*---== ST REPORT ONLINE MAGAZINE ==---* """"""""""""""""""""""""" "The Original Online ST Magazine" ------------------------------- April 21, 1989 Volume III No.84 ========================================================================= ST Report Online Magazine ½ ------------------------------ Post Office Box 6672 Jacksonville, Florida 32236 ~ 6672 R.F. Mariano Publisher - Editor _________________________________________ Voice: 904-783-3319 10 AM - 4 PM EDT BBS: 904-786-4176 12-24-96 HST FAX: 904-783-3319 12 AM - 6 AM EDT _________________________________________ ** F-NET/FIDOMAIL NODE 350 ** Our support BBS carries ALL issues of STReport¿ and An International list of private BBS systems carrying STReport¿ for their users enjoyment ------------------------------------------------------------------------- > Issue: #84 STReport¿ ------------------- - CPU REPORT - Gadgets Conference - PIRACY IS THEFT! - PLAIN and SIMPLE! - MEGA ST1 DEAD - STacy GETS FACELIFT & Name Change. - Witch Hunts and Hysterical Accusation always FAIL - Shiraz Shivji's Replacement is "A Very Positive Move" - Three * NEW * MAC EMULATORS TO DEBUT! - STReport Online (New Feature) - PHREAKER-HACKER-PIRATE - ST REPORT CONFIDENTIAL ========================================================================= AVAILABLE ON: COMP-U-SERVE ~ DELPHI ~ GENIE ~ THE SOURCE ========================================================================= > The Podium¿ Here we are a week after Comdex, and lo and behold, Atari is now "on the stick", for the next few months it will amount to show after show. It really is nice to see the all out push being made by Atari to occupy it's justifiable place in the US market. Here, at STReport we breathe a sigh of relief every time we think of last year and the "no end in sight" attitude compared to this year's "Atari has arrived". Atari is making a genuine attempt to keep it's commitments to the userbase, we feel the Portfolio and the other neat goodies coming forth for the US market are a solid indication of their positive attitude toward rebuilding the US market. Once heard from a wise elder: "You could slay 'em with a sword of pure gold and they would squawk" It seems that there are those who, in 'their' finite wisdom, began nitpicking about Atari's appearance at Comdex from day one ..forgive them dear readers, for these court jesters know not of what they speak. In reality, Atari has done more this year than in any previous years to mend broken fences and rebuild burned bridges. Our opinion is simple, Atari is on the move and that is the NEWS. In badmouthing these events, it begins to looks like a feeble attempt at trying to make the news instead of reporting it. Hopefully, the new folks like A. Salerno, R. Miller and J. Mandolia can bring about some real changes for the better in a short while, it is desperately needed. We wish both of them all the luck and success possible. Thanks again for your support, Ralph..... "1989 - ATARI'S QUEST!" ************************************************************************ :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. THE GENIE ATARI ST ROUNDTABLE - AN OVERVIEW ------------------------------------------- The Roundtable is an area of GEnie specifically set aside for owners and users of Atari ST computers, although all are welcome to participate. There are three main sections to the Roundtable: the Bulletin Board, the Software Library and the Real Time Conference area. The Bulletin Board contains messages from Roundtable members on a variety of Topics, organized under several Categories. These messages are all open and available for all to read (GEnie Mail should be used for private messages). If you have a question, comment, hot rumor or an answer to someone else's question, the Bulletin Board is the place to share it. The Software Library is where we keep the Public Domain software files that are available to all Roundtable members. You can 'download' any of these files into your own computer by using a Terminal Program which uses the 'XMODEM' file-transfer method. You can also share your favorite Public Domain programs and files with other Roundtable members by 'uploading' them to the Software Library. Uploading on GEnie is FREE, so you are encouraged to participate and help your Roundtable grow. The Real Time Conference is an area where two or more Roundtable members may get together and 'talk' in 'real-time'. You can participate in organized conferences with special guests, drop in on our weekly Open COnference, or simply join in on an impromptu chat session. Unlike posting messages or Mail for other members to read at some later time, everyone in the Conference area can see what you type immediately, and can respond to you right away, in an 'electronic conversation'. ----======***======---- The World of Atari show is this weekend at the Disneyland Hotel. Atari, GEnie and many other exhibitors will be there. Join us Saturday from 10-6pm or Sunday from 10-5pm. This should be a great show! ************************************************************************ > CPU REPORT¿ ========== Issue # 17 by Michael Arthur Remember When.... In 1968, Arthur C. Clarke, in his book 2001: A Space Odyssey, called its main computer HAL, for Heuristically programmed ALgorithmic computer, and spent the next 20 years trying to disprove the false accusations that popped up when people discovered that when the letters which make up the acronym 'HAL' are replaced with the letters directly following them, the resulting acronym is IBM? CPU INSIGHTS¿ ============= Looks like another Computer Virus Article to me.... --------------------------------------------------- One topic in the microcomputer industry that has recently come under much attention is the subject of computer viruses. Much has been said about them, as every computer-related magazine or column from Infoworld to Time Magazine has discussed them at some length. But in the attempt to educate the computing world about their dangers, much of the current published information has been repetitive, doling out basic facts about computer viruses without either going much into how they work, or giving more than "common sense" information on how to prevent them from infiltrating your computer system. This, in turn, has caused computer users who should have a healthy concern about viruses to become paranoid about their systems being infected with one, becoming overly suspicious of any and all sources of computer data, including BBS's and Online Services (which would normally screen for viruses anyway in order to prevent any of their users from "catching" one), and eventually thinking that every program bug or fault in TOS (such as the 40 folder bug) was indisputable evidence of a virus infection. In order to fully understand viruses, though, as well as to see how informative the current articles about them really are, let us go through a general outline of a typical essay about computer viruses. Generally, many articles first start with a preface, in which they bring up some evidence that computer viruses are dangerous, in order to get the reader's interest. After this, they attempt to describe what a computer virus actually is, and how it operates, usually in this manner: A computer virus is a program that enters your computer by stealth (that is, without your knowledge), is self-replicating, so as to spread itself throughout a system's disks, and, once a triggering condition has been met, causes some damage to a component of your system or its operation. Usually, this damage is to a floppy or hard drive, but it can also be something like crashing your system, manipulating a weak aspect of the operating system so as to trigger a bug (like causing the 40 Folder Bug, or fragmenting system memory so the OS eventually runs out of usable memory), or stealing CPU time away from other tasks.... There are two categories of these programs: Worms, and Viruses. The main difference between Worms and Viruses is that a virus NEEDS to use another program to both enter a system and replicate itself, while a worm is a self-contained program, and does not necessarily depend on attaching itself to another program for its operations, working more like a parasite or bacteria. Even though it is not a completely accurate description, both worms and viruses are generally classified as computer viruses, because viruses (such as the AIDS or flu virus) are typically more damaging than worms. There are currently three main types of microcomputer viruses: Boot Block Viruses ------------------ The boot sector of a disk is a section reserved for any program or instruction to run when the system is first booted up. Since ANY code can go in the boot block, most viruses are designed to replicate themselves so as to occupy this sector. This has MANY advantages, among them being that since it is the first program to run on a system, a virus is able to monitor EVERY operating system command, and (if it involves accessing a disk drive or a LAN/mainframe networking link) replicate itself onto another boot sector through that device, as well as checking to see if the triggering condition that would put it into operation has been met. Not surprisingly, since the virus has to STRICTLY adhere to a system's programming guidelines in order to pull this off, they are generally compatible with most systems running that operating system. But since they are in a localized region of a disk, anti-viral utilities can EASILY detect and remove boot block viruses by simply clearing the boot sector of ANY code. And as only disk-based operating systems or self-booting games NEED to put any code into a disk's boot sector, this procedure is almost always safe.... Shell Viruses ------------- A shell virus is actually a worm that attaches itself to the beginning of a program so as to ensure that when that particular program is run, the virus is executed before the program. Well written viruses of this type do not usually damage the program itself, but use it to hide the virus's existence to the user. This type of virus, though not easy to detect, CAN be removed rather easily. However, some types of shell viruses actually DO modify the program, by first analyzing its instruction code to find a code segment that would be suitable to make the program load the virus. Then it modifies that particular code segment, inserting