SILICON TIMES REPORT ==================== INTERNATIONAL ONLINE MAGAZINE ============================= from STR Electronic Publishing Inc. A division of STR Worldwide CompNews Inc. February 10, 1995 No. 1106 ====================================================================== Silicon Times Report International OnLine Magazine Post Office Box 6672 Jacksonville, Florida 32221-6155 R.F. Mariano, Editor ----------------------------------------- Voice: 1-904-783-3319 10am-4pm EST STR Publishing Support BBS * THE BOUNTY INTERNATIONAL BBS * Featuring: * 45GB * of Download Files Operating with * Mustang Software's WILDCAT! 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""""""""""""""""" - STR INDUSTRY REPORT - NEC CUTS Notebook $$ - Visio Visited - Apple -> Censorship? - V.34 & V.FC viewed - ID Cheat Files - HAYES UG OFFER - Invoice Store Review - People Talking - Delrina NEWS - Frankie's Corner - Jaguar News -* C-LAB FALCON MKII - $2m *- -* COMPAQ PLANS NO APPLE CLONES *- -* PENTIUM CLONE PRICES CUT! *- ========================================================================== STReport International OnLine Magazine The Original * Independent * OnLine Magazine -* FEATURING WEEKLY *- "Accurate UP-TO-DATE News and Information" Current Events, Original Articles, Tips, Rumors, and Information Hardware - Software - Corporate - R & D - Imports ========================================================================== STReport's BBS - The Bounty BBS, invites all BBS systems, worldwide, to participate in the ITC/Fido/Internet/PROWL/USENET/USPOLNet/NEST/F-Net Mail Networks. You may also call The Bounty BBS direct @ 1-904-786-4176. 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CALL: 1-800-848-8199 .. Ask for operator 198 You will receive your complimentary time and be OnLine in no time at all! "Enjoy CompuServe's forums; where information is at its very best! """""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""" > From the Editor's Desk "Saying it like it is!" """""""""""""""""""""" First, an update on my two sons who were in the industrial explosion.. Ralph, the oldest, is back to work. He has bee assured by the doctors that there will be no scarring on his face or neck. His hands will show little or no scarring also. (Great news) Victor, who was standing behind and somewhat to the left of Ralph when the incident occurred suffered lesser injuries but... There is always that infernal but. Victor has no visible scars at all. He does however, have a definite hearing loss. It seem the explosion caused a blood vessel to burst and fill his inner ear canal with blood. The doctor has made mention that this too could very possibly pass but he added, since he could not see the affected areas he would wait for the blood to clear out before making a final decision and course of action if any. Needless to say, Victor is not back to work yet. I wish, on behalf of my two sons, to thank each and every one of you who sent cards and E-mail it was really wonderful. My heartfelt thanks to all and especially to the good Lord for having watched over my boys. Now, on to the high tech, hi-Jinx of the gaming world. Most of the major game machine (console) manufacturers are at the "big 16/32/64 bit junction" in the rise of power for the machines. Slated for this Fall are no less than three sixty four bit machines with high speed CDRom support. One company, a trailblazer, Atari Corp. has had a sixty four bit machine, The Jaguar, available for quite some time. Truly ahead of its time, the Jaguar is now waiting, and waiting and waiting for some real powerhouse games and a number of third party devices that seem to be in an endless loop of morose delay. In fact, while the Atari Jaguar literally lead the way in the unique technology department, it lost all the lead time to the incessant delays and broken release dates. Atari's Jaguar had a wonderful window of opportunity for what seemed like forever. Yet Atari blew the big jump away and as a result, the Jaguar suffered a lack of; sizable market penetration, enthusiastic development of superior game carts and true national advertising and distribution. In a very recent OnLine conference, one of Atari's most powerful competitors has made it quite clear they have their "sights" set on the 64bit marketplace and are fully prepared to deliver and ..deliver in big quantities. While Atari may have "opened the gates" of the sixty four bit gaming consoles, they are, unless they go into high gear, about to have their doors blown off by the competition. It will be a very interesting market to observe as it evolves. In this issue as part of the Hayes Usergroup Offer, is some very valuable information about the new, 28.8bps V.34 and V.FC categories we've all been hearing and reading so much about. Hayes presents the detailed information in a clear, easy to understand format. Don't miss it. Ralph... Of Special Note: ---------------- STReport will be branching out further to Internet's userbase in the very near future. We've received numerous requests to receive STReport from a wide variety of Internet addresses. As a result, we're putting together an Internet distribution/mailing list for those who wish to receive STReport on a regular basis, and we'll UUENCODE each issue and mail it to you. If you're interested in being added to our mailing list, please, send your requests to either "dpj@delphi.com" or, RMARIANO@DELPHI.COM. Look for mailings to begin by October first. We are also considering a number of Internet ftp sites in which to post our issues for as well. Whatever we can do to make STReport available to you. we'll try it! """""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""" STReport's Staff DEDICATED TO SERVING YOU! """""""""""""""" Publisher -Editor """""""""""""""""" Ralph F. Mariano Lloyd E. Pulley, Editor, Current Affairs Section Editors """"""""""""""" PC SECTION AMIGA SECTION MAC SECTION ATARI SECTION ---------- ------------- ----------- ------------- R.D. Stevens R. Niles J. Deegan D. P. Jacobson STReport Staff Editors: """"""""""""""""""""""" Michael Arthur John Deegan Brad Martin John Szczepanik Paul Guillot Joseph Mirando Doyle Helms Frank Sereno John Duckworth Jeff Coe Steve Keipe Guillaume Brasseur Melanie Bell Jay Levy Jeff Kovach Marty Mankins Carl Prehn Paul Charchian Contributing Correspondents: """""""""""""""""""""""""""" Dominick J. Fontana Norman Boucher Clemens Chin Eric Jerue Ron Deal Mike Barnwell Ed Westhusing Glenwood Drake Vernon W.Smith Bruno Puglia Paul Haris Kevin Miller Craig Harris Allen Chang Tim Holt Patrick Hudlow Tom Sherwin Please, submit letters to the editor, articles, reviews, etc... via E-Mail to: CompuServe................... 70007,4454 Delphi......................... RMARIANO GEnie......................... ST.REPORT BIX............................ RMARIANO FIDONET........................ 1:112/35 FNET........................... NODE 620 ITC NET...................... 85:881/253 NEST........................ 90:21/350.0 America OnLine..................STReport Internet.............RMARIANO@DELPHI.COM IMPORTANT NOTICE ---------------- STReport, with its policy of not accepting any paid advertising, has over the years developed the reputation of "saying it like it really is". When it comes to our editorials, product evaluations, reviews and over-views, we shall always keep our readers interests first and foremost. With the user in mind, STReport further pledges to maintain the reader confidence that has been developed over the years and to continue "living up to such". All we ask is that our readers make certain the manufacturers, publishers etc., know exactly where the information about their products appeared. In closing, we shall arduously endeavor to meet and further develop the high standards of straight forwardness our readers have come to expect in each and every issue. The Staff & Editors """"""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""" > STR INDUSTRY REPORT LATE BREAKING INDUSTRY-WIDE NEWS """"""""""""""""""" IBM/POWER-PC/PC SECTION (I) =========================== Computer Products Update - CPU Report ------------------------ ---------- Weekly Happenings in the Computer World Issue #06 Compiled by: Lloyd E. Pulley, Sr. ******* General Computer News ******* >> Oracle Expanding on Internet << Software publisher Oracle Corp. says it will aggressively expand its services for corporate customers on the Internet. Reports are that the products will be a new server kit that can translate database information such as catalogs, store inventories and airline reservations schedules; development tools; a text-search technology that can allow users to search databases by theme, and security software to repel computer intruders. The company said demand for services such as translating database information onto the Internet has greatly topped expectations with more than 100,000 people downloading Oracle database software in the last 30 days. The products are an update for Oracle, which last month unveiled the Workgroup/2000 product family to provided access to the products on the Internet through the multimedia World Wide Web. >> Fuji Launches Apple Tie-in << A project to design, manufacture and sell microchips for communications gear has been launched by Tokyo's Fuji Film Microdevice Co. in a tie-in with Apple Computer Inc. The Jiji Japanese press service says the wholly owned subsidiary of Fuji Photo Film Co. will jointly develop chips for multimedia equipment with Apple. "The technology allows real-time transmission of images and voice data and enables users to link personal computers freely with peripherals, such as audio and visual systems and printers," Jiji reports. >> NEC Invests $2M in U.S. Firm << SunDisk Corp. has received a $2 million investment from Japanese electronics giant NEC Corp. for a joint project to develop computer flash memory cards. The firms expect to start mass production of the cards in California soon. In a statement, SunDisk officials also announced Seagate Technology has increased its equity investment in the firm to maintain its 25% stake. In the Japanese partnership, NEC Vice President Hajime Sasaki said in the statement, "We continue to believe that the SunDisk/NEC relationship for the joint development of 256MB flash memory represents a very important strategic alliance for NEC and are pleased to be able to make this investment." >> Pentium Clone Prices Cut << NexGen Inc. has reduced prices on all members of its Nx586 micro- processor line. NexGen says the new prices reflect an average reduction of greater than 25% and provide it with a price advantage of 15% to 27% relative to available Pentium products at comparable performance levels. Effective Feb. 1, the per- unit prices of Nx586 CPU models in 1,000 unit quantities are: P100, $569; P90, $399; P80, $269; and P75, $239. The chip maker says the price cuts are the result of a significant pick-up in demand and an accelerated ramp-up in production volumes, combined with the company's strategy to accelerate the penetration of its fifth-generation, x86- compatible microprocessor into the PC marketplace. The Nx586 microprocessor, which entered volume production in September at four performance levels, is the only Pentium microprocessor clone currently in production and shipping. >> Compaq Plans No Apple Clones << During a visit to London, Compaq Computer Corp. CEO Eckhard Pfeiffer said this week his company has no plans to make clones of Apple Computer Inc.'s Macintosh computers. Pfeiffer is quoted as saying, "We see such a strong customer infrastructure today for the existing X86 (Intel-compatible) architecture ... and that's where we're focusing our resources." As reported, Apple launched its licensing strategy last year and signed its first clone-maker, Power Computing Corp., in December. >> Silicon Graphics Buys Two Firms << Silicon Graphics Inc. has entered into a merger agreement with Alias Research Inc. and Wavefront Technologies Inc. in a deal valued at $500 million. Edward McCracken, chairman and chief executive officer of Silicon Graphics, said he expects the company to record a one-time charge in its fiscal fourth quarter of about $25 million to $35 million for its purchase of the two software companies. However, he forecast the new software subsidiary formed by the merger will generate over $100 million in revenues in fiscal year 1996. Wavefront and Alias develop software for digital media and computer graphics that is already popular in the entertainment industry and operates on Silicon Graphics workstations. McCracken said the new subsidiary, which SGI has yet to name, will develop software tools to create the "digital studio for the 21st century." He added, "The merger will create a wholly-owned subsidiary to sell existing tools to the rapidly growing creative community. With their help, these tools are igniting a revolution in the way people work." McCracken said the new subsidiary will team with Silicon Studio, a unit formed last year to focus on the entertainment market and to develop software tools that will be used by film makers, game developers, and other entertainment authors to create interactive titles from original source material. >> One-Third of U.S. Homes Have PCS << Increasing by some 3.8 million since last summer, the number of home based personal computers now is put at 31% of U.S. households, up from 27% last July. The findings are based on a random phone survey of 1,500 households conducted by Odyssey LP of San Francisco in January after the big Christmas surge in PC sales. The 31% figure is below the PC ownership figures provided by many other research firms. The Odyssey survey found: -:- About half the consumers who owned their current PC for six months or less bought it as a replacement. -:- Overall, about 58% of PC owners have had a computer two years or less. -:- Among all PC owners, 30% said their machine is equipped with a CD-ROM player, up from 25% in July. That means about 9% of all U.S. households now own a multimedia PC, up from 6% in July. -:- About 7% of households said they belong to one or more OnLine services, up from 6% last July. >> New Drive Diagnostics Readied << Compaq Computer Corp., Conner Peripherals Inc., Quantum Corp. and Seagate Technology Inc., are in the final development stages of a new disk drive diagnostics specification. The technology, when used with the appropriate systems software, will allow hard disks to predict and alert customers to certain types of failures, thus preventing the loss of critical data. The companies note that the specification will help customers, especially those with networks of desktop computers, greatly reduce computer downtime. Compaq says it has been developing the new specification in cooperation with the participating hard disk manufacturers, each of which has adopted the specification and is currently developing new hard disks with prediction features. The computer maker is also working with other industry leading hard disk manufacturers to implement the specification in their products. Once the specification has been finalized, Compaq plans to make it available to the storage industry for incorporation into standards being developed by appropriate industry groups. It is anticipated that the new specification will be available for release to the industry during the second quarter of 1995. >> Stratus Starts New Computer Line << A new line of high-performance systems called Continuum has been launched by Stratus Computer Inc., which says the computers will deliver up to four times the performance of its existing XA/R series fault tolerant systems. Stratus Chairman/CEO William Foster told a news conference in Boston, "With Continuum, more critical applications will be put on OnLine because their users can now afford true fault tolerance." Stratus said the new systems line, priced in a range of $98,000 to $890,000, is designed for continuous use and to protect data against systems failures. The company says the Continuum series "incorporates the industry's most proven and reliable microprocessors, PA-RISC from Hewlett Packard." >> Intel May Change Computer Circuitry << The computer accessory circuit board may soon be a thing