[HEA]
    _____________________   ___                                   _
    |___   ______________| |   |                                 | |
        |  | _             |   |                                 | |
        |  || |            |   |                                 | |
        |  || |            |   |                                 | |
        |  || |            |   |   ____ _   _ _   _   ______     | |
        |  || |            |   |  / __ \ | | / \_/ \  | ___ \    | |
        |  || |__   ____   |   | / /  \  | |  /\ /\ \ | |  \ \   | |
        |  ||  _ \ |  _ \  |   | \ \__/  | | | |_|| | | |__/ /   | |
        |  || | | || |_||  |   |  \___/|_| |_|    |_| | ____/    |_|
        |  || | | || |__   |   |____________________  | |         _
        |__||_| |_|\____/  |________________________| | |        |_|
                                                      | |
         Lighting Your Apple II Path                  | |
                                                      |_|

-----------------------------------


                       >>> WELCOME TO THE LAMP! <<<
                       ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~


           THE BEST OF THE A2 BULLETIN BOARD ON Syndicomm Online
           "Teaching the Apple II user how to fish since 1998"


 ::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::
 The Lamp!            An Onipa'a Software Production        Vol. 8, No. 1
 ::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::
 Publisher................................Ryan M. Suenaga, M.S.W., L.S.W.
 Editor.....................................................Lyle Syverson
 Internet Email, Publisher.........................thelamp@sheppyware.net
 Internet Email, Editor................................lyle@FoxValley.net
 ::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::

                            TABLE OF CONTENTS
                            ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
                             January 15, 2005

HIGH ABOVE THE ROCK RIVER---------------------------------------------[OPN]
     A Winter Challenge
     Apple II Challenges

A2 FORUM AT Syndicomm Online (A2Central.com) DISTILLATIONS------------[DAS]
     Who Owns This Car------------------------------------------------[WOC]
     Interesting Apple Story------------------------------------------[IAS]
     New Uploads to the A2 Library------------------------------------[NUL]
     Silvern Castle Updates-------------------------------------------[SCU]
     Dictionary Client for the IIgs-----------------------------------[DCG]
     The Monthly Programmer Chats-------------------------------------[MPC]
     Life of Ryan-----------------------------------------------------[LOR]

ILLUMINATING THE LAMP-------------------------------------------------[ITL]
     An overview of GEnieLamp A2 and The Lamp!
          To be Continued

ANNOUNCEMENTS FROM SYNDICOMM------------------------------------------[ANS]
     To Sign up for Syndicomm Online----------------------------------[TSU]
     First Syndicommotion of 2005 Posted------------------------------[FSP]

LETTERS TO THE EDITOR-------------------------------------------------[LTE]
     No Letters to the Editor This Month
     An Invitation

KFEST 2005------------------------------------------------------------[KF5]
     Looking Way Ahead------------------------------------------------[LWA]
     KansasFest 2005 to be Held July 19-24th--------------------------[TBH]
     KansasFest Website-----------------------------------------------[KFW]

EXTRA INNINGS
     About The Lamp! ------------------------------------------------ [INN]


                                [*] [*] [*]

READING THE LAMP!   The index system used by The Lamp! is designed to make
"""""""""""""""""   your reading easier.  To use this system, load this
issue into any word processor or text editor.  In the index you will find
something like:

EXTRA INNINGS
     About The Lamp! ------------------------------------------------ [INN]

To read this article, simply use your search or find command to locate
[INN].  There is a similar tag at the end of each article: [EOA].



[OPN]-------------------------------
         HIGH ABOVE THE ROCK RIVER |
------------------------------------
From The Editor
"""""""""""""""
by Lyle Syverson <lyle@FoxValley.net>

                            A Winter Challenge
                            ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
     A few days ago the scene from High Above The Rock River was that of a
Winter Wonderland.  A heavy blanket of snow was on the ground... snow
sticking to each branch and twig of every tree and shrub.  The total snow
accumulation of eight inches would insure enough snow for the 19th annual
Snow Sculpting Contest.

     Snow is packed into a wooden form 6 feet by 6 feet by 10 feet tall.
The form is lifted from the block of tightly packed snow with a crane and
used again and again until a block of snow has been created for each team
that has registered to compete.

     Each team of two to four members has come up with a plan... a drawing
and/or a model of the sculpture they hope to create.  On Wednesday, January
19 they start their work.  Judging takes place on Saturday... they are
under the gun to finish by then.  The public is invited to view the teams
while they work... and especially to view the finished sculptures on
Sunday.

