SILICON TIMES REPORT ==================== INTERNATIONAL ONLINE MAGAZINE ============================= from STR Electronic Publishing Inc. December 24, 1993 No. 9.52 ====================================================================== 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. 489 : Steal Your Face BBS..........1-908-920-7981 MNET - Toad Hall BBS.....................1-617-567-8642 ______________________________________________________________________ > 12/24/93 STR 952 "The Original * Independent * Online Magazine!" """""""""""""""" - QmPro for Windows - A Trekkie Xmas! - Noel? - R.S.R. a review - Holiday Lemmings - Windows Tips - MAC REPORT - Blowup! Lexicor!! - The Old Fishin' Hole -* BEST OF HOLIDAY WISHES *- -* TO ALL OUR FRIENDS *- -* SUPPORTERS AND READERS! *- ====================================================================== 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 BBS, invites all BBS systems, worldwide, to participate in the Fido/PROWL/ITC/USENET/NEST/F-Net Mail Networks. You may also call The Bounty BBS direct @ 904-786-4176. Enjoy the wonder and excitement of exchanging all types of useful 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 computer platforms BBS systems are welcome and invited to participate. ====================================================================== CIS ~ AOL ~ DELPHI ~ BIX ~ 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 is at its very best! """""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""" > From the Editor's Desk "Saying it like it is!" """""""""""""""""""""" 'Tis a wonderful time of the year! My four sons are all home for the holidays and it is grand. As I type this, my youngest son Vincent 23, is very busy tending to the twenty five pound Turkey he is smoking with hickory chips in the back yard smoker. This year everything fell right into place. The weather is perfect. Not too cold but cold enough to make Christmas in the south feel remotely like a northern Christmas. The family all together, and best of all everyone is in good health. Earlier this week a copy of QmodemPro for Windows arrived. I had been impatiently waiting for it.... I must say Mustang Software has certainly outdone themselves with this program. It is very well laid out, thought out and is obviously written with the user in mind. If you are looking for a solid and powerful Telcom/FAX program, this is the one for you. There will be a full review forthcoming. In the coming weeks, we'll be spotlighting the various system operators on the major networks. Obviously, we will not be spotlighting those who have not responded to our inquiries. Only one small segment have not responded. All in all the response has been excellent. Over the next few weeks you'll soon get know a large number of the conscientious, responsible and caring sysops in various areas who are very much interested in their members enjoying their computers to the max. At this time, I'd like to extend my heartfelt wishes for a wonderful Holiday Season to everyone on staff and especially to all our readers. Ralph.... """""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""" 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 Randy Noak Jeff Coe Contributing Correspondents: """""""""""""""""""""""""""" Tim Holt Norman Boucher Harry Steele Clemens Chin Neil Bradley Eric Jerue Ron Deal Robert Dean Ed Westhusing James Nolan Vernon W. Smith Bruno Puglia Frank Sereno John Duckworth IMPORTANT NOTICE """""""""""""""" Please, submit letters to the editor, articles, reviews, etc... via E-Mail to: Compuserve................... 70007,4454 America Online..................STReport 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 """"""""""""""""" IBM/POWER-PC/PC SECTION (I) =========================== 'Twas the night before Christmas - again 'Twas the night before Christmas and Santa's a wreck: How to live in a world that's politically correct? His workers no longer would answer to "Elves." "Vertically Challenged" they were calling themselves. And labor conditions at the north pole Were alleged by the union to stifle the soul. Four reindeer had vanished, without much propriety, Released to the wilds by the Humane Society. And equal employment had made it quite clear That Santa had better not use just reindeer. So Dancer and Donner, Comet and Cupid, Were replaced with 4 pigs, and you know that looked stupid! The runners had been removed from his sleigh; The ruts were termed dangerous by the E.P.A. And people had started to call for the cops When they heard sled noises on their roof-tops. Second-hand smoke from his pipe had his workers quite frightened. His fur trimmed red suit was called "Unenlightened." And to show you the strangeness of life's ebbs and flows, Rudolf was suing over unauthorized use of his nose And had gone on Geraldo, in front of the nation, Demanding millions in over-due compensation. So, half of the reindeer were gone; and his wife, Who suddenly said she'd enough of this life, Joined a self-help group, packed, and left in a whiz, Demanding from now on her title was Ms. And as for the gifts, why, he'd ne'er had a notion That making a choice could cause so much commotion. Nothing of leather, nothing of fur, Which meant nothing for him. And nothing for her. Nothing that might be construed to pollute. Nothing to aim. Nothing to shoot. Nothing that clamored or made lots of noise. Nothing for just girls. Or just for the boys. Nothing that claimed to be gender specific. Nothing that's warlike or non-pacific. No candy or sweets...they were bad for the tooth. Nothing that seemed to embellish a truth. And fairy tales, while not yet forbidden, Were like Ken and Barbie, better off hidden. For they raised the hackles of those psychological Who claimed the only good gift was one ecological. No baseball, no football...someone could get hurt; Besides, playing sports exposed kids to dirt. Dolls were said to be sexist, and should be passe; And Nintendo would rot your entire brain away. So Santa just stood there, disheveled, perplexed; He just could not figure out what to do next. He tried to be merry, tried to be gay, But you've got to be careful with that word today. His sack was quite empty, limp to the ground; Nothing fully acceptable was to be found. Something special was needed, a gift that he might Give to all without angering the left or the right. A gift that would satisfy, with no indecision, Each group of people, every religion; Every ethnicity, every hue, Everyone, everywhere...even you. So here is that gift, its price beyond worth: "May you and your loved ones enjoy peace on earth." Notice: This poem is copyright 1992 by Harvey Ehrlich. It is free to distribute, without changes, as long as this notice remains intact. All follow-ups, requests, comments, questions, distribution rights, etc should be made to mduhan@husc.harvard.edu Thanks to Harvey Ehrlich via Varda Ullman Novick via Jack Kolb ____________________________________________________ > READY SET READ STR Review """"""""""""""""""""""""" Ready, Set, Read ================ from Bright Star Technology, Inc. and Sierra On-Line by Frank Sereno Ready, Set, Read is the sequel to Alphabet Blocks, an award-winning educational program that used new technology to have the on-screen coaches' mouths actually form the words and letters in sync with the sound. Alphabet Blocks taught children to recognize letters and their sounds while RSR (Read, Set, Read) teaches children two-letter sounds, rhyming words, word building from sounds, word recognization, alphabetizing letters and words, and how to read a simple story. RSR is recommended for children between 4 and 7 years of age. RSR is available for color Macintosh computers with four megabytes of system memory, fifteen megs of free hard drive space and an eight-bit color monitor. It is also available for IBM compatibles with a 386SX-20 MHz or greater CPU, 15 megs of free hard drive space, four megs of memory, a Windows compatible sound card, running under Wiindows 3.1 with a 640 by 480 with 256 color display. Installation instructions are included for both types of computers and are quite easy. After installation on both machines, double-click on the RSR icon to start the program. The program begins by playing some cheery music, then the child is greeted by Jack the jack-in-the-box and Bananas the chimp. The two are in the hallway, seated before a stairway and six doors of different colors. Clicking the pointer on any of these doors