*---== ST REPORT INTERNATIONAL ONLINE MAGAZINE ==---* """"""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""" "The Original 16/32bit Online Magazine" October 25, 1991 No.7.42 ========================================================================== STReport International Online Magazine Post Office Box 6672 Jacksonville, Florida 32205 ~ 6672 R.F. Mariano Publisher - Editor ----------------------------------------- Voice: 904-783-3319 10 AM - 4 PM EST BBS: 904-786-4176 USR/HST DUAL STANDARD FAX: 904-783-3319 12 AM - 6 AM EST ----------------------------------------- STR East: FNET 350 - The Bounty ST BBS 1-904-786-4176 STR West: FNET 075 - Bloom County BBS 1-415-965-9347 STR Canada: FNET 018 - ///Turbo Board Support 1-416-274-1225 STR Europe: FNET 1031 - <<>> 011-44-296-395-935 __________________________________________________________________ > 10/25/91: STReport #7.42 The Original 16/32 bit Online Magazine! ------------------------- - The Editor's Desk - CPU REPORT - WAACE Revisited - Comdex Overview - WP for WINDOWS - NEW MACS DEBUT - Codehead Delphi Conf. - 1/8" HARD DRIVE - STR Confidential -* "LEGAL" PIRACY SCAM EXPOSED!! *- -* ITS SHOWTIME AT COMDEX! *- -* ATARI ANNOUNCES PCs! *- ========================================================================== ST REPORT INTERNATIONAL ONLINE MAGAZINE The _Number One_ Online Magazine -* FEATURING *- "UP-TO-DATE News and Information" Current Events, Original Articles, Hot Tips, and Information Hardware - Software - Corporate - R & D - Imports ========================================================================== STReport's support BBS, NODE 350, invites BBS systems, worldwide, to participate in the Fido/F-Net Mail Network. Or, call Node 350 direct at 904-786-4176, and enjoy the excitement of exchanging information relative to the Atari ST computer arena through an excellent International ST Mail Network. All registered F-NET - Crossnet SysOps are welcome to join the STReport Crossnet Conference. The Crossnet Conference Code is #34813, and the "Lead Node" is # 350. All systems are welcome and invited to actively participate. Support Atari Computers; Join Today! ========================================================================== AVAILABLE EXCLUSIVELY ON: GENIE ~ CIS ~ DELPHI ~ BIX ~ FIDO ~ F-NET ========================================================================== COMPUSERVE WILL PRESENT $15.00 WORTH OF COMPLIMENTARY ONLINE TIME to the Readers of; ST REPORT INTERNATIONAL ONLINE MAGAZINE """"""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""" "The Original 16/32bit Online Magazine" NEW USERS; SIGN UP TODAY! CALL: 1-800-848-8199 .. Ask for operator 198 You will receive your complimentary time and be online in no time at all! WHAT'S NEW IN THE ATARI FORUMS (October 25) EDHAK DEMO Download file EDHAKD.LZH from LIBRARY 1 of the Atari Productivity Forum (GO ATARIPRO) for a full demo of EdHak version 2.25. This version can be used with the soon-to-be-released QuickCIS version 1.70. Craig Harvey (the author of EdHak) has also announced a special discount for CompuServe members who which to order the full functioning version. Contact Craig at User ID number 73047,600 for details. NEW FROM DOUBLE CLICK SOFTWARE Assembly language lesson from Double Click Software! Check out file DCSASM.ARC in LIBRARY 13 for an assembly language example on how to view Neochrome and Degas picture files. NEW FROM SUPRA Version 4.10 of Supra's removable device driver and SUPRMOD (a program that can be used to configure some of the device driver's parameters) is now available in LIBRARY 15 of the Atari Vendors Forum (GO ATARIVEN) under the filename REMOVE.LZH. Supra Corp has uploaded a textfile detailing their modem upgrade policy and prices. This rare (but very welcome) policy is another reason why you should consider their products when looking for a new modem. See MODEMS.TXT in LIBRARY 15 of the Atari Vendors Forum (GO ATARIVEN). NEW FROM GRIBNIF Gribnif Software announces the release of ARABESQUE PROFESSIONAL, a complete BITMAP and VECTOR based illustration package for the TT/ST line. See ARABPR.TXT for a copy of the press release and ARABDE.ARC for a full working demo, both in Library 8, Gribnif Software, of the Atari Vendors Forum (GO ATARIVEN). NEW FROM CODEHEAD SOFTWARE CodeHead Software has just released an upgrade to MultiDesk Deluxe! Owners of this fine program should download MD33UP.ARC, available in Library 16, CodeHead Software, of the Atari Vendors Forum (GO ATARIVEN). This archive contains everything you need to upgrade CodeHead's MultiDesk Deluxe 3.1, 3.1a, or 3.2 to the new version 3.3. The new version includes: greatly improved compatibility with Neodesk 3.02, bug fixes that boost compatibility with other DAs and applications, and an important new feature! See the included text files for more information. ATARI PORTFOLIO FORUM (GO APORTFOLIO) A new message section has been opened under the name *WISH LIST* (section 15). This section is to be used for your requests and suggestions for new hardware and software products for the Portfolio as well as changes you'd like to see in the structure of the Portfolio Forum. The Portfolio Forum is proud to announce the addition of BJ Gleason to the Sysop staff. Please address any communications to BJ at user id 73337,2011 until his sysop ID is processed. GUNSHIP 2000 TOURNAMENT BEGINNING! MicroProse Software is sponsoring a Modem Games Forum GUNSHIP 2000 tour- nament. Please read file GS2000.RUL in LIBRARY 2 ("Flight Sims & Games") of the CompuServe Modem Games Forum for complete details. Type GO MODEM- GAMES to access this service. THE ATARI PORTFOLIO FORUM ON COMPUSERVE HAS BEEN DESIGNATED AN OFFICIAL SUPPORT SITE BY ATARI CORPORATION "GO APORTFOLIO TO ACCESS THE ATARI PORTFOLIO FORUM" *********************************************************************** "HOW ABOUT THOSE BRAVES!" THREE GAMES AT HOME.. ..ONE GAME IN THE DOME!! > CPU STATUS REPORT BRIEF OVER-VIEW OF WHAT'S NEW AT COMDEX ================= Issue #43 Compiled by: Lloyd E. Pulley, Sr. -- Apple Introduces Three New NoteBook Sized Portables Apple Computer Inc., with the help of Sony Corp., introduced three new notebook-sized portables called PowerBooks. These will replace the Mac portable which failed to catch on in the marketplace. Sony, who helped Apple miniaturize the internal components of the PowerBook 100, has long been a supplier of Apple's computer screens and floppy disk drives. The PowerBooks have a basic clamshell design, with full-size, monochrome screen. All three machines have backlit LCD (liquid crystal display) screens, but the 170 has an active-matrix screen, giving near-monitor performance. The keyboard occupies the back half of the unit's base, with a two-button trackball in the center of the base, in front of the keyboard. The space on either side of the trackball is a palm rest, allowing the unit to be comfortably used on the lap, according to Apple. Each machine comes with at least 2-meg of RAM (expandable to 8-meg), a 20 or 40-meg hard disk, and an 1.4-meg external SuperDrive. The smallest of the three notebooks, the model 100, weighs 5.1 pounds and is the size of a sheet of typing paper. It uses a Motorola 68000 16MHz chip and has a lead-acid battery capable of 2-4 hours of use. The PowerBook 140 includes a 16MHz 68030 processor, weighs 6.8 pounds and is slightly larger than the PowerBook 100. It also has microphone and sound capability and a NiCad battery giving 2-3 hours use. Perfor- mance is claimed to equal the Mac IIcx, or 150 percent better than the original Classic. The PowerBook 170 is built around a more powerful 25MHz Motorola 68030 chip, plus a 68882 math coprocessor but is the same physical unit as the 140. Pricing ranges from $2,299 for the PowerBook 100 with a 20-meg hard drive, $3,200 for the PowerBook 140 with a 40-meg hard drive, and $4,599 for the PowerBook 170 with a 40-meg hard drive. Delivery is to start Nov. 4. -- New Mac Classic II Apple is extending the Mac Classic's market popularity by introducing the Mac Classic II series. It improves on the original Classic range with greater performance, virtual memory support under System 7, more memory expansion, and sound input capabilities. The system includes Motorola's 16mhz 68030 cpu which more than doubles the performance of the origanal Classic. The Classic II now has a microphone and sound input. Features include a math coprocessor socket and a 1.4-meg Superdrive, along with Appletalk, SCSI (Small Computer System Interface) and ADB connectors. A 2-meg version is available that includes a 40-meg hard disk. Also available is a 4-meg version with an 80-meg hard disk. The original Classic can be upgraded to Classic II standard with the addition of a special motherboard. Pricing for the new system starts at $1,900 and includes 2-meg of ram and a 40-meg hard drive and $2,399 for the 4-meg of ram, 8-meg hard drive version. -- Quadra: The High-End Mac Hoping to get more sales in corporations and government agencies, Apple introduced the Quadra models 700 and 900. The Quadra's are high-end Macs for intensive computing uses or to link other Macs in a network. They contain Motorola's most powerful microprocessor, the 68040, a 25mhz chip. Both 68040-based Quadra systems have twice the speed of the IIfx, along with color, advanced Ethernet and improved SCSI (Small Computer System Interface)/Nubus technology. Additionally, the floor-standing Quadra 900 can incorporate extra RAM up to 64-meg, additional hard disks and/or other removable SCSI storage devices. Macintosh IIcx and IIci users can up- grade to the Quadra 700 with a simple logic board upgrade fitted by dealers. Each logic board upgrade has 4-meg of RAM and 512kb of VRAM. Depending on options, the two Quadra models are priced from $3,499 to $9,199, without monitors. One sits on a desktop, the other is Apple's first floor-standing model. -- Upgrade To System 7 Apple unveiled a new version of its System 7 operating system. The new System version 7.01 operating system requires 2-megs of RAM and a hard disk. The new version of the Mac's operating system is not being billed as an upgrade for existing users of System 7.0, but merely as a replace- ment specifically for the new machines, Apple officials said. -- Communication Programs for the Mac ---- PowerModem for the PowerBook PSI Integration, of Campbell, California, unveiled the PowerModem, an internal facsimile and data modem for the PowerBook with a suggested retail price of $299, and Travelcom, a pocket-sized external V.32, 9,600 bits-per-second (bps) data modem with a suggested retail price of $799. Both are available now. -- Apple Licenses Access PC For New Powerbooks Apple Computer has licensed Insignia Technologies' Access PC for use in its Powerbook computers. Access PC allows a Macintosh to read MS-DOS high-density and double-density diskettes and perform file maintenance operations on them, as well as on Mac diskettes. Access PC comes bundled with the Powerbook line of notebooks. ---- Lotus Developing cc:Mail Macintosh Remote Lotus Development Corporation is developing cc:Mail Macintosh Remote, a companion product to its local area network electronic mail system, cc:Mail. It will let stand-alone Macintosh computers, including the new PowerBook notebook models, exchange text and other material with cc:Mail users on networks. The package will support communication with both Macintosh and DOS users. It is due to ship in the first half of 1992. ---- MicroPhone II Version 4.0 Available in mid-November Software Ventures said it will release MicroPhone II Version 4.0 in mid- November. The remote communications software is most often used for electronic mail, retrieving information from on-line databases, and interoffice data transfers. The new version supports Apple's new Power- Book notebook computers and its high-end Macintosh Quadra 700 and 900. ---- DataClub Classic and Elite Available for the Mac International Business Software announced shipment of DataClub Classic and DataClub Elite, file-sharing software for Macintosh networks. The company said that its software will let files on several machines appear as if they were all on one server, doing away with the need for dedi- cated servers for some users. ---- ACI/Acius Shipping 4D D.A.L. ACI/Acius announced that it has begun shipping 4D D.A.L., a software extension to let its 4th Dimension database software access remote database servers using Structured Query Language (SQL). With 4D D.A.L. users can develop Macintosh applications that transparently access and update information on a variety of host database systems. -- Two SCSI-Ethernet Adapters Offered For Macs ---- Daynaport to Ship in January Dayna Communications' Daynaport SCSI/Link is meant to hook Macs up to Ethernet LANs using any cabling system. There are 2 versions, one with a connector for thin Ethernet and one meant to connect to twisted-pair cabling. Scheduled to ship in January, it will retail for $399. ---- Asante EN/SC 10T to Ship in November The Asante EN/SC 10T hooks Macs up to 10BaseT (twisted pair) Ethernet through the SCSI port. Due to be available in November, it will cost $399. -- Act! Contact Management Software For Mac Contact Software International (CSI) has announced that its Act!, its PC-based contact management software will be available on the Macintosh platform , and will be able to be used on the entire line of newly announced Apple PowerBook notebook computers, the first quarter of 1992. Act! for the Mac has a contact database and editable WYSIWYG calendar manager, custom report generator and a word processor with spell-checker and mail-merge capability. The package also includes an automatically generated history for each account, unlimited notes per contact, e-mail support, Apple events support and auto-dialing. -- World's First 1.8 Inch Hard Drive Introduced Integral Peripherals announced its Integral Mustang 1820 which it claims is the world's first 1.8 inch hard drive. The unit is single platter, 20 megabytes, and is designed for the subnotebook and pen-based systems Also shown was the Stingray 1842, a dual platter, 40-meg unit about the same weight and size as the 1820. Volume production on both will be reached by mid-1992. -- Microsoft