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Table of contents: |
| COCO FRIENDS DISK MAGAZINE Issue #68 | 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! =* |
ABOUT THIS MONTH'S COVER Hopefully, by the time you see this issue, winter
will be over and there will be signs of a thaw. Even
if we have some late snow, it should be starting to
melt. Whether the winter in your part of the country
was mild or severe, I'm sure we will all be looking
forward to spring.
=*
|
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 these files.
- SIDE 1 -
-- NAME..........COMMAND...SECTION OR DESCRIPTION
2001 .BIN...LOADM.....POTPOURRI
BAXTER .BAS....RUN......POTPOURRI
* BAXTER .NIB.............Used by BAXTER.BAS
* BBARKER .NIB.............Used by STORY.BAS
* BIRDS .NIB.............ART GALLERY
BOOGIE .BIN...LOADM.....POTPOURRI
CANDY .BAS....RUN......POTPOURRI
* CANDYMAN.BIN.............Used by CANDY.BAS
CLOWNS .BIN...LOADM.....POTPOURRI
* FELIX .NIB.............ART GALLERY =>
____________________________________________________
* HICK200 .NIB.............ART GALLERY
HILLSTR .BIN...LOADM.....POTPOURRI
MILLION .BAS....RUN......POTPOURRI
* MILLION .NIB.............Used by MILLION.BAS
MUSICBOX.BIN...LOADM.....POTPOURRI
* MiGe3 .NIB.............ART GALLERY
* MiGe4 .NIB.............ART GALLERY
* NEARMISS.NIB.............ART GALLERY
* NIBLOADR.BIN.............Used by NIBSHOW.BAS
NIBSHOW .BAS....RUN......ART GALLERY
ODETOJOY.BIN...LOADM.....POTPOURRI
* PEANUTS .NIB.............ART GALLERY
PGUNN .BIN...LOADM.....POTPOURRI
* PIKACHU .NIB.............ART GALLERY
* RESTING .NIB.............Used by CANDY.BAS
* ROSEY .NIB.............ART GALLERY =>
____________________________________________________
* SHOOTUP .NIB.............ART GALLERY
* STARTREK.NIB.............ART GALLERY
STORY .BAS....RUN......POTPOURRI
* TWETBIRD.NIB.............ART GALLERY
- SIDE 2 -
-- NAME..........COMMAND...SECTION OR DESCRIPTIION
* BMPGFX1 .BIN.............Used by
* BMPGFX2 .BIN............. GATE CRASHER
DEMO .BAS...RUN.......PROGRAMS OF THE MONTH
* DEMO .BIN.............Used by GATE CRASHER
* LINSLUCY.MOD.............Used by COCOTRACKER
* MAPGFX1 .BIN.............Used by GATE CRASHER
* MOD13 .BIN.............Used by
* MOD6809 .BIN............. COCOTRACKER
MODPLAY .BAS...RUN....... (SEE PART II) =*
|
- SIDE 2 - (CONTINUED)
-- NAME..........COMMAND...SECTION OR DESCRIPTION
PA-MARCH.BAS...RUN.......ARTICLES OF THE MONTH
* PA-MARCH.TXT.............Used by PA-MARCH.BAS
* PIANOMAN.MOD.............Used by COCOTRACKER
* RLEGFX1 .BIN.............Used by GATE
* SMPSND1 .BIN............. CRASHER
=*
|
ABOUT THIS ISSUE
ABOUT THIS MONTH'S COVER
BONUS DISK DIRECTORY (#30) I
BONUS DISK DIRECTORY (#30) II
CONTENTS...PART 1 (i68)
CONTENTS...PART 2 (i68)
PROGRAM DIRECTORY (i68)
ACTIVE COCO
MONK'o'JAMA Session
PENNFEST 2000 THEME TRACK
PennFest 2000 PART I
PennFest 2000 PART II
WHERE TO SEND SUBMISSIONS
ADVERTISEMENTS =>
____________________________________________________
9th Annual Chicago CoCoFEST!
CFDM SUBSCRIPTION
CoCoNUTS by: Nickolas Marentes
Custom Buttons Available
GATE CRASHER - NOW AVAILABLE
Infomercial
Other Nickolas Marentes Products
Select OS-9 Tools & Utilities
ARTICLES OF THE MONTH
COCO CHRONICLES 18
Grizzly CoCo Addendum
PennFest 2000 - March Update
The Hardware Store
The Mystery of the Creepy Man
=>
____________________________________________________
COCO FRIENDS ART GALLERY
** Pikachu from Pokemon **
ANIMATED NIBS
BIRDS OF A FEATHER
FELIX the CAT
Peanuts Tribute
The Hick Brothers
The Millennium Generation
VIEWING THE CFDM ART GALLERY
FAMILY TREE
Plant or Update your TREE
FORUM
** A New Emulator? **
** PC Connections ** (SEE PART 2) =*
|
Chicago CoCoFEST! 2000 PART I
Chicago CoCoFEST! 2000 PART II
Chicago Fest Attendees/Vendors
Learning the 6809
FROM THE EDITOR
CFDM UPDATE - MARCH 2000
Footnote on the Diskette
KUDOS FOR ISSUE #68
MOD MUSIC FILES
NEWS from the Net 03/00
LETTERS TO THE EDITOR
** Many Thanks **
Grizzly beats the Y2K Bug!
MAIL BAG EXCERPTS =>
____________________________________________________
Thanks for support
POTPOURRI
BAXTER
BOB BARKER
CANDYMAN
MILLIONAIRE
MUSIC
RICHMAN
PROGRAMS OF THE MONTH
A Screen Dump for HP Printers
Dummy
GATE CRASHER DEMO
Password Generator
The Lost Forest =>
____________________________________________________
WAV Player for CoCo 3
WHTHOUSE
WORD FIND
REVIEWS
How about some REVIEWS?
Presto Partner
Tools II
QUESTIONS & ANSWERS
Medieval Madness
RARE Items I'm Looking For
RE: STAR MICRONICS RIBBONS
T&D Subscription Software
THE ARCONIAX ASSIGNMENT
=*
|
Here's a description of the files located on the
PROGRAM SIDE. File names preceded by an asterisk
are data files and should no be RUN or EXECed!
-- NAME..........COMMAND...SECTION OR DESCRIPTION
CREEPY .BAS....RUN......ARTICLES OF THE MONTH
* CREEPY .TXT.............Used by CREEPY.BAS
* DING .WAV.............Used by WAVPLAY.BAS
* DUMMY .ARC.............Used by TC31.BIN
* FOREST .BIN.............Used by ONE.BAS
ONE .BAS....RUN......PROGRAMS OF THE MONTH
* OPENING .BIN.............Used by ONE.BAS
PASSWORD.BAS....RUN......PROGRAMS OF THE MONTH
PCLPRINT.BIN...LOADM.....PROGRAMS OF THE MONTH
* PIKACHU .WAV.............Used by WAVPLAY.BAS
RICHMAN .BAS....RUN......POTPOURRI =>
____________________________________________________
* SRCHPUZL.BAS.............Used by WDFIND.BAS
TC31 .BIN.............PROGRAMS OF THE MONTH
* TITLE .BIN.............Used by ONE.BAS
* TRI55 .WAV.............Used by WAVPLAY.BAS
WAVPLAY .BAS....RUN......PROGRAMS OF THE MONTH
* WAVPLAY .BIN.............Used by WAVPLAY.BAS
WDFIND .BAS....RUN......PROGRAMS OF THE MONTH
WHTHOUSE.BAS....RUN......PROGRAMS OF THE MONTH
=*
|
| Articles in section: ACTIVE COCO |
| MONK'o'JAMMA
Session PENNFEST 2000 THEME TRACK PennFest 2000 PART I PennFest 2000 PART II WHERE TO SEND SUBMISSIONS |
| Back to top |
MONK'o'JAMMA Session I hope many of the readers out there are planning to
go to the Chicago CoCoFEST! 2000, being held on May
20 & 21. That's the same place for the past 8 years.
Just had our March club meeting for Glenside CCC...
and we need all who are coming to bring a musical
instrument that you can play (or your fingers if you
play the keyboard) and join us for the Sat. night
MONK'o'JAMMA session that we have had in the past
couple years.
Brother Jeremy, our resident Monk / Musician will be
leading us in a fun filled evening of song & laught-
er. BTW... WE still need someone who can play drums
(even if it's one of those Drum pad machines).
=>
____________________________________________________
I will hopefully have (if Mike Knudsen sends them to
me) the latest version of Ultimuse III for the CoCo,
AND the NEW OS9 Midi player that plays UNMODIFIED
<*.mid> files out the serial port and I think the
Midi port too. You will no longer have to convert
to a CMF0 format like Paul S's player.
See you there,
Brian
=*
|
PENNFEST 2000 THEME TRACK Can you create a theme track for PennFest 2000?
