MAIN LINE COMPUTER USERS - APRIL 1997 - ISSUE #179 **** APRIL 1997 ********************************** ISSUE #179 **** VILLANOVA UNIVERSITY, MENDEL HALL MEETING STARTS - 09:30 - APR 05 !! ST. AUGUSTINE CENTER - SEE PAGE 9!! ---------------------------------------------------------------- CONTENTS History of Computing - Part III 2 Announcements 3 New Product - TURBO232 3 Trading Post 3 64/128 meeting minutes 4 ACE demo summary 5 THE SOLUTION! 5 CANON inkjet printers 6 AMIGA User Happenings 7 State of the AMIGA market 8 Masthead/Meeting schedule 9 Membership Form/Dues 10 ---------------------------------------------------------------- MAIN LINE 64/128 USERS - Room 110 You had to wait two extra months for this one! From our April presenter: "Almost as powerful as a 200 megahertz Pentium; able to write and read 11,000 blocks in 28 seconds; loads and runs GEOS applications faster than a speeding bullet!!! What is it??? Why it's a C-64 with a RAMlink and SUPERCPU attached, of course! Come to the April meeting and watch a C-64 with a 16 meg RAMlink and SuperCPU, put through it's paces. Among the software to be demonstrated will be; CMD's Utilities disk; FGM's Fun Graphic's Machine Demo, which runs 8.75 to 14 times faster; MADMAN Software's C-Kit, an archiving and copy utility, able to copy up to 16 megs in one pass; various GeoWrite and GeoPaint documents, which (continued on page 3) MAIN LINE AMIGA USERS - Room 210 For April, I thought we'd try and take on a subject we haven't really presented or discussed before. What I'd like to discuss are the issues of configuring the Amiga for performance and ease of use. Some of the topics may be familiar, but I'm sure others will be new to some of us. To my way of thinking, items of interest might include the file system we use on floppies and hard disks; the addbuffers and cpu commands; partioning and setup of hard drives; the impact of RAM, CPU, and FPU on system performance; commodities and utilities to ease living with the keyboard and mouse; patches to speed up the blitter and serial port and other system operations; anti-crash (anti-guru) software; your selection of monitor and video configuration; and (continued on page 7) ---------------------------------------------------------------- OUR MEETING ROOMS AND WHAT'S COMING UP! We made the successful transition to the St. Augustine Center at Villanova University for last month's meeting. And, we are booked there for the foreseeable future, fingers crossed. SEE PAGE 9 FOR A MAP TO ROOMS AND PARKING *************************** CHRONOLOGY OF SIGNIFICANT EVENTS IN THE DEVELOPMENT OF COMPUTING MACHINES (PART III) BY JAY R. BAKER 1833 - Augusta Ada Byron (b. 1815, d. 27 Nov 1852), Countess of Lovelace, an amateur mathematician and the daughter of Lord Byron (1788-1824), met Babbage and became an advocate and source of some of the funding for his Analytical Engine project. She published a paper in a popular scientific journal explaining the function of the Engine. She is also considered to be the world's first programmer having created a program for the Analytical Engine. The modern computer language "Ada" is named in her honor. 1835 - Babbage conceived of a more powerful new computing machine, the Analytical Engine (conceptually the first computer), which could solve any mathematical problem, not just those based on constant differences, which made the Difference Engine obsolete. Although no hardware was ever built, he continued to develop the concept until his death and left hundreds of engineering drawings and charts. Babbage's design included the concepts of a mill where the numbers were operated upon (corresponding to the CPU of today) and the store where results were stored (memory). The Analytical Engine would have processed 40 digit numbers (twice the size of the Difference Engine) and would have been 15 feet tall and 25 feet long or about the size and weight of a small locomotive. The machine was controlled by an external program provided by punched cards (an idea borrowed from the Joseph-Marie Jacquard (1752-1834), a French silk weaver, who invented the Jacquard loom in 1801, an automatic loom controlled by punched cards) which gave it the capability (in modern terminology) to perform branching and looping operations. 1847 - George Boole (1815-1864), British mathematician and professor at Queen's College in Ireland, published a form of algebra for logical operations ("The Mathematical Analysis of Logic") which ultimately formed the basis of modern digital computer processing. 1853 - Pehr Georg Scheutz (1785-1873), Swedish printer and publisher, and his son Edvard Scheutz (1821-1881), inspired by an account of Babbage's Difference Engine project published in the Edinburgh Review, successfully built their version of his machine which they called the Tabulating Machine. It operated to the fourth order of differences, processed 15 digit numbers and printed out results rounded to 8 digits on molds from which printing plates could be cast. It could produce more than 120 tabular lines per hour and, although not as well built as Babbage's and therefore subject to some error, nevertheless it was the first concrete demonstration of the enormous mathematical potential of such machines. 