Irate women bite back

I FELT I HAD TO comment on the news article entitled "Computer machismo" in the November issue.

As a woman who has been working in the microcomputer industry for a number of years I too am extremely concerned about the lack of female interest in computers.

I do not, however, agree with the view of Ebury Software that publishing software under the Good Housekeeping title is going to do anything to generate more interest. This is an extremely patronising attitude for Ebury to take, and one which will only help to further alienate women from computers and increase the sexist attitude of software publishers.

What Roger Barrett does not include in his - typically male - list of 'positive, traditional skills women have' is creativity. My own personal view is that just as soon as languages like Logo gain more recognition throughout the industry and begin to go into homes many women will find that most of their fears about computer programming are nonsense.

The important thing about Logo as compared to packages such as the Good Housekeeping type is that it gives people an outlet for creativity as well as programming or learning about computers. Creativity, which for many women has been lying dormant for a long time, will remain buried forever, if companies such as Ebury Software have their way.

Christine Roberts

Accurate Adspeak?

IT WOULD APPEAR that the whole publishing industry dealing with magazines and books really needs to examine its methods more closely. Computing requires the utmost accuracy in all aspects of programming, yet in all publications, the number of mistakes which occur is appalling.

In addition, although much of your income is derived from advertising, some of the advertising material verges on downright deceit. Keyboards are a prime example. Most adverts state 'five minutes and a screwdriver'. Yet we then read reviews where screwholes won't line up, casings have to be cut and other horrors. Some advertisers would surely have difficulty in explaining their blurb to the Advertising Authority, and not just on keyboards either.

Why can't we have magazines which don't have mistakes and advertisers who get a little closer to the truth about their products?

A J T Longhurst

Peripheral round-up

I AM getting a ZX Spectrum this year for Christmas and after reading every advertisement for joysticks and interfaces in your magazine I would like to know which is the best to buy.

Chris Wilcox

The 1985 Sinclair User Annual has an up-to-date roundup of the best joysticks and interfaces manufactured during the last year.

Protective software

THERE WAS an article in the September edition of Sinclair User about how to protect your programs from software pirates. The article showed several ways of doing that for the Spectrum including making a line with the number 0.

For ZX-81 users who would like to do the same, type in a line (e.g. 10 REM COPYRIGHT) and press NEWLINE; Type in POKE 16510,0 and. NEWLINE; Press NEWLINE again and you will see '0 REM COPYRIGHT.'

That line cannot be edited and cannot be erased by typing in 0 and then NEWLINE.

Andrew Fox

Sabre Wulf king deposed

I WOULD just like to say, in reply to Des Claypole's letter in the November edition of your excellent Sinclair User, that he has now abdicated. He claims himself to be the Sabre Wulf king but I finished on an earlier date than June 7 on the very day that I bought the game. I considered it so simple that it wasn't worth writing in about. So I now claim to be the mega-supreme Sabre Wulf emperor.

R Worden

Clamp down on pirates

I READ with interest the letter from Mr Dickinson - November, Sinclair User - who mentioned how he had to clamp down on the abuse of his school Spectrums for tape-copying.

There can be no doubt that a great deal of piracy goes on under the aegis of schools, and that some so-called computer clubs are little more than mutual copying circles. That is not only a disaster for the software business; it is an educational catastrophe too, as witness the letter on the same page from Colin Baxter who can see nothing wrong with making a copy of a tape which he cannot afford to buy. That can only be because he has not been taught to.

What happens outside the school is not the school's concern, but it is the responsibility of the schools, as much as of parents, to teach computer-owning youngsters not to steal copyright work, and if they do not computers will do more harm than good to those who are given them.

Andrew Turek

Beat Daley's world record

My friend and I have recently bought Daley Thompson's Decathlon. We played for 1 hour 45 minutes non-stop, and reached the final score of 1,181,160, and cleared 27 sheets containing five events in each sheet on day one.

Kirk Green, aged 14, Paul Bush, aged 15

Sick CUBs recalled

CALLING all CUB QL compatible users.

A supplier's component fault is suspected on model numbers 1451/DQ/3 and 1451/MQ/3 with serial numbers between 85692 and 103317.

To enable us to rectify the situation, therefore, I should be grateful if readers with such models telephone David Kaye so that we can make arrangements for the collection of their monitors for the necessary upgrading to be carried out.

The cost of this operation will be borne by Microvitec PLC.

Tony Fall, Marketing Manager, Microvitec.

