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EDITOR'S NOTES
HAPPY BIRTHDAY grect- ings were sent to us in the June 1991 issue of QL WORLD. Our thanks to Helen Armstrong, the editor for her support and humor.
NEW STUFF ALL OVER THE PLACE or GIVE. ME a BREAK
In the past three months there have been two major questionaires distri- buted to the QL community and in the United States alone two nex Magazines dedicated in whole or in part to the QL.
We have reviewed and commented ra these offerings here and in the la ' issue. Generally, we support efforl: to improve communication. particu- larly among QL users. As a groon we are an example of such birth.
However, taking a hard look al
number of QL's in North Amerie... (the most generous estimate is that there are 2000 users in all), we are reminded more of a Boston School Committee meeting than dedicated users seeking to expand interesi. knowledge and skill with the QL.
We make no specific case for any one publication, but we feel that those with new ideas and an urec to publish them would better serve the QL community by supportin: existing publications and efforts. The finances of any one effort is Perilous enough without dividing the market.
DIRECTORY
NESQLUG NEWS The Journal of Record of New England Sinclair QL User Group Vol II, No 1 — "A Beacon to Guide the Wandering Sojourner Home from the Abyss of Confusion
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The NESGLUG NEWS is the Journal of the New England Sinclair QL User Group. It is published bi-monthly.
Annual membership is $10.00 (stu- dents $5.00) in North America. The rest of the world - $15.00 air mail.
We meet monthly on the first Sat- urday of odd-numbered months and the first Sunday of even numbered months. If that's a holiday weekend, we meet the following weekend.
NEXT MEETINGS
NESQLUG meets from 11:00am to 4:00pm, Saturday, July 13, at the home oof Al & Dorothy Boehm, 33 Seitridge Road, Bedford, MA. Call (617) 275-1097 for directions. Come 9:00 to 10:00 for coffee and set up.
Yu. it meets from 1:00pm to
day. August 4. at Bill
SAN ol Cornish, NH. See
Sa g GOES NORTH for
directions, weekend schedule and accomodation listings. 2223
Our exchange policy is Simple: we- Send-vou-ours-if-you-send-us-yours
(WSYOLYSUY) and you have something to say about the QL. Please forward exchange issues to
Frederick Romer, 31 Fowler St., Jamestown, RI 02835.
Unless copywritten by the author, articles/listings are in the public domain. Attribution is requested.
phone Director Al Boehm, 33 Selfridge Rd, Bedford, MA 01730 (617) 275-1097 Treasurer Sherm Waterman, 40 Eileen St, Yarmouth Port, MA 02675 (508) 362-5322 Membership Se'xy HH g oon Ed Kingsley, 16 Highland Ave, Saugus, MA 01906 (617) 233-36T1 Editor
Newsletter Liason
Peter Hale, 195 Central Ave, Chelsea, MA 02150 Fred Romer, 31 Fowler St, Jamestown, RI! 02835
NESQLUG NEWS ae) =
(617) 889-0830 (401) 423-2688
July/August 1991
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CONTENTS
Editor's notes
Next Meeting
Bad News, Good News and Net Wash New Columnist Meeting Minutes MS-QLINK - A review New Kid on the Block NESQLUG Goes North Psion Tip NESQLibrary Update Questionaires NESQLIBnol - the Disk Dear Wendy
VE ON IG Wa —
a
ODA m
BAD NEWS. GOOD NEWS and NET WASH
First, the bad news. Dansoft, manu- facturer of the Thor KVI, is out of business. This has been verified ha our secret agent who actually knocked on doors in Denmark.
The rumor is that that Dansof! failed to get funds for a plant and a contract in Russia to assemble units there. A lot had been riding on that contract and Dansoft became overextended. Again, the details are only rumor.
The good news is that Miracle Systems has released the Gold Card. a memory expansion and disk inter- face card that is smaller and runs cooler than a Trump Card, has 1792K of memory (that's not a typo! - twice the memory of a Trump). a real-time, battery-backed clock, and Supports High Density and the as yet unavailable Extended Density drives that store up to 4 Megs unformatted.
It includes a 16Mhz, 16 bit bus. Motorola 68000 processor.
