*---== CPU NEWSWIRE ONLINE MAGAZINE ==---* """""""""""""""""""""""""""" "The Original 16/32bit Online Magazine" _____________________________________ from STR Publishing Inc. """""""""""""""""" April 06, 1990 No.4.14 ======================================================================= 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 __________________________________________________________________ > 04/06/90: CPU Newswire¿ #414 The Original 16/32 bit Online Magazine! ---------------------------- - The Editor's Podium - CPU REPORT - CPU STATUS REPORT - THE ICD ADVANTAGE!! - TURBO ST 1.80 - SUPERCHARGER - Online Today - TAF Report - Tracker/ST - PCD2 NOW WHAT?! - Modula 3 - CPU CONFIDENTIAL ---===*** EXPLORER DARED ATARI TO ACT!! ***===--- ---===** HOTWIRE - MULTIDESK 2.0 DEBUT AT WOA! **===--- ---====*** WOA - ANAHEIM THIS WEEKEND! ***====--- ========================================================================== 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¿ The World of Atari Show is a go for this weekend in Anaheim California. The show's roster reads like a who's who of the Atari community, alas, there are those of us who must keep the wheels turning and the info flowing. I would've liked to have attended this particular show, if for nothing else than, to be an observer of the ever present politics in the atari arena. The weekend promises to be a very interesting one in terms of "power plays" and "hipshots". Oh, how I would love to publicize the whole story about the outrageously vicious games being played behind the scenes by a few "self appointed guardian angels" who think they have influence and are trying every devious means imaginable to destroy the reputation and success of one very well liked individual. I put this information here for all to see as a warning to the few erstwhile, egotistical maniacs who would think they wield enough "behind the scenes influence" to cause the dismissal, or worse, of this very popular individual. This an open warning to the co-conspirators that if derogatory happens to this person as a result of their efforts.. The entire course of events; FROM COMDEX/FALL '90 up to and including this weekend will be completely EXPOSED. The time has come for the users to know about and really have a say so concerning the people in the Atari community they must deal with, directly or indirectly, on an almost daily basis. Petty power plays by short sighted people have no place in the multi million dollar industry Atari is involved in and as such, Atari absolutely must divorce itself from these devious, demented, self centered people on the outside who seem to delight in trying to perversely influence the corporate activities of Atari. Sure, the execs at Atari still have the choice to either ignore this nonsense or as is the case in most instances attempt to quell the uproar by eliminating the cause. In this case, that type of action would be exactly what the perpetrators wish to have occur. Hopefully, Atari will see through this facade of "helpfulness" and judge it for what it really is .. meddlesome trouble, a TROJAN HORSE. The show this weekend should be a good time for all in attendance. STReport, in keeping with its tradition of good service, will carry reviews, news and coverage of the show on a full incoming basis. Thanks for your support, Ralph....... ********************************************************************** :HOW TO GET YOUR OWN GENIE ACCOUNT: _________________________________ To sign up for GEnie service: Call: (with modem) 800-638-8369. Upon connection type HHH (RETURN after that). Wait for the U#= prompt. Type: XTX99587,CPUREPT then, hit RETURN. **** SIGN UP FEE WAIVED **** The system will now prompt you for your information. THE GENIE ATARI ST ROUNDTABLE - AN OVERVIEW ___________________________________________ The Roundtable is an area of GEnie specifically set aside for owners and users of Atari ST computers, although all are welcome to participate. There are three main sections to the Roundtable: the Bulletin Board, the Software Library and the Real Time Conference area. The Bulletin Board contains messages from Roundtable members on a variety of Topics, organized under several Categories. These messages are all Open and available for all to read (GEnie Mail should be used for private messages). If you have a question, comment, hot rumor or an answer to someone else's question, the Bulletin Board is the place to share it. The Software Library is where we keep the Public Domain software files that are available to all Roundtable members. You can 'download' any of these files to your own computer system by using a Terminal Program which uses the 'XMODEM' file-transfer method. You can also share your favorite Public Domain programs and files with other Roundtable members by 'uploading' them to the Software Library. Uploading on GEnie is FREE, so you are encouraged to participate and help your Roundtable grow. The Real Time Conference is an area where two or more Roundtable members may get together and 'talk' in 'real-time'. You can participate in organized conferences with special guests, drop in on our weekly Open COnference, or simply join in on an impromptu chat session. Unlike posting messages or Mail for other members to read at some later time, everyone in the Conference area can see what you type immediately, and can respond to you right away, in an 'electronic conversation'. ********************************************************************** > CPU REPORT¿ ========== Issue # 61 ---------- by Michael Arthur Remember When.... Microsoft told Micrografx Inc., a major Windows software company, that it would be virtually impossible to design a Porting Tool to convert MS-Windows programs to OS/2 Presentation Manager? And remember when, after Micrografx had introduced such a tool (called Mirrors) and had shown some of its source code to Microsoft for evaluation, how Microsoft and Micrografx got into a controversy because some of Mirrors' source code reportedly appeared in a Beta-version of a Windows/PM Porting Tool that Microsoft was developing? CPU INSIGHTS¿ ============ Motorola/Hitachi Suit: Stay on 68030 Injunction, and Quick Appeals ------------------------------------------------------------------- Recently, the U.S. District Court in Austin, Texas, ruled that the hardware memory management unit in Motorola's 68030 microprocessor infringed on US Patent #4,646,271 (owned by Hitachi), and that Hitachi's H8/532 microcontroller infringed on several of Motorola's US patents. In this decision, Motorola and Hitachi were ordered to stop marketing and selling their respective chips in the US until the conflicting patents expired. Motorola also had to pay Hitachi a $500,000 fine, while Hitachi was ordered to pay Motorola $1.9 million for patent infringement. Given that Hitachi's '271' patent doesn't expire until the year 2004, this could have caused many problems for Motorola, which reportedly makes up to $100 million dollars in revenue from 68030 sales. However, the Court has recently decided to lift the ban on sales of the 68030 microprocessor, pending an appeal of the decision. However, Hitachi is continuing another lawsuit, charging that part of Motorola's 88000 line of RISC processors infringes on the '271' patent. Curiously, Motorola and Hitachi had previously maintained a 11 year business relationship. It seems that the results of a 1986 Cross-licensing Pact between the two companies caused much internal controversy.... > CPU MacNews¿ Apple shines again.... =========== Apple Victorious: Judge Dismisses Much of Xerox/Apple Suit ----------------------------------------------------------- A U.S. District Court in San Francisco has recently dismissed five of the six charges that Xerox brought up against Apple in early December, concerning the validity of Apple's copyrights on the Lisa/Macintosh GUI (Graphical User Interface). Xerox had charged that Apple illegally incorporated features of Xerox's Star GUI into the Mac and Lisa's user interfaces, and sought over $150 million dollars in damages. In the lawsuit, Xerox tried to prove that Apple both copied several ideas from the STar GUI (including the concept of Icons), and gained unauthorized access to Xerox's secrets when it hired several Xerox employees (such as Alan Kay). However, Apple contended that it had not engaged in these practices, and successfully that only the way ideas are implemented were copyrightable. Interestingly enough, another factor was the fact that Xerox had waited several years until filing their charges against Apple.... Xerox will be appealing this decision, but its appeal will be delayed until the remaining Lawsuit (which seeks a declaration that Xerox is the sole owner of its Star GUI copyrights) is resolved. Interestingly enough, it seems that the Apple/Microsoft lawsuit is before the same judge as this case.... Disinfectant 1.7, Mac Virus Protectors, and the ZUC Virus --------------------------------------------------------- Here is an essay from the makers of Disinfectant, a Public Domain Virus Protector for the Macintosh, which both details the changes made in Version 1.7 of the program, and gives some interesting insights into the symptoms and effects of the newly discovered ZUC Virus: Disinfectant 1.7 ================ April 2, 1990 Disinfectant 1.7 is a new release of our free Macintosh virus detection and repair utility. Version 1.7 recognizes the new ZUC virus. Thanks to Don Zucchini and Francesco Giagnorio for discovering and reporting this new virus. The ZUC Virus ============= The ZUC virus was first discovered in Italy in March, 1990. It is named after the discoverer, Don Zucchini. ZUC only infects applications. It does not infect system files or data files. Applications do not have to be run to become infected. ZUC was timed to activate on March 2, 1990. Before that date it only spread from application to application. After that date, approximately 90 seconds after an infected application is run, the cursor begins to behave unusually whenever the mouse button is held down. The cursor