ST REPORT WEEKLY ONLINE MAGAZINE Monday, July 11, 1988 Vol II No. 43 =========== APEInc., P.O. BOX 74, Middlesex, N.J. 08846-0074 PUBLISHER MANAGING EDITOR Ron Kovacs R.F.Mariano ======================================================= ST REPORT EDITOR: Thomas Rex Reade PO Box 6672 Jacksonville, Florida. 32236 Headquarters Bulletin Boards ST Report North ST Report Central ST Report South 201-968-8148 216-784-0574 904-786-4176 ------------------------------------ CONTENTS ======== > From the Editor's Desk..............> ST REPORT ART CONTEST RULES....... > ARC SHELL DOCS......................> ABOUT #41 & #42................... > GFA Basics..........................> CHIP-RIP/DRAM-SCAM................ > ST REPORT CONFIDENTIAL..............> The ST Book....................... ========================================================================= EXCLUSIVELY ON: COMP-U-SERVE ~ GENIE ~ DELPHI ========================================================================= From the Editor's Desk: Atari is headed in the right direction, of this you can be sure. The only thing that is disturbing is how or what will impede Atari's progress? The factors presented here can make or break the momentum Mr. Ligouri has developed. The time has come for Atari to take hard stands on a number of issues, none of which are inconsequential. The first would be to take the entire market into play, do not allow the concept of, Blue Ribbon product to be sold by Blue Ribbon dealers only, allowing selective discrimination to overrule good marketing principles and folks who are eager to not only sell Atari Products but to service them as well. Take the mystery out of service by adapting the total modular replacement technique. Be original, don't try to copy the Apple "caste system" as far as marketing is concerned. The second is to set the direction of promotion and do not deviate with hair brained schemes and disastrous distractions brought forward by those eager to make a name for themselves at Atari's expense. Permit a new customer to choose the method of instruction in the operation of his new machine by, of course the owner's manual, sending in a coupon that will have Atari send him a set of detailed instructions on cassette tape (either video or audio) and a book to go along with the tape. Do not be so presumptuous to think that all potential computer users have a VCR. That could easily be seen as an additional expense (hidden) to owning a CPU. National Advertising must be the first and foremost approach done to make the population realize that Atari is NOT out of business. (We have received a number of notes and calls telling us about the unscrupulous salespeople in the major dep't. stores and computer outlets who are telling folks, "ATARI IS OUT OF THE COMPUTER BUSINESS"! The third is to make sure Atari NEVER AGAIN experiences the shoot the foot routine by allowing poorly prepared press releases that are highly opinionated and wishful thinking on the part of the person(s) doing the release. Allow ONLY prepared, bullet proof statements that are totally positive and true. After having taken an informal poll through roughly 65 private BBS systems around the country, 70% of the home computer purchasing public are NOT aware of the ST line or it's potential, those who are found out via a usergroup or user! Advertising in the magazines that are specific to Atari is nice only if you are releasing a new add-on product or peripheral. As far as new customers and users go, those ads belong in the "magazines for the masses". REACH THOSE WHO DO NOT KNOW OF THE ATARI ST COMPUTER! Nobody wants to see this computer give the so called high end computers a real run for the money more than I do, I am sick and tired of hearing, "Why don't you get a real computer?"....I know my ST4 will blow away any of the popular BIG three out there for the home and general public market. The Atari ST can run their software easily. They need to learn from the Atari but, they first have to find out it exists. Rex....... -------------------------------------------------------------------------- THE JUDGES LIST =============== Service Name ------- ------------ CIS Ron Luks CIS Dan Rhea CIS Mike Schoenbach GEnie Darlah Hudson GEnie Fred Beckman GEnie Sandy Wilson -------------------------------------------------------------------------- ST-Report Official Contest Rules ================================ No purchase necessary. Deadline for consideration in this contest is midnight August 31, 1988. Winners will be announced in ST-Report on September 12, 1988. We guarantee to award all prizes. The prize list will be announced during the contest. All readers are eligible to enter except employees of APEInc. Publishing, CompuServe, GEnie, Delphi and their immediate families. This contest void where prohibited or restricted by law. We are not responsible for lost, mis-marked, or delayed art/work. All submissions must be drawn with any Atari ST drawing program. All submissions must be drawn by the original artist. Copyrighted art work will not be accepted. All submissions become the property of APEInc. All submissions must be uploaded to specified BBS systems by the deadline date. All systems have time and date stamping capability. Any entry dated after 8/31/88 will be void from the contest. Art Work Requirements --------------------- All art work considered for this contest must be drawn with any Atari ST drawing program. Any person submitting art work must leave an address, telephone number, and drawing program used. Artwork must contain the following: ST-REPORT The winning entry will be used at a later date for a newsletter or magazine cover. Where to Send ------------- All art work may be uploaded to the following systems. Syndicate BBS (201) 968-8148 Bounty ST BBS (904) 786-4176 Entries by mail are also permitted. Be sure to use a 3.5 floppy S/S! You may send to: ST-Report Logo Contest Post Office Box 74 Middlesex, New Jersey 08846-0074 (Please include your name, address and telephone number) Updates ------- This contest will update uploading areas every two weeks. Contest rules will not be changed, but judges may be added during the run of the contest. Current judge listing will be published next week. This contest commences May 2, 1988 and will end Midnight August 31, 1988. If you have any questions, Please leave email on the services at the following addresses: CompuServe: 71777,2140 GEnie : ST-REPORT : R.KOVACS DELPHI : RONKOVACS The Source: BDG793 Rules and Regulations: 1). Use any full color program written exclusively for the ST to draw your own personal design of an ST-Report logo. 2). Art work ported over from any other computer is void. 3). No X-rated art work will be accepted. 4). Winners will be announced by mail, email, phone call or equivalent on or before September 12, 1988. 