SILICON TIMES REPORT ==================== INTERNATIONAL ONLINE MAGAZINE ============================= from STR Electronic Publishing Inc. A subsidiary of STR Worldwide CompNews Inc. July 14, 1995 No. 1128 ====================================================================== 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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""""""""""""""""" - CPU INDUSTRY REPORT - Dr. Norman MAC VP - Egghead HQ Moves - Compaq Ships 120Mhz - HP NEWS Updates - Arcada Software - The REAL Victims - COREL6 NEWSWIRE - Frankie's Corner - Mr. Thomas' CatNIPs - BLACK CAT BOX - Jaguar NewsBits -* WIN'95, OFFICE & PLUS! ONTIME *- -* COURT OKAYS HAYES PLAN *- -* MEMORY PRICES STABILIZE *- ========================================================================== STReport International OnLine Magazine The Original * Independent * OnLine Magazine -* FEATURING WEEKLY *- "Accurate UP-TO-DATE News and Information" Current Events, Original Articles, Tips, Rumors, and Information Hardware - Software - Corporate - R & D - Imports ========================================================================== STReport's BBS - The Bounty BBS, invites all BBS systems, worldwide, to participate in the ITC/Fido/Internet/PROWL/USENET/USPOLNet/NEST/F-Net Mail Networks. You may also call The Bounty BBS direct @ 1-904-786-4176. 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Why all the weather talk? No particular reason other than its still safer than talking about the various modes of persecution going on in the world today. Besides the weather's neat, just when you get used to it ...it changes. Actually, there is a great deal of good reading in this issue. Next week's promises to carry some real fireworks. STReport is doing a shot for shot comparison of OS/2 Warp and Win'95. In the meantime, please let us know how you feel about the relentless pursuit of Microsoft by the DOJ. We are very interested in your input. Let us hear from you! 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. 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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 #28 Compiled by: Dana P. Jacobson (Lloyd's on Vacation) ******* General Computer News ******* Apple Names Advanced Tech Chief =============================== Apple Computer Inc. has appointed Dr. Donald A. Norman vice president of its advanced technology group. The Cupertino, California-based computer maker notes that the advanced technology group is responsible for managing advanced technology and research operations, working closely with the company's worldwide marketing and customer solutions groups to ensure that future technologies meet user's needs. Norman became an Apple Fellow in 1993 when he named the company's "User Experience Architect," helping Apple to enhance and maintain its systems' ease of use. He is a recognized authority on human interfaces and design and has published extensively. Norman is the author of 12 books, including User Centered System Design, The Psychology of Everyday Things and, more recently, Turn Signals Are the Facial Expressions of Automobiles and Things that Make Us Smart. Norman has a long and distinguished academic career, says Apple. He served as chairman of the Psychology Department at the University of California at San Diego and was founding chairman of the school's Cognitive Science Department. He was one of the founders of the Cognitive Science Society and is a member and fellow of numerous scientific societies, including the American Academy of Arts & Science. Norman will report to David Nagel, senior vice president of Apple's worldwide research and development division. Top Apple Newton Exec Resigns ============================= Shane Robison, vice president in Apple Computer Inc.'s Newton System Division, has resigned to join Cadence Design Systems Inc., a Silicon Valley software company. Apple spokeswoman Betty Taylor told Susan Moran of the Reuter News Service that Robison's departure from the Personal Interactive Electronics Division in no way reflects any pressure or friction from within the Newton division, adding, "He simply had a tremendous offer." Reuters says Robison will be the senior vice president for worldwide research and development at Cadence, which is headquartered in San Jose, California. Taylor said Robison temporarily will be replaced by Sandy Benett, currently head of Newton Software Engineering Group. Says Moran, "Robison's departure raises questions as to the direction of Apple's Newton efforts. Some industry analysts have speculated Apple might spin off the Newton division." Moran notes Robison's departure comes about 15 months after his predecessor, Gaston Bastiaens, left Apple "amid speculation he was forced out by Apple's failure to bolster flagging sales of the pen-based Newton." (Bastiaens currently is president/CEO of software publisher Quarterdeck Corp.) HP Readies New Ink-Jet Printers =============================== Reuters reports that Hewlett-Packard Co. will introduce a new line of color ink-jet printers on Monday. The units will be targeted at office customers, a company executive told the news service. According to Reuters, HP's top-of-the-line 1600CM is equipped with an HP JetDirect network print card and PostScript Level 2 software. The unit also comes with additional memory for use with Macintosh systems as well as operation in mixed network environments. According to Reuters, the new printers can print color documents at a rate of up to 4 pages per minute and black text at up to 9 pages a minute. The units are reportedly twice as fast as Hewlett-Packard's existing 1200C ink-jet model. H-P began shipping the new 1600 models in Europe this spring, says Reuters. Office 95 Due in August ======================= Microsoft reports that its Microsoft Office for Windows 95 business software suite is scheduled to become available on Aug. 24, the same date as the planned released of the next-generation operating system. The Redmond, Washington-based software publisher says its Microsoft Office for Windows 95 Standard Edition will include the Microsoft Excel 95 spreadsheet, Word 95 word processor, PowerPoint 95 presentation graphics program and Schedule+ 95 scheduler. Microsoft Office for Windows 95 Professional Edition will include all of the applications provided in the Standard Edition plus the Microsoft Access database. Also included will be a coupon that can be redeemed by its holder for a copy of Microsoft Access 95 when the software becomes available. The database is slated for release by late October. Microsoft has also announced the Coming Soon Program, which will allow customers to reserve a copy of Office 95 at their local reseller beginning July 15. Customers won't be required to pay for the product until they receive it. Microsoft Office for Windows 95 Standard Edition will cost $499. Microsoft Office Professional Edition for Windows 95 will sell for $599. Microsoft says it will offer a $50 discount to licensed users of Office 4.x and certain competing programs. Business Card Software Ships ============================ Claris Corp. says it has begun shipping Easy Business Cards, a new Windows program that aims to help small business users design and print business cards quickly, easily and affordably. The product offers over 290 pre-designed card styles. It supports 29 PaperDirect card designs and includes enough paper to print 250 business cards. Users can also send designs via modem for professional printing. Easy Business Cards costs $39. Claris is located in Santa Clara, California. Packard Bell Has Remote Control =============================== A remote control to run communication and entertainment features and to perform basic tasks like opening files is the attention-grabbing feature in Packard Bell Electronics Inc.'s new home PC lineup. Business writer Evan Ramstad of The Associated Press says Packard Bell, the current leader in computer sales in the U.S., also has created several new designs for PCs, "making them resemble other consumer electronics gear that blend in with the furniture (including) an ultra-thin model that resembles a CD player and a diamond-shaped one that fits into a corner." Packard Bell CEO Beny Alagem told the wire service, "We are creating the deepest line of computers for a consumer to consider." AP said most of the machines will be run by Intel Corp.'s advanced Pentium chip although Packard Bell will continue to make some using '486 chips. All have at least 8MB of main memory and 28,800bps modems. Hard drives range from 540MB to 2,100MB. Prices run from $1,400 to $3,000, including monitors. Alagem says the models should be in stores late this month and will include coupons for buyers to get Microsoft Corp.'s new operating software, Windows 95, free when it becomes available Aug. 24. "While keeping pace with technological features, Sacramento-based Packard Bell has emerged as the most innovative in external design of a PC, seeking to stand out in a sea of rectangular boxes on a store shelf," says Ramstad. "Last year, it introduced snap-in color accent panels. It sells some computers in charcoal black cases rather than the typical beige. This winter, it offered models with two CD-ROM drives instead of one but the company found little demand for them and scaled back." The remote control device has buttons to start the computer's built-in speaker phone, FM radio and optional TV tuner as well as program the CD-ROM drive to play a music CD. A thumbpad controls the on-screen cursor for running computer programs. The company also has developed new keyboards, including one with angled keys, and added features to its Navigator software, which explains the PC to a novice, AP says. Netscape Broadens Web Page Ads ============================== An online multi-tiered advertising program is being launched by Netscape Communications Corp. on its heavily travelled pages of the Internet's World Wide Web. Computergram International reports this morning three levels of pricing and defined exposure will be offered to the more than 25 companies that currently advertise with the company. Labelled the silver, gold and platinum, the new tiers carry monthly costs of $15,000, $20,000 and $30,000 respectively. "Up to now, it offered a fixed advertising rate for banner ads, but that pricing was based on audience expectations derived from a one-week statistical survey conducted in May," CI reports. "It learned that its Internet search page is accessed more than 308,000 times a day while its Internet directory is visited more than 125,000 times daily." The advertisers will rotate through predetermined locations on the company's Web site, the newsletter says. "Advertising is a relatively new source of income for Netscape, whose main business is selling Web browser and server software," CI observes. "However, the company's information-rich Web site has emerged as one of the most frequently-accessed areas on the Web, turning the firm into a potential goldmine for World Wide Web advertisers." Court Approves Hayes Plan ========================= Modem maker Hayes Microcomputer Products Inc. says a bankruptcy judge has approved its proposed reorganization plan, including a $45 million debtor in possession financial facility with General Electric Co.'s GE Capital. Reporting from Atlanta, the Dow Jones news service quotes Hayes as saying: -:- The reorganization plan pays all valid creditor claims in full, plus interest. -:- The court extended exclusivity through Sept. 30 for Hayes to go forward with the plan, making the plan the only one which will be reviewed by the court. -:- The company will use the combined assets from a previously announced planned merger with Boca Research Inc. to emerge from Chapter XI in the fall. Hayes officials told the wire service it will use the DIP financing to retire about $23.6 million of secured debt from NationsBank Corp. Medio Bought by ConnectSoft =========================== For undisclosed terms, financially troubled Medio Multimedia is being bought out by telecommunications software company ConnectSoft Inc. Reporting from Bellevue, Washington, United Press International says Medio's creditors and ConnectSoft's shareholders must above the deal, which may save Medio from Chapter XI bankruptcy. Medio laid off half its staff last month and has not made payroll for several weeks, the wire service adds, quoting Medio executives as attributing the problems to sagging CD-ROM sales and the high cost of developing new products. Medio's primary investor is Microsoft co-founder Paul Allen. In a prepared statement, ConnectSoft Chairman/CEO Mitchell London said, "Medio has great product distribution, the best-selling CD-ROM magazine, numerous award-winning titles and has made significant headway with hybrid CD-ROM/online technologies." UPI says the deal could close by early August, ConnectSoft said and that the company will retain Medio's 35 employees. ConnectSoft employs about 140 people and markets a series of Windows-based telecommunication programs. AT&T Puts $8 Mil. in Internet Firm ================================== AT&T has bought an $8 million equity position in Internet service provider BBN Planet Corp. Reporting from New York, United Press International says the purchase follows by three weeks an AT&T-BBN agreement to provide businesses with a broad range of services for access to the Internet. Additional financial details about the equity purchase were not disclosed. Alessandro Piol, an AT&T Ventures partner, told the wire service AT&T's decision to buy a position in BBN Planet was based on its confidence that the companies' Internet access agreement will provide customers with a broad and robust array of Internet-based solutions. BBN President/CEO George H. Conrades said AT&T's equity purchase strengthens the relationship between it and BBN, a Cambridge, Mass.-based subsidiary of Bolt Beranek and Newman Inc. Egghead to Move Headquarters ============================ Egghead Software is moving its corporate headquarters from the Seattle suburb of Issaquah to Spokane, Wash. The software retailer says the cost-cutting move will involves the relocation of 250 employee. It says current employees will be encouraged to relocate to Spokane. The move is expected to be completed by year's end. In January, Egghead moved its customer-assistance center and other operations to Spokane. The headquarters move will give the company about 500 employees in Spokane. Egghead operates 160 retail stores in 30 states. Canon Launches Scotland Plant ============================= A new plant to produce bubble jet printers is being set up by Japan's Canon Inc. in Scotland with production to start by next summer. In Tokyo, Canon officials told the Reuter News Service that Canon Manufacturing U.K., located in Glenrothes Fife, Scotland, is expected to produce 50,000 printers a month by the end of next year. Reuters says Canon also is expanding production facilities at its Tijuana, Mexico, plant to start producing bubble jet printers for the North American market. That facility will produce 25,000 bubble jet printers a month by the end of 1995, and 100,000 a month by end-1996. A Canon spokesman commented, "The sites were chosen because of their proximity to our largest markets for computer peripherals -- the United Sates and Europe." Reuters says Canon produced 4.4 million bubble jet printers in 1994 and expects production to exceed 8 million this year. Gateway Moves Into Japanese Market ================================== A top U.S. maker of PCs, Gateway 2000 Inc., is entering the Asian market with a new subsidiary in Japan. In Tokyo, Gateway CEO Ted Waitt has told Associated Press writer David Thurber, "It's the right time for Gateway 2000 because we have the resources, and the right time for the market because it's growing rapidly." However, to succeed, says Thurber, "Gateway will have to overcome the reluctance of service-conscious Japanese to buy goods over the telephone. Virtually all of Gateway's U.S. sales come from phone orders." Waitt says to help in Japan the firm may open a showroom, perhaps hire a Japanese president and may tailor its advertising, "but," he adds, "the cow spots will still be part of it" (referring to Gateway's distinctive packaging and advertising that plays off the rural South Dakota location of its headquarters.) Last year 10-year-old Gateway was the fifth-largest PC maker in the U.S., but only $190 million of its $2.7 billion in sales came from outside North America and most of that was from Europe. Waitt said his firm is considering a manufacturing center in another Asian country because of Japan's high costs, but considers Japan its main market in Asia. Until an Asian plant is built, systems will be imported from the company's Dublin factory, AP reports. Mac Clip Art Manager Ships ========================== Corel Corp. has announced Corel Gallery 2 for the Mac, a new clip art manager featuring an album with 15,000 clip art images and symbols, 500 fonts, 75 sounds, 10 QuickTime Movies, QuickTime 2.0, Adobe Type Manager (ATM) and a font management utility. Corel Gallery 2 for the Mac supports both the Macintosh and Power Macintosh systems. Users can drag and drop items or convert them for use with virtually any Macintosh word processing, presentation, page layout or graphics application. The program offers visual multimedia file management, file viewing, batch file conversion, batch printing, slide shows and font management capabilities. Users can preview images in CMX, JPG, PICT2, Photo-CD and numerous other file types. The software's file import support includes Windows BMP, PICT, Zsoft PCX, Targa, TIFF, JPEG, Windows Metafile, MacPaint, Computer Graphics Metaphile, Scitex CT, Amiga IFF, Lotus PIC and PixelPaint. Export file types supported include Windows BMP, Zsoft PCX, MacPaint, Photoshop 2.0 and 2.5, PICT, Scitex CT, Targa, TIFF and Windows Metaphile. "Corel Gallery 2 for the Mac lets users manage their clip art albums, search by keyword or note, or export items to EPS or PICT file formats," says Michael Cowpland, Corel's president and CEO. "The huge library of clip art and fonts, as well as the visual multimedia file capabilities, make it the most comprehensive and versatile collection available on the market." The software is designed to run on a Macintosh with a 68020 microprocessor or later or on a Power Mac with a PowerPC CPU. The program also requires System 7.0 or later, a CD-ROM drive, 8MB of RAM, (16MB on a Power Mac) and approximately 10MB of available hard disk space. Scheduled to ship later this month, Corel