By Mike Fitzpatrick
There wasn't a file from the President waiting for me in the Newsletter section of the BBS. Left message, now the BBS appears to be down as this newsletter is put together.
Space meeting for March, was held on March 8, 1996. Meeting opened at 7:35 PM. Mike Fitzpatrick, club president and BBS sysop, welcomed members to the Space meeting. Mike apologized for the Minutes of February meeting not being in the March Newsletter because they were misplaced.
Mike asked the club treasurer for a report. Greg Leitner, club treasurer, said the club picked up money for treasury. That the balance was $434.64. The motion was made to accept the report. It was accepted.
OLD BUSINESS-
Mike talked about a auction of Atari club property in future. Member said good time for auction would be before summer set in. It was suggested May 1996 would be good time for auction. It was suggested the auction be Atari stuff only. Don Langford was asked to handle this auction.
Mike Fitzpatrick said he hasn't been in contact with Atari group with Atari group in Chicago, but he has been in contact with Atari groups in Florida and Toronto, Canada.
Greg Leitner talked about Mast Disk Library available on a Single sided, Single density disk. This is a library listing of ST programs available through the Space Club. It is a 100 pages long. Greg Leitner said he had a few copies on disk available at meeting, for people who wanted a copy.
Mike Fitzpatrick thanked a Michael Current for making a Atari Vendors list available for Atari Computer owners.
A Web page for all Atari groups on the Internet was discussed. It is being worked on.
NEW BUSINESS--
The Space 14th Birthday Party was discussed. Mike Fitzpatrick asked Mike Weist to work on a potluck list for upcoming celebration. And also help on working on plans for this party.
The Amateur show was also talked about Mike Fitzpatrick asked Mike Weist to look into getting a table for our club. Club will pick up table cost.
Talk about operations of the Club BBS was brought up. Mike Fitzpatrick said Space Club can't afford the cost of phone line for BBS. Mike is providing this through his business. Mike also stated that if members don't like the way he runs the BBS they can take over his duties. He can't make the BBS a 24 hour a day job. If there is a volunteer to take over, he will transfer the duties and equipment to such a person.
Mike Fitzpatrick discussed F-Mail problems with BBS. Glen Kirschenmann asked Mike Fitzpatrick how much F-Mail was used on the BBS. Mike said there was 20% usage. Mike said if he re did access level for F-Mail for Space club, he could get rid of F-Mail problems. The change proposed would be eliminate F-Mail for Space Club members until updated software would be available for the BBS. to eliminate these problems. The proposed change was voted on and accepted by members at meeting.
Greg Leitner touched on CD ROM that is available from TOAD Computer. Asked if one is available for the 8-bit Atari. computer. A member said one is in the works. Mike Fitzpatrick talked about copyrights of software. Told about discussion on Flightline BBS about this subject. He made members aware that a copyright on software should be good for life or until the software owner releases the software copyright.
Greg Leitner asked if there was a web browser to get on the Internet for the Atari Computer user. Rich Mier said one was in the works.
Mike Fitzpatrick told members about upcoming AtariFest III in Indianapolis on July 13, 1996. Asked secretary to announce this, State Computer Show, and the Honeywell Tailgate Swapfest in April Space Newsletter.
Meeting adjourned at 8:15 PM.
Michael Weist Club Secretary
This month the F-mail was turned off to the SPACE club user(s). So far there have been no complaints of having a slot lost by the individual user.
For everyone's information:
I'm strongly considering turning the BBS over to the ST RATSoft program. There are a lot of different items available for the user. For openers a stable F-mail and a voting/polling area for expressing opinions to issues. Right now I just don't have the time.
Information on these events will be available in upcoming issues of Space newsletters. $1 discount tickets are available for State Fair Computer show.
The March Club meeting turned out to be a complete success. Not only did we get a new member, we also had a good turnout of our membership for the meeting. Thanks to Terry and Glen for the great DOM. The sale of the March DOM was brisk to say the least.
The Club sold 22 disks for March and that hasn't happened in a long while. With the possibility of a Club membership software/hardware auction or sale in May or June, our financial outlook is looking better all the time. I hope we generate enough interest for the sale to take place, but we need your support, and that won't happen unless you show up at the April meeting and express your feelings.
Our receipts for March included two memberships, (one renewal and a new ST member). The sale of 22 disks along with some blank disks took in $72.00. It's very encouraging to deposit $102.00 when only $30.00 came from memberships. That means the members are buying more software which tells me that our members are still eager to get their hands on good Atari 8-bit programs.
