8-bit Software Disc Magazine (c) Duncan Webster September 1991
Issue 15 September 1991
CHANGES IN PROCEDURE
Issue 15 is going to herald many changes here at 8BS over the next few
months. I will attempt to highlight all the changes that are going to
be made here, but as ideas are changing all the time I cannot make any
concrete promises as to what will definately happen...
Firstly, PD software is going to be cut down. I have far too many
members at the moment who just take, take, take all the time and are
making no effort at all to contribute any magazine material or
programs. Some members are trying to mask this fact by submitting
programmers returns that are only fit for the bin. I am therefore
going to cut down the amount of PD software available on 8BS and make
a big effort to expand the disc magazine into something more
attractive to read and including more varied subjects.
In order to do this, the disc magazine will be moved to side 0 of the
disc drive and side 2 will contain a much improved PD section and
support for 8BS MEMBERS PROGRAMS plus any other OUSTANDING PD programs
worthy of a mention. Consiquently, when you boot up issue 16 the disc
magazine will automatically be loaded in preference to the program
menu. By doing this I am sure that 8BS will be much more attractive
to the people who wish to learn from, and contribute ideas & Questions
to 8BS. It should also make 8BS much LESS attractive to the PD
leaches who will hopefully go and pay some other PD library for the
software they would like.
Whilst I am in a scolding mood (basically brought on because issue 15
is late again due to the above paragraph), I would like to point out
the proper procedure for all correspondence. If any one of the
following steps are not followed when sending correspondence, then
that correspondence is either ignored or put to the bottom of my
"waist-height" pile of letters. All envelopes received by me should
contain the following...
1. A SELF ADDRESSED ENVELOPE PLUS ENOUGH POSTAGE
I will NOT re-use envelopes except the 100% CARDBOARD DISC
ENVELOPES like the ones subscription discs arrive in ... if you
want to save trees then please go out and buy some recycled
envelopes and send 2 of these. I spent over 2 hours last issue
"refurbishing" envelopes to return to members in the post. I just
do not have the time.
I will NOT accept cash or cheques in lieu of me having to go out
and purchase envelopes. You MUST send the actual SAE so all I have
to do is seal it and send it.
*** LACK OF RETURN POSTAGE MEANS THE CORRESPONDENCE IS IGNORED ***
2. ONE FORMATTED 80T DOUBLE SIDED DISC (5.25" or 3.5")
I can now cater for DFS 3.5" discs. Unformatted discs received are
ignored.
3. If you are sending me a letter which you have saved to disc, then
please also PRINT a copy out if you have access to a printer. This
is not essential, but will save me a lot of time.
OK, thanks for reading all of that. I am still running a one man show
as far as the formatting and editing of this magazine is concerned,
and as you may have noticed, each issue is getting later and later.
However, I hope to have more time this month as Andy Nibbs, publisher
of Masterdisc Magazine, has kindly taken over the publication of this
magazine after you all voted in favour of returning to a colour
teletext magazine format (similar to TECH TIPS last issue).
CORRESPONDENCE AND PHONE CALLS
Due to the vast amount I am receiving of both (Hugh Williams and
Sattar Shakoor take note - Hehe), I have been forced by powers
unbeknown to me to standardise incoming calls and mail. As regular
callers will be aware, I am hardly every at home during the week as I
have a lot of evening appointments re: my work. Likewise, regular
writers who send me lots of letters during the course of the month
will notice a lack of reponses. Make no mistake at this point - I
WOULD LOVE TO be able to talk to ALL OF YOU and write back to ALL OF
YOU the same day, but I am afraid that this is the real world and such
things are not possible. Please therefore bear in mind the following
procedures...
1. NO PHONE CALLS DURING THE WEEK PLEASE.
I will take all phone calls on SUNDAY's (as I work most Saturdays)
between 10am and 2pm when I will be available to chat. If you
happen to phone and I am not in, then please LEAVE YOUR NAME AND
PHONE NUMBER and I WILL CALL YOU BACK. You all seem to be a very
coy lot with 3 quarters of you never leaving your name or number.
I will not bite and would love to be able to chat with you. If you
cannot phone on Sundays, then please write to me and request that I
phone YOU during the week.
2. CORRESPONDENCE IS ANSWERED AT WEEKENDS ONLY.
I cannot deal with 8BS during the week, so all correspondence
received is put into an "in tray" and left until the weekend.
This is why a lot of you have to wait for answers to your letters.
In order to speed up response times, send your correspondence on a
THURSDAY, which means I will receive it by SATURDAY and will
therefore answer it the same day. DONT FORGET TO INCLUDE POSTAGE
and an SAE.
USERS MAILBOX PROCEDURES
A program is currently being constructed that will put an end to all
these SPOOLED files and bits of paper I am currently receiving in my
correspondence tray. The program will be based around an interactive
mail manager and will be the basis for incoming and outgoing mail on
all future issue discs. Basically, you will soon be receiving
messages and sending messages direct from the issue disc(s) through a
special menu option. Programmers Returns and magazine entries will
also be done this way. Further details will soon be available.
TEMPORARY MAILBOX PROCEDURES
With messages now taking in excess of a month to reach their
destination (ie. publication), I feel I have to change the procedure
immeadiatley in order to make getting correspondence to other members
a little quicker. In order to do this I propose the following ...
If you send a message to another member or ALL members, and you would
like a quick reply, then I will publish your PHONE NUMBER or ADDRESS
so that members can reply to you directly. However, I will only
publish your PHONE and/or ADDRESS upon SPECIFIC REQUEST. If you do
not mention the above in your correspondence, then it will be treated
in the normal way (ie. they will be pended until publication).
I hope this will sort the problem for a few months. I am sorry for
the delays - you might like to review all the correspondence you have
sent lately and re-submit it with your PHONE NO and/or ADDRESS. I
always though it was a near impossibility to be slower than the post
office...
CONCLUSION
8BS is going to change a heck of a lot in the next few months and I am
counting on your support to make it work. In the end I hope to have a
very comprehensive monthly FREE magazine being published, with a few
items of PD SOFTWARE and all MEMBERS SOFTWARE received being published
and fully supported. Please therefore send me all your ideas, but
most importantly, your ARTICLES, HINTS, NEWS etc. If you know
something that we should know then send it in and see it published.
If you have written a program, or know of a GOOD PD one, then please
do not be discourgaged from sending it in - you will still get the
best support I can give you.
Duncan Webster.