NEWSLETTER y. .< ,/*, " yiiX w i Homebrew Computer Club V ol. 3/Issue 1, January 18, 1978 Surveyby Robert Reiling It was survey tim e again at the Homebrew Computer Club meeting January 4, 1978. Attendance was 175 people with CPU TYPE NUMBER SYSTEMS OPERATING about 10 percent of the individuals attending for the first time. The group decided a survey should betaken and forthwith 8080 68 Lee Felsenstein, club meeting moderator, went into action. 8008 4 This list is the result. 6800 12 6502 28 Seventeen people reported they had no operating system. F8 5 Z80 31 A similar survey conducted one year ago with 240 people LSI II 5 attending the meeting revealed 182 systems in operation. 1802 5 9900 2 Although not part of the survey results the development of 6100 2 users groups has been noted during 1977. At the beginning of SC/MP 2 the year the 6800 group was holding regular meetings. At the PACE 1 end of 1977 the groups include not only the 6800 but the F8 8085 1 Users, North Star Users Group, SOL Users Society, and PET OTHERS 6 Users. The IEEE has set up a standards group to sort out the T O T A L 172 various hardware and software standards. It would seem that there is something for everybody in the micro computer world.» Second West Coast Homebrew Computer Club Computer Faireby Robert Reiling 1978 Meeting Schedule Stanford Linear Accelerator Center Auditorium D on't forget the Faire to be held in San Jose March 3-5, 1978. It will be in the just completed San Jose Convention Jan. 4 Jun. 14 Center. Yes, the Faire has moved right into "Silicon Valley" Feb. 22 Aug. 9 and you can be assured of another outstanding seminar and Mar. 8 Sept. 13 exhibit program. Details of the Faire will be in the Silicon Apr. 12 Oct. 11 Gulch Gazette which will be distributed in huge quantities May 10 Nov. 8 during the next several weeks. Additional meetings at other locations may be held. Watch theNEWSLETTER for announce­ I will arrange with the Computer Faire organization do dis­ ments. A ll dates are subject to change or cancel­ tribute copies of the Gazette to everyone on the Homebrew lation. If a change does occur, advance notice Computer Club mailing list. Keep any address changes up to will be published in theNEWSLETTER if time date to assure receiving the latest Faire news. permits. • Plan to attend the seminars, talk to the exhibitors fo r the latest product news, attend the banquets on Friday and Saturday night, and get acquainted w ith San Jose. • 1 Random Bits by Lichen Wang When I coded WSFN (which stands for nothing, to be The constant "2DH" in the exclusive or instruction should published in DDJ), I was in need of a pseudo-random bit also be changed to "1BH" or "OAFH" respectively. This con­ generator. I looked up in Donald E. Knuth's book,The A rt stant must be the coefficients of a primitive polynomial of Computer Programming, and sure enough, there is one in modulo 2 to ensure the longest possible periods (2**24-1 and volume II, page 28. In 8080/Z80 code, it looks like this: 2**32-1, respectively). E.J. Watson published a table of prim­ SEED: DS 2 ; This must be in RAM and itive polynomials modulo 2 of order 1 through 100 in not zero Mathematics of Computation V.16, page 368. The constants RNDB: PUSH H ; Here on can be in ROM "2DH," "1 BH," and "OAFH" are all from this table. LHLD SEED ; A 2 byte number DAD H ; Shift left one bit I made some simple statistical tests on the 2 byter, the MOV A ,L results are quite satisfactory. I have not tried the 3 and 4 JNC CQ1 ; Jump if high bit was originally 0 byters. XRI 2DH ; Otherwise adjust number MOV L,A To make the subroutine more unpredictable, I put a CALL CQ1 : SHLD SEED ; Save it for next time around RNDB in the loop that waits for the user to type a key on the POP H keyboard. Another way of doing this in a Z80 is to use the ANI 1 ; Single out the b it and set flags refresh register. Change the last part o f the subroutine to: RET CQ1: SHLD SEED ; Save it for next time around This subroutine returns a 0 or a 1 in A register. The flags POP H are set according to A, and other registers are not changed. MOV A,R ; Refresh register The bit sequence generated by this subroutine repeats in a XOR L period of length 2**16-1=65535. If longer period is needed, AN I 1 ; Single out the bit and set flags one should use 3 or 4 byte SEED and 3 or 4 byte shifts instead. RET Some Random Thoughts on Awardsby Ben Chmark And now the Wayne Green Award. Signs go up telling The Homebrew Club members might be just the