*---== CPU NEWSWIRE ONLINE MAGAZINE ==---* """""""""""""""""""""""""""" "The Original 16/32bit Online Magazine" _____________________________________ from STR Publishing Inc. """""""""""""""""" February 09, 1990 No.4.06 ======================================================================= CPU NewsWire Online Magazine¿ featuring STReport ~ Online __________________________ Post Office Box 6672 Jacksonville, Florida 32205 ~ 6672 R.F. Mariano Publisher - Editor _________________________________________ Voice: 904-783-3319 10 AM - 4 PM EDT BBS: 904-786-4176 12-24-96 HST/14.4 FAX: 904-783-3319 12 AM - 6 AM EDT _________________________________________ ** F-NET NODE 350 ** 500mb Online ** STR'S owned & operated support BBS carries ALL issues of CPU/STR Newswire and An International list of private BBS systems carrying CPU NewsWire for their users enjoyment __________________________________________________________________ > 02/09/90: CPU Newswire¿ #406 The Original 16/32 bit Online Magazine! ---------------------------- - The Editor's Podium - CPU REPORT - WORD FLAIR CONF. - PC-DITTO 2 ARGH! - MICRO - RTX - WAACE/'90 - DynaCADD 1.7 p.III - CPU CONFIDENTIAL ---====**** ATARI CONSIDERS JOHN NAGY! ****====--- --==** SUPERCHARGER HAS ARRIVED!! **==-- --==* MULTI-TASKING IS REAL! *==-- ========================================================================== CPU NEWSWIRE¿ "Only UP-TO-DATE News and Information" -* FEATURING *- Current Events, Up to Date News, Hot Tips, and Information Hardware - Software - Corporate - R & D - Imports ========================================================================== CPU/STR's support BBS, NODE # 350 invites systems using Forem ST BBS to participate in Forem BBS's F-Net mail network. Or, Please call # 350 direct at 904-786-4176, and enjoy the excitement of exchanging ideas about the Atari ST computers through an excellent International ST Mail Network. ========================================================================== AVAILABLE ON: COMP-U-SERVE ~ DELPHI ~ GENIE ~ BIX ========================================================================== > The Editor's Podium¿ Every so often we are faced with situations that, at the moment seem insurmountable, but then, as time goes by, it seems to become easy to overcome these problem situations. This has been a wierd week in the online circles and in the Atari arena in general. Developers upset with one another, good people getting into shouting matches over this doggone PC-Ditto II hassle. Avant Garde needs to increase its online presence and needs to do it now. This is bad news to see them keeping such a distance from the users and allowing the general userbase's morale to drop to all time lows over this flap called PC Ditto 2. The users who have supported AG all these months now require AG to show some support in the form of a very apparent online presence. How about it Bill?? As fate would have it, PC-Ditto II and PC Speed slug it out, and along comes a new kid on the block, Supercharger... In the next week we will know quite a bit about Supercharger as we will be doing an in-depth review of this new device. This week we are carrying some preliminary info only. Also next week we will be reporting on the latest product from Michtron, FAST-FAX! This hardware device enables the ST to successfully transmit and receive high quality FAX transmissions effortlessly. Atari has released Laserbrain to the userbase its only been in the states for almosty a year waiting to be released. Sometimes a tradeoff is more than just that from every direction. Laserbrain is a needed product for the SLM 804, but of course, being from Germany, is monochrome only. The Atari spokesperson, John Townsend has promised online support for this program. The users are (I am sure) grateful. Thanks for your support, Ralph.... *********************************************************************** NOTICE NOTICE NOTICE NOTICE NOTICE NOTICE NOTICE NOTICE NOTICE NOTICE FOR A LIMITED TIME ONLY COMPUSERVE WILL PRESENT $15.00 WORTH OF COMPLIMENTARY ONLINE TIME to the Readers of; CPU NEWSWIRE ONLINE MAGAZINE¿ featuring STReport Online Magazine¿ """""""""""""""""""""""" "The Original 16/32bit Online Magazine" NEW USERS; SIGN UP TODAY! Call any of the St Report Official BBS numbers (Listed Above) or Leave E-mail to St.Report - R.Mariano Be sure to include your full mailing address so your Compuserve kit can be immediately mailed to you! NOTICE NOTICE NOTICE NOTICE NOTICE NOTICE NOTICE NOTICE NOTICE NOTICE *********************************************************************** > CPU REPORT¿ ========== Issue # 53 ---------- by Michael Arthur Remember When.... In 1981, Ashton-Tate introduced dBASE II, which became a best selling Database management program, and in 1984, introduced dBASE III, which became an industry standard, or when in 1989 (after five years of industry rumors, including two years of vaporware status) dBASE IV was introduced, only to be challenged fiercely by the many powerful database programs which had emerged in that 5 year hiatus? CPU Systems Roundup XXII ======================== Dream Computer Systems V: The Empires Strike Back -------------------------------------------------- Part II In Part I of this Series, I showed a list of the most powerful Dream Systems that could be configured from both the microcomputer industry, and the growing crop of low-end workstations. While there were probably newer computers and peripherals that could have been included, the list was generally accurate. Now I will compare the Dream Systems, their various features being stacked against each other to determine which ones you could safely consider the "best". However, the cost of these Dream Systems, which is admittedly out of the reach of the majority of computer users, may cause some to believe that configuring such a list is useless. But analyzing how far current computers can truly go with current peripherals not only helps in realizing the capabilities of our machines, but can be useful in both setting priorities for the level of price/performance in our systems, and in defining more clearly what we should demand from our computers.... Here is a Graph of the features of each Dream System: Dream Systems List: (Comparison of each Systems' Optimal Features) _________________________________________________________________________ Dream |Main Chips,|MHZ Rate|Mass |Expansion|Graphics Displays | System |Megs of RAM| & MIPS |Storage | Slots |Best Resolution(s) | -----------|-----------|--------|----------|---------|-------------------| IBM 486 |Intel 80486| 25 MHZ |1 Gigabyte| Four (7)|800*600 w/16 Colors| System |Eight Megs |17 MIPS |Tape Drive|PC AT Bus|1024*768*256 Colors| -----------|-----------+--------+----------+---------+-------------------| Mac IIci |68030/68882| 25 MHZ |650 Meg | Zero (3)|640*400*256 Colors | System |Eight Megs |6 MIPS |Tape Drive|NuBus |1024*768*16 Million| -----------|-----------+--------+----------+---------+-------------------| SG Personal|R3000/R3010| 20 MHZ |170 Meg | One (1) |1024*768*16 Million| Iris System|Eight Megs |16 MIPS |Hard Drive|VME Bus | | -----------|-----------+--------+----------+---------+-------------------| Amiga 2000 |68030/68882| 33 MHZ |300 Meg HD| One (7) |640*256 w/64 Colors| System | Nine Megs |8 MIPS |10Meg Tape|Zorro II |1280*200 w/4 Colors| -----------|-----------+--------+----------+---------+-------------------| SPARCStat. |SPARC/W3170| 20 MHZ |650 Meg | One (3) |1152*900*256 Colors| System | 16 Megs |12 MIPS |Hard Drive|S-Bus | | -----------|-----------|--------|----------|---------|-------------------| ATW | 10 T-800s | 20 MHZ |300 Meg | Zero (4)|512*480*16 Million | System | 13 Megs |60 MIPS |Hard Drive|Abaq |1280*960*16 Colors | -----------'-------------------------------------------------------------' In the Mass Storage column, Tape stands for removable storage, and HD stands for fixed, or hard disk storage. Secondly, while there are many measurements to determine the number of MIPS (Million Instructions Per Second) that a system can do, in this Essay, one MIPS is equal to the ability to compute approximately 1500 Dhrystones per second. Also, the Expansion Slot Column now measures the number of available expansion slots in each Dream System AFTER installing the various add-in boards in each System Configuration. The number in parentheses is the total number of expansion slots in the system. Based on both this graph, and the System Descriptions, I have determined these Standings: IBM 386 Dream System: Tied for First Place - One of the Two Best Systems Currently Available - The IBM Dream System is truly a superb example of a Dream System, providing powerful capabilities, and being very well rounded in features which are superb in themselves. The IBM Dream System's capabilities have increased steadily, and now, with the 80486's blazing speed, there are virtually NO weaknesses apparent in this system. Resulting in that the IBM Dream System dominated many of the Dream System Comparisons. But its marginal win over the Personal Iris weakened its ranking, and its decisive loss against the ATW ended its secure First Place ranking. However, the ATW's own weaknesses and losses against other systems meant that the IBM System was just as qualified for First Place as the ATW System.... Mac IIci Comparison: The IBM is superior to the Mac IIci in the number of Expansion Slots, amount of mass storage, and processing speed, is equal in the amount of RAM, and is inferior only in graphics capabilities. Therefore, the IBM scores higher than the Mac IIci.... Iris Comparison: The IBM is superior to the Personal Iris in its amount of Mass Storage, and expansion slots, is roughly equal in its processing speed and amount of RAM, and is only inferior in graphics capabilities. Therefore, the choice is between the IBM System's greater expandability and amount of mass storage, and the Personal Iris' graphics capabilities. Therefore, if you can live with 256 colors at a 1024*768 resolution, the IBM scores higher than the Personal Iris. But only by a small margin.... Amiga 2000 Comparison: The IBM is superior to the Amiga System in processing speed, graphics capabilites, # of Expansion slots, and amount of mass storage, and is roughly equal in the amount of RAM. Since it is not inferior to it in any degree, the IBM scores much higher than the Amiga System. SPARCStation Comparison: The IBM is superior in the amount of Mass Storage, # of expansion Slots, and processing speed, is equal in graphics capabilities, and is inferior only in the amount of RAM. And since more RAM can be obtained in the future, the IBM scores much higher than the SPARCStation. ATW Comparison: The IBM is superior in the amount of Mass Storage, is roughly equal in the # of expansion slots, and is inferior in the amount of RAM, processing speed, and graphics capabilities. Therefore, the ATW scores higher than the IBM System, with the lack of an ST/ATW Compatible Magneto-Optical being the ATW's inadequacy in this comparison. Macintosh IIci Dream System: Fourth Place With the Macintosh IIci, the Mac Dream System has not only been able to keep most of its processing capabilities, as well as all of its other features, but is now drastically reduced in price. It is well balanced in features, and has managed to gain a substantial speed increase without needing an expensive Accelerator board. However, it seems that while the Mac IIci System isn't inadequate in itself, that the other Dream Systems have advanced a lot more than it has. Resulting in the Mac IIci Dream System becoming the "middle of the road" contender in this list. But with Apple's upcoming high-end Mac, the Macintosh Dream System could reach for the top of the heap.... Iris Comparison: The Mac is superior in the amount of Mass Storage, and is roughly equal in its amount of RAM, expansion slots, and graphics capabilities. Since it is inferior in system speed, the question becomes whether Mass Storage is more important than processing ability. Since Mass storage can be readily obtained, then the Personal Iris scores higher than the Mac IIci. Amiga 2000 Comparison: The Mac is superior in graphics capabilities, and the amount of mass storage, and is slightly inferior in the amount of RAM and expansion slots, as well as being plainly outmatched in processing speed. So while the Mac System is better in graphics and mass storage, the Amiga System is better in processing speed, and (since it has 7 total system slots) has greater expandability. But since neither system's advantages outweigh the other's, the Mac and Amiga systems are tied in this essay. SPARCStation Comparison: The Mac is superior in its graphics capabilities, and amount of Mass Storage, is roughly equal in the # of expansion slots, and is inferior in processing speed and its amount of RAM. Since the Macintosh also has more third-party hardware products available for it, the Mac IIci's potential expandability is greater. So if one considers graphics and mass storage to be more important than system speed, then the Mac scores higher than the SPARCStation. However, this is also a difficult decision.... ATW Comparison: The Mac IIci is superior in Mass Storage and graphics capabilities, and is inferior in system speed, its total # of expansion slots, and its standard amount of RAM. Since both lists of advantages have the same number of items, one must consider which list of advantages is more important. However, the ATW and Mac IIci Systems each have zero available slots, so in that area the ATW is neutralized. Therefore, since more RAM can be bought in the future, the Mac IIci Dream System scores slightly higher than the ATW Dream System. SGI Personal Iris Dream System: Third Place The Personal Iris made a strong showing in the Dream Systems list, with processing speed and graphics capabilities rivalling or surpassing the best of the rest. However, while it is superb in many areas, its worst weakness, its relatively mediocre amount of Mass Storage, combined with the ATW's overwhelming speed advantage and its loss to the IBM system (by a small margin) kept it from getting First