moves diagonally across the screen, changing direction and bouncing like a billiard ball whenever it reaches any of the four sides of the screen. The cursor stops moving when the mouse button is released. The behavior of the ZUC virus is similar to that of a desk accessory named Bouncy. The virus and the desk accessory are different, and they should not be confused. The desk accessory does not spread, and it is not a virus. ZUC does spread, and it is a virus. ZUC has two noticeable side effects. On some Macintoshes it causes the desktop pattern to change. It also often causes long delays and an unusually large amount of disk activity when infected applications are opened. ZUC can spread over a network from individual Macintoshes to servers and from servers to individual Macintoshes. Except for the unusual cursor behavior, ZUC does not attempt to do any damage. Vaccine (a Virus Protection program for the Mac) is not effective against ZUC. GateKeeper 1.1.1, however, is effective against ZUC. ZUC does not change the last modification date when it infects a file, so you cannot use the last modification dates in the Disinfectant report to trace the source of a ZUC infection. Other Changes in Version 1.7 ============================ Some people have used ResEdit to add a copy of the standard system WDEF 0 resource to Desktop files in an attempt to inoculate their disks against the WDEF virus, even though we do not recommend this practice. Version 1.6 incorrectly reported that such Desktop files were infected by an unknown strain of WDEF. This problem has been fixed in version 1.7. Some of the nVIR clones have offensive names. These names appeared in plain text in various resources in Disinfectant version 1.6, and caused concern for some people who discovered them using ResEdit or a file editor. Version 1.7 encodes the resources so that the names do not appear in plain text. Version 1.6 contained an error which could cause crashes, hangs, unexpected error messages, or other unusual behavior in some circumstances. The error is corrected in version 1.7. How to Get a Copy of Version 1.7 ================================ Disinfectant 1.7 is available now via anonymous FTP from site acns.nwu.edu [129.105.49.1]. It will also be available soon on sumex-aim, rascal, comp.binaries.mac, CompuServe, Genie, Delphi, BIX, MacNet, America Online, Calvacom, AppleLink, and other popular sources for free and shareware software. Macinstosh users who do not have access to bulletin boards, networks, user groups, or online services may obtain a copy of Disinfectant by sending a self-addressed stamped envelope and an 800K floppy disk to the author at the address below: John Norstad Academic Computing and Network Services Northwestern University 2129 Sheridan Road Evanston, IL 60208 CPU INSIGHTS¿ ============ SPA Presents Awards for Outstanding and Innovative Software ----------------------------------------------------------- The Software Publisher's Association has recently announced the winners of its annual Excellence in Software Awards, which were chosen from a list of 370 nominated programs in over 25 categories. Among the winners were: - Hewlett Packard's New Wave GUI - Best Design Achievement Best Business Application: Graphical Display Orientation - Sim City, the City Simulator - Best Simulation Program Best Entertainment Program Best Curricular Program - Compton's Multimedia Encyclopedia - Best School Producticity/Creativity (CD-ROM) Program Best New Use of a Computer Interestingly enough, both Alan Kay and Steve Jobs tied for the SPA Lifetime Achievement Award, while the NextStep Software Development Team also won the Andrew Fluegelman Achievement Award.... But ponder, if you will, these questions: 1) Given the currently precarious situation over Motorola's right to sell the 68030, should Atari place a higher priority on developing the ATW, and on making a 68040-based version of the TT? 2) All but two elements (overlapping windows is one) of Apple's lawsuit against Microsoft have been dismissed from court. Given Apple's recent gains in the Xerox/Apple suit, what will be the result of these lawsuits about Graphical User Interfaces on the industry? > CPU STATUS REPORT¿ >>> LATE BREAKING - INDUSTRY WIDE NEWS <<< ================= - Minneapolis, MA CRAY RESEARCH BUYS MAKER OF CRAY-COMPATIBLE SYSTEMS --------------- Cray Research has recently signed a proposed agreement to purchase Supertek Computers Inc., a minisupercomputer company. In the deal, this company, who makes the S-1, a Cray-compatible minisupercomputer, will become a subsidiary of Cray Research. Cray will now use this system to enter the minisupercomputer marketplace, and is in the process of porting its Unix-based UNICOS operating system to it. Cray Resarch has also announced its intention to continue investing 15 percent of its revenue into Research and Development.... Interestingly enough, Supertek also has been developing a system which was compatible with Cray's newest Y/MP Supercomputer. And while this product won't be available until 1991, Cray Research will reportedly be introducing a low-end version of the Cray Y/MP. This model, while having a speed of only 500 million floating point operations a second (or 10 - 20 percent of the Y/MP's processing speed), will cost much less in terms of both its list price, and its installation and maintenance costs. - Pittsford, NY MICROLYTICS INC. ANNOUNCES "INSIDE INFORMATION" ------------- Microlytics Inc., will soon be releasing a Desk Accessory for the Macintosh called "Inside Information", which is touted as a new way of classifying languages. This product is actually a hierarchical dictionary which organizes words in the English language in Topic-related Categories, such as Nature, and Science & Technology. "Inside Information", has a database of over 65,000 root words, which are organized in 20 subclasses, 125 Categories, and 700 Subcategories. With this system, one will be able to simply type in a definition or topic, and the system will display words that are classified under the given subject. This product will be available in May for the Macintosh, but is also being ported to Microsoft Windows, Unix, and OS/2. Cost: $120.00.... - Seattle, WA HIGH-SPEED GRAPHICS BOARD DEVELOPED FOR NEXT COMPUTER ----------- In a Research project at the University of Washington, 20 Graduate Students have developed a new Graphics Processing Board called the UWGSP3, which supports a 1280*1024 resolution with a display of over 16 million simultaneous colors. The UWGSP3 uses a 50 MHZ TI 34020 Graphics Processor in tandem with four TI 34082 Floating Point Graphics Coprocessors (which aid in performing mathematically intensive graphics operations), and is capable of achieving speeds of up to 160 MFLOPS. It can also internally store up to 161,000 images, using 16 Megs of RAM for a Frame Buffer. Now being licensed by several companies, this product will also be sold as a 32-bit Color Board for the NeXT Computer. Cost: Unknown, but said to be around $10,000 per unit.... - Sydney, Australia BORLAND TO OPEN AUSTRALIAN OFFICE ----------------- PC software publisher Borland International has announced its intentions of establishing a regional office in Australia, using the name of Borland Pacific. Following his visit to Australia in October 1989, Borland President Philipe Kahn is decided that the positive activity in the region justified an intensified and more fully involved presence by Borland. Up till now, Borland products have been made available by a number of distributors in Australia, but over the past couple of years Tech Pacific has successfully distributed and supported the range of products offered. therefore, Tech Pacific will remain an integral part of the distribution chain for Borland. Perhaps, with the opening of this office in Australia along with the already open offices in the UK, the english language version of Turbo C for the ST will be forthcoming at an accelerated pace. ______________________________________________________________ > WOA ANAHEIM STR FOCUS¿ Where the action is....! ===================== WORLD OF ATARI SHOW -> ANAHEIM, CA. =================================== WORLD OF ATARI ============== APRIL 7 & 8 1990 WORLD OF ATARI will be held at the Disneyland Hotel, Anaheim California, on April 7th and 8th. For Reservations, Car Rentals and Airline tickets, call: 1-800-842-9034. The hours of the show are 10 am till 6pm on Saturday, the 7th and on Sunday; 10am till 5pm. Admission is $5.00 per day or $7.00 for both days. Atari Corporation will feature their full line of products. And of course, many of the companies we are all familiar with will be displaying their latest products. Exhibitor Listing; ----------------- Atari Computer Best Electronics Beckemeyer Development Brumeleve Software Carter Graphics Blue Chip Software Computer Games + Codehead Software Double Click Software BRE Software Gribnif Software Soft-Logik Gadgets by Small DataFree Industries FAST TECHNOLOGY ICD INC. JRI Inc. ASDE Software Imagen Corporation LucasFilms Software Maverick Creations Migraph Inc. Megamax Inc. MichTron Inc. Mid-City Compu-Soft Micro Creations Prospero Software Sierra Online Seymor/Radix Slicc Software Softrek Marketing San Jose Computer Talon Technology Word Perfect Corp. Wuztech Inc. Sprokits Computer Strata Software STV Zubair Interfaces plus many more... __________________________________________________ > HOTWIRE 2.0! CPU/STR FOCUS¿ MULTI-DESK 2.0! WOA INTRO ========================== Happy Birthday HotWire! """"""""""""""""""""""" ANNOUNCING: HotWire 2.0 from CodeHead Software! It's been a year since HotWire was introduced at the '89 Anaheim World of Atari Show. In that time HotWire has undergone some radical changes (in fact, it's been almost completely re-written!), and has been transformed from a unique menu program to a complete alternate operating system for any model of Atari ST. When teamed up with MaxiFile and MultiDesk, HotWire 2.0 provides a true alternative to the GEM desktop (not just a prettied-up imitation of it), with unique and extremely