ST Report: 28-May-93 #922

From: Bruce D. Nelson (aa789@cleveland.Freenet.Edu)
Date: 05/29/93-09:17:19 AM Z


From: aa789@cleveland.Freenet.Edu (Bruce D. Nelson)
Subject: ST Report: 28-May-93 #922
Date: Sat May 29 09:17:19 1993




            *---== STReport International Online Magazine ==---*
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 May 28, 1993                                                     No. 9.22
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> 05/28/93 STR 922    "The Original * Independent * Online Magazine!"
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     - The Editor's Desk      - CPU Report        - PORTFOLIO NEWS
     - High Speed Modems      - WP & FAXBIOS      - GOOD IDEAS 
     - JAGUAR -> FALL'93      - FEST NEWS'93      - STR Confidential

                   -* ATARI POSTS BIG LOSSES ..AGAIN! *-
                   -* LEXICOR TO FOCUS SUPPORT ON CIS! *-
                -* CONFLICT OF INTEREST IN GEnie's ST RT? *-
           -* "FALCONWAIT" OVER! SMALL, SLOW SHIPMENTS BEGIN! *-


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                   STReport International Online Magazine
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                 "Accurate UP-TO-DATE News and Information"
      Current Events, Original Articles, Tips, Rumors, and Information
             Hardware - Software - Corporate - R & D - Imports
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STReport's BBS, The Bounty, invites BBS  systems, worldwide, to participate
in the Fido/NEST/Atari  F-Net Mail Network.  You may  also phone The Bounty
BBS direct @ 904-786-4176, and enjoy the wonder & excitement  of exchanging
information relative to  computers, worldwide, through the use of excellent
International Networking Systems.  SysOps,  worldwide, are quite welcome to
join  the STReport International Conferences.  The Crossnet Code is #34813,
and the "Lead Node" is  # 350.  All BBS systems are welcome  and invited to
participate.  Support your favorite computer!  Teleconference Today!
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                  WHAT'S NEW IN THE ATARI FORUMS (May 28)

BATSUB "SEAFOX" CLONE GAME

Download  file BATSUB.ARC  from  LIBRARY  2 of  the  Atari  Arts Forum  (GO
ATARIARTS) for BATSUB,  a SEAFOX clone  game.  Move  the submarine to  fire
torpedoes that will sink moving ships.   The program runs in low resolution
with sound.

VERSION 2.01 OF SOS HANGMAN

Download file  HANGM2.LZH  from LIBRARY  2  of  the Atari  Arts  Forum  (GO
ATARIARTS) for  SoS Hangman 2.01.  This is a  much improved version  of the
recently  released SoS Hangman accessory. The new version features a better
looking game window,and almost 400 new puzzles in 7 categories.

SCROLLING THUNDER IN ATARIPRO

Download file SCRTH.LZH from LIBRARY 4 of the Atari Productivity Forum  (GO
ATARIPRO  for Scrolling  Thunder,  a  viewer  or  browser  for  text  files
(actually,  any  kind  of file)  with  a  difference.  It exclusively  uses
hardware smooth  scrolling,  available only  on  STe/MegaSTe/TT/Falcon,  to
produce the smoothest, fastest display of text you've ever seen. It scrolls
forward   or  backward   at  variable   speed,  and   is   almost  entirely
mouse-controlled.

NEW SOFTLOGIK DEMO IN ATARIVEN

Download file  FLAGS.LZH from LIBRARY  11 of  the Atari  Vendors Forum  (GO
ATARIVEN) for Sample EPS (Adobe Illustrator) files of the new  Flags of the
World  clipart collection  now being sold  by Soft-Logik Publishing.    The
archive contains four flags.


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

            "GO APORTFOLIO TO ACCESS THE ATARI PORTFOLIO FORUM"

        "ENJOY CIS' ATARI FORUMS WHERE CENSORSHIP IS A DIRTY WORD!"


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> From the Editor's Desk             "Saying it like it is!"
  """"""""""""""""""""""


     This is the big weekend!  Memorial Day Weekend...  this is the time we
are  supposed to remember  all the members  of our armed  forces who served
their country well and especially those who paid for our freedom with their
lives.
  
     Now  for a less serious thought.   The Falcon is shipping.. slowly and
in small numbers but its shipping and that's good news.  Now, let's all pay
close attention to the stir we hope it creates in the computing community.
   
     This issue presents a  number of interesting topics some of  which are
bound to peak your interest.  Please  have a safe holiday weekend and above
all else enjoy yourselves!  I know I will there's a very special Pink Floyd
show here in town  this weekend and a recorded  show of ZZ Top and  Led Zep
immediately after the Floyd Laser Show.  Yup, you guessed it I'll be there.
<very big grin>..

                                        
  Ralph....



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 STReport's Staff                      DEDICATED TO SERVING YOU!
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                             Publisher - Editor
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                              Ralph F. Mariano


          PC DIVISION         AMIGA DIVISION           MAC DIVISION
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          Roger D. Stevens    Robert Glover            R. ALBRITTON


 STReport Staff Editors:
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          Lucien Oppler       Brad Martin              Judith Hamner
          John Szczepanik     Dan Stidham              Joseph Mirando
                    Steve Spivey        Doyle C. Helms

                      Lloyd E. Pulley, Editor Emeritus

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



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      Please, submit letters to the editor, articles, reviews, etc...
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                      STR'S "BELIEVE IT?  OR.. WHAT?"
                    <>###############################<>

                 "There is no comparison!  The Atari Falcon
                    is far superior to the PC platform."


                                                  Sam Tramiel, 08/92

About the scathing Forbes Magazine Critique of Atari;

     "My new office,  which has a  better view than my  old one, is  so far
     quite satisfactory.   And  Richard Miller  is in my  old office.   The
     Forbes article was a mish-mash and misconstrued article full of half 
truths.  We are anxiously  awaiting the release of the Atari Falcon to 
bring us back to the forefront.  The article has given us some laughs, 
but otherwise has not affected us."

                                                  Sam Tramiel, 08/92

About marketing plans and the future....

     "As  I  said  before, all  marketing  announcements  will  be made  at
     Duesseldorf.  I will not comment on future models of the Falcon.

                 WE ARE TALKING TODAY ABOUT A MACHINE.....
                     WHICH WILL BE SHIPPING NEXT WEEK."


                                                  Sam Tramiel, 08/92

A fantastic observation, considering the date it was made...

     "I've just returned from Asia, where I saw the first Atari Falcon
     production coming off the lines.  Let's hope this new offering will 
make it in North America.  I know that the specs are great."


                                                  Sam Tramiel, 08/92

Again, the dates of the statement conflict with the facts now known....

     "We have not yet even given the machine to the FCC.  And we are only 
applying for Class B approval.  According to our "experts", it should 
pass Class B."

                                                  Sam Tramiel, 08/92


             "......  We are not working for Wall Street but to
         make money for our shareholders and only think long term."


                                                  Sam Tramiel, 11/92

psssst.
              FYI.... The Shareholder's equity is fine.... NOT!

                    The Stock is hovering around $0.81 

                     CHRISTMAS '92 has COME and GONE...
AS HAS...

                       JANUARY 1993, FEBRUARY 1993...

                           FALCONS    ....anyone?

                  By the Way.... Does the Falcon work well
                                    with
            any... of the SLM Laser Printers??  NOPE!  NOT YET!

                         Wanna bet there won't be any?  

Better yet... 

             Which _MAJOR_ US Software Developers & Publishers
                                    are
                producing NEW Software for Atari's FALCON???

               Besides, who _needs_ a CARTRIDGE PORT anyhow!


     "The  Jaguar will  be released  in the  Fall, in  time for  Christmas.
     Sorry,  I  have  no  comment  about  other  computers  to  follow  the
     Falcon030.  We don't have enough of those on the street yet to worry 
about the next batch in my department anyway. :)"

                                             Bob Brodie  05/26/93



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> ONLINE WEEKLY STReport OnLine          The wires are a hummin'!
  """""""""""""""""""""""""""""
         
          
              
                            PEOPLE... ARE TALKING
                            =====================
             


              
 On CompuServe
 -------------
 compiled by Joe Mirando
             73637,2262






Hidi Ho good neighbors and neighborettes, I'll put the big news right up
front this week...


Ron Luks, the Boss Sysop, posts:


"In an effort to answer more of your questions concerning the new Falcon030
computer, Bill Rehbock (Director of software development) and James Grunke
(Director of Atari Music) have offered to hold an online Conference.

However, considering the state of online, interactive COnferencing
software, with its delays and system response, and in light of the fact
that our membership in the Atari Forums is truly international and there is
probably no way to pick a time that all of our members can attend, I feel
that you folks deserve better value for your connect dollars.

Therefore, I have alternately suggested, and they have accepted, a proposal
to do a 20-QUESTIONS format.  (We may sometime in the future schedule
interactive conferences, but I've been dying to try out this idea for a
couple of years, so please bear with me. [grin])

A popular men's magazine (Playboy) contains a monthly celebrity interview
of great length as well as a shorter feature where a popular figure is
given a list of 20 questions and provides answers.  Sort of a
mini-interview.

Because the questions will be prepared and submitted in advance, I will
have a chance to pick the best 20 and forward them to Bill and James on
Wednesday evening (May 26th).  They have agreed to return the answers for
online posting by Friday so you can download and read them over the
Memorial Day weekend (for us Yanks).

I believe this format has the following advantages.  First, even given good
system response, we usually manage to ask and answer approx. 20 questions
in a two hour period.  If the CO is full, you may have to sit online for 2
hours just to ask one question and if its real busy, you may not get a
chance to ask any.

Secondly, the sysops have to edit, spell check, and clean up the transcript
anyway and past experience has shown that we get 5-20 downloads of a
transcript for every 'live' attendee anyway.  If you cannot attend, you
have to HOPE somebody there will ask the question you want answered.  This
system gives EVERY member a chance to post a question in advance.  I will
personally accept all your questions, try to combine as many as possible
into the total of 20 questions asked, and to cover as wide a range of
subjects as possible.

Thirdly, we wont have to have any situations where our guests will reply
with "I'll check into that and get back to you tomorrow...." We'll keep
them on the hot seat. [heh heh]

I think this system will present as much information as an interactive
COnference with considerably greater value for your connect dollars.  You
will get as much information with a few minutes downloading as you would
get sitting for hours in an online conference.

Therefore I am asking every member to submit their questions for Bill and
James as a reply to this message.  Feel free to ask multiple questions but
I will do my best to compile a set from as many different members as
possible.  I will take full responsibility for the ultimate questions
asked, but that does not mean that you should not ask "the tough
questions." In fact, I would encourage you to ask the "tough questions." 
Bill and James have agreed to answer whatever is submitted.  I will send
off the final 20 questions at 5pm EDT Wednesday, May 26th, so get yours in
early. Preference will be given to questions submitted first.

If this format works as well as I anticipate, there will be more of these
in the weeks and months ahead.  Since our first "guests" will be Bill and
James, I will ask you to narrow your questions to the new Falcon030 with a
special emphasis on music/midi applications, although any Falcon030
question will be considered fair game.

And finally, in a sense of fair play and sharing with the entire Atari
community, permission will be given to all Atari BBS sysops to redistribute
the unedited question and answer file on their BBS systems after the first
72 hours of availability on the Atari Forums on CompuServe.  We will also
encourage BBS sysops to gather questions from their users and submit them
through us.   I will ATTEMPT but not promise to assign a users name to the
final questions whenever possible, so Bill and James will know who asked
any particular question.

Well folks-- you asked for direct feedback from Atari Corp and here's your
chance.  Send those questions in asap!"

Now that you've seen this post, we'll continue on with our regularly
scheduled program.... uh, I mean, with our usual format.  Gee, I guess I
_AM_ watching too much television.



>From the Atari Productivity Forum
=================================



Dazzz Smith replies to Ron's post about the questions for Atari:


"While I prefer the idea of detailed questions and replies I also
think that CO's have their place in the scheme of things comms wise.

Wouldn't it be possible to combine the two?"


Ron, being the top-notch guy that he is, tells Dazzz:


"Okay.  We'll have a CO, too.  But how about sending me a couple of
questions for this experiment.  We'll try one or two of these files and
then schedule a CO and see which works better.

Sound fair?"


Dazzz tells Ron:


"Hey don't do it on my say so, ask around, see what everyone else thinks.
As another thought, why not see if its possible to do a question file
for some of the other Atari houses? e.g. Atari UK, Atari Germany,
Atari Australia etc."


Greg Kopchak posts:


"Forecaster III is now available for the Atari Falcon series. The program
predicts the weather, offers a detailed analysis of current conditions, and
plots normals by month.

It also offers a viewer for GIF weather graphics from GEnie (M461) and CIS.
It plots raw radar data from WeatherBank on a US map, and displays RLE
weather data from CIS.

It also displays ASCII weather graphics from both WeatherBank and CIS. CIS
ASCII graphics can be displayed as a graphics plot.

Templates for graphing weather data are included for use with 123 or any
spreadsheet that can read WKS or WK1 format. A set of templates for
graphing with Atariworks in the .STF format is also included.

The program is Multi-Tos ready and will run on a monochrome monitor (no
color GIF), Atari color monitor, broadcast TV, or VGA monitor. GIF weather
graphics are great on a VGA or broadcast TV monitor.

Dealers, contact Pacific Software about upgrading your stock to the Falcon
version.

Forecaster III for the Falcon is available from Randall Kopchak, It's All
Relative Software, 2233 Keeven Lane, Florissant, MO 63031 for $35.00,
postpaid, or ask for it at your favorite Atari dealer.

Registered users can upgrade to the Falcon version for $10.00, postpaid,
from the address above."


