🚀 go-pugleaf

Date: Thu, 30 Jan 86 02:19 EST
From: SECRIST%OAK.SAINET.MFENET@LLL-MFE.ARPA
Subject: ET-FIG Responses to Last FIGIL Mailing
To: UMFORTH%WEIZMANN.BITNET@WISCVM.WISC.EDU.Arpa

Date:    Thu, 30-JAN-1986 02:19 EST
To:      UMFORTH%WEIZMANN.BITNET@WISCVM.WISC.EDU.Arpa
Message-ID: <[OAK.SAINET.MFENET].C8EC7600.008E9C80.SECRIST>
Quote: "May your future be limited only by your dreams." -- Christa McAuliffe
Organization: Science Applications Int'l. Corp., Oak Ridge, Tenn.
CompuServe-ID: [71636,52]
X-VMS-Mail-To: ARPA%"UMFORTH%WEIZMANN.BITNET@WISCVM.WISC.EDU.Arpa"

Greetings all.  The following are some responses to some of the inquiries
and comments I've recieved though the graces of the FIGIL list.  In this
mailing:

        - Kudos for a FORTH BBS (see below)
        - Response to the "year old" newsletter query
        - Where to get current ET-FIG Newsletters
        - Finding PD FORTHs for the Apple // (do YOU have MVP source ?)
        - UniFORTH PD Sampler for MS-DOS, Apple, CP/M-80, C-64
        - N-Digit Pi Division Fubar and a plea for help

BBS Note: BBS inhabitants may like to peruse Jerry Shifrin's excellent "East
Coast Forth Board" that he operates in association with the Potomac FIG
Chapter. His 24 hour/day BBS supports 300/1200/2400 baud and can be reached at
703/442-8695 in the U.S..  He's done a fine job of collecting FORTH good-stuff,
and with your help he can make the collection even better.  Please consider
contributing to this worthy effort.

May the FORTH be with you !

-=<***>=-

Francis R. Scobee
Michael Smith
Ronald E. McNair
Ellison S. Onizuka
Judith Resnik
Gregory Jarvis
Sharon Christa McAuliffe

Let each of us carry on their mission in our hearts and souls
that humankind may one day share the heavens with them.

Richard Secrist
SECRIST%OAK.SAInet.MFEnet@LLL-MFE.Arpa


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>       To: ucdavis!umforth@ucbjade.Berkeley.Edu
>       Subject: Re: Special Posting in a series, forwarded from...
>       Organization: Whole Earth Lectronic Link, Sausalito CA
>
>       Would you please explain why newsletters dated over a year ago
>       are being posted to net.lang.forth ???
>
>       ----------------------------------------------------------------------
>       NOTE FROM THE MODERATOR:  In response to Glenn Tenney's question
>       (complaint?)... the special postings series is posted to usenet
>       by the FIGIL digest.  This material comes to FIGIL by way of the
>       East Tenn. FIG group.  They've been the most active submitters
>       to the FIGIL list and their material has been pretty informative
>       and interesting The reason why some of it is so dated, is that
>       it is redigested material from their old newsletters.  In spite
>       of its date, much of this material has still been interesting
>       enough to warrent its "republication".  If this is not deemed
>       appropriate to the USENET people then the moderator of
>       net.lang.forth should inform FIGIL that the postings should be
>       discontinued.  To date, FIGIL has not received any other
>       complaints on this... so we relay to Glenn that we won't insist
>       he read the older postings :-)        REGARDS TO net.lang.forth
>       from FIGIL
>
>       ----------------------------------------------------------------------

The intent of our postings is to let the FIGIL folks and the FORTH community
at large derive whatever benefit can be had from our redigested newsletters.
I edit out all of the chapter-specific and untimely information and pass
along the rest for everyone's perusal, and do not merely post the whole
thing mindlessly.  I feel that the code, tutorials, hints, and reviews are
mostly timeless and hopefully of benefit to the list.  Although I acknowledge
that our software reviews could be "dated", vendor support typically doesn't
erode, and this feedback could help people in selecting a commercial FORTH
implementation for themselves.  As to book reviews, well - the books rarely
get updated: so these are valuable as well.  I believe all the code we've
published runs under the FORTH-83 model, so until 1987, I don't see any
problems here either.  Your suggestions for improvement are welcomed.

