March 1999
I NEWSLETTER President's Corner by Michael Current March, 1999
March,1999 Disk of the Month (DOM) Librarian, Paper & Educational Software Librarian, Bulletin Board System Operator, and a Newsletter Editor. These volunteers shall be subject to approval of the club membership. For service rendered, these volunteers shall not be required to pay club dues during their tenn of office.
At the February meeting we had a fairly lengthy discussion about club bylaws, club membership, and advantages and disadvantages of making it "easier" to change the bylaws than it is now. For your convenience, here again is that particular bylaw under review:
On another matter, concern has been expressed on a nuntber of occasions about our treasury getting so large, and whether this presents a problem with the IRS. rm not a tax lawyer, but I have satisfied myself that we don't have to concern ourselves with this issue.
ARTICLE IX AMENDMENT OF BYLAWS
According to the US Code, I believe we are a Section 50I(cX7) organization, the definition of which is:
Section I . These bylaws can be amended at any regular meeting of the club by a 2/3 vote of the current membership, provided that the amendment has been submitted in writing at the previous regular meeting and has been printed in at least one issue of the newsletter. I had suggested that this be replaced with the following text: "These bylaws can be amended at any regular meeting of the club by a 2/3 vote of the current membership or by unanimous decision of the Executive Board, provided that the amendment has been printed in at least one issue of the newsletter." There was not unanimous agreement with this particular suggestion at the February meeting. Furthennore, with Glen unable to make the meeting we weren't quite sure just how many of us might have constituted a 2/3 majority. So, we decided to put off any attempted changes for another month. In order to push along the discussion, let me point out other portions of our bylaws which I think we need to discuss. For example, the section on club dues. ARTICLE III MEMBERSHIP Section 3. The annual dues shall be 15 dollars, payable on the anniversary month of a member's joining date. The Treasurer shall notify members two months in arrears, and those whose dues are not paid in one month shall be automatically dropped from membership and forfeit all benefits incurred. In lieu of services rendered, elected officers shall not be required to pay club dues during their tenn in office. Should we change anything about this section? Another bylaw to discuss at some point, relating in part again to dues: ARTICLE IV OFFICERS Section 4. The President and Vice-President of SPACE shall actively seek volw1teers to fill the following positions: Secretary,
(7) Clubs organized for pleasure, recreation, and other nonprofitable purposes, substantially all of the activities of which are for such purposes and no part of the net earnings of which inures to the benefit of any private shareholder.
If the Club was required to keep the IRS infonned of our financial activities, we would use Fonn 990: Return of Organization Exempt From Income Tax. On Fonn 990, it is clearly stated: "If the organization's gross receipts are nonnally not more than $25,000, the organization need not file a return with the IRS." I think we're safe! Finally, I just wanted to quickly mention, I bought a copy of the Solitaire cartridge game, programmed by ChildsPlay Software and sold by vendors such as Video 61. While the graphics obviously aren't as detailed as the Windows-95 version, the gameplay really is. I quickly became hooked, and couldn't quit until I won! See you at the next meeting, and Keep using that Atari!
Secretary's Report by Mike Weist March, 1999
Space meeting opened by Space club president, Michael Current, at 7:35 PM. Michael asked for report of Space minutes for the month of January 1999. No report was given since secretary was excused and not present at January meeting. Mike asked for a treasury report. Greg Leitner, Space club treasurer, reported that much weut on at last month's meeting. The club, however, did take in $234 clear profit from club auction after the January meeting. The club has not received a bill for room rent. Greg Leitner did say that at next meeting many 8-bit cartridges will be available for sale. Greg stated that the club treasury stands at $1300. OLD BUSINESSMichael Current stated that not much went on at last month's meeting. NEW BUSINESS-Greg Leitner talked to the membership about the upcoming Mid Winter Madness Show. (Note: Show will be in April instead of February)
Michael Current, club president, talked about the club bylaws. Asked the membership what they thought about the bylaws. Mike stated that the club should have reference when needed. Michael stated that a 2/3 vote will be necessary for bylaw changes. One possible bylaw change is to go to simple majority vote, Another idea is to do away with the Robert Rules of Order . The executive board will meet to consider changes to the bylaws and have a clear idea of total club membership. These items will be brought forwards to the Space Club March meeting. Greg Leitner expressed his concern about the Space club's high treasury balance and possible IRS concerns. Greg Leitner talked about the Disk of the Month. Meeting adjourned at 8:05 PM.
