ST Report: 16-Oct-92 #841

From: Bruce D. Nelson (aj434@cleveland.Freenet.Edu)
Date: 10/18/92-06:59:16 PM Z


From: aj434@cleveland.Freenet.Edu (Bruce D. Nelson)
Subject: ST Report: 16-Oct-92 #841
Date: Sun Oct 18 18:59:16 1992


           *---== ST REPORT INTERNATIONAL ONLINE MAGAZINE ==---*
                  """""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""
                  "The Original 16/32bit Online Magazine"
                                   from
                              STR Publishing 
                              """"""""""""""


 October 16, 1992                                                   No.8.41
 ==========================================================================

                  STReport International Online Magazine
                          Post Office Box   6672
                          Jacksonville,  Florida
                               32205 ~ 6672
  
                               R.F. Mariano
                            Publisher - Editor
                 -----------------------------------------
                   Voice: 904-783-3319  10 AM - 4 PM EST

                        Support BBS Network System
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              1200 - 19.2bps V.32 - 42 bis 16.8 Dual Standard
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   _____________________________________________________________________

 > 10/16/92 STR 841    "The Original * Independent * Online Magazine!"
   """"""""""""""""
     - The Editor's Desk      - CPU Report        - PORTFOLIO NEWS
     - USR -> NEW MODEM       - Software Seized!  - Apple Modems!
     - Ninetendo & Sony Join  - STraight FAX News - Tracker PC
     - Software Sells CPU's   - Supra/FAX         - STR Confidential

                      -* WAACE EYEWITNESS REPORTS! *-
                         -* POLITICS AS USUAL? *-
                        -* FALCON030 A BIG HIT! *-


 ==========================================================================
                  ST REPORT INTERNATIONAL ONLINE MAGAZINE
               The Original * Independent * 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
 ==========================================================================
 STReport's BBS, The Bounty, invites BBS systems, worldwide, to participate
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                WHAT'S NEW IN THE ATARI FORUMS (October 16)

 GIF TO JPG CONVERSION

 Be sure  to download  file JPEGST.LZH  from LIBRARY  14 of  the Atari Arts
 Forum (GO ATARIARTS) for a program that will convert between .GIF and .JPG
 formats.

 FAVORITE FILES...

 Be included in CompuServe Magazine!  Please read and respond  to message #
 34449 in  the Atari  ST Arts  Forum (GO ATARIARTS) regarding your favorite
 Forum files!

 NEW SYSOP INFORMATION FROM SUPRA

 Revised information and order form  for  sysop  purchase  plan  offered by
 Supra for their SupraFaxModem V32 and V32bis. Download file SYSOP.TXT from
 LIBRARY 15 of the Atari Vendors Forum (GO ATARIVEN).


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

            "GO APORTFOLIO TO ACCESS THE ATARI PORTFOLIO FORUM"



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



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

     The WAACE  Show  was,  as  usual,  a  very  pleasant  experience.   In
 travelling  to  the  greater  Washington  -  Virginia  area once a year to
 'celebrate things Atari' the fun of seeing old friends and making new ones
 never seems to diminish.  This year had extra special meanings to most all
 of us attending WAACE'92.  The appearance by Atari in the presence of Bill
 Rehbock was a delight indeed.  But the real pleasure was seeing the Falcon
 first hand and using one for  some time.   There  were ten  Falcons in the
 Washington Scene,  all were  providing visual and auditory delights to one
 degree or another for all who attended.
   
     Bill Rehbock  has  proven  to  all  that  his  ability  to  deliver an
 informative, enthusiastic  seminar is  above reproach.  The demonstrations
 he gave relative to the Falcon on Saturday, Saturday night  at the banquet
 and on  Sunday were outstanding both for the information and entertainment
 content.  What more can one ask for?  It  was a  great show  that was well
 attended with  the latest  in Atari  hardware readily available for all to
 see, hear, touch and drool over.
   
     To the folks at WAACE, a hearty thank you for  another job  well done.
 To  Atari's  Bill  Rehbock,  thank  you  for  doing the right thing and of
 course, thanks a bunch!  Next time, I think we ought to rehearse any duets
 we become involved in.  You did a great job Bill!
   
     To all  the exhibitors,  as always  a 'tip-o-the  old hat'  to all for
 making the show so very exciting and interesting.



                           THE STORM IS BREWING!


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




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

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


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


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

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


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

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


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

                "There is no comparison!  The Atari Falcon
                   is far superior to the PC platform."
                                                       Sam Tramiel, 08/92
  """""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""



 > CPU STATUS REPORT                    LATE BREAKING INDUSTRY-WIDE NEWS 
   =================
  
    Issue #42

    Compiled by: Lloyd E. Pulley, Sr.
  
   

  --Toshiba to Cut Chip-Making Costs
  
 Toshiba is instituting a number of measures to cut the cost of manufac-
 turing semiconductors by 20%. A Toshiba spokesman said that part of the 
 savings will come from lower-cost clean rooms being developed by equip-
 ment suppliers. Toshiba will also try to save money by cutting the cost 
 of the chip- baking process and increasing automated production to take 
 advantage of cheaper nighttime electricity.
  
  

  -- U.S. Robotics Offers Modem Sharing Kit
  
 U.S. Robotics Inc. has announced its new Modem Sharing Kit Version 1.5 
 which it says allows for pooling of modems on a local area network so 
 any user can dial out and access remote host systems.  Also, the system 
 enables remote users to dial in to the LAN through the shared modems to 
 run applications and transfer files.
  
 The single-port version of the kit lists for $995, while a two- modem 
 version lists for $1,595.
  
  

  -- Nintendo and Sony to Create Next Generation Video Games
  
 Nintendo Co. Ltd. and Sony Corp. announced this week they are joining 
 forces to create the next generation of video game technology. According 
 to sources, the two Japanese companies will manufacture and market a new 
 game system that will offer clearer pictures and more life-like action 
 by combining Nintendo's Super NES home video game system with a CD-ROM 
 drive.
  
 In addition, the agreement calls for Nintendo and Sony to license other 
 companies to develop, manufacture and sell disc software.
  
 Nintendo will continue to work with Philips Consumer Electronics to 
 develop a way to make Super NES compact disc software compatible with 
 Philips Compact Disc Interactive hardware.
  

  
  -- Intel to Manufacture "GREEN" Chips
  
 Intel Corp. announced this week that it will support the U.S. Environ-
 mental Protection Agency's voluntary "Energy Star Computers Program" by 
 incorporating energy saving technologies developed for the mobile 
 computing market into all of the company's future microprocessors.
  
 This will provide personal computer makers with one of the key building 
 blocks for making energy-efficient computers -- or "green machines" -- 
 in the near future.
  
 The EPA program, which promotes the creation of energy efficient com-
 puters, encourages the manufacturing and marketing of computers and 
 monitors that have the capability of going to a low-power state when not 
 in use. The low-power state would use 30 watts or less of power, 
 compared to several hundred watts typically used by computers today.
  
 Dataquest, a Silicon Valley market research firm, reports that over 80% 
 of today's PCs are built using Intel chips with more than 20 million new 
 PCs based on Intel microprocessors produced each year.
  
  
  -- Apple to Release Low-End Modems
  
 Rumor is that Apple Computer Inc. will introduce a pair of low-priced, 
 high-speed internal modems for its newest notebook Macintoshes. The $320 
 PowerBook Express Modem will provide a base data transfer rate of 
 14.4Kbps and 9,600-bps send-and-receive facsimile capabilities.
  
  

  -- Fujitsu Makes 3-D Graphics System
  
 Fujitsu Ltd. and Fujitsu Laboratories Ltd. say they have developed the 
 world's fastest three-dimensional computer graphics system.
  
 Reports say that the prototype SUBARU system "cannot only render solid 
 images using standard shape and color functions but can use shadow and 
 light reflection functions to generate photorealistic images in real 
 time."
  
 Fujitsu says the system uses a new computer architecture, called 
 "reconfigurable parallel processing architecture," that enables it to 
 generate photorealistic animation images for television and movies in 
 real time.
  
 The firm adds the system also can be applied to computer-aided design 
 and computer-aided manufacturing requirements.
  
  

  -- Small Business BBS Established
  
 A computer bulletin board service (BBS) has been launched by the federal 
 government's Small Business Administration to provide free information 
 on starting or running a small business.
  
 The number for callers with a 2400-baud modem is 1-800-859-INFO. The 
 number for 9600-baud modems is 1-800-697-INFO.
  
 SBA administrator Patricia Saiki said, "This is high-tech help for small 
 business owners when they need it. It's free, it's fast it's easy and 
 it's a government service that never sleeps."
  
 Sources say that the BBS will include information on the agency's loans 
 and on specialized programs for women, minorities and veterans as well 
 as information on agency events and seminars.
  
  
  -- IBM to Study Links Between Miscarriages and
     Computer Chip Manufacturing
  
 An IBM-commissioned study finds a high incidence of miscarriage among 
 women who manufacture computer chips. Researchers at Baltimore's Johns 
 Hopkins University found a 33.3% miscarriage rate among 30 women who 
 worked with two chemicals widely used in making the chips.
  
 The New York Times reported that, while the small sample involved only 
 10 miscarriages, researchers believe the rate is significant.
  
 "The suspect chemicals are diethylene glycol dimethyl ether and ethylene 
 glycol monethyl ether acetate, solvents that help etch away material 
 deposited on a silicon wafer."
  
 Reports say that some chip makers are offering other jobs to workers 
 exposed to the solvents, "Intel, Texas Instruments, AT&T, Advanced Micro 
 Devices, Signetics and National Semiconductor have issued warnings about 
 the chemicals in recent weeks."
  
 The Johns Hopkins research, examining workers at IBM plants in East 
 Fishkill, N.Y., and Burlington, Vt., from 1980 to 1989, found that the 
 miscarriage rate among workers who did not use the solvent was 15.6%, 
 compared with 33.3% among workers who did.
  
 The Times notes IBM made no public announcement of the findings but 
 reported the company notified its employees, the Environmental 
 Protection Agency and members of the Semiconductor Industry Association.
  
  

  -- Marshals Grab Counterfeit Software
  
 According to Microsoft Corp., U.S. marshals in California and New Jersey 
 have made the largest-ever seizure of unauthorized computer software, 
 impounding more than 150,000 counterfeit copies of its MS-DOS operating 
 system.  The software retails for approximately $60 a copy, bringing the 
 value of the seizure to more than $9 million.




       ____________________________________________________________




 > WAACE'92 STR SHOW NEWS   THE PREMIER EAST COAST SHOW * REPORT 1
   """"""""""""""""""""""





                             SIMPLY THE BEST!
                             ================




 by D. D. Martin


     It's hard to believe that another year has gone by and another WAACE
 show over.  As a long time Atari computer user, I have come to look
 forward to sharing 'things Atari' with fellow users and developers at the
 annual WAACE gathering.  This year's show was no disappointment.