a subroutine call to transfer program execution to the virus. In this case, while the virus is difficult to write properly so as to give it compatibility with most to all programs, it is VERY difficult to remove.... Hidden Worms ------------ Barring any of these eventualities, a worm (after entering the system through other means) could just simply not rely on using the boot sector or another program, but act as a self-contained program that is hidden from the user's sight. Since a directory reading would reveal the virus through its filename, the worm simply ensures that it has no official file name, or anything else that may be spotted by a directory reading. On the Atari ST, a worm could do this by simply acting as an unseen program in a disk's AUTO folder, and after being automatically loaded into the system, acting in a manner not unlike that of a boot virus. On the Amiga or IBM machines, such a program hides in either the CLI's Startup Sequence, or DOS's COMMAND.COM file. On the Macintosh, such a virus would be an INIT file (the Mac's equivalent of an AUTO program). Once found, these viruses can be removed by just deleting them like any other file.... While not actually being classified as a virus, but serving the same purpose, Trojan Horse programs were perhaps the precursors to computer virus programs. Disguised as a normal PD Utility, desk accessory, or game, a Trojan Horse program functions just like any other piece of software UNTIL the triggering condition is met (such as 75 percent of a system's hard disk being filled). Once that condition is met, then the program causes some serious damage (such as reformatting the hard disk). In one case, a Disk Cataloger program (which was actually a Trojan Horse) would give prompts for you to "let" it catalog all of your disks. While the user thought his/her disk library was being organized, the Disk Cataloger was trashing the FAT tables of each disk. Once it was "finished", the user's disk library was more organized than he/she expected....However, Trojan Horse programs have not appeared much recently, as more stringent security measures (and the fact that once the word gets out about a Trojan Horse program, not many people will use it....) have made it less efficient and effective than today's computer viruses.... After giving a description of viruses, practically all of the essays on computer viruses give tips on how to prevent users' systems from being infected. Here is a list of some topics: Checking PD Software Sources ---------------------------- Even though the very safest way of not contracting a computer virus is to buy ONLY commercial packages, the very existence of Online Services, ARC.TTP, and Megaroids (as well as your reading CPU Report now) is proof that this is often not possible or preferable. Therefore, the main objective is to minimize the chances of infection. Actually, Online Services such as CompuServe or GEnie would be the best alternative in this area, mainly for two reasons: Online Services have extensive facilities/methods for ensuring that PD files online are virus free, and of course, more Public Domain files are available for the downloading. However, the MOST important reason that Online Services are uncommonly safe from viruses is that, simply enough, the people who write computer viruses are conscious of the Online Services' security, and are less psychologically inclined to make a (futile) attempt to spread viruses through there than on a Bulletin Board Station.... However, even though BBS's are more vulnerable to virus-infected programs than Online Services, one can still take preventive measures. The most sensible method is to ONLY download software from BBS's that check all uploaded files for validation. A good indication of such a responsible BBS is if you find that the BBS's Sysop checks the BBS's hard disk(s) for viruses whenever he/she backs the BBS up. Also, if you buy a software package "second hand", or use another person's disks on your system, be a little bit more careful.... Performing Generational Software Backups ---------------------------------------- Even though most users ALWAYS backup their commercial software, and backup their hard disks at regular intervals, it is important to remember that viruses (and Murphy's Law) have long incubation periods. Even though that hard disk may have been backed up a week ago, the computer system may have been infected by a virus (or shown signs of hard disk troubles) a couple of days before that. Therefore, one may need to retrieve backup copies done weeks before the incident occured in order to obtain a "safe" file. But one problem is that most users, instead of periodically buying new media for backing up their software, usually just reformat and reuse their old backup disks. In order to solve this dilemma, it is recommended that in addition to any normal software backup procedures, one occasionally make a SECOND backup of all system software, storing the extra backup in a safe place instead of reusing it the next time a hard disk backup needs to be done. Even though it may cost more to buy extra disks for backup purposes, the economic strain will be negligible to any occuring if both your regular disks AND your backups are messed up.... Also, even though this may not help in combating viruses, since backups made by most hard disk backup software cannot be restored without use of a hard disk, if your system's hard drive ever becomes damaged and needs repairing, then you will be out of commission for as long as the dealer takes to repair that hard drive. Since most hard disk users keep ALL of their software on their hard disk, this scenario is NOT that impossible. To prevent such tragedies from occuring, it is recommended that ALL computer users keep one or two "doomsday disks", with any programs necessary for efficient use of your system (NOT games, mind you) kept on a couple of floppy disks. For hard disk users, running from floppies may be a hardship or a bother (especially having to run from emergency floppies), but not being able to use your computer while your hard disk is in the shop MAY be a worse hardship.... Protection on the Home Front ---------------------------- Even though ALL of these precautions, chances are that your system still stands a good chance of being infected by a virus. In order to make SURE that none of your disks has a virus, one, logically enough, needs an anti-viral utility. The Computer Virus Industry Association, an organization devoted to the study of viruses, has developed a three-level classification system for these programs: - Class 1 programs monitor the system to prevent illegal disk access (presumably caused by a virus), and to detect viruses before they can infect software. - Class 2 programs analyze disks to detect software that has already been infected by a virus, and . - Class 3 programs both detect software viruses, and repair infected disks while erasing the virus. While there are many suitable anti-viral utilities out for the IBM and Macintosh, VirusX, a Class 3 public domain utility, is currently the best viral defense in the Amiga market. In the Atari ST arena, the best suitable anti-viral utility is VKILLER (short for Virus Killer), a Public Domain Utility written by Bob Woodside. The latest revision of this program, VKILLER 2.01, is a Class 3 program that currently can combat many of the worst ST viruses now available. Also, it would be a good idea to keep all of your newly downloaded Public Domain files on a separately designated disk, so you could both test out all of your PD files to make sure they are bug-free, and so you could lessen the risk of a computer virus by using an anti-viral utility to run a daily check on that disk to make sure none of the files on it are virus infested.... With the advent of viruses and Trojan Horse programs, computer users of all types need to know as much as possible about not only their dangers, but their internal operation, so as to take preventive measures against the infection of their computer systems. One aspect about viruses that is not so easily answered is the type of person that would knowingly develop programs intended to cause havoc on any and all computers. In companies, the most likely person would be a disgruntled employee. However, in most other situations viruses are created by either a misguided or malicious person who has a grudge towards another person, and in an attempt to exact revenge on that person, inadvertently spreads it to others, or an ordinary programmer who designs either a worm or a mild virus in an attempt to either test his/her prowess at code writing, or to run an "experiment" seeing where his "creation" will end up. While this may be just an innocent attitude, if that worm/virus is not bug-free.... But while viruses ARE a potentially dangerous threat, the best advice in protecting against one is to maintain a rational standpoint, analyzing all suspicious occurrences calmly and logically, and not becoming overly frightened or paranoid of catching one. Given that the chances of actually catching a virus are not overly large, and that certain viruses may have been written to act as terrorist devices, so as to induce fear and suspicion among computer owners, taking reasonable preventive measures, as well as eliminating ALL other possibilities before suspecting a viral infection, would simply be the sensible thing to do.... But ponder, if you will, on this question: 1) Will viruses become, like the weather, something that's ranted and complained about but not controllable? ------========------- CPU REPORT CONFIDENTIAL¿ ======================= San Jose, CA Nexgen Microsystems is reportedly making a new, high ------------ speed chipset that will be compatible with Intel's 80386 chip. While not much is known about this chip, given that CPU Report #15 featured an article about a new 80386 clone being made by VM Technologies, a Japanese company, and that there are at least TWO other efforts (both based in the US) to clone the 80386 chip.... San Francisco, CA Insignia Solutions, the makers of SoftPC (a software ----------------- IBM PC XT emulator for the Mac II and certain Unix workstations) have announced a new version of SoftPC for A/UX (Apple's version of AT&T Unix), and that they may also port SoftPC to the NeXT computer. But oddly, there has been little demand from A/UX