up to now is going smoothly and I hope to
have the draft done by the end of the year. =>
____________________________________________________
I've included every single person that has helped
me with my novel in my 'ACKNOWLEDGMENTS'. That
includes all of the people from CFDM who has sent
me lottery scratch tickets. Thank you very much.
I think I might need about 15 or more chapters to
finish my novel project. I already have 158 pages,
but that's according to my WP. I have no clue how
it will look in a paperback.
I'll try to keep you up to date on my project.
=*
|
Puzzle Answer The following is the answer to the entry "Software
Interview Question":
Clock
Man 1 & Man 2 go across first. Time passed: 2 mins
Man 1 goes back across. Time passed: 3 mins
Man 3 & Man 4 go across next. Time passed: 13 mins
Man 2 goes back across. Time passed: 15 mins
Man 1 & Man 2 go across again. Time passed: 17 mins
|
SIMPLY Talented I fitted an old, much-used JVC drive into the case of my old Tandy FD-500 and was gratified to find that, after some cleaning and oiling, it loaded everything and anything. Then to my folly and sorrow I tried to save a TW128 text file I had loaded from a disk on which I keep important letters. The drive would not save and, worse, seemed to have trashed the whole disk. Attempts to rejuvenate it on CCTOOLS did not help. Then I remembered that, a long way back, I man- aged to salvage a snarled-up TW128 file by loading it into SIMPLY BETTER and saving it again onto a disk. I salvaged twenty-one files all in good order out of perhaps twenty-five on the trashed disk. I must admit that I use SIMPLY very lttle, per- haps not as much as I should, mainly because I => ____________________________________________________ have no need for some of the useful applications it offers that must be appreciated by others with other needs. Also, I need TW128's ability to display and print accented letters in text. But, otherwise, I am glad I have SIMPLY BETTER even though I have no idea why it is that it can salvage files and disks that no other utility wants. SIMPLY BETTER is well named! =* |
SLC This SLC silhouette: Thought to answer Kieran's
flattering remarks in CFDM #56 with this duplicate
of the silhouette of the USS SLC -- you can see why
I said, "His flattering remarks." And, because it
isn't CoCo 3 stuff placed my information to Kieran
in Family Tree section. See Family tree (two parts)
Vic.
(See SLC.NIB via NIBSHOW.BAS on side 2 of this disk)
=*
|
A Colorful Pie A famous cynic once said there are lies, dammned lies, and statistics. But with CoCo3's rich variety of colors, you can make your statistical presentat- ions very attractive, if not convincing. Run COLORPIE and select option 1 on the title screen for an example of a colorful piechart. Fam- iliarise yourself with the layout and then select 2 and make your own piechart. Use imaginary data (as mine are) if you wish. The largest circle I could fit into the left half of the screen appears and you have your first prompt (the number of items). A column of numbered color patches appears and with a prompt to enter the label for the first item and then the value for that item. What you type is put onto the grahic screen by sub- routine 120. Backspace to delete and correct. => ____________________________________________________ After you enter your last value the values total is printed below. Lines 450-470 slice the pie, each slice proportionally to its value, and HPAINT each slice in its apropriate color. At screen top you get a prompt to press any key to clear the top line. Type a title, max 38 chars but preferably less. When you press enter the top line clears again and the title reappears centered above your pie. You have a few seconds to admire the finished pie and then a "Save Y/N" prompt appears in a box at screen center. Press Y and then, on prompt, enter the filename. Note that the filename is not the title. Lines 590-670 print your texts and values to disk as a DATA file and line 680 merges the file back => ____________________________________________________ into the listing, overwriting existins lines with the same numbers. The R option in line 680 automat- ically runs the program again. Press 1 again to see the result. Now save the listing as a normal basic program with a new filename. Next time, run this program, press 2 at the title acreen and enter new data as above. Graphic presentations of data are only convincing if the range of values is not too wide. If you have a large total and values less than 2% of the total, these may not show on the pie and the color coding of the slices may not be correct. Edit value changes into the DATA lines until all show (honest?). In line 60, the string A$ contains two-digit RGB palette values separated by hyphens for easy correc- tion. Line 70 pokes these into colorslots 0-15. =* |
BATTLESHIP Last issue Keiran Kenney wrote a "battleship" game.
