o=o=o=o=o=¢¢ Editor's Message¢¢ You know, there aren't too many¢ difficult decisions about content for¢ me to make as editor. But here's one¢ that I had to make, and I apologize¢ if it upsets any of you. In my¢ editorial I asked if those of our¢ members who use their 8-bits to¢ access the Internet would write a¢ short article describing their¢ experiences. Although I knew that¢ ONE of you, at least, would be¢ forthcoming, I figured that I ought¢ to cover myself, so I mentioned that¢ I was looking for such an article in¢ the CSA8 newsgroup. Well, BOB¢ WOOLEY, in his position as editor of¢ AC MAGAZINE, forwarded to me a pre-¢ publication copy of an article he had¢ received from our member, TOM¢ ANDREWS, on that very topic. I have¢ chosen NOT to include that article in¢ this issue of the OHAUG Newsletter¢ for two reasons. First, we made an¢ agreement with AC back when BEN¢ POEHLAND was editor of that magazine.¢ We agreed that if any of our members¢ submitted an article to AC and that¢ article was accepted for publication,¢ we'd hold off putting it into our own¢ newsletter until after its¢ publication in AC, and then include¢ it in our newsletter only with the¢ permission of AC and the author. I¢ think that's a fair agreement. The¢ community at large will have the¢ benefit of the article, and it won't¢ be delayed until a small segment of¢ that community, namely our user¢ group, has had a crack at it. I'm¢ pretty sure that neither Tom nor Bob¢ will object if the OHAUG Newsletter¢ reprints the article after it appears¢ in AC. Second, it would make no¢ sense at all to call for something in¢ one issue of the newsletter and have¢ that something appear in the very¢ same issue! So, although I know you¢ all want to see Tom's article, you¢ have a choice. You can wait until it¢ appears in the OHAUG Newsletter¢ (probably next issue,) or, you can¢ read it in AC. If you haven't¢ subscribed to AC, perhaps this will¢ be an incentive?¢¢ Speaking of that editorial, I took¢ the liberty of reading it to our¢ local members at the last meeting. ¢ I'm happy to state, as was reflected¢ in the December minutes, that the¢ local members showed interest in both¢ of the improvements I suggested. ¢ There will undoubtedly be more said¢ on this topic in the next few issues¢ of this newsletter.¢¢ Many of the programs we put into our¢ newsletter have come from the Pool¢ Disk, a CD-ROM of both individual 8-¢ bit files and "disk images." All are¢ public domain, shareware or freeware.¢ The Pool Disk was produced by Bo and¢ Ernest Schreurs in The Netherlands.¢ There will be a Pool Disk II, it will¢ be released shortly, and it might¢ even turn out to be a double CD-ROM!¢ What's more, it's cost will be much¢ less than the cost of the original¢ Pool Disk. When I know that it is¢ available and the price is announced,¢ I will ask the user group to buy it.¢ Pool Disk II promises to have some¢ rather rare, but very good, programs¢ on it.¢¢ The "spacebar" program on Side 1 of¢ this issue of the OHAUG Newsletter is¢ OREGON.BAS. It's a text adventure¢ based on a ficticious pioneer journey¢ on the Oregon Trail, and probably¢ predates the well-known educational¢ program of that name. Also, look for¢ GTIAPAD.BAS, a drawing program that¢ uses the special graphics modes that¢ the GTIA chip introduced. The¢ program was modified to add Koala Pad¢ control to the existing joystick¢ control. Both the author and the¢ modifier have their names on the¢ title screen. Both programs came¢ from our copy of The Pool Disk.¢¢ On Side 2, the "spacebar" program is¢ SMOKEY.BAS. It's a text adventure¢ that is based on the old "Smokey and¢ the Bandit" movie. Play is fun and¢ self-explanatory. You will also find¢ a machine-language program called¢ REPAIR.COM. This program solves the¢ problem of BASIC programs that RUN¢ but WON'T LIST, due to problems with¢ the disk (NOT DUE TO AN ALTERED¢ VARIABLE TABLE.) My advice is to¢ copy this file to a new disk that¢ also has the DOS files on it, run it¢ from the DOS menu, and READ THE¢ INSTRUCTIONS before attempting to use¢ it. There are several things this¢ program won't do reliably, and you¢ should try it on a COPY of your BASIC¢ program (not the original.) Finally,¢ on Side 2 is the maze game,¢ ICECAVES.BAS. The title screen lists¢ all the moves, so copy them down¢ before playing. All three of these¢ programs on Side 2 come from our copy¢ of the Pool Disk.¢¢ o=o=o=o=o=¢¢¢¢