So I came in to the office today to do a number of leisure computing activities, chief among them to work on a revamped SPACE Bylaws. Yesterday my office computer was upgraded from a PowerMac G3 350 to a PowerMac G4 400. OK, so I'm in charge of computer deployments here so I just decided I needed to have the latest model. Easier to support it if I'm using it myself, right? Anyway, first of all, things are so fast now, I can't say I can tell the difference in the CPU speed, the difference between .7 seconds and .6 seconds isn't that great, you know? The other thing was, I found QuickTime wasn't working right, at least as a Netscape plugin. (QuickTime is Apple's Multimedia technology, they have a version for PC-Windows as well.) Apple just put out a new version of QuickTime, so I thought I'd install it. Unfortunately, Apple is now copying Microsoft's idea for on-line software updates. You can't just download the installer, and store it locally for installing on many machines. Each computer has to download the whole package over the slow net. Ugh! So I spent 30 minutes doing that while reading the Bylaws on paper and making notes. Then, after a system restart, it said I didn't have all the current QuickTime components installed, so not all of QuickTime's features were available, and it offered to download what I needed. Say what, I thought that's what I just did! But I took it up on the offer, and it proceeded to download another couple megs of stuff from Apple. This time, after another restart, it seemed to be happy, at least on startup. Back to Netscape. Still doesn't work. Do I have the latest QuickTime plugin in the right place? Yep. New idea: maybe the newer QuickTime on this machine isn't compatible with the older Netscape browser this campus still uses, 4.08. Install Communicator 4.7, restart yet again. Now I'll have to install the new plugin by hand, no prob. IT WORKS! There must be a moral here somewhere, but I'm not sure where. Even in 2000, computers still aren't any smarter than our 1979 Ataris? But today's computers are much more capable of wasting our time?
So no Bylaws document this month either, but it seems likely I'll have something to present next month.
I also just went through the process of adding the Club website to the 8-Bit Atari Web Ring. It may bring more people to our site, and it will our page more useful as a launching point for ourselves.
Thanks, keep using that Atari, and come to your next SPACE meeting, Friday May 12.
Here we are again, small in numbers but big in support. Now that we are down to twelve paid members, I guess when ten show up that would have to be considered a great success.
Our April meeting included an auction with most of the items coming from the SPACE stock that has been in storage for years in the closet of the Falcon Heights Center. Most of these items are old Atari related magazines and most of the bids to get these items are very low. So anyone who sees this newsletter, and anyone who needs to fill in their collection of Atari magazines, this is the place to do it. We will try to auction off a small portion of these magazines every month if we have time. The only problem is that I will have to miss the June meeting because of my son's graduation. But we will definitely have an auction at the May meeting.
With only ten members present we still managed to increase our SPACE funds due to the fact that I haven't been billed for the last three or four months of the newsletter and I haven't received the first quarter room rental fee. Here is the breakdown for the month ending April 30,2000.
Beginning SPACE balance
as of APR 1, 2000 $1,251.20
Membership renewal 15.00
DOM sales 15.00
Auction sales 36.00
Less BBS billing for April (10.00)
__________
Ending SPACE balance
for APR 30, 2000 $1,307.20
As you can see we are still doing very well, but understand that with only twelve members paying dues and selling an average of five DOM's per month, the Club can only survive so long. We need the auction sales for our future survival so let's see what we can do about that. Please come to the May meeting and pick up some great deals on back issues of your favorite Atari mags, and you never know what else may be on offer. You are all encouraged to bring in anything computer related to auction off as well.
See you all in May.
Space meeting for the month of April started at 7:50 PM. Michael Current ,Space club president, welcomed members to meeting.
Michael asked for a report from the club secretary. Mike Weist, club secretary, recapped March 2000 minutes that were printed in April 2000 newsletter.
Michael then asked for a report from the club treasurer. Greg Leitner, club treasurer, stated that there wasn't to much activity going on last month. Larry Serflaten, club member, paid for two years membership($30). There was another membership renewal and $15 worth of DOM sales. Total income for March 2000 was $60. Lance Ringquist has been paid for BBS costs. Mike Schmidt has not yet to be paid for newsletter costs. The club hasn't received a quarterly bill for room rent yet($195). Greg stated the treasurer stands at $1251. Greg announced a club auction will follow meeting.
Michael asked for a DOM report. Glenn Kirschenmann, DOM chair, stated on the A side of the DOM is basic games, B side has Hobbitronic Demos.
Michael asked for a membership report. Glenn Kirschenmann, Membership chair, stated that membership stands at 12 members.
OLD BUSINESS
Michael Current, club president, is working on remaining changes to club bylaws.
Michael Weist, club member, reported on The Rochester HamFest that took place in Rochester, MN.
