¢ o=o=o=o=o=¢¢ Editor's Message¢¢ This is my first issue of the OHAUG¢ newsletter. I've put what I feel is¢ a reasonable amount of work into it,¢ but much of the material for it has¢ been contributed by others. That's¢ the way it should be. User groups,¢ and by extension, user group¢ newsletters are supposed to be about¢ sharing. One thing we do very¢ successfully in OHAUG is share¢ information. Let it continue that¢ way, and let this newsletter be, as¢ it has always been, a vehicle for¢ that sharing. I'm going to work for¢ that.¢¢ But, just as user groups may be a¢ wider circle than the individual¢ member, the Atari 8-bit community is¢ a much wider circle than any user¢ group; even the biggest of them. ¢ ALEX PIGNATO was aware of that, and¢ maintained cordial contact and¢ sharing with user groups all over¢ the world. He saw to it that OHAUG¢ was one of the founding members of¢ NEAR*US, an association of user¢ groups in the Northeast United¢ States. If I can maintain what he¢ did, with regard to this newsletter,¢ I'd be very happy. I feel that it¢ was because of Alex, as one small¢ example, that ABBUC allowed us to¢ include SOCOBAN in this newsletter.¢¢ I'm now going to bite off what I¢ hope will be more than I can chew,¢ and delight in the help I know I'll¢ get with it. In this newsletter and¢ subsequent ones I'm going into two¢ areas that we've only briefly¢ touched on at OHAUG.¢¢ One of those areas is Internet¢ involvement. By now, most of you¢ should know that the Atari 8-bit is¢ just as capable of sharing the¢ Internet as any mainstream computer. ¢ Of course, you need the correct¢ software and as fast a modem as your¢ machine can handle. But some of the¢ components of the Internet -- The¢ World Wide Web, Usenet Newsgroups,¢ Internet E-Mail and FTP Sites -- are¢ available to us. To that end, I'm¢ going to ask not only that you send¢ us your Internet E-Mail addresses as¢ was asked before, but that you try¢ the suggested WWW and FTP facilities¢ that I mention this month.¢¢ I realize that many of you will need¢ to learn the very basic beginnings¢ of communicating with a modem before¢ you can take advantage of the¢ Internet. You'll also wonder just¢ what advantage the Internet can¢ offer you, given your own personal¢ circumstances. RON FETZER is¢ handling correspondence (another¢ thing Alex did so well) and he'll¢ forward anything that's Internet¢ related to me. In fact, you can¢ contact me directly if you really¢ need those basic questions answered. ¢ I hope the few small articles I've¢ included with this issue of the¢ newsletter will help those of you¢ who are slightly more advanced.¢¢ Interest in the 8-bit Atari may have¢ diminished, but those who stay with¢ it are as doggedly loyal as it's¢ possible to be. Many former 8-¢ bitters have turned to other¢ platforms, or have taken on these¢ other platforms in addition to¢ keeping their Classic Ataris. Many¢ of them, in turn, have used those¢ more mainstream machines for the¢ benefit of the Atari 8-bit¢ community. Some have developed WWW¢ Pages and FTP sites that are just¢ overwhelming. Some are¢ communicating via all that the¢ Internet has to offer. And some are¢ trying to do the impossible with¢ impressive, though still partial,¢ success. Read on.¢¢ Emulation is a process in which one¢ computer works, in part or in whole,¢ like another computer. It can be¢ done in hardware or in software. ¢ There has been a vast proliferation¢ of Atari 8-bit emulators in the past¢ two years. They are coming out now¢ at a pace that is constantly¢ accelerating. Atari 8-bit emulators¢ come in two flavors. There are¢ total machine emulators, in which¢ another computer acts just like an¢ Atari 8-bit. Then there are¢ peripheral emulators, in which the¢ other computer acts as the disk¢ drives, ramdisk, printer and modem¢ interfaces for an operating Atari 8-¢ bit. To this date, all total¢ emulation of the Atari 8-bit is¢ being done with software and is far¢ from perfect. Peripheral emulation¢ requires both hardware and software,¢ and is also far from perfect. The¢ unique properties of the Classic¢ Ataris make them difficult to¢ duplicate on other platforms. But,¢ imitation is the sincerest form of¢ flattery, and so the efforts¢ continue -- not without¢ controversy.¢¢ I've been asked by the vice-¢ president of my other user group,¢ LIAUG, to write an article on¢ emulators. It will be serialized. ¢ And it will appear in this¢ newsletter, as well. I intend to¢ give copies to AC and CN, should¢ they wish to publish it. Try biting¢ off more than you can chew while¢ your head is in a noose! I will¢ need help and support on this one,¢ folks, and I hope you come through¢ for me.¢¢ o=o=o=o=o=¢¢¢ ¢¢
