One problem I have noticed with writing this section of the the QHJ is that I that I don’t have the words to introduce the issue. I try to get each QHJ done at the end of the month before publication. This coincides with the publication schedule of the CATS newsletter (the other newsletter that I edit). By the time I get to the QHJ I’m sort of burnt out from CATS.
So how about some news: Via MausNet comes the news of the 4th International QL Meeting in Italy, 24 Jan, Reggio Emilia, Italy. The meeting is being put on my Ergon Development and QITALY Club. Full information can be had from Davide Santachiara, Via Emilio De Marchi 2, 42100 Reggio Emilia, Italy, +39 522 70409.
From Jeff Kuhlmann, an American in Germany, I have received three shareware emulators written by Carlos Delhez. They are Spectator (Spectrum Emulator for the QL), Extricator (ZX81 Emulator for the QL), and XTender (ZX81 Emulator for MS-DOS). If anyone is interested in these, send a disk (5.25) plus postage for each program.
Also from MausNet comes of news of two Russians, Andrew Lavrov and Anatoly Tishin, who are working on a QL clone based on the 68040 (about 40 MHz). This computer should also be able to “clone” most any 680xx based computer (Amiga, ST, MAC). For the moment consider this Vaporware. We’ll have to wait and see if anything comes of this.
Guiseppe Zanetti has posted QLTOOLS to MausNet. QLTOOLS is a C program that will read a QL disk. It was written for UNIX but recently ported to MS-DOS. I’ve received a copy and had a friend compile it (Turbo C++). It does read the disks, but I have found that when reading a file to STDOUT, all that is output is a number of spaces. The larger the file, the more spaces. I have yet to talk with Guiseppe about this problem, so it may only be localized to either my copy of the source or the MS-DOS port. Guiseppe has mentioned that he does not have the time to make the program write QL disks. Maybe someone will pick up the challenge.
One last bit of news, it looks like I will be moving near the first of the year. After four years in the Pentagon, I decided it was time to move on. I put in for a job at Wright-Patterson AFB, Dayton, Ohio, and it looks like I will get the job. I will be moving about middle of January. I will let everyone know of the new address when I get it.
Going to Wright-Patterson AFB (WPAFB), means that I may lose my Internet connection. I know WPAFB does have an Internet connection, but I’m not too sure if I can get access. I’m pretty sure that I can swing it, but it’s not 100%.
So until next time, see you on the Internet and Happy Hacking.