powerful file manipulation and program execution features unequaled by any other product on the market. HotWire 2.0 is now a full GEM program with a menu bar...which means you can get at all of your desk accessories (not just the ones loaded into MultiDesk) at any time. You can even page through your menus while a desk accessory is open on screen, as well as run installed programs and access any of HotWire's many features. Here's what HotWire 2.0 can do for you: o Run any ST program instantly no matter where it's located on your system, simply by pressing a "hot" key...even while you're at the GEM desktop! o Reliably auto-start any ST program at bootup on any version of TOS. o Hard disk users: no more wading through folders to find programs. With HotWire, no program is more than a mouse-click or keypress away! o Floppy disk users: just pop your program disk in the drive and hit a key. No more waiting for floppy drives to spin and desktop windows to open. o Build menus of up to 54 entries including all your most commonly-used programs. Load new menus with a single keypress or mouse click. o Choose from among over 400 possible "hot" key combinations. o HotWire has a seamless interface with CodeHead's MaxiFile, the ultimate file maintenance tool! o Ledger function records the time spent in programs of your choice, also showing the total elapsed time since you began working. o Passwords may be used to restrict unauthorized access to programs and data files. o On-screen digital corner clock, that can be automatically turned off for certain programs if you choose. o Runs perfectly well in all three ST resolutions! o If you choose to install HotWire as a resident program, you can summon up the HotWire Menu any time you're on the GEM desktop simply by clicking the right mouse button or by typing Shift-Help. o Use "headings" to customize the look of each menu to your own taste. Easily move, copy, or delete menu entries to group them as you desire. o Documents can be installed in the HotWire menu! Simply click on the data file you want; HotWire will start up the appropriate program and load that document automatically. o Command lines can be easily entered and saved with your menus to provide unlimited possibilities for customizing your operations. o Programs can be chained or looped so that the next program automatically runs when you quit the current one. o Unlike other shells, HotWire works correctly with all programs, just like the GEM desktop. o Special features, including environment parameters, make HotWire an excellent shell for developers no matter what programming language you use. We use HotWire exclusively at CodeHead Software to develop all of our products. o Written in 100% assembly language for optimum speed and efficiency. ---------------------------- NEW FEATURES IN HOTWIRE 2.0! ---------------------------- o A GEM menu bar with access to all HotWire functions and installed desk accessories! Equivalent key commands for all menu items. o Install MultiDesk Setup Files in the HotWire menu allowing you to automatically load certain accessories for certain programs. o Call MultiDesk as a program simply by clicking on an icon! o New Screen Saver program, HotSaver, communicates with HotWire clock and ledger files for accurate time tracking. o Configurable corner clock with CapsLock indicator! Show time in 24- or 12-hour format, with or without seconds, and even switch to a date display if you wish. Turn clock on/off at ANY time. A clock setting program is also included with HotWire. o Set up to EIGHT ALARMS that will go off at any time, not just in a GEM program (like most other alarm programs). Each alarm has its own 34-character message that will be displayed when it goes off. Even set alarms to repeat every day at the same time if you wish! o New PROGRAMMABLE command line options let you build your own shells for programs like ARC and LHARC. o Fully compatible with Atari's new STe computer! o New headings box allows use of entire character set in menu titles. Headings can now be displayed in inverse video. o Free RAM display, current date display (includes the day of the week) and controls for the blitter and zoom boxes. o And let's not forget...a new look for the 90s! HOTWIRE + MAXIFILE = THE ULTIMATE DESKTOP ALTERNATIVE! ------------------------------------------------------ The CodeHead integrated system continues with MaxiFile which is available at the press of a key or by clicking on its icon. MaxiFile is the ultimate file maintenance tool, offering all the file features of the ST's desktop plus many, many more...some of them never before offered anywhere. It runs as either a desk accessory or a program, and has a seamless interface with HotWire that actually allows you to run programs and start documents from within MaxiFile! MaxiFile must be seen to be believed. ALSO ANNOUNCING MULTIDESK 2.0! ------------------------------ Rounding out the system is CodeHead's famous MultiDesk which allows you to load up to 32 desk accessories at any time. And now we have a brand new version of MultiDesk as well! MultiDesk 2.0 now allows you to clear individual or selected accessories. Many other features have been added such as automatic expansion of the MultiDesk buffer to fit a new accessory, configurable warnings, automatic enable of Thunder.ACC, quick-shrink to 1K, a title display of the current setup, and a special interface with HotWire. We also have a new manual that explains all of the latest features. ---\\\+///--- You can upgrade your existing HotWire or MultiDesk to version 2.0 by sending your original master disk plus $7.50 (for each program) to: CODEHEAD SOFTWARE P.O. Box 74090 Los Angeles, CA 90004 Phone: (213) 386-5735 FAX: (213) 386-5789 A note from the CodeHeads: The new versions of MultiDesk and HotWire will be released for the first time at the Anaheim World of Atari show this weekend, April 7th and 8th. If you're coming to the show, make sure to stop by the CodeHead booth. And if you already own HotWire or MultiDesk, make sure to bring your original master disks so you can upgrade to the new versions. The special upgrade fee for the show will be $5.00 (for each product)...save $2.50 off our usual upgrade price! Hope to see you there. CodeHead Software Charles F. Johnson John Eidsvoog _________________________________________________________ > TURBOST 1.80 CPU/STR InfoFile¿ "THE SOFTWARE BLITTER" ============================= SUCCESS STORY ============= by Dick Biow I think I've found more satisfaction writing manuals, advertisements, and news releases for Wayne Buckholdt's and Jim Riffe's Turbo ST program than from most similar jobs I've done. In part, this is because Wayne is fun to work with, and in part it's because I was invited to become part of a success story in a field where success is far from automatic. But mostly it's because of what we learned about how to make money selling software. Where did we make out okay, and where could we have done better? Hindsight is easy, and it's also fun, so let's use hindsight to re-shape the experience of Softrek, publisher of Turbo ST, into a set of rules that might help all software writers and investors -- including ourselves -- to improve profits. 1. Know your market. The typical ST owner is motivated by a desire to "catch up" with what he hoped he was achieving when he bought his ST. He's *highly* motivated, in fact he's rather angry because, for example, he was led to expect that Atari would sell him a "blitter" chip to speed up his ST's operation . . . and he got left holding an empty blitter socket. Wayne Buckholdt happened to come out with the right product at the right time: a "software" blitter that did most of what Atari's blitter would do and a lot it wouldn't do, thus satisfying what marketing people call "a real felt need." So . . . knowing the market is necessary, and being lucky doesn't hurt a bit. 2. Control the timing of publicity. A beta version of Turbo ST was described in a magazine about a month before the commercial version was ready, and an unsuppliable demand created embarrassment. Yes, we made clear that only beta versions were available at the time of the article. But customers didn't care -- they wanted the commercial version and they wanted it *now*. Oversensitized by years of vaporware announcements by you-know-who, some ST users flipped their impatience our way. This didn't do any serious harm in the long run, but handling it was a distraction from other work -- an impediment to concentration. 3. Understand the primary purpose of a manual. (Almost nobody does, especially teachers of writing skills.). What does a potential software buyer usually say just before he pulls out his credit card? Right! "Let me see the manual." So the primary purpose of a manual is to SELL the SOFTWARE! If it doesn't sell the software in the first two pages, the rest of the manual will probably never get read. We must tell the user, right at the beginning, what this software will do for *him*, and how happy this will make him, and how easily he can make the software perform. Only then should technical directions commence. Now -- just reach for a typical ST manual and what do you find in front? "I would like to express my eternal gratitude to my wife Gertrude and brother Lemuel for . . ." (Yawn) Or we read, "Please take into consideration how terribly hard we worked on this program and how piracy starves our lovely children." ("Gosh, I'm all choked up; I can't read through my tears!") Remember the immortal words of Oscar Hammerstein: "There is no limit to the number of people who will stay away from a lousy show." 4. Acknowledge deficiencies in the hardware manufacturer's marketing competence. You have to ask yourself, "Would I let Atari's sales people sell *my* product? Would I let Jack Trammiel join *my* sales team?" After that -- no excuses! If we fail to set realistic goals, or if we fail to move our goods, it's our own fault. 