*---== ST REPORT INTERNATIONAL ONLINE MAGAZINE ==---* """"""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""" "The Original 16/32bit Online Magazine" from STR Publishing """""""""""""" May 22, 1992 No.8.21 ========================================================================== 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 BBS * * TURBO BOARD BBS SYSTEM * FNET 350 ~ Fido 112:35 ~ TNET 100:2/0 904-786-4176 USR/HST 24hrs - 7 days 1200 - 19.2bps V.32 - 42 bis 16.8 Dual Standard 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 100:22/0 Steal Your Face BBS..........1-908-920-7981 FNET 1031 ~ TNET 100:1/0 <<< INTERNET - UK>>>.... 011-44-296-395-935 _____________________________________________________________________ > 05/22/92 STR 821 "The Original * Independent * Online Magazine!" ---------------- - The Editor's Desk - CPU Report - PORTFOLIO NEWS - ISD TradeUP OFFER! - 16mbit Dram - 1gb 3.5 FLOPPY - Codehead CIS Conf. - Lattice V5.5 - TT Compat List - BlueRidge Fest! - TURBO BBS v2 - STR Confidential -* KEYBOARD SURVEY RESULTS! *- -* WHO IS IN CHARGE? *- -* AUA -> "LET TRUTH PREVAIL!" *- ========================================================================== ST REPORT INTERNATIONAL ONLINE MAGAZINE The Original * Independent * Online Magazine -* FEATURING WEEKLY *- "Accurate UP-TO-DATE News and Information" Current Events, Original Articles, Tips, Rumors, and Information Hardware - Software - Corporate - R & D - Imports ========================================================================== STReport's BBS, The Bounty, invites BBS systems, worldwide, to participate in the Fido/TurboNet/Atari F-Net Mail Network. You may also call our BBS direct at 904-786-4176, and enjoy the excitement of exchanging information relative to the Atari and other computers worldwide through the use of excellent International Messaging Networks. SysOps, worldwide, are quite welcome to join the STReport International Conferences. The Crossnet Code is #34813, and the "Lead Node" is # 350. All BBS 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 (May 22) NEW FROM ISD ISD has uploaded two new files to their library in the Atari Vendors Forum (GO ATARIVEN). One is a Desktop Publishers TradeUP Offer and the other is a Calamus SL Printer Driver Generator. See the files TRADUP.TXT and PRNGEN.ARC in Library 17, ISD Marketing. SOFTLOGIK UPGRADE OFFER SoftLogik announces a special upgrade offer! Please read message # 26555 in the Atari Vendors Forum (GO ATARIVEN). UPDATES FROM CODEHEAD... A patch for Word Perfect users and an update for MultiDesk Deluxe (from ver 3.4 to 3.4a) Now available in LIBRARY 16 of the Atari Vendors Forum (GO ATARIVEN) Codehead Technologies also announces the availability of a new word processing program. See the file CALLIG.TXT now available in LIBRARY 16 of the Atari Vendors Forum (GO ATARIVEN). A demo version of XBoot: the Boot Manager from Gribnif Software is now available in LIBRARY 8 of the Atari Vendors Forum (GO ATARIVEN). KEYBOARD SURVEY We ask all members to read and respond to the keyboard survey message #32438 in the Atari Arts Forum (GO ATARIARTS). (This is a new thread, so even if you've discussed this issue previously, please re-post your votes here.) ATTENTION ATARI DEVELOPERS... Atari Developers please read message 60654 in the Atari Productivity Forum (GO ATARIPRO) for information on how to get your products included in an upcoming software catalog. ATARI 8-BIT MAGAZINE? A dedicated 8-Bit mag? Why NOT?? If enough people care, it could happen. See Message # 18446 in the Atari 8-Bit Forum (GO ATARI8) for more info on the "Campaign." WE BELIEVE!! NEW FOR THE PORTFOLIO A Video Poker game now available for the Portfolio! Check out PFPOKR.ZIP now in LIBRARY 4 of the Atari Portfolio Forum (GO APORTFOLIO). 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 #21 Compiled by: Lloyd E. Pulley, Sr. -- Sun Develops Powerful Computer Sun Microsystems Inc. introduced a line of powerful desktop comptuers that can use up to four "brains" and have built-in telephone technology. The Sparcstation 10 work stations, which are more powerful than personal computers, can use multiple central processing units to control machine functions, giving Sun the most powerful workstation on the market. -- Microsoft Ships Three Million Windows 3.1 Since it's initial release six weeks ago, Microsoft has shipped three million copies of Windows 3.1. Not counted in the three million copy figure is the number of preinstal- led copies on customer computers by over 90 hardware manufacturers who are participating in the Windows 3.1 Ready To Run Program. Eight of the top ten PC manufacturers are part of this program. -- Sony and Sega to Join Forces Sony Electronic Publishing and Sega of America Inc. announced this week they have established a broad alliance to produce Sega video games and interactive entertainment. Sony will develop and market video games for all Sega cartridge- based platforms, such as Genesis and Game Gear, and will become a primary publisher for Sega's CD- ROM Genesis peripherals, called Sega CD. -- NS Offers New Plug and Play Controller Boards This week National Semiconductor (NS) introduced a new family of cont- roller boards that makes possible off-the-shelf production of very low cost PCL5 and PostScript-compatible laser printers. Teh CG160LZ SWIFT-Start boards come in 15, 20 and 25mhz configurations and printers using the board will offer more than twice the performance of comparable Motorla 68000-based printers at the same system cost. The SWIFT-Start family is configured with the popular page description languages and interface from Phoenix Technologies Ltd. Available lan- guages include PCL5, PostScript and AppleTalk. -- TI Starts Shipping 16-MBIT DRAMS Texas Instruments Incorporated (TI), a leading supplier of semiconductor products, announced this week that initial production shipments of 16- megabit (Mbit) DRAMs have begun. TI's 16-Mbit DRAM is based on a tech- nology proven in TI's 1- and 4-Mbit DRAMs. Less than two million 16-Mbit DRAMs are expected to ship worldwide this year, with approximately 20 million units in 1993 and 330 million units in 1995. By 1996, it is estimated that production of 16-Mbit DRAMs will outpace 4-Mbit DRAMs. A 16-Mbit DRAM can hold two million characters. A very large novel, such as "Gone With the Wind," could be stored on one 16-Mbit chip. -- Sierra Network Latest to Join Flat Rate Bandwagon Joining other major services, including Compuserve and Genie, The Sierra Network has established its own flat rate of $12.95 per month. This plan includes all the company's services, including games, conferencing, and electronic mail. Users are allowed up to 30 hours of game time per month during evenings and weekends with options for additional playing time. Also included are live chat services, conferencing, tournament play, electronic mail, and use of electronic bulletin boards with wide ranging topics. -- One Gig 3.5-Inch Floppy Drive Announced by Fujitsu Expecting high demand from mid to high-end users, Fujitsu Europe this week announced it is supplying one gigabyte (GB) versions of its 3.5- inch floppy drive on request on its PCs. The new drives offer improved access times and a mean-time-between-failure (MTBF) rate of 300,000 power-on hours. Dataquest, the market analyst and research organization, predicts that around six million drives in the one to two GB data storage arena will be sold before the end of 1995. This values the market at around $4,500 million, the company said. -- Survey Says Michelangelo only Hit 4% of all PCs According to statistics from a user survey that have been released by S&S International, the Michelangelo virus only accounted for 4% of virus outbreaks. *********************************************************************** :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. Monday, May 25, is a GEnie Holiday............................ 2. The GEnie Faire is setting up booths getting ready for YOU....*FAIRE 3. Colorado Springs, CO - Access Number Change...................*PHONE 4. Order BOOKS Online & SAVE 20-25% EVERYDAY.....................READ-USA 5. NEW! Bookworms Find New Place to "Eat" on GEnie..............BOOKSHELF 6. Learn to use our 1,000+ new icons LIVE 5/24 @ 8:30PM EST......GEOWORKS 7. CONLINE VI - Online Gaming Convention 5/31....................TSR 8. ALIEN 3 review now available in the library at................SHOWBIZ 9. Science & Society--Prof.Henry Bauer, Sci-Literacy, Guest......SCIENCE 10. Meet CYBERPUNK author Katie Hafner on May 24 RTC in...........PF 11. UseNet Legend CHUQ VON ROSPACH speaks... See -->..............MAC 12. Apple's CHUQ VON ROSPACH on Apple's UNIX special conference...UNIX 13. Use Your VISA (R) & MASTERCARD (R) for Orders at..............SEARS 14. Stop and PLAY LIVE Interactive Football Saturday with.........QB1 15. Focus On: Project Management..................................BORLAND ATARI ST RT New Files in Your Library No. File Name Address Description ----- ------------ ----------- ------------------------------------- 24177 EZ_TEXT2.TXT PDC.SW Amazingly low priced DTP 24175 DISKDIR.LZH F.KOCH HiSoft BASIC 1.23 Disk Directory 24174 GLMPR221.LZH F.KOCH Press Releases,Shows,For Sale,Wanted 24171 KTEXT180.LZH D.PANKE K_TEXT V 1.8.0: file reader... 24170 ALLMAPS.DIR WAYNED. Dir of the files in Empmaps.lzh 24169 EMPMAPS.LZH WAYNED. All my map files for Empire 24167 RUFUS106.LZH J.WISNIEWSK2 Version 1.06 of Rufus 24166 WORD400.ARC J.WISNIEWSK2 Decent text editor Accessory. 24165 DISKSAVE.ARC J.WISNIEWSK2 This will recover files from bad dsk 24164 GPLIBS07.ZOO B.ZAWALSKI1 Sources for GPLIBO07.ZOO 24163 UPDT213.ARC S.SANDERS2 Update Newdesk Icon CPX to v2.13 24162 BS.LZH BENCHMARKSYS Benchmark Systems Mono Shareware 24160 GPFBIN07.ZOO B.ZAWALSKI1 GPROFF, GNU's proff utility 24159 KILLING.MOD C.SAMOJLENK2 Killing Game Show re-done on ST! 24158 TX2CNVT3.LZH D.HOLMES14 TX2 Converter: Supports latest AEO 24157 TESTS03.ZOO B.ZAWALSKI1 Test suite for LIBSRC80 24155 CAL_FEAT.TXT K.MILLER69 20 page list of Calamus 1.09N/SL 24154 SCRIPTTW.LZH S.SCHAPER An 18 point script font for TW 24153 ARKAN.MOD C.SAMOJLENK2 Another MOD by Martin Bertrand 24152 ENTERSAN.MOD C.SAMOJLENK2 EnterSandman by Metallica in MOD 24151 SHEDEVIL.MOD C.SAMOJLENK2 Noisetracker MOD composed on ST 24147 XPT1500C.LZH S.SAMUELS Calamus SL HP500C Color Table 24143 WORM_AMI.LZH REALM Animation of a Worm! 24142 HEIDSK19.LZH C.HAFNER HeidiSeek File Finder 1.9 ST(e)/TT 24139 MPLAY1_1.LZH C.SAMOJLENK2 BACKGROUND MOD PLAYER FOR *ALL* ST'S 24138 W9_PC3_2.LZH OUTRIDER GREAT .PC3 Pics for Warp 9! 24137 W9_PC2_2.LZH OUTRIDER GREAT .PC2 Pics for Warp 9! 24136 W9_PC1_2.LZH OUTRIDER GREAT .PC1 Pics for Warp 9! 24135 PRINTGEN.ARC ISD Calamus SL Printer Driver Generator 24131 LATC55.ZOO HISOFT Lattice C 5.5 Description 24130 HBSUBDIR.BAS HISOFT HiSoft BASIC Sub-directory lister 24129 LIBSRC80.ZOO B.ZAWALSKI1 Patch-level 80 sources for LIBOLB80 GEnie Information copyright (C) 1991 by General Electric Information Services/GEnie, reprinted by permission *********************************************************************** > THE FLIP SIDE STR Feature "... a different viewpoint ========================= A LITTLE OF THIS, A LITTLE OF THAT ================================== by Michael Lee Again this week, we'll be visiting Delphi. ---------------- Questions from CKORMOS... Any musicians out there? I picked up an Atari 1040st at a flea market for lowbucks and I am interested in using its MIDI port. I have a Korg DW8000 synthesizer and good computer background. However, does anyone know what software I need? What hardware, translators, adaptors, plugs, cables, power supplies, and anything else I haven't mentioned? I would like to know exactly what to get to make it work 100% and a ballpark figure on expenses. Also how is the availability of sequences and preprogrammed stuff? How much of this is public domain, how much commercial. Any feedback is appreciated. Or should I just get an IBM compatible? Answer RMORROW... Does your Korg have MIDI in and out ports? If so, all you'll need is 2 MIDI cables which can be bought at the local Radio Shack for about $10. Then you're into software. Notator, Midi Music Maker, and Cubase are the ones I've heard of. Prices are around $100 I think. Try MC Computers 310-867-0626 That's it! You won't need any external power supplies, translators, etc. However, you will need a monitor....expect $350 for the color one (medium and low resolution only) and about $150 for the hi-rez monochrome. You may want a hard drive, new ones start at $400, but they are not absolutely necessary. Why buy an IBM when you already bought the computer that is almost the standard in electronic music? Reply from CKORMOS... Thanks for the info. My Dw8000 has Midi in/out/and thru ports, so I know it is ready. I have an RGB monitor, the Commodore 1702, does the ST run on it? And finally is all this software universal or is it keyboard specific? I can remember years ago some system that was "state of the art" but only worked on Casios? Answer from Bill King... Actually, the sequencing programs Notator and Cubase are more in the $579.00 range (retail price). They are both *excellent* programs, though. I use Cubase, myself. There are a ton of other sequencing programs that are available for the ST that are more affordable, if that is what you are after ($100 to $250). You should pick up an issue of Keyboard Magazine and check out the ads to get a good idea of what's available. A couple of developers that come to mind are Dr. T's Software and Hybrid Arts--both offer great programs for the ST at great prices. You might also consider, sometime in the future, acquiring a multitimbral synth module. If I remember right, the DW-8000 is not a multitimbral keyboard. With a multitimbral synth module you'll be able to create songs with full instrumentation (all sounds at the same time), whereas, with the DW-8000, you'll be limited to one sound at a time. Congratulations on choosing the best MIDI computer out there! Another response, this one from JGALLARDO... There are different kinds of software packages available. for the most part if they aren't fairly universal, they will say so (ie as to what synth they are for.) One program you should check out is a shareware one in the databases, I think it's in graphics & sound. It's name is ALCHEMIE, it works fairly well but needs a monochrome display, (It does run under the monochrome emulator known as monoware which is probably in one of the databases as well.) It is a very capable sequencer as far as I can tell. You might want to check out some issues of Keyboard magazine & Electronic Musician for more info as well as the Feb. 1992 issue of Atari Explorer. ---------------- Question from CHUNK... I have just heard of a company that is selling 68000 at 12mhz. Will this work on my 1040st and are there any Caviets that I should know about? The price is not much over $15.00. I am told but this price is from a consumer (Amiga user) and not from the companies lips. I have ordered a catalogue so as to get a definate price. Any advice would be GREATLY appreciated. Reply from Norm Weirness... Make sure the 68000 is in the same package (DIP or PLCC) as your Atari. But, while the 12 MHz chip will work as a replacement with no problem, it will _not_ increase the speed of your computer! The average price I've seen for an 8 MHz 68000 is about $10. Reply from CHUNK... I know that I would need a degree to understand why but is there a way that you could explain the reason why it won't speed up my computer? I don't really understand the "guts" of the ST, I just understand the programs that I use. Response from Duane Charter... The speed of the processor is just how fast it is RATED to work at. There is an oscillator (a frequency generating device) inside the computer that actually determines the speed of your computer. Reply from LMCCLURE... ...lest you think you could simply change the chip and the oscillator and get more speed...you can't. To put it as simply as possibly, the CPU is not the only thing in the ST accessing the memory chips...the video chip does, as does the DMA chip. Change the CPU timing, and you would get colliding signals on the bus. That's why truly speeding up the ST requires a device like AdSpeed or the Fast Technologies' T-20...a device with a RAM cache that keeps external accesses to main memory at 8Mhz, while allowing code fetched into the cache to be handled at a faster speed. Another reply from Norm Weirness... The speed of the computer is determined first by a master oscillator, which is really the "clock" of the system. Then all the components have to be made to keep up with that clock. Those include the memory, the CPU (Central Processor Unit...the 68000) and all the support chips like the ones that talk to the screen, the modem, the printer, etc. Adding a faster 68000, or faster memory, doesn't change that "clock', nor any of the other chips. If you add an accelerator, like the Adspeed or the T-16, T-20 and the like, they contain a faster CPU _AND_ a faster clock _AND_ circuitry to let the other stuff run at the old speed...or else it wouldn't work. So you can speed things up, but not just by adding a processor that _is able_ to run faster, but you have to change that other stuff, as well. ---------------- Hard drive Question from SANTOR... ...I'm having problems getting my hard drive online. It seems that my computer won't boot from drive A while I have my ICD interface plug in to my computer and turned on. A few things I have tried are leaving the power off and booting the computer but when I turn on the drive I cannot access any information on the floppy. I believe all my connections are correct. I've even tried removing the cable from my hard drive to my interface but was unsuccessful. I've also tried the Cntl/Shift/Alt key combo while booting