by Jack Kincaid / jkinca1@cugkc.cjb.net
Hoping you all had a Happy Christmas and a Merry New Year; that all was safe and sane. The Chiefs got their present, a BIG win, and I hope there were NO lumps of coal in your stockings!
It seems like each year I ask the same question: What are the things we want out of our Club? Last year Lenard suggested the Club subscribe to some Commodore magazines or newsletters; however, we seem to put that idea on the back burner for whatever reason. Is it time to look at it again, or is there something else that the Club could do in the coming year? Let your voice be heard at the next Club meeting!
The December party was a little sparse; however, those that were there had a merry time as usual. The only business that was conducted was the purchase of a monitor for the Club from Don Gresham for $20.00.
In going through some old Club stuff, i.e., 1996, I found a roster with 54 members! Quite a change from today.
NEXT MONTH: January 8th, 2004 at the Waldo Library. Hope to see you there.
I see from Homestead that Maurice Randall has opened up a new store online at http://cmdrkey.com. Go and see what he has.
I still have 64s and 128s with 1541 and 1571 drives. I also have monitors and printers just sitting in my basement doing nothing. For a small price they can be in your home doing something! Call or see me at the next meeting. My phone number is (816) 761-4777 and I am home most days after 4:00 pm.
Financial Report
Balance Dec. 2003.................... $324.69
Income: Dec. 2003....................
$ 0.00
Expenses: Dec. 2003..................-$ 0.00
Closing Balance Jan. 2004............ $324.69
by Scott Heider / sheide1@cugkc.cjb.net
The Group meeting for December was held Thursday, December 11th at the Waldo branch of the Kansas City Public Library. The 6 members in attendance enjoyed a great quantity (and quality) of holiday food and drink.
As mentioned in last month's Ryte Bytes, former CUGKC officer Don Gresham has given his impressive collection of C= hardware, software, and accessories to the Group, with the following condition: all proceeds are to be split 50-50 between Don and the CUGKC. The plan is to give current CUGKC members the first opportunity to purchase items from Don's collection. Whatever hasn't sold within the next couple of months (perhaps by the end of February) will be auctioned on eBay. Vance Kellinger has graciously volunteered to handle these sales. Vance has been bringing some of the more interesting items to the monthly meetings, so be sure to attend if you're interested in an RGB monitor, 1581 drive, hard drive, blank formatted disks, games, or even an Amiga.
As I mentioned a few months ago in Ryte Bytes, Bruce Thomas from the Commodore Users of Edmonton (CUE) club has begun posting a GeoPublish tutorial on that club's website at http://edmc.net/cue/geop6index.html. Bruce's announcement: "I would like to announce that I have started posting the files for a thorough GeoPublish Tutorial. This series of articles (about 24 the way I have it planned right now) will take you through the creation of a handy reference guide for using geoPublish. The files are available in HTML format for viewing online and in CONVERTed GeoWrite format so you can download them and use them as you follow along and make your own printable manual. After 15+ years of using geoPublish I feel that I can pass on some info to help others get the most out of this complex piece of software." Indeed, from what I have read in the first few articles that have been posted, Bruce is providing a great service to those of us who have always wanted to use GeoPublish but couldn't figure out how to use it. As of January 4th, Bruce has published the first 8 parts of the tutorial, and he has been publishing a new part on the average of every 4 weeks.
Correction: Last month I listed the meeting dates for 2004, but I made one small mistake. Meetings are scheduled for the second Thursday of each month; i.e., January 8, February 12, March 11, April 8, May 13, June 10, July 8, August 12, September 9, October 14 (not October 7), November 11, and December 9, 2004.
Here's a New Year's resolution from the CUGKC webmaster: In 2004, I resolve to publish each month's Ryte Bytes on the CUGKC website (http://cugkc.cjb.net) no later than 10 days after each meeting. Check out this month's issue online around January 18th.
Finally, a reminder about the next Group meeting. It will be held at the usual place, the Waldo Library, on the usual day, Thursday, January 8th at 7:00pm. To work off the holiday pounds that you probably packed on, we may join the kids next door in dance and song - Do you do the Hokie Pokie? See you then!
by Lenard Roach / lroach1@cugkc.cjb.net
"Reflections And Projections" - that's what I would like to title my piece for the first month of the year 2004; but I won't be dwelling on just the events of 2003, no sir. I want to reflect on my career as a Commodore programmer and writer and where my involvement with Commodore has brought me and where I am seemingly going.