Place.... Amiga 2000 Comparison: The Iris is superior in processing speed, and graphics capabilities, is equal in the amount of RAM, and is inferior in the amount of Mass Storage. So if you can wait for better mass storage, then the Personal Iris scores higher than the Amiga System. SPARCStation Comparison: The Iris is superior in processing speed and graphics capabilities, and is inferior in the amount of Mass Storage and RAM. However, while both lists are tied, the Personal Iris' advantages are more important. As such, the Personal Iris scores higher than the SPARCStation. ATW Comparison: The Personal Iris is superior in graphics capabilities, is roughly equal in the # of expansion slots, and is inferior in processing speed, amount of RAM, and Mass Storage. Since the ATW has more advantages, it scores higher than the Personal Iris.... Amiga 2000 Dream System: Fifth Place The Amiga 2000 System is extremely well balanced in features, and has an excellent set of options. In processing speed and graphics ability it is equal to the mainstream of regular workstations, and it does compare well to the other Dream Systems. However, its mediocre amount of Mass storage, as well as the other Systems' processing speed, caused it to be ranked a lot lower than expected. And while its features were equal to the Mac Dream System's, its above weaknesses caused it to be ranked lower. However, it has done well for its debut, and it has much potential.... SPARCStation Comparison: The Amiga 2000 is superior in the amount of Mass Storage, is equal in the # of expansion slots, and is inferior in system speed, amount of RAM, and graphics capabilities. Therefore, the SPARCStation's advantages cause it to score higher than the Amiga. ATW Comparison: The Amiga is slightly superior in Mass Storage, and is inferior in everything else, including graphics, # of expansion slots, amount of RAM, and system speed. So if one can live without a larger amount of Mass Storage, then the ATW scores MUCH higher than the Amiga.... SPARCStation Dream System: Last Place The SPARCStation 1 is a superb Dream System, being well balanced in features that are VERY powerful in themselves, and with capabilities that are very good. But not good enough. Unfortunately, many of its features have been met, or exceeded, by the competition It hasn't stood up against other Dream systems using RISC technology, like the Personal Iris and ATW, and the Mac and IBM Systems have surpassed it. And while it unquestionably defeated the Amiga Dream System, its other losses ensure its low ranking. The SPARCStation Dream System is quickly being outperformed.... ATW Comparison: The SPARCStation is superior to the ATW in its amount of Mass Storage and standard RAM, is roughly equal in high resolution graphics, and # of expansion slots, and is inferior in system speed and low/middle resolution graphics. Since both are tied in items, one must consider which items are more important. Since CPU Report considers system speed and virtual superiority in graphics to be more important than the amount of RAM and expansion slots, then if you can wait for a larger Hard Drive for it, then the ATW scores higher than the SPARCStation. ATW Dream System: Tied for First Place - One of the Two Best Systems Currently Available - With its parallel processing and graphics capabilities, the ATW has managed to maintain a level of performance above the rest of the Dream Systems. While some of its advantages have declined in superiority, by virtue of the RISC systems' improved speed, or the increased graphics abilities of some systems, the ATW has kept a considerable edge. Also, while it is well-rounded in many ways, several of its weaknesses, such as the amount of Mass Storage, stopped it from getting First Place. In fact, only its decisive win against the IBM System ensured its First Place ranking. The competition has gotten much rougher for the ATW, and while its advantages are many, it is not invincible. The ATW has great potential in the workstation market, as it could set a new level of price/performance for many profitable aspects of the industry. And its superb showing against this Crop of workstation-class systems shows its strength in the workstation arena. However, with such supercomputer-like speed, the ATW Dream System's ideal market could be the emerging market for minisupercomputers, or systems that achieve speed slightly below that of true supercomputers, but with a fraction of their cost. Given that minisupercomputers with capabilities equal to the ATW Dream System now cost from $250,000 to a million or more dollars, the ATW could end up becoming a leader in the low-end part of that market.... But ONLY if Software Development for the ATW is supported strongly, and if Atari's efforts to make the ATW accepted as a worldwide standard are MUCH better than its previous efforts to make the Atari ST popular in the US. So as to account for future developments, I have included a list of Upcoming Dream Systems, so accurate comparisons can be made between present and future computers meeting the "Dream System" status. In the past, some Systems on this list have merely been improvements on old systems, but these Dream Systems do not fall under that category, and all show excellent potential.... Upcoming Systems' Features: _________________________________________________________________________ Dream |Main Chips,|MainChip|Mass |Expansion|Graphics Displays/ | System |Megs of RAM|Speed |Storage |Slots |Best Resolution(s) | ----------|-----------|--------|----------|---------|--------------------| Atari |68030/68882| 16 MHZ | 80 Meg | Five |640*400*16 Colors | TT030/6 |Six Megs | |Hard Drive|VME Bus |1280*960 w/Monochr. | ----------|-----------+--------+----------+---------+--------------------| Sun 3/80 |68030/68882| 20 MHZ | 650 Meg | One |1152*900*16 Million | System | 16 Megs | |Tape Drive| P4 Bus | | ----------|-----------+--------+----------+---------+--------------------| Mega 4 ST |68030/68882| 16 MHZ | 650 Meg | One |640*200 w/4 Colors | System |Four Megs | |Hard Drive|Mega Bus |1024*768 w/16 Colors| -------------------------------------------------------------------------' (Note: Keep in mind that some of these specs are not final, and that the actual systems will probably differ in some way from the systems that are shown.) System #7, the Atari TT030/6, has a 16 MHZ 68030 chip with a 16 MHZ 68882 Math Chip, Six Megs of RAM and an 80 Megabyte Hard Drive as standard, as well as a VME Expansion Bus with five slots. Also, I would include an NEC Multisync 4D Color Monitor ,and an Omniswitch, made by Talon Technologies, which interfaces Multisync monitors with Atari STs. Total System Cost: $6100 dollars. Resolutions: 320*200 with 256 Colors out of 4096 640*400 with 16 Colors out of 4096 1280*960 with Monochrome Resolution Comparisons with Other Systems: Many of the features of the TT030/6, such as speed and amount of RAM, have already been surpassed by current systems. However, while its graphics capabilities are comparatively mediocre, they are suitable for its price range. Given this, it seems that the 68030 TT will make its niche in the price performance area of the market, in which it stands a superb chance of success. But ONLY if one is able to easily replace its 16 MHZ 68030 with 20 and 25 MHZ processors, and if VME Board Manufacturers start supporting it. System #8, the Sun 3/80 System, is a Sun 3/80 with 8 Megs of RAM, a 20 MHZ 68030 chip, a 20 MHZ 68882 Math Chip, and 1 expansion slot. Added to this are Pinnacle Micro's 650 Meg Magneto-Optical Drive, and two Sun Memory Expansion Kits, with 4 Megs of RAM Each. Cost: $25,500 dollars. Sun 3/80 Resolution: 1152*900 with 16 Million Colors at the same time. Comparisons with other Systems: The Sun 3/80 System provides an advanced set of Dream System capabilities, including 24bit color graphics, a Magneto-Optical Drive, and large amounts of RAM. While its speed isn't at the caliber of the current Dream Systems, the Sun 3/80 promises to be a VERY good contender in the low-end workstation area. In fact, given that it seems to be more powerful overall than Sun's other offering, the SPARCstation.... System #9, the Mega 4 ST System, is a Mega 4 ST with 4 Megs of RAM and 1 Expansion Slot. Added to this are FAST Technologies' upcoming 68030 board for the ST, which will use a 16 MHZ 68030, and a NEC Multisync 4D Color Monitor for Image Systems' Video Card for the Mega ST, with a 1024*768 resolution, and a 16 MHZ 68882 math chip to go in the Video Card's math chip socket, as well as a 650 Meg Hard Drive recently introduced by Microvision Inc. Also, I would include an Omniswitch, made by Talon Technologies, which interfaces Multisync monitors with all Atari ST computers. Total System Cost: $8700.00 dollars. Mega ST Resolution: 320*200 with 16 Colors out of 512 640*200 with 4 Colors out of 512 640*400 with Monochrome Resolution Image Systems' Board Resolution: 1024*768 with 16 Colors out of 4096 Comparisons with other Systems: With these extensions, the Mega 4 System gains capabilities worthy of many workstation-class systems, with a state of price/performance rivalling the Amiga 3000 and Atari TT030/6. Given that this type of power is available now for the Mega, it seems that the ST Userbase will have little to worry about in the area of good Mega ST Expansion Options in the future. However, the state of the "Personal Workstation" Market, as exemplified in the array of Dream Systems, has grown considerably in power over the past several months. With competition for First Place more fierce than ever before, it seems that performance alone may not win the battle for the Low-End Workstation market. With many new systems having leadership capability in the vital area of processing ability, around which the whole concept of RISC chips is based, low-end Workstations will have to find other advantages (such as graphics capabilities) in order to become more popular in this industry.... These Dream Systems also indicate certain future trends which will occur with microcomputers. Megapixel displays (screens with 1024*1024 or better resolution), will become the main targets in the graphics arena, while 8 - 24 bit color displays (showing 256 to 16 Million colors) will quickly be a necessity. Also, with the advent of 4 Meg SIMM RAMs, 4 Megs of RAM will soon become standard fare. However, this Dream Systems essay seems to indicate that with the 68040 and 80486 matching the speed of RISC-based microprocessors, the "RISC Wars" (the competition in the computer industry to establish the dominant RISC chip standard) is about to get VERY interesting indeed. But ponder, if you will, these questions: 1) Will there be a number of 68030 products arriving for Atari computers in the near future, and if so, how will this affect the Atari ST's popularity? 2) Given that an inexpensive 68040 system would not only be more popular than a 25 MHZ 68030 system, but could revolutionize the industry, should Atari concentrate on developing a 68040-based Atari TT, or an Atari TT040, after they introduce the 68030 TT? ---===**===--- CPU STATUS REPORT¿ ================== Mountain View, CA Sun Microsystems and Eastman Kodak recently announced ----------------- an agreement in which Kodak's CESD (Customer Equipment Service Division) will help boost Sun's customer support for their Unix machines in some areas of the US. While Sun's Customer Support network will remain intact, Kodak's CESD will double the number of "in the field" technicians handling "on-site" maintenance and repair for Sun workstations. The Kodak CESD Group has won the Datapro Award for Customer Service for nine years, and is also experienced in the Unix field.... Designed to boost the efficiency of customer support, this type of "on-site" service maintenance has become an important selling point for ANY computer company wishing to sell its systems to big businesses, let alone trying to break into the Unix market. Given that both of the above markets would bring MUCH prosperity to Atari if properly handled.... Santa Cruz, CA The Open Software Foundation has hired Marie Bruch, -------------- former marketing director for UI (Unix International, a consortium of computer companies who back AT&T's version of Unix instead of the OSF's plans). It seems seems that a major reason for her leaving UI was a shaky fiscal situation for Unix development at AT&T. Also, the Santa Cruz Operation is now shipping Open Desktop, a Graphical User Interface for SCO Xenix/386 which is based on an X/Windows implementation of the OSF Motif GUI. Out for 80386/80486-based systems, Open Desktop comes with SCO Unix Release V.3, a bestselling version of AT&T Unix, which was licensed to Microsoft before as Xenix. Cost: $1000.00.... Several major software programs, including spreadsheet (Wingz), workstation desktop publishing (Framemaker), and CAD/CAM software will soon be available for Open Desktop. Also, given that 1100 software developers have committed to making Unix software which supports Open Desktop, SCO's acceptance of OSF Motif may give the OSF's efforts an invaluable boost.... Tokyo, Japan Cray Research has now extended its lead in the ------------ supercomputer industry in Japan, through a series of sales to the Japanese automobile industry. Several Japanese car makers, including Toyota, Nissan, Honda, and Mitsubishi, have bought Cray supercomputers, and recently, Daihatsu bought a Cray Y-MP capable of running at 500 million floating point operations per second (MFLOPS). Interestingly enough, other American technology firms, such as Motorola, are also achieving success in cracking the Japanese market.... Holmdel, NJ AT&T's Bell Labs has recently shown an experimental ----------- prototype known as an "optical computer". In ordinary computers, computing is performed by transistors, which manipulate the flow of electricity along certain "logic gates", which perform mathematical operations. In this method, bursts of low-intensity lasers are directed towards crystals which act as switches. One burst of light would cause a physical change in the crystal, so it either reflects or absorbs