the computer but no luck there either. I'm very anxious to get my drive up and running so any help will be much appreciated. Answer from Wayne Dunham... The problem you might be having is that all the later versions of TOS (1.2 and up) require that you press down the Ctrl/Left Shift/Alt keys AFTER the floppy light comes on as you turn the machine on. In other words you have to turn the machine on and as soon as you see the floppy light go on you press the key combo. This will boot your machine from the floppy instead of the HD. Just make sure you have the ICD disk in drive A and everything should go fine from there. It's sometimes tough to get that key-combo pressed at the right time especially if you have to contort yourself to reach the on/off switch for the machine. If you press and hold them down before the floppy light comes on the machine won't recognize them as being down, and if you wait too long after the floppy light comes on the machine will already be trying to boot off the HD. That should do the trick for you from the way you describe your problem. Answer from MRBURKLEY... ...I have some suggestions that you might want to try. Try again the Cntl/Shift/ Alt key combo. Press this immediately after you turn on the power to your ST. That should do it. If you don't do it immedia- tely after you turn the power on often you will acecess the HD anyway. Of course, there is an exception to this! On some ST's you need to watch the Floppy light and only press the key combo after you see the floppy light turn on. Turn either of these. I hope they work. More questions from SANTOR... I did try waiting until the drive light went on but no luck. The manual mentioned that you could boot the computer with the drive off then run icdboot.prg would this give me the ability to format the drive? Another answer from Wayne Dunham... Yes, if the key combo doesn't work. It should work by either holding them down either as you turn the machine on with early TOS's, or after the drive light comes on with later TOS's. With Tos 1.0 you MUST be holding them down as you power up the machine, and with later TOS's you MUST press them after the floppy light comes on. In either case once you do depress them you MUST hold them down for a period of time long enough for the computer to recognize it and bypass the HD boot. I usually hold them down until I'm 100% sure that the machine is booting off the floppy. At any rate you can fire up the machine with the HD off, I believe the ICD host card must also be unpowered (not sure though). Then after you're at the desktop you power up the ICD/HD and wait for it to be ready. This time can be anywhere from 10 seconds to 45 seconds depending on the drive. The drive needs time to spin up to speed and go through it's own internal startup check. On older drives you can hear this, but with some of the newer SCSI drives it's tough to hear it. Then run ICDBOOT.PRG off the floppy and your HD should be recognized. You can then run ICDFMT.PRG to format the drive. If you're still having problems after that, sit at the computer and call ICD's service # and they should be able to help you out. Problem solved!! From SANTOR... Well, I found the problem. I had the cable from the computer to the controller connected to the out port instead of the in port. Everything is running fine now. Thanks for all your help. ---------------- Question from JBARRERAS... I have an old ST. If I get the TOS upgrade from the Codeheads, an memory upgrade from JRI w/the 4096 color chip, will my ST be the equivalent of an STE? Don't I still need the hardware scrolling and the sound upgraded? I know I won't have the blitter, but is there anything else I would be missing? Answer from MRBURKLEY... I asked the same question, and sorry, your ST will not be the same as an STe. I had hoped the same, myself. The hardware scrolling and sound are still not there in the old ST's. Answer from LMCCLURE... The JRI 4096-color mod has a slight artifacting problem with some types of screen displays that the STe does not exhibit. Yes, you'll be missing the hardware scrolling and DMA sound (and the extra joystick ports, if you care), but more importantly, a ST requires the TEC board to upgrade to TOS 2.06. An STe does not. Add in the cost of the TEC board, and the JRI board, and you could likely sell your current machine, buy a 520STe or 1040STe and come out even or ahead in the cost department, as well as gaining the features you would be missing in upgrading your ST. ---------------- Question from LAMARTH... Does anyone know of a mail-order outfit who is a TT030 dealer? Not having any Atari mags recent enough that would advertise such dealers, and living in a town where the only computer store sports PCs I don't have any other sources to turn to. Right now I'm mainly interested in getting prices and information on the system - any help would be appreciated! Answer from Gordie (Sysop)... I was told that Run PC, a Colorado store, has sold TT's via mail order. Their phone number is 800-326-2344, or 303-493-5565. The address is 524 W. Laurel #2, Ft. Collins, CO 80521. They had an ad in the latest AtariUser. Answer from TRAHERNE... There's Toad Computers in Severna Park, Maryland. Their phone is (301) 544-6943 or 1-800-448-TOAD. Ray, Dave and Jennifer are pretty nice folks, too! Good luck! ---------------- Question from BENSONC... I have an internal modem in my PC, but do not have a modem on my ATARI 520ST. I'm interested in downloading midi files for my ST and was wondering if it was possible to download to the PC and then somehow transfer it to the ST. If there is a method that can be used which is less expensive than purchasing an additional modem, I'd appreciate any suggestions. Answer from LMCCLURE... If you have a 3.5" drive on your PC, simply write the files to it in standard 720K format (on a DSDD disk), and you can read them directly on your ST. You cannot use HD floppies on the ST unless you have a third-party mod kit, or a Mega STe or TT that is factory equipped to handle 1.44meg media. Answer from TRAHERNE... I think it should be possible if you have at least TOS 1.4 and use a double-density formatted floppy in your PC. I do the opposite (download to STE, transfer to PC) all the time. ---------------- From Charles Johnson (CodeHead Technologies)... The first update to Warp 9 (which is coming soon) will fix the incompatibility with Notator, so that Warp 9 won't need to be disabled before running it. There was also a problem with Cubase -- Warp 9 had to be completely removed from the system or Cubase wouldn't even run - - and this is also fixed in the first Warp 9 update. The update has new features too, including support for scrolling in Word Perfect and other programs. Scrolling through text is about THREE times faster with the new version. ---------------- Observation by HOWBAR... I was shocked that my Mega STe could format Double Density disks to 1.44 Meg. However, I was advised not to rely on the data stored on them. I bought a new box of High Density disks and finally have backed up my hard drive. :-) I wonder why no one knew about these disk drives being 1.44M. I called all around trying to find a 1.44M drive and Ajax chips before I finally used the built in formatter instead of my accessory formatter. What a surprise that I already had a 1.44M drive! I even called Atari trying to find out when 1.44M drives would be available. I am just glad that they are here now. Comments by RMORROW... The reason that your MSTe couldn't format the double density disks is that they lack the hole on the left side of the disk. This tells the drive that the disk is HD, *if* it can put it's feeler in/through the hole. If it can't, it thinks it's double density. (Write protect/ enable works exactly the same way). You could make HD disks out of the DD ones, but like you said, that is not reliable. Comments from Ralph Mariano (ST Report)... I am afraid that's not quite right. Atari has not adhered to the "two hole" premise. Atari HD floppies will format a disk with or without the second hole. To clarify, it makes no difference if the second hole is there or not. Atari's HD formatter will do any disk in HD mode. ---------------- Until next week..... *********************************************************************** IMPORTANT NOTICE! ================= STReport International Online Magazine is available every week in the ST Advantage on DELPHI. STReport readers are invited to join DELPHI and become a part of the friendly community of Atari enthusiasts there. SIGNING UP WITH DELPHI ====================== Using a personal computer and modem, members worldwide access DELPHI services via a local phone call JOIN -- DELPHI -------------- Via modem, dial up DELPHI at 1-800-695-4002 then... When connected, press RETURN once or twice and... At Password: type STREPORT and press RETURN. DELPHI's Basic Plan offers access for only $6.00 per hour, for any baud rate. The $5.95 monthly fee includes your first hour online. If you spend more than 200 minutes online a month, you'll save money by enrolling in DELPHI's optional 20/20 Advantage Plan. You'll enjoy up to 20 hours online each month for the ridiculously low price of just $20.00! And if you go over that 20 hours, the rate goes up to only $1.20, still 1/5th the price of other services. There is no signup fee for joining the Basic Plan. There is a fee of $39 when you join the 20/20 Advantage Plan, a one-time $19 signup fee and your first month's $20 fee. These connect rates apply for access via Tymnet or SprintNet (within the continental United States) during home time (7 p.m. to 7 a.m. weekdays and all day weekends) or via direct dial around the clock. Telecom surcharges apply for daytime or international access via Tymnet or SprintNet. See Using DELPHI online for detailed information on telecom surcharges. For more information, call: DELPHI Member Services at 1-800-544-4005 DELPHI is a service of General Videotex Corporation of Cambridge, Mass. DELPHI- It's getting better all the time! *********************************************************************** > CIS CODEHEAD CONF. STR Feature The Codeheads on CIS in Conference ============================== CIS CODEHEAD ONLINE CONFERENCE ============================== Pattie) Tonight's guest speakers are John and Charles from CodeHead Technologies. They're back to tell us about their exciting new product Caligrapher, and take questions on their other fine products. If you have a question for John and Charles during the CO, please type a ? and I will let you know when it is your turn to ask your question. We are on the honor system to not talk until it's your turn to ask a question or make a comment to Charles and John! Welcome John and Charles! Thank you for joining us! Do you have any opening remarks? John E CodeHead) Actually, I haven't prepared any opening statement (and I don't think Charles has either). I do have a couple of thing to mention though. We just got our initial shipment of Calligraphers today. And we learned a few new things about it that we didn't know. One thing is that there is a demo version (Hooray). I trust everyone has read our press release. That's all. Charles? Charles) Yes? Pattie) Charles, do you have any comments? Charles) :) So that means we're shipping Calligrapher now! Pattie) Ok.. the first question goes to Keith Joins... keith joins) Does Calligrapher use GDOS? I'm a bit behind in my reading. :) Charles) Yes...Calligrapher uses GDOS...or I should say, G+PLUS. It uses G+PLUS along with another AUTO program called LINE_ARC.PRG which serves a function similar to FSMGDOS - i.e. it handles the scaling of the outline Fonts. John E CodeHead) A special version of G+Callig is included. I'd like to also mention that another thing we discovered today is that PostScript support is included in the Professional version. You don't need to go for the Gold to get PostScript. keith joins) So it (LINE_ARC.PRG) will replace the need for FSMGDOS as far as calligrapher goes? John E CodeHead) That's right. FSMGDOS has yet to be officially released. So we're very happy that we don't need it. keith joins) That's great news! Charles) Yes, and there is a quite extensive library of fonts available for use with LINE_ARC, at very low prices. Pattie) Next question is from Bill@AIM HQ... Bill @ AIM-HQ) The press release mentions that Calligrapher can do Tables and Formulae...does this mean it has some spreadsheet-like capabilities, too? Or just the ability to create mathematical equations? John E CodeHead) The formulae capabilities do not include actual calculations.. rather, you are able to enter mathematical equations using symbols such as "integral" and "root" and they are automatically sized to fit their contents. The tables can be created using tabs, via easy-to-use rulers or you can automatically create tables by entering vertical bars, e.g. Col 1|Col 2|Col 3 23|14|16 etc. Bill @ AIM-HQ) Great! That's a feature I wish was in current DTP packages. The press release also mentions an "Outliner" built into the software. Can you give me some details on it? Charles) The outliner is great stuff. It lets you graphically arrange a "tree" of idea boxes, sort in different orders, manipulate the hierarchy, etc. It's very cool. A little hard to describe... but when you see it, it's like an awakening. "Gee, you mean, and outliner really can be useful?" :) John E CodeHead) The outliner looks similar to a flowchart, and you can paste the results into your document. Bill @ AIM-HQ) A well done outliner is a great tool for writers...it's another tool we haven't had on the ST until now. Thanks for the info. John E CodeHead) BTW, Calligrapher has great tab support... with leading, centered, left, right, and decimal tabs. Pattie) Ok... Dazz Smith is up next... Dazzz Smith) With the release of Calligrapher Codehead Software has a well rounded product line. Are there any other areas you intend to produce more software for? e.g. midi, comms, etc.? John E CodeHead) One of these days, I'll actually finish the manual for our MIDI Spy program...The project has been pushed back many months due to all of the other new things we've taken on. Charles) And we're also still actively looking into FAX software. Dazzz Smith) With all these projects on the go how much time do you have for updates to your current products? John E CodeHead) We don't have too much time, but luckily everything else is perfect . Seriously, Charles has been investing a lot of his time in Warp 9 tweaks. Charles) We just updated CodeHead Ramdisk, and MultiDesk just got an update too. Eventually, I'm gonna tear into MaxiFile again...to make it more compatible (friendly) with Multi-TOS. John E CodeHead) Speaking of Warp 9, we're about to upload a free update to Warp 9 that gives everyone a lot of new compatibility and some new speed increases, too. Pattie) Thank you Dazz! I'd like to jump in here and ask a question... My question is about Calligrapher... you mentioned GDOS and PostScript...how do you get them to mix? John E CodeHead) One of the drivers is a PostScript driver. So G+ is being used to send output to the PostScript driver, which creates a disk file. Charles) There are Calligrapher equivalents for many of the common PostScript fonts, like Times, Helvetica, Garamond, etc., and you can tell Calligrapher to substitute the PostScript names in the output. John E CodeHead) We've only tested some rather simple PS files... but the ones we tried printed well from UltraScript and CompoScript. Pattie) Perhaps I'm a little confused...are you saying it's a two-step process to get GDOS fonts printed out on a PostScript printer? Charles) Pattie: no! You _can_ print directly to a PostScript device too. You can print either directly to a PS device, or to a disk file... for use with a service bureau. John E CodeHead) You might want to output to a PS file and take it to a lino bureau. PS is very flexible and can be used in many ways. Pattie) Ok... let's move on... Keith had another question! keith joins) What fonts come with it and have you set pricing on the the additional ones yet? John E CodeHead) The included fonts are: Zurich (Helv), Holland (Times), Holland Italic, Math (Greek, Symbols), Ornaments (Dingbats) and Unitype (Courier). There are 64 other font disks available. We haven't formally set a price, but I believe it will be between $30 and $35 per disk. These outline fonts are from URW, a very professional font foundry. Pattie) Thanks, Keith! Rob Rasmussen has a question... Rob Rasmussen) Midi Spy is listed in your catalog as being for sale, but when I called CH, and from what you just said, I get the impression it isn't ready yet. Is it ready? John E CodeHead) I can't apologize enough for the delay on MIDI Spy. If you only knew how much (little) free time I have, you'd figure it will never get released. The program is basically finished, but the manual has not been finished. The original release date was December 16th. Obviously, I missed it. Pattie) Dazz has another question... Dazzz Smith) How extensive are the spellchecker and thesaurus (spelling?) in Calligrapher? John E CodeHead) The spell checker has 160,000 words...with phonetic and alphabetic guessing. You can skip on or all occurences, and "learn" and so on. Spell checking can be done manually on the document or automatically while you type. The Thesaurus is very hip...It has 200,000 synonyms and maintains a word trail that you can use to back up. It also has antonyms. Dazzz Smith) Does this mean that any manuals from Codehead will be typo free :-) John E CodeHead) Charles) Aren't they always? Pattie) Thanks Dazz! WE're back to Bill@AIM HQ... Bill @ AIM-HQ) The Calligrapher press release doesn't mention this, but I heard (somewhere) that the program can set text on a user-defined path (wavy line, etc). Is this true? Are there any other neat-o features we have yet to hear about (and if so, what