*---== ST REPORT INTERNATIONAL ONLINE MAGAZINE ==---*
                  """""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""
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                                   from
                              STR Publishing 
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 June 26, 1992                                                      No.8.26
 ==========================================================================

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                               R.F. Mariano
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 > 06/26/92 STR 826    "The Original * Independent * Online Magazine!"
   """"""""""""""""
     - The Editor's Desk      - CPU Report        - LYNX & BATMAN
     - JERRY, WHO?            - AIM OFFER!        - BLUE RIDGE NEWS
     - FSM RE-WRITE?          - CT-FEST NEWS      - MACREAD RIPOFF!
     - GLENDALE SHOW          - WAACE'92          - STR Confidential

                      -* NOTEBOOK TO BE REVAMPED! *-
                     -* IS ANYBODY IN CHARGE HERE? *-
                      -* AUA -> WHAT NEXT, ATARI? *-


                           THE STORM IS COMING!

 ==========================================================================
                  ST REPORT INTERNATIONAL ONLINE MAGAZINE
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     Current Events, Original Articles, Tips, Rumors, and Information
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                 WHAT'S NEW IN THE ATARI FORUMS (June 26)

                    * NEW SYSOP IN ATARI 8-BIT FORUM *

 Please join us in welcoming SYSOP*Jeff Kovach 70761,3015  to the  staff of
 the Atari 8-Bit Forum (GO ATARI8).

                          * FONTGDOS AVAILABLE *

 FONTGDOS is  now available (courtesy Atari Corp) in LIBRARY 9 of the Atari
 Arts Forum (GO ATARIARTS) along with Bob Wilson's help file.

               * NEW IN ATARI VENDORS FORUM (GO ATARIVEN) *

 SoftLogik Publishing Corporation is pleased  to  announce  the  release of
 PageStream  2.2  for  Atari  ST/STe/TT  computers!   Please read message #
 27184.  For users of PageStream 2.1:  Download file PATCH.LZH from LIBRARY
 11 to convert to version 2.2.

 Users  of  STalker  version  3.01:    Be  sure to download STK302.LZH from
 LIBRARY 8 for a  program that  will upgrade  a registered  copy of STalker
 3.01  to  version  3.02.    An  original (unmodified) STalker 3.01 disk is
 required for the upgrade.

                         * NEW FOR THE PORTFOLIO *

 The ULTIMATE PORTFOLIO DEMO is now  available in  LIBRARY 17  of the Atari
 Portfolio  Forum  (GO  APORTFOLIO),  courtesy  Don  Thomas and Atari Corp.
 (This demo runs on  a  PC,  not  on  the  Portfolio)  Superb  graphics and
 suitable for an in-store self-running demo/promotion.


                  THE ATARI PORTFOLIO FORUM ON COMPUSERVE
                          HAS BEEN DESIGNATED AN
                OFFICIAL SUPPORT SITE BY ATARI CORPORATION

            "GO APORTFOLIO TO ACCESS THE ATARI PORTFOLIO FORUM"



  """""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""



 > From the Editor's Desk             "Saying it like it is!"
   """"""""""""""""""""""


     About this business of; "Oh please, tell me where you want me" is
 ridiculous!  I cannot believe Brodie feels the majority of the users
 worldwide cannot see through the smoke and mirrors of this latest insult
 to all who are not in the areas he's mentioned.
   
     Before anybody gets their nose all twisted outta shape, let me make
 this perfectly clear..  (where have we heard that before?)  Bob Brodie
 BELONGS on GEnie.... period.  GEnie is the support area for Atari Corp.
 and GEnie has a contract that sez so.  But.. for Brodie to come forward
 and purposely generate a flatulent controversy over absolutely nothing is
 amazing.  Apparently, the "tell me you love me" note was nothing more than
 an exercise in how to distract the users attention away from the reality
 of what is really going on (nothing) and give them something to do online. 
 It really serves no substantially useful purpose other than massaging
 someone's ego.  The worst part is the action itself makes for bad feelings
 among all the major services.  At the same time though, Brodie mentions he
 needs to spend MORE time in the FNET.  Less than 18 months ago, the very
 same network was termed an amateur hobby net, rife with piracy, by Mr.
 Brodie when he was asked to participate by many of the various sysops in
 the FNET.
      
     The time has come when it becomes necessary for the users to refuse
 accepting _any_ apologies for a lack of support by Atari's "Director of
 Communications" on ALL the MAJOR online services!  The online services
 actually make his job a great deal easier.  The sysops, Darlah Potechin,
 Ron Luks, Clay Walnum and all those who work with them are all highly
 experienced Atarians who are dedicated to serving the Atari userbase. 
 These people are quite capable of offering assistance to Brodie.  There is
 no excuse or need for such pleas other than to draw attention to one's
 self.  On the onlines, Brodie is able to reach _many_ people with the same
 effort it takes to reach only one.  What is the problem?  Does Atari need
 this type of controversy now?  Of course not.
   
     Its time we _all_ woke up and smelled the coffee.  We simply must stop
 trying to find reason in insanity.  Atari * MUST * support ALL their
 users if it is to survive and prosper.  We, the users must tell them this
 fact in no uncertain terms.  This business of seeing other users trying to
 constantly apologize for Atari's Director of Communications actions is
 getting old.  It reminds me of the kindly old Reverend patting little
 "Bobby" on the head after the Sunday morning services he so thoroughly and
 completely interrupted and saying to Bobby's mother; "Its alright, He's
 only a little boy.  He'll grow up one day."
    
     Enough is enough!  Doesn't anyone notice that we are going through the
 same OLD discussions year after year?  And.. year after year, we excuse
 certain Atari representatives while saying to each other they'll do better
 next year.  They'll learn with time.  After all... they're young.  Its
 still the same old, "footshot per week" non-sense.  Only now, others are
 being dragged in by these rank amateurs imitating professional PR people
 and publicity people.  Its a disgrace my friends... 
   
     Elsewhere in this issue, we show a number of posts that reflect user's
 feelings relative to this "plea".  Also, we have the last in the AUA
 series (6) its quite informative.  Almost forgot, the Crystal Ball is back
 too.


             Ralph @ STReport International Online Magazine

   



  """""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""





  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:

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  """""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""





 > CPU STATUS REPORT               LATE BREAKING INDUSTRY-WIDE NEWS 
   =================
  
    Issue #25

    Compiled by: Lloyd E. Pulley, Sr.
  


  -- Atari Introduces 'Batman Returns' for the Lynx
  
 Atari is anticipating success of the movie 'Batman Returns' and is re-
 leasing a Lynx games console game of the same name.
  
 Atari is taking the games cartridge seriously -- it's secured the 
 worldwide license for the game -- and expects the Batman game to boost 
 games software and Lynx sales during the slow summer months.
  
 Other promotions are planned for the autumn and Christmas periods.  Atari 
 hopes to sell more than a million Lynx consoles this year alone.
  
  

  -- MiCC Announces Tiny Fax/Data Pocket Modems
  
 Micro Integrated Communications (MiCC) has announced a six ounce pocket 
 data/fax modem for use with portable and pen-based computers that sends 
 and receives data at up to 14,400 bps in data and fax modes.
  
 The $799 modem has V.32 bis in the data mode, V.17 in the fax mode, and 
 V.42 bis data compression. The company says it started shipping this 
 month.  According to the company the modem will be Group III, Class 2 
 capable.
   

  
  -- Toshiba and IBM to Work Together on Flash Memory
  
 Sources say Toshiba and IBM are working on a joint development and sales 
 agreement for a new memory chip with 'flash memory'. Flash memory, which 
 was first developed by Toshiba in 1984, is an erasable and re-writable 
 device on which the written memory does not disappear even when the 
 electrical current is turned off. Also, writing and reading time is said 
 to be much faster than hard disks.  It is said to have great potential 
 as a next-generation memory to replace hard disks and floppy disks.
  
 Both firms are reportedly planning to install flash memory on notebook-
 type personal computers, which will consequently be built much lighter 
 than current hard disk models.
  
 Flash memory is expected to become a big hit by 1993, replacing hard disks
 and floppy disks on computers.
  

  
  -- Ruling Favors Software Firm
  
 In a case closely watched by the software industry, a federal appeals 
 court has rejected an earlier decision giving broad protection to both 
 the programmer's coding and to the function, or user interface, of a 
 program.  The Second Circuit appeals court in Manhattan this week 
 affirmed a lower court's rejection of a controversial decision known as 
 Whelan v. Jaslow.  The court handed a victory to Altai Inc., a small 
 Texas software publisher, against Computer Associates International 
 Inc., the nation's second-largest software company.
  
  
  -- Toshiba and Apple Deal on Multimedia
  
 Toshiba Corp. and Apple Computer Inc. have reached an agreement to 
 jointly license, develop and produce multimedia technology and products.
 According to sources, the first result of the tie-up will be a multi-
 media product based on compact-disc read-only memory, which the two 
 companies expect to launch in mid-1993.
  
  

  -- Microsoft Expects '92 Revenues and Profits to Exceed '91
  
 Microsoft Corp. told investors this week that they expect 1992 revenues 
 and profits to exceed the software giant's 1991 results.  According to a 
 source at Microsoft, Microsoft has achieved a compound growth rate of 
 47% in recent years and expects this to be the 19th consecutive year of 
 growth in revenues and profits.
  
 Microsoft expects 35% of 1992 revenues to be generated from new products 
 introduced during the year.  Revenues from DOS system software accounted 
 for 39% of overall revenues, while applications software contributed 
 51%. Hardware products account for the remainder.
  

  
  -- Apple and IBM Looking into Possible National Information Service
  
 According to Apple Computer Inc. Chairman John Sculley, both Apple and 
 IBM "at this time are looking at going into (the) information services" 
 business.  Reports from Seybold Digital World Conference this week IBM 
 and Apple each is exploring the possible move both individually and 
 jointly through their joint venture, Kaleida.
  

  
  -- IBM to Battle Clones
  
 Industry sources say that IBM plans a broad revamping of its personal 
 computer division this fall and that among the changes will be the 
 announcement of a new, low-cost PC line that is designed to compete 
 head-to-head with the clones.  This "value brand" will not contain as 
 many features or the latest technology found on IBM's top line PS/2, it 
 will likely use the "PS" name with another number or name appended to 
 it, such as "PS Classic."
  
 The company's clone plans have been wracked with confusion in recent 
 weeks. For instance, it was revealed that IBM is also considering 
 selling clones in the United States that are manufactured by another 
 firm but sport the IBM name and logo. In addition, IBM's top PC 
 executive, James Cannavino, said last month "the IBM company isn't going 
 to sell clones."
  

  
  -- Adam Osborne Takes on New Job
   
 Adam Osborne, the developer of the first portable pc 12 years ago, has 
 been named CEO/president of a firm called Vision Logic Inc.  The five
 year old company primarily has sold VGA boards, controllers and 
 peripherals, but last month took a new direction, unveiling a 2 by 5 by 
 1 inch portable drive that comes with Vision's IDE interface controller.
  
 Osborne founded Osborne Computer Corp. in 1980.  Three years later, he 
 founded Paperback Software International. Before that he was president 
 of Osborne and Associates, a microcomputer publishing business.  In 1990, 
 readers of PC Magazine named him one of the five most influential people 
 in the industry.





  ***********************************************************************


                    :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. GEnie's Put a Price on Friendship.............................*BUDDY
  2. LOVED ONES Apart: TOGETHER On GENIE RTC 6/28 at 9 EDT in......FAMILY
  3. Meet writer MICHELLE SAGARA, Sunday at 8 EDT in the...........SFRT
  4. Special Atari ST offer, for MEMBERS ONLY in...................SOFTCLUB
  5. GEN CON/Origins - Register Online.............................TSR
  6. BUY 1 Genesis Game, GET 1 FREE for a LIMITED Time at..........EADIRECT
  7. FREE: LINUX operating system. Author in conference 6/27 4pm...UNIX
  8. MoneyCounts(R) 7.0  =BRAND NEW=  On SALE @ $35................PARSONS
  9. Dragon's Gate Rap Night with DJ Gamester presiding 6/29.......MPGRT
 10. 300 volume barrier smashed - thousands of Clipart images on...WP
 11. New FREEWARE enhances shareware & newsletters: Download SEE...HOSB
 12. ONLINE DIGITAL MUSIC REVIEW 55 ... the best music reviews.....MUSIC
 13. Compaq assaults clones with new family; slashes prices on.....LAPTOPS
 14. GENEDIT template library updates now available in . . ........MIDI
 15. Astronomer discusses the science behind.....................ASTROLOGY
  ________________________________________________________________________
 |                                                                        |
 |                 Welcome to the Atari ST Roundtable                     |
  ------------------------------------------------------------------------
 |                                                                        |
 |  IMPORTANT!!!  Please read Category 1, Topic 2 and add your voice to   |
 |  keeping Bob Brodie, Atari's Director of Communications, online and    |
 |  active here on GEnie's Atari ST Roundtable.  Read message #1 for full |
 |  details.  To read, enter the Bulletin Board and type:  rea 2 1        |
  ------------------------------------------------------------------------

 Last Week's Top Downloaded Programs/Utilities: 
  
       --------------------------------------------------- 
 24519 STKR_302.LZH (LH5)LZH    X GRIBNIF      920614  121344    193   7 
       Desc: Upgrade STalker 3.01 to 3.02 
 24539 ICONS.LZH (LH5)LZH       X ST.REPORT    920617   22272    179  19 
       Desc: *  Super Icon Collection - NEWDESK * 
 24529 HELPFGDS.LZH             X G.KICHOK     920616    4224    138   1 
       Desc: Help file for FontGDOS installation 
 24530 MUSICAL.LZH              X G.KICHOK     920616    7424    118   2 
       Desc: Musical NeoDesk 3 icons, NEW! 
 24550 CHERRYHI.LZH (LH5)LZH    X CHERRY.FONTS 920618    2816    115  21 
       Desc: Nice Warp 9 screen font for high res 
 24502 SPC_3375.LZH (LH5)LZH    X R.GLOVER3    920613   11136     92  28 
       Desc: DMJ's Spectrum Viewer for DMJGIF 3.0 
       --------------------------------------------------- 
  
 Last Week's New Demos: 
  
       --------------------------------------------------- 
 24564 URW_DJET.LZH (LH5)LZH    X CODEHEAD     920619  363264     24  10 
       Desc: URW Font Chart for DeskJet Printers 
 24562 URW_9PIN.LZH (LH5)LZH    X CODEHEAD     920619  218496     11  10 
       Desc: URW Font Chart for 9-Pin Printers 
 24561 URW24PIN.LZH (LH5)LZH    X CODEHEAD     920619  125440     31  10 
       Desc: URW Font Chart for 24-Pin Printers 
 24509 CONVZWEI.LZH             X GRMEYER      920613  194304     27  10 
       Desc: Convector Zwei demo from Germany 
 24506 DRUCKER.LZH              X GRMEYER      920613  371712     10  10 
       Desc: Signum3 shell demo version 
 24500 G_MAN30D.LZH             X DRAGONWARE   920613  139520     25  10 
       Desc: Demo of the G_MAN3.0 and MORE! 
       --------------------------------------------------- 


         GEnie Information copyright (C) 1991 by General Electric
            Information Services/GEnie, reprinted by permission


  ***********************************************************************




 > JERRY, WHO? STR Feature               Who is this guy, Jerry??
   """""""""""""""""""""""





                               JERRY - WHO?
                               ============



 Editor Note:
 ------------
 During the past week, occurring in the Atari ST RT on GEnie, a discussion
 developed that was quite interesting and at the same time very humorous. 
 The main body of the discussion was written in two extremely entertaining
 posts by the ever-enjoyable...