light. A series of these "on/off" switches can then be coordinated into logic gates, performing mathematical operations. AT&T has said that it could take hundreds of millions of dollars to fully develop this new technology so it is usable by microcomputers.... The applications for this new technology are enormous in the computing field. Using optical computing will allow much faster computer circuitry which can be made much smaller than electronic circuitry. Also, since an optical computer would need far less power to function than a normal machine (and generate a lot less heat), optical circuitry can be fitted more closely together, in order to implement more sophisticated and compact circuitry. There WILL be more on this next week.... _____________________________________________________________ > WORD FLAIR CO CPU/STR OnLine¿ Good stuff! ============================ ========================================================================= (C) 1989 by Atari Corporation, GEnie, and the Atari Roundtables. May be reprinted only with this notice intact. The Atari Roundtables on GEnie are *official* information services of Atari Corporation. ========================================================================= February 9, 1990 <[Sysop] JEFF.W> On behalf of the Atari ST Roundtable, I welcome all of you to the Wordflair RealTime Conference on GEnie. Before getting started, some business about how an RTC works. While the RTC room is in Listen-Only mode, you can only address our guests when I let you talk. To get my attention, just /RAIse your hand. Just enter this from your keyboard: /rai I'll acknowledge your raised hand as soon as I can, but please be patient. I -WILL- let you know when your turn is coming up. Some other RTC commands are: ? - Lists all RTC commands. /sta - Status (list) of everyone in the RTC room. /exi - Exit the RTC, but you remain logged onto GEnie. /bye - Log off of GEnie directly from the RTC. /rai - Raise your hand. Lets me know you wish to address our guest. And now, let's commence with the Wordflair RTC. On the ST platform, there are word processors, databases, spreadsheets, and graphing programs. But there has been no single product that integrates many of the functions from these applications into a single package. But our guests for this evening have done something about that. Recently, Wordflair was released for the Atari ST platform and our guests are here to tell us about it and answer your questions! With us tonight is the Chairman of Blue Chip International, Lauren Flanegan-Sellers. With her are John Fox and Robert Roll of Blue C hip International's publishing arm, Goldleaf. Welcome, Lauren, John, and Robert. Thank you for taking the time to be with us this evening! Do you have any opening remarks you'd like to make before we open the floor to questions? <[Lauren] WORDFLAIR> Howdy! Thank you GEnie, Jeff et al for inviting us to participate in this conference. This is the first time we have been part of an on-line conference so we're looking forward to the new experience. We're very pleased about the enthusiastic response Wordflair has received, and committed to making it the best document processor on any platform. So ask away, give suggestions, dream, whatever...We'll do our best to make the time worthwhile for all. <[Sysop] JEFF.W> Thank you Lauren. Wordflair is quite a unique application. I'm not aware of anything quite like it on any other computer platform. Please tell us how you came to develop Wordflair for the Atari ST. <[Lauren] WORDFLAIR> We believe in the Atari computer family and think that there is still an opportunity to capture market share in the small and home business market. We will of course support other platforms. <[Charles] C.F.JOHNSON> Hi Lauren, John, and Robert. First off, Wordflair is one terrific program, and I'm really enjoying working with it! One slight downside I'm experiencing right now is that there seems to be no way to use UltraScript with WF. Is that in the plans, or is there a way right now that I haven't found? <[Lauren] WORDFLAIR> Hi, Charles. Thanks for the great lead-in. Yes we plan on supporting Ultrascript, but do not have a firm ship date yet...coding has begun but not yet stable enough to predict. <[Charles] C.F.JOHNSON> Do you plan to support the UltraScript display module? <[Lauren] WORDFLAIR> If you mean will it be accessible from within WF, yes. <[Charles] C.F.JOHNSON> Actually, I'm talking about a module that I believe US is offering to developers that allows Postscript fonts to be displayed on screen, scaled from the original data. <[Lauren] WORDFLAIR> I'll have to get back to you on that one. Sounds like a good idea though. <[Charles] C.F.JOHNSON> OK, thanks, and best of luck with Wordflair! <[Lauren] WORDFLAIR> Thanks Charles. We're pleased to be able to offer G+Flair with WF. <[Sysop] JEFF.W> Lauren, perhaps it would be a good idea if you describe Wordflair, just in case a few of our guests haven't gotten the word yet. <[Lauren] WORDFLAIR> Wordflair is a document processor combining word processing, graphics such as GEM Metafiles and .IMG files, a simple flat file database, a fully imbedded financial calculator that can be dynamically linked to the database and the included graphing program, and page layout tools, all in one easy to use program. The design is unified rather than integrated which means that all of these tools are available at any time from within the word processor at the click of a mouse or keyboard command. The idea for WF originated when I had a prototype of the Macintosh and was using MacWrite, MacDraw and my calculator next to my Mac for proposals. I wanted to integrate these multiple functions in one program so that I could create forms, proposals, and general business "boilerplate docs." And so the great software design game began...again... WF is actually about the 10th program I have designed/written. <[Sysop] JEFF.W> Thanks. <[Garcon] G.BABIN> First, thanks for the update to Wordflair. It's encouraging to see that level of support! My questions concern fonts and the graphing feature. Why is there a limit to the number of fonts that can be loaded and can you remove this limit? Regarding the graph feature, being restricted to eight data entries makes this otherwise excellent feature practically useless! Twelve entries would be a vast improvement. I also would like to see overlayed bar graphs with double data sets to really make WF a major league application (pretty please, with sugar on top!). <[Lauren] WORDFLAIR> We plan on adding a number of features to the graphing utility and adding fonts. In the next version of WF, there will be no limit to fonts. You will be able to access them through a dialogue and see the resultant output. I remember giving you a demo at COMDEX in Vegas, I believe. Is that right? <[Garcon] G.BABIN> Yes, great memory! <[Lauren] WORDFLAIR> Thank you for supporting WF. Please count on us to keep adding to the product software development is an evolution of ideas. It is never done. You have to hold down new ideas at some point or you never get the thing out. But just at the moment you are ready to release it, you think of the 10 essential things that you left out. Please keep up the suggestions and ideas. We learn best from our users. You never can imagine how some people might use the product. Nothing intended toward you, of course, Garcon! <[Rick] GERDSENDER> Hi, this is Rick Flashman. I haven't used WordFlair yet (hint, hint), but I was wondering where the whole thesaurus & dictionary issue is headed? Will we see one soon? <[Lauren] WORDFLAIR> Geez Rick, I thought we sent you out a review copy. The good news for us at least is that we sold out our initial manufacturing run and really don't have anymore product until Feb. 15th. So some of the freebies have had.. to wait. I'll check on what might have happened to yours. <[Rick] GERDSENDER> (Haven't gotten it yet...) <[Lauren] WORDFLAIR> Regarding the Spellchecker,thesaurus, hyphenation dictionary, etc., we are working on it. We are evaluating several sources. Currently leaning toward the Proximity offering. When we complete our evaluation and get a prototype with the code integrated, we'll announce a ship date. Seriously, no vaporware here folks. In the meantime, you can use Thunder. <[Rick] GERDSENDER> Sounds good! Write it first, announce it later. I recently began a small business and do not yet have a database program. I'm sorry that I haven't had a chance to see the demo, but it sounds like it might meet my needs. <[Lauren] WORDFLAIR> The demo can be downloaded from GEnie. The database is quite limited. It's main benefit is that it is very easy to use. We're working now on a utility to import any comma delimited format, so for example you could have imported the database info that Atari sent developers. Can I search on 8 fields? Or is search more limited? <[Lauren] WORDFLAIR> There is no limit except RAM as to how many fields (we call them regions) that can be searched. You just perform consecutive sorts. Could you explain the "unified" thing versus "integrated" a bit? <[Lauren] WORDFLAIR> I'd love to wax philosophic and explain the whole unified vs integrated thing, but are people really interested? Well, _I_ am. And it's my turn. <[Lauren] WORDFLAIR> OK... great..! The whole idea behind "unified software" which is a phrase, I admit that I coined, is that you have one set of menus, and one interface to learn thus enhancing the learnablity and ease of use. In my great fantasy, you will be able to click on any region within WF, and import, manipulate or otherwise access a virtual cornucopia of data types, i.e. voice, data, text, all graphic types, all at the highest display, and all without ever leaving the word processing... [Sysop Note: A line problem broke the connection with Lauren at this point. A few minutes later, Lauren rejoined the conference and the conversation continues...] The word processing metaphor or text metaphor, is what most of us are used to communicating with. So if you can access all the other forms of visual and audio communication that you might want to invoke within the text metaphor, now that's what unified software design is all about. Wordflair, in its current incarnation is just a first draft of my fantasy. Dorothy, the kids you are aiming for might be interested in trying WF. It is a little sophisticated perhaps but might be of interest. I'd like to see your KidPublisher Pro. Wanna swap? Sure. Even trade, I'm sure. Ok, deal. <[Vince-Cubed] V.AVERELLO> How does WF's handling of graphics compare to that of WordUp (which seems to be your main competitor) ? The graphics import capability of Wordflair and WordUp are fairly similar, I believe. We are preparing a competitive analysis for WF and all the leading WP's/document processors and will post it on Genie so soon. Dan Fruchey of STart has just completed his survey, and we came out on top, I believe. Look for his analysis in the STart review of WP's. <[Sysop] JEFF.W> Do you know what issue Dan's article will be in? I think it is in the May issue. <[Vince-Cubed] V.AVERELLO> Does the image look the same in WF as it did in the editor that created it ? The image can be imported to any dimension. <[Vince-Cubed] V.AVERELLO> But can it be imported with its original dimensions intact? WF can import an image to any scale. If you want to keep the original's dimensions intact, then set the grid and scale the graphic region to the original graphics dimensions. In the next version, we will offer an option of keeping the original dimensions intact. But you see, you may want the flexibility of changing the dimensions before importing. So you will have a choice. <[dplotkin] ANTIC> Hi, Lauren. The ability of Wordflair to generate camera ready copy is a real plus. Any word on supporting generation of table of contents or index? Hi Dave! Glad you're here. Glad all of you are here. We are working on a version of WF that is currently called WF Professional. We plan on making it the most powerful document processor available on any platform. Nuff said for now. <[dplotkin] ANTIC> Sounds like a heck of a reason to send in your registration card. Thanks. That's right. We'll be offering very attractive upgrade prices to registered users. We want to support those of you who have supportted us from the beginning. <[dplotkin] ANTIC> Lauren, I'm curious. Have you gotten a good reception? Sold a few copies? We have had a very good reception. We plan on helping dealers sell more through an active dealer support campaign. We have just sent out 500 demos to all the dealers we have on file, and are planning a number of promotional campaigns. We believe that WF is ideally suited to go out with each new 1 meg system or better sold. <[Sysop] JEFF.W> I'd must say that you did an extremely classy thing with Wordflair. Not only did you license Atari's GDOS, but you also licensed a special version of G+PLUS from CodeHead Software. Thank you very much! It may be obvious to many of us, but why exactly did you do this? We think that G+Plus is a fine product and offers some significant speed improvements. However, once the new GDOS with scalable fonts is out, those of you who have trashed GDOS may want to reconsider. It will offer a very fast alternative. I'm sure that CodeHead will find a way to enhance its performance even more. <[Sysop] JEFF.W> Knowing the CodeHeads, I'm sure they will! <[Informal] DAVESMALL> On a philosophical note, I've noticed that it's easier for me to write on monitors that show more of the page when I write on a TRS-100, w/8 line display, the writing gets fragmented into little paragraph chunks, and the thought train is lost. 80 x 25, I've used and a Moniterm full page is far better...something about looking up the preceding paragraphs and keeping a train of thought together. I'm curious if you've seen this, and if there's much call for larger monitors...if it's something like, "the larger the man/machine interface, the better". I figger a word processor person would be good to ask. :-) (or woman/machine -- I use it generically). Great question. First of all, Wordflair works with the