WEST OF SCOTLAND ATARI USER GROUP (Affiliated to The Association of Atari User groups) Issue number EIGHT(AGM), AuguST 1996 IN THIS MONTHS ISSUE NEWS ST FORMAT CLOSES As predicted last month it has now been confirmed that the current issue of ST Format (#86) will be the last. Although it was nothing like the magazine it was a few years ago it is still sad to see the last Atari newstand magazine fold. Circulation was believed to have been around 8,000 at its death. A New ATARI Magazine However all is not lost. Do you remember a letter in the last Newsletter from Mike Kerslake ? Well now read the official press release in this issue. THERE IS GOING TO BE A NEW QUALITY ATARI MAGAZINE FROM SEPTEMBER called ATARI COMPUTING. As those of you who were at the last meeting know I am taking advance orders and money for issue #1 on behalf of members. If you want a copy, then send me œ3 (or œ5 with optional cover disk) for issue #1, and I'll post it out to you with the October Newsletter. The magazine will be launched at the Atari 96 shows in September, and I'll bring members copies back from Birmingham/London with me. This will save the new magazine postage costs. It is starting on a very tight budget and every little helps. You can also expect to see a fair bit of input to the ATARI COMPUTING from our members. ATARI 96 Shows. I'm sorry to say that the idea of running a mini-bus down to the 2 Atari Shows would appear to be a non starter. We had hoped to get the bus for free through my employers recreation association, but they insisted that 75% of those on board had to be employees for insurance reasons. We could not meet these criteria. Several members are going to one or both shows under their own steam though. There is going to be an official UK Association of Atari User Groups stand at each show at which we will be strongly represented alomg with other User Groups. There will be shareware software demonstrations and a "virtual" web system running. If you're there make sure you come and say hello. Other Atari User groups A short introduction to the well established Atari Wrinklies Club, for the more mature members among us. ED's JUKEBOX Makes a very welcome return this month. The Perfect TOS Set-up ? (Part 2) The second part of Paul Walsh's hardware series. New ATARI products News of some interesting new product lines for the Atari. Competition Fancy winning a couple of copies of the Canadian magazine "Current Notes". read this to find out how to get hold of them. If The Beatles were programmers A bit of fun. With thanks to the unknown author. Financial report Sandy's financial report for the AGM showing the income and expenditure we have incurred since February. AGENDA The full agenda for the WSAUG 1996 AGM is included. If you are not going to be able to make the AGM then please post your votes or any proposals you have to me at : WSAUG/STAG c/o Goold RoisBheinn, Overton Crescent Johnstone, PA5 8JB to arrive by Monday 2 September 1996 To date there have been no objections to the STAG proposals so I have gone ahead with announcing it in the relevant places. Our new STAG WWW pages are now on line. And finally This is the last issue of The WSAUG newsletter in it's current format. As of next month you'll be getting the new STAG newsletter. I would like to personally thank everyone who has made The WeST of Scotland Atari User Group the success it has become. I am confident that we will be able to build on our success with STAG and enhance the reputation we now have throughout the UK and worldwide Atari community. ATARI COMPUTING Press release (11th August 1996) Mike Kerslake, a magazine publisher with over fifteen years experience has signed up Frank Charlton, ex features editor for ST Format and Joe Connor, ex Reader Disk/Public Arena editor for Atari World as joint editors for a NEW printed Atari magazine called Atari Computing. The launch issue of Atari Computing will feature sixty A4 pages crammed with quality editorial. We're delighted to welcome contributions from respected and well known journalists including Graeme Rutt, Jon Ellis, Denesh Bhabuta and Kev Beardsworth. We're delighted to announce we've signed a deal with the two leading disk based magazines, AtariPhile and Maggie to publish regular sections within the magazine. If you've never seen a disk magazine before we think you'll be amazed to find out what you've been missing! The launch issue will be on sale at the forthcoming Atari shows so why not attend and meet us? The shows will be held on Saturday September 28th in Birmingham and Sunday September 29th in London, for more details about the shows contact: Goodman International, Telephone: +44 (0)1782 335650. Issue one preview -------------------------------------------------------------------------- Issue one is still in the planning stage but here's just some of the articles we're working on: * News and gossip put together by Graeme Rutt and Frank Charlton including details about the Atari Computing website. * Software reviews including HD-Driver by Jon Ellis, Deadlands by Nial Grimes. * PD/Shareware reviews of Start Me Up!, CoMa, 7up, and INcontrol by Joe Connor, Denesh Bhabuta and Carl Lofgren. * Review of MagiC 4 by Kev Beardsworth and preview of MagiC v5 by Thomas Binder. * Music and MIDI