With this renewed interest in the Club's DOM's, it means a stronger financial position for the Club. Realize that in this position it opens the Club up for a lot of possibilities to do the things we couldn't do before.
Our only expenses for the month were the two months newsletter and the monthly BBS bill. Our account grew by $50.00 to $482.00 for the month ended March 31, 1996.
See you all on April 12 for another great Atari Club meeting.
April 26, 27, 28, will be the dates for the State Fair Computer Show. The State Fair grounds are near our monthly computer meeting spot. At the show, Atari computer users should run into a few bargains. Maybe run into some Atari software and hardware that you are looking for. Discount tickets were handed out at the March 8 Space meeting. If you weren't at last month's meeting, $1 discount tickets are still available at computer stores. The show should be interesting. Maybe a few of us will run into fellow Atarians. See you all there! ! !
Mike Weist
By Brian Little
Welcome to my new article for the SPACE Newsletter. First of all, I'm not going to bore you to death with self-advertisements for my upcoming game, Haunted Nightmare. Instead, I'm planning on writing about the Atari 8-bit world, our club (and views on recent decisions), and bashing our nice big brother, the IBM and it's sad, sorry and sickening leader, Bill Gates (you know, the rich fag with how much money again).
This month, I'm going to discuss why I became an Atarian, plus my view of the BBS (Paul - I'll be on any day now). The reason why I became an Atarian is simple: Atari's cost less, have more programs, a great distributor (I bet Lance Ringquist is ginning by now), and a great Club. Even more so is because I can get more money off my titles in the Atari market, but the IBM market is so full of titles, l probably wouldn't even get a cent. Worse yet, the IBM is more complex (in other words, complicated and stupid). Don't just take my word for it, ask any IBM programmer, like Larry Serflatten.
Another reason I became an Atarian is because of how unfair the IBM world has become. A walk through my local computer store left me very angry. You see, l happened to of found a copy of a hot new game, Wing Commander 4 (which is made by Origin Systems and the game producer is Chris Roberts, who made a couple of Atari Xl games, including Times of Lore). The system requirements are outrageous. My computer didn't even come close to them. I looked around even more, only to find somewhere around half of the great games won't run on my machine. But, the Atari will run almost all the games produced for the 8-bit, and any beginner can start producing their own games immediately. On the PC, you need to learn C or C++ to make games that look at least good.
To change the subject, I would like to input my opinion of the BBS. I personally love the BBS, and would be on it more often, but my parents moved the PC to an area where I couldn't reach a phone outlet. Now that I own an Atari, with a modem, I can jump on whenever. So my word to the Club members is to get on the BBS more often (I plan on it myself).
Finally, l would like to stop and give thanks to all the people who have made an impact on my life (or I have put one on theirs). My parents, Lance Ringquist, Larry Serflatten, Paul, Mr. Data, Charlie Johnson, Kathy Himes, Christina Nelson, Joelle Platt, Jason Ringquist, Wesley Ringquist, and all of you SPACE members who show up at every meeting (and figured out how to program the VCR for the X-Files).
See you next month (April).
Message #545 [Atari 8Bit - InterNet]
From: Oscar Fowler Posted: 10 Mar 96, 23:32
Subj: Atari BBS List: 96-03-10 UPDATE
From: oscar@primenet.com (Oscar Fowler)
Subject: Atari BBS List: 96-03-10 UPDATE
Organization: Sirius Cybernetics Corporation
I've compiled the replies I received for my query on existing BBS's which support the Atari 8bit. The list is in 40-column format in order to accommodate those of us who will be using an 8bit to view it. I've removed "BBS" from the BBS names in order to conserve space.
Thanks to everyone who replied. Sorry that I haven't had a chance to reply personally to those of you who sent email. Please keep me informed with updates to the list and I'll post revisions as necessary. In particular, if one of the BBS's is within your local calling area, please give them a call and let me know whether they're currently operational. Also, I just found out (by reading the FAQ...) that Rick Detlefsen is putting together a BBS list as well. Does anyone know if he completed it? If so, we can just merge the two lists together.
The format of the individual entries is below. Note that each entry uses four lines. "Type" indicates the type of hardware used to run the board. "Status" is whether the board was up or not the last time it was checked, which was on the "status date". I assume the remaining fields are self-explanitory.
*******************************************
* Atari 8bit Support BBS's * Last update: 96-03-10 *
*******************************************
<BBS name> : <phone number>
<location>
<type> : <status> : <status date>
<notes>
? : 716-337-3628
New York, USA
? : ? : 96-03-10
Carina
ABACUS : 415-564-8062
San Francisco, California, USA
Atari-16 : ? : 96-03-10
ST Express
ABBUC BOX : +49-54-393265
?
