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|A ^0Diskussion |A ^1Blue Notes |Aͺ ^0Diskussion |A
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 Dear BBD,  

    This is something new for me, as I have not used this form of media for 
 comunication since I started using computers at home and at work (all of 7 
 months.) 

     First problem

    Do you at BBD offer this disk/magazine in different formats? I realize 
 that this may be a strange question, but I have good reason. My machine is an 
 EVEREX 1800 with a 286 chip. I have great difficulty in some instances reading 
 text or running programs from BBD just because of the speed that they are 
 presented. When I take my disks to work to run some of the programs offered, I 
 can just about forget some of them, because the machine I regularly use has a 
 386 chip. This makes an already bad situation worse. Perhaps there is a way to 
 slow things down a bit on my end, but I know only enough DOS to get by in my 
 work, survival commands in other words. Any suggestions? 

     Second problem

    Do you offer this magazine on a single disk? I also have 1.2 meg 5 1/4" 
 drives, so there would be absolutely no problem as far as I am concerned. This 
 would allow me to condense my disk collection quite a bit, and its getting to 
 be a little bit of a problem. Presently I have over a hundred disks, with 
 programs and all, and I have not been into this for very long. The number of 
 disks will only continue to grow (at the very least 2 a month from BBD) and I 
 do not plan on purchasing a hard drive for a while yet. 

    As far as comments are concerned, I enjoy BBD as a source of entertainment, 
 and much better than magazines because it requires interaction with the user. 
 I particularly enjoyed STARSHIP ENCOUNTER (BBD #33). Lotus templates have some 
 of my attention, because this is why I began using computers in the first 
 place, and I am presently learning how to write some complicated macros for 
 these worksheets. Keep them coming! I would like to see more childrens 
 oriented games as my daughter (7 yrs old) likes to "play on the computer with 
 daddy". 

                             KEEP UP THE GOOD WORK!

^RMark S. Veits
^RSouthington, Ohio

    
 ^1>   From the description of the first problem, I cannot tell which type of 
 ^1>program you are having difficulty with.  However, I imagine that you may find 
 ^1>some of our games a bit difficult to play.  I am not familiar with the EVEREX 
 ^1>PC you own, but some of the systems similar to yours have an adjustable clock 
 ^1>speed.  Most that I have seen either have a "TURBO" button on the front panel 
 ^1>or a key combination such as <CTRL> <ALT> <-> which will increase/decrease 
 ^1>your the speed of the system.  By decreasing the clock speed, the software you
 ^1>are having difficulty with will become more manageable.  I suggest you review 
 ^1>the documentation that came with your system to see if this option is 
 ^1>available to you.

 ^1>   Never fear . . . If you cannot adjust the clock speed of your system in 
 ^1>the manner I have just described, I have already started someone working on 
 ^1>a utility that will take care of the problem.  Once completed, it will 
 ^1>be published on Big Blue Disk.  I anticipate it will be ready in the very 
 ^1>near future. 

 ^1>   As you may already be aware, Big Blue Disk is now available in the High 
 ^1>Density 5 1/4" floppy disk format.  If you are a current subscriber to Big 
 ^1>Blue Disk and would like to change formats, call 800-831-2694 and one of our 
 ^1>operators will be happy to make the adjustment.
    
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 Dear Big Blue Disk,

    I am a complete neophyte in computers and computereeze.  College was a 
 fading memory for me by the time even the transistor was invented, so have 
 pity and patience with me. For years now I have avoided the rush to computers, 
 but in April I caved in and bought one. 

    My equipment consists of:
          286 IBM clone with: 70 Meg Hard Drive
                            : 1 Meg RAM
                            : 5 1/4" Floppy A Drive
                            : 3 1/2" Floppy B Drive
                            : VGA Card
                            : 80287 Coprocessor
                            : Logitech Bus Mouse
                            : No Name Color Monitor
                            : Panasonic KX-P1180 Printer
                                                           
    My main reason for all this stuff was to learn Autocad at home, so I can 
 keep up with the youngsters fresh out of college. I am using release 10. After 
 6 weeks of intermittent practice I felt I had mastered about 25% of it; now 
 after 3 more months of practice I realize I'd be lucky if I could say I have 
 learned 10%. But I keep plugging.

    Now, the main reason for this letter; I have an aged printer that I would 
 like to use as a draft printer/plotter as it has a 15" carriage. It is a Radio 
 Shack Model 26-1251, TRS-80, DMP400, 9 pin in mint condition.

    Do you or any of your brain trust know of hardware or software that will 
 allow it to be run by the above listed equipment? I'm sure it would be slow, 
 but I only want it for draft prints of my Autocad attempts.  It would be as 
 shame to have to turf it; it's built like a battleship, compared to the mostly 
 plastic jobies available today. It should last for years!

^RHank Johnson
^RToronto, Ontario
^RCanada

 ^1>   Unfortunately, no one here has any experience with that particular 
 ^1>printer.If you contact your local Radio Shack dealer, he will probably be 
 ^1>able to help you find a solution to your problem, if one exists.  


