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[HEA]
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_____________________ ___ _
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|___ ______________| | | | |
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| || | | | ____ _ _ _ _ ______ | |
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| || | | | / __ \ | | / \_/ \ | ___ \ | |
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| || |__ ____ | | / / \ | | /\ /\ \ | | \ \ | |
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| || | | || |__ | |____________________ | | _
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|__||_| |_|\____/ |________________________| | | |_|
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Lighting Your Apple II Path | |
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-----------------------------------
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>>> WELCOME TO THE LAMP! <<<
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~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
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THE BEST OF THE A2 BULLETIN BOARD ON Syndicomm Online
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"Teaching the Apple II user how to fish since 1998"
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::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::
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The Lamp! An Onipa'a Software Production Vol. 8, No. 2
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::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::
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Publisher................................Ryan M. Suenaga, M.S.W., L.S.W.
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Editor.....................................................Lyle Syverson
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Internet Email, Publisher.........................thelamp@sheppyware.net
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Internet Email, Editor................................lyle@FoxValley.net
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::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::
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TABLE OF CONTENTS
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~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
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February 15, 2005
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HIGH ABOVE THE ROCK RIVER---------------------------------------------[OPN]
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Signs of Spring
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Signs of KansasFest
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A2 FORUM AT Syndicomm Online (A2Central.com) DISTILLATIONS------------[DAS]
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THE Commodore 64 DTV Connection----------------------------------[CDC]
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New File in the A2 Library---------------------------------------[NFL]
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Apple Computer, Inc. Has Very Good Quarter-----------------------[VGQ]
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Computer Science - Looking Back----------------------------------[CSB]
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Using the MacIP Link Layer Module for Marinetti------------------[LLM]
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Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy---------------------------------[HGG]
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Mac Mini in Apple II Case?---------------------------------------[MMA]
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Cost of Storage--------------------------------------------------[COS]
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ORCA/C - Support for Inline Procedure Names----------------------[IPN]
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Juiced.GS Subscription Renewals----------------------------------[JSR]
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Lucas Updating His WebPage---------------------------------------[UWP]
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Another Great Programmer's Chat----------------------------------[APC]
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Help Programing a Game-------------------------------------------[HPG]
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Silver Platter - Web Server on a IIgs----------------------------[SPS]
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ILLUMINATING THE LAMP-------------------------------------------------[ITL]
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An overview of GEnieLamp A2 and The Lamp!
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To be Continued
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ANNOUNCEMENTS FROM SYNDICOMM------------------------------------------[ANS]
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To Sign up for Syndicomm Online----------------------------------[TSU]
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February 2005 Issue of Syndicommotion Available------------------[FIA]
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LETTERS TO THE EDITOR-------------------------------------------------[LTE]
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No Letters to the Editor This Month
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An Invitation
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KFEST 2005------------------------------------------------------------[KF5]
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KFest Registration Due to Open March 1---------------------------[KFR]
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In Anticipation of KansasFest 2005-------------------------------[AKF]
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Wife Might Allow Attendance at KansasFest------------------------[WMA]
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Wee Hours Run For Food-------------------------------------------[WHF]
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KansasFest 2005 to be Held July 19-24th--------------------------[TBH]
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KansasFest Website-----------------------------------------------[KFW]
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EXTRA INNINGS
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About The Lamp! ------------------------------------------------ [INN]
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[*] [*] [*]
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READING THE LAMP! The index system used by The Lamp! is designed to make
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""""""""""""""""" your reading easier. To use this system, load this
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issue into any word processor or text editor. In the index you will find
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something like:
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EXTRA INNINGS
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About The Lamp! ------------------------------------------------ [INN]
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To read this article, simply use your search or find command to locate
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[INN]. There is a similar tag at the end of each article: [EOA].
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[OPN]-------------------------------
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HIGH ABOVE THE ROCK RIVER |
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------------------------------------
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From The Editor
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"""""""""""""""
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by Lyle Syverson <lyle@FoxValley.net>
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Signs of Spring
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~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
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The local Groundhog, having seen his shadow on February 2, has
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declared that there will be six more weeks of winter. (On the other hand,
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had he not seen his shadow, there would have been forty two more days of
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winter.)
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The unseasonably warm days have melted most of the remaining snow.
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There is a definite hint of Spring in the air. Time to walk by a certain
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house. The occupant has planted an assortment of Snow Crocus bulbs close
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to the foundation on the south side of his house.
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The rich, black soil next to the house has been warmed by the sunshine
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and by the heat from the foundation. The Crocus bulbs have been signaled
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by the temperature of the soil to send up shoots... a sure sign that Spring
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is not far off.
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Signs of KansasFest
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~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
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It appears that KFest registration will open on March 1. (See the
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KFest 2005 section of this issue for more information).