of the past, as Intel Corp. this week will show industry executives ways to move audio, video, and communication functions from an accessory circuit board to the main circuitry of the machine. Reports are Intel hopes its development work will not only eliminate the accessory circuit boards that can only be added now by taking a computer apart, but also create smaller and faster PCS. Intel figures the best way to sustain demand for its chips is to encourage creation of machines that don't intimate users. The company said today's confusing variety of technical designs for accessories prevents most people from using the computer for anything except writing reports or crunching numbers. Using the computer for video or telephone calls is beyond most users' capabilities, but by integrating these special uses into the main circuitry, they become easier to access. "We've hit a barrier as an industry," said Craig Kinnie, director of Intel's Architecture Development Lab, one of the company's four research arms. "If you're going to make media and communications work on the PC, we needed to take a next step." He added that Intel engineers are trying to give the PC more of the integrated qualities of a stereo or television set. >> Two-Thirds of Schools Not OnLine << Only about 35% the nation's public schools have some access to the global Internet system -- usually in computer laboratories or media centers -- and only some 3% of actual classrooms are connected. In a written report, Education Secretary Richard W. Riley said. "Only a small fraction of our classrooms have access to new technologies that are becoming so central to the rest of our lives." The survey of 1,500 schools found: -:- E-mail is the most available resource for the schools that have access, followed by Internet newsgroups and resource location services. -:- About two-thirds of schools with Internet offer access to teachers and administrators but only half allow student use. -:- Main reasons for not having access are limited money and lack of equipment. -:- Three-fourths of the schools surveyed have computers capable of communicating with the Internet if they had access. >> NEC Cuts Notebook Prices << Costs have been cut by up to 12% on NEC Technologies Inc.'s Versa P, Versa M and Versa V notebook computers, a move officials say is meant to maintain price competitiveness. NEC cut: -:- $300 off its Versa P series with the cost of a Versa P/75C falling to $4,999 from $5,299. -:- $400 to $550 from its Versa M series with the price of a Versa M/75D decreasing from $3,619 to $3,219 and a Versa M/75TC dropping to $4,349 from $4,899. -:- $500 to $160 from its Versa V. A Versa V/75C fell to $3,599 from $4,099 and a Versa V/50D fell to $2,499 from $2,659. >> Apple Accused of Censorship << Censorship is being alleged in Apple Computer Inc.'s reported decision to drop a Voyager Co. CD-ROM from computers sold to schools because the software publisher refused to eliminate the disk's discussion of homosexuality, birth control, and abortion. Voyager spokesman Braden Michaels said, "They can say that it's business, but they are bowing to a special interest. To me that's censorship." Of course, Apple doesn't see it that way. Spokeswoman Stacey Byrnes said, "Apple as an employer and a corporate citizen has a well documented history of supporting diversity, and we continue to do so. This is not an issue of censorship." At issue is Voyager's disk called "Who Built America?" which Byrnes says has been the subject of customer complaints since December when Apple began bundling it with computers it sells to elementary and secondary schools. The disk, based on a book of the same name, looks at the United States during the late 19th and early 20th centuries. It includes film clips, music and illustrations of the period as well as first-person accounts. Among them are an 1882 letter in which a gay man recounts his emigration to America and a recorded interview with a New York woman recalling her 12 abortions. Voyager officials said Apple told them last month it had received complaints about the disk and asked Voyager to make a version without the topics but the company refused. Michaels said Voyager offered to send schools that object to "Who Built America?" any CD-ROM from its catalog and suggested that the disk be limited to high schools. However, he said, Apple turned down the compromise and decided not to include the disc in its models for schools anymore. Reports say that Apple is disputing that version of events. Said Byrnes, "To date Apple has neither formally notified Voyager or ... made a decision regarding the content of future versions of the bundles." She added, "As of today, Apple continues to distribute" the disk and that the computer maker routinely reviews customer response and uses it to help decide what programs to distribute. __________________________________________________ > Delrina Echo Lake STR InfoFile """""""""""""""""""""""""""""" DELRINA EXPANDS PRESENCE IN HOME CONSUMER MARKET WITH ECHO LAKE FOR WINDOWS Exciting new software for capturing and sharing life stories SAN JOSE, CA and TORONTO, ONT -- February 6, 1995 -- Delrina Corporation (NASDAQ: DENAF, TSE:DC), acclaimed for its award-winning animated screen savers, communications and electronic forms software, today announced its first interactive multimedia consumer program, Echo Lake, designed to be a special place on the home computer where people can capture and share family memories. The product will be available this spring on CD and diskette. Echo Lake is a high-quality creative package that takes full advantage of multimedia technologies supporting a photo-realistic and inviting 3-D interface. The program presents several ways in which individuals of all ages can create vivid accounts of their life experiences and prepare copies of their personal "books" in print, or in electronic form to share with others on diskette or through on-line services. "Very few home PC software titles captivate and sustain consumer interest," said Mark Skapinker, Delrina president. "There is tremendous potential for a product that can redefine the way families use their home computer, taking its use beyond games and financial planning. Echo Lake is an engaging program that appeals to the widespread interest in nostalgia, recording our lives and experiences for ourselves and generations to come. It+s a product that brings people together." Echo Lake's flexible format allows individuals to write any number of stories, and add voice and sound clips and other media to enhance them. It also works with a wide range of complementary products and services, ranging from scanners, digital cameras and video capture cards, to Kodak Photo CDs, giving users the option to add photographs and video to further bring to life their personal and family memories. "Delrina's Echo Lake software presents the user with rich visual imagery right from its first screen," said Paul McAfee, director of worldwide Photo CD marketing at Kodak. "The program invites its users to include pictures of their lives. Because Delrina has included simple access to Photo CD images, users of Echo Lake software will find it easy to enrich their life stories with their own photos." "Within the last three years, I have evaluated over 500 software titles," said Gary Kinsey, Entertainment Evangelist at Creative Labs. "In my opinion, Echo Lake is a truly ground-breaking product, with the potential to fit into every household. It also gives consumers a wonderful reason to learn more about how to use multimedia capabilities such as sound and video." According to Dataquest, a market research firm in San Jose, CA, it is estimated that over 35% of US households currently own a personal computer. Dataquest predicts the home PC market will show a compound annual growth of 21%, while the rest of the US computer markets will grow at 8.9%. It has also recently reported that 2 million of the 5.6 million personal computers shipped in the United States during the fourth quarter of 1994 were for the home market. Echo Lake will enable these computer users to maximize the enjoyment of their investment in multimedia computing. "Echo Lake is a first-of-its-kind software program that makes the computer truly personal," said Greg Long, Delrina product manager and the creator of Echo Lake. "We think it will draw family members and friends together at the computer to recall, recreate, laugh, cry and reminisce about their experiences." Although aimed at home computer users, Echo Lake will also appeal to students, schools, clubs, and other organizations seeking to create stories and capture history. The diskette version will enable these groups, as well as others who do not own a multimedia PC, to enjoy Echo Lake to create journals using text, graphics, and photos. Press Contact: -------------- Meredith Mansfield Connors Communications (212) 995-2200 Delrina Corporation designs, develops, markets and supports innovative PC software products and services in the fax, data and voice communications, electronic forms and consumer software markets. Founded in 1988, the Company is ranked in sales among the top 15 software publishers in North America and is recognized as the worldwide leader in PC fax and electronic forms. Delrina employs more than 600 people with headquarters in Toronto, Canada and offices in San Jose, CA; Kirkland, WA; Washington, DC; Lexington, MA; the United Kingdom; France; and Germany. Delrina can be contacted at (416) 441-3676. - ### - Microsoft is a registered trademark and Windows is a trademark of Microsoft Corporation. Kodak Photo CD is a Trademark of the Eastman Kodak Company. All other trademarks, trade names, or service marks are the property of their respective owners. _________________________________________ > Invoice Store STR Review """""""""""""""""""""""" THE INVOICE STORE DELIVERS FOR YOUR BUSINESS ============================================ Software Review by Susanna K. Hutcheson Software Store Products has come out with another winner with The Invoice Store 3.1 for DOS. A business-management tool, The Invoice Store is an easy-to-use invoicing program thatgoes head-to-head with more expensive and hard-to-learn accounting and database applications. The Invoice Store is a contact-management and point-of-sale tool that includes Invoicing, Receivables, Reporting and Database Maintenance. One thing I personally hate about accounting software is setting up a chart of accounts. I also detest journal entry. I think most business people have very little time for things of this nature. So I was pleased to see The Invoice Store doesn't demand that you set up a chart of accounts and it doesn't use a general ledger. About all you have to do is to enter information. I also appreciated the fact that the software easily produces the information needed to prepare the Sales Tax report. It gives the total amount of sales tax collected, total taxable sales and total non-taxable sales for the sales tax period. In addition, you can assign a different sales tax rate to each customer in your database. You can even override the sales tax rate at invoice time. Invoicing is a snap. When you add the sale amount to a customer (or cash-sales) account you can print the invoice on the spot. And you can design your own invoices and reports or use the program's generic forms. Invoices can be printed after creation or added to a batch for later printing. They can also be printed to a file for use in other programs. You will also have complete audit trails for easy tracking of all your important transactions. This is a feature that even some of the most expensive programs don't have. This is really handy because it allows you to track a transaction from the time of entry. When you take your records to your accountant, he or she can quickly see how and when that entry was created. This means you'll have more control over your records. And if you ever have the unpleasant experience of facing an IRS officer in an audit you'll know how valuable an audit trail can be! The reporting module is great. Reports can be run for various time periods -- from daily to yearly. The Invoice Store tells you when to reorder and how much product inventory is needed. This gives you real control over your business. You never have to guess. Inventory reports can be sorted by product code or description. Summary reports can be generated by invoice or payment date. Totals are extended on any report. In addition, your statements will show all of your customer activity for any period. The Invoice Store contains databases of customers or clients, inventory, sales personnel and vendors. It's very easy to set up to your own personal specifications. . And it has an integrated database management tool that will keep your databases running fast and accurately. Negative amounts can be entered for credit . . . something impossible to do with some programs. Unit and cost prices are accepted, up to four decimal places. And you're alerted when items are oversold. In addition, the program recalls invoices and records payments. It even voids payments when necessary. The Invoice Store lets you generate predefined and customized reports. You can also create mailing labels and reports from your database information. The built-in word processor lets you easily create letters and merge with your database. This program truly has just about everything a small business can ask for. Although the 185 page manual is handy, the context sensitive online help is about all you'll probably need as you navigate the program. In addition, technical help is free when you need it. One of the finest and most enjoyable parts of the program is the database query capability. It is far superior to many similar programs. You can ask it to tell you just about anything about a client or your inventory or anything else you have in your database and bring that information up quickly. If you need to know how much a client spent last year you use the Boolean operators to build your query. You can ask it virtually anything and extract that information. That is most useful when you want to know exactly how well a specific product is selling in a certain part of the country, for example. There are many ways this feature can be used. And it can prove quite profitable to you. The Invoice Store 3.1 is a business tool that you will find easy-to-use and invaluable in your day-to-day operations. It can not only save you money by keeping excellent financial records but it can make you money by giving you all the information you need to understand your business . . . every facet of it. And in business, understanding your business and your customers translates into profit! Highly recommended. Software Store Products Inc. P.O. Box 562 Oakdale, NY 11769 1-800-232-8561. Price: $95.00 ___________________________________________________ > Frankie's Corner STR Feature """""""""""""""""""""""""""" Radio Active: The Music Trivia Game Show ======================================== available on CD-rom for Windows and Macintosh retail approximately $25 for all ages from Sanctuary Woods 1825 Grant St. Suite 410 San Mateo, CA 94402 IBM Requirements Macintosh Requirements ---------------- ---------------------- CPU: 386DX/33 CPU: 68030/25 RAM: 8 megs RAM: 8 megs Video: SVGA Video: 13" color monitor CD-ROM: Double-speed CD-ROM: Double-speed Hdisk: 1 meg Hdisk: 1 meg OS: Windows 3.1 OS: System 7.1 Sound Blaster or compatible required by Frank Sereno Sanctuary Woods' has produced an entertaining and toe-tapping game for the Baby-Boomer set. Radio Active features interesting trivia questions, puzzles and great music. This game is sure to challenge and delight those who love the music of the 60's, 70's and early 80's. The game allows up to four players to compete against each other. Games can be played for a predetermined time limit, point total or until the players can't take any more. Players choose from sixteen humorous stereotypes to represent them on-screen. The player simply chooses a character and then types in his name. Once all the players are entered, game play begins. Players will take turns pulling a control stick which will cause a carousel to