ST Report: 10-Apr-92 #815

From: Bruce D. Nelson (aj434@cleveland.Freenet.Edu)
Date: 04/13/92-06:24:11 PM Z


From: aj434@cleveland.Freenet.Edu (Bruce D. Nelson)
Subject: ST Report: 10-Apr-92 #815
Date: Mon Apr 13 18:24:11 1992



           *---== ST REPORT INTERNATIONAL ONLINE MAGAZINE ==---*
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 April 10, 1992                                                     No.8.15
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 > 04/10/92: STReport  #8.15  "The Original 16/32 bit Online Magazine!"
   -------------------------
      - The Editor's Desk      - CPU REPORT         - SPA NAILS ANOTHER!
      - FLASH II INFO          - Advantage!!        - PORTFOLIO NEWS!
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      - LEXICOR UPDATE         - MIST FEST IV       - STR Confidential

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                 WHAT'S NEW IN THE ATARI FORUMS (April 10)

                        NEW IN ATARI VENDORS FORUM
                        """"""""""""""""""""""""""
     Oxxi Software  announces  that  registered  Atari  users  of Superbase
 Personal/2  and  Professional/3  can  update  to the latest version of the
 program.  Please read message # 25350 for details.

     CodeHead Technologies announces the release of Warp 9,  formerly known
 as  Quick  ST.    This  product  has  been  revamped for usability, speed,
 compatibilty, and  features.    See  WARP_9.TXT  in  Library  16, CODEHEAD
 SOFTWARE for a full description, availability, and ordering information.

     Oxxi, Inc.  has acquired  the Atari  Product line  formerly offered by
 Precision Software and has  begun development  on an  upgrade to Superbase
 Professional.   Oxxi is  interested in  your comments  on new features for
 this upgrade.  Please read and  respond to  message #  25112 in  the Atari
 Vendors Forum  (GO ATARIVEN),  or send  a message to Pat @ Oxxi at User ID
 number 76711,457 in Section 4 ("OXXI/Precision") of ATARIVEN.

                           CONTEST IN APORTFOLIO
                           """""""""""""""""""""
     We are now running a NEW CONTEST for  Portfolio Programmers.   You can
 submit any  program you  have written, in any language, in either compiled
 or source form.   Prizes will  include free  CompuServe connect  time, ROM
 cards, and  a subscription  to "Take  it With You."  Please read message #
 28538 for complete details.


                  THE ATARI PORTFOLIO FORUM ON COMPUSERVE
                          HAS BEEN DESIGNATED AN
                OFFICIAL SUPPORT SITE BY ATARI CORPORATION

            "GO APORTFOLIO TO ACCESS THE ATARI PORTFOLIO FORUM"


  ***********************************************************************




 > CPU STATUS REPORT               LATE BREAKING INDUSTRY-WIDE NEWS
   =================


    Issue #15


    Compiled by: Lloyd E. Pulley, Sr.



  -- Windows 3.1 Introduced This Week

 Thousands of computer users and industry experts will got their first
 look at Microsoft's Windows 3.1 this week at Windows World in Chicago.
 Windows 3.1 is being promoted by Microsoft as doing what Windows 3.0
 does, but doing it easier and faster.

 Windows 3.1 is expected to be delivered this week to those who placed
 their orders early.

 Microsoft just about cornered the market on floppy disks to get ready to
 ship the estimated 1 million copies of Windows 3.1 it expects to ship in
 the first 30 days.



  -- European PC Market Fragmented

 According to a report from Datamonitor, a London-based strategic manage-
 ment consultancy, the European PC market is more fragemented than ever
 before, with no single manufacturer dominating the market.

 In the UK's 1.5 million unit sales market the ratings are as follows:
 Compaq and IBM each have 14% of the market, with Commodore coming in
 third place with 13.2%. Amstrad holds fourth pace with 7.8%, followed by
 Apple with 6.8% and Olivetti with 5.7%.  Atari is next with 0.5%.  After
 that, the market is highly fragmented with several companies holding the
 remaining 38% of market share.

 Germany, also with a 1.5 million unit sales market, Commodore leads with
 15.0%.  Second place goes to Atari with 13.0%, followed by IBM with
 11.8%. The rest of the pack is as follow: Compaq - 5.0%, Amstrad - 3.3%,
 Olivetti - 2.4%, and Apple - 1.9%.  Forty-seven percent of the market is
 held by others.

 France with a 1.2 million unit sales market is a different picture.
 Compaq and Atari lead with, respectively, 13.3% and 10.1% market share.
 The other five companies -- Apple - 8.5%, Amstrad - 7.9%, Compaq - 6.6%,
 Olivetti - 4.7% and Commodore - 3.8%.  The "others" have 45.1% of the
 market.

 Italy, with 700,000 annual unit sales, finds Olivetti leading with 25.0%
 of the home market.  Second place goes to IBM with 21.0%. After that, it
 is Commodore - 7.9%, Amstrad - 5.7%, Apple - 3.5% and Atari/Compaq with
 2.9% each. The rest of the market -- the others -- hold 31.1%.



  -- Dell Computer to Bypass Pen Computing Products

 According to Dell Chairman Michael Dell, the company has no immediate
 plans to enter into the pen-based computer market, although the company
 does see some initial demand for the product.

 "The first generation of pen-based PCs are kind of a joke," Dell
 reportedly said after his address at COMDEX this week. Dell cited weight
 and operating problems with pen-based computers. He did not rule out
 future interest in pen-based computers, saying, "We're not jumping in
 right now. The pen market is probably six to nine months from starting
 to take off."



  -- Microsoft Intros Windows for Pen Computers

 Microsoft has shipped Microsoft Windows for Pen Computing, alias Windows
 for Pens, a Windows 3.1-compatible operating system designed for pen
 input.

 Microsoft launched the new system with a demo set to the theme of the
 hit movie "Wayne's World". The demo made the point that there are al-
 ready hundreds of applications ready to run on the new system, including
 all those which work with Windows 3.1.

 Especially radical was a demonstration of a cursive-recognition system
 from Lexicus. Microsoft said a total of 187 companies have announced
 support for the new operating system, and 80 expect to ship products
 this year.

 Pen-based computers use a pen-like device called a stylus, with which
 the user draws, writes, or checks boxes on the computer screen. The
 operating system is able to translate these images into computer-
 recognizable characters. Windows for Pens supports more than 70
 functions that developers can use to create pen applications.



  -- Russia to Adopt Software Copyright Law

 Russia, in an effort to ease concerns about software piracy by Western
 investors, is expected to pass its first software copyright law this
 month.

 According to reports, illegal copying is so widespread in the former
 Soviet Union that vendors are often forced to sell their products well
 below what they charge in other countries to prevent them from being
 pirated.

 In February, the Russian Parliament passed the first reading of a
 revised draft of a copyright bill written with industry guidance. It
 makes copying software illegal, provides for statutory damages and
 allows for the seizure of illegal copies.

 "Its a minimal law but it's a start," said Jane Kitson, director of
 Lotus Development's Russian subsidiary. "They say they want to be
 official now and that's the first time we've heard that from customers,"
 she added.



  --SPA Raids New York Camera Firm

 Manhattan's Grand Central Cameras, also known as GCT Photo Dealers 420
 Lex Inc., has been raided by US marshals following software copyright
 infringement complaints lodged by the Software Publishers Association.

 In a statement from Washington, D.C., the SPA says the raid was conduc-
 ted on behalf of its members Lotus Development Corp., Microsoft Corp.,
 WordPerfect Corp., Datastorm Technologies Inc., Fifth Generation Systems
 Inc., Interplay Productions Inc. and Sphere Inc.

 The SPA contends Grand Central Cameras "systematically violated software
 copyrights by putting pirated software on computers to gain an unfair
 commercial advantage in the sale of computer hardware."

 The statement says marshals and SPA representatives seized three desktop
 and two laptop computers containing allegedly pirated software products.
 In addition, all unpackaged computers on the premises were searched by
 the SPA. Some 25 disks allegedly containing copied programs and serving
 as duplication masters also were seized as evidence, as were a sample of
 sales records.

 The trade group has filed a federal suit against the company and, says
 the statement, "on April 2, Grand Central Cameras agreed to submit to,
 and on April 3, the court entered, a preliminary injunction forbidding
 unauthorized software copying."




  ***********************************************************************


                    :HOW TO GET YOUR OWN GENIE ACCOUNT:
                     _________________________________

                       To sign up for GEnie service:

      Set your communications software to Half Duplex (or Local Echo)
                     Call: (with modem) 800-638-8369.
               Upon connection type HHH (RETURN after that).
                         Wait for the U#= prompt.

                 Type: XTX99587,CPUREPT then, hit RETURN.


 GEnie costs only $4.95 a month for unlimited evening and weekend access to
 more  than  100  services  including electronic mail, online encyclopedia,
 shopping, news, entertainment, single-player games, and bulletin boards on
 leisure and  professional subjects.   With  many other services, including
 the biggest collection of files to download and the best online games, for
 only $6 per hour.

 MONEY BACK  GUARANTEE!   Any time during your first month of membership if
 you are not completely satisfied, just ask for your $4.95 back.


        GEnie Announcements (FREE)

  1. March '92 GEnie Billing Complete - To review yours, type:....*BILL
  2. GEnie Clients in Arizona, Indiana & Hawaii -- Please Note....
  3. Cast your vote for GEnie's education services................*SURVEY
  4. San Angelo, TX - Access Number Change........................*PHONE
  5. RTC 4/13:Time & Money-saving Tips for Business Mailers.......HOSB
  6. Special GEnie-Jam RTC set for MASSACHUSETTS GEnie Users......GENIEUS
  7. BOXING FANS. Talk about BOXING every THURSDAY................SPORTS
  8. FREE Connect time. $500 worth................................BASEBALL
  9. Play World League Football, Win a T-Shirt Saturday with......QB1
 10. The New World of AMATEUR RADIO - Complete info RTC 4/12......RADIO
 11. Tulips on Your Family Tree...................................GENEALOGY
 12. Don't forget the TRIVIA QUIZ happening NOW in................MAINFRAME
 13. Soviet/CIS Space Hardware For Sale...Congress Wants In.......SPACE
 14. This is YOUR brain on Florida...Take our Survey in...........*FLORIDA
 15. Last chance to win German Assistant from MICROTAC............*GERMANY

 from the ST RT

              Last Month's Top Downloaded Programs/Utilities:
              """""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""
             -------------------------------------------------
 23263 LZH201K.LZH              X ST.REPORT    920316   29696    755  40
       Desc: - Quester's LATEST Version, 201k -
 23127 GOGODNCR.LZH             X T.MAYFIELD1  920310   46336    391  12
       Desc: Go-Go Dancer as a Desktop Accessory
 22979 DFORMAT.LZH              X B.LUNESKI1   920301   15872    345   2
       Desc: Diamond Format V2.1 PRG and ACC
 23100 G_MAP.ARC                X D.BECKEMEYER 920308    8320    319   2
       Desc: GEM pgm generates a map of disk data
 23070 CAL_62A.LZH (LH5)LZH     X V.PATRICELL1 920307   75520    262   2
       Desc: Cal v6.2a - Hot calendar accessory!
 23262 GMAP_2.ARC               X D.BECKEMEYER 920316    7168    258   2
       Desc: V1.1 of Disk Mapping pgm
 23109 BLITSIM.PRG              X J.FOURNIER   920309     512    241   2
       Desc: Simulates a blitter on an ST or TT.
 22968 MOUSEBT3.LZH             X ST.REPORT    920301  101376    238   2
       Desc: - MouseBoot V3   TOP NOTCH BOOTER -
 23222 STWEL46.ARC              X B.NOONAN     920314   45696    201   6
       Desc: ST WRITER ELITE V. 4.6 WP
             -------------------------------------------------



         GEnie Information copyright (C) 1991 by General Electric
            Information Services/GEnie, reprinted by permission


  ***********************************************************************





 > Soft-Logik Conference STR OnLine  GEnie's Soft Logik Online Conference
   ================================



           The Following is a transcript of an online conference
                           held on 4/2/92 in the
                      Soft-Logik Roundtable on GEnie


 <NEVIN-S>
     Welcome to another Real Time Conference with Deron Kazmaier, president
 of SoftLogik Publishing.  Since we have a small group tonight, I'm going
 to let Deron make an initial statement.  OK, Deron, do you have an opening
 statement tonight? GA  (By the way, GA means Go Ahead). GA

 <DERON.K> For the Amiga..
     Thanks for coming tonight.  HotLinks is the latest good news. It
 started shipping a few weeks ago, and has been greeted by most with open
 arms.  With it came a minor update to 2.2 to fix some HotLinks related
 bugs and to support some "last minute" feature we added to the IFF DTXT
 text format.

     What is HotLinks? It's the live, automatic exchange of data.  What
 this means is that if you edit your text in a text editor, the changes
 will update in your DTP program without loss of formatting applied in
 either program.  Same goes true for any kind of data.  Pictures, graphs,
 musical notes, video clips.

     HotLinks acts as a kind of data traffic cop, sending new copies of
 data to applications "subscribing" to the data "edition" even if the
 applications were not loaded when the changes occured.  For more info call
 us! (1 800 829-8608)

     HotLinks is an open system, and we invite others to join us in
 supporting what could be the most important enhancement to the  Amiga
 since Arexx.  For more info and a developer kit call us.  We will also be
 putting an archive of the developers kit together and placing on-line here
 for all to enjoy.  Look for it soon.


 <DERON.K> For the Atari ST....

     No major announcements at this time.  However, many people have
 commented that with the release of HotLinks for the Amiga that Soft-Logik
 has abandoned the ST market altogether.  Let me assure you this is not the
 case.  Just that we have preannounced products in the past and this
 generates alot of grief and ill will.

     I can tell you that minor and major updates to the ST will continue
 for as long as our users continue to support us.  With even the
 international markets weakening, nothing is more important than the
 installed base to us and every other publisher on the ST (most of this is
 true for the Amiga as well)

     PageStream wise, I can't show my cards just yet, but you won't wait
 forever. I _can_ tell you that several import modules are on the way and
 you will be seeing them soon.  The ones in beta stages so far are: Calumus
 text, Arabesque bitmaps, ThatsWrite text, STAD  bitmaps, GEM3 (yea!) and
 another one I can't remember. These modules will "happen" within the
 month.  Beyond that, I'm pleased to inform you that Nathan at ISD has
 forwarded to us copies of the latest CVG format, and we will roll one out
 as soon as possible.

     Some people have even asked where is HotLinks for the ST?  First let
 me say that HotLinks actually started on the ST over 2 years ago, but we
 ran into several problems, most of them related to the lack of
 MultiTasking.

     However, HotLinks for the ST is not forgotten, just put on hold for a
 better time. On the other hand, PageLiner (a text processor) and BME(a
 bitmap editor), won't happen anytime soon on the ST. What  that means is
 that for HotLinks to happen it is going to take  support from other
 venders.

     HotLinks is an open system, and the invitation to look at it is open
 to the ST developers as well as the Amiga. This is were the users can
 help.  If this technology is interesting to you, then push other
 developers of your favorite products to find out more about it, and if
 enough developers are actually interested in it, it's chances of life are
 that much better.  Also, push Atari to support it, or even put it in the
 OS. No better way to get support than to put it on every machine.

 Well, let's get on with the Show!