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[EOA]
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ASCII ART BEGINS
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_________ _ _ _
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|__ __| | | | | | |
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| | | | | | | |
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| | | |___ ____ | | _____ __ ___ _ _ _____ | |
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| | | ___ \ / __ \ | | /____ \ | v v | | v ___ \ | |
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| | | | | | | /__\ \ | | ____| | | /\ /\ | | / \ \ | |
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| | | | | | | _____| | | / ___ | | || || | | | | | |_|
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| | | | | | | |_____ | |____ | |__| | | || || | | \___/ / _
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|_| |_| |_| \______| |______| \____^_| |_||_||_| | |\____/ |_|
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ASCII ART ENDS
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[EOA]
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[DAS]----------------------------------------------
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DISTILLATIONS FROM The A2 FORUM at Syndicomm.com |
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(A2Central.com) |
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---------------------------------------------------
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by Lyle Syverson <lyle@foxvalley.net>
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[CDC]
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THE Commodore 64 DTV CONNECTION
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"""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""
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FWIW, the Commodore 64 DTV (the joystick created by our buddy Jeri) is now
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available at KB Toys, at least in person (there were some in the mall here
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but I couldn't find any at http://kbtoys.com/)
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Ryan
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Chief Sysop and Head Geek
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(A2.RYAN, Cat 2, Top 8, Msg 513)
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[EOA]
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[NFL]
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NEW FILE IN THE A2 LIBRARY
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""""""""""""""""""""""""""
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There is a new upload in the utilities/prodos8/date_and_time_utilities
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directory:
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File: ezupdater.bxy
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Size: 1664
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Date: Jan 3
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EasyDrive, a freeware release from QLabs, is a disk management suite for
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hard drives and other large media.
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As distributed, the date code in the top bar is hard-coded to display "19"
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for the century digits. Mark Percival has written an easy-to-use BASIC
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program that will change these digits from "19" to "20" for proper date
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display. Place the BASIC file EZUPDATER in the same subdirectory as the
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EASYDRIVE bin program and then run the BASIC file. (You may want to save
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the original file as ORIG.EASYDRIVE just in case.) From that point on, the
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date bar at the top of the menu will display the proper date. Note that
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this patch is only good for this century, so if you're going to be using
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your Apple II and EasyDrive 95 years from now, a new patch program will be
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necessary.
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Please note that the EasyDrive software must be distributed in it's
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original form, and the date code must be altered by the end-user. This is
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in keeping with the freeware agreement under which QLabs released this
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software.
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Tony Ward, A2 Librarian
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(A2.TONY, Cat 2, Top 37, Msg 52)
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[EOA]
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[VGQ]
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Apple Computer, Inc. HAS VERY GOOD QUARTER
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""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""
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Apple Computer, Inc. reported its most profitable quarter ever on
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Wednesday. Stock of the company (ticker AAPL) is up more than 11% in after
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hours trading.
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Ryan
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Chief Sysop
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(A2.RYAN, Cat 4, Top 3, Msg 11)
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[EOA]
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[CSB]
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COMPUTER SCIENCE - LOOKING BACK
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"""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""
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Here's a poorly-framed question.
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I teach 11th grade English composition in a high school that includes a
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one-hour, twice-a-week computer science course in its curriculum. I've
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suggested to the faculty that the teachers "switch" for a day - for
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example, the math teacher teach physics, the physics teacher teach
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humanities, etc.
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I would like to teach computer science, and draw on my Apple II background
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to expose today's youth to that machine and its environment. But how to do
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so? The school has multiple PCs available, but I cannot legally copy my
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IIgs's ROM to each one to run emulators. What Apple-related activity can I
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introduce to the kids using Windows machines?
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There is a Windows version of the text-based game "Adventure" available at
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<http://www.rickadams.org/adventure/e_downloads.html>, but that's not in
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the school's spirit of barring game-playing on school computers.
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Thoughts?
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-Ken
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(KGAGNE, Cat 6, Top 7, Msg 1)
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>>>>>
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"""""
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Although I can't quote any resources for you to refer to, I've seen more
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than one comment noting that the "adventure" game format has genuine
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educational merit, particularly the earlier text-based versions.
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In the case of the original Colossal Cave adventure, I think you could make
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a strong case for presenting it in an educational setting. (Obviously the
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big concern would be limiting the amount of time spent on the purely
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entertainment side of it.)
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The program was ground breaking in many ways. It was huge! It had early
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text compression and interpreter-based design. It had one of the first
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publicly available "language parsers" (primitive and all as it was). The
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text was rich and complex, with roots in the Tolkien tradition. It required
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the user to think laterally and make connections - which should be a
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"subject" taught in all schools!
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On the other hand, the Apple II implementation was just one of many, so I'm
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not sure how well it fits with your plans there.
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Peter peterw@syndicomm.com
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Palm OS Community Bulletin Board Manager
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(PETERW, Cat 6, Top 7, Msg 2)
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>>>>>
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"""""
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Peter,
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I think I'll need to think laterally myself in order to teach a class I'd
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like to teach. In this case, "classic computing" might be a more feasible
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and effective approach than Apple II specifically.
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I'll think about what you've said... Thanks!
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-Ken
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(KGAGNE, Cat 6, Top 7, Msg 3)
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>>>>>
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"""""
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Ken,
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Maybe the thing to do is teach a little "History of Personal Computing"
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during that hour - tracing, say, the evolution of the spreadsheet as a case
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study. Visicalc, (which you can explain was originally written for the
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16K Apple ][ ) is actually available for download for the PC. If you could
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dig up a DOS-based copy of Lotus 1-2-3, and then finally show them Excel,
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they might get a nice idea how far we've come.
