March 1993 MAGazine Volume 9 Number 3

PRESIDENTS PONDERINGS - March 1998

RECORD ATTENDANCE?

I would like to thank everyone for coming out to the MAGS General Meeting last month. While the counts varied since we had so many people come in at different times we had between 40 and 50 people in attendance.

TASK DISK SALES

Cheryn showed off the Harv Harris Tax Program which resulted in sales of 8 copies. If you are needing a good tax program this one is a doozie. We need to sell 2 more copies to break even.

DISK OF THE MONTH & FISH

Disk sales were brisk with attendance up. These sales are important to you and your club as it helps finance the newsletter and other expenses. We need your participation with the library. Our new Librarian Bill Bowers did a super job on putting together this first disk of the month under the new leadership and you responded.

VIDEOSPEAK THANK YOU & BBS SUPPORT

A special thanks to David Spence & Trevor Thrasher for loaning us the new Amiga 1200 for the demo last month. Videospeak has offered part of their BBS for use by the MAG group. We will maintain an active message base area there and you can upload articles to be used for the newsletter. Let them know that you are a MAG member when filling out an application.

ONLINE AT MAGS

I hope you enjoyed the demo on getting online with local bulletin boards. We visited with Chat Line, Utopia & Trading Post BBS's. I hope to visit a system each month for a few minutes. Thanks to all you telecommunicators who showed up at the meeting! Watch us show off your favorite BBS's each month.

HELP FOR BEGINNERS

I am planning to spend some of our demo time each month to show the use of a basic utility. This featured utility will be on the disk of the month so you can immediately go home and practice what you learned. I will also stay after the meeting if I can be of assistance to you. If you are really stuck on something though feel free to call. My wife and I are both happy to help when we can. The best time to call is between 7 pm - 10 pm.

BEGINNERS PACKET?

My plans are to put together a packet of basic utilities and instructions on using them. I hope to have both a 1.3 and a version 2.0 packet available. If you have some ideas and or programs that you think should be in the packet give me a call.

GOOD WILL DISK

I would also like to assemble a disk that tells about the club and includes a few nice demo's and or utilities. With MCUC we would give visitors a disk like this. It really payed off for the club in creating good will and usually resulted in a new membership.

CLUB BROCHURE

Terry Campbell our new Treasurer put together a really nice little brochure with club information and an application. These are really nice to give to a friend who is interested in the club and of course they are ideal to leave with computer related businesses. We are in the process of getting them graphically updated, and printed. We will have these available next month.

NEW CLUB ADDRESS

Memphis Amiga Group (MAG)
P.O. Box 752683
Memphis, TN 38175-2683

We mailed over 50 letters to the top software and hardware manufacturers and Amiga magazines notifying them of our change in address and inviting them to participate with us in bringing the latest information to the Memphis Amiga Group.

EXCITEMENT & ENTHUSIASM

Many of you responded positively after our first meeting. We will keep the enthusiasm going. We do need to hear from you if you feel like we are not meeting your needs. I will admit that we did not consider the needs of the new user at the first meeting and we will be concentrating efforts to meet your needs as well. Thanks for coming and see you at the next meeting March 13th, same time same place.

MAG .info

The Memphis Amiga Group (M.A.G.)
P.O. Box 752683
Memphis, TN 38175-2683

GENERAL INFORMATION

The Memphis Amiga Group (M.A.G.) is a non profit organization whose purpose is promoting and encouraging the use and understanding of the Commodore Amiga Computer Systems. Memberships are open to all those who share a common interest in the Amiga computer and its many wonderful and unique features. Monthly meetings are open to the public and visitors are very welcome.

MEMBERSHIP

Annual membership dues for new members is $25.00 with an annual renewal rate of $20.00. All memberships are family memberships and dues are nonrefundable.

NEWSLETTER

This newsletter is published monthly for the distribution to members of the Memphis Amiga Group. MAGazine contains meeting announcements, hardware and software reviews, video and book reviews and other information of interest to Amiga and computer users in general. Contributions are welcome and may be submitted in hardcopy or via disk in asci format at any meeting or you can upload to Videospeak BBS 853-4804. Be sure to leave a note to the sysop. The editor reserves the right to reject material related to illegal service, products or unethical practices.

CLUB DISKS & MISC.

Disks of the Month	$2.00
Fred Fish Disks	$2.00
Blank Disks	65¢
Video Rental	$3.00 week

ADVERTISING RATES

Full Page	$20.00
1/2 Page	$11.00
1/4 Page	$7.50
1/8 Page or Business Card	$3.00

Free classified ads for members.

MEETINGS

General Membership Meetings: 2nd Saturday of each month 1:00 pm to 3:00 pm in the Farris Auditorium at State Tech.

Board of Directors Meeting: 2nd Saturday of each month at 11:30 am at Gridley's on Macon Road.

All special events will be announced via the newsletter.

BOARD MEMBERS

Bob Nunn	President	795-0461 Voice
Cheryn Nunn	Vice President	365-1583 Data
Terry Campbell	Treasurer	601-393-4864
Bill Bowers	Librarian	360-0003
Trevor Thrasher	News Editor	388-0108

The Reality of Parnet

By Bob Nunn

When I bought my second Amiga, Spence (Videospeak) threw in a Parnet Cable to help clinch the deal. I hadn't really planned to buy a computer but I guess Spence had planned to sell me one. I had heard about Parnet before and seen a few write-ups in a few magazines. I took it home and let it lay around while I played with my new toy.

I didn't have the software to run Parnet and I really never concerned myself as I spent hours moving software from my 500 over to the hardrive on my 2000. I would copy off files to a disk and then move them to the 2000. I didn't have time to learn how to hook up the cable and learn how to use the software.

I realize now that's like a lumberjack saying "I don't have time to sharpen my axe, I got all these trees to cut."

