From: K4B (GEORGE LYNCH)
Subject: GenCom
Dear chris,
Don't quite know where to begin. I
am fair 'chuffed' with the quality of
the current and back issues of 8BS
magazine discs. The help and
information that I have had from your
goodself and other members is much
appreciated and I am already growing
in confidence and expertise in the use
of my Master128 and ancilliary
equipment.
How nice it was to have a mention
from Charles Spencer(8J4) re my first
submission. Makes one feel like a
member of a rather exclusive club.
Then there was a personal letter from
Steven Flintham who had the humility
to apologise and accept a measure of
responsibility for the fact that I
was having trouble with the
messageing system. Nothing wrong with
the system Steven. I am a slow learner
and keep on making the same mistakes.
Most common one is hitting the break
key in error.
There are so many questions that I
would like to ask and so much help
that I feel I need but I will keep
this for another time and , for the
moment confine myself to a couple of
comments.
(a) I had a look over the members
list and noted the shortage of
scottish names. Am I the only
scotsman in the club, even if I do
bear an Irish name? Are there no lads
and lassies in the Edinburgh area who
would like to form a local 'Beep'
group?
(b) I did enjoy the 'snowman' program
from the Christmas Issue No.31 and
was pleased to note that Melvyn
Wright was given the credit that his
fine work deserves.
Keep up the good work Chris.
It is all very much appreciated. My
very best wishes for your continued
good health.
I enclose the usual postage
etc. and will look forward to
receiving Issue 38 Oct.'94.
Yours as aye,
George Lynch Mem.No.K4B
To: 999 (all members)
From: K4V (Trevor Crapper)
Subject: General Comments
Issue 38 is another well presented one
with plenty of good solid contents to
keep most people happy.
Thanks to Chris and to everyone who
helped by sending something in.
To our good friend Colin Culpitt-Smith
your days of losing programs are over,
simply invest in 8BS-00 and buy your-
self our catalogue disc.
I am hoping to write an article about
the disc commands, it would seem that
not everyone is lucky enough to have a
copy of a disk drive guide, or the
Acorn Disc Filing System Guide.
The project is not a simple one and
having had a few goes decided to try
doing the job properly!
The Z88 is working fine and again
could I ask if anyone is thinking of
selling anything off to let me know
please.
By the way we have a pusher in our
midst, a person going around flogging
a particular brand of portable laptop.
Who is this person, well if I told you
all the goodies could disappear before
I get a chance to get any.
Tim Parsons has been seen driving
between Flitwick and Lerwick via the
south coast with a message about
getting one.
A Z88!! these are very good little
computers. Tim has suddenly found him-
self being the agent for free info,
send him an A4 s.a.e.
Trevor Crapper.
To: 999
From: K7X (T.R.L.)
Subject:
FROM A NEW MEMBER (LATE STARTER)
My name Roger Lockwood and I am 46
years and have been using the computer
for just over a year. From K6E's
letter in magazine number 38 It would
appear that I am not alone in starting
later than most.
The comments you make in the magazine
regarding the jargon and terminology
used has also confused me,the EPROMS
ROMS RAMS and other terms used in
'computerese' have done little to
assist and encourage my age group to
take up working with computers.
I think there could be some mileage in
spreading the word to people of our age
group, that these BBC machines are not
that difficult to use and with the
help of this type of magazine
assissitace is always nearby.
In conclusion to this my first message
via magnetic media I would like to ask
other member for their comments on
Watford electronics, I personally have
only made two purchases from them but
their service has been very poor, I
have had to make returns on both
occasions due to faulty goods and poor
advice. When telephoning them you wait
for what seems ages running up a hefty
telephone bill being passed from
department to department, anyone else
experienced this?
THANKS TO YOU ALL FOR WHAT LOOKS TO BE
A GREAT MAGAZINE.
EDITOR......... Yes! Although I do
hesitate to be critical, I have been
let down every time I have had anything
to do with WE.
To: 999 (all members)
From: K5W (CHRIS LEWIS)
Subject: THE BBC GETS ITS OWN BACK!
