ACORN Kernel - June 1991
From: Atari SIG (xx004@cleveland.Freenet.Edu)
Date: 03/02/94-12:46:01 PM Z
From: xx004@cleveland.Freenet.Edu (Atari SIG)
Subject: ACORN Kernel - June 1991
Date: Wed Mar 2 12:46:01 1994
**************************************************************************
* The ACORN KERNEL *
* June 1991 *
* VOLUME 10 ISSUE 6 *
* *
* Atari Computer Owners of Rochester, New York (A.C.O.R.N.) *
* P.O. Box 23676 *
* Rochester, New York 14692-0676 *
**************************************************************************
MEETING:TIME:
Wednesday, June 12, 1991
7:30 p.m. Room 262 S
LOCATION:
BRIGHTON HIGH SCHOOL
SIG ACTIVITIES
Basically Speaking - 7:00 pm to 7:30 pm, Room 261S
ST STarter Class - 6:45 pm to 7:30 pm, Room 262S
EXECUTIVE MEETING: Wednesday, June 19, 1991, 7:30 pm
at Don Allis' house, 168 Attridge Dr, Churchville
(call 293-3415 for directions)
DEADLINE FOR KERNEL: June 15, 1991
INSIDE THIS ISSUE:
START MAGAZINE CEASES PUBLICATION
START MAGAZINE SALE POSSIBLE
PANTHER DROPPED BY ATARI
Prez Says
PAGESTREAM 2.1 AT THE DOOR
Z*Net Monthly Threatened by STart Failure
MEMO FROM THE EDITOR
Atari Authorized Sales & Service Dealers
Atari in Germany
SIG "8"
Membership Update
Call ACORN's BBS
716 - 436-3078
24 hours a day 102 megs
1200/2400 baud
********
> START MAGAZINE CEASES PUBLICATION
Story by John Nagy
Z*NET INTERNATIONAL ATARI NEWS SERVICE - Z*BREAK #91-20 - 5/15/91
After days of conflicting rumors, it was confirmed by START Magazine staff
members today that the bi-monthly Atari magazine STart will NOT publish
another issue until further notice. "STart has suspended publication
pending a sale of the magazine," said Editor in Chief Tom Byron. A sale is
said to be in the works with unidentified parties, and no timetable is
being discussed publicly. Byron also said that the next issue, the
June/July edition, is complete and was waiting for printing when he got
the news today that the suspension was in effect.
The resolution of the fates of subscribers and the many writers to whom
STart has owed monies dating back to mid 1990 is not known or predictable
at this point. If STart is sold, it may be that those owed will be paid
from the revenues, or the new owner may assume the liabilities of the
company. A third possibility is that there would be a liquidation and sale
of assets held by STart itself, which may be negligible. STart is the last
commercial "slick" magazine for the Atari in the U.S.A. It will leave
behind only Atari Explorer, Atari's owned house magazine, and
newspaper-type publications like AtariUser and ST INFORMER.
*******
> START MAGAZINE SALE POSSIBLE
Z*NET INTERNATIONAL ATARI NEWS SERVICE - Z*NET #91-22 - 5/24/91
Despite the debt position of STart Magazine, Antic Publishing may
indeedhave a interested buyer according to comments from the staff of the
recently discontinued Atari publication. STart may be sold for an
undisclosed amount to a buyer outside the USA. Several overseas magazines
have been eyeing the US market, including those in Germany and the UK.
One of the most popular imported magazines, ST FORMAT of England, is
thought by many to be the leading contender in the STart purchase. There
are no predictions as to what a new incarnation of STart might look like
or be called, but at this time there is some hope for a publication to
take up where STart left off. As recently as March 1991, subscribers were
solicited for "discount offer" STart renewals at $80 and up by Antic
Publishing. Mail from subscribers moan of three to six year accumulated
subscriptions due to them from STart, accrued from their ANTIC, STart,
ST-LOG, and ANALOG subscriptions that had been rolled together, then to be
doled out in bi-monthly STart magazines... and now, who knows?