I had always wanted to give it try, so now you have
at least two "battleship" games.
RUN "BATTLE.BAS" from the back of this disk. The
screen will be drawn in just a few seconds and then
a prompt will come up asking you to place your first
ship. There are five ships in all. The first covers
only one space. Use the arrow keys to place this
ship where you want it, then press the ENTER key.
The other four ships of varying sizes will come up
for you to place in like manner. The program will
not allow you to overlay the ships.
After placing your five ships CoCo will place his.
Of course you won't be able to see them, but they =>
____________________________________________________
are hidden somewhere on the grid labeled "COMPUTER'S
MAP".
Now it's time to play. The program displays whoever
is to play. When it's your turn use the arrow keys
to locate a square to bomb...then press the ENTER
key. You will see the bomb explode. If you hit one
of the computer's ships, a multi-colored set of
circles will remain on that square. Otherwise the
bombed square will retain a small red dot.
That's about it. The program keeps up with the
action and will announce a winner when one side
completely destroys the others fleet.
=*
|
DANCER2 - FOR 128 K
When I saw Jim Bennett's eight, gracious NIB pix
on Bonus Disk #6, I wanted to see how they would
look in motion, but I did not have 512 K. So, as I
had done with Harold Moenich's MOUTH pix, I used
NIB>CM3 to convert the NIB pix to CM3 pix and used
CoCo Max 3 to size them so that they fitted neatly
into a 50 x 99 rectangle. I then positioned them in
a row at the top of the CM3 screen.
I could use only six pix as numbers 1 and 5 were
garbled. The CM3 screen was saved as DANCER/CM3 and
converted to DANCER/NIB using CM3>NIB
Run DANCER2 to load and show DANCER/NIB and when
you press a key the screen is cleared and the six
pix go through their motions with help from Mike
Hoke's SP3. Room for six 50 x 99 pix in banks &H34
and &H35 is buffered in lines 330-380. Being =>
____________________________________________________
able to enter actual dimensions as values is a great
plus point with SP3.
The pix are "got" in lines 390-400 and "put" with
4 x enlargement (option 6) in lines 420-430. These
last two lines repeat and show a moving figure at
screen center.
Press BREAK and the combination of slowdown poke
and DLOAD in line 240 will produce the equivalent of
pressing the RESET button. Then you can re-run the
program in memory or run a new program.
Unfortunately, I had to do a lot of sizeing and
moving to get the figures neatly into a 50 x 99 rec-
tangle. Thus, they became somewhat distorted and
lost a lot of their original fine color gradations.
I have tried to camouflage this with an added, flam-
boyant red dress. =>
____________________________________________________
I'm no artist and what I needed were six original
pix that would fit into a 50 x 99 rectangle without
any distorting sizeing and moving. Is there any art-
ist out there who would like to put six-in-a-row
onto a CM3 screen and convert the screen to a NIB
pix for loading into DANCER2? The fileename to load
is PX$ in line 30.
If you find the lady's gyrations a little too
fast and unseemly for a respectable publication like
CFDM, then insert an apostrophe (REM marker) at the
beginning of line 290 to deactivate the high speed
poke and slow her down.
----
See side 2 of this disk for DANCER2.
=*
|
Dat Ole Teacher, Stuart (DOTS) Since I was bored with myself, I threw this together
on the CoCo. I gathered all kinds of music from all
kinds of sources, as well as a few I inputted myself
using PLAY.
Just try to escape. It's not as simple as it looks.
( RUN "DOTS.BAS" on the back side of this disk.)
