TO THE   EDITOR HOW TO CONTRIBUTE TO MEGADISC    !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!  NEW MD_EXTRAS DISK !! MEGADISC is going to begin an MD_EXTRAS disk with this issue (thanks to Paul McLachlan for the idea), to supplement each issue of MEGADISC by providing programs and utilities that are mentioned in the Megadisc articles, tutorials and reviews (if it's PD). This will save users from hunting around all over the Public Domain and will be nicely arranged to be referred to from the various articles. This disk may be ordered as part of a subscription from Megadisc ($20 extra per 6 issue subscription, or $12 extra for a 3 issue sub), or as a separate disk for $5 individually. simply quote MDE and the issue of MegaDisc that you want the extras disk for - for example, MDE_31 for this issue's disk. Or let us know that you want to get it when you get your Megadisc subscription. Please note that it is not possible at this stage to get MDEs before 31, although I will be labouring to produce back_issue disks. Send in the PD you mention To further this end, could contributors, when they write a piece for MegaDisc, simply place any public domain software they mention in their article or tutorial or whatever on the disk they send in to Tim, or at least info on where it can be found on our PD collection. This will enable a quicker production time for the disk.  !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! ANY MEGADISC CONTRIBUTORS WHO HAVE A QUERY OR JUST WANT TO DISCUSS A CONTRIBUTION CAN OF COURSE USE OUR TOLL-FREE NUMBER 008 227 418  !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! One of the most gratifying aspects of editing Megadisc is getting the mail - the quality of contributions has continued to get even better, even by people who've never written a piece for publication in their lives. Many thanks to all of you who have already sent us contributions. This does everyone good (not just MD) - everyone wins, contributors and users. It's very likely that you know things that many others don't, and they'd like to hear about it, if you manage to get it to Megadisc. WHAT YOU GET If you get inspired and send us in a contribution which we use on a future Megadisc, whether it be a review, article, program, series of tips, graphics, animation or whatever, you'll be entitled to any 10 Public Domain disks available in the PD Library (or more if it's a very substantial contribution; 5 if it's a single game review), as well as a free copy of the Megadisc issue that your piece ends up in. So when you do, please include a note saying which disks you'd like to have (if you don't I might forget to get around to asking you what you want). Note that we reserve the right to sell Megadisc issues with all contents, past and future, here and overseas at any time, in any form. * Some contributors have asked about getting back issues of Megadisc instead of PD from time to time - that's fine with me. Just ask for back issues at the rate of 6 pd for one back issue. DON'T FORGET A BIO_PIC WHEN CONTRIBUTING When you do contribute something to Megadisc, feel free to include a small "bio-pic", ie a paragraph or two describing yourself, your interest in computing, and anything else relevant to the situation, whether serious or funny. I'm sure that other users are keen to know where you're coming from. SUBMITTING PUBLIC DOMAIN DISKS FOR OUR LIBRARY Good new PD disks are always welcome - preferably NOT such things as cracker demos (tend to be boring and repetitive), or other quasi-PD diskmags such as Amiga Format (not quite PD sometimes) or simple compilations of utilities we already have on the current collections unless they have something which really distinguishes them. What is welcome - material which hasn't appeared anywhere before, or isn't already in the collection, that may have been downloaded from overseas, for example; locally written stuff; interesting compilations on topics which are useful to end users, such as video or audio, etc.; demos of current software; practical data disks, interesting games... you get the idea. But whatever you send in - please put in a description of what it is, on paper or on disk, along the lines of what we have in the Catalogue (covering such items as how much ram required, where it came from, etc.); and please make it a ready-to-use disk, either bootable or not, so that a beginner can use it without problems - otherwise mention in your description that it's not so easy to use. What do you get? Well, mainly that warm glow due to adding to this user resource! But also, ask for 3 PD disks of your choice and if we use your disk we'll send them out. Chase us up if we don't! SOME SUGGESTIONS FOR CONTRIBUTIONS * Locally written software/utilities are always very welcome. Anything that an end user would find useful. Check any MD for the sort of thing that's popular. * Hardware do-it-yourself hacks of any kind. We're very keen to publish anything which people can do for a few bucks rather