May/June 1987
The I/O
Connector
The Newsletter of the San Diego Atari Computer Enthusiasts
THE SAN DIEGO ATARI COMPUTER ENTHUSIASTS
(S.D.A.C.E.) is an independent, non-profit organization and user group with no connection to Atari Corp.
Membership fees are currently $15.00 annually. Membership includes access to the program library, subscription
to the U0 Connector, and access to any other club activities. Permission to reprint articles from this
newsletter in any non-commercial form is permitted without specific authorization, as long as original credit is
given.
COMMERCIAL ADVERTISING RATES
$35 - full page $20 - half page $30 - back half page $10 - quarter page $5 - business card
S.D.
President
David Delgadillo
262-4829
V.P. (ST)
Rick DeHaven
284-2365
Secretary
Bruce Lawson
229-0380
Prg Director (ST)
Frank Cascio
282-5208
ST Librarian
Mike Qdegard
574-0106
Newsletter Editor
Peter Payne
560-4272
i.C.E." OFFICERS
V.P. (8-bit) Nobodyl How about you?
Treasurer Tom Andert 287-4198
Prg Director (3-bit) Buck Bragunier 532-2730
8-bit Librarian Help us, please volunteer
Membership Ofc. Dick Hiatt 463-8460
Newsletter Ads Clay Gradis 726-2685
(Call between 5:00 pm and 9:00 pm, please)
CORRESPONDENCE ADDRESS
SAN DIEGO ATARI COMPUTER ENTHUSIASTS
P.O. Box 203076
San Diego, CA 92120
S.D.A.C.E. 8-bit BBS S.D.A.C.E. ST BBS
Sysop: Eddie Hoods SDACE BBS's Sysop: Rick DeHaven
(619) 566-3430 (619) 284-3821
SUBMISSIONS TO THE NEHSLETTER
are most welcome, and are due by the 15th of the month for publication in the next month's newsletter. Mail
double-spaced text or (returnable) disks with text files to the club P.O. Box, or upload the text file to one of
the S.D.A.C.E. BBSs.
BUY/SELL/TRADE
ads, available on a space-available basis, are free to club members, when judged to be non-commercial in nature.
The Editor will accept ads at meetings, through the club's P.Q. Box, or via telephone. Deadline for ads is the
same for articles - the 15th of each month.
SYSWARE
7770 VICKERS ST.
278-8660
W E HAVE:
* Selection
* Will order Any Software
* Helpful, knowledgeable Staff
* Factory Authorized Onsite Service
* Lower Prices on Everything including Service
* Free Demos on any Product - Try it before you buy it
* Convenient Location, Three blocks South on Convoy
* We know Commodore and
Atari ST Computers
* Our Service Department is
Well equipsd to handle any
Problem
* Stop by and see what we
have to offer
* We accept Visa and MasterCharge - Sorry no AMEX
* Excellent Commodore BBS - 278-8661 from 6pm to
10am, 24 hours on Sundays
* Outstanding Atari ST BBS - 278-8671 24 hours.
7 days a week
* Store hours are Monday thru
Saturday - 10 am to 6pm
* Free Public Domain from our
BBS Systems - Come in
Register Free.
From the Editor
Well, I'm back with another issue. It f s great working
on the newsletter, helping out the Atari club, and I just
love it. We've got some openings for club officers at the
moment, and I sure hope you'll consider yourself for the
job of 3-bit VP or 8-bit newsletter co-editor, if you feel
you're qualified.
Now, you've probably noticed that this issue is VERY
late. Well, the reason for this is that we've re-done the
tiae scheduling on the newsletter so that it coincides with
the Officers' Meeting. The club officers will now be
responsible for doing all of the collating, folding and
stapling of the newsletter. This will save the club
soaewhere in the neighborhood of $50 per issue. I
apologize for the inconvenience, especially to the 8-bit
users, since it means that the newsletter will coae after
their meeting each month, but there's no, other way around
the problea that we know of. The newsletter is costing too
such aoney, and we're taking steps to save money wherever
we can before it's too late.
