SILICON TIMES REPORT ==================== INTERNATIONAL ONLINE MAGAZINE ============================= from STR Electronic Publishing Inc. October 15, 1993 No. 9.42 ====================================================================== 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 ~ ITCNet 85:881/253 ~ FNET 350 ~ Nest 90:21/350 904-786-4176 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 ______________________________________________________________________ > 10/15/93 STR 942 "The Original * Independent * Online Magazine!" """""""""""""""" - CPU REPORT - QMS Color Laser - RAM Costs DROP! - Atari Stock UP - Dell ReCall - Isgur Speaks Up! - Seagate HD 9.1gb! - MasterCook II - HP & Video Printing - Apple's Puette Resigns - Club KidSoft - STR Confidential! -* WORD PERFECT WINDOWS 6.0 SHIPS! *- -* WP & BITSTREAM! *- -* US NEWS & World Report on CIS! *- ====================================================================== 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! "ENJOY CompuServe's FORUMS WHERE Information comes first!" """""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""" > From the Editor's Desk "Saying it like it is!" """""""""""""""""""""" The computing worlds are moving right along... Word Perfect is shipping its new version 6 for Windows now... and the procession of new products in that platform, simply put, is fantastic. With that in mind, would you believe an individual on another platform, while busily justifying the failure of the computer company to properly support that platform, stated the PC platform has too much to choose from? That has to be the all-time example of an exercise in "joshing one's self" to very bitter end. One has to genuinely feel sorry for someone who would do this to themselves and amazingly, attempt to convince others that this premise makes good sense. Oh well, so much for those that fantasize... On another very exciting front, Word Perfect Corporation has gone and done it again on a grand scale. They've released Word Perfect 6.0 for Windows. Folks, this is not an upgrade "affair". This is a complete re-write with the user in mind. Elsewhere in this issue, is a complete breakdown of the new program's features. It is superb in fact, FORGET about the "competition" to this effort. There is NONE. This version has power, eye appeal, ease of use, flexibility and compatibility completely covered. Check it out, stop by any neighborhood dealer for a demo of what has to be the most powerful and easy to use Word Processing/Graphics/DTP system to hit the market yet. STReport is undergoing rapid and hopefully great changes for the better. Beginning November first, we will adopt the RTF, Rich Text Format, which will guarantee total cross platform compatibility. MS Word, Atari Works, Word Perfect and most all word processors and quality text readers released in the last twenty four months read RTF with ease. It is the only format that allows completely formatted text to travel from platform to platform. Additionally, we are very pleased to announce that Dana P. Jacobson will assume the editorial duties for our Atari division at the same time. Dana has been a member of the Atari scene for what seems like forever. If anybody can keep the interest level up and the action going in an extremely small marketplace its Dana. Of course he'll have the expert assistance of our entire staff when needed. In another area, we have managed to entice Lloyd E. Pulley back into the fold. He's taken over as our Current Affairs Editor. Our NEW and quite capable MAC editor, Randy Noak, has shown great talents in providing our compatriots on the MAC platform with excellent reviews and views. Randy a long time member of another declining platform, has truly "found a home" in the MAC arena. The entire staff has nothing but praise for his efforts. We all expect great things from him in the future. Drop Randy a line or two and let him know what you'd like to see covered in the MAC area. Most of you know Joe Mirando, he's our "quiet, mild mannered" reporter who seems to be "everywhere" so.... in the future you can expect him to pop up just about anywhere with his "People" observations. He's done such a great job with "People Talking" that we now have requests he "visit" certain areas and give them a little 'action'. Therefore, as of November first also, Joe will take over as the managing editor of our cross-platform correspondence department. STReport is growing along with the areas of the computing community that are forging ahead with great vigor. Expect to see more changes as we move right along. I cannot begin to express my sincere thanks to all of you who took the time to write in making suggestions about which direction the magazine should go and the coverage we should emphasize on. Most of the suggestions will most definitely be put to use. Thank you one and all. There simply isn't enough room in the issue to thank each of you individually. Sincerely, Ralph...... """""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""" ** STReport International Online Magazine ** NOW! AVAILABLE FOR DOWNLOAD IN THE MAC RT ON GENIE! STReport's Staff DEDICATED TO SERVING YOU! """""""""""""""" Publisher - Editor """""""""""""""""" Ralph F. Mariano Lloyd E. Pulley, Editor, Current Affairs Section Editors """"""""""""""" PC SECTION AMIGA SECTION MAC SECTION ATARI SECTION ---------- ------------- ----------- ------------- R.D. Stevens R. Glover R. Noak D. P. Jacobson 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 """""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""" > CPU STATUS REPORT LATE BREAKING INDUSTRY-WIDE NEWS """"""""""""""""" Computer Products Update - CPU Report ------------------------ ---------- Weekly Happenings in the Computer World Issue #42 By: Lloyd E. Pulley, Sr. ******* General Computer News ******* ** Hitachi to Market Re-Writable Optical Drives ** According to Hitachi Ltd., the company later this year will begin selling 2-gig re-writable 5.25-inch optical disk drives. Hitachi said the re-writable optical disk can store 50% more data than products of other makers available on the same size of disk. ** U.S. News & World Report to Join CIS ** U.S. News & World Report will become the first national weekly news magazine to join CompuServe, offering news stories and other information selected from the magazine as part of CompuServe's basic services. U.S. News reports will be available online the weekend before the printed magazine reaches its subscribers in the mail. Called U.S. News Online, it is expected to debut by year's end. ** Multimedia Expo - Analyzing The Games Industry ** At the "Analyzing the Games Industry - Investment and Return" session at the Multimedia Expo in San Jose, one of the featured speakers was Volpe Welty's Lee Isgur. Isgur identified Nintendo as the dominant player in the video game industry in terms of installed base and hardware. However, he said that in terms of sales, the "8-bit machine is faltering very badly," but the "16-bit will do better in sales than last year." He also said that, "Game-Boy is, at the moment, the leading portable platform." He predicated that there would be 83 million units of software sales domestically this year. He noted that Sega has been outselling Nintendo in the last few weeks in the US, in terms of new hardware and software sales. However, he said he did not know if that would continue into the Christmas season. He identified CD's as becoming the dominant factor in the industry in terms of software during the 1995-1997 period. Interestingly, he said that which media the game industry uses will dictate where it goes. He maintained that the current cartridge industry is fairly expensive, and expects a shift to something else - such as flash cards or CD-ROMs. He also said that the current hardware "is lousy," with no flat screens, no great colors. **IBM Microelectronics Has Faster PowerPC Chip ** IBM Microelectronics has announced a new version of the PowerPC 601 microprocessor that runs at 80 MHz. Previous versions operated at 50 and 66 MHz. Company officials said the new chip would make possible desktop computers faster than any based on existing processors. The PowerPC line of chips resulted from an alliance of IBM, Apple Computer Inc., and Motorola. The 601 is the first of four planned Power- PC parts. The PowerPC 603 is a power-saving version aimed at laptop, portable, and low-end desktop computers. The PowerPC 604 is meant for higher-performance desktop PCs and workstations. The PowerPC 620 will be the top of the line, meant for high-performance workstations and servers. IBM plans to begin making these chips in 1994 and 1995, Smith said. The 601 chip has 2.8 million transistors, in a package about four tenths of an inch per side. It includes the Motorola 88110 bus, which provides an advanced interface that supports a range of computer systems, including personal computers, workstations, and multiprocessing systems, the companies said. ** Hewlett-Packard Announces Video Printing System ** Hewlett-Packard Co. this week announced the HP VidJet Pro, a product that allows video images from a wide range of sources to be printed on plain paper using most HP printers. Designed for professional video production, the HP VidJet Pro has an easy-to-use interface that is also expected to attract advanced home hobbyists. Users connect the HP VidJet Pro to any video source, such as a videotape player, television, camcorder, photo CD or laser-disc player. They also connect the system to an HP DeskJet or LaserJet printer or HP DesignJet plotter. Images are stored as individual frames, sequences of frames or in pre-designated special formats, such as the first frame of every scene change. HP-authorized video dealers are scheduled to begin taking orders for the VidJet Pro in December. Prices will vary depending upon options, starting at about $3,500. ** QMS Unveils Color Laser Printer ** QMS Inc this week announced that it has begun quantity shipments of its ColorScript Laser 1000 Print System, it first desktop color laser printer. The QMS ColorScript Laser 1000 produces color and monochrome documents on a variety of paper stocks, including plain office paper. The unit offers an output resolution of 300 dots per inch. Four self- contained toner cartridges containing cyan (blue), magenta (red), yellow and black toner, supply the basic colors used to create a palette of millions of colors. The QMS ColorScript Laser 1000 is compatible with most computer systems, networks and mixed computing environments. Its resident emulations include PostScript Level 2 and Level 1, HP PCL 5C with GL/2 (which supports color) and an optional DEC LN03 Plus emulation. Standard interfaces include parallel, serial and LocalTalk ports. The QMS ColorScript Laser 1000 is available now and is priced at $12,499. ** Seagate Intros New High-Capacity Drives ** Seagate Technology has announced 13 new hard disk systems, with storage capacity ranging from 214 megabytes (MB) to 9.1 gigabytes (GB). Included in the new lines is the ST410800 Elite 9, a 9.1 gigabyte unit in a 5.25 inch full-height form factor. Seagate says that the unit is designed for hierarchical storage and large file plus database appli- cations. The ST15150 Barracuda 4 is a 4.1 GB 3.5 inch half-height drive for super servers, super computers, and high performance storage systems. The ST12450 Barracuda 2 is a 3.5 inch half-height drive that can store up to 1.78 GB of data. The Hawk family comes in 2.14 GB, 1.7 GB and 1.05 GB versions, designed for advanced workstations and super servers. Hawk comes in Fast SCSI-2 and Fast//Wide SCSI-2 versions in either single-ended or dif- ferential configurations. In the under one GB category, Seagate is introducing the ST5660, ST3491 and ST9550 families. The 5660 is available with AT or Fast SCSI-2 interfaces, has a 12 millisecond seek time. OEM pricing is $495 for the AT/IDE model and $545 for the Fast SCSI-2 version. The 9550 was designed for use in portable computing units and can withstand shocks up to 100 Gs and uses a disc substrate material called MemCor. The glass-ceramic canasite-based media was developed jointly by Corning Glass Works and Seagate. MemCor substrates can be manufactured much thinner than other media and still retain rigidity. The ST9559 has a 16 millisecond average seek time. ** Hayes Launches New Fax-Modem, Cuts Prices ** Hayes Microcomputer Products Inc. announced a new fax board which can work on two separate phone lines, the JT Fax 144B Dual, and cut prices on its older 9600 bits per second (bps) product by over 35%, to $369. The new fax-modem is more than just a fax answering machine. It eli- minates the need for an additional voice card and provides voice announcement and prompting, voice record and playback, and the ability to enter commands through a touch-tone phone. It also off-loads the con- version of files to the fax format from the main computer, and enables routine multi-board installations in a single computer, limited only by the number of available slots. The modem will be available November 1 in North America, Latin America, and Hong Kong, with a further world-wide rollout following shortly thereafter. ** U.S. Robotics Sells Subsidiary ** Modem maker U.S. Robotics Inc. has sold Communications