Y'see, I was given a Commodore specifically to do one thing - write! As a younger man, I had a lot of ideas that just had to be down on paper and, well, a standard typewriter wasn't really cutting it, especially with all the errors I make on a printed page! The Commodore was a means to improve an end. Of course nobody back then had the guts to say that anything I wrote SUCKED! But as I began to integrate with the Commodore (and I saw that I really sucked as a writer) I saw a need at the time to explore other avenues. Thus programming was brought to my attention and through much trial and error (and physical intervention) the program "Check It Out" was born and published by RUN magazine in December of 1992. Fortunately, this boost of confidence from the publishers of RUN sparked me to write a co-program to "Check It Out" called "Check File Writer/Creator." Unfortunately, RUN forgot to tell people that they were shutting their doors. Well, they didn't tell me anyway. I tried working with the new owners of "Check It Out" but problems accrued that could only be solved with finances; finances that my family could not come up with. The CUGKC offered to front the money needed to solve the problem, but my ego refused to allow such a noble deed to be executed on my behalf by such a great group of folks as the CUGKC.
Then I sat on my hands. I wouldn't write or program anything since both my writing and my programming sucked. If I did write anything, it was only to gain the praise and prestige of others. No praise, no writing. End of story. Even the running of "The Pulpit" BBS was only a façade to get praise of men and women. I wasted hundreds of my wife's dollars to gain Commodore prestige and recognition. I finally realized that I was a sham; to Commodore, to my family, and to myself. It was no longer a matter of my writing or my programming sucking, I SUCKED. Period.
But I found out that God doesn't give up that easily on His kids, even those who have backslidden like me. He brought to my attention the likes of one man from Colorado Springs who asked the congregation of my church one Sunday to, if they felt so led, write some skit for his new album. As I sat in my pew I felt a shot run through my brain. I took my notebook with me to work that same day, and within three hours I had the rough draft to a ten-minute sketch called "The Adventures Of The Armpit Avenger - Defender Of The Gospel Truth." I transposed the written text to GEOWrite format, printed off a copy, and mailed it to the address given on one of the gentleman's flyers. It was almost one year later before I heard from him and his approval of the sketch for recording and, as an added bonus, he wanted me to play the lead role of The Armpit Avenger. It took me six months after the recording was done and published to realize that I didn't suck after all and I was, in actuality, a winner.
Now, what does the future hold for me and my Commodore that I pound at with renewed fervor? Though I wish to stay active in the Commodore scene, I will have to do it with a true focus of reality. I have to understand that I can never play "with the big dogs" like Gasson, Randall, Butterfield, and Sidebottom. I am a Chihuahua compared to these Great Danes of Commodore. No, the direction I needed to go was towards the cross with my Commodore under my arm to lay at the feet of the Master of all computing and giving all of this to Him. He has ordered me to take the Commodore up and do things like writing and programming for His glory and not for self seeking glories of my own. Already I have been given a chance to create new worlds of imagination for children to explore in a ten part series that I am doing for church. As for the evangelist from Colorado Springs, I have written for him two sequels to the first Armpit Avenger skit, and a third sequel is in the planning stages. I also have the opportunity to share many of my previous and present writings with media evangelists traveling to Spain towards the end of this year. And all this material is transposed and edited on a Commodore computer!
As for you, well you, dear faithful reader of my prattlings and rantings, get to still hear from me as I spew out of my fingertips and into the word processor the things that can still be said about the Commodore; the positive things and not the stuff about how slow and out of date it is that you hear from users of other formats. As I have always said, it's not how much memory you've got, it's what you do with what you have that matters.
(DISCLAIMER: The Christian views expressed by Mr. Roach in this article do not necessarily reflect the views of the entire board or membership of the Commodore User's Group of Kansas City.)
by Jon Searle / jsearl1@cugkc.cjb.net
In this sequel to SSI's 'Roadwar 2000', the user finds himself playing the part of the hero of 'Roadwar 2000'. This time, the brave gang leader has been asked to come to Europe to help find and defuse a number of unexploded nukes, each placed in a city.
The hero has only a limited time to find and defuse them all. Added to this dilemma is the same sort of worldwide disaster of the first of these challenging RPG's. All mankind has been affected by a killer disease caused by militant fanatics who themselves are now victims of the mutated virus. Anarchy and lawlessness are rampant; towns and cities are overrun with mobs of the needy, ruthless gang lords, renegades, mutants, and the ultimate survivalists - cannibals!
The hero starts out with more than in 'Roadwar 2000', though, and he will need it. Two buses, loaded with followers and supplies makes for a good beginning but with frequent combats, hard circumstances, and the scarcity of supplies (foraging is a MUST), it becomes very easy to find one's self in control of only a few ragtag survivors and a shot up van.
As one progresses, each combat results in fewer men, but better trained ones. Men progress into dragoons to bodyguards to elite armsmasters. Eventually, more and more groups that one encounters will seek to join your successful band. Be careful, though, having too many troops means a greater draw on your food, and most groups are made up of poor fighters rather than good ones.
