EI                             Z-NEWS 806                      9 November 1987
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Of Significance.  Echelon enters new phase.  We seek to find our place in  the 
microcomputer  market  place supporting those who find  Z-System  computing  a 
desirable way to go.  We lean down our paid staff, reduce our office overhead, 
strengthen our development team ties, prepare for future growth.  Z-Nodes  and 
Good-Neighbor Helpers take on a significant role.  More next newsletter.  Stay 
with us, our computing future is bright.
     The  recent  "crash" of Wall Street and other  free-world  stock  markets 
gives pause, a time to reflect on what we are doing, and what we are  letting, 
by  our non-thought, others do to us.  What is life?  Is it a time to  perpet-
ually  rip-out our neighbor, do unto him before he does it to us?  Life is  so 
much more than "making a living."  Now, a time to learn, and learn much.  Come 
home to roots.  Learn what computers do and how they do it.
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From  The   Mail Box.  Many find Nick Turner's "Terra Nova  Letter"  just  the 
ticket-to-ride.   Nick, erstwhile editor of DDJ, is our kind of  folk.   News-
letter covers a wide range of subjects from "high technology,  communications,
spiritual pursuits, friendship, and just plain fun.  We expect the TNL to pro-
vide  a wide variety of articles and other material useful to people  who  are 
interested  in  the growth and evolution of the  planet's  ecosystems,  social 
structures,  and knowledge."  Subscription price is what you make it--get  out 
of  it what you put in.  Nick's mailing address is Terra Nova  Communications,
10  McGranahan  Court, Boulder Creek, CA 95006-9208; or, try  Andronx  RAS  at 
408/338-9511.
     Steve  Cohen, Chicago, author of our beloved ZPATCH program,  writes,  "I 
feel sorry for the DOS crowd.  They're gonna have it done to them again.   And 
again.  And again, until they learn to appreciate what they have and work hard 
at  improving it, until they get to the point where they don't need to be  led 
around  by  the  nose by the very people out to  take  their  money."--comment 
prompted  by  BYTE article, Vol. 12, Num. 12, Extra Edition, page  44,  quote, 
"Skeptics of OS/2 were dismissed by Bill Gates of Microsoft in a speech to the 
Silicon  Valley User's Society recently as 'the same kind of people  who  were 
reluctant to switch from CP/M to MS-DOS'."  Gates comment was also carried  in 
BYTE's  November 1987 issue, on page 11.  Most of you know what EI  thinks  of 
people who don't think for themselves, who take short views, who follow crowds 
for  whatever reason.  "Life is so much more than 'making a living'."  We  say 
no more.

Software Update Service.  Here what SUS #12 looked like at shipping time:

                     DIRectory, Version 1.4  01/22/86
 -SUS    .012    0r| CMD     .LBR   24 | FOR-NXT2.LBR   44 | LX16    .LBR   20 
 STATPAT .LBR    2 | Z33VERR .LBR   14 | Z3VARS  .LBR   18 | ZAPG    .SZ    26 
 ZF10F   .LBR   36 | ZLDIR   .LBR   10 | ZMANG-20.LBR   48 
          F0:BACKUP -- 11 files using 242k (144k remain of 386k total)

CMD.LBR was placed on Z-Nodes, thinking many would appreciate the scripts con-
tained  therein.  Previous Z-News have covered contents of SUS #12.   Thirteen 
shapes up, has a ways to go:

                     DIRectory, Version 1.4  01/22/86
 -SUS    .013    0r| NHSH-Z33.LBR   14 | PACK10  .LBR   24 | SNIGLETS.       6 
 T3S10   .LBR   14 
          F0:BACKUP -- 5 files using 58k (328k remain of 386k total)

If you don't have economical access to Z-Node remote access system,  subscribe 
to SUS!  That's the way to get important program updates and stay current with 
what's going on.  And at the same time you support Echelon!  Subscribe  today.
Call our voice number with your credit card number handy.

Z-Node  News.  Frank Cringle, Edinburgh, Scotland, has produced a long  needed 
utility for packing disks, especially hard disks, with the ability to  specify 
files and groups of files to stay in place (fixed) or to be moved to beginning 
of  disk.   Called PACK, all files are fully defragmented in  the  process  of 
being moved to new locations, for faster access.  Defragmentation, moving, and 
packing files occur about 10 times faster than with Steve Dirickson's RESTORE. 
We  have thoroughly tested PACK and it seems bug free.  As with RESTORE,  your 
disk  drive  system should be reliable, else you should get  it  fixed  before 
using PACK.  (Thanks, Frank, for supplying the source code!  We are sure  many 
in the community will appreciate seeing how you accomplished such a  marvelous 
piece  of work.)  It's all on Z-Nodes as file PACK10.LBR, and on upcoming  SUS 
#13 diskette.
     For  those  using  both WordStar v4.0 and NuKey, Joe  Wright,  author  of 
NuKey, passes along a message to make sure WS routines FUNDLY are set to 0 and 
AHEAD  to FF.  Use program WSCHANGE to do this.  FUNDLY is defaulted to 0  but 
AHEAD  is  not to FF; it is usually 0.  So change it to FF if you  use  NuKey.
Then everything will work correctly as it did when using Newword v2.17.
     If into Modula-2 program development, two RASs you will find interesting: 
212/682-4609 and 503/297-9145.  Give each number a try for useful  information 
and to download public domain files.  Both are PC Pursuit accessable.

