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

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


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


           THE BEST OF THE A2 BULLETIN BOARD ON Syndicomm Online
          AND THE BEST OF THE DELPHI A2 AND A2PRO MESSAGE BOARDS
           "Teaching the Apple II user how to fish since 1998"


 ::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::
 The Lamp!            An Onipa'a Software Production        Vol. 6, No. 6
 ::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::
 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
                            ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
                              June 15, 2003

HIGH ABOVE THE ROCK RIVER---------------------------------------------[OPN]
     The Power of Volunteers

A2 FORUM AT Syndicomm Online (A2Central.com) DISTILLATIONS------------[DAS]
     Steven Weyhrich Creates GEnie Lamp A2/The Lamp Index-------------[SWC]
     GEnie Lamp A2/The Lamp Index in Library--------------------------[LIL]
     DiskMaker 1.2 Uploaded to Library--------------------------------[DML]
     Prizm on Real IIgs vs Emulator-----------------------------------[PRE]
     Accessing the SIS Web Site With SIS------------------------------[SWS]
     Advantages of Various Programming Languages----------------------[VPL]
     Suggestions Needed for Working With ORCA-------------------------[SNO]
     Programming With Assembly----------------------------------------[PWA]
     Programming With Marinetti---------------------------------------[PWM]
     A2 Fans Might Want to Check Out This Book------------------------[CTB]

ILLUMINATING THE LAMP-------------------------------------------------[ITL]
     An overview of GEnieLamp A2 and The Lamp!
          Never Can Say Goodbye

ANNOUNCEMENTS FROM SYNDICOMM------------------------------------------[ANS]
     To Sign up for Syndicomm Online----------------------------------[TSU]
     June 2003 Issue of Syndicommotion is Ready-----------------------[JSR]

THE TINKERER'S CORNER-------------------------------------------------[TTC]
     Keeping the Apple II Cool Enough
     You are Invited

LETTERS TO THE EDITOR-------------------------------------------------[LTE]
     Letter to the Editor
     An Invitation

KFEST 2003------------------------------------------------------------[KFT]
     KFest 2003 - Plan to be There!-----------------------------------[PBT]
     KFest Registration Form------------------------------------------[KRF]
     Third Floor Needed for KFest Attendees---------------------------[TFN]
     The Excitement Builds--------------------------------------------[TEB]
     New Products to be Announced at KFest----------------------------[NPA]
     Transportation, Airport to KFest---------------------------------[AKF]
     For More Information Visit The KFest Home Page-------------------[VKF]

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>

                          The Power of Volunteers
                          ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
     Not far from the patio High Above The Rock River is a delightful
little park.  A stone path winds through plantings of many species of
flowering plants... a succession of beautiful color from early Spring
though late Fall.

     A bench beneath a stately shade tree invites one to rest awhile.  The
small table with seating for two inspires planning a picnic for you and a
friend.

     This small park was developed and is maintained by volunteers from a
neighborhood improvement association.  A fine example of what can be
accomplished by dedicated volunteers.

     The casual observer could easily overlook the work of volunteers in
making KFest happen.

     Over sixty people have registered for KFest 2003.  You, too, can take
advantage of efforts of the volunteers who are making KFest happen.  See
the KFest section of this issue for registration information.

[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>

[SWC]
Steven Weyhrich CREATES GEnie Lamp A2/The Lamp INDEX
""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""
I've just uploaded to the A2 library the completed, first-ever
comprehensive index to both GEnieLamp A2 (9204-9710) and The Lamp
(9801-Present). The index file is 540K in size, and there is also a ReadMe
that explains some things in the index file.

Comments and criticisms are welcomed. Check Cat 2/Top 37 for an
announcement of when it is released and where it gets placed.

Steven Weyhrich <IX0YE>--<
Apple II History
http://apple2history.org

(A2HISTORY, Cat 20, Top 20, Msg 93)

>>>>>
"""""
Thanks, Steve.

Ryan

(RSUENAGA, Cat 20, Top 20, Msg 94)
[EOA]


[LIL]
GEnie Lamp A2/The Lamp INDEX IN LIBRARY
"""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""
There are new uploads in the publications/genielamp_the.lamp directory:

 File: index0305.txt
 Size: 546353
 Date: May 18

 File: index0305readme.txt
 Size: 5126
 Date: May 18

The LAMP INDEX file is a topical index of nearly every individual article
that was posted in the digital magazines GEnieLamp A2 from April 1992
through October 1997, and The Lamp! from January 1998 through the present
(May 2003).

Uploaded by the author, Steven Weyhrich.

Tony Ward, A2 Librarian

(A2.TONY, Cat 2, Top 37, Msg 14)

>>>>>
"""""
In regards to the previous upload announcement, note that the following
change has been made to the A2 library:

old - publications/genielamp.a2
new - publications/genielamp_the.lamp

No files were harmed in the creation of this new directory.

Tony Ward, A2 Librarian

(A2.TONY, Cat 2, Top 37, Msg 15)
[EOA]


[DML]
DiskMaker 1.2 UPLOADED TO LIBRARY
"""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""
There is a new upload in the utilities/16-bit/applications directory:

File: dmaker12.bxy
Size: 25856
Date: Jun 9

DiskMaker 1.2 is the latest version of the popular disk image to disk
conversion utility for the Apple IIgs.  DiskMaker supports DiskCopy 4.2,
DiskCopy 6, Universal Disk Image (2mg), and raw disk images on all sizes of
disks.

Version 1.2 fixes a bug introduced in version 1.1 that caused strange
errors dealing with DiskCopy 4.2 and Universal Disk Image files, and makes
the target disk selection window automatically highlight newly-inserted
disks.

Uploaded by the author, Eric Shepherd.

Tony Ward, A2 Librarian

(A2.TONY, Cat 2, Top 37, Msg 16)
[EOA]


[PRE]
PRIZM ON REAL IIgs VS EMULATOR
""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""
FWIW, it seems that while the physical GS running Prizm is much slower at
compiling (duh), it's also considerably more stable.

Ryan

(A2.RYAN, Cat 22, Top 28, Msg 7)
[EOA]


[SWS]
ACCESSING THE SIS WEB SITE WITH SIS
"""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""
Due to a recent server move, SIS can no longer access its own Web site
http://sis.gwlink.net/ .  The site still works with any other Web Browser.
SIS users can still access the Web site by going to:
http://www.gwlink.net/sis/

I apologize for any inconvenience that this may cause.

Geoff

(GEOFF, Cat 26, Top 7, Msg 5)
[EOA]


[VPL]
ADVANTAGES OF VARIOUS PROGRAMMING LANGUAGES
"""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""
Does Pascal have any strengths over C?