NEW BUSINESS
Michael Current brought in articles from St. Paul Pioneer Press to the club meeting.
Greg Leitner reminded members of the Mid Winter Madness show in Blaine, MN. Greg also brought in a article about our old club president, Nathan Block that were in the newspaper.
Meeting adjourned at 8:20 PM. Club auction followed the meeting.
Club secretary
Mike Weist
Subj: Hasbro wins settlements on Atari intellectual properties
Date: 00-04-23 17:40:32 EDT
From: mcurrent@carleton.edu (Michael Current)
To: kirschg@netzero.net, mschm65612@aol.com, stirrell@portland.com, john_davison@compuserve.com, page6@cankita.clara.co.uk, mcurrent@carleton.edu
BEVERLY, Mass.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--April 19, 2000--Hasbro Interactive (NYSE:HAS - news) has reached a settlement with two defendants in an intellectual property suit involving several of its games. Acknowledging Hasbro Interactive's rights to games such as CENTIPEDE, MISSILE COMMAND, PAC-MAN and TETRIS, GT Interactive and Varcon Systems have agreed to cease sales of titles based on these and other properties Hasbro Interactive owns or licenses.
``Creativity and innovation form the cornerstone of the interactive entertainment industry, making the protection of intellectual property critical to the success of all publishers and developers,'' commented Hasbro Interactive President Tom Dusenberry. ``Hasbro has a long history of building great game brands. This suit is aimed at ensuring we can continue to deliver the high-quality, high-value games that consumers have come to expect from Hasbro Interactive. If we succeed, our development and licensing partners succeed and, ultimately, the game consumer wins.''
Hasbro Interactive is continuing to pursue the suit against eGames, Webfoot, MVP Software, and Xtreme Games. ``We hope that these companies will begin to turn their attention to creating new games, rather than trying to emulate games owned and already being developed by others,'' Dusenberry added. ``When you look at our games and their games side by side, there's no doubt that the defendants have copied the creative expression of the Atari games, not just abstract ideas.''
Under the terms of the settlement, GT Interactive will cease the sales of ``Mac-Man,'' ``Munch Man,'' ``Munch Man II,'' ``Macman Deluxe,'' ``Patriot Command,'' ``Bricklayer,'' ``Tetri-Madness,'' ``Chomper,'' and ``Missile Defender,'' among others. Although eGames remains a defendant in the suit, GT Interactive has agreed to stop distribution of the eGames titles that are subject to the litigation, including: ``Intergalactic Exterminator,'' ``3D Astro Blaster,'' ``TetriMania,'' ``TetriMania Master,'' ``3D Maze Man,'' ``Tunnel Blaster,'' ``3D Chomper,'' ``Missile Launch,'' and ``3D TetriMania.'' The settlement also requires GT Interactive to pay an undisclosed amount of money to Hasbro Interactive.
Varcon Systems has agreed to stop selling its titles named in the suit, including: ``Patriot Command,'' ``Hemiroids,'' ``Bricklayer,'' ``Mac-Man,'' and ``Munch-Man.''
Hasbro Interactive acquired the rights to many Atari properties for the home consumer market in 1998. Since then, Hasbro Interactive has released new, 3D interactive versions of CENTIPEDE and MISSILE COMMAND, as well as a compilation of the original, 2D games, ATARI ARCADE HITS. Atari Interactive is a subsidiary of Hasbro Interactive, Inc.
Hasbro Interactive has also released a new 3D version of TETRIS, called THE NEXT TETRIS, for the PC and PlayStation(r) game console. This year, Hasbro Interactive will be releasing a 3D PAC-MAN game for the PC with all-new environments and levels.
Hasbro Interactive, Inc. is a global interactive entertainment industry leader, innovating new ways to play and developing, publishing and distributing the highest quality interactive games and lifestyle products for a full range of genres and platforms. A subsidiary of Hasbro, Inc. (NYSE: HAS - news), Hasbro Interactive has offices in the U.S., U.K., Canada, Germany and Australia, and internal development studios in the U.S. and U.K. For further information, visit Hasbro Interactive's Web site at http://www.hasbro-interactive.com.
Hasbro is a worldwide leader in the children's and family leisure time and entertainment products and services, including the design, manufacture and
marketing of games and toys ranging from traditional to high-tech. Both internationally and in the U.S., its PLAYSKOOL, KENNER, TONKA, ODDZON, SUPER SOAKER, MILTON BRADLEY, PARKER BROTHERS, TIGER, HASBRO INTERACTIVE, MICROPROSE, GALOOB and WIZARDS OF THE COAST brands and products provide the highest quality and most recognizable play experiences in the world.
*(c)2000 Hasbro Interactive, Inc. / Hasbro, Inc.
PlayStation and PlayStation logos are registered trademarks of Sony Computer Entertainment Inc.
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.