Moniterm and is not device dependent so it should work with all larger monitors. And absolutely, I am a big picture gal myself. The wider the view the better the solution. <[Informal] DAVESMALL> Have you run into this yourself when writing? Yes. I like to have the maximum display possible. Instead of writing lots of linked nuggets, I can get more of a "stream of consciousness" style, which in the long run is really more powerful because it is more intuitive--you know, right brain and all that California stuff.... <[Informal] DAVESMALL> "Linked nuggets" describes the situation perfectly on an 8-line monitor. Okay, how's about this, just for fun: We take an Atari hi-res monitor, turn it on its side, and produce a screen that's far more writer oriented. We get the CodeHead people to write a driver (grin) to let the words lie on their side and a smaller font. Much space is wasted on right half of screen; it could be used to give, say, 40-60 lines of text. 640 x 400 ratio. Be an interesting hack, wouldn't it? (I might have to volunteer) Ah, the peanut gallery tells me this has been done in Germany. Can I get it? <[Sysop] JEFF.W> 2nd Word is the name of the product, I believe. Right on brother. Look out Radius! <[Informal] DAVESMALL> Lauren, are you going to CeBIT for Europe in March? I didn't know this was going to be such an intense rush of an experience. <[Sysop] JEFF.W> Ha ha I will be in Europe in early March seeking international distributors so will drop in but am not exhibiting. Are you going? <[Informal] DAVESMALL> Am considering it; don't know enough yet to tell if we still can get reservations, etc, exhibit in the booth. See if Francis at Clavius can help. <[Informal] DAVESMALL> Welp, that wraps me up; other people waiting. Thanks, Lauren, and good luck with your product! Thank you DAVE. ALWAYS a pleasure to talk to you. <[Sysop] JEFF.W> A friend of mine, Bob Carpenter, bought Wordflair and he *loves* it. However, he laments the lack of keyboard equivalents for functions like bold, underlining, and italics. Are these planned for an upcoming revision of Wordflair? And can you tell us about any other enhancements in the works? Yes, keyboard equivalents for EVERYTHING are in the works. Also, improved speed of .IMG file imports, the spellchecker, etc that I have discussed earlier. <[Charles] C.F.JOHNSON> By the way, Lauren, I also wanted to say "Thanks" for the very quick fix for the "open workstation" problem we reported. The new version works perfectly in that respect now. It's nice to see the publisher of a large application like Wordflair respond to a problem report in real time. Thanks for the report, Charles. WE did our best to insure that WF shipped free of bugs. You know the saying about the best laid plans of mice and men. But you can count on us to fix bugs in a timely manner. Thank God or the Goddess as you prefer that is the only bug reported so far. <[Charles] C.F.JOHNSON> I've been using a Moniterm lately (LOVE IT), and I noticed that on the Moniterm, Wordflair doesn't let you change the page magnification. You always get the full page view and I couldn't see a way to zoom in on things. Am I missing it? No Charles. In my somewhat limited imagination, I did not think of big monitors initially, so we need to incorporate a zoom function at a variety of aspects. We're working on it. <[Charles] C.F.JOHNSON> Ah! OK, it's no biggie...the full page display is very useable as is. But a zoom function would be nice for closeup work, like aligning rules, etc. Thank you, everyone. And thank you for your support of Wordflair! <[Sysop] JEFF.W> That about wraps up the Wordflair Realtime Conference. Before we switch to "frenzy mode", do you have any closing comments, Lauren? Yes, Jeff. Let me just say that we are very pleased to be a part of this Atari community and are dedicated to helping to sell Atari's and to working in harmony with other developers to meet the needs of our users. <[Sysop] JEFF.W> I might remind folks that Lauren provides online support for Wordflair in the Atari ST Roundtable's Bulletin Board. You can find her in Category 13 ("Word Processing"), Topic 11 ("Wordflair"). Hmmm...Wordflair actually defies the classifications of our current Category structure in the BB. But it's gotta go somewhere! Also, for those of you who haven't checked it out yet, you can find a demo version of Wordflair in the ST RT's Software Library. It is WF.ARC, file #13769. It's a full implementation with the exception of the print and save operations. Many thanks to our guests: Lauren Flanegan-Sellers, John Fox, and Robert Roll. And many thanks to all the ST RT members who attended this evening. Good night. Future Conferences Scheduled...... February ? - I'm talking with Eric Rosenquist of Strata Software about doing an RTC -sometime- in February. I've opened the calendar to him and I'm awaiting a date confirmation from him. I'll let you know when this gets locked down. March 7 - What started out as an ISD conference with Nathan Potechin (to discuss new Calamus products Outline and the CVG Converter) has turned into a hybrid of DTP and Atari-down-under. Nathan will be beaming into the RTC from Australia along with a gang of personnel from Atari Australia. March 21 - Dorothy Brumleve, of D.A. Brumleve Software, will be our guest to discuss her line of children's programs on the ST, highlighting her latest release. Please note also that these schedules are subject to change without notice, although I will keep you informed of changes as they occur. And the schedule is not all-inclusive. Additional RTC's may very likely be scheduled with little advance warning, so one should keep their eyes and ears open and follow Category 1, Topic 11 for the latest developments in the RTC schedule. _____________________________________________________________ > USERGROUP NEWS CPU/STR InfoFile¿ Brodie on the Road..... =============================== ON THE ROAD AGAIN ================= Bob Brodie Atari Usergroup Co-Ordinator, will appear at the following locations ....time and date specified.... February 10, 1990 Redding Atari Computer Enthusiasts 7PM, Sat. night. Please contact Mike Farrar, President of R.A.C.E. at 916-243-5189. February 15, 1990 ST ACE of Sonoma County, 7PM Thursday evening Please contact John Marakarian, President of ST ACE at 707-573-0508 or GEnie mail J.Marakarian. February 17, 1990 MacTechnics, a Mac users group on the campus of the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor. Meeting starts at 9:00AM, my presentation will start around 11:00AM. Contact Pattie Rayl for directions, 313-973-8825 or GEnie Mail Unicornpub. February 18, 1990 Washtenaw Users Group. Meeting is to be held from 1-3PM, in the Anderson Room of the Student Union at the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor. Contact Pattie Rayl, or check current issue of Atari Interface Magazine Editorial Ramblings for directions. February 19, 1990 ST Interest Group of West Michigan (STING) in Grand Rapids, Michigan. Contact Ron Shultheiss at Software Carousel, phone 616-361-1381 Febraury 20, 1990 Michigan Atari Computer Enthusiasts (MACE). Contact Ed Hanson at 313-675-0044 or GEnie Mail E.Hanson. February 26, 1990 A "Private Online Conference" with Syracuse Atari Computer Enthusiasts and a Meeting to be held at the Liverpool Public Library, send GEnie Mail to LEN-F, or call Fred Dunaway at 315-675-0044. That pretty well settles February. Now that I have diligently typed all this in, I recognize that I need to be a little more definitive about where these groups are located. More accurately, Redding is in the far northern end of California, about 4 hours north of San Francisco. Santa Rosa is about two hours north of San Francisco. I am tempted to say that Ann Arbor is about three hours east of here, but that would be cheating, so check with the Michigan crew on the location of the meeting(s) there. Syracuse is in Western New York. AS March gets firmed up, I'll let you in on the where and whens! Bob... ___________________________________________________ > PCD 2 ARGH! CPU/STR OnLine¿ Atari to blame?? =========================== Below, we once again present the various experiences of folks who have received their long awaited PCD2 pcbs. Their respective experiences are here for all to see.... How depressing to find that Atari is being blamed both directly and indirectly by AG for this dilemma they find themselves in. We say, they should have had better beta testing and been more realistic in their research and development, the board size is far too big to be practical. Atari was first blamed for not sending schematics and now we see where the speed of the ram chips is being blamed, it seems the old expression of "Any old port in a storm" fits rather well here. Atari is not to blame in this case, the culprit is really lack of hardware development experience and the reluctance to listen to the advice of those with the experience. Oh well, live and learn.... S.CIPRIS, posts; I decided not to be a part of the crowd that appears to idolize Bill Teal, and swears that he can do no wrong. I asked for a refund of my money sent in for this product. You see Bill did a great deal of wrong things. Firstly, he advertised a product that would install into all machines with no problem and no soldering, YEAH Right! Secondly, he began to send out units that were not working, and is still sending out units that are not working. Lastly, he is sending out units that are missing masnuals, disks, etc. Of, course let us not forget the fact that these units are too large to even fit into the computers without a major hack job. These are not at all like the units that were advertised oh so long ago. You cannot pass the buck. The fault is not in the suppliers, board manufacturers , packers or anyone else for that matter. The fault is with Mr. Teal. He is ultimately responsible. I hate to appear to be so harsh, but I never have seen such bad marketing practices as this. The fact that you cannot get through to Avant-Garde is a terrible truth. We are lucky to be part of the telecommunications set, but what about all of the purchasers without modems. They are sitting in the dark with a non-working, non-fitting piece of junk. They have no support or reasonable explanations from Mr. Teal. I am sure that eventually this will all be straightened out, and I wish the Teals all the luck in the world with their future endeavors. At this time I left E-Mail to AG on 1/29/90 and I also sent them a registered letter on 1/31/90 asking for my refund. So far no word but I am waiting and will keep you posted. By the way, does anyone besides myself remember the Edsel? Good luck to all! Apologies if I appeared too harsh! ------------ J.ALLEN27, posts; Hi folks, I talked to Bill today. He has found the bug. It will require a PAL chip update so he will have to send each of us a PAL and have us swap it for the one on the board. The bug, if it weren't so painful for us, is actually pretty funny. When the "IBM PROCESSOR"...to avoid confusion...talks to the I/O chips on the motherboard it uses some of the same 68000 control signals that run to the motherboard. The one in question is DTACK, in a 68000 system this is the input that tells the processor that the data...from what ever.. is ready and the cycle should be completed. So when CPU #2 is talking to it's own chips it issues DTACKs on the DTACK line. Ordinarily this shouldn't be a problem BUT: On PCDII, since the IBM chip can only address 1 Meg of memory all the addresses seen by the motherboard are...until EMS...are in the 1st Meg. The motherboard perceives this as being mapped into RAM. Well Bill does mask off AS and other control lines but DTACK is supposed to be this signal that all devices can daisy chain to and so he didn't. Accessing the I/O devices...which to the motherboard LOOK like ram accesses...he issues DTACK which then feeds the generic RDY response mechinism to the IBM processor. RDY is the DTACK equivalent for IBM stuff. Since the MMU sees that a RAM address is being addressed...although no AS or other lines are true...and it sees the DTACK go true it responds in some way that we can't really know because what happens occurs INSIDE the MMU. IF...and it's a BIG IF...the MMU is doing RAM refresh at the same time that this DTACK happens the whole refresh cycle goes bonkers. It ends up trashing a word on each 512 byte boundry through the entire ram array. It literally writes over or currupts the data in memory. This is not ACTUALLY a ram access because AS and UDS/LDS are not active and so nobody is actually on the bus. And yet the MMU chip THINKS something is happening and looses it's mind in refresh. Ordinarily in a RAM access the MMU is the source of DTACK and it is put out only when the MMU chip has actually read or written the rams and the data is on the 68000 bus. Somehow having the DTACK driven while the address bus points to ram and refresh is going on has a very nasty affect on the MMU. The data that gets trashed is of course the actual PCDII program and anything else in ram. So BANG!!!! The next time either processor runs the program. This is whats happening. One of the I/O chips is the interupt controller, that is why blocking interupts stopped the problem and why we thought it might just be how interupts were being handled. Nop it was just a related item the real culpit was hitting the MMU the wrong way. The neat thing about this is that it is all a little timing window of hitting the MMU at just the right time with an I/O access happening in parrallel with refresh. Some MMUs and systems are affected, some aren't and that's why some work. When the new PAL is put in it will block DTACK going to the motherboard and that clears up the problem. If I had not buffered DTACK...and I didn't really have to, I thought...T16 would have hit EXACTLY the same bug because cache accesses can be percieved the same way and occur in parrallel with MMU refresh too....VERY SCARY!!!!! The only two devices ever put inside an ST that could possibly run into this situation are PCDII and T16, that's why nobody ever found it before. As usual a 3rd party product