Research Group, the subsidiary responsible for making and selling the BLAST com- munications software product line, to Blast Inc., a North Carolina cor- poration. U.S. Robotics said that it retained an equity interest in the new entity and "will work closely with Blast Inc. to ensure the needs of new and existing BLAST customers are met." Robotics Vice President Ross Manire said, "As we evaluated our core business, we recognized that CRG was not a strategic fit going forward. (This sale) allows for more focus on what is a very support-intensive communications software line." ** Motorola Announces a New Integrated Processor ** Motorola's High Performance Microprocessor Division this week an- nounced the 68307, a highly integrated processor ideal for a variety of portable, low-power applications such as digital cordless telephones, portable measuring equipment and point-of-sale terminals. The 63807 was originally designed for the digital cordless phone products of a major European telecommunications company. The newest member of the 68300 Family of Integrated Processors, the 68307 features a static 68EC000 core processor with multiple bus interfaces. It is the second processor designed using Motorola's standard cell design methodology. "The 68307's high level of functional integration results in reduc- tions in power consumption, board space and system cost demanded by today's portable devices," said Jim Reinhart, Motorola's manager, M68000 marketing and applications. "The 68307 is the only member of the 68300 Family of Integrated Processors that incorporates several bus interfaces, providing glueless connections to a wide variety of common system peripherals and memory." ** RAM Prices Falling ** On the July 4th weekend, the Sumitomo Chemical plant in Japan exper- ienced an explosion that shut it down. Since Sumitomo produces 60% of the world's high-quality epoxy resin, the explosion resulted in sky- rocketing RAM prices. Some suppliers reported RAM costs jumping 200-300% since the explosion. Sumitomo announced this week that it will be back in production in December. This announcement has resulted in some com- pany's RAM prices dropping 10-20%, with larger price reductions due in December or January. Epoxy resin may seem far removed from RAM chips, but the substance is critical to about 80% of the computer chips made today. Alvin Despain, Ph.D., an expert on computer architecture at the University of Southern California, said the resin protects the surface of the integrated circuit (IC), has some thermal properties that help get heat out, and is the "glue" to hold down the silicon in the chips. ** Chip Rate Drops in September ** The chip industry's key book to bill ratio took a dive last month to 1.01, down from 1.08 in August, possibly indicating a much softer market for semiconductors than had been forecast. The ratio means that for every $100 worth of products shipped in Sep- tember (billed), manufacturers received $101 worth of new orders (bookings). ** Online Service for Women Formed ** An online service devoted to women, called WIRE (the Women's Infor- mation & Resource Exchange) has been created in San Francisco. The service, created by two computerists who are women, offers news, entertainment, bulletin board conversations and electronic messaging. Subscribers pay $15 a month for two hours of use, with additional time billed at $2.50 an hour. Sources say that "in the 'virtual community' formed by computer online services, women represent 10% to 15% of online users. They often are made to feel unwelcome by men who dominate online conversations and make sexually harassing comments." WIRE officials said men are welcome, but said unruly subscribers could be expelled from the system. ******* IBM PC/Clone News ******* ** Recall of Faulty Dell Notebook PCs ** Dell Computer Corporation has announced the recall of 17,000 dis- continued 320SLi and 325SLi notebook computers because of a faulty part that, under certain circumstances, could cause a fire. Dell said its engineers has determined that a capacitor on the mother- board of both models might crack under physical stress. If that happens, the capacitor might overheat and cause a fire. A Dell spokesperson said he only knows of the problem happening on three machines, and the company has been unable to replicate the problem in the lab. However, due to the safety aspect the problem Dell is immediately recalling both models. Registered owners are being notified by registered mail. Owners of either model should return their machines to Dell so repairs can be made. Turnaround time will depend on how many owners return their units. To return one of the computers owners should contact Dell on their toll free number between the hours of 8AM and 6PM CDT. Special customer services representatives are available to arrange the returns and answer questions. ** Flying Toasters Arrive For DOS Users ** Berkeley Systems has started shipping its DOS version of After Dark screen saver. Screen savers, apart from looking good on screen, protect the computer monitor from phosphor burn-in -- which is a problem when monitors are left on but inactive. The company says that After Dark can also increase privacy -- to block access to a user's files, the program features a screen-locking security system that is deactivated only by a user- selected password. After Dark for DOS also offers optional digitized sound effects, run through the internal PC speaker or through Sound Blaster or Ad Lib com- patible sound cards. The package requires DOS 3.3 or higher, a VGA or SVGA display, 640k of RAM, and a hard drive. The product is priced at $49.95. ** Mastercook II For PC Debuts ** Spinnaker Software has introduced its Mastercook II, a Windows-based cookbook software package that contains more than 1,000 recipes and allows the user to enter and store their own culinary masterpieces. In addition to being a collection of recipes - 100 of them are from what Arion calls "the great chefs of America" - Mastercook II can select recipes that use on-hand ingredients meeting the user's personal nutritional objectives. It can also print shopping lists, recipe cards, menus, meal plans, or a complete customized cookbook. Mastercook II requires a 286-based PC or higher running Windows 3.1 or higher, 2 megabytes (MB) of system memory, and 2.5MB of free hard disk space. Spinnaker says it will have a street price of under $30. ** Fujitsu Announces Latest Pen-Based System ** Fujitsu has announced the PadPlus RF, a pen-based computer with wire- less communications built-in. Fijitsu previous pen-based systems had carried the Poqet name. The PadPlus RF incorporates the Proxim RangeLAN wireless adapter and radio inside the computer, with a retractable antenna in the upper left corner. The PadPlus RF can send data up to 300 feet using what's called spread spectrum technology, which sends data over a wide spectrum of frequencies to minimize interference. The PadPlus RF has a maximum burst rate of 242,000 bits/second on three channels. The system includes error correcting hardware and firmware designed to retransmit undelivered data. The pocket PC weighs about two pounds, and can run for between two and four hours on a set of rechargeable batteries. It also features a PCMCIA expansion slot, a serial connector, an infrared link, and a keyboard. It can work with Novell Netware and Netware Lite, with preliminary pricing set at $2,449. ** Intel Earnings Up 143% ** Intel Corp. this week reported third quarter earnings of $584 million (or $1.33 a share), up 143% from earnings of $241 million (or 56 cents a share) for the same period a year ago. Analysts believe Intel will continue to dominate the computer chip industry for some time, especially with recent releases of the state-of- the-art 486 and Pentium chips that have pushed the company ahead of its rivals technologically and in terms of revenues and profits. Sources say that Intel is on track to ship hundreds of thousands of Pentium processors in 1993 and millions in 1994. ** Lotus Income Up 151% ** Lotus Development Corp. has reported net income of $18.3 million, or 41 cents per share, for its third quarter ended Oct. 2. This is up 151% from $7.3 million, or 17 cents per share, before a stock-sale gain in last year's third quarter. Lotus' third-quarter revenue was $240.1 mil- lion, up 16% from $206.7 million in the same period last year. ** Ares Software Announces Font Workshop ** Ares Software Corp. this week announced Font Workshop, a value-packed bundle containing FontMonger, FontMinder 2.0 and FontFiddler, three essential font applications for Windows-based computers. Ares Font Workshop will ship on Oct. 15, 1993 and have a suggested re- tail price of $249.95. Now Windows users will have all the tools they need to convert, modify, create and manage their fonts in one economical package. FontMonge converts fonts between all major formats and enables cross- platform conversion of fonts between Macintosh and PC computers. Fonts can be modified or even created in a flash with FontMonger's simple, elegant interface. FontMonger has a suggested retail price of $149.95. FontMinder 2.0 will manage fonts in Windows 3.1. FontMinder stream- lines the installation and de-installation of PostScript and TrueType fonts. FontMinder has a suggested retail price of $79.95. FontFiddler is a kerning editor for TrueType and PostScript fonts. FontFiddler has a suggested retail price of $99.95. ** Peachtree Accounting for Windows Release 2.0 ** Peachtree Software announces that its best-selling Windows accounting package, Peachtree Accounting for Windows Release 2.0, has surpassed all sales projections and is outselling its previous version and the competition three-to-one as of September 1993. A PC Research Survey reveals Peachtree Accounting for Windows Release 2.0 is outselling Microsoft Profit and MYOB by a significant margin. In addition to enhancements like graphical guides and on-line tutorials, Peachtree Accounting for Windows Release 2.0 now reads files created in Intuit's Quicken for DOS and Quicken for Windows. Peachtree Accounting for Windows Release 2.0 is fully networkable out of the box and sells for a suggested retail price of $169. ** New Ace Board ** Best Data Products Inc. is rolling out the ACE Advanced Communication Enhancement system, a breakthrough internal board for IBM-compatible PCs that will change the way small companies and at-home workers use computers. Developed in cooperation with IBM's Microelectronics division, ACE merges fax, modem, sound, telephone answering capabilities and CD Rom interface onto a single card--a first-time feat made possible by a new digital signal processing (DSP) technology from IBM called Mwave. One ACE board can take the place of four separate cards, saving valuable space in the motherboard for other applications. In addition, ACE defies obsolescence because it is fully software- upgradeable, making it easy and inexpensive to add new applications such as V.FAST, color faxing and video teleconferencing as they become available. ACE also reduces downtime because it permits simultaneous tasking, enabling a user to continue working at the computer screen while a fax is being sent or a phone message is being taken. Both of these important features were made possible by the Mwave technology. The ACE system comes with a 14,400 bps modem, a 9,600 bps fax with fax back and fax forward features, and a 16-bit audio board with wave table synthesis. It requires a 386SX MHZ processor with a 4 MB RAM and is designed to operate with Windows and OS/2. Suggested list price is $259. ******* Apple/MAC News ******* ** Apple USA Head Resigns Effective Tomorrow ** According to Apple Computer, Apple USA president and general manager, Robert Puette, will be resigning effective October 15. His replacement is expected to be his boss, Ian Diery, executive vice president of Apple's Personal Computer Division. Puette has been at Apple since 1990. Apple officials said the USA general manager is leaving to pursue other interests. However there are speculations that Puette's resignation could be the result of Apple's restructuring. Sources at Apple did say that the resignation has nothing to do with rumors that Apple USA might wholly move to Austin, Texas. ** Apple Sets up a "Try Before You Buy" Software Division ** Joining IBM and Gateway, Apple Computer has announced a new CD-ROM delivery system for its software. The initial offering will consist of 80 software programs and will be handled by a new division called Soft- ware Dispatch. Apple's Software Dispatch division will handle 800 number calls from users who, after providing a credit card number to purchase the soft- ware, can unlock applications on the Software Dispatch CD-ROM disc via a key given over the phone. A Quicktime movie tutorial will be supplied to explain the 'Try it first' purchase process. Interactive tours, limited trial versions, and product information sheets will be available for each software application on the CD. Customers may select the software by clicking on a button that adds the title to an electronic order form. The electronic key will allow installation from the CD to a hard disk of the software purchased. At the same time, the customer can also get a full