SILICON TIMES REPORT ==================== INTERNATIONAL ONLINE MAGAZINE ============================= from STR Electronic Publishing October 08, 1993 No. 9.41 ========================================================================= Silicon Times Report International Online Magazine Post Office Box 6672 Jacksonville, Florida 32221-6155 R.F. Mariano Publisher - Editor ----------------------------------------- Voice: 904-783-3319 10 AM - 4 PM EST STR Publishing Support BBS Network System * THE BOUNTY BBS * FIDO 1:112/35 ~ FNET 350 ~ Nest 90:21/350.0 904-786-4176 USR/HST 24hrs - 7 days 2400 - 38.4 bps V.32 - 42 bis 16.8 Dual Standard FAX: 904-783-3319 12 AM - 6 AM EST ----------------------------------------- Fido 1:112/35 The Bounty STR Support Central 1-904-786-4176 FNET. 620 : Leif's World ................1-904-573-0734 FNET. 690 : PASTE BBS....................1-206-284-8493 FNET. 460 : The Atari ST Connection......1-209-436-8156 FNET. 489 : Steal Your Face BBS..........1-908-920-7981 _________________________________________________________________________ > 10/08/93 STR 941 "The Original * Independent * Online Magazine!" """""""""""""""" - The Editor's Desk - CPU INDUSTRY REPORT - STR Confidential - Space Age Computers - WPerfect Settles - NEW Chip Facilities - NEWTON SALES BIG! - Deltapoint Offer - SuperDoubler - PC/IBM NEWS - MAC/APPLE NEWS - ATARI/JAG NEWS -* POWER PC - THE FUTURE? *- -* JAGUAR ....WHEN? *- -* APPLE MOVING TO TEXAS? *- ========================================================================= 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/PROWL/ITC/USENET/NEST/F-Net Mail Networks. You may also Phone The Bounty BBS direct @ 904-786-4176. Enjoy the wonder and excitement of exchanging all types of information relative to computers, worldwide, through the use of excellent International Networking Systems. SysOps, worldwide, are welcome to join the STReport International Conferences. The Fido Node is 1:112/35, ITC Node is 85:881/253 Crossnet Code is #34813, and the "Lead Node" is #620. All platform's BBS systems are welcome and invited to participate. Support your favorite computer Today! ========================================================================= CIS ~ DELPHI ~ BIX ~ NVN ~ FIDO ~ PROWL ~ ITC ~ NEST ~ EURONET USENET ~ CIX ~ CLEVELAND FREE-NET ~ INTERNET ~ FNET ~ GEnie ========================================================================= COMPUSERVE WILL PRESENT $15.00 WORTH OF COMPLIMENTARY ONLINE TIME to the Readers of; STREPORT INTERNATIONAL ONLINE MAGAZINE """""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""" "The Original 16/32bit Online Magazine" NEW USERS; SIGN UP TODAY! CALL: 1-800-848-8199 .. Ask for operator 198 You will receive your complimentary time and be online in no time at all! WHAT'S NEW IN THE ATARI FORUMS (October 8) CODEHEAD ANNOUNCES NEW VERSION OF WARP 9 Codehead Technologies announces a new version of their fabulous WARP 9, now compatible with the Falcon030. Read message #32158 in the Atari Vendors Forum (GO ATARIVEN) for details and upgrade info. COMPUTER VERSION OF RISK FOR ATARI ST Download file BATRIS.ARC from LIBRARY 1 of the Atari Arts Forum (GO ATARIARTS) for BATRISK -- a computer version of the board game RISK. REMOTE OPERATION Download file LOGIN.LZH from LIBRARY 2 of the Atari Productivity Forum (GO ATARIPRO) for a remote log-in program for the ST. Primarily useful for MiNT/MultiTOS users who want to be able to call their systems from elsewhere. PC-COMPATIBLE ADDRESS BOOK FOR ATARI PORTFOLIO Download file ADR_BO.ZIP from LIBRARY 6 of the Atari Portfolio Forum (GO APORTFOLIO) for version 1.10 of ADR_BASE; a database for PCs which shares Portfolio Address Book Files. Includes improved editing fields. Uploaded by author. Fully functional except SAVE feature; implemented by EZ shareware registration. TAX CALCULATOR Download file TAXBAS.ZIP from LIBRARY 7 of the Atari Portfolio Forum (GO APORTFOLIO) for taxcalc. This version supports both French and English. For use with PBASIC, the Taxcalc calculates the cost of purchase with the sales tax added or calculates how much tax you paid on a purchase. Also calculates Canadian GST and PST taxes. COMPUSERVE INTRODUCES 14.4 SUPPORT FOR THE PRICE OF 9600 BAUD! 14,400 BPS INTRODUCED IN 10 CITIES CompuServe now offers 14,400-bps access capability in ten U.S. cities: Cambridge, Mass.; Chicago; Columbus, Ohio; Los Angeles; New York; Newport Beach, Calif.; Orlando, Fla.; Philadelphia; Rochelle Park, N.J.; and Santa Clara, Calif. This service will be offered in other U.S. locations within the next year, and will eventually be extended to Europe. Pricing for 14,400-bps access is the same as for 9,600 bps: $16 per hour for Standard Pricing Plan members, and $22.80 per hour for Alternative Pricing Plan members. The 14,400 bps service supports V.42 error correction and requires a V.32bis modem. To log on at 14,400 bps using the CompuServe Information Manager, enter the Session Settings and change the bps rate to either 14,400 or 19,200. If you have problems logging on, change the modem type to the Hayes Compatible (default) setting. For more information about using 14,400 bps, GO FEEDBACK or visit CompuServe's software support forums (GO CISSOFT). To obtain the 14,400 local access numbers, GO PHONES. To read more about CompuServe's pricing plans, GO CHOICES. The information areas are all included in CompuServe's basic services. "ENJOY CompuServe's FORUMS WHERE CENSORSHIP IS A DIRTY WORD!" """"""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""" > From the Editor's Desk "Saying it like it is!" """""""""""""""""""""" This is the time we used put aside for WAACE.... Fond memories for sure. Someday in the not to distant future, we will hopefully see shows like WAACE re-appear. The marketplace these shows were highlighting is all but a memory. Contrary to the 'hot air' that's been circulating, the show circuit for this year in the Atari platform has been disappointing to say the least. Its sad in a way to see this as the successful shows were like a statement being made by some fine users. A statement that went something like this... "we are not the "run of the mill" computer user like most... our choice is, to us, something special." Unfortunately, the "crew" saw things differently and obviously had other plans. They came along, wheeling and dealing, showing great promise and promptly fell flat on their collective ..."faces". Daddy's baby sitter (Atari) had danced with the fat lady as she sang. In the process, a good many dealers bit the bullet some, for the final bite. Now we find certain of Atari's "responsible" horns bleating nonsense again. Unfortunately, most of us have no time for the goofy head games any longer. At one time in the not too distant past, the head games sure consumed time while we all waited and waited and waited for the "new, super secret powerhouse products" that were going to take the market over in a flash and "knock our socks off". Many of those who played the waiting game in the past are gone with more leaving the dying, if not already dead platform every day. On the other platforms, they are getting ready to "barnstorm" the computer industry with the advent of the Power-PC. The Newton is "raging" along as a huge success and the faithful in the Atari niche are getting excited about a new, super fantastic "game machine" that is being released to a "limited" market in select geographical zones. I hope they sell every piece for one reason, they'll have nobody to either blame or congratulate but themselves when the outcome is reality. They had better keep a keen eye on the new Phillips product line though. STReport is, once again, in the process of undergoing changes. We seek to address a number of needed changes in our format and will attempt to do so over the next two months. Since the RTF (Rich Text Format) is now totally cross platform compatible, STReport is experimenting with utilizing this text format. Additionally, the issue will be more clearly defined into sections. In the meantime, we're open to suggestions! Ralph.... """"""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""" ** STReport International Online Magazine ** NOW AVAILABLE FOR ELECTRONIC HOME DELIVERY DIRECT TO YOUR (E-)MAIL BOX STReport will be E-Mailed to any GEnie subscriber who requests it as an archived (in LZH format) attached file. Instructions for downloading an attached file are provided on page 200 on GEnie (Type M200). Downloading E-Mail utilizes the very same transfer protocols as the GEnie RT Libraries, so there is little or no difference between downloading from a Library and downloading an attached file (also called F-Mail). To request STReport be E-Mailed to you, send subscription request in E-Mail to J.MIRANDO1 requesting such and you will be put on our "paper route" beginning with the next issue. Each issue will be uploaded by Saturday evening and will be available to you immediately. It simply appears in your E-Mail queue! Wait no more for the REAL news and FULL information from the wonderful and sometimes wacky world of computing... Ask for your STReport deliveries to begin today! *** 379 SUBSCRIBERS AND GROWING! *** STReport's Staff DEDICATED TO SERVING YOU! """""""""""""""" Publisher - Editor """""""""""""""""" Ralph F. Mariano PC DIVISION AMIGA DIVISION MAC DIVISION ----------- -------------- ------------ Roger D. Stevens Robert Glover R. ALBRITTON Lloyd E. Pulley, Editor Emeritus 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 Contributing Correspondents: """""""""""""""""""""""""""" Michael Lee Richard Covert Scott Birch Brian Converse Oliver Steinmeier Tim Holt Andrew Learner Norman Boucher Harry Steele Clemens Chin Neil Bradley Eric Jerue Ron Deal Robert Dean Ed Westhusing James Nolan Vernon W. Smith Bruno Puglia IMPORTANT NOTICE """""""""""""""" Please, submit letters to the editor, articles, reviews, etc... via E-Mail to: Compuserve................... 70007,4454 Delphi......................... RMARIANO BIX............................ RMARIANO FIDONET........................ 