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EDITORIAL by Dave Tonks
Welcome to another fun packed issue of the Supplement. Hopefully
you will find something that interests you, if you don't then
I'm afraid that you will have to remedy it by submitting
something yourself!!!
It is after all YOUR mag, and I can only include items submitted
or I will have to write it all myself. I really haven't got the
time or inclination to do this so what you send is what you see.
Having said all that, I must admit that the quality of the items
is getting more diverse as the issues prgress. I was having a
look at some of the earlier issues the other day,and note that
the programs reflected the needs for that time, e.g. copiers,
databases, hints on machine use, whereas today, I seem to see
more specific programs aimed at a specific hobby or interest.
This is not a bad thing, and keeps the Supplement different each
issue.
On a different subject, as you read your way through this issue,
you will come across a digitised picture of some of the
membership. I am now in a position to do this, and I hope to
put a screen of members in every now and then. I thought it
might be nice to be able to put faces to the names, or to the
voice on the phone. If you would like to be digitised, sent me a
photo of yourself, preferably black and white, and preferably
just head and shoulders. I will digitise it for the mag, and if
you enclose a disc I will send you a copy as a MODE 4 screen.
Please include return postage, as I am not made of money!!!!
Right... I've had my witter for the month, now go and read the
rest, DAVE
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* * * OOPS DEPT. * * *
ISSUE 18...
A couple of clangers in issue 18, both to do with the ODDS and
ENDS menu.
I'm afraid that I neglected to include a couple of programs on
the menu, even though they were on the disc.
These were CLIST by Simon N. Goodwin and CATLIST by M.J.Smith
On the ODDS and ENDS menu of this issue you will find a patch
that puts the menu on issue 18 right. Just follow the onscreen
instructions..
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Nick Carthey
2 Honor Close
Kidlington
Oxon OX5 2XL
08675-78397
Dear Dave,
I am writing, firstly to demonstrate my machine code Mandelbrot
program, which is designed along the lines of "Fractint" for the
PC. This allows you to move a "zoom" box and expand any part of
the set, as often as you like, until the precision of the
floating point routines give out. Full program notes are
included, and some demo screens.
I would also like to say that I have managed to construct an
edge-connector adaptor which allows Spectrum peripherals to be
used with the Sam, in conjunction with the Lerm Samtape and
Spectrum ROM. For example, the Music Machine, Specdrum,
Multiface 1 (with Genie) and Micon midi interface all function,
though the sound output of the first two is slightly distorted.
The Opus Discovery drive does not work, however.
The construction is basically a straightforward
(but tedious) connection of corresponding lines of the Z80 using
edge connectors available from Maplins (Spectrum) and RS
Components (Sam euroconnector). The Specdrum in addition
requires the 9V supply connected. You also require a Spectrum
edge-connector extension cable to make the final attachment of
the peripheral. This "inverts" the rows of the edge connector,
so that care is required to avoid making a mistake in
connection. If any reader is interested, I would be happy to
supply further details.
Yours faithfully,
(Nick Carthey)
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ZX 92 - THE EVENT OF THE DECADE
Hi! This document is being circulated to all keen Spectrum and
related magazines. You are welcome to publish it, and we hope
to see you and some of your readers on the great day!
Mel Croucher, Simon N Goodwin, Sean Sanderson, John Wase and
Andy Wright, volunteer organisers of ZX 92.
The Spectrum's TENTH Birthday Party
Simon N Goodwin
This Spring the ZX Spectrum will celebrate its tenth birthday
at ZX 92, a party in Cambridge organised by Spectrum
enthusiasts. ZX 92 will be a meeting place for the friends of
the Spectrum - users, programmers, publishers, editors, writers
and artists - and will also attract interest from local and
international press, TV and Radio. ZX 92 is a positive event to
promote an extraordinarily successful British invention.
The name and themes have been chosen by an independent group of
enthusiasts who have been involved with the Spectrum since 1982.
The Spectrum was known as the ZX 82 when developed from
Sinclair's earlier ZX 80 and ZX 81 micros; thus the name ZX 92.
Last summer FORMAT SHORT SPOT compiler John Wase mentioned the
coming anniversary in a letter to Simon N Goodwin. Since then
they have teamed up with columnist Mel Croucher, programmer Andy
Wright and Sean Sanderson of the Spectrum Music Group, to
organise ZX 92, at 2pm on Saturday 2nd May 1992. This is a
non-commercial event, independent of any manufacturer, publisher
or magazine. It will bring together famous names from the 80s
and the new generation of Spectrum enthusiasts, to share
their experience and look forward to the future.