     I arrived at Dulles International Airport about 3:00 PM Friday and got
 checked into the Sheraton Reston by 4:00.  After quickly unpacking and
 freshening up, we (John and I) joined GEnie friends and developers in the
 lounge for drinks and gossip.  It was so much fun seeing the faces at the
 other end of the fingers that post messages and upload files. I was busy
 passing out "I (heart) GEnie" ribbons so that we could identify each other
 during the weekend.  By the end of the show I think I had passed out about
 120 ribbons.  I'm sure I missed a lot of folks, but hopefully next year
 the registration committee will be sure to put names on the attendee's
 badges.

     One thing I really enjoy about WAACE is the informal ambience created
 by the hotel setting.  It allows for meeting and chatting with people
 during non-show show hours and tends to set a cordial atmosphere.

     John and I had dinner Friday night with George Richardson, Ted Evans,
 Jeff "STer", John Eidsvoog, and Tomas Ensley.  It was most interesting to
 gain insights of the Atari market from the developer point of view. After
 dinner we gathered again in the lounge and met more Atarians and GEnie
 users.

     The show opened Saturday at 10:00 AM and I was torn between hitting
 the booths and shopping for great show specials or attending Dave Small's
 seminar.  I opted for Dave Small.  Dave's seminars are always fun and full
 of surprises.  Dave showed us a video of his Camaro (Sandy at the camera,
 Dave at the wheel and the kids in the back seat).  We all got to ride
 along at "Warp Speed" (150 MPH) to the thunderous sound of the well tuned
 engine.  Dave again regaled us with stories of Hacker's Con." and updates
 on projects of Gary Hudson and Tom Hudson.  Dave advised us that Spectre
 3.1 is right around the corner.  Seems he was encountering problems that
 appeared to be in the Spectre code only to find out that his TT had a bad
 DMA chip.  Now that that is solved, he says to keep your eye out in the
 Gadgets RT library for the upload of version 3.1 (TT support).  He also
 said that version 3.7 will follow shortly (also as an upload to the on
 line services) and explained the jump in version numbers as being
 appropriate since version 3.7 will deal with System 7 stuff.  Dave invited
 everyone to stop by his booth to get some hands on time on a Falcon, take
 pictures and peek inside the mystical bird.

     After Dave's seminar it was off to shop!  So many goodies!  So little
 time!  I finally got my turn at the popular CodeHead booth where Tomas
 was helpful in checking out my many disks and advising which ones needed
 updating.  Along with a new Warp 9 and Codekeys update I got a copy of
 LookIt-PopIt and a neat CodeHead tee shirt.

     One "must have" on my list was Diamond Edge.  I had the opportunity to
 chat with Bob Luneski and also got a Diamond Back II update.  If you own a
 hard drive, Diamond Edge is the most powerful tool available. The
 optimizing routine alone is worth the price.  There is also a feature that
 lets you undelete files on your hard drive!  I've already used that
 feature since getting back home.

     Next a peek at Mission Software's Flash II.  John Trautschold gave me
 a quick rundown on features and installation.  I'm going to have to find a
 quiet weekend to study up on this one, but it will be fun exploring new
 worlds.  We rode with John back to the airport in the hotel van.  Turns
 out that John is a pilot and flew into WAACE in his Cherokee!

     My day is not complete unless I get up in the morning, have a cup of
 coffee (or two), read the paper and work the daily crypt-o-quote. Hutch
 (John Hutchinson) at Fair Dinkum Technologies assured me that his
 Cryptographer program would provide hours of fun and challenge. It does
 just that!  I'm hooked.  Now if I can just get someone to encode new
 puzzles for me...<g>

     Since I just received my HyperLink update a couple weeks before the
 show, I wanted to stop by the JMG booth and congratulate George and Dave
 on the great improvements in the latest version.  We also discussed
 possible ways to improve the report generation.  I look for even greater
 things for HyperLink in the near future.

     At last year's WAACE show, I failed to pick up Clear Thinking's EdHak.
 I didn't make that mistake this year.  Now I can't believe I've gone this
 long without this fantastic text editor installed as an accessory.  I love
 the Kwicksend feature which is about as close to the MAC clipboard cut and
 paste feature as anything on the Atari platform.

     I think everyone at the show made a trip by the Wintertree Software
 booth to pick up a copy of Spelling Sentry.  This spell checker works in
 real time and it even works in telecommunications programs.

     I was very impressed with Computer Studio's booth and Sheldon Winick.
 Sheldon brought along his family and they were doing a bustling business. 
 They brought six TTs and sold them all.  John bought one of them along
 with the BIG Atari moniterm monitor!  How big was it? Well, when we got
 back to the Orlando airport and picked up our car the only place it would
 fit was in the front seat.  So, I made the two hour drive from Orlando
 home in the back seat while the monitor rode shotgun.

     Bill Rehbock of Atari Corp. (USA) was the guest speaker at the
 Saturday night banquet.  Many thanks to Atari Corp for sending Bill and
 all the Falcon 030s to the WAACE show.  Bill gave us a demonstration of
 the powerful multi media features of the Falcon at both the banquet and at
 a seminar on Sunday.  One can not appreciate the graphics and sound
 capability of this computer until you see something like Tina Turner's
 Olympic video "Simply The Best" played in full color and surround sound
 (or Bill Rehbock and Ralph Mariano singing a duet in distorted sound.)

     At his seminar on Sunday, Bill Rehbock introduced a new software
 package for the Atari computer called SUTRA.  Sutra is billed as Atari's
 version of the popular Microsoft Works.  He was asked if Sutra would be
 bundled with the Falcon or sold separately to which Rehbock replied that
 its marketing has yet to be determined, but his vote would be to bundle
 the software with the machines.  He also demonstrated the Speedo-GDOS
 (based on Bitstream postscript fonts). This scalable font GDOS was well
 received by the audience.

     Sunday was another day of demos and visiting.  I took a peek in the
 midi room and was delighted by an informal jam session of Atari midi
 musicians.  The education room was bustling with kids doing neat things on
 computers and having fun.

     Late Sunday afternoon I finally got a chance to chat with Dave Small
 and George Richardson in the Gadgets booth.  As promised, Dave had a
 Falcon up and running and another one opened up so the techies could ohhh
 and ahhh over chips and solder traces.  Dave was kind enough to explain to
 me in simple terms what causes Spectre to lock up sometimes when I'm in
 the middle of a Freehand project.

     I managed to catch Neil Harris (V.P. marketing for GEnie) in a quiet
 moment while his two daughters had lunch.  We had a chance to catch up on
 old friends and share some fond memories.

     Congratulations to the winners of the three grand door prizes and the
 donors: ABCO Computer a 130 meg hard drive, DMC a Calamus SL package, and
 Fast Tech a 25 mhz accelerator board.

 To the WAACE committee...

                       WELL DONE! "Simply The Best!"

                               Hugs...Swampy



      _______________________________________________________________




 > STraight FAX!STR InfoFile                 GOOD STUFF!
   """""""""""""""""""""""""


  
                   STraight FAX! Version 1.05 Enhancements
                   =======================================

                     (C)1992 Joppa Software Development
                           All Rights Reserved

                        Joppa Software Development
                              P.O. Box 214
                        Dallastown, PA 17313-0214

                    Tech Support Line  (717) 428-3231
                    FAX Line              (717) 428-0424


   - If either Shift Key is held down when selecting the Save command in
     the Preferences menu, the File Selector will appear allowing the      
     system preferences to be saved to a user selected preferences file.

     The user selected preferences file may be later passed as a parameter
     to the STraight FAX! (i.e. via the new GEM Desktop drag and drop
     method of launching programs with parameters).

   - In the Page Preferences dialog, a new option exists for the Failed
     Pages Popup Menu. 'Re-Send Failed Pages w/Cover Page' will cause a
     new Cover Page to be sent before the remaining pages of a FAX transfer
     made to complete a previously partially completed transfer, if a Cover
     Page has been specified for the FAX document.

   - In the Page Preferences dialog, a new popup menu exists: Page Height.
     The Page Height Popup Menu specifies the height of a FAX page that
     is transferred (i.e. Letter, Legal, A4 or B5). The Page Height is
     used during ASCII Text to FAX conversions to determine the number of
     text lines per page, for GEM Meta File to FAX conversions, for
     Image and DEGAS to FAX conversions and for the Full Page Scan maximum
     page height.

     The heights will be displayed in Inches or Centimeters as per the
     Units parameter in the General Preferences dialog.

   - In the Receive FAX Preferences, a new option exists for the Auto      
     Receive Popup Menu. 'Selectively Enabled' allows the user to specify  
     the time interval that the Auto Receive mode is active. When this     
     mode is specified, the start (From) and end (To) times may be entered 
     by clicking on the Up and Down Arrow Buttons in the Receive Time      
     field.

     The 'Always Enabled' option is the same as the 'Enabled' option from
     earlier versions of the software.

   - In the Print Preferences dialog, a new popup menu exists: Page Size.
     The Page Size Popup Menu allows selection of the size of the paper
     used in the printer of the selected Printer Device. The choices are
     Default, Letter, Legal, A4 and B5. The Default choice will utilize
     the Default Page Size (that is displayed at the bottom of the dialog
     box) that is currently configured into the selected GDOS printer
     driver.

     Note: Some GDOS printer drivers may ignore the Page Size and use
     an internal page size that is not configurable (i.e. a Laser
     Printer may assume the page size of the paper tray in use.)

   - When selecting files via the File Selector, a File Type Warning
     alert box will be displayed if the extension of the selected file is
     not the proper extension for the type of file being selected.

     This alert box will present three button choices:

     Select    - Re-Display the File Selector to select another file.
     OK        - Use the File Selected as is.
     Cancel    - Cancel the File Selection.

     The user may change the default button choice by holding down the
     Alternate Key while making the selection. The default button choice
     will be saved with the system preferences.

   - The user may abort an ASCII Text to FAX Conversion in progress by     
     holding down the Undo Key.

   - In the Receive Log, a new command is in the Receive Log Popup Menu    
     that appears when an entry in the log is double-clicked on. This      
     command, Rename, allows the name of the FAX files that are received to 
     be renamed to a user specified name. When this command is selected,   
     the File Selector will appear allowing the user to specify a new name
     that the received FAX files for the log entry should be renamed to.

   - The maximum number of View Windows that may be opened has been
     increased from 4 to 7.

   - The Send Log and Receive Log limits of 500 entries has been removed.
     The Log sizes are now only limited by available memory.
     The Loading, Saving and Re-Ordering times have also been reduced.

   - The user may now print the entire Send/Receive Log or the selected
     entries in the Log. When there are selected entries, the alert box
     that is displayed when the Print button is selected will allow three
     button choices:

     All    - Print the Entire Log.
     Select - Print ony the Selected entries in the Log.
     Cancel - Cancel the printing of the Log.
   - The STraight FAX! now incorporates more detailed error message alerts.

   - The STraight FAX! will now recognize all serial ports on the Atari
     TOS computers including the TT/030 and Atari Falcon 030 computers.

   - The Print FAX/Print Image problem with GDOS messing up status message
     dialog has been corrected.