On a similar note, you may notice that this issue is
smaller than the previous ones have been in the past two or
three months. Like I said, the club's newsletter has been
entirely too costly. From now on we'll be keeping the
newsletter on a strict budget, being careful not to spend
more than we take in for advertising. This means that the
giant 22-page newsletter you received the last two months
will be a thing of the past until we receive more
advertising frot outside sources. If you know of any
company who would like to purchase low-cost advertising in
the newsletter, please let me know.
In order to combat the drop in the size of the
newsletter, I'll be scrunching everything up further,
keeping the compressed text, and re-working other parts of
the Connector to save room. Now, just because the size is
dropping, I don't want the quality of the content to go
down. If it does, feel free to swat me upside the head.
This is YOUR newsletter, though, and it would be really
nice to get some article submissions from time to time.
tSigh*
As I said above, I'm still looking for someone in the
3-bit community to help me out, by keeping up on what's new
in news and software, and by helping me track down 8-bit
oriented articles. If you're interesting in this easy,
fulfilling job, please call me (my number is 560-4272, call
now!)
We're also still sniffing around for an 8-bit Vice
President. How about you? The job would entail helping
get the 3-bit meetings going, helping to find demos and get
companies to come and show their products, and a few other
things. It's not a difficult job, and the club REALLY
needs your help, so please, if you want to help out 3DACE a
lot, contact Dave Delgadillo. If we don't get some help in
the 3-bit area 3DACE will be all-ST within a year, I
guarantee it. Do you want that to happen? Then do
something about it!
You 8-bitters have a special treat this month: a
type-in program by John Kelleher, which sets up an alarm
clock in XL/XE machines. The program takes up no memory
and works very well. Thanks, John, I appreciate the help.
If there are any programmers who'd like to send in some
short programs to be printed in the newsletter, send them
in to me via the P.Q. Box and I'll see what I can do.
Incidentally, all you STers, be sure to be at the ST
Workshop, which will be held in the same room at the same
time as the 3-bit meeting, 6:30 on the first Thursday of
the month. We're hoping to pick up the sagging population
at that meeting, so everyone be sure and go, and bring your
computer! I'll be there!
Well, I guess that's about all I have to say. Stay
well, and don't take any wooden floppy disks.
Peter Payne
Tidbits
Reprinted from the LA-ACE Journal
You can tell you're spending too much time on your computer
when,..
Your alarm clock goes off and you haven't been to bed
yet.
Your work three weeks on a program that only uses 16K
of memory, then a friend shows you one that does the same
thing in only 15 lines.
Your gosub never returns.
Your wife starts watching football.
You check the calendar to see what season it is.
The cat wants to sleep on the computer because it's the
wariest place in the house.
You start to like cold french fries and warm milk.
The folks at the computer store know you on a first
name basis.
A tornado blows the roof off your house, and all you
notice is that the light is better.
You start to understand machine code...magnets make you
nervous.
What Kind of Member Are You?
A Poem
Are you an active member, the kind that would be missed?
Or are you just contented to have your name on the list?
Do you attend meetings and mingle with the flock?
Or do you just stay a home, then criticize and knock?
Do you take an active part to help the work along?
Or are you satisfied that you just belong''
Think this over, member, you know right from wrong.
Are you an active member, or do you .just belong^
S.D.A.C.E.
SOFTWARE TRIVIA
„_ CONTEST _,
FOR THOSE OF YOU NOT YET AWARE OF THE CURRENT SDACE SOFTWARE TRIVIA
CONTEST, LET ME FILL YOU IN. SIMPLY PUT: ANY SDACE MEMBER CAN ENTER
(ONE ENTRY ONLY, PLEASE). JUST SEND A LETTER OR A POSTCARD TO ME AT THE
ADDRESS LISTED BELOW WITH THE FOLLOWING :
1. THE TITLES OF S.SJ.'s 1ST, 2ND AND 3RD SOFTWARE RELEASES FOR THE ATARI
COMPUTER (8-BIT ONLY). PLEASE LIST THEM IN ORDER OF THEIR RELEASE.
