• Myarc announces software development plans for the 9640 Geneve computer. Included are a GPL interpreter, MDOS v1.1, the GEME graphical interface, a runtime version of Pascal, Advanced Basic and computer aided design software.

• John H. Carver of Bringhurst, Indiana announces the creation of a Forth Clearinghouse for TI Forth programmers.

• Grand RAM begins shipping in limited quantities, five months after its August 1987 announcement.

• GRAMulator prototype model is completed by Mark Van Coppenole of CaDD Electronics.

• J. Peter Hoddie releases an enhanced version of Paul Charlton's Fast Term terminal emulator and asks that contributions be sent to Charlton. The enhancements include:

• CATALOG Changes: The disk cataloging routine now handles any drive number from 1-9.
• FILE COMMANDS Added: Three new key combinations to activate file commands:
• FCTN-Shift-K -- allows a file to be deleted.
• FCTN-Shift-L -- protects a file.
• FCTN-Shift-U -- unprotects a file.
• FILE TRANSFER Changes: xmodem file transfer enhancements to fix problems with GEnie and PC Pursuit downloads.
• LOG Changes: The Log File is now opened in APPEND mode rather than OUTPUT mode so existing files are not accidently destroyed.
• MISCELLANEOUS Changes:
• DSRLNK routine searches for devices starting at CRU address >1200 through >1F00 and then searches >1000 and >1100 to allow for better performance with certain ram disk configurations.
• Inverse video has been disabled.
• Parity bit is now set correctly when using the ASCII send file.
• Some screen messages were modified to conserve memory.

• Barry Boone releases Archiver II v2.4.

• Asgard Software releases a bug fix for the Donn Granros authored Legends adventure game program.

• Mark Beck releases Creative Filing system v7.0.

• Announcement of the FirstBase Data Base Manager by Warren Agee appears in the Boston Computer Society newsletter.

• The Johnson Space Center Users Group develops the 99/4A DATA BASE, listing the published location of numerous articles and such in commercial publications, User Group newsletters etc.

• The January 1988 issue of the Long Island TI 99er Users Group, on page 4, touts the MBX TESTER from Texaments. "Dust off your old MBX Expansion System and get it ready for a new line of utility software. Texaments is proud to announce its MBX Tester; a program specifically designed to test all the functions of your MBX system. Also coming are drivers to allow software to be written for the MBX system. That's right. You will be able to use the power of your MBX system as you should have years ago. You may look forward to some pretty original software in the near future, and if you have any ideas please pass them along." Neither the MBX TESTER nor any of the promised software would ever appear.

• Jim Horn is sysop of the TI Forum on CompuServe, Scott Darling is sysop of the TI Roundtable on GEnie, Blaine Crandall is sysop of the TI SIG on The Source, Walt Howe is sysop of the TI SIG on Delphi.

• John Johnson releases Menu v7.1 for the Horizon Ram Disk owner.

FEB 1988: The Southwest 99ers newsletter.

• The Telco terminal emiulator is released by Charles Earl.

• Richard Fleetwood, of the Forest Lane Users Group in Dallas, TX, reporting in the group's March newsletter, offers the following February 28th status report on the group's GRAND RAM orders. "Yesterday I called DaTaBioTics again to get the status of our order for six Grand Rams. After talking to Bill Moseid, he transferred me to Mike Evanbar, who is responsible for keeping track of all orders and shipments. Mike and I talked at length about the Grand Rams, Innovative Programming, Galen Read and DaTaBioTics. He was quite helpful and seemed very sincere in his answers, and he held nothing back, answering some very pointed questions.