1:112/35 FNET........................... NODE 350 ITC NET...................... 85:881/253 NEST........................ 90:21/350.0 GEnie......................... ST-REPORT """"""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""" IBM/POWER-PC/PC SECTION ======================= Computer Products Update - CPU Report ------------------------ ---------- Weekly Happenings in the Computer World Issue #41 By: John Deegan ANOTHER VIDEO GAME CONTENDER - It is rumored that 3DO Co. will soon move into the video game market. Sources say that 3DO's Interactive Multiplayer unit is, "faster and more powerful than game machines now on the market". Much attention has been focused on the 3DO system "because of its ability to combine video, audio, text and graphics." One problem that the 3DO system has to overcome is the few games that will be available for it through Christmas. Sources say that "customer decisions on machine purchases usually are based on what games can be played on those machines ... and so far, the software selection for 3DO is slim." The manufacturer says 10 to 20 games will be available for Christmas sales, though more than 150 games are under development. PEN COMPUTER OFFERS WIRELESS NETWORKING CAPABILITIES - Fujitsu Per- sonal Systems Inc. has announced the PadPlus RF, one of the industry's first mobile computers with fully-integrated wireless communications technology. The PadPlus RF is a pen-based mobile computer that allows transparent wireless client/server and peer-to-peer LAN communications. The PadPlus RF incorporates Proxim Inc.'s RangeLAN wireless adapter and radio into its enclosed housing, with a retractable antenna in the upper left corner. The PadPlus RF has the same form-factor and func- tionality as the PoqetPad Plus. The PadPlus RF features a communications range of up to 300 feet with interference immunity made possible by the spread spectrum technology. The PadPlus RF has a burst data rate of 242Kbps and provides users with three full channels. With error correcting hardware and firmware desig- ned to retransmit undelivered data, users will be sure that data is never lost or corrupted. The PadPlus RF is available immediately through FPSI systems integrators and VARs. Preliminary pricing for the PadPlus RF is $2,449. HP CUTS VECTRA PRICES - Word from Los Angeles is Hewlett-Packard Co. is cutting prices of selected Vectra personal computers by up to 14%. APPLE BIG IN ASIA-PACIFIC - Apple Computer Inc.'s bottom line is being given a boost by a tremendous boom in the personal computer market in Asia, according to a top company executive. Reports say that sales of the major Macintosh and PowerBook product lines are higher than the rate of market growth. "Our Asia-Pacific business is growing at a rate of around 50 percent" annually, said Randy Battat, vice president of Apple's Macintosh desktop and PowerBook division. IBM AND PHILIPS UNVEIL OPTICAL DISK DRIVE - Philips Electronics NV and IBM Corp. announced they have formed a joint venture to develop affordably-priced optical disk drives for the computer market. The 3.5- inch IBM MTA-3127 optical disk drive is the first in a series of products aimed at a market for small, high-capacity drives. "We are aiming at a very big market share, by far the biggest," said Philips spokesman Jack Reemers. He explained the disk drive market is currently worth $250 million annually, but forecasts it will grow rapidly to more than $1 billion. INTEL CORP. ANNOUNCES '386 CHIP FOR EMBEDDED PROCESSING MARKET - A new line of '386 chips intended for the embedded processing market will be available in volume in the second quarter of next year, Intel Corp. says. The embedded market includes microwave ovens, consumer electronics, copiers, facsimile machines, telecommunications and other devices in which the tasks are more limited than those of microchip-based PCs. NEW CHIP SPEEDS UP GRAPHICS PROCESSING 30 TIMES - Samples of chips that are said to process graphics 30 times faster than current tech- nology are being sold in samples by Toshiba Corp. Toshiba officials said the LSI (large-scale integration) chip is capable of processing 150,000 polygons -- the basic building blocks of computer graphics -- per second, compared with 5,000 per second for computer graphics workstations now on the market. FUJITSU AND HYUNDAI TO JOINTLY PRODUCE CHIPS - Fujitsu and Hyundai Electronic Industries Co. announced they will jointly produce computer memory chips. Manufacturing will take place in the Hyundai factory in Inchon, South Korea, as well as in Fujitsu's plants in northern Japan and Gresham, Ore. The two companies also said they are considering jointly developing more advanced chips. APPLE DENIES TEXAS MOVE IS IN THE WORKS - Apple Computer is once again denying rumors that say the firm will move some of its operations to Austin, Texas. The company did say, however, that it was planning on moving some of its operations out of California's Silicon Valley. MEGAHERTZ CUTS MODEM COSTS - Megahertz Corp. has reduced prices by as much as 38% on its PCMCIA (Personal Computer Memory Card International Association) modems. The price reductions include those on modems with the company's patented XJACK connector system. Those reduced in price range from the XJ1144 14,400/14,400bps data/ fax w/XJACK (reduced to $399 from $599) to the CC324FM 2400/9600bps data/fax (to $239 from $379). ASTRONAUTS TO TEST COMPUTER - The helpfulness of an "intelligent" computer called the Astronaut Science Advisor is to be tested later this month on the next space shuttle mission. The system was designed "to help space travelers increase their productivity and improve the scientific quality of data they collect". Experts at NASA's Ames Research Center in Mountain View, Calif., say that the computer has four major functions: -:- Diagnosis and trouble-shooting of experiment equipment. -:- Data collection. -:- Management of experimental procedures. -:- Detection of "interesting" information. "Scientists hope the nonhuman assistant will enhance the crew's abi- lity to perform science experiments and reduce reliance on air-to-ground communications," sources said. "If it does, it can play a critical part on longer missions and the space station." NO JAIL TIME FOR 'NASA CRACKER' -- An Australian computerist who authorities say shut down some NASA computers for 24 hours in a 1990 system intrusion has avoided jail time. In Melbourne, the 22-year-old Nahshon Even-Chaim was sentenced to 12 months' jail but was freed immediately by the judge on a good behavior bond. Judge Anthony Smith warned Even-Chaim, who was known in his underground computing circles as "Friend," that he may have to serve the sentence if he breached the $1,000 bond over the coming year. Smith also ordered Even-Chaim to carry out 500 hours of unpaid community work over the next two years. WORDPERFECT CORP. SETTLES SUITS - WordPerfect Corp. says it has set- tled lawsuits against a Canadian bulletin board system operator and a Texas beta-tester it accused of illegally copying and distributing beta versions of its new WordPerfect 6.0 word processor. A statement from the company says the software was first found on a BBS called "California Dreamin" located in Toronto. It was then traced to a beta-tester in Texas, the company said. "Under court authority," says the statement, "U.S. marshals and Royal Canadian Mounted Police, together with company representatives, con- fiscated computer equipment and unauthorized copies of the program from the electronic bulletin board operator and from the beta-test site." This was WordPerfect Corp.'s first direct action against a beta- tester, though the publisher previously has taken actions against pirate BBSes through the Business Software Alliance of which WordPerfect Corp. is a founding member. ______________________________________________________________ ATARI/JAG SECTION ================= > ONLINE WEEKLY STReport OnLine The wires are a hummin'! """"""""""""""""""""""""""""" PEOPLE... ARE TALKING ===================== Direct from the Atari Forums On CompuServe! ------------------------------------------- compiled by Joe Mirando Hi there folks. Is it just me, or has it been an incredibly long week? You know the feeling; there just aren't enough days in the week to do all the things you want to do. I love to keep current with all the news from the computer world, and especially the Atari world, but there just doesn't seem to be enough time. Luckily, Compuserve offers me the ability to catch up with the rest of the computer world, and especially the Atari world, quickly. I recently re-read some of those long, rambling preambles that I've been putting at the top of this column. I don't know about you, but I'm getting kind of tired of them. If you've got an opinion, why not leave me a note on one of the on-line services? I can be found on CompuServe, GEnie, DELPHI and, for the time being, NVN. I can also be reached on the Bounty BBS. So c'mon, let me know what you think. Well, it looks like this is turning into one of those long intros that I'm getting so tired of. So, let's get on with the purpose of this column... the talk that goes on every week on CompuServe. From the Atari Productivity Forum ================================= James Jennings tells us: "As an engineering student I use my Falcon 030 for programming, technical writing, engineering drawings (CAD)and Spreadsheets I also use a math solver program called Solutions . As a hobby I use it for telecom and desk top publishing , printed circuit board design, and digital audio recording. I am trying to write DSP routines for real time loudspeaker parameter analysis but am having trouble comprehending DSP assembler." Brian Gockley of ST Informer replies tells James: "Sounds great, what CAD program do you use? We are in the process of reviewing Solutions right now, how does it differ from El Cal?" James tells Brian: "If your going to get AtariWorks you should now about the WordPerfect 6.0 FONT PACK from Bitstream. It is a package of 50 Bitstream fonts in Speedo format that although marketed for the DOS market work beautifully with SpeedoGdos and AtariWorks . I purchased my copy at Egghead Software for around $20 I believe the list price is $35 You can order direct from Bitstream 1-800-522-font . I have never seen a better software bargain the fonts are GREAT. James Jennings PS AtariWorks runs great on my Falcon030 with Falcon ScreenBlaster I can edit/write documents of ANY size.