Gallery 2 for the Mac will sell for $99. Corel is headquartered in Ottawa, Ontario, Canada. TI Offers Mac Printer Drivers ============================= Texas Instruments Inc. has announced new printer drivers for its microLaser 600 and microLaser Pro Series printers operating with QuickDraw GX in a Macintosh environment. QuickDraw GX has become Apple's new standard for ease of printing, portability and print management. Dallas-based TI says its new drivers will enhance QuickDraw GX printing improvements and take advantage of key microLaser printer features. The new drivers support the automatic matching of paper size and paper source and are designed to improve print job setup and maintenance. The drivers offer selectable features, such as set print time, start, stop, hold and resume of print queues and jobs, as well as the dragging and dropping of jobs between queues. TI adds that the drivers are compatible with after market printing extensions such as Apple's N-Up Printing. TI says the new drivers will soon be available on the Internet at TI's web site http://www.ti.com. Memory Prices Seen Stable ========================= International Data Corp.'s new Semiconductor Market Planning Service forecasts that the demand for DRAM and SRAM memory devices will exceed the available supply, but that memory prices will remain stable for the next few years. "Based on our research, which includes manufacturers' projected memory consumption, software requirements and capacity RAM projections, memory products will continue to experience limited supply relative to demand," says Alexa McGloughan, a group vice president of Boston-based IDC. "A variety of factors, including memory manufacturers' move to 16- and then 64-bit, and ramping up of manufacturing to accommodate this shift, indicates that memory prices will remain stable for the foreseeable future," she says. McGloughan adds that the market situation is good news for memory manufacturers, who typically experience a 15 percent price drop per quarter. CD-ROM Prices Vary Up to 30 Percent =================================== A computer magazine is advising CD-ROM buyers to shop around because the cost of major titles at superstores, discount outlets and specialty shops can vary by as much as 30 percent. In its August issue, PC World says that, for example, a version of Broderbund Software Inc.'s Myst computer game sold for as little as $40 and as much as $60, while the Maxis Sim City 2000 CD game ranged from $60 to $90. The Associated Press says consumer editor Roberta Furger found superstores generally had the best combination of prices and selection, while discount outlets were inconsistent in both areas. "Specialty shops on the average were the best source for hard-to-find titles, but were a little more pricey," AP reports. The wire service says Furger did the price comparisons among San Francisco Bay area stores, but visited mostly national chains that tend to sell their CD-ROMs for the same prices across the nation. Compaq Ships New PCs ==================== Compaq Computer Corp. has added 120MHz Pentium models to its ProLinea and Deskpro business desktop PC lines. The new ProLinea 5120 and Deskpro 5120 systems, available today, range in price from $2,599 to $3,599. The new models offer 16MB of RAM, a 256K secondary cache, a 1GB IDE hard disk, TriFlex/PCI support, ISA and PCI local-bus architectures and high-performance graphics. In a separate move, the Houston-based computer maker has announced across-the-board price reductions of up to 8 percent on server models that ship with pre-installed hard disks. Compaq has also announced price cuts of up to 29 percent on its server hard disk options. The server lines affected are the ProSignia 300, ProSignia 500, ProLiant 1500 and ProLiant 4500. Multimedia Sales Set to Soar ============================ According to a new study by SIMBA Information of Wilton, Connecticut, publisher revenues from multimedia title sales will grow by 85.1 percent to $1.46 billion in 1995. Multimedia title revenues, buoyed by the consumer market, reached $786.1 million in 1994, says the market researcher. Sales of consumer multimedia titles, which rose to $681.1 million in 1994, are expected to hit $1.28 billion in 1995. The number of multimedia-capable PCs -- those machines offering both a CD-ROM drive and a sound board -- will increase to 27.4 million in 1995 from 16.3 million in 1994, according to SIMBA. "The strong growth in multimedia software revenues resulted from several factors, including more multimedia-capable PCs in the home, the rise in non-OEM sales, falling title prices and increased marketing efforts," says Tom O'Reilly, a SIMBA editor. IBM Completes Lotus Buyout ========================== It's official. IBM has completed acquisition of Lotus Development Corp. for $64 a share. The Reuter News Service, reporting from IBM's Armonk, New York, offices, says the total -- $3.5 billion -- is the largest price ever paid for a software company. "All of the outstanding shares of common stock of Lotus not previously purchased in IBM's tender offer were converted into the right to receive $64 cash per share," Reuters says. IBM said yesterday 97 percent of the 47.4 million outstanding Lotus shares have been accepted for payment by an IBM subsidiary when the tender offer was completed Monday. As reported earlier, IBM on June 5 offered $60 per share in a hostile takeover bid for Lotus, a leading creator of software for personal computers. Seven days later, the deal turned friendly when Lotus agreed to a $64 per share offer. The arrangement received clearance from antitrust regulators on June 21, allowing IBM to contact Lotus shareholders. Ziff Sells Book Publishing Unit =============================== Simon & Schuster says it has acquired Ziff-Davis Publishing Co.'s Ziff-Davis Press book publishing operation for undisclosed terms. Additionally, Simon & Schuster's Macmillan Computer Publishing USA unit will, in cooperation with Ziff-Davis, develop new computer books bearing Ziff-Davis brand names, such as PC Magazine, PC Computing, MacUser and MacWeek. A list of 75 books and multimedia products covering technology, science and health topics will be offered this year. Ziff-Davis Press will remain based in Emeryville, California. "Computer book publishing is one of the fastest-growing parts of our business with significant growth potential in both international and electronic markets," says Jonathan Newcomb, Simon & Schuster's president and CEO. "Associating with Ziff-Davis and publishing books bearing their world-renowned magazine logos will allow us to share in their credibility and influence and to build upon our own position as the world's leading computer book publisher." Olivetti Rumored to End PC Business =================================== Rumors are circulating in Italy that Ing C. Olivetti & Co. may quit the computer business. The reports, sparked by Olivetti's decision today to press ahead with restructuring plans, also have analysts saying such a move would be easier said than done. Reporting from Milan, Crispian Balmer of the Reuter News Service says Olivetti is "effectively aiming to turn itself into a holding company by the end of the year," with the loss-making PC business being turned into a wholly-owned unit and office products as a separate group. Balmer adds Olivetti "firmly denies it wants to sell its computer concerns." Still, says analyst Carlo Barontini of Banca Commerciale Italiana, "Despite the fact they're denying it, they would sell the computer business if they could get a good offer. The (PC) market is going through consolidation and producers like Olivetti will eventually disappear. The trouble is it's hard to think of any potential buyers." Gianluca Manca, Italian equity analyst with Robert Fleming, adds, "The PC business has been a black hole for Olivetti. There's clearly been a complete lack of proprietary technology." Nonetheless, he said he did not see company president Carlo De Benedetti hurrying to leave the hardcore computer industry, seeing the firm instead seeking to form a joint venture. "If this restructuring is aimed at creating a joint venture, especially in technology, then it is good news," he said. The wire service also quoted an unidentified Milan-based analyst as saying, "Manufacturing computers by themselves is not going to work. Their assembly costs are too high ... and they are too small to try and force the pace in the price war." Reuters added, "If Europe's largest computer firm decides to sell its hardware business or else try and forge a joint venture, all analysts saw Olivetti's core business in the future shifting to telecommunications." China's Computer Industry Soars =============================== A Chinese trade journal reports that the nation's fledgling computer industry is booming. According to China Machinery and Electronics Daily, in a story relayed by the official Xinhua news agency, the nation's computer industry has registered an annual growth rate of 70 percent over the past five years. The paper adds that China has some 15,000 computer-based information companies with a total of 300,000 employees. The trade journal also notes that "through years of efforts the country now has a remarkable design capability in the fields of PC and external equipment manufacturing, though it was regarded merely as an assembly base five years ago." SPA: PC Software Sales Climb ============================ The Software Publishers Association says North American PC application software sales reached $2.03 billion in the first quarter, a 24.8 percent increase from 1994's first quarter. The Washington-based SPA notes that it's the second straight quarter in which software sales topped the $2 billion mark. Unit sales increased by 73 percent. The SPA says strong Windows software sales fueled much of the industry's revenue growth in the first quarter. Sales of Windows applications increased 43 percent, reaching $1.43 billion. A total of $307.5 million of Macintosh applications also were sold in the quarter, a 10 percent increase. The news wasn't as good for DOS application sales, which fell 25 percent to $268.6 million. Windows application revenues now account for 71 percent of total sales in the North American market, says the SPA. India Promises Piracy Crackdown =============================== A nationwide anti-software piracy campaign targeting more than 50 private firms has been launched by India's premier chamber for computer companies, aided by a new law. Reporting from New Delhi, the French Agence France-Press International News Service quotes officials with the National Association of Software and Service Companies (Nasscom) as saying the group will move against the firms within six months under the Copyright Amendment Act. Nasscom Director Dewang Mehta told the wire service, "These companies include both piracy shops and corporate-end users." AFP says the campaign is a joint effort by international anti-piracy software body Business Software Alliance and Nasscom. Mehta said Nasscom has received thousands of complaints, noting eight cases have been filed in courts by four leading software firms, accusing the defendants of illegally duplicating software. The wire service says that if the defendants are found guilty, they could be jailed for up to three years and fined up to $6,250. Nasscom says the Indian software market is estimated at more than $3 billion and that the industry has put the annual loss from piracy at about $60 million. __________________________________ > Frankie's Corner STR Feature """""""""""""""""""""""""""" THE KIDS' COMPUTING CORNER ========================== Hometime Weekend Home Projects CD-ROM for Windows 3.1 approximate retail $40 from IVI Publishing 7500 Flying Cloud Drive Minneapolis, MN 55344-3739 1-800-754-1484 Program Requirements -------------------- CPU: 486SX-25 RAM: 8 megs Video: SVGA Hdisk: 1.2 megs CD-ROM: Double-speed OS: Windows 3.1 Misc: sound card, mouse by Frank Sereno "Hometime Weekend Home Projects" is intended to help the home weekend warrior to improve his living environment. This multimedia educational program mixes QuickTime videos culled from the Hometime television show with instructional text and a calculator which helps the user create an accurate shopping list for his next project. "Weekend Home Projects" has a very friendly and intuitive interface. Simply use the mouse to start a video on the subject of your choice. The user can then choose to watch more videos, read related text, calculate project supplies and equipment or move to a new subject by clicking on the corresponding icon. The video can be advanced, paused or reversed by clicking on icons resembling the controls of a VCR. The program also includes a help video featuring Hometime host Dean Johnson in which he explains all the different aspects of the interface. Twelve project categories are covered in "Weekend Home Projects." These are ceramic tile, plumbing, framing, power tools, windows and doors, wiring, cabinets, wallpaper, flooring, painting and staining, drywall and decks. A lot of suitable topics weren't covered such as roofing, insulation, pouring concrete walks or driveway, etc. Perhaps these will be covered in an additional title. The main flaw in this program is that on some topics it simply doesn't provide enough information for a beginning rehabber to accomplish that task. The videos are really too short to convey all the information needed. The user must rely heavily on the text portion of the program. That text can be printed out but it will not include the illustrations which are shown on the computer. This is a terrible omission considering the advent of laser and ink-jet printers which can print the illustrations very competently. I doubt many people want to drag their desktop computers or an expensive laptop to a project site to view the illustrations which can be very critical if someone is doing wiring work. The calculator could use improvement as well. It only accepts measurements in inches and has a limit of 999 for an input measurement. If you are doing a large project, such as painting the exterior of your home, you will have to do several calculations to get the proper shopping list. The list of needed tools provided by the calculator is quite excellent. Overall, this is a nice program with an excellent interface. In my opinion, the program lacks enough information on several projects for beginning rehabbers, but it is excellent for the moderately-experienced handyman (or handywowan). "Weekend Home Projects" is easy to use and it is very entertaining. Activision Nostalgia ==================== Come with us again to visit those thrilling days of yesteryear . . . Activision has released the second title in a planned four-volume series of Atari 2600 games for play on computers using the Windows OS. "Atari 2600 Action Pack 2" includes such classic as Barnstorming and Keystone Kapers. These games will help bridge the generation gap between adult gamesters and their joystick-wielding children. Perhaps a fast-paced game of Ice Hockey or a quick Dragster race will encourage mutual admiration and bonding for parent and child. Many of us can remember the tales of how tough it was for our parents when they were children, yet it was also the best times in their lives. Now you have a chance to give your children the same thrills you felt when you had your Atari 2600 gaming system. I remember it as if it was yesterday . . . and with the Action Pack it can be the same all over again. Infocom Classics Reissued on CD-ROM Activision has assembled the classic Infocom text adventures onto five CD- ROMs representing the genres of comedy, adventure, fantasy, science fiction and mystery. Each volume will retail for $19.95 and include at least six games. These games were created in the infancy of home computing, a time when graphics were incredibly rudimentary at best. The incredibly descriptive text of the Infocom games allowed the player to imagine the scenes and characters to the most intimate detail. The Mystery Collection features Ballyhoo, a suspense thriller set in a circus; Deadline is a whodunit mystery in which the player assumes the role of an ace private investigator; Witness, a police potboiler mystery; Moonmist, a mystery set in an eerie English castle; and Sherlock, an adventure to save Holmes from peril. The Adventure Collection includes Border Zone, a spy thriller from behind the Iron Curtain; Plundered Hearts, an adventure on the high seas; Cutthroats, an undersea race to sunken treasure; Trinity, a journey through time and space to the dawning of the atomic age; and Infidel, a search for a lost pyramid and incredible treasures. The Comedy Collection spotlights Bureaucracy, a land in which Murphy must run the government because everything can and will go wrong; Hollywood Hijinx, a search for treasure in the world's movie capital; Ballyhoo is featured again; and Nord and Burt, which has a skewed sense of humor similar to Gary Larson's Far Side comics. The Fantasy Collection features the magic of Spellbreaker; a magical showdown in Enchanter; a rescue mission for a lost mage in Sorcerer; a magic stone makes wishes come true in Wishbringer; and a dive into danger on a submarine in Seastalker. Douglas Adam's Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy highlights the Science Fiction Collection. In Suspended, a player can only use his mind to save the world. Starcross features a rendezvous with an alien spaceship. A Mind Forever Voyaging challenges players to the most important mission in their lives. Stationfall is the sequel to the hit adventure Planetfall. Each CD-ROM has two bonus titles. Each collection will get Planetfall as a bonus, plus one of the five Zork adventures. So if you are looking for an escape to yesterday or if you are looking for challenging adventures that won't slow your computer to a crawl because of the eye candy on the screen, these Infocom adventures may well be the answer you seek. FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE --------------------- Engineering Animation, Inc. ENGINEERING ANIMATION, INC. COMPUTER ANIMATION TECHNOLOGY TO HELP SOLVE MYSTERY OF JESSE JAMES Researchers Investigating Famed Gunfighter's Death Will Exhume Body, Use Computer Animation to Help Determine Identity, Cause of Death LIBERTY, MO--Engineering Animation, Inc., a company specializing in computer visualization, announced today that its cutting-edge animation technology will aid researchers in the investigation into the death of famed gunfighter Jesse James more than a