A minimum of 3 entries must be received for the
competition to go ahead. At this point in time,
a prize has yet to be chosen. (coming soon)
CONDITIONS OF ENTRY
-------------------
The competition is open to anyone and everyone.
Multiple entries are allowed. The deadline for
entries is July 15th, 2000. Judging will take place
at PennFest 2000 and will be conducted as a vote
amongst all the attendees. Any file format compati-
ble with WinAMP for the PC will be accepted. The
length of the track should be under 3 minutes.
=>
____________________________________________________
All voice samples must be from one of the PennFests
or have a PennFest "theme".
Please direct any questions or entry submissions to:
Nickolas Marentes
nickm@launch.net.au
Also, be sure to visit the official PennFest 2000
information page for updated contest information.
http://www.launch.net.au/-nickm/coco
(Replace "-" with the tilde symbol above.)
=*
|
PennFest 2000 PART I PennFest 2000
August 19-20, Pittsburgh, PA
Holiday Inn, 1406 Beers School Road
Coraopolis, PA 15106
Penn Fest 2000 marks the 4th CoCo Festival held in
Pennsylvania and organized by Ron Bull. This year,
Nickolas Marentes from Australia joins the helm with
Ron to create the biggest and most exciting PennFest
of them all! With this year marking the CoCo's 20th
anniversary birthday, PennFest 2000 is going to be
"A Big Birthday Bash!".
Admission Fee
-------------
Admission is $10 per person per day. =>
____________________________________________________
Discount admission of $7.50 per person per day is
available for all advance payments made direct to
Ron Bull before July the 15th, 2000. All advanced
payments will also entitle the attendee to a custom
printed badge and entry into the raffle to win an
authentic Australian aboriginal boomerang, courtesy
of Nickolas Marentes. Children under 16 are free.
A limited number of official PennFest 2000 souvenir
T-shirts will be available for $15 and can be ad-
vance payed and picked up at the door as you enter.
All advance payments to:
Ron Bull
115 Ann Street
Duncannon, PA 17020-1204 =>
____________________________________________________
Special Guests
--------------
- Russ LeBlang will be there and with his new CoCo
1/2/3 Windows based emulator.
- Allen Huffman will hold a seminar about the post
Rainbow Fests and include video footage.
- Nickolas Marentes will hold a seminar on the
development of his new game Gate Crasher.
- Kevin Darling will be there and hold a Round Table
dinner discussion.
(See PennFest 2000 PART II.) =*
|
PennFest 2000 PART II - An interactive CoCo Trivia competition.
- No-Minimum-Bid Auction with lots of hardware and
software bargains.
And more pending confirmation!
Official Web Page
-----------------
To keep up to date with developments of PennFest
2000, be sure to periodically check Nickolas
Marentes' PennFest 2000 information page at:
http://www.launch.net.au/-nickm/coco
*Replace the "-" with the tilde symbol above. =>
____________________________________________________
Disclaimer
----------
While we have done our best to ensure that all the
events and specified guests/exhibitors will be in
attendance on the day, we cannot be held responsi-
ble for any cancellations due to travel, health or
family related problems. We do recommend that any-
one interested in attending the Fest, periodically
check the web page, especially in the few days be-
fore the actual event to confirm all activities.
=*
|
WHERE TO SEND SUBMISSIONS Please send CFDM submissions to:
JIM DAVIS
c/o CFDM
P.O. BOX 1704
NIXA, MO. 65714
You may also send them via my E-Mail address at:
gearboxed@mindspring.com
Help continue to make CFDM possible by sending in
your submission today!!
=*
|
9th Annual Chicago CoCoFEST! The Glenside Color Computer Club, Inc. presents -
The NINTH Annual "Last" Chicago CoCoFEST!
May 20th & 21st, 2000
(Sat. 10am-5pm; Sun. 10am-3:30pm)
RAMADA INN of ELGIN
(Formerly the Elgin Plaza Hotel)
345 W. River Road
(a city block from I-90 & IL-31)
Elgin, Illinois
(Same great location as last year!)
Overnight room rate: $72 (plus 10% tax)
Call 1-847-695-5000 for reservations. =>
____________________________________________________
Be sure to ask for the "Glenside" or "CoCoFEST!"
rate.
General Admission, ALL ATTENDEES: $10, whole show.
There will be NO advance ticket sales for the FEST!,
this year.
*********** Children 10 and under - FREE ***********
Contact Information:
--------------------
Tony Podraza, VP, Special Events, GCCCI
847-428-3576, VOICE
847-428-0436, BBS
Tonypodraza@juno.com
http://members.aol.com/clubbbs/glenside/ =*
|
CFDM SUBSCRIPTION SUBSCRIPTION INFORMATION ------------------------ CFDM Subscriptions are offered on an annual basis. You will receive 4 issues per year, which will be delivered to you quarterly. The quarterly year runs from September of the current year, to June of the following year. Each issue will include 2 "flippie" disks and you will also get HARDCOPY, the magazine side of CFDM printed by Arthur S. Hallock. CFDM/HARDCOPY - $30 per year. *Your mailing label will have a membership number as follows: ##-##-Q4. The Q4 means that the last issue on your subscription is June, 2000. Please don't let your subscription expire! We need you in our group!* |
CoCoNUTS by: Nickolas Marentes CoCoNUTS - "Interviews with people who helped shape
the CoCo".
This book has interviews with the following people:
ALAN DEKOK - Nitros09, Smash
CHET SIMPSON - Gold Runner, Digger II
DALE LEAR - Fire Copter, Color Baseball, Scripsit II
DAVE EDSON - Tube Frenzy, Catch'em, Planet Raiders
ERIC CRICHLOW - Gold Runner 2000, Pro Gold Runner
ERIK GAVRILUK - Color Max, Color Max Deluxe
GLEN DAHLGREN - Sundog Software
GREG MILLER - Color Max, Color Max Deluxe
GREG L. ZUMWALT - Star Blaze, Malcom Mortar, RoBoCop
JEREMY SPILLER - Zenix, Crystal City
JOHN KOWALSKI - Boink Demo, Gloom Demo =>
____________________________________________________
KEVIN K. DARLING - Inside OS-9 Level II, Lvl.3 Upgrd
MARK SEIGEL - Tandy Head of CoCo 3 Development
RICK ADAMS - Temple of ROM, Shanghai, Delphiterm
STEVE HARTFORD - Sam Sleuth, Franchise, Maui Vice
Read about their development days, why they chose
the CoCo, secret "behind-the-scenes" info, and what
they are doing now.
This book is 118 pages and features many photos and
screenshots.
Only a limited number of books remain, so get yours
while supplies last. Available directly from Jim
Davis for the reasonable price of $15 + $3 s/h.
=*
|
Custom Buttons Available To all Chicago Fest Attendees:
Bring your "BRAG" pictures with you and Phyllis
and I will make a 3.00 inch button which you will
be able to pin on your clothing or place on any
magnetic material for display...like the 12lb lake
trout I have placed on my refrigerator or my Grand-
sons.
Maybe you would like to make your own art work in-
stead of your childs sport picture...that is ok, we
can do.
We will ask $2.00 for our effort. Quantity discount
will be applied. 100% of all money will be donated
toward Fest expenses. =>
____________________________________________________
Of course the "Chicago Fest 2000" button will be
free to all attendees. I will be asking for a .25
cent donation for a suitable size magnet which will
allow you to place it on the metal COCO Floppy-Disk
case.
See you at the Fest,
John
=*
|
GATE CRASHER - NOW AVAILABLE GATE CRASHER is a "Wolf3D" style game featuring full
360 degree 3D environment, explosive 2 channel digi-
tal interrupt driven sound and five levels of the
hottest action seen in a CoCo game for years!
GAME SCENARIO - It is an era of high technology,
an era of perfection, an era of the mind enhancing
Brain Implant Devices. Small microcontrollers im-
planted into the human skull acting as a "co-proc-
essor" to the brain. With this device, a persons
abilities are enhanced while disabilities removed.
Millions of people worldwide have undergone surgery
to have a device installed and reap the benefits of
an improved lifestyle.
"He who controls the mind, controls the world." =>
____________________________________________________
But there is now evidence to prove that there is
more to these devices than creating the perfect
human. Leaked information has revealed that each
implant has a means of remote control via the inter-
net providing a low orbit satellite system also own-
ed by the same company creating these implants. This
has been found to be used as a form of mind control
allowing the CEO of the company to control things
such as the outcome of an election, the buying
habits of consumers, even to invoke death!
You are the Gate Crasher and it is time to crash
this party, destroy all the computer data and defeat
the evil CEO himself!
=>
____________________________________________________
GAME REQUIREMENTS - A Tandy Color Computer 3 with
512K RAM and a disk drive.
This game WILL NOT run under the emulator due to
limitations in the emulator's CoCo 3 hardware emu-
lation.
PURCHASING INFORMATION - The full commercial game is
available for sale via Jim Davis for the reasonable
price of $20US. Jim is taking orders NOW!