Announces Word 2.0 for Windows Microsoft Corporation says it will unveil a new version of its word processing program Word For Windows. Microsoft maintains that owners of earlier versions of Word for Windows will be able to upgrade to Release 2.0 for $129. -- Hyundai Shows Prototype of new Pen System Hyundai Electronics America displayed a prototype of its pen system. The pen system is to feature an 8.5" by 11" form factor including a writing surface, and a pen stylus. It will be based on the 80386SL processor and configured with 4-meg of RAM, a 1.44-meg floppy and a 40-meg hard disk drive. It supposedly will be compatible with PenPoint from Go Corp. and Microsoft's Windows for Pen Computing. It also will use Phoenix Technologies' new PenLeader hardware specifications. -- First Multimedia Systems Available from Philips The first multimedia systems from NV Philips Gloeilampenfabrieken's NV Philips Consumer Electronics Co. have been unveiled. They are the Head- Start 486SX and the 386SX-20. The 486 computer will sell for $2,499, while the 386 machine will cost $2,499. Philips said the latter machine is designed to be compatible with any multimedia software using the MPC mark. Philips' Multimedia PC-386 contains an Intel 80386SX processor running at 20 mhz, 4-meg of RAM, and 512k of video memory. It comes bundled with Microsoft Windows with multimedia extensions, headphones, and a mouse. It also has a Super VGA display and comes with a 680-meg CD-ROM drive compatible with Multimedia PC (MPC) standards. The suggested retail price is $2,499. Philips also demonstrated the Philips Advanced Interactive Display (PAID), combination display and pen-input device. PAID can display the image of a keyboard, calculator keypad or other input device, which the user can then operate using the stylus. Philips also launched the first notebook PC to carry the Philips label. The Philips LX320 uses the 20mhz Intel 386SX chip, weighs 6.4 pounds, and comes with 2-meg of RAM and a 60-meg hard disk. Suggested retail is $3,799. -- Zenith Data Systems Introduces New Notebook Computer Zenith Data Systems is introducing a more powerful notebook computer, the MastersPort 386SLe notebook, which begins shipping next month and carries a suggested retail price of $4,999. -- Lotus Unveils Lotus Write 2.0 Lotus Development has announced Lotus Write 2.0, an entry-level word processor designed for, what the company describes as, new users who need basic word processing capabilities in an easy-to-use format. Based around Lotus' existing Ami Pro 2.0 visual word processor, Lotus Write provides the most frequently used word processing capabilities in a visual environment. Lotus Write will be available for a suggested retail price of $199 in the fourth quarter of this year in the United States. Via the Lotus upgrade program, Lotus Write users may upgrade to Ami Pro for $149. -- Rosesoft Announces Prokey For Windows Rosesoft Inc. has released Prokey for Windows, a macro processor which is designed specifically for Microsoft Windows 3.0. PKW is immediately available at a suggested list price of $99. -- CorelDraw CD-ROM Enhanced Corel Systems has announced an enhanced CD-ROM version of its CorelDraw graphics software, offering some 10,000 clip-art images. Corel has added 6,000 new images to the CD-ROM version of CorelDraw. The package now comes on two CD-ROM disks. The price of the CD-ROM version by itself is $795. Registered CorelDraw users can upgrade to the new CD-ROM version for $99. An updated version of CorelDraw for Unix will soon begin shipping. Also, Corel said that it will produce a 32-bit version of CorelDraw for IBM's OS/2 2.0. To be available in the first quarter of 1992, the new version is to have a list price of $695. There is already a version for OS/2 1.3. -- OS-2 Late....Again IBM announced it will ship a long-anticipated new version of OS-2 to selected customers by year-end, but that it would not be available to most customers until March. The company said that it will delay delivery until March, 1992, to build in a handful of additional features asked for by beta testers. IBM had promised in April it would ship the version before 1992 began. -- IBM Announces New Versions of LAN Server IBM announced new advanced and entry-level versions of IBM's LAN Server. They reportedly offer better performance, security, and fault tolerance, more flexible support for different types of local area networks, and new functions. IBM also introduced tiered pricing for LAN Server. LAN Server 2.0 Entry costs $795 plus $75 per network node. The Advanced package costs $2,295 plus $75 per client. -- Zenith Data Systems Intros New Notebook Computer Zenith Data Systems (ZDS, a Groupe Bull company) showed the MastersPort 386SLe notebook computer. The MastersPort 386SLe combines Intel's new 25mhz 80386SL microprocessor, which offers 25% faster processing than any i386 SX-based notebook PC, with an 85-meg hard drive. The Masters- Port 386SLe will begin shipping in North America in November with a suggested retail price of $4,999. Also introduced was the Z-486SX/25E, ZDS's fastest 80486SX-based desktop personal workstation. The Z-486SX/25E includes a Model Z-649 Texas Ins- truments Graphics Architecture (TIGA) video card, which delivers 1024 by 768 pixels resolution with up to 256 colors. The Z-486SX/25E comes standard with MS-DOS 5.0 and Microsoft Windows 3.0 pre-installed on the hard disk drive and a Microsoft Mouse. The Model 200, which has a 200-meg hard drive, has a suggested retail price of $6,199. The Model 1, with no hard drive or video card, has a suggested retail price of $4,049. -- Eastman Kodak Shows Off Color Imaging Technology Eastman Kodak is exhibiting a new IBM- compatible version of the Kodak digital camera system, a high- resolution digital camera that uses a Nikon F3 camera body equipped with a Kodak-produced 1.3 megapixel image sensor. Current versions of the camera are compatible with Apple Mac computers. Also being shown are 3 new thermal printers that produce photographic quality color images from a variety of digital or video sources including VCRs and personal computers. The printers output images on paper, transparencies or for transfer onto souvenir and novelty items such as ceramic mugs. -- Dell Computer Introduces Entry-level Notebook Dell Computer introduced an entry-level notebook computer. The NX20, costs $2,199 and features an Intel 386SX microprocessor running at 20mhz. The NX20 is targeted at customers who need a notebook computer, but who are price conscience. -- Dell Announces Color Notebooks Dell's color notebook, the 325NC, uses an Intel 80386SL microprocessor running at 25mhz. It has a passive-matrix color liquid crystal display (LCD) that can simultaneously display 16 colors. The 325NC weighs 6.9 pounds. The machine is scheduled for introduction in the first quarter of 1992 and according to Dell, it will sell for less than $4,500. -- Wordperfect For Windows Wordperfect announced that its long-awaited Wordperfect word processing software for Windows will begin shipping on November 11th. Wordperfect for Windows files are compatible with files created under the DOS version, without conversion. Other file formats also convert on the fly into the Windows program. Wordperfect for Windows carries a list price of $495 in the US. Current registered owners of DOS versions can trade up to the new product for $99, and will receive a special software license to run Wordperfect under either DOS or Windows on the same machine. -- PC Document Management System Alacrity Systems has introduced a combination of hardware and software that turns a personal computer into a single-user document image proces- sing system with the ability to send documents by facsimile. The Desktop Document Manager has a suggested retail price of $1,995. -- VideoLogic Introduces MediaStation VideoLogic has introduced a video compression/decompression board that will allow users to compress or decompress an entire frame of PAL or NTSC video in real-time. This allows random access to single frames or sequences of a video, making it possible to play the sequences in any direction and at any speed. The MediaStation will be sold in 3 different bundles, it will be available in February 1992 at prices from $2,995 and up. --Six New Products Use C-Cube's CL-550 JPEG Image Compression Processor ---- VideoLogic is Showing MediaStation VideoLogic is showing the new MediaStation, an add-in card for the IBM AT and compatibles that symmetrically compresses or decompresses real time video, CD quality audio and still images. It handles PAL, NTSC, S- Video composite and RGB real-time video in addition to still images. Compatible with Microsoft Windows mutimedia extensions, it will be available in February 1992 at prices from $2,995 and up. ---- New Media Graphic's Introduces Super Motion Compression Super Motion Compression is New Media Graphics' full-motion video com- pression/decompression engine for IBM ATs. Priced at $1,995 and avail- able now, the board connects with the Super VideoWindows board for video capture to, and playback from, the hard disk under Windows. Capabilities for stereo audio digitizing and playback from the disk are also present. ---- Specom Technologies Shows New Vidcom Board Specom Technologies is showing its new Vidcom board for compression/ decompression of color and gray-scale images and video in real time. The incoming images and video can be digitized, compressed and stored to hard disk for further processing or transmission purposes. The new board will display video and images under Windows 3.0, and is scheduled to be available at the end of the year. ---- Telephoto Communications shows Alice-SPC Telephoto Communications is showing its Alice-SPC to the public for the first time. Being a high-speed JPEG image and video compression card, it takes up one slot on the SPARCstation's S-Bus, and increases storage capacity and reducing transmission time by reducing file size of digi- tized images and video. Capable of operating in SunOS and Open Windows environments, the Alice-SPC card is priced at $2,545 and will be available in November. ---- Image Manipulations Systems Shows IMS-1001 The IMS-1001 is Image Manipulations Systems's real-time JPEG image compression/decompression card and multiformat video pass through with Genlock and Chromakey. Enhancing the IMS-1000, an image manipulation and graphics card that handles true color images, live video and text and graphics and is currently available for the IPC and SPARCstation, the combination can compress/decompress live video or individual video frames for storage and retrieval from SCSI disks. Price is under $2,000 and availabilty is set for November. ---- Intergraph Developes Digital Image Product Intergraph has developed a digital image compression/decompression pro- duct for the Intergraph workstation. Targeted at the workstation-based photogrammetry and digital image processing markets, it will be available in the fourth quarter. -- Touchstone Demonstrates CheckIt LAN Touchstone Software showed their new CheckIt LAN (local area network) diagnostic and auditing software. CheckIt LAN is an outshoot of Touch- stone's best selling program CheckIt. CheckIt LAN works with NetWare versions 2.15 and 2.2. Touchstone expects to release a version that works with NetWare 3.11 by December of this year. CheckIt LAN sells for $149 for the five node set and $395 for the 20 node version. -- Key Tronic Shows the Future in Input Devices The Key Tronic's Compuphone keyboard is a full-sized 101-key keyboard with a telephone handset in a cradle at one end. It can be customized for PBX systems, the handset can be replaced with a headset, and the function keys are programmable. It is anticipated that the unit will sell to end-users for under $200. The Key Tronic's Keymouse is a single key on a laptop or notebook computer that substitutes for a mouse or other separate cursor control device. By rocking the key through a 360-degree arc, the cursor can be moved to any position on the screen. Both Compuphone and Keymouse are still awaiting FCC approval. Approval for both products in expected by January 1992. -- Micrografx Intros Windows Draw Graphics program developer Micrografx has announced its Windows Draw program. Draw provides WYSIWYG (what-you-see-is-what-you-get) support, and 18 outline fonts, as well as several other fonts. Fonts can be mixed within a line or paragraph. A blend feature converts text to curves, and text can be fitted to a user-drawn curve. Windows Draw provides more than 2,600 pieces of clip-art, including such items as cars, chairs, and groceries. Micrografx is so confident that buyers will like Draw that Micrografx is offering a full refund if the purchaser cannot learn to use Windows Draw within 60 minutes. The offer is valid for 60 days from date of purchase. -- Software Shields Users From DOS Structure Proteo Technology has launched Way You Work, software that insulates users from DOS commands and directory structures. The software presents files with longer file names than DOS allows, and organizes them into folders much as the Macintosh operating system does. Also like the Mac, it allows the user to select a file and have the appropriate application software started automatically. Now available, Way You Work will sell for $399. It requires a PC with an Intel 80286, 386, or 486 processor and at least 640k of memory. -- Advanced Gravis Shows Five New and Upgraded Products Gravis Ultrasound is a sound board with 16-bit digital audio that Gravis says matches the quality of a compact disk. It provides as many as 32 synthesized and 32 digital voices. It'll retail for under $200 and will be available in the first quarter of 1992. Gravis' PC GamePad is a combination of control pad and joystick for IBM and compatible PCs. A removable handle acts as a joystick and without the handle the device works as a Nintendo-style game controller. It can also be adjusted for left-handed or right-handed use. At a suggested retail price of $29.95. A PC version of the Gravis MouseStick, a joystick than can emulate a Microsoft or Logitech mouse. Already available for the Apple Macintosh, the MouseStick will supposedly be available for DOS machines