When installed, you have a QL that runs four and a half times faster than an stock 128K unit. A reliable Source has compared an MS-DOS financial program simultaneously on an XT-clone and under Conqueror on a QL. The QL kept up.
The net result is that a QL with +
Gold Card outperforms the Thor XVI in most applications at big savings!
NEW COLUMNIST
NESQLUG is very pleased to have gained the services of Wendy Wolffe, a free-lance computer consultant.
Currently an Associate Software Engineer with EMSoft, the Boston, Massachusetts, QL Software dealer, Wendy has agreed to answer any questions you may have about computers.
Please see her first column elsewhere in this issue.
Please send any letters in care of the editor, or you may call her at 1-617-884-6969, The charge for a call is $1.95 per minute and will appear on your phone bill.
MEETING MINUTES by Mike Jonas
The Sew England QL Sinclair Group
met ai the home of Al and Dorothy Boehm on May 4, 1991.
At the start of the meeting Peter Hale gave an impromptu demonstra- tion of text&7, Text§™ is a more powerful word processor than Quill,
is faster and has better search and replace facilities. With fountedt?, it
can support user-defined fonts. Other features include multiple column printout. on-screen rulers for margins and tab settings, and
rapid block copying and deletion.
Ernie Wider demonstrated a task Organize program and NOTEPAD, an Archive program keyed in from a four part series in QL World. NOTEPAD has two record keeping functions: notes on a variety of different subjects and a diary/
planner. The program automatically displays a list of Jobs and events you have previously entered "to do" on the day for which the QL's date is set and any unfinished jobs you didn't get to earlier. Also built in is a powerful calculator with memory
Cont page 8
MS—QLINK Reviewed by Gary Norton
MS-QLINK by T. F. Leal of Qfile in Portugal allows for some compat- ibility between the Sinclair QL and MS-DOS based computers.
Perhaps you're a QL user like me who must use an MS-DOS computer at work. It's usually not a L oblem, but on occasion, wouldn't it be nice to work on a document at the office, then complete it at home at your leisure?
On these occasions, do you feel somewhat envious of co-workers wlio have compatible machines at home and get to leave on time on Friday afternoons?
MS-QLINK is an inexpensive program that allows such flexibility. Although not a full MS-DOS emulator (Do not mistake it for DP's THE SOLUTION or CONQUEROR), it is a nifty piece of programming. Its main feature is the ability to transfer ASCII files between QDOS formatted and MS-DOS formatted disks (ATARI- TOS, too.) It even formats MS-DOS disks on a QL.
MS—QLINK will run on an unexpanded QL but you must have at least one disk drive. One 10 four drives will be supported. 360K (40 track) and 729K (80 track) 5.25" or 3.5° disk drives are accepted. but 1.2 or 1.44MB high-density drives on some of the newer, more powerful computers are not suppor- ted with this version of MS-QLINK. These drives «:l! work with 360K and 720K formatted disks. To ensure compatibility, just format your disks on the QL.
When first running MS-QLINK, the first task is to run the Make_boot file. This configuration file custom- izes the boot file to your particular ROM. Other files are Zapnames_task to execute if operating an AH or JM ROM; Runtime_exts which contains Turbo Toolkit extensions to let MS-QLINK run without the need for TK II; Summary doc, a two page Quill file that summarizes al
NESQLUG NEWS
a ss
commands and control keys; and Updates_doc with last minute information not in the manual.
After executing MS-QLINK, you get a red screen with "B:\>" in the bottom left corner. This is a simulated MS-DOS cursor. It shows that the default drive is the B drive. To those not familiar with MS-DOS, the B drive is what you know as flp2_. You will also notice, a bit higher up, a cursor off to the left of the red part of the screen.
This is the QDOS cursor. To shift between QDOS and the simulated MS-DOS, simply press <CTRL> C
(Control C).
MS-QLINK multi-tasks, so you can keep it running in the background, and retrieve it when needed. I have discovered it is best to keep your MS-DOS disk in the B drive and your QDOS disk in fIpi_
Some of the more useful commands/ features of MS-QLINK are: F3 dis- plays two screens of the commands,
as provided in the Summary doc file, F4 redraws the screen. D displays the MS-DOS disk directory. DW displays if in the wide or column format. DP & DWP are sumliar to the above two commands, but send the directories to the printer.