begins one of the six different skill-building games. Each classroom behind the doors has a chalkboard for displaying graphics and text. At the start of each game, Jack or Bananas will explain gameplay. The green door opens to a classroom where Bananas will coach the child to recognize two-letter consonant and vowel sounds. Blocks featuring two-letter combinations are stacked in the room. Bananas will pronounce a sound and the child must find the block representing that sound and click the pointer on it. If the child has difficulty, blocks will be blanked out until only the correct choice is left. The child will learn about digraphs, blends and diphthongs from a friendly and encouraging coach. The blue door leads to the word rhyming game. Bananas will pronounce six words as they are placed on a vertical checkerboard. Then the seventh or key word is pronounced and placed on the screen. The child must find the rhyme by clicking and dragging the rhyming word next to the key word. Clicking on the individual words will cause Bananas to say them again. If a wrong word is chosen, Bananas will pronounce the incorrect word and ask the child to find the word that sounds like the key word. This game is simple but effective. The yellow door game teaches the child to build words from parts of words known as onsets (beginnings) and endings. Bananas will pronounce three onsets as they are placed on the playing field, then an ending will be placed opposite the onsets and Bananas will request that the child make a specific word. This is done by clicking and dragging the correct onset next to the ending. If the child uses the wrong onset, Bananas will pronounce the word and a picture will be displayed on the chalkboard. Bananas will then repeat the question. Clicking on an onset or ending will cause Bananas to pronounce that sound. Once again, this game is simple enough for young children to understand but they learn quite quickly. The pink door game teaches children to recognize sight words, often-used words that make up the bulk of words in children's textbooks. Blocks containing common, short words are stacked in the room. Jack will then ask the child to find a word. If a wrong word is chosen, it is pronounced and a sentence using it is displayed on the chalkboard, then the question is repeated. Jack will always encourage the child regardless of ability. To put sight words in an adult perspective, a touch typist learns to type many words such as the, and, etc., as words rather than individual letters. This allows for much faster typing than hunting and pecking the letters or remembering the individual letters. Learning sight words will allow the child to read more quickly and coherently. Next is the mustard door which opens to the alphabetizing game. Jack will pronounce and place three letters or words on shelves and ask the child to put the objects in alphabetical order by clicking and dragging them to a numbered chart. The alphabet is displayed on blocks in the foreground of the classroom for reference. Alphabetization is an important skill for using reference materials such as dictionaries, encyclopedias and phone books. This game is easy to learn and fun. Finally, the violet door features reading a story. Jack narrates the story of himself and Bananas and the methods they use to teach a princess to read. After reading a page, he will then repeat it while omitting three words which will appear in red type below the main text. The child's task will be to click and drag the red words back to proper places in the text. Clicking on the words will cause Jack to pronounce them. The purpose of this exercise is to force children to recognize words rather than memorizing the text of familiar stories. My only knock on this portion of the program is that the same words are dropped from the story every time it is read. I think it would be better if the story changed each time. This educational title is well-written. It does help teach children to read, and the lessons are full of positive reinforcement. The animation and lip-synching are attention grabbing. I know that my 5 year-old has spent many hours learning from RSR. And finally, RSR comes with a money-back guarantee. If you or child do not like this program, you can return it to Sierra for a full refund of your purchase price. I doubt if many people will take them up on this offer because this is an excellent product. I recommend it highly, and it would make a great stocking-stuffer. ___________________________________________________ > QMODEMPRO for WINDOWS STR InfoFile """""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""" QmodemPro for Windows v1.0 ========================== Mustang Software unveiled the new Windows version of its popular QmodemPro communications program during COMDEX/Fall '93. Called QmodemPro for Windows v1.0, it is the first communications program to offer support for both data and Fax communication in one integrated package. File transfers are supported using Zmodem, CompuServe B+, Kermit, Ymodem, Ymodem/G, Xmodem/1K, Xmodem/1KG, Xmodem/CRC, Xmodem, or ASCII. A built-in GIF viewer allows you to view GIF graphics files as they are being downloaded. You can zoom any GIF or BMP file, and even mark and copy portions of the picture to the Windows clipboard. Users can easily upload files using drag-and-drop from the Windows File Manager to QmodemPro's upload window. QmodemPro for Windows offers a wide selection of terminal emulations including: ADDS VP60, ADM 3A, ANSI, Avatar, DG 100, DG 200, DG 210, Hazeltine 1500, Heath 19, IBM 3101, TTY, TVI 910, TVI 912, TVI 920, TVI 925, TVI 950, TVI 955, Vidtex, VT 52, VT 100, VT 102, VT 220, VT 320, Wyse 30, Wyse 50, Wyse 60, Wyse 75, Wyse 85, Wyse 100, and Wyse 185. BBS callers will appreciate the addition of Doorway and RIPscrip to this impressive list of supported emulations. QmodemPro for Windows is the first Windows product to offer support for RIPscrip, which is quickly becoming the de facto graphics standard for bulletin board systems worldwide, including Mustang Software's Wildcat! product. Besides offering full data communication, MSI has also integrated both send and receive Fax support directly into QmodemPro for Windows. Using any Class 1 or Class 2 Fax modem, QmodemPro for Windows can send text files as well as PCX and BMP graphics files. Cover pages can also be attached to these documents. Automatic Fax receive is also supported and a complete Fax viewer includes thumbnail sketches, zooming, copying, and printing. The phonebook allows you to view the dialing directory in a traditional tabular form, or you can use the icon view mode to create a true icon window of your online services, making it a simple double click to dial, connect, and be online. Each dialing directory entry can hold up to five phone numbers, the default device, emulation, transfer protocol, user ID, password, login script, RIP icon directory, and macro file. A note file can be attached to any dialing entry allowing you to add your own notes and comments about the dialing entry. QmodemPro for Windows even allows you to review the scrollback buffer while you're capturing information online. You can customize the terminal window using a variety of fonts. The screen behind the terminal window can be customized with your favorite pattern or wallpaper file giving you full control of your desktop. Sporting a completely new Script Language Interface for QmodemPro (SLIQ), QmodemPro gives you unparalleled power, speed, and flexibility. Based on the popular BASIC language structure, it adds extensions for the Windows communication environment and includes a Quicklearn feature for creating scripts without having to learn the language. It even includes a compiler for compiling the scripts so they run faster and are more secure. A powerful script debugger and full editor are also included. QmodemPro for Windows allows you to take advantage of the Windows multitasking environment. Download files or capture data in the background, while working in a word processor or spreadsheet. QmodemPro for Windows makes full use of the 16550 UART, Digiboard multi serial port card, or any other intelligent serial interface with appropriate Windows drivers. Also supported are Interrupt 14 compatible LAN modems and other devices. The newest member of the QmodemPro family now supports sound cards, allowing you to assign standard Windows WAV files to certain events in your communications session. For example, you