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From Morris Krok
mailto:essence@xxxxxxxxessence@xxxxxxxx
To republish XyWrite Revealed or
any out of print book, I do not need a large publisher - it can be done on a
photocopy machine, or a Riso printer which makes masters from the original page
by scanning it in. From the master one can print any quantity to 10 000 copies.
So on my Riso I can do 20 or 30 at a time.
As I have two copies
of it in my possession I can separate the pages of one and scan it in so that a
digital version on a CD can become available. The first copy of the book I
purchased in Santa Cruz California and the second I saw it on sale, of all
places, in Durban, South Africa. This is where I live in a subtropical
climate on the Indian Ocean.
Unlike most
present computer manuals, especially Windows based, they are so dry, predictable
and boring, XyWrite Revealed reveals XyWrite 3 in the most revealing and
fascinating way, that I prefer it to the best fiction and mystery story;
and in the process of unfathoming its intricacies, I have no need to play
computer games. The more it is studied, the more one gets ideas
for writing programs that will streamline our wordprocessing
needs. For those who write a lot of original material and love
the English language, the ability to use these programs puts a magical
touch to your thoughts and writing.
Despite its content it can be
read as a masterpiece of English literature. It is certainly one of my
favourite books in my library. As Herbert Tyson writes, "the ability to
write clear programs, mirrors the way you think." It may even do more for you -
the logic and intelligence that one learns through studying it may spill over
into other aspects of one's life. It may enable one to erase superstition and
misconceptions no matter from what source - ancient or modern or just from our
own minds. A volume of course will needed to give justice to this one
topic. It certainly defuses the mysteries of Xywrite and in a sense,
computing generally.
It is a wonderful stepping stone
to all versions of XyWrite and NB. By the way NB have produced a programming
manual, based on XPL ,on a separate disk.
With regards,
Morris Krok
PS For those who realize that
thoughts are our finest treasures, all we need is a pen, a typewriter or just a
computer to weave words of wonder.
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