NEWSLETTER U o X . 6 110.6

PBb- 1987 Single Copy Price 52.88

THE JERSEY r4TrQnX CLWPUTER . GROUP

. ,

APOL08Y. . . A ¶ you; perusi t h i s Ntus le t to , you u i I I obviously notice i di f f t lencc. The short of i t i n that the club treisury has dnndled to 4 l w e l that s i rp ly u i l l not support PRINTIM of the Ntuslett tr . In fact, the treasury w i l l not even support the professional dupl icrt ion o f t h t N t u r i t t t n . f o r the next two or th r te ronths the Neut l i t t t r b i l l r s s ~ t i i i l y b r i n t h r format that you are now vituing.:' After that (provided that t h t trcasury has rcqained a modicum of health), the Nwsletter u i l l be duplicatrd prdtessionai~y. I f and when the treasury regains t o ~ p i e t c htalth, ue may be able to go back to a e r in t td Nwrletter...althoupl t h t wbe rsh ip bay l ind the proftsr ional ly duplicated product o f t s r t n t i r i l y the sale qual i ty. I hive srtn such that r i va l s printing. ..for a fraction of the cost. But a l l that i n

future; for nou, what you set i s *hat you w i l l get. -,

Uhy th r apology? Yt l l , as a aed r r of t h t E x t c u t i n C o l l ~ t t e t r I shwld h t v r b t m auart o f t h r d u l i n i n q status of t h t trrasury; and, as Mus l r t t b r Editor, I shauld have insisted that a four- l in t Trrksurtr's Report Gtar t inq and Ending I l a l een , incow an4 txprnsa) b a part o f each and w r y Nt r r lb t t t r . . . l t v i l l b r from nou on...or th tHeus le t t t r w i l l not qo t o prrsr. I t 1s obvious (at i t as t t o 10 that i f a lonthty accwntinq had been avu lab l t to al l . . . tvtnt¶ uould not haw coat t o thrr.

I p u t 4 grtat d t r l of e f fo r t i n t o each Mntb's Nwde t t e r l as do thosc uho contribute to it, md as do the advwt is t r r . I do not vant t o see a l l of that e f fo r t at i t a s t i n part neutered by a photo-copied, m-professional product (and I don't wan t o b e l i t t l t at 111 the e f fo r t that a very gmerous individual has don r td n order to get t h i s issue produced). I continue on, nouing that, as a ainilum, i n a couple of ronthr t i l t , u t an at laact get a profrsslonal ly produccd (even though

photcrc6pird) Y e w l e t t n with a f t u l i t t l r '+xtrrs.' thht v i l l rdd dignity to somtthinp that I think the JAG6 can continue to take pride in. I f the Neuslr t t t r utrb to r n a i n c r c t n t i r l l y as t h i s issut is, I do not think that 1 could contlnue t o j us t i f y t o ayst l f the lmouiit of t i l e ... that I spend preparing i t Hopefully houever, u t can look to thtse next couplc of months as nothinq o r e than a necessary pause, Needless to say, I believe that tht rc should be NO U j o r expenses by the club u n t i l u t are back on track with th r N tu r l t t t t r . That i c 8y ptrsonal opinion, but one that I hope i s sha rd by the majority. I do not uant t o see r continued i l p ~ ~ @ f i s h l ~ t of the Wtusltttbr for my lonqtr than nwtrrary. - - - - -

IN THIS ISSUE

Po8 - 0. van w ........................... 4 . ...... P ~ Q w ~ )ylw C h v q n J. Kmndy,. .6 Tax S r m - 5. Vwdcnbtrq .................. 6 JAEB Hal1 af f a u - O, I IarLuy ............ ..7 Para l l t l Procnsinq - 0. forbts ............ .8 frm the Exchmqe - I. lulhtarn...... ...... 10 ................ L i c r fro* Woyts - D. Yoyes 10 - ...... IN6 Executivt l t t t i n g R. b lh rars . ll - ...... Print Shop's Y i f t 1. Pluck...,..,,. 12 January Neetin( i n B r i t f -:T. Pluck.. ..... .I2 .................. . ZM6-february R. Kovacs I 4 ST Library - C. Ilillcr..., ............... ,.I6

- ...... Fibonacci S e q u ~ c t T. Plll(trr,r,... 16 - .... Pr ts id tn t ia l PondetlIIgS J. Kennedy. ..I7

loctor Dead Speaks - 1. Pluck ............ ..I7 .............. ...... . S t 516 D. Forbes .... 18 . ................ Idiot 's Mv tn tu t t Y. H K ~ I 9 - ..... Treasurer's Reports 5. Vandtbtrg.. .20 - ................ Calculus Dewn D, Forbts .21 ...... . Lct t t r to the Editor P. Kourls&i... 21 ............ . Blut Tcas Bridge H. Grorndyt. 22

MARK YOUR CALENDAR ! ! JACQ

Meeting Schedule

I EFFECTIVE 2/1/87

64K COMPUTER 1 1 Z8K COMPUTER 1 DISK DRIVE

$9ggs SHIPPING $5 1 $1 3gg5 1 $1 3gg5 SHIPPING $5 SHIPPING $5 -------------------------------------------.

I 1027 LQ PRINTER

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SYSTEM SAVER PACKAGES

1 DM PRINTER 1 $1 SHIPPING 9gg5 $5

--------------

POWER XM301 COMMODORE 1802C 13" COLOR MONITOR COMPOSITE VIDEO WICABLE

13" COLOR MONITOR THE SEPARATED VIDEO WICABLC

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JITH GEM - 640x400 MONO RES - 512 COLORS 640x200 COLOR RES

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EFFECTIVE 1 /13/87

ATAM rn COMPUTER SYSTEMS 68000 PROCESSOR - 8MHZ CLOCK - MlDl INTERFACE

POWER WITHOUT THE PRICE SERIAL & PARALLEL PORTS - TOS OPERATING SYSTEM OVER-THE-COUNTER DICHANQE WITH GEM - 640x400 MONO RES - 512 COLORS

ON W A DEFECTS NINETI-DAY ATARI WARRANTY 640x200 COLOR RES

520ST 5 1 2 ~ RAM CPU WITH WITHMOUSE CONTROLLER AND NOUTPUT

1 040ST 1.024 MEG RAM WlTH MOUSE CONTROLLER b BOIL T-IN

DS, OD 3.5" DlSK DRIVE

a a - m $69995 SYSTEM CONSISTS OF: SYSTEM CONSISTS OF:

520ST CPU WITH MOUSE, 1040ST CPU WITH BUILT-IN SF354 SS, DD DISK DRIVE & DS, DD DISK DRIVE & MOUSE SM124 MONO MONITOR OR SM124 MONO MONITOR OR SC1224 COLOR MONITOR

SHD204 20 MEG HARD DRIVE ...... 574.95 SF354 SS, DD DISK DRIVE .......... 149.95

.......... SF314 DS, DD DISK DRIVE 209.95 SM124 MONO MONITOR ........... 159.95 SC1224 COLOR MONITOR ......... 31 9.95 SMM804 DM PRINTER w/cable .... 189.95 SX212 300/1200 MODEM ............ 89.95

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GEMINI ENTERPRISES

86 RIDGEDALE AVENUE CEDAR KNOLLS, - NJ 07927

YOUR ATARI CONNECTION

267-0988

PDQ

Oouq Van Hook - SAC6

EXTRA !! EXTRA ! ! JACG has i t s own Pr in t Shop . Picture Disk! This 105th I r o l l e d up my s h i r t s l t t vec and volunttertd for work or, the SAC6 production l ine. S n Cory sutgts t rd that vc do ro r t th ing u i t h a l l these MAN fantast ic p ic tu re disks *ich have b e t n ~ s r n t t o us f ro# Atari users i n Gtrran:. h s p i t t the fact that P r in t Shop can not do these pictures just ice, I f e l t t h t club could use i t s oun Pr in t Shop Disk i n our l ibrary . Tht.disk has 21 pictures on one side' m d 28 on the other. Oh.., The pictures uere convt r t td with AYTlC flqafintls Graphic Shop. Thc Rotatrd m d Corprcsstd p lc turcn nhoun h t r c u t r c done with Tor P a z t l ' i P r in t Shop U t i l i t y l JACG d i r k l i b r a r y 181. This proqrar urs also ustd t o convtrt thr pictures t o V i s u t l l r t r fo r ta t for dtronntrat ion at thc JACG ronth ly le t t i ng . I f a p ic tu re i s worth 1000 words, I'll h t v t writtm 491000 words t h i s month. Slnct I don't vant t o b t long w ind td~ 1'11 junt p r i n t out t o r t of thtmt q r ta t picturcc. MONITOR

ATARI ENTERPRISE

PSVCHO

4

SKYLINE

SPYVSSPY

THINKING

FACE .-.

SHORLINE TREEMEN

BRUCE

C ~ T FIGHTER DRAGON GbDGET

GHOST

HCLPPY

H I T C H H I K

KEYPUNCH

KHCLN

K I R K

K I S S

PCLLMTREE HORSE

SPOCK IRENE

SHIELD KCLTZE KLINCON

EYE

Proposrd Changes t o Section I Secretary

JACG Bylaws d) keep the membership r o l l s of t h t JACG.

Joseph S. Kennedy - JAC6

The fo l lov inq a r t the Bylaus changes as proposed by the JACG Executlvr b a r d t o make cer ta in that a11 nedwrs of the Group arc nou and i n t h r future f u l l y represtnted. This i s effected by having two vice-presidents one for 8-bit users and one for 16-bit ustrs. Thrsr changes w i l l be voted on at the February meeting. The o r ig ina l bylaws are avai lable i n the Ftbruary 1905 issue of the JAC6 n e v t l e t t t r and w i l l b t publishrd soon for a l l neutr membtrs i n t h t i r t n t i r t t y .

A r t i c l e I V -) A r t i c l e V

Corrects a typo.

Ar t i c le V

Section 1 Elect td Off icers

Section S Treasurer

Eliminate a) and r t l e t t t r the r t w i n d e r a) - dl.

Stct ion 7 Program Chairman

Eliminate the pos i t ion of Program Chairperson rs these duties arc now i n the hands of the Vice Presidents. Renumber Sections 8 1 9 as Sections 7 1 8 respectively.

T a x Season is H e r e - by Shr t t Vandtnbtrq-TreasurerIJAC6

Tht t a x stason i s h t r t once aqain md t h t r t a r t not many programs on tht market that w i l l handle a l l o f your nttds.

Elect@# o f f i ce rs of the J A C ~ sha l l be prtsidrnt, About 6 8011th~ aqor 1 saw an a r t i c l e i n COlPUlE Iaqazint

vice President - 8 b i t , Vice prtsidtnt - 16 b i t , stcretary about a tax program for the Atari. At f i r s t I was confused

and Treasurtr. with the name 'TEXAS TAXES FOR THE ATARI* but vhcn I o b t a i n d m d loaded t h r program I was i l p r t s s t d wi th i t s t s impl ici ty.

Stc t ion 2 Appointed Of f icers

Appointed o f f i r t r s of the SAC6 shal l bc Librarian, Neusletter Editor and Advertising Hmaqtr,

A r t i c le V I

Section 3 Vice President - 8 I 16 b i t

a) i n the event o f the temporary absence of the Pr ts idrnt the ava i lab l t rtmbers o f the Ere tu t i v r Board shal l s e l c t uhich Vice Pr ts id tn t u i l l asrum the dut ies of the Presidtnt.

b) i n the e v a t o f t h t t a r l y termination of a Presidmt's ttrm of o f f i c t ~ thc E x ~ u t i v t Board shal l meet i n an o f f k i a l session t o d r t t rm in t uhich Vicr P r ts idmt shal l s t r v r t h t rtmaindtr o f the ttrm of o f f i c e a# P r r ~ i d t n t ,

c ) be responsible j o i n t l y for the meeting place for the regular JAC6 meeting and i t s preparation.

dl be rc lponsib l r for the m e t i n g content v i t h

not just t h t i r individual const i tutncies i n r i n d but also the benefi t o f the SAC6 a r a whole.