V views Ibe contents of an MS-DOS ASCII file on the screen and VP sends at te the printer. The view command helps determine if a file is pure ASCII or noi an ASCII file will be readable, a non-ASCII file won't be. N renames a file: E erases one. F formats an MS-DOS disk.
If any of the above commands are preceeded by a Q, MS-QLINK knows that you want to apply them to a QDOS disk.
But the final two commands are the reason to own this program. R transfers files from the MS-DOS disk to the QDOS disk and W does the reverse with the necessary file marker codes automatically changed.
While experimenting with this
July/August 1991
Sheraton Lebanon, standard area.
Corni
Hanover 643-4300. Dartmout! north of
I will bi July NES call if yc and I'll
Cable, RR or phone
`
TI
For year QL-way t needed t lists, but them, so value to
I use there is enables t command executed program. auto-load Margins, I normall;
Recently, I could i do" on
thereby t time I use
I additio: TASKMAST function
after sett: to initiate ARCHIVE, that I u sequence Do" List c
It's very
resave th become m: notwithsta
outh College many shops.
the home of yle and their It is located Gaudens Rd. >stled in the and pumped . We have a bath house. y (how else t it is home panels and a real pot-
are welcome nture of the pare group you want to of a rustic le to put a
head, but z bag. You Jr own tent.
ir he area Cc. uwfortable made a list
Cornish, NH id breakfast St. Gaudens Use. Room Third story are a bath,
šuest House 9-3211. A ith private shared bath ). Located ce grounds
» WT (802) tereotypical not fancy), ' of town.
iver Junc- lice atmos- ing. About » $36-$40, e rates.
NEW KID ON THE BLOCK by Peter Hale
All members of NESQLUG and a lot of other People around the world recently received the inaugural issue of the grandly titled Inter- national QL Report.
I was impressed with the inaugural ‘issue.
IQLR is published by Bob Dyl, dba Seacoast Services, of 15 Kilburn
MS-QLINK cont from previous page 7
Program, | Successfully formatted MS-DOS disks, loaded exported Quill, Abacus and other QL ASCII files into MS-DOS Programs such as Wordstar v4 and Lotus 1-2-3. I also went in the reverse direction. importing ASCII files from Wordstar, Lotus and other *.TXT files into QL Quill and Abacus.
MS-QLINK has truly opened up a new dimension in my computing. It won't make an IBM AT out of a QL, but you can now communicate with one. Now there is more reason than ever to continue owning and using your old, trusty QL.
MS-QLINK comes with a sixteen page manual that adequately explains in good English the features of the Program. With the addition of the F3 screens the Summary doc file and the Update_doc file, you gel a Substantial reference resource. They let one quickly begin using the Program.
MS-QLINK is very user friendly; one needn't be a programmer to use this program. I heartily recommend it to anyone using the QL at one location and an MS-DOS computer at another. To link the two computers, all you need is an MS-DOS Program that creates and loads ASCII files. MS-QLINK takes care of the rest.
MS-QLINK is available in North America for $24.95 PPd from EMSoft, P. O. Box 8763, Boston, MA 02114.
4
MIA? ta fers
Court, Newport, RI 02840 (401) 849. 3805. Old time Sinclair fans recai that Bob traded as English Micro connections and was an activ. Sinclair distributor until his healt! forced his retirement from tha venture.
The 9 page newsletter has professional appearance. It has pro duct announcements, supplier ad- dresses, and notice of a $5.00 (plu: $2.00 sth) QL Survivors Sourceboo} listing hardware and software deal- ers, publications and user group: around the world. Sadly missing te the 'reviews' is critical evaluation o: product quality and utility.
A conceptually useful SuperBASIC utility to list data storage devices on your computer was included, bui appears to have a bug as I coulc not get it to run.
An unusual feature (for North America) is that Bob requires written permission for others to use the copyright material. Most news- letters are in the Public domain in the interests of sharing knowledge.