According to Mike, the Grand Rams have actually started shipping. Quantity? An even dozen - 6 the first week and 6 this past week. After 2 months of heavy testing of the boards, they finally passed all final tests and beta usage. The biggest delay has been caused by Innovative Programming, run by Galen Read. Galen was contracted to write the software for the card, after development and hardware was done by Paul Urbanus. Galen screwed up, didn't do what he promised, and broke the terms of the contract. DaTaBioTics yanked all work away from Galen, and contracted again with Paul (Urbanus) to finish the software. While all this was going on, Innovative Programming was still taking orders for the Grand Rams, upwards of $10,000 worth according to Mike (over $2,000 just from two local Dallas Users Groups, us and DTIHCG). I.P. gave DataB a down payment of $1,500, a partial list of customer orders and nothing else. At this moment DaTaBioTics is preparing a lawsuit against Galen to recover all the names and cash. For those who ordered and haven't received anything, contact DaTaBioTics. Mike said that DaTaBioTics will see to it that all orders will be filled, and is accepting the loss (if there is one) on this first year of production. As for shipping dates, Mike said they are taking delivery of the first big production of 100 baords this week (March 1st thru 5th), which will take 7-10 days for stuffing and testing. Docs for kits and complete boards are not complete yet either, but will be done shortly. Mike says that outstanding orders will be filled in 3 to 4 weeks. More news next month. =RAF="

• Bud Mills purchases the rights to the HORIZON RAMDISK from Ron Gries and David Romer.

• Myarc announces that it will protect some Geneve software.

• DISK MASTER and 4A/TALK are slated for porting to the Geneve 9640 computer according to DaTaBioTics spokesperson Bill Moseid.

• Rave 99 MX/01 MEMORY ENHANCEMENT card is released.

• The first ever MULTI USER GROUP CONFERENCE is announced by the Lima, Ohio User Group, set to occur on May 21, 1988.

• KEY NOTES newsletter for users of EZ-KEYS debuts from Asgard Software.

• DaTaBioTics renames the MINIWRITER word processor series to WORDWRITER.

• Marty Kroll Jr. releases CATALOGING LIBRARY COMPANION v1.0 on February 20, 1988.

• Linear Aesthetic Systems Box 23 Cornwall, CT 06796 (203-672-6360) releases THE CUBE and QUADCUBE entertainment programs for TI-99/4A cassette tape users.

• The phones are disconnected at the National 99 User Group offices in Florida.

• The TI SIG on Delphi chanes it name to TI Net according to its owner, Jeff Guide.

MAR 1988: The Southwest 99ers newsletter.

• The much anticipated HFDC (Hard and Floppy Disk Controller) from Myarc Inc. appears, almost a year after its initial announcement.

• Writing in the Kawartha 99ers newsletter, Phil Townsend tells readers that Arto Heino's Picasso Publisher looks and feels so much like Navarone's Paint 'N Print that he's surprised Navarone hasn't made a copyright infringment claim.

• Jack Sughrue of East Douglas, Massachusetts releases PLUS!, the fairware disk containing numerous enhancements and templates for use with TI Writer or its clones.

• 99 Fortran is released by Al Beard, doing business as LGMA Products.

• Calendar Maker 99 appears from Asgard Software.

• Legends v1.1 is released by Asgard Software.

• Graphic Lister is released by Paul Coleman of Nameloc Software.

• McWare Products of Fairfax, Virginia releases a comprehensive printer control codes book.

• 99er Ken Woodcock uncovers a printing bug in PR-Base 2.1 which places >00 in a record instead of >20 for blank spaces.

• Glenn Schworak, founder of Boundless Systems and Software of Salem, OR, announces that his firm will be marketing software and hardware for the TI-99/4A and Geneve.

APR 1988: The Southwest 99ers newsletter.

• The Johnson Space Center Users Group reports that as of April 19th, the United 99 Database is up to 5 disks in size, one of which includes the James Schroeder authored REDISKIT copy program, which must be included because it will copy PR-BASE formatted disks, which is the application that the United 99 Database exists in.

• The FORTI MUSIC CARD, designed by Texas Instruments, but never released, then ultimately manufactured by Texas Peripherals and marketed by the now defunct Unisource Electronics Company, makes an appearance at the TI Faire in Dallas, Texas. A MICROpendium article claims that it is still offered by Bob Lawson, 1344 Boston Avenue Bayshore New York 11706. Although not credited in the article for his contribution, the source of this information is Richard A. Fleetwood of the Forest Lane Users Group in Dallas, TX.

• c99 release 2A is announced by Clint Pulley on April 5th.

• The 3rd Annual TI Fayuh takes place on April 9th in Lexington, MA, sponsored by the Boston Computer Society. Ken Hamai of the Brea, CA Users Group shows off a beige TI console at the Fayuh which he calls Geraldine. The console is modified to include everything in a Peripheral Expansion Box from 32K Ram, to Disk Controller and ports.