Current copies of our monthly newsletters are available for a yearly
subscription of $12.00 US (within the USA, I'd have to calculate international)
from the East Tenn. FORTH Interest Group; 24 Valley Forge Drive; Oak Ridge, TN
37830.  Please make checks or money orders payable to the East Tennessee FORTH
Interest Group.  We are also interested in swapping newsletters with other
FIG chapters or FORTH organizations  (For more information, please send mail to:
SECRIST%OAK.SAInet.MFEnet@LLL-MFE.Arpa).


>       ----------------------------------------------------------------------
>       To: harvard!seismo!lll-crg!ucdavis!ucbvax!umforth
>       Subject: Re: forwarded from the FIGIL Digest
>       In-reply-to: your article <8601170840.AA08003@ucbvax.berkeley.edu>
>
>       I would appreciate if you could let me know when you get MVP
>       Forth for the Apple II. I would be interested in a copy (with or
>       without enhancements for ProDos).
>
>                                                       Thanks,
>                                                       Thomas.
>

Alas, like my query to various net-lists about "tell me about your PD
FORTHs", the response was underwhelming (thanks to Keith Petersen and
Norman Margolis).

Someone graciously offered me the source code to his C5C02 Apple FORTH, but I
need to check if he will release it to the public domain (although I don't
have it yet).  Watch this space for further details.  Meanwhile, the quest for
MVP goes on.  Can somebody help us ?

Two PD notables: Wil Baden of the Orange County FIG Chapter ported L & P F83
to the Apple (calling it "F83-X"), which is available with doc from Dr. Ting.
Also, Unified Software Systems, who make the widely-ported and nifty UniFORTH
have a public domain sampler of their full-blown "professional" FORTH-83 out
for ProDOS, available for $35.00 direct from them if you can't find it on a
BBS.  I've purchased both, haven't played with F83-X enough to comment, and
am still waiting on the ProDOS UniFORTH.  One of the many neat things about
UniFORTH is we have it on our VAX at work, I will soon have it on my Apple
under ProDOS and CP/M-80, and also for my Commodore-64 once they announce it.
(All the PD samplers are $35.00.  The MS-DOS sampler is available on the East
Coast FORTH Board mentioned above.) For the moment I can afford the PD
samplers, which include a configurable full-screen editor, floating point,
assembler, file system support, and a healthy bit of doc.  The "professional"
versions are even better... and the "programmer's manual" is about the best doc
I have EVER seen on FORTH internals.  I should be able to run the same code
everywhere, except where it is machine-dependent, too !  Although it takes them
awhile to ship, their worth looking into.  For more info contact Unified
Software Systems; P.O. Box 21294; Columbus, OH 43221-0294 USA; 614/459-7735.


>       ----------------------------------------------------------------------
>       Date:  Wed, 22 Jan 86 11:41 EST
>       From:  "Maj. Douglas Hardie" <Hardie@DOCKMASTER.ARPA>
>       Subject:  Re: N-Digit Pi Code
>       To:  UMFORTH%WEIZMANN.BITNET@WISCVM.WISC.EDU
>       Message-ID:  <860122164158.237078@DOCKMASTER.ARPA>
>
>       The excerpts from the ET-FIG news Vol 1 Number 5 contained an
>       entry that calculates the desired number of digits of Pi.
>       However, upon examination of the provided code, it only gives
>       the digits of the division:
>
>                             355/113
>
>       While this is an approximation for Pi, it is not correct and in
>       fact differs from Pi in the 7th place past the decimal point.
>       Pi is defined as an infinite series and no simple division can
>       provide accuracy to an arbitrary number of places.
>
>       -- Doug

You are quite correct, and with your permission I will publish your comments
in the print version of our newsletter.  I recently prompted a long series
of discussions on the derivation of Pi on the Arpa digest INFO-MICRO, but
have still yet to stumble across any source code (in ANY language) for the
proper N-Digit calculation of Pi to a) satisfy my own curiosity and b) to
implement this problem correctly in FORTH.  Does someone have some code to
accomplish this ?  (If it's not in FORTH, please send it directly to
SECRIST%OAK.SAInet.MFEnet@LLL-MFE.Arpa, and I'll try to post the FORTH
solution later on).

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------

Well, that's all folks - keep those cards and letters coming !

Richard
Acknowledge-To: Tamir Weiner <UMFORTH@WEIZMANN>