So a Big Hello to the new kid on the block and wish Bob every
Success in his new venture. We wonder, however, if there is demand for another publication when
UPDATE MAGAZINE could usefully use the material to make a very strong magazine.
In addition to Sponsoring Seacoast
Services, Bob also is a driving force in the Seacoast User Group. Although small, the group has among its members a definitive collection of QL hardware and
software ranging from most of the QL ROMs to various models of Thors and at least one of just about every accessory and program ever sold,
As a national resource the energy behind this Eroup could enhance an exisiting Publication.
NnELIrE 1 mdy 19.95 R þe card file _dbf and demo EMSoft MAILBAG ver 3.1 1 mdy 24.95 Mailing list _dbf with demo QLAND_LORD ver 3.1 (R) 1 mdv 24.35 Real Estate management _dbf TRUST_FUND ver 3.1 I mdy 24.95 Stock, Bonds etc _dbf with demo INVENTORY ver 1.3 1 mdv 14.95 Personal property record keeping _dbf EMSoft title upgrade(with original) 4.95 TAX-1-QL/90 1 mdy 24.95 1990 IRS tax template _aba TAX-1-QL/90 supplement I mdv 4.00 Additional fiics i. icrocart users TAX-1-QL/91 I mdy 24.95 1991 IRS tax template _aba ia. ç TAX-1-QL/91: early bird I mdv (24-98 For orders received by 11/25/91 MJM Software CAM MASTER demo (JSU only; 384K Ram) 9.95 CAM MASTER site license 2850.00 Platypus Software QLUSTer 1 mdv 12.95 EXECutable, multi-tasking files handling QLuMSi 1 mdv 19.95 Pseudo MS-DOS file handling on a QL Qfile MS-QL INK (R) 2 mdys 24.95 Read/write/format QL/MS-D0S/Atari-TOS DISCOPY I mdy 14.95
Fast copier between QL/MS-DOS/Atar i-TOS MS~QLINK with DISCOPY 3 mdvs 34.95
eee A LN dO
yta magazine set & Foyt book 29.95
11 48 monthlies, 3 quarterlies & book Syncware News 29.95 All 60 issues (5 vols - 6/vol)
Quantum Levels 19.95 AIT 12 issues (2 vole - 6/vo!) u. The Secret Guide to Computers 15.00
HARDWARE
T/S BUS Connector /Extender (3 pack) 13.95 T/S BUS Connector /Extender 3*(3 pack) 26.95 KX-P1124 Panasonic printer ribbon 4.95 Generic brand, high density ribbon
KX-P 1124 Panasonic ribbon (3 pack) 12.95
SALA? SALE!
| SAI!
Now through September 15, 1991, mention
you saw thi. (not otherw:se discounted) title.
ad here and take 10% off any
All prices are postpaid in N.A.
(but subject to change without notice Choice of disk; add $4.00 per mdy.
Send #10 SAc: for review (R),
FREE CATALOGUE
EMSoftft P.O. Box 8763 Boston MA 02114 (1-617) 889-0830
.)
if available.
EMSoft
Now has in-stock from Softwares! the best true WYSIWYG QL word-processor: textt7 v 3.0] with Qtyp spell checker, several new features (and unlimited North America help line.)