Treasurer's Report by Greg Leitner March, 1999
Once again we had a small turnout for the monthly SPACE meeting and I am sure the weather played a part in that, but considering the storm we had the day before I guess we really lucked out. We took a count of the current paid up members and found that to have two-thirds of the total we only needed around ten members present at any given meeting. This means that we only have about fifteen paid up current members of SPACE, and if at least ten members are present at any given meeting those members can vote on changes to the by-laws. Since there are some changes that we need to implement or at least discuss it is very important that you make the March meeting. Mike, your President, Mike, your Secretary, and myself would very much like to talce care of this Club business at the March meeting. Let's get the Club back on track so that we have current by-laws that we can all go to and be assured that the Club is being run properly and fair to all-it's members. 1l1e Club treasury continues to grow due to the enormous amount of auction items I have to bring each month. Next month will be no exception and you will just have to be present to get in on the good deals. I am still waiting on the fourth quarter room rental expense and because of this our bank balance continues to get stronger. The expenses for the Month of February were for the BBS phone and the last four months of Newsletters. They came to $45.83 and was more than offset by our DOM sales of $20.00 and the Auction which took in another $157.00. So our treasury grew another $131.00 to leave us with a nice bank balance of$1 ,441.20. I know the Auctions won' t last forever and I don't want to get your expectations too high that our balance will be this strong in the future. I do want you to know that whatever comes along in 1999 we will be financially strong and probably even in the year 2000. Eventually we will need to look at our revenue in the membership and DOM departments for the survival of our Club. Right now we have the members who are willing to support the Club and with our shrinking membership it is something of great concern for the future. Let's bask in the good times we have now with an ever watchful eye on the direction we are going. We are a real white elephant in this day and age and we have defied all claims that the ATARI is dead. We live to see another day. See you all next month.
Subj: New ATARI-FileManagement Date: 99-02-21 22:07:55 EST From: HCRBurk@t-online.de (HCRBurk) Date: Sat, 13 Feb 1999 05:34:53 +0100 Hi atarians! A new release of the Filemanagement (1.5 0128 - Windows 9x) is complete. Features: - Freeware - Management ofXFD/ATR files - Lists directory structure (DOS/MyDOS/SpartaDOS) - Import/Export (ASCII, Binary) for DOS/MYDOS/SpartaDOS -Management of tools for work with other progran1IDes. - Serial communication (like SIO2PC) between PC and ATARI, it simulates up to 8 floppy disk drives .. and much more. For the ATARIMAN .ZIP file look at my Homepage: http://home.t-onl.ine.de/home/hcrburk/hpatari.html or http://mernbers.aol.com/MacFalkner I soon make a OOC available.
