October 1984 — Vol 6 No 10
Source
Open original PDF • October 1984 • Vol 6 No 10 • 52 pages • $2
Overview
David Morganstein continues as President. ★ "1001 Binary Tales: Mac Innards" (Raymond Hobbs, p16) — Hobbs's first deep dive into Mac internals from a Pi systems-programmer perspective. "Systat: A Review" (David Morganstein, p20) — Morganstein reviews the early statistical package. "Codemap: Pascal Code Files" (Brother Tom Sawyer, p32). "Three Multiplans" (Raymond Hobbs, p42, "Views & Reviews") — three-way comparison of Multiplan editions across platforms. "StockSIG News" (Marvin Hass, p39) — Stock SIG column makes regular appearance; tracks Pi members' personal-investing computing. ★ "A New Macintosh Book" (Robert C. Platt, p15) — Platt's reading-list curation continues for the Mac era. "Is It Safe to Buy A Bargain?: A Reprint" (Stan Veit, p28) — reprint of consumer-protection piece from outside source. "Moonlighting With Your PC" (Merle Block, p27). "Ember! Hot or Cold?" (Robert Baltz, p29). "REPEATERRRR" (Robert M. Ketchell, p31). "CP/M Tidbits" (Jim Kellock, p7) — CP/M slot column continues. "Recovery from WordStar BDOS Error" (L. Benner, p44). "Apple Tech Notes" (Richard Langston III, p45). "CrossWAP Puzzle" (Bob Cosgrove, p46) — Cosgrove's puzzle (running parallel to Combes's WAP Crossword from Sep 1984). "Advanced Pascal: A Book Review" (Robert C. Platt, p40). "p-Source: A Book Review" (Robert C. Platt, p40). "So Why Own A Computer Anyway?" (Mark Daniels, p26).
Table of contents (selected)
| Article | Author | Page |
|---|---|---|
| President's Corner | David Morganstein | 2 |
| Minutes, Job Mart, SIGNews, Event Queue | — | 3 |
| DisabledSIG News | Jay Thal | 4 |
| EDSIG News | Peter Combes | 5 |
| CP/M Tidbits | Jim Kellock | 7 |
| Q & A | Bruce F. Field | 8 |
| SigMac News | Ellen L. Bouwkamp | 14 |
| A New Macintosh Book | Robert C. Platt | 15 |
| 1001 Binary Tales: Mac Innards | Raymond Hobbs | 16 |
| Systat: A Review | David Morganstein | 20 |
| Telecomm SIG News | George Kinal | 20 |
| Letter to the Editor: Buying A PC | George W. Sall | 22 |
| So Why Own A Computer Anyway? | Mark Daniels | 26 |
| Moonlighting With Your PC | Merle Block | 27 |
| Is It Safe to Buy A Bargain?: A Reprint | Stan Veit | 28 |
| Ember! Hot or Cold? | Robert Baltz | 29 |
| A Page From the Stack | Robert C. Platt | 30 |
| REPEATERRRR | Robert M. Ketchell | 31 |
| Codemap: Pascal Code Files | Brother Tom Sawyer | 32 |
| StockSIG News | Marvin Hass | 39 |
| Advanced Pascal: A Book Review | Robert C. Platt | 40 |
| p-Source: A Book Review | Robert C. Platt | 40 |
| PiSIG News | Raymond Hobbs | 40 |
| Turnkey Forth Program | Chester H. Page | 41 |
| Views & Reviews: 3 Multiplans | Raymond Hobbs | 42 |
| Recovery from WordStar BDOS Error | L. Benner | 44 |
| Apple Tech Notes | Richard Langston III | 45 |
| CrossWAP Puzzle | Bob Cosgrove | 46 |
Highlights
Mac Innards — Raymond Hobbs
Hobbs treats the Mac like he treated the 6502 — by getting inside. "1001 Binary Tales" was already a long-running Apple II series; this issue extends it to Mac systems programming. Mac Innards Pt 2 follows in 1984-11 — V06 N11.
Stock SIG News — Marvin Hass
Stock SIG starts appearing regularly; Hass would be its voice through later 1984+. Pi's personal-investing-on-Apple subculture had a long tail.
Three Multiplans compared — Raymond Hobbs
Hobbs benchmarks Multiplan across Apple II, Mac, and IBM PC editions — an early cross-platform spreadsheet shootout.
Entities
People: David Morganstein, Raymond Hobbs, Robert C. Platt, Brother Tom Sawyer, Marvin Hass, Ellen L. Bouwkamp, Jim Kellock, Bruce F. Field, Peter Combes, Jay Thal, George V. Kinal, Merle Block, Bob Cosgrove, Robert Baltz, Robert M. Ketchell, L. Benner, Richard Langston III, Chester H. Page, Mark Daniels, George W. Sall Topics: Mac Internals, StockSIG, Multiplan, Pascal Code Files, Pi vs Bargain-Buying References: Systat, Multiplan, WordStar, Macintosh, Advanced Pascal book, p-Source
Connections to other issues
- Same-month 1984-10 — Membership Directory is a separate redacted publication
- Mac Innards series continues in 1984-11 — V06 N11 (Pt 2)
- Stock SIG column thread continues through 1984-1986
- Cosgrove's CrossWAP Puzzle joins Combes's WAP Crossword (Sep 1984) — puzzle franchise era