St tv tn Karasek i s a vonderful proqranrr and he has at h i s disposal the l a t t s t information 04 :arts and h i s father i s a professional tax prrparer. ik is program a joy t o use betaust It only takes 10 t o 13 ninaies t o learn. This i s i a p o r t o t because many of you vaii :ill the very l a s t ~ i n u t t t o s t a r t your taxes.

L.

Thr program includes the fo l lov inq forms and schrdults :

104O:Lonq Form lM011Short Form

Schtdul es

AiDtductions I t i n t t r w t C:Busintrs (PI1 from business or prof tsr ion) !:Capital gain and loss ts fd I Ipp l t#WIt I n t o r t 5E:Stlf-t lployntnt Y:larrird c w p l t h l n c o n t Avtraqt

2106:Eqloymmt k Businrr t 2441:D*tndrnt Cart

Tht schrdults that i t doesn't have are:

6251:llt.Min tax 4868:Application for auto extension 4362:D@prtciation k Amortization

The program opens with the choices: l n l t r 1040 and Consistent The I n i t i s always used f i r s t , when you boot the program up.This sect ion ask qurst ions that the 1040 form uses i n the beginninq.for rxasple; lumber o f dependents Fi1:ng status exempt~on Capital gains d i s t r i bu t ions output f i l e

You should do a l l the f i r s t before doing the 1040 form since a l o t o f the f igures depend on these calculat ions t o do the 1040 11040a form.

- Each form works l i k e a spreadsheet. I t has a b u i l t i n calculator as well. There w i l l be tuo types of p r i n t out, one d ra f t form ,the other an 1RS format. The IRS format can be used for a11 supporting schedules . There are updates each year for only $10.00 p lus $1.00 for postage and handling. This p r i ce i s considerably less than the u p d a t o for Tax Advmtagt.

lou comes t h t b t s t part, thc p r i ce o f the i n t i a l program $19,95 + $2.00 shipping and handling. send a11 request to: Steve Karastk 8% Diversty St .LouisrlM 63126 (314)961-2052

This program i s also wr i t ten for Apple, lBMl C61, CIZBI Plus141 TI9914A. -- - - - - - - - -

I- i- -- I - -

Don tlacltay-JAC6

The resu l t s arc i n and 1 would l i k e t o thank a l l those uho f i l l e d i n a ba l lo t .

tt::tt:t::t:t:t:t::t:tt:::: t t t J1C6 Ha l l o f Taw 6amts t t t t Early Cartridges 1 t t t : t Star Raiders t t Pac-Man t t Miss i le Command t t Ctn t ip t td t t 0-Bert t t Spao Invaders t t Defender t : t t::::::*:::::::t::::::t:ttt

The above ROM car t r idge games are a l l from Atar i and i f you're new t o the 8-b i t world, or j us t missed them the f i r s t t ime around, they are avai lable a t bargain pr ices (while suppl ier l as t ! ) .

I n m t f f o r t t o prov id t r l a r t t r p l a y f i t l d or r l t i p l e p lay f ie lds the l a t e r ca r t r i dq ts wtre increased t o 16k-this month's b a l l o t inclddes many o f these, I ' m chanqinq t h t vot inq t o choosinq up $0 f i v e t i t l e s (1-5) with your favor i te as the number 1.

SAC6 Hal l o f Fame 6rmes Bal lo t 12

The Later Cartridges

... Caverns of b r s ... Dig Dug ... Soccer ... Football ... E.T. Phone How ... Donkey K o n ~ ... Robotron 2084 ... Pole Poslt ion ... Easttrn Front ,.,Tmnis ... Is. Paclan ... Joust . . a Penqo

... Moon Patrol ... B.C.'s Oucst for Tires ,. . N q a u n i a ... ~ a s k e t b a l l ... P i t f a l l , , ,Pi t fal l 2 ... Track and F ie ld ... Submarine Commander ,EM1 ... Major League HockeyrEMI ... Jumbo Jet, EM1 ,..ProtectorrSynapst

"But we can't phase hrm out: He i the onh one who can spell"

PARALLEL PROCESSINO

Oonald forb# - JACB

Uant t o t r y CIA p r r a l l e l processing on your wn? Here i s an easy uay t o get started.

Para l le l processing i s the hot topic i n computer a r c h i t u t u r e s t o u y . Tht fastest uay t o s p e d up processing i s t o hook up mul t ip le coquters t o run simultaneously. Everybody know that Tuenty Mule Team lorax i s better than generic borax, and i t ought t o be only a short uh i le before the Tuenty Rule Ttam PC v i t h para l le l processing and #~l t iprocess ing should be v i t h us.

Last May, Thinking k c h i n e s Corp. o f Cambridge L s s . had orders for s i x machines (priced at $1 t o $3 mi l l i on ) that do para l le l processing a t a b i l l i o n (yes, b i l l i o n ) inst ruct ions p t r second. The orders are from Vale, Pcrkin-Elmer, NIT and the h f ~ s e hpartment.

l o r a simulation of p a r a l l e l processing you only need a spreadsheet, such as SynCalc for the Atari that I bought at the f l ea market l a s t year for $21.

T h t r i i s a standard engineering p r c b l i r that requires you t o compute the temptrature on the ins ide of a r e t a l p la te i f you knou the t e q e r a t u r e at each point on the edges. This problem IS the model for many other tnqinerr inq uses (turbulmct, f l o u i n a netuork, and so forth).

Let us pretend u i have a small squari p l a t e and knou the temperatures at the corner+ and the midpoints o f the four edges, and uant L > f ind t h i telperature at the center node:

It should be obvious that the temptrature at the center should be 78 dtgrets, but l i t us s i t up a spreadshtit t o compute the ansuer, The ~ l t s i n p l i way t o f ind the r n t w r , o f courset i s t o take t h i avtraqt o f the t ~ p e r a t u r t s at the four midpoints (761 78, 78, and 00) uhich natura l ly giver 78 degrees. I f you think about i t , t h t r e arc several Mays t o coaputt the te rp t ra tu rc a t the center node. Ye could take the averaqi o f the eight surrounding nodes. Or u t could give a higher w i g h t t o t h i four n t a r n t n o d o md I l*sn t r u i i q h t t o the four c o r n o nodes because they are a t a s l i g h t l y greater distance. Or

you might th ink of s o w w e n more sophisticated scheme.

On the sprerdshett the simple scheme would look l i k e this:

Thi f o r a l a i n 02 vould be (BL+)i24CZ+B3)14 for t h t four nodes, and ~AItBl+Cl+A2YZ+A3+B3tC3)/8 for the eight nodes.

I f ue h i t the START key t o recalculate the ansuer i n n2 ve get a teapsature of 76 degrees on the f i r s t t ry .

I w l e t us t r y the same probler v i t h four i n t e r i o r nodes, and the four-star estimation formular as f o l l w s : -

This t iw ue can create the formula (BI+AZ+C2+B3)14 for the f i r s t node and copy t h i formula for the other nodes, uhich v ~ l l s ta r t out v i t h a default value of zero. M t u i l l have t o h i t the recalc key sevcral t i n t s b t f o r t ue qet a f i n a l unvarying msuer.

llov s i t t h i va lu is t o tuo d i g i t s a f t t r the decimal point and uatch the c h m q o each timi you recalculate.

Thc mtthod u o r k h l o ur cm t r y i t on I Irrf lbr rtrli. - Set up r sixteen by s i x t i t n spreadshttt running from c e l l A 1 t o PI6 v i t h tempaaturts of 65 diqrees i n the f i r s t rou and increasing at t h i idges by on* degree at a time t o 60 deqrees i n t h t l a s t r o w v i t h tuo d i g i t s a f te r the decimal point.

Here i s &ere the fun starts. Plug i n a high (or IOU) teaperdure at one of t h r i n t e r i o r nodes and uatch the neu heat distr ibut ion. Or plug i n an extreme temperature at m e of the edge points, and n o t r the effect. This technique i s older than the e l u t r o n i c computer -- i t dates back t o 1935 and has many uses i n physics problems. For d i t a i l s see BYTE Jan 87 pa9t 111.

I f ue had t rue p a r a l l e l procersinpt then u t uould have one computer handling the ca lcu lat ion at tach node for each computing cycle. Ye uould a lso have t o establ ish a netuork so that a l l the inv idual computers uould be acting i n concert.

In the days vhrn Johnny von Weunnn hclprd c r ta te the early computers, memory was expensive. Today memory i s

FROH THE EXCHANOE by R.P. MILKAM JR - JACE

THIS HONTH'S MILBOX BRWEHT A VIRTUAL BLIZZARD OF NOTABLE ARTICLES. Qf CWRsEt ALL Of THE EXCHANBE INSLETTERS ARE IVLIBLE I#IIBERS TO CHECK OUT BOTH WORE AND MTER TNE K E T I M IN THE LOBBY. YW HAY CHECK OUT AS MAW FOLDERS I S YW FEEL YOU CAW READ IN A lOW. YW cm EVEN RESERVE YOUR SELECTION ANYTIME PRIOR TO THE METIN6. REKllBERt THE ONLY STIPULATION I S THAT YOU MST RETURN I T AT THE NElT NEETIN6 OR PRIOR I F YW CANNOT HAKE THAT HEETING.

M E 6 NOVIDEC SPEED CHECK PRO6RAN;ENGLAND'S PCY SHOY;ST FLOPPY DISK TUTORIAL

POKEY OCT ACTION TUTOR1AL;ST PASCAL TUTORIACiDELPHI REVIEY

PORTUIID ATY l CLUB NOV PERFECT RATIOS YlTH DRLYINB IN BASIC

PACE YORD NOV FX80 UPGRADE;AU+ RANDISK CONVERSION

1PI dTARI USERS GROUP WW ST PRINTER QRIVERS FOR 1ST YORD

ICEIERE NOV BILL NILKINSON TECH NOTES

NEUTRON NOV ST BANDISK

OWJUICE NOV ST TRICKS AND SHORTCUTS

ST EXCHANEE NOV ALL ST

MI DOE CAD MAC DISK DIRECTLY OW 3TjPEEKS AND POKES 8 BIT

R I ACE REPORTER MY PbSCL PRO6AMIIG;DATA COMIUIICATIONS AND CORUTERS

CLEVATARI NOV STRVCNRED PRIMAMIN6 IN TURBO BASIC

PA6E 6 CALTARI V K 417 SCREEN OUHP 1029

AllSTRALIM GAZETTE NW ALTERIN6 ST BASIC EDITOR GHOST TEXT

WD NW COLOR DU)(P;RAHDISK AND AM+

STATUS WOY SOLID STATE RIM6 DETECTOR 8351

SMCC NOV AVATEX 30011200 WDEl

CINTARl OEC A00 A 5' DRIVE TO YOUR ST

WACE DEC USIN6 CPW-80 ON THE ST

HACE OCT ALTERNATIVE DOS STYLES

ATARI EXCHANBE Of LWISVILLE NOV ATARI B BIT DRIVES

SBACE NW 5' DRIVES 01 THE ST THE 600D AND BAD

WbILES&BYTES NDV YlNOOY PROBRMWlDISK ERROR TROUBIESHWTINB

ACE-STL NW ST SHRINK BOX ROUrTIEIIS~ICD-IIIO BOARD A REVlEY

fEEDBACK OCT HACHINE LANOVABE TUTOR1AL;ST ADDS FRO1 AROUND THE UORLD

TRI-COUNTY ATbRl USERS 6RWP OEC 8 1 16 BIT BCUKSt AUTHORS AND PUBLISHERS

POKEY PRESS WV 30 ART ON THE S1

- - - - - - - NOISE f r o m NOYES

D.B. Noyes - JACG

lou that the hol iday season has gone - along u i t h ~ o s t of our hard earned $is; and nou that the IRS and the myriad cred i t cards are a f t e r what i s l e f t - uhat better t ime than nou t o i n v t s t i n SOFTUARE! 'Yhatg1 you say, *Has Noyes l o s t control of h i s otnses, i s he out of touch with rea l i t y? ' Yell, no fear - I t r s t i l l i n reasonable charge o f my facult ies. I t ' s jcist that I do tend t o keep ry eyes open for bargains. Lately I have made several t r i p s t o Ml l lNI, a major adver t is t r i n our N e w s l ~ t t t r t and for the past f w weeks there have bsen baskets and baskets o f bargain pr iced softuare avai lable for purchase. The pr ices vary - I 've been p a r t i a l t o the f i v e for $10,00 basket myself. I n fact, I made three forays i n t o i t i n the spare o f onr u t t k ! Of course t h r r r are w r e expensive baskds - 3 for $lO.Obl and various other pricing. Single purchasrs c m also be made - but I u t n t for the volume purchasts. Not t o be the l a s t o f the small-time spenders - I shel led out $9.95 l o r The S t rp rn t t s Star!!! Who ever said tha t Dave Noyes uar cheap!