(KGAGNE, Cat 50, Top 7, Msg 4)

>>>>>
"""""
My guess is in C you could cause more damage than with Pascal.

Of course..I've caused damage with both.  I seem to remember (It's been a
long time), Pascal being easier to learn.

Dain

(A2.DAIN, Cat 50, Top 7, Msg 5)

>>>>>
"""""
>> Does Pascal have any strengths over C? <<

To me, mostly in being easier to read and learn.  C still looks like line
noise to me.

In the real world, there's about zero demand for Pascal programmers
(although Delphi has kind of usurped the Pascal guys).  C (and C++)
programmers are wanted everywhere.  But on the IIgs, Pascal is as useful a
language as C (and as good as anything short of 65c816 assembly. . .

Ryan

(A2.RYAN, Cat 50, Top 7, Msg 6)

>>>>>
"""""
Pascal was designed as a teaching language, and won't let you do a lot of
stupid things that C will let you do (but won't let you do a lot of clever
things that C will let you do, either).

I prefer C since it doesn't make you type so much, and it gives you more
control.  Pascal seems to me like driving with a learners permit, and your
mother is nagging the whole trip.

For IIgs desktop programming, Pascal is just as usable as C.  And
Orca/Pascal supports object pascal, which has some neat features.

Kelvin

(KWS, Cat 50, Top 7, Msg 7)

>>>>>
"""""
>> Does Pascal have any strengths over C? <<

In the IIGS world, I think that Orca Pascal is the only "object-oriented"
language available for the Apple II.  That is, it's the only language that
allows objects in the OOP sense.   (But maybe Modula 2 also has them? I've
never delved into Modula 2)
_________
  | homas

P.S.  I see that Kelvin already mentioned that...   while I was typing this
response  :)

(TCOMPTER, Cat 50, Top 7, Msg 8)

>>>>>
"""""
Are there any speed variations between the two languages?  I remember
reading comments that this program or that ran slowly because it was
written in Pascal.

(KGAGNE, Cat 50, Top 7, Msg 9)

>>>>>
"""""
Speed is always an issue in computing, regardless of language that's used.
If all things are equal, assembly would be faster than anything, but "all
things are equal" is not always possible.

I don't think that ORCA/Pascal vs ORCA/C will show an appreciable
difference in speed.  Assembly vs either of the other two, sure, but
optimizing code will of course make a huge difference :)

Ryan

(A2.RYAN, Cat 50, Top 7, Msg 10)

>>>>>
"""""
ORCA/Modula-2 does allow object programming.  It's actually a really neat
language for doing GS programming in, but I don't think anyone ever really
used it that much.

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

(SYNDICOMM, Cat 50, Top 7, Msg 11)

>>>>>
"""""
Sheppy Said:

>> ORCA/Modula-2 does allow object programming. <<

That's good to know.  I might have to give it a try after school is done.

>> It's actually a really neat language for doing GS programming in, but I
don't think anyone ever really used it that much. <<

I would imagine that it was not popular because:

a)  it came out late in the IIGS's life cycle, and
b)  it came out when Java and C++ were the "hot" languages on other
platforms.
_________
  | homas

(TCOMPTER, Cat 50, Top 7, Msg 12)

>>>>>
"""""
Reason 3 why Modula-2 wasn't popular on the IIgs:

It's not popular in the rest of the world either.

Kelvin

(KWS, Cat 50, Top 7, Msg 13)

>>>>>
"""""
Yeah, what Kelvin said.  Modula-2 was never more than a computer science
project, really.  Nobody ever deployed it for real world use in any real
way.  But it's a darned neat language, very much like Pascal but with some
cool added features that make it worth trying out.

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

(SYNDICOMM, Cat 50, Top 7, Msg 14)

>>>>>
"""""
Fooling with Pascal the last couple of weeks has really helped me get over
the hump in terms of programming.  I usually got a week or two into a
language before I had no clue what I was doing.  I'm a couple of weeks in
now and things are kind of making more sense.

To me, Pascal is helpful in that it forces you to be pretty structured and
generally doesn't allow you to do sloppy things that other languages
(Applesoft being a prime example) will.  I kind of wonder how things would
be different right now if Pascal had been taught instead of BASIC.

Ryan

(A2.RYAN, Cat 50, Top 7, Msg 15)

>>>>>
"""""
>> To me, Pascal is helpful in that it forces you to be pretty structured
and generally doesn't allow you to do sloppy things that other languages <<

Yes, that's very true.

Pascal was taught instead of BASIC once I got to high school.

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

(SYNDICOMM, Cat 50, Top 7, Msg 16)

>>>>>
"""""
You guys are lucky.  My high school had "computer typing" as a class, and
"computer applications" as another.  The latter was word processing,
spreadsheet, and database.  No programming whatsoever.

I took the applications final the first week of the class and got a 97%,
but the school refused to give me credit for the course since I didn't
actually take it.  Apparently they expected me to sit through the class and
not learn anything to actually get credit.  We compromised: the grade
didn't apply to my GPA, but I was waived from taking the course as a
graduation requirement.

Last week I taught a high school junior how to count in binary.  I thought
these young kids were born with this knowledge. :)

-Ken

(KGAGNE, Cat 50, Top 7, Msg 17)

>>>>>
"""""
>> Last week I taught a high school junior how to count in binary.  I
thought these young kids were born with this knowledge. :) <<

Unbelievable! Binary, Octal and Hex should all be taught in high school.

 Carl Knoblock - Telephone Tech - Wed  21 May 03  9:31:32 pm
 cknoblo@cox.com - Via Spectrum v2.5.2 & SOAR v1.0b10
 KFest 2003, July 22-27, 2003 - 62 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 50, Top 7, Msg 18)

>>>>>
"""""
My high school offered a word processing class (formerly typing, but they
got computers the first or second year i was there).  They also had a
QBASIC based class (which I didn't take).  The computer lab had the box for
TurboPascal, I don't know if anyone ever used it :)

I don't remember being formally taught binary/octal/hex until a
machine-language course in college (2nd or 3rd year).  Of course, having
seen my fair share of a2-code, hex and binary weren't foreign.  Octal is
entirely useless if not for unix's chmod command :)  My mother told me that
she had to learn binary and punch cards when she was in school.

Kelvin

(KWS, Cat 50, Top 7, Msg 19)

>>>>>
"""""
When I was in high school (and now that was awhile ago :) we didn't have
application courses, but we did have programming, in BASIC.  You had your
choice between a TRS80 Model I, III, or IV.

When I was a junior, they got an Apple IIe.  One.

When I was a senior, they started teaching another class in programming, on
a mini.  In COBOL.

