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Table of contents: |
| COCO FRIENDS DISK MAGAZINE Issue #61 | Home | Index | Magazine | ||||||
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| Articles in section: ABOUT COCO FRIENDS DISK MAGAZINE |
| "ABOUT
CFDM" ABOUT COCO FRIENDS DISK MAGAZINE |
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"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 |
| ABOUT
THIS MONTH'S COVER BONUS DIRECTORY (#23) CONTENTS...PART 1 CONTENTS...PART 2 PROGRAM DIRECTORY (i61) |
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ABOUT THIS MONTH'S COVER I was delighted when Rick asked me to do the cover
pictures until Jim Gibbons is back. I am a great fan
of Jim's pictures and hope he will be providing them
again in the near future. In the meantime, I'll do
my best to come up with colorful covers.
This picture, of an elk, was taken from a tourist
guide to Pennsylvania -- yes, there are apparently
elk in Pennsylvania. I received this guide out of a
clear blue sky. I suspect it was a result of my
attending the Pennsylvania CoCoFest last August.
=*
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Here's a description of the files on the BONUS DISK.
File names preceded bby 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
DOCTOR .BAS..RUN...PROGRAMS OF THE MONTH
* EXPRESS .NIB........ART GALLERY
GO AWAY .BAS..RUN...POTPOURRI
* GO AWAY .BIN........USED BY "GO AWAY.BAS"
* ICOLOR .BIN........USED BY SCREEN SAVERS
* ISLAND .NIB........ART GALLERY
JULY4TH .BAS..RUN...PROGRAMS OF THE MONTH
* MACROS .ASM........ARTICLES OF THE MONTH
* MACROS .LST........ARTICLES OF THE MONTH =>
____________________________________________________
* NIBLOADR.BIN........NIB PICTURE LOADER UTILITY
NIBSHOW .BAS..RUN...ART GALLERY
* PART8 .ASM...
* PART8 .LST.... THESE FILES
* PART8 .TXT..... ARE FROM
* PART8A .ASM.......
* PART8A .LST.....
* PART8B .ASM.... ARTICLES OF THE MONTH
* PART8B .LST...
POPEYE .BAS..RUN...ART GALLERY
* POPEYE .NIB........NIB PICTURE FOR POPEYE.BAS
READFILE.BAS..RUN...ARTICLES OF THE MONTH
SS BLOCK.BAS, SS CIRCL.BAS, SS CITY.BAS,
SS FRIS.BAS, SS LINES.BAS, SS PIN.BAS,
SS PROP.BAS, SS TUNN.BAS, and SS TWINK.BAS are
from PROGRAMS OF THE MONTH =>
____________________________________________________
* WORLD .BIN........USED BY "GO AWAY.BAS"
- SIDE 2 -
BOOT .BAS..RUN...PROGRAMS OF THE MONTH
NIBSHOW .BAS..RUN...ART GALLERY
VIEW .BAS..RUN...ART GALLERY
* 3D-ATLAS.NIB, FAUCET.NIB, PHAROAH.NIB, SNAKE.NIB,
TRAIN.NIB, TRUMPET.NIB and WALKING.NIB are puzzle
pictures
* DAWG3 .NIB........ART GALLERY
* NIBLOADR.BIN........NIB PICTURE LOADER UTILITY
* NIBSAVER.BIN........NIB PICTURE SAVER UTILITY
* OVERLAY.NIB, PUZTITLE.NIB, PUZZLE1.NIB,
PUZZLE2.NIB, SEQ0.DAT, SEQ1.DAT, OVERLAY.NIB and
SWITCH.BIN are files used by the puzzle program.
=*
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ABOUT COCO FRIENDS DISK MAGAZINE (2)
1 "ABOUT CFDM"
2 ABOUT COCO FRIENDS DISK MAGAZINE
ABOUT THIS ISSUE (6)
1 ABOUT THIS MONTH'S COVER
2 BONUS DISK DIRECTORY #23
3 CONTENTS...PART 1
4 CONTENTS...PART 2
5 PROGRAM DIRECTORY #61
ACTIVE COCO (1)
1 SPACEMAN
=>
____________________________________________________
ADVERTISEMENTS (5)
1 CFDM SUBSCRIPTION
2 COCO STUFF FOR SALE
3 HAVE PACMAN, WILL SELL!!
4 SUNDOG & COCOPRO! AVAILABLE
5 THE COCO3 EMULATOR
ARTICLES OF THE MONTH (4)
1 Assembly Language Programming 8
2 COCO CHRONICLES 12 PART 1
3 COCO CHRONICLES 12 PART 2
4 GAME DESIGN - GAMEPLAY
COCO FRIENDS ART GALLERY (8)
1 * CFDM CARTOONS *
2 Dawg # 2 =>
____________________________________________________
3 Dawg # 3
4 PAC-MAN Express!
5 POPEYE
6 ROCK-BOUND COAST OF MAINE
7 Tropical Sunset
8 VIEWING THE CFDM ART GALLERY
FAMILY TREE (5)
1 Another Update
2 MEET WILL MCDANIELS
3 RICK'S FAMILY TREE UPDATE
4 RICK'S FAMILY TREE UPDATE PART 2
5 RICK'S FAMILY TREE UPDATE PART 3
(See Part 2.) =*
|
FORUM (5)
1 A FEW THOUGHTS...
2 A FEW THOUGHTS... PART 2
3 COCO ACTION...
4 LETTER TO TANDY
5 TANDY ROMS...
FROM THE EDITOR (3)
1 HOLY SCRIPTURES
2 KUDOS FOR #61
3 LETTER FROM RICK
LETTERS TO THE EDITOR (5)
1 REGARDING THE COCO CHRONICLES
2 RENEWAL & ANNOUNCEMENT
3 RENEWAL & COMMENTS =>
____________________________________________________
4 SINCE "DAY ONE"
5 SOCKMASTER/RICK - many thanks
POTPOURRI (4)
1 GO AWAY WORLD
2 OFFICIAL MORON TEST
3 PRT#1FD2 - warning
4 STRINGART 19
PROGRAMS OF THE MONTH (10)
1 * BONUS PUZZLES? *
2 4th of July!
3 BEGIN SIGN LANGUAGE
4 CALC
5 ELONGLBL - for myopic postmen
6 GUESS MY NUMBER =>
____________________________________________________
7 HPRINT WITH PIZZAZZ
8 MICRODIR - Microfont disk label
9 SCREEN SAVERS - MAYBE
REVIEWS (2)
1 Chicago CoCo Fest
2 Chicago CoCo Fest (pt.2)
QUESTIONS & ANSWERS (4)
1 DISK DRIVE/CONTROLLER NEEDED
2 INTERESTED IN SPEECH PROGRAMS
3 WP ERROR and other mysteries
4 WP...SOME ANSWERS
=*
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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
* BALL 4 .NIB........ART GALLERY
CALC .BAS..RUN...PROGRAMS OF THE MONTH
* COAST .NIB........ART GALLERY
* DAWG2 .NIB........ART GALLERY
ELONGLBL.BAS..RUN...PROGRAMS OF THE MONTH
* FIN123 .NIB.. THESE
* FIN456 .NIB... FILES
* FIN789 .NIB.... ARE
* FINABC .NIB..... USED
* FINDEF .NIB...... BY
* FINGHI .NIB....... FINSPELL
____________________________________________________
* FINJKL .NIB.......THESE FILES
* FINMNO .NIB...... ARE USED
* FINNAV .NIB..... BY
* FINPQR .NIB.... FINSPELL.BAS
FINSPELL.BAS..RUN...PROGRAMS OF THE MONTH
* FINSTU .NIB.....THESE
* FINTHNKS.NIB.... FILES
* FINTITLE.NIB... ARE
* FINVWX .NIB.. USED
* FINYZ0 .NIB. BY FINSPELL.BAS
GUESSMY#.BAS..RUN...PROGRAMS OF THE MONTH
HPRTPZAZ.BAS..RUN...PROGRAMS OF THE MONTH
MICRODIR.BAS..RUN...PROGRAMS OF THE MONTH
* NIBLOADR.BIN........NIB PICTURE LOADER UTILITY
NIBSHOW .BAS..RUN...ART GALLERY
SPACEMAN.BAS..RUN...ACTIVE COCO =>
____________________________________________________
* SPACEMAN.NIB........PICTURE FOR SPACEMAN.BAS
STRING19.BAS..RUN...POTPOURRI
* WAITER .NIB........ART GALLERY
=*
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| Articles in section: ACTIVE COCO |
| SPACEMAN |
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SPACEMAN
I have to say that I have been getting a little more
response from COCONUTS, but I always look for more
and more who will trade disks with me. Once more I
am using my "SPEECH/SOUND" pak, and having a great
deal of fun with it. Thanks to another COCO FRIEND,
Robert A. Turner, who gave me a disk on a "SPEECH/
SOUND" program. Many have helped me also - Thanks to
all. I guess I am getting "childish" in my old age,
for now I am making up stories about a "SPACEMAN"---
How about that ?