(Subject to the limitations of 16 MEG) I have used screen res of 1280*960 and virtual res of 4000*3000! and it works flawlessly. Talk about publishing newspapers! if only I had a printer that could handle paper 36 inches wide!" While we're on the subject of AtariWorks, Darrell Eifert tells us: "I have an older Mega 4 with Tos 1.?, and Atari Works bombs when I try to load and run the program. I called Atari Support, and they told me that I need a patch to the spellchecker 'OVL' file in order for AW to run on my machine. Apparently the patch is available over on GEnie, but I have not been able to locate it in the ATARIPRO library. Can anyone who has access to GEnie find the patch file and upload it? I would be very grateful." Brian Gockley, being the good guy that he is, tells Darrell: "I just went over there tonight and got it for somebody else, I'll upload it tonight!" Way to go, Brian. Gee, I bet that if Brian knew that I was doing this column instead of doing two reviews for him... oops, I guess I let the cat out of the bag, didn't I? Well, sorry Brian. Jim Savage tells us: "I'm trying to decompress an LZH type file. I've downloaded ARCLZH.PRG and set it to use the LZH201L.TTP file supplied but when I try to extract my file it says 'KEINE DATEI GEFUNDEN' and aborts. Anyone know what I'm doing wrong?" Albert Dayes of Atari Explorer Magazine gives Jim some help: "Are you using the argument to tell it to extract the LZH file? double click on the LZH201L.TTP When the line appears type x for a real example ... x atari.lzh" Sysop Bob Retelle jumps in and tells Jim: "Unfortunately I don't read German... maybe someone else here can help figure out what that error message means. It sounds like you're using the ARCSHELL program that came in the ARCLZH archive.. have you tried using the LZH201L program manually, as Albert suggested..?" Dick Paddock tells us all: "KEINE DATA GEFUNDEN" means "file not found". It could refer to either the entire archive file (filename.LZH) or a specific file inside the archive that was requested, depending on context." Sysop Keith Joins tells Jim: "If you are using the ARCShell program make sure you have set it to Questor mode in the lower right hand side of the Shell program screen." Colie Nilan asks: "A friend of mine has PC-Ditto but no (MS-)Dos disk. (I'm using Dos 6 on my PC.) Where can I find a compatible (probably older) version of dos for ditto? And what is PC-Ditto 2." Sysop Ron Luks tells Colie: "PC-Ditto 2 is a hardware emulator of PCs for the Atari. PC Ditto (1) was a software emulator. I don't know where you can get an old version of MS-DOS." Sysop Bob Retelle tells Colie: "I don't know if there are any restrictions on what version of DOS is needed to run PC-Ditto... have you tried DOS 6.0? Older versions of DOS can often be bought very cheaply at computer swap meets. I've seen DOS 3.3 for as low as $20 and this last weekend I saw DOS 5.0 being sold for $25. Watch your newspaper's classified ads for announcements of swap meets, or check with any local computer users groups in your area. Another thing to try might be to post "wanted" messages on some of the IBM forums here on CompuServe. There might be people with older versions they'd be interested in selling used. As Ron indicated, PC-Ditto 2 was a hardware device that was wired inside an Atari ST which essentially duplicated the operation of an 8088 PC. Unfortunately the company which designed it had some serious problems, and the product has not been available for some time now. There are other types of IBM emulators for Atari computers, some internal and some external. I'm not really very up on the availability of these products currently, but if you friend is interested I'm sure we can point him in the right direction to find out more about them." Chris Gray posts: "Have any of you guys managed to get hold of a Falcon Developer's kit? I've been trying for MONTHS to get one out of Atari Benelux. Someone please tell me they don't exists, then I can go out and buy some books instead of hanging around waiting." Albert Dayes tells Chris: "I know there are kits for the Falcon but I don't know what they contain. Hopefully someone from Atari can help you solve that problem. Atari US is (408)-745-2000 but I don't know if you would like to make that long distance call." Rob Rasmussen asks Brian Gockley about AtariWorks: "You mentioned that many fonts are available for AtariWorks which uses Speedo Gdos, and I assume any other program using Speedo could use them. Other programs have their own built in fonts, like Degas, Prism Paint, Calligrapher) or use a different format of fonts. My question is - why do fonts from some programs, like 'GDOS fonts', not work in another program? They are all binary files on a disk. Fonts are loaded into a word processor or paint program. Why not a universal format? Fonts are fancy sets of ASCII characters - why would one, like Pagestream or Calamus, not work in another?" Albert Dayes jumps in and tells Rob: "GDOS was supposed to be the universal system for printing (etc, etc). For many programs it was too limiting at the time being only bitmap fonts. PageStream and Calamus use fonts that can be scaled easily and still look nice on the output device. Their output looks much nicer in general that most other GDOS output programs. Calligrapher which uses GDOS or something similar also looks nice. Most programs never used GDOS for different reasons but with the new SpeedoGDOS which is much more competitive feature wise with other fonts (being scalable, track and/or pair kerning, etc, etc) this may change. Since GDOS fonts are bit-mapped and in general most of the newer ones are not Adobe Type 1, Calamus Fonts, and Speedo Fonts. This gives developers a better reason to utilize Speedo Fonts in the future as more of a standard." Jim Ness adds: "The downside of SpeedoGDOS is that users must pay for it separately. In the Windows world (not sure about Mac?) good quality scalable fonts come with the OS, so every Windows developer knows his/her product will have fonts available to it. In our market here, the dev must assume that the user does NOT have the fonts, or must say that the product can only be used if the user buys some fonts. I think STraight Fax is a good example, because I think you get a font package with the product." Albert tells Jim: "I think Atari Works is the same/similar to STraight FAX in that regard. If one buys a FALCON with a hard drive they do get Atari Works and the Fonts automatically. I don't think the cost is that high considering the benefits. Also that Word Perfect deal of 50 fonts of $20 or so is a very good deal." Brian Gockley tells Jim: "I think that distribution is being done on a licensing basis, as well as over the counter. I know that Oregon Research is bundling it with True Paint, Works ships with it, Compo sells it and who knows who else. I would think that at some point it will become PD system software, but ? It's like that math co-processor, put in and leave it in! Forget this chinctzy include in the first run of MegaSTes and Falcons, and then sell it as an Add-on for the remaining runs. This is the typical catch-22 that can only be solved by Atari." Bob Retelle adds: "It's like most other things we run into... everyone started using their own scheme for fonts, so there was no particular "standard". Different fonts may use different ways of "encoding" the data that creates the letters, which will make them incompatible with programs that expect their fonts to adhere to a different "standard". Some fonts are "raster images", which means that the font file contains an exact bit-by-bit image of the letters. You can design some fairly good looking shapes this way, but because they are exact images, the letters have to be the exact size they'll show up on screen (or paper). You have to design a different font for each different size you want. (GDOS fonts are like that, which is why you have so many different files for the same font). Raster fonts CAN be "scaled" to different sizes, but the results are usually not very satisfactory. Making them bigger usually means just doubling the width of the lines and pixels, so you end up with "blocky" looking letters, and going the other way, making the letters smaller, you end up losing detail when you take away pixels. This is the reason why each point size really needs its own complete set of letters specially designed for it. Other fonts use something similar to the Postscript scheme we were talking about a while ago. The font file contains a "description" of what the letter should look like, and the program that is doing the printing then creates the letters at the size you tell it you want. This usually gives you MUCH better results, and also usually takes up a lot less space. Speedo-GDOS uses these "scalable fonts". To add to the confusion, different brands of fonts may use these types of technology, but in different ways, which makes the fonts incompatible with each other. You need to look for fonts which will work with a program you may have in mind. There ARE some "standards" being evolved as more and more programs use font technology.. it's a lot easier (and commercially more rewarding) if your program uses a commonly available font standard than trying to create your own. Like everything else though, it takes time..." Rob Rasmussen asks Bob: "Do you know if Calligrapher uses scalable fonts? I think it has a form of GDOS built in - would it allow the use of Speedo fonts?" John Ciotta tells us: "I'm having difficulty obtaining information about AtariWorks! I'm specifically interested in the spreadsheet and database capabilities. My present CP/M system will link spreadsheets and the database will handle mailmerging (printing labels, etc.) and sort according to any field I specify. Since the CP/M system I'm using is at least 10 years old, I'm assuming that AtariWorks will handle my needs and more, but I'd like to get some definite information before purchasing." Albert Dayes tells John: "The spreadsheet is MS Excel command compatible. And its not too hard to perform mail merging with Atari Works. Atari Works can import/export ( ascii, dBASE III, and RTF (used iN MS Word and other word processors) ). There are some reviews of the different parts of the Atari Works in (ATari Explorer On-line) as well. Anything more specific you information you need on the product?" Micky White tells us: "I am a Falcon owner and for the most part I am VERY impressed with its performance, However in the Multitos manual it states that ACCs can be launched without first being installed in the root drive, Is there anyone out there who has actually accomplished this feat, If so please tell me the secret." David Hagood