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Some related links:
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http://inventors.about.com/library/weekly/aa010199.htm
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http://www.webopedia.com/TERM/V/VisiCalc.html
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http://www.bricklin.com/history/vcexecutable.htm
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_________
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| homas
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(TCOMPTER, Cat 6, Top 7. Msg 4)
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>>>>>
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"""""
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I posted my original query on a whim, after weeks of meaning to. It's
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proven to be timely, as I may be substituting for the computer science
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teacher next week! Gulp.
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I've found copies of Adventure and VisiCalc that I can install (freely and
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legally) on the school computers. Perhaps I can whip up something in a
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rush using that.
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-Ken
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(KGAGNE, Cat 6, Top 7, Msg 5)
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>>>>>
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"""""
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There's a lot of value in a good text adventure game; they teach logical
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thinking, reading, and attention to detail.
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In particular, some of the crime solving games like The Witness are very
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good for this sort of thing.
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Eric "Sheppy" Shepherd sheppy@syndicomm.com
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Owner, Syndicomm http://www.syndicomm.com
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Building communities, bit by bit.
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(SYNDICOMM, Cat 6, Top 7, Msg 6)
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>>>>>
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"""""
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I thought Adventure, like British Legends, would give a list of all the
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potential directions for exit from the current room by using the "exits"
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command - but there is no such command. That makes it much more difficult,
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IMHO, since the verbose description of each room does not necessarily say
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"there is a river to the east", only "there is a river nearby".
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Hmm.
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-Ken
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(KGAGNE, Cat 6, Top 7, Msg 7)
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>>>>>
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"""""
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Does anyone know of a good spreadsheet exercise I can give the students in
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VisiCalc? For example, "Here is some data; enter and manipulate it in a
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spreadsheet thusly."
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FWIW, I found a review of Cdex, a VisiCalc tutorial, at
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<http://www.atarimagazines.com/creative/v9n5/54_Visicalc_made_easier.php>.
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-Ken
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(KGAGNE, Cat 6, Top 7, Msg 8)
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>>>>>
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"""""
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The Infocom games are typically much, much better about ensuring that room
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descriptions indicate where all the exits are than any other adventure
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games I've ever seen. It helps to turn on VERBOSE mode, so you see room
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descriptions each time you enter.
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Eric "Sheppy" Shepherd sheppy@syndicomm.com
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Owner, Syndicomm http://www.syndicomm.com
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Building communities, bit by bit.
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(SYNDICOMM, Cat 6, Top 7, Msg 9)
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>>>>>
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"""""
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In the original adventure the idea was that you *explored*. That is, you
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always tried all directions in a room including up and down (offhand I
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can't remember if NE, SE, NW, SW work). You were also expected to make a
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map. And entering room B by going North from room A did not always mean
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that going South from Room B would take you back to Room A!
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It really was meant to be much more of an "adventure" than some of the
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later programs. Although Infocom did indeed have the balance pretty right.
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(BTW, there are many Infocom (and 3rd party) games available for download
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using Z-machine interpreters written for just about any platform you care
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to name - including my Palm PDA!)
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Ken, have you actually played Colossal Cave? If not, it might be worth
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searching for a hint sheet to help you help the students to make some
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progress. It would defeat the purpose if they got bored too quickly. I can
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answer most questions (memory permitting!), but the turnaround time might
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be a bit slow!
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Peter peterw@syndicomm.com
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Palm OS Community Bulletin Board Manager
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(PETERW, Cat 6, Top 7, Msg 10)
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>>>>>
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"""""
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Peter,
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I don't think I have played Colossal Cave extensively, but I will do so
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today (with cheat sheets), and will give the students graph paper when I
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send them into the adventure. :)
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Thanks,
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-Ken
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(KGAGNE, Cat 6, Top 7, Msg 11)
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>>>>>
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"""""
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Ken,
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Don't get lost in the maze of twisty little passages, all alike! :-)
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Peter peterw@syndicomm.com
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Palm OS Community Bulletin Board Manager
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(PETERW, Cat 6, Top 7, Msg 12)
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Today I had the students using VisiCalc. The way the school works, I got
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to teach the computer science class four times throughout the day, and each
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one went more smoothly.
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I started with some history of the software and hardware, listing how many
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kilobytes various media are (hard drives, DVDs, CDs, floppies), and showing
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that VisiCalc was smaller than today's FoxTrot comic strip. The students
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lacked perspective on some matters; after I showed that VisiCalc was 22K, I
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asked how much memory the computer it was for had. 16MB was a common
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guess. They were rather stunned that it was only 16K!
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"VisiCalc shipped for the Apple II, a machine created by what two people?"
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I asked. The students responded quickly with "Steve Jobs", but had never
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heard of the other guy, even after I gave his name. I quickly incorporated
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some KFest pictures into the lesson after that. (They'd never heard of
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VisiCalc either; several students guessed the first spreadsheet program
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ever was Excel!)
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I then assigned this exercise:
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1. A standard checkbook ledger looks like this:
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Check # Date Description Deposit Payment Balance
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---------------------------------------------------------------
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40,000
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250 1/31 WPI 22,000 -22,000
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tuition 18,000
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2/01 deposit 1,984 1,984
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tax refund 19,984
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Create a sample checkbook ledger with at least four expenses, two deposits,
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and one ATM withdrawal.
