NEWS: NEWS FROM THADDEUS COMPUTING

By Hal Goldstein

The HP Palmtop Paper - What to expect

 Our aim is to make this expanded, free, first issue worth the subscription price of The HP Palmtop Paper in itself. We expect future issues to be even more valuable as we get feedback and knowledge from our expanding readership base. Expect to see more discussions of HP 95LX- related products, more tips for using built-in soft-ware, more ways of increasing your HP 95LX productivity. Even though this issue contains a bit more editorial content than normal, expect substantial information in each issue.

 Our challenge will be to provide as much useful information for as many of you as possible. The challenge is best expressed from the comments of two readers representative of the feedback we received:

 "I would especially like a column systematically covering software architecture and perhaps details of hardware/construction; design breakthroughs, `inside the 95LX.' Document the debugger, and is there a built-in assembler/ disassembler?"

 Warren Anderson, M.D.

Hawaii

"PLEASE, PLEASE, PLEASE, PLEASE, have significant space devoted to novices such as myself."

 Jack Friou

Columbus, Georgia

Our attempt will be to supply enough information to satisfy users on both ends of the computer sophistication spectrum. Fortunately, many articles such as product reviews and tips on built-in software appeal to almost everyone.

Richard Umble of Bellevue, Washington summed up our thinking for the general thrust of The HP Palmtop Paper:

"Please keep part of the magazine for the novice: Don't make it too technical. The HP 95LX Palmtop appeals to executives who have little time or patience for more complicated devices in their lives. By subscribing to the magazine I want it to help me use my HP 95LX to its full capacity without having to become a programmer."

 Finally, we see The HP Palmtop Paper fulfilling the role described by Robert Bernardino of Campbell, Ohio:

"I would like to see Personalized Software be the focal point for getting software companies to port their programs onto the 95LX."

 Our newsletter, devoted exclusively to the HP 95LX, should encourage developers to create products for the HP 95LX. We intend to actively encourage the development of new products and the porting over of existing products for the HP 95LX.

 Contribute To The HP Palmtop Paper

 We view The HP Palmtop Paper as a chronicle of the collective wisdom of HP 95LX users throughout the world. As you turn through these pages, you'll find that 95LX users like yourself created the tips, ideas, articles, and regular columns. The "best stuff" comes from the day-to-day users of the HP 95LX.

 What you can contribute:

1. 1. Letters - on any topic. You might comment on an item from a previous issue, tell us your experience with an HP 95LX product, thank or make suggestions to HP, or whatever.
2. 2. Tips - on built-in software or other topics dear to the hearts of HP 95LX users.
3. 3. Articles - about uses of built-in software, third-party 95LX products, technical details, or other topics of interest to HP 95LX users.
4. 4. Article proposals - outline a possible article, and we'll give you feedback.
5. 5. Review products - if there is a particular class of products you feel especially qualified or interested in reviewing, contact us.
6. 6. Software submissions - If you have developed or know of free software, Lotus templates or macros, etc. that most or all HP 95LX users would appreciate, submit them to us for possible inclusion on the 1992 The HP Palmtop Paper Subscribers Disk.
7. 7. Beta test site - If there's a particular class of HP 95LX-related product that you would be willing to test, contact us. We'll put developers in contact with you.

 Send your submissions or comments by disk (text in MEMO [ASCII] or WordPerfect format) to: Thaddeus Computing, Inc., PO Box 869, Fair-field, IA 52556; fax: 641-472-1879, or to our CompuServe mail [72257, 714]. You may also contact Hal Goldstein or Richard Hall directly at 641-472-1382 or 877-202-9386.

 What you get in return

 The satisfaction and fun of sharing your experiences, and the appreciation of your fellow HP 95LX users.

The HP Palmtop Paper On Disk - Issue 1

 This new service is not to be confused with the 1992 Subscribers Disk which will be sent free to all Palmtop Paper subscribers with the May/June issue. (See following article for more information on the Subscribers Disk.)

 Contents of Disk

The HP Palmtop Paper On Disk -Issue 1 will consist of:
 
 

1. 1. The editorial content of this entire newsletter in a text (ASCII) file, readable by any word processor. Having the contents of this issue on disk means you can search for a key word in your word processor and immediately find the information you need.
2. 2. In-depth descriptions of some of the products advertised or listed in this issue.
3. 3. All free software and shareware listed in this issue along with documentation. Note that if you decide to use the shareware, you are required to pay the shareware author his fee (usually between $5 and $35). Also we will be unable to support you in your use of the software included on this disk. See the accompanying chart for the contents of this disk.

 

 

Free Subscriber Disk To All Subscribers

 One of the most popular and appreciated aspects to our sister publication, The Portable Paper, has been the annual Subscribers Disk. We will fill a 720K 3 1/2 inch floppy disk (or several 5 1/4" 360K floppy disks) with the best free software for the HP 95LX we can find -- and there is and will be plenty to choose from.

 For example, DIET.EXE discussed in this issue is a prime candidate. As other utilities, programs, Lotus templates and macros come to our attention, they will become candidates for the disk. Please send us your submissions or proposals for the 1992 Subscribers Disk. If you use or have developed a utility that you think other HP 95LX users would appreciate having, please send it to us as soon as possible on a floppy disk.

 This free offering to all our subscribers is not to be confused with The HP Palmtop Paper On Disk - Issue 1, described above. We will mail the Subscribers Disk to all subscribers with (or about the same time as) the May/June, 1992 issue.

The HP Palmtop Paper Challenges Readers

 Here are several challenges for savvy HP 95LX users. If you have a good solution or even a good partial solution to share with other HP 95LX users, send it our way to: The HP Palmtop Paper Challenge, PO BOX 869, Fairfield, IA 52556. We'll publish your responses in future issues.

If any vendor would like to give away products as prizes for the best responses to our challenges, contact us. We'll name your product and how it can be obtained when we describe the challenge and when we publish the response. If readers would like to pose other challenges, please do so by writing us.

 Challenge 1

 Many HP 95LX users would like to go back and forth quickly between 95LX built-in applications and DOS software. It can seem quite cumbersome to have to manually close down all HP 95LX applications and save work before entering DOS. When returning from DOS, a user would like to automatically access the MEMO, 1-2-3, and other built-in application files he last worked on before exiting to DOS. Send us your procedure for quickly going back and/or forth between HP 95LX built-in software and DOS applications.

Challenge 2

 Many of us are used to software that creates a backup file upon saving. Such software renames the existing version of that file with a BAK extension and then performs the normal save. This procedure preserves both the current version of a file along with its previous version.

 Further, many HP 95LX users for safety sake would like to automatically store that backup file to a different drive (e.g. store NOTES.TXT to C:\_DAT and NOTES.BAK to A:\BAK) We would be interested to see a solution that would allow a user to save a file from any built-in 95LX application while at the same time automatically storing its backup file to a second drive.