can have a WAV file played when you connect to a BBS or when your download is completed. There are many events you can assign sounds to: connect, dialing, file transfer success and failure, and many others. QmodemPro for Windows has a suggested retail price of $139.00. This product will be available within the next few weeks in the over 300 Software Etc. stores throughout the United States. Software Etc. has also put QmodemPro for Windows on their "Reservation System" so your local store can reserve your copy. To find the Software Etc. store in your area dial (800) 328-4646. Qmodem, QmodemPro, and Wildcat! BBS registered owners can upgrade to QmodemPro for Windows for a limited time for only $50.00 plus shipping. Have your registration number handy and dial Mustang Software at (800) 999-9619 or (805) 873-2500 to place your order. Please expect a 4 to 6 week back order for delivery, order today to be one of the first to receive this program. Resellers in the United States can order QmodemPro for Windows directly from INGRAM MICRO. The part number is 185415. YOu can reach INGRAM MICRO by dialing (800) 456-8000. Customers in the U.K. can reserve their copy by contacting Telesystems LTD in London. Telesystems can be reached at +44 494 866365, FAX +44 494 866050, or BBS +44 494 891903. Customers in Scandinavia will be pleased to know that Swedish, Danish, and Norwegian versions will be available soon after the U.S. version. Please contact PC Security in Norway for additional information. PC Security can be reached at +67 53 11 53, FAX +67 53 63 25, or BBS +67 58 33 58. Customers in Australia should contact Banksia Technology Pty. Ltd in Lane Cove, NSW. Banksia can be reached at 61 2 418-6033, Fax +61 2 428-5460 or BBS +61 2 418-7693. For additional information regarding QmodemPro for Windows, QmodemPro for DOS, or the Wildcat! Bulletin Board System, please contact: Jim Harrer, President/CEO Mustang Software, Inc. P.O. Box 2264 Bakersfield, CA 93303 Sales (800) 999-9619 Office (805) 873-2500 BBS (805) 873-2400 MSI can also be reached via e-mail at sales@mustang.com, CompuServe (GO PCVENA, section 9), America Online (Keyword = Mustang), and GEnie (MUSTANG RT). __________________________________________________ > Windows Tips STR InfoFile """"""""""""""""""""""""" Run Windows Faster ================== SUBJECT: Tune-Up Tips To Run Windows Faster The following are tips for running Windows at a faster speed. 1. For faster performance in Windows, load your system with extended memory, and start using a disk-caching program. 2. If you regularly run two or more Windows apps together on a system with less than 4M of RAM, invest in more memory chips. 3. Include a line in your CONFIG.SYS file for a disk cache so that your disk drive does not spin its wheels with unnecessary disk activity. 4. If your processor is 386 or 486 and you have at least 2M of memory and you seldom run non-Windows applications, try running in Standard mode. You can do this by typing WIN /S or WIN /2 at the DOS command line. a. Running in 386 Enhanced mode offers many advantages for working with DOS apps, but it does nothing for Windows programs--it may even slow them down. b. For DOS 5.0 users that use EMM386.EXE to load TSRs and device drivers into high memory, Windows will refuse to run in Standard mode. You'll have to choose between the extra conventional memory or the quicker Windows performance. 5. Keep your hard disk optimized by running a defragmentation utility on a regular basis. An optimized hard disk lets your system store larger amounts of data in contiguous disk sectors, reducing the amount of time Windows spends reading and writing swap files. 6. If you run Windows in 386 Enhanced mode and can afford the disk space, set up a permanent swap file. This allows Windows to bypass normal DOS file I/O routines and move information in and out of memory more quickly. a. The drawback is that the disk space assigned to a permanent swap file cannot be used for other proposes, even when you're not running Windows. b. To create or delete the permanent swap file, start Windows in Real mode and run the SWAPFILE program. Windows will recommend an optimal size based on available disk space. Try 5M for starters, and if you don't see a lot of disk activity as you work, you might be able to reduce that figure somewhat. 7. In the program information files (PIFs) you create to run non-Windows apps in 386 Enhanced mode, don't select any of the Monitor Ports options. Most programs don't require them, and leaving them unchecked will improve performance. Windows' default PIF has one of the monitor Ports options selected. It is a good idea to create a PIF for every DOS app you use. 8. If you run Windows with a Super VGA, 8514 or other high-resolution driver, consider switching back to normal VGA. The same advice applies to using a 256-color driver instead of the 16-color variety. For everyday wordprocessing, you might use ordinary 16-color VGA, reserving the more colorful displays for desktop publishing and other apps that can really benefit from additional colors. 9. SMARTDRIVE.SYS will by default use 1024 or 2048 for the maximum cache size which can slow you down on a machine with only 2 or 4M of RAM. The reason is that even though the disk cache is larger, it can force more disk activity by reducing the amount of RAM available for WINDOWS and its applications. Optimizing Windows (Speed) More RAM usually means More Speed: The most valuable resource running under the Windows environment is RAM. Whether you have an 80286, 80386 or a 80486 based machine the best way to increase your overall speed and performance is to add more RAM. With an 8088 or 8086 based CPU, adding RAM will help to some extent but you will always be limited to running in Real mode (remember, WPWin requires 2M of RAM (4M recommended) and you must be able to run in either Standard mode or 386 Enhanced mode.) Set up a Disk Cache: Adding more RAM helps the speed of Windows (and thus WPWin 1.0), but only if you use it properly. The best use of your extra RAM would be to set up the right-sized disk cache. Windows comes with a disk caching device driver called: Smartdrive (SMARTDRV.SYS), but Windows usually sets it up in a way that is a compromise to most users. The size of your cache should be as big as you can make it, without eating into the memory requirements of Windows or WPWin. The recommended size is to allot no more than one-third of your memory as cache, but maintain a minimum of 1.5MB for Windows and WpWin (e.g., on a 4M CPU, the CONFIG.SYS file should read: DEVICE=SMARTDRV.SYS 1536 512. This means that the cache will be no bigger that 1536K and no smaller than 512K). These numbers will work well for word processing and simple desktop publishing. Although Smartdrive doesn't offer the level of control of some caching programs like Super PC-Kwik) it's better than nothing. Fast Hard drive - More Speed: Along with lots of memory, Windows and WPWin (as well as any program) like fast hard drives. When you move from a typical 28 to 40 ms AT-class drive to a 23ms or faster drive, you will increase your speed by at least 15 percent! Faster Video: Computers, operating systems and programs are only as fast as their slowest link, a slow 8-bit EGA board, although sufficient to run Windows and WPWin, can slow your entire system down to a crawl. The ideal video system would be a 16-bit VGA adapter with built in video RAM (again the more the better). Replacing an old VGA or EGA adapter with a new VGA 512K video RAM cache will improve speed by 15 percent or more. Simple Wallpaper: Although wallpaper can be exciting it takes up RAM, and as we discussed above, RAM means speed. Disk Housekeeping: Windows and WPWin both create dozens of temporary files to swap information to and from. If Windows or WPWin do not have a lot of contiguous free disk space to work with, they won't run as fast. Run a disk reorganizer periodically, even if it does not look like you have any fragmented files. The idea being that you want to keep large, contiguous areas of hard disk space free. (Note: BE CAREFUL WHICH DISK ORGANIZER YOU ARE USING-MAKE SURE IT IS COMPATIBLE WITH YOUR HARDWARE. ALSO, DO NOT RUN THE DISK DEFRAGMENTER FROM WITHIN WINDOWS.) Sources of Information 1. Microsoft Windows User's Guide. Microsoft Corporation, 1985-1990. 2. Microsoft Windows Resource Kit. Microsoft Corporation, 1990. 