Those were the bargain baskets, but have you b t t n u a t t h i q the p r i ce o f software l a t e l y ? The p r i c t s have gone doun, and more *bundld ' products are comlnq out. Top 6un by HicroProsr and the Acctss package u i t h both Beachheads and Raid on Hoscou come t o mind. E i t h t r dlsk i s l ess than the p r i ce o f any one of the i t n s on i t . And blank disks? Bonus brand for h a l f o f uhat I paid for them just a feu short months ago!

So uhatts the point, Ye11 you can s t i l l go broke buying the bargains and saving money - but a t least you can end up wlth mort t o show fo r i t now than at my time before!

' t i 1 next month m d more NOISE!

J. A.C.Q. EXECUTIVE MEETINO

MINUTES R.P. MULHEARN - JACG

TIE METIN6 MAS C A L L 0 TO ORDER BY JOE KENNEDY ON 01130187 AT 8:15Rl YITH JOE K E I Y ) V r W l IIIIMARN,SHREE VANDENBER6,DAVE NOYESISAN CORY, AND 61111 -1 PRESEWTsA PUOWI! U STIPULATCU I N THE BYLAYS YAS PRESENT. THE LIBRARIAN STATE0 T M T THE CPM EMULATOR FOR THE ST UOULD SOON BE W A I Q E TO MEMBERS. AS CPI IS AVAlBLE NORMALLY OW 8' OR 5' DISKS AND NOT 3' FORMAT Of THE ST,IT YAS DISCUSSED AND APPROVED THAT THE DlSK LIBRARIAN ($TI YOULO EXPLORE THE S' CPM OISK FORMAT FOR POSSIBLE CONPATABILITY AND ACCESB TO THE LAREE CPM PU8LIC DOMAIW LIBRARY FOR IIEIIBERB. FURTHER VERSION 1.1 Of ST MITER I S I N THE LlBRARV AND MOULD BE DISK Of THE MONTH I W FEBRUARY. THE NILBURN PUBLIC LIBRARY HAS - APPROACHED THE CLUB REGARDINB THE PURCHASE OF LIBRARY DISKS YlTH THlER LIMITED BUOOET. AFTER DISCUSSION I T MAS ABREEO THAT A L I I ITEO NUMBER OF DISKS PER YEAR UOULD BE OFFERED AT A REDUCED PRICE OF 11.00 PROVIDED THAT THE CLUB RECEIVES FULL CREDIT AND MIR NENBERSHIP BROCHURES ME n m AVIIBLE TO THE PUBLIC, NO L l a l r wrs p u c a ON THE NUMBER OF OISKS THAT COULD BE PURCHASED AT NORMAL PRICE.

THE PRESIDENT, TAKIN6 INTO ACCOUNT THE CHAN61NB NATURE Of THE CLUB, RECONMENDED CHANGES TO THE BYLAYS YHICH, AFTER DISCUSSIDMI PASSED N ITHOUT DISSENT. THE FOLLOY IN6 PROPOSALS YILL BE PUBLISHED I N THE FEBRUARV NEIKLETTER FOR DISCUSSION AND VOTE BY THE FULL KIBERSHIP PRESENT AT THAT KETlNB.

PROPOSED CHAN6FS TO THE JACB BYLAYSt 2110 ARTICLE I V RENUMBERED TO ARTICLE VCORRECTB A TYP0)l ARTICLE V SECTION 1 ELECTED OfFICERS---ELECTED OffICERS Or THE JACE S H Y 1 BE PRESIOENTt VlCE PRESIDENT-8 BIT, VICE PRESIDENT-16 BITI SECRETARY AN0 TREASURER, SECTION 2 APWINED - OFFICERS---WPOINTED OFflCERS OF THE JAC6 SHKL BE LIBRARIA& EYSLETTER EDITOR AN0 ADVERTISIWB N A M W . ARTICLE V I SECTION 3 VICE PRESIDENT-8 1 16 BIT. a) I N TIE EVENT OF THE TEllPORARY ABSENCE OF THE PRESIDENT,THE MAILABLE MEMIKRg Of THE EXECUTIVE BOARD SHALL SELECT UHlCH VlCE PRESIMWT YILL A S S W THE DUTIES OF THE PRESIDENT, b l I N THE EVENT Of flE EMLV TERIIIWATIOW O f A PRESIDENT'S TERM OF OffICE, THE EXECUTIVE OOARI SnML MEET I N AN OFTICIAL SESSION TO KlEMIL M l C H VICE- PRfSlPENI SHALL SERVE THE REMAINDER OT THE TERN OF THE OCClCE AS PREBIDENT, ti BE RESPONSIBLE s o m v rn THE MEETIIII PUCE FOR THE REUAR JACG MEETING AND ITS P K T W T I O I I . d)BE RESPONSIBLE FOR THE MEETIN6 CONTENT UITH NOT JUST T M I R INDlVlMML CONUITUEIICIES IN UIND Bur r L s a THE BEWI~IT ~f THE JACB AS A WHOLE. secmn 4 SECRETARY--- dlKEEP THE KMBERSHIP ROLLS OF THE JAC6. SECTION S TREASURER---ELIMINATE a) AND RfLETTER THE REMAIWOER 11-dl. SECTION 7 PROBRAN CHAIRIIAN--- ELIMINATE THE WSlTION OF PROGRAM CHAIRPERSON AS THESE DUTIES ARE N W I N THE HANDS OF THE VICE-PRESIDEIITS. RN(MBER SECTIONS 4 AND 9 AS SECTION 7 AND 8 RESPECTIVELY.

I T MAS PROPOSED AND PASSED THAT THE CLUB OFFER S* DISKS TO THE MEMBERSHIP AT THE PRICE OF SS.00110~ PRICE TO BE REEVUALATEO AT EACH SUBSEPUENT BULK DISK LIBRARY PUKWSE. THE

OBJECT BEIN8 FOR BULK DlSK SALES TO PAY f l R ALL LIBRARY D I S K PURCHASES.

TIE TREASURER PRESEllTED IER REPORT ON THE CLUB FINANCES YHICH UERE DISCUSSED I N DETAIL. THE TREASURER UAS DIRECTED TO CONTACT ALL R E M I N I M PERSOWS YHO I S M 0 CHECKS TO THE CLUB (VIA THE PREVIOUS MAIL-ORDER LIBRARIAN) YWICH THE BAM HAS RETUBEU DIE TO LEE. A (10.00 O K TINE EXPfM1E TO JOIN A ST PUBLIC W M I N K M E R S W AND LIST U S APPROVED BY ALL TO INPROVE THE ST LIBRARY. THE BBS MI AUTl!4RIZED TO SO TO A RINSBACK SYSTEM MU A W THE 3kCB L S W II(IMIIE TO THE SYSTEM ON THE SAME m u m To s rvE cosr. EFFECTIVE 02/01/87 ALL TELEPHOE BBILS SUBMITTED TO THE CLUB YlTH THE EXCEPTION OF A MWTHLY (10.00 BUDBET FOR THE PRESIDENTv VICE-PRESIDENTS, AOVERTlSlN6 IANABER AND SYSOP ARE WOT AUTHORIZED AND ANY EXCEPTIM~ TO BE MADE BY EXECUTIVE conmn PRIOR APPROVAL. TO FURTHER IRPROVE THE FSNANCIK STABILITY Of THE CLUB! I T HAS DECIDED TO TEIIPORARLY MODIFY THE PRINT116 AND HAKEUP OF THE IIEYSLETTER. I T HAS VOTED TO ESTABLISH A BUDOET FOR PRESENT AND FUTURE REASONABLE COSTS AN0 INCOM. DUES MERE VOTED BY ALL TO RAISE $S.00 AS OF THE MbY MEETiNB, EFFECTIVE AS OF THE MAY EETING. US1 CANADA1 MEXICO DUES (2S.00 - ALL OTHERS 135.00; $6.00 SURCHARSE FOR 131 CLASS NAIL REMblNS UWCMAIIGED. UNTIL 03/06/E7 ALL NEW KMBERSHIPS OR RENEYALS OF Y LENGTH Of CURRENT IE IKRSHIP UILL BE AT THE OLD RATE. THE UEETING YAS ADJOURNED AT 12:lS AN. - - - - - - - - -

DISK LIBRARIAN'S REPORT

Sa# Cory - JACG

ST DISK OF THE IOWTN

ST U r i t t r V t r n i o n 1.7 f o r o n l y (3.00. ( F d r u r r y v o t i n g p r i e r a l y - p r i c e w i l l r t v r r t t o 15.00 r f t r r thr w r t i n g )

J a U COMPUTERS

conPuters L ZUPPIies

P .0 . BOX 429 Lanoka Harbor. IIJ 867x4

Phone C6B9J 693-5300 I

The P r i n t Shop's Wife i . 6 . ~ Tht R l n t B h q Companion

Tm Pluck - JACB

In the b q ~ ~ : a q , 6od said t h e r r w u l d br Pr int Shops; and t h m t h r r r wtr t Pr int Shops. b d on the swond day He created sonone t o ketp h i s f i r s t creat ion from get t ing lonrlyl md t h m t h t r t u t r e Pr int Shop Cmpmions' And l a t e r on, Ut created l igh t , u n , water, and a11 otht r t i nd r of boring s tu f f l i k e that .