Users for SoftPC, and since it is a MAJOR initiative to port SoftPC over to any computer (costing in the hundreds of thousands of dollars), the NeXT market may be too small to support SoftPC.... Carrolton, TX Applied Engineering has just introduced Transwarp GS, a ------------- new accelerator card for the Apple IIgs which allows it to run at 7 MHZ, using a 7 MHZ 68516 chip. While that may seem slow to ST'ers, seeing as the ST runs at 8 MHZ, since the Apple IIgs runs at 2.8 MHZ with a 3 MHZ 68516 chip, its speed is actualy TRIPLED. Also, when 10 MHZ and faster versions of the 68516 chip are introduced, IIgs Users will be able to use them by just plugging them into Transwarp GS. Cost: $400.00.... Given that the IIgs has both a graphical user interface, and a 4096 color palette, does TransWarp GS give the Apple IIgs the capability to outperform the Atari ST and Amiga? -------------------------------------------------------------------------- > GADGETS GCR CO STR FOCUS¿ ======================== GEnie Information Services Gadgets by Small GCR Conference 04-19-89 ---------------------------------------- Job City Room Sta Mail-Address 1 Indianapolis,IN 1 L [Holly] HS 2 Joplinm,MO 1 N [joel] J.DANNELLEY1 3 Mulberry,FL 1 N R.ROLLINS 4 Offutt afb,NE 1 N [Robert] R.GLOVER3 5 Englewood,CO 1 N DAVESMALL 6 Jacksonville,FL 1 N [Ralph] ST.REPORT 7 Westford,MA 1 N D.HALLOWELL 8 Piedmont,CA 1 N DMAY 9 Redondo beach,CA 1 N A.HASKELL 12 Humble,TX 1 N S.SWENA 13 Santa rosa,CA 1 N DOUG.W 14 Middlesex,NJ 1 N [_WK Whitton_] ZMAGAZINE 15 Crotononhudso,NY 1 N [Pete] DIPLOMACY-1 17 Brighton,MA 1 N W.CHOW 18 Cudahy,CA 1 N R.GILLIES 19 Hawthorne,CA 1 N W.GALLAGHER 20 Campbell,CA 1 N E.CHILD 23 Titusville,PA 1 N GARY.ATMEN 24 Lake grove,NY 1 N G.TRECARTIN 27 New york,NY 1 N D.OCHIVA [----------------------------------------] <[Holly] HS> Room is now listen-only. Hi folks! <[Holly] HS> HI everyone! Preliminary statement time? <[Holly] HS> I just love this feeling of POWER! *grin* Well, as you all know we're here for a formal conference on Spectre GCR with Dave Small. If you have a question for Dave, please use the /RAIse command to get my attention and get into line. I'll try to Ack your /RAIse as soon as I can. If you don't know what you're doing, try a /SENd 1 question. And that will send it to me, whereby I will try to answer... give me time. It gets hectic! If all else fails... try /HELP... *grin* When you're done with your question, use GA (go ahead) to let us know and if you would tell me you're done, it helps me move things along. Other than that... you pretty much know... :-) <[Holly] HS> Okay, Dave... go for it! Well hiya all, and thanks for coming! Tonight's CO is mostly about the Spectre GCR, and a fair amount of news. I'll try to keep the news short, so you can ask questions. First, yes, the GCR is here and alive, and cookin'... it turns out to be even faster than Spectre's native disk mode, which is no slouch. For instance, copying an 780K file from floppy to hard disk, in Spectre floppy, takes 1:45; on GCR, it takes 1:15. It seems extremely well behaved even with drives that gave the Translator fits (of which I have a few). The price is $299.95; present registered Spectre owners will get a $100 (not $75) rebate. We're trying to express our appreciation to our early buyers with the rebate. (Oh, by the way, the 1:15 timing is off a Mac double sided disk.) Now originally, we were going to ship June 1. Alas, Here's the story: we contacted local FCC, they said we didn't need to be tested. We said, HmmMMmmm. We contacted another FCC office, they said we did. We tried two consultants, got yes/no. We decided to err on the side of caution, and get it tested. This takes 6 weeks, add 2 weeks for Murphy's law, and we'll thus be shipping first part of August. We're really sorry for the delay, but it's best to be sure when dealing with the the FCC, as I'm sure you know. We're going to use the time between June and August for something we'll call the Gamma test, which is post-Beta test; that'll be putting a limited number of GCR's into the field, for testing under wide varieties of drives, machines, etc. We think we have all the oddball problems taken care of, but this will make sure of it. Registered owners get first chance at the GCR's, then people who sign up at World of Atari, then other people. (We're very much behind our present owners!). Order of priority is first come first served. We're mailing out registered owner upgrade forms now. The Spectre GCR completely replaces the Spectre 128, and takes up the cartridge slot. It is also the fastest I've ever made a disk drive go. Finally, to bring to a halt some rumor mongering that's going on, I need to make a short statement; yes, Happy Computers has filed suit against Gadgets by Small. We have examined the suit and feel it is without merit, and are looking into a countersuit. I can't say anything more on the topic, okay? Okay, that's all for announcements (unless I've forgotten something!) (always possible!) Thanks for bearing with me. And now, behind door #1: (*grin*) <[Holly] HS> Thanks, Dave. If you folks have a question, please use /RAI. <[Holly] HS> R.GLOVER... <[Robert] R.GLOVER3> How does GCR accomplish reading MAC disks off IBM mechanisms, which cannot be slowed down and sped up like Mac drives, without a significant speed loss? GA Well, Atari drives run at 300 RPM always. Mac drives run at one of five speeds, between 300 and 600 RPM, depending on which track you're on. When I read a disk recorded at 600 RPM on an Atari drive (e.g., a Mac disk), the data comes off twice as fast. So what we do is vary *our read circuit rate* to match what's coming off the disk. It works very, very well; for instance, I can crank a 300 RPM drive down to 240 RPM, and still read the disk! Super reliable data separator circuit. Does that explain things a little? <[Robert] R.GLOVER3> Sure does. Thanks. In other words, if the data comes off the disk fast, I read fast; if it comes off the disk slow, I read slow. Oh.. I did forgot one portion of the announcement. The version 2.0 Spectre will include a variety of drivers to push the SLM804 laser printer, including a really spiffy 360 x 360 positioning mode (NEC P6). I'll tell you, Brooke Shields looks *really* good at 300 DPI. Also, we may have built-in drivers for the Epson, etc -- no more need for Softstyle. All these WILL work with Hypercard. Finally, we've found a way to nearly double Spectre disk speed. 2.0 will be with the GCR. (Sorry I skipped that.) Okay, back to "door #2": *grin* <[Holly] HS> Whee fun! That was worth hanging on for! Mark... <[Mark] STACE> Thank you Holly! Dave, One of the things that I really liked about Spectre was its small size. Nice and compact! Can you tell us a little about the actual dimensions of Spectre GCR. Height..length.. etc? The Spectre GCR is about the size of a floppy disk -- slightly longer than square (rectangular). It has one end that slides into the cartridge port, and two disk connectors on the back, which are about an inch high -- they determine the height. It's got about 10 chips on the board, plus two ROM sockets. I could give you exact inches if you like, but "the size of a floppy" is pretty darn close. ga. <[Mark] STACE> Naw..that's close enough! On a related note.. Dave, You mentioned TWO drive connectors, will GCR have a 'pass-thru' connector?? As in, for cartridge connections, or for disk connections? Good question!) <[Mark] STACE> Disk drive connections! Will GCR have to be LAST in the chain? Okay, I'll do both (grin). There won't be a pass through cartridge connection; we're using up all 128K of space available, so there's no point. We have 2 disk drive ports. It is best to put the Spectre on the end of the chain of disk drive connections for termination reasons, but in practice, it works well about anywhere, except for super-twitchy drives. We do want to leave the user's options open, and there do seem to be some drives that only have 1 connector. (By the way, on a 1040 or other machine, you just plug the GCR into the "external drive" port; it accesses the *internal* drive just fine.) The 2-connectors is in direct response to a user suggestion, by the way; we originally had 1. <[Mark] STACE> So, this is a change from the original design? (In response to users requests??) Yeah! We try. Still to be seen: Can we put one of these inside the Stacy laptop? (We would *LOVE* to !!!) If there's the room, we can probably do it, and that would be a seriously great hack. <[Holly] HS> Thanks, Mark... Dave, could you comment on the MacWeek article about a Tawainese Mac clone maker Akkord Technology. Will this company muddy the waters? (in what way, exactly?) They seem to want to challenge Apple in court, but I'm not sure exactly how this would work. Well ... essentially, the "guts" or "soul" of the Mac is in those two ROM chips. As we proved with Spectre, that's really all it takes. Has Apple been breathing heavy If the Taiwanese have re-engineered the ROMs legally, and Apple even has guidelines to do so (!), then it could be interesting indeed. or is this Microsoft thing taking up their time Apple has never contacted us at all ... never heard a word from them. (Rumour to the contrary, grin) Thanks for now, and keep up the great work! GA Ah, yes, someone wants me to point out that yes, having the Atari hardware be so zippy was certainly a help! True, true; 1:1 hard disks are *great*! <[Holly] HS> Thanks! Well, let me run with it for just a moment. There were a couple of clones shown at Comdex, but they seem to require a motherboard from a Mac to be put in them (with ROMs, of course). I really don't think there's much that can be done about them. And alas, my subscription to MacWeek ran out a few months back.. *grin*. ga. <[Holly] HS> Joel. <[joel] J.DANNELLEY1> back to STacey do you have any plans to market Spectre as a laptop mac? Either officially from Atari or through dealers (will it work with the STacey?) It's already been tested with Stacey; it works. GRIN! <[joel] J.DANNELLEY1> thanks ga We haven't really been approached to market it as a laptop Mac (hint, hint!), but would certainly think about it! Like I say, I'd love to have one inside a STacy; it would be a great little laptop. .ga. <[Holly] HS> Thanks, Joel... Certainly, if dealers want to bundle them, we're not going to resist it! (It would be a good idea). <[Holly] HS> Dot... I