Poor planning, in retrospect. :)

Ryan

(A2.RYAN, Cat 50, Top 7, Msg 21)

>>>>>
"""""
In any case, learning Pascal now is really a fun experience, and I'm
finally understanding a lot of the things I couldn't grasp in other
languages, like C and assembly.

Ryan

(A2.RYAN, Cat 50, Top 7, Msg 22)

>>>>>
"""""
Because It's a hobby, I just love programming. Just wish I had more time to
do it. Pascal seemed like a good choice - to help me learn NOT to make
those stupid mistakes I do:) Still probably haven't learned THAT but
everything helps when you're playing around and trying to come up with
something worthwhile:)

Steve

(KFESTSTEVE, Cat 50, Top 7, Msg 31)

>>>>>
"""""
Assembly isn't for everyone.  I enjoy it, but it takes a good bit more
thinking to get stuff done. :)

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

(SYNDICOMM, Cat 50, Top 7, Msg 23)

>>>>>
"""""
Jumped into Assembly right after BASIC. BASIC allowed me to do some "basic"
stuff I needed but assembly taught me MORE about my computer and allowed me
to get a few more things done.

May have had some "brilliant" ideas for a program but never had the
experience to write them. Mostly, just did what I needed to get done - sans
any interface that would permit anyone else from actually finding the
programs useful:)

Steve

(KFESTSTEVE, Cat 50, Top 7, Msg 32)
[EOA]


[SNO]
SUGGESTIONS NEEDED FOR WORKING WITH ORCA
""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""
I've been trying to get some stuff done in ORCA but I always run into the
fact the thing is incredibly crashy on me.  (usually during compiles).
Even on the examples provided.  Usually I have tried to mess with the C
coding, but I never get far.  Is Pascal less prone to this behavior, or do
I need to have some Magical GS setup that prevents all these problems from
occurring?

Thanks,

Dain

(A2.DAIN, Cat 50, Top 7, Msg 24)

>>>>>
"""""
The latest versions of the ORCA stuff seemed pretty stable during the edit
and build stages. (Execution is always suspect, but then you have to wonder
who to point the finger at. For example, the programmer...)

Of course, I used the text interface - the Orca command shell and text
editor. Mainly because I found the GUI unstable...   ;-)

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

(PETERW, Cat 50, Top 7, Msg 25)

>>>>>
"""""
Thanks.  I'll try and see if the Text Interface works any better for me.

Dain

(A2.DAIN, Cat 50, Top 7, Msg 26)

>>>>>
"""""
I never was able to get the Prizm GUI to not do unpredictable things, which
is why I always used the text interface.

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

(SYNDICOMM, Cat 50, Top 7, Msg 27)

>>>>>
"""""
I don't find Prizm to be all that stable, but it's a lot less frustration
now with a really fast emulator and an easy way to back up boot partitions,
then years ago when it would futz my actual IIgs. :)

Ryan

(A2.RYAN, Cat 50, Top 7, Msg 29)

>>>>>
"""""
That's true. :)

Well, anyone who has a copy of Opus ][ The Source can try to find and fix
the problems with Prizm; if they get them back to me, I can distribute
them.  Same goes for any other Byte Works product.

To date, none of you whiners has actually done that. ;)

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

(SYNDICOMM, Cat 50, Top 7, Msg 30)
[EOA]


[PWA]
PROGRAMMING WITH ASSEMBLY
"""""""""""""""""""""""""
I'm writing an assembly program that is for kids.  One thing I want to do
is minimize the impact of them hitting the reset key.

I know a lot of stuff happens in the fraction of a second from when the
reset key is hit to the very last thing which is a branch to the address
stored in $03F2.  What are some of the things I need to be concerned with?
What happens to things like registers and stack pointers?

 Mark Percival - Apprentice
 Delivered by Spectrum v2.5.1 & SOAR v1.0b10
 The Apple ][ Fanatic and Wednesday Night RTC Host
 "Midweek Madness!" from 7:00 PM to 9:00 PM Pacific Time

(MARK, Cat 51, Top 3, Msg 1)

>>>>>
"""""
Actually, if you patch that vector, reset does absolutely nothing.  All the
reset key does is trigger the line that causes an immediate jump to that
vector; the code there is responsible for actually resetting the machine.

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

(SYNDICOMM, Cat 51, Top 3, Msg 2)

>>>>>
"""""
I ended up doing a little digging of my own and found out the following
answer to my own question.

First of all the (ctrl) reset key sends a signal directly to the processor.
When the key is depressed (and held) it stops everything dead in its
tracks.  If you try this you will notice that everything is totally
suspended.  Upon releasing the reset key a seven cycle wait happens during
which time the processor initializes itself and retrieves the reset address
contained at $FFFC & $FFFD.

Everything above is specific to the 6500 series of microprocessors and not
Apple II itself.  The same happens in any machine (Commodore 64, etc) using
this series of processor.

From here the processor basically does a JMP ($FFFC) and this is where the
Apple II specific part takes over.  In an Apple ][ plus or IIe (what I
happen to have handy to check) $FFFC and $FFFD contains "62 FA" so the 6502
in effect does a JMP $FA62.  Here the following happens within the
autostart ROM:

- flips the soft switches which control video to display page 1 text
  mode with low resolution off.
- Opens the text window to its full (24x40) size and places the output
  cursor to the bottom of the screen.
- sets video to normal mode.
- sets COUT and KEYIN to use the internal keyboard and video display.
- flips annunciators 0 and 1 ON and annunciators 2 and 3 OFF on the
  Game I/O connector.
- clears the keyboard strobe.
- turns off any I/O Expansion ROM.
- sounds a "beep!"

Following this sequence it checks for a valid Soft Entry Vector located at
$3F2-$3F3.  If invalid it assumes a cold restart is required which involves
clearing the screen and putting "APPLE ][" or "Apple //e" at the top of the
screen and then scan the slots for a valid boot device. If the Soft Entry
Vector is valid then a JMP ($3F2) is executed. Normally this vector
contains the warm start address for either Applesoft,  DOS or ProDOS.

The Soft Entry Vector is the earliest point where I can interrupt the reset
cycle and return control to my program.  This sequence also shows me that I
have to keep all of the above in mind when doing so since (most
particularly my video) settings have changed and almost for certain my
registers and stack pointers are trashed.

REFERENCES:
===========
- SY6500/MCS6500 Microprocessor Family Programming Manual
   August 1976 MOS Technology, Inc.
- Apple II Reference Manual
   1979 Apple Computer, Inc.

 Mark Percival - Apprentice
 Delivered by Spectrum v2.5.1 & SOAR v1.0b10
 The Apple ][ Fanatic and Wednesday Night RTC Host
 "Midweek Madness!" from 7:00 PM to 9:00 PM Pacific Time

(MARK, Cat 51, Top 3, Msg 5)

>>>>>
"""""
Historically the idea was always that you could *trap* the reset key, not
suppress it. So typically the reset key would cause the program to restart
(in some cases literally!) at a known "checkpoint" such as the main menu in
an application, or the beginning of the current level in a game.