=*
|
EASYHSC2 GRAPHICS This listing includes a selection of utility rou- tunes I developed over a long period to make graphic programming on HSCREEN2 easier for myself. Run the program for the menu and see them for yourself. They are commented in menu order below. 1. The artifact color patternss, 0-255, are shown by the routine in lines 3000-3140. I have often used these with HSCREEN4 but they are also very attrac- tive with HSCREEN2, and you can combine them with the colors in slots 0-15. 2. The loop in lines 30-40 pokes a selection of pal- ette values into color slots 0-15. The two-digit values in the string A$ are separated by hyphens to make it easier to find and change a value. RGB pro- tocol applies. That's my selection, but feel free to experiment with palette values to suit yourself. => ____________________________________________________ 3. Lines 460-580. Not a viable alternative for pro- gram code entered on the normal text screen. But it accesses the graphic input subroutine in lines 130- 260. You can enter a single screen line of program code, max 38 chars. Do not include line numbers as these will be added automatically. Try a couple of lines beginning at line 1000, and then press M to return to the menu. 4. Lines 590-670. The program code you just entered is saved as an ASCII file, with line numbers, and merged into this listing in the listing space lines 1000-1990. The routine also writes the number of the next free program line (NL) into listing line 90. If you want to add more lines you could start with this line. New lines will overwrite existing lines with the same color. => ____________________________________________________ 5. Shows the graphics produced by code I entered, saved and merged in 3 and 4. The first screen shows an 8-slice pie HPAINTEd in artifact color patterns in subroutine 270. A is the horizontal coordinate, B the vertical, and CL the color pattern. The next screen shows texts entered on the gra- phic screen using subroutine 280. B is the horizon- tal coordinate and C the vertical. The length of a line of text string code is limited to 38 characters and for a longer text string you must go to the di- rect text screen. Of course you can also use HPRINT to piut text onto the screen. On the direct screen you can also insert lines between existing lines. Number any lines you insert so that the last line value inline 90 does not have to be changed. =* |
EASYHSC2 GRAPHICS PART 2 Menu Option 5 (cont). The last screen is a demo for the routines in lines 2000-2240. Press P and move the cursor. Press the spacebar for the cursor coordinates upper-left. Line 2180 varies the cursor color at each flash so that it will be visible against any background color. Before I went CoCo Max 3, with help and encour- agement from Arthur Williams, I tried (not very suc- cessfully) producing CoCo art with graphic code. I made this routine to help me find the coordinates for HPAINT code. I flatter myself that Arthur and others found it very useful. Likewise it was useful to be able to try colors before pressing Q to return to the listing and en- tering a basic HPAINT statement. Note that you can- not HPAINT in the outline color (Slot 1:yellow).=> ____________________________________________________ I have had a lot of convenience and pleasure from most of the routines in this listing when program- ming for the graphic screen. If you wany to try a listing like I set up to begin leave lines 10-360 intact and delete lines 370-1260. Begin entering your bacic code at line 370. When you have a few lines of program code entered, run and press P to try HPAINTs or check the cursor position. You can leave lines 3000-3580 in the listing if you wish. To access the artifact patterns insert a line 365 HCOLOR1:GOTO3000 and run. For the slot col- ors enter insert 365 HCOLOR1:GOTO3500. To return to your listing enter LIST-1990. Lines 10-360 are worth keeping. They have served me well for as long as I have them. I hope you will experiment with them and enjoy as I have done. =* |
MOUTH MOVER for 128 K I was intrigued by the idea of Harold Moenich's
MOUTH MOVER (Bonus Disk #17) but as I do not have
512 K I was unable to see it in action. But after
looking at Harold's NIB pix I decided to try for a
128 K version.
I began by converting the first five NIBs to CM3
files, loading them one by one into CoCo Max 3 and
separating the heads from the bodies. The heads were
then reduced in size to fit into a 64 x 66 frame and
eventually ranged in a row at screen top. I saved
this screen as a CM3 file that I converted to a NIB
file, MOUTH1-5, using CM3>NIB/BAS.
I first tried using CoCo3's native HGET and HPUT
facilities. Here I did not have enough graphic stor-
age memory for five heads so I had to do it with
three (pix Nos 1, 3 and 5). =>
____________________________________________________
The three heads are stored in lines 190-210 and
HPUT in numerical order in the closed loop in line
220. The high speed poke is not used in this list-
ing. Packing the HPUT commands into a single-line
closed loop provided all the speed needed.