3. Microsoft MS-DOS Version 5.0 User's Guide and Reference, Microsoft Corporation 1991. If WPWin is not running optimally, have them try the following steps: 1. Decrease the number of Windows applications which are running before launching WPWin. 2. Increase the file handles in the CONFIG.SYS file. For example, if the command reads FILES=20, change it to read FILES=30 (Microsoft recommends at least 30 file handles be allocated. Remember to reboot after making these changes.) 3. Decrease the SMARTDrive command values in the CONFIG.SYS file. For example, if the command reads DEVICE=SMARTDRV.SYS 2048 1024, change it to read DEVICE=SMARTDRV.SYS 512 256 or DEVICE=SMARTDRV.SYS 256 128. For more information on using SMARTDrive, see Using SMARTDrive under Optimizing Windows (Chapter 13) in the Microsoft Windows User's Guide. 4. If the customer is using a program which condenses data as it is stored on the hard drive (e.g., Stacker, DRDOS Superstore), redirect the temporary files to a hard drive where information is not automatically condensed. (Note: this does not apply to data compression performed by hardware such as "RLL" drive controllers.) 5. Minimize program groups so there are fewer icons. 6. Disable the Ruler, Button Bar, and Vertical and Horizontal Scroll Bars as defaults for starting the program. """""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""" :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 *** STReport available in MAC RT *** ASCII TEXT for ALL GEnie users! MAC/APPLE SECTION (II) ====================== Randy Noak, Editor By the time you read this, it should be all over. All over except the fighting over toys, the first broken toy, wrapping paper all over the place, relatives traipsing in and out, and Uncle Joe passed out on the couch. I hope you all had a happy Holiday. Because of the Holidays, this week and next's Mac Report will be a little bit shorter than usual. I was hoping to be able to announce that the long awaited Mac front end for GEnie was available, but now it appears that the release date has been pushed back until sometime in January. To those that immediately ask, "January of what year?" I say, "Why 1994, of course (I hope)" Mac Report is looking for software reviewers. If you think you've got the "right stuff", send Email to one of the addresses at the end of this column. The pay is lousy, but you do get to keep the software! When you write, please tell me a little about yourself, your interests, etc.. Age is no barrier as long as you are able to write a coherent sentence or two, so apply today! For your info, STReport is available, in SIT format on the following services: America Online: Mac Games Forum (New Uploads) CompuServe: Mac Community Club Forum (News & Reviews library) GEnie: GE-MUG RoundTable (library 3) Of course, STReport is also available in ASCII and/or ZIP format on, not only these services, but also on Delphi, the Internet, FidoNet, etc.. We also have our own folder in the Mac Games Forum on AOL. It's nested deep, but your persistence will be rewarded. Please feel free to leave your questions and comments. I check in every day, so you can expect a quick reply. e.World? The information highway is starting to get crowded. Apple and AT&T have announced e.World, a new on-line service. e.World will debut in April and will target the consumer market. e.World will not be limited to those that own personal computers. Interactive television, Personal Digital Assistants, and screen-based telephones will also be supported. e.World will supposedly be less expensive than AppleLink, but we'll have to wait until MacWorld Expo to find out the juicy details. One thing I can guarantee. STReport will be available on e.World as soon as possible. ____________________________________________________ > HOLIDAY LEMMINGS STR Review """"""""""""""""""""""""""" HOLIDAY LEMMINGS ================ An STReport Review by Jeff Coe The original game of Lemmings appeared several years ago on various different computer platforms, and finally made it to the Macintosh last year. It was and still is one of the most original games ever programmed for any system. The combination or great graphics and sound, along with challenging game play made it one of those games where you just had to try that last level again. The fact that you really never HAD to stop or start over made it a great game for those of us whose reflexes aren t quite what they once were. For those of you that have never seen or player the original, I ll give a brief overview of the game. The basic concept is that a whole bunch of these little Lemming critters get dumped out of a chute somewhere, and your job is to safely guide them to an exit at some other location. Unfortunately, Lemmings are about as simple minded a species as ever walked the earth, so they have the bad habit of walking off cliffs and falling into bottomless pits, into the ocean, or just splatting on the ground below. While you, as a sort of savior for this race of fools, can t actually change the landscape for them, you do have the power to endow certain abilities on individual Lemmings, and hopefully, enable them to lead the others to safety. These abilities include digging holes (either straight down, sideways or down at an angle), building ramps, climbing walls, floating down instead of falling, blocking (which is very handy in keeping the herd from going over the edge, literally!), and the ever popular ability to turn oneself into a human (or Lemming) time bomb. Every level consists of several connected screens with several different obstacles to overcome. You usually have to use a variety of abilities on each level in order to successfully guide the Lemmings to safety. For example, you might need to have one Lemming dig a tunnel through a large rock, while another Lemming blocks the path in the other direction to keep the herd from jumping into a lava pit. After you get them through the rock, you might need a builder to construct a series of ramps over some chasm. I hope you get the idea. What makes it harder still, is that you don t always have all of the different abilities to work with. On some levels you may only have builders or diggers. On some you may have all the different types, but only in limited numbers. For example, the obvious solution to a particular puzzle might be to make all your Lemmings float down to a lower platform, but you only get one floater! You would need to make the one Lemming float down, and once there, turn him around to build a ramp up for the others to use. At the same time you need to make sure you don t loose any off the edge above before your bridge is completed. Fortunately you can usually spare a few critters, as you only need to save a given percentage of Lemming to progress to the next level, however, this percentage changes for each one, as does the number of Lemmings you have to work with (anywhere from ten to a hundred). If you know you can t possibly make it on a given puzzle, you have the magic nuke button which totally wipes out all remaining Lemmings by turning them into bombs. This self destruct feature is great fun to watch, as well as being a terrific tension reliever. After successfully completing a level, you get a password for the next level, so you don t have to go back and redo the ones you ve already mastered. Additionally, as I mentioned at the beginning of this article, you have an infinite number of tries to get through this game. You re never bumped back to the beginning, at least until you want to be. The original Lemmings featured 120 different levels to master, and ranged in difficulty from total no-brainers at the beginning, up to the totally impossible (at least to me) levels. Shortly thereafter, a disk full of 100 additional levels was released under the title Oh No!! More Lemmings . This was basically the same game in every way, except the level puzzles were different. The graphics and sound were unchanged. Recently, Holiday Lemmings 1993 appeared in the stores without much fanfare. It s a limited addition Christmas version just perfect for a stocking stuffer! It only features 32 levels of play, but the holiday theme makes it perfect for this time of year. All the landscapes are ice and snow covered, with Christmas lights and bouncing snowmen everywhere. Instead of the temple-like exits found in the original two games, your exit here is a cute little snow cottage with ginger bread and candy cane decorations. While the original musical score was good, this version treats you to seasonal favorites like Frosty The