Jonnie Santos asks about a grammar checker for the ST series:


"I use WordWriter on the ST which has a built in spell checker.  I wanted a
grammar checker and found an ad in Atari Interface for one.  It's called
GramSlam - pretty neat (and cheap too!).  In that same ad they advertise a
spell checker "Spelling Sentry" and a English grammar, punctuation, etc
reference as well called "Grammar Expert."

The company is:  Wintertree Software Inc.
                 43 Rueter Street
                 Ontario, Canada K2J 3Z9
                 (613) 825-6271                               

Brian Gockley of ST Informer tells Jonnie:


"All of those programs you mentioned are top flight! I use them everyday,
and couldn't be happier with both the support and the quality."


Jonnie tells Brian:


"Except that I wanted to put a box around a document and make the title in
large letter using WordWriter and couldn't.  I exported it to PageStream
and got the results I originally wanted.

Just for laughs I uploaded the file in ASCII format to my personal file are
here and then had a Mac friend download it.  They put it into PageMaker and
got the same results - pretty cool (neat), eh?

Last night I loaded Norton's AntiVirus into our PC at work and it wrote a
few lines into: AUTEXEC.BAT, CONFIG.SYS, WIN.INI  When I rebooted something
didn't take and the sucker froze...  Without thinking I started to reach
for the power switch on the hard drive (like I've done on my Ste) so that I
could shut it off and then reboot from the defacto setup in TOS.  Then
shaking my head after I realized the hard disk is internal and not
turn-off-able...  I didn't know about "System disks" or the Ctrl-C trick
after hearing the BIOS beep until after the tech bailed me out.  So this
evening it is with  pleasure I'm using my Ste knowing I can get myself out
of most any problem (the few that occur)."


Stephen Petrenko puts out a call to those more knowledgable:


"I NEED HELP PEOPLE. IT IS GETTING HARDER AND HARDER TO FIND SOFTWARE FOR
MY 520 ST. CAN YOU SOLVE THIS QUESTION FOR ME? IS THE ST COMPATIBLE WITH
IBM OR ANY OTHER COMPUTERS OUT THERE THAT SEEM TO HAVE SOFTWARE READILY
AVAILABLE. I FIND IT INCREASINGLY ANNOYING AND DISHEARTENING IN TRYING TO
FIND PROGRAMS FOR MY ST.WHAT CAN I DO?"


Andrew Wright asks Stephen:


"What exactly are you looking for? There's little that the ST can't do. The
only real restriction is the screen resolution and lack of colours which
make image handling a bit weak. When you say 520, do you mean a half meg
machine? I can understand your problem if that's the case - most decent s/w
needs a meg or more these days.

And no, the ST isn't IBM compatible without an emulator fitted - and I
wouldn't recommend that.

Let us have a list of what you want to do and I'm sure we can make a few
suggestions."


Sysop Brad Hill tells Stephen:


"The difficulty in shopping for Atari software is frustrating for many of
us.  However, there _is_ good software out there.  It's just a question of
finding it.  You need to be connected into the community of Atari users,
since most software stores don't carry Atari programs.  Fortunately, you've
come to the right place <grin>.  The people online here know virtually all
the software which can accomplish whatever you need to get done, from
desktop publishing to games.  Some of it can be downloaded from our
libraries, and the commercial programs can often be purchased through the
mail.

       Do you have specific types of programs in mind? ave you browsed in
the libraries for demos of commercial programs, as well as shareware?

       Let us know what you need/want, and we can probably point you in the
right direction!  Also, let us know if you need any help navigating the
libraries, OK?"


Mike Mortilla asks...


"Dumb question # 65...

Can I attach a SCSI drive to my ST or Stacy? I heard that the Stacy was
Scsi, but how would I connect the drive?

I need a Syquest 44 for a sampler and would like to use the syquest with
the stacy and maybe the ST.

Any knowledgable answers would be appreciated."


One of the most knowledgable people in the Atari on-line community, Albert
Dayes of Atari Explorer Magazine tells Mike:


"You will probably need ICD's LINK to hook up the Syquest to your Stacy. 
Also for your external hard drive it might have both a SCSI and DMA port on
the back to allow daisy-chaining of DMA (asci) and SCSI devices."


Tim Myers posts this tidbit:


"Well here's the latest bad news guys.....

(BTW this is a clip from a UK Atari network called TurboNet, I hope
that I haven't upset anybody by quoting from another network but it does
help to quote the source of these kind of reports IMO.)
========================================================================
Msg #6 / 1-11  Time: 20 May 93  19:15:30
From: Paul Civati
To  : Steve Taylor
Subj: Re: Falcon HD corruption
---------[T_ATARIS       ]-----------------------------------------------
 ST> Well, you know how I hate spreading unsubstantiated rumours but...
 ST> Several falcon owners on cix have reported HD corruption requiring
 ST> reformatting and repartitioning. They suspect this may be due to
 ST> using a ramdisk.
 ST> Also, there seems to be a bug with the NEWDESK.INF processing which
 ST> results in it being saved with garbage in it if you set up too many
 ST> different icons for different files. And by too many I mean about 15
 ST> ;-(
 ST> Roll on 4.07 says this RSN falcon owner. Yep, that's the Atari RSN.
Daron Brewood has found the latest 4.02 bug, if say C: gets full and you
try to write a file it overwrites onto D:, over the FAT's too, :-(((
I was just thinking last night that there must be one major bug that
someone still hasn't found!
Yes my 'stable version' guess is 4.07 / 4.08 too.
-Paul-
 ! Origin: Paul's V32bis Point off The Tavern BBS  London UK (100:1011/0.1)
=========================================================================="

Well, it is disappointing, but this stuff does happen... just look at DOS
6!



>From the Atari ST Arts Forum
============================



Steve Holt asks about utilities for his ST:


"I'm looking for an Atari utility that is the equivalent of a PC Tools or
Norton for the IBMPC. Something that will un-erase files, backup, view,
etc. Any ideas would be appreciated."


The ever-present Albert Dayes of Atari Explorer magazine tells Steve:


"There is a program in the (GO ATARIPRO) forum called ST-TOOLS which
provides similar capabilities to PC-Tools."


Myles Cohen tells Steve:


"Look for TOOL19.LZH in LIB 4..."


Lee at Lexicor Software tells us:


"I just heard about an article in ST FORMAT magazine that Atari has re
introduced the 520 STFM. With a much lower price in England. Form what I
gathered it is supposed to challenge the SEGA system and bring in baskets
of cash. There are quotes from Official atari types, and several comments
from both SEGA and Commodore.  Seems like the wrong time to be bringing
back an old machine? lets hope this has no effect on the Falcon works!"


Ron Luks replies:


"I read the same info about the 520STFM in the UK.  I don't see it as an
effective challenge to the Sega Genesis or Super Nintendo, but then again,
if it were priced and marketed shrewdly, it just might.

I don't think Atari would be making moves with the STFM if it would
seriously effect the Falcon effort.  I'd have to think they have taken that
into consideration and would only go ahead 'safely.'

One thing I have noticed as recently as this past week-- Atari Corp does
seem to have a new 'zeal' internally and they appear to be much more
focused than they have been for quite a long time.  I think this new focus
is the most positive news I've heard and look forward to the results of
that focus."


Sysop Brad Hill adds his thoughts:


"I don't think the re-introduction of the STfm indicates any backing off
of the Falcon effort.  And I'm glad to see increased activity and
enthusiasm about any of the Atari products... it seems to me it can only
help the platform as a whole."


Robbie Cooke asks about the specs on Atari's Falcon030:


"Can anyone tell me if the Atari Falcon can go above 640x480 in rez?I heard
the Amiga 1200 has the 640x480 as it's default but can go higher because of
some kind of mode called interlace."


Jonathan tells us more about "that other machine":


"I don't know about the falcon, but the Amiga 1200 can do resolutions from
320x200 all the way up to 1200x400 and has other screen modes like 800x600,
640x480, 742,486, 912x816, etc..  All of these can run in HAM8 mode which
is 262,000 colors out of a pallete of 16 million."


Peter Joseph professes:


"I don't get it all.  What's wrong with having the OS in ROM chips and just
swapping chips for upgrades like we do now?  It's not expensive, and it
seems just as easy as the methods you guys are proposing.  I guess I must
be missing something; please explain...I need input."


Sysop Bob Retelle explains the ins and outs of of operating systems on ROM
chips and on disk:


"For one thing, it would be a lot less expensive if the OS was on disk..
new TOS ROMs run well over $100 when they come out..  I bought the DOS 5.0
upgrade for $39.

Another problem with a ROM based OS is that once it's burned into silicon,
it's a lot harder to make the decision to upgrade it again in a short
period of time.  Masked ROMs have to be thrown away.. they can't be
re-burned. Disks could always be re-written.

Also, it's FAR easier for the average computer user to just put a disk in
the drive and type INSTALL, than to open up the computer, remove the RF
shield, find the right chips, pull them out, figure out which chip goes in
what socket and insert them without damaging them, then put it all back
together and hope it works...  or in more extreme cases, having to hack the
motherboard to put a 2 chip OS in where there used to be a 6 chip set.. or
having to solder in an adapter board because the new OS comes on completely
foreign ROMs.

The idea of a removable, re-writable "OS on a cartridge" would go a long
way toward fixing a lot of those problems.  It would be a little more
expensive at the initial purchase of the computer, but it would make
upgrades easy and inexpensive."



>From the Atari Vendors Forum
============================



John Amsler tells Mark of SoftLogic Publishing:


"...Don't get me wrong -- I _LOVE_ PageSTream!!  If there'e ever another
version released for the Atari, I'll be first in line to get it!  I just
get irritated -- and, BTW, I'm a prototypical "Type 'A'" personality --
at having to wait for the thing to print.  (I've got a HP-LJIIIp with
3 Mb of memory.)

I guess I got accustomed to things like EasyDraw, which print relatively
fast."


Ron Luks posts and interesting note:


"I've been talking to some folks at Atari over the past few days and they
are very, very upbeat about the status of the Falcon, which is now
'officially shipping' according to Bill Rehbock.  More details to follow,
hopefully provided by Atari Corp themselves."


Beth Jane Freeman adds another interesting note:


"Recently, I wrote a letter to Snapple, the soft drink company.  They
are one of the few companies on Long Island that manufacture something
that's is completely independant of government defense contracts, and we
need more such companies here.  Well, within a week, I got a letter back,
and it was individual, not a form letter.  Enclosed was a $1.00 off coupon
for Snapple That's the way you deal with customer inquiries.  You thank
them and reward them in a small way, at least.  Snapple isn't a huge
company like any of the Fortune 500 or something, but they act human. 
Maybe it's the all natural soda they sell. They must drink it, too."


Jim Ness tells Beth:


"This year, Snapple Lemonade is my official umpiring drink, replacing
Gatorade Lemonade flavor.

Of course, the weather in the Chicago area, from April 1 until now, has
been so cool, that I haven't needed to carry much Snapple..."
 


>From the Atari Portfolio Forum
==============================



I'm going to put in a shameless plug for the Connecticut AtariFest '93 by
printing this post:


"This is just a quick note to let you know some of what's being planned for
our "Portfolio Corner" at the Connecticut AtariFest '93.

First off, we'll have the one thing that would make any Portfolio exhibit
successful:  BJ GLEASON.  That's right, CompuServe's Portfolio Sysop (not
to mention his being a prolific programmer).

We'll also have products on display from a lot of innovative companies and
vendors such as BSE, makers of hard drives for our favorite palm-top, and
MegaByte Computers, the "512k upgrade guys.

We will also have a disassembled portfolio on display for those who always
wondered what the "guts" of a Portfolio look like.

In addition to the information about the show that's already been placed in
the libraries throughout the ATARI forums (or is that fora?) we'll be
posting info here right up to showtime (June 12/13).

Please feel free to ask questions, make suggestions, offer demos, displays,
literature, or just say "hello"."


Sysop BJ Gleason replies:


"It sounds great...  I'm really looking forward to it...  Send me e-mail
about any and all arrangements I need to make, and I'll tell you what I can
bring with me...

I might be able to unveil a few new things...."


Of course, being the die-hard gadget freak that I am, I replied:


">> I might be able to unveil a few new things....  ;-)          <<

COOL!  Now I'm looking forward to this more than ever!"


In a bit of a departure for the Portfolio forum, BJ Gleason asks Don Thomas
of Atari:


"Are the rumours true that there will be a model with a detachable
keyboard?"


Don tells BJ:


"Yes, it *is* true that there *are* rumours that there will be a model with
a detachable keyboard."


Mike Barney asks Marty Mankins:


"Since you work for WP, is it possible that WP would release the old word
processing program in WP EXEC (the one that works on the port) to the
portfolio
public in shareware or freeware form.  I realize that WP EXEC isn't sold
anymore.  I was thinking maybe WP could release a special version that
would
stop working in 30 days if the person that downloaded it didn't purchase
it.

Is this a workable idea???"


Marty Mankins tells Mike:


"WP in an interesting company.  They could do something like this, but all
of their ventures are based on a cashflow value.  If it makes a lot of
money, then it'll work.  If it is something that will help the small user
base (200,000 or less), then they ignore it until the market increases.

As for the WP EXEC WP module, they now have stopped selling the program and
don't support it.  Fortunately, I got a copy before it went out.

So my answer is: I don't think WP Corp. will do what you ask.  It's hard to
understand, but they don't really have an interest in palmtops."


Don Thomas jumps in and adds:

"I think I understand why the lesser interest in palmtops... it's hard to
justify a $395 package on a $299 machine.  Although, my numbers are off,
the point is there. It's business. Why dedicate resources on a $69.95
application, when the rest of your business draws so much more.

Palmtop users often require as much tech support for a $69.95 application
as desktop users do for a $395 application. It's hard to tell a desktop
user to hold as you finish assisting a Palmtop user.

This is an essential problem Atari has attracting dealers for the
Portfolio.  Even with as many units CompUSA sold, it drove them nuts that
the users had as many questions as the guy who bought a $3000 system. It's
tough. Mail order does fairly okay for us, since most people have a
different expectation in the level of support they require when they buy
through the mail."


