8-Bit Software Online Conversion

                                                    To: 999 (all members) From: ANON E MOUSE Subject: POEM ARE YOU BEING SERVED? WHATEVER HAS HAPPENED TO SERVICE? I FOUND MYSELF SAYING ALOUD AS I PULLED IN FOR SOME PETROL AND AWAY FROM THE MAD RUSHING CROWD I REMEMBER AT FIVE BOB A GALLON AN ATTENDANT WOULD FILL UP MY TANK HE'D ASK HOW'S THE OIL AND THE WATER? AS HE GAVE THE BONNET A YANK HE'D OPEN THE CAP AND PULL OUT THE STICK WHICH HE WIPED WITH A RAG FROM THE SHELF FOR THIS WAS ALL PART OF THE SERVICE BUT NOW YOU MUST DO IT YOURSELF THEN CAME THE NEW SERVICE STATIONS WITH CHEAP FUEL AND ATTENDANTS AS WELL THERE WAS JET AGIP AND HERON MY WORD WE WERE DOING WELL. OUT CAME THE ATTENDANT TO SERVE YOU DO THE FLUIDS CLEAN THE MIRROR AND SCREEN AND CHAT ABOUT SPORT OR THE TELLY THIS REALLY WAS SERVICE SUPREME THEN SUDDENLY THIS SERVICE WAS ENDED THE ATTENDANT WAS NO LONGER THERE IF YOU WANTED PETROL YOU SERVED IT YOU EVEN GET CHARGED NOW FOR AIR SO NOW WHEN YOU PULL ON THE FORECOURT THINK BACK TO WHAT WE HAVE LOST THERE IS NO MORE "SERVICE" IN STATIONS AND THAT'S BEEN A TERRIBLE COST AND NOW IT'S NOT JUST SELF SERVE PETROL WE'VE HYPER AND SUPER MARKETS TOO O, WHY CANT WE GET BACK SOME SERVICE AND NOT JUST A CHECK OUT AND QUEUE.  To: 999 (all members) From: D2N (VIC HORGAN) Subject: GENERAL MESSAGES.THANKS. Call off the dogs! My moaning and pleading over several issues has paid off. Thanks to the generosity of Frank Jones -K26- who sent me no fewer than 3 varied discs of Colossus 4 Chess and Brian Raw -K6N- who sent me a replica of the Colossus 4 Chess package which I had corrupted, I am set up for life with my favourite chess program.They should outlast me! The help and friendly response of the 8-Bit Group has been heartwarming and I must again ( and for the last time I assure you ) congratulate Chris and his friends on the great job they have done in building this up. To all members I wish a contented and bug-free 1996.  To: 999 (all members) From: D5J (Barry Thorogood) Subject: Thanks for Help Given I wish to thank all members who have given me some help over the last few weeks of last year. I have successfully installed a 'Tandy' colour monitor to my Beeb. The problem that I had was that the cable connection came with a 9 pin 'D' plug and of course the Beeb has a 6 pin 'Din'plug. I think it was John Ripley(D5B)that really got me there! The Red,Green wires were OK from Terminals 1,2. but for the BLUE on Terminal 3 was THE BLACK wire. Then to Terminal 4 was the blue wire and the ground to Term 5. The sixth terminal in the middle was the yellow wire giving the Monitor a 5v feed which brighten up the screen. Once more many thanks for all your help.I feel that I can always call and someone will help that's very encouraging.  To: 999 (all members) From: ANON E MOUSE Subject: POEM A-HOLE IN THE OZONE THERE IS A HOLE IN THE OZONE AS BIG AS A FIELD CAUSED WE ARE TOLD BY OUR VEHICLES WHEELED WITH AEROSOLS AND METHANE DOING THEIR PART BUT WHAT OF THE DAMAGE CAUSED BY A FART WE ALL CONTRIBUTE TO THE DAMAGE THAT'S DONE BY THE METHANE THAT ESCAPES FROM A BUM DON'T CAST THIS OFF WITHOUT CONSIDERATION THINK OF THE TOTAL FARTS FROM ONE NATION SO THE NEXT TIME YOU'RE TOLD IT'S CAUSED BY THE CAR YOU MIGHT LIKE TO THINK WHAT ALTERNATIVES THERE ARE THE GOVERNMENT BLAMED FOSSIL FUELS FROM THE START BUT ONLY BECAUSE THEY CAN'T TAX A FART THE CAR NO-DOUBT IS PLAYING IT'S PART BUT THE REAL GLOBAL BUILD UP IS CAUSED BY THE FART SO DON'T BLINDLY BLAME THE CAR AS IT PASSES THE PROBLEM YOU SEE IS A WORLD FULL OF FARTES SO THE NEXT TIME YOU GO FOR A MEAL AT THE PUB THINK *GREEN* WHEN YOU ORDER YOUR PLATE FULL OF GRUB SPARE A THOUGHT FOR THE PLANET BEFORE MAKING A START FOR YOU COULD CAUSE THE END WITH ONE FINAL FART  To: 999 (all members) From: 4WL (MARTIN WILSON) Subject: Idea! I was thinking that it might be an idea to do some sort of survey of what actual hardware people are using with their Beebs or even Archimedes and PCs. Not the actual