5. Support your product. (I sure was wrong about applying this command!) Whenever a registered user phoned us with installation or operational problems, Wayne himself would help him get squared away. I objected: "We can't afford to waste our main programmer's time on the phone," I said, "You should be isolated." But Wayne turned out to be right. People are willing to pay fair prices for good software, but they feel such payments entitle them to professional guidance when needed. (And if they can't get the program working, they feel it's over-priced no matter how little they might have paid for it.) Atari users are vocal: walk that extra mile for them and they'll praise you in public, in club meetings and on bulletin boards. This gives your product a credibility that ten pages of your *own* boastful claims could never earn. 6. "Early to bed, early to rise; "Work like hell, and advertise." -- So wrote Daniel David Palmer, Canadian inventor of Chiropractic Medicine. I hate slogans as much as you do, but if one has to have a slogan, this should be it. You simply can't win a place for your product in today's markets without advertising, as Atari's top management has recently learned at enormous cost, through losses of sales and investor confidence. The argument against software advertising typically runs, "We're unique. We don't need to advertise, because we don't have any competitors." Wrong! The money you want me to spend for your product could buy a couple of high-class dinners, or a dress for a little girl, or -- a million things a software salesman never thinks of, and every one of that million is a competitor. No matter how unusual your product, no matter how excellent, nobody really *needs* it; nobody's going to die without it. But there are ways to make somebody *want* it . . . 7. Know how to write entertaining promotional material; then publishers will let you mention a few attractive features of your product to the public. For example: Since Turbo ST first appeared, users have been urging us to come out with a second, extra-cost version that would speed up graphics -- not just text. Well, we've added graphic enhancements to our latest version, but we haven't increased the $49.95 list price nor the $5 upgrade price. If you want to try out the new 1.8 version of Turbo ST on your favorite programs, download TURBOSTC.ARC if you use a color monitor or TURBOSTM.ARC if you use a monochrome monitor. The demo versions of Turbo ST are full working versions that run for 15 minutes each time you boot your computer and should be available this weekend on GEnie and shortly thereafter on your local bulletin board. More boasting: graphic support by Turbo ST 1.8 includes polygon and line drawing in all screen resolutions, polygon fills in all resolutions, icon and pixel drawing in all resolutions. and high speed circle drawing on all monochrome and Moniterm monitors. As for text- scrolling speedup, what takes 11.5 seconds on a 1040 ST and 9.5 seconds on a stock Mega ST, takes only 6.7 seconds with Turbo ST 1.8. This represents 19% improvement over Turbo ST version 1.6 and a 40% improvement over Atari's blitter. (Who needs a blitter chip? Who needs an STe? Don't trade up, just speed up with Turbo ST Version 1.8.!) You can order Turbo ST 1.8 from your favorite local or mail-order dealer, or you can purchase it for $49.95 direct from Softrek, PO Box 5257, Winter Park FL 32792, Telephone (407)-657-4611. Registered users can upgrade by sending your original disk plus $5.00 to Softrek, or free of charge from local dealers who participate in the upgrade program [dealer update disks will be mailed within two weeks]. A FEW CANDID COMMENTS CONCERNING THE NEW TURBO ST 1.80 Conf : Atari Technical Msg# : 1233 Lines: 4 Read: 3 Sent : Apr 2, 1990 at 9:47 PM To : ALL From : ED KRIMEN at Fuji BBS, Node 512 - Chico, CA Subj : Turbo ST 1.8 I got it today! It's sweet! The off-hand noticable difference is that it speeds up the drawing of the dialer on Interlink. It speeds up the drawing of UIS III also. I don't have Quick ST 2.0 so I can't do any comparisons. Conf : Atari Technical Msg# : 1232 Lines: Extended Read: 4 Sent : Apr 2, 1990 at 9:10 AM To : ALL From : SYSOP WAYNE at STATUS - Node 300 Ct Subj : QST II Vs Turbo ST 1.6/1.8 UPDATE!!! I got my upgrade to TurboST 1.8 in the mail the other day. There are some pretty impressive advances in some areas. Here's the updated comparison file. /B = Blitter on, otherwise it's off Benchmark Mono Mono/B Med Med/B Low Low/B ======================================================================= Tos Txt 100% 110% 100% 107% 100% 114% Tos String 100% 106% 100% 105% 100% 110% Tos Scroll 100% 132% 100% 128% 100% 127% Gem Dialog 100% 133% 100% 129% 100% 148% TST 1.6 Mono Mono/B Med Med/B Low Low/B ======================================================================= Tos Txt 314% 314% 337% 337% 436% 436% Tos String 1255% 1255% 1420% 1420% 867% 861% Tos Scroll 144% 144% 140% 140% 134% 134% Gem Dialog 260% 271% 201% 240% 199% 264% QST II Mono Mono/B Med Med/B Low Low/B ====================================================================== Tos Txt 325% 325% 348% 348% 263% 263% Tos String 1271% 1271% 1524% 1524% 475% 475% Tos Scroll 134% 134% 131% 131% 129% 129% Gem Dialog 255% 260% 231% 240% 111% 174% TST 1.8 Mono Mono/B Med Med/B Low Low/B ====================================================================== Tos Txt 326% 326% 354% 354% 454% 454% Tos String 1347% 1347% 2073% 2073% 1997% 1997% Tos Scroll 136% 139% 133% 135% 132% 134% Gem Dialog 284% 299% 285% 275% 216% 269% Using both at the same time, all the numbers except for GEM Dialog are the same as TST. For GEM Dialog the numbers are between 5-15% higher than whichever is highest in each category. As you can see TST 1.8 has made some impressive increases. All areas where 1.6 was lagging behind QST II have been sped up, and it now surpasses QST II in all categories that either program has an affect on in the Quick Index program. __________________________________________________________ > ONLINE TODAY CPU/STR OnLine¿ The wires are hummin'! ============================ by Oscar Steele Welcome back, and thanks for joining us. The ST sections on the networks such as GEnie or Compuserve are huge places, most of you already know that. Thus, I'd like to begin with GEnie's Atari ST Roundtable and move on to include other networks in the coming weeks. This week we'll meet GEnie's SysOp's and get a feel for who they are and what they're about. I was lucky enough to have Darlah J. Pine (better known as DARLAH), the Chief SysOp, and Jeffrey J. Williams (JEFF.W), one of Darlah's Assistant SysOps answer a few questions. 1. HOW LONG HAVE YOU BEEN A SYSOP? Darlah: I've been a SysOp for 4 years. Jeff: I've been a SysOp on GEnie for 1 year, but I was a subscriber for a number of years before that. 2. WHAT'S THE MOST COMMON QUESTION YOU'VE BEEN ASKED? Darlah: "Can I get access to Cat 21?" Next one is "I am having problems uploading or downloading." Jeff: "Will you give me access to Category 21?" (The Game Category in the Bulletin Board that contains explicit help and solutions to games for the ST.) 3. WHAT'S YOUR FAVORITE TIME TO BE ON GENIE? Darlah: My favorite time to be on GEnie is at 6 am as I get the most accomplished in a short period of time. It is one of the most quiet times of the day. My second favorite time is at conference time as it gives me the opportunity to chat with everyone. Jeff: My favorite time to be online on GEnie is on Wednesday evenings! That's when the weekly RTC's (RealTime Conferences) are held. Each Wednesday evening at 10pm EST. 4. WHAT DO YOU THINK OF ATARI'S CURRENT SITUATION? Darlah: Atari's current situation does not look good without knowing or having some insight into the market. The lack of advertising has not helped but I picked up the Discover magazine yesterday and was amazed to see Atari all over the entire back cover. Things are starting to happen. I see exciting things in Atari's future. I feel a bit sad when I see some not hang on as I feel a certain closeness to all the folks that participate in the GEnie Atari areas. GEnie's area has grown 60% in one year. This is amazing in itself. We have become very popular. Atari computers were selling or at least modems were. Jeff: Let's narrow this question down to what do I think about Atari's current -online- situation. I think Atari has some wonderful folks online on on GEnie. I'm very glad that we have folks like John, Bob, Elizabeth, Dan, and Allan online. As wonderful as these folks are, I would still love to see someone who could answer marketing and policy questions. The technical support online is excellent, but there are lots of non-technical questions that can't always be answered by our Atari friends. 5. WHERE DO YOU LIVE? Darlah: I live in Connecticut right near the New York border. Jeff: I live in Arlington Heights, ILLINOIS. It's a northwest suburb of Chicago. 6. WHAT'S YOUR FAVORITE TV SHOW OR MUSIC? Darlah: TV?? What is that?? Actually I am more serious about that than you probably realize as I very rarely get the opportunity to sit down and enjoy a TV show. GEnie takes up a big chunk of my life. Music is another story. I love it and one does not have to find the time to watch it. I just got back from an Eric Clapton concert. It was fantastic. I enjoy a great variety of music from Michael Bolton, Allanah Myles, Journey to such things as WhiteSnake. I couldn't name you every CD or tape or vinyl I own. Over the years I have slowly built up the collection. Jeff: I usually listen to talk radio, so I don't keep up with a lot of current music, but I like rock and roll (the good old fashioned kind), the Beatles, Roy Orbison, James Taylor, and lots of others. My favorite TV shows are Star Trek: The Next Generation, Night Court, LOUISIANA Law, It's The Garry Shandling Show, and Murphy Brown. 7. ARE YOU MARRIED? Darlah: I am separated and soon to be divorced (finalized). Jeff: Single. 8. HOW OLD ARE YOU? Darlah: My age is 34. Jeff: 37. March 18, 1954. Please, no gifts costing more than $1000. 