*******
> PANTHER DROPPED BY ATARI
Z*NET INTERNATIONAL ATARI NEWS SERVICE - Z*NET #91-22 - 5/24/91
Word from the game design center in Chicago says that Atari has completely
dropped development of the PANTHER game machine. Panther was to have been
a new pinnacle in home game units, using the Motorola 68000 CPU much like
an ST computer. It was said to be designed to offer remarkable graphics
with high-power "object oriented" programming that would make scaling and
3-D viewpoints easy and fast. Panther was also to interface to the Lynx
hand-held game units for multi-player action on the home TV. Official
reasons are "technical problems", but insiders agree that the most
worrisome problem is the "Super Famicom", re-dubbed "Super NES" unit from
Nintendo. The Nintendo unit will be commercially available long before
Panther could have been, and is certain to capture the high end of the
home game market with Nintendo's command of the software industry. Super
NES will also use advanced peripherals like a CD ROM and will be
compatible with other NES products. Atari staff say that they are now
working on "other exciting projects".
*******
> Prez Says
by Don Allis, ACORN President
At our June meeting, which is our annual meeting, we will be holding our
election of officers for the next year. The Executive committee has been
serving as the nominating committee and we still need some names to fill
some of the offices. If you would like to hold an office please let me or
one of the other officers know. You may even run for an office that
already has an officer. We also entertained a motion to raise the
membership dues from $18/year to $20/year. The executive committee has
tried to not raise the membership dues, but like everything else our costs
are rising. We also are experiencing a drop in membership. This drop in
membership does not allow us to take advantage of such things as lower
printing costs and lower postage rates.
I would like to thank everyone who helped to make the last meeting a
success. This includes the girls who sold the raffle tickets, the
secretary who has the membership forms, the editor (and assistant editor)
who put out the Kernel, the librarians who put together the disk of the
month, and to all the people who had a game to show us. Also thanks to
Chad McConnell for the ACORN pens.
At the June meeting we will be talking about printers and everything that
there is know about printers. Bring your questions and we will try to get
an answer for you.
Our July meeting is shaping up very nice. If you do not know yet, we will
be having a picnic meeting in July. The Picnic Committee has gotten of to
an excellent start and have planned a very exciting evening for us. Look
for their report in this issue. I think you will not want to miss this
event.
The August meeting will our Flea Market with a little twist. We will also
be having a Mini Disk Sale. You will be able to buy a disk from the club's
library for $1.00 per disk at this meeting. Bring to the August meeting a
disk of the proper format with your name and the disk number you wish a
copy of printed on the label and the librarian will copy it for you and
have it ready for you at the September meeting. If you do not have a
listing of the library, we will have copies at the July meeting. Watch the
Kernel for more details.
You may have noticed some advertising in the Kernel the last two months.
As you know we welcome any paid ads that we can get. If you are buying
something and you think the people that you are buying from would like to
run an ad, ask them if they would consider running an ad with us (even a
Business Card size) and if they do tell Candi or one of the other officers
and we will contact them. When the ads do run, we as a group must support
these advertisers or they will not want to run more ads with us. Let them
know where you saw the ad. For the size of the ads and the prices see page
2 of this Kernel. Not only can we be ATARI customers but we can also be
salespeople for ACORN.
We still do not have our BBS back to where it should be. We have borrowed
a 20 meg drive to stay at 40 meg, but this is only temporary. We do have
something in the works to replace the 20 meg drive but I cannot tell you
anything at this time about it but I hope to have news for you at the June
meeting. Due to the lack of use, we have dropped the 8-Bit part of the
board. If anyone has a concern about this please see me and I will convey
you concerns to the Executive Committee. Look for more details in the BBS
report in this Kernel.
As for next year's meeting place, we will be meeting at Brighton High. We
must still apply for the rooms, but I do not anticipate any problems with
the application. The executive committee felt that Brighton High has done
an excellent job this year. So we will be returning to Brighton. The rooms
should remain the same and the time will also remain the same. We will
only need to find a meeting place for the months of July and August. We
will keep you posted on the times and places for the July and August
meeting on the front of the Kernel.
That's it for this month. Have a safe and joyous Fourth of July. Happy
Father's Day to you dads. Congratulations and good luck to those of you
who are graduating.