Snowman, Jingle Bells, and Rudolph The Red Nosed Reindeer! And just in case you tire of the music, it can be toggled off and on at will, independently of the other sound affects (which are very funny, featuring digitized voices for the Lemmings) System Requirements: The instructions say you need a Hard Disk to play the game, but you really only need it to uncompress the game file that comes on the installation disk. Once it s installed, you can easily fit everything on a floppy and it runs just fine from there. If your HD is as crowded as mine, every little bit of space saved is a major plus! Also, the package says you have to have a color display, but the files for running on a monochrome system are included too. If you use System 6.0.5, you ll need to have 32-bit Quickdraw installed and at least 2 mb or RAM. System 7 and above requires a 4mb computer. Color support is for 256 colors minimum. Holiday Lemmings 1993 is published by PSYGNOSIS, 675 Massachusetts Ave., Cambridge, MA 02139. They can be reached by phone at 1-800-438- 7794. I paid about $16 for my copy at a local software store, and I ve seen it priced the same in mail order ads. Since you probably won t see this review until after Christmas, you may find it at give-away prices after the first of the year. After all, it is a special holiday offering. In fact, one local store already had the PC version marked down this week. For less than $15 , you really couldn't go wrong! That's it for this week. Drive safely this New Years Eve! As always, please feel free to send your comments or questions to me at: America OnLine: STReportRN Compuserve: 70323,1031 GEnie: R.NOAK ********************************************************************** IMPORTANT NOTICE! ================= STReport International Online Magazine is available every week for your reading pleasure on DELPHI. STReport's 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! From Delphi's Very Popular PC Area Top 10 Downloads from New Arrivals Topic (12-23-1993) ----------------------------------------------------- 1- VIRTUAL REALITY CHRISTMAS 2- BEACH NUDE 3- ZORYNA DREAMS 4- DUKE NUKEM II -- APOGEE'S SEQUEL 5- DOOM V1.0 6- CHECKME 1.0 (SYSTEM DIAG) 7- CHIP LIST - TEXT FILE OF CPU'S 8- DRIVE ROCKET DEMO 9- PATCH FOR DOOM 1.0/1.1 10- STREPORT # 9.49 DELPHI-It's getting better all the time! ********************************************************************** > CHRISTMAS! STR FOCUS .......A familiar tale, with a new twist! ==================== THE NIGHT BEFORE CHRISTMAS ========================== 'Twas the night before Christmas, when all through the ship Not a circuit was buzzing, not one microchip; The phasers were hung in the armory securely, In hopes that no aliens would get up that early. The crewmen were nestled all snug in their bunks (Except for the few who were partying drunks); And Picard in his nightshirt and Bev in her lace, Had just settled down for a neat face-to-face... When out in the halls there arose such a racket, That we leapt from our beds, pulling on pants and jacket. Away to the lifts we all shot like a gun, Leapt into the cars and yelled loudly, "Deck One!" The bridge Red-Alert lights, which flashed through the din, Gave a lustre of Hades to objects within. When, what, on the viewscreen, should our eyes behold, But a weird kind of sleigh, and some guy who looked old. But the glint in his eyes was so strange and askew That we knew in a moment it had to be Q. His sleigh grew much larger as closer he came. Then he zapped on the bridge and addressed us by name: "It's Riker! It's Data! It's Worf and Jean-Luc! It's Geordi! And Wesley, the genetic fluke! To the top of the bridge, to the top of the hall! Now float away! Float away! Float away all!" As leaves in the autumn are whisked off the street, So the floor of the bridge came away from our feet, And up to the ceiling our bodies they flew, As the captain called out, "What the hell is this, Q?!" The prankster just laughed and expanded his grin, And, snapping his fingers, he vanished again. As we took in our plight and were looking around, The spell was removed, and we crashed to the ground. Then Q, dressed in fur from his head to his toe, Appeared once again, to continue the show. "That's enough!" cried the captain, "You'll stop this at once!" And Riker said, "Worf! Take aim at this dunce!" "I'm deeply offended, Jean-Luc," replied Q, "I just want to celebrate Christmas with you." As we scoffed at his words, he produced a large sack. He dumped out the contents and took a step back. "I've brought gifts," he said, "just to show I'm sincere. There's something delightful for everyone here." He sat on the floor and dug into his pile, And handed out gifts with his most charming smile: "For Counsellor Troi, there's no need to explain. Here's Tylenol-Beta for all of your pain. For Worf I've some mints as his breath's not too great, And for Geordi LaForge, an inflatable date. For Wesley, some hormones, and Clearasil-Plus; For Data, a joke book; for Riker, a truss. For Beverly Crusher, there's sleek lingerie, And for Jean-Luc, the thrill of just seeing her that way." Then he sprang to his feet with that grin on his face And, clapping his hands, disappeared into space. But we heard him exclaim as he dwindled from sight, "Merry Christmas to all, and to all a good flight!" Based on "A Visit from St. Nicholas" by Clement C. Moore Adaptation Copyright 1990, Eric R. Rountree ________________________________________________________ WHAT'S NEW IN THE ATARI FORUMS (December 24) Please join us in welcoming PMC to the Atari Vendors Forum (GO ATARIVEN)! Message Section 15 and Library 15 are now available for PMC-related messages and files. You can address messages to Oscar Steele [72662,1271]. The following initial files are available in LIBRARY 15: GML8_P.TXT - Gemulator 3.0 information and special GBNCH3.ZIP - Gembench 3.25 benchmarking for ST/Gemulator users COMPUB.ZIP - Catalog of over 3000 books at 50% + discount! CB_REA.TXT - Ordering information for used book catalog. Download the following files from LIBRARY 6 of the Atari Productivity Forum (GO ATARIPRO): RN161P.LZH - Runner 1.61 Alternate Desktop RN161N.LZH - New features and overview of Runner 1.61 RN161D.LZH - Docs for Runner 1.61(RUNR161P.LZH) RN161B.LZH - Background pics for Runner 1.61 This is the newest release of Runner (1.61) by Dave Thorson! Organize programs into easy-to-use menus, assign them to QuickKeys for fast access. Use any PI1,.PI2,.PI3,.PC1,.PC2,.PC3 pic as a background pic. You can also run programs and view text files from the file selector, for those that you don't place in menus. Built-in text file viewer lets you search and move forward/backward and print screens as text. LOTS of other features! Download file TOOL.LZH from LIBRARY 14 of the Atari Arts Forum (GO ATARIARTS) for a replacement of version 1.0 of cadtool. This program provides a nicer user interface, somewhat faster operation and a few bugs were found and squashed. Cadtool V1.1 offers 3D2 object modification similar to the object functions found in CAD3D but it is faster and completes the operations correctly. Also download LANDMN.ZIP from LIBRARY 2 of the Atari Arts Forum (GO ATARIARTS) for a simple but habit-forming game, similar to the Minesweeper game that comes with Windows. Find out where the mines are buried... carefully! Shareware, from the PTAUG Nov. 1993 disk. High rez or low rez, source code included. DON'T FORGET THAT ATARI PORTFOLIO SUPPORT CAN NOW BE FOUND IN THE PALMTOP COMPUTING FORUM (GO PALMTOP). ATARI/JAG SECTION (III) ======================= Dana Jacobson, Editor > From the Atari Editor's Desk "Saying it like it is!" """""""""""""""""""""""""""" Christmas Eve!! If you concentrate hard enough, you may hear that distinctive sound of jingling bells, the muffled sound of tiny hooves, and perhaps an occasional "Ho Ho Ho!" somewhere above you. 