November 1981 — Vol 3 No 10
Source
Open original PDF • November 1981 • Vol 3 No 10 • 51 pages
Overview
Pi moves to a new meeting site (map on page 48). Bernard Urban reports on Pi at the Computer Show. David Morganstein's headline article: "Using a Firmware Card in Slot 4" — keeping the Pascal Language Card while using firmware (Integer BASIC, Applesoft) on another slot. Also Morganstein on Group Purchase Power strategy and Soft Views: New Releases. K. Mesztenyi's "On the Overall Structure of Applesoft" — likely a reference-quality companion to his earlier Integer BASIC structure piece. IAC issue: open forum on software copy protection and nibble copy programs — the bit-copy ethics debate Urban started in March 1981 reaches IAC discussion. WAP Tutorials launching (registration form in this issue). Continued ads for "Inside Apple Pi" compilation.
Table of contents
| Section | Page |
|---|---|
| Cover with highlights | 1 |
| Computerland display ad | 2 |
| Creative Computing "Blister Ball / Mad Bomber" ad | 3 |
| Goblins / Creature Venture / Oldorf's Revenge / Tarturian ad | 4 |
| CRAE MCAT 2.0 ad | early |
| Officers; Editorial; Event Queue; Classifieds | 3 |
| President's Corner — David Morganstein | 4 |
| Group Purchase Power — Rich Wasserstrom | 4 |
| Soft Views: New Releases — David Morganstein | 6 |
| SIG News; Minutes; Notices | 8 |
| WAP Hotline | 9 |
| SIGAMES News | 12 |
| Using a Firmware Card in Slot 4 — David Morganstein | 14 |
| Questions, Questions, Questions | 16 |
| A Simple Full-Screen Text Editor | 20 |
| Washington Apple Pi at the Computer Show — Bernie Urban | 25 |
| Sort Your Directory — Andy O'Brien | 26 |
| On the Overall Structure of Applesoft — K. Mesztenyi | 32 |
| Dealers' Corner | 34 |
| Formatted Output of Floating Point Numbers — J. Philip Childress | 36 |
| Hit Parade | 39 |
| IAC Issue — Open Forum on Software Copy Protection and Nibble Copy Programs | 42 |
| WAP Tutorial Registration | 45 |
| Inside Apple Pi Order Form | 45 |
| Advertising Rates | 46 |
| Map of New Meeting Site | 48 |
Articles
Editorial (page 3) — Bernard Urban
News on the meeting-site move and the tutorial program launch.
"President's Corner" (page 4) — David Morganstein
Morganstein's column. Likely covers the meeting move, tutorials, library refresh.
"Group Purchase Power" (page 4) — Rich Wasserstrom
VP overview of the group-purchase pipeline.
"Soft Views: New Releases" (page 6) — David Morganstein
Monthly product roundup.
"WAP Hotline" (page 9)
Updated Hotline roster.
"Using a Firmware Card in Slot 4" (page 14) — David Morganstein
Cover-highlight. How to keep the Pascal Language Card in slot 0 while using a firmware card (Integer BASIC, Applesoft) elsewhere — solving a real conflict for Pascal users who still need BASIC.
"A Simple Full-Screen Text Editor" (page 20)
Cover-highlight. A from-scratch full-screen text editor in Applesoft/ML.
"Washington Apple Pi at the Computer Show" (page 25) — Bernard Urban
Pi's booth at a fall 1981 computer show — likely the Mid-Atlantic Computer Show again or similar.
"Sort Your Directory" (page 26) — Andy O'Brien
Cover-highlight. A utility to sort the DOS catalog directory alphabetically — quality-of-life improvement before automatic sort was standard.
"On the Overall Structure of Applesoft" (page 32) — Charles K. Mesztenyi
Cover-highlight. Reference-quality piece on Applesoft internals — token table, variable storage, parsing. Companion to Greenfarb's Internal Structure of Integer BASIC from September 1979.
"Formatted Output of Floating Point Numbers" (page 36) — J. Philip Childress
Number-formatting (printf-style) routines for Applesoft.
"IAC Issue — Open Forum on Software Copy Protection and Nibble Copy Programs" (page 42)
The bit/nibble copy debate Urban kicked off in March 1981 (1981-03 — V03 N03) reaches IAC-wide open forum. Reproduces multi-club perspectives.
"WAP Tutorial Registration" (page 45)
Tutorial program launches. Members can register for paid Pi-organized classes — the "courses, courses, courses" item from Urban's farewell editorial finally materializing.
"Map of New Meeting Site" (page 48)
Map provided for the relocated meeting venue.
Club news / events / announcements
- New meeting site
- WAP Tutorials launching
- Pi at the Computer Show
- IAC copy-protection forum
- Inside Apple Pi shipping (order form)
- November Pi meeting: at new site
Notable advertisements
- Creative Computing Blister Ball & Mad Bomber ($24.95 disk, Apple paddles); pitch Super Paddles ($39.95) from Peripherals Plus subsidiary
- Sensational Software quartet: Goblins ($27.50), Creature Venture ($24.95), Oldorf's Revenge ($19.95), Tarturian ($24.95) — all HI-RES adventure games
- CRAE MCAT 2.0 — Global Applesoft program editor, all ML, global find/replace, 40-col list, fast renumber, copy command
- Computerland Tysons Corner (page 2)
Key quotes
- (Many quotes from Morganstein's slot-4 firmware article and Mesztenyi's Applesoft structure piece would be canonical — depth not fully extracted from this 51-page issue)
Entities
People: David Morganstein, Mark L. Crosby, Dana Schwartz, Jesse Wagstaff, John Moon, Nancy Philipp, Rich Wasserstrom, Bernard Urban, Genevie Urban, Bob Peck, Dick Elkins, Howard Lefkowitz, Boris Levine, Andy O'Brien, Charles K. Mesztenyi, J. Philip Childress, John Alden, Tom Woteki, Al Gass Topics: New Meeting Site, Firmware Card Slot 4, Applesoft Internals, Directory Sorting, Software Copy Protection Debate, WAP Tutorials, Computer Show 1981 References: Blister Ball, Mad Bomber, Goblins Game, Creature Venture, Oldorf's Revenge, Tarturian, CRAE MCAT 2.0, Inside Apple Pi, Sensational Software, Peripherals Plus
Connections to other issues
- Copy-protection debate from 1981-03 — V03 N03 reaches IAC forum
- Tutorials from Urban's 1981-05 — V03 N05 farewell list now live
- Applesoft internals piece is the companion to Greenfarb's Integer BASIC piece (1979-09 — V01 N08)
- "Inside Apple Pi" available since 1981-10 — V03 N09
Open questions
- Where is the new meeting site? (Map on page 48 of PDF)
- Did the WAP Tutorials sustain?
- Outcome of the IAC copy-protection forum?