primer by Ed McGlone. * RSC file editing introduction by Mark Baines. * Introduction to Comms by Harry Sideras and Internet feature by Frank Charlton. * User group reports co-ordinated by Al Goold including feature on Spanish Atarians by Andrew Harvey * Atari Jaguar coverage * Guest pages for AtariPhile, Maggie and Calamus User * Q&A and letters pages Remember this list is provisional, some articles may not appear and others may take their place! Background -------------------------------------------------------------------------- Following the closure of Atari World earlier this year it has just been announced ST Format, the final UK newstand publication, has also closed. It's the end of an era in the UK which for the first time since 1987 has no Atari newstand presence. The men in grey suits are telling us to move onto other platforms but hang on a minute, let's take stock of the situation... - Atari machines can be purchased and repaired on a shoestring - Atari machines can produce superb printed output - Atari machines can surf the Internet and run BBSs - Atari machines can form the nucleus of a digital music studio - New software of better quality than ever before is still being released! That doesn't sound like a dead platform! The Atari platform has been emulated by just about every other platform, we're owners of cult machines! Have you ever noticed ex-Atarians animatedly talking about the 'Good old days' it's a feel good factor missing from all the current machines. We don't need a new platform but we do need information and a printed magazine is undoubtedly the best way to ensure we see in the new millenium! Apart from a darn good read the other thing most of us like is some new software to play with. The Reader Disk concept offers all readers the chance to get their hands on the hottest new software around along with exclusive versions not available anywhere else. We intend to offer one Reader Disk to accompany each issue, buy it or not, the choice is yours! What we need, now more than ever before, is your support. It's going to be tough to keep going so we're initially planning bi-monthly releases -but this could change, it's really up to you! Instead of wishing us luck post a cheque to reserve your copy today ! Ordering As we're sure you'll appreciate launching a new magazine is a risky business requiring pinpoint budget management. Our print run will be conservative and we don't expect to have a stock of back issues. We're not a newstand publication so don't bother looking in the shops. The Atari platform needs this magazine and we need your subscription so do yourself and us a favour, take out a subscription or order an evaluation copy today! >>> Fast feedback request -->>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>> If you're on-line we'd like to hear from you right now! We're keen to get an idea of demand for the mag. To reserve copies send an empty email with the title line: KEEP and if you'd like two copies simply add the number afterwards: KEEP 2 etc, thanks for taking part! Email: atari_w_admin@cix.compulink.co.uk Subscriptions -------------------------------------------------------------------------- Many of you (and most of us) lost money following the Atari World debacle and we're determined not to make the same mistake. Atari Computing subscriptions are refundable at any time. Cancel your subscription in writing and we'll return any outstanding credit to you, minus a deduction to cover our costs. If you order an evaluation copy we won't cash your payment until we've printed the magazine, simple eh? United Kingdom -------------- Send cheque/PO made payable to the 'Atari Computing Group' to: Mike Kerslake, 42 Larch Hill, Handsworth, Sheffield, S9 4AJ Telephone/Fax: +44 (0)114 2618940 - 10am to 6pm, Monday to Saturday Email: mkerslake@cix.compulink.co.uk Initially we're offering a single evaluation copy or three issue subscriptions at the following rates inclusive of post and packing: ************ All prices in UK Sterling where œ = British Pounds ********* Evaluation Copy UK Europe USA/Canada Other Magazine only œ 3.00 œ 3.50 œ 4.00 œ 5.00 With Reader Disk œ 5.00 œ 5.50 œ 6.00 œ 7.00 Subscription UK Europe USA/Canada Other Magazine only œ 9.00 œ11.50 œ12.00 œ13.00 With Reader Disk œ15.00 œ17.50 œ18.00 œ19.00 If you want to order a magazine and none of the above rates apply to you, just email us and we will give you a price. We aim to make Atari Computing available directly from authorised User groups and other outlets around the world. Wherever possible please use your local distributor: Advertisers ------------------------------------------------------------------- We have a limited number of pages set aside each issue. These are realistically priced to attract everyone in the Atari marketplace. To discuss your requirements please contact Mike Kerslake at the address above. Submissions -------------------------------------------------------------------- We're always on the lookout for talented new contributors so if you've got an idea for an article please do get in touch. Who are we? -------------------------------------------------------------------- Atari Computing is financed by the Atari Computing Group, based on CIX, and dedicated to supporting the Atari