*---== ST REPORT INTERNATIONAL ONLINE MAGAZINE ==---* """"""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""" "The Original 16/32bit Online Magazine" from STR Publishing """""""""""""" April 03, 1992 No.8.14 ========================================================================== 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 Support BBS Network System * THE BOUNTY ST BBS * FNET 350 ~ Fido 112:35 ~ TNET 100:2/0 904-786-4176 USR/HST 16.8 DUAL STANDARD 1200 - 19.2bps V.32 - 42 bis 16.8 FAX: 904-783-3319 12 AM - 6 AM EST ----------------------------------------- FNET.. 18 ~ TNET 100:3/0: ///Turbo Board BBS Support...1-416-274-1225 FNET.. 75 ~ TNET 100:28/0 Bloom County BBS.............1-415-965-9347 FNET. 350 ~ TNET 100:2/0 The Bounty **...1-904-786-4176 FNET. 489 ~ TNET 100:20/0 Steal Your Face BBS..........1-908-920-7981 FNET 1031 ~ TNET 100:1/0 <<< INTERNET - UK>>>.... 011-44-296-395-935 _____________________________________________________________________ > 04/03/92: STReport #8.14 "The Original 16/32 bit Online Magazine!" ------------------------- - The Editor's Desk - CPU REPORT - ATARI CANADA CO. - Intel sues Cyrix - BBS EXPRESS REVIEW - GAME REVIEWS - HYPERLINK 2 - SILHOUETTE 1.36 - ALADDIN NEWS - CALAMUS SL HELP - PORTFOLIO NEWS - STR Confidential -* EXCLUSIVE IN-DEPTH TEC/TOS 2.06 REVIEW *- -* ACE'92 SET TO GO! *- -* LEXICORE RIPPED OFF! *- ========================================================================== ST REPORT INTERNATIONAL ONLINE MAGAZINE The _Number One_ & Original 16/32 bit Online Magazine -* FEATURING WEEKLY *- "UP-TO-DATE News and Information" Current Events, Original Articles, Tips, Rumors, 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! ========================================================================== GENIE ~ CIS ~ DELPHI ~ BIX ~ FIDO ~ FNET ~ TNET ~ INTERNET EURONET ~ CIX ~ CLEVELAND FREE-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 (April 3) NEW IN ATARI VENDORS FORUM OXXI SOFTWARE announces that registered Atari users of Superbase Personal/2 and Professional/3 can update to the latest version of the program. Please read message # 25350 for details. CODEHEAD TECHNOLOGIES announces the release of Warp 9, formerly known as Quick ST. This product has been revamped for usability, speed, compatibilty, and features. See WARP_9.TXT in Library 16, CODEHEAD SOFTWARE for a full description, availability, and ordering information. OXXI, INC. has acquired the Atari Product line formerly offered by Precision Software and has begun development on an upgrade to Superbase Professional. Oxxi is interested in your comments on new features for this upgrade. Please read and respond to message # 25112 in the Atari Vendors Forum (GO ATARIVEN), or send a message to Pat @ Oxxi at User ID number 76711,457 in Section 4 ("OXXI/Precision") of ATARIVEN. CONTEST IN APORTFOLIO We are now running a NEW CONTEST for Portfolio Programmers. You can submit any program you have written, in any language, in either compiled or source form. Prizes will include free CompuServe connect time, ROM cards, and a subscription to "Take it With You." Please read message # 28538 for complete details. THE ATARI PORTFOLIO FORUM ON COMPUSERVE HAS BEEN DESIGNATED AN OFFICIAL SUPPORT SITE BY ATARI CORPORATION "GO APORTFOLIO TO ACCESS THE ATARI PORTFOLIO FORUM" *********************************************************************** > CPU STATUS REPORT LATE BREAKING INDUSTRY-WIDE NEWS ================= Issue #14 Compiled by: Lloyd E. Pulley, Sr. -- Playboy Sues Over Playmate Scans on BBS Playboy magazine has brought an infringement suit against Event Horizons and executive James Maxey. The suit alleges that Event Horizons allowed copyrighted Playboy photos to be scanned into its computer system and that it provided the images by modem to computer bulletin board systems. The suit also contends online users could download files to view Playboy images so clearly they substantially replicated the original magazine photographs and that Event Horizons also sold floppy disks that contain files of Playboy photographs. Playboy general counsel Howard Shapiro said, "Event Horizons never obtained authorization to copy or publish Playboy's copyrighted works and never has compensated Playboy for doing so, although it has profited from bulletin board user fees and disk sales. "In using the words 'Playboy' and 'Playmate' in image descriptions," he said, "Event Horizons has indicated its awareness of Playboy's ownership of the photographs. We are filing this suit because Event Horizons continued to use Playboy's photographs, after repeatedly being asked to cease publication of all Playboy-owned works." -- IBM Ships OS/2 Version 2.0 on Schedule Version 2.0 of IBM's OS/2 operating system began shipping this week. IBM hopes that OS/2 will compete head-to-head with Microsoft's Windows 3.1 and officials say they plan to firmly establish OS/2 2.0 as the PC oper- ating system of the 1990s. The first version of OS/2, introduced in 1987, has been a commercial flop but IBM has high hopes this new program will bring the company software success. OS/2 2.0 is one of the most complex PC programs ever written and is being publicized as the first operating system to take full advantage of a computer's ability to process information 32 bits at a time. Sources say the updated system delivers three operating environments -- DOS, Windows and OS/2 -- in a single package. IBM has set a special introductory price of $49 for Windows users to lure them to the new program, while DOS users can upgrade for $99. -- Dell Offers '386SL Notebook PC Dell Computer Corp. has announced a new notebook computer, the 25 MHz Dell System NL25 which starts at $1,999. Dell says the computer, built around the Intel 386 SL chip, weighs 6.3 pounds and measures 8.3 inches by 11 inches by 1.8 inches high. It ships next month. Two megabytes of system memory, expandable to 8MB, come standard with the system. -- Cyrix Prepares to Ship '486 Chip Next Month Cyrix Corp. says it will being shipping its 486SLC microprocessor next month. The 486SLC is expected to go head-to-head with rival Intel's '486 microprocessors. Cyrix Corp. says the 486SLC is smaller, faster and cheaper than rival products and has the advanced technology of an Intel '486 chip, yet is one sixth the size. It will be priced about the same as Intel's lower 386 line, around $119 which is less than half the cost of Intel's '486 486sx chips. The 486SLC runs at 25MHz and is only slightly slower than an Intel 486sx chip, but is 2.5 times faster than the Intel 386sx. Also the Cyrix chip is said to have a low power consumer -- three volts -- making it attrac- tive for manufacturers hoping to extend battery life of their portable computers. Although the 486SLC plugs into the socket for Intel's 386SX micro- processor, it more closely resembles the internal structure of the 486 chip. -- Intel Files Suit Against Cyrix This week, Intel Corp. filed suit against Cyrix Corp. in US District Court in Dallas, Texas in an attempt to prevent the small, privately held chipmaker from selling its new microprocessor that Intel claims infringes four of its patents. Cyrix denies that the chip, the CX486SL, violates any Intel patents. Cyrix is the third company, after Advanced Micro Devices Inc. and Chips and Technologies, to produce a clone of Intel microprocessors. Intel has filed suit against all three firms. -- Japan to be Leading Chip Market by 1995 A new study by the Electronic Industries Association of Japan (EIAJ) concludes that country will be the world's biggest semiconductor market in 1995, with annual demand of $32.6 billion out-pacing both Europe and North America. The three-year EIAJ survey found Japanese demand for semiconductors will increase as a proportion of world demand to 35.1% by 1995, from 33.5% in 1989. At the same time, North America will see its world market share fall to 33.1% in 1995, from 33.9% in 1989, the research suggests. -- Japan Fails to Meet Commitment US Trade Representative Carla Hills said this week that the failure by Japanese companies to meet their commitment to purchase more foreign- made semiconductors is posing a "serious concern" to the United States. Hills said that calculations made by the United States and Japan show that Japan's foreign share of chip purchases was 14.4% in the third quarter of 1991, which is up from 14.3% in the second quarter. According to the chip pact, special attention is also paid to the overall foreign market share. The US industry had expected it to hit 20% by year-end. -- Sun Micro Gets Four Apple Execs In an effort to make its desktops easier to use, Sun Microsystems has hired at least four Apple Computer Inc. experts. The most recently brought in were two former Apple employees who are experts in human- interface design. Sun, which sells workstations used mostly by engineers, has been increasing its efforts in the area of human interface as the PC and workstation fields converge. -- IBM Cuts Prices on Two PS/2 Models IBM this week announced price cuts of 20-31% on its PS/2 Models 35 SX and 40 SX. The Model 35 SX is a small footprint, 386SX-based machine featuring an AT bus, three expansion slots and two storage bays. The Model 40 SX comes with an AT bus, five expansion slots and two storage bays. Both models feature 2MB of memory, expandable to 16MB on the mother- board, an internal 3.5-inch, 1.44MB floppy drive and 16-bit VGA. IBM said the price of the Model 35 SX-040 was reduced to $1,310 from $1,745, the 35 SX- 043 with 40MB hard drive to $1,610 from $2,255, 35 SX-14X with Ethernet adapter to $1,441 from $1,820 and 35 SX-24X with Token-Ring to $1,905 from $2,425. *********************************************************************** :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 $4.95 back. GEnie Announcements (FREE) 1. The Great White North is here. For anything Canadian, type..CANADA 2. ORDER Microsoft Windows 3.1 or Windows 3.1 Upgrade at.......EXPRESS 3. Cast your vote for GEnie's education services...............*SURVEY 4. No Foolin': New Family RT for Kids, Teens & Adults. Type....FAMILY 5. Spring's sprung: time to win CA$H in our online tourney.....BACKGAMMON 6. AMAZING new System 6.0 for the IIgs finally arrives in......A2 7. Brighten your nights with...................................GENIELAMP 8. Hot games - big fun - huge value - April special offer......SOFTCLUB 9. 25% SALE at LASER CRAZE -- SAVE $$$.........................LASERCRAZE 10. WIN GENIE TIME. Take our Trivia Quiz in April...............MAINFRAME 11. NEW 3rd Party GeoWorks Programs from Certified Software.....GEOWORKS 12. Take A COURSE Online This SPRING............................CALC 13. Talk to author of an Indiana Jones novel on.................WRITERS 14. SHAREWARE AUTHORS: Meet Your Peers -- Talk Business.........*HOSB 15. THE WORD IN MUSIC - Christian Music has a new home in ......*MUSIC Welcome to the Atari ST Roundtable ++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ * ************* *************** * * * * * * * * * * * * ********* * ************** * * * * * * * * * * * * * * ************* *************** This week, the eyes of the Atari world will be on Toronto! April 3rd - National Dealers' Meeting in Toronto April 4th & 5th - Atari Canadian Exposition, 1992 Saturday, 10am - 6pm Cocktail gathering - 7pm Gala Banquet - 8pm TURN CLOCKS AHEAD 1 HOUR BEFORE GOING TO BED! Sunday, 11am - 6pm ACE'92 ACE'92 ACE'92 ACE'92 ACE'92 ACE'92 ACE'92 ACE'92 ACE'92 ACE'92 ACE '92 to Highlight "Atari Week" It hasn't been proclaimed by any Mayor, but this week is definitely "The Week of Atari", with the focus on Toronto. On Friday, April 3rd, Canadian Atari dealers gather in Toronto for a national meeting. On Saturday and Sunday, April 4th & 5th, the best and the brightest in the world of Atari will come together at the Skyline Hotel in Toronto to share and show off their latest creations. New programs, hardware modifications, seminars, MIDI concerts, graphics demonstrations, program updates, show sale specials, Gala Banquet, and Atari celebrities all over the place! Saturday - 10am to 6pm Sunday - 11am to 6pm (Clocks advance 1 hour on Saturday) Admission: $6 (free for 6 and under) $5 for Any Atari club member (with club ID) If you're not planning a trip to Toronto this coming week-end, you're missing the Atari Event of the Year!! GEnie Information copyright (C) 1991 by General Electric Information Services/GEnie, reprinted by permission *********************************************************************** > ATARI CANADA CONF. STR FOCUS ATARI CANADA - GEnie Online Conference ============================ April 1, 1992 <[Sysop] JEFF.W> On behalf of the Atari ST Roundtable, I welcome all of you to the Atari Canada RealTime Conference featuring Geoffrey Earle. Before getting started, some business about how an RTC works. While the RTC room is in Listen-Only mode, you can only address our guest when I let you talk. To get my attention, just /RAIse your hand. Just enter this from your keyboard: /rai I'll acknowledge your raised hand as soon as I can, but please be patient. I -WILL- let you know when your turn is coming up. Some other RTC commands are: ? - Lists all RTC commands. /sta - Status (list) of everyone in the RTC room. /exi - Exit the RTC, but you remain logged onto GEnie. /bye - Log off of GEnie directly from the RTC. /rai - Raise your hand. Lets me know you wish to address our guest. Our guest this evening is Goeffrey Earle, Directing Manager of Atari Canada. This is Mr. Earle's first visit to GEnie, but I hope it will not be his last. Before I turn the floor over to Geoffrey and to your questions, I'd like to lay down the foundation for this conference. Like most other companies in the industry, Atari has a policy of not publicly discussing products and marketing under development until they're ready to issue a general announcement. Unless I'm mistaken, we're not expecting any such announcements this evening (although I would welcome any surprises!). While I am as eager as anyone else to hear more about Falcons, Sparrows, MultiTOS, and whatever will happen with Word Up, these are probably going to be the subjects of future conferences, not this one. What I hope we can get out of this RTC is some background on Geoff's career, some insight into how Atari Canada handles their operation in Canada, how Atari is perceived by the public in Canada, how Atari is promoted in Canada, etc. Also, the TAF Atari Show takes place this weekend in Toronto, so we'll get to find out more about Atari Canada's participation in the show. This is a major Atari event. Atari Canada and the show developers and exhibitors are very excited. As one who won't be able to attend the show, I look forward to this sneak preview. Enough of my yapping. Welcome, Geoffrey! Thank you for joining us this evening. And extend my thanks to Nathan Potechin for being there with you to help you deal with this confusing medium. If you have an opening statement you'd like to make, please go ahead. Afterward, I have a few questions and then we'll open the discussion to questions from the floor. <[Geoff] ATARI-CANADA> Thank you Jeff. As General Manager of Atari Canada I would like to take this opportunity to welcome all of the participants to the RTC this evening, to discuss the upcoming Atari Canadian Exposition. I would also like to pass along a HUGE thank you to the more than 50 