In BIGMOUTH, I was able to get all five mouth pix
using Mike Hoke's SP3. In lines 270-310 I reserved
enough memory for five pix in banks &H34 and &H35.
The pix were got in the MLTPT statements in lines
320-330. In GETPTMTH the figure's mouth just opens
and shuts in numerical order. But, in BIGMOUTH, the
pix are put onto the screen in random order, enlar-
ged 4x (option 6).This gives a much better simulat-
ion of a grumpy, griping, bellowing, bellyacheing
old gaffer really annoyed about something. BREAK to
shut him up and any key to END. =>
____________________________________________________
In lines 10-180 of GETPTMTH is a very short ver-
sion of NIBLOADR/BAS. Similarly, a short NIBLOADR is
in lines 10-190 of BIGMOUTH. Both need NIBLOADR/BIN
on the same disk and BIGMOUTH also needs SP3/BIN.
In the lines adressed in the ON BRK GOTO state-
ments in both programs, the slowdown poke and the.
DLOAD statement execute as an in-program RESET. The
DLOAD command was explained by George Quellhorst in
Q & A (CFDM #9).
------
These programs are found on the back side of this
disk.
=*
|
MUSIC FROM MUSIC3+ For years now, many of you have been using George
Quellhorsts' MUSIC3+ to transcribe sheet music to
play on our CoCo3s. I'd never really tried out the
program although I had often thought I might like to
move some of the old gospel sheet music from my
collection to the CoCo. Finally this weekend I gave
it a try....and I've enjoyed it very much!!
First let me say to those of you who have only tried
the music through you CoCo's sound system and not
through "real" stereo speakers, you are missing a
treat. As a matter of fact if that's the only way
you have of listening to the music, you'll probably
soon quit listening to it...it's just not very
impressive!
=>
____________________________________________________
I simply run a phono plug from the sound port to my
stereo system and let 'er rip. It sounds GREAT!!
So far I've transcribed two songs. "'Til the Storm
Passes By" by Mosie Lister and "He" by Jack
Richards. These are two songs that I've sung
practically all my life. My mother use to buy the
popular gospel sheet music for my sister and me to
sing at church. When stationed in Okinawa, Japan
while in the Army in 1971, I worked night shift (12
midnight to 8 a.m.). Okinawa was known for it's
typhoons and many nights I walked to work (about a
mile) thru the dark singing "'Til the Storm Passes
By."
RUN "MUSIC.BAS" on the back of this disk to hear =>
____________________________________________________
two of my old "gospel Friends." I hope you'll enjoy
them!!
=*
|
Monte Carlo This game of solitaire features a Tableau and a Hand. The Tableau consists of 4 rows of 5 positions each. At the onset of the game each position is occupied by a card and the Hand contains the other 32 cards. Two cards may be removed from the Tableau if they match in RANK and are adjacent horizontally, vertically, or diagonally. Cards match in rank if they are both Aces, 2s, 3s, etc. When two matching cards are removed from the Tableau, other Tableau cards move one by one to fill in empty positions. Then the Hand, until it becomes empty, fills the two positions made empty at the bottom right of the Tableau. The object of the game is to remove all the cards from the Tableau. => ____________________________________________________ The Tableau fills most of the center of the Monte Carlo screen from top to bottom. Each position has either a number designation (0,1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9) or a letter designation (A,B,C,D,E,F,G,H,I,J). A card at position 3, say, is adjacent horizontally to positions 2 and 4, adjacent vertically to position 8, and adjacent diagonally to positions 7 and 9. Similarly, a card in position B, for instance, is adjacent horizontally to positions A and C, adjacent vertically to positions 6 and G, and adjacent diagonally to positions 5, 7, F, and H. Key commands are used to match adjacent pairs of cards. Only one key stroke is needed to make a match. For example, if you pressed the B key & there was a Jack at position B, the program would check for a Jack at all positions adjacent to => ____________________________________________________ position B. If a match is found, the matching pair is removed from the Tableau. If the card at position B matched more than one card adjacent to it, the program always favors the position which is both closest to the bottom and to the right. Thus, if there were Jacks at positions 5, B, and G, pressing B would cause the removal of the Jacks at positions B and G. Pressing G would remove the same pair of cards. Pressing 5 would remove the cards at 5 and B. Consider one more example: If matching pairs were at positions B, G, and H, pressing G or H would remove the cards at positions G and H. Pressing B would cause the removal of the cards at positions B and H. There is no way to remove the cards at positions B and G. However, after cards fill empty positions, the previous removal of cards at B and H is =* |
Monte Carlo (continued) equivalent to having removed them from B and G.