2. IN 25 WORDS OR SO (APPROX.); TELL WHAT YOU LIKE OR DISLIKE ABOUT S.S.I. ,
WHAT YOU WOULD LIKE TO SEE, AND FOR WHICH MACHINE(S).
a STATE WHICH MACHINE YOU OWN; SO WE CAN SEND YOU THE CORRECT PRIZE
SHOULD YOU BE A WINNER.
A YOUR NAME, ADDRESS, PHONE, ETC.
OTHER REQUIREMENTS
5. IN CASE OF TIES, EARLIEST POSTMARK WINS,
a S.D.A.C.E. OFFICERS ARE NOT ELIGIBLE.
7. YOU MEMBERSHIP IN S.D.A.C.E. MUST BE IN GOOD STANDING, (SO IF YOU HAVEN'T
PAID YOUR DUES IN AWHILE OR IF YOU HAVEN’T YET JOINED, THIS IS A GOOD TIME
TO DO SO).
NOTE: WHILE ON THE SUBJECT LET ME SAY TO THOSE OF YOU WHO ARE PAID
PAID UP MEMBERS AND RECEIVE YOUR NEWSLETTER REGULARLY. IF YOU KNOW
ANYONE WHO ATTENDS BUT HASN'T YET JOINED S.D.A.C.E.; PLEASE SHOW THEM
YOUR COPY OF THE ’I/O CONNECTOR’. IF THEY JOIN AT THE NEXT MEETING THEY
WILL BE ELIGIBLE FOR THE CONTEST AND THE RANDOM DRAWING.
NOW AS TO THE CONTEST ITSELF ALTHOUGH IT HAS ALREADY BEGUN (SEE LAST ISSUE):
THE NOTICE WAS RATHER OBSCURE, THAT'S WHY I CHOSE TO USE PUBLISHING PARTNER
THIS TIME
- PRIZES -
THE PRIZES ARE IN THE FORM OF NEW SOFTWARE DIRECT FROM S.S.I. AS WELL AS
S.S.I. GAME POSTERS. WE HAVE PRIZES FOR 1ST, 2ND, AND 3RD 8-BIT AND ST
WINNING ENTRIES.
WE ALSO WILL HAVE A RANDOM DRAWING OF ALL LOSING ENTRIES WITH SEVERAL
PRIZES INCLUDING: S.SJ. SOFTWARE, REGENT SOFTWARE, POSTERS, AND PERHAPS
A COUPLE OF SURPRISE - PRIZES AS WELL1H SO, GET BUSY AND ENTER NOWI AT THE
MOMENT I HAVEN'T ENOUGH ENTRIES TO GIVE AWAY THE PRIZES (EVEN IF THEY WERE
ALL INCORRECT ANSWERSI)
LASTLY LET ME WARN YOU NOW THAT CALLING S.S.1. FOR THE ANSWERS WILL ONLY
RUN UP YOUR PHONE BILL THEY WILL NOT GIVE OUT THE INFORMATION UNTIL THE
CONTEST IS OVER.
IN CLOSING I'D JUST LIKE TO THANK FRANK COHEN AND RAD MOOSE FOR BEING OUR
GUESTS THIS MONTH. NEXT MONTH? WELL, I’LL SURPRISE YOU NEXT MONTH, OK.
FRANK CASCiO - ST-PROGRAM DIRECTOR
Send Entry to: SOFTWARE TRIVIA CONTEST - FRANK CASCiO 4467 32ND ST. S.D.CA.92116
February Newsletter Poll
Result s
Well, here are the results of the poll some of you
turned in at the March and April meetings, which dealt with
various subjects and questions. Response to the poll was
less than staggering—in fact, it was pitiful. We got
exactly six (6) poll sheets turned in.
