SVFIG
Next Meeting -
Saturday, October 25th

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 strangers to enter Cogswell. Those who are authorized admittance have key-cards.

Meeting Agenda for October


Morning Sessions

09:45 --- Coffee and a Chat

10:00 --- Forth Day 2008 - Kevin Appert
Suggest a speaker or volunteer to speak!

10:10 --- Optimizing Compiler-Assembler for the eP32 Microprocessor - CH Ting
"I am preparing a eP32 user manual for NASA and have to document a funny macro-assembler implemented by my colleagues in Taiwan. It is very interesting and can be very useful for other subroutine thread Forth implementations. It uses a word doMacro to operate on short machine instruction sequences, which behave differently in interpreting mode and compiling mode."

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

Afternoon Sessions

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

13:20 --- Buyer's Guides Online - Kevin Appert
Kevin will discuss specialized online references for the parts and tools of our trade. If you have an interesting link or two, please bring it along to the meeting.

14:00 --- The Future of the Past - Vintage Computer Fest Steering Committee Wants You! - Sellam Ismail
Sellam has been overwhelmed by the one-man-show nature of the VCF. After many years it's his intent to make it more of a team-effort. He's graciously agreed to come and give us the details of his vision for continuing this remarkable event.

14:30 --- USB Data Acquisition Modules - All assembled
We'll be looking at these interesting devices on the fly. If you have an interesting link or two, please bring it along to the meeting. Sure hope the wifi is up!

15:00 --- Random Access -
We always find something to talk about. If you have an interesting link or two, please bring it along to the meeting.

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 on ForthDay:

  • IRC using wget in GForth - George Perry
  • Forth 200x Standards and Other Topics - Leon Wagner
  • ARM7 Firmware Engineering Workshop - CH Ting
  • Presentation title forthcoming - Bill Ragsdale

Coming to SVFIG in the future (hopefully):

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 October,
please contact Kevin Appert.

Meeting Notes