century ago. A hearing here today resulted in a court order to exhume remains from the grave identified as that of Jesse James. Researchers led by prominent forensic scientist James E. Starrs intend to determine whether the grave's remains are those of Jesse James and resolve ongoing questions of how and when Jesse James died. Attorney David Weinberg, EAI's national director of litigation services accompanied Starrs to demonstrate EAI's computer animations of James' home, and to explain how animation technology will aid researchers in the investigation. "EAI's animation technology will allow us to 'see' into the past in a way not otherwise possible," said Starrs, a professor of law and forensic science at George Washington University. "As they have done in numerous other forensic investigations, the visualization experts at EAI will play a crucial role in settling, once and for all, some important mysteries surrounding an important event." EAI has previously teamed with Starrs to investigate the 1953 death of CIA scientist Frank Olson, whose family disputed the government's story that Olson committed suicide, and to depict the probable evens preceding the murders of Nicole Brown Simpson and Ronald Goldman on June 12, 1994. Questions of Death Trouble Jesse James' Descendants James is believed to have died from gunshot wounds on April 3, 1882 in his home in St. Joseph, Missouri, leaving two children, a brother and a sister. Some have argued that his death was staged, and that he lived to father additional children. A steady stream of people have claimed to be blood relatives of Jesse James. The identity of the murderer, the type of gun used, and the path of the bullet or bullets are also in question. Starrs has assembled a team of experts to exhume, test, and analyze the remains to determine conclusively whether they are those of James, and to reconstruct the events of the crime. In addition, researchers hope to use EAI's imaging techniques to study several photographs that are believed to depict the gunfighter, using EAI's proven imaging techniques in conjunction with the remains. Computer Visualization Reveals "Hidden" Secrets Assuming that the mitochondrial DNA tests reveal that the grave's remains belong to Jesse James, researchers will use EAI's computer imaging techniques to reconstruct a model of Jesse James' body. After examining the remains to determine bullet trajectory information, researchers then will use this computerized model to trace the path of the bullet or bullets. EAI has already reconstructed a realistic 3D computer model James' home in St. Joseph. EAI's engineers entered detailed dimensions of the house, its rooms, windows and doors, based on present-day photographs and floor plans. This virtual environment, combined with the bullet trajectory information, will help researchers visualize the events of the murder and test various theories about how it unfolded. To authenticate photographs believed to depict James, EAI will create a 3D computer model of James' skull using detailed tomography (CT) scan data. By superimposing a photograph over this model, then aligning the model with the size and angle of the head, EAI experts will help the team project whether the photos in question match James' skull. EAI's Experience Important in Credible Visualizations EAI specializes in advancing scientific visualization technologies both through direct services and with its VisLab commercial animation software. Its technologies enjoy a broad range of applications in such areas as engineering, litigation, biomedical visualizations, education and entertainment. EAI's realistic animations are admissible as evidence at trial, most often in support of expert witness testimony, because they are based on rigorous scientific principles and prepared by highly trained engineers under the direct supervision of the testifying expert. EAI's visualization techniques have helped juries decide a wide range of cases, including automotive, aviation, construction, environmental, fire, medical, patent infringement and product liability lawsuits. Most recently, EAI created a realistic 3D animation depicting the force of the blast that destroyed the Alfred P. Murrah Federal Building on April19, 1995 in the tragic Oklahoma City bombing. The imaging techniques EAI will use to investigate Jesse James' murder are similar to those EAI applied to Starr's 1994 investigation in Frank Olson's 1953 death. In that project, EAI created a computer model of Olson's skull based on CT scan data collected when Starrs' team exhumed and autopsied Olson's body. Known photographs of Olson's face were superimposed over the computer model of the skull to help identify the remains as those of Olson. Next, using exact measurements of the scene of his death, EAI portrayed key trajectory information about how Olson might have fallen from his 13th floor hotel room. One of the nation's leading visualization companies, Engineering Animation, Inc. provides three-dimensional computer animation services and markets its commercial software, VisLab, to the engineering, biomedical, litigation and entertainment communities. EAI has created animations for use by Ford Motor Company, Merck & Company, Conoco, ITT Automotive, Johnson & Johnson, CNN, John Deere & Company, the Houston Museum of Natural Science, Walt Disney Theme Park Productions, and others. With its technology center in Ames, Iowa, EAI has offices in Chicago and New York. For more information, call 515-296-9908 or fax 515-296-7025. _____________________________________________ > COREL 6 STR FOCUS! """""""""""""""""" For Immediate Release --------------------- Special Upgrade Price for CorelDRAW 5 Users Ottawa, Canada --July 12, 1995-- CorelDRAW 5 registered users will be able to upgrade to CorelDRAW 6 for $249 US, Corel Corporation announced today. "After careful consideration and feedback from our valued customers, we've decided to offer a special upgrade price for CorelDRAW 5 registered users," said Dr. Michael Cowpland, president and chief executive officer of Corel Corporation. "This upgrade pricing offers tremendous value to CorelDRAW 5 users as they will gain a new modeling and rendering application, a complete presentation package, plus powerful new drawing and image editing tools." The CorelDRAW 5 user base is estimated at 550,000 while the combined CorelDRAW 3 and 4 user base represents approximately 2 million users. The upgrade prices are as follows: CorelDRAW 5 to CorelDRAW 6 $249 US CorelDRAW 3 and 4 to CorelDRAW 6 $425 US All upgrades will be offered on CD-ROM. Users may purchase the equivalency in diskettes as a special order item through Customer Service Centers. Corporate license pricing will also be available. For more information, please contact Corel's customer service department at 1-800-772-6735 (US) or 1-800-394-3729 (Canada). CorelDRAW 6 is Corel's first 32-bit Windows 95 offering. It is scheduled to ship in August of 1995 and will contain four full-featured modules and nine utilities, plus extensive libraries of fonts, clipart images and symbols and photos. Corel Corporation ----------------- Incorporated in 1985, Corel Corporation is recognized internationally as an award-winning developer and marketer of PC graphics and multimedia software. CorelDRAW(, Corel's industry-leading graphics software, is available in over 17 languages and has won over 200 international awards from major trade publications. Corel ships its products through a network of more than 160 distributors in 60 countries worldwide. Corel is traded on the Toronto Stock Exchange (symbol: COS) and the NASDAQ--National Market System (symbol: COSFF). Corel Contact: Fiona Rochester Media Relations Manager (613) 728-0826 x1172 July, 1995 Dear Corel Software Enthusiast: Greetings from Corel! This month our attention is focused on preparing for the release of CorelDRAW 6 and the Corel $2,000,000 World Design Contest in Ottawa, Canada on August 10th. We continue to release a barrage of new products in our CD Home and Professional Photo CD product lines. New products designed for Windows 95 are in development and scheduled for release in the coming months. On June 28th, Corel officially announced the pricing policy for CorelDRAW 6. CorelDRAW 6 is Corel's first 32-bit Windows 95 offering. It represents the most comprehensive and complete graphics suite developed to date by Corel Corporation. The product is on schedule to ship in late August and it will contain four full-featured software modules and nine utilities, plus extensive libraries of fonts, clipart images, symbols, 3D models and photos. CorelDRAW 6 includes the following software modules: ---------------------------------------------------- CorelDRAW: a comprehensive vector-based drawing application Corel PHOTO-PAINT: a powerful paint and photo retouching application CorelDREAM 3D: a 3D modeling and rendering application Corel PRESENTS: a business and multimedia presentation application In conjunction with the launch of CorelDRAW 6, we are mailing CorelDRAW registered users in North America an invitation to attend a FREE seminar in 28 cities from August 24-31. These events are open to the general public and we invite you to come and see the exciting features in the new version. The seminars focus on DRAW 6, Photo- Paint 6, Corel Presents and CorelDREAM 3D. All seminars take place from 9 am to 12 noon with the exception of Orange County, California. Corel is giving away free copies of CorelDRAW 6, Stock Photo Library, CorelFLOW and CD Creator at each seminar. Approved Service Bureaus and Training Centers will also be in attendance. For more information on the CorelDRAW 6 Preview Tour call Corel's Customer Service for the date and location nearest you or you can request information via the Corel FaxBack System at 613-728-0826, extension 3080 and request Document #1080. Space is limited, so you must call to reserve a seat for the city nearest you. To reserve your seat call 613- 728-0826 extension 85095. Previews of CorelDRAW 6 for the general public are also scheduled for the United Kingdom, Australia, New Zealand, Singapore, Hong Kong, Kuala Lumpur, Jakarta, and Bangkok in the end of August. CorelDRAW 6 will be available exclusively on CD-ROM with a suggested list price of $695 US. CorelDRAW 3 and CorelDRAW 4 customers can upgrade to CorelDRAW 6 at a suggested retail price of $425 US for the CD-ROM version. CorelDRAW 5 customers can upgrade to CorelDRAW 6 for a special upgrade price of $249 US. To order CorelDRAW 6 please contact your local reseller or call Corel Customer Service. In North America call 1-800-772-6735. Comprehensive documentation on CorelDRAW 6 product features will be available after July 15th. A `white paper' covering the new features in the product will be posted on our FaxBack System, in the Corel Forum on CompuServe and through the Internet on CorelNET and on the Corel Home Page. In conjunction with the release of CorelDRAW 6, Corel is adjusting its existing technical support policies. To meet the expected increase in technical support issues related to Windows 95 and the CorelDRAW 6 product, Corel is expanding its in-house support team. In order to help customers through the initial learning curve, Corel is offering 90 days of free support on a toll line from the official release date of the product. Thereafter, customers will be offered 30 days of free support on a toll line from the date of their first technical support call. Free support within the warranty period will be offered directly from Corel's in-house support department. Extended support beyond the warranty period will be offered to Corel customers by third party suppliers. Existing support plans will remain in effect for all other products. In Europe, Corel Ireland will handle all warranty support calls as per the above plan. Corel Ireland will also handle post-warranty support along with Corel Approved Support Partners. Corel is continuing to qualify and add new Approved Support Partners in all markets world-wide. Although Corel is not shipping a diskette version of CorelDRAW 6 to retailers, diskettes will be available to our customers as a special order. CorelDRAW 6 is the equivalent of 40 diskettes. Customer Service Centers will handle requests for the diskettes from registered CorelDRAW 6 users who have purchased the CD-ROM version. Users will be required to pay $149 US as a supplement to the purchase of the CD-ROM version of CorelDRAW 6. Special corporate site license pricing is set for CorelDRAW 6. The site licenses are available for both the full retail version and the upgrade. Ideal for corporate customers, the license pricing model offers discounts for customers with requirements for 20+, 50+, 100+, or 250+ users. For more information on license certificates and pricing, please contact Corel's Corporate Resellers or our Customer Service department. Corel's CD HOME department is shipping more new exciting multimedia titles for children this month. Scheduled for release before the end of July are these 3 new titles - Wild Board Games, Nikolai's Trains, and Blue Tortoise. Wild Board Games contains 5 popular children's games for ages 4 to 10. It also includes fun hot spot animations. Learning how to play chess, checkers, reversi, snakes and ladders and unscrambling puzzles has never been this much fun! Play any of these popular board games against a cast of zany, fully-animated cartoon opponents in a variety o f fun-filled settings_the attic, the basement, the backyard and the kitchen. In addition, each room contains exciting activities such as a paint editor, cake decorator, arcade game, doll maker and a switch puzzle. Wild Board Games has a suggested list price of $39.95 US and is both Windows 3.1 and Mac compatible. Nikolai's Trains is a story of two friends_Nikolai and his toy cat Neow-Neow. Each colorful page in this fully-interactive CD-ROM has dozens of enjoyable animations set to a background of music and art. Children will learn about the solar system, trains, diesel engines, or discover the ecosystem all within the context of this story designed for children between the ages of 4 to 8. Nikolai's Trains is an English/Japanese CD-ROM supporting both Windows 3.1 and Macintosh based systems. The title has a suggested list price of $39.95 US. Based on the popular children's book by Alan Rogers, Blue Tortoise is a fun-filled interactive storybook on CD-ROM featuring colorful pages and dozens of activities. Designed for children ages 3 to 6, this story recounts the tale of the Tortoise's race to the picnic. You can have the narrator read the story out loud to your child in either English or Spanish. An electronic coloring book is also included which allows children to color each storybook page. The pages they color can then be saved and used to create a slide show. Blue Tortoise has a suggested list price of $39.95 US and supports both Windows 3.1 and Mac compatible systems. We're very excited to bring you these new products and we look forward to your questions and comments. With all of the new products scheduled for this fall we are planning to visit your area with `Product Showcase' events in order to meet with you and demonstrate these new technologies. We encourage you to make arrangements to attend the scheduled events in your area. Corel Technical Specialists and Support Partners will be on hand to answer your questions. Watch for mailings and information on-line regarding these upcoming events. Thank you for expressing interest in Corel software, please call if you have additional questions. Arlen Bartsch Director, Sales/Marketing Corel Corporation Corel is a registered trademark of Corel Corporation. CorelDRAW is a trademark of Corel Corporation. ____________________________________________ > Arcada Storage STR InfoFile """"""""""""""""""""""""""" Arcada Software =============== Arcada Software, Inc. develops data protection and storage management software for multiple desktop and client/server environments, including those from Microsoft, Inc., Novell, Inc. and IBM. Founded in 1994 by the merger of the software operations of Conner Peripherals, Inc. and Quest Development Corporation, Arcada has developed a wide range of popular backup software products and utilities. These include the native backup utilities in Windows NT and the DOS and Windows backup utilities in MS-DOS 6.0 for Microsoft, MaynStream for Maynard, QICStream for Archive, EZTape for Irwin, PMTape and EZ-Tape/Dual-Stor products for IBM, and both the DOS and Windows versions of "The Norton Backup" for Symantec. Arcada now markets its products worldwide under the Backup Exec and Storage Exec brand names to OEMs, system integrators, value-added resellers, retailers and large corporate users. Significant U.S. channel partners include Tech Data, Ingram and Merisel. NETWARE PRODUCTS ---------------- Backup Exec for NetWare is designed to meet the data protection needs of today's diversified Novell NetWare market. Arcada's award winning Backup Exec family provides comprehensive protection for both stand-alone and enterprise environments. Enterprise Edition -- Provides a scaleable, client/server, enterprise-wide data management solution. The Enterprise Edition enables organizations to control and monitor data backup operations automatically from a single NetWare server or DOS/Windows or OS/2 workstation located anywhere on the network. Includes "Agent Accelerator" which increases the speed of remote backup up to 300%. Advanced Autoloader Module -- Provides user-friendly advanced automation and control for autoloaders and multi-tape drive environments, and extends the flexibility of autoloaders and multiple drives supported by the Enterprise Edition. Single Server Edition -- Delivers server-based data protection for one NetWare 3.x or 4.x server, and all DOS and Windows Workstations on the network. It provides a cost-effective solution for comprehensive data protection of critical server data on smaller networks. Windows Workstation Edition -- Targets small network users; designed for environments in which a workstation, rather than a server, controls the backup and restore functions and the tape drive. WINDOWS NT PRODUCTS ------------------- Backup Exec For Windows NT is the premier solution for both stand-alone and enterprise-wide environments offering true client/server flexibility and performance. Enterprise Edition -- Delivers a true 32-bit client/server data storage and management solution designed for large Windows NT LAN/WAN environments. The exclusive ExecView monitoring utility allows monitoring and scheduling of servers and