MAIN LINE COMPUTER USERS - FEBRUARY 1997 - ISSUE #177 ***** FEBRUARY 1997 ******************** ISSUE #177 ***** VILLANOVA UNIVERSITY, MENDEL HALL MEETING STARTS - 09:30 - FEB 01 8-BIT HELP TIME - 11:30 ----------------------------- CONTENTS Farewell from CUPID! 2 Announcements/Trading Post 3 64/128 meeting minutes 4 ROM SECRETS! 4 YEAR 2000! 4 Quicky Program challenge 5 Old Goodies 5 eAMIGAf User Happenings 6 Build Your Own Monitor Cables 7 History of Computing - Part I 8 Masthead/Meeting schedule 9 Membership Form/Dues 10 ----------------------------- MAIN LINE 64/128 USERS - Room 158 [Postponed from January!] For some time now, our Internet guru, Peter Whinnery, has been telling us about a "UNIX-like" operating system for the 64/128 - and offering to show it. Well, if the weather permits, we'll try to do just that for this month's meeting! Below are some remarks from Peter (originally published in July): ACE is an operating system for the Commodore 128 and Commodore 64 that provides a Unix-like command-shell environment. All ACE programs will run on either a C128 (in 128 mode) or a C64. See last month's issue for a listing of the commands and functions offered in ACE15. (continued on page 3) MAIN LINE AMIGA USERS - Room 162 For the past few years, January has not been a very good month for club meetings. Winter weather has typically caused the cancellation of our meetings during this time frame, but not this year. Last month electrical work at Villanova was the culprit causing the meeting to be canceled at the very last moment as the result of a campus wide power outage. As a consequence, I was going to pick up at the next meeting with a continuing presentation on graphics, BUT there has been a change of plan. Ted Dean and I have been working over the past month to setup a Mac emulation on our Amiga 1200's. We've been working with ShapeShifter version 3.7 to give our Amigas a slightly different look and (continued on page 6) ----------------------------- EXPLANATION AND APOLOGY FOR THE JANUARY SNAFU! See page 4 for the story of January. Since we are not absolutely sure of what may be going on in Mendel Hall, come prepared for an alternate meeting room. We'll post signs on the door(s) to convey any room changes. See you !! CHRONOLOGY OF SIGNIFICANT EVENTS IN THE DEVELOPMENT OF COMPUTING MACHINES (PART I) BY JAY R. BAKER 300 B.C. or earlier - Table abacus in use. The abacus facilitated mathematical computations which were otherwise very difficult because of the cumbersome representation for numbers then available. Also the operator of the abacus did not need to be literate. 700-900 A.D. - Introduction into Europe of Hindu-Arabic numerical notation facilitated mathematical computation and very slowly led to a decline in the use of the abacus. 1300 - Wire and bead design of abacus developed in Europe and spread by traders to the Orient where it is reportedly still in use today. 1614 - John Napier (1550-1617), Scottish mathematician and theologian, baron of Merchiston, Scotland published the concept of logarithms. 1620 - William Gunter (1581-1626), English clergyman and amateur mathematician, used logarithms to develop a grid of lines on parchment with which numbers could be multiplied and divided using a compass. 1623 - Wilhelm Schickard (b. 22 Apr 1592 in Herrenberg, Germany, d. 24 Oct 1635), professor of Hebrew and Oriental languages at the University of Tubingen, built the first mechanical calculating machine called the Calculating Clock. In 1617 he met Johannes Kepler and maintained a correspondence with him which may have helped to inspire Schickard's invention. However, his death from bubonic plague and the disruptions of the Thirty Years War caused his achievement to remain unknown until 1957. In 1935 Franz Hammer, a German historian, discovered, among Kepler's papers, Schickard's letters documenting his invention but Hammer did not publish his findings until 1957 because of other distractions including World War II. In 1960, Dr. Bruno Baron von Freytag Loringhoff, a mathematics professor at the University of Tubingen, reconstructed a working version of Schickard's machine. 1633 - William Oughtred (1574-1660), English clergyman and mathematician, developed the first rectilinear slide rule consisting of two scales which slid back and forth relative to each other. 