The ticalc.org Newsletter
http://www.ticalc.org/
March 2000 - Volume 3, Issue 3
IN THIS ISSUE
Letter from the Editor
Calculator News
Ask ticalc.org
Interview with Grent Jones
Humor: ticalc.org Coup D'etat
Miscellany
LETTER FROM THE EDITOR
Hello once again! This month has been particularly busy for ticalc.org as we prepare to unveil many new features. We have also once again seen the release of many interesting new programs. See the Calculator News section for more information. Under the miscellaneous tidbits section, ticalc.org has broken 100 million requests. We thank all our users for the continued support. Many people have asked us about the status of the webpages of Dimension-TI and its hosted sites, most notably TCPA. We have received word that Dimension-TI is moving to a new dedicated server and will return at the beginning of March. The TI Millenium Awards have concluded, and winners have been announced. Visit http://www.ticalc.org/mil/ to see the winners. The Program of the Month awards will start up again on ticalc.org. Programs will be selected in four categories: TI-82/TI-83/TI-83+, TI-85/TI-86, TI-89/TI-92/TI-92+, and Computer Utilities/Miscellaneous Programs. All programs released this month that are designated as Featured Programs will be eligible. For this month's interview we have selected Grent Jones, the author of the popular TI-89 Bomberman clone, BomberBoy v1.0. Thanks for reading the ticalc.org Newsletter!
Eric Sun
CALCULATOR NEWS
As I mentioned in the Letter From The Editor, February produced many interesting programs. For the TI-89, the infamous 8K limit for programs on AMS v2.03 was broken early in the month by DoorsOS II v0.93, the new version of the most popular TI-89 shell. Late in the month, an even-more-infamous problem was remedied. Universal OS v1.10 for the TI-89 reportedly allows users with Hardware v2.00 to use AMS v2.03. Julien Muchembled, the author of Universal OS v1.10, has also written a patch that breaks the aforementioned 8K limit for programs. The source code to CalcSys, Dan Englender's TI-83+ FLASH system application, has been released. This will hopefully help other programmers in their endeavors to make FLASH applications for the TI-83+. Another interesting program worth mentioning is Ion86, by Clem Vasseur, with help from Matthew Shepcar. This is a great new program that emulates TI-83/TI-83+ Ion programs on the TI-86. Orzunoid v7.0 (by Sam Heald), BomberBoy v1.0 (by Grent Jones), and Diamonds v2.0 (by Jonah Cohen) have also been released.
ASK TICALC.ORG
At ticalc.org, we often receive many of the same questions. In this column, we hope to address some of these questions for a broader audience. If you'd like to submit a question, please email it to ask@ticalc.org. Q: How come nothing works with my Hardware II TI-89? A: Prior to February 27th, 2000, there was extremely limited support for TI-89 Hardware version 2.0. AMS 2.03 + HW2 would not run assembly programs, and many users were left in the dark. DoorsOS reportedly works with AMS 1.05 + HW2, but grayscale will not. Now, Julien Muchembled has released Universal OS v1.10, which claims to provide support for Hardware 2 and AMS v2.03. Since it has just been released, time will tell if it works well with users of TI-89 HW 2.
Eric Sun
INTERVIEW WITH GRENT JONES
Email: gj_bomber89@hotmail.com
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Interview Log
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Eric
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How old are you and what level of education do you have?
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Grent
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I am 17 years old, and a senior in high school. I am 10th in my class with a 4.079 GPA. Im also captain of two school sports teams.
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Eric
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What do you plan to do after you graduate?
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Grent
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I have applied to many schools, the top of my list being Stanford and the bottom being the University of Washington. I am planning on majoring in electrical engineering.
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Eric
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What calculators do you own?
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Grent
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I own a TI-89, which I purchased for $70 on EBay, and that is pretty much it. When I bought it, I also auctioned a TI-82 away for $25.
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Eric
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Do you plan to get any new calculators soon?
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Grent
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Maybe if mine breaks or something. The TI-89 is a magicians tool, and is very useful. I just hope it holds up well.
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Eric
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What do you use your calculator for most?
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Grent
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I use my calculator mostly for Calculus, Physics and Chemistry.
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Eric
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What was the first program you ever wrote?
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Grent
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I wrote a program for the TI-82 in TI-BASIC. It factored any polynomial that could be factored and even did imaginary numbers. I never posted it on ticalc.org though.
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Eric
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How did you learn to program in assembly language?
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Grent
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I taught myself, read a couple documents from ticalc.org and then just went after it.
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Eric
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What projects are you working on now?
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Grent
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BomberBoy is my first project and probably my last. I have other interests right now (mostly dancing and girls) and I might not have time to do any more calculator programming.
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Eric
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What do you think about the recent rise of programming groups?
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Grent
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I used to be on one, CCIA, but I think that they move in waves. One comes up, one comes down, and they usually dont stick around very long. Usually, within a group, each member just makes programs by his/herself and puts the group's name on it.
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Eric
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What are your opinions about the new TI-89 AMS v2.03?
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Grent
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I think that it is not too much different than the first release. It just makes it harder for programmers because some pertinent things changed, ones that can crash a calculator easily. |
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HUMOR: TICALC.ORG COUP D'ETAT
SOLLENTUNA, SWEDEN - Steve Whittaker is slowly seizing ticalc.org in a massive, intricately-planned coup d'etat, sources reported last Saturday.
As you can see from the ticalc.org map at http://www.ticalc.org/extra/territory.jpg, Steve's claim at ticalc.org (the purple territory), previously nonexistant, has suddenly appeared and will soon oust Phil's (green), Eric's (orange), Andy's (cyan), Nick's (red), and the disputed zone (blue).
"Members of the Stevian factions have begun to move in with their organized militias to secure the section reading 'root' all the way down the picture," says ticalc.orgologist Dr. Jonah Cohen of Harvard University. Continues Dr. Cohen, "By this time next month, Stevianists will have mobilized and taken over the archives, Millenium awards, and possibly even the cascading style sheets."
Phil Genera of ticalc.org is anxiously awaiting the change. "Leaders of the Phillian faction are considering a secession of its territory to the great Steve Whittaker. Despite Steve's - er, mein fuhrer's - incredibly liberal views, such as his 'liquidate all Phil Generas' policy, I feel this is a step in the right direction."
Last evening, at approximately 3:51 AM GMT, troops seized control of Nick Disabato's bedroom and placed him under arrest for crimes against ticalc.org. He was promptly executed without trial. Since then, Whittaker's militant factions have been mobilized against any dissident forces. Thousands were executed in a massive pro-ticalc.org pogrom.
All other staff members of ticalc.org have taken refuge in Krygyzstan. They are unavailable for comment at this time.
Nick Disabato
MISCELLANY
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