NEWSLETTER OF — MEETIN6 64/128 USERS THROUGH THE MAIL January 1999 Meeting News Tain Adams, President Happy New Year everyone!!! A big welcome to Alan Burk, Jack Cheldin, Larry Holiday, Richard LaMunyon, David Serfass and K. Dale Sidebottom. Their bios appear elsewhere in the newsletter. I need to remind all members that the next issue is the March issue and the membership list. Please look over your "bio" from last year and send any changes to Brian Vaughan by mid February at the very latest. If you would like to volunteer to be a "friendly correspondent" again please notify Brian by mid February. Do you have any expertise with a particular program or a piece of hardware? Please volunteer as a "Resource" person by writing to Linda Tanner. I am begging you to offer to share your knowledge of any software or hardware with other members. Remember that the membership list and the resource/information list is provided just twice a year, March and September. — Tom Adams, President Meeting 64/128 Users Through the Mail TREASURER'S REPORT From: Rolf L. Miller, Treasurer Following is a summary of the trust account as of November 30, 1998. Balance 9-30-98 $1272.62 1-1-98 $2507.80 Credits 806.00 1881.75 Debits 350.00 2660.93 11-30-98 1728.62 11-30-98 1728.62 The Credits include all dues and donations received during the period. The Debit is the advance during the period which covered the cost of printing and mailing the November MaiLink. A large THANK YOU to all who renewed by the December 10th deadline. Another thank you to those who enclosed notes along with their checks. And examples of printing are always enjoyed. MEETING 64/128 USERS THROUGH THE MAIL - OFFICERS TOM ADAMS. President. 4427 39th St., JEAN NANCE. 1109 Briarcliff Dr., Brentwood, MD 20722-1022. Urbana, IL 61801. Ph. (301) 927-8826. email NEWSLETTER MANAGING EDITOR. [email protected]. ORGANIZATION BUSINESS AND MEMBERSHIP. FRED KNERR. P.O. Box 2., New Tripoli, ALSO NEWSLETTER PRINTING AND PA 18066-0002. DISTRIBUTION. EDITOR, "Mailink on Disk" FRANCIS REDMOND, Vice-president. JOSEPH F. FENN. 3612 Puuku Makai Rt 7, Box 7614, Palestine, TX 75801. Drive, Honolulu, HI 96818. EMAIL ADDRESSES AND CHANGES ROLF L. MILLER, Treasurer. 492 Anacapa St., Ventura, CA 83001. LINDA J. TANNER. RR1, Box 120T, Black, DUES AND DONATIONS. (Checks to the MO 63625-9702. trust account must be made out to Rolf EDITOR "Information". VOLUNTEERS L. Miller). FOR "RESOURCES". BRIAN VAUGHAN, 2101 Shoreline Dr. 352, Alameda, CA 94501-6245. MEMBERSHIP ADDRESSES AND BIOGRAPHIES; CORRECTIONS AND CHANGES COMMODORE MAILINK POLICIES The Commodore MaiLink is published every other month by Meeting 64/128 Users Through the Mail. Copyright 1998 by Meeting 64/128 Users Through the Mail. All rights reserved. Permission given to reprint material if credit is given to "Meeting 64/128 Users Through the Mail." The names "Meeting 64/128 Users Through the Mail" and "The Commodore MaiLink" are also copyrighted. Any and all opinions expressed in this publication are the views of the authors and in no way necessarily reflect the viewpoints, attitudes, or policies of Meeting 64/128 Users group unless so stated or indicated. Neither Commodore MaiLink nor Meeting 64/128 Users Through the Mail advocates or condones the piracy of copyrighted software. All programs published are with the permission of the author or are, to the best of our knowledge, in the public domain. Software offered for sale is said by the seller to be either public domain or, if commercial, is the original disk with the original documentation. All manuscripts, or any material for review or publication should be sent to the editor of the next issue (see 'Editor's Desk'). Commodore MaiLink reserves the right to edit submissions. EDITORS ARE NEEDBD FOR JULY, SEPTEMBER AND NOVEMBER. IF INTERESTED, CONTACT JEAN NANCE Commodore MaiLink - Page 2 - January 1999 1987. However, for the last two years I have been doing more and more on a PC, and leaving the Commodore turned off more. But not today. This issue was produced using The Write Stuff on a Commodore 128 equipped with a 40 meg hard drive, which is used for loading the program, and saving all articles. The front page header and other graphics were printed with GEOS, with a lot of careful measurement and running the pages through the printer twice. For the text, I used my Epson Stylus Color 600 ink jet. This printer HOW DID I GET HERE? understood and carried out every needed command from TWS with no changes from For the last couple of years, I've been the codes I have used for years (good telling my follow Commodore club thing, because it takes an act of members that the best publication Congress and a note from Ken Starr to currently available for the average get control codes for new printers these C64/128 user is the MaiLink. days). Since the Epson is notoriously unfriendly to GEOS, I printed the This is not to put down Loadstar Letter graphics on