*=*=*¢ MINUTES OF DECEMBER 10, 1995 MEETING¢¢ Our Secretary and Treasurer RON¢ FETZER has Carpal Tunnel Syndrome and¢ can not perform his OL'HACKERS¢ functions. So, starting with the¢ December 1994 meeting we are going to¢ fly with the old revoling Secretary¢ method each month. ALEX then decreed¢ that it's only fair to use the system¢ that has worked for the U. S. Army¢ since the year 1776. The "Military¢ System" was first used by the American¢ Amry in the Revolutionary War. Let me¢ explain. The selection each month for¢ Secretary will be in alphabeticaly¢ order. For December, AL ATKINS (not¢ one "A" but unfortunately two of¢ them).¢¢ CORRESPONDANCE¢¢ BILL SMINKEY's letter to RON¢ sending in his 1995 annual dues¢ stating he would not want to lose¢ contact with a great group like the¢ OL' HACKER'S. Bill thinks he is¢ receiving a bargain value in the¢ newsletters each year.¢ JOSEPH E. HICSWA and JOHN JOHNSON¢ were other outer-of-towners to send in¢ their 1995 dues. JOE also sent a¢ modified, modified, modified copy of¢ "DRAW POKER" to ALEX, complementing¢ him for doing an outstanding job with¢ the sound and graphics. Not only is he¢ proud of him but is honored that ALEX¢ took the time to improve the program.¢ Further stating that with people like¢ ALEX the ATARI just might bounce back¢ again.¢ ALEX responded by congratulating¢ him for being made President of¢ J.A.C.G. ALEX also called and sent a¢ card to SAM CORY offering the OL'¢ HACKERS condolance to SAM whose wife¢ passed away after a long illness.¢ TOM ANDREWS Forwarded a very long¢ letter stating his father is doing¢ well and his brother is getting¢ married. He mentioned the THANKSGIVING¢ DAY dinner his family had. A truly¢ AMERICAN THANKSGIVING dinner with all¢ of the down on the farm home cooking.¢ His latest programming effort is¢ to modify the fantastic "PRINT STAR"¢ program, and it's presently being Beta¢ tested. Tom is very much in demand as¢ a writer, by CURRENT NOTES, and ATARI¢ CLASSIC magazines and is considering¢ other possibility of writing for a¢ commercial magazine.¢ The OL' HACKER'S were very sorry¢ to hear that A.C.E. of Syracuse has¢ disbanded (membership dwindled¢ drastically over the past year). They¢ will only meet informly as a group in¢ the future. No longer will dues be¢ collected and the treasurary is being¢ used to maintain their BBS.¢ JIM CUTLER, England, has the¢ distinction of sending the OL'¢ HACKER'S the first CHRISTMAS CARD of¢ the season. With it came twenty pounds¢ Sterling as payment for his 1995 dues¢ (though that might be excessive and we¢ just might owe Jim some change).¢ DANE STEGMAN is looking for¢ "CROSSWORD MAGIC" by Mindscape. His¢ copy does not print on his ATARI XM801¢ printer. Our members were requested to¢ check this out, if possible¢ DAVE EWENS, Newcastle-on-the-¢ Tyne, ENGLAND, plans to attend the 8-¢ Bit AMS show in ENGLAND. He'll make a¢ report on his findings and he sends¢ his best to the OL'HACKER'S.¢ TOM SMITH of SAN DIEGO,¢ CALIFORNIA, adviseson how to get rid¢ of the question marks printed on the¢ screen with Input commands. ( RON¢ FETZER added, that for TURBO BASIC,¢ just use (,) Comma ).¢ ROBERT BUMAN, S.A.G.E. Club¢ President, (no longer the S.A.G.E. 8¢ BIT mailman and the "SAGE*CAT""¢ programmer,) wote a letter to ALEX to¢ thank him for his kind comments and¢ for the shareware donation, which¢ OHAUG sent him. He returned the check,¢ and said "I'm proud to say I can count¢ all my donations on two hands. Your¢ letter will go into my "SAGE*CAT"¢ memento folder. Your check will be¢ returned for what you have done to¢ perpetuate and nurture the 8-Bit ATARI¢ enviRONment." A nice compliment¢ indeed, THANKS BOB!¢ JOHN POWELL, our member and¢ NWPAC, Arizona, member sent his new¢ address and wondered about our¢ Newsletter Disk, evidently they went¢ to "never-never land" as they were not¢ returned to the OL' HACKER'S.¢ Hopefully, the next newsletter disk¢ can find JOHN's new address easier¢ than the old address. (Could it be¢ that the Post Office has lost their¢ "RETURN TO SENDER" stamp).¢ STUART MURRAY, SCOTLAND, has¢ cheers for the new "ATARI CLASSICS¢ MAGAZINE". He includes the OL'¢ HACKER'S NEWSLETTER in his advertising¢ and calls it the best "American¢ Newsletter". Another great compliment.¢ THANKS STU!¢¢ DEMOS¢¢ With STUART MURRAY's letter came¢ FUTURA #13, Summer '94. Its OL'H. #¢ 530. The DOM menu contains "ATARI¢ News", "Editorals", "Slamming Part¢ II", Sam's Hardware Warehouse, "The¢ World of "G" and Your Printer" by ALAN¢ HITCHEN. Other powerful features are¢ the ability to display or print text¢ files and run programs was the main¢ reason for the change in the menu,¢ from the good old "VIEW DOCS". Another¢ well done newsletter!