set of product documentation that is identical to the print version that users would normally get in traditional packaging. Hard copies of the documentation can also be ordered. Over 80 applications will be on the first CD, featuring productivity, utilities, education, games, fonts, clip art and other applications from Symantec, Claris, Computer Associates, Intuit, Vividus, Spinnaker, and Lotus. The CDs will be distributed free by mail beginning in November 1993 to Macintosh CD-ROM owners and in early 1994 to Windows CD-ROM owners. The cost of the software will be about the same as users can expect to pay in software stores. ** Pastel ships DayMaker Organizer 3.0 ** This week Pastel will start shipping the new version of its best- selling personal organizer for the Mac, DayMaker Organizer 3.0. Version 3.0 was inspired by feedback from many of the nearly 50,000 users of DayMaker. "The key to DayMaker Organizer's superiority is the natural integra- tion of contact and phone-call management to the most usable calendar and to-do list program," said Hank Williams, president of Pastel. He added "DayMaker Organizer 3.0 offers a complete solution for personal organization by providing a tightly integrated product that gives users immediate access to their important information and is easily customized." Special introductory pricing of $129.95 is being offered through Nov- ember 30, 1993. After that DayMaker Organizer 3.0 will list for $149.95. A competitive trade-up is available for $49.95 from Pastel and leading catalogs. Current DayMaker users can upgrade for $29.95 plus $5.00 for shipping and handling. After December 31, the upgrade price will be $39.95. To order an upgrade, DayMaker users should send a check plus a copy of their sales receipt or the cover of their DayMaker manual to: Pastel Development, 113 Spring Street, New York, NY, 10012, or order by calling Pastel's order department at: 800/249-8316. About Pastel Development ________________________________________________________ IBM/POWER-PC/PC SECTION (I) =========================== > WPWIN60 STR FOCUS! "GREAT STUFF!" """""""""""""""""" WORDPERFECT CORPORATION ANNOUNCES WORDPERFECT v6.0 FOR WINDOWS ============================================================== EXPECTED TO BE ON DEALER'S SHELVES BY 10/19/93 WordPerfect v6.0 for Windows offers everything needed to create professional-looking documents: powerful word processing, drawing, charting, spreadsheet functionality within tables, and direct integration with other Windows applications. "WordPerfect v6.0 for Windows has been completely rewritten to give users the best in Windows word processing," said Alan Ashton, president and CEO of WordPerfect Corporation. "Virtually every feature in the product has been improved or enhanced in some way. These improvements are the result of thousands of user requests, feedback from focus groups, and extensive usability testing." WordPerfect v6.0 for Windows is designed to give users complete customization, the easiest transition to Windows, and a product that makes the most of the Windows environment. COMPLETE CUSTOMIZATION ---------------------- Interface --------- WordPerfect v6.0 for Windows is fully customizable so users can personalize their word processor for any environment or task. Virtually all aspects of the interface can be customized: Button Bar, Power Bar, Ruler Bar, status bar, keyboards and menus. Users can also select Hide Bars for a clean screen, but still have access to the main menus when placing the mouse pointer at the top of the screen. Button Bar ---------- The Button Bar is the most versatile interface tool, giving users access to any WordPerfect feature or macro with a click of a button. The Button Bar can be placed anywhere on the screen or as a floating palette. Users can display buttons with icons, text, or both, and can create their own icons and text. Users can create as many Button Bars as they like and display up to three rows of buttons. The product ships with sample Button Bars for specific tasks such as graphics, tables, outlines and page layout, as well as context-sensitive bars that will change according to task. Power Bar --------- The Power Bar contains icons for quick access to the most common formatting tasks. The Power Bar remains at the top of the screen and users can customize the bar by selecting from 81 options. When placing the mouse pointer over any Power Bar icon, help prompts appear at the top of the screen to explain the icon's function. Templates --------- Templates revolutionize word processing by giving users a quick and easy way to create professional-looking documents. WordPerfect v6.0 will ship with ExpressDocs, more than 45 predefined templates for fax forms, memos, newsletters, and more. ExpressDocs are more than customized documents they are interactive and can prompt users for information such as the name and fax number on a fax cover sheet. Users can edit these templates, or create their own with customized menus, styles, Button Bars, keyboards, abbreviations and macros. "Customization of the interface and templates gives users enormous control of their working environment, letting them personalize WordPerfect v6.0 for Windows to work the way they want to work," said Todd Titensor, product marketing director of WordPerfect for Windows. "Corporate users will benefit by being able to create standard interfaces and documents to automate company tasks and maintain consistency." EASIEST TRANSITION TO WINDOWS ----------------------------- Easiest Transition for WordPerfect DOS users. WordPerfect v6.0 for Windows gives WordPerfect DOS users the easiest transition to Windows with feature and file compatibility, as well as macro conversions. Users can write macros that will work in both WordPerfect v6.0 for DOS and WordPerfect v6.0 for Windows. WordPerfect v6.0 for Windows also includes a WPDOS keyboard layout. "No other word processor makes it easier for WordPerfect DOS users to make the move to Windows," said Titensor. "No other product offers better compatibility with existing WordPerfect files and macros, or better cross-platform compatibility." Coaches ------- Like a personal instructor, a Coach prompts a user through a variety of common tasks with step-by-step instructions. Because Coaches are written with WordPerfect's macro language, users can write their own to add to the Help menu. QuickMenus ---------- Working in Windows is easier with context-sensitive QuickMenus that are accessed by clicking the right mouse button virtually anywhere in WordPerfect. For example, clicking the right mouse button anywhere in a document presents a QuickMenu to change fonts, spell check, or center text, while clicking the left margin presents a menu to select text, change margins, or add comments to a document. Preview Windows --------------- Preview windows in dialog boxes let users see how changes in a document--such as columns, margins and line spacing--will look before making them. MAKING THE MOST OF WINDOWS -------------------------- Program Launching ----------------- Any Windows program or file can be placed on a Button Bar for quick access from within WordPerfect. For example, a user could drag the program file for Quattro Pro from the Windows File Manager to a Button Bar and then be able to launch Quattro Pro while working in WordPerfect. Or a user could place a Microsoft Excel file on a Button Bar and with a click of a button launch Excel and load the file. Direct Spreadsheet and Database Import -------------------------------------- Spreadsheet and database information can be linked via Dynamic Data Exchange (DDE) or Object Linking and Embedding (OLE), and can also be directly imported into WordPerfect v6.0 for Windows. All leading spreadsheet formats and a variety of database formats such as Paradox, dBase, Oracle, and popular SQL servers are supported. Users can perform queries on database files to extract only the needed information. File Management --------------- The powerful functionality of the WordPerfect File Manager is now included in the Open File dialog box. With the File Options button, users can copy, move, rename, delete, print, and change file attributes, as well as create and rename directories. Files can be displayed and sorted by filename, extension, size, date/time, and descriptive name and type. WordPerfect Draw ---------------- WordPerfect Draw contains the sophisticated drawing and charting tools from WordPerfect Presentations including Bezier curves and the ability to contour text on a curve. The charting module lets users turn tables and spreadsheet data into a variety of charts: 3-D, bar, line, area, hi-lo, pie, and exploded pie charts. WordPerfect Draw works through OLE and is easily accessed by double-clicking any chart or graphic image. WordPerfect Draw also supports the TWAIN standard for direct access to scanners. OTHER NEW FEATURES ------------------ Spreadsheet in Tables --------------------- WordPerfect is the only Windows word processor to include advanced spreadsheet capabilities. The Tables feature contains nearly 100 built-in formulas, numerical cell formatting, automatic calculation, data fills, and named ranges. QuickFormat ----------- QuickFormat lets users extract formatting or styles from text and quickly apply it to other text in a document. The mouse pointer changes to a paint roller and lets users "paint" the formatting to selected text. Bullets and Numbering --------------------- From the new Insert menu, users can select from predefined bullets and numbering styles or create their own. Numbered items are automatically renumbered if moved. Abbreviations ------------- The Abbreviations features will replace an abbreviation in a document with a longer piece of information that can include text, graphics, formatting--anything that can be placed in a document. Borders ------- A wide variety of borders and fill patterns can be used for paragraphs, pages, columns, tables, table cells, and graphic images. IMPROVED FEATURES ----------------- Simplified Mail Merge --------------------- WordPerfect's powerful Merge feature has been enhanced with an easy-to-use interface. The introductory Merge dialog box includes the three elements of a merge--data file, form file, and merge--with corresponding preview windows. Creating and editing data files is easy using the Quick Data Entry dialog box. WordPerfect v6.0 for Windows can directly use data files in other formats such as spreadsheets, database, SQL, or ASCII text files. Users can also select specific records to merge using a query by example interface. Corresponding envelopes can automatically be created and appended to a merge file. Document Management ------------------- The QuickFinder rivals stand-alone packages with some of the fastest indexing and text retrieval in the industry. Users can index directories or groups of files and perform nearly instantaneous searches. The QuickFinder dialog box has been improved to include access to Boolean operators, document components (such as first page only), case sensitivity and word proximity. Document Summary ---------------- Document Summary has been improved to include more than 50 document summary fields such as author, subject, date and abstract. QuickFinder can be used to search any of these summary fields. Document Comments can now include name, initials, date stamps and time stamps, and be represented by a colored icon in the left margin. Users can have specific colors so the document can be circulated for editing. Document Compare has been improved to compare by word, as well as by phrase, sentence and paragraph. Graphics Editing ---------------- An Image Tools palette offers in-place graphics manipulation to move, rotate, crop and size a graphic image. Users can wrap text on both sides of a graphic image or contour text around irregularly shaped objects. Styles ------ In addition to character and document styles, version 6.0 will include paragraph styles so users can click anywhere in a paragraph and select a style to affect the entire paragraph. Users can also create styles by clicking anywhere in formatted text, then clicking the Styles field on the Power Bar to give it a name. PRICING AND SYSTEM REQUIREMENTS ------------------------------- The suggested retail price of WordPerfect v6.0 for Windows will be $495. Upgrades from any DOS, Windows or OS/2 version of WordPerfect will be available for $129. A competitive upgrade will also be available for $149 from any word processor with a suggested retail price of at least $395. WordPerfect v6.0 for Windows will require a 386 machine or higher, at least 4M (preferably 6M) RAM and Microsoft Windows 3.1. WORDPERFECT CORPORATION LICENSES BITSTREAM TECHNOLOGY WordPerfect v6.0 for Windows will incorporates TextArt, a mini-application that lets users instantly create special effects with type using shapes, colors, fills and shadows. TextArt was jointly developed by WordPerfect Corporation and Bitstream Inc. WordPerfect v6.0 for Windows will also ship with 25 TrueType fonts from Bitstream Inc., a leader in font technology. WordPerfect v6.0 for Windows, the next release of WordPerfect Corporation's best-selling word processor, is scheduled to ship fourth quarter 1993. "After evaluating several developers, we