by Jack Kincaid / jkinca1@cugkc.cjb.net
Well, it looks like I was wrong again! The political BS didn't end after the first week in November. It is like the Energizer rabbit - it keeps going and going and ...... Gore said "I want a recount until I WIN!" I am sorry to say that it takes something like this to shine a BIG spotlight on the voting practices in the states and the US as a whole. I had heard stories of voting irregularities in the 1920's and mostly in local politics, but this throws a whole new light on things. It has pushed two new words to the front of our vocabulary - Recount and Chad - they will live on in infinity! One other point: in all the media I hear about all these votes Gore is getting from the recount. I have not heard of any votes for Bush -- to me that sounds fishy that out of all of the recounted ballots not one for Bush... food for thought.
Leslie is looking into the library at 75th and Grand to see if we can get a room to hold our meetings. The meeting room we are now using is larger than we need and most of the time the telephone jack doesn't work and it is in the basement. The other library has the rooms on the ground floor and you don't have to go through the library part of the building, which would help Jon and other people that bring stuff to set up. Leslie called me to tell me that he has reserved the room for the December meeting.
Leslie still can't download from the BBS!! He is going to get a modem from Jon, a slower one, and try that. Hopefully it will be another step in getting out a newsletter.
At the November meeting we had, you will never guess! a visitor (faint, faint). He was (fanfair) O.K. Hudson. It has been a while since we had a visitor, as if you could guess. We hope he found the meeting of some help and will come to the next one also. We had no renewals and of course no new members.
The December meeting, keeping with tradition, is GOODY time, so bring a little something good to share besides your smiles and fellowship. And remember the MEETING is at the 75th and Grand library!
I still have 64s, 128s, 1541, 1571 drives, monitors and printers just sitting in my basement doing nothing. For a small fee they can be in your home doing something! Call or see me at the next meeting.
Is there anyone out there that would like to upgrade from a 64 to 128? 1 have two or maybe three 128s if someone wants them; call or see me at the meeting. Also available are monitors and disk drives, so if you want a spare or a second or third drive, now is a good time. I need to get rid of some of this stuff to keep peace in the household.
Need an extra monitor? Another drive? A printer? Give me a call, we have them all! I have an Okimate 10 color printer with docs and interface.
Financial Report
Balance Oct. 2000 ................... $235.16
Income: Nov. 2000
Sale of 128 and printer .............
$ 40.00
Expenses: Nov. 2000 .................-$
0.00
Closing Balance Nov. 2000............ $275.16
by Scott Heider / sheide1@cugkc.cjb.net
The Group meeting for November was held on Wednesday, November 1st at the Plaza Library. The attendance was 7 members. We also had a visitor, O.K. Hudson.
The bulk of the meeting was spent discussing our new meeting location beginning next month: the Waldo (South) branch of the Kansas City Public Library which is located at 201 E 75th Street in Kansas City, Missouri. For a map and directions to the library, follow the link above.
Finally, a reminder about the next Group meeting. See you at the Waldo Library for our annual holiday goodie-fest at 7:00 on Wednesday, December 6th.
by Lenard R Roach / lroach1@cugkc.cjb.net
Well whatd'yaknow, it's December already. My where has the year gone? I've been so busy that I let another year slip by. Man, that bites. Don't get me wrong, I love this time of year with all the good cheer and tinsel and the jolly fat guy in red, it's just that I missed all of the year 2000. Thank God for date books, otherwise I would have missed birthdays and anniversaries as well. Now that Christmas is quickly coming upon us I have to again think of things to buy for family and friends. Some people are easy to buy for. Others, like my youngest son, are a little bit harder to buy for. My family tells me that I am the one that is hard to buy for, even though I leave a list on the refrigerator of ideas that any one can get me for the holidays, but nobody pays any attention to it. I guess they all want to be creative in their gift giving, which is perfectly fine with me. I am grateful to get anything for the holidays even if it's a hard time, at least then I know that I am thought of. Still, I have this wish list that I hope one day my bunch will look at and act upon.
So what do I want for Christmas? Ah, that is simple. First I want a two megabyte RAM expansion unit. I have never used such a device and I've heard that they help a lot when it comes to using big programs like GEOS. Since all my word processing is done on GEOWrite now, an REU would be perfect for me to use so I can free up my drives for the saving of information. I also understand that GEOS works faster through an REU since it doesn't have to work from the disks, but it goes directly into the expanded memory. Heck, I'll even settle for a 1/2 megabyte unit, I just would like to have a quick way to work with some of my programs. I wonder if anything I've written will work in an REU? Maybe this Christmas I'll get to find out.