• Strike Three! baseball game module by John Phillips debuts.

• Artist Borders Volume 1 released by Asgard Software.

• Artist Companion disks numbers 4, 5 and 6 are released by Texaments.

• Texaments reaches an agreement with Paul Coleman of Nameloc Software to manufacture and distribute Designer Labels, TI-Artist Graphics Support and CSGD Graphics Support programs.

• MICROpendium releases its first index of past issues, a BASIC program by Elton Schooling.

• Beyond Video Chess by Harry Wilhelm is released by Asgard Software.

• Announcement of impending release of FIRSTBASE appears in MICROpendium. Author Warren Agee and Genial Computerware owner J. Peter Hoddie form Olympys Technologies to produce the program.

• Southwest 99ers User Group release new vinyl keyboard overlays.

• Delphi's TINET opens graphics, utilities and telecommunications programming contests in an effort to attract new users.

• AVPC 80-column display card by DIJIT Systems of San Diego, California debuts. The new card sports 512 colors in RGB format and contains 192K of VDP Ram.

• GEnie, the on-line information service started in 1985, logs its 100,000 subscriber.

• The first annual F.L.U.G TI Fair takes place on April 30th in Richardson, TX.

• The Erie 99ers April 1988 newsletter runs an editorial complaining that DataBioTics has now taken over two years to deliver promised products, namely the Grand RAM card.

• In a support letter to a PR-Base 2.0 user, program author William Warren announces that he has ceased development of the product and is only providing support. He states that source code has been given to Mike Dodd, and that Barry Traver has also expressed interest in the source code.

• On April 18th, John Johnson sends the following letter to Myarc Inc.:

"Dear Mr. Phillips. You told us many things about the 9640. Things like included speech, ability to run TI programs from an >A prompt,
A COMPLETELY OPN COMPUTER, a good BASIC etc. We finally got the machine , and the promises kept coming. We supported you
and bought the machine, even though the price climbed from the initial $350 dollars you and we planned on (remember the initial poll
you put out on CompuServe back in '85?), to the $550 or so that you now ask for it. We supported you as part of the team, one of the
orphans. We didn't buy clones, even though we knew that it would have been the most economical thing to do, and believe it or not,
there were a few of us that were willing to take the beating because we wanted to support one of our own.
After all, you knew what it was like, having to struggle through a completely closed system, learning it from scratch, and making the
most of it. Well, you gave us real power, brought us out of the orphanage, and we appreciate that. We're still supporting you. Even
though we still haven't seen ADVANCED BASIC, or the finished MDOS, or the PASCAL, we will stick with you, waiting. Waiting while
you develop more software for the computer, software that you can sell to us, and probably expect to sell to us before the products
are completed. You talk about a protection card to go into the p-box that will prevent piracy. Why are you wasting time on a piece
of hardware that won't contribute to the computer? On the same note, why are you wasting time on software programming at all?
You are taking the same course as TI, aren't you? I hear a lot of rumors about your plans to not give out much technical
information on the computer or the operating system. I find it hard to believe that you could be so stupid as to try that on us!
Incredibly stupid is what you are if you stab us in the back by trying to keep the machine closed. TIers have learned to program in
the last eight years. Why won't you let us and third party software developers handle the software, and you handle the hardware?
I feel I'm a fair programmer on the 4A, but I don't know squat about the 9640. And I rweally don't have time to learn it. You won't
provide information on how to program it, again, because you want to monopolize the software market. If you had half a brain you'd
have sent a technical manual full of information to any and all who requested it, at no charge. If you would have, there would be no
software shortage for the machine, as there is now. Instead, you chose to limit the number of programmers to damn few, and you've
managed to get on their bad side too.
So we have My-Art. So what? With documentation on the computer, by now we could have had 10 different drawing programs. People
don't buy an IBM (or clone) because of the software IBM sells. I really enjoyed my 99/4A, and I do see a huge advantage to having a
machine like the Geneve. I probably could never go back to the 4A, but if you decide to continue with the foolish marketing scheme
of a closed machine, with you writing software alone, I will not buy any software or hardware from Myarc. I won't sell the machine,
or threaten to make you buy it back or any other foolishness, but I will do my best to persuade others not to do business with Myarc.
I will continue to use the 9640 with whatever software comes along in the form of freeware, third party sales etc. I will continue to
support my peers (all TIers and 9640 owners) as best I can, but I feel you really screwed us. You gave us a compatible computer
to upgrade to, and we supported you with our dollars. We put up with your limp excuses as to why products were constantly late.
We put up with your labor disagreements with your programmers, while products bought and paid for were not delivered. Now you
are pulling a TI all over again. I have just about had it.
So I guess what I'm trying to say is that I have lots of patience. I can put up with delays, tap dancing etc, but when you start talking
about a closed machine that I can't program, that's when I call it quits. I hear that your new managing genius, Riley, is responsible for
this type of marking. Straighten him out, let him know that it won't work with this 9640 owner. I'm also posting this letter on GEnie,
and I'll encourage others to write to you. With much bitterness. -- John A. Johnson.