are some of 'em)? :-) John E CodeHead) That's a feature of Calligrapher Gold. It's called Flextext. Charles) Yes, that's the FlexText feature. It's one of the external modules (known as "paks"). And that, by the way, is one of Calligrapher's nicest features... the ability to call external modules. This means that new features, import/export modules can be added as needed without having to update the main program. John E CodeHead) Calligrapher Professional lists for $175. Calligrapher Gold is $250, and the Gold Extension (update from Pro) is $100. Pattie) Ah! That's what you meant by "Go for the Gold!" :) John E CodeHead) Barcode generation is another feature. There's also a grammar checker. And an automatic timed save. And a label printer. These are all features of the Gold version. Charles) Another thing that wasn't mentioned in the press release: Calligrapher has "paragraph tags" similar to Pagemaker that let you quickly set up paragraphs in your favorite styles... you can edit the tags, and automatically update all paragraphs that use them. John E CodeHead) There are also dictionaries available in French, German, Spanish, Italian, Catalan, and Dutch. Pattie) What language is Catalan? John E CodeHead) Danged if I know Charles) Ya got me. Some kind of Spanish? Pattie) OK... If we can move off Calligrapher specifically for a second... I would like to know how you guys feel about all the software coming from overseas nowadays. Is that good or bad? John E CodeHead) I think some of it's good and some of it's bad. The software _we_ import is good, and the rest is bad. But seriously, we're just glad to be able to provide the US users with quality software that meets our high standards...even if we didn't write it. Charles) Some companies seem to have made importing their entire business. We're still actively developing products of our own...such as Warp 9, MIDI Spy, Icon Juggler, and others...so we're keeping our hands very much in the development side of things too. John E CodeHead) And we've also been careful in selecting imports that allow _us_ to write modules. We've already written seven modules for MegaPaint and we've got some great plans for Calligrapher. Pattie) Do you feel it's a function of the small market now that developers, whether on this side of the ocean or that, have to think globally to be successful? Charles) Well, one unfortunate side effect of the small US market is that the "major" applications have not found fertile soil in which to develop. A program like Adobe Photoshop or Illustrator takes an ENORMOUS amount of time and money to bring to fruition, and these kinds of resources just haven't been available to US developers. (With a few notable exceptions.) However, in Europe (UK and Germany in particular) the market has been much stronger and consequently the software has had more of a chance to mature and develop. There's still a lot of trash (after all, Sturgeon said "90% of everything is trash"), but there is also some excellent stuff. We're trying to separate the wheat from the chaff in our own efforts. Pattie) Thanks Charles! :) Enough of this... Dazz has a question! Dazz, you're up! Dazzz Smith) Is there any other software you've got your eye on overseas that you may want to import? John E CodeHead) Nothing interests us currently (as if we'd tell you here ). Charles) No comment. Dazzz Smith) Do you feel that Atari could do more to help developers get good quality software to its overseas userbase? Charles) I feel Atari could do more. Period. John E CodeHead) Well, Atari couldn't really do any less to help us export... Charles) (Because they do nothing.) John E CodeHead) but I'm not sure what else they could do. Pattie) Rob Rasmussen has another question... Rob Rasmussen) Is that first shipment of Calligrapher is spoken for (Can I get it NOW?:) Also are there still plenty of TEC boards? Charles) We still have some left in the first shipment. Yes, you can get it right NOW! John E CodeHead) BTW, during this conference I'm multi-tasking. I'm looking through a new brochure we received today, and I'm learning even more new things about Calligrapher that I didn't know before. Yes we've got TECs. John E CodeHead) One thing we haven't mentioned...Even though Calligrapher was developed overseas, our deal is different with Working Title UK. We've set up another company called Working Title US. This company is in partnership with Working Title UK and we'll be manufacturing the product here. This will allow us to offer larger margins to distributors and dealers, increasing the market share for everyone. Rob Rasmussen) And I can use it with a color monitor, correct? Charles) Rob: yes. :) John E CodeHead) Yes, Calligrapher runs in all resolutions except low (and TT low). Pattie) Thank you Rob! I guess I'm the lucky person with the last question before Charles and John get to make any closing remarks! :) Can you tell us what your thoughts are on the new system and what it could mean to the future of Atari? Charles) Gee, a loaded question, eh. John E CodeHead) It has some enormous potential. Pattie) I didn't say I played fair! *huge grin* Charles) It's a killer machine. But they can't delay for too long, or everyone will have them. John E CodeHead) Now if Atari could find some marketing specialists that also have enormous potential, we'd be in business. Pattie) Thank you for joining us tonight...now's your chance to say anything at all by way of closing! :) John E CodeHead) Anything at all? Charles) Always use paper! John E CodeHead) We've been really lucky to be able to sell the TECs here in the US and it's opened our eyes to the value of selling hardware as opposed to software. Charles) Ontology recapitulates phylogeny. John E CodeHead) We've got some plans for a couple of other hardware devices also...surprise. That's all I'm going to say right now, but we're excited. Charles) Oh yeah....but we'll talk about that next time. John E CodeHead) Thank you all for coming tonight. Charles) Yes, thanks, folks! Pattie) Great news! :) I'm sure everyone reading this is salivating! :) Thank you Charles and John! Thank you to all the users who attended! Please join us June 11th for a CO on FLASH II! ___________________________________________________________ > BLUE RIDGE ATARIFEST STR SHOW NEWS "The Summertime Atari Event!" ================================== 1992 Blue Ridge ATARIFEST """"""""""""""""""""""""" Where: Westgate Shopping Center - Asheville, N.C. Take any major highway into Asheville (US 19-23, US 26 or I-40) to the I-240 loop, then take the "Westgate/Hilton Inn Drive exit" into the Westgate Shopping Center parking lot. When: 18, July 1992 Time: 10:am to 6:pm Points of contact: Van Estes, BRACE Pres. Clifford E. Allen, V.Pres. 704-685-8358 GEnie: C.Allen17 INTERNET: callen@UNCA.EDU 704-258-3758 Sheldon Winick GEnie: S.WINICK Computer STudio 704-251-0201 Come for the day or come for the weekend, but do come and enjoy yourself. Great Smokies Hilton Resort Hilton Inn Drive (704)254-3211 Toll-free reservation phone number 1-800-733-3211 Radisson One Thomas Wolf Plaza (704)252-8211 Rate: $62.00 per room (1-4 people) ====== Additional Hotel / Motel Information =========== Days Inn I-26 and Airport Road (704)684-2281 I-40 Exit 55 (704)298-5140 Econo Lodge US 70 East, I-40 Exit 55 (704)298-5519 Holiday Inn 275 Smoky Park Hwy (704)667-4501 Toll-free reservation phone number1-800-HOLIDAY Red Roof Inn I-40 and US 19-23 Exit 44 (704)667-9803 Toll-free reservation phone number1-800-843-7663 Buget Motel I-40 Exit 44 (Enka-Chandler) West Asheville Exit (704)665-2100 Best Western Asheville Central 22 Woodfin St (704)253-1851 ========= Local Bed & Breakfast lodging Information ========= Aberdeen Inn 64 Linden Ave (704)254-9336 Albemarle Inn 86 Edgemont Road (704)255-0027 Applewood Manor 62 Cumberland Circle (704)254-2244 The Bridle Path Inn Lockout Road (704)252-0035 Cairn Brae B & B 217 Patton Mountain Rd (704)252-9219 Carolina B & B 177 Cumberland Ave (704)254-3608 Cedar Crest Victorian Inn 674 Biltmore Ave (704)252-1289 Corner Oak Manor 53 St. Dunstan (704)253-3525 Cornerstone Inn 230 Pearson Dr (704)253-5644 Flint Street Inn 100 & 116 Flint Street (704)253-6723 The Lion and The Rose 276 Montford Ave (704)255-7673 The Ray House B & B 83 Hillside St (704)252-0106 Reed House 119 Dodge St (704)274-1604 The Wright Inn 235 Pearson Drive (704)251-0789] (1-800-552-5724) A more complete listing of Bed & Breakfasts can be obtained through the Asheville Area Chamber of Commerce. Reservations should be made immediately, as July is the height of our tourist season. =========== CAMP GROUNDS ================ (reservations are a must during this time of season): Mount Pisgah: About 20 miles southwest of Asheville on the Blue Ridge Parkway at mile post 408.6 (National Park Service). 690 acres. Elevation 5000'. One of the nicest campgrounds in Western North Carolina. 67 tent sites, 70 RV sites. For reservations: P.O.Box 749, Watnesville, N.C. 28786; phone (704) 235-9109. No showers. Groceries and resturant. Nature program. 14 day stay limit. Lake Powhatan: 4 miles south of Asheville on State road 191, 3.5 miles west on FR 806. 30 acres. 98 tent/rv sites. Reservation available thru Mistix 1-800-283-CAMP. Disposal station. No showers. Swimming; lifeguard; fishing; nature trails; bicycles. 14-day stay limit. While in the area, you might want to consider a little sightseeing, and include a visit to the Biltmore House here in Asheville (the largest single family residence ever built in the U.S.--its a "castle"). A visit to the Biltmore can be a full-day's activity as you will want to view the house, visit the winery, and walk some of the grounds and gardens. Hours: The House 9 am to 6pm The Gardens 9am to 7pm Conservatory 9am to 5:30pm The Winery Monday-Saturday 11am to 7pm Sunday 1pm to 7pm Other areas of interest include; the Thomas Wolf home (adjacent to the Raddison), the Blue Ridge Parkway and Folk Art Center. A drive up the Blue ridge Parkway to enjoy the higher elevations and incredible views of our mountains. Perhaps a hike up to Mount Pisgah and look back down to Asheville(you can see Mt. Pisgah from most anywhere in Asheville). A short drive from Mt. Pisgah will take you to Sliding Rock (for those of you travelling with kids who are still kids at heart), the Cradle of Forestry (first forest school in the country), waterfalls, trout hatchery, etc. For the adventurous, white water rafting on the Natahala River near Bryson City (approx one and a half hours from here). There's obviously loads more to see and do around Asheville (in addition to the Blue Ridge AtariFest and a visit to Computer STudio :-). If any of y'all would like maps and additional tourist info of the area I might suggest contacting the Chamber of Commerce: Asheville Area Chamber of Commerce 151 Haywood Street P.O. Box 1010 Asheville, NC 28802 704-258-6111 FAX: (704)251-0926 BLUE RIDGE ATARIFEST '92 BANQUET ================================ Prepared by: Sheldon Winick May 15, 1992 Asheville, NC Computer STudio has finalized arrangements for an after show banquet at the Pisgah View Ranch. This will definitely be somewhat different from the usual semi-formal type hotel affairs of the other shows, and will be a real down-home, country party in the mountains! Dinner will be served family-style....... as long as you keep eating, they'll keep serving! And check out the menu: Tossed Salad Country Ham Fried Chicken Cornbread Dressing Rice and Gravy Green Beans Sweet Potato Souffle Homemade Rolls Beverages Homemade desserts After dinner, there will be live entertainment in the air-conditioned barn, guaranteed to bring out he 'country' in everyone! There's also volleyball and shuffleboard if anyone still has the energy after the excitement of the show. Or how about just sitting on the porch and enjoying our clean mountain air. Advance reservations are required for the Blue Ridge AtariFest Banquet as seating space is limited to 100 people. Cost is $17.50 per person (children under 6 are half-price). If you're planning on attending, please return the following reservation form along with you payment check as soon as possible. Reservations will be made on a first-come, first-served basis. In the event we should receive more reservations than seating space available, your checks will be returned. cut here and return with your check ===================================================================== BLUE RIDGE ATARIFEST '92 - BANQUET RESERVATION FORM: Name: _______________________________________________________________ Address: ____________________________________________________________ City: _________________________ State: _________ Zip: ___________ Phone Number: ( ) _________________________________ Number attending: ______ Adults @ $17.50 each = $_______________ ______ Children under 6 @ $8.75 = $_______________ TOTAL AMOUNT ENCLOSED ............ $_______________ Banquet tickets and a map of directions to the Pisgah View Ranch will be mailed to those with confirmed reservations. PLEASE MAKE CHECK PAYABLE TO "COMPUTER STUDIO" and mail this completed reservation form along with your check to: Computer STudio Westgate Shopping Center 40 Westgate Parkway - Suite D Asheville, NC 28806 ====================================================================== cut here and return with your check I'm pleased to announce that John Cole will be attending The Blue Ridge AtariFest representing LEXICOR SOFTWARE. He has advised us that the Lexicor booth will not only have loads of desktop video demos to show, but will also have Leonardo and possibly Monalisa (the 'NEW' stuff!!). DON'T MISS IT! Blue Ridge AtariFest Saturday, July 18, 1992 --- 10am - 6pm Westgate Shopping Center --- Asheville, NC _______________________________________________________________ > The UNTOLD Story! STR Spotlight PITTSBURGH.... Finally, the TRUTH! =============================== THE UNTOLD STORY OF PITTSBURGH, PA ================================== by DC Signorini (c) 1991, 1992, 1992 Author's Note: This series of articles were written over a 10 month period from the summer of 1991 to the spring of 1992. The original six articles, entitled "The Untold Story of Pittsburgh, PA" contain information about the events that took place during a 3 year time period in South Western Pennsylvania. These events are to the best of my knowledge true. Some names have been withheld to protect certain individuals. The 2 sections, one entitled "Prologue" and the other "Epilogue", were written to summarize the events that took place during later part of 1991 and early 1992. I ask that anyone reprinting these articles print all 8 articles un-edited either in a continuing series or all 8 at once to ensure the integrity of the story flow. ======== PROLOGUE ======== It is with great sadness and frustration that I write this article. In 1990, when the AUA came to my hands, I was very enthusiastic about molding the organization into one of power and respect. I had listened to many people who offered advice on how I could achieve this goal, and for the most part, everyone was very helpful. When I wrote the following series of articles, back in the summer of 1991 while on vacation, little did I know that the events that would take place over the course of the following year would effect my life as it has. I had every intention of publishing this article in August 1991, but instead, a close friend of mine, John Karlovich, asked that I wait until after the WAACE show 1991 to see just how the Atari Elite would be treated while at the show. It is ironic that not less than a year previous, the Atari Elite was being shunned by many in the ST community. Those who joked and called the Atari Elite the slanderous names that they did are no longer even participating in the Atari community. They have gone on to higher platforms, or exited the computer arena all together. The same people who caused 99 percent of the problems in the Pittsburgh area are not even around to read this. Now that things have taken a turn for the worse, I felt it was time to release my article on the events that took place during my reign as coordinator of the Atari Users Association. I do not know how many people will even know what I am talking about in my 6 part article, but for those who have been around long enough to witness the collapse of a once prominent computer company, they may find some comfort in knowing that things are bad all over. This will be my last official dialog with the Atari community. Having been a long time Atari user, dating back to 1981, and even earlier if you want to count Atari's Pinball game system, I am very unhappy of the turn of events that has left many people with no choice but to turn to other platforms. Atari, when it announced the ST line in 1984-1985, was destined to be the next Apple computer. Power without the price, I think was the phrase back then, and a man named Jack promised to be the next Steven Jobs. Instead, the current stock price of Atari on the AMEX is below $3.00 a share, more than 300% less than what it was originally issued at, and after it enjoyed a high selling value of over $30.00. Funny how a company with so much potential was able to mislead consumers and convince them that the ST line was THE computer to invest in. Instead, today's ST survivors have to drive hundreds of miles to purchase software for their machines. Sad. Very, very sad. Now, almost 7 years after the ST was introduced in the US, its 68000 technology is dated and slow. Anyone who would invest in an Atari platform computer this day and age is crazy. Especially when you can barely find a dealer to handle the computer or its software. An ST BOOK? Call me a skeptic, but I really doubt that the BOOK will ever become a reality in the US. Atari boasts a 8mhz notebook sized computer. Give me a break. If it takes as long to get the Notebook to market as it did the Stacy, those of you holding