1872 - Frank Stephen Baldwin invented the pinwheel, a calculator mechanism that was superior to Leibniz's stepped wheel. He obtained a patent in 1875 and set up a small factory in Philadelphia which marked the beginning of the U.S. calculator industry. The company was not successful, however, until 1912 when Baldwin and Jay Randolph Monroe established the Monroe Calculating Machine Company. 1874 - William Thomson, Lord Kelvin (1824-1907), British mathematician and physicist, built the first automatic analog calculator which could compute the level of the tides for any day of the year. Kelvin published a paper in 1876 in the Proceedings of the Royal Society which recognized that machines such as he had built had the potential to become differential analyzers for solving differential equations, but the technology of his time was not adequate to build such a machine which wasn't accomplished until 1930. [continued] DIRECTIONS FOR ST. AUGUSTINE CENTER MEETING ROOMS For the next many months, we have shifted our monthly meetings from Mendel Hall to the St. Augustine Center at Villanova University. The 8-bit meeting will be in seminar room 110 and the AMIGA meeting in seminar room 210. Please be sure to enter the campus from the ITHAN AVENUE main gate, then proceed to the 2-level parking building adjacent to the St. Augustine Center, on the Ithan Avenue side. However, you may have to enter the building via the front door, as shown in the sketch below. ------------------------------------------------------------------ 64/128/Amiga Meetings 1997 Steering Committee Meetings April 05 April 09 May 03 May 14 June 07 ** June 11 ** SPECIAL MEETING! * = second Saturday ** = third Wednesday ------------------------------------------------------------------ NEWSLETTER DEADLINE is April 17 !!! ********************************************************** 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 ######################################## ANNOUNCEMENTS & SPECIALS ######################################## APRIL 8-BIT MEETING (continued from page 1) load and run virtually instantaneously; as well as demo's of the alternate desktops - DualTop and Topdesk. Also a GEOS label making program and a 10,000 block FGM partition with over 900 files, and more!! Is all this just hype or is it real??? Come to the April meeting and see for yourself!! Hopefully Murphy's Law will NOT apply.. Also contingent on my Ramlink making the trip with memory intact. See you there!!!! Thanks--- Dennis Krall" SPECIAL MEETING COMING UP - STAY TUNED! - as we have mentioned some months ago - and some will remember - it was 15 years ago in 1982 that MLCUG got its start. In April of that year, there was an organizational meeting of the "should we form a club" type at the Main Line Computer Center in Wayne PA. The consensus of the dozen or so attendees was that a club to support the large number of Commodore computer owners (then mostly PET and VIC users) would be worthwhile. So, we decided to go ahead, under the sponsorship of the Main Line Computer Center, hence the club was born and the name of Main Line Commodore Users Group was adopted. Because of scheduling conflicts with the classroom we met in, a meeting in May was not possible. So, the first formal meeting of MLCUG took place on Saturday, June 12 1982. And, as they say, "the rest is history". So, for our June 1997 (15th anniversary) meeting, we plan to do something special. That something will be announced in our May newsletter; so be sure to stick around - and read that story! (even if you skip everything else!). MORE JUNE MEETING STUFF - there will be no flea market meeting in June. Because of a very low level of participation by both sellers and buyers, the Steering Committee decided to skip the mid-year flea market. As of this writing, we still plan to have one for our November (pre-Christmas?) meeting - pending facilities availability at VU. Comments/reactions? *************************** NEW PRODUCTS Creative Micro Designs (CMD) announced that they have discontinued the SWIFTLINK RS-232 high speed interface cartridge. This is the key to talking to modern high speed modems with a Commodore -bit machine. It is being replaced with a new - even higher speed - RS-232 cartridge called the TURBO232. This new cartridge - 4with suitable software5 - is reported to handle the latest 33.6 Kbps modems (and can also let you use the very newest 57.6 Kbps modems that have just started to appear on the market). The new cartridge is priced the same as the older Swiftlink was. They also are selling combo packages with