than a few hundred if they buy the commercial product. Check the various hacks in any MD issue for good examples. * What about a "What is this thing called a Database?", along the lines of Don Sutton's Spreadsheet series in the last few Megadiscs? * Anyone doing anything with ARexx? Any hints, suggestions, programs, anything? Likewise anything to do with other "hypermedia" and authoring stuff like "CanDo", UltraCard, Scripit, TASS, AMOS, BlitzBasic, etc. * Anything to do with the CLI/Shell/AmigaDos - this is an endless area of investigation, from tutorials/overviews to fine points of the CLI commands. * Reviews of the new MultiMedia programs, such as Scala, MediaShow, AmigaVision and so on; applications of them too. * Icons - any and all, especially small animated informative ones, but please send in whatever you've done. * Reviews of educational software, both commercial and public domain - this is a rather neglected section of the software market, yet there is great potential, especially on the Amiga. * Examples/tutorials on how your system is configured, along with startup-sequences - in short, any ways you've found to speed up the system, or squeeze more performance out of it. Hints and tips in general are always most welcome. * The Amiga used in productivity and business - if you're using your Amiga commercially, please let us know how, and the advantages and limitations. * Reviews of Public Domain software (and hardware, if possible) - after all, it's practically free and often better than the commercial versions. If there's a particular program on the public domain you'd like to do a review of, just give us a call and we'll send you the relevant disk - for free, natch! * Reviews of Australian-made software and hardware - let's support the local products, which are often very competitive. * Examples of using business software such as spreadsheets, databases - templates that you may use, comparative reviews of the various packages available. * Any information you have about making your printer work better, hints, new printer drivers, etc. * Any information about Desktop Video and Desktop Publishing - professional or home - how to improve your productions, any hints and tips, and good hardware available. * More info on Music on the Amiga - there's good stuff coming out these days so let us know what you've found out. * Overviews of the flood of games now available for the Amiga, or comparative reviews of "genres" of games. A bit of analysis rather than just description is useful - like what you expect from games in the future, shortcomings of the Amiga compared to other machines, etc. * Batch or script files that you've come up with, that illustrate a point or do something useful. * Comparisons of the Amiga with other computers (serious ones!). That doesn't exhaust the possibilities by any means, and please don't be limited by the above. We're interested in information to help people take their Amigas further than they're doing now. Any current subscribers who send a contribution will have their subscription extended by one issue, apart from getting their 10 free disks. HOW TO SEND IN YOUR CONTRIBUTION It would also be much appreciated if you'd put your contribution on disk in the case of text as well, since it saves a lot of key-fingering. Even better, make it a straight ASCII file if you can - ie, use a text editor (like ED in the CLI - see the inside of the MD9 card or MEGADOS for all the commands) or save from your Word Processor as ASCII or "text-only" (if you can). However, documents from Notepad or a word processor are fine if you're not sure about ASCII. If you really want to make life easier for your editor, make the left margin 3 and the right margin 75! And if you're into it, you can add your own text attributes (colour, italics, etc) as well. Likewise, anyone who sends in a letter or anything less than a full-fledged article on disk should mention which Public Domain disk they'd like to get back on their disk, and what other two disks they'd like to get for their trouble - just check out our public domain software catalogue, or the listings of PD on this Megadisc. The best way of getting in touch with us is to just ring up (on (02) 9593692 or on the toll-free number mentioned at the top, and if you get a message, leave your name and number, or send us a fax on (02) 9593525. Don't worry if you don't hear from Megadisc for a while after you contribute something - we'll get back to you eventually, though you can always ring up and enquire about anything, anytime. So get inspired, and be digitally published! It could be the start of a scintillating career in the digital press (it has been for some of our contributors). And don't forget, what you think is obvious may be mystifying to someone else - they may need to know what you know. And many thanks to all those talented people who have already contributed so much to Megadisc and its users.  ################## END (BEGINNING?) OF CONTRIBUTIONS ###############