Newz From The Prez

by Nathan Block

There was no article submitted by our Prez in time for this Publication.

SPACE DOM Info:

There was no DOM info submitted from our DOM person in time for this Publication.

SPACE Minutes:

The secretary’s minutes for the May 13th, 1994 S.P.A.C.E. meeting will be brief this month.

Meeting was called to order by Mike Fitzpatrick at 7:30 pm. Our President had oral surgery that afternoon and the Vice-President’s wife also had surgery that afternoon.

Copies of the proposed bylaws were passed out. The bylaws will be voted on in the June meeting of S.P.A.C.E. There was some discussion concerning the bringing in of the former M.A.S.T. members.

The Treasurer stated that the balance stated in the newsletter did not reflect rent payment on the meeting place.

There was a nametag drawing, the winning prize was a couple of disk storage boxes. One donated by the Vice-President and one donated by the Newsletter Editor. The Winners were Alan Noble and Anthony Walsh.

The meeting was adjourned at 7:45 pm. Everyone enjoyed the ice cream.

Weird News

Mark A. Thomas announced that he would run for sheriff, this year. Thomas said he would be more effective at fighting crime than the incumbent because he is "criminally minded": He was convicted of theft in 1983 and of embezzlement a few years earlier.

Treasurer's Report -

by Greg Leitner

The April meeting turned out to be quite interesting. If you read my report for last month, I gave a pretty rosy picture of our finances.

Alas, about two weeks after submitting that report for the April newsletter, I received a bill from the Falcon Heights City for $180.00 which represented room rental for the last quarter of 1993 and for the first quarter of 1994. Apparently they were audited and had no choice but to bill us even though I called back in January and told them that they hadn’t billed us yet for the 4th quarter in 1993. They told me at the time that they didn’t want to go back and bill us and to assume that we were paid up for 1993. An expense for six months rent can sure have a major Impact on a small treasury like ours. At least the other expenses for the month were kept to a minimum thanks to our credit balance for the BBS and Mike Schmidt cutting costs for the monthly newsletter. So the only additional expense we had for April was $11.66 for the stamps to mail out the newsletter.

Figuring that we can assume an ordinary monthly expense of about $70.00, the April meeting jumped right in to the interesting part. The members who were present all began discussing the possibility of bringing all Atarians under one umbrella. I really liked this idea because I own an Atari 520ST and also the Atari Lynx hand held game system. I could really take advantage of a Club that included all Atari systems.

Since this would be a major change in our Bylaws, everyone who is currently a member of SPACE should attend the May meeting and be prepared to voice his/her opinion.

The April meeting had such an impact on those present that we had one of our best months in quite a while. We took in five renewal of memberships and had other sales of Doms and blank disks, which in all totaled $130.00. Our balance for April 30, 1994 is now sitting at $534.32.

I can’t wait for the May meeting. This could be monumental and will definitely have a major effect on all members, so please, you have to be there for this one?

The Following article is reprinted from ATARI EXPLORER ONLINE magazine. (Editor)

 |||   "From a saved backup...."
 |||   By: Ron Whittam
/ | \  GEnie: EXPLORER.4

//// It’s show and tell time.

In this column I hope to foster communication and support for 8-bit and ST computer owners... presenting a positive and directive approach. This will help to strengthen the users group base and encourage the executive element.

Earlier in this column I mentioned what I believe to be the three necessary elements in a users group meeting. These three elements can be called the mapping session, the demo session, and the random access session. While the first and third provide needed communication between members of the users group, the second provides information. Doing a successful demo session is not as difficult as some think.

Since most Atari users groups do not have the benefit of a local dealership, procuring dealer demos are not easily done. There are other means. Membership participation is a common theme in this column. And recruitment is not as hard as it seems.

I found it difficult to nag people into doing demos, "Please do something..." until I found the key. Ask them to talk about something they enjoy. Be specific. Be sure they understand that you do not want a "speech." You want them to show the group something about the computer, something the other members might not know about. This approach tends to focus on the need instead of on the performance.

A good approach is to make a list of topics that are of interest to the members of the group. Then ask the members to pick one that they can do. Write it down on the calendar. This will get the ball rolling.

The demonstration does not need to be formal nor elaborate. In fact, simple and clear is much more beneficial. Leave the elaborate demos for trade shows. Each member has something to contribute.

After one meeting, a few of us were hanging around chatting. One of the members made a comment that he didn’t like the way the desktop made you bring a window to the forefront just to copy a file. Another member told him just to hold the right button down while selecting the file from a background window and drag it to the active window. He thought it was simple. It’s even in the users manual. But none of us knew it. This made me realize that the reason people don’t share what they know about the Atari is that they think "everybody knows that." Well, not everybody does.

You can get great demos from members of your own users group. Find out what the members’ favorite programs are. Then ask them to do a brief talk on it. If you have a club computer, encourage them to run the program on the computer after the brief talk.