out for the Notebook had better invest in some Grecian Formula. The Notebook is a farce, and the company behind it is a joke too. If it sounds as though I am bitter, good assumption. I am very bitter. Probably more bitter than anyone you have ever known before toward Atari. I used to fear those who would speak out against me or my ideas. Now, I really do not care, because I have projected myself above and beyond Atari. I am not going to look back, and I certainly am not going to miss it. I feel sorry for those who read this and condemn me for my thoughts or actions, because I know that one day, most of you will experience what I am feeling today. At any rate, I am just about finished badmouthing Atari. I ask that you please forgive my bitterness. Perhaps I should have cooled off a bit more before writing this section. But, I guess there is no time better than the present. Here is my story. After one and a half years, the AUA grew from a 100 member organization to one with over 1600 members. AUA had become a voice, in a very small circle, but had never really caught the eye of the press or of Atari Corp. itself. The reasons for this are many. First, and Bob Brodie will deny it, but AUA was a threat to him and to Atari. Mr. Brodie I believe feared what AUA represented, so his only way of dealing with the organization was to pretend it did not exist. In one early conversation with Mr. Brodie when I asked him to officially recognize the AUA, he stated, "The revolution is the only movement that Atari Corp. will endorse or recognize." Never did I ask Bob to endorse the AUA, but simply to communicate with us so that our members would be heard. In another conversation, when AUA was attempting to open communications lines between the users and Atari, Bob stated that he was too busy reading messages on GEnie and did not have time for the Fnet, a network which he has on a number of times denounced as childish and immature. Ironically, Bob now has his very own BBS, and is very much active in the Fnet. He never really made an effort to help us, as I believe he feared that AUA would become a very large lobbying organization. Others feared AUA because of its early affiliation with Atari Elite. And, after I was able to convince everyone that AUA was no longer affiliated with this Pittsburgh group, no one was willing to even look at AUA. Again, ironically, Bob Brodie calls on the Atari Elite to help him route his BBS into the Fnet. Association is a convenience, I guess. In late 1991, the Atari Users Association launched the Anti-Piracy Movement 1991. We published some captures from Pirate BBS's that were given to us, making the Atari public aware that this was going on right under our noses. Piracy has reached paramount proportions in almost all computer platforms, and we felt that the AUA could help to ignite a witch hunt on those offenders who were destroying the userbase. Little did we know that the witch hunt was turned onto us. Shortly after announcing the movement via a text file on GEnie and Compuserve, I received a call from a well known figure in the Atari Community demanding that I "knock off the anti-piracy sh*t" and that I "did not know who I was f***ing with..." He went on to say that the AUA could never change what was happening with all of the Pirate BBS in the USA and that I was wasting my time. I always had strong knowledge that this individual had very strong piracy ties, and what he was telling me was that I would be facing the wrath of the Pirate BBS sysops who would not like what I was saying. I told my "friend" that I was not afraid to speak out and that I would pursue the Anti-Pirate movement. Ironically, this figure has everyone believing that he is pristine, while he is one of the major Atari ST software pirates. Three weeks after this conversation, AUA received its monthly phone bill. During a two week period, beginning 2 days after my conversation with my friend who stated, "you don't know who you are f**king with..." 211 calls were placed to destinations in England, Germany, Israel, and all over the United States for a grand charge total of over $1800. Much to our dismay, we did not make these calls. We called the long distance carrier to get to the bottom of the problem, and we were told that someone had placed all of the calls using the AUA calling card code. The phone company insisted that we were liable for the calls, since from what they could determine, all of the calls were placed from the AUA phone at Tony Parry's home. Tony did not make the calls, nor did anyone in his home. However, we were responsible for the calls pending an investigation. Ironically, all of the calls were placed to BBS's. Now, this placed us in a very difficult position. AUA had around $800 in the bank, and did not have the $1800 or so needed to pay the phone company. We also did not have enough capital to hire a lawyer. This would take much more money that we already did not have. What legal advice we did receive was to issue a complaint with the PUC, which we did. Our hearing, in late October, was the last stake in the AUA heart. After the investigation, the phone company could not conclude that we did not make the calls from the AUA telephone. Apparently, the calls were made from the Canonsburg trunk line, which according to the phone company can be done by only the most skilled phone hackers. However, we had no proof that this was done by an outside person or party, and we were liable for the $1800 bill. The phone company settled for a 50% payment and would close the case. We agreed, since the alternative would be a lien against Tony and his assets (since the phone was in his name...). We paid the phone company and walked away. That is where we are now. The AUA, for all intents and purposes, still exists. However, there is no money in our account to even mail notices to our members concerning our situation. The only assets we had were in the form of printed materials that have no resale value and a few pieces of hardware that we sold off. It saddens me to see that a harmless threat from who I though was a friend, turned into a flagrant attack against a productive organization. Why have we let piracy take over the Atari userbase as it has? Could it be because of the fact that Atari Corp. is poorly run, and that their support people, such as Bob Brodie are in the wrong line of business or over worked? And what about those people who ignored the AUA for a year and a half, are they happy now to see that the AUA is paralyzed? To all of our paid members, I apologize for the situation that we find ourselves in. The last thing I would want those who lost their $15.00 membership fee is that we were a "ripping" off the Atari community "again." We are not what Avant Garde turned into. Instead, we were attacked by someone in the Atari community who probably felt threatened by our Anti-Piracy movement and then left out to dry. Well, the individual who did this to us won. The friend who told me I was out of my league has won too. People like Bob Brodie, John Barnes, and others who were so against the idea of the Atari Users Association are all winners. A brave sole, one who has complete dedication to Atari and who has been with the AUA for a very long time, is taking over the group. Eric Lambeth, founder of the ST-Exchange PD Software program will be stepping in to take over my position as Coordinator. I have vowed to help him in every possible way to get on his feet with the AUA. It will take a lot of work, but I am confident that he is the right man for the job. Please understand that the fate of the AUA was left to a few immature people who wanted things their way. What AUA is, and what it was founded for will never change. In closing, I suppose this serves as my letter of resignation with the Atari Users Association. I have sold the 1000 shares of Atari stock that I held, along with most of my equipment and software. The Atari ST is a dead end platform, and anyone who hopes to be productive using a personal computer should explore Macintosh or Intel based machines. To say that it was fun would be a lie. Enjoy yourselves. Derek C. Signorini Human ====== PART I ====== [This is part 1 of a 6 part story concerning the Atari arena in the Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania area. You are encouraged to read all 6 parts in their entirety.] INTRODUCTION ------------ Next time you are in Sunnyvale, gathering in the beautiful Southern California sun, stop in Atari Corp. headquarters, tell the receptionist you are visiting from Pittsburgh, and make note of the look you get (as if you had a black patch over one eye...). Or, if you ever get a chance, call up an Atari Developer and tell them you are from Pittsburgh and listen as the line gets quiet (as if you had perched upon your shoulder a parrot...). Try coming to Pittsburgh to buy some Atari Software or some Atari Hardware...you will be greeted with a smile and the answer "You can only get software for the Atari from mail order, ah, I think." Give Patty Marshall or Paul Plants a call and ask them how plans for their show scheduled for the end of June in Erie failed and they will tell you they have suffered from frost bite (with Atari Teeth marks...). The story you are about to hear is one that I should have told a very long time ago and one that I have been aching to get off of my chest for almost a year. The current state of affairs within the Atari community has prompted me to undertake this chore and to be honest, I simply could no longer watch on as once "hardcore" Atari users switch to other platforms. I originally wanted to write one large article, but instead, I will present the events surrounding the conditions of the Atari marketplace in Western Pennsylvania in several installments. This will make it easier for the media and usergroups to reprint without consuming pages and pages in just one issue. During the course of my "ramblings," you will hear things that were up until now, secured behind closed doors or forbidden to speak of. Everyone that I speak to realize that there is a problem within Atari, but no one wants to take the initiative to do something about it. Maybe after reading my story you will gain the urge to speak up. I encourage any and all feedback to this story and you can do so by mail, Email, in person, via satellite, telephone, or in the next life while sipping a beer at a Hard Rock Cafe. What finally prompted me to undertake this task was a conglomerate of several different events, the most recent being the cancellation of the Great Lakes Atari Computer Conference, GLACC, to be held in Erie, PA. Also, the immanent death of the Atari ST is upon not only the people in the Pittsburgh area, but also all over the United States. And there is not a doctor in sight. I happen to live in the Pittsburgh area, and am not willing to give up hope on the ST as easily as Atari has given up on Pittsburgh. Why things have become as bad as they are in this area is very complicated. I am not an expert on marketing practices and never boasted to be. Nor am I fully knowledgeable on every single Atari related incident that has taken place in this area since the birth of the ST in 1985. However, because I was very active in the local Atari community for nearly 6 years, I experienced many things that the guys at Sunnyvale simply did not. So, I find that it is my duty to present these events that occurred here to the best of my ability. The issues that I will discuss are being submitted to the best of my knowledge and any incidents that are mentioned here that were presented to me by a third party are believed to be true and accurate. I have included real names of people surrounding events in some cases and only where I found it necessary in order to preserve the integrity of my story and only by permission. I will not in any way assume liability for any information mentioned herein that was presented to me incorrectly. And lastly, I am writing this story of my own free will. The opinions presented herein are my own and not of the Atari Users Association or any other organization mentioned. If any information that you find in the course of this story is incorrect, I apologize, and ask that corrections be given to me so that I may make them public. Before I begin, there are a few facts that must be stated. First of all, immediately after the PACE show in Pittsburgh on April 29th, 1990, I resigned my membership with the Atari Elite. I broke nearly all ties that I had with the organization on the "advise" of several people in the Atari ring and have only kept in contact with John Karlovich, president and founder of the Atari Elite, over this long time period because he is a personal friend of mine. Likewise, I have kept in contact with Paul Plants of WACO as well as Bruce Markey of PACE simply because I felt that it was necessary to demonstrate my (and AUA's) neutrality in the issues that were being thrown onto the table. For many of you who are unfamiliar with the Pittsburgh story, allow me to quickly sum the situation up in 100 words or less. There are two ST groups in Pittsburgh. One hates the other and wants the other to simply die and go away. The other wants nothing more than to have the other pull together and knock off the hatred. Confused? Yeah, me too. As you may already know, I am currently the coordinator for the Atari Users Association, or AUA, a world wide not-for-profit group with over 1600 members in 22 different countries. I graduated from Duquesne University in 1988 with a B.S. in Pharmacy and have a B.S. degree in Computer Science as well in 1989. I am married (3 years) and currently work full time as a pharmacist and am the Director of Operations for a computer business I started in 1988. My company is registered under the Atari Developer program. I enjoy spending what free time I have golfing and hot air ballooning. My wife, Deborah, complains that she never sees me, and I always tell her that it will make our marriage last even longer...(grin) Enough of the life history... Prior to the April 1990 PACE show, the only affiliation the AUA had with the Atari Elite is the fact that AUA used the Atari Elite newsletter for their own and that I was a member of AE. After the April 1990 date, AUA had NO affiliation whatsoever with the Atari Elite, or any other local group for that matter. This separation was necessary to demonstrate that the AUA was a true worldwide organization and that it had no local affiliation as you will learn further into this story. Secondly, I must also state for the record that of the 1600 members in the Atari Users Association, only 1% of them are from Western Pennsylvania -- a low number probably due to the deplorable conditions in this region concerning Atari Computer hardware and software. When you walk into a large software dealer in Pittsburgh and ask for Atari ST software, you are often asked "an Atari what?" or "is that 2600 or 5200?" Many of you may be wondering why now? Why does he feel the need to talk about something that everyone is trying to "cover up?" Well, to be honest, now that the AUA is a great success, I no longer feel threatened by anyone or any group. A year ago, the AUA was a fragile infant whose future was dependent upon the stability and purity of its image. I did not want the AUA to be in the spotlight of controversy knowing that it would not endure such, so my best action was to isolate AUA and continue to promote AUA positively and professionally -- a move that has paid off now that the AUA ground is firm and un-threatened. In addition, I was hoping that the press would finally give the area what it needed: 1) The Atari Elite the credit for not being involved in the "heavy piracy" that had been reported. 2) The local dealers and users the promotion that could save the Pittsburgh userbase. 