- The Si l icon Bible, verses 9 through 21

And what a q r t a t creat ion Thr P.S. Companion i s ! I t has t h r follouinq ntw f u t u r n : A new Graphics Editor t, a Font Editor, Bordtr Editor, Caltndar Crrator, Cr ta tu r t I a t t r , and Tilt h g i c . Graphics Editor t: This i s an improved (same r tsolut ion) version of the Graphics Editor. I t has t h t s r nru features: flood f i l l , pa t t t rns , mirrors, draw lints, rays, box, oval, t i l e , i n se r t & d t l r t e rov or colurnt f l i p horizontal or ver t ical , nrqat ivr , scrol l inq, WMO, m d text ins t r t ion . Those who a r e familiar with Ata r i a r t i s t and t h e Koala Pad will undtrstand t h t flood fill t o oval ( c i r c l e ) comunds. i n s t r t i o n of a r w or coluan is simply putting an c lpty horizontal or ver t ical l i n r in your picturr. For txamplr, u t i n q a two-line thick lint (----)

in to tw separate ones I====). Colum i n s t r t i o n i s w r t l i k e t h i s ( I ) t o (I!). Dtlr t ion doer exactly the r tv r r s r . l q a t i v r s i y l y hakts a l l white dots black u d vice vtrra. Fl ip i s s t l f explanatory. Scrollinq mover your p i c t u r t a s t o move a c rn t t r td oval t o t h e l t f t , up, d n n , or r ight . Undo is a neat f o t u r e , m d is s t l f txplmatory. I t is compatiblr with t h e old graphic Editor, a you can t r ade pics with somront uho do tm ' t h a w P.S. Coqanion. I t draws easier and w r r smoothly than the or iqinal .

font Editor: This a l l o w you t o cr tmtr nw fonts in a var ie ty of rizts. You rus t make it t h a r t c t t r by cha r rc t t r t so i t is prinatmkinq but uorth it. You can ~ o d i f y my r t a d y u d r font i n r i t h t r Thr P r in t Shop or its Cohprnion, a s t o ute w r k tnirr,

Bordtr Editor: The border t d i t o r a l lou r easy creat ion of new borders. s ~ l p l t ones c m b t c r r a t t d in minutn, nor* complicattd onrr in about t h r usual t iw it t a l e s t o draw r good P.S. qrrphic.

Ti le Lq ic : I s s iaply a 'Scrtm L q i c ' (N.E, Thr P r in t Shop) for the Graphics Editor t. I t c r c a t t s t h e sur kalridoscoprs, but no text c m be i n w r t t d . You can julp back t o the Graphics Editor t t o do that or othrrwist fool around ui th it .

Creature R t e r : Thr Creature l a k ~ r l c t s you t a t heads, feet, and mid-stctions of ten d i f f e r e n t a n i a l s and

t x c h ~ q e (Arts, Thus, E l r p h a n t - h o b o ~ i c t cmn be c r ra t td , along u i th 999 othtrs. You can then hop on dwn t o the Iraphics Edltor * t o tint-tune your 'braat.'

Caltndar: You can c r t a t t t wrtkly or m t h l y calrndar with th is . Just q u i f y the yrar t and t h r wrtklwnth that you want, m d voila, you c m u r i t t m y m r r a q t on m y or every day c i ~ t h t caltndar. A Caltndar is s e t up md c r r a t t d 811th l i k e a Letttrhtad, trcept for the h i q h l i q h t i q of dat ts . You pick a font, p i c tu r r , and a c r t d i t linr for t h e bot tm.

Yell, l 'vr no complaints for t h i s program, and I r u o n w d i t t o a l l Atarians, e rp rc ia l ly thore who have l h r Pr int Shap t i t HELPS a l o t t o have Thr Pr int Sh*!!) Last minute notrt This program w d i f i e s your Print Shop disk s o you c m load fonts and bordtrs from othrr d isks ' when making Signs, Cards, t l c . This i s the most valued feature of the program and I saved i t ' t i l l l a s t merely cautrd I thought you w u l d rxprct i t .

Wavr r hoopy nru y t r r ! lltxt wn th i Thr T t ~ l r of Apshti Trilogy, by Epyx -Doctor Dtad - - - - - - - - January's Herti ng

- - In Br ief - - -Rtporttd by Tom Pluck - SAC6

The January mttting was ntu for t h r JACG, in that the 3T s i p u n ht ld a l l mrttinp long i n the foytr (the ST uouldn't hook up t o t h e p r o j e c t i m TV) and the 8-bi ts had 1 w t t i n q in the a d i t o r i u h Accardinq t o 9T and Edit ust rs , i t uortrd u t l l .

- leu( Vtn Hook drw'd the J M monthly disk, which had

TurboBUIIC, other various graphicst r tc . p r q r r n l m d an 91-like *Kim for t h r 8-bits. They all looted very u t l l don* m d ut should thank our Atarian i n Btrmmy for TurboI#IC. l h t ' l igqi t 'was that vr had fohn Jtinsthiqq, Stnior T U h n i ~ r l Editor of ATMI EXPLORE4 o w . nl to ld U8 about t h r nru 80-coluan card for th, Atari, by Atari , which hr couldn't d r w n s t r a t r btcaust i t wouldn't hook up t o the projrction TV. I t is txptc t td t o b t a r a i l r b l t by April, or a t l t a s t b t fo r r sumr. Hr a l s o to ld us of the ntw 'Ikqa ST'S* with up to 0 mtqs of mtwry! lDmlt use disks, l t t v r a l l your p r o q r t n in RAN and l t a v r the c c y u t e r on!) An 1111 c o ~ a t i b l t Atari is comlng out soon, a t a very IOU price, m d i t should b t s o r t h i n g d i f f r r m t . H t r m w r d u n y qurstlons uhlch a r t too n u w r t b l t t o amtion, a i f you didn't toht , tough nuqqits.

Jot Ktnnedy d twnnt ra t td Supbr 3-0 Plot ter 11, which wn t t s y t o use md powoful. For a f l n a l r he rota t td a d t t a i l t d p i c t u r t of a Star Wars T i t Fiphter (Come to the Irrk Side of t h t force, Luke!) and i f i t was a l i t t l e quicktr, Grorgr Lucas might br in t roublr '

JACB Mrmbsrs C a l l For Spoctal P r i c + ! ! !

Personal computer System

The Only One Megabyte Computer for under-

FEATURES: Integrated CPU. keyboard. disk drive design. 1.048.576 byres R,4M. 196.608 byes RGM.

- Bu~lt-In Operating System (TOSI. Full-stroke. 94-key intelligent keyboard. 3 II2" double-sided, double-denslty disk drive. 720 kilobvte storaoe caoaciw lformauedl. . < , TWO-buion mouse. Sound qeneranna capab~lmes-3 volces from 30 Hz

512 colors. Selectable graphic resolution: 640 x 400 monochrome. 640 x 200 x 4 colars. 320 x 200 x 16 colors

SOFTWARE SPECTRUM

a 8 2 Somerset St. North Plalnfleld, NJ 07060

(dual 7 blocks south Of U.S. 22)

Midi IniOut ports. InduNy Standard parallel interface ;xr. RS232C senal modem port. Floppy disk port (~ncluding conuollerl for 2nd disk dnve Hard disk port. . ROM CaNIdge port. Mouse and joystick pora.

TECHNICAL DATA: MC680M1 rnlcroDrocessor: 32-bn internal. 16-blt external arcniteclure. Clock speed 8 MH~.

REQUIREMENTS: ATARI RGB or Monochrome Monitor.

MatterCard VISA

American Exprett

S tor r hour*: F R I 11 - 6 T U E S - THURS 11 - 7 S A T 19 - 5 CLOSED SUN & M O N

ZMAG - FEBRUARY 1987 R. Kovtcs - JACB

................................... I x ATARI EYSBREAKS . . . . Mega-ST--The Talk o f The Trades

Talk t o any Atar i user and h e ' l l ex to l thc v i r tues of h i s machine.

Read the Atar i magazines m d youlre sure t o f i nd high praise for the cmputer that insures the w g a z i n d s existence.

L is ten t o Commodore chat and check out t h e i r publ icat ions and you'd se t the same support expressed for t h e i r PC's.

Let's face it, conputer users are a h igh ly subject ive l o t and are not known for the i r unbiased opinions.

That's uhy i t s nice, as an Atarian, t o t h u d through some o f the electronic news trade magazines t h i s week and read a i l the n ice th ings they're sayinq about Atar i and the 'skou' they put on i n Las Vegas a t CES.

The fo l lou ing excerpts 3rc from t h t January 26th ed i t ion af Electronic Engineering Times.

'La5 Vegas, Mev.--Atari Corp. has introduced several product extensions t o i t s 68000-based ST series o f colputers.

The colpany a lso surprised atttndees of the recent Consumer E l t c t ron ics Show here u i t h the debut o f tw pouerful lou-end computers capable o f running IM-PC softwart,

Atarils n w Mega ST ser ies includes I-2-and 4 megabyte versions. Colpany president Sam Tram~el sa ld hc expects a t least one Mega ST system, u i t h a neu Atar i laser pr in ter , t o be avai lable for less than $3000 r e t a l l t h i s spring.

The Mega ST u k e s several departures from the o r i g i n a l 520 and 1040 keyboard-and-processor machines. l h e keyhard i s nou l i g h t e r and separate from the coqac t main processor cabinet. The l a t t e r houses the pourr supply, a 720-kbyte micro- floppy disk d r i ve and r 20-Mbyte Yinchester drive, as u t l l as the processor.

The processor boasts a rea l t ime clock and a 10-Mbitlsecond D M channel, s u f f i c i ~ t l y fast to enable the machine t o d r i vc a 901000-dot-per-inch Canon laser engine d i rect ly .

Atar i expects the I10 capab i l i t i es of the Meqa ST t o s tea l sales from r i v a l Macintosh and Sun Microsystems ronputrrs. For example, the Mega $1-41 uhich i s pr iced b t l o u $20001 features a 320-kbytc ROW operating. That gives i t f u l l access t o the 4- l b y t c system RAM, and reduces disk I t 0 by ketping the operating s y s t ~ uorkinq a t s i l i c o n speeds.

Next, Atar i 's neu custom b i t - b l i t t e r propels the Mega systems t o p i xe l p l o t t i n g speeds n o r u l l y found only on much cos t l i e r 68000-family uo rks ta t ims and colputers. ( A f t a

i n i t i a l H q a ST supply needs are net, the c o ~ a n y u i l l introduce the b l i t t e r qraphics processor i n t o the 520 and 1040 ST1sr and o f f e r k l t s for ex is t i ng ovners a t a l w price,)

The tuo n w lou-priced IM compat- i b l e s tha t Atar i shourd-+599 and $693--1eaturc a dual-speed 8088 processor, 512 kbytes o f system RM (expandable t o 640 kbytes in terna l ly ) , a 360-kbytr f loppy disk dr ive and a high-resolution monothrome nonitor.

One unusual a t t rac t ion o f the premium Atar i PC i s i t s i n te rna l E6A graphics display d r i ve capabi l i ty. E6A graphics are normal 1 y a several-hundred-dollar option on r i v a l personal computers.

lhe nonochrome w n i t o r i s capable o f shouing 720 X 348-pixel and 64 X 350-pixel displays. A f u l l 2% kbyt ts of R M i s dedicated t o screen grzpkics, freeing up the en t i re 512 kbytcs o f system RAM for program operation, RAM disk config- u r a t ~ o n and the l i ke .

I n the €66 color model using an aptional color CRT, the machine can display up t o 16 co lors a t a time, from a pa le t te o f 64. Rival IM-PC co lpat ib les o f fe r four co lors f ron r 16-color p t l d t c .

Shipments s t a r t i n April. ' L

Enough said!

.. . .Weus, Rumrs, Items.. . . . . . . . . . . Conpiled by John Magy Mid-Michiqm Atar i Users

EXPRESS! i030 version 3.0 w i l l not be released. Before you panic, i t ' s only because author o f the incred ib ly popular publ ic domain terminal sof tu r re t KEITH LEDBETTER1 plans t o go d i r e c t l y t o version 3.1.-

The d i r e l i n e o f EXPRESS! programs ( fo r the 850 type HAY€$, the 10301X11301, and the NPPI w e t o be configured the same for a neu version (3.0. The one for the 050 uas released i n the ear ly f a l l , t o be folloued i n short order by the 1030 m d WP versions. Houever, Keith decided t o included inproved XmDEll and VI(O0EM rout ines and c a l l i t 3.1, since the DOC for 3.0 uas already released. There have been sole delays, but expect the new versions a t alnost any time.

