*---== STReport International Online Magazine ==---* """"""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""" "The Original 16/32bit Online Magazine" from STR Publishing """""""""""""" January 08, 1993 No.9.02 ========================================================================== STReport International Online Magazine Post Office Box 6672 Jacksonville, Florida 32205 ~ 6672 R.F. Mariano Publisher - Editor ----------------------------------------- Voice: 904-783-3319 10 AM - 4 PM EST Support BBS Network System * THE BOUNTY BBS * * TURBO BOARD BBS SYSTEM * FNET 350 ~ Fido 112:35 ~ Nest 90:21/350.0 904-786-4176 USR/HST 24hrs - 7 days 1200 - 19.2bps V.32 - 42 bis 16.8 Dual Standard FAX: 904-783-3319 12 AM - 6 AM EST ----------------------------------------- FNET.. 18 : ///Turbo Board BBS Support...1-416-274-1225 FNET.. 75 : Bloom County BBS.............1-415-965-9347 FNET. 350 : The Bounty **...1-904-786-4176 FNET. 489 : Steal Your Face BBS..........1-908-920-7981 _____________________________________________________________________ > 01/08/93 STR 902 "The Original * Independent * Online Magazine!" """""""""""""""" - The Editor's Desk - CPU Report - PORTFOLIO NEWS - CBM Lowers Prices! - NEW SYQUEST!! - LAYOFFS @ PRODIGY - WD SHIPS CAVIAR HDs - SPAR NEWS! - SPA GETS RESULTS! - PEOPLE ARE TALKING - TERADESK NEWS! - STR Confidential -* FALCON030 FCC CLASS B APPROVED! *- -* ATARI & CES '93 *- -* ITS JANUARY '93 -> FALCON030 - WHERE? *- ========================================================================== STReport International Online Magazine The Original * Independent * Online Magazine -* FEATURING WEEKLY *- "Accurate UP-TO-DATE News and Information" Current Events, Original Articles, Tips, Rumors, and Information Hardware - Software - Corporate - R & D - Imports ========================================================================== STReport's BBS, The Bounty, invites BBS systems, worldwide, to participate in the Fido/NEST/Atari F-Net Mail Network. You may also call our BBS direct at 904-786-4176, and enjoy the excitement of exchanging information relative to all computers, worldwide, through the use of excellent International Networking Systems. SysOps, worldwide, are quite welcome to join the STReport International Conferences. The Crossnet Code is #34813, and the "Lead Node" is # 350. All BBS systems are welcome and invited to actively participate. Support your favorite computers; Join Today! ========================================================================== CIS ~ GENIE ~ DELPHI ~ BIX ~ FIDO ~ FNET ~ NEST EURONET ~ CIX ~ CLEVELAND FREE-NET ~ INTERNET ========================================================================== ============= * ATARI EDITION * ============= COMPUSERVE WILL PRESENT $15.00 WORTH OF COMPLIMENTARY ONLINE TIME to the Readers of; ST REPORT INTERNATIONAL ONLINE MAGAZINE """"""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""" "The Original 16/32bit Online Magazine" NEW USERS; SIGN UP TODAY! CALL: 1-800-848-8199 .. Ask for operator 198 You will receive your complimentary time and be online in no time at all! WHAT'S NEW IN THE ATARI FORUMS (January 08) NEW IN ATARI VENDORS FORUM (GO ATARIVEN)! CODEHEAD provides a new patch to upgrade Warp 9 to version 3.74, the latest free update for Warp 9 with Extend-O-Save, the first modular screensaver for Atari computers. This archive contains everything you need to update from v3.73 to v3.74. (Previous updates are available in this same library for earlier versions.) See the file W9374U.LZH in Library 16, CodeHead Tech. GRAPHIC FILES... A number of new graphic images are available for download from the Atari Arts Forum (GO ATARIARTS). Check out the following files: (Filename)(Lib)(Description) ALIEN1.LZH 9 CEL animation from Ralph Bakshi's "Wizards" BBOOP.LZH 9 Betty Boop digitized sequence (from P.D. footage) BIRD.LZH 9 Gangly bird hops along swaying its neck (3D) CAN.LZH 9 A license plate is peeled from a cola can. CLOWN.LZH 9 Rotating 3D clowns head DOMINO.LZH 9 rendered dominos knocking each other down. GLOBE.LZH 9 rendered animation of the world spinning MARVIN.LZH 9 Marvin the Martian (w/o ACME disintegrator) PTERO.LZH 10 Flying 3D pterodactyl (good example of 3D cartoon ROBOTR.LZH 10 Transforming semi gets out of a traffic jam. PLAY ASTEROIDS BY MODEM! Download file RAYOID.LZH from LIBRARY 2 of the Atari Arts Forum (GO ATARIARTS) for a three-in-one package of games. Includes a game similar to Asteroids with great sounds (DMA sound supported). Action and strategy. Documentation in English and French. UPDATE TO VENDOR.DAT Download file VENDOR.DAT from LIBRARY 6 of the Atari Productivity Forum (GO ATARIPRO). This file contains an update to the Atari Vendors database. Includes names, addresses, phone numbers, product info, and CIS UserIDs for developers and vendors of Atari products. Please see VENDOR.ARC in the same library for the viewer PRG/ACC and documentation. NATIONAL ATARI BBS LISTING Download file ACBBS.TXT from LIBRARY 2 of the Atari Productivity Forum (GO ATARIPRO) for Atari Classics magazine's Atari 8-bit/ST National BBS listing. PRINT PORTFOLIO TEXT SIDEWAYS... Download file PDSW.ZIP from LIBRARY 3 of the Atari Portfolio Forum (GO APORTFOLIO) for a great little Public Domain Dos utility will print text sideways from your Portfolio. Small - about 1k in size and great for spreadsheets! OR PRINT IN TWO COLUMNS... Download file 2COL.ZIP from LIBRARY 5 of the Atari Portfolio Forum (GO APORTFOLIO) for a DOS application program (which works on the Portfolio) that will format and print documents in two columns. 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!" """""""""""""""""""""" Little Christmas was this past week, a nice, quiet holiday. I must however, point out that the Christmas sales season reports are now out and the computer sales records have _all_ been broken. Computers of all sizes and shapes were sold in fantastic numbers this Christmas. In fact, this holiday season's sales show computers to be the # ONE sales and gift item above all else. Would'a been nice... After much consternation and knashing of teeth.. :-) the FCC finally found the Class B Certification Records that were being sought. Elsewhere in this issue is an account of that magnanimous event. 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: """"""""""""""""""""""" Dana P. Jacobson Michael Arthur John Deegan Lucien Oppler Brad Martin Judith Hamner John Szczepanik Dan Stidham Joseph Mirando Steve Spivey Doyle C. Helms Lloyd E. Pulley Editor Emeritus Contributing Correspondents: """""""""""""""""""""""""""" Michael Lee Richard Covert Scott Birch Brian Converse Oliver Steinmeier Tim Holt Andrew Learner Norman Boucher Harry Steele Ben Hamilton Neil Bradley Eric Jerue Ron Deal Robert Dean Ed Westhusing James Nolan Vernon W. Smith Bruno Puglia Clemens Chin IMPORTANT NOTICE """""""""""""""" Please, submit letters to the editor, articles, reviews, etc... via E-Mail to: Compuserve.................... 70007,4454 Delphi........................ RMARIANO BIX........................... RMARIANO FIDONET....................... 112/35 FNET.......................... NODE 350 NEST.......................... 90:21/350.0 GEnie......................... ST-REPORT """"""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""" STR'S "BELIEVE IT? OR.. WHAT?" <>###############################<> "There is no comparison! The Atari Falcon is far superior to the PC platform." Sam Tramiel, 08/92 "My new office, which has a better view than my old one, is so far quite satisfactory. And Richard Miller is in my old office. The Forbes article was a mish-mash and misconstrued article full of half truths. We are anxiously awaiting the release of the Atari Falcon to bring us back to the forefront. The article has given us some laughs, but otherwise has not affected us." Sam Tramiel, 08/92 "As I said before, all marketing announcements will be made at Duesseldorf. I will not comment on future models of the Falcon. WE ARE TALKING TODAY ABOUT A MACHINE..... WHICH WILL BE SHIPPING NEXT WEEK." Sam Tramiel, 08/92 "I've just returned from Asia, where I saw the first Atari Falcon production coming off the lines. Let's hope this new offering will make it in North America. I know that the specs are great." Sam Tramiel, 08/92 "We have not yet even given the machine to the FCC. And we are only applying for Class B approval. According to our "experts", it should pass Class B." Sam Tramiel, 08/92 "...... We are not working for Wall Street but to make money for our shareholders and only think long term." Sam Tramiel, 11/92 psssst. FYI.... The Shareholder's equity is fine.... NOT! The Stock is hovering around $1.12 CHRISTMAS '92 has COME and GONE... FALCONS ....anyone? By the Way.... Does the Falcon work well with any of the SLM Laser Printers?? """"""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""" > CPU STATUS REPORT LATE BREAKING INDUSTRY-WIDE NEWS ================= Computer Products Update - CPU Report ------------------------ ---------- Weekly Happenings in the Computer World Issue #01 By: John Deegan IBM STILL THE LEADER IN WORLD PC MARKET - Like an aging champion, IBM took punch after punch from the younger challengers, reeled a few times and threatened to fall, but still had enough stamina left to hang on for the win at the bell. While IBM's PC earnings dropped 18.7% in 1992, it still managed to hold onto the industry leader championship belt with 12.4% of the PC market ($5.8 billion in sales). Apple Computer had to settle for runner-up, again, with 11.9% of the market ($5.5 billion). Dataquest ranked the five top PC companies as - (1) IBM - 12.4% ($5.8 billion), (2) Apple Computer - 11.9% ($5.5 billion), (3) Compaq - 6.6% ($3.1 billion), (4) NEC - 5.1% ($2.4 billion), (5) Dell - 3.5% ($1.6 billion). All others - 60.5% ($28.5 billion). Dell jumped from the 11th posi- tion in 1991 to 5th in 1992. INTEL JUMPS INTO 1ST PLACE, NOW WORLD'S TOP CHIP PRODUCER - For the first time since 1984, a non-Japanese firm is again the world's top semiconductor producer. Intel Corp. sped past Japan's NEC and Toshiba to take over 1st place with 7.7% ($5.06 billion) of the market in 1992. This amounted to a 26% gain in revenues over 1991. Much of the increase is based on the increased demand for Intel's 386SL and 486 products which has allowed Intel to double its market share in the last five years. Motorola Inc. also had impressive numbers with a 7.1% ($4.64 billion) market share and increase of 22% in sales and retained its number four ranking. WESTERN DIGITAL SHIPS NEW CAVIAR DRIVES - Western Digital Corp. began shipping its two new 1-inch high 3.5-inch Caviar hard drives this week. The Caviar AC1170 has a formatted capacity of 170.6 meg and the Caviar AC2250 256 megs. Single unit OEM pricing for the AC1170 is $325 and for the AC2250 is $395. WD says the units are the industry's first single-platter 170MD drive and the dual-platter Caviar AC2250, at 256MB, "is the highest capacity disk drive in its class." AMIGA 4000 AND 1200 PRICES CUT - Commodore has lowered the price of the Amiga 4000 to $2,693, which is a $1,500 reduction in its suggested retail price. At the same time they cut $600 from the Amiga 1200's price, making its suggested retail price $599. The A4000 comes standard with a 120MB hard drive, 6MB of RAM, a dual speed high-density floppy drive and CrossDOS. Also included is ASDG Art Department Professional and Electronics Arts DeluxePaint IV SYQUEST RESPONDS TO CUSTOMERS - Syquest has introduced the SQ5110C removable hard drive mechanism. The new drive mechanism can read and write on both the 44 meg and 88 meg removable cartridges. According to Syquest, this resulted from of the number one concern raised by its customers. While the new mechanism won't be formally introduced until the Mac- World show in San Francisco, Syquest expects that most of its OEMs will be able to begin shipping drives with the new mechanisms within a few days. U.S. LEAD IN TELECOMMUNICATION MARKET IS SLIPPING - A new study from the University of Southern California for Telecommunications Management and covering 24 nations shows that the U.S.'s lead in the telecommunica- tions industry is evaporating. The study reports finding the U.S. lagging in a number of key techno- logies compared with other nations, such as converting analog networks to more efficient digital networks, investment and the amounts of time that equipment is used. PRODIGY IN UPHEAVAL - According to the Wall Street Journal, Prodigy Services Co., the operator of the Prodigy online service, may cut 1,100 jobs. Several senior-level execs have already left Prodigy, including senior vice president Henry Heilbrunn. Prodigy confirms the report, but refuses to make any further comments until the changes are finished and employees are notified. Prodigy is a joint venture of IBM and Sears, Roebuck and Co. Both are troubled by current financial problems thus making it difficult for eit- her company to put more money into Prodigy. However, spokesmen for both companies told the Journal they are committed to Prodigy and don't ex- pect any change in their roles in the joint venture. SPA HAS A RECORD CATCH IN 1992 - The Software Publishers Association (SPA) announced this week that 1992 was its most active year to date. The SPA took action against 747 organizations. This included 218 audits and lawsuits (resulting in the payment of $3.9 million in fines and penalties) and 529 cease and desist letters. Of the audits and lawsuits filed, 95% were corporate cases, while the remaining 5% of defendants comprised BBSes, training facilities, and schools. __________________________________________________________________ > ONLINE WEEKLY STReport OnLine The wires are a hummin'! """"""""""""""""""""""""""""" PEOPLE... ARE TALKING ===================== On CompuServe ------------- compiled by Joe Mirando Well friends and neighbors, here we are again. Another week has come and gone, more questions asked and answered, problems solved, and lots of things explained. It constantly amazes me that the good sysops of Compuserve, along with knowledgeable people like Albert Dayes and Dazzz Smith can constantly pull 'rabbits' out of their 'hats', but I'm glad that they do. I was talking to an ST user last week and he asked "Who is this Albert Dayes guy, and how does he know all this stuff"? I had no answer for him other than to say that people like that are what I call 'Knowledge Philanthropists'. We should all be glad that they are willing to give away so much of their wealth of knowledge. Now... All I need to do is find someone that is that free with dollars! From The Atari Productivity Forum ================================= As a continuation of a message from last week, in which Sysop Bob Retelle mentioned that the media had a circus with last year's Michelangelo virus, Bob Ledbetter posts: "It shows to go ya just how much "power" we have let the media acquire. True, to a lot of people, 'puter viruses are a big deal, but in the grand scheme of things, they are rather minuscule. However, when it comes to AIDS, abortion, presidential elections, the economy, things that really effect all of us, the media has a heyday. They don't care about who gets AIDS, has an abortion, or how bad the economy is. The only things they care about are 1) their ego, and 2) their pocket books. And they will go to ANY lengths, including but not limited to, distortion, disinformation, and/or misinformation, to boost/protect those interests. The American Public needs to wake up and smell the coffee if they think that what they see on the XXX Evening News is ACTUALLY what happened, or is happening, at that particular minute, or throughout the day." James Port asks Sysop Bob Retelle: "Have any telecom viruses been discovered on Atari