February 2021
SECRETARY’S REPORT By Steven Peck
•February 2021 Edition•
HELLO WORLD! It has been a cold couple of days, at this writing. but I hope you are enjoying the New Year and February. That famous groundhog, Punxsutawney Phil, saw his shadow, predicting six more weeks of winter. If he saw no shadow, it would be six more weks until Spring, a short winter. Now, think about this deeply, folks. This is a pun and I know that you all know this. Notice the six weeks. There is ALWAYS six weeks in between Groundhog Day and Spring, so what Punxsutawney Phil sees really makes no sense at all. I know that it’s all in the fun. But, seriously, people do believe this stuff. It’s a gullible world. I am glad that these festivities are not serious, though. I hope that there are a lot of other people that agree with me. Sorry, but I think that this belief in the groundhog predicting weather borders on moronic. Forgive me for being blunt. Really, I am half-kidding, but it is superstition. With that, I will close this Secretary’s Report. In the words of the late, great Stan Lee… EXCELSIOR! TRIVIA TIME! Imagic and Activision were created by programmers that were originally from Atari. Out of these two game companies, only Activision exists today.
TECH TALK
By Steven Peck Today in Tech Talk, we will discuss the history of the Internet a little. The Information Superhighway. The World Wide Web. Whatever you want to call it, the Internet has connected everything. Computers, game systems, and even refrigerators, for example, are becoming connected. You have voice-activated systems like Google Home and Alexa now. They can do anything at your vocal command and it is connected to everything you could imagine. But, how did this get all started? Simply put, it was during the Cold War, and it started with the US Military in the 1960s. There was a project called ARPANet. It was a series of computers that were linked together in an early network. This was done to assure that, if there was a nuclear attack on the United States, we would have enough computers linked all over the country in military bases so there would ample enough computers left to launch our nukes just in case. Something was meant to survive so we could respond to such an attack. But, by the 1990s, people were interested in linking computers together for commerce and information. In essence, it was the birth of the Internet. Now, close to forty years later, we have become dependent on the Internet. People shop, bank, and do business on the Internet. Science fiction is now science fact with the network. Everywhere you go, you see computers linked to the Internet. It is everywhere and it isn’t going away. So, I close this edition of Tech Talk. I will see you again in March with yet another edition. Carpe Diem, Atarians, and see you soon!
Table of Contents: Page 1: Secretary’s Report & Tech Talk Page 2: Atari Multi-Platfore Game Review & SPACE Comics Section Page 3: Special Notice on DOMs and Memberships
Message from Captain Irata: “Semag Irata is my name! Playing Atari’s my game!” HOO-RAH!
Interact, interreact, and play! Whether or not you win or lose, you always win with Atari!
SPACE COMICS SECTION! The Misadventures of A-Man and C.D. By Steve Peck
ATARI MULTI-PLATFORM GAME REVIEW By Steve Peck Welcome back to the Multi-Platform Game Review for February! Today, we are going to review Powerstar for the Atari 8-bit computer! Powerstar was created in 1985 by Pandora Software. It is a text adventure with graphics. You not only use text to interact with the game in a series of command lines, you can see the game graphics on the screen and even use the joystick in cohesion with the keyboard. In the game, you have to stop a saboteur from destroying the Powerstar satellite fusion reactor. Powerstar powers the United States from orbit. Your job is to get up to the Powerstar and save it from sabotage. But, it won’t be easy. The game does not give many clues, and you have to engage yourself to really understand how to play it. This includes learning the lingo, making maps, amd even second-guessing yourself. Unfortunately, the game manual doesn’t have many clues. I have tried to play this game, and I can only cause the ship to go 10,000 feet into the air and I am unable to get into space. I suppose I need to make a map. There is very little info about playing this game online as well. I am sure this was done on purpose so a bloke like myself (the word bloke is British slang for an average guy, for Americans who don’t know that) can brainstorm. This is a good thing, as I love to brainstorm, especially with RPGs. Here is my score for this game: SCORE: Graphics: Gameplay: Animation: Sound:
8 10 6 7
TOTAL:
31/40
Also, if anyone has an idea to play this game, please feel free to let us know. It’s a difficult one, and tips would be nice. Thanks! So, that concludes the Game Review. I will be back with another edition in March of the Multi-Platform Game Review. Until then, have a happy! Thanks for reading.
Angel, Bandit, and Their Ferret Fracas By Steve Peck
A Special N otice A bout DOM Mailing : I have been creating the DOM each month and was just looking at the supply building up. T hen I got to thinking about how many DOM s I will have by next J anuary or later. I t could be a year or twelve months and that would be twelve DOM s at $3.00 each or $36.00 for twelve and some might be reluctant to pay that for yearold DOM s in addition to their past-due memberships . S o, I was thinking about mailing . I have about two dozen empty 3M disk boxes, and they had ten disks each but could easily hold eighteen . I put twelve disks plus some bubble wrap and brought it to the Post Office as a test, and it came to $4.60. I then asked how much for just the empty box she said $3.80. S o, that comes to just 6.7 cents per disk . T he exact amount might vary depending on how many disks, but it would be close to $3.80 plus 7 cents per disk, so eight DOM s would be $28.36, or $3.00 per DOM plus $4.36 postage. E ach Member would have to email me as to which DOMs they would want and their current mailing address . A lso, a personal check for your calculated amount should be sent to G regory Leitner, then he could email me to acknowledge payment and I could mail the DOM s . For any difference in the actual mailing cost and your calculated amount could be carried on a ledger by G regory to be resolved at a later actual meeting . Sincerely, G len Kirschenmann DOM Librarian and Membership C hairman S aint Paul Atari C omputer E nthusiasts (SPACE) P.S. To pay for DOMs and membership renewals, you can send your personal check to this address: SPACE c/o G regory Leitner 3407 78th Street E. I nver G rove H eights, MN 55076-3037 T hanks ! buy a DOM, renew your memberships, and support SPACE! See you soon ! NOTE: T his message will be posted in the newsletter until we return to normal meetings together.
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