unbiased audience to applaud. Huge TV cranes move in fo r the close up group the w orld has been awaiting to entrust w ith making a shots fo r all three networks. Wayne pushes micro-skirted cutie truly coveted award. A ballot might be inserted within the through curtains. Out pops cutie with huge award looking newsletter and a home computer could be used to tally. something like an Oscar only fashioned after another likeness. Might end up something like a Hollywood award with huge Of course Kilobaud would never come up with such a throngs and rambling speeches. " I t would not have been scheme, where is this fantasy coming from Ben Chmark asks possible for me to invent this gizmo to fit inexpensively on himself. "Here is your chip, it will be twenty dollars," says a your whazit if not for the love, care, devotion of my mother, very nice lady. Of course, Chmark you schmuck, this is Elmar sister and dog . no not the dog — to be honest he almost and you are sitting in the lobby. ate the project and certainly didn't help it when he dragged the prototype downstairs and buried it in the backyard." You have been waiting fo r the very latest in high technology and your eyes and mind have wandered. To the le ft is a So if necessity giveth birth to standardization committees beautiful hand-carved number one, while straight ahead stand then the same might indeed hold for awards. Or they might a covey of cups and trophies. Behind your back is perhaps the fall into the hands of others with a flair for publicity. If we cleverest, a tree-like metal wall sculpture award by Sprague. default, others are sure to pick up on this awards thing — These are commercial awards and say such things as "thanks no threat just fact. fo r selling a lot of XYZ's because it sure makes you number one with us." Chmark wonders why awards in the field of Awards can be nice and bring people together. We aren't home computers have not been started by an impartial agency the Nobel prize committee but still an inspiring award is as he departs Elmar. possible. A good example, which shows that awards can be human, is the Nebula Science Fiction Award. Quoting from Home computers are new te rrito ry, we have no awards. the anthology which funds this award, "The anthology Robert Reiling............................................................................ Editor-in-Chief The NEWSLETTER is published regularly by the Joel M iller................................................................................. Managing Editor Homebrew Computer Club. Brent Sack Graphics P.O. Box 626, Mountain View, CA 94042 2 project, first as small as a man's hand, rapidly grew into an ising new project or idea, best low cost project, best new annual ballot of SFWA's (Science Fiction Wirters of America) software, best new language, most innovative breakthrough, members to choose the best stories, an annual series o f Nebula and special one time awards for specific contributions. Awards, and an annual Awards Banquet. In the process, we lost sight of the original objective — we've spent all our One thing is for sure, a lot of people have worked very hard advance royalties and more on the trophies. to bring this new field together. Their inspiring work and enthusiasm are contagious. These selfless individuals should "We are proud of these trophies. They were designed by have praises heaped upon them . A ll rewards should not come Judith Ann Lawrence, James Blish's wife, from a sketch by from the dollars of the marketplace. Perhaps the staff of this my wife, Kate Wilhelm. Each consists of a spiral nebula made newsletter after voting themselves an award could select of metallic glitter, and a specimen of rock crystal, both categories and a ballot format and bring this thing off quite embedded in a block of clear Lucite. They are strikingly nicely. Or the idea might be handed over to a committee, in beautiful, hand-made, and costly. which case my great grandchildren might grow up to receive the very first awards. Or perhaps there is another way? • "M any of us regretted that several previous attempts to found an organization of professional science fiction writers came to nothing." Editor's Note: Please send suggestions for awards to the News­ letter, P.O. Box 626, Mountain View, CA 94042. We could Categories for a home computer award. Who knows? Try: make the first awards at the West Coast Computer Faire in best magazine article of the year, best new book, most prom­ San Jose March 3 -5 , 1978.