MAY 1988: The Southwest 99ers newsletter.

• TI-BASE Version 1.0 is announced by Texaments.

• Front Range 99ers BBS moves from Monty Schmidt's Techie BBS software running on a TI-99/4A to a PC-clone running Thom Foulks Message Hub BBS program.

• TI-Runner Level Editor is released by EB Software, Mountain View, California.

• FULGENT 9640 BUSINESS SYSTEM for the Geneve is announced by Bryght Data of Towanda, Pennsylvania. The software never appears.

• The first Lima, Ohio User Group sponsored MULTI USER GROUP CONFERENCE takes place in the campus cafeteria on the Lima Campus of Ohio State University.

• FunnelWeb v4.1 is released on May 30, 1988.

• The GRAMulator GRAM device ships from CaDD Electronics.

JUN 1988: The Southwest 99ers newsletter.

• DaTaBioTics announces that the long-awaited Grand RAM will begin shipping in quantity in July.

• FunnelWeb v4.1 is released in the United States.

• Word begins to get around the TI Community warning users to shy away from Galen Read's Innovative Programming company. It is reported in the Lima, Ohio User Group newsletter that Read has abscounded with some $10,000 in orders for DataBioTics' Grand RAM.

• Pilgrim's Pride, a long-time supplier and supporter of 99/4A products, closes its Hatboro, Pennsylvania retail store. Mail-order business is retained.

• Asgard Software begins publishing the ASGARD NEWS.

JUL 1988: The Southwest 99ers newsletter.

• Bill Knecht, pioneer member of the TI-HUG (Houston Texas Users Group) and long time programmer of music for the 99/4A, dies of cancer.

• FunnelWeb v4.11 is released on July 4, 1988.

• In a column published in the Boston Computer Society newsletter, Mike Wright gives birth to the idea of creating a TI  Cyclopedia.  The effort is advertised as a community project,.
  

• Mike DeFrank completes an excellent 142-page instruction manual on how to build the FORTI Music Card using the Coleman/Willforth Protoboard.

• On July 9th, Dr. Guy S. Romano announces that he is closing down the Amnion Helpline in November due to the drastic decrease in calls for help from TI users.

• McCann Software, Omaha, Nebraska, releases the AVANTI-99 Forth Card.

• Texaments, a New York based supplier of 99/4A products, relocates to Yaphank New York 11980, 244 Mill Road.

• John Guion, Dallas, Texas releases a plug in upgrade to the Triton/MG Super Extended Basic module that provides SXB, Disk Manager III, Editor/Assembler and TI-Writer capabilities in one module.

• Sierra On-Line, former producer of 99/4A game modules such as Jawbreaker II, publically announces it will not enforce its 99/4A copyrights.

• John Birdwell begins assembly language programming series for MICROpendium. He decides to teach the language by making each published installment one part of a working word processor when complete.

• DataBioTics releases Jerome Prinkl's Sorgan II in cartridge form.

• Ray Kazmer of Sylmar, CA becomes the first person in the history of MICROpendium magazine to have two articles, one review, one User Notes and a letter all published in the same issue.

• The Ottawa TI-99 User Group announces that 'serious bugs' have been uncovered in DM1000 (Disk Manager 1000) version 3.6 and advises users to stay with version 3.5 until the bugs are worked out.