Any illegal play, such as pressing a key
corresponding to a position containing a card that
matches NO card adjacent to it, will cause a beep to
be sounded.
At the bottom of the Monte Carlo screen is a menu
to remind you of the keys that can be used to make
matches. The menu shows one additional key, Q, which
when pressed twice in succession allows you to Quit
the game.
Monte Carlo is scored as follows: Each game
begins with a score of minus 52. 4 points are added
to the score for every pair of cards removed from
the Tableau. A point is subtracted from the score
for every attempted illegal play. A bonus of 18
points is added to the score when the last pair =>
____________________________________________________
of cards is removed from the Tableau. The maximum
attainable score is 70.
My best 10 game score was 110 and included 3 wins
(70 points each, 2 of the wins in succession). Can
you do better?
RUN "MONTE.BAS" on the back of this disk.
=*
|
PC PICTURE IN COCO PUZZLE PROG CFDM FRIENDS:
This is the first time I've tried to convert a PC
image into a CoCo3 image -- so forgive the lack of
detail. I had to take a Chritmas Card Picture from
a CD-ROM and drop it from 256 colors down to 16
colors -- or for a PUZZLE -- down to 13 colors!
The transition through GIF --> MGE --> CM3 --> NIB
was really something! Had a lot of FUN and hope
that you will have some doing the PUZZLE.
Muriel and I will be at our Destin, Florida address
from Nov. 1, 1996 till March 23, 1997 -- then we're
off to HOME in Springfield, Missouri.
=>
____________________________________________________
We Wish YOU a Very Merry Christmas and a Prosperous
New Year!
CoCoNuts till 2000!?
Muriel & Godfrey
(RICK: Sorry I didn't get this in CFDM earlier, like
around March, but better late than never!)
(RUN "BOOT.BAS" on side 1 of bonus disk.)
=*
|
SORTING YOUR DISK DIRECTORIES Sorting data is one of the strengths of computers.
In many programming classes you'll find the many
different methods of sorting being taught...and you
will probably have to write the code for the sort.
On the back of this disk I have written two sorting
programs. I really didn't care if the sorts were
the most efficient or the fastest available, because
neither of them takes over 15 seconds anyway!!
Each of the two programs sorts the file directory of
the disk in drive 0. LET ME SAY HERE THAT ALTHOUGH I
BELIEVE BOTH PROGRAMS TO BE BUG-FREE - THERE IS
ALWAYS A POSSIBILITY THAT A PROBLEM COULD EXIST THAT
WOULD MAKE ANY DISK YOU SORT TOTALLY USELESS. YOU
MAY WANT TO EXPERIMENT ON BACKUP DISKS FIRST. =>
____________________________________________________
But, I'm pretty sure they are alright. (Wouldn't
you just love to buy a new car with that kind of
assurance?!)
The first sort is called SORTDIR.BAS. This sort
simply sorts the disk directory alphabetically. RUN
SORTDIR.BAS after putting the disk in the drive that
you want sorted. The current directory will be
printed on the screen, the drive light comes on as
the program "gets" the current directory, and after
a few seconds of sorting the "new sorted" directory
will be "put" on the disk and then printed to the
screen.