Please give a feedback if you find bugs or if you have other suggestions. thanks, bye, Burkhard EMail: HCRBurk@T-Online.de HP: http://home.t-online.de/home/hcrburk Subj: A-ONE ... A New Atari Online Magazine Date: 99-02-21 22:23:05 EST From: jmirando@portone.com (Joe Mirando) Date: 21 Feb 1999 15:52:37 GMT For Immediate Release Fonner Atari Editors to Debut New Online Magazine [February 19, 1999, Boston] Former STReport Atari Editors Dana Jacobson and Joe Mirando announced today that they have begun work on a new Atari online magazine. A-ONE (Atari Online News, Etc.), which will likely debut on Friday, March 5, will be a magazine primarily aimed to serve the Atari community, according to Jacobson. "Our goal," said Jacobson, "is to focus on a magazine which covers material of interest to fellow Atari users. We'll do our best to cover all facets of the Atari experience - computing and console gaming. But, we'll also cover topics that are of a general interest to Atari users: general industry news items and other gaming platforms." "Joe and I have been using and writing about Atari computers for a long time," says Jacobson. "Between the two ofus," he added, "we've probably written for most of the commercial Atari magazines of yesteryear such as Current Notes, Atari Interface, ST Informer, and Atari Explorer. And we just completed a lengthy stint with STReport, an online magazine. We have both considered doing an Atari online magazine on our own for quite some time now. 1l1e talks became more serious the past few weeks and many of our STReport readers were asking. The timing was perfect."
Jacobson states that A-ONE readers will see the same coverage as they did with S1Report, but more. "Colurnns such as 'People Are Talking' will continue in A-One," states Jacobson, "and the Atari news items, various announcements and product descriptions will continue. We're also going to continue with the computing and technology industry news section, as well as Atari and other platform gaming news. All of that will remain unchanged, except cosmetically." When asked what new things A-ONE readers will be able to see in the magazine, Jacobson reported that "we have a lot of new ideas; and we're going to be able to resurrect some old ones! We've talked to Michael Burkley, of Suzy B's fame. A-ONE readers will be happy to learn that Michael has agreed to bring back his "Unabashed Atariophile" column - a column devoted to Atari public domain, shareware, and freeware software. We're also looking to get more involved with Atari internet news. We're working on 'guest columns.' We'll be talking to a number of people to help us make AONE the #1 Atari online magazine worldwide." According to Jacobson, A-ONE will be a text-based magazine. However, he stated that an HTML version hasn't been ruled out as an additional format. "We're in the process of establishing distribution points for the mag!IZine," Jacobson stated. "We'll maintain our e-mail distribution lists as well as making the magazine available on online services such as Delphi and bulletin boards. We'll also make it available for downloading via numerous Internet web pages. The best way to do this, and make it accessible to all readers, is text. But we realize that some of our readers may want to read A-ONE while on the Internet. The 'plain' text version will be available initially, but we're also considering adding an HTML version, with all the 'eye-candy,' for those who might want it. II To contact A-ONE regarding e-mail subscriptions or other inquiries, send e-mail to dpj@delphi.com. For submissions and related information, send e-mail to jmirando@portone.com .
CELEBRATE ATARI AT JAGFEST '99
.
Details are still being worked out, but the projected cost for the event is $10-12 per person. An additional fee may apply to reserve a table for the express purpose of sales. Be sure to visit the official JagFest '99 website at http://jagfest.atari.org. Carl Forhan may be reached via email at forhan@millcomm.com. Copyright 1999, Songbird Productions. This message may be reprinted in its entirety. Subj: Classic Gaming Expo '99! Date: 99-03-06 16:50:15 EST From: Sean Kelly <skelly@xnet.com> Date: 28 Feb 1999 10:47:59 GMT Classic Gaming Expo '99 set to roll! The premier Classic Gaming event of the year has been scheduled for Aug. 14th and 15th, 1999 at the Plaza Hotel in Las Vegas. John Hardie and Keita Iida, two of the people responsible for last year's World of Atari show, have developed Classic Gaming Expo '99 so that it will appeal to all classic gamers, not just people interested in Atari. Keita and John have teamed up with veteran collectors Sean Kelly, Les Caron, and Tom Keller, as well as notable industry alums, Jerry Jessop and Don Thomas Jr. to help bring CGE '99 to life. The official show website is now up and running at: www.cgexpo.com From here, you can find the latest info about the show, including discount travel info, admission ticket ordering, latest calendar of events, and a list of industry veterans who will appear. Some of the highlights of this year's show include:
Subj: CELEBRATE ATARI AT JAGFEST '99 Date: 99-03-06 16:50:07 EST • ,
February 26, 1999
games, a trading area for collectors, and opportunities to purchase recent releases for all Atari platforms.