Now, there were several reasons for this. One is that
1 ®ade a aistake, putting the poll on the last page, which
contained the user's name and address on the other side.
This blew the anonymity in the eyes of tany. Another was
that one of the 3-bit meetings was cancelled due to a
financial error, so none of the people who went to that
meeting got to turn them in. It was unfortunate that so
few were turned in, and I hope that, in the August issue,
when the poll is run again (bi-annually), response will be
better.
Out of the six I received, two owned 520's, two owned
1040's, and one owned one of each. Three owned KE's, one
had an 800XL, and one had an 300. It seems, froa our
survey, that a LOT of users (haa, seeas like SOX of the
membership) own both an 8-bit and an ST. The ratio of
Single Sided ST users and Double Sided ST users was about
equal. The ratio of ST's with 1 aeg versus ST's with 512K
was 3:1 (hear that, all you 512K-owning ST users?
Upgrade!).
Generally speaking, the average rating, on a scale of
one to five (1 being low), Atari received for the following
categories, was: Marketing, 2; Product Service, 3.5; New
Products, 4.5; Advertising, 1.25; Company Inage, 3.4;
Reliability, 4.75. The products our six users seeaed
interested in were: The Magic Sac, The Aay Sound Chip,
Blitter Chip, IBM Enulator, the Mega ST's, and the Atari
PC, alaost unaniaously. Four were interested in the fabled
3.5" disk drives for the 8-bit, one was interested in the
7300 gaae systea, two owned or cared about the 2600 gaae
systea, and three wanted to see aore about the XEP-80 30
coluan device for the 8-bits. As predicted, the IE Gaae
Machine got a great big goose egg.
For word processors used, ST Writer was used by one
user, 1st Word by two aore, Letter Perfect (8-bit) by
another, and one couldn't take up his aind. Flash won the
Terainal Prograa race for the ST’s, with ST Talk and Oaega
coming in for second. TC Modes, a PD terainal prograa by
the aaker of TCBBS, won for the 8-bits. The average of
estiaated aoney to be spent on software this year was
around $500.00, and on hardware, $750.00. For favorite
Atari magazine, Start got two votes, Coapute! got one,
Analog got two, and ST Business got one.
Nell, folks, t tere you have it. We'll run a similar
poll around August; I know I don’t have to say that I hope
that the turnout will be better! Until then, I’ll be
seeing ya...
Peter Payne
%
From The President
You will notice that this issue is a bit late this month.
The reason: SDACE is having a bit of a problea in the
finances departaent. The newsletter is our aajor outlay of
aoney on a regular basis. That outlay was a bit aore than
expected in the past two aonths. We are hoping to balance
some of the monetary outlay with incoming monies, in part
froa advertising. Peter does quite a bit of work on the
newsletter and he deserves to put out a good one.
— 3-Bit News —
8-bitters, you now have not only one, but two librarians.
David and Margie Becker have taken over the job of Main
Librarians. They will have the library at each 3-bit
meeting. We also will have a branch in the South Bay
area. Also, we have a GEnie downloader for 8-bit related
files and materials. We are still looking for an 3-bit
Vice President to help coordinate the meetings. (Just a
reminder, you do not need to be a programming viz, etc.
You just need an interest and be willing to give a bit of
your time).
— ST News —
The ST meetings are going quite strong and we can expect
even more now that the ST Director, Frank Cascio, is able
to be more active. Frank has had a period of the
down-and-outs, but he is now back. I would also like to
congradulate Mark Booth. He is the newest co-sysop of the
ST Roundtable on GEnie. ST users will also have another
time to get together each month. This will be a free form
meeting, with discussions and demos from all. We encourage
you to bring your ST to these meetings. The day will be
the same as the 3-bit meeting (first Thursday of the month,
6:30) and in the same meeting room (the one at the opposite
end of the block from the ST meeting). One area that will
be explored in detail is the Magic Sac. Hope to see some
of you out there.