The usual idea is that trapping the reset key is a part of the copy
protection process. If it isn't needed for copy protection, then you could
argue that by definition the reset key should be allowed to "reset" - in
other words to recover when something goes wrong. And typically recovery
was just enough to allow files to be saved, etc. since if a reset was
needed, there were probably other problems.

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

(PETERW, Cat 51, Top 3, Msg 6)
[EOA]


[PWM]
PROGRAMMING WITH MARINETTI
""""""""""""""""""""""""""
I am working a bit with Marinetti and trying to figure out what to do while
waiting for a resolution of the TCPIPDNRNameToIP procedure; since there
really isn't anything else for me to do, is it logical for me to run a
do-while loop calling TCPIPPoll until DNRStatus no longer equals zero?

Ryan

(A2.RYAN, Cat 57, Top 31, Msg 3)

>>>>>
"""""
That is the way to approach it.

Call TCPIPDNRNameToIP, then enter a loop where you keep checking DNRStatus
for a non-zero value. Within the loop you will need to call TCPIPPoll, and
you may well want to call GetNextEvent so you can see if a keypress has
been made to abort the waiting. Alternatively, or in addition to looking
for a keypress, you may want to have some form of timeout, though
TCPIPDNRNameToIP will time out by itself in due course.

 Ewen Wannop - Speccie - Wed 4 Jun 2003 - 48 days till KFest '03
 Delivered without using a IIgs by Spectrum v2.5.3 & SOAR 1.0b11
 Setup: Bernie ][ the Rescue 3.0 and a dual G4/800Mhz GeForce3
 http://www.ewannop.btinternet.co.uk/

(CONDUCTOR, Cat 57, Top 31, Msg 4)

>>>>>
"""""
What I did in gsAIM was have a state machine where it basically would have
a variable called onlineStatus, which would be set to, say:

0: offline
1: resolving
2: connecting
3: online

Then when I send the DNR request out, I set the onlineStatus to 1,
indicating that I'm waiting for resolution of DNS, and continue in my event
loop, so I can handle cancel requests.  The event loop would then contain
code like:

if onlineStatus = online then
   (* handle online events *)
else if onlineStatus = resolving then
   (* look to see if resolution is complete *)
   if resolutionComplete then
      onlineStatus = 2; (* we're connecting now *)
   end if
else if onlineStatus = connecting then
   (* handle connecting to the service *)
else if onlineStatus = online then
   (* we're online, handle that *)
else
   (* oh no, we're screwed! *)
end if

Obvious pseudocode. :)

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

(SYNDICOMM, Cat 57, Top 31, Msg 5)

>>>>>
"""""
Thanks, Ewen and Shep.

Another question: there is a TCPIPConvertIPToASCII call, but apparently no
equivalent TCPIPConvertASCIIToIP?

I don't mind doing the math myself, I was just hoping it'd be easier :)

Ryan

(A2.RYAN, Cat 57, Top 31, Msg 6)

>>>>>
"""""
You would use TCPIPConvertIPCToHex as the opposite call...

 Ewen Wannop - Speccie - Thu 5 Jun 2003 - 47 days till KFest '03
 Delivered without using a IIgs by Spectrum v2.5.3 & SOAR 1.0b11
 Setup: Bernie ][ the Rescue 3.0 and a dual G4/800Mhz GeForce3
 http://www.ewannop.btinternet.co.uk/

(CONDUCTOR, Cat 57, Top 31, Msg 7)

>>>>>
"""""
Thanks, Ewen.

Of course, I'm back with more stuff :)  Now that I actually can open the
connection, it's time to read and write to the port.  Here's where I'm
having a little trouble.  It's pretty obvious to me that after TCPIPLogin,
which returns an ipid, I do TCPIPOpenTCP to that ipid.

I am guessing after this that I also do TCPIPPoll for awhile until
TCPStatusTCP indicates a connection has been made.

Once that connect is made, assuming I'm expecting data back from the port,
I am guessing I do a TCPIPReadTCP.  Do I also here do TCPIPPoll and check
for tcpError?

Thanks.

Ryan

(A2.RYAN, Cat 57, Top 31, Msg 8)

>>>>>
"""""
>> I am guessing after this that I also do TCPIPPoll for awhile until
TCPStatusTCP indicates a connection has been made. <<

More or less.  I suggest putting a call to TCPIPPoll in your main event
loop.  Keep a state variable that keeps track of what you're in the middle
of doing.  After you do your TCPIPOpen call, set the state to something
that means "waiting to connect" and each pass through the event loop, after
doing TCPIPPoll, if the state is "waiting to connect", check to see if
you're connected yet.  Once you are, set the state to "connected".  The
rest of your code can then be watching that state variable, and only do
sending and receiving when the state is "connected".

>> Once that connect is made, assuming I'm expecting data back from the
port, I am guessing I do a TCPIPReadTCP.  Do I also here do TCPIPPoll and
check for tcpError? <<

You need to keep calling TCPIPPoll, at least once each time through your
event loop.  Possibly more often, depending on how long your loop is. :)

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

(SYNDICOMM, Cat 57, Top 31, Msg 9)
[EOA]


[CTB]
A2 FANS MIGHT WANT TO CHECK OUT THIS BOOK
"""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""
There's a new book out that might be of interest to Apple II fans. "Masters
of Doom," by David Kushner, is the story of id Software founders John
Romero and John Carmack, the guys who created Doom and Quake.

I haven't read it yet, but according to Entertainment Weekly's review there
are mentions of the Apple II, Jobs, Woz, Softdisk, and Burger Bill. Sounds
like a winner to me!

Tony Ward

(A2.TONY, Cat 2, Top 13, Msg 111)
[EOA]



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

     An overview of GEnieLamp A2 and The Lamp!
     ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

By Steven Weyhrich


     NEVER CAN SAY GOODBYE

I like writing about good things, positive things, things that make you
smile and laugh. Humor is good medicine, if you don't mind that old phrase
being repeated once again. I'd sooner tell a funny story, or relate a
clever parody, than to get sober and serious and have to deliver bad news.
Yet, as I tried to come up with some upbeat introduction to this edition of
my review of the Lamp publications, I just could not find the right tone to
make it sound positive. Several great events happened for the Apple II in
1994, the year that we covered last time. But as I reviewed the monthly
issues for 1995, it just seemed that there were fewer things that happened
that were favorable for the A2 world.

Part of this was the realignment of the producers of Apple II hardware and
software, as the available customer base continued to contract, which
caused a reduction of those producers, and continued the cycle.