Atari Developers who are supporting Atari in making this an exciting weekend for us all. This evening, please join me in welcoming Mr. Gary Weiner, Vice President of Marketing and Sales, Atari Corp. who has just flown in from Sunnyvale this evening to attend this roundtable and be present at the Canadian Dealer Conference scheduled for this Friday. Gary will be available to answer a few questions as well, towards the end of this conference tonight. Atari (Canada) Corp. looks forward to 1992 with a strong feeling of enthusiasm for our products and the direction our Corporation has taken as a whole, worldwide. <[Geoff] ATARI-CANADA> ga <[Sysop] JEFF.W> Please tell us about your background, Geoffrey. What did you do before coming to Atari Canada, how long have you been with Atari Canada, and just what does the Directing Manager of Atari Canada do? <[Geoff] ATARI-CANADA> I graduated as a technician and went on from there to various technical positions, then switched careers to sales management. From there I went on to the organization, operation and part ownership of a chain of Audio/Video and Computer stores. From there I spent two years in software development from the marketing side and have spent the last for years, as of this past weekend, with Atari. In my position as General Manager, Managing Director :-), of Atari Canada, I am directly resonsible for all sales, marketing and operations as it relates to Canada. <[Sysop] JEFF.W> What kind of presence will Atari have at the TAF Show this weekend? What will the Atari Canada exhibit consist of? And here's the tricky question...are showgoers likely to be surprised by any new products or announcements? <[Geoff] ATARI-CANADA> Atari Canada will have its large Corporate Booth equiped with all existing hardware products and will support all the Developers with their hardware requirements to assist them in presenting their product. We will also be conducting a Talent Contest in the two areas of Graphics and Midi and presenting special prizes to the winners. We will also be hosting a Lynx challenge with all proceeds being donated to Sick Kids Hospital. We will have Multi-TOS, Unix and the ST Book. <[Sysop] JEFF.W> MultiTOS! Excellent! Wish I could be there. Go ahead, Lou. <[Lou] L.ROCHA1> I would like to commend Atari Canada for their wonderful support of the userbase. My question to Geoff: Is there a way to network STBook to the ST/TT line of computers? <[Geoff] ATARI-CANADA> Lou, other than the transfer of information through ACSI, Serial and parallel ports, or A & D's Midi network, than are none that I am aware of at this time. <[Lou] L.ROCHA1> Will Atari Canada be sponsoring any future initiatives in Education here in the Great White North? My school would be very interested in hearing about such plans if they exist. <[Geoff] ATARI-CANADA> Lou, YES, we will be agressively marketing to education in the later part of 1992 and beyond. <[Sysop] JEFF.W> That it, Lou? <[Lou] L.ROCHA1> Thank you very much. <[Bruce&Keith] K.BROOKS1> Hi Geoff! 1) When do you expect the GE Service to be in place; 2) When will the AJAX 1.44 FDD chip be available? 3) What about TOS 2.07? 4) What about multisync's for the Mega STE's? i.e. the PTC1426 adapted? <[Geoff] ATARI-CANADA> 1. The final details of the GE Service agreement is still in the works. Most likely, we will start with Lynx and Portfolio and will provide more details as they become available. 2 & 3. Keith, I understand that we have just supplied you with the latest TOS 2.06 and I have no idea of TOS 2.07 availability at this time. The AJAX chip is another matter. We are working diligently to assist you in this regard. As we get more news we will let you know. 4. I do not have any information on the multisync topic at this time. <[Bruce&Keith] K.BROOKS1> No, the TOS was brought in for the UNIX developer, not us. That was 3.06 you sent but we want AJAX and 3.06 for our TT's. <[Geoff] ATARI-CANADA> Keith, I'll see you at the Dealer show Friday and talk with you then. <[Bruce&Keith] K.BROOKS1> Thanks for you help....looking forward to the show. Need some of your time for BIG things <[Sysop] JEFF.W> Keith, you're a dealer in Toronto, aren't you? <[Bruce&Keith] K.BROOKS1> New Horizon is in Calgary, Alberta. Temp tomorrow is 22C...what snowshoes!?!! <[Sysop] JEFF.W> Are you going to be exhibiting at the TAF Show? <[Bruce&Keith] K.BROOKS1> Nope, just drooling! <[Sysop] JEFF.W> Well, I envy you. Have a good time! <[Paul] P.COLLARD> Hi Geoff...As TAF President and Exhibit Coordinator for ACE, I would like to Publicly thank you for all the help and support you have given TAF in putting on this cooperative event. Is there one Event this weekend that you are most excited about? <[Geoff] ATARI-CANADA> I am most excited about your performance at the Talent Show. <[Sysop] JEFF.W> Paul, best of luck with the show. I know you've put in a lot of hard work on it. Anything else, Paul? <[Paul] P.COLLARD> Seriously is there one thing you are excited about and thanks again. <[Geoff] ATARI-CANADA> I am very excited that Atari will have the opportunity to support TAF once again in showing to the entire Atari community that we have the best and most active Atari Users of any SUB. Paul, I like to especially thank you and the TAF Executive that you have already dedicated to making this show a success. <[Sysop] JEFF.W> Before going on to Terry, I hope you'll forgive me, Gary Weiner, for not welcoming you earlier. Welcome to GEnie and congratulations on your appointment. <[Gary] ATARI-CANADA> Thanks Jeff. I'm glad to be here. <[Sysop] JEFF.W> I have a question that both you and Geoffrey might be able to answer together... Atari Canada and other non-USA Atari subsidiaries sell Atari products that we either don't get at all in the USA or reach the USA at a later date or in limited distribution. For example, the MS-DOS compatible line of desktop computers and CD-ROM units never made it to the US market. Other products, like the Mega STE and TT030 were available in Canada before anyone could buy them in the US and even now, the TT030 is only available for non-residential use in the US. This has frustrated Atari users, dealers, and journalists in the USA. We Americans like to think that the rest of the world revolves around us , so why doesn't Atari? <[Geoff] ATARI-CANADA> I can't speak for any other SUBs, however, Canada presents a marketing plan as it relates to our market and the products for that market which are not necessarily the same as any other SUB i.e.; US. <[Gary] ATARI-CANADA> Let me make a comment about Atari's view of the importance of the US market. You should know that I have been with Atari for two months now and most of that time has been spent visiting with our Subsidiaries worldwide, many of their Dealers/Distributors and some hardware and software developers. Without exception, everybody believes that a successful re-emergence of Atari in the US market is critical to all their businesses. Over the remainder of this year and next we will be focusing heavily on addressing this issue in particular. I hope that adequately addresses your question. <[Sysop] JEFF.W> Thank you, Gary (and Geoffrey). Once again, welcome. Hope to see you on GEnie some more! Now, on to Terry... <[Z-Net] T.SCHREIBER1> I have a 2600 game machine and its"" Really what I wanted to ask is if there are plans for a merchandising campaign on the lower end products and what can we expect to see? Also what is Atari's plans on 4th quarter advertising? <[Geoff] ATARI-CANADA> As you have probably seen recently, Atari Canada is reasserting itself in the consumer market and aggressively campaigning for this market. We will continue to do so through the balance of the year. <[Z-Net] T.SCHREIBER1> Can we expect to see a $149.95 520STFM this Christmas? <[Geoff] ATARI-CANADA> How many 520STFM's do you feel you could sell at that price, Terry? <[Z-Net] T.SCHREIBER1> :-( how about advertising more print naything eslse on the agenda? <[Geoff] ATARI-CANADA> Our print advertising in your market (B.C.) has been in the form of specialty, newsprint such as the Georgia Straight and the Computer Paper. It is our plan to continue with this type of print advertising. <[Ron] R.GRANT11> My question is for Gary Weiner..... Gary, I'm interested in your being online with Atari Canada tonight, and in being at the Toronto show. Is this a 'research' mission, or do we have stirrings of "Continental Subsidiaries" again? Hmmm, gee that sounded paranoid... <[Gary] ATARI-CANADA> I am here to support Geoff and the Atari community. As I mentioned earlier, I've been visiting with all of our Subs worldwide. <[Ron] R.GRANT11> Is your position with Atari Corp (International)? <[Gary] ATARI-CANADA> I'm working with all of the subsidiary General Managers to enhance our marketing and sales efforts worldwide. <[Ron] R.GRANT11> Thanks for being here tonight, Gary. I look forward to meeting you Friday! <[Baaad Dot] D.A.BRUMLEVE> Hey! I'm really looking forward to the show! We'll be crushed in between WizWorks! and the 'Heads. I'll be strutting the stuff our new Multiplay has to offer. And we have a major upgrade for Kidpublisher which will be offered to folks who bought it at the last TAF show for FREE! ($5 for anybody else, upgrade-wise) <[Sysop] JEFF.W> [ 'Heads = CodeHead Technologies ] <[Baaad Dot] D.A.BRUMLEVE> I do manage to have a question... I know Atari Canada participated in the international edtech conference, ECCO, last year. Will you have a booth at the show this month too? <[Gary] ATARI-CANADA> It is unfortunate that this year we were unable to participate due to other commitments that we have at that time. <[Baaad Dot] D.A.BRUMLEVE> How 'bout next year? <[Geoff] ATARI-CANADA> Next year we will absolutely participate. Would you care to join us? <[Baaad Dot] D.A.BRUMLEVE> Absolutely! I'll remind you! <[Bruce&Keith] K.BROOKS1> We just received a WordUp 3.0 from a CA supplier. The back jacket cover says "for the Atari ST or TT". Is Atari doing this since Neocept no longer exists? Re-emergence - GO FOR IT!!! :-) <[Geoff] ATARI-CANADA> I am not conversant with the status of the WordUp project. Please ask Bill Rehbock. On behalf of CodeHead Technologies, I'd just like to say that we're really looking forward to the ACE show. We'll be debuting our new product WARP 9 (formerly Quick ST) there and we'll also have the rest of our catalog for demonstrating, upgrading, and whatever. We're looking forward to a terrific Atari-style party! <[Geoff] ATARI-CANADA> Looking forward to having you there Charles. <[David @ JMG] D.THOMPSON66> I've at least got a question before I give my plug. :-) Geoff... How many Dealers are expected at Friday's meeting and then staying for the show? <[Geoff] ATARI-CANADA> There will be approximately 60 Dealers from across the country. As far as I know, they will be present at the show on Saturday. <[David @ JMG] D.THOMPSON66> That's sound pretty good. What percentage from outside Ontario? <[Geoff] ATARI-CANADA> About 50% David. <[David @ JMG] D.THOMPSON66> Thanks for the info. Now for the plug... HyperLINK 2.0 (with new manual:-) will be released at ACE this weekend!!! Lots of new features, (lots of sleepless nights this past week...) Looking forward to the show, and see everybody there. <[Geoff] ATARI-CANADA> Let me say Congratulations to all of you releasing new or upgraded products for the show. This is great. Thanks on behalf of us Atari people everywhere. <[Hutch] FAIR-DINKUM> Gee, David, I have a question first too Geoff, How can we verify if our product arrived that we shipped ahead? Is there someone we could telephone tomorrow? <[Geoff] ATARI-CANADA> Please call Cathy Gallately tomorrow at (416) 479-1266 and she will check for you. I know for certain that we received product from Fair Dinkum :-) and Missionware by the way. :-) <[Hutch] FAIR-DINKUM> Thanks! I assume that the dealer's conference is over by 4:00 Friday? That's the earliest I could arrive. <[Geoff] ATARI-CANADA> The Dealers Conference concludes at 4:30 pm. <[Hutch] FAIR-DINKUM> Yeh, OK, no worries. OK, now the promo... Fair Dinkum Technologies is proud to be represented at the ACE show... our first! We will be debuting a brand new product, THE CRYPTOGRAPHER, as well as show specials on our regulars... CROSSWORD CREATOR II, WORD SEARCH CREATOR, PUZZLE PACK, etc. Look for us there as we'll be looking for you! SHould be a great show! <[George@JMG] JMGSOFT> Darn... I don't think I have a real question (grin), but... First, with my dealer hat on, I'd like to say I'm looking forward to the Dealer conference. I'll save all my tough questions for then (and I have a few!) <[George@JMG] JMGSOFT> With my developer hat on, I'd like to say I'm really looking forward to the show and the release of Version 2 of our "earth shattering" HyperLINK product. We have quite a set of demos. (Be sure to see it!) <[Geoff] ATARI-CANADA> I will be more than pleased to answer your "tough" questions at the Dealer show. :-) Good luck with your release. Hello; first, so I should bring around 50 dealer kits? <[Geoff] ATARI-CANADA> Sure. Second, is there any way we as developers (or just us) can help? Need someone to get ice for the beer? *grin* <[Geoff] ATARI-CANADA> Just by being there and enthusiastically supporting ACE 92 in your usual fashion Dave. :-) Thanks. That's no problem; I found the show wonderful years ago. Final question; may I ask how it feels on your end to be talking to all these developers? I'm just curious... <[Geoff] ATARI-CANADA> Frightening but pleasurable. :-) In just the spirit of friendly curiousity, might I ask why? I feel sort of intimidated talking to Atari Canada ... you know, with Capital Letters. *grin*. <[Geoff] ATARI-CANADA> Blame GEnie. They issued the letters. To quote a famous friend of mine with the initials LT... no comment. :-) *grin* Thank you. <[Sysop] JEFF.W> Dave...You'll be showing SST at TAF? You bet! <[Sysop] JEFF.W> Great! It's a real show, folks! Hi Geoff, Are there going to be any music/Midi manufacturers displaying goods at the show? Not too loud this time I hope. I'm hoping to see some digital editting workstations (ala Digidesign's stuff or reasonable fascimile.) <[Geoff] ATARI-CANADA> Todd, thanks for asking. Korg, Fostex Canada, Steinberg, Musicware and Kaysound Imports as well as authorized Atari Music Dealers. For your information, Kaysound is the Canadian Distributor for Hybrid Arts, Digital Master. Last word in is that they will be showing their newest version. Other people have also voiced concerns on holding Midi demonstrations on the main floor so at this show, we have a special Midi Row located in the Crush Court just outside the main show floor. Hopefully this solves the problem of loud demonstrations interfering with developer demonstrations. Whew! Sounds like a music party. (Not too loud I hope.) Grin. My plug: I'll be a part of the Codehead booth giving away free font posters (v2.0 of the posters). The outside corridor should be great. I've been there before. Thanks. <[Paul] P.COLLARD> I would just like to add that those concerned with the music... I have organized it so it is one hour on and one hour Quiet so that it is not too disturbing...but PLEASE if you have a problem with it please see me and we will try and work it out for everyone concerned.ga <[Sysop] JEFF.W> Thanks, Paul. <[Sysop] JEFF.W> Geoffrey and Gary... Thank you for spending this evening with us. I hope you will come back again. Any closing comments? <[G & G] ATARI-CANADA> I thank you all for attending the roundtable and for being gentle with me my first RTC. :-) It was a real pleasure. I look forward to seeing you all at the premier show in North America ACE 92. Thank you for your support. <[Sysop] JEFF.W> Best of luck with the show. Thanks again. ========================================================================= (C) 1992 by Atari Corporation, GEnie, and the Atari Roundtables. May be reprinted only with this notice intact. The Atari Roundtables on GEnie are *official* information services of Atari Corporation. ========================================================================= > GEMULATOR! STR InfoFile See it at TAF in Toronto! ======================= UPDATE ON THE GEMULATOR... ========================== From Darek at BRASOFT Compiled by Lloyd E. Pulley, Sr. Senior Staff Editor All the following posts were from Darek @ BRASOFT and were compiled from Category 19, Topic 15 - from the ST Roundtable on Genie... Post #63...you will be able to get your hands on Gemulator and try out your favorite software in Toronto, on April 4th and 5th at the Atari show. If you call the 206-885-5893 number, you will get an answering machine. Please leave your name and phone number. You will be put on the mailing list to receive information on Gemulator. New newsletters are being printed up Post #65...Don't worry about speed. I've already test a lot of ST programs on Gemulator and they all run just fine and quite fast. By the Toronto show I should have a list ready that lists all the Gemulator compatible ST software (as was done for PC Ditto long ago). Post #67...