bought the original release of Spectre and snapped the ROMs shut. Am I correct in assuming I'm going to have to tear apart to upgrade, and it's ok to tear it apart? If it's going to be a laptop, though, ideally it should be internal .. I wonder how much space there is. Dot > It's really not that bad to get it apart. Use a screwdriver as a wedge, take your time (a pocketknife works well, too) and it'll ease apart. Work it up all around a little at a time, and before you know it..zing! Now about the upgrade.. we don't want to leave people without their Spectre, so we're doing this. You send us the payment for the GCR; we send you the GCR and a rebate coupon. At your convenience, you do the ROM swap, and get things running. Then, send us back the Spectre 128 cart and the coupon, and a check is on the way to you. How much are we talking about again? It's the best way we could think of from the customer's point of view. Purchase price is $299.95; rebate is $100. We don't want you to have to like mail in your cart and wait for us...also, honestly, if you have more than one ST at your site, you may only need one GCR -- so this lets you keep your Spectre if you want to. I would need more ROMs though, right? Certainly..We just want to make it as hassle-free as possible. Thanks. ga <[Holly] HS> Thanks, Dot... (Naturally, please don't copy your ROMs to EPROM.. that's illegal.) <[Robert] R.GLOVER3> I'd read in one of the online magazines that GCR will have some hardware onboard to help handle sound, possibly with a sampling rate up to 100kHz. Will this improve the speed an reliability of using sound, and in effect, give ST owners better sound than ST owners have now with their own hardware chip...? GA There is indeed a chip that could be used to make sound, but it's not in the current design to use it. We haven't decided yet on this issue, to be honest with you; fine tuning the GCR has had priority. It was a definite thought, though. Sorry I can't be more exact on this one. 11 khz sound is really pretty good! (And how many users really want to plug an external amplifier into their ST? Some do, but...) <[Robert] R.GLOVER3> Thanks. Also, if I may, will hard disk use be more reliable, without the need to use the slow-down method? Hmmm, is there a problem with sound and hard disks? I've not seen general mention of it. Oh, sorry, I misunderstood, The Seagate drives need to be slowed down, that's about it. We're just running their socks off, and they can't handle it at 1:1. <[Robert] R.GLOVER3> Joy. Mines an ST-138N... So we have the SLOW SCSI option, as per the 1.9F menu. It'll still be there, and solves the problem. <[Robert] R.GLOVER3> Thanks, GA <[Holly] HS> Thanks! It's only Seagates that end with ** "N" ** .. others are okay. ST-277N seems to be the biggest troublemaker. well, robert just took my question so I'll ask you this one. *heh* will the GCR help in reading copy protected software? To some extent. It depends on the level of protection. It works like this: Yes, the GCR will read virtually anything. But, When the protected Mac program goes out to find the "mark" on the disk that says it's legit, the s/w often goes to the Mac floppy controller -- the IWM chip. I can't handle that. If it's something simple, like bad sectors, I can handle it. In other words, if they "follow the rules", it works. Many games, alas, don't. ga. oh well, since when did most people follow the rules Actually, they're getting pretty good about them. We're seeing lots of new Macs, with new architectures, and the ROMs are due to be upgraded soon (Apple is rewriting them, I hear, can't wait and please consider the sound option. in C++). So it's getting to be a bad option to ignore the "rules". I wonder if we can upgrade our roms It'll be interesting to see how much ST software works on the Atari 68030 machine, too. *grin* ga (See how many ST developers followed the rules). A little bird tells me the Spectre fails.. *blush* .. on the TT. We'll fix that ASAP. Okay, I confess, I missed the beginning of the conference. Where can a late comer get the news? It's usually collected and posted later, right Holly? <[Holly] HS> Yup... We'll be posting a transcript... thanks ga Hence, stick around if you'd like to ask a question, otherwise, d/load the transcript in a day or two, okay? Do you have any plans, or is it even possible, to make the GCR an internal board for the mega? Well, we need access to the disk drive connector, to sample the read and write wires, and we need access to something really *fast*, like the expansion port on the Mega. I don't know if I can get to the floppy wiring "easily" on the Mega. Hang on just one sec, I'll look. Well, it's possible, alright. I see several places to tap in. This is a very good idea.. do you mind if we use it? *grin* (We've been thinking more about the laptop internal, but the Mega is a very good possibility.) Of course, we'll have to work with the Supra internal drive and the Moniterm board.. <[Holly] HS> Robert... <[Robert] R.GLOVER3> I haven't really tried it yet, as I just got my 128K ROMs, but, will other printers besides the Imagewriter be usable from software, such as PageMaker, or will your Epson driver still be required? I have a Panasonic KX-P1124... but I think a piggyback board for the Atari TOS ROMs would be just the trick. HmmMMMmmm. I'm not familiar with that model of Panasonic; does it have a more or less Epson LQ mode? (Most printers do). It's a 24 pin, right? <[Robert] R.GLOVER3> yes. It's LQ Compatible... Okay.. Dan Moore is writing some nifty, internal (e.g., no Epstart) drivers that will work right off. Hopefully, we can not have to use Epstart anymore, and let it die a quiet, lingering death. *grin*. He's got the laser printer doing really well, and working on the other printer's output. <[Robert] R.GLOVER3> Very good. I'm really looking forward to a REAL DTP program... At present, we cover Imagewriter, Epson MX, FX, LQ, and NEC P6. Not bad! I understand. On a related note, we're talking with Imagen, to get PostScript printing into one clean, smooth step, like the new lasering stuff will be. That'll be one neat package. Just got to work out some technical snags. (I live for technical snags.. *grin) okay, ga. <[Robert] R.GLOVER3> Thanks. This question is purely hypothetical... What are the possibilities of a Mac II emulator for the 68030 TT or ATW? Excellent on the 68030 machine. The Transputer machine, probably not. It's a different architecture and processor. The Spectre has already been tested on the TT; it fails at present, but I know why (I disabled the 68020/030 code). I can take out a few asterisks in the source code (which were messing up my debugger), and I expect it'll fly from there. I'm *really* looking forward to that. <[Robert] R.GLOVER3> Can you cheat and tell us a little about the TT? Anyone happen to know when Atari is planning on shipping first developer units? Heck, I don't know that much, to be honest with you. Atari doesn't share its secrets with me anymore than anyone else. Now Holly here is a real source on it.. (just kidding!) <[Holly] HS> *laugh* I believe it's due to be out in developer unit this summer, and you can bet we'll be working on it. 16 mhz Macs *move* right along. <[Robert] R.GLOVER3> I thought perhaps since it'd been tested on it, you knew some more about it. I'd heard the same... Oh, someone at Atari just passed that along to me. <[Robert] R.GLOVER3> Well, thanks a lot for all your time... Really appreciate it. Ga. BTW, it may be August release.(which tells you how little I know. Grin!) <[Holly] HS> John... Hi Dave, Holly.. This may have already been covered (I got here late) but what is the current release of Spectre, what's the update procedure, is there any update process to go to the GCR? that's okay. Certainly. Current version is 1.9F. We sent out a form to all registered customers with the 1.9F upgrade request; it's free to them. We're filling them. Now, the GCR costs $299.95. If you are a registered Spectre 128 owner, you get a rebate of $100 when purchasing the Spectre GCR.. sort of our way of saying thank you. I sent in my card, but haven't received anything. JLS > Please call in, then, and make sure the US Postal People didn't eat the card. I did order directly thru you. Believe me, we literally get *vats* of mail. Anywho, registered owners, then world of-atari showgoers, get first crack at Spectre GCR. We'll charge a $50 deposit until we ship, then balance. (And be sure to call in on that card, okay? We don't want to lose ya off our list.) I'm sure... Ok.. When will we see the Epson driver? JLS > It'll be in version 2.0, which will ship with the GCR. Yes, SANDYSMALL would be good. Current best estimated aprox ETA? Oh, we were all set to get them out in June, but we're getting FCC tested. That's basically 6 weeks, +2 for Murphy's Law, so we're saying 1st part of August. Our office is basically awash in parts, etc. ga. Ok. Thanks. Thanks for all the extra hours. & .ga. Dave, I've been following up on the ST accelerator board chat on your BBS, and am wondering if you are familiar with it's source and it's status?. GA Incidentally, if anyone out there sent for 1.9F and hasn't gotten it, PLEASE let us know; we'll hustle you one out. The John Russell one? I think so. GA As I understand it, it's a low cost 16 mhz 68000, which should speed up the operations that don't require memory cycles end to end (which is a LOT OF the time on the 68K). I've been told the Spectre works on it already, but if it doesn't, *it will*, as soon as I can buy one. I'd love to get one.. assembly time is LONG on a megabyte of source code. That help? I've heard rumours it'll be shown at WOA this weekend. Thanks Dave! GA By the way, looks like I'm finally going to get the Moniterm monitor rolling for the Spectre; Sandy's had it for awhile and is addicted. I know it's off topic .. but .. can I ask why I see 'OLD FILE FORMAT when trying to run Hypercard on Spectre ? .. wow, that one's out of my league. Someone here know? /SEN me, please! I remember something about a hypercard file format upgrade, but can't recall the details. Perhaps it was when they went to 1.2.1..? Tell you what.. why don't we hold that till after the CO is done; someone will probably know. Or, post it over in the Gadgets RT. no problem , thank you ... ga <[Holly] HS> Well, that's about it for this evening's Co! Thank you, Dave! I'm VERY excited about GCR! And I think I speak for a LOT of the users when I say thanks for the GREAT upgrade path! Any parting remarks? Thanks for taking the time to come by; I appreciate it. We'll be showing the GCR at World of Atari, .. whups!, typing too fast! As well as the next in the series of "I've met Sandy Small" buttons. We'll also be showing off a new product, Jamie 1.0 - who is one year old today! see you there! <[Holly] HS> Remember, we have a special RTC tomorrow night! The Programmers RTC... 10PM EDT/7PM PDT... On Thursday the 27th, we have a special User Group RTC! Chat about problems, ideas and solutions with User Groups from all over! Thanks again for hosting the CO, Holly, and for the ST RT people for having me. -------------------------------------------------------------------------- > Software Theft STR FOCUS¿ ======================== *** WARNING *** --------------- -The issues addressed in this article are volatile- -and ARE guaranteed to generate some hot tempers!