Z*Net: 27-Apr-90 #517

From: Len Stys (aa399@cleveland.Freenet.Edu)
Date: 06/10/90-09:24:12 PM Z


From: aa399@cleveland.Freenet.Edu (Len Stys)
Subject: Z*Net: 27-Apr-90  #517
Date: Sun Jun 10 21:24:12 1990



 =======================================================================
     //////       //    //  //////  //////   Z*Net Atari Online Magazine
        //   /   ///   //  //        //      ---------------------------
     //    ///  // // //  //////    //              April 27, 1990
  //       /   //   ///  //        //        ---------------------------
 //////       //    //  ///////   //                  Issue #517
 =======================================================================
                    (=) 1990 by Rovac Industries, Inc.
                            Post Office Box 59
                       Middlesex, New Jersey 08846
                     Z*Net Online BBS: (201) 968-8148
 
 Publisher-Editor: Ron Kovacs                Associate Editor: John Nagy
 =======================================================================
 CompuServe 71777,2140                                       GEnie Z-NET
 =======================================================================
                             <*> CONTENTS <*>
                             ----------------
 
 - THIS WEEK
     .......................................................Ron Kovacs
 - Z*NET NEWSWIRE
     Atari and Industry Update........................................
 - MIDWEST ATARI SWAPFEST FIRST REPORT
     Review and report......................................Joe Julian
 - MIDWEST ATARI SWAPFEST REPORT
     Review..............................................D.A. Brumleve
 - ST STACK
     PD Update.............................................Alice Amore
 - UK TOP 20
     Top 20 selling games...................................Jon Clarke
 - PD SHAREWARE STOP
     Review and listing of new titles.......................Mark Quinn
 - SOFTWARE THEIVERY
     Commentary..........................................D.A. Brunleve
 - MEMORY UPGRADES
     ......................................................Jack Burkig
 
 
 -----------------------------------------------------------------------
 <*> THIS WEEK                                             by Ron Kovacs
 -----------------------------------------------------------------------
 
 
 The staff thanks everyone for the nice comments about the articles we
 published last week.  John Nagy's article brought the most postive
 comments and he appreciates the positive comments.
 
 Robert Ford and Jon Clarke are now part of the growing Z*Net staff.  
 Robert will assist with our monthly newsletter as UG Coordinator and Jon 
 Clarke will be a regular contributor reporting on Atari in New 
 Zealand/Australia/UK.
 
 Articles this week have been contributed by Dorothy Brumleve, Jon 
 Clarke, and Newswire material typed by my wife Lisa.  Now all I have to
 do is get my son and daughter into typing and reporting and we will have
 a complete family newsletter.  Since the kids are under 5, it will be a
 few years!
 
 Robert Ford and others are at PACE reporting for ZNet.  Look for a full 
 report next week right here!
 
 Issue #2 of the Mechanics Online Magazine has been released and 
 available on the Z*Net BBS and the Racing Forum on CompuServe.  Enter
 Go Racing, then Data Library 16 to read this issue.
 
 Z*NET DOWN-UNDER

            *   (gossip in the market this week )   *

 *  What happened to the "TT" that did not turn up?

 *  The TT has been in production in Taiwan since March 1990.

 *  When your Atari "TT" monitor dies , did you know you can use a "VGA"
    multi-standard monitor.

                         -----------------
  DO NOT USE "BIG SCREEN" WITH 'TEMPUS II' ON A TOS 1.4 BASED MACHINE.
               IT CRASH'S AT 200 LINES......<ahhhhhhh>
                         -----------------

 Z-Net in the [N]ews Section added weekly

 Name    : STaTus BBS
 Location: Auckland, New Zealand
 Software: MichTron Version 3
 Phone   : +64-9-606067  node 1
         : +64-9-608485  node 2
 Speeds  : 300/300 1200/1200 1200/75 2400/2400 , v21,v22,v23,v22bis
 Modems  : Netcomm 1234sa and Netcomm 24/24
 Computer: Atari Mega 2
 Storage : 100 megs on Hardisk
         : 550 megs on CDAR504 CD_ROM
 Files   : latest PD sourced UK,Europe,USA,NZ

 Sysops  : Stu Lees, Atari Developer
         : Jon Clarke, Atari Users Association

   // An Official Atari Users Association Support BBS //

  
 -----------------------------------------------------------------------
 <*> Z*NET NEWSWIRE
 -----------------------------------------------------------------------
 
 QUICK ST 2.1
 Darek Mihocka will debut the latest upgrade to Quick ST 2.0 at the 
 weekend PACE show.  Version 2.1 speeds up GDOS by 300% and will display 
 the ST system font 50% faster over Turbo-ST Version 1.8.  Turbo-ST was 
 recently upgraded to verion 1.8 from the previous 1.6 revision level.
 
 
 MIHOCKA IN CONFERENCE
 Darek Mihocka will be in conference next Wednesday in the GEnie ST 
 Roundtable.  The conference will begin at 10pm EDT, 7pm PDT.  The topic 
 will of course pertain to the new release of Quick ST 2.1 and other 
 topics.
 
 
 MARK WILLIAMS STATEMENT VIA ATARI
 Atari Corporation has contacted the Mark Williams Company concerning
 their support for the Atari ST Computers.  The following is their
 statement:  Last week, issue number 416 of CPU News Wire Online Magazine
 printed a story entitled "Mark Williams Co. Kisses Atari Off" in the CPU
 NewsWire Confidential.  In it, an unamed source within Mark Williams
 Co. was attributed with the statement that Mark Williams Co. had "...no
 intentions of providing any further upgrades for the Atari ST market."
 This is incorrect.  Mark Williams Company is fully committed to the
 Atari ST marketplace, and looks forward to both additional upgrades for
 our existing products, as well as ports of future products, such as
 Coherent.  Mark Williams Company regrets any problems this
 misinformation may have caused.  Robert Schwartz, President, Mark
 Williams Co.
 

 COMMODORES AMIGAVISION SYSTEM
 Commodore introducded a new powerful multimedia authoring software this 
 week in New York.  The system can be used to create applications ranging
 from complex business presentations to daily courseware.  AmigaVision,
 significantly expands the multimedia market by providing an easy-to-use
 and affordable method for business, education, government and consumer
 users to develop new applications by creatively combining graphics,
 text, video and audio components.  Shipping is expected to begin in May.
 The system will be bundled with all Amiga 2000 and 3000 series machines.
 For existing owners, AmigaVision is available at Authorized Commodore
 Amiga Resellers for a suggested retail price of $149.
 