platform. Membership of the group is by invitation only. We're looking forward to Issue 1 as much as you are ! Regards The Atari Computing Group (A|C|G) News from Other Atari User groups Atari Wrinklies Club I started the Club some 3 years ago, having reached the stage where I had done all I could with my Atari as a novice and had started to get that feeling of isolation that we all feel at some stage. Initially the club was for the more mature members of the Atari community and most of were retired, or near retirement. Now, however, we have members of all ages and anyone is welcome to join. The Club is now up and running quite well, and having just retired I am able to spend a lot more time with it to make any improvements that I can think of, or are suggested by the members. I publish a Club Diskzene once a quarter and a Newsletter as and when possible, depending on 'copy'. The Club membership list is published in this Diskzene, with such details of the members particular interests, thereby allowing members to contact each other. This is working very well,as I know that practically all the members are in contact with each other, swapping ideas, programs, hints and tips, or generally just having a chat. For those members who are 'on-line' we have our own conference on CIX, but don't let this put you off if you are not on-line yet as we do not neglect those members who have not yet ventured into the world of Comms. We started off with 50 members but as is usual we had a few drop out, but the membership is now on the increase once again. There are no subscriptions as such, however I do ask each new member to send me two books (10s) of second class stamps, these help me with the running of the Club. If you decide to join us would you please supply the following information for inclusion in the members list. Full name - Age - Telephone Number Present Equipment Set-up Interests (Computing and other) Email address (if applicable) On receipt of the above I will send you a copy of our latest Diskzene. I hope that you will decide to join our happy throng. James B. Hornby (Jimbo) 60 Crumpsall Street, Abbey Wood,London. SE2 OLR Email: jhornby@cix.compulink.co.uk Tel/Fax: 0181 311 2397 ED's JUKEBOX I thought I would look at the music computer scene in general and how the ST range still fits in. Back in the 80's, it seemed that there were only two choices for the aspiring computer based musician - ST or Mackintosh. In America, the price differentials worked in favour of the Mac and that machine became the standard but here in Europe, things went rather differently. The distributors for Apple priced the Mac as a top end business machine, thus pricing it out of the reach of most hobbyist users (and we must include musicians within this group). So the ST was adopted as the standard music computer over here and ruled the roost for five or six years. However, due to the ongoing development of the PC and Mac platforms and the lack of any meaningful development to the ST, sales of Atari machines dropped gradually off and commercial software development for the Atari platform declined accordingly. The once exclusively Atari music packages like Cubase and Notator, started to appear first for Mackintosh (which after all shared the same basic processor line with the ST) and then, as Microsoft Windows came of age, on the PC. The final major upgrades to the ST's main music packages have been with us for at least 2 years now and there will be no new ST versions. So, it looks like the time has come to finally abandon ship, right? Well, that depends, really. If we look at the midi capabilities of say Cubase on PC, Mac and ST, we find that the PC and Mac versions do not offer the expected vast increase in functionality. What they do offer is a new and luxurious look to the programs, using the power of seperate graphics cards to the full. Now all this is very tempting and many have fallen under the spell of colour coded song parts shown over textured backgrounds but what does this do for the music? Well, the simple answer is not a lot and a scour through the pages of many recent editions of the music technology magazine, Sound on Sound, would seem to confirm this. Many of the professional musicians, songwriters and producers who are deemed to warrant a feature within their hallowed pages, are still using an Atari ST as the mainstay of their midi studios. The reasons quoted are many but the most popular ones are; It's tried and tested It's very reliable I don't have time to learn all about some new platform Better the devil you know It still does everything I want it to do. So, it would seem that even although the new sales are all going to PC or Mac (well you can't easily buy a new Atari anyway), the value of the ST as a working tool remains undiminished and will probably continue so for a good few years yet. And it gets even better. The price of the ST has fallen to such a level that it is now perfectly viable to buy a second machine purely as a backup in case something goes wrong with the main one. Also ST's can perform heavy duty music tasks with only 4 meg ram that PC's or Mac's with 24 meg find a struggle. And none of those machines has midi as an integrated part of the architecture yet. So, is the ST still the king of the midi