by mid- November. The Gravis Macintosh MouseStick has been upgraded by adding a splitter that lets Mac users connect it and still have access to the Apple Desktop Bus (ADP) port. The Gravis Eliminator Game has been upgraded to be card compatible with IBM PC XT, AT, Intel 80386/486-based computers running at clock speeds up to 50 megahertz. -- Computer Associates Introduces Two New Windows Applications Computer Associates has introduced two new Windows applications, CA- Textor, a Windows word processor, and CA-UpToDate, a group scheduler. CA-Textor is a word processing package that takes full advantage of the Windows user interface and includes floating and drop-down menus, pop-up dialog boxes, and a user-configurable tool bar. Retail pricing will be $225. CA-UpToDate works over a local area network, providing personal infor- mation management functions as well as the ability to schedule meetings. It works on all networks supported by Windows, CA said. Retail pricing will be $149. Shipping on both products will begin before year-end. -- Chartersoft to Focus on the Medical Profession Focussing on a narrow market, the medical profession, Chartersoft intro- duced GraphShow, a new graphics package that contains drawing tools like those found in such packages as Corel draw. It offers drawing, graphing, and presentation software. It has 17 fonts and comes bundled with Adobe Type Manager. The software is available now for $259 with a 2nd release, with improved technical graphing functions planned for mid-November. -- Ad Lib Offers Three New Add-Ons For Sound Boards Sound board maker Ad Lib has announced three add-on products for its Ad Lib Gold line of stereo sound adapters. They include a telephone ans- wering system, a surround-sound device, and a CD-ROM interface. The Ad Lib Gold 1000 stereo sound adapter sells for $299.95, the telephone answering option $99.95, and the surround sound module $89.95. -- Fax/Modem/Answerphone, All for Under $500 Technology Concepts was showing the VDF-9624, a unit that offers a voice mail system, a 9,600 bps send/receive facsimile modem, a 2,400 bps data modem and the software to run it all. All on a single internal PC board that will sell for under $500. The system is expected to be ready to ship in January of 1992. -- Unlimited Systems Intros Portable Acoustic Coupler Unlimited Systems introduced an acoustic coupling device to allow note- book and laptop computers to transfer data more reliably via public access telephones. The unit, a newly designed, battery powered, acoustic coupler with the rubber cups fitting over the perforated section, rather than around the outside, is guaranteed to provide error-free data transfer at up to 2,400 baud from any Bell system pay phone, and up to 9,600 baud from other phones. Retail price is expected to be $149. -- MCA on the Rebound? IBM's MCA (Micro Channel Architecture) got some help Monday when the Microchannel Developers Association (MCDA) held its first annual meeting at the Las Vegas Hilton hotel. At the same time, Applied Logic Research (ALR) unveiled its Powerpro/MC series, a fast Intel '486 based MCA system aimed at the Unix marketplace. IBM announced that a major deal with VLSI Technology will allow third-party PC manufacturers to source and fit MCA technology to their machines very easily. """"""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""" IMPORTANT NOTICE! ================= As a reader of STReport International Online Magazine, you are entitled to take advantage of a special DELPHI membership offer. For only $29.95 ($20 off the standard membership price!), you will receive a lifetime subscrip- tion to DELPHI, a copy of the 500-page DELPHI: THE OFFICIAL GUIDE and over $14 worth of free time. NOTE: Special offers can be found in your favorite Atari magazines: START CURRENT NOTES ST INFORMER ATARI INTERFACE MAGAZINE SIGNING UP WITH DELPHI ====================== Using a personal computer and modem, members worldwide access DELPHI services via a local phone call JOIN -- DELPHI -------------- 1. Dial 617-576-0862 with any terminal or PC and modem (at 2400 bps, dial 576-2981). 2. At the Username prompt, type JOINDELPHI. 3. At the Password prompt enter STREPORT. For more information call: DELPHI Member Services at 1-800-544-4005 or at 617-491-3393 from within Massachusetts or from outside the U.S. DELPHI is a service of General Videotex Corporation of Cambridge, Mass. SPECIAL ANNOUNCEMENT -------------------- The 20/20 Advantage Plan IS FANTASTIC! And it features 20 hours online for just $20 a month! The $20 is a monthly fee that covers your first 20 hours online via direct dial into one of DELPHI's two direct-access lines, or via a special Tymnet 20/20 Access code. It also gets you additional hours at just $1.20 per hour. And you get free access to several services on DELPHI as part of the Advantage Perks. Other telecom services may have additional charges. Canadian Tymnet users have an additional telecom charge. Office Time access (7 a.m. to 7 p.m., weekdays) may have an additional charge. And of course, other restric- tions may apply. But this is still an amazing deal! IMPORTANT NOTICE! ================= As a reader of STReport International Online Magazine, you are entitled to take advantage of a special DELPHI membership offer. DELPHI has waived the sign-up fee! For a limited time, you can join the World's Premier Online Service for FREE! Members can access DELPHI worldwide through hundreds of local access lines. For more information please contact: DELPHI at 1-800-544-4005 and ask for Member Services. DELPHI- It's getting better all the time! """"""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""" This is the transcript of a formal Conference held Tues., October 15th, 1991, with special guests, John Eidsvoog and Charles F. Johnson, the principals of CodeHead Software. .Gordie> I'd like to welcome the CodeHead software team to DELPHI tonight. If you don't know them, they are John Eidsvoog and Charles F. Johnson. Do either of you guys have any opening comments? .Johnny CodeHead> Charles has. .CodeHead GT> Sure, Gordie. We're excited to be offering some really amazing new soft- ware to the US and Canada, Avant Vector and Repro Studio from TradeiT in Germany, and Genus, the font editor for Calamus fonts. These are very high quality graphics tools, hence the new moniker, CodeHead GT. (Graphics Tools.) Oh yeah... Dot reminds me to say that Genus is from Canada, by a guy named Gregg Rodgers. Gregg works for an ad agency in Toronto, and programmed Genus in his spare time. It's quite an amazing amazing program, with lots of unique features designed to make font creation and editing as painless as possible. All of these programs are quite amazing, actually! :) The ST world is long overdue for these kinds of applications; we're glad to be able to play some part in bringing the ST into the modern computing world in the US and Canada. GA .Gordie> Charles, I've played with the demos, and I'm quite impressed, personally. KWAI> Um, do any of the programs use the math co-processor chip? .CodeHead GT> I believe Avant Vector uses the math coprocessor, but to be honest, I haven't asked that question of the Europeans. I'll find out and let you know. KWAI> Thanks, GT, GA. .CodeHead GT> It's quite fast, in any case, w/ or without the coprocessor. GA KAMIKAZE_ACE> What's next for Codehead? New and exciting things? Shareware? .Johnny CodeHead> We'll be releasing MIDI Spy soon. .CodeHead GT> We also have the new upgrade to MultiDesk, MultiDesk Deluxe. We've been getting rave reviews from the people who have it and we're having trouble making enough to keep up with demand. KAMIKAZE_ACE> What's it do, and does it work with MultiGEM? .CodeHead GT> Well, John knows more about MultiGem than I do....(I think he struggled with installing it one day), so I'll let him talk for a second. GA .Johnny CodeHead> I've tested MultiGem with HotWire. The trick there is to make sure that HotWire doesn't run as a resident program, but rather as a MultiGem program. As for MultiDesk, I was unable to get it to work at first, but apparently there is a way to run ACCs as if they were programs. I haven't had enough time to pursue it further. Shall I expound on MIDI Spy? .Gordie> Sure! KAMIKAZE_ACE> Yes... I'm getting a synth soon... .CodeHead GT> (and he's got lots of free time. [nyuk nyuk]) .Johnny CodeHead> MIDI Spy is a MIDI recorder that runs as a program or an accessory. When run as a _resident_ ACC, it will record and play back completely in the background. This means that it will record anything you play, not matter what you are doing on your computer...disk, modem, printer, or any other activity will not deter it from its appointed task. You'll never lose another valuable idea. .CodeHead GT> Kinda like the US Post Office. In a way. .Dana> Only better! KAMIKAZE_ACE> So would I be able to record some stuff while my BBS is running, and then use it later? .Johnny CodeHead> It will load and save standard MIDI files so you can save your ideas and load them into your full-blown sequencer for further work. .CodeHead GT> We're talking _all_ formats of standard MIDI file, too. .Johnny CodeHead> You can also load MIDI Spy full of songs from other sources and have them playing in the background while you do other things. KWAI> I like That! .Johnny CodeHead> With "chain" play, it will continue playing until you tell it to stop with a pause between each song. Start/stop, tempo, and song number can all be controlled from hot keys... .CodeHead GT> And maybe best of all (if I might interrupt ) is.... .Johnny CodeHead> ...or MIDI command that you define. .CodeHead GT> ...that MIDI Spy comes with a little utility that can totally resolve a lot of the vector conflicts that plague MIDI programs and AUTO (TSR) utilities. GA .Johnny CodeHead> That's right...I've been unable to produce any MIDI overflow errors with MIDI Spy. Ga .baldy> OK, how come AV and RS are so expensive? ga .CodeHead GT> Baldy: have you priced comparable programs for the Mac or PC? Corel Draw, for example, has a list price of $795. .baldy> You're not in Macworld. We don't even have enough money to buy an AWESOME Mac! :) .CodeHead GT> The mid-level version of Avant Vector has a list price of $445 (until Dec 31st), and it actually does a _much_better_ job of vector-tracing than Corel Draw. This kind of programming sophistication doesn't come cheap. Someone has to work for years to be able to do it. And the simple fact is that Avant Vector _blows_Corel_Draw_out_of_the_water_ in the vector-tracing arena. So you're actually getting a great deal if you look at it that way. GA .Johnny CodeHead> Baldy, these are not programs that we've written. We must buy them from Germany. .baldy> Well, it's so much more than the DTP programs. .CodeHead GT> Also: because they really _are_ that good. .Gordie> If I might interject here. These programs are not 'hobbyist' programs. I think we're seeing the first steps towards the ST/TT being perceived as a serious business computer. Which means higher priced software. .Johnny CodeHead> These are professional programs for professional user...they are not toys. .baldy> Neither is CALAMUS SL and it doesn't cost $450. .Gordie> Even if some of the existing software _is_ quite good compared to other platforms' equivalent software, 'Business' equates 'low price' with 'non-serious'. .baldy> Thanks. ga KAMIKAZE_ACE> Yeah, it's a toy! It's a GREAT toy! Toys this good are WORTH $500... .Johnny CodeHead> What _is_ the price of Calamus SL? I wasn't aware that it's been released yet. .CodeHead GT> All I can say is that after two months of working with Avant Vector, it has more than proved its worth to me. DABRUMLEVE> I don't think it's been announced officially, but ISD has indicated it will be MUCH more than the regular 1.09N Calamus. .baldy> I can get the old calamus for $150. .CodeHead GT> Yes. In fact, Didot Professional (which is the only program that really compares with AV) will have a retail price close to $1000, and that does not include plotting and sign-cutting abilities. Since we're discussing the price, I'd just like to mention that we've now managed to get TradeiT to agree to put the EPS load/save functions into the mid-priced version of Avant Vector! This means that the entire world of EPS graphics (and there are thousands of high quality graphics available from LOTS of sources) is now accessible for the Atari ST and TT. With Avant Vector, you can import files created with Adobe Illustrator and convert them to Calamus format, and vice versa. GA .O.W.J.III> Well, it might be a little off-topic, but have you considered writing an ACC version of a transfer-protocol driver (zmodem)... .Johnny CodeHead> Yes. .O.W.J.III> That would 'take over' if it saw the zrinit string so that those of us with older term programs could benefit from z-modem without having to run an external driver manually? GA .Johnny CodeHead> As a matter of fact, I've been looking into adding this into CommTool. .CodeHead GT> Hmmm, interesting idea. .O.W.J.III> Oh....yeah....make it run in the background, like MIDI spy... .Johnny CodeHead> I can't promise anything other than that I'm looking into it. ga .O.W.J.III> OK.....errrr..one more short ? if I may, what's the difference between Maxifile and Multifile? GA .CodeHead GT> Whew! That question would take about a week to answer. MaxiFile is basically just a much much MUCH more advanced version. .O.W.J.III> Well, I HAVE maxifile 3.0... ahhh, OK...thanks!!! GA .Johnny CodeHead> One thing we'd like to make clear is that MultiFile is NOT PD or Shareware. .CodeHead GT> Yes, we had someone approach us at WAACE and say he had the shareware version of MaxiFile. Erg. .Johnny CodeHead> We've found several instances of people thinking MultiFile is down- loadable (without breaking the law). In case it's not known or clear, MultiFile is part of the CodeHead Utilities package. ga .Gordie> John and Charles, I think between you two and ISD, there is the beginning of a move to bring the ST/TT into the serious business market. I'm sure you're getting quite a bit of flack about the high prices of the new stuff (and I think Nathan will hear about the high prices of the Calamus packages). Would you address the