 APPLE REDUCES PRICE
 Apple announced today, APril 27, 1990 that it will lower the suggested
 retail prices of the Macintosh Portable and the Macintosh Portable 1MB
 Memory Expansion Kit.  Feedback has revealed that the Macintosh
 Portable is being purchased by different companies and individuals, but
 especially by large organizations that require a full-function desktop
 computer.  The Portable is also often taken home for evening or weekend
 work by individuals who like the ability to take their computing
 environments with them to work anywhere in their homes.
 
 
 TWELVE-YEAR-OLD ARRESTED
 A 12-year-old boy hacked into the electronic files of TRW Corp., a
 credit-rating giant, and lifted credit card numbers that were then
 posted on computer bulletin boards and widely used for purchases and
 telephone calls.  The boys mother told UPI that the boy spent four to
 five hours each weeknight and up to 14 hours a day on weekends at his
 computer.  She said she was pleased her son stayed at home.  The boy was
 charged under Michigan law with computer fraud and financial transaction
 fraud, cracked TRW security through a Detroit-area branch and pulled
 card numbers from personal credit histories.  He was released to his
 family. 


 3M INTRODUCES ELECTRONIC HALFTONE SYSTEM FOR PRINTERS
 3M, supplier to the printing industry, unveiled a new system that will
 revolutionize the way printers make color proofs, the step in the
 printing process that verifies the quality of color reproduction.  The
 3M Digital Matchprint brand color proofing system is the first fully
 automated system that lets printers make high-resolution color proofs
 electronically, and faster than with any other system.  One of the
 challenges for printers is to accurately produce on press the original
 color of photos.  Color proofs, such as those made by the Digital
 Matchprint system, give printers and their customers an opportunity to
 see what the finished job will look like before the presses start
 rolling, the system makes a halftone proof for four magazine-size pages
 in 16 minutes.  With film, the time required to make such a proof can
 vary from 45 minutes to two hours. 


 ACTIVISION UNVEILS GAMES
 Activision will announce new video games for three video game systems,
 including the Nintendo Entertainment System, the Nintendo Game Boy, and 
 the Sega Genesis.  This announcement will take place at the June CES
 show.  Activision will preview two new games that advance some of the
 most popular video game categories.  Two of the titles will transport
 players out of this world and into strange and unusual galaxies:  One
 features fast-action racing in space-age vehicles, and the other much-
 anticipated game lets players explore one of the largest selections of
 planets with a surprising number of levels, the likes of which have
 never before been seen on the NES.  Also at CES, Infocom will show its
 first title for the NES, "Tombs and Treasure."
 
 
 FALCO UNVEILS VIDEO DISPLAY TERMINAL
 Falco Data is introducing a new series of video display terminals
 incorporating an industry-first user interface which adds a DOS
 application feel and dramatically improves the terminals' ease of
 configuration and windowing capability.  Falco Data provides a full
 spectrum of video display terminals and systems products including
 computers, monitors and LAN workstations.
 

 US SPRINT LINK WITH INTERNET
 US Sprint announced this week a commercial electronic messaging
 interconnection with Internet data networks serving more than a million
 users in U.S. government agencies, the military, universities and
 corporate research and development centers.  The interconnection will
 improve communication between Internet users, enable them to communicate
 by electronic mail with vendors and suppliers, and provide access to
 delivery options that include facsimile, telex and postal service hard
 copy.  The interconnection will allow approximately 2-million Internet
 users in 35 countries access to the full capabilities of SprintMail.
 


 -----------------------------------------------------------------------
 <*> MIDWEST ATARI SWAPFEST - FIRST REPORT          by Joe Julian, LCACE
 -----------------------------------------------------------------------
 
 
 Midwest Atari Swapfest '90 began at 10:00 a.m. on Sunday, April 22,
 1990.  A bright and sunny sky greeted the attendees and participants of
 the 'fest at the Diplomat North Banquet Hall in Gurnee, Il.  The
 swapfest was sponsored by the Lake County (IL) Atari Computer
 Enthusiasts and MilAtari Ltd., from Milwaukee, Wisconsin.  Other area
 Atari user groups also participated in the show, including the Rockford
 (IL) Atari Computer Club, Greater Chicago Atari Computer Enthusiasts,
 Quad City Atari Computer Club, T.U.G. (The User Group) and S.C.A.T.,
 also from the Chicago area.
 
 The action was fast and furious at the trading tables which were set up
 as early as 9:30 by the respective user groups.  Many of the best deals
 were snatched up by the eager shoppers hunting for software and hardware
 at bargain prices and it was not unusual to wait several minutes before
 being able to reach the target table and have a clear view of the wares
 which were displayed!

 A number of commercial vendors also attended the swapfest.  Computer
 Cellar, from St. Charles, IL, offered an impressive stock of Atari
 hardware for sale.  Included were the Atari Mega 2 and Mega 4 computers,
 SM124 monochrome monitors, SC1224 color monitors, SLM804 laser printers,
 the tremendous Viking 19" monochrome monitor, and the very popular LYNX
 game system.  Mars Merchandising, Lombard, Il, displayed a vast array of
 ST and 8-bit software along with many other much-needed items for the
 Atari user.  C.S.A. Limited had both 8 and 16 bit software at truly
 bargain basement prices.  Kolputer Systems also had a large amount of
 software to peddle.  The latest version of the most popular games and
 utilities were in no short supply at this booth.  System Solutions, West
 Chicago, IL, were showing their new rack-mounted Atari ST systems.
 Displayed was a Mega 2 mono system with two 3 1/2 drives and a 30-meg
 hard drive all very neatly encased in a very robust aluminum case.
 Fleetwood Mac is currently touring with one of these rack units, and as
 Henry Bahr from System Solutions states, "...they're roadie proof!".

 Alongside System Solutions were two musicians, Richard Russom and Larry
 Richardson, who are affiliated with SCAT.  These guys had one heck of a
 MIDI system playing some heavy duty tunes.  The sound was great and the
 keyboard work very polished; showing to all that the Atari computer
 system is to be reckoned with in the music field.

 There was also someone who I consider to be a MAJOR software developer
 for the ST system at the swapfest.  That developer was none other than
 Dorothy Anderson Brumleve.  You probably know her as D.A. Brumleve.  She
 is the author of the very well-known KIDPRGS that your young children
 and mine have spent many an hour enjoying.  She was demonstrating and
 selling very respectable quantities of three of her programs.  These
 were Kidpainter, Super Kidgrid, and Kidpublisher Professional.  Each of
 these excellent programs for children was available for $25.00 each or
 $65.00 for all three.  A bargain.
 
 Far and away the crown jewel of the Midwest Atari Swapfest was Bob
 Brodie. He is the user group representative for Atari Corp.  Mr. Brodie
 brought with him quite an array of Atari hardware for hands-on
 demonstration.  First there was a STacy 4 with 4-meg of Ram, one 3 1/2"
 drive, a built-in 40-meg hard drive, and a back-lit mono monitor.  TOS
 1.4 was also included in this machine.  Hooked up to the STacy was a
 Megafile-44 hard drive and a Spectre GCR Macintosh emulator.
 