castle? Well, in terms of usefulness, nothing much has changed and it certainly is still making a lot of hit records. Here are just three recently quoted as still using Atari's for their music. Steve Hillier - Dubstar - recent hit singles and album Peter Cunnagh - D:Ream - Things Can Only Get Better Andy McLusky - OMD I'm thinking about a basic midi music tutorial series for the next few Jukeboxes - if you think this is either a good or bad idea, let me know. Ed McGlone ed@mistered.demon.co.uk The Perfect TOS Set-up ? (Part 2) Now that we have our display sorted out it is time to consider how we store our data. Almost every TOS-based computer system has at least one floppy disk drive. Depending on the model of Atari/Clone that you have you will usually have a 720K or 1.44M floppy disk drive built-in. Older ST's came with external drives only. As far as I am aware the following floppy drives can be connected to a TOS system: 360KB / Single Sided Floppy 720KB / Double Sided Floppy 1.44MB / High Density Floppy 2.88MB / Extended Density Floppy 360KB floppy drives are now more or less obsolete. Very little (if any) software is distributed on 360KB floppy and if you own a single sided drive then I strongly recommend adding a higher capacity drive to your system. 720KB drives are more or less the standard among ST machines - I'd recommend this as the minimum standard for any system and if you use you machine for mainly gaming this will no doubt suffice. 1.44MB drives are the standard issue in Falcons and most MSTEs and TTs. The greater storage capacity is particularly useful when you need to store large graphics or DTP files. Games on 1.44 disks also mean less disk swapping so there are some advantages to this for gamers too though I don't know of any ST/E games that are available on 1.44.. If you are lucky enough to own one of the TT clones that are available then you may already have a 2.88 MB drive. As far as I know there is no software distributed on 2.88 but there are programs which support 2.88MB drives for formatting, with low price hard drive speed, removable media available now I would consider anything greater than 1.44MB to be unnecessary. Putting drive capacity aside for now, the next question is how many do you need/want. Most of us have one built-in floppy and this is often enough. If you have no immediate plans to get a hard drive then you may find a second floppy drive useful. Many day to tasks become more bearable when you don't have to swap disks such as file/disk copying. Using serious programs you can have the main disk in drive A: and your data disk in drive B:. Many games come on more than one disk and many of these will recognise and use a second floppy drive again saving on disk swaps. Since most games are not hard drive installable this could well be the best option for hardened gamers. If you want to add a floppy drive to your system there are several options. If you own an STF/FM/E or MEGA ST you can connect a 720K internal drive with no problems and an external 720K as long as it has the appropriate connector for Atari's. If you have a MEGA STE/TT or Falcon then a 1.44MB drive can be connected internally and if your machine has an external drive connector then you could add one externally if you wish although a hard drive is more likely if you have one of these machines. To connect a 1.44MB floppy to an STF/M/E you need a slight internal modification and an extra connection added at the back but once these are in place it is possible to have up to two 1.44MB floppy drives. Next time I'll get on to the subject of hard disk drives. Paul Walsh New ATARI products WaveMaster Do you use Cubase Audio for direct-to-disk recording on your Falcon? It's a pretty powerful package, right? But it's missing something intrinsic - a sample editor that goes right down to sample accuracy. That's why System Solutions have brought you WaveMaster. If you've ever wanted a truly professional sample editing package for your Falcon then WaveMaster is for you. A superb GEM program, with an intuitive, yet powerful interface. It offers a range of features just not found in the majority of sampling packages including direct-to-disk sampling and editing, fade in/out, volume adjust, normalise, cut/paste, reverse, etc. It handles the following sample formats: AIF, wav, avr. WaveMaster runs as a standalone program or as a desktop accessory - as the latter it will happily co-exist with Cubase Audio (or AudioTracker), being available *at the same time* with no need to continuously quit-and-run to swap between the two. WaveMaster is available now from System Solutions for œ129, inc. VAT. Give them a bell on 0181 693 3355. Digital Patch Bay Another startling device from System Solutions, by way of SoundPool. The Digital Patch Bay has 4 digital inputs and 2 outputs. Any input can be patched to any output giving the digital musician/sound engineer the ability to connect all his digital equipment together quickly and easily. Also included is a send-and-return facility, enabling, for example, sample rate converters to be patched into the system. The device comes as a 1U high 19" rack-mount, with front-mounted LEDs to show which ports are currently being used. Installing is as simple as plugging in the appropriate