workstations from any console on the network. Single Server Edition -- Delivers a true 32-bit client/server data storage and management solution designed specifically for single server Windows NT networks. The exclusive ExecView monitoring utility allows monitoring and scheduling of servers/workstations from any workstation on the network. Autoloader Module -- Provides random access loader support for Backup Exec for both Windows NT Single Server and Enterprise Edition, allowing it to back up larger Windows NT Server networks. Tapes can be divided within a loader into groups, and tasks directed to specific groups, or all tapes can be used sequentially for large, unattended backups. Workstation Edition -- Provides an affordable, yet robust suite of backup utilities for Windows NT users who do not need Windows NT Server level backup to protect their data. It is specifically designed to protect single-user data at the workstation, or to back up data in small workgroups where Windows NT workstation is configured as a file server. Agents -- Arcada Software extends enterprise backup capabilities with a Backup Exec UNIX Agent, and Backup Exec Macintosh Agent. These powerful modules allow enterprise-wide protection for today's advanced UNIX and Macintosh environments, with transparent support from Arcada's award-winning line of the Backup Exec solutions. Storage Exec for Windows NT Server -- Provides data management tools to configure, schedule, monitor and control both local and remote data storage on Windows NT Server networks from a central location. This is the only enterprise-wide backup solution available for Windows NT Server networks. DESKTOP PRODUCTS ---------------- Arcada Software, Inc. offers a suite of advanced desktop products designed for the OEM marketplace. Arcada's desktop family is the premier OEM solution because of its ease of use, superior performance, and broad spectrum of device support. DOS and Windows -- Provides a full-featured DOS and Windows backup solutions offering data protection using some of the industry leading tape drives including Conner, Iomega, Microsolutions and Exabyte. WARP -- Provides a full-function 32-bit backup solution, offering drag-and-drop restore simplicity using Arcada's Restore Assistant technology. This powerful solution is intuitive by design, and offers complete WorkPlace Shell integration. STORAGE MIGRATOR ---------------- Storage Migrator is Arcada Software’s solution for the HSM marketplace. This "second generation" solution allows users to migrate and manage data from Microsoft Windows NT or Novell NetWare environments from the single console. Storage Migrator is an add-on module that provides the interface to allow backup and storage management operations. Storage Migrator helps to improve network performance, while reducing the overall investment in previous generation storage management applications. MARKETS ------- Arcada markets its products worldwide to OEMs, commercial distributors, system integrators, value added resellers, retailers and large corporate end users. Leading tape drive manufacturers, operating system developers and network server, controller and software providers also are included in Arcada’s customer base. COMPATIBILITY ------------- Arcada's software products are compatible with most popular autoloaders, tape drives and controllers. ALLIANCES --------- Microsoft Corporation --------------------- Licensed Arcada's data backup services, tape format and backup engine for inclusion in Windows NT and Windows 95-- marking the only time Microsoft has incorporated any tape backup technology as a transparent part of its operating system software. Co-developed Storage Exec with Arcada to satisfy Microsoft's internal needs for centralized management of the backup process for over two thousand of their Windows NT servers. Arcada supplies the built-in backup application included in DOS 6.x. Arcada Software was selected to provide the backup application supporting the Microsoft Network. Novell, Inc. ------------ Selected Arcada to write a component of its Storage Management Services (SMS) for NetWare. Arcada produced the first certified backup solution for NetWare 4.x and SMS, and was the first third party TSA developer. IBM Corporation --------------- Licenses PMTape and EZ-Tape/Dual-Stor software products QIC Committee Arcada's tape format, licensed as the Microsoft Tape Format (MTF), has been endorsed by the Quarter-Inch Cartridge Drive Standards Committee (QIC), which includes 40 major tape backup companies responsible for an installed base of over 98 million tape systems. AWARDS ------ Arcada backup software products have won many major industry awards for product excellence, including: LAN Magazine Product of The Year 1995 PC Magazine Editor's Choice PC World Best Buy and World Class Awards InfoWorld Recommended Product Windows Magazine WIN Award Computer Reseller News Test Center Award LOCATIONS/EMPLOYEES ------------------- Arcada operates facilities in Lake Mary, Florida; San Luis Obispo, California; and Maidenhead, England. More than 200 people -- including over 100 software engineers -- work for Arcada, making it one of the largest data management software companies in the industry. __________________________________________ > WHAT GIVES?? STR Spotlight """""""""""""""""""""""""" WILL THE REAL VICTIMS PLEASE STAND UP??? ======================================== The Taxpayers stand to get NAILED again! ---------------------------------------- by Ralph F. Mariano seen in a very recent press release by one of the prominent wire services.. "The Justice Department recently outlined a theory of a potential antitrust case it could possibly bring against Microsoft Corp. on Thursday, but told a federal judge instead, its investigations was still pending." If this isn't the exact description of a "Witches Hunting Expedition" I don't know what is. What is the "DEPARTMENT of INJUSTICE" looking for now?? Perhaps its not the Dep't of Justice at all but some eager-beaver, overzealous "Johnny-Come-Lately" trying to impress "Queen" Janet Reno?? Or, is the Queen trying to "save face" after the Weaver Incident in the Northwest Wilderness and of course, The Horror of the WACO Holocaust?? Enough already with the persecution of Microsoft!! It can never possibly serve as a diversion. "Federal prosecutors are investigating Microsoft's plan to include a program for accessing its Microsoft Network on-line system in the new Windows 95 software. "The government believes that Microsoft's forced inclusion of the MSN access software with Win95 might, under certain facts, violate the antitrust laws, and Microsoft points to no potentially applicable exemption from those laws," Assistant U.S. Attorney Anne K. Bingaman said in a filing to a federal judge in New York who Microsoft has asked to slow the investigation." The ASUSA (Bingaman) ought to ask the VERY SAME QUESTIONS of America Online (AOL) and a few of the other criers. (So much for fair and thorough investigations prior to punitive litigation.) They have all been very busy ramming their program disks down our throats at every turn. I find the AOL software disks in magazines I buy, in hardware products I buy, in my mailbox, on almost every CDRom I buy and included in most every software package I've bought in the last year or so. I simply can't wait to find AOL disks bundled with my underwear and socks purchases. I guess Madam ASUSA (Bingaman) thinks that all this "market cornering" is ok as long as Microsoft's name isn't on it . What it really sez folks is that Bill Gates and Microsoft are a real "target" of the DOJ. As such, this can only come from the top! Each and every one of us must voice our DISGUST with this constant hounding, no... dogging of Gates and Microsoft to our Senators and Congressional Reps. Let them know you are totally sick and tired of seeing Microsoft being forced into face off with the DOJ. Computer Users and taxpayers alike, Country-Wide are going to be FORCED to foot the bill incurred not only by the DOJ but that of Microsoft in defending itself against the overly persecutive efforts of the DOJ. The taxpayers are taking it TWICE "on the chin" again and again because of the misguided efforts of BIG Government. Janet "WACO" Reno ought to receive a "get serious" wake-up call from the White House informing her of the fact that the monies being blown persecuting Microsoft would be better spent curbing the run-away drug smuggling and distribution in the USA. Wouldn't it be great to see the US Government's DOJ save our wives and children from the effects of the ILLICIT DRUG EPIDEMIC happening now instead trying to save us from the effects of using computers equipped by Microsoft. What is WRONG with this picture? "Details about the latest investigation have surfaced just as Microsoft is about to begin production and distribution of Win'95, which is due to appear on store shelves Aug. 24. It is the first major update to Windows since 1990. Windows runs the basic functions of tens of millions of personal computers." In the DOJ court filing, Bingaman constantly states the DOJ hasn't decided whether or not to file against Redmond, Wash.-based Microsoft, the world's largest maker of personal computer software." With such levels of indecision its obvious the DOJ will do just about anything imaginable to slow or impede the march of progress by Microsoft. Such activity seemingly suits the DOJ and Microsoft's competition just fine. Sloth-like, slow progress is the government's middle name (Check out the FDA and the FAA if you doubt this)!! The obvious attempts at impeding the Windows 95 debut smack of the very things the average citizens of the USA fought against in two World Wars and in the recently won Cold War. The DOJ and its zealots are absolutely "OUT OF CONTROL" as is the ATF and FBI. These FEDERAL Agencies seemingly have forgotten they are there to SERVE and PROTECT. Not to resent and intimidate the American Taxpayer. "Microsoft requested last month, that a federal judge quash a subpoena issued by the DOJ. The requests by the DOJ contained in the subpoena cost "millions of dollars" to satisfy and caused a group of 60 lawyers and their assistants to generate considerable overtime, Microsoft pleaded in a court filing. PC makers, nationwide, will, this fall, include Win95 on almost all new PCS for consumers and many new PCS for businesses, approximately 10 million to 20 million units." Who, by the way, is going to be ultimately paying the expensive services of all these people defending Microsoft?? Microsoft cannot be expected to foot the entire bill themselves as that would equate to being punished without due process. (This process, by the way, is something the US Judicial System is becoming famous for!) What happens if the companies and individuals smaller than say, Bill Gates and/or Microsoft are done the very same way Gates & Microsoft are being done now?? The process invoked by the DOJ soon runs the "defendants" out of money. The NET result? The defendants have been severely and unjustly punished without the benefit of due process. This is not the American Way or, at least the American Way I was taught. What has happened to our Country's Government? Its legal system? Its sense of fair play? Its standards and morals? When was the last time, in history, that the U.S. Government was accused of Murdering its own Citizens?? TO WIT: The REAL SHAME ON the U.S.A. ------------------------------------ [A] - The Slaughter of the Weaver Family... The story has been told in "The New York Times," "The Washington Post" and "Soldier of Fortune" magazine. Somewhere you've read or heard about the 11-day stakeout that resulted in the death of a 14-year-old boy, a 42-year-old mother, a federal marshal and one yellow Labrador retriever. It is an American tragedy, one that must be retold until some sense of truth or justice emerges. Randy Weaver lived with his wife and four children in a cabin in the rugged Idaho mountains 40 miles south of the Canadian border. The cabin had no electricity or running water, but the family survived, as had generations of pioneers. According to his lawyer, Weaver was "a little man who wanted to be left alone." According to the government, he was a heavily armed white supremacist, a former Green Beret, a member of a cult that believed a Jewish-led conspiracy controlled the government. He stood convinced that God had created separate races for a reason, and that the races should remain separate. Weaver was, said one agent, "extremely irritable, and saw people plotting against him." Weaver had every reason to be paranoid. People were plotting against him. No fewer than three government agencies targeted Randy Weaver! [B] - Then.. The Unbelievable Horror: Holocaust at WACO People in Waco describe the Branch Davidian community as a group of ordinary people and as helpful, friendly, and kind. The Branch Davidian sect was founded in 1893 as an offshoot of the Seventh-Day Adventist church. Many of the approximately 130 people in the compound held regular jobs outside, and the group had been in Waco since 1935. They had built with their own hands the house that was destroyed in the 1993 fire. James Scott Trim, a researcher who studied the Branch Davidians for more than a year and a half, offers this perspective: "They were no threat, particularly, to anybody. They had been there since the 1930s and certainly hadn't done any damage to anybody thus far. They weren't a group of idiots." Various members of the group, he points out, were highly educated in theology, comparative religion, and law. In closing this part, these truths are sure fire evidence that the DOJ, ATF and FBI are indeed operating out of control. While the DOJ hasn't OK'd snipers, the spraying of the Redmond Campus with machine gun bullets and incendiary gas devices from helos or the smashing of buildings with battering ram equipped Tanks.. Its really happening just the same with all kinds of bizarre legal maneuvers, motions and subpoenas being used in place of live ammunition. This legal "genocide" must be brought to a screeching halt. "Other online services.. like America Online Inc., CompuServe Inc. and Prodigy Services Co. have complained of unfair advantages for Microsoft. In its latest court filing, Justice spells out in considerable detail what a potential antitrust case could look like. "By including the (Microsoft Network) software with Win95, Microsoft is taking advantage of market position in operating systems to gain advantage elsewhere," Bingaman wrote. "Such use of economic power to gain advantage has been a persistent source of concern" under the Sherman Antitrust Act, a key antitrust law." Why hasn't the "ever so fair" Justice Department investigated the practices of these "poor underprivileged" online services?? Such as the flooding of the entire computing Community with "FREE Software" and FREE ONLINE TIME." Sort of reminds one of the neighborhood junkie offering the kids free "hits" just to get them started! Amazing that a similar practice in hooking the American Consumer is looked upon differently. What about one online service's CONSTANT demands of exclusivity of those offering services or user support via their service?? Or, what about the subtle but forceful practices of all of them when they induce favoritism for favored manufacturers with impudent disregard for the truth and/or the consumer?? When the online services "put a bug" in someone's ear about the free style of the Internet we all saw that government reaction. In any case, the Internet is going to literally eat the online services alive. Microsoft is an Arch-Angel when compared to some of these fine stand-up "Online Services". "In its initial filing to halt the civil subpoenas, Microsoft said it is cooperating but called the Justice investigation "abusive." The company recently won support from Senate Majority Leader Robert Dole, R-Kan., who cited press reports of the Justice investigation showed the agency was "overzealous." Hats off to Dole... (I said that?) Yessir, give credit where credit is due. Dole took a very bold step in pointing out the bizarre manner in which the DOJ is now operating. I am inclined to predict he'll experience some sort of retaliatory actions by the DOJ or one of its sympathetic inter-agencies before its all over. But for now, Go get 'em Bob! Has everybody noticed how Newt Gingrich has been effectively "toned down"? They're still busy investigating him. Desperately trying to find or possibly contrive something even remotely believable to control him with. "Industry analysts say Microsoft has to be very close to going to final production of Windows 95." How right they are and Windows 95 is a wonderful product that's about to revolutionize computing in America today. The DOJ's persecution of Microsoft reminds one of the efforts taken by the ruling classes in medieval Europe in their futile attempts at preventing the spread of Gutenberg's Printing Press. The peasants did learn to read and the ruling classes soon fell from power. "Bingaman said the department was trying to conduct its investigation in such a way as "to avoid unnecessary disruption of Microsoft's business plans or a potentially difficult problem of antitrust remedy. She referred to a key problem in the government's case: trying to determine whether Microsoft Network represents a violation before the program is released." Bingaman ought to inquire of the many users who have suffered at the hands of the existing online services. By this its meant the high hourly rates which now, all of a sudden, are dropping at super sonic speeds! Why is this happening? Because Microsoft, being on the cutting edge of progress and offering easily affordable rates has forced reform and common decency into the marketplace. Microsoft is once again leading the way, teaching the stoic, old fogies who run the existing online services what its really all about. People. Microsoft did just this with every one of its products. They gave the product a solid reason for being and applied that reason directly to positive growth with the users and future in mind. Microsoft has literally toasted its competition. Its a given that most of today's computer users have benefited greatly from Microsoft's activities and are highly appreciative. You see, if things were to be left as they were... one the current Online Services would still be busy gouging away with ripoff rates and poor service. Another would still be permitting their administrators to abuse the subscribers and businesses online with absolute dictatorial powers, charging