'Tis that time of year, once again. I'd like to extend to all of our readers the very best of holiday cheer. I hope that you all have a very enjoyable holiday weekend among friends and family. At this time of year, I thought it appropriate to get away from my usual routine. Forget about the Jaguar for a moment; you'll either have one already, one's sitting under your Christmas tree, or you'll have a promise of one after New Years. Forget about Atari Corporation for a moment; they'll still be there after tomorrow. I'd like to, instead, talk about something that I alluded to last week. As my Christian friends keep telling me whenever we discuss religion and Christmas, their belief is that the true spirit of Christmas is giving of oneself. Perhaps it takes a holiday of this "magnitude" to really realize this; and I'm not certain that the feeling should be limited to a holiday's "significance." But I would like to discuss "giving of one's self" as it pertains to what I consider an integral part of the Atari computing experience: the online community. As an online magazine, STReport depends on the online services for information as well as a distribution point. As a regular user of multiple online services, including private bulletin board systems, for almost 7 years now, I can personally claim that without the diligence of the people running these services we'd be seriously lacking for information of all types. When I say online services, I'm primarily concerned with the various Atari-related areas but the appreciation goes to various other areas of activity that each of us has the occasion to utilize, dependant on whatever other interests we might have. And, once we get to each of those areas, especially the Atari arenas, there are small groups of individuals that make our online experience a fruitful and enjoyable one. Of course, I'm talking about the SysOps who either run these areas, or assist those who are in charge. A few weeks ago, I sent out some "feeler" E-Mail to the various SysOps on Delphi, Compuserve, and Genie. I let each of these people know what I had planned; and whether or not they'd be interested in helping me gather some pertinent information about each of the people involved in each Atari area. Knowing that doing individual interviews with each person would take up a lot of time, I asked those involved to jot down some bits and pieces about themselves, their computing and online activities, etc. I was then going to throw all that information into a huge pile and sort it all through and organize it. The response, from Delphi and Compuserve was very positive and forthcoming. In all the years that I've been online, there's really been little said about the people, I mean ALL of the people, involved with the Atari online service community. Sure, there has been a little here and there, but nothing to the degree that I feel is warranted. These people, without exception, take a great deal of time and effort to be online regularly (almost all of them on a daily basis) and help users out in a variety of ways. These online staffers are more than just systems managers and operators making sure that uploads are non-commercial and working. They're more than "guardians" against obscene messages and illegal activities. These people are advisers, technical assistants, fact finders, software guides, and much much more. Not only do they assist whenever they can, but if they cannot, they readily refer you to the people who can. What's really great is the fact that these people are just like you and I, Atari users. These people are real, and not your stereotypical stuffed-shirt corporate type. Most of the people involved are volunteers with little more than a huge interest in Atari computing and free access to their respective systems as incentives. Most importantly, they're devoted to the online experience and the desire to help their fellow Atarian. This, my friends, makes these people extremely special to all who use these services. This is what compels me to give back a little of what they all have given me over the years: appreciation that's long overdue. Starting next week, we'll take a look at the folks who help make Delphi's Atari Advantage so enjoyable. The following week, (hopefully!), we'll concentrate on Compuserve's Atari Forums. I'd like to take this opportunity to personally thank Delphi's Clay Walnum and Compuserve's Ron Luks for their cooperation in making this endeavor easier to accomplish. What really pleased me with their responses was the way in which they both saw this as also a way for them to show their appreciation of their individual staffs who help make their lives, and ours, easier. So please join us next week and subsequent weeks to learn about our online support teams. Like me, I'm sure you'll enjoy learning a little more about these special people! Since this is a holiday weekend and you don't want to get caught by that bearded old man in the red suit, we'll cut this much shorter than usual. Let me just take this quick opportunity to wish my good friends at STReport a special holiday greeting!! Ralph, Lloyd, Joe, Doyle, John, Randy, and everyone else - Happy Holidays!!!!!!! To all of you who continue to read STReport faithfully and help make this all worthwhile - a most joyous and Merry Christmas and Seasons Greetings!!! Until next time..... -Dana News Flash: *** December 20 *** We've completed the initial reorganization of the 8 Bit Libraries. Library 8 [Last Chance} is now open. It contains the files that are slated for deletion due to low activity levels. IMPORTANT: please see Message Number 29447 [below] for more info. As part of our forum reorganization, we've renamed the available message sections and the sysops have moved all the existing message threads to their new locations. You will note that there are some section numbers that are unavailable to you or named "TBA" (to be announced). We're still working on some of these. Work has not yet begun on the libraries but expect this to start in the next few days. The message section description files will be updated over the weekend but you can view a list of section names with the NAMES command. Auto-navigator users should reset their programs to reflect the new section names and numbers. Again, we thank you for your patience and understanding during this reconstruction period. Sysop*Ron Luks 76703,254 #: 29447 S1/Forum Business 20-Dec-93 02:47:27 Sb: 8 Bit Library update Fm: SYSOP*don lebow 76704,41 To: All As noted in the News Flash, we've finished up the initial reorganization of the 8 bit libs. If you haven't already, please make a note of the new library assignments: LIB Name === ==== 4 Sound & Graphics 5 Productivity/Telecom 6 Utilities/Programming 7 Games 8 Last Chance I'll pull catalogs when I get a chance, but if you'd like you can do it yourself easily via the command LIST *.*. It's a good idea to issue a: SET WID 80 command first, so that the resulting list will be formatted with a single line per file in 80 columns. That makes it easy to transfer to a printer. The Last Chance library is what was discussed on the message board over the last couple of weeks ... a last chance to get copies of files that are scheduled to be deleted due to lack of activity. Unfortunately there are a lot of them (almost 1900). So here's the Personal Note. There've been some hurt feelings and shouts of outrage about all this, some of which you've seen here, some of which I've received via private mail. For that, I'm sorry. But the bottom line is that we're stuck between the proverbial rock and hard place. The level of 8 bit activity is low. And this is a commercial service ... in order to maintain the kind of support we want, we need to justify the resources that CompuServe is dedicating to us. And one of the hard and fast, no excuses allowed, rules is that files that haven't been accessed within the last 6 months must be deleted. Normally that's exactly what's done. The files are gone, with no recourse. We've gone to a lot of extra work to at least give our loyal members one more crack at them. It's somewhat unprecedented ... as far as I know no other forum has tried doing something like this on such a large scale. And if I may say so, it was a bear. There's no automated way to do it ... we had to go in and check each file individually, by hand, moving them as appropriate. But we did it, and the results are available for your perusal. OK. There _are_ some files in LIB 8 that we don't want to lose. And some that might surprise you (I even had to put most of my _own_ programs in there!) But given that all haven't been accessed in more than a year (for some the last access date was as much as 3 or 4 years ago!), then it would seem that they're not really matching what folks are looking for *now*. And that's what the libs are for. The files currently in LIB 8 will remain there thru January. After that most will be deleted. Then we'll repeat the process ... we loosened the activity criteria quite a bit for this first pass, so there's more to be done. But. The end result should be a