SILICON TIMES REPORT ==================== INTERNATIONAL ONLINE MAGAZINE ============================= from STR Electronic Publishing Inc. A subsidiary of STR Worldwide CompNews Inc. May 19, 1995 No. 1120 ====================================================================== Silicon Times Report International OnLine Magazine Post Office Box 6672 Jacksonville, Florida 32221-6155 R.F. Mariano, Editor Featured in ITCNet's ITC_STREPORT Echo ----------------------------------------- Voice: 1-904-783-3319 10am-4pm EST STR Publishing Support BBS * THE BOUNTY INTERNATIONAL BBS * Featuring: * 4.5GB * of Download Files Operating with * Mustang Software's WILDCAT! 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""""""""""""""""" - D/L CISNav 1.1.1 - AT&T~sell 3Do! - Driver Info - Whose BUG is IT? - Frankie's Corner - Rupert Who? - OS/2 Warp Connect Ships - ATI NewsWire - HAYES SYSOPS - E3 Show Reports - People Talking - Jaguar NewsBits -* 550 MILLION ON INTERNET BY YR 2000 *- -* MS & NOVELL SIGN PACT *- -* $12 MILLION IN CHIPS STOLEN! *- ========================================================================== 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. Enjoy the wonder and excitement of exchanging all types of useful information relative to all computer types, worldwide, through the use of excellent International Networking Systems. SysOps and users alike worldwide, are welcome to join STReport's International Conferences. ITC Node is 85:881/250, The Fido Node is 1:112/35, Crossnet Code is #34813, and the "Lead Node" is #620. All computer enthusiasts, hobbyist or commercial on all platforms and BBS systems are invited to participate. ========================================================================== HTTP//WWW.ICBA.COM/STREPORT CIS ~ DELPHI ~ GENIE ~ BIX ~ FIDO ~ ITC ~ NEST ~ EURONET ~ CIX ~ USENET ~ USPOLNET CLEVELAND FREE-NET ~ INTERNET ~ PROWL ~ FNET ~ AOL ========================================================================== ------------------------------------------------------------ LottoMan V1.3 Results: Florida Lotto; 05/13/95: 5 2# matches ------------------------------------------------------------ > From the Editor's Desk "Saying it like it is!" """""""""""""""""""""" This past weekend, some of the finest young men in the country were praised for their achievments, congratulated by many and hailed officers and gentlemen. Among these young men was a fellow many of us knew back in the late eighties when he was an active Atari computer hobbiest. He wrote a few articles for the fledgling STReport at that time. Most of the graduates of this country's military academies are appointed to the Academy through their Congressman's reccommendations or, by other equally well placed arrangements. This fellow did it the hard way he took the entrance exams and easily passed. At the time he was writing for us and belonged to the local usergroup, STJAUG/JACE, he had already enlisted in the Navy. So, here was a seaman, married and going through the rigors of divorce, while at the same time, embarking on a career in the U.S. Navy. Many thought he was just another squid on his way to finish twenty and hit retirement. I must admit however, I never saw Donald Cooper in that manner. He was a bright young man with a wide open imagination and a willingness to learn. As fate would have it, the "sea duty orders" finally came through shortly after the divorce was final. Donald was about "to see the world". We lost touch for a while, then one day out of the clear blue, Don called to let me know he was fine and doing well. In fact, he was re- married and said he was a very happy young man. He even sounded that way to me. Not once did he ever hint at his deep set dreams. Then, approximately a year and a half ago, he pulled up in our driveway. The first thing I thought to myself was how he seemed to be still growing. He looked taller and broader than I had remembered him. His new (new to me they had been married for a while now) wife was with him I finally got to meet her. She was a delightful person, I thought to myself ..she is perfect for him. Little did I know how right I would be proven to be. He told me he was going to college and was going for a commission. I gave him every possible encouragement to do so. This past week he made it. Truely, Donald is one of the few who actually make it from enlisted man to a commissioned officer in the U.S. Navy. An officer and a gentleman. Of course, you all know a good portion of the accomplishment belongs to his wonderful wife who encouraged him every step of the way. She never let him stray or be distracted from his goal even after four beautiful children, Daniel 4, Elizabeth 3, the twins Rachael and Zachary almost 2 graced his lovely family. The sleeping Giant, the Internet is slowly awakening. According to the participation at our Web site, http://www.icba.com/streport, where one may obtain the latest issue of STReport and put their name on our "Join STR List, the Internet is fast becoming the place to be. Last week, we remarked about the online networks dragging their feet in one direction while trying to show strong progress in another. One can only expect this occur in the corporate environment as there will always be those execs who feel they've "climbed the ladder" and need do little more. Are they ever in for the rude awakening. MCI, is certainly busy showing its competitors the "way to go". InternetMCI is pioneering the principle of making certain the Internet is available to everybody. Those at the networks had better realize that InternetMCI's plan is a real winner among all who would compete for the online users support. You see, with the InternetMCI plan, a user calls an 800 number (up to 28.8k baud at this time) and can then, through the use of high speed TCP/IP and PPP connections go anywhere in the world via the net on a local call. The user may also connect to the Online Services through this setup thus, taking advantage of the higher, more efficient connect speeds. The Telecommuncations Times they are "a changin' fast" and anybody not keeping abreast of the changes will certainly be left in the dust. Want to try MCI? Call 1-800-955-5210 to get turned on. With Win'95, its all so easy its almost scary. Ralph.. Of Special Note: ---------------- HTTP//WWW.ICBA.COM/STREPORT =========================== STReport is now ready to offer much more in the way of serving the Networks, Online Services and Internet's vast, fast growing site list and userbase. We now have our very own WEB/NewsGroup/FTP Site and although its in its early stages of construction, do stop by and have a look see. Since We've received numerous requests to receive STReport from a wide variety of Internet addressees, we were compelled to put together an Internet distribution/mailing list for those who wished to receive STReport on a regular basis, the file is ZIPPED, then UUENCODED. Unfortunately, we've also received a number of opinions that the UUENCODING was a real pain to deal with. So, as of May 12,1995, you'll be able to download STReport directly from our very own WEB Site. While there, be sure to join our STR list. In any case, our mailing list will continue to be used for at least the next eight weeks. At that time, however, it will be discontinued. Each of our readers will have by then, received their information packet about how they may upgrade their personal STR News Services. """""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""" 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 Internet.......70007.4454.compuserve.com Internet................STReport@AOL.Com HTTP//WWW.ICBA.COM/STREPORT 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 """"""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""" SYSOP NEWS & CYBERWORLD REPORT ============================== The Leading Hard Copy News Source in the BBS & Online Telecommunications World Your own personal copy mailed to your home every month; STReport's special offer! Annual Subscription Rate of $15.95!! (normally 20.95). Include the STR offer number (STR-21) for your discount. You can send your subscription in to: ------------------------------------- BBS Press Services, Inc. 8125 S.W. 21st Street Topeka, KS 66615 Or, to order by phone, Please Call: 1-913-478-3157.....(Voice) 1-913-478-9239......(Data) 1-913-478-1189.......(FAX) Note: Checks, MasterCard & Visa ok, Please include Full Name, Address, ===== Phone Number, Card type, number & expiration date when ordering. If by mail, please _sign_ your personal order. """"""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""" > STR INDUSTRY REPORT LATE BREAKING INDUSTRY-WIDE NEWS """"""""""""""""""" Computer Products Update - CPU Report ------------------------ ---------- Weekly Happenings in the Computer World Issue #20 Compiled by: Lloyd E. Pulley, Sr. ******* General Computer News ******* >> Bandits Steal $12 Million in Chips << Some $12 million in computer chips and memory boards have been stolen from an Irvine, California, manufacturer by a band of 13 armed robbers. Authorities say this is one of the largest such thefts to date in Southern California. Sources say the gunmen confronted two security guards at Centon Electronics late Tuesday night, then handcuffed and taped their mouths shut before stealing the items and leaving in two vehicles. Police said the chips included identification numbers. Some semi- conductor producers have been reluctant to include ID numbers on their products, although industry leader Intel Corp. began doing so last year. Chip thefts have grown rapidly in recent years in the industry's center in Silicon Valley in northern California, with some $40 million in chip heists reported in 1993 (the latest year for which figures are available.) >> Driver Makers Embrace S.M.A.R.T. << The storage industry's five leading hard disk manufacturers have agreed to support a new set of data reliability specifications that will allow a computer to warn its user if a drive is in imminent danger of losing any stored data. The standard, known as Self- Monitoring, Analysis and Reporting Technology (S.M.A.R.T.), was pioneered by Compaq Computer. It will be incorporated into ATA/IDE drives from each of the drive makers--Conner, IBM, Quantum, Seagate and Western Digital. "As the originator of the S.M.A.R.T. specifications, which are found in the IntelliSafe hard drives Compaq introduced in March on our new Deskpro line, we are extremely pleased to see hard drive manufacturers join efforts to standardize this technology," says Kevin Bohren, a Compaq vice president. "This standardization will hasten the adoption of these features by software vendors and further the development of new, enhanced levels of desktop fault prevention." >> AT&T Selling 3DO Stake << AT&T Corp. is selling its stake in video-game developer 3DO Co. Spokesman David Boyce of AT&T's consumer products division said that AT&T notified the Securities and Exchange Commission on May 10 it plans to sell 25% of its 2.5% equity stake in 3DO. He said AT&T plans to sell the rest of its holdings before long. "But," he added, "this is purely a financial decision. You shouldn't read into our decision to sell the shares a statement one way or another about our confidence in 3DO. At this point (3DO) is just an investment for us." AT&T was one of the original investors in 3DO, along with Time Warner Inc. and Matsushita Electric Industrial Co Ltd., whose Panasonic division makes 3DO's CD-based Interactive Multiplayer. 3DO went public two years ago this month. Shortly after that AT&T became a 3DO hardware licensee. >> Sales Taxes May Slow Info Hwy. << A report from accounting giant KPMG Peat Marwick finds that commer- cial travel on the information superhighway may be slowed by tolls in the form of sales taxes. "State taxing authorities are increasingly trying to redefine what constitutes a taxable connection for collecting sales or use taxes from out-of-state businesses," says Michael H. Lippman, KPMG's national partner in charge for state and local tax, technical services. The questions, 'What is taxable?' and 'Who is responsible for collecting the tax?' become particularly relevant in view of the proliferation of technology and a growing electronic marketplace." At issue, says Lippman, is how states will seek to redefine businesses' physical connection to the state upon which taxing jurisdiction is based. Legal precedent outlines that a physical connection must be present for states to require out-of-state companies to collect sales or use taxes. "The landscape may be changing rapidly. Many of the theories currently being considered by the states conflict with a very clear physical presence standard set forth by the U.S. Supreme Court only three years ago," Lippman says. He notes that among the variety of activities under scrutiny are virtual telecommunications networks that promote the market of the out-of-state business, and financial networks, such as a credit card system, that facilitate out-of-state sales. "States are closely watching the arrival of online services -- where customers travel in an electronic marketplace to purchase goods across state lines -- as a means of expanding a company's taxable connections in a state and its sales tax collection duty," Lippman says. "Obviously, companies need to keep detailed records based on sales transactions, particularly those handled electronically, and they need to stay abreast of developments in this area." >> Rivals Set Support Agreement << Arch-rivals Microsoft Corp. and Novell Inc. have announced a cooperative support agreement that's designed to meet the needs of customers using products from both companies. The companies say they have put in place a comprehensive system for sharing customer service and support expertise, which will allow customers to work more efficiently within integrated, multivendor environments. Key elements of the agreement include jointly authored technical support and enterprise support notes on integration issues, a management escalation program to more efficiently resolve complex support issues, cosponsored support forums, a product exchange program, a technical information exchange, and a mentor exchange and cross-training program to ensure that support engineers at both companies are educated on integration issues. >> Compaq Cuts Notebook Prices 19% << Prices of Compaq Computer Corp.'s Contura Aero ultra-portable note- books have been reduced by up to 19%. The company said in a statement it has cut the price, effective immediately, of its Contura Aero: -:- 4/25 Model 170 by 10% to $899. -:- 4/33 Model 170 by 19% to $1,299. -:- 4/33 Model 250 by 17% to $1,499. Compaq also said the Contura Aero line holds a 23.1% market share in its market. >> IBM Releases OS/2 Warp Connect << IBM Corp. this week announced the availability of OS/2 Warp Connect, a new version of its 32-bit operating system. The product is designed to give enhanced connectivity services to small businesses and workgroups. OS/2 Warp Connect combines OS/2 Warp and its BonusPak of productivity applications with a set of integrated networking functions. The product both provides peer-to-peer and remote connections, along with TCP/IP support for dial-up and LAN access to the Internet, access to the most online services and Lotus Notes Express. OS/2 Warp Connect includes built-in requesters for IBM LAN Server and Novell NetWare, and can coexist with IBM LAN Server, Novell NetWare, Windows NT, Windows for Workgroups, Banyan Vines and LANtastic. OS/2 Warp Connect will initially ship in a "blue spine" version that includes IBM WIN-OS/2, also known as "Fullpack," for a list price of $299. The product will also be available through IBM Direct for $215. For a limited time, registered users of OS/2 2.1 will qualify for a $25 rebate when they purchase OS/2 Warp Connect. Registered users of OS/2 Warp with WIN-OS/2 will qualify for a $50 rebate when they purchase OS/2 Warp Connect. Volume discounts are available. >> 550 Million on Internet by 2000 << At least one analyst believes the Internet's online population will grow to 550 million users by the year 2000, up from the 30 million who logged on at the end of last year. Gregory S. Curhan of San Francisco's Volpe Welty & Co. is quoted as estimating the commercial market resulting from usage of the Internet will grow at a 62.4% compound rate over the next six years. In a report outlining development of the Internet, Curhan added, "Despite the media hype, and the temptation to dismiss it as just the latest fad, the Internet is experiencing explosive growth that is creating new business and investment opportunities at an incredible pace." Curhan says the market can be divided into five categories: -:- Internet access, or linking users to the worldwide computer network. He expects Internet access to grow to an estimated $2.5 billion in 2000 from $150 million in 1994. -:- Software tools for cruising and creating a presence on the Internet, a market which is expected to grow to about $1.6 billion by 2000 from $150 million in 1994. -:- Services based on Internet expertise. Most users will find management of the Internet complex and are therefore likely to contract with others. This portion of the market is expected to grow to an estimated $750 million in 2000 from about $60 million in 1994. -:- Products and services for doing business on the Internet. Many transactions now handled by phone, fax or paper are expected to move to the Internet. The market for commerce software tools and service is expected to grow to $625 million by 2000 from about $5 million in 1994. -:- Other applications, including voice, music, video and animation might also be included in the Internet. This market could grow to $325 million by 2000 from an estimated $5 million in 1994. Curhan comments, "The driving force behind the growth of the Internet is the change in the way people are using increasingly more powerful personal computers. In the 1980s, PCs were mainly used to generate spreadsheets and word processed documents. In the 1990s, people are increasingly using PCs as telecommunications devices to share information and communicate electronically." >> IBM Unveils New Desktops << New versions of its desktop PCs for business, using more powerful microprocessors and common parts throughout its product line, are being unveiled by IBM this week. The new versions in IBM's 300 and 700 PC brand lines will be priced starting at $1,823, including a monitor. The machines in IBM's 300 series will be run by Intel Corp. Pentium chips running at 75 MHz and 90 MHz. The 700 brand line also will have models that run at 120 MHz. >> Dell Offers Dual-Processor Units << Dell Computer Corp.'s first dual-processor desktop, the Dell OptiPlex DGX system, has been introduced, using up to two Intel Corp. Pentium processors. Sources quote the company as saying the new systems are aimed at corporate and government customers such as Wall Street financial analysts, aerospace design engineers, software developers and customers using computer-aided design/computer-aided manufacturing applications. The new systems are priced beginning at $4,040 for a 90MHz Pentium model. A 100MHz Pentium is priced at $4,290, and $4,890 is the price for a single 120MHz Pentium. >> Seiko Updates Label Printer << Seiko Instruments USA Inc. has introduced an updated Smart Label Printer in both Windows and Macintosh versions. The Smart Label Printer EZ30 features a new functional design, the ability to print on multiple label sizes and new software. The unit is priced at $199, about $20 less than its predecessor, the Smart Label Printer Plus. The company notes that the small, one-pound device allows users to produce one-at-a-time labels for envelopes, file folders, name badges and an assortment of other applications, including on- demand bar code printing. The EZ30 accommodates a variety of label sizes up to one-inch wide, including 1- by 2-inch multipurpose labels, and labels for VHS cassette spines; red, green and blue file folders; and 8 millimeter tape cartridges. >> Arcade Classics Get New Life << Microsoft Corp. is planning to bring several classic arcade games to Windows 95 users. The software giant will offer Microsoft Return of Arcade, a collec- tion that includes such venerable titles as Pac Man, Dig Dug, Pole Position and Galaxian. Microsoft notes that each program is replicated from the original coin-operated machine version. "These games bring back nostalgic memories of spending long after- noons in game halls and pizza parlors with pockets full of quarters," says Stuart Moulder, a product unit manager at Microsoft's entertainment business unit. "For a few minutes each day, players of Microsoft Return of Arcade can use their home or office PCs to relive the days of their youth." The software's players can customize each game by changing the number of lives, increasing the rate of fire and changing other variables, such as customizing the keyboard controls. Additionally, the games use Microsoft Wavemix technology to render multiple sound effects simultaneously in Windows, providing a realistic arcade-style game experience. Microsoft Return of Arcade is scheduled to become available in stores in this fall for approximately $34.95. >> Motorola to Tackle Security << A new business to help corporations protect their data networks from unauthorized digital intruders is being launched by Motorola Inc. The Wall Street Journal reported this week Motorola plans to aggressively market a system that allows companies to scramble data but gives authorized users an electronic unscrambling key, the same kind of system which met with harsh criticism when recently proposed by the Clinton administration. WSJ reporter Don Clark also says Motorola will work on "firewalls," which allow a firm to send messages in and out of their own systems without risking allowing access to unauthorized intruders. >> Toshiba Makes 2MB Memory Card << A new two megabyte PC memory card has been developed by Toshiba Corp. Reports say the new product, called card-in-card, "is a tiny memory card incorporating a 16-megabit flash memory chip which fits into an adapter for the computer's memory expansion slots." A Toshiba spokesman commented that because the memory and adaptor are sold separately, users can more cheaply expand their storage capacity. Test marketing is to start in July, with mass production to begin in January. >> Nine Apple Suits Dismissed << Seven shareholder class action suits and two derivative suits filed against Apple Computer Inc. have been voluntarily dismissed, the computer maker says, and no payments were made. Reports say the complaints, filed in July 1993 and stemming from Apple's fiscal 1993 third-quarter results and the company's restruc- turing program, alleged securities violations and breaches of fiduciary duty by Apple and some of its executives. Apple President/CEO Michael Spindler said the dismissals brings to a close all securities class action and derivative litigation filed against it, adding, "We are obviously delighted with the outcome." _______________________________ > CSNav Update STR FOCUS! """"""""""""""""""""""" CSNav 1.1.1 Now Available ========================= CSNav 1.1.1 is now available for downloading from the GO CSNAV area online. CSNav 1.1.1 is considered a maintenance release to CSNav 1.1 that corrects most known bugs and adds a few new features. See the CHG111.TXT file or the GO CSNAV area online for a complete list of changes and features. Users of the member contributed program FavTrf (Favorite Places Transfer), if you are upgrading to CSNav 1.1.1 you must download the new version FavTrf 3.0 (file name favtrf.zip in Member Uploads library). FavTrf 1.X and 2.X are incompatible with CSNav 1.1.1. CompuServe Navigator(tm), Windows Version 1.1.1 Now Available for downloading (only) from the GO CSNAV area! Our download area is working "properly" in that it is tracking the standard 45 day "free upgrade" time frame. Since a number of our members downloaded the software more than 45 days ago, they are getting the "you will be billed..." message. We have a billing database that is used to verify that people are not getting double-billed for the download. While members (who downloaded the software more than 45 days ago) will see the message - they will not get double-billed for the upgrade. ___________________________________ > Frankie's Corner STR Feature """""""""""""""""""""""""""" DILBERT ======= Scott Adams (not to be confused with the programmer of computer games) is the creative genius responsible for the "Dilbert" comic strip and its permutations. The strip offers an askance view of dysfunctional corporate management, office politics and computers. I think that many of us can recognize the traits of the Dilbert cast in our co-workers, but never in ourselves, of course. ;) He graciously agreed to my interview request and he provided the following comments. >>Scott, could you give a short biographical sketch? Tell us about your hometown, schooling and career before Dilbert.