Recently Chris Richardson put me in
touch with Chris Wilson (lots of
Chrissys in this business) a BBC
engineer who was looking for an
ELECTRON keyboard to repair Melvyn
Bragg's teleprompter. I was able to
oblige and had a guided tour of
Broadcating House and waved to Terry
Wogan in his studio when I delivered
it. Thanks Chris, 8#Bit Software gets
you places!
Can anyone help me with some
information on a Watford ZIF socket I
acquired? The ROMS are shown at
positions 12 to 15 but also shadowed
at 7 to 10.
I also have a Watford 32k Shadow RAM
board connected to the CPU socket.
How do I select it?
To: 999 + K4R (Robin Morom)
From: 15A (Steven Flintham)
Subject: Mandelbrot article
Firstly, sorry for the confusion over
names - I hope I've got it right this
time.
Secondly, I think what I was trying to
say when I said that all positive real
numbers have only one square root was
that SQR() is defined to have the
positive value. In other words, using
BASIC notation for convenience, it is
technically incorrect to write:
SQR(4)=-2
because SQR(4)=2 by definition and a
(mathematical) function can only have
one value (i.e. it can be many-one or
one-one).
I hope I have got this right and even
if it is I admit that the original
text was a bit ambiguous, but please
correct me if the above is also wrong.
Finally, thanks for commenting on the
article - it's nice to know what
people thought of it.
To: 999 (all members)
From: I daren't say! (Well,OK. K4R)
Subject: *** Christmas Crackers ***
***************
1st Computer Buff - "Did you know that
for every floppy disc you buy, 30p is
for the hole in the middle?"
2nd C.B. - "No! Who gets the 30p?
1st C.B. - "The hole-saler, of course."
***************
Did you hear about the microprocessor
company which has been so successful
that they are thinking of moving into
smaller premises?
***************
And how about the tortoise who was
mugged by three snails? When the
police asked if he would be able to
identify any of them, he said, "Well,
it all happened so quickly...."
*** MERRY CHRISTMAS, EVERYBODY ***
To: 999 (all members)
From: K4R (Robin Morom)
Subject: EDITORIAL IN ISSUE 38
So now we know. Apparently there
really IS such a person as Chris
Richardson. It is NOT (as many must
have previously suspected) a group
of a dozen or so very, very hard
working people using this name as a
joint pseudonym.
All I know is, after merely READING
about the Editor's month, I was
so exhausted I had to go and have
a nice lie down!
EDITOR...... Last time, the lie down I
had wasn't so nice, a little unplanned
to say the least. The usual varied
disasters have beset me this time too!
A lot of people seem to have enjoyed
the article, which as I was writing I
wasn't so sure about. Thanks for all
the kind comments.
To: 999 (all members)
From: K2F (John Davis)
Subject: PENTIUM
There was a recent item on the TV
news about the Pentium processor not
getting zero for some values of X and
Y for the expression:
X-(X/Y)*Y
The Beeb also struggles a bit in
this department (maybe all computers
do?), as this short routine shows:
10 MODE7
20 FOR X%=1TO25
30 FOR Y%=1TO25
40 Z=X%-(X%/Y%)*Y%
50 IFZ<>0 PRINT'CHR$(131)"X="STR$(X%)
" Y="STR$(Y%):PRINTCHR$(129)"NOT
ZERO="Z:FOR D=1TO2000:NEXT:PRINT:
GOTO70
60 PRINTZ
70 NEXT:NEXT
To: 999 (all members)
From: 4MD (Graham Gallagher)
Subject: WEIGHTS & MEASURES ANSWER
Some of you who had a go at the puzzle
in Issue 38 may have spotted how to
derive the correct weights quite
quickly. Others might have had to
persevere for some time. Either way,
well done.
For those who gave up or maybe didn't
try then the answer is as follows :
1 , 3 , 9 , 27
Most people will have realised that a
1 lb. weight is needed. This is
because whilst 1 could be obtained by
say the difference between 2 and 3 it
would then not be possible to obtain a
weight of 39 lb ( ie 40 - 1).