Something like seven million Spectrums have been sold around the
world. Sinclair production in the first four years alone reached
4 million, including some 'stock' left when Amstrad took over,
and 'improved' the range with the +2, +3 and +2A. The purchase
of Sinclair's computer brands earned Amstrad £161,000,000 in
1987 alone. Many early Issue 1 Spectrums are still in use ten
years on, and will probably carry on into the next century, as
long as vital spares like keyboard membranes remain available.
Mass produced compatibles have appeared, including TS-2068, SAM,
and Russia's Hobbit. The UK market is saturated, and sales are
growing in Eastern Europe and the developing world. The Spectrum
family has been manufactured in Scotland, Wales, England,
Brazil, Portugal, Russia, Spain, Hong Kong, Taiwan and India
(at least). Spectrum Emulators exist for Archimedes, Amiga, QL
ST (via Qdos), Memotech and Einstein, as well as several for PC.
The Spectrum has had a tremendous influence upon the lives of
many people, providing a creative outlet as well as a hobby or
job. Its success has brought us all a myriad of offshoots,
add-ons and applications, and created a world-wide community of
enthusiasts. ZX 92 will celebrate that success, bringing
together lots of people who have shared in it in the past
decade, plus the sounds and images we know and love.
ZX 92 events include a talk on the early days of the Spectrum
development, a projected video display showing all types of
Spectrum graphics, and an apt musical score, including Spectrum
tunes, rhythms, speech, MIDI sequences and odd Automata B sides!
Best of all ZX 92 will be a chance for people to meet and talk.
Montages and pictorial displays will reflect the variety of
applications for the Spectrum. We are encouraging eager users to
bring custom systems, software and all sorts of Spectrum
variants, by arrangement, to demonstrate and share in the fun.
We will feature a wide range of Spectrum spin-offs and emulators
not forgetting 16K, 48K, Spectrum +, Spectrum 128K, +2, +3, +2A,
SAM, microdrives, the ZX printer, and disk systems, homebrew
machines and specialised set-ups.
We have some classic programs and peripherals and welcome ideas,
more machines and monitors. Please let us know if you can arrive
an hour early to set up and demonstrate an interesting machine,
with a monitor and reliable software.
The venue is Cambridge University Centre , Mill Lane, from 3pm
till 7pm. It is right in the centre of Cambridge, the Spectrum's
birthplace, near the main Bus and Railway stations. People from
throughout the Spectrum scene have been invited, including Uncle
Sir Clive, former Sinclair staff, and fine programmers, artists,
writers, designers and publishers. Even the Piman is hoping to
return from tax exile to celebrate the great day. Refreshments
will be served, and there will be a ticket draw with prizes of
Spectrum goodies, among other diversions.
A limited number of tickets is available, for true Spectrum
enthusiasts. We want to encourage people who have made an unique
contribution to the scene. The venue's capacity is only 200, so
we must limit tickets to two per application, subject to
availability. ZX 92 will be an exclusive event not to be missed.
Tickets are available by post, from:
ZX 92, 24 Wyche Avenue, Kings Heath, Birmingham B14 6LQ
You MUST enclose a stamped, self-addressed envelope with your
payment (UK cheque, PO, Eurocheque or Sterling draft) payable to
ZX 92, at pounds 7.50 per ticket. Please place your order as
soon as possible to avoid possible disappointment, and
give some indication of your interests and involvement in the
Spectrum scene since 1982.
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Reg Jeffs,
48 Gorman Rd,
Woolwich,
London, SE18 5SA
Dear Dave,
Over a period of time I have sent in about six
individual programs on discs but never received all or one of
the discs back. Considering the programs are free it is little
short of stealing not to return the discs.
When I sent my last program I sent it to Brian thinking he would
return or replace the disc. This I am afraid was wishful
thinking, so I phoned Brian asking him to return my disc. In his
childlike flamboyant manner he assured me he would but needless
to say I received no replacement disc. I wonder how many members
have received this kind of treatment.
I would like to say a few words on the question of payment for
programs sent in by members.
Unless I see a change in the policy of Sam Supplement, I will no
longer send in programs to that organization, and therefore what
I am about to say will not affect me one way or the other. Sam
Supplement is 18 month old, and it is about time you gave a
little encouragement to the up and coming program writers, not
only for the sake of the Sam, but the future of the Supplement.
This need not be in the form of cash, it could be free month's
issue of the Supplement, this could vary number of months
according to the program. You could do no better than to copy
the standard set by OUTLET, the management of which is head and
shoulders above all other disc magazines.