<< This part is from my bio: ------------------------- Early Years ----------- I was born 6/8/57 and raised in Windham, New York, in the Catskill mountains. I Graduated high-school as valedictorian because the other 39 people in my class couldn't spell "valedictorian." I moved to Northern California in 1979 after college and have lived in the San Francisco Bay Area since. Education --------- * Hartwick College, Oneonta New York, BA in economics, 1979. * University of California at Berkeley, MBA, 1986. * Certified Hypnotist, Clement School of Hypnosis, San Francisco, 1981. Day Jobs -------- I worked at Crocker National Bank, San Francisco, 1979 to 1986, in a number of humiliating and low paying jobs: teller (robbed twice at gunpoint), computer programmer, financial analyst, product manager, and commercial lender. I moved from the bank to Pacific Bell, San Ramon, California, and worked there from 1986 to 1995 (still there at this writing). I worked in a number of jobs that defy description but all involve technology and finances. The most recent job is in a laboratory, finding ways to use digital phone lines and also running the company's BBS. My business card says "engineer" but I'm not an engineer by training. From 1989 to now I've worked my day job while doing the Dilbert comic strip mornings, evenings and weekends. >>Is Dilbert your first strip?<< Yes, it's my first professional cartooning experience. >>How long have you been writing Dilbert?<< It was developed in 1988 and first published in April of 1989. But it was a doodle without a name for several years prior. >>What inspired you to create Dilbert and his cohorts? Are the characters based on any persons living or dead?<< Dilbert came first. He was basically a composite of my co-workers at Crocker Bank, and later Pacific Bell. I worked in technology areas of both companies and noticed an eerie similarity in dress and personality among the many male technology workers. Dilbert emerged from my doodles during boring business meetings. Dogbert came next, mostly so Dilbert would have somebody to talk to. He has a bit of my personality. He says the things I would say if I didn't fear retribution. The other characters were introduced gradually and took on bits and pieces of people I've known. >>How did you develop the unique minimalist drawing style used in Dilbert?<< I see the world in simple terms. My drawing reflects my perceptions. I don't draw backgrounds because they don't add anything to the humor. At best, an intricate background adds nothing; at worst it distracts. When I walk into a room I see the people, not the furniture. And of course there's always the explanation that I'm just a lousy artist. You can't overlook that possibility. >>Which comic strips and writers have most influenced your art?<< Peanuts influenced me the most as a tot. Later, Mad Magazine was a big influence. I think most cartoonists my age would say the same. >>Besides downsizing, "Total Quality Management" seems to be the "in" thing in corporate management. What is your opinion on this method?<< When bright people apply Total Quality Management in the right situation it can have good results. Unfortunately, TQM gets over-applied because people feel the need to get with the program. And frankly, many of the people doing it aren't bright. A fishbone diagram won't give you answers if the people filling it in are dolts or if they're just going through the motions so they'll be eligible for the Malcolm Baldridge Award. >>What new topics do you plan to explore with Dilbert in the future? Will Dilbert become a biting, satirical sword aimed at national politics? Are new characters waiting in the wings?<< I never plan the strip. I let it evolve based on what inspiration I have that day. But you won't see national politics because it's an international strip, in 15 countries. The business and technology themes are richer sources for material anyway. Politics is over-mined in my opinion. I recently did a series with Dogbert as a conservative talk radio host. A lot of people mistakenly believed I was making some sort of political statement against conservatives. I wasn't. Dogbert was just in it for the money and power, like all of his other endeavors. >>Dilbert has been translated into a screen-saver program for computers and the strip has a home page on the World Wide Web. Which other media do you wish to move Dilbert? Could an animated series or computer game be in the offing?<< We're interested in everything -- games, CD ROM, animation. If we find the right licensees with the right ideas we'll move. I'm not opposed to any particular media, so it's a question of finding good companies who want to do something with Dilbert. We're negotiating with people in all of the major areas but can't announce things until they happen. >>Will Dilbert run for President in '96? We already know that Dogbert seeks world domination!<< The good news is that he won't have any bimbo skeletons in his closet, to his chagrin. But I don't think he's cut out for the job. >>Some people feel that the Internet, specifically the Web, may replace print media for distribution of much of the world's news. What is your opinion?<< You have to put it in perspective. The hottest selling hardware for the "information superhighway" today is the modem, invented fifty years ago. The cellular phone is about that old. The hottest "new" technology is ISDN, which is about 15 years old. And how long have we been waiting for the electric car to replace combustion engines? Or solar power to replace oil? Every time a newer cooler thing comes along we think it's going to make everything else obsolete. But what usually happens is that the "old" system adjusts or changes form to be more competitive. We would have electric cars by now if the combustion engine had never improved from getting 12 miles to the gallon. Newspapers are best compared to the combustion engine, I think. Newspapers are making steady improvements and slowly closing the advantage that online systems presumably would provide. They're adding color, smudgeless ink, indexes to online sources, better writing, better reporting. And of course, the smart ones carry Dilbert. You won't see newspapers go away unless some external force like the cost of paper drives them out (which is a genuine risk). >>What changes do you see in store for the Internet?<< Most of what you read about the Internet is about how much information you can receive. But frankly, we all receive too much information already. The more interesting side of the story is how any individual can economically publish anything to the world. That's the real story. I think it will have profound effects on society, but I don't know how. The best thing about the Internet is that nobody knows where it's going, except that there will be more of it. >>Thank you for an interesting and enlightening interview. I look forward to reading "Dilbert" each day and I enjoy the sharp satire of your strip. I now have a better understanding of the genesis of the genius behind the comic strip. May your career continue to flourish! As a final note, the Dilbert home page is located at... http://www.unitedmedia.com/comics/dilbert, don't forget to visit the STReport Home Web Site at http://www.icba.com/streport _______________________________________ > Broken Mapper STR Spotlight Is it "Broken as Designed?" """"""""""""""""""""""""""" WHOSE BUG IS IT? =============== Or, Let's play.. "PASS the BUCK!" by Glenwood Drake Why can't you buy a piece of software, install it, and then have it perform all the nice functions you were so excited about before you made the purchase? Well, if you are Beta testing Windows 95, and using a Hewlett Packard LaserJet4, here's a little bit of knowledge you may want to know about. DeLorme's Map n'Go version 1.0, and Street Atlas USA version 2.0 will not print properly on the LaserJet4 using the latest drivers supplied with Win'95. In order to get a 300 DPI printout you will need to use the HPIII drivers. Setting the LaserJet4 at 300 DPI using the LaserJet4's drivers will not work. We at STR were happy to supply this information to the nice folks at DeLorme, since they were unaware that this could be used as a temporary work around. In addition to the printer problem, after you install Map'n'Go and proceed to map your journey, if you are unable to use the Points of Interest, Hotels, Campgrounds, etc. function, you may have to delete several files in your windows\system folder called odbc.dll & odbccurs.dll and then manually copy them from within the bin folder on the Map'n'Go CD. The manual makes mention of a fix on page 44 for the odbc.dll but these instructions did not work for us at STR. Our planned review of these two products started out innocent enough. We had intended to do an in depth review for all you summer travelers out there, but found ourselves deep in controversy with DeLorme's technical support department about who's responsibility it was to make these two programs Win'95 compatible. Win'95 is currently in beta test. This writer placed a call to DeLorme about these problems and the phone was answered on the first ring. Their technical department solved the "Points of Interest" problem for us in short order. However, we were informed that since their program worked with the LaserJet4 in Win 3.1, 3.11, and Windows NT that the printer problem was in the drivers shipped with Win'95. Therefore we, would have to submit a bug report to Microsoft. This response appears to lay responsibility for a fix to their programs on Microsoft's doorstep. We at STR found this simply unacceptable, so another call was placed later in the afternoon of May 16, 1995. The second call to tech support was made as a conference call with this writer on one phone and the Editor and Publisher of STR Report Magazine on another. Credit should be given when it is due and I would like to give the Supervisor at DeLorme an "A" for keeping his cool. With all the fire and brimstone shooting from our end regarding who's responsible for supplying a solution to the printer problem, this fellow never lost his composure or was disrespectable in any way. This is a person who can tell you to go to hell in such a way that you actually look forward to the trip. During the conversation with DeLorme, we were led to believe that Microsoft actually wrote all the code for the Hewlett Packard drivers that appeared in Win'95. In fact we were informed that after Hewlett Packard discontinued a product, such as the LaserJet IIP, it then became Microsoft's responsibility to supply the printer modules for Windows. STR strongly disagrees with DeLorme on who's liable or obligated to supply a fix for their two programs that do not print at 600, or even at 300 DPI using the LaserJet4 drivers supplied with Win'95. My experience with DeLorme dates back to Street Atlas USA version 1.0. It's an excellent program and version 2.0 is even better equipped for anyone's purpose. If anyone knows how to easily connect you with any street in the USA it is DeLorme. Will I return the two products for refunds? Of course not. These are excellent mapping programs and extremely powerful. However, corrected printer drivers would let them perform with all the nice functions we expected when the purchase was made. ____________________________________________ > ATI DRIVER UPDATES STR Spotlight """""""""""""""""""""""""""""""" DRIVER UPDATE REPORT - May 16, 1995 -=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=- INDEX -=-=-= 1. ATI Product Names 2. ATI Current Driver List 3. Driver Update Information 4. How to Contact ATI 1. ATI RETAIL PRODUCT NAMES (NOT INCLUDING OEM NAMES) -=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=- mach64 Products mach32 Products mach8 products VGA products -------------------------------------------------------------------------- GRAPHICS PRO TURBO GRAPHICS ULTRA PRO GRAPHICS ULTRA VGAWONDER XL24 GRAPHICS XPRESSION GRAPHICS ULTRA PLUS GRAPHICS VANTAGE VGAWONDER XL WINTURBO GRAPHICS WONDER 8514-ULTRA VGAWONDER+ WINBOOST VGAWONDER GT VGAINTEGRA VGAWONDER 2. ATI CURRENT DRIVER LIST Available via ATI DOWNLOAD BBS'S,Compuserve and Internet FTP (see below) -=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-= SOFTWARE/OS mach64 mach32 mach8 VGA -------------------------------------------------------------------------- Windows 3.1/3.11 64WIN151.ZIP& M32W23.ZIP* M8WR30.ZIP* W31VGA.ZIP Windows NT 64NT150.ZIP$ w/software w/software w/software OS/2(2.1 & 2.11) M64V94.ZIP& M32V85.ZIP* OS2V12.ZIP* w/software OS/2(Warp) w/software w/software w/software w/software Microstation4/5 64UST153.ZIP& M32US4.ZIP* M8US4.ZIP* w/software VESA Bios TSR 64VBE101.ZIP VV222.ZIP VV222.ZIP VV222.ZIP AutoCad 10,11,12 64CAD153.ZIP& M32DLX.ZIP* M8DLX.ZIP* VGADLX.ZIP Install/Utilitys 64UTL153.ZIP M32UTL.ZIP M8UTL.ZIP VGAUTL.ZIP * = Requires the installation utility LOADER.ZIP & = Requires the installation utility LOAD64.ZIP $ = For Microsoft NT3.5 only Special Note: VV222.ZIP will not function on 8514-ULTRA ------------------------------------------------------- 3. DRIVER UPDATE INFORMATION -=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-= mach8 products & Microsoft Windows 3.1/3.11: -------------------------------------------- The latest drivers for your mach8 product are called M8WR30.ZIP. This file requires the installation utility called LOADER.ZIP, (make sure you download this file too.) mach32 products & Microsoft Windows 3.1/3.11: --------------------------------------------- The latest drivers for your mach32 product are called M32W23.ZIP. This file requires the installation utility called LOADER.ZIP, (make sure you download this file too.) mach64 product & Microsoft Windows 3.1/3.11: -------------------------------------------- The latest drivers for your mach64 product are called M64W14.ZIP. This file requires the installation utility called LOAD64.ZIP, (make sure you download this file too.) Microsoft Windows'95 -------------------- Drivers for all current ATI products are provided with the most current private and public betas of this new operating system. All information, support and updates for this beta are provided by Microsoft via the MSN. Please contact your beta site coordinator for more information. Microsoft Pen for Windows ------------------------- At this time ATI is studying the possibility of developing chip specific support for this Windows extension. Currently we suggest using the applications' built-in support for VGA or SVGA. Users of the GRAPHICS ULTRA PRO, GRAPHICS ULTRA PLUS, GRAPHICS ULTRA, VANTAGE and 8514/a ULTRA may also use the supplied 8514/p driver. (See your application user guide for details). Microstation v5.0: ------------------ The file 64UST153.ZIP provides support for MicroStation 4.0/5.0 for mach64 based products. For mach32/mach8/VGA products users of Microstation 5.0 can use built-in support for VGA, SVGA or VESA Bios extended graphics modes when used with the appropriate VESA driver. AutoCad 10-386, 11 & 12: ------------------------ The most current drivers for VGA, mach8, mach32 and mach64 users are listed in the CURRENT DRIVER LISTS, shown above. Microsoft NT Drivers: --------------------- VGA, mach8 and mach32 users should used the drivers provided with the most current version of NT. Drivers for NT 3.5 (Daytona) and mach64 are called 64N150.ZIP and are available at the ATI sites listed below. IBM OS/2 (version 2.1 and 2.11) ------------------------------- The latest drivers for OS/2 2.1 for your mach8 product are called OS2V12.ZIP. This file requires the installation utility LOADER.ZIP, (make sure you download this file too.) Users of OS/2 2.11 should use IBM's built-in support for the 8514/a graphics standard with their mach8 based graphics accelerator. The latest drivers for OS/2 and your mach32 product are called M32V85.ZIP This file requires the installation utility called LOADER.ZIP, (make sure you download this file too). The latest drivers of OS/2 and your mach64 product are called M64V94.ZIP This file require the installation utility called LOAD64.ZIP, (make sure you download this file too). VGA product users should use OS/2's built in driver support for VGA and/or SVGA. Users of the ATI VGAWONDER series can also use the OS/2 built-in driver for ATI-28800. IBM OS/2 (version 3.0 WARP) --------------------------- Drivers for all current ATI products ship with the original release of IBM OS/2 WARP. Please see your IBM getting started guide for installation instructions. 4. How to Contact ATI: -=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-= ATI Technologies Inc. 33 Commerce Valley Drive East Thornhill, Ontario Canada L3T 7N6 Head Office, Sales and Marketing: (905) 882-2600 Corporate FAX: (905) 882-2620 ATI FaxInfo System: (905) 882-2600 Press touch-tone #2 and listen to voice prompts. Customer Support (VOICE): (905) 882-2626 Customer Support (FAX): (905) 882-0546 ATI DOWNLOAD BBS [8N1]: (905) 764-9404 CompuServe Forum & File Library: GO ATITECH (section #17) CompuServe Inquiries & Product Information: 76004,3656 CompuServe Technical Inquiries (Support): 74740,667 Internet Inquires & Product Information: 76004.3656@compuserve.com Internet Technical Support (via e-mail): 74740.667@compuserve.com Internet Anonymous FTP Site: ftp.atitech.ca/pub/support/. WWW/Mosaic (Under Construction): http://www.atitech.ca _________________________________________ > What is that for? STR InfoFile """""""""""""""""""""""""""""" Creative's Drivers and what they do =================================== Q: What are the lines in the CONFIG.SYS and AUTOEXEC.BAT do? Do I need all of them? Depending on the card you have there may be different drivers that load in the CONFIG.SYS and AUTOEXEC.BAT file. Below are listed the possible drivers, memory usage, purposes and options: ** Note: Memory usage is approximate and may vary with different versions of the listed drivers. CONFIG.SYS ---------- ASPI2DOS.SYS (11 KB) SCSI Host Adapter Driver for the SB16 SCSI-2 card. SWITCHES: refer to the Adaptec EZSCSI User's Manual --------------- ASPICD.SYS (12 KB) Driver for SCSI CD-ROM drives supported by the SB16 SCSI-2 card. SWITCHES: refer to the Adaptec EZSCSI User's Manual --------------- ASPIDISK.SYS (3 KB) Driver used for connecting a hard disk drive unit to the SB16 SCSI-2 controller interface. Note - the controller interface may not be used on a primary boot drive. SWITCHES: refer to the Adaptec EZSCSI User's Manual --------------- CSP.SYS, ASP.SYS: (5 KB) These are two different drivers for the same purpose. The newer is the CSP.SYS driver. This driver is responsible for the functions of the Creative Advanced Signal Processor on the AWE32 or SB16 cards. If this driver is disabled, then Text Assist and QSOUND will not function. This driver takes up about 11K. If you have the older ASP.SYS you may want to consider the update CSPU.EXE, as there have been significant changes in this driver. SWITCHES: --------------- ASP.SYS /P:xxx --> Specifies base address of the sound card CSP.SYS /P:xxx --> Specifies base address of the sound card /UNIT=0 --> Card unit number (currently non- selectable) /BLASTER=A:xxx I:xx D:x H:x A:xxx --> Base I/O address used by sound card I:xx --> IRQ line used by sound card D:x --> 8 bit DMA channel used by sound card H:x --> 16 bit DMA channel used by sound card ** Note: There are different versions of the CSP.SYS driver that either use the /P:xxx parameter, or the /UNIT and /BLASTER parameters. Ordinarily there is no need to change these parameters. ------------------ CTSB.SYS ** SB 2.0 ** (26 KB) CTSBPRO.SYS ** SBPro ** (26 KB) CTSB16.SYS ** SB16, AWE32 ** (26 KB) CTMMSYS.SYS ** All cards ** (10 KB) These are low level architecture drivers. These add TSR support for applications that are written to use them. Currently, there are only a few applications that use these. These applications include PLAY.EXE, SBP-SET.EXE, SB16SET.EXE, QSDEMO, QSALIGN, and some games that are written by The Knowledge Adventure company. These drivers (CTSBxxx.SYS & CTMMSYS.SYS) must be used together. On the SB16 cards, the CTSB16.SYS will play a role in setting the IRQ and DMA's if these two drivers are loaded. If they are not loaded, the SET BLASTER environment variable and the DIAGNOSE.EXE /S line in the AUTOEXEC.BAT are capable of handling this. Whether or not the two drivers are loaded, the SET BLASTER and the DIAGNOSE /S should *always* be in the AUTOEXEC.BAT. You can eliminate the need for these two drivers (CTSBxxx.SYS and CTMMSYS.SYS, etc.) for the mixer by using the appropriate update (this is not a problem for the 2.0 card, as it does not have