? : ? : 96-03-10
ProNode 408
ACUTE : 610-648-8027
?
? : ? : 96-03-10
ProNode 330
ASB Zan Sweeds : +46-31-458807
?
? : ? : 96-03-10
ProNode 463
Atari Connection : 801-969-1468
?
? : ? : 96-03-10
<no notes>
Atari Express : 506-652-6826
?
? : ? : 96-03-10
ProNode 112
Atari XE Group : 613-225-0901
Ottawa, Ontano, Canada
? : ? : 96-03-10
Dave Brown. X_232, IAN net soon
BAAUG : 408-986-0215
San Leandro, California, USA
Atari-16 : ? : 96-03-10
MichTron
Barvarian Gaus : 303-367-5877
?
? : ? : 96-03-10
ProNode 108
Beco Tel: +31-20-6326859
Amsterdam, The Netherlands
? : OK :96-03-10
Bernard Kok. Hours - 17:00-06:00 GMT
Carnival: 810-235-0158
?
? : ? : 96-03-10
ProNode 349
City of Grey : 916-338-1695
?
? : ? : 96-03-10
<no notes>
Closer to Home : 419-368-4413
?
? : ? : 96-03-10
ProNode 439
Computer World : 716-247-8355
?
Atari-8 : OK : 96-03-10
Bob Puff.
CSS: 716-247-7157
?
? : ? : 96-03-10
<no notes>
Enterprise : 607-648-8027
?
? : ? : 96-03-10
ProNode 393
Hard Core : 203-871-1842
?
? : ? : 96-03-10
ProNode 317
Heechee Heaven : 803-788-7982
?
? : ? : 96-03-10
ProNode 366
Inside 8bit 1 : 706-798-2474
?
? : ? : 96-03-10
ProNode 47
Inside 8bit West : 510-895-8022
?
? : ? : 96-03-10
<no notes>
Iron Horse : 602-247-1036
?
? : ? : 96-03-10
ProNode 381
JAIL : 416-762-9316
?
? : ? : 96-03-10
ProNode 335
Menzobarranzen : 504-649-4194
?
? : ? : 96-03-10
ProNode 415
MOOSE : 716-381-5139
?
? : ? : 96-03-10
<no notes>
New Nest : 516-234-4943
?
? : ? : 96-03-10
ProNode 218
Northern Limits : 905-937-2786
?
? : ? : 96-03-10
ProNode 338
Owl's Nest : 510-276-6394
?
? : ? : 96-03-10
ProNode 430
Part Time : 216-582-1196
?
? : ? : 96-03-10
ProNode 7
PAUGS/NWPAC : 602-278-8505
?
? : ? : 96-03-10
ProNode 92
Pot Hole : 604-642-6795
?
? : ? : 96-03-10
ProNode 365
Precinct : 504-766-3315
?
? : ? : 96-03-10
ProNode 207
Programmer's : 416-466-6749
?
? : ? : 96-03-10
<no notes>
Repair Shop : 801-967-8738
?
? : ? : 96-03-10
ProNode 53
Rest Stop : 916-568-1712
?
? : ? : 96-03-10
ProNode 412
Revelstone : 717-263-9689
?
? : ? : 96-03-10
ProNode 227
Slidell Express : 504-649-7921
?
? : ? : 96-03-10
ProNode 181
SNACC : 702-438-2208
?
? : ? : 96-03-10
ProNode 121
SPACE : 612-427-4317
St. Paul, Minnesota, USA
Atari-8 : OK : 96-03-10
1Meg XE, 1Meg MIO, 40MB HD, 14.4K
Star Wars : 210-737-3019
?
? : ? : 96-03-10
ProNode 118
System Reset! : 905-544-6162
Hamilton, Ontario, Canada
? : ? : 96-03-10
USF net, IAN net, X_59
Underdog : 508-820-3089
?
? : ? : 96-03-10
ProNode 102
Wall : 904-730-8659
?
? : ? : 96-03-10
ProNode 287
Wayne's World : 614-761-1891
Columbus, Ohio, USA
? : ? : 96-03-10
Wayne Arenz.
Westex : 610-776-7495
?
? : ? : 96-03-10
ProNode 169
Published by the Saint Paul Atari Computer Enthusiasts (SPACE), an independent organization with no business affiliation with ATARI Corporation. Permission is granted to any similar organization with which SPACE exchanges newsletters to reprint material from this newsletter. We do however ask that credit be given to the authors and to SPACE. Opinions expressed are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect the views of SPACE, the club officers, club members or ATARI Corporation.