 John J. Jainschigg, writer "extraordinaire"


 John begins...
  
     As I've been suggesting patiently for years, the real reason Jerry
 Pournelle no longer pays much attention to Atari hardware (besides the
 fact that the last call Mr.  Pournelle got from Atari was probably from
 Neil Harris, back in 1985 (grin)) is because nobody has suggested piquant
 NAMES for his Atari machines.

     As any real Pournelle fan will tell you, naming computers is
 absolutely fundamental to the Pournelle ethos of hardware evaluation. 
 Early Chaos Manor scholarship ascribed Pournelle's naming habit to
 projective futuristic anthropomorphism: By naming his computers, he was
 merely anticipating such time as literally intelligent, fully-individuated
 computing machinery would become available.

     Subsequent scholarship has pointed out, however, that instead of
 coming up with "computery" names for his systems (C3P0, R2D2, 21MM392,
 HAL, etc.), Pournelle continues to prefer organic-sounding names such as
 Ezekial, Lucy Van Pelt, Big Cheetah, and the like.  One school of thought
 now suggests that Pournelle performs the act of naming as a divinatory
 gesture based in animism or pantheism.  Before one can propitiate the
 capricious _anima_ or spirit of the machine (deus ex machina), one must
 determine its name -- the first step in determining where a particular
 anima stands in the greater hierarchy of spirits, which will in turn
 determine its area of specific influence, threat-value, and to some
 extent, elucidate the protocols and ceremonies required in its worship.

     Extending the above thesis, a few Manorologists have suggested that
 the ultimate goal of naming is not worship and propitiation, but indeed
 _control_ of the hardware anima.  In this formulation, if Pournelle knows
 the name of a computer's demiurge or loa, he can summon it and to some
 extent, control its behavior.  Even if this so-called "Voodoo" hypothesis
 is correct, however, it should not be carelessly assumed to presuppose
 that Pournelle views computers as inherently dangerous or maleficent
 entities -- i.e., as demons.  While this characterization may indeed
 inform Pournelle's view, it should be noted that the demonic picture of
 the anima is largely restricted to medieval and post-medieval
 Judeo/Christian traditions of sympathetic magic, whereas Pournelle's
 thinking may derive from older African, Mediterranean, and/or Asian
 traditions, that view the generic anima as being fundamentally unconcerned
 with human affairs.  Even in the somewhat ill- reputed Voodoo tradition,
 per se, most loas are perceived as neutral -- the practice of Voodoo
 "demonology," or "dealing with the left hand" is associated only with a
 few specific spirits, most notably Le Baron Samedi (Baron Saturday), the
 loa of Death.  While many of us, indeed, experience the use of
 IBM-compatible hardware as being somehow akin to death, this is doubtless
 related to the fact that IBM computers are, according to a Mambo of my
 acquaintance, under the especial protection of Lemonmedselma, the loa of
 segmented-addressing and 640K limitations, who is cousin to Samedi in the
 traditional Voodoo familial pantheon.

     On the other hand, some have argued that Pournelle's having chosen the
 name Ezekial for his CP/M system -- that name figuring significantly in
 Revelations -- is evidence of precisely this type of demonologic turn in
 the author's metaphysics.  We feel this argument is without merit. 
 Instead, we suggest that while the name Ezekial certainly derives from
 mystic New Testament sources, Pournelle chose it because Ezekial's
 peculiar vision was especially meaningful to him, as a science-fiction
 writer.  As the spiritual recounts: "Ezekial saw the wheel, way up in the
 middle of the air ..." This vision of a fiery flying wheel, along with
 subsequent descriptions of multi- headed, winged figures, have, of course,
 been popularly put forward as scriptural evidence of extraterrestrial
 visitation.

     In the final analysis, we feel that Pournelle's naming of his
 computers is essentially Adamic.  It derives in kind from the story of
 Genesis, wherein Adam's first task, as prototypic human, was to name the
 animals, asserting Man's natural dominion and expressing his essential
 relationship with God the Creator.  The creating God, of course, has
 established the identification of naming with dominion "...  and he called
 the light Day, and the darkness Night, etc.," and is identified in
 apostolic scripture with the primal word, or Logos.

     Having reviewed this analysis, it should be obvious that if Mr. 
 Pournelle is ever to take Atari systems seriously, appropriately evocative
 and meaningful names for them must be provided.  Ideally, of course, we
 might hope that Mr.  Pournelle would invent his _own_ names -- but he may
 still be awaiting delivery of evaluation systems.  In the interim, I
 suggest that it would do no harm, and may do some good, to suggest a few
 tony monikers:

     Binky, Doogie, Semiramis, Carpaccio, Lucrezia Borgia, Lizzy Borden,
 Murphy Brown, Elizabeth Regina, Rosenkrantz, Despina, Count Ugolino,
 Blackadder, Lt.  Commander Data, Spock (sigh), NOMAD, Tinkerbell, Bazooka
 Joe ...  Please feel free to add your own.



 Then, John continues in the second post...

     Actually, DD, Dr.  Jerry Pournelle, PhD is more than "some kind of
 computer guru." Let's see ...  He's got a doctorate in Psychology, and is
 (I seem to remember) also degreed in Aeronautical Engineering or some
 related science.  He regularly consults with the U.S.  Govt., and is a key
 figure in the civilian lobby to support the U.S.  Space Program. 
 Pournelle is best known for his science-fiction novels: He's one of the,
 say, ten (?) most significant science-fiction writers of the late 20th
 century -- very much a proponent of the "hard science" school that tries
 to handle futuristic topics in a lively and interesting fashion without
 making stupid math, physics, terminology, and continuity errors.  (e.g.,
 "Jake looked out the launch window and saw the moon hanging low in the
 sky.  'Thank gosh it's on _this_ side of the Earth,' he thought to
 himself.  'We can fly right up to it in a straight line, and don't have to
 turn left, first.  Hmmm ...  five minutes to launch ...  Better suit up!")


     In particular, the novels he's lately written in collaboration with
 author Larry Niven have been both significant works of science-fiction
 and, I'm given to understand, great commercial successes.  Check out "The
 Mote in God's Eye," "Lucifer's Hammer," "Footfall," and others.  My
 personal favorite is Footfall, in which Earth is menaced by interstellar
 armies of elephant-like herd animals.  I read it as an allegory of the
 present state of the computer market.  (grin) Seriously, it's an allegory
 on human nature, and involves one of the most successful efforts I've ever
 read to invent and animate a believable alien culture based on
 understandable biological imperatives (i.e., "what if, instead of having
 an intelligent life-form that evolved out of monkeys swinging in the
 trees, we made one up that evolved out of cud-chewers that hung around mud
 holes on the plains?")

     (Note to make myself seem cool by association:  My brother, Nicholas
 ("The Famous Sci-Fi Artist") Jainschigg, was actually written into the
 latest of Dr. Pournelle's books -- "Fallen Angels," done in collaboration
 with Larry Niven and Mike Flynn.  One of the characters in the novel, a
 collector of sci- fi and fantasy art, is described as owning an original
 Jainschigg illustration of one of Mr. Flynn's stories.  Is that cool, or
 like ...  what?)

     Re: Computers, Pournelle was an "early adopter" of the microcomputer
 ethos, and is best-known for his continuing work for Byte Magazine.  Now
 called (I think) "Computing at Chaos Manor," his column represents a body
 of work going back for more than a decade.  As industry rumor describes
 it, Pournelle got into computers very early, and recognized right off the
 bat that much of the information available on computers was canted towards
 a techno-hobbyist's range of interests, rather than those of a real,
 basic computer "user"-type.  So he went to Byte with the idea of writing a
 column from the perspective of somebody who, while they indeed _liked_
 computers, basically just wanted to _get some work done with them._

     His columns were immediate standouts in Byte, which back in the late
 '70's and early '80's was truly a hands-on technical journal.  They were
 long, highly anecdotal, self-revelatory grab-bags of information, wherein
 Pournelle would write about whatever he was doing with his computers at
 that moment: getting them fixed, making them do stuff, writing BASIC
 programs on them, playing with software, etc., illuminated with frequent
 digressions into computing philosophy, space science, writing,
 metaphysics, and other peripheral topics.  One of the wonderful things
 about these early columns was that Pournelle never apologized for writing
 about his particular interests in great detail, and made little attempt to
 "generalize" his personal experience to appeal to some kind of
 hypothetical user-profile.  Instead, the very "homeliness" of his work is
 eloquent testimony to the fact that the experience of using computers is
 intensely and intimately personal, that it involves deep learning and
 works vast changes on individual consciousness.  Pournelle's columns may,
 indeed, eventually be recognized as an important primary resource for
 understanding the sea-changes wrought by computing on human society and
 spirit.

     In more practical terms, Pournelle's columns have always managed to
 put across the extraordinary _glee_ that intelligent people feel when they
 play around with technology and end up learning something new or doing
 something useful.  It's very, very valuable to recognize this glee, and to
 distinguish it from other emotional responses to tech ...  if you don't,
 you end up in the unfortunate position we're presently in as regards the
 automobile, where it's not so much the quiet glee of the ingenious and
 loving mechanic that drives the industry (if it were, we'd have
 non-polluting cars that ran 100 miles on a glass of water), but the macho
 posturings of speed freaks and consumerists who buy cars "off the rack."

     In the end, I think one of the great values of Pournelle's
 contribution is that his work recognizes that (at present) the computer
 system each of us owns is a product of collaboration between the industry
 (such as it is or may be), and our own desires and energies and ideas
 about how we want to work or play with our machines.  Even today,
 everybody's hard disk looks different.  Everybody's AUTOEXEC.BAT file or
 \AUTO folder is (or at least has the potential to be) unique.

     Unfortunately, I can see this sense of necessary uniqueness eroding as
 computer technology becomes more and more a part of daily life.  Me, I
 still have the feeling, when I get up from my workstation at 5:00 PM
 (okay, okay, more like 2:00 AM) that heck -- whatever went wrong today,
 whatever nasty phone calls I had to field -- STILL, I was privileged to
 sit for eight (ten, twelve, sixteen) hours in front of a machine that's a
 dynamic monument to human (and indeed to my own) ingenuity.  But all too
 often, I see co-workers get up and go home with none of the sense that
 they've occupied a shrine, or participated in the unfolding of a mystery.

     All joking about "naming computers" aside, the real reason Jerry
 Pournelle should take a serious look at his TT is because the human
 culture of Atari users seems to be one of the few hardware-associated
 attitude spaces where self-sufficient, quirky, nerdy, down-and-dirty,
 old-style computing is still going on.  Tell him.. it'll make him feel
 young again.


 Boy ..........  was THAT a diatribe! (grin)

                                   John Jainschigg

 Note:  This editor/publisher is going to sorely miss John's eloquent,
 expert writing style we became ever so used to finding in Atari Explorer. 
 John made the term "phoenix" come true as far as Explorer is concerned. 
 Good luck to you John... I, like most other Atarians, will miss your
 honesty, clarity and above all else your genuine sense of humor and fair
 play.



     ________________________________________________________________






 > AIM SPECIAL OFFER! STR InfoFile    "Bon Voyage John" Special
   """""""""""""""""""""""""""""""




                            ATARI  INTERFACE
                       "Bon Voyage John" Special*




 The July/August issue of Atari Explorer is the  last issue  to be produced
 by  John  Jainschigg  and  his  capable staff. John and his people brought
 Explorer back from certain death. Now, Atari is  pulling Explorer in-house
 and Explorer's future is once more in doubt.

 We're going  to miss  John and  the great  things his  staff has done with
 Explorer. But that doesn't mean YOU have to miss a great source  for Atari
 news, reviews  and editorials  covering the  Atari 8-bit, ST/TT, Portfolio
 and Lynx.  Just take  advantage of  the special  discount AIM subscription
 rates on the form below.

 Fill out and return the form, or call (313) 973-8825, have your MasterCard
 or VISA handy and say "I want the 'Bon Voyage John' special!"

 You don't have to be  an  Explorer  subscriber  to  get  this  great deal.
 However, this  special is NOT valid for current AIM subscribers (i.e., you
 can't extend/renew an existing  AIM  subscription  via  this  offer). This
 offer ends October 31, 1992, so don't miss the boat on this one!


 cut here
     """""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""

                   "Bon Voyage John" AIM Special Offer Form
                       (OFFER EXPIRES OCTOBER 31, 1992)


 Name: ____________________________________________________________________

 Address: _________________________________________________________________

 City: _____________________  State/Country:  ______________  ZIP: ________


 Rates:    ____ $12 for 1 yr. US 3rd Class     ____ $36 for 1 yr. Canadian

           ____ $30 for 1 yr. US 1st Class     ____ $42 for 1 yr. Foreign

                           (1 year = 12 magazines)


  ____ Sign me up for your Disk(s) of the Month as well!

       ____ ST/Mega (12 DS disks)      $50 additional

       ____ 8-bit (12 SS/SD flippies)  $50 additional

       ____ Mac/Spectre (12 DS disks)  $50 additional

               Format:   ____ Mac   ____ Spectre


  ____ I wish to pay by VISA/MasterCard!

       Card Number: ___________________________  Exp. Date: ___________

       Signature: _____________________________________________________

       ($2 processing fee on orders under $100, $3 on orders over $100)


 Return this form to:
                           Unicorn Publications
                           3487 Braeburn Circle
                           Ann Arbor, MI  48108
                              (313) 973-8825

 If paying by VISA or MasterCard, you can also return this form to us via
 E-mail at the following locations:

           CompuServe:    70007,4640
                GEnie:    UNICORNPUB
               Delphi:    UNICORNPUB
               Usenet:    brayl@nyx.cs.du.edu


   * The text of this offer is taken from an advertisement scheduled to
     appear in the final Jainschigg issue of Explorer. We thought we'd
     share it with everyone.




  ***********************************************************************

                             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.

                         :IMPORTANT ANNOUNCEMENT:
                     DELPHI INTRODUCES THE 10/4 PLAN.

     Effective July 1, 1992, all Basic Plan members will be upgraded to the
 10/4 Plan and receive 4 hours of usage each month for only $10!   For full
 details, type  GO USING RATES.  SprintNet home time to begin at 6:00 p.m.!
 Effective July 1, 1992, you may access DELPHI  via SprintNet  beginning at
 6:00 p.m.  local time  without incurring a telecom surcharge.  To find the
 SprintNet node nearest you, type GO USING ACCESS.

                 DELPHI- It's getting better all the time!