How about you COCONUTS, please say "HELLO" on the
internet--Here is my address:
moen1@webtv.net (Harold J. Moenich)
715 Greenleaf Drive
Monroeville, PA 15146-1133 =*
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| Articles in section: ADVERTISEMENTS |
| CFDM
SUBSCRIPTION COCO STUFF FOR SALE HAVE PACMAN, WILL SELL!! SUNDOG & COCOPRO! AVAILABLE THE COCO3 EMULATOR |
| Back to top |
CFDM SUBSCRIPTION It is time for many of our friends to renew their
CFDM subscription.
We now offer CFDM by both postal and email delivery.
With the postal version you get the next 4 issues of
CFDM via US Postal Service. That's September and
December of 1998 and March and June of 1999. You
receive the disks and Hardcopy. The price is $30.
With the email version you will need the CoCo3
emulator. You will receive the next 8 issues for
only $20. The issues are delievered only to your
email address. Hardcopy is not included in the
email offer.
COCOs FOREVER!! =*
|
COCO STUFF FOR SALE I have a number of CoCo items for sale:
1 CoCo3 512K
1 5 1/4" dual disk drive
1 DMP 130A printer
1 2400 external modem
1 CM-8 monitor
1 TRS-80 deluxe RS-232
1 CoCo2
1 Tandy tape recorder
1 Floppy drive
1 Regular joysticks
1 Deluxe joysticks
1 hi-res interface
=>
____________________________________________________
Also: OS9, Tandy books for both computers, some
games.
Please contact me via my email address:
ChitoRip46@aol.com
=*
|
HAVE PACMAN, WILL SELL!! The first 39 copies of Nickolas Marentes new PACMAN
game have been sold. I am expecting a new delivery
of 20 more copies...they should be here by the time
you read this.
This is a great CoCo3 game. (Note: PACMAN does not
execute well on the CoCo3 emulator.) The price is
only $20.
Support the continued support of CoCo3 software
programmers by ordering your copy today.
Send Cash, Check, or Money Order ($25.00) to:
Rick's Computer Enterprise
P.O. Box 276 Liberty, KY 42539 =*
|
SUNDOG & COCOPRO! AVAILABLE The wonderful Sundog and CoCoPRO! software packages
are still available to CFDM members for only $5 plus
$2 s/h. If you don't have them, now's a good time
to order. Here's what's available:
PHOTON, ZENIX, CRYSTAL CITY, QUEST FOR THELDA,
GRAFEXPRESS 2.0, KYUM-GAI (RSDOS), KYUM-GAI (OS9),
SOUNDTRAX, SOUNDTRAX INSTRUMENT DISK SET, CONTRAS,
QUEST OF THE STAR LORD, and WARRIOR KING.
SIMPLY BETTER, V-TERM, DATA WINDOWS, MULTI-MENUS,
NEWSPAPERO9, NEWS FONTS (FOR NEWSPAPERO9), THE
ZAPPER, OS9 LEVEL II BBS, TOOLS II, DISK MANAGER
TREE, LEVEL II TOOLS, PRESTO PARTNER, DATA MERGER,
and SOLITAIRE
=*
|
THE COCO3 EMULATOR Arguably the best CoCo-related software ever! Jeff
recently reported that over 300 copies of the CoCo3
emulator have been purchased!!
If you have a PC and a CoCo3 software collection,
you will find this an invaluable piece of software.
The price is only $25.00. The utilities that come
with the emulator are well worth the $25.00 by
themselves.
ORDER YOUR COPY TODAY...SEND CASH, CHECK OR MONEY
ORDER FOR $25 TO:
RICK'S COMPUTER ENTERPRISE
P.O. BOX 276 LIBERTY, KY 42539 =*
|
| Articles in section: ARTICLES OF THE MONTH |
| Assembly
Language Programming 8 COCO CHRONICLES 12 PART 1 COCO CHRONICLES 12 PART 2 GAME DESIGN - GAMEPLAY |
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Assembly Language Programming 8 View text file associated with this article This is the eighth installment in the assembly language series I have been working on. I apologize for the delay between part 7 and part 8, but I had a couple of personal crises to deal with. Fortunately, those are sorted out. To read this month's article, run "READFILE.BAS" and read "PART8.TXT" Other relevant files for this article are: PART8.ASM, PART8A.ASM, PART8B.ASM, MACROS.ASM, PART8.LST, PART8A.LST, PART8B.LST, MACROS.LST As always, I can be reached by email at astlew@bigfoot.com. Any ideas and bug reports (with fixes) can be sent there. (BONUS SIDE 1) =* |
COCO CHRONICLES 12 PART 1 THE COCO CHRONICLES...PART 12
Other January events include MICRONIX SYSTEMS
marketing the first keyboard for the CoCo, Dennis
Lewandowski writes the RAINBOW CHECK, and dates are
confirmed for the first RAINBOWFEST. It will be held
in Chicago, April 22-24th.
In February, 68 MICRO eludes to the fact that they
may be starting a CoCo publication to meet the
explosion of "new" subscribers. Absent, for the
first time since I have been reading 68 MICRO, are
The Micro Works ads. Something was happening?
Most of the other February news included reports of
CoCo products on display at last fall's COMDEX =>
____________________________________________________
show in Las Vegas. The products included AMDEK's
new 3 inch disk drives, WICO's joysticks and track-
ball, and the long awaited ZAXXON from DATASOFT.
The rumors were obviously true because, in March,
the third CoCo magazine hit the news stands. Edited
by KERRY LEICHTMAN, THE COLOR COMPUTER MAGAZINE
(TCCM for short) premiered with articles from Jake
Commander, Bob Rosen, WILLIAM BARDEN JR., and Dennis
Kitsz.
March's "nuclear" issue featured the first RAINBOW
SCOREBOARD, and ad for ELITE SOFTWARE's ZAKSUND (the
first ZAXXON-clone), plus the Mark Data keyboard.
In late April of 1983 users from across the United=>
____________________________________________________
States and Canada (not to mention Great Britain,
Germany, Hawaii, and the Yukon) descend upon Chicago
to take part in the first ever CoCo convention,
RAINBOWFEST! Estimated attendance for this 3 day
bash is placed at around 10,000. On the sales floor,
J&M unveils its JFD disk controller, while seminars
are held by Don Inman, Fred Scerbo, Tom Nelson,
Steve Bjork, and Charles Roslund, to name just a
few.
MORE COCO CHRONICLES: See Part 2.
=*
|
COCO CHRONICLES 12 PART 2 Other April showers include the cross reference
index disassembly of 1.1 ROM, the first ad for
Computerware's 64K SCREEN EXPANDER, word that Bob
Rosen is now operating 3 bulletin boards, Jake
Commander's first installment of the most ambitious
commenting of the BASIC ROM ever, and the appearance
of Datasoft's first ZAXXON ads.
May brings flowers and a cross reference index
disassembly of the 1.0 EXTENDED BASIC ROM, plus a
name change for MED SYSTEMS to SCREEN PLAY. What's
in a name?
The Comment Corner column returns to CCN in June,
authored by ANDREW HUBBELL, and a list of
differences for BASIC 1.2, EXTENDED BASIC 1.1, =>
____________________________________________________
and DISK BASIC 1.1.
CoCo's third year ends with two new releases. First:
the long awaited and much rumored "new" Color
Computer, the Radio Shack MC-10. Second: another
Color Computer magazine. HOT COCO, a Wayne Green
publication, debuted without so much as a word of
credit to Dave Lagerquist for coining the name
"CoCo" for the Color Computer....oh well, we will
remember!
More CoCo Chronicles next issue...
=*
|
GAME DESIGN - GAMEPLAY The first stages of game development are spent
creating the game concept. Unless the game is a port
of an existing game, this stage can take up a large
percentage of the game development time. I have seen
many game ideas that sound good on paper but are no
fun when played. Fun should be the number one
priority. Many programmers spend a lot of time
developing the audio/visual side of the game and
forget about the fun value. Great graphics and sound
can offer a spontaneous interest and fascination in
a game (which is good for sales!) but this tapers
off rather quickly. Good gameplay will determine how
much longer the game will hold the players interest.
