Z*Net: 22-Mar-90 #512
From: Kevin Steele (aj205@cleveland.Freenet.Edu)
Date: 03/24/90-02:53:21 PM Z
From: aj205@cleveland.Freenet.Edu (Kevin Steele)
Subject: Z*Net: 22-Mar-90 #512
Date: Sat Mar 24 14:53:21 1990
////// // // ////// //////
// \/ /// // // //
// /// // // // ////// //
// /\ // /// // //
////// // // /////// //
Atari Online Magazine Issue #512
=========================================
(=) 1990 by Rovac Industries, Inc.
Post Office Box 59
Middlesex, New Jersey 08846
=======================================================================
Publisher/Editor - Ron Kovacs Editor - John Nagy
Z*Net Online 24 Hour BBS (201) 968-8148 3/12/24
CompuServe 71777,2140 GEnie Z-NET
=======================================================================
MARCH 23, 1990
( TABLE OF CONTENTS )
- THIS WEEK
New Writer, OverSeas Coverage and more................Ron Kovacs
- Z*NET NEWSWIRE
Weekly News Update..............................................
- LAYOFFS AT ATARI!
Atari News Update......................................John Nagy
- THE ATARI CD-ROM
Part 2................................................Jon Clarke
- AUSTRALIAN ATARI EXPO
Part 2................................................Lucas Lozo
- BOB BRODIE ON THE ROAD AGAIN
Texas Report...........................................John Nagy
- STOS CANADA
...................................................Press Release
- ST STACK
PD/Shareware Reviews.................................Alice Amore
- PEN INTERFACE
...................................................Press Release
- APPLE UPDATE
................................................................
- LETTERS TO THE EDITOR
................................................................
- Z*NET BBS LISTING
......................................................Ron Kovacs
- SUPERCHARGER REVIEW
........................................................Jim Kent
(*)(*)(*)(*)(*)(*)(*)(*)(*)(*)(*)(*)(*)(*)(*)(*)(*)(*)(*)(*)(*)(*)(*)(*)
THIS WEEK - by Ron Kovacs
(*)(*)(*)(*)(*)(*)(*)(*)(*)(*)(*)(*)(*)(*)(*)(*)(*)(*)(*)(*)(*)(*)(*)(*)
After reading numerous user group newsletter and revolution material
this week, I am surprised at the number of requests for letter writing
to Atari CEO Sam Tramiel.
As we all know, Sam is busy with probably 20-30 projects at a time and
reading all the letters he might have received to date, he would be
overwhelmed with reading material. However, there is another person you
might want to address your letter to. Try Jack Tramiel! He is the real
boss at Atari and the one who has appeared recently to settle a few
"discussions" taking place.
So, when addressing your letter to Atari, remember Jack!
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
I am pleased to announce that Jon Clarke has joined the Z*Net staff as
writer and New Zealand/Australia reporter. Jon will be keeping our
readers up to date on down-under happenings, Atari Australia and more.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
In our efforts to expand our overseas coverage, we have written to a
number of European contacts and received the following letter in
response.
March 7, 1990
Simple Logic - ST Club
49 Stoney Street
Nottingham NG1 1LX
Rovac Industries
PO Box 59
Middlesex, NJ 08846
Ron,
We keep bumping into reprints of Z*NET in magazines from all over
the world so it seems time we introduced ourselves. Enclosed are a
handful of our back issues plus a book we have been doing for the past
year or so. Please forward details of getting reprint rights on Z*NET.
Also, would you be interested in exchanging articles from our
newsletter?
Paul Glover
We have responded and look forward to sharing information with the
European Atari user base.
For your own information, we have provided a listing of all the Atari
companies around the world. Please write the companies listed for
information on Atari in these countries. If you do, please let us know
what type of response you get.
Atari Companies Around The World
================================
Atari United Kingdom, Intercity House, Railway Terrace
Slough, Berkshire, England SL2 5BZ Phone: 0044/753-33344
Atari West Germany, Frankfurterstrasse 89-91, D-6096 Rauneim
West Germany Phone: 0049-6142/2090
Atari Austria, Grosse Neugasse 28, A-1040 Vienna
Austria Phone: 0043-222-565155
Atari Switzerland, Bahnhofstrasse 28, CH-5400 Baden
Switzerland Phone: 0041-5621-14722
Atari Benelux, Hangenweg 7B, NL-4130 EB Vianen
The Netherlands Phone: 0031-3473-77272
Atari Benelux, Boomsesteenweg 28, B-2621 Schelle
Belgium Phone: 003-23-844-3366
Atari France, 9, rue Snetou, F-92150 Suresnes
France Phone: 033/1/450-66060
Atari Italy, Via Bellini, 21, 1-20095 Cosano
Italy Phone: 0039/2/613-4141-5
Atari Spain, PO Box 195, Los Calabozos 11, Poligono Industrial de
Alcobendas, E-28100 Alcobendas Madrid, Spain Phone: 0034/1/653-5011
Atari Scandinavia/Atari Sweden, Box 522, S-17526 Jarfalla
Sweden Phone: 0046-8-795-9120
Atari Denmark, Vaerkstedsgarden 7, DK-2620 Albertslund
Denmark Phone: 0045-2-643344
Atari Norway, Trollasvejen 4, N-1414 Trollasen, Norway,
Phone: 0047-2-808110
Atari Australia, 376 Lane Cove Road, North Ryde, NSW 2113
Australia Phone: 0061/2/805-0344
Atari Japan, No. 7 Koike Bldg 6F, 2-3-6 Minami-Shinagawa,
Shinagawa-ku, Tokyo 140, Japan Phone: 0081/3/450-711
Atari Taiwan, 31, Min-Chu Road, Chu-Wei, Tam-Shui, Taipei,
Taiwan Phone: 00886/2/622-1721
Atari Hong Kong, Unit B 3/F, Wong Tze Building, 71 Hoi Yuen Road,
Kwun Tong, Hong Kong, Phone: 00852/3/797-3266
Atari USA, 1196 Borregas Avenue, PO Box 3427, Sunnyvale,
California, 94088-3427 Phone: 408-745-2000
Atari Canada, 90 Grough Road, Markham, Ontario, Canada L3R 5V5
Phone: 416-479-1266
Atari Mexico, Viveros de Atizapan No. 1, Viveros de la Loma,
Tialnepantia, Estadio de Mexico Phone: 905-398-4379
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Last week CompuServe dedicated Section 10 in the AtariArts Forum Message
base for Z*Net Online. You can now leave feedback, ideas and commentary
on both pay services.