- PIRACY IS THEFT - PLAIN and SIMPLE ================================== In the wake of accusations by a software company that the Atari community is a den of thieves, it is perhaps time to step back and take a long look at the issues and the basis of the complex problem of piracy, which is rampant in today's society. In addition to the software industry, it dominates the music and video recording industry as well as cable and satellite television. The most frustrating aspect of piracy is that, like shoplifting, the ultimate cost is passed on to the legitimate paying consumer. A recent magazine review appeared in which the writer states that his usergroup's bulletin board no longer carries STReport because of a past issue that "shows how to copy any ROMS including Macintosh ROMs for the Discovery Cartridge ... and we at --- take piracy seriously". Of course, nobody noticed that all those who own an EPROM BURNER remained silent about the fact the software supplied with this type of device will dump just about any chip to disk or memory so it can be written into another chip. Anyone ever hear of the ProBurner by Thompson Industries? When run through the cartridge slot of an Atari 8bit, it will write to most eproms available today. However, as of this date, that bulletin board has a sub-board specifically for Magic-Sac users. The Magic-Sac also uses Macintosh ROMs to allow the ST to run Macintosh programs. What is the difference between the two? In both cases, the required ROMs are purchased over the counter from a dealer. They are sold with a stipulation (license agreement) as to how or where they are to be installed (ONLY IN APPLE MACHINES). If * Eproms * are used, or if any method of copying the Apple Roms from point A to point B is accomplished, then the use or retrieval of this data is a copyright violation plain and simple. No ifs, maybes, buts, excuses or talk arounds. Or, is it? You tell us. Hopefully, someone "in the know" with facts beyond reproach will come forward. So, what makes the Discovery a "pirate cartridge" and not the Magic Sac, Alladin, Spectre, or any other device not made by Apple but using Apple Roms? As far as the FACTORY ROMS are concerned, it is a licensing agreement violation between Apple, the dealer and ultimately the user. Then what, exactly, is "piracy"? Piracy is a very slippery issue. What one person thinks is piracy, another thinks is perfectly fine. To demonstrate this, what follows is a series of scenarios illustrating some of the more vague technicalities of piracy. Make a note of those that you consider piracy and those you may consider a valid use of software. Keep in mind that most software says that it is authorized for use on ONE station. 1) Your program is installed on the hard drive on your laptop which you carry back and forth between your peripherals (monitor, printer, modem, etc.) at home and work. 2) Your program is on a floppy disk, which you carry back and forth to work. 3) Your small company buys one copy of an $500 database and installs it on both computers. 4) Your big company buys one copy of a $500 database and installs it on all 20 computers in the building. 3) Your work specific program is installed on your hard drives at work and home from the same floppy disk. 4) You take a copy of the latest release of an expensive word processor/ database/cad program for personal use at home. 5) You use a shareware program/accessory regularly, but do not register it with the programmer. 6) Your program is on a floppy disk (the original, no backup, no hard disk) which you take to a friends house to show him how well it works. 7) You take a back-up (or it is on a hard drive) to a friends house. 8) You take the original disk (no backup/no hd) and leave it with him to try out for a couple days. 9) You take a backup to a friend and leave it for a few days. He is impressed, and buys a copy for himself. 10) You take a backup to a friend and leave it for a few days. He is not impressed and formats the disk. 11) You take a backup to a friend and leave it for a few days. He is impressed and keeps it but does not buy a copy. 12) You use an emulator at home with the factory ROMS installed to allow it to work. Pretty easy to decide, eh? STReport would like to know what your opinions are on this subject and so we are conducting a poll. Send us the numbers that you picked as being piracy (as well as any other comments you have) to us at: E-MAIL: CIS 73710.1052 Genie ST.REPORT Delphi RMARIANO FNET/FIDOMAIL Node 350 US SNAIL: STReport INC. - PO BOX 6672, JACKSONVILLE, FL 32205-6672 ALL responses will remain confidential, so please indicate what you REALLY believe to be piracy. In addition, if you have any suggestions as to why piracy persists, or how to stop piracy, (or why it shouldn't be stopped), feel free to include them. I repeat, all responses will remain confidential. Why do people pirate software, even though it is illegal? One obvious reason is to avoid paying money for the use of a program. But if asked whether they would take a computer off of a display stand and walk out of the store with it, most would say NO; "because that's stealing!". What's the difference? Probably because he could be caught and prosecuted by the police if he is caught carrying merchandise out of the store, whereas in the case of piracy, who is there to run from? Is the solution to start up a bureau of computer crimes and start prosecuting, as is being done with phone freaking? But it just isn't that simple. How many times have you gone out and bought a program based on the claims or pictures on the cover, or based on a review or a recommendation, and had it turn out to be a dog. The program didn't do what it claimed to do, or do it as well as described, or you fell asleep at the keyboard playing that exciting new game that you paid $30-50 for. Can you sell it to someone else? Return it and get your money back? Doubtful to say the least. What can you do to avoid this? You can try a demo at the store which, although helpful, is not sufficient to decide if the program is what you need/want. What can you do? What many people turn to is really one form of piracy or another. It may be that they obtain a pirated copy of a software package that looks interesting and try it for a few days or weeks. At some point in time the person will decide whether or not to continue to use the program. Some will go out and purchase any program they intend to continue to use in order to express support for the developers for producing a worthwhile program. The rest, unfortunately, not only refuse to buy the software, but in fact rarely pay for software unless it has unbreakable copy protection (very rare), or is so complicated that it requires extensive documentation. Is the solution more copy protection? Or programs so complex that it requires documentation to do the simplest task? Part of the whole problem is the attitude of "the little guy" that sees that he has a chance to take a shot at the faceless corporation. He rationalizes it by mumbling a) How can they realistically charge $500 (or whatever) for this program?, or b) I'm only going to use it once or twice a month! or, c) I'll buy a copy when the final version is out/when I have the money/when they get a version I can put on my hard drive or, d) (there is no end to excuses). Many users have low opinions of software companies in general because of past problems with other companies such as bad disks, inadequate documentation, non-existent customer support, (insert your personal frustrations here), and just plain lousy programs. Many times companies garner hostility via bad/lousy public relations like the recent blasting of the Atari community for piracy before a piece of software had even left the starting gate. Another part of the problem is that a few of those who scream the loudest about piracy are, (a la Shakespeare 'methinks he doth protesteth too much) attempting to direct attention away from themselves. Surprisingly, a few of these (known by members of the staff of STReport) are actively involved on pirate boards, hiding behind handles to remain anonymous. (No, we will not say who). Yet another part of the problem is that businesses will buy one copy of an expensive software package and install it on all of it's computers. What is an honest computer user to do? Go into the boss' office and sternly inform him that piracy is illegal and that he must spend another $6,000 to install dBaseIII on each station, and $5,000 to install Wordperfect, and...? And threaten to quit if it isn't done? Go out and spend $2,000 of his own money so that he can feel righteous while remaining compatible with the rest of the office? So what is the solution to the problem of piracy? A novel approach to the situation has been the advent of 'shareware' which relies the honor system. A program is distributed to all potential users via bbs's with an attached note requesting donations/registration for support in developing further versions, or for a more advanced version, or for documentation. An applaudable effort, but the vast majority of shareware authors seems to be that support is skimpy, especially considering the low cost and high value of many of these programs. How many of you reading this article, tsk tsking about how terrible piracy is, regularly use a shareware program (dcformat, turtle, superboot, arcshell, etc.) but