Marty Mankins tells Don:


"Oh, I agree with the support issues, which is why WP didn't go with the
Portfolio version of WordPerfect.

But, there comes a time when you should take a loss for the first little
while.  My guess is that if WP Corp. were to be like Lotus and write
software to go in the ROM of some palmtop, then they could make some
serious cash down the road.  Think about it if they were to get something
like the Portfolio or the HP 100LX (or both).

It's now water under the bridge, but HP did approach WP about putting s/w
on a future machine (I don't know if it was the 100LX or the rumored
subnotebook).  When HP told them they had sold 150,000 units of the 95LX,
they turned it down.  HP has since sold another 150,000 units and even more
world wide.  And the 100LX has sold even more.  And my guess is that Atari
has sold about 250,000 Portfolios since it's introduction.

So while it would not be the immediate bread winner, it could turn into
something great."


Don Thomas adds:


"Keep in mind that a lot of those Doctor's and students taking notes may
not be looking for much more than what any built-in Editor offers on a
palmtop.  Usually formatting, fonts, margins, etc. are most important on
formal documents a secretary prints out or what may have been transferred
to a desktop.

It's hard to visualize what a document might look like on a smaller screen
and in note-taking environments, it may not be as important."




Well folks, that's about it for this week.  With Falcons finally starting
to hit the streets, I'm sure we'll have even more interesting stuff in the
coming weeks.  So tune in every week and listen to what they are saying
when....


                             PEOPLE ARE TALKING



    ___________________________________________________________________




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

 
                 Computer Products Update - CPU Report
                 ------------------------   ----------
                Weekly Happenings in the Computer World
 
                               Issue #16
 
                            By: John Deegan
 

Sunnyvale, CA           ATARI LICENSES CINEPAK COMPRESSION TECHNOLOGY

SuperMac Technology Inc. announced that Atari Corp. has licensed SuperMac's
Cinepak advanced video compression technology.  The agreement with Atari
marks the fourth licensing pact for Cinepak.  SuperMac's Cinepak technology
serves both the electronic entertainment and computer markets.  Cinepak is
part of Apple Computer Inc.'s QuickTime standard.  As well as Creative Labs
Inc.'s digital-video developments in the PC arena. Cinepak is also
available on The 3DO Co.'s upcoming Interactive Multiplayer multimedia
system.  Cinepak is a video compression-decompression (codec) scheme that
allows each video frame to use less space than usual, while still retaining
high quality colors and images.


Orem, Utah                     WP CORP. & OPTIUS SOFTWARE COOPERATE

Wordperfect Corporation has announced that Word Perfect 6.0 for DOS,
scheduled to ship June 28, will include support forthe innovative FaxBios
specification, giving users easy access to network fax resources from
within WordPerfect.  Optius Software, a key member of the group that
developed FaxBios and a leading vendor of fax server software for Netware
LANS, currently supports FAXBios in its award winning FACSys Product.

Information regarding FaxBios is available on Compuserve (go faxbios) or by
sending a fax request to 1-801-222-3991.  Technical specificationsa can be
obtained by contacting WordPerfect Corporation 1-800-321-4566


       ______________________________________________________________




> HIGH SPEED MODEMS STR InfoFile          HELP WITH THE INSTALLATION
  """"""""""""""""""""""""""""""



                    HIGH SPEED MODEMS - UARTS AND PORTS
                    ===================================



by Robert J. Niland


reprint permission granted to STReport 05/28/93

re: What to do after the high speed modem arrives.       Edition 01 Apr 93


This article applies only to Windows 3.0 and 3.1, and not to NT, OS/2
or DOS apps not running under Windows.

One of the unadvertised limitations of most current Windows PCs is that
their RS-232C (serial, COM) performance is seriously deficient.  Almost
everyone who purchases a high-speed modem (V.32bis, V.32, PEP or HST)
discovers the problem the first time they try to download a file or accept
an incoming FAX (at 9600+) after upgrading the modem.  Overrun and retry
errors abound, even when the only active application is the datacomm or
FAX program.  If the transfer completes at all, it may take even longer
than with the old 2400bps modem.


There are three reasons for the problem:

1. The Universal Asynchronous Receiver/Transmitters (UARTs) used in most
   PCs are primitive Ns8250 devices with single-byte FIFO buffers.  If the
   operating system/driver cannot read and flush each character at high
   interrupt rates, the next incoming character overwrites the FIFO and
   the previous one is lost.  DOS, being a fairly single-minded
   environment during datacomm, can usually keep up. Windows can't.

2. Windows has more operating system overhead than plain DOS, and
   interrupts often take longer to service.  Overruns are much more likely
   than under DOS.  As soon as you report to your PC/modem vendor that you
   are losing data, you may be advised that "you need to upgrade to a
   16550". More likely, since there seems to be a conspiracy of ignorance
   about this issue,  you'll get no useful advice at all.  Most of the
   store-front and mail-order sources I spoke with in attempting to solve
   my own problem had never heard the term "16550" and many didn't even
   know what a UART was.

3. Even your PC has Ns16550A UARTs (and PS/2's do), or if you can upgrade
   your mother/COM board or add a new COM board, you may STILL experience
   errors and overruns because the standard MicroSoft Windows COM drivers
   don't take full advantage of the 16550.  Windows 3.1 is improved in this
   regard over 3.0, but I still recommend a driver upgrade.  Applications
   like ProComm+/Win (which is what I use) cannot get around this problem
   by themselves.

If you have a modem CARD, you may not have a problem, as the modem part of
the card can be designed to be aware of the state of the UART, and avoid
overrunning it; however, I wouldn't want to bet that the card designers
were that clever, and will insist on a 16550 UART if I ever buy a modem
card.  Some modem cards don't even have conventional UARTs, but if they
are to work with standard Windows drivers, they need to simulate one.
Use MSD.EXE (below) to see what the modem card is, or is pretending to be.


The Hardware Situation.

The UARTs on most PC COM ports are based on National Semiconductor Ns8250
or Ns16450 chips (or megacells inside VLSI chips where you can't replace
them).  You can ID the UART type on your system by running the MicroSoft
diagnostic program \WINDOWS\MSD.EXE.  Be sure to run it in DOS *before*
bringing up Windows.   The Windows serial API may prevent MSD from
accurately identifying a 16550 if you run it from a Windows DOS prompt.

The Ns16550 UART has separate 16-byte transmit and receive FIFOs with
configurable trigger levels, and can run reliably at clock rates up to
460,800 bps, although with current modem technology, there's no point in
pushing your luck by going over 115,200 bps. The 16550 has shorted access
cycle times than the 16450 or 8250.  The 16550 also has DMA capability, but
it is not clear that any PC drivers ever use this.  For more technical
info, see National Semiconductor Application Note AN-491.

So, what UART component do you have?

Try to locate the UART on your mother board, multi-function I/O card, COM
board or ISA/MCA modem card.  If you can't find a socketed component with
the numbers "8250" or "16450", your COM ports are probably buried in VLSI,
and you won't be able to perform a chip replacement.  If you can DISABLE
your VLSI COM ports (as I chose to do), you can at least add an aftermarket
COM board.

If you have one or more socketed 8250 or 16450 chips, you can buy plug-in
Ns16550AFN or PC16C550CN (low power CMOS version) ICs from several
suppliers typically for $9 to $15 each.  The "N" chip is the normal 40-pin
dual-in-line package.  Other styles are available, but avoid any Ns16550
chips without the "A" (the 16C550C are presumably all OK).

Early Ns chips have bugs, although National will reportedly exchange those
of their own manufacture for free.  Clone chips are available from various
IC makers other than National.  The manual for the TurboCom drivers states
support for the following (apparently equivalent) chips:

National Semiconductor: 16550A, 16551, 16552
Chips&Technology:       82C607
Texas Instruments:      t16c550a
Silicon Systems:        73M550
VLSI                    16C550

TurboCom warns about the pre-"A" Ns16550 and Western Digital 16C550,
says that problems have been reported with early IBM PS/2 55SX and 70
systems (IBM reportedly will upgrade them).

If you DON'T have socketed 8250/16450 chips, you'll need to buy an after-
market COM or multi-function board. If this is a modem card situation, you
may be hosed. To add a new COM or multi-function card, you'll need to
either disable the COM1/2 port(s) you are replacing, or re-assign them to
COM3/4 (although watch out for IRQ conflicts without TurboCom).

Although cheaper cards are available, in the interest of getting the
problem solved quickly I elected buy the Modular Circuit Technology
MCT-AIO+ card from:

                              JDR Microdevices
                            2233 Samaritan Drive
                            San Jose  CA  95124
                          (800) 538-5000 voice US
                         (408) 559-1200 voice other
                           (800) 538-5005 FAX US


The MCT-AIO+ (and the "+" is important) sells for $89.95.  It is an 8-bit
ISA card providing:

Port Type  Connector  Address and IRQ        Comments
COM        DB9M       COM 1,2,3 IRQ 2,3,4,5  Ns16550AFN in socket
COM        ribbon     COM 2,3,4 IRQ 2,3,4,5  Ns16550AFN in socket
Parallel   DB25F      LPT1,2,3  IRQ 5,7
Game       ribbon

The kit includes a ribbon cable and DB25F connector for the secondary COM
port, a ribbon cable/connector for the game port, two bulkhead plates for
the ribbon-based connectors and a 9F-to-25F adaptor cable.  Each port can
be individually disabled, and the COM ports have TX, RX, RTS, CTS, DTR,
DCD, and DSR jumpers.

JDR also sells a Super-I/O m-f card that also has IDE.

I have heard from several people about less expensive m-f I/O cards with
16550s:

                                TSD Systems
                               (407) 331-9130
                 $19.95 for the card, plus $9.95 per 16550.


                    Greenfield Trading and Distributors
                (518) 271-2473 (voice), (518) 271-7811(FAX).
  Their card is $33 w/one 16550, $45 w/2, and they sell 16550AFNs for $13.

                           R&S DATA SYSTEMS, INC.
                            820 East Highway 434
                            Longwood, FL  32750
                           PHONE: (407) 331-1424
                            FAX: (407) 331-8606
                   2COM/LPT/Game card w/2 16550s for $39


I have no personal experience with any of the firms except JDR.

Meanwhile, back at the MCT card from JDR... I only needed two serial ports,
and am running out of IRQs on my PC, so I disabled my built-in VLSI-based
8250 ports. However, with the TurboCom driver (below), I could have set
the internals as COM3 and 4, using IRQ sharing.


The Software Situation

Simply upgrading to 16550 UARTs will not completely solve common overrun
problems.  The standard MS serial drivers don't take full advantage of the
16550. The Windows 3.0 drivers are even less capable, and the Windows 3.1
drivers have the following limitations:

 - They enable only the receive FIFO, and only at rates above 2400 bps.
 - They never enable the transmit FIFO, which  results in an interrupt
   rate of 10x during uploads.
 - They set the trigger level at 14 bytes (too high - it's easy for 2
   more bytes to arrive before the driver can read the FIFO).
 - The Ports menu of the Control Panel only allows speeds up to 19200.
   With a V.32bis modem,  sparse data and text can easily compress 3:1
   or more, suggesting that a host DTE connect rate of 57,600 bps would
   be effective.
 - The API won't accept rates above "CBR_128000".
 - The API won't let DOS programs know there is a 16550 there, and even
   if it did, DOS programs that aren't 16550-aware get little benefit
   from a 16550 port with the standard drivers.
 - They don't allow IRQ sharing for COM3,4.
 - The BIOS doesn't initialize COM3,4 properly in many systems.
 - Windows provides no workaround for apps that don't provide port
   speed options above 19200 bps.

These problems are reportedly NOT solved in Windows NT or DOS 6.0, and may
or may not be addressed in any Windows releases after 3.1 (but before 4.0).
Rumors suggest they "may" be solved in Windows "4.0".

You can get replacement drivers that solve all of those problems by buying
a copy of "TurboCom", current version 1.2, from:

                          Bio-Engineering Research
                         Pacific CommWare Division
                            180 Beacon Hill Lane
                          Ashland  OR   97520-9701
                            (503) 482-2744 voice
                             (503) 482-2627 FAX
                             (503) 482-2633 BBS
                            MCImail:    344-5374
                           CompuServe: 71521,760

Price was around $50 as I recall.  Bio-Eng is not set up to accept credit
cards, so I had to send a check.  Egghead and 1-800-Software list TurboCom
but as far as I know, they don't stock it.  Bio is not a software company
per se.  They apparently needed reliable hi-speed serial connections for
an in-house instrument application, wrote their own driver, discovered a
market for it, revised it to be a general purpose COM driver suite. They
recently upgraded it for Windows 3.1.  It is run-time licensed.

I now have my host (DTE) connect rate set to 57,600 bps most of  my
datacomm apps, and I am having ZERO problems with downloads. I routinely
see transfer rates that exceed 2,000 bps. I am also using 115,200 bps
when linking an HP95LX to my PC, with lossless bi-directional I/O.
Uploads to various remote systems are another matter, because many hosts
are still using antique UARTs and drivers.

Note that 19200 is still the highest rate that the Windows 3.1 Port menu
in Control Panel will allow in configuring a COM port.  TurboCom gets
around this by allowing you to specify, on each port, a factor that will
set the real UART rate to a multiple of the rate passed through the
Windows APIs and dialog boxes.

I also have CTS/RTS hardware flow control enabled, and I suggest that you
do the same.  Even if you only ever transfer 7-bit ASCII data, Xon/XOff is
not a sufficiently reliable method of flow control.  The informal (DEC)
standard for Xon/Xoff hysteresis is that the sender may transmit another
16 (yes, sixteen) bytes after receipt of the Xoff from the receiving
system or device.  The 16 byte FIFO in the 16550 is clearly not big enough
to let us rely exclusively on Xon/Xoff.  A well-respected datacomm
engineer has informed me that the 16550's can't really do CTS/RTS all
by itself in the DOS/Windows environment, so using data rates above
115,200 may still be risky.