It secms the SUPRA hard dr ives for the ST are out s e l l i n g t h r ATARl brand hard dr ives by qu i te a nrrgin. It may be more w r k e t i n g and cosmetics than p r i ce or performance.

The SUPRA i s based on a 3 112' dr iv r , c o n r i b r a b l y s u l l r r than the ATYI S 114' unit . Another r u s o n n y be tha t StRllA has had MA mrt advertising.

Speaking of SUPRA ADVERTISING, we have seen f u l l page ads for t h e i r ST HARD DRIVE i n !ANY club newsletters around the country. tlA1M. Yet when ue have ca l led them about advert is ing wi th HID-HICHIMI ATARI IAGAIINEI they have REPUTEDLY t o l d our reps that 'Oh, ue DON'T PAY for those, the clubs jus t run them for the i r information value.' I s t h i s -n out r ight l i e ? ? Hhen pinned on

-pecifics, they back down a b i t - 'CURRENT NOTES? Oh yeah, we 010 advertise there... but that 's the only one...' Let me n n e a dozen others. Or, better, l e t me name smeonc who i s sure NOT t o bel ieve anything else we hear from SUPRA...

ATARI ST COLOR MmlTDRS arc not a l l created equal. There are a t least two d i s t i n c t l y d i f f e r m t versions by d i f fe ren t mmufacturerst and naybe more. And the p ic tu re qua l i t y i s not equal ei ther. I t seems the IKKR w n i t o r r a r t no t i c rak iy sharper. BE AYARE o f what you get! Shop around.

- IHUNDER! t a t e r r i f f i c word processor accessory for spe l l checking and

more, w i l l NOT WORK wi th !ST YORD.. . sorts, Actually, i t w i l l not work i n the ACCESSORY mode wi th REFORMATTED IST UORO f i les , since the extra spaces the formatiing puts i n the f i l e mess up THUNMR!'s operation. So, use at i n GEM ~ d e t and i t should perform fine.

DISK DRIVE PROBLEHS have been reported on the in terna l d r i ve i n the 1040 ST. Although ATARI only rates the i r dr ive for 80 sectorst most dr ives are CAPABLE o f accessing t o r t . VIP and other programs force the d r i v r t o go beyond the 60th sector, and SOHE machines jus t cm't do i t . ATARI says i t ' s not the i r problem, since they published the specs. VIP says get a d i f fe ren t drive. Cute.

At the other end o f the spectruml ATARl showed r ncu CASSETTE d r i v t a t the CES... YIKE. Actually, tape i s PllPULllR overseas, where the cost o f a disk system i s much higher than stateside. One company o f fe rs m upgrade ca l led 'RAMBIT* (sound f u i l i a r ? ) that i s actua l ly for increasing the tape data transfer ra te from the n o r v l 600 baud up t o MOO baud. IIIMINE! Tape loads o f uor thu i le sized proyams i n u r l l under f i f t e e n minutes! I t costs 18 Pounds.

HEAD CLEANING CONTROVERSY

Always anxious t o drum up more business, several video hcad- cleaning accessory f i rms held a series of back-stabbing press conferences i n which they denounced the other's products. Amaray held a 'Video L a d Cleaning Forum' i n which they attempted t o prove that the i r new wet cleaning system was superior t o a11 other contenders, and i n v i t e d a l l the other ~ m u f r t t u r e r s t o attend. (Not many took them up on t h e i r inv i ta t ion. ) Riva l unufacturer ALlsop denounced the drronstration, a d c l a i n d the i r wet-system, one o f the f i r s t on the market, was superior.

I k m u h i l e t 311 claibed that the w e t - s y s t m use solvents tha t can damaqr the pinch r o l l t r s and p las t i c corponents o f VCR's, and i n s i s t 4 the i r 'tape-based' cleaning system uas bed. h e n asked about possible e r c m i v e headuear due t o the rbrasivtness o f the i r syttemt 311 o f f i c i a l s i ns i s ted that the i r system a s not a t rue 'dry-type' head cleaner per se, m d tha t using the i r product for 30 seconds was rquivatent t o about L O minutes with a conventional tape.

Plant ing the i r feet f i rm ly i n both camps, audio accessory maker Discwasher now has both wet- and dry-type systems. And Advanced V i d w Dynamics shoved several d i f fe ren t uet-cleaning systems which e lect ron ica l ly cue the user as t o when t o apply the c lemlng f lu ld .

This f i r 4 also shoved a prototype warning device designed t o t e l l the user when t o clean the VCR! a f te r every 40 or so hour) o f usc.

Ye found a l l o f t h l s controversy qu i te uusinq, condderinq that molt VCR manufacturers advise c l o n i n g hwds only 'when n e t e s s s y ~ * or

a f ter every 500 or so hours of use. Ydve already seen several instances where novice videophiles have damped heads by overusing abrasive dry head cleaners, and caution CffORUll users t o avoid making t h i s s u e mistake.

I t ' s common knowledge that A t r r i Corp. has had a f i rm foothold i n the European colputer marketplace for a couple o f y e u s nou. I n fact, the ST'S uere s e l l i n g overseas long befor r they h i t the U.S. market.

L ~ n a r t Olsson, S I I Sysop, picked up t h i s t i d b i t for us recent ly on Atar i Corp's expansion i n the European market.

Here's Lennart's report, which has been condmsed fro0 several messages he l e f t t o us on CIS.

' M a d a RUNOlR that Atar i has formed a daughter colpany here i n Svtden t o cover the Sondinavian market. I t was said t o bc so new tha t they don't have m y o f f i c e s nor phones yet.. . EasyPlex la te1 27-Jm-87 10: 16 EST From: Lennart Oltson t762st4671 Subj: I t was TRUE!!!

Rmr mats Toernbladt the product manager for Atar i Corp. Standinavia AB j us t phond me. Hc informed me that they had existed for two weeks.

At the moment t h e n are only three eqloyeesr a l l uho had previously u o r k 4 fo r the Swedish branch of Commodore.

A FEW WORDS ABOUT THE ST L I B R A R Y

Charl ie Hiller-JAC6

I'd l i k e t o s t a r t by explaining that I n by no means r computtr t xp t r t . I l i k e t o par t i c ipa te when I belong t o an organization, and helping Sam Cory and Jim Budltmm u i t h the ST l i b r q IS a means t o that end. I t also serves as a uay far ar t o makt more contact u i t h reabers uho may be more :lurnt i n computerese than 1, i n hopes that soat knoultdge may rub o f f ! Tht point I ' m t r y ing t o lake is: don't be a f ra id t o ask me i f you arc also a fledqling. But don't be surprised i f I don't knou, maybr u r can f ind the ansurr toqctht r and both be the r icher for it. And f ina l ly , don't hes i ta te t o lrt me knou what you uould l ike, or t o po int out something I maybe doing wrong or a b e t t r r uay that I may do it; l i k e I said - t h i s i s m opportunity for me t o l tarn.

llov for sore n r v r about the ST l i b ra ry . A t the l a s t tuo a e t t ~ n q s I uas presenting a l i s t o f the disk l i b r a r y i n t h r form of a pr in tout o f the f i l e s found on each disk. Someone tommenttd that f i l t n a w s don't qo too far as t o describe the conttnts. So t h i s month I havt attempted t o at l e a t add a s v l l descript ion i n hoper that i t u i l l help t o shou you what i s avai lable and encourage you t o purthrse we o f the club's disks.

Next, I uould l i k e t o mention that u t have 3 ntw disks i n the l i b r a r y that you may not have s t t n before. Tht f i r s t i s a dlsk that was donattd by Art Ltytnburgtr. It isananimatcd'CAD-3D' (by ToaHudson) f i l e . I f you saw the f l y i n q cockatoo demo and were imprrssed, you should enjoy t h i s disk. Nett, I dwnloaded the l a t r s t version of 'ST URITER', vtrL.70 and i t s ' documrntation and u d e i t avai labl6 I n the l i b r t r v . The f l n a l neu rddlk lan - - - . . - - i s publ ic domain retrace b i 'ATARI* o f the 'CPIII EIILILATOR. '

I uant t o remind youras mrntionrd at the January meeting, that I have avai lable 'I S TALK' v t rs ion 2.03 m d 'THUNDER' vrrsion 1.3, for u s t i n updating o r ig ina ls of mtmbtrs only. Thtst l a t r s t versions uer t made avai lable t o us by 'BATTERIES IWUMO'. To q r t your p roqrns updated you h a w sevt ra l options, Bring mb your o r ig ina l at a mtetinq and 1'11 return i t the fo l lou inq month, br ing a t your o r ig ina l u d a prcpostrd, st l f -addrrssrd r a i l e r and I u i l l pop i t i n t o t h r mail for you1 or, i f you p r t f t r , give your or iq ina l m d 11.23 and I u i l l provide the r a i l e r and poctaqt m d send you back your updated disk.

A f i n a l r tmindrr, or s o l i c i t a t i o n i f you u i l l . Our ST l i b r a r y i s s v l l a t present m d maybe not as diverse as s a c uould l i k t . So i f you have any material of your oun design our of the publ ic d o n i n that can b r v t r i f i r d maybr

you uould considrr donating a disk t o the l i b r a r y or prrhaps just a single u t i l i t y or acctssory that I tan compile u i t h othrrs i n t o a complrte disk uhich c m be addrd t o the l ibrary .

The F i b o n a c c i Sequence Tm Pluck - JACB

Therr are r rny i n t n e s t i n q problems created by mathematicims, which Donald Forbes and Ktn Pietrucha have shoun th rwqh the l a s t tu tn ty or so n t w ~ l t t t c r s ~ but no one else had dartd t o v tn tu r r onto the subject, Best t o IeaV4 i t t o the t x p o t s , r i g h t ? Y t l l , I 've found an l n t r r t s t i n g but easy problra, and I u i l l t e l l you about i t and throu i n a short demo program t o boot.

b Fibonacci sequence i s s i r p l y a l i s t o f numbers l i k e so: 1 1 1, 21 3r 5, 8, 13, 21, 34. . . a

Leonardo Fibonacci created t h i s sequence way back i n t h t 13th century. The f i r s t tuo t trms a r t I and 1. Then you simply add tuo consrcutive terms t o get t h t n tx t .

V Example: 1st term + 2nd term = 3rd t t rm

1 + I = 2 2nd t t r e t 3rd ttrm = 4th term

1 + 2 ' 3 And so on. Thr rout ine used i s s i q l r ; set B L A t o 1 , then: C 4 t h I=B, I 0%

10 RE8 IIIFIBCUACCI SEPUEWCE\\\ I 1 PRINT 'TERN I.' r 'TERII' 2 O A . l 3 0 B = 1 40 PRINT I , A SO FOR N = 2 TO 24 60 PRINT N , B 7 0 C = B + A 80 A = B 90 B = C 100 NEXT n 110 E M

To p r i n t out your sequence, subst i tu te LPRINT for PRINT. the program only l i s t s the f i r s t 20 nulb@rS b u a u s t o f scretn space, but when printed, you can have a l o t o f terms! That is , change the value a f te r 'TO' i n l i n t 50. Tht hi#hest nu&# of trrms 1 have been able t o get i s 470, without gett ing an ERROR- 11 (raking a nuaber u i t h over 98 zeros behind it). The f i n a l number i s a t the tnd of t h i s a r t i c le , so i f you urnt t o f i n d out what i t is, stop reading a f te r I t e l l you vkt re t o get a pr in tout o f t h r w i t s . To set a l i s t , f ind me (Tom Pluck - Program Director) a t t h t February andlor k r c h reeting. Bt fore the a t t t i n g s t a r t s 1'11 be i n t h t auditorium or i n the marketplact, o th t ru is r I'll be i n the f i r s t rou of seats i n the auditorium. The f l q i c Wurbtr is:

7.4938642Et97 or 74,938,642 plus 97 zeros. Bye, nou.