 <NEVIN-S>
     I will now unlock the room so everyone can talk freely. HOWEVER,
     please be sure to /RAI your hand so I can call on you...the real
     reason I am unlocking the room is because it is easier for me to run
     the conference that way. <grin>

 <NEVIN-S> OK, here goes...

 ** <NEVIN-S> Room is now in the talk mode.

 <NEVIN-S> OK, please /RAI your hand if you have a question?

 <NEVIN-S> OK, John, go ahead..!

 <[john] J.E.DONOHUE>
     Thank you for coming Deron we appreciate your time.  Any plans for
     speed up of screen redraws especially concerning Type 1 fonts almost
     unuseable except for headlines.   GA

 ** <S.MARKOW> is here.

 <DERON.K>
     Well, like I said not much I can say about future plans for PageStream
     except that it's on the wishlist :-)  However, there is away around
     your problem.  Use bitmap screen fonts.  Only thing is finding them
     sometimes is difficult.  You can create them with some utilities
     depending on the machine your on and how well you can deal with less
     than happy software. ga

 <NEVIN-S> Followup John?  ga

 <[john] J.E.DONOHUE>
     On the wishlist .. how long is the wishlist and is TABS, leaders on
     that wishlist for the ST users? GA

 <DERON.K>
     Several people have asked for that :-)  Thats an understatement.  I
     can assure you they are. actually most ask for left/center/right
     /decimal with leaders.   ga

 <NEVIN-S>
     Thanks, John..! Ok, next up is Ron. Ron, what is your question? ga

 <[Ron] R.HARISCH1>
     With all the 24 bit graphics boards for the Amiga, is SL planning to
     support 24 bit graphics in PageStream? GA

 <DERON.K>
     Yes, we plan on it. We even hope for it. But it's going to take some
     work on the board manufactures parts. Right now the most advanced
     boards (those that support the library created by DMI for the
     resolver) still do not provide any support for windowing and the like.
     We don't have the time to do their work. However, it may be changing
     soon. ga

 <NEVIN-S> Do you have another ?? Ron?

 <[Ron] R.HARISCH1>
     I've heard that Art Expression will be much better than ProDraw.  Can
     you highlight some of its features? GA

 <DERON.K>
     Well, most of the important ones are the interface and ease of use.
     Also, the ability to bind text to a path and text in a shape.
     Blending, tracing, good set of drawing tools, loads Aegis Draw,
     Illustrator, DR2D. want more?  GA

 <[Ron] R.HARISCH1>
     Yea, when will we see it?  :)

 <DERON.K>
     No release date set. But I can say the manual writer has been busy.
     But the program is still some time away. AS a registered user you can
     be sure of getting propaganda in the mail when it's closer :-)

 <[Ron] R.HARISCH1>
     Thanks Deron - Looking foreward to it. GA

 <NEVIN-S>
     Thanks, Ron. Next up is Martha. Martha, go ahead.

 <[Martha] M.DYCUS>
     I make calendars with a lot of little columns.  I have a problem
     making the text stay where I put it.  For instance...I will tab a line
     over and save the DOC... when I return to it the text is NOT tabbed.
     What can I do? ga

 <DERON.K>
     What happens to the text? Does it move? Do you put carriage returns at
     the end of the line? If you just let Pagestream word wrap, and then
     try and space or tab over, it will suckup that white space next time
     you load the doc.

 <[Martha] M.DYCUS>
     It moves from it's tabbed position back to the left side.  Yes I use
     CR.

 <NEVIN-S>
     I think I might have a suggestion for this one...may I?

 <[Martha] M.DYCUS>
     Please.

 <DERON.K>
     Well, I would bet it has something to do with that.  Try stretching
     out the column. ga Nevin

 <NEVIN-S>
     OK, when I make charts or calendars, this is what I do. I make one
     vertical line, then duplicate it say 7 times, 1 inch horizontal.  We
     now have 7 columns. Then I do the same thing making 4 rows (for 4
     weeks in a month).  Then I make a text object (just click on the page,
     no column) of say 24 point Triumvirate and type the letter "A".  Then
     I duplicate this 7 times, 1" horizontal.  They are now all in the
     center of the top row. Now I grab all 7 "A" and duplicate this 4 times
     1 " down.  Finally, just click (with the text cursor) on any A,
     backspace, and change it to the letter(s) that you need.  It works
     great, and everything is perfectly centered! ga

 <[Martha] M.DYCUS>
     ok....thanks!   ga

 <NEVIN-S>
     Ok, glad I could help out!   Next up is our friend Steve Markow.

 <S.MARKOW>
     Thanks Nevin..

 <S.MARKOW>
     First, I got cut off before when you said something about abandoning
     the ST and I didn't hear the response, so if you don't mind a summary,
     second is there any plans for something like Art Expression or some
     companion program for the ST?   ga

 <DERON.K>
     What I said about the ST was that we are not leaving it behind, just
     that not every thing that happens on one machine will happen on the
     other.  Second,  I feel that with Outline, Arabesque, and other
     drawing programs (geesh, I can't remember what CodeHead is doing...)
     AvantVector and others its a well troden market. Also, both
     PageLiner/BME/ and Art Expresion are done by programmers who have 0 ST
     experience.  That doesn't mean that another program under the same
     name won't happen, just not the exact one.  But we do have some plans
     for the future in that direction, but nothing even more than a twinkle
     in daddies eyes and scratched on paper.   ga

 <S.MARKOW>
     What about an interim patch program to fix the bugs with the ST
     version until a new version is done?    ga

 <DERON.K>
     anything is possible :-) You'll have to read my whole opening
     statement where I talk about not able to show my hand when it comes to
     PageStream. Let's just say it's a real possibility for such a thing to
     happen.   ga

 <NEVIN-S> Thanks, Steve!

 <S.MARKOW>
     Ok, thanks, Nevin make sure it's archived, I'll check it later. Thanks
     Deron, gotta run,. ga

 <NEVIN-S>
     Next up is Mike. Go ahead, Mike.

 <[Mike Angier] M.ANGIER>
     Since, you can not comment further on bug fixes for ST/TT Pagestream,
     perhaps you would care to comment on support for extended video cards
     for the ST/TT (esp. Crazy Dots which supports up to 256 colors ... a
     new version will do 32K colors, particularly, getting away from Line-A
     towards "legal" VDI usage. GA

 <DERON.K>
     Well, PageStream already support 256 colors. not so sure about 32K as
     the OS extensions to support more than 256 colors is not done as I am
     aware. PgS2.1  On the ST is 100% VDI!   ga

 <NEVIN-S>
     Anything else, Mike?

 <[Mike Angier] M.ANGIER>
     Well, I guess I had better bark up a certain German Tree then...GA

 <NEVIN-S>
     OK, thanks Mike. Deron, one user left a question to me in e-mail,
     and here it is...

     "With more and more of my clients requesting that I make coupons (with
     the Recession and all) is there a chance that you will add 'real
     corners' on boxes drawn with dashed lines? The coupons would look a
     LOT better with real corners. Thanks for any info." ga

 <DERON.K>
     Well, what he is really looking for is borders.

 <DERON.K>
     That's one the infamous wishlist, but it's not very high. The best way
     to do what he wants is to actually draw the dashes inside a drawing
     program, or even Pagestream, then group it. The you can get the exact
     corners he needs, and can call it up and size it at will.  That would
     be a simple solution that would work. Which is what counts  when your
     trying to make a buck. I could even create something and upload it
     that did what he wants. I've got a few drawing programs laying around.
     :-)  ga

 <NEVIN-S>
     Deron, that is a good idea..! Perhaps I will create some boxes for him
     and upload them to the library here. With the duplicate feature, it
     should be easy to do.

     OK, next up is John. John?

 <[john] J.E.DONOHUE>
     Not a question but Steve echoed my thoughts my opinion I think bug
     fixes to the current version far outweigh ANY new import modules that
     will be here within a month.  Maybe another wishlist. Lotta "wishing"
     by ST users. GA

 <DERON.K>
     Well, some things may happen sooner than you think. One thing you have
     to remember is that when a new version of an existing program is
     pending, sales drop to the zero mark fast. However, things like import
     modules don't stop anyone from buying the existing products because
     its not nearly as exciting. Just to shed some light on things, we have
     all been very busy with HotLinks and the Amiga2.2 release, but with it
     now out the door, I find myself with a little spare time (I only wish,
     but you get the picture)   ga

 <[john] J.E.DONOHUE>
     ok Deron .. so don't say anything and we'll be patient puppies and
     wait for the announcements.  <GRIN>   love the product ... for what
     it's worth...

 <NEVIN-S>
 OK, next up is B.O.B., from Twin Peaks  <grin>  BOB?

 <B.O.B.>
     Thanks...wondering about the 'ole rumor about text along a path from
     within the program...any future in this? BTW, LOVE 2.1 (could do
     without the bugs, though) GA

 <DERON.K>
     Well, I can tell you that text along a path in PageStream won't happen
     anytime soon.  It's not on our "wishlist" BTW, we keep two  wishlists,
     the likely and the unlikely. This is one the unlikely.  It belongs in
     drawing programs, and makes for very tough text editing in a program
     like PageStream. BTW, several programs on the ST already support this.
     (I am assuming you are on the ST) ga

 <B.O.B.>
     One more kwickie...how about a Voters form in the next newsletter.
     Something like "What 5 new features or old bugs do you want looked at"
     GA

 <DERON.K>
     Well, actually user input molds alot of what we do these days.  You
     see one doesn't have to ask for opinions from the loud ones.  They
     tell you whether you want to know it or not :-) Seriously, I get
     several letters a week from users asking for features.  ga

 <B.O.B.>
     Just one more...only prob with using another prog for text along a
     path... is that NO other progs use PGS proprietary fonts or
     Compugraphic fonts.  ;*(

 <DERON.K>
     Thats why we support three formats now.  Also, there is a converter
     program that converts between PGS and Type1s.  Don Turnock I believe
     is the man behind it. ga

 <NEVIN-S>
     Bob, Didot Pro can use Adobe Type 1 fonts, and it is GREAT at text
     along a path. Of course, it lists for $999. <sigh>

 <B.O.B.> Thanks...ga

 <NEVIN-S> Thanks, next up is John Duckworth. John, go ahead..!

 <[John] J.DUCKWORTH2>
     I recently purchased a used version of 1.8 from another user...what is
     the procedure for re-registering the program in my name ?  And is it
     possible to upgrade to the newest version?   ga

 <DERON.K>
     Good question.  We are actually putting it in our new manuals in the
     future.  We get about 1 call a week for this.  The quickest thing is
     to have the user contact us with his name and address, and the new
     name and address.  If you can't get ahold of the user, then call our
     sales line and give them the reg number.  They can track him down and
     verify it.  If he is unreachable they will keep his old record and
     mark it inactive and add you in.  Not very difficult.  Just call
     1-800-829-8608.

     Also, one thing every one should be aware of is that if you upgrade to
     2.1 that does not entitle you to sell your 1.8.  Unless you bought 2.1
     brand new. The upgrade fee we charge is to upgrade the program, not
     give a new one. This makes some transfers tough because people will
     upgrade to 2.1 and then sell 1.8. What they don't realize is that
     there is only 1 registeration number, and that transfers everything.
     Also, then the 1.8 owner can't upgrade to 2.1 because we can only
     allow 1 upgrade. Well, enough company policy for one sitting. ga

 <[John] J.DUCKWORTH2>
     The person I bought it from did not upgrade so it should be no problem
     then. Thanks

 <NEVIN-S>
     Thanks..! Next up is R.BROWN. Go ahead.

 <R.BROWN30>
     We are using PgS on TT's and would like to know if there might be a
     possibility of using very large color TIFFs (8+ megabytes) where the
     picture file is accessed not unlike that is, accessed as file, but not
     within the TT memory. What about virtual memory support or file
     linkage.  ga

 <DERON.K> I think I understand your question. Can I answer? ga

 <DERON.K>
     Other than saying it's on the wishlist (likely list), there is a
     solution (albeit a hack) when printing to postscript. Are you? ga

 <R.BROWN30>
     yes, We are printing to 3 in-house imagesetters, and scip spin based
     scanner

 <DERON.K>
     ok, well PageStream2.1 supports imbedded EPS comments now.  What you
     can do is have the tiffs seperated into 4 seperate EPS files, then
     import an FPO.  This was created to work with our local imagesetters
     spin system they use with Quark, so you should be in business it
     sounds like :-)    Need more info?  ga

 <R.BROWN30>
     Please provide as much info as possible. GA

 <DERON.K>
     Well, the spin system (is it linked to a hell or sitex scanner?) will
     output 4 eps on to a Mac system, one for cyan, mangeta, yellow, black.
     It will also create a very small eps with a tiff header that you use
     for position only, and rough draft printing.

 <R.BROWN30>
     Please bear in mine that to use Quark is to defeat the purpose of
     having TT's and Pgs. It is a Hell spin based scanner.  ga

 <DERON.K>
     You don't have to use quark, I'm just saying that the feature was put
     into the SPIN system to support Quark.  How dare you imply that :-)
     Anyway, Pagestream will send the small FPO eps when printing "no
     seperations" but when you print 4-color seps, it places special
     comments into the postscript file that tells a downloader to merge in
     the external files. You don't even have to have the huge scans anyhere
     near PageStream.  Do you have a mac system for downloading, or do you
     connect the ST direct. And how does the SPIN system offload the files
     in your setup?   ga

 <R.BROWN30>
     Sorry no offense, puns, etc. intended. We support PgS to the death
     around here.  It's connected to a Mac linked to a PC network. The TT
     picks the files up off the PC network.  ga

 <NEVIN-S>
     Next up is Martha. Martha??

 <DERON.K>
     OK, just call the spin people up and ask them how to create the EPS.
     ga

 <[Martha] M.DYCUS>
     Is it possible to create something in OUTLINE ART and import it into
     Pagestream?...this may be what B.O.B. asked..ga.

 <DERON.K>
     Yes, two ways. 1, you can convert it into an EPS file and place it
     inside for printing to a postscript printer or a clone like
     UltraScript or Composcript. The other way is to convert it into
     another format with programs like Arabesuq or Avant Vector. Third way
     ok, I lied about the 2) is to wait for a CVG import module. ga

 <[Martha] M.DYCUS>
     Thanks!!  ga

 <NEVIN-S>
     OK, folks...I have to pack so I can fly to Toronto tomorrow at 7am.
     However, feel free to stay here and chat among yourselves. Deron,
     THANKS for coming tonight. We had a small crowd, but lots of excellent
     questions. I will have to beat up Fred to get more Amiga folks here..!

 <[Martha] M.DYCUS>
     Nevin!!...Look at everything TWICE!!  Once for me.. *grin*

 <NEVIN-S>
     Any closing comments Deron (and remember, just because I'm leaving
     does not mean you have to leave too! <grin>)?? ga

 <[john] J.E.DONOHUE>
     gee, what does that tell you, the loyal ST users. (sigh)

 <DERON.K>
     When you get back, let's plan one about a month in advance :-) and
     pick a good night I guess. I would have wanted more ST users even.  It
     makes for a more interesting night.


 <R.BROWN30>
     Deron, a quickie: how soon before Appletalk for the TT and Mega STe's
     are released?  What is holding this up?

 <DERON.K>
 Have fun in toronto, don't do anything I've already done  :-)  Say hi to
 Mark and Dan, and keep and eye on them. I'll stick around here for awhile.
 bye

 <NEVIN-S>
     OK, sorry about the short lead time. But really, I think we covered a
     lot of ground. Folks, that is it for me...and please hang around if
     you feel like it. Fred will upload a transcript over the weekend.
     Goodnight, all.