leads. The Digital Patch Bay costs œ295 inc. VAT and is available now - give System Solutions a call on 0181 693 3355. PhotoLine A new "killer application" for the Atari, from System Solutions. PhotoLine is a new high-end image editor which offers the most powerful functions ever seen on the Atari. The program is feature-packed, not only with a wide range of bit-map tools but also with all the standard vector tools you'll ever need. Despite all the power PhotoLine is easy to use thanks to the use of a totally amodal, modern GEM interface. The GEM coding also allows PhotoLine to work on any Atari computer, using any graphics set-up. Indeed, as is usual on professional image editors, it is possible to work on and save a 24-bit picture in any other mode, including monochrome. Using NVDI 3 (or greater) it is also possible to use vector font technology to add text to the image. One of the sheer delights of this product is the attention to detail of all the drawing functions. Paint brushes can be designed, *all* functions have an intensity setting, all relevant functions enable you to work on single (or multiple) RGB (or CMYK) planes of the image, colours can be picked up and dragged from one colour box to another, etc. Bit-map functions include paint-brush, clone, finger, erase, stamp, fill, gradient, etc. whereas the vector tools include all the standards like straight-line, Bezier curves, move to front/back, etc. Naturally there are powerful cut/paste/copy tools which can work on the image or on the mask. Selecting areas is performed with the rectangular, circle or lasso tool (or adopted from a mask, using the magic-wand tool - see below). It is even possible to add or subtract to/from selections - this is *real* power at work! The mask itself is also catered for by the magic-wand tool, a powerful beast on it's own - a description of which could fill up a paragraph or two alone here! Suffice to say that it is totally configurable, including the tolerance and feathering. Again you can easily add or subtract to/from current mask selections - which can also be saved to disk and loaded in a later session. You can work on as many images at the same time as memory allows, uniquely (we think) on the Atari you can drag-and-drop selections - even irregular selections - from one image to another. Pictures may be treated as RGB, CMYK, greyscale, monochrome or vector. Loading formats are too numerous to mention (but include all the standards, inc. PhotoCD Pro), you can save to TIFF, JPEG, IMG, CVG and GEM formats. There are filters, special tools, rotation, scale, distortion, picture projection in 3D space. It can print or plot to NVDI/GDOS printer/plotter drivers and it can use GDPS drivers to scan images directly into the program. This is one product full of so many features that it's impossible to even scratch the surface in this article. PhotoLine comes on 3 double-sided floppy disks, which include one disk for ST computers, one for TT's (inc. all with a minimum of 68030 CPU and FPU chips) and one containing a range of utility files. It includes a ring-bound 50 page manual. The program is available now from System Solutions for œ169 inc. VAT - call them on 0181 693 3355. Atari CD Master - Infopedia 2.0 For a long time the CD-ROM market has been very strong on the Atari. It's easy to connect the drives thanks to SCSI support, the standard driver ExtenDOS Pro is very powerful and people have bought CD-ROM drives in their droves. This has led to a lot of Atari specific CD-ROMs being made, containing shareware and public domain software, files, demos and much else besides. However, there has always been a problem with multimedia CDs - those which require a special program to access the information. Inevitably these CD-ROMs are written with either the IBM PC or Apple Mac in mind. They just won't work on Atari computers - until now! System Solutions have teamed up with Homa Systems House in Canada to bring out Atari drivers for a range of multimedia titles. The flagship in their range is the driver disk for the Infopedia 2.0 CD-ROM. This stunning CD was released in December 1995 and has been rated by many PC magazines as the best multi-media encyclopaedia available! It includes the complete 29 volume Funk & Wagnalls New Encyclopaedia, with almost 27000 entries and 8000 photos and sound clips. In addition it includes the Hammond's World Atlas and the 1995 World Almanac and Book of Facts. The software driver for the Atari gives you access to all of these information resources, enables you to view the photographs (even on monochrome screens) and hear the sound clips (on STe's or better). Everything is wrapped up in a modern GEM interface (with a 3D look on systems with 16 colours or more) which works flawlessly on any Atari computer and under multi-tasking operating systems. You have access to every Encyclopaedia entry almost instantaneously (it's faster than the PC version!), hypertext linking of articles and powerful search features including 'narrow down' (just type the first few letters of an entry and it'll pop-up). Photos and sound clips are linked to the correct entries, which in turn are linked to over 10,000 timelines. All-in-all the Infopedia 2.0, along with the CD Master is by far and away the best educational