Even with hardware flow control, a 16550 with TurboCom can still
experience overruns in very busy systems, with lots of apps running and
serious swapping in progress. If this is your situation, you may need to
buy a co-processed COM board, but this will cost you more than a


16550/TurboCom upgrade.  A review of two such boards, and a review of
TurboCom, can be found in the Feb'93 issue of "Windows Sources" magazine.
I suggest trying a 16550/TurboCom upgrade first, and experiment with
process priorities and time slices if you are a "power user" whose
thrashing system still runs into comm problems.


Closing Soapbox Comments

The state of RS-232C serial datacomm support is an embarrassment across
the computer industry.  Because it is the oldest standard I/O interface,
the job of designing hardware and writing software often seems to be
assigned to the least senior or lowest ranked engineers at computer
companies.  The design of the average serial port is at least ten years
behind the state of the art. In my last job, with a major workstation
vendor, I lobbied for improved serial ports when they were doing the
initial designs of a new system.  That family of machines was
subsequently introduced with 16550 ports.  However, this is the
exception.  Few computer companies seem to have any champions for decent
I/O.

You may as well learn what you can about serial I/O, because this
situation shows no sign of improving soon.  When V.FAST arrives, I expect
cries of outrage from Windows users world-wide whose 8250 PCs "sort of"
work today with V.32, but will fail miserably with V.FAST.  Without a
hardware-buffered UART (like the 16550) and without software drivers that
use that UART to best advantage, a V.FAST modem will be a waste of money.

Regards,                                          1001-A East Harmony Road
Bob Niland                                        Suite 503
Internet:  rjn@csn.org                            Fort Collins CO 80525
CompuServe: 71044,2124                            (303) 223-5209

                     Copyright 1993 Robert J. Niland
                           All Rights Reserved

Permission  is granted  for automatic redistribution  of this  article, via
electronic,  magnetic and optical media,  in an unedited  form, through any
Usenet newsgroup  where the article is posted by the author.  Permission is
granted  for each CompuServe and  Usenet reader subscriber  and each person
who received  this article from Compuserve,  an ftp site authorized  by the
author or via  electronic mail from  the author,  to retain one  electronic
copy and to make hardcopy reproductions of this edition of this article for
personal  non-commercial use, provided that no material changes are made to
the  article  or  this  copyright statement.  All  other  copying, storage,
reproduction  or redistribution of this article, in any form, is prohibited
without the express written consent of the author,  Robert J. Niland.


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

                             IMPORTANT NOTICE!
                             =================

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                        TOP TEN DOWNLOADS (5/26/93)                       
                                                                          
                        (1) STREPORT 9.21 5/21/93                          

                        (2) ZNET9315, 5/7/93                               
                        (3) AEO: VOLUME 2 - ISSUE 10                      
                        (4) DC XTRACT PLUS 2.2                            
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> A FRESH OUTLOOK! STR Feature               A few GOOD Ideas??
  """"""""""""""""""""""""""""




                       ATARIANS TRYING TO HELP ATARI
                       =============================



by Robert Dytmire

Since my article in STReport 9.20 I have received some very enthusiastic
responses.  Some questions were raised on how feasible the takeover of
Atari really is.  Well, if Atari goes to federal bankruptcy court and we,
the users have bundled together a recovery plan AND some support from a
major backer (Xerox is now a stockholder in Atari!).  If Warner
Communications could be convinced to support us, then the money issues take
care of themselves.  What these companies will want to see is a strong
business plan and lots of support from the people involved.  That means
FIRM support of my general business plan, and ACTIVE participation from ALL
the Atari users left.  After all, several major companies have been bought
out by their employees, why not a user group buying out Atari.

Some Details:

     * Our purchasing power as a user group is, at the moment, rather
limited.  On the good side (for us) Atari's stock is now valued at
$.88/share. That means $88 bucks will buy 100 shares!  Now multiply that by
100,000 users we're talking 100,000,000 shares of stock (enough to control,
maybe even buy outright-I'm having a broker check out the details) the
company.  Now, in my last article, I said you only needed to invest $15-$20
bucks apiece.  I still stand by that for the following reasons:

     1) If (when) Atari drives themselves into the ground the stock will be
worth much less than $0.88/share.  It could be bought for as little as
$.10/share if Atari really screws up.

     2) We only need to show that we are SERIOUS about this project and
raise some REAL money and we'll be able to attract investors.  Remember,
it's Atari with the bad name, not us.  

     3) These big companies have no wish to lose money with Atari.  If they
see we're serious and think we can increase the value of their stock then
they will be willing to take additional steps to secure their investment
(namely, supporting us!).

EVERY USER COUNTS!  I cannot stress this enough.  Letters, organizers are
NEEDED!  If you have never done anything active in the Atari community, if
you're reading this in a depressed Atari Community and you feel alone, and
if your thinking of going Big Blue then HELP US and HELP YOURSELF!  If you
are a professional of some sort I NEED YOUR ADVICE!  Please don't send any
money until I can square away the legal aspects of this project. 
Organization is needed most RIGHT NOW, EVERY DAY COUNTS and I cannot
continue this on my own.

If you know any investors have them contact one of the people on the list
at the end of this article and they'll be happy to answer any questions
they might have.

Some more details:

I think the best way to go will be for all of us to decide when and how
much stock we will purchase.  We then elect amongst ourselves a leader who
will then be given proxy to vote with our shares.  This will, in effect,
allow us to control Atari through it's stock.  You, the user, will form a
block that effectively owns Atari corp.  Later, when we've started to
re-build, we can issue new stock and re-build the company.

Potential investors:

     * Many professionals are always looking for a good deal, even if it
involves some risk.  Show my articles to your doctor/lawyer/boss and ask if
they want to get involved.  If they do, show them how to contact me and
I'll be happy to work with them.

     * Some large direct vendors of IBM clones are taking a beating in the
current computer market.  Our project may be just what they need to revive
themselves.  If our business plan is put together correctly, we stand a
good chance of attracting a large, established, corporation as a partner in
investment.

Additional comments:

     * I have read Atari's dealer contract.  This contract is probably one
of the reasons Atari has such a hard time breaking into the market.  I
wouldn't sign the thing as written.  I admire the current set of dealers
all the more because of the risk of potential for loss they are taking (by
Atari Corp itself!).   One of the first things I would like Atari to do is
hire a large customer support/tech staff and re-write that awful dealer
agreement.

     * The Falcon is an AWESOME machine, but I would like to tell you all a
little story (and remember my last article):

     In walked a couple looking to spend quite a chunk of money on a new
system.  They looked at the 386 system and then were shown the new Atari
Falcon.  The Falcon was shown very expertly to these folks.  It's graphics,
and built-in windowing features were displayed to perfection.  Atari Works
(which is the first piece of decent software out of Atari in years) drew
their attention.  The sale was all but made (I overheard the wife saying "I
WANT it!")  UNTIL then husband asked the fatal question: "Can it run
EXCEL?".  After it was admitted the machine could not (at least not without
an expensive emulator) they lost interest in the machine.

Why bring this up?  Because it supports my argument that Atari MUST get the
BIG TIME software houses supporting their platform AT ALL COSTS!  Many
users could care less if the machine preforms better than the box over
there if the machine cannot run that nifty program that the box can (the
old Beta/VHS story).  Atari is rapidly painting itself into the BETA corner
and can only get out my MASSIVE MASSIVE customer support and a re-tailoring
of it's machines.  Atari needs a customer support service that is second to
none and a very liberal dealer agreement (they should go so far as to GIVE
a demo unit to EVERY dealer).  They NEED to get a contract with WAL-MART or
K-Mart and most of all, they need to stop living in surreal world of their
own design.

Contact points:

                               Robert Dytmire
                            633 Pony Farm Road.
                           Jacksonville, NC 28540
                               (919)-347-2202

                              G. Allan Mangam
                              50 Prince Drive
                             Maumelle, AR 72120

Note:  I could use some more regional contact points (Duh!).  If you are
interested then contact me pronto!

Note: Dropix ST will be out within 30 days!!

Final note: This article may be published freely (PLEASE!) as long as it
appears in it's entirety and the contents are not edited.


        ___________________________________________________________



> CT FEST'93 STR SHOW NEWS               The Summertime Atari Event!
  """"""""""""""""""""""""



                           THE CT ATARIFEST '93!
                           =====================


                  JUNE 12 & 13, AT THE WINDSOR COURT HOTEL
                     WINDSOR, CT. (JUST ABOVE HARTFORD)


     Free Parking!
          Low Room Rates!
               More Vendors!
                    More Floor Space!



              CONNECTICUT SHOW TO FEATURE ATARI'S LATEST ENTRY
              ================================================


HARTFORD, Conn. (April 12)

     More than  1,000 Atari computer  enthusiasts are expected  to converge
here June 12 and 13 at Connecticut AtariFest '93, and are certain to debate
whether the  star of  the show  -- THE LONG-AWAITED  FALCON030 COMPUTER  --
lives up to its advance billing.

     Yep,  that ACT Atari Group is running another major NorthEast computer
event.    Last year's  successful  CT Fest  had  over 700  attendees, which
merited  a larger location, so  we've moved a  mile away (exit  42 on I-91)
into  bigger and  better quarters.   We're just  as convenient  to reach as
ever,  and  only two  hours from  Boston  or New  York! The  new  hotel has
excellent  room rates ($35.00 per  room), free and  plentiful parking, easy
access from Interstate 91, I-95, I-90, I-84, I-80, an in  house Sports Bar,
a  bigger ballroom and  is located just  1 mile from  Bradley International
Airport (free shuttle service for hotel guests).

     The Falcon030 is a perfect low  cost tool for the professional artist,
with 8 track, 16 bit musical capabilities, truecolor graphics  and a 32 bit
DSP  chip.   The  Falcon  will  be bundled  with  several  music  programs,
including a 4 track 'Direct to Disk' editing and recording program, a sound
sampler and an all purpose productivity package called AtariWorks.

     The  Hartford  show will  likely be  one of  the first  encounters the
general public has with the new machine and software leading designers have
produced for it.  Atari was performing quality control tests  on the latest
production models shipped to the Sunnyvale headquarters in mid-April.


     The two-day  event will  feature  more than  40 exhibitors,  including
several of the top  names in music software development and MIDI equipment.
Tentative  music  exhibitors  include  Barefoot  Software  (formerly Hybrid
Arts), Digital F/X, Steinberg/Jones, Pro Musica, Compo Software and others.
The show, sponsored by ACT  Atari Group, will be held at  the Windsor Court
Hotel, just off Interstate 91 at exit 42.

     Connecticut AtariFest'93  promises to  showcase  the work  of  several
musicians and will include some live music sessions.

     Other vendors will demonstrate new equipment and software that will be
of interest to musicians  whether they're on or  off the job.  Among  them,
organizers have received tentative  nods from A&D Software,  ABC Solutions,
Baggetaware,  Barefoot Software,  Compo Software,  Computer  Studio, Derric
Electronics,  East Hartford  Computer Repair,  Gribnif Software,  ICD Inc.,
MegaType Software, Soft-Logik Publishing, Toad Computers, Wizztronics. Last
year 14  user groups participated, and  that number is expected  to grow by
June.

     A  Home Business and Entertainment  Expo that will  focus on high-tech
gadgetry designed  for home use  is also planned.   Central activities will
include a New  England Lynx Tournament  for the gamester  in the family,  a
Portfolio  corner  for  the  on-the-go  palmtop  computer  user, and  other
technology such  as VCRs, lap/palmtops, voice  messaging systems, satellite
receivers,  CD-ROM,  fax-modems,  large screen  TV,  printers,  audio-video
components, cellular phones,  office supplies, video games  or add-on units
and accessories.

     We'll have  our annual  New England  Lynx  Competition, with  multiple
Comlynxed competitions underway  at all  times.  Last  year's winners  took
home prizes ranging  from games  to accessories to  complete Lynx  Systems!
Bring your best player and join the fun.

     We'll have  the Portfolio  Corner, staffed  with industry pundits  and
filled with  every imaginable palmtop peripheral!   Last year we  had a few
Portfolios disassembled at  the booth,  a real insight  into surface  mount
technology!

     For those  of you with  an eye  towards seminars, we'll  have them  in
abundance, last year's  question and  answer session with  Bob Brodie  drew
standing only crowds! In addition, we  had John Eidsvoog's walk through the
Codehead graphic  tools,  Jeff Naideau  of  Barefoot Software  showing  off
EdiTrack Platinum, Dave Troy of (Guess[ribbet]) Computers, STReport's  Dana
Jacobson and Joe Mirando and many, many others.

     And to  top things off,  come out  and see the  Falcon 030 in  all its
glory.  By then we expect to see some rad new programs out and  some really
excitement!  All in all,  we hope to have the best Northeast  show yet, and
we look forward  to your participation.   Make your plans now  for the most
exciting Atari Weekend this spring!

     For further information,  call Brian Gockley  at 203-332-1721 or  Doug
Finch at 203-637-1034.  We can also be found on GEnie in Category 11  or on
Compuserve  in the Atari  Forums.  E-mail  can be directed  to B.GOCKLEY or
D.FINCH7 on GEnie or to 75300,2514 or 76337,1067 on CIS.


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

                    :HOW TO GET YOUR OWN GENIE ACCOUNT:
                     _________________________________

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

                  Type: XTX99587,CPUREPT then, hit RETURN.