  ***********************************************************************






 > BLUE RIDGE FEST STR SHOW NEWS          Summer Fun with Atari!
   """""""""""""""""""""""""""""






                         BLUE RIDGE ATARIFEST '92
                         ========================




  Press Release - June 26, 1992


  FOR IMMEDIATE DISTRIBUTION


 The Blue Ridge Atari  Computer  Enthusiasts  (BRACE)  and  Computer STudio
 invite  you  to  participate  in  the third annual Blue Ridge AtariFest on
 Saturday, July 18, 1992.  The show will take place  in the  Courtyard Shop
 area of  Westgate Shopping  Center in  Asheville, North  Carolina (Home of
 Computer STudio).

 Our list of exhibitors continues to grow.   This week's  additions include
 Maxwell CPU  (Silhouette --  Bit image  & vector  graphics drawing program
 with auto-tracing), Applied Audio  Marketing (Atari's  Southeast Rep Firm)
 and Steinberg-Jones (Cubase, etc.).  Applied Audio Marketing and Steinberg
 Jones will be teaming up to bring the latest MIDI  technology to  the Blue
 Ridge AtariFest.  Their display and demo will include:

     * Computers and music sequencing software.
     * MIDI Machine Control.
     * Interfacing the computer and music software with personal
       multitrack tape recording equipment (i.e. Fostex).
     * Demo of Steinberg Cubase 3.0 with Fostex R8 with MTC-1.
     * Getting your song copyrighted and published.

  Exhibitor's who have already made a commitment to attend include
  (Alphabetical Listing):

  Accusoft-ST (Michael Cooper) ................ PD/Shareware Software
  Applied Audio Marketing, Inc.
         (Bob Edsall, John Spencer)............ Atari Southeast
                                                Regional Rep Firm
  Atari Computer Corporation (Mike Groh) ......
  ABC Solutions (Peter Zalesak) ............... Publisher ST2, First
                                                Word, First Graph,
                                                tbxCAD, Kuma's
                                                KSpread4/Lite
  Clear Thinking (Craig Harvey) ............... EdHak
  CodeHead Software (John Eidsvoog) ........... Midi Spy, TOS Extension
                                                Card, Megapaint II Pro,
                                                Hotwire, G+Plus,
                                                LookIt/PopIt, etc.
  Computer STudio ............................. Visit a 'real' Atari
                                                Dealership in the mall
  DSA (Robert Dytmire & David Munsie) ......... GP Graphics Engine -
                                                New product unveiling!
  Goldleaf Publishing (John Fox) .............. Wordflair II, Didot,
                                                Retouche, Sherlook,
                                                etc.
  KAUG (Knoxville Atari Users Group) .......... P/D Library Disks
  KAUG (Seminar by Erik White) ................ "Beginning MIDI"
  Lexicor Software (John Cole) ................ Desktop Video Software
  Maxwell CPU (Julie Reyes) ................... Silhouette
  Reed Mountain Press (Don Terp) .............. Desktop Publishing
                                                Seminar
  Software Development Systems (Scott Sanders). NewDesk Icon Editor
                                                CPX, Printer
                                                Utilities Pak
  ST Report/ABCO Computer (Ralph Mariano) ..... Seminar on current
                                                events in the Atari
                                                marketplace.
  Steinberg-Jones ............................. MIDI (Cubase, etc.)
  Step Ahead Software (Nevin Shalit) .......... Tracker ST (Nevin is
                                                Current IAAD Pres.)
  Twilight Zone Software (Wayne Watson) ....... Transcendence BBS
                                                software.
  Willard Productions (Clifton Willard) ....... Professional Desktop
                                                Video
  WorldComm (Ralph Roberts) ................... Author of several
                                                computer books incl.
                                                "Computer Viruses"
                                                and hint books

 Showtimes are  10am -  6pm.  Advance registration is only $2, or $3 at the
 door.   Door  prize  winners  will  be  selected  from  registered guests.
 Advance registration checks should made out to "BRACE" and mailed to:

                             Cliff Allen/BRACE
                            c/o Computer STudio
                         Westgate Shopping Center
                       40 Westgate Parkway - Suite D
                           Asheville, NC  28806

 A Southern-style  banquet will  follow the  show 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.

           """""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""

 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

         """"""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""

  For additional information, please contact either:

      Sheldon Winick                     Cliff Allen, Show Coord.
      GEnie:  S.WINICK                   GEnie:  C.ALLEN17
      Computer STudio                    Internet:  CALLEN@UNCA.EDU
      Westgate Shopping Center           phone:  (704) 258-3758
      40 Westgate Parkway - Suite D
      Asheville, NC  28806
      (704) 251-0201

  or the Blue Ridge AtariFest topic on GEnie (Atari Roundtable,
  Category 11, Topic 7).



      ______________________________________________________________





 > WHY?? STR SOUND OFF          "Is Anybody in Charge here?"
   """""""""""""""""""



  
                       "IS ANYBODY IN CHARGE HERE?"
                       ============================




 by Beth Jane Freeman


     Fellow Atari stockholders, I did not come here simply to complain
 about the poor performance of Atari Corp, or the kvetch about the way
 business is handled here.  Merely to point out what is wrong with this
 company would be counter-productive, leaving all of us feeling rather
 depressed.  Kvetching in itself will not solve these problems, and they
 must be solved.

     I have several reasons for addressing you today.  First, of course,
 I'm an Atari shareholder, second, I am the owner of two Atari computers, a
 1040 ST and a 1200 XL, along with software and peripherals.  My first
 experiences with Atari computers go back to when the company was part of
 Warner Communications.  I am also the chairperson of my user group, which
 is a woefully small sub- set of the Long Island Computer Association.  As
 you can see I have a rather large vested interest in what happens to
 Atari.

     I guess you're wondering what qualifications I have to suggest ways of
 turning this company around.  Just because I own and use an Atari computer
 doesn't necessarily mean I know about running a business.  I bought my
 first Atari to run my own business.  I found many ways to use the computer
 to keep track of all the pesky paper work that comes with a retail jewelry
 business, inventory, bookkeeping, letter writing, and so forth.  I became
 very adept at using the computer, writing a few programs here and there,
 and when I got my ST, I availed myself of the desktop publishing software
 and used it to enhance my business.  I have also taken courses in
 advertising at my local community college in addition to my bachelor of
 science degree from a prestigious eastern university.  I have found many
 ways of using the software I have for many different and useful purposes,
 all to the end of working faster, better, and more creatively.  It is
 this knowledge and experience that I bring to this meeting.

     I think that one of the biggest problems facing Atari is its woeful
 lack of customer and dealer support.  I find this inexcusable.  In my
 business we have a saying that when you sell a customer a ring, you're
 married to them.  They will come back to you when the slightest thing
 happens to their purchase, and they will want you to make it right. 
 Handled correctly, this can mean that this customer will come back again
 and again to make additional purchases, and encourage their friends to do
 the same.  In the computer industry, I believe that WordPerfect
 Corporation is a prime example of excellent customer support.  A customer
 buys the program, and they can count on a friendly voice at the other end
 of an 800 number to guide them through any problems they might have.

     I realize that this sort of thing requires considerable expense (for
 the telephone lines and the people to staff them), but Atari can do more,
 much more than it is doing now, which is practically nothing.  We can
 develop a system to speedily  respond to problems through the mail.  This
 is a computer company and we can use computers to streamline to process of
 answering customers' problems.  First of all, we have make sure that all
 of our customers understand what Atari needs to know about the problem, so
 that we can determine what should be done to remedy it.  Atari can post
 notices about this on Genie and CompuServe, as well as printing this
 information in Atari Explorer magazine.

     We need to explain to the customer that he or she needs to tell us
 what program they were using when the problem occurred, what programs are
 in their AUTO folder, and in what order.  In addition Atari also needs to
 know which peripherals are hooked up to their machine.  This should be
 explained in detail, including how to display the AUTO folder so that the
 files inside of it are in chronological order.

     Now, a way is needed for Atari to respond quickly and concisely to its
 customers.  It should not take a registered letter to get the attention of
 Atari's staff.  That is where the computers come in.  Each problem that
 Atari is already familiar with will have a solution recorded as a file on
 the computer.  For example, if the user's computer crashes each time they
 try to load a certain disk with a particular combination of AUTO folder
 programs, we can tell them that program XYZ must be placed after program
 ABC, and explain to them how to do that.  If the problem is rather
 serious, requiring the services of an authorized repair service, Atari
 should send them the name address and telephone number of the nearest
 repair center, and if there is more then one, Atari should list all of
 them in the area.  A list of these service centers can be put in a data
 base for easy access and incorporation into the reply letter.  Each known
 solution can be a macro or a file that is pasted into the letter to the
 user.  If the problem is totally the fault of a particular piece of third
 party software or hardware, that is possibly being used incorrectly, the
 user should be referred to the company who makes that software.

     There are also the severe problems of the Atari service centers, one
 of which is the scarcity of replacement parts.  I had a problem with my
 1040 ST, and I had to bring it to my Atari service center for repair.  One
 of the little pins on my MMU chip broke off chip, and the chip would not
 function correctly.  The service center had no replacement available, and
 they had no idea when they would be able to obtain one.  All they could do
 is diagnose the problem.  That was appalling to me.  They gave me back the
 broken chip, and I brought it to a friend of mine and fellow LICA member. 
 He thought that we might be able to solder on a new leg for it.  First I
 had to scrape away some of the black plastic on the chip to allow for a
 place to solder on the new leg.  I had to use my microscope to clearly see
 what I was doing.  My friend's brother had to finish the scraping job, and
 another friend soldered the new leg in place.  This was all because my
 Atari Service Center had no MMU chips for replacements.  This sort of
 thing must not be allowed to continue.

     As I understand from some of my more techie friends, you can program
 blank chips to perform almost any task necessary.  While you cannot do
 that with the MMU chips, you can do that with the TOS ROMs and several
 other chips inside the computer.  Blank chips can easily be obtained, as
 well as a small hand held device that will allow a person to test chips to
 see, not only whether they are good or bad, but what kind they are.  All
 of this can be purchased a stone's throw from here, right in San Jose. 
 The same store also has a mail order department and a catalog complete
 with toll-free telephone numbers.  That leaves the matter of programming
 the chip.  What I propose is another BBS at Atari headquarters.  However,
 this BBS is only available to Authorized Atari Service Centers.  On this
 BBS, the technicians can download the software that is contained on
 various chips and program their own chips.  This way they will not have to
 wait to get one from Atari.  The service technician can purchase an EPROM
 burner, chip tester and blank chips, and make his own replacements. 
 Upgrading TOS will take a few days at most, depending on how busy to
 service center is.  A message base should also be available so that
 experiences and ideas can be exchanged among technicians.  The number for
 this BBs would only be given to Authorized Atari Service Centers.

     Each Authorized Atari Service Center should be easily identified by
 the consumer, perhaps with a sticker for the front door.  All service
 centers should have up-to-date information for each computer Atari makes. 
 This does not have to some elaborate bound book.  It could merely be pages
 of bond paper that the service tech keeps in a loose leaf.  All that is
 required is clear diagrams and neatly written information, along with the
 names and addresses of places where various generic parts can be ordered.

     Atari owes it to its service technicians to keep them informed and to
 make replacement parts readily available to them.  Disgruntled customers
 have to be made a thing of the past, or we will lose even more of our
 market share to MS DOS and Apple.  Service technicians should not have to
 get repeated calls from their customers inquiring if the part for their
 broken computer has arrived.  Atari basically has a good product, be it
 seems that Atari Corp has done everything possible to hide its light under
 a bushel basket.  In the long run, that is a very expensive way of doing
 business. (Chorus from "Throwing It All Away")

     Another problem that needs to be addressed is advertising.  I believe
 that the executives are under the erroneous impression that only a full
 page four color ad will attract anyone's attention, and television is way
 too expensive for Atari to engage in except right before Christmas and
 Chanukah.  There are many ways to advertise, and not all of them are
 expensive.  First and foremost, Atari must see who their customers are. 
 Since we have our own magazine, Atari Explorer, and Atari forums on Genie
 and CompuServe, the answer is very easy.  Look at the lists of
 subscribers and learn their names and ages.  I assure you, not all
 Atarians are thirteen year old boys with mischief on their minds.  We are
 older than you think and more serious.

     As to print advertising, we must help what is left or Atari's retail
 outlets to push our products.  It is sad to say that in some stores, the
 Atari ST is sitting out there, just running the desktop, without even a
 control panel for a passerby to fool with.  This is totally non-decorous,
 and inexcusable.  Of course not every retailer who sells Atari is an
 advertising genius or has the time or creativity to devise his or her own
 promotions.  That is where Atari can be of help without dipping very far
 into the advertising budget.

     Many of the finest programs available for the Atari ST have demo
 versions.  Pagestream is one, and many Codehead products have
 demonstration versions.  I strongly recommend that Atari gather these demo
 programs, which should be very simple to do, since Atari has direct
 contact with all of its software developers.  It would be a very simple
 matter to contact all of them and ask them to send the demos to Atari for
 advertising purposes.  There is also Degas Elite, a long time Atari ST
 program.  Degas Elite has a slide show program that has been put in the
 public domain.  Atari could also prepare a Degas slide show that dealers
 could run to show off what the Atari computers can do.

     Another way Atari can help its retailers (and itself) become more well
 known is by giving its retailers a kit containing suggestions on how to
 promote Atari computers in their store.  Again this does not have to be an
 elaborate glossy rendition.  There could be explanations of how to run an
 Atari day with demonstrations of various programs, a floppy disk with
 desktop publishing materials for creating advertisements with both
 Pagestream and Calamus, demonstrations of MIDI music, and other things
 that will make customer sit up and take notice.  This type of project
 would be rather inexpensive compared to other forms of advertising like
 television commercials.

     Atari has to get on the stick and do something to help its retailers
 sell Atari computers.  We are losing outlets.  Only recently, Atari lost
 47th Street Photo and J and R Music World.  Both of these stores used to
 carry Atari computers, but not any longer (chorus of "Another One Bites
 the Dust").  That is only in the New York metropolitan area.  Atari cannot
 afford to lose any more market outlets.  With so many computer stores
 devoting themselves exclusively to MS DOS machines or MacIntoshes, there
 is very little room for Atari on the shelves.  Atari must be accessible. 
 It does no good to make the name a household word if the public cannot
 find it at the store.  There are clone manufacturers who have more
 consumer recognition than Atari does, and this is absolutely pitiful.

     Even though Atari is a smaller organization than its major
 competitors, IBM and Apple, it still would be costly if it went under.  If
 Atari closed its doors, we stockholders would all be left hanging out to
 dry, but all of the people here at the executive offices would lose their
 jobs, as well.  The people at the software houses who make Atari computer
 programs and third party products would also lose their jobs, and
 retailers would also probably trim their staffs because there is less
 inventory to sell to fewer customers.  A failure on the part of Atari will
 have ripple effects across the country.  In these critical times, it is
 morally reprehensible to cause people to lose their jobs when it could
 have been prevented.

     Already, we have seen that Supra Corporation has announced it will
 cease making Atari specific products. (Another chorus of "Another One
 Bites the Dust")  This effect were to continue, other companies who make
 products for the Atari will follow.  Although Atari ST and STe can use any
 brand of external modem and any type and make of printer, when it comes to
 disk drives, and hard drives, they must be Atari specific.  This is also
 true of mice and scanners.  We cannot afford for this condition to
 continue.  Our users need choices when it comes to peripherals.