computers yet? The only ones I'm aware of all require a floppy as the medium of transmittal. Is this still the case?" Bob replies: "There have been reports of "link viruses" that attach themselves to individual programs (and thus *could* be transmitted by modem), but so far they've only been reported in Europe. There are virus checkers for them (I have one in my AUTO folder, just in case), but I don't know of ANYONE who's encountered anything like that so far." Well, at least these beasties haven't crossed the Atlantic yet. Hmmm... maybe viruses (or should that be viri) can't swim! James, now interested in protection (this must be the age of safe computing), asks Bob about it: "Thanks for the info Bob. Those link viruses you are talking about are new to me. I imagine I'll need a special kind of virus detector for them. Are there any in the library here?" Bob, being the hard working, industrious, safety-conscious individual that he is, quickly posts: "I think I uploaded the TSR virus checker I use to the libraries.. It's called "Protect6", and it's from Germany (of course). It's saved me from accidentally re-infecting disks several times already, although they were all floppy disk boot sector viruses. I'll try to remember to check and see if I actually did upload it, and if not, send it up tonight." James asks: "Protect6? Do you have a filename? I've been using VKiller 3.11, guess I'll add Protect6 to the arsenal. Thanks." Most of us have heard of graphics cards. They are the add-ons that let us use monitors other than the Atari name brand (usually with greatly expanded color capabilities). Along these same lines, Mark Woods asks: "I just purchased a VGA/SVGA monitor for use with my Dell computer and am wondering if it is possible to drive it from my Atari 1040ST. It would be great if I could since it would alleviate crowded space conditions on my desk. Does anybody know if this is even possible? If so, what type of connector do I need? Will the visual clarity be similar to what I was seeing with my SC1224 or will it worsen?" Jim Ness fields this one: "If your monitor has a good scan range, it will be able to work with ST mono. But ST color is far enough away from the VGA horizontal scan speed, that it won't work. You would need a special cable. The most recent Atari mono monitors were actually VGA mono monitors, with the special cable provided. It was a one-time purchase, and Atari has sold out of them." Do you remember way back when Atari began shipping the SLM804 Laser printer? To keep the price as low as possible Atari decided that the Laser printer would have no memory of its own, but would use the computer's memory to 'draw' the printout instead. This, of course, meant that you had to have a computer with at least 2 megabytes of memory. Well, I guess that every silver lining has a cloud. It is interesting though, that other companies are just now beginning to take on this philosophy. Richard Paddock posts: "Thought you folks might get a kick out of this: I found an ad in PC/Computing for LaserMaster WinPrint products. The interesting sentence is "Our direct Windows driver uses GDI commands to rasterize the page in the computer before sending it to the printer via our high-speed video cable." Sound like a concept Atarians would recognize? Maybe there's life in the old SLM series yet." Albert Dayes of Atari Explorer Magazine tells Richard: "A friend of mine has a LaserMaster and it uses the high-speed video cable. It is very useful when printing a large volume of PostSCript files. I'm quite sure his doesn't use the GDI commands too much. I think the WinPrint products are enhancements to existing printers like the HP4. Several printers use the memory in the computer idea like the SLM such as NeXT and a few others which I can't remember off the top of my head." From The Atari ST Arts Forum ============================ Ron Luks, Head Sysop in these here parts, posts: "If you have an IBM-PC (or clone) with a 486 chip, you might find this Lynx demo program interesting. It is available in Lib 17 of the Atari Portfolio Forum (G APORTFOLIO) *not* this forum: [75300,2775] Lib:17 *New Upload (23:53:43 EST)* LYNX.ZIP/Bin Bytes: 553440, Count: 0, 01-Jan-93 Title : LYNX.ZIP Keywords: ATARI LYNX DEMO SOUND A user demo for the Atari Lynx. If you ever wanted one of the best handheld color games around now is your chance is buy one for a real good price. This demo requires a 486SX with a sound card in order to view the graphics and sound in sync." Jim Ness tells Ron: "It IS a pretty neat demo. But, Windows made me change a buffer size that I did not even know existed (I had to add a statement to the SYSTEM.INI file) to play the demo. Also, thank heaven for STalker and resumable B+ file xfers. My original download, with QuickCIS and ymodem-g, aborted after 422k. I was able to call back with STalker and resume from that point..." Ah ha! Resuming downloads, two different telecommunications programs? I think Ron sums it up best when he replies: "You were able to abort the download with QuickCIS and re-start it under STalker? Coooooooool !" Jim Ness adds: "The amusing part happened during the resumed download. When STalker saw that the filename already existed, it told CIS that it had 420k of the file. Under that circumstance, both ends do a CRC check on 420k, to confirm that the first portion had no errors. While that happened, STalker showed the packet count absolutely flying, and was showing 10,100 cps. Wouldn't THAT be a nice download rate, if it were real? By the way, in the race to see which end completed its CRC check fastest, STalker won. When STalker finished, there was about a 10 second pause, waiting for CIS to catch up." Hmmm.. let's see; if a 220 cps is an average transfer rate for 2400 baud, then 10,100 cps would be somewhere in the neighborhood of 110,000 baud (Nice neighborhood, huh?). Okay, on to other things! Hard drives. Wouldn't it be nice if you could swap hard drives as easily as you can swap floppy disks? Sure it would. Removable hard drives are here, now. The only question is where to get them and which size to get (SyQuest cartridges are currently available in 44 meg and 88 meg sizes). Bruce Lane asks: "I'm getting ready to buy one of the syquest removable harddrive systems (44) and I'm looking for an inexpensive but reliable source. I need to be able to use it with Spectre GCR as well as SuperCharger. I would consider a used one if anyone has one to sell. Any help would be appreciated." Again, Albert Dayes of Atari Explorer Magazine jumps in to offer information: "If you want to build one yourself the mech's are around $325 in computer shopper magazine. I would assume you could get a good deal for a complete unit too which includes case, power supply, drive and ICD host adapter. You can download the file vendor.dat which is an ascii file which gives a list of some Atari dealers in addition to developers." From The Atari Vendors Forum ============================ From our "oops, I didn't realize that" department, comes this little goody from Matt Seitz: "I just installed a CD-ROM drive using ICD's LINK. When I open the NEODESK disk icon I assigned to the CD-ROM drive it gives me a "TOS data may be damaged, make sure you have a disk in the drive and have no loose connections (Error #1)" message. When I click "OK", NEODESK properly opens a window and displays the directory of my CD-ROM. Any suggestions on how I can eliminate this error message?" Albert Dayes of Atari Explorer Magazine (boy, am I glad I set up that 'Albert' macro) asks Matt: "What happens if you access the CD-ROM from the desktop rather than from within neodesk? Does the error still occur?" Matt Answers: "Nope, no error from the Atari Desktop. I'm using the Link with a Toshiba CD-ROM drive. In it's default mode, the Toshiba CD-ROM drives can't read CD-ROM XA discs. However, by sending the proper Mode Select command to the drive, it can read both Mode 1 CD-ROM and Mode 2 Form 1 CD-ROM XA discs. Does anyone know of software that's available for sending this Mode Select command to the Toshiba via the Link? Is there programmer's documentation available for the Link so that I could try writing such a utility myself?" Oscar Steele of Purple Mountain Computing asks Matt: "What's the Toshiba Drive model?" To which Matt replies: "Toshiba 3201B" As bells start to blink and lights start to ring, Albert asks: "What type of CD-ROM/XA discs are you trying to read? Photo CD discs?" Matt says: "For the moment, yes. I'll be bringing some non-PhotoCD CD-ROM XA discs home from work this week." Albert asks: "Does your Toshiba 3201B support it? I thought it was just he 3301 series that did? What are on your CD-ROM/XA discs that are you are going to use .. something with interleaved audio." Matt tells Albert: "Yep, you're right. After doing some testing at work and reviewing the Toshiba specs, it appears that only the 3301 supports the XA compatibility modes. It should still be possible to write an XA driver for the 3201, but the driver would have to do alot of the work that the 3301 firmware does for you. Well hopefully I'll be able to get a 3301 mechanism soon." One of the saddest parts of the declining Atari market is the fact that so many good developers have so much trouble staying IN the market. Beth Jane Freeman asks: "I heard a rumor that Double Click Software went under. Is that true?" Keith Joines tells Beth: "Unfortunately what you have heard is true. Double Click is no more." Beth expresses what anyone who has used a DoubleClick program must feel: "Sniff, sniff, boo hoo! They were a very good company with some very nice shareware. They ran the business very well, too. Well, I suppose the economy had something to do with it." The economy? Heck, with the way things are in the Atari world right now, the economy is a very minor part of the situation (in my opinion) jm From The Atari Portfolio Forum ============================== Michael Graetz tells us: "I have had a port for some time and mostly use it for phone nos., calendar some spreadsheet and simple notes. Now I got a memory expander and want to use a dos word processor of mine that works well on the port, but... Is it possible so that the cursor (or its extension)can be visible when blocking parts of the text? I.E. when I want to block some of the text to delete it, copy or move it, on my pc the area turns white and the letters under it turn dark, when normally the background is dark and the letters white. On the Port there is no change!!! I have tried changing the background light and letters dark through my wp's setup, but still it all looks the same on the port. Is there any way or a utility on the forum to help me with that. This may be a stupid question but I appreciate your help. The forum is great, and your listing new files and favorite files etc. is terrific." Brian Johnson tells Michael: "Unfortunately, the port does not support reverse video or underlining. (The exception is some programs that can put the port into graphics mode, then "draw" the characters. I know that PBASIC has this capability, but I'm not sure if anyone else has done it yet.)" Rob Parker tells Don Thomas: "I have had Hyperlist for some time, but have never used it because of the space it would take on my 128 K memory card. Yesterday, I figured out that I could just run HL off its own card, leave it running in memory, and use the 128 k card as before. Having autoexec.bat and update on the HL card was a nice touch. But today, suddenly and inexplicably, my Hyperlist card has died: files such as KEYS are either unreadable or contain garbage. Running HL.EXE locks up both the port and my desktop system. I have wasted about a day learning HL and reorganizing files, and am feeling *very* frustrated. Is there any way I can exchange a dead HL card for a new one?" Then Rob adds: "Literally minutes later, the HL card is working again. I'm very relieved, but also wondering why this happened. Any ideas?" Don Thomas, Atari's Director of Marketing Services and general Portfolio Guru tells Rob: "Hyperlist can not die since it is on a ROM Card. It is more likely that your computer needs a cold boot before running Hyperlist again. For what it's worth, if you run Hyperlist off the card, the card has to stay in the machine. RUN files run in place on the card so that it leaves most of your RAM alone. You can save files to the C: drive, then copy them to the A: drive when done." Sysop, speed programmer, and all around good guy BJ Gleason tells Rob: "Possibly dirty contacts, a fleck of dust, a hair... those can prevent proper contact on the cards." Brian Johnson asks: "Does anybody have the names and/or addresses of companies that make or distribute Portfolio memory cards larger than 128K?" Dave Stewart tells Brian: "My company, Re:Port, expects to have 524K FlashRAM cards available in a month or so (as soon as the manufacturer has some ready!). If you'd like to get on the mailing list for notification, leave me email with your mailing address." In a conversation about accessories for our favorite palmtop computer, Don Thomas says: "The newest case (for the Portfolio) from Atari is $49.95 and is "zippered" shut. It has a retractable handle for travel, plenty of memory card slots, and is long enough to carry a peripheral as well as the Portfolio. The Portfolio can be used right in the case without completely removing it. It is black leather. Either case is available from Atari plus $5 S&H to any U.S. destination in U.S. funds. I believe Dave Stewart carries both too within his publication of RE:Port." Egon Rinderer posts: "I wanted to know if Atari or a 3rd party has a complete catalog of port accessories. I was curious about what new software, memory upgrades, and hardware expansions were available. Any help is very much appreciated." Sysop Ron Luks tells Egon: "Atari Corp has a booklet of port accessories and software called the A.P.B. Drop a message to Don Thomas 75300,1267 and he can mail you a copy." Well folks, its getting late. C'mon back next time and kick off your shoes, lean back, relax, and listen to what they are saying when... PEOPLE ARE TALKING *********************************************************************** 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. For more information, call: DELPHI Member Services at 1-800-544-4005 DELPHI is a service of General Videotex Corporation of Cambridge, MA. Try DELPHI for $1 an hour! For a limited time, you can become a trial member of DELPHI, and receive 5 hours of evening and weekend access during this month for only $5. If you're not satisfied, simply cancel your account before the end of the calendar month with no further obligation. If you keep your account active, you will automatically be enrolled in DELPHI's 10/4 Basic Plan, where you can use up to 4 weekend and evening hours a month for a minimum $10 monthly charge, with additional hours available at $3.96. But hurry, this special trial offer will expire soon! To take advantage of this limited offer, use your modem to dial 1-800-365-4636. Press once or twice. When you get the Password: prompt, type IP26 and press again. Then, just answer the questions and within a day or two, you'll officially be a member of DELPHI! TOP TEN DOWNLOADS (12/30/92) PHOTOCHROME 3.0 STR901.LZH AEO_SE2.LZH MADONNA IN PHOTOCHROME PREMIUM MAH JONGG ZNET9301.LZH ICD HOST ADAPTOR SOFTWARE NASTASSIA KINSKI NASTASSIA KINSKI IN PCS All of the above files can be found in the RECENT ARRIVALS database for at least one week after the posting of this list. Please Note that in the case of online magazines, only the most current issue in the database at the time of this compilation is considered for the Top 10 list. Also, for all files, a submission is eligible for the Top 10 list for only four weeks after its original uploading. DELPHI- It's getting better all the time! *********************************************************************** > Custom Mouse STR InfoFile IBM Bus Mouse to ST..... """"""""""""""""""""""""" OK here are the pinouts for an IBM bus mouse (miniature circular connector) and where they should go to on an Atari 9 pin D connector. IBM ATARI pin goes to pin 1 +5v 7 2 xA 1 3 xB 2 4 yA 3 5 yB 4 6 SW1 6 7 SW2 - 8 SW3 9 9 GND 8 It's quite simple really. I built a little adaptor that allows me to plug any bus mouse into the Amiga or the Atari, the Amiga version has a couple of wires switched from the Atari diagram above. I typed this from memory so the xa/xb and ya/yb might be reversed, I can't be sure off the top of my head. You'll know cause mouse movement will be reversed (looks like the ghost virus got your computer). A little disclaimer, this has worked fine for me on 5 mice and I'm sure it will for you, but be careful and don't attempt it unless you have a modicum of experience dealing with electrical/electronic stuff. I won't be held responsible for any damage resulting. Someone may want to capture this and upload it somewhere appropriate so it's available for a long time (eternity?) Tony Moving Pixels *********************************************************************** :HOW TO GET YOUR OWN GENIE ACCOUNT: _________________________________ 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. Don't Forget to Mail Your GEnie Voyager Coupons............... 