Jim Davis
PO BOX 1704
Nixa, MO 65714
http://www.mindspring.com/-gearboxed/
("-" = Tilde Symbol) =*
|
Infomercial This is not really an ad, nor is it a review or a
construction help article, but it contains a little
of each. I consider it as sort of an unsolicited
boost for Terry Laraway and his Small Grafx, Etc.
Terry has long been a source for the 63B09E cmos CPU
which he was selling for $13.00, socket included. He
is the only person I know of who sells the special
Kel-M connectors used on the cartridge port. A male,
2 females and 12" of ribbon cable to make a Y cable
will cost $20+, a bargain when considering the tedi-
ous work of building one from scratch with a cut-up
card edge. I recall Colorware charging $39.95 for
one. Which reminds me, I have to get one from him
for my Grizzly CoCo MK 1.
One other item Terry carries in various forms is
serial-parallel converters, with and without =>
____________________________________________________
buffers of different sizes at good prices. I bought
a Quad-ram Microfazer 256k s-p from him for about
$35 and am very happy with it. The only reason I
didn't go to Terry for the buffer in the article
was that I needed a very compact model such as the
one MECL advertised. Sorry, though, Terry. I still
should have checked with you first. As the name
Small Grafx implies, graphics for the CoCo, espec-
ially for CGP-220 and its Canon cousin. Terry wrote
"The Tool" as a graphics manipulator and screen dump
for them. For anything you need for graphics and
projects, Terry is the "goto" guy. By the way,
Terry, if you read this I can save a stamp. Does
The Tool support the NX-1000 Rainbow also? If so,
I'll be requesting it along with the Y cable parts.
Just make sure I can copy it onto a 3.5" disk!! =>
____________________________________________________
Terry can be reached as follows:
Terry Laraway
41 N.W. Doncee Drive
Bremerton, WA 98311
(360) 692-5374
tkcoco@silverlink.net
=*
|
Other Nickolas Marentes Products ----------------------------------------
- Pac-Man - "A Tribute to the Classic" -
----------------------------------------
If you haven't had a chance to pick up this great
game by Nickolas Marentes yet, now's your chance!
Nickolas has this game specially priced at only $15!
So here's your change to get a great game at an even
more affordable price! Help support the continued
development of CoCo 3 games by ordering yourself a
copy today!
REQUIREMENTS:
CoCo 3 w/512K, RGB/CMP Monitor, Disk
Drive and Joystick (Keyboard support).=>
____________________________________________________
------------------------------------------------
- The Nickolas Marentes Collection "1984-1992" -
------------------------------------------------
FIVE Complete games for your CoCo, all on one easy
load "flippie" disk!
Collection includes:
- Donut Dilemma
- Neutroid 2
- Rupert Rythym
- Space Intruders
- Cosmic Ambush
=>
____________________________________________________
Also includes the original color artwork as used for
distribution at Tandy Australia and some "special"
souvenirs for only $5!
To order Pac-Man or The Collection Disk, send check/
money order to:
JIM DAVIS
PO BOX 1704
NIXA, MO 65714
=*
|
Select OS-9 Tools &
Utilities + LEVEL II TOOLS - A collection of tools for use in
the OS-9 environment that helps simplify tasks and
create more productivity. - $5
+ TOOLS II - A set of 27 useful tools for the OS-9
Level II user. Contains utilities for: windowing
features, easier use of file management, changes
and conversions, multitasking, more power and flexi-
bility in writing script files, I/O system control
and a full feature command line calculator. - $5
+ DISK MANAGER TREE - A comprehensive file manage-
ment for your OS-9 disks, with a graphic "Tree dis-
play". Works with any type of OS-9 disk device, such
as Ramdisks, Harddisks, Floppies, etc. - $5
=>
____________________________________________________
+ THE ZAPPER - A utility that allows you to patch
files as well as entire disks directly. Displays
files in a format similar to the dump command that
comes with OS-9. Edit the file or disk in either
hexadecimal or ASCII. - $5
+ MULTI MENU - A Multi-View compatible menu utility
that allows you to define your own menus for use in
the Multi-View environment. - $5
+ DATA WINDOWS - A complete database handling pack-
age for the CoCo 3. Allows you to create and main-
tain databases on your CoCo with windows. - $5
+ DATA MERGER - A document processing system that
allows you to incorporate Data Windows Data into =>
____________________________________________________
your documents. The documents can be created with
any OS-9 word processor. - $5
+ PRESTO PARTNER - A full featured NOTE PAD, CALEN-
DAR, PHONE BOOK, with CLOCK and MACRO-KEYS. - $5
+ NEWSPAPER09 - A full featured DeskTop Publishing
package for the CoCo 3 and OS-9 Level 2. Add graph-
ics, arrange story blocks and type up articles. Uses
an easy to follow assembly line approach for ease of
use. *Includes NEWS FONTS, a set of 20 new fonts all
in one complete package. - $8
To Order, send check/money order to: JIM DAVIS
Please be sure to include PO BOX 1704
$2 s/h for entire order. NIXA, MO 65714 =*
|
| Articles in section: ARTICLES OF THE MONTH |
| COCO
CHRONICLES 18 Grizzly CoCo Addendum PennFest 2000 - March Update The Hardware Store The Mystery of the Creepy Man |
| Back to top |
COCO CHRONICLES 18 THE SIXTH YEAR (Jul'85 - Jun'86)
Subscribers to Under Color magazine are informed
in July that any unfulfilled subscriptions will be
taken up by Rainbow magazine, celebrating its 4th
anniversary now, as the ONLY remaining publication
exclusively for the TRS-80 Color Computer, which
itself, turned 5 years old in July.
In November, a little over 4 years after their debut
on the CoCo scene, the absence of the Nelson/Softlaw
/VIP (take your pick) ads are keenly felt.
THE SEVENTH YEAR (Jul'86 - Jun'87)
On July 30th, 1986 (6 years and 1 day after the =>
____________________________________________________
debut of the original TRS-80 Color Computer), Tandy
unveils the long awaited and much rumored CoCo III.
The basic unit ($219.95) comes with 128K (upgrade-
ble to 512K). Also announced are the OS9 Level II
operating system, and a new analog RGB monitor.
Due to small attendance, August brings word of Rain-
bowfest West's possible demise. Chicago & Princeton
shows, however, will not be effected.
Rainbow's September issue carries the first in-depth
look at the new CoCo III.
On October 10, after weeks of bugging my local Radio
Shack store, I receive a call telling me they're
holding my 128K CoCo III! =>
____________________________________________________
Computer Plus will sell the new CoCo III for $169
but, they'll only get them in time for October
17-19 Rainbowfest at Princeton where they sell
out in minutes.
(More COCO CHRONICLES to come in future issues!)
=*
|
Grizzly CoCo Addendum I have started building the Grizzly CoCo MK1 and,
for those of you who might be interested, I found an
easier way to build the cover. Instead of trying to
make accurate, distortion free, bends of the sides,
I just cut four pieces dimensioned so that the front
and back overlap edges of the sides. After fitting
them, and drilling and tapping the tabs on the chas-
sis, they can be set aside until everything has been
installed into the base. Then it will be easier to
measure and cut out the access openings on a flat
surface. After everything checks out and is lined
up properly, reattach the sides and tack them toget-
her with the Pro-Weld glue. Now apply several more
generous doses of Pro-Weld to each joint and let it
seep in. Next, after having purchased approx 6 ft.
of .1" or 1/8" square styrene stock, cut 4 pieces =>
____________________________________________________
to 4.875" in length and cement them into each corner
using Testors glue and allow to dry. Apply the top
to the cover as described before with the extra
application of Pro-Weld as before. Now, instead of
the 4 day fillet job, apply more of the square stock
in the inside top joints. With the help of a file
and a power sander, round off and smooth the side
and top joints. The square stock will give you
enough material to maintain strong joints, even
after all the filing and sanding and you will have
a much sturdier cover for much less time and labor.
=*
|
PennFest 2000 - March Update View text file associated with this article On this issue of CFDM you will find the latest
PennFest 2000 Information Update for March 2000.
Please visit: http://www.launch.net.au/-nickm/coco
Replace "-" with tilde above.
Feedback or Suggestions should be directed to:
Nickolas Marentes: nickm@launch.net.au
or Ron Bull: ronbull@aol.com
(RUN "PA-MARCH.BAS" on side 2 of the Bonus Disk.)
=*
|
The Hardware Store MECI sells a 128k parallel printer-buffer (# 220-
3033) for $24.95 which is very compact at 4.5"L X
2.75"W X 1"D. It has Centronics 36 pin conns at
both ends, a LED power ind. and power input on one
edge, and comes with a 9V wall transformer. If you
are interested in buying one, you might check with
Terry Laraway first (see the infomercial). Since it
goes between the printer and the ser-par converter,
if you wish to use it as-is, and you get your +5V
from your printer for your converter, you will have
to open it up and install a jumper as described be-
low in the repack part of this article.