a mixer): SBPro 2 ---> use the file SBP2UP.EXE in LIB 6 SB16 ---> use the file SB16UP.EXE (or SB16AWEU.EXE) in LIB 7 ** AWE32 ---> use the file SB16AWEU.EXE in LIB 8 ** an alternative for the Sound Blaster 16 is the file SBMIX.EXE also found in LIB 7. This will not update the sound drivers but will make the mixer functional without the two architecture drivers. Once you have done this you can disable the two drivers from the CONFIG.SYS. These drivers together take up about 36K. SWITCHES: -------------- CTSBxxx.SYS - /UNIT=0 --> Card unit number (currently non- selectable) /BLASTER=A:xxx I:xx D:x H:x A:xxx --> port address I:xx --> IRQ line D:x --> 8 bit DMA channel H:x --> 16 bit DMA channel (SB16 & AWE32) CTMMSYS.SYS - no switches --------------- CCD.SYS (20 KB) Driver for the Funai and the CD200 CD ROM drives SWITCHES: /D:drive_name --> Specifies device name /P:xxx --> Specifies base I/O address of CD ROM controller interface /N:x --> Specifies number of CD ROM drives connected. This may be in the range 1 to 4. /S:mi --> m specifies the transfer mode. m can be N (Normal), or D (Double Speed). Default is D. i refers to the drive's ID number ranging from 0 to 3. Omission of this parameter will force the mode to apply to all connected drives. /A --> Enables sound to both channels even if the application software sends it to one channel. /T:x --> Type of interface board - (1=SB, 2=CT 1810 interface card) --------------- MTMCDAE.SYS (11 KB) Driver for Mitsumi CD-ROM drive models FX-001 and FX001d. This driver can make use of IRQ's and DMA's to enhance data transfer rates in some combinations. SWITCHES: /D:drive_name --> Specifies device name /P:xxx --> Specifies base I/O address of CD ROM controller interface /M:xx --> Determines the number of buffer blocks to use for temporary storage of recent data. Valid ranges are 2 to 64 /I:xx --> Sets the IRQ line used by the controllerfor for data transfer /T:xx --> Specifies Interrupt Transfer, or DMA channel used for data transfer. If using software transfer, use /T:S /A:x --> Audio play mode (0 for stereo, 1 for mono) /X --> Enables the use of extended memory if an extended memory driver has been loaded into memory ---------------- MTMCDAS.SYS (11 KB) Driver for Mitsumi CD-ROM drive models FX-001 and FX-001d. This driver can only use software polling for data transfer. SWITCHES: --------------- /D:drive_name --> Specifies device name /P:xxx --> Specifies base I/O address of CD ROM controller interface /A:x --> Audio play mode (0 for stereo, 1 for mono) --------------- MTMCDE.SYS (11 KB) Driver for Mitsumi CD-ROM drive model LU-005S. This driver can make use of IRQ's and DMA's to enhance data transfer rates. SWITCHES: --------------- /D:drive_name --> Specifies device name /P:xxx --> Specifies base I/O address of CD ROM controller interface /M:xx --> Determines the number of buffer blocks to use for temporary storage of recent data. Valid ranges are 2 to 64 /I:xx --> Sets the IRQ line used by the controllerfor for data transfer /T:xx --> Specifies Interrupt Transfer, or DMA channel used for data transfer. If using software transfer, use /T:S /A:x --> Audio play mode (0 for stereo, 1 for mono) /X --> Enables the use of extended memory if an extended memory driver has been loaded into memory --------------- MTMCDS.SYS (11 KB) Driver for Mitsumi CD-ROM drive model LU-005S. This driver can only use software polling for data transfer. SWITCHES: --------------- /D:drive_name --> Specifies device name /P:xxx --> Specifies base I/O address of CD ROM controller interface /A:x --> Audio play mode (0 for stereo, 1 for mono) --------------- SBCD.SYS (11 KB) Driver for Creative CD-ROM drives. This version will control Creative single (521, 523) and double (563) speed models. It also provides PhotoCD support for all 3 models. SWITCHES: --------------- /D:drive_name --> Specifies device name /P:xxx --> Specifies base I/O address of CD ROM controller interface /N:x --> Specifies number of CD ROM drives connected. This may be in the range 1 to 4. /S:mi --> m specifies the transfer mode. m can be A (Auto), N (Normal), or D (Double Speed). Default is D. i refers to the drive's ID number ranging from 0 to 3. Omission of this parameter will force the mode to apply to all connected drives. /A --> Enables sound to both channels even if the application software sends it to one channel. /T:x --> Type of interface board - (1=SB, 2=CT 1810 interface card) /X:1 --> Prevents applications from giving an error message when software eject is not available (only used on 521 and 523 drives) --------------- SBIDE.SYS (14 KB) Driver for the IDE 4x CD ROM drives SWITCHES: --------------- /D:drive_name --> Specifies device name /P:xxx,yy --> xxx specifies base I/O address of CD ROM controller interface, and yy specifies the IRQ of the controller interface. /V --> Verbose listing for drive information. --------------- SBPCD.SYS (11 KB) Older driver for Creative CD-ROM drives. This driver provides support only for Creative single speed models. SWITCHES: --------------- /D:drive_name --> Specifies device name /P:xxx --> Specifies base I/O address of CD ROM controller interface /X:1 --> Prevents applications from giving an error message when software eject is not available (only used on 521 and 523 drives) /T:x --> Type of interface board - (1=SB, 2=CT 1810 interface card) --------------- SLCD.SYS (12 KB) Driver for Sony CD-ROM models CRMC 31A and CRMC 33A. SWITCHES: --------------- /D:drive_name --> Specifies device name /B:xxx --> Specifies base I/O address of CD ROM controller interface /M:x --> Specifies the data transfer mode - P is used with the Sony interface on Creative cards. /V --> Verbose listing of driver information /C --> Displays drive configuration /K --> Enables a sector caching mechanism to improve performance AUTOEXEC.BAT ------------ MSCDEX.EXE: (23 KB + 2 KB per buffer unit above 4 ) This is the other device driver for the CD ROM. This is responsible for assigning a drive letter to the CD ROM unit. Type C:\DOS\HELP MSCDEX.EXE for details on this driver. (MS-DOS v5.0 does not have this help file.) -------------- SET BLASTER=Axxx Ixx Dx Hx Pxxx Exxx Tx This line sets the environment for the settings of the sound card. Axxx - port address Ixx - IRQ setting Dx - 8 bit DMA setting Hx - 16 bit DMA setting (SB16 and AWE32 only) Pxxx - MIDI port address (SB16 and AWE32 only) Exxx - EMU 8000 address (AWE32 only) Tx - card type -------------- SET SOUND=C:\xxxxxxxx This line sets the environment variable responsible for pointing to the path where the installed software for the sound card is. -------------- SET MIDI=SYNTH:x MAP:x MODE:x This line sets the parameter looked at by the PLAY programs when using the midi capabilities of the sound card: SYNTH:x 1 = internal synth 2 = external MIDI port MAP:x G = General MIDI E = Extended MIDI B = Basic MIDI MODE:x 0 = General MIDI 1 = Roland GS 2 = MT-32 ---------------- DIAGNOSE.EXE, SBCONFIG.EXE: (0 KB) This is a program that looks at the BLASTER environment variable and sets the card's IRQ and DMA accordingly. The /S parameter makes it do this as a line command (quick configuration). Otherwise the entire program would come up. The two different programs serve the same purpose if loaded in the AUTOEXEC.BAT file, and only one of the two should be in it. DIAGNOSE.EXE is simply the newer version, and has the test program built into it. This only needs to be in the AUTOEXEC.BAT if the card is a SB16 or an AWE32. ---------------- SBP-SET.EXE, SB16SET.EXE: (0 KB) These are mixer level utilities. SBP-SET.EXE is for the SBPro, and SB16SET.EXE is for the SB16 and the AWE32. For further information on these, type SBP-SET /? or SB16SET /? at the directory pointed to by the SET SOUND line. ---------------- AWEUTIL.EXE /S (0 KB) AWEUTIL.EXE /EM:GM (29 KB) AWEUTIL.EXE /EM:GS (39 KB) AWEUTIL.EXE /EM:MT32 (29 KB) This program is included with the AWE32 and its purpose is to make the card emulate General MIDI, Roland GS, or MT-32, and is capable of setting the amount of REVERB and CHORUS. Typing AWEUTIL /? at the directory pointed to by the SET SOUND variable will give the options and the Getting Started manual also has this information. SWITCHES: Typing AWEUTIL /? from the directory where the AWEUTIL.EXE program is located will list all the options. The ONLY things in the AUTOEXEC.BAT that take up memory are the MSCDEX.EXE and the AWEUTIL.EXE. The default switch, /S, used with the AWEUTIL will not use any memory at all. If you want to see how much memory is used by any driver on your system, type MEM /C/P at the DOS prompt. -MH,AG 04-27-95 _________________________________________________ > REALLY?? STR Spotlight """""""""""""""""""""" From the Web... MEDIA BART SIMPSON CALLING... MCI HAS THE PIPELINE. NEWS CORP. HAS THE CONTENT. NOW THAT THEY ARE UNITED, MURDOCH HAS THE MONEY Rupert Murdoch isn't somebody to sit back and count his blessings. It was just two weeks ago that the FCC took a load off his mind when it decided not to force him to reduce his ownership stake in eight stations that are at the center of his Fox TV network. With that major distraction out of the way and the coffers of his News Corp. global media empire bursting--he boasted recently of having $1 billion on hand--everybody figured it was just a matter of time until his next big move. No time at all, as it turned out. On Wednesday, News Corp. and MCI, the long-distance giant, announced a deal to form a worldwide media partnership, one that could add as much as $2 billion to Murdoch's buying power. A year ago, after MCI sold a 20% stake of itself to British Telecommunications for $4.3 billion, it began looking for a partner to transform its worldwide phone network into pathways for "content", whatever a computer or TV screen can receive, from info-services to movies. "You can hardly think of content without the name of Rupert Murdoch coming to the fore," says MCI chairman Bert Roberts. At Roberts' request, he and Murdoch held a brief, "get to know each other", meeting at the Los Angeles airport in November. "After about 15 minutes we hit it off personally," he says. "And we both instantly saw that there may be some genuine reason to pursue this." At the end of the pursuit, MCI agreed to invest heavily in News Corp. stock--$1 billion now plus $1 billion over the next four years. In return, Murdoch will send his company's immense fund of grunt-and-grin entertainment, news and information through MCI phone lines into home and business screens. In addition to the Fox network, Murdoch owns the HarperCollins publishing house and a string of newspapers around the world, and two satellite-TV channels--BSkyB, which broadcasts across Europe, and STAR TV, which covers much of Asia. TV Guide and Melrose Place, business data and the Super Bowl--all could come directly to your home screens via phone lines faster than Bart Simpson can make a prank call to Moe's Tavern. Each side will contribute $200 million to a global joint venture in which programming and electronic information produced by News Corp. will be distributed to businesses and consumers in digital form through MCI's vast web of fiber-optic cable. But here too Murdoch may not have to ante up cash, just "content.'' Low risk but high potential profit for him--that's typical of the entire deal. If MCI eventually invests the full $2 billion, it will own 13.5% of News Corp. But the terms of the deal require MCI to vote its shares in the same proportion as the rest of the shareholders. That means Murdoch, who with his family controls 40% of his company's stock, cedes nothing in the way of control. The longer-term picture is cloudier. Synergy is the business world's most over-hyped concept, and the Internet is a market where just about everyone is betting but almost no one is yet taking home winnings. A similar deal two years ago, in which Bell Atlantic proposed to absorb the cable giant Tele-Communications Inc., was called off before it could go forward. While MCI has a strong customer base among businesses, for instance, News Corp. has little in the way of business information services to offer them. For Murdoch, the most important advantage of MCI's already established presence on the Internet is the second chance it offers to his flagging on-line service, Delphi. It ranks a distant fourth behind America Online, CompuServe and Prodigy. That could change fast if MCI promoted Delphi to its 16 million residential customers. "America Online is going like lightning," Murdoch pointedly told Time in March, "but they are spending a lot of money to enlist customers." Murdoch also said then that this summer he plans to introduce a new and more sophisticated version of Delphi, which he hopes will feature new access software that will make it easier for subscribers to point and click their way onto the Internet. That could put him head-to-head with software's maximum leader, Bill Gates, whose Windows 95, set to debut in August, also promises to speed users onto the Net. What the MCI--News Corp. alliance indisputably does right off the bat is fatten News Corp.'s coffers. To Murdoch, with billions jangling in his pocket, a good part of the media world must now look like so many packages wrapped with bows, just waiting for him to untie them. Late last week he grabbed for one, making a $2.8 billion bid for the three television networks of Italy's former Premier Silvio Berlusconi, which are watched by nearly half the country's TV audience. And then? "Ted Turner may want to retire," he joked mordantly at a press conference called to unveil the deal. Wall Street sat up. Could News Corp. be looking to buy the 20% stake in Turner owned by Time Warner? Certainly Turner's cable operations, which include CNN, would be attractive to Murdoch, whose empire lacks a global television-news operation. Murdoch also lacks a music division, one of the entertainment industry's most reliable profit centers. One solution would be to acquire EMI, known for such performers as Garth Brooks and Sinead O'Connor. Or Murdoch might go after the 15% stake in Time Warner, worth about $2 billion, that the Seagram Co., which recently bought MCA and its Universal Studios, may be ready to unload. But another buyer for those shares, the phone giant AT&T, is rumored to be in talks with Time Warner. In fact, few Murdoch watchers believe the man would be satisfied with a minority interest in any company. He is known for big, risky deals, like the $1.6 billion he spent to bring N.F.L. football to Fox. And more than anything, he's determined to make Fox a real competitor against the Big Three networks. That means adding affiliates. With new networks founded by Paramount and Warner also scouting available stations, the competition is tough. He could attempt to buy companies that own several stations, like Chicago-based Tribune Broadcasting, which has eight. Or he could pick them off one by one. Last month the boss himself persuaded the owners of a South Bend, Indiana, station to switch its affiliation from ABC to Fox. Ordinarily that kind of negotiation would be the job of a lower executive. Despite its global reach, News Corp. is in some ways very much a one-man show--the Murdoch show. MCI's investment represents, in effect, a $2 billion bet on Murdoch's savvy and vision. Which is why his failure to develop clear successors among his management team is a growing problem for the 64-year-old executive. The media world is full of former Murdoch lieutenants, including free-lance mogul Barry Diller and Disney motion pictures chief Joe Roth. After Murdoch is gone, who runs the place? MCI tried addressing that question with a contract clause that gives it the right to acquire Murdoch's News Corp. stock in the event his heirs choose not to sell a substantial stake. That's not much of a guarantee his company can thrive without him. News Corp. has no enduring culture, says a recent departee. "It's not a corporate culture. It's a Rupert culture." """""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""" 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 """""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""" ___ ___ _____ _______ /___| /___| /_____| /_______/ /____|/____| /__/|__| /__/ /_____|_____|/__/_|__|/__/ /__/|____/|__|________|__/ /__/ |___/ |__|_/ |__|_/_____ /__/ |__/ |__|/ |__|______/ ________________________________________ /_______________________________________/ MAC/APPLE SECTION (II) ====================== John Deegan, Editor (Temp) > HAYES SYSOP SUPPORT Program STR InfoFile """""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""" H A Y E S S Y S O P P R O G R A M ===================================== Hayes Microcomputer Products, Inc P.O. Box 105203 Atlanta, Georgia 30348 (404)840-9200 FAX: (404)449-0087 BBS: (404)HI-MODEM (446-6336) Email: tech_support@hayes.com Dear SysOp, Thank you for inquiring about the Hayes SysOp Program! The Hayes SysOp Program offers a very attractive full featured program for BBS System Operators. The Program includes special SysOp pricing for qualified SysOps to purchase hardware and software directly from Hayes at prices significantly lower than retail pricing. Hayes Online (1-404-HI-MODEM) is your online source for Hayes Technical Support, product information and updates. This allows you full access to all the technical notes and bulletins within the Hayes File Library. Once registered and we receive your order for any Hayes high speed modem, you will be granted access to the SysOp's Forum where we post information and special offers available only to Hayes SysOps. Hayes Online also contains a variety of SIGs with files and information on most of the popular BBS software packages. Hayes maintains close contact with many BBS software authors and other software developers within the BBS community to insure full-functionality when used with their communications products. The Hayes Sysop Program features the Hayes OPTIMA 288 V.34/V.FC + FAX. This external data + fax modem supports ITU-T V.34 and industry standard V.Fast Class (V.FC) for 28,800 bit/s (28.8 kbit/s) data transmission; ITU-T V.42 bis data compression; ITU-T V.42 error-control; and Group 3 fax using V.17 for 14,400 bit/s (14.4 kbit/s) fax transmission. This product is fully compatible with the installed base of V.32 bis (14.4 kbit/s), V.32 (9600 bit/s) and V.22 bis (2400 bit/s) modems. The special Sysop program price on this unit is $259. This offer expires July 31, 1995. --------------------------------- Advantages of Hayes SysOp Program --------------------------------- Here are some of the things that make the Hayes SysOp Program the best in the industry: --Hayes will provide free pre-ship exchange for modems requiring service for Sysops. --Hayes offers the opportunity for Sysops to earn incentives by selling Hayes products to their users. Details about this program are available in the Hayes Sysops Forum on Hayes Online. --Hayes does not require (or even request) that SysOps maintain an area or bulletin on their BBS for advertising or marketing by Hayes. --Hayes does not require logon credit or even the identification of modem type. (However, we think SysOps will be proud to display the use of Hayes modems). --Hayes does not require written consent for a SysOp to sell their modem(s) if no longer providing a BBS or upgrading. --Hayes accepts Visa and Mastercard as well as checks and money orders. --Hayes has provisions for new BBSes for those who cannot meet the 6 month requirement.** (See note) --Fast service: Most orders are processed and shipped within 1-2 weeks of receipt. (Subject to product availability.) --When purchasing a Hayes modem the Sysop receives full support and service from the best Customer Support organization in the communications industry. --Hayes Online Services may be reached for technical support over a variety of popular online services and networks including Compuserve, Fidonet, ILink and many others. Representations, Warranties, Undertakings and Acknowledgements of Buyer Bulletin Board Operator/SYSOP Program 1. If the Buyer is a bulletin board operator, the Buyer represents and warrants to Hayes that the Products purchased under the Order shall be used by Buyer in connection with the operation of Buyer's bulletin board. The Buyer will use the Products for no other purposes whatsoever, including, without limitation, resale. 2. If the Buyer is a bulletin board operator, the Buyer represents and warrants to Hayes that its bulletin board has been in continuous service for the six (6) month period immediately prior to the Order Date set forth on the Order; Buyer further represents and warrants to Hayes that it currently receives a minimum of fifty (50) calls per week or two hundred (200) calls per month from members of the bulletin board. Only fulltime systems running 24 hours a day, 7 days a week will be qualified. Hayes may make provisions for new boards, but these are solely at the discretion of Hayes, leave a message to the sysop on Online With Hayes for more information.** 3. The Buyer acknowledges that a maximum purchase of four (4) units of Hayes Products are offered to Buyer on the first order. Additional units may be available at the discretion of Hayes for use with verifiable multiline systems over 4 nodes. 4. The Buyer agrees to complete the Bulletin Board Questionnaire and return it and the Order to Hayes at the following address: Hayes Microcomputer Products, Inc. Attn: Hayes SYSOP Coordinator Post Office Box 105203 Atlanta, Georgia 30348 FAX: 404-449-0087 Buyer acknowledges that Seller is under no obligation to ship any of the Products ordered until the Questionnaire has been received and qualified by Hayes. **For a new BBS (i.e. those that have not yet been operational for at least 6 months) to be considered for qualification for the Sysop program, the BBS must at least already be fully operational with it's own dedicated phone line and be running a registered version of qualified BBS software. Hayes may request proof of BBS software registration as well as copies of phone bills or other documentation as needed to substantiate proof of BBS's operation. Approved Sysop Price List - Effective 03/08/95 Hayes Part # Hayes Product / Description MSRP Sysop Price -------------------------------------------------------------------------- 08-02349 Hayes OPTIMA 288 V.34/V.FC + FAX (external) 579.00 259.00 08-01291 Hayes ISDN System Adapter 1199.00 450.00 08-01342 Hayes ESP Comm. Accelerator (Single Port) 99.00 69.00 08-01343 Hayes ESP Comm. Accelerator (Dual Port) 149.00 89.00 08-01355 Hayes ESP Comm. Accelerator (Microchannel) 199.00 109.00 08-01356 Hayes ESP Comm. Accelerator (8 port ISA) 699.00 349.00 08-02230 Hayes Smartcom Data/Fax Pro 79.99 45.00 08-02194 Hayes Smartcom BBS Dialer 14.99 7.50 (Leave feedback as you logoff of Hayes Online BBS for pricing on any other Hayes product) (Send this section to Hayes) Questionnaire Bulletin Board Operator/SYSOP Program -------------------------------------------------------------------------- Return to: Hayes Microcomputer Products, Inc. Attn: Sysop Support Coordinator P.O. BOX 105203 Atlanta, Georgia 30348 FAX 404-449-0087 Bulletin Board Name__________________________________________________ SYSOP Name___________________________________________________________ BBS Address__________________________________________________________ City/State/Province/Zip (Postal Code)________________________________ Daytime Phone ( )__________________________________________________ Fax Phone ( )______________________________________________________ Bulletin Board Phone(s) ( )________________________________________ Would you like your BBS phone published in the Hayes BBS List?