*******
> PAGESTREAM 2.1 AT THE DOOR
Z*NET INTERNATIONAL ATARI NEWS SERVICE - Z*NET #91-22 - 5/24/91
Soft-Logik is now mailing upgrade notices to registered owners of
PageStream for the Atari. The new version, 2.1, is about ready for
shipping. Using hinted Compugraphic fonts or Adobe Type 1 IBM format
(without hints to non PostScript printers), Pagestream 2.1 displays these
outline fonts on the screen plus prints them out to laser, dot matrix,
inkjet, non-postscript and PostScript printers. Color separation
features are enhanced, allowing manipulation of even 24 bit color images.
PageStream 2.1 retails for $299.95. Registered owners of previous
versions of PageStream can upgrade for a limited time for $75.00.
Registered owners of Publishing Partner can upgrade for $175.00.
*******
> Z*Net Monthly Threatened by STart Failure
Z*NET INTERNATIONAL ATARI NEWS SERVICE - Z*NET #91-22 - 5/24/91
Ripples from the STart magazine closing continue to affect many parts of
the Atari community. The latest to fall victim may be Z*Net Monthly, an
extension of Z*Net International Atari Online. In production since March,
1989, Z*Net Monthly has served over 40 user groups as a newsletter
supplement. The costs of Z*Net Monthly were to be subsidized by proceeds
from STart Magazine's contracted use of Z*Net News material in their own
magazine. With an unpaid debt to Z*Net of several thousand dollars,
STart's closing makes it difficult if not impossible for the monthly
supplement to continue. Z*Net also appears in AtariUser Magazine, but
revenues lost to STart may cripple the project. No final decision has been
made, but the July issue of Z*Net Monthly might well be the last.
*******
> MEMO FROM THE EDITOR
by Candi Nelson, Kernel Editor
There is not much room left for my column, so I'll be brief.
Peri and I enjoyed going to the Windsor Show the Weekend of May 3-5. What
a blast to see people like Bob Brodie, Dorothy Brumleve, Chet Walters and
Dr. Bob and have them greet me by name!
The show was great and it also proved that I can drive 8 hours all by
myself! And Peri did a wonderful job of navigating. We didn't get lost
once.
Speaking of Atari shows...there is the Great Lakes Atari Computer Users
Conference 91 in Erie, PA. Saturday and Sunday, June 29th & 30th, 10:00 am
to 5:00 pm at Mercyhurst College, 501 E. 38th Street.
Directions: From I-90 taker I-79 North to Rte. 5. Take Rte 5 West, past
the Pittsburgh Ave intersection. The College is on the right. (Hopefully
there will be signs.)
Admission is $3.00 per day, tickets available at the door.
We will be going there on Sunday afternoon. Hope to see you there.
*******
> Atari Authorized Sales & Service Dealers
Edited & Compiled By Tony Santos, 9/90
Reprinted From Boast Quarterly, April 1991 Part 2 Part 2 of the list of
Sales & Service Dealers
Canada
1. *** Raham's (Downtown St. Catherines)
Telephone (416) 682-7243
223 St. Paul St,
St. Catherines, Ontario, Canada
I visited this store on 9/9/90. Raham's had the latest ST software on
their shelves including European magazines such as ST Action, ST User and
ST Format. They had most of the new hardware on display, up and running.
Such as the new STe's, Megafile 44 Removable HD, Megafile 60 HD, The
Portfolio. The new monochrome monitor with stand, etc. They also had
"some" 8-bit software. Raham's uses Atari Canada for services.
Directions: From Buffalo or Niagara Falls: To St. Catherines, Take the
QEW. Get off at Niagara St. Exit, left on Welland (left fork under the
over pass) Left on Niagara ST, Right on Church St to end, which is St.
Paul St. Turn left and Raham's will be on your left side.
2. ***JMG Compushoppe
Harvard Square Plaza
Telephone (416) 575-3200
801 Mohawk Road, west,
Hamilton, Ontario
I visited this store on 9/9/90. This was the BEST store that I stopped at
while in Southern Ontario. JMG is owned and operated by 2 dedicated
STowners who also write commercial software (HYPERcard, HPERtext,
S.M.A.R.T., etc.). JMG has almost all of the latest Atari hardware such
as, STe's, MEGA 2, The Portfolio, Viking Large Monitor, STacy
Portable,with 20 meg HD, the New Monochrome Monitor with Stand, CD Rom
Disk Drive with Software!!!, Touch Up including the Hand Scanner, Megafile
44 Removable, Megafile 60 HD.
JMG also had "tons" of the latest softwarefrom games to utilities and
applications, some I have never seen and didn't know they existed for the
ST such as Microsoft Write, the latest DTP packages, PC Ditto 2 (working
version), Spectre GCR Mac Emulator from David Small and tons more. JMG
also carried a complete line of imported magazines and books. GREAT store!