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As they progressed through the assignment, I also had them left justify the
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Check column, apply a currency format to the Balance column, and lock the
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first row as a title.
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I predicted the trouble the students would have with the program - no
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mouse, no menu bars, etc. One girl apparently confused the Blank and Clear
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commands, and erased her entire spreadsheet (this, of course, being before
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"Undo" commands!). But I hadn't anticipated the trouble they would have
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with the mathematics. Most of these students are too young to have their
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own checkbooks, and a few needed some help to understand that Balance =
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Previous Balance + Deposit - Payment, and how to represent that using cell
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values. I'd preceded the exercise with demonstrating that paper
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spreadsheets don't automatically recalculate their cells, which is why a
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computer made things so much easier in 1979. But some students manually
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entered all their numbers, which of course resulted in the spreadsheet not
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updating when I tested it by changing the deposit and payment values.
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Other students created a balance column that acknowledged either a deposit
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or a payment, depending on which one they'd entered; that failed when I
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changed the deposit to a payment. ("But you can't have both!" they'd say;
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"I don't care, and neither does the balance column. It should be prepared
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for anything you throw at it.")
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I expected the students to spend 30 minutes on the exercise before moving
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on to their homework, but many used all 45 minutes and even then some
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weren't finished. (I also challenged the students to determine the quit
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command - no, not "Q", but "/SQY". How obtuse! :)
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Some students didn't see any relevance to this exercise, and one girl who's
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had a bad week (academically) was nearly in tears, saying "This is beyond
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me!" But two students grasped this program very quickly, distinguished
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between values and labels, and applied some very elegant equations and
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formula. I'm not sure if these are kids who grew up with Lotus 1-2-3 or
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not. :)
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An interesting and surprising exercise. I'm not sure if they learned more
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about the history of technology, how to use a spreadsheet, or basic
|
|
mathematics and logical thinking. I just hope they learned something.
|
|
|
|
Thanks for the help and suggestions, everyone! I never would've known this
|
|
program was available for Windows if not for your post, Thomas.
|
|
|
|
-Ken
|
|
|
|
(KGAGNE, Cat 6, Top 7, Msg 13)
|
|
|
|
>>>>>
|
|
"""""
|
|
Some lessons are going to be experiments. As experiments go this sounds
|
|
like it needs work. But with a little fine tuning you could try it again.
|
|
|
|
I remember doing some things like this. The real world of science is truly
|
|
like this. Everything is not all ironed out and step by step.
|
|
|
|
It seems you identified some of the "naturals". They may be the type that
|
|
thrive with a little disorganization as well as math and logic.
|
|
|
|
Bruce
|
|
|
|
(BBAKER, Cat 6, Top 7, Msg 14)
|
|
|
|
>>>>>
|
|
"""""
|
|
Bruce,
|
|
|
|
Any suggestions you might have for fine-tuning the experiment would be
|
|
greatly appreciated!
|
|
|
|
-Ken
|
|
|
|
(KGAGNE, Cat 6, Top 7, Msg 15)
|
|
[EOA]
|
|
|
|
|
|
[LLM]
|
|
USING THE MacIP Link Layer Module for Marinetti
|
|
"""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""
|
|
What kind of success have people had using the MacIP Link Layer module for
|
|
Marinetti?
|
|
|
|
Ryan
|
|
Chief Sysop
|
|
|
|
(RSUENAGA, Cat 11, Top 15, Msg 60)
|
|
|
|
>>>>>
|
|
"""""
|
|
I don't have the hardware to run Mac IP. It's only ethernet for me.
|
|
|
|
Geoff
|
|
|
|
(GEOFF, Cat 11, Top 15, Msg 61)
|
|
[EOA]
|
|
|
|
|
|
[HGG]
|
|
Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy
|
|
""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""
|
|
It's not Apple II-compatible, but the 1984 Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy
|
|
is available online at this URL:
|
|
|
|
http://www.bbc.co.uk/radio4/hitchhikers/game/guide.swf
|
|
|
|
(KGAGNE, Cat 14, Top 1, Msg 115)
|
|
[EOA]
|
|
|
|
|
|
[MMA]
|
|
Mac Mini in Apple II Case?
|
|
""""""""""""""""""""""""""
|
|
Is the Mac Mini small enough to house in an Apple II body/case?
|
|
|
|
-Ken
|
|
|
|
(KGAGNE, Cat 17, Top 1, Msg 1)
|
|
|
|
>>>>>
|
|
"""""
|
|
It is about the size of a Apple IIGs 5 1/4 drive so yes you could.
|
|
|
|
(TECHNERD, Cat 17, Top 1, Msg 2)
|
|
|
|
>>>>>
|
|
"""""
|
|
The official size of the Mac mini is 6.5 inches wide by 6.5 inches deep by
|
|
2 inches high as per http://www.apple.com/macmini/specs.html
|
|
|
|
There's a picture on iPodlounge.com in their (excellent) Mac mini review
|
|
with a DVD or CD-ROM being inserted into the optical drive in the mini, to
|
|
give you some reference.
|
|
|
|
It's small enough to fit without any modification into any non-IIc Apple
|
|
II.