COMPUSERVE GENIE
=================================
Location:---> Go AtariArts ST
Message Base> Section 10 Cat 31
ID:---------> 71777,2140 Z-NET
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Thank you for reading!!!
***********************************************************************
Z*NET NEWSWIRE
***********************************************************************
QUICK ST II UPDATE: (From GEnie ST RT)
Here is some information about Quick ST II which did not appear in the
March 2 press release from Branch Always Software. In Europe, users can
order directly from Advantage Business System, 56 Bath Road, Cheltenham,
Gloucestershire. GL53 7HJ. We do accept Master Card orders as well as
VISA card orders. European users can use the Eurocard. We do not
accept other cards at this time. Additional Quick ST II fill patterns
have been uploaded to various bulletin boards, and more are in the
works. Users are encouraged to upload their own fill patterns and
desktop pictures that they created.
Atari users on the east coast should not forget about the Second
Canadian Atari Users Convention, being held on April 1 in Toronto. More
than 30 dealers and exhibitors will be present, including Atari, and
there will be hourly prizes. Several Branch Always Software developers
will be on hand doing seminars, demos, and answering any questions.
CEBIT 90:
550,000 attendees this week at the Hannover CEBIT show were hit with
numerous new products. Through various sources we are producing a full
report and will have all the happenings next week. GEnie has dedicated
an area within the NewsBytes area with reports from the show. To access
these reports enter "newsbytes" at any GEnie prompt.
HAND MADE MEGASTE AT CEBIT:
Atari was in attendance with a rumored hand made MEGASTe with a VME bus
as requested by developers, this again is a rumor which we could not
verify before publishing this report. Newsbytes has not reported on
the happenings of Atari or Commdore at the show. Z*Net will provide
more information as it becomes available.
ACTIVISION ANNOUNCES THUNDERBIRDS:
Thunderbirds, Activision's newest title for the Nintendo Entertainment
System was announced this week. Outstanding control, splash screens and
secret power-ups, this game might turn out to be one of the best flying
games for the Nintendo. The game is based on a 1970s television show of
the same name, that featured marionettes and model aircraft.
Thunderbirds will be available in September and retail at $39.95.
Activision publishes video game cartridges for the Nintendo, Nintendo
Game Boy, Sega Master System and Atari 2600/7800. Activision Video
Games are distributed exclusively by MEDIAGENIC.
GENIE DEBUTS IN EUROPE:
GE Information Services, announced at the Hannover Fair CeBIT'90 that
its GEnie online information service can be accessed in three European
countries -- Germany, Austria, and Switzerland -- via GEIS network
services distributors. The cost to access the GEnie service in these
three countries will be $18/hour U.S. for non-prime time access and
$27/hour U.S. for prime time access. The non-prime time rate applies to
usage Monday through Friday from 6 p.m. to 8 a.m. local Europe time at
the user's location, and all day on weekends and designated holidays.
For further information on subscribing to the GEnie service in Germany,
Austria and Switzerland, call Cologne, Germany: 02233 - 6091. For
further information on subscribing to the GEnie service in the U.S. and
Canada, please call 1-800-638-9636.
BELL CLOSES BBS:
As we reported a few weeks ago, Michigan Bell has closed the state's
largest independent BBS. Bell disconnected the 16 telephone lines
connected to the Variety-N-Spice BBS located in Grosse Pointe, Mich.
System operator Robert James told CompuServe's Online Today this week,
that his problems started when power surges began destroying modems
attached to the Michigan Bell telephone lines. James stated that he
felt his BBS was a hobby and thus business charges should not charged.
Bell stated that he would be their first test case and converted his
rates to buisness and asked him for $1,600 deposit. With a one week
deadline he could not come up with the funds and Bell has discontinued
his service. James has filed a complaint with the Michigan Public
Service Commission. CompuServe's Online Today tried to contact Bell
exec's, but were unavailable for comment.
VERBATIM TO BE SOLD:
Eastman Kodak announced that it will sell its Verbatim floppy disk
business to Japan's Mitsubishi Kasei Corp. for undisclosed terms.
Streamlining measures aimed at concentrating Kodak's resources on
imaging-related businesses were the reason stated for the sale.
LOGITECH BREAKS INTO HANDSCAN OCR:
Logitech Inc of Fremont, California, announced that they are now
shipping CatchWord Intelligent Character Recognition software, an OCR
package that has been optimized for use with the Logitech family of
ScanMan hand held scanners for IBM and compatibles. The new software
retails for $249, but is on an intoructory special for $199. The new
software beats older systems by reading most any font without requiring
a large amount of memory. It also allows full-page OCR by merging two
scans, optional column isolation, and multiple language recognition.
Logitech made a name for itself first in the Mouse market, and has
continued to make a splash with its low cost hand scanners. Recently,
the company has widened its scope to include Macintosh support.