Directions: From Buffalo or Niagara Falls: Take the QEW to Centennial
Parkway (Rte 20) /Beach Blvd., Turn left onto Centennial Parkway (Rte 20)
(here's where the other Atari store is located on the right in a plaza.
large Atari sign). Proceed down Centennial Parkway (Rte 20) to Mud St.
Turn right at the light. Mud St. will come to winding curve that becomes
Mountain Brow Blvd. On the left you will see Mohawk Rd. Take Mohawk down a
waays until you come to Harvard Square Mall on your left!
Note: If you miss Centennial Parkway (Rte 20) exit: Then proceed to
Burlington St. exit. Turn left when you come off the exitonto Burlington
St. Turn left onto Woodward Ave. Turn left onto Barton St. Then right onto
Centennial Parkway (Rte. 20). Then continue as above.
Directions: From Buffalo or Niagara Falls: Take the QEW to the 403
(Chedoke Expressway). Take the 403 south towards London. From the 403, get
off at Mohawk Rd. going East. Harvard Square Mall will be on your right!
Also in Canada (in Toronto area)
(But I haven't visited yet)
1. Compuplace, Inc.
3585 Keele St. #12
Downsview, Ontario
(416) 633-8667
(near the 401 & Sheppard)
2. Computer Software Plus, Inc.
938 Wilson Ave.
Downsview, Ontario
(416) 638-4353
3. Redbaron Computer Services, Inc.
213 Byron St. S.
Whitby, Ontario
(416) 666-3958
BBS: (416) 668-2078
(PD library available as well)
1 block west of Brock St, Hwy 12, 2 blocks south od Hwy #2.
4. Compuworld
4271 Sheppard Ave. E. Unit "O"
Scarborough, Ontario
(416) 299-8191
1 stop light east of Midland Ave.
5. Electronics 2000
Computer Product Centre
4736 Yonge St.
Toronto, Ontario
(416) 229-2700
(at the Poyntz Subway Exit)
I hope that this helps you in discovering "Authorized" dealers and the
latest in Atari hardware and software. My personal preferences are the 2
located in Canada that I indicated.
*******
? Product Review: The ZOOM 2400 baud modem
by Chris Freemesser, ACORN
If you're one of the vast number of computer owners who use 1200 baud
modems, you've probably been looking to upgrade to 2400. Undoubtedly,
you've read something about the ZOOM modem. It was one of the first 2400
baud modems to break the $100 price barrier, and is sold by many mail
order houses, as well as some local stores. However, many of the modems in
the under $100 price range are mediocre off-shore products. When my old
modem bit the dust, I picked up a ZOOM 2400 as a replacement. Happily, I
can say that this is a GOOD modem. Available at prices starting at $80 or
so, it offers high quality at a low price.
The modem itself is quite small, measuring 5" x 6" x 1.5". The casing is
made of black smoked plastic, which is not quite opaque enough to
completely block your view of the inside. It features the 'standard' 8 LED
indicators on the front face, as well as a rear power switch, RS-232 port,
and two phone connectors (one for the line, one for a phone). A
UL-approved power pack supplies the 9.5 VAC needed to run the modem.
Included is a plastic mounting tab so you can mount the modem on a wall.
The tab is a little loose, but as long as the face of the modem doesn't
tilt towards the ground, it will hold the unit. The tab simply slides into
a recess in the bottom of the case.
The circuitry looks like a good design. Components are laid out neatly and
logically. The modem is fuse-protected in case of a power spike or surge.
A medium-size speaker is located near the front of the modem. There is no
physical volume control, but the task is done through a software command.
The modem has one interesting feature that I've never seen before; a line
noise adjustment pot. If you have a noisy phone line, turning the small
potentiometer will filter the line.
The ZOOM modem sports full Hayes compatibility, including all S-registers.