|
|
|
|
It would be quite an interesting experiment (right now expensive too :) to
|
|
try to get one into the IIc case, with the IIc keyboard still being usable
|
|
and the optical drive where the IIc floppy is.
|
|
|
|
Ryan
|
|
Chief Sysop
|
|
|
|
(A2.RYAN, Cat 17, Top 1, Msg 3)
|
|
|
|
>>>>>
|
|
"""""
|
|
I think you could put a Mac mini inside an Apple II case without taking the
|
|
mini out of its own enclosure. :)
|
|
|
|
Eric "Sheppy" Shepherd sheppy@syndicomm.com
|
|
Owner, Syndicomm http://www.syndicomm.com
|
|
Building communities, bit by bit.
|
|
|
|
(SYNDICOMM, Cat 17, Top 1, Msg 4)
|
|
[EOA]
|
|
|
|
|
|
[COS]
|
|
COST OF STORAGE
|
|
"""""""""""""""
|
|
I just spent $5 on a 32-megabyte USB drive.
|
|
|
|
How much would that much storage have cost me 15-20 years ago? And how
|
|
long would it have lasted me? (32MB is the equivalent of 234 5.25"
|
|
floppies, or 40 3.5" floppies)
|
|
|
|
-Ken
|
|
|
|
(KGAGNE, Cat 19, Top 1, Msg 4)
|
|
|
|
>>>>>
|
|
"""""
|
|
I spent $650 for a 100MB SCSI drive in 1990-1991 from Open-Apple. It's
|
|
still my main hard drive on my GS, although a 127MB hard drive I got from
|
|
Quality Computers a few years later for about $200 just started that
|
|
"stiction" problem.
|
|
|
|
-Jeff
|
|
|
|
(FINKSTERJ, Cat 19, Top 1, Msg 5)
|
|
[EOA]
|
|
|
|
|
|
[IPN]
|
|
ORCA/C - SUPPORT FOR INLINE PROCEDURE NAMES
|
|
"""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""
|
|
I was fooling around with the orca/c source code this afternoon and added
|
|
support for inline procedure names (which gsbug and niftylist recognize).
|
|
You can find the diffs necessary here:
|
|
http://www.syndicomm.com/~kws/cc/
|
|
|
|
Kelvin
|
|
|
|
(KWS, Cat 22, Top 5, Msg 19)
|
|
|
|
>>>>>
|
|
"""""
|
|
Kelvin, dude, that's cool. :)
|
|
|
|
Eric "Sheppy" Shepherd sheppy@syndicomm.com
|
|
Owner, Syndicomm http://www.syndicomm.com
|
|
Building communities, bit by bit.
|
|
|
|
(SYNDICOMM, Cat 22, Top 5, Msg 20)
|
|
[EOA]
|
|
|
|
|
|
[JSR]
|
|
Juiced.GS SUBSCRIPTION RENEWALS
|
|
"""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""
|
|
If you haven't renewed your Juiced.GS subscription, don't forget to do it
|
|
soon!
|
|
|
|
Eric "Sheppy" Shepherd sheppy@syndicomm.com
|
|
Owner, Syndicomm http://www.syndicomm.com
|
|
Building communities, bit by bit.
|
|
|
|
(SYNDICOMM, Cat 23, Top 2, Msg 644)
|
|
|
|
>>>>>
|
|
"""""
|
|
I'm now pretty confident that the first issue of Volume 10 will ship at the
|
|
end of this month. If you haven't resubscribed, now is the time.
|
|
|
|
Ryan
|
|
Chief Sysop, Syndicomm A2
|
|
Editor-in-Chief, Juiced.GS
|
|
|
|
(A2.RYAN, Cat 23, Top 2, Msg 647)
|
|
[EOA]
|
|
|
|
|
|
[UWP]
|
|
Lucas UPDATING HIS WEBPAGE
|
|
""""""""""""""""""""""""""
|
|
I've been starting to update some content on my webpage:
|
|
|
|
http://iigs.dreamhost.com
|
|
|
|
and have also added a BLOG. Recent additions are revisions to the
|
|
published GTE API and a work-in-progress, in-depth description of the GTE
|
|
blitter and sprite code.
|
|
|
|
-Lucas
|
|
|
|
(LSCHAREN, Cat 50, Top 5, Msg 40)
|
|
[EOA]
|
|
|
|
|
|
[APC]
|
|
ANOTHER GREAT PROGRAMMER'S CHAT
|
|
"""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""
|
|
We had a nice programmer's chat again tonight. Lots of discussion about
|
|
code source repositories (if not actual open source and CVS at this point).
|
|
|
|
Also of discussion was an Internet Configuration CDev, which has been
|
|
discussed somewhat before. Not of discussion was Geoff's previous idea on
|
|
filetypes linked with dot three filename suffixes.
|
|
|
|
Sadly, my own projects are currently backburnered. Hopefully they will
|
|
come around someday soon...
|
|
|
|
Ryan
|
|
Chief Sysop
|
|
|
|
(A2.RYAN, Cat 50, Top 5, Msg 41)
|
|
|
|
>>>>>
|
|
"""""
|
|
Any chance of transcripts of the Monthly Programmer Chats being made
|
|
available?
|
|
|
|
Just curious....
