PCjs Machines

X-Mutant Word Blaster ver 4.0 Files

XMW      BAT        33 07-03-93   2:41p
PROBLEMS BAT       109 07-10-93   9:08a
README   DOC      1299 07-10-93  10:40a
PRINTME  BAT        93 07-10-93   9:12a
PARENTS  DOC      7748 07-10-93   9:16a
FILE_ID  DIZ       459 07-09-93   9:59p
FILES    DOC       611 07-10-93   3:09p
GO       BAT       107 07-10-93   8:29a
XMWB     EXE     75384 07-10-93  10:50a
WORDS        <DIR>     05-05-80  10:51a
PROBLEMS DOC      9061 07-10-93   8:28a
INSTALL  EXE     20127 07-10-93   3:01p
README   BAT        38 04-28-80  11:49a
       13 file(s)     115069 bytes


A Word to Parents:                                     6/1/93

     Educational software is only another tool you can use in
helping your children to learn better. As with any other
educational tool, including books, your child is most interested in
working with together with you. Many parents make a big mistake in
thinking that a computer can substitute for their own attention or
that a computer will somehow magically transform their child into
a genius. It does not work this way, as the computer enthusiastic
parent soon finds out, sometimes after spending a lot of money on
little used educational software packages and CD-ROMs.

     As old saying goes: genius is nine tenths perspiration and
one tenth inspiration. It is very important for you, the
parent, to put in the required perspiration in those early years,
when your children are developing a philosophy towards the world of
letters. The harder you work early on, the easier will it be for
your children to work on their own. Some people hold an opposite
view, that children should do everything by themselves to encourage
them to be self-reliant. Unfortunately, this attitude is often used
as an excuse for inattention. Self-reliance in scholarship requires
the real confidence that only a love of learning can develop. This
love of learning is the greatest gift that you can share with your
children, and is also the best guarantee of maintaining lifelong
shared interests. Developing this bond is not automatic. It
requires hard work all around. But hard work need not be drudgery--
a little inventiveness can really make it fun.

     We have tried to make our software as open ended as possible,
not only to make it more interesting, but to allow you, the parent
to adapt it to your own home environment. Let me give you a few
examples of how it can be used by you and your children working
together:

(1) Spelling: Type in this week's spelling words in the editor. The
editor allows you to type it in the same way it appears on the
teacher's handout. Now, play the game with you at the keyboard and
your child looking over your shoulder. Set the blasting rate to a
slow speed. Have your child spell the word out as you blast each letter.
Do this until you get 100% correct. You will improve your typing
skills in the process. Then have your child turn away from the
computer and spell out each letter as you type it in. If you do not
have the sound card, say the word as it appears on the screen. The
child knows when a letter is correct because the tone sounds only
when the right letter is pressed. Do this until you get 100% and
your child will get a 100% on tomorrow's spelling test. Of course,
this is really no different from having your child spell the words
for you, but it turns a chore into an fun activity.

(2) Social Studies: Your first grader needs to know the Pledge of
Allegiance. Go into the editor and type in what you are told the
words are. Then press F10 to have the computer read it. Now go back
and make corrections and have the computer read it again. Sounds
better, right? Your child will want to press F10 a number of times.
Notice that you can have the computer read just one section by
moving the arrow keys up and down to the line you want to start
reading at. Also experiment with pressing the TAB key to make the
computer read at your own rate. Don't forget to print it out. Your
first grader will jump over to the printer to see what is coming
out.

(3) Learning Name and Personal Information: Have you child type in
the information in the editor. Help make appropriate corrections.
Type in phone numbers with spaces between them, such as 4 2 5 etc.,
so that the computer will read them as individual letters. Let your
child press F10 to hear the computer read the information. The
cursor moves to each word or number as it is read. Print it out.
Play it with the game. Do the fast typing yourself if your child
cannot keep up yet. Remember to keep things short so the game will
play better (the editor has been intentionally restricted to a
single screen to encourage concise writing and short lessons).