     So people are willing to accept the challenge of creating a sculpture
from a block of snow in three days... knowing that as soon as warm weather
sets in their work will be gone... all they will have left are some
photographs and their memory of the event.

                            Apple II Challenges
                            ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
     After all these years, people are still willing to accept the
challenge of coaxing more from the Apple II computers.  People have created
and are still creating emulators.  People are working on various methods of
getting the Apple II's online.  Software is being written.  Hardware is
under development.  Quite a legacy!

[EOA]



ASCII ART BEGINS
_________  _                     _                                      _
|__   __| | |                   | |                                    | |
   | |    | |                   | |                                    | |
   | |    | |___     ____       | |       _____   __ ___ _   _ _____   | |
   | |    | ___ \   / __ \      | |      /____ \  | v   v | | v ___ \  | |
   | |    | |  | | | /__\ \     | |       ____| | | /\ /\ | |  /   \ \ | |
   | |    | |  | | | _____|     | |      / ___  | | || || | | |    | | |_|
   | |    | |  | | | |_____     | |____  | |__| | | || || | |  \___/ /  _
   |_|    |_|  |_| \______|     |______| \____^_| |_||_||_| | |\____/  |_|
                                                            | |
                                                            | |
                                                            |_|

ASCII ART ENDS
[EOA]



[DAS]----------------------------------------------
DISTILLATIONS FROM The A2 FORUM at Syndicomm.com  |
                                  (A2Central.com) |
---------------------------------------------------

by Lyle Syverson <lyle@foxvalley.net>

[WOC]
WHO OWNS THIS CAR?
""""""""""""""""""
Guys... you will NEVER believe what I found parked a block down from my
apartment - I barely could myself:

http://www.syndicomm.com/~kgagne/parked/

This picture was taken in Worcester, Massachusetts, the morning of Friday,
December 10th.

Anyone have any idea whose this is??

-Ken

(KGAGNE, Cat 2, Top 6, Msg 122)

>>>>>
"""""
I can't think of any Apple II users I know in Maine, but that's just off
the top of my head.

Ryan
Chief Sysop and Head Elf

(A2.RYAN, Cat 2, Top 6, Msg 123)

>>>>>
"""""
I was going to leave a handwritten note with my email address on the car's
windshield, but instead I typed it in Appleworks Classic and printed a
screen shot.  I also included a print-out of the picture at
<http://www.syndicomm.com/~kgagne/kfest2002/source/25.html>.

No response yet.

-Ken

(KGAGNE, Cat 2, Top 6, Msg 124)
[EOA]


[IAS]
INTERESTING APPLE STORY
"""""""""""""""""""""""
This true story about some Apple "employees" could go in so many
categories/topics, but I'll put the link here just to make a decision.  :-)

<http://www.pacifict.com/Story/>

I apologize that it's technically Mac-related, but the story theme is
generic - and way too good to pass up!

Peter               peterw@syndicomm.com
Palm OS Community Bulletin Board Manager

(PETERW, Cat 2, Top 14, Msg 56)

>>>>>
"""""
That is one fantastic story. It got a lot of /. comment, too.

 Carl Knoblock - Retired - Thu  23 Dec 04  9:24:14 pm
 cknoblo@cox.com - Via Spectrum v2.5.3 & SOAR v1.0b10
 KFest 2005, July 19-24, 2005 - 208 days till KFest
 On cable via LANceGS & Marinetti 2.0.1 - Thank you, Richard.
 A2 RTC Staff - Sunday Night House Party - carlk@syndicomm.com

(CARLK, Cat 2, Top 14, Msg 57)
[EOA]


[NUL]
NEW UPLOADS TO THE A2 LIBRARY
"""""""""""""""""""""""""""""
There is a new upload in the
system_software/misc_16-bit/desk_accessories/nda
directory:

File: DictNDA1a1.bxy
Size: 12032
Date: Dec 12

DictioNDA is another New Desk Accessory from Ryan Suenaga. This NDA is a
dict client which will connect with the online dictionary at dict.org to
try to define words or phrases.  Requires System 6.0.1 and a working TCP/IP
connection using Marinetti 2.0.1 or later.  Definitely has some bugs;
freeware in public alpha.

Tony Ward, A2 Librarian

(A2.TONY, Cat 2, Top 37, Msg 50)

>>>>>
"""""
We have several new uploads from Kelvin Sherlock:

system_software/misc_16-bit/inits_and_finder_extras/Screen.Blankers

File: inkblot.bxy
Size: 5504
Date: Dec 14

Twilight II screensaver module, draws random inkblot-like patterns.