|
|
|
|
-Lucas
|
|
|
|
(LSCHAREN, Cat 50, Top 5, Msg 42)
|
|
|
|
>>>>>
|
|
"""""
|
|
If Kirk kept a transcript, then yes. I would keep one myself but I can't
|
|
get home in work early enough to make the start of the chat.
|
|
|
|
Ryan
|
|
Chief Sysop
|
|
|
|
(A2.RYAN, Cat 50, Top 5, Msg 43)
|
|
|
|
>>>>>
|
|
"""""
|
|
I saved a transcript.
|
|
|
|
I'll just have to edit and massage it some, then I'll upload.
|
|
|
|
Kirk
|
|
|
|
(A2.KIRK, Cat 50, Top 5, Msg 44)
|
|
[EOA]
|
|
|
|
|
|
[HPG]
|
|
HELP PROGRAMING A GAME
|
|
""""""""""""""""""""""
|
|
I guess I'll ask this here because, well, I haven't asked here before. :)
|
|
I'm stuck at a point in a game I'm developing, which I hope to release
|
|
(someday) for both Apple IIGS and Palm.
|
|
|
|
The game is a hex-grid, turn-based wargame inspired by "Panzer General"
|
|
which I enjoyed very much for it's easy to use interface. A word of
|
|
explanation may be in order, for those that have not played the game:
|
|
|
|
In Panzer General, and its sibling games, when you click on a unit on your
|
|
map, all the hexes to which you can move (limited by movement points vs.
|
|
terrain costs) are shaded. You then just click on the desired shaded hex,
|
|
and the unit moves there.
|
|
|
|
I'm trying to duplicate that point and click interface, but have a problem
|
|
with the algorithm for figuring out which hexes should be shaded. The
|
|
complication is in the fact that different hexes have different movement
|
|
costs associated with them, so it's not as simple as just counting out X
|
|
hexes from the current one.
|
|
|
|
I've found descriptions of algorithms for finding the shortest path from
|
|
one given point to another, and for figuring out how many movement points
|
|
it would take to get there, but not one for figuring out how far you can
|
|
get with a fixed number of movement points.
|
|
|
|
The algorithm has to be doable in either Basic or C. Can anyone give me
|
|
any hints, or point me to a website that has such a description?
|
|
|
|
Thanks.
|
|
_________
|
|
| homas
|
|
|
|
(TCOMPTER, Cat 55, Top 2, Msg 1)
|
|
|
|
>>>>>
|
|
"""""
|
|
If you're willing to forgo a number of color options, you could do
|
|
something sneaky:
|
|
|
|
Set your palette so that you have several color table entries that all look
|
|
like your background color. Use each color in such a way that no two tiles
|
|
that share an edge have the same color.
|
|
|
|
Then when there's a click, you can figure out the general area in which the
|
|
click occurred based on the cursor position and the radius of the tiles,
|
|
then you can look at the pixel at the cursor position to tell which tile
|
|
was clicked.
|
|
|
|
Eric "Sheppy" Shepherd sheppy@syndicomm.com
|
|
Owner, Syndicomm http://www.syndicomm.com
|
|
Building communities, bit by bit.
|
|
|
|
(SYNDICOMM, Cat 55, Topic 2, Msg 2)
|
|
|
|
>>>>>
|
|
"""""
|
|
I would go for a recursive approach. Starting from your initial square
|
|
(hex), recurse on all adjacent squares, decrementing the movement cost,
|
|
until you can't move any more. If it's a valid square, hilite it (or store
|
|
it in an array or whatever).
|
|
|
|
eg psuedocode:
|
|
|
|
CheckSquare(int x, int y, int movesLeft)
|
|
{
|
|
// verify valid coordinates.
|
|
if (x < 0 || x > MAX_X) return;
|
|
if (y < 0 || y > MAX_Y) return;
|
|
|
|
moveCost = .... // determine how many moves are required.
|
|
|
|
// hilite the square since we know it's valid.
|
|
HiliteHex(x,y);
|
|
|
|
movesLeft -= moveCost;
|
|
if (movesLeft <= 0) return; // can't move further
|
|
|
|
// now check all adjacent squares.
|
|
|
|
CheckSquare(x + 1, y, movesLeft);
|
|
CheckSquare(x + 1, y + 1, movesLeft);
|
|
CheckSquare(x + 1, y - 1, movesLeft);
|
|
|
|
CheckSquare(x - 1, y, movesLeft);
|
|
CheckSquare(x - 1, y + 1, movesLeft);
|
|
CheckSquare(x - 1, y - 1, movesLeft);
|
|
|
|
CheckSquare(x, y + 1, movesLeft);
|
|
|
|
CheckSquare(x, y - 1, movesLeft);
|
|
}
|
|
|
|
That's the general idea. I'm assuming your lined up as such:
|
|
|
|
* * *
|
|
* o *
|
|
* * *
|
|
|
|
and can move from the center to any of the 8 surrounding squares. Adjust
|
|
the recursion if not.
|
|
|
|
Kelvin
|
|
|
|
(KWS, Cat 55, Top 2, Msg 3)
|
|
|
|
>>>>>
|
|
"""""
|
|
I really like Kevin's recursion suggestion since I wouldn't have thought of
|
|
that (and it is very obvious that it will work). The only problem is that
|
|
it doesn't scale well for large hop-counts. A quick calculation shows that
|
|
counting up to six spaces away on a hex grid can produce up to 46,656 (6^6)
|
|
recursion calls before getting an answer (using Kelvin's square grid
|
|
example, there would be up to 262,144 calls).