Perhaps some of the sobering events in the outside world were reflecting
onto the decreased energy in the A2 RoundTable. The federal building in
Oklahoma City was destroyed by a powerful car bomb in April. The province
of Quebec defeated a referendum on independence from Canada by only a very
narrow margin. The deadly Ebola virus hit the country of Zaire in Africa.

Sun Microsystems introduced Java, with microprocessor-independent "applets"
in May. Internet mania continued to build, as a small bookseller named
Amazon.com opened business in July. Netscape announced its initial public
offering (IPO), which doubled in value during its first day on the stock
market. Microsoft "Bob" was released as a more user-friendly interface for
Microsoft Windows 3.1. Microsoft Windows 95 also became available, and sold
over one million copies during its first four days on the market. And as if
they weren't busy enough, Microsoft formed an alliance with NBC, creating
the cable news channel MSNBC.

Over at Apple Computer, the PowerPC 603e was released, with a 100 MHz
speed. Power Computing released the first Mac clones, with militant
advertising campaigns promising to help "kick Intel's ass". Few other
companies were licensed to produce Macintosh clones, leading many to
question Apple's commitment to allow other companies to make Macs.


GENIELAMP INFO

Editor Doug Cuff continued to produce a quality issue of GEnieLamp A2 each
month, but his scope became more constricted by the declining number of
contributing writers. The September issue saw Charlie Hartley's final
"Treasure Hunt" column; Cuff ultimately added this to his own list of
things to do and continued it his own. Also, Susie Oviatt's final "ASCII
Art" picture appeared that same month.

In addition to his usual responsibilities of collecting interesting
postings from the A2 RoundTable and doing the final assembly of the
newsletter, Cuff also found it necessary to contribute more or his own
articles for the newsletter. These included an introduction to using the
Internet from GEnie, Lynx and VT100-compatible telecommunication programs,
and software reviews. He did the "Treasure Hunt" column in June and then
for the final three months of the year, and wrote the last "PAUG
Newsletter" for the year.

General Electric Information Services (GEIS), the organization that owned
the computers on which the GEnie service ran, made a worrisome announcement
at the end of the year. Their press release stated that they were looking
for a buyer for GEnie, but among A2 denizens it was not as yet clear
whether this would be a good or bad thing in the long run.


ROUNDTABLE NEWS

Susan MacGregor became the Chief Sysop for the A2 RoundTable, with Tom
Zuchowski as her assistant. Lunatic E'Sex became Chief of Apple II
Operations on GEnie over both the A2 and A2Pro RT's. Hangtime remained the
A2Pro Chief Sysop. Gina Saikin became the A2 RTC manager.

Richard Bennett of Australia was progressing in his development of an Apple
IIGS front-end program for GEnie. Bennett had been mentioned in GEnieLamp
A2 in the past for his freeware Finder Extension, "Scarabaeidae", as the A2
Special Projects coordinator, and for his giving a talk at KansasFest in
1993. The June issue of GEnieLamp published the results of a poll for
possible names for the new program. The top choice was "Jasmine GS". The
product was ready for an initial preview by KansasFest in July, which was
presented by Bennett and Nate Sloan.


HARDWARE NEWS

Some Apple IIGS ROM 03 discoveries were posted in the A2 RT, and reproduced
in GEnieLamp. The January issue mentioned that the keyboard "mouse key"
feature in the ROM 03 supported use of a two-button mouse. Also, an A2 RT
member named Fred Starkey had found a IIGS with some non-standard ROM chips
in it, and which displayed "Turbo->28" at the top of the screen instead of
"Apple IIgs" when booting. Sheppy recognized it as a prototype ROM 03 IIGS.

The Second Sight VGA card and TurboRez cards continued development, vying
for position in the market for alternatives to Apple IIGS RGB monitors. By
June, the Second Sight card was finally getting to the hands of end users,
who were in general quite happy with the result. Several software companies
committed to working on making their products compatible with the new card.
Also discussed were issues of compatibility with certain original graphics
modes on the IIGS.

Iomega's Zip 100 drive with the RamFAST SCSI controller was evaluated and
results posted in the May issue. In September, though not a formal review,
Tony Morales posted comparisons between the Zip 100 with the new SyQuest
EZ135 cartridge drive.


SOFTWARE NEWS

Sales of Apple II software continued to soften during 1995, with some new
products but few major innovations making an appearance. As before, we'll
look at them by category.


:: PRODUCTIVITY SOFTWARE ::

The AppleWorks 5.0 upgrade was released in December 1994, with an update to
5.1 in April to correct some major bugs in the database module. Author
Randy Brandt made several posts about various bugs that were identified and
how to correct them. Kitchen Sink Software released a Macintosh program
"AppleWorks to Rich Text Format (RTF)", which made it easier to translate
AppleWorks word processing files to use on that platform. Brandt also made
created some excitement with announcement of a project code-named Phoenix
II, which was an AppleWorks-only emulator for the Macintosh. This product
was released later in the year, with the name "Deja II".

Emulator interest extended to Tony Morales, who planned a PowerPC-based
IIGS emulator, which was code-named "Hindenburg".

Will Nelken of Marin Macroworks announced HotKeys I (later called
TouchTwo), a TimeOut and macro add-on for AppleWorks 5.0 and 5.1. Office
Productivity Software also promised updates to their TimeOut Statistics and
TimeOut ShrinkIt Plus programs.

The Byte Works updated Quick Click Calc to v1.2, and also released the
Quick Click Morph, the second in the Quick Click series. Animasia 3-D, an
animation program written by Michael Lutynski, finally began to ship.

Your Money Matters author Steve Peterson decided to NOT release a new
version of the program, but rather to discontinue further development on
it. He did choose to release it to the Lost Classics Project, so it would
not disappear forever.

Seven Hills Software gave out a little more info about the coming update to
GraphicWriter III, announcing support for XCMDs to extend its usefulness,
similar to the way in which Spectrum could be extended. By the end of the
year, it was ready to ship. They also released SuperConvert 4.0, an update
to Jason Harper's classic IIGS graphic conversion utility.


:: TELECOMMUNICATIONS SOFTWARE ::

Seven Hills also kept Ewen Wannop busy, with a version 2.0 update to
Spectrum in January 1995. This was also made available in some special
bundles involving Balloon (an NDA that unpacks ShrinkIt archives) from EGO
Systems, as well as Talking Tools from The Byte Works. Also, several new
XCMD extensions were released to use with that program.

FAXination, Vitesse's fax software for the IIGS was shipped in mid-January,
though there were some early problems with bugs that had to be sorted out.
Vitesse also claimed to still be close to finishing the IIGS port of
Wolfenstein 3D (see below).