PRESIDENTIAL PONDERINOS

Joe Kennedy - JACG

Doctor Dead Speaks About SOH Anci int Tomes:

I k t u a l l y l They're Not That Old)

Yel l , uhere do ue s ta r t? There's a l o t t o cover for you since the l a s t e e t i n g . The most obvious should b t the f i r s t . Since youlre readinq t h i s the most obvious i s the neusletter. I t ' s not pr in ted but r a t h w photocopied, The reason fo r t h i s i s t h r s ta te o f our treasury. After a year i n uhich u t Sptnt l o r e money than we took-inl the d t f i c i t spending f i n a l l y o u g h t up wi th us. l h c Esecutive Board met an the 30th of Jhnuary and worked out a budget that w i l l a l l o u u5 t o meet our obl igat ions over the next four aonths as wel l as publ ish the newsletter and maintain the BUS. (Elr tuhtre i n t h i s issue you can f i n d Rob Hulhearnls report on the de ta i l s o f that Executive Board metting.) This budget w i l l b r ing t h t balmce back t o a reasonablt l eve l that u i l l r l l o u t h i JLCS t o continue as the top-notch users' group that ue a l l know i t is . This must be - seen as the pos i t ive step i t i s . With steps such as l i m i t i n g

the expenditures t o only those approved by the Board and ra i s ing the dues t o 525.00 per year e f fec t i ve L y 11 the f inancial cushion should be bu i l t -up v t r y quickly.

Tht stcond issue addrtssed I t h t Board mteting also concerns the future wtl l -being o f the JIC6. This i s the proving number of nembtrs uho are ST users. A set o f proposed changts t o the bylaws u t re ipproved by the Board t o b t voted upon a t the February mettinq. Thest changes would set-up the o f f i ces o f V ic t President - I - b i t and 16-bit. Thtmt a f f t c t r a would be charged u i t h preparing the aeeting and i t s content so that a l l our members are f u l l y r tpr@Stnted i n the JAC8.

The t h i n g of t h t s t ntw by l tus u i i l uork t v t r y n i c t l y with t h i s n t x t piece of nws. 1 nust r e s i p my pos i t ion as President a t the k r c h mtetinq. This i s p r e c i p i t a t d by my t r r n s f t r t o Wtst Grrmmy. I t i s u i t h mixtd f#llnpm that I must do this. I am very pleased t o be moving t o Gtrmmy but I

L am sad t o b t leaving the JAC6. But t h i s i s but another reason that 1 want t o wake sure that not only i s the JAC6 solvent but that i t th r i ves over the next three years as I want a users1 group t o re turn t o a f te r my s t i n t i n Germany.

Just a feu other notes. F i r s t keep i n mind that the JAC6 looks a f te r the reputat ion o f A ta r i mrchints no matter uhere they are. Bob Abrams~ a mtdrr uho has ntver attended a meeting1 has had a l t t t e r publ ishtd i n t h t fami ly Computing aaqazini i n which h t takes the ed i to rs o f the u g a z i n t t o task for c a l l i n g the W a r i 8-bi t machines 'dtad'. Bob has t u p p l i t d w with a copy o f h i s l e t t e r which w i l l be sent along t o Dave for conr id t ra t ion for inclusion i n the newsletter. By the uay t h t reason Bob has ntver attendtd a w t t i n g ? ? - he l i v e r i n Glendale1 Cal i fornia. Tom Pluck has servtd h i s r p p r t n t i c t ship and i s nou preparing t h t program conttnt for our mtetinqs. I t ' s p t o p l t l i k e Bob, Tom md your Extcut ive Board p iv inq of the i r t ime on days other than the second Saturday morning o f the month that w i l l make the JACS what i t is . Thank them

whenever you can. Better yet j o i n the#. Do a demo. Y r i t e an a r t i c l e . Volunteer your t i m e t o help set or put auay the equipment a t the meeting. I n vhatever uay you can - 61VE A a I r l ' '

1. Pluck - JACG

There are a l o t of books on the Atar i l but only some are good md yet feuer arc excellent. I have f i v e books t o do a mini-review on eachl and but ont i s bad, ont i s t x c t l l t n t , md thc res t a r t good u i t h b t t t t r or uorst t m d m c i t s . Herr th ty art ; The e x c t l l t n t one i s a book that evtryone should have!

f r e t Softuart For Your Atrril by David L Dorothy H t l l t r . This i s txtremtly valuable t o beginners. I t explains modem operationl u s t r s qroupsl m d I t u l t i t u d t o f i n f o o f uhleh t h t t i t l e impl i ts , This i s t h r ' t x c t l l t n t ' book. It may seem outdated, but i t i s s t i l l a prime source of valuable information.

The r t s t o f the books arc i n a descendinq order of qual i ty.

Things To Do Y i t h Your L t a r i Colputerl by Jerry Y i l l i s l H t r l H i l l e r , and Nancy tlorrice. This i s simply a whole bunch of rev i twr of A ta r i sof tuar i . I t i s outdated, but i s useful nonttheless, The authors nit, i n an easy t o re la te t o s t y l e and t e l l s the t r u t h about cach program. 1 use i t qu i te often.

l t a r i For t h r Btginninq Beginnor by Tom m d Judy Chadtr la ln . A ort l i t t i n ( t i t l e uwld b t A t r r l Tor the Absolute Novict. I t i s okay for beginnsr , but i t is v t r y outdated l t h t only DO8 i t t e l l s you about i s DO8 I) m d r i l l y . Even f i v t yew olds I knov h r v t sa id i t i s s i l l y . Wrr ta l k ing j o k u om t h t w n t a l i t y l tyv t l o f t h t avtragt potatol h t r t .

Hart Applications m d 6 a w f o r t h t A ta r i Conputerl by Timothy Banse, 31 programs o f varying qua l i t y and ust fu ln tss that cost $14.95, Save an t x t r a 10 bucks and subscribe t o Antic! Almost h a l f of these programs are a d i o c r e thinqs found i n magazines seven years ago. 3 arc good.

The f ina l ; Tht bad; Tht

l a s i c Fun Y i t h Graphics the A ta r i Nayl by k q a r e t Zuanich and 3usm Drake Lipaomb. I bunch o f text-graphics, with sore 6rlphiCS 8 and low-grade animation. There i s one qmd proqram i n i t . It has a va r ie ty of color pictures i n i t 1 but they are not r e a l l y computer-crtated and some look t o good t o be made on m ST. This product should be avoided. I n the beginning o f the book they t rea t you l i k e a co lp le tc novice, and by the end they use 10th prade Plane Growtry teras (that i s not m txaqgtration.)

Hal l , read t h i goad books, avoid t h e bad. This i s Doctor lead signing o f f .

here i s t h t game. This i s a fun gaw and I enjoy i t . I S T - S I Q th lnk you u i l l b t impressed by the great color and

Donald Forbes - JACB graphic"

SR KENNEDY: It i s RW 1l:SO and the Dtcerber n o t i n g i s H t r t i s somtthlng t l s t that 1 uould l i k t t o show you.

ovtr. A l l ST - $16 m r d t r s inc lud ing Don Urscm w i l l gather It i s t h t f i r s t t p t t t h s y n t h t s i r t r for the 81 m d i t i s

at the front. Havr a R t r ry Xmas. See you a l l i n January. a11 done i n s o f t n r r . Tht propram l e t s you present r story that can be spokm i n a malt or f t m t l t volct. I think i t

nm URSSE: 11 you ,,ill be in the front do" a good job of turn ing wr i t ten English i n t o spoken

u i l l get started. 1 see tha t ue have about a dozen members Enqlish.

presentl and I suppose the hol idays kept some o f the o th t rs auay.

Hou u n y o f you are in terested i n gaus?

(Voice: I th ink games are a waste o f time. They arc I have here a list Of and a fun for about m hour or sol but then they pet boring.)

that you c m return a t the end o f the meeting. The names are:

Ian Bair 245-1932 Rose l l t Pk Alan Bergaon 729-7848 Sparta Jim Budelman 735-7723 Cl in ton Ian Col l i ns 445-5561 Jersey Cty . . Yayne Cree 671-8474 il iddietoun Sordon Haapton 388-4326 Colonia Er ic Jacoves 625-1768 Rockauay Scott Jacov# 625-1768 Rockauay foe Kazlmer 494-0271 Edison Lcn Labriska 328-0541 Randolph l a t t i larshal l 652-0741 L c k e t s t u n Charles H i l l e r 469-6190 So Bnd Brk Steve Neufield 628-4359 Somtrstt k r k Schwarr 663-1077 Lk Hopatcg Jeff Stevtns 356-1692 i l i dd les t r Don Ursem 895-2522 Randolph Bob t i n d l e 471-0271 Edison

Yhat do you have? 52b(512k);520(11eq);1040;CoIor;llY Pisks $51 disks D5f p r in te r type; Devlprs pko C(A1cvon ileaamax La t t i ce I I Y i l l i a m d . . . ~ascrl~ilo~ulr2~~8~t11~il~~~htll~0thrr Sprdshttt luhich);YP(whith)~DB(uhichl Ountd ST _ wnths j l los t ustd for: LtarninqlQraphicslWP tt a l l Kid Educ;Qa~ts~Dtvt lopt r l a t e s t purchasr;Ntxt purchase Yhat having d i f f i c u l t y uith; HW do you uant SI6 t o sptnd i t s time each meeting (topics)? Rip here1 f i l l outl m d u t w i l l compare notes.

Here i s a space-age game that I would l i k e t o demonstrate on the large screen. I t i s ca l l ed Deep Space from Psygnosis and s e l l s for about $44. I wanted t o show t h i s a t 11:30 touards the end o f the meeting but ue had t rouble u i t h the large-screen projector. Ye f ixed i t m d

Do you have any questions? _- (Voice: Yhat about IBN compat ib i l i ty for the ST?

Thcre i s a l o t o f ilSlWS publ ic doma~n softuare out there.

There i s nou a $60 t h i r d par ty softuare package avai lable a t Gemin1 that emulates WDOS 3.2. I t does not l e t you run Lotus 1-2-3 but t h i s feature has been promistd fo r the n t r t releast. Have not heard m y marc about the hardware compat ib i l i ty box, but i t i s not needed i f one has sof tuar t compatibility.

(Voice: Tht 3 1 i s the neu technologyl the uave o f t h t future, and there i s a l o t a! softuare out on the flea-market tables. Yhy don't u t d t v o t t the l a s t h a l f o f the JAC6 meeting t o the ST?.)

Host o f the ~ t b t r s and the t r t c u t i v t committet are fans o f the A t r r i 800. Yt propostd t o have t h t 87-818 - meeting from k00 t o 9:00 but tha t uould have cut i n t o the f l ea market and the question L answer period. Ye propostd t o ho ld the ST-SIG meeting i n the lobby during the regular meetingl although that p r t v t n t s the r e s t o f the m t d t r s from uatchinq the dnos. Ye proposed t o hold the SIB meeting a t 11:30 todayl but the mettinq ran l a t e andl as you ster i t uas noon be fo r t ue got started.

I f y w think the SIB meeting i s important and should begin a t 11:N by 111 mtlns t a l k t o Joe Kennedy about i t.

Ye propost t o hold the January meeting i n the lobby during the l a t t e r par t o f the regular meetingl a t about 10130, 1 n t t d t o h a r t (1) y w r i d t a s fo r top ics for our subsequent mt t t ings l (2) that u t have par t ic ipants other than mystlf, and (3) tha t u t have voluntters for demos and discusrions. Cal l m t about your i d t a s (my phone i s s t i l l 693-2522 although my s t r t t t address i n Randolph i s nou 65 h s i c a Ave instead o f 37 Clovtr Lane). It i s close t o 12:W and they arc about t o throu us out. Hopc t o set a l l o f you n t x t wnth.