 <[john] J.E.DONOHUE>
     thanks Nevin .. safe trip

 <[Martha] M.DYCUS>
     Night, Nevin

 ** <NEVIN-S>
     has left.

 <DERON.K>
     R.Brown. Are you intersted in it?  We have put the project on the back
     burner do to a resounding lack of interest.

 <R.BROWN30>
     Yes!  Is there any way to get a Beta prototype, WE'LL PAY for it!

 <DERON.K>
     Well, how about you call tommorrow and we can work something out.

 <R.BROWN30>
     That'll be Mike Choo calling...

 <DERON.K>
     We have some stuff that you can try,  and if it works we can sell it
     you   :-)  I thought Mike had it already?

 <R.BROWN30>
     Negative

 <DERON.K>
     Well, I thought it was now up to 2 people that were interested in it.
     Now you tell me you work with (or for) the first person interstest in
     it   :-(

 <R.BROWN30>
     We'd like to run Appletalk on top of Ethernet

 <[john] J.E.DONOHUE>
     Dee Dee is interested in it...big time

 <[Martha] M.DYCUS>
     Night... and THANKS, Deron for a great program!


 <DERON.K> bye martha

 <DERON.K> Well, you both can call me :-)

 <R.BROWN30>
     Deron, we at Digital Imaging Systems feel we can help with the
     marketing of Appletalk after sorting out the bugs.   ga

 <DERON.K>
     I thought Mike was PO'd at us because we didn't make him happy?
     Anyway, it's not the marketing part. It's the fact that the installed
     base of TT's and Mega STes can be counted on your hands (almost)  ga

 <R.BROWN30>
     Richard speaking -- Michael tends to be a baby about some things but
     he does have more systems than that himself.   ga

 <DERON.K>
     I realize that (about the # of systems) Just that even one large user
     would have a hard time offsetting the 1 manyear+ spent on the system
     already. We started the project early on hoping Atari would move some
     units of the TT and STe.  sigh.  Such is life when you hook your
     sleigh up to a falling star and not a shooting comet.

 <R.BROWN30>
     Right now we have 3 offices and would seriously attempt to increase
     the interest and possible sale of multiple units.  What number should
     I call?  - Mike   ga

 <DERON.K> 1-800-829-8608.

 <FRED.M>
     by the way.... I can't see if anyone has a raised hand!  So we will
     have have to wing it!

 <DERON.K>
     well, if someone has a question, just blast away. ga

 <DERON.K>
     there is only 6 of us.  It can't get too bad   :-)

 <R.BROWN30>
 Thanks, one other question (Richard) how about more ink control in the
 DeskJet driver? We get overspray.

 <DERON.K> Do you mean DeskJet 500 color? ga

 <R.BROWN30>
     Yes. And who to speak to at that number?

 <DERON.K>
     you can ask for me richard. just make sure you give the secretary the
     full details of who you are our she won't even patch you through :-)
     I'm well sheilded :-)     ga

 <[john] J.E.DONOHUE>
     Deron .. is the "disappearing" fonts from the font selector box on the
     bug fix wish list?

 <DERON.K>
     John, the disappearing fonts would be on the "done been fixed" list if
     we kept such things and talked about unreleased products. ga

 <[john] J.E.DONOHUE>
     "kept such things" ??   don't understand

 <DERON.K>
     I said that the disappearing font bug would be on the "fixed bugs
     list" if we kept such a list and if we talked about products we don't
     talk about before they are released. vous compreane?

 <R.BROWN30>
     In particular, the DeskJet 500C in BLACK cartridge mode tends to eat
     up cartirdges at a superhuman rate. Very wet pages. Mike Choo says
     thanks and will call and make himself known.

 <R.BROWN30>
     Mike Choo also wants to sell you an imagesetter. Any thoughts?

 <DERON.K>
     Well, unless he also sells me some more floor space to park one, it
     will have to wait till we move later this year. Otherwise, what we
     need is true postscript considering the kinds of testing we have to
     do. We also need something that will do good color work. If he can
     supply, I can be interested. The postscript must be VERY good if its
     not Adobe. ga

 <R.BROWN30>
     It is very small, smaller than LC890... It is true PostScript.  By
     Birmy and prints files that will not print on a RIP 40 from Linotype.

 <DERON.K>
     john, did you understand?

 <[john] J.E.DONOHUE>
     well ..  sorta I guess .. you don't keep a "well we fixed that bug"
     what's next" list?  it just gets frustrating

 <DERON.K>
     well, maybe I should come to miami and see it :-)  Can you send me
     some specs?     Or just tell me now?

 <R.BROWN30>
     Send sample PostScript color files to Transcaribe on Syquest and I'll
     send samples back post haste... We can talk it over on the phone...

 <DERON.K>
     ok fine. Mind if I put timing code in it?  ga

 <R.BROWN30>
     It would just be easier for me to give you a number where you can
     reach me now and I can better discuss what's for grabs.

 <DERON.K>
     John, I understand. It's hard to work around.

 <DERON.K>
     Richard, got a number? I'm at home but I have a open phone line.

 <FRED.M>
     What can Postscript Level 2 add to PgS???  I see NEC has new model 95
     Laser printer with level 2 Postscript and RET technology like the
     HP-III's for $1749 list!

 <DERON.K>
     Fred, level 2 will add better memory cleanup, better pattern fills,
     and more compatability problems :-)

 <[john] J.E.DONOHUE>
     who will be at the ACE show Deron?

 <DERON.K>
     John, Mark from tech suppo, and Dan from R&D will be there. Dan is
     giving two classes

 <[john] J.E.DONOHUE>
     met Mark in Orlando last year

 <[john] J.E.DONOHUE>
     Fred .. Tom Yurick has posted some messages concerning Level 2 with
     PGS in the RT, but I believe that printer can switch back to level 1
     easily

 <DERON.K>
     what was that John about Tom Yurick?

 <[john] J.E.DONOHUE>
     Tom Yurick has an HPIIIp (I believe) and sent his PS cartridge back to
     Hewlett Packard for an exchange to Level 2.

 <FRED.M>
     Will the current PS drivers work with and use some of those better
     fills and features etc??

 <R.BROWN30> By the way, this is Mike C.

 <DERON.K>
     Rich & fred, well we are adobe developers, and we will support it, but
     we don't now. The memory management and speed you get for free and the
     rest you can get by just hacking the postscript.prolog file (on the
     Amiga that is) on the ST, you gotta wait a little while.

 <[john] J.E.DONOHUE>
     gonna run ... thanks for your time Deron

 <DERON.K>
     bye john

 <R.BROWN30>
     Deron, Mike here, is there any chance we will see the new postscript
     driver pretty soon with the prolog file?

 <DERON.K>
     gee, what is it with Florida people? 4 of them out of total!

 <DERON.K>
     anything to add d.wilson? you've been quiet.

 <D.WILSON74>
     Other than my previous question, I'm happy w/ PgS (Amiga) The only
     thing I don't like is the level of incompetence at Mobile, AL print
     shops.

 <DERON.K>
     yea, well you would be suprised at the number of places in the country
     who think that if they can't load it up into Quark or Pagemaker, they
     can't print it on their imagesetters.  You would think they would
     learn a little more about their hefty investment.

 <D.WILSON74>
     These people can't even accept that MS-DOS disks can work in some
     Macs.

 <R.BROWN30>
     Deron are there any more plans to add more styles that are recognized
     by the program without using the fontequiv file - SHADOW

 <DERON.K>
     Well, we routinely talk to print shops...anyway, if you want we can
     train your locals in the fine art of making money off of you. We call
     shops like that and try and explain to them how to download stuff like
     ours all the time.

 <D.WILSON74>
     Probably the unknowing print shop staff :)

 <FRED.M>
     maybe that would be a good article for the next DTP World?

 <DERON.K>
     Well, as luck would have it,I wrote 2 articles for the next DTP world,
     and one of them is taking PageStream to the Lino :-)

 <D.WILSON74>
     Good luck. The closest thing Mobile has to an Amiga dealer who sells
     Adventure Const. set for $60.00.

 <DERON.K>
     rich/mike, what was that about fontequiv?

 <R.BROWN30>
     In familys, if there is a style call shadow wplus others, the shadow
     style must be added through font equiv.

 <DERON.K>
     Well, most likely some of the default fonts it knows about can be
     extended.

 <R.BROWN30>
     By the way, there are problems with the bleed command when using
     eps files

 <DERON.K>
     I mean styles, not fonts. I'm pretty sure it knows about Shadows?
     Hmmm, maybe not.   ga

 <R.BROWN30>
     Deron, lets put is this way, I have a large fontequiv file with a
     number of added styles, Shadow. DemiBold and a few others.

 <DERON.K>
     Well, send me the list and I will try and build the reoccuring ones
     in. Then you won't have to specify it for every font. ga

 <R.BROWN30>
     How do you rate your appletalk against the parallel port on the TT.
     Speed wise. Which is faster.

 <DERON.K>
     Well, appletalk kills it in speed :-) Our only problem is that we get
     an occasional lostpacket, which it recovers from, but it tacks on an
     extra 10 seconds. Doesn't happen every time you print, just sometimes.
     Anyway, it screems. I can give you an example time tommorow.

 <R.BROWN30>
     Whats our cost for the Software.

 <DERON.K>
     Free unless it works :-) Depends on whether you just want to bundle it
     without docs etc, or if you need manuals etc.

 <R.BROWN30>
     Ok thanks for time will speak to you tomorrow. Mike C.

 <DERON.K>
     ok, bye.


 <D.WILSON74>
     I'm sure you've been asked this already, but I came in late.  Any idea
     on the release date of Art Expression?

 <DERON.K>
     No release date set. Sorry.  I talked alittle about it, and you might
     be able to gleen some more info from the transcript.  Are you doing
     that fred?

 <FRED.M>
     yes!

 <D.WILSON74>
     I'm just tired of drawing cartoons in DPaint. Jaggies (shudder)

 <DERON.K>
     I understand, :-)   It will be worth the wait!

 <D.WILSON74>
     I just hope the drool doesn't short out my computer... :)

 <DERON.K>
     I doubt it, but we did have a user complain to us that his wife wanted
     a divorce after PgS2.2 came out because he never left the computer for
     several days straight   :_)

 <C.BALDWIN9>
     Deron, I just logged on here so I probably missed it, but I thought I
     saw something about a new version of Pagestream for the Amiga, is this
     true?

 <DERON.K>
     Well, we just released a version called 2.2 HL. The patch file do go
     from 2.2 to 2.2 HL is online.

 <C.BALDWIN9>
     Is there one for the ST/TT coming anytime soon?

 <DERON.K>
     Check the transcript later!  It's been long since covered.  We are
     kinda in free form, gabbing now :-)

 <FRED.M>
     ok folks...its been a long night!    ;-)

 <DERON.K>
     most everyone is gone. Just the 4 of us left.

 <D.WILSON74>
     One last question...

 <DERON.K>
     Yea, same here. Nice talking with you. Yes?

 <D.WILSON74>
     Has SL had a chance to look at Migraph's OCR software for their
     scanners?

 <DERON.K>
     Just briefly at the AmiExpo in long beach.  Was running on a TT no
     less. What about it? ga

 <D.WILSON74>
     Just wondering how well it worked. Can't tell much from press
     releases.

 <DERON.K>
     Yea, well it's still beta so anything can happen.

 <C.BALDWIN9>
     Deron, do you know of a program for the ST/TT that can create AFM
     files from PFB files?

 <DERON.K>
     not sure. not that I am aware of.

 <C.BALDWIN9>
     D.Wilson, I had a close hand look at it, and it is very nice!

 <FRED.M>
     ok...that's a wrap!   thanks for coming everyone....check out the
     library this weekend for the transcript!

 <DERON.K>
     ok, thanks fred for hanging in till the bitter end :-) bye everyone.

 <DERON.K>
     bye

 <D.WILSON74>
     bye, and thanks for PgS.

 <FRED.M>
     bye folks!

 ** <DERON.K> has left.


                                  THE END !!!




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 > THE FLIP SIDE STR Feature        "... a different viewpoint..."
   =========================



                    A LITTLE OF THIS, A LITTLE OF THAT
                    ==================================


 by Michael Lee


                              ----------------

 From Rod Coleman (Sudden View) - From the Jerry Pournelle Roundtable...

   Thank you very much. As Jerry knows, its a very old argument. Look up
   the April 1981 edition of, I believe, EDN or maybe Electronic Design.
   One of them did a special benchmark issue on three new chips, the
   Intel 8086, Zilog Z-8000 and the Motorola 68000. Motorola was hands
   down winner in performance, architecture, ease of programming -
   everything. Zilog had some nice points but still had limited
   addressing. As for Intel, the question was rasied as to whether they
   would even stay in the microprecessor business. It was suggested that
   they stick to making RAM memory. I wonder what that editor's doing for
   a living now?

   Because of its 370 background, there was a rumor that IBM wanted to
   use the 68000 for its new PC product, but Motorola would not guarantee
   volume production by August, so the Intel 8088 was selected. For that
   reason I started a computer company to manufacture 68000-based
   computers; but that's another even longer story.

   Since August of 1981, millions of programmers have written an untold
   number of lines of code for PC compatibles. And even more millions of
   user have learned to deal with the memory constraints of the Intel
   processors running under MS-DOS.

   All of this code it will have to be rewritten, and users will have to
   learn new software WHEN we go to a true 32-bit architecture (notice I
   didn't say IF we go to a true 32-bit architecture). This work has
   already started as developers move their programs from the PC to Mac,
   Next or one of the RISC machines.

   Considering all of the rewriting of code, and the relearning by one
   humdred million users that will occur in the next ten years, I believe
   that the selection of the Intel processor by an IBM employee in 1981
   may be the biggest mistake ever made by any single person in the
   history of mankind. Just add up the man-hours of effort: you'll see
   what I mean.

   There's lots more, but I hear sirens. And if I get a topic cop who
   likes Intel, I'm in real trouble. Anyway, thanks for the comment.

                              ----------------

 From Craig Atkins - Cat. 11, Topic 2, Msg. 13 - from the ST Roundtable
 on Genie...

   Hello, My name is Craig S. Atkins. I am the editor of our user group
   newsletter, The Lilly Pad.  We are the Front Range Atari User Group,
   (FRAUG) located in Fort Collins, CO. Jerry Belfor (303)223-2604 is our
   current President. Our mailing address is:

   FRAUG
   3012 Rockborough Court
   Fort Collins, CO 80525

   I believe we have approximately 40 members and adding 1-2 monthly. We
   have only been around for 3 years.

                              ----------------

 A list of games that will run on the TT - Cat. 9, Topic 3 - from the ST
 Roundtable on Genie...

 From Frank Goron - Msg. 46...

   I'd love to see an up-to date list of games that run on the TT. I'll
   start things off with my own list and I hope others will contribute
   their own lists.

   Anything by Sierra (even if they DID abandon the Atari platform).

   FTL - OIDS, DungeonMaster, Chaos Strikes Back (did they do anything
         else?)
   Night Hunter (Ubi Soft)
   Maniac Mansion (LucasFilms)
   Future Wars (Interplay/Delphine)
   Arkanoid II - Revenge of Doh (Taito)
   Trivial Pursuit - (Domark) really awful game!
   MicroLeague Baseball II
   JET - (SubLogic)
   Orbiter - Spectrum HoloByte

 From N. Steel - Msg. 47, 52 & 53...