chose to co-develop TextArt with Bitstream because we saw the opportunity to offer the greatest functionality in the smallest package," said Todd Titensor, product marketing director for WordPerfect for Windows at WordPerfect Corporation. "Word processors are primarily used for text manipulation and we wanted to give our users a creative tool to manipulate text quickly and easily." TextArt lets users change their text by choosing from 40 different shapes. The text will automatically mold to any of these shapes and users can add colors, fills and shadows. TextArt is an OLE (Object Linking and Embedding) applet and will be available from the default Button Bar of WordPerfect v6.0 for Windows. WordPerfect v6.0 for Windows will also ship with 25 high-quality TrueType fonts from Bitstream including Bitstream Arrus, Humanist 521, Bernhard Modern and a variety of display fonts. These fonts can be used in any other Windows application. "We are extremely pleased that WordPerfect Corporation elected to feature fonts from the Bitstream library of more than 1,000 typefaces in the next release of WordPerfect for Windows," said Ray Boelig, chief operating offer at Bitstream. "With the introduction of the Windows operating environment, the demand for TrueType fonts and technology has exploded, and we believe users of WordPerfect v6.0 for Windows are going to find the selection of 25 text and headline faces a welcome complement to the power and sophistication of their word processor." "The majority of WordPerfect users have been introduced to the power of using type by using Bitstream typefaces," said Jim Welch, director of Strategic Marketing at Bitstream. "We expect that WordPerfect v6.0 users will be pleased with the selection of typefaces and the consistent quality they have come to expect from the Bitstream Typeface Library." Bitstream will also ship the WordPerfect v6.0 for Windows Font Pack, a collection of 100 high-quality True Type fonts with a retail price of $29.95. These fonts complement the fonts bundled with WordPerfect v6.0 for Windows. For information about this font pack, users can call (800) 522-FONT. """""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""" :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 """""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""" ___ ___ _____ _______ /___| /___| /_____| /_______/ 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" | !____________________________________________________________________! MAC/APPLE SECTION (II) ====================== /--------------------------------------------------------------------\ | * GEnie-MUG NEWS * for the week of 10/11/93 - issue 31 | |--------------------------------------------------------------------| | 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". THE BIG ANNOUNCEMENT THIS WEEK is the new boss-types of the GEnie-MUG roundtable. Syndicomm, an outfit run by Kent Fillmore (DRACO) and Tom Weishaar (TOM.W), now runs the A2, A2Pro, Macintosh, Macintosh Pro, Power PC and Power PC Pro RoundTables on GEnie! What does this mean for us? It means that Kent has so many new responsibilities that he has had to step down as the head of GEnie-MUG. Now, the new boss in GEnie-MUG is DAVE.REID, affectionately known as 'Unk.' As Unk said in the bulletin board, "'Great!', you may say, 'but what's ol' Unk gonna be doin'?' I will still manage the BB and continue to be the chief topic cop, and will generally be the leader of the cheering section for staff." For more information (and to send your congratulations), see category 1 ("Welcome to GEnie-MUG"), topic 9 ("GEnie-MUG News Desk"), messages 4 through the end of the topic. TIRED OF REACHING AROUND BACK (or to the side) of your Macintosh, slamming that interrupt button when you Mac crashes? Can't remember the gibberish you have to type to return to the Finder successfully? Don't even have an interrupt button? Now, when your Mac crashes, you don't need to scramble for the programmer's interrupt button, or deal with an obnoxious dialog box. Simply install the Interrupt Button Init and when you press the programmer's interrupt button, you'll be graciously returned to the Finder with no muss or fuss. Sounds nice, doesn't it? (Your interrupt button still works fine, by the way.) The shareware fee is only $15 for this time-saver, one that is certain to pay for itself in just one or two system crashes. If you'd like a copy of the Interrupt Button Init, download file #30373 in the GEnie-MUG libraries now! GETTING STARTED WITH MODEMS AND THE MACINTOSH? There's a lot of stuff out in "cyberspace," all of the networks available to you through your modem---and a lot to be confused about. Even the basics, like the difference between shareware and freeware, aren't always clear. Luckily, GEnie-MUGgers are a helpful crew (despite the threatening moniker), and can give you some guidance. In the bulletin board this week, GEnie-MUGger RJ Roehner offers some helpful advice and tips for getting set up with a modem. He suggests what tools you'll need as a beginning modemer, and what to do about sorting through the plethora of shareware. Interested? See all this fascinating info in category 28 ("MACINTOSH: General Questions"), topic 1 ("About MACINTOSH: General Questions"), messagesJ75 through the end of the topic. EVERYBODY'S FAVORITE (IF MORBID) PENCIL game is now on the Macintosh: Hangman, the popular word-guessing game featuring the alphabet and a corpse swinging in the wind, is now available for your favorite computer! This new version features sounds and animation---just the ticket if you like Hangman and want it to be particularly special. See GEnie-MUG library file #30375, the $10 shareware HANGMAN.SIT 3.0, and enjoy. DOC JOHNSTON IS AT IT AGAIN with a new PowerBook conference on Tuesday night: Care and Maintenance. To give your PowerBook the TLC it deserves, you owe it to yourself to attend this live conference and find out the right way to take care of that expensive investment. Wondering if it's safe to bring the Duo through your local car wash? Find out at the conference! Can't decide to use Endust or Lemon-Fresh Pledge on the keyboard? Find out at the conference! Heard that dipping the battery in rubbing alcohol makes it last longer? Find out at the conference! All this and more can be found out this Tuesday night, 10/12, at 9:45pm EST in the GEnie-MUG conference rooms. (Visit the conference rooms by typing "m605;2".) KNOW THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN PICT, TIFF, and PAINT? GEnie-MUGger DRMIKE [Michael] didn't, so he check in with theJgang in the bulletin board and found it out. Turns out that PICT is often just as fabulous as TIFF---except for one important case, when you want to be using TIFF. Curious about that case? Want more details on the whole thing? See the messages in GEnie-MUG bulletin board category 3 ("SOFTWARE: Graphics & CAD/CAM"), topic 4 ("Mac Graphics Category"), messages 119Jthrough the end of the topic. APPLE COMPUTER WANTS TO FIX EVERYBODY'S COMPUTER, the software way. They've released the latest version of the System Hardware Update, a disk that holds a potpourri of enhancements for the Mac, including fixes for the system software, enhancements to Disk First Aid, and more. Pretty much everyone with a Mac should get this file---it's big but it's important (just like Roseanne!). Jog to the GEnie-MUG libraries and see file #30361, System Update 2.0.1, as soon as you can. (If you want more details about what exactly this thing will do for you, investigate file #30363, a short text file listing all of the exciting enhancements the update will give.) THAT'S ALL for this week. Until next week, continue to explore the horizons of your imagination with Macintosh! > MAC REPORT """""""""" by Randy Noak, Editor STR MAC Division Mail Call, Part II ================== Besides the stuff I had left over from last week, a bunch more stuff came in this week. My wife's pointed glances at the ever-growing pile of mail are becoming sharper with each passing day, so I'll try and finish Mail Call for this month so that we can move on to other things and I can stay out of the doghouse. Also, I'm going to intersperse the Mail Call stuff with a few press releases that fit right in with some of our Mail Call subjects, so don't think we're at the end of the column just because you see a press release. In fact, be sure to read the whole column because there is at least one FREEBIE in there! Let's get started! Oops! Before we do though, the standard warning is in effect. Atari users may want to consult a physician before reading this column. The sight of toll-free numbers, new software, software upgrades, and full-color glossy catalogs and magazines may induce an overwhelming case of MacEnvy. More sensitive Atari users may wish to skip reading this column altogether. Adobe sends notice that the new version of their auto-trace program, Streamline 3.0 is out. Lots of new features, including pre and post-processing tools. This is good news. While previously, you had to bring the traced image into an illustration program for editing, now it looks like Streamline will allow you to skip that step. Also, according to the flier, you can now scan directly into Streamline and edit the bit- maps! A big time-saver. I ordered it, and it should be here in a week or two. When it arrives, I'll report my impressions. Until December 31 the upgrade is only $49. Call Adobe at 1-800-642-3623. The new MacUser came in today. Lists the top 50 CD-ROMS, a big section on removable drives, an article on databases, and all the usual good stuff. MacUser is around 300 pages, glossy, full-color. Well worth the subscription prices just for all the software tips it features each month. Call 1-800-627-2247. Yet another catalog house, Mac's Place, sends a catalog. Full-color, etc., etc..Some prices are better than some other mail-order places, some worse. It pays to shop around. I've ordered from here before and it seems like they never have what I've ordered in stock. No problems in receiving the merchandise, it's just taken longer than some other mail-order houses. They say they've revamped their warehouse procedures, so waits may be a thing of the past. If the price on the item you want is good, and you don't mind waiting a couple of extra days, I recommend Mac's Place. Call for a catalog. 1-800-814-0009. Broderbund software sends notice that Print Shop Deluxe is available to "loyal Broderbund customers" for only $39.95. Thrown in is a free Celebrations Folio with 100 graphics featuring holiday and celebration themes. Even though I have PageMaker and Adobe Illustrator 5.0 here, this looks interesting. I figure my 6 year old daughter could use Print Shop Deluxe to design her own posters and not bug me to do it for her. I'll put this in the "maybe" category. Call 1-800-423-9999. Well, how about that? American Express is offering me a Platinum Card! Only $300 per year. Sorry guys. Please let me know when you offer a Cubic Zirconia card though. Maybe I can afford that. I'm really excited about CD-ROM. I think that CD-ROM, or something like it, is the wave of the future. It looks like Apple agrees with me, since they've announced Software Dispatch. Software Dispatch promises to do for software what Adobe's Type on Call has done for fonts; offer nearly instant gratification. You want software? Insert the CD-ROM, try the demo, check out the interactive video that showcases the software's features, call a toll-free number and get the unlocking code that will install the software on your hard drive. Simple and easy. Here's Apple's press release (courtesy GEnie's GE-MUG Roundtable) announcing Software Dispatch which should answer any questions you might have about this new way to order software, then we'll get back to Mail Call with a new magazine that takes the same approach. MOVED OVER PR NEWSWIRE AT 8:31 AM, EDT, MONDAY, OCTOBER 11, 1993. Apple Launches Software Dispatch New 24-Hour Software Delivery System Lets Windows and Macintosh Customers Choose From More Than 80 Popular Software Applications on CD-ROM SANTA CLARA, California ----------------------- October 11, 1993--Apple Computer, Inc. today introduced an extremely convenient way for people to explore and purchase software for Macintosh and Windows personal computers. Software Dispatch--a CD-ROM delivery system as well as a new business unit at Apple--allows customers to try, compare and buy popular software applications 24-hours a day, seven days a week, in the comfort and convenience of their home or office. When customers call the Software Dispatch 1-800 number to order, they receive an unlocking key upon telephone purchase that lets them immediately install and use their software. Software Dispatch CD-ROM discs are scheduled to be distributed by mail, free of charge beginning November 1993 to Macintosh CD-ROM owners and early 1994 to Windows CD-ROM owners. The first Software Dispatch CD-ROM disk features more than 80 applications, including a broad offering of productivity, utilities, education, games, fonts, clip art and other applications. Software vendors with products featured on Software Dispatch CDs include Symantec, Claris, Computer Associates, Intuit, Lotus, Spinnaker and Vividus. (See attachment for a complete