Dave Delgadillo
8-bit Meeting/ST Workshop/Magic Sac SIG May 7
1st Thursday of the month/6:30 PM June 4
North Park Rec Center
Adult Center
San Diego Computer Society May 16
3rd Saturday of the month June 20
12:00 swap meet, 1:30 meeting
Mesa College, Apollo Theatre
ST Meeting May 18
3rd Monday of the month/6:30 PM June 15
North Park Rec Center
Social Room
RTRRIST Y-CRBLE
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ON GAME PORT ,, 0"
24" HOUSE EXT CORD ■ USE OF 2 JOYSTICKS
SEND 524.95
ADD 5.00 TO COUER
SHIPPING &HANDLNG
1040 ST COLOR SYSTEM. ■,, $079.00
520 ST COLOR SYSTEM.$549.00
ATARI ST 20 MEG HARD DRIVE $499
PRICE SUBJECT TO STOCK ON HAND
COMPOGOP^S C619 J ?
100£ Ei UISTft- WAY-G2UISTA CA 92084
AUTHORIZEDSALES « SERO ICEh SINCE 1981
XL Clock
Program by John P. Kelleher
(Reverse) Hera's a useful little ditty
for you XL/XE owners out there: a RAM-
resident alarm clock routine which uses no
free memory at all. It's written in Atari
BASIC and 6502 Hachine Language. It's a
great little program, so type it in and see
what makes it tick.
3 kEM XLUlUUKiJonn Keiiener 4/8/87
10 REM Art alara clock for SDAcE XL and XE owners.
15 REM Prograa changes ROM OS to RAM, installs
29 REM clock in place of alternate character
25 REM set. Clock uses NO free aeaory ana
SO REM continues even if other prograns are run.
35 DIM At410):GRAPHICS 0:CHECK=17Q
40 ? "HMINS: THIS PROGRAM RUNS 0NLT ON'
45 ? "XL'S AND XE'S. HIT MEM TO SUIT,'
50 ? ‘RETURN TO CONTINUE.'
55 INPUT AS
SO NEH=PEEK(106)-l:POKE 106,MEM
65 GRAPHICS 0:P0KE 553,0
70 I=MEM?256:REALSUM=16212:RESTORE
75 FOR 8=0 TO 39:READ A:POKE I+B,A
30 CHECKSUM=CHECKSUH+A: NEXT B
35 POKE 553,34: 8 QSUB CHECK:B=USR(I)
90 REM p. 217, 'Mapping the Atari"
95 MEM=MEM+1:P0KE 106,MEM:GRAPHICS 0
100 DATA 183,0,133,203,133,205,169,132,133,204
105 DATA 163,64,133,206,160,0,177,203,145,205
.110 DATA 200,203,243,230,206,230,204,240,12,165
115 DATA 204,201,208,208,237,163,216,133,204,208
120 DATA 231,3,120,173,14,212,72,163,0,141
125 DATA 14,212,173,1,211,41,254,i41,1,211
130 DATA 163,132,133,206,169,64,133,204,177,203
135 DATA 145,205,200,208,243,230,204,230,206,240
140 DATA 12,165,206,201,208,208,237,163,216,133
145 DATA 206,208,231,104,141,14,212,40,104,36
130 ? :? "Initializing..,*:REALSUM=37716
155 STARTADR=204t256:1=STARTADR: CHECKSUMS
160 READ A:IF A=-l THEN GDSUB CHECK:GOTD 205
165 CHECKSUM=CHECKSUM+A:POKE I,A:I=1+1:GOTO 160
170 IF CHECK8UMOREAL3UN THEN 130
175 RETURN
130 PDF :? CHR$(253):?
135 ? "CHECKSUM = CHECKSUM;V
130 ? "It should = “;REALSUM;".“
135 ? 'Check DATA stateaents."