text®? ver 3.01 (R) 7 mdvs 119.95 WYSIWYG wordprocessor & Qtyp spell checker fountext®®: graphic driver 4 mdvs 49.95 WYSIWYG output to 9 or 24 pin with 32 fonts founted®®: screen font editor I mdy 29.95
Make text87 custom fonts 2488: 24 pin driver 5 mdvs 29.95
for text87 only text®? ver 3.01 upgrade (with original)39.95
Order two or more Software!? titles and take 10% off the second title, 15% off the third and fourth. (Also for text®! thru 9/15/91)
Boutal, Chris QL_GENEALOGIST (R) 2 mdvs 40.95 Family history with UK royal family demo CAPE Software
RECIPE I mdy 19.95 Recipe card file _dbf and demo
EMSoft MAILBAG ver 3.1 I mdy 24,95 Mailing list _dbf with demo QLAND_LORD ver 3.1 (R) 1 mdy 24.95 Real Estate management _dbf TRUST_FUND ver 3.1 I mdy 24.95 Stock, Bonds etc _dbf with demo INVENTORY ver 1.3 1 mdy 14.95 Personal property record keeping _dbf
El ft title upgrade(with original) 4.95 TAX-1-QL/90 y Sao nai nr
Software for the QL ae eae works
x | x | |
TEPE EPR el OS eR se PRSI
|
Sector Software
FILES2: fs ¿master Files upgrade | mdv 26.95
New mult tasks in any environment (R) Williams, Richard TABDED I TG! (R) 2 móvs 34,95 Prats m iy MOG E ara Pie E, HS. n 197 wits word wrapping Wood & Wind Computing CHAOS BUSIFRS 29,95
SuperBAS ` to ARCHIVE utilities & DBEasy DBEasy: u: or EXpanded QL 3 mdvs 21.95 User fri: div front end for ARCHIVE (R) DBProgs I mdv 19.95 6 useful ARCHIVE utilities
DBTutor: UN or EXpanded QL 3 mdvs 24.95 Archive “lash card" to teach yourself HELPER 1 mdy 9.95 SUperBAS! [ilehand] ing utility
From MEDAC Ask for statistical and engineering software
BOOKS 8. MAGAZINES Syntax magazine set & Foyt book 29,95 Al! 48 monthlies, 3 quarterlies & book Syncware News 29.95 All 60 iscues (5 vols - 6/vol)
Quantum Levels 19.95 Al] 12 (ernst (2 volg - Pa : The Secret Guide to Computers 15.00
HARDWARE T/S BUS Connector /Extender (3 pack) 13.95 | "/S BUS Connector /Extender 3*(3 pack) 26.95
nX>P1124 Panasonic printer ribbon A ac
NESQLUG GOES NORTH by Bill Cable
On August 4th NESQLUG will meet in Cornish, NH. The Offical meeting time will be from 1:00 to 4:00 pm at the home of member Bill Cable. Unofficially the meeting will begin Friday afternoon, August 2. Please use it as an excuse to enjoy the NH/VT countryside.
The meeting will focus on running a business with a QL with a demon- stration of how TARIKI Stoneware, a local pottery business, uses the ARCHIVE-based business program QLERK, written by Bill Cable.
Cornish is located on the Connecticut River halfway up the state. It is north of Claremont.
south of Plainfield, Lebanon, and Hanover and west of Meriden. Just across the river by way of the world's longest covered bridge is Windsor, VT.
It is easily accessable by way of I-89 in NH or l-91 in VT. It is a rural town with a couple of small grocery stores but has 2 zip codes because we traditionally divide ourselves into Cornish (by the river) and Cornish Flat (to the East). Historically. it was a farming community, but at the turn of the century it also had a thriving artist colony whose most famous member
was Augustus St. Gaudens, the noted American sculptor. Maxfield Parish was ais> a part of this group.
Now there are only a few farmers left and most residents commute to work or are crafts people who work out of their homes.
Local sights include:
1) Miles of dirt reads through forest and field.
2) St. Gaudens National Historic Site with many exhibits and beautiful grounds.
3) TARIKI Stoneware where part of the meeting will be held. They make garden seats and planters.
4) Mount Ascutney State Park with an easy hike to the top for a
NESQLUG NEWS -5-
beautiful view. 5) The quaint Dartmouth College campus in Hanover with many shops.
The meeting will be at the home of Bill Cable and Mary Boyle and their 3 year old son, Rigel. It is located off of Rte 12A on St. Gaudens Rd. It is a round house nestled in the woods. Our water is hand pumped and we use an outhouse. We have a separate wood heated bath house. We do have electricity (how else could I run my QL) but it is home generated by solar panels and diesel. The layout is a real pot- pouri of old and new.
As mentioned above all are welcome to make a weekend adventure of the meeting. We will prepare group meals - just bring what you want to contribute. For those of a rustic bent we should be able to put a roof over everyone’: head, but bring your own sleeping bag. You are welcome to bring your own tent.
Those who wish to be in the area overnight but want more comfortable accommodations I have made a list of possible places:
The Barberry House - Cornish, NH (603) 675-2802. A bed snd breakfast 5 minutes walk from St. Gaudens and 2 miles from our house. Room with private bath, $95. Third story with 2 bedrooms that share a bath, $85 (good for 2 couples).