2. Dec. '92 GEnie Billing Complete - To review your bill, type:..*BILL 3. Last week to register your opinion in industry-wide survey....*SURVEY 4. Sears Spring/Summer "Big Book" Catalog $5 at..................SEARS 5. Stellar Combat and Conquest for FREE this weekend in..........EMPEROR 6. COURSES in English, Math, Science and more. REGISTER in.......CALC 7. Inside Windows NT -- Special Conference.......................WINDOWS 8. Cold, Wet, Snowy - Need some SUN...Special RTCs all month in..FLORIDA 9. JUST UPDATED: Hottest & Latest Computer Books at..............PCBOOKS 10. The Rematch of the (14th) Century. A new game begins..........HYW 11. PC TECHNIQUES magazine listings now available.................BORLAND 12. Nominate NOW for the very first Lamp movie awards over at.....SHOWBIZ 13. Get help for PC Aladdin in Real-Time in.....................PCALADDIN 14. Find Out Which Home Office Products Were Tops in 1992.........HOSB 15. Win a $100 Gift Certificate this month in.....................TRIVIA Welcome ****** ******** ** ** ** To the ** ** ** ** ** GEnie ****** ** ST ** ** ** ATARI ** ** Roundtable ** ** ** ****** ** ** ** ** *** ** *** The Official Online Resource of Atari Corporation *** ** *** Darlah's Holiday Treat of the Month [page 475;9] is PHNXDEMO.LZH from LEXICOR2. This is the DEMO version of the Phoenix object render program from Lexicor Software. The LZH file also includes SPC & GIF sample files. This is a "must have" program for all ATARI computers. Phoenix supports different light sources, 3 different cameras, texture and image mapping: SPC, GIF & TGA are supported. This program renders FAST! The Atari ST RoundTable proudly presents The Independent Association of Atari Developers (IAAD) RTC, Wednesday, January 13, 10pm EST. The IAAD Board and many of its members will be on hand to share their experiences in the marketplace. Find out about the trials, tribulations, and joys of developing for your favorite computer! Ask about current and future products! Meet the folks who bring your computer to life with software and hardware enhancements! Attending for the IAAD: Dorothy Brumleve of D.A. Brumleve, President of the IAAD, Nathan Potechin of DMC Publishing, Chet Walters, WizWorks!, Jim Allen of FAST Technology, Nevin Shalit of Step Ahead Software Inc., Doug Wheeler of ICD Inc., John Eidsvoog of CodeHead Technologies, Chris Roberts of Dragonware, John Trautschold of Missionware, David Fletcher of Ditek, Craig Harvey of Clear Thinking, Bob Luneski of Oregon Research Associates, John Cole and Lee Seiler of Lexicor, David Beckemeyer of Beckemeyer Development Tools, Mark O'Bryan of Paradigm Software Products, John 'Hutch' Hutchinson of Fair Dinkum Technologies, Greg Kopchak of It's All Relative and more... New Files in Your Library No. File Name Address Description ----- ------------ ----------- ------------------------------------- 27239 RSCARDS.TOS JWEAVERJR front end for RSCARDS (v4.1) 27234 FALC_TOP.LZH D.A.BRUMLEVE Screen shots of Falcon Desktop 27233 LAPEXPO.TXT MORTIMER FREE tickets for LAP&PALMTOP Expos 27231 ST-ZIP21.LZH R.SHEPPARD5 Atari's ST ZIP 2 less Bugs.. 27230 SACEXPO.LZH M.WARNER8 SAC Expo Ad in Pagestream format 27229 NEW_DEAL.TXT PMC.INC PMC Beats all other Floptical prices 27227 SLID_DEM.LZH DRAGONWARE Put Scroll bars in your HSB2 RSC's 27226 OBSETFIX.LZH F.PAWLOWSKI Fix for OBSET.PRG of OutBurST! 27224 PAGE41.LZH SGUBER Pages from Math Tex by Example 27223 PAGE21.LZH SGUBER Pages from Math Tex by Example 27222 PAGE16.LZH SGUBER Pages from Math Tex by Example 27221 TERA125.TXT GRMEYER TeraDesk v1.25 Press Release 27217 SPAR4.LZH D.HALL23 The Electronic Book For Calamus SL! 27216 HOURGLAS.ARC D.GORDON2 Fill interior of graphic w/text (SL) 27215 PRINTSPC.ARC R.THIEMAN This a SPECTRUM Printer Driver for t Darlah's Treat of the Month [Page 475;9] - PHNXDEMO.LZH Other NEW FILES available in the Atari RT Libraries are Sound Files (library 11), Digitized Sounds (library 17), Graphic pictures (library 5), Atari Archives (library 13), and Sale/Wanted Files (library 26). Sale/Wanted items are also available in the Bulletin Board Category 27. Regular Open Conference every Wednesday night, 10PM EDT, 7PM PDT DTP conference every Monday at 10PM eastern in room 3. GEnie Information copyright (C) 1991 by General Electric Information Services/GEnie, reprinted by permission *********************************************************************** > FALCON FCC "B" OK! STR FOCUS! THE FALCON FCC CLASS B OK """"""""""""""""""""""""""""" THE FALCON030 IS FCC CLASS B CERTIFIED ====================================== by R.F. Mariano Amidst a flurry of "oh yes it is and oh no it ain't" statements, the question NO LONGER remains, whether or not the Falcon030 is actually Class B certified by the FCC. But when. Actually a great deal of effort went into the process of verifying whether or not the Falcon030 is FCC Certified Class B. After the reports the machines on display at Comdex this past fall had "disclaimer" stickers underneath them as we were patently told the machines were or would, in fact, be FCC Certified for class B use, the old, "Atari & the FCC thing began to re-appear on the horizon. As reported in a recent Z*NET Comdex report, we present this factiod as a beginning point. After all, when we were told the Falcons would pass without a "hitch." Who was going to doubt the words of those from Atari who took the time and effort to report these things to us during the now famous, online conferences which took place on every major service. AS SEEN UNDER THE MACHINES THAT WERE ON DISPLAY AT COMDEXFALL'92 "..... the FCC were fended off by big stickers under each Falcon: FOR DISPLAY PURPOSES ONLY--AWAITING FCC APPROVAL." Well... Far be it for STReport or its staff to doubt the word of Atari about there being an ID number assigned to the Atari Falcon030. In fact, we do believe a number has been assigned to the Falcon. The problem is the number is not available as public information yet. This does not necessarily mean the application for Class B approval has not been made. Quite the contrary, it provides further confirmation the application has indeed been made. In giving Atari the benefit of doubt, it must pointed out STReport was, trying to find some common ground in these matters. In all fairness, this could possibly have meant it was not entered into the Commission's records system as of yet. This is an honest evaluation as they are, truly, still trying to catch up on the backlog generated from operating on a skeleton crew for approximately the last three weeks due to year end holiday vacations. But.... As of this very moment, the call just came in at 3:15pm EST referencing the Falcon030. THE FALCON030 IS CERTIFIED CLASS B AND THE ACTUAL NUMBER IS EBAF030FT. Its entered as a TV Interface RF Device and can be coupled with most anything. The FALCON030 was _originally Class B approved on NOVEMBER 05, 1992 but because of an FCC requirement that a Ferrite Bead monitor cable be included with each unit sold, the entry's confusion arose. After an appeal was made of the ferrite bead cable decision, a re-examination was decided upon and as a result, the NEW CLASS B CERTIFICATION for the Falcon030 was issued TODAY, JANUARY 08, 1993 without the ferrite bead cable being required. The really good news is.. Once the FCC grants a product certification for Class B in the USA, as part of the new agreements between Canada, the US and Mexico, the same FCC certification is acceptable in all three countries. This means if its good enough for the FCC in USA, its good for both Canada and Mexico. The USA's FCC guidelines for Class B certification are, by far, the most stringent. As far as STReport is concerned, Atari's claim to have met the criteria to pass the Class B certification and of having an ID number for the Falcon030 is now proven quite accurate and true. We can only hope the arrival of the new Falcon030 will occur (with the right stickers in place) without further delay. After all, its in all our best interests. To further assure the reader we executed a secondary call to the records BBS. Please notice we find the number as a valid number in IDing the Grantee Name and address. But that the actual entry is still late in getting into the FCC's Database. ATZ OK ATDT1-301-725-1072 RINGING CONNECT 1200/NONE Hit Carriage Return: 1/8/93 15:18 You have 6 minutes Welcome to the FCC Public Access Link "P A L" 1 - Access Equipment Authorization Database 2 - Definitions - Terms/Codes used in Application Records 3 - Applying for an Equipment Authorization (1/92) 4 - Other Commission Activities and Procedures (8/92) 5 - Laboratory Operational Information 6 - Public Notices (8/92) 7 - Bulletins / Measurement Procedures (5/92) 8 - Rulemakings (8/92) 9 - Help a - Information Hotline (7/92) b - ADVISORY COMMITTEE ON ADVANCED TELEVISION SERVICE c - Processing Speed of Service (12/92) d - Test Sites on File per Sec 2.948 (1/93) 0 - Exit PAL Enter your selection: 1 Equipment Authorization Database Form 731: Until Form 731 is revised the March 1988 and July 1989 editions may continue to be used. The OMB expiration dates shown on the forms do not affect public use. Availability of the revised Form 731 will be announced here and by public notice. est: 7/92 1 - Equipment Authorization Application Status 2 - Applicant/grantee Names and Addresses by Code 0 - Exit this Menu Enter your selection: 1 Welcome to the P A L Application Status System This program provides Equipment Authorization Application Status and Technical Information. Help in using this program is provided in the HELP selection of the PAL main menu. You will also find data field definitions, status definitions and note code definitions. Please note that this database does NOT include registration equipment (Part 68). Inquiries concerning Part 68b registration should be directed to (202) 634-1833. The Commission issues grants to applicants identified on Form 731. These parties may or may not be the manufacturer. No other information concerning manufacturers is available. Have a Nice Day Database Last Updated: Fri Jan 8 03:07:39 EST 1993 Enter FCCID (Hit Return to end): ebaf030ft The application filed under FCCID EBAF030FT could not be located. 1. The application requested may be less than two weeks old and NOT yet entered in our computer records. 2. The FCCID may have been entered incorrectly. Be particularly cautious of O's and zero's in the product ID (last 14 characters of the FCCID). Enter FCCID (Hit Return to end): EBAF030FT The application filed under FCCID EBAF030FT could not be located. 1. The application requested may be less than two weeks old and NOT yet entered in our computer records. 2. The FCCID may have been entered incorrectly. Be particularly cautious of O's and zero's in the product ID (last 14 characters of the FCCID). Enter FCCID (Hit Return to end): EBAFO3OFT The application filed under FCCID EBAFO3OFT could not be located. 1. The application requested may be less than two weeks old and NOT yet entered in our computer records. 2. The FCCID may have been entered incorrectly. Be particularly cautious of O's and zero's in the product ID (last 14 characters of the FCCID). Equipment Authorization Database Form 731: Until Form 731 is revised the March 1988 and July 1989 editions may continue to be used. The OMB expiration dates shown on the forms do not affect public use. Availability of the revised Form 731 will be announced here and by public notice. est: 7/92 1 - Equipment Authorization Application Status 2 - Applicant/grantee Names and Addresses by Code 0 - Exit this Menu Enter your selection: 2 Enter Grantee Code (CR to end): EBAF030FT Warning: More than 3 characters were entered. EBA Atari Microsystems Corporation 4115 Keller Springs Road, Suite 200 Dallas, TX 75244 USA Enter Grantee Code (CR to end): Equipment Authorization Database Form 731: Until Form 731 is revised the March 1988 and July 1989 editions may continue to be used. The OMB expiration dates shown on the forms do not affect public use. Availability of the revised Form 731 will be announced here and by public notice. est: 7/92 1 - Equipment Authorization Application Status 2 - Applicant/grantee Names and Addresses by Code 0 - Exit this Menu \\\\**//// CONGRATULATIONS ATARI.... WELL DONE! Ralph F. Mariano _____________________________________________________________ > SAVE THE LYNX! STR FOCUS! Give the Jaguar time to get here! """"""""""""""""""""""""" OPERATION: A.C.T. NOW --------------------- Atari Community Together Now <<< TOYS'R'US AND THE ATARI LYNX LETTER WRITING CAMPAIGN! >>> The Atari Lynx is probably the best portable video game system on the market. The system has fantastic graphics, fantastic sound, and fantastic comlynxing capabilities. The Lynx also has some very good games available for it due to programmers that worked hard to make the Lynx more than just another video game system. The Lynx also has its problems. In November, 1991 at Chicago, Atari's National Sales Director for the Lynx said, "There is no distribution problem with the Lynx. Everyone wants the Lynx!" He continued to say how K-Mart called him and how they wanted to carry the Lynx, but Atari did not produce enough that year. The big question: What happened? If you are like most other Lynx owners, you have noticed that there is indeed a distribution problem. The following is the Lynx dealership situation in my area: Kay-Bee Toy Stores...................No Lynx or game cards. Children's Place (Child World).......No Lynx or game cards. Sears................................No Lynx or game cards. Best.................................No Lynx or game cards. Hills................................No Lynx or game cards. K-Mart...............................No Lynx or game cards. Walmart..............................No Lynx or game cards. Kiddie City..........................Two Lynx systems per store, Four game cards. WaldenSoftware.......................Two Lynx systems per store, Six game cards. Software Etc.........................Four Lynx systems per store, Eight game cards. Electronic Boutique..................Four Lynx systems per store, Twelve game cards. Video Game Exchange..................Four Lynx systems per store, Twenty game cards. The number of game cards was determined by how