¢ o=o=o=o=o=¢¢ 00011110, 1E, Etc.¢¢ No, this isn't an article on machine-¢ language programming, nor is it an¢ article on binary and hexadecimal¢ notation. The savvy among you would¢ have figured out by now that both¢ expressions in the title are¢ equivalent to the decimal numeral¢ "30." The Thirty Column is the¢ traditional way for a newspaperman to¢ say goodbye to his readers and¢ colleagues, and I guess this is¢ mine.¢¢ 'Thirties' usually contain some¢ mention of the difficulty that the¢ writer had in producing them.¢ Goodbyes are never easy. This isn't¢ the most difficult piece of writing¢ I've ever done, but it comes close.¢ I've enjoyed being the editor of the¢ Ol' Hackers Newsletter for the three-¢ and-one-half years that I've done it,¢ and it will be hard to shut that part¢ of my life down, but I know I'm¢ leaving the newsletter in VERY¢ capable hands. RON FETZER is going¢ to edit the next issue of the¢ newsletter, and it will then be¢ passed, in turn, to JACK GEDALIUS,¢ HAROLD PEGLER AND HARRY TUTHILL.¢ Each of them has more experience in¢ the Atari 8-bit world than I, so I¢ know the content will be rich --¢ perhaps richer than what I was able¢ to muster. Some of them have no PCs¢ (which I still consider to be the¢ ultimate 8-bit support peripheral.)¢ Those who do have PCs don't have¢ SIO2PC cables, but the club will¢ receive mine in December and,¢ hopefully, the guys will learn how to¢ use it before that.¢¢ Just so that none of the rest of you¢ line up to become editors without¢ knowing the facts , let me fill you¢ in on what I faced, but was luckily¢ able to overcome. Ron, Jack, Harold¢ and Harry are pretty aware of it¢ already.¢¢ There were deadlines to be met.¢ Sure, we could have found time to¢ mail a newsletter from someone's home¢ instead of getting it out before a¢ meeting, but I decided to put¢ pressure on myself in the tradition¢ set by ALEX PIGNATO. It sometimes¢ came close to making a wreck of my¢ family life. The key words here are,¢ "came close." I guess the lesson¢ here is to learn to put things in¢ perspective. We are hobbyists, I¢ hope, and not obsessives. We can¢ enjoy our hobbies more and be more¢ productive with them if we let them¢ just be hobbies.¢¢ There were times when submissions of¢ articles were few and far between,¢ and I wound up writing many of them.¢ But most of the time you guys came¢ through for me like champs. There¢ are so many people out there to thank¢ for what they sent in. (If I don't¢ mention your name in the next¢ sentence, it isn't because I've¢ forgotten you or taken your work for¢ granted.) Thanks especially to RON¢ FETZER, TOM ANDREWS, FRANK WALTERS¢ and JOE HICSWA for your contributions¢ to this newsletter. Thanks also to¢ JACK GEDALIUS and BARBARA KELLER for¢ getting their respective writings to¢ me in a timely manner. I guess what¢ I've learned here is that you might¢ not be able to count on others for¢ articles all the time, but when those¢ articles do appear they're usually¢ great.¢¢ The Internet has been both a boon and¢ a detriment to my being able to¢ produce newsletters over my tenure.¢ It has provided me with lots of¢ material -- technical articles,¢ opinions, and the means to contact¢ others. But it has also contributed¢ to the diminishing number of user¢ group newsletters that are part of¢ our exchange program. Even before I¢ was the editor of this newsletter, I¢ wrote the Newsletter Review column¢ and thus also became Newsletter¢ Librarian. I can say that the number¢ of newsletters we receive from other¢ user groups is now less than one-¢ third of what we used to receive back¢ then. Much of this is due to the¢ demise of the user groups involved in¢ producing them, but in some cases the¢ clubs did survive and their¢ newsletters were supplanted by¢ Internet-based activities. However,¢ print newsletters specific to our 8-¢ bit are still being produced,¢ principally by such organizations as¢ Pinellas County ACE, The San Leandro¢ Computer Club, the JACG, the Garden¢ City