¢ *********************************¢¢ Read on oh faithful ATARIANS, for¢ news of the OL' HACKERS wonderous¢ meeting!¢ ********¢¢ MINUTES OF THE MARCH 1991 MEETING¢¢¢ GENERAL MEETING:¢¢ Surprise, Surprise, the OL' HACKERS¢ATARI USER GROUP monthly meeting was¢last week MARCH 2nd, not today, MARCH¢9th. Why? I'm glad you asked, "GOODBYE¢CHARLIE" a stage play sponsored by the¢OTHER VIC THEATRE COMPANY had reserved¢the PLAINVIEW/OLD BETHPAGE LIBRARY for¢FRIDAY and SATURDAY evenings. Word of¢this change in dates had not gotten to¢the OL' HACKERS. As usual the library¢was very accommodating, by rearranging¢a minimum of the seating and using the¢stage we got back to normal and then¢we held our familiar monthly meeting.¢¢ ALEX PIGNATO taking a page from the¢B.A.C.E. club, (BAKERFIELD ATARI¢COMPUTER ENTHUSIASTS), and the¢H.A.C.E. club, (HOUSTON ATARI COMPUTER¢ENTHUSIASTS), initiated a new program¢by passing out information sheets for¢"HELP KEY". Perhaps our bi-monthy¢newsletter will contain a "HELP KEY"¢column (just like many of the programs¢you use). The information quiz sheets¢passed out were to find out what¢widely used programs club members were¢proficient in. They would then be¢listed as program contacts to assist¢members who need help in using the¢program. In addition the members were¢requested to list monthly¢demonstrations they would like to see¢(sounds like a great idea).¢¢ Then CARLOS HURTADO, NL CO-EDITOR,¢brought the members up to date as to¢how he and ALEX are constructing the¢OL' HACKERS newsletter. Since¢converting the newsletter from¢hardcopy last summer to disk everyone¢has been more than pleased with the¢results. CARLOS and ALEX seem to be¢getting a better response from the¢members with articles too.¢¢ TREASURY REPORT:¢¢ AL ATKINS gave the members the up to¢date treasury report. Annual dues are¢still being submitted by some members¢so as expected, the total has been¢growing.¢¢ AWARD:¢¢ The NEW JERSEY based J.A.C.G.,¢JERSEY ATARI COMPUTER GROUP is to be¢commended for their new program. They¢selected KRIS HOLTAGAARD as the¢"SHAREWARE PROGRAMMER OF THE MONTH"¢and sent him two checks as donations.¢Each month they will pick a new¢designated "SHAREWARE PROGRAMMER" and¢reward him. As ALEX stated, "REMEMBER¢SHAREWARE is all we have left".¢¢ KRIS requested that he be allowed to¢demo "TEXTPRO", version 4.54 at the¢APRIL meeting (the members were all¢for him doing so and are already¢looking forward to this demo).¢¢ KRIS recently purchased a "SCANNER"¢with text word software and now can¢make type-in programs available for¢our newsletter and the club library.¢He asked that members send him orginal¢or CLEAN copies of type-in programs¢for such use. In a matter of minutes¢KRIS can now convert these files into¢ASCII for the newsletter.¢¢ Because of the close association of¢the club and "BLACK MOON" productions¢our future newsletters will carry¢their advertisement. ALAN SHARKIS¢made a motion to carry this company's¢advertisement and KRIS seconded the¢motion, which was immediately¢carried.¢¢ CORRESPONDANCE:¢¢ At ALEX'S suggestion, TOM ANDREWS,¢SYRACUSE, has written KRIS concerning¢their collaborating on some new¢programs. (Both responded¢enthusiastically)¢¢ JOAN RYAN wrote in A.C.E., ST.¢LOUIS, newsletter an glowing article¢describing the OL' HACKERS bi-monthly¢newsletter. JOAN was very generous¢with her praise of the club and¢newsletter. We hope JOAN enjoys the¢MARCH/APRIL issue with two or three¢column selection and six or eight¢lines to an inch printing ability.