[Concerning which resolutions Gemulator will support]...all 3 resolutions. Eventually I will put in support to emulate larger screen resolutions, kind of like a built in MonSTEr utility. This will let you take advantage of 800x600 and 1024x768 modes of SuperVGA cards. 1024x768 is the same resolution as the ISAC card, so software such as Prism Paint which is written to take advantage of the ISAC will also take advantage of the Super VGA modes. Post #70...[will Darek take advance orders]...no advance orders. Like I said before, the Toronto show will be the first public demo of Gemulator and depending on people's reactions I will then decide whether to go ahead and market the product or not. (I probably will). You can get in line by getting on the mailing list. Just send email to BRASOFT and leave your name and mailing address. Post #73...Well, I thought I'd update everyone on the current list of Gemulator compatible software: GFA Basic, Neodesk 3, First Word Plus, Pagestream 2.1, Publishing Partner, Degas (and Degas Elite), Word Writer, MultiFile, Art ST, Microsoft Write, Word Flair, ST Writer/Magni Writer, Prism Paint, Gemini (desktop replacement), Hotwire, Multidesk, Turbo ST 1.8, Quick ST 2 and 3, GDOS and G+PLUS Post #76...[concerning game compatibility]...I won't make any guarantees about any disks that use copy protection, which games tend to do. I really haven't tested too many games yet, so I can't give you any sort of compatibility list for games at this time. Post #78...I had a chance to test out some more software. I"m happy to announce that Calamus runs just fine on Gemulator. I'll try to test the new Calamus at the Toronto show. As for games, I tried a bunch of Infocom stuff like Zork 3 and A Mind Forever Voyaging and they worked fine. Games like Hero's Quest and Codename: ICEMAN worked for the most part, but I need to fine tune a few things to make them 100% compatible. I'll find some more game players in the area come over and test out their software. Post #80...[what rom version does the Gemulator work with]...All ROM versions of TOS for the ST (1.0, 1.2, 1.4, 1.6, and 2.0) are supported. You can plug in either 256kb or 1 mb ROM chips (i.e. 6-chip or 2- chip sets). Post #83...[what about 10-sector formatted floppies]...MS-DOS doesn't like some Atari ST formats like 10 sector disks or TOS 1.0 formatted disks. Because Gemulator is running GEMDOS on top of MS-DOS, it can read the disks. 360K, 400K, 720K, 800K, and 1.44 meg ST formatted disks have all been tested and they all worked fine. Even some copy protected games such as Flight Simulator and Dungeon Master load up fine, which I have to admit surprised me. But that goes to show you how compatible Gemulator really is. Gemulator also supported the full 4096 color palette of the STE when emulating low rez and medium rez. I'll be demoing that and all of it's other features THIS WEEKEND at the Toronto show, so if you can bring some ST software and drop by. Gemulator will be on sale at the Glendale show in September and will probably ship long before that. The first few dozen units which will be going out the door in a few weeks to beta testers and magazine reviewers, and after I receive their feedback I'll start shipping the real things. That could take a month or two or it might take 4 or 5 months, I don't know until I get their feedback. Hope to see everyone in Toronto! - Darek """"""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""" 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 -------------------- Beginning September 1, 1990, DELPHI will begin offering a new plan that will save you money! The new plan is called the 20/20 Advantage Plan 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 restrictions may apply. But this is still an amazing deal! For more information, contact DELPHI at 1-800-544-4005 and ask for Member Services. DELPHI- It's getting better all the time! """"""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""" > The Flip Side STR Feature "..a different viewpoint.." ========================= A LITTLE OF THIS, A LITTLE OF THAT ================================== by Michael Lee ---------------- From Bob Brodie (Atari) - Cat. 14, Topic 7, Msg 81 - from the ST Round- table on Genie... The first shipment of ST Books that came into the warehouse were all sold to developers. They were one meg machines with forty meg hard disks. Currently, I expect to see ST Books in late April/early May. Personally, I'm waiting for the four meg units. Until they come out, I just borrow one for the events that I need to display one at. The machines are VERY nice though, and I believe will help open up new markets for Atari. ---------------- From Mickey Angell in the Aladin-ST Roundtable on Genie... I have TOS 2.06 and we (GRASP [users group]) have installed 4 TOS 2.06s in 4 1040STe. One of the STe's had soldered in ROMS. We had to purchase a socket and install it before we put the ROMS in. (By installing a socket we are making it for future upgrades). Probably 99.9% of STe's have socketed ROMS. Installing the ROMS is a simple pull and plug operation. Two jumpers have to be moved. This will require a soldering iron and needle nose pliers to remove the jumpers and move them to their new locations. It is very easy. Also getting to the ROMS on an 1040STe is very easy. Remove upper case of your computer. Remove small shield over rear of the drive. Disconnect power plug and ribbon cable to your disk drive. Hold drive and remove 3 screws from bottom of computer that hold drive. Move drive out of the way. Pull old ROMS. Move jumpers. Put in new ROMS. I have video taped the process. When we receive the TEC boards, I will video tape installation in a 520ST and a Mega2. (Guess who received an 8mm camcorder for Christmas). Codehead will give discounts to Usergroups who order their minimum purchase. Also, they are giving discounts to users who send in alternate desktops such as NEodesk. User has to send in original disk formatted to get a $20 discount. As other have stated, check out the TEC board message base. I love TOS 2.06. ALT-a thru P will open the corresponding drive or partition. ALT 1 or 2 or 3 will take you to low res, medium, high res. So many features, lots of icons on the desktop. Take care. ---------------- About the MOS Disk Utilities by Doug Johnson (MOS) - from Cat. 2, Topic 47, Msgs 8 & 11 - from the ST Roundtable on Genie... The MOS Disk Utilities are a set of programs which allow you to maintain and organize your files on both hard disk drives and floppy disks. Many data recovery tools are included, such as an undelete program, a utility to recover lost folders and lost clusters, a utility to repair file allocation tables, a utility to repair damaged boot sectors, and much more. Other tools, not related to recovery, include a very powerful sector editor, folder sorter (for sorting any folder, not just AUTO folders), file defragmenter (a very fast one at that, not to mention the SpeedAccess feature which can make your hard drive seek times up to 75% faster), bad sector marker (which by the way also will use proprietary techniques for recovery of data on bad sectors), a utility to view the technical information about any drive, plus a whole lot more. You may purchase it direct from us at: Maximum Output Software 5510 Spanish Oak Houston, TX 77066 Price of the disk utilities is $59.95. We pay shipping. (TX residents add 7.35% sales tax) ---------------- About the Hayai programs from Bob Arp (Machine Specific Software) - Cat. 2, Topic 49, Msg. 1 - from the ST Roundtable on Genie... Hayai is a suite of 6 machine specific programs, 3 for mono-chrome and 3 for color, designed particularly for fixed drive to removable drive backup and defragmentation. In addition, data transfers between two fixed drives and data transfers between two removable cartridges using a single removable drive are supported. Each program has been designed for optimal data transfer rates according to driver design and logical sector size. Furthermore, Hayai traps hardware defects using a unique copy verification algorithm. The data transfer rates are directly proportional to the data transfer rates of the drives involved--up to 30 megabytes/minute when data is copied from one Quantum partition to another Quantum partition. A review of Hayai appeared in the January 1992 issue of Atari Interface Magazine. Another review has been scheduled to appear in ST Informer--perhaps as soon as April 1992. All programs in the suite are available for $79.95 plus $3.00 s/h from Machine Specific Software 278-1 San Tomas Aquino Rd Campbell, Ca 95008 (408)370-9039 All Hayai programs are complete and guaranteed to be error free. No updates are planned. Nada. None. ---------------- From 'Dr. Bob' (WizWorks) - Cat. 7, Topic 5, Msg 57 - from the ST Roundtable on Genie... Just a quick announcement: We'll be releasing a new modules disk shortly. Actually, it not much like the previous two Modules Disks; this has only one program (ok, 1 major program). We call it 'the GIF disk'. Import GIF pictures into MVG. Smoothest grey scaling to mono you'll see anywhere. 100% assembly coded (no cheating was done with C, we tried to cheat but just couldn't get the C-sources to compile and run so we did what we know best: 68000 assembly language, the only way to fly! ;-) Reads the normal GIFs and the Interlaced ones too. Offers control of not only brightness but of contrast too. Your choice of either 'FLOYD' or Pattern-Dither. Floyd offers x1 and x2 sizing (x2 is best for work, x1 is better for viewing Dither offers x2,x4 and x8 with loadable patterns too. Dithering is much faster than Floyd (of course) but still produces a good image for 300 dpi use. (any larger printing like 150dpi or 120 and the patterns detract from the picture) Available at the Toronto show! April 4/5 ---------------- Question by Rob Glover - Cat. 4, Topic 15, Msgs 58-59 - from the ST Roundtable on Genie... Does anyone have the schematics to the SM124 they could send me? I'd really appreciate it. I can't afford the SM147 or a multisync yet, and it will probably be several months before I can. Meanwhile, I really need to get this thing working. I have a friend that repairs radio station type equipment for a living, and he has all the necessary equipment and knowledge to do it, but he needs the schematics. I will gladly cover costs of mailing/copying, whatever. Answer from Dorothy Brumleve (Kidprgs)... Best Electronics 2021 The Alameda Suite 290 San Jose, California 95126 408 243 6950 ---------------- From Paul Wu (Wuztek) about installing their 1.44 meg drive units - Cat. 4, Topic 17, Msg. 87 - from the ST Roundtable on Genie... On a STE or Mega STe, installing the HDrive is as easy as removing the old 1772, pop in the HDrive module, solder two wires to the mother- board and replace the disk drive. If you have an older computer, you'll need a trained technician to desolder the old WD1772 controller and replace it with the socket we provide and the rest is the same. P.S. We strongly recommand a dealer installation. Many things can go wrong when you solder and desolder a bunch of static sensitive components. ---------------- Problem by Roy Irby - From Cat. 4, Topic 38, Msgs 100-102 - from the ST Roundtable on Genie... I am having an intermittent problem with my ST. Perhaps someone can help me out. My system is a Mega ST2 w/ 4 megs, TOS 1.04, AdSpeed, etc. Quite some time ago the pointer would start leaving vertical lines behind it on the screen. The lines seem to be the same distance apart as when you use the Alt+cursor keys to move the pointer. The lines remain until the screen is cleared by an application. I have tried booting up with a completed bare system w/o the hard drive/modem etc. but the problem still eventually rears it's ugly head. Sounds like a hardware thing to me. The system has been 'cooked' once by a power surge. Had to replace the shifter and the rs-232 i/o chips. In fact, as I type this message, the lines have started appearing again. I've also checked for viruses. None to be found. Any ideas?????? Answer from George Richarson (Merlin Group)... Is your Blitter turned on? If so, I'll bet that it's the culprit. Answer from Tom (ICD)... Blitter. ---------------- A printer problem from Bill Storey - Cat. 4, Topic 38, Msgs 103-104 - from the ST Roundtable on Genie... I have a problem: I trashed my printer driver in my 1040 STe. (Probably had something turned on when unplugging. Dumb!) I want to replace it, but I don't know which chip it is. I have heard it is a YAMAHA sound chip. I have a YAMAHA chip near the printer port. Is that the one? #YM2149F? If that is the right one, I can get a replacement. Answer from Fred Koch... That is the chip. The ST is very, very sensitive to stray voltage, especially static. I recommend you install a socket for the chip while you are replacing it. Sometimes after the first chip is blown you have to replace it often. I was doing it about every 2-3 months on one machine until I replaced the mother board. By the way it will void your chance of getting a cheaper mother board if you replace the chip yourself. It was a difference of $200.00 when I went to replace mine, but that was before you could buy an STe for $400.00. There is also a Radio Shack equivalent chip that is cheaper than the Yamaha chip, which appears to be only available from Atari. The Radio Shack chip may have been discontinued according to my local dealers though. By very careful when removing the old chip. The traces are easily lifted from the mother board if you use too much heat or are careless and try pulling the chip off with some solder still attached. ---------------- From Joe Meehan - Cat. 5, Topic 10, Msg. 162 - from the ST Roundtable