Defining gameplay can be a science in itself! It's
more than just a story idea for the game itself. =>
____________________________________________________
You don't need to have a complex and elaborate game
idea to have good gameplay. Most of the great
successful arcade games had very simple ideas. Take
Space Invaders as an example. 5 rows of 11 Invaders
move back and forth across the screen while our
valiant human opponent controls a laser cannon at
the bottom of the screen shooting them down one by
one. Doesn't sound very complicated and by this
description is hard to see how this game could keep
anyone but a minor amused long enough on a rainy
afternoon. Yet this game was a world wide success!
Game elements such as how they speed up as their
numbers fall. How they move one level closer to you
when they reach the edge of the screen. The
inclusion of bonus elements such as a "randomly"
appearing flying saucer all add to the challenge. =>
____________________________________________________
In action arcade type games, speed and response time
is important. Sluggish gameplay can become a
nuisance. How many games have been created that fail
to respond immediately when the player presses a
button or moves the joystick, ending in the player
getting "hit". The programmer must ensure that at
any time the player is displaced, the error must
have clearly been the players and not due to a
limitation in the gameplay.
As I said earlier, defining gameplay is a science.
It varies with each individuals tastes. A game that
is exciting to one person can be utterly boring to
another. The challenge for a games programmer is
creating the right balance.
=*
|
| Articles in section: COCO FRIENDS ART GALLERY |
| *
CFDM CARTOONS * Dawg # 2 Dawg # 3 PAC-MAN Express! POPEYE ROCK-BOUND COAST OF MAINE Tropical Sunset VIEWING THE CFDM ART GALLERY |
| Back to top |
* CFDM CARTOONS *
BEN WALKER (of TEXAS) & I have gotten together
again for a couple of CARTOONS for our CFDM Friends
to enjoy.
WAITER is one that could have had a million
quips added to it, but I thought that with a hopeful
RICK'S PICNIC II being planned I would use that as a
theme. I hope that you enjoy BEN's drawings as much
as I do!
BALL 4 is another that offered many possiblities,
such as the efforts of MR. COOPER's School team and
many other Colleges that need all the help that they
can get!
GODFREY J. MOLL
-----
RICK: These wonderful pictures have been hidden =>
____________________________________________________
away for over 2 years! Now, just when we need them
most, they come to life in this issue of CFDM! I
know you'll enjoy them.
RUN "NIBSHOW.BAS" on the flip side of this disk to
view these two fine pictures.
=*
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Dawg # 2
A second installment of computer-literate doggy
humor. My, my, what a poor dawg has to put up with
when there's a darn cat around.
(Use NIBSHOW.BAS to view John's DAWG2.NIB on the
back of this disk.)
=*
|
Dawg # 3
Ole' dawg is up to his computer hacking shenanigans
again. Hey, if a dawg really wants it right -- he's
gotta program it himself. Bark on, dudes.
(Use NIBSHOW.BAS to view John's DAWG3.NIB on side 2
of the Bonus Disk.)
=*
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PAC-MAN Express!
After returning from the Chicago CoCo Fest, I am
Happy to report that Nickolas Marentes' Pac-Man was
a Sell Out Success! While it did in fact sell out, I
certainly think it is attributed to the high quality
of the product and not necessarily that of anything
special I did! Have a look for yourself and see what
I mean! :)
(See side 1 of the Bonus Disk.)
=*
|
POPEYE
I really like to transcribe music, and "POPEYE" has
always been one of my favorite cartoons. So I put
them together. Transcribing music in Basic is much
harder than using MUSIC3+, but I think it is worth
the effort.
There are some things worth mentioning concerning
"POPEYE" -- Popeye's left hand has 6 fingers -- I
took away his pipe (no one should really smoke) --
and gave him a can of spinach to hold and tell all
children to eat it to help them grow tall. The only
bad thing about it is that he speaks as if he has
missed quite a bit of schooling.
Looking forward to the next CFDM quarterly and I
hope to hear from all of my CoCo friends soon.
=*
HJM 09-03-97 (RUN POPEYE.BAS on side 1 Bonus disk.)
|
ROCK-BOUND COAST OF MAINE
I found this picture in another calendar and
thought it would be interesting to reproduce. The
site is the Portland Head Lighthouse at Portland,
Maine.
(Select COAST in NIBSHOW on the back of this disk.)
=*
|
Tropical Sunset
Well...after seeing the many wonderful Scenery Works
of Norm Barson and Jim Gibbons..I thought I'd give
it a shot! (so I thought!) I decided on a Tropical
Sunset and started drawing a Tropical Island?!
Instead of a Sunset...a Clear Day evolved?! I could
redeem my self by adding some friendly creatures?!
Ahh...why not add a swimmer floating on an Inner
Tube?! Hmm...I'm not good at drawing people? I know,
one more creature should solve that! Well...so much
for Scenery Drawing...I'm outta my league here! I
guess a more appropriate title would be, "No Rescue
Required"...that goes for both me and the swimmer!
(See side 1 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 |
| Another
Update MEET WILL MCDANIELS RICK'S FAMILY TREE UPDATE RICK'S FAMILY TREE UPDATE PART 2 RICK'S FAMILY TREE UPDATE PART 3 |
| Back to top |
Another Update Well, with all that happened lately in my life, I
have decided to provide a complete update on my
"biography".
Once upon a time.... (wait, wrong story)
I was born on November 21, 1976 and have been active
with computers of one form or another since I was 7.
My first computer was a 32K CoCo 1 with a Line
Printer VII and a tape recorder. I learned BASIC
very soon after that and then proceeded on to
assembly language. I even know what BASIC stands for
I have since moved on to the CoCo 3 with 512K RAM
a dual floppy drive, RGB monitor, Multipack int.
and the CoCo Emulator. I also have a 486 33MHz PC =>
____________________________________________________
with 36MB RAM and 7GB of disk space. That, however,
is another story.
Since starting with the CoCo, I have written a few
programs of various utility, the most useful of
which have appeared in CFDM.
I have also written several informational articles,
of which my assembly language series is one.
I currently (as of this writing) reside in Calgary,
Alberta and work as a System Administrator for one
of the local ISPs. I won't provide a snail mail
address as I cannot guarantee it will not change
before you are reading this. However, I do have an
email address that will never change. =>
____________________________________________________
I can always be reached via
astlew@bigfoot.com.
That address is open to any sort of email, from
general discussions, technical dissertations, and
friendly discussions.
William Astle
PS: I also run AugMUD, a MUD which is located at:
telnet mud.augustana.ab.ca 4000
My character is called Lost
=*
|
MEET WILL MCDANIELS I was first introduced to the CoCo by a friend when
I was 14 years old (1985. I'm 27 now.). I upgraded
from the old grey CoCo1 to a CoCo2 after I convinced
my mom to buy me that $99 computer from Radio Shack.
I typed in all the stuff and bought a few of the
discontinued ROM paks and tapes. I made a mistake
one day and bought a modem. It was the 300 baud
internal one with its own software. I soon was on a
BBS looking for games. I met my teacher, Kelly A.
Pruitt, there.
I called this guy 30 times a day, and he called me
20. We talked about ML and Basic and everything. I
knew him 2 years and met him in person for less than
an hour out of that time. He was a better =>
____________________________________________________
friend to me than I to him, anyway...I moved to a
PC in 1990 after selling my CoCo3 setup and going
into the military. I have branched into C, C++, and
electronics since then.
I have two girls who are smart and love things that
make magic. I remember when I first typed
10 PRINT "HI"
...and it did! That was it for me...MAGIC!
My other interests are "Crazy" music, fast
motorcycles, and my family. I hope not to become
rich, but to create some magic for you all, and my
girls. WillMcD96@AOL.COM =*
|
RICK'S FAMILY TREE UPDATE I can't recall the last time I updated my bio, but
now seems a good time to do so. (I encourage each
of you to consider doing the same!)
As most of you know, I am an elementary school
principal. I have just finished my 22nd full year
in education. I have also enjoyed computers, chess,
coaching basketball, singing gospel music, and
teaching Sunday School classes. Some of the many
programs that I have written over the years have
reflected these interests.