5). Judges decisions are final. ************************************************************************ :HOW TO GET YOUR OWN GENIE ACCOUNT: --------------------------------- To sign up for GEnie service: Call: (with modem) 800-638-8369. Upon connection type HHH (RETURN after that). Wait for the U#= prompt. Type XJM11877,GEnie and hit RETURN. The system will prompt you for your information. ************************************************************************ ARC Shell Documentation Version 1.96 ==================================== By Charles F. Johnson Last revision: July 4, 1988 Part One - Introduction: ARC Shell is a GEM program which is designed to work with the popular ST archiving utility ARC.TTP. Essentially, ARC Shell adds a GEM interface to the ARC program, letting you point and click to select the various options instead of typing a command line. (I don't know about you, but one of the main reasons I bought an ST was to get away from all that MS-DOS/Unix command line silliness.) ARC Shell also contains a complete GEM-based disk utilities package, that lets you copy files (with wildcards and with query), delete and rename files, create and delete folders, show the free space on any connected drive, and even run other programs...all without exiting to the desktop. ARC Shell's current configuration can be saved at any point, so that the options and settings you use most often will be selected when you run the program. In addition, you can use the ST desktop's "Install Application" feature to set things up so that ARC Shell will automatically run when you double-click on a file with an extension of ARC. This documentation will focus primarily on the operation of ARC Shell; it's not intended to teach you how to use ARC. However, I've included the manual for version 5.20 of ARC in the archive which contains this file and the latest version of ARC Shell. Refer to this manual if you have any questions about the ARC program itself, such as "What's the difference between Updating and Freshening?" or "What does Convert Archive do?" The original version of ARC for the ST was version 5.12, ported by Harvey Johnson. The most recent version is ARC 5.21, ported to the ST by Howard Chu. Version 5.21 is available on Compuserve, Delphi, and GEnie, and on many local ST BBSes. Part Two - The usual shareware plea Versions 1.95 and above of ARC Shell are "shareware," which means that if you like and use my program I'd appreciate a contribution of $15.00 ... or more if you happen to be struck by a random philanthropic impulse. I've been continually updating and improving ARC Shell since it was first written, and I think you'll be pleased with the result; letters with checks in them would please me equally! If you think ARC Shell is worth at least $15.00, send a check to: Charles F. Johnson (ARC Shell) P.O. Box 1250 Pacific Palisades, CA 90272 And...... thanks for your support! Part Three - Using ARC Shell When you run ARC Shell, make sure you have the ARC program (ARC.TTP) in the same directory with ARCSH196.PRG. The very first thing ARC Shell does is look in the current directory for ARC.TTP. If a file with this name cannot be found, ARC Shell will show you a file selector asking, "Where is ARC.TTP?" and you will be able to locate the ARC program with the file selector. When ARC Shell finds the ARC program, it will then display a large dialog box, with buttons representing the available options. What you're looking at. In the upper left of the main dialog box is a box containing buttons labeled "ADD to Archive", "EXTRACT from Arc", etc. The buttons in this box are the main ARC commands; you'll notice that the default ARC command is "EXTRACT from Arc". Only one of these buttons can be selected at a time - if you click on a button to select it, the previously selected button will be turned "off". (These are known as "radio buttons.") To the right of the ARC command box is a box containing the ARC "flags." The button labeled "Hold Screen" is selected by default when you first run ARC Shell. The buttons in this box can be turned off and on individually; unlike radio buttons, more than one can be selected at a time. The button labeled "Encrypt/Decrypt" is a special case; when you turn this button on, the code word entry line beneath it becomes active and the edit cursor (the thin vertical line) is placed on the entry line, allowing you to type in an encryption keyword. The code word can be up to eight characters long. Directly underneath the ARC command box is a box containing buttons to let you select the device which will be used for LIST and VERBOSE LIST commands, and the drive for ARC and DATA files. The drive buttons can be operated in two ways; you can either type in the drive letter by hand, using the up and down arrows to move from one button to another, or use the mouse to click on the button. If you click the button, a box with 16 buttons representing the 16 possible logical drives will pop up, allowing you to select the drive with the mouse. Only active drives will be selectable in this box, and hitting Return will exit without changing the current drive. Finally, along the bottom of the main box are buttons labeled "Info", "ARC", "Disk", "Config", and "Exit". The Info button will display a copyright message, and a gentle reminder to send in your shareware contribution. OK, let's do something. When you've set all the options in the ARC Shell dialog box the way you want them, click on the "ARC" button to start things going. NOTE: You may also double-click on any of the buttons in the ARC command box (Extract, Add, List, etc.) to execute that command immediately without the extra step of clicking the "ARC" button. Depending on which ARC command you've selected, what happens next will vary slightly. In all cases however, the first thing ARC Shell will do is display a file selector to allow you to choose an ARC file. If you're creating a new archive file with the ADD or MOVE commands, simply type in a name for the new file on the file selector's "Selection" line, and hit Return or click on OK. If you're using any of the other commands (which all operate on previously-created archive files), click on the name of the ARC file you're working with and click OK. The file selector's "Cancel" button always returns you to the main ARC Shell dialog box. The LIST, VERBOSE LIST, or TEST commands only take one parameter - the name of an ARC file - so they will be acted upon as soon as you exit the file selector. Any of the other commands will now require a second parameter, the name of the DATA files on which you're operating. If you're ADDing files to an archive and you leave the "Selection" line in the DATA file selector blank, ARC Shell interprets this as "all files", and passes a search spec of *.