¢(another new innovation)¢¢ ALEX reviewed letters received from¢TOM ANDREWS and KEN WICKERT and his¢replies to each.¢¢ CARLOS received a letter from DICK¢SUMMER complimenting us on the quality¢and content of our disk newsletter.¢They are working on a disk newsletter¢for "POKEY", W.N.Y.A.U.G., WESTERN NEW¢YORK ATARI USER GROUP. Until midway¢through 1989 the eight bit club had an¢excellent hardcopy newsletter. The¢cost of publishing and printing became¢too high to continue at that time. In¢an effort to maintain communication¢with the 8 BIT world they hope to¢revive "POKEY" as a disk based¢newsletter. CARLOS intends to publish¢DICK SUMMER'S letter in the MAY/JUNE¢newsletter issue. The OL' HACKERS hope¢that this type of effort spreads¢through out the 8 BIT community.¢¢ DOOR PRIZES:¢¢ ALEX promised to check his copy of¢the "DOOR PRIZE" disk he uses at these¢meetings for an error. You guessed it,¢HARRY TUTHILL'S name popped up¢immediately, this in spite of the fact¢HARRY was handed a pen with¢disappearing ink when he signed in.¢Other winners for MARCH were AL ATKINS¢and ALAN SHARKIS.¢¢ DEMONSTRATIONS:¢¢ First up this month was KRIS with a¢preview of his unfinished new program¢"LOCHNKEY" from WQRN SOFTWARE. KRIS is¢developing a program with a SYSTEM¢PASSWORD PROTECTION. "LOCKNKEY" will¢keep a running log of who enters the¢program, creates a password, logs the¢drive number, keeps track of the time¢on the computer and verifies the¢password (allows three attempts for¢the password).¢¢ JACK GEDALIUS came in with an ANTIC¢MAGAZINE program "EARTH VIEWS". The¢program is joystick controlled to move¢the cursor, and will zoom in on a¢selected location, then highlights the¢city or country giving longitude and¢latitude. By selecting STATES, RIVERS,¢MOUNTAINS, DEEPEST TRENCHES of the¢WORLD, LAKES, etc. the cursor will¢sequentially move from one location to¢another. A great program for teaching¢geographic areas.¢¢ ALEX exhibited "GENEOLOGY", a¢takeoff on ANTIC'S "FAMILY TREE", as a¢shareware program. Documentation for¢the program is supplied and personal¢charts can be called up, infomation¢added and printed. Sounds real neat.¢Samples of some charts were¢distributed.¢¢ In quick order ALEX ran through the¢following:¢¢ "STOCKVALUE"¢ "HOME FILING MANAGER" (an assist¢from JACK GEDALIUS)¢ "CUSTOMER LIST MANAGER" (TOM ANDREWS¢and published in ANTIC MAGAZINE,¢AUGUST 1989), and somewhat modified by¢ALEX of course. ¢ "FILE VERIFIER", by TOM ANDREWS.¢ "IRON MAIDEN" a graphic program¢ "ABBUC HI-LO" a speaking numbers¢game, modified with ENGLISH words by¢ALEX (what, again?).¢ "P/S LABLE 7 (saves address/icons¢labels)¢ "COL40.CTB", by TOM ANDREWS- (runs¢from "RUNTIME.COM")¢¢ He finished with "MOVIE MAKER" which¢contains three little plays. All these¢programs were turned over to the OL'¢HACKERS library and will be available¢at the APRIL meeting.¢¢ The demo program was cut short in¢order to restore the stage and seating¢arrangement to their orginal condition¢and placement.¢¢ FUTURE MEETING DATES:¢¢ Future meeting dates for the OL'¢HACKERS ATARI USER GROUP are:¢¢ APRIL 13th, 1991 JUNE 1st, 1991¢ MAY 11th, 1991¢¢ All dates are SATURDAY and are¢scheduled for the PLAINVIEW/OLD¢BETHPAGE LIBRARY.¢¢ Remember........the next OL' HACKERS¢ATARI USER GROUP meeting is scheduled¢for APRIL 13th, at 11:30am.¢¢ Secretary,¢¢ AL ATKINS¢¢ ***THATS***ALL***FOR***NOW!***¢ ¢