have not registered it? Hmmmm?? So what is the solution? Let's do a little brainstorming, devise some good ideas, and write them down, no matter how crazy they sound at first. For example ..We could: Try and enthusiastically enforce copywrite laws? Perhaps require the registration of all computers and start up a Computer Crime Bureau complete with teams to conduct random inspections of registered computers for stolen software? (I can see it now, "knock knock, computer cops, open up" .. "Quick, format the floppies, I'll beat them off with my disk drive!"). Perhaps we can ostracize pirates from 'our polite computer society'? Or ignore them and hope they'll go away. They'd probably enjoy the notoriety. Develop better methods of copy protection? It hasn't worked in the past. Develop software that requires lengthy documentation to use? That would either make the software less marketable because it's too complex, or just increase the sales of photocopiers. Lower the prices of software and hope that the increased sales would generate enough increased revenue to keep the bottom line the same? A nice thought, and I'm sure sales would go up, but considering the lack of support of shareware, the increase probably wouldn't be that much. Develop a system of "try before you buy" to allow users to really try software before they spend the bucks? A nice thought, but such places have gained the reputation of supporting/spreading piracy by allowing customers to "decide not to buy" while keeping copies of the software. Piracy is a problem that affects all legitimate purchasers and users of software. Pirates are not using free software, they are using software paid for by those who have paid for it themselves. There is no simple solution to this problem, indeed there is no answer in sight. Only by fully understanding what causes and nurtures piracy and the reason that it is so widespread can we attempt to stop it. This article is intended to provoke a deliberate consideration of the problem of piracy, and hopefully generate some feedback from the Atari community. Next week, we will report the results of the survey on what our readers believe as well as what legally constitutes piracy. We will also convey some of the suggested and reasons and solutions that accompany the surveys. ----===---- Courtesy of CIS Fora -------------------- Fm: SYSOP * Dave Groves 76703,4223 One of the developers called me to task on the concept that I am looking through 'rose colored glasses'. His contention is that since my associates and I are so avidly anti-pirate, the pirates have simply avoided showing their colors here and/or have gone to other services. This is probably true, but the simple fact is that the more we reduce their exposure and the more we force them to be careful who they let in, the less damage they can do. Nine years ago, you could call most any BBS in the country and find some stolen software. Time was you could get the number of a pirate board and get free admission to some of the less sought after areas with 'old warez'. Now you need to get a system password from a member of the system, provide stolen software to get on as a regular, and get a reference from another pirate board in good standing in order to get full privileges. If we can get the honest BBS's and the honest user groups to delete pirate advertising and throw out pirate members and keep them from even thinking 'pirate' online in the commercial services, they will ultimately die of inbreeding. The idea of threatening to turn in and expose the user logs, etc. is right on target. There is no cure for a pathological thief, BUT if we can prevent him-her-it from having any place to 'fence' stolen goods and if we can deprive him of the joys of being nationally known, then we can take much of the 'fun' out of his game. Ostracize a pirate today! Also, to those who feel that anyone who has ever stolen software should be banned for life, I would like to point out that reformed pirates like reformed smokers, drinkers, whatever often make the BEST crusaders. We will never stop 100% of all piracy, but a unified effort will sure help us reduce their impact, damage and existence. ----===---- Ed Note: While in full agreement with Dave, we cringe at the idea of continually tarnishing the "Swashbucklers of Olde" by using the term "Pirate" and other terms that are associated with 'Ole Long John Silver'. THEREFORE; NOTICE: For the next four [4] weeks; STReport will hold a contest. NOTICE """"""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""" >>>> "You supply the best name to use instead of Pirate" <<<< RULES: ===== (1) All entries must be "Printable" (2) All entries will be placed in Public Domain. (3) All entries are judged for originality. (4) All entries must be in no later than 06-02-89. (5) Winner will be announced 06-09-89. -------------------------------------------------------------------------- > SH Reply STR Feature¿ ==================== A REPLY TO SPECTRUM HOLOBYTE ============================ courtesy: CIS forums Fm: Ed Waldorph 73637,42 To: Spectrum HoloByte 76004,2144 Mr. Louie: Thank you for writing. I have been basically off-line for a while and missed your first note. I did not, however, miss the response. You appear to be a very outspoken and forthright person-- a rare commodity in marketing these days, and it seems to have evoked a like response. It is unfortunate that this medium is black and white and nuances often go unnoticed. Hopefully your people will not take any remarks personally. While I feel here have been several very serious errors committed in the Atari community, by all parties, they are, with the exception of software theft, not torts and certainly not crimes against the people. We have not been unscathed by the general degeneration of ethics in the business world. Basically I am saying that while bad things have happened, there is no real blame to be laid. The software thieves (I will not use the term 'Pirate') are not to blame for declining sales. After all, how many of them would actually _buy_ a program if they didn't steal it? Seriously, how can you quantify this? Software companies are not to blame for making responsible business decisions based on expectations of return on investment. Users are not to blame for expecting Rolls Royce features, performance and service for Yugo prices. Atari is not to blame for trying to set a standard in Europe when they had no hope of setting one here. I have said before, and I will say again, software theft is not as much of a problem as it is _perceived_ as a problem. This has acted as a smoke screen and prevented the direction of pressure towards the real problem, where it would do the most good; Atari Corp. itself. Why is it Atari's burden? Because they chose to break from the mainstream and create their own niche. If they had produced IBM clones or Mac clones we would have nothing to say. The standards were set, they would be another scavenger scrambling after Big Blues scraps. But, they didn't do that. ------------------------- They decided to set their own standards. Now there's nothing wrong with this. Apple did it. Next did it. But those companies did something more. Not only did they release a machine that had fully functioning software; they actively recruited, supported and encouraged third party hardware and software companies to produce for their machines. They created markets by dumping their machines (not ethical but definitely the American way) into the academic mainstream. What did Atari have to show? A half completed paint program, a crippled word processor and a hysterically laughable BASIC programming language. (We won't even mention Logo.) They sold hardware to developers at inflated prices and then ignored them. They made statements like "No software program over $100." A legion of established eight-bit users rushed into the void thinking they would get great programs for next to nothing, from the same eight-bit programmers who did it for love and the hope it would buy food and pay the rent. Talk about setting the stage for disaster So after abandoning the established computer market and striking out on their own, then abandoning the developer community (and _not_ striking out on their own), Atari then committed the ultimate sin: they abandoned the entire U.S. market, dealer and user alike. So what now? Where does that leave us? Where does that leave you? Well, things _are_ turning around. But let's put our energies where they can do the most good; and that is not beating up scumbag software thieves. You are not going to make a profit unless there are enough users to buy your programs. Atari is not going to sell many machines unless there are some dynamite programs to run on them. (Power without the price went out the window with $100 software) Anyone can buy an XT clone complete with hard disk for under $900. Atari is going to have to do some selling to convince us to pay between $1,000 and $5,000 for an ST or Mega or TT. The only way they are going to do that is with the help of developers. The only way developers can do it is with the help of Atari. As one of the premier developers this is where you should be putting the pressure. You were surprised at the response of the Atari community to your comments. Believe me, if we didn't care about you or your company, you wouldn't have heard a peep. Ed -------------------------------------------------------------------------- > STReport OnLine¿ =============== "Online, where the action is." --------------------------- GET THE DUNKIN' CHAIR READY! ============================ A situation began unfolding last week that was quite disturbing. An individual hiding behind the initials LYC, claiming to be the savior of the software world, proceeded to crucify a well known user on the major services, XORG. The part that was most offensive is that this individual waged this private little war under the flag of SPECTRUM HOLOBYTE which initially lead people to believe that what was being done was with the blessings of SH and Mr. Louie. Nothing could be farther from the truth. According to Gilman Louie, LYC's actions were and are as a loner, without the blessings or direction of SH. In fact, LYC is a volunteer beta-tester who gained unauthorized access to the SH online support console and proceeded to accuse XORG of being a software thief. After