* to the ARC program. If you type in a name on the selection line or click on a filename, only that filename will be passed to ARC. Also, when ADDing files, you will always return to the DATA file selector when ARC is finished adding a file or files, so that you can choose more files to add without having to select "ADD to Archive" every time. You must click on the file selector's "Cancel" button to exit back to the main dialog box. If you leave the "Selection" line blank when you're EXTRACTing files from an archive, you'll be faced with the following choices about how to extract the files: ALL - Extracts all files from the archive into the specified directory. To Folder - First creates a folder (a subdirectory) with the same name as the archive file (minus the .ARC extension) in the specified directory, then extracts all files from the archive into the folder. When the operation is complete, you'll be given the chance to delete the original ARC file. W/ Query - Reads the names of the files in the archive one at a time, and prompts you whether to extract each one. Cancel - Lets you change your mind and return to the main ARC Shell dialog box. The "COPY to StdOut" command can be used to view text files contained within an archive without extracting them first. When this command is selected, ARC Shell will display an alert box with the choices "ALL" and "w/ Query". The Query option works in the same way as with the EXTRACT command; the filenames will be read from the archive one at a time, and you can choose whether to view each one in turn. When you use "COPY to StdOut" to view text files, you can pause the scrolling by typing Control-S and resume by typing Control-Q. The COPY operation can also be aborted at any time by typing Control-C. The LIST and VERBOSE LIST commands are used to display the files contained within an archive. You can direct the output from the LIST commands to the screen, to the printer, or to an ASCII disk file by clicking on the buttons labeled "List Device" in the main ARC Shell dialog box. There are two buttons in the ARC Shell dialog box which are intended to be used only with ARC version 5.21; "Overwrite Existing Files" and "Squash". Earlier versions of ARC will report an error if either of these two buttons are selected. The buttons labeled "Crunch" and "Squash" are used to choose between two different types of data compression schemes used by ARC 5.21 -- only the "Crunch" option is supported by earlier versions. So bear in mind that if you use the "Squash" method, people who don't have ARC 5.21 will be unable to extract those files. Part Four - The ARC Shell Disk Utilities To access the ARC Shell Disk Utilities, click on the button labeled "Disk" at the bottom of the main ARC Shell dialog box. The Disk Utilities are a complete GEM-based file maintenance system - you won't have to exit ARC Shell to copy files, delete, etc. You can even use the ARC Shell Disk Utilities to run other programs. When you click on the "Copy File(s)" button, a file selector appears to let you choose the source file(s) for the copy. You can use any combination of wildcards (? and *) on the 'Selection' line of the file selector to specify groups of files to be copied. When you click the file selector's OK button, another file selector will appear to let you choose the destination directory for the copied file(s). If the source filename contains no wildcards (in other words, you're copying a single file) the file will be copied right away. If there are wildcard characters in the source filename, you'll be given a choice to copy "ALL" files or copy "w/ Query". The Query option will prompt you whether or not to copy each file that matches the wildcard specification. You can also delete groups of files by using wildcards in the same way. If the destination filename already exists when a copy operation is being performed, a box will appear with the warning "Name Conflict During Copy". You can either click OK to write over the existing file or type in a new name for the copied file and hit Return. The "Run Program" command lets you execute a program from within ARC Shell, and return to ARC Shell when the program terminates. If the program you choose to run has the extension .TTP (Tos Takes Parameters), a box will appear to let you enter a command line to pass to the program. The operation of the other disk commands should be fairly self explanatory. You can rename files, show the free space remaining on a disk, create and delete folders, and format a floppy disk. The format command lets you use drive A or B, and formats either single or double sided. No fancy format options here - you get the straight ahead standard format, 80 tracks, 9 sectors per track. At the bottom left of the Disk Utilities dialog is a box titled "Copy/Delete Prompts" containing buttons labeled "On" and "Off". When this option is set to "Off", you'll get no warning when you delete a file or copy a file to an already existing name. The Exit button returns you to the main ARC Shell dialog box. Part Five - Configuring ARC Shell Clicking on the button labeled "Config" at the bottom of the ARC Shell dialog box will take you to the configuration screen. This screen lets you specify a pathname for both a "default" ARC utility and an "alternate" ARC utility, and also set the directory to which ARC's numerous temporary files will be written (the latter option is only valid when ARC Shell is used with ARC 5.21). You can save these options, as well as every other ARC Shell setting, with the button labeled "Save Configuration"; after you do this, ARC Shell will remember the settings the next time you run it. The default ARC utility is the one which will be searched for when the program first runs. If you haven't specified a default ARC utility, ARC Shell looks in the current directory for a file named ARC.TTP (see above). However, using the Config option, you can set it so that ARC.TTP can be located anywhere when you run ARC Shell. Click on the button labeled "Locate Default ARC Program" and use the file selector to specify a new file and pathname. Next, you can select an alternate ARC utility which can be enabled by clicking on the button labeled "Use Alternate". To specify the pathname for the alternate ARC utility, click on the button labeled "Locate Alternate ARC Program" and use the file selector. The purpose of the "Alternate" option is to allow you to switch easily between two different ARC programs; for example, some people prefer to use a shareware program called DCOPY (by Ralph Walden) to do their ARC operations because it's quite a bit faster than ARC.TTP. When ARC is adding files to an archive, it creates quite a few temporary work files on the disk. With ARC Shell, you can choose to have these files written to either the ARC drive or the DATA drive, or to another directory altogether. (Hint: directing the temporary files to a RAMdisk can really speed up ARC, especially if you have a floppy-based system.) When you click on the button labeled "Set Directory" a file selector lets you choose the directory for the temporary files. (NOTE: this option is only valid when used with ARC 5.21.) There is one