There are no dip switches to set with this modem; any changes you may wish
to make are done through software commands and are kept in non-volatile
CMOS memory. However, I found the default settings satisfactory for
regular use; it worked right out of the box on my 520ST. The 50 page user
manual isn't flashy, but is well- written and very informative.
The plastic case doesn't seem to invite RF interference. My modem is stuck
on a wall, about 3 inches from my monitor, and has not had any problems.
That's a tribute to the tolerance of the circuit board. After being on for
24 hours straight, there was a small warm spot on the top of the case, but
not hot to the touch.
Now of course you're thinking that this is just another of the inexpensive
off-shore modems. WRONG! This modem is made in the good 'ol USA. As if
that wasn't enough, it comes with a SEVEN year warranty!
In summary, this modem is a good buy. It's small, inexpensive, works
great, has a huge warranty, and is domestically manufactured. If you're
poking along at 300 or 1200 baud, the ZOOM 2400 offers a viable upgrade
path.
*******
> Atari in Germany
by Valerie Lea Duck, ACORN
When a friend of my family went to Germany, we asked him to bring back an
Atari magazine. I have taken two years of German and have gotten to where
I can read simple text and stories.
I read what I could out of the two March issues that he brought back and
decided to do this article to let you know where Atari stands in Germany.
The information was taken from the PD Journal and ST Computer magazines.
The first thing I noticed as I scanned the magazines, is that Atari's
standing in Germany is like IBM's standing here. They think of the Atari
as a satisfying business computer. In the office they use Atari, as do IBM
business users here; Atari business users in Germany end up bringing their
work computers into their homes so that their family can benefit from it's
use.
They were very happy in Germany because Atari ST's are being used more and
more in schools, even so that as regular high school curriculum you can
take an ST course.
The majority of the articles in the magazines were about utilities and
wordprocessing programs, while only a small section was devoted to games.
There were several articles about the Mac-emulator, which they liked alot,
though some claimed that they liked their computer the way it was.
The other most talked about thing was the TT,which they said was speed
without the price. It's really popular over there and everyone is very pro
on it.
When I did reach the game sections, I found that most of the games they
really liked were either educational, war simulators, or sports related.
Three of the twelve reviewed were, Crime Time, which got a six out of ten.
They said it reminded them of Mortville Manor or the familiar murder
mystery type of game. They were disappointed that it didn't use the
computer to it's fullest, and the reviewer stated that it bogged his mind.
Chase H.Q. two also got six out of ten. They said that there were six
levels of action, you were timed, and that sometimes the objective bored
them. Tournament Golf got a seven out of ten. They said it was a good
quality golf game, with great graphics and sound, but then stated that the
ball was hard to control. Out of the twelve reviewed none received a ten.
The gamers were thrilled that a new Lynx would soon be available in the
United States. This one would have the same size screen, but would be
smaller and more compact. They couldn't wait for it to be available over
there, as most of the youth in Germany owned and loved the Lynx.
I couldn't help but noticing how much they admire and refer to Americans.
They even love some new program called Fastcard, because it features
President George Bush.
After reading these high quality magazines, all I can think of to end this
with is, what's wrong with Americans? Why are people so dense when it
comes to computers?
Well, at least this club's seen the light.
*******
> SIG "8"
by Nicholas J. Cup,ACORN
DISK OF THE MONTH
I have no idea as of right now what our Disk of the Month will be. It may
a two sided disk, may not. To be safe, you should bring in a disk that can
be written to both sides.MAY MEETING
Once again, we had a small but very enjoyable meeting. It was so small,
it was almost a 'non-meeting'. I would like to thank Jeff Summers for
bringing in all the equipment that he did for his demo of
Telecommunications. And by the way Jeff, you did another GREAT job of it.
JUNE MEETING
'??????????'
As much as I hate to say this, here goes. Because of very low attendence
in the past few months, the June Sig will be an open ended Sig. I find it
very difficult to use up my time and energy trying to set up a sig when:
no one bothers to give me any ideas of what they would like to see or do.