 I spent about 30-40 minutes with the STacy 4 at the Atari booth trying
 to get a feel for the machine and compare it to the prototype I saw at
 the World of Atari show in Dearborn last year.  My first impressions
 were that there was a drastic improvement in the video display.  The
 current back-lit screen is much improved over the prototype display
 shown last year.  I had no difficulty in viewing the display, even while
 standing and at odd angles.  The screen refresh rate was not noticeably
 unlike that of my ST and the display was sharp, clear, and easy to read.

 The STacy keyboard is outstanding!!  Without a doubt, this is the very
 best very best keyboard I have ever typed on with an Atari label affixed
 to it.  The Stacy is currently being shipped, although in limited
 quantities, and retails for about $2895 in the above configuration
 (Megafile-44 and Spectre GCR excluded, of course).

 Also shown by Mr. Brodie was an 4160 STe.  This machine looked identical
 to a 1040 ST with a few extra ports.  There are two additional joystick
 ports along the left side of the unit, an RF modulator port for a TV in
 the rear, stereo output jacks, and a blitter chip.  TOS 1.6 is the
 operating system.  Rather impressive demos with stereo sound and 
 dynamite graphics were running.  Alas, I spent so much time with the
 STacy, I didn't have an opportunity to get a hands on impression of the
 STe.  Mr. Brodie did say that the 4160 name was not slated for sale in
 the U.S.  He said the name 4160 is used in-house to identify how much
 RAM is installed in a particular machine.  As the STe uses SIMMs instead
 of DRAM for memory and SIMMs are easily user upgradable, it would make
 no sense to offer a 1-meg, 2-meg, and a 4-meg computer.  Mr. Brodie
 advised that to upgrade from one meg to 4-meg all one would have to do
 is open the case, remove a shield, and plug in the new SIMM strip(s),
 then close up the case - easier than adding a board to an IBM clone.
 The STe was just approved by the FCC, but no retail pricing is known at
 this time; the buzz said late June ship.

 The aforementioned Megafile-44 hard drive was also shown.  This is a
 removable media 44-meg, 28ms access time hard drive which uses the
 Syquest removable cartridge.  It is said that the Megafile drives will
 accept an additional fixed hard drive and that the rails are already in
 place.  I did not see the interior of either of the drives at the show,
 so am unable to confirm this, although I did see two drive lights on
 each of the drives.  This drive is supposed to be available at a retail
 price of $1100.00 but I wonder at the wisdom of this price point, as at
 least two third party developers are offering Syquest drives for about
 $899.00.
 
 The Portfolio hand held computer made a side appearance;  Much has been
 written in recent weeks on the Portfolio and I will not repeat it.  Mr.
 Brodie did say that there are some new DOS utilities available for the
 Portfolio for $79.95.
 
 DataQue Systems of Ontario, OH was kind enough to send the Turbo 816
 enhancement for the 8-bit systems for demonstration, even though they
 were not able to attend in person.  This speed demon uses the power of
 the 65C816 processor and a custom OS to bring previously unheard of
 performance within the reach of existing 8-bit Atari systems.  The Turbo
 816 suffered from a lack of demo software to show off its potential.
 
 At 1:00 in the afternoon I attended a talk given by Mr. Brodie.  He was
 introduced to the crowd by Michelle Gross from MilAtari Ltd.  He said
 that plans were in the making for 520stfm's to be sold with a bundled
 software package for $399.00.  This is to be in the mass marketer type
 of store (Sears was mentioned) and was geared towards those individuals
 who look to purchase a computer but have never set foot in a computer
 store before.  Once these purchasers of an ST see the advantages of the
 system, they will (the plan goes) visit their ST dealer for additional
 hardware and software that the mass marketer does not supply.

 In answer to the inevitable question concerning the lack of advertising,
 Mr. Brodie showed a video which was shown in the New York area during
 the past holiday season.  This video was for the LYNX game system rather
 than for the ST or Mega or any upcoming computer line.

 In answer to questions concerning hardware shortages, Mr. Brodie said
 that it was believed that Goldstar artificially induced the monochrome
 monitor shortage, and that when other manufacturers were mentioned to
 them, ie: JVC and Sony, Goldstar suddenly was able to supply Atari with
 monitors.  Although 1040 ST's are in short supply, 520 ST's and Mega 4's
 are in the warehouse and should be readily available.

 What impressed me most about Bob Brodie was his sincerity.  There was a
 "no BS" attitude about him.  Comparing Mr. Brodie to Sig Hartmann, whom
 I met in Detroit last year, Sig was a salesman, a huff and puff and blow
 your doors down kind of a guy, all the while holding a Portfolio above
 his head saying, "Don't forget to buy one."  Ask Bob Brodie a question,
 get an answer, no huff and puff.  I like that and I think that it speaks
 well for the man.

 Finally, I would like to personally thank Atari for allowing Bob Brodie
 to attend our swapfest.  I also extend a very special thank you for the
 XEP-80 interface with Atariwriter software donated to the raffle which
 was won by Thomas J. Bartlett of Chicago, IL, and for the grand prize,
 a Megafile-44 hard drive, which was won by Gerard Toussaint of McHenry,
 IL.  I also thank the vendors who so graciously donated items for door
 prizes that were appreciated by so many.  But most of all I thank those
 who donated their time and supreme effort to bring forth the first
 Midwest Atari Swapfest, for without your hard work and effort it would
 not have come to pass........

     Mark Lacine, Mars Merchandising,
          "...A jammin' show!  I wouldn't have missed it."

     Ray McAlpin, Apple Annie,
          "...A great show!"

     Larry Grauzas, Pres. L.C.A.C.E.,
          "...A tremendous success."

     D.A. Brumleve,
          "...Very worthwhile...Great enthusiasm...Better than
              W.O.A. Annaheim..."

 

 -----------------------------------------------------------------------
 <*> MIDWEST ATARI SWAPFEST                    Reported by D.A. Brumleve
 -----------------------------------------------------------------------
 
 
 A few years back, there was a major effort by a coalition of Chicago-
 area users groups to present a large-scale Atari show.  That effort
 failed, members lost money, the show did not take place, and
 participants were very discouraged.  It took a while to build up the
 courage to try it again.  One group has taken the lead by putting on a
 multi-group "swap meet", a small-scale show which might serve as a test-
 case to indicate whether or not they might be capable of putting on a
 larger World-of-Atari-type event in 1991.  The plan was to host a small
 show to generate enthusiasm and develop inter-group spirit, and to
 provide some visibility to the many Chicago-area Atari dealers and lots
 and lots of bargains to the show-goers.
 