small difference in the way the two versions of ST ARC handle redirection to the printer. ARC 5.12 uses the device name "PRT:" while ARC 5.21 uses "PRN:". If you're going to be redirecting the output from the LIST commands to a printer, you should choose the appropriate "Printer Device Name" at the lower left of the Configuration box. When you have ARC Shell set up the way you want it (including all of the options in the main dialog box), you can click on the "Save Configuration" button to make this arrangement your new default....in other words, after saving your configuration, ARC Shell will always start out with your settings when you run it. Versions of ARC Shell prior to 1.96 saved their configuration data in a separate file called ARCSHELL.CNF. This has changed in version 1.96; the configuration is now saved directly into the ARC Shell program file, which makes a separate data file unnecessary. When you choose to "Save Configuration", ARC Shell will first look in the directory from which it ran for a file called ARCSH196.PRG. If a file by this name is found, ARC Shell will attempt to write the new configuration data to this file. If for some reason, a file by this name exists and is NOT the ARC Shell program, you will be warned and the configuration save can be retried or aborted. If ARC Shell cannot find a file named ARCSH196.PRG (perhaps you changed the name?), you'll be given a chance to use a file selector to locate the program file no matter which name you've given it. Part Six - Installing ARC Shell as an Application Using the desktop's "Install Application" feature, you can set things up so that whenever you double-click on a file with the extension .ARC, ARC Shell will automatically load and run. To do this from the desktop, click once on ARCSH196.PRG to select it, then move to the "Options" menu and select "Install Application". In the box that appears, enter a document type of "ARC", and then click on the button labeled "Install". (DON'T hit Return after entering the document type....Return will exit without installing!) Now save your desktop, so this setting will be remembered the next time you boot up. If you double-click on an ARC file after ARC Shell has been "installed" in this way, an alert box will appear showing the name of the ARC file you chose. You can extract files from this archive, do a verbose list of its contents, or cancel the operation by clicking on one of the three buttons in the alert box. If you choose to extract, you'll be given the same extract options as explained above in the section titled "Using ARC Shell". When the extract or list operation is complete, you can either enter ARC Shell (to do some more archive maintenance) or quit back to the desktop. This document and all versions of ARC Shell are Copyright 1987, 1988 Charles F. Johnson and Little Green Footballs Software. All Rights Reserved. ARC Shell may NOT be sold. It may, however, be freely distributed as long as this document is * included and neither program nor document are altered in any way. This document may not be * reprinted without permission. While every effort has been made to ensure that this program is free of bugs, I cannot be responsible for any damages or loss of data resulting from the use or misuse of ARC Shell. = * = ------------------------------------------------------------------------- ABOUT ST REPORT # 41/42 ======================= TRULY it is amazing to see the true colors of the those who would enjoy witnessing the demise of Atari. The two issues mentioned in the title of this commentary brought out the best of those learned individuals and how true to form they were and are! Careful observation on the four major networks has revealed a great deal about those who loudly criticized ST REPORT for presenting the controversial subject matter in the two issues in question. Anytime jealous users of "other" computers can divide and fracture a semi unified group, they will do so to bring about it's ultimate downfall.....unless of course they are overread on another service in a different cpu support area BRAGGING ABOUT their ACCOMPLISHMENTS! To these "respected" Borks, I say "STAY IN YOUR OWN LITTER BOX" and leave us to ours. We will eventually clean up our own back yard and more than likely our equipment will continue to outperform the other more expensive also-rans. In a nutshell, if you hate Atari as you seem to, go back to your own areas and hate Atari all you wish. Please don't think we are asleep or born yesterday. The truth here is you like to see Atari and it's reps make themselves look only human and will do anything to make the errors continue. You could care less about Atari or the userbase for Atari. Also, while on the subject of what ifs and whys, the MAIN reason we reprint certain materials (this is the fifth time this year) is to make sure all the folks all the way down the information chain ie: CIS, GEnie, Delphi -> pvt BBS -> local users -> usergroup newletters -> those ST owners who DO NOT HAVE a modem have all the very latest information pertaining to the ST Userbase. We hope this answers the question for those who felt the need to make it seem so pressing in a certain CO. = * = ------------------------------------------------------------------------- GFA Basics ========== By Rick Taylor AA-AUG Memo Pad July, 1988 CREATING 'INSTANT HELP' MENUS One thing I really admire is programmers who take advantage of the HELP key. There are many application programs that excel in this area however, Flash! and Regentword II (RWII) are my personal favorites. If, for instance, you were typing a document using RWII (as I am now), and your memory needed a little jog -- simply press the HELP key, and a comprehensive list of functions pops up. After you find what you're looking for, just press [RETURN], and it disappears. How would you incorporate this feature into one of your own programs, written in GFA Basic? Well, obviously it's easy enough to draw the help box and text. What we need to know, is how to restore the screen to the state it was in before the HELP key was pressed. No problem! GFA Basic 2.0x has a nifty graphics command pair called Sget and Sput. Sget will "get" your entire screen, put it into a string, and save the image until you use Sput to "put" it back. Simple. To demonstrate the ease of using these commands, I've whipped up a short program which will: Draw a graphics image on the screen; wait for the HELP key (or ESC key to quit); and, display a bogus help menu on pressing the HELP key. After viewing the menu, you can press any key, and the help screen disappears instantly, leaving your previous screen intact. You can press Escape anytime the menu is not on screen to exit the demo. The program listing that follows is heavily commented, and the variables are descriptive enough that you should have no problem understanding what is going on. If you would rather download this little program