3) Lastly to point the finger at the real culprits in the area's dilemma. But, none of these events ever happened -- the press never published a single good word about the area or the people here. And yet, I sat back waiting for that day while I watched the conditions in Pittsburgh worsen. Sure, things may be bad in your town also, but Pittsburgh has always gotten the "bad rap" and since I have been a passive observer to this "veil of conspiracy" that is draped over the area I could no longer sit back and watch the Atari ST die a slow and miserable death. I have too much time and money invested in Atari, including my equipment, my small business, and stocks, to just let it all fall by the waste side. But yet, I am afraid that the conditions not only here in this area, but also throughout the entire United States, has reached a point of no return -- no matter how much Atari says they are "beginning a new aggressive campaign" and no matter how much great enthusiasts like Ralph Mariano of STReports, all of the Developers who would sweat blood for Atari, and myself attempt to boost morale, things are really very bad for Atari computers and Atari computer users. Just as an example, Word Perfect has recently pulled out of the Atari platform, and while I write this article using Word Perfect Version 4.1, I wonder how much damage this move has caused and why Atari Corp. had not tried to stop them from making this devastating decision. And if Atari did attempt to block this decision, why did they not let the public know that they at least tried. I can not change the state of affairs currently being witnessed in the community, nor can you -- single handedly! But if enough of us join together, then we may be able to possibly alter the outcome a bit. This has always been a goal of the AUA, and will always be our first and foremost priority. Well, I guess the best place to begin would be the "beginning." I thought about making this article a two or three part series, but decided that it would be best to write my novel and let everyone read it without interruption. If the media wishes to break up this story into sections, you are welcomed to do so as long as none of the contents of this story are changed. The purpose of this narrative is to show why I believe the Atari Elite had received no benefit of the doubt in the incidents surrounding the April 1990 PACE show and to express why I feel the Atari community in Pittsburgh has died. I also would like to demonstrate why they (Atari Elite) may have been a scapegoat for Atari Corp. and also to display that Pittsburgh would have been a great marketing asset if someone would have pushed the right buttons. I must again stress that I am writing this out of my own free will and hope that you will be able to base your conclusions on what I believe to be the truth instead of fabrication that has been seen in the past years. THE BEGINNING ------------- As far back as I can remember, dating back to 1985, this area really never had a very strong Atari marketing or advertising venture for the ST. The 800 was popular, and in the early 1980's, it was common to walk into almost any retailer and find an 800. This shows me that the 800 was marketed well and widely accepted here in the area. What went sour? When I first purchased by Atari 800 in 1982, I had several choices at the time. I could go to several toy stores in the area, Sears, Kaufmanns or a few computer dealers. Actually, I never had a choice, since it was my parent's money and decision and they elected to spend their cash at a place called "The Toy and Gift Mart" -- a small local dealer in southwestern Pennsylvania, not more than 10 minutes from my house. I can remember after receiving my 800 for Xmas, going to the TGM (for short) to browse and see what was new in the way of Hardware and Software. Since I did not have a job and was still in high school, my money was scarce, but I did what I could and spent nearly all of my money on computer supplies from Harry, the owner of TGM. I spent a lot of time at Harry's over the course of the next 5 years, and at one time, was considering working part time for Harry on weekends to earn some extra cash. But, my parents were a little protective and could see no reason for me to work since I was given almost everything I needed when I needed it. (note: this attitude changed when I went to college and my parents saw how much a college freshman could spend per month...) At any rate, it was here that I met guys like JG, John Karlovich, and Steve Kotula -- all local Atari enthusiasts, and also members of the only Atari organization in Pittsburgh at that time -- PACE. (note: WACO, or Westmoreland Atari Computer Enthusiasts) has really never been considered a Pittsburgh group, since they were some 50 miles away from the suburbs of Pittsburgh and a good hour drive from the center of the city.) It was through Harry and his store that I met these PACE people, and I ended up going to some PACE meetings and meeting people like Mark G., Steve B., and a few others. I had a great time with PACE, but never joined as a member. Why I never joined I don't really know -- lack of money, lack of time, lack of motivation. I figured that I could go to the meetings for free and would simply not receive a newsletter as did paying members. LATE NIGHT HACK SESSIONS -- THE LIFE OF THE AVERAGE COLLEGE STUDENT --------------------------------------- Let us skip ahead a bit... At this point in time, around 1985 or so, I never really gave the ST much consideration. I did not have nearly enough money to spend on a new system (being the poor college student that I was), and I could not justify a new system since the old 800 was doing what I needed it to do. I was programming heavily in BASIC (had written several programs that are still being used today at my old High School physics class) and had put up a 24 hour BBS in my dorm room run on my 800. Now that was a crazy time, having to convince my roommate that it was necessary to use the phone for the BBS and that no one of any importance was calling on the phone anyway, so why not put it to good use. Besides, if his girlfriend or mine had to get through, they simply had to let the phone ring once to let us know they needed to chat. We stayed up many a nights until 5 AM playing video games, when we should have been studying for exams or sleeping (note: sleeping was rare in college...). I can remember times when John Kacvinsky, my roommate then, would look at me and say, "Time to go to PT -- see you when I get back..." "PT" was physical training -- for the ROTC -- that takes place every morning on campus at 6:00. By telling you this, I am stressing that I was, and still am, a true blue computer hacker. (note: hacker is defined as programmer/enthusiast, not government computer raider) Ask my wife, Deborah, about when I met her and stated, "My computer will always come first...." I meant it, and my wife has accepted it. Even today, my parents tell me that I spend too much time at the computer and not enough with the family. Call me a computerholic, I dunno. Anyway, my roommate had an Apple II, I had the 800. The ST had just hit the market but I had no money. This is around the time that I made first contact with the Atari Elite. I was running BBS software called FOREM XL for the 8-bit and had bought it from a guy named John Graham, whose nickname was/is "The Boss." I spent many hours on the phone with John, getting the board set up and learning the "ins and outs" of the software and the fine art of being a Sysop. Little did I know there was a revolution going on -- the ST was born, and everyone was eager to get their hands on it. At any rate, The Boss ran a BBS using the same software that I bought from him, so he knew what he was doing. John Graham was the first "hard core" Atari user that I had ever met and I have a great deal of respect for him because of his knowledge of computers. To this day, I have never met anyone quite like him. At any rate, I had to get an update to the BBS software from him and was invited to meet him at a computer fair at a mall here in Pittsburgh instead of him mailing it to me. The Atari Elite had a booth at the fair, and he would be there. I agreed and was anxious to finally meet the guy. John told me about the Atari Elite for the first time while I spoke with him on the phone. He said that there were a few guys in Pittsburgh who just got ST's and were forming a new organization. I remember that day vividly, because he was talking to me while he tinkered with his new ST that had just arrived. He was describing the VT-52 emulator and the control panel to me (the only software that he had at that time, which was exciting to him and to anyone for that matter) Any way, the only catch was, attendance to the Atari Elite meeting was by invitation only. That was sort of neat, I thought at the time. Sort of made it seem a bit mystical and made me feel important. I told him I was interested. Later that week, I went to see my friend Harry at TGM, and he had caught wind of the new group called Atari Elite. He called them snobs because their membership was by invitation only and that he would never tell anyone to support them as long as their doors were closed. My question at this time is, first, who told Harry about the Atari Elite? And second, if he was so against them, why did he later attend one of their meetings? To me, this was a stupid attitude for a dealer. If he were smart (and I am not accusing him of being stupid) he should have jumped at the opportunity to promote his business to this "up and coming" organization. But instead, he must have heard something from someone who was attempting to discredit the Atari Elite and elected to be close minded instead. Well, I went to the show at the mall that friday night and met John Graham for the first time. I also saw John Karlovich there, as well as Jim Laux and Dan Sullivan -- other founders of the new Atari group. The Atari Elite had a 1040ST on display, and that unit was supposedly one of only 15 in production! Seems that John Karlovich had a good communication line with Sig Hartman and John talked Sig into sending the unit for the show (they had to give it back, of course...) Let me tell you, Harry found out about the 1040 and was furious because "a punk group had the unit before he, a dealer, got to see one." So, I am under the impression that Harry got a bad taste in his mouth about the Atari Elite because of the 1040 and that a PACE person must have "filled him in" a little about Elite. This I believe was the beginning of conflict in the area which I will get into more detail later. At any rate, I had a great time at the fair, met a lot of Atari people, and laid eyes on an Atari 1040ST for the first time. Most importantly, I was invited to attend an Atari Elite meeting at the Marriott the first monday of the month of April, 1986. MY QUEST FOR THE 68000 ---------------------- While I did not have enough money for an ST quite yet, my roommate decided to sell his Apple II to get an ST. That was great, at least I would have an ST to tinker with while he was in class! Since he was not an Atarian, he looked to me to guide him in the right direction so I told him about Harry at TGM, and he took my advice and bought a 520 color system from him. Now that John had an ST, the Atari Elite gave him an invitation to attend their meeting in April "since he was a friend of mine." Now, anyone reading this up to this point would have to conclude that the Atari Elite had a "mafia" type air, or a "mystical" reputation. You had to know someone to get in, and as you will see later, just because you were invited to a meeting, did not necessarily mean you were accepted. Sort of a fraternity of types. But John was happy, I was envious, and the meeting was a few days away. I attended a PACE meeting in the mean time, and had a great time -- as usual. It was good to see so many people with similar interests in one place having a great time and learning about the 8-bit. Note that at this time, I knew nothing of the break-up that had occurred in the board of directors and officers of the organization as you will read later. I remember that PACE meeting in particular because someone from PACE spent a great deal of time telling me that the Atari Elite had formed and that they had a "rental library" that only members could borrow from. I can not at this time recall who that person was, but I sensed a bit of jealousy in his tone and a bit of resentment. You see, the PACE organization finally had membership competition -- something they never had to contend with. What I did observe was that they were still very much 8-bit oriented and appeared to be content to be so forever, and for me that was great because I was still heavily in love with my 8-bit. This was of course, until I began tinkering with my roommate's ST and found that the ST was a much better machine. I realized that I had to somehow find a way to get one to "keep up with the Jones." The day had finally come for the un-veiling of the Atari Elite. My roommate and I attended the meeting at the Marriott (the same place that PACE met), except in a much smaller conference room. We were greeted at the door by Brian Kotula (Steve's son) with a smile and a handshake, and further in the room, we were greeted by Graham, Karlovich, Laux, and a few other local ST people. They made us feel very at home -- they wanted to know us on a first name basis. There were about 15 people there that night and the star attraction was a guy from Hybrid Arts demonstrating a DX-7 Droid program. This was great! I got to see the ST in MIDI action for the first time and was quite impressed. There was also a guy there who demonstrated how to hook up a 5.25" drive to the ST. This too was very impressive. Hard-core hacking stuff. Really technical. I could see that these guys went out of their way. My roommate and I agreed, this was the place to be so we asked to join. Jim Laux accepted us and our checks, and we were members 13 and 14 in the organization. (Note: I found out a few years later that my now business partner who I met through Elite was denied membership to the group his first time around. Why he was not accepted we really do not know. Possibly because he attended a meeting without invite, or that he looked too much like Mr. Spock...(sorry John...)) From here on out, I am in no way degrading the PACE organization. I am simply relating those experiences that happened to me as best that I can recall. My first experience with the Atari Elite was a great one. My last experience with PACE was a bad one. What happened next was ironic. Up until this time, for about 2 months previous, I was an assistant SYSOP for PACE on their BBS. Their SYSOP, Jeff W., asked me for my help, since I had SYSOP experience and was very knowledgeable in telecommunications. The experience of being and asst. sysop would be great and I could not let it go by. So, here I was, with special privileges on the PACE BBS, and a member of the Atari Elite. Remember, I was not even a member of PACE, yet they entrusted me with this job. In May of that year, someone broke into the PACE BBS while Jeff was on vacation and literally destroyed their system password file and left some pretty blatant messages on the BBS. You probably know what was coming next -- I was blamed for this break in. Sure, I was the most probable suspect. I had access, I was a young cocky college student, and I was computer wise smart. Last but not least, I was a member of an organization that was looked upon as a threat to PACE. I was blamed, and was told by Jeff that "they" were watching me. I was also told that a phone trace was placed on the BBS and he advised me not to call. I agree that I was a suspect, however, I knew nothing of the incident and did not care for the way I was treated. You see, there were a few people in the PACE board of directors who did not care for me. They did not like the fact that I used a handle on BBS called "Carbon 14" and asked that when on their BBS that I use my real name instead of a handle. An officer of PACE at the time is quoted as saying, "the use of handles denotes piracy." I argued with PACE about this conception, asking if CB users were thieves just because they use a handle on the radio? It was a ridiculous accusation, and I was in no way involved in any type of "Piracy" as they felt my use of a handle denoted. I really did not want to argue with them, and I simply quit calling their BBS. After all, I was known by that handle by many, and wished to be known as such. School was out for the summer, and I had a buyer for my 800. I also had an unsuspecting bit of financial help from my grandparents who wanted to see me get a new computer, so I was ST bound. About a month later, after selling the 800 to a friend who was going to give it to his 9 year old son for games, my 520ST arrived. (Ironically, I spoke to this guy a few weeks ago and he told me that the 800 is running just fine...) As you probably think, I visited my friend Harry. He was happy to see me, and he was very helpful in answering my questions. However, I did not buy it from Harry, because money was tight, and Harry wanted almost $300 more for the system than did MicroTyme, a mail order firm from Ohio. So, I broke Harry's heart and ordered mail order -- a move that I do not regret since I would go on to purchase many more things from MicroTyme. Yes, I was a "mail order child" that Atari Corp. did not like. They abolished mail order ST purchasing around 1988 saying that it was unfair competition for local dealers. My only comment to that is that they sold more ST's then with mail order and ask where are all of the local dealers now? For people like myself, mail order was the way to go to save money! Dealers like Harry had to charge such a high price because Atari did not offer much of a profit margin for dealers. Really not fair if you ask me... At that time, I knew only a handful of ST users. We were rebels in a way, venturing into unexplored territory. Information about the ST was everywhere, and I consumed all that I could. I kept in touch with my friends from PACE for a while. Some of them did not get their ST's until a few years later, and from what I am told, a couple never did move on to the 68000. They will always be my friends, but it is unfortunate that we have been placed on opposite ends of the battle grounds in the war you are about to learn of. PART II NEXT WEEK..... ==================================================================== Permission to Re-Print is granted as long as no part of this work is changed in any way and credit is given to the Author and the AUA. ==================================================================== > ISD SPECIAL OFFER! STR InfoFile Calamus 1.09 Special Limited Offer! =============================== PRESS RELEASE ISD ANNOUNCES A SPECIAL TRADEUP OFFER FOR ALL THOSE DESKTOP PUBLISHING ON THE ATARI PLATFORM! Thanks to our friends at Soft Logik for drawing our attention to the fact that not everyone owns Calamus 1.09N. As most of you know, ISD proudly represents the Calamus family of products. Calamus has always been one of the finest desktop publishing packages on any computer platform. In fact, Calamus 1.09N is currently available in 16 languages, in every country where Atari has representation and is simply the most important application software extant on the Atari platform! If you choose to participate in the ISD tradeUP offer, you will receive a complete Calamus 1.09N package, be automatically fully registered and eligible for any and all future upgrades, should you so choose, "including" says Nathan Potechin, President of ISD, "the ability to upgrade to the finest desktop publishing package on the market today, Calamus SL!" This offer will run until August 31, 1992 so order your copy of Calamus 1.09N today. You will be really pleased that you did. TradeUP OFFER Publishing Partner - Pagestream (any version) Fleet Street (any version) - Publisher ST to Calamus version 1.09N for only US $95.00 **** OF SPECIAL NOTE! **** ALSO, the FIRST 100 ORDERS will receive The Guide to Calamus Desktop Publishing absolutely FREE!! This excellent book is filled with 250 pages of hints, tips and tutorials on Calamus, Outline Art and The Font Editor, a true value of US $29.95. To place your order, send ISD a photocopy of your original program disk and registration card indicating your name, address, telephone number and a listing of the computer equipment that you own, PLUS the upgrade fee of US $95.00 and $5.00 for shipping within the United States and Canada only. Payment made be made in US dollars by Visa, Mastercard or Money Order. Note: ISD recognizes that you can become comfortable using a program. We do not ask you to send in your original disks from any of the other programs that you may be using. You will become proficient in Calamus and will be amazed at the result! ISD MARKETING, INC. CONTACT: Nathan Potechin 2800 JOHN STREET, UNIT #10 MARKHAM, ONTARIO CANADA L3R 0E2 TEL: (416) 479-1880 FAX: (416) 479-1882 GEnie: ISD Compuserve: 76004,2246 Delphi: ISDMARKETING _________________________________________________ > TT Compatibility STR FOCUS Listing update of Compatible Software ========================== This is an update to a list from about 7 months ago. OS under Comments means OTHER SOURCE. I myself did not run, or see it run. There are over 500 titles on the list now. I can be reached by E-Mail on Delphi- Username: Schuylar TT SOFTWARE COMPATABILITY TEST 05/17/92 Title Run Comments --------------------------------------------------------------------- 10th Frame Y Bowling game. 24Bit.prg Y Fixes some programs. 