rotate. The carousel holds markers for the different trivia categories. These categories include five-year periods beginning in 1961 and ending in 1985. The player can choose to answer an easy, medium or hard question. If he answers the trivia question correctly, he can gain bonus points by recognizing the music to a song from that era. Two more categories are also available randomly. The Song Puzzle is a song divided into five sections represented by notes. The player must arrange the notes in the correct order to score points. The final category is the video puzzle in which a music business celebrity talks about an artist and then the player must identify the artist. Radio Active is hosted by the jovial and hip Bobby Arpeggio. His jokes keep the game lighthearted and humorous. He is aided by the off-screen announcer, Nigel. Nigel also instructs players on how to play the game. The graphics in Radio Active are very colorful and interesting. The animations are slightly jerky even on a Pentium system but that does not detract from the fun game play. The voices and theme song for the program are very good. The songs in the trivia game are not those from the original artists, but reasonably good facsimiles. Radio Active is an excellent game to play on long winter nights and at family gatherings. I must warn you that the game is very slow on a 386 machine and really needs a fast 486 or Pentium for good speed in the Windows environment. But even on a slow CPU, the program is full of wit and humor, and it will take many plays before the questions are repeated. If you like music and have a sense of humor, you will love Radio Active! ___________________________________________ > DOOM, 2 & HERETIC CHEAT FILE STR FOCUS! """"""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""" ALL THE DOOM, DOOM ][, AND HERETIC CHEAT CODES! =============================================== Compiled By: Geoffrey Geiger 75253,1416 DOOM Cheat Codes! ================= IDDQD - Toggles the God Mode On/Off IDKFA - Gives You All The Weapons, Keys, Ammo, and 200% Armor IDFA - Gives You All The Weapons, Ammo and 200% Armor IDBEHOLD + Following S - Get Beserk Strength V - Temporary Invulnerability I - Temporary Invisibility A - Get Full Automap(places not visited remain Grey!) R - Get Anti-Radiation Suit L - Light Amplification Visor IDSPISPOPD - Toggles The Clipping Mode IDCHOPPERS - Get The chainsaw and a Message! IDCLEV - (Episode #) (Map #) - Level Warp IDDT - Toggles Bet. Normal map, fullmap and Fullmap + objects IDMYPOS - Displays coordinates and heading DOOM ][ Cheat Codes! ==================== IDDQD - Toggles the God Mode On/Off IDKFA - Gives You All The Weapons, Keys, Ammo, and 200% Armor IDFA - Gives You All The Weapons, Ammo and 200% Armor IDBEHOLD + Following S - Get Beserk Strength V - Temporary Invulnerability I - Temporary Invisibility A - Get Full Automap(places not visited remain Grey!) R - Get Anti-Radiation Suit L - Light Amplification Visor IDCLIP - Toggles The Clipping Mode IDCHOPPERS - Get The chainsaw and a Message! IDCLEV & Map# - Level Warp (Ex, Level Nine would be: 09) IDDT - Toggles Bet. Normal map, fullmap and Fullmap + objects IDMYPOS - Displays coordinates and heading IDMUS & Map# - Plays Music from Selected Level Heretic Shareware Version 1.0 Codes =================================== QUICKE - Toggles the God Mode On/Off RAMBO - Gives You All The Weapons, Ammo, and 200% Armor GIMME (a-j) (1-9) - Gives You One Of The These a = Ring of Invincibility b = Shadowsphere c = Quartz Flask d = Not So Nice input (REGISTERED ONLY) e = Tome of Power f = Torch g = Bomb of the Ancients h = Morph Ovum i = Wings of Wrath j = Not So Nice input (REGISTERED ONLY) SKEL - Gives You All Keys RAVMAP - Toggles Map Modes: 1 - Complete Map 2 - All Items/Track Monster Positions 3 - Revert to Normal Mode KITTY - Toggle The Clipping Mode ENGAGE (Episode #) (Map #) - Level Warp PONCE - Full Health SHAZAM - Toggle Weapon Power-Up (Tome of Power) MASSACRE - Kill ALL monsters on the current level COCKADOODLEDOO - Toggle The Chicken Mode On/Off (Enables Beak!) IDDQD - Kill Yourself ..Suicide IDKFA - Drop all Of Your weapons and ammo Want More??? THATS ALL OF THEM! - Anyone having Questions Regarding DOOM or DOOM ][ Contact Me for help! If anyone in the 310 area would like to play me at DOOM or DOOM ][, send an Email letter to me, and I will most gladly ring up a few more frags! ____________________________________________ > Visio Home 3.0 STR Spotlight """""""""""""""""""""""""""" Preliminary Report ------------------ Visio Home 3.0 Shapeware Inc. 520 Pike St. Suite 1800 Seattle, WA 98101-4001 (206) 521-4500 by Doyle C. Helms Jr. Staff Editor Visio 3.0 Home is a drawing program for Windows that encompasses a spectrum of drawing needs for the home user. Don t let the name Home mislead you, for this program will more than suffice the small business user as well. Visio Home 3.0 is easy to learn and contains over 900 master shapes that will surely meet your needs. If the shapes (also called templates) are not sufficient, the user can easily create their own library of templates for later use. Artistic talent is not required to produce smooth and professional printouts, just a need to communicate an idea graphically. The Shapes that you use within Visio Home is stored in what is called a Gallery . The Gallery is always visible to the user and shapes are simply dragged from the gallery to the drawing area and placed. Once placed, Shapes can be manipulated in almost infinite ways such as scaling and etc. Visio Home is also OLE 2.0 compliant. Documentation for Visio is very informative and easily understood. Especially about all the tools the user has available. Informative is also a good word to use when describing the tutorials that are also present in the manuals. In short, if you need a simple to learn but powerful program that you will not outgrow, purchase Visio Home 3.0 at your dealer today. I purchased my copy of Visio Home 3.0 at Software Etc. For the very reasonable price of $59.95. You can also Download a Demo copy from CIS in the Shapeware Forum+ (GO Shapeware). _________________________________________ > NEW CIS RATES! STR FOCUS! The Best just got BETTER! """"""""""""""""""""""""" COMPUSERVE'S NEW STANDARD PRICING PLAN ====================================== New Pricing Includes More Basic Services (06-Feb-95) CompuServe's new Standard Pricing Plan now includes unlimited access 24 hours a day to 100 basic services, including 20 that have just been added and 10 that were added in 1994. Some of these are: *PEOPLE Magazine's PEOPLE DAILY *Reuters Variety *AMG Classical Music Guide *AMG Pop Music Guide *National Syndicated Columns, including Joe Bob Briggs, Mikhail Gorbachev, Cokie and Steve Roberts, News of the Weird, and more. In addition to allowing access to more basic services, CompuServe's new Standard Pricing Plan rates significantly cut connect-time and mail charges, reduce U.S. and Canadian WATS-line charges, eliminate Western European prime-time communications surcharges, and raise the monthly membership fee by $1. Effective 05-Feb, connect charges for access at 9.6 and 14.4 kilobits per second dropped by 50 percent to $4.80 per hour. This is CompuServe's third price reduction in connect-time rates in three years. Under the new Standard Pricing Plan, members can send the equivalent of 90, three-page electronic mail messages at no additional charge, compared to 60 previously. Electronic mail costs have been reduced by as much as 80 percent. The monthly membership fee has increased by $1 to $9.95. The new fee includes free access to the Executive Service Option, although ESO surcharges for specific products continue to apply. In Western Europe, the CompuServe network $7.70 per hour prime-time communications surcharge has been eliminated. In the United States, Wide Area Telephone Service surcharges have been cut by 31 percent to $6 per hour. The Canadian WATS-line charge has also been cut by 41 percent to $20 per hour. For complete information about pricing plans in your location, as well as a list of all 100 basic services, GO CHOICES. """""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""" A T T E N T I O N -- A T T E N T I O N -- A T T E N T I O N FARGO PRIMERA PRO COLOR PRINTERS - 600DPI For a limited time only; If you wish to have a FREE sample printout sent to you that demonstrates FARGO Primera & Primera Pro SUPERIOR QUALITY 600dpi 24 bit Photo Realistic Color Output, please send a Self Addressed Stamped Envelope [SASE] (business sized envelope please) to: STReport's Fargo Printout Offer P.O. Box 6672 Jacksonville, Florida 32205-6155 Folks, the FARGO Primera Pro has GOT to be the best yet. Its far superior to the newest of Color Laser Printers selling for more than three times as much. Its said that ONE Picture is worth a thousand words. Send for this sample now. Guaranteed you will be amazed at the superb quality. (please, allow at least a one week turn-around) A T T E N T I O N -- A T T E N T I O N -- A T T E N T I O N """""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""" :HOW TO GET YOUR OWN GENIE ACCOUNT: _________________________________ Set your communications software to Half Duplex (or Local Echo) Call: (with modem) 800-638-8369. Upon connection type HHH (RETURN after that). Wait for the U#= prompt. Type: XTX99587,CPUREPT then, hit RETURN. GENIE Information Services copyright 1995 by General Electric Information Services/GENIE, reprinted by permission """""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""" ___ ___ _____ _______ /___| /___| /_____| /_______/ The Macintosh RoundTable /____|/____| /__/|__| /__/ ________________________ /_____|_____|/__/_|__|/__/ /__/|____/|__|________|__/ /__/ |___/ |__|_/ |__|_/____ Managed by SyndiComm /__/ |__/ |__|/ |__|______/ An Official Forum of the International Computer Users Group *** STReport available in MAC RT *** ASCII TEXT for ALL GENIE users! MAC/APPLE SECTION (II) ====================== John Deegan, Editor (Temp) > HAYES USERGROUP OFFER STR InfoFile PLUS FULL OVERVIEW of V.34 & V.FC! """""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""" ---------------------------------- HAYES MICROCOMPUTER PRODUCTS, INC. USER GROUP SPECIAL OFFERS FOR HAYES PRODUCTS Dear User Group: It is my pleasure to take this opportunity to thank you for your support and interest in Hayes products and encourage you to take advantage of our expanded User Group Program offerings. While we have enjoyed visiting with many of you at various functions, I wanted to make sure that everyone is aware of the programs we offer for User Groups and update you on the latest User Group special product offerings (see attached). User Group Membership Offer In order for folks to take advantage of this offer, they must either be a current member of your User Group or become a member of your User Group. This offer is designed to 1) help your group increase its membership while 2) encouraging your users to purchase Hayes products and take advantage of the "Information Highway." User Group BBS Offer For those groups who have a BBS, Hayes would like to assist you in upgrading your BBS to the latest in high-speed communications, OPTIMA 288 V.34/V.FC + FAX. Hayes would be interested in working with your User Group on the possibility of exchanging advertising for a modem. User Group Newsletter Advertising Newsletter advertising is always important to Hayes. Hayes would be interested in assisting your club in fundraising efforts in exchange for newsletter advertising. If you are interested in this program, please provide Hayes with a recent copy of your newsletter and an advertising rate card, including the number of subscriptions your have for your newsletter. Product Reviews for Newsletters Hayes is always interested in providing hardware and/or software for evaluation for your newsletter. In exchange, it is extremely important that Hayes receive a copy of the review, as this is a very important measureable for Hayes User Group Program. Education Program Hayes is very excited about its new education program, designed to teach the basics of communications. While the course is quite extensive, Hayes is interested in identifying and recruiting a "Hayes Expert" in each User Group to "teach" this education course to either the membership-at-large, or at SIG meetings. Event Participation While Hayes would enjoy visiting each of your groups throughout the year, we all know this is not possible; however, Hayes will provide special offers for your meetings. Also, Hayes is interested in participating in Regional Trade Shows through your User Group. If your group would be interested in representing Hayes at a Regional Event, such as a trade show, please notify us. Product Information Hayes latest product information is available on Hayes Online BBS at 404-446-6336, CompuServe, Genie, America Online, and GlobalNet. Hayes Online BBS Hayes Online is a valuable source of information, containing new product information, User Group special offers, and technical notes. Current Hayes User Group Program offers are available on Hayes Online BBS at 404-446-6336, under the User Group option. Hayes FAX Response Current Hayes User Group Program offers are available on Hayes FAX Response at 1-800-HAYESFX, under User Group Program. Also available on Hayes FAX Response is information on Hayes products. Special Pricing It is Hayes goal to offer special introductory pricing on new products to User Groups. This information is posted on GlobalNet, Hayes FAX Response, and Hayes Online BBS. These offers can be downloaded and copied for your membership. Hayes is committed to assisting User Group members by offering special pricing on Hayes products. Attached is a special offer form on Hayes products currently being offered as User Group specials. These offers include Hayes ACCURA 144 + FAX144 (PC and Macintosh platforms), Hayes Smartcom BBS Dialer, and Hayes newest communications software, Hayes Smartcom Data/Fax Pro. As this is a limited time offer, please share this offer with your members as quickly as possible. Please complete the attached questionnaire with information about your User Group and your group’s interests and return it to my attention. If you have any questions about Hayes User Group Program, please contact me via e-mail at bmcelveen@hayes.com. I can also be reached via telephone at 404/840-6816, or via fax at 404/840-6825. I look forward to working with each of you during 1995! Sincerely, Beth McElveen User Group Relations Manager Please, complete this form and send it to the address listed below or fax it to 404/840-6825. Hurry! Offer is good through 30 June 1995. Please send me: Price *Quantity Total Hayes ACCURA 144 + FAX144 (PC) US$89.00 ____ ________ Hayes ACCURA 144 + FAX144 (Mac) US$89.00 ____ ________ Smartcom BBS Dialer US$14.95 ____ ________ Smartcom Data/FAX PRO US$59.00 ____ ________ Smartcom II for the Mac US$49.00 ____ ________ Tax: Residents of GA (5%) and CA (8.25%) must add tax! ________ Shipping and Handling ($10 per unit/hardware, $6 per unit/software) ________ Grand Total ________ *LIMIT 2 PER ITEM Payment (check one): __Check __Money Order __VISA __MasterCard (US only) ________________________________________________________________________ VISA or MasterCard Number Expiration Date ________________________________________________________________________ Cardholder Signature (required for processing) ________________________________________________________________________ Name ________________________________________________________________________ User Group Name ________________________________________________________________________ Street Address ________________________________________________________________________ City/State/Zip ________________________________________________________________________ Daytime Telephone (required for processing) Limit two per customer. Offer ends 30 June 1995. Offer valid in the US and Canada only and void where prohibited by law. Offer subject to product availability. (C) 1995 Hayes Microcomputer Products, Inc. All rights reserved. The Hayes logo, ACCURA and Smartcom are trademarks of Hayes Microcomputer Products, Inc. Other