on Genie... Notice New Address: Migraph Inc. 32700 Pacific Highway South #12 Federal Way, WA 98003 ---------------- From David @ Ditek - Cat. 7, Topic 7, Msg. 54 - from the ST Roundtable on Genie... DynaCADD 3.00 is not currently available. After extensive discussions with everyone involved, the projected release date is 3rd quarter '92. I have no problem discussing the program and what it will include. As with all previous versions, the upgrade fee will be a small fraction of the total cost. DynaCADD 3.00 is a complete rewrite. Indeed, version 2.0x will continue on it's own seperate upgrade path as a stand alone product. We are almost finished the latest revision of the manual. I expect it to be ready to go the printers within the next week. This manual has been upgraded to the current version 2.04.xx ---------------- Until next week..... ____________________________________________________________ > EXPRESS BBS! STR Review "Express is very user friendly" ======================= BBS EXPRESS! ============ by Mark McGowan After seeing many reviews for other BBS programs and running BBS Express! ST, I felt that more people needed to be informed about Express. Express is owned and supported by C & R Systems located in Waynesboro, PA. I think many people haven't seen the latest versions of Express. It is currently up to version 1.74. Maybe some of you remember the old Express version 1.30. There have been MANY changes since ICD's last upgrade to 1.30. First, a little about Express. Express is probably best noted for it's user friendliness. The most novice BBS users are able to get around on Express with little or no difficulty thanks to the logical commands and dozens of help menus. Behind the scenes, the SysOp has an enormous amount of flexibility. Using it's own built-in Script programming language, there's virtually nothing that can't be accomplished by the SysOp (no need to wait for someone to write an external program for an option you need...write it yourself in Script!). The Script language makes Express more flexible than any other BBS program I've seen, yet. Any feature or game you can think of can be accomplished with Script. Basically, with Script, you can take over the BBS and make it do exactly what you want and in any order you want. If you are not very good at programming, you can call the Express support BBSs and ask for help. There are literally thousands of Script files already in existence, so maybe what you need has been written already. The menus are all configurable for your own personal needs. Write them in Script, or use the special Menu feature of Express. Also, are there any prompts built into your BBS program you would like to change? Over 260 prompts that are built into the program are configurable to whatever you like. With the help of Script and\or other 3rd party programs, your choices for online games and any other BBS programs surpasses any other BBS program for the ST. Most programs written for FoReM and ///Turbo will run under Express. Then, add all the programs written in Script by you and other Express SysOps...you have the largest selection of external programs available to any ST SysOp! With all the selections available to the SysOp, this will individualize an Express BBS. Two different Express BBSs could look completely different from one another. The message bases are truly the best! Ever log onto a BBS and get lost in the long sequences required to do a simple option? One key commands put you right where you want to be. While reading the messages, the user has nearly every option he/she could want at the press of ONE key! Some of the more useful [less known] options are: back up a message, jump to the last message, GoSub to a message to remind you what you last posted, jump to any message you want or thread the messages through trees to see where the conversation originated from. The file sections are much like the message bases. Express supports batch downloading and uploading. The marking of files for downloading is the simplest I've seen. While listing the files in a catalog view, pressing ONE key will mark the file for batch. Express has a user buffer that will allow the users to type ahead while some other operation is occurring. An example of this is: When a user selects [L]ibrary, he/she doesn't have to wait for the menu to be completed. The next several keys can be entered immediately and Express holds all the commands entered. This is especially nice for expert users. Express directly supports ASCII, VT52 color/mono and ANSI color/mono. Only one menu is created in VT52 and Express does all the work from there for the other translations. There are Script files available to aide you in using Instant Graphics, if you wish. All the built-in features of Express are part of the main program and it still operates on 512K machines! Finally, what most SysOps want...an excellent support of their BBS program. Online at the support BBS is a Script written Suggestion Box feature. SysOps use this feature to tell C & R what they would like to see in future updates. If your idea is popular among the other SysOps and it's workable, you can bet that feature will be added soon after the suggestion! Surveys also have been sent out to Express SysOps to choose what they want to see right away and what can be put off until the first priorities are completed. If you want to see Express in action, call C & R's BBS and support line @ (717) 765-8623 and see for yourself. __________________________________________________________________ > HyperLINK 2.0 STR InfoFile Debuts at Toronto's ACE Show this weekend! ========================== from GEnie's ST RT ***************** ** HYPERLINK 2.0 ** ***************** The long awaited HyperLINK 2.0 begins shipping this weekend at the Toronto ACE show. The addition of many new features, as well as the re-working of existing ones makes HyperLINK, the Hypertext solution for your ST/TT computer. NEW IMPROVEMENTS : - TOTALLY REWRITTEN MANUAL - NEW LINKING SCREEN - NEW LINKING OPTIONS - NEW VISUAL SCREEN - NEW BUILDER BASE SCREENS (Customizable!) - NEW EASIER EDITING OF OPTIONS - NEW APPLICATION INFO SCREEN - AUTOMATIC CONVERSION OF OLDER HAPS NEW FEATURES : * Decimal Support in Database * Keyboard Shortcuts for Links & Buttons * Improved TextLink capabilities, Error checking * Transverter for adding fields to a database, etc. * Expressions now fully supported on Report Printing * More Versatile Multi Button Handling * Report Builder Enhancements : - All features supported for field types, loading/saving - Better error checking, easier use * Window Positioning Support * Enhanced Parameter Passing, Expression evaluation, etc. * Redone & enhanced Application Defaults Screen But wait, these are just the visible improvements that have been made to HyperLINK... Many internal enhancements as well go towards to making this an even more powerful product than before! INTERNAL CHANGES & FIXES : - Internal Database More Efficient - Compatibility problem with current version of Universal Network has been fixed (works around a bug in Univ Network) - Better Network Compatibility (file sharing) - Linking protocol considerably enhanced. It is now backwards compatible - Internal support for Variable Blocks in HAP files added! If you haven't look at HyperLINK before, don't you think it's time that you gave your attention to the most flexible Database and Application Generator available for the ST? And if you've seen older versions and not quite understood its purpose... Take a look at the new HyperLINK, guaranteed to take the complexity out of database creation! HyperLINK is Distributed by: JMG Software International,Inc 892 Upper James Street Hamilton, Ontario CANADA L9C 6C2 Phone : (416) 575-3201 FAX : (416) 575-0283 BBS : (416) 389-9064 GEnie : JMGSOFT * Note for Registered HyperLINK owners : Some upgrades will be available at the ACE show this weekend (the manuals have been photocopied for this). After that, the manual will be going to Linotron which will take a little extra time, so you should expect to receive the new version by the end of April. Notice: In JMG Software's announcement of HyperLINK 2.0, the feature they refer to as a "Transverter" is in no way related to the program "Transverter" which is distributed with the Spectre 128 & GCR. --Doug Wheeler, Author and copyright holder of "Transverter" _______________________________________________________________ > LEXICORE WARNING STR FOCUS LEXICORE RIPPED OFF! ========================== LEXICORE RIPPED OFF! ==================== NOTICE: TO ALL Lexicor has determined and confirmed that it's former distributor and product manufacturer is making and selling PIRATE copies of Lexicor's software products. If you have purchased any Lexicor products from RIO COMPUTERS we suggest that you make the following tests to see if you may have purchased a PIRATED program. 1. The first telltale sign is the "SERIAL.NUM" file on the disk. Check to see if its different from the serial number written on the label of the disk. Another indication is the creation date stamp. Check to see if this file carries a creation date stamp of 02/03/28. Also, check the date stamp on the NUM file and see if it is the same as the one for the .PRG file. If they are more then _a minute_ apart then you probably have a PIRATED program. Now, RUN the Program, if it is Prism paint or Prism Render then the serial number will be found in the "About" dialogue. If these two numbers are not the same then once again, you probably have a Pirated program. 2. All these numbers can be the same and you still may have a PIRATED copy. We have been investigating this situation for some time and found a number of identical programs sold to more than one person. In some cases the numbers match and in some cases they do not. 3. What you should do if you suspect you have a pirate copy. 4. First, call lexicor and tell us why you think you have a Pirate Copy. 5. Next - if Instructed to.. send your Pirate goods to LEXICOR. 6. If you have been one of the victims, we suggest that you file a complaint with the US Postal Service's fraud division and the US POSTAL crime detail. You can get the information for your local postal crime unit at your local post office. 7. Lexicor policy on these PIRATED goods: If we can determine that the software you have is stolen we will confiscate it for use in possible legal action and as evidence. WE will, as a courtesy, replace your goods when we receive proof of purchase from RIO COMPUTERS or your Local Store. You should however, demand a refund from RIO COMPUTERS. Lexicor cannot warrant any of these PIRATE goods. If you have purchased any such product and you send it to Lexicor and you receive a replacement and a refund then you should send that money to Lexicor. If you do, Lexicor will reinstate the warranty. I know that this all seems like a lot of trouble, and it is. But neither you nor Lexicor created this problem. There is no excuse what so ever for copyright infringement. This does not happen accidently and is virtually impossible for anyone to accidently make illegal copies during manufacture. Lexicor has ceased all business activities with RIO COMPUTERS and urges all Lexicor owners to buy from an authorized ATARI dealer or direct from Lexicor. We apologize for the inconveniences to any Lexicor customers and hope to have some new and exciting software for you soon. Lee Seiler LEXICOR Software April 2, 1992 _______________________________________________________________ > STR Portfolio News & Information Keeping up to date... ================================ THE ATARI PORTFOLIO FORUM ========================= On CompuServe by Judith Hamner 72257,271 EXTRA! EXTRA! """"""""""""" The forum staff announces a new programming contest. Any program in any language is eligible. Programs must be submitted by midnight April 30 lib 1. See message #28538 for details. Don't forget to include your name in the file description so I can give you credit. BJ Gleason has compiled an alphabetical listing of the files in the forum library. FILES.ZIP is in Pkzip format. FILES.TXT is in ASCII format. TAHOE5.ZIP is a five card poker game. It will also run on other DOS machines. SCRCRD.ZIP is a Pbasic program for scoring games. CONVER.WKS is a worksheet by Thierry Carmona to convert between metric and US measurement units. Ted Baynes has a checkbook reconciliation worksheet for the Portfolio. RECON.ARC contains the worksheet and documentation. If you would rather avoid de-arcing look for REACC.WKS and REACC.DOC. BJ Gleason has uploaded ETA.BAS. This is a Pbasic program for a trip estimator which was described in Take It With You. TMW.ZIP is utility which supplements the Portfolio's diary. It provides quick access to the current appointments. Programmers will appreciate a new upload by BJ Gleason. PFTPU6.ZIP is an update of the Portfolio unit for Turbo Pascal 6. It allows programs to access some of the special built-in functions of the Portfolio. PCT.ZIP is a program that displays the Portfolio's ASCII character table along with the decimal, hex and octal equivalents. BICON.ZIP contains a graphics program for the bouncing icon demo. Another graphics animation is in LATE.COM. This one was uploaded by Don Thomas for David Letterman fans. APBTIP.TXT is a reprint of the hints and tips published in the Atari Peripherals Bulletin. It also contains the directions to order a copy of APB. PORTFA.COM is a corrected version of the frequently asked questions file in Pbread format uploaded by Tony Davids. ______________________________________________________ > GBS HELPLINES STR InfoFile Extending a helping hand... ========================== GADGETS BY SMALL QUESTIONS AND ANSWERS ====================================== Compiled by Michael Lee All the following posts are from the Gadgets by Small Roundtable on Genie. From Category 7, Topic 49, Messages 98-103... Questions from Barry Broskowitz... I have two questions for anyone who can help: 1. Is it possible to get 1.44 meg drives to work with Spectre on my Mega 4? 2. I have a pair of drives (generic, Teac I believe) that work fine with Spectre with one idiosyncrasy - they don't sense a disk inserion if the disk is _not_ write protected. I seem to recall a simple fix for this. Something like jumpering 2 pins together on the 34 pin drive connector. Anyone have any details? Question from M.KOHL1... Hep me! Hep me! Since I got a Mega 4 STe, I'm not able to read Mac disks! I've heard through the grapevine that there's some sort of "fix" for this problem. Please enlighten me oh groovulous one. One other oddity: since my upgrade to 3. 