I began writing the driver programs for CFDM in the
winter of 1991. I advertised CFDM in the Rainbow
and soon we had over 200 subscribers! After the
Rainbow folded many of the CoCo software =>
____________________________________________________
companies began folding. I was fortunate enough to
be able to purchase the rights to the Sundog and
CoCoPRO! software collections. I also purchased
about 60 Blue Streak Ultimas from Dayton Associates,
and made arrangements to sell the SPORTSWARE line. I
later was able to offer Federal Hill's accounting
software and the Zebra software on commission. Since
then I've marketed Jeff's CoCo3 emulator and Nick
Marentes' PACMAN.
During the first full year of RCE (Rick's Computer
Enterprise) nearly $20,000 of software and hardware
was sold. I also made it a habit of buying CoCo
systems from folks leaving the community. Some of
this I kept to use in the business, and much of it
was resold to those looking to add to their =>
____________________________________________________
systems.
During the second year of RCE about $40,000 of CoCo
items were sold. In the third year we started to
see a decline. Sales were down to $30,000. Then
the next year $20,000. Year before last sales were
at about $12,000. Last year $6,000. I believe this
year's sales would have been half that. Please keep
in mind that these figures represent retail sales
and do not in any way reflect profit. I do not mind
revealing to you that I did make a good profit in
some of the years, but due to the "bargain" prices
at which I offered products...no one got rich!
(See part 2.)
=*
|
RICK'S FAMILY TREE UPDATE PART 2 There were also many other projects that I will remember fondly. The "Phone Fests", of which there were 5 (I believe), gave me an opportunity to spend a day getting acquainted with the Friends via phone while offering some neat CoCo items and prizes at the price of their choice. One of the first projects was the "Logo Contest" in which Jim Bennett's entry became our official logo. See the start-up page of CFDM. Good job Jim! Another project you may remember was the "Where in the World are you?" project. I included a map in CFDM, and the Friends were able to move a cursor to their home location. A resultant identifying number was then sent in to me and a map was produced => ____________________________________________________ with everyones location. The Christmas Card Project has been a continuing event. This gave many of the Friends an opportunity to make acquaintance with another in a very non- threatening way. The "Emulator Bounty Fund" was one of our most impressive efforts. The Friends of CFDM contributed $1000 to Jeff Vavasour as a show of appreciation for completing the CoCo3 Emulator. Another $500 was donated to pay Jeff's way from his home in western Canada to Liberty, Kentucky and my first picnic. There were two Rick's Picnics. In a word they were "GREAT!" More than 40 friends attended the => ____________________________________________________ first and about 30 the second. It was great having an opportunity to have my friends visit me in Liberty! The CoCo Registry and the CFDM Index are two other great productions that were sponsored by CFDM. Our two friends, Norm Barson and Stuart Wyss Gallifent helped me with this project. Since it's inception Norm has been kept busy keeping the CFDM Index updated. He's been doing a great job!! The latest (final) CoCo Registry has the names, addresses, and data on 500 CoCo users. I look forward to seeing what projects are to come! (See part 3.) =* |
RICK'S FAMILY TREE UPDATE PART 3 On the home front many of you will recall that I
lost my mother in January 1994. Keeping busy with
CFDM probably helped ease the passing to some
degree.
Through the pages of CFDM you have become acquainted
with my wife Donna (actually it's LaDonna), my three
daughters, Kristin (16 on May 27th), Kasey (12 on
May 14th), and Kayla (10 on April 30th), and my Dad,
Dewey Cooper. They have been very supportive of my
efforts with CFDM over the years. Many times they
duplicated disks, placed labels, helped with the
stuffing of mailers, and placing postage on the
packages...ugh, stamps get where they don't taste
very good!
=>
____________________________________________________
Now my family doesn't take a lot of vacations. Doing
CFDM almost made that impossible. A few years ago
we did go to Florida for a week. And we did go to
Atlanta about four times...but that was for the CoCo
fest there! Last year we visited Washington, D.C.
...on the way to the PA Fest!
On June 12th we will begin our most significant
vacaton to date. We are planning a trip to CA via a
southern route. This trip will be much like the one
my parents took me on when I was about 11 years old.
We will visit some relatives along the way. Our
first major stop will be Elvis's Graceland in
Memphis, TN. We also plan to see the Carlsbad
Caverns in Carlsbad, NM, Las Vegas, Disneyland, San
Juan Capistrano, the Grand Canyon, and then =>
____________________________________________________
stop in Branson, MO.
This should be a great trip. Donna is probably
looking forward to it more than any of us! She has
sent for brochures and information on almost every
state. She's also searched the internet for even
more information. Here's hoping for a safe and
interesting trip!
Now it's your turn. I hope to see your updated or
new bio in the next CFDM!
Your Friends
Rick, Donna, Kristin, Kasey, & Kayla
=*
|
| Articles in section: FORUM |
| A
FEW THOUGHTS... A FEW THOUGHTS... PART 2 COCO ACTION... LETTER TO TANDY TANDY ROMS... |
| Back to top |
A FEW THOUGHTS... To add a few thoughts on this thread:
1. I contacted Tandy years ago about releasing
software (e.g. TRSDOS). Actually spoke to a live
person on the phone. He suggested a followup letter.
18 months later I get a letter back from their legal
department saying that the copyrights are nebulous
and essentially it would take considerable effort on
behalf of their legal department (i.e. charity) to
research something of no commercial value.
It makes sense. I'd say with sufficient funds we
could hire lawyers to resolve the ownership, given
time, but I don't think even a group of us could
afford to be that indulgent with our finances. To
ask Tandy to do so on our behalf would be a =>
____________________________________________________
double standard.
2. There is *no way* a letter saying *no reply will
be considered acceptance* could be an admissable
contract, ... So maybe you'd evoke a reply, but it'd
less likely be a charitable one. And you need to
rely on charity and good nature to pull this off.
3. I also wrote Microsoft on the Z-80-based TRS-80
ROMs, which they unambiguously own (unlike the three
-way license on the CoCo ROMs) a couple years ago.
No reply.
4. I tried to work around this thing from the inside
Microsoft has an online *museum* (as well as a real
one) highlighting their history, including their =>
____________________________________________________
part in the TRS-80s. I offered to contribute a copy
of their ROMs to their online museum for archiving
purposes (asking that they be made available public-
ly as QBASIC is now on their FTP site), but the
person replying said that the museum had no allocat-
ed storage space for binaries, etc. I'd suggest this
avenue would have the greatest chance of success. If
Microsoft could be encouraged to add the ROMs to
their museum archive, then *they'd* be the ones
making them available, and distribution would be a
non-issue. (The CoCo 3 ROMs involved Microware, and
would still be a problem, but the CoCo2 ROMs and
other TRS-80s would not.)
(See Part 2.)
=*
|
A FEW THOUGHTS... PART 2 Of course, this wouldn't solve the Tandy issue.
There, the nebulous ownership makes resolving the
legalities too much of a task. Thing is, being a
big company, they hae to dot all the i's and cross
all the t's or they can leave themselves open to a
lot more trouble than an individual. I can't fault
them for considering the task too strenous at this
stage.
- Jeff
=*
|
COCO ACTION... A few months ago I met Will McDaniels via a phone
call from him. Will had been absent from the CoCo
Community for a few years, but now he was anxious to
get started up again. He mentioned that he was also
interested in writing a CoCo emulator for the PC. I
asked if he was aware that there was already a great
one available, and then suggested that a better
project might be to write a CoCo3 Basic for the PC.
He was interested in this idea. The conversation
then moved to the internet via the cocolist, a
newsgroup.
Some of the group felt that there were a number of
BASICs on the PC that were so similar to our CoCo3
Basic that another one was probably not needed. =>
____________________________________________________
I do not necessarily agree that just because the
current Basics are similar that a CoCo3 Basic for
the PC would not be a welcomed addition. Although
the PCs Basic languages might be similar, when you
go to "move" a CoCo3 Basic program to them you will
find that you will have to make a number of changes.
Also, the environment is just not the same.
Anyway, the conversation continued...
One option was that we somehow get Tandy to release
the CoCo3 roms to public domain so that anyone/every
one could then legally use the CoCo3 emulator. This
has been tried before. See the other entries in this
section. =>
____________________________________________________
Another option is to do a complete rewrite of the
roms. This would be an extensive project. I believe
there are enough talented people left to do it, but
it would be a lot of work and would necessitate the
cooperation of Jeff Vavasour. This option would
forever free us from Tandy and any legal issues that
now bind us to them.
Do you have any thoughts on this subject? We'd love
to hear them!
=*
|
LETTER TO TANDY (From the coco list. Here's the text of a letter
that Will McDaniels recently wrote to Tandy in hopes
of getting permission for public access to the CoCo3
roms.)