Z-User's  Corner.  Often we use words "backup" and "archive"  without  concern 
for  their  meaning.   Backup is one or more copies of files  that  are  still 
online  on  our disk system; archive are files no longer online and  are  disk 
copies put in a place for safe keeping.  And...
     We  use the word script in defining what the computer is to  do.   Script 
comes from the world of theater, of actors and stages, tells of who, what, and 
when  to do and say.  Similarly, our computer reads a standardized  series  of 
parameters and tests we create, then acts sequentially, branching as instruct-
ed, much as actors on stage do with their lines and movements.
     In  discussing  features  of  and  how-to-use  Z-System  and   supporting 
software, we try to keep our eye on the long view and the larger  perspective.
We  try to be eloquence without affectation, profound without  being  pompous, 
and  most  of all, show wit without malice or frivolity.  We  always  hope  we 
offer  humane,  creative, and graceful perceptions, something to  nurish  your 
sensibilities.   Whether  we  succeed in this mission  is  always  under  your 
crucial  judgement.   Find us valuable and thus support us, else we  cease  to 
exist.  It's simple!

Hardware/Software Beat.  Super performance-increaser add-on board, ETS-180-IO+ 
for SB180 and SB180FX, is shipping.  Comes with equally impressive XBIOS.  Get 
details  of  both  from  North  American  One-Eighty  Group,  P.O.  Box  2781, 
Warminster,  PA 18974, 215/443-9031.  Bruce Morgen, NAOG founder, offers  pair 
for only $284.95 plus shipping and handling.  NAOG takes credit cards.  If you 
own an SB180, here is way to get more speed, bigger TPA, and more channels  to 
the outside world.  Contact NAOG today.
     Big  RAMdisk  for  Ampro Little Boards available from  n/SYSTEMS  of  Los 
Gatos,  CA.   Called MDISK, Terry Hazen's company puts LBs into  modern  world 
with add-on 1-megabyte solid-state disk drive.  Your Z80 takes on new  person-
ality with such a drive.  The Little Board is modified by removing the  exist-
ing  RAM  chips  and replacing them with supplied sockets and  by  adding  one 
jumper.   MDISK  board plugs into existing Z80 socket with  Z80  plugged  into 
MDISK  board.  Boot-time utility installs RAMdisk between top-of-BIOS  and  Z-
System  buffers.   Other utilities supplied, mentioned in  Z-News  805-1,  DD, 
ACOPY,  RENAMZ,  make  RAMdisk even more useful by  using  attributes,  beyond 
archive, for loading and copying.  MDISK is offered for $149.00 plus  shipping 
and  handling.   If interested, write to Terry Hazen,  n/SYSTEMS,  21460  Bear 
Creek  Road,  Los  Gatos, CA 95030.  Tell him EI  sent  you.   (Art  Carlson's 
Computer Journal, in Issues #29 and #30, covers technical details of MDISK.)
     Ken  Taschner  nears completion of the new Libraries, Z-News  708-5.   We 
should release the package in a few weeks.  Tremendous effort on Ken's and his 
people's  part;  complete re-write results in faster and  more  compact  code.
Very impressive!  Stay tuned...

In  Other Words.  Seems curiosity is extinguished very early in  most  people.
Is it because of the environment in which we find ourselves or just biological 
for  our time in history?  Seems we are conditioned to be curious  only  about 
safe  areas  of experience.  Few sources of information truly  stimulate.   TV 
programs,  in general, particularly "soap operas," do little to help,  and  it 
further  seems books don't get much play these days, not as much as was so  in 
Victorian times.
     Our  grandparents  used  books as their main  source  of  new  knowledge.
Earlier, people like Henry David Thoreau of Walden fame used keen  observation 
not only to acquire knowledge but as a way to understanding.  Before printing, 
knowledge  was transferred by word-of-mouth, by story tellers.   Understanding 
came when the knowledge was used in practical ways to solve everyday problems.
     These  days, we are so overcome by video imagery (MTV, tape,  and  movie) 
and  its  ability to hypnotize, we forget we are not part of  the  action  but 
simply  near-passive  on-lookers.  Can we sufficiently describe  static,  much 
less  dynamic, images our eyes look upon?  What do the images  mean...do  they 
provoke  or put to sleep?  In other words, What do we see?  We spend  so  much 
time looking yet see so little.
     Imagination, power to visualize, thoughts pointing to images in the head, 
magical gift so often going to waste (Z-News 801-4, 5).
     Most  of us cannot verbalize, either orally or by writing,  our  internal 
vision,  the  sight that drives us and makes us what we are.  I can't  put  it 
into words!--an often heard exclamation.  Even though we might not be able  to 
use words we can demonstrate curiosity through our actions.  Feeling movement, 
we  create desire for even more mobility; is this not what freedom  is  about?
In patience we find our soul.  

                       "Suffering [sorrow] is rooted in
            desire"--Gautama Siddhartha, the Buddha, 563-483 B.C.
==============================================================================
Of  Angels and Eagles.  The thinker is a thought among thoughts!   Objectivity 
exists  at  a human's level?  Of course not; look around--what  do  you  find?
Total  subjectivity  everywhere.  Few even think of themselves as  players  on 
stage,  much less as on-lookers.  Our sight usually takes us only to  tomorrow 
and  how  much we desire with little going to what others may need  from  us--
service without thought of immediate personal gain is dearly needed.  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; Macintosh, Apple; HD63484/64180, 
Hitachi;  Z-System,  ZOS,  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;  Ada,  U.S. Government;  WordStar,  Newword,  MicroPro  Int'l; 
JetFind, Bridger Mitchell.



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      "Images  precede and are a priori to words and numbers, and  offer 
      powerful and direct thinking power.  Cognition is impossible with-
      out  imagery."--Nathan B. Winters, author and illustrator,  1937-.  
      "There  is not perception without contrast."--Franklin  Y.  Gates, 
      Design Engineer.

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Z-News 806 is Copyright MCMLXXXVII Echelon, Inc.  All Rights Reserved. Permis-
sion  to reprint, wholly or partially, automatically granted if source  credit 
is given to Echelon.
