SVFIG
Next Meeting -
Saturday, February 23rd
at
Cogswell College
1175 Bordeaux Dr.
Rooms 197A and 197B
Sunnyvale, CA  94089


If you would like to have meeting announcements e-mailed to you, send the message Subscribe SVFIG Meeting Agenda to: George Perry

Wireless Internet access is anticipated (though not guaranteed) at Cogswell, so bring your wi-fi enabled laptop.

Security Notice

When attending SVFIG meetings, please be aware that Cogswell College now locks its doors on weekends. To facilitate your entry to the building, there will be an SVFIG member stationed at the door from 9:45am to 10:15am to admit recognized SVFIG meeting attendees. If you are attending an SVFIG meeting for the first time, please bring a printout of this agenda to identify your interest in Forth and thereby gain admission. If you arrive after 10:15am, there will be a telephone number posted for you to call to alert someone of your presence at the door. The front door will also be checked at 20 to 30 minute intervals to accommodate individuals without cellphones.

Do not under any circumstances allow any strangers to enter Cogswell. Those who are authorized admittance have key-cards.

Final Schedule for February


09:45 --- Coffee and a Chat

10:10 --- Forth Day 2008 - Kevin Appert
Suggest a speaker or volunteer to speak!

10:15 --- ARMkey - CH Ting
"I will talk about ARMkey, a little board produced by my friend in Taiwan. It consists of an ARM7 processor in a 40-pin DIP package emulating an 8051. The board plugs directly into a USB port which pretends to be on a COM port. I've had it for years, but only recently found that it is very interesting and can be very useful for many applications."

11:30 --- A Quick Look at Mathematica - Tom Gregory
"I have been using Mathematica in a start-up and am still new at it. I plan to introduce Mathematica and to comment on similarities to Forth that really appeal to me. Mathematica has a lot more to it than what I have used so far."

Noon --- Lunch
Some folks bring their lunch, some folks go to Togos.

13:00 --- Introductions, Announcements, Rumors, Random Access

13:30 --- IntellaSys Presentations and Demos

  • Michael Montvelishsky will demo a MIDI keyboard with several new synthesiser sounds, all running on the SEAforth24A.
  • Charley Shattuck will give a tour of ColorForth, showcasing newly released features.
  • John Rible will show some programming tricks that result in compact MachineForth code on SEAforth chips.

16:00 --- Adjourn

How you can help SVFIG:

  • Bring your speaker and topic suggestions to every meeting!
  • Your input for and participation in next year's Forth Day is always welcomed.

Coming to SVFIG in the future (hopefully):

  • WAV File and Soundcard I/O Software Using Win32Forth - Andy Korsak
    This software was written for amateur radio applications. Andy has suggested that it might be useful to look at his code in advance of his talk. Contributions to this work-in-progress would be welcomed. You can download and view his sound card software on the Win32Forth group (membership required), or here.

  • Interesting Items - Volume 10 - Dave Jaffe
    Dave will continue his survey of interesting newly-introduced microcontrollers, I/O peripherals, sensors, products, and gadgets that can provide useful and unique capabilities to Forth embedded systems. If anyone has come across anything that fits this category, pass them along to him for inclusion in his presentation.
  • Tentative June Meeting in San Mateo at the home of CH Ting

Please register your interest for these topics:

  • Viewing of Analog by Design shows hosted by Bob Pease - list of shows
  • The world's second Babbage Engine is coming to town. Maybe we can have a meeting at the Computer History Museum to take a look.
  • Review and discussion of recent postings on news:comp.lang.forth
  • Review and discussion of interesting Forth projects and many files at the Yahoo Win32Forth Group

Off the table:

  • There has been a lack of interest for a presentation by a representative from Gumstix.
  • There has been no success in contacting the author of Propeller Forth - written locally by Cliff L. Biffle
  • A tour of TechShop in Menlo Park is not planned at this time. If you would like to visit the facility, please make your own arrangements. Check out their talks, events, and instructional classes.

If you have anything you'd like to talk about in February,
please contact Kevin Appert.

Meeting Notes