Just to keep some competition in the market, Parkhurst Micro Products
continued work on PMPFax, which was ready for beta testing in July, and
began to ship in December.

InTrec began shipment of its new ProTerm Mac product in March.

Derek Taubert began to make news with his work on a TCP stack to use on the
IIGS, which would make it possible to use new methods of connection to the
Internet at large, without the need of using a gateway such as the one that
GEnie was beginning to implement. (If you recall, I made an analogy
previously in this column about online services being like cities. There
were no roads to connect these cities to each other at all, but some dirt
paths had been created to start making such connections possible. Taubert's
TCP stack would be akin to digging a hole under the city wall, and being
able to hitch a ride on the highway outside of that wall, regardless of
whether or not the city was ready to allow such traffic.) By August, GS-TCP
was supposed to be progressing from beta versions, but little more was
heard about it for the rest of the year.


:: SYSTEM SOFTWARE ::

Brutal Deluxe programmer Olivier Zardini announced his work on a 6.0.2
version of GS/OS, based on his disassembly of it. He had planned to have
Brutal Deluxe work on correcting bugs, and possibly enhancing it in some
small ways. This effort was not well received, however, by some experienced
programmers in the U.S. who stated that they didn't feel that Brutal Deluxe
had the skills necessary to patch and update System 6.0.1 to anything else.


:: UTILITY SOFTWARE ::

Sheppy announced continued work on his version 2.0 update to Shifty List.
EGO Systems introduced the ICE icon editor. Peter Watson was beginning work
on a GUI version of his MSDOS Utilities. Bret Victor made his debut in the
Apple IIGS world with the release of Opening Line, his GS/OS boot-up splash
screen enhancer. AutoArk, a disk compression utility, was updated to v1.1
by EGO Systems.

Greg Templeman released II Not Disturb. This utility kept other processes
on the computer from interrupting data transmission at higher baud rates.


:: GAMES ::

Vitesse made a December 1994 announcement (which appeared in the January
1995 issue): "We're just wrapping up Wolfenstein 3D and should begin
shipping within the next two weeks." They were a bit too optimistic about
this schedule, however, and delays began to crop up. The programmer (Bill
Heineman) found himself being unable to allocate sufficient time to both
this game and another project; later there were some contractual problems
with the holders of the copyright.  Furthermore, some problem developed
between Heineman and Vitesse, which made it impossible for him to continue
to work on the project. By August, Vitesse was still hoping it would be
completed "soon", but it was not to be. However, late in the year Vitesse
stated that they had been unable to get Heineman to complete his work on
the game, and that they would have to cancel the project. This greatly
disappointed many who had eagerly anticipated it and those (like Scott
Everts, who did the artwork) who helped with the work on it. (Ultimately,
the game did not see final completion until 1998, and then after completion
by a different programmer than Heineman, and as a freeware product instead
of the $39.95 price that Vitesse had originally.)

Somewhat fitting into the game category was the Megademo by Germany's
Ninjaforce. This demo required an accelerated IIGS, but there were problems
with it for users of some 3.5 inch drives.

Charlie Hartley featured some of the best Eamon adventures in the May
issue, along with an interview of Eamon-man Tom Zuchowski.


PUBLICATIONS

Much of the discouraging news that came out during 1995 was in the loss of
some long-running Apple II publications. It began in March with the
announcement of the final collapse of Resource Central and ICON, and the
discontinuation of A2-Central, which was by this time a disk-only
publication. Doug Cuff had also been editor of that publication, and gave
it a fitting obituary in his GEnieLamp A2 editorial that month. Tom
Weishaar also posted his own thoughts about the end of his publishing
efforts.

TimeOut Central, also gone with the loss of Resource Central, was
re-released in the form of back issues through the help of former editor
Will Nelken.

The AppleWorks Forum ceased publication in November, as NAUG (National
AppleWorks User Group) shut down. Their back issues and disks were
ultimately made available through Shareware Solutions II.

Adding to the bad news was the final issue of GS+ Magazine in August.
Editor Steve Disbrow's final editorial was reproduced in the September
issue of GEnieLamp A2. Although the magazine was going to stop, Disbrow
stated that he wanted to keep the EGO Systems programming business going
for as long as was possible.

Softdisk Publications notified its subscribers that Softdisk, their
original disk publication, would stop publication with issue #166. Softdisk
G-S was to continue publication until further notice.

II Alive announced that there would be six more issues of the magazine
until they stopped publication. Jerry Kindall, who had been involved with
the magazine from the start, also announced that he was no longer going to
be working with Quality Computers. He made it clear that there was no
animosity between himself and Quality in making this decision. Doug Cuff
briefly was managing editor of the magazine (for just two issues). They
also changed their publishing schedule to quarterly.

On the other hand, Joe Kohn's Shareware Solutions II proudly passed the
1,000 subscriber mark, and was being distributed to all 50 states in the
U.S. In July, Kohn announced that Cynthia Fields' "A+ Home Organizer" would
be available exclusively through SSII. Kohn also announced plans to
distribute back issues of Script-Central, the HyperCard-based
magazine-on-disk formerly sold through Resource Central. SSII also extended
its activities to the sales of some of the Big Red Computer Club's
merchandise, Convert 3200. In addition, Steve Disbrow agreed to contribute
articles to SSII.

PowerGS Diskazine by Auri Rahimzadeh announced an interview with Steve
Wozniak in issue #5. Auri also had the opportunity to work for Wozniak
during the summer, helping create web pages for Woz's web server.


COMPANIES

The Big Red Computer Club decided to stay open during at least part of
1995, while owner John Wrenholdt was making changes to allow him to market
software for the Macintosh.

Office Productivity Software cut back on most of its Apple II business,
again due to insufficient sales to justify full activity in making updates
that were compatible with AppleWorks 5.0.

DigiSoft finally began to sell its Golden Orchard CD of Apple II software.

Quality Computers, also hit by the decline in sales of Apple II products,
posted in July some responses to comments made about their efforts to move
into other platforms. They were accused of phasing out the Apple II in
order to make money on something else. Quality's response was that they
were adding other products in order to survive as a company and be ABLE to
continue to support the Apple II as it had been doing. The post also
acknowledged the difficulty they had in handling II Alive's subscription
base, when their primary business was a mail order catalog. Then in the
August issue it was announced that Quality Computers had been sold to
Scantron Corporation, and renamed to Scantron Quality Computers.

Softdisk Publishing, possibly as the result of the closing down of Softdisk
magazine, lost the services of Greg Templeman, as he left to work with
Logicware, a game publishing company.

The Byte Works had a house-cleaning sale to get rid of old printed manuals
for their products.

As mentioned above, The National AppleWorks User Group closed operations in
November 1995.