ACE, IMAGE, the AAAUA, LVAUG,¢ Club Cenacle of France, and the print¢ magazine that accompanies the disk-¢ based newsletter produced by ABBUC of¢ Germany (I wish I could read French¢ one-tenth as well as I read English¢ and German one-tenth as well as I¢ read French!) I'm happy to say that¢ RON FETZER has expressed an interest¢ in being the new custodian of the¢ print newsletters we receive. I'm¢ also proud to have played a¢ relatively minor part in the¢ continuing presence of disk-based¢ newsletters. Our format may not be¢ as fancy as that of ABBUC, but it has¢ been praised widely for its¢ readability and ease of navigation.¢ Thanks to TOM ANDREWS for continued¢ improvements in this area.¢¢ Very recently, another user group of¢ which I'm a member took a sudden¢ turn. It was headed toward being a¢ user group for alternative operating¢ systems (Linux, BEOS) that run on the¢ PC. After several months of trying¢ to start in that direction, the¢ members realized that there was a¢ more widespread need to support¢ mainstream PC users (Windows 95/98)¢ -- even if those users were complete¢ novices. Many PC user groups are so¢ intimidating to novices, perhaps not¢ intentionally, that the newbies don't¢ even ask questions. To that end, the¢ group to which I referred will choose¢ a name and acronym to suggest that¢ even first-time users can get help¢ from them. Furthermore, the group is¢ planning a web site with links to all¢ of the realy good help sites. In my¢ tenure as OHAUG Newsletter editor,¢ I've very often hinted at the role¢ that OHAUG could play in helping new¢ Atari 8-bitters. I'm proud to say¢ that we've done that to a great¢ degree. The newsletter could¢ continue to be a vehicle for that¢ support, and I hope that it will.¢ And may I suggest that OHAUG could¢ have a presence of the Web as well?¢ Or even dare to suggest that such a¢ web site could cater to 8-bit¢ newbies?¢¢ I got into computing in general and¢ Atari 8-bitting in specific in a way¢ that's perhaps very different from¢ your experience. I was motivated to¢ do so by a question on an interview¢ exam I was taking for a New York City¢ teaching license in the early 1980s.¢ (Although I held several licenses, I¢ was interested in one more.) On this¢ test, I was presented with a¢ situation in which I was the teacher¢ of a small special education class in¢ a school whose PTA was going to raise¢ money to buy the school ONE computer.¢ I had to tell the examiners how I¢ would convince the school to involve¢ my students, how I'd utilize my¢ paraprofessional in fund-raising, and¢ a host of other computer-related and¢ education-related questions. At the¢ time I knew nothing about computers!¢ I managed to ace the interview.¢ But a year later, on a sabbatical¢ leave, I began to learn a little¢ about computers by learning to¢ program in COBOL on a terminal¢ connected to a mainframe. The bug¢ bit -- hard. In time, I had my wife¢ convinced that a computer would help¢ the whole family. It would provide¢ educational activities for our kids;¢ it would give my wife and me tools¢ to use in our teaching. Why did I¢ choose Atari? Ease of use;¢ brilliant, easily-programmed sound¢ and graphics; and a good, all-around¢ machine with software to support it¢ were the key reasons. To this day, I¢ see computers more as communication¢ and education aids than as business¢ tools. It is my hope that OHAUG,¢ through it's disk-based newsletter,¢ continues to emphasize those aspects¢ of computing.¢¢ In December, I'm giving up the¢ newsletter, which I've edited for¢ three-plus years. I'm giving up my¢ 8-bit hardware, software,¢ documentation and technical articles¢ to make room and time for what I hope¢ will be a new career. I will¢ continue to be an OHAUG member,¢ although I probably won't get to¢ every meeting. I'll also continue to¢ enjoy the feel of Atari 8-bitting in¢ emulation on my PC. It's a feeling¢ that I hope I can keep with me¢ forever.¢¢ Thank you for allowing me to be your¢ editor.¢¢ Alan Sharkis¢¢ o=o=o=o=o=¢¢¢