     As a positive note, and a way to make the public aware of just what an
 Atari computer can do, Atari should make the public aware that you can get
 Word Perfect for the Atari, that we have two very fully featured
 spreadsheet programs, VIP Professional and LDW Power, that rival anything
 on the MS DOS market, and visually blow Lotus 1-2-3 right out of the
 water, for less money, too.  Atari also has relational databases similar
 to dBase, desktop publishing software that have the same kind of high end
 features as Venture and Pagemaker, without the price tag that goes with
 the IBM programs.  Our telecommunication programs can take advantage of
 more than just the basic X modem and ASCII file transfer programs.  We
 have programs that can use Kermit, Y modem batch, and Z modem.  Some of
 them can even emulate MS DOS's  ANSI graphics.  Any company that Atarifies
 their software should be recognized and encouraged, even if the Atari
 version came out after they made an IBM version.

     What should we do with this information?  We should advertise it. 
 "Power without the Price" is a very good slogan, but it does not tell the
 public what they can do with all of this power.  That is where our list of
 excellent programs comes in.  The public needs to see that not every great
 program is the exclusive province of that unfriendly MS DOS type of
 computer, and you can have it all for less than you'd pay for a comparable
 IBM or MacIntosh program.  CompuServe and Genie are crawling with all
 sorts of shareware and public domain programs, and for those Atarians
 without modems, shareware and public domain programs can be purchased for
 a small price from various distributors.

     Very budget-minded Atarians could conceivably have an excellent
 computer system without buying any commercially produced software, just by
 availing themselves of the various public domain and shareware programs
 that can be obtained at minimal cost.  No matter how an Atari owner does
 it, he or she can have a computer that does all sorts of wonderful and
 useful things without straining his or her budget.  We can never sit back
 and just assume that the public knows this.  We must pound this message
 home loudly and often if we want to keep this company afloat both in
 Europe and here in America.


                                    -*-

 Please Note:
 This above is what I was going to say to the stockholders' meeting on June
 2nd, 1992, but I got my annual report four days before the meeting, and I
 had no time to make arrangements to get out to Sunnyvale.  I live on the
 east coast.



      _______________________________________________________________





 > CT FEST STR SHOW NEWS                       Air Travel Tips
   """""""""""""""""""""



                   CONNECTICUT ATARIFEST '92 TRAVEL TIPS
                   =====================================


 Getting here by Air

 AIRLINE RESERVATIONS:

 The  following  airlines  serve  Bradley International Airport. Call these
 toll-free numbers for information  about  fares,  schedules, restrictions,
 etc., and to reserve a flight to Hartford:

               AIRLINE & CODE               TELEPHONE
               Air Alliance (3J)            (800) 776-3000
               Air Ontario (GX)             (800) 422-6232
               American Airlines (AA)       (800) 433-7300
               American Eagle (AA)          (800) 433-7300
               Business Express (HQ)        (800) 345-3400
               Continental Airlines (CO)    (800) 525-0280
               Continental Express (QO)     (800) 525-0280
               Delta Airlines (DL)          (800) 221-1212
               Mohawk Airlines (ZO)         (800) 252-2144
               Northwest Airlines (NW)      (800) 225-2525
               Northwest Airlink (2V)       (800) 225-2525
               Trans World Airlines (TW)    (800) 221-2000
               Trans World Express (TW)     (800) 221-2000
               United Airlines (UA)         (800) 241-6522
               United Express (UA)          (800) 241-6522
               U.S. Air (US)                (800) 428-4322
               U.S. Air Express (US)        (800) 428-4322

 When you  arrive, no need to worry about your room if you're booked at the
 Sheraton Hotel. It is located in the airport. If you're staying at  one of
 these hotels  or inns,  you can  make arrangements  for a  courtesy van by
 using one of the phones in the baggage claim area:

 Bradley International Motor Inn, Budgetel Inn, Courtyard by Marriott, Days
 Inn -  Tobacco Valley,  Fairfield Inn, Harley Hotel, Holiday Inn - Windsor
 Locks, Homewood Suites, Journey's End - Springfield (Mass.), Ramada - East
 Windsor, Sheraton  - Hartford  (Downtown), Sheraton Tara - Springfield and
 Simsbury Inn.


 CAR RENTALS

 Some car rental agencies offer special rates and courtesy pickups from the
 airport  or  off-site  hotel.  Contact  these  companies directly for more
 information:
 At Bradley International Airport:

               RENTAL AGENCY                TELEPHONE
               Alamo                        (203) 623-7732
               Avis                         (203) 627-3500
               Budget                       (203) 627-3660
               Dollar                       (203) 627-9048
               Hertz                        (203) 627-3850
               National                     (203) 627-3470

 Off-Site Car Rentals:

               RENTAL AGENCY                TELEPHONE
               Airways                      (203) 623-9333
               Payless                      (800) PAYLESS, (203) 623-5488
               Thrifty                      (800) FOR-CARS, (203) 623-8214


 BUS/LIMOUSINE/SEDAN & SHUTTLE SERVICE

 Other services operating at Bradley include:

               CARRIER                      TELEPHONE
               Airport Connection           (203) 627-3400
               Airport Taxi/Limousine       (203) 627-3210
               The Connecticut Co., Inc.    (203) 527-8060
               Mount Snow Vermont Tours     (802) 464-5431
               Peter Pan Bus Lines          (203) 627-3210, (413) 781-2900
               Thomas Transportation        (203) 627-3434
               Valley Transporter           (800) 872-8752

            (Source: Connecticut Department of Transportation)



    ___________________________________________________________________





 > The UNTOLD Story! STR Spotlight  PITTSBURGH.... Finally, the TRUTH!
   """""""""""""""""""""""""""""""



                    THE UNTOLD STORY OF PITTSBURGH, PA
                    ==================================




 by DC Signorini
 (c) 1991, 1992, 1992 


 =======
 PART VI  
 =======


     [This is part 6 and conclusion 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.   If you  missed Part  I, II, III,
     IV,  or  V,  you  are  encouraged  to  read these Parts before reading
     further.]



                             WHAT NEXT, ATARI?
                             -----------------

     I  find  it  very  difficult  to  understand  exactly  what  Atari has
 attempted to  accomplish by  letting the ST die in the states.  Obviously,
 Jack must be making money somewhere with the  company, but  not by selling
 units in this country.  After all, one is in business to make money and if
 Jack is not making money, then why is he in business?   I am  not going to
 speculate how  Jack is  making his  money and  why he is still with Atari.
 Companies like Apple are making millions and have millions of users in the
 world.  Atari has maybe 1 million users?  And how many are in the US?  Not
 many.  In order for a computer platform  to thrive,  there must  be users.
 At this  time, I  find it  difficult to speculate as to how Atari plans to
 turn the market around here in the US.   The  ST is  no longer  the "power
 without the price" computer.  It is slow -- 8Mhz.  Its graphics are dated.
 There is very little software being developed for the computer.  And, have
 you priced  one lately?   In 1985, an 8Mhz machine was fast.  Almost twice
 as fast as an IBM clone  running at  4.77Mhz.   Today, you  can purchase a
 32bit 80386 computer running 33Mhz and super VGA, hard drive, dual floppy,
 and 4 megs of RAM for under $2000.  An Atari MEGA 4 STe, Hard drive, color
 system is well into the $2500 range and is only running at 16Mhz.
  
     Ask yourself  this question -- Can you recommend the purchase of an ST
 at this  time to  a friend?   Is  he (or  she) a  real friend,  or just an
 acquaintance?   Would you put them into the position where they would have
 to buy their software from mail order and never walk into a  book store or
 a software  store to  see one  Atari ST piece?  During the past 5 years, I
 have recommended the Atari ST to  nearly 15  people -  Friends, relatives,
 and acquaintances.   They all purchased the ST thinking that it was the up
 and coming computer.  Little did they know that today, they would  have to
 purchase  software  and  hardware  via  mail.    This has put me in a very
 awkward position of trying to help people such  as these  cope with having
 spent a  great deal  of money  on a  machine that has been orphaned in the
 United States.  One guy called me a few months  back and  asked if  I knew
 where he  could sell  his ST  because he is tired of walking into computer
 stores to see IBM  clones running  software that  he can  touch, hear, and
 purchase there on the spot as opposed to having to order from a catalog or
 a leaflet and waiting a week to get a product that really  was a  piece of
 junk.
                               A REVOLUTION
                               ------------

     How many  of you  remember or  even know about the Revolution that was
 instituted in 1989?  This movement  was  started  by  a  guy  named Donald
 Thomas  and  was  an  attempt  to  spread word of the Atari ST via mailing
 campaigns, group participation efforts,  and  word  of  mouth advertising.
 Many of  you will  say that you have heard of the Revolution and are aware
 of what it was all about.  And, many will say they  have heard  of it, but
 have no  clear understanding  of it.   Last, there are many who have never
 heard of it.
   
     Instead of going into detail of what the Revolution was,  I would like
 to  address  those  who  knew  all  about  it.  Question 1 -- What did the
 revolution hope to  accomplish  and  what  did  it  eventually accomplish?
 Question 2  -- How  many of you knew that Donald Thomas was an employee of
 Atari?
   
     The second question is rather loaded  and maybe  uncalled for  in this
 story.   However, I  felt it  necessary to discuss this issue since no one
 else in the journalistic  community  has  been  willing  to  do  so.   The
 Revolution was  supposed to re-vitalize the Atari ST in the United States.
 It was an attempt  to jump  start massive  purchasing of  ST equipment and
 software.    Atari  has  officially  supported  the  Revolution  from  the
 beginning. 
   
     Bob Brodie told me  himself  back  in  1990  that  they  supported the
 Revolution.   Yet, Bob to this day has been unwilling to even look at what
 the AUA has done over the past 2 years.  Why?  This is my personal theory.
 The revolution  was concocted  and funded the Atari Corporation.  They put
 Donald Thomas in charge  of  the  Revolution  effort  and  gave  him their
 blessing to  succeed.  After all, this was an inexpensive way to advertise
 and also lay a smoke screen for their lack of a  major advertising effort.
 I believe  that Atari  felt that  this "revolution" would help to keep the
 Atari ST userbase quiet for awhile.  Atari at that time was being screamed
 at to  advertise in  the US,  and they  felt that  maybe if they gave this
 power to the people, it would appease the masses.  It worked  for a while.
 Users were  happy to  participate in something that would help promote the
 ST and provide the ST with a future  in the  US.   And Atari  sat back and
 watched and to this day, there have been NO MAJOR ADVERTISING expenditures
 on the part of Atari Corporation.  How  can you  sell computers  if you do
 not advertise???!!
   
     I can  attest that  I am  not an employee of Atari Corporation at this
 time, nor was I ever, nor do I ever care to be.   What  Tony and  I do for
 AUA  is  on  our  own  time,  out  of  our  own pocket, and out of our own
 insanity.  Donald Thomas was placed on a pedestal by  Atari as  if to say,
 "Look here, here is the king that will lead our people..."  And the people
 were frenzied.
   
     I for one supported the efforts of the Revolution up until the  time I
 found that  Donald Thomas was employed at Atari.  If you don't believe me,
 pick up a copy of Atari Explorer and look at the credits page and  see.  I
 may  catch  a  lot  of  heat  for this section about the Revolution, but I
 really do not care since I, like many  others, am  scraping the  bottom of
 the barrel to keep the ST alive in my soul and the US.

   
                                CONCLUSION
                                ----------


     I tendered  my resignation  to the  Atari Elite shortly after the PACE
 show in 1990  because  of  my  involvement  in  the  AUA  and  all  of the
 controversy surrounding  the Atari  Elite and  the software  library.  AUA
 could not withstand the controversy regardless of the outcome, and I could
 not personally  devote the  time necessary  in my defense.  So, I took the
 easy route and completely dissolved the ties with me and  Atari Elite.   I
 left behind  many friends,  many of  which I  think about quite often.  My
 resignation came  as  a  shock  to  them,  and  while  they  may  not have
 understood then  why I  did what  I did, I think they may now realize that
 the AUA would not have survived the controversy.
   
     I do not regret my decision I made to leave the group, however, I feel
 that I  could have  perhaps done it in a better manor than I did.  I often
 wish that those I left behind  would not  hold grudges  and realize  I did
 what I did to survive.  AUA has become a very large organization in a very
 short time period.  I owe a great deal of  thanks to  the Atari  Elite for
 backing the  AUA when  it came to Pittsburgh.  AUA would not have survived
 without their confidence and financial support in 1989.  Where  we go from
 here  is  unknown.    I  have  a very uncomfortable feeling about being so
 comfortable with  my achievements  with the  AUA.   Tony and  I have spent
 thousands of  hours of our time (all un-paid) to bring the AUA to the 1600
 member level in only  2 years  and plan  to begin  handing down  to others
 responsibilities that we have carried for so long.
   
     The future  of Atari  Computers is  very uncertain.   As I write this,
 Atari has just sold its Taiwan plant for $60,000,000.   They have promised
 a new  marketing campaign  in the  USA, one that is 6 years overdue.  Yet,
 nothing has been seen on the horizon.   Groups like  Atari Elite  and PACE
 must learn  to cooperate  and join forces instead of wasting time clashing
 foreheads.  And others must also learn to get along  as we  ride this ship
 in rough waters.  
   
     While I  know that  I am only one person in this field of dreams, I do
 feel that I can influence others  to see  things from  all sides,  and not
 only those  which are  presented to  them.   Seek out information and form
 your own conclusions based on fact, not hearsay.  Keep in mind  that we as
 Atarian's must  form a  unified userbase and eliminate bickering that will
 certainly bring the downfall of the ST platform.  Times  are rough,  but I
 feel  that  there  is  hope  somewhere  on  the horizon.  We must find the
 insight to discover it.

   
                                 ========
                                 EPILOGUE
                                 ========
  
     Isn't it ironic  how  the  phrase  "to  die  by  thine  own  sword" is
 exemplified so  often in  our every day lives in so many ways?  I received
 news the other day that the PACE   organization of  Pittsburgh has finally
 collapsed.  
  
     I am  not happy  at all to see this happen.  Actually, I am not really
 even shocked at this  news.   No one  likes to  see an  Atari organization
 crumble, especially  when they   are  as scarce today as a patch of fresh,
 unpolluted air.
  
     Two years ago, PACE  attempted to  deliver a  fatal blow  to the Atari
 Elite, their cross-town rivals in the Atari scene.  The 1990 PACE show was
 the scene of some really ugly accusations and many people were affected by
 it.
  
     And here  we are,  2 years  to the  day later as I write this, hearing
 news that the group has folded.  And  their rivals,  the Atari  Elite, who
 were labeled at one time as  the "Pittsburgh Pirates," are alive and well.
 The Atari Elite, over the course of the  last 2  years have  abolished the
 software rental  library that  was the  root of all of the problems.  They
 have held their own pretty well,  and developed  into a  solid group. And,
 their accusers  are now  beating down their doors to become members of the
 organization because their group is now a pile of dust.
  
