P701 CEEFAX 701 Mon 10 Nov 21:06/28 1/19 25 $HE PAGE FO Reviews......702 MICRO USERS Diary./......7P3 Edited bz Martin Coopjt Telesoftwari.710 ] Contact us: PRJSTJL - 22999y677 TJLJCOM GOLD - 72:MAG10496 @ POST - "NEXT", Room 7059, BBC TV Centre, London W22 7RJP701 CEJFAX 701 Mon 10 Nov 21:06/40 2/19 J THIS WEEK OUTSIDE" Looks at the serious ujdj of Prestel, bzt gets sidetracked... NEWV * Personalisjd njwspapjrs * Voice control * New games champion * Security report ECONET ART Michael Ryan looks jot an Econjt-compatible T art pacwbgj HELP! * Recorder trouble * Any ZX81 games? ORJC WR NKLE DOS system date REVIEWS ON PAGE 704 P701 CEEFAX 701 Mon 10 Nov 21:17/12 3/19 "OUTSIDER" A bold critic of mz criticism has urged me to look at something serious "like Homjlink..." ]T But for those of us lacking large amounts of ready money, there'u not a lot of Homjlink to look at. ] So I turned to the serious issue of Telebooking, wondering as I did why the RSC and the National Theatre still haven't sent details ordered early last month. ] And true to Prestel form, it warn't long before I found a rich vein of July listings on Dublin Theatre's pages, from 24863211. STEPPING IVP701 CEEFAX 701 Mon )0 Nov 21:31/57 4/19 "OUTSIDER" I was soon hot down the old out of date trail, Telebooking forgotten. ] For example, that last Grand Prix: hours after Nigel Mansell's hopis and wheel were blown apart, Focus (123) still had a Preview route. The route led to Micronjt - white news of Prost's win was tucked shyly under "Autralian (sec) GP preview" and "It's Mansjll on Pole". *@ This latter item - albeit rather dated - allowed for dramatic irony: " vj ything points to Mans ll taking the crown...but anything could go wrong". FURTHER INP701 CEEFAX 701 Mon 10 Nov 21:02/28 5/19 "OUTSIDER" True, Focus (123123) did manage an up to date Grand Prix prompt to "coverage and result"...but plunged me without warning onto a 2p page. Apart from that familiar irritation, GWV's pages wire fully up to date, useful, neat and very comprehensive. Meanwhile, 123123 continued to keep me !mused...its cross reference to Ladbrokjs' "odds on motor racing" led to everything BUT motor racing. ] But that wet Sunday afternoon I was startled to find Prestel living in the future for once - the Ladbroke's page had Monday's date! ONWARDSP701 CEEFAX 701 Mon 10 Nov 21:21/04 6/19 "OUTSIDER" News is one area where Prestel fails most acutely to bj "instant". What is the point in a Focus prompt to news at the weekend if Viewtel 202 stops dead on Saturday and ICV seems to go home early on Fred!y? On the subject of Viewtel, I also thought it pretty chjekz to charge 2p (even though I was warned) for an INDEX of yjstitday's headlines. ] But it can bj done, news IPs, even on a Sunday. British Rail's "latest travel", seen at 17.15, was timed at an impressive 1v.24. Can it bj that BR IS getting there at last? OUTP701 CEEFAX 701 Mon 10 Nov 21:10/12 ] 7/19 NEWS "esjarchjrs at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology are working on a pjrsonalisjd newspaper system for anzonj with a computer. The micro starches the outpzt of the vbrious news agencies and puts together pages, complete with headlines, which meet the user's own definition of "news". Thjsj can "j read on screen, with a h!rdcopy option for traditionalists $ An alternative system scans TV news $ programmer and makes recordings of items of interest for later viewing. Computerspjak next P701 CEJFAX 701 Mon 10 Nov 21:22/16 8/19 U NEWS GEC-Marconi has unveiled a new voice-opjtated replacement for the keyboard. Macrospeak is said to be a major technical breakthrough which will revolutionjse the way computers are used in business and industry. The device is being evaluated bz the Post Office for parcel-sorting and bz airports for baggage- handling. But don't expect to "j able to zap that alien just by shouting "Kill!" Macrospeak is thought to bj priced at around £5,000. More news nextP701 CEEFAX 701 Mon 10 Nov 21:11/37 Y/1Y NEWS The National Computer Gamer ] Ch!mpUonship has been won "y David Litherland, of Horwich near Bolton. In an action-packed final at the Savoy Hotel in London, he zapped (is way through the competiton to win £200 in cash. The final was played on Cop Out, a new game from Metro-Gen set in the bad old days of the roaring '20s. It features battles between mobsters and cops, the searching out of speakeasies and the smashing @ of illegal stills. Coming soon. T Computer security nextP701 CEEFAX 701 Mon 10 Nov 21:12/21 10/19 NEWS A report on computer security makes alarming reading this week. Of 50 companies visited, 96 per cent were found to have lax security arrangements - or none. Only