Logitechm 415-729-8901. CatchWord might be useable with the Atari ST
via either an IBM emulator or the Spectre GCR. The existence of the
product for any platform brings hope that the Atari might see a
competent OCR system someday soon, perhaps from MIGRAPH, makers of the
only domestic Atari hand scanner. A European hand scanner is also
available that claims to offer OCR, but reports by users in the USA have
been VERY discouraging, with most of the buyers returning the unit as
unusable.
*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*
LAYOFFS AT ATARI!
*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*
Story by John Nagy
Atari Corporation laid off 15% of all of its United States employees,
effective at 5 PM Pacific Time, March 16, 1990. The layoff was a
complete surprise to nearly everyone at the Sunnyvale, California,
offices.
This cutback and layoff is NOT a temporary measure for those who
received their termination notice at the close of business on Friday the
16th. Employees were offered no expectation of callbacks in the
foreseeable future, but they are said to have been given "generous"
severance checks. It is common for Atari to give 6 to 8 weeks severance
pay.
The layoffs occurred at the service or labor level of all departments,
but particularly hard hit were Accounts Payable and Credit, losing 50%
or more of their staff. In some cases, personnel were reassigned to
other areas rather than let go. Atari officials are calling this a
"re-organization" rather than a cutback. That wording holds little
solace for the employees who found themselves "re-organized" out the
door.
Of the "Name" people with whom the public has any contact, there were no
terminations. Popular figures such as Bob Brodie, Charles Cherry, and
others were not directly affected. Additionally, no changes at the
executive level were made, at least publicly.
Conjecture by those near ATARI is that the cutbacks are due to the fact
that Atari simply has no product ready for immediate sale, and that the
bulk of those laid off had little to do that is essential to the current
level of U.S. operations. The fact that the upper level employees were
spared gives some reason to expect that this is not a long-term
reduction in overall operation, but more an immediate action for an
immediate situation.
However, Atari employees have been led to expect that the new products
and stock, so long missing from the US, would begin arriving no later
than the first part of April. If true, that would mean that the new
products and stock will be arriving at Atari while the laid off
employees are still enjoying paid severance time. This would seem to
indicate that either the products will not be arriving on the projected
schedule, or that the product, accounting, and business may be farmed
out to other companies or locations when they arrive.
Alternative sites for Atari operations in the United States have been
discussed, including consideration of a manufacturing site in
Pennsylvania and some talk of an additional building in Sunnyvale.
Atari's Pennsylvania possibility is an old Commodore facility, which
Atari is thinking of using for manufacturing LCD screens and components.
Jack Tramiel was pictured in newspaper accounts of his tour of the
building only last month.
Neither site offers options that would explain a reduction of force at
the main Sunnyvale offices, but the fact that they are being considered
at all gives reason to believe that the layoffs are not part of an
overall plan to further reduce the presence of Atari in the United
States.
CEO of Atari, Sam Tramiel, was unavailable for comment or to address the
employees, having left the USA for computer shows in Europe earlier in
the week.
***********************************************************************
THE ATARI CD_ROM
***********************************************************************
by Jon Clarke
The best kept secret in the USA. <continued>
The best leaked secret, somebody get a bucket. As most of you are aware
by now Atari have a compact disk reader called the CDAR504, if you were
not aware of this fact consider yourself one of the many curious users
out there wondering what Atari are going to do with this lovely little
device, the CDAR504.
Join those of us who have them, and imagine to our surprise they have not
been released in the USA. Last week you may have read that they are
available down-under. Some of us have gone out and got them for varying
reasons, which range from ...
o Entertainment <Audio Compact Disks>
o Storage devices for BBS files
o Storage devices for large games
o Storage devices for DTP
o Commercial applications, ie Department of Statistics (population)
I know of a few people both here in NZ and world wide who have them and
the most common reason they brought the CDAR504 is for their BBS. It
will allow them to have tens to hundreds of megs of files stored on
CD_ROM for all of us to download. There are also several companies who
have had a CD_ROM's (Compact Disk) mastered with Atari ST public domain,
which for user group p/d librarians with a CD_ROM will indeed love, and
for that matter your local sysop.
Why have the developers been so slow to develop programs for the Atari
CD_ROM? There are several exceptions. To date you can learn Music,
play an adventure game, load public domain software. But once you have
gone to your local store and realised that these CD_ROMS are not in
stock, you'll go out and purchase them via mail order. Well here we are
with all the Atari specific CD_ROM software. What now? Play your
favorite music? All those developers that have released software for
use with the CDAR504 have done a fantastic job.
So why has Atari been so slow in release the CDAR504? Is it due to the
lack of software? Wow these little beauties will run all the MAC and
IBM CD_ROMS. What a market coup this would be, Atari CDAR504 used in
the IBM and MAC world. What's more in most cases the CDAR504 is cheaper
than the IBM or MAC equivalent. Is this another reason why Atari has
not released it? Only time will tell if this compact disk read only
memory reader will hit the big time.
A parting note, all system operators of BBS's will be happy to know it
will work with most Atari BBS software with little or no software
changes required. As a file server/file storage device in this
application I can highly recommend it.
***********************************************************************
AUSTRALIAN ATARI EXPO - PART 2
***********************************************************************
by Lucas Lozo, Austech Computers
Melbourne Australia
BBS 03 894 2155
Well Atari Australia just conducted the very first Atari Expo show in
Australia (Well Done Atari!) in the Queen Victoria Buildings in Sydney
Australia. The article is another view of the exciting show already
covered last week by Jon Clarke.
The Show was reasonably well timed to co-incide with the Sydney PC-Show.
Atari Australia, run by Managing Director Mr. Nigel Sheppard, Marketing
Manager Gillian Franklin and National Manager Alistair Campion all
decided not to attend the PC Show 90 this year and instead, with the
same funds run their own show thus giving more floor space to exhibit
the Atari Product Range, which has grown considerably from the 520 and
1040ST back in 1985.