The +9V power from the transformer is merely used
to drive a 7805 +5V regulator inside and the thing
runs at 5V. So, to use it in a repack, just follow
the suceeding steps: =>
____________________________________________________
1. To open, remove the "void" tape and the secur-
ing screw, press down on the two tabs until the unit
is free to slide out of the case. Remove the top PC
board by removing the 4 screws and seperating the
connector that still holds them together.
2. Remove the remaining case portion by unscrewing
it from the 7805 heatsink.
3. Carefully unsolder the 7805 and clean the holes.
4. With the PC board upside down, and the LED and
socket facing you, solder your +5V wire into the
left hole left by the 7805. Solder the ground wire
into the center hole.
5. Solder a jumper from +5V to pin 18 of the INPUT
connector (the one with the spring clips). Using
the same position as step 4, it is the top one near-
est to you. This step is unnecessary ONLY if you =>
____________________________________________________
use a S-P adapter with a power input. If you are
NOT repacking, remember to omit steps 3 and 4.
6. If you are repacking, just screw the PC boards
back together and mount it. If you just installed
a jumper, reverse the disassembly steps remembering
to screw the heatsink back to the case.
MECI can be reached as follows:
340 E. First St.
Dayton, OH 45402
Voice: 1-800-344-4465
Fax: 1-800-344-6324
http://www.meci.com
=*
|
The Mystery of the Creepy Man View text file associated with this article Yes, Sherlock Holmes and his faithful Watson are
investigating another twisted mystery - this time
at the home of the foremost software geek.
Just RUN"CREEPY" to read the story, or load it into
your favorite TeXT file reader/editor.
(See side 2 of this disk for Stuart's short story.)
=*
|
** Pikachu from Pokemon **
I thought that I would create a picture of
Pikachu, one of the best known characters created
by the Pokemon artists. If you have children, you
should know what this is all about, if not - Pokemon
is short for "pocket monster". Pokemon is part of
the Japanese animation movement, dubbed anime for
short. So far they have released only one movie:
"Princess Mononoke".
These characters first arrived on a Nintendo
Game in 1998. According to experts, Pokemon are in-
credible creatures that share the world with humans,
that's us! There are 150 characters created to date.
The game that children are playing with the Pokemon
Cards is to see whose monster can launch the most
fierce attack! Now you know why schools and =>
____________________________________________________
teachers are a little concerned about them being
used to play at school!
Enjoy your visit to their world.
Godfrey
(You'll find Godfrey's PIKACHU.NIB on side 1 of
the Bonus Disk.)
=*
|
ANIMATED NIBS
Thanks Rick Cooper for creating "NIBS". It is a very
fine tool to convert CM3 GRAPHICS to NIB GRAPHICS,
and I use it most every day. I cannot draw very well
with the "MOUSE" and have to use other people's CM3
GRAPHICS. Is there anybody out there who might know
of something that could be used to draw with other
than the "MOUSE"? Please let me know. I did hear
years ago about a "PAD".
1) NEARMISS.NIB
H.J.MOENICH 1-6-2000 2) ROSEY.NIB
MOEN1@WEBTV.NET 3) SHOOTUP.NIB
FAX: 412-373-1309 4) STARTREK.NIB
5) TWETBIRD.NIB
(Harold's ANIMATED NIB Collection can be found on
side 1 of the Bonus Disk.) =*
|
BIRDS OF A FEATHER
When I saw this picture on a calendar, I immediat-
ly thought it would be worth recreating for CFDM. It
turned out to be quite a challenge and took more
time than most of my pictures. But, I think it was
well worth the effort.
(You'll find BIRDS.NIB on side 1 of the Bonus Disk.)
=*
|
FELIX the CAT
A few years back I "attempted" to draw a simple rendition of Felix the Cat with mixed results. I managed to get the "simple" part right, but the picture lacked "pizazz" and wasn't very interesting. Well, here's a second attempt at trying to capture Felix on the CoCo 3 screen. This time around I tried to implement more detail into the picture and make it more interesting. The addition of bright colors and a vivid background helped in making the picture supersede my previous attempt. I guess if I can't come up with new ideas, I'll just have to improve upon the old ones! For those who may be interested in the history of the Felix the Cat character or comic strip, be => ____________________________________________________ sure to stop by the Felix the Cat Website located at the following address: http://felixthecat.com The website has lots of interesting things to see and is very informative. They publish a quarterly newsletter and have a Fan Club. Oh, while there, be sure to stop by the Felix Store and browse through the VAST amount of souvenirs and collectibles they have available as well! For a simple Felix Picture there's CFDM, for every- thing else there's MasterCard! (See side 1 of the Bonus Disk for FELIX.NIB.) =* |
Peanuts Tribute
When Charles Schulz announced his retirement on Jan-
uary 3rd. of this year, it was news heard around the
world. His final Peanuts Comic Strip was to appear
in the Sunday paper on February 13th., 2000. Sadly,
Mr. Schulz passed away the day before its release.
I'm sure there are other Peanuts Fans like myself,
that have enjoyed the Comic Strip for many years.
For some of us, the Peanuts Gang has been around
for our entire lives! I'm pretty confident that it
will be a very long time, if ever, before the impact
of Charles Schulz's Peanuts Gang diminishes in the
minds and hearts of its fans.
Every Peanuts Fan has his or her favorite character,
mine of course being Snoopy & Woodstock. I though =>
____________________________________________________
I'd try and create a CoCo Max III picture to com-
memorate the life and career of Charles Schulz. A
task that is not easy to do with one single picture!
May we all continue to enjoy the fortunes and mis-
haps of the Peanuts Gang for years to come.
GOOD GRIEF...I got my kite stuck in a tree again!!
(See side 1 of the Bonus Disk for PEANUTS.NIB.)
=*
|
The Hick Brothers
Apparently, the Y2K bug has affected the rural power
utility serving the Hick Brothers. Don't worry,
though, because I'm sure the resourceful boys will
get their power restored.
(You'll find HICK200.NIB located on side 1 of the
Bonus Disk. Select HICK200 in NIBSHOW to view it.)
=*
|
The Millennium Generation
A double feature this month! Follow the characters
of the Millennium Generation as they ponder all
kinds of trivial things. (in the dark, of course)
(Use NIBSHOW to view MiGe3.NIB and MiGe4.NIB located
on side 1 of the Bonus Disk.)
=*
|
VIEWING THE CFDM ART GALLERY In order to view the .NIB pictures in this month's
Art Gallery, please RUN "NIBSHOW.BAS".
After RUNing NIBSHOW, you will need to press the <D>
key for the directory listing of NIB pictures on the
disk. Use the <ARROW KEYS> to choose a picture and
press the <SPACE BAR> to view it. After viewing a
picture, use the <BREAK> key to clear it. To leave
NIBSHOW, press the <X> key from the MAIN SCREEN.
NIBSHOW is a contribution by Stuart Wyss-Gallifent
and was featured on CFDM Issue #18, along with more
complete documentation. Thanks Stuart!
=*
|
| Articles in section: FAMILY TREE |
| Plant
or Update your TREE |
| Back to top |
Plant or Update your TREE If you haven't had to chance to send in a FAMILY
TREE entry for CFDM, we'd like to hear from you!
The FAMILY TREE section of CFDM was designed for
the sole purpose of getting to know your fellow
CoCo users. This is a great place to tell the group
about yourself and how you pursue your interest in
the CoCo. It also provides the opportunity to share
other interests you may have with CFDM members.
I have always felt that the CoCo Community was com-
prised of MANY interesting individuals from all
walks of life, from around the world. Be sure to
put your name on the map and get your FAMILY TREE
in!
=>
____________________________________________________
For members who've sent in entries in the past,
how about an update? What's new with you or your
family? What type of CoCo setup do you have? Did
you make the transition from the CoCo to the Emu-
lator? Fill us in on the latest news in YOUR life!
=*
|
| Articles in section: FORUM |
| **
A New Emulator? ** ** PC Connections ** Chicago CoCoFEST! 2000 PART I Chicago CoCoFEST! 2000 PART II Chicago Fest Attendees/Vendors Learning the 6809 |
| Back to top |
** A New Emulator? ** Just made one of my semi-weekly visits to
Stuart Wyss's Web page and found a SURPRISE!
'Screen Shots from the soon-to-be-released
Windows CoCo Emulator.' WOW!!
'These are actual screen shots of the upcoming
'Return of CoCo', a Windows Direct X based CoCo
Emulator.'
You've got to see them to believe it!
He has eight pictures of screens that include
great CoCo Games and also Start-up Screens.
Now all we need is for Stuart to give us a
hint as to WHO is the author of this new software
and just HOW SOON we'll be able to purchase it??