many games were visible at the time I visited the store. The number of systems was determined by how many the store usually carries in stock on the average. I would also like to comment that the Lynx games found at Kiddie City were buried beneath hundreds of Nintendo and Sega cartridges. The Lynx games found in WaldenSoftware were hidden behind the counter where they could not be seen. The Lynx games found at Software Etc. were towards the front of the store but hidden behind a shelf. When I first went to Software Etc. for Lynx games, I looked for them for 10 minutes before I had to ask a salesperson to show me where they were. The Lynx games at Electronic Boutique were at the back of the store next to TurboGraphix games. The only retailer that seemed to have a large selection of Lynx games was Toys'R'Us. Recently, this has all changed. There have been an increasing number of reports all over computer networks and bulletin board systems about how Toys'R'Us is dropping the Lynx. People are reporting that Toys'R'Us does not have the Lynx in stock nor half of the games. Toys'R'Us is supposedly marking the price down on Lynx games to "clear house" of Atari. What does Atari's management think? The 1-800 number created to order the Lynx for the Holiday Season seems to say it all. And the losing of Atari's largest distributor (if this is true) reflects some problems that Atari needs correcting. Here are a few of the several messages being posted on major computer networks: Article #660 (660 is last): From: an913@cleveland.Freenet.Edu (Tom P. Jarvela) Newsgroups: freenet.sci.comp.atari.spec.video Subject: My Adventure At Toys R Us Date: Wed Dec 30 16:39:55 1992 I decided to do a little shopping today and ran into Toys R Us to see if they got anything in stock. Well, they didn't, but there are some other things that happened. As I made my way to the video game section I took a glance at the LYNX system in the display case. There were no available cards to take to buy the thing and the game running was Ms. Pac Man. The brightness was turned down so low it couldn't hardly be seen. The game display itself isn't anything that would sell a system anyway. It's a plain black screen with Ms. Pac Man on it and there apparently was no demo for it. Anyway, I go over to where the games are waaaaaay in the back by the SNES stuff. I didn't see any new games or restocked old games for that matter. I was quite frustrated because I wanted to buy Checkered Flag or another game for $19 (they price on the sign). They were sold out except for the floor models. Normally I don't like floor models, but I decided that the instruction would be in good shape, the card itself would hardly be used, probably just a few hours running in the display case, so I bought Checkered Flag and California Games. They also had Awesome Golf and LYNX Casino for $19 (floor models). So I take the floor sample cards up, pay for them, go to the booth, and this kid comes over to wait on me. I stared him down and tossed him my receipt. He went to get the games. When he came back I we had a conversation that went something like this: Me: "You know, you really should give more support for the LYNX. You know, get some newer games in and restock the old ones that have sold out. And do something about that display, it makes the LYNX look bad. It's a helluva machine and you're lack of support is a disgrace." Droid: "I know, I like the LYNX. Nice machine. Nice. It's really nice, good graphics, yeah... BUT... we're dropping it." Me: "You're dropping it? What kind of idiotic move is that? There's quite a nice sized user base in this area. It's a fairly popular machine." Droid: "Yeah, well, uh, I don't know much about it, we're just going to get rid of it." Just like that. No real excuse given as to why they are dropping it. It's obviously selling. I had to restrain myself from swearing because of the presence of some little kids nearby. I think I'll be taking my business elsewhere from now on... for good. Greg -- Article #1448 (1499 is last): Newsgroups: alt.games.lynx From: areid@mary.fordham.edu (Darin Reid) Subject: Lynx - bad sign! Date: Sun Dec 27 13:04:00 1992 I just got the Sunday edition of the New York (City) Daily News... in it there is a sale paper for Toys "R" Us, it has a huge section for game systems and their games, and guess what..., the Lynx is nowhere to be found! They advertise: Super Nintendo, Gameboy, Game Gear, Nintendo, Genesis, TurboExpress, and Turbografx-16, all of the Game Genies and hand held games from Tiger. NO LYNX... I bought a system that has no following!!! I should have gotten a Game Gear! Sorry Robert but I've lost faith in Atari's ability to market and support their product. I can't even find games for it; Not in T"R"U, The Wiz, Kiddie City, Electronic Boutique (mail order catalog dropped the Lynx too!), Kaybee can a Lynx game be found. The machine isn't even mentioned. When the TG-16 is displayed more prominently than the Lynx quittin' time has come... Just my view o' things... - Darin ________________________________________________________________________ Areid@Mary.Fordham.Edu || Dreid@Nyx.Cs.Du.Edu || reid@dsm.fordham.edu ------------------------------------------------------------------------ itnet:areid@fordmulc ------------------------------- Article #1450 (1499 is last): Newsgroups: alt.games.lynx From: positron@engin.umich.edu (Jonathan Scott Haas) Subject: Re: Lynx - bad sign! Date: Sun Dec 27 16:13:07 1992 In article <27DEC199214041812@mary.fordham.edu> areid@mary.fordham.edu (Darin Reid) writes: - - ["the Lynx is dying!"] - I agree, which is why I think I'm going to sell mine. I was in TRU yesterday, and was startled to see the Lynx gone from its display case. They still had some games, but not many. It seems likely that they're just going to sell off their inventory, then drop support. -- __/\__ Jonathan S. Haas | Jake liked his women the way he liked \ / University of Michigan | his kiwi fruit: sweet yet tart, firm- /_ _\ positron@engin.umich.edu | fleshed yet yielding to the touch, and \/ | covered with short brown fuzzy hair. ------------------------------- This news should make every Lynx owner concerned. I called Toys'R'Us and I was informed that if customers of Toys'R'Us has any problems regarding the Lynx, we should write: Mr. Michael Goldstein, Vice Chairman of Toys'R'Us. He is also the Chief Financial Officer. The woman I spoke to on the phone said that he has the power to bring back the Lynx if it was dropped. She continued to say that if the customers of Toys'R'Us are unhappy, the only way that they will know about it is if you let Toys'R'Us know. I say, let them know. If you are disappointed by the recent rumors of Toys'R'Us dropping the Lynx, please write Mr. Goldstein a letter at the following address: Mr. Michael Goldstein, Vice Chairman Toys'R'Us 461 From Road Paramus, NJ 07652 If you are disappointed by the distribution of Lynx systems and Lynx game cards by Atari, please write Mr. Sam Tramiel a letter at the following address: Mr. Sam Tramiel, President Atari Corporation 1196 Borregas Avenue Sunnyvale, CA 94086 There is no doubt that writing your OWN letters to these people will help MORE than just sending in form letters. These company officials will be more convinced that you are serious about this matter if you take the time to write your own letter. If you do not know exactly what to say, read the form letters to get some ideas. Also, remember to be nice! If you absolutely do not have enough time to write your own letters, you are welcome to choose the following form letters that can best express your feelings. The most important thing you can do besides writing is to spread the news about this letter writing campaign. Toys'R'Us will NOT consider bringing back the Lynx unless they receive THOUSANDS of letters. This means that you and every Lynx owner that you know will need to write a letter. There is no other way. The same thing goes for Atari. Sam Tramiel will not attempt to get Toys'R'Us as a Lynx dealer again unless you make him aware that he needs to do it. Thank you for caring about the Lynx! Sincerely, Len Stys (aa399@cleveland.freenet.edu) SAM TRAMIEL, ATARI FORM LETTERS ------------------------------- (date) (your address) Mr. Sam Tramiel, President Atari Corporation 1196 Borregas Avenue Sunnyvale, CA 94086 Dear Mr. Tramiel, I am writing you this letter to inform you that the Toys'R'Us retail stores in my area have a very small supply of Lynx systems and Lynx game cards. This concerns me because Toys'R'Us is one of the few retailers remaining that I can purchase Lynx game cards at. I have also written Toys'R'Us about this problem with hope that you will both find a way to increase the supply of Lynx systems and Lynx game cards at Toys'R'Us. The Lynx is too good of a product for its success to be limited by lack of distribution. Thank you for caring enough about your customers to correct this problem. Sincerely, (your signature) (your name) \\\\//// (date) (your address) Mr. Sam Tramiel, President Atari Corporation 1196 Borregas Avenue Sunnyvale, CA 94086 Dear Mr. Tramiel, I am writing you this letter to inform you of the lack of Lynx dealers in my area. I have a very hard time obtaining game cards because retailers either do not carry them or only keep a small supply in stock. I also do not care to use Atari's 1-800 number to order game cards for a system that I should be able to purchase at any toy store. I have recently noticed that the Toys'R'Us stores in my area have reduced the amount of Lynx systems and game cards that they carry. I would appreciate it if your company would contact Toys'R'Us and make arrangements for the store to carry more of Atari's products instead of less. I have also contacted Toys'R'Us to inform them of the demand for the Lynx and Lynx game cards. I would like to let you know that the Lynx is a very good video game system because of the quality games available for it. Please make sure that only quality games are released for the Lynx in the future. Thank you for caring enough to read my letter and for correcting the problems I mentioned. Sincerely, (your signature) (your name) \\\\//// (date) (your address) Mr. Sam Tramiel, President Atari Corporation 1196 Borregas Avenue Sunnyvale, CA 94086 Dear Mr. Tramiel, There seems to be a distribution problem with one the best video game systems on the market--the Lynx. The Lynx is an incredible product that cannot be purchased because very few retailers are carrying it! I am having a difficult time finding retailers to purchase Lynx games at. I also do not care to order games through a 1-800 number when I should be able to buy them at toy stores. I have noticed that Toys'R'Us seems to be carrying less and less of the Lynx and game cards each time I visit. I have written Toys'R'Us about the demand for Atari's products with hope that you will both work to increase Toys'R'Us' supplies. The main reason the Lynx is the best portable video game system is because of the quality games available for it. Atari must only release high quality games for the Lynx or it will become just another video game system. Please keep track of the companies that make the best Lynx games and have them make more. I would also appreciate it if your company increases the number of third-party companies that make games for the Lynx. This will allow games to be produced for the Lynx that are in demand, but your company is unable to produce. Thank you for caring enough to read my letter and for considering what I have written. Sincerely, (your signature) (your name) \\\\//// (date) (your address) Mr. Sam Tramiel, President Atari Corporation 1196 Borregas Avenue Sunnyvale, CA 94086 Dear Mr. Tramiel, I have heard rumors that Toys'R'Us is dropping the Lynx! Is this true? Toys'R'Us is one of the few toy stores left that support the Lynx. I was shocked that Atari let their largest distributor slip away, but I have written a letter to Toys'R'Us urging them to continue carrying the Lynx. I also urge you to contact Toys'R'Us and arrange for them to continue carrying the Lynx. I am confident that any problems between Atari and Toys'R'Us can be resolved. Thank you, (your signature) (your name) \\\\//// MICHAEL GOLDSTEIN, TOYS'R'US FORM LETTERS ----------------------------------------- (date) (your address) Mr. Michael Goldstein, Vice Chairman Toys'R'Us 461 From Road Paramus, NJ 07652 Dear Mr. Goldstein, I have been recommending the Atari Lynx to all of my friends. I tell them to buy it at Toys'R'Us but the stores in my area do not have any and your sales people do not expect any new shipments! There are also very few Lynx game titles in stock. Why doesn't the largest toy store in the world carry a healthy supply of a quality product such as the Atari Lynx? The Atari Lynx is the best portable video game system on the market. In the past, I have purchased my Lynx games from Toys'R'Us. I am concerned that I will not be able to buy them from Toys'R'Us in the future. I hope you understand that Toys'R'Us will be losing sales by not carrying the Lynx. My friends and I will not stop buying Lynx games because Toys'R'Us does not carry them, we will only go to another store that does. Sincerely, (your signature) (your name) \\\\//// (date) (your address) Mr. Michael Goldstein, Vice Chairman Toys'R'Us 461 From Road Paramus, NJ 07652 Dear Mr. Goldstein, I purchased my Atari Lynx from Toys'R'Us with the belief that your company would be there when I wanted to buy games for it. I have visited Toys'R'Us in my area and I am told that the Lynx is being dropped! When I purchased my Lynx from Toys'R'Us, the salesperson told me that I was making the right decision by purchasing it from Toys'R'Us. There are other stores that I could have purchased it from that are continuing to support the Lynx strongly. I would like very much to continue buying my Lynx video games from Toys'R'Us. Please continue supporting the Atari Lynx by increasing, not decreasing, the amount of stock that Toys'R'Us stores carry. Thank you for taking the time to care about your customers. Sincerely, (your signature) (your name) \\\\//// (date) (your address) Mr. Michael Goldstein, Vice Chairman Toys'R'Us 461 From Road Paramus, NJ 07652 Dear Mr. Goldstein, I have heard rumors that Toys'R'Us is dropping the Lynx! Is this true? Toys'R'Us has carried Atari products since the store first started! This is very disappointing news. The Atari Lynx is not only a very good product, but it is also manufactured by the only American video game company! I urge you to contact Atari and resolve your problems with them. The Atari Lynx is just too good of a product for Toys'R'Us not to carry. Thank you for caring about your customers. Sincerely, (your signature) (your name) \\\\//// THANK YOU FOR WRITING! This is what makes the Atari Community so great! ______________________________________ > NVN WANTS YOU! STR InfoFile Another Network Supports Atari! """"""""""""""""""""""""""" National Videotext Network (NVN) has recently added an Atari ST Forum to it's growing lists of available services. The Atari ST Forum is ready and waiting for you! The future of NVN will be one which continues to remain sensitive and responsive to market needs. Additional services and advances in electronic information will continue to be added, to provide unique and interesting services on an on-going basis. NVN service offerings can be broken into three categories: Basic, Premium, and Premium Plus. Basic Services -------------- Most of the Basic services are available 24 hours a day with no connect time charges beyond the basic membership fee. However, a select group have functions for which transaction fees are charged. Basic services are accessible through a flat rate charge of $5.95 per month. Premium