3-D Grapher Y OS 3-D Pool Y OS 3D Graphics Y by Abacus A.G.E. Y OS AAARGH N APA Y American Personality Test APB N ARCX.TTP Y Very fast. Runs in TTRam also. AVS Sequencer Y OS Advantage Tennis Y OS, Too fast. Afterburner Y Fast. Alien Blockade Y OS Alien Syndrome Y Amaze.prg Y A maze program. Animate 4 Y OS Another World Y OS Arabesque Pro. Y Demo Areacode.prg Y Arena N Arkanoid N Arkanoid, Revenge of DOM Y OS Army Moves N Arrakis Advantage Y ST Scholastic Series, Lots of titles. Art Gallery Y ST res. only. Artic Fox Y Artura N OS Autosort Y OS Avantvector Y Demo Axe of Rage Y Runs, but color funny. BEST Business Manager Y OS BGAMMON.PRG (public domain) N BMVGTEFF.prg Y BMX Simulator Y BStat Y OS Baal N Babel Y OS Baby Jo Y OS Bad Cat Y Sound from RCA jacks, not internal. Balance of Power Y Banner Maker Y OS Barbarian (old) Y OS Barbarian II (old) Y OS Bards Tale Y Runs, but a little funny. Base Conversion Y OS Batman-The Movie N Battle Chess Y No sound from red side. Battle Hawks 1942 Y Battlezone Y Fast. Bellum Y OS Better Dead Than Alien Y Good game. Big Sky Y OS Bio Challenge N Bionic Commando N Bitstrip Y OS Black Lamp N Black Tiger Y OS Blaster Y OS Blasteroids N TT Software Compatability Test 5/17/92 Title Run Comments -------------------------------------------------------------------- BlockBuster Y A little fast. Blue Angel 69 Y Good game. Blue Max Y OS Boink Y OS Bomb Jack Y Fast Boulder Dash Constr. Kit Y Fast Bratacus N Bubble Ghost Y Burgur Man Y OS Buzzword Y CP/M 80 Y OS Cadenza Astrocal Y OS Calamus 1.09 Y STRam and ST High res. only. Calamus Assistant Y Works in TTRam also. Calamus SL Y Demo CalcPlot Y OS California Games N Captain Blood N Captain Fizz Y OS Cards N by Michtron. Certificate Maker Y Character Combat Y OS Chronoquest N Chrystal Castles Y Clean Up 2.2 Y ST med or high res only. Club Backgammon Y Code-Name Iceman Y Colonels Bequest Y Colorado Y OS Colorbook N OS Composer Y OS Compute Your Roots Y OS Construction Estimator Y OS Cracked Y Fast Creation TT Y OS Crime City Y OS Crissle Y OS Crossword Creator Y OS Crunchtime Football Y OS Custodian N CyberCAD 3D Y by Tom Hudson v2.03 DC Format Y OS DCBoot It Y DOS Menu Y OS Dark Castle Y Data Diet Y HD compression program Datamanager ST Y Runs in TTRam and TTMed res also. Fast. Day of the Viper Y OS Death Bringer Y Death Sword Y Fast DeathBringer Y OS Defender of the Crown N Degas Elite Y OS DejaVu Y Deluxe Paint Y OS Diablo Y Digibase Y OS Disciples of Steel Y OS DiskCat Y OS Diskstat.APP Y TT Software Compatability Test 5/17/92 Title Run Comments -------------------------------------------------------------------- Dive Bomber Y Sound is wierd. Dogs of War N Dominator N Donald Duck's Playground N On copy protected disks. Double Page IV Y STRam only. Drip Y Dungeon Master Y DynaCADD Y Demo ESTeem Disk Labeler Y OS EZ Text Y OS EZ Track Pro Y OS, Demo Eagles Rider Y OS Ear Trainer Y OS EasyDraw ver 2.30 Y ST High res. only. No TT Med. res. EdHak 2.3 Y OS El Cal 2.0 Y OS Empire Strikes Back N F-15 Strike Eagle II Y OS F-19 Stealth Fighter N Falcon N Falcon, V.1.2 or higher. Y OS Fantasia Demo N Sound, but no graphics Fast Lane N Faster (Disk Magazine) Y Ferrari N Fiendish Freddy's Bigtop O' N Fighter Bomber N Won't run on ST w/T16 either. Final Approach Y OS Final Assault Y Financial Cookbook Y Fireblaster N Flash ver. 1.6 N Fleet Street Pub. 3.0 Y Flight Simulator II Y OS Flight of the Intruder Y OS Flintstones N Floyd the Droid Y OS Forgotten World Y OS Fujiboink Y OS Full Metal Planet Y OS Fun Face N OS Fusion N Loads to title screen only. Future Wars Y Very fast. G+Plus ver. 1.2 N Newer version works. G+Plus ver. 1.5 Y Runs perfect. GFL Football N GIFCOLOR.TTP Y GIFSCALE.TTP Y Garfield N Gateway Y Runs, but text is funny. Gato Y Gauntlet N Hard on disk drive. Gauntlet II N Title screen loads, then bombs. Gemview 1.1 Y ALL res graphics viewer.TT low 256 color! Genesis Y OS Ghostbusters II N Ghouls & Ghosts N Gilbert Y OS Gold Rush Y Golden Path N Runs only in TOS 1.0 TT Software Compatability Test 5/17/92 Title Run Comments ------------------------------------------------------------------- Goldrunner Y Goldrunner II Y Too fast. Grapher Y OS Graphic Artist Y Demo, very fast. Great Giana Sisters N Gunship Y H.A.T.E. N Hacker II Y Hard Drivin Y Runs fast. Hard Drivin II Y OS Heavy Metal Heroes Y OS Hero's Quest Y Heros of the Lance Y Hex Y High Roller Y Sound from RCA jacks. Renamed Stike F.H. Hippo Almanac Y Hippo Jokes & Quotes Y Hole in One Golf Y Hollywoood Poker Pro N Home Accountant Y Hostages N Disk 1 runs, Disk 2 crashes Hoyles Cards I Y Runs in TTRam also. Fast. Hoyles II Y Runs TTRam also. Hypercopy 2.0 Y OS Hyperlink Y I-Ball Y OS Ikari Warriors Y Ikari Warriors Y OS ImageCAT Y Impossamole N Impossible Mission II Y Indiana Jones N Arcade Version Indiana Jones Y Graphic Adventure Indy 500 Y OS Infobase Y OS Interlink Y OS International Soccer N Intersect Rambaby Y Runs TTRam, TTLow & TTMed res. also. Into the Eagle's Nest Y A little fast. Invaders Y PD Space Invader game Iron Lord N Jet (Sublogic) N Joker Poker Y Joust Y Almost too fast. Karate Kid II Y Kid Piano N OS Kidswolf Y OS Kings Quest IV Y Klondike Y OS Knicker Bockers Y Knights of the Sky Y OS LDW Power Y LHARC.PRG Y Leaderboard Golf Y Fast. Swing indicator is odd. Leathernecks N Leisure Suit Larry I Y Origional floppy gives a fit, but works. Leisure Suit Larry II Y Runs in TTRam also. Leisure Suit Larry III Y Runs in TTRam also. Lemmings N Hard on disk drive. Little Computer People N TT Software Compatability Test 5/17/92 Title Run Comments ------------------------------------------------------------------ Loan Analyst Y OS Logic Lab Y OS Look It Pop It Y Lost Dutchman Mine Y Lotus Turbo Challange II Y OS Lowswitch.PRG Y MDISK60 N Ramdisk. Use Intersect Rambaby. MVG Y Maccel3 Y Madam Librarian Y OS Major Motion Y A little fast. Make A Date Y OS Makin Whoopee N Mandelshow Y OS Manhunter Y Manhunter II Y Marble Madness Y OS MasterCAD 3D Y Mastertracks Y OS, Demo Mathtalk N OS MegaPaint Pro. Y Menace N Metal Mutant Y OS Miami Vice Y Mickey Mouse N Tries to load into TTLow res? Microscope N OS Midwinter N Mig 29 SuperFulcrum Y OS Millipede Y Min Cal 1.4 Y OS Monopoly Y PD Version, Use 24bit.prg Monty Pythons Flying Circus N Mr Heli N Mug Shot Y OS MultiDesk Y MultiGEM Y Music Studio 88 Y NMB.PRG (speed tester) Y Runs TTRam&STRam, TTmed. res. also. Navy Moves N NeoDesk 2.0 Y OS Neochrome Y Nevermind N Nickelodeon Five N Night Shift Y OS Nightwalk Y Ninja Mission Y OS North & South Y Good game, but too fast. Nova Y OS OO-Topos Y Obliterator N Off Shore Warrior Y Oids Y Sound likes RCA jacks best. Operation Neptune Y Operation Wolf N Outline Art Y ST high res. only. TTRam & STRam. Outrun Y Runs faster and smoother. P47 N Pacland Y Pacman Y OS Pacmania N TT Software Compatability Test 5/17/92 Title Run Comments ------------------------------------------------------------------- Pagestream Y Paladin Y Paperboy N Paula.acc Y Good .MOD player Payroll Master Y by Royal Software Peggammon Y Perfect Match Y Perry Mason Y Phasar 3.0 Y Get Ver 4.0, much improved! Phasar 4.0 Y Runs in TTRam and TTMed res also. Fast. Photon Storm N OS Pinochle N OS Pipe Mania N OS Platoon N Plutos Y Pokersqr.prg Y Runs in TTRam also. Police Quest II Y Populous N Too bad, hope fix comes! Power Drift N Powerdrome Y Almost too fast. Powermonger N Printmaster Y Pro Tennis Tour N Publisher ST Y TTRAM-SLM804 1" trash at top! Puffy's Saga N Q-Ball Y QINDEX 2.2 Y Quartet Y OS, Demo Quizam Y Rainbow Islands N Rampage Y Recovery Y OS Red Heat N Red Storm Rising Y OS ReplayPro Ed Y OS, Demo Return Of The Jedi N Road Raider Y Fast, wait on disk access. Road Runner N Roadwars N Robocop N Loads to title screen only. Rocket Ranger Y Very fast. Rolling Thunder Y OS RomRam.prg Y TT Roms into Ram. Speed up! Rubicon Y OS SDI N Sega-Activision Version SDI Y by Cinemaware ST Accounts 2.0 Y OS ST Karate N ST Pool Y by Shelbourne Software ST Wars Y Very fast. Sound from RCA jacks only. ST Wrestling N ST Writer 4.0 Y OS STCopy Y For Navarone FB Scanner. STEPLAY.TTP Y STESOUND.PRG Y STScan Y For Navarone FB Scanner. ST_TYPE.TOS Y Satellite Prediction Y OS SciPlot N OS Score ST Y OS TT Software Compatability Test 5/17/92 Title Run Comments ------------------------------------------------------------------ Scrabble Y Script 1.0 Y OS Scruples Y A little fast. Seconds Out N Tries to load into TTLow res? Sex Olympics Y OS Shackled N Shadow of the Beast N OS Shadowgate Y Sheet 2.0 Y OS Shufflepuck Cafe Y Sierra Software Y Any that will install on HD will run. Silent Service Y Silent Service II Y OS Sim City Y Fast Skyfox N Slayer N Sleuth Y OS Soldier Of Light Y Almost too fast. Space Ace N Space Cutter N Space Harrier N Space Invaders Y OS Space Quest I Y OS, use 24bit.prg Space Quest II Y Space Quest III Y Space Race Y OS Space Racer N Space Station Oblivion N Spanish Mastery Y OS Spectre GCR Y Ver 3.0, STRam only. Spectrum 512 N OS Speed Buggy Y Fast Speedball Y Speedmet.app Y German speed tester. Spinwheel Y OS SpiritWare Concordance Y OS Spitfire 40 Y Spitting Image N Stalker Y OS Star Base 1.1 Y OS Star Blaze N Star Raiders Y Star Trek N Starblade Y OS Starglider N Starglider II Y Fast! Starquake Y A little fast. Starwars Y Very fast. States Y OS Stats.prg Y Steel N Steno Y OS Stock Market The Game N Stratego Y OS Strider Y OS Strike Force Harrier Y Renamed from High Roller. RCA sound only. Strip Poker Y Origional Version Stunt Car Racer N Stunt Track Racer N Sub Battle Simulator Y TT Software Compatability Test 5/17/92 Title Run Comments ------------------------------------------------------------------- Sub Cal Y OS Sun Times Crossword Y OS Sundog N Super Hang On N Super Huey N Not worth running anyway. Super Ski N Loads to disk B, bombs. Super Space Invaders Y OS Super Sprint Y Super Wonderboy N Superbase Pro Y OS Supercharger Y OS Supercharger ver. 1.2 Y (for EasyDraw) Switch Blade N Table Tennis Simulation N Tanglewood Y Fast Tank Attack N Tass Times in Tonetown Y Runs fine. Team Yankee Y OS Teenage Ninja Mutant Turtles Y OS Terrorpods N Test Drive N Runs some, but crashes. Test Drive II, The Duel Y OS Tetris Y Too fast. Text Filter Y OS Thai Boxing N The Grail Y The Last Duel Y OS The Light Corridor Y OS The New Aladdin Y Disk Magazines The Newzealand Story N The Pawn Y Runs fine. The Running Man N The Schedule Maker Y OS The Secret of Monkey Island Y OS The Ultimate Ride Y OS The aSTronomer Y OS Their Finest Hour Y Thunderblade N Timebandit N Torvak The Warrior Y OS Total Eclipse Y Total Recall Y OS Touch-Up Ver. 1.56 Y Runs in TTRam, No TTMed res. Fast. Tracker ST Y OS Trail Blazer Y A little fast. Transputor Y Trivia Challenge Y Turbo Cup N Disk A loads titles & music, Disk B locks Turbo Outrun Y Turbo ST 1.8 N New version is due out, should work. TwinWorld N Typhoon Thompson N UIS ver 3.3 Y Runs TTRam also. UNLZH172.PRG Y Works in TTRam also. Very fast. Uninvited Y Uniterm Y OS VKiller.PRG Y Ver. 3.84, runs in TTMed res too. Vegas Craps Y Vegas Gambler Y Violators Y OS TT Software Compatability Test 5/17/92 Title Run Comments -------------------------------------------------------------------- Virus Y Too fast. Vixen Y Volifed Y OS Wanderer (1st version) N Starts to run, but bombs. Warhawk Y OS Warp9 Y Great prg., Buy it! Warrior Y OS Warzone N Whatis60.PRG Y TTmed res. also Wicked N Willow Y OS Winter Challenge N OS Winter Games Y Word Writer ST Y Use 24bit.prg to fix Spell checker! Wordflair (Demo) Y Wordup 3.0 Y OS, use 24bit.prg World Darts N World Games N Xevious Y Yahtzee Y PD version Zak McKrackan Y Zany Golf Y Faster than normal. Zero Gravity Y OS Zest Keno Y TTRam Zest Poker Y TTRam also. Zest Poker Squared Y TTRam Zoomtest.PRG Y Works in TTRam also. ___________________________________________________________________ > STR Portfolio News & Information Keeping up to date... ================================ THE ATARI PORTFOLIO FORUM ========================= On CompuServe by Judith Hamner 72257,271 This week marks my first anniversary as Portfolio Forum reporter. I hope you have enjoyed my attempts and "keeping up to date". I'm doing an informal survey and I would like to know what your favorite Portfolio program is. Please email your nominees for the "user's choice". I would also like to extend a special thanks to everyone who has uploaded files to our library over the past year. There has been a never ending stream of excellent software to report on. Gerd Arnold is a German Portfolio programmer. He has uploaded his file transfer program. This works with the parallel port and is faster than the Atari transfer program. See ARLINK.ZIP. Mike Delugg has devised a method for marking text in the built-in editor to be formatted when imported into WordPerfect 5.1. Using this method you can mark text for such attributes as bold, underline, or Italics. TXT2WP.ZIP contains a description of the technique. PFPOKR.ZIP is a shareware version of a video poker game. It is said to be very addictive, but you can take consolation in thinking of all those dollars you saved by not going to Vegas. Just keep spare batteries on hand. ________________________________________________________________ > CHANGING TIMES STR FOCUS The KINDER, Gentler... Joke! ======================== WHO IS REALLY IN CHARGE? ======================== by R. F. Mariano Atari lost the Nintendo Court Case plain and simple. Although I would have enjoyed seeing Atari win the case.. they did not, in any way, win. Ordinarily, I'd simply ignore all the apologetic rhetoric we've been seeing lately by well meaning Atari supporters. A realistic approach is far more appropriate but this apparently is too much to ask for. Atari lost the case. Pure and Simple. There is no room for "well they this" or, "the judge said...." The bottom line is the case WAS LOST! Lock, stock and barrel. In the courts, there is no consolation prize. Unless one cares to consider the privilege of paying the winner's costs a prize. In this case a whopping seven figure remittance. The presiding judge did say, in no uncertain terms, there is no loop hole and no further action is warranted nor is it anticipated. In fact, the judge added that the action itself was "frivolous". On the other hand, Atari should be _concentrating_ on getting real product out the door, winning friends and devoting its full energies to promoting its business and goodwill. If one were to carefully examine their current activities, one would see a company with no obvious real guidance or direction. For example They've been considering a grandiose scheme about publishing magazine(s), one for each of its platforms, with the goal being to profit from doing so. They seem hell-bent on punishing their adversaries, crushing their critics etc.... seems they forgot all about their loyal users and potential new customers in the process. They have infinite energy to devote to vendettas and head games from coast to coast. But apparently, no resources to advertise and promote the company. It has been stated that Atari's show rep and minister of information has made "noises" to certain show organizers that if a 'favorite' magazine editor were to be in attendance and acknowledged or have a seminar, they (Atari) would only provide minimal support. Apparently, the obsession continues. These hateful politics are doing Atari and its users no good whatsoever. In fact, Atari's credibility is in the toilet as a result of the despicable activities of these people. Actually, Atari's mid- management is proving to be its own worst enemy. By their actions alone. As an example, its been discovered that certain requests were made of some show organizers that were absolutely ludicrous. A certain Atari plebe wanted a "vote" on this organization's board of directors! Now that's REAL GALL! Will they have the "new secret weapon" available in time to salvage the Atari marketplace? Who knows. Will they finally take full advantage of the Christmas Holiday Sales? Doubtful. They've managed to toast dealer after dealer at Christmas time... year after year. Will they ever learn that Christmas is THE BIG SALES time of the year? Highly doubtful. Will we see Atari's typical "big