200 7 'Kit RETURN.":INPUT A$:A=U3R(58484)
205 VBADR=STARTADR+20
210 3CREEN0N=1:POKE STARTADR+16,SCREENDM
215 POKE STARTADR+-1 1 , ADJUST
220 POKE 3TARTADR+15,COUNTER
225 POKE 3TARTADR+17,ALARM:? CHRSU25)
230 ? "Starting the clock is a two-step"
235 ? "process:":?
240 ? " 1 . Type in the tiae (00 seconds"
245 ? "assuaed),using standard notation--"
250 ? '( 3:22, not 20:22), and hit RETURN to"
255 ? "have it accepted.":?
260 ? ‘2. Then hit RETURN again to start"
265 ? “clock at 00 seconds.":?
270 ? "ENTER TIME:"
275 TRAP 275:POSITION 13,12:? 11
230 FOR 1=1 TO 4:? CHRi(30);-.NEXT I
235 INPUT At
290 H0UR=VAL(At(l,2)):F0KE STARTADR+12,HOUR
295 MINUTE=VAL(A$(4,5)):PQKE STARTADR+12,MINUTE
300 TRAP 40000:POKE 732,0:POKE STARTADR+14,SECOND
305 POSITION 2,13:? "Hit RETURN to start clock.'
310 INPUT At:A=USR t ST ART ADR,08ADR)
315 ? CHR$<125)
320 ? "Clock is accurate to 1 second/day."
325 ? ‘SHIFT t HELP toggles screen display."
330 ? ‘CONTROL + HELP toggles alara."
335 ? "RESET stops dock."
340 ? :? ’Set alara? (Y/M> INPUT At
345 IF NOT ((Ai(l,l)='Y*)+(At(l,i)=“y")) THEN 335
350 ? :? 'ENTER TIME:"
255 TRAP 355:POSIT ION 13,3:? "
360 FOR 1=1 TO 4:? CHRSC30);:NEXT I
265 INPUT At
370 HOUR=VALiA$(1,2)):POKE STARTADR+18,HOUR
375 MINUTE=VALiAt(4,5)):POKE STARTACR+13,MINUTE
330 ALARM=16i:F0KE 3TARTADR+17,ALARM
285 ? :? :? "To see alara time, type:"
330 ? "PRINT PEEK(522423,PEEK(52243)“
335 ? "To reset alara tiae, type:"
400 ? ‘POKE 52242,hour:POKE 52243,ainute"
1000 DATA 104,i04,170,104,163,153,6,32,32,228
1005 DATA 96,11,12,13,14,15,iD,1/, 18 ,13
1010 DATA 72,138,72,152,72,216,233,15,204,173
1015 DATA 15,204,201,60,144,74,233,14,204,238
1020 DATA 11,204,163,0,141,15,204,173,li,204
1025 DATA 201,38,144,14,153,0,141,11,204,238
1030 DATA 15,^04,238,11,204,238,15,*04,173,»+
1035 DATA 204,201,60,144,35,2j3,13,*04,163,0
1040 DATA 141,14,204,173,13,204,201,60,144,20
1045 DATA 163,0,141,13,204,173,12,204,24,105
1050 DATA 1,201,13,144,2,163,1,141,12,204
1055 DATA 173,220,2,201,31,208,3,32,25,205
1060 DATA 201 ,145,208,3,3i,4u,i0u,lo3,v,i41
1065 DATA 220,2,173,17,204,240,39,173,18,204
1070 DATA 205,12,204,208,31 f 173,13,204,205,13
1075 DATA 204,208,22,173,14,204,203,IS,153,3
1030 DATA 141,15,210,169,0,141,8,210,141,0
1085 uAirt 210,163,/a,i41,l,ilu,1 /j, 16 ,204,208
1030 DATA 2 , z40,60,1 &C, o j, 169,9,14u, sd, i 36
1095 DATA 173,14,204,32,251,204,173,13,204,32
1100 DATA z j 1,DOe,iwO,iuo,iuo,i/u,1/,iOe,iv j,83
1105 DATA 200 ,163,3,145,38,200,163,0,145,38
1110 DATA 173,12,204,201,10,144,10,169,17,145
1115 DATA 33,173,12,204,56,233,10,200,24,105
1120 BAiA 16, 142,00,104, - DO, .04, .70,104,75,35
11*5 DATA 228,162,16,201,10,144,8,232,56,233
1130 DAiA 10,201,10,175,248,34,105,IS,145,35
1135 iATA 136,135,145,88,136,163,26,145,38,136
1140 DATA 96,163,0,141,220,2,173,16,204,208
1143 DATA 4,233,16,204,36,206,16,204,36,163
1150 DATA 0,141,220,2,172,17,204,208,6,169
1155 DATA 161,141,17,204,96,153,0,141,17,204
1160 DATA 141,1,210,36
2000 DATA -1
* free training
* free software starter pac
* complete midi studio
* in store service dept.
