Path: utzoo!attcan!uunet!dalcs!dalcsug!mackay
From: mackay@dalcsug.UUCP (Daniel MacKay)
Newsgroups: comp.lang.forth
Subject: Re: FORTH for the Apple ][ series
Summary: ProDOS
Keywords: forth apple
Message-ID: <472@dalcsug.UUCP>
Date: 15 May 88 15:52:43 GMT
References: <9689@cisunx.UUCP> <5491@utah-cs.UUCP>
Organization: Dalhousie University, Halifax, N.S., Canada
Lines: 44


Two guys here in Halifax, Tom Bushell and George Matthews, have written
a pretty good Forth and connected it to ProDOS (respectively), called
Telekinetics Forth.  I use it occasionally and really like the OS interface.
George claims that his system has segmented memory swapping but I've never
quite been able to figure out how to use it.(he swaps the editor in and out
when he's doing development).

George's Forth system runs his house's security system, the greenhouse,
the heating system, and the solar collector, and is connected to a voice 
synthesizer and a dialler which sends him messages on his pager when 
anything unusual happens. It's a bit weird to work with George....

"BEEP BEEP BEEP Propagation bed is overheating!" - the sun was shining on
the propagation bed.  The machine thought the thermostat had malfunctioned.

"BEEP BEEP BEEP Propagation bed is under control" - these two messages repeated
about 10 times in one partially-clouded afternoon.

"BEEP BEEP BEEP Somebody's home" - not a particularly helpful message since
the house doesn't know WHO's home.

"BEEP BEEP BEEP Home Control system four point five is on the air" - power
had gone off and machine had rebooted.

The main control loop for the program ticks the //e's speaker about every 
second.  There's a separate box that listens for the tics and shuts the
power off to the //e for about 15 seconds if the heartbeat fails (because of a 
power glitch, for instance, nuking memory).  It's neat to be in George's
basement when the system's off, in total silence (except for a slow crackle
from the woodstove with all its dampers shut) and have the system come back
up.  Fans come on, circulators in the open solar system gurgle, dampers flap,
relays and solenoids clatter and the house comes alive again.

In the winter, kids tease the house by throwing snowballs into the airspace
around the house.  It switches on the lights in the relevant area for a few
minutes, then switches them back off again.

---
+---------+				Dalhousie University
|    _    |     From the		Halifax, Nova Scotia
|   (_)===|     Disk of ...		Canada
|         |      Daniel		mackay@dalcsug.UUCP
+---------+			...{utai,uunet}!dalcs!dalcsug!mackay