....
ROCHESTER, MN - Carl Forhan, well-known hobby developer for the Atari Lynx and Jaguar, has agreed tb host thjs year's JagFest event in Rochester, MN, on June 18, lq99. This third annual event will broaden its focus to encompass a' Atari systems, from the classic 2600 VCS to the ST line of computers to the Jaguar and everything in between. "TI1e theme for this year's show is 'Celebrate Atari', and that's exactly what we're going to do," commented Carl Forhan. "I encourage every Atari fan to bring their collection for the 'Rare & Unreleased' exhibit or possibly to trade and sell to other collectors. I know rn have my 150+ piece collection for the VCS and 7800 present, as well as a number of one-of-a-kind items for the Jaguar and Lynx." The event will include an exhibit of rare Atari items, tournaments on consoles ranging from 2600 Warlords to Jaguar BattleSphere, prizes for tournament winners and attendees, demos of unreleased
- 21,000 square feet of convention space (3 times the amount of last year). - Giant museum filled with rare and unreleased classic gaming hardware and software. - Loads of coin-op games available for play. - Game tournaments (Warlords, Tempest Duel, etc) - Various game stations set up for play. - Major corporate sponsorship and presence from companies such as Hasbro, Imagine Media, Nyko, Telegames, and Namco. - Videogame auction that DOESN'T feature prototypes with $500 starting bids. - A swap meet (tentative at this time) - Continuous keynote speeches by industry alumni throughout both days. There are currently over 30 industry veterans scheduled to appear at CGE '99 with many more in the works. Check out the webpage for a more complete listing, but expect to see the likes of Nolan Bushnell, Ralph Baer, David Crane, Steve Cartwright, Garry Kitchen, Rob Fulop, Dennis Koble, Tod Frye, John Harris, Jay Smith (who has ~d he will bring his color Vectrex), and many more.
CLUB OFFICIALS President: Michael Current Vice President: Greg Leitner Secretary: Michael Weist DOM Librarian: Glen Kirschenmann Paper Librarian: Vacant Software Librarian: Vacant Membership Chairman: Glen Kirschenmann SPACE Treasurer Greg Leitner SPACE Newsletter Editor: Michael Schmidt
DISCLAIMER
~507~6639029 651 455-6550 651 7776794 (612)786 - 4790 XXX-XXXX XXX-XXXX (612)786 - 4790 (651)4556550 (612)757-4192
Saint Paul Atari Computer Enthusiasts (SPACE) meets on the second Friday of each month at 7 :30 PM
in the Falcon Heights Community Center at 2077 West Larpenteur Ave. Doors open at 7:00 PM.
Published by the Saint Paul Atari Computer Enthusiasts (SPACE), an independent organization with no business affiliation with ATARI Corporation. Permission is granled to any similar organization with which SPACE exchanges newsletters to reprint m aterial from this newsletter. We do however ask lhal credit be given lo the authors and lo SPACE. Opinions expressed are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect the views of SPACE, the club officers, club members or ATARI Corporation.
You can find the Club's home page at: http: / /www.library.carleton.edu/space/ Articles for Publicalion must be received
oy the Newsletter Editor two weeks prior to the Club's meeting.
Q)
~ 'd
Gibbs
~
Museum ID :>
D
o
Falcon Heights Communi t y Center 2077 W. Larpenteur Ave.
□
Q)
:>
<
SPACE BBS
01)
North
1
3
Q)
BBS Phone: (651) -462 - 3680
~
en
Sysop: None
Larpenteur Avenue
~ of M Sl. Paul Campus
.
'
ATARI .. ST Computers
...
; S.P .A.C .E. P.O. Box 1200•16
New Brighton, MN
. . ... ,, \. ~
PM ~-
55112
"1~ VJ
\
I
I
-