Kimball Union Academ; Guest House - Meriden, NH (603) 469-3211. A guest house. Room with private
bath $40. 2 rooms with shared bath $70 (good for 2 couples). Located in private school with nice grounds and tennis courts ete.
Windsor Motel - W idsor, VT (802) 674-5584. Windsor a stereotypical small New England t wn (not fancy). Motel is a little outside of town. $40 double.
Hotel Coolidge - White River June- tion, VT (802) 295-3118. Nice atmos- phere, some night life/dining. About 15 miles north of Cornish. $36-$40. Mention NESQLUG for these rates.
July/August 1991
Al mei of other recently issue of national
I was im issue,
IQLR is Seacoast
MS-QLINI Program, MS-DOS < Abacus
into MS Wordstar went in importing Lotus an: Quill and
MS-QI N new dime won't mas but you
one. Now ever to < your old,
MS-QLINK manual tt good Eng Program. F3 scree: and the | substantia let one program.
MS-QLINK needn't be program.
anyone us and an MS To link tl need is : creates ' MS-QLhWw
MS-QLINK America fo P. O. Box í
keys; and
st minute anual, —
K, ovu get a >" in the This is a ~ It shows is the B 'amiliar with s what you also notice, r off to the the screen. r. To shift e simulated <CTRL> C
sO you can background, needed. I est to keep he B drive ipl_
| commands/ re: F3 dis- e e-~samands, sui ary doc screen. D k directory. e wide or < DWP are > commands, es to the
an MS-DOS en and VP
The view if a file is CH file will I file won't erases one. Ke
mmands are LINK knows them to a
ids are the ogram. R ne (S-DOS inu M does cessary file y changed.
with this
Sheraton North Country Inn - West Lebanon, NH (603) 298-5906. A standard sort of motel in a busy area. About 12 miles north of
Cornish. $90 double.
Hanover Inn - Hanover, NH (603) 643-4300. Fancy and right on the Dartmouth. Green. About 25 miles north of Cornish. $154.
I will bring detailed maps to the July NESQLUG meeting or write or call if you won't be at the meeting and I'll mail a detailed map. Bill Cable, RR3 Box 92, Cornish, NH 03745 or phone (603) 675-2218.
PSION TIP THINGS TO DO by Ed Kingsley
For years I've wanted to have a QL-way to remind myself of things | needed to do. I created Files of lists, but forgot to load and read them, so they were never of any value to me.
I use TurboQUILL+ as my WP and there is a function included «hich enables the user to preprogram a command which will automatically be executed when you EXEC the program. I used this feature to auto-load a blank doc file with the Margins, Justification, etc.. the way I normally use them.
Recently, it also occured to me that I could include a list of “Things to do" on the setup doc file and thereby be confronted with it every time I used a WP.
I additionally discovered that the TASKMASTER Programmable _CMD function is available immediately after setting the date. I use it now to initiate the (3) PSION programs, ARCHIVE, ABACUS and TurboQUILL+ that I use, in that order. The sequence ends with my "Things To Do" List on-screen.
It's very easy to edit the List and resave the file and this has now become my indispensible nag. (Peter notwithstanding).
‘
NESQLUG NEWS
BiB
NESQLibrary UPDATE. by Ed Kingsley
I had an Art teacher in 6th grade, who made a point of collecting class projects when we thought we stil had 5 or 10 minutes left to work on| them. Her theory was that the paintings were probably as good as they were going to get at that point: and that, in the urge to "finish" them, we might add unnecessary detail and possibly make them even worse that they were already.
There is a lesson here that the Librarian might have remembered BEFORE starting this project. I an, however, an Architect and I believe that, left to our own devices, de- signers always know in their heart of hearts that no project is ever, really "finished ENOUGH".
However, with the kind editing assistance of Peter Hale, DISK#1 has reached its FINAL ENOUGH form and, hopefully, will stay that way.
I have sufficient programs in hand now to assemble DISK#2 and enough material left over to get a start on DISK#3. If you still have work-in-
progress. press on, it shan't be for naught.