GEnie 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. Monday, May 31 is a GEnie Holiday...........................
  2. GEnie Announces Rate Restructure Effective July 1, 1993.....*NEWRATES
  3. NEW Consumer Electronics RT on-line for ALL your questions..CE
  4. Gladiatorial Games -- Saturday, May 29th....................GEMSTONE
  5. Religion and Sex: Mix with care.............................RELIGION
  6. Reptile and Exotic Species Trivia and Chat RTC Friday In....PET
  7. FREE RTC 5/30: New products and live shortwave listening....RADIO
  8. RTC 6/2: Your rights as a computer user with a NY D.A. in...VIRUS
  9. 2 Chances to Play Disney RTC Trivia - ONE for FREE in.......FLORIDA
 10. We don't just talk your ASCII off in the GE-MUG RTC.........MAC
 11. Hurry - Grab these commercial games before it's too late....SOFTCLUB
 12. WordPerfect 6.0 introduced; over 500 Clip-Art volumes on....WP
 13. The latest in Usenet "source" postings archived daily in....UNIX
 14. New McAfee Anti-Virals now available for download in the....VSRT
 15. HP 100LX palmtop computer, the latest in hot products, on...LAPTOPS


          ___       ___   ____  __  __  ___              to the
 |\   |\ | == |\   |  _\ |    ||  \/  || ==
 | |/\| ||  _|| |  | |   | O  ||      ||  _|  J E R R Y   P O U R N E L L E
 |      || |_ | |__| |__ |    || |\/| || |_
 |__/\__||___||____/____/|____||/   |/ |___|           RoundTable


   ================================================================
                    Your Host and Chief Sysop
             Jerry Pournelle.....JERRYP [Chaos Master]

                     First Assistant Sysop
           Gary R. Utter..........GARY.UTTER [RT Manager]

                     Second Assistant Sysop
       Timothy Pleasant..............T.PLEASANT [RT Archivist]

                     Third Assistant Sysop
         Bill Dooley..............Bill.Dooley [RT Assistant]

                        Chief Librarian
     R.B. (Brad) Andrews...............R.B.ANDREWS [RT Librarian]

     ================================================================



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

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




> GEnie Announces NEW PRICE STRUCTURE STR FOCUS!
  """"""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""




                             GENIE ANNOUNCES NEW PRICING:
                        SIMPLER, MORE AFFORDABLE AND, AS ALWAYS,
                               THE BEST VALUE ONLINE



An Open Letter to GEnie Subscribers
>From John Barber, General Manager of GEnie:

On July 1st, a new pricing structure goes into effect at GEnie. It's a big
day for us -- the result of months of planning, number-crunching,
monitoring and maneuvering around the competition.

And once again, we're looking forward to showing the online community that
no one offers a better value than GEnie.

We have to admit that over the last few months, it's been difficult to
watch the other major online companies, one after another, proclaim that
their new prices make them "the ultimate value."

But rest assured, we do not intend to give up our leadership position as
the best value online.

GEnie has always offered its subscribers the best combination of
sophisticated services, information, entertainment -- and affordability.

And we've done it once again.  Starting July 1st, GEnie will offer you the
lowest hourly connect time of all the major online services; combined with
a highly-competitive monthly subscription fee; and credit each month for up
to four hours online.

Effective July 1st, this is GEnie's new U.S. pricing structure:

- Our monthly subscription fee becomes $8.95 a month.
- Our standard hourly connect rate drops to $3.00 an hour.
- And every month, you'll get a credit for up to 4 hours of
  standard $3.00 connect time.

It's about that simple.  For our Canadian and international PDN customers,
a complete price chart is available as menu option #2 on this page.  It
also contains the fine print regarding prime time, baud rates, etc., so
it's worth taking some time to look over.

                          SIMPLY BETTER

You might notice one more important benefit to our plan.

We kept it simple.  It's easy to understand, easy to live with. For
starters, we've simplified the pricing.  All the services formerly in
GEnie*Basic and in GEnie Value are now treated equally, and available at
the same low price -- $3.00 an hour in non-prime time.

Multi-player games, downloading, computing bulletin boards, real-time
conferences -- they're all just $3.00 an hour. (Half what you've been
paying for GEnie Value services!)

GEnie*Basic services, yes, they're now included in the $3/hour group, too. 
GE Mail -- it's $3.00 an hour, with no limit to the number of messages. 
Internet Mail is now $3 an hour, with no registration fee.  And don't
forget.  You also get a credit for up to four hours of $3/hour time, every
month.

          OK, NOW WHAT DOES IT MEAN TO MY MONTHLY BILL?

Let's cut to the chase. This is what everyone really wants to know.

The answer is -- for the majority of our users, it means very little change
at all, or a change for the better.

When we started working on the price change, we studied the usage patterns
of our active members to see who would be affected, and to what extent.  We
concluded that more than 85% would see about the same or lower bills at the
end of the month.

For the people who like to keep to a strict budget each month, this plan
offers a lot of flexibility and a broader range of services than before.

You have a set subscription fee.  And for that fee, you get a credit for
four hours of standard connect time to spend just about anywhere on GEnie.

There's no asterisk-chasing to make sure you haven't strayed into Value
services.  Less worry of credit card shock.  You can even explore areas of
GEnie you thought you couldn't afford before.

For the active users who spend significant hours a month on GEnie,
especially in the former GEnie Value services, you should see a tremendous
savings.  The hourly rate is half what it was before -- and the best in the
business!

Now -- who will see prices rise under the new system? Generally speaking,
anyone who's accustomed to making unusually heavy use of GEnie*Basic
services will have to change his or her usage to keep monthly bills down.

                         SO WHY CHANGE?

Maybe you're wondering why we're bothering to change the rate, if so few
people are affected.  After all, GEnie has had flat fee pricing for three
years now.

Well, we did it for a couple of reasons.  With our new pricing, we can
continue to stay competitive in the marketplace, and we can continue to
improve our service to you.

We found that, under the former pricing, a small number of our customers
were making heavy demands on our service -- demands which began to outpace
our infrastructure and capacity.  The result was a level of performance
that pleased no one.  Not you. Not us.  And yet, while other companies were
eliminating or reducing their flat-rate access, we were holding to ours.

Something had to change.  And a price restructuring was the best solution
for the majority of our users.

Now, with the new rates, no one group of members is unduly favored; GEnie
can continue to stay highly competitive among online companies; and we can
continue to improve our service to you.

                OTHER IMPROVEMENTS IN THE WORKS

There are other changes involved here besides our prices. "Staying
competitive" means offering you better products, better service and better
system performance.

Right now, we have a number of improvements in the works.  We're developing
new front-end software packages for Windows and Macintosh systems -- look
for more on that over the coming months.  We're making technical
improvements to enhance our performance and speed.  We'll be adding new
services soon, along with new bulletin boards and of course, we'll continue
to update our software libraries with more valuable files.

                  SOME THINGS NEVER CHANGE

GEnie has always been the very best service for people who really enjoy
being online, and who expect great products and the best value for the time
they spend with us.

That's not going to change.  In fact, this new pricing structure should
make it even easier for you to enjoy everything we have to offer.  We're
looking forward to seeing you online.

                                             Sincerely,


                                             John Barber
                                        General Manager, GEnie



                             G E n i e   P r i c i n g
                              (effective July 1, 1993)

                               +-----------------+----------------------+
  GEnie Services               | U.S. (U.S.$) [5]|    CANADA (CAN $)    |
 +-----------------------------+-----------------+----------------------|
 |Monthly Subscription Fee     |   $8.95/month   |    $10.95/month      |
 +-----------------------------+-----------------+----------------------+
 |Hours Credited Per Month [1] |  Up to 4 hours  |    Up to 4 hours     |
 +-----------------------------+-----------------+----------------------+
 |Hourly Connect Charge        |   $3.00/hour    |    $4.00/hour        |
 +-----------------------------+-----------------+----------------------+
 |GEnie Premium Services       |Prices vary per individual service.     |
 |                             |These include: Charles Schwab Brokerage |
 |                             |Services (not available in Canada), Dow |
 |                             |Jones News/Retrieval (R), The Official  |
 |                             |Airline Guides Electronic Edition (R)   |
 |                             |Travel Service, QuikNews clipping       |
 |                             |service, Telebase Investment            |
 |                             |ANALY$T (SM),ARTIST (R) gateway.        |
 +-----------------------------+----------------------------------------+


             Additional Charges (where applicable) [4]


 +-----------------------------+----------------+-----------------------+
 |Prime Time Surcharge [2]     |   $9.50/hour   |     $12.00/hour       |
 +-----------------------------+----------------+-----------------------+
 |9600 Baud Surcharge          |   $6.00/hour   |     $8.00/hour        |
 +-----------------------------+----------------+-----------------------+
 |Communications Surcharge:    |                |                       |
 |    800 Service [3]          |   $6.00/hour   |         --            |
 |    Extended Network         |   $2.00/hour   |         --            |
 |    SprintNet                |   $2.00/hour   |         --            |
 |    Datapac                  |        --      |      $6.00/hour       |
 +-----------------------------+----------------+-----------------------+
 | [1] Credit for up to 4 hours of standard $3.00 U.S. ($4.00 CAN$)     |
 |     connect time. Hours credited apply to current month only.        |
 | [2] Prime-time: 8 a.m. - 6 p.m. local time on weekdays only. The     |
 |     prime-time surcharge is in addition to $3/hour charge. Prime-    |
 |     time surcharge is waived for selected holidays. Residents of     |
 |     Hawaii, Alaska, Indiana, Arizona and Puerto Rico, please verify  |
 |     hours with GEnie Client Services.                                |
 | [3] "800" Service surcharge waived at 9600 baud.                     |
 | [4] State taxes will apply in some areas.                            |
 | [5] International PDN subscribers billed in U.S.$ at U.S. rates.     |
 +----------------------------------------------------------------------+

 Other notes:

 1.  There will no longer be additional charges or registration fees for
     Internet mail gateway use.

 2.  Club pricing options will be eliminated effective July 1.


Editor Note:
------------

OF COURSE, OPINIONS ABOUND RELATIVE TO THE NEW RATE CHANGES BY GENIE.


55100 26-MAY 01:57 General Information
     Competition drops prices... sorta
     From: BIBLINSKI    To: ALL

It appears that GEnie has changed (or is about to) their pricing structure.
The low GEnie Star service fee has been eliminated, and a minimum $8.95 per
month fee has been instituted.  The monthly minimum includes 4 hours, and
additional hours are $3.  While that does get them down some, the 20/20
plan here is still less expensive for those who find themselves spending
much time online.

One of the major impacts the price restructuring will have is that there
may be a lot of non-computer specific RT users who will opt to switch to
DELPHI.  When the price was so low for unlimited usage, they could spend a
lot of time online with GEnie, and not feel it in the pocketbook.  That
will no longer be true.  So, traffic here on DELPHI overall will likely
increase, which may slow the system down a bit, especially if there are
hardware problems.  I haven't heard anyone in DELPHI's management express
any anxiety over the hardware (since they significantly increased the
storage space here recently), so I don't anticipate any repeats of what we
were experiencing a few weeks ago.  There are still a few changes in
process (the transparent kind), so Murphy still has a chance to interfere,
but in the end, DELPHI will be a stronger, hopefully faster, system.

--Gordie <maybe Lloyd will be back?!> Meyer


55106 26-MAY 06:02 General Information
     Genie Price Structure
     From: FBELT        To: ALL

I wonder if the new $8.95 fee will let you get into the Atari area with the
four hour time limit?  Genie is a good service, can download stock quotes
into charting program, Sienfeld and Rush Limbaugh BB's, but Delphi is
better.  The advantage plan can not be beat.

Does anyone use Internet?  If yes, what for?  I signed up for a couple of
months and couldn't find anything on there that I wanted to do?


55107 26-MAY 08:24 General Information
     RE: Genie Price Structure (Re: Msg 55106)
     From: ISDMARKETING To: FBELT

The flat fee of US $8.95 is system wide and, as Gordie mentioned earlier,
includes 4 hours of connect time, also system wide. Any additional time
spent online will be charged at $3.00 an hour, down from $6.00 an hour. For
those that used GEnie's so-called Value services, their prices just dropped
in half or better. For those that spend all their time in GEnie's Basic
services, from July 1, the price will go up for them. The Atari RT on GEnie
is a Value service so their prices just dropped in half. For those that
spend less than 4 hours online, there will no doubt be a substantial
savings. It is an aggressive move by GEnie which should accomplish more
than one purpose. As Gordie also mentioned Delphi could get their share of
those people that were on GEnie stricktly in the basic service areas for
free and would now have to pay. Whether that is good or bad, I don't know.
;-)

Sincerely

Nathan


55119 26-MAY 18:46 General Information
     RE: Competition drops prices... sorta (Re: Msg 55100)
     From: SCOTTJ       To: BIBLINSKI

Gordie, I feel the same way. I think a lot of people will move to Delphi or
to NVN , the new kid on the block thanks to this rate increase.

                          Scott Corley


         _________________________________________________________




> CONFLICT OF INTEREST? STR Spotlight       NON-PARTIAL - UNBIASED FOR ALL?
  """""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""



                       CONFLICT OF INTEREST IN ST RT?
                  NON-PARTIAL, UNBIASED DEALINGS FOR ALL?




by Ralph F. Mariano

An editorial essay
------------------

     Sure, there'll be those that  will say I have a "very  special reason"
for  writing this  article and they'll  be 100%  correct.   Truth is truth.
Let's look at a few points of interest;  In the past four years,  the Atari
ST RT area on GEnie, under the guidance of Darlah Hudson Pine Potechin, has
focused on  a number  of  developer/dealer/consumer situations  with  great
gusto.   Among those having  been spotlighted in  the ST RT  are; Computers
Plus,  Computrol,  Tech  Specialities,  Zephyr  Computers,  Avant-Gard  (PC
Ditto), ST MicroWorld, AIM Magazine, ABCO Computers and most recently, Fast
Technology.   Of the above listed firms, only  a few are still in business.
Each  and  every  one of  them  were  spotlighted  in Darlah's  area  under
extremely unfavorable conditions.
  