   - The STraight FAX! now supports improved Wild Card support for
     selecting multiple FAX Files at a time from the Send Multiple Files
     dialog box. Multiple FAX files may be specified at a time from the
     File Selector by manually entering a file extension of ".J??".
     All FAX files starting with the extension of ".J01" through ".J99"
     that exist will be loaded (up to the 33 file limit).

     Multiple FAX files may also be specified from the File Selector that
     is presented when the (Print) FAX command is selected in the File
     menu.

   - The Company Name field in the FAX Phone List will now allow ordering
     of proper names as follows:

     A name entered as:

     Last_Name|First_Name

     will appear in the Send FAX Status and Cover Page as:

     First_Name Last_Name

     This will allow sorting the Phone List by a last name.


 Registered STraight FAX! users may order the upgrade directly from Joppa
 Software Development by sending the master disk and $2.00 (US funds, no
 checks drawn on foreign bank accounts) to the address above.

 Users with a STraight FAX! manual Version 1.00 manual may also purchase a
 new Version 1.04 manual for $5.00 (US funds), by also sending in the cover
 from the old manual.

 Atari Corporation's FONT GDOS is available direct from Joppa Software
 Development to registered STraight FAX! owners. The three disk FONT GDOS
 package comes complete with the FONT GDOS program, three Desk
 Accessory/Control Panel Module utilities for customizing the FONT GDOS
 setup, bit mapped screen and printer fonts in various point sizes for
 Swiss and Dutch styles, printer and use.

 The FONT GDOS package may be ordered direct from Joppa Software
 Development
 for $10.00 (US funds).

 Joppa Software Development currently has available a scanner driver
 program for use with the STraight FAX! to allow direct scanning from a
 Navarone/ Canon Full Page Flat Bed (IX-12F) or Sheet Feed (IX-12) Scanner.
 Drivers for other full page scanners are being considered for development.

 The Navarone/Canon IX-12 Series Scanner Driver has a suggested list price
 of $19.95 (US funds) and is available for a limited time for only $14.95
 (US) directly from Joppa Software Development.

 The prices listed above are for shipping inside the continental USA.
 Please contact Joppa Software Development for information on additional
 shipping charges outside the continental USA. Please do not send checks
 drawn on any foreign bank accounts.

 Please include your name as it appears on the Registration Card and your
 Registration Number with all orders.


       _____________________________________________________________




 > The Junkyard Pussycat STR FOCUS!              Getting in Step!
   """"""""""""""""""""""""""""""""



                          SOFTWARE SELLS MACHINES
                          =======================




 by John D. Barnes


 (Reprinted with permission from the Oct. '92 issue of Current Notes.)

     Once again, the marketplace is all a-twitter with expectations of new
 hardware from Atari. From the information being spread all over the
 place, it appears that Atari's engineering wizards have put together a
 fine piece of hardware in the new Falcon 030.

     The hardware specifications have been widely published (see, for
 example the September 1992 Current Notes, pp 8 & 9) and they have
 generated a lot of excitement, as it appears that the Falcon is pretty
 much up to date in this respect.

     Much less is being said about software, in spite of the fact that
 hardware does not sell itself any more. Software sells hardware. Back in
 the days when personal computers were a novelty, users were content to see
 software development lag behind hardware advances. Nowadays, however,
 people will not buy a computer if they cannot get software to do the jobs
 they want to do. Worse yet, the agonized screams of people who already
 have substantial investments in software accompany every new upgrade.

     Even neophytes expect to have plenty of things to play with as soon as
 they finish taking their new machines out of the boxes.

     This seems like as good a time as any to suggest ways that Atari can
 make their new product attractive to people who have never owned one of
 Atari's 680x0 based machines. Atari has been notably skimpy in this area
 in the past, and a break with this tradition would be a real morale
 booster for the legions of new dealers that Atari hopes to recruit.

 Load 'Em Up

     Almost any clone that is sold these days comes with a pile of
 software. It is usually not the top drawer stuff, but it is enough to
 give the user something to practice with.

     While the Pussycat does not know all of the business details on this,
 there are surely ways to make the purchaser of a new Falcon feel that he
 is getting in on the ground floor of something big. There are even ways
 for the Tramiels to do this in a manner that somewhat approximates their
 idea of what things ought to cost.

     First of all, put in lots of leaflets, one for each reasonable
 product now on the Atari commercial market. Describe products like Word
 Perfect, Touch-Up, Image Cat, Mug Shot, Flash, dBMAN, Superbase, LDW
 Power, .... Cover the whole spectrum of commercial productivity software
 and games. There is not even any real need to verify that the stuff
 actually works because the user will not be running these products in any
 case. The Pussycat remembers how impressed he was when 100 or so leaflets
 tumbled out as he unpacked the Apple CD ROM drive for his system at the
 office.

     Second, put in disks with demonstration versions of products like
 DynaCADD, Calamus, Calligrapher, etc. The object is to provide a
 representative sampling. The choices should be made in such a fashion as
 to inspire awe. Machines that have such powerful software in their
 repertory must be very powerful, indeed. There is no need to supply
 documentation, a short guide with a tutorial on disk should be adequate.

     If the authors of these programs are willing to have the demos
 downloaded from the online services, they should surely be willing to
 have Atari package them with new machines. The burden of preparing the
 hundreds of thousands of disks required might be a problem, and Atari
 might have to pick up the tab for the disk duplicating.

     Next, include a couple of real applications. These could be selected
 from the vast library of available shareware and Atari could make bulk
 purchase deals with the authors. The authors could incorporate
 registration forms for more advanced versions into the bundled versions,
 which might have some of their functionality limited.

     Finally, Atari should seed the development of new software. Perhaps
 they can do this be subcontracting for specific software products like CPX
 modules or desk accessory applications. They should come to terms with
 successful software developers for packages that can be bundled with the
 new machines. Such developers have to be given the sense that they will
 get worthwhile rewards if Atari is successful.

 Point to After-the-Sale Support

     It would certainly be desirable to let the new purchaser know that
 there are places he can expect support after the sale. Sign-up offers for
 CIS, Delphi, and GEnie should be included in the package, along with
 working versions of QuickCIS and ST Aladdin, just to get the user hooked
 on the support provided by the online services.

     Introductory offers for all of the Atari magazines should be
 included. A free year of Atari Explorer should be available via postcard.
 This gives the purchaser an impression of vitality in the user base. The
 registry of user groups should be screened to weed out the ones that are
 no longer viable, the contact names should be updated, and the whole
 business put into a small booklet to be included in the package.

 Capture the Names

     The registration cards for purchasers of these machines should be
 filled in by the dealer and the results should be captured on a database.
 This database should be made available to all valid commercial interests
 in the community for the purpose of promoting their products. This is
 needed to provide an infrastructure for direct mail advertising. Each
 piece of direct mail that comes into a user's home is a reaffirmation of
 the validity of his purchase decision.

     If an outfit like Toad Computers can find the resources to do this in
 an efficient manner surely Atari ought to be able to do so as well.

 Share the Lifeboat

     These kinds of collaboration have been seldom practiced in the Atari
 marketplace. The Titanic has, however, gone down and everyone is sharing
 the same lifeboat. The rollout of the Falcon promises to generate as much
 excitement as shooting off 100 rescue rockets.

     The proposals outlined above require substantial effort that is not
 directly related to writing software. The developer community has to get
 together and establish a standardized format for the leaflets, the
 magazines have to prepare offers and ads. Atari has to make room for the
 stuff in its packages.

     The user groups have to get their act together. The shareware authors
 have to whip their products into shape.

     The direct benefits of all of this are probably as difficult to
 predict as the casting of bread upon the waters was in the biblical
 parable.

     All too often we have seen people in the Atari community take the view
 expressed by "I'll be damned if I advertise my product only to have the
 customer buy from someone else." The small size of the market encourages
 this kind of thinking, but the market will never get any bigger if people
 keep thinking along such narrow lines.

     There have been some isolated instances of collaboration in recent
 months. Atari has become more open about their documentation. In the
 former Soviet Union this openness was called glausnost, and we have all
 seen the changes that were brought about.

     The former Soviet Union analogy is apt in yet another way rebuilding
 the Atari society will take effort on everyone's part. No one entity
 possesses the means to effect the required restructuring on its own.

 The Costs

     In order for these proposals to work their cost has to be kept below
 about $50 per machine. The entry cost to an individual developer or
 publisher should not be much more than the cost of a full page magazine
 ad. The costs can be spread out over some time because Atari does not plan
 to fire off both barrels of the shotgun at once.

     This means that the material can be prepared in small batches of one
 or two thousand units for test marketing and evaluation. One hopes that
 the response will be enough to trigger production and sales of 100,000
 units or so, in which case the prospective gain will become well worth the
 risk.

 A New Tomorrow

     Over the next several months the community will be watching for signs
 that the community can regain the vigor that it possessed in those halcyon
 days when the ST line was first introduced.

     Many costly mistakes were made in that era. There was a big tendency
 to expect that Atari would do it all. There was a fervent belief that
 "Atari knows best." The players in that game have grown more mature now.
 One can hope that they now understand that the market has many niches and
 that those who occupy those niches are the ones who can cope with the
 demands of their own environments.

     Atari makes fine hardware they are fulfilling that promise by making
 something that should be even finer. There are able people in the
 developer community. They must be nurtured and encouraged to produce their
 best. There are fine people in the user community, they must be inspired
 to carry the message to the four winds.

     There are some indications in Bill Rehbock's online conferences that
 Atari is being more open in encouraging outsiders than it has been in the
 past. This tendency needs to be expanded into full working partnerships
 that recognize the value of the contributions of the software publishers
 and of the other allies who aid Atari in its cause.

     The new hardware, targeted on new markets, encouraging the opening of
 new horizons in software, provides a vehicle that may allow everyone a
 fresh start. Let us not drop the ball this time.


             Current Notes: Your Monitor on the World of Atari
                      Vol. 12, No. 8,  October, 1992

 TABLE OF CONTENTS


  4 - EDITORIAL, by Joe Waters
     As a new "era" is introduced with the FALCON030, we look back briefly 
     at Atariland five years ago when the MEGA ST4 was introduced.

  6 - LETTERS TO THE EDITOR

  8 - ST UPDATE, by Frank Sommers.
     Trials and Tribulations of the Amiga.

 10 - ATARI INTRODUCES FALCON030, Atari Press Release.

 11 - ATARI SHIPS NEW MULTITASKING OS, Atari Press Release.

 12 - MYTHS AND MYSTERIES, by Dave Troy.
     Atari launches another valiant shot at appliance status.

 16 - WORLD PREMIER OF FALCON030, by Oliver Steinmeier.
     First hand account of the 1992 Atari Show in Dusseldorf, Germany
      where Atari introduced the new Atari Falcon030.

 22 - STARTING BLOCK, by Richard Gunter.
     Some (mostly) recent downloads.

 24 - ST TOOLBOX, by J. Andrzej Wrotniak.
     Idealist and Publisher II on the PC.

 28 - CONVECTOR PROFESSIONAL, by David Barkin.
     This gem of a program does everything it's supposed to do, and more!

