**-**¢ MINUTES OF NOVEMBER 11, 1995 MEETING¢¢ NEWS ITEMS:¢¢ Floridian magazine PACESETTER¢ acnowledged the OL' HACKERS in its¢ last publication. A whole page and a¢ half was dedicated to our club's¢ history; and, beyond that honor, we¢ were the first in the whole series!¢ Thanks folks!¢¢ President, ALEX PIGNATO, offered ATARI¢ 8-bit hardware for sale from STEVE¢ HOFFEY (a former staffmember with the¢ ATARI CLASSIC. who was very ill for¢ some time). A true treasure trove is¢ offered, such as: 130XE with 3¢ operating systems; 800 XL with custom¢ 512K; stock 800, Atari SMM801; BMC¢ model; Dot Matrix Printer; two 1050¢ Disk Drives with US Doublers; HAPPY¢ 810 Disk Drives (barely used!); CSS¢ Black Box with custom cas;, 220 meg¢ Seagate Hard Drive for $600; complete¢ Library with double-sided disks for¢ $350 ... and more! All were welcome¢ to browse by looking through the¢ available list.¢¢ MEMBER, ALEX PIGNATO, received the¢ ATARI CLASSIC MAGAZINE and DISK¢ recently. After the whole 14 minutes¢ it took to skim through it, his¢ critique was negative. The whole¢ club, those who had also read through¢ their copy, agreed with ALEX that the¢ information chosen seemed to soar¢ above 99 percent of the target¢ readership, of the magazine. Even the¢ disk gave several members trouble in¢ booting up. ALAN SHARKIS motioned to¢ communicate OHAUG's general¢ disapproval and disappointment by¢ corresponding with the publishers of¢ A.C. JACK GEDALIUS seconded. JOHN¢ HARDIE observed that it seemed to be¢ an extension of BOB Wooley's hardware¢ group in California. While a lot of¢ frustration was vented about¢ unfinished business and unanswered¢ phone calls, concern was communicated¢ that since JIM HOOD's recent decline¢ in health, BOB WOOLEY's valiant¢ attempts at holding down the fort now¢ appears to be suffering from¢ overextension. Anyhow, one thing is¢ apparent, this magazine was wanted,¢ and waited for by this bunch of OL'¢ HACKERS. AL SHARKIS immediately¢ agreed to put the letter in terms of a¢ simple suggestion to modify the scope¢ of the future magazines to allow for¢ both beginner and intermediate levels,¢ as well. This amendment was seconded¢ by AL MANNELLA. (It's getting to¢ sound like parliament around here --¢ Raaather!) ALEX reminded that this¢ letter should be sent rather soon to¢ "strike while the iron is hot." Very¢ important to the whole future of this¢ magazine' continuance.¢¢ CORRESPONDENCE:¢¢ Member BEN POEHLAND, of Frazer, PA,¢ writes that he is offering a "take all¢ -- no partial sales" deal of $150¢ worth of chips for a sale price of¢ $75! Great resource for 8-bit repairs¢ and upgrades. BEN wishes to see that¢ it stays within some local usergroup'¢ future supply/stock. ¢¢ JIM CUTLER our Lancashire, England¢ member, kindly sends his "inheritance"¢ (no ... not money, folks, but a batch¢ of disks!) to house in the OHAUG¢ Library. ALEX's response thanked him¢ for the 4 disks; namely, ENVISION,¢ PAYOFF and DOS's 3 & 4. JIM also¢ shared his acronym, H.E.A.T., by which¢ he means: "HELL, EVEN ALEX IS TIRED!" ¢ That gave ALEX a good chuckle. But,¢ while ALEX didn't belabor the point, a¢ little birdy told me that ALEX¢ sincerely laments that his arthritic¢ condition is a C.U.R.S.E., which¢ means: a "CONDITION UNDERMINING REST,¢ SERENITY ... EVERYTHING!" ALEX sent¢ the program, BEE WEE DOS, along with¢ his letter and, as liaison between¢ Canadian and British operatives,¢ forwarded the Canadian brother's JOHN¢ PICKIN's answer to JIM's recent¢ question on his PAPERCLIP problem. ¢ (Gee, I can just hear Walter Cronkite¢ stating in that "journelesque" way of¢ his, "OHAUG, the local community club¢ that reaches far across the globe!")