|
|
|
|
Take a look at
|
|
http://www-cs-students.stanford.edu/~amitp/Articles/HexLOS.html
|
|
for your necessary algorithms within a hex world. The best solution
|
|
follows the logic which Tom was suggesting. BTW, I found this site in less
|
|
than 2 minutes of searching by using the Google key words of: "hex grid"
|
|
algorithm
|
|
|
|
Geoff
|
|
|
|
(GEOFF, Cat 55, Top 2, Msg 4)
|
|
|
|
>>>>>
|
|
"""""
|
|
Thanks for the suggestions, guys.
|
|
|
|
The problem with using recursion (besides the size problem) is that NSBasic
|
|
doesn't handle recursion at all.
|
|
|
|
I COULD try to figure out how to write a C library to interface with
|
|
NSBasic, but that's another whole learning curve to climb :)
|
|
|
|
Meanwhile, the recursive approach might work for the IIGS, although I don't
|
|
know if GSBasic supports recursion either. Nevertheless, I could write
|
|
the IIGS version in C or pascal, I suppose.
|
|
|
|
Anyway, thanks again for the tips!
|
|
_________
|
|
| homas
|
|
|
|
(TCOMPTER, Cat 55, Top 2, Msg 5)
|
|
|
|
>>>>>
|
|
"""""
|
|
I hope you're using GSoft, not GSBasic (from Apple) :) GSoft supports
|
|
recursion -- see the "towers of hanoi" example.
|
|
|
|
Kelvin
|
|
|
|
(KWS, Cat 55, Top 2, Msg 6)
|
|
|
|
>>>>>
|
|
"""""
|
|
I should be trivial to implement a recursion-type of routine:
|
|
|
|
x and y is the point where the user clicked
|
|
|
|
xadjust and yadjust is the adjustment to the axis location when popping
|
|
from recursion.
|
|
|
|
xhome and yhome is the point where the user's piece is located
|
|
|
|
found =1 means we know the click is valid.
|
|
|
|
count= the maximum number of hops
|
|
|
|
99 rem stuff here.
|
|
100 xadjust=0: yadjust=0: found=0: gosub 1000
|
|
110 rem more stuff here
|
|
|
|
1000 rem for laziness, assume a square grid with no diagonals.
|
|
1005 count=count-1
|
|
1010 if found=1 then goto 1100
|
|
1020 if x=xhome and y=yhome then found=1: goto 1100
|
|
1025 if count=0 then goto 1100
|
|
1030 x=x-1:xadjust=1:y=y-1:yadjust=1:gosub 1000
|
|
1040 x=x+1:xadjust=-1:y=y-1:yadjust=1:gosub 1000
|
|
1050 x=x-1:xadjust=1:y=y+1:yadjust=-1:gosub 1000
|
|
1060 x=x+1:xadjust=-1:y=y+1:yadjust=-1:gosub 1000
|
|
1100 x=x+xadjust:y=y+yadjust:count=count+1:return
|
|
|
|
This isn't tested, but it looks right. No effort was made to reduce the
|
|
number of recursions of 4^count--I'll leave that as an exercise for the
|
|
reader.
|
|
|
|
None-the-less, BASIC can handle recursive routines with no problems.
|
|
|
|
Geoff
|
|
|
|
(GEOFF, Cat 55, Top 2, Msg 7)
|
|
|
|
>>>>>
|
|
"""""
|
|
I see someone made a reply while I was writing mine. I was actually
|
|
assuming Applesoft BASIC when I wrote my code, but it is applicable for
|
|
just about any BASIC that support GOSUB (which NSBASIC does support).
|
|
|
|
Geoff
|
|
|
|
(GEOFF, Cat 55, Top 2, Msg 8)
|
|
|
|
>>>>>
|
|
"""""
|
|
Yes, I certainly meant GSoft. :)
|
|
|
|
And thanks for the pseudocode examples. They'll be a big help.
|
|
|
|
This is a great place! :)
|
|
_________
|
|
| homas
|
|
|
|
(TCOMPTER, Cat 55, Top 2, Msg 9)
|
|
[EOA]
|
|
|
|
|
|
[SPS]
|
|
Silver Platter - Web Server on a IIgs
|
|
"""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""
|
|
Silver Platter is a New Desk Accessory (NDA) that turns your Apple IIgs
|
|
computer into a web server. Once configured, you can access files on your
|
|
Apple IIgs using any web browser.
|
|
|
|
You can serve up an entire web site, or you can serve up files and folders.
|
|
It's great for transferring files easily from your Apple IIgs to your
|
|
Macintosh, PC, or other computer.
|
|
|
|
The best part: you can serve up files from your Apple IIgs while continuing
|
|
to use your favorite software!
|
|
|
|
Silver Platter is easy to set up and use, and costs just $5. You can buy it
|
|
either as a download or (soon) on floppy disk from the Syndicomm Online
|
|
Store.
|
|
|
|
Silver Platter was written by respected Apple II programmer Kelvin Sherlock
|
|
(of GShisen fame) and is distributed by Syndicomm under license.