KANSASFEST

With the downfall of Resource Central/ICON, the continuation of the annual
A2-Central Summer Conference (which ICON had sponsored) was in question.
But enthusiasts of the event decided that they would do whatever was
necessary to make it happen. These dedicated people, including Auri
Rahimzadeh, Cindy Adams, Gina Saikin, and Mark Kline started the effort.
Paul Parkhurst of Parkhurst Micro Systems sponsored it, and the event
developed a life of its own. By May 1995, it was official that the event
would be held. In June, editor Doug Cuff posted info about the newly
established KFest Internet mailing list, and how to access it from GEnie.

The planned festivities included a roast of Steve Dizbrow of GS+ Magazine,
and a keynote address by Roger Wagner. During the event, Mike Westerfield
demonstrated Quick Click Morph, Joe Kohn had a "fireside chat", discussing
his involvement with the Apple II business, and "Internet: The Good, The
Bad, and The Ugly". Ryan Suenaga (attending for the first time) presented
sessions about PDA's and PowerBooks. Dave Ciotti and Doug Pendleton
discussed soldering techniques for electronics. Roger Wagner hosted the
annual "Bite The Bag" competition and provided a late night pizza and soda
festival.

Even Apple Computer attended the event, and introduced some of the new
Macintosh computers that would be released in the fall.


REVIEWS

As mentioned above, Doug Cuff wrote a review of Quick Click Calc 1.2, as
well as gave an overview and review of Apple II terminal programs that
support VT100 display mode. He also reviewed the new Vitesse product,
FAXination. Also appearing in GEnieLamp during the year was Bill Quinn's
review of the Zip 100 drive.


WRITERS

Charlie Hartley continued presenting his Treasure Hunt column up through
September, presenting the best of the files in the GEnie A2 library, from
animation files for the IIGS through SoundSmith music.

Gina Saikin irregularly contributed the PAUG (Planetary Apple User Group)
newsletter column during the year. In March, Dave Johnson did the writing
for the newsletter, and David Kerwood took up the task in June, September,
and October. Ray Pasold took up the task in November, and finally Doug Cuff
did the newsletter in December.

Phil Shapiro continued his "Thinking About Online Communications" series
with columns about online romance; e-mail communication between students,
teachers, and parents; the concept of "notching" (one e-mail or forum
message building on another, and branching out into other directions);
online friendships; and personal web pages. He also began to look for a
publisher for a collection of twenty of his columns.

Jay Curtis wrote several articles about AppleWorks 5 and the coming
Mac-based AppleWorks emulator. Kevin Noonan wrote about the Apple II in
Australia in the May issue.

As part of remembering the ninth anniversary of the release of the Apple
IIGS, Ryan Suenaga and others helped promote a campaign to remind Apple
about the many Apple II users who still existed, despite their non-status
with the company. They did this by sending in their "Tell Apple"
registration cards, but telling about the IIGS. Most of the replies people
got back appeared to be form letters.

Our favorite telephone tech and prolific A2 RoundTable / Delphi A2 Forum /
Syndicomm A2Central poster, Carl Knoblock, made his first appearance in
GEnieLamp during 1995 with a comment about a memory leak associated with
Balloon, and about KansasFest.


INTERVIEWS

Fewer of these appeared during 1995, but included the following:

o Susan MacGregor, new Chief Sysop of the A2 RT
o Doug Cuff, by Charlie Hartley
o Tom Zuchowski, by Charlie Hartley
o John Van Dam (Froggie), by Charlie Hartley


MISCELLANEOUS FEATURES

Gary Utter and Michael (Animasia) wrote a list in the November issue of
ways in which GS/OS was still better than the Mac OS.


HUMOR ONLINE

The Pentium math error problem continued to be a source of merriment.
Terrell Smith poked more fun at it in the form of a "FAQ" about it for his
office mates who had PC's.

Doug Cuff and I had a written two Apple II Top Ten Lists: "Reasons The
Apple IIe is Better Than The IIGS" and "Reasons the Apple II Plus is Better
Than The IIe or IIGS". This had appeared in one of the last issues of
A2-Central.
 
Microsoft, often a focus of humorous posts in the A2 RT, had two features
appear. Andrew Burke poked fun at Microsoft's "Bob" software with a story
about Microsoft "Joe-Bob" software for those of the redneck persuasion.
"Litigation '95" was announced, a new program from Microsoft to aid people
or companies who wanted to sue Microsoft. It included Litigation Builder,
Suit Wizards, and more.

Other humor stories included a poem about computers in the style of Dr.
Suess; a list of Top Ten Computer light bulb jokes; a registration card for
a McDonnell-Douglas aircraft missile system ("please check a box indicating
where this product will be used"); Murphy's laws for computer; and a
December poem by Marty Knight, "A Visit From Saint Woz" (parodying the
classic "Visit From Saint Nicholas").

Humor also appeared in posts to the A2 RoundTable. In July, Greg Templeman
related a story about a disk duplicator, which ejected a disk so briskly
that it flew over, hit the switch on the power strip, and shut itself off.


STATS

Here are statistics for the first four years of GEnieLamp. The numbers
refer to the size of each issue in "K" (kilobytes):

Year    Min     Max     Avg
----    ----    ----    ----
1992    116K    212K    156K
1993     80K    256K    172K
1994    124K    216K    165K
1995     92K    176K    125K


RAINY DAYS AND MONDAYS ALWAYS GET ME DOWN

Well, I'll pull myself together and see if there can't be some better news
for the next installment of this column. In the meantime, I suppose I'd
better stop listening to those lonesome Carpenters songs from the early
1970's. See you again next time!


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


References for 1995 historical info:

Apple Computer, Inc.: A History
     http://www.geocities.com/Athens/3682/applehistory.html

Apple History Timeline
     http://applemuseum.bott.org/sections/history.html

Computer History For 1990-2000
     http://www.computerhope.com/history/19902000.htm

History Of Hypertext Timeline
     http://www.robotwisdom.com/web/timeline.html

Timeline of the 90s, 1995
     http://www.inthe90s.com/generated/time1995.shtml

[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]


[JSR]
JUNE 2003 ISSUE OF SYNDICOMMOTION IS READY
""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""
The June 2003 (Volume 2, Number 6) issue of Syndicommotion has been emailed
to subscribers.  The HTML edition can be found online at the following URL:

http://www.syndicomm.com/syndicommotion/v2n6.html

(KGAGNE, Cat 5, Top 4, Msg 10)
[EOA]



[TTC]-------------------------------
             THE TINKERER'S CORNER |
------------------------------------

By Lyle Syverson <lyle@foxvalley.net>

Keeping the Apple II Cool Enough
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
When you have a lot of cards in the slots of your Apple II you might find
that your computer overheats.  This is especially true if you are using an
accelerator.

