**==** ¢ THE MARCH 11, 1995 NEAR*US MEETING¢ by - JOSEPH E. HICSWA, member of¢ THE OL' HACKERS and President of¢ JERSEY ATARI COMPUTER GROUP¢¢ Thanks to NEAR*US (NORTH EAST ATARI¢ REGIONAL SUPPORT) liaison for JERSEY¢ ATARI COMPUTER GROUP, Sam Cory I was¢ able to attend the meeting in Long¢ Island, NY, hosted by OL HACKERS AUG.¢¢ Sam provided transportation since my¢ motorcycle was in the repair shop. He¢ is a good driver, pleasant company and¢ shared wisdom from the deepness of his¢ mind. He even quoted an anecdote about¢ over populated areas and traffic jams.¢¢ My problem on this trip was with the¢ tolls. Years ago, I paid .25 and .50¢ cents. Now the cost is three and four¢ dollars--outrageous! My coins had¢ amortized tunnel bonds. Today, more¢ dollars are needed to maintain them???¢ Boy how things have changed, and so¢ must we ATARIANS, ergo the NEAR*US¢ solution??¢¢ Explicit directions and fine driving¢ allowed Sam and I to enjoy a McDonald ¢ brunch prior to the meeting. As a¢ senior citizen I availed myself of¢ free coffee refills and carried one to¢ our destination--The Plainview Library¢ at 999 Old Country Road, Plainview,¢ NY.¢¢ Pulling into the library parking lot¢ we saw people carrying ATARI WARES¢ into the building. Parked alongside¢ of us was Ben Poehland, a name known¢ to most ATARIANS. He started ATARI¢ CLASSIC MAGAZINE for 8-bit Computers,¢ working only with a volunteer staff.¢ Because of a lack of subscribers, the¢ magazine only lasted a year and a¢ half. A real loass to ALL 8 BIT'ers.¢¢ As I got out of the the car, Dave¢ Goodwin of JERSEY ATARI COMPUTER¢ Group, and THE OL' HACKERS, came by.¢ What a pleasant surprise that was!! He¢ brought my joystick that had stopped¢ working for me. Dave traced the¢ problem to a bad wire and corrected¢ it. ATARI folks are like that, they¢ like to be helpful to each other.¢¢ Dave made name tag labels for JACG¢ members. Dave, Sam and I displayed it¢ proudly. (One OL' HACKER showed us a¢ sun visor with NEAR*US captioned in¢ colors. That would have made great¢ souvenirs except he did not have¢ enough to go around).¢¢ At the building entrance we met Alex¢ Pignato, President of OL' HACKERS, and¢ also Ron Fetzer, another OL' HACKER,¢ who is a TURBO BASIC whiz programmer.¢¢ A pre-meeting flea market had all¢ kinds of bargains to lure potential¢ purchasers. All the while, the¢ shoppers enjoyed refreshments catered¢ by The OL' HACKERS club.¢¢ Those unable to attend missed out on¢ a great meeting and also the bargains.¢ Sam Cory got a bag full, Dave Goodwin¢ got a $24 ALLADIN program for $2. The¢ savings alone paid for his trip.¢¢ There were twenty-five representives¢ from four ATARI groups:¢ OL' HACKERS ATARI USER GROUP¢ JERSEY ATARI COMPUTER GROUP¢ LONG ISLAND ATARI USER GROUP¢ LEHIGH VALLEY ATARI USER GROUP¢¢ A gathering of ATARI folk from¢ Connecticut, Pennsylvania, New York,¢ New Jersey, Massachusetts. What a nice¢ turnout!¢¢ They were club officers,¢ programmers, hardware engineers,¢ teachers, writers, professionals, and¢ home users of Atari computers. All¢ came together to talk about their¢ ATARI computers.¢ ¢ The two teenagers were: Elias Grim,¢ Jonathan Mordosky Jr and the lone¢ female was computer whiz Jennifer¢ Larkin of Massachusetts.¢¢ We had all learned about prior NEAR-¢ US meetings from clubs, BBS's,¢ INTERNET, GEnie, or other source, and¢ now we were in on an organization¢ meeting.¢¢ Each person explained who they were,¢ when they started with ATARI computer,¢ how they use it and why they persist.¢ It was reinforcing as they described¢ the efficiency and durability of ATARI¢ computers, ease of programming, and¢ the myriad of programs available to¢ accomplish about any want or need a¢ person might have. What I like most is¢ the affordable price of ATARI¢ computers and equipment (second hand¢ mostly.)¢¢ President of OL' HACKERS, Alex¢ Pignato introduced Jon Mordosky,¢ President of LEHIGH VALLEY ATARI Users¢ Group, who chaired the meeting. The¢ chairman gave us a history of NEAR-US,¢ how and why it was formed and it's¢ original purpose. He mentioned that¢ the first meeting was hosted in New¢ Jersey by J.A.C.G. at the Bell Labs,¢ about 5 or 6 years ago. There was a¢ discussion about how Atari Clubs can¢ and do offer support and answer most¢ questions, and how technical¢ information and unanswered questions¢ would be sent to NEAR*US via¢ telecommunication accessed by local¢ club officers or individual ATARI¢ user. Sort of information center.¢¢ Ben Poehland explained why users¢ must become a self-sufficient entity.¢ We no longer have the earlier¢ supporters. We are left alone to¢ learn, teach and aid ourselves. NEAR-¢ US can be an umbrella and a library of¢ support for ATARI users. He described¢ the potential of NEAR*US to be a¢ central source of information for¢ ATARI Clubs or any ATARI user. He¢ suggested that there could be a¢ department for each particular type of¢ ATARI user: Game Machines, 8-bit, ST,¢ Falcon, Jaguar, etc. After all¢ hundreds of thousands of Atari's were¢ sold, and are still out there.¢¢ There were pros and cons. There were¢ problems and solutions, hopefully to¢ make NEAR*US viable. Only time will¢ tell. The most important ingredient¢ will be the desire of volunteers to¢ make it work by offering of their time¢ and expertise. A committee was formed¢ consisting of two members of each club¢ to consolidate the ideas and offer¢ recommendations at the next NEAR*US¢ meeting, which will be held on or¢ about March 26th, 1995.¢¢ The meeting then opened to a general¢ discussion including a question/answer¢ session for any members with problems.¢ We shared ideas how to reach out find¢ and invite owners needing support in¢ the use of ATARI equipment¢ efficiently. We must let them know who¢ we are and how they can join with us.¢¢ I myself got help from Pat Mulvey,¢ President of LONG ISLAND ATARI USERS¢ GROUP, about the printed circuit in my¢ 130XE. Several people offered¢ solutions on how to save data in a¢ Basic Program.¢¢ At a meeting break the OL' HACKERS¢ club treated us to pizza, along with¢ soda, coffee and cake, so that we¢ wouldn't waste any time by going out¢ to lunch. How's that for hospitality?¢¢ Yes, It was a most interesting,¢ informative meeting--hopefully, a¢ rebirth into a new phase of Atariism.¢ I certainly was inspired! All said¢ they enjoyed the meeting.¢¢ The next NEAR-US meeting is March¢ 26th, you might want to attend, learn¢ and share something with others.¢ SPREAD THE WORD!¢¢ ** END **¢¢