*******
? MINUTES OF THE MEETINGS
by Chris Freemesser, ACORN Secretary
A couple of years ago Bruce Nelson suggested we have a family picnic so
that our members could get to know one another a little better and have an
enjoyable evening out. The idea was a good one but for some reason or
another we just never got going. Well, after procrastinating a respectable
amount of time things have begun to roll. Don Allis passed around a picnic
sign-up sheet at the March meeting and lo' and behold four members
volunteered to be on the picnic committee. They are: Joe DePierro,
Chairman; Sam Duck, Site coordinator; Glenn Kramer, Games coordinator;
Sam Favata, Procurements coordinator.What an impressive cadre of talent!
We had a preliminary meeting on April 10th and developed the following
plan of action:
Date: WEDNESDAY, JULY 10 (our regular meeting date)
Time: 5:00 PM to about 10:00 PM
Place: First Baptist Church, corner of Allens Creek Road and Clover
Street, Pittsford.
For: All ACORN members, spouses or guest, and their immediate family
members. The planning is well under way, however we need YOU.
Cost: $5.00 per adult, $2.00 per child under 12, $15.00 maximum for a
family of four, $2.00 per additional family member.
Price will cover the cost of all expenses such as beefburgers/hots, snack
items, condements, paper products, soft drinks, charcoal, plastic
dinnerware, etc.
**Because this is a family event, held at a church, we are asking that you
refrain from bringing any alcoholic beverages.**
Your job is to:
1. Complete the reservation form found in this month's issue OR If you
don't like cutting this valuable document up, fill out a picnic
reservation form at the May meeting.
2. Indicate, on our master list, which dish you will bring.
3. Volunteer to help in some small way.
4. Bring something to help make it a fun event.
Some particulars for the day:
We can begin arriving about 5 PM. Our games coordinator, Glenn Kramer,
will have something planned for before dinner. However, if anyone wants to
engage in activities such as V-ball (if available), etc. go ahead and
organize a game.
I thought it might be fun to have an ST-SIG versus 8-Bit SIG three inning
softball game. (Just a thought).
We plan to have dinner at about 6:30 pm to 7:30 pm. Then a very, very
short business meeting, followed by more fun and games until about 9:00
pm or 9:15 pm.
Then a special guest will arrive, yes, the "King" himself has always been
an avid fan of Atari and ACORN, so he will be performing inside after
clean-up. So plan to stay for a great show.
This is really our first picnic that I know of. If it goes well ... well
who knows this may be an annual event.
Remember: Sign-up at the May meeting, buy your ticket no later than the
June meeting. We need to know how to plan our procurements accordingly,
everything will be based on the number of reservation. Therefore, all you
members of the Rochester Chapter of the Procrastenators Club of America
please don't wait until July 9th to decide you are going to participate.
Hope to see you at the May meeting.
First, I should apologize for the lack of minute reports in the past
few Kernels. RIT keeps me nice(?) and busy.
GENERAL MEETING
We had a small turnout (roughly 30 people), with no new people in
attendance. Free copies of the new AtariUser magazine were passed out,
courtesy of Bill Wheat and Bits, Bytes, & Pieces. BB&P also passed out
their latest catalog of products.
AIM magazine was the first thing we talked about. They have combined the
April and May issues due to (questionable) time constraints on their part.
We will be getting more info about AtariUser. Joe DePierro talked about
the July ACORN Picnic. If you wish to attend, fill out a reservation form
and buy a ticket from Sam Duck, ACORN Treasurer.
Don mentioned that June is our annual meeting. Officers will be elected,
and there will be motions needing you to vote on. Make sure you attend! We
will also talk about printers in June. A few words were said about a
possible computer show. Candi Nelson reported on her adventures at the
Windsor Atari show, and showed some of the literature she brought back.
Bill Wheat of Bits,Bytes, & Pieces talked a little about his computer
business, and his "Buyer's Club". ACORN members can get this value-packed
offer at a discount. See Bill at the next meeting if interested.
Finally, there was some discussion about hard drives. As a personal note,
I'm preparing a series of articles about hard drives, which will debut in
the July Kernel.
EXECUTIVE MEETING
As usual, our Exec meeting was held at Don Allis' house. Yet again, NO
pizza and NO Coke were available to those who have to drive all the way
out to the BOONIES for this meeting. :^)
Those present were: Don (big surprise), Candi, Nick, Sam, Joe, Sam Favata,
and me. The only absentee was the Pizza Hut guy.