trademarks mentioned are trademarks of their respective companies. FAX YOUR ORDER FORM TODAY: 404/840-6825 or mail it to: Hayes Microcomputer Products, Inc., User Group Special Offer, P.O. Box 105203, Atlanta, GA 30348 HAYES MICROCOMPUTER PRODUCTS, INC. USER GROUP QUESTIONNAIRE President's name: _____________________________________________________ User Group's name: ____________________________________________________ Address: _____________________________________________________________ street address _____________________________________________________________ city state zip Contact's Telephone No.: _________________ Fax No.: _________________ Size of User Group: ____________________________________________________ Special requirements for membership: __________________________________ What Services are available for members? ______________________________ ________________________________________________________________________ Do you publish a newsletter? [ ] YES [ ] NO If so, please forward one copy to my attention. Newsletter Editor: ____________________________________________________ Newsletter Editor address: _____________________________________________ How often are your meetings? __________________________________________ Does your User Group have a BBS? [ ] YES [ ] NO If so, what modem do you use on the BBS? _____________________________ How many lines are on your BBS? ______ BBS Number ___________________ Please return or FAX completed questionnaire to: Beth McElveen User Group Relations Manager Hayes Microcomputer Products, Inc. P.O. Box 105203 Atlanta, GA 30348 FAX:404/840-6825 _____________________________________________ > HAYES LineUp STR FOCUS! """"""""""""""""""""""" Hayes Smartmodem OPTIMA 28800 V.34/V.FC FAX ------------------------------------------- Hayes Smartmodem OPTIMA 28800 V.34/V.FC FAX (OPTIMA 288 V.34/V.FC + FAX) is Hayes award-winning 28,800 bit/s modem that now implements the ITU-T V.34 standard. In addition to supporting the ITU-T V.34 standard, OPTIMA 288 V.34/V.FC + FAX implements the V.Fast Class (V.FC) technology developed by Hayes and Rockwell to provide an interim industry standard modulation for 28,800 bit/s communications prior to the ratification of V.34. The product will operate at 28,800 bit/s with Hayes and other vendors' products that implement the V.34 and/or the V.FC standards. The product is also fully compatible with the installed base of V.32bis (14.4 kbit/s), V.32 (9600 bit/s), V.22bis (2400 bit/s), and V.22 (1200 bit/s) modems. OPTIMA 288 V.34/V.FC + FAX is a powerful solution for multi-media, remote access to a LAN, shared modem access from a LAN, and the transfer of large data files. Using Hayes superior implementation of V.42bis, the product transfers data up to 230,400 bit/s using data compression -- the fastest rate available from Hayes over dial-up phone lines. Through 1 March 1995 Hayes is offering a free upgrade to OPTIMA 288 V.FC + FAX users if they purchase an additional OPTIMA 288 V.34/V.FC + FAX modem. Customers who do not wish to purchase an additional modem can upgrade their OPTIMA 288 V.FC + FAX modems for US$49 before the 1 March 1995 deadline. OPTIMA 288 V.34/V.FC + FAX supports asynchronous and synchronous communications and comes with Smartcom for Windows LE and Smartcom FAX for Windows LE communications software. OPTIMA 288 V.34/V.FC + FAX Advantages ------------------------------------- Speed -- up to 230,400 bit/s -- More than 1 megabyte per minute Compatibility Other installed PC modems ITU-T V.34 products V.Fast Class products Hayes Standard AT Command Set Fax machines Advanced line probing and renegotiation Asynchronous, Synchronous, AutoSync 2 Bundled with Smartcom for Windows LE and Smartcom FAX for Windows LE Software Understanding OPTIMA 288 V.34/V.FC + FAX 230,400 bit/s Capability ----------------------------------------------------------------- Hayes Superior Implementation of V.42bis - OPTIMA 288 V.34/V.FC + FAX modem can achieve throughput up to 230,400 bit/s on highly compressible files using ITU-T V.42bis. This increase in the maximum compression, from 4 times to up to 8 times, is achieved by optimizing the implementation of V.42bis. This superior implementation is not proprietary and will operate with any modem implementing V.42bis. Understanding the Modem Numbers ------------------------------- V.34/V.FC 28,800 + data compression = 230,400 bit/s V.32bis 14,400 + data compression = 115,200 bit/s V.32 9600 + data compression = 57,600 bit/s V.22bis 2400 + data compression = 9600 bit/s V.22 1200 + data compression = 4800 bit/s MODULATION ---------- ITU-T V.34 - The recently ratified ITU-T standard offering modem speeds up to 28,800 bit/s. Also provides high-speed, full duplex communications at speeds ranging from 28,800, 26,400, 24,000, 21,600, 19,200, 16,800, 14,400, 12,000, 9600, 7200, 4800, and 2400 bit/s. V.FC - An interim industry standard developed by Hayes and Rockwell offering speeds up to 28,800 bit/s. This interim industry standard has an installed base of approximately one million units. Also provides high-speed, full duplex communications at 28,800, 26,400, 24,000, 21,600, 19,200, 16,800, and 14,400 bit/s. ITU-T V.32bis - V.32bis provides high-speed, full duplex communicatons at 14,400, 12,000, 9600, 7200, and 4800 bit/s. Supports V.32bis procedures for fallback to lower speeds during the initial connection, and V.32bis rate renegotiation during online communications. ITU-T V.32 - Provides high-speed, full duplex communications at 9600 and 4800 bit/s. Supports V.32 Automode procedure and EIA/TIA IS-63 for fallback to lower speeds. International Data Transmission Standards - In addition to ITU-T V.32bis and V.32 compliance, supports V.22bis (2400 bit/s), V.22 (1200 bit/s), and V.21 (300 bit/s) transmissions. Industry Data Transmission Compatibility - Supports communications with industry standard 103 (300 bit/s) and 212A (1200 bit/s) modems. ITU-T GROUP 3 Fax Standards - Supports V.17 (14,400, 12,000, 9600, 7200 bit/s), V.29 (9600 and 7200 bit/s), V.27ter (4800 and 2400 bit/s), and V.21 channel 2 (300 bit/s). ERROR-CONTROL ------------- ITU-T V.42 - Supports standardized, point-to-point error-control communications using the ITU-T V.42 LAPM (Link Access Procedure for Modems) protocol. ITU-T V.42 alternative protocol provides backward compatibility with modems using MNP 2-4. DATA COMPRESSION ---------------- ITU-T V.42bis - International data compression standard for use by modems incorporating the V.42 LAPM error-control standard. Provides compression capabilities enabling throughput to 230,400 bit/s. MNP 5 - Provides a migration path to V.42bis data compression by supporting backward compatibility with modems using MNP 5 for 2:1 data compression. Bi-directional/Uni-directional Optimization - Throughput is optimized depending on the direction data is transmitted. During normal file transfer operation, data thoughput is maximized since the transfers occur in one direction. TELEPHONE LINE INTERFACE ------------------------ Dial-up Line - Provides pulse or tone dialing out and auto-answering for Public Switched Telephone Network (PSTN) operation. Dial Modifiers - Provides the ability to support special residential and commercial PABX features such as pause, pulse and tone dialing, wait for second dial tone, wait for quiet answer, bong tone and hook flash. Call Progress Monitoring - Provides information on the progress of a call. Result code messages notify the user when dial tone, busy signals, and carrier signals are detected, when connections are made and when commands are accepted. Monitor Speaker - Includes audio speaker for monitoring call progress. Speaker volume can be set to three levels under software control. Speaker can be set by software control to be always off, always on, on until connection is established (including dialing), or on from completion of dialing until connection is established. Modular Connector - Standard RJ-11 telephone jack, with extension jack for telephone. MODEM CONTROL AND OPERATION --------------------------- Advanced Line Probing and Renegotiation - Will renegotiate to the highest possible transmission speed to compensate for network and phone line performance. Hayes Standard AT Command Set - Full support for this industry standard enables the product to operate with the large installed worldwide base of communications software. Asynchronous Facsimile DCE Command Set - Controls modems which are compatible with the "Class 1" fax modem command set. A user configures the software through simple, on-screen selections which are then translated into the appropriate commands that are issued to the mode. Users can make maximum use of advanced fax modem features without needing to learn specific AT Commands. Hayes Patented Improved Escape Sequence with Guard Time Mechanism - Patented technology allows the product to reliably escape from the online mode of operation (receiving/transmitting data) to the command mode (interpreting the Hayes Standard AT Command Set). U.S. Patent 4,549,302 was granted to Hayes on 22 October 1985 and Canadian Patents 1,186,080 and 1,186,081 were granted on 23 April 1985. Nonvolatile Storage of Phone Numbers and Configuration Profiles - The product stores up to four telephone numbers (36 digits each) in nonvolatile memory. The product also stores two user configuration profiles in nonvolatile memory in addition to factory configuration profile. AutoFAX - During handshake the modem looks for calling tone, and if not there, switches to data mode. Automode - Procedures defined in an appendix to ITU-T Recommendation V.32bis that allow modems with V.32bis, V.32, and V.22bis modulation to reliably interwork with other modems which have any or all of these modulations, at the highest speed in common between the products. Also in V.34/V.FC mode it will work with other modems supporting V.FC modulation to connect at the highest possible speed. Automatic Speed Buffering - Enables the product to communicate at varying speeds with other modems, including non-error-control modems, while communicating at fixed interface speed if required by its attached DTE (mainframe, mini-computer or PC). Flow Control - Supports three types of flow control: RTS/CTS (using hardware circuits 106/133), XON/XOFF, and Transparent XON/XOFF. Transparent flow control, when used with compatible software, permits the transfer of binary files with any protocol while using XON/XOFF flow control, on systems which do not support RTS/CTS flow control. Includes the capability for software to test the modem cable to determine whether or not RTS/CTS flow control can be used. DATA TRANSMISSION MODES ----------------------- Asynchronous Hardware Mode - Supports standard asynchronous communications for dial-up access to value added networks, online services, personal computers, minicomputers and mainframes. Synchronous Hardware Mode - Supports SDLC, HDLC and Bisync synchronous transmission for connections to mainframes and minicomputers. A PC using a synchronous adapter card is also supported. Hayes AutoSync - Uses the system's standard asynchronous communications port for synchronus communications, eliminating the additional expense of a synchronous adapter card for SDLC, HDLC or Bisync when used with AutoSync or application software. This convenient feature brings both asynchronous and synchronous data transfer capability to your system in one communications device and provides substantial savings over other methods. Hayes AutoSync 2 - Eliminates the requirement of precise control signal timing required by the original AutoSync. Precise control signal timing caused the original AutoSync to be much more difficult to implement at speeds above 57,000 bit/s. Both allow synchronous-mode operation of a modem connnection to an ordinary asynchronous serial card. AutoSync 2 allows reliable operation at high communication speeds above 14.4 kbit/s with multitasking operating systems, with intelligent serial ports and LAN-connected modems. SERVICE AND SUPPORT ------------------- Technical Support - Applications consultants and technical support engineers are available through Hayes Customer Sevice in the U.S. and Latin America at 404/441-1617, in Canada at 519/746-5000, in Europe at 44 1252 775544, in Asia at 852 887 1037, and in Australia at 61 2 959 5544. Electronic Support - Technical assistance is available elecronically through Hayes Online, Hayes Bulletin Board System, throughout the Americas Region at 404/446-6336, as well as Hayes Forums on CompuServe and GEnie information services. Product Warranty - Modem holds a two-year limited performance warranty. Hayes guarantees that the product will perform as stated in the user documentation specification and is backed by the Hayes return or refund policy. A special offer by Hayes allows users to obtain a free extension of the limited performance warranty to a total of five years coverage when an OPTIMA product is registered within 90 days of purchase by mail or by using Hayes Online, Hayes Bulletin Board System, in the U.S. and Canada only. Quality and Fast Service - Hayes Quality aims for the absolute minimum defects in design and manufacturing. The company's emphasis on quality results in extremely reliable products and outstanding repair service should any be required. GLOBAL AVAILABILITY ------------------- Country-Specific Versions - Country-specific versions comply with the requirements of each country's regulatory agency. Specific features for a country's version may vary to the extent necessary to meet these requirements. International Distribution - Hayes products are available in more than 65 countries through a global network of authorized distirbutors, dealers, m a s s merchants, VARs, systems integrators and original equipment manufacturers. Hayes, the Hayes icon, the Hayes logo, Smartmodem, Smartcom, AutoSync and OPTIMA are trademarks of Hayes Microcomputer Products, Inc. V.FC and V.Fast Class are tradmarks of Rockwell International Corporation. Other trademarks mentioned in this summary are trademarks of their respective companies. The International Telecommunications Union - Telecommunications (ITU-T) is the United Nations agency responsible for development of standards for international data communications. ___________________________________________ > DELPHI ENHANCEMENTS STR InfoFile """""""""""""""""""""""""""""""" FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE --------------------- DELPHI INTERNET SIGNS STRATEGIC TECHNOLOGY AGREEMENT WITH NETSCAPE COMMUNICATIONS Internet Standards-Based Strategy to Bypass Consumer Online Competitors New Technology Direction Underscores Strong Commitment to Delivering Innovative Services and Enriching Internet Access CAMBRIDGE, MASSACHUSETTS * February 8, 1995 * Delphi Internet Services Corporation, one of the nation's largest online services and since 1992 a leading provider of complete Internet access, today announced that it has signed a license and distribution agreement with Netscape Communications Corporation under which Netscape will provide client and server software to Delphi Internet. This agreement with Netscape marks the first step in Delphi Internet's plan to deliver the most accessible interactive content and services for personal computer users. Through the licensing of Netscape NavigatorTM and Netsite Commerce ServerTM software, Delphi Internet begins to implement its plans to build its online service on a totally open, Internet standards-based platform. Netscape Navigator and Netsite* server software will bring secure communications, performance and advanced functionality to Delphi Internet's new platform. "We are aggressively moving forward toward an open architecture * away from the older, proprietary technologies of the 'big three' online service providers," said Dr. Alan E. Baratz, Delphi Internet's Chief Executive Officer. "By adopting an open system, we are ensuring that our delivery platform will consistently incorporate the latest technology and that our members and partners can instantly access the richest resources and most innovative services that the Internet has to offer. At Delphi, we understand and fully embrace the principles