and research tool available to Atari owners ever. It may even be the reason that makes you decide to buy a CD-ROM Drive! The entire package, Atari CD Master and the Infopedia 2.0 costs a very reasonable œ49.95 inc. VAT. Also, get in touch with System Solutions about special bundle deals on CD-ROM drives, including their amazing cartridge port CD-ROM connector! The number, as ever, is 0181 693 3355. System Solutions Atari Mouse Strangely enough for a graphically driven computer the Atari currently has a problem with the mouse. Those that are available tend to be a bit dodgy - they leap across the screen when you don't want them to and refuse to budge when you do. Over the last few months System Solutions have become increasingly unhappy with the situation. So, not one to shirk taking the bull by the horns - or the mouse by the tail - they decided to do something about it. As no-one was making mice to their specifications, they took their specs. and had a company make some mice for them. The System Solutions Atari Mouse is now with us. A totally standard mouse, it feels light and responsive to the touch and enables precise, fluid control of the mouse pointer on the screen. It offers a resolution of 280 DPI, a mouse lead of 1.5m and is badged with the System Solutions logo. The price is œ14.95 inc. VAT and it's available right now. Graeme Rutt - System Solutions Customer Support ssolutions@cix.compulink.co.uk http://www.ssolutions.com Design a cover Competition Howard Carson, the publisher of the Canadian Atari magazine "CURRENT NOTES" has kindly donated 2 issues as a prize. If there are sufficient entries, I also have "Civilization", the best game ever on the ST to give away as a prize, thanks to Bob Paton. All you have to do is design a front cover of the new STAG newsletter. Or at least come up with a suitable mono GEM Image graphic for it. I already have some ideas of what I want on the front, but I'd like some input from the members. You don't have to do the whole thing, but give me an idea of the layout you'd like. I'll be using Papyrus and Truetype and Speedo fonts for the final design. Let me know if you'd like to see the editorial, and/or contents on the front cover. Answers on a disk or by e`mail to me. Closing date is 15th September (`ish) If The Beatles were programmers "SingalongAtari" 1) Eleanor Rigby Eleanor Rigby Sits at the keyboard And waits for a line on the screen, Lives in a dream Waits for a signal Finding some code That will make the machine do some more. What is it for? All the lonely users, where do they all come from? All the lonely users, why does it take so long? Guru MacKenzie Typing the lines of a program that no one will run; Isn't it fun? Look at him working, Munching some chips as he waits for the code to compile; It takes a while... All the lonely users, where do they all come from? All the lonely users, why does it take so long? Eleanor Rigby Crashes the system and loses 6 hours of work; Feels like a jerk. Guru MacKenzie Wiping the crumbs off the keys as he types in the code; Nothing will load. All the lonely users, where do they all come from? All the lonely users, why does it take so long? 2) Write in C When I find my code in tons of trouble, Friends and colleagues come to me, Speaking words of wisdom: "Write in C." As the deadline fast approaches, And bugs are all that I can see, Somewhere, someone whispers: "Write in C." Write in C, Write in C, Write in C, oh, Write in C. LOGO's dead and buried, Write in C. I used to write a lot of FORTRAN, For science it worked flawlessly. Try using it for graphics! Write in C. If you've just spent nearly 30 hours, Debugging some assembly, Soon you will be glad to Write in C. Write in C, Write in C, Write in C, yeah, Write in C. BASIC's not the answer. Write in C. Write in C, Write in C Write in C, oh, Write in C. Pascal won't quite cut it. Write in C. 3) Something Something in the way it fails, Defies the algorithm's logic! Something in the way it coredumps... I don't want to leave it now I'll fix this problem somehow Somewhere in the memory I know, A pointer's got to be corrupted. Stepping in the debugger will show me... I don't want to leave it now I'm too close to leave it now You're asking me can this code go? I don't know, I don't know... What sequence causes it to blow? I don't know, I don't know... Something in the initializing code? And all I have to do is think of it! Something in the listing will show me... I don't want to leave it now I'll fix this tonight I vow! TRANSPORT The Committee have recently received several queries from group members who would like to come to Howwood for meetings, but are unsure as to the availability of Public Transport to get them home at the end of the night. Would any member coming from or through Glasgow who is prepared to pick up or drop off any fellow member in the City centre give their name to any committee member, and we'll try to get you matched up. We will try to ensure that nobody gets marooned in the depths of the countryside. SOFTWARE PIRACY The WeST of Scotland Atari User Group does not condone software piracy and will not allow the group meetings be used to copy commercial software. 