     It is sad because if both groups would have just sat down in a  room 2
 years ago  to   settle their  differences, they  may have both been around
 today to read this.  Instead, PACE wanted too much, too quickly, and their
 stunt to  damage the  Atari Elite  over the years has finally caught up to
 them.
  
     The poison that they had used on their  daggers accidently  crept into
 their organization.  During the  last two  years, PACE has died a slow and
 aggravating death, a death caused by  their own  aggressions.   All of the
 turmoil that  they caused  concerning Pittsburgh  was wasted energy.  They
 would have been wise to channel all of that energy into a  positive stream
 to unite  the Pittsburgh  Atari user  and to  put an  end to  the years of
 bickering.  Instead, PACE no longer exists.
  
     Whose fault was it?  Was it really PACE?  Or was their an even greater
 evil at work here? Perhaps it was all of the back stabbing that took place
 during the late 1980's.  Or  maybe the  lack of  support by  Atari for the
 area caused the attrition that PACE had faced.
  
     I dare  not speculate.   Nor do I really want to point a finger at any
 person or  organizations.   But the  events that  were printed  in the six
 Pittsburgh articles  were  documented by me a year ago.  As I went back to
 read what I said a year  ago, I  almost laughed  because anyone  could see
 exactly what  direction things  were heading in the Pittsburgh arena.  And
 now to hear that the end has finally met PACE,  I wish  that someone would
 have had  the foresight to help ease the tensions and possibly avert  what
 has occurred here.
  
     Regarding  the  AUA,  Eric  Lambeth  has  elected  to  take  over  our
 operations.   I wish  Eric the  best of luck with the venture and ask that
 you readers give him the support he   needs to  get things  back on track.
 AUA is  not a  scam or  gimmick.   It is  a large and potentially powerful
 organization that can help to mold  the community  into a  better place to
 compute.  To Eric, I wish you all the success that you deserve.

                                    END

   


   ====================================================================
   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.
   ====================================================================






 > AUA - OR? STR FOCUS!             What must the organization do?
   """"""""""""""""""""
  



                                 AUA - OR?
                                 =========



 by John D. Barnes
 (CN's Junkyard Pussycat)

     On May 2nd E.LAMBETH signed on to indicate that the AUA had
 experienced some serious problems.  The problems do indeed appear to be
 formidable, but we have heard nothing further from Mr. Lambeth to indicate
 what steps, if any, the AUA is taking to reconstitute itself.

     Before I became aware of the AUA's existence I devoted one of my
 columns in Current Notes to a discussion of the attributes that an
 organization should have if it was to serve as a focal point for the
 interests of the broadest possible cross-section of the Atari user
 community.

     Once I became aware of the AUA I undertook discussions with Derek
 Signorini to see what help I could give toward further developing the AUA. 
 It soon became apparent that their agenda and the one that I had laid out
 were too divergent for fruitful collaboration.

     In particular, I believed (and I still believe) that a successful user
 organization should have the following characteristics:

 1). It should develop its charter from the ideas of its members. This
      implies a democratic process for developing a written charter
      and for selecting its leadership.

 2). It should operate with sufficient financial resources derived
      from dues and sales of services to its membership to provide for
      at least a paid executive secretary.

 3). The services that it would provide should not duplicate those
      available elsewhere within the community.

 4). It should not seek to reinvent the wheel, rather it should use
      the existing media and institutions within the community to serve
      its members, developing new programs only where these are needed.

 5). The organization should be run on a not-for-profit basis, with
      all of its resources dedicated to serving the interests of its
      members.

     I believe that these principles set forth a structure that would
 preserve the integrity of the organization and allow it to function as an
 adjunct to the other providers of services.  If the organization were able
 to attract a technically competent corps of activist volunteers it could
 provide services that are sorely needed by today's Atari user.

     Judging from the few items that have appeared here the AUA has failed
 to do these things, at least up to now.  This brings us to the following
 question: "Should the AUA be replaced by a different organization?"

       I believe that question deserves a loud "YES" for an answer.

     Once that is established one gets to the "Who, what, when, where,why,
 and how".  I think that this should be a special topic of discussion at
 the shows that are coming up in Asheville, Indianapolis, Connecticut,
 Glendale, Washington DC, and elsewhere.

     I look forward to hearing from people who have similar interests. 
 Please reply to me in this topic or via GEmail. Look for messages similar
 to this one on GEnie, CIS, Delphi, and the Internet.


       _____________________________________________________________





 > ONLINE WEEKLY STReport OnLine          The wires are a hummin'!
   """""""""""""""""""""""""""""



                           PEOPLE... ARE TALKING
                           =====================


 On CompuServe
 -------------

 compiled by Joe Mirando


     Okay friends and neighbors, I'm sure that some of you are saying "Just
 what the world needs:  Yet another column".  Well, before you skip on down
 to the next feature, let me tell you a bit about what I'm planning.

     Because there are a great number of people that receive STReport from
 local bulletin boards, but do not have access to any of the commercial
 on-line services, they may be missing out on a lot of what is going on in
 the Atari world.  Therefore, each week I will be compiling posts from
 CompuServe's Atari Productivity, Atari Arts, and Atari Vender forums.  The
 posts I'll be including in this column will have to do with questions,
 problems, and solutions as they affect the users.  Because I've taken up
 some room this week with this paragraphs, in this issue I'll be covering
 just the Atari Productivity forum.  Just in case some  might have trouble
 figuring out where the actual posts end and my  commentary begins, I've
 indented the posts (which, except for a  few spelling corrections, are
 exactly as posted).  I hope this  helps head off any confusion. 

 I'm sure that this post from Robert Aries sounds familiar to some and
 makes ALL of us cringe:

           I have a power failure story...I was working on a
           music mix that had to be Fedexed by 7PM.  At 6PM
           I was ready for the final mix.  I reached around
           the back of my mixer to unplug a cable and 
           accidentally disconnected the power to the 
           computer.  Since noon that day I had been tweaking
           the midi data in my song, and saving it...to a
           ramdisk!  Talk about learning the hard way!


 On the topic of SCSI (The kind of hard drive that STs use) versus IDE (The
 kind of drive that a lot of DOS machines use), Albert Dayes of Atari
 Advantage Magazine tells Greg Wageman:

           Greg,
           IDE is the rage for small hard disk and non
           critical applications but it is dying slowly
           but surely ... everyone is seeing the
           benefits of SCSI since you can always move a
           SCSI device from machine to machine so its a
           much better investment.  Most computer
           dealers are probably selling IDE stuff so
           they get to upgrade later to SCSI when you
           want a good, fast CD-ROM drive
           -- Albert Dayes @ Atari Advantage magazine


 Greg replies:


           Albert,

           As a matter of fact, the current issue of
           MicroTimes has an article about hard drives,
           and recommends IDE.  The author claims that
           this is by far the most common interface for
           PCompatibles.

           Now this is only one author's claim and doesn't
           "prove" anything, but it does agree with my
           own observation that the vast majority of
           the adds in such tabloids are pushing IDE over
           SCSI.

           In the Mac world, and of course the workstation
           world, SCSI is the norm.  Heavy-duty, buss-
           based file servers are moving toward IPE, and
           away from the older SMD interface.

           SCSI seems to have hit on just the right
           combination of speed vs. complexity vs.
           expandability trade-offs.  I suppose we'll
           need a new standard when SPARCstation 10's
           are seen as old and slow.  With any luck, I'll
           be retired by then...

               -Greg

 Albert continues the thread:


           Greg,
           That is true since its much easier to sell
           someone an IDE harddrive for $300 then inform
           the buyer that a SCSI controller costs $300 and
           a SCSI hard disk is $500.

           But once the SCSI controller makers realize 
           its in their best interest to support all
           SCSI devices people will begin to see the 
           benefits.  Since you can have SCSI printers,
           scanners, plotters, hd, cd-roms  and the
           list goes on. Corel has claimed that they 
           will support every SCSI device (I suppose that
           means within reason (GRIN)) with their new 
           SCSI card.

           -- Albert Dayes @ Atari Advantage magazine


 Pat Augustine gets into the conversation:


           I think the clone world will only move to SCSI
           when the SCSI manufacturers get their act
           together and make compatible equipment. 
           Currently, SCSI is a mess on an AT, with
           serious conflicts, and the problem of
           different SCSI controllers only working with
           certain products, and CD-ROM drives coming
           with their own SCSI cards which won't function
           if the SCSI HD controller is installed (!), but
           which won't drive the Hard Drive, etc, etc.

           I tried to move my UNIX system to SCSI when
           my Priam 330 drive failed, and was unable. 
           Turned out my expensive Everex Step 25 had 
           a motherboard incompatibility with the Adaptec
           SCSI bus-mastering controller, which was the
           only controller supported by SCO UNIX. Even
           though Everex claimed they had fixed that,
           my motherboard was early enough in the run to
           have problems.  So I was forced back to ESDI.
           Not a real problem, but it would have been 
           nice to free up a slot by combining my HD 
           controller and my tape backup controller!


 Albert puts it all in perspective:


           As operating systems get larger and larger
           it going to become very important to have good
           disk i/o performance and SCSI will be the 
           lone surviving member.

           -- Albert Dayes @ Atari Advantage magazine


 Gee, isn't it nice to know that our computers have had SCSI capability all
 along?  Well, that's it for this week folks.  Tune in next time for more
 information about everything Atari.



           _____________________________________________________




 > WAACE'92 STR SHOW NEWS           "The Premier East Coast Show!"
   """"""""""""""""""""""



                                 WAACE'92
                                 ========


     The Washington Area Atari Computer Enthusiasts will sponsor W.A.A.C.E.
 AtariFest 1992 on October 10 and 11.  The show will again be staged at the
 Sheraton Reston  Hotel in  Reston, VA.  Show hours will be from 10 am to 6
 pm on both days. In addition to the shopping bargains  available from over
 thirty vendors  there will  be a  full round of demonstrations, tutorials,
 and seminars.  A  banquet  on  Saturday  evening  will  feature  a special
 speaker on Atari matters and Current Notes Magazine's "Author of the Year"
 award. Special mixers will cap off  the evening's  festivities.   The 1990
 and 1991 editions of the show attracted approximately 2000 visitors. 

     The Sheraton  Reston Hotel  is a spacious, attractive facility located
 in a park like setting near Washington,  DC.    The  hotel  is  offering a
 special room  rate of  $59 per  night plus  tax to  'Fest attendees.  Call
 1-800-392-ROOM or 703-620-9000  for  reservations.    Be  sure  to mention
 W.A.A.C.E. AtariFest  '92.   The number of rooms available at this special
 rate is limited, so make your reservations early.

     The price that W.A.A.C.E. will have  to pay  for the  exhibit space is
 directly tied  to the  number of  hotel rooms that are rented out.  If you
 have any expectation at all of attending the  event we  would like  you to
 reserve a room for Friday and Saturday nights.

     Immediately  following  the  1991  show Charles F. Johnson of Codehead
 Technologies announced that W.A.A.C.E. '91 was the most  profitable outing
 that they had ever had, anywhere.  For eight years W.A.A.C.E. has provided
 a complete Atari experience. 1992 promises to be in that same tradition.

 For additional information please contact:

                             Charles Hoffmann
                            5908 Bayshire Road
                        Springfield, VA 22152-1146
                              (703) 569-6734

                            GEnie : S. Hoffmann
                          CompuServe : 73740,1507
                           Delphi : CHUCKHOFFMAN


      ______________________________________________________________



 > STRAIGHT FAX! STR InfoFile      Just the FAX ma'am... just the FAX!
   """"""""""""""""""""""""""




                           FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

          Joppa Software Development announces the release of:


                        STraight FAX! Version 1.03

           Send/Receive FAX Software for the Atari ST/TT Computers

                 Manufacturer's Suggested List Price $89.95


     STraight FAX! is the first  Atari  ST/TT  FAX  Communications software
 package that  supports industry  standard send/receive Class 2 FAX Modems.
 Version 1.03  of  the  STraight  FAX!  adds  many  new  features, corrects
 problems and allows a greater level of compatibility with other programs.

     Joppa Software  Development also  has available to registered STraight
 FAX! owners  the complete  FONT GDOS  package from  Atari Corporation. The
 three disk  FONT GDOS package comes complete with an Installation program,
 the FONT GDOS program, three Desk Accessory/Control Panel Module utilities
 for customizing  the FONT  GDOS setup, bit mapped screen and printer fonts
 in various point sizes in the Swiss and Dutch type styles, printer drivers
 for several popular printers and documentation for installation and use.

     The  FONT  GDOS  package  may  be  ordered  direct from Joppa Software
 Development for $10 (US), shipping inside the US and Canada  included. For
 a  limited  time  registered  STraight  FAX!  owners  may also receive the
 STraight FAX! version 1.03 update with the FONT  GDOS package,  by sending
 the  STraight  FAX!  master  disk  to  Joppa  Software  Development  at no
 additional cost.

     The STraight FAX! version 1.03 update  may also  be ordered separately
 by registered  STraight FAX!  owners by  sending in  the master disk along
 with $2 (US). Outside the US and Canada, please call for pricing.


                          Version 1.03 Enhancements
                          =========================


 Atari Clipboard Support
 =======================

     The STraight  FAX!  now  supports  the  Atari  Clipboard  standard for
 Cut/Paste of  graphics and  text to a Clipboard. Information placed on the
 Clipboard may be used by  other  Clipboard  "aware"  applications  and the
 STraight  FAX!  will  use  information  placed into the Clipboard by other
 applications or itself.

   A new menu title "Edit" adds the following commands for View Windows:

   Cut      ^X           Copy the clip area to the clipboard and erase it.
   Copy     ^C           Copy the clip area to the clipboard.
   Paste    ^V           Paste the clipboard to the clip area.
   Clear    Del          Erase the clip area.

     Graphics from a View Window are placed into the Clipboard  in standard
 image (.IMG)  file format.  Graphics may be copied and pasted between View
 Windows in the STraight FAX! program or other applications.

     Text from the Cover  Page message  is placed  into the  Clipboard as a
 standard ASCII  text file.  Text may  be copied  and pasted into the Cover
 Page message with other applications (i.e. desk accessory text editors).


 Environment Variables
 =====================

     The STraight FAX! will  look for  an environment  variable "STFAX=" to
 find its  home path.  Many desktop  replacement programs allow the user to
 specify environment variables as well as some shareware  utility programs.
 The use  of the  STFAX environment  variable will allow some menu launcher
 programs that do not properly execute programs to allow the  STraight FAX!
 to determine where its home directory is located.


 View Windows
 ============

 Many new  features have been added to enhance the Viewing of FAX, Image or
 DEGAS files.

 1) The View Window Command Menu may now  also be  displayed (centered over
 the mouse  position) by clicking the right mouse button while the mouse is
 over a View Window that is the top GEM window.

 2) The View Window Command Menu has a new command: Invert Clip  Area which
 will invert the color of all pixels within the clip area outline.

 3) The  Convert Menu  now has  a new command: Cycle Windows (Alternate-N),
 which will bring the bottom most View Window to the top or if the top most
 View Window  is not  the top  GEM window,  this command will bring the top
 most View Window to the  top.  This  feature  allows  easy  paging through
 multiple page FAX files.