tells Micky: "Yes, the secret to launching ACC's from the desktop is adding the following line in your NEWDESK.INF file: #A 03 FF 000 *.ACC@ @ @ Now, unless you install a different icon for .ACC files, they will appear as program icons. Just double-click on the icon and it will install itself. If you want to unload an acc, just open u:\procs and drag the icon for the acc to the trashcan. This will send a "SIG_TERM" signal to the acc, and it will die. Of course, if the ACC hooked any system vectors, your system will die too. But I have had good luck with most acc's this way." From The Atari ST Arts Forum ============================ Sysop Ron Luks posts: "It has come to the attention of the management of this forum that certain parties may feel that their copyright rights may be subject to violation. Although I have not seen any specific instances of this yet, I want to remind everyone of our forum policy in this regard: I must reiterate the forum policy that no unauthorized repostings may take place in the forum message bases or in lib files here. (This includes all online MAgazines). Since it is neither practical nor possible for the sysop staff to go out and independently verify authorization for every quoting or reposting, it shall be assumed to be the responsibility of the poster (or uploader) to have proper authorization or permission for direct quotations. (Just as you are assumed to have proper authority to upload material to the file libraries). Of course, all applicable laws regarding copyright, fair usage, and journalistic quotations continue to apply. If anyone has a problem in this regard, please direct your concerns directly to Ron Luks, Forum manager, at 76703,254." Bill Devonshire tells us: "Just a few notes. I have been to the local (1hr drive) dealer who has shown me quite an extensive list of new software for the Falcon. I admit that some of it are ports of version from other computers etc., but some of them are genuine, new products. Also, I don't blame, or see any fault in Atari pursuing the Jaguar market in lieu of the Falcon. It just may be their saving grace, and lead back into the market here in NA. They have not dropped support for the Falcon, as far as I can see. They have cut back (downsized) their operation, which means more work for fewer people, and lets face it, they have to go where the market is and where they can survive the best. It is not leaving Falcon owners in the lurch, where it is probably stalling potential Falcon purchasers from investing. The Jag will be a hard piece of equipment not to sell. I think it will catapult this Atari industry back into motion, here in North America, at least. From what I have seen on that list of apps for the Falcon in Europe, things are progressing very well." Our own Editor Emeritus tells Bill: "Excluding a few music and maybe one or two graphic programs, what new pro- grams are out 'for the Falcon'? Ones that were written only for the Falcon? Ones that are not just "Falcon patches" of older software? What new databases, spreadsheets, word processors, terminal programs, etc? And how many of these programs are available for the majority of the Falcon owners who don't live only one hour from their 'local dealer' (and don't want to order them from Europe)? Since there's been almost no support for the Falcon in the U.S. so far, it is kinda difficult to drop the support any lower. I could, but won't, show you 20-50 posts from developers saying that they think of Atari's support for the Falcon and it's chances of survival. There's a difference between downsizing and becoming a skeleton. The Jaguar has a chance of reviving Atari - at least Atari's game image. But it will probably kill Atari's 68xxx sales in the U.S." From the Atari Vendors Forum ============================ "Clay" asks about problems with his hard drive: "I am using an Atari 520ST, and am booting from the hard disk. I've tried writing to the hard disk from several spreadsheet programs (Swiftcalc, Lotus). The programs write to floppy disk with no problem at all, so I'm thinking there is a problem with the hard disk. Any help you can provide will be appreciated." Bill Aycock tells Clay: "That sounds odd. Can you write down _exactly_ what the error message says and looks like (does it have an icon, what do the button(s) say, etc) and let us know? Also, you might try downloading RAM.ACC from LIB 6 of Ataripro, and place it in your C: directory - then after you boot up the next time, when you get to the desktop, select the Free Ram item from your Desk menu and note how much free memory your system has." Dana Ax asks about a particular type of program: "I am looking for a landscape design program for my Atari 1040. Can you tell me where I could find one?? I found a IBM but you need a SVGA monitor, and it will not run on a CGA. Help Please !!" Yat from Lexicor Software tells Dana: "...GENESIS by Lexicor Software i.e. us offers something similar...the program in the GENESIS set called Terrain...it's not exactly ideal for Plateau designing but for creating a 3D2 i.e. 3 Dimensional Display (rough it would be too) of your designed plateau...and it runs just fine on a 1040 ST. Included is also two starfield generators and a fractal world builder..." David Tanny posts: "I am looking for a null-modem cable so I can hook my ATARI 800XL computer to my TANDY Sensation computer. Using the telephone lines are too slow with 300baud tops from my ATARI. I'm transferring files from the ATARI to the IBM clone. any help would be appreciated in finding a vendor who sells such an item." Ron Luks tells David: "Use a regular serial cable and add a null modem adaptor from Radio Shack into the line. These cost only about $5 and its the cheapest and easiest way to do the transfers." From our "What's Coming Down the 'Pike" department, Boris Molodyi asks CodeHead Extraordinare, Charles F. Johnson: "Is Chagall a program that you are going to distribute? (I have that feeling, but I might be wrong :-) If so, do you have some information about it?" Charles tells Boris: "Yes, we have made arrangements to distribute Chagall, a high-end paint program from Germany's TradeiT company. I can't tell you much about it yet, because we're still haggling over various points. We'll be announcing when it's ready for release." Boris asks for more info: "OK, can you tell, at least, if it is strictly paint program, or if it has photo-retouching capabilities as well?" Charles tells Boris: "Yes, Chagall will be able to be used for photograph retouching. It has many of the same features as Adobe Photoshop, including filters, masks, and contrast/brightness adjustment." Rob Rasmussen asks Charles about CodeHead's Button Fixer, a patch to fix the "double scroll" problem in some TOS versions: "I know that Button Fixer was built into Warp 9, and I am using W9 version 3.75. It does indeed work, when I boot from my hard disk. When I run Flash from the hard disk, I can tell that the button fixer feature is working. Other times, though, I don't turn on my HD and just use the floppy drive. In my boot floppy disk AUTO folder is the same version of W9 as on my HD, but the button fixer is not activated for some reason. I have to use the separate Button Fixer ACC to get Flash to scroll correctly. Do you know why it is not active on the floppy disk?" Charles tells Rob: "Button Fixer was built into MultiDesk Deluxe, not into Warp 9. That's probably why it isn't working when you boot from floppy -- because you don't have MultiDesk on that floppy disk." At this point, I'd just like to bring you a bit of news about something I mentioned a few weeks ago. I had mentioned that, in this column, I routinely use posts from anyone who asks or answers questions regardless of whether or not I agree with the person's opinions or comments on other subjects. This week Nathan Potechin of DMC (the Calamus folks) asked, if somewhat rudely, that STReport no longer include posts by him in our publication. Alright Nathan, you've got it (at least from me). But I seem to remember a time, not so long ago, that you complained bitterly that you "thought" we would not print your posts. Then you complained that we would not print your posts "in their entirety." Then you complained that we might use your posts "out of context." For my part, I have endeavored to make sure that none of these circumstances occurred. I think that, since you can't kvetch about misrepresentation, out-of-context quotes, or other types of journalistic booby-traps, you have decided to play the spoiled-sport and dangle the semi-divine carrot, the all important WORD OF NATHAN, as if we will be any the worse for not being able to use it. I am happy to announce that I do not intend to ignore posts answered by others regarding DMC products. This is because I have remembered one thing that Nathan seems to have forgotten: The user is the all-important part of this equation. Because of this, my only consideration in using a post has been to ask myself a question: Is this information that someone will find useful? As long as the answer is yes, I have no problem with using a post from anyone. Unfortunately, we are not the ones who will be shortchanged by your tantrum. Your customers and possible future customers are the ones who will not hear the hints, tips and assorted information that you often post here on CompuServe. It is nice, though, to see you and yours spending so much time and effort here on CIS. Say "Hello" to Mario for me. I enjoyed talking to him at the Asheville show. See that folks, I cut down on the stuff in the beginning of the column, but added it to the end. Sorry about that. Well, that's all the space we have for this week folks. The Portfolio Forum will be back next time around. Next week I'll have more info from CompuServe so be ready to kick back, relax and listen to what they are saying when... PEOPLE ARE TALKING ______________________________________________________________ > JAGUAR UPDATES STR InfoFile News about the new, 'muscle game machine' """"""""""""""""""""""""""" ATARI JAGUAR NEWS ================= Here's some interesting stuff off Internet (off rec.games.video.misc): From phixus Sat Oct 2 11:09:05 PDT 1993 From: phixus@netcom.com (Chris DeSalvo) Subject: Everyone MUST read this! Date: Sat, 2 Oct 1993 09:56:06 GMT I work at Interplay productions, you (hopefully) are probably familiar with some of our games. Anyway, Bill Rehbock, Director of Applications Software at Atari came by today and demo'ed a FINAL PRODUCTION MODEL of the Jaguar for us, trying to get us to sign on as a developer. Here is everything I can tell you about the Lynx and Jaguar that was discussed in that meeting. Oh, this will probably be long... Lynx Update: ------------ Don't give up on the Lynx. Expect it to magically reappear on store shelves starting with the holiday season. Even Toys 'R Us will carry the Lynx again! Here's what happened... Atari had geared all its marketing resources and development bucks on the Panther a few years ago, and were hoping for a big Panther/Lynx debut. Well, the Panther died. So, the Lynx got shoved out in the cold cruel world by itself. With the introduction on the Jaguar most retail chains are so excited about it that they are going to carry the Lynx again. Atari counts 24 new titles under current development for the Lynx that will be out next year. Atari is planning on piggy-backing the Lynx marketing onto the Jaguar. There will be one Lynx commercial to every 10 Jaguar commercials. Atari is lowering the price of the Lynx so that it will sell for about $50 retail, a head-to-head competitor with GameBoy. Test Markets: ------------- The Jaguar will be test marketed in New York City, San Francisco and a giant Tandy superstore in Texas around November 15th. Atari is pumping $4 million into a marketing campaign for these three cities. 