Services ---------------- For Premium services, Members pay connect charges for the amount of time spent in a particular service. Premium services are accessible Monday through Friday for a connect time charge of $9.00/hour from 8 am to 6 pm, and $6.00/hour from 6 pm to 8 am; and on Saturday and Sunday for a connect time charge of $6.00 all day (6 pm Friday til 8 am Monday), central time zone. 9600 Baud access is available at no additional cost! Think of the advantages of downloading at 9600 baud for 9.00 hr Prime Time or 6.00 hr non-prime time! Premium Plus Services --------------------- Premium Plus services are subject to the same type of connect time charge as Premium services. However, a surcharge is also added to the connect time for these services. You can join NVN one of two ways. By voice phone 1-800-336-9096 (Client Services) or via modem phone 1-800-336-9092. You will be issued an Account # (usually within 24 hours) National Videotex Network and the Atari ST Forum will be waiting for you. _____________________________________________________________ > STraight FAX NEWS STR InfoFile STraight FAX updates & NEWS """""""""""""""""""""""""""""" ctsy GEnie ST RT ---------------- Happy New Year! to everyone who has supported the STraight FAX! in 1992. By now, I hope that everyone is aware of the change in marketing of the STraight FAX!. As of December 16, 1992, the STraight FAX! is being marketed under by NewSTar Technology Management, which is owned by the developer of the STraight FAX!, Charles Smeton. I would like to thank all the STraight FAX! users for their patience during this transition. It is very important to us that our users feel that they are being provided the best support possible. To this extent, since NewSTar Technology Management's primary business is hardware and software engineering, we are happy to announce that we have reached an agreement with Dave Troy of Toad Computers located in Severna Park, Maryland to provide telephone technical support, production support and marketing support for the STraight FAX! The STraight FAX! will continue to be marketed under the NewSTar Technology Management company name and on-line technical support will continue to be provided on GEnie, Compuserve and the FNET by NewSTar Technology Management. TOAD Computers will provide telephone technical support during their normal business hours and may be reached as follows: 570F Governor Ritchie Hwy. Severna Park, Maryland 21146 Technical Support: (410) 544-6943 FAX:(410) 544-1329 GEnie: TOAD-SERV. We kindly ask that STraight FAX! users DO NOT call Toad Computer's 800 line requesting technical support. As all Toad Computer's personnel may not be completely up to speed in providing technical support to registered STraight FAX! users, any questions that can not be answered directly by the support personnel will be forwarded to NewSTar Technology Management in order to provide accurate answers as fast as possible. Again, We thank you for your patience during this transition. NewSTar Technology Management may be reached as follows: P.O. Box 122 Columbia, Maryland 21045-0122 GEnie: ------ C.S.SMETON, product support is available in the ST Roundtable in Category 4, Topic 24. Compuserve: ----------- 73047,2565, product support questions may be posted in the Atari Developer's Forum (GO ATARIDEV) Telecommunications message area. FNET: ---- Charles Smeton, FNET Node 500 (Battlezone). We also monitor the Atari Explorer On-line and STReport Message Areas as well as the other major Atari ST related message areas available on the FNET. Note to dealers: ---------------- The STraight FAX! will still be available in the US from Pacific Software Supply and in the United Kingdom from HCS Computer Peripheral Supplies. **** NewSTar Technology Management is happy to announce that we have been accepted into membership of the Independent Association of Atari Developers (IAAD). We wish to thank IAAD President, D. A. Brumleve and the IAAD Board of Directors for accepting our application request. **** NewSTar Technology Management recently received a stack of FAXes and letters from STraight FAX! users that were sent to the previous marketing company that were never answered. We apologize for the delay in processing these FAXes and letters that we only recently have been made aware of. All of these FAXes and letters are being answered at this time. NewSTar Technology Management There was a request made for information about support for 300 x 300 DPI FAX resolutions available from vendors such as Hewlett Packard. Since STraight FAX! users on GEnie may also be interested in higher resolution FAX capabilities, the response to this question is repeated below: The CCITT Group 3 FAX protocol does officially support a 300 x 300 DPI FAX Resolution at this time. There are currently two resolutions that all Group 3 FAX Machines/FAX Modems must support: Normal Resolution at 203 x 98 DPI and Fine Resolution at 203 x 196 DPI. Some vendor's FAX Machines support a resolution called Super Fine Resolution at 203 x 392 DPI, however the method used to support this resolution is not an officially supported capability. As such two different vendor's FAX machines that are advertised as supporting a Super Fine Resolution may not be able to communicate at this resolution. It is possible that what different vendors call Super Fine Resolution may not even be the same resolution. The EIA/TIA committee that decides FAX standards has submitted for approval enhanced resolutions as part of the "1992 Group 3 features" of 300 x 300 DPI and 400 x 400 DPI. Currently these enhanced resolutions are not supported by any standard FAX modems such as Class 1 or Class 2 FAX Modems. The TR-29.2 EIA/TIA committee that decides computer (DTE) to FAX Modem (DCE) protocols will most likely add these enhancements in 1993. Since large companies sit on these committees, they can design and release products based on what they know will most likely be an adopted standard. This may be the reason that Hewlett Packard has a 300 x 300 DPI resolution. On the other hand while the HP Laser Printer integrated into HP's FAX Machine may be a 300 x 300 DPI device, HP may be just scaling a Normal or Fine Resolution FAX bit-map image that is received to that of the Laser Printer. When a FAX is received via a FAX Modem, the FAX software does basically the same thing when it attempts to print it to a printer (i.e. scale it to the resolution of the printer). When a sending FAX machine calls a receiving FAX machine, the sender and receiver exchange handshaking messages that describe the capabilities that each support. If the receiver is capable of a 300 x 300 DPI resolution, but the sender is a standard FAX Machine and is not capable of 300 x 300 DPI, the transfer will take place at the resolution that the sender selects. If the sender is capable of a 300 x 300 DPI resolution, but the receiver is a standard FAX Machine and is not capable of 300 x 300 DPI, and the sender is set to the 300 x 300 DPI resolution, the sender must adjust downward to the next best resolution, which is Fine Resolution. Since the standard Class 1 or Class 2 FAX Modems support only Normal and Fine Resolution, none of the Class 1 or Class 2 FAX Software (that I am aware of for the PC, Mac or STraight FAX! that we have developed for the Atari ST/TT/ Falcon030) support any enhanced resolutions. Once the TR-29.2 committee decides on a way to support enhanced resolutions, it is possible that FAX Modem firmware could be update to support these resolutions. Software support should soon follow. There is one other problem with supporting enhanced resolutions via a FAX Modem. All FAX Software that I have seen performs the conversion of graphics, text, etc. to the user specified FAX resolution before dialing the remote FAX. Since all Group 3 FAX Machines/FAX Modems must support Normal and Fine Resolution, there will never be a problem when the FAX machines exchange capabilities at the start of the call. The FAX Software must do the conversion prior to making the call as this is a CPU intensive process that can not be done on the fly. A FAX Machine normally scans the page at the user specified FAX resolution on the fly after the connection has been established, converts the scanned data to the FAX format and sends it to the receiver. As such a FAX machine can switch down to a commonly supported resolution if necessary. A FAX Software package would need to convert each page to both the enhanced resolution and Fine Resolution and save these to disk before dialing. The FAX software can then choose which set of files to send, based on the capabilities of the receiver. This would increase the conversion time and disk space requirements by a factor of 3. The TR-29.2 is also looking into future DTE to DCE FAX communication standards, where the FAX Modem has memory and a high speed CPU. These FAX Modems will have the capability of doing a Text to FAX or Graphics to FAX conversion on the fly, just as a FAX Machine does. These features are being evaluated for Class 3 and Class 4 FAX Modems, however with the current technology price/performance ratio this would be very expensive at this time. The FAX world is changing rapidly at this time. New FAX Standards are in the process of being approved, including Group 3-64 and Group 4. Besides Class 3 and Class 4, there will be other DTE to DCE protocols available such as Class 1A, 2.0 and 2.1. Since the FAX Modem vendors sit on these committees, products may appear before the standards are official. This is what happened with Class 2 FAX Modems and is why the official Class 2 will be called Class 2.0 to distinguish it from the current "unofficial" Class 2 FAX Modems. **** NewSTar Technology Management is constantly enhancing the STraight FAX! in order to keep up with the latest capabilities available in the FAX and FAX Modem world. An example of this is the support in the upcoming Version 1.07 of the STraight FAX! for the Silent Answer and Caller ID capabilities available in the Supra V.32/V.32bis FAX Modems (as firmware upgrades from Supra). Silent Answer allows sharing of a single phone line between a FAX Modem and a Voice Phone/Answering Machine. Early press releases from Supra Corp. were not clear on the exact features that Silent Answer provides. As it turns out the Silent Answer capability does not provide 100% of the functionality of an external FAX Line Manager device, which can automatically answer an incoming call and determine if a FAX or Voice call is in progress and switch between a Voice Phone/Answering Machine or a FAX Machine/FAX Modem. Silent Answer is available in the Supra V.32 and V.32bis FAX Modems that have firmware ROM revisions V1.200-H and V1.200-J. The only difference between the H and J revisions is that the J revision contains the support for the Caller ID capability and costs extra from Supra. The ROM revision can be verified from a terminal program by sending either of the following commands: ATI3 (carriage return) or AT+FREV? (carriage return) In the STraight FAX! Version 1.07, Silent Answer will operate as follows: Under Receive Preferences: Set Answer After to 9 rings Set Silent Answer to Enabled Set Auto Receive to either Always Enabled or Selectively Enabled. If Auto Receive is set to Selectively Enabled, then specify the time interval when to answer the call. The FAX Modem may be connected anywhere in the phone line. However do not connect an Answering Machine or the Voice Phone handset that you normally pick up to answer the phone to the connector labeled "PHONE" on back of the FAX Modem. The Supra FAX Modem will disconnect any phone device connected to this connector when the FAX Modem is on-line. A Phone Line Splitter and extra phone cables may be needed to connect the phone, answering machine and FAX Modem properly. When the phone rings, pick up the phone and listen for the caller to respond. If the call is a Voice call, you can answer the call you normal would. The FAX Modem will send a RING result code to the computer for each ring that was detected prior to the phone line being picked up. When the line has been picked up, the FAX Modem will be able to determine if the call is a FAX call (by sensing the CNG tone) or a Voice call (by the lack of the CNG tone). The CNG Tone is the periodic tone that FAX Machines send when establishing a connection with a remote FAX. See the Note below for older FAX Machines that do not send the CNG tone. You then will also be able to tell if the call is a FAX or Voice call by listening for the CNG tone. If the call is a Voice call, the FAX Modem will not issue any more RING result codes to the computer. Since the STraight FAX! has been set answer after 9 RING result codes have been received, it will timeout 20 seconds after the last RING result code was received and reset the FAX modem back to the receive mode. The FAX Receive Log will indicate that the call timed out. Since the call is a Voice call, you can proceed as normal in answering the call. If the call is a FAX call, the FAX Modem will sense the CNG tone and issue very quickly up to 9 RING result codes to the computer. This will trigger the STraight FAX! into sending a command to the FAX Modem to answer the call and begin the FAX receive. When you hear that the FAX Modem has picked up the line, you may hang up the phone and verify that the FAX receive is in progress on the computer. What if you are not home at the time of the call, no one will be around for the phone line to be picked up, so: The FAX Modem will continue to send RING result codes to the computer as long as the sender does not hang up on the call. If the caller hangs up before 9 rings, the STraight FAX! will timeout 20 seconds after the last ring and then reset the FAX Modem back to the receive mode. The FAX Receive Log will indicate that the call timed out. If the caller allows the phone to ring 9 times, then when 9 RING result codes have been detected, the STraight FAX! will send the command to the FAX Modem to answer the call. The FAX Modem will determine if the call is a FAX or Voice call by sensing the CNG tone. If the call is a FAX call, the STraight FAX! will attempt to receive the FAX. If is a Voice call the caller will hear the FAX tone and know to hang up. The STraight FAX! will detect that the call is not a FAX call, hang up the phone and reset the FAX Modem. The FAX Receive Log will indicate that the call timed out. Automatic Unattended Operation of Silent Answer Using an Answering Machine it is possible for automatic unattended operation of the Silent Answer capability. Make sure that the Answering Machine is not connected to the "PHONE" connector on the back of the FAX Modem. The Answering Machine should be set to answer after 2 to 4 calls as normal. The Answering Machine acts just as normal person and will answer the call. This allows the FAX Modem to determine the if the call is a FAX or Voice call. Most newer model Answering Machines will automatically stop the greeting message and hang up if another phone somewhere on the same phone circuit is picked up. When the FAX Modem detects an incoming FAX call by sensing the CNG tones, it will quickly issue up to 9 RING result codes to the computer. The STraight FAX! will then send the command to the FAX Modem to also answer the call. When this happens, the Answering Machine will hangup and allow the FAX Modem to take over and receive the FAX. If the FAX Modem does not detect a FAX call, it will not send any more RING result codes to the computer and the STraight FAX! will timeout and reset the FAX Modem to receive mode. The Answering Machine will answer the call as it would normally do. If the Answering Machine does not have the ability to disconnect when another phone on the same phone