_______ USER GROUP AFFILIATION (optional) Name of Group________________________________________________________ Address______________________________________________________________ City/State/Province/Zip (Postal Code)________________________________ Officer or Contact_________________________ Phone ( )______________ BULLETIN BOARD INFORMATION General subjects of information provided by the Bulletin Board: _____________________________________________________________________ _____________________________________________________________________ Hobby or Commercial?_________________________________________________ Which operating system does the BBS use?(DOS, Windows, Mac, LAN, etc) _____________________________________________________________________ What BBS software is in use?_________________________________________ How long has the BBS been in service?________________________________ How many lines are currently dedicated to the BBS?___________________ What modem(s) are you using now?_____________________________________ Are there any periods of time where BBS is down for routine maintenance (netmail processing, etc)? If so, please list these periods so we do not attempt to verify during those hours: _____________________________________________________________________ Average number of calls received per month:__________________________ Approximate number of users:_________________________________________ So that we may call into the system YOU MUST PROVIDE AN ESTABLISHED LOGIN ID. Your order will not be processed unless you provide us a pre-established LOGON. Please remember that even if you are running an open system, we verify an enormous number of BBSs each day and we are not able to spend time answering registration questions. Enter LOGON ID: _____________________________________________________ _____________________________________________________________________ _____________________________________________________________________ (Send this section to Hayes) Model Number Desired Quantity Subtotal _______________________________________________________________________ _______________________________________________________________________ _______________________________________________________________________ SUBTOTAL : ________ GA Customers add 5% sales tax/CA Customers add 8.25% sales tax:________ $10.00 PER ITEM FOR SHIPPING : __________ x $10 =________ *All orders shipped 2nd Day Air* Total Order: ___________ *** SPECIAL NOTE FOR CANADIAN SYSOPS: *** You will be responsible for paying provincial sales tax (Ontario customers only) and GST as prescribed by law. Canadians should NOT submit U.S. Funds, please call Hayes Canada at 519-746-5000 to check on price in Canadian funds and more information. SOLD TO: (Please print or type) BBS Name:____________________________________________________ Customer Name:_______________________________________________ Customer Address:____________________________________________ City/State/Province/Zip (Postal Code):___________________________________ Shipping address (if different):_________________________________________ _________________________________________________________________________ Order Date:______________________________________________________________ Payment Terms: Payment for the entire amount of the [ ] Check PLEASE CHECK purchase must be included with this [ ] Money Order ONE BOX order form. You may pay by check, [ ] MasterCard (U.S. only) money order, MasterCard, or VISA. [ ] VISA Credit Card #: _______________________________________ Expiration Date: _____________________________________ Signature: ________________________________________________ (Must complete if paying by credit card) Hayes reserves the right to, at its sole discretion, terminate or modify the terms of this offer at any time without prior notification. This offer is good in the United States and Canada only. Offer void where prohibited by law. All offers subject to availability. Hayes Microcomputer Products, Inc P.O. Box 105203 Atlanta, Georgia 30348 (404)840-9200 FAX: (404)449-0087 BBS: (404)HI-MODEM (446-6336) Email: tech_support@hayes.com ********************************************************************** ATARI/JAG SECTION (III) ======================= Dana Jacobson, Editor > From the Atari Editor's Desk "Saying it like it is!" """""""""""""""""""""""""""" I hate deadlines, but fortunately for all of us, I have them; otherwise, I don't think that I'd ever have an issue ready on time! No matter how early I start any particular issue, there's always something that needs fine-tuning shortly before I need to get my material off to Florida! Not much on tap in the computing arena this week - most news is coming from the recent E3 show in Los Angeles. We'll have show reports for you in this issue, but in the Jaguar section since that's the only Atari focus at that show. Have you checked out the STReport Web page yet? I dropped by the other night and it's starting to shape up nicely. The address is: http://www/icba.com/streport. If you're looking for an Internet site to grab your weekly dose of STReport, this would be a perfect opportunity for you to do so. For our current STReport Internet mail subscribers, we'll slowly be shifting our distribution process to the Web to make things easier for you (no more uudecoding the issues!). For those of you who still prefer the mail system, we'll continue to accommodate you (but you'll need to let us know in the weeks to come). Drop by and check out the STReport Web pages - your comments are welcome. It's going to be a large issue this week with all of the E3 reports, so I'd better get back to it so you'll have this week's issue on a timely basis! Until next time... ___________________________________________________ > The Ultimate Virus Killer Book! STR InfoFile! """"""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""" \\\\|//// / - - \ (| 0 o 0 |) \ ~ / -=-ooo-=-=ooo=-=-=-==-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=- | Richard Karsmakers r.c.karsmakers@stud.let.ruu.nl | -=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=--=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=- | Editor of : "Twilight World" Internet fiction magazine | | "ST NEWS" Atari ST/TT/Falcon multi-media disk magazine | | Snailmail : P.O. Box 67 | | NL-3500 AB Utrecht | | The Netherlands | -=-=-=-=-=--=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=- | "If opportunity doesn't knock, build a door." | -=-=-=-=-=-==-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=- ----------------------------------------------------------------- THE ULTIMATE VIRUS KILLER BOOK, by Richard Karsmakers ----------------------------------------------------------------- Yes! Finally it *will* happen! Over the past few years I've been writing a book called the "Ultimate Virus Killer" book, i.e. the ultimate book for those of you who are interested in the virus phenomenon - or your protection against it. o What to do against viruses. o What viruses can and can't do. o A history of viruses on Atari, MS-DOS, Apple and others systems. o Extensive virus classification described. o All sense and nonsense ever said about Atari viruses outlined. o A full and extended "Ultimate Virus Killer" manual. o A list of all Atari viruses and their symptoms. o The biggest glossary you ever saw. o A total of around 250 pages of know-how. The book is planned to be ready by July 1st 1995, but if you order before May 1st (post mark!) you will get an interesting discount. Please refer to the ordering details, below. IMPORTANT: THE BOOK IS ONLY AVAILABLE FOR A LIMITED PERIOD! ORDERS RECEIVED AFTER DECEMBER 31ST 1995 WILL NO LONGER BE PROCESSED! ----------------------------------------------------------------- Ordering conditions ----------------------------------------------------------------- United Kingdom: $11.99 to be sent as a UK cheque made out to "Mr. J.P. Karsmakers". If you order after August 1st 1995, please allow up to six weeks for delivery. Please *clearly* state your name and address and send your cheque off to the address below. Nederland / The Netherlands: Hfl 29,95 per Nederlandse cheque op naam van "Dhr. R. Karsmakers". Let op: Het boek is in het Engels! Indien U na 1 Augustus 1995 bestelt, houd s.v.p. rekening met een levertijd tot vier weken. Vermeld s.v.p. *duidelijk* Uw naam en adres en stuur Uw cheque naar het hieronder vermelde adres. The rest of the world: US$25 (Germans: DM 30) to be transferred via an IMO (that's "International Money Order") or cash. Absolutely no cheques! If you order after August 1st 1995, please allow up to six weeks for delivery. Please *clearly* state your name and address and send your IMO off to the address below. ----------------------------------------------------------------- The address to send your stuff to ----------------------------------------------------------------- International: For the Netherlands: Richard Karsmakers Richard Karsmakers P.O.Box 67 Postbus 67 NL-3500 AB Utrecht 3500 AB Utrecht The Netherlands ----------------------------------------------------------------- Important notes ----------------------------------------------------------------- o If you have an email account and specify it upon ordering, I will let you know when the book is being sent off. o The prices include postage and packaging costs. o Remember: The book won't be available anymore after December 31st 1995! ____________________________________ -/- Electronic Mall Headed to Web -/- CompuServe Inc. says its Electronic Mall will open its doors this fall to the Internet's 20 million users. Currently available only to CompuServe Information Service members, The Electronic Mall will expand its reach to the Internet's World Wide Web, vastly broadening the market for Mall merchants that choose to reach the Internet user base as well as CompuServe's 3 million membersworldwide. CompuServe pioneered the concept of online direct marketing 11 years ago when it established The Electronic Mall. The company, based in Columbus, Ohio, notes that orders and accesses have increased every year since the Mall's launch and that the Mall has experienced particularly strong growth in the past five years, with average annual increases of 50 percent in orders and 78 percent in number of accesses. The Mall's more than 170 stores include several "anchor" merchants such as Lands' End, Jc penney, Hammacher Schlemmer, FTD Direct, Hyatt International and Service Merchandise, all of which have expressed interest in establishing a presence on the Web, says CompuServe. Through its Internet Division and its relationship with Terisa Systems of Menlo Park, California, CompuServe is implementing a transaction protocol based on Secure Hypertext Transport Protocol (S-HTTP) and Secure Socket Layer (SSL). "Opening the Mall to the Internet represents a giant leap forward for direct marketing online," says Kevin Knott, CompuServe vice president of product marketing. "Obviously, by broadening the potential market, we're offering our merchants many more customers for the dollar. And, by opening a store on the Web under the CompuServe banner, merchants benefit from our experience and our brand equity, which enjoys the strongest worldwide recognition." ______________________________________ JAGUAR SECTION ============== E3 Reports! CatNips! JaguarCD! VR Update! More Hardware! Games! 100 Games By X-Mas! ATC 1Q Report! And much more!! > From the Editor's Controller - Playin' it like it is! """""""""""""""""""""""""""" The E3 show has dominated the onlines and the public this past week. As at most shows, Atari has made a number of major announcements, some of which we've had an inkling about already. Some of the news is very impressive, as you'll see. Other news items are truly public relations announcements to make us all take heart that all is going well, as planned. With all of the news, I'm going to withhold comment this week, but I do have some opinions and observations that I'd like to share - we'll see what you think. In the meantime, I'm going to "re-run" our JaguarCD survey from a couple of week's ago, as requested by a number of readers. Some of the comments received so far have been interesting and informative. Before we print a sampling of them, we want to make sure that we give you plenty of time to form opinions, especially now that E3 has come and gone. We have a lot to cover this week, so let's get to it! Until next time... > JaguarCD Survey! - What Are YOUR Feelings Regarding the Purchase """""""""""""""" of the JaguarCD? Sb: #77732-Jaguar 2 Specs! Fm: Bob McCauley 73160,3542 To: Dana P. Jacobson 71051,3327 (X) >>Come up with the survey that you feel would work and _I'll_ make sure that it gets run in STReport! <> Dana, Thanks for the reply -- I will give it a start, maybe others could come in and add to the survey. Maybe something like If you are waiting to buy a Jag: a. Is the delay of the CD affecting your purchase decision: 1. If so, has it caused you to back out of buying a Jag? b. Is it a "don't care" -- I would buy or not buy a jag independent of the CD availability. c. If you are planning to buy a PSX, U64, etc... 1. Would availability of a Jag II (that leapfrogs the PSX) change your mind? a. if it were available in Sept? b. if it were available in Dec? c. if it were available in Jan 96? d. if it were available in April 96?? e. if it were available in Sept 96? (assume the PSX availability in Sept 95) d. Do you think that Atari management broke promises to you with all the delays? e. Do you think that Atari management made good faith effort in trying to solve their delay problems? f. Would it change your attitude if Atari had been more candid in providing more insight into problems that caused the delays? Bob [Editor's note: send all comments addressed to "dpj@delphi.com". > 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 J9020 Bubsy $49.99 Atari Corp J9026 Iron Soldier $59.99 Atari Corp J9060 Val D'Isere Skiing $59.99 Atari Corp. Cannon Fodder $69.99 Virgin Syndicate $69.99 Ocean Troy Aikman Ftball $69.99 Williams Theme Park $69.99 Ocean Sensible Soccer Telegames Double Dragon V $59.99 Williams J9009E Hover Strike $59.99 Atari Corp. Available Soon ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ CAT # TITLE MSRP DEVELOPER/PUBLISHER Pinball Fantasies $ 59.95 Computer West Jaguar CD-ROM $149.99 Atari Hardware and Peripherals ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ CAT # TITLE MSRP MANUFACTURER J8001 Jaguar (complete) $189.99 Atari Corp. J8001 Jaguar (no cart) $159.99 Atari Corp. J8904 Composite Cable $19.95 J8901 Controller/Joypad $24.95 Atari Corp. J8905 S-Video Cable $19.95 CatBox $69.95 ICD > Industry News STR Game Console NewsFile - The Latest Gaming News! """"""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""" CONTACT: Jessica Nagel or Tom Tanno Dorf & Stanton Communications (310)479-4997 ATARI JAGUAR'S LIBRARY APPROACHES 100 TITLES IN 1995 SUNNYVALE, CA (May 11, 1995) -- Atari Corporation announces that there will be nearly 100 titles for its 64-bit Jaguar entertainment system by the end of the year. "We will have every kind of game that players want, from the best developers and publishers in the world," comments Atari President Sam Tramiel. Based on the popularity of "Tempest 2000", Atari is launching a complete line of classic games, including "Dactyl Joust" and "Defender 2000", and "Missile Command VR" for the Jaguar VR. "Defender 2000" is being developed with three distinct play modes for the Jaguar by Jeff Minter, developer of "Tempest 2000". In addition, Atari will publish classic games for the PC at the end of the year, beginning with "Tempest 2000". Other new release titles include "Primal Rage" from Time Warner Interactive, the "Highlander" RPG series, "Fight for Life" and "NBA Jam Tournament Edition". The featured titles at Atari Corporation's E3 booth in Los Angeles are "TRF", "Rayman", "White Men Can't Jump" and "Ultra Vortex". TRF: TRF combines the latest motion capture technology and nationally known martial arts fighters in a wide variety of combat scenarios. Featured fighters include Ho Sung Pak, Dr. Philip Ahn, Katalin Zamiar and Daniel Pesina; who were all featured in the "Mortal Kombat" games. RAYMAN: Rayman lives in a fantasy land beyond the reaches of our universe. Rayman must restore peace and harmony to his world by defeating the evil Mr. Black and retrieve the stolen Great Proton. WHITE MEN CAN'T JUMP: Trash talk runs rampant in this "in-your-face", two-on-two blacktop basketball shootout. Automatic camera control zooms in and swings around to catch all the action. ULTRA VORTEX: Players become one of the ten eye-popping, bone crunching warriors of the underground who battle it out in mind-bending arenas carved out of living rock. They have one goal in mind: Defeat the dreaded Guardian of the Vortex. Atari has been in the video game business for over twenty years. Today, Atari markets Jaguar, the only American made, advanced 64-Bit entertainment system. Atari Corporation is located in Sunnyvale CA. ### Jaguar is a trademark of Atari Corporation. Atari is a registered trademark of Atari Corporation. Other products may be trademarks of their owning companies. Primal Rage(tm) and all related elements are property of Time Warner Interactive(tm). Rayman(tm) is a trademark of UBI Soft. Ultra Vortex(tm) is a trademark of Beyond Games, Inc. #### CONTACT: Jessica Nagel or Tom Tanno Dorf & Stanton Communications (310)479-4997 ATARI CORPORATION ADDS TWO TOP INDUSTRY VETERANS TO SENIOR MANAGEMENT TEAM SUNNYVALE, CA (May 1, 1995) -- Atari Corporation has powered up its senior management team with the addition of top industry veterans Dean Fox and Jon Correll. Mr. Fox comes on board as Senior Vice President of Marketing and Correll as Vice President of Software Product Development. "The formidable skills and experience of Dean Fox and Jon Correll will provide Atari with a focused marketing plan and the development of the highest quality software for the consumer, taking full advantage of Jaguar's capability including 60 FPS, 16 million colors and 64 Bit Processing, " Sam Tramiel, CEO, Atari Corporation said in making the announcement. Prior to joining Atari Corporation, Correll held the position of Manager of Development Administration for Sega of America. At Sega, Correll implemented and negotiated development contracts and produced the first CD titles for Sega Corporation including "Night Trap". Correll began his career in the software and gaming industry as Manager of Product Development for Accolade in 1986. While at Accolade, Correll produced some of the company's most popular games including "Test Drive" and "Mean 18 Golf". Correll went on to consult various Silicon Valley companies including EPYX and worked as Director of Product Development for Three-Sixty. Before joining Atari, Mr. Fox founded, staffed, and led the marketing group for Rocket Science Games. Prior to RSG, Fox directed the launch for Sega CD and led ongoing strategic marketing, product concept and distribution consultation for several CD-ROM multimedia entertainment publishers. In his marketing and advertising tenure, Fox contributed to the introductions of many consumer products, including Sony Betamax and JVC VHS Video cassette recorders, Sharp laptop computers, and Sega CD multimedia game systems. Atari has been in the video game business for over twenty years. Today, Atari markets Jaguar, the only American made, advanced 64-Bit entertainment system. Atari Corporation is located in Sunnyvale CA. ### CONTACT: Jessica Nagel or Tom Tanno Dorf & Stanton Communications (310)479-4997 ATARI CONTINUES TO EXPAND JAGUAR PERIPHERALS SUNNYVALE, CA (May 11, 1995) -- Atari continues to provide new gaming options for owners of its 64-bit Jaguar Interactive Entertainment System. Key products to enhance the Jaguar play experience hit the marketplace in 1995, with many more to come. "Since Jaguar has already made the leap to 64-bit technology, we can now focus on providing even more value to consumers by expanding the system with new and innovative peripherals," says Sam Tramiel, CEO of Atari Corporation. One of the Jaguar extras is the much anticipated multimedia compact disc (CD) player. Priced at approximately $150, the Jaguar CD player attaches to the top of the Jaguar console. The Jaguar CD plays many new CD games, including "Battlemorph", "Highlander", "Blue Lightning", "Demolition Man", "Myst", and "Creature Shock" in addition to playing standard audio disks. The Jaguar CD player provides 790 megabytes of raw data storage, allowing video game programmers to incorporate more complex digitized images, full-motion video sequences and high-quality audio soundtracks. This powerful double-speed CD player also provides fast access speed for smoother game play, and its massive data capacity gives users better graphic detail, expanded plot lines and more characters for an overall enhanced video game experience. Additionally, built into the unit is the "Virtual Light Machine(tm)", which creates and displays 81 different light patterns on the video screen in response to music played through the system. Mr. Tramiel says about the system, "The combination of the most advanced technology, sophisticated software and affordable consumer pricing sets Jaguar apart from all competitors." Target ship date for the CD player is August, 1995. For around $30, Jaguar owners can take advantage of the Jag Link(tm), which allows users to play competitively side-by-side. The Jag Link enables users to connect two Jaguar systems for simultaneous game playing up to 100 feet apart. The Jag Link uses standard RJ11 phone line cable for linking two Jaguar systems. Team Tap(tm) is a new peripheral that for around $25 enables competitive, simultaneous play for up to four players on one Jaguar. The peripheral, which debuts with the new title "White Men Can't Jump", provides players with a two-on-two playground simulation experience. With two Jaguar systems