of openness and adherence to technological excellence on which the Internet is founded, and bring that same commitment to the development of our new platform." "Delphi Internet's selection of Netscape as a strategic partner will give online subscribers easy access to the vast resources available on the Internet as well as to a broad range of other exciting information and entertainment services," said Jim Barksdale, President and Chief Executive Officer of Netscape. "Delphi Internet's online expertise and access to unrivaled media content, combined with Netscape's easy-to-use, standards-based secure software, will create a powerful platform for delivery of online services." Delphi Internet's "Third Generation" Interface Development Delphi Internet is re-building its online service based on a sophisticated platform that will readily accommodate the latest products and services that are being developed for the Internet. The Company is developing a "third generation" interface * one that will deliver on the promise of new media types incorporating audio and video, as well as hyperlinking capabilities * evolving from a first generation ASCII, text-based system to leapfrog second generation proprietary, menu-based point and click interfaces. Delphi Internet's third generation interface will differ dramatically from earlier interfaces because it will be built around emerging Internet standards like TCP/IP, POP (for mail), Gopher, Worldwide Web (WWW) and Hypertext Markup Language (HTML). "Because these standards are set by public use and discussion, they evolve quickly and take into account the latest technology," said Baratz. "Also, many complementary products based on these standards are and will continue to become available. In addition, because Delphi has been a 'Net citizen for a long time, we know that these standards work, and are at the core of the explosive growth and utility of the Internet. Basing our interface on these standards is the soundest strategy for providing secure communications and solid performance to our subscribers * now and into the future." A News Corporation company, Delphi Internet develops and markets interactive entertainment, information and communications services for consumers worldwide. Delphi Internet is one of the nation's top online services and a leading provider to consumers of comprehensive access to the Internet, the data superhighway. News Corporation, led by Chief Executive Rupert Murdoch, is one of the largest global media companies with diversified international operations that include: TV GUIDE, Fox Broadcasting Company, Twentieth Century Fox, HarperCollins Publishers, Times Newspapers Limited, British Sky Broadcasting, STAR Television and others. Netscape Communications Corporation is a premier provider of open software to enable people and companies to exchange information and conduct commerce over the Internet and other global networks. The company was founded in April 1994 by Dr. James H. Clark, founder of Silicon Graphics, Inc., a Fortune 500 computer systems company; and Marc Andreessen, creator of the NCSA MosaicTM research prototype for the Internet. Privately held, Netscape Communications Corporation is based in Mountain View, California. Contact: -------- For Delphi: Nancy Morrisroe Delphi Internet Services Corp. 617/441-4532 nancy@delphi.com Pam Hamilton or Gwenn Gauthier Schwartz Communications, Inc. 617/431-0770 pamhamilton@delphi.com or gwenn@delphi.com For Netscape: Rosanne Siino Netscape Communications Corp. 415/528-2619 rosanne@netscape.com Delphi Internet is a trademark of Delphi Internet Services Corporation. Netscape Navigator, Netsite and Netsite Commerce Server are trademarks of Netscape Communicatioins Corporation. NCSA Mosaic is a trademark of the University of Illinois. ********************************************************************** IMPORTANT NOTICE! ================= STReport International OnLine Magazine is available every week for your reading pleasure on DELPHI. STReport's readers are invited to join DELPHI and become a part of an extremely friendly community of enthusiastic computer users there. SIGNING UP WITH DELPHI ====================== Using a personal computer and modem, members worldwide access DELPHI services via a local phone call JOIN --DELPHI -------------- Via modem, dial up DELPHI at 1-800-695-4002 then... When connected, press RETURN once or twice and... At Password: type STREPORT and press RETURN. DELPHI's 20/20 Advantage Plan 20 Hours for Only $20! ----------------------------- Advantage Members have always enjoyed the lowest DELPHI access rates available. On the new 20/20 Advantage Plan, members receive their first 20 hours of access each month for only $20. If you happen to meet someone OnLine or find some other diversion, don't worry because additional usage is only $1.80 per hour. 20/20 Advantage rates apply for access via SprintNet or Tymnet from within the continental United States during home time or via direct dial around the clock. Home Time is from 6pm to 6am weekdays. Access during business time carries a surcharge of $9 per hour. These rates apply for most services, but note that there are some surcharged areas on DELPHI which are clearly marked with a "$" sign. Who is eligible to take advantage of the plan? Any DELPHI member in good standing. Applications are reviewed and subject to approval by Delphi Internet Services Corporation. It's easy to join. If you meet the eligibility requirements, you can apply OnLine -- at any time -- for membership in the DELPHI 20/20 Advantage Plan. Your membership becomes active at 4 a.m. Eastern Time on the first billing day of the following month. The $20 charge will be billed to you at the beginning of the month to which it applies. Any portion of the 20 hours not used in any month does not carry forward into the next month. Advantage rates may be changed with 30 days notice given OnLine. TRY DELPHI FOR $1 AN HOUR! For a limited time, you can become a trial member of DELPHI, and receive 5 hours of evening and weekend access during this month for only $5. If you're not satisfied, simply cancel your account before the end of the calendar month with no further obligation. If you keep your account active, you will automatically be enrolled in DELPHI's 10/4 Basic Plan, where you can use up to 4 weekend and evening hours a month for a minimum $10 monthly charge, with additional hours available at $3.96. But hurry, this special trial offer will expire soon! To take advantage of this limited offer, use your modem to dial 1-800-365-4636. Press once or twice. When you get the Password: prompt, type IP26 and press again. Then, just answer the questions and within a day or two, you'll officially be a member of DELPHI! DELPHI-It's the BEST Value and getting BETTER all the time! ************************************************************ ATARI/JAG SECTION (III) ======================= Dana Jacobson, Editor > From the Atari Editor's Desk "Saying it like it is!" """""""""""""""""""""""""""" Talk about an over-reaction! No, I'm not talking about someone reacting to something our publisher wrote! I mean, a week or so ago, that big furry rodent was the portent of an early Spring; and a few days later there were major headlines that claimed the northeast was blasted by a 'Noreaster!! Okay, so it's been a calm winter with abnormal temperatures and no snow. But, was a six-inch snowstorm in the Boston area worth television coverage, ALL day, by all of the major networks and a few independents?!? It must have been a really slow news day... Speaking of slow news days, there continues to be a drought of Atari computing news lately. Maybe I'm searching in the wrong places, or my reporters aren't fully awake lately (just kidding, guys!). We do have some more CD ROM news from those busy guys at It's All Relative. I have to really sit down and consider the possibilities of adding CD ROM power for one of my machines! We also have what appears to be the first of many announcements from C-LAB, regarding their efforts with the Falcon. As initially surmised, their first endeavor will be leaning toward the MIDI userbase, but it does sound impressive, nonetheless. Closer to home, I've been having a little fun playing with Spectre lately (again). I thought that I'd explore the world of online navigators and offline readers. Since there isn't much currently available for the ST, I thought I'd see what was available for the Mac which I could use under Spectre. My first attempts have been using MacCIM, for use with Compuserve. It's an interesting program, so far. My initial reactions are that it's more of a navigator to look around and see what's available online while being able to read/reply to messages and download/upload files. I've ordered MacNav to really check out the OLR capabilities and benefits. As I play around more with both of these products, I'll try to give you a report as I'm sure many of our readers use Macs and/or Spectre. Until next time... ____________________________________________ Delphi's Atari Advantage!! TOP TEN DOWNLOADS (2/8/95) (1) ONLY! VALENCY & WORLD (6) 2 COLUMNS, VERSION 6 (2) ERROR CODES AND BOMBS (7) BMP FILE VIEWER *(3) ATARI E-MAIL LIST *(8) TRON-LIKE LIGHT-CYCLES GAME (4) GENEVA SECRETS *(9) IDENTIFIES ASCI/SCSI DEVICES (5) ATARIWORKS PAGE PREVIEW *(10) OFFICIAL DEMO OF APEX * = New on list HONORARY TOP 10 The following on-line magazines are always top downloads, frequently out-performing every other file in the databases. STREPORT (Current issue: STREPORT 11.05) ATARI EXPLORER ONLINE (Current issue: AEO: VOLUME 4, ISSUE 2) Look for the above files in the RECENT ARRIVALS database. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ ~ For those of you with ~ ~ Internet access here on DELPHI ~ ~ (and shame on you if you don't!) ~ ~ we've just added three new Web ~ ~ pages to the Internet Gopher's ~ ~ WWW PAGES OF INTEREST menu. ~ ~ Including Yak's Zoo! ~ ~ Check them out! ~ ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ > Photo CD System! STR NewsFile! - Photokina Disk Announced! """""""""""""""""""""""""""""" Photo Show Pro Photokina Disk We are excited about this "first of it's kind" demo for the Atari platform that combines 300,000,000 bytes of graphics and 200,000,000 bytes of CD quality sound into an interactive presentation of the Kodak Photo CD Portfolio graphics and sound system. The Photokina demo can be played as a self-running looping demo of about 40 minutes long or explored in an interactive mode that allows you to see what can be done with the Kodak Photo CD format. The CD explains the Photo CD process and includes four sample scripts created by professional media experts showing examples of presentations they have created. The Photo Show Pro Photokina Disk requires an Atari STe or Falcon with 1 meg or more of memory, color monitor, a CD rom drive capable of reading Photo CD format, and ExtenDOS Pro by Anodyne software. The disk uses the extended audio support of ExtenDOS Pro and will only run with this version of the CD rom driver installed for CD audio on your system. The Photo Show Pro Photokina disk is available for $5.00 to cover disk, postage, and handling. We will include a free copy of the Photokina CD with every order. For those without ExtenDOS Pro, we will ship ExtenDOS Pro, the Photo Show Pro Photokina Disk, and the free Kodak Photokina CD for $29.99, postpaid, worldwide. This is a MUST HAVE for all Atari CD rom owners! Write It's All Relative, Randall Kopchak, 2233 Keeven Lane, Florissant MO 63031 USA. (voice) (314) 831-9482 GEnie or Delphi: GREG Compuserve: 70357,2312 Internet: GREG@GEnie.geis.com ___________________________________ > C-LAB Falcon MKII! STR InfoFile! - New MIDI Set-up Ready to Go! """""""""""""""""""""""""""""""" UY-y, the C-LAB FALCON MKII has been designed to offer advanced digital technology to anyone who wants to produce music and audio in an easy and cost-effective way as a turnkey hardware solution. As the most music-ready of all current personal computers, the FALCON MKII incorporates as standard the vital features for recording and producing music in the digital domain: 14 MB of RAM, an internal 500 MB SCSI hard drive, MIDI interfacing, 16 bit audio converters, Motorola DSP chip etc. providing the perfect platform for professional MIDI sequencing/hard disk recording programs such as Steinberg Cubase Audio 16 (and many others). For many years, Atari Computers have been renowned for breaking the barriers of bringing workstation quality into a price bracket affordable to home users. The FALCON MKII takes this even further, running all MIDI data side-by-side with 16 tracks of digital audio as well as many other musical applications. Just plug in your software key...and play! INDUSTRY-STANDARD SOUND QUALITY Made to fit right into your digital studio, the FALCON MKII offers you audio that's even brighter than the already remarkable quality you get from CD. Technically speaking, you get eight 16 bit digital sound channels, with a sampling frequency of up to 50 KHz for both recording and playback. The FALCON MKII comes complete with a stereo 16 bit A/D converter into preliminary product information - C-LAB FALCON MKII which you can feed any line level signal. To play back audio, the eight channels are mixed by the DSP chip and then fed to a 16 bit stereo D/A converter. Alternatively, you can use an 8-output expander, such as the Steinberg FA-8. Because the DSP is standard (and is a Motorola industry-standard), many different effects algorithms (graphic or parametric EQ, Reverb, Chorus or Delay) can be used simultaneously with the 8-channel mixing. Alternatively, the DSP can be used to allow 16-channel operation (as in Steinberg Cubase Audio16). INDUSTRY-STANDARD MIDI The MIDI interface on the FALCON MKII can be used as is with industry-standard software such as Steinberg Cubase, Emagic Logic, SmpteTrack Platinum and others, and at the same time as direct-to-disk audio recording (with suitable audio software). In short, it offers the kind of standard MIDI/ audio features not available on other computer platforms as standard. YOUR OWN HOME STUDIO Whether you're a studio pro or a music buff, the FALCON MKII does more than just make your life easier: it actually opens up vast areas of creativity. Atari, with its breakthroughs in combining computer and MIDI standards have virtually rewritten the way in which composing and arranging is done. The FALCON MKII takes all this even further. Naturally it still has MIDI sockets, but what will really excite musicians is the DSP and direct-to-disk capacity. Direct-to-disk means that the FALCON MKII can store digital audio on its internal 500 MB SCSI drive, and play back up to 16 channels in real time. Preliminary product information - C-LAB FALCON MKII Now you will be able to record entire audio tracks (in stereo if necessary), edit them and play them back simultaneously. With the direct-to-disk system, you can edit in the same way as with a MIDI sequencer, but with the added advantage that it works with any acoustic instrument, even the human voice. The internal 500 MB SCSI hard drive gives you as standard 46 minutes of linear stereo recording at industry standard rates. This is equivalent to 12 minutes of uninterrupted, unrepeated audio across 8 tracks. Using the DSP you can actually have 12 minutes of uninterrupted, unrepeated audio across 16 tracks. External hard disks expand your recording time almost without limits. Another advantage of the DSP is its real time digital treatment of the audio signals which means that it can be used to individually EQ up to 8 audio channels or add reverb, chorus or delay. A COMPLETELY OPEN SYSTEM The FALCON MK II allows every type of interfacing you might ever need: The widely praised MIDI sockets that brought about the ST's success in the field of music sequencing. A 9-pin RS232C socket, with a 250K per second output (modems etc.). A bi-directional parallel Centronics interface, designed to connect all printers and all scanners on the market. 