EI Z-NEWS 709 15 June 1987 ============================================================================== Of Significance. Sure, we blow our own horn, but if you are looking for qual- ity in an operating system, we have it. If you haven't yet ordered ZCPR v3.3 with its tutorial-style 65-page User's Guide now is the time to do it, to up- date your Z-System or CP/M machine. Item 1 on our Price List is $49.00 and represents a significant advance over previous versions. ZCPR 3.3 User's Guide may be ordered alone and is priced $14.95, Item 87 on Price List. For those who have already purchased v3.0 core package from us, act-now complete update package price is only $25.00 for v3.3 core, guide, plus enhanced RCP, FCP, and utilities that are impressive (see Z-User's Corner below). Guide tells how to install new command processor manually using several different techniques, and also how to install it into Z-COM. Written by Jay Sage, author of v3.3 (Z-News 705-1), lots of insight into command processor design is contained in laser-typeset manual. With ZCPR3: The Manual by Richard Conn, which came with the original core package, and with Z-System User's Guide by Richard Jacobson and Bruce Morgen, you have complete document- ation to learn all about the ZCPR command processor replacement to the CP/M CCP module, and more. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Fortnighter newspaper, Computer Currents, gets wider distribution, beyond San Francisco Bay Area (Z-News 608-1). Now it's distributed in Los Angeles area. Also, this month, June, Boston area gets it, soon to be followed by New York City and Washington D.C. Other areas are to be added in 1988. Newspaper covers world of desktop computing, including publishing. In the above cities, it's passed out free, usually through popular computer stores. But you can subscribe by calling 415/547-6800. Publisher, Stan Politi, has turned his dream into a reality by going national. Stan, congratulations! And pass along our greetings and thanks to columnist Ted Silveira for doing such a good job with "CP/M Connection." Interested in having WordStar v4.0 support ZCPR3 and ZRDOS? Well, we will get it--it's possible--if enough people want a ZCPR, Z-System version of WordStar (understand anything new as upgraded Newword). All we need to do is let Product Manager, Lee Lensky, know your desires. Write down your thoughts- -no phone calls--and send them to Mr. Lensky at MicroPro International, 33 San Pablo Ave., San Rafael, CA 94903, or leave a message via MCI mail to LLENSKY. From The Mail Box. Rick Charnes, San Francisco, CA, (TLIB and RCOM author, Z-News 706-2) teaches Z-System at Chabot Science Center & Observatory, 4917 Mountain Blvd., Oakland, CA. Course starts in July, classes held every Thurs- day, and goes for ten weeks. If interested, call Chabot College at 415/531- 4560. Leave your name, address, phone number; then, literature will be sent to you. (Remember Rick? He writes super column, called "Forever Z," in Morrow Owners' Review. For more information call 415/644-2638, or write MOR, P.O. Box 5487, Berkeley, CA 94705.) From Glenn Brooke, Evanston, IL, "I came across this passage and immediately thought of you and the terrific Z-System and community: 'Superficiality is the curse of our age. The doctrine of instant satisfaction is a primary spiritual problem. The desperate need today in not for a greater number of intelligent people, nor gifted people, but for deep people.'-- Richard L. Foster, Celebration of Discipline." Yes, we think Foster is of our cloth. Now, we look for a few more special people..."I find our tendency to superficiality appalling, and see it permeating our culture--in television, entertainment, political leadership, and work ethic. The Z community is a refreshing fan on a very hot, humid day. Please accept my thanks...for your wonderful efforts." That we do, and thanks Glenn for sharing with us. Z-User's Corner. Version 3.3 of ZCPR and its accompanying upgraded utilities further improve productivity through increased task-automation possibilities. (If you get your upgrades by Z-Node downloading, you likely need to acquire from us the User's Guide, Item 87.) Let's look at the new SHOW, Version 1.1, and what it can show you about your system. In another newsletter we will discuss what you can do with the greatly expanded FCP features. --> SHOW Main Menu <-- PACKAGE DATA ZCPR3 SYSTEM DATA F -- Flow Command Package 1 -- ENV Descriptor Data R -- Resident Command Pkg 2 -- Message Buffers C -- CPR Commands 3 -- CRT/Printer Data I -- Input/Output Package 4 -- System File Names ENVIRONMENT CPR OPTIONS E -- Error Handler 5 -- CPR Facilities M -- Memory Utility 6 -- Special Options N -- Named Directory 7 -- Access Options P -- Path Expression S -- Shell Stack X -- Exit SHOW Command: M Memory Display 00 01 02 03 04 05 06 07 08 09 0A 0B 0C 0D 0E 0F | 0123456789ABCDEF FE00 -- C3 00 00 5A 33 45 4E 56 01 F4 FB 05 00 EB 10 00 | C..Z3ENV.t{..k.. FE10 -- F3 0C 00 F9 04 00 FC 1C 00 FF C8 00 FE 02 00 FB | s..y..|..H.~..{ FE20 -- 04 20 80 FB D0 FB D0 FF 00 FF FB 04 10 1F 01 00 | . .