and Team Tap, the competitive play can be expanded up to eight players. In addition, the Jaguar Voice/Data Communicator gives players the ability to link up over the phone. Developed by fax-modem-voice technology experts, Phylon Communications, the new technology permits two players to compete using a phone connection. Players can speak with each other during game play through the use of a headset. With the utilization of a "call waiting" feature, players can also pause a game to answer a phone call. Atari has been in the video game business for over twenty years. Today, Atari markets Jaguar, the only American made, advanced 64-Bit entertainment system. Atari Corporation is located in Sunnyvale CA. ### CONTACT: for Atari Corporation Jessica Nagel Dorf & Stanton Communications (310)479-4997 for Virtuality U.S. Allison Ellis Edelman Public Relations (214)520-3555 for VIRTUALITY U.K. Helen Horner/Ben Vaughan Virtuality Group plc 011-44-116-233-7082 ATARI AND VIRTUALITY PREVIEW FIRST VIRTUAL REALITY GAME SYSTEM FOR THE CONSUMER MARKET AT E3 Affordable 64-bit Jaguar VR sets industry standards; available by end of year. LOS ANGELES (May 11, 1995) -- The Jaguar VR, the world's first fully immersive virtual reality game system for the consumer market, was unveiled today at E3. It is being developed jointly by Atari Corporation, developer of the world's first 64-bit game system, and VIRTUALITY Group plc, the global market leader in VR systems. The Jaguar VR incorporates VIRTUALITY's revolutionary new VR head-mounted display (HMD) and optional track joystick, offering unequaled display, audio, and tracking features. Atari's Jaguar VR sets an impressive industry standard for home virtual reality systems and has been designed with the highest international health and safety regulations in mind. According to Sam Tramiel, President of Atari, "There is not one consumer VR product that can compete with the Jaguar in terms of price, performance and quality. The Jaguar VR has been designed with human factors in mind and sets the standard for the industry to follow. We are committed to delivering great experiences and entertainment." The proprietary, ergonomic HMD weighs less than 1 pound and easily adjusts to comfortably fit users, with or without glasses. It features a custom-designed optical pupil projection system and a full-color active matrix LCD screen. In addition, the HMD's 3D spatialized sound system has been enhanced by placing speakers at the player's temple, with sound projected back to the ears allowing for peripheral hearing. A built-in microphone allows networked players to talk to each other. A docking station, which links the Atari Jaguar system to the HMD and joystick, houses the technologically advanced "V-Trak" infrared tracking. This is the fastest tracker ever developed for consumer application, reacting to real-time head and hand movements with no perceptible lag time in the virtual world. In addition, Jaguar VR is designed to be used only when a player is sitting with the unit stationary on a flat surface. If a player attempts to walk around while immersed in the game, an automatic cutoff will be triggered. Players who own an Atari Jaguar will be able to to upgrade by plugging Jaguar VR into their existing system. The Jaguar VR has a targeted retail price of $300. Jaguar VR Software Development ------------------------------ Through a software licensing agreement, VIRTUALITY is developing immersive virtual reality games for the Atari Jaguar VR. Atari's classic home and arcade hit "Missile Command" is being recreated in VR format by VIRTUALITY and will be available by the end of the year. In addition, the popular VIRTUALITY arcade title "Zone Hunter" will also be available for Jaguar VR with the system introduction. Discussions are also underway with a number of third-party developers for the creation of future games that take advantage of this unique technology to create new experiences. "The combination of Jaguar's 64-bit graphics processing power and our IVR technology has produced a phenomenal, fully integrated VR consumer product which has no competition, " said Jon Waldern, CEO of VIRTUALITY Group plc. "This system expands the boundaries of the in-home interactive games market and sets a new standard for others to try to achieve. Founded in 1987 in Leicester, England, VIRTUALITY Group plc. is the world's leader in immersive virtual reality entertainment systems worth more than 80 percent global market share. VIRTUALITY Entertainment, Inc. headquartered in Irving, Texas, was established in 1993 as the U.S.-based subsidiary to oversee all North American operations, sales, market development and distribution for its parent company. Atari has been in the video game business for over twenty years. Today, Atari markets Jaguar, the only American made, advanced 64-Bit entertainment system. Atari Corporation is located in Sunnyvale CA. #### Contact: August J. Liguori ATARI CORPORATION (408) 745-2069 (408) 745-2173 May 16, 1995 For Immediate Release ATARI CORPORATION ANNOUNCES FIRST QUARTER 1995 RESULTS Sunnyvale, CA-- Atari Corporation (ASE:ATC) today reported its financial results for the first quarter ended March 31, 1995. Net sales for the first quarter of 1995 were $4.9 million as compared to $8.2 million for the first quarter of 1994. Late in the first quarter, the Company lowered the wholesale price of the Jaguar 64-bit multimedia entertainment system to allow for a $159 retail price. As a result of the low sales volume and continued investment in marketing activities during 1995, the Company incurred a net loss of $4.4 million for the first quarter of 1995 as compared to a net loss of $0.9 million for the same quarter of 1994. The first quarter of 1994 was favorably impacted by the settlement of patent litigation in the amount of $2.2 million. Commenting on the results, Sam Tramiel, CEO, said "The Jaguar price change was made possible due to technology advances and near term cost savings. We have positioned the 64-bit Jaguar as new advanced technology with great software, at an affordable price. With a retail price of $159 or less, the 64-bit Jaguar is in a good position to be the upgrade choice for the present 16-bit game owners. We are focused on developing software for the Jaguar and preparing for the upcoming fall selling season." Atari has been in the video game business for over twenty years. Today, Atari markets Jaguar, the only American made, advanced 64-bit entertainment system. Atari is headquartered at 1196 Borregas Avenue, Sunnyvale, California 94089. ATARI CORPORATION Condensed Consolidated Statements of Operations (in thousands, except per share) Quarter Ended -------------------------------------------------------------------- Mar 31, Mar 31, 1995 1994 -------- -------- Net Sales $4,874 $8,156 ======== ======== Operating Income (loss) $(5,158) $(3,372) Exchange Gain (loss) 5 272 Other Income (Expense) Net 355 2,392 (a) Interest Income Net of Interest (Expense) 372 (219) -------- -------- Income (loss) Before Income Taxes $(4,426) $ (927) -------- -------- Net Income (loss) $(4,426) $ (927) ======== ======== Earnings Per Common and Equivalent Share: Net Income (loss) $ (0.07) $ (0.02) ======== ======== Weighted Average number of shares used in computation 63,701 57,219 (a) Includes settlement of litigation. ### -/- Bushnell to Head New Company -/- A new venture called E2000, aimed at providing interactive entertainment and learning as well as dining for families, is being launched by Nolan Bushnell, founder/CEO of Atari Corp. and Pizza Time Theater. According to a statement from Los Altos, California, E2000 "applies state-of-the-art virtual technology to three leisure areas -- entertainment, education and exercise -- and includes an interactive dining area for the entire family, all within a 25,000 square-foot environment." In the statement, Bushnell commented, "In the past 25 years, the game business has stagnated to some degree in ways that are disappointing. Since I left the business over 15 years ago I have been able to look at the industry's health and vitality from the outside and for the past several months, my staff and I have been working to create not just a series of new games, but new game types, environments and delivery mechanisms to support them." He said the first "E2000 Interactive Family Center" will be opened in Silicon Valley this year, with a number of franchises expected to be ready next year. The facility's entertainment promises interactive attractions, along with networked games allowing several hundred people to compete in leagues. -/- Arcade Classics Get New Life -/- Microsoft Corp. is planning to bring several classic arcade games to Windows 95 users. The software giant will offer Microsoft Return of Arcade, a collection that includes such venerable titles as Pac Man, Dig Dug, Pole Position and Galaxian. Microsoft notes that each program is replicated from the original coin-operated machine version. "These games bring back nostalgic memories of spending long afternoons in game halls and pizza parlors with pockets full of quarters," says Stuart Moulder, a product unit manager at Microsoft's entertainment business unit. "For a few minutes each day, players of Microsoft Return of Arcade can use their home or office PCs to relive the days of their youth." The software's players can customize each game by changing the number of lives, increasing the rate of fire and changing other variables, such as customizing the keyboard controls. Additionally, the games use Microsoft Wavemix technology to render multiple sound effects simultaneously in Windows, providing a realistic arcade-style game experience. Microsoft Return of Arcade is scheduled to become available in stores in this fall for approximately $34.95. -/- AT&T Selling 3DO Stake -/- AT&T Corp. is selling its stake in video-game developer 3DO Co. Spokesman David Boyce of AT&T's consumer products division has told Reuter News Service reporter Susan Moran that AT&T notified the Securities and Exchange Commission on May 10 it plans to sell 25 percent of its 2.5 percent equity stake in 3DO. He said AT&T plans to sell the rest of its holdings before long. "But," he added, "this is purely a financial decision. You shouldn't read into our decision to sell the shares a statement one way or another about our confidence in 3DO. At this point (3DO) is just an investment for us." Moran notes AT&T was one of the original investors in the Redwood City, Calif., 3DO, along with Time Warner Inc. and Matsushita Electric Industrial Co Ltd., whose Panasonic division makes 3DO's CD-based Interactive Multiplayer. 3DO went public two years ago this month. Shortly after that AT&T became a 3DO hardware licensee. Boyce told the wire service AT&T had notified 3DO last year of its plans to pull its stake in the company but was precluded from selling the stock until last January. _________________________________________ > Jaguar Developers STR InfoFile - Current Developer Lists & Titles """""""""""""""""""""""""""""" Game Title Date Game Type MSRP Publisher ----------------------------------------------------------------------- Air Cars 2Q/95 Racing $59.99 Midnight Ent. Alien vs Predator NOW Role Play/Adventure $69.99 Atari Arena Football 2Q/95 Sports TBD V Reel Assault 2Q/95 Action/Combat $59.99 Midnight Ent. Barkley Basketball 2Q/95 Sports TBD Atari Battlemorph 2Q/95 Flying/Action $59.99 Atari Battle Wheels 2Q/95 Racing/Combat TBD Beyond Games Blue Lightning (CD) 2Q/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 NOW Action/Adventure $69.99 Virgin Checkered Flag NOW Racing $69.99 Atari Club Drive NOW Racing $59.99 Atari Creature Shock (CD) 2Q/95 Adventure/Sci-Fi TBD Atari/Virgin Cybermorph NOW Flying/Action $59.99 Atari Dactyl Joust 2Q/95 Action TBD Atari Demolition Man 2Q/95 Action/Combat $59.99 Atari Doom NOW Action/Combat $69.99 Atari Double Dragon V NOW Action/Adventure $59.99 Williams Dragon:Bruce Lee Story NOW Combat $59.99 Atari Dragon Lair (CD) 2Q/95 Adventure TBD Ready Soft Dreadnought (CD) 2Q/95 Adventure TBD Atari Dungeon Depths 2Q/95 Action/Adventure $59.99 Midnight Ent. Evolution: Dino Dudes NOW Puzzle/Adventure $49.99 Atari Flashback 2Q/95 Action/Adventure TBD US Gold Fight For Life 2Q/95 Combat TBD Atari Hardball Baseball 2Q/95 Sports TBD Atari Highlander (CD) 2Q/95 Action/Adventure $59.99 Atari Horrorscope 2Q/95 Combat TBD V Reel Hover Strike NOW Action/Combat $59.99 Atari Iron Soldier NOW Action/Strategy $59.99 Atari Jack Nicklaus Golf(CD) 2Q/95 Sports TBD Atari Kasumi Ninja NOW Combat $69.99 Atari Pinball Fantasies 2Q/95 Arcade $59.95 Comp. West Rage Rally 2Q/95 Racing TBD Atari Raiden NOW Action/Adventure $49.99 Atari Rayman 2Q/95 Action/Adventure TBD UBI Soft Robinson Requiem 2Q/95 Adventure TBD Atari Sensible Soccer NOW Sports Telegames Soccer Kid 2Q/95 Sports TBD Ocean Space War 2Q/95 Action/Adventure $59.99 Atari Star Raiders 2Q/95 Space Simulation TBD Atari Syndicate NOW Simulation $69.99 Ocean Tempest 2000 NOW Action/Adventure $59.99 Atari Theme Park NOW Simulation $69.99 Ocean Tiny Toon Adventures 2Q/95 Action/Adventure $59.99 Atari Trevor McFur NOW Action/Adventure $49.99 Atari Troy Aikman NFL Ftball NOW Sports $69.99 Williams Ultimate Brain Games 2Q/95 Puzzle TBD Telegames Ultra Vortex 2Q/95 Action/Adventure $69.99 Beyond Games Val D'Isere Skiing... NOW Sports $59.99 Atari White Men Can't Jump 2Q/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 - all subject to change] _____________________________________________ > Jaguar Online STR InfoFile Online Users Growl & Purr! """""""""""""""""""""""""" STReport Spotlight - E3 Reports! """""""""""""""""""""""""""""""" Sb: #Jung's E3 Report Fm: SYSOP*Jeff Kovach 74777,3071 To: All From the rec.games.video.atari newsgroup, Robert Jung reports on Atari's showing at E3: ---------------- From: rjung@netcom.com (Robert A. Jung) Subject: Rob's Jaguar E3 bits Date: Sun, 14 May 1995 06:19:04 GMT Taking advantage of the generosity of a few good friends of mine, I snuck into the Los Angeles Electronics Entertainment Expo (E3) for a few hours today to see what's up with Atari and the Jaguar. I may or may not also have gotten recorded by AEO's video crew, but that's another matter all together. Herein a report of what I saw. (Note: This is not, in any way, shape, or form, a report on the E3 show as a whole. I didn't have the time or the inclination to see every major player's booth, and I'm not claiming anything of the sort [hey, I had errands to run and things to do]. If you want reports on what everyone else was showing, there are plenty of other USENET reports that will do the job. This message is for those who want a detailed scrutiny of Atari's area) Hokay, let's jump into the fray... * FLOOR SPACE. Yes, Atari had the smallest space of the various console makers at the show. On the other hand, their space was well used. Sega's area (which was in the center of the South hall and next to Atari) was the biggest, but much of the area was open space, big displays, and to redundant showings. The Saturn area, for instance, had three units running DAYTONA (A personal disappointment for me -- the resolution's low, the horizon is -far- too short, and the steering wheel is sensitive as h*ll. Give me RIDGE RACER on the PlayStation instead), three running PANZIER DRAGOON, etc. Sega also had a section devoted to different forms of shelving(!) and Sega merchandise, and massive mock-ups for less-than-stellar games like GARFIELD and VR TROOPERS. Or look at Nintendo, who wasn't even in the South Hall with Atari/Sega/3DO/Sony, but in the West Hall with most of the computer firms. I lost count of how many Jaguar games I saw (I'll have to count after I finish this message); almost each kiosk was running a completely different title, with a few networked demo exceptions, which helped Atari cram more games in a small amount of space. A few games -- RAYMAN, THEA REALM FIGHTERS, WHITE MEN CAN'T JUMP, and ULTRA VORTEX -- got the "big screen" treatment, with massive color TVs and a decorated theme area. RAYMAN, for instance, had vines and plants in the area, and "tree stump" seats for people to sit in. * JAGUAR VR. This was Atari's "big gun" product, and they made sure everyone knew it. Atari was handing out VR promotional packets with free photographic slides (for you magazine publishers) and lots of information, as well as "Jaguar VR" T-shirts (take the traditional black Jaguar tee, but replace the blood-red Jaguar logo on the back with a shiny embossed "Jaguar VR" instead). Two raised daises were set up in the front of the area, where visitors got a chance to try the Jaguar VR prototype gear. One line was devoted to members of the press and media, while a second line was for "everyone else." Both lines were long, though the media got preferential treatment. The hardware is 98% finished, and final molds of the equipment were on display. The VR system consists of three parts: (1) VR goggles. No stereo vision, but otherwise a snug-fitting headset. Works fine with glasses, too. Adjustable knobs for picture focus and head fit. Plugs into the expansion port of the Jaguar. (2) Trigger controller. A lightweight hand-held controller with two buttons: a "trigger" and an "action" button. Plugs into the Jaguar controller port. (3) Infrared receiver. Not used in the demo setups, but the final Jaguar VR set will use an infrared receiver to track the position of your trigger relative to your helmet. The software being shown was ZONE HUNTER, a shoot-everything-that-moves sci-fi game. It was currently running on a dedicated computer (unseen, possibly an IBM PC). A Virtuality rep I talked to says that work on the Jaguar game software has begun; the polygon count will probably be lower in the end, but they expect to make up for it by giving you a larger "virtual world" to play in. Yes, I got to try the VR gear. B-) ZONE HUNTER is a simple game: you play a futuristic space Marine, who walks around, through, and under a high-tech city, blowing away all sorts of aliens and enemies. Grab powerups for your gun, avoid damage, and reach your checkpoints before time runs out. Nothing too complicated, but it was fun to play -- think of it as VR DOOM, if you want (though not as fast). Graphics were plain polygons with a minimal amount of texture-mapping; sounds consist of weapons fire and a "radio" voice from your headquarters. The prototype VR gear works like a charm, and the tracking of your head and gun are perfect. For example, I stopped at the end of a hall, spun around, and blew away a mutant creeping up behind me, and didn't feel any sort of discontinuity from the game. Suffice it to say that this is a solid product. I expressed some doubt that the $300 price tag might not make it worthwhile for players. The Atari rep I talked to quickly contradicted me: a LOT of retailers and sales representatives think there's a HUGE market for a $450 ($300 headset plus $150 Jaguar) setup. Atari's very eager to get this out by Christmas 1995 as a result, and I can't blame them. Final VR note: The current plans are to have at least two VR games available at the headset's release: ZONE HUNTER and MISSILE COMMAND 3D. I managed to sneak a peek at MC3D (it wasn't being shown to the general public), but the game was too early to get a feel for what was going on. At least coding has started... * NEWS AND MISINFORMATION. Here's a good time to segue into some potpourri of Jaguar news and whatnot... >> DOOM to be Jaguar pack-in? Don't be so sure of that, folks. Yes, Atari was showing new Jaguar packaging, with more colorful box art, more screen shots, and promotions of the Jaguar CD, Jaguar VR, and JagLink cables to retailers in private. And yes, the front of the box says "DOOM included." But wait! What's that -other- box over there, the one that says "ALIEN VS. PREDATOR included," then? Turns out that both boxes are marketing mock-ups. While there are plans to bring back the Jaguar-and-game package, there is no decision made yet as to what the pack-in will be. DOOM and AvP are merely used to give retailers a feel for the new box design. >> Does Atari have a clue? Despite what some people will say, Atari is not unaware of their situation in the market. They have a good machine for a good price, but their weakness is in software. They KNOW that. "So what are they going to do about it?", you ask. Good question. How does hiring experienced programmers from Sega sound for an answer. You heard correctly. Apparently, Sega of America recently laid off twenty-five programmers due to their own downsizing efforts. Atari is currently interviewing each and every one of those ex-Sega coders, and wants to grab the best of the bunch to work on Jaguar software. But wait, there's more. Atari's new Director of Game Development (who was also hired from Sega, as readers of my April report on the "Dealer outreach pilot program" may remember) is also acutely aware of the problem of the small Jaguar game library. Reports are that he's working "very aggressively" on the development of new games, and he might have been the leading force behind Atari's increased use of focus groups for new game development (as reported previously on the net by various sources). In theory, then, Atari's assembling the pieces necessary to increase the quantity and quality of Jaguar games in a BIG way. Can they do it? Only time will tell... >> What about Christmas 1995? More programmers and better development are good solutions for the long term, but what about the short? Well, Atari's E3 line is that they're looking at "50 new games for 1995." Their handouts and E3 advertising reflect this, with the tag line "50 new games + 64 bits + $159 = Do the Math." Sounds incredulous? So am I. But it gets more interesting. When I asked an Atari rep about how realistic this goal was, she insisted that it was a serious goal. Atari is counting 50 titles from themselves and their third-party developers; "We're actually trying to get more than 50 titles out, but we admit there's a chance that some of them won't make it in time." Well, she seemed sincere, anyway. I'm still doubtful, personally, but I only report what I hear... >> Who's Afraid of Sony? Is Atari worried about the $300 Sony PlayStation? No. Why not? Because it doesn't exist. Take this with a bag of salt, too, but apparently the $300 PlayStation announcement is a bit of misdirection from Sony, to recoup some of their lost thunder from Sega's early Saturn release. The PlayStation will hit the 'States for $300, but there are reports that it's the WHOLESALE price. If this is true, then depending on how retail sales go, the PlayStation may end up costing anywhere from $340 to $380 retail after the dust settles... Semi-related sidebar: most of the retailers I talked with weren't floored with Sega's early Saturn release. The feeling