having gone over all the material relative to this situation, it becomes easy to find the accusations to be lacking in any real substance. There is an alleged file that was 'supposed' to have been uploaded by XORG to the Happy Pirate Ship BBS. In the meantime, those of us who operate a forem bbs know all to well how simple it is to rework any file used by forem. We are not alluding to this but, since it is a distinct possibility, a valid question cast on the presentation of "Xorg is the uploader". In this day and age there are many individuals who are exposed to unsavory characters in many walks of life. To incriminate and accuse on the grounds of guilt by association borders on pure and unmitigated insanity. In many instances, there is much more to a situation that meets the eye, for example, a militant user, dead set against piracy, volunteers to infiltrate and document his/her activities for the authorities. Yes, there are a few agencies that will, when fraud or computer B&E is involved, arrest and prosecute. This type of individual is known as a cooperating individual (CI). Perhaps by the indications represented in the information we now have, this may very well be the case. LYC may have managed to blow the "cover" of an ongoing investigation involved in eliminating BBSs that specialize in phreaking and hacking codes, hot credit cards and software theft. Something about international telecommunications fraud and an agency of the Federal Gov't. Furthermore, we find ourselves hard pressed not to ask the question of LYC, why??? What gain is there for either you or SH. Surely, the answer is NOT in retaliation for XORG disagreeing with G. Louie's letter. (see STReport #83) The answer may lie in our finding out MORE about LYC and the real bottom line as to why XORG was in that userlog. It would be nice to know the reason for exposing ONLY XORG and NOT the remainder of the userlog represented to be in LYC's care. Now it's time to set the record straight. Besides, two wrongs do not make a right! Clearly, by LYC uploading a copy of Falcon, (by your own admission), to the Happy Pirate Ship simply to gain access could possibly create a seriously doubtful situation as far as a successful prosecution is concerned. "Evidence gained by illegal means ...etc..." Thank goodness this BBS is history, for the precedent setting behavior and examples you have left behind need to be forgotten. You are not the investigative team, the judge, and the jury. To Pete and others in this board's userlog, you were wrong in being a promoter of this BBS by calling it. Even though you may not have participated in it's main activity, by calling you became an indirect vote of approval. There is no need to call a BBS for two years in an attempt to shut it down. To the other people in that userlog, be prepared and forewarned, STReport has obtained a copy of the userlog in question and a series of E-Mail diatribes, making quite clear, the purpose and intentions of another regular on the services. We are going to wait for a short period of time to see if this person wishes to come forward with a reasonable explanation of why his presence was necessary there and on Tumbleweeds. Regrettably, while sitting here looking at this material, serious reservations have arisen about the real purpose of LYC's actions concerning this matter. Frankly, it is easy to see where more harm than good may have been the NET result. ----=======---- Response to Letters =================== Since we received close to 15 phone calls and 21 letters in E-Mail concerning the "permissions" letter, posted by Darlah on GEnie, we have decided to answer 'en masse' here. To all our friends who voiced concern over whether GEnie was miffed at us last week over the COMDEX re-print (the one posted by Jeff Williams), such is not the case. In fact, it was STReport who asked for and obtained permission to re-print from both Jeff and Darlah. Once again, thanks for all your wonderful support. Let's all stand behind Atari and help with this US market recovery. The Editor and Staff STReport Online Magazine --------------- ?QUESTION OF THE WEEK? ==================== WHO IS KNOWN AS THE "PIRATE'S PIRATE" IN SAN DIEGO? --------------- WHO ELSE IS IN THE HAPPY PIRATE SHIP'S USERLOG? .......Mr. ?? and ...?? CURRENT EVENTS COMMENTS ======================= STReport is put together and released with one purpose in mind, that's to let the users know what's going on when it is happening not three months late when the entire story has unfolded and been polished for release. We will continue to 'say it like we see it' in our editorials and we will attempt to verify all news items and rumors. We do not and cannot condone any 'off the wall' commentary, misleading information or plain double talk. The only area in STReport where you will find "unverified" rumors that shouldn't be taken seriously, is the "hot gossip" (spoof) area in STReport Online. Once again, we must emphasize we are concentrating on solid information, reviews, original articles and we will not inflate the size of our issues with re-released material unless it is part of an ongoing issue and then, it will be abbreviated and have a reference to where it can be found in it's entirety. Finally, we understand the fact that online representatives of Atari must follow the company line and will, at times, become adversaries on certain issues. Needless to say, this comes with the territory. We at STReport will attempt to follow in the best traditions of professionalism by not allowing emotion to enter into our presentations. (At times it's not easy, but we will try.) On the question of verification, every effort is taken to verify, and we will call whomever it takes to obtain the truth. We reserve the right however, to choose whom we call for said verifications. We respectfully reserve the right to keep confidential the sources of our news and tips. * Since our assumption of control and responsibility for STReport * ::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::: A)- we will not be a "company stooge" for 'any' company. B)- we do check/verify the stories we run. C)- non-verified items originate from credible sources only. D)- we give ALL credits and by-lines. --------------------- E)- we earn NO INCOME from STReport Online Magazine. F)- we are NOT associated with any other online magazine. In further consideration, we pledge to the readers that our editorial content will not be influenced by any outside pressures and that they will focus on current issues. In addition, all articles that appear in STReport will be new and/or original. There will be no old canned articles resurrected and used for filler. The major portion of our material will focus on the issues and not on fluff and hype. ----======---- "HOT GOSSIP" ========= Before the end of the year, Atari will have close to 750,00 machines in use across the USA..... "By the end of the year, (1989), a number of respected folks in the Atari community will have been accused of being Software Thieves." (Fearless Fosdick) Before the end of the last quarter of 1989 a number of important changes at the executive level of Atari Corp. will have occurred. -------------------------------------------------------------------------- > Atari Stock ~ STReport¿ ====================== THE TICKERTAPE ============== by Glenn Gorman ATARI Corp. has been quoted as one of the stocks, on the American Stock Exchange, to watch. So, I've been keeping track of it and thought that others would also be interested. Atari Stock went up an 1/8 of a point on Tuesday, dropped an 1/8 on Wednesday, and up 1/8 on Thursday. Winding up the week at 6 5/8 points. +---------------------+ | ATARI STOCK WATCH | | Week 04-10 to 04-14 | +-------+----------+-----------+-------------+------------+-------------+ | | Monday | Tuesday | Wednesday | Thursday | Friday | +-------+----------+-----------+-------------+------------+-------------+ | Sales | 216 | 307 | 105 | 431 | 483 | +-------+----------+-----------+-------------+------------+-------------+ | Last | 6 1/2 | 6 5/8 | 6 1/2 | 6 5/8 | 6 5/8 | +-------+----------+-----------+-------------+------------+-------------+ | Chg. | ----- | +1/8 | -1/8 | +1/8 | ----- | +-------+----------+-----------+-------------+------------+-------------+ | From -> THE CAVE ST BBS <-> 609-882-9195 <-> 3/12/2400 <-> F-NET #351 | +=======================================================================+ -------------------------------------------------------------------------- > SPECTRE 128 STR Review¿ ====================== SPECTRE 128 =========== Version 1.9F ------------ by Roger Stevens Like probably every owner of SPECTRE 128 who received the announcement of the 'free' upgrade to version 1.9 - I broke a few land speed records mailing my original disk back to Gadgets By Small Inc. The one capability that I found totally irresistable in this new revision was the inclusion of SOUND! Yes, that which Dave Small himself had previously proclaimed IMPOSSIBLE was now a reality. MacSound coming from my ST!!! What a tempting thought! In much less time than I anticipated (approx. 