C503719@umcvmb.missouri.edu (Baird McIntosh) (11/01/89)
In article <32268@ucbvax.berkeley.edu>, mitchell@janus.berkeley.edu (Evan Mitchell) writes: >I also like AmigoTimes. I think it looks better than ANY other Amiga mgazine. >However, I don't buy it. Why? $9.95 is too much to pay for a magazine. They >really should drop the disk, especially since it doesn't seem to contain >original programs (ala Compute's Amiga Resource or Amiga +). I would spend >maybe $4.95 for it. Well, the issue with DTP in it (issue 1.8) was available at the bookstore for US $3.95 or CDN $4.50 or UK #2.50 (can I send a pound symbol on USENET? :-) *without* the disk. So you can now go out and buy it. Speaking of AmigoTimes, does anyone else agree that they need some editors who maybe know a little more about English sentence structure/grammar? This is going to sound harsher than I mean for it to, but there are serious structural errors in every AmigoTimes article in each issue I have purchased. I know that it is published by Canadians (who MAYBE speak French 1st, English 2nd?), but it is a little disturbing to read English text with so many superfluous, missing, or misplaced punctuation marks. The most regular mistakes are run-on sentences that lack a conjunction; for example: "The Professional Page interface also has both pros and cons, the layout of most of its menus is logical and conforms to that un-written Amiga standard that all Amiga programs should follow." In this case, there should be a conjunction like 'and' or 'but' after the ',' or the ',' should be changed to a ';'. I have also noticed sentence fragments. Anyway... This is not meant as a criticism of the average Canadian's grasp of the English language and it is not meant to imply that all Canadians speak French and only 'sorta speak English'; however, I think the magazine should take more time to edit the text for clarity/proper structure, and if they are already spending a lot of time, then they need a crash course in English sentence structure. Has anyone else been bothered by this small flaw in AmigoTimes articles? For a magazine trying to be taken seriously while boasting that it is produced on Amigas, I would think they could try a little harder in the editing department. # Baird McIntosh "Oh it doesn't seem like this Blue Sky's here for me..." # # INTERNET: c503719@umcvmb.missouri.edu <-or-> BITNET: c503719@umcvmb.bitnet #
a23@mindlink.UUCP (Joel Murray) (11/04/89)
I have been bothered by this "small flaw in AmigoTimes articles" partly because
I'm an English teacher :-) and partly because I feel that NO professional
publication should be sold with mistakes.
By the way, AmigoTimes is published in Montreal and if I remember correctly,
the producers of the magazine have French names, so it's entirely possible that
English is their second language.
// /// CIS: 73200,3117
\X/oel ///urray Usenet: a23@mindlink.UUCPraf@PRC.Unisys.COM (Ralph A. Foy) (11/06/89)
From article <3052@lab.udel.EDU>, by C503719@umcvmb.missouri.edu (Baird McIntosh): > In article <32268@ucbvax.berkeley.edu>, mitchell@janus.berkeley.edu (Evan > Mitchell) writes: >>I also like AmigoTimes. I think it looks better than ANY other Amiga mgazine. >>However, I don't buy it. Why? $9.95 is too much to pay for a magazine. > Speaking of AmigoTimes, does anyone else agree that they need some > editors who maybe know a little more about English sentence > structure/grammar? This is going to sound harsher than I mean for it > to, but there are serious structural errors in every AmigoTimes > article in each issue I have purchased. [...] > Has anyone else been bothered by this small flaw in AmigoTimes > articles? For a magazine trying to be taken seriously while boasting > that it is produced on Amigas, I would think they could try a little > harder in the editing department. I had the chance to meet and chat with the Circulation Editor and Circulation Manager for Amiga Times at the World of Commodore shin-dig a while ago here in PA. The poop is that this is a family production--if I got it right, the brother is an artistic techie type who fell in love with the Amiga and decided to put together a magazine. So he, his wife, and two sisters, along with friends and eventually a staff put the thing together. I guess between my admiration for the drive to get such a thing going, the dedication I perceive from the family, plus the spell placed upon me by the two incredibly attractive sisters, I am rather forgiving about the editing problems. The one problem which I am not so forgiving about is the ReadAll(v0.1) program distributed on the AmigoTimes program disk. It is a great idea (a file display window with a scroll bar to move back and forth in the document) but tragically flawed in that it guru's about 90% of the time if I click on the scroll bar. I am less-than-patiently waiting for v0.2. True, the programs on the disk are not original, and sometimes not very useful, but I appreciate the enthusiasm shown for the machine (ah, if only Commodore believed in it as much as they do) and the focus on the not-(just-)a-game-machine approach--in fact, it focuses mostly on the artistic uses of the machine (graphics, DTP, video, and music)--a very admirable approach. What I liked most about the most recent issue, 1.8, was that on the cover they show an Amiga screen with what appears to be the actual Professional Page document they used for their Music-X review, along with snipits and proof-pages for other articles in the issue. I was impressed! raf ----- Ralph A Foy Unisys Corporation/Paoli Research Center #include <StdDisclaimer.h>
raf@PRC.Unisys.COM (Ralph A. Foy) (11/06/89)
From article <662@mindlink.UUCP>, by a23@mindlink.UUCP (Joel Murray): > I have been bothered by this "small flaw in AmigoTimes articles" partly because > I'm an English teacher :-) and partly because I feel that NO professional > publication should be sold with mistakes. > > By the way, AmigoTimes is published in Montreal and if I remember correctly, > the producers of the magazine have French names, so it's entirely possible that > English is their second language. Actually, the family who puts the magazine together is Nigerian/Swiss. In fact, English may be their third or fourth language (but they did seem to be quite fluent). I think the problem is just inexperience and inattentiveness to detail. Not what one likes to hear about a "professional publication," but as i posted a little earlier, I think they are amateurs who just want to impress the heck out of me by putting out a glossy and generally quite impressive mag with their trusty amigas. Ralph ----- Ralph A. Foy Unisys/Paoli Research Center pragma standard_disclaimer;
raf@PRC.Unisys.COM (Ralph A. Foy) (12/22/89)
From article <6654@nigel.udel.EDU>, by hill@evax.arl.utexas.edu (Anthony Adam Hill): > > > On the subject of magazines another good one to read is Amigo > Times. It is a Canadian mag that is DESIGNED on Amigas and final > output is done on Lintronics machines. They use Prof. Page and USE the > color separation features. and then proudly display all of the amiga software and hardware they use > They have great content (if they would remove the BASIC column) > :-). They have columns on DTP, programming, and a novel one on women > in computing. The main drawback is that you have to buy the disk. you can now get a disk-less subscription for approx. $26 (if memory serves me correctly). I just subscribed a few weeks ago, so am patiently awaiting my first copy... > Anyway if you get a chance pickup a copy and read it you would > be pleasantly suprised at what our neighbors to the North are doing. agreed.. ___________________________________________________________________________ Ralph A Foy UUCP : raf@burdvax.UUCP Unisys/Paoli Research Center INTERNET: raf@prc.unisys.com PO Box 517 (215) 648-7324 (work) Paoli, PA 19301