.IF DSK1.C3 ^^^^^^^^^TEXTWARE, SOFTWARE, and ELSEWHERE News and Reviews about the TI ^^^^^^^^^^by JACK SUGHRUE I have taken to reviewing two or more things (companies, texts, programs, funnystuff) each month because a monthly column can no longer begin to keep up with all the new GOOD stuff coming out for our tiny marvel. Genial TRAVelER, is a magazine on disk for the 99. It is a really good buy for anyone really interested in how our computer operates. Wait! That sounds boring. It is a dynamic, blockbuster package of neato, peachy-keen goodies. Nope. Even that doesn't describe what you get for your $35. For that small price you get six "flippy" disks with over 700 sectors full of games and printouts and tutorials and ready-to-run programs and some of the most bizarre menu configurations I've ever seen. These articles and programs are by all the big guns in the present TI world: Jim Peterson, Barry Boone, Ron Albright, Mack McCormick, and a cast of thousands. And all this is edited (with a considerable part programmed and written by) Barry Traver (after whom the magazine/disk is named.) Imagine my surprise when my first issue arrived with two disks chock-full on both sides. Two chock-full disks! The second, as was explained with an enclosed letter, was a surprise bonus! Not part of my bi-monthly subscription. A free, no-strings bonus. Then, when time passed and my second disk hadn't arrived, I received a letter telling me of the delay and asking my patience. Gladly. This is the only subscription service I've ever belonged to that notified me of a delay and apologized in advance for it. The second (or third, if you count the bonus) disk is even better. Then along came a fourth disk. (I am counting the bonus.) This disk was also a bonus and included FUNLWRITER  with DM1000 (version 2.3) and the new 3.0 version of DM1000 and all the docs for all these things. A few weeks later came their official "third" disk (my fifth!). And I still have three more to run on my original subscription. Although it is hard to measure value in dollars and sense (common sense), it would be easy to put a $200 price tag on what I have received thus far (comparing it modestly to the similar kinds of things being offered for the IBM, Apple, Tandy). And I'm certain they are all going to get better. (Tonight I was earlier working on a program I wanted to use at school and tried out the make-your-own-cursor program from Number Two. And so a little smiling face cursor grinned and blinked at me all through my paces. Kind of silly. Kind of fun.) There wouldn't be enough room to begin to list all 300+ files on the ten disk sides, but the variety is great enough to please anyone with a disk drive. I would recommend a printer, too, though it is not necessary. I particularly liked the articles reviewing the books available for the TI, most of which were reviewed in these columns and most of which agreed with my evaluations (which is probably why I liked them). Because this service is so good and so inexpensive I hope a lot of people subscribe. Send $35 to Barry Traver, Editor, Genial Computerware, 835 Green Valley Dr., Philadelphia, PA 19128 [AUTHOR UPDATE: There is now a second volume of disks even MORE interesting (if this is possible), and both volumes can be ordered for $65.] %%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%% %%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%% With regards ASGARD SOFTWARE (P.O. Box 10306, Rockville MD 20850) I can only suggest you send off immediately for their latest free catalog, if you do not already have it. This company's many diversified programs have been written up in MICROPENDIUM, SUPER 99 MONTHLY, COMPUTE!, HOME COMPUTER MAGAZINE, and scores of user-group magazines. It is, justifiably, one of the fastest-growing companies creating new and exceptional materials for the TI. ASGARD's Disk Data Base program can store up to 12,000 files on a single disk! Their award-winning "Companion" programs for GraphX and TI Artist are the standard for the TI industry. They produced the Tunnel of Doom Editor (and some excellent programs to go with it, so - at last - that cartridge has some real value. Their Schedule Manager is wonderful and user-friendly and is better than many of the highly-touted and incredibly overpriced programs similarly created for the IBM and Apple. There are also music programs and games and utilities (like the Screen Scroll Package) and even a light pen. They also sell regular and specialty papers and labels for your printers and distribute lots of the great stuff out by other companies. The price range for all their own items is between $7 and $20. Unbeatable! And, like the Genial TRAVelER, this company has a lot of the TI programming biggies making goodies exclusively for them. If you really want to stretch your computer out to its full capacity you could not do better than invest in G.T. and ASGARD ************* NO-NO of the Day! Books by Len Turner for ARCsoft: GAMES PROGRAMS; GRAPHICS PROGRAMS; 101 TIPS AND TRICKS; PROGRAMS FOR HOME, SCHOOL, AND OFFICE; and WRITING WORKBOOK. All could have been condensed into one book, which would not be bad, but each book rehashes and takes directly from the others. The programs and approaches are dull and not enlightening. The prices are high for what little is offered (up to $9.95) on the program books, and the WORKBOOK stinks. Shoddy publishing. Some of Turner's programs are okay and maybe he had no control over how the books were to come out, but one should not buy three different books from the same publisher and find exact same programs in each book. Some programs have line analysis, some have sample runs, some have good lead-in descriptions, some have further options, some are efficient. But each page is a surprise. Unpleasant. Look over these books before buying. [Jack Sughrue, Box 459, E.Douglas, MA 01516] ********* If any newsletter editor prints these articles, please put me on your mailing list. Thanks - JS Հ