0, it takes a full minute to run Spectre!?! Answer from STACE (Sysop)... Barry...1.4 meg drives will not work with Spectre (as high density drives that is). I know Dave has discussed the possibility of adding 1.4 meg drive support to Spectre. If and when that will happen is not known at this time. Sorry, can't help with the Teac write-protect sensor. Someone else?? Answer from STACE (Sysop)... M.Kohl...I suspect that your STE has a high density drive mechanism in it. Some high density drive mechanisms appear to be having compatibility problems with Spectre GCR. Answers from Dave Small... Back when we hacked together 3.0, 1.44 drives were far away. There is -some- code in there, temporarily turned off. It is not THAT bad, just adjustments to sectors/track and stuff. It is MFM, thank heavens. Also it must self adjust to 68030 speed. Something like a menu option is necessary, but I need to learn more first about HD drives. I'll ask Dave Troy; the man is a wizard of knowledge about them! See his Current Notes articles. There is much being done *right now* to upgrade Spectre. It has not dropped in a hole; it just task-suspended during the SST crunch. We already had the MegaTalk crunch, only minor things to go on it. So much to do, so few hackers to do them with. It's on the list, seriously, and it is a priority item. ---------------- Question by Al Beverstein - Cat. 7, Topic 60, Msgs 147-148.... My friend had a 2Meg Mega STE. It would not read,format, or write to a Spectre disk. It worked fine in Atari mode. It was running at 16 Mhz with the Cache off. WE even tried at 8 Mhz with the same results. The only way we could get it to work was to access an Atari formatted disk before we booted Spectre from the Hard Drive. It then worked 100%. It will lock up when the mouse is moved during floppy access. The floppy drive was an Epson ??380 I think. I wonder if it is a High density drive and Spectre is confused somehow? Answer from Jim Allen (Fast Tech)... Apparently when NO DISK is inserted in a MegaSTE equipped with a 1.44M floppy mechanism, the floppy control circuit "thinks" there is an HD disk inserted...a hole in the disk _or_ no disk look the same. Try putting a normal DD disk in the drive till you hit "return" on your way to Macland, then pop it. In fact, try just pushing the disk in, but not al. the way, to break the light beam on the HD detect mechanism. It doesn't seem to be 100% predictable either. Be nice if Atari would inform developers how the MSTE flopppy stuff functioned, so it could be dealt with. ---------------- Question by Patrick Carmack - Cat. 6, Topic 11, Msgs 113-114... How's System 7 coming along? I really don't like it too much, but I'd love to tell my Mac friends that I can run Sys 7 faster than they can! More power to ya... Answer from Dave Small... I've been working my tail off on it. Inch high printouts. Cups on cups of coffee and Diet Pepsi. Night hours (somewhere after midnight here). WOW are they doing weird stuff in there! Ever heard of a Mac running in USER mode? !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Anyway, it's "coming along". I keep fixing things, rebooting, and hoping it will get to the desktop. It's still on Welcome to Mac, but it stays there *forever* on a real Mac Plus (which I have) while booting. Personally, I kinda feel there is something inherently wrong when a slow SCSI drive has time for the light to go out during booting. Doesn't do that on an ST! There are now "updates" to System 7 I have been trying to make sense of. Woooo ... bigtime fun. We are DEFINITELY past the "Out of Memory" crash you used to see. It's just a matter of they've rewritten huge chunks of the ROMS and patched the ROMs out; I have to teach Spectre to get along with the new RAM code. I'll let you know when it comes up, believe me. You'll hear me. p.s. SST development necessarily put Sys 7 on the backburner, but now I've got the ST plugged into the Zax, the ST's CRT, the ZAX's CRT, and the ST's debug CRT all glowing at me. Wow, X-ray heaven. ---------------- Questions from Jim Hand - Cat. 8, Topic 2, Msgs 175 & 178... I know that you are currently busy w/ many things, but I was wondering what the status of the MegaTalk board was? I understand that you were having problems w/ some PALS, but you did mention that you had this covered, so I was wondering what was up. Answer from Dave Small... I'm re-testing some MegaTalk software that I'm a teensy concerned about to make sure it can ship. The boards are ready; the PAL's have been swapped. I need to polish up some documentation (Sandy definitely wants some interludes in there, I don't want to write 'em -- GRIN!) But manuals take little time. So, basically, it's looking good. We planned on having it OUT long ago ... except the PAL thing and the CMOS SCSI chip thing and this thing and that thing made its timeframe interfere with the SST, and the SST had to get priority. Now that SST is shipping, back to work. ---------------- Question from Vern Hutz - Cat. 9, Topic 2, Msgs 163-164... I ordered SST through my dealer....in turn through his distributor. (SE Pennsylvania) As of yet no show. Would you suggest I just hold on to my 'glu chips' or IF I Can cancel how soon would I Be in the "Chain of Request" ? I am anxious and besides look like a fool shooting off my mouth about my faster-than-yours Atari! Answer from Sandy Small... 1. As of right now, we are backordered until May-June, depending on the parts suppliers (I'm not counting on parts until I can see the whites of their eyes). 2. Distributors will start getting SSTs around the end of March, so Dealers will get them around the first part of April (more or less). 3. We tested Supercharger last year at CEBIT, and it ran fine then. However, I do not know what version it was, and I don't remember if we might have changed something since then. ---------------- __________________________________________________________ > Aladdin News STR InfoFile "All the news that causes fits" ========================= THE ST ALADDIN ROUNDTABLE NEWS ============================== "All the news that causes fits" Well, the month of February was pretty mild, only heating up toward the end with a resurgence of arguing over Arc versus LHarc and some more "discussion" about the Connect History not being as good as the Billing History. The Billing History has just been replaced in PC Aladdin with the Connect History we know and love , so now we will see what's what! Here are some new files in the library. These are ALL worth a look! #183 STSMU21. LZH J.LUBIN 182 DOWNLD12.LZH F.KOCH 181 BILLIN13.LZH F.KOCH 180 4SCRIPT2.LZH F.KOCH 179 SFTSCRPT.LZH D.MCNAMEE 176 SEARCHER.LZH CHERRY.FONTS Here's some discussion of cool programs to get more from Aladdin: F.HENSE [FRANK] at 23:53 CST I haven't seen any mention of the program DATENAME.TTP. This was written by J.Eidsvoog1 and if you run it each day before you log on it will rename your message file to a dated file name such as ST_IN_01.08, ST_IN_01.15 etc... sure keeps them from getting to 500k. Another program I use frequently is MSG_ARC.TOS which takes an Aladdin message file such as ATARISTR.msg and breaks it out into folder called ATARISTR.AMD with individual topics in files such as 01_12.AMF, 01_17.AMF which means cat 1 topic 12, and 15 etc.. It will append to the exisiting file if you keep running it. However it adds to the end not the beginning so you have the messages in ascending order and the latest will be last. Then you can use MAXIfile to quickly scan them and with about two keystrokes change the extension to AMV so they will all collect at the bottom of the directory and you can easily delete the ones you don't want to keep. FRank ---------- JEFF.W [ST RT] at 11:25 EST Mike - MSG_ARC.ARC if file #90 here in the ST Roundtable Software Library. ---------- GRMEYER [Gordon Meyer] at 17:53 MST I use WAIT_TIME with Aladdin. Wait_Time is a small program that accepts a command line containing a time in 24 hour format. It simply waits until the specified time has elapsed, and then exits. You can abort the process, and the display shows current time, time specified, and time remaining until it exits by itself. How do I use it with Aladdin? I have Wait_Time 'chained' to Aladdin in my HotWire menu. The time I pass to Wait_Time is 18:05, or 6:05pm That way Wait_Time 'intercepts' (so to speak) any attempts to run Aladdin, and subsequently enter GEnie, before non-prime hours have gone into effect. If I want to go into Aladdin anyway, pressing the space bar bypasses Wait_Time. If Griffin ever decides to allow Aladdin scripts to be passed from the command line, and allows script to exit to TOS, Wait_Time will be of even more value to Aladdin as it will allow you to run a script, then exit, at a specified time. Wait_Time, from DO NOT STAMP Software, is freeware. It's in the ST libraries. Gordon R. Meyer DO NOT STAMP Software ---------- J.ZORZIN [Joe] at 06:27 EST Over in the Genie Users RT I asked about future Aladdin support for Fax Mail. Several people replied that it is already present! This may be old news in this topic but for those unaware of this all you do is use Genie Mail but on the top line do the following: TO: Receiver's name / 1-123-456-7890@FAX# I suggest mentioning this "hidden feature" in the next manual. ---------- STARFALL [Alan] at 09:53 EST Yep, GEnie supports FAX mail. Please note that it's billed at GEnie Professional rates, not GEnie*Basic like regular email. There's a rate schedule on page 205 (keyword FAX). / / * / Alan * * ---------- Hope you found something useful. February's a short month, it gets short news! See you in the RT. _______________________________________________________________ > TEC REVIEW STR Review In Depth Review ** TOS 2.06 FOR ALL ===================== TOS 2.06 FOR ALL ================ CODEHEAD'S TOS EXTENSION CARD MAKES IT EASY """"""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""" by Joe Mirando Back when Rainbow TOS (1.04) was released, I plunked my money down on my local dealer's counter for it. It was a respectable upgrade to the operating system that we've all come to know and love but there was, at least in my opinion, room for still more improvement. Then Atari announced their new machines; the TT and the Mega STe. These machines contained a new TOS version. This version had many features and bug fixes. ST and Mega owners began to ask if they would be able to use this new TOS on their computers. "NO" came the answer, "the new operating system uses larger chips than the old TOS. There is no way to fit the new chips into an older ST." Dejected users began to come to terms with the fact that anything newer than Rainbow TOS would be forever beyond their reach. Well, now there is an interface that allows ST, Mega ST, or Stacy (soon) users to easily install Atari's newest TOS version (2.06). The TOS Extension Card (TEC), manufactured in Germany and distributed in North America by CodeHead Technologies, fits in any ST/Stacy/Mega and allows the use of TOS 2.06. The TEC board itself measures a mere three inches square and holds the TOS 2.06 ROM chips as well as a few other necessary pieces of circuitry. Attached to the TEC board are two ribbon cables. One cable attaches to the computer's ROM socket. The other cable, depending on which ST version you own, attaches to either the 68000 microprocessor, or to the Mega bus bridge. A Version For Everyone """""""""""""""""""""" Although the standard version of the TEC board can be attached to any model ST, Mega ST, or Stacy, there are two versions of the board that make installation in certain circumstances even easier. For Mega STs the Bus Bridge version plugs into the (what else) Mega Bus Bridge. For computers that have a socketed CPU (these are usually computers that have accelerators or internal MS-DOS emulators), the CPU bridge model simply attaches between the socket and the 68000 chip. If you have a Mega or an St with a socketed CPU the bridge versions are the easiest way to install TOS 2.06. If you do not have either a Mega or an ST with a socketed CPU, the standard version is for you. The standard version TEC board is attached to the CPU via a ribbon cable that must be soldered to the CPU. Because soldering to any silicon chip can cause damage if done incorrectly, this is not recommended for novices. Once the installation is complete, the metal RF shield can be replaced (Yes, that's right, unlike other upgrades, the TEC board fits in all model STs without modification to the case or RF shield), the case put back together, and you're ready to rock and roll with the latest, greatest TOS version. "OK, mister reviewer person", I hear someone saying, "what will this wonderful new device do for me"? Aside from giving the user the great feeling of having the newest version of Atari's operating system, TOS 2.06 does provide many long awaited enhancements and bug fixes. What follows is a short explanation of some of the new features of TOS 2.06. It is very seldom that a reviewer gets the opportunity to actually enjoy the product that he or she is reviewing. TOS 2.06 has been one of those rare moments for me. While this is by no means a complete listing of all of TOS 2.06's functions, it does provide an overview of what you can expect. Upon boot-up, you are now greeted with a Fuji symbol in the upper left-hand corner of the screen. At this point, the new operating system performs a test on all available memory. The test may be aborted simply by pressing any key. After the memory test, a bar appears beneath the test results and begins to shrink from right to left. This is a delay indicator. The delay lasts for 90 seconds to give your hard drive, if present, a chance to "get up to speed". This allows you to turn on both the computer and hard drive at the same time. If you try this on an earlier TOS version, the hard drive will not have the time to initialize so the computer will not know that the hard drive exists. The delay can be aborted in the same way as the memory test: by pressing any key. Another option is to install Atari's NOROACH program on a floppy disk and use it as a boot disk. NOROACH can be configured for any delay time between zero and ninety seconds. NOROACH, as well as other useful programs are included on the disk that comes with the TEC board. The first, and most obvious difference between TOS 2.06 and any other available for the ST is the new desktop. Called NEWDESK, the new desktop allows you to do several things that older versions do not. You can select icons for programs and folders to be displayed on the desktop. This allows you to run the file, or open the folder, right from the desktop without having to "dig" through a all of the files on a disk. These desktop icons can be removed by either accessing the options menu or by simply dragging them to the trashcan. You can move files from one to place to another in one easy step. With older TOS versions you had to first copy the files to the desired location, then delete the old file from the original location. If you have ever had installed a new accessory or AUTO folder program on your hard drive only to find that it is conflicting with another program or accessory, then you will appreciate the ability to bypass auto programs and accessories. By holding down the control key while booting, TOS 2.06 does exactly that. This allows you access to your disk so that you can disable or remove the offending file. A search function and file masks are now provided. Using a file mask allows you to view only files that fit a certain criteria. For example, *.PRG will show only files that end with the PRG extension, M*.PRG will show files that begin with an M and end in PRG. You may bring windows from the "bottom" of the desktop to the "top" no matter how many other windows are present on the desktop (TOS 2.06 allows 7 open windows as opposed to 4 in earlier versions). In addition to the familiar sort options, No Sort has been added. This allows you to view items in the directory as they were added. This is especially nice when sorting out which AUTO program should be run before or after others. By using the Size to fit option, Icons in a window no longer go past the right