* largest software selection in the county
* knowledgable, non-commissioned sales staff
try before you buy phone ( 619 ) 224-5090
3545 midway drive ste. 'c'
Desk File View Options
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8 bytes used in 0 itens.
CLEAN Volks VM-520 Hayes-e»ulating aodeit
300/1200 BAUD, RS232 req.,
$70, call Peter at 580-4272
Antic and Analog
back issues
Call Dave 262-4829
Loqikhron Clock Card
Works great, inch software
$20, call Pete at 560-4272
Two Teac quad drives,
case, power supply,
t160/best, Bill 273-0945
3-bit Infocom games,
r ive different prograis,
=5-115, call Dean 560-1490
Degas Elite (Unopened)
Plus one free hour training
$75, Cali Charlie 481-1620
Sell it fast in the SDACE
classifiers! Call the Editor
for sore info ...
A
T
A
A
F<
sari diego, ca. 92110
Sysop Speaks/ST VP Talks
Wot Happened?! Gee wiz, the newsletter's late again!
Well, this time there is a very good reason: we just didnt
have the money to do it the normal way this time. The
board members of S.D.A.C.E, have decided that in order to
save the club money on the production costs of the
newsletter to sort and staple the newsletter our selves
rather than pay to have it done like in the past. This
should save the club a fair amount of money each month.
Butf nothing ever comes free. Because of the time involved
in the added labor taken on by us the newsletter will now
come 2 weeks later than it has in the past. This may
actually help in the long run as currently the 3-bitters
often get the newsletter after the meeting. I know that be
giving them a 2 week head start more people can plan to
have the 1st Thursday open for the meetings!
3T users also need to remember that 1st Thursday of the
month, S.D.A.C.E. will add an additional meeting date for
the ST users. We will have use of half of the 8-bit
meeting hall for a beginners workshop/Magic Sac workshop!
No agenda for the meeting other than just going and haying
a good time. Sac users can swap war stories and beginners
can bring thier questions with them in hopes that we can
sort it out for them. I will be there as will I'm sure
quite a few of the more seasoned ST users to help so stop
on in and see what going on!
News! As far as I've heard, the Blitter chip is <1one!
But, it is the Blitter chip in the square package destined
for the Mega ST's which are currently slated for release in
aid June?! Sounds like a good summer for Atari if they
make that date. It is REAL important to get the Mega's out
before Amiga gets its 2000 out in order to get more
momentum rolling in the favor of Atari. The Blitter chip
upgrade for the current line if ST's will be in a
rectangular package identical to the S8000 CPU in the ST's
and has a planned release date of late summer (boo-hoo). I
hear that the Atari SX212 modem's are now getting ready to
be shipped. Prices on the 520ST color systems might see a
small decrease in pricing soon as Atari has lower costs to
the dealer slightly. The 520ST mono system promo is
continuing with a great deal of success. Best guesses are
that the pricing will fall a little further when the Mega
start to ship. Rumours of a 520STFM keep popping up. The
520STFM would have the disk drive built in just like the
1040. This unit has been around in the over seas market
for some time so it might be a good cost cutting move on
Atari's part to drop production of the 520STM and put its
effort into a one piece 520. Cheaper for them to make and
less wires for the user.. No further word on the laser
printer or the IBM box (RIP?). Atari has signed a deal
with Manhattan Graphics of 'Ready Set Go' fame to write
something for the ST. No details are yet available. Atari
is also looking for $70 million in cash to purchase a chip
company. Atari is offering $70,000,000.00 in debtures
(what's that?) to raise captial for that purchase.