 4) The image in the View Window may now also be positioned with the keys:
 Clr Home  - Move  to the  top left  edge of  the image in the View Window.
 Control Clr Home - Move to the bottom right edge of the image in  the View
 Window.

 5) The  STraight FAX!  will now allow Viewing and Converting of Monochrome
 Image Files  that have  extended headers  (i.e. greater  than the standard
 header size of 16 bytes).  Images files with extended headers are produced
 by some European software packages.

 6) The Close  Window  command  may  be  issued  with  the  Alternate-Y key
 combination.  This will cause the top View Window to be closed.

 7)  The  Flip  Graphic  command  allows  the graphic displayed in the View
 Window to be flipped upside  down  (this  may  be  useful  when  viewing a
 received FAX page that was sent upside down).


 Auto Scan Merge
 ===============

     The STraight  FAX! now includes the capability of merging the left and
 right sides of a page that were scanned  using one  of the  supported hand
 scanners, Dr.  Bobware's ScanLite desk accessory, and a scanning tray such
 as The Tray from The Lyra Group.

     The user scans the  left  and  right  sides  of  the  page,  using the
 scanning  tray  to  align  the  vertical  starting  point as accurately as
 possible. The left and right scans will each be placed  into separate View
 Windows. From the left scan's View Window, the Merge Scans command is then
 selected from the View Window Command Menu.

     The merge process will take a  few seconds  depending on  the speed of
 the computer,  the height  of the  scans and  how accurately the two scans
 were vertically aligned. The scans should be no more than one inch  out of
 alignment, or else the merge will be unsatisfactory.

     If sufficient  RAM and  a View  Window are available, the merged scans
 will appear  in a  new View  Window, otherwise  the File  Selector will be
 displayed prompting for a FAX file to save the merged scans.

     If the  merged scans are unsatisfactory, one side of the scan may have
 been scanned too slow or too fast. If  this occurs,  the user  may re-scan
 one of the sides of the page and perform the merge again.


 Cover Page
 ==========

     The STraight  FAX! will  look for a default Cover Page Parameters file
 named: STFAX.COV located in the STraight FAX! home  directory and  load it
 into the Cover Page parameter entry fields.


 Intelligent Parameter Passing
 =============================

     In  addition  to  accepting  Image  (.IMG),  DEGAS (.PI3), DEGAS Elite
 (.PC3), ASCII Text (.TXT), FAX (.J01 to .J99)  and File  List (.FLT) files
 as  command  line  parameters,  the  STraight  FAX!  will  now also accept
 Preference (.INF), Phone  List  (.PLT)  and  Cover  Page  Parameter (.COV)
 Files.    This  allows  the  user  to override the default files that will
 normally be loaded (i.e. the default phone list file is  STFAX.PLT located
 in the  STraight FAX!  home directory  or path as defined above.) The user
 may specify an alternate Cover Page  Parameters file,  Phone List  file or
 Preference File that will be loaded at startup.

     Many Desktop replacement programs allow multiple file parameters to be
 passed to an application.   From  the  original  GEM  Desktop  or  the new
 Desktop (on  TOS 2.00  or greater),  only one parameter may be passed at a
 time to an application.  STraight FAX!  supports the capability in Atari's
 (forthcoming) Multi  TOS that allows several files at a time to be dragged
 to a  program  as  parameters.    The  STraight  FAX!  will  sort  out all
 parameters with  the extensions  listed above  and perform the appropriate
 action.


 ASCII Text File Conversion
 ==========================

     The time for ASCII Text file and Cover Page to FAX file conversion has
 been  reduced.  This  process  will  also  benefit  when a Blitter chip is
 available in the computer and enabled.  Some screen  acceleration programs
 may also improve the performance of this process.


 Serial Ports
 ============
     The STraight  FAX! will  operate with  the freeware Serial Fix Version
 1.00 program/CPX from Medical  Designs Software  to correct  problems with
 the Modem Port 1 in the RTS/CTS Flow Control mode.

     The STraight  FAX! will also now utilize increased Serial Port buffers
 for enhanced serial port operation for sending and receiving data from the
 FAX Modem.  Serial Port  buffer size  programs such as the AUXINIT program
 that is  packaged  with  Gribnif  Software's  STalker  3  terminal program
 package can  enhance serial  port efficiency and increase reliability when
 used with Floppy Disk based systems.


 FAX Modem Compatibility
 =======================

 The STraight FAX! has  been updated  to function  with Class  2 FAX Modems
 that are based on chipsets/firmware from the following companies:

                          Rockwell International
                           Sierra Semiconductor
                             Exar Corporation

     These  include  FAX  Modems  manufactured  by  companies such as Supra
 Corporation (FAX Modem Plus, V.32 and V.32bis), Zoom Telephonics (FX9624),
 Best Data  Products, Inc.  (Smart One),  GVC Technologies (Fax Modem 9696)
 and Image Communications (TwinCom 24/96 and 14.4DF).

     Support for additional vendors FAX Modem products is under evaluation,
 including support for Class 1 FAX Modems.

     In addition,  the STraight  FAX! now  uses a  more robust algorithm to
 establish communication with the FAX Modem.  Previously the  user may have
 been presented  with an alert box asking to check the modem connection and
 to toggle the modem  power in  some situations  (usually after  a transfer
 with errors).

     The STraight FAX! will now properly restore the FAX Modem to its reset
 state after exiting the program in all situations.


 Misc User Interface Enhancements
 ================================

 1) The arrow boxes in sliders will be inverted when the left  mouse button
 is pressed to scroll the slider.

 2) The  mouse cursor  will change shape as follows to indicate actions and
 modes of operation:

 a) The mouse cursor will change to an  "X" when  it is  located outside an
 active dialog box.

 b)  When  sizing  the  clip  area  in a View Window, the mouse cursor will
 change to a double arrow shape that points in the directions in  which the
 clip area may be sized (i.e. up/down, left-right, or diagonal).

 3) Expanded Online Help is now available.

 4)  During  immediate  or  scheduled  FAX transfers, the conversion status
 messages will appear in the Send FAX Status dialog box.

 5) The Schedule Date or Time  may  now  be  entered  numerically  from the
 keyboard as well as by using the mouse to click on the up/down arrows.

 6) Dialog  boxes may  be repositioned  on screen  as follows,  by hold the
 Control and Alternate Keys down, and  dragging the  dialog box background.
 The new position will be saved in the preferences file for later use.


 What You See Is What You FAX!
 =============================

 STraight FAX!  is bundled  with special  printer drivers for the following
 applications that allow "print  to disk"  of document  pages to  FAX files
 that are ready to send by the STraight FAX! program:

                      PageStream 2.1/2.2 (SoftLogik)
                        PageStream 1.8x (SoftLogik)
                            Calamus S/SL (ISD)
                         Calamus 1.09/1.09n (ISD)
                        FSM GDOS/FONT GDOS (Atari)
       Including any GDOS/FSM GDOS/FONT GDOS compatible application.

 An updated  driver for  PageStream 1.8x  is included  in the STraight FAX!
 version 1.03 release that corrects  a  minor  problem  when  attempting to
 print a page to a FAX file on a system with limited memory.

 The STraight  FAX! Pagestream  2.1 printer driver has been tested with the
 recently released Pagestream 2.2 and has found to be compatible,  with out
 the need for any changes.

 New printer drivers for other applications are currently under evaluation.

                                 --------

 STraight FAX! Features
 ======================

   Compatible with all Atari ST/TT Computer models:

    - 1 Megabyte of RAM Required
    - 2 Megabytes of RAM and a Hard Drive Recommended.
    - Shielded RS-232 cable required.

   Compatible with Class 2 Compliant Send/Receive FAX modems.

    - compatible Send/Receive FAX Modems include:
       - Supra Corporation (FAX Modem Plus, V.32 and V.32bis)
       - Zoom Telephonics (FX9624)
       - Best Data Products, Inc. (Smart One)
       - GVC Technologies (Fax Modem 9696)
       - Image Communications (TwinCom 24/96 and 14.4DF)
       - other Class 2 Compliant modems based on chipsets from:
       - Rockwell International
       - Sierra Semiconductor
       - Exar Corporation

   Compatible with Send FAX modems that use the Sierra SendFAX command set.

    - compatible Send FAX Modems include:

        - Zoom and Zoom Generic 4800 baud Send FAX modem
        - Zoom and Zoom Generic 9600 baud Send FAX modem
        - Joppa FAX! SF-01 4800 baud Send FAX modem
        - Joppa FAX! SF-02 9600 baud Send FAX modem

   The STraight FAX! can be used with all standard serial ports on ST, STe,
   Mega STe and TT/030 computers and peripheral serial ports that support
 the "Bconmap" specification for additional serial ports.

     - Note: Some options are not available on serial ports that do not
             support all RS-232 signals.

   The STraight FAX! supports all TOS versions 1.00, 1.02, 1.04, 1.06,
 1.062, 2.05/6 and 3.05/6.

     - Note: Supplied patch programs from Atari are required to be
 installed when using TOS 1.04, TOS 2.05 and TOS 3.05.

 The STraight FAX! supports all supports all ST/TT graphic resolutions with
 a minimum screen width of 80 characters, including Moniterm and software
 large screen emulators.

   The STraight FAX! User Interface Features:

      - Full GEM Application
      - Drop Down Menus with keystroke command equivalents.
      - On screen movable Function Key Bar for most common commands.
      - Context sensitive On-line Help available by pressing Help Key.
      - Popup Menus make system preferences easy to choose.
      - Optional sound effects.
      - Enhanced Dialog Box Interface:
          Alternate Key button selection
          Arrow Key selector list movement
          Position Text cursor with mouse over any character of any text
          edit field.
          Undo Feature
          Insert/Type over Text entry modes.
          Delete to end of Line
          Insert any GEM character using Alternate Key and Numeric Key Pad
          (on any TOS version).

   FAX Features:

    - Supports from 2400 to 14400 Baud Send and Receive FAX rates
      (maximum baud rate depends on the FAX/Modem utilized).
    - Fine Resolution (203 x 196 DPI) and Normal Resolution (203 x 98 DPI)
      FAX modes supported.
    - Tone or Pulse Dial.
    - Full control of FAX Modem speaker and speaker volume.
    - Displays 20 character FAX Identification string of Remote FAX.
    - Allows specification of 20 character FAX Identification that is sent 
      to remote FAX.

   Send Features:

    - 100 Number FAX Dialing List.
    - Automatic Cover Page Generation.
    - Multi-Page FAX Documents of up to 255 pages.
    - ASCII, Image and DEGAS file formats supported.
    - Full GEM Character set supported for ASCII to FAX conversions.
    - Send Logs indicates status of all FAX documents transferred.
    - Broadcast FAX documents to up to 100 destinations per FAX document.
    - Schedule FAX transmission at a delayed time.
    - Schedule up to 30 Multi-Page Multi-Destination FAX documents for
      delayed transmission.
    - Scale Image/DEGAS files during conversion with page positioning      
      options.
    - Automatic optional Page Heading added to the top of each page.
    - Automatic Redial upon busy or failed FAX transfer.
    Receive Features:

    - Receive Logs indicates status of all FAX documents received.
    - Automatic Receive FAX can be active while waiting for scheduled     
      outgoing
      FAX documents to be transmitted.
    - Manual FAX Receive.

    FAX View Features:

    - View up to a total of four Image, DEGAS or FAX files each in a       
      separate GEM window.
    - Reduced 50% size view.
    - Stray pixel clean up.
    - Save portion of graphic in view window as an Image or FAX file.
    - Auto correction of detected errors in received FAX (due to line      
      noise).
    - Scan into a window using a Hand Scanner and Dr. Bobware's ScanLite
      (Migraph, Golden Image, Datascan and Geniscan Hand Scanners         
      supported).

    Printing Features:

    - Print Image or FAX files to any printer supported by user supplied
      GDOS or FSM-GDOS printer driver (GDOS, GDOS compatible, FONT-GDOS, or
      FSM-GDOS required along with the appropriate printer driver).

    - Special support for Atari Laser Printers (SLM-804/SLM-605).

    - Convert FAX Files to Image format with optional GEM metafile for
      printing via GEM OUTPUT program or importing into any application    
      that supports Image format files.

    - Auto correction of detected errors in received FAX (due to line      
      noise).


    Printer Drivers:

    - "Print to Disk" FAX Files from the following applications:
    - Calamus 1.09x
    - Calamus S/SL
    - PageStream 1.8x
    - PageStream 2.1/2.2
    - FSM-GDOS driver for applications that support GDOS or FSM-GDOS       
      printing.

    - Printer driver output file path set program/desk accessory allows the
      destination FAX filename to be set any valid file path.

    Utilities:

    - Time Set Utility for ST's without battery backed clock.
    - Line Impedance Trimmer adjustment utility for Send FAX modems.

                                 ---------

                    (C) 1992 Joppa Software Development
         Member Independent Association of Atari Developers (IAAD)

                               P.O. Box 214
                         Dallastown, PA 17313-0214

                     Tech Support Line  (717) 438-3231
                     FAX Line           (717) 428-0424

 GEnie: JOPPA-SOFT
 Genie Support Area:  Atari ST Roundtable (M475 or ST)
                      Category 4 (Hardware)
                      Topic 24 (STraight FAX! Product Support)


 All products are trademarks or copyrights of their respective companies.



         _________________________________________________________




 > FLASH II CO STR OnLine CIS' Guest J. Trautschold of MissionWare Software
   """"""""""""""""""""""



                        FLASH II ONLINE CONFERENCE
                        ==========================


 from CompuServe


 Pattie) Tonight, we have as guest speaker John Trautschold of
      MissionWare Software. John's company brings us FLASH II, the
      long-awaited sequel to Antic's popular telecommunications
      package.

      Please indicate you have a question for John by typing a question
      mark (?). WE're on the honor system to not talk unless it's your
      turn to ask John a question. You can also tell me you want to get
      in line by using the /sen command...for example, /sen 3 Pattie, I
      have a question. I will let you know when it's your turn to grill
      John. :)
      First off, John, would you like to share any opening comments
      before we take questions?

 John Trautschold) Not really...I'm basically here to answer any
      questions anyone may have.

 Pattie) Ok... I'll get the ball rolling. What made you decide to
      market Flash II?

 John Trautschold) The opportunity came up to pick up the program from
      Antic. They were originally going to market Flash II from SunSoft
      Systems. When Antic went under, we moved in and bought the rights
      to the program. Missionware Software needed something big and
      this was it!

 Pattie) Terrence has a question.

 Terrence M. Miller) There has been talk about Flash II supporting
      Shadow transfer protocol. Comments?

 John Trautschold) Flash II doesn't support Shadow, however, it
      includes its own background transfer program called Silent Line.

 Terrence M. Miller) What form of protocols does Silent Line support
      and does it use the "ramdisk" method that Shadow utilizes?

 John Trautschold) Yes, Silent Line is a type of RAMdisk...it's reset
      proof so it should maintain any files in the system if the system
      crashes or is reset. Right now, SL supports Xmodem, Ymodem,
      Modem7, WXmodem and SEAlink. It'll eventually support Zmodem and
      (hopefully) CIS B as well.