   Deuteros (using an auto folder loaded with 24bit & 50Hz boot)
   Silent Service II (Microprose)
   M1 Tank Platoon (Microprose)
   Railroad Tycoon (Microprose) - By the way, Railroad Tycoon works
                                  straight from the box, 'Make1Meg' is
                                  not required, odd!
   Flight Of The Intruder (Spectrum Holobyte)
   UMSII (Microprose/Intergalactic Development)
   Their Finest Hour (Lucasfilm)
   Heimdall (Sort of works, problems with screen redraws)
   Empire (Interstell)
   Proflight (Hisoft)
   Red Storm Rising (Microprose)
   Monkey Island (Lucasfilm)
   UMS 1 (Rainbird/Intergalactic Development)
   Balance Of Power 1990 Edition (Mindscape)
   Breach 2 (Omnitrend)

   Almost all of the games I've mentioned are hard drive installable, the
   exceptions being Deuteros and Heimdall.

   P.S. Blue Max also works without Make1Meg. The trouble is the game is
   really lousy.

 From Joe Meehan - Msg. 48...

   TETPNE (Tetris (Spectrum Holobyte)
   Battle Chess (Interplay)
   The Sorcerer of Claymorgue Castle (Key Punch)
   Silent Service (Sub Logic)
   Planetarium (Is this a game?) (Atari)

   The above are working for me, They may not run in all res, games
   seldom do that anyway <grin>.

   Slither (PD) (runs far too fast to play) (:-( Does anyone know how to
   fix this?

 From Jonathan Roy - Msg. 50...

   Populous II runs, but isn't playable in any way. It just plain suck at
   TT speed. (You can win nearly ANY level in under 10 seconds...)

 From Scott Sanders (SDS) - Msg. 51...

   Be sure and add Loom (Lucasfilm) to that list.

                              ----------------

 Some questions and comments about Atari's history - Cat. 18, Topic 8 -
 From the ST Roundtable on Genie...

 From Steve Johnson - Msg. 20...

   I guess this is the best place to ask a few questions about the
   history of Atari, so here it goes...

   Would it be fair to say that Atari development became 'stale' during
   the early 80's (under Warner Communications) because they didn't have
   the resources, or, if not, what REALLY happened? Also, when did Warner
   buy Atari?

   How did the two Atari companies (Atari Corp. and Atari Games Corp.)
   come out of Atari, Inc.? I know Atari, Inc. was owned by Warner, but
   were each of the new Atari companies purchased seperately from them or
   was Atari bought from Warner as a whole and then split up or what? I
   need to know the details. Also, when was Atari sold?

   Would it be fair to say that Atari Corp. focused mainly on their
   computer line (i.e. the ST) for the first few years since it was
   purchased from Warner (eventhough they DID 'revamp' the former 8-bit
   computers and videogame consoles)?

 From Dorothy Brumleve - Msg. 21...

   I don't think it's fair to say that Atari development became "stale"
   under Warner...A friend of mine worked for them at that time and was
   supervising some very exciting projects which never saw production.

 From John Townsend (Atari) - Msgs. 22 & 24...

   Atari, Inc.'s management got "comfortable" with its position in the
   market and thought that years of endless growth would continue for a
   long time to come. They spend lots of money on everything (lots of
   executive perks, etc.) and when the video game market took a nosedive,
   they never recovered.

   As for why there are two Atari companies, that was a product of the
   Sale. Atari Corp. consisted of the consumer products divisions (Home
   Video Games and Home Computers) and Atari Games Corp. consisted of the
   Arcade Video Game division.

   As for development at Atari, Inc... let's just say that Atari was VERY
   organized in R&D and had some interesting things under development ;-)

   From what I have read.. Warner didn't really care what Atari did as
   long as their profits showed up on the Balance Sheets at the end of
   every quarter.

   In its peak years, Atari was making so much money that it was able to
   carry other divisions of Warner that weren't doing as well..

   As for the 1450XLD, it was finished. (We have one collecting dust in
   the Lab) But never made it to market.

                             ----------------

 About the new Flash II - From John Trautschold (Missionware Software) -
 Cat. 8, Topic 2 - from the ST Roundtable on Genie...

 Message 144...

   Yes, Flash II has the same "look and feel" of Flash I. (Boy, I'm
   starting to get sick of that expression...sigh...)

   Differences:

   Terminal mode...status line is at the top, but it's still a full
   screen's width display (meaning a full 80 characters).

   Editor/Capture Buffer...This is the GEM side of things, and has the
   usual pulldown menus, etc. The menus are rather drastically rearranged
   however due to the new features included. Also, there are now separate
   "Save..." menu choices, instead of the one "Save" choice that then
   displayed a dialog requesting the type of save you wanted to do. Same
   for the "Load" functions.

   A right-button click does the switching between modes.

   There really isn't a lot of color in the basic program...there are a
   few colorized menu choices and dialogs. However, if you call into a
   color board (using, say, ANSI emulation) you'll get the full color
   effects provided by that board (and assuming the resolution you are
   operating in, ST Medium or TT Medium, supports those colors.)

   Also, any GIF pictures you download either online or in review mode,
   will display in full color.

 From Msg. 177...

   Hi everyone! We're back from Toronto (and what a trip THAT was! :-).
   Anyway, FLASH II is now ready to ship. We previously posted
   information about the new program here in the topic, and now it's time
   to post information on how to order Flash II! That's the best part,
   right?

   Here's the deal. We'll accept orders for Flash II using any of the
   following methods:

   1) For outright purchases (meaning you aren't going to upgrade from an
   older version), the price is $49.95 US plus $4 shipping and handling.
   You can order via:

     a) Telephone: 708-359-9565. If we don't answer, just leave the
     following information on the machine and we'll process your order:
     VISA or MasterCard number, Expiration Date, Name, Address, City,
     State, ZipCode, and phone number. Your charge card will be billed on
     the day we ship (which may not be on the day the order is received,
     but it *will* be within a day or two! :-). If you want us to call
     you back to confirm the order before it is place, please note that
     on your message.

     b) Mail: Your can, of course, mail order your copy of Flash II.
     We'll accept VISA or MasterCard, with the information included as
     noted above, or you can send a check or money order (in US funds
     please) in with your order. Please do NOT send cash. Although I
     don't mind receiving cash in the mail, it's really not a safe thing
     to do.

     c) Email: Email orders to J.TRAUTSCHOL will be accepted as if it
     were a telephone order. Naturally, you must use a charge card for
     payment. I'll confirm your order also via Email, and will not charge
     to your card until we actually ship.

   2) To upgrade from ANY old version of Flash, you must send us your old
   Flash disk as proof of ownership. It will be returned to you. Since we
   need to see proof of ownership for upgrades, you'll have to do the
   mail order thing here. Upgrades are $30 US plus $4 shipping and
   handling. You can pay using either check, money order (in US funds) or
   VISA and MasterCard. When upgrading, you receive *exactly* the same
   package as those who pay the full amount.

   For mail orders, our address is:

   Missionware Software
   354 N. Winston Drive
   Palatine, Illinois 60067-4132 USA

   For those of you that send me your address, you'll be receiving a
   newletter soon (I hope) with basically the same information in it as
   posted above. I'm starting to work on that information sheet now, and
   once it's done and I get the mailing labels printed, I'll get it sent
   out...hopefully within a week.

   Also, we're working on a demo version which we'll post here as soon as
   we can. The demo will be as functional as we can make it, and will be
   time limited for your online time, and will probably prevent you from
   saving some files. Again, as soon as we can get it done, I'll get it
   posted here for you. I know you're all anxious to play with the
   program.

   One other thing. Since Flash II is a brand new program, newly written
   from the ground up, we figure you'll find some problems that our beta
   testers missed. Because of that, we'll be offering a free maintenance
   upgrade about 3 to 4 months down the road for all current owners.
   You'll need to ship us your master disk. We'll put the new software on
   it, and ship it back to you at no cost. If the upgrade can be done by
   posting a patch program here, then we'll do it that way. In any case,
   we want to make sure that all of your problems, if any, are resolved
   as quickly as possible so that we can move on to the many enhancements
   already on the list of "things to do" for future upgrades.

   Also, if anyone has a special requirement of some sort, or runs into a
   problem with, say, a terminal emulation mode, we'll try to get you on
   as a beta tester for future upgrades. That way we'll be certain to get
   fixed whatever problem you run into.

   Again, thanks for your interest an patience. We'll process your orders
   as quickly as we can, as well as answer your questions to the best of
   our ability. We're trying to get the author of the program, Paul
   Nicholls, here on GEnie. However, for those of you on CIS, Paul is
   there already. We'll be setting up support for the product there as
   well.

                              ----------------

 From Frank Bell about MultiGem - Cat. 2, Topic 9, Msg. 72 - from the ST
 Roundtable on Genie...

   The latest version of MultiGem is a little more compatable to GEM
   programs, is a little easier to install, and a little more stable.

   In April, late April, MultiGem II should be comming out where the
   number of processes (programs and accessories) should be unlimited
   (ok, within limits), program starts are handled better, programs can
   be stopped or slowed down (they remain in memory), and MG can be used
   as a Task Switcher. I don't know if MG II will come out as an update,
   upgrade, or whatever, but it doesn't seem so. The price, in Germany,
   is the same as the MG I.

                              ----------------

 From John Hoffman - Cat. 9, Topic 47, Msg. 107 - from the ST Roundtable
 on Genie...

   I just got back from my local Atari Computer store today... And notice
   another great looking FRP type game!!! Legend. It is another 3D 3rd
   person perspective game. The picture on the box reminded me of hero
   quest but with more things to investigate.

   Wow, once I finish Knightmare there will be so many new choices for
   FRP games; Heimdall, ShadowLands, Disciples of Steel or Legend. All
   new in the last couple of months.

   I have bought Heimdall. So I will give my first impressions. It seems
   like a good game but with too much disk swapping. I have a 4MB MegaST
   with one floppy drive. In playing the game, you travel from island to
   island and explore the dungeons or areas on the islands. The first few
   are pretty small but I may not have completely explored all the areas.
   When going from one island to another, a minimum or 2 disk swaps were
   required before exploration of the island began. On some of the more
   complex islands there were intermediate areas that would require 2 or
   more disk swaps before continuing. On island I went two actually
   required FOUR disk swaps before exploration began.

   On the good side the graphics are quite nice. Maybe an 8.5 on a scale
   of 1 - 10. While exploring a section of dungeon there generally aren't
   any disk swaps.. (ie combat, traps, magic, or effects displayed don't
   trigger disk accesses. I played for about 2-3 hours before having all
   my main characters die. My characters died from lack of food which is
   used to recover lost hit points.

   Happily, I didn't experience any bugs in the program. The game comes
   on five disks and requires a 1Meg ST. I visited 5 islands and
   completly expored only one. The map with the game shows at least 36
   islands on three different maps.

   Even with the exploration I did and many battles none of my characters
   progressed past first level. The user interface is a combination of
   joystick and mouse operation. The user interface works very well.
   Reading the documentation about useing both mouse and joystick sounded
   awkward but in use is very natural.

   While this game is interesting, I don't know if I will have the
   patience to put up with the disk swapping. The installation
   documentation imply that both Amiga and ST must endure swapping while
   dos users will be able to install on Hard Disk. This is sad since a
   good game may be made playable by only by the stout of heart. I don't
   think there is anyway to get the software to run on hard disk because
   the disks are all in an unreadable format...

   I think that I will have to decide for my next purchase between
   Disciples of Steel, ShadowLands and Legend. Someone said that there
   was a bug in Disciples of Steel... So while Disciples looks like the
   one that is most interesting. The rumour of a bug and 79% rating in ST
   Format will probably cause me to select ShadowLands, which got a
   better review in ST Format 84%. Of course Legend is too new. I'll hope
   that someone will review it soon.

                              ----------------


 Until next week.....





         _________________________________________________________





 > STR Portfolio News & Information              Keeping up to date...
   ================================



                         THE ATARI PORTFOLIO FORUM
                         =========================

 On CompuServe


 by Judith Hamner  72257,271

                               EXTRA! EXTRA!
                               """""""""""""
     The forum staff announces a new programming contest.  Any program in
 any language is eligible.  Programs must be submitted by midnight April 30
 to lib 1.  See message #28538 for details.  Don't forget to include your
 name in the file description so I can give you credit.

     TMW11.ZIP is an updated version of TMW.  This utility provides quick
 access to the current and next days appointments from your .dry file.

     LOCK.ZIP contains the lock.com and unlock.com programs from PCMag's
 utilities.  These programs allow easy file encryption for security on the
 Portfolio.  Thanks to Peter Bennett for the upload.

     DSPPGC.ARC is a PGC viewer that runs on the Atari ST computers.  It
 will display PGC files on the ST in any of its three resolutions.

     FONTS.ZIP contains five .PGC files.  These are samples demonstrating
 the possibilities of the new Windows 3.1 Paintbrush and WINPGC from David
 Stewart.


     STHNGE.ZIP is an animation by Peter Bennett. Stonehenge is featured.


          ______________________________________________________





 > ATARI ADVANTAGE! STR FOCUS        "Now, THIS is an Atari Magazine!"
   ==========================



                        DO YOU HAVE THE ADVANTAGE?
                        ==========================


 by Dana P. Jacobson


      There's a new kid in town.  He's called "Atari Advantage", a new
 Atari-specific magazine.  That's right, you read it correctly the first
 time!  The recent problems with MacDonald Associates and the split of some
 of the staff has actually created a bonus for Atari users.  Not only do we
 still have ST Informer, but we also now have a new magazine, Atari
 Advantage.

      If you haven't received a complimentary copy yet, you're missing out
 on a great new magazine.  I was a little tentative about a new magazine
 after what happened to the ill-fated Atari Journal a year ago.  We've also
 been hearing that it was difficult and expensive to produce a magazine
 these days with the lack of advertising dollars magazines have been
 accustomed to seeing in years gone by.  Atari Advantage seems to have
 found a solution, with its newsprint-like paper, in magazine format (like
 ST Informer is now, also).

      Advantage's staff consists of some of the former ST Informer folks,
 and some people who we've been acquainted with in the past.  Mike Lindsay
 is the editor of Atari Advantage.  Nevin Shalit moves his 'Rumor City'
 column to Advantage, as well.  John and Jerry Davis offer plenty of MIDI
 coverage, with "Sir" Leslie Jennings joining them.  I will take a guess
 and say that the "sir" signifies that Leslie is a male.  Ron Robinson is
 the technical editor.  Clay Walnum, former editor of ST-Log magazine,
 joins the staff with a Lynx column.  Marshall Rosenthal will provide a
 monthly games column.  Coverage of the Portfolio is said to be forthcoming
 in the future, with Mati King covering it.  And this is just for starters.