2 standard joy stick/mouse connectors. A cartridge port (for software keys). A stereo audio input at line level (-10 dbV). A stereo audio output at line level (-10dbV). Preliminary product information - C-LAB FALCON MKII A video output for all monitors. An HF video connection to plug directly into VCRs. A SCSI-connection, able to support up to 7 additional peripherals (SCS-1 or SCSI-2 standard) such as hard disks, Syquest drives or CD ROM. A DSP connector, opening the processor up to the outside world and passing the eight sound channels in digital form (for S/PDIF interfacing and 8-output expanders). OPTIONS C-LAB can also supply a paper-white 14" VGA monitor, ideal for use with audio programs like Cubase Audio and Logic Audio. Of course, any colour VGA, SVGA or RGB monitor can be used to fully exploit the FALCON's unrivaled graphics and video capabilities (with programs like DMC's Calamus or Titan Design's Apex Media). C-LAB also produces a wide range of SCSI peripherals ideal for use with the FALCON MKII, including 270 MB Syquest drives and a range of fixed drives, guaranteed for audio recording. RECOMMENDED RETAIL PRICE The C-LAB FALCON MKII will retail under 3.000,00 US Dollars excluding tax. For further technical information please contact C-LAB Digital Media GmbH, P.O. Box 700 303, 22003 Hamburg. voice: 49-40-69 44 000 fax: 49-40-69 61 555 compuserve: 100434,3795 ____________________________________ > STR FOCUS! """""""""" -/- Study Finds Internet Pedophiles -/- A Swedish researcher says he has found that pedophiles exchange hundreds of pictures a week through anonymous conduits via the global Internet network. Mats Wiklund, a researcher at Stockholm University's Institute of Computer and System Science, told Associated Press writer Thomas Ginsberg that during a seven-day period in late December and early January he found: -:- 5,651 messages or postings about child pornography in four electronic bulletin boards listed in Usenet section of Internet. -:- 85 percent of the messages about child pornography were fantasy stories or tips on transmitting pictures. -:- About 800 graphic pictures of adolescents engaged in sexual acts. -:- At least eight pictures showing young children, possibly ages 8-10. "The younger ones ... are not being shown in the act, but they are being used as bait," said Wiklund, adding the actual number of postings likely is higher. Wiklund said he surveyed just half the bulletin boards dedicated to pornography and could not count private messages. "A few messages offer telephone numbers or other instructions for getting more pictures for a price, but most offerings were free," AP said. Says Wiklund, "The Internet has become a channel of communication for pedophiles. From their point of view, they've found a green technology. You can be anonymous and still be reached." The wire service added that authorities fear pedophiles can make contact with children by computer, then try to lure them into a meeting. Wiklund told the wire service he could trace the message origins only as far as a large "server" computer in Finland. Meanwhile, Finnish detective Sgt. Timo Laine told Ginsberg it is unclear whether the country's laws apply to "electronic smuggling" by computer and that did not know whether police would take action against the computer owner in Finland. "We've never had this kind of case before," the detective said. "If I transmit this information through the Internet, is it considered smuggling?" ____________________________________ JAGUAR SECTION ============== New Titles Soon! Cannon Fodder! Theme Park! Syndicate! Double Dragon V! Troy Aikman Football! International Sensible Soccer! Hover Hunter! Minter/Defender 2000 Iron Soldier Tips! and much more! > From the Editor's Controller - Playin' it like it is! """""""""""""""""""""""""""" The games may be slow in coming out, especially since the holidays, but they are coming folks. Atari has just released the names of the next six games; what appears to be the beginning of a long line of third party games - finally! I realize that people are growing weary of hearing that we should be patient; the games are coming. It's really tough being in our shoes and waiting. Even though I occasionally have some advance knowledge of things to come; not being able to put my hands on them (sometimes) is difficult at times! I don't know what to tell you all, seriously. For what it's worth, the Jaguar is the best system currently on the market, in my opinion. Atari is not a Sega or a Nintendo with relatively deep pockets. Things are going to happen more slowly with Atari than the larger players. However, Atari still has some advantage provided that they follow through on what we've all been told with regard to software and hardware. This is the key. They haven't been perfect the past 18 months, but I have seen some positive changes that give me some reason to be more optimistic than years past with other products. I see the first couple of months of any new year as relatively slow. The holidays are behind us now, as well as the Winter CES. It's my impression/guess that March through May will see some major improvements for new releases. I don't know why; it's just some sort of weird premonition based on getting out of the winter doldrums, or something! We'll see soon enough, I guess. Winter is essentially over once we make it through this month. Meanwhile, I have a better opportunity to make it through all of the half-completed games I currently have while waiting for those I'm looking forward to seeing next! Until next time... ______________________________________ > Jaguar Catalog STR InfoFile - What's currently available, what's """"""""""""""""""""""""""" coming out. Current Available Titles ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ CAT # TITLE MSRP DEVELOPER/PUBLISHER J9000 Cybermorph $59.99 Atari Corp. J9006 Evolution:Dino Dudes $49.99 Atari Corp. J9005 Raiden $49.99 FABTEK, Inc/Atari Corp. J9001 Trevor McFur/ Crescent Galaxy $49.99 Atari Corp. J9010 Tempest 2000 $59.95 Llamasoft/Atari Corp. J9028 Wolfenstein 3D $69.95 id/Atari Corp. JA100 Brutal Sports FtBall $69.95 Telegames J9008 Alien vs. Predator $69.99 Rebellion/Atari Corp. J9029 Doom $69.99 id/Atari Corp. J9036 Dragon: Bruce Lee $59.99 Atari Corp. J9003 Club Drive $59.99 Atari Corp. J9007 Checkered Flag $69.99 Atari Corp. J9012 Kasumi Ninja $69.99 Atari Corp. J9042 Zool 2 $59.99 Atari Corp Bubsy $49.99 Atari Corp Iron Soldier $59.99 Atari Corp Val D'Isere Skiing $59.99 Atari Corp. Available Soon ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ CAT # TITLE MSRP DEVELOPER/PUBLISHER CatBox $69.95 ICD Cannon Fodder TBD Virgin Hover Strike $59.99 Atari Hardware and Peripherals ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ CAT # TITLE MSRP MANUFACTURER J8001 Jaguar (complete) $249.99 Atari Corp. J8904 Composite Cable $19.95 J8901 Controller/Joypad $24.95 Atari Corp. J8905 S-Video Cable $19.95 Jaguar CD-ROM $149.99 Atari Corp. > Industry News STR Game Console NewsFile - The Latest Gaming News! """"""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""" CONTACT: Ron Beltramo Atari Corporation 408/745-8852 For Immediate Release SIX OUTSTANDING NEW THIRD PARTY JAGUAR TITLES TO HIT STORE SHELVES! SUNNYVALE, CA (February 7, 1995) -- Over the next 45 days, the first major wave of third party software for the 64-bit Atari Jaguar will be launched, marking another important step in the expansion of the Jaguar library of software. Sam Tramiel, President of Atari Corporation, stated, "We are very excited to see our third party partners coming to market with these new titles for the Jaguar platform. This is only the beginning of many great games that will be coming in the next wave of releases from our third party partners." "Cannon Fodder", expected in stores by February 24th, leads the pack of six exciting new third-party titles to be shipped within the first quarter. For the sports enthusiasts, Telegames introduces "International Sensible Soccer" as an interactive game version of the fastest growing commercial sport in the United States. Just following one of the most exciting football seasons, Williams Entertainment introduces the Jaguar version of "Troy Aikman Football". Electronic Gaming Monthly says of "Troy Aikman Football", "...the Jaguar version is the best yet." Saturday morning cartoon fans will recognize the fighting lineup in eye-popping animated action with "Double Dragon V" by Williams Entertainment. For those who prefer strategic challenges with intense graphics and hypnotic animated sequences, Ocean of America delivers two great titles, "Syndicate" and "Theme Park". In "Syndicate", you are an executive in charge of a team of mind-altered Cyborgs and "Theme Park" enables you to engineer the ultimate amusement park. "These new titles give the consumer a new wider range of selection on the Atari Jaguar Multimedia platform," said Mr. Tramiel. "The Jaguar now has an excellent introduction of sports, strategy and general interest software provided by some of the most respected publishers in the industry with much more to come throughout 1995." Here is a closer look at these great new titles: "Cannon Fodder": War has never been so much fun. The first of a new caliber of games published by Computer West, "Cannon Fodder" is a product brought to us from the innovative people at Virgin. Command your company through enemy territories and hostile environments; jungles, swamps and frozen wastelands. Highlights of this whimsical and entertaining approach to war are: Over 300 conscripts with different skills, 72 phases of action, 24 different missions, an animated introduction, an ambient soundtrack complete with the howling of icy winds and a projected minimum of 50 hours to complete the game by most gamers. "...probably the most addicting game since Lemmings.", Electronic Gaming Monthly. "Troy Aikman Football": Troy Aikman's rendition of football on the 64-bit Jaguar may be the most intense pigskin action you have ever played. Brought to the high-end gaming world from the ground-breaking minds at Williams Entertainment, "Troy Aikman Football" breaks new barriers in sports entertainment. Up-to-date with 1995 rules and regulations, players choose among all 28 NFL teams, three season modes, multiple difficulty levels, 54 offensive and 27 defensive configurations, six field options, variable quarter lengths, and more... and that's all before the excitement really begins! For 1 or 2 players. "...the Jaguar version (of 'Troy Aikman Football') is the best yet.", Electronic Gaming Monthly. "Syndicate": There's a new kind of brutal reality amidst the sinister underworld and only Ocean can take you there with 64-bit intensity of the Atari Jaguar. Players assume the role of an ambitious executive in the Syndicate. Your mission is to lead a team of mind-altered Cyborg mercenaries to infiltrate opposing Syndicate territories. Your specific objective is to gain as much control of the world as possible, street by street, city by city, country by country, bit by bit. "...ultra-cool ...better than the Genesis...", Game Players Magazine. "Theme Park": You've been there just to visit, but now you will build one from the ground up. Ocean gives you access to a virtual world where you can design, build and operate your own amusement park. You choose the land, hire staff, build the rides, manage the novelty shops, and become solely responsible if anything ever goes tragically wrong. "...anyone who enjoys designing things is gonna love this game.", Game Players Magazine. "Double Dragon V": Williams Entertainment has created an exciting new fighting game based on the Saturday morning Amazin' Adventures Series cartoon hit, Double Dragon. The Shadow Master is ready for battle. After reading the character dossiers, players customize game play and attributes to create fighting machines never before seen on any gaming platform. For 1 or 2 players, there are multiple levels of game play, 10 different battle locations, 12 unique characters, and over a dozen different musical scores. "Smooth-as-silk graphics; kid's will love controlling their favorite cartoon characters on the Jaguar.", Atari Explorer Online. "International Sensible Soccer": Telegames has captured World Soccer excitement in the most addictive soccer simulation ever. It is complete with international roster profiles and fully editable teams. Select between "Friendly", "Cup" or "League" simulations in 1 or 2 player head to head competitions; all with 8 channel/16-bit sound to put you right on the playing field. This game delivers a fast 60 frames per second for smooth scrolling and crisp animation. This is a "must" game for 64-bit sports game enthusiasts. "For some of the most intense soccer action on the Jaguar, try Telegames' Sensible Soccer...one of the many exciting games for the Jaguar system.", EGM2. ### FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE Contact: Hyper Image Productions, Inc. 301/513-1783 HYPER IMAGE ANNOUNCES REVOLUTIONARY NEW JAGUAR GAME - HOVER HUNTER COLLEGE PARK, MD, February 6th, 1995 -- The design team at Hyper Image Productions has announced their upcoming debut game-release for the 64-bit Atari Jaguar platform entitled "Hover Hunter". Set in the not so distant future, Hover Hunter is a lightning paced hovertank simulator that allows players to fly through multiple missions filled with fleets of enemy vehicles. Realistic three dimensional environments are created using "Displacement Texture Mapping", an advanced rendering technique developed by Hyper Image that takes current landscape rendering technology one step further. Hover Hunter will also be among the first Jaguar games with full network support allowing for multiplayer combat over the CatBox's CatNet(TM). Hover Hunter sets the game-player in the cockpit of a technologically advanced hovertank fully outfitted with a wide choice of powerful weaponry and computer features. Using advanced piloting skills and devastating firepower, the player must do battle to protect and further the interests of his employer, a powerful corporate-state bent on global conquest and domination. Deadly foes sent by rival companies await on each landscape as the player completes action-packed missions and steadily advances further into the storyline of the game. "I'm really excited at the prospect of showcasing our talented development team and next generation gaming technology to the public," says Jeremy Gordon, president and senior programmer of Hyper Image Productions. "Not only will Hover Hunter be a an absolute adrenaline rush, but I think it will also demonstrate Hyper Image's dedication to continually pushing the edge of gaming standards." Slated for release in the summer of 1995, Hyper Image will be showcasing their game at the E3 show in Los Angeles. To go along with the official announcement of our Jaguar title, "Hover Hunter", I want to personally invite anyone who's interested to check out our world wide web page; http://www.hyperimage.com (http://hyperimage.com works also). There are some general tidbits that may be of interest, and also a whole bunch of cool screen shots (grabbed via s-video by a really killer new JPEG board). The screen shots are also available via anonymous ftp to ftp.hyperimage.com in the /pub/HoverHunter directory (again, ftp'ing to hyperimage.com works too). Some small MPEG movies will be made available really soon. The game is still very early (about 35% complete in these shots from the Winter CES) although we are counting on completion for the E3 show. Look for a preview in the March issue of Video Games magazine, and maybe a few shots in the March Die Hard Game Fan... -jeremy Jeremy Gordon President/Senior Programmer Hyper Image Productions, Inc. (jgordon@hyperimage.com) _______________________________________________ > Jaguar Developers STR InfoFile - Current Developer Lists & Titles """""""""""""""""""""""""""""" Game Title Date Game Type MSRP Publisher ----------------------------------------------------------------------- Air Cars 1Q/95 Racing $59.99 Midnight Ent. Alien vs Predator NOW Role Play/Adventure $69.99 Atari Arena Football 1Q/95 Sports TBD V Reel Assault 1Q/95 Action/Combat $59.99 Midnight Ent. Baldy (CD) Action/Adventure TBD Atari Barkley Basketball 2Q/95 Sports TBD Atari Battlemorph 1Q/95 Flying/Action $59.99 Atari Battle Sphere 1Q/95 Flying/Action