 34 - GOLDEN IMAGE MOUSE, by James Parker.
     A real Atari Trek to Naples in search of the Golden Image Mouse.

 36 - POWER ON THE MOVE, by James Parker.
     A battery pack that will put a little more portability in your
      portable Atari STacy.

 38 - JUNKYARD PUSSYCAT, by John Barnes.
     Software sells machines.

 42 - 8-BIT TIDBITS, by Rick Reaser.
     Comparing GEnie and CIS.
 46 - FRED, by Roger Meston
     Hours of entertainment, intrigue, and just plan fun (8-bit).

 48 - MAKING BATCH FILES WORK FOR YOU, by John Sandgren.
     Using menus to get the most from your Atari 8-bit.

 50 - ADVENTURES IN HIGH SCHOOL, by Albert Bagetta.
     Using Atari 8-bits in the educational environment.

 56 - STRAIGHTFAX! UPDATE, by Frank Sommers.
     Getting the fax straight into your computer.

 58 - LEGEND, by Alfred GIovetti.
     A unique game with many fine attributes.

 60 - KALAH ST, by Bill Moes.
     A game of skill or thought for one or two players.

 62 - POPULOUS II, by Mickey Boyd.
     Secrets [of the Gods] revealed!

 66 - CALLIGRAPHER PROFESSIONAL, by John Godbey.
     Perhaps the premier word processor for the Atari.

 70 - FALCON030 ONLINE CONFERENCE - CIS
     Here is the transcript from the Bill Rehbock Falcon online 
     conference on CompuServe, September 8, 1992.

 72 - ATARI INDUSTRY NEWS AND ANNOUNCEMENTS

     The Link
     ORA Announces Diamond Edge and Ultimate Virus Killer
     DC Announces Storm
     DragonWare Releases PowerDOS as Freeware
     Lexicore Becomes Silicon Graphics Iris Vendor
     GFA-Basic Programming Toolkit
     DMC to Market Invision Elite
     Purple Mountain Freedom Floptical Drive
     Wintertree Announces Spelling Sentry
     ST NEWS! Announced
     CodeHead Announces Warp 9 V3.71 w/Extend-O-Save Screensaver
     Straight Edge Announces OutBurST!
     Revision 6.20 of the Sales-Pro System
     Barefoot to Support Hybrid Arts Owners
     E.Z.Arithmetic
     Elfin Magics' Tinker Board
     DAK's FREE Computer Club
     Fair Dinkum Announces CyberDrome
     STYLE: Image File Manipulator
     JMG Announces HyperLink Runtime Package
     WP Trade-Up is Back
     Synergy Resources Announces New GEMvelope

 Current Notes: Your Monitor on the World of Atari is published 10 times a
 year, monthly excluding January and August.

                     Annual subscription price is $27

                               Current Notes
                             122 N Johnson Rd
                             Sterling VA 20164
                              (703) 450-4761





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

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

     STReport International Online Magazine is available every week  in the
 ST Advantage  on DELPHI.   STReport readers are invited to join DELPHI and
 become a part of the friendly community of Atari enthusiasts there.


                          SIGNING UP WITH DELPHI
                          ======================
       Using a personal computer and modem, members worldwide access
                  DELPHI services via a local phone call

                              JOIN -- DELPHI
                              --------------

                Via modem, dial up DELPHI at 1-800-695-4002
                                  then...
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                                  and...
               At Password: type STREPORT and press RETURN.

     DELPHI's Basic Plan offers  access for  only $6.00  per hour,  for any
 baud rate.  The $5.95 monthly fee includes your first hour online.

     If you  spend more  than 200 minutes online a month, you'll save money
 by enrolling in DELPHI's optional 20/20 Advantage Plan.    You'll enjoy up
 to  20  hours  online  each  month  for the ridiculously low price of just
 $20.00!  And if you go over that 20 hours, the rate goes up to only $1.20,
 still 1/5th the price of other services. 

     There is  no signup fee for joining the Basic Plan.  There is a fee of
 $39 when you join the 20/20 Advantage Plan, a one-time $19 signup  fee and
 your first month's $20 fee.

     These connect  rates apply  for access via Tymnet or SprintNet (within
 the continental United States) during home time (7 p.m. to 7 a.m. weekdays
 and  all  day  weekends)  or  via  direct  dial around the clock.  Telecom
 surcharges  apply  for  daytime  or  international  access  via  Tymnet or
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   For more information, call: DELPHI Member Services at 1-800-544-4005

 DELPHI is a service of General Videotex Corporation of Cambridge, Mass.

                         :IMPORTANT ANNOUNCEMENT:
                     DELPHI INTRODUCES THE 10/4 PLAN.
     Effective July 1, 1992, all Basic Plan members will be upgraded to the
 10/4 Plan  and receive 4 hours of usage each month for only $10!  For full
 details, type GO USING RATES.  SprintNet home time to begin at  6:00 p.m.!
 Effective July  1, 1992,  you may access DELPHI via SprintNet beginning at
 6:00 p.m. local time without incurring a telecom  surcharge.   To find the
 SprintNet node nearest you, type GO USING ACCESS.

                        Try DELPHI for $1 an hour!

     For  a  limited  time,  you  can  become a trial member of DELPHI, and
 receive 5 hours of evening and weekend access  during this  month for only
 $5.  If you're not satisfied, simply cancel your account before the end of
 the calendar month with no further obligation.   If you  keep your account
 active, you  will automatically  be enrolled  in DELPHI's 10/4 Basic Plan,
 where you can use up to 4 weekend and evening hours a month for  a minimum
 $10 monthly  charge, with additional hours available at $3.96.  But hurry,
 this special  trial offer  will expire  soon!   To take  advantage of this
 limited offer,  use your  modem to  dial 1-800-365-4636.  Press <RET> once
 or twice.  When you get the Password:  prompt, type  IP26 and  press <RET>
 again.   Then, just  answer the  questions and within a day or two, you'll
 officially be a member of DELPHI!  


     We will have a live CO, direct from Las Vegas, on November 17th, at 10
     p.m.  We hope to have special guests from  Atari Corp. join us to talk
     about how  things are looking for Atari, after a day or two at Comdex.

                       TOP TEN DOWNLOADS (10/14/92)                      
                                                                         
                       (1) STR840                                        
                       (2) ATARI EXPLORER ONLINE 9215                   
                       (3) DROIDS                                        
                       (4) VIOLENCE GAME                                 
                       (5) CINDY CRAWFORD SPECTRUM                       
                       (6) GIRLS, GIRLS, GIRLS                           
                       (7) PAULA20D.LZH                                  
                       (8) SILKMOUSE 2.6                                 
                       (9) POWERDOS 1.2                                  
                       (10) SPC-THUMB                                    
                                                                         
     All of the above files can  be found  in the  RECENT ARRIVALS database
     for at  least one  week after  the posting  of this list.  Please Note
     that in the case of online magazines, only  the most  current issue in
     the database at the time of this compilation is considered for the Top
     10 list.  Also, for all files, a submission is eligible for the Top 10
     list for only four weeks after its original uploading.          
                 DELPHI- It's getting better all the time!



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




 > WAACE'92 STR SHOW NEWS   THE PREMIER EAST COAST SHOW  * REPORT 3
   """"""""""""""""""""""




                              WAACE OVERVIEW
                              ==============



 Preface:
     In the spirit of the WAACE Show, I asked John Trautschold of
 Missionware Software to write his impressions of the show and the wonders
 planned for the future by Missionware down for your reading enjoyment. 
 John has provided us with a marvelous view of the very successful WAACE
 Show and many more things too.


 by John Trautschold, Missionware Software

     As you know, Ralph, this was my (and Missionware Software's) first
 trip to WAACE.  I have to say it was very well organized this year; the
 folks handling the show like Ken and J.D. did an excellent job at making
 me and the other developers/dealers feel quite at home. I really enjoyed
 myself, as did my partner-in-the-booth, Bob Carpenter.

     We came with three products to sell this year, and a fourth to show. 
 I'd like to talk a bit first about the products we sold, then about the
 one we only showed - but what a reception it got!

     lottODDS (pronounced "lotto odds") is a program that's just plain fun,
 especially if you like to play local or national lotteries. This program
 maintains a database of numbers already picked, and then uses those
 numbers statistically in trying to determine what numbers to pick for the
 next lottery game.  There aren't any guarantees, naturally, but it is fun
 to see how well the program stacks itself up against the odds.

     The seven statistical methods used include: Least, Most, Average, Hot
 Number, Between, Consecutive and Pairs.  The user selects any of the seven
 to use (or any combinations thereof).  After the numbers are calculated
 they are "merged" into a final set of numbers, which are then "wheeled"
 over the number of games you wish to play. (Wheeling is a distribution
 process based on odds for a particular game - it tries to evenly
 distribute a universe of numbers over a set of games played.)
     You can also let lottODDS pick random numbers, or wheel numbers you
 choose manually.  It's quite a flexible program.

     Finally, one of the neatest feature in the program is it's ability to
 check to see which lottery tickets have matched numbers from those picked
 by the lottery.  Let's say you play a LOT of games - say 50 or more.  It
 can be kind of a pain to have check all 50 games to see if any matches
 have occurred.  With lottODDS it's done automatically.  All you need to do
 is enter the picked numbers and lottODDS will go through all of the games
 you played looking for matches.

     I must say that, next to Flash II (which I'll discuss in a bit),
 lottODDS was our best selling program at WAACE.  I really enjoyed demoing
 it to the many folks asking about the program too!

     Printer Initializer is one of the other programs we sold at the show. 
 This is a desk accessory program that permits you to set your printer up
 (serial or parallel printers only) for specific text output from within
 any GEM-based program.  You can create the drivers yourself from
 "pinstall" which is included with the accessory.

     The program comes preset for such printers as Epson compatibles,
 Diconix portables, and the DeskJet 500.  However, it's easy to create your
 drivers as well.  We showed a number of folks how simple it was to create
 a driver using the Star Micronics SJ48 (Canon BJ10 compatible) printer we
 had with us at the show.

     Although most word processors (and other programs) support codes that
 place the printer into certain modes, such as italics, bold, etc, they
 normally don't support the selection of fonts or font sizes/styles.  And
 that's where Printer Initializer comes in really handy.

     Most other non-word processing programs don't support much in the way
 of printer control at all, and in those cases, Printer Initializer is a
 must-have accessory.

     Finally, our top-of-the-line program, Flash II, was received quite
 warmly at WAACE.  This program succeeds the original Flash
 telecommunications program.

     As you know, Flash was the number one telecom program for Atari STs. 
 Unfortunately, it never went any farther than that.  Although it will run
 on STEs, it won't run on a TT.  That's the first area we attacked with
 Flash II.  We wanted to make sure that it would run on all current
 production model STs/STEs/TTs - and that it does, all the way up to
 1280x960 using a TTM195 monitor on the TT (and gee, is that nice!)

     We also wanted to maintain the "look and feel" of the old Flash, and
 there again, I think we've succeeded.  The right mouse button is still
 used for switching between editor and terminal modes. The "insert" key is
 still used to activate the command line.  We support DO scripts (although
 they aren't as necessary as they once were).