In looking back at the Show, I would say it was a success for Atari
Australia with over 4000 people passing through the doors. While the Pc
Show may have a lot more people pass through, available floor space
would not have allowed Atari to show the entire product range.
On display where an array of Mega STs with Moniterm Monitors running
various Packages; Word Flair, Dynacadd, Calamus, Outliner, Microsoft
Write and Ultrascript. Nathan From ISD Marketing Canada was also
present for the Australian release of OutLine Art, which turned out very
successful and impressed a large number of people, especially Atari
dealers. Nathan also conducted a Dealers Tutorial on OutLine Art and
Calamus, which was very well received by the Australian Atari dealers who
were present, and the National Dealers Conference a few days prior to
the Expo.
Nathan also displayed the DMC Linotype Interface which was demonstrated
to Delarco Australia, the Australian distributers of the Bromide
Typesetters. They where amazed of the Power of the Atari ST with
Calamus. I will take the time to say thank you Nathan for coming down
here.
The Atari 68030 TT was also on display, it had arrived a day before the
show. It didn't stand out too much as it was placed next to the ATW800
Transputer Machine, so most people were looking at very fast Real Time
RayTracing being performed by the ATW with 5 T800s installed. There
where about 3 Stacy Laptops about, one being used for DeskTop
Publishing, the other 2 being used for Music.
Top Australian Pop Group ICEHOUSE where there to demonstrate the Stacy
and Steinberg 24 while the other was being used with C-Lab Notator.
Other Attractions included the Spectre GCR Mac emulator attached to a
modified Mega ST4 with the Fast Technology T16 16Mhz Board, as well as
PC-Speed by Austech Computers which proved to be a very busy stand.
Paragon Computers had the PC Supercharger on display as well as the Hawk
series of Flad Bed Scanners.
The Entire Atari Pc Range was there from their Portfolio to the PC5 386
machine, these attracted only Dos users however. Most of them were
impressed by what the ST's were doing. They kept asking if that program
was available in the PC.
The CD rom was also shown with backing from software starting to be
available like SoundScope, written in Australia as well as the D+C
Enterprises collection of PD Software on a CD in the Austech Stand.
The LYNX was also on display in numbers were a competition was run,
where the highest scoring person would win a LYNX.
Various user groups and Software distributers also displayed various
new software like PC Ditto 2....which didn't work!
All in all it proved to be a successful show and showed the public of
what Atari Computers can actually do. All people involved should be
congratulated for their efforts on putting on a good show. These
include Nigel Shepard, Alistair Campion, Gillian Franklin and all Atari
Staff, Nathan from ISD Marketing, ICE HOUSE, Electric Factory, Paragon
Computers, Austech Computers, Pactronics, Computer Fair and any one else
I forgot to mention.
Lucas Lozo
Director of Austech Computers
*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*
BOB BRODIE - ON THE ROAD AGAIN: TEXAS
*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*
by John Nagy
Atari User Group Coordinator Bob Brodie has been traveling again. He
was on the road to Texas for the weekend of March 10, where he visited
users from ATARI USERS OF NORTH TEXAS (AUNT), INTACG, and DAL-ACE. He
attended the AUNT meeting in the Dallas Informart, "the" computer
gathering place for the Dallas area, where he addressed about 100
members. Bob showed the usual complement of Portfolio, Stacy with and
without GCR, and the STE. Bob was able to display SPACE ACE with the
new 4,096 color palette and digital stereo sound. After the meeting,
Brodie set up for a few hours in the general "swap meet" area of the
Informart, where perhaps 800 users of all kinds of computers visited
with him and looked over the equipment admiringly.
Curiously, DAL-ACE officers and members alike seemed to take Atari's
visit to their area quite lightly, and failed to send anyone to either
of the officer meetings or dinners that had been scheduled with Bob.
They also neither attended the AUNT meeting (being held in the same
building at the same time) where Bob spoke, nor formally invited Bob to
come to see them when he finished at AUNT. Some members did introduce
themselves to Bob later in the swap meet.
While in the Dallas area, Bob visited MEGABYTES, an Atari dealer in
Hurst, Texas, as well as stopping to look in at the COMPUTER EMPORIUM in
North Richland Hills, which was closed when Bob went by.
Organizers of the Texas visit were Herb Parsons, John Odom, and Gary
Sewell, who were very helpful and appreciative of Atari's efforts in
making personal contact with user groups. Bob Brodie will be continuing
to make visits to user groups as his schedule allows. If your group
would like a visit, contact Bob at (408) 745-2052. The best way to
organize a visit will be to coordinate a number of user groups within
your general area, so that Bob can speak to as many people as possible
during his trip, with a minimum of travel.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
NEW PRODUCTS/PRESS RELEASES
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
STOS CANADA
STOS CANADA is a company dedicated to ST programmers using STOS tools to
develop games, demoes, word processors, 3-D graphics, digitized songs,
Dungeon Maps, and much more!
The STOS CANADA CLUB offers bimonthly newsletters filled with the latest
tricks and tips from across North America and Europe. A growing CLUB
disc library provides source code and compiled programs anyone with an
STE, ST can enjoy.
If your new to STOS, the CLUB can help you create your own programs with
relative ease. Source code found in the CLUB library can help you learn
from other programmers.
Members, enter our October contest and win many prizes and cash awards.
Challenge yourself to make one program in 1990 and be first prize
winner.