is that, at $400, it's still priced too high for most consumers. The SNES and Genesis are still seen as the price favorites, and the low-cost upgrades -- the Jaguar and the 32X -- are given better odds for survival. The consensus is also that the Jaguar is technologically superior to the 32X, and Atari's lack of games is the biggest thing holding them back (hmmm, sound familiar?). Okay, enough gossiping. Let's get back to the really interesting stuff, and talk about peripherals... * JAGUAR SIX-BUTTON JOYPAD. Yes, it was there, being used to show off ULTRA VORTEX. It feels about the same as the existing Jaguar joypad, but with the following changes: (1) Six buttons under the right thumb. The existing A, B, and C are joined by 1, 2, and 3, which map into the keypad buttons. The buttons are raised and round, instead of the flushed squares on the existing pad. (2) Two index finger buttons, which map into the keypad buttons 4 and 6 for left and right. (3) Minor mold changes near the keypad area, ostensibly to make removing overlays easier. (4) More tactile feedback on the joypad. For the most part, those familiar with the existing Jaguar controller will have no problems with this new one. Expect to see it appear in the Fall. * JAGUAR CD. Everyone seems to be looking at August as a release date for this peripheral. Why the delay? ( Repeat after me) "No software!" A walk around Atari's E3 floor will confirm that -- NONE of the Jaguar CD titles shown were finished. Even VID GRID, the so-easy-I-can't-believe-it title, was running as an unfinished "E3 Demo Version." You could play it, but there were no provisions to set options yet. Some titles were closer to completion than others, but every Jaguar CD game was clearly stamped "Work in progress," and looked like it too. On the good side, the CD does exist; a few Jaguar CD games were running off EEPROMS, but most were playing on final-production CD units. I got a quick glimpse of the Jaguar CD packaging mock-up; there's not much to report other than the Virtual Light Machine gets a good amount of promotion, and the box is printed for international sales (in three languages). * VIRTUAL LIGHT MACHINE. It's up, it's running, and it looks very spiffy. The Jaguar keypad is used extensively -- tap a few keys, and you can change the audio track on the fly. Or press the A button to bring up the CD player menu, where you can program tracks, fast forward, reverse, adjust the volume, and do other audio CD features. CD+Graphics flashed by briefly, but nobody had a CD+G disc to try it on... It's fun to play with the VLM. Just hold down the asterisk key, tap two digits (like a television remote control), and you bring up the effect. There seems to be 81 different visuals (9 categories with 9 variations each), and they're all entrancing to look at. Some effects effortlessly fade from one to the other, while others will blink immediately. Some effects are more/less sensitive to the music than others (this probably accounts for some people wondering why VLM didn't "react well" to the rhythm of a tune). Other effects play on different things -- tempo, frequency, reverb, stereo, etc. The idea is to encourage experimentation, and it does a very good job of it. And for some reason, I was amused that -- in the tradition of MTV and VH1 -- the VLM will flash a little colored "VLM" logo at the lower-right corner of the screen. Don't worry, it only shows up when you want it to. * RELEASED GAMES. Of the Jaguar games shown, only IRON SOLDIER, TEMPEST 2000, ALIEN VS. PREDATOR, VAL D'ISERE SKIING AND SNOWBOARDING, and DOOM were already available. No need to discuss them here, though I'm glad that more space was given to works-in-progress instead of less impressive titles like DOUBLE DRAGON V or CLUB DRIVE. Now for the meat of the matter -- the new games. I covered a number of titles two weeks ago in an article entitled "Jabbin' with Jeff." You may want to dig that up for reference; some games were almost identical, while others had more "advanced" showings at E3. Now, in no particular order... * DEFENDER 2000. I talked about this two weeks ago, in the selfsame "Jabbin'" message. No need to repeat myself here; the E3 version was the same as the one shown around Los Angeles for the last few weeks. "Classic" is near-perfect clone, while "Defender Plus" is an in-your-face blast-a-thon with flowing colors and Pixelshatter-esque explosions everywhere. By the way, Jeff is glad that E3 is over; he wants to get back home and do some more coding already... B-) * POWER DRIVE RALLY. Significantly advanced over the version shown two weeks ago. There are now option screens to configure your car, and more (and better) sounds throughout. I'm still lackluster on this game myself, but this is something for Time-Warner Interactive to worry about, methinks. * PRIMAL RAGE. A very early version. It was clearly running entirely from the Jaguar memory (the CD wasn't spinning), and only featured the title page: the PRIMAL RAGE logo, the development team, the background story of the fall of Earth and the rise of Urth, and a few high score tables. Visually, it's almost exactly like the arcade, with the only exception being that the screens flashed by a little too quickly. But then, it's no indication of how the final game will be... * [SUPER] BURN OUT. This game's either 99% finished, or it's done already, and it's simply wonderful. It wants to be a high-speed, no-nonsense motorcycle racing game and succeeds in spades. One- and two-player options, flawless controls, crisp voices/sounds/music, incredibly fast graphics with scaled sprites and texture-mapped features ... if you like racing games, this is a no-brainer -- buy it. The cartridge saves the best times for each track, and the difficulty of the computer drones can be adjusted. * FIGHT FOR LIFE. I've been hearing this game get pounded for months and months and months, and when I finally saw it today, I was expecting to be disappointed. I don't know WHY people are griping; the version of FIGHT FOR LIFE I played was a respectable polygon fighter, and it's clear to me that the critics are either playing earlier versions of the game, have an axe to grind, or both. The texture-mapped polygon graphics are very smooth (if it's not 30 fps, it's pretty close), while the detailed backgrounds are a blast to look at. The E3 version had all of the fighters' moves enabled, and a large number of them were printed for people to use. Francois Bertrand says the final game will let each player start with five basic moves, and earn more by defeating opponents. The new Jaguar six-button controller will be supported; sidestepping is done with the "4" and "6" keys, which map into the left and right index buttons on the new controller. Regular controls are A to block, B to punch, and C to kick. I managed to dope out a few moves on my own, and enjoyed Muhali's "Arabin nooagie" attack. B-) Now, granted, FIGHT FOR LIFE is not quite up there graphically with VIRTUA FIGHTER on the Saturn or TO SHIH DEN on the PlayStation. But then, this -is- a four-megabyte cartridge; and after having tried VIRTUA FIGHTER on the 32X (the closest comparison to FFL both, conceptually and geographically), I honestly think FFL can hold its own pretty well. Francois says the game should go into final testing in a month or so; for now, I'd advise people to keep an open mind about this title. (Oh, and Francois' next project after FIGHT FOR LIFE is PONG 2000. He is *NOT* kidding, folks -- he wants to do this. After I left the E3 show, I started thinking about what could be done with the idea, and there are some possibilities there...) * BLUE LIGHTNING. Some folks have been saying this is the "lamest Jaguar game ever." I wouldn't go that far; BLUE LIGHTNING is a decent attempt to copy Sega's AFTERBURNER arcade game. The problem is that, after you strip away the neat FMV intro, the radical music, the animated jet models and pre-launch sequences, that's what you get -- AFTERBURNER, a fairly dated and simple arcade game. If this was a cartridge title (without the snazzy music and FMV), it wouldn't be so bad. But I cannot honestly see buying this on CD, unless it's at a discount. An Atari rep I collared said that they've only gotten "positive" responses on it, so I made sure to register a negative response for the sake of completeness. Time will tell.. *. AIR CARS. Now, -this- is a title that can be called "lamest Jaguar game ever" (or at least at E3). My deepest apologies to Midnight Software, but this is one gamer's opinion. While the game may have been reworked after a poor showing at the 1995 Winter CES, the near-final version on the E3 floor didn't move me in any positive direction. The only real changes that I could spot were better and more extensive use of Goraund shading; the sense of movement and terrain height is there. On the other hand, game objects look blocky and simple (a "tree" was nothing more than an elongated green pyramid stuck on a brown cube, for example) and things got chaotic pretty quickly (I suddenly found myself stopped in front of a tank which blew me away after three shots). The Midnight rep I talked to emphasized the eight-player networking aspect of the game, but I don't know if people will put up with the title just for that feature alone. * BALDY. An unusual puzzle game that looks like a cross between POPULOUS, LEMMINGS, and TYRANTS. You control the fates of a bunch of bald men who run around on a series of islands. Your god-like powers let you create and remove land, assign men to various tasks, direct them to new inventions, and generally build up a civilization to take over (or destroy) a competing tribe of folks. I think. There were no instructions for the game that I could find, but so far the game looks reasonable. I also note that BALDIES will be showing up for other platforms as well, so expect to hear more of this in the coming months. * FLASHBACK. US Gold, predictably enough, cheapened out. FLASHBACK looks and plays like its Super Nintendo and Sega Genesis counterparts. Granted, it's a reasonable choice given the size limitations of the cartridge format, but I was still upset. * BATTLESPHERE. Had the pleasure of running into Scott and Stephanie and Someone Else (sorry B-) from 4Play, and ended up giving the game a healthy test drive. The game is currently about two-thirds complete; the graphics engine is there, there are some sounds, two-player networking was showing, and the "blow up the other combatants" scenario is in place. Missing are complete cockpit instruments (only the fore and aft radar were available), different and more advanced weapons, and the other game scenarios 4Play has been planning for months. They plan to have the game finished in another three months, though I would not be surprised (unfortunately) if it took more than that -- part-time game development is not an easy task. On the other hand, what was there looked great. Fast, fluid graphics, smooth scrolling, lovely backgrounds, and a good smattering of detail. The ships are mostly Goraund-shaded polygon models with a fair use of texture-mapped sigils and numbers, and they explode into lovely fragments that drift deliciously. B-) The game reminded me of X-WING and SPACE LORDS, and shows a lot of potential for the final product. It's clear that 4Play has a high level of quality and detail (hopefully the AEO video will include Scott's complete description of the Battlesphere alien races, backgrounds, and ships -- they have enough fodder for a novella already), and are dedicated to work on the game until they're completely satisfied. If that's so, then BATTLESPHERE will be well worth the wait, methinks. * HOVER HUNTER. Hyper Image's game was also roughly two-thirds done. The graphics and control engine were complete, though there were no enemies to combat, and only two lapnets were available to date. What was there looked very good; realistic "soft" terrains with COMMANCHE-like spot-texture-mapping, with smooth scrolling and movement and a realistic gradual fading in of distant features and objects. The biggest problem was that the bitmapped images (landscape features and other ships) got blocky very fast when you came close to them. The Hyper Image rep I talked to mentioned that they were already starting work on updating the graphics engine, using higher-resolution bitmaps and a better extrapolation algorithm to cut down on the problem. I wish them the best of luck. * RAYMAN. Forget DonkeyKong, Mario, or Sonic; Ubi Soft was promoting RAYMAN in a big way all through E3. Sticker sheets were everywhere, a twenty-foot-tall inflatable Ray was waving across the street from the Convention Center entrance, Ubi Softs 'RAYMAN' advertising (for all systems) was easy to snatch, and several Rayman costumed walkers paraded around the show floor. Oh, the game itself? Like BURN OUT, this game's either finished or Very Darn Close. Anyone who's followed the progress of RAYMAN will not be surprised here; luscious-smooth graphics, wonderful sounds, and some interesting twists on the platform idea. I admit, I didn't give it that much of a look, since I was more intently after games that have received less attention to date. I will mention that the early version of RAYMAN on the Sega Saturn looks identical to the Jaguar version; take that as you will. * FLIP OUT. From Gorilla Systems. -Vastly- improved over the early and incomprehensible version I covered in the "Jabbin'" article. The idea is as follows: you have a grid of colored tiles, which you must position it on a certain pattern. By selecting a square and pressing a button, you "flip" the piece there into the air, exchanging it for another piece that's already flying. You have to keep "juggling" the tiles until you get the pattern -- and if you "drop" a tile, you lose a chance. It sounds like a simple puzzle game, but it can get complicated very hairy. For a challenge, I started at a higher level (there are about ten levels, each divided into several sub-stages) halfway through the game. I got five different colors, a rogue tile that belonged nowhere, and a chaotic pattern to deal with. Needless to say, I went -splat- pretty quickly. The graphics are the best thing about this game. Everything is either fully rendered or animated Claymation figures, from the funny-looking aliens that cheer your efforts and track your score to the tiles themselves, all with silky-smooth animation. I imagine this game will be pretty close to completion; whether it'll catch on with the public is another matter. * UNNAMED PLATFORM GAME. From out of nowhere, with no name, Visual Design Studios I -think- that's the developer) comes out with a cutesy gun-totin' platform title. You controlled a little warrior cartoon character who looks somewhat like the "Plok!" video hero and who wields a big gun. He shoots and punches enemies, grabs various spheres, and leaps on floating platforms and bottomless chasms in typical platformer fashion. It was a very early game, but already seemed interesting -- there were several layers of smooth parallax scrolling, lots of color, and crisp animation. But it's far too early to tell... * UNNAMED PROTOTYPE "INTERACTIVE MOVIE" GAME. And speaking of no-named mysteries that came out of nowhere, Atari was showing (very briefly) a prototype "interactive movie" for the Jaguar CD-ROM. All I saw was an extended video clip of a male hospital patient overcoming his nurse and trying to escape. It was a good demonstration of the clarity of the Jaguar CD's spooled video, but that's all I could really say about it. The Atari representative emphasized that this was an early prototype. It's only an idea under consideration, and may never appear as a final game at all. Still, there it is. * PINBALL FANTASIES. No surprises here. This is a straightforward port of the Amiga pinball game. Good flipper control and ball physics, but the boards struck me as being a little simplistic. * RUINER. Like PINBALL JAM on the Atari Lynx, this cartridge from High Voltage Software is actually two pinball games in one. "Ruiner" is a pinball game with a nuclear war theme, featuring a horrifically large board that's two screens wide and five screens tall. "Hell" is a pinball game with a Satanic/demonic motif, one screen wide and seven or eight screens tall. The layouts are similar to video pinball games like DEVIL'S CRUSH, though the number of video-only features is kept to a minimum (I could only find some flying bats and airplanes to knock over with the ball). Ramps and "habitrail" tubes are in abundance, taking you quickly from one part of the board to another, and the keypad is used to nudge the board in any direction you want. Scrolling is fast and smooth, though the graphics are a bit "cartoonish" than realistic or frightening, and distinguishing background art from playfield objects isn't obvious. The music I heard was neither here nor there, but the game is more complex and interesting than PINBALL FANTASIES in my opinion. * VID GRID. Another title (or port, rather) from High Voltage Software. You arrange tiles of a music video as in a "number puzzle," trying to reassemble the pieces in the proper order before time runs out. This game has gotten a lot of complaints in rec.games.video.atari, largely because people felt it wouldn't be challenging enough to be a "real" video game (whatever that means). Well, yes and no. It isn't that complex of a game, but it's not entirely a no-brainer effort, either -- depending on which music video you choose, you might be led by a number of red herrings and quick-cut fragments (does this head in the background go in the upper-left corner or the upper-right corner?). There are nine videos available, and I wonder how long it will take before they tire on people; you can only listen and watch Red Hot Chili Peppers' "Give It Away" so many times, after all. Despite the "ease" of this game, the E3 version was -not- finished. You could play the game, but the ability to set game options (available in the final PC CD-ROM version) was missing, and the game was clearly labelled "E3 Demo." I imagine that being able to reduce the time limit and/or set the puzzle to 36 (or more) tiles will make things much harder in a final release. * THEA RELM FIGHTERS. Another one-on-one fighting game, from High Voltage Software (they have a LOT of entries for Atari at E3, if you haven't noticed). The most notable feature so far is its use of several martial artists from MORTAL KOMBAT for its visuals. The game as shown was -very- early; animation was minimal, scrolling was jumpy, and players could beat the daylights out of each other indefinitely. I would advise giving this title a few more months before passing any sort of early judgement. * ULTRA VORTEX. Version 0.96 -- another "almost completely finished" fighting game, this time from Beyond Games. The E3 version was almost identical to the v.0.94 I reported from two weeks earlier; I was surprised, though, that the special move sequences were changed. The scrolling is still a little jumpy, but (still) doesn't interfere with the game itself. I'm not a big fan of fighting games, but I was having fun with this on general principles. Some of the "annihilation moves" were rather comical; for example, Mercury (the "liquid metal" character) turns into a giant rolling meat grinder and turns the loser into ground beef... The Beyond Games representative I talked with said that ULTRA VORTEX should be out in five or six weeks, which implies to me that the final version is in production already. Their next project is the highly-anticipated BATTLEWHEELS 2025, a Jaguar update to their original BATTLEWHEELS for the Lynx. * VARUNA'S FORCES. I wanted to say lots about this innovative CD game; I especially wanted to talk about how it implements the "control four commando members separately while seeing what they do idea." But I can't, since the E3 version was fairly dated. The FMV opening, mission briefing, and character psychological profiles were available, but that was it -- the game itself was unavailable. The Accent Media rep I talked to, however, was very optimistic that this game would be available with the Jaguar CD release. Looked nice, at least. * DRAGON'S LAIR. Another disappointment. I expected that a port of this title would be trivially easy, since all ReadySoft had to do was translate the controller engine. But DRAGON'S LAIR for the Jaguar was apparently a hastily-thrown demo for the E3 show, with everything running off the Jaguar's RAM. Only the first sequence with Dirk crossing the drawbridge was available; you couldn't really play it, however, since there were no visual cues to guide the player. So Dirk would keep crossing the drawbridge, get killed, get reincarnated, over and over and over and over... Not surprisingly, it looked like every other version of DRAGON'SLAIR on the market today. * BRETT HULL HOCKEY. An early version of the CD-ROM game, but on EEPROMs instead. Seems promising already -- individual NHL teams, logos, player names, and stats were available, with a smooth-scrolling rink, scaled sprites, and digitized graphics. Most interesting feature is the ability to change the "camera view" of the game. Press Pause, then press 1-9 on the keypad to change the view from overhead to wide-angle pull-back to everything in-between. I'm not a hockey fan, but I was impressed with the early effort. Only -slightly- less impressive than the upcoming hockey game being shown for the Saturn across the aisle. * WHITE MEN CAN'T JUMP. Once again, it's High Voltage Software (didn't I say they get around? B-). Based loosely on the movie, this is a two-on-two halfcourt street basketball game. Four people could play the E3 showing, but I couldn't spot the four-controller tap that was used for the job. The game itself is great. Playwise, it's very reminiscent of NBA JAM, but without the flashy slam dunks and with the need to clear the ball when you have possession. Passing, shooting, and blocking are easy and effortless, and you have a number of teams and four areas to play in. The big thing about this game are the visuals. Take a real basketball court, and place a camera rail along the center line. Now, as the player play in half the court, slide your camera left and right, zooming in and out to keep up with the action. That's what WMCJ does, and it looks very nice. The frame rate is around 15-18 fps, which is adequate, while the players are a little blocky in close-ups (it's not as bad as DOOM, however). As reported, the "street talk" has been removed from the final game, though there's still a good dose of patter during the action. On-screen messages give warnings and commentary ("Like a brick!", "Clear it," "Airball!", etc.). Definitely take a look at this one, folks. * MYST. Yep, the Jaguar will be getting the incredibly beautiful and very odd computer