| A Word to Authors | Here are a few tips for any of you who ever wanted to get your name (and your thoughts) before the public. | |
| Columbus Day | One of my first opportunities as your Editor was to attend a mass meeting of Users’ Groups in Columbus, Ohio, This was on January 30, a day between (well, sort of) snowstorms. Including your Publisher and your Editor, there were 18 TS enthusiasts there, coming from places as diverse as Columbus (of course), several Indiana cities, the two Louisvilles (OH and KY) and a number of locations in western Pennsylvania. | |
| Communications in a Flash | This program simulates a blinker signaling device. Nowadays, when radio communicators are constantly trying to use ever-higher ultra frequencies, we tend to forget that blinkers have been using, for centuries, frequencies higher than any radio signal yet generated. | Timex/Sinclair 2068, Type-in program |
| Flagging Interest | My 2068 serves me as a useful tool to cope with the many demands of semi-retirement. I use it frequently to help me acquire new knowlege and skills, an activity that to me is a prime reason and delight of retirement. | Timex/Sinclair 2068, Type-in program |
| For Your Support | FRANK LOCKHART, P.O. Box 1131, Shelby, NC 28150, (704)484-8539 offers programs in Engineering and Mathematics, as well as games and utilities for QL, TS1000, and TS2068 computers. Prices are $17.95 for QL (microdrive), $12.95 for 2068, and $8.95 for 1000 (cassette). Program list free for SASE. | Timex/Sinclair 2068 |
| Forum | Letters from readers. | Timex/Sinclair 1000, Timex/Sinclair 2068 |
| Geometry Plotter | This is another program by the winner of the TS1000 section of our contest. Mr. Sweitzer tells us that his program has been "field tested" in his classroom. He also reports that he has one pupil who is turning into a real computer enthusiast as a result of his work with the good ol' ZX81. More power to you, Alex! | Timex/Sinclair 1000, Type-in program |
| Hints to Users' Groups | Several valuable suggestions for UGs came out of the Columbus meeting. Which proves the value of UGs in general and, even more so, the value of inter-group meetings. | |
| Intelligence About Sir Clive | Writing as Chairman of British MENSA, Sir Clive Sinclair published a very provocative article about Artificial Intelligence. He predicts an assembly of ten-to-the-fourteenth components, each in the order of a tenth of a micron in diameter, yielding an artificial brain with a capacity comparable to that of its human counterpart, in a 10-centimeter cube. | |
| Multiplication Tutor | This program is designed to lead students, step by step, through the intricacies of multiplying multi-digit numbers. You are first asked to specify the range of multiplicand (to 999,999) and multiplier (to 999). Then the computer asks your name, and courteously addresses you by that name throughout the program. | Timex/Sinclair 1000, Type-in program |
| PC 8300 Circuit Board and Schematic | Special Supplement to the Jan.-Feb. ’88 issue of SyncWare News. PC-8300 Schematic courtesy of: SLOT ELECTRONICS MFG. 5920 Kartner Road Richmond, BC V6V 1R9 Canada PC 8300 PARTS LIST | Lambda 8300 |
| Pounding Brass and Blinking Symbols | You might at some time have read a story written in round-robin technique. A story that is started by one author, and finished by another, with perhaps one or more other authors contributing “middle” sections. And all working independently. | |
| Sound Approach | Speed: adjustable over the range of 2-15 words per minute. Display: optional. You can display each character at the time that it is “transmitted”, or you can wait and display the entire text after the exercise is finished. Operating modes: 1. Letter-by-letter. | Timex/Sinclair 2068, Type-in program |
| SWN and Users' Groups | This is a drum that we are going to beat loud and long. We want to help UGs to survive and prosper. Anyone who has suggestions as to how we can do this, please let us know. We've made a couple of offers already. Here are a couple more, that grew out of the Columbus meeting. | |
| Telecomm Update | The ZX81/TS1000 family has traditionally been relegated to the “backwaters” of various BBS’s and communications services. Not any more! We now have a sub-board solely devoted to ZX programs and other files. The SYSOP of the Nicolson Nightime Network has allowed me to set up the “ZX-TERM Exchange” within the framework of his BBS. | Sinclair ZX81, Timex/Sinclair 1000 |
| The Old Order Changeth | This is the first issue for which Basil wears the mantle, Not, fortunately, the mantel, as issue V:1 reported. (Jocelyn remarked that cleaning and pressing a mantel sounds like something out of the gymnasium.) | |
| TYB*BYTS | The next time you have a program that takes a long time to run (or to SAVE/LOAD), save your patience by inserting a BEEP message to catch your attention when the job is finished. You can program the BEEP for a single note, a TA-DA!, or even for Beethoven’s Fifth. | Lambda 8300, Timex/Sinclair 1000, Timex/Sinclair 2068, Type-in program |
| TYD*BYTS | When you don’t know any better, anything might be possible. Operating on that theory I said, “Why not?”. I loaded version 5 of Jack Doheny‘s Mscript and then stuck a tape in my recorder that contained a file saved by the cartridge version of Tom Wood‘s PRO/FILE. | Timex/Sinclair 2068, Type-in program |
| TYD*BYTS | If you're using tape for mass storage, you may be neglecting a very valuable resource. It's awfully easy to forget that the tape was designed for audio signals. | Timex/Sinclair 2068, Type-in program |
| Vive Le Z88 | Lawrence (Larry) Chavarie of Ottawa sends us his masterly translation of an article from the French publication “Science et Vie” (Science and Life). The review describes the Z88 as embodying technical features that stun (“etonne”), being loaded with gadgets (“l’ensemble est truffe d’astuces”), and incorporating “une memoire d’elephant”. | Cambridge Z88 |
| What's in a Name? | We also talked abut the term COMPUTERFEST. Gary Ganger pointed out that the term is owned by the Dayton Microcomputer Association, Inc. Owned and protected by copyright. Gary went on to announce that the Association would let other groups use the term occasionally. | |