side of the window. All available drives can now be installed from the options menu. In earlier versions of TOS, you had to install each drive icon one at a time. Although this option is not often necessary once the desktop information has been saved, it makes installing drive icons much easier that with earlier versions. Keyboard commands are now available for most menu options. Keyboard commands are executed by using either the control or alternate key and an alpha-numeric key. Most of these combinations are configurable by the user. The function keys can also be used as "hot keys" to run applications. The HELP key now displays a listing of keyboard commands. While this may not sound like an earth-shaking feature, it makes using the keyboard commands much more usable. Documentation & Other Comments """""""""""""""""""""""""""""" Although compatibility between TOS 2.06 and earlier versions is fairly high, there are certain types of programs that will not work with 2.06. Most of these are AUTO programs and Accessories that make certain assumptions about TOS. I have noticed that some types of ramdisks will cause the system to crash. Also, some types of boot sectors have the same effect. One very bright note is that at least one virus, Signum/BPL, will cause the computer to crash. While this is annoying, it does keep the virus from spreading to other disks. Certain operations have been optimized in 2.06, making them faster than before. I noticed one example of this while converting a DEGAS image from one resolution to another. If you have ever done this, you know that it is a time-consuming task. Under TOS 2.06 the operation is not instantaneous, but it is much faster than under any other ST TOS version. I have often found that the documentation that comes with a product is as important as the product itself. Luckily, CodeHead Technologies has put together an excellent manual that explains in detail not only the installation of the TEC board, but also the features of TOS 2.06. CodeHead also has an excellent reputation for customer support. This is also an important extra. While it has been said that TOS 2.06 will eliminate the need for commercial desktop replacement programs, I find that the two go well together, and I plan to continue using my desktop alternative program in conjunction with 2.06. Needless to say, I am very impressed with the combination of Atari's TOS 2.06 and CodeHead's TEC board. Together they represent a vast improvement in the ST operating system. The combination does everything it says it will, easily and relatively inexpensively. TOS EXTENSION CARD INFO: CodeHead Technologies P.O. Box 74090 Los Angeles, CA 90004 Phone (213) 386-5735 Standard TEC version $139.00 US CPU Bridge TEC version $155.00 US Bus Bridge TEC version $155.00 US TOS 2.06 Chips only $ 60.00 US Addendum by John Eidsvoog of Codehead Technologies: So far, we have not been able to install a TEC in a Stacy. I believe it's possible but there are a couple of obstacles in our way. I've found a place where the board will physically fit, but the ribbon cable needs to be longer and the header needs to be rewired to match the 32-pin ROM socket (instead of a 28-pin socket). _______________________________________________________________ > GAMES GALORE! STR Review ENTERTAINMENT SOFTWARE REVIEWS ======================== ST PROGRAM REVIEWS # 2 """""""""""""""""""""" by The "Shamus" INTERNATIONAL NINJA RABBITS """"""""""""""""""""""""""" This game is a cute parody of the classic martial arts game, IK+. The animation and graphics are decent but come nowhere close the smooth and attractive graphics of IK+. As a budget game, this may be worth about $10, but paying more would be a waste of money. The game uses page flipping instead of scrolling and playability doesn't make you want to have another go! Kids might like the game, but your best bet is to let this one go! GRADE: C- POKER DICE """""""""" Poker Dice is written in STOS. Don't let this turn you off because it is the type of game which works well in this programming language. The idea is not very demanding. Poker Dice is a very simple game and it is basically like playing poker ... since there are only 6 sides to a dice, the cards range from tens to aces only. Digitized sound is used very well in this little game and the effect of the dice coming out of the way is extremely nice. Everything which could be done to enhance the game of POKER DICE has been done ... alas, the shortcomings of this program are all due to the shortcomings of the game itself and not the program. GRADE: C ROBOCOP III """"""""""" I have been watching the ads and reading the reviews waiting on this game with baited breath. I have not been disappointed. If you are interested in a very playable solid 3-D vector game, this is the very best of it's genre to date. The speed of the 3-D is stunning to say the least. The program rarely slows down even the slightest bit. In other action games which have attempted to use solid filled vector graphics, just when the screen is getting filled up with "evil-doers" the program starts to slow down at a time you can least afford it! This program does not have that problem. It is frustrating to me that such a fine program would have use a film license of ROBOCOP just to make people take notice of this game. Maybe software companies should give the game buying public a little more credit. There are 5 totally different scenarios to choose from ... all have different objectives. You also have the choice of having the "action" version or the "movie" version. The movie version is more like an adventure with little bits of newscast to tie all the sections together. This is a masterful example of the vector graphics the ST can display. Lets see if the upcoming "BIRD OF PREY" or "EPIC" can knock this game from its perch! It is also worth noting that the crew "MANIACS OF NOISE" who did the sound for RUBICON, also do the sound for this. The SOUNDTRACKER music is terrific and makes full use of the STe if you have one! GRADE: A KNIGHTS OF THE SKIES """""""""""""""""""" This is another quality product from MICROPROSE. As this game hints, it is a biplane dog-fight simulator. The intro to the game is very inventive. It rolls the credits and a little animated sequence on what appears to be an old film screen. The credits include all the crackling and lines down the screen you might expect from an old movie as well. The graphics are very nicely drawn but perhaps not quite as nicely as some previous MICROPROSE simulations. There is some interesting mixes of regular and vector graphics for some very unique effects. Of course, all the action is the skies can be witnessed from any view in the cockpit. Overall, this game is very nice but perhaps does not take us quite over the top like MICROPROSE offerings have in the past. GRADE: B+ SPOT """" This is a game based on the little bottle cap on top of the 7-UP bottles. It is a fun little tie-in for the company, and no doubt an extremely good advertisement. This game plays very much like the ball game only it is set up something like a checkerboard. The object of the game is to have more of your colours than your opponent when the board is filled. The computer is an excellent opponent or you can play against up to 4 players. This is a real bonus in my book ... and if you have an STe, you can take advantage of the extra joystick ports. Admittedly, the controller of choice for this game is the mouse because it is easier to point and click. The game itself is extremely simple to catch onto but there are many board configurations and options which can keep the interest level of the game up. I am a big fan of this game and so is NINTENDO. In case you didn't know, SPOT is also available on the NINTENDO and the GAMEBOY. If you like a thinking game like OTHELLO or checkers this is a game for you. Another big plus of this game I almost forgot to mention are the cute animated sequences of your player moving from square to square. He does pole vaulting, flips, flops and drops. Has to be seen. RATING: B BOFFIN BROS TRIVIA """""""""""""""""" Don't ask me what it is about trivia, but I enjoy a game now and again as long as it is not too difficult. For a child, trivia can also be very educational. Okay, now that I have sold you on trivia, what about BOFFIN BROS??? The graphics on this game are very whimsical and cartoonish. The sound-effects are also quite funny, especially when you hear the word yelled out at you, "WRONG"! I like this game and the difficulty of the questions is quite good. The questions in first two sets which I tried out were aimed more at entertainment then subjects like science or something in that field. One criticism I have is that there is no way to create your own questions ... so the 1500 or so which are included, may get used up pretty quick. There are a number of good trivia programs, and this is another one. GRADE: B- LAGAF """"" If I was asked to name the company who consistently released the worst software, I would say TITUS! Games like FIRE AND FORGET and CLASSIC GAMES and CRAZY CARS I made me want to write them off forever. The ploy was simple! Make a game with spectacular graphics, paste some screenshots in magazines and on the back of the box and sell what they can until word gets around that is it garbage. The graphics in most cases were very good but the games we almost completely unplayable. The animation was almost non-existant! In games like FIRE and FORGET which required a good 3-D effect to work, it was virtually impossible to tell when a missile was going to smack into you. Ever since the release of CRAZY CARS II, Titus seems to have turned things around! BLUES BROTHERS was a very nice platform game and LAGAF is another game which is extremely well done. It has no great new creative ideas but it is a very playable and extremely well drawn platform game. This company has definitely come full circle. If you are interested in a nice platform game with some extremely colourful graphics, this is a game to pick up! GRADE: B KILLERBALL """""""""" Well you can guess what this game is based on just from the title. Basically, the game is a copy from the highly successful BITMAP BROTHER'S classic "SPEEDBALL I & II". Of course, those games were based on ideas from the old movie "ROLLERBALL". The movie is not really much to look at now, but the idea behind it is still quite good. This game is an attempt to cash in on the popularity of SPEEDBALL and if people play this game first, they will not waste their money on buying it. Killerball is set up in a much different perspective and there is no "killer" for this ball game in sight. Even as a two player game, it is not very fun because it fails to be spontaneous enough. GRADE: D TMNT (ARCADE) """"""""""""" The Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles are a very popular cartoon which was transformed into a very popular arcade game. The player takes control of his favourite characters and takes on the evil on the way the final conflict. There is nothing at all new to this game. It can be said that the conversion of this game has been done quite well. This game is far better than the complete pap which was released by KONAMI just to cash in on the Turtles a little more. The first Turtles game on the ST was a total disaster featuring animation which looked like it came from the dark ages and graphics which looked like they were ported over from a VIC-20! There is quite a bit more to like about this game, but it is only an average platform game and there are too many good ones already out there! GRADE: B- Thanks for all of the positive feedback from the first reviews! More on the way! _______________________________________________________________ > SILHOUETTE 1.36 STR Review "...a welcome addition.." ========================== SILHOUETTE VERSION 1.36 FROM TIM REYES @ MAXWELL C.P.U. by Doyle C. Helms -- STaff Editor Silhouette 1.36 is a welcome addition to the growing Atari 16/32 bit graphic/DTP editing library. Silhouette is a Raster, Vector Graphics and Auto-Tracing program. Silhouette has had a relative slow start in the Atari community since it's introduction last year. In all honesty, the earlier versions of Silhouette was somewhat cumbersome to use and quite finicky about memory requirements and memory usage. The earlier versions of Silhouette REQUIRED the use of GDOS or its' equivalent (G+PLUS from CodeHead Technologies). Version 1.36 no longer requires GDOS if the user is not going to be using the GEM file format saves. I also found the earlier versions of Silhouette had some problems that has now been addressed by Mr. Reyes and now the program seems to headed for stardom in the Atari computer graphics arena. The computer interface between human and program are greatly improved and much more intuitive. The Manual -- The documentation for Silhouette is in the form of a 3-ring boxed-binder. The manual is 88 pages in length. The manual describes each function operation carefully and concisely without bogging down in frivolous details. The manual contains a table of contents, but no Index. An appendices is in three parts which cover Quick Key Combinations, Tricks and tips on editing and Auto-Tracing and finally a terminology reference for the more novice user. The overall flow of the logic and instructive text is very good to excellent. Mr. Reyes and Mr. Stewart are to be commended for the excellent authorship of the Silhouette manual and clear relative graphic illustrations. The first chapter of the manual contains a short explanation of the philosophy of Mr. Reyes for the creation of Silhouette. This is also very concise and to the point, 3 pages in length. The second chapter deals with the installation of GDOS and associated ASSIGN.SYS files. The section covering this task is very easy for even the most novice user to follow and install correctly the infamous GDOS program. The next section of the manual covers the LOADING and SAVING of the various file formats allowed by Silhouette. OPEN RASTER This option allow the user to choose from 5 different types of RASTER image files. These formats include DEGAS, DEGAS ELITE, MacPAINT, TINY and of course IMG. The author states that an upcoming version/update will allow for the importation of TIFF files. TIFF is a very important format for the future compatibility with other computer graphic/DTP applications and their raster image type files. IFF format would also be a welcome addition IMHO. OPEN VECTOR This option allows the user to load two different vector file types, GEM (1.1 and 3.0) and the proprietary SGF format. The GEM file format 1.1 is common in the ST/TT world relative to EASYDRAW program from MI-GRAPH. The GEM 3.0 format is primarily from the IBM compatible DTP programs such as Ventura. GEM 3.0 format allows the loading of bezier curves contained within GEM 3.0 files while 1.1 GEM format does not. The SGF (Silhouette vector Graphics File) allows the importation of vector files saved from Silhouette that contain "special effects" such as gray scaling. Maybe the SGF format could evolve into the Atari equivalent of EPS (Encapsulated PostScript). Here I wish Mr. Reyes would allow the importation of DXF and EPS as well as GEM and SGF. SAVE RASTER SAVE RASTER AS... These options allow the user to save a raster image file in IMG format. Here again I wish the program could save raster images in the same