TBD 4-Play Battle Wheels 1Q/95 Racing/Combat TBD Beyond Games Blue Lightning (CD) 1Q/95 Flying/Action $59.99 Atari Brett Hull Hockey (CD) 2Q/95 Sports TBD Atari Brutal Sports Football NOW Sports/Combat $69.99 Telegames Bubsy NOW Action/Adventure $49.99 Atari Burnout 2Q/95 Sports TBD Atari Cannon Fodder 2/95 Action/Adventure TBD Virgin Casino Royale Gambling TBD Telegames CD League Bowling (CD) Sports TBD V Reel Checkered Flag NOW Racing $69.99 Atari Club Drive NOW Racing $59.99 Atari Commando Action/Combat TBD Atari Creature Shock (CD) 1Q/95 Adventure/Sci-Fi TBD Atari/Virgin Cybermorph NOW Flying/Action $59.99 Atari Dactyl Joust 2Q/95 Action TBD Atari Demolition Man (CD) 1Q/95 Action/Combat $59.99 Atari Doom NOW Action/Combat $69.99 Atari Double Dragon V 1Q/95 Action/Adventure $59.99 Williams Dragon:Bruce Lee Story NOW Combat $59.99 Atari Dragon's Lair (CD) 1Q/95 Adventure TBD Ready Soft Dreadnought (CD) 2Q/95 Adventure TBD Atari Dungeon Depths 1Q/95 Action/Adventure $59.99 Midnight Ent. Evolution: Dino Dudes NOW Puzzle/Adventure $49.99 Atari Fight For Life 1Q/95 Combat TBD Atari Flashback 1Q/95 Action TBD US Gold Flip Out Puzzle TBD Atari Freelancer 2120 (CD) Adventure/Sci-Fi TBD Atari Galactic Gladiators Space/Combat TBD Photosurrealism Graham Gooch Cricket Sports TBD Telegames Hammerhead Flying/Sci-Fi TBD Atari Hardball Baseball 2Q/95 Sports TBD Atari Highlander (CD) 1Q/95 Action/Adventure $59.99 Atari Horrorscope 1Q/95 Combat TBD V Reel Hover Hunter 2Q/95 Combat TBD Hyper Image Hover Strike 1Q/95 Action/Combat $59.99 Atari Iron Soldier NOW Action/Strategy $59.99 Atari Jack Nicklaus Golf(CD) 2Q/95 Sports TBD Atari James Pond 3 Action/Adventure TBD Telegames Kasumi Ninja NOW Combat $69.99 Atari Legions of the Undead Role Play/Adventure TBD Atari Off Road Rally 2Q/95 Racing TBD TWI Phear 2Q/95 Puzzle TBD Atari Pinball Fantasies 1Q/95 Action TBD 21st Cent. Rage Rally 1Q/95 Racing TBD Atari Raiden NOW Action/Adventure $49.99 Atari Rayman 2Q/95 Action/Adventure TBD UBI Soft Redemption (CD) Adventure TBD Atari Robinson Requiem 1Q/95 Adventure TBD Atari Ruiner Pinball Arcade TBD Atari Sensible Soccer 1Q/95 Sports TBD Telegames Soccer Kid 1Q/95 Sports TBD Ocean Soul Star (CD) Action/Sci-Fi TBD Atari Space Ace (CD) Space/Combat TBD Ready Soft Space War 2000 1Q/95 Action/Adventure $59.99 Atari Star Raiders 1Q/95 Space Simulation TBD Atari Syndicate 1Q/95 Simulation TBD Ocean Tempest 2000 NOW Action/Adventure $59.99 Atari Theme Park 1Q/95 Simulation TBD Ocean Tiny Toon Adventures 1Q/95 Action/Adventure $59.99 Atari Trevor McFur NOW Action/Adventure $49.99 Atari Troy Aikman NFL Ftball 1Q/95 Sports $69.99 Williams Ultimate Brain Games 1Q/95 Puzzle TBD Telegames Ultra Vortex 1Q/95 Action/Adventure $69.99 Beyond Games Val D'Isere Skiing... NOW Sports $59.99 Atari Vid Grid (CD) Puzzle/Music Video TBD Atari White Men Can't Jump 1Q/95 Sports TBD TriMark Wolfenstein 3D NOW Combat/Action $59.99 Atari Zool2 NOW Action/Adventure $59.99 Atari [Editor's note: Titles, scheduled release dates, and prices are verified from Atari and Edelman Public Relations - all subject to change] _________________________________________ > Jaguar Easter Eggs/Cheats/Hints STR InfoFile - Solving Those Riddles! """""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""" From Compuserve, CIS Atari SysOp and STReport staffer, Jeff Kovach: Time for another Iron Soldier cheat! IRON SOLDIER Unlimited Ammo Cheat At Options screen, type 2,7,2,8,3,7 ("CRATES" on a phone keypad) Have a blast with it! Jeff __________________________________________ > Jaguar Online STR InfoFile Online Users Growl & Purr! """""""""""""""""""""""""" Jeff Kovach is still busy, surfing the net and finds these Jeff Minter posts from "The Yak Zoo", Minter's WWW page: Jeff Minter, the programming genius behind Tempest 2000 and the upcoming Defender 2000 has set up his own World Wide Web page on the Internet. In it, he devotes a section to providing updates to his progress on Defender 2000. Anyway, here's the current version of his update: ---------- Jaguar Developments This page is where I am going to publish progress reports on my current Jaguar projects - at the moment, I'm working on Defender 2000. People in the newsgroups are interested to know how the progress of my llatest game is going, and some of you may be interested in how the evolution of a game as coded by the Yak goes... I'll try and keep this section updated once a week or so, but don't hold me to that. D2K at 04 Feb 1995 Classic Mode is pretty much finished, bar a bit of tweaking. It's basically identical to original Defender, uses the same sound effects sampled out of the coin-op; the main differences being that it keeps 60 frames throughout, and doesn't 'disappear' enemies due to the draw loop getting overloaded - we've got a bit more horsepower (llamapower?) than the original arcade game had, so the draw loop never gets overloaded. There's a bit of tidying up to do - like the humanoid-fall noise sometimes doesn't cut off when you catch a falling Humanoid - but that'll get taken care of next time I do a spit-and-polish pass. At the moment I am concentrating on getting Plus defined. Plus is getting there. The idea of Plus is to keep the essence of classic Defender, but re-do it with more detailed graphics, one or two extra weapons, and some new bad guys. I've incorporated the Star Gate out of the game of the same name as well. The Plus control mode is also the same as it will be in 2K - if anyone has played Llamazap you already know it. It allows you to fly your ship backwards at times - basically you can apply 'retro thrust', which gives you more control over speed so you pile into enemies less often, and means you can even back away from an enemy while still firing at him - useful if you are attacking a shielded enemy. Your first new weapon is the Llightning Llaser. You can think of this as being a bit like the Superzapper out of Tempest, attached to your Defender ship. When you hold down the LL button, lightning strikes out from your ship and hits enemies one at a time, at a stroke rate which will probably be able to be adjusted by powerups. Cutting it loose in the middle of a crowd of Swarmers is pretty spectacular. The LL has a special function if used to attack a Lander that's carrying a Humanoid. It llocks onto the descending Humanoid freed up when you kill the Lander, and acts like a tractor beam, dragging him towards your ship. This makes it easier to gather a lot of Humanoids under your ship, which is something that'll do you good in the gameplay for both Plus and 2K. Graphically, all the classic Defender enemies have been redrawn as animated true colour objects. The little Humanoids are particularly cool - they run about in a nicely animated way and wave their arms in distress when they're being hassled by the Landers. The mountains have been filled in, with a dynamic plasma texture, which wibbles up and down as you fly along and also colour-cycles. I call it the Llava Llamp texture, and the folx at Atari really like it. I'll make this texture change each level to provide variety. I'm pleased with another touch to do with the mountains that I put in last week. It's out of the Melt-O-Vision bag of tricks, and produces, down behind the mountains, these kinda flames which flicker and dance as you move around. Kinda like pale fire, or an aurora, or the soft rippling fur of a llama clad in rainbows. It's pushing me right to the edge of my 60Hz FUR, but I'm determined to keep it, as it looks so cool. It llooks like the Lissajous particle explosions may have to go, as they're pushing me out of 60Hz when you have a bunch of stuff on screen. I'll probably go for some version of pixelshatter instead that I can get the Blitter to do instead of tying up my GPU. Also, llast week the first Easter Egg went in... At the end of last week I was working on the level warp - like in arcade Stargate, if you jump in the Stargate with four or more Humanoids you can skip levels. I had put in this kinda particle tube effect, made out of the same routine for the Lissajous explosions, but although it looked interesting I thought it wasn't really in your face enough. So, I wrote this thing which does a tube made up of circles of colour, and by scrolling the palette you get a nice rushing-down-a-tube kinda thang. Then I stretched out the pale fire so it goes all the way up the screen, so you can see the flames outside of the tube. I think I'd like to use Object Processor interrupts on the GPU now to warp the overlay with the tube drawn on it, so that the whole thing kinda shimmies around, I think that'll look cool. That's what I'll do first thing next session. Then I'll get busy with the new pixelshatter explosions. While I was doing that tube I made this nice fast circle draw - god bless Mr. Bresenham! - which I'm sure will be useful for something else as well. We'll see what happens. Llater... \ (:-) / Back to Yak's Zoo Here's some additional info from Jeff Minter's WWW page, providing some background on how the Defender 2000 project came into being... Enjoy! ------------- On A Mission From God Many years ago, back in the early 80s, I used to be occasionally visited in my lair in Tadley by a lad of 14 by the name of Jake Simpson. He was learning assembler coding, and he'd come around and we'd talk about coding the C64, and play the llatest games. I was pleased to encourage another soul to get into the world of game programming. Then, a couple of years ago, I got a call from the US, and it's none other than Jake Simpson; obviously he learned his coding well, 'coz he was now a coder at none other than Williams Electronics. They're based in Chicago, and last year I was due to go to Summer CES in that city, and Jake suggested that we meet up then, and maybe slope off for a beer or two and talk about old times... Anyway, I'm at CES, demonstrating the VLM to someone with the aid of 'The Division Bell' by Pink Floyd, when there's a tap on my back and it's Jake. He says he's brought along someone I might like to meet... There's this tall thin guy; very short hair, almost shaven; intense intelligent eyes and a wicked grin. Jake sez: 'This is Eugene Jarvis'.... Now, everyone has their heroes; people who they respect and admire and who have inspired them by the quality of their work. For me, I guess the two people I most admire would be Roger Waters out of Pink Floyd, for years of excellent music that speaks to the soul... and the guy who designed what I consider to be some of the finest videogames ever made; the man who invented the Smart Bomb and the Scanner; the designer of Defender, the game which broke so much new ground in the early days of videogames, and an all-time classic; Stargate, the awesome sequel to Defender, perhaps one of the most intense videogames ever made, with amazing particle explosions and in-your-face gameplay which would keep you standing in front of the machine at 2AM sweating buckets; and Robotron, with its innovative and distinctive explosions, more enemies on screen simultaneously than just about any other game, and just one of the finest all-out blastfests ever made. That man is Eugene Jarvis. In my estimation he ranks somewhere above Grand High Immortal. And finally, there in Chicago, I finally got to meet him. EJ has been one of the main influences on my own work over the years - EJ and an unusual love of beasties, anyway. His games are always distinctive and he always manages to nail down that elusive quality - playability. I've always aspired to one day produce a game which is as playable and addictive as one of his great Williams classics. It was just excellent to finally meet this great dude, and hang out with him and Jake for the afternoon. We toured around the CES, got something to eat, and he got me a sneak preview of his latest game. I'm pleased to say that he had seen and lliked Llamatron - I'm glad he was not mortally offended at what I'd done to his game - and I have a photo of the great man playing T2K on the Jaguar. He particularly lliked my pixelshatter explosions in that game, which are clearly an evolution of the explosions in Defender and Stargate. I mentioned that I'd really llove to do a Jaguar version of Defender one day, and he said yeah, that if anyone was going to do it it should be me... Now, at that point Atari had no plans to do a Defender for the Jaguar. But, over the successive weeks, the words of God reverberated in the Yakly bonce... if anyone was to do Defender it should be me... and finally I could stand it no more, and I sent a fax to John at Atari, saying pleeeease could I do Defender, because if there's a game that I llove even more than Tempest it's Defender, and I'm sure I could do a wicked job, and besides, I'd be on a mission from God... Atari said yes! So it's happening... Defender 2000 is my current project, and coming along rather nicely. For more information about the game, and regular progress reports, read Jaguar Developments on my homepage. I'm having great fun making the game, and it's kinda a natural progression for me after having updated Tempest. Get your Smart Bomb fingers ready for some Humanoid-rescuing, Mutant-blasting, Pod-opening, Scanner-watching, Planetoid- exploding action... and remember... God told me to do it! New Jaguar Promotion! Watch your retailer and popular gaming magazines for a hot new Jaguar promotion... Qualified purchases of a complete Jaguar system made between January 31, 1995 and before May 3, 1995 qualify for not one, but TWO great FREE bonuses by mail. First, gamers may pick either Wolfenstein 3D or Tempest 2000 as a free cartridge. Secondly, gamers will also receive a free joypad controller for two-player games. This offer requires a legible and valid dated sales receipt of a complete Jaguar game system, the UPC symbol from the outside of the Jaguar box and the claim coupon. The in-store coupons and counter displays are on their way now if not already in stores. Complete details are available on the in-store coupons. If you've been holding out on a Jaguar! Hold out no longer. Get a great deal, PLUS be ready for the exciting release of the CD-ROM soon! -- Don Thomas Atari Corporation _____________________________________________ > ONLINE WEEKLY STReport OnLine The wires are a hummin'! """"""""""""""""""""""""""""" PEOPLE... ARE TALKING ===================== On CompuServe ------------- compiled by Joe Mirando CIS ID: 73637,2262 Hello again friends and neighbors. Well, as you've no doubt read in Dana's Editorial, we folks in the northeast got some snow last weekend... To use an old punch-line: "Boy, are my arms tired". Being the first real storm of the winter, I was "out of practice" at the whole shoveling thing. But, as Niche said, "That which does not kill us makes us stronger". We'll see. I thought you might appreciate this: A friend of mine, who now lives in Washington DC, is getting married in May and asked me to be in his wedding party. In our phone conversation he mentioned that he was going to look for a tuxedo rental place that had shops in DC as well as here in Connecticut, so that the tuxedos could be taken care of easily. The first words out of my mouth were "Don't drive yourself nuts, Greg. Just find a place to get the Tuxedos and the rest of us can go to local shops, have them measure us, and send the measurements to you". Greg said, "Well, I worry about how long it will take to get the measurements through the mail". "Greg," I said, "What's the matter with you? We're living in the Computer Age! I'll send the measurements to you in e-mail". "Cool," he said, "I didn't know you had an account on America Online". "I don't," I said, "I'll send it to you over the Internet". There was dead silence for a moment. Then he said, "Um, I don't have an Internet account". "Don't worry," I told him while chuckling, "neither do I". "Well, if you don't have an account, you can't use the Internet then" was his reply (but what did you expect from someone who doesn't use CompuServe?). "We'll see," I told him, "Let's do a test run tomorrow. I'll use CompuServe and see if I can 'push' it through to you at AOL". "Okay," he said, "But I'm telling you, it won't work". Well, I simply dialed up my local CIS