THIS MIXTURE OF MESSAGES ARRIVED AFTER THE DEADLINE. To: 999 (all members) From: 4WL (Martin R Wilson) Subject: Free Local Calls Reply to: D7Y While certainly an interesting story about what happened in America surely the mistakes have been learned by both internet providers and phone companies. BT could limit free calls to lets say 15 hours a quarter and providers could limit free hours to 5 or so a month like they do now and then be more reasonable in the cost of extra hours like 10p per hour. It certainly wouldn't be too difficult to sort out a system that worked. I certainly wouldn't agree with 'Thank Goodness' as a comment with regard having to pay for calls. BT are a ripoff and a monopoly and who doesn't hate them. You don't have shares do you? The fact that BT aren't going to give free local calls is the important bit. However I am not reasured by this. At least we won't get bothered every other night by timeshare and double glazing sales people. Hmmm perhaps I'm coming round to your thinking after all. ,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,, To: 999 (all members) From: 4WL (Martin R Wilson) Subject: Reply to E2K (Mixed Drives) I've been using a mixed 3.5 and 5 1/4 drive with my BBC (and Electron) for some time. Originally the drive was two 5 1/4 mechanisms but because I'd got a Archimedes I wanted to transfer a lot of my stuff onto 3.5 plus of course 5 1/4 disks are now much rarer and have always been less robust. So I was beginning to use 3.5 disks in preference even with the BBC. I took out the top drive and replaced it with a 3.5 drive in a 5 1/4 mounting. These are easily obtained from PC suppliers. Mine came from Hills. Also it came with the handy power adaptor which converts the 5 1/4 type power connector into a 3.5 type. I then got a 34 way IDC connector and crimped it on the cable. I actually used a right angle ruler thing to write a totally level line across the ribbon cable. So when I crimped it on it was level. I say crimped but in fact I just used a little bit of wood and a hammer to start it off and then left it under the foot of the main living room table which applied some pressure and later when I returned it was fully crimped on. Its a very heavy table. The little triangle bit marked on the IDC connector should be at the same side as the the markings on the ribbon cable. How the ribbon cable is marked is another matter. It will either be coloured on one side or have a slight ridge. Either way this represents the pin 1 connection. The other thing to remember is to have the IDC connector on the same side as the edge connector used on the 5 1/4 drive. Another important bit is to set the ids. I used a couple of switches so that I could toggle which drive represents drive 0 for booting purposes. However this could be done with one switch with more connections but I'm not going to go into that. One drive needs to be set to 0(if the ID settings go from 0 to 3) or 1 (if they go from 1 to 4).These are at the back of the drive normally and set using mini jumpers. The other drive must be set to 1 or 2. 5 1/4 drives often have terminator packs. These resemble a chip but are more rounded. Unless you've got a drive where its set by a jumper or not needed at all. 3.5 drives don't need terminator packs. Anyway I tried the combination with and without the terminator in the 5 1/4 drive and found that it seemed to work better without it. This may be bad advice and it may be that you should have it fitted. Perhaps my 3.5 drive automatically provided the termination or something. Its a Toshiba mechanism. I've been using this setup for a couple of years now or more with no problems. Hope some of this info is of use. I know it could have done with a diagram in places. ,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,, To: 999 (all members) From: 4WL (Martin R Wilson) Subject: To D6F (Other Formats) This may or may not help but it may be possible to create reference disks on your 8bit computer and using a disk copier on the Archimedes to copy them and then use them. So if you wanted to create a 80 track single sided ADFS disk so that it could be used between a Archimedes and Electron with Plus 3 (single sided 80 track drive) you would need to make a reference disk using your Electron. This disk would be left blank but formatted to 320k and write protected. You would then copy it using one of the Archimedes more sophisticated disk copiers (not bothering to enable copying of the second side of the disk) and create your new blank this way by using the reference disk. This way you wouldn't have to setup the Electron when you needed to create 320k disks. You could use the same method for single sided 40 track disks as long as the 3.5 drive isn't a 40 track only mechanism. It may still work depending on how good the copier is but probably not. ,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,, To: 999 (all members) From: 4WL (Martin R Wilson) Subject: Wanted Old Broken Arcs Wanted any old Archimedes equipment. Like faulty computers, controllers etc. Especially any old Arm3 models which I can raid for processors. Anything really. Always after Archimedes contacts. Martin Wilson 32 Grass Royal Yeovil Somerset BA21 4JW ,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,, To: 999 (all members) From: 4WL (Martin R Wilson) Subject: Bransyeo BBS A while back I think I mentioned the existance of Bransyeo BBS in Yeovil. As far as I can tell its now finished. I've tried it several times on various dates. When I say several I actually mean a lot and have not got through. Its constantly busy so obviously the phone is off the hook. On the rare occurences that it rings nothing answers it. Then if you ring back a minute later its engaged. So you know someone was fed up with it ringing and left it off the hook. This is bad news for me as this is the only BBS to me that was a local call. ,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,, To: 999 (all members) From: 4WL (Martin R Wilson) Subject: Microsoft & Apple I suspect I'm not the only one to notice that Apple is getting a cash injection from Microsoft. Although I'm more of a Risc OS fan I've always had a lot of respect for Macintoshes and their ease of use. Plus of course theres a lot of great applications available for them. So its grim news that Microsoft have there foot in the door and perhaps in time will get a controlling interest. Theres no doubting Microsofts success but in the past they have often acted illegally with respect to other companies code. Not only that but Microsoft applications always seem slow compared to many similar ones and often a lot larger too especially applications for the Mac. Just compare clarisWorks to Microsoft Works on the Mac. Not only that but Microsofts internet software on the PC it runs at a snails pace compared to Netscape. ,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,, To: 999 (all members) From: K6X (Cluke) Subject: *** ie IDs on discs Further to comments over the past few issues about our IDs not being put in the top left corner of the issue disc title screen. We have had reassurances from Chris that it is quite easy to put our ID in ourselves if we wish. So I tried it. Naturally enough, I failed miserably. Quite normal for me when I start fiddling with software, and I suppose I should have known better than to have tried. I was left with a disc which I could not use due to the Boot file now being totally scrambled! I was then forced to go grovelling to Chris for a replacement disc, which he sent me once he'd stopped laughing. He can be so cruel! Howmsover, I resolved to try again, this time working on a copy of the Boot file on another disc. I was amazed to find that it worked the first time I tried it, even though I had gone through the same steps as before, ie load it into EDIT, overwrite the three stars with my ID, and save it back to disc. The only difference was that the menu had not been used, ie the bar was at the top of the main menu, on About This Issue. The previous time I had tried, I had broken out of a submenu to do it. Our Boot file/menu is a wondrous and complex thing wot remembers where you were when you chose an option, and returns you to that place when you leave it, but it seems that if you are not right back at the very beginning of the process, ie on About This Issue when you try to alter it at all, it gets all huffy and crashes. If I have been trawling through the issue before I remember to put on my ID, I always call up About This Issue, then press space to return to the main menu to be absolutely sure that the Boot file is 'in neutral' before I try to alter the stars to my ID. If you don't have EDIT then panic not gentle reader, for it is not vital. After ensuring that the Boot file is 'in neutral', do a Control-Break, LOAD"!Boot", LIST 40, move the cursor up and use the COPY key to copy the line up to and including the space between REM and the stars, then type in your ID and press RETURN. SAVE"!Boot", and then Boot the disc, and your ID should be glowing gently in it's proper place. I hope this will help other computer illiterates like me, who have perhaps been too worried about things going wrong to try and put their ID on their discs. Good Luck. ,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,, To: 999 (all members) From: K6X (Cluke) Subject: Spellign Chequer To put Andrew Medworth's, and anybody else's mind at rest, the whole thing was indeed a little scam wot I cooked up with the total connivance ( he wrote the Machine Code ) of the man we all ( used to ) trust, yes, indeedy, CJR himself. The person who I claimed to have written the whole thing for NASA, was as near as I could get in my mostly forgotten German to April Fool. Mona T. Witz becomes monat witz, or month joke in English. Apologies to any German members for my mangling of your language, but hardihar to those who fell for it! ,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,, To: 999 (all members)esp.D2G From: K6X (Cluke) Subject: Sad of Harwich I'm going to bite the bullet here, and say what everyone else seems to be fighting shy of. Accept it Neil, you are a Sad Person. We all know it and accept it, so why can't you? It does not make you any less a person than you alredy are ( it couldn't! ) and we don't think any less of you because of it ( we couldn't! ) so just get on with your life and stop pestering the rest of us happier peoples with your boring whingy messages. When you have something more positive to say, send it in to Chris, I'll spend a couple of hours laughing at and correcting your spellign, and it'll get put out on the issue disc. Think about it, eh? ,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,, To: 999 (all members)esp. D5B From: K6X (Cluke) Subject: Snibzy Don't you just love it when you do your best and then someone comes along and denigrates your efforts? When I sent in this prog a few issues back, I put the following rider in the prog notes wot I sent in:- " 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!!!!" The program was originally written by Marshal Anderson, and was published in Beebug Vol.12, No.2, June '93. It was only intended as a starting point for the game, accompanied by an invitation to alter and improve it. Whether or not I improved it by tailoring it to the intended users ( read the rest of my ProgDoc notes ) is debatable, but I certainly altered it in doing so. I offer no apologies for it's "ugly insides" having offended Jon, in fact I am glad that it prompted him into doing what I wanted to do but couldn't due to ineptitude. However, I am hurt by having my insides called "ugly", and I am going to go into the corner now and have a little sniffly sulk and I don't care wot's for tea, I'm not coming out until I'm ready. So there! ,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,, To: 999 (all members)esp.D5B From: K6X (Cluke) Subject: Longest word etc. Thank you, Jon, for confirming my offerings for the longest words, and adding a couple more, although as I said before I was not counting plurals in my list, and potpourri is French. The ever-such-long word you mention but could not remember is I believe a medical term referring to a disease of the lungs caused by inhalation of very fine particulates (breathing in dust). I did not include it in my message on issue 55 for the simple reason that I could not remember it either! Also, it could perhaps be ineligible for inclusion anyway as, in common with a lot of the German language, it is made up of several different words stuck together to make one, and requires the lung power of a glassblower to say without having to pause for breath. The actual answer to the longest-word -from-the-bottom-row-of-the-keyboard- challenge is so blindingly obvious that I am amazed that nobody has found it. It is in fact 'DELETE'. Simple eh? ,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,, To: 999 (all members) From: K6X (Cluke) Subject: Downloadering I am going to fly in the face of my Mum's advice, and show you all my ignorance. There, I've done it, and she was wrong, it didn't frighten the horses. What was she talking about, more to the point, what am I talking about? I should keep more in the shade in this hot weather, she was right about that at least. Still with me? Rightio then. What is a downloader? I keep seeing reference to it all over the place, Albert Schofield being one of the main culprits. What is it, where can I get one, is it free on the N.H.S.? I think I need one, so could someone out there send one in so we can all have one? Some destructions for it, preferably in words of one syllable or less, would also be very much appreciated. I'm going to go for a lie down now, cos I've come over all sweat and hotty whilst typing this. Perhaps Mum was right after all? ,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,