5/17/98
Hi,
First I would like to say "Thanks" for providing
hobbyists like myself easy access to electronic
components!
Second, it's been 10 years since your "Color
Computer 3" has been around, and there are still
TONS out there. I would like to know would you
please release us hobbyists from the restraints of
the Tandy copyrights for the "Tandy Color =>
____________________________________________________
Computer 3" software, (also the software inside the
chips in the computer)? I am still using the old
white computer to teach my two daughters how to
program, and this would be of help.
If I don't receive a response from you in a
reasonable length of time, I will consider my
request granted. (As I see it you probably don't
even want to waste time talking about it, it's so
old and not worth your time.)
Thanks for your time.
Will McDaniels
WillMcD96@aol.com
=*
|
TANDY ROMS... Well, I tried writing to Tandy last year asking for
the same thing and yes, they did reply to me (thru
e-mail) stating that they couldn't release software
to PD because the right owners were other companies
(like Epyx, Microsoft etc.) - also they mentioned
that some of the software is still available through
mail order from any Radio Shack store in the US...
true, you can still get selected packages new from
them.
Then, on another one of those optimistic days that I
had gotten out of bed with my right foot first <G>,
I decided to give it a try with Microsoft about the
ROMs.... you know, to have them available with no
legal fuss for use with the emulators...up to this
day their legal department hasn't responded, and =>
____________________________________________________
I also noted something about "compliance" if no
response was received. I guess that will all the
troubles with the USDOJ and the delayed Win98 saga
they don't have much time to take care of small
things...
Rogelio
=*
|
| Articles in section: FROM THE EDITOR |
| HOLY
SCRIPTURES KUDOS FOR #61 LETTER FROM RICK |
| Back to top |
HOLY SCRIPTURES Since one of the very early issues of CFDM we have
included a passage of scripture from the bible. I
have been most pleased to do this, and I have very
much appreciated a number of the Friends comments
that they too enjoyed this entry.
Trust in the Lord with all thine heart; and lean
not unto thine own understanding.
In all thy ways acknowledge him, and he shall
direct thy paths.
Be not wise in thine own eyes: fear the Lord, and
depart from evil.
Proverbs 3:5-7 ====>
____________________________________________________
The reason for these scriptures in CFDM is found in
the above verses, and understood when one remembers
that CFDM was created in a very short period of
time. I wish to credit God for giving me the plan
and courage to complete the software and organize
the CFDM effort. To me it has been a successful and
enjoyable undertaking.
I'm sure there are many different faiths represented
in our group. I have not meant to offend by my
words or the scriptures that I have included. But,
CFDM represents me, and I feel it is hypocritical to
not reflect yourself and your beliefs. I do not
appreciate society's turning off the opinions of
Christians when they state what they believe =>
____________________________________________________
and then refer to a belief in God as the basis of
their opinion.
For this month's scripture I have chosen a verse
that holds wise instruction, even for us today.
Only be thou strong and very courageous, that thou
mayest observe to do according to all the law,
which Moses my servant commanded thee; turn not
from it to the right hand or to the left, that thou
mayest prosper whithersoever thou goest.
- Joshua 1:7
=*
|
KUDOS FOR #61 Although our number of contributors has fallen off,
we still have some talented people who are sending
stuff in regularly. Thanks to the Friends listed
below for making this another good issue.
William Astle, Norm Barson, John D. Clemons, Jim
Davis, Keiran Kenny, Rickey A. Lewis, Nickolas
Marentes, Will McDaniels, Harold Moenich, Godfrey
Moll, Steve Ostrom, L.E. & Nan Padgett, George
Rippstein, Rogeleo, Charlie Round, Al Santos, Jeff
Vavasour, Ed Webster, and Stuart Wyss-Gallifent.
THANKS! THANKS! THANKS! THANKS! THANKS! THANKS!
=*
|
LETTER FROM RICK Not that I won't be writing a "Letter from Rick" anymore, but STARTING WITH ISSUE #62 our friend Jim Davis will be the editor and publisher of CFDM. How about that for a "RED FLASH?" Sorry I couldn't think of a better way to make this announcement. It has been my intention to continue CFDM for 8 more issues. This would achieve our objective of making it to the year 2000. But recently it has become harder for me to get the issue out, and I have been thinking real hard about getting involved in a new project that should demand much of my time. That is I have desired to start a private school in this => ____________________________________________________ area for a long time. I have been talking with some others in the area and feel we might be taking on this project. Recently I made a decision to make this the last issue, but, after talking with Jim Davis, I felt I had found someone who could continue CFDM. Not only does Jim have the ability, he also has a great desire to do so! I hope everyone will continue to support Jim and CFDM. It is now time for all who have not already done so, to renew their CFDM postal subscription. Please show your support by sending in your renewal as soon as possible. Now to clarify that I am not just riding off into the sunset. I do plan to work closely with => ____________________________________________________ Jim as he takes the reins. I also hope to be contributing entries and programs as time permits. One of the areas that you can help is by getting on you CoCo (or emulator) and creating something for the next issue. Let's make sure that CFDM remains strong for as long as Jim determines to do the job! Thanks for all your support over the years. I will not attempt to mention names for fear of leaving someone out. I believe the editors will continue to give their support, and Jim is in the process of rounding up some new support. May God bless each of you forever! (See the Family Tree for my update.) =* |
| Articles in section: LETTERS TO THE EDITOR |
| REGARDING
THE COCO CHRONICLES RENEWAL & ANNOUNCEMENT RENEWAL & COMMENTS SINCE "DAY ONE" SOCKMASTER/RICK - many thanks |
| Back to top |
REGARDING THE COCO CHRONICLES Hi Rick,
In the CoCo Chronicles 11, Al Santos mentions the
JPC Products Company. I do not know how many systems
were sold but I bought one. I built a computer
system using the Heath Kit ETA-3400 (6809 micro-
processor) and then connecting the 40 pin bus to a
50 pin bus by using an ACORN motherboard. My system
contained the High Speed Cassette Basic, dual input/
output board, dual channel D/A board and a 32K
memory board. About the time I had everything
working, the CoCo2 came down in price and so did the
disk drive. I bought them. Needless to say the high
speed cassette Basic system never got off the
ground. I still have most of the boards.
=>
____________________________________________________
I am sending a letter to Harold Moenich concerning
the Speech/Sound Pak. I experimented with CoCo sound
in the 80's which included breadboarding the General
Instrument SPO256-AL2 speech processor chip and the
AY3-8910 sound generator chip as well as many
others. There were quite a few articles written
about the PAK, at that time, concerning speech and
sound generation.
- Ed Webster
----
RICK: Thanks for your interesting letter Ed! There
were many CoCo products that we all wanted or were
sometimes able to purchase. I remember the X-Pad in
particular. Mine broke down a little after the =>
____________________________________________________
warranty ran out. Radio Shack said it would cost
more to repair it than to buy a new one. I never
did either...then about a year ago one of my
neighbors called to say he had one and that I could
have it! I picked it up but never set up "old
grey" to see if it still worked.
=*
|
RENEWAL & ANNOUNCEMENT Hi Rick,
Please send the last edition of the CoCo Registry. I
hope the $7 and the disk of the 3rd issue of the
Registry is correct.
Yes, I've made a change in Adventure Survivors. The
newsletter is now a quarterly. All current member-
ships have been adjusted, and annual subscription &
renewals are $5 per year.
Best of wishes to you and the family.
- Lin & Nan
=>
____________________________________________________
----
RICK: Thanks for your support Lin and the info on
Adventure Survivors. Here's the address for anyone
wishing a membership:
Adventure Survivors
c/o L.E. Padgett
24 Perthshire Drive
Peachtree City, GA 30269
=*
|
RENEWAL & COMMENTS Rick,
Here's my renewal money for another year of Hardcopy
and CFDM.
Also, congratulations on Kentucky winning the NCAA!
Great game. Utah played super as well! Even though
Minnesota Gophers did not make it to the NCAA this
year, they had a good year also, winning the NIT.
Best of luck in the coming year for CFDM and COCOPS.
- Steve Ostrom
=>
____________________________________________________
----
RICK: Okay Steve, you've found me out! It seems
that about 90% of Kentuckians consider UK basketball
a religion. I do not wish to label myself as a
fanatic, but I do watch every game with an extra
measure of interest! I've kept up with Kentucky for
many, many years.
As you are probably well aware, your coach, Clem
Haskins, is a Kentucky native. He played high school
basketball at Taylor County which is about 30 miles
away.
=*
|
SINCE "DAY ONE" Charlie Round has been with CFDM longer than anyone.