better, more useful, resource. We hope to see more new uploads, reflecting what's going on in the 8 bit world now, rather than what was happening in 1987. It's time for 8 bitters to look forward, not back. There's some great stuff out there. Let us see it. Thanks, once again, for your support. This is tough ... but we'll get through it. I'm proud to be associated with you folks... >>don BLOW_UP'030 =========== The Falcon Screen Expander now available from LEXICOR SOFTWARE CORPORATION in the U.S.A. Explore High Resolution Graphics with your Atari Falcon'030 up to 1280x1024 or even higher! LEXICOR SOFTWARE CORP. or LEXICOR SOFTWARE EUROPE 1726 Franzisco Street 36 Queensberry Street,Suite 6 Berkeley, CA 94703 Boston, MA 02215 Tel: (510) 848-7621 Tel: (617) 437-0414 Fax: (510) 848-7613 Fax: (617) 437-9413 Email at: Lexicor@world.std.com 75300.763@compuserve.com (73073,142) LEXICOR, LEXICORWORLD@delphi.com XKY84999@genie.geis.com The Screen Expander with up to 8000% Virtual and 400% Physical Screen Expansion Possibilities. Runs perfectly under MultiTOS and all GEM legal programs. Including the ability to switch resolutions physically, eg. you can configure two resolutions one for stable and comfortable working resolution (eg. 880x608 76Hz non Interlaced) and a higher resolution for the impressions (eg. 1280x960) and you can switch via a HOT-Key. 480x480 680x480 880x608 1024x768 1280x960 ===== ===== ===== ===== ===== SOFT 2, 4, 16 110 85 52 (102) 36 (72) 23 (45) 256 107 86 52 (102) 36 (72) 23 (45) TC 58 (113) 45 (89) HARD I 2, 4, 16 154 124 76 53 (104) 36 (70) 256 107 86 52 (102) 36 (72) 23 (45) TC 58 (113) 45 (89) HARD II 2, 4, 16 154 124 76 53 (104) 36 (70) 256 112 89 54 (106) 37 (75) 22 (50) TC 60 (118) 47 (92) At Higher resolutions running in Interlaced is more recommended, the values in brackets ( ) are Interlaced values (however configurable according to user via the Video Mode Generator. BLOW UP NEWS ============ It received in the magazine STMagazine in the Germany the ST TOP Award for outstanding products! Blow Up from the Acher, Eberl and Seibert GmBH in Germany bring have brought about one of the most inexpensive systems around for Falcon Screen Expanders. -Create up to 5000 x 5000 pixels -Supports Virtual Resolutions -Already has a Video Mode Generators to create your own Resolutions -User Friendly Interface for handling (soft and hard) -High Compatibility -Turn Blow Up on or off via Software only -Change Physical Screen without re-booting -Built in Screen Saver with SpeedUP up to 70% more speed -And lots more It comes in three version. Version Soft is a software solution only. Its abilities are quite stunning. For only 25 U$D you can get up to 896x544 Non-Interlaced in 256 Colors. (53.4Hz) In True Color you can get up to 448x544 16bit, Non Interlaced. Price: 25 U$D Version Hard I is connected via your joystick port and Monitor Output. Special Version come with a built in Joypad, however an empty slot for additional Joy Stick/Pads is available. You can go as high as you like, however with a certain loss of quality, but 1280x1024 in 16 Colors is possible! at 67-69 Hz (Interlaced), or even 640x480 with a 89 Interlace Cloak (45 non interlaced) The higher resolutions are a real addition, and it uses a 48Mhz Pixel Clock as supposed to the internal 25/32 Mhz Clock. To get much higher resolutions. Price: 74.95 U$D Version HARD II is very fine, and gives you 5% more than Hard I in every aspect and is suited BEST for someone with an old VGA like the PTC1426 as these specific Monitors tend to be a little dodgy in their stability. 480x480 in True Color at 61Hz Non-Interlaced are possible! or 640x480 in True Color with a 92 Interlaced Clock Price: 99.95 U$D TOP TEN DOWNLOADS (12/22/93) (1) DELUXE INVADERS (6) LAUNCHER (2) ACCTRIS (7) DOGFIGHT 'DEMO' (3) STORM PATCH 1.01>1.02 (8) IDEALIST 3.4 (4) BLITZSCHNELL 1.47 (9) WORLD CONQUEST V.0.7B (5) ATARI MAIL ORDER DEALERS (10) HARDWARE REGISTERS HONORARY TOP 10 --------------- The following on-line magazines are always top downloads, frequently out-performing every other file in the databases. ST REPORT (Current issue: STREPORT #9.51) ATARI EXPLORER ONLINE (Current issue: AEO - VOLUME 2, ISSUE 22) Look for the above files in the RECENT ARRIVALS database. > The Old Fishin' Hole STR Feature """""""""""""""""""""""""""""""" The Old Fishin' Hole ==================== -A Guide to the Online PD/Shareware Waters. by John R. Duckworth Ho Ho Ho! Merry Christmas to everyone out there in Atari-land! As you read this Santa should be approaching some of the big cities to distribute presents (he always delivers the big city toys first) and spread holiday cheer. This Christmas Santa promised me a Jaguar, but one of the elves at the North Pole called me up today to say it would be a few days late (but he did promise by New Years Day). So while I wait for the cat to spring out of Santa's bag, I decided to search the nets and find a game that might provide me with a few hours worth of entertainment. As it turns out, I _did_ find an interesting new game, very much like the classic commercial game "Empire". "World Conquest" by Alois Felber of Switzerland is a strategy war game which pits up to four players, either human or computer controlled, against each other in a mission of world domination. Game play is almost exactly like "Empire", each player starts out with one city which is assigned a type of military unit to produce (such as tanks, submarines, anti-aircraft guns, etc.). As units are readied for battle, players may then move them to gain control of other cities. Unlike "Empire" which will produce a unit until captured by another player, "World Conquest" cities rely on raw materials to build units. Players start with 20 units of each raw material (oil, rubber and metal) but must capture more resource sites in order to continue production, and ultimately world domination. Players move units in turn by selecting an adjacent square on the map grid, or by selecting a target square for the unit to move automatically. It would be easier if the author had included the option of using the keypad to move units since that method is preferred by the most discriminating of strategy game players. Players may also put units to sleep if they simply want them to wait in a certain square and do not want to be bothered with the move prompt each turn. This leads me to the most annoying bug in the game. If a player has put some units to sleep, and the computer destroys all of his or her cities and regular units, the human players will never get another turn. The game should ask the human at the end of each turn (like "Empire") if they are finished, this would give the player a chance to wake units again. Some units in "World Conquest" have special weapon abilities. Bombers, anti-aircraft, artillery, and battleships may unleash special weapons which fire upon more than one square at once. Air and sea units may also use sonar or radar (depending on the type) to seek out enemy forces. Units may also be scrapped (if they are stuck on an island or deemed no longer useful) and some of the raw materials recycled to be used for new production. Probably the best feature of the game is the ability to link with another computer. The program offers two methods to hook up, either by modem connection or by a direct RS-232 datalink. The author says that there are still some problems which need to be fixed in the direct link mode, but if you have two computers already set up it might be worth a try or two. If anyone wants to try to play the game through Delphi drop me a note. I haven't tested either of the linked play modes, so I can't say precisely how well they work, if at all. "World Conquest" will work on all Atari TOS computers in any resolution capable of 16 colors. There is also a black and white option to allow those who have B/W multisyncs to play as well. I personally tested the game in ST low and Falcon 16 color high resolution modes and it worked well in both, although more of the map could be seen on the Falcon mode simply because of the better resolution available (although icons were _much_ smaller and extended play could have made me cross-eyed). If you were a fan on "Empire" and have come to the same conclusion as I that we will never see "Empire Deluxe" for our system, I suggest you download "World Conquest". This version (0.7a) is still a beta version, but the author needs input in order to see if he should continue with the project. Users who send