March 1979 — Vol 1 No 2

Overview

The newsletter takes its first formal step toward institution-building. John Moon adapts the constitution of the Apple Puget Sound Program Library Exchange (Call-A.P.P.L.E.) for the local group, and his covering letter casually suggests "perhaps it should also be known as Washington's Apple Pi to be kinder to typists and computer character sets" — the first appearance of the "Pi" name, born of the practical inconvenience of typing ][. Mailing list now stands at ~61, with a soft warning that non-respondents will be dropped. Technical content arrives in force: Mark L. Crosby contributes a full HI-RES Lissajous plotter program and reviews SUPERCHIP from Eclectic Corporation. Dick Hodder reports from the ADCIS annual meeting in San Diego, surfacing the broader Apple-in-education community.

Table of contents

Articles

Editor's letter (page 1)

Author: Bernard Urban Announces the draft constitution adapted by John Moon from the Call-A.P.P.L.E. version. Flags the mailing-list problem (61 recipients, no dues structure, growing deficit) and lays out the soft cutoff for non-respondents. Notes John Ditman has called area computer shops to alert them to the group's existence.

Probable agenda for 3/31/79 (page 2)

First meeting at George Washington University. Topics: Constitution and By-Laws discussion; iBASIC and APPLESOFT (Sandy Greenfarb moderating); printer access; reference library; xeroxing; using the Apple to access AMRAD electronic mail and copy programs via long distance; using GWU's Apple and swapping programs.

Minutes of 3/2/79 meeting at Bethesda Library (page 2)

Affiliation question with Apple Puget Sound Program Library Exchange referred to Bernie for follow-up with Val Golding. Motion carried: name the group "Washington's Apple ][" (per Genevie Urban's suggestion). Discussion of reference library options (Montgomery County Library out; Library of Congress still possible). Course pricing: Micro Diversions offers $125 courses but Z80-focused; Sue Eickmeyer and Hal Weinstock to find alternatives.

"Peeking at Contact" — RAM/ROM conversion tip (page 2)

Anonymous tip lifted from Contact #3 magazine: for Apple users with DOS and the Applesoft II ROM Card, a single CALL converts an Applesoft RAM program to ROM (CALL 54514) or back (CALL 3314). Useful for demoing software on machines without the ROM card.

"Lissajous Anyone?" — Mark L. Crosby (pages 3–4)

Author: Mark L. Crosby A full HI-RES graphics program inspired by John R. Sherburne's PET article in MICRO Magazine #10 (March 1979). Generates Lissajous figures using DEF FN A(THETA) and DEF FN B(THETA) with sinusoidal cycles parameterized by P and Q. Annotated line-by-line with hints to play with WIDTH, HEIGHT, ST, and DET. Includes a companion "Picture Show" program that BLOADs HI-RES images named PIG.1, PIG.2, etc. — requires 48K and Applesoft II ROM.

"Superchip is Here!" — Mark L. Crosby (page 5)

Author: Mark L. Crosby Review of SUPERCHIP from Eclectic Corporation ($99.95, Dallas TX): an MOS chip that plugs into slot 0 (same as the Programmer's Aid). Adds character-set editing (128 characters in 8×8 matrix), HI-RES windows, moveable cursor, character rotation. Crosby's complaint: "the documentation is terrible and full of typos." Concludes it could be "the beginning of a word processing system."

Address list additions (pages 5–6)

New members added to the mailing list: Sidney W. Ecker, Susan Eickmeyer (Sue), Mark L. Crosby, David T. Itkin, Ron Nilson, Edwin Wilkerson. Change of address: David W. Towne.

"Calling Call-A.P.P.L.E.'s Val Golding" — Bernard Urban (page 6)

Author: Bernard Urban Update from Bernie's contact with Val Golding of Call-A.P.P.L.E.: no direct affiliation possible, but library packs available on a royalty basis ($2.50/pack, $3.50/programmer's workshop). Group rate on issues: 5–9 copies @ $1.00, 10–24 @ $0.85. Recommends individual membership instead — $2.50 join + $7.50/year.

