86.09 apple bug

the newsletter of epple-q the Brisbane Users Group In this issue BULLETIN BOARDS ANNUAL GENERAL MEETING NOMINATION FORM BOOK REVIEW MORE ON UNIDISK. Brisbane September 1986 ELECTION SET FOR OCTOBER In spite of rumours to the contrary the Apple- Q User Group Annual General Meeting and Election of Committee will be held on Sunday 19 October 1986, the Chairman, Mr Peter Newland said this afternoon. There have been a few minor problems with our sophisticated Newsletter production equipment resulting in the unintended dissemination of misinformation to members. The Acting Secretary, Mr Graham Hannam translated the above into " ... neither of us can spell and we forgot to proofread On a more serious note you will find elsewhere in this issue a Nomination Form which could be completed and returned at the next Open Day, Sunday 2! September. This year there will be an opportunity for some new faces on the Committee. Peter Newland, Graham Hannam, David Bourne and Peter Pegg have all indicated that they will not be standing for re-election. Peter Newland has been Chairman of the Group since its inception in the current form, but as the years progress he finds that pressure of work and family are preventing the effective performance of duties which should be attended to. Likewise Graham Hannam is now working longer hours and seeing his family less - a situation which he finds he must change. David Bourne has performed an excellent job in the combined Secretary/Treasurer position and his attention to detail will be sorely missed. Peter Pegg has guided our graphic efforts, and our attempts to ‘mangle’ the English language within the confines of the Newsletter but he also has succumbed to the pressure of business and we must now seek another Newsletter Editor. All of the above members have thoroughly enjoyed their association with the Group and the decision to take a less active part has not been taken lightly, indeed we value the friendships that have developed within the Group and flourished oustide it. The time has come however to hand the reins to some new faces so that their ideas may guide the Group forward. We have left behind a floursihing membership and a sound financial basis on which to build, please consider the nomination form carefully and if you can spare the time to share your talent and contribute to the management of the Group, fill it out, the Committee needs you! Bulletin Boards One of the many uses people put their computers to is that of communications. To communicate with another computer via the telephone requires a modem, a telephone, a communications programme, and someone has to sit at the keyboard to push a few buttons. With this setup, you can reach almost any other computer in the world. It opens up a whole new sphere of the man-machine interface. What is a BBS? A BBS (Bulletin Board System) is a computer system with special software that allows people calling from another computer to access some of _ the features of the Host computer. The software typically includes a simple line editor _for exchanging electronic- mail (usually just text files stored by the host Bulletin Boards computer), _DOWNLOADing and uploading _ software, and sometimes on-line games or other goodies. What is E-MAIL? E-Mail is Electronic Mail. This means that you can compose messages on the line editor built-in to the BBS software and save them on disk for someone else to read. This way you can leave a message for someone else to read when he/she calls the BBS. Your EEEEE-mail can, of course, be protected from other users seeing it by making it Private mail instead of Public mail. Private mail means it is for the eyes of the addressee only. BULLETINS - CONFERENCES Another form of E-mail is Conferences, General Bulletin Boards are set up on the system for specific topics. The General Board is for any public messsage: ie. a message about anything, addressed to a_ particular person, or addressed to ALL, that anyone can read. A Debate Board is very popular on any system. This is where you can have a_ good (friendly) argument or discussion with someone about the price of fish, or anything else that takes your fancy, but usually something to do with computers. A lot of people like to play chess via the BBS, so there is usually a Chess Bulletin- Board set up where you can leave your next move for your partner. Conferences allow you the convenience of ~ talking to other people interested in your interests without —_ having to set a_ specific time. Anyone can dial in at anytime and read = and