     Avant-Gard  took advance  orders on  a  product called  PC-Ditto, they
ultimately  disappointed a  very large  number of  customers who  order the
product and when they received it either didn't work or wouldn't fit in the
machine it was intended for.  It  was a sad and very lengthy situation with
incessant  delays and non-delivery.  Its been  rumored there were well over
one hundred unhappy  consumers with  this happening.   This "incident"  was
allowed to  run for  well over six  months in  the ST  RT with the  adverse
publicity  slowly eroding  customer confidence  week by  week.   Zephyr and
MicroWorld, both companies belonging  to one person, Bill Yerger,  was also
allowed to be taken  to task not once but  twice!  The second time  in less
than a year.  Tech Specialities also raked over the  coals in Darlah's area
enjoyed equal "lynch mob" treatment.  Now comes ABCO, owned and operated by
me.  Abco was given a "topic  all of its own".  But only after the topic it
was being  discussed in went awry.  That makes  TWO topics for ABCO.  While
there  should be no problem  with objective reporting,  STReport finds that
this is NOT the  case in DARLAH'S ST RT.   ABCO has been  drawn, quartered,
roasted  and thoroughly toasted  for the  last six months  in her  RT.  Has
there  been  any  end?    Heaven  Forbid!   Instead  participation  in  the
festivities is encouraged.   Like each  and every other firm  who "enjoyed"
Darlah's unique  and special  treatment, their  business certainly did  not
grow and prosper.  
   
     Now all  of a sudden, one of the  well over one hundred persons who've
prepaid for a  Tiny Turbo or a Turbo 25 from Fast Technologies jumps up and
complains about having to wait  for over a year... the Topic is  opened and
"quietly" closed in the span of less than a weekend!   And the maneuver was
done with the  customer's permission.   (could it  possibly be because  the
customer  was hoping  for speedy  delivery or  a refund?)   In any  case we
respectfully submit that this WAS NOT equal and  fair treatment on Darlah's
part.  After  all,... the Abco topic is STILL open  and the ranting goes on
and on and on by the same old, familiar harpies.  Will Darlah ever learn to
treat everyone equally?   Its doubtful.
   

STReport presents last week's opening overview of the events relating to
Fast Tech and the prepaid orders for Tiny Turbo and T-25s.


                            A SIGN OF THE TIMES!
                            ====================


by R. F. Mariano

     The following posts were gleaned from both Delphi's and GEnie's Atari
areas to indicate a trend that's been slowly developing in the Atari
community.  It appears that a number of complaints are beginning to surface
relative to a number of developer and dealer time frames in delivering
their products.  At this point in time, after having had first hand
experience in these matters, one can only hope that common sense and
patience be brought to bear in these tough times.
  
     The accusation that "such and such" or "so and so" is a _rip-off_ is
an outrage.  Until such time as it can be proven beyond a shadow of a doubt
in a court of law, these accusations are a complete menace to the Atari
platform and other, financially stable developers.  Sure, there's serious
delays and broken promises involved, but one must understand the conditions
under which these situations develop.


from Delphi's Atari area
54924 19-MAY 19:45 General Information
     Fast Technology
     From: BCHOPICK     To: ALL

FAST TECHNOLOGY RIP-OFF!

   I would like to let all of you know the troubles I have experienced with
FAST TECHNOLOGY.  As you know, FAST TECHNOLOGY sells hardware accelerator
cards for the ATARI line of computers.  In APRIL of 1992 I ordered a
TINYTURBO030 for my MEGASTE.  The ad claimed 6-8 weeks delivery.  I waited
and waited and waited!  Of course the check was cashed immediately (APRIL
28th, 1992).  I called once a month and everytime got the same thing.
DELAYS! DELAYS! DELAYS!  Finally in March of 1993 I was fed up with the
delay nonsense and demanded a refund.   Jim Allen said that he was having
financial trouble and could not issue a refund til the end of the month.  I
thought nothing of it and figured that since I have waited this long for
the product, why not a couple of weeks for a refund.   Well.  Here we are
May 10th (2 months later) and no refund.   Calls to FAST TECHNOLOGY only
lead tofrustration.  All you get is an answering machine and no return
phone calls.  It sure looks to me that JIM ALLEN does not know how to
handle a business.  And I feel sorry for all the other people he is
dragging along the same path.  Of course, I have already contacted the
Better Business Bureau of Pennsylvania.  They said that I would have to
fill out some forms and they will get right on it.  I am not happy with the
situation at all.   And for a man who keeps such a high profile in the
ATARI COMMUNITY, it is pathetic!



                                Robert A. Chopick




 GENIE: R.CHOPICK DELPHI: BCHOPICK
  WORK: 717-288-6140


>From GEnie's Atari Area
Atari-ST RoundTable
Category 18,  Topic 11
Message 1         Wed May 19, 1993
R.CHOPICK [Bob]              at 20:12 EDT
 
FAST TECHNOLOGY RIP-OFF!

   I would like to let all of you know the troubles I have experienced with
FAST TECHNOLOGY.  As you know, FAST TECHNOLOGY sells hardware accelerator
cards for the ATARI line of computers.  In APRIL of 1992 I ordered a
TINYTURBO030 for my MEGASTE.  The ad claimed 6-8 weeks delivery.  I waited
and waited and waited!  Of course the check was cashed immediately(APRIL
28th, 1992).  I called once a month and everytime got the same thing. 
DELAYS! DELAYS! DELAYS!  Finally in March of 1993 I was fed up with the
delay nonsense and demanded a refund.   Jim Allen said that he was having
financial trouble and could not issue a refund til the end of the month.  I
thought nothing of it and figured that since I have waited this long for
the product, why not a couple of weeks for a refund.   Well.  Here we are
May  10th (2 months later) and no refund.   Calls to FAST TECHNOLOGY only 
lead to frustration.  All you get is an answering machine and no return
phone calls. It sure looks to me that JIM ALLEN does not know how to handle
a business. And I feel sorry for all the other people he is dragging along
the same path. Of course, I have already contacted the Better Business
Bureau of Pennsylvania.  They said that I would have to fill out some forms
and they will get right on it.  I am not happy with the situation at all.  
And for a man who keeps such a high profile in the ATARI COMMUNITY, it is
pathetic!

                                Robert A. Chopick

 GENIE: R.CHOPICK DELPHI: BCHOPICK
  WORK: 717-288-6140

----------

Atari-ST RoundTable
Category 18,  Topic 11
Message 2         Wed May 19, 1993
LEPULLEY [Lloyd Pulley]      at 21:52 EDT
 
 Bob,

I'm sorry to hear about your problem.  I've always gotten everything that I
ordered from Jim.  Have  you tried leaving him E-Mail?  He seems to stop by
around midnight (EDT) to take part in Topic 2 - maybe he'll see your E-Mail
during one of his visits and take care of your problem.

 Lloyd E. Pulley, Sr.

----------

Atari-ST RoundTable
Category 18,  Topic 11
Message 3         Thu May 20, 1993
J.ALLEN27 [FAST TECH]        at 17:27 EDT
 
I would like to apologize to Mr Chopick, and the other people awaiting
refunds. I told him in March I was in financial difficulty and that hasn't
changed. There have been almost no sales since February, and what few T25's
and one Turbo030 that has been sold all went to pay refunds. There are 4
people still waiting, all here on GEnie. In the last 4 months I have had to
borrow money to pay the phone bill and GEnie bill, and have not been able
to call back everyone who calls in, the phone bill was running $700/month
and with no sales I simply cannot generate those kinds of bills any longer.

I have taken on an engineering job that will get me back on my feet in the
next 'couple weeks, and I will be able to clear up the remaining refunds
near the end of the month, all I can ask is your patience.

As it is, I do not even have the funds needed to ship the Tiny030's, but I
will be able to do that too in a few more days. So for folks awaiting
Tiny030's, please don't panic and all ask for refunds, the boards are
nearly done and ready to go and I'm desperately working to get them shipped
as soon as possible.

If I were If I were able to I would give the refunds immediately, but there
is simply no money, at all. I have a stack of bills totalling over $6000,
so I have not even been able to pay my own personal bills for 4 months, the
only bill I have paid is the phone, GEnie, my health insurance, and my car
insurance. I I were going to go out of business the first thing I'd do is
drop the phone, and the GEnie, it is because this is only a temporary
difficulty that I have borrowed from relatives to maintain them.

I remember, a few months back, when a user...not even a customer...came
into the Fast Technology topic, and chastized me and complained that people
were waiting for Tinys.  At that point 12 people cancelled thier orders,
and I refunded thier orders, and it cleaned out my remaining cash reserves.
It left me broke, which I still am. I hope that this topic will not do the
same, I can't imagine it getting worse, but the world can suprise you. All
I can ask is that users waiting for their Tiny030's hang in for just a week
or two more.

   Thank you, James C. Allen, Fast Technology

----------

Atari-ST RoundTable
Category 18,  Topic 11
Message 4         Thu May 20, 1993
R.CHOPICK [Bob]              at 20:44 EDT
 
Jim,
     I am sorry for your situation and I HOPE it IMPROVES. BUT! Not
answering the phone and NOT getting back to CUSTOMERS who you have TAKEN
money from is SIMPLY bad BUSINESS.  I am a MANAGER of a computer store and
believe me in a market with such LOW profit margins the thing that MAKES or
brakes you is CUSTOMER SERVICE!   You DON'T take someone's MONEY and ignore
phone calls.  Anyway.  CALL ME TOLL FREE 1-800-456-5689!

                                    BOB CHOPICK

----------

Atari-ST RoundTable
Category 18,  Topic 11
Message 6         Thu May 20, 1993
DARLAH [RT~SYSOP]            at 21:44 EDT
 
 Jim may get a bit 'emotional' at times but honest, I have always
 found him. 

 Sorry to hear about your problems. It appears in this economy
 most people are feeling it.

 Please keep us aware of your progress. 

 Sincerely,
 >>Darlah
----------

Editor Note:
------------

     More of Darlah's ever so, "even handed handling of the RT, unbiased
and completely fair across the boards".  NOT!


Atari-ST RoundTable
Category 18,  Topic 11
Message 8         Fri May 21, 1993
ALGORHYTHM [DanielKeller]    at 05:56 EDT
 
No, I won't add my testimonial on Jim's character to this list, but only
because I haven't personally dealt with him.  I will say this, though: 
Bob, I can understand your frustration at not being responded to.....I've
been through a similar situation with another ST-based company, which is
still not resolved to my satisfaction. BUT---I think it's very important to
choose your words carefully, since what you say in a public forum can have
a profound effect on the business and careers of people who are dedicated
to a difficult market.  This is particularly true if you elect to START a
topic with the expressed intent of flaming on someone....undoubtedly, there
are companies that deserve this treatment. But judging by the (A) many
testimonials in his favor, and (B) more importantly, his quick response to
you here, I doubt if he's one of them.

Best of luck, Jim.

----------


     The most important point  to remember is the damage  such inflammatory
posts can cause.  As Jim Allen states;

     "I  remember,  a   few  months   back,  when  a   user...not  even   a
     customer...came into the Fast  Technology topic, and chastized me  and
     complained that  people were  waiting  for Tinys.   At  that point  12
     people cancelled thier  orders, and  I refunded thier  orders, and  it
     cleaned out my remaining cash reserves."   Folks, this is exactly  how
     it occurs, the mere fact  that mention is made of possible  problems a
     "run on the company" usually happens.  
  
     The  next most  severe  incident is  to  find the  electronic  banking
services are  dropping  the  charging  merchant's  credit  card  acceptance
privileges because  of too many "charge-backs"  (customer refund requests).
Not  to mention the  problems that can  arise when the  charges to customer
credit cards are made through other merchant account terminals than that of
the  actual seller.   These problems  can all  pop up  at once  when public
complaints  are made to  the bank  where the credit  card was  issued.  The
electronic banking  services can  spot a problem  long before it  becomes a
public spectacle.   They will act  immediately if elements of  the merchant
agreement are not being followed as outlined  in the agreement.  Especially
the  clause prohibiting  the  posting of  sales for  another merchant  on a
contract  terminal unless of  course, its previously  agreed upon.   All it
takes is one  customer complaint  in this  type case.   It is  a breach  of
contract  and can  cause immediate  cancellation of  the accepting/charging
merchant's terminal access privilege.

     Its  really smart  to use  either email  or all  the patience  one can
possibly muster  in these situations  as its in  the best interests  of all
other involved parties to do so.   It'll give the merchant the  much needed
additional  time  to satisfy  his  outstanding orders,  while  allowing the
merchant to continue doing  business thus, helping the already  meager cash
flow in this dying, if not  dead, Atari marketplace.  It makes no  sense to
try and force  the merchant out of business by making a "loud public outcry
or spectacle" of  the situation.  Although, in recent  months this seems to
have  been the  case.   As a result,  certain folks  will be  satisfied and
others  well..  they'll be  satisfied  but  it  will  take more  time  than
originally  anticipated.   Hopefully,  these  matters  will be  dealt  with
swiftly and  to  everyone's satisfaction.   The  only recognizable  problem
noticed at this time, is the viability of third party products designed and
ordered over  a year ago. After  all, the company itself  (Atari) is busily
introducing a new computer  line, (the Falcons), which is  excessively late
and the platform  itself is losing  developers left and  right.  Perhaps  a
systematic approach to refunding  those users who ordered and  pre-paid for
product as  opposed to trying to fulfill the "original" orders would be the
"right thing to do".  

     Bob Chopak, of Computer Garden,  posted the messages above  concerning
his  pre-paid order.   STReport acknowledges he has  been more than patient
and should have  at least been given a return call  or two.  When we called
Mr.  Chopak  for  an interview  he  was  quite  accommodating and  straight
forward.  It seems his  biggest complaint was that he, like many  of others
with similar complaints, was not kept informed of the progress of his order
nor were his  telephone calls returned.   As STReport continues to  receive
information relative this situation, we shall keep the userbase informed of
the progress being  made in resolving the problem.   STReport adds, that we
fully expect Mr. Chopak and the others who've complained to fully satisfied
in as short a time as possible under the present conditions.