1994 marketing budget for Jaguar/Lynx is $45 million. There will be 50,000 units shipped total for the test markets. Release Info: ------------- The Jaguar will sell for $200 SRP. This includes the console unit, one controller and CyberMorph. Cartridges will average $50-$80 each. Additional controllers will be about $15. I'm sure you've all seen the picture of the controller... It is surprisingly light! The directional button feels like it does on the Lynx, as do the 3 action buttons at top. There is also a 12-key keypad at the bottom that will allow game-specific overlays. The CD-Rom unit will be $200. This is cool if you think about it. With 3DO SRPing at $700, the Jaguar w/CD will only be $400. I've played both, you'll want the Jaguar! (Read on for more details why...). Atari will ship 1,000,000 Jaguars in 1994. Graphics Features: ------------------ The follow graphics features are supported in hardware... Texture mapping: Alien v. Predator uses this well. This allows a bit- map to be wrapped around a 3-D object. It looks incredible. Morphing: Animate and inanimate objects can be morphed into each other. CyberMorph does this. You have a polygon ship like in StarFox which can speed-up, slow-down, bank. As it speeds up the wings sweep back and two steering fins morph out of the wings, and engines morph out of the back of the ship. When you completely stop, you morph into this small box that looks like a ST:TNG shuttle. Warping: Objects can be stretched, pulled, rotated or skewed. Lighting: This was way kewl. You can define light sources for your scenes. In Alien v. Predator you are in a Doom-like texture-mapped maze and rather than ray-casting, they just define a light source. It is very light where you are standing, but gets darker down long hallways. It is very realistic. Especially with the lights hanging from the ceiling all over that game. Transparency: Smoke and shadow effects, as well as full transparency are supported by the graphics chips. Confirmed Titles: ----------------- Crescent Galaxy: Hottest side-shooter you've ever seen! 3-D, rendered, shadowed. CyberMorph: Real 3-D (as opposed to StarFox's 3-D on rails) flying shooter. Very cool landscapes, shading. Raiden: VERY faithful conversion. Evolution: Dino Dudes: Save as Dinolympics on Lynx or Humans on PC. This is an Atari game that utilizes all of the colors/graphics effect the hardware is capable of. Club Drive: A driving sim. You get lots of cars, on lots of terrains. One of the options is to drive a toy-car around your furniture. 3-D, polygon. Checkered Flag 2: Virtually (pardon the upcoming pun) identical to Sega's Virtual Racing. Wow, it looks great. Tiny Toon Adventures: Say no more. Alien v. Predator: Action, maze-based shooter. Texture-mapped wall sets, great lighting. Kasumi Ninja: Martial-arts fighting game. Didn't see it, but it sounds cool. Tempest: Re-hash of the old Atari classic, but using the Jaguars 3-D polygon engine, and neat stereo sound. Licensee Concerns: ----------------- Although Atari has to grant final code approval, they do no censoring. You could, if you wanted, develop X-rated software for the Jaguar. Every game is given one man-month of compatibility and quality testing before it is approved. Atari seems devoted to offering consistent, and reliable developer technical support via fax, mail and e-mail and voice. Unlike Nintendo, Atari is allowing developers to source there own cartridges, documentation and plastic shells if they want. This should help drive down the price of Jaguar cartridges in a short amount of time. Atari is working very closely with developers and doing just about everything legal to get companies to develop software for the Jag. Comments: --------- Bill's presentation lasted about 1.5 hours and we were all floored. The games look great. The graphics are unbelievable. Its fast, sleek, and beautiful. With Atari dropping the price of the Lynx, and think that people will be willing to buy them as smart peripherals (how many people paid $50+ bucks for advanced flight-stick/rudder controllers to use on 2 or 3 PC flight sims?). The development cycle seems to go pretty fast. Development of all the games shown to us started this year. This would indicate that we can expect a steady stream of high-quality games. As developers get more used to the hardware, and learn to tweak its per- formance, I think you will see some truly innovative games. There's lots more to tell, so if you've got specific questions, I'll try to answer them. Just post here, or mail me. thanx for your time Chris ============ From: phixus@netcom.com (Chris DeSalvo) Subject: Jaguar v. 3DO Date: Sun, 3 Oct 1993 08:48:50 GMT First of all, someone posted that they just bought a 3DO and love it. Where did you get it, 3DO moved their ship date back two weeks! I don't care what you say about 3DO, my company is developing 3DO software, and our programmers have also read the Jaguar technical dox. They all agree that the Jag is FAR SUPERIOR IN EVERY WAY! The Jag: is faster, has better resolution, has more colors, has a better development environment, has a more robust graphics/sound chipset! I've played both. Believe me, strictly as a game machine, the Jag beats the hell out of 3DO. +-----------------------------------------------------------------+ | phixus@netcom.com | Macintosh: Changing the world, | | Chris De Salvo | one person at a time! | | Professional Mac Geek | ----------------------------- | | Interplay Productions, Inc. | (I wish they'd hurry up!) | +-----------------------------------------------------------------+ Any opinions expressed, or implied, are my own! They should not be considered representative of the opinions or attitudes of my employer, Interplay Productions, Inc. ctsy of CIS..... #: 90393 S8/Hot Topics 26-Sep-93 07:50:32 Sb: #Jaguar Marketer Named!! Fm: John J. Amsler 70275,676 To: ALL Here's something from Comtex Scientific Corporation: 09/23 1023 Atari appoints new director of marketing/advertising SUNNYVALE, CALIF. (SEPT. 23) BUSINESS WIRE - Atari Computer Corp. announced Thursday that Terrence Valeski, a 22-year veteran in consumer electronics marketing, has joined the company as director of marketing and advertising for Jaguar. Valeski's immediate responsibility will be to execute the national roll out for Jaguar -- Atari's new high performance gaming system. He reports directly to Sam Tramiel, president of Atari. "We are very pleased that Terry has joined Atari. His experience is invaluable to us," said Tramiel. "Developing strong relationships with retailers and developers as well as communicating with consumers will be critical to our success as we get ready to market and distribute Jaguar world-wide." In an industry dominated by foreign companies, U.S.-based Atari announced this summer that it has developed a high-performance, 64-bit home video game system called Jaguar, capable of delivering faster and more powerful video games to the home market. Atari will be made in America and has signed IBM to manufacture the Jaguar in its Charlotte, N.C. plant. "Jaguar has truly leaped ahead of the competition in terms of quality, price and performance," said Valeski. "My job will be to ensure that we attract the best and the brightest and to market aggressively through the channels of distribution. You can expect to see some major shifts in the way Atari markets." Jaguar is expected to be available to consumers before Thanksgiving 1993. In an effort to develop strong marketing programs, Atari recently chose Cunningham Communication Inc. as its marketing/communications counsel. Cunningham is a Santa Clara, California-based public relations firm specializing in high technology. Before joining Atari, Valeski was founder and chief executive officer of Intellivision, a leading home video game manufacturer in the 1980s. Prior to that he was senior vice president for the Mattel Electronics division of Mattel Toys. Valeski also held several senior positions at Teledyne Waterpik and J. Walter Thompson Advertising, San Francisco and New York. 09/24 1103 Atari announces Jaguar Developers SUNNYVALE, CALIF. (SEPT. 24) BUSINESS WIRE - Atari Corp. (AMEX:ATC) Friday announced its initial list of developers for the Atari Jaguar 64-bit Interactive Multimedia system. Since July, 20 developers have signed license agreements to publish game titles for Jaguar. Additional high-profile developers and publishers are expected to be announced in the coming weeks. "Developer response to Jaguar has been overwhelming -- we've accomplished what we set out to do by attracting the industry's top developers," said Sam Tramiel, president of Atari. "The tremendous power of Jaguar removes the programming barriers that exist on all other gaming platforms, allowing developers to focus their energy and imagination on creating truly revolutionary video games. The technological prowess of our developers coupled with Atari's aggressive marketing and comprehensive developer support program will create a new industry standard