1996 MEETINGS All meetings will take place within the upstairs lounge of The Railway Inn, Main Street, Howwood. The doors will be open from 7pm . The formal opening of each meeting will take place at 7:30pm. The proposed dates for the meetings to be held in 1996 are as follows. All dates are provisional at the moment and will depend on both the response to the groups as a whole, and the suitability of the Railway Inn. 3 SEPTEMBER - AGM 1 OCTOBER 29 OCTOBER 26 NOVEMBER 24 DECEMBER -NO MEETING CREDITS This Newsletter was prepared using Papyrus Gold with N.V.D.I.4 and printed at 300 dpi on a Hewlett Packard Deskjet 500C. Thereafter photocopied by the Erskine Hospital Printing Department (Tel No. 0141 812 1100) Editor: Al Goold 20 August 1996 (½ WSAUG, 1996) AGENDA The following is the agenda for the Annual General meeting. Late additions to the agenda will be accepted from members, and an addendum will be produced for the AGM itself if required. I feel that it is important that if you have any views on the future of the Group that you let them be known. 1 Sederunt 2 Welcome by Chairman 3 Financial Report 4 Resignation of WSAUG Steering Committee 5 Resolutions 5.1 Formation of STAG It is proposed that Scotland's TOS Atari Group be inaugurated as of 3 September 1996 and that the constitution attached hereto be adopted. 5.2 Election of STAG Committee It is proposed that a committee be elected as per the constitution The following are the nominees as of 20th August 1996. All fully paid up members are entitled to a vote. Postal votes, or proxies will be accepted. 5.2.1 Office - Chairman (casting vote only) Nominee - Alasdair Goold Proposer - Sandy Thomson Seconder - Andy Wilson 5.2.2 Office - Secretary Nominee - Sandy Thomson Proposer - Andy Wilson Seconder - Alasdair Goold 5.2.3 Office - Treasurer Nominee - Andy Wilson Proposer - Sandy Thomson Seconder - Alasdair Goold 5.2.4 Office - Webmaster Nominee - Bob Paton Proposer - Sandy Thomson Seconder - Alasdair Goold 5.2.5 Office - PD/Sales & wants Nominee - Fraser Blacklaws Proposer - Alasdair Goold Seconder - Sandy Thomson 5.2.6 Office - Junior member representative Nominee - Paul Leonard Proposer - Alasdair Goold Seconder - Sandy Thomson 5.2.7 Office - STAG (WeST) Nominee - Ken Johnstone Proposer - Sandy Thomson Seconder - Andy Wilson 5.2.8 Office - STAG (EaST) Nominee - Domhnall Dods Proposer - Alasdair Goold Seconder - Sandy Thomson 5.2.9 Office - STAG (Central) Nominee - Paul Walsh Proposer - Sandy Thomson Seconder - Andy Wilson 5.2.10 Office - Newsletter Editor Nominee - Alasdair Goold Proposer - Sandy Thomson Seconder - Andy Wilson 5.3 It is proposed that using ST-Guide STAG compiles an encrypted listing of our membership, for distribution within the membership to allow better communication between members. 5.4 It is proposed that the subscription level for STAG for 1996/97 be as follows. Adult/Family membership œ14 Junior membership œ 7 (an optional cover disk, 6 per year is available for an additional œ4 per year per member, adult or junior). 5.5 It is proposed that the following persons be adopted as honorary members of STAG and shall pay no subscription. i) Harry Sideras, for his activities and support with The UK Association of Atari User Groups, ii) Colin Fisher-McCallum, 42BBS, for his support of WSAUG, STAG and user groups in general via his bulletin board. 5.6 Election of 2 non-committee "checkers" of Group accounts 6 Any other business 7 Closure of meeting IMPORTANT MESSAGE For the AGM it is requested that members DO NOT bring any computers with them. We will have a Falcon set up with the same virtual WWW site that will be on display at the September shows, for after the AGM. On this occasion though, the main order of business has to be the AGM rather than using the machines. It'll all be back to normal come October though.*OB*) Scotland's TOS/Atari Group (STAG) CONSTITUTION 1. The name of the Group shall be "Scotland's TOS/Atari Group (STAG)". 2. Objects: The objects of the Group shall be i) to provide support for, and to foster communication between, Atari Computer owners throughout Scotland and elsewhere, ii) to provide timely information about Atari news, products, vendors, and service, iii) to find isolated Atari computer owners and encourage them to join the group, iv) to publish a centrally produced and funded newsletter with an optional cover disk for an additional cost, with a single subscription for all members, v) to provide a central resource for information and advice, the newsletter and other services for participating groups. vi) and to do any other things incidental thereto. 3. Membership: Membership of the Group shall be available to any individual interested in the objects detailed, with the restriction that Committee shall have power to limit or refuse membership according to circumstances. On the recommendation of Committee, Honorary or Life Membership may be conferred on any individual who has rendered exceptional service to the Group: such recommendation shall be submitted to and voted upon at the Annual General Meeting or Special General Meeting. Honorary and Life Members shall have the same status as paid Members, except that Honorary Members shall not have any voting rights within the Group. 