Getting the printer blues

I HAVE just spent a day in Exeter unsuccessfully trying to buy a printer for my Spectrum.

I was told that the ZX printer is no longer available: "We don't stock them any more, they gave us too much trouble."

I found that the Alphacom 32 had leapt up in price by £20 or so. "That happened when the ZX printer was withdrawn."

No supplier could show me a printout in black ink on white paper.

No supplier had a printer linked up to a computer so that I could see it working. As the blue printout as seen was not good enough, and the black ink was not to be seen, I came away without a printer.

I think that shops are taking a casual view of the customer, riding on the crest of a wave of sales. Maybe they feel that there is no need to bother with demonstrations. Considering the price of even the cheapest printer, it seems odd that they don't make a bit more effort, shoe shops take a lot more trouble to sell a much less expensive product.

Bill Robinson

Printing at midnight

I AM writing to say how I feel about the Beyond Software Lords of Midnight competition. I for one can complete the game but have no printer, and cannot enter. It annoys me greatly that a printer is necessary to enter the competition because it means spending more than the £9.95 that the game costs.

Gareth Layzell

Many readers have complaints of a similar nature. Beyond Software be warned!

Fanfare for the ZX-81

RICHARD Brooker - November - is right to ask for more ZX-81 cover in Sinclair User. I believe it is important that you do more for users of this excellent little computer - and always bear in mind that it is still selling.

Furthermore I would like to make a point about your software reviews. It could be that you underrate some of the programs for ZX-81 thereby dissuading potential buyers. For example, I thoroughly enjoy playing Racing League, a strategic game concerning the Sport of Kings. Your review said the game was 'slow'. Even the highly successful Football Manager - Gilbert Factor only 7! - is slow on the ZX-81 but it remains a great game!

T G Bell

Racing League was described as slow because the bulk of it was written in Basic, not machine code.

Speechless Spectrums

I RECENTLY made a speech synthesiser unit which operates quite well on my 48K Spectrum. Unfortunately, it suffers from a limited vocabulary. It operates on the Allophone system from the SP0256-AL2.

I would appreciate information on how I may obtain words together with their Allophone equivalents from other readers.

Declan Grady

C64 slips past censors?

I FEEL that I must write and express my deep disappointment and annoyance at finding a Commodore advertisement in the October issue. It may have escaped your notice but your magazine is called Sinclair User!

If you keep this up you will have lost one loyal customer.

J S Shaw

Rob Cameron, advertisement manager replies: In the long run it is product quality and service which counts and if Sinclair's rivals feel they can do better who are we to censor them from saying so?

50 of the best?

YOUR TOP 50 Software Classics - November, Sinclair User - is a classic example of the way your magazine seems to be heading. One war game mentioned, no management or strategy games that I could see. I know you have reviewed such games as Conquest and Fall of Rome but can you do more?

Peter Beard

I MUST congratulate you on your excellent magazine, it goes from strength to strength. November's issue must have been the largest yet and the top 50 games booklet was a great bonus. However, I was amazed that Scuba Dive by Durell wasn't included. It has to be one of the most addictive and graphically superior games around.

John Meads

Programming for more cash

A FEW errors have crept into program listings of late, for which we do apologise. Domewars, in the November issue, should be amended as follows:

Line 340 should read: PRINT AT 19,3; INK 6;"*"; INK 5;"+";AT 20,3; INK 7;"."; INK 3;"/"

We should also point that the program does not use User-defined Graphics in the conventional sense. but changes the character set instead. That appears to have confused some readers.

Home Accounts in the November issue is lacking a few lines of the last DATA statement. It should read:

9800 DATA "a",10,"b",1000,"c",2000,"d",3000,
"e",8900,"f",8950,"g",8980,"h",8990,
"A",10,"B",1000,"C",2000,"D",3000,
"E",8900,"F",8950,"G",8980,"H",8990.

In Home Accounts, the bank statement section is there purely for reference and will not be used by the monthly forecast.

Finally, The Right Stuff in the October issue also suffered from gremlins. Make the following amendments:

   1 GO TO 500
 479 IF q hi THEN GO TO 9301
 507 RUN 600
 630 FOR f=0 TO 7
9234 LET q=hi

Now for the good news. From now on we shall be paying £20 for each program published, and £50 for star programs. Details of how to send programs can be found on the Contents page. Please make sure that your programs are accompanied by a letter describing the game, your name and address, and a cassette or cartridge containing the program.

We try our best to send back programs we cannot publish as quickly as possible and will make special efforts with cartridges.