exorbitant daytime rates while offering antique late seventies/early eighties technology (one service really comes to mind). The newer services have seemingly been trying everything possible to gain an "edge" including complaining to the DOJ about things the others are doing that they too are guilty of but haven't been caught at it yet! Please folks if you value the use of your computers and desire a better.. easier way, you owe it to yourselves to phone telegram, write and Fax your representatives to stop the injustices. The Department of Justice and all its armed law enforcement agencies should be in hot pursuit of the Drug Lords in this country! Not Microsoft. They should especially be locking up the fine, upstanding members of each and every community who bankroll the smugglers, runners and dealers without dirtying their hands. You'd be surprised at just who they are. Maybe you're like me and are no longer surprised. I'm disgusted to see these horrible people allowed to continue bankrolling the slimes that continue to poison generation after generation of American Youth. The youth of today is America's future, what does that really say now. Please tell your representatives in the Congress and Senate to demand that the Department of Justice get its priorities straight and stop this merciless persecution of Microsoft! Please do it before we are all victimized once again by ignorant government interference and the obvious grandstanding and career climbing by certain DOJ lawyers. """""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""" 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) > HP 1600c STR InfoFile """"""""""""""""""""" HP DESKJET 1600C AND DESKJET 1600CM PRINTERS INSTALLING POSTSCRIPT (TM) UPGRADE OR ADDITIONAL MEMORY This document provides basic information on installing the PostScript card and, optionally, additional memory for your HP DeskJet 1600C printer. NOTE: The PostScript board and/or optional memory may already have been installed. To determine if the board is present and how much memory is installed, print the self test. NOTE: In HP DeskJet 1600C printers with a firmware of 8.1 and 8.6 the SIMM slots are reversed on the self-test. The manual and the printer are correct, but the self-test is incorrect. This issue was corrected in the 9.2 firmware revision. A minimum of 6 MB of memory is required to use PostScript printing. The standard printer comes with 4 MB of memory and 2 MB of memory is included on the PostScript card. CAUTION: Because the PostScript card and memory expansion card contain parts that are easily damaged by small amounts of static electricity, you need to take precautions such as using grounding devices and maintaining contact with any bare metal surface on the printer while handling the cards. Handle the cards carefully at all times. Avoid touching the card components or circuit paths. Be sure to replace the memory expansion slot cover after installing the cards to prevent dust from accumulating inside the printer. 1. Turn off the printer and remove the power cord. 2. Open the rear panel by pressing the tabs on either side together with your fingers. 3. Remove the paper plug by squeezing the green ring towards the thumb rest, and then pulling outward. 4. Using a flat-blade screwdriver, remove the memory expansion slot cover. There are three Single In-line Memory Module (SIMM) slots. As you look at the slots from the back of the printer, the slot closest to you is slot 1, followed by slot 2, then slot 3. A memory SIMM can be installed in any of the three slots. If your printer is set up for PostScript, slot 3 will have a PostScript SIMM already installed. While a memory SIMM can be installed in any slot, a PostScript SIMM can only be installed in slot 3. NOTE: Beware that printers with a firmware of less than 9.2 the slots will read backwards on the self-test page. That is, SIMMs installed in slot 1 on the board will read slot 3 on the self-test page and visa versa. 5. Open the memory expansion or PostScript upgrade kit package that you purchased and remove the SIMM card. 6. Insert the SIMM card at a 45-degree angle into a SIMM slot. The notched end must be on the right side. 7. Rotate the SIMM card to a 90-degree angle (vertical). Ensure that the card is secured by the small metal clip at each end. 8. Replace the memory expansion slot cover and install the two screws to secure the cover. 9. Replace the paper plug, close the rear panel, and attach the power cord. 10. Turn the printer on and perform the self test. The self test will determine if the PostScript card or memory cards have been installed correctly and print a summary of the memory capacity and PostScript installation. A PostScript configuration page will also be printed. HP FIRST #: 2872, 10-Jul-95, BPD02478 PostScript (TM) is a trademark of Adobe Systems Incorporated which may be registered in certain jurisdictions. Copyright Hewlett-Packard Co. 1995 This information is subject to change without notice and is provided "as is" with no warranty. Hewlett-Packard shall not be liable for any direct, indirect, special, incidental or consequential damages in connection with the use of this material. HP DESKJET 1600C AND DESKJET 1600CM PRINTER - SELF TEST PAGE GENERAL Energy Star On (default) to save energy during idle time (requires slightly more time to warm up for first page to print) Centronics Speed Fast (default) for newer computers. Standard for older model computers. I/O Timeout 5-1800 seconds (15 is default). This is the time the printer waits for new data from the interface being used. If no data is received after this time, the printer will reset to the default interface. NOTE: The manual has documented the default I/O timeout incorrectly. MEt Usage Shows percentage of total pages that required Memory Enhancement in order to print the entire page. For example, if it shows 40%, then 40% of the total number of pages printed needed to use MEt. This is an indication that the types of print jobs you are doing require additional memory to be installed in the printer. The higher the percentage, the more likely you should add memory to your printer to improve performance. Pages Printed Total number of pages printed by the printer. Serial Number Permanent record of the serial number located on the back of your printer. Firmware Version Records the latest version of firmware installed in the printer. PCL 5 Code Rev Records the latest version of the PCL 5 language code. TRAYS Optional Lower Installed or Not Installed. Becomes the default Tray tray when installed. Default Tray Records which tray (the printer's paper tray or the optional 500-sheet paper tray) the printer will automatically print from. Tray Lockout Records which tray (the printer's paper tray or the optional 500-sheet paper tray) will be locked out when the auto-selected tray runs out of paper. Auto Select On or Off. Allows printer to use default paper tray. Paper Size Letter, A4, or Legal. Paper Type Plain, Premium, Glossy, or Transparency HARDWARE NOTE: Printers with a firmware of 8.1 and 8.6 will show the SIMM slots reversed on the self-test page. This was fixed in the 9.2 firmware. SIMM Slot 1 Will show whether a PostScript, memory SIMM (and size), or font SIMM is installed in this slot. The PostScript SIMM can only be installed in this slot. SIMM Slot 2 Will show what size memory SIMM or font SIMM is installed in this slot. SIMM Slot 3 Will show what size memory SIMM or font SIMM is installed in this slot. Total RAM Size Total of the printer's resident memory and any additional memory SlMMs. 4 to 100 megabytes for the HP 1600C printer 6 to 70 megabytes for the HP 1600CM printer Will show what type of interface card is installed in your printer. PAGE DEFAULTS Typeface Courier. Refer to your on-line HP DeskJet 1600C Reference Guide for a list of typefaces available. Pitch 10 cpi (default) or 8, 12, 16.67, 18, and 20. Symbol Set Roman-8 (default). Refer to your HP DeskJet 1 600C Reference Guide for a list of symbol sets available. Orientation Portrait (default) or Landscape. Copies 1 (default) - 999. Lines/Page 5 - 128 (default IS 60). Page Protection Off - Default setting for normal print jobs. On. Can be used when you have 8 megabytes or more of memory installed in the printer. Will ensure that almost all pages with complex graphics will be completely printed. Default Print EconoFast - The default setting for fast Quality printing. Great for spreadsheets. Normal - For quality printing on all your print jobs. (Default) Presentation - For printing on transparency film and glossy paper. Color Mode Color (Default) or Print in Grayscale. PCL 5 Installed. PostScript Installed or Not Installed. Active Language None, PCL 5, or PostScript (if installed). Shows which is currently active. Default Language PCL 5 or PostScript (shows which language the printer will default to if the printer is reset). Automatic On or Off. (For service use only.) Language Context On (default) or Off. Set to Off when using older Switching PostScript printer software that does not activate automatic language switching. Errors Will list printer errors. HP FIRST #: 2862, 10-Jul-95, BPD02471 Copyright Hewlett-Packard Co. 1995 This information is subject to change without notice and is provided "as is" with no warranty. Hewlett-Packard shall not be liable for any direct, indirect, special, incidental or consequential damages in connection with the use of this material. _______________________________________ > BBS Business STR FOCUS! Some very good info here... """"""""""""""""""""""" BBS'S BECOME BIG BUSINESS ========================= by Patricia Pisarski Recent estimates indicate that there are approximately 75,000 BBSes worldwide. Although BBSes have been predominately a US phenomena, entrepreneurs in Canada, Europe, and South America are joining the online community at a rapid pace. This astonishing growth is all the more amazing when you consider that the first BBS went online in February 1978, thanks to two computer techies who wanted to keep in touch despite Chicago's wickedly cold winters. Ward Christensen and Randy Seuss became friends through a local computer users group and together wrote the Computer Bulletin Board System (CBBS) using the newly introduced Hayes modem. Within a few short years, CBBS become available commercially and spawned an industry that continues to grow at a record breaking rate. Dubbed the "electronic meeting place of the 90's", a typical BBS offers e-mail, public forum areas, interactive games, megs of shareware and increasingly, online chat. To broaden their appeal, many BBSes join one or several "nets", such as Fidonet or RIME, which share message bases (called "echoes") covering a wide variety of topics similar to the Newsgroups available on the Internet. The echoes run the gamut from technical topics, like C++ programming, to hobbies, like aquariums or collecting comic books. Many echoes are devoted to political, religious or social issues and offer a lively debate on the most controversial issues. Even a painfully shy and timid BBSer can often be inspired to express his or her opinion in no uncertain terms behind the anonymity of an "alias" or screen name. Whatever issue you are "for", there is bound to be another BBSer who is "against" and who relishes the opportunity to tell you just exactly why your opinion is 100% wrong. Frequently, such messages are punctuated with shorthand, such as "IMHO" (in my humble opinion) or "LOL" (laughing out loud), or with emoticons such as :( or ;). (For the uninitiated, look sideways to see an unhappy face and a winking smile.) Often sysops design their board to meet the needs of a specific special interest group (or SIG). These boards will cover almost every imaginable interest or hobby. There are BBSes with a handicapped focus or which are aimed at airline pilots or nudists. (There may even be a BBS for handicapped pilots who fly in the nude, but I'm not aware of any.) To find a BBS aimed at your favorite SIG, you need to track down a "listkeeper". A BBS listkeeper is a sysop who compiles and maintains a list of BBSes by topical category and makes the list available for download. A list of listkeepers is available electronically on some BBSes and available in print in Boardwatch Magazine. (Call 1-800-933- 6038 for subscription information or send e-mail to subscriptions@boardwatch.com). Most sysops start their board as a hobby. Often they begin as avid "board surfers" and get the bug to operate their own BBS. Most start out small, with approximately 50% of BBSes operating only one phone line. Many potential sysops underestimate the time, energy, patience and devotion (not to mention expense), it takes to run a BBS. Wading through manuals three feet high isn't very exciting or sexy. After all the tedious efforts to get a BBS to run smoothly and problem-free, it can be very discouraging for a new sysop to wait for the (modem) phone to ring. It may take months and months for a BBS develop a following. A BBS can quickly turn into a very expensive and time consuming hobby while a sysop is waiting for his caller base to grow. It's not surprising that many sysops give up after several months. BBS callers evidence this disillusionment regularly when they "surf" a local BBS list and hear the recording of an operator saying "The number you have dialed is no longer in service." But, the success stories can be inspiring for the entrepreneur. There are BBSes that have been in business for over ten years serving millions of callers and requiring 200+ phone lines. Some, like Exec-PC and the Well, have expanded to such a national presence that they have almost outgrown the label BBS and could be more appropriately called a "mini" online service. The sysops of the biggest and best BBSes realized early on to treat their BBS as a business with a marketing strategy and well thought out business plan. They identified who their target market was and planned accordingly. Statistics (from Boardwatch Magazine, March '94) show that the average BBS caller is a male between the ages of 20 - 45 with an average age about 36. The online community is still predominantly male, with female callers only representing 10 - 15% of BBSers. Despite the popularity of online chat and forum areas, the majority of callers continue to list their main purpose in calling a BBS is to download shareware. Since a large percent of BBSers also subscribe one or more of the major commercial services like CompuServe, Prodigy or America Online, a business savvy sysop knows that he or she must price competitively and offer unique value-added services not available elsewhere. Recently, businesses have discovered that a BBS is not just for hobbyists anymore. More and more companies are finding a BBS to be a cost effective solution for making time-sensitive information easily available to a geographically disperse group of users. BBSes are quickly replacing fax broadcasting as a method for disseminating data which changes daily or even hourly. Professional associations are using BBSes to electronically publish newsletters and to allow members an open forum in which to discuss issues and exchange advice. Online connectivity is rapidly becoming the best answer to quick and efficient communication within an industry or profession. The first industry to realize the business potential for a BBS was the computer industry itself. Hardware and software manufacturers have started to provide 24 hour customer support using BBSes. A recent article in PC Today ("Online Customer Support", Oct. '94) concluded that BBSes benefited both the company and the customer -- "For the businesses, it's cheaper than fielding calls via toll-free phone lines; for customers, it's more efficient than waiting on hold." By creating a file of frequently asked questions (FAQ) accompanied by well written, clear answers and making it available online, a company can significantly reduce the number of calls to its customer service representatives. Public forum areas can result in fewer calls, too. It's likely that if one customer is having a problem with an aspect of the company's products, others are too and someone has already posted an answer in an online forum. Additionally, customers can go online to download software upgrades, bug fixes, and to search for technical documentation. With increasing postage rates, a software company can cut costs by making demos and new product information available online while making customers happy that they don't need to wait several days for the information to arrive by mail. The creative and profitable ways of utilizing a BBS are limited only by an entrepreneur's imagination. Retail businesses are using BBSes to accept online orders. Two innovative examples are: Peapod Online which lets customers shop for groceries 24 hours a day and then schedule convenient home delivery, and PennyWise, a Maryland based office supply company, that accepts online orders and guarantees shipment within 24 hours. Auto dealers can now offer online showrooms around the clock. Imagine being able to search a database of used cars, finding that low- mileage '91 Olds you've been looking for and being able to see a picture of it without even leaving your home. Hospitals are using BBSes as a public service to provide health related information to local practitioners, pharmacists and the surrounding community. Government agencies, like the SBA, EPA and IRS, are finding that BBSes are a convenient way of making information easily accessible to the public. With phenomenal growth of the online community, a BBS combined with a creative concept can make a powerful combination for today's entrepreneur. ABOUT THE AUTHOR Patricia Pisarski is the Vice President of ExpresSearch, Inc. which designs, implements and operates BBSes for businesses and associations. Pat can be reached at expresss@aol.com, pisarski@ais.net, CIS 71242,661 or by voice at (708) 304-1048. To logon to the ExpresSearch Demo BBS. dial (708) 304-9804 by modem, using the logon name "Demo" and password "Demo". Copyright 1995 - Patricia Pisarski and ExpresSearch, Inc. All rights reserved. ********************************************************************** ATARI/JAG SECTION (III) ======================= Dana Jacobson, Editor > From the Atari Editor's Desk "Saying it like it is!" """""""""""""""""""""""""""" A LOT of discussion these days continues to be of the Internet. For Atari users, this "new" computing highlight has been less than fully achievable, until now. The only way, until recently, to view the Web has been text-only while other platform users can