4. Subscription: The amount of the standard Annual Subscription shall be determined at the Annual General Meeting. On the recommendation of Committee, various non-standard Membership Categories may be created, and the corresponding Subscription Rates determined, subject to approval at the Annual General Meeting. The Group's Financial Year shall commence on 1st April each year, and subscriptions become due and payable at the first Group meeting after the 1st September following the Annual General Meeting. Any Member whose Annual Subscription has not been paid by the 30th November of that same year shall be dealt with by the Committee at their discretion. 5. Management: The business of the Group shall be conducted by a Committee elected at the Annual General Meeting consisting of the Chairman, Secretary, Newsletter Editor, PD/Sales and wants representative, Junior Representative, Web-master, and representatives from STAG West, STAG East, STAG Central, and STAG Northern. It would be possible for one person to hold 2 posts on the committee, but that person would only have one vote. Any posts not filled at the Annual General Meeting could be filled by a committee vote at a later stage should it become necessary. Any other posts that were deemed appropriate could also be established later. The Officers and other elected Members shall retire annually and shall be eligible for re-election. The Chairman of the Group shall be the chairman of the Committee and, in his absence, the Secretary whom failing, the meeting shall elect its own chairman at meetings of the Committee. 3 shall form a quorum and each member shall have one vote. 6. Casting Vote: At any properly constituted Meeting of the Group or its Committee, in the event of the voting on any resolution being equal, the Chairman shall have the option to exercise a second and casting vote. 7. Annual General Meeting: The Annual General Meeting shall be held in September of each year. At this Meeting, a report of proceedings prepared by the Secretary and others together with a Financial Statement by the Treasurer up to 31st March previous, shall be submitted. A quorum shall consist of 20% of Members with voting rights. Postal votes will be allowed. 8. Special General Meeting: A Special General Meeting of the Group may be convened at any time by the Committee. A Special General Meeting must also be called by the Secretary within four weeks of receiving a requisition signed by five Members of the Group with voting rights and stating the special business to be considered. Members shall be notified at least seven days in advance of the date, time, and place of the Special General Meeting and the business to be considered thereat. A quorum shall consist of 20% of Members with voting rights. 9. Accounts and Audits: The Financial transactions of the Group shall be recorded by the Treasurer. At least one Bank/Building Group Account shall be opened in the name of the Group and operated upon by any two (one of whom shall normally be the Treasurer) of a number of designated Committee Officials or Members as approved by Committee. Subject to Committee approval, and subject to the above method of operation, the Treasurer may select the banking arrangements he/she deems most appropriate to the Group's interests. The Treasurer shall be entitled to utilise any additional Banking Services (including Electronic Banking) which are or may become available. An Annual Account shall be made up as soon as possible after the end of the Financial Year and such Account shall be checked by two Members of the Group not being Members of Committee. The checkers shall be elected at the Annual General Meeting, with Committee having the power to appoint a substitute should a vacancy subsequently arise. 10. Powers of Committee: The Committee shall have powers (a) to arrange the entire proceedings of the activities of the Group (b) to carry out the general management of the Group (c) to fill casual vacancies in their number by electing members of the Group, either office bearers or ordinary members, to fill such vacancies, but any person so elected shall retire at the end of the year current (d) to suspend any member whose conduct is considered detrimental to the best interests of the Group provided always that two-thirds of those present at the meetings of the Committee called for the purpose of considering such matter shall vote in favour of such suspension (e) to form sub-committees with such powers as they shall think fit (f) to appoint such officials as they consider necessary for carrying out the activities of the Group (g) to draw up such rules for the conduct of the affairs of the Group as they deem necessary provided such rules are not inconsistent with the Constitution. 11. Alterations to the Constitution: The Constitution shall be altered only by resolution duly passed at the Annual, or a Special, General Meeting of the Group. Notice of the proposed alteration must be submitted, in writing, to the Secretary, at least twenty-eight days prior to the Annual or Special General Meeting. The Secretary shall submit it, in the form of a resolution, to the Committee, at the earliest opportunity. Written notice of the proposed alteration shall be be given to all voting Members at least seven days prior to the Annual General Meeting or Special General Meeting, at which the said resolution shall be voted upon.