CU Amiga review of Megadisc

   Didya see it? They gave Megadisc a 92% score, which is an improvement on
  "could do better" I guess. The review was by a guy who edits JAM magazine
  over there - "the most black & white Amiga magazine in the world" as he
  puts it, and since his mag is also devoted to productivity on the Amiga, he
  should know what he's talking about. Thanks to the various people who
  called in and told us about it.


More Content

   There's much more here this issue than the Contents on the back of the
  card show, so hunt around - some contributors got their stuff to us a
  little later than usual, so it didn't get onto the cover.


Entrepreneur's corner - Mystery scheme No. 1

   In an effort to bolster cash flow for us and you in these tougher times,
  consider this idea, you knowledgeable computer-literate users of
  Megadisc...

   If you have a friend or acquaintance who needs a computer system (Amiga,
  or IBM clone, if they must - we have a very good source of these too) or a
  substantial piece of equipment of any sort (printer, scanner, etc.) or
  software for that matter, then you may do well to encourage your friend to
  purchase through us at Megadisc. Why? We'll take you on as a partner,
  that's why! That is, we'll pass on a small percentage to you as the actual
  salesman in the case. Call and enquire if you're interested in such a
  scheme - after all, everyone wins: you win and we win by making a bit, and
  your friend wins because he's got someone who'll help him out in the way of
  support.


Miscellaneous

MDExtras

   This disk will also contain interesting recent PD if there is room after
  putting on what contributors have sent in.

PD for contributors

   It may be that a past contributor wants to get some PD from us and he
  isn't a current subscriber - of course, such a person can get PD from us at
  subscribers' prices, not the regular prices. Just let us know.



Tax breaks

MD and Tax

   MD subscriptions are tax-deductible if you use Megadisc to help in income
  production so keep this in mind as you prepare your tax this year.

Should you pay sales tax?

   If you're using your computer in business as a "tool of trade", such as I
  undoubtedly do here at Megadisc, or as another of our subscribers, James
  Kemsley (cartoonist of Ginger Meggs!) does, and as many of you may do in
  various ways, then you're eligible for an exemption from Sales tax when you
  purchase such "tools of trade". So you need to get registered with the
  Sales tax office, they'll give you a number, and you quote it when
  purchasing. Ask us for more details when you make an order with us.


Programming ideas

Ideas for programmes from Perry Mowbray:

    A structured drawing viewer.
    An editor button for Fullview/Megaview to load file into specified
        editor for editing.
    A search command for searching sorted files, ie binary searching.
        With a command line like SORT (offsets etc)
    Liner - a command to make a text file's lines so many characters long.
        Like fullview, but as a command.

   See also Word Processor suggestions by Bill Harper in his article this
  issue.



Jason Lowe's C tutorial series

   Jason got back to me and told me that only 3 people had actually written
  to him about his series! I know that quite a few have mentioned enjoying
  it in letters to me but people, come on! Let's give feedback, get in
  touch, move the energy around!


Giveaways for re-subscriptions

   Congratulations go to the winners of the prizes for having subscribed by
  MD34's release, and they are:

   The first prize of all our compilation disks, and Extras disks goes to
  Kevin Taylor of North Cranbourne, Vic.

   The second prize of 30 PD disks of your choice goes to Malcolm Kays from
  South Hobart, Tas.

   Third prize of 15 PD of your choice goes to Matthew Gill of Yarralumla,
  ACT.

   Thanks to those subscribers for demonstrating the good taste of continuing
  to subscribe to Megadisc!



If you re-subscribe by next issue

   There is a first prize for re-subscribing, which is all our compilation
  disks - Articles, Hints&Tips, and Basic, along with a free subscription to
  the Extras disk - $80 worth. There may even be an added mystery prize!

   2nd prize will be 30 PD disks of your choice, 3rd prize 15 PD disks of
  your choice. Be in it!



Errata:

Virus-Checker bug

   One bug was peculiar to the A600 and initiated severe gurus and other
  other-worldly effects - now fixed in this issue's version (6.26).

   VC V. 6.25 also tries to find Commodities.library and if it does, looks
  for other WB2 libraries, and will hang if it doesn't find them. THanks to
  Joe Bouhabib for pointing this out. His WB1.3 system happened to have that
  library due to it being on a cover disk at some time, and he found out what
  the problem was by using SnoopDos (from MDExtras_33).

   That said, however, this is an excellent virus-checker and John Veldthuis
  does a fine job of keeping it up-to-date and easy-to-use. 



BBS for Megadisc

   If you want to get in touch with Megadisc by modem, upload a file, leave a
  message to me (Tim Strachan) or anyone else connected with Megadisc, get
  onto BBS Connection in Sydney on (02) 9706444 which has 4 lines and is an
  excellent BBS run by Mario Nicotra.

   So when you get on, you'll get to the Main MENU, and select "7" (SIGs) Go
  to SIG Megadisc (Special Interest Group) by pressing "M" From there, you'll
  see where to go and what to do, eg. "1" will be messages and private mail,
  etc.

   Make sure you leave the message for "Megadisc" not Tim Strachan (that's
  what the BBS is set up to do).



Re new products from Megadisc

   * A-Gene - the genealogical program by Mike Simpson which he has continued
  to update since he brought it out. It does everything you'd want such a
  program to do, so use it to climb your family tree. Price is $30.