need to make this kind of move? .CodeHead GT> Yeah, some people do kinda shut their eyes and break out in a cold sweat, Gordie. But hey, folks...time for a reality check! The skills it takes to produce the code in Avant Vector really _does_ take a lifetime of study to produce. This is almost a miniature artificial intelligence engine, for Pete's sake. And the EPS load/save ability essentially means that you've got a built-in Postscript interpreter as well. Frankly, the price is cheap, considering all AV is capable of doing. GA .Gordie> Is the tie-in with the Calamus format due to the fact that Calamus is a European program, like these two? ga .CodeHead GT> Gordie: DMC has made the Calamus CVG format available to other developers, as I understand it. .Gordie> I wonder if SoftLogik is working on an import module for PageStream 2, then. .CodeHead GT> Gordie: the EPS load/save ability means you can _directly_ import the files created with Avant Vector into Pagestream and view them onscreen. .Gordie> True. I hadn't remembered that little gem of information. Thanks. .Johnny CodeHead> Regarding CVG and EPS support; the Germans have about 600 Calamus service bureaus!! We had to tell them that there are only 4 in Canada and ONE in the US to convince them of the importance of adding EPS support to the mid-level version of Avant Vector. .Keith> Can you give a brief description of what AV is. (call me naive) .CodeHead GT> Keith: Avant Vector is a vector editing and auto-tracing program, similar to Adobe Illustrator/Streamline for the Macintosh or Corel Draw for the PC. It converts bit-image graphics (like IMG or Degas files) into vector graphics (mathematical descriptions of lines and curves)... which lets you scale the resulting images up or down, stretch them, skew them, rotate them, etc., without losing any resolution or getting that "jaggie" effect. GA .Keith> Will it work on all of the platforms? .Johnny CodeHead> All Atari machines. .CodeHead GT> Keith: since AV exports Encapsulated Postscript, the graphics can be easily ported to other platforms if you wish. .Keith> Thanks, ga .Gordie> How much memory is required for each of them, as a minimum? .CodeHead GT> Minimum requirement to run Avant Vector is 1 meg. .Baldy> I got the demo to work on my 520. .CodeHead GT> Repro Studio will run in 1 meg, but it really needs more to take advantage of some of its grey scale editing features. ga .Johnny CodeHead> I recently took a friend's IMG file (from his IBM), traced it in Avant Vector on the ST, and saved it as an EPS file. He's elated at the results when he loads it into Corel Draw. ga .CodeHead GT> It was really great to check out every vector-tracing program at Seybold and see it blow them all away. (It really did, and I can say that since I didn't write it.) .Johnny CodeHead> Repro Studio was shown there also. However, Repro Studio will not be available for another month or so. .Baldy> OK, do you think it's possible to use MultiGEM with MultiDesk to multi- task more than 6 progs? .Johnny CodeHead> No, I don't. I'm extremely surprised that MultiGem works as well as it does... .Baldy> Why? .Johnny CodeHead> The ST was not designed to multi-task, or switch between programs. Any program that tries to force it to do this must break programming rules and therefore will have a lot of compatibility problems. .CodeHead GT> Yep, that's the bottom line. Either break the rules, or set up a new protocol, that software has to be rewritten to follow. GA .Johnny CodeHead> To the operating system, MultiDesk looks like just one ACC so MultiGem will not be able to force things otherwise. ga .Mark> Could you use MultiDesk to run a bunch of desk accs in one MultiGEM slot? ga .Johnny CodeHead> It's possible, but frankly my first experience with MultiGem was any- thing but inviting of further testing. .CodeHead GT> Well, we'll try again to get MultiDesk to work with MultiGEM. Our intial results have all failed. And by the way, just to present our perspective on this, MultiDesk Deluxe works with every major ST application, and most major TSRs and desk accessories. And it follows the ST programming rules as closely as possible. GA .Gordie> Ah, Charles, but which rules? .CodeHead GT> The meager, scanty rules that Atari has provided, anyway. :) .Johnny CodeHead> Don't you mean "Who rules?" .Gordie> hehehe .Mark> Oh, also, what's Repro Studio? (MY naive question...) .Sky> I have Utilities release #3. Is the update worth doing? $10? ga .Johnny CodeHead> Release 4 of the Utilities gives you a lot of extras in the CodeHead RAM disk as well as a few new programming tools, a revision of Art Gallery and a new program for handicapped people. There may be a few other additions but I can't remember. .Sky> $10 and original disk? Correct? ga .Johnny CodeHead> The new features in the RAM disk include having two disks, and you can now have a print spooler in the RAM disk, making it reset-proof. That's right, you can do a warm reset while printing and not lose a single character in the printout... and there's also a way to save your spooler data to disk so that you can print it later without having to re-run the program that created it. And yes, the update is $10 plus original disk. GA .Sky> Thank you, ga .Baldy> Is there such a thing as a reset proof disk cache? .Johnny CodeHead> I don't think so, but I don't understand what the advantage would be. .Baldy> Ok, what if you saved something to a cached disk and your system crashed? .Johnny CodeHead> The scenario is a good reason not to use a write cache. The ICD cache writes to the disk during the vertical blank so if your system crashes within a second after doing a write you'll have a problem. Someone asked a while back about Repro Studio... .Mark> Yes, what is it? I've never heard of it before... .Johnny CodeHead> Repro Studio is an image processing system with some very advanced and powerful features. We plan to offer it in two versions. The low-end version will be just the software and will list for $195. The high-end version includes a 256 gray-scale scanner and will list for $895. It makes a great companion for Avant Vector. Repro Studio allows you to scan images at up to 400 dpi and process them in many different ways (hand-scanner). We did a very interesting test at the Seybold show. We found a flyer from another company with a wood-block type of graphic on the front cover. We scanned it in two passes with Repro Studio, and put the two halves together quite handily. The seam was barely detectable. The image created was 350K! We traced this image with Avant Vector. It took about ten minutes, although most traces take under a minute. The resulting vector graphic required no editing whatsoever (well, we had to change one tiny fill pattern from black to white). The CVG vector file ended up to be 25K and when we printed it out it looked EXACTLY like the original ...you couldn't tell the difference. We've been showing the two pages to people ever since and everyone is blown away. .Gordie> I assume we'll see something similar in Chicago? Maybe? .Mark> Cool...You should've given your copy back to the pamphlet's creator, just for cruelty. .Johnny CodeHead> Anyway, enough blowing . And yes, Gordie. GA .Lloyd> Not a question, just a statement. I think that MultiDesk Deluxe is the best thing you guys have ever come up with. It's so fast with the Quantum drive that you don't even notice the Acc's are not in memory!! .Johnny CodeHead> Thanks, Lloyd. And did you say that you hadn't received your Utilities upgrade? .Lloyd> Yes. .Johnny CodeHead> I'll get that out to you tomorrow, after some disciplinary action . GA .Lloyd> No problem...I haven't been in any position to miss it . GA .Johnny CodeHead> Yes, it's quite nice to have MultiDesk Deluxe load a list of dozens of ACCs at bootup without taking any time at all, and later have them loaded in on the fly so fast. GA .Lloyd> It's amazing how fast it is when you're running off of a fast hard drive!! .Gordie> John, how was the WAACE show for the CodeHeads? .Johnny CodeHead> Funny you should ask...The WAACE show was a wonderful success, not only for us but also for most everyone we talked to (vendors). We brought 5 Avant Vectors to the show, thinking that we might sell one or two...we sold ten!! .Gordie> There's your airfare. .Johnny CodeHead> After the success of the Glendale show, we decided to bring 100 Multi- Desk Deluxe packages. They were sold out on the first day! .Gordie> And your hotel accomodations. .Johnny CodeHead> We also ran out of just about everything else we brought... mostly updates... .Gordie> Any guesses why it was so successful? .Johnny CodeHead> Yes, I think there are many contributing factors: 1) The show was well promoted... 2) We had some wonderful, exciting new products: MDD and Avant Vector... 3) The dwindling availability of dealers may have been a factor... 4) Or the Atari market might be getting better. But... Most of our sales were updates, so I think it's pretty clear that the existing users are solidly behind the ST/TT but that there is not enough new blood in the market to get excited about. GA .Gordie> Do you have any contact with developers on other platforms, to know if the loyalty of the ST users is unique? .Johnny CodeHead> I don't really know developers on any other platform, but I think the other platforms are too large for them to get a sense of loyalty from their users. GA .Gordie> It has been said that software sales are a diminishing thing. The longer you have your machine, the less software you buy. But the ST users don't seem to follow that trend. Just an observation, but I think it's worth noting. ga .Johnny CodeHead> As long as we keep putting out either new software or new versions of our existing software, our users will be there for us... ...and those who pirate our wares are kept happy too (sigh). .Gordie> Like that's a consideration. .Johnny CodeHead> My wife would like to ask a question. .Gordie> Yes? .Johnny CodeHead> "When are you coming down stairs to pay attention to ME!!!???" .Gordie> HEHEHEHEHE .Mark> Is that a hint, John? |-) .Gordie> Okay, we'll let you go, then. Wouldn't do to ruin some marital bliss for this! .Johnny CodeHead> That's OK. I've been happily married for 12 years... 12 out of 21 ain't too bad. Just kidding. .Gordie> .Johnny CodeHead> We wouldn't have lasted 21 years if she weren't wonderfully under- standing. .Gordie> Seriously, though, I'd like to thank you for being here tonight. Any closing comments? .Johnny CodeHead> I'd like to thank everyone for coming and I'd like to mention that our outlook HAS changed in the last two months... Some of you may recall that there was a statement in AIM magazine quoting us as saying that we have no plans for any new Atari software. As you can see, things have changed! .Baldy> hehe. .Johnny CodeHead> With Avant Vector, Repro Studio, Genus, MIDI Spy, and even some other things I can't mention yet, we're definitely planning some new things! Thank you all! GA .Gordie> This CO is officially over! *********************************************************************** This conference transcript is the exclusive property of the ST Advantage on DELPHI. Permission to reprint is granted only if this notice is included and the transcript is left unchanged. *********************************************************************** > LANTECH STR Review A TRUE, LOCAL AREA NETWORK ================== THE LANTECH 10 MEGABIT PER SECOND LAN ===================================== review by Joe Mirando It seems that one of the things that keeps Atari computers from successfully entering the business market is the lack of a usable networking system. That problem has been overcome by Lantech Systems of Billerica, Massachusetts. The Lantech 10 megabit per second LAN (Local Area Network) allows two or more computers to share hard drives. What you need: 1) Two or more ST, Mega or STe computers (mix and match). 2) At least one hard drive. 3) Lantech Basic Starter System. 4) Co-axial cable 5) BNC connectors 6) BNC 'T' adaptors 7) Digital Multi-Meter The Lantech Starter System comes with two Lantech LT101 cartridges, a 24 page instruction manual and a disk containing programs to allow you to configure and run the network, an accessory to allow you to pass messages between computers, and an accessory to change the printer node for a given computer (more on this later). The LAN cartridges themselves measure 5 inches from front to back, 5 1/4 inches left to right, and are 1 1/2 inch tall. They plug into the cartridge port of any ST, Mega or STe computer. On the end of the box opposite computer, there is a BNC (Bayonet Nut Connector) mount and a "balance switch" which allows you to adjust the network for optimum operation. On the front of the cartridge is an LED that flashes as data is passed over the network. Once the cartridges are connected to your computers and the co-axial cables are connected, flip the balance switches on the cartridges at either end of the network to the "ON" position, and the switches on the "inside" cartridges to "OFF". Before going any further, it's very important that you test the LAN for a few electrical problems. I almost destroyed a large percentage of my equipment by not testing for ground potential difference. The tests are easily done with a digital multi-tester, take only a few moments, and could save you a large amount of grief. Now it's time to test the network out. By running HOSTTEST.PRG on a computer with a hard drive attached, and TERMTEST.PRG on each of the others in turn (with or without hard drives), you will be able to determine if your network will run with few enough errors to be reliable. Although the network software checks and corrects transmission errors, too many errors will slow things down and could cause damage to your hard drive. If you get to many errors for reliable use, the program will tell you so. Your options at this point include shortening the cable length, adjusting the balance switches and checking the voltage available from your cartridge port. This last option has proven that, in most of the cases I've encountered, the fault lies with the computer's power supply. While the ST's cartridge port is supposed to supply 5 volts +/-0.25, some ST power