Use the following address to:
Join the STOS CLUB STOS CANADA CLUB
Buy Library Files P.O. Box 2083, Station B
Submit Contest Files Kitchener, Ontario, Canada N2H
Enter your Stos Tips N2H 6K8
YES! Sign me up to the STOS CANADA CLUB at a low cost of $25.00US for
1990. Send Money order or personal cheque payable to STOS CANADA.
Give Name:___________________________________________________
STREET:___________________________________________________
CITY:_________________________PROV/STATE:________ZIP CODE ________
Please allow 3-4 weeks for processing. We have 100 Disk in our Library.
Many direct from Europe, Games such as Stratego, Virus, Froggy,
Massacre.
We will be exhibiting at the Atari Users convention in Toronto April
1st. Join our club if you cant make it up this way. We will attempt to
be at shows near you!
STOS CANADA - Dave Tomesch , Rob MacLennan
**********************************************************************
ST STack - by Alice Amore
**********************************************************************
KPT_DEMO.ARC Programmer: D.A. Brumleve, M.A. *DEMO*
============
"Kidpainter", which is available commercially, is a graphics design
program for children ages 5-11. This demo is complete except for the
SAVE and PRINT functions. Once again, D.A. Brumleve has done an
admirable job in producing a colorful, easy-to-use program which offers
enough options to keep even the most creative young minds suitably
challenged.
At the drawing screen, kids can draw freehand as well as using boxes,
circles, fills, lines, and text. If mistakes are made, three different
sized eraser nibs are available. Pattern fills (a wide selection are
available) can be used instead of solid fills, and text can be any of
several sizes and styles. An interesting feature lets the user draw in
horizontal or vertical mirror image (or both simultaneously).
The program also has a rubber stamp feature. A mini-picture can be made
and then "rubber-stamped" into a larger picture.
Once a picture is completed, it can be made into a puzzle and solved on
screen. This feature might possibly keep a family of kids busy for
hours as puzzles are swapped and solved.
If you've got kidlets, make sure they see this fine program.
NEWTRASH.ARC
============
Tired of the ho-hum-ness of your desktop TRASH icon? Perhaps a name
change will be exciting. NEWTRASH does what it does by changing the
DESKTOP.INF file. A template is included as are eight suggested icons
for your trash: ARMAGEDDON, BLACKHOLE, DATADUMP, FOOLISHNESS, GOODBYE,
LIMBO, MORGUE and OBLIVION.
HPDJHELP.LZH
============
Here's an interesting help file for users of the HP DESKJET printer,
especially when used in conjunction with programs from the TIMEWORKS
series. There are hints that might have passed you by. For instance,
have you received your free HP ink cartridge upgrade kit yet? Have you
tried cleaning your cartridge nozzle with a Q-tip and water? What kind
of paper have you been printing on, and are you satisfied with the
results? Read this file for some helpful answers.
NX_SETUP.LZH
============
This medium resolution program will allow you to set the Star NX-1000
printer from a menu. Among the configurables: fonts, control, pitch,
size, form feed.
!UPGRADES! !UPGRADES! !UPGRADES! !UPGRADES! !UPGRADES!
================================================================
DIARY_18.ARC v.1.8 Programmer: Craig Harvey * SHAREWARE *
Now includes "EdHak" which can edit disk sectors and your ST's memory.
DSKCHR33.ARC v.3.3 Programmer: Ron Sanborn * SHAREWARE *
Hard disk statistics display utility. Find out about your usage.
DUPLEX19.LZH v.1.9 Programmer: Mason Taube * SHAREWARE *
A chat system for SysOps and callers. Must be run through a DOOR.
FASTLZ20.LZH v.2.0 Programmer: Gary Burke * SHAREWARE *
Quicker unLZHing.
KE22.LZH v.2.0 From: Kepco International * SHAREWARE *
Provides powerful editing capabilities to software workstations.
LGSEL16C.ARC v.1.6C Programmer: C. F. Johnson * SHAREWARE *
Replacement for the GEM file selector. This version fixes a bug.
LHARC102.ARC v.1.02 Ported by: Bill Shroka
Utilities for .LZH files. Many additions and improvements.
PINHED16.ARC v.1.6 Programmer: C. F. Johnson * SHAREWARE *
Speeds up boot-up remarkably. This version does work with the STe.
PRHP12.LZH v.1.2 From: Kepco International
Super, whiz-bang print utility for HP Deskjet/+. Lotta STuff.
PROPRINT.ARC v.N/A Programmer: Odisseas Kosmatos
Squeezes text by 4x on Star printers and most Epson compatibles.
QUIZMAST.ARC v.N/A Programmer: D. W. Sexton * SHAREWARE *
First called "Q&A", this program builds and gives tests. GEM-based.
RO_CNTRL.LZH v.N/A Programmer: Larry D. Duke
Sets RS232, printer, colors, double-click speed, key click and bell.
SLICK1_1.LZH v.1.1 Programmer: Rupert Spencer * SHAREWARE *
"Slideshow Construction Kit" uses special FX when displaying pic files.
SLICKPICS.LZH v.N/A Programmer: Rupert Spencer
A sample script file plus 3 quality pics to use with SLICK1_1.LZH.
SOLOFLEX.LZH v.1.5 Programmer: R. A. Stolcpart DEMO
Database for progress-tracking on Soloflex or other workout machine.
SONNET_2.ARC v.2.0 Programmer: Albert Baggetta DEMO
Much improved database of W. Shakespeare's sonnets. 10 included here.
SUBCL114.ARC v.1.14 Programmer: J. Wrotniak
Sophisticated calculator performs a variety of high-level functions.
SYSMN091.ARC v.0.91 From: GRIBNIF
Beta. Sends a list of trap calls, along with called function.
TEMPLE_E.ARC v.N/A Programmer: Thomas Tempelmann
All-English version. Great machine language monitor and debugger.
VIEWGIF8.ARC v.0.8 Programmer: C.S.Buchanan * SHAREWARE *
Quality .GIF conversion program. Also supports CP8, AIM, and SPU.