has pushed the envelope right over the edge. I hope my explaination is understandable, I know it is technical but I don't know how to put it simpler. I have no idea when the fix will be sent out, he'll have to go get pals made asap and send them out, at least they can be put in foam and into envelopes to go 1st class mail to everyone. Hope that helps, I am AMAZED. ------------ Category 19, Topic 2 Message 472 Tue Feb 06, 1990 LEPULLEY at 23:29 MST Jim, I'm one of those people that are lucky to turn on their computers without electrocuting myself, so you'll have to excuse me if my question sounds stupid (after your extensive explaination), but with the new PAL will PC Ditto II now work with the Blitter (i.e Megas)? Also, what is Bill going to do about all of the boards that are too large to fit inside the computer (without extensive cutting)? ------------ M.GENT, posts; Jim, thats great - BUT - I am on of the few that when the PC-DITTO2 board is installed correctly, the ST locks up upon POWER UP. Will this mod going to help me? Maybe I can send my system down to Bill for an exchange of on of his? He certainly would get a good cross-references of STs. My board is C070523-001 REV D. manuf. in 03 of 87. The CPU is by the disk drive, memory under the keboard, ROM under the power supply , and a DITTO board in the closet;-). My dealer and I have replaced most of the custum chips, but no go. Can't understand it because, there are no hardware upgrades inside. And with my Supra 30 or not it still locks up. Oh, this pup is a fm. But I take the wait and see method. ------------ DOUG.W, posts; M.Gent, it is quite possible you have a truly defective board. Even after the PAL upgrade, there are bound to be a few defects (damaged in the mail, damaged during installation, static zapped during packaging, etc.). --Doug ------------ E.BURGESS, posts; Any idea how long we'll have to wait for this chip now? and I notice 1 guy said he got it to run with dos 3.3 on a rev D mother board , now another guy with rev D says it locks up and that 2.1 works. Sigh I only have 3.2 and that wont work,now I'm pestering every one I know to find me another dos to try. I hope to have one in a few days. ------------ DAVESMALL, posts; Whew! I'm glad he found it! That is one cast-iron bi*** of a bug. No wonder it took so long. Accounts for the symptoms, too! You know, I think the reason you're not seeing other developers jumping on Bill is that Bill is presently going through what we fear every time we ship a product. Particularly in the Atari world, where every run of machines seems different (blitter, 373, RAMs, GLUE, MMU, etc), it seems like *someone* has a machine that'll fail. So you prepare your baby as best you can, make it wear its best clothes, and send it off to school. For Bill, the Principal called to let him know his baby was not working out. It could have happened to me or Jim; to some extent it did (the 373 thing, the Blitter thing with Jim, the GTS-100 drives for me, and so on). We got lucky in the bigger distribution, Bill didn't. You're sure not going to find me criticizing. I've put out a product with the size staff you can afford in the Atari world if you want to survive (the past is littered with people who didn't think so). It means 18 hour days and nonstop stress until *you* find the bug. Every time we send out a release, I sweat it -- what if I reformat people's hard disks accidentally? What if data is corrupted? And so on. We *all* do that. Yes, you're "beta" testers, although that's not the word you're looking for. Simply put, there is NO way to test a product en masse before shipment. Every software/hardware developer has been burned on its first shipment, which this is for PCDII, from viruses to bugs to... to where "indsutry wisdom" is even don't buy the 1.0 version, wait for 1.5 or 2.0 (this is from the *IBM* world). In short, when I read notes about Bill being the devil because he used a PAL with "666" on it (well, almost that bad), I think, sheesh. He just got a little unluckier than most. And funny how these same people forgot instantly how much good he did with PC-DITTO I, and how well it worked. Short memories. We have five Beta testers at Gadgets who have saved my cookies and reputation innumerable time, who test software. Yes, they get the new ones free. That probably amounts to $1/hr pay in the long run. Gadgets' rep for reliability would be in poor shape without them. Anyway, if I know Bill and Ginny, they'll get this PAL fix out there fast, apologize, and I'll bet (I don't know) they'll scale the board down for 520 fit -- SIMM maybe? I don't know. But you don't succeed in this business by not filling a demand. And thanks, Jim, for the update! -- Dave / Gadgets ------------ BOOJIBOY, posts; One thing that really hasn't been confirmed, particularly for me and my Mega ST2. May we assume that if you get to the screen that says place dos disk in drive A, that the board has been installed correctly, even if it crashes at that point? And to Dave Small, I am one of those poor schleps whose Mega ST2 can't write to a Mac Disk using GCR (I am sure Mark Booth has mentioned me more than once.) But I still like your product. If only I could find someone local who sells 74AS373's, that would probably solve my problem. ------------ J.ALLEN27, posts; From what we know now the only way to be sure to add memory to your system AND have it fit with PCDII is to have the chips soldered to the board rather than buying a ram upgrade board. Several dealers do this kind of thing and the ones I've seen are works of art...especially a 4Meg upgrade to a 1040 :-) The PALs are socketed and anyone can plug it in so it shouldn't cost much more than the time to do it. If the SW asks for the DOS disk then the board did pass diagnostics...the ones that "were" going to be included on the disk. They are built into the program instead...I guess the docs fell behind the facts. You said a mouthful Dave. ------------ M.FINTAK, posts; ADVANTGARDE ALL INTERESTED I 've received PC DITTO II, and attempted installation several if not many, many, times. I 've bent to pins on the chip clip, tweeked the contacts and still get the PC DITTO II not installed properly message. I've the version c chip clip and board. On the chip clip board I NOTICED THAT THE FEED THRU HOLES ARE NOT FILLED WITH SOLDER. Is this the "norm"?? Or maybe I' ve a bad set of ribbon cables. At this point, I 'ld be happy just to "crash" at loading DOS. HELP! MICHAEL FINTAK ------------ J.ALLEN27, posts; I'm at your service as always John!!! No solution to the clock situation yet except to use the SW available in the library to control the "fast" mode with SW during bootup. Use the OFF program just before the clock.prg and then the ON program afterwards. To use the SW you must connect the SWITCH input of the T16 to PIN 14 of the yamaha sound chip. You can have both HW and SW by runningthe switch wire from the T16 to the switch...SPST...and then from the switch to the sound chip PIN 14. The OS automatically turns the T16 on, the SW then gives you control in the auto folder and from the desktop. In situations where you use autobooting games either use the HW switch or Dan Wilga has uploaded a program that will put a T16 OFF rpogram into the boot sector of the Game floppy to kill the T16 before running the game. I've been asked to re-outline what is required to install PCDII with the T16. The T16 is a 16Mhz 68000 and some of it's signals are not usable by the PCDII or other CPU addon and so the addon must be connected directly to the motherboard signals. This can be done fairly easily. You must solder the PCDII clip onto the T16-68000 chip. All pins are to be soldered to the 68000 chip EXCEPT...6,7,8,9,10,11,and 15. These pins are actually 16Mhz signals and will not make PCDII happy. Bend the corresponding PCDII clip pins out away from the 68000 chip so they don't touch. Then run 30ga solid core wirewrap wire to the equivalent pins ON THE MOTHERBOARD. A short cut is to CAREFULLY pull the 68000 chip out of it's socket and solder the wires direct to the T16. You will notice that on the T16 those pins are pulled off to the side of the socket, they are plugged into an auxilary socket along side the actual 68000 socket on the T16 board. This leaves the holes in the original socket empty for these pins. You can solder the wires into these holes, plug the 68000 back into the T16, solder the PCDII clip to all the 68000 pins except the exceptions and then solder the wires to the corresponding PCDII pin that was pulled out to the side. That way the PCDII is actually connected to the MOTHERBOARD signals rather than the T16. The same proceedure must be followed for the future T16 compatible version of PCSpeed if/when it is imported to the US. You would do the same installation with the PCS socket provided with PCS, pulling the appropriate pins to the side and running wires as explained. Thankyou-Jim ------------ Category 19, Topic 2 Message 509 Fri Feb 09, 1990 AVANTGARDE at 13:46 EST This is an update of our investigation of a problem with pc-ditto II not booting DOS on some STs. We have found the problem is due to timing changes in the ST hardware. An early review of failed units shows that the 1040 ST has memory chips with speeds faster than 150 nanoseconds (most notably 120ns -- shown as dash twelve (-12) or lower on the chip). Most 1040s with 150ns and 170ns chips appear to work fine. Later on, for the curious, we'll detail the reason faster memory causes the glitch. Other machines suffer the same malady, but we have had too few reports to permit any reliable conclusion at this time. For now, we have located the problem and are currently testing several alternative solutions. Because of the nature of the problem, we are verifying the fixes to be sure new pc-ditto II timing tolerances cures all STs. The solution will be in the form of a software update (and will be available in a library) or the replacement of a socketed chip on the pc-ditto II board. The fix will be free, and we will post an announcement very soon. Thank you for your patience. Avant-Garde Systems ------------ Editor Note..... While it is very easy for to sympathize with Bill Teal's situation, It cannot, in all fairness, be said that "it is an easy fix". Also, that all those who have a problem should stand idily by while a solution is found. The manuever to garner deposits and lock down hundreds (if not thousands) of people through the discount plan was an excellent move on AG's part and, no doubt, had the darn boards been righteous from the getgo it would have been hailed as a stroke of marketing genius. As things are now, there are unhappy users all over the northern hemisphere, as a result AG now has the unenviable distinction of having more users grumbling than Atari has ever managed to have. As a friend of the userbase, the best advise to give is do what you think is best for you... There is no clear cut solution, or way to go. Sure, AG will eventually find the solution, but then, there is still one nagging problem that will be more difficult than all others to overcome. THE BOARDS ARE TOO BIG! ... Caveat Emptor. _________________________________________________________ > SUPERCHARGER! CPU/STR Spotlight¿ You've seen the rest, now comes... =============================== SUPERCHARGER! ============ A preliminary overview by R.F. Mariano Talon Technology has announced Supercharger, the first external PC processor board for Atari ST Computers. Condor Computer Ltd. has been shipping the Supercharger in the UK since 10/89 with unrivaled acceptance and success. Talon is presently awaiting FCC approval for sale to the USA marketplace. Out of the box, and onto the desk, in a matter moments the device was connected to the DMA port and ........UP and RUNNING!! NO MONUMENTAL, TECHNICAL or EXPEN$IVE INSTALLATION AT ALL..... Since the device arrived via UPS today, this afternoon, at about 4:30pm EST, we were left with little or no time to put this beaut through its paces. But... that leaves us all week to do so and come back to you in our next issue with a detailed report on Supercharger. The unit's appearance is akin to a miniature tower type cabinet that is remarkably good looking. The unit measures 7.5"d x 2.25"w x 6"h, a very comfy footprint on our already squeezed desktops. The notable difference between Talon's Supercharger and all other working and non-working emulators is readily apparent; anybody can install this device in a matter of moments. Also, unlike the others.. it is a full processor and does not have to be installed inside the ST case. Instead, the emulator is housed in a sharp looking case which has chassis connectors for the DMA port on the ST and of course, feed through for the hard drive or whatever. Incidently, to aid complex software, such as spreadsheets, desktop publishing and graphics manipulations packages, the Supercharger is socketed for the 8087 math co-processor. Plug in the 8087. and your calculations intensive applications will zip right along.... Consider that the foremost feature of the ST and the Apple Macintosh, and probably their strongest selling point, is that both machines use mice, windows pointers and menus to provide a super user-friendly operating environment. Once IBM and friends realized this, they decided to go the same route....Supercharger fully takes advantage of this as it converts the mouse so that it behave just like its Microsoft cousin. When using the Microsoft mouse versus the ST mouse, you will find no degradation in performance and additionally all software works well. In many cases there appears to be an improvement in resolution. Next week, the full story, technically speaking, and from the ordinary user's point of view... don't miss it. ---------- Below, we present a few comments by Mark Booth, of SDACE, SAN DIEGO ATARI COMPUTER ENTHUSIASTS...that recently appeared online in the GEnie ST RT. STACE [Mark], posts; A representative from Talon Technology was again a guest at our Feb 1st SDACE meeting. They brought aloneg TWO SuperCharger units, on to run and the other one to pass around the room. They popped the