listing.) "We're committed to providing superior software solutions to both Macintosh and Windows customers," said David Nagel, senior vice president and general manager of the AppleSoft division at Apple Computer, Inc. "Software Dispatch is more than a new business for Apple--it's a whole new way for the industry to bring solutions to a broad reach of target customers." With Software Dispatch, customers can now compare applications on their desktop, as well as order and install software immediately without waiting for overnight delivery. Technical support for purchased products can be easily referenced via a consolidated list of vendors and telephone support lines on the disk. The Shopping Experience When a Windows or Macintosh customer first explores the Software Dispatch CD-ROM disk, a QuickTime movie tutorial is available to explain the trial and purchase process. Customers can then interactively discover the features and benefits of specific software via guided tours, limited trial versions and product information sheets. Once a selection has been made, the customer clicks an order button that automatically adds the software to an electronic order form. When customers are ready to buy, they call the Software Dispatch 800 number to receive a key that unlocks the software allowing them to immediately install the application directly from the CD onto their hard disk. The unlocking mechanism also gives customers access to on-line product documentation that is identical in content to the print version traditionally delivered in a software box. "The time has come for electronic distribution of software," said Scott Schnell, general manager of Software Dispatch at Apple Computer, Inc." And, Software Dispatch sets the standard for convenience, breadth and affordability. We believe that our electronic superstore--with its easy to use, well organized information--will appeal to both current and new users of personal computers and applications software." Leading-Edge On-Line Documentation Software Dispatch takes full advantage of CD-ROM storage capability by providing more than 12,000 pages of on-line documentation. Manuals for each purchased product are presented on the desktop using Apple's DocViewer technology for the Macintosh version of Software Dispatch and Acrobat Reader technology for Windows from Adobe Systems Incorporated for the Windows version. Both provide navigational tools that let readers quickly search through documentation to find the answers that they need. The Software Dispatch documentation preserves fonts, layouts, photos and other visual graphic features and lets users move through pages instantly using bookmarks, hypertext links and keyword search functions. Users may also print any or all manual pages for deskside reference. Hard copy documentation will also be available from Software Dispatch upon order. "CD-ROM-based software distribution is rapidly gaining momentum in the marketplace," said David Pratt, senior vice president and general manager for Adobe's Application Products Division. "What distinguishes Software Dispatch as a software shopper's resource is not only its array of available applications, but advanced electronic documentation readers such as Acrobat, that make the customer's experience easier and more consistent." As part of its offer to software vendors, Software Dispatch assumes responsibility for producing and distributing the CD-ROMs, giving vendors a low risk means of directly reaching customers in their home or office. For both large and small developers, Software Dispatch is a powerful venue for getting their product onto a customer's desktop. "By allowing customers to try before they buy, Software Dispatch helps the customer make a more informed decision when purchasing an application like Quicken," said Eric Tilenius, Product Manager at Intuit, Inc. "By actually using Quicken in the convenience of their home or office, they find out just how fast and easy financial work can be and as a result, can act on their discovery by making an immediate purchase." Availability Software Dispatch for Macintosh is planned for availability November 1993 and Software Dispatch for Windows is planned for availability the first quarter of Calendar Year 1994. Software Dispatch is planned for availability in other selected markets worldwide beginning the first quarter of Calendar Year 1994. In November 1993, Software Dispatch plans a direct mail campaign and direct response advertising. To receive a free Software Dispatch CD-ROM, call 1-800-937-2828, ext-600. Software Dispatch is a business unit of Apple Computer, Inc. Headquartered in Cupertino, Calif., Apple develops, manufactures and markets personal computer, server, and personal interactive electronic systems for use in business, education, the home, science, engineering, and government. A recognized pioneer and innovator in the personal computer industry, Apple does business in more than 120 countries. Neat, huh? Well, Club KidSoft has the same idea. They just sent me "the first and only, only-for-kids software magazine and multimedia kid's store." KidSoft is a tabloid sized, full-color, glossy combination magazine/catalog. The idea is that kids can check out demo versions of software on the KidSoft CD-ROM and then get Mom and Dad to order the software. Well, I've bought my daughter software based on the description on the box at the software store and have been disappointed when my daughter didn't like the software after she got it home, so this might be a great way for her to actually try the software before I spend my money. I'm going to subscribe to this for $9.95 for 4 issues, complete with CD-ROM. If you have kids, you might want to check this out. Call 1-800-354-6150. HOT TIP!!! If you have a CD-ROM player, call Nautilus at 1-800-448-2323 and ask them to send you a FREE introductory issue their Nautilus CD Multimedia Magazine. That's right, FREE. No shipping, no handling. FREE. Nautilus is an interactive magazine with QuickTime videos, demos, etc.. Anyhow, get the free CD-ROM and check it out. While we're talking CD-ROM, Now What Software publishes a CD-ROM atlas that is a little bit different from your average atlas. Small Blue Planet features views of the earth taken by satellites. Looks real nifty and rated very highly by all the big, print magazines. Call Now What Software at 1-800-322- 1954. The CD-ROM is $59.00. Tiger Software has a new catalog out with a special CD-ROM section. One of the featured products is an NEC CDR-25 CD-ROM reader for $199. Even though the CDR-25 is a single-session drive (I think), at that price, I don't see how you could go wrong. Call Tiger Software at 1-800-666-2562 for a catalog. Another catalog with a bunch of CD-ROM stuff is the Mac Zone catalog. This catalog also has a 14.4/14.4 fax modem for only $144.98! Sheesh! I paid more than that for this 2400 baud modem a few years ago. Looks like I've about run out of excuses and can start planning on retiring my ancient modem real soon. $144.98! Progress. Call Mac Zone at 1-800-248-0800 and ask for a catalog. Graph Expo returns to Chicago in 1993 and Mac Report will be there. Graph Expo is a trade show for the printing industry. Huge 6-color presses set up and running, giant binding machines, paper of every type, ink, and enough assorted supplies and equipment to fill McCormick Place. The last time I went, it was impressive. I'll be going again and will do a little mini-report on the Mac parts of the show. For more info call 1-703-264-7208. Here's a flier from Bitstream's Lil Bits fonts. I know you've seen these. Star Trek fonts. Jetsons fonts, Looney Tunes fonts, and more. $13.95 each. Call Bitstream at 1-800-522-FONT. Coming in December, "The Ultimate Macintosh Learning Experience." At least that's what this flier from MacAcademy states. They are presenting a 2 day workshop featuring Claris Works, PageMaker, Word, Excel Filemaker, and more. Price? $279. Class sites are in Indianapolis and Cleveland, but I imagine that they give these classes elsewhere also. Call MacAcademy at 1-800-527-1914. More font news from Jonathan Macagba, an independent type foundry. He's offering some real nice display fonts for $35 per package. They all are available for Windows too and both True Type and Type 1's are included. If type is your thing, call 1-800-248-3668 and ask for a flier. As I said, "...real nice...". If you are involved with desktop publishing or any type of graphic design, you've got to get a subscription to Before & After. Before & After is subtitled, "How to design cool stuff", and they aren't kidding. If you ever wanted to know how to design ads that leap off the page, illustrations that scream, "Pro!", and all the neat stuff that you've seen in magazines , this is the magazine for you. In my opinion, this magazine is essential. Subscriptions are $35 per year and worth it. Write to Before & After, 1830 Sierra Gardens Drive, Suite 30, Roseville, CA 95661-2912. That's it for this week, and I still have bunch more mail to go through. For some reason, it just keeps coming. Next week we'll try once again to finish the mail and maybe do a mini-review of BBEdit, a text editing program. Of course, we'll also feature any news that we pick up off the nets. As always, please feel free to send your comments or questions to: Compuserve: 70323,1031 GEnie: R.NOAK America OnLine: RandyNoak ********************************************************************** 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! TOP TEN DOWNLOADS (10/13/93) (1) STREPORT 9.41 (2) AEO NEWS! ISSUE 1 (3) TWO TOUGHIES! (4) MAZE (5) GREAT GAMES... (6) WINX 2.1/GEMRAM (7) PUZZLE TIL IT HURTS! (8) DATELINE ATARI 13 (9) GLENDALE RTC (10) MICRODOS CLI 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, for all files, a submission is eligible for the Top 10 list for only four weeks after its original uploading. The exceptions are on-line magazines, which are eligible for only one week, and press releases and other commercially oriented files, which are ineligible. DELPHI- It's getting better all the time! ********************************************************************** ATARI/JAG SECTION (III) ======================= WHAT'S NEW IN COMPUSERVE'S ATARI FORUMS (October 15) ==================================================== 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. ______________________________________ > ONLINE WEEKLY STReport OnLine The wires are a hummin'! """"""""""""""""""""""""""""" PEOPLE... ARE TALKING ===================== On CompuServe ------------- compiled by Joe Mirando Hidi ho good neighbors. Its time once again to take a leisurely stroll through the Atari forums here on CompuServe where you can always find information on the latest and greatest products for your dear old ST. This week's column is going to be a little shorter than normal because I've been shuttling back and forth between home and hospital to see my grandmother who has recently had a heart attack and several very nasty infections. Hopefully this situation will ease up for me shortly, so look for this column to again swell to its normal size. Well, let's get on with the good stuff... From the Atari Productivity forum ================================= Mary Slate tells us: "I could really use help here. Instead of "appending to" I "saved to" a text file that I simply can't lose. Is there a program anywhere that I could use to get some of the data back? I know about undeletes but that doesn't seem to be the problem here. Major sick feeling in stomach is also a problem." Albert Dayes, that all-knowing, all-seeing guy from Atari Explorer Magazine, tells Mary: "It sounds like you just lost everything you saved previously. Unless your program automatically creates a backup of the file everytime it saves that would be your only hope. The only other suggestion would be if the file you saved was bigger than the one just saved (but should have appended). One could search the disk looking at all sectors that have ascii text/word processor text and see if you can find any remnants of the file. This is also assuming that you have not saved anything to the disk yet. If its a floppy it shouldn't be too bad. But hard disk it might take a long time. Also if you have an old backups you could use the old backup plus the remnants plus the new file to attempt to recreate the file you had originally." Sysop Bob Retelle tells Mary: "As Albert mentioned, recovering your file will be very difficult if you've saved anything else to the disk since accidentally doing that "Save" instead of an "Append". However, if you HAVEN'T put anything else on the disk since then, there MAY be hope of recovering some or even most of your file. (One question.. is the file on a floppy or hard disk..?) When you overwrite a file, my understanding of how the process works is that the computer will FIRST write the new version of the file to unused sectors on the disk, and THEN mark the original file's sectors as unused (this prevents losing the original file in case of a system crash or loss of power while it's saving the file). What that means is that your original file should still be there, but its sectors have been marked as unused, so the next time you save something, it could use those sectors and permanently