As a temporary expedient you might try operating it with the cover off.

A somewhat neater trick with the IIgs is to lay the power supply on the
desk back of the computer, feed the lead through the back, and connect it
to the IIgs.

Operating the computer this way moves the heat produced by the power supply
outside the case.

In the future we will discuss other methods of keeping the Apple II cool.

[EOA]


YOU ARE INVITED
"""""""""""""""
You are invited to submit your favorite Tinkerer's Project for the Apple II
computers.

Send your write up or idea 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]



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

LETTER TO THE EDITOR
""""""""""""""""""""
Fri, 16 May 2003
From: Donald Lee
To: Lyle Syverson, Editor, The Lamp!
Subject: Apple II History

Good Evening,

Well, I guess I'll just add a letter to the editor for "The Lamp!"

It's great you guys are reviewing the history of the Apple II and GenieLamp
especially the past year of 1994.

1994 (and later in 1995) was the year that I realized my Apple IIe was more
than just a regular home computer.  The classes I took at my junior college
(basic word processing, spreadsheet, database) showed me what a PC could
do.  But I had Appleworks and discovered what I learned in my class could
translate.  In fact, if someone still has their issues of II Alive, I noted
that in a letter to the editor.

Despite the fact that Apple II's were formally discontinued, in 1994, my
ten year old Apple IIe was definitely still alive and in use.

Perhaps I should save this for your next issue, but in 1995, after I had
transferred to a 4 year university, I discovered the wonders of the
Internet (email, browsing, newsgroups).  Sometime after that (late 1995 or
early 1996) I purchased a modem for my Apple IIe and began my journey
online.

And what a journey it has been.  Though my IIe finally died on me a few
years ago (it still works, but the video can't be seen) and I don't use
Apple II programs anymore, I have toyed with the idea of picking up a used
IIe or IIGS to mess with some of the old games I still have at home.

THe Apple IIe was one of the big blessings in my life and I feel I am all
the better for it!

Donald

=====
Donald C. Lee
http://www.geocities.com/smcoach41
[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]



[KFT]------------------------------
                       KFest 2003 |
-----------------------------------

[PBT]
KFest 2003 - PLAN TO BE THERE!
""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""
KansasFest 2003 is planned for July 22-27, 2003 at Avila University in
Kansas City, Missouri.

(Entrance banner, Cat 5, Top 5)
[EOA]


[KRF]
KFest REGISTRATION FORM
"""""""""""""""""""""""
The KFest registration form with instructions in PDF format can be
downloaded here:

http://lamp.a2central.com/klo/registration_forms/KFestRegForm2003g.pdf

If you can not access PDF documents with your computer contact Jerry Cline
at Intrec Software and request a form by mail.  Contact information can be
found below.

Sponsored by:
InTrec Software, Inc.
3035 E Topaz Circle
Phoenix, AZ 85028-4423
Voc:602/992-1345
Fax:602/992-0232
kfest@intrec.com
[EOA]


[TFN]
THIRD FLOOR NEEDED FOR KFest ATTENDEES
""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""
As posted on the A2central home page, a third floor is now needed for KFest
attendees.  When was the last time KFest attendees actually needed three
floors.  The first year I was at KFest was in 1996--I think I remember the
soccer kids were on 4 and KFest attendees were on 5 and 6.  Were there any
KFest attendees also on 4?  Or was I just confusing 1997 with 1996?

Nevertheless, it is incredible to see the surge of attendance this year.

Geoff

(GEOFF, Cat 5, Top 5, Msg 58)

>>>>>
"""""
>> When was the last time KFest attendees actually needed three floors. <<

Not sure but 3 floors were probably required in '95 (80 attendees) or '96
(73 attendees). Don't remember how Avila sandwiched us in those years - but
could look it up:)

What matters is the surge and interest THIS year. Incredibly exceptional
people were attracted to the Apple II. They represent a very special
community and preserving this unique "mindset" is probably one of the most
important aspects of KFest.

I don't think I care too much about which computer you are now using (with
perhaps a few exceptions), it's the special person that you are by
attending that's most important!

Steve

(KFESTSTEVE, Cat 5, Top 5, Msg 62)

>>>>>
"""""
According to my room list from '95, we only had 2 floors. The overflow had
to stay off-campus.

 Carl Knoblock - Telephone Tech - Sat  31 May 03  10:33:01 pm
 cknoblo@cox.com - Via Spectrum v2.5.2 & SOAR v1.0b10
 KFest 2003, July 22-27, 2003 - 52 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 5, Top 5, Msg 63)

>>>>>
"""""
Wow.  My memory had always told me we had 100 attendees in '95, the first
KFest I went to.

We're gonna have a good time no matter what. :)

Ryan

(A2.RYAN, Cat 5, Top 5, Msg 64)

>>>>>
"""""
That was my memory, too, but the only list I could find was a room list.

 Carl Knoblock - Telephone Tech - Sun  1 Jun 03  9:45:45 pm
 cknoblo@cox.com - Via Spectrum v2.5.2 & SOAR v1.0b10
 KFest 2003, July 22-27, 2003 - 51 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 5, Top 5, Msg 65)
[EOA]


[TEB]
THE EXCITEMENT BUILDS
"""""""""""""""""""""
It's only June, but I am getting really excited about yet another Kfest.
My only regrets I've had at Kfest is usually that I didn't get done all the
things I wanted to.

The GS and the Powerbook are coming for sure.  Not sure what else I am
going to be able to hold yet.  I'll have to see what kind of a load Ken and
Ryan have:)

It should be a lot of fun.  I can't wait to see you all there.

Dain

(A2.DAIN, Cat 5, Top 5, Msg 66)
[EOA]


[NPA]
NEW PRODUCTS TO BE ANNOUNCED AT KFest
"""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""
Yes, this will be a great one. :)

Syndicomm will have some products to announce at the show. :)

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

(SYNDICOMM, Cat 5, Top 5, Msg 61)
[EOA]


[AKF]
TRANSPORTATION, AIRPORT TO KFest
""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""
For those flying in on commercial airlines (or taking the train) we have
been very successful in supplying ground transportation from your terminal
to Avila in past years, and intend to continue the tradition this year.

About the first day of Summer (or Winter depending on which hemisphere you
live in) we will start putting together the taxi list.

 Carl Knoblock - Telephone Tech - Mon  24 Mar 03  5:38:20 pm
 cknoblo@applelinc.org - Via Spectrum v2.5.2 & SOAR v1.0b10
 KFest 2003, July 22-27, 2003 - 120 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 5, Top 5, Msg 23)
[EOA]


[VKF]
FOR MORE INFORMATION VISIT THE KFest HOME PAGE
""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""
KFest Home Page
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 2003 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]