top off of the case of the second unit and let us individually examine it to our heart's content. First, this is a VERY nicely constructed piece of equipment! I really like the very attractive "mini-tower" case design. The latest surface mount technology was used of the internal components. The board layout was VERY clean. There a socket to add a math co-processor. The standard SuperCharger comes equiped with 512K via four 256Kx4 RAM chips. There are sockets for an additional four RAM chips. Upgrading a SuperCharger from 512K to 1 meg should be as easy as popping the top and plugging in the RAM chips (again...four 256x4 chips). Hook-up is a breeze. Just connect either of the SuperCharger's two DMA ports to your ST's DMA port. Connect any HD, etc. to the other SuperCharger DMA port. Plug the supplied 5v power supply to the back of the SuperCharger and your done. Running the supplied software brings you up in PC mode in no time. Our club President hooked it up and had it running on his 1 meg 520 in less than 2 minutes! Norton rating was 4.2. We had limitied PC software to try it with but EVERYTHING we tried ran. Even the IBM PC version of Zaxxon worked great! Talon reports the following: It is no longer necessary to hold in the little button on the front of SuperCharger when you reboot your ST (as was reported in some magazine reviews). We tried this, rebooting the 520 several times, SuperCharger worked prefectly and did not effect normal ST operation. Talon also reports that there is a patch available to fix some reported problems with certain Supra host adapters/hd boot software. For comparison, one of our club members brought along his (yet to be installed) PC Ditto II board. After much discussion it was generally agreed that SuperCharger seems to be THE way to go for IBM PC compatibility. I know one thing. I don't have the slightest interest in using PC software. However, SuperCharger is SOOOOOOO nice I found myself wanting one just the same! Talon reports that they have a "Warehouse FULL" of SuperChargers that are waiting for FCC approval to ship! They said that FCC approval is expected within 30-45 days (as of Thursday, Feb 1st.). This is just my personal feeling but, I would be willing to pay TWICE as much for SuperCharger because of its ease of use and installation! The best part is that SuperCharger does NOT cost twice as much as the others! Mark ______________________________________________________________ > MICRO RTX CPU/STR Tech Notes¿ Beckemeyer, a little background.. ============================ by David Beckemeyer MICRO RTX: YESTERDAY, TODAY, AND TOMORROW My name is David Beckemeyer. I developed MICRO RTX, a multitasking operating system kernel for the Atari ST. Since releasing MICRO RTX as shareware, I have been bombarded with requests for more information. I would like to take this opportunity to tell you a little about myself, my small development company, how MICRO RTX came about, and where it may be going in the future. A LITTLE BACKGROUND Prior to developing any Atari ST software, I had been working on large image storage and retrieval systems. These systems used Motorola 68000 CPUs and the VME bus. At that time a 512K 8Mhz CPU card with two or three serial ports cost about $1,800. That's just for the CPU card, not including any disk interfaces or the VME card cage. So when the first 520ST came out in 1985 with that exact same 8Mhz CPU and 512K of RAM for $799.00, you can bet that I scooped one up fast. The first thing I missed on my new Atari ST was that familiar UNIX development environment. Using GEM to compile with the original DRI compiler that Atari shipped with the Developers Package just didn't make it. Mind you, I'm not complaining about the $300. I had developed software for those VME boxes using UNIX on a VAX, running cross-compilers that cost thousands of dollars and I had already forked over several hundred dollars to Microsoft for a PC "C" compiler and even more to DRI for the PC GEM developers kit. So the $300 price tag was a bargain. I had to do something about the development environment though, so I wrote Micro C-Shell. I ran a small advertisement in Analog Magazine (remember them) and Arthur Leyenburger wrote a review of the program. Calls started coming in -- real live orders for Micro C-Shell! This was the beginning of the saga of Beckemeyer Development Tools Atari ST development. MULTITASKING TOS EMULATOR We used a real-time multitasking operating system on those VME systems and I missed this capability on the Atari ST. I decided to write a kernel for the ST. This started off as a quick little real-time kernel with only a few system calls for basic stand-alone multitasking applications. This basic kernel didn't take very long to implement, but because it was entirely self-contained and had no TOS compatibility, it had limited usefulness on the ST. So I started working on adding multitasking to TOS. This turned out to be a little bit more difficult than I had first envisioned. After several months of attempting to hack a layer on top of the standard TOS, I realized I wasn't getting anywhere and I needed to try a different approach. I basically scraped the whole "wedge" idea in favor of a completely new system -- a TOS Emulator. This is what MICRO RTX really is. It emulates TOS, at least the GEMDOS and BIOS levels, and adds a new set of TOS functions based on the original Atari GEMDOS and BIOS architecture. In fact, MICRO RTX is really two systems in one. There is the stand-alone real-time kernel and the TOS compatible I/O sub-system. Using the TOS GEMDOS and BIOS as the foundation for the design has advantages and disadvantages. The biggest advantage is that any program written for the Atari ST TOS has a good chance of running under the MICRO RTX TOS emulation. This means there is a large existing application software base for MICRO RTX. Another big advantage is that software developers do not need to learn an entirely new operating system; they only need to learn the new MICRO RTX extensions. The main disadvantage of starting with the GEMDOS/BIOS design is that it has certain limitations. GEMDOS was originally written by DRI and is patterned after MS-DOS from the IBM-PC world, which in turn was sort of an evolution of CP/M, which was mostly derived from RT-11, and so on. Suffice to say that TOS is not the cleanest and most advanced operating system in the world. In the end, I decided the advantages of emulating TOS out weighed the disadvantages and so that's what I did. THE EVOLUTION OF MICRO RTX The first versions of RTX TOS emulation were a little buggy. What's more, I found out that a lot of ST programmers tended to "do it their way" in lieu of using system calls. Although it wasn't entirely their fault, since in those early days the documentation was, well to be kind, not very good. These "renegade" programs resulted in what I call the second generation of MICRO RTX -- the major update and test cycle in an attempt to get as many programs as we could find to operate correctly with MICRO RTX. At the same time, I added some additional enhancements to TOS and speeded the whole thing up too. Now MICRO RTX has proven that it can be a stable platform for efficient multitasking and multiuser operations on the Atari ST. It has been used for many different types of applications from real-time control systems, to general multiuser/multitasking systems like MT C-Shell, to multiuser business systems such as TurboPOS. WHY SHAREWARE? To date, there are probably only a few hundred people who have taken the time to learn MICRO RTX and really know how to take advantage of it. Only these few people know the true power of MICRO RTX. Had the Atari ST market grown to anywhere near the size of the IBM-PC market, MICRO RTX would have been much more widely used. As it is, few developers could afford to invest the extra time and money involved in using and licensing MICRO RTX. Now since it is available to anyone as Shareware, I'm hoping some of the many talented ST programmers out there will exploit the full potential of MICRO RTX. It took a lot of effort to get MICRO RTX to work right. I think it's basically a good system with some nice features. I think you'll find the same thing if you get a chance to try it yourself. THE NEXT GENERATION I'm looking forward to comments from users regarding new features that you would like to see in MICRO RTX. Since we now have a TOS that can be changed any way we want, think about all those things you'd like TOS to have that would never happen if we waited for PromisTOS revision 20951.6! _______________________________________________________ > WAACE/'90 CPU/STR SHOW NEWS¿ The Premier East Coast Show... ============================ The WAACE organization has conducted its first meeting of 1990 and elected new officers. Chairman........... Russell Brown Vice Chairman...... Charles Smeton Treasurer.......... Tom Stoddard Vendor Coordinator. John Barnes Physical layout.... Bill Brown Program Ads........ Steve Rudolf Hospitality........ Cheryl Evry Publicity.......... Bruce Evry and Bob Johnson. Charles Smeton will also be responsible for arranging the Seminars and Usergroup Demos... The Fest will be located totally in the Sheraton Hotel in Reston. We have All of their conference facilities. The Sheraton has over 300 guest rooms and are available from the hotel at (703), 620-9000... We have 21,000 feet of total meeting of meeting space for Vendors User groups and Seminars... The Sheraton also supports a FAX line at (703) supports a FAX line at (703)-860-1594. Complimentary shuttle service exists from Dulles Airport.. Parking exists for 900... More details on Fest planning will be made available soon. If you have any questions please direct them to me, I am R.brown3 on Genie or call me at home (703) 680-2698, I am at home from 4:30 pm daily, please no calls after 9:30 pm EST.... Thanks for your continued support, Russell Brown WAACE Chairman _________________________________________________________ > Stock Market ~ CPU NewsWire¿ =========================== THE TICKERTAPE ============== by Michael Arthur Concept by Glenn Gorman Atari Stock went down 1/8 of a point on Monday, and dropped 3/8 of a point on Tuesday. On Wednesday it was down 1/8 of a point, but on Thursday, it climbed up 3/8 of a point. On Friday, Atari Stock was up 1/8 of a point. Finishing up the week at 7 1/4 points, Atari Stock is down 1/8 of a point from the last report. Apple Stock is up 1 1/2 points from Friday, January 25, 1990. Commodore Stock is down 5/8 of a point from 1/25/90. IBM Stock is up 1 1/2 points from 1/25/90. Stock Report for Week of 1/28/90 to 2/02/90 _________________________________________________________________________ STock| Monday | Tuesday | Wednesday | Thursday | Friday | Reprt|Last Chg. |Last Chg.|Last Chg.|Last Chg.|Last Chg. | -----|-------------|------------|-------------|------------|-------------| Atari|7 1/4 - 1/8|6 7/8 - 3/8|6 3/4 - 1/8|7 1/8 + 3/8|7 1/4 + 1/8| | | | | | 94,100 Sls | -----|-------------+------------+-------------+------------+-------------| CBM |8 7/8 -- |8 7/8 -- |8 3/8 - 1/2|8 1/4 - 1/8|8 1/4 -- | | | | | | 88,300 Sls | -----|-------------+------------+-------------+------------+-------------| Apple|33 1/4 + 1/2| 34 + 3/4| 34 ---- |33 5/8 -3/8|34 1/4 + 5/8| | | | | |1,057,800 Sls| -----|-------------+------------+-------------+------------+-------------| IBM |97 1/4 + 3/8|97 1/4 -- |98 5/8 +1 3/8|97 3/4 -7/8|98 3/8 + 5/8| | | | | |1,516,100 Sls| -----'-------------------------------------------------------------------' 'Sls' refers to the # of stock shares that were traded that day. 'CBM' refers to Commodore Corporation. ______________________________________________________________ > DynaCADD 1.7 CPU/STR Review¿ The best is for Atari.... =========================== DynaCadd VS AutoCad 10 ====================== by Myles Goddard In our last article, I discussed the system requirements for both AutoCad 10 and Dynacadd 1.7. As you can well imagine, DynaCadd is especially designed for the Atari 1040 and MEGA ST computers. Therefore it takes advantage of the ST's razor sharp displays, speed and graphic interface. I am running DynaCadd on my 1040ST with SM124 monochrome monitor and am very pleased with the results. DynaCadd 1.7 requires a security cartridge inserted into the cartridge port in order to run. If the cartridge is not present you need to turn off the machine and insert it into the cartridge port. For gosh sake, NEVER remove or insert the cartridge while the machine is turned on or you might cause serious damage to the port, cartridge or computer itself. DynaCadd can be used from a floppy system but a hard drive is recommended. Also, a math co-processor is recommended but not necessary. DynaCadd has cleverly designed the use overlays for functions that would ordinarily be accessable from the ram of the computer. This feature was built-in to allow us lowly 1 meg users to use DynaCadd.. . Now with that out of the way, let's get down into the meat of the matter! The DynaCadd manual is 474 pages long and very detailed in it's explanation of each instruction and command. The first part of the book has 2D and 3D Tutorials. But before we get into the tutorials we'll start at some of the keyboard and mouse conventions. The key instructions are bracketed so there will be no confusion with the rest of the text. It should be noted that the RETURN key and the ENTER key have separate functions so they are not interchangeable. A semicolon (;) is used frequently and is used when the command is complete. It acts the same way as the right mouse button. A comma (,) is used to separate data in your keyboard entry. Alternate (ALT) is used in conjunction with other keys to activate your menu commands. The CONTROL (Ctrl) key allows the creation of custom macros. The Function keys (F1 - F10) have permanent commands assigned to them and therefore cannot be changed. The Mouse conventions are referred to the same way they are in GEM so if you are familiar with GEM you will not have any problems whatsoever. The TEXT EDITOR is one of the utilities that you will use a great deal to