¢¢ JOHN PICKINS from G.C.A.C.E.,¢ Victoria, B.C., Canada, sent us XL2,¢ and XL2XE: UPGRADED VERSION 3, the new¢ disk that ALEX chose to demo. As an¢ aside, ALEX commented that JOHN's¢ knowledge was over his head and¢ likened him to our late brother, KRIS¢ HOLTEGAARD, a rather brilliant and¢ creative OL' HACKER. ALAN SHARKIS¢ then offered to add BOB WOOLEY in the¢ mix, another fine mind in the 8-bit¢ world. ¢¢ Another 8-bitter, FRANK SAGSTETTER of¢ Dayton, OH, referred to us by Dayton's¢ M.V.A.C.E. (not an 8-bit Club),¢ happily reaches out to OHAUG because¢ there are no local clubs in his area. ¢ (You know, this "relief/happiness" is¢ like the delirium experienced when a¢ thirst driven person finally discovers¢ that the mirage is really a lush,¢ tropical oasis!) Well, FRANK's letter¢ gave the Club two rather complex¢ technical problems. ALEX responded to¢ his letter by sending him a disk with¢ two terminal programs (yes, one¢ question had to do with terminals)¢ while promising to bring the other to¢ the floor at the next meeting. ¢ Problem solver, challenge lovers --¢ these are just other names for the¢ OL' HACKER! ALAN SHARKIS said that¢ FLICKER TERM, TERM 80 or ICED TEA¢ might solve FRANK's terminal problem¢ and afford an unlimited amount of¢ baud. As to the graphic printing¢ problem, it was suggested that the¢ expertise of CHARLES COLE be sought. ¢ ALEX made sure to invite FRANK to¢ become a member; and, with that, ALAN¢ felt that he would correspond to the¢ (hopefully) newest OL' HACKER in¢ Dayton, OH. FRANK, our Secretary, RON¢ FETZER, awaits your dues. (Ed. I've¢ been advised that RON received his¢ dues! A.P.)¢¢ Our member LARRY TISCHBEIN, newsletter¢ editor of LVAUG, shared that he was¢ "working on his FRONT PAGE holiday¢ masterpiece." ALEX, in his return¢ letter, suggested using PRINT SHOP¢ icons. Doesn't ALEX know that you¢ never suggest the easy route to a¢ budding Michelangelo, Donazetti or¢ Bill Gates??? Well, LARRY always¢ tells of his mentor, DR. BOB, in¢ nearby Allentown, PA, who is very¢ helpful. ALEX's method of education is¢ the good ol' tried and true, trial and¢ error method. Again, when ALEX shares¢ about his "C.U.R.S.E.," he seems to¢ "shy up." Well, this is serious¢ folks!! He's struggling with the¢ keypad -- the old newsletter will¢ never be the same without ALEX! (The¢ question is: would there even BE a¢ newsletter?)¢¢ ALEX shared a walk down Memory Lane by¢ showing the Club a 2/13/87 47 member¢ list. This is OHAUG's alma mater and¢ it lays claim to some heavies: a¢ Sheriff of New York County, an¢ official with the United States Bar¢ Association, a physiologist (a doctor,¢ no less!) and a defunct son-in-law. ¢ Reads like the Who's Who of Whoville¢ (remember Dr. Seuss?).¢¢ JACK GEDALIUS shared a couple of comic¢ ditties (read by ALEX) on the "beauty¢ of aging." Everyone got a chuckle¢ from these humorous paradies. Thanks,¢ Jack!¢¢¢ DEMOS:¢¢ RON FETZER discovered the chess game¢ font in ATARI CLASSIC DISK VOL. 4, NO.¢ 2, and printed it up to share with the¢ club. He handed the copies to all¢ members in attendance to show this¢ program's offering.