***********************************************************************
PEN INTERFACE ANNOUNCED
***********************************************************************
Press Release
FOR: GRiD Systems Corporation
CONTACT: Bob Goligoski, GRiD Systems Corporation
Phone: (415) 656-4700, ext. 444
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
GRiD SYSTEMS ANNOUNCES PEN INTERFACE AND HANDWRITING RECOGNITION
CONFERENCE
Fremont, Calif., March 14 -- A conference to study computers that
understand handwriting and use pen interface software technology was
announced by GRiD Systems Corporation today. The Pen Interface and
Handwriting Recognition Conference is the first such national gathering
ever held for software developers, Value-Added Resellers (VARs) and
corporate information managers and analysts who want to learn about
computers that use a pen interface instead of a keyboard. The day-long
conference will be held on April 19th at the Doubletree Hotel in Santa
Clara, California.
Pen interface refers to electronic pen-to-screen technology. Pen
interface computers incorporate an electronic pen to enable users to
enter information by writing, typing or drawing rather than through the
conventional keyboard or mouse. The pen can also be used to select
information from a menu, list or database, and to initiate a
communications session to transfer or receive data.
"Based on the first six months of customer response to GRiDPAD, pen
interface computers will clearly be one of the fastest growing segments
of the computer market. The pen interface is going to supplant the
keyboard, mouse and wand in applications where handheld, notebook,
laptop or even desktop computers are now used," said Alan Lefkof,
president of GRiD Systems.
Conference panel discussions will be led by software developers who have
pioneered pen interface and handwriting recognition applications.
Sessions on the size of the market and the business potential for pen
interface software will be conducted by industry consultants, including
Tim Bajarin, Creative Strategies International; William Lempesis,
Dataquest Research; Peter Teige, InfoCorp; and E. Gray Glass III,
Prudential-Bache.
Commenting on market growth, Mr. Glass said, "We would expect pen
interface computers to be used by a majority of Fortune 1000 companies
by 1995."
Conference sessions are also scheduled to examine pen interface software
currently available, customer requirements for implementing pen
interface within large organizations, and productivity gains made
possible by pen interface applications.
The conference also will discuss how software developers, VARs and
corporate information managers and analysts can develop MS-DOS pen
interface applications for vertical markets to run on the GRiDPAD. The
GRiDPAD is a handheld, notebook-size, MS-DOS computer that uses pen
interface technology and recognizes printed handwriting. GRiDPAD
computers will be available for use by conference attendees for hands-on
demonstrations of current pen interface applications.
Commercial applications that will be discussed at the conference will
include: route delivery, service dispatch, market research, electronic
mail, facsimile capabilities, scheduling and calendar management.
Government applications to be discussed will include public safety,
intelligence, census taking and customs inspection.
The advance registration fee for the all-day conference is $65, a $30
savings over the on-site registration fee of $95. To register for the
Pen Interface and Handwriting Recognition Conference call Leilani
Ribardo at GRiD Systems (415) 656-4700, ext. 575.
GRiD manufactures and markets a range of battery-powered laptop
computers, industry-standard desktop computers, application software,
software development tools, portable peripherals and electronic mail/
networking systems. GRiD has installed systems in more than one third
of the Fortune 500 companies, and has a worldwide direct sales and
support organization, as well as consulting, training, support and
custom software development services.
GRiD is a wholly-owned subsidiary of Tandy Corporation, Fort Worth, TX.
Tandy is a leading manufacturer and distributor of consumer electronics
and computers. A New York Stock Exchange Company, Tandy has sales in
excess of $4 billion annually.
***********************************************************************
APPLE UPDATE
***********************************************************************
On Monday March 19, 1990 Apple unveiled a collection of new, high-
performance Macintosh products. The announcements included the
following: MacintoshIIfx; A/UX 2.0, a version of Apple's implementation
of the UNIX operating system; and a new family of powerful display cards
that set standards of image quality and performance.
The Macintosh IIfx runs up to twice as fast as the 25MHz Macintosh IIci.
This increase in performance derives from integration of new
technologies, including the following:
- The Macintosh IIfx incorporates a 40 MHz 68030 processor/68882
coprocessor combination, a built-in, 32K Static RAM Cache and new
design called "latched writes".
- The new system employs dedicated input/output processors and a Small
Computer System Interface/Direct Memory Access Controller.
- Expansion slot tied directly to the processor in addition to its six
industry-standard NuBus slots.
The Macintosh Display Card 4.8 is a basic video card that supports a
range of graphics on all modular Macintosh computers. The Macintosh
Display Card 8.24 is an extended version of the 4.8 card and offers
greater graphics capabilities, including photo-quality color.
The Macintosh Display Card 8.24 GC is a high-performance, graphics
coprocessor and video card that accelerates the responsiveness of all
Macintosh applications -- especially graphics-intensive ones, by up to
30 times.
Taken together, these three new display cards give users a higher range
of graphics capabilities: easier access to high-resolution color,
improved image quality and performance, and greater graphics.
A/UX 2.0 further extends the benefits of Macintosh computers to people
who work with UNIX. A/UX 2.0 retains the features of previous versions
of A/UX -- full UNIX standards-compliance and the ability to run
Macintosh applications -- and adds three major new features:
- the graphics-based desktop;
- the ability to run simultaneously multiple UNIX, X Window System and
Macintosh applications;
- UNIX functionality in an easy-to-use manner.
As with previous versions, A/UX 2.0 is based on AT&T V.2.2; runs the
large family of Macintosh applications; and complies with all major UNIX
standards, including: IEEE POSIX 1003.1-1988 FUS, AT&T System V
Interface Definition (SVID), ISO 9945-1 and FIPS 151-1. A/UX also
meets customer-demanded standards such as NFS 3.2, BSD 4.3 Extensions
and the X Window System.