9. GIVE A SHORT AUTOBIOGRAPHY ABOUT YOURSELF. Darlah: Hmmm... this is a hard one. I have down everything from working as a line person to being a plumber and owning a plumbing company to this. My 1st computer I purchased was an Atari 400 and it was never the same since. :-) I have always been in a service type business; thus, GEnie is an extension of it. I enjoy the opportunity to help others in something we mutually enjoy. Jeff: I grew up all over the place. Started out in Chicago, then spent most of my school life in Coeur d'Alene, Idaho (a wonderful little town in a beautiful setting... it sickens me that so many neo-nazis and white supremisist hate groups have chosen to make Idaho the base of their operations), then a brief stint in Seattle, back to Idaho again, a few years in Denver, and finally back to the Chicago area, where I finished high school. After school, I got a job with A Very Big Insurance Company and I've just celebrated my 17th anniversary there. I work in one of their Systems departments. Atari computers entered my life about 10 years ago when I bought an Atari 400. Over the years, I moved on to an 800XL, 130XE, and finally the 520ST in August of 1985. I still use that very same 520ST, but it is now rigged with 2.5 Meg of RAM, a Tweety Board, and a Turbo 16. My particular interest is telecommunications (gee, what a surprise!), but I use the ST also for word processing a lot and, yes, I like to play some games when I have the time. I like -anything- from Sierra Online. But my current game playing seems centered more on my Lynx than on the ST at the moment. I am slowly but surely struggling through Chip's Challenge. Some of these questions got a bit personal, and I offered them as optional. But, as I had hoped, both Darlah and Jeff answered all the questions. That's the great thing about the GEnie SysOps, you get to feel like you really know them when you talk to them during conferences or when leaving/getting mail. Darlah was VERY busy this week because of her stint at the World of Atari show in Anaheim (it's not exactly in her backyard). But she took the time to answer my questions. I've noticed she does that a lot - she takes the time, whether it's to help a new user or fix something that needs a fixin. New users have something to look forward to on GEnie, that homey feel that older users have grown accustomed to. A BIG THANK YOU to Darlah and Jeff! Hopefully, next week, I'll begin to dissect the GEnie message base and download section to show you the what's and where's of GEnie. We'll also be taking a look at GEnie's weekly conferences. Hope to see you next week! __________________________________________________________ > MODULA-3 CPU/STR InfoFile¿ A NEW PROGRAMMING LANGUAGE ========================== The Olivetti Modula-3 Distribution ---------------------------------- Modula-3 [1] is a new programming language that adds objects, threads, exceptions and garbage collection to Modula-2. We are developing a set of tools to support software development in Modula-3. Our intent is to make the tools widely available and we plan to distribute them during the third quarter of this year. Tools ----- The Modula-3 tools are built from a collection of packages, written mostly in Modula-3 but including some C, which are integrated by the use of an abstract syntax tree (AST) as the intermediate representation of compilation units. The AST is defined in terms of Modula-3 object types and the majority of the tools operate directly off this representation. We are actively developing a variety of tools to support Modula-3 development. However, in order to make a basic system available quickly, not all of these tools will be provided in the first distribution. The initial set will definitely contain the following: * A compiler that translates from Modula-3 source to object code, by way of C source as an intermediate step. Our use of C is quite high-level, hence there is a close similarity between names and types in the Modula-3 and C domains. This makes it possible to debug via the generated C code. The compiler is structured such that it is easy to replace the C code-generator with an alternative. * A pre-linker which verifies the consistent compilation rules of Modula-3, computes module initialisation order, and builds the program with the target machine linker. * A 'makefile' generator for Modula-3 libraries and programs. Other tools that we are working on and will include in the distribution if they are solid enough, include the following: * A tool to generate Modula-3 code to save and restore data structures from persistent storage in a type-safe manner. * A tool to build skeleton modules from interfaces. * A pretty printer for Modula-3 source. * A Modula-3 interpreter, operating off the AST. * A tool to build interfaces and modules from a generic specification. * A source-level debugger with a point and show interface. * An interactive compiler tool that monitors changes made to source files and performs recompilations automatically. This replaces the use of 'make' and provides a fast compilation environment. * A remote procedure call stub generator. Run-time Library ----------------- The distribution will contain a library suitable for typical systems programming applications. We are taking a simple approach to the basic run-time environment to avoid creating unnecessary obstacles to portability. The only significant run-time support is the garbage collector, which is by Boehm and Weiser [2]. The library will contain a number of modules (30 or so), some completely portable and some that are operating system dependent. It includes an IO system, based on an extensible set of stream classes. Tool Portability ----------------- We are developing the tools to run on Sun-3 hardware under SunOS 3.5/4.0 and on DEC VAX running Unix(*) BSD 4.3. We expect that portability of the tools to other Unix targets will be straightforward, since we make little or no use of facilities that pose portability problems. Porting it to other operating systems will require more work, but the changes should be well localized. References ---------- [1] The Modula-3 Report, L. Cardelli, J. Dohnaue, L. Glassman, M. Jordan, B. Kalsow, G. Nelson, DEC Systems Research Center, Palo Alto, CA and Olivetti Research Center, Menlo Park, CA, Aug 88. [2] Garbage Collection in an Uncooperative Environment, Hans Boehm and Mark Weiser, Software, Practice and Experience, Sep 88, pp. 807-820. How to reach us --------------- If you would like further information, or would like to receive a copy of the distribution software, please send e-mail to modula-3@stl.olivetti.com (or modula-3@oli-stl.uucp). Or write to us at: Olivetti Software Technology Laboratory 2882 Sand Hill Road, Suite 115 Menlo Park, CA 94025 USA The Modula-3 Tools Project Team ------------------------------- The distribution software is being developed by David Chase of Olivetti Research Center, Mick Jordan, Trevor Morris and Marion Sturtevant of Olivetti Software Technology Laboratory. (*) Unix is a trademark of AT&T Bell Laboratories. __________________________________________________________ > SUPERCHARGER! CPU/STR FOCUS¿ The _PREMIER_ IBM Emulator =========================== TALON.TECH posts; I have been very busy at Talon Technology and could not get the time to get on-line until now. I now have made plans to be on every couple of days to answer any technical or other questions. There seems to be just a little confusion over just how much the SuperCharger costs. Before I answer that, let me give you just a little bit of back ground on SuperCharger (SC). We have received FCC class "A" approval on SuperCharger. This means it can be sold as a commercial or business device. What does this mean to the end user? You must be able to show that you would use SC in a commercial or business environment. If you would like to see if you would qualify to buy our present version of SC please give me a call at Talon Technology (619-792-6511). Because of FCC class "A" restrictions and other reasons SuperCharger is NOW available with 1 meg of Ram for $450.00. Because a large number of PC's are used for business purposes, the FCC class "A" restriction will not prohibit a good number of Atari ST/Mega users from being able to buy the current version of SC. We are earnestly seeking a FCC class "B" approval. A FCC class "B" approval would allow us to sell to the end user with no restrictions. Our best estimate is 6-8 weeks before we get FCC Class "B" approval. New Stuff ========= A new update of SuperCharger Software will now allow you to use the idle memory in SUPERCHARGER AS A RAM DISK for your Atari ST/Mega. Now when your not using your SC, you can access the idle memory and configure it as a ram disk. The new version of software will allow you parallel process several SuperChargers. You could have two or more SC's placed in series through the DMA. You would then be able to run more than one MS-DOS application at a time. The documentation is still written in German so I will give you more details later when the documentation is fully translated. The new software will not be shipped with the current version of SC's but will be available as an upgrade. We will release the upgrade as soon as testing and the translation of the manual is done. The VGA card is still two to three months away (this is a disappointment to us too), but will have an added feature. It will also allow you use the popular"EITHER NET", (I think thats how you spell it), networking system. I will be getting more information on this very soon. >Richard Betson >Talon Technology Inc. >(TALON.TECH) An excerpt from the latest info file from Talon. Folks, they are supporting this new SUPERCHARGER with every possible effort. - The serial port of the ATARI is now supported as COM2: under MS-DOS and can be used accordingly. - SETVIDEO.EXE is used to switch to HERCULES mode when a high resolutiion monitor (SM124 or Multisync) is connected to the ATARI. The " / " key above the numerical keypad will toggle the display in graphic mode between the lefthand, centred and righthand view. The graphic mode can be selected from inside MS-DOS with the SETVIDEO program at any time between CGA und Hercules. - Some programs might have