 From 10am to 4pm on Sunday, April 22, the efforts of the Lake County
 Atari Computer Enthusiasts (LCACE), and especially of club officers
 Larry Grauzas, Mike Brown, John Schultz, and JJ Johnson, paid off in the
 form of the Midwest Atari SwapFest.  The SwapFest was held in the
 banquet room of the Diplomat, a restaurant associated with a Days Inn
 hotel in Gurnee, northwest of Chicago.  A room at the Days Inn was made
 available for seminars.  Exhibition tables were arranged in a pattern of
 concentric squares in the banquet room.  8-bit and ST user groups
 brought their used software and group library disks to sell.  Among the
 groups participating were LCACE, MilAtari Ltd. (Milwaukee), SCAT
 (Southern Chicago and suburbs), RACC (Rockford), and GCACE (Chicago).
 Members of CRAG (Calumet IN Region Atari Group) distributed copies of
 their newsletter.  The Rockford group passed out pocket protectors
 emblazened with their logo.  Other exhibition booths included my own
 (D.A. Brumleve), Kolputer Systems, Computer Cellar, CSA, Apple Annie,
 No Frills Software, Paper Express, and Mars Merchandising.  Not all of
 Chicago's Atari dealers were represented; I was surprised at the absence
 of Digital World, Coz Computers, Guitar Shack and Software Plus.  Some
 of the booths focussed on one or another aspect of computing;
 particularly noticable was the MIDI area, which entertained show-goers
 with music and other noises throughout the day.  All Atari products were
 represented in the booths.  Most of the groups supported both the ST and
 8-bit user, and dealers also had products related to the Portfolio,
 Lynx, and game machines.
 
 Atari Corp. had a booth manned by User Group Coordinator Bob Brodie,
 Jeff Williams, who is an ST RoundTable sysop on GEnie, and Mike Groh,
 Atari's Chicago-area dealer representative.  Bob brought along the Lynx,
 Portfolio, STe, and STacy for the enjoyment of attendees.  The STe's
 sound capabilities were demonstrated through the use of stereo speakers
 and a special demo program designed for the STe.  Bob presented two
 seminars to packed audiences.   
 
 Did I say "packed"?  The seminar room was not the only area that was
 packed.  Organizers had anticipated only a few hundred attendees, but
 wound up selling over 1000 tickets!  The concern was expressed that the
 Fire Marshall might close the place down, it was so well-attended.  The
 aisles were crowded with enthusiastic bargain-hunters throughout most of
 the day.  Around 3pm, the crowd began to dwindle, but this was
 fortuitious and appropriate in a way, as several vendors had sold out of
 their wares and were packing up to go home!  Attendees came from as far
 away as Downstate Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, and Michigan.
 
 As a vendor, I found that my demonstration computer was in almost
 constant use.  Many children attended the show with their parents.
 Several children came back to use one program or another again and
 again.  My hopping disks, as usual, "sold" like hotcakes, with some
 greedy little ones taking several apiece.  (Maybe they knew they'd be
 losing a least some of them in short order.)  I made few sales, but
 those who did buy in every case took advantage of the "show special"
 ($65 for Kidpainter, Kidpublisher Professional, and Super Kidgrid), so
 for once I actually made a profit (!) at an Atari show.  Next to my
 display sat a box of flyers from M-S Designs.  This is a company that
 Henry Murphy and Carl Stanford have established for the marketing of
 their Calamus fonts.  Mike Groh was demonstrating Calamus in the Atari
 booth, so he disseminated many of these flyers from the Atari booth
 also.
 
 Door prizes were presented to winners of a ticket-drawing at intervals
 throughout the day.  At the end of the day, Bob Brodie of Atari offered
 a MegaFile 44 as a gala door prize.
 
 Vendors and users agreed that this show was a terrific success.  In
 spite of its limited intentions, attendance was substantial and
 enthusiastic.  I hope that the organizers have sufficient momentum to
 pursue a major Chicago-area Atari show in the very near future!


 
 -----------------------------------------------------------------------
 <*> ST STACK                                             by Alice Amore
 -----------------------------------------------------------------------
 
 Here are some recent upgrades:

 ASCIIVIEW.ARC  v. 3.50
 Programmer:  David M. Seberg
 * SHAREWARE *
 ============================
 A replacement for the Show-Print-Cancel function on the GEM desktop.
 Now much faster, with keyboard equivalents, plus other improvements.
 
 
 CARDFILE.ARC   v. 1.4
 From:  GT Software
 Working Demo
 =====================
 Cardfile is a database/dialer/address book/appointment scheduler in a
 desk accessory.  Demo is limited to 10 index cards.
 

 CV2IMG12.ARC   v. 1.20
 Programmer:  Craig W. Daymon
 * SHAREWARE *
 ============================
 Converts the gamut of picture formats (DEGAS, NEO, Mac, Art, Doodle,
 Spectrum, TINY, and others) to uncompressed .IMG format.
 

 IG213.ARC      v. 2.13
 Programmer:  Larry Mears
 * SHAREWARE *
 ========================
 Instant Graphics! is an online graphics terminal for any BBS.  Includes
 .EMU file for InterLink.  Lots of new features including MIDI support.
 
 
 IGS_PRO6.ARC   v. 1.6
 Programmers: Moody & Rau
 * SHAREWARE *
 ========================
 Full-featured graphics editor for Instant Graphics! (see above)  The
 excellent tutorial was written by S. Turnbull.
 
 
 MMM.ARC        v. 1.50
 Programmer:  David M. Henry
 * SHAREWARE *
 ===========================
 Do-it-all MIDI program.  MIDI Music Maker plays MS, MS '88, MCS, EZ-
 Track, Format 0, Format 1, SID, AMS, MMS, and Orch.-85/90 files.
 
 
 OSCAN_60.ARC   v. ?
 Programmer:  Bradford W. Mott
 =============================
 Modification of OVERSCAN.PRG.  This version works at 60Hz instead of
 50Hz.

 
 PILEUP21.ARC   v. 2.1
 Programmer:  Russell Moll
 * SHAREWARE *
 =========================
 Pile Up, a Tetris clone, will now run with TOS 1.4.  Written and
 compiled in STOS.  Source code is available.

  
 PRHP14.LZH     v. 1.4
 From:  Kepco International
 ==========================
 For the HP DeskJet and DeskJet+.  Prints in portrait or landscape, draft
 or LQ.  Prints back-to-front with header, line numbers, more.

 
 RLSGD_10.LZH   v. 1.0
 Programmer:  Jeffrey Kinzer
 ===========================
 Now displays and saves up to 1600 (huh?) DEGAS, NEO, or TINY pictures
 on-screen at once.  

