The Trenton Computer Festival - 1994 

"Year 19 and Going Strong"

by Ron Mitchell

They thought we were all dead. We proved them wrong.

Each year the organizers of the Trenton Computer Festival are 
tempted to drop CP/M and Z-System from the list of events, and 
each year it appears once more. 

As I left Ottawa by car on Friday morning April 15 for the 500 
mile journey southward to Trenton New Jersey, I wondered if there 
was anything left to journey southward for. There had been more 
talk during the previous week about people not coming than 
anything else.

Oh me of little faith! 

Here are my impressions of a truly remarkable computer event that 
has been going strong for nineteen years.

The Trenton Computer Festival is a two day event held in mid 
April each year and sponsored by the Mercer County Community 
College, the Amateur Computer Group of New Jersey, Trenton State 
College, the Central Jersey Computer Club, the New York Amateur 
Computer Club, the Philadelphia Heath User Group and others. Over 
the years it has acquired a reputation as something of an eastern 
'Oshkosh' of computing. Like the mammoth fly-in held each year in 
Wisconsin, Trenton draws people together who only see eachother 
once a year - at Trenton. 

This year's edition held on April 16 and 17 was no exception. It 
featured a wide array of topics designed for computer enthusiasts 
of every stripe.  Included was everything new and old. National 
exhibitors were out in force, Aldus, Apple, Borland, C/A, Cobb, 
Corell, Microsoft, Wordperfect and many more. The list published 
in the Festival's printed program showed no fewer than 21 major 
computer players on the national and international scene. Each of 
these corporations staged a booth to display their wares.

The talks and forums spanned both days. Subject, no matter what 
it was, found a slot somewhere in the weekend proceedings.  There 
were beginner's sessions on Lotus 123, databases, windows, you 
name it. There were user group sessions for Unix followers, Amiga 
followers, Mac enthusiasts and even for the Apple II. Despite 
rumours to the contrary, there was a CP/M and Z-System 
conference. As always the sheer variety and diversity of the 
sessions offered made Trenton a place for everyone.

This year's guest speaker was Mr. Steven Levy, author and 
Contributing Editor for Wired and MacWorld Magazines. Mr Levy 
spoke on the "Revolution of Look and Feel" during his Saturday 
afternoon address and the "Coming of Cryptoanarchy" at the 
evening banquet. The biographical material provided notes that 
Steven Levy "lives in New York City and western Massachusetts 
with his wife, son, and six computers.

Probably not a CP/M machine among them!

These computers have long since been left to a small but 
dedicated group of users who remain firmly convinced that small 
is beautiful and that writing efficient and compact code is still 
a desirable thing to do. In room MS-170 of the Maths and Sciences 
building at Mercer Community College there gathered about 15 
(give or take) CP/M and Z-System supporters for a few hours of 
friendly chit chat and comparing of notes. They soon discovered 
that there is still development in the Z-System world that is 
worthy of note.

Hal Bower described the latest efforts of the ZSDOS development 
team as work on the BP BIOS (BP= Banked and Portable) continues. 
Over the past year there has been the addition of NZTIME, a 
modification which improves the accuracy of the timekeeping 
routine. The previous version lost time badly during disk 
read/write operations. The modification reads the clock card 
instead of depending on interrupts. 

The introduction of directory hashing has speeded directory 
access noticeably. 'Hashing' is a technique for searching a list 
of items that involves picking a spot before the item being 
searched in an attempt to get as close to it as possible without 
actually passing it. 

Hal went on to state that the addition of a 1.7 Meg floppy 
capability lies in future plans for BP-BIOS. This improvement 
will be possible through the use of Jim Thale's I/O board. 


For those not familiar with the enhancements provided by Z- 
System, it should perhaps be noted here that the performance of a 
64K CP/M compatible computer can be significantly enhanced at 
very reasonable cost. Z-System provides a powerful console 
command processor (CCP) adding additional packages of 
capabilities such as the resident command package (RCP) and the 
flow control package (FCP). More interesting is the concept of 
the TCAP or Terminal Capabilities feature which makes it 
unnecessary to install Z-compatible programs for the requirements 
of different terminals. Once installed, the system is capable or 
reading the TCAP and adapting program operation accordingly. Z- 
System also provides for the use of "Alias's" which allow the 
user to develop system commands based on short, easy-to-prepare 
text files.