view graphics, etc. There are currently two Atari WWW browsers available for us to use. Admittedly, these are still not perfect, but they do seem to work fairly well according to numerous posts that I've been seeing. One, DuFTP, was mentioned in one of our past issues recently. The other, from TAF (Toronto Atari Federation), has started to be posted on the online services and the Internet. We have a brief synopsis below of what's included on what's being referred to as "the TAF disks". In other news, recent rumors about the bankruptcy last year of Gadgets By Small have renewed. Dave Small, in a post on the Internet, describes his recent decisions in this regard to do some rumor control. The weather is almost unbearable, and sitting here in front of all this computer equipment is not making things any cooler. Do your best to stay out of the heat and stay cool! Let's wrap this up and get to all of the good stuff! Until next time... > What Happened to Gadgets by Small?! STR InfoFile - Small Speaks Out! """""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""" [Editor's note: The Usenet has had a few questions/theories pertaining to the recent bankruptcy report by Gadgets by Small. Dave does some rumor control, below] From: David Small Date: 8 Jul 1995 Responding to: <3tcg3k$dc7@linda.teleport.com> In article <3tcg3k$dc7@linda.teleport.com>, Steve Johnson wrote: >In article <3smqni$7c@qns2.qns.com>, Dan Valega wrote: > >>What lawsuit was lost by Dave Small ? Please fill me in, I did not know of any >>lawsuit. Thanks...... Dan Valega > > >Dave Small refused to pay the bills for some defective PCB boards >that were made for him and he lost the court case against him for >doing so. GBS filed for bankruptcy, but Dave's been talking about >starting a new company. I'm not 100% sure, but I think even Jim >Allen of Fast Technologies (Turbo-16, Turbo030, etc.) testified >against Dave Small -- I know they were having rather bitter online >disputes on GEnie some time ago, anyway. > > But... but ... but ... that ain't what happened! (I *should* make up a Gadgets FAQ and post it.) GBS had difficulties with a chip on the SST product from a supplier. GBA was, after a really significant amount of time, able to overcome these difficulties. Lawsuits sprung up both ways. Jim Allen was a paid expert witness for the supplier. He did not testify, and I'm nearly positive his report was not used at the trial. We did not have any defective PCB problems! They were fine quality. (How did THIS rumour get started? Maybe we need comp.sys.atari.st.rumor.control). Dave Small as in Dave of Gadgets did all this stuff, not Dave Small personally. It's an important legal difference. The trial was an experience, I'll tell you. It taught me a lot about the legal system, and I think often that trials are used to send people to jail .... I guess there is no perfect system. It would just be sour grapes to babble about the proof we had, the case made, etc. The fact is, the jury didn't vote for us. Now, the *parts* probably could not have killed Gadgets, even with the interest from the 2 years of delay the supplier asked for (and got). However, the *legal bills* for the supplier were substantial. The numbers Jim Allen gives, and that I saw, differ extremely. So I don't know, but six digits. Gadgets had no way to pay that, and filed Ch. 7 in November of last year. 'twas the legal bills, folks. Free Advice: Don't get sued. More Free Advice: A bad settlement is better than a good trial. Finally, the Mac Emulator software is owned by me personally, not by Gadgets. (Spectre and so forth are trademarks of Gadgets; I do not know their status.) In no way is the emulator dead; it's a spinning at 3600 RPM downstairs (or whatever speed the HD's use these days). I've babbled sufficiently about what I'm adding to my software for release, and talked about the need for beta testing, and beta testers. Many, many kind people have emailed me (and mailed) and offered to help. The TT downstairs is starting up off the *SCSI* hard disk (selectable). While it doesn't (yet) run System 7.1, I know *why* to the bit, thanks to the Zax. I'd say the floppy-queue thingo in 6.0.5 was harder to cure than 7.1 may be, but that's knock-on-wood stuff. I hope this settles down the rumor control. "Got places to go, and to have been..." Me, I'm proud of the SST and its manual, and nearly everything Gadgets did. (That's all written up in the last issue of Current Notes). Now, if I can just live long enough to come up with a truly classy, witty .signature line, I'll be in fine shape! -- thanks, Dave Small / ex-Gadgets by Small VP R&D ______________________________________________ > TAF Atari WWW Browser! STR InfoFile! - TAF Disk Set Available At Hensa """""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""" From: D.Bhabuta The TAF disk set to install Chimera and X-Windows is now available at HENSA. Paths at the end of the message: Graphical web browsing is finally here on the Atari. - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - MINT - X Windows - SLIP/PPP - Chimera - Telnet - FTP Version 1.0 (BETA) 95/04/23 - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - Requirements: ------------ (1) 4M RAM (2) 10M (Min) available SEPARATE Hard Disk Partition (other than your boot partition) (3) An Internet Service Provider with PPP - SLIP acceptable but untested. (3) Mono Graphics mode (ST High, Falcon, TT High) (4) ST UNZIP Program, TOS/GEM based text-editor (recommend: VI.TTP) Recommendations: --------------- (1) 14.4 Modem - Appropriate Modem RTS/CTS patch (2) A Boot manager (SuberBoot, XBoot, etc.) (3) Recent version of AHDI. (Tested: 6.061) (4) Knowledge of UNIX, VI editor: Not essential but useful. 720K Installation Disks ----------------------- INSTALL.ZIP comes on the first disk in the TAF library (ie. disk #1) but ends up needing to be copied to your boot partition. Since this is a download version - you do not need a floppy for this file if you are downloading directly to your hard disk. If you plan to put this in a disk library of some sort, please include INSTALL.ZIP and this file (README.1ST) on a floppy labelled Disk 1. You will need 6 more floppies labelled Disks 2-7 The following files should be put on the floppies: Disk 1 - INSTALL.ZIP ; INSTALL.TXT ; README.1ST Disk 2 - 2a.tgz ; 2b.tgz Disk 3 - 3.tgz Disk 4 - 4a.tgz ; 4b.tgz Disk 5 - 5.tgz Disk 6 - 6.tgz Disk 7 - 7a.tgz ; 7b.tgz 1.44M Installation ------------------ For the 1.44M setup you will need 3 floppies labelled Disks 1-3. If you are making 1.44M distribution disks for a library please include this file (README.1ST) on Disk 1. The disks must be set up as follows: Disk 1 - README.1ST ; INSTALL.TXT ; 2a.tgz ; 2b.tgz ; 3.tgz Disk 2 - 4a.tgz ; 4b.tgz ; 5.tgz Disk 3 - 6.tgz ; 7a.tgz ; 7b.tgz ; INSTALL.ZIP ----------------------------------------------------------------------- After the disks have been set up correctly (this should already be the case if you got them from a library) print the INSTALL.TXT file on Disk 1 and read it very carefully before trying to start any installation. A complete set of instructions are included in that file. If you can't find INSTALL.TXT on the disks, it is also included in the INSTALL.ZIP file. ***NOTE*** x-total.zip is a complete collection of the rest of the ***NOTE*** files in this archive. File sizes: 3711248, 215076, 329828, 592746, 505069, 155590, 484172, 550261, 254899, 155897, 20963, 441978, 3669 It's online as files micros/atari/mint/a/a073/x-total.zip micros/atari/mint/a/a073/2a.tgz micros/atari/mint/a/a073/2b.tgz micros/atari/mint/a/a073/3.tgz micros/atari/mint/a/a073/4a.tgz micros/atari/mint/a/a073/4b.tgz micros/atari/mint/a/a073/5.tgz micros/atari/mint/a/a073/6.tgz micros/atari/mint/a/a073/7a.tgz micros/atari/mint/a/a073/7b.tgz micros/atari/mint/a/a073/install.txt micros/atari/mint/a/a073/install.zip micros/atari/mint/a/a073/readme.1st Download and enjoy. :-) Danny -- -/- Pulitzer Material on The Web -/- A site on the Internet's World Wide Web has been established by the Columbia Journalism Review for providing the 1995 Pulitzer Prize winning news stories, photographs and music, as well as explanations of the judging and biographies of the winners. According to The Associated Press, the magazine, which has monitored news media since 1961, aims to expand its Web site to include material from its monthly publication and a discussion board for people to talk about journalism. The site -- which can be reached at Web address http://www.cjr.org/ -- is the first project of the Center for New Media, which was recently formed at Columbia University's Graduate School of Journalism, AP says. CompuServe members now have access to the Internet's World Wide Web through the NetLauncher software. Enter GO NETLAUNCHER for details. -/- Gridlock on the Internet Feared -/- The Internet's millions of worldwide users now are generating more than 30 terabytes of information each month -- the equivalent of 30 million 700-page novels -- and the network is feeling the strain, experts say. Charles Stancomb of London-based consultancy SRI International has told Mark John of the Reuter News Service the problem could reach a critical point in three to five years unless a solution is found, adding, "It won't come upon us suddenly like a brick wall, but there will be an ever more noticeable diminution of network speed." And Vinton Cerf, called by some the "father of the Internet" and now a senior vice-president at U.S. phone company MCI Communications Corp., says network congestion now has reached a "dangerous measure." Quoted by Communications Week International magazine at the annual meeting of The Internet Society in Honolulu this month, Cerf said this is all the more worrying because the Internet was still "modest in capacity." Says Reuters, "Despite recently-added fiber-optic trunk lines, some users are already complaining that a slowdown in network speed has meant it is taking significantly longer to access Internet pages and download information." Experts says the attraction of new Internet pages that include video, audio and high-quality graphics was only adding to the congestion. "Some of the operators of trunk-lines, such as U.S.-based Sprint Corp., are already upgrading their Internet links to add greater capacity, particularly in the U.S. market where Internet use is greatest," Reuters says, "but some net-watchers fear a long-term solution may be found in making users pay for the Internet." Dataquest analyst John Lilley says, "The big issue among telecoms operators is that Internet traffic could create bottlenecks (on their networks). That is usually followed by the argument for a two-tier Internet." Reuters says such a system -- under which some users pay a fee to guarantee a certain standard of network access -- "would run in the face of the current egalitarian culture of the Internet." -/- Study Examines PC Brand Loyalty -/- A new study from Computer Intelligence InfoCorp of La Jolla, California, shows that Apple Computer Inc.'s Macintosh systems and PCs from Gateway 2000 Inc. led the PC industry in repeat purchase or brand "loyalty" ratings during 1994. The third through fifth brand loyalty spots were held by Compaq Computer Corp., Dell Computer and Hewlett-Packard Co., according to the CII study. The study also found that respondents who purchased PCs for personal home use generally exhibit lower brand loyalty than individuals who work on employer-provided machines. The differences, according to CII, are attributable mainly to price sensitivities among home PC users, who are using their own, rather than company funds, and the fact that home users do not need to go through the purchase approval cycles inherent in many companies. "As the PC industry transforms itself into more of a mass-market business, PC brand loyalty is becoming a crucial measure of company success," says David Tremblay, CII's senior PC analyst. "The customer mix is gradually changing from primarily first-time buyers to replacement buyers. The most successful PC companies will figure out ways to leverage brand loyalty to capture repeat business." -/- Online Comics Service Planned -/- Byron Preiss Multimedia Co. Inc. has hired comic book editor Danny Fingeroth to head a new online service dedicated to comics. Most recently group editor of Marvel Comics' Spider-Man division, Fingeroth has joined Byron Preiss as director of the New York-based company's Virtual Comics division. The unit plans to develop new comics, characters and interactive graphic storytelling techniques in on-line form. According to Byron Preiss, Fingeroth has worked as an editor and writer on such characters and titles as the X-Men, Darkhawk, Man-Thing, Star Trek and Star Wars, as well as the character he is most closely identified with, The Amazing Spider-Man. -/- Congress Acts on Flag Amendment -/- Only a week before the Fourth of July independence celebrations, the U.S. House of Representatives passed H.J. Res. 79, designed to protect, by Constitutional amendment, the national flag from acts of desecration. If adopted by the Senate in a companion bill -- S.J. Res. 31, and then ratified by the states, a 28th Amendment would become part of the Constitution: "The Congress and the States shall have the power to prohibit the physical desecration of the flag of the United States." Members of CompuServe's Legal Forum are discussing the many ramifications of the "flag" amendment. Sidney Schweiger says, "The irony here is that one of the nation's symbols is being elevated to a higher place in our society than one of its founding principles...if we give up this liberty now, we will never have it again, and every special-interest group with an ax to grind will be clamoring for its own amendment. Before long, the First Amendment will cease to exist." William Marvin notes, "I suspect that if this amendment does go through, we will have a little mini-industry for us lawyers, trying to write statutes which will define 'physical desecration.' Inevitably, the definition will have to include some element of intent, which will, in turn, relate to the expressive purpose of the person doing the burning, which will violate the principles of free speech." Cortland Richmond says, "Objectionable conduct is a price we pay for liberty, and we would be well advised to keep on paying it." The proposed amendment and its consequences will be a much-discussed issue in the weeks ahead. To offer your interpretation, GO LAWSIG, Section 0, "General Interest," "Flag Burning Amend." and related threads. ____________________________________________ JAGUAR SECTION ============== Flip-Out! Battlesphere! CATnips! Jaguar Gamer's Guide! CD Pack-Ins! White Men Can't Jump! Postcards! CatBox Review! And Much More!! > From the Editor's Controller - Playin' it like it is! """""""""""""""""""""""""""" A lot of news this week - I have no idea where to begin with this week's editorial. There are games in production as we speak - expect to see White Men Can't Jump next, shortly. Flip Out! should follow fairly closely. There has been a lot of speculation as to what the JaguarCD pack- in games might be. The latest word, and reportedly the final, is that the JaguarCD will include VidGrid, Blue Lightning, and the Tempest 2000 Audio CD. These titles are coming directly from Atari, so I believe that we can count on it. We have the first of two reviews on the CatBox in this week's issue. These were going to appear earlier, but we wanted to do these reviews well, so we were thorough. We hope that you enjoy Joe Mirando's review this week - look for Dom Fontana's review shortly. As I mentioned at the top, we have a lot of info for you this week, so let's get to it! Until next time... > Jaguar Catalog STR InfoFile - What's currently available, what's """"""""""""""""""""""""""" coming out. Current Available Titles ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ CAT # TITLE MSRP DEVELOPER/PUBLISHER J9000 Cybermorph $59.99 Atari Corp. J9006 Evolution:Dino Dudes $29.99 Atari Corp. J9005 Raiden $29.99 FABTEK, Inc/Atari Corp. J9001 Trevor McFur/ Crescent Galaxy $29.99 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 $39.99 Atari Corp. J9003 Club Drive $59.99 Atari Corp. J9007 Checkered Flag $39.99 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/C-West 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. J0144E Pinball Fantasies $59.99 C-West J9052E Super Burnout $59.99 Atari Available Soon ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ CAT # TITLE MSRP DEVELOPER/PUBLISHER White Men Can't Jump TBD Atari Flip-Out TBD Atari Air Cars TBD MidNite Entertainment Fight For Life TBD Atari Flashback TBD U.S. Gold Power Drive Rally TBD TWI Rayman TBD UBI Soft Ultra Vortek TBD Atari 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! """"""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""" >Jaguar Developers STR InfoFile - Current Developer Lists & Titles """""""""""""""""""""""""""""" Game Title Date Game Type MSRP Publisher ----------------------------------------------------------------------- Air Cars 7/95 Racing/Combat $59.99 MidNite Ent. Alien vs Predator NOW Role Play/Adventure $69.99 Atari Alien vs Predator CD 2/96 Role Play/Adventure TBD Atari Arena Football 10/95 Sports TBD V Reel Assault 2Q/95 Action/Combat $59.99 MidNite Ent. Atari Kart 11/95 TBD TBD Atari Att. of Mut. Penguins 10/95 Arcade TBD Atari Baldies (CD) 9/95 Action/Simulation TBD Atari Batman Forever (CD) 4/96 Action/Adventure TBD Atari Battlemorph (CD) 9/95 Flying/Action $59.99 Atari Battlesphere 9/95 Space/Combat TBD 4-Play Battlestar 11/95 Space/Combat TBD ? Battle Wheels 2Q/95 Racing/Combat TBD Beyond Games Black ICE/White Noise 12/95 Action/Adventure TBD Atari Blue Lightning (CD) 8/95 Flying/Action $59.99 Atari Braindead 13 (CD) 10/95 Action/Adventure TBD ReadySoft Breakout 2000 11/95 Puzzle TBD Atari Brett Hull Hockey (CD) 11/95 Sports TBD Atari Brutal Sports Football NOW Sports/Combat $69.99 Telegames Bubsy NOW Action/Adventure $49.99 Atari Cannon Fodder NOW Action/Adventure $69.99 Virgin Chas Barkley Basketball 9/95 Sports TBD Atari Checkered Flag NOW Racing $69.99 Atari Club Drive NOW Racing $59.99 Atari Commando (CD) 11/95 Action (3D) TBD Atari Commander Blood (CD) 11/95 RPG TBD Atari Creature Shock (CD) 8/95 Adventure/Sci-Fi TBD Atari/Virgin Cybermorph NOW Flying/Action $59.99 Atari Dactyl Joust 11/95 Action TBD Atari Dante (CD) 6/96 Action TBD Atari Deathwatch 11/95 Arcade TBD Atari Defender 2000 10/95 Arcade TBD Atari Demolition Man (CD) 9/95 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's Lair (CD) 8/95 Adventure TBD Ready Soft Dragon's Lair 2 (CD) 10/95 Adventure TBD ReadySoft Dreadnought (CD) 2Q/95 Adventure TBD Atari Dune Racer (CD) 1/96 Racing TBD Atari Dungeon Depths 2Q/95 Action/Adventure $59.99 MidNite Ent. Evolution: Dino Dudes NOW Puzzle/Adventure $49.99 Atari Fight For Life 7/95 Combat TBD Atari Flashback 7/95 Action/Adventure TBD US Gold Flip-Out 8/95 Puzzle TBD Atari Formula Racing (CD) 12/95 Racing TBD Atari Frank Thomas Baseball 4/96 Sports TBD Atari Hardball Baseball 2Q/95 Sports TBD Atari Highlander I (CD) 11/95 Action/Adventure $59.99 Atari Highlander II (CD) 2/96 Action/Adventure TBD Atari Highlander III (CD) 4/96 Action/Adventure TBD Atari Horrorscope 2Q/95 Combat TBD V Reel Hover Strike NOW Action/Combat $59.99 Atari Hover Strike CD 9/95 Action/Combat TBD Atari Hyper Force TBA ? TBD Comp. West Ironman/XO-Manowar 4/96 Action TBD Atari Iron Soldier NOW Action/Strategy $59.99 Atari Iron Soldier II (CD) 1/96 Action/Strategy TBD Atari Jack Nicklaus Golf(CD) 2Q/95 Sports TBD Atari Kasumi Ninja NOW Combat $69.99 Atari Magic Carpet (CD) 12/95 Action/RPG TBD Atari Max Force 9/95 Action TBD Atari Mindripper (CD) 2/96 Adventure TBD Atari Mortal Kombat 3 4/96 Fighting TBD Atari Myst (CD) 8/95 Interactive Novel TBD Atari NBA Jam T.E. 12/95 Sports TBD Atari Phase Zero 10/95 Action/Arcade TBD Atari Pinball Fantasies NOW Arcade $59.95 Comp. West Pitfall 9/95 Arcade TBD Activision Power Drive Rally 8/95 Driving TBD TWI Primal Rage (CD) 12/95 Fighting TBD TWI Rage Rally 2Q/95 Racing TBD Atari Raiden NOW Action/Adventure $49.99 Atari Rayman 8/95 Action/Adventure TBD UBI Soft Redemption (CD) 11/95 Action/Adventure TBD Atari Rise of the Robots (CD)11/95 Action/Arcade TBD TWI Robinson's Requiem (CD) 9/95 Adventure TBD Atari Rocky Horror Inter.