• TELCO v2.1 is released by Charles Earl.

AUG 1988: The Southwest 99ers newsletter.

• Myarc releases MDOS 1.06, GPL 1.02 and Disk Manager Five V1.21 for the 9640.

• Tony Lewis begins a series of tutorial articles on the TMS9918A VDP chip, that are published in MICROpendium.

• FunnelWev v4.12 is released on August 12, 1988.

• Myarc releases 512K Ram Card for 9640.

• Asgard Software releases PrEditor by Tom Bentley and Column Attack, which is the first game program to be released that is written in 99 Fortran.

• CaDD Electronics (Mark Van Coppenolle and Mike Wright), a Haverhill, Massachusetts firm, releases GRAMulator, a successor of sorts to the short-lived GRAM Kracker product produced by Millers Graphics in 1985-86.

• Barry Boone releases Archiver III.

• Beery Miller, 1561 Galveston, Memphis, Tennessee 38114 begins offering 9640 News, the first on-disk newsletter for owners of the Myarc Geneve 9640 computer.

SEP 1988: The Southwest 99ers newsletter.

• Myarc GEME windows manager appears in MICROpendium with photos and a write-up done by John Kolen.

• New Myarc question and answer column debuts in MICROpendium.

• The Seattle area 99ers hold a TI Faire on September 23-24.

• James Peter Hoddie releases The JPH Assembler which runs on a Myarc Geneve 9640 and a TI-99/4A with a Supercart. The program is a fairware offering, available for $10.

• Asgard releases Batch-It by Charles Earl and Tom Bently.

• Asgard releases Oliver's Twist by Mickey Schmitt and Lynn Gardner.

• Genial Computerware releases MacFlix and FirstBase database manager.

• Word reaches the TI Community that Techie BBS author and assembly language guru Monty Schmidt has sold his TI equipment and gone the PC Clone route.

• Glenn Bernasek releases TI-Short Sheet IIII, a handy, easy-to-use 260 cell spreadsheet that proves to be ideal for the average 99er. Cost is $5.00.

• APPLE: The Apple IIc+ is introduced. It would be the last of the II Series computers produced by Apple, which began focusing on the Macintosh. The entire Apple II line would be officially discontinued in November 1993, after a total of approximately 5 million machines of all models are sold. (Jeff's Computer Haven Home Page)

OCT 1988: The Southwest 99ers newsletter.

• Long time LA 99er Users Group member George Steffen dies in New York.

• Harry Brashear, outspoken member of the Western New York 99ers User Group, MICROpendium columnist and frequent visitor to the 'Boards' supporting the TI Community, publishes the following in the October 1988 issue of his User Group newsletter the N.Y. 99er Interface:

"THE VIEW FROM THE POINT: For those of you who have heard about my confrontation on GEnie with the "Miller camp", I would like
to explain myself, in as few words as possible. I have nothing against Craig Miller, only his ignorance of the people he is dealing with.
I have stated that I only got two things out of him -- the first thing he did, and the last. (Smart Programming Guide for Sprites and
Super Extended BASIC). I am not including his XBasic games in this because anybody with a little experience could have done these.
In between the aforementioned products, I also bought his three other major works; DiskAssembler, Explorer and Advanced Diagnostics.
These products were never designed with me in mind., or ninety percent of the rest of the community, for that matter. Miller threw a fit
when sales dropped off and blamed it on the pirates, instead of the fact that the products weren't for the community at large. I agree
that he was trying to make a living, and he deserved whatever he got, but there's an old saying, "If you can't convince them, confuse them.
" I have a vision of the average user buying these products and sitting slack-jawed and entranced while they went through their paces,
totally amazed at what he was witnessing. When he was finished, the programwent on the shelf and stayed there, because the average
user still had no idea of what he was looking at. Instead of giving us what we needed to work with the TI, he gave us things that only
the upper two percent of the community could use. There are many people today that are as good as Miller ever was and they are
making a good buck on us because they gave us things like Graphic Enlarger, Telco, TI-Base, EZ-Keys, PREditor etc. These are
products for US, and products I support. I might also point out that they are NOT protected, but they sell well. So for the last time,
I have nothing against Craig Miller and, having talked to him a couple of times many years ago, I would have to say that I thought
he was a pretty nice guy, but his attitude toward us and his business sucked! 'Nuff said!".
• Dr. Ron Albright, author of THE ORPHAN CHRONICLES leaves his post as a writer for Computer Shopper's monthly TI Forum column.