my Star NX1020 Rainbow. In a or Commodore World, both of which test with the Epson, graphics were deserve our thanks and support for elongated as is common with ink jet continuing to serve this small market. printers. The printout was also very But both are heavy on programming, light (using the Epson8pin3pass drive telecommunications and advanced that I normally use for GEOS with the technical matters that just don't Star). appeal to the average user. I cheated only once, printing the This is the person I define as using digital grandfather clock from the PC, the Commodore for word processing, because it would not convert to a usable maybe keeping a budget or other simple GEOS file. records on a spreadsheet, and using some kind of graphics-oriented program —Dick Estel such as Print Shop, Fun Graphics Machine or GEOS. People like you and me, in other words. MARCH EDITOR Therefore I'm proud and happy to be Rolf Miller will be the editor of the showing my support for this great March MaiLink. His plan is to put newsletter by taking a turn at editing. together the issue with a collection of I'm fitting this job in between two pages produced by members from a other newsletter projects, a family Commodore 64 or 128 ready for copying. newsletter that comes out every so Within the page(s), include your name often but is more or less overdue; and and what you used to produce it. The our club newsletter, which I've edited page(s) may contain graphics. A page may for about five years in two separate be less than full (the editor will fill stints. it up). Use at least a half inch margin around the page. The top line of each Now I must make a confession. I love my page should be a page header containing Commodore and have owned one since the words COMMODORE MAILINK MARCH 1999, Commodore MaiLink - Page 3 - January 1999 followed by a space line. Use no page manner just as if talking about it and numbers. Send the page(s) flat, use punctuation as if speaking the protected by two cardboard inserts, words. When the writing is complete, along with a disk containing a TWS or print out the page(s) using an easy to sequential text file of the page(s) read font. Don't let the equipment you (for the MaiLink on disk) and any use discourage you. If it can produce graphics used. In the event that pages readable results suitable for photo received do not copy well or are copying, it's good enough. After all, otherwise unusable, they may be edited the value of a readable article resides and reprinted by the editor..Send to: in its content. Rolf Miller, 492 Anacapa St., Ventura, CA 93001. Other submissions may be sent —Rolf Miller on disk. Send e-mail to: bal00@lafn (no attachments). Deadline is Feb. 15, 1999. SOLVING PROBLEMS A WORD ABOUT PRODUCING A MAILINK PAGE by Larry Schafer The purpose of the MaiLink is to inform members and further Commodore 64 and One thing I use my Commodore for is 128 computer use, which is the reason solving puzzles. In her weekly column, for Meeting 64/128 Users Through The Marilyn Vos Savant proposed the three- Mail. To accomplish that purpose door problem. It has generated some requires readable articles, the content heated discussion as to the proper of which meets that objective. One answer. without the other is useless. A well- done page containing gobbledegook is To put the problem very briefly, the same as a good article printed in imagine a room with three doors. Behind an unreadable manner. Therefore, the one of the doors is a valuable prize. invitation to produce one or two pages You are asked to select a door, but, for the March MaiLink is to write and before it is opened, a door you didn't print a legible article which will aid select is opened, showing no prize. Now other members in their use of the you are faced with two unopened doors. Commodore 64 and/or 128. Are your chances better if you switch your choice? To write an article, choose a subject. The theme of the issue is Know-How: The problem wasn't hard to simulate. In what you do, and how you do it. part, the computer had to generate a However, you are free to choose any random number between 1 and 3. When I Commodore related subject. Ask: WHO, looked into generating it, I used WHAT, WHERE, WHEN, WHY, and HOW regarding the chosen subject. Some RN = INT ( RND(0)*3 )+l) questions will not apply. Write (type) out the answers to those that do apply, which worked well, but was slightly then ask the same questions of the biased. RND(TI) works a lot better. answers. Repeat the process until there is enough to write the article. Oh, yes. I can now prove that your chances are twice as good if you As for the actual writing, remember switch. that it is just speaking made readable. Punctuation is simply marks to indicate the pauses and inflections characteristic of speaking. So, write about the subject in a make-sense Commodore MaiLink - Page 4 - January 1999 Jim Butterfield and The Commodore Myth Jim