(4) Phonics: Type in a few rhyming words, changing the beginning or
ending consonants. Make up rhyming poems or nonsense ditties. Let
your child type in the names of comic book or story book
characters. Comic book character names use a lot of common and not
so common words, as well as compound words, which are a great way
to get into interesting phonetic debates. Put dashes between
syllables until the computer is able to read the names or multi-
syllable words correctly. You are teaching the X-Mutant how to
speak English properly! Of course do this together with your child.
Ask your child to make up the words as you write them down. You are
only limited here by your imagination.

(5) Poetry: Use the editor to make up a poem with your child
together. If you can't think of anything, copy something in from
Alice and Wonderland, such as "HOWDOTH the little crocodile," or
from Mother Goose, "Jack Sprat could eat not fat, etc." Serious
scholars might even attempt a few passages from the "Hunting of the
Snark." Remember that the things children love to read most are the
things they write together with you. Don't inundate your child with
the classics or with your own favorite poet. Poetry can only be
appreciated to the extent that it is re-invented. You study a
poet's style so to inspire yourself to develop your own style and
wit. Good poetry like a good painting is easy to recognize, it is
one which is holds your interest for an extended period of time.

     While the mark of scholarship is writing ability, I think it
is important to understand that output requires input, and the best
input is in the form of reading a wide diversity of books. So
remember to take your child to the book store every time you go to
the mall, even if you cannot afford to buy something on every
visit. Children like to sit in the stacks and read. Also remember
that a book a child buys is a book really treasured. Libraries are
important too, as many good books may be out of print, but they
should not be the only source of reading material available to your
children. To go along with your neighborhood shareware library, why
not initiate a children's book store in your community center,
using donated and surplus books. Only when your children and your
neighbors' children develop a love of books, will they get the most
out of computers, and this program as well.

Thank you very much, and good mutations!

Thomas R. Lacey, Ph.D.
President

P.S. Please register X-Mutant Word Blaster and receive an upgrade
to the latest version. The new version 5.0 allows you to make up
multiple choice type questions. A clue word is given in the
dialog box on the bottom of the screen. Alternative choices are
dropped all at the same time by multiple invading space craft.
Only one of the choices is the correct target. The others are decoys.
This can be used for studying synonyms and antonyms, word definitions,
teaching phonics, or just about anything else.

Also available is X-Mutant Math Fun. This program allows you
to mix numbers and words together in problems you design yourself.
It can be used to memorize multiplication tables or for
improving the ability to comprehend a math problem as it is read aloud,
word by word. The format is similar to X-Mutant Word Blaster, but
the game has been changed to do math and logic problems.

Please print out order form in help section of program.

Remember, mutant minds are creatively self-educating!





                           Any Problems?

Sorry about that! Here are remedies to possible problems:

Important: read disclaimer at end of document!

1. Program does not talk.

   Probable Cause (a): You do not have a sound blaster card.

   Solution (a): Buy a Sound Blaster card from your local computer
            store or from Lacey Computer Co. (print out order form
            in help section).

   Probable Cause (b): You did not install the Sound Blaster
             drivers.

   Solution (b): Locate your Sound Blaster installation disk and
             run the Sound Blaster installation program.

   Probable Cause (c): You don't have your speakers connected or
             the volume is turned all the way down.

   Solution (c): Check speakers and volume control on back of card.
                 Also check for correct jack.

   Probable Cause (d): You have less than 512K RAM memory
            available. To hear speech you need to have enough
            memory for both SBTALKER.EXE and XMWB.EXE to load at
            the same time. Our XMWB.EXE program is not a memory
            hog, and will run on a 256K machine, but SBTALKER.EXE
            requires about 200 KB of base memory.

   Solution (d): More memory! (but always check your base memory
            with CHKDSK or MEM to see if your base memory is being
            efficiently utilized before adding more memory to your
            computer. Adding more chips as extended memory will not
            help if you already have 640K base memory physically
            installed, and would be a waste of money).