¢ DALE WOOSTER, President of the¢ NORTHWEST PHOENIX ATARI CONNECTION,¢ known as NWPAC, Arizona, sent their¢ SUPERB "Christmas Disk", also¢ containing the latest version of "PS¢ LABEL7" with more than three dozen¢ Holiday Icon Labels. They are to be¢ commended, they really do things up¢ right out there! Side one has a¢ HORIZONTAL and VERICLEl scrolling¢ displays of colorful messages. Either¢ of these display messages can be¢ changed or edited as desired. The¢ horizontal scrolling message read:¢ "This Christmas Greeting shows you our¢ appreciation for your continued¢ support of the ATARI 8-Bit connection. ¢ We hope that the past year has been¢ joyful and life has enriched in¢ spirit, health and fortune. We 8-Bit¢ users have withstood another year of¢ scorn by fellow users with bigger¢ machines. We have added one year of¢ life to a computer that has been¢ declared dead a long time ago. 1995 is¢ rapidly approaching and we look¢ forward to the NEW YEAR with great¢ enthusiasm and knowledge that many¢ programs will be developed and the old¢ improved upon. We know that we will¢ make new friends and share the same¢ interest with them. But unfortunately¢ we will say goodbye to a few who will¢ leave the 8-Bit community. We know as¢ surely as the sun raises in the East¢ that this time Dale, Merle and John¢ (Editor Oficers of NWPAC) will be¢ sitting and preparing a new seasons¢ greetings for each of you. A MERRY¢ CHRISTMAS and HAPPY NEW YEAR." What a¢ nice thought--THANKS NWPAC!¢ PACE, FLORIDA, OLH DISK # 527,¢ sent a copy of their DOM, also a¢ HOLIDAY DISK consisting of Winter and¢ Christmas programs. Side 1 included¢ favorites such as "SKI", "SANTA", "NEW¢ YEAR", "FIREWORKS", eleven programs in¢ all. Side 2 is chock full of 15 AMS¢ Christmas Music songs.¢ LVAUG Disk, OLH # 528, is a¢ GAMBLING CASINO disk that has "VIDEO¢ POKER" and "SLOT MACHINE" games. The¢ graphics and games are really great.¢ TWAUG #12, NOV/DEC 94, OLH # 529,¢ Also came in with a game disk. Their¢ DOM side 1, menu showed "GEMINI",¢ "SPARE TIRE", "DIGITALIZER", "CARGO¢ SHIP",(The old Battleship game). ALEX¢ displayed some excitement while¢ demonstrating CARGO SHIP, he beat the¢ computer (Now at long last we finally¢ know how he spends his spare time).¢ Side 2 had games plus some utilities¢ like "SEARCH", "TO BASIC", "DOCS",¢ "BLDEMO 1&2" "TURBO", "DRIVERS.ARC",¢ "ARC.COM".¢ SLCC, NOV.94, Issue 1211, OLH #¢ 531, Side 1 ALEX displayed a large¢ grin (Ear-to-Ear) when he spotted¢ "FANTAN", on the menu. Ready or not¢ the members were shown the finer¢ points of this card game, which is¢ also one he likes. Inaddition other¢ programs were "LOST CITY" (Action for¢ 1 player), "MY SHAPE" (Text game).¢ Side 2, was formatted in Enhanced¢ Density, with No Basic had (5) Great¢ Eurpean Demo's and Compute Magazines¢ "SKI".¢ BEE WEE SOFT, ABBUC BIT¢ BYTER,(GERMAN), OLH # 532, Sent a DISK¢ with a "SPECIAL DOS" that is¢ compatibile with "SPARTA DOS" and¢ "SPARTA DOS-X". The disk includes a¢ manual, and 23 pages of DOCS.¢ ABBUC #16, OLH DISK # 533 is in¢ Enhanced Density has "BONANZA" w/Docs¢ and "SPEED BALL".¢ LVAUG 11/94 Disk, OLH # 534. When¢ viewing the menu you are allowed to¢ make your selections either with the¢ ARROW keys or a JOYSTICK. The programs¢ on this disk include "DESKTOP",¢ "MAILLIST" (Ed. There is an upgraded¢ version of this in the Library), DESK¢ CALCULATOR", "PRINTMAKE",¢ "PRINTMAKE.TEXT", "ANTIC WRITER.COM",¢ "CONVERSION.COM", "ANTIC TEST 1&2",¢ "EASY FIND", "EASY 80". Sure looks a¢ real nice collection.¢ NEAR*US - At a monthly meeting of¢ LIAUG (Pat Mulvey, President) had many¢ NEAR*US members as guests. Some of¢ those attending were BEN POEHLAND,¢ John Mordoski, Vice President of LVAUG¢ and from the OL' HACKER'S were ALEX¢ PIGNATO, ALAN SHARKIS, RON FETZER.¢ ALAN SHARKIS' report on this meeting¢ on December 3rd can be found elsewhere¢ in this newsletter.¢¢ TREASURY REPORT¢¢ RON FETZER gave the clubs healthy¢ Treasury Report.¢¢ HEY, WHA HAPPENNNNED?¢¢ Then came the "SHOCKER" of the¢ year. Before HARRY TUTHILL realized¢ what had happened the December meeting¢ was adjourned. For the first time in¢ memory of the OL' HACKER'S the¢ unthinkable had occurred, "NO DOOR¢ PRIZES!". Look at the bright side¢ HARRY, maybe in January 1995 this¢ catagory will again be added to the¢ monthly agenda. If not, maybe in¢ February you can circulate a partition¢ to bring back the "DOOR PRIZES".¢¢ Respectfully submitted AL ATKINS¢ ** End **¢¢