destroy them. That's why you shouldn't save ANYTHING to the disk until you've recovered all you can. Now.. since your file is text, it makes the operation a lot easier, since you can actually read the data and determine what order the sectors should be in. (It also helps a lot if the disk wasn't fragmented when the original file was saved, so the sectors will all be in order). Here's the tricky part... there IS a program specially designed to recover lost files just like yours.. in fact, I believe its name is "RECOVER".. The problem will be finding a copy of the program for you. I'm not sure if we have it in our library here or not.. (I do know that I should have it here at home somewhere, but my ST is not working at the moment, so I can't search my disks.. :( This program will let you look at the sectors on a disk, one by one, and decide whether it's a part of your original file.. if it is, it will copy the sector into a buffer, and when you've found all you can, it will write the buffer back to a disk as a new file. It can be a long, painful process, but it CAN recover most, or all, of a lost file like yours. I'll see if I can locate the program for you... Another thing that might be useful to check into is using a commercially available disk utility program like Diamond Edge to try to recover the sectors of your file. I don't know if this is specifically among its capabilities, but it would be worth looking into. A number of our members use Diamond Edge, and can probably tell us if it would help you get your file back. The good news is that I've done exactly the same thing myself, more than once.. (!), and have managed to get most of my work back this way." Carl Barron chimes in and posts: "I dl'ed a bunch of 'file recovery' routines the other day, after finding that a file that I just wrote contained a bad sector. These include dcsalvage.arc, recover.arc, salvage.arc, disksave.arc If these are not here [they were downloaded from the 'competition'] holler.... diamond edge has a 'simple' recover deleted file function, as well as its 'mirror' file recovery system. This function assumes the media is perfect...." Bob Retelle tells Carl: "I did find the RECOVER program that I was thinking of in the library here.. I was hoping that maybe Diamond Edge, or another commercial program might have a similar function as it might be easier to use or maybe more well documented for someone who's not really familiar with the internal structure of a disk... Thanks for the offer of the other programs too.. if RECOVER doesn't work for Mary's problem, maybe we could try some of those... Mary, I found the utility I'd mentioned here in our Software Library #4... it's name is RECOVR.ARC It may be a long shot, but it might help you get some of your file back." Mary tells Bob and Albert: "I thank you kindly. It was a hard disk, and I haven not saved anything to that sector since the stupidity ensued. Time and effort are not an issue if I can save anything, and I'm very grateful for the advice. Very. I've been meaning to get a Diamond Utility, but, well, you know, put it off... I'll let you know how it goes. Thanks again." Albert asks Mary: "How big is the partition that the file is in? If you have Supra hard disk utilities like SUP EDIT you can view each sector in a GEM window. If you don't have it you can download a copy of the SUPRA hard disk utilities in the (GO ATARIVEN). You can then write down all the sectors that have information that looks like part of your file." Jonnie Santos asks: "Would anyone happen to know what the folder limit is for TOS 1.62 (Rainbow TOS) for the STe? I'm wondering if I should continue to use FOLDRXXX.PRG or the extra folder switch that comes with the ICD utilities. Inquiring minds would love to know... " Albert Dayes tells Jonnie: "I don't think it matters which one you use ICD's or FOLDERXXX.PRG. They both do the same thing. Just make sure you are using one or the other all the time." Sysop Bob Retelle adds: "The program code in the newer versions of TOS are a lot better at freeing up the memory pool used by directories and folders, but since that memory is used by a lot of things, it's still safer if you use a utility like FOLDERXXX to expand the amount of memory available for folders. If you have a lot of memory in your STe, it makes good sense to use a little of it as "insurance"." Henri Tremblay asks: "Does Atari Works really require 2 megs of RAM? I suppose you need that space to use Speedo GDOS. Too bad I only have an old 1040. Atari should offer an ST-to-Falcon exchange because I miss the extra RAM when looking at new software." Brian Gockley of ST Informer tells Henri: "I think you could run it _without- Speedo on a 1040? But you couldn't print." Sysop Jeff Kovach adds: "I believe that Atari Works also requires a hard drive. I've heard that it creates a CLIPBRD folder on the C: drive, and bombs if the C: drive doesn't exist. If this is true, one might be able to get around it by creating a C: ramdisk." Brian tells Jeff: "Yeah, a hard drive is really a necessity for _a lot_ of programs nowadays." Jonnie Santos asks for help: "My old Supra used to make this god awful whirring noise when it got hot. I ended up putting an even noisier fan in it to help the whine. Supra explained it as some type of grounding strap. Well folks, my new Quantum drive is just starting to do this intermittently. I tell you it's unnerving and since you don't know when the noise will start it can really stifle one's creativity. Any suggestions out there, please?" Mike Mortilla tells Jonnie: "I've been using a Quantum 85 for a couple of months now and don't notice any noise. Could the drive be defective? I have a low profile model and don't think it has a fan (it doesn't seem to need one!) If the drive doesn't get hot (or the power supply) maybe the fan can be disconnected? I also use 44 Syquests and they are noisy as heck! But I don't use them for music applications (ie-on my sampler or Stacy (it has a quiet Connor drive)." Kris Gasteiger tells Jonnie: "The info about the grounding strap was correct. As I understand it, there is a copper strap that is held in contact with the spindle of your hard drive to dissipate static build up. Friction is the cause of the noise. The fixes I've heard about tend to be temporary. One fix, is to put an extremely tiny drop of oil on the end of the spindle contacted by the ground strap. Oil attracts dirt, so the less oil, the better. The other fix involves loosening the strap. I've even heard recommendations to throw it out all together. Any of these "fixes" are temporary at best, and you are probably better off backing up the drive, and replacing it. (expensive, I know, but what's your data worth?) Then again, maybe you could stuff the drive into a down pillow..." John Daniano of Transierra has a cute suggestion: "Why not completely soak the outside of the disk drive with oil. That way all dirt would be attracted to the outside of the drive and none would reach the vital interior mechanisms. Sort of like a foam motorcycle air filter." Jonnie joins in the fun and tells John: "No, no, no... I'm building an oil bath and will run the drive fully submerged. Seriously though - mechanical devices have too much personality. There's always something to watch out for or rather wait for to happen to. Oh well, such is life." Kris Gasteiger tells John (Damiano): "Only one problem I can think of... the spindle, it breaches the case, the spindle bearing is the seal, and the oil would probably seep in, causing head crashes. (Talk about headaches...). Now, if the whole thing were sealed in a filtered oil bath, things might never squeal, but I imagine the drive would have problems due to the viscosity of the oil (it would slow down the seek rate, platter, and probably the heads would float A LOT higher off the platter surface. There may even be a cavitation problem... Nasty that, can eat poorly designed bridge abutments in no time, probably could chew up drive heads as easily.). I look forward to multi-megabyte, solid state, non volatile storage. It can't be to far in the future." Sysop Bob Retelle tells Kris: "Coincidentally I was just reading an article about high-capacity hard drives, and liquid filled drives are one of the things that the manufacturers are looking into.. Apparently the liquid would allow the heads to float much closer to the disk platters, allowing a higher signal strength, and thus higher recording density. One problem they still haven't solved is centrifugal force tending to throw the liquid off of the platters to the outside edge. They need to work out a circulation system that can compensate for that.. Interesting concept... I wonder if you'd have to change the oil after every 6 million seeks...?" John Damiano adds: "Yeah...STP for your Connor drive. Slick 50 for the old Rodime." Bob tells John: "Heh... I've got a couple of good old Rodimes that could use a shot of Slick 50..! They sound like my Toyota's front wheel bearings..." Jonnie Santos tells us more about his hard drive problem: "It's a brand new drive and I'm thinking maybe it's just going through a break-in period. Why? Because my old Supra behaved that way when it was used for prolonged periods of time (it didn't have a fan in it until I got CREATIVE). And this drive has made the noise very briefly - maybe 6 times since I've had it. All the times it's done it is within the first few hours of operation. I let the thing run all weekend and no problem at all. I've got Diamond Back II and will back up everything this evening. If it makes the noise again I will ship it back. I talked to them on their BBS and in person and both times they have been very nice and very professional and have told me I can send it back and they'll check it out. My concern sending it back with an intermittent problem is that it's been my experience in the past that intermittent problems drive technicians absolutely up the wall. They're very hard to detect and very hard to get the problem to demonstrate itself upon command. The tech ends up thinking you're looney-tunes and you end up angry. I've been through these type of issues with Hi-Fi equipment and Cars and until the problem is blatantly obviously it's a headache trying to get it serviced. Your input is graciously accepted. At least you didn't tell me I should of saved my money and bought Big Blue! ...I hear enough of that at work any time I buy something for my STe!" John tells us about one innovative "fix" for these hard drives: "Dave Small (of Gadgets by Small) said he used to shoot his bad HD's. He said he powered them up and shot them with an assault rifle of some sort. He also said they put on a good show after you did that." From the Atari ST Arts Forum ============================ Greg Wageman tells Sysop-meister, Ron Luks: "Some time ago you asked for comments about the use of company vs. individual names within the forums. I've given this issue some thought, and here are my comments. As far back as I can remember, these forums have had a policy against the use of "handles" or nicknames for individuals, requesting that we instead use our full names. Never having gotten into "handles" (except for a brief stint on CB radio [the real thing, not the simulation :-) ]) I have never had any objection to this policy, and in fact I support it. It seems to me that when individuals are posting their personal opinions about matters completely unrelated to product support, they ought to be posting under their own names. Posting personal diatribes under "Computer Merkin Inc." in my opinion violates the restriction on handles. If Joe Righteous is posting his opinions, he should do it as Joe Righteous. It is particularly annoying to me, when as many as three or four individuals are posting from the same account; it makes it particularly difficult to engage in a coherent discussion when the "face" behind the name keeps changing. Of course these comments do NOT extend to customer support issues, which I feel ARE best served by an official company account regardless of how many people use it. I am only concerned with people posting individual opinions under the masthead of a company identity. I will make it my personal policy to assume that anything posted under an a company's name can be taken to be the official position of that company, just as I bear the responsibility for postings bearing my name and PPN." Mike Mortilla tells Greg: "I recently commented on the following handle: -User Name- [Atari] I was convinced that the guy represented Atari. I guess it indicates he is *USING* an Atari, but he speaks with a certain "authority" and many (myself included) have asked ???s related to Atari practices, availability, etc., and he answered as straight as an Atari rep might. I don't know the history of this type of handle usage, but it would seem that it is misleading in the current situation. I won't log a complaint (I really don't care) but I will be sure to ask in the future, if someone is an "official" rep for company or not. BTW, if you're interested in the thread, it's in the MIDI Users forum, atari section under the thread: In a Huff, Over Puff.' Albert Dayes of At... oh heck, if you don't know who Albert is by now, you're in bad shape... anyway, Albert tells Mike: "I