   * Photographic output

   We can output your deathless graphics to negative, transparency, and/or to
  photographic paper of practically any size (eg 20" x 30"). The reason for
  this capability is that I know an image processing place which is
  Amiga-friendly. So ask us about it. It's not particularly cheap,
  unfortunately (say about $50 for the size mentioned above) but it will
  preserve your genius forever (almost).



   Best of Nic Wilson $29.95

   In the great Megadisc tradition of good quality, low-cost software,
   this is a disk with all Nic Wilson's famous programs - on this disk are:

   - NoVirus : the original Virus killer, formerly $49.95 on its own
   - AddMenu : Add any programs to your WB2 menu, formerly $49.95 on its own
   - SysInfo : the famous multiple utility diagnostic program
   - AutoCLI : multiple utility program
   - NoErrors: fixes errors on floppies and hard drives
   - TrackDos: diagnostic and file recovery tools
   and many other utilities with Nic's trademark attention to power and
   usefulness that all Megadisc users will know. All the manuals are also
   on the disk, making this a real bargain at $29.95.



PIKit (Parallel Interface kit from Colonial Soft) - cheap networking!

   Check out a description of this package in the Hardware drawer this issue
  - this will enable you to link any 2 Amigas or an Amiga with a CDTV in the
  simplest possible way, since the package creates the necessary boot disk
  for you. This is a terrific (and cheap) way of networking - why pay $700?
  Put together by Jeff Wilson and Greg Tow of ColonialSoft, and costing only
  $19.95 (plus $5 p&p).


New PD packs

   Check out the Public_Domain drawer this issue for a full description of a
  bunch of new PD packs, namely:

  The 2 all-new CG_GFonts 10-packs for $30 each
  The new Non-Dos collection
  The 2 new Educational 10-packs (for young and old)
  The new collection of Workbench 2 (and later) material from the Fish disks


New Compilation disks

   Don't forget our new compilations either:
  * Hints&Tips disk
  * Basic Compilation disk
  * MD_Articles I, II, & III
   All these disks and more are described in "New_Disk_News" this issue.

 New Minimum order $15

   We really do lose money if someone orders a single disk from us, and
  when there are credit card orders, it's not cost-effective below about
  $15 due to bank charges, paperwork, etc. so to keep ourselves in business
  we have to have a minimum order of $15 - this is pretty fair I think,
  considering that we have a Free Call number and FreePost for orders from
  anywhere in Australia, and we include the cost of postage. (However, we're
  willing to waive this requirement for subscribers to Megadisc - who can do
  no wrong!)



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                             FACT SECTION


  Megadisc was produced on an Amiga A3000 with a Seagate Hard disk and
  ASDG's Dual Serial Board & Syquest, and a couple of older Amigas using a
  8-Megabyte Ram expansion board from Phoenix MicroTechnologies, 3.5" and
  5.25" disk drives by Paul Chatfield, Acudat disk-drives, Maestro Modem,
  AST TurboLaser and Epson 500.  Software used included "Professional Text
  Engine" by Zirkonics, TxEd, SuperBase Professional by Precision
  Software, PowerPacker 4.0, Deluxe Paint of course, and a great many
  excellent public domain utilities by numerous talented authors,
  including local talent such as Nic Wilson, Jon Potter, Robert Lang, Mike
  Fuller, Peter Thompson and others.

   Thanks also to sub-editors Andrew Wong and Steve Bolton for their
  various useful contributions to the process of putting Megadisc together,
  including the proof-reading, a big job which they have both done with
  speed and accuracy.


    DISCLAIMER

    All Megadiscs are produced with as much care as possible and with the
  aim of spreading useful information through the Amiga community at low
  cost. All contents of Megadisc are checked thoroughly, but we hold no
  responsibility for use of programs or implementation of advice or
  modifications contained in Megadisc, which are the responsibility of the
  user. (This legalese can be countered by the fact that to date there
  has been no report of any mishap from use of Megadisc - on the contrary,
  all the feedback has been very supportive and positive, and thanks to
  all you users for that.)

    What's more, Megadisc is totally independent - and we don't take any
  ads so we can stay that way. Nor are we connected with Commodore
  Business Machines except as third-party producers.


    COPYRIGHT

    Commodore, Amiga and Commodore-Amiga are trademarks of Commodore
  Business Machines.

    Note that Megadisc is not public domain, nor is any part of it unless
  expressly stated. If you want to use anything from a Megadisc for
  either commercial or non-commercial use, both copyright laws and
  courtesy require that you call and ask permission, and having got it,
  mention the source of the piece where it's used. Megadisc may not be
  copied except for the back-up purposes of a particular buyer of the
  disk. Giving a copy of Megadisc to anyone is illegal, and constitutes
  theft.


    DUD DISKS

  Should anyone receive a disk from us at any time which does not perform
  as it should, please send it straight back and it will be immediately
  replaced - there are always a few dud disks in every bunch, which you'll
  recognise by "Read/Write Errors" or the disk icon showing as "DFx:BAD"
  or "DFx:NDOS". Sometimes a disk may appear to be bad, but isn't - the
  round metal hub in the middle of the disk can sometimes get jammed
  against the edge of the plastic surround. Simply work it loose with
  your fingernail and you'll often find it'll come good. And finally,
  some disks work fine on some drives but not others - try it on more
  than one drive.



   Tim Strachan
   (Editor)

   June/July '93



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