leave messages. Some BBS's don't support conferences, per say, but their E-Mail section may have a_ specific bent, such as programming or communications. If your favourite BBS doesn't have a_ Bulletin Board continued on page 4 BULLETIN BOARDS .cont that suits you, your SYSOP will usually be more than glad to let YOU start up your own, and you will be that Board's SYSOP. DOWNLOADING and UPLOADING THE Host computer usually has a_ section of disk storage dedicated to PUBLIC DOMAIN | software that has been UPLOADed, or sent via modem, by other users.. This library can be quite extensive, broken into sub- directories covering many topics. You can_ benefit from this ~—ilibrary ~—s bvy DOWNLOADing a file. Your BBS and the software package you are using will give you the details on how to upload and download files. Be reasonable: a SYSOP (SYStem OPerator - the guy who runs the host computer) doesn't want to see anyone who just downloads public-domain software, after all he/she,s supplying a service to you and would like something back,whether it's UPLOADed files, a good comment, or a donation to help keep down the costs of running the system. Keep your SYSOP happy: it doesn't take much, a few kinnd words and some and a software will time. may consideration, great source of and information stay for a _ long Abuse it and it disappear. GOODIES Some Bulletin Boards have other "extras" on their Boards. Some have on-linne games, such as Adventures or Startrek. These are time- consuming for the BBS, and so you may be required to be a supporting user (one who donates a_ little money) in order to use _ this feature. Others allow you to actually operate the host computer via modem, letting you run programs on the other end. Most BBS's have a text file section, containing files on subjects ranging from BBS legislation and court decisions to assembly language tutorials to discussions on anarchy and other political forms. In general, BBSing can be fun and profitable ‘for both you and the SYSOP. Both can benefit from public domain software on the board, good information, and interesting discussions. You just need to be considerate and have a ball. SOUTHSIDE APPLE USERS GROUP Mr Bill Whannel has advised that an Apple Users Group has been formed to cater for the needs of Southside residents. The new group meets at the Belmont State School on the 4th Sunday of each month from 9:00am to 3:00pm. There is no membership fee but an attendance fee of $1 per meeting per adult and 50 cents per child is required. Bill, who is the Secretary of the new Group, may be contacted on 286 4109 after hours or on 398 4900 during school hours. We wish them every success and trust that they will enjoy success in attracting Southside users. THE TRADING TABLE END OF FINANCIAL YEA STOCKTAKE SALE “( 6 WO} i iN ate > =] Computer Connection 9.00 Zardax Word Processing 15.00 At the September and October meetings we will be having Assorted Books 50 cents an end-of-financial Stocktake Sale. Everything will be reduced as we have too much stock on hand. All prices will be confirmed on MEDIA DRAWERS the day. Media draws 3.5' {each) $26.00 DX -100A Media draws 5.25" 26.00 The Trading Table is the Group's only means of raising Dx-100B " " " 7 26.00 funds, and we hope you will continue to support it in the future. M.F. Media Draws 5.25 89.00 MiniDisktray FD30 9.50 DESCRIPTION PRICE Other bits and pieces Control Data DS/DD disks (lib. case) 29.95 Epson MX/RX/FX refills(each) $ 8.50 Control DataSS/DD disks(" " ) 23.95 Epson Lxs0 " " 11.00 3.5" SS/DD disks (softpak) 60.00 E, 2 8 ; 3.5"DS/DD "Wabash (each) 5.20 pson X80 1000 BOOKS Disk Lables (fanfold per 1000 22.00 Basic Programming $12.00 Hardcopybinder (each) 7.00 Workshops Vol 1. 15.00 Joysticks for Il+, //e 35.00 Workshops Vol 2. 15.00 Zero force sockets $27.00 Apple Keyrings $6.50 APPLE-Q Any financial member . may nominate any other The Brisbane Apple Users Group financial member for the position of NOMINATION FORM Chairman for a position on the Management Committee Secretary for 1986 / 87 ‘Treasurer Magazine Editor I a .. —. (Membership #) ane i Manager : !Drarian do hereby nominate Committee Members (2) oe (Membership #) ___ If more than one for the position of ———- ese Signature of person nominating. — for any one position a nomination is received ballot will be held. Book Review The Complete Apple Spreadsheeter by Roger E. Clark and Patricia Johnson Swersey. Published by Prentice-Hall, Inc., Englewood Cliffs, NJ 1986. This book features the spreadsheet programs VisiCalc, Multiplan and SuperCalc. The