than type it in, look for it in Sig 15 of the AA-AUG BBS (714-986-4860), under the name GFA_SGET.ARC. Rem << Demo For Creating 'Instant Help' Menus Using Sget And Sput >> Rem << From The AA-AUG's Memo Pad -- July, 1988 -- By Rick Taylor >> Rez=Xbios(4) ! What resolution are they in? If Rez=0 ! Low res, too bad! Alert 1,"|Sorry, Medium Or|High Res Only...",1," Argh! ",Ans End Endif If Rez=1 ! Medium res... Y0=49 ! Top of help box Y1=148 ! Bottom of help box Endif If Rez=2 ! High res... Y0=99 ! Top, and Y1=298 ! Bottom for mono Endif Size=25 ! x,y, and radius of circle Repeat Add Size,1 ! Make it grow... Circle Size,Size,Size ! Draw it! Until Size=130 ! Stop drawing it ' Print At(35,10);"Press [HELP] For Menu" Print At(35,11);"Escape Key Aborts..." ' Main: Do Key$=Chr$(Inp(2)) ! Wait for any keypress If Key$=Chr$(226) ! Is it the [HELP] key? @Help ! Gosub 'Help'... Endif If Key$=Chr$(27) ! Is it the [ESC] Key? End ! Yes, so end the demo. Endif Loop Procedure Help ' ------------------------------------------------------------- Sget Temp$ ! Capture the whole screen into a string! ' ------------------------------------------------------------- Deffill 0 ! Prepare to draw the help box Pbox 120,Y0+1,520,Y1+2! Filled box, med or high res Defline 1,1,0,0 ! Thin line Box 119,Y0,521,Y1+3 ! The outside box Defline 1,3,0,0 ! Thick line Box 125,Y0+3,515,Y1 ! The inside box ' ! Here is some bogus text for the help box: Print At(32,8);"Help With Commands:" Print At(19,11);"[F1]=Absolutely Nothing [F2]=Less Than F1" Print At(19,12);"[F3]=Don't Panic! [F4]=Panic!" Print At(19,13);"[F5]=See F3... [F6]=No Function" Print At(19,14);"[F7]=Same As Above [F8]=Unused Key" Print At(19,15);"[F9]=Function Key 9 [F10]=The Last Key" Print At(19,18);" Press Any Key To Return To Demo..." ' Do Exit If Inp(2) ! Just sit and wait for any key... Loop ' ------------------------------------------------------------- Sput Temp$ ! Return the screen to its previous state ' ------------------------------------------------------------- Return ------------------------------------------------------------------------- PEARL HARBOR AGAIN? * THE CHIP-RIP/DRAM-SCAM ============================================== by T."Rex" Reade Where are the history professors? Where are the veterans? Most of all, what is wrong with the US purchasing public? Is it really this easy to forget? Are we all really this blind? What happened to our Senators and Congressmen? Do you sometimes wonder how it feels getting up in the morning and brewing your cup of coffee in the Jap percolator and then brushing your teeth with the Jap power toothbrush...going out the door and getting into your handy dandy Jap import car....driving to work (The Local Computer Plant) and finding out you don't have a job any longer because the final blow has come from the Jap whiz kids who have choked off the US Electronics Industry by manipulation of the chip market. It sure will be nice to see all the repossesions going back to Japan because all the US suckers who had to buy Japanese products forgot Pearl Harbor...Crazy you say? Take a look at these points..... The real victims of the chip squeeze (not just drams) are the Companies that build the computers, laser printers, Fax machines and TVs (watch out you couch potatoes). Ultimately you the consumer are going get it in the neck as you always do.....Hewlett Packard just hiked their prices on memory boards by 25% blaming drastic Japanese wholesale price jumps. To give you an example of the seriousness of this CHIP-RIP or DRAM-SCAM, look at this...Tri-Data Systems in Sunnyvale,CALIFORNIA. had $400,000 worth of chips, approximately 33,000 chips stolen from it's warehouse, they now keep them in a steel vault and have posted a $5000.00 reward for the capture of the perpetrator of the robbery. Seems Loomis Armoured Car Service is the only company benefiting from the CHIP-RIP/DRAM-SCAM. Consider this, at the present rate of exchange, one ounce of 1 mb drams is worth $785.00....that's worth more than gold! Japanese industry has accomplished what the entire Jap military could not do in WWII....they have made a piece of plastic worth more than Fort Knox' contents..who do we thank for allowing this to occur? The chip shortage is now in crisis proportions and it is time for the US MANUFACTURER to climb all over the congressmen and senators from each district and say thanks for nothing! In the year 1985, the Japs flooded the globe with chips. The result is exactly what they wanted....they destroyed the American suppliers and had the entire globe's business to themselves. The BIG THREE in Japan were now in control, they even wiped out the smaller Japanese companies! FOOD FOR THOUGHT: ----------------- JAPAN'S BIG THREE WANT TO SUPPLY THEMSELVES, BUILD CUT RATE COMPUTERS AND DESTROY THE US COMPUTER INDUSTRY! Being an election year, many of the Congressmen who voted the for the special trade agreement are not running for re-election...nor are the KLUDGE politicians who voted to punish Toshiba for selling some high tech stuff 2 years ago and setting down the punishment this year..amazingly while the same high technology is freely exchanged with Russia now...makes no sense to me except that TOSHIBA, NEC and FUJITSU are all in this together and ....this reporter would not put it past these latent samurai warriors from engaging in a "little avenging for the ancestors". It is time for the US Industry to wake up and stir the blood life of independence back into itself...make the chips here and use the chips here. Even the UK (England) is about to loose it's computer industry as result of the Jap scheme, wasn't and isn't England an Allie? This entire deal with the Japs is like going to war and buying the AMMO from the enemy. Take a look around your home Mr. American, after you have taken an accounting of the amount of goods from Japan, think of the enormous amounts of dollars they grabbed from our country and now, we the same suckers are going to watch as they INVADE us by building their factories here and put our people to work? Wouldn't it be smarter to have US folks and US dollars build these factories and laboratories to make the US designed products and retake the world leadership we once so proudly had and vainly thought we never could loose? The latest CHIP-RIP/DRAM-SCAM deals are bordering on James Bond scenarios. For example, Sen. P.Wilson (R-Ca) has charged that Jap chip companies have stated to small high tech (US) companies.."give us the latest technology you have and we will make sure you have all the chips you need"...When it gets this bad, it is time for the US Gov. to fund the planning and construction of manufacturing plants strategically placed to boost the sagging economy around the good ole USA. It is time to put these fanatics out of the US marketplace by sheer competition and good ole Yankee ingenuity! Are we really going to let them have a strangle hold on the computer