His subscription number is 0-03-Q3. (Charlie just
renewed for the 3rd quarterly year.) The first 0 in
Charlie's number tells me he was in the first group
of fifty to join CFDM. The "03" tells me he was the
fourth person to send in for a subscription. (The
first, second, and third names are no longer with
us.)
Here's the note that came with Charlie's renewal:
My enclosed check for $30 for a renewed subscription
to CFDM. I've been enjoying your magazine since day
one; and wouldn't want to miss an issue!
Your friend,
Charlie Round 0-03-Q2 =>
____________________________________________________
Thanks Charlie for your continuous and faithful
support to CFDM ... and me!!
Your friend,
Rick Cooper
=*
|
SOCKMASTER/RICK - many thanks I really did want to see that multicolored bunny
and your team effort (CFDM #60) was certainly quick
service! I tried both of John's suggested solutions
for displaying 64COLOR (CFDM 59) on a 50 herz CoCo
and I settled on POKE65432,128 at the beginning of
line 240 to avoid that bar at screen bottom.
I got furious scrolling on my CM8 monitor when
the image turned up but I'm used to that as I get it
every time I boot TW128, MAX 10 and CoCo Max 3. A
quick flip on the V-HOLD wheel settles it down. I
put the picture simultaneously on my TV too and both
images were very good. As I explained in my note to
HPRTPZAZ on this disk, my Aussie CoCo ignores CMP
and RGB commands. There was no scrolling on the TV.
The picture was all I hoped it would be. I found the
colors stronger on the TV screen. =>
____________________________________________________
I took photos of the bunny, ROSSOVAL and SUN256.
I guess CFDM would only ocasionally have free
memory enough for such pictures. Would compression
be feasible?
----------------------------------------------------
Rick: I found your new disk label very smart and
attractive. Just the etiquette for a magazine on its
way to the 21st century!
----------------------------------------------------
I failed to keep a copy of the text to MICRODIR but
MICRODIR/BAS (with a small correction) and a C text
are on the disk.
----------------------------------------------------
To misquote a former US President: "What this coun-
try needs is a good home/hobby computer!" I enclose
my subscription to COCO PS. =>
____________________________________________________
RICK: Thanks for all the messages Keiran! I'm
really glad you could view the pictures and thanks
for the photos...they are GREAT!!
Per including other pictures by Sock...we'll make
room for them. They are clearly superior quality!
=*
|
| Articles in section: POTPOURRI |
| GO
AWAY WORLD OFFICIAL MORON TEST PRT#1FD2 - warning! STRINGART 19 |
| Back to top |
GO AWAY WORLD When I am sad, I always think of this song, "MAKE THE WORLD GO AWAY". What I should do is read my bible and get all of those problems off of my shoulders. I had a hard time getting the sheet music for the song, and finally my daughter had to buy a book of music with it in it. But I think it was worth it. How about all of those "its" ? I have to laugh at something to keep from going "nuts". I have sent letters and disks to some of my CoCo Friends, and I surely hope they received them. Hanging in there until I see the new Q2. (RUN "GO AWAY.BAS" on side 1 of the Bonus Disk.) HJM 07-26-97 =* |
OFFICIAL MORON TEST DO NOT TAKE THIS TEST IF YOUR MIND IS NOT IN GEAR!!!
This is the "Official Moron Test."
It separates the dumb people from the really dumb
people. Answer the following 13 questions, then see
page 3 to check your answers. DON'T CHEAT! When you
are done, count the number correct and see how you
compare to others.
1. Is there a 4th of July in England? Yes or no?
2. How many birthdays does the average man have?
3. Some months have 31 days. How many have 28?
4. How many outs are there in an inning?
5. Is it legal for a man in California to marry his
widow's sister?
6. Take the number 30, divide it by 1/2, and =>
____________________________________________________
then add 10. What do you get?
7. There are 3 apples and you take two away. How
many are you left with?
8. A doctor gives you three pills and tells you to
take one every half an hour. How long will the pills
last?
9. A farmer has 17 sheep. All but 9 of them die. How
many sheep are left?
10. How many animals of each sex did Moses bring
with him on the ark?
11. A butcher in the market is 5'10" tall. What does
he weigh?
12. How many 2 cent stamps are there in a dozen?
13. What was the President's name in 1960?
Answers below, but .... NO CHEATING =>
____________________________________________________
1. Yes. It comes right after the 3rd.
2. One. You can only be born once.
3. Twelve. All of them have at least 28 days.
4. Six. Three outs for each team.
5. No. He must be dead if it is his widow.
6. Seventy. 30 divided by 1/2 is 60.
7. Two. You take two apples..so you have two apples.
8. 1 hour. You figure it out!
9. Nine. Like I said, all BUT nine die.
10. None. I didn't know Moses had an ark!
11. Meat...that is self-explanatory.
12. Twelve. ...like twelve eggs in a dozen.
13. Bill Clinton. He hasn't changed his name.
13-GENIUS 10-12-ABOVE AVERAGE 7-9-AVERAGE
4-6-SLOW 1-3-IDIOT 0-CERTIFIED MORON =*
|
PRT#1FD2 - warning! Since its publication (CFDM #55) I have used this program to save CFDM texts on the disk I keep copies of my submissions on. However, I have noted that some CFDM texts saved as ASCII files return an IE ERROR when I try to reload them. I think this could be because the last inkey in a "C" text is BREAK and not ENTER as I usually use to end input. The files thus do not have a clear end marker and the CLOSE#1 in line 1665 is not activated. Maybe my theory is rocky, but I changed this line to read: 1655 PRINT#1,CHR$(13):CLOSE#1 That seems to have worked, but I would like to hear from any Friend whose expertise is stronger than my hunchwork. =* |
STRINGART 19 Here is another example of stringart translated to
the CoCo. With a simple design and a few colors, it
is possible to make an interesting graphic.
RUN "STRING19" on the back of this disk.
=*
|
* BONUS PUZZLES? *
JAMES MILLS came through again with some unique
pictures to be converted into PUZZLES using RICK'S
PUZZLE Program and TERRY LARAWAY'S TOOL to create
the PUZTITLE/NIB Title Page. JIM had already set all
of the Palettes to be acceptable to the PUZZLE Pro-
gram -- made it real easy for me.
These are really TOUGH Puzzles to put together
-- so plan to have enough time to complete them!
Let me know if you enjoy the Puzzles and I will
see that RICK never runs out of them for BONUS Disks
that he will need for his Quarterly CFDM Issues.
ENJOY -- thanks to JAMES MILLS of IOWA!
GODFREY J. MOLL
-----
RICK: It's been awhile since we featured Godfrey's
puzzles. This disk full has been hidden away =>
____________________________________________________
for a little over two years!
Now just in time (when we really need material) we
have some quality fun for the Friends.
RUN "BOOT.BAS" on side 2 of the Bonus Disk to start
the PUZZLES program. Instructions are included in
the program. Great work Godfrey!!
And...Godfrey included the "VIEW.BAS" program by
Keiran Kenny...just in case you would like to view
the puzzles before starting one.
=*
|
4th of July! With Independence Day just around the corner, here's
a fun little program done using Basic, to kick off
the holiday fun! While Independence Day may mean
different things to people, I think it's safe to say
that we all enjoy watching fireworks displays?! When
watching the display, take time to think about what
your nations freedom means to you. Also be sure to
remember those who have given their lives to help
preserve it as well!
(See side 1 of the bonus disk.)
=*
|
BEGIN SIGN LANGUAGE
A recent interest of mine is learning sign language. In the congregation where I attend meetings, we have a sub-congregation of several deaf persons. Members of the congregation act as interpreters. While I have no aspirations to ever be an interpreter, I would like to be able to carry on a conversation with the deaf ones. How else could I possibly be an encouragement to them unless I can? Learning sign language is much like learning a for- eign language -- not easy, but worth the effort. If you are interested in learning this beautiful language too, then the program that is included with this month's CFDM (FINSPELL.BAS) will get you start- ed with signing the alphabet and the numbers => ____________________________________________________ 0 to 9. With the knowledge of these, you can carry on rudimentary communication with a deaf person. If you would care to learn more, you should be able to find many books and videos at your local library. A few notes on signing: * Keep your palm towards the one to whom you are speaking -- the pictures in the program are as if you were seeing someone else signing to you. * Normally, you should sign with your right hand -- some word signs require both hands but your right hand is always the action hand. * Keep your hands relatively still while signing => ____________________________________________________ (don't bob your hands up and down unless that is required by the sign itself) * Keep your hands in close to your body -- and take your time -- it is better to be under- stood than fast. This program contains many parts -- make sure all the files starting with FIN*.* are on the same disk. Also, Rick's NIBLOADR must be on that disk. In case you wonder, that's me (more or less) in the opening and closing screens. In the opening screen I am signing "fingerspelling" and in the closing, I am signing "Thank you". The fingersigns are clip art that I modified somewhat. (SEE BACK OF THIS DISK) =* |
CALC Here's a little program from one our new talented
CoCo Friends, Will McDaniels. CALC.BAS allows you
to enter a hexadecimal number, and then prints out
the decimal and binary equivalents.