     But that's where things stop!  And I must say Ralph, it's always
 enjoyable watching folks' eyes light up when they see the enhanced editor
 we have in Flash II version 2.01.  Almost every menu function has
 keystroke equivalents.  The cursor can be fully controlled from the
 keyboard, the cursor keys, or with the mouse.  You can delete characters,
 words, complete lines, text to the right of the cursor or text to the left
 of the cursor - all using keystrokes!

     You can also block text starting in the middle of a line and ending in
 the middle of a line!  Either the functions keys or the mouse can be used
 to set a block.  And we support block moves and copies, as well as
 deletes, saves, and reformatting.

     The terminal has been greatly enhanced as well.  We support all of the
 old Flash emulations (such as TTY, VT52 and VIDTEX) but also support true
 VT100, 101 and 102 emulation, ANSI emulation with the option of using the
 IBM character set for graphics (yes, you can play games now that use ANSI
 graphics characters!), and other DEC emulations as well, such as VT200 and
 VT300.  And for you DEC users, we also support DEC character sets in all
 languages!

     DO scripts can still be used.  We've already enhanced the scripting
 language somewhat to support some of the new features in Flash II. 
 However, scripts really aren't needed any more for simple log ons to BBS'. 
 All board setups can be done with simple "pointing and clicking".  Each
 board (and there are 40 boards per file) can be setup to include specific
 emulations, character sets, RS232 & Modem options, Type Ahead options (we
 now support an editable 3-line Type Ahead window), transfer protocol
 options, block lockout hours, and statistics for each board. 
 Additionally, each board can now have its own 20 function key macros in
 addition to 10 global macros!  And all of this stuff gets loaded
 automagically when the board is dialed and connected.

     Ralph, there are so many new features it would take a book to explain
 them all (oh yeah, we include just that with the program - a 228 page
 manual that explains everything with examples!).  We've already released
 one upgrade and are working on a second.  Our number one concern, with
 this program especially, is support.  It's a complex program and will
 continue to grow and be enhanced over the years.  We've got a list about a
 mile long already asking for enhanced features.  And there'll be more to
 come after that!  Version 2.1 is just around the corner and will be sent
 free (automatically) to all registered owners.  2.01, which is being
 shipped right now, can be had for free to any owner of 2.0 just by sending
 in their 2.0 master disk along with 75 cents in return postage.

     Cyber Paint:  We're really excited about this program. Although Cyber
 Paint has been around for a long time, it's the case of another program
 that was specifically written for the ST that wouldn't run on a TT.  Well,
 that's being changed!

     Jim Kent, the original author of Cyber Paint, has been working
 closely with me and Ian Lepore (the new programmer for Cyber) in getting
 it updated to work on the TT (and all other current Atari computers) as
 well as the new Falcon.  The program is also being ported to Lattice C
 from Alcyon C and the improvements are already outstanding.

     We were showing Cyber Paint at WAACE on a TT, and those folks that had
 a chance to play with it were absolutely astounded!  Our current beta
 works (although with some color glitches) and was really fast!  We're not
 sure yet just how far we'll go with Cyber Paint.  A lot will depend on how
 well its re-release goes, and also on how well Atari does with the Falcon. 
 Cyber Paint is being developed on a Falcon to ensure compatibility, and
 hopefully we'll have it ready quite soon. Naturally, ST Report readers
 will be some of the first to know when that happens.

     As you can probably tell, we're very excited about this project. 
 It'll add a lot of creditability to our other fine products.    As I
 mentioned earlier, I really enjoyed attending this year's WAACE.  I met a
 lot of new folks (including you Ralph, and Dana) and just had a lot of
 plain old-fashioned fun going to the show.  I really look forward to next
 year's show.

     I think you know that I flew my own airplane to Dulles.  That was an
 adventure onto itself.  Although we hit a few clouds and rain coming in on
 Friday, it was our return flight on Monday that got a bit interesting. 
 Although we had clear weather almost all of the way, a strong high
 pressure system really kicked up the winds and slowed our old Piper
 Cherokee 180 way down.  What should have been a 5 hour trip back to
 Chicago took closer to 6 1/2 hours!  After passing a front in Ohio, we hit
 direct, headon, 45 to 50 knot headwinds!  Subtracting that from our normal
 cruise speed of 120 knots left us with a ground speed of only 70 to 80
 knots (about 100 miles per hour).  Thanks to the fine folks at Chicago
 Approach, we managed to cut a few corners and make it back to DuPage
 airport (in West Chicago, IL) before running out of fuel.  If things had
 gotten a bit tighter, we had planned on landing at either the Kankakee or
 Joliet airport.  But we made it, with about 45 minutes fuel to spare!

     All told, it was a great trip.  But, with no more major shows to look
 forward to this year, it's back to the grinding board to get some work
 done.  Flash II is still being worked on as is Cyber Paint.  I'm working
 on an upgrade to lottODDS (adding features and making it MultiTOS
 compatible) and will also be looking at enhancements for Printer
 Initializer.  Of course, I also need to spend some time with the family
 here too!

                                   John Trautschold
                                 Missionware Software



      ______________________________________________________________




 > OH YEAH?!? STR FOCUS!                     MY DOG'S BIGGER THAN.....
   """""""""""""""""""""



                   BETTER THAN WHAT?  NOT _MY_ MACHINE?
                   ====================================



 by Dana P. Jacobson


      Recent messages and a few brief mentions in recent issues here have
 prompted me to provide my own insight into this whole "defense of one's
 computer" mentality.

      This "my computer is better than your computer" and "I'll defend it
 to the last drop of _your_ blood" is, in a nutshell, one of the most
 stupid actions a rational human being could indulge oneself!  And yes,
 I've got myself involved in it more than once myself, but not for a number
 of years.

      Every time I see such messages, especially between users of different
 types of computers (or different models of the same brand!), my blood
 begins to boil and I'd like to shake these people until they realize the
 futility in such foolish debates!

      Let's see if we can make some sense out of this because I know
 already that I've caused a few ruffled feathers just by stating that such
 "debates" are stupid.  Let's state the obvious: computers are just
 machines.  They are only as good as the user sitting at the keyboard.  A
 computer can't run by itself; it needs input from the user.  It doesn't
 matter what computer that you use, no matter how sophisticated or archaic;
 it cannot perform its functions without us mere mortals.  End of "Man vs.
 Computer 101."

      Think about it.  Okay, you're saying about now that I have no
 conception of reality.  Well, now rid yourself of your emotions. That also
 means forgetting about the brand name label attached to your computer.  It
 also means forgetting the hardware specs.  Now you're sitting in front of
 _a computer_.  It really doesn't matter what the brand is; you're using a
 functional machine.

      It really doesn't matter what type of computer is being used. For the
 moment, let's stick with the Atari line of computers, since that's what
 I'm most familiar.  Running Pagestream on a 520ST is no different than
 running the same program on a TT.  The output is exactly the same, barring
 any printer differences.  So, does that make the TT a better computer than
 the 520ST?  Not in this instance.  Let's play Dungeon Master, shall we? 
 I'm assuming that the game runs on the TT, and if it does, will it play
 any better on the TT than the 520ST?  Nope, playability will be the same. 
 Let's try graphics.  One of the few paint programs that I own is Cyber
 Paint.  Let's do some artwork.  I know, I can hear those graphics mavens
 now saying "ahhh, here's where we catch him with some differences!"  Not
 really.  I'm no artist.  To me, drawing some graphics on a TT is no
 different from doing the same thing on an ST; they're both going to look
 like an 8-year old did it!  True, the TT will provide more colors, but the
 program doesn't.  Starting to get the picture (pun intended!)?

      Playing games that contain graphics with tons of colors on a TT
 doesn't make the TT a _better_ machine because your ST can't provide those
 same colors?  Using WordWriter ST on your ST doesn't make it less of a
 machine because it also runs on a TT and a big  screen monitor.  This
 whole idea of "better" is, for the most part, a subjective matter.

      It really depends on the user and what he or she wants to accomplish
 that determines which computer is best for that person. What I usually see
 when I read these computer "war" messages is that "my computer, taking
 advantage of _every_ optimum capability it can provide; add that to using
 the most complete software package for a given application, is better than
 your computer attempting a similar application on a comparable computer." 
 Now how many users take advantage of such capabilities, most of the time? 
 Compared to the total number of users, very few.

      Yes, a computer artist using a TT or Falcon with software taking
 advantage of the machine's capabilities will consider his machine better
 than an ST, and rightfully so.  And yes, a magazine editor/publisher using
 Calamus on a TT to get his magazine done professionally and quickly can
 claim that his machine is better than the ST.  And I could go on.  But now
 we're getting down to the real nitty-gritty here.  These users are using
 the machines that are best for them because the machine (and software)
 fulfills a specific need.  The 520ST just won't fulfill those same goals
 as effectively and timely; it wasn't built to do so.

      So why are people arguing over "better"?  I blame it on a number of
 people: the advertisers, the PR people, the retailers, and so on.  They're
 the ones who keep telling the consumer that bigger is better; that faster
 is better; that more colors is better, that more expensive is better; that
 this name is better; ad nauseum.  While some of these "claims" may be
 true, some of the time, for some specific uses; one cannot make that
 generalization and have it hold true for every instance.  But people will
 argue these generalizations as if they should hold true for everyone.
 Rubbish.

      So, what's the bottom line?  What I usually do when I see these
 typical debates is to ask the users one question: "Does the computer you
 use do exactly what _you_ want it to do?"  If they answer affirmatively,
 then I tell them that their machine is the best for _their_ needs.  It's
 _better_ than a machine that won't accomplish those same needs.  If you
 don't _need_ a fast machine; if you don't _need_ a gazillion colors; etc.
 - your ST is the best machine for you.  This is not to say that having a
 faster machine, like the TT or Falcon is not desirable, but wanting or
 preferring such a machine is _not_ the same as _needing_ it.  As far as I
 am concerned, the computer that does all that I have the need to do in the
 time that I have to do it, is the best machine.  I like the look and feel
 and ease of use of the Atari computer; so a comparable machine on another
 platform doesn't even enter into the picture.

      The next time you decide to get involved in a "mine is better than
 yours" debate, remember that it's really a no-win argument (not that
 someone actually has to win).  Just ask whether or not the machine does
 what is required.  If the other party says yes, tell him he has the better
 computer for his needs; why bother getting into an argument trying to
 convince him that it isn't so?  It's just wasted time and energy.

      So, what's the best machine as far as _I_ am concerned?  Well, until
 I see the Falcon, that machine is an early model 520ST with 2.5 megs of
 RAM, a multisync monitor, a laser printer, and a couple of hard drives
 with never enough available space!!  Would I _like_ a newer Atari
 computer?  Of course!!