An I d i o t ' m A d v e n t u r e i n Troubl *shoot i ng

by Yt rnt r Htck - JACG

Every month n tu improved harduart or s o f t u s t h i t s the r a r k t t . Somt o f my t tchnoloq ica l ly advanced Atar i f r iends havt spent thousands o f do l la rs on 'improverents' and 'upgradts' over the course o f sevt ra l years. I uas undtr t h t impression that one o f my f r i ~ d s had t v t r y th ing that was evt r manufacturtd for the Atari, but I uas surprised t o l t a r n that despite h i s investment i n 6 disk d r i v t s ( including a 'Happya enhanced 816 d r i v t ) , modtlsr 050 interfacer l i g h t pens, voice boxes, p r i n t t r , etc., he uas s t i l l using a TV as a computtr monitor.

- 11 on t h t o th t r hand, hadn't sptnt nearly as much on haruart a h t had, but I was get t ing f t d up u i t h my TV display. The TV display vas a l r i g h t for playing video partst but ovt r a period of tuo years I found a y s t l f playing f t u t r and f t u t r gamtsr and looking v r t and more at text on t h t sc r tm. I n fact, I ua l studying t h t t t x t on the sc r tm. Y i th t t x t on t h t scr t tn , 1 couldn't r a ~ i l y d i s t i n g u ~ s h h's from b's or s's f r o r a's. I n somt cast% I couldn't t v t n s t t t h t l t f t -mos t on* or tuo ch r rac t t r s on emu scrt tns.

I had b t rn i t ch ing for a ron i to r t v t r since I sau another fr i tndls Ttknika llJlO w n i t o r display. The co lors u t r t br ight, the out l ines wtrt s h a r p t h t tex t uas crisp. Evtn i n a qtaphics mode that uas equivalent t o an 00 colurn tex t nodel the l e t t e r s were eas i ly dist inguishablt . I uas impressed'

Color ronitorm don't comb chtrp, and my f r iend had - paid $170 for the monitor. But be fo r t I could sptnd tha t kind of money, I had t o th ink about i t . b l t t r a l l ' I uaa only an occasional c o q u t t r user. O t s p i t t the poor TV display, I supposed I could put up with i t for 8-10 hours p t r utek.

I f t t r n i n t months of th ink ing about get t ing a monitor, I d u i d t d t o get on*. I uould k i l l tuo b i r d s u i t h one stone. I w l d give the TV that 1 had b t t n usinq t o r y daughttr for Christmas, and 1 uould b t my oun Santr by q t t t i n p the Ttkn ikr NJlO monitor for r y ~ t l f ,

1 promptly executed my plan. But t o r y surpr ise and dismay, the two or three mail o rd t r houses I contrc t td no longtr had t h t Ttknika NJIO avai lablt . A f t t r contacting two loca l s tor ts , I found one s t o r t that had one monitor l t f t . D t l i gh t td t I bought it, brought i t homt, and hooktd i t up, The display u t s beaut i fu l ! A uhol t ntu, uondtrful world of color and c l a r i t y optntd up t o me.

One evening about two uteks la te r , no sooner had I turn td on the XL u i t h t h t 005 disk i n the dr iver I uas

star in) a t a f l i c k t r i n q l r o l l i n g p i c tu re on my monitor. 1 u n dtvrstated. I had agoniztd months over uh t th t r t o pet t h i s p r r t i c u l r r monitorr md nou t h i s uac my w a r d ? Evtn though i t van u t l l w i th in the uarranty periodl I kntu uhtn I bought t h t monitor that i t was the l a s t one i n t h t s t o r t md that they u t r t being discontinued. So i f I did take ~t back, I uould havt t o get a d i f fe ren t brand, a brand I uas cer ta in t o b t unhappy ui th.

but I caught myself junping t o conclusions. Hou d i d f know i t urs the monitor? flrybt i t urs t h t disk dr iv t . Or maybe i t uas jus t a f luke!

Ripht auay I rtbooted the disk: i t uasn't a f l u k t - sdmt r t su l t s . But I noticed that the disk d r i v t busy l i g h t didn't go out a f t t r the usual t i lt a f t t r boot up. 'Aha, i t ' s the disk dr ivea, 1 thought. But then I ought fiyself again: Hou do I know i t ' s not j us t t h t disk? laybe t h t k ids touchtd i t and r u i n t d i t !

I quickly bootnd up a second disk, then a th i rd ! but the same garbage aluays came up on the monitor. Thtn I did what c a t na tu ra l l y a t t h t momtnt: I sulked.

A f t t r sulking around t h t houst for a whi l t , I r ts iqn td mystlf t o spending $130 for anothtr disk dr ive, m txptnst I didn't n t t d befor t Christmas. Repairing the d r i v t w u l d be about h a l f as much, but I alr tady had i t repaired tuo years befort . Yhy s ink more wncy i n t o i t ?

Out o f t h i s dtspair and reapna t ion popptd anothtr qutst ionr You d i d 1 knou that t h t disk d r i v t probltm wasn't c r u n d by the 890:~ i t c t l f l Yould I pet 1 f l ~ c k t r i n g s c r t t n i f I turnta the disk d r i v t o f f and turntd on only the computtr?

Tht more I thought about i t , the clearer i t became that t h i s uould b t the rev ta l i ng test. I f the s c r t t n s t i l l f l i ck t red, the disk dr ive i s not causing i t ; i t uould have t o be the monitor or the computtr.

I sat i n front o f the computtr and tu rn td i t on. Evtn though the disk d r i v t q s o f f , t h t screen f l i c k t r t d j us t as b t fo r t . So i t had t o b t t i t h t r t k t monitor or computer. I could havt hooked t h t computtr up t o t h t TV I had bten using b t f o r t I got the monitor, but I had put the TV i n t h t Ttknika packing box arid a l r t r d y had urapptd i t up t o give t o my daughttr for C h r i c t v l . Th t r t uas more I could have done t o pinpoint the prob l tn that n ight but I had had tnwgh,

The n t r t day l t o l d my probltms t o Jot, a JACG colleague a t the of f ice. Joe iamediatcly asked rt about the BOOXL p o w supply, m d I r t p l i t d that t h t 'poutr ona l i g h t shone b r i g h t l y throuqhout t h t ktst ing. Ht Said that t l iminates the poutr supply as t h t cu lp r i t .

h e n I had f in ished t a l k i n g u i t h him, I r ~ m b t r e d that I had b o q h t r spare home-rrde W X L pouer supply 1-2

years befort . Yhy not t r y the spare p o w supply, evtn though i t was a !or9 shot? It uould be less work than hooking up the computer t o a TV i n rnotht r part o f the house.

Yhen I got homt, I whipped out the spare pouer supply and powered up t h r co lput t r . To my surprise, the screen came up normally. Just t o makt sure i t wasn't luck, I rebooted u i t h the disk d r i ve on1 the screen s t i l l looked great. The problem was solved.

The s tory should have ended t h t r e but i t didn't.

The next day when I returned t o the of f ice, I t o l d Joe o f q success the night before. He was skept ic r l that the power supply was the c u l p r i t , because I had t o l d him the 'poutr on' l i g h t uas on throuqhout the trouble. Anxious t o convince him beyond a doubt o f my t rouble shooting prowess, I promised tha t I w u l d b r ing him the bad poucr supply and he could t e s t i t himself on h i s own 8OOXL computer. He sa id i t r t a l l y uasn't necessary t o do that but he uould t e s t i t j u s t out o f cur iousity.

I brought Joe the pover supply and he tested i t on h i s BOOXL c o y ~ t t r t which he bought a f tw months a f te r I had bought mine i n 1984. After he tested i t he ca l led me at home t o inform me o f the r e s u l t s ~ yes! i t uar t bad power supply, and, by the may, h i s computer no longer uorks. 'Hou could that be?', 1 asked. Joe, uho was no s t r m q t r t o troubitskoot ing h i r e l f , had the rnsutr. 'The output from your p @ r w supply u o 7 amps instead o f 5 a s Somuhat d e f ~ s i v e i y I asktd him why the pouer supply destroyed h i s computer m d not mint - they u t r t both 8OOXL's bought months apart. Ht didn't know.

Uhen I saw Joe aq t in the n t r t day, he had reslgned h i m r t l f t o replacing h i s burned out computtr, But as r long shot' he ma5 going t o ask 6ordmr the loca l Atrri harduart lsofturre guru uko t i s o uorks wi th us, t o d i q n o s t the problem and f i x i t. flordon vas happy t o o b l i q h but he uas r busy am. Jot w u l d have t o wait a while, but he also had t o contend u i t h h i s tuo young sons uho u t re rest less ui thout t h e i r toy.

Just as Joe mas caving i n t o h i s children's pestering for a replacement computn, he found out from Gordon tha t h i s computer was fixed. Apparently, my defunct pouer supply had burned about $3 uorth o f chips i n Joe's w h i n e . At no ext ra charge or ob l~ga t ion , 6ordon also replaced a feu other chips that Oere running a l i t t l e hot. The computer worked just l i n t a f t t r that ' and everybody uas happy.

The ups and downs of the t n t i r e rpisode ut re tn l i qh tm inq . (Jor says he could h r v r done ul thout the

t n l i g h t b n n n t ! l For veteran Atrri hardut r t h tck t rs out thtre, the probibm could have been coo l l y diagnosed i n a feu minutes, but then you wouldn't have had t h ~ s t a l e of t rouble shooting by m i d l o t .

_ _ _ _ _ - - - - - - TREASURER'S REPORT

1986

Shree V t n d ~ b t r g Treasurer - JAC6

T W C O L STATEBENT ............... Ba lmc t on Hand 5711.00

Income: Nem. Outs ............ 5514.00 b v s l t t t t r Ads.. .... ,1690.00 .... Wcwsletter Sales.. .57.00 Fund Raising Sales.. .1357.00 &Bit Disk Library...lB66.00 ....... ST L ibrary Sales 35.00

........ Total Income 10519.00

Expenses: I e m l e t t e r Printing..B962.76 ... Iews le t t t r Rai l ing 2326.33 ..... #-Bit Library... .306.00 ............ ST L ibrary 508.48 Equipment Purchases...311.70 Equipment l(aintenmce.350.00 .... B u l l e t i n Board... ..64.09 .......... Telephone.. 1288.96 StrtiontrylSupplies..1177.(3 ............ Postaqe.. ,746.20 .............. Trrvel.. Irrvrl.................30.0030000 l(isctllaneous........lisctllmeour.........311.663I1166

. Total Expenses..... l6713.LL

TOTAL NET LOSS -6194.61

Total Ending Balance on Hand..-403.61

Above covers 1/1/06 t h r u 12/31/86 t iw franc.

T R E A S U R E R ' S R E P O R T - 1/87 S. Vandenberg -Treasurer- JAM

Star t ing Balmct 111187 S -483.61 Incm 2009.00 Expenses 1288.59 Ending Balance 1/31/87 S 235.80 -

CALCULUS DEMON

Dmald Forbes - JAC6

I f you were s t r m d t d on a desert is land and could have ont d t a r i prograal which one would you pick?

Ily choice (and I have thought i t over many times) would be 'Calculus Demon' by Dr. David R. Stoutrmyer, a 1982 program from the Atar i Program Exchmgt (APX-20155) published hy The Soft Uarehouset P. 0. Box 11174, Honolulul Hawaii1 96828. The author was a professor at the University o f Hawaiil l i v i n g a t 3274 A Lover Rd, Honolulu, H I 96822.