(CD) 4/96 Adventure TBD Atari Ruiner Pinball 9/95 Arcade TBD Atari Sensible Soccer NOW Sports Telegames Sky Hammer (CD) 12/95 Flying/Action TBD Atari Soccer Kid 2Q/95 Sports TBD Ocean Soul Star (CD) 9/95 Action/Sci-Fi TBD Atari Space Ace (CD) 9/95 Space/Combat TBD ReadySoft Space War 9/95 Action/Adventure $59.99 Atari Starlight BowlaRama CD 10/95 Simulation/Sports TBD Atari Star Raiders 2Q/95 Space Simulation TBD Atari Sudden Impact 12/95 Action TBD Atari Super Burnout NOW Racing $59.99 Atari Supercross 3D 9/95 Sports TBD Atari Syndicate NOW Simulation $69.99 Ocean Tempest 2000 NOW Action/Adventure $59.99 Atari Thea Relm Fighters (CD)10/95 Action/Fighting TBD 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 Vortek 7/95 Action/Adventure $69.99 Beyond Games Val D'Isere Skiing... NOW Sports $59.99 Atari Varuna's Forces (CD) 11/95 Action/Adventure TBD Atari VidGrid (CD) 8/95 Puzzle/Music Video TBD Atari Wayne Gretzky NHL (CD) 12/95 Sports TBD TWI White Men Can't Jump 7/95 Sports (w/Team Tap) $69.99 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] ______________________________________ > CAT BOX STR Review STReport Rating: EXCELLENT """""""""""""""""" Black Cat Design's Cat Box Audio/Video/Communications for the Jaguar Review by Joe Mirando I remember back when I was a youngster and a few of my brothers and sisters (I have three of each) decided to adopt a stray cat that had been hanging around neighborhood. My father finally gave in with one proviso: NO CAT BOXES! After having friends and relatives with cats (and cat boxes) I understand my father's objections: They are unsightly, they require constant attention, and can be a health hazard. Along came Atari's Jaguar, the first (and so far only) 64 bit video game system. The Jaguar represents a quantum leap in video gaming. If you want to use the Jaguar with a monitor other than your television, Atari has provided a fairly easy means of hooking the Jaguar up to monitors and stereo equipment. Atari sells adaptor cables for composite and S-video monitors. These adaptors attach to the Jaguar at its A/V connector and end in the connectors necessary for the particular monitor you have chosen. They also include audio connectors for you to attach to an amplifier or stereo system. My problem was that I have two monitors that I use routinely with the Jaguar. Most of the time I use a Teknika composite monitor which has only monaural sound, but sometimes (when my wife lets me) I use the Jaguar with our 27 inch RCA television which supports the S-video standard and stereo sound. There is one problem with either of these: My wife gets a bit annoyed with the sound level that I prefer when I'm playing certain games (Doom and Alien vs Predator). Aside from that is the fact that I needed to purchase two different adaptors. While the price for these adaptor cables in not what anyone would call excessive, I still had to buy two of them. And if Atari ever releases their networking adaptor, that will be one more adaptor to buy. Along come the folks at Black Cat Design with their offering, the Cat Box. The Cat Box measures 6 1/8 inches wide by 2 3/4 inches long by 1 3/8 inches high and attaches to the Jaguar via the DSP and A/V connectors at the back of the unit and sits between the power adaptor connector and RF output. But what does the Cat Box do? In short, it provides audio, video, and communications options all in one small package. All "adaptation" is done inside the Cat Box, so all that is required is the correct cable. Since the "front" of the Cat Box is where it connects to the Jaguar, let's take a look at the back of the unit. The Cat Box is loaded with connectors. On the leftmost side is the DSP (Digital Signal Processor) connector. This is where the Jaguar CDROM player will connect. When (and if) the Jaguar Voice Modem is released, this is where the Cat Box user will connect it. From here on out the connectors are "stacked" in two rows. The top row begins with the CatNet connectors. CatNet is a networking system devised by Black Cat Designs and follows the RS485 protocol (whatever that is) and provides "dual-differential" communications via 4 or 6 strand telephone cable and the standard RJ11 jacks. I assume that this refers to the fact that CatNet is not hindered by the two-player-limit as is the RS232 (standard serial) networking mode. Using CatNet, games can be played by up to 32 people at the same time. According to Black Cat Design, cable lengths of up to 1,000 feet have been successfully used with CatNet, although cables of 100 feet and less are recommended between Jaguars. The down-side of CatNet (as with all communications modes for the Jaguar) is that the game must support the ability to communicate over this particular network. Next is a three position toggle switch. This controls which networking method will be used. The "up" position tells the Cat Box to use the CatNet network, the "center" position tells it to use the DSP passthrough connector, and "down" tells it to use the RS232 (serial) port (more on serial in a little bit). After the toggle switch is the volume knob which controls the volume to the two 3.5mm headphone jacks. Yes, that's right. There are two of 'em and they are right next to the volume knob. Why two headphone jacks? It took me a few moments to figure this one out too. It's because some games support two players on the same Jaguar (hence the two joypad ports on the front of the Jaguar). Low noise amplification makes using headphones quite an experience. When you "plug in" to either of these ports sound is disabled on all other outputs. Next to the DSP connector on the lower row is the RS232 communications port. This is a standard 9 pin DIN male connector. I'm not sure of what the maximum baud rate is for the RS232 port, but I can tell you that while playing DOOM (one of the two games currently available that support networking) there was very little slow-down and most of the time it was easy to forget that the "bad guy" was playing on another Jaguar. The only drawback with playing DOOM in the network modes is that you will get network errors. From what I've been told, this is due to the speed at which data is transferred and the code contained within the DOOM cartridge's inability to keep up with it. The RS232 port does not support hardware handshaking and fixes DTR on. This is important only to developers, since things of that nature are "hard-wired" into the games themselves and are not options that users can change. Next come the stereo RCA 600 ohm jacks. As one would expect, the audio quality is quite good. By using only the left jack (white), all sound is passed to it, thereby providing those using monaural systems with the full range of sounds instead of just the left channel. Next to the stereo jacks is the S-Video connector. S-Video is used on many high-end televisions and monitors and combines in one 4 pin "mini-DIN" connector what some Atari 8-bit users used to call "Chroma" and "Luminance". S-Video provides excellent video quality. If you don't have an RGB monitor, but do have an S-Video monitor or television, this is the way to go. Next to the S-Video jack is the RGB port, a female 9 pin DIN port. It supports analog RGB monitors with a horizontal sync rate of 15.75 KHz. These are the monitors used by the Amiga and Atari ST computers. They are usually known as simply "RGB monitors". Analog RGB monitors are no longer the standard since the VGA standard surpassed their quality with a H-Sync rate of 31.5 KHz. The Atari SCXXXX series of monitors are considered the by many to be the "Cat's Meow" in Jaguar/Cat Box video output. Since few, if any, monitor manufacturers used the same pinout scheme, you must have a monitor-specific adaptor to use an RGB monitor. They are available from Black Cat Design and Jaguar dealers for about $15.00, or can be made to order. The pinouts from the Cat Box RGB port are as follows: 1 Red 2 Green 3 Blue 4 Horizontal Sync 5 Vertical Sync/Composite Sync 6 Ground 7 Ground 8 Ground 9 Mono Audio/NC Inside the Cat Box is a jumper that may need to be changed depending on whether your monitor uses vertical sync or composite (or combined) sync. This will not void the warranty, since the Cat Box is made to be opened up. The only other jumper inside the Cat Box will enable or disable (enable is the default) the audio to an RGB monitor. You may never need to open the Cat Box, but you can if the need arises. One last thought on RGB: Most Atari SC1224 monitors are quite dark when used with the Cat Box. This is the fault of the monitors, not the Cat Box. Most of the monitors that appear too dark can be adjusted. Some provide a means of doing this without having to remove the case, others do not. If your SC1224 doesn't have an external brightness control and you are not electronically adept, simply bring the monitor to a computer or television repair shop. It's much easier than trying to dissipate all that excess voltage flowing through your body . The last stop on our tour is the composite video port. This port provides the expected composite video signal used in many televisions and VCRs. This video option is the "lowest" quality available through the Cat Box, but is far and away better than the standard RF output available through the Jaguar. One interesting point is that all of the video ports may be used simultaneously, providing the ability to either compare monitor quality, or keep large numbers of interested bystanders from all crowding around one monitor. The Cat Box, as shown at several Atari shows, was housed in a dark gray plastic case that complimented the Jaguar's case. Due to hold-ups in manufacturing, Black Cat Design decided to release the first batch of Cat Boxes in a case of brushed stainless steel. This makes for an impressive sight and avoids the ever-present problem that plastic has with scratches, scuffs, warping and melting (if you get this baby hot enough to melt the steel case, then you've got bigger problems than replacing the Cat Box). There is only one area in which I am disappointed in the Cat Box: The connection with the Jaguar itself. It is tenuous at best. Bumping or moving either the Jaguar or the Cat Box can cause them to break contact. It is best to put the Jag/Cat Box combination in the place that you intend it to occupy and leave it there. It's not that installation is difficult or time consuming; you just plug the Cat Box back into the rear of the Jaguar, but removing electronic devices while powered up can cause frustration at least, and damage to either the Jaguar or Cat Box at worst. This is a fairly minor concern since the Jaguar normally remains stationary while it is in use, but I thought that it was worth mentioning. The feature of the Cat Box deemed "cute" by my wife is the eyes of the cat pictured on the case. The eyes are actually red LEDs that light up to show that the Cat Box is being powered by the Jaguar (there is no adaptor or power cord necessary for the Cat Box). They also blink when data is being transferred over one of the network systems. The left "eye" blinks while your Jaguar is transmitting data, the right blinks when receiving. What sold me on the Cat Box was not the multitude of audio, video, and networking options, but the attitude of one of the vendors now selling the Cat Box. The Cat Box has suffered many delays and, at times, it seemed that we would never see it come to market. This particular vendor has always been candid with me (for which I am thankful). At one point, he told me that he didn't think that the Cat Box would ever be able to do everything that it was supposed to do. He figured that that might have been the reason for the delays. Then, one day shortly after the release of the Cat Box, he called me while still in a euphoric haze. "This thing is INCREDIBLE!" he screamed. "You wouldn't believe the sound from the headphones!", "It looks great on my Atari monitor!", "The stainless steel case is AWESOME!", "The electronic design is clean." and many other glowing affirmations made me decide to get one at my earliest convenience (the following day). I've got only one more thing to say: Hey Dad, how 'bout THIS Cat Box? Product : Cat Box Available: Now Developer: Black Cat Design Type : Peripheral MSRP : (Cat Box) $69.95 (Analog RGB adaptors) $9.95 - $19.95 Rating : Excellent ________________________________________ > Jaguar Online STR InfoFile Online Users Growl & Purr! """""""""""""""""""""""""" On CompuServe, from Atari's Laury Scott: Super Burn Out is now in stores and White Men Can't Jump will be the next release end July/early August. The next cartridge after that will be Flip Out which will be out 10-15 August. -Laury Sb: Flip Out In Production Fm: Laury Scott [ATARI] 75300,2631 To: All I just wanted to let you all know that Flip Out has arrived on my desk. It should hit store shelves about 10-15 August but the exact date will be set by our Marketing group. Flip Out is a very nice puzzle game. Players in our focus groups likened it to Tetris. It is a little difficult to describe but a lot of fun to play. I have brought a version home with me this weekend and will try to get some time in playing it. I did test an earlier version and enjoyed playing it. I'll post some comments after I get a few hours in on it. My real problem is that I am nearly done playing Blue Lighting and am stuck on level 23 in Power Drive Rally. I'd like to get through Blue Lightning this weekend...I'd really like to get past level 23... I know it is a tough job but someone has to do it... ;-) -Laury Regarding the scheduled pack-ins for the JaguarCD: Sb: #85257-Rayman Delayed! Fm: Laury Scott [ATARI] 75300,2631 To: Dana P. Jacobson 71051,3327 >>Is the final word on the JagCD pack-ins VidGrid, Blue Lightning and Tempest Audio CD? Or, is that how it stands at the moment?<< Unless some marketing dweeb (are you reading this Ron) changes things on me in the next couple of days that is definite. -Laury Sb: Battle Sphere Update! Fm: Larry Tipton 74127,601 To: All Here's a bit a information that I picked up off the 'net. Enjoy! -lt :) Subject: Oh No! Good jaguar news! From: legrand@localhostmbi.ucla.edu (Scott Le Grand) I apologize in advance for bringing some good news to this jag-bashing group, but, unfortunately, I feel I must post that the defensive AI in Battle Sphere is up and running... Some ships are sitting ducks... Some ships we have yet to kill because they twist, weave, bob, turn, and accelerate like mad... No one is going to accuse us of having wimpy stupid robot pilots (unless of course they play on baby level)... I figure you guys out there that were bitching that the lasers were too long range are going to thank god they fire as far as they do now :-) although trying to hit people out that far is an exercise in futility against an ace pilot... Even the authors so far have not been able to kill certain ships and that leaves us PUHLENTY of room to fine tune playability... Tonight it's onward to adding offensive AI and then fine tuning and mixing the two behaviors... In case anyone out there is wondering what I'm modelling this on, the technique is call subsumption architecture and it was designed by an MIT professor named Rodney Brooks for robotics applications... There will be 4 base behaviors and a hierarchy of decisions based on orders given to each ship that determines which one they use and for how long... Scott Coming Soon: FlipOut! From: Brian J. Geiger For everyone who's been complaining about lack of originality in game play and a lack of quality games for the Jaguar, in mid August (so we were told) will be FlipOut! What isn't FlipOut!? FlipOut! isn't a fighter. It isn't a scrolling platform game. It isn't a simulator. It isn't an immersion game. It isn't a Tetris rip-off. It isn't an RPG. It isn't a shoot-'em-up. It isn't gouraud shaded polygons. It isn't a port of an Amiga game done completely in Motorola assembly. It's not based off of a TV show or comic book. It's not not a text adventure. It's not a vehicle racing game. So what is it? It is a puzzle game. It's fun, it's addictive, it's new. It's the most you can possibly fit into a 2 meg cartridge without involving human sacrifice. It uses all of the Jag's processors. It appeals to all age groups. The graphics are all computer rendered (not digitized clay figures), it's in a 3D perspective, and it'll be reviewed in magazines next month. It has Easter Island. It has a great manual (unless the Atari editors butchered it, I'm kind of afraid to ask). It has more sprites than you can shake a stick at. It has magic, adventure, intrigue, romance (okay, okay, no romance, very little intrigue, only a little real adventure (if you could call it that)). It's PAL friendly. It has a cool company logo animation. It's finished and being produced. It has tons of music and sfx. It has aliens. It has tiles. It has royalty. Most of