Find out what your members do for a living and see if that would provide a platform for a demo. One of our members is an electrician. He brought in a parts book and talked to us about hooking up the computer. He discussed power and electricity. (Something he obviously enjoyed talking about.) And he provided good information for purchasing a uninterrupted power supply (UPS). Another who programs on various platforms discussed the various operating systems. He also explained the difference between Intel-based chip design and Motorola design. Another member was an electrical technician. He gave a talk on opening up the Atari computer. He provided helpful hints for the ambitious. Once we had a MIDI demo with two keyboards and a full sound system. (He demonstrated Notator.) He got voice samples from members of the group, and then used the computer to alter the voice so it sounded higher or deeper. Very interesting.

I think the most common excuse I hear is, "No one would be interested in what I do." Once I helped a member salvage bad files from a disk. While at his house he showed me his business. He wrote government required documents for truckers using his Atari 520ST with a single-sided floppy, no hard drive, and a 9-pin dot matrix printer. Not too impressive of a set up for most. However, the documents he produced were very impressive. (It impressed me.) But I would have never know this if I had not been in his house. He never thought anyone would be interested in what he did. To him it was just work.

Another method of getting demos is to write software publishers and developers. Identify yourself as a users group officer and ask for a demo or two. I have received many disks this way. If you have access to the INTERNET, GEnie, or one of the other paid services you can contact most Atari developers via Electronic Mail (EMail.). The ones I have contacted this way have readily sent me the information and diskettes I requested.

Atari has a users group correspondent, Bob Brodie. I have written him many EMail messages and he has responded. I now have flyers and brochures to hand out at our meetings to encourage the membership to buy Falcon computers. You can contact Bob at . Bob has also been a users group member for many years and has some helpful hints for users group officers. Drop him a note.

And finally, the one source that gets a lot of attention: New computer purchases. When one of our members bought an Atari TT we asked him to bring it in. We announced the demo and we got a crowd of people. We did the same with other newly purchased products. One of our members put a GEMulator in a i486/DX and showed it off. We got it running PC-Ditto and emulated an IBM-XT on a 486! We have had a demo of each new Jaguar game (the latest, Tempest 2000) by our Jaguar owner. Encourage your member to "show off" what they have.

A demo doesn’t need to be an elaborate dramatic expression of artistry in motion to be enjoyable. Ask your demonstrators to just do a brief talk about what they have and then show it. Sort of like show and tell in grade school. It works, don’t knock it.

In the future we will cover Membership (methods of increasing it), Networking with other users groups, etc., and I will share from my own exploits as a users group president; the frustration and the elation. Stay tuned.
------------
Ron Whittam is a Customer Support Specialist for a small software firm in Boise, Idaho; and the President of the Atari Boise Users Group. He can be contacted on GEnie (EXPLORER.4), on the Internet at , or on ROVER BBS (208-362-2243).

More Weird News

Last October, a worker in Mountain View, Calif., survived when a 10-ton concrete slab fell on him, because the slab was slightlty concave.

Notes From The Editor:

The Paper this newsletter and future newsletters are printed on is some old paper I got at an auction very cheap. It was 8 1/2 x 14 inches. Got the print shop at work to cut a bunch down to 8 1/2 x 11 inches. Hope you members don’t mind colored paper, there was no white, just pink, blue and green paper.

The cost to the club will be 10 sheets for a penny (1 cent).

Next meeting is June 10th, 1994. Plan to attend for the Vote on the By- laws and the planning for the July Birthday Party.

Here is this months Word-Search.
Title - Hunters of the Sky

W Q E H E X V H J P W G J X Z G W Q
L H U N T E R S O F T H E S K Y G J
D G Y W Q E F L R G A I X G Y Q J L
U O L E G D A A O E Y J P L C Q E T
X L D G R Q X S L P I R W O T U O P
Q X E B Y P H V R C B R N U D T H L
V E B T B A S A K A O D R A X E L R
T R E K W A H O L W O N R A B D E B
Z U G K L Z E D K R A A M U H V R X
R T X V N X E O D I C H Z J L P T Y
V L X R T A P A E A T Z K D H J S W
H U Y E G R E B R W A E L C O X E V
Y V R L W Q L A J R G R D D U O K U
W X E A E Z C T D E V E L H J D Q D
P W G V R U P L Q W G Q X J W R B V

Bald Eagle  Condor   Goshawk  Barn Owl
Osprey      Vulture  Kite     Harrier
Duck Hawk   Buzzard  Falcon   Caracara
Harpy       Kestrel  Hawk     

If there is a pink membership application included in your newsletter, that is an indication that your membership has expired. The Club would greatly appreciate the renewing of your membership. (Editor)

DISCLAIMER

Published by the Saint Paul Atari Computer Enthusiasts (SPACE), an independent organization with no business affiliation with ATARI Corporation. Permission is granted to any similar organization with which SPACE exchanges newsletters to reprint material from this newsletter. We do however ask that credit be given to the authors and to SPACE. Opinions expressed are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect the views of SPACE, the club officers, club members or ATARI Corporation.