Butterfield, Official Commodore confused with Mostech. That's a Guru, was a featured speaker at the different company. Chicago Expo in October. Raymond Day of Michigan captured his talk on And this little group of ex-Motorola videotape, and K. Dale Sidebottom people came in and said, "We're going edited it for publication. to make you rich. You're going to make a microprocessor. That's where it's at!" And they said, "What's a I noticed on the website that I was microprocessor?" I have no idea what expected to talk a little bit about those guys said but it must have been Commodore history. Now this is more good, because they got to set up their like Commodore mythology. Nobody knows own microprocessor department and the real stories, but the ones they're started building the chip they wanted telling seem to get better over the to do at Motorola, the 6501. years. I would like to see if I could call up from my memory some of the Now the 6501 was like a 6800. It had better Commodore myths, some of which the same pins with the same might be true, but don't make any bets designations, but it was a heck of a on it. lot faster, and they decided to do something else that was amazing. Not Item number one. Where the heck did only did they have a better chip, but Commodore computers come from? Well, they were going to sell it at a lower way back around 1975 or maybe a bit price! The price of any 8-bit earlier, there were a bunch of microprocessor chip back then was about engineers on the west coast making a a hundred bucks in quantities of 300 or chip for Motorola, a chip called the more. They were going to sell this new 6800. Heck of a lot better than the 6501 chip for $25, and eventually they Intel chips! But Motorola just wanted did. Except Motorola sued them for those to show, well, they were doing copying their pin layout. So they had the business. So they the engineers retire the 6501. finished the 6800 chip and said, "We've got a wonderful new idea for a new That left them with the 6502, which had souped-up 6800! We are going to do an internal clock circuit. It had a great stuff with it!" different pin layout, too. So they launched this 6502 thing for far less Motorola said, "We've been thinking than the general industry price and about this and you're fired because, immediately people started saying it first, we only wanted to have a can't be very good if it is so cheap. processor chip and we have one now and Well, it was fantastically good! But it don't see why you guys are hanging took awhile to prove it. The first around anyway, and secondly, why pay thing they did was they built an you for a better chip when we have one engineering prototyping board call the working now?" So these guys wondered KIM-11. That was really a very East and found somebody on the east interesting development in the micro coast near Pennsylvania, somewhere computer field. Until then, if you around the Valley Forge center, who was wanted a micro-computer system, you into the micro-chip business. What they sent away mail order and got back a bag were making was mostly chips for of chips and a circuit board. You had watches and display chips. Their name to put them all together, and you found was MOS Technology, Inc., not to be out that 10% of the chips were defective. Folks had a real good time Commodore MaiLink - Page 5 - January 1999 chasing these things down. So suddenly He never had the money! A lot of people they're selling a KIM-1 as a completely were upset by this, but Jack had a way fabricated board. It's got all the of upsetting people. So he acquired MOS chips on it. Its a complete system. Technology mostly to get the watch It's wave soldered so that it costs display chips. About that time, one of practically nothing to actually make at the people from California, who had the factory. And it sold for, gosh, I been involved in the production of the think about $300 including the process KIM-1, came up to Jack and said, "What server, the ROM and the RAM, and so on. you ought to be doing is selling the It had a wonderful set of RAM on there. personal computer." Jack said, "What's It had about one K (kilobyte), and you a personal computer?" The guy said, could play chess, by the way. I have "Let me explain it." And Jack said, done it, and some of you may recall the "No. Will it make money?" And the guy Micro-Chess program. said, "Oh yeah! It will make you rich!" So immediately Jack said, "Let's get What I perceive as a fantastic user into production on this thing." group grew up around it because, for once, everybody had the same micro So he set up a new machine called the computer system. Before that, everybody PET. When the PET first came out, it had a different system. Suddenly we all was a nice little machine in some ways. had the same system, and suddenly with They originally wanted to do it with 4 the KIM-1, you could swap programs. K, but in fact it turned out that 4 K This is about