circuit is picked up, there is a device available from Radio Shack for $7.95 that can be used to disconnect the Answering Machine when another phone device picks up (see the note below). Note: If you do not have an Answering Machine and you intend to receive FAXes while you are away, we recommend disabling the Silent Answer mode. The STraight FAX! will answer the call after the specified number of rings and determine if a FAX or Voice call is in progress and respond appropriately. The important thing to understand about Silent Answer is that it will not operate unless the phone line is picked up in some manner. The CNG tone can not be detected until the phone line is picked up. Since Voice callers and FAX callers will allow different numbers of rings to occur before determining that no one is home to answer the call or that the FAX Machine is off-line, you will need to adjust the number of rings to wait to answer the phone somewhere between 5 to 9 rings. Make sure that the number of rings is greater than the Answering Machine's or else the FAX Modem will always pick up the line before the Answering Machine. If an external Caller ID unit is also in use, make sure that the Answering Machine is set to a minimum of 2 rings, or else the Caller ID information which is sent between the first and second ring will not be detectable. Note: Some older FAX Machines (i.e. units that require manually dialing from a handset) do not send the CNG tone. Silent Answer currently will not operate with these types of FAX Machines. Supra Corp. is aware of this limitation and may provide a fix for this in future firmware. Some Answering Machines will not shut off when another phone on the same phone circuit is picked up. Radio Shack sells a device for $7.95 called the Voice/Data Guard Teleprotector (Catalog NUmber 43-107). This device will cut off an Answering Machine when the Supra FAX Modem is instructed to answer the call. Caller ID allows reception of the Date, Time and Phone Number of the calling party. Caller ID is available in selected areas in the US and Canada, normally as an optional service from the local phone company. At this time most areas with Caller ID can only send the caller's phone number from a call that originates in the local calling area. Calls from outside the local calling area will be indicated with an Out of Area message. In some areas where Caller ID is available, local laws allow the caller to block the Caller ID information from being sent to the called party either on a per call basis or permanent basis. Calls received from a calling party that blocks the Caller ID information will be indicated with a Private Number message. Note: in some areas with Caller ID, telephone subscribers can instruct the local telephone company to block any telephone calls that originate from a calling party that blocks the Caller ID information. The calling party will receive a message from the local telephone company that the number being called is unavailable and the called party's phone will not ring. This service option may be available to all subscribers whether they subscribe to Caller ID or not. We have recently learned that in some provinces of Canada, Bell Canada sends the Caller ID information in a different format than the standard method used in the US and other parts of Canada. In these areas of Canada, the Caller ID information is still available, but will not include the area code of the calling party. NewSTar Technology Management plans to support both Caller ID formats that are used. It is possible that Supra Corporation may change the firmware in future versions of their V.32/V.32bis FAX Modems so that the difference in formats is transparent to the Caller ID software on the host computer. Version 1.07 of the STraight FAX! will display the Caller ID information in the Receive FAX Status and will use the Caller ID information to identify the FAX Call in the Receive FAX Log if the calling FAX does not send its Local FAX Identification String. NewSTar Technology Management is also developing a stand alone Caller ID utility, which will be available in the first quarter of '93. As part of the "1992 Group 3 features" added to the FAX communication protocols FAX devices will be able to support features such as enhanced resolutions, error correction and binary file transfer. While the "1992 Group 3 Features" have not "officially" been approved and published by the EIA/TIA, many vendors will likely introduce products that support these capabilities in the near future. The original Group 3 FAX specifications were approved in 1981. In 1990, the FAX specification was enhanced to include V.17 support for 12000 and 14400 baud modulation rates. In the FAX Modem world, there are currently two standards for communication between a FAX Modem (DCE) and a Computer (DTE) via an RS-232 interface: Class 1 - Which was approved by the EIA/TIA in August of 1990. Class 2 - Which is based on the initial TIA/EIA TR-29.2 committee as Special Project 2388. This version of the Class 2 standard was not approved. Several revisions were made to this standard before it was approved in 1992. Since many vendors have products based on the unofficial Class 2 proposal, the approved version will be known as Class 2.0. It is expected that vendors may be providing firmware upgrades for Class 2.0 or new products in mid 1993. Supra has indicated to us that they will support Class 2.0, if Rockwell International (who manufacturers the chip sets and firmware in the Supra FAX Modems) supports it. Upgrades to Class 2.0 should be available as firmware upgrades to the FAX Modems, however some Class 2.0 capabilities may not be available on current FAX Modems due to hardware limitations. The difference between Class 1 and Class 2/2.0, for lack of a better analogy is like the difference between a car with a manual transmission and a car with an automatic transmission. In both cases the car has a steering wheel and accelerator and break pedals. A manual transmission also has a clutch and the gear shifter which must be periodically utilized by the driver, whereas an automatic transmission has an automatic shift, which is utilized in frequently (i.e. starting, parking, reversing direction). In both cases, from the outside, the car appears to function in the same manner, however the driver needs to have additional training to operate a manual transmission. A FAX Modem operating in Class 1 or Class 2 mode, appears to operate in the same manner from the point of view of the operator of the FAX software. In addition, the remote FAX machine is unaware that the FAX device that it is connected with is a Class 1 or Class 2 FAX Modem or a FAX Machine. Internally, the FAX Communication software operates differently between Class 1 and Class 2. In a Class 2 FAX Modem, the internal micro-controller CPU controls the low level Group 3 FAX protocol communication. The firmware in the Class 2 FAX Modem automatically performs the handshaking between the FAX devices. Under Class 2, the FAX Modem sends response messages to the DTE FAX Software to let it know when to start sending the data for each FAX page. Internally, the Class 2 firmware filters the data to present it to the remote FAX in the exact format that it expects. In Class 1, the DTE FAX Software is responsible for all of these functions. This places a greater demand on the timing and CPU overhead that the DTE FAX Software requires. In a multi-tasking environment, such as Atari's Multi-TOS, UNIX or Microsoft Windows, the CPU speed can be a critical factor for proper Class 1 operation. Since the Class 2 protocol used by vendors such as Rockwell, Sierra and Exar was never officially approved, there are variations in each vendor's implementation. In addition, not all Class 2 FAX Modems implement all the capabilities that are defined in the original Class 2 proposal, such as FAX Polling, Binary File Transfer, Error Correction Mode, etc. Under Class 1, all of these features can be made available, provided that the DTE FAX Software supports them (and that FAX Modem's Class 1 firmware does not contain errors that would prevent them from working properly). Supra Corp. indicated that the version "H" and "J" firmware ROMS updates would support Binary File Transfer and Error Correction Mode. As it turns out, this is partially true. Since the Supra firmware supports both Class 1 and Class 2 modes of operation, the newer firmware can support these features under Class 1 operation, but not under Class 2 operation at this time. Currently the only FAX software that supports these features is a Macintosh program. Supra's "H" and "J" firmware also support Silent Answer and Adaptive Answer. Silent Answer allows FAX/Voice sharing of a single line, while Adaptive Answer allows Data/FAX sharing of a single line. These modes of operation are mutually exclusive and can not be accessed at the same time under the current firmware implementation. Adaptive Answer is a capability defined in Class 1 and Class 2. Silent Answer is a Supra unique capability that is not currently addressed in the Class 1 or Class 2 specifications. The STraight FAX! will support Silent Answer in version 1.07. Adaptive Answer is not supported at this time. Since Adaptive Answer requires communication between a FAX Program and a BBS/Terminal Program with a mini-BBS mode, support of this mode will require cooperation between FAX, BBS and Terminal Software vendors. NewSTar Technology Management has been in contact with Supra Corp. discussing some of the compatibility problems that exist between Supra FAX Modems and the STraight FAX! We apologize for the delay in answering questions about compatibility issues as it has taken longer than expected to get in touch with the proper Supra engineers due to fact that Supra has been under-staffed during the holidays. Below is a list of the current compatibility problems. Some of these problems may exist with other vendor's FAX Modems that use Rockwell chipsets and firmware. 1. Problems with Touch Tone Dialing. The FAX Modem will sometimes dial one digit and pause before resuming dialing or sometime switch into Pulse Dialing mode. The problem can be solved for the time being by placing a "T" as the first character of the Dialing Prefix (under Dialing Preferences). It appears that the FAX Modem incorrectly switches into what is called Adaptive Dialing mode (not to be confused with Adaptive Answer mode). Adaptive Dialing is for use in some area that do not support Touch Tone dialing. Where this occurs, the Modem will switch to Pulse Dialing if the dial tone does not cease within 3 seconds after the first digit was dialed using Touch Tone dialing. 2. Problems with using the V.32/V.32bis FAX Modems in FAX Mode after they have been used in Data Mode (i.e. with a Terminal Program or as a BBS). After a data connection terminates, a problem in the firmware causes several hundred characters of data that were sent by the modem to the computer while in data mode, to also be sent when the Class 2 FAX command AT+FLID? is issued. This FAX command is used by the STraight FAX! to read back the previous Local FAX ID string that may still be programmed into the FAX Modem. The only solution at this time is to power the FAX Modem off and back on again, before attempting to use the STraight FAX! This problem seems to happen only in the MNP data modem modes, but it may also occur under other data modes. The STraight FAX! will be unable to initialize the FAX Modem to send or receive after the data connection. Some users have reported this problem, which appeared on the surface to be a problem with the terminal program. Supra will be investigating this problem with Rockwell. 3. There are problems with the Supra V.32/V.32bis FAX Modems connecting with some FAX Machines or FAX Modems. Supra has indicated that the newer firmware corrected problems connecting with some FAX Machines, however the problems still exist in the latest firmware in connecting with some FAX Modems. Ironically the Supra FAX Modem Plus does not experience these problems. We specifically have noticed problems that the Supra V.32/V.32bis FAX Modems have had connecting with some Zoom (also Rockwell based) FAX Modems and Best Data Products (Sierra based) FAX Modems. The problems appear to be the result of slight timing differences between the FAX Modems Class 2 implementations. There is no solution at this time that we can implement as far as Class 2 is concerned. Our solution is to provide the option to use Class 1, which will place the burden of the responsibility in the DTE FAX Software (i.e STraight FAX!). This will give users the option of using Class 1, for the case where Class 2 can not connect properly. Note: The Supra V.32/V.32bis to Zoom FX9624 FAX Modem problem only occurs when the Supra is the sender and the Zoom is the receiver, in the reverse direction the modems connect properly. In response to direct user's questions: To PMC: The Zoom SendFAX Modem that you have uses a non-standard command set different from Class 1 and Class 2, which was developed by Sierra and called the SendFAX command set. I suspect that the problems that you are having are similar to the timing problems described above for Class 2. Since the SendFAX modem firmware also implements the low level Group 3 FAX protocol, there is little that we can do unless the firmware is upgraded. In the rapidly changing FAX market, the SendFAX Modems are considered only technology by today's standards and I would doubt that Sierra will be upgrading the firmware. Since the STraight FAX! supports the SendFAX and Class 2 command sets at this time and we are developing support for Class 1 at this time, you might want to look into the possibility of upgrading to a new FAX Modem if you make frequent calls overseas. Once Class 1 support is available, you might consider a Zoom AFX External Class 1 FAX Modem, which is available for as little as $79.99. To RRWELDIN: Class 1 support will be in addition to Class 2 support and will require a FAX Modem that supports Class 1, such as the FAX Modems available from Hayes, U. S. Robotics, Zoom or the Supra FAX Modems (which support both Class 1 and 2). To VANDENHEUVEL: At this time the STraight FAX! will not operate with the Hayes FAX Modems which are Class 1 only. Once our Class 1 support is available, I expect that the Hayes FAX Modems will operate with the STraight FAX!. Several Users have asked about the advantages of Font GDOS over other versions of GDOS: Font GDOS was released this in the spring of 1992 by Atari. While it does not support scalable fonts like FSM GDOS and now Speedo GDOS, it does support all the other features of the scalable GDOS versions. Atari's distribution of Font GDOS is different than with the original GDOS. First, it is available on-line here on GEnie and is available from developers under license agreement from Atari. The version that NewSTar Technology Management has available includes the Swiss and Dutch bit map fonts in various point sizes for various types of printers. Other than that it is basically the same as the version on-line here on GEnie. We also include a printed instruction manual. Font GDOS includes 3 utilities available as CPX modules and Desk Accessories. One of these CPX/ACC's is intended for FSM GDOS, but it does allow setting of one feature of Font GDOS, i.e. the bit mapped cache size. Another CPX/ACC will automatically create the ASSIGN.SYS file. While the third CPX/ACC allows configuration of the new printer drivers that are FSM/Font GDOS compatible. Font GDOS includes several printer drivers for 9pin, 24 pin, HP Laser Jet, HP Desk Jet, Atari SLM Laser Printer, etc. Previously these drivers were only available at an extra cost from third party developers or with packages such as Timeworks