The second sort is called EXTDIR.BAS. This sort will
sort the directory alphabetically and then =>
____________________________________________________
sort again by the file extensions. I think this is
kind of neat and I will use this sort on all the
CFDM program sides during this issue. If you don't
like this format, just use the other sort program,
SORTDIR.BAS, to format the files in the familiar
alphabetical format.
Hope you find these two programs useful!
(See side 2 of this disk.)
=*
|
| Articles in section: REVIEWS |
| PROJECTOR
3.A PROJECTOR 3.A (PART 2) |
| Back to top |
PROJECTOR 3.A 2/21/97 Several weeks ago, Terry Laraway sent me a bunch of COCO 3 software and a pile of papers. One flyer (3 pages) had written on top 'Hey Ray! Check this out." My interest piqued, I read about Roger Taylor's "PROJECTOR-3", a highly upgraded version of his "PROJECTOR" series. The flyer stated "P3" as, quote, "The first graphics interchange system for the TANDY COLOR COMPUTER 3", Unquote. Sorry, Roger, but that is false! "PICSHO21", PICTURE SHOW 2.1 was released earlier then "P3". In fact, I got PICSHO21 from Terry Laraway over a year before I purchased my registered version of "P3". This makes "P3" at least the second graphics interchange system. Anyway, I bought a copy and found the provided instructions were almost the same as the flyer. More instructions are incorporated => ____________________________________________________ into the M/L main program. At first, everything looked easy enough to use. The flyer said it uses a 80x28 control screen. Roger changed it to a 80x24 expanded screen. (More space between lines) The very first time I tried to load a CM3 file, a "DRIVER FORMAT ERROR" beeped at me and made me read the instructions again. They said there were some graphic files on side 2 of the master disk. So I put away my backup copy and dug out my master disk. I loaded the first file, "SHAN.GIF" and found out it was a 320 x 384 x 256 GIF. Double height and 256 colors. I tried saving it and things went downhill from there. Read the instructions again. I found out I had to "ENCODE" it first into a new format, then save it. Oh, you have to leave your copy of "P3" in drive 0 or else it => ____________________________________________________ won't load the conversion M/L programs. A little unhandy. Since it loads the graphic file into memory first, re-formating it is very fast. (2-5 seconds) Stuart WG stated in CFDM 56 that you need a Hitachi 63B09E and 512K to RUN "P3". Eventually, I did manage to load some CM3 pix. Then I got a few other formats loaded: MGE, MAX, BIN. Another pix on side 2 of the master disk was "GREEN. GIF". This pix produced some bizarre results. When I tried "P2.1" or "GIFVIEW" to load "GREEN.GIF", Neither would recognize "GREEN" as a valid GIF file and would do weird things. When I used "P3" to load "GREEN", the pix would load all right, then proceeded to lock up my system completely! I did (CONTINUED IN PART TWO) =* |
PROJECTOR 3.A (PART 2) manage to load "GREEN" by using a feature not
mentioned in the instructions. By pressing the
<BREAK> key at any time while the picture is being
put on the screen, you can get the picture to stop
and return to the main menu. The error message then
says "MANUAL ABORT". This allowed me to re-format
them into CM3 files. However, I must say that both
"SHAN" and "GREEN" are too risque for me and I have
erased the CM3 files. Since "SHAN" and "GREEN" are
on the original "P3" disk, I will just leave them
there.
Using "DISKEXAM" and "SNAP", I looked for my
version's serial number. I came up with either
"POOOOO4" or "#030405". Of course, I could be all
wrong.
"P3" handles at present: GIF, RLE, MAX, BIN, ART, =>
____________________________________________________
CM3, MGE, 640, RAT, PIX, IMG, MAC, IFF, HAM, TNY,
TN1, SQS, VEF & PCX.
NIB, SQZ & JPG were not included in my version, but
Roger says he would include these three extensions
in future upgrades.
There are actually four pix on side 2 of the master
"P3" disk. I think they were included only for
show.
If this program lives up too all its hype, Roger
Taylor will have outdone many in the COCO III
field. Maybe even SOCK MASTER and ALAN DEKOK!