"Highlights of ADCIS Meeting in San Diego" — Dick Hodder (page 6)

Author: Dick Hodder Trip report from the Association for the Development of Computer-Based Instructional Systems (ADCIS) annual meeting, Feb 27–Mar 2 in San Diego. Although PLATO dominated, an evening Apple-users gathering drew 20+ attendees from PILOT Exchange (Earl Keyser), MUSE, Minnesota Educational Consortium, the Oregon School District, UC, etc. MUSE PILOT for the Apple demoed: machine-language, fast, graphics+sound, $49.95 on disk. Earl Keyser sells a simpler Applesoft version at $20. Roger Cutler (Apple Education Rep) showed Apple's new user-contributed software volumes III–VI. Rumors: improved monitor chip, new DOS by April/May, Pascal "by May (?)", MICROLISP in contributed software, FORTH from A.P.P.L.E. of Puget Sound for $35.

Calendar of Events (page 7)

"Report on Training" — Hal Weinstock (page 7)

Author: Hal Weinstock Montgomery County Public Schools Adult Ed will run a custom course if 18 students sign up. Chesapeake Microcomputer Club running elementary BASIC course beginning March 28 at the Silver Spring Learning Center, $40 (text included: "Basic BASIC").

Constitution and By-Laws of Washington's Apple ][ (pages 8–10)

Drafted by: John Moon Officers: President, VP, Secretary, Treasurer. Treasurer rules: checks required for disbursements over $25; receipts over $5; checking account required once funds exceed $5; check counter-signing requirement. Meetings: last Saturday of each month. Dues year: June 1 – May 31. Quorum: lesser of 15 members or 50%. Membership open without regard to race/creed/color/sex/age/national origin. Activation: requires ≥10 Charter Members.

Moon's editor's note explains his choices and introduces the "Washington's Apple Pi" alternative name in passing — soon to stick.

Club news / events / announcements

• Mailing list: 61 recipients, with a soft cull warning
• Name carried by motion: "Washington's Apple ][" (with "Pi" floating as the typing-friendly variant)
• First meeting at GWU scheduled for March 31, 9:30 AM, Thompkins Hall Room 206
• John Ditman reaching out to area computer shops for publicity

Notable advertisements

None — still pre-commercial newsletter format. SUPERCHIP from Eclectic Corp is reviewed editorially (not an ad).

Key quotes

• "Perhaps it should also be known as 'Washington's Apple Pi' to be kinder to typists and computer character sets…" — John Moon (page 10, editor's note)
• "The name of this game is to identify as many APPLE enthusiasts as we can so that we can exchange information and ideas to the benefit of all." — Bernard Urban (page 1)
• "My only complaint is that the documentation is terrible and full of typos. If you can get by the 5 or 6 pages of 'instructions' and use your imagination to fill in the blanks, you'll be pleased with the results." — Mark L. Crosby on SUPERCHIP (page 5)

Entities

People: Bernard Urban, John Moon, Mark L. Crosby, Dick Hodder, Hal Weinstock, Susan Eickmeyer, John Ditman, Val Golding, Genevie Urban, Sandy Greenfarb, Earl Keyser, Roger Cutler, Kim Brennan, Bob Redmond, Jacqueline Greene, Raymond Fox, Sidney W. Ecker, David T. Itkin, Ron Nilson, Edwin Wilkerson, David W. Towne Topics: Founding of Washington Apple Pi, Naming of the Pi, Constitution and By-Laws, APPLESOFT, HI-RES Graphics, Lissajous Plotting, Computer-Assisted Instruction, 6502 References: Apple Puget Sound Program Library Exchange, SUPERCHIP, Eclectic Corporation, MICRO Magazine, PLATO, MUSE, PILOT Exchange, Minnesota Educational Consortium, ADCIS, AMRAD, Micro Diversions, Chesapeake Microcomputer Club, Montgomery County Public Schools, Computerland of Rockville, Northern Va. Apple Users Group

Connections to other issues

• Continues directly from 1979-02 — V01 N01 (the founding issue)
• Constitution adoption process continues in 1979-04 — V01 N03

Open questions

• When exactly does "Washington's Apple Pi" supplant "Washington's Apple ][" formally? Watch for it in coming issues.