Editorial

Heyup there. How you doing? Have you checked out the latest 8BS Advert? If not, do it now before you miss anything! I have been hard at work again picking up odds and ends for you all. PRESS SPACE instead of Break. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ A2L Commented to me that it sent him potty (my words to describe what he probably meant) when he had to press BREAK to leave the teletext files on 8BS issues. I tend to agree with him that it is probably not the best way to do it and so have changed it. From now on, the method of leaving a teletext article will be by PRESSING SPACE. Let's just hope I remember this when finishing off each article. If you see PRESS BREAK, don't believe it. Rogues Gallery. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ I awoke early one morning and suddenly thought to myself: "Hey, everyone out there in BBC land knows what I look like because they have seen the digipics from recent issues. It is about time that I knew what some of the punters look like." As it happens, this was not an original thought, Niel Parry had suggested a rogues gallery to me quite some time ago, obviously it had taken this long for it to sink in. The idea is this: Send me a photo of yourself. Let me know, 1. If you want it back or not (returned with next issue). 2. If you want it to be digitised and placed in the gallery. Added the TBI pool since the last issue: ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Oliver Debus paid me a visit and brought along a couple of discs of ADFS hand scanned pictures. Most are in Wapping Editor format although some are plain screens that may be *LOADed. The discs contain a viewer so that people without Wapping Editor may still view the pictures. The Discs are in ADFS format only. They are: TBI-86-1 Wapping Editor Pictures. Places. ADFS Only TBI-86-2 Wapping Editor Pictures. Famous People. ADFS Only More new discs: TBI-82-5 8BS Games. More games compiled from past 8BS issues. TBI-87 Music. 2D. A disc Compiled By Niel Parry. TBI-88 Text taken from Packet radio submitted by Mick York. Thanks Mick. 1D. 512-31 DOS 360K. PC Draft. Hi-Res Screen Designer. 512-32 DOS 360K. PC Dashboard. Hard Disc Menuing System. 512-33 DOS 360K. The Gardener's Assistant. Plan your Veggie Garden. 512-34 DOS 360K. Scree-Do. Design screens for Basic programs. Thanks to 3SQ Tim Parsons for fixing us up with the following previously missing files from BEEBUG discs: DP1 and DP2 from Volume 2 Issue 2 Bounce, CDLNPR1, CDLNPR2, Splords, TonePrt, ToneDmp from Volume 2 Issue 4 Intrpr1, Swarmer, Rapids From Volume 2 Issue 6 Flash, Drums, Twelve, Alien, AL1, AL2 from Volume 2 Issue 7 These files are now on all versions of Beebug volume 2. Anyone wanting updates may send their copy with return p+p for a free update. Alterations to CJR-11 due to the change of method for leaving teletext display files from pressing BREAK to pressing SPACE. All software updated. Updated: 8BS-00 8BS Issue Summary TBI-82-3 8BS Poems TBI-82-4 8BS National Lottery TBI-70 Tape To Disc HELP! ~~~~~ Niel Parry is writing an adventure game for us using GAC (Graphic Adventure Creator, not that gooey stuff kids play with), it promises to be quite good. He wants a digitised picture for the front end of the game. Can anyone help us out? What we want is a digitised Space Shuttle in Mode 0. Please contact me A.S.A.P. if you can help out. OOPS! ~~~~~ The following problems relate only to 8BS-44 discs that were posted on 6.9.95. Some DFS copies of 8BS-44 posted on 6.9.96 have occasional corrupt bytes that crept in probably due to mains spikes from the white goods in the kitchen. As a result there are articles and programs that crash and/or appear faulty. There are possibly about 20 such copies left in circulation. If yours is one of these, please return it with return p+p and I will re-copy it. All copies issued since that date will be ok. REMEMBER, this applies only to DFS Double Sided 8BS-44's posted on 6.9.95 Also: ~~~~~ Having made last minute changes to issue 44, I placed a bug in the menu that I did not spot until 73 copies had gone out. Under normal circumstances it presents as only a minor irritation in that you cannot get back to the main menu from magazine menu 3. However, if you run the Menu Reader program that is also on the issue, it will fail. Not a fault of the menu reading program, a fault of the menu. Here is the cure: Either: 1. Send me your disc with return p+p and I will send you an updated version. Or: 2. DFS version first type: *AC. MENU Then DFS and ADFS versions: LOAD"Menu" LIST 2640 Then change the last number in line 2640 from 9 to 10. The new line should look like this: 2640DATA Magazine Menu 3.,10 Then type: SA.FNS That's it. Issue 44 ended up a nightmare despite the fact I had far longer than usual to compile it. Goodbye To Spikes. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ I have acquired a little device that pops small corks onto the top of mains spikes as they swill out of my wall into the computer setup. Hopefully this will stop the white thing in the kitchen full of frozen chips and veggie burgers that makes rather a lot of noise from corrupting discs as I copy them. If indeed that is the culprit. Let's see. Hub Rings. ~~~~~~~~~~ I had not realised the importance of those little rings that you find stuck around the hole of a 5.25" disc. These hub rings add to the thickness of the disc in that area and help some disc drives to grip the disc. My supplier recently sent me a batch of these hubless discs. They formatted and copied ok on most of my disc drives. It was not until a member sent me back a disc that failed on his drive because it was not turning that I realised what was going on. Unfortunately, I had sold around 60 of these discs as unformatted discs to various people. Maplin Electronics. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ It suddenly strikes me that I have never mentioned Maplins before. You can walk into any large retailer of magazines such as Smiths and buy a catalogue of bits for just over £3. I recommend that you do this if you are after anything at all electrical. I have used Maplins on a number of occasions now. They have a help line to give you advice on ordering. They are courteous and VERY fast. I order by phone using SWITCH, delivery has always been the very next day. Prices are very cheap. The catalogue is huge (800 pages). They have just about anything we could want. They have Master keyswitches for instance at 39p each. See the Regular Contacts section of this mag for their address and phone number. Hello To Fat Thack. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ I must at this point express in ASCII format due gratitude to my erstwhile buddy Brian Thackeray. He has been of great assistance to 8BS since joining us a couple of issues back. Years ago I worked with him at Preston Ambulance Station but he had to retire on ill health (the way most of us go). He acquired Himself a Master and has been running me around here and there to various computer related functions and helping me keep the fridge clear of those dratted cans of lager that seem to multiply in there forcing the cheese into the cupboard. I hope to be visiting many auctions and computer fares in the coming months, trying to pick up handy odds and ends that may tempt you lot. Keep an eye on the 8BS ads. You must move quickly though, most of the computers and disc drives went within hours of the issue going out in 8BS-44. Here's a puzzle: ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ There are 100 people and £100. Men get £10 each. Women get .50p each and children get 12.5p each. How many men women and children are there? Have a look at the program "Answer" on this issue. Printer Ribbons. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Oliver Debus would like to compile an article about printer ribbons. Please let me know what printer you use and where you get your ribbons/ink cartridges/toners from so that I can pass this info on to Oliver. Or does anyone have a fairly comprehensive list already? Screen Saver. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Has anyone ever seen a screen saver for the BBC? Or does someone want to take up the challenge and write one? Meters And Such Like. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ 8BS has gone metric. So 5.25" discs are now 133mm discs and 3.5" discs are now 9cm discs. Honest. Me. ~~~ For those of you new to the 8BS scene, I am an Ambulance Paramedic Supervisor working 12 hour shifts at an Ambulance Station close to 8BS HQ. You are welcome to ring me with your queries/orders/advice, but please don't ring after 2000 hours (8pm) as quite often I am in bed at that time due to the amazingly stupid shifts I have to work. Don't worry about ringing if you have an accident though. Some of you may remember the editorial from a few issues ago where I chronicled A Month In The Life Of 8BS. Someone suggested that I did a similar thing with my work. I have thought long and hard about this and decided against it! Preston Ambulance Station is within striking distance of the rough areas of Hull which is one of the most violent cities in the country. I get called to help people I would rather avoid in situations and places that I would also really rather avoid. Threats of violence to my person are very regular, quite often I am only saved by the presence of a large hairy crewmate (primate?). Drugs are a part of my kit, sadly, they are also a large part of many other peoples kit too. So 8BS is a great relief (second to my family of course) to me. You ~~~ About time I alphabetically thanked a couple more people again. Arthur Adams K8C for not getting upset with me when I demanded money with menaces when he had already paid up. Paul Clucas. K6X for chekin the spelin annat. Niel Parry for the phonecalls. Tim Parsons for help with software. SOMEBODY PLEASE SEND HIM A MESSAGE! Stephan Richardson. K2O for all of the help and advice each day. James Sargent for the Music 5000. Brian Tallowin for all the interesting items and poems. And everyone else for supporting 8BS so well.