|
|
|
|
You can get more information on Syndicomm's web site at:
|
|
|
|
http://www.syndicomm.com/products/silverplatter
|
|
|
|
Eric "Sheppy" Shepherd sheppy@syndicomm.com
|
|
Owner, Syndicomm http://www.syndicomm.com
|
|
Building communities, bit by bit.
|
|
|
|
(SYNDICOMM, Cat 24, Top 37, Msg 1)
|
|
[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]
|
|
|
|
|
|
[FIA]
|
|
February 2005 Issue of Syndicommotion Available
|
|
"""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""
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The February 2005 (Volume 4, Number 2) issue of Syndicommotion has been
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emailed to subscribers. The HTML edition can be found online at the
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following URL:
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http://www.syndicomm.com/syndicommotion/v4n2.html
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or by selecting menu option #1 from Page 155 on Syndicomm Online (type
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"m155;1" without the quotes at any menu prompt).
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-Ken Gagne
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Editor, Syndicommotion
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(KGAGNE, HelpDesk, Cat 5, Top 4, Msg 28)
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[EOA]
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[LTE]-------------------------------
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LETTERS TO THE EDITOR |
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------------------------------------
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NO LETTERS TO THE EDITOR THIS MONTH
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"""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""
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The mail box for Letters to the Editor remained empty this month.
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[EOA]
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AN INVITATION
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~~~~~~~~~~~~~
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Express your opinions about the comings and goings in the world of the
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Apple II computers.
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Send your comments to Lyle Syverson, Editor <lyle@FoxValley.net>
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The Editor reserves the right to edit any material submitted.
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The Editor reserves the right to reject any material he considers
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unsuitable for publication in _The Lamp!_.
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[EOA]
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[KF5]------------------------------
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KFest 2005 |
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-----------------------------------
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[KFR]
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KFest Registration Due to Open March 1
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""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""
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I haven't seen anything posted to the KFest mailing list since Devin
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Reade's message on 22-Dec.
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I've been out to the KFest web site and there doesn't appear to be a
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registration form available or any status posted.
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Erick
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(Erick Wagner, KFest Mailing List, Feb 11, 2005)
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>>>>>
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"""""
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KFest registration is due to open on March 1. We updated the web site to
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say so a couple of days ago, although we didn't call special attention to
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it.
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Sheppy
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(Eric Shepherd, KFest Mailing List, Feb 11, 2005)
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[EOA]
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[AKF]
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IN ANTICIPATION OF KansasFest 2005
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""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""
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In anticipation of many late nights and fine meals at KFest 2005, I've set
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this wonderful photo as my work computer's desktop/wallpaper:
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http://www.kfest.org/gallery/view_photo.php?full=1&set_albumName=There-and-
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Back-Again&id=DSCN1729
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(KGAGNE, Cat 5, Top 7, Msg 24)
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[EOA]
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[WMA]
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WIFE MIGHT ALLOW ATTENDANCE AT KansasFest
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"""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""
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Kfest Rocks...I really hope my wife let's me come this year. Make no bones
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about it..it's her decision. I'm not sure Alivia (not Avila) is ready for
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Kfest:)
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Dain
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(A2.DAIN, Cat 5, Top 7, Msg 25)
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[EOA]
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[WHF]
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WEE HOURS RUN FOR FOOD
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""""""""""""""""""""""
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It was fun last year going in mass to Denny's during the wee hours (or
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whatever restaurant it was). It seemed like we drove around those vast
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parking lots forever to finally find the way leading to the diner. Note to
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self: by all that is holy, never order their garlic cheese bread. That
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crunchy, lifeless pile of stale sawdust was an abomination.
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Andy
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(AWMOLLOY, Cat 5, Top 7, Msg 26)
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>>>>>
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"""""
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Ack. :)
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Eric "Sheppy" Shepherd sheppy@syndicomm.com
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Owner, Syndicomm http://www.syndicomm.com
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Building communities, bit by bit.
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(SYNDICOMM, Cat 5, Top 7, Msg 27)
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[EOA]
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[TBH]
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KansasFest 2005 to be Held JULY 19-24th
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"""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""
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Mark your calendar and start saving some money.
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[KFW]
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KansasFest Website
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""""""""""""""""""
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Is located here: http://www.kfest.org
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[EOA]
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[INN]------------------------------
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EXTRA INNINGS |
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-----------------------------------
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About The Lamp! The Lamp! is published on the fifteenth of every month on
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""""""""""""""" the WEB at: http://lamp.a2central.com/
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This publication produced entirely with real or emulated Apple II computers
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using Appleworks 5.1 and Hermes. Apple II Forever!
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* The Lamp! is (c) copyright 2005 by Ryan M. Suenaga, M.S.W. All
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rights reserved.
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* To reach The Lamp! on Internet email send mail to
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thelamp@sheppyware.net
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* All issues of The Lamp! are available at The Lamp! Home Page,
|
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http://lamp.a2central.com/
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>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>
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Opinions expressed herein are those of the individual authors, and do not
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necessarily represent the opinions of A2Central.com, Delphi Online
|
|
Services, Syndicomm, Ryan M. Suenaga, or Lyle Syverson. Forum messages are
|
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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.
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|
|
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.
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<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<
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[EOF]
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