¢¢ PAT MULVEY started his demo of the 8-¢ bit Atari with a piece of 1/4 inch¢ plexiglass. Why? It has the ability¢ to withstand bullets when thicker, but¢ it's still transparent. What sounded¢ like a marvelous commercial became an¢ exhibition of an absolutely beautiful¢ engineering feat. Using hardware such¢ as a standard 130XE keyboard on top of¢ a 130XE computer, underneath 3 1/2"¢ disk drive and add a combo 5V/12V¢ power supply with XF 551 Drive Board. ¢ Then decrease the size to a "miniscule¢ height" by removing a number of¢ components -- oh, yes, there is also a¢ heat shield that was taken off a ...¢ this technical stuff went on and on,¢ but I did pick up that the group was¢ totally hushed until PAT shared¢ something about the PR connection. I¢ guess the only thing we can say is¢ that PAT stupefied this crew with his¢ "over the head ... but boy, do I want¢ it, too!" demo. One can almost say a¢ touch of artistry, PAT. Good work!¢¢ OHAUG LIBRARY #615: (s/1): XL2.COM¢ and XL2XE.COM programs; (s/2):¢ MyDOS.TXT, SpartaDOS, FONTWRTR.OBJ,¢ ABATCON, RDNUMBER, RAMTEST.TXT ?? ¢ This disk was demo'ed by ALEX and RON¢ shared that Side 1 was an updated,¢ debugged program. Again, the "CURSE"¢ prevented ALEX from doing his normal,¢ thorough investigation; so, the docs¢ and all the Club members joined in in¢ trying the different possibilities. ¢ Too soon did the keypad get totally¢ locked up and no one could get beyond¢ this impasse. Sounded a bit like¢ Fundamentals of 8-bittery, #101. One¢ thing though, these guys proved once¢ again, they love a challenge!¢¢ OHAUG LIBRARY #616: T.W.A.U.G. #18¢ NOV/DEC '95: (s/1): ASTROBIOGRAMS,¢ TANK game, VEHICLE REPORT, LARGE DISK¢ LABELS, CASSETTE LOG WRITER, PLUS ZERO¢ game, CONAN.PIC, BBK COMMAND PROCESSOR¢ by Bryan Chappell, ANALOG '87; (s/2):¢ For Side 1, ALEX passed around samples¢ of the charts created by the¢ ASTROBIOGARAMS program, a European¢ version of Biorhythms. Info based on¢ astrology which gives personality¢ traits, horoscope and biorhythm chart. ¢ Don't get confused like ALEX did with¢ the European method of reporting dates¢ of birth. As to Side 2, ALEX found¢ this a bit difficult .. first off, he¢ could get nothing but a couple of¢ notes repeating and repeating and¢ repeating. Sounded sort of eerie when¢ he showed the Club. Then, he found¢ that by booting Side 1 up without¢ BASIC and then Side 2, it offered¢ three games. Of course, all the guys¢ perked up a bit when they were playing¢ the games ... but, then, maybe not¢ all. We really wouldn't know if JACK¢ GEDALIUS was taking one of his famous¢ snoozes ...¢¢ OHAUG LIBRARY #617 & 618: ENVISION --¢ 2 ANTIC disks from JIM CUTLER which¢ has 30 pages of documentation which¢ ALEX passed around. Poor RON was¢ chosen to plod through the droll¢ Utilities Introduction (yawns were¢ definitely heard at this point). The¢ review: good graphics program because¢ (as Professor MULVEY edified) it take¢ pictures and turns them into text. ¢ Not only is it faster to boot, this¢ saves lots of space on the disk! ¢ Amazingly, PAT demo'ed this program 5¢ years ago and was still able to¢ remember it's benefits.¢¢ OHAUG LIBRARY #619, 620 & 621,¢ respectively are: FLICKER TERM,¢ Version 5.1; ICED-T; TERM 80,¢ Version 1.6 -- ALAN explained the¢ benefits of the three disks in¢ question. Each gives an 80 column¢ display, and at least 2 of the 3 give¢ BT100 emulation needed to access the¢ WORLDWIDE WEB through either GENIE or¢ some other provider. Text based¢ server, LYNX, needed to get graphics.¢¢¢ DOOR PRIZES:¢¢ #1 HARRY TUTHILL¢ #2 AL MANNELLA¢ #3 PAT MULVEY¢ #4 ALLEN ATKINS¢ #5 HAROLD PEGLER¢¢ Submitted by D.E.C.¢ **=**¢
