Dave Moorman
Dave Moorman is a publisher of the Loadstar magazine.
Exclusive and original: Curriculum vitae of Dave Moorman[edit | edit source]
I was born on January 1, 1950 -- a New Years Baby! -- in Nickerson, Kansas, a town of 1000 people near the middle of the state. We moved to Columbia, Missouri, in 1965 and I graduated from high school there (our sports teams were the "Fighting Kewpies" -- Google it and see what I mean.) Went to college between 1968 and 1975 -- Bachelors Degree in Mass Communications, Film and Television. I married Sheri in 1971, our son, Matthew, was born December 31, 1974. We lived in Kansas City, Missouri, and Ogden, Utah until 1982.
In 1979, I got my first computer -- a TRS-80 Model I, Level II Basic.
In 1982, I was called into the ordained ministry, and attended seminary in Kansas City, Missouri, graduating in 1985. Since then, I have been assigned to churches all over the state of Colorado, currently in Holly, Colorado -- which is on the eastern border, just 4 miles from Kansas.
I am a preacher and pastor of three small United Methodist Churches here and edit LOADSTAR in my spare time. Besides being a hobbyist programmer, I enjoy videography and editing, playing the piano and composing music, art, writing, and travel. My wife and I have been to Germany twice for very short stays.
C64 Stuff
LOADSTAR has a .d81 file of useful utilities and tools available at
http://server.revdave6.dyndns.info/ssocc/
Which is freely available to C64 programmers. It includes
Mr.Edstar -- 38-column text editor
Sprite On -- Sprite editor
STB Print -- Convert Koala/Doodle bitmap graphics to our easy to use SHP format ("Loadstar" on GoDot).
Linker/Packer/Dissolver -- Program link and pack, that can be dissolved into the original files. Wraptor -- File Archiver.
Mr.MICK -- Screen design program, with font editor.
DotBASIC -- A Visual-Design, Event-Driven, Object-Oriented Basic extension with full mouse control.
Screen to Font -- Turns SHP high-resolution graphics into text screens
And much more.
I am quite proud of DotBASIC as a program development language. Design the screen with Event Regions giving each a BASIC subroutine line number. Rename the boot program, and it creates a template DotBASIC main program. The Event-Driven Regions have roll-over color change, and a click takes you to the Event handling subroutine at the given line number -- all done behind the scenes.
DotCommands include .DO -- begin Do-Loop .UN -- Loop UNtil comparison is true .MU -- Menu Object .BL -- Binary Load .RK -- Turn Edstar text file into virtual string array .ML -- Scrolling Menu .MA -- Get mouse information into BASIC variables .KP -- Keypress .RD -- Define screen Regions (the mouse recognizes) .RA -- Change color of Region. .BX -- Draw Box on screen
And much, much more.
>C64 thinks The C-64 is counter-culture. We 64ers may use PCs and Macs for practical purposes or for work, but we are not fooled by the commercial consumer mantra that "New is Better because it is New." We know better than to jettison what works just fine for the promise of something that is supposed to work better. And we -- Commodoreans -- are better for it. We are aware of the history and the evolution of technology. And we are not fooled by marketing foolishness (at least when it comes to computers). For example, the businesses that have bought the Commodore name seem to think that an "iPod clone" can become a PET and because it is a "PET" people will buy it. I delight is seeing them fail.
We may not succeed in sharing our wisdom with the rest of the world. That is fine. As long as my C-64 doesn't blow up and I have plenty of copies of VICE (on a hard drive and CD-ROM), I'm good to go for another 20 years!
I think the C-64 is the best hobby programming computer ever created. It has enough color, sound, and speed to create almost anything -- or at least make a model of any computational idea.
I am quite impressed with the demo scene in Europe. These 320x200/3-voice rock videos are simply amazing.
I like to program. I like to come up with some idea -- a game or a presentation or some little utility -- and work out all the logic. Programming is both left-brain logic and right-brain art.
For the simple projects I do, the C-64 is perfect. It is not too big. BASIC 2.0 is not overloaded with commands and functions -- and yet most anything is possible.
I use BASIC as a "script" of the program. Many of the actions are performed by ML routines -- usually collections we call "toolboxes". But the control is in BASIC. This makes putting the program or presentation together quick and easy and allows easy "tweaking" -- fine-tuning little things like color and font and sound effects -- without having to dig into the complexities of ML.
The Commodore Community is great. People all over the world help and support each other with their computer problems, or just have fun visiting about their hobby. I have met many wonderful people by email and at Expos.