You'll find CALC.BAS on the back of this disk.
=*
|
ELONGLBL - for myopic postmen ELONGLBL follows, more or less, the pattern of my FLXILBLS (CFDM #47). Put addresses you need to store in DATA lines, one address per listing line, as in the examples in lines 590 - 940. Each data statement must begin with LN and end with XX. In line 50, LN is read as PEEK(49)*256+PEEK(50): the line number. This makes it easier if you want to find an address you want to delete or change. XX is a flag that marks the end of a data line. In line 3000, ZZ flags the end of all data. To search for an address, take option 1 on the choice screen and, at the search prompt, input a word, even just part of a word, that you know to be in the address. Try "prise" or "Lib" with this list- ing and a familiar address will be diaplayed on the screen with its listing line number. => ____________________________________________________ To type and print a one-off address that you do not need to retain, take choice option 2 and then follow the prompts. If you enter 4 lines you go di- rectly to the print option. If less than 4, enter your last line and then enter SHIFT-UP-ARROW on its own to access the print prompt. Whether you use option 1 or 2, you can then pre- fix your address with TO or FROM or omit a prefix. Your address will then print in elongated, NLQ, bold font. The control codes for my DMP130A printer are in line 490. Change these to suit your printer if necessary. Most addresses will be too wide for a normal 4" label so I print mine on paper, cut them out and then glue them to my packages. In line 40, the left margin is set at 2 and the control code in line 425 inserts the margin. => ____________________________________________________ There is an internationally accepted postal con- vention that favors the omission of punctuation from addresses. I have conformed to that in my sample data. If you add more addresses or delete or amend any, save the listing again with an appropriate filename. Thus your program code and up-to-date data will re- remain together. You do not need to renum after mak- ing changes as the variable, LN, is not dependant on a specific line sequence. RICK: I hope you could read the label on this en- velope without your specs. ---- RICK: I can see it fine now!! :) See the program on the back of this disk. =* |
GUESS MY NUMBER This is a very short program that might amuse a
child in the early numeracy stage and introduce the
concept that each number has a magnitude and a pos-
ition when placed in comparison with other numbers.
The child can keep on guessing and keeping in mind
numbers already rejected as too low or too high.
Eventually the right numbr will turn up and score
one. There is no penalty for guesing wrong. Young
children can become quickly discouraged when scores
and penalties are part of an exercise.
See GUESSMY#.BAS on the back of this disk.
=*
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HPRINT WITH PIZZAZZ Routines in this listing offer more variety and color in your HPRINT texts. The two-digit values in the string A$ in line 320 provide the color. The first eight are the RGB default values for slots 0 - 7. I have included them here for ease if you want to change any. The next seven were chosen to display effectively against most backgrounds. Line 350 buffers enough space for a 320x16 rect- angle to serve as an eraser. Press a key in response to the prompt in line 430 and subroutine 290 select- ively erases the screen from vertical 32 downwards leaving the colorbar intact. Normally, HPRINT entries have to be limited to 40 characters (per line) on HSCREEN2. Subroutine 60 al- lows a longer string as in line 400. Set your horiz- ontal coordinate B, vertical C, and color CL. => ____________________________________________________ Put your text into a string labelled ZL$ and then GOSUB60. The routine gives you wraparound so that no words are split at the end of a line. Subroutine 130 enables you to input max. 38 char- acters directly onto the the screen. To have your input follow a prompt, as in line 470, GOSUB130. To put text anywhere on the screen set B, C and CL and GOSUB140. Use the left-arrow to backspace and delete typing errors. Deleted characters are overprinted in the background color: HPOINTHCOLOR(P*8,C*8) as in line 200. Strings are returned as V$, values as V. The pizzazz begins at line 550. As in lines 570 to 620, put max. 40 characters into a string label- led TX$ and GOSUB300. Each character is printed in a color different from that of the one before it. Con- centric ovals and a colorbar complete the display.=> ____________________________________________________ Press a key as prompted and the pizzazz action begins in the closed loop in lines 660 - 680. Line 660 shifts the first value in A$ to the end of the string. Line 670 pokes the new sequence into slots 0 - 14 and keeps on doing that. I think that the moving colorbar is a good example of the use of palette switching to simulate motion. I pointed out that the palette values are as for an RGB monitor. To convert them to CMP try Robert A Turner's program, PALCNVRT, in CFDM #38. I can't experiment in this because my Australian CoCo3 is permanently in RGB mode and displays the same colors on my TV and my RGB monitor. It ignores the CMP command. ---- See the back side of this disk for program. =* |
MICRODIR - Microfont disk label MICRODIR will print a lot of hard copy DIR (at 17
cpi) in a small space. I can get more than forty
filenames and extensions onto a 4" x 1.5" label.
It is easy to use. When you RUN, line 10 will
check if PEEK(65314) is an even number. If not, it
will prompt you to turn your printer on and will
wait until you do.
Give your disk a name or number. I would prefer a
name relevant to the contents of the disk. Input
which side. I usually label a flippy Side A and Side
B.
Next prompt: the number of columns. Four columns
fit across a 4 x 1.5 inch stickon label. Five fits a
disk jacket and eight will fit across a sheet of
printer paper.
The directory will be printed in the specified =>
____________________________________________________
number of columns. The DMP130 control codes for 2400
baud and Microfont are in line 30.
You then have an option to print your name and
address under the directory printout. Substitute
your name and address for mine in lines 300 - 330.
See MICRODIR.BAS on the back of this disk.
=*
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SCREEN SAVERS - MAYBE I seem to remember someone suggesting a "screen
saver" contest, to design whimsical programs that
could be screen savers for the CoCo. I have created
NINE such screensavers. A few of them take after
the After Dark (c) series of savers for Windows and
Macintosh, but some are my own design.
All of the screen savers I wrote have the first two
letters of SS. For example, SS LINES, or SS PROP.
The SS CITY and SS BLOCK are very uncomplicated, and
written in BASIC. The other seven are written in
BASIC, but have a little machine language program
for the color-cycling. The little program is called
ICOLOR.BIN and it is automatically loaded. Just
make sure it's on the same disk. ->
____________________________________________________
ICOLOR.BIN resides in the old cassette buffer. It
is interrupt-driven, meaning that no matter what the
CoCo is doing, every so often, it stops what its
doing, cycles all the palettes (1-15), and goes back
to what is was doing. This makes a very regular
cycle of colors that doesn't depend on what the
computer is doing.
For example, if the CoCo was in the middle of
painting a box, and the interrupt occured, it would
stop painting, change the palettes, and go back to
painting! If this were done in BASIC, we would have
to wait until the box was done before we could do
anything else.
Feel free to study the SS programs and determine
how the ICOLOR program works. It's very easy!
->
____________________________________________________
The other advantage of using the interrupt is that
the cycling occurs during the vertical blank. This
helps prevent those little "sparkly lines" that
often are visible during palette changing. During
the vertical blank, the CoCo is not drawing to the
screen, so it's safe to change the palettes at that
time. Dennis Bathory Kitsz's book about programming
the 6809 was invaluable for this!
The ICOLOR program only cycles palettes 1 to 15,
leaving palette 0 (which I usually use for the
background) the same. The speed should be the same
on a real CoCo or the emulator.