market for many years to come? Can't anyone see that it will come to a point where THEY will tell us what we can and cannot have as far as high tech and sophisticated electronics are concerned? Give Japan a real shock...Let's begin to relieve the dependence on Jap production to carry the US Electronics Industry, the US Automotive Industry and the indirect control of all our lives. BUY AMERICAN even if it hurts......... HATS OFF to Atari! They are going to take the issue on head first! Atari will build a chip and computer manufacturing facility in the US in the very near future. Texas Instruments, Micron and Motorola are gearing up for enhanced production of these chips. They realize that the technology will soon encompass the manufacture of co-processors, (Motorola makes the 68000), and associated chips which will be the mainstay of the industry for many years to come. It is definitely up to the US marketplace, both the manufacturer and the consumer, to put an end to the CHIP-RIP/DRAM-SCAM. Let's all do our "bit". Rex....... -------------------------------------------------------------------------- ST REPORT CONFIDENTIAL ====================== SUNNYVALE, CA. Atari in a turmoil over the revelation of D/S drives -------------- shipped in 520STFM units to FEDERATED STORES. VEGAS - COMDEX Atari plans to revive all the enthusiastic support it once -------------- enjoyed by what they plan to do and show here in NOV. NEW YORK, NY IBM has reportedly purchased huge amounts of scarce chips ------------ to supply itself and render competition a severe blow. NATIONAL, USA ATARI Dealers are reportedly up in arms over the alledged ------------- preferential treatment Atari has shown to Federated this year over 1040s, 520stfD/S Drives, Mega delivery times, and service in general. SARASOTA, FL Intersect, in keeping with it's fine tradition of support, ------------ has begun shipping version 1.81 of their highly successful Terminal software, INTERLINK. -------------------------------------------------------------------------- The Atari ST Book ================= Reviewed by Ed Zahniser. One of the joys of the ST computers is also a potential drawback for most users -- you can buy one and start using it without giving the operator's manual the time of day. This puts you out of the starting block like the proverbial hare, but it may transform you into an eventual tortoise because you will never learn the basic shortcuts. Or, if you do, they will come by a painful trial-and-error process. If you do not subscribe to any ST magazines you are in further trouble because nowhere will you be introduced to user chitchat about how to make ST computing less painful and more productive. Ralph C. Turner, no stranger to ST World readers, has assembled the book that takes you beyond the operator's manual and into a variety of eminently useful nooks and crannies of ST lore. Importantly, the book is no mere rehash of the manual, but truly takes you beyond it. In addition, it deals with many software hints, not the least of which are discussions of productivity-enchancing public domain, shareware, and commercial utility programs that make life easier for you and, in some cases, may prolong the useful life of your ST's disk drive(s), ports, and various connectors. Turner's discussion of RAM disks, auto loaders, and auto loading software utilities would justify the cost of the book for me. RAM disk use particularly for those of us who have only one disk drive -- can eliminate serious wear and tear on the drive, not to mention exorcising the demon of triple disk swapping to copy one file or document. I do know about RAM disks, but I was not aware of the significance of auto loading utilities: you can rig your boot disk to automatically install and load the RAM disk on boot up. It took me several months of owing my ST (before, I had used only C/PM and MS-DOS machines) to realize that I could make a backup copy of a file by using the Save procedure. Turner tells you that right off. Chapter 11 offers synopses of some useful public domain software programs, especially utilities, those handy dandy routines that do things to, and within, other software programs, or accomplish tasks such as telecommunications. The chapter is well placed for believability because, by the time you get there, you are accepting of Turner's assessment of these public domain programs' value. He has already displayed his own credibility. This is another chapter that, all by itself, makes the book fully worthwhile. Not that Turner doesn't have biases, but these he makes, however unintentionally, clear: he must be a chess fiend. One of the public domain programs is Krabat, the German chess program, and the book's concluding chapter is a mini-review of Chessmaster 2000 and Techmate. The book proceeds by a combination of Questions and Answers and straight discourse. That format works well. The Q&A's, evidently based on actual questions people have asked, give you compact how-to and trouble-shooting information without more facts than you may want to know. The straight discourse, on the other hand, prevents the deadliness of unrelenting Q&A books. Chapters 14 and 15 deal with word processors and how to pick one (or more) that suit(s) you. Chapter 14 describes word processor functions that are good criteria for judging such software. Chapter 15 then examines ST Writer, 1st Word, 1st Word Plus, Regent Word II, WordPerfect, and Microsfot Write by these criteria. From what I know of two of these programs, Turner's assessments seem fair and instructive as well as cost conscious. 'The Atari ST Book' presents a wealth of hands-on information for the user and not in the arcane and elliptical language of the programmer that so often frustrates those other users. It is like the best of the articles in the ST press, without the hype that accompanies so many such looks at software. Turner has taken an incredible amount of practical and pragmatic information, put it through the filter of his own experience, and displayed it in an orderly and readily accessible format. The book also brings you the chance to ask Turner a question of your own. The last page in the book is a 'Free Consultation Coupon.' Send it in with your question and a self-addressed, stamped return envelope and Turner will prognosticate for you. Two appendices offer a list of ST magazines -- including those in England and Germany -- and suppliers of the products mentioned in the book. There are helpful chapters on printers and on modems and telecommunications, in addition to those dealing with the Item Selector, Desktop, Control Panel, files and their management, etc. A final note: 'The Atari ST Book' does not include any discussion of desktop publishing on ST computers. It was produced by desktop publishing but on a Macintosh, not on Turner's Atari. Turner did this mainly because of availability of a Mac and laser printer through his