all, it has the Great Tile Flipping Festival. Now all we have to do is see if people like it. From the geniuses and overwhelming modesty at Gorilla Systems Corporation. ------Brian J. Geiger-------------------Millionaire Philanthropist------ As a mad scientist, I work with chemicals that threaten the world on a global scale daily. And, yes, sometimes they spill. ------------------------cerebus@pobox.com------------------------------- CATnips... Jaguar tidbits from Don Thomas (95.07.07) """"""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""" I am still hearing great things on "Pinball Fantasies" from Jaguar devotees such as Randy Magruder who tells me: "Don, ... I have given Pinball a serious look, as has my wife and a couple of friends, and its a clear winner.... I'm going to write a really good review for it in Vidgam..." For the race/sports/action/multiplayer enthusiast, the word is out on "Super Burnout". Here's what one CATscan member thinks: >Message: = Open Discussion = (combined multiple posts) >Sent By: Brian Mccleary - Loyal Jaguarian >Subject: Super Burnout Just played it and it is awesome, I think the best word to describe this game is "Smooth"! Totally cool racing game, with plenty of options! It's been available since Friday, and it gets better every time I play! Last year I waited a long time for a game called "Suzuka 8 Hours" for the SNES, when I got it I was very disappointed..... Ahh Super Burnout is better than any "Motorcycle" game I've played and yes, I think it has plenty of options!!! **** 1/2 Stars, that's how I rate it and I played a "Finished" Version, so forget "Video Games" magazine. Plenty of options. Here's what an Internet User thinks of Super Burnout... >From: JSMcKay@aol.com >To: Multiple recipients of list >Subject: "SBO" -or- "Ohhh BS"? A review. Well, I got SBO today and, after an hour or so of playing, here's my thoughts on the game - do with them what you will. Graphics ------------------ Extremely fast graphics engine with super-smooth scaling. Very bright colors throughout the game - the use of more colors for shading effects would have improved the overall graphics, though. The bikes were very detailed; again, more colors (?) and shading would've improved the detail of the riders. Regarding the roadside graphics - they looked good from what I could tell - they went by WAY too fast for me to really critique them. Sound ----------------- Music is great - different songs for each track, beginning of the game, after each race, and at the end of the game. Although at times the songs seemed very similar, you usually won't notice - you'll be too focused on avoiding from flying off your bike at 145 m.p.h.! I particularly like the music after each race - cool electric guitar. Control ----------------- Perfect. What else can I say? Seriously, YOU turn, the bike turns instantaneously. Sometimes the game's moving so fast that it almost seems your bike is turning before you tell it to - it's that spot on. Because the game moves so fast, though, using a manual transmission can be somewhat wieldy - using the finger buttons on the new controller (yes SBO supports the new controller when it comes out) should make shifting easier. Fun Factor ----------------- Can you say sweat-drippin', white-knuckled, heart-pounding, screaming fun? I thought you could. I'm not even a racing game fan, but I think this one's a keeper for me. I have to pause after every lap or so to wipe the sweat off my hands and controller so I can continue, and my thumb starts hurting from steering after about five minutes. As far as replay value is concerned, you've got 8 tracks, 6 bikes, and 4 play modes to choose from - that's 192 different combinations (correct me if my stats are wrong) !!!!! All the mags and Jag-bashers say, "There's nothing new here." Correct me if I'm wrong, but that's not the point of the game, is it? This is not AvP or T2K as far as "innovation" goes - there's no lost hours of submersion into and exploration of new places, or cool twists on old classics - but it's damn fun to play! A game like this you can always just pop into the Jag anytime you want for an adrenaline rush. So in the end, I feel there *is* replay value just as much as there is for other games - as long as you take the game for what it is - a speed fix. Graphics - 8 Sound - 7 Control - 9 Fun Factor - 8 Overall - 8 J. Sean McKay <> Here's what ANOTHER Internet User thinks of SBO... >To: 75300.1267@compuserve.com >From: Geofrey Pejsa >Subject: Super Burnout Dear Don, Just wanted to drop you a quick note from an Atari enthusiast. I purchased Super Burnout this afternoon and am thoroughly enjoying the fine game... Geof Pejsa: Web Homepage: http://info.census.gov/~gpejsa/ Here's what the real experts on CompuServe are saying... >From: Mitch Brown 73522,3004 I AGREE. This game is great. Have you all noticed how good the street is? It looks REAL when you are racing on it. And, the moon in the Australia track looks REAL. Did they cut out a digitized picture, and paste onto that part. One of the BEST things Jag games have done that I have liked is scrolling backgrounds. The first to do it was Dino Dudes, and I liked it. This game does it even better. Smoother, and the graphics look good. Some people have complained about the sound, but I disagree, I like it. Good job Atari. ... I think this is a good one for Atari. It is worth the money. And it is VERY addicting (almost as much as PF). It IS a constant challenge. Any other questions? I DO like it. Yet another CompuServe gamer says... >DAVE SCARPA 73672,2136 I picked up SB today from Babbages. They got 3 copies, not too shabby. Anyhow I think it's a neat little game. The ratings it's receiving are a bit low. The control is excellent, the speed is Phenomenal. The graphics are nice, although the biker could be better animated. The headlights and the increasing darkness are very nice touches. I think the one valid point is there should be a point or money reward system giving you better bikes, but I guess the devs wanted a straight forward HangON clone, although this is not a bad thing. The Jag seems to be aiming for very straight forward fun Arcade Hits i.e. Defender 2000, Tempest, etc. And they are doing pretty good at it. GEnie members are excited about Super Burnout too!... >From: C.GALARDI [Chris Galardi] >Topic: Super Burnout It is out and it is even in Omaha, Nebraska already. I love it!! Excellent control, nice graphics, good sound effects/music! I like the two player mode a lot also....all in all this is an extremely fun and demon-fast game.... I would rate it as an 8 or 8.5 overall...heck even my wife loves playing it!!! chris g. Here's another GEnie fan... >From: R.JONES82 [Bob Jones] >Topic: Super Burnout Babbages in Lansing Michigan has Super Burnout, they got it in today. I've been playing it for a couple of hours. I like the speed of the game... The two player option is better than I expected, the speed is good and is very playable. The landscape could have had a bit more variation, I assume this was due to cart size restrictions. It reminds me of VROOM on the ST, although a bit easier to control. I would give it a 8 rating. One of the nice features is the ability to choose bikes with different handling and speed settings, this way in a two player game you can handicap players with more joypad savvy. ... and another GEnie gem... >From: C.WELLS10 [Ginsu] >Topic: Super Burnout Just picked up SBO at the local Babbages here in NC, and it is GREAT! by >FAR< the best racing game out on the Jag(duh =)). The speed is unreal, much like in Val D'Isere Skiing. The music is the best I've heard on the Jag since Tempest(finally!) Nice graphics, great voice and control, and a good selection of options. About the only two nits I've got with the game are the previously mention kind-of lack of variety in the scenery (I agree it's pro'bly due to the low cart size) and the fact that in the two-player mode there is no music. These nits are pretty minor, tho. Definitely one to pick up!!! ... After the great job Shen did on SBO, I'm eager to see that! Any ideas on a release date? "What about Prodigy?" they ask in unison... >Board: VIDEO GAMES BB >Topic: ATARI JAGUAR >Subject: BURNOUT--REVIEW >From: JOSH FRITSCH (DTVB76C) All, I picked up Super Burnout early today at EB. After about 2 hrs of playing, I can honestly say that it is a very good game. The graphics are very well done and everything moves quickly, VERY QUICKLY. The music is also pretty good, but it's nothing to get excited about. Probably the best part of the game is the control. The control is excellent. (No Checkered Flag-like steering problem) There are seven different motorcycles you can choose from, each having their own strengths and weaknesses. There are 8 courses to choose from. Some of the courses, like Australia, start before dawn but eventually the sun comes up, giving the game a realistic feel.... Very cool. If you like racing games, you'll love Super Burnout. It costs $59.99... The great reviews keep flooding in. To me, the most important factor is "fun!" and the Fun Factor has been rated high over and over on this game by those who have actually played it. ### END OF FILE ### CATnips... Jaguar tidbits from Don Thomas (95.07.11) """"""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""" Almost every 64-bit Jaguar gamer has something to "flip for". Some of you may "flip over" supercycles in Super Burnout. Others may enjoy the true-to-form "flippers" in Pinball Fantasies. Occasionally we may find someone "flippantly" master their Tempest 2000 cart. A "flip of a coin" may determine who plays Doom first for some. Others jump to the "flip side" of the planet in Hover Strike. Don't forget to "flip the switch" in Wolfenstein 3D or to "flip head over heals" in Val d'Isere Skiing and Snowboarding. Regardless of how you may simply "flip to" your favorite 64-bit Jaguar game title, everyone will go bonkers for the innovative new game: "Flip Out!". What is "Flip Out!"? Glad you asked. Flip Out! is delightful and riveting; unpretentious and often impossible. It is an alluring world of whimsical characters assigned seemingly simple tasks that are not nearly as easy as they appear. Welcome to the Great Tile Flipping Festival on the Cheese planet. Here's a mind boggling test of impulsive reflexes; a 3 by 3 grid filled with tiles, with each of those 9 tiles belonging to at least one space. The tile base is underneath the tiles. There is one extra tile that does not belong on the play board. You must match each tile with its proper space. All stages of the game will play in much the same way as the Great Tile Flipping Festival, although things will look different and become more complex. You control the cursor with your Joypad, and you can flip tiles with any of the fire buttons. The most important tip to successful game play is... flip a tile, and the space under the next tile you flip is where the first tile will land. In Yellowstone, you must match the geyser with the same color of the slap-happy characters. At Mt. Rushmore, your task is to put the faces back into the proper order, without dropping any of the faces. On Easter Island, we put the back row of tiles into the Mouths of the Heads, and we make the Mouths open and close. The Cursor cannot move directly from Head to Head, nor can the cursor move into or out of a Head unless the mouth is open. Is all this action making you hungry? Why not visit the Sphorkle Diner? Here, the food has to match character colors as they devour the incredible eatables. Blast off to the planets Hoopla and Pigskin where the Great Tile Flipping Festivals has moved its tour to different planets for a change of scenic environments. Here, the spectators are much rowdier and there are more competitors to play against. In the Zero-Gravity Arena you must match the tiles to the proper position on the board. However, there are now three boards and many more tiles to keep track of. There are no spectators allowed at this final event; Fluffy Encounter. Here, King Fluffy challenges you to see who is the Master of tile flipping. He will use all of his knowledge and experience to keep you from replacing him as King of Planet Phrohmaj. Meet the family, but don't flip out!... Rodeo Rider: This character will grab onto a tile and prevent the tile from flipping into the air. In order to buck him off, you must try to flip the tile he is on several times until he loses his grip. Red Baron: He will jump onto the tile board and act as one of the tiles, forcing you to keep at least two tiles in the air while he is in play. After a few flights he gets tired and returns to the sidelines until he is ready to fly again. Tile Eater: When he eats a tile, he enters play as a tile. However, because the tile covered by the eater, it never belongs in a space on the board. Once the eater is flipped a few times, he will release the tile into play and give back to the sidelines until he hungers again. Cursor Decoy: This citizen can turn himself into an almost exact duplicate of a cursor. Although he can be confusing, he does not pose much of a threat unless he is ignored for tool long. If he is not flipped off the board, he will start flipping tiles off the board. Tile Flipper: Can flip tiles into the air. Gooey: Gooey acts as a tile in the same way as the Red Baron, but he is not affected by your tile flipping cursor. Instead, he will jump up for a few jumps when he sees an opportunity, and after a few jumps Gooey will go back to his place off the board until he decides to jump in again. Corky: Will interrupt a geysers flow in Yellowstone and prevent you from flipping the visiting Citizens. After a few attempts to flip, Corky will jump back to the side and digest the nutrients he has absorbed from the geyser. Sluggy: While in the Sphorkle Diner, Sluggy (the dog of the diner's owner) will jump onto a diner's table, preventing you from flipping the food on that table. Trying to flip Sluggy will only make him stay longer, so it's best just to leave him alone. Graffiti Master and the Janitor: While at Mt. Rushmore, the Graffiti Master sprays various tiles with Glopple-Glorb, preventing you from flipping the Graffitied pieces until the Janitor cleans them. The Wizard: On Easter Island, this character freezes tiles in place, forcing you to break through the ice with several flips before you can flip the tile. He also paints individual tiles to disguise their color until you flip them. Space Slime: In the Zerogravity Arena, they travel along the boards of the arena flipping tiles as they go, and trying to prevent you from matching the tiles. They temporarily disperse into space when you flip them, but they reform quickly. King Fluffy: Your Majesty can freeze and change color in much the same was as the Wizard. However, King Fluffy can freeze and change color on a much more grand scale. He can take advantage of the fact that he can flip the tiles, and he won't just flip those tiles at the beginning of the game. *IF* you complete a skill level, congratulations! Now, welcome up to three more: Normal, Hard, Insane, and Psychotic. Flip Out! is NOW in production and will be in stores within a few weeks. Pre-order from your retailer now and don't be fooled by its deceiving appearances. These fast-paced puzzles are not challenges for the those with too young or weak heart. If you liked Tetris, Klax, Shanghai or Block-Out, you'll now have a well animated game that gives you the same challenging mind benders, BUT add the charm and silliness of an entire cast of funny new characters. I have gathered all the Flip Out! characters together for a gorgeous 500k+ group JPEG image. Look for the file on CATscan [209/239-1552], GEnie, CompuServe and other popular Jaguar support online sites. The Arena Football development team are hard at work. Recently I met with Brian Rice and David Pochran for an great peak at their work so far. The good news is "cool". The other good news is that Brian and David agreed it would be great to review the best ideas from the online community as to what might be included in the ideal Arena Football game.... If they can, they'll do it! Over the next week, please feel free to gather and forward those things you think of that simply "must" be in your idea of an ideal Arena Football game. Send the ideas to: TO: Don Thomas SUBJ: "Arena Football" idea ADDR: 75300.1267@compuserve.com -or- ATARI@genie.com I will take all the great ideas, compile them into one report and forward them on to the design team. ### END OF FILE ### CATnips... Jaguar tidbits from Don Thomas (95.07.12) """""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""" The official Jaguar Gamer's Guide published by Sandwich Islands Publishing and written by the popular authors: Zach Meston and J. Douglas Arnold is shipping now! Preorders should be fulfilled within the next few days and store copies should be arriving wherever popular game books are sold. The guide includes special features such as gaming tips from Atari's own gaming masters. It has exclusive maps, helpful tips and innovative strategies. If you cannot find a store accepting orders for the book and would like a copy sent right away, call or fax your Visa or Mastercard transaction to 808/661-2715. The price is only $18.95 including shipping to N. American locations. If you want in-depth play-by-play action coverage including strategies and tips found no where else on almost 20 of the Jaguar's hottest games, you must buy this book. Orders by mail should be sent to: Atari Jaguar Gamer's Guide P.O. Box 10669 Lahaina, HI 96761 If you are a Jaguar owner registered with Atari, keep an eye out in your snail mail mailbox for some nifty new postcards announcing new and upcoming Jaguar titles. Often, we onliners will already know about the great news contained on these direct-marketing pieces, so please save them to share with friends and family. The first postcard announces the recent release of Super Burnout. """""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""" STReport's "EDITORIAL CARTOON" """""""""""""""""""""""""""""" > A "Quotable Quote" A true "Sign of the Times" """"""""""""""""" The two most beautiful words in the English language are "Check Enclosed." - Dorothy Parker """""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""" 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" July 14, 1995 Since 1987 copyright 1995 All Rights Reserved No. 1128 """""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""" 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. """"""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""