*.*.*.*.*¢ ( The following article about OHAUG,¢ appeared in the MAY issue of CURRENT¢ NOTES and is reprinted for those of¢ you who may have missed it. It is a¢ brief history of the club.)¢¢ The Ol' Hackers Atari User Group,¢ Inc. (OHAUG)¢¢ A Place to Turn When You Don't Have a¢ Local 8-bit User Group¢¢ by Alex Pignato, OHAUG President,¢ GEnie: A.PIGNATO¢¢ [The following article is a 1993¢ update to the OHAUG story that¢ appeared in Issue #61 (July 10, 1987)¢ of the now defunct Z*Magazine.]¢¢¢ In the Beginning¢¢ It started innocently enough. I read¢ a message on a Bulletin Board System¢ (BBS) from another "poor soul" (Kevin¢ Blaes) who was pleading for help so¢ that he could upload and download¢ with his 835 Atari modem. It had¢ taken me six months to get a program¢ to do this with my 1030 Atari modem,¢ so I had a genuine appreciation for¢ his frustration. I left him a¢ message to send me a disk with¢ programs on it and I sent back the¢ program he wanted along with other¢ public domain programs. The exchange¢ of disks between us continued at a¢ rapid pace, each of us trying to¢ outdo the other. ¢¢ Over the next 1-1/2 years, I kept¢ addressing Kevin as "The Young¢ Hacker," and signed notes as "The Old¢ Hacker." He responded in kind. We¢ also spoke on the phone frequently¢ and in short order a friendship¢ evolved. This is part of what¢ computers do for people, it makes¢ friends. During this time, I was¢ conversing with Jerry Ginsberg, a¢ lawyer friend, and found that he had¢ an Atari, too; but no one in his¢ family was using it. I told him¢ about this "game" machine's¢ potential, and its ability to do¢ countless other things. Soon, he got¢ hooked, almost as deeply as me. His¢ wife and children got involved to the¢ point where they actually had to set¢ up a schedule to use the computer!¢¢ When the Long Island Coliseum had a¢ Computer Electronics Show, Kevin¢ suggested we meet there in person. I¢ brought Jerry with me and the three¢ of us spent a great afternoon at the¢ show. When we saw all that there was¢ to see, we decided to have a chat¢ over a cup of coffee. An hour later,¢ finding it very hard to break up,¢ Jerry suggested that we all meet¢ again at his home in a couple of¢ weeks.¢¢¢ OHAUG is Born!¢¢ When we next met, we each brought¢ Atari friends; and, suddenly, there¢ were about eight in our group. It¢ was suggested that we start a user's¢ group and so "The Ol' Hackers Atari¢ Users Group (OHAUG)" was born in¢ December, 1985. I was voted in as¢ President, Kevin as Vice President¢ and Jerry was made Corresponding¢ Secretary. ¢¢ When Jerry's house got too small, we¢ moved over to Tom Carroll's house and¢ took over his top floor. Tom, who¢ was self employed in the electronic¢ recording field, had a studio with at¢ least three Atari 800's (all¢ modified), an IBM., and I don't know¢ how many video cassette recorders. ¢ We met once a month on a Saturday¢ afternoon from 12 to 5 PM and had a¢ ball at our informal meetings,¢ exchanging knowledge and data.¢¢ When the group again got too large,¢ we looked for new quarters. Thanks¢ to Jerry, we got permission to use¢ the Plainview Public Library. ¢ Interestingly enough, the library was¢ run on Atari 800's, so our group was¢ very welcome.¢¢¢ What We're About¢¢ Our aims are similar to other Atari¢ users groups. We exchange knowledge¢ and information with each other and¢ with over 60 other users clubs¢ throughout the United States, Canada¢ and Europe. We have a few members¢ who have technical knowledge and who¢ are constantly looking to make¢ modifications to the hardware. We¢ also have members who are¢ professional programmers for various¢ banks as well as many amateur¢ programmers. The members are all¢ adults and are a cross-section of the¢ community. Our membership includes¢ blue collar workers as well as many¢ white collar professionals. The club¢ brings together people from all walks¢ of life with a common interest and¢ the results are very warm friendships¢ and growing enjoyment of our 8-bit¢ computers. We are deeply committed¢ to the 8-bit community. For example,¢ we unanimously volunteered to¢ package, stamp and mail over 200¢ Atari Classics disks, and will do so¢ as future issues are made. We¢ understand that at present about 300¢ people have bought these disks, more¢ than was expected. We are also proud¢ to be picked as the July 1987¢ Z*Magazine User Group of The Month.