job. However, he could not have produced the book as nicely on an ST when he did it. At that time, Publishing Partner and Fleet Street were the only contenders. Neither of those programs had the sophistication of typographic handling that is available on several Macintosh programs. It remains to be seen what Publishing Partner Professional can do in the area of typographic handling. New contenders are Timeworks' Desktop Publisher -- look for its review in ST World soon -- and Calamus. Turner has a second Atari book underway. Perhaps his third one -- and I hope there will be a third -- can be done totally on Atari technology. Ralph C. Turner's 'The Atari ST Book' is a good buy whose practical user information will repay the cover price many times over in the savings of time, the reduction of frustration, and increased productivity. The Atari ST Book of Tips, Instructions, Secrets and Hints for the 520, 1040 and Mega STs, by Ralph C. Turner. Index Legalis Publishing Company, P.O.Box 1822-12, Fairfield, Iowa 52556. (515-472-2293) $16.95. Price includes shipping and handling for North American orders. Air mail postage to Europe, add $4.00. Size: 5.5 in. x 8.5 in., 159 pages. Reviewed by Ed Zahniser." Hints for the 520, 1040 and Mega STs," by Ralph C. Turner. The book's publisher releases the information contained in this file into the public domain. "The Atari ST Book" is aimed at users rather than programmers, and begins where the Atari Owners' Manuals leave off. The 159-page users' guide provides step-by-step instructions that help both beginning and experienced users get the most out of their STs. TOPICS COVERED INCLUDE * RAM disks * Files and Their Management * Using (or Replacing) the * The AUTO Folder Item Selector * Copying * The DESKTOP.INF file and * Adjusting the Control Panel's the Control Panel Palette Settings * Desk Accessories * Cold Boots and Warm Boots * Installing an Application * Public Domain Software * Printers and How to Control Them * Modems and Telecommunications * Word Processors * and many other subjects * Desktop Tricks Includes a List of Over 30 Magazines (Worldwide) with ST Coverage "Up until now, the non-programming Atari ST user has been neglected," says the author. "Although the ST can be a powerful and easy-to-use computer, many of its features and capabilities haven't been adequately explained in language that the average user can understand. But now, 'The Atari ST Book' shows users how to (among other things) embed printer codes in text, or use a word processor to alter the DESKTOP.INF file." Index for the Book ------------------ aborting a program, 137 .ACC extension, 69 applications, 14 ARCH.TTP, 20, 84, 139 Install Application, 78 ASCII format, saving file in, 58, 129, 142 text file transfer, 104 decimal conversions, 97 asterisk wild card, 23 Atari ST Reference Directory, 145 AUTO folder, 37-40 "first in, first out rule", 39 RAM disks and, 11 auto loader, RAM disks and, 12 AUTOGEM, 144 automatic functions, 144 batch files, 144 BBSs Atari Corporation's, 110 other computers' programs, 103 public domain software, 82 locating, 110 blocks of text, choosing, 115 bold, printing in, 94 bombs, crashes and lockups, 141 booting, 73-76 bug when using Item Selector, 32 bytes, 140- amount free, 41 cable extensions, mouse, 143 cable trouble-shooting, 99-100 cables modem, 103 printer, 90 warning about, 93, 135 chess, 146-147 (KRABAT.PRG), 83 Chessmaster 2000, 146 cold boots, 73 color adjustments, 62-68 colors, numerical values of, 66 continuing a program, 137 Control Panel [Reset], 74 palette setting, 62-68 control codes, embedding, 94 CONTROL.ACC file necessity of, 52 replacing, 54 two versions of, 53 Control]+[C], use of, 138, 142 Control]+[Q], use of, 138 Control]+[S], use of, 138 Control]+[X], use of, 138 copy-protection, 47 copying, 41-50 crashes, bombs and lockups, 141 daisy wheel printers, 91 data files vs programs, 14 date, setting of, 53 decimal printer codes, 95 DESK Menu Bar, 69 desk accessories, 69-72, 139 limit of six, 53 DESKTOP.INF file, 51-61 altering, 56 Install Application, 79 Directory Line (Item Selector), 29 Directory Window (Item Selector), 32 Directory, Atari ST Reference, 145 disk red lights, warning, 135 disk window updating, 132 disk insertion and window updates, 132 disks, care of, 136 documents, 14 DOS-type shell, use of, 144 dot-matrix printers, 91 double width printing, 94 double-clicking, 6, 14 duplex setting, 106 earphones, connecting to monitor, 142 emulation of other computers, 103 EMULATOR.ACC, 60, 105 Epson compatibility (printers), 92 EPSON.PRG, 142 escape code, ASCII, 98 [Esc] key, functions of, 138 extensions, file, 18 FDI.TOS, 84 file extensions, 18 FILE Menu CLOSE option, 17 CLOSE WINDOW option, 17 SHOW INFO option, 41, 140 file names, 18 files, 14-26 and folders, 15 and wild cards, 22 renaming, 24 two types of, 14 floppy disks, care of, 136 folders, 15 tree structure of, 16 renaming, 24 fragmentation, 46 FREERAM.PRG, 86 GEM programs, 139 GET_DEFS.ACC, 54 hard drive crash, 59 hexadecimal control codes, 96 high resolution adjustments, 67 IBM emulation, 103 icons location on Desktop, 51 removing from Desktop, 140 Install Application, 77-81 Interlink ST, auto feature of, 104 Item Selector, 27-36 replacing, 34 switching disks, 33 Universal, 34 joystick cable extension, 143 KEYCOMBO booting program, 76 kilobytes, 140 KRABAT (chess program), 83 LABELJRB.PRG, 83 lockups and bombs and crashes, 141 recovery from, 74 low resolution adjustments, 66 Macintosh emulation, 103 macros, 127-128 magazine articles, dir.of, 145 magazines with ST coverage, 148-152 medium resolution adjustments, 64 MEGAROID.PRG, 84 Microsoft Write, review of, 129 modem cables, 103 one-person use of, 104 originate mode, 106 modems and telecommunications, 100-110 baud rate, 102 Hayes-compatability, 102 parity setting, 106 Monitor Master, 143 monitor image, shaking of, 134 resolution and printing, 99 monitors, connecting two, 142 MONOPOOL.PRG, 84 Mouse Master, 143 mouse cable extension, 143 clicking, 6 "NAME CONFLICT DURING COPY", 49 OPTIONS Menu INSTALL APPLICATION, 78 SAVE DESKTOP, 51 palette boxes, 64 settings, 62-68 parallel printers, 90 parameters, modem, 106 parity setting, modem, 106 paths, file, 20 pausing a program, 137 primary color sliders, 65 printer codes, 94 Epson compatible, 89 problems, 99-100 self-test, 100 printers, 89-100 special effects on, 94 thermal, 98 types of, 90, printing to the screen, 141 program types, 15, 139 programs vs data files, 14 types of, 15, 139 public domain software, 82-88 question mark wild card, 22 RAM disks, 7-13 [Reset] button, 75 for copying, 42 installation, 9 reset-proof, 9 YARD.PRG, 9 Read-Only, set file for, 61 Regent Word II control codes, 95 review of, 124 [Reset] button, use of, 73 resolutions, palette adj., 62 ribbons, printer, 92 root directory, 15 RS232 Config., Set, 60 port, and buying a modem, 102 printer cables, 90 rubber-band, creating with mouse, 115 SAVE