problems when in Hercules mode, if the GRAFTABL.COM program has been run from inside of the AUTOEXEC.BAT. This is not a SuperCharger specific problem. Removing the GRAFTABL.COM from the AUTOEXEC.BAT will fix it. - The new version of SC_INST.TOS has an option for inverse video at start up. - The screen can be inverted at any time by pressing Alternate - S - A. - In order to use the DOS-SHELL in DOS 4.01 you have to copy the DOSSHELL.BAT from the Utility-Disk to the DOS-Partition (or the Boot-Disk). The DOS-SHELL is invoked by typing DOSSHELL. - ATARIDR.SYS can only work withn MS-DOS compatible FAT and sector formats. If you use partitions larger than 16 MBytes or smaller then 4 MBytes you may receive an error message. To avoid this we recommened that you use only partitions between 4 MBytes and 16 MBytes in size. The MS-DOS partition can be as small as 1 MByte but should not exceed 16 MBytes. - You should not use the ATARI C: partition as your MS-DOS boot partition. You will not be able to autoboot TOS. - If you have an older version of the SuperCharger software, you should NEVER mix versions. This will result in a possible malfunction. - If you have problems using the SuperCharger with your harddisk, use ABIO_CON.TOS instead of ABIO.TOS. Toolbox Version 1.30 ==================== This folder should contain the following files: - README.1ST : This Text. - RAMDISK.ASM : V30 source code for SC_RAM.TTP - RAMDISK.BIN : V30 binary include file for SC_RAM.TTP - SCTB.PRG : Resident Toolbox Program. - SCTB_INC.S : General Include File for Toolbox application programs - SC_RAM.TTP : Sample application program for the SuperCharger Toolbox 'SuperCharger as Ramdisk for the Atari' - SC_RAM.S : 68000 Sourcecode for SC_RAM.TTP. To use the SuperCharger as a ramdisk under TOS, =============================================== you should perform the following steps: o Start SCTB.PRG to load the resident Toolbox. This program may be placed in the AUTO folder. o Double click on SC_RAM.TTP o If no special options are required, simply press RETURN. See above, command line syntax. o The ramdisk will display a signon message, saying under which drive number it can be accessed. As you can see, TALON has been up front with every promised feature, the 1mb ramdisk while in the ATARI mode is now a reality. Talon will be showing this fine IBM Emulator at WOA in Anaheim this weekend, if you go to the show, please, make it your business to visit the Talon booth and see this jewel in action.... _______________________________________________________ > PCD Now What? CPU/STR FOCUS Dealers are taking deposits? ============================ DJ.REES posts; To whom it may concern: I have had my PC-Ditto II working now for about 3 weeks with the new pals installed and here is what I have found: I had to have a socket installed for the 68000 as the tech said to solder the clip on properly he would have to remove it from the Mega motherboard. It would only work reliably after I had the clip soldered onto the 68000. Before that sometimes it would lock up at the Hit Return for DOS prompt and sometimes it would work. I am considering having a socket installed in my 1040 so I can move PC Ditto to my other computer when necessary. Most programs seem to work but a few I have tried do not. My main reason for running PC Ditto II was to run the IBM version of FoReM Professional BBS program and Binkleyterm a Fidonet mailer program without having to shell out thousands for a 286 or 386 machine. Unfortunately, neither of these programs will quite work because I seem to be having trouble getting the COM1 port to work at full speed. Both of these programs require a fossil driver for the COM port. I have tried 2 different versions of fossil drivers and one of them will not work at all and the other works normal for about 4 lines of text and then slows down to a snails pace. Once the slowdown occurs it only sends out about 1 character per second to the modem. Even though the screen from the sysops point of view is several lines ahead and waiting for a keypress in response to a prompt. And if you press a key on the console it speeds up the output to the modem for as long as you are pressing keys. But both of these programs work ok when used from just the keyboard end of things. Also I purchased Gem 3.1 to use in PC mode and it just locks up with a white screen and a flashing cursor at the top left corner of the screen when trying to boot Gemvdi.exe. And last but not least Turbo ST 1.6 will lock up my computer if I try to boot it as a accessory in native ST mode. Just locks up the computer with a all white screen. Thanks in advance for looking into these problems for me. DJ Rees BOOJIBOY posts; Well, it has been over three weeks and my PC Ditto II is still going strong. As previously noted, I have a Mega 2 with a Rev. 5 board. J.Allen, there is one thing I would like to know. Exactly how does one attach a 74HCT08 between the blitter and the clip? Do you solder it between the top of the clip corresponding to pin 13 and the daughterboard pin that is soldered there? If so, what pins of the 74HCT08 get soldered and to what? My Spectrum pictures still look fine. Prodigy is still very buggy. I have no luck at 2400 baud, but at 1200 baud I have had limited success. A couple of times I was able to stay on for an entire session and log off. I strongly suspect that this is software related, as opposed to hardware since it is inconsistent. Perhaps PCD2 doesn't communicate too well with the modem. What do you think A-G? Anyway, I also have Spectre GCR and the latest version of the software, Version 2.65 and Prodigy works flawlessly on that with the added bonus of using the mouse! I have not been able to boot from hard drive yet. I have a Toadfile 44 which uses the ICD Host Adapter. Any suggestions? Should I change my SCSI i.d. from 0,0 to something else? I can't format using DOS. I try the command FORMAT C:/S, it asks for the drive's volume name and since I am unable to supply any it refuses to format. Other than that, I have the ultimate home computer. Runs ST, Mac, DOS, for under $2,000.00!!! S.E.SIMON posts; Avant-Garde, I too have not yet received my PC Ditto II. Is there a problem?mPlease leave message or E-Mail to advise. Thank you, Stephen Simon 851 WoodleamBirmingham, Mi. 48009 #011373 P.ANTHONY posts; More on my problems with the modem...I was mistaken when I said Prodigy didn't echo the characters to the screen when the computer stopped sending characters to the modem. I also did some counting and I found that after 114 to 117 key presses, the computer stops sending the key presses to the modem. On the off chance that my problem is not with my PC Ditto II (or the Ditto II softare) the atari technician at the store is going to swap the chip in my ST that controls to modem port with another one (maybe the chip is bad). Can anyone confirm that they have no problems with terminal emulators and PC Ditto II? Thanks, Perry BOOJIBOY posts; P.ANTHONY I have problems running Prodigy and other terminal software. I suspect it is a BIOS problem, which is software related. Hopefully A-G will have a \ software fix for this. Prodigy does work better at 1200 baud than 2400. Tomorrow I leave for Anaheim. See you all there at the World of Atari Show! __________________________________________________________ > ICD ADVANTAGE + CPU/STR InfoFile¿ Another quick look.... ================================ In March 1990, ICD introduced three new SCSI Host Adapters for the Atari ST and MEga computers. They include new software and all support the full SCSI command set. 1) Advantage Micro ST - designed for the Mega with an internal hard drive. The smallest Atari Host Adapter in existence at about 2.7 by 1.3 inches. Includes a power up delay circuit for autobooting inside your Mega. Drive bracket and cables are included as well as software and manual. 2) Advantage ST - Full SCSI, 48 ma drivers, Dual mode DMA daisy- chaining, parity bit support, and very small size. Includes software, manuals, molded 3 ft. DMA cable. 3) Advantage Plus ST - Same as above but with real-time clock and the larger footprint of our old ICD ST Host Adapter. Our new Advantage ST software works with all ICD ST Host Adapters and includes excellent support for removable media drives (Syquest), high speed caching, Up to 128 paritions per system, each being up to 500 Megabytes and a desk accessory which allows swapping and selecting of these partitions. Up to 14 partitions can be active at once. Of course autobooting and Atari 3.xx format structure is supported. Folks, ICD will also be exhibiting at WOA this weekend, stop by their booth and see the new goodies on display... _____________________________________________________ > CHOOSING A LANGUAGE CPU/STR InfoFile¿ An interesting list... ==================================== Selecting a Programming Language Made Easy ========================================== Daniel Solomon & David Rosenblueth Department of Computer Science, University of Waterloo Waterloo, Ontario, Canada N2L 3G1 With such a large selection of programming languages, it can be difficult to choose one for a particular project. Reading the manuals to evaluate the languages is a time-consuming process. On the other hand, most people already have a fairly good idea of how various automobiles compare. So in order to assist those trying to choose a language, we have prepared a chart that matches programming languages with comparable automobiles: Assembler - A Formula I race car. Very fast, but difficult to drive and expensive to maintain. FORTRAN II - A Model T Ford. Once it was king of the road. FORTRAN IV - A Model A Ford. FORTRAN 77 - A six-cylinder Ford Fairlane with standard transmission and no seat belts. COBOL - A delivery van. It's bulky and ugly, but it does the work. BASIC - A second-hand Rambler with a rebuilt engine and patched upholstry. Your dad bought it for you to learn to drive. You'll ditch the car as soon as you can afford a new one. PL/I - A Cadillac convertible with automatic transmission, a two- tone paint job, white-wall tires, chrome