2. You cannot find your Sound Blaster installation disk.

   Probable Cause: You lost it or never recieved one.

   Solution: Call up Creative Labs and have them send you another
   disk or contact the store you purchased it from for assitance.

3. You have aleady have a generic sound card that is not
   compatitible or does not come with the SBTALKER speech driver.

   Solution: Sell it and buy a Sound Blaster card. If you sell your
   card for say $50.00 and buy a Sound Blaster for $89.00, then
   your net cost is only $39.00 for speech capability. You also get
   a lot of new software with the new Sound Blaster card to boot
   and a new manufacturer warranty. If you decide your new Sound
   Blaster card is not worth it, you can probably resell it for at
   least $80, so there is little risk. Sorry, we cannot give
   refunds on the Sound Blaster card ourselves because it contains
   copyrighted software, notably the SBTALKER.EXE program, which we
   are not allowed to distribute except with the sale of a Sound
   Blaster card.

4. Xmutant Install program or XMWB program says "Illegal function
   call."

   Probable Cause (a): A badly written shell statement in your
   config.sys file (such as "\command.com" instead of
   "C:\command.com)" prevents our program from accessing the DOS
   command interpreter.

   Solution: fix config.sys file. You need to include the drive
   letter in front of the path designation to the command
   interpreter.

   Probable cause (b): You have a two floppy system and no copy of
   command.com on your program disk.

   Solution (b): Put a copy of command.com on your program disk (make
   sure it is the right version).

5. Program hangs or gives exception error 13 (always an unlucky
   number) when using QEMM.

   Probable cause: You have the following statement in your
   config.sys:
                          stacks 0,0

   This will not work because at least the default stack space.

   Solution: delete the line "stacks 0,0" from your config.sys or
   increase your stacks according to the directions that come with
   your memory manager.

6. The program does wierd things under MS-DOS 6.0*, such as
   changing keyboard key definitions.

   Probable cause: Something is wrong with the way your system
   is configured with the memory manager installed. Check your
   configuration and re-run Memmaker. Please note that Lacey
   computer cannot help you configure your system properly for you,
   with or without MS-DOS 6.0.

   Alternate solution: boot your system without memory manager
   using either a floppy or a special config.sys (see your MS-DOS
   6.0 user guide).

   *MS-DOS is a trademark of Microsoft Corporation.

7. Program says SBTALKER installed and hangs.

   Probable cause: You told the installation program that you have a
   Sound Blaster card and you really don't.

   Solution: Re-run the installation program and answer "N" when
   asked if a Creative Labs Sound Blaster Card is installed in your

   computer.

8. You have done everything correctly and it still doesn't talk.

   Note whether the program says SBTALKER installed or SBTALKER
   NOT INSTALLED when it is initializing.

   A. If it says SBTALKER NOT INSTALLED then check to make sure you
   have the necessary sound drivers present in the XMUTANT
   subdirectory. For convenience, our install program attempts to
   copy these files from the SBTALKER subdirectory to the XMUTANT
   directory. Check to make sure you have the three files:
   SBTALKER.EXE, BLASTER.DRV, and REMOVE.EXE, in the XMUTANT
   subdirectory.

   If you have insufficient RAM (512K should be enough) then the
   SBTALKER.EXE program will not load, but you will be able to play
   without sound. The solution to this problem is the familiar
   "More memory!"

   B. If it says SBTALKER INSTALLED then the appropriate drivers
   are present.

     If the program runs normally but you just don't hear anything
     then:

       (a) your speakers are plugged into the wrong jack
       (b) your volume is turned down
       (c) your speakers are the wrong kind
       (d) your speakers are broken

     If the program locks up after a point, then

       (a) There is a conflict with another resident program or
           memory manager. Boot from a floppy to test this
           hypothesis.