 
 SMRTDAT2.ARC   v. 3.2
 Programmer:  David Becker
 =========================
 SmartDate allows setting of the system date at boot-up.  Keeps current
 if you set it once every 24 hours.  Bugs removed.

 
 STKR_206.ARC   v. 2.06
 From:  Strata Software
 ======================
 This patch program will update v. 2.00-2.05 to v. 2.06.  STalker is a 
 commercial (accessory) terminal/background program.
 
 
 STNO_103.ARC   v. 1.03
 From Strata Software
 ======================
 This patch program will update v. 1.00-1.02 to v. 1.03.  STeno is a 
 commercial (accessory) text editor. 

 
 STVI395.LZH    v. 3.95
 Programmers: Tony Andrews/Ric Kalford
 =====================================
 Several fixes/improvements have been added to this impressive UNIX-style
 VI text editor.  Also supports Minix, MS-DOS, and OS/2.

 
 STVI395S.LZH   v. 3.95
 Programmers: Tony Andrews/Ric Kalford
 =====================================
 Contains the C source code for STeVIe, version 3.95.  See description of
 STeVIe, above.

 
 STWEL3_8.ARC   v. 3.8
 Programmer:  Bruce Noonan, M.D.
 ===============================
 ST Writer Elite.  Now compatible with the STe, Moniterm monitor, and all
 versions of TOS.

 
 STW38G_S.ARC   v. 3.8
 Programmer:  Bruce Noonan, M.D.
 ===============================
 The German and Spanish versions of ST Writer Elite, v. 3.8.  Compatible
 with the STe, Moniterm, all TOS versions.

 
 SWTCHREZ.ARC   v. 2.0
 From:  ML & ML Software
 =======================
 Creates low res and medium res DESKTOP.INF files and switches between 
 them easily.  Can assign AUTO/.ACC files to specific resolutions.

 
 TCCOMP40.LZH   v. 4.0
 Programmer:  John Hickey
 * SHAREWARE *
 ========================
 Creates DO files for use with FLASH! to help automate the process of 
 file selection and downloading on GEnie.  ZModem/ARC/LZH supported.

 
 UNLZH161.ARC   v. 1.61
 Programmer:  John Harris
 * SHAREWARE * 
 ========================
 Lightning-fast extractor for .LZH files.  Handles multiples, separate 
 folders, scrolling, searching, more.

 
 SHEET32P.LZH   v. 3.2
 Programmer:  Chor-ming Lung
 Working Demo
 ===========================
 Demo of Sheet 3.2, a spreadsheet/database manager/graphics generator/
 BASIC interpreter.  Demo is full-featured but memory is limited to 19K.

 
 SHEETDOC.LZH   v. 3.0
 Programmer:  Chor-ming Lung
 ===========================
 Documentation for SHEET.  If you already have the documentation for 
 version 3.0, you don't need this file.

 
 SAMPLES.LZH    v. ?
 Programmer:  Chor-ming Lung
 ===========================
 A varied sampling of SHEET files.  Use with SHEET32P.LZH.  If you have 
 the older SAMPLE files, you will still need these newer ones.




 -----------------------------------------------------------------------
 <*> THE UK TOP 20 GAME TITLES                    Compiled by Jon Clarke
 -----------------------------------------------------------------------
 
 
                         The Top 20 Games titles.
                         ------------------------

                         The Gallup Software Chart.
                         --------------------------

                 For the Month Of April 1990, United Kingdom.
                 --------------------------------------------
 ======+======+======================================+==================
  This | Last | Title                  (Company)     | Comments
 ======+======+======================================+==================
   1      2     Choas Strikes Back     (Mirrorsoft)    FTL's new entry
   2      New   Operation Thunderbolt  (Ocean)         Arcade conversion
   3      1     Bomber                 (Activision)    Vector Grafix
   4      9     Advanced Ski Simulator (Code Masters)  Good simulator
   5      3     Chase HQ               (Ocean)         Like 'Out Run'
   6      5     Batman: The Movie      (Ocean)         Great graphics
   7      New   Player Manager         (Anco)          Soccer simulator
   8      New   Rainbow Islands        (Ocean)         NZ Story type
   9      7     Gouls and Ghosts       (US Gold)       Addictive
   10     6     Hard Driving           (Domark)        Driving simulator
   11     New   Captain Blood          (Smash 16)      An absolute must
   12     12    Extra Time             (Anco)          Soccer simulator
   13     New   Future Wars            (Palace)        Graphics adventure
   14     8     Gazza's Super Soccer   (Empire)        Soccer simultor
   15     4     Ghostbuster 2          (Activision)    Like the movie
   16     16    Kick Off               (Anco)          Soccer realism
   17     18    TV Sports Football     (Mirrorsoft)    Sports simulator
   18     19    Robocop                (Ocean)         Like the film
   19     New   Drakkhen               (Infogames)     Could be a classic
   20     13    Treasure Island Dizzy  (Code Masters)  Remember Dizzy?


 * Please note not all this software is in release in the USA at this
   time.
 * Also, the United Kingdom distributors differ from those in the USA.



 -----------------------------------------------------------------------
 <*> PD/SHAREWARE STOP                                     by Mark Quinn
 -----------------------------------------------------------------------
 

 (Editors Note:  The following files are available on the pay services.)
 
 
    File name:  MENUMSTR.ARC              Author:  Michael Allen
 Program name:  Menu Master            File type:  Utility (*Shareware*)
 =======================================================================
 Of interest to ST joystick jockeys everywhere, MENU MASTER organizes two
 or more games into -- you guessed it -- menus.  Used with StartGem (an
 earlier upload) or Rainbow TOS, the program creates low or medium
 resolution data files appropriate for the resolution of the games being
 played.

 Setting up the menus is as easy as using your favorite file selector.
 The author states that, "This menu does not work on all programs, but it
 works on most games."

 I found the menu screens to be a bit bland, but the program works.

 
 Quinn's Quickies"

 CHNGSIZE.ARC
  Increase storage capacity on floppies by 10K.

 FB_DEMO.LZH
  World War II strategy game demo.  It's the Germans against the Soviets.
 
 FINALCUT.ARC; FCSONG.ARC
  The first archive contains a demo of FINAL CUT, a 16-track MIDI
  sequencer.  The second contains four sample song files for use with the
  program.

 GEOGRA.ARC
  Shareware version of GEOGRAPHY TUTOR, by ASDE.  A graphical tutor/drill
  for European countries and capitals.

 GRAMSLAM.ARC
  A demo of a shareware grammar checker.  Can be run as a TTP program,
  with Gulam, or its own shell.  Demo version has one-third of the
  phrases that the fully working version has.