Apple also announced several new training programs for customers and
authorized Apple Computer resellers. The new customer-focused programs
expand the locations and content of customer training. The new program
for resellers provides self-paced instructional materials for resellers
to train their staff.
Apple customers now have the option of obtaining training from many more
authorized training providers. As a result of a new authorization
program, the number of Apple authorized training providers in the United
States has increased from 27 to 135 since the beginning of the year.
Customers are ensured of the highest standards for training staffs,
facilities and computer equipment because all training providers meet
rigorous Apple qualifications. Authorized training providers include
Apple authorized resellers and third-party training companies.
New Apple-developed customer courses, available only through authorized
Apple training providers, include Introduction to the Macintosh personal
computer, Microsoft Word 4.0, Microsoft Excel, Microsoft PowerPoint,
Claris FileMaker II, Aldus PageMaker 3.0, Silicon Beach Software
SuperPaint, Acius 4th Dimension, and Adobe Illustrator '88. Authorized
Apple training providers are located throughout the United States.
Classes are held at their locations, or conducted at a customer's site.
In addition to the above news, Apple announced price decreases of up to
50 percent on its Macintosh memory expansion kits. Prices were reduced
on memory kits for almost all Macintosh systems as well as LaserWriter
NTX printers. Corresponding price decreases on selected highly
configured versions of the Macintosh IIx, IIcx and IIci. These systems
feature large amounts of standard memory (4MB) and large capacity hard
disks (either 80MB or 160MB). Apple lowered the price on its Apple Hard
Disk 20SC by more than 20 percent.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
LETTERS TO THE EDITOR
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
In response to your recent publication of the other side of the coin
about piracy I have a few notes I wish to share with you and your
readers.
First I do not agree with any statements pro-piracy. Perhaps someone is
forgetting that not only are morals involved here but it is a criminal
act as well. I have recently read about a software association that is
going after pirates and or businesses, perhaps his name should be passed
on to them.
I do not agree with the idea of censorship, I do believe he had a right
to tell his story and you had a right to print it. What I don't agree
with, and I think everyone who reads this column will also comment on is
the way it was presented. "Yes", there is a disclaimer in the article
but I think the disclaimer could have been more explanatory. I also
think that as an editor and knowing how much a controversial subject
such as this would cause major mixed emotions you would have placed it
in the files (local trash container) and forgotten about it.
I really treasure reading and writing for your magazine but in all
fairness I hope you can see fit to do something regarding the present
state of affairs this article has left with it's readers. You are not
the only online magazine but up until this time the only one worth
reading. I don't like to bad mouth the other guys but the last three
issues from them contained more advertising and news for other computers
(filler) than news for the Atari. Hey guys, change your name or
something! "Gees are us Atari users ever demanding!"
P.S. To those offended by the article I sympathize totally with your
feelings. I think that an article that tells people to go out and break
the law should never have been printed, but in all fairness everyone is
entitled to a mistake. I believe that the publishers thought they were
trying to bring both sides of a story together but I believe there is
only one side, the right side, the legal side, the moral side. I do
believe that the publishers share our views as far as piracy goes and
are entitled to the benefit of the doubt. To lose an important tool
such as this magazine to a tiff is a bigger mistake. We can't afford in
our Atari community to have bickering amongst the ranks, lets save it
for Mother Atari.
Terry Schreiber
T.R.A.C.E.
Vancouver B.C.
(Editors Note: Last week we presented views in response to the article
written by J. Hicswa. The staff on Z*NET does not support piracy and
presented another view.)
***********************************************************************
Z*NET MEMBERS BBS LIST
***********************************************************************
The following list is taken direct from the Z*Net Online BBS. To add
your system, simply call (201) 968-8148. These systems carry this
publication.
STATE AREA PHONE BBS NAME BAUD MAX
=======================================================================
New Jersey 201 968-8148 Z*NET Online BBS 3/12/24
Georgia 404 937-2305 Short Circuit 3/12/24
Georgia 404 937-2614 Short Circuit 3/12/24
New Jersey 201 827-7348 ST Information Station 3/12/24
New Jersey 201 805-3967 Blank Page BBS 3/12/24
Ohio 419 691-6459 Fantasy-Island-BBS 3/12/24
New Jersey 609 423-4865 The Temporal Fixation 3/12/24/96
Ohio 614 231-3716 The Mind's Eye 3/12/24
Florida 904 432-6009 STarBase BBS 3/12/24
New Jersey 201 390-9782 Hacker's Hotline ST 3/12/24
California 415 878-9602 Computer Rock BBS 3/12/24
Kentucky 502 266-5648 The Black Hole 3/12/24
Texas 817 547-1734 The Gate [Node 1] 3/12/24
Texas 817 547-1739 The Gate [Node 2] 3/12/24
Oregon 503 246-4048 Myth Adventures BBS 3/12
Pennslyvan 717 257-7637 RT&T Computers 3/12
New York 516 928-4986 East Coast Midi 3/12/24/96
New York 716 352-6544 The Free File Farm 3/12/24
New York 716 392-8793 1st Sgt's Canteen 3/12/24
Indiana 812 238-9295 WVAU BBS 3/12
Georgia 404 790-5593 THE FOUR ACES BBS 3/12
N Carolina 704 684-4225 Atomic Penthouse 3/12/24
Ontario 519 653-5389 Back To The Future 3/12/24/96
New Jersey 201 335-5274 Alpha Complex 3/12/24
New Jersey 201 298-0161 JACG BBS 3/12/24
Illinois 618 968-8148 METRO-EAST BBS 3/12/24/96
N Carolina 919 323-3934 Soldier City 3/12/24
California 415 531-1576 Pinky's House of Horror 3/12/24
California 916 894-1261 Fuji BBS 3/12/24
Australia 03 894-2155 Austech BBS ST Australia 3/12/24
Australia 03 878-1279 Austech BBS ST AUST V32 3/12/24/96
***********************************************************************
SUPERCHARGER REVIEW - by John Kent, TRACE
***********************************************************************
(Reprinted from the Puget Sound Atari News, March 1990)
February 20, 1990. For your reference, two excellent (though sometimes
conflicting) reviews of the SUPERCHARGER are presented in ST Reports 406
and are worth reading. I will help clear the fog here, and add a few
questions to boot.