for multimedia performance." The developer list includes: Anco Software Ltd. Maxis Software Telegames Beyond Games Inc. Microids Tiertex Ltd. Dimension Technologies Midnight Software Inc. Titus Eurosoft Ocean Software Ltd. Tradewest High Voltage Software Rebellion Software Ltd. Trimark Interactive Krisalis Software Ltd. Retour 2048 U.S. Gold Ltd. Loriciel S.A. Silmarils The strength of the Jaguar platform has attracted the industry's premier developers, allowing them to immediately begin programming the industry's first 64-bit video games. Comments include: "We're excited about the reality of an advanced video game system retailing for approximately $200 and delivering technology comparable or superior to announced systems costing over three times as much. Atari pioneered the video game industry -- it's good to see them at the forefront of innovation once again." -- Kelly Flock, executive vice president of Trimark Interactive "Kids, don't waste your Christmas money on something else, this Cat is the new king of the video game jungle." -- Terry Grantham, president of Telegames Inc. (Telegames will release "Ultimate Brain Games" and "European Soccer Challenge" for Jaguar in the spring and summer of 1994. "The 64-bit power of the Atari Jaguar allows us to move light years beyond today's game standards." -- Kris N. Johnson, president of Beyond Games Inc. (Beyond will release "Battlewheels" for Jaguar in the second quarter of 1994.) The power of the Jaguar development environment allows programmers to: -- Create the industry's first 64-bit video games -- Deliver unprecedented true-color graphics, stereo CD-quality sound and animation speed -- Enjoy unsurpassed ease in creating real-time 3-D virtual worlds -- Unleash programming creativity previously hampered by the restrictions of all other gaming platforms Atari Corp. manufactures and markets video games and personal computers for the home, office, and educational marketplaces. The Sunnyvale-based company manufactures Jaguar products in the United States and is publicly traded on the American Stock Exchange under the symbol ATC. --30--tf/ik/sf CONTACT: Cunningham Communications Mary Moslander, 408/982-0400 KEYWORD: CALIFORNIA INDUSTRY KEYWORD: COMPUTERS/ELECTRONICS COMMED PRODUCT Z REPEATS: New York 212-575-8822 or 800-221-2462 Boston 617-330-5311 or 800-225-2030 SF 415-986-4422 or 800-227-0845 LA 310-820-9473 *********************************************************************** 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 a friendly community of enthusiastic computer users 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! DELPHI- It's getting better all the time! ************************************************************************* > AVERKEY! STR InfoFile LEXICOR INTROS THE AVERKEY! """"""""""""""""""""" This is an Official Press Release by LEXICOR SOFTWARE EUROPE AVERKEY ======= by ADDA Technologies from Jong-Ho County, Taipei, Taiwan, R.O.C. We are proud to announce that we have got direct distribution rights from ADDA Technologies for this great piece of Multimedia Hardware. The Averkey is the fitting Link that bridges your VGA Signal, be it TT Medium,Falcon or NOVA Graphics Board resolution to your Video System in either PAL or NTSC. It has not only got a Composite Video Output but also a S-VHS Output for prime quality. Add your Television, VCR and large screen display to your computer hardware. Move your presentation from the VGA Monitor to the world of Video with Averkey! AVerKey features reflect the latest in multimedia hardware design. Through its compact size and powerful internal design, the AVerKey can be quickly installed to convert a number of VGA Modes eg. 640x480 to NTSC or PAL Systems. As an added feature, the AVerKey features a state-of-the-art built in flicker filter. This filter helps overcome the inherent flicker problems which arise when linking the VGA environment with video. The Averkey adjustment control's the brightness of your TV (Video) Display. Since VGA scan rates are almost twice that of a Television the display quality of the Television signal is inferior to that of VGA. This is especially true of picture stability when displaying single line. Single line display will result in television flicker unless a flicker free function is employed. The AVerKey has such a built-in "flicker-free" feature which stabilizes VGA Graphics on a television Monitor. This feature greatly improves the display quality of your Animations in either Prism Paint, Da's Vektor, Chronos, Phoenix or any other Atari Software that will work in VGA Modes. Besides helping reduce flicker, this feature even further reduces brightness to a comfortable level. Price: $289.00 U.S. Dollars. Shipping and Tax not included. Availability: Now System Requirements: Any kind of VGA based System. This includes NOVA Graphics Card and TT Medium. The Averkey has not been tested with any other Atari Based Graphic Card and can therefore not guarantee it running on anything else. Software: DOS Software already included, Atari Software available end of September. However Software is not required to run the Averkey. The Software will however allow the Averkey to switch down its scan rates to as low as 320x200. Display Mode Supported: All standard VGA Modes. 640x480 mode in 256, 32k, 64k or even 24bit in NTSC or PAL (720x400 in NTSC Max.) 800x600 mode if using Cirrus, CL-GD 6410 VGA chip or Tseng Labs. ET-4000 with frequency synthesizer as ICS 2494-237 in PAL. One VGA Input Signal (Analog RGB 15 pin display connector, 0.7 Volt p.t.p.) Four Output Signals: 1 x Composite Video, 1.0 Volt peak to peak RCA Jack Connector 1 x S-VHS Y and C Video, Mini-DIN 4 pin connector 1 x RGB Output 1 x Standard VGA card Signal (15 pin) FCC Warning: It has been tested and found to comply with the limits for a class A Computing Device pursuant to subpart J of Part 15 of FCC Rules, which are designed to provide reasonable protection in a commercial environment. Additional hardware to the Averkey: Averkey GENLOCK Board which will allow your Averkey to have Genlock capabilities. Lexicor Software and ADDA Technologies are working closely together to give you the best possible value for our Customers. We Believe that the Averkey is one of the best VGA to Video Scan Line Converters for the price. LEXICOR SOFTWARE U.S. 1726 Francisco St. Berkeley, CA 94703 U.S.A. Tel: (510)848-7621 Fax: (510)848-7613 LEXICOR SOFTWARE EUROPE Cottagegasse 69 A-1190 Vienna AUSTRIA Tel: (1) 36 75 91 Fax: (1) 36 91 787 """"""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""" :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 Information copyright (C) 1991 by General Electric Information Services/GEnie, reprinted by permission """"""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""" > NOVA CARD NEWS! STR InfoFile NOVA SPECS and UPDATE NEWS! """""""""""""""""""""""""""" NOTICE: SPECIAL NOVA CARD UPDATE ======================== Announcement from Lexicor Software Corp. ---------------------------------------- The NOVA Mega and the NOVA VME 16M now have the same price of 599.99 U$D. The price for the SUPERNOVA has not changed and will cost: 999.99 U$D. The 32K Graphic Card is only available on Special Order and will cost 429 U$D both the Mega and the VME. For these Card's there may be an added handling Price. Shipping cost are excluded from these prices. Technical Specifications ------------------------ NOVA Megabus 16M ---------------- Maximum Frame Rate : 90Mhz Video RAM : 1 Megabyte RAMtype : DRAM Maximum Color's : 16,7 Million Colors (24bit) Maximum Resolution (>70Hz): 1024x768 in 256 Color's Maximum Resolution (15bit): 768x512 Maximum Resolution (24bit): 640x400 Virtual Resolution : YES Automatic REZ Switch : YES Upgradable : YES VDI for 24bit : YES VMG : YES HARDWARE Accelerator : NO NOVA VME 16M ------------ Maximum Frame Rate : 90MHz Video RAM : 1 Megabyte RAMtype : DRAM Maximum Color's : 16,7 Million Colors (24bit) Maximum Resolution (>70Hz): 1088x832 in 256 Color's Maximum Resolution (15bit): 800x600 Maximum Resolution (24bit): 640x480 Virtual Resolution : YES Automatic REZ Switch : YES Upgradable : YES VDI for 24bit : YES VMG : YES HARDWARE Accelerator : NO SUPERNOVA --------- Maximum Frame Rate : 135MHz Video RAM : 2 Megabytes RAMType : VRAM Maximum Color's : 16,7 Million Colors (24bit) Maximum Resolution (>70Hz): 1280x1024 Maximum Resolution (15bit): 1024x768 Maximum Resolution (24bit): 800x600 Virtual Resolution : YES Automatic REZ Switch : YES Upgradable : YES VDI for 24bit : YES VMG : YES HARDWARE Accelerator : YES For more information check our previous releases on the NOVA Card. The Virtual Resolution are programmable via the VMG. The VDI of the NOVA has proven to be very compatible with our Software and many other Software applications as well. There is also a NOVA Special disk available soon that has some NOVA Specific program's on it, including NOVA Mines, the game, and the special Calamus SL driver that will enable Calamus SL to run in 15/16bit in 15/16bit color mode. Yat Siu Lexicor Software Europe LEXICOR SOFTWARE CORP. 1726 Francisco ST. Berkeley, CA 94703 Phone 510-848-7621 FAX 510-848-7613 _______________________________________________________________ MAC/APPLE SECTION ================= ___ ___ _____ _______ /___| /___| /_____| /_______/ The Macintosh RoundTable /____|/____| /__/|__| /__/ ________________________ /_____|_____|/__/_|__|/__/ /__/|____/|__|________|__/ /__/ |___/ |__|_/ |__|_<____ Managed by SyndiComm /__/ |__/ |__|/ |__|______/ An Official Forum of the International Computer Users Group .____________________________________________________________________. | Help Desk - Having a problem with your Mac? Stop by the HD for the | | answers! In the RTC from 9pm to 12pm EDT in ROOM 1........ (605;2) | !____________________________________________________________________! .____________________________________________________________________. | A SyndiComm Round Table | | (Tom Weishaar & Kent Filmore) | |____________________________________________________________________| | | | Hosted by: | | Chief SysOp: (Unk) DAVE.REID | | | | - - SPECIAL INTEREST GROUPS - - | - - SOFTWARE LIBRARY - - | | Education ....... (Rob) R.WHITELOCK | Chief Librarian: RANDY.SIMON | | Mac Hardware ..... (Nick) N.PASSINO | Asst Librarians: | | (J) W.GLENN1 | (Steve) S.MACK | | Games ............ (Bart) MAC.GAMES | (Anne) ANNE-INDA | | Telecommunity ........ (Kent) DRACO | (Phil) P.VALIQUETTE | | PowerBooks...... (Doc) D.E.JOHNSTON | | |_____________________________________!______________________________| | - - - Weekly RTC Schedule - - - | - - Help Desk Schedule - - | | (All Times Eastern) | | Educational Mac Mon 9:45pm Rm 3 | Mon-Fri 9:00pm-12:00am Rm 1 | | About PowerBooks Tue 9:45pm Rm 2 | Sunday 10:30pm-12:00am Rm 1 | | Telecommunity Wed 9:45pm Rm 2 | ___________________________ | | Macintosh Games Wed10:30pm Rm 3 | To enter GE-MUG RTC, type.. | | Macintosh Hardware Thr 9:45pm Rm 2 | MOVE 605;2 and choose room # | | Sunday Night Fight Sun 9:00pm Rm 3 |______________________________| |_____________________________________!______________________________| | **** IMPORTANT INFORMATION **** | | For COMPLETE information and TIPS on downloading, be sure | | to read item # 4 on page 605 - "About The RoundTable" | !____________________________________________________________________! /--------------------------------------------------------------------\ | * GEnie-MUG NEWS * for the week of 10/4/93 - issue 30 | |--------------------------------------------------------------------| | What's Hot and Happening This Week In GEnie's Macintosh User Group | \--------------------------------------------------------------------/ GEnie-MUG News Editor: Eric Mueller (DLAND.ERIC) entire contents copyright 1993 by Eric C. Mueller WELCOME to the GEnie-MUG RoundTable newsletter! This quick bulletin gives you an idea of what's cooking in the GEnie Macintosh User Group (GEnie-MUG). I'm Eric Mueller, and I write this file every week so that you can find the action in GEnie-MUG: the latest controversy in the bulletin board, the hottest files in the library, and the hippest chats in the RTC rooms. I'm always interested in your comments on this file, and would love to hear them. If you're new to GEnie or GEnie-MUG, you can read about GEnie-MUG (including information on what GEnie-MUG has to offer and the layout of the system) by typing "M 605;4". Additionally, the GEnie-MUG help desk (a live hotline) is available six days a week in the GEnie-MUG RTC (type "M 605;2" then choose room 1). For more information and a schedule of times, type "M 605;4". THERE'S A BRAND-NEW, EXCITING category in GEnie-MUG this week: category 38, for discussion of the Newtons! The first Newton, led the MessagePad, is a darling little doo-dad that sells for just under $700 and has the functionality of a $300 Sharp Wizard with a six-color logo. Wow! Okay, so maybe I'm being a little rough---but then again, Sharp Wizards never have any problems with handwriting recognition, either. (Ask me if my journalism can get any more slanted! Please!) If you've got a Newton Message Pad or you're interested in them (they really are darling), tune into category 38 in the GEnie-MUG bulletin board for all the news. People are already talking about whether or not Apple should have put a cover on Newton (so its little Newton face wouldn't get scratched). "FLOPTICALS, MAGNETO-OPTICAL drives... what's the difference? A little bit of laser, a little bit of heat, and boom, you've got storage!" Or so my mother would say, if she were technically inclined. The fact is, though, that there's a difference between floptical drives (combination floppy and optical disks) and magneto-optical drives, which use lasers and magnets to store data on aluminum-coated platters similar to CD-ROMs. Both are great for archiving data and storing information; a friend who does graphic design work wouldn't trade anything for his brand new magneto-optical drive. Interested in a new way to store data, similar to SyQuest but with more room to stretch? Check out the conversation in category 30 ("HARDWARE: Data Storage Devices"), topic 9 ("20 meg floptical") ASAP! A LITTLE PRESIDENTIAL FUN in the GEnie-MUG library this week with Price Collins' PRESIDENTIAL MORPHS QuickTime movie! As he says, "No comment on the politics---these movies show Kennedy changing into Clinton and Carter doing the same." To view these historically-accurate movies, you need to have QuickTime 1.6 and a QuickTime movie player such as Apple's MoviePlayer 1.0. Have some head-of-the-country entertainment with this cute reel; download file #30292, PRESIDENTIAL MORPHS.SIT, from the GEnie-MUG libraries today! (To visit the GEnie-MUG libraries, type "m605;3" and then pick option #6 to download a file.) FREE SOFTWARE (NO KIDDING) can be had, just by keeping up-to-date on the GEnie-MUG RT bulletin board! Case in point: I was reading the new messages in GEnie-MUG the other day and came across a note saying that MicroFrontier, Inc. is offering a free copy of ColorIt!. ColorIt! is a color image-processing and paint program with lots of "nifty features," according to GEnie-MUGger GALLEY [Gordon]. Gordon says that ColorIt! handles resolutions from 72 to 1200 dpi and colors in black and white as well as the famous "millions of colors." (Gordon likens it to a poor man's PhotoShop, incidentally.) He says it uses floating tool palettes and supports plug-ins for scanner drivers and that sort of thing. If you're interested in cashing in on a copy, for can get one for a handling fee of $8.37. Want more information, including a phone number and ordering address? Check out category 42 ("MISC.: Press Releases"), topic 28J("Free ColorIt! Offer") on the double! BART FARKAS, Macintosh game guru and all-around great guy, is back with two hint files new in the GEnie-MUG library this week. One hint file is for the popular Mac game _Fool's Errand,_ and the other for the just-as-popular Macintosh game _Out Of This World._ If you're stuck with either of these titles, check out the appropriate hint file for a nudge (or maybe just a nudgette) in the right direction. File #30306 are hints for _Fool's Errand;_ file #30305 are hints for _Out of This World._ Good luck! A QUICK TIP ON ALIASES: pick a name that isn't obvious---don't use "Jane Doe," even if you're male and think that the gender switch will throw everyone off. Okay, okay, if you want a _real_ tip on aliases (the System 7 kind), check out Randy Zeitman's message in category 10 ("SOFTWARE: Apple Inc. Software"), topic 13 ("System 7.x Tips, Tricks, and Easter Eggs"). His tip is the first message in the topic, and talks about how to avoid messing up aliases of aliases. TWO EXCITING "PRE-DONE PAPERWORK" programs are available now in the GEnie-MUG library! The first is called "Propose it!", and is a shareware program designed to help you write proposals used to close sales, win bids and present ideas. "Propose It!" includes professionally-prepared sample proposals. Simply choose the appropriate text in each part of "Propose It!", fill in a few blanks, and (in some cases) merge some documents---and you're ready to do some proposing! (Perfect if you want to marry a business major, right? "Here's my proposal. No, I mean LITERALLY, here's my proposal!") The other "pre-done paperwork" is called "Forms and Letters," or F&L for short. F&L is a set of business letters all formatted and ready to use for a number of popular word processors! F&L includes sample formats, styles, fonts, and some very simple graphics (like boxes). This is perfect if you have a basic knowledge of word processing and want to knock out some professional-looking business letters. Interested in either? "Forms and Letters" is file #30282; "Propose It!" is file #30285. (Personally, in the "pre-done paperwork" series, I'd love to see someone come out with tax forms that fill themselves out. Maybe next year?) THAT'S ALL for this week. Until next week, continue to enjoy life with Macintosh! MAC REPORT ========== by Randy Noak MAIL CALL! Daily (except Sundays and Holidays) a uniformed representative of the Federal Government makes her way through the Hoosier cornfields to my residence and, having unburdened herself of a great load, moves on. All the mail, unless it is prominently marked, "THIRD AND FINAL NOTICE", goes into a big pile until I get around to looking at it. I guess today's the day, so let's get going. Before we start though, one word of warning. If you are an Atari user, please consult a physician before reading this column. the toll-free 800 numbers, new and upgraded products and the sheer bulk of the Macintosh related mail I've received in the last week or so may send you into shock. Those Atari users with weak hearts may wish to skip this column entirely. Hmmm. A catalog for Data Comm Warehouse. The same guys that put out the Mac Warehouse catalog have a whole catalog full (108 pages) of "Data Communications and Networking Products for Micro and Mainframe Computers". Lotsa network stuff for Macs and clones. Modems too. Prices seem reasonable with a 14,000 bps, V.32 fax modem going for $229. If this type of thing interests you, call 1-800-328-2261 and ask for a catalog. Fifth Generation Systems sent me a brochure touting SuperDoubler. SuperDoubler appears to be a combination of AutoDoubler, CopyDoubler, and DiskDoubler. With my hard drive rapidly filling up, this is something that I could use, but I remember using the first version of AutoDoubler with Specter GCR. Using Spectre with my 1040 ST was slow enough, but using AutoDoubler seemed to slow things up even more. They do claim to have made improvements though, so maybe I'll pop for the $39.99 upgrade fee. If you'd like more info, call 1-800-873-4384. Ever have the desire to learn French, German, Spanish, Italian, or Latin? Transparent Language sent me a brochure describing their foreign language tutor software. Rather than the old drill and memorization method, you learn by reading stories. Looks interesting. Contact Transparent Language at 1-800-752-1767 or on Compuserve at 70541,3626. Adobe's latest issue of Font & Function is out. Full of fonts. Examples of every font they produce, tips on usage, and FONTS ON SALE! In this issue, all Multiple Master fonts are on sale for $89 each. The new Wild Type package is on sale for $39, and many other packages have a sale price also. To get your copy, call Adobe at 1-800-445-8787. Here's a box. Hey, it's that copy of BBEdit that I won during a RTC in the GE-MUG (GEnie Macintosh User Group) Roundtable. Cool! I'll probably review this in a future Mac Mania column. BBEdit is a text editor that looks to come in real handy producing these columns. Lotsa good features here. For more info contact BBEdit support at: 1 Larkspur Way #4, Natick, MA 01760 or on the Internet at: bbedit@world.std.com The August/September issue of Graphic Arts Product News is here. A controlled subscription, large format, magazine for the graphic art trade. If printing presses, folders, ink, paper, and the like are your interests, contact them at: Graphic Arts Product News, 650 S. Clark Street, Chicago, IL 60605-9960, and see if you qualify for a free subscription. Here's the Fall 1993 Paper Direct catalog. Paper Direct has the largest (and, some would say, the most expensive) collection of pre-printed papers available. Pre-printed papers are pre-printed with colors and designs. One just prepares his/her copy, formats it, and laser prints it for a full-color document. I've used this to good effect for brochures and menus. Get a free catalog by calling: 1-800-272-7377. Ahh. The November issue of MACWORLD. 