The number of original, NESQLUG authored programs has doubled for
DISK#2. which is a healthy and promising sign. Game software and Applications programs will also
double in number while the number of utilities has gone down slightly, but still remains the most numerous category.
Im hoping for an August relr«se for DISK#2.
Julv/4uciuc+ 1004
SURVEYS and QUESTIONAIRES by Peter Hale
In the past two or three months we have learned of two surveys being onducted in the world of the QL.
The most valuable one being cir- culated is that of Robin Stevenson, a British Computer Consultant who has been commissioned by QL WORLD to write an article on the state of the QL in North America.
Robin is best known to QL users for his articles on Archive Programming in QL WORLD. We have had some correspondence with him in this regard and kno» that he will do a fine job.
Robin circulated his questionaire to 11 user groups in North America of which he was aware. We heartily reccommend cooperation. It should be known to the rest of the world that we are an active market of innovative users.
If you want tc participate in the questionaire but did not get a copy, please notify the NESQLUG editor.
The second questionaire emanates from Dr. Sohail S. Bhatti, B Sc (Hons), M B Ch 5, a Quanta member and founder =f QLAW, the QL Advancement Working Group.
Dr. Bhatti is frustrated with Quanta's constit:tion prohibiting it from co-ordinatinz and promoting a mega-Super QL project.
Dr. Bhattis aim is to get together everyone who has projects (primar- ily hardware) ir, development which could lead to renewed life for the QL as the 21st century approaches.
His objective is to develop a design strategy for the next generation of QL-clones.
The questionaire has been widely circulated through Quanta members and Quanta sub-groups world-wide.
Dr. Bhatti is soliciting a £10.00
NESQLUG NEWS -
7
contribution from anyone who wants to receive updates on developments within QLAW as well as results of the survey. You can contact Dr. Bhatti at 4 Wasdale Avenue, Park
View, Blackburn, BB1 1XD, ENGLAND. `
While Dr. Bhatti's goals are admir- able, we are somewhat underwhelmed by his approach.
Notwithstanding the excesses of the 80's, we are taken with the concept
of greed as a moe powerful motivator in the market-place than the spirit « volunteerism. By this we mean «a idea must be good enough t> some capital on with a view to making a profit.
Miracle Systems follows this
approach - viz the Gold Card. It didn't take a genius to see it could extend the useful life of the QL. It may, however, have taken a genius to design it.
The Gold Card extends the functionality of the QL at a cost (UK prices, anyway) that is very competive with an AT compatible machine or a low end Macintosh. Miracle believed in the concept enough te risk its own capital.
Each reader of this newsletter got a copy of the QLAW questionaire in the complimentary issue of IQLR, but neither the IQLR summary of QLAW goals and objectives nor this article communicate the tone of the QLAW cover letter.
The vagueness and universality of the proposal and the lack of a business plan makes us nervous as to whether the effort will serve to unite the Ql. community or divide it.
It is our contention that Sir Clive himself is the model to follow. When you have a germ of an idea, take it and run with it. If you wait for everyone to get on the Band Wagon, the parade will be over before anyone gets rolling.
u July/August 1991
Editor's n Next ” `t Bad Nrs. New Colur Meeting M MS-QLINK New Kid c NESQLUG Psion Tip NESQLibr: Questiona NESQLIBn: Dear Wenc
BAD NEWS
First, the facturer < business. our secr knocked c
The rum failed +< a CONA units thei on that cr overexten are only :
The gooc Systems I a memory face card cooler tr 1792K of - twice t. real-time, supports yet unav drives tr unformatt:
It includ: Motorola €
When inst runs four than an s sourci 1. financiar an XT-clo on a QL.
The net r
sa... . s. ..
he Journal ir QL User -monthly.
10.00 (stu- erica. The air mail.
first Sat- nonths and numbered y weekend, kend.
NGS
1:00am to 13, at the Boehm, 33 MA. Call io: Come d set up.