What the program does, i n short, i s l e t you solve -. about h a l f of the problems i n m ordinary calculus tex t ,

This may not sound very exci t ing, but . i t dcmonstrates, i n e f fect , that the A ta r i 800 gave you 'pouer without the pr ice' long before the days when Jack Tramiel and h i s sons rev i ta l i zed the moribund Atar i .

It was astonishingt t o me a leas t t that a simple BASIC program t h a l pr in ted out i n less than a dozen pages would provide the capab i l i t i es that otherwise would r q u i r e a modtrn a r t i f i c i a l i n t t l l i g e n c r program running on a large w i n f r n t computer.

l h t l t ad inp mathematical expert system i s a program cal led MACSYM that s t l l s for thousands of dollars. Here i s a descript iont from 'Designing and Prograuinq Ptrsonal Expert Systems' by Carl Townsmd m d Dennis Feucht (Tab Bookst 1986): 'Numerical methods a r t c o u o n l y u u d t o perform in tegrat ion o f functions or solve equations. A - program writtm i n LISP ca l led MACGYM performs the same w t h e ~ a t i c a l optrat ionst but docs so i n t h t ury truqht i n l a t h courses. I t i d e n t i f i e s forms o f a lg tbra ic exprasions and determines the ru les of in tegrat ion that c m be applied t o thost expressions. Only r t c e n t l y has symbolic computation btgun t o b t used c o n n c i a l l y . LISP machines are nou being sold by several cornpanits and compete wi th prograas 1 ill* MACSYlA. '

CALCULUS DElIM, according t o the author, was 'the t h i r d prograa i n a series that includes ALSICALC and PNYCALCt m d provides a comprehensive t o o l for autoaat ica l ly deriv ing symbolic p a r t i a l dw iva t i ves and i n d e f i n i t e in tegra ls o f expressions, individually, the prograw o f fe r a q u ~ c k way t o perform various kinds o f operations i n symbolic algebra and salculus. Co l l cc t i v t l y l they const i tu te a complete computational package.'

'CALCULUS DEMON is best a t calculus, although i t docs contain some algebraic capabi l i t ies . I t also o f f e r s sole trigonometric, logari thmict and exponential

s impl i f icat ion. The r l q t b r a i c exprbssions CALCULUS DEMON

c m handle include trigonometric, inverse trigonometric, logarithmic, and exponential functions. The program also provides various automatic and opt ional mathematical transformations t o s impl i fy r e s u l t s or a i d integration. Un l l k t molt p r q r a n i n g lanquaqesl uhich tm evaluatt an expression only i f a l l va r iab l t r have numerical valuest CALCKUS DEMON c m do t rue non-nurr ic operat ions.'

Stoutemyrrts aain claim t o fame was authorship i n 1971 whi le at the Universi ty of k u a i i o f the book 'PLII P rogra r ing for Engineering and Sciencet' one of the f i r s t i n t h t f i t l d t and my f a v o r i t t o f t h t dortn or so P i l l books I oun. U n f ~ r t u n a t t l y ~ I d i d not f ind time t o test out a l l the exup lcs on my tmploytrls IBN mainframe. Professor S t w t n y t r l a te r made a name for himself i n symbolic computation.

I l i s t t d t h t proqram on the p r in te r and found that i t consists o f about eight pages o f sophisticated BASIC prograulnq. One day, I promiscd myself, I w i l l t rans la te i t i n t o Forth or IS/WS BASIC or Pascal so that i t u i l l run a l i t t l e faster -- but I have yet t o do so.

Anyone who has fought the i r may through m elementary calculus book i n col lege w i l l appreciate the sophist icat ion and usefulness o f the program.

CALCULUS DEMON s t a r t s out with a HELP menu that displays e l t v t n topics: 1: Expressions 7: Compound Lines 2: Algebraic Expand 8: Quoting 3: Functions 9: Reevaluat ion 41 Mort Expansion 101 D t r i v a t l v t 3: Assignments 11: In tegra l 6: Yon-display Entrr a topic number folloued by a question mark

The program u i l l tack le the tough questions. Htre are sore o l the resu l t s of the easy exap les from the K L P r u b ~ n u s (the f i r s t l i n e i s the questiont and the second the response)$

1: Expressions 3 1*2 Y 4 S W X - 7) a XA2 Y - 3s 2: Algebraic Expand ( X W A 2 IY t XA2 t YA2 3: Functions EXP LO6 X I 4: l o r e Expansion Lo6 ( X Y I Z ) 106 X 4 LO6 Y - LO8 1 5: Assignamts P ' S(X+Y+l) S X t 5 Y t S I

6: Ion-display [dots not display f i r s t valut l P = S t l ; P-3 (S t 1)"3 I: Corpound Llnts P = Rtl. O = LtPi 9*2 I (L t R + 1 Y 2 8: Puoting [use ' t o c l w r valurs l P = 'P; P 2 PA2 9: Rt-Evaluation l u s t 8 t o display ntu v r lu t of 9 instead of (H t 1P2 1 H = 'H; P.Ht1; n=2; PA2 1 s 10: Derivative 1% spec i f i e s ~ l r i a b l e l 8XA3 4 CXA2 X X 3 B X A 2 t 2 C 111 Intcgral I r tverses ansun i n 101 I$ s p t c i f i e s va r i ab l t l 361*2 + 2CX $ X I 1-3 + C 1-2

If you evtr plan t o b t shipwrecked on a d t s t r t island, r t m e d n a t the l a s t minute t o reacb for your calculus t ex t and a capy of CPCUCUS BEION. By t h e time you a r t r t scutdt you will b t m author i ty on sylbol ic c ~ p u t a t i o n md v t h t u t i c a l t x p t r t systems.

- - - - - - - - Letter to t h e

Editor

Dtar Editor'

I noticed an error in t h e 'Hot bur' column in your Januaryr 1987 isrut . Paragraph 3 s t a t t s that t h t ATARI 2600 has BK of memory. I t o r ig ina l ly camt out u i th 4K. The StarPath Suptrcharqer gavt t h t 2600 a capacity of OKl and o th t r c o q m i t r used r u cbips i n t h r i r c u t s t o give w i t c h banking a b i l i t y for using 8K.

Here's a mini-review of Star Raiders 11. I t has great graphics, sound and pa r t play, but has ont u j o r flaw. Onct you f i q u r t the qamr out (play i t a f t u times), you can't lose. The fun i s in learning hou t o uin, but once you do, the gamr will sit and co l l ec t dust a f t t r that.

Sinctr t iy , Is1 Paul J. Koualski - JAC6

B l u e T r a m Bridge A R e v i e w

by kl Sr~endvk

If space p t r r i t t t d l t h r t i t l e of t h i s article would have been, 'ANTIC 'Scortsl Big Uith Blur Tear Bridqt,' I t has b t ~ sa id that bridge '. . . i s the o r d qarr of royalty md society.' Actually, bridge is a card pant that is similar t o chess in that i t can be played by anyone uho rnjoys a game that providts i n t t l l t c t u a l stimulation and requires concentration and w n t a l acumtn.

Blue Ttam Bridge, by Malt Hubert i s publishtd by ANTIC SOFTYARE, md cam bt purchastd by mail from TIE . .~

CATALOB md i s m txcel lent buy a t $15.95. I t is a l t o .- avai labl t a t S n i n i Enterprises in Cedar Knolls for a feu do l l a r s i t s s .

At timerr many of us have been disappointtd with s i ru la t ion so f tua r t that pror ises much but d t l l v t r s swruhat less . Mot s o u i t h Blue Team Bridqt. Ttchnxal ly and graphically, I uould have t o speak of i t only i n sup t r l a t iv t s . Tht s ights , sounds and r t c h m ~ c s of bridge a r t t x p t r t l y p r a t n t t d , Tht garb cores with tuo diaksl a sun proprar disk and another uhich providts both de ta l l td rules of play and lint supporting d o t ~ m t n t a t i o n ~ uhich c m be p r in t td t i t h e r t o your scre tn or pr inter .

Ofttn, simulation disks arb r i thbr too basic Or too t ~ h n i c a l l y advanced to b t played by a novice. Blue Ttar Bridge i s about as r e a l i s t i c a s c m b t t and i t can bt tnjoyed equally by t i t h t r the rmrtcur or the 'pro.' The only things that a re misting a re 'brtathing souls' andt for anyone uho has playtd br idgt knows, s o r e t i w s that - could be a bltssing. All bridge p l i y t r r havet a t one t i r e or mother t u i rhtd that i t was poss ibl r to have m ' instant replay' capabi l i ty in ordtr t o s e t other uays a par t icular ly i n t t r t s t i n g or d i f f i c u l t hand could have been bid and plrytd, Mot only does t h i s program provide that option, but an additional one that a l lous the 'saving to disk' of a hand for replay or future use.

Blut TeamBridgt is an ideal game for r i t h t r a beqinntr or a tournarent l t v t l player. I t i s an exc t i l tn t uay i n uhich t o improve one's bidding s k i l l s and, for the mort s t r i w r p l a y r r ~ sharpen convention biddinq tcchniquts.

Blur T e u Bridqt is u r i t t t n for t h t Atari 4001800t XLlXE strirs ui th a t l eas t 48K m d r tqu i res a joystick. I t c m be played by one t o four playtrs , Scoring i s hmdltd very uel l by t h t proprar. fo r those who do not play bridpb, t o n s i d o i t an e r c t l l e a t g i f t for someone uho dots,

- TRY IT--I'M SURE YOU'LL LIKE IT -

R*m~mb* r , r o c e i v , n g t h e J ~ C G ~ e w s ~ r t t e r j u s t on* of t h e many b e n r f i t s of

member -6 J~CG.

+ NEW TO THE ATARI? + t NEED A LITTLE HELP?

T l l u r moment and l o d a t yow m l h g label on a recent lsiue of the JACG nwde t te r . Ched the bottom r q h t hand corner foUowuq 'Lad I S M d . Thls i s the n m t h l y e v *hen pv memknhip e ~ p t n s . Try to rmew at l c r r t om month early. mas helps us lucp our bodt Kmang m order ard w o ~ d s r o w mlsslng any i r w s of the nwr le t ter .

T b m m two easy ways t o nmw:

I. F i l l wi m.mkMlp nwv l l (an m th. 4ront looor x+on cu mmtkly mnmq m a p n s e m i t .-.m S2b lmcrsn a- m c m m me T n r w r c . Ada $6 fa- f t n t c:rss mulmng d the w n i r t t e r .

THOMAS PAZEL,NEXBERSHIP CHAIRNAX 70 NITCHELL RD. T-7

+ + MAYBE A JACG + > > > C H E C K YOUR LABEL<<< - 7 - + $ BIG BROTHER CAN h r +

> > > T O D A Y 1 < < <

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RETAIWRS - MANUFACTURERS - mNDORS + -

+ GIVE US A CALL f How would you likt to n i c h r targeted rud~encr 6 o v u 798

+ + ATARI c m p l h r users? This n u d e t t e r has r p x s s M 6 800

+ p.r momh,a nrd by members rrd rm-nmbm a h k ! a d IS + sent to w s 6B other ATARI User Grw m o s s the U.S. m d m

+++++++++++++++++++ Mwrtsq 3s avuhbls m I fur t-c- d i p a c r - w d a b h basas. C l m a nady c w , ruompM1.d by prymmt, must reach the Editor by the 20th d q of U n month pxcrdurg ptblrcatlm. JACG msewes the mpw t o maw dec inon rmmrmnp the placemnt d ads vlthm the Newde t t s am dltlg or n r c t l n l .'l"utlsement. d".d ,mutable.

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- JaCG N E W S L E T T E R - U O L U W E 6, NUMBER 6

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