 Pattie) Thank you, Terrence. Now Bill @ AIM has a question.

 Bill @ AIM) If I'm a fence sitter currently using some other package
      (Flash, Interlink, STalker, etc.), what specific features does
      Flash II have that could lure me into getting off the fence?

 John Trautschold) ooohhhh...big question. Let me try to answer in
      general terms and then let you all ask any specifics. First of
      all, Flash II fully supports Vidtex here on CIS as well as the B
      transfer protocol. Additionally, we support VT100, 101, 102, 2
      and 300 emulations.

      Online GIF and RLE viewing is also possible (87a GIF only for
      now).

      All popular protocols are built in, as just mentioned earlier for
      the Silent Line question.

      Unlike Flash I, you can now "point and click" all of your setup
      parameters for each board you call. You don't need to create a
      DO script for that purpose anymore (although you still can if you
      want).

      We now support a total of 30 online function key macros...20 are
      individually set for *each* board, the other 10 are global.

      I've probably forgot a bunch, but let's leave it at that for
      now...

 Pattie) Bill, a follow up question?

 Bill @ AIM) Yes...The DO file capabilities of Flash II are compatible
      with the old Flash...are all the old commands still implemented?
      They do the exact same things?

 John Trautschold) Yes, all old commands are still implemented. We
      have found, unfortunately after the first release, of some
      incompatibilities. We've now got Al Fasoldt on board as a beta
      tester. Al's rather famous for his extensive notes on DO scripts,
      and he's helping us find problems. We've also added some new
      script commands for the added features in Flash II.

 Pattie) OK...let's move on to John Barnes.

 john barnes) Is Flash II MultiTOS aware?

 John Trautschold) Well, let's say we're working on becoming MultiTOS
      compatible. Currently we are not, but we should be by the time
      Atari releases MT.

 john barnes) What about Kermit support for mainframe users?

 John Trautschold) oops...yea, I forgot (see, I told you) to mention
      that Kermit is also supported.

 john barnes) Thanks, on to the next.

 Pattie) Thank you, John. Just a reminder for those who came in late,
      if you have a question for John, just type a question mark (?) to
      get into the line! Now, RobH has a question.

 RobH) Back to protocols, I'm afraid. Will or does Flash II support
      the CIS B+ protocol. I want those resumable d/l's on my Atari.

 John Trautschold) Yes, Flash II fully supports CIS B+ and B.

 Pattie) Before we go to Terrence again, let me ask John when Flash II
      will be available? I understand it's being upgraded?

 John Trautschold) Flash II is available right now. We're working on a
      maintenance upgrade which will be made available to all current
      owners. It's not quite ready yet...I'm hoping it'll be done in a
      month or so. It'll be shipped to all registered owners for free.

 Pattie) Thanks John! Ok, let's move on to Terrence.
 Terrence M. Miller) What is the suggested retail on Flash II? And
      why should the added protocols entice me from some excellent
      (cheaper!) shareware?

 John Trautschold) The suggested retail is $49.95. We're also
      upgrading from older versions of Flash for $29.95 (plus $4
      shipping and handling). As far as why to upgrade to Flash? Well,
      it depends on your needs. There are some good shareware programs
      out there. In addition to the added protocols, we've also got
      much more support for terminal emulations, and will be adding
      more later.  We've also got support for ANSI emulation and
      support the IBM graphics character set. Again, it all depends on
      what you are happy with and what your needs are.

 Terrence M. Miller) FULL ANSI emulation?

 John Trautschold) As far as well can tell, yes! I regularly dial in
      to one ANSI board that uses a lot of graphics, and it works great
      (with a caveat I'll explain later) and we also have a beta tester
      who's been testing ANSI games and is quite happy with the
      results.  Now, the caveat. We've got a bug we're working on
      the TT *only* that munges up the lower half of the IBM graphics
      set. Paul is working on that and should have it fixed shortly.
      There are no problems on an ST though in either color or mono.

 Pattie) OK, let's move on to John Barnes again.

 john barnes) Are there any enhancements in the typeahead and editing
      areas? Does it support the Clipboard using, for example, STeno?

 John Trautschold) Typeahead first...We now support a separate
      pseudo typeahead 3-line window. We currently do *not* have a TA
      history buffer, but we'll get that in eventually. The TA also has
      limited (replace only) editing capabilities (I'm using it now).

      We don't currently support the Clipboard protocol, but it's on
      our to-do list and will be included in a future upgrade.

      The editor has a lot of enhancements, such as better cursor
      control, the ability to separately edit line feed and carriage
      return characters, and the ability to either display or turn off
      the control characters separately from the CRs. Added cursor
      controls include control cursor functions for moving a word at a
      time or to move the cursor to the top of the window or the
      bottom; shift cursor functions for page scrolling, home to move
      the cursor home, or shift home to move the cursor to the end of
      the buffer. We also support more block functions such as cut and
      paste and copy and move functions.

 john barnes) Sounds good. How well does three-line TA work for
      conferencing?

 John Trautschold) Well, I'm using it now and it works great! I can
      pre-edit my message and send the whole buffer at once!

 john barnes) Finally, will you support an X-Windows server soon :-)?

 John Trautschold) Uh....

 Pattie) Just a reminder, if you'd like to ask a question of John, just
      type a ? (question mark) to get into line. OK, let's move on to
      Ron Hunt.

 Ron Hunt) John, what do I need to do to upgrade my old (1.52) version
      of Flash?

 John Trautschold) All you need to do, Ron, is send in your old Flash
      1.52 master disk, along with a check for $34.00 (or $33.95 if you
      prefer). You'll get your old disk back, along with an entirely
      new Flash II package, including a 226 page manual, etc.

 Ron Hunt) That's all I need to know! :) Thanks!

 John Trautschold) BTW, for those of you interested, the address for
      upgrades and orders is: Missionware Software, 354 N. Winston
      Drive, Palatine, IL 60067-4132...or call 708-359-9565. We take
      checks, Visa & MC.

 Pattie) Brian Amundsen is next.

 Brian Amundsen) John your new program sounds really nice. Will my
      1.6 script files import and be used by the new version?

 John Trautschold) Well Brian, they should, however, as I mentioned
      earlier, we've found some incompatibilities, especially in the
      area of the use of double and single quotes for strings, '|'
      conversions to CRs, etc. We're working on fixing those problems.
      You may have to make some modifications to get your current
      scripts to work. If in doubt, you could email me a script and I
      could check it out ahead of time for you.

 Brian Amundsen) If my master disk was Version 1.12 but updated from
      CIS downloads what will be my upgrade costs?

 John Trautschold) No problem...as long as you've got a master disk.
      The upgrade is still $30 plus the $4 s&h.

 Pattie) John Barnes has another question.

 john barnes) Sorry Pattie, it got answered.

 Pattie) OK... Bill has one! :)

 Bill @ AIM) John...what shows will Missionware be attending in the
      "near term" and do you do upgrades at the shows for people who
      bring in their old Flash master disks?

 John Trautschold) Right now we'll be at Milwaukee this Sunday and in
      Indianapolis in July. We're also making plans for Glendale,
      although that's not firmed up yet. Yes, we do upgrades at the
      shows as well, but of course you don't have to pay s&h there! :-)
      Upgrades at shows are the same as by the mail...you get an
      entirely new package...I just need to see and mark your old disk.
 Pattie) Let's move on to BobC! He gets the last question for tonight!

 Bob Cummins) OK, will there be any converter for dial directories?

 John Trautschold) No, at the present time there is no plan to convert
      the old dial.dir file into a flash2.lst file. The differences
      between the two are so many, it would be quite difficult to do.

 Bob Cummins) OK, thank you.

 Pattie) Before we close up, John, can you tell us about the other
      products MissionWare has?

 John Trautschold) Yes, Missionware Software has two other products.
      One is called lottODDS and is a lottery game playing program. The
      other is a printer text driver utility program called Printer
      Initializer.

 Pattie) Thank you for coming tonight, John! We appreciate you taking
      the time out to answer all of our questions about Flash II! Do
      you have any closing comments before we move into "frenzy" mode?

 John Trautschold) "Frenzy Mode?" No, no other comments really.

 Pattie) Ok, that's it then! Frenzy mode on! (grin) Thank you,
      everyone, for coming tonight!

 john barnes) John, what about coming to WAACE? CFJ can tell you that
      it can be VERY profitable!!

 John Trautschold) We're thinking about it...but no firm plans yet.

 Pat Augustine) Yeah, John, go to WAACE! Good idea!

 John Trautschold) Why, are you going to be there Pat?

 Pat Augustine) I've requested the time off from work and I'm planning
      on it!

 Pattie) Pat, great! We expect to be there too! :)

 John Trautschold) Well...we'll certainly try to make it then! My wife
      has a sister that lives in the area so we might make a vacation
      out of it.

 Ron Hunt) John> a quick question about GIF...how do you implement it
      in medium resolution? 4 colors? Also, does the GIF option work
      in monochrome and if so do you use dithering?

 John Trautschold) Ron...yes, 4 colors on the ST but a full 16 on the
      TT. No dithering Ron...at least not yet. GIF does work in
      monochrome but it takes the lighter colors and makes them white
      and the darker colors and makes them black! :-)

 Pattie) John, how are the sales of Flash II doing? I understand that
      Antic was proud of the number of Flash packages out in the
      market over time.

 John Trautschold) Pattie...sales have been pretty good! I think
      they'll pick up even more when we start heavy advertising later,
      in conjunction with the upgrade.

 Bob Cummins) John, will Flash II run on a 520ST if there is low
      memory? Flash won't unless I disable DAs?

 BobR) BobC...what kind of ACCessories are you running?

 Bob Cummins) BobR, Deskcart, UIS, Butler James.

 John Trautschold) Yes Bob, Flash II will run on a 520 ST, but you
      won't have much of a capture buffer...there certainly won't be
      much room for DAs and such. Flash II is a much bigger program
      than Flash I due to the added protocols and emulations.

 BobR) BobC, I used to use Flash all the time in 512K, but I guess I
      didn't have much in the way of accessories.

 Bob Cummins) I do have a Mega4, but I wanted to use my 520ST to port
      files over from my 8-bit Atari.

 BobR) BobC, you could always just boot from a floppy without those
      accessories when you want to run Flash (1 or 2) in 512K.

 Brian Amundsen) I missed the beginning of the formal CO what add'l
      PROTO's?

 John Trautschold) Brian...Zmodem, Ymodem-G, WXmodem, Modem7, SEAlink,
      and Kermit.

 Brian Amundsen) How does Flash II's Kermit change from what Antic had
      out?

 Bill @ AIM) Brian...you mean the Kermit ACC Antic sold?

 Brian Amundsen) Bill, yes.

 John Trautschold) Brian...I'm not familiar with Antic's Kermit so I
      can't really answer your question...sorry.

 Bill @ AIM) Brian...well, it's built in for one thing. (big grin)

 John Trautschold) Gang...gonna cut out to hit the sack. It's been
      fun! G'nite!

      ______________________________________________________________




 > GLENDALE! STR SHOW NEWS           The West Coast's Premier Show
   """""""""""""""""""""""



                             THE GLENDALE SHOW
                             =================

 PRESS RELEASE 
 June 24, 1992 

     Are you  ready for  the next  Southern California Computer Faire? Yes,
 Version 6.0 will soon be upon us.  We anticipate that this year's Glendale
 Show will  be the  largest ever.  We also expect that there might possibly
 be a new machine on display.   Hint.  Hint.    There  will  be  over fifty
 developers, retailers,  user groups  and ATARI  personnel on  hand to make
 this event a must.

     The show will be held Saturday  and Sunday,  September 12-13,  1992 at
 the Glendale  Civic Auditorium, 1041 N. Verdugo Road, Glendale, CA.  Hours
 are 10:00 am to 6:00 pm on Saturday and 10:00 am to 4:00 pm on Sunday.

     General Admission is $6.00 per person with a two day pass costing only
 $10.00.    If  you  plan  on  attending  and  you live outside of Southern
 California you may get FREE admission by sending a self-addressed, stamped
 #10 envelope to H.A.C.K.S., 249 N. Brand Bl. #321, Glendale, CA  91203 and
 get a one day pass for two.

     For those of you who will be needing lodging we have made arrangements
 with the  Burbank Hilton.   Regular rates are $119.00 per night but if you
 mention ATARI you will get a room for $65.00 per  night, single  or double
 occupancy.   Executive suites are also available for a per night charge of
 $95.00.  Reservations may be made by calling the Hilton at 800-643-7400(in
 California), 800-  468-3576(inside the  USA) or at 818-843-600(outside the
 USA). The guaranteed reservation cut-off date is August 20th.   If you are
 quoted another rate ask for Roy Butler, Sales Manager.

     This  year  The  Glendale  Show  will  be  holding Desk Top Publishing
 Classes.  This has been a very popular addition at other shows. There will
 be a  $25.00(US) fee  for these  hands-on classes.   ISD Marketing will be
 holding Beginners and Advanced classes for  owners and  prospective owners
 of Calamus  SL.   Classes will  be held on Saturday and Sunday.  Classroom
 size is limited.  Make your reservations by sending a check for $25.00(US)
 payable to  H.A.C.S.K., 249  Brand Bl. #321, Glendale, CA  91203.  Be sure
 to state the preference of day and class  level.   A confirmation  will be
 sent, about  two weeks  prior to  the show,  by return  mail stating which
 class you  will be  enrolled in.   Enrollment  in the  classroom will also
 entitle you  to admission  to the  rest of  the show  for the  day of your
 class.

     Look for our full-page advertisements in upcoming issues  of AtariUser
 and Atari  Explorer magazines.   If  you have  any questions  send mail to
 H.A.C.K.S., 249 N. Brand Bl. #321, Glendale, CA  91203 or  leave GEmail to
 John.King.T or call John King Tarpinian at 818-246-7276.

                            John King Tarpinian
                             Faire Chairperson
                             The Glendale Show


        ___________________________________________________________




 > STReport CONFIDENTIAL    "Rumors Tidbits Predictions Observations Tips"
   """""""""""""""""""""


 - San Francisco, CA                Marketing MACREAD w/o a License!
   -----------------

     One of  the principles  of Compu-Seller  West attended  the recent ACE
 show to find a program on sale at  the show  by the  west coast  firm they
 were negotiating  with to  distribute the  program.  The program's name is
 MACREAD.TOS.  It appears the company on the west coast  wanted to  buy the
 rights to  the program,  they never  did... but  were caught selling it at
 this show!  The  program  reads  MAC  HFS  disks  on  the  Atari computer.
 Needless to  say, the  folks at  Compu-Seller were  upset.   So upset they
 released the initial version of the program into PD!  Its available on all
 the services for download and ... the WHOLE story is in the file.  
    



                          CRYSTAL BALLS -O- FIRE!
                          +++++++++++++++++++++++



     Here we go again folks, let's see I'll try and do this is my very best
 "Walter Winchell" voice....  :-)
    
     Dateline!  New York; Word has it the Atari Notebook is on  a trip back
 to the drawing boards... seems somebody decided it needs to be backlit and
 go faster...  Also, a number of the notebooks that  reached the  US shores
 arrived DOA.  Time for some serious adjustments.
   