formats as they were loaded in, DEGAS, IMG, TIFF and MacPaint to name a few. Allowing Silhouette to save the raster images only as IMG is crippling to a program of the power this one promises. The SAVE RASTER option when chosen will immediately save the raster window contents to the same file name and path, thereby overwriting the original file. Many cases this is a valid command, but it can be dangerous to the uninformed. The SAVE RASTER AS will prompt a file selector (the "standard" selector or a custom selector such as LGS or UIS, thank you Mr. Reyes for allowing the file selector to remain as the user wishes!) and the user will be allowed to enter a different filename and/or a new file path. Here I wish there were a key-command equivalent for this commonly called option. SAVE VECTOR SAVE VECTOR AS... These options are similar in use as the SAVE RASTER/SAVE RASTER AS options. A very important difference in the SAVE VECTOR/SAVE VECTOR AS commands lie in that the user is allowed a wider range of file save formats. The four formats allowed at present (1.36) are SGF, GEM, DXF and EPS. The virtues and shortcomings of GEM and SGF have already been explained. The DXF format is a universal format used in ALL major CAD programs regardless of the system. DynaCadd and AutoCadd may ring familiar to most Atari users. EPS from Adobe Systems is fast becoming, if not already, the "standard" DTP file format for DTP applications across the various systems. The author states that a update shortly to be released will include the ability to save CVG (Calamus Vector Graphics) files for use in Calamus. This option, SAVE VECTOR will save the file immediately back to disk under the same name/path AND EXTENSION of which it was loaded! Very good option! Still, user beware that this command will overwrite the original file. The SAVE VECTOR AS... option allows the user to choose which of the four formats he/she wishes to save the vector window contents as regardless of the import format. The user is also presented with the option to save the CLIP defined area or the entire work window contents. Bravo! Conclusion and opinions for Silhouette 1.36-- Part 1 Silhouette 1.36 is a professionally written application with very strong, impressive points that could propel it to the forefront of the Atari graphic computing arena. So far, Silhouette doesn't have really weak points as much as just some missing features that could push it past it's much more expensive competitors. I feel that the MAXWELL C.P.U. and the author Tim Reyes will address these missing points in future updates of Silhouette. Silhouette has export file functions not found in other programs of this type. The EPS file format save function is a definite plus for a program of its price and power. I will reserve comparisons with other programs of the same type like MegaPaint, Arabesque and Avant Vector. I have only used the demo for Avant Vektor (hint-hint-nudge-nudge Charles and John ;)) and I am awaiting the review copy of Arabesque from Gribnif. Hopefully I will be able shortly to give a fair and equal comparison of these fine high-end graphic editing programs. Next installment I will cover some of the more exciting options of Silhouette and the neat tools that Mr. Reyes has concocted for your enjoyment and use. Until then, G'Day. _________________________________________________________ > CALAMUS SL SUPPORT STR InfoFile USER to USER TIPS Forum Files =============================== THE ST RT GENIE ***************************************************************** Library: 30 - ISD Product Support - USER to USER TIPS Forum Files ***************************************************************** Number: 23491 Name: MACROS1.LZH Address: L.ROCHA1 Date: 920331 Approximate # of bytes: 3072 Number of Accesses: 5 Library: 30 This file contains a new CALAMUS.CKT macro file and a short text file and table of key bindings. Several new key bindings have been added to the default set shipped with SL. ********************************* Number: 23489 Name: 50GRAYS.LZH Address: S.SAMUELS1 Date: 920331 Approximate # of bytes: 27392 Number of Accesses: 4 Library: 30 This file contains 2 CDK's and a CFT (color table) along with some excellent information on color differences among different output devices. ********************************* Number: 23464 Name: DIALOGS.LZH Address: L.ROCHA1 Date: 920329 Approximate # of bytes: 68992 Number of Accesses: 12 Library: 30 This file contains a README and a CDK document. The CDK contains a 45"x26" poster of the Dialog Boxes in Calamus SL. It comes already tiled. The README contains printing instructions and suggestions for using the chart. ********************************* Number: 23389 Name: NEW_LIST.ARC Address: L.ROCHA1 Date: 920324 Approximate # of bytes: 11904 Number of Accesses: 29 Library: 30 This CDK contains information about starting a new text style list from scratch. This is useful for trying to load some public domain and converted fonts. Included is the file START.CSL which is a blank text style list that can be used to replace your current list. ********************************* Number: 23381 Name: DYN_LINK.ARC Address: L.ROCHA1 Date: 920323 Approximate # of bytes: 63872 Number of Accesses: 40 Library: 30 This CDK contains information about the dynamic linking feature in Calamus SL. The pictorial tour of 5 frame types and many frame functions illustrate the possible ways to use dynamic linking in Calamus SL. ********************************* Number: 23379 Name: SLCOLUMN.ARC Address: L.ROCHA1 Date: 920322 Approximate # of bytes: 3200 Number of Accesses: 49 Library: 30 This file contains 3 master page (*.CSS) files that can be applied to any document to create 1, 2 and 3 column layouts. More information is found in CAT 16, Topic 7, Message 15 for creating/using Master Pages. ********************************* Number: 23378 Name: UNDRLINE.ARC Address: L.ROCHA1 Date: 920322 Approximate # of bytes: 65024 Number of Accesses: 48 Library: 30 This CDK contains a tutorial on creating underline text styles as well as a sample page that can be used to edit the list of text styles. There are 31 underline text styles in a CSL file that are ready to apply to any CDK. These styles demonstrate underlining, strike through, color, and overhang features of Calamus SL. ********************************* Number: 23376 Name: MASTERPG.ARC Address: L.ROCHA1 Date: 920322 Approximate # of bytes: 50304 Number of Accesses: 45 Library: 30 This CDK contains a tutorial on creating master pages with guidelines and using master pages in documents. There are also 17 CSS files that are ready to apply to any CDK. These files provide rows/columns layouts that automatically adapt to any page dimension or orientation. ********************************* Number: 23350 Name: BASESTYLE.ARC Address: L.ROCHA1 Date: 920321 Approximate # of bytes: 512 Number of Accesses: 8 Library: 30 This little file can be used as a very basic style list with Calamus SL. It uses CG Times and CG Triumvirate and is properly set up for font sizes using only the R0 G0 B0 color. This is a good file to use for creating text styles because there are no style names, fonts or other attitributes to cause a conflict as you start creating. You can also SAVE SYSTEM SETUP so this becomes your default. ********************************* Number: 23316 Name: SL_MKEYS.TXT Address: A.VALENT Date: 920319 Approximate # of bytes: 2560 Number of Accesses: 22 Library: 30 This ASCII file explains how to assemble and use the SL_MKEYS template. ********************************* Number: 23284 Name: SL_TIPS.TXT Address: L.ROCHA1 Date: 920317 Approximate # of bytes: 4096 Number of Accesses: 50 Library: 30 Description: This file is a copy of Message 1, CAT 16, TOPic 7. It explains the USER to USER program and how ISD will award points for discounts on their products to users who write tips to help others. The file gives a full explanation of the program, style guides, point awared structure and upload information. ********************************* Number: 23282 Name: PATTERNS.ARC Address: L.ROCHA1 Date: 920317 Approximate # of bytes: 512 Number of Accesses: 60 Library: 30 This file contains a color list with 36 fill patterns for use in Calamus SL. If you require instructions and samples, then download the file FILLPATT.ARC. ********************************* Number: 23281 Name: FILLPATT.ARC Address: L.ROCHA1 Date: 920317 Approximate # of bytes: 60416 Number of Accesses: 41 Library: 30 This file contains a CFT color list with all 36 Calamus fill patterns. There are also 2 CDK's in this ARC. One explains color lists and has a tutorial for creating them. The second CDK has a unique way of displaying SL's fill patterns. If you only want the CFT file then download PATTERNS.ARC. ********************************* Number: 23277 Name: K_100.ARC Address: L.ROCHA1 Date: 920316 Approximate # of bytes: 1408 Number of Accesses: 46 Library: 30 This file contains K_LONG.CFT, a color list with 100 settings for the K Color Table. This file has no DOC. Please download K_LONG.ARC if you require a CDK to explain this file. You may also download K_SHORT.ARC which has the same information as well as a sample page to print out. ********************************* Number: 23276 Name: K_LONG.ARC Address: L.ROCHA1 Date: 920316 Approximate # of bytes: 33792 Number of Accesses: 40 Library: 30 This file contains two files - K_LONG.CFT is a color list with 100 settings ready to use. K_LONG.CDK is the USER to USER file that explains the CFT. If you have already downloaded K_SHORT.ARC, do NOT download this file...it contains the same information. There is another file called K_100.ARC which has the K_LONG.CFT without the CDK file. ********************************* Number: 23267 Name: K_SHORT.ARC Address: L.ROCHA1 Date: 920316 Approximate # of bytes: 37248 Number of Accesses: 39 Library: 30 This file contains a Calamus SL color list (K_SHORT.CFT) and a CDK to explain its use. The color list gives 17 K color settings for use in lines, raster areas and text effects. This list may also be merged with other CFT color lists in Calamus SL. ********************************* Number: 23266 Name: K_SHORT.TXT Address: L.ROCHA1 Date: 920316 Approximate # of bytes: 1664 Number of Accesses: 38 Library: 30 Description: This file is an ASCII version of the information in K_SHORT.ARC. It describes the use of K color settings in SL. The ARC file contains the color table file, a sample page, and illustrated instructions for loading and saving color lists. ********************************* Number: 23265 Name: PANTONE1.TXT Address: D.SIMMER1 Date: 920316 Approximate # of bytes: 7296 Number of Accesses: 41 Library: 30 This file contains information about the Pantone Color system and a color table file which the user can load and apply in Calamus SL. PANTONE1.ARC contains the same information in CDK form as well as 2 of 4 color palettes. This TXT is part of a Level 4 project in the USER to USER TIPS Forum. ********************************* Number: 23264 Name: PANTONE1.ARC Address: D.SIMMER1 Date: 920316 Approximate # of bytes: 32128 Number of Accesses: 41 Library: 30 This file contains two SL color palettes matching the Pantone Color System. Two more will be released shortly. This is a Level 4 USER to USER project but contains no graphics (at this time). ********************************* Number: 23260 Name: DBL_3.ARC Address: L.ROCHA1 Date: 920316 Approximate # of bytes: 14720 Number of Accesses: 25 Library: 30 This CDK is a level 3 project in the USER to USER TIPS Forum. It will tell you how to convert a 1.09 CDK with double pages into SL format. This CDK does not have illustrations. If you want pictures, download DBL_4.ARC. ********************************* Number: 23259 Name: PG_NO_3.ARC Address: L.ROCHA1 Date: 920316 Approximate # of bytes: 12032 Number of Accesses: 34 Library: 30 This is a CDK file showing a workaround to do page numbering in SL. This is a level 3 project in the USER to USER TIPS Forum and contains no illustrations. ********************************* Number: 23221 Name: TEMPLATE.ARC Address: L.ROCHA1 Date: 920314 Approximate # of bytes: 29568 Number of Accesses: 46 Library: 30 This archive contains 4 files - TEMPLATE.CDK, README.TXT, TIPS.CSL and TIPS.CSS. A 6 page README file in CDK format which will load the two required fonts (TIMES and TRIUMVIRATE), style sheet and master page. You just import your text, tag text blocks and insert graphics. ********************************* Number: 23215 Name: SL_MKEYS.LZH Address: A.VALENT Date: 920314 Approximate # of bytes: 15616 Number of Accesses: 81 Library: 30 Print out and mount Calamus SL keyboard template showing keyboard os. Enjoy! ********************************* Number: 23210 Name: RULERS_4.ARC Address: L.ROCHA1 Date: 920314 Approximate # of bytes: 28544 Number of Accesses: 67 Library: 30 This is a CDK file showing how to adjust margins and indents in the text rulers in SL. This is a level 4 project in the USER to USER TIPS Forum and contains illustrations. ********************************* Number: 23209 Name: RULERS_3.ARC Address: L.ROCHA1 Date: 920314 Approximate # of bytes: 14080 Number of Accesses: 59 Library: 30 This is a CDK file showing how to adjust margins and indents in the text rulers in SL. This is a level 3 project in the USER to USER TIPS Forum and contains no illustrations. ********************************* Number: 23208 Name: PG_NO_4.ARC Address: L.ROCHA1 Date: 920314 Approximate # of bytes: 31488 Number of Accesses: 61 Library: 30 This is a CDK file showing a workaround to do page numbering in SL. This is a level 4 project in the USER to USER TIPS Forum and contains illustrations. ********************************* Number: 23207 Name: DBL_4.ARC Address: L.ROCHA1 Date: 920314 Approximate # of bytes: 30848 Number of Accesses: 54 Library: 30 This is a CDK file showing how to convert 1.09N double page CDK's to SL format. This is a level 4 project in the USER to USER TIPS Forum and contains illustrations. ********************************* Number: 23206 Name: SL_MAP.ARC Address: L.ROCHA1 Date: 920314 Approximate # of bytes: 81152 Number of Accesses: 81 Library: 30 This CDK is a chart of the command groups in SL along with function listings and chapter manual references. It will be necessary to use "Tiling" to print this poster size graphic. ********************************* Number: 23172 Name: RULERS_1.TXT Address: L.ROCHA1 Date: 920313 Approximate # of bytes: 1408 Number of Accesses: 77 Library: 30 This text file can be read online or captured. It explains the basic methods for adjusting margins and indents in the text rulers of Calamus SL. This file is a level one project in the USER to USER TIPS Forum project sponsored by ISD. ********************************* Number: 23171 Name: DBL_PAGE.TXT Address: L.ROCHA1 Date: 920313 Approximate # of bytes: 1920 Number of Accesses: 56 Library: 30 This text file can be read on-line or captured. It explains a workaround for converting double-page 1.09N files into SL format. This is a Level 2 Project in the USER to USER TIPS Forum sponsored by ISD. ********************************* Number: 23170 Name: PG_NUMBR.TXT Address: L.ROCHA1 Date: 920313 Approximate # of bytes: 1280 Number of Accesses: 65 Library: 30 This text file can be read on-line or captured. It explains how to activate automatic page number in Calamus SL. This is a sample file of a Level 