Category 12,  Topic 6
Message 8         Wed Nov 05, 1986
MICHAEL.M [-:SysOp:-]        at 20:43 EST


This Sunday night at 9 pm (EST)  (Thats 6 PM on the West Coast),
our special guests will be representatives from Fiscal Information,
specifically Mr. Lloyd Sponenburgh.  Lloyd will be here to discuss
Fiscal's revamped LT. KERNAL Hard Drive!  Do attend and have your
questions ready!

The *new* LT. KERNAL is a 20 meg unit which runs in a parallel
configuration, making it 110 times faster than a 1541.  The
drive will be manufactured/marketed through XETEC (the same folks
that bring you those nifty printer interfaces and such).  
According to Mr. Sponenburgh, LT. KERNAL's DOS is now complete,
and runs terrifically on either the C-64 or C-128, and they are
working on making the unit CP/M-compatible.  Other options and
features were hinted at, so if you are in the market for a Hard Drive
you wont want to miss this COnference!

Seeya's on Sunday!

-=:Mike

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Category 12,  Topic 6
Message 9         Sat Nov 08, 1986
MICHAEL.M [-:SysOp:-]        at 00:59 EST

Here are some preliminary specs on Fiscal Informations new and
revamped LT KERNAL hard drive:

FISCAL INFORMATION, INC.
Lt. Kernal Hard-disk and
     DOS Vers 6.1
 
  System Features
 
- Runs copy-protected software
- Built-in KEYED INDEXED-RANDOM
       ACCESS method
- Supports both C-128 and C-64
       modes of operation
- Forty-two additional or en-
       hanced system commands
- LOAD speed in excess of
     100 (1 x 10^2) times the
     speed of 1541 floppy
- automatic execution of any
     program on power-up
- built-in CPM(tm)-like
     command-line features.
- user definable "firm" system
    hardware features
- up to eleven logical drives
    definable on the hard-drive
- DOS allows up to seven FILES of
    any type to be open on hard-
    disk PLUS floppy files and
    hard-disk error-channel.
- DOS differentiates between
    BASIC and M/L programs.
- built-in FAST backup and restore
- Direct invocation of any program
    from the READY prompt
- Standard capacity of 20 MB
 
 
ENHANCED or ADDITIONAL Direct-Mode
          DOS Features
 
ACTIVATE   AUTOCOPY    AUTODEL
BUILD      BUILDINDEX  CHANGE
CLEAR      CONFIG      COPY
D          DEL         DI
DIR        DUMP        ERA
FETCH      I.C.Q.U.B.  invoke
L          LOAD        LU
MERGE      OOPS        QUERY
RENUM      S           SHIP
TYPE       UPDATEDOS   USER
 
 
ENHANCED or ADDITIONAL Run-Mode
          DOS features
 
autoaccess autostart   bell
COPY       DELETEkey   INPUT#
INSERTkey  LOAD        OPEN
PRINT#     SAVE        SCRATCH
SEARCHkey  SHUFFLE


 *> Be sure to drop by on Sunday night! <*

-=:Mike
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Category 12,  Topic 6
Message 10        Mon Nov 10, 1986
MICHAEL.M [-:SysOp:-]        at 21:18 EST

Welp, Sunday nights COnference with Lloyd and Roy from Fiscal Information
was alot of fun and very informative.  If you missed it, look for the
edited transcript, which will be in our library tomorrow!
Lloyd sent me some mail, a portion of which I think should be posted
here:

I talked with John Flickenger of XETEC today.  He is ANIMATED!!!
It looks like FCC and CSA are goingg fast on the 'new' package,
and we will have production units in hand by Wednesday or Thursday of
this week.

By the way, nobody even asked about the KEYED INDEXED-RANDOM ACCESS method
incorporated in the DOS 6.1.....

This 'little' piece of code lets you write VERY sophisticated DATABASE-
MANAGERS in regular C= BASIC.  As an example, you can put together a
complete on-line dictionary, with 30,000+ words and FULL text definitions
in about 42 lines of BASIC.... AND, it'll get to ANY word's def. in about
8 tenths of one second!!!!   A full DINOSAOUR (dictionary+thesaurus) only
takes about 50 lines of BASIC.  And these apps run at M/L speeds, even
though the 'calling' routines are in BASIC, because all the KEY searches
are incorporated in the DOS!!!

--------------------------------------------------------------------

  Thank you Lloyd and Roy for joining us!  It was a pleasure.

-=:Mike
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