From: K6N (Brian Raw)
Subject: Diary 1997
This is the first offspring of the
NotePad program that appeared in
issue 51. The only problem with it
is the size of disc required; you will
need either an 80T double sided DFS or
L formatted ADFS disc, smaller formats
are not catered for as yet.
Again you need to prepare a blank
formatted disc for use as the Diary.
Whichever format you decide to use
simply pop it in the drive and select
the prepare option from the main menu,
the program automatically senses the
format and proceeds accordingly.
(Thanks to J.Ripley)
Other options available from the main
menu are the Epson9dot, select this
if you have an Epson9dot or compatible
printer. Read TIME$ can be selected if
your computer has CMOS memory setup
allowing the Diary to open at the day's
date. Once these options are set for
your setup, edit and save a page of the
Diary. This will record these settings
so that they will be correct each time
you load up the Diary.
If Read TIME$ is not set then the
Diary will open at the last date to be
edited and saved.
From: K6X (Cluke)
Subject: Hunt The Snib
There are three files which relate to
this game; Snib is the original game,
Snibzy is my version of it, and Vsnib
prints an A4 gamesheet via View if you
have it. I have only tried the game
on a Master, but I would think that it
should run OK on a Beeb. The gamesheet
is not essential, but it does help to
avoid making the same guess twice.
The game is very simple and is really
aimed at 7-8 year olds. My son Mathew
is learning about co-ordinates and the
points of the compass this term, and
this program combines both topics.
The original game was published in
Beebug with the intention that it
should be developed. I have gone the
other way and pruned it rather a lot
to make it more suitable for Mathew
and his classmates. In the original
game The Snib was also a seeker, and
often found me after only three or
four guesses. This would reduce the
chance for the children to learn from
the game before it ended, so I lopped
off that part and made The Snib into a
hider-only. (By the way, there was one
location on the grid where, due to the
method employed to determine your
location you could more often than not
be hidden and not be "got". The Snib
knows where you must be, but cannot
always get at you. See if you can find
where and why that is ? ) Any road up,
after much head-scratching, frowning,
and thumbing-through of destruction-
books, I eventually managed to add
some twiddly bits and some colour in
order to keep their attention, and to
hopefully make it easier for them to
use. Just follow the prompts.
I have no doubt that what I have done
could have been done more easily and
elegantly, but then my skills as a
programmer lie ( rather obviously! )
somewhere between minimal and nil, so
YOU'RE LUCKY YOU'VE GOT IT AT ALL!!!!
If nowt else, it might give the little
darlings something to do when they've
finished playing with the boxes that
the presents came in!
Merry Christmas, and Happy Hunting.
From: 3WU (Fred Price)
Subject: Poem -- A Year
Richard Haswell who wrote the Geordie
Brown poems also had a serious side to
his writing, and it is from that book
that I chose this one for you at this
time of the year as it is well named:
Three Hundred And Sixty-Five Days.
It also carries in it my thoughts for
you this Christmas so put your paper
in the printer and it is all set ready
to center up if your printer will
accept the command; if not put a REM in
line 20 to stop it.
So get cracking friends for this next
THREE HUNDRED AND SIXTY-FIVE DAYS
when you Type in.
*********
*********
From: 3WU (Fred Price)
Subject: Let's Compute Calendar
A new magazine"Let's Compute"was first
issued in August 1990 but unfortunately
it only made 12 issues then it was
withdrawn from the market. Recently I
have received a letter from Acorn User:
Dear Fred, it would be okay for you to
use the programs from Let's Compute as
long as they are properly credited and
you state they are being used with the
permission of IDG Media.
Steve Turnbull, Editor, Acorn User.
This Calendar works in this and the
next century, and if you want you can
design you own picture to head your
calendar. The first thing you will be
asked is if you want a printout or a
display; P=Print, S=Screen. Next you
are asked for the year (do you know
what day you were born?) Try it out.
If you answered P to the first
question it will print your calendar:
if you pressed S the cat will first be
displayed. Press any key to see the
first part of the calendar. There
will be a slight pause while your
computer sorts a few things out and
then the first few months of your
calendar will be displayed.
To see more press a key again, (There
will be no more messages telling you
to press a key) Just take my word for
it.
Line 40 sets the width of the printout
and if you have a printer that lets
you have more letters you can change
it. The picture of the cat is designed
to fit all common printers and at the
moment it is 32 letters wide. If it is
printed 80 letters wide the whole
calendar will be 66 lines long; a
common paper size.
To make your own design change the data
lines 770 to 1000. If you use more than
32 letters in any line, then change 32
in line 150 to the most you use. You
can make the picture as tall as you
want by putting more data lines in but
keep DATA"end" as the last line.
I must confess that at this moment I
have not tried to make a wider picture
so I will have to have a go at it.
There are one or two more interesting
programs in Lets Compute that I will
send in as time goes by, so have a go
and see what crazy pictures you can
make up for your friends.
And now I must give a big Thankyou to
Acorn User for letting me send this in
to 8Bit for your use, and I hope you
enjoy using it.
Fred Price 3WU
PS The Let's Compute Calendar sign at
the top can be changed at line 160.