1645 - Blaise Pascal (b. 1623 in Clermont-Ferrand, France, d. 1662), French mathematician, invented a mechanical calculator (long thought to have been the first) in order to help his father (the tax commissioner for Upper Normandy) cope with an enormous computing burden. The first model was built to handle five digit numbers. Six and eight digit models followed soon after. Pascal's machine could only add because of the complicated gearing and rachet arrangement which allowed a digit to be carried to the next column. The user therefore had to employ the method of nines complement in order to subtract. Pascal's machine was a commerical failure because it was too expensive to build and maintain compared to the relatively small cost of clerks and accountants at that time. Pascal's mechanism survives today in the form of those little plastic three or four digit grocery store adders. 1654 - Robert Bissaker developed the modern slide rule design with a sliding stock between two fixed scales. 1673 - Gottfried Wilhelm von Leibniz (b. 1 Jul 1646 in Leipzig, d. 1716), German philosopher, jurist, historian, scientist and mathematician, invented a calculating machine called the Stepped Reckoner. The key feature of the machine was a special gear (now known as the Leibniz wheel or stepped wheel) which acted as a mechanical multiplier. [To be continued] SETTING UP SWIFTCALC 128 FOR CANON BJ PRINTERS [by Emil Volcheck] Users of SWIFTCALC 128 find it to be a very capable and facile program. But, if you have been using it with dot matrix printers, getting things right for your new inkjet printer may be a bit of a problem. So, the following parameters should give correct printing with the Canon BJ-100 or BJ-200 series printers - in EPSON mode. A. Set the paging: - on PRINT menu, page length to 58 - on PRINT menu, line length to 80, 96 or 136 (depending on cpi setting of 10, 12 or 17/inch) B. Set print options (press CRTL-P): Center printout Y Compressed type TBD (set printer codes, if Y) Sheet feed Y Number pages TBD Left margin 00 Top margin 02 Bottom margin 02 Number of copies 01 Print formulas N Line feed Y Open 4,4,? 5 Normal ASCII Y NOTE: if using either Elite (12 cpi) or compressed (17 cpi) printing, then the "Compressed type" option should be Y. Press C to set printer codes: - for 12 cpi (line length = 96) on = 27,77 off = 27,80 - for 17 cpi (line length = 136) on = 15 off = 18 NOTE: top margin + bottom margin + page length = 62 ------------------------------ 64/128/Amiga Meetings 1997 Steering Committee Meetings February 01 (ICE?) February 19** March 01 March 12 April 05 April 09 * = second Saturday ** = third Wednesday ------------------------------ NEWSLETTER DEADLINE is February 13 !!! ******************************************************** EDITOR: Emil J. Volcheck, Jr. 1046 General Allen Lane West Chester, PA 19382-8030 (Produced with C-128, RAMlink, HD-40/85, 1571, FD-4000, THE WRITE STUFF 128, XETEC Super Grafix, Panasonic KX-P1123, Swiftlink RS-232 and Motorola 288 modem) MLCUG BBS: 610-828-1359 (300 -> 28800 bps), 24 hr/day VILLANOVA SPONSOR: Prof. Frank Maloney, Dept. of Astronomy ######################################## ANNOUNCEMENTS & SPECIALS ######################################## NEW YEAR - as we move into the New Year - your input on meeting content is strongly solicited. we got a few ideas at the December meeting, but not enough to keep us thru the year! Please provide your suggestions at the meeting, by phone, in writing or posted on the BBS. THE VINTAGE COMPUTER - this source of low cost 8-bit hardware has now added to its repertoire with software. They have just issued a new 32- page catalog (for Jan/Feb/Mar) of software and books to supplement their hardware one. We will have this at the meeting. Or, you can write them at 520 Silverbrook Drive, El Cajon CA 92019 to get a copy, if you can not make the meeting. RENEWAL? - In the LOADSTAR LETTER #40, there was a notice of the re- issue of the "COMPLETE COMMODORE INNER SPACE ANTHOLOGY" (CCISA). This compendium of very useful (mainly tabular) information about Commodore 8-bit computers (and other things deemed useful by the author) has been long out of print. But, the original author, Canadian Karl Hildon, has re-published it. Emil just got a copy of the new edition and it is EXACTLY the same as the original - with a 5-page addition at the back of Jim Butterfield's memory map of the C-128 (CCISA was originally published before the 128 came out). You can get a copy of this mighty useful classic book by sending a check for $20 US to Karl Hildon, 4 Pollard Drive, Scarborough, Ontario, CANADA M1R 4G4. Turn around time was very prompt. $$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$ $ TRADING POST $ $$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$ FOR SALE: 128, 1571 drive, color mon., Brother daisy wheel and SG-10C printers, Koala pad, 1200 bps