enter text anywhere on the drawing. The TEXT window is large enough for 800 characters and is typical of many ascii editors and use the same keys to move around the text window. As you type your text in the editor, you will notice that the return key ends the line and proceeds down one line. Undo will cancel the session and close the window. The enter key will accept what you have typed and close the window as well. DynaCadd has a utility that reads and writes files that are compatible with AutoCad and other Cadd programs. They are the DXF format, which is the industry standard on AutoCad, ASC, which is used in one of the European Cad packages, and DEF, which is DynaCadd's own ascii file format. I tried the FILE TRANSFER program with one of my Autocad drawings and it worked like a champ, except for the colored layers I had in my AutoCad drawing. Of course, since the SM124 is only two colors, black and white, all the lines were the same colors. No problem, the display was razor sharp. The fonts were different but they looked good. DynaCadd offers a superb vector font editor with the package and also comes with several Compugraphic fonts. There are a few definitions that you should be aware of before working with DynaCadd. The first one that will present itself to you is the SYSTEM level. Here you are presented with the opportunity to set up your drawing's scale, units of measure and your printer or plotter page size. From here you pick your part and drawing file to update or start a new one. The next level is the actual CADD level. This is THE level that you draw all your lines, points, arcs, polygons, etc. It also allows the output to your printer and/or plotter. Another couple of items you need to be aware of are the PARTS and the DRAWINGS. The PART is a 3 dimensional database that defines the basic drawing elements. Remember, a part is like a real object and can be reformed, disected and arranged or rearranged. As long as the computer is on, your part is intact. If you quit without saving, then it goes bye bye with the rest of your memory. The DRAWING is the actual drawing sheet. It's size is determined by you in the system level. Okay, now we are ready to start our first drawing. After the program is loaded we are presented with a large dialog box. Here is what we have to do first----- 1. Activate a part. 2. Activate a drawing. 3. Set the drawing size. 4. Set the drawing units. 5. Set the drawing scale. 6. Enter the CADD level. Please note that numbers 3 through 5 are optional. After you have saved a previous drawing, DynaCadd automatically saves it for you so the next time you boot up, it will default to exactly where you left off. After you have selected your part and drawing, you can set your units to either metric or English. Setting the drawing size is a snap. The first method of choosing your paper size is to select from fifteen predefined boxes, labeled from A to E and A4 to AO. The other method is also a breeze. Just fill in the blanks displayed with your own dimensions and it will take of it from there. In our next installment, we will discuss the basic theory of Computer Aided Drafting and Design. Although it sounds kind of frightening to see all the strange names and labels of objects used in Drafting it only takes a little while before you will be sailing right along. ______________________________________________ > Assembly CornerCPU/STR Tech Notes¿ Programming in assembly. ================================= Assembly Language Tutorial by Charles Medley ctsy: STATUS DISK MAGAZINE Graphics, Part One: Higher Level/GEM usage An aspiration of mine is creating a video game. Whether or not people perceive the Atari ST/Mega line as game machines to me is irrelevant, because to me, entertainment is one of the top uses of any computer I buy. Now keeping this in mind, remember, I'm probably as much a beginner in assembly programming as anyone who is reading this. So what makes me able to teach anyone? Well, nothing actually, except that I'm learning it WITH you! The code in this article may not be the most efficient, and if you have any helpful hints or tips, forward them to me. The reason I think this will all be more fun and interesting is because I will take the time to help the beginners while trying to push the vanguard with some of the more dedicated hackers. Okay, enough prattling, let's get down to business. The first thing I am going to say is this: Until I can find some good documentation on the use of VRT_CPYFM ( the transparent raster copy ), I cannot say that multi-color sprite-like graphics is impossible, but it sure is NOT easy! Many options can be tried: You can try using the Line-A sprites and "layering" them, you can try the Line-A BitBlk routine, or, if it is indeed possible, layer rasters using the vrt_cpyfm function (VDI opcode is 121) but the obvious problem is defining a single color source, which is something I decided to forego. Judging from the demands players today place on the computer game, it is most likely that in the ST world, programmers have been using their own customized routines which handle the graphics in a sprite-like manner. But what about getting our feet wet and mucking around with some of the higher level raster functions first? Let's do it! I chose to use vro_cpyfm for this program ( which is contained in RUN_MAN.ARC ), since I wanted to keep it simple and allow for learning the necessary criteria for making a "blit". The reason it is so simple for what we're doing is that we're literally booting up a DEGAS picture into an area of memory, and getting the images we want from a series of drawings in it, and vro_cpyfm will handle all four bit-planes with a single call. The first thing I always do within a program like this is use the GEM m_alloc call to set aside memory for my graphic screens. In this case we need at least 96000 bytes, since we have two screens which are going to be "flipped" so as not to have flickering animation, and a third screen which contains the raster data we're using. The next thing is to set the resolution. When you use GEM and set the resolution to a new value within the program, dialog boxes, alert boxes, drop downs, etc... all still work in the original resolution. But for this program, with none of that in use, it really doesn't matter! Booting up a DEGAS picture is quite easy. The format of a DEGAS pic is: 2 bytes - resolution 32 bytes - palette (the RGB values of the 16 colors) 32000 bytes - screen data 32 bytes - animation information, used by DEGAS Elite only. The total length of the file is 32034 bytes in original DEGAS format, and 32066 bytes in DEGAS Elite, Uncompressed format. Looking at the source code, you can see how I go about booting the picture in and setting the palette properly. I have written macros that open the file (f_open), move the file pointer ( f_seek ), read from the file ( f_read ), and close the file ( f_close ). All of these correspond to the proper GEMDOS calls. If you wish to delve into files and how to handle them, examine the macros as they are well commented. Now here is the good part. According to every book on how to do a raster copy, you have to set up MFDBs. Some people look at the abbreviation and immediately enter catatonic shock and one friend of mine actually stopped using his ST and began chanting meaningless things about how his C128 was never like this.... MFDBs are simply Memory Form Definition Blocks. The name is still complicated enough that most people think they will need a bullwhip and a fedora to deal with the programming aspect of it in assembly. This is where the C user starts to giggle and whips out his TYPE DEF STRUCT command... Well, here's all you need to do to define an MFDB, and its there in my code: MFDB: name of the MFDB for our purpose address ds.l 1 address of the screen data for to associate with this MFDB widthnpix ds.w 1 width of the raster image in pixels. ALWAYS 320 in low rez, or 640 in medium and high rez. heightnpix ds.w 1 height of the raster in pixels, which is 200 in low or medium rez, and 400 in high rez. widthnwords ds.w 1 the widthnpix divided by 16. formflag ds.w 1 the form flag, usually 1, according to the DevPac ST manual. numofplanes ds.w 1 number of bit planes in raster. 4 = low rez 2 = medium rez 1 = monochrome reserved ds.w 3 three reserved words, set to 0. Essentially, its ideal to set up all your MFDBs to be identical except for the address of the screen. All of these parameters are easily either calculated or returned from GEM inquiry functions if your program must be adaptable. However, none of that really will matter with trying to move a little guy across your SC1224... Now, whenever messing with the MFDB, you'll set the values to whatever is appropriate. In my code, you'll see I set that up before I begin messing with the actual raster copying. Also, in case you're wondering, all the MFDB really holds are parameters for the screens you're copying either from or to. Easily enough done. But wait...don't you want to tell it WHERE to get and send all this graphic data? That's where the PTSIN arrays come in. This is actually quite easy, and the format is as follows: PTSIN - x coordinate of upper left corner, source PTSIN+2 - y coordinate of " " " " " " " PTSIN+4 - x coordinate of lower right corner, source PTSIN+6 - y coordinate of lower right corner, source PTSIN+8 to PTSIN+14 are the same parameters, but apply to the destination raster. Essentially, to copy from a raster whose coordinates are (200,100,231,131) to another location, such as (26,92,57,123), you'd set it up like: move.w #200,ptsin move.w #100,ptsin+2 move.w #231,ptsin+4 move.w #131,ptsin+6 move.w #26,ptsin+8 move.w #92,ptsin+10 move.w #57,ptsin+12 move.w #123,ptsin+14 There is another parameter to worry about also. That is, the raster mode. To make it short and sweet, none of this really helps you if you're trying to make them handle like sprites. Mode #6 is good for a single raster that you want to erase by ANDing it with itself, but on a screen full of objects, some of which will overlap, you may want to confine yourself to mode #3 for displaying it, and mode #0 for erasing it. Or, you can even perform a v_clrwk as long as you know that what you want to erase is on the logical screen. Now for the juicy part... If you look at the DEGAS picture, you'll see the man is in different parts of the screen. We want to cycle back and forth between the rasters used, and the way to do that is to associate each step in the "cycle" with one of the possible rasters and its coordinates. That could get complicated, so I split it into two sections. One loop goes through all the rasters from left to right, and the second one goes back ( right to left ) through all but the raster farthest left and the raster farthest right in the image. The reason is simple: The first loop shows those two images already, so if we did it twice, those images would appear TWICE, not once, like all the others. As all of this is happening, we have adding to the x coordinates of where to put the image on screen. If we don't, he'll appear to be running in place. As we add to that, each loop either will add or subtract the x coordinates of where to look for the proper raster to display as well! This effectively cycles the necessary rasters while moving the destination across the screen, from left to right. Now, how do we make all of this flicker-free? We all know that the supposed graphic wunderkind, the Amiga, flickers! And the last thing you need is to have your ST flicker like an Amiga! So.... looking in my loops, you'll note that after I set up the proper x coordinates into the ptsin arrays for the source and destination rasters, I copy the raster to the LOGICAL screen, which is NOT being shown. Once it is shown, I can erase the previous screen, which is now the logical screen with a v_clrwk. To make sure none of this occurs before the screen I want is displayed, I do a XBCALL #37,2, which, to my macros, is just saying to perform XBIOS 37 and fix the stack by 2 bytes. XBIOS 37 is the V_sync call and its purpose is to stall things until the VBL ( vertical blank ). This assures you that you'll have flicker-free animation. Some obvious improvements can be made in this code. I could, for example, do comparisons and determine the proper source raster from that, so as not to use two separate, distinct loops within a larger loop ( which essentially keeps the whole thing going coherently! ). If you want to, you can make him run faster or slower by usign more XBCALL #37,2 's in that section. Right now, he runs pretty fast... **** START **** include d:gemmacro.s * the program proper start move.l 4(a7),a3 base page move.l #mystack,a7 move.l $c(a3),d0 text len add.l $14(a3),d0 data len add.l $1c(a3),d0 BSS len add.l #$100,d0 basepage move.l d0,-(a7) move.l a3,-(a7) clr.w -(a7) move.w #$4a,-(a7) trap #1 shrink memory lea 12(a7),a7 appl_init move.w d0,ap_id store the application id graf_handle move.w d0,current_handle Desktop's VDI handle * start by opening a virtual workstation lea intin,a0 moveq #10-1,d0 -1 for DBF .fill move.w #1,(a0)+ most params are 1 dbf d0,.fill move.w #2,(a0)+ use RC system v_opnvwk open it v_hide_c **** include d:macros.s **** MAIN **** * what is the current resolution? Store it in mode1! xbcall #4,2 move.w d0,mode1 * where are the physbase and logbase? Store them in orig1 and orig2! xbcall #2,2 move.l d0,orig1 xbcall #3,2 move.l d0,orig2 * allocates 96k, enough for 3 screens! m_alloc #96256,m_start1 * finds a good starting address for the first screen... scr_a_c m_start1,screen1 * makes screen3 = screen1, then adds 32000 to screen1 move.l screen1,screen3 add.l #32000,screen1 * makes screen2 = screen1, then adds 32000 to screen1 move.l screen1,screen2 add.l #32000,screen1 * now we clear all the screens... set_scr #-1,screen3 v_clrwk set_scr #-1,screen2 v_clrwk set_scr #-1,screen1 v_clrwk * opens the PI1 file with my screen data... f_open 0,f_name1,f_hand1 * gets resolution and sets it... f_read #mode2,#2,f_hand1 rez mode2 * gets palette and sets it... f_read #palette,#32,f_hand1 set_palette palette * reads in screen data and displays