exhaust pipes, and fuzzy dice hanging in the windshield C - A black Firebird, the all-macho car. Comes with optional seat belts (lint) and optional fuzz buster (escape to assembler). ALGOL 60 - An Austin Mini. Boy, that's a small car. Pascal - A Volkswagon Beetle. It's small but sturdy. Was once popular with intellectuals. Modula II - A Volkswagon Rabbit with a trailer hitch. ALGOL 68 - An Astin Martin. An impressive car, but not just anyone can drive it. LISP - An electric car. It's simple but slow. Seat belts are not available. PROLOG/LUCID - Prototype concept-cars. Maple/MACSYMA -All-terrain vehicles. FORTH - A go-cart. LOGO - A kiddie's replica of a Rolls Royce. Comes with a real engine and a working horn. APL - A double-decker bus. Its takes rows and columns of passengers to the same place all at the same time. But, it drives only in reverse gear, and is instrumented in Greek. Ada - An army-green Mercedes-Benz staff car. Power steering, power brakes and automatic transmission are all standard. No other colors or options are available. If it's good enough for the generals, it's good enough for you. Manufacturing delays due to difficulties reading the design specification are starting to clear up. ======================================================================= There's a lot of truth to this list. I thought everyone might enjoy it since we seem to be spending so much time comparing programming languages. Doc Holiday... ________________________________________________________________ > TRACKER ST!! CPU/STR InfoFile¿ ============================= TRACKER/ST ========== Tracker/ST is an exciting new productivity package for the Atari ST, which combines mailing list, mail merge, and person-tracking features in a single integrated software solution. Fully GEM based for ease of use, Tracker is the ideal program for anyone who does mailings on a regular basis, or who needs to keep track of people for any reason. Some of Tracker's powerful features include: >>> Powerful and easy to use mail merge. Merge letters to everyone or set up exact criteria for a merge. Powerful GEM text editor _built in_ with automatic reformatting (no need to press the F10 key), bold, italic and underline attributes, etc. >>> Computer aided entry saves you thousands of keystrokes when entering names--up to 10,000+ keystrokes saved for every 250 names you enter into Tracker/ST. >>> Sixteen preset label formats for single, 2 or 3 across labels, and laser printed labels (with _no_ label creeping). Edit these and add your own for custom label formats. >>> One-step "subscription aging" command automatically tracks remaining time in a membership or subscription. Great for groups with memberships that need to be adjusted on a weekly, monthly, or annual basis. >>> Full GEM interface with drop down menus, click on buttons and keyboard commands for ultimate ease of use. >>> Unique "Quick Letter" option for those occasions when you need to send a single "almost form letter." Great for business reply mail and followup letters. >>> Unlimited notes for each person in your Tracker/ST files. Notes are not limited to a few characters or words. >>> Category, rank, source and I.D. fields to help you identify each entry in your list. >>> Full reports to screen and printer, including easy to use sorting, filtering, grouping, counting, and summarizing. No need to use complicated "dot prompts" or learn a confusing database language. >>> Import and export names in ASCII and Tracker/ST formats. >>> Easy transfer of names from all popular ST data management packages into Tracker/ST. >>> Number of names limited only by disk space. >>> Comprehensive manual with full tutorial and complete index. Manual is spiral bound. >>> Installs easily on your hard drive--not copy protected. Tracker/ST is perfect for businesses of all types, religious and school organizations, theater and music groups, photographers, freelance writers and artists, clubs, newsletter publishers, salesmen and saleswomen, etc. Tracker/ST will run on any Atari ST with one megabyte of RAM and a double sided disk drive. The program runs in medium resolution color and high resolution monochrome, and also completely supports the Moniterm large screen monitor. A hard drive is recommended. Tracker/ST is available NOW. See your local dealer or send a check or money order for $79.95 to: Step Ahead Software, Inc. 496-A Hudson Street Suite 39F New York City, NY 10014 For more information; Please call: Step Ahead Software at 212-627-5830 during normal East Coast business hours. ___________________________________________________________ > ERROR CODES CPU/STR InfoFile¿ What they all mean.. ============================= Conf : Atari Technical Msg# : 1310 Lines: Extended Read: 1 Sent : Apr 5, 1990 at 6:54 PM To : XORG From : LORD WASTERAM at RAM Wasteland Subj : Re: <1227> TOS error codes Ever wondered what those TOS error messages and 'bombs' on your monitor signified? Below is a letter, originally written by Darryl May, that John Townsend of Atari posted on GEnie in January to provide some answers. This letter also appeared in the June 1988 issue of _Current Notes_ (122 N. Johnson Rd., Sterling, VA 22170). Dear ATARI customer, The following is an official list of the errors that can appear while you are operating your ST computer. This first list gives you the GEM error messages: Error description GEM Error code ========================================= OK (no error)....................0 Fundamental error................1 Drive not ready..................2 Unknown command..................3 CRC error........................4 Bad request......................5 Seek error.......................6 Unknown media....................7 Sector not found.................8 No paper.........................9 Write fault.....................10 Read fault......................11 General error...................12 Write protect...................13 Media change....................14 Unknown device..................15 Bad sectors on format...........16 Insert other disk...............17 Invalid function number.........32 File not found..................33 Path not found..................34 No handles left.................35 Access denied...................36 Invalid handle..................37 Insufficient memory.............39 Invalid memory block address....40 Invalid drive specified.........46 No more files...................49 Range error.....................64 Internal error..................65 Invalid program load format.....66 Those bombs that appear on your screen are error messages from the 68000 micro-processor. Number Description of bombs =========================================== Reset: Initial PC2...............1 Bus Error........................2 Address Error....................3 Illegal Instruction..............4 Zero Divide......................5 CHK Instruction..................6 TRAPV Instruction................7 Privilege Violation..............8 Trace............................9 Line 1010 Emulator..............10 Line 1111 Emulator..............11 [unassigned, reserved]..........12 [unassigned, reserved]..........13 Format Error....................14 Uninitialized Interrupt Vector..15 [unassigned, reserved].......16-23 Spurious Interrupt..............24 Level 1 Interrupt Autovector....25 Level 2 Interrupt Autovector....26 Level 3 Interrupt Autovector....27 Level 4 Interrupt Autovector....28 Level 5 Interrupt Autovector....29 Level 6 Interrupt Autovector....30 Level 7 Interrupt Autovector....31 Trap Instruction Vectors.....32-47 [unassigned, reserved].......48-63 User Interrupt Vectors......64-255 Darryl May Tech Specialist After having received a number of requests pertaining to the meaning of the number of bombs noticed on the screen from time time, we bring to an excellent list provided through the FNET.... _________________________________________________________ > Stock Market ~ CPU NewsWire¿ Watchin' the Sheckles Grow! =========================== THE TICKERTAPE ============== by Michael Arthur Concept by Glenn Gorman On Monday, Atari Stock went up 1/8 of a point, and up another 1/8 of a point on Tuesday. Atari Stock stayed even on Wednesday, but shot up by 5/8 of a point on Thursday, and stayed even on Friday. Finishing up the week at 6 1/2 points, Atari stock has gone up 7/8 of a point since the last report. Apple Stock was down 2 points from Friday, March 23, 1990. Commodore Stock was up 3/8 of a point from 3/23/90. IBM Stock was down 1 5/8 points from 3/23/90. Stock Report for Week of 3/26/90 to 3/30/90 _________________________________________________________________________ STock| Monday | Tuesday | Wednesday | Thursday | Friday | Reprt|Last Chg.|Last Chg.|Last Chg.|Last Chg.|Last Chg.| -----|------------|-------------|-------------|------------|-------------| Atari|5 3/4 + 1/8|5 7/8 + 1/8|5 7/8 ---- |6 1/2 + 5/8|6 1/2 ---- | | | | | | 74,200 Sls | -----|------------+-------------+-------------+------------+-------------| CBM |8 1/4 --- |8 3/8 + 1/8|8 3/8 ---- |8 3/8 ---- |8 5/8 + 1/4| | | | | | 50,200 Sls | -----|------------+-------------+-------------+------------+-------------| Apple|42 1/4 --- | 42 - 1/4|41 1/4 - 3/4|41 1/8 -1/8|40 1/4 + 1/8| | | | | |1,994,200 Sls| -----|------------+-------------+-------------+------------+-------------| IBM |104 1/8 |104 1/2 +3/8|105 7/8 | 106 + 1/8|106 1/8 +1/8| | -7/8| | +1 5/8| |1,426,000 Sls| -----'-------------------------------------------------------------------' 'Sls' refers to the # of stock shares that were traded that day. 'CBM' refers to Commodore Corporation. '----' means that the stock's price did not change for the day. _________________________________________________________________ > TAF SHOW CPU/STR Spotlight¿ A look at the TAF show ========================== To :ST.REPORT Sub: TAF show Ralph, just got back from the Toronto show. It was another packed show. They estimate about 2000 people went through. Atari Canada was showing off some new color moniterm-like monitor. 