 HEADLINE.ARC
  Produces offbeat headlines, the type you'd see in the tabloids at the
  supermarket.  Produces some WEIRD stuff.

 HERO_IID.LZH
  Demo of a shareware dungeon exploration/adventure game.  Looks great.

 JRSBEAT.LZH; JR_SONGS
  Songs created with QUARTET.  Sampled digital four-channel sound, played
  through the monitor speaker.  Not top forty material.

 MATCH3.ARC
  A children's version of Concentration, with pictures.  Includes sound.

 RENAME_X.ARC
  Update.  Renames thirteen kinds of files, and can re-rename them.
  Useful for saving memory.

 SAT310.ARC
  Update.  "The Satellite Prediction Program".  Nice working and looking
  interface.  MANY improvements.


 
 -----------------------------------------------------------------------
 <*> SOFTWARE THIEVERY                                  by D.A. Brumleve
 -----------------------------------------------------------------------
 Commentary
 
 
        How it hurts every ST and every ST owner in North America
 
 A few days after the Anaheim World of Atari show, where CodeHead
 Software offered version 2.0 of MultiDesk for the first time, Charles F.
 Johnson posted a message on GEnie.  Charles had sold many copies of
 MultiDesk during the show, but it seems that the program has received
 an even wider distribution than he had imagined: Charles has found
 version 2.0 of MultiDesk on a major pirate BBS in the southern
 California area.  The day he checked the board (just two days after the
 show), thirty-two pirates had already downloaded his program from the
 board!  Of course, the distribution doesn't stop there; each downloader
 also is likely to upload the program to yet another BBS somewhere.  And
 so on and so on...
 
 Now, people who know MultiDesk will also realize that almost anyone who
 has it will use it.  This is a wonderful desk accessory organizer that
 not only lets you sneak around the 6-accessory limit but also enhances
 your computing experience in many other ways.  Certainly, anyone who
 would spend time downloading it from a bulletin board must be considered
 a potential purchaser.  And so, CodeHead had lost no fewer than thirty-
 two sales and probably hundreds or even thousands more simply because a
 thief purchased that initial copy at the WOA.
 
 This same scenario is repeated time and time again after a release of
 any good program.  Pirate bulletin board systems are a major enabler of
 this theft, but so is the fellow who borrows a program from his user
 group library and copies it for his own software library or the one who
 sells his original copy and keeps the backups for continued use.
 
 The problem is a tough one for the ST market because it is especially
 small.  If a company is likely to sell 100,000 copies of a particular
 program, and 10% of those copies are stolen rather than bought, the
 company has still sold 90,000.  But in the ST market, particularly if
 sales are limited to North America, a top-notch application that
 "everybody" wants is not likely to sell over 5,000 copies, and lesser or
 more narrow applications may sell fewer than 1000.  If 10% of those
 copies are stolen rather than purchased, the piracy has a greater effect
 on overall earnings.  10% is a very low figure for top-notch, must-have
 programs.  It's more likely that a major application may have five
 illegal copies for every purchased copy.  So if a developer sells 5,000
 copies, another 25,000 are likely to be pirated and used illegally.
 This means that the developer receives only a sixth of the earnings to
 which he is entitled.  How many people would accept 1/6th of their
 earnings as full compensation for their work?
 
 Many otherwise honest people justify piracy by condemning the high
 prices of commercial software, so let's take a look at that software
 dollar.  A typical program in the ST market sells for $39.95 ($40)
 retail.  The software dealer buys the program from a distributor at
 approximately 40%-45% off the list price, so the dealer would pay
 perhaps $24 for a $40 program, and sell it at whatever markup he could
 manage.  Any profit he makes over the price he paid must cover his rent,
 utilities, employee paychecks, etc.  The software distributor, in turn,
 has bought the program from the developer or publisher at about 45%-55%
 off list price, so the distributor might pay the developer $20 for a $40
 program.  The intrinsic value of the contents of the package is
 typically around $5, but the developer has to pay for packaging,
 postage, support lines, advertising, etc.  I'm not counting here all the
 endless hours that go into the development of a program.  Nathan
 Potechin of ISD reports that the four years of development of DynaCADD,
 the CAD package that rivals and exceeds the capabilities of AutoCad,
 have cost over $100,000!  A programmer's time is worth money, and when
 he writes a program, he hopes to be compensated not only for the actual
 value of the package's materials and advertising, bookkeeping, mailing,
 and other expenses, but also for his time in development.  The end
 result is that the developer receives very poor compensation for his
 programming efforts unless many, many copies of the program are actually
 sold.  In a small market, every pirated copy has a greater effect on the
 total sales; the more copies are pirated, the poorer the compensation
 for the developer.  The developer, in the case of the ST, is unlikely to
 be some huge anonymous conglomerate with 10,000 employees.  Instead, the
 developer is a real person like Charles F. Johnson, like you or me.  A
 pirate's decision to steal effects Charles' ability to buy a new car or
 make do with the old one, go to a movie versus watching the VCR, eat
 steak or hamburger, go to an Atari show or stay home, support the ST or
 the IBM...
 
 Yep, programmers are leaving the Atari market right and left as they
 notice the comparatively windfall profits available elsewhere.  Over the
 past year, several companies that were ST-only have expanded to support
 other machines.  This shouldn't be regarded as "growth"; these companies
 who continue to sell programs for the ST while offering them to larger
 markets are, in fact, using the larger markets to support their lagging
 ST sales.  In reference to DynaCADD, Nathan Potechin says that "[Piracy
 and slow sales have] left us with no other alternative but to release
 the program on other computer platforms, based on economic reality." 
 Other companies that have been ST-only are leaving the ST altogether.
 Interlink, for example, announced this month that they will not be
 releasing Masterlink, widely regarded as potentially the most extensive
 ST telecommunications package.  Word Perfect is not pursuing an update
 to the current IBM version.  Companies like this, for whom the ST has
 never been a priority, are refusing to upgrade releases or port their
 new titles to the ST, citing slow sales as the reason.  "Slow sales" are
 far slower thanks to ST pirates.
 
 It's worth noting here that using shareware without paying for it is
 tantamount to piracy.  Many shareware authors report astoundingly low
 contributions.  When 1,000 copies of a program have been downloaded from
 a national information service (and then passed on to 1000 local
 bulletin board systems and downloaded by many users on each...), and the
 shareware programmer receives a total of $30 in "contributions", the
 programmer is not encouraged to improve his program or publish others.
 ST shareware programs don't merely rival commercial applications--they
 _are_ commercial applications, and must be respected as such if we are
 to hope for further try-before-you-buy offerings.
 