I would also like to get JiffyDOS for my slow grinding 1541 drives. I already have JiffyDOS for my C128 and the C64 in the 128, but they only are effective when I use my hard drive. With a JiffyDOS enhanced 1541, I could work at a faster megahertz without having to make any permanent attachments to the outside of my Commodore. I've enjoyed my JiffyDOS in the keyboard and would look forward to having JiffyDOS in my drives as well.
Still on the subject of speed, I wish for the ever popular SuperCPU if I don't get any JiffyDOS chips. With the SuperCPU I could access everything in my computer's memory at 20 mhz and enjoy the pleasure of running faster than my wife's IBM. Rich gave a demonstration on how effective the SuperCPU is with GEOS, so I would definitely enjoy the pleasure of using a SuperCPU with my Commodore setup.
If I get the SuperCPU then I would have to request a registered copy of "Wheels 128." "Wheels" is a positive step in Commodore development since it shows that new programs are being developed for the computer and it is not sitting about trying to achieve new glory on old software. I personally have never seen "Wheels" being used, but heresay states that "Wheels" is the best thing to happen to the Commodore computer this last decade. I was hoping that some of the programs I've developed would have received that honor but I guess I'm just not as advanced to get such a claim. Oh well, there's always the 21st century. Besides, my strength seems to be in writing and not programming, so I'll stick with what I know best. I would appreciate an upgrade to the operating system that I use the most, though.
Another request would be for me to increase in Commodore knowledge so I can do more with the machine than just simple little programs in BASIC. My experience has taught me that the more complex the program, the more people enjoy using it. By "complex" I mean more functions that accomplish more than just calculate two plus two. The closest I have come so far in anything containing more mathematical calculations would be "Pay Schedule," but even that program simply does basic math in figuring debt computations. All I know is that "Pay Schedule" was a booger to work with since I had to make the program work with "Obligator Coordinator" data files. Please understand, with each programming project I try to challenge myself to do more that what I did last time, but even I have a limit and "Pay Schedule" is the apex of my knowledge to date. I have been asked by some people to try programming for GEOS, but that requires my trying to comprehend the workings of the 6502 chip, and let me tell you, BASIC is tough enough without getting into machine language programming. But still I would appreciate some tutoring into more advance BASIC and some elementary machine language. It would seem that Commodore success is found within MLX programming.
Last, but not least, I would really like to find a way to win at "The Three Stooges" video game. It took me what seemed like forever to finally make it through the 31 days the Stooges have to save the orphanage, but I can never earn enough money to pay off the mortgage. Then, after close examination of the documentation, I found out that I have to not only save the orphanage, but also fix the place up AND marry Ma's three beautiful daughters. Playing "The Three Stooges" events like the pie throwing and soup eating contests are a pain. Trivia seems to be the only way I can get big money fast but that event is not offered in every round. Of course, there are the hazards like Mr. I. Fleecum taking a good portion of the Stooges' cash for some stupid tax or other and Moe getting his fingers caught in the mousetraps at the top of the screen. Even though this game is fun and challenging, I'm sick and tired of losing. For once I would like to see what the winner's screen looks like. I guess I may have to get onto the FidoNet and see if anyone knows of any secrets to winning this game, but the people would problably say, "Keep plugging away and you'll eventually beat it." I've been at it for two years and so far I've got nothing. Augh! The stress!
So there it is, my wish list for the Christmas season 2000. I certainly don't expect to get all of this, but one can always look forward to it. If I did get it all then I would be a spoiled brat and wouldn't know what I would do with myself. I've never told people what I wanted, I figured they would get the hint with the big note on the refrigerator and come to a conclusion. At any rate, this is a spoiled Captain L wishing everyone a merry Christmas 2000.
The Commodore Users Group of Kansas City is a not-for-profit educational support group for persons using Commodore computers.
Membership benefits include a monthly newsletter as well as access to CUGKC's Bulletin Board System (BBS) open 23.5 hours every day, with upload and download privileges, plus electronic mail, and access to over 500 doors of the FidoNet (part of a world-wide network). Also, members receive access to a library of over 1000 public domain and shareware disks.
Dues are $30 the first year, $25 annually thereafter. Disks of the month and library disks cost $3 each for members.
Meetings are held on the first Wednesday of every month at the Waldo branch of the Kansas City Public Library, 201 E 75th Street, Kansas City, Missouri. Visitors are welcome to attend any meeting. For more information, contact any officer:
Email us at cugkc@cugkc.cjb.net
or visit our web site at http://cugkc.cjb.net.
Our snail-mail address is:
CUGKC
PO Box 36034
Kansas City, Missouri 64111