Alois Felber a monetary donation will be thanked with a disk full of goodies including a world editor. Well, thats all the room I have for this week. Hopefully, the new year will bring hundreds of great PD/Shareware programs for all of us to enjoy. Don't forget to register those programs you use often, I for one just sent out two registrations this week. Have a happy and safe holiday y'all! Send comment or suggestion to JDUCKWORTH@delphi.com. +----------------------------------------------------------------+ | Old Fishin Hole Tackle Box * | +----------------------------------------------------------------+ | World Conquest v.0.7a | | Delphi: read WORLD CONQUEST | +----------------------------------------------------------------+ * The Tackle Box is meant to provide assistance in finding files mentioned in the column. It should not be considered a COMPLETE listing and is provided for convenience only. Delphi Atari Advantage files should be found in the Recent Arrivals section of the database until moved to their appropriate sections. __________________________________ ______________________________________________________ > ONLINE WEEKLY STReport OnLine The wires are a hummin'! """"""""""""""""""""""""""""" PEOPLE... ARE TALKING ===================== On CompuServe ------------- compiled by Joe Mirando 73637,2262 Hidi ho good neighbors and neighborettes. Well, its the week before Christmas, and all through the house... oh heck, I'm terrible at making this stuff up on-the-fly. At any rate, I'd like to wish everyone a safe and happy holiday season. Some of you may remember that last year I wrote a short column called "Yes Samantha, there is a Santa Claus... he just won't be bringing Falcons this year". It was about my niece who asked me what I wanted for Christmas. I then had to explain that Falcons were not available yet. Sammy seems to have gotten past the "Unka Joe? What do you want Santa to bring you?" stage, and is now quite content to shepherd her younger cousins into the wonderful world of getting the most out of Santa Claus. But not to worry, I have several more nieces and nephews which, I'm sure, will provide me with dialogue for several more years. As it turns out, this year I'd be able to tell Samantha that there are Falcons available. There is also the LYNX, Atari's superior hand-held video game machine and, if you happen to live in either New York or San Francisco, the Jaguar (hey Myles, that would make a wonderful present for your favorite columnist, wouldn't it? ;-) Also of note is the new production run of TT030s. Let's just hope that there are a few left over after the Jaguar developers get theirs. At first glance, it would seem that the re-emergence of the TT proves that Atari has not forsaken their loyal computer users. That is, of course, until you take into account that the TT is needed for game-makers to produce products for Atari's video game sensation, the Jaguar. Well, as my old-maid aunt used to say: "Never bite a gift-horse on the neck"... of course, she only used to say that after several glasses of egg nog, so I'm not too sure of what it really means. Okay, okay, I know that I'm rambling. So let's get on with listening to the folks who frequent CompuServe... From the Atari Productivity Forum ================================= CompuServe regular, Dazzz Smith, posts: "Just a quick note to say i'm back on-line properly now after a 2 week hiatus where I didnt have time to re-configure QuickCIS, so I was only replying to personal messages. I hope someone missed me? :-) And while I'm here may I take this opportunity to wish the members of the Atari Fora a very Merry Christmas and a prosperous New Year." Sysop Bob Retelle replies with holiday cheer... and a bit of humor: "Happy Holidays to you, and yours too... (Did you say you'd been gone...? :)" John Devlin joins in the fun and posts: " Dazzz?!? Do we know of such a chap ?? Merry Christmas & Happy New Year to you too Dazzz and all the Ataripro forum." Sysop Dan Rhea wishes Dazzz well: "Same to you Dazzz, may Father Christmas gift you with a Jaguar (the kind without wheels, or fur ), and a happy New Year too!" Dazzz replies to Dan: "Get a Jaguar? Nah. It might keep me away from my beloved modem. :-)" Dan replies: "Ack! That's true! If we did that, the balance of trade between the US and the U.K. would collapase in ruins. :) Seriously tho, It is good to have you and your sense of humor back online." Jon Sanford jumps in and adds his thoughts: "Now that you mentioned it has been real quiet around here. I was beginning to think the possibility of Sam Trammel lurking shut a lot of people up." Marty tells Don: "But, TOS looks like a Mac, In my opinion. I will be an Atari ST owner soon (thanks to Juli Wade). I have some software for it already. Hope to get some good use out of it. But, I spend equal time between a Windows PC and a Mac. I think Windows is more of a shaft than a Mac. As a DOS user for over 9 years, I like the Mac better. Don't have to mess with or worry about deleting a CONFIG.SYS file." Don tells Marty: "You know I value your opinion. I've used the ST series computer for many years. I suppose just like a NEXT or Apple or TI die-hard, I wish the the ST became for of a mainstream computer than it did. When you take a look at the architecture (keep in mind an ST is now dated), I think you'll see what I mean... The ST features PC logic with MAC ease. I'll be interested to hear your review." Marty tells Don: "I needed a machine that we could let my daughter use when she gets a bit older and didn't want to put her on a PC. So the price of the ST was right and it makes sense. I'll be sure to post a review." Russell Rosen asks Don Thomas about his Portfolio's "quirk": "I'm new to Compuserve, so pardon me if I don't use the Forum properly. I've had my Portfolio for almost four years now. I've been impressed with it and use it regularly. I have a minor problem I need your advice on. When I open the unit more that halfway (90 degrees +/-) the screen shuts off. What do you recommend?" Don tells Russell: "It sounds like the cable between the screen and the computer has been worn through. The bad news is that those are not easily replaced. The good news is that Atari does have an "out-of-warranty" procedure to replace them for U.S. and Canadian users. Simply send the Portfolio to Atari with $110 (U.S. funds which already includes return shipping and handling charges) and a replacement is immediately shipped. Send to: Atari Computer Corp. 390 Caribbean Drive Sunnyvale, CA 94088" Well folks, that's about all for this week. Actually, there was a lot more material available, but I've got to go out and get some Christmas shopping done... Gee, it its not one kind of deadline, its another. Be sure to tune in again next week so that you can sit back, relax, be among friends (heck, CompuServe is sort of a "virtual-reality friendly get-together), and listen to what they are saying when... PEOPLE ARE TALKING """""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""" STReport's "EDITORIAL CARTOON" """""""""""""""""""""""""""""" > A "Quotable Quote" "Yes indeed... "Tis the time of year!" """"""""""""""""" "May Peace and Contentment Reign Supreme in your Life!" ..Happy Holidays """""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""" > DEALER CLASSIFIED LIST STR InfoFile * Dealer Listings * """"""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""" --------------- ABCO COMPUTER INC. ================== P.O. Box 6672 Jacksonville, Florida 32221-6155 Est. 1985 1-904-783-3319 HOLIDAY SEASON SPECIALS IN EFFECT! ---------------------------------- INTEL 32 BIT 486 Tower PENTIUM READY (HAS SOCKET) PLUG-IN UPGRADABLE (easy) 4MB ram upgradable to 32MB 1MB SVGA VESA VIDEO CARD DOS 6.2 - Windows 3.1 Incl. 256K CACHE - 1.44/1.2 FLOPPY 200MB IDE hd - 2 SERIAL, 1 PARALLEL, 1 GAME PORTS 250W POWER SUPPLY TOWER SYSTEM will meet or beat _any_ legit, advertised price other high power packages available or, design your own! Call for pricing! 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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 20,001 PRIVATE BBS SYSTEMS """""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""" STR Online! "YOUR INDEPENDENT NEWS SOURCE" December 24, 1993 Since 1987 copyright (c) 1987-93 All Rights Reserved No.9.52 """""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""" 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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