Yours Sincerely Reg Jeffs
Editor's reply......
I'll comment in order upon Jeff's points;-
His complaint about the non-return of his discs is justified. I
am sorry to say the fault was ours, a total breakdown in
communications resulting in the non return of his discs. It is
not policy of the Supplement to retain member's discs when they
have asked for them to be returned, although in fact, not many
contributors ask for their return. Such discs are not used by
Brian nor myself, but put back into club circulation and used
for example, to replace a member's disc which has been damaged
in transit, or to issue replacement discs when necessary.
I have been in touch with Reg and sorted out this matter to his
satisfaction.
With regard to his comments on the management of the club, I
must say that the team members involved with production and
publication of the Supplement are doing their best. He used the
word "management" in comparing SUPPLEMENT with OUTLET, and I
believe that therein lies the essential difference between them.
OUTLET is a commercially run venture, with at least one person
working full time. We, on the other hand, are all non-paid
volunteers, who give freely of our time and effort. The
production of the Supplement, therefore, has to be done in any
spare time we have available. It is not unknown for me to be
answering the phone to a member at 11 0'clock at night, or to be
putting a mag together at 2am. and I know that other team
members give up other activities to help produce the mag
regularly.
The original reason for Supplement was to form a user group of
Sam owners, and to provide a means of communication with each
other. The mag was, and still is, FREE. You can, as do some
members, send your own disc each month with the return postage,
and receive your copy. There was never any suggestion of payment
other than for out-of-pocket expenses. This, of course, is a
subject upon which members may have strong views, and we would
be glad to hear of them. If there is a majority in favour of
payment for contributions, the team would seriously consider
such a change, and examine the implications, particularly upon
the price.
All this is not to say that you must take the Supplement as it
is or not at all, but you, the membership, should let us know
what, if any, changes you would like to happen to the mag, and
if time, money and feasibility allow, we will do our best to
meet your wishes.
I do not consider that payment by way of one or two free issues
would be a good enough incentive to encourage more members to
send in items, as we are only talking about the value of discs
at 35p each. If we were to pay in cash, I would then be in the
position as editor, of only being able to publish what we could
afford for each issue, rather than what was submitted. To
publish more the price would need to be raised, and that could
mean a decline in membership, which would in turn result in
fewer items submitted, and abandonment of the very reasons for
initiating the Supplement.
I have discussed this situation with my close colleagues Brian
Mumford and Les Phillips, and they wish me to add that they
fully support the views as expressed in my response to Mr Jeff's
letter.
Finally, I will leave you to ponder these points, and ask that
if you have any views or comments on the matter, that you are
good enought to make us aware of them..
.
16, Queen's Park,
Coleraine,
TEL:0256 42231 Co. Londonderry,
N. Ireland BT51 3JT
SAM DICTIONARY PROJECT
Dear Dave,
On this disc are two programs in BASIC: "initfile" "dictionary"
Nine club members have expressed an interest in the idea of
compiling a dictionary for the SAM and I would like to thank
them for their offers of help.
To get the ball rolling, I have put together the program
"dictionary". This allows for words to be entered from the
keyboard into a file in MEM$ so that each contributor can use it
to build up a section of the dictionary with everyone using the
same format. When completed, each section should be sent to me
on disc so that I can combine them into one complete dictionary
file. I will then return the disc with the full dictionary file.
A list of proposed sections follows at the end of this letter.
For a worthwhile dictionary, a minimum of around 30000 words
would be needed (50000 would be ideal). Now 2000 words takes
about 6 hours of typing, including checking the spelling, which
sounds a lot, but not if the work is spread over 2 or 3 months
and done at odd times when there is a spare half hour. So we
will need a few more enthusiasts to get to X, Y and Z! After
that stage, the more people who help out, the less typing there
is for everyone. If you wish to join in, please write or give me
a call so that I can assign a section to you which is not yet
covered by anyome else.
To clarify the aims of the Project: One or two correspondents
seem to have misunderstood the applications of the dictionary:
probably my fault for not explaining it clearly in the first
place. The idea is NOT to have an electronic dictionary in the
computer to help with spelling, although it can do that if
desired. Looking up a word in a standard dictionary in book
form is far quicker to check the correct spelling.
Nor will the electronic dictionary be of any help if a wrongly
spelt word is entered in a game like "Scrabble" (although the
computer will/should challenge a wrongly spelt word).
What it IS intended for is:-
A) to extend the Scrabble lexicon, written originally for the
Spectrum, from, I guess, about 5000 words to around 30000 to
50000 words. This should make for a better game and reduce the
number of occasions when the computer challenges a word- even
quite common words- which is not in it's lexicon.