1:00pm to 4. at Bill H. See TH for edule and
imple: we- -us-yours u have > QL.
issues to wwler St.,
e author, he public uested.
phone (€ 275-1097 (5. , 362-5322
(617) 233-3671 (617) 889-0830 401) 423-2688
91
NESQLIBnoL — The DISK Reviewed by Peter Hale
We have seen the Beta-test version of the final edition of NESQLIBnol, the first disk in our Public Domain Library.
It has been promised for some time, but delays in disk organization and checking for incompatibility with certain ROMs has delayed its issue.
A truely significant feature is the numerous ways the contents and
program descriptions can be accessed.
Ed Kingsley, ir itbrarian, has invested a lot o: effort to develop a simple database program and file to
provide the mor: complete descrip- tion of the var; as programs in the library. The ARCHIVE program requires no knowledge of ARCHIVE other than the ability to execute jt. The database “ë tells vou almost everything you sight want to know about a program without actually running it.
Additionally, me": of the info is on an ABACUS Cc? CENTS aba file, and a QUILL INDEX_ ‘oc file has an even more cut down i:t
Thus there is little excuse to avoid exploring the offerings.
The library has a range of pro- grams. Every user will find some- thing of interest. There is a series of SuperBASIC PIC_ files that draw images. Everyone will enjoy them at least once and the graphically oriented will be intrigued with the programming techniques.
There are addictive games (BLACK- JACK, CRAZYCARDS, DARTS and FOURinLINE); useful utilities such as the keypress indicators. PIP, PIP2- TONE, CAPSBEEP and CAPSLOCK; some extensions to simplify channel designation and line drawing, an- other that automatically replaces all occurances of a variable name in a SuperBASIC program with a new name; several math programs
NESQLUG NEWS - 8 -
ranging from Bill Cable's ARITH- METIC tutoring program to a pair of. statistics programs; and two differ-i ent but useful calculators.
Ed's personal favorite, MULTIbasic, is there. It lets the QL have any number of SuperBASIC programs in memory at the same time. Although not genuine multi-tasking, the speed of switching between SuperBASIC programs must be seen to be believed. And for anyone that has stil passed up on easy multi- tasking, Bill Cable has put in his SuperBASIC MULTITASKET, which enhances one from QL World, so that even suci: ill-mannered programs as the PSIO* suite can be multi-tasked.
Ma Kamote. althourh “bas is DEL sona. 15 INDENT, It uckly adds/sul pacts spaces in a Super- BASIC program so that indentation of lines in IF. FOR, DEFines and other routines makes a program easier to read.
some people have already sent
formatted disks and/or money for both disks. Apologies to all who were confused hy last issue's aAnhomer sent rewarding disk #2,
MINUTES Cont from page 2
registers and a calendar.
An dnresolved "feature" prevents a user from entering two appointments for the same date consecutively, It works fine if a second date is entered or the program is returned to the main menu in between.
Will Horton showed off DIRECTORY
SORT. 2 provram 'e develore4 to alphabetically sort the file names on a disk, then display them on screen in multiple columns. He also demonstrated a perpetual calendar Program that displays a given month in any selected year.
Next, Bill Cable demonstrated QLERK, a powerful Archive application he had developed to handle all the financial record keeping needs of a
Cont next page
Julv/Anuoiuet 19901
DEAR WENDY Dear Wendy,
I recently discovered that back in 1943, Thomas J. Watson, the then President of IBM, predicted that ' there's a world market for about 5 computers. Was he talking about all computers or just the Kind made by IBM?
Curious in Calumet
Dear Curious,
My old friend Tommy was talking
just ab... the kind made by IBM. He kn- that computers would never rszz.ace typewriters. Unfor-
tunately. he didn't live long enough to put fs foot down about PC-DOS operating systems.
Please 22-24 any letters in care of the edit::. or you may call Wendy 1234-7969, The charge for a call is $1.22 per minule and will vous phone bill.
MINUTES Cont from previous page
smal =znufacturing or service busines:.
Finally. .1 Norton oc aćanaoneit rale Graphs Plotter, whieh plotted simi and cene — simultaneously, then drew a ris chart.
The business portion was short. The treasurer, Sherm Waterman, reported that prior to paying the for the May/June newsletter there was $140.58 in the treasury and it was estimated that there would be about $100 to carry over to next year.
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July/August 1991}
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