where I came in. Together wasn't terribly good for anything, so with a couple of other people, I put they settled mostly on 8K. The first together a publication called The First machines came in a wooden case. They Book of KIM. Effectively, it was the looked very pretty. I'm not sure, but first time we got to share notes on a if your computer has termites, maybe single computer. you have one of those things. So they made this wonderful thing called the About the time that we were doing that PET. Mind you, if you wanted a printer, job, MOS Technology, Inc. was being you waited a year. If you wanted a disk viewed with interest by a guy whose drive, you had to wait a year. Because name was Jack Tramiel. You may know all you could do back then was to have that name. He was the head of an outfit a little cassette device reading your called Commodore, a typewriter company, programs in and sending them out. But and they built watches and calculators, again, it may or may not have been the too. And they were running a little first personal computer. There has short on watch chips, especially the always been an argument about that. I display chips, so they were looking don't think we can solve it here. around for someone to acquire. Commodore was probably the first to Now, Jack Tramiel is rumored to have announce a fully made computer. They very interesting ways of doing weren't necessarily the first to ship. business. He would go up to a company The idea was, if you wanted one of and say, "I think we should do these computers, you put $800 in small business. I think I'd like to buy your unmarked bills in an envelope and company for 10 million dollars." And addressed it to Jack Tramiel and sent that company says, "Gosh, that's pretty it there. Eventually, if you didn't get good. I think we can do something a computer in four months, then you had here." So they sign the papers and the right to ask for your money back. everything else, and the acquired Many people did get their computer in company says, "Where's my 10 million four months. One guy, I know, actually bucks?" Then Jack said, "Oh! Here's found it on his back porch, sort of twenty thousand shares of my company." loose in a box, right after a trade Commodore MaiLink - Page 6 - January 1999 show. But they got their computers and same machine. Thus, a user community it was very nice. could spring up. Back to who made the first personal 2Apple may claim that they made the computer. Well, Commodore announced first home computer...but the Apple I theirs first. Apple did make an earlier was a kit. The Apple ][ was fully made computer called the Apple I2, but it (as we all know), but Commodore was a kit. So if they want to claim announced first with the Pet 2001, a 4 first, they can claim that in certain K machine in the beginning, although ways. Radio Shack put the Tandy most of them were equipped with 8K. together in one heck of a big hurry and had it on the shelves before Commodore had these things on the store shelves. LONG TIME MEMBERS Commodore was shipping before that and they were showing before that, but Jean Nance Radio Shack's were actually in where you could buy them in you local store "Meeting 64/128 Users Through the Mail" earlier. So they can argue forever, but started in 1986. Here are the dates of we were up there pretty early. We had a membership of those who joined in the pretty good machine back then. Even first 6 years. These members were all then, we had a good language and we had still on the September, 1998 membership a good system. Some of the things that list; we hope all of them are still we did, the industry is still only just with us in 1999. If I missed anybody, discovering! Do you know what the hot please let me know. Records this far new term today is on PCs, just coming back are not as complete and well in? It's called the serial bus. Guess organized as they might be. what we had way back then twenty years ago. We had a serial bus to which we can connect something up! Joined in 1987 - Eloise Carey, Jean Nance. There was some very good thought, some Joined in 1988 - Jolene Ehret, Brian very good engineering, and occasionally Vaughan, Richard Fernandez, John some misfiring in those days. But I'll Shaver. tell you one thing and then I will Joined in 1989 - Frank Redmond, Elva conclude. That is, that regardless of Brinson, O.B. (Bev) Harvey, Csaba some of the sheer computing power that Csaszar. you have on computers today, you still Joined in 1990 - Ren Bronson, Ed Duffy, can't have anywhere near as much fun on Fred Knerr, Maurice Jones, Joe those computers as we have had and Garrison, Charles Andrazyk, Karen continue to have on these 8-bit Crosby, Bob Estand, Jim Green, Emil Commodore machines! Volcheck, Jess Wyder, Melvin Baral, James Caldwell, Michael Beverage, John 1The KIM-1 was almost the first (Zeb) Larry, Robert Mullady, Donald computer to be offered assembled and in Squire, Suzanne