DESKTOP, 51 saving file when disk full, 111 screen display, inverted, 62 dumps, 133-134 image, shaking of, 134 SCREENSAVE.PRG, 86 Selection Line (Item Selector), 33 self-test of printer, 100 serial printers, 90 shareware, 87 "SHOW, PRINT, CANCEL", 141 SNAPSHOT.PRG, 134 speaker volume and earphones, 142 SPOOL.PRG, 86 ST BASIC Sourcebook, printer code conversions, 97 ST Writer, 84, review of, 120 STSPEECH.TOS, 86 TechMate, 147 text files, 15 transfer of, 104 time, setting of, 53 TIMEDATE.PRG, 85 TOS on disk, and desk accessories, 71 programs, 139 tractor feed, printer, 92 Trash Can, changing name of, 58 TTP programs, 139 ULTICOPY.PRG, 85 underlining, and printers, 94 [Undo] key, use of, 138 Universal Item Selector, 34 users' groups, 145 magazines, 146 ventilation holes, 135 VIEW Menu, SORT BY, 136 VIP Professional, and printer control codes, 96 VT-52 terminal emulator, 60, 105 warm boots, 73 WHEEL-P, 84 wild cards, file, 22 window disk updating, 132 positions of, irregular, 55 windows, 15 finding files in, 136 inactive, selecting files in, 132 limiting file display in, 59 Word Writer control codes, 96 word processors, 111-131 WORD400, 85 WordPerfect, review of, 126 WRDCOUNT.ACC, 86 WYSIWYG, 111 YARD.PRG, 83 1st Word required files, 137 review of, 121 text files, creating, 142 1st WORD PLUS, review of, 122 | character, producing the, 137 Marty Herzog, Director of Creative & Marketing Services at Atari (Canada) Corporation, has said of the book, " 'The Atari ST Book' is excellent. I recommend it to every ST user." The Atari ST Book of Tips, Instructions, Secrets and Hints for the 520, 1040 and Mega STs, by Ralph C. Turner. Index Legalis Publishing Company, P.O.Box 1822-12, Fairfield, Iowa 52556. (515-472-2293) $16.95. Price includes shipping and handling for North American orders. Air mail postage to Europe, add $4.00. Size: 5.5 in. x 8.5 in., 159 pages. Information about the book is available upon request. Ed Note: This volumn promises to be the most authoritive, easy to read and understand user guide to appear in the Atari Userbase and we wholeheartedly reccommend it's use. ------------------------------------------------------------------------- REDSKINS STAR HOLLERS DISCRIMINATION ===================================== by John Deegan Redskins quarterback Doug Williams said advertising execs are shying away from him for endorsements of goods because he is black. Williams, M.V.P. in Washington's Super Bowl win over Denver last Jan., was quoted in Friday's USA Today as saying that if Denver's white quarterback, John Elway, had been on the winning team, corporate America would ''be knocking his door down.'' "You don't have to be a Phi Beta Kappa to figure out some things in this world,"! said the Star Quarterback. Williams has made only $127,500 since the Super Bowl victory for endorsing goods. While it's more than most folks make in a year, it is peanuts compared to what was made by the last two Super Bowl quarterbacks, both white. The Bear's Jim McMahon made $3 million endorsing goods after the 1986 Super Bowl. The Giant's Phil Simms made $1 million in endorsements after the 1987 title game. Ad Consultant Don Smith acknowledged that race is a factor in choosing advertising pitchmen. "If I have a product and I know that of the 1 million consumers who buy my product, 980,000 of them are middle-class, white WASP families, damn it that's what I've got to appeal to," Smith said. Williams has done two national endorsements this year: [1] An end-of-the-game plug for Walt Disney World that paid him $75,000. [2] Atari Videogames TV campaign beginning in August that will earn him $50,000. -------------------------------------------------------------------------- June 27, 1988 FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE Contact: Liz Mitchell (206) 838-4677 MIGRAPH RELEASES SCANNED ART FOR GEM PUBLISHING APPLICATIONS Migraph, Inc., a leading developer of GEM-based graphics software announces the release of ScanArt (TM), a collection of high quality graphics and illustrations specially selected for use in desktop communications. ScanArt designs can be used to produce effective, attention getting layouts, newsletters, flyers, brochures, and more. Over 100 images are included in a variety of styles from a wide range of themes such as sports, holiday, humorous, and animals, insuring that the user has just the right image when needed. Each package contains either two 3.5" disks or four 5.25" disks full of images. Images in the ScanArt collection originate with professionally drawn line art which has been optically scanned at either 150 or 300 dots per inch. Each image is then carefully edited to maintain its quality. Because ScanArt images are at a much higher resolution than screen images, printouts are excellent whether on a dot matrix or laser printer. ScanArt images are saved in Digital Research standard compressed .IMG format and can be used by any application that uses .IMG files such as Ventura Publisher, GEM Desktop Publisher and Timeworks Publish-It on the IBM and Migraph Supercharged Easy-Draw and Timeworks Publisher St on the Atari ST. ScanArt is available NOW Retail: $49.95. 5.25" and 3.5" formats available. For more information, contact Migraph: (206) 838-4677. ------------------------------------------------------------------------- Amex Activity: COMPILED 07-08-88 [Fegers and Wise] Reprint permission granted Stock Sales High Low Close Net Chg. Dome Petrol 9,172,000 1 5-32 1 3-32 15-32 unch Texas Air 1,790,700 15 5/8 14 3/8 14 5/8 off 1/8 Wang Lab B 1,319,600 10 3/4 10 1/4 10 3/8 off 1/4 Amdahl Corp 962,600 53 7/8 50 1/8 50 1/8 off 2 7/8 Echo Bay Mn 797,600 21 1/4 20 1/2 21 up 1/2 NY Times 769,300 27 1/8 26 26 3/8 unch Atari Corp *694,400* 9 7 7/8 8 1/2 up 3/8 Est Air 694,300 16 1/2 16 1/8 16 1/2 up 3/8 Viacom 657,700 25 3/4 25 3/8 25 3/4 up 3/8 Lorimar Tel 632,600 13 7/8 13 1/8 13 3/8 off 1/4 Stock Sales High Low Close Net Chg. Apple Computer (AAPL) $195,227,000 47 1/2 45 45 1/4 off 1 1/4 LIN Broadcsting (LINB) 167,195,000 64 54 58 1/8 off 5 7/8 Apollo Computer (APCI) 157,968,000 15 7/8 10 1/2 10 7/8 off 3 7/8 Sun Microsystm (SUNW) 150,205,000 40 3/4 38 38 1/2 off 1/2 Intel Corp (INTC) 149,274,000 36 1/4 34 3/4 35 off 1 1/4 MCI Commun (MCIC) 117,825,000 15 1/4 14 1/4 14 7/8 up 3/8 Microsoft Cp (MSFT) 117,673,000 70 1/2 67 68 1/2 up 1/2 Miniscribe Cp (MINY) 69,499,000 13 3/4 12 13 1/8 up 1 Novell Inc (NOVL) 65,468,000 28 3/4 26 26 1/2 off 2 Micron Tech *(DRAM)* 62,976,000 23 1/2 21 3/8 22 7/8 up 1 1/4 ------------------------------------------------------------------------- ST-REPORT Issue #43 July 11, 1988 (c)'88 APEInc. All Rights Reserved. Reprint permission granted except where noted in the article. Any reprint must include ST-Report and the author in the credits. Views Presented herein are not necessarily those of ST-Report or of the Staff. -------------------------------------------------------------------------