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.IF DSK1.C-3
.CE 10
~~~~~ TI-101 ~~~~~
OUR 4/A UNIVERSITY
by Jack Sughrue
Box 459
E.Douglas MA 01516
#3 DOCENTS
To Whom One Turns
You people up back, let's have
your attention up here!
Save your questions until the
end, as I'll probably answer them
along the way, anyway.
First, make sure you have your
notebooks open and pens at the ready.
There are lots of important names and
addresses I'll be giving out. Only
once. So, if you miss them the first
time, it's as the French say, "Zee
tough cookie."
Second, in my hand I have a
SOFTWARE EXCITEMENT Catalog. These
$2 catalogs are for the IBM
compatibles, Amigas, Macs,
Commodores, and Apples. They are
typical of the user-supported
shareware-type catalogs for those
machines, most of which contain the
same items no matter who publishes
them. Let's look at what they have
to offer for $4 per PROGRAM! If you
buy a dozen programs they go for $3
each. 20 brings the price down to
$2.50. When you order more than 50
of these programs the price gets down
to $2 each. Plus shipping charges
and a $3 handling and packing fee.
But there are only 30 educational
programs total, pre-school through
college, anyway, so you couldn't even
order 50 educational programs if you
wanted to. But one has to be
careful, even if you have a dozen
children from ages 3 to 23. AMEMCMP
(a memory game), for example,
requires 640K (YES! 640!), a VGA or
EGA monitor, AND a hard drive. Whew!
Sure makes our little, very
inexpensive, 32K TIs with
single/single drives look puny,
doesn't it? Or does it? What does
this program do? You match up hidden
pairs. It's a fancy variation of
Concentration.
There is also a program called
WORD GALLERY which helps children
associate the printed word with the
object it describes. (Doesn't that
sound a bit like a few cartridges TI
made about a decade ago?) There are
also math programs that teach
counting, addition, and subtraction
through endless patience and some
graphics and games. (More cartridge
deja vu?) There's also French and
Spanish tutorials. And so on.
Anyway, if you have a use for any
such fanciness or even ALL of these
30 programs, they will cost you about
$70.
Now, we'll begin with THE
important educational resources of
today's American TI Community.
As I'm not reading from my full
notes today, Class, I'm afraid I'll
be leaving out a few important
resources unintentionally. Consider
checking this out and locating the
missing sources as part of your
assignment for next time.
Meanwhile, let me start with some
comparisons to this $2 shareware
catalog in my hand. There's a
wonderful programmer and writer in
Columbus by the name of Jim Peterson.
He has a one-man company which has no
equal for any other computer in the
country. It's called TIGERCUB
SOFTWARE (156 Collingwood Ave.,
Whitehall, OH 43213) and offers
disks at $1.50 each (postpaid for 8
or more). Disks! Not programs. And
he has over 550 different disks!
Jam-packed full of the best authors
in the TI World, arranged by category
and auto-loaded from a super menu.
We're talking THOUSANDS of Public
Domain and Shareware programs. Let's
look under education, for example,
where, along with the games sections,
you can find not 30 but THOUSANDS of
programs, various Concentrations just
being a smidgeon of these. For
example, there are three disks full
of programs just for Vocabulary &&
Reading and 15 DISKS! just for math
(to name a couple). Here are the
programs from just ONE of these
Vocabulary && Reading disks:
Adjective to Adverb, Noun to
Adjective, Learning to 'ing' It,
Plural Endings, Animal Multitudes,
Doctor Who, Vocabulary, Vocabulary
Quiz, Syllables, Reading Practice,
Speed Reading, Tense Time, Synonyms
&& Antonyms, Read-Fast, and
Vocabulary II. 15 educational
programs for $1.50! Or, in this case,
just 10 CENTS A PROGRAM! (Or, put
another way, about 30 programs for
$3, instead of $70, as is the case
with the "other" computer.) In
addition to some neat graphics, some
of these programs have real speech!
All for a dime. Nothing's been a
dime since Nixon took us off the gold
standard: not a pack of gum, not a
comic book, not a candy bar. But
now, thanks to Jim Peterson and
TIGERCUB, the dimey has returned to
those fortunate enough to own a
TI-99/4A. Top quality for wonderful
prices. To get his catalog ($1
deductible on first order) is like
rolling Chanukah, Kwanzaa, Christmas,
Druidic Solstice, and 55 Birthdays
all into one computing event.
I tell you, Class, it'll make
your mouth water.
But where was I?
Oh, yes, TI resources for
educational goodies. Er, tools.
Educational tools and materials.
Obviously, if you own a disk
drive, TIGERCUB is an enormous
resource.
The next best resource is an
active user group. Makes no
difference if you live in East
Douglas or Venedocia (if there really
are such places), you can make the
connection by joining by mail. I
belong to a few user groups. In
addition to monthly newsletters,
which keep me very informed and up to
date on TI matters of importance, I
am also afforded the opportunity of
participating in the treasure chests
called Club Libraries. I'll use the
Lima, Ohio, group as an example.