B) to be able to use the dictionary as part of a word processor
like SAMSCRATCH which can do a spell-check. This could also
include an option to add a new word to the dictionary whenever
the spell-checker came upon a word which it did not recognize,
not because it was incorrectly spelt but because it did not
exist in it's lexicon. New words would then be added
automatically to build up the dictionary.
C) to use the dictionary for solving anagrams.
D) to assist in solving cross-word puzzles e.g. a partially
solved clue might read .C..S.I.
By entering this string into a program as Q$ and using
INSTR (MEM$(x To y),Q$), it should be possible to print out a
list of words which would include the word ACROSTIC.
E) for use in "word games" such as hangman and mastermind. There
are many such programs which can be written but all require a
dictionary file e.g. generating a word square and generating
random sentences which can often be quite funny.
I hope this clarifies the applications of the dictionary.
A word or two about the detail of the program "dictionary".
Before running it, it is necessary to run an initialising
program "initdfile". This sets up an empty file called
"dictfile" with the start address and number of words.
"initdfile" should only be run once. Running it later, after
adding words to the dictionary file, will erase all that hard
work.
"dictfile" is 10k long so I could not include it on this
Newsletter disc. Because of this, trying to run either
"initdfile" or "dictionary" from this Newsletter disc will both
fail, one for lack of space and the other because "dictfile" has
not been created. Therefore I suggest you need to proceed as
follows (assuming a single drive):-
1. Load "initdfile" from Newsletter disc.
2. Insert target disc with at least 30k free space.
3. Run "initdfile" which creates and saves "dictfile"
4. Insert Newsletter disc.
5. Load "dictionary". When it stops with error "file not found",
insert target disc.
6. Save "dictionary" line 100
7. "dictionary" is now ready to run.
When "dictionary" is loaded, it auto runs and full instructions
are presented, followed by a menu which allows for additions,
corrections, deletions and insertions.
The instructions are specific to the entry format: e.g. all
words must be in Capitals, with no leading/trailing spaces and
no hyphenated words are allowed. Also no initials or acronyms or
abbreviations. Phrases such as au revoir or sine qua non
should be ignored as it puts words out of alphabetical order.
Proper names like Australia and August need to be included.
Simple plurals formed by adding s should not be included but
words where the root changes should be included e.g. elves,
feet, mice, teeth and wives but not, I think, cities or fairies
or children as these words will be accessed by INSTR(((MEM$( TO
),Q$) if Q$="cit" or "fair" or "child". Include both variants of
any words with more than one spelling. And please...no American
spellings! Any reasonable dictionary can be used as your source
and the best guide is to only type in the words in heavy print.
I hope all this when explained in detail does not put you off as
it is really quite straight-forward in practice. Having to write
it all down makes it look a bit overpowering.
"dictionary" has been tested pretty thoroughly and should be
'bug' free but knowing Murphy's Law, this is only inviting
trouble. If anyone does find a bug, please let me know and I
will try to sort it out. I've tried to make it as user friendly
and error trapped as possible.
The list of sections proposed is as follows:-
AARDVARK to AZURE yours truly.
BAA to BOW * Peter Bell
BOWBELLS to CHAMP ** Maurice J Smith
CHAMPAGNE to CONGRATULATION * John Saunders
CONGREGATE to DECAY Colin Rout
DECEASE to DREADFUL Jack Laing
DREADNOUGHT to EXTRAVAGANZA David Scott
EXTREME to FRET Peter Quanstrom
FREUDIAN to GRUNT Steve Monk
GRUYERE to ILLUMINATE Kevin Cooper
* I hope I have succeeded in persuading you that the dictionary
would be useful!
** Yes, Maurice, I am sure the code could be downloaded from
another source but I am equally certain of infringing copyright.
I trust I have acknowledged all who wrote to me. In future, in
order to save on postage, I will use the Newsletter as far as
possible for any updates/changes needed.
best regards and thanks again, Dave, for your help and advice,
Duncan Munro
P.S. Dave, could you get your wife/secretary to alter your file
so that my name is spelt correctly!
P.P.S. My thanks to those who offered advice on how to stop the
screen from going dull when loading or saving. Bypassing that
resistor has made all the difference. Great!
Eds Note...
The 3 files that Duncan mentions are on this disc,
but because of the nature of the program, are not on any of the
menus.
I can only add to what Duncan has said, that I think this would
be a worthwhile venture and I hope that some of you will give a
little of your time to the project.
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