splash" and bag of promises at Comdex in the fall only to wait until the following spring/summer to see the products on sale in the USA? That is.. if the FCC isn't made a scapegoat _again_. All the "NEW" dealers they've claimed to have signed on.. Where are they and are they really happy campers?? Do they have product or are they too, clobbered by the "backorder blues"? The Atari userbase has had promise after promise "thrown" at them only to see the promise dissipate into cold, stale air. The TT030.. it was supposed to be the epitome of machines it would do it all yet its rumored that there were pitifully low numbers of them produced and a large number of the early ones took up residence in a landfill. Were they that disappointing? Try getting an answer to the big question; How many TT's were actually sold? Please don't get me wrong, the TT is a very well made machine. Its a powerhouse performer but.... Where is: o - FSMGDOS o - The STBOOK o - FontDos o - The STylus o - MetaDos The 'promise' of things to come is getting old fast. FSM has been an on again off again "standard" for what seems like _time and eternity_! If one didn't know better... the whole magilla is reminiscent of who's on first". The people who use the hardware, on a daily basis are the first to say the hardware is the nicest to use and is by far the easiest to learn to use, are plentiful but... try to find the same numbers of people who will readily praise the company's leadership and policy makers. Why are there serious problems with the "in the field" upgrades for Mega STe users wanting to go to the HD floppy drive, Ajax Chip and TOS 2.06?? Why all the mystery? Could it be the very same situation that's plagued Atari for quite some time? "The old, _too many motherboard_ revisions" syndrome? Please don't offer the "go to your nearest dealer" advice... that's non-sense. We all know that dealers are very few and extremely far between. Its time Atari got off it dead rump and began delivering to its loyal suffering customers. These people supported Atari through its tight times, now, its really time Atari reciprocated. _____________________________________________________________ > Lattice C v5.5 STR InfoFile Essential overview =========================== Lattice C Version 5.5 ===================== Lattice C Version 5.5 is an extremely versatile and powerful development system for the popular C programming language, adhering extremely closely to the ANSI standard. The system is characterised by a truly flexible environment together with the attainment of a very high speed of object execution. In the development of Lattice C 5.5 for the Atari range of 680x0 computers, the emphasis was on producing a package that could be used easily by the novice to the language as well as by the seasoned expert. Freedom of choice for the user is essential if such a goal is to be attained and this has been achieved at all levels of the development cycle resulting in a flexible, easy-to-use and extremely powerful collection of programming tools - probably the ultimate C system for the Atari ST/STe/TT! The Compiler ____________ The Lattice C5 compiler is one of the most advanced compilers available for 680x0 machines, having already been established on the Atari and Amiga computers for over two years. There are two phases of compilation (LC1 and LC2) with an optional third phase, the Global Optimiser. The code produced by the compiler is compact and executes as fast as that produced by any other compiler that is currently available for the Atari computers. In addition to producing excellent code, Lattice C5 also gives you tremendous flexibility through more than 100 compiler options, some of which are listed below:- * choose between large/small/mixed code and data models * backward compatibility modes for nested comments/pre-ANSI pre-processor etc. * full xref and listing control * error/warning message control - switch messages on and off on a per-error basis * full code generator optimisation control - turn on/off as required * optimise for time/space * pre-process only option * full prototype extraction facility * default int to short or long option * define symbols on the command line * full native 68030 and 68882 code generation All these options (and many more) can be set from within the editor, in the program or on the command line. The compiler supports pre-compiled Header Files so that the header files for a project may be compiled separately and the resulting symbol table saved to disk, ready for re-loading by each compilation, saving valuable time since the header files do not then have to be read. There is also support for compressed header files to save disk space. The ANSI compliance of the compiler is strict and complete as far as we know including support for Trigraphs, Float as a native type and flexible keyword ordering. Language Extensions ___________________ The package supports all of the ANSI keyword extensions: const, enum, signed, void, volatile. Trigraphs, float as a native type and support for flexible keyword ordering add to the ANSI compliance. There are keywords to control how functions are called with parameters on the stack/in registers: __asm, __interrupt, __regargs, __saveds, __stdargs. Several built-in functions provide fast, high quality inline code for common simple library functions: abs, max, memcmp, memcpy, memset, min, strcmp, strcpy and strlen. There is also support for direct access to the instruction stream through: __emit, getreg and putreg. Inline TRAPs and Line-A usage are achieved via #pragma inline - tell the compiler how to call the operating system and it does this inline without a stub . In addition, you can use anonymous unions, C++-style // comments, signed and sized bit fields, zero length arrays, pragmas for listing and error control and cast values are modifiable. As with most parts of the package, the compiler can be invoked from within the editor provided or from within a command-line shell. When using the screen editor, there is full interactive error reporting, allowing swift and easy correction of your syntactical mistakes. The Linker __________ Lattice C5 comes with a fast, high-performance linker (typically linking in less than 5 seconds) with many powerful features such as: * pre-linking - make several files into a partially linked object file ready for further linking * automatic link vectors (ALVs) for attaining the benefits of a small code model (16 bit jumps) without the limitations of a 64k maximum program * definition and aliasing of symbols from the command line * full DR and HiSoft symbols can be included in the executable * TT program flag options * Common Block support * complete map file printing and format control * fast, compact library format including a librarian. The Editor __________ Included in the Lattice C5 package is a complete, multi-window (up to 7), GEM-based screen editor which fully integrates with the rest of the system. The editor is fast, easy-to-use and friendly with a full range of search & replace and block commands together with powerful menus that allow you to control and invoke all of the other tools in the Lattice C5 package. All compiler, linker, debugger, assembler and librarian options can be accessed through easy-to-use dialogs. You can also customise the Tools menu to run your own programs (up to 20 of them), which will return to the editor when they terminate. There can be up to 7 windows open at any one time with the ability to move blocks of text between them and to use small fonts for up to 54 lines on a standard monochrome monitor. The editor works in any screen resolution that allows 80 or more columns. Project Manager _______________ Integrated within the editor environment is a powerful project manager which allows efficient building of all types of program (GEM, TOS, DA, etc.), libraries or pre-linked object files. All source files (be they C or assembler) are tracked, together with their include dependencies and there is support for recursive making of project files. Additional libraries, object or WITH files can be specified and compiler options may be set on a per-file or per-project basis. All this is controlled from an easy-to-use graphical project editor. The Shell _________ For the traditional user who may prefer to work from a command line environment, we provide a powerful MS-DOS style shell supporting: * line editing with full command history * support for batch files with optional parameters * command re-direction * full support for environment variables * over 25 built-in commands The Debugger ____________ The highly-acclaimed MonST2 low-level debugger is supplied, complete with extensions for supporting source line debugging. You can single-step, set conditional breakpoints, search memory, move memory and much more. Multi-windows allow you to inspect the processor's registers, memory locations, disassembly and C source code, using line numbers to debug your C program. The Resource Editor ___________________ The resource editor supplied, WERCS, is a full featured editor for designing menus and forms and includes an integral icon editor. It has a number of advanced features not found in other resource construction sets, such as 16 character object names, automatic naming of objects, searching for strings, and no limits on the numbers of objects in a tree. Also supplied are utilities for converting Neochrome and Degas files to Icons and for using the name files used by other resource editors, making upgrading to WERCS a snap. The Assembler _____________ The Lattice Macro Assembler is a full 68040/68881 assembler which handles the complete set of Motorola 680x0 instruction mnemonics as well as an extensive set of assembler directives and a powerful macro facility. It can, therefore, be used to develop complete systems in assembly language. Nonetheless, it is provided primarily to supplement the C compiler and has not really been designed for large assembly language projects. For such tasks a full assembler package, such as DevpacST, should be used giving more power and greater documentation on the assembly language environment. Global Optimiser ________________ Available as an optional third phase of compilation the global optimiser, GO, allows you to hone the object code according to criteria of speed or size. Some of the optimisations performed are as follows: * register assignment - commonly used auto, formal and temporary variables are automatically assigned to registers * dead store elimination - stores of values which are never fetched again are eliminated * dead code elimination - code whose value is not used is removed * global common sub-expression merging - recalculation of values that have been previously computedis eliminated * hoisting of invariants out of loops - a calculation performed inside a loop whose value is the same on each iteration of the loop is moved outside the loop * induction variable transformations - loops containing multiplications, usually associated with indexing, have the operations reduced in strength to addition * constant propagation and folding - references to variables whose only definition is a constant are replaced by the constant. Often the definition is eliminated if all references are replaced. GO performs constant folding to propagate new constants further * very busy expression hoisting - code size is reduced by moving an expression computed along all paths from a point in the code to a common location * strength reductions - associative re-ordering of additive operations involving constants, to reduce the operation count * control flow transformations - perform various transformations to eliminate unreachable code or useless control structures Plus many other powerful techniques. The Lattice C 5 Tools _____________________ Lattice C5 helps the programmer in his sometimes complex task by providing a number of useful utilities designed to complement the main tools and increase the general ease-of-use and speed of development. Reset Proof RAM Disk ____________________ A full-featured auto-loading reset-proof ramdisk with configuration program. Header file compressor ______________________ The utility for compacting header files so that you can build your own. Object Module Disassembler __________________________ A disassembler for examining the output of the compiler/assembler. Useful for hand optimisation or for eliminating those obscure bugs in your program. Object Module Librarian _______________________ A full featured auto-ordering librarian (i.e. hand ordering of modules is not required) for building libraries ready for linking. Symbol Strip Utility ____________________ A fast utility for removing the symbol and debugging tables from an executable program to remove the need to re-link. DERCS _____ DERCS is a utility for turning a WERCS resource file into a set of initialised data structures (OBJECT, BITBLK, ICONBLK etc.) which may be compiled to produce an embedded resource file in your program. This is advantageous when creating desk accessories since DAs should not call rsrc_load(), and is essential for writing Control Panel eXtensions (CPXs). DERCS supports the generation of both C and assembly language structures unfortunately the initialisation support available from other languages is not sufficiently rich to allow the representation of general resource files and so, if a language of anything other than C is selected, DERCS will generate an assembly language file. The Libraries _____________ Lattice C 5.5 has an extensive set of library functions for all your needs. Here is a selection of what is available: C In addition to standard UNIX library functions, there are many Lattice extensions and a full range of ANSI functions. GEM ___ Full support for all of the standard Atari GEM, AES and VDI functions is provided and, in addition, there are functions for GDOS, FONT GDOS and FSM GDOS, including bezier curves. TOS ___ The TOS library includes all the GEMDOS, BIOS, XBIOS and Line-A functions together with support for the new OS calls in the MegaSTe and the TT. There are also Cookie Jar functions, even for early-ROM machines. Maths _____ Four different real math packages are supplied - a TT68882 library (for best performance), an I/O-only library (for a MegaSTe or SFP004 card), an auto-detecting library for portability and a software library. Startups ________ There are CPX, Program, Desk Accessory and Resident libraries. The Package ___________ Lattice C5.5 is supplied in attractive, rigid, protective packaging with: * Multi-volume documentation - the User Manual describing the use and function of each element of the package, the Library Manual detailing the generic Unix, ANSI and Lattice libraries and the Atari Library Manual which deals with the ST/STE/TT-specific GEM, AES, VDI, XBIOS etc. libraries. * An Installation Guide for easy setting up on various system configurations. * 7 double-sided diskettes in an quality disk wallet. 1Mb+ of memory and a hard disk are recommended if you wish to use Lattice C5.5 to its full potential. HiSoft The Old School Greenfield BEDFORD MK45 5DE Please, see Cat 3 Topic 14 on GEnie in the ST RT for further information & ordering details. _______________________________________________________________ > ///TURBO BOARD BBS VER. 2 STR Spotlight ======================================= TURBO BOARD ST VERSION 2 INFORMATION ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Turbo Board ST Version 2 is a total rewrite of our original BBS program. Over a year's work has gone into the total rewrite of Version 1, and Bill Miller has really outdone himself this time! We think we have a very good BBS program indeed! The ///Turbo Board Support bbs is running at bps rates from 1200-14400 if you would like to give us a call, the number is 416-274-1225 Our F-net number is node 18, if you are calling from an ST bbs in the Fnet. John Miller, Bitblit Systems Turbo Board Version 2's NEW Features ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ -Expanded User privileges and Bitmaps for Passwords -KByte/File Ratio System -Smart Batch uploading & User File Description Editing -Ymodem-g uploads for HST users -BBS Handles/Real Name system -Full User File Editor -Masked Sysop commands (For Co-sysops) -Many NEW Sysop Functions, including new File Editor and Password Editor -Execute files from Main menu commands -Sysop definable Menus and Prompts -Main Menu commands and functions fully programable (also Submenus) -Many New Copy and Save Functions for Fmail, and other files -Quick help edit prompt in message editor -Modular BBS, (Main Module only uses about 80K of memory) for greater free memory -lots- when running Binkley (Fido Mailer) -NEW Database, you can use archives, and users can easily upload new database entries, entries have access levels -BBS handles line answering instead of modem -NEW SIG system for grouping message bases, fully configurable by Sysop -Quick Chat and DOS keys from local console -NEW Turbo System Generator with expanded features -UPDATE program for Turbo V1 and Forem ST Sysops to convert to V2 -New Version 2 Manual (addendum for Version 1 Turbo Owners) -And many other new small features not listed here that are improvements over our Version 1.0 Additional Features of Turbo 2.1 ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Version 2.1 running Version 2.0 New features include: -New Gem BBS Executive Version 3.0 Totally rewritten and enhanced version -QWK compatible Qmail system in Message Bases -Integrated Full Screen Editor, with Merge and Copy file features for sysop -Binkley Mailer may be run as front door, or from BBS -New Event Scheduler for all batch files -Many smaller enhancements Under Developement ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ We have been promising this for a long time, and the Next version of Turbo Board will contain -fully- Fidonet Compatible message bases. No need to run Fifo, or Fidodoor. This new version is presently under developement. $89.95 US - USA and International List price for new Sysops $69.95 US - Special price for Current BBS Sysops (Supply current BBS number and information) $29.95 US - Special Update offer for Registered Turbo Version 1 Sysops (Turbo 2 addendum instead of Turbo 2 manual) Write or call for more information. In Canada: The USA: Europe & UK: Bitblit Systems ABCO Computer Consultants L.B. Van Bokkem 1580 Liveoak Dr PO Box 6672 100 Broughton Ave Mississauga, ON Jacksonville, FL Aylesbury, Bucks Canada L5E 2X6 USA 32205-6672 England HP20 1QB 800-562-4037 bbs# bbs# bbs# 416-274-1225 904-786-4176 +44-296-395935 ____________________________________________________________ """"""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""" EDITORIALLY SPEAKING - STR CONFIDENTIAL - MAILCALL """"""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""" > STReport's Editorial Page "Saying it like it is." From the Editor's Desk ---------------------- Once again we are on the threshold of a new Atari era, if only we can see some light at the end of the tunnel. Time will tell if we are to see that or any other 'lights'. In any case have a great Memorial Day weekend enjoy yourselves and please don't drink and drive. 