7 days), the postman delivered my anxiously awaited upgrade. Being in a hurry to hear my ST make MAC sounds, I ran the new program without bothering to read the documentation file included on the disk. Honest now, how many of you really read that README.1ST file before trying something out? Had I read the file first, I would have been aware that the enabled sound driver in version 1.9F was really a Beta test version just to get the capability into the hands of the users clamoring for it. I was expecting perfection and anything less was disappointing. Let me say right up front....the sound driver DOES work... The cost for this sound is a drastically slowed-down processor. Occasionally the two do not produce a happy balance. As Dave points out in the docs, the sounds from Crystal Quest (arcade game) are really great. This is all too true!! However, having become a Crystal Quest addict BEFORE sound, I was saddled with a game that slowed down to the point of making the play completely boring because of the slowness. The sounds are great but the game is too slow to play. I went back and read the documentation and see the reasons for the speed decreases. Making that poor 68000 do all the sound that is handled by other hardware in a real MAC really takes its toll on processor speed. Bottom line folks....SOUND WORKS---for a speed trade-off. Since there are always two sides to every story, I'll give you a 'plus' for the slow game play in Crystal Quest. When you start the game, turn sound OFF by pressing ESC once. Then, when you start to get in trouble, just hit ESC again (turns sound on) to slow the action down and give you time to out-run the 'bad guys'. Another upgrade in this version allows 'auto-mounting' of all your MAC Hard Drive partitions. This is a helpful feature and can be disabled if you choose to do it manually. The arrow keys have been enabled for cursor movement within those word processors. Dave fixed a number of small but nasty 'bugs' (undocumented features) from version 1.75 and even added Atari Laser Printer support to this package. Since I am not the proud owner of an Atari Laser printer, I cannot comment on the capabilities of this part of the upgrade. What I can do is step back, look long and hard at what is involved in this upgrade and give Gadgets by Small a big ATTABOY for the upgrade and a double ATTABOY for making it free. Macintosh emulation has come a long way from the early Magic Sac days when 'crashes' were the accepted norm. SPECTRE 128 is a pleasure to use. -------------------------------------------------------------------------- > A Profile - STR Feature¿ ======================= Richard Adams' Autobiography ============================ From time to time, people have asked me about my background, so I've included this brief autobiography. I am currently married. My family includes children, horses, canines, felines, water fowl, plus other various furry and aquatic critters. I enjoy scuba diving, video taking, and downhill skiing. Let's set the time portal back about 21 years. At age 12 I was awarded "boy of the year" by a public service organization in Miami Florida. This was for my school Science Fair project; a video system I constructed. At age 14 I began learning computers with an IBM 360 computer, using the APL language. I soon became proficient at programming the IBM in machine language as well, and at age 15 went to work after school for one of the first "time share" computer companies. I had a terminal at home to do some of my work. This was a 300 baud selectric. During high school, my time wasn't strictly devoted to computers and electronics. I had to go where the girls were. So, I developed my talents in "race car" engineering. My pride and joy was a 66 Mustang that I used to race at the 1/4 mile drag strip. I've even driven a full blown rail dragster. Did this only once though; too fast for me! In college during the early 1970's, I interfaced an electronic organ to the university's giant computer, and created one of the first computer controlled "all electronic" (nonmechanical) musical instruments. This was my first big project. I wrote all of the software, and designed and built the hardware interface. As my college senior project, I designed and built a complete video digitizer system. The system interfaced a video camera to a computer. The software even allowed reading music, so I didn't have to type it in for the organ to play. The optical music reader allowed the organ to play Bach's T&F in d minor (Phantom of the opera), without me having to type in the whole bloody thing. I got tired of having to wait in line to utilize the school's computers. I designed and built one of the first home built 16 bit computers. This was several years before there was an 8 bit TRS-80 or Apple. My brother Scott Adams, who started one of the first famous computer software companies, Adventure International, wrote his first game for a microcomputer on my home built 16 bit computer. It was called "SPACE WARS". Two players utilized the keyboard to play against each other. I still have this computer, but since the time I moved to Morgan Hill in 1983, I haven't taken it out of the attic. For nostalgia, I can watch a video tape I made of Scott's "SPACE WARS". I graduated college and went to work for a major IC manufacturer. I was involved in various aspects of microprocessor design and testing. In this job, I assisted in the design and test implementation of the 1771 chip. This was one of the first floppy disk controller chips. Later, I went to work for the most famous (at the time) manufacturer of computer controlled IC test systems. I became a member of their elite SWAT team. In this Sales Worldwide Applications Team, I traveled throughout the world helping many IC manufacturers and IC users learn to operate our systems. I invented newer, more efficient testing methods for various chips, and presented a paper on this. I assisted in the development and testing of the 68000 chip at Motorola. In 1982 I started Happy Computers. Happy is my father in law's nickname. The Happy boards and software I designed for the Atari 8 bit drives, have provided tens of thousands of users high speed, disk backup, and IBM file transfer. The Discovery Cartridge and HART chip represent many years of experience in electronic, computer, IC, and disk system design and usage. Thousands of people throughout the world are already completely satisfied with its impressive performance. My record speaks for itself. The systems I design all have one thing in common. They really work! -------------------------------------------------------------------------- > ST REPORT CONFIDENTIAL¿ ====================== - Sunnyvale, CA ***** THE MEGA ST1 IDEA IS IN TROUBLE! ***** ------------- Not surprisingly, the Mega ST1, shown at Hanover this year, has been placed in jeopardy in favor of the newer units planned for release later this year. The name of the STacey has been changed to something VERY imaginative 'TRANSPORTABLE' (cute) and it now will have a superior backlit screen. - Sunnyvale, CA ****** LASERBRAIN IS NOT A MYTH! ***** ------------- Laserbrain is a fine Epson emulator, and it's available in Europe and elsewhere, this set of files gives the SLM804 the ability to become even more versatile. Why is it being kept under wraps here in the states? According to our information, the latest version of Laserbrain is excellent and has very few undocumented features. So, what in heaven's name is the reason for the holdup? Mr. Reluctant is at it again....! - Sunnyvale, CA **** SHRAZ SHIVJI'S POSITION FILLED **** ------------- Coming from the UK, and according to all reports, more than capable, is one of the designers of the TT and a custom chip used in the STacey, Richard Miller. By all indications, he is, "just what the doctor ordered". All the userbase is behind you, good luck to you. Meanwhile Shivji, gone but certainly not forgotten, can be reached at Tandon Corp. - Green Bay, WI **** HACKER - PHREAKER GETS "STIFF" PENALTY **** ------------ David Kelsey, (AKA Stagehand) after pleading guilty to two counts of class 'E' felonies, has received a 90 day jail term. Once the jail term is served, (with work release), he will serve three years probation. He must also pay restitution to Schneider Communications ($511.00) of Green Bay, WI. Kelsey was given all his computer equipment back as part of the plea bargain. Missing were any materials considered to be ill gotten. - New York City, N.Y. **** NEW STs SHIP WITH GERMAN CHIPS **** ------------------- A major reason why Atari is having little or no DRAM and other chip availability problems is simple, all the chips in the new machines being shipped at this time are manufactured in Germany. - San Francisco, CA **** MAC EMULATION ALA SUPREME!!! **** ----------------- According to Mr. James McHugh of C.E.K.A., they will be debuting two new internal MAC emulators for both the MEGA series and all other ST computers. The great thing about these emulators is that they use NO MAC ROM CHIPS! Now that Apple has instructed it's dealers that they are not to sell any ROM chips into a non-APPLE environment, things will be getting very interesting. These emulators will read, write and format ala MAC while in the emulation mode. (No special drives or extra devices needed) For further information call: 415-474-2641. - Ann Arbor, MI ***** M.A.C.E. TO HOST ATARI CORP. ***** ------------ To eliminate any further confusion, a further clarification of whether or not Atari Corp. will have a booth at the MACE Show, we wish to make this perfectly clear: - ATARI WILL HAVE A BOOTH AT THE MACE SHOW. - Apparently, a small, inconsequential notice stating that Atari would not be there has created some consternation and confusion. We certainly hope this notice, (which we verified with S. Hartmann), helps alleviate the confusion. - Baton Rouge, LA **** MITSUBISHI & ATARI ROMANCE COOLS **** -------------- A Local ST usergroup was caught in a "squeeze play" this past month when the Mitsubishi Shopping Center Auto Show thingy was to take place and they were asked to man the machines. No software, no HELP from Atari and the car folks knew nothing about running the machines. They reported that when they called Atari for help and direction, they were told ..WE QUOTE: "Drop the whole thing, it's Mitsubishi's Ball, it's their machines, don't get involved!" Pretty sad when a usergroup has it's people out and ready to do the job of trying to "back and help Atari" then somebody just leaves them there with "egg on the face". Now, both the Atari dealer and the usergroup in that area have just cause to look at Sunnyvale and exclaim, WHY? -------------------------------------------------------------------------- > A "QUOTABLE QUOTE"¿ ================== "Quantity is NEVER a substantive indication of Quality" and "Quality is never substituted by Quantity" "1989 - ATARI'S QUEST" ------------------------------------------------------------------------- ST-REPORT¿Issue #84 "Your Independent News Source" April 21, 1989 ALL RIGHTS RESERVED ½ copyright 1989 ------------------------------------------------------------------------- Views, Opinions and Articles Presented herein are not necessarily those of ST Report¿ or CPU Report¿. Reprint permission granted, unless noted otherwise. All reprints must include ST Report or CPU Report and the author's name. All information presented herein is believed correct, ST Report or CPU Report, it's editors and staff are not responsible for any use or misuse of information contained in this publication. -------------------------------------------------------------------------