I downloaded the ParBENCH ParNET Script Version 3.1 off of Eagles Nest (901-372-5754). I printed out the documentation and let it sit on the coffee table for a day. I finally got around to reading it late one evening. I got my wife to read it as well as she interprets things differently (this means she usually understands it). The Parnet Pro version has installation scripts written and really all you do is follow the directions and click on a few icons.

It worked! First time and no grief. I did have to add the additional partition icons manually but now they come up automatically. I installed an extra copy of the host bootfile in the WBstartup folder on the 2000 and the client bootfile in the folder on the 500. Now when I boot or reset they both come up automatically.

Okay you're thinking "what the heck does all this mean and why would I want to do it." If you have two machines you can share the hard drive(s). That means I can load and run a program residing on the other system's hard drive and since Amiga has this neat little multitasking feature I can load and run it on the same system as well if I choose. If I had a CDTV I certainly would add a Parnet system as you could share that CD-ROM drive.

If you have two machines and don't have them Parnet connected, all I can say is get out there and sharpen your axe. I don't know what Spence charges for the cable, but I don't think you would save much by building your own and you might blow a chip or two if you do it wrong. The instructions for building the cable and the ParBENCH ParNET Version 3.1 is available via the MAG library this month. We will be doing a how to Parnet Demo at this months meeting!!

Meeting Notes 2/13/93

Bob Nunn, the new president, began the meeting with an introduction of the new officers and a brief review of the purpose of Memphis Amiga Group. He then introduced several Sysop's (system operators) of local Amiga BBS's. Newsletter were distructed to visitors and they were welcomed.

The 1st Demo was of the Harv Harris Tax Program by Cheryn Nunn. The tax program is basically an electronic tax form and aids in verifying your calculations for your tax returns. It also lets you do "what if" scenarios by allowing changes to different factors of your financial records (such as increasing your contributions) and automatically recalculating your return to let you see instantly the effect on your tax liability. The tax program was available for purchase for $5 and will be available at the March and April meeting also.

Bill Bowers then reviewed the disk of the month which contained a couple of new med files, Rend 24 (conversion system for 24 bit files/supports AGA), View V3.2 (an ANIM/ILBM Viewer), Degrader (turns off 2.0 features to let you run 1.3 programs), and Plasma Cloud Generator (fractal image generator/AGA only). The most exciting feature, at least to me, of the disk was the series of "5-Minute Weekend News Network" articles a "Starship"(tm) Production on GEnie(R). Each "5-Minute" segment contains several news articles pertaining to the Amiga world, hardware, software news, news from Westchester, etc. This is great for those who don't have access to magazines or don't want to take the time to read through everything to find the best news. I hope Bill continues this on every disk of the month.

The meeting broke for a 20 minute break to allow time for disk purchases and membership sign ups. It also provided an opportunity for people to talk among themselves, ask questions, and meet new people.

Bob Nunn did the third demo, showing the A1200, on loan from Videospeak, thank you. He showed several pictures, Ham8 & JPEG, and explained several features of the A1200, unique from the older machines.

The last demo was a visit to several local Amiga BBS's. Via a 14,400 v32.bis Supra modem and courtesy of State Tech's phone line, we visited Trading Post, Chat Line, and Operator Headgap. Telecommunications is one of the fastest ways to learn more about the Amiga and how it operates, and to get answers to all those questions you have.

The meeting adjourned at 3:00 PM.

Respectfully submitted by Cheryn Nunn, Vice President

AMAZING AMIGA BBS SUPPORT!

by Bob Nunn

LEARN FAST

Telecommunications is one of the fastest and best ways to learn more about using your Amiga. This article is designed to get you familiar with some of the online features these systems have to offer. Have you ever been frustrated when trying to use your Amiga and didn't know where to turn for help? READ ON!

AMIGA NET

Online with a BBS that supports the Amiga Net Conferences can get answers to the toughest questions fast. Post a message in the appropriate conference area and don't be surprise if you don't get an answer within a day or two. People from all over the country participate in this system. Get expert answers fast!

MEMPHIS AMIGA GROUP SUPPORT

Many of the bulletin Boards have a conference area for MAGs. You can keep up to date on discussions about the group and get the latest information on meeting plans. Come join with us.

LATEST HARDWARE & SOFTWARE INFO & BEST PRICES TOO?

Have you ever purchased something that a magazine gave a high rating and been really disappointed? Well join the club. The way to prevent that is too read the reviews and conferences on a BBS. The people writing this information are users. They don't have to worry about someone pulling their advertising for telling the truth. Many times you can find the best deals as well since a lot of people shop around and share this information on the boards.

BUYING OR SELLING USED GEAR?

All of the listed systems have a for sale area. Pick up a bargain or sell one fast!

UPLOAD/DOWNLOAD

All the listed systems have a U/D area. What that means is that you can download programs you need. Most have a credit system so you must participate by sending up a program occasionally. This can be a graphic or mod file or something that you just downloaded from another system that is not present on the system you are on.

HOW MUCH FOR THESE SERVICES?

The price is the best part. All of these systems are free to use. There are no charges unless you are long distance. Why pay GENIE or COMPUSERVE if you can get what you need right here in town?

MEMPHIS AMIGA GROUP MEMBERS March 7, 1993

If you have a change of address or hphone, please notify;
Terry Campbell
6595 Ridgewood
Horn Lake, MS 38637

Financial Report of the Memphis Amiga Group February, 1993

Welcome To The Gang !!

Bruce Bonk
Gerald Cobbins
Samuel S. Man
Charley Wirth

These are our newest members so let's all make them welcome.

Attention

If your name is on this list and you have paid your 1993 dues please contact me at the meeting or give me a call
Terry Campbell
601-393-4864