Miller, Dick a standardized form. Earlier micro Pattinson. computers were kits which were put Joined in 1991 - Hugh McMenamin, Mary together (usually wire-wrapped) by Spink, Grace and Robert Peppard, Tom users; depending on funds and Adams, Scott Merrill, Tom Grimm. resources, things like memory and Joined in 1992 - Keith Keller, Dan input/output varied widely among the Haney, James Denning, Wendell Weiper, user base (teletypes, CRTs, LED William (Bill) Kennedy, Thomas Powell, clusters, etc.). The significant thing George Hoke, Andrew Schwartz. about the KIM-1 is: fully assembled at little extra cost; everybody had the Commodore MaiLink - Page 7 - January 1999 Rebuttal to Why I Don't Like 6E0S fonts. Narrow characters and small fonts take up less room and you could by Roger Detaille, Larry Schafer & Dick have more than 80 characters over the Estel width of the sheet. In the November 1998 MaiLink, W.R. 5. There is no convenient way to change Kennedy shared his thoughts on the page length: The page length is set to negative side of 6E0S. Three members full page. Why change the page length, submitted articles offering a different use page breaks instead when the page view. We have combined their ideas into is to satisfaction. one article. 6. No indication of how many lines a Certainly 6E0S is not for everyone. given printer will use in a printout: Having experienced a lot of frustration How many lines does a printer print? It with our own first attempts with GEOS, can all be seen in geoWrite. I have we understand his points. His comments been using GEOS since 1987 and had no indicate that he has not used GEOS with problems what so ever with this. What the hardware that allow it to perform you see on the screen on a given page to its fullest capabilities. On the is what will print. other hand, if you're not going to use GEOS, you may not have much use for 7. Margin setting and paragraph setting that hardware for other programs. is nerve-wracking and time-consuming: Margins are the easiest to set, just Now to his points and our comments: take the M-slider on the ruler and move it where you want it. The same for the 1. 2 or 3 disks are required: What P-slider for the paragraph. I think program do you have that allows you to nerve-wracking is a bit of an create signs and newsletters using only overstatement. Using the program one disk? With a hard drive, you can develops skill. usually put everything needed into one partition (disk equivalent). With 8. Highlighting is not simple and Wheels, you can put EVERYTHING into one straight-forward: Click, move mouse, partition. release. What could be more simple? If you want to keep certain text 2. Takes too long to load: What highlighted, you definitely are out of Commodore program loads quickly? GEOS luck. Use underline, or italics, takes about a minute to load, but so instead. Or bold. does TWS. I am using a battery-backed RAM and GEOS boots in eight seconds. 9. File must be named before creating: GEOS makes sure that you get your 3. Time must be reset: Not if you use a document saved under a name you specify device with a clock (Smart Mouse, hard ahead of the actual writing. Then while drive, RAM Link). You can also use a you work, the program performs utility program that asks for the time automatic saves. And you have to enter when you boot, making it easier to a title sometime if you want to save remember and to enter. And you don't your work. If not, just dump your data HAVE to set the time and date unless file icon in the trash! you want to date-stamp your files. 10. Copying some files is not 4. Word processor does not indicate possible: Files that need to be copied cursor location: I almost never use are easily copied. System files have no this feature on the word processors use unless by themselves. Why would you that have it. Columns don't count as want to copy them? such in GEOS since it uses proportional Commodore MaiLink - Page 8 - January 1999 11. Updating the system is almost having to go through a window to get impossible and at best cumbersome: what you want is time consuming and Actually, updating the system requires cumbersome: You can use the viewing carefully reading and following option to see the files listed in directions. several different ways. I love icons. They are colorful and tell you what the 12. Second hand copies won't work thing is. Obviously we'll never lose without the original: True* The GEOS Mr. Kennedy to the PC world! copy-protection system is so effective, it frustrates legal owners. I have Using The Write Stuff is faster and found that the Trojan and Maverick easier. YES! A thousand times yes. programs make things easier. There is no Commodore word processor better than TWS. GEOS is for other 13. Old GEOS 2.0 will not recognize purposes. newer REU equipment: All RAM expansion devices that came after the Commodore But for what GEOS is really designed to 1764 and 1750 came with the required