---
title: "TS Bulletin News Supplement #3-1990"
type: "article"
slug: "ts-bulletin-news-supplement-3-1990"
url: "http://localhost/article/ts-bulletin-news-supplement-3-1990/"
markdown_url: "http://localhost/article/ts-bulletin-news-supplement-3-1990.md"
published_at: "2026-03-15T01:16:15+00:00"
modified_at: "2026-03-15T01:16:16+00:00"
featured_image:
  url: "http://localhost/wp-content/uploads/2022/04/20230809-041332.jpg"
excerpt: "News roundup covering several topics: Harmer's experiments with an MS-DOS word processor and dot-matrix printer for producing TS Bulletin; his work on a short machine code text compression algorithm for orphan computers (ZX-81/TS1000, TS2068, C64) that achieves ~52% compression using an approach short enough to fit in ~400 bytes, unlike standard Huffman/LZ algorithms that require…"
category:
  - name: "TS Bulletin"
    slug: "ts-bulletin"
    taxonomy: "category"
    url: "http://localhost/category/periodicals/ts-bulletin/"
post_tag:
  - name: "Machine language programming"
    slug: "machine-language"
    taxonomy: "post_tag"
    url: "http://localhost/tag/machine-language/"
  - name: "Pascal (programming language)"
    slug: "pascal"
    taxonomy: "post_tag"
    url: "http://localhost/tag/pascal/"
model:
  - name: "Sinclair QL"
    slug: "sinclair-ql"
    taxonomy: "model"
    url: "http://localhost/model/sinclair-ql/"
  - name: "Sinclair ZX81"
    slug: "zx81"
    taxonomy: "model"
    url: "http://localhost/model/zx81/"
  - name: "Timex/Sinclair 1000"
    slug: "ts-1000"
    taxonomy: "model"
    url: "http://localhost/model/ts-1000/"
  - name: "Timex/Sinclair 2068"
    slug: "ts-2068"
    taxonomy: "model"
    url: "http://localhost/model/ts-2068/"
indiv:
  - name: "Bill Harmer"
    slug: "bill-harmer"
    taxonomy: "indiv"
    url: "http://localhost/indiv/bill-harmer/"
publication_r:
  id: 10282
  title: "TS Bulletin"
  type: "periodical"
  url: "http://localhost/periodical/ts-bulletin/"
authors_r:
  - name: "Bill Harmer"
    slug: "bill-harmer"
    taxonomy: "indiv"
    url: "http://localhost/indiv/bill-harmer/"
issue: "3"
issues_articles:
  - id: 33990
    title: "TS Bulletin 3-1990"
    type: "issue"
    url: "http://localhost/issue/ts-bulletin-3-1990/"
pages: "1"
pubdate: "March 1990"
archive_link: false
---

News roundup covering several topics: Harmer’s experiments with an MS-DOS word processor and dot-matrix printer for producing TS Bulletin; his work on a short machine code text compression algorithm for orphan computers (ZX-81/TS1000, TS2068, C64) that achieves ~52% compression using an approach short enough to fit in ~400 bytes, unlike standard Huffman/LZ algorithms that require 3-4K. Also covers a TS2068 Pascal compiler released to the public domain and placed on the Ottawa-Hull TSUG BBS, Donald Lambert’s ZX-81 LDOS disk system now running with a Tandon drive, and the transformation of Boston TSUG into the New England QL User Group.