mel1@houxa.UUCP (M.HAAS) (12/08/85)
Is CPM dead? It sure seems so. I have seen all sorts of ad's for CPM programs to hack with: command processors, compilers, terminal emulators, file transfer programs, debuggers, etc, etc. But, there are vary few (none?) ad's for programs useful to the non-hacker. Contrast this with the wealth of programs available for the IBM PC and Apples. Does this mean that this dust collector on my desk is forever useless? Can anyone here point me in the direction of one or more programs that I can use to: 1) Record and handle my personal checkbook. One that is as easier to use than the regular manual methods, not harder and slower. I am not particularly interested in summary reports or graphs. 2) Maintain and printout my mailing and phone list. I would like to be able to printout just the phone numbers periodically as a useful thing to have by each phone, and printout the addresses around Christmas to serve as mailing labels. 3) A typing tutor program for my kids. One just like the one for the VIC-20 that presents exercises and scores the results and advances in difficulty in an intelligent manner (finger group by finger group). 4) Educational programs that drill in reading, spelling, arithmetic, geography, science, etc. for ages 6 and up. 5) For my hacking self: an emacs that is emacs (or mods to MINCE that make it look more like emacs), a roff that works (nothing fancy), a yearly budget planner that has the categories already worked out, a desk calculator that can be brought up quickly and is easy to use. I am willing to pay for these programs, they don't have to be public domain - aren't there others that need them, too? I have SuperCalc, dBase II, BDS C, PILOT, various BASICS and assemblers, and know how to use them (but don't want to). We have WordStar and that is fine for letters, reports, and such - the only useful program I have on the machine. Mel Haas , [ihnp4!]odyssey!mel , houxa!mel1
hollombe@ttidcc.UUCP (The Polymath) (12/10/85)
In article <864@houxa.UUCP> mel1@houxa.UUCP (M.HAAS) writes: > > ... Can anyone here point me in the direction of >one or more programs that I can use to: >1) Record and handle my personal checkbook. One that is as easier > to use than the regular manual methods, not harder and slower. > I am not particularly interested in summary reports or graphs. I don't think there's such an animal on any system. Some things just aren't worth computerizing. >2) Maintain and printout my mailing and phone list. I would like to > be able to printout just the phone numbers periodically as a > useful thing to have by each phone, and printout the addresses > around Christmas to serve as mailing labels. I maintain my Christmas list with WordStar and use a short BASIC program to print out labels. A minor mod to the BASIC program would let it handle phone numbers as you want. (The whole thing took under half an hour to write and debug). >3) A typing tutor program for my kids. One just like the one for the > VIC-20 that presents exercises and scores the results and advances > in difficulty in an intelligent manner (finger group by finger group). >4) Educational programs that drill in reading, spelling, arithmetic, > geography, science, etc. for ages 6 and up. I can't point to a specific program, but you might try _The Whole Earth Software Catalog_. I'd expect them to have some information on stuff like this. >5) For my hacking self: an emacs that is emacs (or mods to MINCE that make > it look more like emacs), a roff that works (nothing fancy), a yearly > budget planner that has the categories already worked out, a desk > calculator that can be brought up quickly and is easy to use. I've implemented my budget planner with SuperCalc. It's a trivial application that's served me well for years. > I have SuperCalc, >dBase II, BDS C, PILOT, various BASICS and assemblers, and know how >to use them (but don't want to). We have WordStar and that is fine >for letters, reports, and such - the only useful program I have on >the machine. Sounds like you've already got much of what you need. There are budget planners and mailing list programs out there if you insist (again, see _The Whole Earth ..etc._), but it's unlikely any will be _exactly_ what you want. Most will take just as long to set up and customize as it would take to implement them with SuperCalc or BASIC. -_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_ The Polymath (aka: Jerry Hollombe) Citicorp(+)TTI The more I work with C, the more I 3100 Ocean Park Blvd. appreciate the simple elegance of Santa Monica, CA 90405 FORTRAN. (213) 450-9111, ext. 2483 {philabs,randvax,trwrb,vortex}!ttidca!ttidcc!hollombe
tom@utcsri.UUCP (Tom Nadas) (12/14/85)
Try MailMerge for mailing labels
Typing Tutor for typing tutor
Checks & Balances from CDE software.
The problem isn't the availability of CP/M software. I find that
there's plently of first rate stuff out there. The problem is
finding out what exists. Some excellent sources:
FOGHORN: The newsletter of the First Osborne Group, the best CP/M
specific publication in existence. $24 a year for 12 issues plus
access to public domain bulletin boards.
PROFILES: The slick mag from Kaypro corp.
KAYPRO SOFTWARE DIRECTORY nad ADDENDUM, massive paperbacks listing
hundreds of CP/M programs, with prices and publishers. Any Kaypro
deal should be able to show you a copy.
CANADA REMOTE SYSTEMS: a reputable mail order software dealer and
huge public domain bbs.
It doesn't matter which CP/M computer your using. Almost every
program is available in versions for all major machines. Only
problem is diskette compatibility, if you've got something weird.
Get Media Master to solve that problem. A bargin at $39.95.
There are some truly great programs in CP/M. I really like:
dBase II
FYI 3000 (textual database manager)
NewWord (for specific projects, such as script writing; WS is still better for most serious writing)
Tour: a terrific public domain outline processor
The Word Plus: an absolutely first-rate spelling checker
StarIndex: a servicable indexer and table of contents generator
wsNote: a perfect footnoting utility for WordStar or NewWord
FontStar: a font program for dot matrix printers that's much easier
to use and less expensive than Fancy Font (although less versatile,
as well).
If you need specific info, mail me and I'll try to dig it out
of my files.
RJS
Happy owner of an Osborne 1
in Toronto
c/o
--
Tom Nadas
UUCP: {decvax,linus,ihnp4,uw-beaver,allegra,utzoo}!utcsri!tom
CSNET: tom@toronto