it...only 9600 bytes/60 scan lines f_read screen1,#9600,f_hand1 * closes file... f_close f_hand1 * Sets up MFDB1 move.l screen1,address1 move.w #320,widthnpix1 move.w #200,heightnpix1 move.w #20,widthnwords1 move.w #1,formflag1 move.w #4,numofplanes1 move.l #0,reserveda1 move.l #0,reservedb1 * Sets up MFDB2 move.l screen2,address2 move.w #320,widthnpix2 move.w #200,heightnpix2 move.w #20,widthnwords2 move.w #1,formflag2 move.w #4,numofplanes2 move.l #0,reserveda2 move.l #0,reservedb2 * Sets up MFDB3 move.l screen3,address3 move.w #320,widthnpix3 move.w #200,heightnpix3 move.w #20,widthnwords3 move.w #1,formflag3 move.w #4,numofplanes3 move.l #0,reserveda3 move.l #0,reservedb3 * set up variables for the rasters.... x1 ds.w 1 upper left corner of source y1 dc.w 1 y1.w = 1 forever and ever.... x2 ds.w 1 lower right corner of source y2 dc.w 60 y2.w = 60 forever and ever... x3 ds.w 1 upper left x of dest... y3 ds.w 1 upper left y of dest... x4 ds.w 1 lower right x of dest... y4 ds.w 1 lower right y of dest... * sets up our source values... move.w #10,d4 move.w #4,d5 move.w #1,x1 move.w #49,x2 * sets our destinations to values... move.w #0,x3 x3 = 0 move.w #70,y3 y3 = 70 move.w #47,x4 x4 = 47 move.w #130,y4 y4 = 130 loop1 part1 * moves visible raster... move.w x1,ptsin move.w y1,ptsin+2 move.w x2,ptsin+4 move.w y2,ptsin+6 move.w x3,ptsin+8 move.w y3,ptsin+10 move.w x4,ptsin+12 move.w y4,ptsin+14 vro_cpyfm #3,#mfdb1,#mfdb2 set_scr screen2,screen3 xbcall #37,2 xbcall #37,2 xbcall #37,2 v_clrwk * swaps screen values... move.l screen3,dummyL move.l screen2,screen3 move.l dummyL,screen2 * adjusts a values in MFDB2 and MFDB3 for the screen... move.l screen2,address2 move.l screen3,address3 * waits for keypress... * inkey * moves the window in the source raster... add.w #49,x1 add.w #49,x2 * adds to destination... add.w #4,x3 add.w #4,x4 cmp.w #319,x4 bge termn8 * loops until d5 is content with life... dbra d5,loop1 * resets the screen variables... sub.w #98,x1 sub.w #98,x2 move.w #2,d5 loop2 * creates a new raster! move.w x1,ptsin move.w y1,ptsin+2 move.w x2,ptsin+4 move.w y2,ptsin+6 move.w x3,ptsin+8 move.w y3,ptsin+10 move.w x4,ptsin+12 move.w y4,ptsin+14 vro_cpyfm #3,#mfdb1,#mfdb2 set_scr screen2,screen3 xbcall #37,2 xbcall #37,2 xbcall #37,2 v_clrwk * swaps screen values... move.l screen3,dummyL move.l screen2,screen3 move.l dummyL,screen2 * adjusts a values in MFDB2 and MFDB3 for the screen... move.l screen2,address2 move.l screen3,address3 * waits for keypress... * inkey * moves the window in the source raster... sub.w #49,x1 sub.w #49,x2 * adds to destination... add.w #4,x3 add.w #4,x4 cmp.w #319,x4 bge termn8 * loops until d5 is content with life... dbra d5,loop2 * resets source info... move.w #1,x1 move.w #48,x2 move.w #4,d5 dbra d4,loop1 termn8 m_free m_start1 set_palette palinfo set_scr orig1,orig2 rez #1 bra terminate **** include d:errors.s include d:terminat.s **** SECTION DATA * The six files I will be messing with...... f_name1 dc.b '\run_man.pi1',0 * Stuff for my kinda online monitoring....by seeing output as I go! crlf dc.b 13,10,0 values for a cr/lf * Variable containing some generic palette data for the editor... palinfo dc.w $777,$700,$070,$000,$000,$000,$000,$000 dc.w $000,$000,$000,$000,$000,$000,$000,$000 * global constants SECTION BSS **** * Used in the application's "startup" sequence....vroom! ap_id ds.w 1 ds.l 100 stack space mystack ds.w 1 (stacks go backwards) **** * Used for m_alloc and m_free calls. I define as many of these as I think * I will need.....3 is about the maximum for what I plan to do! ram_free ds.l 1 amount of RAM in bytes m_start1 ds.l 1 address of first m_alloc call m_start2 ds.l 1 address of 2nd " " " m_start3 ds.l 1 address of 3rd " " " m_error ds.w 1 space for error **** * Now, some variables for file handling....... * I don't think I'll personally use more than 6 files at once... f_hand1 ds.w 1 word for file #1's handle f_hand2 ds.w 1 " " " " #2's " " f_hand3 ds.w 1 " " " " #3's " " f_hand4 ds.w 1 " " " " #4's " " f_hand5 ds.w 1 " " " " #5's " " f_hand6 ds.w 1 " " " " #6's " " fname1 ds.b 13 12 bytes terminated with a 0 even file_size ds.l 1 **** * Now.....to go thru the arduous process of creating the offsets for the * Line-A calls. Sure, I can call stuff thru GEM, but what if I don't want * to? Riiiiiiight! orig1 ds.l 1 ptr to original screen1 orig2 ds.l 1 ptr to original screen2 screen1 ds.l 1 address of screen1 screen2 ds.l 1 address of screen2 screen3 ds.l 1 address of screen3 palette ds.w 16 pointer to palette mode1 ds.w 1 space for mode mode2 ds.w 1 dummyL ds.l 1 dummy variable mfdb1 address1 ds.l 1 widthnpix1 ds.w 1 heightnpix1 ds.w 1 widthnwords1 ds.w 1 formflag1 ds.w 1 usually 1 numofplanes1 ds.w 1 number of bit planes reserveda1 ds.w 2 set to 0...reserved reservedb1 ds.w 2 " " " " " " reservedc1 ds.w 1 " " " " " " mfdb2 address2 ds.l 1 widthnpix2 ds.w 1 heightnpix2 ds.w 1 widthnwords2 ds.w 1 formflag2 ds.w 1 usually 1 numofplanes2 ds.w 1 number of bit planes reserveda2 ds.w 2 set to 0...reserved reservedb2 ds.w 2 " " " " " " reservedc2 ds.w 1 " " " " " " mfdb3 address3 ds.l 1 widthnpix3 ds.w 1 heightnpix3 ds.w 1 widthnwords3 ds.w 1 formflag3 ds.w 1 usually 1 numofplanes3 ds.w 1 number of bit planes reserveda3 ds.w 2 set to 0...reserved reservedb3 ds.w 2 " " " " " " reservedc3 ds.w 1 " " " " " " * if not linking then include the run-times include d:aeslib.s include d:vdilib.s ____________________________________________________________ > Super KidGrid CPU/STR InfoFile¿ Graphics goodies for youngsters.. ============================== ANNOUNCING: S U P E R K I D G R I D For Creative Graphics Design Program by: D.A. Brumleve Educational Consultant: M.L. Marks Super Kidgrid, offering unique experiences in patterning, shapes, and color, has the ability to provide both entertainment and challenge to your child. Super Kidgrid offers an introduction to the world of computer graphics design while developing and supporting creative thinking skills. Super Kidgrid features: <> installation program allows parent or teacher to choose options to match the developmental level of the child <> program grows with the child <> SAVE/LOAD 1, 5, or 1O pictures; saved pictures and program load automatically <> print color-by-number versions of the onscreen pictures for embellishment with crayons or markers <> fourteen colors to choose from in making designs <> twelve built-in samples may be altered or copied <> easily scroll both forward and backward through samples and pictures <> familiar, consistent kidfriendly program environment makes learning a snap and promotes independence Package includes: <> specially-labelled green original disk <> extra iconographic labels for the child's copies-- instantly recognized by non-readers as representing Super Kidgrid <> simplified children's manual <> full instructions for parents and teachers Recommended for Ages 3-11 Minimum Requirements: Color Atari 520ST Computer with Single-Sided Drive Printer Must Accept an ST Screen Dump if Printing is Desired Program Not Copy-Protected (In fact, owners are encouraged to make multiple copies for all children in their same household or school building!) Now shipping for US $25 from: D.A. BRUMLEVE Super Kidgrid P.O Box 4195 / Urbana, IL 61801-8820 / USA For MasterCard or Visa orders, call (217) 337-1937 business hours, or send the order form printed below. ---====***====--- ORDER FORM ---------- SHIP TO:___________________________________________________ ___________________________________________________ ___________________________________________________ AREA CODE & PHONE:_________________________________________ (Please give us your number in case we need to contact you concerning your order.) ITEM: Super Kidgrid QUANTITY:___ PAYMENT METHOD: Personal Check / Money Order / MasterCard / Visa If MC/Visa: CARD NUMBER:_______________________________________________ EXPIRATION DATE:___ ___ BANK NUMBER:___________ SIGNATURE:_________________________________________________ Send completed form to: D.A. BRUMLEVE Super Kidgrid P.O. Box 4195 / Urbana, IL 618O1-882O / USA Thank you! ___________________________________________________________ > CPU NEWSWIRE CONFIDENTIAL¿ ========================= - San Diego, CA. ****** MULTI-TASKING FOR THE ST IS REAL ****** Recently, disclosed at the NAMM (NATIONAL ASSOCIATION OF MUSIC MERCHANTS) show, Atari was showing a beta test version of a multitasking program which was developed with Intelligent Music. So do take heart. Progress is afoot and soon to be released for all to enjoy. In fact, there are a number of new developments in this field, which goes to prove that the ST is gaining a stronger foothold every day.... Below, we present a few points of information we gathered about Softlink. Question: What is Soft Link? Softlink is a program that comes packaged with Notator (a MIDI music application), it will however, be released in a slightly different configuration as a stand-alone program in the near future. (developers aren't exactly accurate with their release time estimates) Question: How much of a slow down is there? It will not run on under 2 meg ram and it will not run on TOS versions earlier than 1.2. The program seems pretty hardy and the only time it anything seems to slow down is when a lot of data is being process through the ports and you're trying to do some other processor intensive thing. But it is all within the limits of tolerance. Question: How stable is it? It seems to be quite stable with well-behaved applications, although there hasn't been any reports of problems with it, C-Lab (it's creators) is well aware of certain compatibility problems and readily admits these are inevitable until some standard is reached among software developers (which they are trying to work with). C-Lab, (a West German Company) distributes Notator through: Digidesign Inc 1360 Willow Road, Suite 101 Menlo Park, California, 94025 Phone 415-327-8811. If you get in touch with Digidesign, be sure to ask them about Softlink LEVEL 3, the soon to be released stand-alone multitasker. - Sunnyvale, CA. **** ATARI MAY HIRE NAGY! **** -------------- Coming from two ultra confidential and usually very reliable sources, it is reported that A. Salerno's division is contemplating bringing John Nagy onboard. Nagy, a central figure in many controversial developments in the Atari arena and formally of Computer Shopper and Znet recently moved to California from Michigan. - Solana Beach, CA. ****** SUPERCHARGER WAITS ON FCC! ******* ---------------- Supercharger, a remarkable emulator of MS Dos devices, has been submitted to the FCC for type acceptance. From all indications thus far, Supercharger should fly through its tests and be available very shortly to the US market. __________________________________________________________ > Hard Drive Info STReport InfoFile¿ Affordable Mass Storage ================================= NEW PRICES! & MORE MODELS!! ============================ ABCO COMPUTER ELECTRONICS INC. P.O. Box 6672 Jacksonville, Florida 32236-6672 Est. 1985 _________________________________________ Voice: 904-783-3319 10 AM - 4 PM EDT BBS: 904-786-4176 12-24-96 HST FAX: 904-783-3319 12 PM - 6 AM EDT _________________________________________ HARD DISK SYSTEMS TO FIT EVERY BUDGET _____________________________________ All systems are complete and ready to use, included at NO EXTRA COST are clock/calendar and cooling blower(s). ALL ABCO HARD DISK SYSTEMS ARE FULLY EXPANDABLE (you are NOT limited to two drives ONLY!) 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Prices also reflect various cabinet/power supply configurations (over sixty configurations are available, flexibility is unlimited) *** ALL Units: Average Access Time: 24ms - 34ms *** ALL UNITS COMPATIBLE WITH --> MAGIC SAC - PC-DITTO/II - SPECTRE/GCR LARGER units are available - (special order only) * Removable Media Devices NOW Available (44mb) Syquest 555 * * SPECIAL INTRODUCTORY PRICES * BARE SYQUEST #555 W/ CARTRIDGE: $679.00 EXTRA CARTRIDGES: 97.95 (anytime) * SYQUEST 44MB (#555) REMOVABLE MEDIA DRIVE * - SYQUEST 44 MB removable media drive - ICD ST Host Adapter - ICD Mass Storage Utility Software - 3' DMA Cable - Fan & Clock - Multi-Unit Power Supply (1) 44 MB Syquest Cart. Completely Assembled and READY TO RUN! in a shoebox OR under monitor cabinet ONLY $889.00 CUSTOM CONFIGURATIONS AVAILABLE We would offer floppy drives.. but Computer Shopper has 'em at the right price. And.. you can plug 'em right into our cabinets and power supplies. 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INSITE FLOPTICAL DRIVE ***** Aug - Sep, 1990 20 MB 3.5 FLOPPY DISK MASS STORAGE OPTICAL DRIVE! uses standard 3.5" floppy disks and Floptical disks Will access and read your present library of floppys $789.95 approx. - Custom Walnut WOODEN Cabinets - TOWER - AT - XT Cabinets - Keyboard Custom Cables Call for Info ALL POWER SUPPLIES UL APPROVED -* 12 month FULL Guarantee *- (A FULL YEAR of COVERAGE) Quantity & Usergroup Discounts Available! _________________________________________ DEALERS and DISTRIBUTORS WANTED! please call for details Personal and Company Checks are accepted. ORDER YOURS TODAY! 904-783-3319 9am - 8pm EDT _______________________________________________________________ > A "Quotable Quote"¿ ================= CPU NewsWire, "REAL DALEKS DON'T CLIMB STAIRS ..THEY LEVEL BUILDINGS!!" ... A moment of truth? -------------------------------------------------------------------------- CPU/STR¿ "Your Independent News Source" February 02, 1990 16/32bit Magazine copyright ½ 1989 No.4.05 -------------------------------------------------------------------------- Views, Opinions and Articles Presented herein are not necessarily those of the editors, staff, CPU NEWSWIRE¿ CPU/STR¿ or CPU Report¿. Reprint permission is hereby granted, unless otherwise noted. All reprints must include CPU NEWSWIRE, CPU/STR or CPU Report and the author's name. All information presented herein is believed correct, the editors and staff are not responsible for any use or misuse of information contained herein. --------------------------------------------------------------------------