adventure game. The E3 demo shown was fairly early; it only flipped through various scenes from the game, with no actual user interaction or anything. Not much to say here; it looks like MYST on the PCs and Macs. * SOUL STAR. Another early demo, this time of Core's Sega CD shooter game. All that was available at this time was the canned FMV of the opening sequence. A little exploring with the controller, however, allowed you to shift the spooled image and/or flipped it along the Y-axis. Cheap fun. B-) * BATTLEMORPH. Attention To Detail's CD sequel to the original CYBERMORPH. I suspect that players who liked CYBERMORPH will love BATTLEMORPH, while those who hated CYBERMORPH won't care for this, either. Upgrades from CYBERMORPH to BATTLEMORPH include a farther horizon, a fair dose of texture-mapped graphics, more and larger worlds (the indica promises 60 new planets to explore), new and nastier enemies, undersea and underground regions, detailed background graphics, and a better/less irritating voice for Skylar ("Yay!", someone shouts B-). Controllers are the same in both games, though BATTLEMORPH adds a bank of weapon slots to be filled as you progress through the game. The combat level is noticeably increased, and there are some nice graphics touches scattered throughout (such as the underwater shimmering view). * HIGHLANDER. An animated adventure game based on the movie and animated series. Think of it as a variation of ALONE IN THE DARK for a good feel. The CD shown at E3 had lots of areas to explore, but almost no items to find or people to encounter. Backgrounds are beautiful rendered screens, while the main game graphics consist of smoothly-animated polygons with a minimal of texture mapping. An FMV introduction based on the animated series was also shown. Dave Bottomley, the representative from Lore Design, says that while contracts for HIGHLANDER 2 and HIGHLANDER 3 haven't been signed yet, the scripts for those games are already done. As with many Jaguar CD games, they expect to have this ready at the time of the unit's launch. *WHEW* It's now 3.5 hours later, and my fingers are tired. If you have any questions or comments about this report, please feel free to write me... --R.J. B-) CATnips... Jaguar tidbits from Don Thomas """"""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""" A lot of people are asking me to debrief the Electronic Entertainment Expo (E3). First, although I am obligated to say it was fantastic, it *was* fantastic. Here's how it went for me... Wednesday, May 10, 1995: I arrive to work as always in the morning and complete as many unfinished tasks as possible. My biggest concern is to keep the promotional fulfillments on track while I am away and I was satisfied about that by the time I left. My flight out of San Jose to LAX was at 1:50. I arrived to the gate about an hour in advance. I carried with me my luggage, printed materials for a rep meeting and one of the many CD-ROM players that would be on display at the show. Southwest has a "friends fly free" promotion and my flying buddy was John Skruch. I remember we received boarding passes numbers 4 and 5. John wanted number 4 as I recall because that is how old his son is. I think I remember Sam Tramiel had boarding pass number 8 for the sake of some obscure trivia game in the future. Our group on this flight included me, John Skruch, Sam Tramiel, Lynn Latz, Shirley Taylor, Loic Duval and Scott Sanders. The flight took about one hour or so and we arrived in LAX without a hitch. John and I rented 4 wheel drive vehicles because we would need them to visit retailers after the show on a couple of evenings. When we arrived to the Avis lot, Sam volunteered to get my vehicle for me (I was tied down with a lot of stuff). I did plan to tip him a $1, but there was a misunderstanding about the vehicle and I never got to joke with him by handing it to him. After getting our cars, we assigned navigators andwe headed for downtown LA. Scott Sanders was my navigator and Sam rode in the back. We took 110 North and exited at Ninth Street. Our hotels were on Figueroa Street. Sam stayed at theWestin Bonaventure Hotel while most of us were at the Omni Los Angeles (formerly a Hilton); a couple blocks away. We dropped Sam off, then Scott and I went to check in at the Omni. After dropping off our things, we walked to the Los Angeles Convention Center. The walk took about 12 minutes from the front door of the hotel to the front door of the convention center. Across from the entrance of the center was a mammoth Rayman on top of a building. It was one of those colorful inflated balloons that always seem to draw attention. When we arrived we could not recall which hall our booth was located (the show took up two major size halls plus one smaller one). Consequently, Scott and I took a pre-show tour of the West Hall briefly untilwe figured out Atari was in another hall. We did manage to figure out we were supposed to be in the South hall and we headed that way. It always amazes me when I go to these things a day early and see the condition of the booths. All your senses tell you that hundreds of man hours of work lie ahead before the show starts, yet the rational mind reminds you that the show opens 10 am the next morning no matter what shape its in. Everything is in disarray. The aisles are full of high-powered forklifts and booth parts, empty boxes and ones that aren't so empty. After the realization of how much work there is to do in what little time is left, I am struck by the awe of the size of investments companies make at these shows. There was a small mock up of the Enterprise bridge, a full scale battle tank as well as the Batmobile and a working waterfall. There were miles and miles of cables, lights, portable walls and many of the booths go so far as to have plumbing installed for just the three days of the show. The Atari booth was as awesome as most all the others. It was creatively constructed to appear as two large booths although it really was only one. On the front side were two podiums that were topped by one chair each. These would be the Virtual Reality (VR) stations. Next to each station was a display case to allow visitors to see the Jaguar VR headsets closeup. The real estate at the center of the booth was taken up by a huge building with about 6 rooms. The two forward rooms were primarily designated for very private previews of the Jaguar VR headset. The two middle rooms plus the one at the far left were used as sales rooms and a sixth room at the far back was used as a dressing room for the Thea Relm Fighters as well as a storage area. The "building" had high walls and it was made of a highly appealing patterned red material with towering yellow spires that were layered to show depth and dimension. A huge Jaguar banner hung from the ceiling and could be seen when entering the hall. The carpeted areas in front of the offices and behind the VR stations had numerous Jaguar kiosks with a different new Jaguar game running on each one. Behind the offices were four huge displays. One featured The Relm Fighters, one sported White Men Can't Jump, one spotlighted Ultra Vortex and the fourth one highlighted Rayman. Between these were numerous additional kiosks. When I arrived to the booth, the major work had been finished by the union builders and the details were being put into place. Specific posters were designated for each office. Certain brochures had to be placed in the right places. Giveaways had to be accessible and all the displays and kiosks had to be dusted. As I helped, Ron Beltramo called the booth and asked for me. He said he needed one of the boxes I had brought from Sunnyvale taken to the Bonaventure for a rep meeting that evening. It was the box I had left at the Omni, so I walked back to get it and take it to him. The Bonaventure is one of those magnificent hotels. It's one of those with elevators on the outside of the building. From street level, you see the numerous people containers seemingly race each other up and down the skeletal beams of the building. From inside each elevator, the rider sees a breathtaking view of lights and motion as if in a small plane skimming the sky. I think I remember that the Rep meeting was in Suite 1308. I took the box there and found that there were a row of suites that were being prepared for the meeting to be held an hour or so later. I was still dressed in my Jurassic Park shirt and jeans so I thought it best to leave the meeting up to the suits that were there and I returned to my hotel. As a side note, there was a lot of filming going on at the Bonaventure as well in the city streets as we were leaving on the last day. I think the movie was called In the Nick Of Time or some such thing because that was painted on some of the crowd barriers. Once back to my hotel, I showered, called my wife then went on a mad hunt for food. Thursday May 11, 1995: By 8:15 a.m. I was to meet John Skruch at the hotel garage and that's exactly the schedule we kept. We had to get some items out of storage, load them in our 4WDs and escort the Thea Relm Fighters over to the convention center. By 9:00 a.m. we were at the convention center. By this time, the trucks were off the floor, the aisle carpeting had been laid and only a few booths looked as if they may not make it completely by the time the show opened at 10 a.m. All of us made a final check at stations to which we were assigned to be sure software and hardware was functioning, our Jaguar pins were straight and our smiles were fresh and friendly. The show opening was fun to see. There were the natural crowd draws such as the Batmobile and actors dressed as Klingons, but it was clear to me that a lot of people had specific agendas and it seemed a lot of them had Jaguar at the top of their list. The booth was instantly full of people and it remained that way until after last call on the last day. In fact a Sega employee we ran into at the airport remarked to a couple of us that he was amazed at how crowded our booth always was. Now may be a good time to describe what E3 is. E3 is a trade show. In this case, the trade show is focused on a theme of primarily computer and video gaming. It is not open to the public, but to the buyers in stores that decide what you will see on their shelves for the next 6 months to a year. The show is an opportunity for manufacturers and developers to romance new business and network new projects. Resumes are often exchanged and old friends are reunited after having not worked together for a long time. The displays and booth space at these shows can easily cost into the hundreds of thousands of dollars not to mention the cost to staff or pay models or actors to be there. Since it is a show that everyone who is anyone attends, meetings are made, kept and broken which can easily translate to signed or unsigned deals that involve countless dollars. The companies that buy booths at these shows hope to attract press coverage, new volume buyers, new market distribution channels, new developer contacts and basically new business overall. In Atari's booth, three key elements seemed to capture the interest of people who attended. First, was the phenomenal breakthrough of VR technology. Technology that refines the best known infrared tracking systems, couples it with advanced VR firmware and software and packages in an add-on peripheral system for around $300. Secondly, was the awesome number of CD-ROMs and CD-ROM-based software on display at the booth. Titles like "Primal Rage", "Myst", "Blue Lightning", "Creature Shock", "Battlemorph", "Dragon's Lair", "Vid Grid", "Bret Hull Hockey", "Varuna's Forces" and "Highlander" just to name a very few. Third, was the incredible number of titles on display in general with most of them appearing to be complete although most had at least some work that needed to be completed. It was on this first day I met up with Christian Svenssonand his colleague Jim Marsteller. They were like children in a candy store as they began their intensive video survey for the two Atari Explorer Online videos they were producing. In fact, these videos will be available soon (complete with Ataricommercials, interviews and direct-line feeds) at nominal cost. For more info, write through the Internet. I also met with Carsten Nipkow of CSCN-Europe. Carsten is a CATscan member and imports and sells Jaguars to a frenzied Jaguar market in Germany. Carsten also publishes a German language Jaguar magazine. His fax and BBS number in Germany is 0221/427437. I saw Tom Harker of ICD and Peter Curry of C-West (got previews of Pinball Fantasies and a new game they just took on in the past few weeks). On one of the days, I took personal delivery of the newest Toad Computer Catalog and I was visited by Steve Forbis of Prodigy. I shook hands with Neil Harris, Li Kramer and Jim Fisher which are names some of you may recall. There were the professional film crews there to grab VR footage for their E3 coverage and there were acres and acres of people converging on the booth as they found an opportunity to do so. At around 4:30 p.m., I grabbed Tal Funke-Bilu and we drove to The Wherehouse in La Crescenta. Armed with about four flash ram cards we snuck out from E3, we set up a table in the store and let customers play them. The store manager, Greg, was fantastic! He loved the Jaguar (owns one himself) and was very helpful as we set up. In fact, he played a copy of the "Tempest 2000 Soundtrack" over the store's audio system while we were there and all the employees wore Jaguar T-shirts. I must say that it is a real pleasure to be working with Tal too. He loves showing off the Jaguar and he never seems to get tired showing people tricks and tips he thinks they'd like to know. Tal came to Atari from the staff of Atari Explorer Online. He worked for me in Customer Service for a long while, then was pulled away to John Skruch's group for game testing prior to the Holidays last year. We left the Wherehouse just after 9:00 pm. and had dinner at Jack in the Box. Friday, May 2, 11995: Another day, another dollar. Again up early with a drive to get to the convention center before 9 a.m. so all the coffee cups weren't gone. Like the day before, the show opened with hoards of people anxious to try the VR demos and see the newest CD-ROM titles. I have no idea what what was going on behind closed doors, but I can tell you they were always closed. On the rare occasion when I did see the likes of Jon Correll, Ron Beltramo, Sam Tramiel, Augie Liguori, Laury Scott, Garry Tramiel, Bill Rehbock or Dean Fox duck in and out they seemed to all have that same happy smile... not like those they wear at shows they have to be at... more like a show they were happy to be at. Who knows, maybe it was my imagination going crazy after watching crowds gather for Thea Relm Fighter autographs or the Rayman-dressed actresses hanging around the booth. Whatever it was, it was a charge that seemed to keep everyone smiling. At 4:30, Tal and I snagged our demo carts and ducked out to visit the Good Guys in Redondo Beach. We got a little lost and arrived a little late, but we stayed an extra half hour longer to make up for it. The store personnel were fantastic. They let us set up right in front of the main entrance and shut down all the other systems while we were there. Although owe had sneak previews of "Burnout", "White Men Can't Jump", "Ultra Vortex" and "Rayman" with us, everyone wanted "Doom". One customer stayed quite a while. We would set a special code for all the weapons and he would get a charge out of shooting bad guys. After, watching him lose health when shooting things too close, I finally suggested that he step back before shooting to help him along. He did too. The next time, before he fried, he physically jumped back first. I suggested he only have to move his player back on the screen. The employees at the Good Guys were attentive to their customers, but stopped by our display every chance they could get between. I wish I could remember names better than I can. There were so many nice people that were fun to meet and know. Just after 9:30, Tal and I closed up shop and ate dinner at a nearby Carrows restaurant. (BTW, Tal loves Strawberry pie.) Saturday, May 13, 1995: On the last day of the show, traffic overall was a bit thinner, but the Atari booth still hummed. Francois Bertrand was still being summoned to show off "Fight For Life" moves and Jeff Minter was virtually being worshipped for his work on "Tempest 2000" and the work so far on "Defender 2000". Diana Bredfeldt and Kristine Chambers helped more streams of people on the VR demonstrations. Sandy LaBrec, Lynn Latz and Shirley Taylor did a tremendous job answering front desk questions and keeping literature stacks piled high. Lance Lewis, Scott Sanders, Dave Schwartz, Ted Tahquechi, Faran Thomason, J Patton and Norman Kowalewski filled in where needed and focused on special projects such as developer workshops. All of our pockets were full of business cards and everyone ignored the initial signs of being tired or sore from all the standing. I should also recognize John Tarpinian and the user group help he organized for the show. John is well known for his Atari Glendale shows in past years and his willingness and readiness to help whenever Atari has asked him and his helpers for it. I regret not being able to remember everyone's name, but not without appreciation for their valued support. I think a special note is deserved of Mr. Greg LaBrec. He was the first to go and the last to return. He was solely responsible for the rare ability to blend what everyone wants into a workable, appealing and effective booth. Greg arranged everything from the construction of the booth to the schedules of airlines, van pools and parking. Greg knew how to solicit help and make sure it all came together when and where it needed to. The show concluded and in a blink of an eye, I was on my 6:50 flight back to San Jose airport and on my long drive home to see my family. Sunday was a wonderful Mother's Day. ### Sb: E3 Report, Day 1 Fm: SYSOP*Jeff Kovach 74777,3071 To: All From the Internet's Jaguar mailing list, one of the first reports on Atari's showing at the E3 show: ---------------- From: SVEN!!!*** E3 Day 1 Thoughts and observations: Our first day at E3 was a fun, productive and tiring one. Our first day we focused more on Atari than the other developers, but we did make rounds to most of the major booths. At the 10:00 bell (when all non-presenting personnel are permitted to enter the convention center), Jim and I rushed to the Atari booth first to meet with Don Thomas and conduct our first round of interviews. First up, Dean Fox, the new senior VP of marketing. Dean's interview provided insight into his past experiences and the Atari's future plans. Next up... Sam Tramiel himself stepped up to the mic. Sam announced for the first time publicly, the development of the Internet "Addon" for the Jaguar. He mentioned a keyboard in conjunction with a modem (I assume he means the Jag Modem) that would have Web browsing capability of some form or another... there was more he mentioned, but I'll let the video do the talking for me :) Our next interview was one of the most interesting. The CEO of Virtuality (whose name alludes me presently) gave us a personal demo of the Jaguar Headset and VR tracking system. He explained all of the components and the additional hardware specifically. It is slated to be shipping "by the end of the year" for a retail price of $299.99. He stated that the tracking mechanism is the fastest in the world... over four times faster than their $60,000 arcade system's mechanism. The VR displays were running on HIGH END PC's but in conversation with one of the Virtuality programmers, "the poly counts will be lower on the Jag, but not should not degrade the visual impact of the games dramatically. The game shown was called Hunter Zone or Zone Hunter... a game remarkably similar to Virtua Cop (but better due to the VR). Games at Atari's Booth: Fight For Life: Surprisingly good. I went expecting the worst, and had a really good time. While speaking with Francois, I learned the following: Frame Rate: 23 - 27 fps. There is a up to 17 seconds of "replay" after pausing... a VERY neat feature I must say. Also when pausing you can zoom in or out, change the camera angles, etc and then view the replay. The status bars pop down every time you are hit. Motions were smooth, throws were good, the announcer's voice was excellent. In it's present form, I would buy it. It does look better than VF on the Saturn... anyone who says otherwise is smokin' crack :) (however Sega was showing a texture mapped VF for the saturn that was very good). FFL has about two weeks more development. Defender 2000 (Plus version): Flossies galore. What can I say, it was defender with a Mintereque twist. The Auroa over the mountains was AWESOME. The mountains themselves pulse with techno-pycho patterns. Some enemies were only place holders, others were the full renderings. Either way this game is fun and difficult. The AI droids are invaluable. The only thing really lacking is the soundtrack and of course that will Rock! We will have an interview with Jeff concerning his efforts past, present and future on one of the tapes... please check it out :) Battle Sphere: What can I say... this game just keeps getting better. Dogfighting was in full effect as was collision detection for lasers. Music was good, frame rate was excellent... if I were to guess I'd say in the 25 fps range. Decal mapping on the ships was exquisite. I had the opportunity to dogfight with Stephanie (of 4Play). Quite a fun time and we split matches in terms of who won :) Scott LeGrande and Stephanie Wuzkovitz (sorry that I misspelled that) will be interviewed tomorrow for the tapes. Hover Hunter: More good news, the previously "blocky" landscapes so typical of depth field environments has been interpolated and is perfectly smooth. It seems like yet yet another blitter trick strikes again. It was networked, but I didn't have ample opportunity to play it myself. There will also be an interview with Hyper Image on one of the tapes. Ultra Vortex: One word: BUYTHISGAME. Great mechanics, rockin tunes, hidden characters/backgrounds (maybe, hint, hint) and more. I got to play Tim Huntsman of Beyond Games and he schooled me, but I beat him once or twice after he showed me some of the special moves (Lucious is my favorite character already... his morph to the hawk attacks are great). As has been reported before, a more evil announcer has never existed. This one looks DONE. Power Drive Rally: Nice details (skid marks, co-pilot narrator, car upgrades, etc.), not totally visually impressive but still fun. I wish it were networkable but for the most part looks done. Multiple tracks and a good musical