      _______________________________________________________________




 > WAACE'92 STR SHOW NEWS   THE PREMIER EAST COAST SHOW  * Report 2
   """""""""""""""""""""" 




                            WAACE AtariFest '92
                            ===================



 Atari East-Coast Style



 by Joe Mirando


      Over the Columbus Day weekend, in Reston Virginia, the Washington
 Area Atari Computer Enthusiasts held the WAACE '92 AtariFest.  Attended by
 at least 1,200 patrons and more than 40 vendors and developers, WAACE has
 again secured it's place as the east coast's premier Atari-only computer
 show.

      The show, which took place on Saturday and Sunday, October 10th and
 11th, included not only a vendor's room, but seminars and a "swap room" as
 well as game, education, productivity and MIDI rooms.

      On the evening before the show, many GEnie users gathered in the
 hotel lounge to meet face to face, swap computer stories, and generally
 just have a good time.  I Love GEnie ribbons were provided by Dee Dee
 Martin, a long time GEnie user and ST enthusiast.  It was fun to finally
 meet people you've never seen but often read on-line.  The phrase "Gee,
 you don't look anything like you 'sound' on GEnie" was heard often but
 kept no one from having a good time.

      The Exhibit room, in which vendors displayed and demonstrated their
 products and services, remained busy throughout most of the show.  Vendors
 such as Toad Computers, Computer Studio, Joppa, and Compucellar West
 provided just about anything that a hungry ST or 8-bit user could want in
 the way of hardware or software while developers such as Codehead
 Technologies, Gribnif Software, Fast Technology, Gadgets by Small, DMC
 Publishing, and Barefoot Software proudly demonstrated their own
 particular offerings.

      The show volunteers were at first a  bit disappointed by what they
 perceived as a meager attendance until they discovered that at least 200
 people were in attendance at the early-morning seminar hosted by Dave
 Small of Gadgets by Small.  Dave always attracts large numbers of people
 to his seminars.  When the seminar concluded, show attendance seemed to
 jump dramatically as the crowds filed out of the seminar room.  With the
 "mystery of the missing patrons" solved, the exhibit room filled to
 capacity with ST users looking for the latest in hardware and software.

      Perhaps the most interesting booth at the show belonged to Lexicor
 Software.  Although Lexicor's graphics programs are outstanding, this
 year the constant crowd around the booth was due to the fact that they
 brought at least two FALCON030's with them and were displaying their wares
 on them.  Quite impressive.  Both the software and the FALCON030, Atari's
 latest computer.  Although the constant crowd prevented any in-depth use
 of the machines, the graphics capabilities of this machine is simply
 astounding.

      Although I didn't see it, I was told that Dave Small had a FALCON030
 minus the case, with it's "guts" exposed for all to see.  Many of the
 comments I've heard were along the lines of "Did you see the size of the
 hard drive in that thing?  It was smaller than a pack of cigarettes!"  The
 general consensus seems to be that the FALCON030 will be THE home
 entertainment computer in a very short while.

      The Banquet was held on Saturday evening and consisted of salad, beef
 or chicken and dessert.  The highlight of the Banquet was, as is usual at
 these events, the guest speaker.  Bill Rehbock, head of FALCON030
 development, gave a well received talk on the FALCON and its capabilities
 as well as its place in the computer marketplace.  The demonstration that
 followed Mr. Rehbock's speech was quite impressive.  An approximately two 
 minute demo which consisted of at least CD-quality sound and colorful
 graphics showcased the FALCON's capabilities well.  Parts of the graphics
 portion gave the impression of a stop-action Rock video.  My only
 complaint has to do with the size of the display monitor used in the
 demonstration.  It was a standard ST monitor that, because of its
 relatively small size, made viewing slightly difficult from most parts of
 the room.  Despite this one shortcoming, the demonstration was well
 received by all in attendance. 

      In addition to the technological portion of the presentation, the
 humor and enthusiasm displayed by Mr. Rehbock himself added to the overall
 "feel" of the evening.  He seemed to genuinely enjoy both showing off the
 FALCON and meeting the people in attendance.  In his speech, Mr. Rehbock
 said that he had enjoyed the show and would be back next year even if "I
 have to buy my own plane ticket".  After the presentation and a question
 and answer period, Mr. Rehbock stayed to answer questions about the new
 machine and related topics.  What struck me most about the evening was not
 the FALCON, but Bill Rehbock.  I was impressed by his obvious energy,
 intelligence, and his enthusiasm for the FALCON and for Atari in general.

      Sunday saw another respectably large crowd.  Although smaller than
 Saturday's crowd in size, purchases were reportedly higher.  People often
 "window shop" on the first day of a show and save the second day for
 "power shopping", hoping that vendors will have lowered prices in order to
 reduce the amount of inventory to be lugged back home.

      This year's swap room was large enough to avoid the congested
 conditions of last year.  The swap room, set aside for individuals selling
 used software and hardware, stayed busy through the weekend on "both sides
 of the counter".  Items in the swap room ranged from old copies of "Star
 Raiders" up to complete computer systems.

      The seminars encompassed subjects from MIDI music to Souping up your
 current machine to Meet the developers/press to using DynaCADD and Calamus
 and were well attended.  The STReport seminar began with comments by the
 three STReport editors in attendance:  Ralph Mariano- Editor-in-Chief,
 Dana Jacobson- Staff Editor, and Myself- also a Staff Editor.  Following
 the opening comments, the floor was opened to questions from the audience. 
 Questions ranged from what is involved in the production of an on-line
 magazine to the future of Atari to the FALCON's place in the U.S. market. 
 According to Mr. Mariano the FALCON may herald the creation of the "Home
 Computer Appliance" market:  a market in which computers will be regarded
 much as "toasters and washing machines are now".

      The WAACE Inc. folks did not disappoint me with their '90 and '91
 AtariFests, and continued the trend again this year.  With its place
 assured as the largest Atari show on the east coast, WAACE can now sit
 back and relax for a while.  They have provided yet another extraordinary
 show.  Enjoy the rest while you can, WAACE members:  Someone will start
 talking about plans for next year's show before you know it.  Hmmm... I
 wonder it it's too early to make reservations for WAACE AtariFest '93. 
 ;-)


      ______________________________________________________________




 > TRACKER WINDOWS! STR InfoFile        Tracker for the PC & Windows
   """""""""""""""""""""""""""""


                         Tracker/ST...For Windows!
                         =========================


 New York City,NY 

     After fielding an ever-increasing number of requests for a Windows
 version of their leading mailing list/mail merge software, Step Ahead
 Software is proud to announce the arrival of Windows Tracker/ST.  The
 unveiling of Windows Tracker/ST will take place at the WAACE Atari Fest on
 October 10-11, 1992.

     Tracker/ST for Windows is practically identical to the current version
 of Tracker/ST for the Atari ST, STe, and TT (v3.04).  The program looks
 the same, runs the same, and has the same features.  Like its Atari
 cousin, the Windows version of Tracker?ST has no limit to the number of
 names in a file, no limit to the number of separate databases, and
 contains its unique unlimited "Long Notes," "Quick Letter," and automatic
 mail merge features, and more.

     Transferring data from existing copies of Atari Tracker/ST is a
 breeze, and this includes all names, Long Notes, and mail merge letters
 created with the Atari version of Tracker/ST.

 There are a few enhancements in Windows Tracker/ST, namely:

      Mailing Labels can use any Windows font, including PostScript
      fonts and TrueType fonts.  Mailing label positioning is also
      greatly enhanced as standard measurements (to 1/100 of an
      inch) are used, instead of the older 'characters per inch'
      and 'lines per inch';

      The user interface has been improved in numerous ways.
      Windows Tracker/ST uses true dialog boxes with radio buttons,
      check boxes, and keyboard equivalents for each function.  All
      menu bar items are accessible from the keyboard using the
      standard Windows "ALT" conventions (ALT + F, then X for Exit,
      etc.);

      Windows Tracker/ST has the ability to search for words
      contained in the unlimited Long Notes.  This works extremely
      quickly, even in a system with hundreds of large Long Notes
      files.  You may search for any word or phrase and print out
      all the names which have those words in their Long Notes, or
      print out the actual Long Notes themselves;

      When in edit mode, users may click the mouse on any field for
      editing, without having to press [Tab] or [Return] to go to
      the field they wish to change.

     Tracker/ST for Windows is the direct result of numerous requests from
 our registered users, who have long asked for a Windows version of
 Tracker/ST.  Now, owners of the leading mailing list/mail merge software
 for the Atari ST, STe, and TT can use the same trusted program at work, or
 on a second computer at home.

     Windows Tracker/ST will begin shipping next month, at a suggested
 retail price of $119.95.  A substantial discount will be offered on
 Windows Tracker/ST at the WAACE Atari Fest, with an additional price break
 for our many loyal registered Atari Tracker/ST owners.

     For further information on Tracker/ST and Windows Tracker/ST, please
 contact:

                         Step Ahead Software, Inc.
                      496-A Hudson Street, Suite F39
                          New York City, NY 10014
                               212-627-5830

 GEnie Address: NEVIN-S
 GEnie Topic : Category 6, Topic 23 of the Atari RoundTable




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

                    :HOW TO GET YOUR OWN GENIE ACCOUNT:
                     _________________________________

                       To sign up for GEnie service:

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

                 Type: XTX99587,CPUREPT then, hit RETURN.


  GEnie Announcements (FREE)       

  1. Take the FINAL GEnie Presidential Straw Poll Today............*SURVEY
  2. Check out GEnie's newest product, a database of job listings..ADNET
  3. Stocks Catch A Bad Case Of The Big Blues......................SOS
  4. Author VERNOR VINGE, Sunday at 8 Eastern in the...............SFRT
  5. Internet gateway in Beta Test - LIVE Help Desks and more in...UNIX
  6. Educating The Bright Ones ==>RTC w/Jerry Pournelle 10/21......ERT
  7. Take a quiz about movie & TV show theme song lyrics over at...SHOWBIZ
  8. Team GEnie goes for the National Championship in our..........AUTO
  9. Barbara Young tells YOU how to be a game designer.............TSR
 10. New files, RTCs, topics, a new staff-it's a new GE-MUG........MAC
 11. Complete Information on Disney's Empire and SPECIAL RTC in....FLORIDA
 12. Free time giveaway in our NEW Real-Time Conferences...........A2PRO
 13. Version 1.5 of ST Aladdin NOW available.....................STALADDIN
 14. Still time to get your October issue of.....................GENIELAMP
 15. Discuss Ventura Publisher 4.1 for Windows in..................DTP

 The Atari ST RT

         |======================================================|
         |     Real Time Conference Special Events Calendar     |
         |======================================================|
         |                                                      |
         | Oct. 21 -  Bob Luneski of Oregon Research Associates'|
         | (Wednesay) Come on in and talk to the programmer of  |
         |            Diamond Back II and Diamond Edge. Also,   |
         |            the North American distributors for       |
         |            Ultimate Virus Killer and Hisoft products.|
         |======================================================|
         |   All Real Time Conferences begin at 10:00 p.m. EDT  |
         |======================================================|

 = Atari ST Help Desk =

     Atari ST Roundtable holds a Sunday Help Desk to answer your questions
 on GEnie, Atari ST Roundtable and the line of Atari computers.  Stop in
 and ask questions or just visit the Atari RT staff and users.  The Help
 Desk starts at 7:00 pm EST Sunday on page 475;2.