Not bad for $45.00 TAYLOR GRAPHICS
P.O. BOX 847
MAGNOLIA, AR 71753
=*
|
| Articles in section: QUESTIONS & ANSWERS |
| EXCERPTED
QUESTIONS LOOKING FOR "COCO UTIL" LOOKING FOR COCO 2 STUFF... NEED OLD PART |
| Back to top |
EXCERPTED QUESTIONS I am looking for two CoCo programs that I lost when
I was backing up my CoCo library. 1) Personal
Finance Systems from Computerware, and 2) Grade Book
from a 1983 edition from Color Computer Magazine. I
used this program for 10 years and it disappeared
on me when I wanted to transfer it to a virtual disk
file.
I did order Dennis Kitsz 6809 Micro Language Lab. I
am hoping that I could use his footsteps when I
write up a course book using the 6800 Simulator on
the PC.
Don Peters Phone: 513-423-8087
3515 Burbank Avenue
Middletown, OH 45044-7074 =>
____________________________________________________
I am searching for a telephone modem, operating
manual, mouse and 5 1/4" disk drive for the Tandy/
Radio Shack TRS-80 Color Computer.
Raymond B. Simmons
P.O. Box 880761
San Francisco, CA 94188-0761
----------------------------------------------------
I would like to see an article on how to generate
graphics such as seen in CFDM.
Augie Barre
(RICK: How about it some of you graphics experts!?)
=>
____________________________________________________
...I have a modem. Can I get the internet with my
CoCo3 (512K)? Keep up the good work with CFDM. We
need it.
Ed De Koster
234 Brookmeadow N. Lane
Apt. #3
Grandville, MI 49418-3292
-----
RICK: Ed, I'm sorry I can't answer this question,
but I'm sure one of our friends can. I'm sure you
would not be able to get the graphics from the Web,
but there could possibly be a driver to see the
text.
=*
|
LOOKING FOR "COCO
UTIL" Dear Rick:
I am looking for a program by Mark Data Products
called "CoCo Util." It runs on a MS-DOS machine. It
can read Radio Shack CoCo riles. If you have this
available please advise as to the price.
I also have a number of Radio Shack Color Computer
hardware, software and books I would like to sell or
trade. Please advise if you still handle this type
of business.
Leo Serber
55 Overton Street
Deer Park, NY 11729
=>
____________________________________________________
----
RICK: I do remember seeing (and maybe even having)
a copy of that program at one time. And I'm sure it
will transfer CoCo programs to the PC...but...I'd
like to recommend the DSKINI, RETRIEVE, and PORT
programs in either the CoCo2 or CoCo3 Emulator
packages. Since the CoCo2 package is shareware and
I can provide a copy for $5, I think you'll not find
a better or less expensive way to transfer your CoCo
files!
(By the way, the CoCo 3 Emulator is available from
me for $25.00.)
=*
|
LOOKING FOR COCO 2 STUFF... Do you have the following for a TRS-80 Color
Computer 2?
1) Rom Cartridge Radio Shack program paks; games,
home finance, education, and more optional extras
2) Two joysticks, if there are any other cartridges
I can use please let me know by calling or
writing.
Etter M. James
860 Ontario St
Jacksonville, FL 32254
Telephone: 904-389-2033
=*
|
NEED OLD PART March 18, 1997
I bought a new computer product for myself. A GRiD
1520 MS-DOS laptop computer. Running at 286-10 with
a 20 meg hard drive, displaying a bright red gas
plasma screen, this is the kind of MS-DOS (4.01)
computer I've been looking for. Big deal if it
weighs 13 pounds and has only 1 meg of RAM.
When I got it, it had a battery but no recharger.
I have to use the AC power pack all the time I want
to use it.
Can anyone find me a GRiDCASE 1500 series battery
recharger for the extended duty battery pack?
The number on the battery pack is 32114. GRiD
Systems Corp has been bought by TANDY.
=*
RAY BERNEY,1750 CONCONULLY HWY,OKANOGAN,WA 98840
|