     On the International Scene.. the word is; FSM GDOS is up for a serious
 rewrite.  Appears certain code in  the program  must go  and new  "just as
 good or better" code implanted!  
     Word just in; the "Falcon" ie., the new 16mhz 030 single piece machine
 will debut on time but that full mass distribution may  not be  seen until
 the middle  of the  first quarter of '93.  It appears there is a 'log-jam'
 on the acquisition of  the "special  chips" needed  to complete  these new
 machines.
    
     On to  the west  coast.. in  Sunnyvale some  astonishing changes are a
 foot.. according  to our  snoop... the  changes are  only for  the good of
 Atari and  its future.   Online  activities are being curtailed in certain
 areas due to recent  embarrassments.   This reporter  was told  "we'll not
 hear  about  the  changes  as  such..    they'll  just happen ....quietly.
 Personnel changes are also expected.


           ____________________________________________________




 > STR Mail Call             "...a place for the readers to be heard"
   """""""""""""


                            STReport's MailBag
                            """"""""""""""""""


 From GEnie's ST RT

 What... are the REAL motives, are GEnie's good online people caught in the
 middle?

 Category 1,  Topic 2
 Message 1         Sun Jun 21, 1992
 JEFF.W [ST Sysop]            at 14:07 EDT
  
   In the current issue of Atari Explorer Online, Bob Brodie (Atari's
 Director of Communications) writes...

 =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=--=-=-=

  It's obvious to me that my time for onlines has dramatically diminished.
  So I want YOU to help me decide what networks I need to be on.  Right
  now, I have accounts on GEnie, the FNET, CIS, and Delphi.  It's my
  opinion that I'm being unfair by having those accounts if I'm not going
  to be online there.  So this is your chance to guide my decision about
  what networks I should be on.  I'll be tracking my e-mail in the next
  month closely on all of these services, looking to see where the most
  activity is.  My guess is that it will end up being GEnie and the FNET.
  But I don't want to guess!  Please send me your feedback on where you'd
  like to see me online to the following addresses:

  GEnie: BOB-BRODIE         CompuServe: 70007,3240    Delphi: BOBBRO
  FNET: Bob Brodie at Node 319

 =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=--=-=-=

 If you would like to make sure that Bob Brodie continues his online
 presence on GEnie, please reply to this topic with a simple "Yes" or a
 very brief message.

 This topic is only for telling Bob you want him to keep his GEnie account
 and his ST Roundtable presence.  To vote for other services, please do
 that on those services or in email addressed privately to Bob.

 ALL RESPONSES TO THIS TOPIC WILL COUNT AS A VOTE FOR BOB BRODIE TO
 CONTINUE HIS PARTICIPATION IN THE GENIE ST ROUNDTABLE.  Any other types of
 messages posted here will be deleted.  And please keep your response very
 brief because there will be a lot of responses here.

 Please reply once only to this topic.  The results of this poll will be
 forwarded to Bob Brodie.

 Thank you.

 =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=--=-=-=

 For the record, I vote for Bob to remain on GEnie.
  ------------


 Category 1,  Topic 2
 Message 72        Tue Jun 23, 1992
 J.EIDSVOOG1 [CodeHead]       at 20:43 EDT
  
 I, too, would like Bob Brodie to continue his support here on GEnie.

 But I do have to wonder two things:

 1.  It seems to me that _everyone_ on GEnie would want Bob to give
     support here.  Is there really a need for a vote here?

 2.  If there happened to be someone here that _didn't_ want Bob to be
     here, how would we know?  The topic header says, "Reply to this topic
     _ONLY_ if you want Atari's Director of Communications, Bob Brodie, to
     spend online time here in the ST Roundtable on GEnie".


 It sounds like a South American presidential election.  "You can vote for
 anyone you want, as long as it's Bob."  <grin>

 John
  ------------


 Category 1,  Topic 2
 Message 82        Wed Jun 24, 1992
 JEFF.W [ST Sysop]            at 12:16 EDT
  
 John E.,
 You've raised some very good points and while I really don't want to get
 this topic sidetracked from its original purpose, I'd like to address the
 issues you raised.  If this is going to become an ongoing discussion, then
 we can start another topic right here in Category 1 for it (to stay close
 to this one).

  - 1.  It seems to me that _everyone_ on GEnie would want Bob to give
  -     support here.  Is there really a need for a vote here?

 I may be misinterpreting it, but I believe Bob Brodie essentially said in
 his column in the latest AEO (quoted in message #1 of this topic) that he
 will remain active on the onlines where he is told he is most wanted,
 encouraging folks to send him messages saying they want him on their
 favorite service.

 Is this kind of a turn-out necessary?  It appears that Bob has made it
 necessary (again, if I haven't completely misunderstood his column).

 Personally, I would think that Darlah, Ron, and Clay could simply provide
 Bob with a total of the active memberships in their respective Atari
 support areas and that should point out where Bob can be spending his time
 most productively, because I should suspect that virtually every Atari
 user subscribing to that service will want Atari's Director of
 Communications active there.  (I don't know how one might quantify the
 active userbase on FNet.)

 Or, Bob (and Atari) could find some way of maintaining his presence on all
 the services, eliminating the competition for Bob's time that the services
 and users have undertaken.  I don't know if that is possible though.  Bob
 is already spread very thinly what with his responsibilities to Atari in
 addition to the online time he has (or doesn't have?) available.  Ideally,
 I would love to see someone at Atari (preferably Bob, or at least someone
 working with Bob) whose responsibilities include online support on the
 major services who would be given the time and the salary to perform them. 
 (I can dream, can't I?)  <grin-

 But as things stand, Bob has asked for the people to tell him where to
 spend his online time.  Send him email, send him faxes, fill his answering
 machine at Atari with those messages to tell him where you want him to be. 
 And one other thing that the sysops of Compuserve and GEnie (sorry, Clay,
 I don't know what, if anything, you're doing on Delphi regarding all this)
 are doing is to rally their memberships to tell Bob he needs to be on
 their respective online services.  This topic is an easy way for folks to
 get the message to Bob to remain active on GEnie.  No one has to post
 here.  I would hope if they don't post here, that they'll consider sending
 him GEmail, a fax, or making a phone call to him.

 I think the word "vote" is not a good word for what is happening here. I
 know it's the word I coined in the topic header, but I was at a loss to
 come up with anything else that would fit in the brief amount of space
 allowed in the topic name.

  - 2.  If there happened to be someone here that _didn't_ want Bob to
  -     be here, how would we know?  The topic header says, "Reply to this
  -     topic _ONLY_ if you want Atari's Director of Communications, Bob
  -     Brodie, to spend online time here in the ST Roundtable on GEnie".

 I'll admit that it is decidedly one-sided and self-serving.  This _is_ the
 Atari ST Roundtable on GEnie and the whole point is to tell Bob that all
 these people, in addition to those sending email, faxes, and making phone
 calls, want him here.  He can be on Compuserve, Delphi, FNet, Prodigy,
 America Online, the USS Bounty, or where ever, just so long as he is
 _here_.  If anyone wants him to be elsewhere, please let him know that,
 but not in this topic.  <smile-

 This message is already much longer than I wanted to see _any_ message in
 this topic become.  This topic will be an incredible wall of text for all
 the folks who only log onto GEnie once a week or less frequently...that is
 why we want to keep messages in this particular topic very brief and very
 specific.

 So if anyone wants to discuss the merits of all this, I'm all for it, but
 let's do it in another topic.  Just say so and I'll create one. Or anyone
 else can get it started and I'll move this message and any others that are
 relevant over there.

 I apologize for the length of this message, but I think John addressed
 some very good issues that warranted explanation.  We can continue this
 discussion elsewhere if anyone would like to.

 Thank you.

 - Jeff Williams
  ------------

 Category 1,  Topic 2
 Message 85        Wed Jun 24, 1992
 G.T.GRAY [Gary Gray]         at 21:10 EDT
  
 I would like to see Bob here! But look at it this way, he couldn't be here
 much less. I don't see how all this voting is gonna give Bob anymore time
 for us regardless of how we vote.
  ------------


 From CIS

  Another Country heard from...

 #: 65761 S1/Forum Business
     25-Jun-92  14:00:33
 Sb: Online support survey
 Fm: nicolas lecuona 100015,57
 To: SYSOP*Ron Luks 76703,254
 Hi, Ron! Well, my vote goes to the "C" option; we need some kind of
 official news source. Actually we get around 85% of our info about Atari
 from gossip, and a little of official support would be needed. And GEnie
 is not available from Spain, so I would be unable to keep in touch. It is
 sad enough not having any kind of support here at Spain (spanish Atari
 bosses are bunch of &/%#).
 Regards,

 Nick.-


 Indignation runs high...

 #: 65825 S1/Forum Business
     26-Jun-92  05:11:32
 Sb: #65794-Online support survey
 Fm: MYLES COHEN 71570,3142
 To: Bob Brodie [ATARI] 70007,3240

 As an interested and unbiased observer of the recent "goin' ons" about
 this here on-line survey and based on your insistence for E-mail only and
 very "polite" answers that you have given so far...it seems to me that
 you really are trying to move heaven and earth to keep from having your
 presence on CIS...

 Let me reassure you...that if anyone has anything that they would like to
 say to you in "private" or are afraid to vent in public...they surely
 would do it with E-mail (Isn't that what it's for?)

 If'n you don't wanna be here...then don't come...but yes, it is in
 ATARI's best interests to have a presence on this here service...so one
 of you'se guys should be our resident ATARI guru...

 So...what I'm really trying to say is that you should accept the survey
 as being a legitimate indication of the users' desires...

 And, oh yes, you, like most advertisers should conclude that for
 every-one you do hear from in this survey...that there are several times
 over that many "lurkers" of the same opinion who for one reason or
 another, don't write...

 This " my excrement is not malodorous" attitude of not accepting anything
 but E-mail as being "weighted by the opposition" seems almost paranoid...
 or am I being paranoid...


 From Delphi
  
 The indignation continues...

 39012 25-JUN 02:50 General Information
      RE: BOBBRO wants mail from YOU! (Re: Msg 39005)
      From: DAVIDNIELD   To: ALL


     Whether or not Bob Brodie "visits" Delphi or not is the question,
 right?  I have to wonder what kind of friend we have in Bob if we have to
 beg him to "come over once in a while."  I hope he decides that he would
 like to see what we are up to on Delphi, the more often the better, right? 
 But, I feel that writing him to plead with him not to leave is putting
 myself in a position of weakness with a man I've never talked to....  
 Sure, I know, its not just that he is a fine man who could add alot to the
 forum, he is also Director of Communication for Atari....  It is sort of
 scary to think of having to go without his presence here, and interpreting
 that as a further sign of being some- how abandoned.  But, if we all write
 and he decides to stay, there is a danger that he'll feel we owe him
 something, because he stayed online when we asked him to...?

     I guess what I'm saying is:  I'd like to write, and if I thought it
 would clinch the deal for once and for all.  I'd write him.  But, I guess
 if he doesn't want to be online here than I can live with that too.

     I would like to say that if the decision has anything to do with his
 busy schedule, I understand, but I'd like to point out that he could spend
 prime-time hours here for the same price as non-prime-time hours on GEnie.

     I would like to add too, that in my time on GEnie I found it very
 difficult to spend relaxing time in conference knowing that the clock was
 clicking off a dime a minute.  Some previous messages on the subject have
 questioned what impact the cynicism on our "phone away from home" may have
 on the psyche of an Atari employee, and I would have to say that by and
 large this place is a very friendly and comfortable place to come and have
 a read.  No Atari employee can be blamed for the way the alleged attitude
 of the company.  Unless the very top manager has the goal of improving the
 quality of support to the after-market, the lower employee has no ear for
 proposed change.

 Bob, if you read this... please visit us once in while.  If not,
 I won't be writing....

       Dave


 From CIS 

 Another Sad Indicator

 #: 27434 S16/CodeHead Software
     21-Jun-92  21:01:57
 Sb: #27402-#Calligrapher!!
 Fm: Jody Golick 73217,3246
 To: Charles F. Johnson 76004,2232 (X)

 Aaah Charles. Good to see your voice.  I hope all the assorted barbs and
 flames I've been seeing around the ether aren't effecting you in any way.
 What a silly bunch of baloney.  I am an unshakable CodeHead fan (though
 I preferred the old logo with the background of bits).  For design,
 execution and support there is no software group in the Atari world that
 can compete with y'all.

 Thanks for the rapid and comprehensive response.  About G+PLUS.  I
 believe you have said that G+CALLIG is identical to G+PLUS.  Since
 Calligrapher is the only G-type program I use, do you think G+PLUS would
 be a wise purchase?  It sounds to me like I would be buying it for the DA
 - which I don't need - and the docs - which I want to read.

 By the way, is software taking up all your time or are you still playing?

 -J-


 #: 27438 S16/CodeHead Software
     21-Jun-92  22:22:55
 Sb: #27434-#Calligrapher!!
 Fm: Charles F. Johnson 76004,2232
 To: Jody Golick 73217,3246 (X)

 Jody,

  "Silly bunch of baloney" -- you said it!  Don't worry about me, though;
 I stopped caring what most of these people say about me a long time ago. 
 They're gutless cowards, who spread lies and slanderous comments behind
 my back on the "FNET," and they don't have the courage to say these
 things to my face.  The truth will come out in the wash.

  On to more pleasant subjects.  :)

  G+CALLIG isn't quite the same as the full version of G+PLUS; the
 difference is that G+CALLIG doesn't have the "hooks" to communicate with
 the G+PLUS desk accessory.  Honestly, if Calligrapher's the only GDOS
 program you ever use, you probably don't need to buy G+PLUS.

  Just today, John and I talked about including the complete G+PLUS
 package with Calligrapher.  If we do, we'll probably be sending it free
 of charge to anyone who's already purchased Calligrapher without it -- so
 you still might get your hands on the docs without having to buy G+PLUS. 
 :)

  Yes!  I am still playing, lately more than ever.  I just played on a
 track on George Duke's new album, and I'm going to be doing some shows
 next week in LA and San Jose with the koto player from the jazz-fusion
 band Hiroshima (she's incredible).  If anyone reading this would like to
 see me torture my guitar, live and in person, the shows are on June 24th
 at At My Place in Santa Monica, and the 26th and 27th at Club Jazz in San
 Jose.

 - Charles @ CodeHead Tech





  """"""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""



                      STReport's "EDITORIAL CARTOON"
                      """"""""""""""""""""""""""""""


 > A "Quotable Quote"            "...A very wise expression!...."
   """""""""""""""""




                 "Reason does not make an action right...
           it only makes the wrong actions easier to live with!"


                                     Doyle C. Helms Jr. (Original)"



                                     


  """""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""




 > ABCO SPECIALS! STR InfoFile      * NEW 1992 Prices!  MORE Products! *
   """""""""""""""""""""""""""        --------------------------------



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            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 $359.95 (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!

                  THE CATALOGS ARE DONE! &  BEING MAILED!





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                  STReport International Online Magazine
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 STR Online!           "YOUR INDEPENDENT NEWS SOURCE"         June 26, 1992
 Since 1987                 copyright   1987-92                     No.8.26
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