                                 \\\---///

     STReport  is compiling a list  of those persons  who've prepaid either
Fast Technology or ISD/DMC  Marketing (Fast Tech's Canadian Rep,  owned and
operated by Nathan  Potechin (Darlah's husband and Co-Sysop in  the ST RT))
for the  Tiny Turbo and the  T-25 accelerators.  The majority  of users who
have  prepaid have been waiting for either almost a year or a little over a
year for delivery of  the products or  a refund.  Its  pretty sad when  one
sees the very same harpies swing into gear to  heap praise on a firm that's
basically being accused of doing the very same thing the other firms listed
above  were accused  of doing.   Taking  advance payments  and making  slow
deliveries.  Did  they all receive the very same  exposure and treatment in
Nathan and  Darlah's ST RT on GEnie??   NOPE!  The  recently opened message
area in Category  18,  Topic 11  of Nathan and Darlah's  ST RT on GEnie  is
already  closed!   How  very even  handed and  fair of  them.   It couldn't
possibly  be because the  shoe is now  on another  foot and it  fits far to
tight?  
    
     A number  of the users are  willing to wait  until the end of  June, a
number of others are already banding together to take some type of recovery
action.  STReport is accepting the  names and information of those who have
prepaid for product and received  nothing so far.  Register your  name with
STReport either in Email on any of the services  or call 904-783-3319 to do
so.

     As a recipient of the  Nathan & Darlah Show "treatment" in  the ST RT,
I  will unhesitantly make note  that I feel  they closed the  topic to gain
some sort  of relief from the possible headaches expected to come from such
open, derogatory  public complaints.   And of course, the  ensuing flood of
expected  refund  requests.    Regardless  of  the  reasons brought  forth,
ethically  speaking, the topic  about the lack  of delivery on  the part of
Fast Technology  should have been left  open as has been the  case for ABCO
or, on the  other hand, BOTH topics  should have been closed.   This is not
the case, the  Fast Tech topic was quickly  closed, the Abco topic  is not.
This is a classic  example of both a conflict of interest (Nathan being the
Canadian rep for Fast Tech)  and biased actions on  the part of Darlah  and
her  husband Nathan.   How  long is  this  outrage going  to be  allowed to
continue?   Truly, its  time for  equal, non-partial  treatment for  all to
return to the  Atari ST RT on GEnie.  Until some personnel changes are made
this is highly unlikely to occur.


        ___________________________________________________________



> CONFLICT OF INTEREST II STR FOCUS!   UNFAIR COMPETITVE PRACTICES EXPOSED!
  """"""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""
  


             UNFAIR ADVANTAGES & COMPETITIVE PRACTICES EXPOSED!
             ==================================================



by Ralph F. Mariano

an editorial essay


     Why have  a number of people begun  to ask WHERE IS  LEXICOR on GEnie?
Now, STReport must  ask.. Why have the free flags in  the ST RT for Lexicor
been cancelled without  prior notification?   How long  before the  Lexicor
category  ultimately  disappears?   Is  this  another  case  of Nathan  and
Darlah's unbiased and even handed dealings?  I think not!  It appears as if
the old, "if you  don't do things OUR way we'll  drub you out of the  ST RT
and ultimately out of business." Since Nathan and Darlah rule  over all the
Atari areas including the  Developer RT, the IAAD RT and  of course, the ST
RT, this can honestly be seen as a solid, irrefutable conflict of interest.
Its not correct,  ethically speaking, to be governed  by those you directly
compete with in business!   This is truly sad to see.   This is exactly the
case with Lexicor.   Especially with Nathan talking about  Lexicor's Seilor
and this reporter  being "in  bed together" during  last wednesday  night's
open conference in  the ST RT.  (One can only  wonder what is meant by THAT
SNIDE remark. I have a capture of the comment) It would appear the abuse of
sysop  power by  both Nathan  and Darlah has  created an  extremely hostile
atmosphere for  the users,  developers and members  of the press  who would
dare to disagree with their tactics.  'Tis time for a change.

     STReport called  Lexicor's Lee Seilor  for an interview  regarding the
current  state of  affairs between  Lexicor and  Nathan, Darlah  and GEnie.
Lexicor's  Mr. Seilor read a prepared statement  to this reporter.  Part of
which we present now;

     "There is an inherent conflict  of interest for any Atari Business  in
the ST RT on  GEnie.  Lexicor is taking all  appropriate and proper actions
to  seek remedies.  Lexicor is aware that  at least one message with regard
to  Lexicor  Products has  been severely  Censored  and on  information and
belief  other messages have been  deleted from the  message areas. "Lexicor
has been advised that certain messages relating  to their business will not
be allowed."  Seilor said.

     In this reporter's humble opinion, a Canadian Competitor of Lexicor's,
or any other business/developer,  who is in control of areas Atari requires
developers to be part of could  easily be considered a conflict of interest
in the least and indeed could very possibly be looked upon as "restraint of
trade  and/or control  of  US citizens'  business  interests by  a  foreign
person(s) or  entity."  Further,  it is our  opinion, that the  practice of
bestowing upon  Nathan powers  in the Atari  Areas on GEnie  is wrong.   It
appears to be  a flagrant disregard  of business ethics  and a conflict  of
interest.   If he  is to have  these powers then  it stands to  reason that
every business and developer should also have them as  that would guarantee
an  even competitive platform.  Also if  its to continue, he then continues
to  enjoy free access and  a governing position over  those he is in direct
and indirect competition with. It an unfair competitive advantage.  This is
not good at all  especially since he  can do most  anything he wishes  with
files,  messages, people's posts, people's  access privileges etc.,   As an
example Lexicor  was also dropped from the IAAD, because of some trumped up
charges of  violation of  non-disclosure.   Again,  as a  recipient of  the
"special treatment"  all of  this sounds  ever so familiar.   One  can only
wonder how many others have  silently gone down this very same  unjust path
before.
  
     As an aside, the  Federal Trade Commission  Act has given the  Federal
Trade  Commission Authority to pursue  unfair trade practices  of all types
both  direct  and indirect.   Anyone  can  obtain a  copy of  the  Rule and
Regulations by sending a request to the Commission in Washington D.C. or at
any of their regional offices.


      _______________________________________________________________


 

> BLUE RIDGE ATARIFEST'93 STR SHOW NEWS    "The Summertime Atari Event!"
  """""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""



 
                         1993 Blue Ridge ATARIFEST
                         """""""""""""""""""""""""



 
 FOR IMMEDIATE DISTRIBUTION
 """"""""""""""""""""""""""

The  Blue  Ridge Atari  Computer  Enthusiasts (BRACE)  and  Computer Studio
invite  you to  participate in  the Fourth  Annual Blue Ridge  AtariFest in
beautiful Asheville, North Carolina.  Show dates and times are:


                     Saturday July 24, 1993  10am - 6pm
                     Sunday   July 25, 1993  Noon - 5pm


Just as in previous years, we have  arranged for FREE Booth space for Atari
developers!!  (We're only requesting the donation of a door prize).

We can promise  both developers  and show-goers an  energetic and  exciting
show with as enthusiastic a crowd of Atarians as you'll find anywhere, plus
the support of Computer Studio in the mall.

We're  once again taking  over the Courtyard  Shop (mall) area  at Westgate
Shopping Center for the show (location of Computer Studio), plus the use of
vacant store  spaces for  seminar sessions.   Seminar  sessions will be  45
minutes in length, and developers are welcome to conduct a seminar on their
product  line or  approved  topic of  their  choice (seminar  sessions  are
limited, so first come, first served).

This year's show  dates also  coincide with Asheville's  annual Bele  Chere
street festival, when downtown Asheville is closed to vehicular traffic and
becomes  what must  be one  of  the largest  street fairs  in the  country.
Westgate  Shopping  Center is  one  of  the primary  Park-and-Ride  shuttle
centers for transporting people to and from downtown, and we've arranged to
have the shuttle service pick up at the front entrance of the mall and drop
off at the rear entrance, so everyone taking the service from Westgate WILL
walk  through the AtariFest exhibition area sometime  during the day.  This
will be  a great opportunity to  showcase Atari and Atari  related software
and  peripherals, and  introduce them  to people  who aren't  already Atari
owners.   Bringing in NEW blood is the  key to the growth of this platform,
and  this will  be our  opportunity to  begin that  process with  a captive
audience.

Additional  discussions of  the  show, as  well  as confirmations  of  your
participation, are welcome in GEnieMail and in the Blue Ridge
AtariFest topic 13 in Category 11 here on GEnie.

               HOPING TO HEAR FROM YOU SOON.
                         HAPPY ATARI COMPUTING.
                                   IT'S HAPPENING IN ASHEVILLE!

Where: Westgate Shopping Center - Asheville, N.C.

Take any  major highway into  Asheville (US 19-23,  US 26  or I-40) to  the
I-240  loop,  then  take the  "Westgate/Hilton  Inn  Drive  exit" into  the
Westgate Shopping Center parking lot.

                            When: 24-25, July 1993
                          Time: 10:am to 6:pm SAT
                               12 Noon 'til 5pm SUN

Points of contact:



                  Come for a day or come for the weekend,
                      but do come and enjoy yourself.


Great Smokies Hilton Resort  Hilton Inn Drive        (704)254-3211
                 Toll-free reservation phone number 1-800-733-3211

Radisson                    One Thomas Wolf Plaza    (704)252-8211
                 Rate: $62.00 per room (1-4 people)

          ====== Additional Hotel / Motel Information ===========

Days Inn                       I-26 and Airport Road     (704)684-2281
                               I-40 Exit 55              (704)298-5140

Econo Lodge                    US 70 East, I-40 Exit 55  (704)298-5519

Holiday Inn                    275 Smoky Park Hwy        (704)667-4501
                   Toll-free reservation phone number    1-800-HOLIDAY

Red Roof Inn                   I-40 and US 19-23 Exit 44 (704)667-9803
                   Toll-free reservation phone number   1-800-843-7663

Budget Motel                    I-40 Exit 44 (Enka-Chandler)
                                  West Asheville Exit    (704)665-2100 Best
Western Asheville Central  22 Woodfin St                 (704)253-1851

       ========= Local Bed & Breakfast lodging Information =========

Aberdeen Inn                64 Linden Ave                (704)254-9336
Albemarle Inn               86 Edgemont Road             (704)255-0027
Applewood Manor             62 Cumberland Circle         (704)254-2244
The Bridle Path Inn        Lockout Road                  (704)252-0035
Cairn Brae B & B           217 Patton Mountain Rd        (704)252-9219
Carolina B & B             177 Cumberland Ave            (704)254-3608
Cedar Crest Victorian Inn  674 Biltmore Ave              (704)252-1289
Corner Oak Manor            53 St. Dunstan               (704)253-3525
Cornerstone Inn            230 Pearson Dr                (704)253-5644
Flint Street Inn           100 & 116 Flint Street        (704)253-6723
The Lion and The Rose      276 Montford Ave              (704)255-7673
The Ray House B & B         83 Hillside St               (704)252-0106
Reed House                 119 Dodge St                  (704)274-1604
The Wright Inn             235 Pearson Drive             (704)251-0789]
                                                         (1-800-552-5724)

A more complete listing of Bed & Breakfasts can be obtained through the
Asheville Area Chamber of Commerce.

Reservations should be made immediately, as July is the height of our
tourist season.


                 ===========  CAMP GROUNDS ================

           (reservations are a must during this time of season):

Mount Pisgah:
     About 20  miles southwest of  Asheville on  the Blue Ridge  Parkway at
mile post 408.6 (National Park Service). 690 acres. Elevation 5000'. One of
the  nicest campgrounds  in Western North  Carolina. 67  tent sites,  70 RV
sites. For reservations: P.O.Box 749, Watnesville,  N.C. 28786; phone (704)
235-9109. No showers.  Groceries and  restaurant. Nature program.   14  day
stay limit.

Lake Powhatan:
     4 miles  south of Asheville  on State road  191, 3.5 miles west  on SR
806.  30  acres.  98  tent/rv  sites.  Reservation  available  thru  Mistix
1-800-283-CAMP. Disposal station. No showers. Swimming; lifeguard; fishing;
nature trails; bicycles. 14-day stay limit.

     While in the  area, you might  want to consider a  little sightseeing,
and include  a visit to the  Biltmore House here in  Asheville (the largest
single family residence ever built in the U.S.--its a "castle"). A visit to
the  Biltmore can  be a full-day's  activity as  you will want  to view the
house, visit the winery, and walk some of the grounds and gardens.

Hours:

          The House 9 am to 6pm         The Gardens 9am to 7pm
                         Conservatory 9am to 5:30pm 
          The Winery Monday-Saturday   11am to 7pm Sunday 1pm to 7pm

     Other areas of interest include; the Thomas Wolf home (adjacent to the
Raddison), the Blue Ridge Parkway and Folk Art Center.  A drive up the Blue
ridge Parkway  to enjoy the higher  elevations and incredible views  of our
mountains.  Perhaps  a hike  up  to  Mount Pisgah  and  look  back down  to
Asheville(you can see Mt. Pisgah from most anywhere in Asheville).  A short
drive from  Mt. Pisgah  will take  you to  Sliding Rock (for  those of  you
travelling with kids  who are still kids at heart),  the Cradle of Forestry
(first  forest school in the country), waterfalls, trout hatchery, etc. For
the adventurous,  white water rafting   on  the Natahala River  near Bryson
City (approx one and a half hours from here).