-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-

system_software/misc_16-bit/inits_and_finder_extras/Utility/I-L

File: lilan.102.bxy
Size: 3840
Date: Dec 14

Finder Extra to maintain a list of the last 10 applications launched (like
"Recent Applications" folder in Windows and Macintosh.)

-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-

system_software/misc_16-bit/desk_accessories/nda
File: qserver.101.bxy
Size: 11136
Date: Dec 14

NDA server for the "quote of the day" protocol.  Requires Marinetti.

-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-

Also available is the source code for each of these programs:

programming/cdas_ndas_inits/inits

File: inkblot.s.bxy
Size: 7680
Date: Dec 14

File: lilan.102.s.bxy
Size: 12544
Date: Dec 14


programming/cdas_ndas_inits/ndas

File: qserver.s.bxy
Size: 12544
Date: Dec 14

Tony Ward, A2 Librarian

(A2.TONY, Cat 2, Top 37, Msg 51)
[EOA]


[SCU]
SILVERN CASTLE UPDATES
""""""""""""""""""""""
Silvern Castle Updates:

Please note that downloading the latest update (currently v8.2) is all that
is required to keep your Silvern Castle up to date, or to install a new
setup.

After watching the download counter on the v8.1 increase just as fast as
the new v8.2 update, I thought this needed repeating.

(FINKSTERJ, Cat 14, Top 7, Msg 142)
[EOA]


[DCG]
DICTIONARY CLIENT FOR THE IIgs
""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""
The Dict client I have been working on is done, but is flawed.  It works
for most people properly, but some people will miss out on the first
definition of a word.  I will have to rewrite it almost completely to get
it working properly.  Question: is it preferable to release the flawed (but
works for most people) version now as a public alpha while working on the
fully functional version or do I just wait until I'm done with the new
version (which is likely to be at least a month away)?

Ryan
Chief Sysop and Head Elf

(A2.RYAN, Cat 20, Top 17, Msg 13)

>>>>>
"""""
I'd release the public alpha.

Eric "Sheppy" Shepherd                                sheppy@syndicomm.com
Owner, Syndicomm                                  http://www.syndicomm.com
                     Building communities, bit by bit.

(SYNDICOMM, Cat 20, Top 17, Msg 14)

>>>>>
"""""
>> I'd release the public alpha. <<

Ditto.

 Mark Percival - Apprentice
 Delivered by Spectrum v2.5.3 & SOAR v1.0b11
 The Apple ][ Fanatic and Wednesday Night RTC Host
 "Midweek Madness!" from 7:00 PM to 9:00 PM Pacific Time

(MARK, Cat 20, Top 17, Msg 15)

>>>>>
"""""
Thanks for the public alpha, Ryan.  I've had no luck though.

With DictioNDA installed I have major memory trashing.  Without it all is
fine.

The only thing I can think of is that your readme specifies installing
the included CoPilot 8 however no fonts were included in the archive.  I
searched around and found a 'CoPilot.8' font elsewhere.

I'm running Marinetti 3.0b1 on a 5MB ROM 3.

 Mark Percival - Apprentice
 Delivered by Spectrum v2.5.3 & SOAR v1.0b11
 The Apple ][ Fanatic and Wednesday Night RTC Host
 "Midweek Madness!" from 7:00 PM to 9:00 PM Pacific Time

(MARK, Cat 20, Top 17, Msg 16)

>>>>>
"""""
Then you have the bug on steroids. :)  The issue is that there is a memory
allocation error during parsing sometimes on some machines.

The next version (whenever that gets done, I have no idea myself) will
hopefully fix this.

Ryan
Chief Sysop and Head Elf

(A2.RYAN, Cat 20, Top 17, Msg 17)
[EOA]


[MPC]
THE MONTHLY PROGRAMMER CHATS
""""""""""""""""""""""""""""
Are you all still holding Monthly Programmer Chats?  I've been off-line for
several months and wasn't aware.  I'd like to chime in, if possible.

-Lucas

(LSCHAREN, Cat 50, Top 5, Msg 27)

>>>>>
"""""
Our first was a blast, the second not as much of one.  I don't think we
scheduled something for December (which, given the holidays, was probably a
wise decision).  I will ask the RTC manager (aka my roommate) to schedule
something for January.