      This premier issue is excellent; it contains a little bit of
 everything.  The editorial relates to the readers how Atari Advantage was
 formed, and who the current staff members are and what they will be doing.
 It seems very appropriate for the first issue, titled "Our Roots".  It
 also includes a new product announcements "column", which is very
 detailed.  Very informative.  Nevin Shalit's 'Rumor City' column is a
 welcome sight again.  Nevin continues right where he left off a few months
 ago; nice to see that he hasn't lost his touch!  This issue has a very
 comprehensive NAMM show report, including pictures of new products.  If
 you're a MIDI fan, you'll want to check out this report.  Ralph Turner's
 "trilogy" of Atari "How-To" books are reviewed, and makes for interesting
 reading.  After being an Atari user for 5+ years, I just may buy these
 books after reading the reviews!  There are also six other reviews in this
 issue: The Forget-Me-Clock II, DC Shower, Diamond Back 2.41, The Learning
 Games Package (a collection of Dorothy Brumleve's kid programs), EdHak
 2.30, and Protext 5.0.  An interesting assortment of products, and all of
 these reviews are very extensive.  I prefer an extensive review, and these
 fit the bill.

      Clay Walnum is probably best known for his ST-Log days, and recently
 for his programming books.  What some people don't realize is that Clay
 has also written a book covering Lynx games.  With the sudden rush of new
 games coming out for the Lynx, Clay will be reviewing the new titles.  As
 he writes early on in his column, he'll be providing information on the
 latest games, and occasionally some strategy tips for some of his favorite
 games.  His initial column covers Xybots and Awesome Golf, with strategies
 for playing Chip's Challenge.  I wish that I had my hands on these tips
 when I first started Chip's Challenge!!

      Marshall Rosenthal takes us into the Winter CES show with more Lynx
 product announcements and some details of a few of the games to be coming
 out shortly.  For you Lynx owners, Clay's and Marshall's columns should
 provide plenty of coverage.  It's nice to see the Lynx get more coverage
 than most magazines have provided in the past.

      And, that's just the first issue!  The magazine is printed on paper
 stock similar to AtariUser and ST Informer, but perhaps a little heavier.
 It appears that two different types of paper were used in the same issue,
 however.  The cover and the first few pages consist of white paper stock
 which feels a little heavier than the newsprint pages.  I don't know why
 they did it this way; and maybe they'll decide on one over the other by
 the time that the next issue comes out.  Personally, I don't care as I'm
 more interested in what's printed _on_ these pages rather than what it's
 printed on!

      There's plenty of advertising, which is nice to see.  It shows a
 great deal of support for this newcomer.  The advertising is also spread
 out very nicely so it doesn't clutter the pages.  The magazine contains 64
 pages (including covers).  Atari Advantage is offering the magazine at a
 discount, at least until the end of April.  You can subscribe for just
 $11.00 a year (12 issues).  According to the coupon offer in the magazine,
 this offer is only good by mail.  My check is on the way!  After April,
 the subscription rates will be $22.00, so get yours in soon.

                         Atari Advantage Magazine
                           Lamplight Publishing
                              400 Galice Road
                             Merlin, OR 97532
                              (503) 476-3578



    __________________________________________________________________





 > LEXICORE WARNING STR FOCUS           LEXICORE RIPPED OFF!
   ==========================

 FOLLOW-UP REPORT INCLUDED....

                           LEXICORE RIPPED OFF!
                           ====================


 NOTICE: TO ALL

     Lexicor has determined and confirmed that it's former distributor and
 product manufacturer is making and selling PIRATE copies of Lexicor's
 software products.

     If you have purchased any Lexicor products from RIO COMPUTERS we
 suggest that you make the following tests to see if you may have purchased
 a PIRATED program.

       1. The first telltale sign is the "SERIAL.NUM" file on the disk.
          Check to see if its different from the serial number written on
          the label of the disk.  Another indication is the creation date
          stamp.  Check to see if this file carries a creation date stamp
          of 02/03/28.  Also, check the date stamp on the NUM file and see
          if it is the same as the one for the .PRG file.  If they are more
          then _a minute_ apart then you probably have a PIRATED program.
          Now, RUN the Program, if it is Prism paint or Prism Render then
          the serial number will be found in the "About" dialogue.  If
          these two numbers are not the same then once again, you probably
          have a Pirated program.

       2. All these numbers can be the same and you still may have a
          PIRATED copy.  We have been investigating this situation for some
          time and found a number of identical programs sold to more than
          one person.  In some cases the numbers match and in some cases
          they do not.

       3. What you should do if you suspect you have a pirate copy.

       4. First, call lexicor and tell us why you think you have a Pirate
          Copy.

       5. Next - if Instructed to..  send your Pirate goods to LEXICOR.

       6. If you have been one of the victims, we suggest that you file a
          complaint with the US Postal Service's fraud division and the US
          POSTAL crime detail.  You can get the information for your local
          postal crime unit at your local post office.

       7. Lexicor policy on these PIRATED goods: If we can determine that
          the software you have is stolen we will confiscate it for use in
          possible legal action and as evidence.  WE will, as a courtesy,
          replace your goods when we receive proof of purchase from RIO
          COMPUTERS or your Local Store. You should however, demand a
          refund from RIO COMPUTERS.  Lexicor cannot warrant any of these
          PIRATE goods.  If you have purchased any such product and you
          send it to Lexicor and you receive a replacement and a refund
          then you should send that money to Lexicor.  If you do, Lexicor
          will reinstate the warranty.

       I know that this all seems like a lot of trouble, and it is.  But
 neither you nor Lexicor created this problem.  There is no excuse what so
 ever for copyright infringement.  This does not happen accidently and is
 virtually impossible for anyone to accidently make illegal copies during
 manufacture.

       Lexicor has ceased all business activities with RIO COMPUTERS and
 urges all Lexicor owners to buy from an authorized ATARI dealer or direct
 from Lexicor.

 We apologize for the inconveniences to any Lexicor customers and hope to
 have some new and exciting software for you soon.

                        Lee Seiler LEXICOR Software
                               April 2, 1992


                                __________

 As a follow-up, STReport presents the following message from Lexicor
 Sfotware.

 FROM GENIE
  ------------
 Category 25,  Topic 13
 Message 109       Fri Apr 10, 1992
 LEXICOR [Lexicor]            at 06:58 EDT

 To: Jim Ness

       Jim, Thats right you are a legal beagle!! I for got.

       Well you are right I haven't used any of the usual "XXX" language
 and for a good reason. I have a ever growing box of Pirate products
 sold,distributed,manufactured or what ever you want to call it, from
 Lexicor customers.  These are real physical and undeniable, tangible
 things.  I see no reason to play word games in this area at all.  There is
 simply no way in the world that these products could exist unless they
 were manufactured illegally, no matter what contract dispute that might
 exist between Lexicor and RIO, no dispute over paid or unpaid invoices,
 numbers of products sold or lack of same excuses the making of duplicate
 serialized products.

       But your point is well taken in one sense and it won't hurt to
 clarify a bit.

       Lexicor has started receiving many, many pirated copies of Prism
 Render and some questionable copies of Rosetta.  All of these copies have
 been sold at below suggested retail price by RIO and no one else.  RIO
 received enough products to cover their Pre-sale of Prism and Rosetta, and
 no more.  There are no extra products for RIO to use for their advertised
 close out sale. There is no other source of these products other than
 Lexicor.

       Lexicor has not received any sales reports or customer  warranty
 data from RIO what so ever, which means that with the exception of the
 serial numbers shipped, (ie., one each) there is simply no way for there
 to be 4 or 5 duplicate products.

       Tomorrow there will be a general recall of all Rosetta and Prism
 paint. The purpose of this will be to test and locate as many
 Duplicate(Pirated) copies as we can. We will do every thing we can to
 treat both our customers and RIO fairly.

       And for the Record I have contacted RIO (with no Answer) and offered
 them a fair and reasonable deal to get out of this situation, which they
 created.  This can never be made public for obvious reasons.  I am how
 ever not going to stand by and let RIO or any one else defraud Lexicor or
 the General public with out saying something about it.  If RIO feels that
 LEXICOR has failed to keeps it's contracts with them then the courts are
 the proper forum, not the market place.  As I said before there is no
 excuse what so ever for making and selling duplicate copies of software to
 unsuspecting users, no matter what RIO may think of Lexicor.

     Thanks Jim...I had this wonderful mental image of you sitting at a
 high top desk with a visor and dimly lit candle gazing at a thick dusty
 law book rubbing your hands! :-)

                                                       Lee

                              ------------


    __________________________________________________________________



 > FSM-GDOS? STR FOCUS           "Somewhere.... Over the Rainbow...."
   ===================




                           THE YELLOW BRICK ROAD
                           =====================



 From Lloyd E. Pulley, Sr.
 Senior Staff Editor

     A few weeks ago, one of our readers asked us when FSMGOS was going to
 be available to everyone and how long had the users been waiting for it.
 I did a little digging around and here's what I found out...

     Almost two years ago rumors started surfacing about the new FSMGDOS, a
 much improved version of GDOS.  A little over year later, delivery dates
 started to be announced.

 1)  On February 10, 1991 on Genie, Bill Rehbock said that FSMGOS "should"
     be on sale by March.

 2)  On June 27, 1991, Bill Rehbock said that the current release time
     "would" be August 1st.  The developer beta-testing had taken longer
     than had been expected.

 3)  On August 4, 1991, John Townsend said that FSMGOS's release had
     missed the August 1st date but that Atari was "real close" to a final
     release version.

 4)  On August 30, 1991, Bill Rehbock stated that there had been "delays
     in the package design", that the first release versions units "would
     show up" at the Glendale show.  He also stated that Goldleaf would
     probably be shipping FSM-GOS with their products, only without the
     outer box.

 5)  On October 12, 1991, Bob Brodie that FSM-GDOS was currently shipping
     with Goldleaf's product. As for the regular release version, the best
     he could say was... RSN.

 6)  On November 7, 1991, Bill Rehbock said that...

   A) Atari had problems with the original source that was doing the
      artwork for FSM and had turned the box design chores over to Stephen
      Samuels of San Francisco.
   B) A few minor bugs had turned up and a new feature had been added.
   C) Some other speed-enhancements have also been added.
   D) FSM would be on the dealer's shelves within four weeks from the
      date that the box art was turned over to the duplication and
      packaging service, i.e., "Mid December".

 7)  On December 6, 1991, Bill Rehbock said that FSM GDOS would be
     available in January.

 8)  On December 9, 1991, Bill Rehbock said that FSM GDOS would be avail-
     able in January and would be the same as the version that GoldLeaf was
     currently distributing.

 9)  On January 18, 1992, John Townsend said that Atari was still working
     on the packaging.  There had been some complications with the company
     they were working with and the release date had been pushed back.

 10) On February 1, 1992, Bill Rehbock reported that the packaging was
     done and the last revision of the disks were going to the duplicator
     on Monday, February 3rd.  FSM GOS should be appearing on the dealers
     shelves very shortly.

 11) On March 25, 1992, Leonard Tramiel. Vice President of Software at
     Atari, was asked, "Where's FSMGDOS".  He answered with "FSM is not yet
     released." On follow up, when asked about having a "guestimate on
     availability of FSM GDOS", his answer was "Nope...".

     So, there you have it.  After a year of promises, FSM GDOS is still
 not available as a stand alone program to the dealers.  When will it be
 available?  The best that I can tell you is, "RSN".

      Then there is MetaDos and the CD ROM........ But, that's another
 story.


        __________________________________________________________





 > ACE '92 STR SHOW NEWS       Toronto Atari Federation's AtariFest
   =====================


                             THE 1992 TAF SHOW
                             =================


 by Michael Lee


 Comments about last weekend's TAF (Toronto Atari Federation) show - Cat.
 11, Topic 6 - from the ST Roundtable on Genie...

 From Darlah (RT Sysop) - Msg. 203...

 This is the second day of the show. The activity is still high. I would
 compare it with WAACE and Glendale. Actually they might even surpass it.

 The show is going well. The developers are selling out. The Codeheads
 sold out of Warp 9 the 1st day. I heard similar things from others.

 From Lou Rocha - Msg. 205...

 You bet it's a great show. The crowds didn't slow down until after 5:00
 p.m.... heavy aisle traffic since 10:00 this morning. This show is
 steamin'. Tomorrow I am going to take another look at the Optical Mouse
 across the aisle from me. My hand is going into the cash pocket......

 I was amazed watching the BOINK demo on Jim Allen's souped up Mega with
 the Turbo 030. There was lots of interest and many, many questions about
 performance, installation, etc. Jim was his usual jovial self and novice
 to expert enjoyed his enthusiasm and expertise.

 My high point was using SL on a full TT color system with a thermal dye
 300 dpi printer. My God, it was amazing. People were lined up all day
 waiting for the color printout samples being churned out on this system.
 I worked the station for a while and chatted with user types from clubs
 in Michigan and Illinois (GLACE and ?) and was charmed by their interest
 and their knowledge. Of course, I never missed an opportunity to ask
 folks how they enjoyed SL and if they connected with GEnie.
 Unfortunately, too many said "no".

 There are more than forty vendors at this show and everybody says they
 are enjoying brisk business. All I know is that everyone is smiling -
 the Toronto Atari Federation, Geoff Earle, the vendors and, most
 importantly, the users.

 The Codeheads were very busy and Todd Johnson was working in the booth
 with them. It took me three tries before I could say hello to Todd at
 4:00 p.m. John and Charles looked very busy there, upgrading QUICK ST to
 Warp 9 and selling out the Codehead catalog. I upgraded to Warp 9 myself
 and will install it in a few minutes. I can't wait to see this work with
 my Fast Technology T25 and Calamus SL!

 I met a fella with a product called WPSWITCH (23.00) which is one of
 those WP data file translators with some enhancements, like the ability
 to automatically insert TABS when it encounters 3 spaces in a row.
 Hmmmm, sounds like just what I need for my spreadsheet imports to
 Calamus. I think I'm going to order one of those.

 A number of local stores (yes, there's more than ONE in THIS town) had
 great prices on software, supplies and hardware. My friend Sonny from
 Compuworld says he closed his store today in order to make this show.
 His booth was three deep all day.

 John Janschiing (?) sold me a subscription to Atari Explorer, after
 giving away two free issues. Guess I better write that check to
 AtariUser now, right John and King?

 Toad Computers had some great prices on software and toner supplies.
 Other vendors were selling 9600 baud modems from 369.00 and up. I may
 have to bring the check book tomorrow!

 The MIDI workshops in the outer conference halls was a sight (and sound)
 to behold. The audiences were very enthusiastic and the presenters were
 informative and talented. Cleverly, all the MIDI vendors were grouped
 along the same aisleway in the outer hall, right beside the performers'
 stage, so I guess they are used to the decibel level :-)

 In the classrooms, I got a peak at Hyperlink but missed the Pagestream
 workshop. I was present at Mario's workshop with 20 people. Today he was
 presenting a tutorial on Calamus 1.09N. Tomorrow Calamus SL will be
 taught at 3:00 p.m. That 2 hour workshop had already been subscribed by
 40 people at 2:00 p.m. today.

 Well, got to go now and run that Warp 9. I'll check in with you all
 tomorrow. Thanks for allowing me to use your space Jim :-)


 From Darlah (RT Sysop) - Msg. 209...

 I am winding down from the TAFF show. Again, I want to thank Charlie
 Townsley for all his help. The guy really is incredible.

 I thought the show was more active than any Atari show that I have been
 to in a long time. BOTH days were busy and that was truly exciting.

 You did great!!! Can't wait until the next one.


 From John Sheehan - Msg. 210...

 ...I'm exhausted - but the show is done, the hall is cleared, and the
 garbage swept out. My last vision of the Skyline - Bob Brodie, Dorothy,
 Shirley Taylor and others sitting around a table in the hotel bar. ACE
 '92 was great fun, and it was a privilege having all you (you all?) as
 guests here in Atari Country. As soon as I get settled in Kaduna,
 Nigeria, we'll be announcing the first African Atari Kavalcade. (AAK?
 Got to get a better name.)...