thought some of the [NAME] indicates what forum someone is from. I know some sysops use that method around Compuserve when they are in a different forum other than their own." Ron Luks tells Greg: "I agree that personal diatribes under corporate accounts are often and correctly taken as corporate statements. This rarely happens outside of the Atari forums (in my experience) but when it does, it should CLEARLY state that this is a personal opinion and not a corporate statement. We are working towards clarification along the lines you suggested. Thanks for the feedback." Bob Ledbetter asks: "Would someone please tell me the differences between EditTrack II, EditTrack Gold, and EditTrack Platinum?" Mike Mortilla tells Bob: "They're all different releases of the same program. Editrack II is fairly outdated. Editrack Gold was the release just before platinum and while the program works quite well, it is not the currently distributed version. Platinum geos for about $199 list. Gold was about $100 and I think II was about $60. If you starting out and can get a used or "left over inventory" of Gold you'll be a happy camper. But you'll probably want to upgrade for all the cool features in Platinum. I think there is a demo version in the MIDIAVEN forum (Barefoot) which is fully functional except for the SAVE feature. I can't think of a better way of finding out if you want to buy it! And the author is the section SYSOP (Stefan Daystrom) so any ???s can go directly to the guy who would know . BTW, why didn't you use the MIDI/Music area of the Atariarts forum? It sure gets lonely over there." Lee Seiler at Lexicor Software tells us: "Just as a matter of interest Atari will be featured as part of a counter point to Microsoft NT, in an up coming PBS program. It is Computer Chronicles seen here in the SF Bay Area on Friday and Saturday. So there are some Atari developers who have managed to demonstrate that the ATARI can hold it's own, In fact now that I think about it...it's sorta interesting that Atari would be considered a competitive point for NT. I would think that if Developers can generate National and international exposure like this then the Platform can not be all that dead?" From the Atari Vendors Forum ============================ Donny Leggett asks: "Can anyone give me the address and or phone # of a vendor that can repair a MEGA2 for a reasonable cost and/or sell me a TT030 for a good price..." Ron Luks asks Donny: "Where (geographically) are you located? (East coast, west coast, etc....) Also-- what's wrong with the Mega2? It may or may not be worth repairing depending on the problem." Donny tells Ron: "I'm located in Yuma, Arizona....i know the floppy is fried.. but I tried the floppy in my ST, no good..didn't work.. and the guy that gave me the Mega said the GLU chip would freak out every now and then.. but now its just dead..but then again..his wife threw the Mega2 across a room before he gave it to me(LONGGG story..) Any help u can give me would be great...." Ron tells Donny: "Sysop*Jeff Kovach in Atari8 and Atariarts is located in Arizona. Drop him a note and I'm sure he can point you in the right direction. (I'm on the east coast and can't help much)" Donny adds: "I'm interested in buying a TT030. The problem is I've never read a review or even heard that much about the machine, only that it exits.. If anyone out there can give me some tech specs or even give me your review of the machine would be great.. Also i've heard of the STBook, i'd like info on this also..if u have it.. And also if anyone has a phone# to a vendor that sell either of the two,so much the better... Thanx....Once again..." Ron tells Donny: "The STBook was never sold in the USA. It was sold briefly in Europe before it was cancelled totally. I'd suggest avoiding it like the plague. The TT is now being used as the development machine for the upcoming Jaguar game unit. When it was first introduced, it received a lot of criticism for its lack of compatibility with existing ST/STe software. It was effective 'cancelled' by Atari Corp and only got a second life as the Jaguar development machine. I don't have a TT but a few of our members did purchase one. I'll let them tell you its good points. Personally, I can't think of any myself." John Trautschold of Missionware Software tells Ron: "You can't think of any good points about the TT??? My oh My... True, there were a lot of compatibility problems between game software and the TT, but then the TT wasn't designed to run games. It was designed to run professional, business software, and for that it succeeds tremendously. The TT is fast - amazingly fast, and even faster if you add in a screen accelerator program like Warp 9. Have you ever seen the TT drive a large monitor like the TTM195? That's 1280 x 960 resolution, and for programs like PageStream, Calamus, DynaCADD, Flash II, Lattice C, and on and on and on, it really smokes. I would never want to go back again to a straight 8 MHz ST for running those programs again. The TT runs at 33 MHz using a 68030 processor. For its price, it beats any other Atari computer hands-down. Heck, it even beats most DOS machines running Windows (and I'm talking 486 DX - 33MHz machines). I run AutoCAD a lot at work on my 486DX-33MHz PC. Yea, it's ok, but it doesn't even compare to DynaCADD on the TT. Not even close. Try redrawing a screen in MS Word for Windows. Time the speed of the redraw. Then time the speed of a redraw under PageStream with Warp 9 running in the background. There's no comparison. Ever try changing a HD in a clone? After disassembling the entire box and taking apart a myriad of wires, you finally get to the HD. Fine. Put the new one in and try setting it up. After fooling around for maybe a half hour to and hour (if you know what you're doing) fiddling with CMOS setup, etc, you may get it all to work. On the TT all you need to do is remove one screw. The entire HD bay pops out. Disconnect the cables, put the new HD in and reconnect the cables. Put the HD bay back in and screw it down. Power the machine up and it *automatically* recognizes the new drive, size and type. That's nice - and we can thank SCSI for that. Oh, I could go on and on, but I won't. :-) Obviously you've never had a chance to play with a TT. That's too bad because you don't know what you're missing. Sheldon Winick, owner of Computer Studio in Asheville, NC, sold (and still sells) a lot of TTs. Why, because they are the best darn computer Atari ever made. We all wish Atari had marketed it better, but then again the same could be said for all of their products. If you can get your hands on a TT - DO IT! It's well worth the investment." From the Atari Portfolio Forum ============================== The Big Cahoona himself, Master Sysop Ron Luks posts: "It's time to make some changes in the online support for our favorite Atari Portfolio palmtop computer. Although we have long maintained Portfolio support in a stand alone forum, I no longer think that this policy is in the best interest of Portfolio owners and CompuServe customers. Henceforth, we will be closing down the Atari Portfolio Forum and merging its activity into the more generic Palmtop Forum in the next few weeks. (Target date for the merger is October 22nd or shortly thereafter.) I consider this a 'win-win' situation for Portfolio owners. There will be a distinct message section and library for The Atari Portfolio. All our current Portfolio files will be transferred to the new forum. (Unfortunately, there is no way to move the existing message threads, so we'll have to begin them anew.) Your favorite sysops (BJ, Marty and Judy) will be available in the Palmtop forum to help with your Portfolio questions and you will also have access to the largest universe of palmtop computer enthusiasts available on any online service. Don Thomas from Atari Corp has indicated that he will be happy to "move over" to our new support area and continue his participation. During the "moving period" you will see some consolidation and "dust flying" in this forum. We regret this, but there is no other way to facilitate the move process. If you have any questions, please send them to me and I will promise you a prompt reply." Ken Lepper tells us: "OK....I've been away from the forums for a while. What's a Jaguar? (Besides a very big and fast cat that can have a nasty temper and bite your head off for breakfast)..." Ron Luks fills Ken in: "Jaguar is the name of Atari Corps new videogame console. Its a 64-bit RISC chip unit that is rumored to have outstanding graphics at a $200 price tag. Of course, software is the key element in this picture. The competition is a 3DO unit at $700 and a unit from Silicon Graphics/Nintendo with a price of around $250. (just announced) Atari is in partnership with IBM who will actually manufacture the game unit. That's the good news. Atari will be in control of the sales and marketing and software support for the unit. That's the "other" news. Jaguar discussions take place in the JAGUAR section of the Atari8 Forum (soon to be renamed ATARIGAMES FORUM)." Ken thanks Ron and asks the sixty-four thousand dollar question: "Thank you. What is Atari's direction these days? I still have an 8 year old 520ST jammed with 4 meg of memory and lots of extras that I use, although I spend most of my time in the PC world now due to its success and my business requirements. I also continue to use my Portfolio. I am trying out a Psion3a which has a better display and some nice scheduling functions, but I don't think that it is any more functional overall than the Port." Ron tells Ken: "It *looks* like they are going into videogames almost exclusively, but you never know what they are really doing........" Neil Gaiman tells us: "It's been ages since I've done anything exciting with my Portfolio, and have decided that it's time to get another card. The current one is 128K and it's just too small. What size, how much and what's the easiest place to get them, should I want to upgrade...?" Ron tells Neil: "Currently, the 128k card is still the biggest SRAM card available for the Portfolio. There is a bigger FLASH RAM card (512k) from Optrol but it has some peculiarities attached to it... FLASH RAM does not work the same as SRAM. (i.e.- when you delete a file, you don't get the space back. You have to run a compression utility to get back the space from deleted files.) peculiarities. We've heard no problems about reliability so far and FLASH RAM cards are appearing for other palmtop units (the Newton, the Psions)." Mark Reeves posts: "The OPTROL Flash cards are back at the end of this month, yes that's right 1M, 2M, and even the elusive 4M card.. More details forth coming..." Miles Taub asks: "Does anyone know of a utility that will convert an .ADR file to a file that can be read by Commence 2.0?" JF Davington tells Miles: "I am not familiar with Commence but if it recognizes comma delimited fields there are three or four utilities up in the libs that will make a comma delimited format file from an .ADR file. I wrote two of them. Check out CSVCVRT.ZIP, it offers 4 different field patterns and works both on the Port and a PC." Well folks, that's it for this week...hmmmm, about 29k long this week?!? Well, I guess that when you've got good material, its hard to stop. At any rate, that's it for this week. Be sure to stop by again and have a heapin' helpin' of their hospitality (can you tell that I'm a product of the TV age?) And always remember to listen to what they are saying when... PEOPLE ARE TALKING ______________________________________________ > FRONT & CENTER STR Feature Takin' a look! """""""""""""""""""""""""" What's Happening at Atari? ========================== By Lloyd E. Pulley, Sr. Editor, Current Events A compilation of some of the more interesting questions and answers from the 10/1/93 "Dateline Atari! with Bob Brodie" conference on the GEnie ST RT. Captures of the conference were furnished to STReport by one of our readers. The main thrust of Bob's introductory comments were devoted to the Jag- uar. Programmers, game testers, artists, and musicians are all working hard to get the Jaguar ready for its first deliveries next month. Bob mentioned that the Jaguar had a full four color page layout in the Cutting Edge feature of the October issue of Game Pro magazine. Also, The Die Hard Game Fan magazine, as of issue #11, will be beginning a new section called "Jaguar's Domain". Bob said, "The Jaguar's Domain also features a four page, full color layout of screen shots from Jaguar tit- les including Raiden, Tiny Toons, Crescent Galaxy, Club Drive, Cyber- morph, and more." While many of the gamers magazines seem to be excited about the Jaguar, one, EGM, seems to be biased against Atari. Bob said he's talked with the people at EGM and hope that things get better. He feels that part of the problem "might be that there are a number of people there that are former employees of Atari, including the publisher." But with EGM's sis- ter publication attacking the president of Atari, Bob doesn't think that he has a lot of leverage to change things though. Bob was asked about when the Jaguars will be shipping and where they'll be shipped to and if there will be a 800 line available (like the LYNX had) for people to