Without enough guns and ammo, a large gang like yours may find itself fighting for its life using spears and crossbows against guns. Not a good situation. Without enough medical supplies and a good doctor, any virus may become an epidemic reducing your numbers critically, and without strongly protected vehicles your group may be reduced to a few dozen and struggling just to survive. All this and you still have to win within the time limit!
However you play it, 'Roadwar Europa' is one challenging game. It is a worthy follow up to 'Roadwar 2000'. Oh and by the way, despite all the gloom and doom you face in the game, there are a few small instances of humor, but I'll let you discover them on your own.
by Lenard Roach / lroach1@cugkc.cjb.net
During computing's early years, whenever a user wished to communicate using the computer, he or she would access what was then called a bulletin board system, or BBS. Now the Internet has taken this long gone technology and exploded it exponentially into this thing that is now known as "The Web". Unfortunately, this sounds like the title of a bad Spider Man saga, but as I was searching about on this "web", I found an extensive list of active BBS' that still used the Commodore as a base unit. Amazed I was to see so many on this list, and now for your inspection I have below the list in an abbreviated form. To see the entire list, please go to http://www.q-link.cc/states.shtml. For those who wish not to go to the website, the list is as follows:
ALABAMA
Location ------------------ Florence,
AL
BBS Name ------------------
Deep Space Nine
Number -------------------- (256) 760-0349
SysOp Handle -------------- Dark Vulcan
Max Modem Speed ----------- 2400 Baud
ARIZONA
Location ------------------ Tempe,
AZ
BBS Name ------------------ Twilight Zone
Number -------------------- (480) 827-2706
SysOp Handle -------------- Dynamite
Max Modem Speed ----------- 28.8K
CALIFORNIA
Location ------------------ San Andreas,
CA
BBS Name ------------------ Silicon Realms
Number -------------------- (209) 754-1363
SysOp Handle -------------- Joe Commodore
Max Modem Speed ----------- 2400 Baud
Location ------------------ Lakeside,
CA
BBS Name ------------------ Dream Factory
Number -------------------- (619) 593-9521
SysOp Handle --------------
Chameleon
Max Modem Speed ----------- 300/1200/2400
COLORADO
Location ------------------ Lakewood,
CO
BBS Name ------------------ Land of Oz
Number -------------------- (303) 985-3980
SysOp Handle -------------- Gandalf The Gray
Max Modem Speed ----------- 2400 BPS
IDAHO
Location ------------------ Mountain
Home, ID
BBS Name ------------------ Mellinum 2000
Number -------------------- (208) 587-7636
SysOp Handle -------------- Mad Max
Max Modem Speed ----------- 14.4K
MISSISSIPPI
Location ------------------ Bailey,
MS
BBS Name ------------------ Warp Factor
Number -------------------- (662) 737-8048
SysOp Handle -------------- Warp Factor
Max Modem Speed ----------- 28.8K
NEW JERSEY
Location ------------------ Mercerville,
NJ
BBS Name ------------------
Bass Planet
Number -------------------- (609) 587-4495
SysOp Handle -------------- not known
Max Modem Speed ----------- 2400 BPS
Location ------------------ Springfield,
NJ
BBS Name ------------------ Northlink BBS
Number -------------------- (973) 376-0816
SysOp Handle -------------- Bruce E. Travers
Max Modem Speed ----------- 1200 Baud
NEVADA
Location ------------------ Sun Valley,
NV
BBS Name ------------------
Sunlight
Number -------------------- (775) 673-2927
SysOp Handle -------------- Shadow Blue
Max Modem Speed ----------- 14.4K
OREGON
Location ------------------ Astoria,
OR
BBS Name ------------------ The Village
Number -------------------- (503) 325-2905
SysOp Handle -------------- Lord Ronin
Max Modem Speed ----------- 28.8K
TENNESSEE
Location ------------------ Indian
Mound, TN
BBS Name ------------------ The Dungeon
Number -------------------- (931) 648-0577
SysOp Handle -------------- Scorpio
Max Modem Speed ----------- 33.6K
TEXAS
Location ------------------ Lewisville,
TX
BBS Name ------------------ Starship Intrepid
Number -------------------- (972) 221-4088
SysOp Handle -------------- Mars Probe
Max Modem Speed ----------- 1200 Baud
There you are, readers. Not too big of a list, is it? Nonetheless, I am thankful that these kind souls are brave enough to weather these modern computing times and actually run a BBS. I would compare it to sailing across the ocean in a dinghy instead of a speedboat; both will get you there, it's just one will take a little longer. My thanks to "Snakeman" for making this list and posting on the Web.
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 library of over 1000 public domain and shareware disks.
Dues are $15 the first year, $10 annually thereafter. Disks of the month and library disks cost $3 each for members.
Meetings are held on the second Thursday of every month at the Waldo branch of the Kansas City Public Library, located at the corner of 75th and Oak Streets, 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
1307 Golfview Drive
Grain Valley, Missouri 64029