300+ pages of Mac stuff. Articles, ads, news, and views. Lots of interesting things in here. This issue has articles on: OCR packages (nine programs reviewed), Multimedia, low-cost scanners, accounting programs (14 programs) and graphics, among others. Aldus PageMaker 5.0, Adobe Illustrator 5.0, QuarkXPress 3.2, Symantec C++, and 19 other programs are reviewed along with the regular columns and features. A nice preview of the upcoming Power PC Macs is included. For subscription info call: 1-800-234-1038. Well P-double O-P. I hate this. The new Mac Warehouse Catalog. 200+ glossy, full-color pages jam packed with software, hardware, accessories, games, scanners, drives, etc.. Huge selection. Good prices. Over night shipment for $3.00. I WANT IT ALL! Call them at 1-800-255-6227 and ask for a catalog. Don't blame me, though if you get an acute case of Mac Envy. Here's an offer from Softdisk Publishing. They'll send me a free issue of DiskWorld if I return the postpaid card. I haven't seen this "magazine" for a couple of years, but the last issue I saw looked pretty good. Each issue has from 4 to 7 programs and features. I may be wrong, but I think that these programs are originals. No PD or shareware. This looks like a good offer. If I like the free issue, a three month trial subscription is $29.95 and I get a bonus disk. If I don't like the free issue, I can write "cancel" on the bill and owe nothing. I even get to keep the free issue! Sounds like a deal to me. You can call them at 1-800- 831-2694. From the National Rifle Association comes a letter from their CrimeStrike project. Instead of trying to stop crime by taking away some of our rights, the NRA through it's CrimeStrike project supports mandatory sentencing for those caught using a firearm while committing a crime, tough sentencing, additional prisons, and victims rights. Contact: National Rifle Association, 1600 Rhode Island Avenue, N.W., P.O. Box 96915, Washington, D.C. 20090-6915. Optifont sends a brochure offering 80 fonts for $79.95. Postscript Type 1 or True Type for either your Mac or Clone. Serif fonts. sans serif fonts and display fonts are included in the collection. Call 1-800-345- 2657. The envelope reads, "Now your PC can use Mac floppies for only $49.95". The inside introduces MacDisk for the PC. Mac Disk is a TSR program that gives DOS and Windows users the ability to open, read, and format Mac disks. I don't know if it works or not, but there is a guarantee. Personally, I use PC Exchange on my Mac to open, read, and format PC disks. Works for me. If this offer sounds something you might be interested in, call 1-800-947-7706. Deltapoint sends a brochure inviting me to upgrade to DeltaGraph Pro Version 3. Over 50 types of graphs and charts are supported with over 100 new features. This looks real impressive. As I recall, DeltaGraph has gotten some real good reviews in the print magazines. Five stars in Publish, Five Mice in MacUser. Five stars in Mac World. You can't get any better than that! Call 1-800-446-6955 for more info. From MacShopper comes an offer to buy Ray Dream Designer for $149.95. Thats an incredible $745.05 off the original retail price! You can use Ray Dream to create logos, illustrations, technical drawings, and a bunch of other 3-D things. You can set the lighting, textures, etc. and get a pretty realistic looking drawing. Ray Dream Designer has gotten good reviews too, so the price looks good. Call Mac Shopper at 1-800-622-7006. That's it for Mail Call this week. I've still got lots more mail to go through, so we'll finish Mail Call next week. That way, my current pile will be cleared out, and I can start on my next pile. Mac Report Cart Before the Horse Department Last week I mentioned that Sales of the Newton MesagePad have exceeded 50,000. This week, I've got the actual, official Apple press release to back me up. Courtesy of the GE-MUG RT, here it is . GE-MUG (Macintosh) RoundTable Category 42, Topic 30 Message 1 Fri Oct 01, 1993 DRACO [Kent] at 11:12 EDT MOVED OVER PR NEWSWIRE AT8:15 AM, EDT, THURSDAY, SEPTEMBER 30, 1993. Newton MessagePad Sales Exceed 50,000 CUPERTINO, California--September 30, 1993--Apple Computer, Inc. today announced that 50,000 Newton MessagePad communications assistants have been sold in the US and in Europe. The MessagePad is one of the fastest selling products that Apple has ever introduced. This strong initial sales success in the early weeks underscores widespread customer and industry enthusiasm for the product. The Newton MessagePad is a handheld communications assistant that allows people to gather, manage, and share information with tremendous ease and spontaneity through the many communications methods available to people today. The MessagePad was launched on August 2, 1993 at the MacWorld Expo in Boston and was piloted in the Boston and New York areas during August. It shipped nationwide on Labor Day, and was introduced in the UK on September 16, 1993 at the Live '93 Consumer Electronics Show in London. "The Newton MessagePad has hit the ground running. The sales figures indicate that the market is ready for innovative technology and for this new product category that the MessagePad represents," said Gaston Bastiaens, vice president and general manager of Apple's Personal Interactive Electronics (PIE) division. Computer retailers nationwide are confirming customers' enthusiasm for the MessagePad and its accessories. "Newton is one of the fastest selling new products in our history, and customer satisfaction is very high. People are interested in coming back for accessories and software. We are seeing a lot of non-computer buyers purchasing Newton," said Larry Reich, Macintosh division manager of J&R Computer World. "The Newton MessagePad is definitely the best product in this new PDA category. Since its introduction, sales of the MessagePad have exceeded our expectations. Not only is the recognition architecture superior to that of other products we have seen, but also the unit is much more convenient to carry around," said Tom Jacobs, president of Computer Town. "We view the MessagePad as a real opportunity for everyone." "There is great excitement level from our sales staff. We are very pleased with sales and we are placing orders for more product to support our demand. The Newton MessagePad is really the first product in the new PDA/mobile communications category, and we are convinced that this product will change the way we communicate with each other," said Anne Fleagle, senior buyer for home office products, Best Buy Co. "Micro Center is seeing strong customer interest in the Newton. We are very pleased with our initial sales of the MessagePad and its accessories," Jack McPeek, Macintosh merchandising manager for Micro Center, Inc. said. "We do anticipate good sales through the fourth quart er, especially as additional applications become available." Licensees and Partners Industry support for the Newton platform continues to gain momentum. At the recent UK launch of the Newton MessagePad, licensees and partners, which include Alcatel, British Telecom, Deutsche Telekom and GEC Plessey Semiconductors announced their support of the Newton platform. These companies join Ameritech, ARM, Bell South, Cirrus Logic, LSI Logic, Matsushita Electronics, Motorola, Sharp, Siemens/Rolm and US West in the growing family of companies which have lined up behind Apple's Newton technology. Major Corporations The Newton MessagePad has already received notable endorsements form some major institutions and corporations. Coca-Cola, Monsanto, American Express, ProMED and others are implementing plans to incorporate Newton technologies into their information systems strategies. Developers and Applications In excess of 1,500 Newton development systems (NTK) have been sold throughout the world. Since the Boston introduction many developers have already announced and demonstrated applications for the Newton MessagePad. These are designed to address the user's needs in areas such as cell-based calculation, presentation, mobile communication, time and billing, expense management, and sophisticated calculation. Connectivity The Newton Connection Kit for Macintosh, which Apple shipped earlier in September, enables information to be synchronized and updated automatically between the Macintosh and the Newton MessagePad when the two are connected. Newton developers are provided with interfaces which enable them to take advantage of the "Smart Synchronization" technology employed by the kit, allowing third party Newton applications to have full connectivity with the desktop environment. Apple intends to introduce the Newton Connection Kit for Windows in the near future. The MessagePad is the first in a family of products based on Newton technology: others are intended to be introduced in the future by both Apple and its licensees. That's it for Mac Report this week. Please feel free to send your comments or questions to: Compuserve: 70323,1031 GEnie: R.NOAK America OnLine: RandyNoak """"""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""" STReport's "EDITORIAL CARTOON" """""""""""""""""""""""""""""" > A "Quotable Quote" "A sign of the times..." """"""""""""""""" ".... I will not run.. due to health problems I will not serve if elected..." ..from another time """"""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""" > DEALER CLASSIFIED LIST STR InfoFile * Dealer Listings * """"""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""" --------------- ABCO COMPUTER CONSULTANTS ========================= P.O. 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