 From Todd (Cherry Fonts) - Msg. 212...

 Wow! What a show. I'm exhausted. Paul Collard and John Sheehan are to be
 congratulated on an excellent job!! Very well done! Thanks!...


 From Nevin Shalit - Msg. 213...

 Well, Toronto was a terrific show. The crowds were steady, and the
 visitors were very upbeat. I had a nice position sharing the CodeHead
 booth and found myself demonstrating Warp 9 and MultiDesk just about as
 often as I demo'd my own Tracker/ST! Sales were very very good for
 me...but I don't think I could touch the CodeHead's overall sales.
 <grin>

 The dealer meeting was very successful, and I'd like to thank Geoffe
 Earl for saving me from my very first (and hopefully very last) bout of
 stage fright. That's an experience I do _not_ want to repeat.

 I had a great time running Tracker/ST under MultiTOS...and got that warm
 fuzzy feeling every time I saw some wide-eyed 6 year old smiling from
 ear to ear while trying out Dorothy Brumleve's software....


 From Gerry Cross - Msg. 218...

 I would like to add my congratulations to the TAF folks.  Great job!

 I'm not a MIDI person myself, but what you did with that "midi alley"
 was great! I tried to do that sort of thing with the show in Detroit a
 few years ago and couldn't get anything near the cooperation you did
 with the local stores. I sure hope other groups can copy what you did.

 I was running around that show all of Saturday and missed chatting with
 a lot of the vendors. I promise to catch you folks at the next one....


 From Lou Rocha - Msg. 219...

 Perhaps I will start with the organizers... the Toronto Atari
 Federation. This club has undergone some major leadership change and the
 new executive is sure shining bright after ACE '92. However, I must
 comment on the hordes of club members who staffed this show from
 Saturday morning to Sunday night.

 Every detail of organization was considered, from security to setup to
 clean up and carry out. All vendors were assisted, encouraged and
 supported in all manner of ways and they seemed to thoroughly enjoy the
 attention. I was so personally impressed, that I spent $30 to renew my
 membership after a 3 year lapse. :-) Hats off to TAF for a job well done
 and, in the words of past president John Sheehan, "We'll see you all at
 the 1993 show in '94."

 Here are my personal picks of the show - (and of course, these ARE
 biased :-) so don't you are free (and encouraged) to disagree -
 Most impressive new software I saw on display.... a tie - Coalesce from
 Wiz Works and Sudden View from (Sudden View?).

 Most impressive new software not on display, Warp 9. Heck, even the
 manual is impressive (nice job, Codeheads). Warp 9 also wins the award
 for the biggest pile of upgraded disks - Quick ST in the Codehead booth.

 Most impressive gimmick - the Retouche booth doing T Shirts for
 customizers.

 Most awesome hardware display - the Cyber Cube color card in the
 ISD/Atari workstation manned alternately by Mario Georgiou and Rolf
 Berger. Honorable mention to the Leonardo card display.

 Largest crowd attraction in the application category - Calamus SL
 churning out color prints on the Spectrastar printer. People actually
 waited 3 minutes to get printouts.

 Best recovery by a non-teacher in a teaching situation - Mario Georgiou
 after the SL class hardware bombed.

 Best bargain (publication) - all kinds of back issues of magazines WITH
 disks for $1.00 each all day Sunday. (STart, ST LOG, ST User, ST
 Action).

 Best bargain (hardware) - MEGA STe/4Mb for 599.00 US...located somewhere
 near the Wiz Works booth. Honorable mention to CS&S for the 375.00 ZOOM
 9600 modems.

 Best bargain (software) - hundreds of $50-$75 games going for 7.50 to
 10.00 at numerous booths.

 Best individual bargain - one of my buddies picking up C-Lab for $75.00
 Canadian from one of the MIDI vendors. 0 Most interesting educational
 game - Multiplay from D.A.Brumleve. The options on this Math software
 make it instantly configurable and infinitely challenging. As well, a
 number of neat play options make it attractive to any child. And, it has
 been thoroughly field tested in schools.

 Most overpriced food - the in-house caterers who charged $2.50 per hot
 dog and $1.00 for a 6 oz cup of coffee. Mind you, the MIDI show was free
 while you ate :-)

 In conclusion, this was a total EVENT. I am personally committing myself
 to attending any more of these shows that I can afford to go to. Fun,
 exciting, informative and downright friendly.


 From David Thompson (JMG) - Msg. 220...

 Just want to add our appreciate to the management of the ACE show. Great
 effort guys!!! Sales of HyperLINK didn't rival Warp 9, but were pretty
 decent! It's great going to a show where we don't have to fly or drive
 for 10 hours. (Toronto is just a nice leisurely drive down the QEW for
 45 minutes) Once again, thanks for all the help, and while George and I
 could both use about 3 days of sleep to catch up on that one hour we
 lost Saturday night, we wouldn't have missed the show for anything....


 From Dorothy Brumleve (Kidprgs) - Msg. 226...

 Our trip to (and from) Toronto was packed with unexpected frustrations,
 but the part in the middle -- the hotel part -- was well worth it! This
 was really a fine show!

 I enjoyed seeing my friends among developers and customers again...That
 Rob Guy, men in LUST, the Cassidy Crew, Bob "Happy Birthday" Brodie, oh,
 you know who you are! Met some new folks, too, like Lou Rocha (manual
 writer extraordinary), Shirley Taylor of Atari Corp., Al Fasoldt and
 company, people who spoke French _well_, what a crowd, eh? I finally
 wound up at the rowdy table at the banquet (interesting banquet in other
 ways, too!), and, although I was rarely a direct participant, I served
 well in the role of The Bad Influence. The banquet included the issuing
 of several awards. I took 1st in Speech Disruption (Women's Individual
 Category)!

 The TAF folks did a wonderful job! From the pre-show brochures to the
 banquet menus, this was a class act! Paul Collard brought his lovely
 daughters, Honor and Cadence, 'round to shill at my booth, and they
 performed admirably. John Sheehan, Father to many, wasn't accompanied by
 his flock, but he did invite me to his planned AtariFest in Nigeria,
 which should occur shortly after John (and an ST) arrive there. Atari
 Canada supplied equipment which functioned flawlessly. My booth
 neighbors provided power strips. Various TAF volunteers looked after our
 needs, hand-truck in tow, and simplified our vendor lives. Thanks to all
 of them, and also to Nathan Potechin of ISD (Kidpublisher Professional's
 most formidable competitor) for his help in getting our products through
 customs and to the show.

 The singing of O Canada! at the banquet was a new one on me. Turns out
 it starts out like a hymn familiar from my childhood -- but the last
 note in each line is decidedly different. This afforded me an
 opportunity to sing even more off-key than usual, and since I was so
 confident of the melody, I did so loudly and en francais. That's Bad
 Dot, always eager to make a fool of herself for the amusement of others.

 John Jainschigg of Explorer wisely brought the latest and decidedly
 greatest issue, the only issue in recent memory which contains an
 article I wrote. Time to subscribe, folks! I plan to write more!

 We shared a booth with John Hutchinson (Hutch) of Fair Dinkum. I'd only
 known him before through our GEnie communications. It's always neat to
 make a friend online and discover he can be a friend in real life, too.
 The alliance worked out well; our products attract some of the same
 customers, so they could find us in one spot.

 We engineered a booth placement smack dab (short for D.A. Brumleve)
 between WizWorks! and CodeHead. This seemed to have worked well for our
 neighbors, as both of them were able to pick up a few sales as our
 customers crowded around waiting for attention at our booth.

 I brought along my educational consultant, Michael Marks, the man who
 would like to claim all credit for the genius of my work and who has a
 legitimate right to at least some share of it. We've developed a new
 system for booth sales: he shows the products while I am off having fun
 and I show up in time to fill out the VISA receipts. Michael developed
 laryngitis on the way up to the show; his real voice is louder and
 smoother. He managed to present a seminar anyway. I enjoyed arguing with
 him in front of an audience. I hope the audience enjoyed it, too. ;-)

 A customer, Jon Dinga, interviewed me regarding shareware. I was in a
 bad mood toward shareware at that moment and said many things that are
 only true in the context of reality. I told him not to quote me on
 anything, but he's got it on tape...

 Our transportation problems were eased by the friendly Canadians who
 found us in their midst. When our private plane (I say "our" only to
 protect the identity of the real owner; I do not personally own a plane
 nor do I _ever_ anticipate purchasing one) developed engine trouble, the
 folks at some kind of plane gas station in Windsor (and other nearby
 businesses we invaded) were wonderful. Even provided me with a place to
 smoke -- and fume! It was from these fellows that I learned this little
 saying:

 Have time to spare?
 Then go by air!

 Unfortunately, I didn't have time to spare. I was supposed to talk at
 the dealer meeting which preceded the TAF show on Friday afternoon, but
 arrived in Toronto via rented car about five hours later. Several
 dealers did drop by my booth on Saturday and Sunday, so all was not lost
 in this regard. I want to thank Atari Canada for the opportunity issued
 to developers to make presentations to their dealers; it's a wonderful
 concept and I deeply regret that I was unable to participate this time.

 Good show, eh?  See you all in 18 months!

 From Charlie Townsley - Msg. 229...

 Well, as one of the volunteers, I'd like to comment on the GREAT support
 Atari Canada (and Sunnyvale) made. Not being a total idiot, I showed up
 late on Friday and missed unloading the first truckload of equipment
 from Atari's warehouse, but was on hand to help with the other two. I
 noticed a lot of peoples names on the equipment we unpacked; Atari had
 cleaned out their OFFICES to stock this show.

 John and Paul nearly killed themselves doing this show, and deserve all
 the Kudo's possible, but I'm sure they would be quick to point out (if
 awake) that without Geoff's overboard support it couldn't have been half
 as good. Still, I was impressed with the amount of detail they had
 thought out in every area. I've seen professional shows that were not as
 well organized...


 From Dave Small (Gadgets By Small) - Msg. 234...

 Wow, everyone's said all the nice things I logged in to say!

 This has to be among the best, if not THE best, shows I have ever been
 to in my life. Paul and John deserve some sort of medal (hmmmm... SST?)
 for making it happen. They had a "can-do" attitude and it showed. I saw
 Paul the end of the second day and I have rarely seen a tireder human,
 maybe someone at the end of a 26-mile marathon... maybe. To them and all
 the anonymous volunteers goes the credit for this total winner!

 Many people were very kind. Nathan of ISD and Geoffe Earl of AtariCan
 made the effort to wedge me into the dealer schedule. Don Bahr of
 Computer Cellar did an on-the-spot fix of my MCU chip on my Mega and
 Don, I still have your bottle of tweek ... tried to find ya! Dorothy
 Brumleve was kind enough not to kill me when the vodka and orange juice
 screwdriver I brought her turned out to be a very fierce double
 (*grin*), but wow, the stories were worthit. Bob Brodie, as usual, did a
 thousand things that will never be known to make this happen. Charles
 and John and Nevin taught me the meaning of "wind chill" on the way to a
 fine dinner, so now I know (grin).

 Originally, we weren't going to hit this show (we're so far behind on
 order backlog), but people like Nathan and Dorothy talked us into it,
 and I am very, very glad they did. This one was great.

 Special mention should be given that Atari Corp. was showing some new
 hardware at this show. I should not say more in particulars, except that
 shows the sort of thing that went into this show. I know that myself and
 some others came away from it feeling more hopeful about Atari's future
 than we have in in a long, long time. Thanks, you know who. [Yes, it was
 a private showing, but the people involved took pains to let folks
 see it to try and exert some positiveness on Atari's future.] I look
 forward to when it's public and you can all be as totally blown away as
 I was/am.

 It was the sort of show where you need to borrow a floppy, you ask
 George (HyperLink), he gives you four, and refuses any money for them...

 It was the sort of show where someone brings you a QUART (liter) of Diet
 Pepsi, because they have heard you like it, gratis ...

 When I was scheduled for a talk, bang, 15 minutes before, there would be
 an ACE volunteer there to remind me, just in case. And there were
 constantly roaming volunteers asking if all was okay, if we needed
 anything; I was easily asked 10 times a day if there was anything I
 needed. Wow!...

 ...Personally, I believe Paul and John and ACE and Atari and everyone
 has set a standard whereby shows will be measured by in the future.

 Thanks to all the people I have and have not mentioned; it was
 wonderful.


  ------------


 Until next week.....





    __________________________________________________________________





 > SILHOUETTE 1.36 STR Review             Silhouette 1.36    PART II
   ==========================





                          SILHOUETTE 1.36 PART II
                          =======================


 from MAXWELL C.P.U.


 by Doyle C. Helms -- STaff Editor

     The last installment covered the LOAD and SAVE functions of Silhouette
 1.36.  I discussed the formats which Silhouette will import and export in
 both the raster and vector graphic formats.  This installment will look
 at some the tools that is contained in Silhouette for the user to employ
 in their artistic creations.

     The majority of tools found in Silhouette are of the "standard" type
 such as the LINE (including RAYS), BOXES  (rounded and square), SPRAY CAN
 (user adjustable in both quantity and shape), POLYLINE, FREEHAND, CIRCULAR
 ARCS and ELLIPTICAL ARCS.

     The ARC functions have special mouse/keystrokes to use specialized
 features of these tools.  What are the "special" features you ask? Well...
 If the SPACE BAR is used in conjunction with the CIRCULAR ARC tool, the
 user can define the 3 points of the arc.  One being the center point, the
 second being one end point and the third, the other end point.  If the
 LEFT SHIFT KEY is used with this tool, Silhouette will convert your arc to
 its complement arc.  If the SPACE BAR is used along with the ELLIPTICAL
 ARC tool, the mouse pointer will be "transported" to the next defining arc
 point.  This feature allows the three arc points to be defined and or
 moved separately for precise placement of the arc points.  The LEFT SHIFT
 key used here also creates the complement arc.  The SPRAY CAN tool can be
 adjusted for size of spray by using the ARROW keys.  The LEFT SHIFT KEY is
 used again here to toggle the spray pattern from rounded to square.  Lets
 move on to some of the more interesting tools found in Silhouette.

     The POLYGON and STAR tools are two unique tools found in Silhouette.
 Using the LEFT SHIFT KEY (I like the consistency of the KEY commands) with
 either the POLYGON or the STAR tool allows rotation of the POLYGON/STAR
 through a half angle so either the vertex point or a side is at exactly 12
 O'clock.  The STAR tool possess two radii: an outer radius where the
 points of the STAR terminate, and an inner radius where they begin.  The
 inner radius can be adjusted with the LEFT and RIGHT ARROW keys.  the UP
 and DOWN ARROW keys increase or decrease the number of POINTS(STAR) or
 SIDE(POLYGON).  99 points or sides is maximum and 3 is the minimum.

     The PARABOLA tool draws PARABOLA arcs.The ARROW KEYS play are part
 also in the shape of the user definable parabola.   The SPIRAL tool is a
 blast to play with, and can also be quite useful in creating original
 works of art.  The SPIRAL tool, when selected creates a simple spiral
 line.  The UP and DOWN KEYS define the number of revolutions within the
 SPIRAL.  The + and - keys control the pitch of the SPIRAL arms.  The RIGHT
 and LEFT SHIFT keys "roll" or "unroll" the SPIRAL from the center.