POWER SUPPLY - SUPERCHARGER for the US has an external 5 volt 1 amp
power supply (the same as some older Atari power supplies -- mine is
from an 800!). The European model comes with a power supply drawn from
the mouse and joystick ports, split to allow TOS mouse use. Earl
Murray, the owner of both Talon Tech in the US and Condor in the UK,
will probably provide a choice of configurations but notes that, with
other current draws on the Atari the external supply may be safer all
around. Mega users may not want another cord to the keyboard, while
520ST users won't mind. Anyhow, no more reaching under the keyboard to
wrestle with a mouse plug!
RAM - In all probability the best configuration will be with 1 Meg RAM
on board the Supercharger, although the smaller RAM configuration will
likely be sold for those who are sure they can pick up cheaper RAM chips
(they MUST be the same speed, 150ns or faster).
HARD DISK PARTITION RECOGNITION - SUPERCHARGER is VERY particular about
its hard drive booting. It requires a partition all its own (not C:)
and this partition has to be hidden from TOS. That part is easy -- just
don't have a drive icon for that drive on your desktop. Just don't try
to access it from TOS (for instance with UIS) or it will corrupt the DOS
information. In addition that partition needs to be at least 4 Megs in
size to be recognized, so those wanting DOS hard drive boots had better
have large capacity drives.
The GOOD NEWS is that SUPERCHARGER will recognize your non-DOS
partitions as long as the partitions are more than 4 Megs or less than
16 Megs.
FLOPPY DRIVE RECOGNITION - SUPERCHARGER will recognize, read and write
to TOS-formatted floppies!
VGA COMPATIBILITY - Work is in progress to have a Supercharger inboard
VGA card. Installation will provide for a 9- or 15-pin port on the rear
of the Supercharger to go directly to a MultiSync monitor. Projected
for April release.
Earl Murray also sells an "OMNISWITCH" which allows switching of mono-
to-color monitors (or MultiSync for Atari) and 3.5 - 5.25 inch drive
B:'s. He is considering another twist on the Omniswitch to allow
throughput of the MultiSync so that the one monitor could ~o unplug from the Supercharger and
into the Omniswitch. "But that's another story!"
PROBLEMS
There are two obvious problems at present, with promises that fixes are
imminent (let's hope it's not "Welcome to Vaporware," folks):
1) No BACKSLASH - This is a big problem for DOS users. The problem is
that the European software has been brought over, and there isn't a
keyboard equivalent for the BACKSLASH "\" key. Unfortunately this
is a _MAJOR_ oversight for which a software fix is hours away, to
quote the programmer who also runs the GEnie line that Talon
Technologies operates. Let's hope so. My personal problem is in
running BEDFORD, a small business accounting package (now owned by
ACCPAC because they didn't want competition!) that requires a "\" in
its path definition before running.
2) MODEM SUPPORT - At present the only modem software I have is Procomm
v1.3, a popular shareware program of incredible sophistication.
While they do have a more recent update (? v2.4), Supercharger will
not run Procomm because of supposed timing problems and/or illegal
calls. As far as DOS emulation goes it may be a while before one
can use it for telecommunication. Be that as it may Interlink is
good in my books, with mouse support and everything else.
Criticism aside, this is a very fast and very elegant unit with a foot-
print just a little larger than a 3.5 inch floppy drive. For anybody
with space problems inside their 520ST (or myself, with a Mega2 and
Supra 40 Meg Internal hard drive which eats up ALL the space on the left
front of the case!), this unit is superb. Screen fonts are excellent. Compatibility is not a problem with any non-copy-protected software.
AVAILABILITY - Supercharger in the US with a type "A" FCC approval. In
Canada, Department of Communications (DOC) approval is necessary because
of the 24MHz crystal clock used as a driver. They will rubber-stamp any
FCC approval, but the unit may be approved independently and available a
little sooner north of the 49th Parallel. We all hope.
By the way, that's not all BAD NEWS for Americans. Look at the Atari
STe. For all of the griping about STe's being available in Canada
before the US it may be a blessing in disguise. There have been
annoying if not horrendous problems with control panels, software
compatibility and numerous bug fixes which make us Canucks look like
your Beta testing grounds (sort of like Cruise missiles). You're
welcome, even if you aren't saying thanks!
Stay posted. For those who don't like to mess around inside their
computer this unit is a blessing.
(Forwarded through the TRACE BBS, (604) 272-5888)
=======================================================================
Z*Net Online is a weekly online magazine covering the Atari community.
Opinions and commentary are those of the individual authors and do not
reflect those of Z*NET, Z*NET ONLINE or Rovac Industries. ZNET and ZNET
ONLINE are copyright 1990 by Rovac Industries. Reprint permission
is granted as long as ZNET ONLINE and the issue number is included at
the top of the article. Reprinted articles are not be edited without
permission.
=======================================================================
ZNET ONLINE Atari News and Reviews FIRST!
Copyright (c)1990 Rovac Industries, Inc..
=======================================================================
Contributed by Atari SIG user, Kevin Steele.
Thanks Kevin!
--
-----------------------------------------
Return to message index