body of the text is based on the features found primarily in VisiCalc, with notes on how to implement the practical projects devel within the Multiplan an SuperCalc environments. I know from the large number of requests received during the year There are 21 major chapters in the book, each one developing a practical project of a business nature. There is an interesting project involving spreadsheets and their trigonometric functions for SOLVING TRIANGLES - take note all the high school teachers out there - and a Household expense register to find out where all the money goes. There are also five utility rojects - namely a Schedule orecaster, Metric/English measure conversion, Tax tables, Invoice system and Interest Calculator. Pat BRIDGE Librarian Spreadsheet function comparisons between the featured programs; and an extensive appendix of the key formulas used in each chapter. This should assist readers who do not possess the featured Programs the opportunity to modify or adapt the projects to their favorite spreadsheet program. I know from the large number of requests received during the year that this book could be a useful tool for Apple Owners who use any of the above mentioned spreadsheets. Priced at $34.95, I feel that the book is a bit expensive for the casual reader. However, if you are into spreadsheeting, you could find that this book could be a useful The appendices are useful —_the book deserves a place o tool for Apple Owners who use giving Spreadsheet command ur library shelves. " ° y' rary any of the above mentioned comparisons between the spreadsheets. featured programs; also the = ee Further comment In my system I have the 3.5 My next purchase will be the controlled card residing in slot Cirtech Program for the 3.5, on....APPLE Il no: 7 and should Iboot witha "Uni Mate and Dos 3.3" this is Unidisk 3.5 systems disk in 3.5 it will start fully compatible with all up automatically, * or it iu Book . Applesoft Programs, with ue with a program disk in 5.25 this normal Dos commands In April this year I purchased a will also boot automatically. I (including ‘INIT’ and ‘boot’ AoneNeiew oe ey ay find this very convenient, when direct form the 3.3) so I can d the younger members of my transfer my many Dos programs. work and this program needs a family require to use their 5.25 Y B minimum of three disk sides to operate. The ability to have all three Appleworks disks on one and still have lots of room to spare, is a great benefit in business. At the time of purchase the "Unidisk 3.5 System Utilities Disk" and “System Utilities Handbook" (part no: A2D055Z) was not sold with the 3.5. I rang Apple Australia, and they informed me that it was sold separately in this country and is available for $40.00. programs. Ihave further added CP/M Z80 to my system. I urchased a MicroPro "Starcard" rom Applix, Sydney $69.95. Together with their “Unidisk 3.5 Support Program" $39.95. This allows me to run DBASE-II with plus of 600k space available on the one disk. I also have Wordstar on one of my 3.5 disks, but I don't think I will ever fill it! Our local Apple dealer has the Quark "Catalyst" Program (sold mainly for the Ile 1OMB system) set up with the 3.5 and this enables programs to be run direct from the menu. Finally are there any Appleworks Devotees out there? This being my first contribution maybe someone else can write a little about one of the BEST PROGRAMS AVAILABLE. Brian Neale, Newrybar, N.S.W. UNCLASSIFIED ADVERTISEMENTS RGB Interface Card $100 See Vince Crosdale at This the next meeting Space -or- phone him on Available (07) 351 3090 Apple-Q User Group Newsletter Advertising Rates Members advertising personally owned items for private sale to other members NOTHING Advertisements may be handed| to the Trading Table for publication in the next months Newsletter WHATS WHEN Sunday 21 September 1986 Open day at the Hooper Centre Monday 22 September 1986 Committee meeting Sunday 19 October 1986 Open day at the Hooper Centre Monday 20 October 1986 Committee meeting Credits Editor: Peter Pegg (away) Assistant Editor: Graham Hannam (doing it!) Chairman: Peter Newland Published by Apple-Q, the Brisbane Users Group P.O. Box 721 South Brisbane, Qld 4101 Australia Registered by Austral Post ~ Publication No. OBG 3485 CREDITS Word processing: MacWrite Page Layout: PageMaker Copy Printing: LaserWriter Printing & distributing: Hooper Centre Apple], “/e, //c & Mac — the reason for it all! (and Apple /// & Lisa!) Apple LaserWritcr Version 00000° (carly un-retouches! woodcut from our own secret sources)