16 colors out of 4096 with about a 1024x1024 resolution. Stacy 1's were also being sold by some dealers in the $2100 Cnd. range (about $1700 US). The STE was at an all time low of $690 ($580 US) which is an _amazing_ deal. My booth was packed all day, and we did quite well sales wise. There were some other pretty amazing deals. Hopefully WOA will be at least as good. DM ---====\\\+///====--- THE 1990 CANADIAN ATARI USERS CONVENTION TORONTO, ONTARIO, APRIL 1, 1990 These are a few thoughts and observations on the Second Atari Users Convention put on by the Toronto Atari Federation. You can't really call this an annual event since the first convention (read Atarifest) was staged in November of 1988, but once more the Toronto Atari Federation has hosted a more than successful show. The show was held on Sunday, April 1 from 10 am to 6 pm at the Airport Hilton in Toronto and as of about 4 pm the attendance was approaching 2,000. There were almost 30 booths in the main hall and a few User Groups set up in the registration area. Exhibitors ranged from some of the area's larger dealers to some of the newer independent software developers, but the biggest news was in the hardware not only on display but for sale at the show. The Stacy in a 1 megabyte version with a single DD drive was in several booths for about $1800 Canadian and I saw quite a few going out the doors. The CD-ROM with a disk full of PD software was going for $750 and most dealers had a good supply of Lynx along with the usual 4 games. There was at least one Supercharger MS-DOS emulator in a 1 meg version on display, but only orders were being taken at the show, as well as a good supply of PC-Speed and Megafile 44's at several booths. Atari Canada had a large well stocked display in the center and showed everything from the full PC line (including the 20 MHz 386), to the CD-ROM, Lynx, Stacy and Megafile 44. ISD was very evident in the Atari booth and was featuring Calamus DTP as well as their new Outline to crowds that were amazed by the possibilities. They also had a Mega 4 with a math co-processor and Turbo 16 board using Image Systems colour video board hooked up to a NEC D5 multisync monitor running the newest version of Dynacadd. All of this was being printed on a Roland Size E colour plotter and has to be one of the best setups available on any machine. Ask anyone who saw it. Developers such as Strata with STalker, Gribnif with NeoDesk, ASDE with Geography Tutor, Branch Always with QuickST II, and D.A. Brumleve with her kids' programs were doing and excellent business as well as getting a chance to talk to the people using their products. A full slate of seminars in 2 adjoining rooms gave many of the developers and distributers a chance to demonstrate and talk about their products. In addition, Atari Canada's featured guest was Bob Brodie and he lived up to the rave reviews he has gotten from previous visits he has made in the US. While this show may not have been as large as some of those south of the border, it certainly was as successful and the support given by Atari Canada, not only in attending with a very professional booth, but in ensuring a good supply of the newest product was available, made everyone who attended feel that the Atari is a computer with a future. Terry Webb National Capital Atari Users Group, Ottawa, Canada. ________________________________________________ > CPU NEWSWIRE CONFIDENTIAL¿ Sayin' it like it is..... ========================= - Mendham, N.J. *** EXPLORER DARED ATARI TO ACT! *** ------------- Incendiary statements like these appear in Betsy Staples editorial; "Certain managers in Sunnyvale, apparently feeling little obligation to pay for the printing of the last issue they had chosen to discontinue, ignored the bill for an unconscionable period." Additionally she wrote; "We are simply trying to minimize the damage done to our dealers and our advertisers by one penny pinching sycophant in Atari's accounting department." This relates to the Atarian magazine, a nice idea that never got off the ground. It seems the printer decided to hold the production and release of Explorer up until he was paid for the work done on the Atarian, when payment was not forthcoming, the new Explorer was forced to wait in the wings. After some arrangements were made for payment, production resumed on Explorer but once again problems arose.. the delivery of Explorer was then... "Only to be brought to a screeching halt when the agreed upon payment was not received on schedule". The following also points out the frustration felt by Staples and Ahl; We quote from the Staples editorial; "Several calls to corporate headquarters later, we learned that the check had been cut, but that the aforementioned penny pincher -- seeking perhaps, to earn a few brownie points with the rabidly anti- FedEx Tramiels or, perhaps, to such people petty nastiness is its own reward--had dropped the envelope containing it into the chaotic maelstrom that is the first class mail stream during the weeks before Christmas." While the entire matter truly appears to blown totally out of proportion by Atari's gross over-reaction in the shutting down of Explorer and firing of its personel. While at the same time, coming forward with a smooth sounding 'as a matter of fact' type press release saying in so many words, "we are re-organizing and re-locating Explorer". This leaves this reporter breathless. The deed was clear cut and simple, Atari was shocked and angered because of Explorer hanging out Atari's dirty laundry for all the world to see. Atari reacted accordingly ..or rather, overreacted. Of course, David H. Ahl's column "News and Views" was also not very kind to Atari in this issue which by the way was called "SPRING 1990". The cover depicts a small store front with a monitor for the upstairs front window and downstairs side windows. David actually lived out the role of David and Goliath by taking on Atari's Mr. L. Hmmm a bit cryptic but when one reads further; "I was sick and tired of taking heat from a certain un-named member of the ruling clan at Atari Corp. --call him Mr. L-- who regularly rants and raves about things that appear in this column." Moving right along, we find that David Ahl tried and tried, without good results, to obtain a Portfolio for review and ...well, he wrote this.. "After the November/December 1989 issue came out, Mr L called and reamed me out for publishing remarks about the Portfolio from the very thorough test given it by Personal Computer World in England. Specifically, he objected to my saying that the LCD screen doesn't reproduce all PC graphics correctly. A fact subsequently verified by two other publications. I remarked that I wouldn't have to publish test results from other magazines if Atari would simply lend the editors of its own magazine -ie, us- a Portfolio on which we could run our own tests. 'NOT A CHANCE' said Mr. L, 'you published incorrect information which you didn't check with me. You probably won't get the facts right even if you had your own machine, so you're not going to get one'". Having been there ourselves a number of times, the dialog sounded vaguely familiar except, in our case, it came from the commander of the now very famous, "ill-fated and circling" Aircraft Carrier. Certainly a good majority of the userbase would very much like to see Explorer restored to its true form and not evolve into a very typical company rag.... Displays of rabid temper tantrums do nothing but detract from the overall productivity of any company. And we wonder why ALL the products are late?? ______________________________________________________ > Hard Disks CPU/STR 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!) (all cables and connectors installed) RUGGED, RELIABLE SEAGATE HARD DISK MECHANISMS * ICD HOST ADAPTERS USED EXCLUSIVELY * OMTI HIGH SPEED CONTROLLERS * * ICD ADVANTAGE HOST ADAPTERS * * SCSI EMBEDDED CONTROLLER MECHANISMS * 51mb #SGN4951 529.95 65mb #SG60101 669.95 80mb #SGN296 759.95 100mb #SG84011D 939.00 >>ALL ABCO DRIVES ARE HIGH SPEED UNITS<< CALL FOR SUPER SAVINGS ON ALL OUR OTHER CUSTOM UNITS FROM 30mb ============================================ :IMPORTANT NOTICE: ============================================ TAX REFUND SPECIAL OFFER! ========================= ORDER YOUR HARD DRIVE NOW AND GET A SECOND COMPLETE UNIT! ****** for $50.00 LESS! ****** That's right! A custom two for one sale. Buy with a friend and save money! CALL TODAY and ORDER YOURS! --==*==-- SHIPPING AND INSURANCE INCLUDED -offer good for a limited time only- ============================================ * 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 As of 3/90 NOW ONLY __$865.00__ *** SPECIAL SYQUEST OFFER!! *** ORDER YOUR SYQUEST UNIT NOW AND GET A SECOND COMPLETE UNIT! ****** for $100.00 LESS! ****** -> DO IT YOURSELF BARE SYQUEST UNITS $600.00ea 2 for $1100.00 * TWIN SYQUEST 44MB REMOVABLE MEDIA DRIVES ... PROGRAMMER'S DELIGHT * SPECIALLY PRICED $1539.00 * SYQUEST 44MB REMOVABLE MEDIA DRIVE AND HARD DRIVE COMBINATIONS * - Syquest 44 Model [555] and the following hard drives - 50mb SQG51 $1279.00 30mb SQG38 $1199.00 65mb SQG09 $1339.00 85mb SQG96 $1399.00 LOWBOY - STANDARD - DUAL BLOWER CABINETS ***** COMING SOON! INSITE FLOPTICAL DRIVE ***** August-September, 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 CONFIGURATIONS AVAILABLE Listed above are a sampling of the systems available. 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 --> SUPERCHARGER - PC-DITTO/II - SPECTRE/GCR LARGER units are available - (special order only) NO REPACKS OR REFURBS EVER USED! - 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"¿ ================= THE WIND-UP DOLL OF THE WEEK.... "You wind it up and it befriends you and eats your lunch... ..then, when you protest, threatens to sue you!" -------------------------------------------------------------------------- CPU/STR¿ "Your Independent News Source" April 06, 1990 16/32bit Magazine copyright ½ 1990 No.4.14 -------------------------------------------------------------------------- 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. --------------------------------------------------------------------------