computer itself but what they think of their printer, modem or monitor/tv. Along the lines of: Model: KXP1123 Manufacturer: Panasonic spec: 24pin dot matrix printer with single sheet and tractor feed connection: parallel port: standard 36way centronics whats it like: stylish, well built and fully electronic font, size, spacing settings etc. good points: cheap to run bad points: noisy and would like auto sheet feeder dip switch settings: uses front panel to select and stores in backed up memory. pinouts: normal centronics cost: £150 approx summary: Excellent but not upto date technology. where you bought it: Watford sundrys: ribbons still widely and cheaply available. The idea being that if we come across such an item for sale we will know whats it like for reference. Someone with a Sony tv can say what its like with a computer etc. Any takers?  To: 999 (all members) From: 4WL (MARTIN WILSON) Subject: Curious Has anyone ever written a mouse driver program to work with the Beebs serial port so that PC serial mice can be used?  To: 999 (all members) From: 4WL (MARTIN WILSON) Subject: Doom on the Jaguar I bought a cheap Jaguar. Jaguars are being sold very cheap now at about `100 new so secondhand models with games are even cheaper. I bought mine with 2 controllers, scart cable and four games(Doom, Cybermorph, Tempest 2000, Aliens Vs Predator) for £65. Anyway if you want to play Doom a Jaguar probably comes cheaper than a Super Nintendo and Doom. A quick spec for those who don't know: The Jaguar has two 64bit graphics chips, 2 32bit chips and a 16bit 68000 as a general control chip for input, sound control. It also has 16bit sound and 2meg memory. Doom has been the biggest software hit since Elite. It's an American program that started out as shareware for the PC but is now available for: Mac, 32x, Playstation, 3DO, Super Nintendo, Jaguar and will also be released for the Ultra 64 later this year with the launch of said console. It's a 3D game with you immersed into a virtual world so to speak. Ok it's not virtual reality as such but you get the impression that your'e in a world that does exist. Your'e basically in what seems to be a world made up of factories, chemical plants and military bases that have been taken over by the forces of hell. The Jaguar version is excellent with great sound, full speed and great detail. However the game has been trimmed in places to conserve space on the cartridge. This trimming makes no real difference to gameplay. Anyway if you want to play a great version of Doom cheaply then a Jag's worth considering. Remember it's a gory, violent and at times almost frightening game originally meant for adults with PCs it's now available for consoles aimed squarely at children. It has been surpassed in violence by later games. There's a doom clone on PCs where you rip off arms and use them to bludgeon your opponent to death. If games are at this stage now I dread to think what they'll be like in twenty years. I mean how far can violence go.  To: 999 (all members) From: 15A (Steven Flintham) Subject: Micromart article It's possible some other members will have sent in messages about this article, but in case they haven't I will mention it. The following appeared in an article in Micromart issue 368, 14th December 1995, page 124: "The BBC range hold their prices well, are extremely resistant to break down and consider yourself lucky if you can buy a basic machine for anything less than `100. Prime examples with floppy disk interfaces and additional processors could easily cost `400 or more." I am a big fan of the BBC series, but I can't believe a BBC system is worth anywhere near that much and adverts in 8BS and other places would seem to support this. I can't help feeling this sort of thing just encourages people to try to sell their old hardware off at totally ridiculous prices. Although there are some bargains to be had, there are quite a few advertisements in most issues of Micromart which feature astoundingly high prices.  PRESS SPACE