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 Clemens Chin 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" ===================== - San Francisco, CA. LOWEST-PAID CEO! ------------------ CTSY San Francisco Chronicle Sam Tramiel, president and CEO of Atari, earned $195,779. That's even less than the previouis year, when Tramile earned $200,198 at the Sunnyvale Computer and Video Game Company notorious for penny pinching. Tramiel can make up for the low pay if Atari's stock rises, since he owns more than 1 million shares, or 2.2 percent of the common stock. - Hopkins, MN ISAC CARDS FOR SALE!! ----------- ISAC cards for SALE! $299.95 Wow Look out Watch out Asimo! 1024 x 768 (NON!-interlaced video at 48 Khz) 16 colors out of 4096. Also sports a 68881 option socket for DynaCadd junkies! Will run in DUO-Chrome mode for software which does not Grok "Low_res" color mode. Available in 800x600 version for cheap-o-monitor owners. Wow baby, this is the one. Compatibility unmatched! The STANDARD of Atari graphics upgrades. No soldering, jumping, cutting, welding, or hammering needed. Plugs right in! What a concept!!! Available NOW (612) 492-3913 Dover Research. - Palo Alto, CA PARTS SHORTAGE HALTS ASSEMBLY ------------- According to our sources, the special parts needed to complete assembly of the 'new' generation of machines are in extremely short supply. Production has come to a temporary halt while a new shipment of parts is awaited. Seems the custom parts are critical. - Jacksonville, FL KEYBOARD SURVEY RESULTS! ---------------- The results are in! The questions were simple yet unsettling to some. But the answers are real as was the participation on CIS and all the other services, along with both the private and public networks. Also included were write in replies from Usergroups. Th results are as follows...... 1139 REPLIES WERE RECIEVED, THE BREAKDOWN IN % IS AS FOLLOWS: QUESTION 1 - Would you prefer a single case (1040 style) unit or a Mega ST/TT style unit with detached keyboard? (pick one or the other only) **** RESULTS ATTACHED: 11% """"""" DETACHED: 89% 2 - If price were a consideration, how much more would you spend for a detached keyboard: A- $50.00 or less B- $100.00 (approx) C- $150.00 (or if price is no object) **** RESULTS A - 30% """"""" B - 65% C - 05% 3 - Would you prefer (or be satisfied) with a connector that allowed you to plug in a detached keyboard such as that used on the Mega or TT style computers (the keyboard being an extra cost item)? **** RESULTS YES - 65% """"""" NO - 35% ____________________________________________________ > STR Mail Call "...a place for readers to be heard" ============= STReport's MailBag ================== From GEnie Category 14, Topic 14 Message 81 Sun May 17, 1992 E.KRIMEN [Ed Krimen] at 15:14 EDT I vaguely remembered that there was some discussion about the 1.44meg drives a while back, so I went back and read past messages (because I've been having problems with my recently-installed 1.44meg upgrade kit). Wayne's info and Jim's addendum has been great. Another testament to the wonders of networks and its users -- but I'll save the romanticism for another time. :^) Thanks guys, though. I popped open my Mega STE once more, yanked out the power supply (as if it was really that easy! :^) , and found the screw I've grown to hate. But there's absolutely no way I'm going digging in the middle of that death-trap to unscrew that sucker and add some tape or high dielectric plastic (of which I have none). I actually thought three times about doing it; I successfully talked myself out of it all three times. My computer and I have too much to live for. :^) (Is it really that dangerous in there? I've been real careful, and don't intend to change that.) I'm willing to dive back in there, but must I remove the =middle= screw? Can't I just remove and add tape to one on the corners? Moreover, I can't BELIEVE I've gotta do this to get my damned computer to recognize HD disks! What a %*&#ing pain!! Now, Wayne, the god-send that you are :^) , you said recently that there are some jumpers on the drive that don't need to be there. I noticed that my drive had quite a few jumpers. Do you have any other information about which ones should or should not be there? BTW, I have one of the "old" MegaSTEs. I bought it in July of last year, and who knows how long it was on my dealer's floor. It had TOS 2.05. From GEnie Category 14, Topic 14 Message 82 Sun May 17, 1992 R.WATSON15 [Wayne Watson] at 16:14 EDT Ed, If the middle screw is on the power supply, then you WILL need to remove it. The main thing you have to worry about is if you have it plugged up still. :-). Just a little care and you will be ok. Just grab the board by the sides where there are no traces. This is also a good idea because of static electricity. If you are uncomfortable with this procedure (which I can't really blame you. I am used to working around HIGH voltage), then get a friend that will do it that knows of such things or get your local dealer to do it. I can assure you that the MIDDLE screw will help clear up your problem, unless you also have the address line problem. I am not saying go for it, the last thing I need is the headlines saying, "Killed by a computer" and my name be mentioned. :-) No, really, it will need to be done. Again, I am NOT responsible. You do this at your own risk. It really isn't as bad as you think. No, I don't have any information on the jumpers. I just remember some people saying that some of the drives come with jumpers and that some may need to be removed. Call Toad Computers, they may be able to tell you. From GEnie Category 14, Topic 14 Message 83 Sun May 17, 1992 KWERNER [Kurt] at 19:26 EDT Wayne, Where did you hear about the 'address line' problem? I removed and insulated the middle screw from my Mega STe with change to my 1.44M floppy problem. I am very comfortable hacking around inside a computer and am willing to try anything to get this working! Kurt From GEnie Category 14, Topic 14 Message 84 Sun May 17, 1992 E.KRIMEN [Ed Krimen] at 20:03 EDT Thanks again for the help, Wayne. I removed the screw and put two pieces of electrical tape on top of each other, just enough to cover the hole and the small metal area around it so it wouldn't make contact with the post. That didn't work. The drive still doesn't recognize HD disks. :^( Then, I played with the jumpers on the drive a bit. 0, I, and H are selected. I removed 'I' and it didn't rec. HD disks. I removed 'H' and it didn't rec. HD disks. I put 'I' back by itself and it didn't rec. HD disks. I kept '0' selected the whole time because the DD drive has it selected. So basically I'm back where I started. I'll probably give Toad Computers a call tomorrow and see what they say. Do you have any details on the address line problem? ATARI, this is really a pain! I SHOULD NOT have to go through all of this to get a damned 1.44meg drive to work! This reminds me of the FPU shenanigans! This is what I get for supporting Atari early on and buying a Mega STE soon after they are released. Thanks a lot. From GEnie Category 14, Topic 14 Message 85 Sun May 17, 1992 DOUG.W [ICD RT] at 21:02 EDT Ed, I seriously doubt that Atari considers this a "user-installable" upgrade, so it's not really appropriate for you to complain to Atari about the problems you are having. --Doug From GEnie Category 14, Topic 14 Message 86 Sun May 17, 1992 E.KRIMEN [Ed Krimen] at 22:25 EDT Thanks Doug. The dealer I bought it from said it was easy enough for me to install it myself. It sure was easy, until I found out that I had to go poking around the power supply. Even if the dealer had installed it, he wouldn't have known about the "removing the PS screw" fix, the "jumper settings" fix, or the "address line" problem. So what's a customer to do? Without GEnie, I'd have absolutely no hope of getting this 1.44meg drive upgrade to work. And I'd prefer not sending my computer to an out-of-state dealer. I want to use the computer, not ship it around the country until I find someone who can get this $170 upgrade to work. I didn't even buy the upgrade from the same local dealer that I bought the computer from; that dealer doesn't have a clue about anything that's available from Atari. I'm sorry, Doug, but I think I have every right to complain. Let's just call the 1.44meg drive B.S. a mighty-big spark, okay? From GEnie Category 14, Topic 36 Message 6 Sun May 17, 1992 D.BECKER8 at 15:55 EDT Bob Beauchea recommended a power supply fix May 2, Cat 14, Topic 14 Message 37 This fix has helped other MegaSTE users but has not helped me. My inability to format high density continues though I discovered by accident before trying Bob's fix that I can read and write to SOME pre formatted IBM high density disks. This is an erratic feat and is SLOW as can be. Things just keep geting weirder! I have contacted Atari service directly through Compuserve and I hope to do the same today through GEnie mail. I find I am not the only one with this problem, Kurt Werner has had this problem for weeks and is really fed up. He also tried Bob's fix but it did not help. Atari, here is what we need: 1. The proper pin configuration for the high density drives, maybe some of the pins are set wrong on the drive mechanism. 2. Is there a motherboard problem. If so what serial numbers are affected. 3. Can Atari or one of there service centres (Toad Computer?) please advise us on the missing trace problem or any other fix that they have had to do. I don't mind sending my MegaSTE back to Atari for a while, heck I'm even willing to pay a dealer to fix it "if someone will admit that there is a problem" and someone "really knows what that problem is"! Maybe the difficulties are confined to a very small percentage of early MegaSTE machines. If I sound frustrated, you are right, I am. __________________________________________________ STReport's "EDITORIAL CARTOON" """""""""""""""""""""""""""""" > A "Quotable Quote" "...SINCE THE TRUTH HURTS" ================== "SPEAK OR POST WHEN YOU ARE ANGRY.... YOU WILL PROVIDE THE BEST EFFORT YOU'LL EVER REGRET!" """"""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""" > ABCO SPECIALS! STR InfoFile * NEW 1992 Prices! MORE Products! * =========================== -------------------------------- ****** SPRINGTIME SPECIAL!! TAKE 10% OFF _ANY_ PACKAGE!! ***** """"""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""" ** EFFECTIVE IMMEDIATELY! ** NOTICE: ABCO will BEAT OR MATCH * ANY * Advertised or Invoiced price * WE WILL NOT BE UNDERSOLD! ABCO COMPUTER CONSULTANTS P.O. Box 6672 Jacksonville, Florida 32236-6672 Est. 1985 _________________________________________ Voice: 904-783-3319 10 AM - 4 PM EDT BBS: 904-786-4176 12-24-96 HST FAX: 904-783-3319 12 PM - 6 AM EDT _________________________________________ HARD DISK SYSTEMS TO FIT EVERY BUDGET _________________________________________ All systems are complete and ready to use, included at NO EXTRA COST are clock/calendar and cooling blower(s). *-ALL ABCO HARD DISK SYSTEMS ARE FULLY EXPANDABLE-* (you are NOT limited to two drives) (all cables and connectors installed) - Available for all Platforms - * ICD HOST ADAPTERS USED EXCLUSIVELY * OMTI HIGH SPEED CONTROLLERS * * ICD ADSCSI+ HOST ADAPTERS * FULL SCSI COMMAND SET SUPPORTED * * SCSI EMBEDDED CONTROLLER MECHANISMS * * MAXTOR - SEAGATE - QUANTUM * WE PAY SHIPPING & INSURANCE!!! >UPS!< (Cont. USA) VISA - MASTERCARD - NO SURCHARGE! *** NEW!!! ULTRA MODERN "SUPER STYLE" CABINET *** DELUXE 2 bay Cabinet W/65w Auto PS & Blower *** 90 DAY LIMITED OFFER!! *** - AT NO EXTRA COST! - Cabinet & ICD ADSCSI Plus Host [Hard Disk Ready] $259.95 Model Description Autopark Price ================================================== SGN4951 51Mb 3.5" Y 419.00 SQN1096 83mb 3.5" Y 519.00 SQN2055 120mb 3.5" Y 574.95 SQN1296 213mb 3.5" Y 839.00 SQN4055 340mb 3.5" Y 1310.00 ================================================== Standard "Shoebox Cabinet style is also available FULLY ASSEMBLED SCSI DRIVES DEDUCT $60.00 ADD $35.00 for 4 BAY "SUPER CABINET" w/250+w PS MODERN TOWER CABINETS AVAILABLE Call for Info! PLEASE NOTE: The above is partial listing only! Many other configurations available. 20mb - 3.5gb NOTICE - NOTICE - NOTICE - NOTICE """"""""""""""""""""""""""""""""" SPECIAL PURCHASE! * 83mb - 1345mb * Hard Disk Mechanisms Call for SUPER PRICING!! Limited Time Only!! FULLY ASSEMBLED SCSI DRIVES DEDUCT $60.00 ADD $35.00 for 4 BAY SUPER CABINET w/250+w PS EXOTIC TOWER CABINETS AVAILABLE Call for Info! PLEASE NOTE: The above is partial listing only! FAST TECHNOLOGY ACCELERATOR UPGRADES AVAILABLE & INSTALLED ***** >> ABCO proudly offers ATARI PRODUCTS << Call for ABCO's * HIGHLY COMPETITIVE PRICING! * ATARI COMPUTERS * STILL THE BEST VALUE! ***** Original Atari Mouse replacement: $35.00 NEW! If you don't see what you want listed here, call us. Odds are, we either have it or, can get it for you! * GUARANTEED * AT THE BEST POSSIBLE PRICE! * ** 800-562-4037 ** "WE SERVICE WHAT WE SELL" ****** SPECIAL - SPECIAL ****** * SYQUEST 44MB (#555) >> ABCOFILE "44" << REMOVABLE MEDIA DRIVE * - SYQUEST 44 MB DRIVE - ICD ST ADSCSI PLUS H/A - ICD Utility Software - 3' DMA Cable - Fan & Clock - Multi-Unit Power Supply (1) 44 MB Syquest Cart. --->> LIMITED TIME SPECIAL! NOW ONLY __$ 579.00__ <<--- **** SCSI UNITS -> ONLY $489.00 **** WE PAY SHIPPING & INSURANCE! >UPS!< (Cont. USA) COMPLETELY ASSEMBLED AND READY TO RUN! Cart and Utility Software Included! EXTRA CARTS: $ 69.50 DRIVE MECH ONLY: $ 339.95 ****** SPECIAL - SPECIAL ****** * TWIN SYQUEST 44MB REMOVABLE MEDIA DRIVES ... PROGRAMMER'S DELIGHT * SPECIALLY PRICED ** $895.95.00 ** Includes: * TWO * cartridges! * SYQUEST 44MB REMOVABLE MEDIA DRIVE AND HARD DRIVE COMBINATIONS * - Syquest 44 Model [555] and the following hard drives - ** 50mb SQG51S $759.00 105mb SQG105S $959.00 ** Or, YOUR choice of Hard Disk Mechanism! LOWBOY - STANDARD - DUAL BLOWER CABINETS CUSTOM CONFIGURATIONS AVAILABLE ** ANNOUNCING THE NEW! -> ABCO CD-ROM! ** :Special Introductory offer: ABCO CD-ROM $389.95 (limited time only) Listed above are a sampling of the systems available. Prices also reflect various cabinet/power supply configurations (over sixty configurations are available, flexibility is unlimited) * IBM - MSDOS - AMIGA - ATARI - APPLE - MACINTOSH * ALL UNITS COMPATIBLE WITH --> SUPERCHARGER - AT/PC SPEED - GCR LARGER units are available - (Custom Configurations) *>> NO REPACKS OR REFURBS USED! <<* - Custom Walnut WOODEN Cabinets - TOWER - AT - XT Cabinets - Atari SLM 804, SLM 804PCV Laser Toner Kits Memorex 2108, 5287 Oasys Laserpro 5287, 5308, Express 830, Express Series II Silver Express, Gold Express ** $41.95 shipping Included ** Atari SLM 605 Laser Toner Kits AT&T 593, CAF Laser, DSI Laser, DTP Systems, Epson EPL-6000 Facit P6060, Fontx Syslaser, Harris3M 2006, M-Tally MT905 Microtek Turbo PS, OAS Laserpro Executive, Packard Bell 9500 TEC LB 1305, Toshiba PageLaser 6 ** $41.95 shipping included ** (TWO Toner Carts Incl.) Panasonic Laser Toner Kits Panasonic KX -P 400 series, Panafax UF-750 Facsimile ** $41.95 shipping included ** -- ALL TONER KITS * IN STOCK * -- * Toner Starter Kits-$62.95 * * Replacement (804) Drums-$186.95 * ABCO is PROUD to announce the acquisition of the exclusive U.S.A. distribution rights for ** Bitblit Software's ///Turbo Board BBS. ** This fine Atari ST BBS system software and user support is available through ABCO to all Turbo customers in the USA. Call for current pricing. >> MANY other ATARI related products STOCKED << ALL POWER SUPPLIES UL APPROVED -* 12 month FULL Guarantee *- (A FULL YEAR of COVERAGE) WE PAY SHIPPING & INSURANCE! >UPS!< (Cont. USA) QUANTITY & USERGROUP DISCOUNTS AVAILABLE! _________________________________________ DEALERS and DISTRIBUTORS WANTED! please, call for details VISA - MASTERCARD - NO SURCHARGE! Personal and Company Checks accepted. ORDER YOUR NEW UNIT TODAY! CALL: 1-800-562-4037 -=**=- CALL: 1-904-783-3319 Customer Orders ONLY Customer Service 9am - 8pm EDT Tues thru Sat ABCO is EXPANDING!! CALL FOR INFORMATION! SEND FOR YOUR NEW ABCO CATALOG TODAY! """""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""" STReport International Online Magazine [S]ilicon [T]imes [R]eport Available through more than 10,000 Private BBS systems WorldWide! """""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""" STR Online "YOUR INDEPENDENT NEWS SOURCE" May 22, 1992 Since 1987 copyright 1987-92 No.8.21 """""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""" 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. """"""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""