DTP. Font GDOS also includes a new driver called MEMORY.SYS, the STraight FAX! uses this driver to render GEM Metafiles (and to scale Image Files pasted from the Clipboard in version 1.07). Font GDOS also allows the user to change the ASSIGN.SYS file at any time from within any application to change the printer setup. Some applications, such as Timeworks DTP will not recognize the change until they are exited and run again. Most GDOS applications allow changing the printer driver assigned to device 21 at any time, this would allow switching from a real printer driver to the STraight FAX! FSM GDOS driver in order to print to disk FAX files in an application such as WordFlair II. Font GDOS does not have the slow down effect of the original GDOS and it also supports drawing of Bezier Curves in GEM Metafiles and the VDI. Finally, the bit mapped font cache allows Font GDOS to only load fonts from the disk when needed, reducing the memory required for an application to print. The bit mapped font cache only needs to be as large as the largest bit mapped font file in the ASSIGN.SYS file. Under the original GDOS and Codehead's G+Plus, all fonts are loaded at one time. If insufficient memory is available to fit all fonts, then some fonts will not be loaded and will not print. Under Font GDOS (and FSM GDOS or Speedo GDOS) when a font is needed, it is loaded into the cache, replacing other fonts in the cache only as necessary. To All STraight FAX! users: We would like to remind all STraight FAX! users that if they have not already been in contact with NewSTar Technology Management, that we ask them to send us EMail or Postal Mail with their name, address, date of purchase, place of purchase and 10 digit registration number. Since the change of marketing of the STraight FAX!, we do not have all users in our database. If a user has never sent in their registration card or has recently purchased the STraight FAX!, we ask that the registration card be filled out and sent to our address listed above. Without a valid registration card on file, the telephone technical support personnel will not be able to provide any technical support. We are interested in feedback from STraight FAX! users and potential STraight FAX! users about features that they would like to see supported in future versions of the STraight FAX! Any users that would like to make suggestions are encouraged to do so in this public topic. Some areas that are being investigated are: 1. Support for word processing files such as 1ST Word, 1st Word Plus, Word Writer ST and WordPerfect. This would allow direct conversion of these files in the STraight FAX! preserving text effects such as Bold, Italic, Underline, Centering, Indenting, etc. 2. Multi-tasking support -- This is planned using Atari's Multi-TOS and is also being investigated using View Touch's Power DOS. 3. Voice Mail support -- using capabilities that Supra is planning to support. This would be a new product, that would allow FAX On Demand. 4. FAX Forwarding -- i.e. configure the STraight FAX! to forward all received FAXes to another FAX number during a specified time interval during the day. 5. Auto FAX Retrieval from a FAX Mailbox -- Many users do not want to leave a FAX Modem/Computer on to receive FAXes. AT&T and many of the Bell companies have FAX Mailbox services that allow will receive FAXes and store them for later retrieval by a user. Auto FAX Retrieval would allow calling the access number for the FAX Mailbox service (using the FAX Modem), entering the proper access code and destination FAX Number (using Touch Tones) and then configuring the FAX Modem to wait for the FAX Mailbox Service to call back and send all FAXes that were received in the FAX Mailbox. 5. Distinctive Ring Detection support -- some FAX Modem vendors are planning to support Distinctive Ring Detection in the FAX Modem. 6. Junk FAX Rejection -- Many users are constantly receiving unsolicited Junk FAXes. Junk FAX Rejection would allow creation of a list of FAX ID Strings and/or Phone Numbers (requires Caller ID) that if detected will during an incoming FAX Call, will be disconnected. 7. Secure FAX -- The ability to encrypt a FAX for security purposes. Secure FAX capabilities are being added to the FAX standards at this time. 8. FAX Software support of Adaptive Answer to allow FAX/BBS operation on the same phone line. 9. Blind Dialing -- In some areas where no dial tone is present on the phone line, Blind Dialing is required for FAX Modem operations. 10. Class 2.0 FAX Modem support - when Class 2.0 products are available on the market. 11. Additional Printer Driver support -- Compo's That's Write 2 and Atari's Speedo GDOS drivers are currently under development. 12. Optical Character Recognition software interface -- This would allow an interface to an OCR program that can turn received FAX documents into Text Files. The OCR Program must be provided by a third party vendor. 13. Support for additional Full Page Scanners -- such as SCSI interfaced scanners or the new Migraph PS-400 Scanning Wand. 14. Binary File Transfer, Error Correction Mode and FAX Polling. 15. Support for advanced TOS 4.00/Multi-TOS user interface features such as Hierarchical Menus and Drag and Drop. NewSTar Technology Management _____________________________________________________________________ > SPAR SYSTEMS STR InfoFile Online electronic books save time. """"""""""""""""""""""""" PageAssistant 2.0 for PageStream 2.2 CalAssistant SL for Calamus SL 8/92 (NEW!) CalAssistant for Calamus 1.09N from; SPAR SYSTEMS Brooklyn, NY "One of the most satisfactory way to learn computer programs is to learn and practice on your computer." Welcome to Spar Systems' Electronic Books! Our online electronic books provide timesaving information, tips, hints, tricks and tutorials for PAGESTREAM, CALAMUS SL and CALAMUS by giving simple to understand procedures and step-by-step examples within a GEM window interface shell. We tell you the things you need to know so you can spend more time being creative and less time finding out how to use a particular function or icon. The text summaries get to the point. !!! NEW !!! ******************************** * C A L A S S I S T A N T S L * ******************************** CALASSISTANT SL is our latest online electronic book for the newly released CALAMUS SL. It supports version 8/92 and up, only. Some of the procedures given may not work with older versions of Calamus SL. * CalAssistant SL in an accessory program that runs together with the Calamus SL software, providing online help for all icons and menu functions. * Fully supports the GEM interface. The online window can be resized, moved and expanded back to its original size. Icons are placed on the left hand side of the window and are used to access the main functions like the popup menus, printer configuration, clear screen, etc. The popup menus work similar to the GEM menus. This means, the menu item will auto-highlight when the mouse pointer is passed over. The GEM window has a menu bar inside it that supports pull down menus. * Supports a point and select online index, with speedy go to buttons. * Topics related to the index item selected will show up as linked files. These files are then moved into a special menu automatically and are accessible using the links icon. For example, if you select 'Hyphenation' from the index listing, the following files will be linked: Set Hyphenation Rules and Hyphenate Text. * The 'Special' menu has tips, examples and tutorials such as: dynamic linking, reverse text, style sheets, mouse pointers, screen DPI, converting Calamus 1.09N double pages and much more. * Hot keys are supported for each program icon. * The interface is resolution independent -- supporting the following Atari graphic modes: TT 640x480, ST 640x400, TT 640x480, TT 1280x960, Moniterm bigscreen and third party video cards -- 8, 16 and 24-bit colors. * Some of the topics covered in the 52 page illustrated manual are, clipboard modes and elements, picking up module type information, copy text block or ruler into clipboard, cut or copy text block to frame, correcting single to double master page, adjusting ruler margins and indents, widow and orphan, screen frequencies, smoother raster at 300-dpi, PKS write hot keys, initial caps, style sheets and macros, creating master page, inserting pages and copying layout, recalculating page numbers, auto leading and fixed leading, point or percentage value, merge and block, automatic attribute pickup, hyphenation, creating US postal bar codes and much more. * Easy installation. * Includes a double sided diskette. * Requires only 145K of memory and the Calamus SL software. * Includes complete page referencing to the Calamus SL manual. * Text, icons and pictures are used to illustrate, explain and give tips on all icons and menu functions. * Includes over five printer drivers for use with the print command. Send the online text summary to the printer for hardcopy reference. * The ELECTRONIC BOOK with lots of powerful tips and tricks at your fingertips! * Supports the MultiDesk accessory. ------------------- !!! New Version !!! ************************************ * P A G E A S S I S T A N T 2 . 0 * ************************************ PAGEASSISTANT 2.0 supports the newly added features to PageStream 2.2. * PageAssistant in an accessory program that runs together with the PageStream 2.2 software, providing online help for each command. * Fully supports the GEM interface. The online window can be resized, moved and expanded back to its original size. Icons are placed on the left hand side of the window and are used to access the main functions like the popup menus, printer configuration, clear screen, etc. The popup menus work similar to the GEM menus. This means, the menu item will auto-highlight when the mouse pointer is passed over. The GEM window has a menu bar inside it that supports pull down menus. * Supports a point and select online index, with speedy go to buttons. * Topics related to the index item selected will show up as linked files. These files are then moved into a special menu automatically and are accessible using the links icon. For example, if you select 'Hyphenation' from the index listing, the following files will be linked: Set Hyphenation Rules, Batch Hyphenate and Manual Hyphenate. * The 'Special' menu has tips, examples and tutorials such as: layout tips, PostScript printing, fonts, dialog box interaction, automatic attribute pickup, tips and tricks volume 1, creating US postal bar codes and much more. * Hot keys are supported for each icon. * Create beautiful BANNERS with PageStream! * The interface is resolution independent -- supporting the following Atari graphic modes: TT 640x480, ST 640x400, TT 640x480, TT 1280x960, Moniterm bigscreen and third party video cards -- 8, 16 and 24-bit colors. * Some of the topics covered in the 52 page illustrated manual are, color separation, scaling text object, applying tags, anchoring text around graphic, CMYK printouts, registrations and crop marks, macros, textual and graphic effects using macros, rotating object, shifting baseline, before and after paragraph spacing, temporary alignment guides, initial caps, flowing text around irregular graphic, resize proportionally, master pages, resizing bitmap graphics, halftones, screen angle and frequency, H&J, tiling and much more. * Easy installation. * Includes a double sided diskette. * Requires only 145K of memory and the PageStream 2.2 software. * Includes complete page referencing to the PageStream manual. * Text, icons and pictures are used to illustrate, explain and give tips on all icons and menu functions. * Includes over five printer drivers for use with the print command. Send online text summary to printer for hardcopy reference. * The ELECTRONIC BOOK with lots of powerful tips and tricks at your fingertips! * Supports the MultiDesk accessory. ------------------------ !!! New Version 1.80 !!! *************************** * C A L A S S I A T A N T * *************************** * CalAssistant in an accessory program that runs together with the Calamus software, providing online help for all icons and menu functions. The program has been updated to support Calamus v1.09N and the interface and help files have been rewritten, as well as the manual -- now 40 pages. The new package includes the following: * Supports printing. You can now send text summary to the connected printer. * The help text and images are now displayed within a movable GEM window, giving you immediate access to CalAssistant when needed. * A few of the topics discussed in the rewritten 40 page illustrated manual are: Calamus Frame Types, Calamus Frame Modes, Clipboards, Working With Text, Text Macros, Master Pages, Layout Tips, Special Design Effects, Layout Tutorial, etc. * The manual includes an extensive index. * The popup menus and program interface have been redesigned. * Two display text size to choose from. * Supports TT 640x480, TT 1280x960, ST 640x400 and Moniterm. * Installs as a desk accessory or program. * The help text and image files are indexed into two separate data files. * Supports the MultiDesk accessory. * And much, much more! ------------------------- CalAssistant SL starts shipping the second week in January 1993. ------------------------- ORDER FORM Check Description Price ----------------------------------------------------------------- | | PageAssistant 2.0 for PageStream 2.2 | $49.95 | ----------------------------------------------------------------- | | CalAssistant SL for Calamus SL 8/92 | $49.95 | ----------------------------------------------------------------- | | CalAssistant for Calamus 1.09N | $34.95 | ----------------------------------------------------------------- @ For Upgrades Only! ----------------------------------------------------------------- | | PageAssistant 2.0 | $10.00 | ----------------------------------------------------------------- | | CalAssistant | $ 7.50 | ----------------------------------------------------------------- Total: Name:____________________________________________________________ Address:_________________________________________________________ City:_________________________State:__________Zip:_______________ @ Rev Up from any version of PageAssistant to PageAssistant 2.0 for PageStream 2.2. Rev Up from any version of Calassistant to CalAssistant for Calamus 1.09N. All minor updates are $5.00. If you have mailed in your registration card, just send us the cost above, because we have you inside our database. All Rev Ups include manual and diskette. Canadian customers, no personal checks -- Canadian postal money order only. Overseas customers, bank draft only. The shipping cost is $3.00 (USA) and $5.00 (Overseas) Mail payment to: Spar Systems 381 Autumn Avenue Brooklyn, NY 11208 Ring: 718-235-3169 All our products are available at your local Atari dealer. Thank you all. All product names are trademarks or registered trademarks of their respective holders. _______________________________________________________________ > US Robotics Offer STR InfoFile U.S. ROBOTICS SYSOP PRICING """""""""""""""""""""""""""""" U.S. ROBOTICS SYSOP PRICING PRODUCT PRICE COURIER HST (U.S. AND CANADA) $ 349 COURIER V.32bis (U.S. AND CANADA) $ 349 COURIER HST DUAL STANDARD (U.S. AND CANADA) $ 449 INTERNATIONAL HST* $ 339 INTERNATIONAL V.32bis* $ 339 INTERNATIONAL COURIER HST DUAL STANDARD* $ 439 DOMESTIC POWER SUPPLY (INT'L USERS)* $ 10 INTERNATIONAL POWER SUPPLY (INT'L USERS)* $ 50 *International version and a separate power supply must be ordered if the modem is used outside the U.S. or Canada. International power supply is 220 volts; Domestic power supply is 110 volts. At least one (1) power supply must be ordered with each international modem. For detailed information and technical specifications on the above products, call the U.S. Robotics Technical Support Department at (800) 982-5151 in the U.S. or (800) 553-3560 in Canada. From outside the U.S. or Canada, call (708) 982-5151. U.S. ROBOTICS SYSOP SUPPORT PROGRAM General: This section describes the rules of the U.S. Robotics SYSOP Program. U.S. Robotics reserves the right to modify or change these rules at any time. Scope: The U.S. Robotics SYSOP Program permits QUALIFIED SYSOPs to purchase current U.S. Robotics modem products at a reduced price. The purpose of this program is to continue the close relationship established many years ago. Participants should recognize that our ability to continue the program is dependent upon the strong position U.S. Robotics enjoys in the reseller channel with the distributors and dealers, VARs, etc. that continue to buy and resell our products to home and business users around the world. It is our intent to maintain the integrity of our channel relationships by closely scrutinizing each SYSOP sale to ensure that we only sell modems to qualified SYSOPs. Qualifications: 1. The SYSOP states that he/she is NOT in the business of reselling computer products and/or related peripherals, including modems. Qualified resellers may take advantage of other programs offered by U.S. Robotics by calling (800) 342-5877 and asking for the dealer sales representative for your area. 2. The SYSOP has been operating the bulletin board system for at least six (6) months. 