Remember that Jack is used to having his own chip company
to make his chips cheaper for him so this was in the
cards.
Amiga news: Commodore has fired head man Rattigan as
well as 20 other top offcials. No reason is given but
Rattigan was escorted out of Commodore by guards. One
paper reported that there had been several 'Peyton Place'
type events that led up to this. One quess puts it that
CBM was displeased with the Amiga sales in the US. Another
says that he was due a LARGE bonus for pulling C3M out of
money problems to post 3 straight profitable quarters and
felt it was cheaper to axe him. Rattiagan has filed a $9
Million dollar lawsuit against CBM. A party to show the
2000 locally to dealer was set back about 2 months, one
would think that the 2000 might also be set back about the
same amount of time. The Amiga 500 is due out a few months
after the 2000 so it looks as though the battle front just
got calmer for Atari. I can't wait for the next episode!
Updates! Frank Cohen was unable to make it to our
April meeting due to car problems. He called the next
morning to apologize for missing this meeting and plans to
attend the next meeting. Easy Draw is currently shipping
version 2.03. New fonts for Publishing Parter are out from
the Font Factory in Phoenix Arizona. Only $15.95 for 3
fonts as well as a sample of fonts that are in the works!
Flight Simulator scenery disk 47 is now out for the ST.
This cover most of the eastern coast line $24.95 list.
CAD-3D is OUT and is HOT! This is one upgrade that 1.0
users should not miss. Also included in the CyberMate
animation language that promises to turn your ST into a 10
MEG graphics animation work station. $89.99 list for
CAD-3D. Remember Astra dropping in on our meeting to show
use its 20mb hard-disk DS drive combo? Weil that now offer
the hard-disk only for about $100 less, but all the
connection are still in the drive allowing you to add the
DS floppy at any time later. No list price given but
estimated street price is $900. Computer Eyes digitizer
has new software version 1.12 and a fix for a few small
hardware buga-boos as well. Magic Sac $.2 upgrade is now
done and only $10. Michtron BBS is now upto 2.1 in
revison. Added now is an automated downloads menu system
as well as many new message language commands. $10 upgrade
fee.
Anyways don't forget to stop in on the next meeting.
Oh yeah, bring your wallet as this is the last month that
you can renew or join S.D.A.C.E. for only $15 per year.
Next month dues go to $20 per year to cover added cost to
the club as well as $2 to SDCS.
CAUTION
COMPUTER OUTLET MAY BE HABIT FORMING
Now two locotions:
SAN DIEGO
5661 Mission Gorge Rd
Son Diego. CA 92120
619-282-6200
NORTH COUNTY
600-K Nordohl Rd.
> 5an l Morcos. CA 92069
619-740-0111
6% off all non-sale software ana haraware on your next purchase.
San Diego Computer Society
Atari SIG
P.O., Box 81444
San Diego, CA 92138
SEND ALL CORRESPONDENCE TO:
San Diego Atari Computer Enthusiasts
P.0. Box 203076
San Diego, CA 92120
NON-PROFIT
U.S. POSTAGE
PAIO
Permit No 1518
San Diago, Calif
May 8-bit & ST Workshop meeting will be Thursday, May 7th
June 8-bit & ST Workshop meeting will be Thursday, June 4th
May ST SIG will be Monday, May 18th
June ST SIG will be Monday, June 15th
EXP;JUN 88