     There's  obviously loads  more  to see  and  do around  Asheville  (in
addition to the Blue Ridge AtariFest and a visit to Computer Studio :-). If
any  of y'all would  like maps and  additional tourist  info of the  area I
might suggest contacting the Chamber of Commerce:

                     Asheville Area Chamber of Commerce
                             151 Haywood Street
                               P.O. Box 1010
                            Asheville, NC 28802
                      704-258-6111 FAX: (704)251-0926


    ___________________________________________________________________



> NVN WANTS YOU! STR InfoFile       Another Network Supports Atari!
   """""""""""""""""""""""""""


                      NVN - THE NEW KID ON THE BLOCK!
                      ===============================


     The  Atari computer  platforms has  support on  yet another  top notch
     telecommunications service!  National Videotex Network (NVN) maintains
     an area just for our favorite computers.  Type GO ATARI

     Order  an extended NVN  Membership of 6  or 12  months, pay for  it in
     advance  and receive a bonus in connect  time at no additional charge.
     Choose from two subscription plans:

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     choice. Your total savings using this plan would be over $20!*

                            12 Month Membership
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     Pay  $50 for  a full  year's Membership  and get  even more  free time
     on-line.   We'll give you  a $25 usage credit to  use in your favorite
     premium services or try out new ones. You could save as much as $45.*

     NVN now  offers Electronic Funds  Transfer (EFT).  For a $2  per month
     service  charge,  customers   may  have  their   NVN  online   charges
     automatically debited  from their personal checking  accounts.  Please
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> STReport CONFIDENTIAL    "Rumors Tidbits Predictions Observations Tips"
  """""""""""""""""""""



- Sunnyvale, Ca                          ANOTHER ROARING LOSS DECLARED!
  -------------

     Atari Corp. reported a TWO MILLION DOLLAR loss as first quarter
salesof the company's computers and video games slumped.  The loss of three
cents per share in the three months ended March 31 came on sales of $10.1
Million, down sharply from $44.1 million for the same period in 1992, when
Atari lost $13.8 million, or 24 cents per share.



- Chicago, IL                       FALCON 040 RUMORED IN THE "WORKS"
  -----------

     According to ever famous "super snoop" the Falcon 040 is in the
distant future called Fall'93 or thereabouts.  Its reported to be the
fabled two piece design so desired by most everyone and... to be the high
stepping machine the "power users" crave.  Will it make its debut at
Comdex'93?  Time will tell.


          _______________________________________________________




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


                             STReport's MailBag
                             """"""""""""""""""


                    Messages * NOT EDITED * for content
                    -----------------------------------


>From Delphi's Atari areas

54507 8-MAY 12:50  8-bit Atari
     RE: Miscellany (Re: Msg 54499)
     From: OCS          To: KAMARO_KID


 > The company (Atari) is supposed to cater to us, not the inverse! We
 > are the customers after all!

This indeed is one of the wisest sentences I have read in here for quite
some time.  Applause!!!!

 > I do not think that Atari Corp.  has purchased this entire sig for
 > their own private amusement.

If they had, they would probably have kicked me and some others out quite
some time ago <grin>

Oliver


55004 22-MAY 08:17 8-bit Atari
     RE: Miscellany (Re: Msg 54507)
     From: RMARIANO     To: OCS


     Oliver,

     Believe me, they are trying all the time to boot out those who don't
"dance the Atari dance" or "sing the Atari song".  Its pretty blatant. 
Even AEO is getting into the fray now.  Take note of which online service's
sign-up offer is obvious by its absence from the last issue.  Its getting
bad.... real bad.  For a company that's on its knees economically and
marketshare speaking they sure are arrogant.

     Kamaro Kid certianly does have it right, Atari has lost grasp of its
intent and purpose... they are supposed to cater to the needs of their
customers instead they do the exact opposite.  Seems I recall somebody
saying "Atari firmly believes in HOORAY FOR US & THE HECK WITH YOU" a few
years ago.  The protests were far, wide and loud.  Sure looks like the guy
was right.  Actually, the minister if disinformation & co., are very busy
burning their bridges behind them.  Very Foolish.. <sigh>

             Ralph @ STReport International Online Magazine



55005 22-MAY 08:26 8-bit Atari
     RE: Miscellany (Re: Msg 54511)
     From: RMARIANO     To: ANALOG4


"This SIG is firmly a tool of Atari Corp.?  I not sure what that means,
exactly, but I can assure you that, while we appreciate Atari's presence
here, Atari has no control over what happens here whatsoever. You can say
what you want, as long as everybody gets treated with respect."


     If anyone can say this, I can.  This Online area, the one Clay speaks
of is not under the control of Atari in any way at all. It basically is
under the control of the users and moderated by Clay and his assistants.  I
might add, its a pleasure to attend and actively participate in this Atari
area.  Every so often it becomes evident that the "powers that be" in a SIG


are really doing a great job.

     The best way to see they are doing a great job is the level of
transparency they offer the users in the sig.  If they are forever trying
to form opinions, control message strings etc., they are not transparent at
all.  In the case of these Atari SIGS Clay and the gang are doing an
excellent job and deserve to be commended for their fine approach to
moderating and vibrant and lively Atari area that gives every  appearance
of growing larger every month.  Moderating and NOT influencing is the key
to a successful SIG no matter which platform or what format.

                                     Job well done Folks!

             Ralph @ STReport International Online Magazine


>From CIS Atari Fora..

#: 86181 S1/Forum Business
    26-May-93  04:56:15
Sb: #86176-20 Questions
Fm: MYLES COHEN 71570,3142
To: Sysop*Brad Hill 71333,2165

I went into SAM ASH yesterday and asked if they had any FALCONS for demo or
sale...

They said that there was only one in the store... still packed in its box
and for sale at $1289.00...

There were no Demos set up...

I assume that this model was supposed to be their dealer demo...but was
never unpacked...

If you hurry, you can snap it up...

Across the street at MANNY'S...They had one demo unit on display and would
take orders...price was also $1289.00...they would not commit themselves on
delivery dates or whether there would be any other configurations in the
future...this one was minimal...4 meg with the 85 meg IDE drive...they
seemed doubtful that there would even be a future for the FALCON...


#: 86309 S17/Community Square
    28-May-93  12:48:10
Sb: #86308-#84816-Gemulator
Fm: bob wilson 72355,1637
To: Dave Groves[Diabetes] 76703,4223

I have not bothered to port it yet. GFA for windows is bug filled and
incredibly badly documented. If you look at the sample programs, many if
not most use commands which you will not find any where in the docs. Their
section of WINAPC has been silent since the compiler came out and the bugs
started pouring in. I have been trying to get SPEEDO GDOS working with
B/STAT but to little avail. I thought that I had tracked it down to a
conflict with  WARP 9 but no such luck. In all regards SPEEDO seems simply
like FSM with a different font technology. All of the incompatabilities of
FSM seem to be present.


>From GEnie's MAC RT....

Category 40,  Topic 5
Message 62        Thu May 27, 1993
J.BUDIL [Jonathan]           at 01:41 EST

Of course, when funds are low, decision-making becomes really simple. ;-)

 Glad you're having so much fun, Swampy. <GRIN>

 --Jonathan in Normal

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


Category 40,  Topic 5
Message 63        Thu May 27, 1993
D.D.MARTIN [Swampy]          at 19:35 EDT

JONATHAN!!

Fun?  I'm having a ball!  I got Quick Keys installed today.  It took
reading the manual to figure out how to do it without having to live with
all their pre-existing macros.  Shades of CodeHead stuff now! %^).  I also
had fun with After Dark.  I just put the Fish into outer space with the
Warp modual!

I'm starting to get the hang of Claris Works.  PageMaker is pretty easy
too. After years of PageStream at least I know the features I need and can
find them in the PM Index... LOL

Hugs...Swampy

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

Category 40,  Topic 5
Message 64        Thu May 27, 1993
GSCOTT-MOORE [Gerry]         at 20:50 EDT

Swampy:

I can't believe it took me so long to get off my butt and get QuickKeys. 
What a delight.  QE and Now Utilities have made my MacUsage blissful.

Gerry

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

Category 40,  Topic 5
Message 65        Fri May 28, 1993
R.NOAK [Randy]               at 01:14 EDT

Hmmm. I got a QK II demo disk here somewhere. I'd better check this out.

Randy @ Southlake, Inc.


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

Category 40,  Topic 5
Message 66        Fri May 28, 1993
J.BUDIL [Jonathan]           at 01:49 EST

Gerry:

 I've got *no* excuse for not using QuicKeys avidly yet--because I won it
during my first RTC (within my first few days) at this roundtable.  Well,
there was the matter of a Master's thesis...but that's old news now.  I
guess that whenever I have free computer time, I can't help myself:  GEnie
is a magnet! :)  Who has time for installations?

 SWAMPY!!

 I gotta admit, I love how you always address me with all-caps and two
exclamation marks.  It makes me feel so significant. ;)  Yes, After Dark's
a real hoot.  I highly reccommend "The Art of Darkness," by Peachpit Press.

It is a small book that tells stories about all of the modules, is
officially recognized as _the_ A.D. book by Berkeley Systems, and has nine
new knockout modules from the company, including fractal forest, spin
brush, and my personal April Fool's favorite, Bogglins.

 I know PageMaker *very* well, but you've got the jump on Q.K. :)

 --Jonathan in Normal

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

>From the FNET....

Conf : STReport Online
Msg# : 24005/24005  Lines: 4  Read: 1
Sent : May 23, 1993  at 9:35 AM
Recv : May 24, 1993
To   : Ralph Mariano
>From : Eric Palm at Fnet Node 647, E.H.C.R.- Node 647 Ct
Subj : the size of your....

Wow Ralph, you've got some hefty ST Reports coming through.  It's all I
can do to laser print each issue and to read them (It's my only source of
what's happening with Atari without all the bull I get when reading the
message bases).  Keep up the good work.


Conf : STReport Online
Msg# : 24004/24005  Lines: Extended  Read: 1
Sent : May 23, 1993  at 3:36 PM
To   : Wolf
>From : Rich Calsada at Fnet Node 669, Dateline: Atari
Subj : ERRONEOUS REPORTS?


W> Yes, there is a degree of truth in your posts regarding "things
W> Atari", but you err when you run out of facts, and report as fact,
W> information you invented to fill in the blanks.  This is no
W> different from what the good people at "Inquirer", "Star", and about
W> a dozen other tabloids.  But, at least the tabloids give you
W> interestingly retouched photos to look at.

    What's really amusing about this is the same thing can be said about
Atari Corporation and they don't seem to get minutely picked over like
Ralph does. It's pretty easy to see Atari's hidden agenda -- Usually no
product, like the bull sh-t about why fsm gdos was'nt out and that was
week after week with a new excuse.

   So now we come to your nit picking of the Atari Explorer affair as
reported by Ralph. My feeling is Ralph got the gist of the story right,
which people might be interested, unfortunately I'm sure we will get
more post on how Ralph screwed it up, when in fact it looks like it was
fairly acurately reported.

   The shame of it is, that if you took Atari to task over in the Atari
net like you are doing to Ralph, it would'nt take long before your
originating node would be locked out of the net.

   So what's Ralph's hidden agenda? Maybe its being a little pissed at
watching a company screw over a very loyal user base that's supported
them for years. It's a good thing all those Falcons came in, in late
October 92 like a Trameil said they would. And just thing you can now
buy a similiarly equipt MAC with a color monitor for the same price as a
Falcon without a monitor. Ah yes "Power without the Price"

 ~ MMST 2.65|R: $$$ not found -- A)bort, R)efinance, D)eclare bankruptcy


Msg# : 3228/3245  Lines: 17  Read: 1
Sent : May 26, 1993  at 12:02 PM
To   : Don Liscombe
>From : Bob Brodie at Fnet Node 319, Atari Base USA
Subj : Re: <3222> Important News!

In reply to:

 >  Glad to see you back in the base, Bob. I know how busy things get at
 > times. Is there any information you can give us, or tentative dates, on
 >
 > 1) The Jaguar release?
 > 2) New Atari computers (upgrade from the Falcon)

Hi Don, thank you for the welcome back!  I've missed being here.

The Jaguar will be released in the Fall, in time for Christmas.  Sorry, I
have no comment about other computers to follow the Falcon030.  We don't
have enough of those on the street yet to worry about the next batch in my
department anyway. :)

regards,

Bob Brodie




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



> A "Quotable Quote"          "A NEW SmokeScreen & Diversion!"
  """""""""""""""""


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> DEALER CLASSIFIED LIST STR InfoFile        * Dealer Listings *
  """""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""          ---------------



                         ABCO COMPUTER CONSULTANTS
                         =========================
                               P.O. Box 6672
                      Jacksonville, Florida 32236-6672
                                 Est. 1985
                               1-904-783-3319
                         ATARI-AMIGA-PC-CLONES-MAC
                       HARDWARE, SOFTWARE & SUPPLIES

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

                              COMPUTER STUDIO
                              ===============
                          WESTGATE SHOPPING CENTER
                       40 Westgate Parkway - Suite D
                            Asheville, NC  28806
                               1-800-253-0201
                                Orders Only
                               1-704-251-0201
                                Information
                          Authorized Atari Dealer

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

                             MEGABYTE COMPUTERS
                             ==================
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                               1-817-589-2950
                          Authorized Atari Dealer

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

                             SAN JOSE COMPUTER
                             =================
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                            San Jose, CA.  95112
                               1-408-995-5080
                          Authorized Atari Dealer

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

                              CompuSeller West
                              ================
                            220-1/2 W. Main St.
                          St. Charles, IL., 60174
                             Ph. (708) 513-5220
                          Authorized Atari Dealer

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

            (DEALERS; to be listed here, please drop us a line.)


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                   STReport International Online Magazine
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"""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""
STR Online!          "YOUR INDEPENDENT NEWS SOURCE"            May 28, 1993
Since 1987     copyright (c) 1987-92 All Rights Reserved            No.9.22
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