  Last Week's Top Downloaded Programs/Utilities:

 26005 PYROTECH.LZH             X J.EIDSVOOG1  921003    1408    204   2
       Desc: Improved Fireworks module for Warp 9
 25998 CALLTIM3.ARC             X K.VANDELLEN  921003   11904    204   2
       Desc: Calls Naval Observatory, sets time
 26080 AUTOSRT4.ARC             X EFS          921010   10112    150   2
       Desc: Version 4.1 of autosort.
 25999 LIFEEXPC.ARC             X K.VANDELLEN  921003   14464    150  21
       Desc: Calculate your life expectancy
 26045 SPC3375.LZH              X J.PIERCE5    921006   14848    148  28
       Desc: New version 1.61 -- Bug fix
 26043 PDOS_SER.TTP             X DRAGONWARE   921006    1792    142  21
       Desc: PowerDOS Modem port ALIAS/CONFIG
 26081 BLITZ_13.LZH             X E.MONACO     921010   27648    118   2
       Desc: Latest Version!!!
 26105 DOUBLE2.LZH              X S.JOHNSON10  921012    2688    109   2
       Desc: STE screen height doubler - v2.0
  
         GEnie Information copyright (C) 1991 by General Electric
            Information Services/GEnie, reprinted by permission

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




 > WAACE'92 STR SHOW NEWS      THE PREMIER EAST COAST SHOW   * REPORT 3
   """"""""""""""""""""""




           WAACE'92 - The Atari Tradition Keeps Getting Better!
           ====================================================




 by Dana P.  Jacobson

      The rain started as soon as I hit Baltimore, at about 6:30 a.m. 
 Friday.  I had been on the road since 10:00 the night before; and this
 didn't appear to be an ominous omen until I took the Washington D.C. 
 Beltway, the wrong way!  45 minutes later, I managed to circle it around
 until I came back to where I wanted to be; and the Sheraton Reston loomed
 ahead.  At 7:30 in the morning, not much was happening, but I tried to
 check into the hotel anyway.  Sorry, it's much too early, the
 receptionist declared, come back after 9.  I looked around and saw few
 people in the lobby.  I went out to the car to try to get a few winks,
 but the caffeine had done its stuff, I was wired.  Watching the leaves
 fall was getting boring, so I wandered back to the front desk.  My luck
 wasn't getting any better, Ralph's reservation wasn't there.  Ugh, I asked
 the kind woman to check further, but to no avail.  Come back a little
 later, she said, and check to see if there's a room; the hotel is booked
 solid!  Fortunately, there was something a little later, and I grabbed it. 
 I was not looking forward to telling Ralph that the hotel lost his
 reservation!  He arrived about an hour later.  I can't wait to learn
 where the reservation disappeared!  The weekend was not off to a good
 start!  I was hoping that this wasn't an omen of things to come...

      We semi-unloaded everything, and JD Barnes offered to take us to
 lunch, and then visit Toad Computers.  Dave and Jennifer Troy were
 holding a Fest before the Fest, and it was an opportunity to see what a
 real Atari dealer looked like again!!  What a nice store!  Best wishes for
 success in the new location, Dave and Jennifer.  We then made a stop at
 the "Junkyard Pussycat's" lair to pick up some equipment for the show. 
 When we arrived, people were beginning to arrive; and the GEnie
 get-together was just beginning - we headed up to the lounge where we met
 D.D.  Martin, John Donahue, and a few others.  This was more like it, the
 party had started!

      It was an early night as most of the early-comers were winding down
 from their long trips to the Fest.  Finally, I could get some rest after
 being awake since the previous morning.  Saturday came soon enough, and
 after a quick bite, we hit the showroom floor minutes before the doors
 officially opened.  I managed to get to the CodeHead booth ahead of the
 crowds, anticipating the usual long lines to get upgrades and the various
 products readily available.  I even bought a few of the font packages for
 Calligrapher, and I _had_ to have at least one of the CodeHead's new tee
 shirts!  After I dropped off the beginnings of my many newly acquired
 goodies, the crowd began to enter the show.  In previous years, lines
 were out the door by the time the show started.  Not so this year.  My
 guess is that the torrential downpour kept most people away, or until
 later.  JD Barnes had a frown on his face when he noticed the lack of an
 early "mob" at the registration desk.  What had they done wrong was all
 he could think about.  Well, as it turned out, there was no burst of
 people early on, but the crowds were steady throughout the day instead. 
 By lunch, JD and the other organizers were smiling more.  WAACE '92 was a
 hit, and getting better as the day progressed.

      There were quite a number of new developers and dealers  attending
 WAACE this year for the first time, a good sign.  These folks only add to
 the pleasure of the WAACE experience.  John Trautschold, from Missionware
 Software, was showing off "Flash II", a completely rewritten version of
 the popular Flash telecom program.  He also was showing off a beta
 version of CyberPaint, running on a TT!  This soon-to-be-released upgrade
 will be a welcome sight and capable of taking advantage of the Falcon's
 capabilities!  John "Hutch" Hutchinson, of Fair-Dinkum Technologies was
 showing off "Crossword Creator II", "Word Search II", "Cryptographer", and
 "Cyberdrome".  I can't wait to get involved in Cyberdrome, and I plan to
 check out Hutch's other products soon, being a word puzzle enthusiast!! 
 Oregon Research had a number of new products which were interesting, but
 unfortunately, they weren't on my list of "must-haves" for the present. 
 However, I will be keeping their product line in mind for the near future. 
 Sheldon Winick and his family were in attendance from Computer STudio in
 North Carolina.  It was nice to see another Atari dealer in the ranks of
 WAACE attendees.  According to Sheldon, sales were quite good.  He sold
 out of the TTs he brought, including some TT/DynaCADD workstations.  The
 Lexicor demos were, simply put, outstanding!!  I wish that I had a use for
 their products because they're terrific programs.  Watching some of the
 work done with them was a pleasure to behold.  Bill Rayl, from Atari
 Interface Magazine, was kind enough to give me a demo of STorm, a pending
 telecom program.  I hope that there's a demo available soon because this
 is one program that seems to be a hit even before it makes it out to the
 streets.

      There was plenty of everything for everybody at the show.  There was
 simply too much to relate with regard to who was there and what they were
 showing/selling.  And, I know that there are going to be plenty of those
 reports elsewhere in this issue so I'll let those people relate their
 reflections.

      I think that the biggest highlight of the show, and the one that was
 the least expected, was the presence of Atari's Bill Rehbock.  Atari was
 not expected to have any kind of representation at this year's WAACE show;
 and the WAACE organizers didn't appear to pursue the matter - it was
 really up to Atari only if they wanted to be a part of the tradition.  I
 believe, that sometime around the BCS show in September, that Bill
 realized (on perhaps a personal level) that presentations such as was
 available to the BCS was a necessity to let the existing Atari userbase
 know that Atari was serious with the advent of the Falcon.  From what I
 had heard at the show, Bill was going to attend even if he had to pay for
 his own way to Virginia.  This, to me, shows a serious outlook to the
 determination that some at Atari have with regard to the Falcon and
 Atari's userbase.  It was a pleasure to meet Bill, finally, and listen to
 him speak.  Although he didn't have the tons of professional equipment
 accompanying him as was used at the BCS meeting, this was a plus for him
 because we all saw the personable Atari executive instead of the
 "stuffed-shirt" stereotype (not to say that Bill was a "stuffed-shirt at
 BCS!).  Bill was kept extremely busy throughout the weekend.  We got our
 first taste at the Saturday night banquet.  If you missed it, you really
 missed something!

      Prior to Bill's presentation, Joe Waters presented the annual
 Current Notes Author of the Year Award to Richard Gunter, author of the
 monthly "Starting Block" series of articles.  Richard was a well-deserved
 recipient of this award - congratulations from all of us at STReport,
 Richard!!  After the award, Bill Rehbock, with the help of John Morales on
 the VCR, presented the banquet attendees with a similar talk as given at
 the BCS meeting.  The presentation lasted for quite some time, including
 some video demos - definitely a worthwhile experience.  Bill then was
 available for questions which he answered quite candidly.  With a number
 of rounds of applause throughout his talk, Bill received the largest
 applause when he announced that he was more than happy with the success of
 the WAACE show and that he was already planning to return next year.

      Bill was also available during the weekend demonstrating the Falcon
 in the Productivity Room; and his seminar Sunday afternoon was
 standing-room-only; and the seminar went _well_ beyond the normal 1-hour
 limit!  Everyone that I talked with during the show was very impressed
 with Bill Rehbock and his enthusiasm for the Falcon and those who came to
 see it.  It was a pleasure to see people elated to get this opportunity
 and have a good feeling about Atari Corporation again, something that's
 been lacking for far too long.

      My overall reaction to this year's show was, in a single word,
 fantastic.  I thought that last year's show was the highlight of the past
 shows I've attended.  Not so.  This year's show proved to be as good as
 last year, with attendance.  This year I heard that developers and
 vendors did better in sales than last year, and last year was their best! 
 All I could hear throughout my wanderings of the show floor was how much
 people were enjoying the show and that they spent too much money (and
 wanted to spend more)!  In these tough times, I had to force myself to a
 limitation of spending but I know that I will be eventually getting some
 of the fine products that I saw that I just couldn't get this time around.

      I think that one of the most enjoyable part of the WAACE experience
 and tradition is the opportunity to meet, either for the first time or
 getting re-acquainted, the people whom I've had the pleasure of "talking"
 with on the online services or public bulletin board systems.  Seeing and
 talking with these people face to face, whether they be users like myself
 or developers and dealers, is an unforgettable experience.  THIS is what
 makes WAACE so enjoyable for me.  Who can forget Dee Dee Martin handing
 out "I Love GEnie" ribbons at the Friday night get-together in the lounge? 
 Who can forget those who saw those "No More RSN" and STReport buttons
 passed out all weekend, and looking for more to take home?!  Who can
 forget Bill Rehbock's voice doing a "surround sound" imitation at the
 banquet, or the Rehbock/Mariano "duet" during Bill's Sunday seminar?  Or
 Tomas, from CodeHead, asking a customer "do you _really_ want me to get up
 for that upgrade?" with a BIG smile on his face.  How about those smiling
 kids who saw Albert Baggetta's "Eliemouse" for the first time?  These, and
 many more, little anecdotes make the difference between a good show and
 one that is simply a fantastic experience.

      For all those WAACE organizers and volunteers who made this year's
 WAACE tradition a reality, my heartfelt thanks for a job WELL done!! 
 Special thanks go to Ken Fassler, Russ Brown, Steve Rigby, and JD Barnes
 for being an integral part of it.  Without you all, this show would not
 have been the success that it was.  I _know_ that I'll see you next year
 and we can relive it all over again, only better.  It was a pleasure to
 be part of the tradition.  Congratulations on another successful show!