If you don't have Stuart's Web Page in your
Favorites File drop me a line at -- GJMOLL@aol.com
and I'll be glad to send the LINK... Godfrey =*
|
** PC Connections ** This month I was surfing in and out of the many
CoCo Web Pages on the Internet and came upon a Link
on Larry Greenfield's Web Page that took me to Bill
Yakowenko's Web Page.
http://www.cs.unc.edu/-yakowenk/coco.html -=tilde
It may not be a colorful web page, but it is
loaded with usable information. For CoCoists that
just found the EMULATOR on the Internet or found one
at a Flea Market or Yard Sale -- here's a site where
you will find all you need to know for programming
the CoCo 1 & 2.
He has a web page with 'Summaries of the
commands and functions available in the different
levels of Color Basic' that can be printed out and
provide you with 8 pages of necessary information
for having FUN with the CoCo. =>
____________________________________________________
He covers Color Basic, Extended Color Basic,
and Disk Basic. Following all of that (8 printed
pages) he has information on the Serial Port,Printer
cable,Disk Controller,Disk Format,Cassette Port,Tape
Format,Switching clock rate,Text Display,Semi-graph-
ics,Joystick values, and an introduction to assembly
language code.
All of the above applies to the CoCo 1 and 2.
If you're interested in the CoCo3 he provides Links
to 30 Web Pages by many of our Friends.
If you're interested in the CoCo3 and OS-9 he pro-
vides 8 Links to Web Sites devoted to them.
He also has 12 more Links to info on the 6809
microprocessor.
As a review for all of us CoCoists, I would
recommend a visit to these Web Pages! Godfrey =*
|
Chicago CoCoFEST! 2000 PART I Folks, we are in need of exhibitors, technical semi-
nar speakers, personal opinionated people who want a
forum, people looking for things, people wanting to
sell some things, and people just wanting to get to-
gether for a good time.
Want more information?
OK
Here are the 5 "W's"
WHO? 1) The Glenside Color Computer Club, Inc.
WHAT? 2) The NINTH Annual "Last" Chicago CoCoFEST!
WHEN? 3) May 20th & 21st, 2000 (Sat. 10am-5pm; Sun
10am-3:30pm) =>
____________________________________________________
WHERE? 4) RAMADA INN of ELGIN
(formerly the Elgin Plaza Hotel)
345 W. River Road (a city block from I-90
& IL-31)
Elgin, Illinois (Same great location as
last year!)
Overnight room rate: $72.00 (plus 10% tax)
Call 1-847-695-5000 for reservations
Be sure to ask for the "Glenside" or "CoCo
FEST!" rate.
There is a limited supply of rooms blocked out for
the Fest. Reserve your room early -- these rooms
will be released for regular reservations on MAY 1,
2000, and WILL NOT be available to the Fest =>
____________________________________________________
attendees. You MUST register under "COCOFEST!" to
get this rate!
Why? 5) A. To provide vendor support for the CoCo
Community.
B. To provide Community support to the CoCo
Vendors.
C. To provide educational support to new
users.
D. TO HAVE AN OUTRAGEOUSLY GOOD TIME!!!
And now, the "H" word.
HOW MUCH? 1) General Admission, ALL ATTENDEES: $10,
whole show (There will be NO advance
ticket sales for the FEST!, this year.
(SEE Chicago CoCoFEST! 2000 PART II for more!) =*
|
Chicago CoCoFEST! 2000 PART II *********** Children 10 and under - FREE ***********
And now the FUN STUPH!
I don't often go for tradition...but just what is
the CoCoFEST! but a tradition?
A condition traditional, to be sure (if Glenside
goes into the hole, financially, by more than two
or three hundred dollars, we will not be able to
sponsor a "next" FEST!), but it has become a tradi-
tion, none-the-less. Part of that tradition is
"family meal" and the subsequent CoCo-alition Mixed
Fruit Jam session that follows featuring:
Brother Jeremy as lead vocalist and guitar =>
____________________________________________________
Curtis Boyle as lead electric guitar and soloist
"OS9AL" Huffman as lead electric guitar and monoist
"Gator" as lead acoustic guitar and background
artist
"mgDoc" Blair as lead Brass artist and background
artist
"James" Jones as lead recordist and background
vocalist
Brian"theSchu" as lead keyboard artist and per-
cussionist (maybe), and myself as comic
relief as background tonal fill-in PLUS
any and all (Barbara) who wish (or can be
goated) to join us.
This year, as last, we will be having a group area
set aside in the Ramada Inn's resturant. It will =>
____________________________________________________
be on the lower level, again. The menu will be
"attempted" to be posted from here...no guarantee,
though. Call the Inn to be sure.
For further information, general or exhibitor,
contact:
Tony Podraza, VP, Special Events
847-428-3576, VOICE
847-428-0436, BBS
Tonypodraza@juno.com
Brian Goers, President, GCCCI
708-754-4921, VOICE
bgoers@ais.net
http://members.aol.com/clubbbs/glenside/ =*
|
Chicago Fest Attendees/Vendors Just before we went to print with this March issue of CFDM, I posted a message to the CoCo Mailing List asking - "Who was planning to attend the upcoming Chicago CoCo Fest on May 20th & 21st, 2000". While there wasn't much time for this message to get fully recognized, I DID manage to get a few people to respond in time for this printing! Here's the current list of Vendors & Attendees: * Ken Baker (Ken Baker) * L. Curtis Boyle * Brother Jeremy (MONK-O-WARE) * John & Phyllis Chasteen * Jim Davis (CFDM) => ____________________________________________________ * Chris & Nancy Hawks (Hawksoft) * Keith Kounovsky * Mark Marlette (Cloud-9) * Tony Podraza (Glenside Color Computer Club) * Brian Schubring (Music Men) * Karl Sefcik (Bargeman Research Labs) Please remember, this is just a PRELIMINARY list of individuals who've responded and the list will be updated and posted to my web page as more informat- ion becomes available. http://www.mindspring.com/-gearboxed/ (Replace the "-" with a tilde.) Don't wait until the "last-minute" to decide if you CAN or WILL be attending...don't miss out! =* |
Learning the 6809 Hi all,
if you bought "Learning the 6809" from
Stephen Disney and did not receive a copy, please
email me. Then, if you have a cancelled check or
other document you can send me, I will make good on
Disney's failure and send you your copy.
Dave Poitras and I have worked out the re-issue
of this item. I have unearthed a box of books...I
thought they were all gone, but there was one more
unopened crate in my storage bin. The original 12
hours of audio tape and program tapes are now on
an mp3 CD. Dave has had the data sheets reprinted
in the meantime. Once I receive those from Dave,
I'll assemble the packages and get copies to those
who purchased it. =>
____________________________________________________
An official announcement will follow soon on general
availability of the set.
In the meantime, I'd like to clean up the Disney
mess.
Thanks,
Dennis
bathory@MALTEDMEDIA.COM
-----------------------
Dave Poitras
dpoitras@mediaone.net
=*
|
| Articles in section: FROM THE EDITOR |
| CFDM
UPDATE - MARCH 2000 Footnote on the Diskette KUDOS FOR ISSUE #68 MOD MUSIC FILES NEWS from the Net 03/00 |
| Back to top |
CFDM UPDATE - MARCH 2000 Hello everyone,
welcome to our first issue of 2000.
Now that all that "Y2K" stuff is behind us, we can
focus on what's really important...keeping the CoCo
alive! This year will mark the 20th anniversary of
the Color Computer and there are already big plans
to celebrate this event.
It's really something to look back over all those
years and see how the CoCo and CoCo Community have
changed. Probably the most noticeable change is the
"size" of the user base. It's a fact, the user base
isn't growing and none of us are getting any young-
er! On the other hand, it's comforting to see "new"
hardware and software being made available to users.
=>
____________________________________________________
Thanks to new CoCo hardware such as the IDE and SCSI
interfaces, new life has been dealt to our machines.
The few remaining software developers continue to
amaze us with impressive software demos and enter-
taining games. We're fortunate enough to still have
TWO annual CoCo Fests to meet with our fellow users.
And, of course, CFDM is still around and we've been
able to keep our group together!
On that note, I hope everyone will take the time to
sit and enjoy the nice mix of material we have in
this issue. I wasn't too far off schedule with this
issue, but with material arriving very late, it was
a challenge. I hope everyone finds something of in-
terest in these pages and hopefully gets in the mood
to work with their CoCo. =>
____________________________________________________
Please consider sending in a submission in the near
future. It's been a LONG time since we've heard from
a number of members. I'm always thrilled when I hear
from members and I welcome all to participate in
helping make the CoCo more enjoyable for everyone.
Help both CFDM and the CoCo by showing your support.
"Let's make 2000 a memorable year for the CoCo."
CFDM will be at the upcoming Chicago CoCo Fest,
hope to see you there!
Jim
=*
|
Footnote on the Diskette ...enjoy the little things in life, for one day you
may look back and find they were the big things.
...if you are sure something can't be done, it won't
be done.
...the most inflammable type of wood is a chip on
the shoulder.
...three small words that can lift burdens..."Can I
Help?"
=*
|
KUDOS FOR ISSUE #68 A message of THANKS to the following individuals
who helped make this issue of CFDM possible.
