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	The BASIC Elite

	May 17, 2005 - At Cemetech, it was a relatively quiet month. Doors CS was nearing completion, the site was undergoing several updates, but otherwise nothing major was happening. The first event occurred when Kerm Martian received an email from a Jonathan Pezzino, offering some suggestions and bug reports for Doors CS 5. He noted the suggestions, fixed them, and emailed Jon of this news. He soon received another reply offering further feedback, and before he knew it, Jon was a full-fledged member at Cemetech, posting at a nearly unheard-of rate. After several days, Jon presented Kerm with an idea he had come up with. "I was thinking: There is so much BASIC cp out there that we should start a club/group/organization/association/whatever-you-want-to-call-it of top-notch BASIC programmers so that if we see a program by them we will know it's not total cp. Obviously, it would be composed of people such as yourself who really know what they're doing in TI-BASIC. "The group wouldn't require too much effort: you'd merely have to create a group on the Cemetech forum that required a password issued to accepted applicants. The club could publish a newsletter/review that lists good BASIC programmers and reviews of their programs. We could also provide support for developers such as a manual of 1337 [Elite] BASIC tricks. Additionally, we could publish information as "Informational Texts" on ticalc.org. "To qualify for this exclusive club, applicants would have to send in a selection of their finest BASIC programs to be reviewed by a panel or moderator along with a paragraph that shows them to be an intelligent and respectful human being. Members could also be recruited from the ranks of ticalc.org based on program releases. "This group would be good because it would increase the amount of high-quality BASIC stuff out there, provide support for competent BASIC programmers, and promote Cemetech as well. What say you?" I said yes, and thus The BASIC Elite was formed. Soon I had created a logo, shown at the top of this document, made a subforum on the Cemetech forum (http://cemetech.designerz-core.com/forum) and wrote several news articles. Jon busied himself writing an inaugural version of The BASIC Elite Tips and Tricks guide. As it stands now, the Elite (as it is called in short) has three main functions: a Programmers' Guide, a newsletter, and a programming consortium. The Guide is a single document, updated each time a new item is added, that contains the largest quantity and variety of programming tips and tricks yet compiled. As new items are suggested, they will be added; so far the document is in its fourth revision. This newsletter will be a semi-monthly publication containing the latest tips, upcoming projects from each of the member organizations, and reviews of outstanding community BASIC programs. The third and final section, the BASIC Elite Programmers' Consortium, will be a standard to ensure the program you are downloading is a quality BASIC program, not a five-minute math class creation. Each program will be individually certified and given an image of approval to include in its documentation. On May 24th, 2005, The BASIC Elite began accepting applications for membership. The application form can be found here; if you submit it, we will try to process it within 24-48 hours. Even if you have very little experience, give it a try!

	Downloads

	The 1337 Guide to TI-BASIC - This is an informative, lengthy manual describing little-known tips, tricks, and hacks for TI-BASIC that are sure to turn you into a '1337' programmer. Written by Kerm Martian and Jon Pezzino Newsletter Volume 1, Number 1: May 31, 2005 Newsletter Volume 1, Number 2: June 13, 2005 Newsletter Volume 1, Number 3: December 2005 Newsletter Volume 2, Number 1: February 2006