Hope you enjoy watching them. My favorites are
SS PROP and SS PIN. =*
:SEE STUARTS SCREEN SAVERS ON SIDE 1 OF BONUS DISK.
|
SEND A "DOCTOR" PLEASE NOTE THAT THIS PROGRAM HAS A SPECIFIC PURPOSE AND SHOULD BE USED WITH CARE!! In response to Keiran Kenny's request for some way to change the author's name and/or the entry name for a CFDM entry, I have written DOCTOR.BAS. (This program is found on side 1 of the Bonus Disk.) When I wrote the CFDM driver program I did not include an option for changing the author's name or the name of the entry when in the 'Edit Mode' of ENTRY WRITER. I'm sure that many of you have also experienced a time when you made a miscue in one of these entries, and didn't notice it until you had completed the entry. DOCTOR.BAS will allow you to make these changes. But please follow the => ____________________________________________________ following instructions precisely. - First LOAD "DOCTOR.BAS" from this issue. - Second place the CFDM disk (or backup disk) in drive 0. This program only works on disks in drive 0. - Third RUN "DOCTOR.BAS". You will then see a list of the 14 sections found on all CFDM issues. Use the up and down arrow keys to highlight the section in which the desired entry is located. Press ENTER to continue. Next you will see a list of the entries in => ____________________________________________________ the section. Again use the up and down arrows to choose the entry you wish to "doctor." Press the ENTER key to continue. You will be shown the author's name and the entry name. You will be asked if you wish to change them. Press "Y" to change or "N" to leave it as it is. If you choose to change, you will be prompted to type in the new author's name or entry name. After the changes are entered you will be asked if the entry is correct, if you wish to edit again, or if you want to abort the changes. If you reply that the entry is correct, changes will be made to the disk. In any event you will return to the first menu where you may continue or press Break to quit. =* |
| Articles in section: REVIEWS |
| Chicago
CoCo Fest Chicago CoCo Fest (pt.2) |
| Back to top |
Chicago CoCo Fest We parted from Springfield, Mo. around 2:30 a.m. on Friday to head out to the Fest. The early start put us in St.Louis just in time for the morning rush hour! We spent most of Friday traveling through much of Illinois and again hitting the evening rush hour traffic near our destination! We decided to lodge at the Super 8 and dined at a local resturant for our dinner. We checked out early the next morning and went in search of breakfast and later made way to the CoCo Fest at the Holiday Inn. Unlike the previous year, we had to set up our own booth this year! This greatly added to the pressure and excitement! We were one of the first vendors to arrive and were very anxious to get things setup. We began setting up the table with the products from => ____________________________________________________ Rick's Computer Enterprise and Nickolas Marentes, along with a few used CoCo items of my own. It was still pretty early, but things were starting to get moving. It wasn't long before the CoCo people began arriving, L.E. and Nan Padgett, Alan Dages, R.C. Smith, Allen Huffman, Strongware and Hawksoft to name a few. Also MANY other notables were on hand as well, such as Roger Hallman, Ron Bull, Mark Marlett, Karl Sefcik, James Jones, Mike Knudsen, Carl Boll and Steve Bjork. After everyone was setup...I must admit...there was ALOT of CoCo stuff to see indeed! When the doors opened it was a shoppers delight! The overall atmosphere was really positive and people seemed to be enjoying themselves as were we! The new Pac-Man Game from Nickolas Marentes seemed to => ____________________________________________________ draw much attention as did Rick's products. During the day seminars were given by Allen Huffman and Steve Bjork. Later an Auction was held with the misc items that were donated. The Fest started winding down towards the evening as people began moving to the dining area for the CoCo Family Dinner! This was a fun time had by all, while having good food and good company! Later in the evening people headed back to the exhibit hall for a Sing and Play along Music Fest! This went on for several hours till people went back to their rooms. We awoke early Sunday morning and headed out for our breakfast. After breakfast we walked around the Radio Swap Meet being held outside in the parking lot. This wasn't Fest related, but it was (pt.2) =* |
Chicago CoCo Fest (pt.2) very interesting to see the many Radio odds and ends
being displayed. Brother Jeremy later held an early
morning service with the opening of the Fest doors
soon to follow. John Strong from Strongware gave a
seminar on his recently deceased CoCo and The Music
Men gave a talk on Midi among other things. Later
Carl Boll had a discussion on the IDE Project and
soon to follow was another Auction. The positive
atmosphere seemed to carry over from Saturday and it
looked like everyone was having a good time! The
Fest started winding down around 5:00p.m. and people
started preparing for their journey home, as did we.
Glenside and Tony Podraza put on a FINE Fest and
Brian Schubring did a good jog organizing the Family
Dinner. All and all we had a very enjoyable time =>
____________________________________________________
and were able to sell several of the items supplied
by Rick and Nickolas...we certainly thank them for
the chance to represent them along with their fine
products! I hope Glenside will have YET another CoCo
Fest next year and hope to see MANY more CoCo People
there as well! For those who were unable to attend
the Chicago Fest...remember Ron Bull's PA Fest is
right around the corner!
While this Fest Report doesn't cover ALL of the MANY
details and highlights of the Fest. I DO hope it
will give one an overall idea of what a room full of
CoCo Nuts do when assembled together! :)
=*
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| Articles in section: QUESTIONS & ANSWERS |
| DISK
DRIVE/CONTROLLER NEEDED INTERESTED IN SPEECH PROGRAMS WP ERROR and other mysteries WP...SOME ANSWERS |
| Back to top |
DISK DRIVE/CONTROLLER NEEDED Awhile back I received a request from Rickey A Lewis
for help with his disk drive and/or controller. He
seems to really enjoy his CoCo3, but he's been down
lately because of trouble with his disk drive and/or
controller
If you have an extra or can be of help, please
contact Rickey at:
350 Gilbert Ave.
Fairborn, OH 45324-3208
=*
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INTERESTED IN SPEECH PROGRAMS I am still very interested in "SPEECH" programs. I
have the Tandy Color Computer Speech/Sound cartridge
but I hear there are some other kinds of speech for
the CoCo3 besides mine. Here is a list:
1 REAL TALKER
2 NEW SPECTRUM VOICE PAK
3 OLD SPECTRUM VOICE PAK
4 THE VOICE by SPEECH SYSTEMS
If anyone has these items and would consider parting
with them, let me know.
email: moen1@webtv.net
OR postal: 715 Greenleaf Drive
Monroeville, PA 15146-1133 =*
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WP ERROR and other mysteries My drive 0 suddenly started returning WP ERROR whenever I tried DSKINI0, BACKUP1TO0, or I tried to save or print to disk, even though there was no write protect tab on the disk. I began with a thor- ough cleanup and fell from the frying pan into the fire when I clumsily damaged the mains transformer. I now get 220 volts through the primary but no low voltage (5 & 12 volts) to the drives. Local electronic and computer stores could not help so I have written to Brian O'Connor (England) who supplied my double decker a few years back. Fortunately, I found a supply of 5.25" drives in a second hand computer store here and got three for NLG5.00 (USD3.62) the lot! I knew little about the subject but I read artic- les by Marty Goodman in "Rainbow" (Mar-Apr 90). => ____________________________________________________ I found the drive select switches for drive 0 and set the jumpers in the right place. Two work well in my old Tandy single drive case but the third is de- fective. But here I am still in business and I hope that will continue. But still I would be glad if any Friend knows what causes that pseudo WP ERROR and what can be done about it. ---------------------------------------------------- QUESTION 2: Rick, I note that line 180 of "C" on the template disk has the pokes for the 6 mms step rate (POKE&HD7C0,0:POKE&HD816,20) as an option. I removed the REMs and I think I note a speedier access. But I think I read somewhere that these pokes do not suit all drives. Would you advise leaving them out? I see that they are active in "C" magazine disks.=> ____________________________________________________ QUESTION 3: Does any friend know how to translate CoCo Max 10 picture clip files (/CLP) into CoCo Max 3 (/CM3) files? Glad to hear from you. Harold Moen- ich would be glad too! ---------------------------------------------------- QUESTION 4: I made a dumb typing error in the header to MICRODIR. I booted CCTOOLS and corrected the err- ors on screen and disk. That looked OK so far but the result was such a disaster when I ran "C" again to check that I scrapped the lot and started over again. Is there a safe way of editing header items after they have been written to disk? =* ---------------------------------------------------- I miss my double drive for BACKUPs, but I now use BACKUPGO (Matt Lawson, R'bow Jul 87). Only two disk switches and it doesn't crash out on READ ERROR! =* |
WP...SOME ANSWERS Keiran the disk access rates was addressed by one of the Friends a few years ago. They differed with my poke numbers and I believe subsequent conversation decided that although both would work most of the time, one of the numbers our friend gave might be more correct. In any case that is the only time I can recall anyone bringing up that subject so maybe it is not going to be a major problem. To be on the safe side, if one is not sure just stay with the slower drive access rate! Per editing the headers on CFDM entries, I'm sorry to say that there is, at least at present, no easy way to do that. I have to do a lot of DSKI$ and DSKO$ to change them myself. LATE NOTE: Here's your request answered...see DOCTOR.BAS. =* |
