The November meeting of the TI-Chips was opened at 12:45 by Fred Ialacci. Reading of the October minutes was waived. Lin Shaw gave the Treasurer's report. The TI-Chips account, although recently drawn on, remains healthy and solvent.
John Parken gave the membership report. John said the TI-Chips have 18 paid members. (It was especially nice to note that 13 of those 18 were able to attend this month's meeting.) John passed out copies of the new membership list he has been keeping on a TI database program called PRBase. (How's that for durability? John's TI-99/4A is still doing the job for the Chips, and is showing no sign of quitting.) The list was corrected for the new 216/440 area code changes. John also shared a couple of letters he had received from old time members Russ Shimandle and Brian Wolcott. Russ said he misses being with us, and the Chips returned the feelings to Russ. We hope Russ will be able to attend our meetings again. (We never did find out what all he carried in that attache case he brought to every meeting.) Brian said that the TI-Chips and the newsletter are his only means of keeping up with what's happening in the TI community. (It would be great if Russ and Brian could attend TIMUG'99.)
Les Kee reported that there were no changes in the status of the software library. Harry reported that the job of converting the DSDD Lima disks to DSSD format was more daunting than expected. Harry said some of the disks contained many more files than could be held in a single density disk. Therefore, Harry found that he had to make multiple DSSD disks to handle the Lima disks. Harry said he will get the job done, but it will take more time than originally expected.
Matt Andel reported that he has reserved the Middleburg Hts. Recreation Hall for the pre-conference get together party on Friday evening, May 14, from 6:00 to 10:00 PM. The cost of the hall was $60. Lin Shaw wrote a check to Matt covering the rental cost. There was a small discussion about the starting time for the pre-conference get together party and it was decided that the party will start at 7:00 PM. Ada Markus reported that Spang Mansion has a rental charge of $80 and a security deposit of $100. This money will not have to be paid until the hall is reserved in April. I said I will make a tour of Spang Mansion to see what the facilities are like and what we will have to bring in to make up any short comings (i.e., tables). (This is why our guests have to let us know as early as possible whether they are planning to attend TIMUG'99 and how many tables they will need.)
It was moved by Harry Hoffman, seconded by Glenn Bernasek and unanimously approved by the attending membership to place Rich Polivka's name in nomination for the 1999 Jim Peterson Community Service Award. Rich's web page has provided the TI community with a wealth of information and service on the TI-99/4A and Myarc 'Geneve' 9640.
I conducted another demonstration of the Chips' new capability of providing demonstrations with members' PC clones with the TView MIcro. I also showed off my new 120 MB SuperDisk drive by Imation. This drive plugs into my parallel printer port on my Compaq 410C notebook computer. I am able to read and write both 1.44 and 120 MB 3-1/2" floppy disks on one machine. This has become my 'preferred' drive and has largely replaced the A: drive in my computer. I also like the idea of installing programs on the 120 MB disk rather than on my C: drive. The SuperDisk is about 5 times faster than the 1.44 MB floppy. Not as quick as the hard drive, but I am able to save space on a limited hard drive by installing software on the SuperDisk.
Les Kee demo'd fractal math software with his laptop, using his PC to TV video converter and a side monitor. The fractal creations were beautiful and impressive. Les showed how the program could create complex Mandelbrot Set images, and then both change displayed image colors and allow zooming in to examine the smallest detail. The most impressive part of Les' demonstration was when we realized that Les had given the same type demonstration some years back on the TI-99/4A. (The TI was slower, but (as I can recall) the images were just as beautiful and impressive.)
It was brought to my attention that the 'sweep-the-corners' meeting for TIMUG'99 was scheduled for Sunday, May 9th (MOTHER'S DAY!). Needless to say, the May 9th meeting is CANCELLED. The Chips will conduct the pre-conference meeting at our April meeting instead.
Harry Hoffman won the 50:50 raffle. Congratulations, Harry!