       (b) Your system, as configured, is not compatible with the
           SBTALKER.EXE sound driver.

           Start with a plain configuration and work your way up.
           Most problems are in the config.sys file. Always have a
           bootable floppy before you mess with your config.sys
           file, especially if you are using compression software
           or are changing the shell statement, because you can
           easily lock yourself out of your system.

       Try to make the program work from a floppy first to isolate
       the problem. This will tell you what might be wrong with
       your hard disk configuration.

Disclaimer of Support: Hard disk configuration can get pretty
involved. Lacey Computer Co. takes no responsibility for helping
you set up your system correctly or for getting you out of any mess
you may get into. If you do not have the technical expertise or the
nerves to configure your system yourself, then seek the assistance
of a competant local computer store or computer consultant.

Everything we know about making talking software work is contained
in this document, which will be updated as new problems and
solutions become known. If you discover a problem not discussed
here, please send it to us in a letter. IF you are a registered
user and would like an update of this sheet please send us an SASE
envelope. No other support is offered for the X-Mutant series
products.

Absolutely no free phone support is provided and any any advice
that is sought is subject to the disclaimers contained in this
document.

Disclaimer of warranty and liability: Although reasonable
precautions have been taken in the preparation of X-MUTANT WORD
BLASTER, Lacey Computer Co. cannot warrant its performance in any
way. This program and subsequent additions and alterations are
provided to you "AS IS" without warranty of any kind, either
expressed or implied, including but not limited to the implied
warranties of merchantability and fitness for a particular purpose.
Without limiting the generality of the foregoing, Lacey Computer
Co. does not warrant that our software will work with either the
hardware or software of any other party, including Creative Labs,
Inc., or SBTALKER.EXE, which is distributed by Creative Labs, Inc.,
with their sound cards, nor that our products, services, or advice
will meet your requirements, nor that the operation of any version
of the X-Mutant Word Blaster or other products, including install
programs, will be uniterrupted or error free. The entire risk as to
the results and performance of our products, services, and advice
is assumed by you.



Welcome all mutants!                                             7-9-93
   * To install X-Mutant Word Blaster type INSTALL.
   * This program will optionally use Creative Labs, Inc., Sound Blaster card
for phonetic based speech. You need to use the speech utilities that come with
the Sound Blaster card. Before running our install program, run the Sound
Blaster install program to copy the necessary driver files to your hard disk.
   * To register X-Mutant Word Blaster with Lacey Computer Co., call (813)
398-6922 M-F 10:00 AM to 6:00 PM, 12 PM to 5 PM Saturdays. Visa/MC/Discover
accepted by phone. Or send check for $10.00 to:

                       Lacey Computer Co.
                       9020 Seminole Blvd.
                       Seminole, FL 34642

   * Please print out order form at end of program help section.
   * Add $3.50 shipping and handing ($13.50 total) to receive latest update.
New version 5.0, which will be ready to ship by the time you read this, offers
many additional features including support for Sound Blaster sound capability
in addition to the current speech capability. See program help for details.
   * If you have problems, type PROBLEMS at the DOS prompt.
   * XMW is the batch file which starts this program (XMWB.EXE).



 Volume in drive A has no label
 Directory of A:\

XMW      BAT        33   7-03-93   2:41p
PROBLEMS BAT       109   7-10-93   9:08a
README   DOC      1299   7-10-93  10:40a
PRINTME  BAT        93   7-10-93   9:12a
PARENTS  DOC      7748   7-10-93   9:16a
FILE_ID  DIZ       459   7-09-93   9:59p
FILES    DOC       611   7-10-93   3:14p
GO       BAT       107   7-10-93   8:29a
XMWB     EXE     75384   7-10-93  10:50a
PROBLEMS DOC      9061   7-10-93   8:28a
INSTALL  EXE     20127   7-10-93   3:01p
README   BAT        38   4-28-80  11:49a
       12 file(s)     115069 bytes
                       40960 bytes free