• The Central Pennsylvania User Group sponsors a TI Faire hat is held in Hrrisburg, PA on October 16th.

• MICROpendium begins a new monthly column entitled MICROreviews. Author is Harry Brashear of the Western New York 99ers.

• PRESS word processor is schedule to debut at the Chicago Faire on Nov 12.

• HYPERCOPY by Mike Dodd to debut at Chicago TI-Faire.

• FUNNELWEB v4.12 is released in the United States.

• TexComp announces that it will begin sale of the COLLINS STARTER PACKS for game programmers.

• Eight of the southern California TI Home computer Users Groups gather on Sunday October 9, 1988 for what is called the "Fall-4-A-Share-Fair".

NOV 1988: The Southwest 99ers newsletter.

• MICROpendium receives an award from from the Ottawa TI-99/4 Users Group for the support MICROpendium has given the TI Community since 1984. The award is is presented to John Kolean by Ottawa UG member Jane LaFlamme.

• Tom Freeman and Jim Lohmeyer, T and J Software, announce the release of their DiskAssembler program for the Geneve.

• DaTaBioTics announces plan to create a GROM port add-on board for the 99/4A.

• The Press word processor by Charles Earl via Asgard Software fails to make its debut at the Chicago TI-Faire.

• Genial Computerware announces Picture Transfer for the 9640.

• At the Chicago TI Faire a representative from Delphi Communications Services contacts Bob Demeter about the possibility of the Chicago TI User Group having a special area on Delphi.

• Certificate 99 v2.0 is released by Great Lakes Software on November 12th.

DEC 1988: The Southwest 99ers newsletter.

• In a teleconference on Genie's TI-SIG, Asgard Software owner Chris Bobbitt outlines the features of the new Press word processor from Charles Earl. Features include;

• on-screen formatting of text.
• document size limited only by disk space as virtual memory is used.
• on the fly spell checking.
• multiple column layouts.
• printer drivers.
• a 4K keyboard buffer.
• multiline headers and footers.
• macro support.
• un-delete and undo features.
• text blocking with inverse video.

• In the News & Views Column of the December 1988 issue of the Western New York 99ers' Interface newsletter, columnist and newsletter editor Harry Thomas Brashear writes the following about Asgard's Press word processor,

"The Chicago fair for 1988 is history. Something over 500 people paid to attend the show and saw thirty-two vendors hawking
their products. Most of the products were "old hat" and a couple that were supposed to make big splashes never showed. Darn !
Never the less, Asgard had a working copy of Press to show off and took orders by the gross. Being quite close to that product,
I can tell you that it will be here soon. The problem is that C. E. (programmer Charles Earl) got sick in the middle of things and
his equipment screwed up besides. The last hangup was do to a bug in the Myarc HD controller. Press will be on your doorstep
by December, I promise."
• TI-Base v2.0 is released on December 15th, a letter from Inscebot Inc's Dennis Faherty dated 12/7/88 notifies users of a patch required to fix a bug found in the RECALL directive.

• Myarc announces that work on the tape streamer back up software for the HFDC hard disk controller is scheduled to begin. John Birdwell, author of the MDM5 Disk Manager for the HFDC, will be the programmer for the project.

• Eric Zeno of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania announces the Internal Board, a board designed to be used inside the 4/A console, that will provide 32K, a clock and more. It is ultimately dubbed the Zeno Board when it goes into production in 1989.

• Donaldson Software, of Quebec, Canada, announces several new cassette games for the 99/4A, including;
• Swordfish Patrol,
• Monster Castle, a console BASIC version of
• War of the Netherworlds,
• Sun and Planets,
• Speed Rally and TI Pac-Man.

• Dick Altman turns the management of his Fairware List over to Steve Mehr of Thousand Oaks, California. 

• The Western New York 99ers User Group reports that EPROM 1.4 for Star Micronics NX-1000 printers will not work with the TI-99/4A.

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