Norm Barson, Ray Berney, Ron Bull, John Chasteen,
Rick Cooper, Glenside CoCo Club, Arthur S. Hallock,
Dennis Kitsz, John Kowalski, Nickolas Marentes, Mark
Marlette, Harold J. Moenich, Godfrey Moll, Steven
Ostrom, Tony Podraza, Dave Poitras, John Riddle,
Stuart G. Roberts, Al Santos, Brian Schubring, Paul
Shoemaker, Mike Snyder, Ray Watts, Edward Webster
and Stuart Wyss-Gallifent.
THANKS - THANKS - THANKS - THANKS - THANKS - THANKS
=*
|
MOD MUSIC FILES Since we had some space available on the Bonus Disk,
I thought a few MOD music files would be a nice item
to add.
I've included two MOD files on the Bonus Disk, along
with Sock Master's CocoTracker MOD file player. The
two MOD files are:
LINSLUCY.MOD - The Peanuts Theme
PIANOMAN.MOD - Piano Man by Billy Joel
To play the music, simply RUN"MODPLAY" on side 2 of
the Bonus Disk. For complete details on using Coco-
Tracker, see John Kowalski's article in ARTICLES OF
THE MONTH - CFDM issue #65.
=>
____________________________________________________
Once again, John helped me out by cropping down
the Peanuts theme music a bit and fixing it up so
it actually WORKED!
Both songs have a few out-of-key spots in them, but
this is due to the composition and NOT the editing.
None-the-less, they still sound pretty good. Enjoy!
(CocoTracker and the associated MOD files LINSLUCY
and PIANOMAN are located on side 2 of the Bonus
Disk.)
=*
|
NEWS from the Net 03/00 Here are some of the latest CoCo happenings in the
"Online CoCo Community".
Nickolas Marentes' new game Gate Crasher is now com-
pleted and is available for purchase.
http://www.launch.net.au/-nickm/coco/
My own CoCo web page, Jim's TRS-80 CoCo Page has a
new address at:
http://www.mindspring.com/-gearboxed/
CoCo products from Cloud-9 can now be purchased with
Visa or MasterCard via PayPal.com
http://www.isd.net/mmarlett/cloud9.html
See the Cloud-9 AD in this issue of CFDM HARDCOPY.
=>
____________________________________________________
A number of concerned CoCoists have been inquiring
with former Rainbow Magazine publisher Lonnie Falk
about releasing the Rainbow materials into the Pub-
lic Domain. Unfortunately, this doesn't look like
it's going to be happening any time soon!
Stuart Wyss and Rober Gault have completed a Hewlett
Packard Screen Dump program for the CoCo. See this
issue's PROGRAMS OF THE MONTH for more information
or visit: http://www.voicenet.com/-swyss/index.html
The PennFest 2000 Web Page is now located at:
http://www.launch.net.au/-nickm/coco/
Roger Taylor has posted a very nice CoCoNUT =>
____________________________________________________
directory of contacts and web page links at:
http://www.geocities.com/tgraphics.geo/cocodir.html
Plans for the upcoming 9th Annual "Last" Chicago
CoCoFEST! are underway and Vendors need to get their
applications sent to Tony Podraza ASAP. Also, if
you plan on attending the Fest, be sure that you
get your Hotel Reservation made as well. See this
issue for more information on the Chicago CoCoFEST!
I'm unable to constantly monitor the Net for CoCo
News, so anyone who finds any "CoCo News" worth
reporting in this section, please forward it on to
me at:
gearboxed@mindspring.com
(All "-" symbols should be replaced with tilde.) =*
|
| Articles in section: LETTERS TO THE EDITOR |
| **
Many Thanks ** Grizzly beats the Y2K Bug! MAIL BAG EXCERPTS Thanks for support |
| Back to top |
** Many Thanks ** Your e-mail with the TEMPLAT.DSK progarm attached
arrived today (Jan. 31,2000) and I am now able to
write material again for CFDM!! Many Thanks!
I guess my new PC running at 366 MHz was just too
fast for the Submission Disk to handle. I'm very
happy to be back in business again and will prepare
several submissions for this and future ISSUES.
For the benefit of others that may have run into
the runaway REPEAT key -- here is the change that
you need to make:
Key Repeat - OFF
Many, many Thanks, Godfrey
=>
____________________________________________________
JIM:
----------------------------------------------------
Hi Godfrey,
always good to hear from you. I'm glad
that slight modification in the CFDM template got
you back in business. Thanks for your continued sup-
port and I appreciate you're always keeping the need
for CFDM material in mind. Also, thanks to you and
Muriel for the opportunity to visit with you both
in Florida earlier this month. That's VERY likely
the ONLY vacation I'll get this year! Thanks!
=*
|
Grizzly beats the Y2K Bug! Hi Jim,
Happy New Year!!! We received an IMAC for
Christmas and I hope to be online soon. (although
we've been 2 days trying). The doggone machine is
not as intuitive and user friendly as they would
lead you to believe. When something goes wrong, you
have to burrow around dozens of help screens to try
to find a solution since there are no manuals in
your lap to follow along with. Then we find we don't
have the provider that was bundled in and that the
browser needed re..something for the new year. Al-
ready I hate anything that is not CoCo! Anyways,
hope to see you on the net soon.
Have started work on the Grizzly CoCo MK 1.
It will probably be an OS-9 only unit except for =>
____________________________________________________
RGB-DOS running RSDOS stuff off a ZIP cartridge.
Plan to use NITROS9 and NITRO L3 on it as well as
a 4mHz upgrade if I can get sufficient information
to build one. The printer buffer described in the
Hardware Store is already tested and installed in
it. One thing, though, it will be more streamlined
and one inch shorter than old Grizzly so Allen Huff-
man can't say it looks like a tissue box ;-(
That's all the news fit to print for now, Jim. Hope
all is well with you. See you again next quarter.
Cheers,
Ray
=>
____________________________________________________
JIM:
----------------------------------------------------
Hello Ray!
Happy "belated" New Year to you as well!
I'm glad to here you're finally connected online.
This will greatly improve communications with your
fellow CoCoists, plus "I" can keep better tabs on
you and make sure your no goofing off! :) I haven't
used an IMAC myself, as I've already got my hands
full with that other computer platform, whose name
I shall NOT mention in CFDM! :) I'm sure you'll have
no problem getting things up and running and you'll
be surfing the internet like a pro. Looking forward
to your next generation Grizzly and hopefully the
PennFest in August will be its unveiling!
=*
|
MAIL BAG EXCERPTS Feb. 12, 2000
Hi Jim,
please send me a copy of CoCoNUTS.
Edward Webster
Newark, DE
----------------------------------------------------
Jan. 04, 2000
Jim,
please send me a copy of CoCoNUTS. Also, tell
me when Gate Crasher is available for purchase.
Steven Ostrom
Minnetonka, MN
------------------------------------------------- =>
____________________________________________________
January 31, 2000
Hi Jim,
I just gave th mailman 3 programs for you at
3:00PM. I also just finished another program in
color, graphics and sound. Have a good week.
Harold J. Moenich
Monroeville, PA
----------------------------------------------------
January 15, 2000
Hi Jim,
I'm FINALLY online at the above address.
please insert in next CFDM. Grizzly Enterprises
sends their wishes for a great new year. Hope to
hear from you in the future. =>
____________________________________________________
Ray Watts
rayanddoraleew@earthlink.net
----------------------------------------------------
=*
|
Thanks for support Jim,
let me start by giving my words of thanks for
continuing to support and develop for the CoCo.
Although I no longer have as much time as I'd like
to continue coding, I still have a complete CoCo 3
system up and running. Of course, the CoCo was the
first computer I ever owned, and by far the one I
most enjoyed using.
Enclosed you will find a check, I would like a copy
of Nickolas Marentes' Gate Crasher game. Thank-you
very much!
JIM:
----------------------------------------------------
Hi Paul! =>
____________________________________________________
Good to hear from you. I appreciate the kind words
and I'm glad your still supporting the CoCo. You've
written some pretty neat games for the CoCo, which
have appeared in CFDM as well. I hope you continue
to find enjoyment in programming the CoCo and look
forward to seeing your next programming project.
Best wishes to you!
=*
|
| Articles in section: POTPOURRI |
| BAXTER BOB BARKER CANDYMAN MILLIONAIRE MUSIC RICHMAN |
| Back to top |
BAXTER
I am just joking -- I have had a cat in my house all
of my life. On the TV, they advertise "MEOW MIX CAT
FOOD" by having a cat call his master on his cell-
phone, with a "MEOW-MEOW-MEOW". The masters wife
tells him not to answer the cellphone. On the inter-
net there are cartoons that make fun of this. There
are FREE CARTOONS by "DRAAC" which have SOUND, and
one PROGRAM which has a GUN SHOT SOUND after the
"MEOW" SOUND! This is another PROGRAM which my wife
doesn't think is very funny! I had fun making it
anyway!