     The CLIP function in Silhouette is "standard".  If you have used the
 CLIP function in TOUCH-UP, this one is very similar.  The difference in
 Silhouette and TOUCH-UP is that Silhouette possess a CLIP BUFFERS.  The
 FILL PATTERN selection allows the user to easily define FILL patterns in
 TRANSPARENT, XOR or REVERSE TRANSPARENT modes.  The user defined fills can
 be saved for recall later.  The GRAY SCALING of vector graphic fill
 patterns also be defined.

     The text function in Silhouette is "standard" in terms of its method
 of entry.  One plus to Silhouette is that it is FSMGDOS compatible.
 Silhouette has 3 work windows in which all editing is executed.  The first
 (by default) is the RASTER WINDOW.  The second is the VECTOR WINDOW.  The
 third is the PIXEL WINDOW.

     The RASTER window is for the importing of the various raster graphics
 that Silhouette is capable of loading.  The VECTOR window is of course for
 the creation and manipulation of the VECTOR format graphics (EPS,GEM (1.1
 and 3.0) and SVG native format).  The PIXEL window is similar to a ZOOM
 work area in other programs.  All windows are of course capable of
 scrolling.  The PIXEL editing window/option has some unique features.
 They are PEN CONTROL- Free, Vertical and Horizontal.  The pen editing size
 is also controllable.  PIXEL color has four options.  FREE, XOR,BLACK and
 WHITE.

     The RASTER window has INVERT IMAGE (reversal of colors) and ERASE
 SCREEN as options.   The VECTOR window has the options of Display Raster
 (as greyed background), Display Selected, Grid System, Snap points and
 lastly Set Grid/SNAP.  The VECTOR window also has the ability to MAGNIFY
 by factors of 1(normal),2,4 and 16 times.
 The SNAP function is quite in-depth as far as user selections.  The user
 can choose to SNAP TO GRID, SNAP TO GEO POINTS or SNAP TO INDEPENDENT
 POINTS.

     The GRID setting have 6 "Americanized" presets for the grid
 measurements.  There is also 6 metric settings.  The user can also define
 his/her own particular setting in either format.

     Lets take a quick look at the DRAWING OPTIONS that is included in
     Silhouette.

     The DRAWING OPTIONS include user defined LINE WIDTHS.  Two options of
 setting the line widths are offered.  The "standard" is for the line width
 in PIXELS.  The second option allows the width to be set in POINTS.  Yes,
 POINTS, like that of font sizes in other DTP applications.  There is an
 option for LINE TYPES.  There again is the options of the "standard" line
 types and also the option to define your own LINE STYLE.  The user has the
 option of also choosing the LINE END STYLE.  The DRAWING MODE selections
 include XOR,REPLACE,REVERSE TRANSPARENT,TRANSPARENT and OBJECT PERIMETER.
 The OBJECT PERIMETER defines whether a draw object will have an outline
 perimeter.

     The SMOOTH POLYLINE option is a nice feature for us users that have a
 bit of a "shaky" hand when it comes to freehand drawings.  This option
 allow the user to "smooth" the objects, whether they are FREEHAND or
 POLYLINE objects.  The option allows settings of the numbers of POINTS TO
 SKIP, the COARSENESS of the CURVE and the WEIGHING FACTOR.  The smoothing
 method can also be set to one of three options, B-SPLINE, N POINT BEZIER
 or 4 POINT BEZIER.

     The EDIT OBJECTS (VECTOR) option contains some welcome features that I
 wish Easy Draw (A CLASSIC in the Atari world IMHO) contained.  Let's
 quickly list the types of ATTRIBUTES that are available for the user to
 define.

     FILL TYPE, PERIMETER ON/OFF, LINE WIDTH,LINE TYPE,LINE ENDS,FONT
     TYPES,FONT SIZES and lastly FONT EFFECTS.  The effects are
     Normal,Bold,Light,Skew,Underlined and Outlined.

     The SELECT ALL options allows the user to select ALL objects in the
 VECTOR work window without having to manually choose each and every
 object.  The ORDER OBJECTS allows the user to choose whether the objects
 are displayed in REVERSE ORDER, BRING TO TOP or SEND TO BOTTOM.  The
 VECTOR OBJECT DUPLICATION option also has some unique features I have not
 found in other programs of this type.  DUPLICATION METHOD give the choices
 of FREE STYLE, RADIAL OFFSET and CARTESIAN OFFSET.  the user has the
 option of DUPLICATION of OFFSET POINTS also.  The LINE WIDTHS, ROTATION
 GRAY SCALE and VERTICAL/HORIZONTAL of the duplicated object can be set
 upon selection of the DUPLICATE OPTION.  Very ingenious and very welcome
 feature!

     The EDIT POLYLINE option allows the user to edit not only the
 freestyle creations of the user, but also the included objects such as
 STARS,POLYGONS,RECTANGLES,PARABOLAS,LINES,BEZIERS and B-
 SPLINE.  The editing options include TRAPEZOID to the RIGHT or LEFT, FREE
 CORNER WARP,SKEW HORIZONTALLY,SKEW VERTICALLY and VERTICAL SIZES.
 Silhouette also contains the "standard" FLIP,MIRROR and ROTATE object
 commands.

 AUTO-TRACING !
     This is the meat of Silhouette 1.36.  The other options are just
 potatoes in comparison! (Sorry vegetarians, no offence intended, just the
 meat eater in me sneaking out ;> ).

     The AUTO-TRACE function in Silhouette 1.36 contains several user
 definable options.  SIMPLE TRACE,BREAK POINT TRACE,SPLINE BREAK
 POINTS,B-SPLINE SMOOTHING and BEZIER SMOOTHING.  CURVE FACTOR and LINE
 FACTOR is a welcome option here also! The user is given the choice of CLIP
 AREA TRACING.  SELECTIVE TRACING is a future option.  TRACE ASSISTANCE is
 also available.  It would take another two or three installments to fully
 explain the TRACING functions available.  So, just let me summarize my
 opinion of the TRACING features of Silhouette.  FANTASTIC! The available
 output options from Silhouette of traced objects is very acceptable at the
 price level of this program.  The addition of CVG output will greatly
 increase Silhouettes value.

 Summary
     In my opinion, Silhouette 1.36 is a very acceptable program for the
 price/performance ratio.  Sure, there are other programs available NOW
 that have more advanced features, but NOT at the price of Silhouette.  If
 you are on a limited budget, (did I just here Lincoln squeal?) then
 Silhouette is for you.  I personally believe that Silhouette is also a
 professional quality program with a bright a growing future ahead.  Mr.
 Reyes has put MANY hours effort and concern for quality into this program
 and has held the price down for ALL to have a chance to enjoy and use an
 AUTO-TRACE program on the Atari, be it a 1040 at 8 Mhz or a TT with
 google-bytes of RAM and 720,000 Mhzzzz of CPU speed.

      Silhouette 1.36, the AUTO-TRACER for the rest of us...



       ____________________________________________________________





 > SET SEEK STR InfoFile    CODEHEAD, BLAZING THE PATH OF TRUE SUPPORT!
   =====================



                        SetSeek User Documentation
                        --------------------------

                        Software and Documentation
                             by John Eidsvoog
                   Copyright 1992 CodeHead Technologies
                    Revision: Wednesday, March 25, 1992

                    SetSeek is freeware and is included
                     with the TEC Utilities disk from
                           CodeHead Technologies




  ------------
   What it is
  ------------

 SetSeek allows you to set the seek rate of your floppy drives.  It works
 on all current versions of TOS and should work on new versions also
 (although this cannot be guaranteed).  You can configure SetSeek for rates
 of 2, 3, 6, and 12 milliseconds for drive A and B.  Once configured, it
 can be placed in your AUTO folder to set the rate every time you boot up.

 With the advent of TOS 2.06, you can install high-density (HD) floppy
 drives in your Atari.  This new TOS sets the floppy seek rate to 6
 milliseconds (ms) to allow for the doubled clock rate when reading HD
 disks.  Normally, the seek rate is set to 3 ms and the change in rate to 6
 ms causes some drives to make rather irritating sounds.  If you do not
 have a high-density drive, there's no need to leave the seek rate at 6 ms,
 but as of this date, the only way you can change it back to 3 ms is by
 using SetSeek.



  ---------------
   Using SetSeek
  ---------------

 You can run SetSeek like any other Atari program, by double-clicking on
 its name.  A dialog box will appear with buttons for setting the rate of
 drive A and B.  (If you only have one floppy drive, the buttons for drive
 B will be disabled.)  You can set the rate to 2, 3, 6, or 12 milliseconds.

 To the right of each row of rate buttons is a button marked "Test".
 Clicking on "Test" will cause the mechanism of the appropriate drive to
 seek back and forth the entire length of a disk (you may need to make sure
 there's a disk in the drive).  This allows you to hear how your drive
 reacts to the various rate settings.  To determine the reliability of your
 drive at different speeds will require trial and error.  Generally, you
 can use 3, 6, and 12 ms with no problems.  (In case it's not obvious, the
 lower seek rates are faster.)  Many drives will also work fine at 2
 milliseconds also but there is no guarantee of this.  If you decide to set
 your seek rate to 2 ms, make sure that your drives can reliably handle
 this speed before trusting valuable data to be written.

 The "Save" button will save the settings directly into the SETSEEK.PRG
 file.  Make sure you do not rename SETSEEK.PRG or compress it (pack,
 squish, stomp, obliterate, etc.) or you will be unable to save the
 settings.

 The "Set" button will set the seek rates stored in memory to the rates
 shown on the screen.  This will not permanently change them.  A "Set"
 operation is performed whenever you click on either "Test" button.

 The "Get" button will read the current seek rate values stored in memory
 and select the appropriate buttons.  When you run SetSeek, it will appear
 on the screen, showing the settings that are saved within SetSeek.  If you
 want to examine the seek rate settings that are currently in effect in
 your computer, you can do so by clicking on "Get" (before clicking on
 "Set" or "Test").

 The "Exit" button will exit you from SetSeek.  Since it is the default
 button, you can also exit from SetSeek by hitting Return or Enter.



  --------------------
   Installing SetSeek
  --------------------

 Once you've configured SetSeek, if you want to change your seek rates
 every time you boot up, you should copy SETSEEK.PRG into your AUTO folder.

 When you boot up, the installation message will appear, showing you the
 seek rates that are being set for each drive.




 Distributed by:


                           CodeHead Technologies
                              P.O. Box 74090
                           Los Angeles, CA 90004

                           Phone: (213) 386-5735
                           FAX:   (213) 386-5789
                           BBS:   (213) 461-2095


      _______________________________________________________________




 > STReport's Editorial Page           "Saying it like it is."


  From the Editor's Desk
  ----------------------


     This has been a week to remember.  After waking last Sunday with the
 chills, I soon discovered I was enjoying a relapse of the Flu!  Right....
 in Florida??  That's the question everyone asked me.  Yup!  In Florida is
 the only answer.  Just like the recession, the flu knows no geographical
 or political boundaries.  Actually , it gave me chance to catch up on some
 of my reading.  This was a dilly, I was still ailing today putting this
 issue together.  Sorry....  This has got to be a labor of love....!

     Monday saw Calamus SL arrive and reading I was... and still am.  The
 documentation is very well written.  In fact, is some of the "best" I've
 ever seen to date.  Like most powerhouse programs, the documentation is
 extensive.  More to come later,...

     While the economy is in a state whacky flux, the computer marketplace
 continues to move right along.  The newer Hard Drive technology from
 companies like Quantum and Maxtor dwarfs the aspirations of others who
 'try' to compete.  The new type machines, either proposed, supposed or due
 on the shelves continues to whet the appetites of "technojunkies" from
 coast to coast.  Atari, is preparing to "bestow" upon us a new genre of
 computer.  One that is reported to be geared to "please" everyone.  Time
 will tell.

                                        Ralph.................





             """"""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""




  STReport's Staff                      DEDICATED TO SERVING YOU!
  ----------------

                            Publisher - Editor
                            ------------------
                             Ralph F. Mariano


          PC DIVISION         AMIGA DIVISION           MAC DIVISION
          -----------         --------------           ------------
          Roger D. Stevens    Charles Hill             R. ALBRITTON


  STReport Staff Editors:
  -----------------------
          Lloyd E. Pulley Sr. Dana P. Jacobson         Michael Arthur
          Lucien Oppler       Brad Martin              Judith Hamner
          John Szczepanik     Dan Stidham              Joseph Mirando
                    Steve Spivey        Doyle C. Helms

  Contributing Correspondents:
  ----------------------------
          Michael Lee         Richard Covert           John Deegan
          Brian Converse      Oliver Steinmeier        Tim Holt
          Andrew Learner      Norman Boucher           Harry Steele
          Ben Hamilton        Neil Bradley             Eric Jerue
          Ron Deal            Robert Dean              Ed Westhusing
          James Nolan         Vernon W. Smith          Bruno Puglia


                             IMPORTANT NOTICE
                             ================
      Please, submit letters to the editor, articles, reviews, etc...
                              via E-Mail to:

                 Compuserve.................... 70007,4454
                 GEnie......................... ST.REPORT
                 Delphi........................ RMARIANO
                 BIX........................... RMARIANO
                 FIDONET....................... 112/35
                 FNET.......................... NODE 350
                 NEST.......................... 90:19/350.0


       ____________________________________________________________





 > STReport CONFIDENTIAL    "Rumors Tidbits Predictions Observations Tips"
   =====================




 - Sunnyvale, CA                                 DELAYS AND LOSSES!
   -------------

 From:
 The San Jose Mercury News, Thursday April 2, 1992:

                      ATARI DELAYS 4TH QUARTER REPORT
                      ===============================

 Troubled Atari Corp., the Sunnyvale manufacturer of personal computers and
 game hardware, said Wednesday it has notified the Securities and Exchange
 Commission it will delay reporting results for its fiscal 1991 fourth
 quarter, which ended Dec. 31.

 By law, the company had until March 31 to report the results or file
 formal documents with the SEC extending the filing date.  A spokesman for
 the SEC in San Francisco said Atari is technically in violation of
 securities laws even if it has filed for the extension, but that
 enforcement action is unlikely if the company releases its figures "within
 a day or two."

 Companies that seek such an extension often do so in order to renegotiate
 terms with lenders and other creditors before releasing unfavorable
 results. Atari earned $1.6 million on $49.2 million in revenues in its
 third 1991 quarter.

 Atari's chief financial officer refused to accept a reporter's calls,
 saying through a secretary that results would be available "within a
 couple of days."

 Atari's shares closed unchanged at $2.75 in American Stock Exchange
 trading Wednesday.

                          -----------------------

 From:
 The San Jose Mercury News, Saturday, April 4, 1992

              ATARI LOSES $4.4 MILLION ON SHARPLY LOWER SALES
              ===============================================

 Late Friday, troubled Atari Corp. reported a loss of $4.4 million for its
 fourth quarter on sharply lower revenues.

 The 8-cents-per-share loss for the Sunnyvale maker of personal computers
 and video-game hardware came on revenues of $96.2 million.  In the fourth
 quarter of fiscal 1990, the company made a profit of $8.8 million, or 15
 cents per share, on revenues of $151.9 million.  The 1990 quarter's profit
 figure, though, included $28.8 million in extraordinary credits.  The 1991
 quarter included a $2 million credit for debenture repurchases.

 The company cut its operating loss for the 1991 fourth quarter to $9.4
 million from $22.2 million in the 1990 quarter.

