JB Freeware Posted February 13 Share Posted February 13 The Chicago TI-99/4a Users Group has restarted it's once famous newsletter. It's been almost 18 years but we're back and it's being distributed for free in PDF format on our web page at https://chicagotiug.org or if you would like a copy sent to you, please sign up on our mailing list and you will receive a digital copy each month. Members of the group who attend a meeting will receive a hard copy in either standard format or a version in large print. In addition, we are going to dedicate a page in each newsletter to anyone who would like their name and e-mail address to be published. So many in our community have lost track of one another over the years and this TI Phone Book will allow us to contact former friends in the community. If anyone would like to contribute an article to the newsletter, we are seeking articles of interest about past history, current or future events and even short programs. For additional information please contact me at the below e-mail address. E-Mail Address for the Newsletter: chicago.ti994a.usersgroup@gmail.com 18 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JB Freeware Posted February 24 Author Share Posted February 24 I just finished the March Issue and have started on April. As usual, hard copies in either large print format or the standard booklet will be available at the monthly meeting. We are just putting the finishing touches on the groups new web page which will be unveiled soon. For those unable to attend the meeting, we will be putting up issues of the newsletter in PDF format for all to download. I'm soliciting articles, small basic or x-basic programs for future editions. If you're interested please send me a private message here. Thanks! 7 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+9640News Posted February 25 Share Posted February 25 On 2/13/2024 at 3:56 PM, JB Freeware said: The Chicago TI-99/4a Users Group has restarted it's once famous newsletter. It's been almost 18 years but we're back and it's being distributed for free in PDF format on our web page at https://chicagotiug.org or if you would like a copy sent to you, please sign up on our mailing list and you will receive a digital copy each month. Members of the group who attend a meeting will receive a hard copy in either standard format or a version in large print. In addition, we are going to dedicate a page in each newsletter to anyone who would like their name and e-mail address to be published. So many in our community have lost track of one another over the years and this TI Phone Book will allow us to contact former friends in the community. If anyone would like to contribute an article to the newsletter, we are seeking articles of interest about past history, current or future events and even short programs. For additional information please contact me at the below e-mail address. E-Mail Address for the Newsletter: chicago.ti994a.usersgroup@gmail.com I must be missing something, as I go to the website (need to add www prefix to the URL by the way), and I see photos of the two newsletters, but no way to click on them to read them. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JB Freeware Posted February 25 Author Share Posted February 25 (edited) Working on the web page now. Give me a few more days and everything should be working. It had to be rebuilt from scratch. Once I get the ok from the boss, I'll post it here. Thanks for your patience. P.S. Working on that www thing also Edited February 25 by JB Freeware 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JB Freeware Posted February 25 Author Share Posted February 25 Ok you still need to type the www.chicagotiug.org but the February Newsletter should now be available for download. Let me know if you have any trouble. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+Vorticon Posted February 25 Share Posted February 25 Nice website! And the newsletter is a treat as well. Well done. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
atrax27407 Posted February 25 Share Posted February 25 Nice website - I get a 404 error. I signed up with my email for the newsletter but haven't received it yet. Suggestions? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RickyDean Posted February 25 Share Posted February 25 @atrax27407 you type in the www like in this link https://www.chicagotiug.org and it will get you to the home page. The first newsletter is available when you click on the newsletter link at the top of the page, then click on the first newsletter picture. The second is not available till March the 3rd per the caption under the picture of the second. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
atrax27407 Posted February 25 Share Posted February 25 Thanks - that worked. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JB Freeware Posted February 25 Author Share Posted February 25 3 hours ago, Vorticon said: Nice website! And the newsletter is a treat as well. Well done. Thank you very much. It's a work in progress but you kind words are very much appreciated! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JB Freeware Posted February 25 Author Share Posted February 25 2 hours ago, atrax27407 said: Nice website - I get a 404 error. I signed up with my email for the newsletter but haven't received it yet. Suggestions? I swear I sent out the first batch over a week ago. I think the issue may be the size. I got a few bounce backs due to it being so large. The March edition is even larger. This is one of the reasons we decided to put it on the web page. Originally we were going to make it email only. I'm very sorry you did not receive it. I take it you were able to DL it ok? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gary from OPA Posted February 25 Share Posted February 25 At some point I would like to see a possible postal mail out printed version for those that want a hard copy version. You could do it via a Amazon listing or another similar service that offers a printed version. You should look into it as even tho I have a laser printer at home, having a nice physical color version arrive in the mailbox still fun and brings back memories of the original era of newsletters and glory days of micropendium. And these days now with online services like Amazon that allow printed self publishing on demand it's more affordable than before cost wise that killed off the era of inhouse printed mags like micropendium. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JB Freeware Posted February 25 Author Share Posted February 25 41 minutes ago, Gary from OPA said: At some point I would like to see a possible postal mail out printed version for those that want a hard copy version. You could do it via a Amazon listing or another similar service that offers a printed version. You should look into it as even tho I have a laser printer at home, having a nice physical color version arrive in the mailbox still fun and brings back memories of the original era of newsletters and glory days of micropendium. And these days now with online services like Amazon that allow printed self publishing on demand it's more affordable than before cost wise that killed off the era of inhouse printed mags like micropendium. That is an intriguing idea. I was part of helping Carole Goldstein back in the 80's do the mailings. I know it was a HUGE expense and that most of the yearly dues went to just having it printed out. We self mailed it and even back then, for example, the Super Summer Issue cost about a buck to mail for each copy! So I can't imagine the cost today of having it professionally printed and mailed out. Right now, due to the low number of required copies, I'm self printing the copies for the meetings. So how does this Amazon thing work and I guess in the end you all would have to judge whether my work is someone people would actually pay for to have a hard copy. I hope each issue gets better and once we start getting submissions from the community I feel that this might be something people would look forward to. Thanks for this great tip! I would love for this to happen someday. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gary from OPA Posted February 26 Share Posted February 26 I read the February issue. Not bad. Cool to see a Basic program again as somethjng to type in. Hey maybe you could add OSCAR compatible barcodes so I can use my device again instead of typing it in. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JB Freeware Posted February 26 Author Share Posted February 26 45 minutes ago, Gary from OPA said: I read the February issue. Not bad. Cool to see a Basic program again as somethjng to type in. Hey maybe you could add OSCAR compatible barcodes so I can use my device again instead of typing it in. Gary thanks for your kind words. As far as putting in scanner codes, well if you could convince me that a good percentage of people would use them, I would look into it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JB Freeware Posted March 13 Author Share Posted March 13 Well I just put the April Edition in the can so to speak. We're starting to get contributions from some great people in the community so hopefully future issues will have less articles by me trying to fill in the newsletter and more from others. I'm sure you've read enough of me LOL. If there is any out there who are still selling TI product, I'd like to offer you a free half page ad space in the Newsletter. At one time we used to charge for this but all things considered, I think it's in the best interest of the community to do this free of charge. I did want to ask some advice here on how I should vet these ads or if this is even a good idea. I would think that people would be honest about this but I'm not naive and yes people could be scammed from ads. So I guess I'm more thinking out loud here in regard to ads and asking what you guys think. Are there any companies still doing TI stuff? Is this something that would benefit the community? We're still trying to figure out how to do a print version. Someone mentioned using Amazon. I've still not looked into that yet but if that route is possible I was thinking maybe doing an omnibus version or a compilation version of "2024 Chicago TIMes" that would include the entire year. As far as doing a real mailing. I think I would rather chew broken glass LOL. I used to help Carole Goldstein way way back and what a headache that was let me tell you. Postage would be kinda high and the labor... ACK. So if any of you have any suggestions I'm all ears. I do like the Amazon thing but only if were to do an entire year. I think the monthlies are too short to do a print thing each month. So thanks again for your continuing support. I'm looking forward to meeting many of you in October for those who are able to attend the Faire. Also looking forward to this famous pub crawl although I can't drink like I used to. Maybe a Guinness or two Keep those articles and suggestions coming. You can forward articles to chicago.ti994a.usersgroup@gmail.com and use this excellent forum for any other communication. Thanks! 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
apersson850 Posted March 13 Share Posted March 13 A bit ironic that the company I work for deliver production equipment for such printed products to Amazon and other similar companies. Tecnau 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JB Freeware Posted March 14 Author Share Posted March 14 6 hours ago, apersson850 said: A bit ironic that the company I work for deliver production equipment for such printed products to Amazon and other similar companies. Tecnau Well I'm guessing that they print once something is ordered. Dunno what the cost is. I know they push kindle format but we already have it in PDF so that's not what we want. I'll do some checking when I have time. Thanks for your input. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
apersson850 Posted March 14 Share Posted March 14 Amazon print quite a lot themselves, but they also outsource to companies like Lightning Source Inc., for example. They are a book-of-one concept company. If you buy one book, they print one book. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JB Freeware Posted March 16 Author Share Posted March 16 So no thoughts anyone of publishing the newsletter in hard copy form one year at a time? I was also thinking of publishing our entire back catalog of newsletters but I'm missing a bunch and some of the scans are in bad shape so I might have to go through them one at a time and recreate the articles. Not something I'm looking forward to and I'll have talk to my boss to see if there is any legal issue with republishing old newsletters in the event there is even a small profit form said sales. I'd love to see other groups do the same with some of the other outstanding newsletters of past and present. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+Vorticon Posted March 16 Share Posted March 16 I for one would love to have hard copies of the back catalog. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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