access number, went to the Mail area, and sent him a note through the Internet. I got a reply from him the following day promising to never doubt me again and to leave me burnt offerings every so often (did I mention that Greg is almost as twisted as I am?). This is truly an age of miracles and magic... hey that reminds me of another quote. This one from Arthur C. Clarke. To paraphrase: 'Technology, sufficiently advanced, is indistinguishable from magic'. Well, let's cast a spell and conjure up some of the news, hints and tips available every week right here on CompuServe... From the Atari Computing Forums =============================== Teresa Whittington asks about transferring files from her old Atari 8-bit to a DOS machine (yuck): "I have been using an Atari 65XE for several years with the AtariWriter word processor. I have a ton of writing projects saved on disk through AtariWriter that I would like to transfer to floppies for use with my Laser 386SX/3. Is there a translator program or utility that I could use to easily transfer my files and programs?" Sysop Bob Retelle tells Teresa: "It's possible to transfer the files from one computer to another fairly easily, but it's a lot more difficult if you have to try to read the Atari disks on the IBM. I believe we do have some utility programs that will help translate the AtariWriter format into a form that can be used with a PC wordprocessor.. Maybe someone else here who has used this kind of utility can jump in with some ideas for you on exactly what you'll need to do this." Teresa tells Bob: "I still have my 65XE (It's not going anywhere ) and can use either it or my 386 clone to translate the files if I find a utility that will work. My IBM clone has DOS ver.5, so I need something that will work with it. I missed the conference about this from the AtaitGame forum, but I'll be jumping over there to see if there is anything about it in the threads. Hopefully, I'll be able to hook up with someone who's already dealt with this. " Bob replies: "... also try posting a message in the Atari 8bit message sections on the Atari Gaming Forum (GO ATARIGAM)... that's where all the most knowledgable 8bit users hang out, and I just noticed there's a discussion of exactly what you want to do going on there right now.." Teresa tells Bob: "Thanks... I missed the conference but I'm heading over there right now. I'll let you know what happens." Bob Caroles asks for help with a dead hard drive: "I've a Megafile 30 and Atari STE. I've a feeling that the boot sector on the Hard Drive was corrupted when the machine was booted from a floppy containing an ICD boot routine. Is there any way I can restore the boot sector and retain the data on the drive? Thanks to anyone who can help and shed some light on a very dark and gloomy subject..." Simon Churchill tells Bob: "I will assume here your Hard disk would normaly auto boot and would use the AHDI software supplied by ATARI. I will also assume you can boot up the drive using a floppy disk with AHDI on and read the data contained on the Hard disk. If the above assumtions match your set up then the only point I can see here is the AUTO BOOT flag has been deactivated or the SYSTEM boot file has been corrupted on the drive. If you can read files from the drive without problems then the boot sector should be O.K. To set the AUTO BOOT you will need to run one of the utility's which come with AHDI. (Possably HDX.PRG) If you do not have the latest version or any of these util's then the libraries hold them and the current version in them is 5. Also it might be a good idea to install the SYSTEM boot file, again a utility will do this and is part of the AHDI set. If and I hope this has not happened the offending program has damaged the FAT or DIRECTORY structure then your data is alas probably lost. If you can boot with a AHDI floppy and read files then the drive simply need's to be told to AUTO BOOT itself. I will be leaving the forum shortly (END OF WEEK) as the account is not mine and any reply's WILL have to be sent by then as after that time I will not see them on this number. Hope this has shed some light on your Hard disk and your day becomes a very bright and sunny one......." Rob Rasmussen tells us: "I got [an] Epson Color Stylus printer to try to use with Image Copy and other programs. It came with drivers and instructions for PC and Mac which doesn't do me much good, right? Falcon is all I'm using it with, but if it is not possible I can take it back within 30 days. I'm trying to get it to print some of my color pics (GIF, JPEG, etc.). I ran the self-test on it, and it prints out lines of characters in color just fine. When I run Image Copy 3.52, I load the driver for the Epson Inkjet. There are various settings for CMY and CMYK color and separation, DPI, and other things. I try different settings, but when it prints the pic, the printer head just jiggles several times and then prints a tiny pic of it in the corner of the page (on the special paper for 720 dpi). Just as the Epson manual isn't much help (beyond initial setup) with my system, the Image Copy manual doesn't offer any solutions that I have found. So I don't know if I need to do something different on the printer, or in the Image Copy program/driver. I wanted to also print ascii text like from EdHak, but a similar thing happens - it just prints a few random characters in the page corner. I would think this printer would be Epson compatible! What should I do to make it at least print text? Image Copy came with a Stylus driver for doing 720 dpi prints, but in the driver select menu stylus does not appear. That is strange. In the Epson Inkjet driver screen I can select 720 dpi - maybe that accesses it? Maybe its something obvious I'm not doing on the printer or in Image Copy, but I don't know how to make it print a full page size of a picture. Any suggestions?" Steven Russell at Glacier Enterprises tells Rob: "I checked my settigns in Image Copy 2 and at the printer options menu the output device needs to be BIOS. I tryied a couple of settings before and got similar if not more dramatic results, like strange characters on the page, but the BIOS print option seems to work best. Also, when you do a print, you have to specify what size you want the image to print at in the main print dialog. That should give you some better results, if this does not help, give me a ring again and I will see what I can do to help you out." Rob tells Steven: "Like you said, I had to specify the size of what I wanted it to print. It defaulted to 0 x 0 apparently, but I changed it, and the printouts look nice! When I set the size in inches, this doesn't seem to correspond with the actual size of the printed image on the page. Is it supposed to? I have always had the problem of some of my pictures, whether in normal 256 color mode or true color mode, looking squashed or elongated on my monitor (Magnavox svga). When I scan with Migraph's Colorburst software, the resulting picture is always out of proportion and I have to adjust it, by 'halfing' it, or rescaling it in Studio Photo. When I get it just right, I can load it into True Paint and play with it and it looks fine. But when I load it into Image Copy (in same video mode) it is elongated. So I have to guess at the print scaling values to get it right. I have Screen Blaster which can do several other video modes, but I have never really known which one to use that would always make the pictures look right. And if I don't use that video mode all the time, the pics will look out of proportion. Any helpful tips on this? In Image Copy, it can use the specific driver to work with my Stylus printer, but when I leave I.C. and try to print text from the desktop or text editor, the printer still doesn't understand." Woody Windischman tells us: "I don't know if any of you have heard this, but Apple has *finally* started allowing companies to make Macintosh clones. Those of us who know the ST are well aware that had Apple taken this position a few years ago, Atari might still be a major player in the computer business. The many folks who converted their ST's with the original "Magic Sack" and the later "Spectre 128" and "Spectre GCR" products surely got more out of their systems than the rest of us did. Ah, the thoughts of "what might have been." Jon Sanford tells Woody: "Atari may be thinking about this even now. Dave Small aperently knows more about the Mac than Apple does... With his cooperation ... it staggers the imagimation!" Bill Turczynski asks for help with using STalker (from Gribnif Software) to access CompuServe: "I know that I mentioned this before but I don't remember what the answer was. I'm using STalker v3.03 but it did the same thing thing with the previous version also. If I access CIS with B-Plus as my download protocol, it takes over as soon as I log on. If I remember right, that's normal but the screen doesn't scroll or even clear, it just rewrites over the previous screen. It's kind-of hard the read and I usally make mistakes inputing something. B-Plus is really fast compared to X-modem which is more like a trickle for me but it's so annoying to use!" Sysop Jim Ness (who is also the author of QuickCIS) tells Bill: "VIDTEX and VT52 are very similar. It's possible that you have STalker set for VIDTEX, but CIS set for VT52. I've done that and seen the same results you described. To change CIS for a temporary test, just type SET TERM VIDTEX at any ! prompt. Then, make sure STalker is also set for VIDTEX. You can also use the SET command to change line length on CIS (SET WID 75, for instance) and for a number of other things. If that works, you can GO TERMINAL to set VIDTEX permanently on CIS." Bill tells Jim: "You were very close! What I did have was the terminal set to Other and STalker on VT52 which probably dates back to my 8-bit days. Now after many years, I'll have to get used to a slightly different acting screen. Now using B-Plus for d/l'd is fun to look at not a pain as before. Thanks for the input." Jim tells Bill... "One other thing you should know is that CIS stores different terminal settings for each modem speed. So, if you ever call in at a different modem speed, you'll have to GO TERMINAL again. Tomorrow, the new rates take effect, so I expect a lot more 14400 usage (all speeds will be $4.80/hr). 28800 service is apparently still a few months away. It's been in beta test for 6-9 months, but they've got to upgrade the local node equipment in the introductory cities." Bill tells Jim: "I was getting a SCREEN CLEAR after every msg since changing to VT52. Funny, how one gets stuck in a groove! Sure enuff, there is an option for that too. My screen acts like before now!! Ah, 14.4K baud! Does that mean that the lower baud lines will be able to handle 300-14.4K baud? I had been using that 800 14.4K line for my B-Plus d/l'ding and general msg. reading at 2400 baud. Well, really I capture everything and read it off-line." Jim gives Bill (and the rest of us) his thoughts: "Long term, I expect all lines will be 300-14400, but for now only a few are. I'm not sure where they'll fit the 28800 lines in yet." From the Graphics Support Forum =============================== On the subject of Unisys's decision to enforce their patent on LZW compression algorithms, Tim Wegner posts: "I phoned Unisys, described a situation where I had already written a book that is in production, bundled with my own *freeware* program. Unisys was neither reasonable nor fair nor understanding. The best adjective I can come up with is insane. They want $.10 a book. This is $1500 if the first printing is 15,000. According to my publisher, this is a major hit." Marc Reinig tells Tim: "Sorry, to hear about the hit to your book due to a free piece of software being included. This whole thing is ... I'm at a loss for words." David Hofmann interjects: "I thought Unisys said they don't want royalties for freeware programs? You are selling a book not the software!" Tim tells David: "See the clause about freeware bundled with commercial products. The Unisys lawyer took an inflexible attitude about this, but Larry has told me others at Unisys may be more flexible." David tells Tim: "I guess with this clause they want to prevent that someone writes a commercial program without GIF support and add a freeware GIF add on. Of course your case is completely different. I don't understand why they don't realize that, but then there is a lot that I don't understand about Unisys." Diana Gruber adds: "Come to think of it, I wrote a book recently and stuck on the disk one teeny little demo program that included a GIF file. My publisher is going to have a cow." Dick Oliver has a thought: "It's hard to believe from what your saying that UNISYS' real goal isn't simply to kill GIF so they don't have to deal with the headache of defending their patent, but can still say they defended it so other more important software patents don't come into question. I mean, if nobody can even write a book about free GIF software, GIF is gonna have a hard time surviving long." Getting a bit silly, Steve Rimmer tells us that... "We're negotiating to hire some lawyers away from Unisys to work on our secret submarine copyright project... we're going to copyright the letter "A" and demand royalties on its use retroactive to the middle ages. Just don't tell anyone for a while, 'til we can convince everyone it's in the public domain and keep 'em using it." David Mason tells Steve: "...I'm afraid Unisys owns all of the vowels. (They were going to just copyright U, I, and sometimes Y, but the Library of Congress was having a special that week... they paid the extra five bucks and got the rest of the vowels too.)" Carl Barron asks: "How many programs or operating systems do you know of that XOR a cursor? That is/was a patented operation! There is plenty of evidence that patents are not needed to protect software as intellectual property. Development would not suffer, but thrive, without the patent problem. This is a generic observation and has nothing to do with the current problem specifically. Contact GNU's 'sister' organization, the name escapes me at the moment, for example. There is also an article in Dr. DOBBS JOURNAL some time in 1990 there was an article on this subject." Terry Wilkinson tells Carl: "Yes, Carl, in fact software is a written work and cannot be patented, since software is a construct based on mathematics. If you could patent software then we would all be using whatever the first product in any category happened to be - and there would be no computer industry! How far could things go if the best available product set was a CPM version of Visi-Calc? How would people get by with Wordhandler and MacPaint? Or their even more primitive predecessors. Just as you cannot patent a mystery story, adventure novel, or documentary - you cannot patent a software product *because it is a written work, made of symbolic constructs (words and commands) that are based on non-patentable materials (mathematics)*. This is why we have copyrights. To provide authors (of books, software, whatever) protection from people repackaging their work and calling it their own. Now a chipset that has functionality that happens to be obtainable through a software program built into it *IS* patentable - hence patents on hardware products. The key is: Is it a written work? .GIF is, a Unisys chipset is not." Well folks, that's about all the enlightenment I can take for one week. Tune in again next week, same time, same station, and be ready to listen to what they are saying when... PEOPLE ARE TALKING """""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""" STReport's "EDITORIAL CARTOON" """""""""""""""""""""""""""""" > A "Quotable Quote" A true "Sign of the Times" """"""""""""""""" A CLASSIC! September 18, 1990 -- Dan Quayle delivers speech on education, observes; "Quite frankly, teachers are the only profession.... ...that teach our children." Dan Quayle, vice president under George Bush, announced yesterday 02/09/95 he was not running for President of the United States of America in the upcoming elections. Thank you Lord, THANK YOU! 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