¢¢¢ Monthly Meetings¢¢ We still meet at the Plainview-Old¢ Bethpage Public Library on a Saturday¢ of each month. The date changes, so¢ please contact us if you are planning¢ to attend. Meetings generally start¢ at 12 noon and the first hour is¢ spent in socializing and setting up¢ the club's equipment. After we have¢ an hour's business meeting, we break¢ for coffee and cake and have a door¢ prize drawing. Then we break up into¢ smaller groups for demonstrations and¢ classes until 5 PM. or until we are¢ thrown out of the library! The¢ nicest comment we hear is that the¢ members can't wait for the next¢ meeting. When we're at the meeting,¢ we don't like to leave the library¢ even after the meeting's end at 5 PM.¢¢¢ Telecommunication Connection¢¢ At one time, the club owned its own¢ BBS, but now we can be reached¢ through two local BBS's, whose SysOps¢ are both members of OHAUG. The BBS's¢ are:¢¢ The Machine (516) 764-5748 ¢ SysOp: Lou Trapani¢ The New Nest (516) 234-4943 ¢ SysOp: Jim Harris¢¢ Both BBS's Network with all parts of¢ the USA, and NEW NEST also Networks¢ with EUROPE-i.e. GERMANY, NETHERLANDS¢ etc.. My handle on both BBS's is¢ "TRIALA".¢¢¢ Corresponding Memberships¢¢ One of the unique things about OHAUG¢ is that we actively support¢ "corresponding members." These are¢ people who can't come to our monthly¢ meetings in person, but are with us¢ in spirit. This is an attractive¢ option to those who don't have a¢ local user group. OHAUG is a way to¢ stay in touch with fellow Atari 8-¢ bitters.¢¢ We are proud that OHAUG's ranks boast¢ many "famous" 8-bitters, many of whom¢ are corresponding members. They¢ include Ben Poehland (Managing Editor¢ of Atari Classics magazine), Tom¢ Andrews, Charles Cole, Ron Fetzer,¢ Mark Bensley, Stuart Murray (Editor¢ of FUTURA from Scotland), David Ewens¢ (Editor of England's Tyne & Wear¢ Atari User Group newsletter), Larry¢ Tischbein (Editor of the Lehigh¢ Valley Atari User Group Newsletter),¢ Joseph Hicswa (President of the¢ Jersey Atari Computer Group (JACG))¢ and Sam Cory (JACG Librarian). The¢ list goes on and on. (Editors Note:¢ Their work has appeared in many mags¢ i.e CURRENT NOTES, ATARI CLASSIC-also¢ in the defunct ANTIC and ANALOG mags)¢¢ So how do we stay in touch with each¢ other--especially with our¢ corresponding members? In the¢ beginning, we had the normal hardcopy¢ club newsletter. Now we publish a¢ double sided disk bi-monthly¢ "softcopy" newsletter. It's loaded¢ with articles of interest from all¢ over the world, as well as a number¢ of interesting ready to run programs.¢ As often as possible, we include the¢ documentation, if available. We¢ exchange our newsletters with over 60¢ clubs, world wide. We have¢ corresponding members in Canada, the¢ United Kingdom, France, and Italy as¢ well as all over the United States. ¢ Recently we've even added a 65XE¢ owner who resides in Moscow! Since¢ he can't obtain American currency we¢ carry him just for the honor of doing¢ it. The Cold War is really over! As¢ we exchange letters with our¢ corresponding members across the¢ planet, have become good friends as¢ well as just members.¢¢ We respond to problems that any OHAUG¢ member may have. Recently a¢ corresponding member wanted to know¢ where he could buy a piece of¢ hardware. Another corresponding¢ member responded with the needed¢ information. This has happened many¢ times, as can be attested to in the¢ club meeting minutes that appear in¢ our newsletter.¢¢¢ Are You Ready to Become an Ol'¢ Hacker?¢¢ We have a Public Domain library of¢ over 300 double sided disks,¢ available to members for $8.00 for 5¢ disks, post paid. Our annual dues¢ are $24 from January to December and¢ include our disk based newsletter. ¢ If you join after June, it drops to¢ $12. The rate is the same whether¢ you are a local or corresponding and¢ whether you're in the United States¢ or overseas.¢¢ If you are a lonely 8-bitter, or if¢ you want more from your 8-bit, you¢ are welcome to join us. Send your¢ check or money order made out to Ron¢ Fetzer to:¢¢ The Ol' Hackers Atari Users Group,¢ Inc.¢ 3376 Ocean Harbor Drive¢ Oceanside, NY 11572¢¢ Take care and enjoy the best little¢ micro on the market, even today!¢¢¢ +++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++¢¢ * END? No Way Jose! OHAUG goes on! *¢¢