BP-BIOS brings a more efficient useage of banked systems to the 
user and allows significantly improved capability in terms of the 
number and size of hard drives that can be operated by the 
system. Presently Jim Thale is using a 200 MEG Connor drive with 
his development system, and Hal sees no reason why hard drives 
sizes could not approach 400 MEG.

Hal noted some other news from the Z-System world, some bad some 
good. The bad news is that Bridger Mitchell, long time member of 
the ZSDOS development team and author of such notable Z-System 
programs as Backgrounder, has announced that he will no longer be 
active on the Z scene. The good news is that Bridger has agreed 
to turn over much of his work to Hal who is now making sure that 
we secure as much of it as possible while it is still available.

Also positive news: as announced last year at TCF93, Jay Sage re- 
confirmed that Z3Plus and NZ.COM are to remain available for the 
incredibly low price of $20.00 US each. This represents a real 
deal from SAGE Microsystems and should immediately be snapped up 
by anyone interested in improving the performance of their CP/M 
system. Z3Plus is for CP/M 3.0 systems and NZ.COM is for those 
with CP/M 2.2 machines. Either way, you can't beat that value.

CP/M-ers continued to meet throughout the day on Saturday in 
between trips to the flea market being held adjacent to the main 
show and the many sessions being conducted inside. At any moment 
in the conference room you would be likely to run across Jay 
Sage, Hal Bower, Bruce Morgan, Blair Groves, Ian Cottrell and 
Howard Goldstein. These people have each in their own way made a 
consistent contribution to the CP/M and the Z world over many 
years.  Listening to them chat for an hour or two is an education 
in itself.

Later Saturday evening there was continuance of a tradition well 
established by the CP/M attenders over the past few years. There 
is a banquet held as part of the main Trenton Computer Festival. 
It has become the custom of the CP/M group to hold an informal 
evening of its own apart and separate from these proceedings. 
What these people lack in numbers they more than compensate for 
in what amounts to a sinful ability to consume pizza. Those 
taking their nourishment with 'dead fish' somehow manage to 
consider themselves a cut above the rest and will hotly compete 
for the title of 'Greatest Glutton'. I was there, but I do not 
know who won this year's contest. Some say it was Lee Bradley but 
reports have it that Lee cheated.

All I know is that I was not part of any of this. I prefer my 
pizza without green things and anchovies. 

Following this massive pig-out, the balance of Saturday evening 
was social and also according to tradition. Back in the party 
room at the Stage Depot Inn a few more local CP/M-rs joined us 
and there was the usual round of introductions where we each said 
where we were from and what we were up to in CP/M. Ian Cottrell 
managed to pose his annual answerless question:

If one synchronized swimmer drowns, do all the others on the team 
have to drown too?

And then there was the one that he intended to ask but didn't:

What was the best thing before sliced bread?

Both of which top last year's answerless question which was:

Who brings baby storks?

Think about it. No doubt we shall be pondering these eternal 
mysteries until next year when more will be added.

The 1994 Loonie award for outstanding contributions to the CP/M 
community went to Hal Bower for his work on BP-BIOS. 
Congratulations Hal! You deserve it for your many years of work 
on our behalf.

The Loonie Award? Well, this is also a tradition. Known by only a 
few in the CP/M world, this coveted award was hand designed and 
built by Canadian CP/M-ers in an attempt to export Canada's 
Loonie dollar coin into the United States. The trophy is 
essentially a Canadian one dollar coin perched precariously atop 
a polished wooden base. Each year Ian Cottrell fights through 
insidious urges to award the trophy to himself and consults with 
a committee of his peers to choose a CP/M hobbyist who has made a 
significant contribution.  

Hal's contribution has been quite significant. He gets to keep 
the Loonie for the next 12 months.

On Sunday, the second day of TCF94, I dropped my remaining cash 
at the flea market which was as impressive this year as ever. 
Despite have been deluged and almost blown apart by early morning 
rain and wind on Saturday there was no shortage of bargains on 
the Sunday. For many of us the flea market is the main 
attraction, providing as it does a few history lessons in 
computing as well as many incredible bargains. There are quite 
literally acres of displays, tables, equipment, and things to 
tempt your wallet. 

Notes for next year:

         Bring a cart
         Bring a rucksack,
         Bring a truck,
         Bring an umbrella. 
         Apply sun screen even if it is raining. 
         Stay away from the Flea    - Not!

         Find out when TCF 95 is and book time clear!