Kirk?

Ryan
Chief Sysop and Head Elf

(A2.RYAN, Cat 50, Top 5, Msg 28)

>>>>>
"""""
I'd like to see us continue to have regular chats.  Perhaps its time to set
a specific schedule for programming chats?

Eric "Sheppy" Shepherd                                sheppy@syndicomm.com
Owner, Syndicomm                                  http://www.syndicomm.com
                     Building communities, bit by bit.

(SYNDICOMM, Cat 50, Top 5, Msg 30)

>>>>>
"""""
I'd be interested in more frequent programmer chats.  I've been doing an
unusual amount of gs programming lately and have some ideas (like a control
panel to convert filetype/auxtypes to mime strings, mime strings to
filetype/auxtypes, maybe sniff out a suggested filetype/mime string based
on the extension, etc.) that might be useful to discuss.

Kelvin

(KWS, Cat 50, Top 5, Msg 29)

>>>>>
"""""
I had toyed with a concept similar to that several years ago.  I pretty
much gave up on it since I didn't want to develop the database needed to
track everything I wanted.  And I have since wanted to make the project
bigger than originally expected.

I see a need for a generic file type converter.  MIME to GS file type will
only get you so far.  The official list of MIME types have a just a handful
of file types that correspond to a GS file type.  This means that many GS
file types would need to be made into MIME Types too--who wants to go
through the leg work to make that happen (see
http://www.iana.org/cgi-bin/mediatypes.pl )?

To make it more functional for the GS, the file name extension would be
needed as well to convert between MIME type and GS file type.  Again, there
isn't a one-to-one correlation among these.  For example, looking at a MIME
Type entry:

MIME Type    extension   GS file type    GS aux type
text/html    .htm        TXT             (not used)
             .html
             .shtml

But, if you were to look at a GS file type entry for TXT files, the proper
extension is .txt (or .text) and the MIME Type is text/plain.

It would be important to know if a filetype is "binary" or "text",
especially useful for FTP file transfers.  gwftp cheats by having an
internal list--it would be nice if there was something available that was
user accessible.

But something like image/png would have a .png extension, but no equivalent
GS file type.  Does this mean the internet-standard file types would need
to be created for the GS?  Or use the file type of "unknown" and hope that
users look at the file extension to know what the file type really is?

There is no easy solution, but would make for an easier solution for
authors of internet software to share one common database when moving files
across mechanisms which all associate file types by different means.

I think you can see that this is a topic which I would be interested to
discuss.

Geoff

(GEOFF, Cat 50, Top 5, Msg 31)

>>>>>
"""""
OK, Friday Nights appeared to be the choice of most participants.  Correct
me if I'm wrong...  B-{)

I slipped on scheduling anything for this month, but perhaps we can just
set it up to always be the third Friday, last Friday of each month or some
such arrangement.  If you have preferences, speak up because I'm likely to
just arbitrarily set it for the Last Friday...

Kirk

(A2.KIRK, Cat 50, Top 5, Msg 32)

>>>>>
"""""
Any Friday night is fine.  I'd be more inclined to say second Friday, just
so our next meeting is sooner. :)

Eric "Sheppy" Shepherd                                sheppy@syndicomm.com
Owner, Syndicomm                                  http://www.syndicomm.com
                     Building communities, bit by bit.

(SYNDICOMM, Cat 50, Top 5, Msg 33)

>>>>>
"""""
Friday nights sounds pretty good.  Count me in!!

-Lucas

(LSCHAREN, Cat 50, Top 5, Msg 34)

>>>>>
"""""
OK, I'm going to schedule our Programmers RTC for the second Friday of each
month at 10:00 pm EST, 7:00 pm PST.

We'll hold it in Room 5.  Sorry about not having one this month, but
hopefully by setting a constant time and date, we can avoid my
incompetence.  B-{)

Kirk

(A2.KIRK, Cat 50, Top 5, Msg 35)

>>>>>
"""""
That is 3:00am for me, so I probably will not make it...

 Ewen Wannop - Speccie - Fri 24 Dec 2004 - 207 days till KFest '05
 Delivered without using a IIgs by Spectrum v2.5.3 & SOAR 1.0b11
 Setup: IIgs running at 95Mhz thanks to Bernie ][ the Rescue 3.0

(CONDUCTOR, Cat 50, Top 5, Msg 37)

>>>>>
"""""
I will make every effort to get to the Friday chat (although I'll likely
run late which will surprise no one).