supplies put out less than the minimum. Without getting too technical, the components of the LAN cartridge should receive a voltage of no less than +4.85 and no more than +5.2. If you are lucky enough to have a power supply with a variable resistor on it, you can carefully adjust the voltage so that it puts out +5.15 at the power supply when the leads are disconnected from the motherboard (this helps to assure that you don't get +5.0 volts at the cartridge port and +5.3 volts at the motherboard, which could destroy your CPU or your TOS chips). As a last resort, Best Computers sells a heavy-duty power supply that installs easily and provides the correct voltage. Both power supply adjustment and replacement are supposed to be done by qualified personal, but it's not too difficult to do yourself if you don't mind voiding the warranty on your computer. Now that we've cleared the testing stage, it's time to configure your network. When you run the LANCONFIG program, you are first asked what "Node" you are configuring. The computer with the hard drive should be node Zero. After you select the node number, you are asked to select the drives that will be available. Configuring the network consists of giving the computer a node number, selecting which hard drive partitions it will use, deciding if this particular node will be allowed to write to each partition, and whether it will print to it's own printer port or to a printer connected to another "Node". More than one node may have a hard drive attached, but any node that does have a hard drive must look at it's own first. As an example, let's say that Node Zero has a hard drive with two partitions, C and D, which we'll call Jack and Leonard. Node One also has a hard drive with two partitions, which we'll call Sam and Gary. Node Two has no hard drive at all. Now, let's configure node Zero. Since node zero has a hard drive, the partitions on that drive must come first. In other words, Jack and Leonard must be Drives C: and D: on Node Zero. Since one of the other nodes has a hard drive, we can access its two partitions as drives E: and F:. So the drive order for Node Zero is Jack (C), Leonard (D), Sam (E), and Gary(F) [or Jack (C), Leonard (D), Gary (E), and Sam(F)]. Let's say that Node Zero has a printer attached, so we tell the config program that Node Zero will print at Node Zero. Got it? Node One, since it has its own hard drive (Sam and Gary), must use them as drives C: and D: followed, if you wish, by Jack and/or Leonard (or Leonard and Jack) as drives E: and F:. Node One also has a printer attached, so we tell the config program to use the printer at Node One. Node Two, the node without it's own hard drive, can be configured to use the partitions of the other two in any order and using all or some of the partitions. Although you can configure the node to use any of the "remote" partitions in any order, you'll probably find it much less confusing to keep the drives in sequence (either Jack, Leonard, Sam, Gary -or- Sam, Gary, Jack, Leonard). The last thing to do is select the printer for Node Two. Let's say that Node Two in addition to not having a hard drive, has no printer. you can have this node print at either of the other computer's printers. Once you set up the configuration for a node, the config program will create a program called LANTECH.PRG. This is the actual network program. It can be run from the AUTO folder or from the desktop. LANTECH.PRG configured for five nodes and eight partitions (four each on two hard drives), takes up only 10,242 bytes of memory. Obviously, these programs were designed to be used even with computers with little memory to spare. Something neat happens when booting a computer without a hard drive with LANTECH.PRG in the AUTO folder of drive A:. Although it will use the Drive A: AUTO folder, it will install its accessories from what ever drive you designate as C: drive. I've found it useful to keep a "master disk" with all of the different LANTECH programs. Just rename them NODE_0.PRG, NODE_1.PRG, NODE_2.PRG, etc. I put all of these different Lan programs into a folder named (originally enough) LANS. Then, I copy over all of the other LANTECH programs. The accessories for messages and printer assignment, while not necessary for the operation of the Lan, can come in very handy. The message accessory allows you to send notes from one computer to another. Without going into too much detail, you select the accessory, choose the node number to send the message to, type the message and send it. Also included is an accessory to change your current printer node. This way, if your node is configured to print on a node with a draft quality printer, but you want to print something on the 24 pin printer attached to another node, you can "swap" printers for the session. Problems: ---------- The only problem I've encountered with the Lantech LAN has nothing to do with the Network, but with TOS itself: TOS was never meant to run networks and has no SHARE command such as MS-DOS has. Therefore, it is not only possible, but probable, that if you write to the same partition with two different computers, you will corrupt data. This problem arises because neither computer realizes that the other has written information to the drive. When you first open a window to a drive, the computer checks the directory and File Allocation Table (FAT) to see how much free space there is and where it is. When you write a file, the computer assumes that nothing about the drive has changed. If something has been changed by another computer, files could end up overwriting each other, which would leave, in technical terms, an "unrecognizable heap of binary garbage". The best way to avoid this is not to write to the same partition with two computers at the same time. It's not as bad as it sounds. With word processing on one partition, telecommunications on another and desktop publishing on another, several computers can use the same hard drive with no problems. Since my company purchased the network with the intent of having a multi-station office system in which multiple computers could do accounts receivable and payable, inventory control and shipping all using the same data files the answer to the problem was to (using DBMAN) have a "node" file that kept track of what node was using which file and locked all others out until that particular node was finished. As an alternative, if you have programing experience, is to modify the Message accessory so that when a node needs to write to a hard drive, it will first check to see if this machine is Node Zero. If it is Node Zero, it will write the file to the disk. If the computer is not Node Zero, it will pass the data to Node Zero, which will write the data for it. However, lacking experience in Pascal, I have not even tried to do this. Perhaps the most difficult part of using something like a network is customer support if you have a problem. There have been a few times when, although I have not had an actual problem, I've had a few obscure questions. Lantech has always answered these questions without making me feel like a computer illiterate. Talking with Paul Swanson is always informative, and usually humorous: Like the time I mentioned that the Lan cartridge was just the right size to rest a coffee cup on. Paul chuckled and said "Yeah, and if we put a power supply in the cartridge, it would keep the coffee warm too!" Knowledge is very important in customer support, but so is understanding the customer's point of view and having a sense of humor. I'm glad to be able to report that Paul Swanson fills all of these requirements and makes a damned good Network system to boot. The following list of load-times was compiled using two 1040 STs with TOS 1.0 and an ICD AD-SCSI plus host adaptor with a Seagate 42 meg hard drive: ------------------------------------------------ | | To load on | To load on | |Application | Host Computer |remote computer | |-------------+---------------+----------------| |NeoDesk 2.03 | 8 Seconds | 13 Seconds | |-------------+---------------+----------------| |DbMan 5.20 | 5 Seconds | 15 Seconds | |-------------+---------------+----------------| |Flash! | 6 Seconds | 10 Seconds | |-------------+---------------+----------------| |PageStream | 6 Seconds | 10 Seconds | |-------------+---------------+----------------| |GFA Basic | 4 Seconds | 6 Seconds | |-------------+---------------+----------------| |VIP Profess | 7 Seconds | 17 Seconds | |-------------+---------------+----------------| |WordWriter 2 | 7 Seconds | 12 Seconds | |-------------+---------------+----------------| |126K WW file |34 Seconds | 36 Seconds | ------------------------------------------------ For more information about Lantech's 10megabit per second network, contact: Lantech 12 Shedd Rd., P.O. Box R Billerica, Ma 01821 Attn: Paul Swanson Phone (508) 663-3776 The suggested retail price for the starter system, which includes two LAN cartridges, a software disk and manual, is $379.95. Suggested retail price for each additional LAN cartridge is $179.95 *********************************************************************** :HOW TO GET YOUR OWN GENIE ACCOUNT: _________________________________ To sign up for GEnie service: Set your communications software to Half Duplex (or Local Echo) Call: (with modem) 800-638-8369. Upon connection type HHH (RETURN after that). Wait for the U#= prompt. Type: XTX99587,CPUREPT then, hit RETURN. GEnie costs only $4.95 a month for unlimited evening and weekend access to more than 100 services including electronic mail, online encyclopedia, shopping, news, entertainment, single-player games, and bulletin boards on leisure and professional subjects. With many other services, including the biggest collection of files to download and the best online games, for only $6 per hour. MONEY BACK GUARANTEE! Any time during your first month of membership if you are not completely satisfied, just ask for your $4.95 back. GEnie Announcements (FREE) 1. NEW FCC COST INCREASE THREATENS COMPUTER SERVICES............. 2. IMPORTANT MESSAGE FOR GENIE USERS IN CANADA................... 3. NOW is the time to apply for COLLEGE FINANCIAL AID $$$$......CASHE 4. NEW RT: The Strange...The Weird...The Unexplained...It's.....PSI-NET 5. Last Chance For The Blue Polo Shirts.........................*ORDER 6. Don't Miss the Boat.... ALL CRUISE TRAVEL Contest in.........OAG 7. Apple Computer Announces New Macintosh Computers.............MAC 8. My Oh My...It's Gone HIGHER - Check out the FLA Lottery in...*FLORIDA 9. LAST WEEK. Help us design our "Front Door"...................MAINFRAME 10. Special Offer in the Software Deal of the Century............SOFTCLUB 11. KT GEnie Kate Bush fans discuss Elton John tribute album in..MUSIC 12. New planets discovered in the adult space fantasy............FED 13. TAKE ADVANTAGE of the After Hours/Flat Fee Plan..............DOWJONES 14. Star Trek Technical Manual authors Okuda & Sternback RTC.....SFRT 15. Find out how to make REAL MONEY in a HOME BUSINESS...........*HOSB The Federal Communications Commission ("FCC") has adopted rules that will increase by up to five-fold the price of local telephone lines that use new network features to provide access to information services. The new rules could have as serious an impact as the FCC's 1987 access charge proposal, which was successfully defeated through a massive letter-writing campaign. Any information service provider that wishes to take advantage of new net- work features -- which are to be made available as part of the FCC's Open Network Architecture ("ONA") -- must start paying the higher charges. Although the FCC would allow information service providers to continue using their existing lines at current rates, providers choosing this op- tion would be denied the use of much existing and future network functionality. Many state regulators are compounding this problem by fol- lowing the FCC's lead. These pricing rules will needlessly inflate the costs of providing infor- mation services. Information service providers will have no option but to pass these added costs on to their subscribers in increased prices. This is bad for the information service providers, bad for subscribers, and bad for the United States. At a time when the FCC should be encouraging the widest possible use and availability of information services, the FCC has adopted rules that will have precisely the opposite effect. It's not too late to stop the FCC from implementing its new ONA pricing rules. GEnie (through its trade associations ADAPSO and IIA), CompuServe, Prodigy, BTNA (formerly Tymnet) and others have petitioned the FCC to reconsider its rules, and the FCC is now considering whether it should grant those petitions. You can help by writing to Al Sikes, Chairman of the FCC, and sending copies of your letter to his fellow Commissioners. You should also write to Congressman Ed Markey and Senator Daniel Inouye, the Chairmen of the House and Senate Subcommittees that have jurisdiction over the FCC. (You may also wish to send copies of your letters to your own U.S. Senators and Representative). Tell them that: - You use information services and how you use them. - You will curtail your use of these services if prices increase as a result of the FCC's new ONA pricing rules. - The FCC's new ONA pricing rules will create the wrong incentives by discouraging information service providers from taking advantage of new network features. - The FCC should reconsider the rules it adopted in Docket 89-79 and allow information service providers to use new network features without being required to pay usage-sensitive access charges that are three to five times higher than existing rates. Write to: Honorable Alfred C. Sikes Chairman Federal Communications Commission 1919 M Street, N.W., Room 814 Washington, D.C. 20554 Honorable Sherrie P. Marshall Commissioner Federal Communications Commission 1919 M Street, N.W., Room 826 Washington, D.C. 20554 Honorable Andrew C. Barrett Commissioner Federal Communications Commission 1919 M Street, N.W., Room 844 Washington, D.C. 20554 Honorable James H. Quello Commissioner Federal Communications Commission 1919 M Street, N.W., Room 802 Washington, D.C. 20554 Honorable