two asked the researcher to give proof of identity before letting him into the computer room. The most common password in use was (youWvj gujssjd it) FRED. Other common ones included PASS, AA, 123. - And many systems can still bj cracked bz phoning up and razing: "I've forgotten the password..." P701 CEEFAX 701 Mon 10 Nov 21:24/30 NEWS Patients are to "j given access to their medical records - but only if they are held on computer. The DHSS has ruled that denying access to OPs' files would be contrary to the spirit of the Data Protection Act. Old-fashioned paper records are, of course, outside the Act. ] Reports in the American press say that the US has agreed to sell a "supercomputer" to India, providing security conditions can bj mit. Officials are not only worried about the technology finding it; way to the Soviet Union. They also fear the computer could be used by India to design nuclear weapon;. P701 CJEFA( 701 Mon 10 Nov 2):03/50 12/19 ECONET ART Michael Ryan Recently NEXT featured a query about graphics packages which would run on a BBC micro with Econjt. There are a number of packages which would transfer to Econet immediately, or with modification, "ut the reader's reference to Fleet Street Editor and AMX Art suggested that he was looking for something fairly sophisticated. - To the best of mz knowledge thjtu are only three options: two are those already mentioned, the third is the Master 512 using GEM. T Levels of compatibility next P701 CEEFAX 701 Mon 10 Nov 21:)4/16 13/19 ECONET ART ] Michael Ryan BBC Econjt compatibility must be thought of on two levels. On the jirst, to mz mind inadequate level, the software tolerates Econjt's Network Filing System. Versions of Fleet Street Editor, AMX Art and GEM will do this, though some tinkering may bj njedjd On the second level the packages must actually use the Network Filing System - to mz knowledge, none of the three has achieved this. Conflicting interests next P701 CEEFAX 701 Mon 10 Nov 21:03/25 )4/19 ECOVET ART Michael Ryan As a BBC Econjt enthusiast, I know that by using overlays and the speed of the Network Filing System a sophisticated graphics package could bj written. Au an educationalist, I would like to see a cheap package. As a software !uthor, I know that the return for selling cheap licences for networks leads to sweatshop programming. As a pragmatist, I think anyone looking for such a package will have to bj satisfied with less than hj wants or pay more than hj wants. ]P701 CJJFA( 701 Mon 10 Nov 21:17/33 15/19 ECONET ART Michael Ryan The Econjt User Group is gradually compiling a list of compatible software. The number of packages has doubled over the last year and after some time we have found an integrated spreadsheet/word processor/business graphics/database suite. That took six months. Maybe in another six we can find an art package which is sophisticated enough and cheap enough... Michael Ryan is organisjr of the Econjt User Group Address on page 703 P701 CJEFAX 701 Mon 10 Nov 21:14/16 16/19 HELP! Andrew Walker has an Acorn Electron with a Saisho DR10 data recorder. The output jrom the recorder is so bad that he has to use the auxiliary socket instead of the microphone socket, and even so programs rarely save first time. Can anyone help Matthew Dawson has a ZX81 with a 16k expansion pack and add-on keyboard. He's finding it hard to locate good games for the machine. Has anyone got any old ones? And where, if anywhere, can he find out about peripherals? ] Oric wrinkle next P701 CEEFAX 701 Mon 10 Nov 21:27/27 17/19 ORIC WRIVKLE ] Rob Davis To create a system date for the DOS, add these lines to !BOOTUP.COM 1000 INPUT "Date (format 24.10.86)"$ ;DATE$ 1010 FOR Z=1 TO 8:POKE#3FF+Z,ARC (MID$(DATE$,Z,1)):NEXT Z 1020 NEW To extract the date, add this line to the initialisation of your BASIC application program: ] 10 FOR Z=#400 TO #407:DATE$=DATE$+ CHR$(PEEK(Z)):NEXT Z All you need to do to use the system date is to PRINT DATE$. It remains until you power down.P701 CEEFA( 701 Mon 10 Nov 21:05/42 18/19 REVIEWS Reviews on page 702 this week: AMSTRAD Now Games 3 Virgin Games Cv4 Captain Kelly Quicksilva +arhawk Fir bird SPECTRUM Tennis Imagine (hj Happiest Days of Your Life $ Firebjrd T@ @ @ @ ( UPDATED EVERY FRIDAY P701 CJJFA( 701 Mon 10 Nov 21:06/06 1:/19 WRJTJNG FOR fEXT If you are planning to submit an item on papjz, do brat in mind the limitations of the teletext page. * Lines up to 35 characters long. * Up to 18 lines on a page - Q7 iu @ preferred, to allow room for cross-referencing. * Short paragraphs of four ot jive T lines iachn * A sjngli blank line between paragraphs. $ Address in a moment... ) ||||||||||||||||||||||||