3. The SYSOP understands that the number of modems that may be obtained under this program is limited to the number of working, VERIFIABLE data lines. Data lines MUST be dedicated for modem use only and MUST be available 24 hours a day for modem access. Modems purchased under this program MUST be used on one of the stated lines. 4. The SYSOP agrees to post an appropriate logon notice, visible to users of the bulletin board, which states that said bulletin board uses and supports U.S. Robotics brand modems. 5. The SYSOP agrees that he/she intends to operate the bulletin board, for which these modems are purchased, for at least six (6) months post purchase. The U.S. Robotics logon must remain in effect for six (6) months to allow verification that the bulletin board is in place and that the U.S. Robotics promotional message is being displayed. 6. The SYSOP agrees that, in order to avoid conflict with the U.S. Robotics reseller channel, modems purchased under this program cannot be re-sold without the expressed written consent of U.S. Robotics. Violation of this policy will result in the SYSOP's being ineligible for future participation in the U.S. Robotics SYSOP program. In addition, any warranties on modems re-sold without U.S. Robotics authorization will be null and void. 7. The SYSOP understands that verification of an order will take from four (4) to eight (8) weeks depending on the number of orders being processed by the SYSOP Support Department, difficulty in verifying your bulletin board and the availability of the particular modem ordered. U.S. Robotics will ship modem(s) to QUALIFIED SYSOPs as soon as possible after, typically two (2) to five (5) weeks after verification: A. The SYSOP completes the order form and questionnaire found on the US Robotics BBS. These must be filled-out online as no mail-in orders will be accepted. PREPAID ORDERS WILL NOT BE PROCESSED UNTIL PAYMENT HAS BEEN RECEIVED BY U.S. ROBOTICS. After placing an order on the board, a SYSOP wishing to prepay his/her order should send a money order or cashier's check to: U.S. Robotics SYSOP Support Program 8100 McCormick Blvd. Skokie, IL 60076 It is imperative that the SYSOP name, voice phone number and BBS phone number be indicated for identification purposes. A personal or company check is acceptable, but shipping will be delayed ten (10) working days to ensure that the check clears our bank. NO CHECKS OR MONEY ORDERS WILL BE DEPOSITED BY U.S. ROBOTICS UNTIL THE SYSOP's BBS HAS BEEN VERIFIED. B. The SYSOP understands that once an order is placed, it cannot be changed. If you are uncertain as to the modem you want to purchase, you may consult the Information & Text Files file area of this bulletin board for product information. Or, you may call the U.S. Robotics Technical Support Department at (800) 982-5151 in the U.S. or (800) 553-3560 in Canada. Outside the U.S and Canada, call (708) 982-5151. C. Your board will be verified by a U.S. Robotics Co-SYSOP. We MUST be able to connect with your bulletin board to verify board status. In the event that we are uncertain of your board status, you will be notified either by the Co-SYSOP via your board or by mail. We will advise you as best we can as to what you need to provide in order to have your board verified (appropriate logon, copy of phone bill, software registration, etc). In no case will we verify a board until we are certain that it meets the requirements of the program. D. U.S. Robotics will not accept phone-in orders. E. U. S. Robotics reserves the right to modify, change or cancel this program at any time. F. If you have any questions regarding this program, please call (800) 342-5877 for clarification. In Canada, call (800) 553-3560. Outside the U.S. and Canada, call (708) 982-5001. ADDENDUM We realize that all Bulletin Boards are not the same and we are not always able to ascertain their validity during our normal verification process. In order not to exclude those Bulletin Boards from our program, we may request additional information such as copies of telephone bills, proof of software purchase and/or registration and network and association membership. U.S. Robotics is determined to provide a SYSOP Program which is fair and equitable to everyone. Any requests made of SYSOPs in order to verify Bulletin Boards are made in order to ensure that the program serves the entire SYSOP community and protect the USR distribution channel as well. We will make every effort to process each and every order in a professional and courteous manner. Please help us to provide the type of service you want and deserve by filling-out the order form as completely and accurately as possible and responding to our requests for additional information in a prompt manner. THANK YOU ____________________________________________________ > TERADESK NEWS STR InfoFile TERADESK UPDATES & NEWS """""""""""""""""""""""""" Teradesk V1.25 ============== Press Release Hello all Teradesk users, I understand that my "Teradesk" program has "gone down" very well on GEnie / CIS etc - here are a few details of the next version to be released (V1.25 Due in Jan 1992).Thankyou for using my program , and it would be very nice to receive further Shareware donations for my hard work - Thankyou... A few notes on future changes The following suggested features will be implemented in future versions: - A possibility to change the menu shortcuts - Deleting selected files by pressing the delete key Several other suggestions have already been implemented in the newest version (1.25), which will be released in January. These new features are: - the color palette can be saved before a program is started - the desktop background can be changed - the font and the fontsize of the windows can be changed - if the rubberbox, which is used to select multiple items, is moved outside the selected window, the contents of the window will be scrolled automatically. Other suggestions were: - A viewer for images. I will probably build in a simple one, which only supports monochrome images and images with the same number of colors as the current resolution. - A possibilty to change the resolution from within the desktop. It will take some time before these features will be implemented, it will at least take two or three versions, before they are implemented. The following features are also going to be implemented: - Dialog boxes in windows - A search file and grep function Some of these features are quite complex, so it might take some time before a version with these features are released. I would like to thank all users for making these suggestions. If you have more suggestions, please send them to me. In the United Kingdom new versions can be downloaded from: System ST tel. +44 (0)533 413443 (10.00PM TO 07.00AM GMT ONLY) FidoNet 2:255/320 NeST 90:102/131 The file is called TERADESK.LZH. This BBS is also support BBS for the Tera Desktop. If you have any suggestions for improvement or if you want to report bugs, you can leave these there. In the Netherlands new versions can be downloaded from: Moir Brandts Honk BBS tel. 070-3461215 Or I can be contacted Via the following persons , who will kindly pass any mail onto me. Compuserve: 100010,2106 (Stuart Coates) GEnie : GRMEYER DELPHI : GRMEYER or Myself... by "Snail Mail" Wout Klaren Zwolsekanaal 18 7681 ED Vroomshoop The Netherlands ___________________________________________________________________ > STReport CONFIDENTIAL "Rumors Tidbits Predictions Observations Tips" """"""""""""""""""""" - Las Vegas, NV CES IS TOPHEAVY WITH COMPUTERS! ------------- In a preliminary report, our roving reporter has filed these few tidbits with STReport relative to the CES show. Computers, Computers, Computers everywhere. That's the key expression as the theme this year is Multi-Media from soup to nuts. In attendance from the computing community is IBM, AST, Toshiba, APPLE, Commodore Amiga, Hewlett Packard and Packard Bell among others. Commodore has a rather respectably large multi-media display centered around their top of the line Amiga offerings. The booth was constantly mobbed as were all the multi-media displays. Kodak has a huge set up of its new Photo CD ROM and also has approx. 15 different brands of computer set up in its display depicting its cross-platform compatibility. No need to mention the fantastic set-up the game machine manufacturers had for all to be amazed by. Obvious by their total absence was Atari... more next week..... (rumor has it Atari had _one_ person there hawking carts in a hotel room). """"""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""" STReport's "EDITORIAL CARTOON" """""""""""""""""""""""""""""" > A "Quotable Quote" "... A SIGN OF THE TIMES...." """"""""""""""""" "THERE IS ALWAYS HOPE WHEN BOTH SIDES ARE FORCED TO LISTEN..." ..... Churchill """"""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""" > ABCO SPECIALS! STR InfoFile * 1993 Prices! MORE Products! * """"""""""""""""""""""""""" ------------------------------------ ** EFFECTIVE IMMEDIATELY! ** NOTICE: ABCO will BEAT OR MATCH * ANY * Advertised or Invoiced price * WE WILL NOT BE UNDERSOLD! ABCO COMPUTER CONSULTANTS ========================= P.O. Box 6672 Jacksonville, Florida 32236-6672 Est. 1985 _________________________________________ Voice: 904-783-3319 10 AM - 4 PM EDT BBS: 904-786-4176 12-24-96 HST FAX: 904-783-3319 12 PM - 6 AM EDT _________________________________________ HARD DISK SYSTEMS & DESIGNS TO FIT EVERY BUDGET _________________________________________ All systems are complete and ready to use, included at NO EXTRA COST are clock/calendar and cooling blower(s). *-ALL ABCO HARD DISK SYSTEMS ARE FULLY EXPANDABLE-* (you are NOT limited to two drives) - Available for all Platforms - -* ICD LINK & ADSCSI PLUS HOST ADAPTERS USED EXCLUSIVELY *- WE PAY SHIPPING & INSURANCE!!! >UPS!< (Prepaid Orders - Cont. USA) *_*_*_* *** NEW!!! ULTRA MODERN "SUPER STYLE" ABCOFILE CASE *** DELUXE 2 bay Cabinet W/65w Auto PS & Blower $119.00 <<>> Case & ICD LINK or ADSCSI PLUS Host [Hard Disk Ready] $259.95 -STAND ALONE PRODUCTS- Model Description Autopark Price ================================================== SGN4951 51Mb Y CALL! SQN1096 85mb Y CALL! SQN2055 130mb Y CALL! SQN1296 213mb Y CALL! SQN4055 340mb Y CALL! ================================================== Standard "Shoebox Cabinet style is also available Call for pricing applicable to IBM - MAC - AMIGA IDE - SCSI - ESDI MODERN TOWER CABINETS AVAILABLE Call for Info! PLEASE NOTE: The above is partial listing only! Many other configurations available. 20mb - 3.5gb NOTICE - NOTICE - NOTICE - NOTICE """"""""""""""""""""""""""""""""" SPECIAL PURCHASE! * 83mb - 1345mb * Hard Disk Mechanisms Call for SUPER PRICING!! Limited Time Only!! IDEAL FOR USE IN: IBM - MAC - AMIGA! FULLY ASSEMBLED SCSI DRIVES w/o ICD LINK Available ADD $35.00 for 4 BAY SUPER CABINET w/250+w PS EXOTIC TOWER CABINETS AVAILABLE Call for Info! PLEASE NOTE: The above is partial listing only! FAST TECHNOLOGY ACCELERATOR UPGRADES AVAILABLE & INSTALLED ***** >> ABCO proudly offers: ATARI PRODUCTS << MAC PRODUCTS - AMIGA PRODUCTS - PC PRODUCTS Call for ABCO's * HIGHLY COMPETITIVE PRICING! * ABCO COMPUTER SYSTEMS * STILL THE BEST VALUE! ***** If you don't see what you want listed here, call us. Odds are, we either have it or, can get it for you! * GUARANTEED * AT THE BEST POSSIBLE PRICE! * "WE SERVICE WHAT WE SELL" ****** SPECIAL - SPECIAL ****** * SYQUEST 44MB (#555) >> ABCOFILE "44" & "88" * * REMOVABLE MEDIA DRIVES * --->> LIMITED TIME SPECIAL! NOW ONLY 44MB $ CALL! <<--- SCSI port READY 88MB $ CALL! with ICD Link add 80.00 COMPLETELY ASSEMBLED AND READY TO RUN! ONE Cart Included! 44mb CARTS: $ 69.50 88mb CARTS: $ 109.50 44mb MECH ONLY: $ 319.95 88mb MECH ONLY: $ 419.95 ****** SPECIAL - SPECIAL ****** * TWIN SYQUEST 44MB REMOVABLE MEDIA DRIVES ... PROGRAMMER'S DELIGHT * SPECIALLY PRICED ** $ CALL! ** Includes: * TWO * cartridges! * SYQUEST 44MB REMOVABLE MEDIA DRIVE AND HARD DRIVE COMBINATIONS * - Syquest 44 Model [555] and the following hard drives - ** 50mb SQG51S $ CALL! 105mb SQG105S $ CALL! ** Or, YOUR choice of Hard Disk Mechanism! LOWBOY - STANDARD - DUAL BLOWER CABINETS CUSTOM CONFIGURATIONS AVAILABLE Listed above are a sampling of the systems available. Prices also reflect various cabinet/power supply configurations (over sixty configurations are available, flexibility is unlimited) * IBM/MSDOS - AMIGA - ATARI - APPLE/MACINTOSH * ALL UNITS COMPATIBLE WITH --> SUPERCHARGER - AT/PC SPEED - GCR LARGER units are available - (Custom Configurations) *** --> COMPLETE IBM CLONE SYSTEMS AVAILABLE! <-- *** CUSTOM BUILT TO YOUR SPECS! CALL FOR PRICING & AVAILABILITY 386/486 25 MHZ - 33Mhz - 50Mhz - 66Mhz From $839.95 *>> NO REPACKS OR REFURBS USED! <<* 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-$187.95 * 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. ALL POWER SUPPLIES UL APPROVED Now Available BUSINESSES, - LEASE TO OWN WITH AT&T - -* 12 month FULL Guarantee *- (A FULL YEAR of COVERAGE) WE PAY SHIPPING & INSURANCE! >UPS!< (Prepaid Orders - Cont. USA) QUANTITY & USERGROUP DISCOUNTS AVAILABLE! _________________________________________ DEALERS and DISTRIBUTORS WANTED! please, call for details COD, Personal and Company Checks accepted. ORDER YOUR NEW UNIT TODAY! CALL: 1-904-783-3319 Customer Orders & Service 9am - 8pm EDT TUES thru SAT """""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""" STReport International Online Magazine -* [S]ilicon [T]imes [R]eport *- """""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""" STR Online! "YOUR INDEPENDENT NEWS SOURCE" January 08, 1993 Since 1987 copyright (c) 1987-92 All Rights Reserved No.9.02 """""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""" Views, Opinions and Articles Presented herein are not necessarily those of the editors/staff of STReport International Online Magazine. Permission to reprint articles is hereby granted, unless otherwise noted. Reprints must, without exception, include the name of the publication, date, issue number and the author's name . STReport and/or portions therein may not be edited in any way without prior written permission. STReport, at the time of publication, is believed reasonably accurate. 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