Ervin S. Duggan Commissioner Federal Communications Commission 1919 M Street, N.W., Room 832 Washington, D.C. 20554 Honorable Edward J. Markey Chairman, Subcommittee on Telecommunications and Finance U.S. House of Representatives 2133 Rayburn House Office Building Washington, D.C. 20515-2107 Honorable Daniel K. Inouye Chairman, Subcommittee on Communications United States Senate 722 Hart Senate Office Building Washington, D.C. 20510-1102 GEnie Information copyright (C) 1991 by General Electric Information Services/GEnie, reprinted by permission *********************************************************************** > The Flip Side STR Feature "A casual Overview of Comdex" ========================= A LITTLE OF THIS, A LITTLE OF THAT ================================== by Michael Lee This is the week of COMDEX, the place where all of the major players in the computer market come to show off their new wares. Naturally, Atari was there in all of their glory, showing new products (the new ST Note- Book for one), introducing some new STe promo's, and displaying their high-end product offerings. I wasn't able to attend COMDEX this year, but according to reports from friends who did attend and from what I have read on-line, Atari has done itself proud. First SEYBOLD, now COMDEX. It looks as if our favorite computer company is on a roll!! If you want to see what Atari's booth at Comdex looked like, watch ABC Business Week (ABC BW) this next Sunday morning (10-27-91). ABC BW con- ducted interviews with the owner of the Sands Convention Center and with the Interface Group (people who sponsor Comdex) and opened its coverage with a sequence of establishing shot's of the Atari booth. Thanks to the folks on-line who let us know about this. Let's take a brief look at what I've heard that Atari had to show this year. Starting off, Atari showed three PC compatible systems that will now be available in the US. First is a battery powered 20mhz '386SX Notebook that comes stock with 1-meg of memory, a 40-meg hard drive, a 1.44-meg floppy drive and a 640x480 backlit LCD display. Second is a full-sized 40mhz '386DX (Advanced Micro Devices AM386) system. It's SVGA compatible and comes stock with 2-megs of ram, a 80-meg hard drive, a 3.5" 1.44-meg floppy and a mouse. Third is a full-sized 20mhz '386SX system that is SVGA compatible, comes stock with 1-meg of ram, a 40-meg hard drive, a 1.44-meg floppy, 101/102 enhanced AT style keyboard and a mouse. According to sources at Atari, they will be adding the MS-DOS option to the line and they will have MS-DOS 5.0 and Windows 3.0 available. This is not the same PC line that Atari has sold in Canada and Europe in the past, it has been re-vamped for the US market. The Atari PC line is being developed and manufactured by a third party company to Atari's specifications and will come in an Atari box with a custom front panel. I know that many of our loyal ST owners are wondering why Atari wants to get into the PC market when we have such a great system already. Well, I feel there's a couple of good business reasons for Atari to come out with these three systems. One is so current Atari dealers can sell PC compatibles with the Atari name instead of some other brand. The other is that it will allow current Atari owners to keep buying 'Atari' even if they need a PC compatible for some reason. From what I hear, the ST Book was a huge success at Comdex. Sources at Atari say they are putting the final touches on the ST Book at this time. Atari hopes to have a limited number of 1-meg versions available later this year and the full production runs early next year. Here's what a couple of others had to say about Atari and Comdex. ------------------ From Darlah (RT Sysop) - Category 11, Topic 9, Message 2 - from the ST Roundtable on Genie... Atari announced their new 520 DISCOVERY EXTRA PACK promo which includes: Four Games, Paint Program, Basic & Desktop Tour, a 520STe CPU, SC1224 Color Monitor all in a very colorful, attractive box sleeve. They also announced their 1040 FAMILY CURRICULUM promo with: Five separate modules, each with three programs, 1040STe CPU, SC1224 Color Monitor all in attractive beautiful box sleeve. SLM - DTP SOFTWARE PACK with SLM605 300 dpi Laser Printer and a choice to the Dealer to purchase either Calamus, Calamus Font Editor and Guide to Calamus Desktop Publishing OR Pagestream with additional fonts. The PORTFOLIO MEMORY PACK including: Portfolio Palmtop Computer, 64K RAM Memory Card, File Manager/Tutorial Software Card and a New, easy to use manual. The PORTFOLIO SOFTWARE PACK with Portfolio Chess, Instant Speller Hyperlists and Financial or DOS Utility cards. That is the new Dealer promotions. ---------------- From what I've heard on-line, Greg Pratt at Atari says that all Atari hardware that was announced for the promo's is already in Atari's ware- house. They're waiting on a few odd's-and-end's pieces of software to complete the promo's, but the completed product should be shipping some- time next week. Next week, Atari's staff will be calling all the dealers who were unable to attend Comdex and taking orders. ----------------- From B.J. King - Cat. 11, Topic 9, Message 23 - from the ST Roundtable on Genie... One of the "bennies" of working for Uncle Sam AND living in Las Vegas is that I am able to experience COMDEX. WHEW! I walked my little legs off today (no exaggeration!). For the uninitiated, imagine 5 football fields filled with the latest in hardware, software, distribution services, publishers, media, glitz, stage shows...well, I hope you get the idea. This year's show used the entire (except for the part under construction) Las Vegas Convention Center, the Sands Convention Center, and the convention sections of the Hilton, Riviera, Ballys and Mirage hotels. Ballys was dedicated to Multimedia exhibits and the Mirage was dedicated to Networking. I started walking at 0900 today, and didn't go home until 1700 (that is 5 PM for you civilians). Twice I ended up at the Atari booth, the first to kinda wander through and see who (& what) was where and the second to zero in on specific areas of interest. I spent some time watching John Eidsvoog vectorize a cartoon with their new product (I forget the name...it's not something that I have a need for just yet) When he finished and printed it out, it looked exactly(!) like what he started with! No scan lines, jaggies, or anything. (If I had not had seen it with my own eyes, I would never have believed that I could do that with my Atari...must have really knocked them over at Seybold!) I saw the Book! It looks impressive! I want one! 10 hours on one charge in spite of the hard drive! (no floppy, but that's what I have a 1040 for, right?) A long and interesting discussion with Bob Brodie...He wants a Book too :}. (Thanks for taking the time to 'splain things Bob!) An ABC 386DX/40 was on display - Portfolios - the announced bundles - and what I assume was the rest of the Seybold demonstration team with their line of products...(By the way, it seems they spent more time tweaking their apps instead of displaying to the public - just an observation I noticed, as compared to the "reach-out-and-grab- someone-by-the-lapels" tactics of other vendors on the floor.) An extensive Music/MIDI area - I saw a demo where a sound sample was modified to raise the pitch but keep the same time slice -- I guess the best way to describe it would be to imagine Alvin and the Chipmunks voices - raised but not fast (remember, I impress easily!) The gentleman demoing the box (and assoc software) held up a stack of response forms when I asked how it was going - he said that one man was coming back this afternoon with CASH to buy the demo unit on the spot! (realize the entire system (w/software/box/Atari Computer) was about 4k). Other miscellaneous things I noted - DRDOS 6.0 / QEMM 6.1 (note the .1) - The COLOR Jet printer at HP (WOW!) - The floptical drive developed by Insite - WordPerfect for Windows (about time they caught up with the Atari :} ) I got a free disk from TDK with F117A demo - lots of free magazines (saved probably $40.00 in November issues alone!) - hmm - just had a user-headspace- error...guess I'll stop for now. All in all an interesting 8 hours - but it just wasn't enough! I need two more days to prowl! BJ King Dead (Head) Tired (and imagine how the exhibitors must feel!) ----------------- Until next week..... ______________________________________________________ > "LEGAL" PIRACY!?! STR EXPOSE` "DON'T BUY..... BORROW!" ============================ IS THIS THING FOR REAL? ======================= YOU BET IT IS! part I ------ A four part investigative series by Ralph F. Mariano It came in the US Mail last week. A "plain brown wrapper" affair with words emblazoned across the front; "Don't buy any software until you read this... HOT FLASH! Borrow the latest Commercial Software Programs for Peanuts! Then in smaller print, this offer good for only 30 days! Spe- cial "early bird" premiums if you act within 10 days. Then in BIG, BOLD LETTERS... COMMERCIAL SOFTWARE LENDING LIBRARY. I sat and looked at this thing for some time wondering about whatever be- came of the "Hatch Act" (Sen. Orin Hatch R-Utah) supposedly passed to kill rental types of operations. After a bit of research, it was discovered that the law has been effectivly skirted by this recent inroad into legal- ly renting out commercial software. Needless to say, the discovery was devastating. Yes folks... this is a "call to pens". Read this and the subsequent articles. But... above all else at this time, help us enhance our public official's awareness of this new, outrageous threat to our developer community. The name of the entity who sent this six sheet flyer is "Soft-Eval Library Services." In one portion of the flyer the following declarations are found; Purpose of the Library ---------------------- Soft-Eval is a Georgia non-profit educational institution serving its members by lending software for evaluation purposes. It is in complete legal compliance with the 1990 software copyright laws governing non-profit libraries for educational inquiry purposes. We do not provide any technical support or documentation. The absence of documentation is to limit your use to evaluation purposes. Most programs have help screens and internal documentation that should allow you to evaluate them very well. Operating Guidelines -------------------- The library is styrictly a limited-membership institution. Because of the necessity to remain small in order to better serve its members, membership in the library is NOT open-to-all. The software programs in the library are copyrighted by their publishers and authors. The Archival copies are meant for evaluation and not intended as substitutes of these software packages. You must NOT remove any write protect tabs or alter the disks under any circumstances. You can make a temporary backup copy or install temporarily on your hard disk if the specific software requires you to remove the "write protect" tab in order to run the package. Since software is loaned only for the purpose of evaluation, you must destroy that you may have made when you returnm the original in order to maintain the software publisher's copyright protection. All disks and sleeves must be handled carefully and returned in good condition seven days after you receive them. Please clearly identify the package return so that we will know whjo returned them when we check them in. more next week.... including.... "Promise of Quality", "Shipment Procedures", "Costs", "Plea for Software Donations", "Total Fees & Obligations" and more. NOTE: Readers; Please...let STReport know what you think of this sort of practice, be advised, we plan to send your letters along with our complaint to Senator Hatch's office and photocopies of same to SPA for 'evaluation'. In our opinion, this sort of thing can bring the sofware industry to its knees if allowed to flourish unchecked. STReport WANTS your input and help NOW. Send all letters to: STREPORT INTERNATIONAL ONLINE MAGAZINE P.O. BOX 6672 JACKSONVILLE, FL. 32205-6672 _____________________________________________________________ > WAACE SWAP ROOM STR FOCUS Fractured Physics & Pandemonium ========================= AN EINSTEINIAN LOOK AT THE WAACE SWAP ROOM ========================================== by Joe Mirando (Aren't computers wonderful? I have just finished this article and have noticed that it's tone has changed measurably from when I had started. So I just moved the cursor up and added this paragraph. Now if I had been doing this on a typewriter I would have had to re-type at least the first page.) Well anyway, on with my rambling. I attended the WAACE computer show in Washington DC on October 12 and 13. The show was, by all accounts, a great success. The aspect of the show that surprised me the most was the Swap Room. This was a room set aside for users who had equipment that they wanted to sell for one reason or another. Dealers and developers were not allowed to sell items in this room. The Swap Room was filled above and beyond all expectations. From the time the show opened on Saturday morning until just before closing on Sunday afternoon the room was a non-stop deal. I have since asked many people why they thought the Swap Room did so well. Unfortunately, there doesn't seem to be a clear consensus. It is at times like this that I fall back on a method of reasoning popularized by Albert Einstein. The method is known as a Thought Experiment. The main idea behind a Thought Experiment is that if you know and understand the physical laws and interactions involved, you don't need to use expensive equipment to know what will happen, or what has happened in a given situation. Let's try to apply this philosophy to a few different possible scenarios: Theory #1: The items intended for sale suddenly disappeared. I doubt it. The Law of Conservation of Matter states that matter can be neither created nor destroyed. Although the Theory of Relativity states that matter and energy are interchangeable (via Einstein's 'E=MC2' equation in which Mass times the speed of light equals the amount of ener- gy), the amount of energy released in such a transformation would have transformed most