We first talked about the slate of officers being offered at the June
elections. We still don't have a VP, so we will open the floor to
nominations before the vote. A few words were then said about the last
meeting.
Next, we talked about the Kernel. This included when the Kernel is mailed
and how long it takes to arrive. We also talked about the possibility of
dropping bulk mailing and going to 1st Class. We currently mail 205
newsletters, but have only 90 members. The other 115 are exchange
newsletters or free copies sent to various places. We have to send at
least 200 newsletters to get the bulk rate. As our membership dropped in
the last year, getting 200 addresses became more difficult. The costs of
both methods will be compared, and a decision will be made.
We then had library reports, and some discussion about the AIM Disk of the
Month. Our August meeting will have a Flea Market before the general
meeting begins. Also, August will be the 1st annual ACORN Summer Disk
Sale. This is similar to the Disk Swap: Bring blank disks and $1/disk to
the August meeting, and the library disk of your choice will be copied and
returned to you at the September meeting.
Other things discussed were meeting ideas, encouraging business card ads
in the Kernel, and advertising ACORN. We then talked about the new
AtariUser magazine, and the possibility of getting AtariUser instead of/in
addition to AIM.
June will be our Annual meeting. Officers will be elected, and we will
vote on the $2/yr dues increase that was mentioned in the survey you took
last November. Printers will be the topic for June. July is the 1st annual
ACORN Picnic. See Joe DePierro for more info. Remember, you MUST be a
member in good standing (paid up membership) to attend!
Our August meeting will be at the First Baptist Church. Directions will be
in the Kernel. Finally, we talked about what we would like to see in a
computer show.
At this point, the lack of nourishment (due to Don's poor hosting prowess)
overwhelmed many officers, and we were forced to adjourn the meeting.
*******
> Membership Update
by Chris Freemesser, ACORN Secretary
First, the important news. Errors recently found in our database suggest
that some people may not have gotten membership cards, or may have
incorrect renewal dates. Please make sure that the membership renewal date
on the back of this newsletter is correct. Also make sure that your
membership card is up to date. If there is a problem, please inform me as
soon as possible so it can be corrected. We will compensate for errors
which have resulted in members not getting newsletters or AIM magazines.
If you have recently renewed your membership, you will notice that it will
expire on the 15th day of the month instead of the 1st. This minor change
was decided upon some time ago by the Executive Committee, and will give
you time to renew your membership at a meeting before it expires (the
latest General Meeting date is the 14th of the month.
------------------------------------------------------------------------
The Atari Computer Owners of Rochester, NY (ACORN) is an independent,
informal organization of Atari computer users. It is not affiliated with
Atari or any other commercial enterprise. Opinions expressed in this
publication reflect only the views of the individual author, and do not
necessarily represent the views of ACORN. Material in this Newsletter may
be reprinted by other Atari User Groups, provided the author and ACORN are
given credit. Only original work may be reprinted. Questions concerning
reprinting should be addressed to the Editor. ATARI is a trade mark of
Atari Corporation. Articles on disk can be mailed to the Editor, 120
Cobblestone Dr. Rochester, NY 14623.
Queries should be directed to Candi Nelson, 334-5513 or send copy and line
art ready for paste-up directly to the ACORN KERNEL, P. O. BOX 23676,
ROCHESTER N.Y. 14692-0676 to arrive no later than the 15th of each month
prior to publication. All advertising must be prepaid.
We reserve the right to refuse any advertising not in keeping with ACORN's
policies. Non-commercial ads are accepted without charge from members and
are limited to a maxium of four lines of text.
OFFICERS
President Don Allis293-3415
Vice-President [position open]
8-Bit SIG Vice-President Nick Cup 266-1468
ST SIG Co-Vice-President Dick Orme 334-4093
Secretary Chris Freemesser 328-1703
Treasurer Sam Duck 461-0544
Basically Speaking Class Jeff Summers 342-7632
STarter ST Class Stu Woodard 352-4937
ACORN KERNEL STAFF
ACORN Editor Candi Nelson334-5513
Assistant Editor Bruce Nelson334-5513
Mailing Chris Freemesser 328-1703
LIBRARIANS
8-Bit Disk Nick Cup 266-1468
ST Disk Joe DePierro 223-7838
Exchange Newsletters Helen Kiker 924-4809
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