H.J.M. 2-6-2000
MOEN1@WEBTV.NET
FAX: 412-373-1309
(RUN "BAXTER.BAS" on side 1 of the Bonus Disk.) =*
|
BOB BARKER
The number one GAME SHOW on TV is "The Price is Right", hosted by Bob Barker...76 years young. For the past several years at the end of the program he tells everyone to have their pets spayed or neuter- ed. This is great to keep the pet population in check, but for the animals it hurts, I am sure. This PROGRAM is to show that there is fun in this, but certainly NOT for this dog. There can be two sides to this procedure, but I don't know where to find them. H.J.M. 01-28-2000 MOEN1@WEBTV.NET FAX: 412-373-1309 (RUN "STORY.BAS" on side 1 of the Bonus Disk.) =* |
CANDYMAN
I always wanted to program a GUESSING GAME, so here
it is. I saw the story of a young man on a TV movie.
He was not too bright, but a very likable person.
I will NOT tell anyone his movie name, or the movies
story name ---- GUESS,GUESS,GUESS. Until next time.
H.J.M 1-17-2000
MOEN1@WEBTV.NET
FAX: 412-373-1309
(RUN "CANDY.BAS" on side 1 of the Bonus Disk to see
and hear Harold's graphic and music combination.)
=*
|
MILLIONAIRE
The networks are having a "MONEY GAME" WAR. Here I
am poking fun at the one on our channel 3. My wife
likes this one, but not the other two, "GREED" and
"TWENTY-ONE". This one depicted is "WHO WANTS TO BE
A MILLIONAIRE?". Every CoCoNUT I know likes "CFDM"
just as much as any old MONEY GAME. I hope so!
No more talking...ENJOY, and I hope everyone can get
a Speech-Sound Pak.
H.J.M. 1-31-2000
MOEN1@WEBTV.NET
FAX: 412-373-1309
(RUN "MILLION.BAS" on side 1 of the Bonus Disk.)
=*
|
MUSIC In a recent conversation with Jim, he expressed
the desire to have more music submissions. I have
no musical talent whatsoever, so I cannot transcribe
music for the CoCo as others have done. However, I
did look through my files to see what I could find
and selected eight varied pieces. I have no idea who
did the programming.
The selections included are:
Theme from 2001
Boogie Woogie Bugle Boy
Bring in the Clowns
Theme from Hill Street Blues
Music Box Dancer
Ode to Joy (from Beethoven's Ninth)
Theme from Peter Gunn
=>
____________________________________________________
I did make an effort to see that none of these
pieces had been in CFDM before, but I could have
overlooked something.
There is no loader program. To play a selection,
just LOADM and EXEC it.
(See side 1 of the Bonus Disk for BIN music files.)
=*
|
RICHMAN As I read the BIBLE, I often wonder about some of
the verses as to the real meaning--I believe this is
one that many people have given a lot of wondering
about. I wrote the verses and then added the music
of THE "RICHMAN", which I thought was appropriate.
This is something NEW for me again--BIBLE VERSE and
MUSIC. In this day and age, reading the BIBLE is a
must---believe me.
H.J.MOENICH 1-6-2000
MOEN1@WEBTV.NET
FAX: 412-373-1309
(RUN "RICHMAN.BAS" on side 2 of this disk.)
=*
|
| Articles in section: PROGRAMS OF THE MONTH |
| A
Screen Dump for HP Printers Dummy GATE CRASHER DEMO Password Generator The Lost Forest WAV Player for CoCo 3 WHTHOUSE WORD FIND |
| Back to top |
A Screen Dump for HP Printers Several months ago, I decided to write a screen
dump program for the emulator. It would be able to
take an HSCREEN 2, and print it out on my Hewlett-
Packard color printer. I scoured the internet for
information about the printer language called PCL3.
After several experiments, lots of paper, and a
couple of ink cartridges, I had the BASIC program
running, and began changing it to machine language.
I was contacted by Robert Gault, who offered to code
the code for me, and he did! Then together we
trouble-shooted and made minor adjustments.
The result is PCLPRINT.BIN, a screen dump for the
CoCo 3 and HP printers (Real CoCo 3s too!) =>
____________________________________________________
That's right, it works on a real CoCo 3 too.
It will run on a 128k or 512k CoCo 3, or on the
emulator. The printers we have tested are:
HP DeskJet 970, HP DeskJet 697C, and HP DeskJet 600.
If you have the emulator, then the printer is
probably already hooked up. If you have a real CoCo
3, you'll need a serial-parallel interface.
After loading your screen (or drawing it), just
LOADM"PCLPRINT" and type EXEC.
The menu allows you to change the baud rate, vary
the darkness and lightness, and save your options.
The printouts look GREAT!!!
Note of Caution =>
____________________________________________________
We have not been able to test this with non-HP
brands of printers. Most printers use the language
called PCL3, which was designed by Hewlett Packard.
We've used basic commands that should work on all
"Windows" printers.
If there are any problems, please let us know so
we can try to solve them.
Stuart Wyss
30 Stacey Drive
Doylestown, PA 18901 USA
p.s. include details about your system, and your
printer (brand, model, etc.)
(PCLPRINT.BIN is located on side 2 of this disk.) =*
|
Dummy Everybody around you is asking "Is your computer
Y2K compliant?" Well, have you ever stopped and
wondered "Am I Y2K compliant?" Yes, that's right,
you personally. Are you mentally, physically and
morally ready for the next millennium?
To help you find out, here are a small battery of
tests to help you find out.
The files are compressed, so use "TC31.BIN" to
uncompress them. RUN "PART1" to begin the tests.
(You'll find TC31.BIN and DUMMY.ARC on side 2 of
this disk. Be sure to copy BOTH files to a blank
disk and LOADM "TC31.BIN" to decompress DUMMY.ARC.)
=*
|
GATE CRASHER DEMO SHORT FORM INSTRUCTIONS
-----------------------
Destroy all the computer terminals on each of the 5
levels to activate the yellow elevator door. In this
DEMO ONLY version the game will end after entering
this door. You must avoid hitting the innocent com-
puter programmers (health will be deducted) while
dealing with the enemy guards in suits.
CONTROL KEYS
------------
Left and Right arrow keys rotate your character left
and right. SHIFT = faster.
Up arrow moves you forward while down arrow moves
you backwards. =>
____________________________________________________
Spacebar fires gun. Pressing P pauses game. Any key
to continue.
Hold BREAK key down for 3 seconds to abort game and
return to title page.
Use R G B keys to enter RED GREEN BLUE access codes
into the door decoder. Green decoder status lights
indicate correct code in correct position while
Red decoder status lights indicate correct code
in incorrect position.
FULL GAME INFORMATION
---------------------
Available from Jim Davis for the resonable price =>
____________________________________________________
of $20US.
Jim Davis
P.O. Box 1704
Nixa, MO 65714
Information Web Page:
http://www.launch.net.au/-nickm/coco
*Note: Replace the - symbol for the tilde character
on the PC.
(Nickolas' GATE CRASHER Game Demo is located on
side 2 of the Bonus Disk. RUN "DEMO.BAS" to play.
Requires 512K system and is NOT for use with the
CoCo 3 Emulator by Jeff Vavasour.) =*
|
Password Generator Since I'm on the Internet a lot of the time, any
site that I sign up for, asks for a password of
some sort. I'm not clever enough to come up with a
truly random password, so I put together this little
program to make one up for me.
(RUN "PASSWORD.BAS" on the back side of this disk.)
=*
|
The Lost Forest Here is an original Adventure program I threw
together just after the first of the year. It uses
a brand new idea I developed over the last year. I
was sick and tired of the limited array in memory
or even on disk, so I developed the "Arrayless and
Dimensionless Spacial Engine". It allows me to
travel thru an imaginary plane of existance without
the need of a memory-robbing array. A random number
trigger jumps me to subroutines to interface with
the components of the Adventure. You have to deal
with 8 of 13 situations before you can finish the
Adventure. Try not to die along the way.
(You'll find Ray's Lost Forest adventure program
on side 2 of this disk. RUN "ONE.BAS" to play.)
=*
|
WAV Player for CoCo 3 The first question, of course, is...what the heck is
a WAV file, and why would you want to play it?
A WAV file is the Windows standard for recording
sounds. True, things like MPEG3 and WMA and RA are
all new better standards, but the WAV file will
likely live forever as the basic standard sound.
A WAV file consists of a header, with info about the
file, and then what we call "raw" data, or just the
sound data. No compressing, no encoding, just
straight data.
My WAVPLAYER.BAS (with WAVPLAYER.BIN) will load and
play those WAV files! It runs on a 128k or 512k
CoCo, and with some success on the Emulator in DOS
with the SYNC LOCK on. ->
____________________________________________________
I have also included some WAV files to listen to.
For those techies out there, the player will load
up to a 64k (about 28 granule) WAV file if you have
a 128k CoCo 3, and if you have a 512k CoCo...well...
you could load up to 440k (about 195 granules), but
good luck fitting it on the disk!