The next weight has to give the
maximum possible increase and produce
a difference in weight of 2 lb. Hence
a 3 lb weight is derived.
ie. 2 = x - 1
x = 3
With the first two weights the
greengrocer can weigh goods of 1 lb to
4 lb inclusive. The next weight has to
give the maximum possible increase and
produce a difference in weight of 5lb.
ie. 5 = y - (1 + 3)
y = 9
With these three weights he can weigh
goods of 1 lb to 13 lb inclusive.
Hence the next difference in weight
has to produce 14 lb.
ie. 14 = z - (1 + 3 + 9)
z = 27
The four weights added together equal
40 and you should be able to combine
them to produce any weight between 1
and 40.
The following are a few examples where
the brackets represent the pans of the
weighing scales :
(1 + 3) : ( 9 ) = 5 lb
(1 + 3 + 9) : ( 27 ) = 14 lb
(1 + 3) : (9 + 27) = 32 lb
( 1 ) : (3 + 9 + 27) = 38 lb
To: 999 & K5A
From: 4MD (Graham Gallagher)
Subject: Charges/Subs etc
The purpose, or at least one of them,
of 8-BS is to encourage members to
contribute to the contents of each
issue in what ever way they can. The
present method of sending off
submission discs in advance of the
next issue, even if they are blank, is
the best way of doing this. Also,
meeting the set deadlines shows some
commitment to continuing your
membership. However, if someone does
forget to send in their disc then this
doesn't prevent them from obtaining
the next issue at some later date. All
that occurs is that they miss an
opportunity to contribute. Hence I do
not believe that the suggested option
of paying an advance 6 or 12 month
subscription instead of the normal
method is appropriate to 8-BS.
Since the matter has been raised
I would reiterate my previous
suggestion (Issue 34) for a voluntary
annual subscription of say not more
than `5.00 to be set by the Editor.
New members could be informed of this
after receiving 6 or more issues
whilst stressing that such a payment
is not obligatory. Otherwise some
people might be discouraged from using
8-BS. The Editor could put a freeze on
these voluntary subscriptions as and
when necessary by making an
announcement in his monthly editorial.
I would add that these voluntary
payments should be totally separate
from present means of paying for
monthly issues and therefore any
changes in administration would be
minimal.
Finally, whether the above suggestion
is adopted or not I have decided to
put my money where my mouth is and
donate a token amount to help boost
8-BS funds. In doing so I recently
looked at the cost of ACORN USER , a
magazine I stopped buying in March
1993 due to its decreasing 8 bit
coverage, and discovered it retails at
`2.95 (ie `35.40 per year). I used to
buy it monthly at `1.80 (ie `21.60 per
year) and since 8-BS works out at
about `1.50 (ie `12.00 per year or
strictly `18.00 for 12 issues) then a
small donation shouldn't be missed.
EDITOR....... Thank you Graham for your
donation. It all helps to keep the
group afloat.
Many people "Do Their Bit" for the
group in many ways. The most important
contributions are messages and
programs. Many members have given a lot
of their time to the group one way or
another. Many others have tried to buy
up the PD pool. Others have donated
hardware and software. Others have
tried to empty my loft by buying the
second hand stuff that is always for
sale.
I would like members to know that the
above suggestion of donation of pennies
is acceptable and welcome. However, I
do know that many members simply cannot
afford any more than they pay out now.
To: 999 (all members)
From: 20G (Roy Dickens)
Subject: CHRISTMAS GREETINGS
I would like to thank all who have
made comments about my programmes
all who have purchased odd bits from
me all who have sold me odd bits and
everyone who have contributed games,
utils, text, help etc. to the disc
over the year.
A big special thanks to
our ED.(Chris)for all his
work, effort and time
looking after every one.
All together now....
FREEZE A JOLLY GOOD
FELLOW.....FREEZE A JOLLY
GOOD FELLOW.......