order who don't live in the initial test markets. When asked if Dallas might be a third test market for the Jaguar, Bob did not reply. But he did say that there hasn't been any consumer runs produced yet, only a pilot production run. However, there are now enough units available to send to current and potential developers to use and/ or evaluate. He wouldn't say when the first consumer run will be made but felt the system will be available for purchase the weekend after Thanksgiving. Atari feels they can sell at least 50,000 Jaguar units be- fore the holiday season ends. The retailers don't want the Jaguar to sell via a 800 line - at least, not at first. But there will be a help line "to give out hints, tips, and easter eggs." When asked about the rumors that some mail order houses are currently taking orders for the Jaguar, Bob said that Atari will not be selling to any of the mail order firms this year. However, there is a chance that some units might be sold via the mail order route. And there's a possib- ility "that at least one of the retailers will, over our objections, try to go national with their units. Bob also said that he felt the rumor that Atari had purchased a display section at Toys 'R Us wasn't true. What about censoring violent or sexually orientated games? Bob replied that while there are no current plans to censor any titles, so far there are no titles that might cause censorship problems. What's the price of the Jaguar going to be? How about the rumor floating around one of the mags that say the 'JagCD' might cost $350? According to Bob, Atari doesn't expect that the Jaguar's CD units to cost $350 but he wouldn't say what prices that the Jaguar (with and without CD units) would be selling for. Are there any advanced controllers in the Jaguars future? While Bob was not aware of Atari planning any such controller, one game developer he's spoke to plans on selling a new controller along with his fighting game - a game that competes with Street Fighter II. - Now for some Falcon030 and general information - How about a CD Rom for the Falcon that would be evolved from the low- cost Jaguar CD Rom? How about the SCSI to DMA board so SLM owners can use their laser printers on the Falcon? Is Atari developing CD's for the STe and/or Falcon? According to Bob, "the interface for the Jaguar CD ROM is different from the Falcons, so I don't see that as a common project." The Falcon030 can use industry standard CD ROMs _right now_ via the SCSI port. Also, while Atari is creating a developer CD for the Falcon, he doesn't feel that Atari has enough manpower to do other types of CD's, he says there are developers with CD ROM products for the Atari Falcon030. After speaking with Bill Rehbock, he feels that a solution to the SCSI/DMA problem is close to being solved. Will TOS 5.0 be only for the Falcon or will it be for general use like TOS 2.06? Bob wasn't positive what will happen but he doesn't expect it to be in EPROM or ROM form, and does expect it to be "Multi-TOS" like. As far as price cuts for the Falcon030, Bob doesn't feel that there are any current plans to do so. Will Atari have a booth at CES? According to Bob, Terry Valeski, the re- cently hired marketing director, "is hard at work on a number of things, including the CES Show. I don't know where our booth will be, but I'm sure we will have a very big presence at the show. We really want to show the Jaguar off in a big way at this show." ____________________________________________________ > Atari Classics STR InfoFile """"""""""""""""""""""""""" ATARI CLASSICS UPDATE ===================== OCTOBER, 1993 Hello peoples, just thought I'd say a few things about ATARI CLASSICS Magazine. First, the February '93 Back Issue of AC is sold out. Sorry, no more left, do not order them. Back Issue sales generally have tended to keep pace with the growth of the magazine, which as of today stands at about 530 paid subscribers. I still have a goodly supply of all other Back Issues of the magazine, but Back Issues of the AC Software Disks are now running low. Despite severe problems/delays caused by this nasty flu thing that's going around (it hit both me & our Publisher at about the same time, not fun!), the October AC is pretty much on track. It is presently at the printer, & we expect the press run to be released about Oct. 18. Our mailer will likely have it posted by Oct. 20, which means 90% of readers will probably have it in their hands by Oct. 30. A tad later than I'd like, but not too bad considering the recent ravages of Nature. The October AC contains a few new directions I hope readers will like, including two interesting photo-essay articles, a new Columnist, & last but not least the triumphant return of The 8-Bit Alchemist with a neat little audio hack for the XL/XE. About 70% of our total subscription base expires this month. Nearly 400 renewal notices were sent out to those folks during the last week of September. I am pleased to say that as of this date roughly 40% of our original core subscribers have renewed. Renewal orders are coming in quite a bit faster than I anticipated, which I hope means our readers are satisfied with the value of the publication. Some of the little notes of praise & encouragement penned in the margins of the subscription forms are very heartwarming. Many former subscribers who did not take our Disk are now adding the Disk to their renewal-- most gratifying. We are looking for a 90% renewal rate by December 1 to keep the mag going on a sound financial basis. If the present trend of renewals continues I think we will have no problem! The October AC Software Disk was mailed out Oct.8-9. I anticipate the Disk will be 95% delivered by October 16. As of this date AC has approximately 325 Disk subscribers. I am now commencing production on the December AC. This will be a very special issue. Bob Woolley & I began laying plans for this issue nearly a year ago. The major focus will be on 8-bit video. Those of you who liked my SuperVideo 2.0 in Current Notes a few years will *LOVE* the December AC! Would you believe, SuperVideo 2.1XL? Yep, I improved it. And transplanted it to the 600XL & the 1200XL. You XE people, never fear, Charles Cole will present Super Video for the XE. Bob Woolley will blow your mind with a wonderful article on how to hook up BOTH your XEP80 AND your 40-column output to a TTL monitor, for ALL the 8-bit machines. Jeff Potter has contributed a really neat little BASIC prg that lets you properly adjust your color pot, & I'll be following that up with a hardware tutorial on how the color circuit works. To round things out we have a Contributing Author who describes how he got his 8-bit to work with a multi-sync monitor, & I'll present REV 2.0 of my infamous 80-Column Switcher. And finally it is rumored that our mysterious Fitting Room columnist will have something to blend with our December video theme. What with all the photographs, schematics, & circuit board diagrams, the editing job facing me in the next 4 weeks is staggering. I will do my best to present this material on time, & with the best possible graphics. With the December issue of AC it is our intention to write the final chapter on video hardware in our Classic machines. Stuff that has been competently tested, & WORKS. You hackers out there will have enough material in the December AC to burn out several soldering irons during the coming winter. Ahhh... but if you don't renew-- or you don't subscribe at all-- you will miss the boat. BEN POEHLAND The 8-Bit Alchemist & Managing Editor, ATARI CLASSICS Magazine 179 Sproul Road/Rt. 352 Frazer, PA 19355-1958 USA poehland@smithkline.com or poehland%phvax.dnet@smithkline.com ______________________________________________________ > EASY UPGRADE STR InfoFile Upgrade Warp 9 "The Easy Way" ------------------------- For immediate release CodeHeadQuarters Friday, October 7, 1993 -------------------------- ....................................... : : : CodeHead Technologies announces : : A New Update Policy for Warp 9 : : : :.....................................: You asked and we listened! Many of our customers have asked for an easier way to obtain their Warp 9 upgrades. Until now, we've required the return of your original disk in order to receive most upgrades. Effective immediately, CodeHead Technologies will accept upgrade orders from registered owners of Warp 9 without the return of your original disk. Upgrade orders may be placed in E-Mail on GEnie, Compuserve, Delphi, our own BBS, by phone, FAX, or mail. All that is required is that we have proof of your ownership of Warp 9 by one of the following means: 1. Inclusion in our database from your registration card. 2. Direct purchase with an invoice from CodeHead. 3. Return of original disk. 4. Receipt from a dealer showing Warp 9 purchase. If you have any questions, give us a call. We value our customers' satisfaction and listen to your suggestions. The Warp 9 v3.80 upgrade is $25 plus $3 shipping ($4 Canada, $6 overseas). It comes on two disks, includes dozens of interesting and entertaining screensaver modules, and now has Falcon and SpeedoGDOS compatibility. For more information about the features of Warp 9 v3.80, read the online press release that was issued as W9UPDATE.TXT on September 17, 1993. For more information, contact: CodeHead Technologies PO Box 74090 Los Angeles, CA 90004 Tel (213) 386-5735 Mon-Fri 9AM-1PM Fax (213) 386-5789 BBS (213) 461-2095 GEnie: J.EIDSVOOG1 Compuserve: 76004,2232 Delphi: EIDSVOOG _________________________________________ > STReport CONFIDENTIAL "Rumors Tidbits Predictions Observations Tips" """"""""""""""""""""" - New York City, NY ATARI STOCK GOES CRAZY! ----------------- *--* 10-15-93 - 10:25:39am *--* atc 7.250 + 0.500 at 10:12 on 619600 shares While finishing the day's trading at a over twice the number of shares indicated and at least close to two million shares by the time the bell rang, observers could only guess at the causes of the action. The major speculation is twofold. One is a major bond issue, and the second and far more believable is that there may be a much anticipated and overdue announcement forthcoming relative to the control of the company. Many insiders have indicated "it was time for a change" and some have stated the company and its developed technology was indeed for sale. Meanwhile, it was also rumored that, incredibly, Atari would not be attending Comdex Fall'93 in Vegas. Of course, that can change but for the time being, this seems to be the case. """""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""" STReport's "EDITORIAL CARTOON" """""""""""""""""""""""""""""" > A "Quotable Quote" "Christmas '93 will tell the tale!" """"""""""""""""" "....about product acceptance, THE HOLIDAY SALES" ARE the TALE OF THE TAPE!" ..from "Tracking TOP Sales Records" ====**==== Q: What's the difference between Jurassic Park and IBM? A: One is a complex and expensive theme park, filled with dinosaurs and unreliable equipment... and the other is a Steven Spielberg movie... .....(Stolen by) Nadine """""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""" > DEALER CLASSIFIED LIST STR InfoFile * Dealer Listings * """"""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""" --------------- ABCO COMPUTER INC. ================== P.O. Box 6672 Jacksonville, Florida 32221-6155 Est. 1985 1-904-783-3319 FULL LINE COMPUTER DEALER MAIL ORDER SERVICE WORLDWIDE IBM/MSDOS-PC-CLONES-MAC-AMIGA-ATARI CUSTOM, MADE TO ORDER HARDWARE SOFTWARE, SUPPLIES & INSTRUCTION """""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""" COMPUTER STUDIO =============== WESTGATE SHOPPING CENTER 40 Westgate Parkway - Suite D Asheville, NC 28806 1-800-253-0201 Orders Only 1-704-251-0201 Information FULL LINE COMPUTER DEALER """""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""" EAST HARTFORD COMPUTER ====================== 202 Roberts St. East Hartford CT. 06108 1-203-528-4448 FULL LINE COMPUTER DEALER """""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""" MEGABYTE COMPUTERS ================== 907 Mebourne Hurst, TX 76053 1-817-589-2950 FULL LINE COMPUTER DEALER """"""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""" SAN JOSE COMPUTER ================= 1278 Alma Court San Jose, CA. 95112 1-408-995-5080 FULL LINE COMPUTER DEALER """""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""" CompuSeller West ================ 220-1/2 W. Main St. St. Charles, IL., 60174 Ph. (708) 513-5220 FULL LINE COMPUTER DEALER """""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""" (DEALERS; to be listed here, please drop us a line.) """""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""" STReport International Online Magazine -* [S]ilicon [T]imes [R]eport *- AVAILABLE ON OVER 20,000 PRIVATE BBS SYSTEMS """""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""" STR Online! "YOUR INDEPENDENT NEWS SOURCE" October 15, 1993 Since 1987 copyright (c) 1987-93 All Rights Reserved No.9.42 """""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""" All Items quoted, in whole or in part, are done so under the provisions of The Fair Use Law of The Copyright Laws of the U.S.A. Views, Opinions and Editorial 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. 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