modem, port expander joystick, mouse + a lot of software. Any reasonable offer will be considered. Call Frank Salamone, 215-672-4970. (1) FOR SALE: great deal of C= hardware to sell. Includes 64, SX-64, 1541, 1571 & 4040 disk drives, monitors, etc. If you are looking for something, try calling Jay Haynor at 609-983-9150. (1) FOR SALE: 2-64s, VIC-20, color monitor 2-1541, Star NX-1000C, Okimate 10, also 2 modems, software, manuals, etc. From a former MLCUG member. Call Emil for more information, 610-388-1581. (1) FOR SALE: A1200 w/4 meg, internal hard drive, external hard drive, 1084 monitor Panasonic KX-P1124 printer, CD drive w. CDs, extra mice and joysticks, and about 100 discs of software. Documentation is included. Asking $800. If interested, call Walter Johnson, 610-626-8849. (3) FOR SALE: C-64 with power supply and dust cover in original box. Asking $20, call Emil Volcheck, 610-388-1581. (3) FOR SALE: MLCUG has a lot of hardware that is available for purchase by MLCUG members and at attractive prices! 3 computer - C-64 w/PS $25 2 disk drive 1541 - clone $20 13 disk drive 1541 - various $20 1 disk drive 1541 - 8/9 sw. $25 1 disk drive 1541-II $30 3 interface - Cardco $ 5 1 interface - MSD $ 5 11 joystick $ 2 1 modem - Panasonic 1200 bps $10 1 monitor - amber - Panasonic $10 1 monitor - screen filter $ 5 2 plotter - Commodore 1520 $10 2 printer - Commodore 1525 $10 4 printer - color - Okimate 10 $10 1 printer - Okimate 120 $20 1 printer - Star Gemini II $25 1 printer - Star NX-1000C $30 1 RAM expander - 1700 (256K) $20 1 VIC-20 with 64K RAM/video TBD includes one of the 1541 drives) Also, we have quite a bit of software, for bargain prices (typically $2). You can contact Charles Curran to check on any items of interest (610-446-5239). THE WRITE STUFF word processor for the 64 and 128, each version is $20. That includes V1 & V2, plus BB Talker with the 64, manuals, quick reference and overlay for the keyboard. Also have, for both versions, the ILLUSTRATOR add- ons at $3 each for original (uses Print Shop and RUNpaint) or IIA (uses the FGM graphics). **************************************** 64/128 MEETING **************************************** For our January meeting, we were informed that Mendel Hall was having the heat turned off and power shut down on the day of our meeting. So, our sponsor, Prof. Maloney, found us alternate meeting rooms in an adjacent campus building (St. Augustine Center) and we thought we were OK. Came Saturday morning and we got there early to get signs posted, etc. We were just about to set up our equipment, when the alarms went off causing us to nearly jump out of our skins! Then we found out that this meant the power had gone off - it got dark, then a few emergency lights came on, powered by a backup generator. Murphy had struck us! We found then that the power outage was intentional and would last for long past the time our meeting would take. So, we threw in the towel, asked the guards to steer folks away and the half dozen or so who were there early adjourned to the Villanova Diner for a very early lunch!! I had just been in the midst of thanking Prof. Maloney for getting us the alternate rooms, when the power went out. So, I told him never to expect another thank you!!! **************************************** ROM SECRETS! Well, the big guys have what they call "easter eggs" hidden away in their code. Since the programs are so big, they can hide a lot of stuff - and nobody complains about the wasted space! Have a C-128? So, you have some egs hidden away, too - not to be outdone by those big guys! Try the following simple little routine: 0 REM C-128 ROM SECRETS - H. VAHLENKAMP 1 REM COMMODORE COMPENDIUM, JAN 1997 P.8 2 PRINT CHR$(147) 3 SYS 32800,123,45,6 4 : 5 BANK 15:S1=DEC("63F5"):E1=DEC("640B") :S2=DEC("7FC0"):E2=DEC("7FF7") 6 FOR L=S1 TO E1:PRINT CHR$(PEEK(L)); :NEXT:PRINT 7 FOR L=S2 TO E2:PRINT CHR$(PEEK(L)); :NEXT:PRINT If anyone knows about any other Easter Eggs in their 64 or 128 (or Amiga), let us know. Mayhap, we can publish them, too... **************************************** YEAR 2000 ! [by Emil Volcheck] Well, I reckon that by now you all will have heard of the Year 2000 problem. That's when the computer clocks around the world reset to 1900 and your next bill from PECO is for 100 years of service!!! While you may not encounter this problem in your own programming (or programs) for the 8-bit or Amiga machines, you might get bit by the similar situation with the following little bit of code that is frequently used to get an accurate time delay when a program is running. To wit: 100 T=TI 110 IF TI