score. Highlander: Very nice... Alone in the Dark sort of game based upon the cartoon. Excellent combat animation, stellar FMV intro (if you're into that sort of thing... God knows we saw a lot of that today at all booths). The only criticism I'd level at it is that unlike Alone in the Dark, the environment is photo real and not polygonal. The character is still polygon based. Burn Out: Fast is an understatement. This thing is DONE. It's nothing ground breaking, but it had a few nice details (audio, track selection, etc) that make it worth while. Split screen option was fun. Skyhammer (formerly Hammerhead): one more word: EARLY... nice texture maps, control was difficult. I would guess that this game is about 40% done. Unfortunately there wasn't any title on the kiosk or any directions so it took some time to learn how to play. The game was a 3D urban flight combat sim... you attack texture mapped tanks, planes, helicopter etc. the enemies were VERY pretty. BattleMorph: this game was everything that Cybermorph should have been. Nice intro sequence. Rayman: Saw it on PSX, Saturn, 32X and Jag. All but the 32X are IDENTICAL as near as I could tell. The 32X had perceiveable color banding on gradients... other than that play was AWESOME. White Men Can't Jump: 4 Play adapter in full effect. I was playing with Lance Lewis of Atari and having a great time. The frame rate would be my only criticism but even that wasn't bad. This is an excellent replacement for NBA Jam. I will go into detail regarding other games tomorrow.... One quick note about the show in general... Sony ruled the marketing scene. Not even Sega could compare (although their large screen ads in the Saturn section were hilarious). Every napkin or cup in the entire convention center had a Sony logo and Playstation name. Billboards all over downtown LA touting the arrival of the Playstation were very common. Their booth was: 1) H U G E 2) Classy 3) Technically VERY impressive 4) two intro movie/presentations before admittance to the rest of the booth were awe-inspiring. It looked like Sony was the "hungriest" of manufactures in attendance. Sb: #E3 News, Day 1 Fm: Jeffrey Norwood 74447,531 To: all This is Jaguar-only stuff. Before I get to it, can you believe that Saturn is out already! I thought a few months, but now Atari better get there butts moving and start producing. Also, Sony is releasing their system for $299! Jaguar ------ The Jaguar setup though much small than the others had it's own healthy crowd - with two Virtual Reality setups at opposite ends of the booth. This new VR system will be coming out in the late fall - and will be priced under $299.00. Tomorrow I will get in line to try it - but from what I can tell from the external displays - the game people were "immersed" in looked mighty impressive. It was some kind of 3D space exploration game - looking a bit like AvP, with lots of detailed polygons. The title is called Zone Hunter, and according to one of the heads of this project, this might very well be the pack in. People who tried on the goggles stepped off the specially made platforms with smiles on their faces Another title we might be seeing for this Jaguar add-on is a 90's Missile Command, VR-style. As far as games, there wasn't exactly a large explosion of new titles, but many of the promised titles were finally finished, or much further along in progress. There were a few monitors that weren't showing anything, so aside from the list below - more can show up on tomorrow's report. *Defender 2000 - Once again, Jeff Minter is king. I can't even begin to describe the magic surrounding this updated William's coin-op classic. D2K is chock full of special effects, and simply put - the hottest Jag-game in Atari's booth. *BurnOut - 3D motorcycle racing - updated further - and looking better and better! *RayMan - Hey, it's almost here - and it'll be worth the wait. *Flip-Out - Very nice-looking puzzle game... *Baldies - Looks like another Lemmings-type - not impressive. *Brett Hall Hockey - too early to tell - but knowing Accolade, don't count on it knocking your socks off. *TRF - A new fighting game - in fact, it was displayed on a large screen as everyone thought it was Mortal Kombat III as they passed. Looks great! *Myst - Jaguar CD - like the other 900 versions. *Highlander - Jaguar CD - looks juicy, though I'll have to look at it more closely tomorrow. *BattleMorph - Jaguar CD looks like Cybermorph - but it's unfair to judge, as I didn't take a crack at it yet. *Creature Shock Jaguar CD - looks sharper than the PC version! *Fight For Life - They added more textures to the characters since the last time I saw it. Still needs works - but improving. *Vid-Grid - Jaguar CD -Some rock-n-roll-stye puzzle game with full motion music videos. *Varuna's Forces - Jaguar CD - looking hot! A space/action adventure which I will be playing tomorrow. *Blue Lightning - Jaguar CD - Another improvement from the last time it was on display at WCES. *Primal Rage - Only had the title page done. *Ultra Vortex - Yep, once again it's here - and they've added a lot more. The final version should be great (damn-well better be!). * DeathWatch (I think this is the name ) - An immensely colorful platform game - though shown in early stages. ______________________________________ > ONLINE WEEKLY STReport OnLine The wires are a hummin'! """"""""""""""""""""""""""""" PEOPLE... ARE TALKING ===================== On CompuServe ------------- compiled by Joe Mirando 73637,2262 Hidi ho friends and neighbors. I'm afraid that this week's intro is going to be a bit un-interesting. I don't suppose that it really matters, but I usually like to have something at least marginally interesting to say here in these first few paragraphs... But not this week. I have nothing interesting, informative, entertaining, or philosophical to say. Hey, I can't be at my dazzling best _all_ the time. Well, let's get on with the news, hints, tips, and all the other cool stuff that folks talk about right here on CompuServe... From the Atari Computing Forums =============================== Thomas Nielsen tells us: "The MagicMac OS surely put a lot more pressure on us in order to continue (and maybe extend) the development on the "ATARI" version of Calamus. We can easily feel that the inquiries for new modules, updates, etc. for the existing Calamus SL are increasing! It is like the ATARI market (which we almost regarded as dead) is starting to move again! For the last 12 months our team has been concentrated on NT, Win95 and other OS-versions of Calamus, so there has really not been any motivation for doing new SL updates. But with the MagicMac OS we probably will put more resources into the Motorola platform (Calamus SL). A lot of former Mac people wants Calamus now! We are even considering a "native" Mac version of Calamus, but this is only internal thoughts - and who want's to run System 7.5 ? " Chris Roth tells Thomas: "It's interesting to read all that news from you. Now that I am currently moving to the Windows platform for all my non-musical purposes, I am interested in a Win95 version of Calamus as well! But it's fine to hear that you have more inputs in the Atari market now again. At least, it's really a fine piece of software, and strangely there's some solidarity in my heart with all developers who rised from the Atari scene (Greetings to Yat at Lexicor too;-) In comparison to the TOS or MagiC, all current OS's are real resource-eaters. It's ugly to see System 7.5 or Win struggle on computers that would have been lightning fast with MagiC." Mike Mortilla tells Thomas: "The demo I have is in German (MagicMac). Where can I get a copy of the program? I don't mind buying it!" Thomas tells Mike: "You might want to order the MagicMac directly from Application Systems Heidelberg - do you have the fax/phone-number ? I'm not really sure about the distribution channels - we are only in direct contact with the developers behind the MagicMac and have nothing to do with the distribution, etc." Lisa Poehner asks for info: "I have a Mega2 ST, which has been upgraded to 4 megabytes of RAM. Is it possible to go beyond 4 megs?" Sysop Jim Ness tells Lisa: "No, 4 megs is it, for the Mega ST series." Dan Parrish tells Lisa: "On a stock Mega ST, you are limited to 4 megs. However, if I am not mistaken, th e XtraRAM+8 upgrade board is available for the old Mega's. You are probably looking at about $120 for the board and then another 4 1-meg simms." Simon Churchill adds: "...this is now incorrect as here in the UK you can purchase a board which will allow you to add an extra 8Meg of memory AND a graphics card which was designed to add onto the board. This multi-board also has IDE and TOS 2.06 expansion capabilities, however the only problem is you need to remove the 68000 chip and replace it with yet another board which is called 'T28' and is basicaly an accelerator board with a 68000 running at 28Mhz. (+ a memory cache) All this is a good idea but the cost might just put you off: 1) The 'T28' Accelerator cost's L180. 2) The Multi-board cost's L150. 3) The Graphics extension board cost's L150. 4) And 8Meg of memorywould cost about L250. The IDE interface requires simply a hard disk and TOS 2.06 requires the chip's. As you can see the cost is about L750!!! You can of coarse forget the graphics card extension board which reduces the cost to L600! I have the T28 already in my STFM and when I can afford it I will be getting the extra board's. They are a family and were designed to work together. By the way did I mention you Might need a VGA or SVGA monitor on top of that price! Hope this has not confused you to much. And for anyone interested I think the extra memory is handled like TT FastRAM. (possably accesable by a small util, run for the Auto folder.)" From the Graphics Support Forum =============================== Alan Robinson posts: "Most people think of hackers as nerdy teenagers who break into and trash computer systems, but the cognescenti will inform you that the true and original hackers are an elite cadre epitomised by the grad CS students in the AI lab at MIT (prefered Internet address ai.mit.edu). Hacking has undergone several transmutations in its lifetime, from the original marathon programming sessions endlessly adding and changing features of programs, through Richard Stallman, GNU, and the Free Software Foundation, to the present designing of non-patented programming technology for the Information Highway. There are several patented variations of LZW, listed in compression.FAQ. The Unisys patent is actually as legitimate a patent you could find, whether one agrees with patents for computer programs or not. But many of the programming patents which have been issued are nonsensical (as patents), such as the XOR for cursors and the addition of an advertising splash screen to a program. When the courts have been told that these patents are worthless in concept and in violation of patent law, their reaction has been to uphold their previous decisions. The patent system and the courts aren't going to go away, so the best strategy is to make it not worthwhile for corporations to file for patents on general purpose and widely used software." Tim Wegner tells Alan: "Alas when you use a word, what it means to the hearer is more important than the intent of the speaker. The word "hacker" has been ruined forever." Ken Huang of Telnet Computer asks: "I have developed a software package that has the capability of displaying a GIF file, how do I obtain a license agrerment from Compuserve for using their GIF format." Forum staffer Larry Wood tells Ken: "In Library 16 (I think) is a file called GIF89A.DOC which outlines CompuServe's license agreement for the use of GIF." Ken tells Larry: "Thanks for the reply, the document is dated during 1990, does it still apply to the recent Unisys-LZW issue on GIF format?" No answer yet, but I'll keep you posted. Meanwhile, Steven Kortze asks: "Has anybody tried to compile and test zlib using THINK C (from Symantec C++ 7.0.x) or Metrowerks on a Macintosh? DeflateInit eturns an err indicating that there is not enough memory. I have tried using the "far data" flag, various memory allocation sizes, MAX_MEM_64K, MAX_MEM_LEVEL = 8 & 5. I am currently compiling for 680x0, I have not tried the MPW PowerPC compiler on this yet. A similar program, unzip, compiles just fine using the "far data" flag in the "Set Project" dialog. Any ideas, suggestions, thoughts, recipes? OK, you can skip the recipes." Carl Barron tells Steven: "zlib092 and pnglib compile just fine and I think 'lint warning' free on my 68030 [target is any 680x0]. It is not a mac. and so far I need some more 'glue' to really test the code or find linker problems. Which arrays are causing the problem. I can write a short stub to see what happens with them. [all my addressing is ofsset(an) type I think. Is far data flag 'use 32 bit addressing' on data items. It should make no difference on malloced data as a pointer is used. Does far data flag effect how *pointer is compiled?" Steve tells Carl: "Far data" refers to 32-bit absolute addressing for data. There may be a "far code" option which will use 32-bit references for code instead of 16-bit. I will atempt some more investigation." Steve tells Carl: "It seems I was not including stdlib.h which has the reference to memory allocation. Oops! Once I fixed that, I was able to adjust the project to use the normal settings (far data off, smart code model,...). Did you say that pnglib compiled fine for you? I have had several problems with pnglib 0.6. First of all, a couple of routines are mispelled, pgn_info struct is used instead of the info_png variable, prototypes defined in one .c file are not referred to as extern in the example.c file. There may be some settings that I am missing. I will keep trying." From the Palmtop "B" Forum ========================== James Bearden asks for help: "I own Ensemble, and no Zoomer. Does anybody know the exact file that you need to run CIM for GEOS? I've been told that you need the addressbook. I hope not, I've heard about the Zoomer address book! :-)" Lee Hauser tells James: "You can find it with 'GO CIMSOFT'. I think you do need the address book, though... it's really not THAT bad... I mean, it works..." Craig Carter posts: "I've been shopping for a PDA and have been leaning towards the HP 200 LX. I looked at a CASIO Z-7000 today and it looked pretty nice (and the price was reduced). Can you tell me if it's a DOS based machine? Can I place my own EXE files on the system and run them? How much memory (disk space) is available for additional applications and data? Expandability? I need a system that will allow me to add my own programs I will write in C. I'm asking you because you answered the previous message well and looked like you were familiar with the product. PS - What is a Zoomer? Is that a pet name for the system?" Wojtek Chodzko-Zajko tells Craig: "Rather than try to answer all your questions, you will learn a lot more about the Zoomr if you download some of the FAQ files which are in the section 4 library. These are really quite comprehensive and will tell you everything you want to know. In a nutshell. The Zoomer is a pet name for three PDA's put out by Casio, Radio Shack, and AMD. They are identical and run off a GEOS operating system platform. People tend to add additional memory via a PCMCIA slot. Type II Flash RAM and SRAM cards are available but be careful since not all cards will work. Some software is avaiable. The Zoomer is not a notebook computer. It won't run windows or DOS programs, and has limited applications. But it is very portable and very functional once you get the hang of it. It is possible to connect to AOL and CServe via a pocket modem in its serial port. Additional software and a cable is needed to connect/backup to a PC. I use Palm Connect and ZDOS. Additionally I would recommend you upgrade to a better handwriting recognition software called Graffiti. It greatly enhances the productivity of the Zoomer. Finally, the $300 price at Radio Shack is OK but if you shop around on Cserve or AOL I bet you could get one for about $150 used. Just post a message. Also there are several mail order places (Surplus Technology) that offer great deals on accessories." Jeff Pedigo posts: "...I've had my Zoomer for about six months and my girlfriend wants one, too. Pretty fun! As for databases, the only good one I know of is Form Factor. I don't have it, but I've heard some good things about it. There's a emo in the library in this forum. I keep meaning to download it, but it's over 1MB and I never get around to it. If you try it, let me know what you think. I think the cost of the full vesion is about 100 dollars." Dale Good adds: "I just bought an AST Gridpad 2390 Zoomer that had FormFactor built into ROM. It's a pretty nifty app, but nothing you couldn't do with a $40 calculator." Lee Hauser tells Dale: "That's not Form Factor, that's the "form calculator." I understand there is really no comparison." Jeff tells Lee: "Thanks for the clarification, Lee. Like I said, I don't have form factor, but I did download some screen shots from the Internet of form factor screens. It looks like a pretty good database package that lets you design screens on your computer (complete with logos and stuff) with all the fields you want to fill in and then transfer that input screen to your zoomer for data collection. I'll look for the URL that I got the screen shots from, but I know it's reachable from the Zoomer home page. Also, if anyone out there has any experience with form factor, I'd be interested in hearing it. Trying to figure out if I should buy it myself." J. DeBert tells us: "[I] Just got a Z-7000. Now I want to remove the "useless" apps. These apps are useless to me: AOL, the three info apps, forms calc & translator. Can I remove them? Or are they in ROM? Dare I pull the device they are on & replace it with a EEPROM or flash RAM? (if it's possible?) I want to put in more useful stuff like a terminal and a cardfile-style app. amongst other things." Lee Hauser tells J.: "All the applications are in ROM, and thus cannot be removed. You could buy a RAM card and try writing your own in IZL the Interpreted Zoomer Language (a sample version is available in this forum)." J. tells Lee: "As I suspected. :( I resisted buying on because ofthe useless apps but the price dropped to where I figured I could afford to try it out. I'm a little surprised at the apps included, because they became obsolete within a year of the Zoomer's initial release and some are so out of date that they are not usable, now. Golly gee! Things like this should b put in EEPROM or Flash so they can be updated or removed to make room for more useful stuff. The cost isn't that much more than mask-programmed ROM. (Casio???) Maybe I can burn my own ROM's & replace the app ROM..." Lee tells J.: "Hmmm... how do you define "obsolete"? I can think of BETTER applications than the ones in the Zoomer, but I can't see much (if any) that are obsolete. I use address book and datebook daily. I added the Geos text editor. I don't use a lot of the other stuff daily, but I've used some of them more than once (I think the form calculator is cool, and the regular calculator is useful). Of course I may have an odd definition of obsolete; I consider something obsolete when it no longer has any application or usefulness. The common usage of "no longer fashionable" is useless when applied to computing devices." Sysop Lloyd Wasser tells Lee: "Well said. The Zoomer, despite its age (now about 18 months or so older and wiser...) is still a most-viable platform. And the introduction of other Geos-based handheld devices scheduled for this year will hopefully get some new developers involved in building Geos-capable apps that we can run on these new devices AND on our Zoomer or PT-9000." Well folks, that's about it for this week. Be sure to tune in again next week, same time, same channel, 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" """"""""""""""""" Temperature of Heaven ===================== From the Internet The temperature of Heaven can be rather accurately computed. Our authority is Isaiah 30:26, "Moreover, the light of the Moon shall be as the light of the Sun and the light of the Sun shall be sevenfold, as the light of seven days." Thus Heaven receives from the Moon as much radiation as we do from the Sun, and in addition 7*7 (49) times as much as the Earth does from the Sun, or 50 times in all. The light we receive from the Moon is one 1/10,000 of the light we receive from the Sun, so we can ignore that ... The radiation falling on Heaven will heat it to the point where the heat lost by radiation is just equal to the heat received by radiation, i.e., Heaven loses 50 times as much heat as the Earth by radiation. Using the Stefan-Boltzmann law for radiation, (H/E)^4 = 50, where E is the absolute temperature of the earth (-300K), gives H as 798K (525C). The exact temperature of Hell cannot be computed ...[However] Revelations 21:8 says "But the fearful, and unbelieving ... shall have their part in the lake which burneth with fire and brimstone." A lake of molten brimstone means that its temperature must be at or below the boiling point, 444.6C. We have, then, that Heaven, at 525C is hotter than Hell at 445C. -- From "Applied Optics" vol. 11, A14, 1972 """""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""" STReport International OnLine Magazine -* [S]ilicon [T]imes [R]eport *- HTTP//WWW.ICBA.COM/STREPORT AVAILABLE WORLDWIDE ON OVER 100,000 PRIVATE BBS SYSTEMS """""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""" STR OnLine! "YOUR INDEPENDENT NEWS SOURCE" May 19, 1995 Since 1987 copyright 1995 All Rights Reserved No. 1120 """""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""" All Items quoted, in whole or in part, are done so under the provisions of The Fair Use Law of The Copyright Laws of the U.S.A. Views, Opinions and Editorial Articles presented herein are not necessarily those of the editors/staff of STReport International OnLine Magazine. Permission to reprint articles is hereby granted, unless otherwise noted. Reprints must, without exception, include the name of the publication, date, issue number and the author's name. STR, CPU, STReport and/or portions therein may not be edited, used, duplicated or transmitted in any way without prior written permission. STR, CPU, STReport, at the time of publication, is believed reasonably accurate. STR, CPU, STReport, are trademarks of STReport and STR Publishing Inc. STR, CPU, STReport, its staff and contributors are not and cannot be held responsible in any way for the use or misuse of information contained herein or the results obtained therefrom. """"""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""