 Now, as stated above, a typical program for the ST market is $39.95.  If
 that seems like a lot, try shopping for IBM software, a market in which
 a software package may easily sell for more than the computer itself!
 ST users are very fortunate that powerful software for our machines is
 incredibly cheap compared to other brands.  We are also fortunate that
 a wealth of high-quality public domain programs is available for nearly
 any computing need.  We don't "have" to steal; if we can't afford to buy
 a program, we can use a public domain alternative.  It's actually
 possible to build a powerful software library using only public domain
 applications.  Just ask any user group librarian.
 
 Laws are designed to discourage dishonest people from doing the wrong
 thing.  Dishonest people tend to flaunt the law if they think they won't
 get caught.  There are laws against software piracy in the US.  When
 programmers find a pirated copy of their software, they know that copy's
 history.  They know what day they put the original disk (from which the
 copy was taken) in shrink-wrap; they know what distributor they sold it
 to; they may well know who bought it and took it home to share illegally
 with others, his name, address, etc.  Pirates can be identified, they
 can be caught, they can be prosecuted or sued, and they can be punished
 with imprisonment, impounding and disposal of equipment, and heavy fines
 or compensation for the programmer.
 
 Many have written articles to beg pirates not to steal programs for the
 sake of decency.  I'm not going to do that, nor will I whine or cagole
 or threaten.  Instead, I'm going to appeal to self-interest, your self-
 interest and pirates' self-interest, because piracy is a threat to the
 self-interest of every ST owner in the US, pirates included.
 
 We all have a tremendous investment in our machines.  New software is
 the lifeblood of the machine.  I can write my own new software, and if
 all the ST developers departed to greener pastures tomorrow, I'd still
 have something new and interesting to do with my hardware.  Most people,
 however, do not program.  Most are completely dependent upon
 professional developers for continually greater power and ever more fun
 with their computers.  If the ST developers stop producing new programs,
 most of us will have to be content with the software we already have.
 Our "investment" in our hardware will not be returned if we try to sell
 our equipment.  Like the TRS-80s and Commodore 64s, we'll be listing
 Mega2s in the News-Gazette want-ads for $75 (with printer!).  That
 prospect is mighty grim as far as I'm concerned, but it's a likely
 scenario, unless we can keep programmers like Charles F. Johnson in
 business.
 
 What do we get for our software dollar when we do buy a program?
 Purchasing software provides users with a manual, an indispensible aid
 for extensive applications.  If you'll remember to send in that
 registration card, you'll find a helpful and informed employee at the
 end of the phone line when you call for support.  If you send in the
 card, you'll also be on their mailing list; you'll hear about it first
 when an update to your copy becomes available and you'll receive
 notifications of new offerings from the company from time to time, and
 sometimes discounts will be available.  If the disk gets fried, the
 company has a backup waiting for you.  If your new word processor won't
 print on your printer, the company will prepare a driver especially for
 you.  All of this--and more!--is available to legitimate purchasers of
 commercial software.  One more thing is available to software
 purchasers: the hope of new offerings from the same developer.
 
 If your pal is downloading software from a pirate BBS, he isn't doing
 you and your ST any favor.  Let him know that.  It's in the best
 interest of all ST owners to discourage pirating.  I know you don't
 consider yourself a pirate; I sure don't, but I nevertheless have found
 in my extensive software library several programs which have not been
 purchased.  Most I don't use and I'm reformatting without regret.  One I
 have used almost every day.  Looks like it's time to buy that one...

 
 
 
 -----------------------------------------------------------------------
 <*> "SAY MISTER, WHERE YOU GOIN' WITH ALL THAT MEMORY?"  by Jack Burkig
 -----------------------------------------------------------------------
   Reprinted from the April 1990 Edition of The Puget Sound Atari News
 
 
 A few months ago I bought an ICD hard disk system for my 1040ST, and I
 have spent a good deal of my computer time since then trying to figure
 out how to use all that memory (49 megabytes) to best advantage.  Now I
 have, with the much needed help of the people at the local Atari dealer,
 increased the RAM on my machine to 4 megabytes and I am again trying to
 figure out how best to use all of that memory.  My initial reasons for
 both increases were not very sensible.
 
 It was pretty much a case of "nothing is too good for my favorite toy",
 although in both cases I convinced myself that with Spectre GCR
 available I would need extra disk and RAM if I wanted to find out about
 the marvels of Hypercard and/or Mathematica.  Generally speaking, I
 could live pretty comfortably in the ST program world without these
 enhancements, but the Macintosh emulation is virtually unusable without
 at least two disk drives, Hypercard can barely scrape along with 1 meg
 of RAM, and Mathematica (which I do not yet have) requires a minimum of
 2 megabytes.  This is an account of what I have done so far.

 I divided the hard disk into 8 partitions, 7 for various categories of
 function in the ST world, and one for the Macintosh.  The hard disk
 partitions are C, D, E, F, G, H, and I for the ST; and a separate one
 for the Macintosh.  The first partition, C (Computer), is the boot
 partition, and contains a variety of system related programs such as
 Hotwire, Multidesk, Universal Item Selector, a variety of Desk Accessory
 programs etc.  More about these later.
 
 The next partition, D (Drawing), I cleverly assigned to art and drawing
 programs such as DEGAS Elite, CAD 3D etc.  Partition E (Education), I
 assigned to various educational programs such as language study, a
 general list creation program and the like.
 
 Partition F (Fooling Around) is a sort of scratch pad, used for
 dearchiving public domain and magazine disks prior to deciding whether
 they are something I want to keep on tap for quick access.  In that case
 they would be moved to another partition and deleted from partition F.
 This partition should also be useful as a temporary store if I start to
 suffer from fragmentation problems in other partitions.
 
 Partition G (Games), is a pretty big one, even though I am not much of a
 games player.  It is nice, though, when my kids or other games players
 in the family visit.  Partition H (Helping Hand) I used for what people
 call productivity programs, such as ST Writer, a spread sheet, a
 database and so forth.
 
 Next, partition I (Intelligence), is devoted to computer languages and
 other programs related to programming.  The Macintosh space would have
 been partition J, but does not show up on the ST desk top display.

 Finally, Icon K was assigned to Ram Disks...  I use Maxidisk, a West
 German ram disk program which stores data in compressed form, can be
 started after boot up, has assignable size, and will survive a warm
 boot.  With this sort of division, it is pretty easy to figure out which
 partition is likely to have the category of program I want to use, and
 once I click on the appropriate icon the directory will appear and I can
 easily find what I want.  That should have been enough, and it cost very
 little in terms of RAM overhead.  But I wanted fancier stuff, so I
 started installing various neat utilities and accessories, either
 commercial or public domain.

 The core programs for all of the user convenience stuff are the
 Universal Item Selector III, and the Codehead programs Desk Manager,
 HotWire, and Multidesk.