 For the year, sales dropped to $258 million from $411.5 million [Ouch!
 -GW] in 1990.  Net income for the year was $25.6 million, compared with
 $14.9 million for 1990.  But the 1991 figure includes a gain of $40.9
 million on the sale of the company's manufacturing plant in Taiwan.  And
 the 1990 profit included $35.7 million in extraordinary gains.

 The operating loss for 1991 was $18.7 million, compared with a loss of
 $25.2 million in 1990.

 Buying back debentures helped the company cut interest expense, which fell
 from $4.1 million in 1990 to $287,000 in 1991.

 In a statement, Atari President Sam Tramiel said, "The company has
 restructured its overhead and is focusing on the improvement of its
 balance sheet and the development of new products."

 On Wednesday, the company notified the Securities and Exchange Commission
 that it would delay reporting results for the fourth quarter.

                                        (Mercury News Staff Report)




 - Indianapolis, IN                          MIST    Atarifest IV!!
   ----------------

 The Time and date is Saturday, July 25, 1992  10:00am to 5:00 pm at the
 Castleway Conference Center, 6385 Castleplace Drive, Indianapolis,
 Indiana.  Work continues on MIST Atarifest IV.  They will be mailing the
 information packets by Wednesday, April 15.  The packets will contain
 registration materials and information for MIST Atarifest IV.  Vendors and
 user groups who have already reserved space or who have shown an interest
 in Atarifest IV are:

     Brasoft (GEMulator)             Computer Works (Atari Sales)
     C.R.A.G. (Crown Point, IN)      D.A. Brumleve (Kidprogs)
     INAGM (Atari Sales & Service)   E.A.U.G. (Alton, IL)
     Missionware Software (Flash II) MS Designs (fonts and clipart)
                       Unicorn Publications (AIM)

 MIST Atarifest IV will be an excellent opportunity for Atarians to buy and
 sell hardware and software.  Admission to the fest will be $3.00 and will
 include a raffle ticket to win one of the many door priz es donated by
 attending vendors and developers.  If you wish more information about MIST
 Atarifest IV or want to reserve a display space at this year's show,
 contact Dan Ward via GEnie (D.WARD10) or call (317) 254-0031.  We hope to
 see you on July 25, 1992!

 Dan Ward : President of Atari ST Computers In Indianapolis (ASCII)
            Co-Chair of Mid-Indiana ST (MIST)



           ____________________________________________________





 > STR Mail Call             "...a place for the readers to be heard"
   =============


                            STReport's MailBag
                            ==================


 From GEnie..

 Category 7,  Topic 19
 Message 33        Sat Apr 04, 1992
 S.FARWIG [STAN]              at 01:39 EST

 Fred

     Happy to see someone still responding in this topic. And thank you for
 confirming a fear regarding SPECTRUM 512 and the STE series. I know now
 that the "E" series or the TT are not for me, at least until a program
 comparable to SPECTRUM is available for them. If I had room for two
 computers a possiblity might be to do Spectrum graphics on my Mega4,
 translate to GIF and then use PRISMPAINT(since it is the only paint
 program I know to load GIF) and use the increased pallette for further
 work.

     I phoned Trio Engineering when the JRi color board came out to ask if
 they might upgrade to SPECTRUM 4096 and was told no, the entire code would
 need rewriting and the market was too slim. I phoned a week or so ago to
 see if any response to the STE or even TT was planned. The phone has been
 disconnected and I fear ATARI has lost yet another brilliant graphics
 programmer(s). DRAT!

     I think what was in my message was "strictly true" in that it had
 reference to the official documentation for SPECTRUM and this was written
 long before the STE series. I  was concerned that Sandy's explanation and
 reference to "borderline machines" might be misunderstood. I have
 encountered a number of SPECTRUM viewers and even a few users who either
 were unaware of the Sync program or unaware of its significance. And it
 seemed likely that DF's problems lay elsewhere.

     I am curious as to why SPECTRUM doesn't run on the STE's. I thought I
 had read that it was compatiable when the machines were switched to 8mhz?
 Is it perhaps thrown off by the increased pallette?

 Thanks for your message.                Stan



 From the FNET

 Conf : STReport Online
 Msg# : 19515/19554  Lines: 18  Read: 2
 Sent : Apr 03, 1992  at 7:31 PM
 Recv : Apr 06, 1992
 To   : Ralph Mariano
 From : Mike Wright at Fnet Node 75, Bloom County #75 Mtn. View, CA
 Subj : STR813


 I noticed you were asking for feedback on your new format Ralph, so
 thought I'd mention to you how much I appreciate all the efforts from you
 and the staff at STREPORT. I think you have always done a fantasic job
 keeping everyone both informed and entertained for as long as I can
 remember. ST Report is *obviously* the online magazine of choice!

 I think I speak for most of your readers out there when I say this Ralph:

 You have always sought to constantly improve on your publication through
 hard work and dedication. And the results of this all this effort is very
 visible in each and every issue you and your staff releases! You've got a
 first class publication and can't think of anything I'd ask you to change!

                                                       --Bitsmasher--


  ~ AME 1.07 ~ ST REPORT: The leader in online "INFOTAINMENT"!



 From CIS

 #: 59893 S17/Community Square
    07-Apr-92  10:35:31
 Sb: #59846-Atari Delays 4th Q Reprt
 Fm: SYSOP*Ron Luks 76703,254
 To: bob wilson 72355,1637 (X)

     I was very excited about the ST Book based upon the advance word. In
 fact, I almost placed an order for one without seeing it.

     Fortunately, the wife prevailed and said wait until you type on it and
 I'm glad she did.  At $800, it would be a great unit (with 4Mb of RAM and
 a small HD).  At $2300, its crazy.

     I am one of the few people who dont like the mouse-type implementation
 of those pressure pads.  The non-backlit screen is hard to read and I'm
 not impressed with 10 hours of battery life for a less than optimal
 machine.  I'd rather have a 5 hour life with a better screen, faster
 processor, etc.

     By the time the STBook is available in quantity, I fear the market
 will have passed them by.  I'm keeping my fingers crossed for the new
 machines instead.

     Ron


         _________________________________________________________





                      STReport's "EDITORIAL CARTOON"
                      """"""""""""""""""""""""""""""



 > A "Quotable Quote"                  "..just for the record!"
   ==================




              "Tis a Far Better Thing to remain silent if...
                   ...one has nothing worthwhile to say!"


                                           ....ZIGGY ZAGNUT
                                           (The Original Zircon)




  """""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""




 > ABCO SPECIALS! STR InfoFile      * NEW 1992 Prices!  MORE Products! *
   ===========================        --------------------------------


      ****** SPRINGTIME SPECIAL!!  TAKE 10% OFF _ANY_ PACKAGE!! *****
       """""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""

                       ** EFFECTIVE IMMEDIATELY! **

                 NOTICE:  ABCO will BEAT OR MATCH * ANY *
         Advertised or Invoiced price *  WE WILL NOT BE UNDERSOLD!

                        ABCO COMPUTER CONSULTANTS
              P.O. Box 6672  Jacksonville, Florida 32236-6672
                                Est.  1985
                 _________________________________________

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                    FAX: 904-783-3319  12 PM - 6 AM EDT
                 _________________________________________

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                 are clock/calendar and cooling blower(s).

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                    (you are NOT limited to two drives)
                   (all cables and connectors installed)
                      - Available for all Platforms -

    * ICD HOST ADAPTERS USED EXCLUSIVELY * OMTI HIGH SPEED CONTROLLERS *
      * ICD ADSCSI+ HOST ADAPTERS * FULL SCSI COMMAND SET SUPPORTED *
                  * SCSI EMBEDDED CONTROLLER MECHANISMS *
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                  WE PAY SHIPPING & INSURANCE!!!  >UPS!<
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                     VISA - MASTERCARD - NO SURCHARGE!

          *** NEW!!! ULTRA MODERN "COLOR COORDINATED" CABINET ***
                DELUXE 2 bay Cabinet W/65w Auto PS & Blower
                      *** 90 DAY LIMITED OFFER!! ***
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                Model      Description    Autopark    Price
            ==================================================
                SGN4951      51Mb  3.5"      Y       439.00
                SGN1096      85Mb  5.25"     Y       519.00
                SQN1055     105mb  3.5"      Y       534.95
                SQN1065     120mb  3.5"      Y       584.00
                SQN2055     170mb  3.5"      Y       689.00
                SQN3055     240mb  3.5"      Y       839.00
                SQN4055     426mb  3.5"      Y      1310.00
            ==================================================
             Standard "Shoebox Cabinet style is also available
                 FULLY ASSEMBLED SCSI DRIVES DEDUCT $60.00
              ADD $35.00 for 4 BAY "SUPER CABINET" w/250+w PS

              EXOTIC TOWER CABINETS AVAILABLE Call for Info!
              PLEASE NOTE: The above is partial listing only!

                     NOTICE - NOTICE - NOTICE - NOTICE
                     """""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""
         SPECIAL PURCHASE! * LPS 120 - 240 * Hard Disk Mechanisms
                Call for SUPER PRICING!! Limited Time Only!!

                 FULLY ASSEMBLED SCSI DRIVES DEDUCT $60.00
               ADD $35.00 for 4 BAY SUPER CABINET w/250+w PS
              EXOTIC TOWER CABINETS AVAILABLE Call for Info!
              PLEASE NOTE: The above is partial listing only!

        FAST TECHNOLOGY ACCELERATOR UPGRADES AVAILABLE & INSTALLED

                                   *****
                 >> ABCO proudly offers ATARI PRODUCTS <<
              Call for ABCO's * HIGHLY COMPETITIVE PRICING! *
                  ATARI COMPUTERS * STILL THE BEST VALUE!
                                   *****
               Original Atari Mouse replacement: $35.00 NEW!

           If you don't see what you want listed here, call us.
            Odds are, we either have it or, can get it for you!
               * GUARANTEED * AT THE BEST POSSIBLE PRICE! *

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                      ****** SPECIAL - SPECIAL ******

     * SYQUEST 44MB (#555) >> ABCOFILE "44" << REMOVABLE MEDIA DRIVE *

          - SYQUEST 44 MB DRIVE         - ICD ST ADSCSI PLUS H/A
          - ICD Utility Software        - 3' DMA Cable
          - Fan & Clock                 - Multi-Unit Power Supply
                          (1) 44 MB Syquest Cart.
                --->> SPECIAL! NOW ONLY __$ 639.00__ <<---
                   **** SCSI UNITS -> ONLY $529.00 ****

                   WE PAY SHIPPING & INSURANCE!  >UPS!<
                                (Cont. USA)
                  COMPLETELY ASSEMBLED AND READY TO RUN!
                    Cart and Utility Software Included!

                        EXTRA CARTS:      $  69.50
                        DRIVE MECH ONLY:  $ 339.95

                      ****** SPECIAL - SPECIAL ******

   * TWIN SYQUEST 44MB REMOVABLE MEDIA DRIVES ... PROGRAMMER'S DELIGHT *
                     SPECIALLY PRICED ** $895.95.00 **
                       Includes: * TWO * cartridges!

    * SYQUEST 44MB REMOVABLE MEDIA DRIVE AND HARD DRIVE COMBINATIONS *
         - Syquest 44 Model [555] and the following hard drives -

         ** 50mb SQG51S   $759.00     105mb SQG105S    $959.00 **
                  Or, YOUR choice of Hard Disk Mechanism!

                 LOWBOY - STANDARD - DUAL BLOWER CABINETS
                      CUSTOM CONFIGURATIONS AVAILABLE

                 ** ANNOUNCING THE NEW! -> ABCO CD-ROM! **
                       :Special Introductory offer:
                  ABCO CD-ROM $359.95 (limited time only)

           Listed above are a sampling of the systems available.
      Prices also reflect various cabinet/power supply configurations
    (over sixty configurations are available, flexibility is unlimited)
            * IBM - MSDOS - AMIGA - ATARI - APPLE - MACINTOSH *

      ALL UNITS COMPATIBLE WITH --> SUPERCHARGER - AT/PC SPEED - GCR
           LARGER units are available - (Custom Configurations)

                    *>> NO REPACKS OR REFURBS USED! <<*

       - Custom Walnut WOODEN Cabinets - TOWER - AT - XT Cabinets -

                Atari SLM 804, SLM 804PCV Laser Toner Kits
                            Memorex 2108, 5287
         Oasys Laserpro 5287, 5308, Express 830, Express Series II
                       Silver Express, Gold Express
                      ** $41.95 shipping Included **

                      Atari SLM 605 Laser Toner Kits
        AT&T 593, CAF Laser, DSI Laser, DTP Systems, Epson EPL-6000
         Facit P6060, Fontx Syslaser, Harris3M 2006, M-Tally MT905
       Microtek Turbo PS, OAS Laserpro Executive, Packard Bell 9500
                     TEC LB 1305, Toshiba PageLaser 6
                      ** $41.95 shipping included **
                          (TWO Toner Carts Incl.)

                        Panasonic Laser Toner Kits
           Panasonic KX -P 400 series, Panafax UF-750 Facsimile
                      ** $41.95 shipping included **

                    -- ALL TONER KITS  * IN STOCK * --

                       * Toner Starter Kits-$62.95 *
                    * Replacement (804) Drums-$186.95 *

               ABCO is PROUD to announce the  acquisition of
               the exclusive  U.S.A. distribution rights for
               ** Bitblit Software's; ///Turbo Board BBS. **
               This fine Atari ST  BBS  system  software and
               user support is available through ABCO to all
               Turbo customers in the USA.  Call for current
               pricing.

               >> MANY other ATARI related products STOCKED <<
                      ALL POWER SUPPLIES UL APPROVED

                       -* 12 month FULL Guarantee *-
                         (A FULL YEAR of COVERAGE)

                   WE PAY SHIPPING & INSURANCE!  >UPS!<
                                (Cont. USA)
                 QUANTITY & USERGROUP DISCOUNTS AVAILABLE!
                 _________________________________________

                     DEALERS and DISTRIBUTORS WANTED!
                         please, call for details

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                   Personal and Company Checks accepted.

                        ORDER YOUR NEW UNIT TODAY!

           CALL: 1-800-562-4037   -=**=-    CALL: 1-904-783-3319
           Customer Orders ONLY               Customer Service
                                9am - 8pm EDT
                                Tues thru Sat

                ABCO is EXPANDING!!  CALL FOR INFORMATION!

                   SEND FOR YOUR NEW ABCO CATALOG TODAY!




 """"""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""
                  STReport International Online Magazine
     Available through more than 10,000 Private BBS systems WorldWide!
 """"""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""
 STReport              "YOUR INDEPENDENT NEWS SOURCE"        April 10, 1992
 16/32bit Magazine          copyright   1987-92                     No.8.15
 """"""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""
 Views, Opinions and Articles Presented herein are not necessarily those of
 the editors/staff, PCReport, STReport, AMReport, MCReport.   Permission to
 reprint articles  is hereby granted, unless otherwise noted.  Each reprint
 must include the name of the publication, date, issue #  and  the author's
 name.  The entire publication and/or portions therein may not be edited in
 any way without prior  written permission.   The  entire contents,  at the
 time  of  publication,  are  believed  to be reasonably accurate.  The STR
 editors, contributors and or staff are  not  responsible  for  the  use or
 misuse of information contained herein or the results obtained therefrom.
 """"""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""


-----------------------------------------
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