Ryan
Chief Sysop

(A2.RYAN, Cat 50, Top 5, Msg 38)
[EOA]


[LOR]
LIFE OF RYAN
""""""""""""
I have a blog that I've been updating daily since the start of the year:

http://livejournal.com/~rsuenaga

Not much Apple II related, yet; mostly daily thoughts on finances,
Buddhism, and other computers so far.

Ryan
Chief Sysop

(A2.RYAN, Cat 11, Top 11, Msg 82)
[EOA]



[ITL]------------------------
      ILLUMINATING THE LAMP |
-----------------------------

An overview of GEnieLamp A2 and The Lamp!
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
To be Continued
"""""""""""""""
Note from October 2004 issue:

      I'll say goodbye for now, but I'm not fading away as I did in 1995.
I'll return some time next year to do another couple of Illuminating The
Lamp columns for 2003 and 2004.

Steven Weyhrich
a2history@syndicomm.com
http://apple2history.org
[EOA]



[ANS]-------------------------------
      ANNOUNCEMENTS FROM SYNDICOMM |
------------------------------------

by Lyle Syverson <lyle@foxvalley.net>

[TSU]
TO SIGN UP FOR SYNDICOMM ONLINE
"""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""
Please visit our web site at http://www.syndicomm.com for information or to
sign up!

(Logon message)
[EOA]


[FSP]
First Syndicommotion of 2005 Posted
"""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""
We've delivered the first issue of our free online newsletter,
Syndicommotion, to subscribers via email.  Get the latest news from all
your favorite forums in one convenient package; if you don't subscribe, you
can read the issue or subscribe at
    <http://www.syndicomm.com/syndicommotion/>.

(Login Announcement, Syndicomm Online)
[EOA]



[LTE]-------------------------------
             LETTERS TO THE EDITOR |
------------------------------------

NO LETTERS TO THE EDITOR THIS MONTH
"""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""
The mail box for Letters to the Editor remained empty this month.
[EOA]


AN INVITATION
~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Express your opinions about the comings and goings in the world of the
Apple II computers.

Send your comments to Lyle Syverson, Editor <lyle@FoxValley.net>

The Editor reserves the right to edit any material submitted.

The Editor reserves the right to reject any material he considers
unsuitable for publication in _The Lamp!_.
[EOA]



[KF5]------------------------------
                       KFest 2005 |
-----------------------------------

[LWA]
LOOKING WAY AHEAD
"""""""""""""""""
I'd be interested in the Amusement Park outing if we got enough of us to
go.  But, having said that, I'm not going to be at KFest this year :(

However, by hook or crook I will be there in 2006 and thereafter. So, put
me down for the roller coaster in 06 :)

Andy

Andy Molloy
awmolloy@landsnail.com

(AWMOLLOY, Cat 5, Top 7, Msg 23)
[EOA]


[TBH]
KansasFest 2005 to be Held JULY 19-24th
"""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""
Mark your calendar and start saving some money.


[KFW]
KansasFest Website
""""""""""""""""""
Is located here:   http://www.kfest.org
[EOA]



[INN]------------------------------
                    EXTRA INNINGS |
-----------------------------------
About The Lamp!   The Lamp! is published on the fifteenth of every month on
"""""""""""""""   the WEB at:   http://lamp.a2central.com/

This publication produced entirely with real or emulated Apple II computers
using Appleworks 5.1 and Hermes.  Apple II Forever!

     * The Lamp! is (c) copyright 2005 by Ryan M. Suenaga, M.S.W.  All
       rights reserved.

     * To reach The Lamp! on Internet email send mail to
       thelamp@sheppyware.net

     * All issues of The Lamp! are available at The Lamp! Home Page,
       http://lamp.a2central.com/

>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>
Opinions expressed herein are those of the individual authors, and do not
necessarily represent the opinions of A2Central.com, Delphi Online
Services, Syndicomm, Ryan M. Suenaga, or Lyle Syverson.  Forum messages are
reprinted verbatim and are included in this publication with permission
from the individual authors.  A2Central.com, Delphi Online Services,
Syndicomm, Ryan M. Suenaga, and Lyle Syverson do not guarantee the accuracy
or suitability of any information included herein.  We reserve the right to
edit all letters and copy.

Material published in this edition may not be reprinted without the
expressed written consent of the  publisher.   Registered computer user
groups, not for profit publications , and other interested parties may
write the publisher to apply for permission to reprint any or all material.
<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<



[EOF]