of the Washington area into rubble. Okay, I think we can rule this out. Theory #2: There were only a few people selling items and the rest of the merchandise appeared from thin air. I doubt this one too. Again, using Relativity, it might be possible, but the energy needed to create the items involved would have been huge. Since I rather doubt that the Sheraton keeps a large nuclear reactor on the premises, we must look elsewhere. Theory #3: The people selling used merchandise were doing so because they were trying to "get out of" Atari and "get into" another computer platform. When I started this article, it was my intention to prove this supposition. Once I began to put this idea into a thought experiment however, I found that it just didn't work out. You see, I noticed that, although there were a few complete systems being offered for sale, the most prevalent situation (or Event in physics terms) was the selling of programs and peripherals. People who want to move to another type of computer seldom keep the computers themselves and sell the software and peripherals. It was at this point that I changed my "equation" to include not only the merchandise and the seller but the buyer as well. I also added in the fact that there were always new faces in the Swap Room on "both sides" of the table. If that many people were selling things, someone must be buying them. After re-checking the previous theories and finding no change in the outcome, I moved on to the few remaining theories. Theory #4: Elvis bought it all. Needless to say, I discarded this theory after only about ten minutes. Enough said. Theory #5: Most of the sellers were trying to sell off programs, peripherals and older computers that they no longer used, or things that they could do without in order to buy more things for themselves. The buyers were anxious to get their hands on computer "stuff" (also a scientific term) at bargain prices. Hmm... Well, I don't see any obvious flaws or assumptions that go against the laws of physics or Virginia so, let's try to put this informa- tion into a formula (this is known as quantifying the reaction or event). If we use the basic framework of Einstein's famous equation, we can sub- stitute our own values for the letters. The resulting formula will be: E=MC2 where E equals enjoyment , M equals the money that changed hands and C equals the choices available in the Swap Room. The exact value is not important here, as we were primarily looking to nail down a workable theory. I have proven this theory to my satisfaction every time I've sold a piece of equipment to my cousin, who also has an ST. Now do you see why they call it the Theory of Relativity? As an interesting side note: I have just realized that if Einstein had a hard drive made by a company named Quantum, and if it ever needed repair, he would probably have just thrown it away and bought another one. The reason for this supposition is simple: Einstein didn't believe in Quantum Mechanics! ________________________________________________________ > STReport's Editorial Page "SAYIN' IT LIKE IT IS!" ========================= From the Editor's Desk ---------------------- by Dana Jacobson It never ceases to amaze this editor to see the same few people wil- ling to read a commentary that is critical of Atari and turn the premise of that commentary around in such a manner that the complete initial mes- sage is lost amid all the bluster and dust. Had the focus of last week's issue of ST Report (741) been complete- ly about Atari's near invisibility at the recent WAACE show, I might be able to understand. But, this was certainly not the case. The majority of last week's issue was reserved for reports of the show, one of which happened to be from me. All of those reports but two (mine and Joe Miran- do's) were submitted by show-goers and not anyone on the STR staff. All of the reports were extremely positive, a congratulatory group of statements for the fine show that the folks at WAACE put together. They (WAACE) certainly outdid themselves this year as vendors and attendees alike have enthusiastically attested. So, why all the commotion? Well, certainly every coin has a flip side. In addition to my show report, I also had a commentary which reflected the "tail" side of that coin, one that was obvious to many silent observers attending the show. That side was the apparent unequal representation by Atari. What do I mean by unequal? All of the developers and vendors that attended the show were highly visible - they showed us the latest fantas- tic products they offered, supported and they made them readily available. In addition, if a user wanted a closer look, they could dig right in, or at the very least, be given a thorough demonstration. What was not visible was Atari. Yes, Bob, John, and Ken were in attendance. Yes, they conducted well attended seminars. Yes, they were more than willing to talk with anyone. But, there was nothing from Atari for the attendees to see or touch. How very disappointing. Talking about the latest offerings from Atari is certainly not as impressive as talking and showing. Let's try using a little imagination with a hypothetical scenario. We're at one of the biggest computer shows in the country. The place is packed with developers and vendors. We, as attendees, are making our way along the aisles checking out who's who and what each vendor has to offer. In our travels we come across one booth which consists of an empty table with a couple of distinguished people standing behind it. The sign on the wall behind them says XYZ Computers. Ahhh, these are the folks who are representing the company that the rest of the vendors are supporting and in return, support me as the user of the XYZ computer. Let's check out the new machines we've been hearing so much about. Huh, the booth is empty. Well, let's see what's up anyway. You ask a few questions after introducing yourself (break the ice kinda thing). Hey, can I take a look at the new XYZ-ABC2 system, you ask? Oh, you don't have one. How about the ABCD5? Not here either, huh? Well, the folks at XYZ begin to tell you about these machines. It's a really great machine. It has the following configuration and has all of these neat features. If I had one here I could show you what it can do. Do you have any brochures, you ask? Er no, I didn't bring anything with me - sorry. You know, the representative adds, we showed off the ABC2 last month in Texas, you should have been there. We're also showing it and the ABCD5 in Kansas City next week, drop by then. Oh, you drove 600 miles to see it here? Well, I guess you're out of luck, sorry. Disappointed (at best), you resume your exploration of the show's offerings. Other than your disap- pointment with XYZ's lack of presence, you enjoyed the rest of the show. Sound familiar? The focus of my commentary last week was to point out that Atari's presence, or lack of it, left a bad taste with many people. If the ST Book was unavailable for unforeseeable reasons, there were other things that could have been shown anyway. I would hope that if people were to have learned that the ST Book was stolen, broken, or whatever; having other machines in abundance would have made up for it. Yes, there would have still been a few people who would have complained anyway; there's always a few "you can't please no matter what" (and they don't necessarily wear STR buttons ). There was a great deal of back room discussion throughout the course of the show, both before and after. Some of these discussions, some of which I was privy to, were with organizers, showgoers, and even some of the developers. In many of these discussions, items that I mentioned in my original commentary were directly addressed. There was no conspiracy to belittle Atari or any of its employees. There was no collaboration to learn as much "dirt" possible. Nor was there any fantastic fabrication of a 'ficticious story' happening. What was discussed were the sincere con- cerns of hard working folks. Concerns that Atari _appeared_ to not be showing the same kind of open support as other shows had recently received. The fact that the Glendale or Chicago shows were mentioned in comparison is only a reference point. But, continually, there are those who would like you to believe that STReport has stirred up an East-West coast controversy, a Glendale-WAACE war. That is simply not the case. But it certainly would confuse the issues. The point is it appears, from all public accounts, that the Glendale attendees were treated to a more visible Atari, period. It could have been East Oshkosh, USA or ANYTOWN, USA. It happened to be Glendale. It doesn't matter. But, there are those same individuals who would rather create a diversion than focus on the point being made: All shows are not and have not been treated equally. The bottom line is support. It should always be equal among the shows in which Atari plays any kind of role. Let the groups organize the shows. We know that the folks at Glendale and WAACE have the ability to organize great shows. Atari has the ability to complement these shows with their support, and should do so. Had this been done at WAACE, the "little" things that also cropped up would not have had much significance. Had this been done at WAACE, there would be no reason for ST Report, or anyone for that matter, to bring it to light. But, if it takes a commen- tary such as mine last week, and resulting discussions to bring out an important issue and cause the situation to be equitably resolved, then something positive has been accomplished. From my own experience, having Atari at a show compliments both Atari and the Show itself. Many will say; "Having Atari at a show will possibly have a positive influence on the show's success." Do all shows _need_ Atari to succeed? - Probably not. Would they be better off _with_ Atari involved? - Most likely yes. Let's hope that Atari and show organizers can get this situation resolved so that all involved can move forward and start to plan next year's shows. It's really time to move forward... """"""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""" > STR Mail Call "...a place for the readers to be heard" ============= STReport's MailBag ================== From: BOS1B::DAVIDSHORR To: RMARIANO CC: Subj: STEs and Such Dear Mr. Mariano, I am writing in regards to the Atari STe Demo Contest that was announced by Atari Corp. at the beginning of this year. This contest was supposed to end in April but I never read of any winners. I was not an entrant but was very curious to see what kind of demoes came out of this contest :). I even e-mailed Bill Rehbock on GEnie recently to see what was up, and he said something about the legal department having to go through the entries but that they would be posted RSN. I asked Bob Brodie at WAACE and he said the winning entries would also be posted soon. Well, still no announcement and/or winning entries on GEnie or here , so I thought I would ask if you know anything about this contest. I know it's Comdex week and all, but this contest supposedly ended months ago?!? I guess those buttons you gave out at WAACE are still timely (I was probably the only under-25 year old at the 'Atari Press' seminar but was too shy to stand up). Sheesh, I've got too many I's in my senten- ces :). I would also like to direct your attention to a post in the Midi RT on GEnie; it is in CAT 2, TOPIC 18, MSG 160. They have a small Atari 'area' in there; I know that your online mag has a column with helpful message posts and I wanted to make sure this doesn't get by your editors while they're sleeping . It is about a patch for the Revolver switcher program from Intersect Software that will allow it to run on the STEs(TOS 1.6). A little background: I had read a message on the Intersect board from someone who said that they had their Revolver fixed to run with their STe! It was done by a dealer in St. Louis; the sysop of the Intersect board(Jeff Rigby) said he couldn't fix the program so I guess you could forget support from them. Meanwhile, a rather talkative:) user in the Midi area had recently upgraded to an STe and found that his Revolver didn't work anymore. This was one of his _most_ important programs and he was _very_ upset that he couldn't do his switching anymore. I left the info from the message on the Intersect board on the Midi RT and now a few weeks later he's back up and running with his Revolver. MultiGem just doesn't cut it with Midi like Revolver does according to him. Apparently the only fix needed was to change where Revolver looked for the ROMs (FC to $E). I don't own Revolver (just Interlink and masterLink) so can't vouch for it personally but I don't believe this fix is widely known about. Anyway, this message is getting too long so I'll end it here. Thank you for your support. Dave Shorr 32070 25-OCT 02:06 Must Haves & Classics RE: Atari Advertising (Re: Msg 31993) From: KAMIKAZE_ACE To: BOBBRO (NR) Bob, PLEASE stop your antagonistic attitude about STReport. It's an- noying, distracting, and worst of all, it splits up the users. From what I've seen of him, Ralph's managed to keep his integrity and journalistic responsibility in mind at all times. Atari would do well to follow his example. If Atari doesn't want negative press, perhaps they should do "The Right Thing, The Right Way", as Guy Kawasaki would put it. All I know for certain is that, given the choice between two differing opinions, I just watch where the paychecks come from, and that tells me quite a bit. It tells me that perhaps these "corrections" aren't correc- tions, they're hushing up. And I recall, over and over, The Editorial That Killed Atari Explorer. AE was and is your house publication, and you do have the right to say what goes into it. But you do NOT own STR, or even Z*Net (despite their heavy bias, they too manage to speak the truth once in a while). STR also has NOT gone down in popularity, nor, I think, in quality. It's still an excellent publication, and its readership has, if anything, grown over the past few years. As long as Atari Corp. opposes STR, people will read it to find out what Atari is NOT telling us. To be honest, you are the one damaging your reputation here, by acting