do, put text and graphics together, I GEOS configure files. Of course, if you submit that there is no better program got them second-hand, there's no for the Commodore. And to really enjoy guarantee you got the software that it and get the most use out of it, you came with the hardware. need the proper equipment. A bare bones computer/disk drive system is not the 14. Can't send printer codes to the proper equipment for GEOS. Remember, if printer: This can be done to a limited you don't like it, you ain't trying! extent with some add-on programs. But remember, GEOS produces graphics, not text; it's not intended to be used like Email Updates other word processors. My friends can tailor printer drivers to do what they Email updates (some are new, some are want, but the technique is still beyond confirmations of addresses that had me. previously had mail returned). 15. Preview is worthless: The preview Cheldon, Jack: [email protected] is to give you an idea what the printed Harler, Ed: [email protected] page looks like, it is not meant to be Harbron, Robin: [email protected] read. What other Commodore program Holiday, Larry: [email protected] gives a full-page, legible preview? Serfass, David: [email protected] (new) 16. Printer files must be on every Sidebottom, K. Dale: disk: True in GEOS 64, but only on work [email protected] disks you want to print from. And not Redmond, Frank: [email protected] with the 128 version. I load the one I Veatch, David: want into the REU as part of the start david.veatch@eastpointe♦com up procedure. (change) (alternate): [email protected] 17. Pointing and clicking requires a (last resort addr) mouse or joy stick. They take up room on your desk. The mouse even requires a REPORT ADDITIONS, CANCELLATIONS, OR clean desk! Geos without a mouse?? CORRECTIONS TO: [email protected] THERE'S why you don't like Geos. I yield to no one in desk messiness, but I find the 9"xlOft mouse pad adequate. 18. Icons may please some people but Commodore MaiLink - Page 9 - January 1999 MaiLink Index - How I Did It Editing by Paul Berry Now I had to get the index organized and ready to print so it would fit onto Part two: Assembly, Editing and printed pages and look reasonably Printing presentable. NOTE: I always put a non-printing First I went through this rather large "Save" command at the top of important index file and placed two carriage documents which makes saving and returns at the beginning of the file resaving them easy. Several times and between each of the 17 groups of during this assembly and editing coded data lines. This made subsequent process, I had to stop for one reason identification of the categories and or another, and I just pressed CONTROL subcategories much easier. then "s" to save (or resave) the document as of the time I had to stop. Then, using the familiar TWS editing techniques, I put titles at the Assembly beginning of each category and subcategory. Having entered, sorted and saved the data for each year of MaiLink since With all the titles in place the 1993, I now have six index files each category codes became unnecessary, so I containing 125-150 data lines. In order replaced them with spaces using the to prepare a six year index these files "Search and Replace" commands. must be combined into a single 6-year file. At first I thought I would just Printing combine the six files using the "Load/Merge/Append" command then sort I used the "Odd/Even" printing command the 6-year file, but quickly learned to put the ten pages of the index on that the "Eat Text" buffer is not large five sheets of paper printed on both enough to hold the 6-year file. sides and the "Offset" command to move the text 5 spaces right on the odd Following a suggestion from Eric Lee, pages to make room to punch holes. The who wrote TWS in the first place, I top of the file looked like this divided each yearly file into four (letters enclosed in [ ] are in parts (according to category codes): reverse video; ie, commands; "z" is ax#-hm#, hp#-px#, sa#-sx# and tx#-xx#. defined as the [RETURN] character): I used the "Load/Merge/Append" command to combine all 6 of the ax#-hm# [n]@0:-6 yr mailink portions, then sorted and saved the 6- [n]Formatted for 10 cpi and 6 lines per year ax#-hm# file. I repeated this inch process for each of the other three [oe]0[oF]5 portions, and ended up with four sorted [lm]5[rm]5[tm]5[bm]7 6-year file portions. These portions [he]l;[c]Six Year MaiLink Index[cZ] were then combined using the [Z] "Load/Merge/Append" command into a single 6-year file which was completely Author Issue/Page sorted in the same manner as the yearly [fo]5;[c#] files. Obviously I quickly saved this large file (130 blocks of disk space). The TWS manual provides a good The entire process took about 30 explanation of the commands. minutes to assemble and sort the 6-year index file which is now ready for (Continued) editing. Commodore MaiLink - Page 10 - January 1999