{P{P.{..... Compare above menu to your present SHOW main menu. Notice guide header for memory utility easing data location. SHOW now tells more of how your system is set-up, is better organized; notice new CPR 5, 6, and 7 options. Many resident commands available make it difficult to remember them all. So new RCP has expanded H command that shows all available FCP, CPR, and RCP commands. For us, "H" entered at command line, even Z command line of VFILER, displays: FCP IF AND OR ELSE FI IFQ XIF ZIF CPR GET GO JUMP NOTE REN SAVE RCP CLS ECHO ERA H LIST P POKE R REG SP TYPE WHL WHLQ Hardware Beat. High Tech Research ULTRABOARD (Z-News 708-1) comes along as scheduled. Should be shipping before summer's end. We hear for an external monitor driver, the Hitachi HD63484 graphics chip and Micromint X-Bus is to be used. Very impressive! Bill Nesting and his development team (call them at 800/446-3220, in California call 800/446-3223, RAS 916/243-9358) cause lots of PC-compatible folks to sit-up and take note. Here is the Z280 add-in board to '84 Kaypros that outguns IBM ATs. Wyse Technology, the San Jose ASCII/ANSI/Graphics terminal maker, went public with ownership October 1984 and stock sold for $7.00 a share. Today, June 1987, company's stock sells for over $30.00 a share, over 300% rise. Bernard Tse, bravo! Software Beat. ZAS-ZLINK advances continue...Al Hawley, Z-Node #2 Sysop and Z-Team member, and support-team rapidly enhance our assembler-linker duo. Next release should be near end of summer, a release to make us all proud. Temporarily, Al has taken over the responsibility of design, future enhance- ment, coding, and maintenance of assembler and linker. His qualifications, experience, early successes justify our enthusiasm. Al is the author of REVAS, Item 23 on our Price List, the disassembler that set the standard. Good wine quickly spoils in the presence of bad company. In Other Words. We are "voice of the voiceless." Few can hear us speak; they have not ears for our words, our works. Nonetheless, we produce a newsletter written to be read (and read many times over), one that's fun to read; we say in few words what we have to say. Our style has changed as we have changed over the years. We are serious, but not too serious; we laugh at ourselves and laugh at you. Power of the press comes to us finally, no longer just in the hands of big institutions and their supporters. In our faceless society, we can finally be innovative in the documents we individually create and put our styles to compete in the professional arena. Individualism is back--let's make the most of it! ============================================================================== Of Angels and Eagles. Ask any group of serious wine drinkers their favorite red wine and you are likely to get Cabernet Sauvignon as the primary response. That comes with little surprise since Cabernet wines are likely the best red wines made today--anywhere in the world. But there are lovers of Pinot Noir who insist the angular hardness of Cabernet is no match for the silky richness of the better Pinots from California. Some may tell you--with tongues deeply pressed into cheeks--Cabernet fans actually suffer from Pinot envy. Lots of choice Cabernets and Pinots sit on store shelves ready for picking; but good, really good, red Zinfandels are scarce. Some time ago, Zinfandel grapes were declared native to California, but with a certain uncertainty. They may have come originally from Europe, perhaps Italy. Today, white "Zin" is very popular but it has been produced for only the last three or four years. Red has been around much longer as a vintage premium wine, a wine with tantalizing complexity, spicy, mellow, berry aroma, a certain uncomparable richness of taste. Red Zins mature much the same as Cabernets. And for the connoisseur interested in value and a change of pace, Zinfandels provide just that, and are so hard to beat as pure wine adventure. The point? There are many levels of being--we each see what we have eyes to see. Now back to training our pair of okapis. But first, we share a sip or two of warm red Zinfandel with Magdalena. See you down the lines... Echelon, Inc. 885 North San Antonio Road Los Altos, CA 94022 USA Telephone: 415/948-3820 Telex: 4931646 Z-Node Central (RAS): 415/948-6656 Trademarks: Little Board, Bookshelf, Ampro Computers; SB180, SB180FX, GT180, Micromint; ON!, Oneac; DT42, The SemiDisk, Deep Thought 42, SemiDisk Systems; XLR8, M.A.N. Systems; VAX, Digital Equipment; AT, IBM; Macintosh, Apple; Z280, Zilog; HD63484/64180, Hitachi; Z-System, ZCPR3, ZRDOS, Z-Tools, ZAS-ZLINK, Z- Msg, Term3, Quick-Task, NuKey, Z80 Turbo Modula-2, Lasting-Value Software, Echelon; CP/M, Digital Research; Unix, AT&T; TurboROM, Advent; Graphix Toolbox, Turbo Pascal, Borland Int'l; WordStar, Newword, MicroPro Int'l; JetFind, Bridger Mitchell. * * Fly with Z! * * Z-News 709 is Copyright MCMLXXXVII Echelon, Inc. All rights reserved world- wide. Permission to reprint, wholly or partially, automatically granted if source credit is given to Echelon.