this way, and this is not appropriate behavior for anyone in a public relations job. While all of us are subject to temper-induced flames, anyone in an official position needs to keep better self-control. Thanks for your attention. Oh, and the "not going to dignify that" bit IS uncalled for. Children do that. Adults don't. /\/\ark "No more REAL SOON NOW" ________________________________________________________ > A FEW Thoughts STR FOCUS Isn't hindsight great? ======================== PONDERING LAST WEEK'S ISSUE =========================== by Ralph F. Mariano In STReport 741, one will find six upbeat, positive show reports covering most every aspect of the recent, highly successful, WAACE Show. The reports indicated the users loved the show, absolutely supported the developers with excellent sales and were apparently disappointed with the level of support and participation provided by Atari. The reports were not edited or influenced by this or any STReport editor, they were exactly as perceived by the users who wrote the reports. They were, in effect, "Saying it like it is." STReport's correspondents merely reported their observations and they did so with a refreshingly high level of candid, ac- curacy. There has been some requests for STReport to give its sources for the comments. In this one case, an exception will be made since the sources are, in reality, the very authors whose reports are contained in STR741 in their entirety. The editorial by Mr. Dana Jacobson was quite accurate, it should be pointed out, he sat in on an informal meeting with a number of the folks who planned and staged the show. At this meeting, Mr. Jacobson heard every comment first hand and related them to our readers with true candor and accuracy. On a more human level, the realization of the pressure and problems recently experienced by those folks trying to offer support on behalf of Atari is acknowledged. However, in a strictly business sense, the East Coast Show draws as much, if not more, attention to Atari computers than any major Atari related Show. Notably, when show attendees are able to clearly notice Atari "missing" even though their reps are in attendance, then, that observation must be brought out. This is exactly what the show reports did along with the Jacobson Editorial. This effort was taken to give these serious, nagging problems exposure in hopes of their being resolved. After all, according to certain WAACE show officials, this is not the first year that produced similar problems. All that's ever been expected is equal, fair support and participation for all shows meeting the necessary criteria. One can be sure, if it were within anyone's power to back up a few months and make some changes.. it would, more than likely, happen. Whomever made the decisions at Atari, all year long, concerning the levels of support and co-operation with WAACE apparently gave little or no con- sideration to those users (a) working diligently at making WAACE the suc- cess it was and (b) the users traveling great distances to "celebrate Atari" at a large, well known and respected Atari Festival. Many of whom, by the way, also stayed four days and spent very long dollars. No doubt those responsible must answer for Atari's perceived lack of support and participation even if only to themselves. At best, the very least that could have been done was bring the "grand prize" to the show but that too, was obvious by its absence. Atari is still a young dynamic company with plenty of superb, enthusiastic plans for the future. It is really impos- sible, no... it boggles the mind to think the actions described herein may have had the full and complete blessings of the Tramiels. It is highly doubtful. STR741 provided a window for users to heard. The entire staff stands completely behind the show reports, editorials and comments in STR741. The users provided outstanding show reports that were very complimentary of all aspects of the show deserving compliments. I applaud these users and at the same time, offer my heartfelt thanks for the fine effort they put forth. They ALL did quite well. As for the report of a TT as a Grand Prize in Glendale, that was an error, and most likely it became confused with the Chicago Show's announced grand prize of a TT030. ___________________________________________________ STReport's Staff The regulars and this week's contributors! ---------------- Publisher - Editor ------------------ Ralph F. Mariano PC DIVISION AMIGA DIVISION MAC DIVISION ----------- -------------- ------------ Robert Retelle Charles Hill R. ALBRITTON STReport Staff Editors: ----------------------- Michael Arthur Lloyd E. Pulley, Sr. Dana P. Jacobson Lucien Oppler Brad Martin Judith Hamner John Szczepanik Dan Stidham Joseph Mirando Contributing Correspondents: ---------------------------- Michael Lee Richard Covert Roger Stevens Brian Converse Oliver Steinmeier Tim Holt Andrew Learner Norman Boucher Ben Hamilton Neil Bradley Eric Jerue Ron Deal Robert Dean Ed Westhusing James Nolan Vernon W. Smith IMPORTANT NOTICE ================ Please, submit letters to the editor, articles, reviews, etc... via E-Mail to: Compuserve.................... 70007,4454 GEnie......................... ST.REPORT Delphi........................ RMARIANO BIX........................... RMARIANO FIDONET....................... 112/35 FNET.......................... NODE 350 NEST.......................... 90:19/350.0 ____________________________________________________________ > STReport CONFIDENTIAL "REPORTING ABOUT ATARI...NOT FOR ATARI!" ===================== * "Rumors - Tidbits - Predictions - Observations - Hot Tips" * ======================================================== - Jacksonville, FL. OLDER STs MAY BE WEAK AT PARALLEL PORT ----------------- In what has been termed "isolated incidents", two users in Jacksonvil- le, Florida, Glenn Drake and Ron Deal, have both discovered that the Parallel Ports of their machines a 1040ST and a Mega4 ST provide insufficient signal strength to drive high end printers. Dot matrix prin- ters run fine on both machines. The machines were tested with the OAS LaserPro Silver Express recently offered at greatly reduced prices. Deal said he contacted Atari and was told the pull up (impedance matching) resistors in the printers were not the right value for Atari computers. Upon hearing this both Deal and Drake went to another ST'ers home and at- tempted to run the printer there. Lo and behold... it worked just fine. Subsequently, the printer was tried on the 1040 STe and the results were the same it ran just fine. In support of this situation, STReport found this short file on GEnie from another loyal user who found that he too was experiencing serious problems: Number: 21317 Name: LASERJET.HLP Address: BBRADLEY Date: 911021 Approximate # of bytes: 768 Number of Accesses: 11 Library: 27 Description: I NEED HELP FINDING THE SOLUTION TO A LASERJET III THAT WONT PRINT FROM MY MEGA. TERMINATING RESISTOR VALUE SEEMS TO BE TOO LOW. TELL ME HOW TO SOLVE THE PROBLEM (ie. WHERE THE TERMINATOR PACK IS LOCATED, REPLACE YAMAHA CHIP, WHATEVER...) AND THERE IS A $10.00 REWARD. File: LASERJET.HLP is a BINARY File. HELP - HELP - HELP I HAVE A MEGA-4 WHICH I WANT TO DRIVE AN HP LASERJET III. THE LASERJET III DOES NOT RESPOND TO THE PARALELL INTERFACE OF MY COMPUTER. ATARI SAYS THAT IS BECAUSE PRINTERS THAT HAVE A TERMINATING RESISTOR PACK OF LESS THAN 3.3K OHM CAN'T BE DRIVEN BY THE YAMAHA CHIP IN THE MEGA. ANYONE KNOW WHAT I CAN DO TO CORRECT THIS PROBLEM? LIKE WHERE IS THE RESISTOR PACK THAT NEEDS TO BE CHANGED IN MY LASERJET OR IS THERE A CHIP THAT CAN REPLACE THE YAMAHA OR CAN I ADD PARTS TO MY MEGA WHICH WILL SOLVE THE PROBLEM? AND NO, I DON'T WANT TO USE A PRINT BUFFER. EMAIL TO BBRADLEY IF YOU HAVE AN ANSWER. I SEND $10.00 TO THE FIRST PER- SON THAT HAS A SOLUTION THAT WORKS. THANKS, BRAD End of list. _____________________________________________________________ > A "Quotable Quote" ================== "TIME PRESENTS ALL TRUTHS WITH REMARKABLE CLARITY!" .... a wise and prudent observer __________________________________________________________ > FALL SPECIALS!STR InfoFile * NEW Prices MORE Products & SPECIALS! * ========================== ** EFFECTIVE IMMEDIATELY! ** ABCO COMPUTER CONSULTANTS 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) (all cables and connectors installed) * ICD HOST ADAPTERS USED EXCLUSIVELY * OMTI HIGH SPEED CONTROLLERS * * ICD ADSCSI+ HOST ADAPTERS * FULL SCSI COMMAND SET SUPPORTED * * SCSI EMBEDDED CONTROLLER MECHANISMS * WE PAY SHIPPING!!! >BLUE LABEL UPS!< Deluxe 2 bay Cabinet w/65w auto-switching PS TIME PROVEN to be the most reliable! Model Description Autopark Price ================================================== SGN4951 51Mb 24ms 3.5" Y 479.00 SGN6277 65Mb 28ms 5.25" Y 519.00 SGN1096 85Mb 24ms 5.25" Y 549.00 SGN2055 105mb 12ms 3.5" Y 649.00 SGN6277 120Mb 12ms 3.5" Y 789.00 SGN1296 170Mb 12ms 3.5" Y 1019.00 ================================================== FULLY ASSEMBLED SCSI DRIVES DEDUCT $60.00 ADD $35.00 for 4 BAY SUPER CABINET w/250+w PS EXOTIC TOWER CABINETS AVAIALABLE Call for Info! PLEASE NOTE: The above is partial listing only! FULLY ASSEMBLED SCSI DRIVES DEDUCT $60.00 ADD $35.00 for 4 BAY SUPER CABINET w/250+w PS EXOTIC TOWER CABINETS AVAIALABLE Call for Info! PLEASE NOTE: The above is partial listing only! CPU ACCELERATOR & MEMORY UPGRADES AVAILABLE & INSTALLED >> ABCO now offers 1040 & MEGA STe Computers << (when available) Call for ABCO's Introductory prices! ATARI COMPUTERS * STILL THE BEST VALUE! If you don't see what you want listed here, call us. Odds are, we either have it or, can get it for you! AT THE BEST POSSIBLE PRICE! "We service what we sell" ****** SPECIAL - SPECIAL ****** * SYQUEST 44MB (#555) >> ABCOFILE "44" << REMOVABLE MEDIA DRIVE * - SYQUEST 44 MB DRIVE - ICD ST ADSCSI PLUS H/A - ICD Utility Software - 3' DMA Cable - Fan & Clock - Multi-Unit Power Supply (1) 44 MB Syquest Cart. --->> SPECIAL! NOW ONLY __$ 645.00__ <<--- **** SCSI UNITS -> ONLY $585.00 **** WE PAY SHIPPING!!! >BLUE LABEL UPS!< COMPLETELY ASSEMBLED AND READY TO RUN! Cart and Utility Software Included! EXTRA CARTS: $ 74.50 DRIVE MECH ONLY: $ 349.95 ****** SPECIAL - SPECIAL ****** * TWIN SYQUEST 44MB REMOVABLE MEDIA DRIVES ... PROGRAMMER'S DELIGHT * SPECIALLY PRICED ** $1019.00 ** Includes TWO cartridges! * SYQUEST 44MB REMOVABLE MEDIA DRIVE AND HARD DRIVE COMBINATIONS * - Syquest 44 Model [555] and the following hard drives - 50mb SQG51 $ 819.00 85mb SQG96 $ 1019.00 LOWBOY - STANDARD - DUAL BLOWER CABINETS CUSTOM CONFIGURATIONS AVAILABLE WE PAY SHIPPING!!! >BLUE LABEL UPS!< 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 COMPATIBLE WITH --> SUPERCHARGER - AT/PC SPEED - GCR LARGER units are available - (Custom Configurations) *>> NO REPACKS OR REFURBS USED! <<* - Custom Walnut WOODEN Cabinets - TOWER - AT - XT Cabinets - ATARI SLM 804, SLM 804PCV Laser Toner Kits Memorex 2108, 5287 OaSys Laserpro 5287, 5308, Express 830, Express Series II Silver Express, Gold Express ** $54.95 shipping Included ** ATARI SLM 605 Laser Toner Kits AT&T 593, CAF Laser, DSI Laser, DTP Systems, Epson EPL-6000 Facit P6060, Fontx Syslaser, Harris3M 2006, M-Tally MT905 Microtek Turbo PS, OAS Laserpro Executive, Packard Bell 9500 TEC LB 1305, Toshiba PageLaser 6 ** $41.95 shipping included ** (TWO Toner Carts Incl.) Panasonic Laser Toner Kits Panasonic KX-P4000 series, Panafax UF-750 Facimile ** $41.95 shipping included ** --> ALL TONER KITS * IN STOCK * <-- * Toner Starter Kits - CALL * * Replacement LASER Drums - CALL! * ABCO's Replacement Toner Advantages =================================== A Few Pointers about the NEW and SUPERIOR replacement Toner Cartridges for the SLM 804 and SLM 605 Laser printers. Quality ------- o Better density the OEM Toner under all testing conditions. (AVG 1.40-1.50) o Formulation completely compatible with the OEM initial toner and supply toner. This replacement Toner may be added to the Laser Printer along with OEM initial toner or supply toner. o The NEW replacement initial toner will maintain a high level of quality "much longer" using the replacement toner. o Much smaller drop in density is realized when printing in the continuous mode. Test Pattern: 10 graphic pages 1000 text pages (3 alternating pages) Time Schedule: 330 prints continuously 1 hour pause, 3-4 times a day normally 1000 copies a day maximum 1400 copies a day OEM ABCO'S NEW STANDARD --- ------------------- Density 1.30 - 1.40 1.40 - 1.50 Yield 92.1 g/1000 copies 95.3 g/1000 copies Waste toner 20.3 g/1000 copies 14.3 g/1000 copies Transfer Rate 78% 85% >> MANY other ATARI related products STOCKED << ALL POWER SUPPLIES UL APPROVED -* 12 month FULL Guarantee *- (A FULL YEAR of COVERAGE) WE PAY SHIPPING!!! >BLUE LABEL UPS!< QUANTITY & USERGROUP DISCOUNTS AVAILABLE! _________________________________________ DEALERS and DISTRIBUTORS WANTED! please, call for details Personal and Company Checks are accepted. ORDER YOUR NEW UNIT TODAY! CALL: 1-800-562-4037 -=**=- CALL: 1-904-783-3319 Customer Orders ONLY Customer Service 9am - 8pm EDT Tues thru Sat ABCO is EXPANDING!! CALL FOR INFORMATION! """""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""" STReport International Online Magazine Available through more than 10,000 Private BBS systems WorldWide! """""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""" STReport "YOUR INDEPENDENT NEWS SOURCE" OCTOBER 25, 1991 16/32bit Magazine copyright 1987-91 No.7.42 """""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""" Views, Opinions and Articles Presented herein are not necessarily those of the editors/staff, PCReport, STReport, AMReport, MCReport. Permission to reprint articles is hereby granted, unless otherwise noted. Each reprint must include the name of the publication, date, issue # and the author's name. The entire publication and/or portions therein may not be edited in any way without prior written permission. The entire contents, at the time of publication, are believed to be reasonably accurate. The editors, contributors and/or staff are not responsible for the use/misuse of infor- mation contained herein or the results obtained therefrom. """"""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""