 1. Universal Item Selector
 ==========================
 This is a very flexible file selection and file handling utility from A
 & E Software in Grants Pass, OR.  It permits immediate access to the
 files on any disk drive from inside an application, or from the desktop
 if the included desk accessory is installed.  In my opinion its only
 weakness is that you cannot run a program from the desk top through it.
 However, when used with Hotwire, this reservation no longer holds, since
 the "Running Man" icon in Hotwire calls up the item selector, which can
 then be used in a series of mouse clicks to direct you to the desired
 file, and then to run it.

 2. Desk Manager
 ===============
 This is a shareware program from Codehead Software which permits the
 selection at boot up time of the programs in the Auto folder which will
 be run automatically, and which accessories in the root directory will
 be installed at boot up time.  The main reason for making such a
 selection is that some auto programs and accessories are not compatible
 with certain others, or certain application programs, and Desk Manager
 makes it possible to work around these incompatibilities with a minimum
 of fuss.  It is extremely useful if you insist on having practically all
 of your applications on the hard disk.  In the long run, however, I have
 found that simply leaving the hard disk turned off and running the
 program from the floppy is less of a hassle.  I think this is perhaps a
 matter of individual taste, and the complexity of the user's system.
 
 Flight Simulator II (my original reason for buying the 1040ST), for
 example, is not compatible with the Universal Item Selector, but the
 item selector is really not needed at all when I play with Flight
 Simulator.

 3. Hotwire
 ==========
 This a Codehead Software program which makes it extremely easy to run
 your favorite applications.  You can configure it so that you can run
 an application with a single key stroke, using a designated "hot key",
 from the desk top or from the Hotwire menu.  The program can be arranged
 to leave you either at the desk top or in the Hotwire menu at boot up
 time.  If you choose to have the Hotwire menu come up, you can run your
 application with either the hot key, or by clicking on the menu item.
 
 In addition there are a variety of  other functions available from this
 menu by clicking on one of the several icons at the bottom of the
 screen.  For my taste the "Running Man" is probably the most useful,
 since it permits you to call up the item selector, trace through to any
 chosen program and run it, all with a series of mouse clicks.  You can
 also access Multidesk through an icon in the Hotwire menu.  This permits
 you to run any one of a practically unlimited number of desk accessories
 without changing file name extenders, rebooting, etc..  Since the basic
 machine only permits six desk accessories, this is a great convenience.

 There is also an icon for Maxifile, a file handling utility from
 Codehead, which can be used with their item selector (Little Green
 Footballs) for all sorts of file handling and manipulation.  I have not
 used this at all, so I don't know how it compares to Universal Item
 Selector III.

 My principal complaint about Hotwire is that you must exit it in order
 to access the accessories installed on the desk top.  This is a fairly
 trivial problem, but mildly irritating at times.  A second problem I
 have had is the inability to change resolution without rebooting.  I
 don't know if this is operator trouble or a weakness of the program.  It
 is simple to do a reboot, either cold or warm from Hotwire, using the
 Control-Alternate-Delete and Right Shift keys, and it is simple to
 direct it to boot in low resolution by touching the L key before the
 program runs.

 4. Multidesk
 ============
 Another Codehead program which permits running any accessory after boot
 up time.  See the Hotwire discussion.

 There are a number of utility programs which I have installed in the
 Auto folder, and which remove many of the annoyances of the unmodified
 ST operation:

 1. Mouse Accelerator permits change of the amount you must move the
    mouse to move the cursor across the screen.  I find very little
    penalty in accuracy of positioning, and with the accelerator
    installed I almost never run off the edge of the mouse pad and have
    to reposition the mouse, as I used to do regualarly before the
    accelerator.  Very useful.  A public domain program from Atari.

 2. File Spy is a program which permits you to view .DOC files and to
    direct them to the printer in background.  Unlike the desktop "SHOW"
    function, you can step backward and forward a screen at a time, or go
    to the start for finish of the file at will.  In addition, it
    presents a readable file in any resolution.  The awkward appearance
    of files displayed with the "SHOW" function in low rez is a major
    annoyance of the standard operating system.  Unfortuantely, File Spy
    does not work with .TXT files, and I suppose the same is true of
    other files with special control signals buried in them, but this is
    nevertheless an extremely useful utility, and I use it a lot.

 3. MACMENU is a PD utility which modifies the way the system responds
    when the mouse cursor approaches the menu bar at the top to the
    screen.  In the standard operating system it is very easy to
    overshoot and cause the drop down menu to appear when you don't want
    it.  With MACMENU installed you must click the right mouse button to
    allow the cursor to move into the menu bar.  I personally find this
    much preferable, though it takes a little getting used to at first.


 There is also a screen dump program for my 24 pin printer and a print
 spooler, as well as other goodies.  As the number of "conveniences" of
 this sort built up, I began to run into "NOT ENOUGH MEMORY" messages
 every once in a while, especially with the RAM disk active.  So now that
 the RAM has been increased by 3 megabytes I do not expect to see that
 message any more, and perhaps I will find it convenient to keep the RAM
 disk and a few more accessories a little closer to instant use, even
 though they were pretty handy before.

 When I got the upgrade kit (Z RAM) I intended to install it myself, and
 indeed I did get things disassembled and the two and a half meg upgrade
 working.  But I did it with a lot of bent pins and great nervousness,
 and when the four meg part failed to work my nerve failed and I packed
 things off to Cimarron computer to see if they could rescue me from my
 folly, and they did.

 If you do decide to try it yourself, a pin straightener is almost an
 essential tool, and you should be aware that the MMU socket is very
 easily damaged.  My advice is that if you don't have steady nerves, pay
 the computer shop to do it for you.  I tell myself that I would have
 done better to wait for the STe, but it is too late now!

 In summary, I can say that all that memory can make your use of the
 computer easier and more fun, but only if you spend a lot of time
 adapting it to your own style of doing things.  Also, with the fancy
 utilities, you are likely to have an occasional failure with bombs which
 is hard to understand.  Using Hot Wire, and running CAD 3D2, for
 example, I always get four bombs when I quit the program, and rebooting
 is necessary.


 =======================================================================
 =======================================================================
 Z*Net  Online  Magazine  is  a weekly released publication covering the
 Atari community.  Opinions  and  commentary  presented are those of the
 individual authors and do not reflect those of Rovac Industries.  Z*NET
 and  Z*NET  ONLINE  are  copyright  1990 by  Rovac Industries.  Reprint
 permission is granted as long as  Z*NET ONLINE, Issue Number and author
 is included at the top of the article. Reprinted articles are not to be
 edited without permission.
 =======================================================================
 =======================================================================
 ZNET ONLINE                                           Atari News FIRST!
                Copyright (c)1990 Rovac Industries, Inc..
 =======================================================================



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