cables, software and external 33.6 Kbps modems at pretty competitive prices. As with the Swiftlink, you can be using an industry standard modem that can later be used with most any computer platform - rather than a Commodore specific modem. If you want to go faster (who doesn't?), look into the TURBO232! $$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$ $ TRADING POST $ $$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$ FOR SALE: C-64 with 1541 drive and a Sanyo color monitor. Best offer takes them. Call Janet at 610-623-0120. (1) FOR SALE: 2 C-64's, 1541 drive, Koala Pad, Okidata printer w/interface. Quite a few programs, plus extra stuff. Call Charles Golt at 302-366-1363. (1) FOR SALE: C-128 w/JiffyDOS, 1571 and 1581 drives, 1902A RGB monitor, C= 1200 bps modem, Xetec Super Grafix interface, Mach 128 cartridge, Epyx Fastload, 1530 datasette, and scads of programs. All in good condition (exc. monitor). Asking $200 for the lot - OBO on separate items Call Tom Johnson at 610-525-3440. (1) FOR SALE: C-64, 1541 drives, MPS-801 printer, PS for 1571/1581 drives, mouse, joystick, cables and manuals. Make offer to John Nagel at 610-566-6919. (1) BOOK WANTED: looking for, at least a loan, of the following book: Compute's Commodore Fun & Games, Vol. 2 (I think the Compute books part is right but am not certain). I'm looking for the item (on p.155, apparently) about the ENIGMA machine simulation. Emil Volcheck, 610-388-1581. (2) FOR SALE: SUPER 128 system, flat 128 with RamLink w/ 4megs of ram, RTC, battery backup; FD-4000 3.2 meg disk drive, (2) 1571 disk drive (1 has RAM board, 1 has JiffyDos), 1541-II Disk drive, 1080 Monitor, SwiftLink, Boca 14.4 modem, 1750 REU 512K, an EX-3 Expander, Super Grafix printer interface Star Gemini II printer, M3 Mouse + Joysticks, all cables to connect all hardware. All the above is in good working order. Most items have manuals. Plus many extra parts and backup items. Price $450 (OBO). Also available Panasonic KX-P2123 Color 24 pin printer PLEASE E-MAIL strause@enter.net (2) FOR SALE: C-128 w 1701 monitor, 1541 & 1571 disk drives, Gemini 10X printer, & books, manuals and some software. BO. Call Jean Costello, 610-459-4315. (2) 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. (3) 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. (3) 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. (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 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). *************************** 64/128 MEETING *************************** AT LAST! We had a nearly hitchless March monthly meeting. We were in our new (temporary?) meeting rooms in the St. Augustine Center at Villanova University - courtesy of our tireless sponsor, Prof. Maloney! In summary, our experience of one meeting says: - the seminar rooms are attractive and comfortable (as is the building) - accessibility to parking and the elevator is excellent - the aspect ratio of the rooms is a problem - in seeing the monitor. OK, right now for the smaller Amiga group, but a real problem for the 8-bit as we had all seats filled and some were far from the monitor - pending a big monitor, projector, or whatever, we'll check the feasibility of driving a second monitor placed about halfway down the table (note: Charles Curran ran a test in mid-March and found that the 128 can drive two monitors over a 20 foot cable with no apparent problems) - the capacity limit of around 20 folks may present some future difficulty - need a way to have phone access for on-line demos ACE DEMONSTRATION The long delayed demonstration of the ACE operating system also was accomplished. Our presenter, Peter Whinnery, gave us a broad brush picture of the wide range of capabilities of ACE. Most of the commands/functions that were covered in the preview item in the last issue were covered by Peter's demo. As noted before, ACE can be downloaded from the BBS (in the form of .SDA files that you have to self-dissolve when you get them on your machine). If you have a 1581 (or FD) disk drive, you can get the whole ACE system on a single disk - a great way to use it. Peter told us that a later version has recently come out, but is not yet in easy download form. He will keep us posted on the new system - mayhap an update item in the newsletter (?). And, if it gets onto the BBS, we'll let you know (or, why not, start using the BBS and you'll know as soon as something comes out!). *************************** THE SOLUTION ! [by Emil Volcheck] Back in the February issue, I issued a challenge to a little programming glitch that I had made - the challenge is repeated below. And the solution follows, which I had hinted at by referring to the by now nearly infamous YEAR 2000 problem. That's when all the computers go bonkers because of programming shortcuts related to how years are handled. Here's the recap: 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