The WAV player will play the following rates and
types of data:
8-bit, unsigned, mono or stereo (plays one channel)
and rates of 5500, 6000, 8000, 11025, 22050, and
44100 (at 22050). It doesn't use interrupts, but
rather padded precisely timed loops as the data is
fed to the speaker.
->
____________________________________________________
Since WAV data is 8 bit, and the DAC can only handle
6 bit, the data is "preprocessed", by removing the
last 2 bits (ANDing it with 11111100). By doing
this to the whole sample before playback begins, we
don't have waste cycle time during playback.
The program resides at $0E10, and the data goes into
the first 8k block you have, and up to block 55.
I'm pretty happy with the quality of the sound
output.
-Stuart Wyss
(RUN "WAVPLAY.BAS" on side 2 of this disk.)
=*
|
WHTHOUSE Since we have been witness to one of the longest
campaigning seasons for a presidential election, I
drew up a program just for you. Who are you? Why,
you are the candidate for president of a new
country. Along with 3 other candidates, you
influence the voters through debates and watch the
poll results. When all is said and done, sit back
and watch the vote being tallied. You might be very
well surprised and WIN!
(RUN "WHTHOUSE.BAS" on side 2 of this disk to see
if you have what it takes to be a president.)
=*
|
WORD FIND There are many puzzle makers out there, but this
is a program that searches out the words in the puz-
zle and eliminates all other letters. It will solve
larger arrays, but this continues with the puzzle
listed in the Fall edition of CFDM. As it is written
in machine language, it's very fast.
It first loads the words in memory, clears the
array, loads them in the array, finds them and con-
verts them to lower case. It then eliminates all
other letters in the array and prints them out in
upper case.
I now use the CoCo 3 emulator on my PC and will say
that the monitor/debug feature was a big help in
the development of this program. This puzzle is =>
____________________________________________________
size 16 X 16, so the desired size is 16 in line 460.
Other puzzles must be entered in DATA LINES 470 to
the end of the puzzle.
I hope that this is of interest to other CoCo'ists.
Stuart G. Roberts
(You'll find Stuart's WORD FIND on side 2 of this
disk. Make sure your printer in on line and simply
RUN "WDFIND.BAS".)
=*
|
| Articles in section: REVIEWS |
| How
about some REVIEWS? Presto Partner Tools II |
| Back to top |
How about some REVIEWS? This seems to be a continually troublesome section to get material for. In CFDM #64 and now, I make the same plea -- "We need more REVIEWS"! I feel there ARE enough "new" Hardware and Software products available to justify keeping this section "active". I hope everyone feels the same! Also, keep in mind that the REVIEW "doesn't" have to be for a "new" CoCo product either. In fact, a good portion of the software I buy myself is old...sometimes REAL- LY old! Let's hear your thoughts! You might just point a fellow CoCoer to something they'd like to try out in the future! Ray Watts has made the effort to share some of his knowledge and experiences with CoCo products in this section. Let's follow his lead! =* |
Presto Partner There is one more OS-9 product Jim Davis is sell-
ing that I want to rave about. When Jim lists the
features of Presto Partner, he doesn't tell the com-
plete story. Yes, it does have a notepad, calendar,
phone book, clock and macro keys, but that's only
half the story. The notepad is also a calculator,
whose notations can be stored in a file along with
the notes, and, with autosave if you go off to some
other screen. The phone book has an auto-dial fea-
ture which allows you, if you are connected to a
modem, to select a name and have it make your call.
If that is not enough, Jim completely failed to
mention the alarm and events schedular. The alarm
is the best one you can get for the CoCo. You select
the date and time like the others, but you are also
given a choice of audible or visual alarm, or both.>
____________________________________________________
The visual alarm causes the screen (any screen in
any window) to flash red. The audible is the usual
series of beeps. What makes it so great is that it
will work no matter where you are in the system
hierarchy, a claim not every alarm can make. If you
have scheduled some events, the dates will be high-
lighted on the calendar, and, of course, you can use
the alarm to warn you the event is imminent. About
the only thing I can find wrong with Presto Partner
is that you cannot edit the entries in the phone
book. If you want to change one, you must delete it
and start over. Other than that, its the biggest
bargain for $5 since prohibition. I load mine on
startup and it is with me in its own window all the
time I am operating.
=*
|
Tools II Yes, I know this is supposed to be an RSDOS maga-
zine, but time is running out on quality software
and here is some in your own backyard. You never
can tell when you might want to get a little serious
about running OS-9 more frequently. I have used a
few of Jim Davis' offerings, including Tools II, for
many years. In my mind, this is the best UNIQUE set
of tools (not UNIX clones) assembled. There are two
directory copiers, Bak and Dircopy. Bak will skip
over a file that already exists unless the new file
has a later date. Demon schedules background tasks
during specified times whenever CoCo is on. Gsar is
a global search and replace utility. Recobbler lets
you make system changes, then fix them permanently
on your boot disk. As Jim's ad says, there are 27
utilities in all, plus one more undocumented one. =>
____________________________________________________
That is Pse, which, when used in a program or script
file, will pause the program and print, "Hit any key
to continue". My favorite, though, is Wmenu. This
command allows you to build colorful menus of more
than 12 selections. Selection is controlled by the
arrow keys or numbered hotkeys. Script files con-
trol what happens when a selection is made. Some of
my script files are 8-9 lines in length. You can
also select one menu from another. Under "Program",
I go five menus deep to the C-compiler. My system/
user interface for all three of my systems is built
around Wmenu. For anyone who runs OS-9 at all,
Tools II is a MUST!
=*
|
| Articles in section: QUESTIONS & ANSWERS |
| Medieval
Madness RARE Items I'm Looking For RE: STAR MICRONICS RIBBONS T&D Subscription Software THE ARCONIAX ASSIGNMENT |
| Back to top |
Medieval Madness Hi,
can anyone out there help me find the game Medi-
eval Madness from Diecom? It is one of the games
that uses the light phaser gun. Any help is appreci-
ated.
Thanks,
John
jcr90@hotmail.com
=*
|
RARE Items I'm Looking For I am chasing down the following items...
TDP-100 CoCo - I don't have one of these in my col-
lection.
Moon Lander - Chris Latham's (Donkey King, Sailor
Man) first commercial game sold via Tom Mix soft-
ware. Written in BASIC. Chris has lost his copy
and wants to locate it again.
Mutant Miner - There were 2 versions, one was a
CoCo 1/2 version and the other was a sequel written
for the CoCo3 using 16 colors. Based on the famous
Atari "Miner 2049'er" game by Bill Hogue. That's all
for now!
- Nickolas nickm@launch.net.au =*
|
RE: STAR MICRONICS RIBBONS In the December 1999 issue of CFDM, Ray Watts pro-
vided us with a source for Star NX-1000 & 1020
printer ribbons. It was noted that American Ribbon
and Toner Co., Inc., carried Star NX-1020 4 Color
printer ribbons @ $7.50 each.
I recently acquired a small case of Star Micronics
NX-1020 Rainbow 4 Color ribbons at a computer show.
The ribbons are manufactured by Pelikan (Z271) and
are still tightly sealed in their packages. I have
no way of testing out these ribbons, but they look
like they're still in good condition and don't look
dried out!
If you currently use a Star Micronics NX-1020 Rain-
bow printer and are in need of 4 color ribbons, =>
____________________________________________________
please let me know. I would like to clear them out
to those who can put them to use. I've put them in
lots of two for $5 + $1.50 postage per lot.
For more information or to order, contact:
Jim Davis
PO BOX 1704
Nixa, MO 65714
or email me at: gearboxed@mindspring.com
=*
|
T&D Subscription Software I'm interested in buying as many old T&D Subscrip-
tion Software disks that I can (anything about Sep-
tember 1987 and newer). I spent hours, days, weeks
and years when I was in high school writing games
which I sold to T&D. I don't have any of that stuff
anymore, but I'd love to get my hands on it -- part-
ly for nostalgic reasons, and partly because some of
the BASIC source could probably be ported.
I'm interested in buying this software, either on
the original disks or a PC-compatible CD.
I contacted TOM DYKEMA (owner of T&D) several months
ago and he indicated that he no longer had anything
CoCo related (not even copies of disks from those
many years ago). =>
____________________________________________________
PLEASE HELP me find T&D issues from #78 and above
if possible. I'd appreciate it!
Mike Snyder
408 E. Maywood
Wichita, KS 67216
Email: wyndo@prowler-pro.com
=*
|
THE ARCONIAX ASSIGNMENT I'm interested in finding the adventure game: "The Arconiax Assignment" (not sure if that's how it's spelled). It was an adventure game in BASIC. I don't know if it was from T&D Subscription Soft- ware or if it was from Rainbow? I want this because it was my *very first* adventure game I ever played, and it's what got me hooked on programming. Anyway, pointing me in the right direction would be appreciated. :) Mike Snyder Prowler Productions http://www.prowler-pro.com =* |