2 project in the USER to USER SL TIPS Forum which is sponsored by ISD. ********************************* Number: 23067 Name: PSKMACRO.ARC Address: A.VALENT Date: 920307 Approximate # of bytes: 2176 Number of Accesses: 89 Library: 30 Description: Translation of the default PKS Write macros. Lotta shortcuts available. Find out what they are! ********************************* Number: 23021 Name: GRAYS_SL.ARC Address: A.VALENT Date: 920304 Approximate # of bytes: 18176 Number of Accesses: 98 Library: 30 Description: SL version of a Calamus CDK which prints a 0-100% O-Line generated raster. Very useful for experimenting with SL's raster generator settings. I apologize for not remembering who uploaded the old Calamus version. ********************************* Number: 23016 Name: 32LPCM.CRI Address: A.VALENT Date: 920304 Approximate # of bytes: 1024 Number of Accesses: 107 Library: 30 Description: Change filename to CALAMUS.CRI and place in Calamus SL's MODULE folder. Gives you a 32 lpcm 5x5 Raster Generator module setting that looks smooth printed at 300dpi. Can also be placed in the COLOR module without renaming and be used as an alternate. ********************************* Number: 22995 Name: CHAP5_11.LZH (LH5)LZH Address: ISD Date: 920303 Approximate # of bytes: 19840 Number of Accesses: 90 Library: 30 This file contains a Calamus SL document covering the new Systems Module now available in Calamus SL, for those of you that received the module before the documentation had been implemented. All questions are being handled in Category 16 as usual. This file is specifically for those of you with SL that did not receive the file. _________________________________________________________ > STReport's Editorial Page "Saying it like it is." From the Editor's Desk ---------------------- TAF's ACE '92 "The Atari Canadian Exposition" is a "go" for this weekend. According to all indications it should turn out to be a resounding success. There are a number of new products and serious upgrades to familiar products being presented this weekend. John Sheehan and his entire crew have made a superb effort to bring about a first class event for the benefit of the entire Atari Community. Warp_9.. Codehead's revamp of QST, is really a totally new fantastic rendition that is not in the least quarrelsome as its predecessor was. Its fast, sure footed and reliable. With all the talk about the NEW Atari hardware we shall be seeing by the year's end or there abouts, the excitement levels among everyone (including me) is amazing. I find myself feeling like a youngster on the eve of a big event. Calamus SL is now "out and about". Its a serious, high quality, DTP solution. Would you believe there are those who are griping about this fine program too?? There are all kinds of solutions to these 'so called' problems. It usually boils down to; "read the manual carefully" and of course, "do the tutorial exercises". Calamus SL is the epitome in software technology written expressly to take full advantage of the Atari computers. Atari is turning the corner... Atari _is_ about to embark on that journey of positive re-direction. Let's all give 'em a chance to shine. Thanks for the support! Ralph..... """""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""" STReport's Staff DEDICATED TO SERVING YOU! ---------------- Publisher - Editor ------------------ Ralph F. Mariano PC DIVISION AMIGA DIVISION MAC DIVISION ----------- -------------- ------------ Roger D. Stevens Charles Hill R. ALBRITTON STReport Staff Editors: ----------------------- Lloyd E. Pulley Sr. Dana P. Jacobson Michael Arthur Lucien Oppler Brad Martin Judith Hamner John Szczepanik Dan Stidham Joseph Mirando Steve Spivey Doyle C. Helms Contributing Correspondents: ---------------------------- Michael Lee Richard Covert John Deegan Brian Converse Oliver Steinmeier Tim Holt Andrew Learner Norman Boucher Harry Steele Ben Hamilton Neil Bradley Eric Jerue Ron Deal Robert Dean Ed Westhusing James Nolan Vernon W. Smith Bruno Puglia 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 "Rumors Tidbits Predictions Observations Tips" ===================== - Long Beach, CA SUPERBASE PROFESSIONAL UPDATES -------------- Registered Atari users of Superbase Personal/2 and Professional/3 can update to the latest version of the program for US$ 10 per update. The latest versions of these products are: Superbase Personal 2 Superbase Professional 3 The $10 cost includes shipping via mail to all addresses. You can order an update by mailing your US$ 10 check or money order to: Oxxi Inc P O Box 90309 Long Beach, CA 90809-0309 Orders can also be FAXed to (310) 427-0971. If you wish to pay by credit card please include the card number, expiration date, and the exact way your name appears on the card, as well as your signature under the following statement: "I authorize the charge of US$ 10 to the above card number. Signed:" Regards, Whap!penned... Pat @Oxxi (310) 427-1227 - Madison, WI NEW GRAPHICS TABLET DRIVERS ----------- If you purchased a graphics tablet from EI/O or QMI way back when, and found it no longer worked when you upgraded your computer, you can get it on its feet again with a better driver from SilkWare. There is a version for the QMI (Mitsubishi) tablet and another for the EI/O (Summagraphics) tablet. Both are painstakingly TOS-legal, so as to work with all TOS versions, all processor speeds, all resolutions. Price including shipping is $29.95 for either driver. Inquiries: contact M.SLAGELL (GEnie) Orders to: Mark Slagell SilkWare PO Box 3260 Madison, WI 53704 ____________________________________________________ > STR Mail Call "...a place for the readers to be heard" ============= STReport's MailBag ================== From CIS #: 25305 S16/CodeHead Software 31-Mar-92 13:14:52 Sb: #25254-#This is probably a fr Fm: gary gray 76505,2440 To: Simon_Jones @ GST 71351,332 (X) Simon are we soon to see FSM support for the Publisher? There is 1 Reply. #: 25335 S16/CodeHead Software 01-Apr-92 11:17:16 Sb: #25305-This is probably a fr Fm: Simon_Jones @ GST 71351,332 To: gary gray 76505,2440 I'm afraid that the company line is that FSMGDOS is not a commercially available product; GST will not support an unreleased product; WHEN Atari deliver me a set of _released_ FSM master disks then I'll announce that we have FSM support. We currently feel that too many things are in flux to stick our necks out and state that FSM is supported. (We do have 'working' versions in house but having seen developers' get their fingers burnt in the past...) If I was feeling sarcastic I would have replied, please ask Atari if we are soon to FSM. Simon @ GST [Walks off muttering dark things under his breath and cursing the phrase 'six weeks'] From CIS #: 25313 S16/CodeHead Software 31-Mar-92 16:59:52 Sb: Warp 9 Benchmarks Fm: Charles F. Johnson 76004,2232 To: All Here are some benchmarks I did with Quick Index yesterday afternoon, on my Mega ST4 with TOS 2.06 (thanks to the TEC) and a T16 accelerator. These benchmarks give an impression of the differences you can expect to see with Warp 9 installed. The system used for testing had a fair amount of TSRs (AUTO programs) and desk accessories installed, such as HotWire, MaxiFile, and MultiDesk Deluxe. There are four columns of numbers, representing the Quick Index results: 1. With Warp 9 as the last program running in the AUTO folder, but without the Warp 9 Control Panel accessory. (Which uses an extra 18K.) 2. With Warp 9 running early in the AUTO folder (right after PINHEAD.PRG), and the Warp 9 Control Panel installed in MultiDesk Deluxe. (This configuration outperforms all others.) 3. With Turbo ST 1.84 installed in MultiDesk Deluxe. (NOTE: Turbo ST is not compatible with TOS 2.06, and will be deinstalled after running any program; so these results were taken immediately after loading Turbo ST in MultiDesk.) 4. With Quick STE 3.04 as the last program running in the AUTO folder. Note that Quick Index does not directly support TOS 2.06 (yet?), so these numbers are obtained with the "TOS 1.4" button highlighted. These numbers are not intended to be taken as gospel. Your mileage may vary. WARP 9 QUICK INDEX BENCHMARKS """"""""""""""""""""""""""""" Warp 9 Last Warp 9 in AUTO Folder Early in AUTO Turbo ST 1.84 Quick STE Without Warp 9 Folder, with Loaded into v3.04 Last Test Control Panel Control Panel MultiDesk in AUTO ---------- -------------- ------------- -------------- --------- TOS Text 351% 456% 468% 332% TOS String 1907% 2001% 1854% 1889% TOS Scroll 133% 137% 134% 131% GEM Dialog 394% 417% 404% 397% - Charles from the FNET Msg # 2001 ( 4 of 10 ) Date: 03-31-92 (15:18) To : CAL BRUNER From: BOB BRODIE Subj: UNIX -------------------------------------------------------------------------- In reply to: - TS- Ok, so what about disadvantages? Lost of Hard drive space - TS- required? Is it difficult to use?? - - Yeap, as I understand it, it is a pig as far as Hard Drive space goes. - Think the rule of thumb is "don't run it unless you have 100 Meg", - although I believe it chews up about 40Meg of that. Our UNIX systems ship with a minimum of a 200 meg drive. I'd say that qualifies as a hard disk pig, alright. :-) Of course, the more stuff I keep getting for my TT system, the bigger the drive I'm gonna need, too. Right now I have a Quantum 105, plus a Megafile 60, and a Megafile 44. I like to think that's because I'm a power user, but every once in a while, I confess that I don't really need all that space. regards, Bob Brodie *Origin: Fnet Node 319, Atari Base USA from the FNET Msg # 2324 ( 57 of 100) Date: 03-31-92 (16:22) To : BILL WHITEMAN From: BOB BRODIE Subj: CD-ROM -------------------------------------------------------------------------- In reply to: - I don't think it should be removed. I have seen it all over the place - lately including CompuServe a few weeks ago. I will have to check to - see if Ron has it up on this system. Nice question since if it was - released perhaps it was done by Ralph like chkdsk3 was! hehehe - - Bill Yes, it does need to be removed. It is an incompete arc of the program, and not the latest de-bugged version. Sorry for the confusion. regards, Bob Brodie *Origin: Fnet Node 319, Atari Base USA [Editor Note] The file being discussed here is Metados, it has been uploaded all over the USA after being downloaded from Atari Canada's BBS. Then withdrawn for being "incomplete and broken". The second file mentioned is checkdisk 3. The accusation is Pure rubbish. Nothing like "making the news" with fabrications.. from the FNET Msg #28697 ( 59 of 134) Date: 03-31-92 (07:54) To : THE WONDERER From: RON SHARP Subj: SCORPY -------------------------------------------------------------------------- If you had been around when the term was coined, you'd know that "Atari Apologist" doesn't mean that people should apologize for owning an Atari, it's a dig at those people who think that the management of Atari Corp can do no wrong. The Megas were a year late -- "Delays, but now Atari has improved!" The laser was a year late -- "Worth waiting for, and Atari is changing!" The TT took ages to be certified -- "Darn that FCC!" No US distribution network -- "They're changing that, hey what's your problem!?" Poor software support -- "There's one of everything, what more do you need besides, Atari is doing so much better in Europe." Five years of waffling over the CD ROM -- "Atari did that to protect the customer." And so it goes... *Origin: Fnet Node 66, The Bre(/\)ery _ Ajax_Canada _ from the FNET Conf : STReport Online Msg# : 19477/19547 Lines: Extended Read: 1 Sent : Apr 02, 1992 at 6:51 AM Recv : Apr 03, 1992 To : Ralph Mariano From : Wen Hsieh at Fnet Node 669, Dateline: Atari BBS Subj : Re: <19436> The Leonard Tramiel Online Conference In reply to: - After reading it, what do you think of the conference? - Was the conference what you expected? - Would you have liked it to go any other way? - Do you have any suggestions for future conferences of the same type? - Did you learn anything from the conference? If so, tell us about it. - - Ralph.... Was it what I expected? Yes and no. Tell you the truth I expected more stuff to leak... but it didn't. It turnout to be very uninformative also, as FSM GDOS was passed right over. Nothing a very informed FNet-er don't know already. I would have liked more new stuff discussed. Suggestions... why even hold a conference if it's going to turn out to be a yes/no type conference. Like it would have been better if they held off until Atari was more prepared to release something to the public and discussion it. STR itself... tell you the truth, I don't mind questioning of the FSM/GDOS type. It happens to be what is happening. But looking into the motives of why its not out yet, is looking too much into it. This was not in STR, but was mentioned here in the conference. Some great articles too, the one about advertising was great (sorry I forgot the author's name), keep up the great work. Question, why is the editorial not in the beginning? ---Wen from the FNET Conf : STReport Online Msg# : 19487/19547 Lines: 18 Read: 1 Sent : Apr 02, 1992 at 5:51 PM Recv : Apr 03, 1992 To : Ralph Mariano From : John Miller at Fnet Node 18, ///Turbo Board Support BBS Subj : Re: <19436> The Leonard Tramiel Online Conference Previously Ralph Mariano wrote: - Well now, in STReport 813 are four online conferences. One of which is - the long and anxiously awaited Leonard Tramiel conference. - - After reading it, what do you think of the conference? - Was the conference what you expected? - Would you have liked it to go any other way? - Do you have any suggestions for future conferences of the same type? - Did you learn anything from the conference? If so, tell us about it. I think your new Format is Super! Re: Leonard's conference. To me, he sounded like Ollie North at a Senate Investigation. He didn't really say anything about anything, and didn't tell anyone anything that we already don't know. There were many references to Email replies to some of the questions, I guess he just didn't want to devulge any information. ________________________________________________________ STReport's "EDITORIAL CARTOON" """""""""""""""""""""""""""""" > A "Quotable Quote" "Yo, Adrian, they'll do it every time!" ================== "IMITATION... HAS BEEN AND ALWAYS WILL BE... ...THE WORLD'S HIGHEST FORM OF FLATTERY!" ....ZAPZOO ZAGTWIT (Ziggy's Cousin) """"""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""" > ABCO SPECIALS! STR InfoFile * NEW 1992 Prices! MORE Products! * =========================== -------------------------------- ****** SPRINGTIME SPECIAL!! 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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! SEND FOR YOUR NEW ABCO CATALOG TODAY! """""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""" STReport International Online Magazine Available through more than 10,000 Private BBS systems WorldWide! """""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""" STReport "YOUR INDEPENDENT NEWS SOURCE" April 03, 1992 16/32bit Magazine copyright 1987-92 No.8.14 """""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""" 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 STR editors, contributors and or staff are not responsible for the use or misuse of information contained herein or the results obtained therefrom. """"""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""