(Lima UG, P.O. Box 647, Venedocia,
Ohio, 45894). For my $15 dollars a
year I receive a MONTHLY newsletter
of original articles, reviews,
advice, programs, you-name-its. Also
I automatically receive important
updates of FUNNELWEB, the most used
piece of software in the TI disk
world. I have access to a zillion
world-wide newsletters and other
pieces of textware, not to mention
the expertise of a truly sharing
collection of hard-working, friendly
99ers. I am also entitled to the
free library of cassettes and disks
put together by this small, dedicated
contingent of TI goodfellas (and
gals). This means that I can look
over the immense LIMA catalog at my
home in Massachusetts and send
cassettes and postage or disks and
postage and get ANYTHING I want for
nada, zilch, zero, cribbage 19,
nothing. Beat that one, Kiddos!
Oops! As I was saying, we must
look into our educational resources.
There are many other user groups,
too, Class. My local M.U.N.C.H.^(560
Lincoln Street, P.O.^Box 7193,
Worcester, MA 01605) is probably my
best personal resource, as I attend
our monthly meetings and fairs and so
on. We do lots of demos and hands-on
type things and help each other
whenever possible. Anyway, Class, if
you can find a local group you can go
to for meetings, that's another great
resource, but at least join one by
mail if there are no locals.
And attend at least one TI Faire
somewhere once a year, even if (as I
do) you have to travel over 800
miles. It's worth it for all the...
If you'd hold the talking down
back there, it would be greatly
appreciated. We're running out of
time, and I did want to...
Okay, Mr.^Shakespeare, what is
the question? I suppose that's the
only way I can get you to stop waving
your hand.
Listen up, Class! Listen up!
Mr.^Shakespeare over by the window
wants to know about some of the
educational software. He says he has
a nephew in junior high who is having
trouble reading and two
granddaughters who are 8 and 4,
respectively, and wants to know what
the TI can do for him.
Yes, yes, Ms.^Bronte, I'm AM
going to tell you about educational
software for people our age, too, but
we won't be able to get into too much
of that for a few sessions.
Right now, though, I'd just like
to tell you about a few people who
had some visions. It might help.
Terrie Masters, who used to be
president of the Los Angeles group,
spoke to me a few years ago about
doing some educational networking
with our TI educators. I've also
discussed that same thing more than
once with Charlie Good (Lima UG). And
Sister Pat Taylor (1050 Carmel Drive
#456, Dubuque, Iowa, 52001). And John
Willforth (RFD #1, Box 73A,
Jeannette, PA 15644). And Janet Ryan
and her daughter Jennifer (10 Jolly
Road, Ellington, CT 06029). And
Mickey Schmitt (196 Broadway Ave.,
Lower Burrell, PA 15068). And Mike
Wright (45 Centerville Drive, Salem,
NH 03079). And Jim Horn
[EXTENSIVELY] (P.O.^Box 244, Lorton,
VA 22079). And Rodger Merritt (1949
Evergreen Ave., Fullerton, CA 92635).
And fellow elementary teacher Phil
Townsend (c.o.^ Kawartha 99ers, 224
Woodward Ave., Peterborough, Ontario,
Canada, K9L 1J7). And Eunice Spooner
(Webb Rd., Box 3720, Waterville, ME
04901). And Barry Traver (835 Green
Valley Dr., Philadelphia, PA 19128).
And OFTEN with Jim Peterson. And,
once with educational programmer Don
Shorock (P.O.Box 501, Great Bend, KS
67530). And very often with Chris
Bobbitt even before he founded ASGARD
(P.O. Box 10306, Rockville, MD
20850). And piles of teachers and
interested parents and grandparents.
An educational network has been
a hot topic for many years in our
community. As a matter of fact,
Terrie mentioned a teacher by the
name of Joy Warner (Box 518,
Mt.Baldy, CA 91759, whose daughter is
a pilot and was in the recent winter
olympics as a "lugist," one of those
incredible sledders) who was bent on
getting a network going. This past
year Joy flew all over America trying
to help Terrie's dream come true by
meeting with as many TIers as she
could meet during her whirlwind
tour.
She discovered, as I did, that
there is already much of that network
in place and ready to connect. Jim
Peterson has his TIGERCUB marvel.
Charlie has been testing (with his
own wonderful tykes) all kinds of
marvelous and rare TI educational
programs from Milliken, Scholastic,
Disney, and so on. Mike and Charlie,
along with Gary Taylor from
Pittsburgh have been competing for
ownership of the ulitimate TI
Collection (in fable known as the TI
Grail). Eunice Spooner not only runs
the only all-kids TI user group in
America but has the best LOGO video
and disk program money ($10) can buy.
Bill Gaskill and Ron Albright have
been (to our 99 history) the best
thing to happen to us. Bill still
is. Dick Altman's wonderful Fairware
List is now in the capable hands of
Ida McCargar of the Southwest 99ers
(P.O.Box 17831, Tucson, AZ 85730).
Oh, sorry, Ms.^Bronte, I didn't
notice the time. Anyway, keep this
list. It's important when it comes
time for the final. Guaranteed this
material will be on it.
Did I mention NOTUNG? Or
Tex-Comp? Or COMPRODINE? Or
MICROpendium?
Or Regena? I didn't mention
Regena? Quick. Write down REGENA,
918 Cedar Knolls West, Cedar City, UT
84720.
Ciao!
(Now let's see. Who did I leave
off this list? And where does the
time go?)
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