      ______________________________________________________________





 > SUPRA/FAX UPGRADE STR InfoFile       SUPRAFAXMODEM ROM UPGRADE 1.2J/H
   """"""""""""""""""""""""""""""




                USING YOUR SUPRAFAXMODEM ROM UPGRADE 1.2J/H
                ===========================================




     The 1.2J/H ROM upgrade provides several sophisticated enhancements to
 your SupraFAXModem.  These instructions explain how to use those
 enhancements.

 RATE RENEGOTIATION

     Several commands and S registers combine to provide improved rate
 renegotiation on your SupraFAXModem:

     %G0     Disable rate renegotiation on V.32bis.
     %G1     Enable rate renegotiation on V.32bis, and enable rate 
             renegotiation with retrain on V.32.

     %E      Has not changed, but if both %G1 and %E1 are set, then the 
          modem will renegotiate the rate during a retrain.  This is 
          also the only way the SupraFAXModem V.32 can rate renegotiate.

     &F1     Default now includes %G1.
     &F2     Default now includes %G1.

     S Register S109.

          Decimal Value   Explanation
          1       reserved
          2       4800 bps
          4       7200 bps
          8       9600 bps
          16      12000 bps
          32      14400 bps
          64      reserved
          128     reserved

     The slowest possible carrier speed can be limited by S109.  Some
 modems (including SupraFAX-Modem V.32 and V.32bis modems with early ROMs)
 can only up-shift a few times, and then they will lose the connection. 
 The solution to this problem is to change S109 so that the modem does not
 need to up-shift as many times if S110=3.  

     S Register S110.

          0       Connect at V.32 only.
          1       Enable V.32bis on V.32bis modems.
          2       Enable V.32bis and automatic rate renegotiation.
          3       Connect at the slowest possible V.32 or V.32bis speed,   
               and then upshift if quality is good.

     The V.32bis standard negotiates carrier speed at 4800 baud, and then
 jumps to the agreed carrier speed to negotiate error correction/data
 compression.  On noisy lines this can cause various con-nection problems. 
 Supra's solution is to set S110 to 3.  This causes the modems to connect
 at the slowest possible V.32 or V.32bis speed.  With S110=3, as long as
 the line is clean enough, the modems will up-shift to the next possible
 carrier rate.  The slowest possible carrier speed can be set  by S109.  

 COMPATIBILITY WITH A WIDER RANGE OF FAX MACHINES

     Rockwell chipset-based modems, including SupraFAXModems with older
 ROMs, cannot connect with a select few brands or models of fax machines. 
 To provide increased compatibility with these fax machines, Supra has
 modified the fax tone emitted by the modem, so that the modem can
 communicate with a wider range of fax machines.  This feature is in effect
 automatically; you do not need to do anything to invoke it.  However,
 please note that you may hear a slight "rattling" noise when dialing out
 (on fax calls only), which is the sound of the tone that allows this
 compatibility.

 Silent Answer 

     Silent answer lets one telephone line be used for two purposes:
 receiving faxes with the modem, and receiving voice calls with an
 answering machine or telephone.  When set to this mode, the modem lets
 your answering machine answer all incoming calls.  If it detects fax "CNG"
 tones, it routes the call to your fax software.  Otherwise, it just sits
 silently on the phone line while you or your answering machine takes the
 call.

     You must be able to modify your fax software initialization string to
 take advantage of this feature.  Your software probably does not allow you
 to modify the initialization string.  Supra is currently working with
 several software vendors to add Silent Answer support to their software. 
 To obtain a version of your software that supports Silent Answer, please
 contact the software company.

     Once you have software that supports Silent Answer, if your software
 uses register S0 to enable Auto Answer, set S0 to a number larger than
 your answering machine.  This will allow the answering machine to answer
 first.  

     When the phone rings, the modem will start monitoring the telephone
 line after the second ring.  If it detects a fax tone, it will do one of
 the following:  

     If S0 = 0, the modem will immediately answer the phone and attempt a 
     fax connection.

     If S0 = 0, the modem will quickly issue up to 9 "RING" messages, 
     expecting the fax software to issue an ATA.

     When installing the modem, DO NOT plug the answering machine into the
 telephone jack on the back of the modem.  Instead, do ONE of the
 following:

     Plug the answering machine and modem into different wall jacks (i.e. 
     jacks in different rooms).  

     Plug the answering machine into a wall jack and the modem into the 
     answering machine.

     Also, if you have an older answering machine that does NOT
 automatically turn itself off when it detects that a person or the modem
 has answered the call, you need a $7.95 adapter from Radio Shack, part
 #43-107.  This adapter disconnects the answering machine from the phone
 line when the call is answered.  It goes between the answering machine and
 the wall jack.

 Adaptive Answer 

     Adaptive answer allows the modem to decide if an incoming call is fax
 or data, and handle it appropriately.  To take advantage of this feature,
 you must have a software driver that knows how to switch between fax and
 data. Your fax or data software may have this driver built in.  The driver
 must use the following commands to enable Adaptive Answer:

     AT +FCLASS=0
     AT +FAA=1 (if using class 2) or +FAE=1 (if using class 1)
     S0=(1-255)  (or ATA after RING message)

 The following result codes can be returned in Adaptive Answer mode:  
     CONNECT XXXX if the call is a data call, or 
     FAX if the call is a fax call.


 Caller ID
     In addition to the features described earlier, Caller ID is available
 as a low-cost upgrade option.  If your upgrade includes this feature, you
 will  want to understand the information in this section.

     Caller ID is only available in some areas of the country.  You can
 only take advantage of it if your tele-communications software supports
 Caller ID.  In between the first and the second ring of an incoming call,
 the phone company will send information on who is calling you.  For
 example, if you are in terminal mode and have told the modem to answer on
 the third ring, you may see the following on your screen:

     RING

     DATE = 0321
     TIME = 1405
     NMBR = 5039672400
     NAME = SUPRA CORPORATION        {Optional.  Info may vary from one 
                                      phone company to another.}

     RING

     Caller ID can be used by many computer applications for improved
 security, efficiency, and convenience.  Here are a few of the potential
 applications:

     Bulletin Board Systems (BBSs).  A BBS can positively identify callers 
     without the normal tedious logon sequences, and prevent unauthorized 
     entry due to lost or stolen accounts and passwords.

     Screening Calls.  Your computer can display the number and possibly 
     name of who is calling, so you can decide if you want to answer or 
     not.

     Professional billing.  Your computer can match incoming calls to your 
     client list and automatically create a charge to the client's account 
     for your phone time.

     Database Lookup.  Your customer's record or account can be displayed 
     on your computer screen before you answer the call.

 The following AT commands enable and disable Caller ID:

     #CID=0  Disables Caller ID
     #CID=1  Enables Caller ID in formatted format
     #CID=2  Enables Caller ID in unformatted format (ASCII printable hex 
          numbers)

     As with any AT data commands, you can issue these commands from your
 telecommunications software terminal mode, or include them in your telecom
 software's init string.  For example, to enable Caller ID, type the
 following in your telecom software's terminal mode, where [CR] represents
 a carriage return:

     AT #CID=1 [CR]  
     The SupraFAXModem Reference Manual provides more information on AT
 commands.

 Solving Problems

     If you need further assistance after following these instructions,
 please contact Supra Technical support.  


                    Supra Corporation Technical Support
                    (Monday-Friday, 8 a.m.- 5 p.m. PST)
                       IBM DOS         503-967-2490
                       IBM Windows     503-967-2491
                       Macintosh       503-967-2492
                       All Other       503-967-2440


                  Also available by BBS, fax, or mail at:
                        BBS           503-967-2444
                        FAX           503-967-2401

                        MAIL    7101 Supra Drive SW
                           Albany, OR  97321 USA

         ________________________________________________________




 > POLITICS AS USUAL? STR FOCUS!     Is this nonsense really necessary?
   """""""""""""""""""""""""""""




                         OF BEES, HONEY & VINEGAR
                         ========================


 by R.F. Mariano

     Atari, through the years, has had some of the very best developers in
 the industry supporting their hardware.  Unfortunately, once again a
 perception of the zany politics that's driven other developers away from
 this platform is rearing its ugly head again.  Its reprehensible to
 witness the Codeheads doing without a Falcon while other, either much
 newer or lesser developers have one or more Falcons.  In fact, its an
 outrage.

     Without a doubt, the Codehead Technologies name is synonymous with
 total support, outstanding software and hardware products along with top
 notch creativity.  The burning question is why must _they_ do without a
 new Falcon030 for development purposes while other devs whose products
 simply do not serve any where near the number of Atari users Codehead's
 does?  Codehead serves a complete, in depth, cross section of the
 worldwide Atari market.  For Codehead to continue to support Atarians
 worldwide with the very latest in utilities, applications and enhancements
 they must, simply put, be provided with only the best of developer support
 by Atari.

 From CIS;

 #: 29083 S16/CodeHead Tech.
     16-Oct-92  10:29:03
 Sb: Political Correctness
 Fm: john barnes 73030,2307
 To: All


     What's the Difference Between a Utility and an Application?

 At the GEnie conference of October 14th John Eidsvoog of Codehead software
 came out with the following lament:

     J.EIDSVOOG1> "Boy, it sure does hurt inside to keep hearing about all
                  of the other developers writing stuff for the Falcon...
                  kinda like not being invited to the biggest party of the
                  year."

     Bob Brodie indicated that developers of "Applications" might be
 receiving preferential access to Atari Falcon030 machines over developers
 of "Utilities."

     On the surface of it there is some sense to this, as applications
 software is much more visible to purchasers of new machines ("Can I get
 WordPerfect, or Lotus, or.... for this machine?").

     This viewpoint totally misses the fact utility programs like Warp 9,
 Hotwire, MultiDesk, MaxiFile, or Universal Item Selector may have an
 equally important long-term impact because they dramatically influence the
 way the machines respond to the users' wishes.  In that sense utility
 programs are at the very core of the software development effort because
 they represent enabling technology that facilitates the users' access to
 the true capabilities of the machines that they have bought.

     The rationale for dividing the developer community into two camps
 appears, therefore, to be flawed.

     Perhaps, however, this rationale is merely a facade for a different,
 darker agenda?  The guys from Codehead have long been outspoken in their
 criticism of Atari's mistakes in the software area.  Is it possible that
 access to development systems for the next generation of Atari software is
 being used as a carrot to induce more "politically correct" ways of
 thinking?

     This issue will only be cleared up when the supply of Falcons begins
 to outstrip the demand for development systems.  Let us pray that this
 happens soon enough to prevent the loss of valuable talent in the
 developer community.            ==\\//==
     
     Another very important fact to make mention of is highly relative to
 the "application vs utility premise" (if you _care_ to call it that). 
 Calligrapher, Mega Paint and Avant Vektor are a far cry from "utilities"
 yet they are not considered at all.  Sure there will be those who will
 lament; "they are _imported_ by Codehead, _not_ developed by them."  The
 answer to that is simple... Codehead has invested quite heavily in the
 Atari marketplace in support of its users and machines.  Also Codehead has
 developed many modules for one of the programs and superb drivers for
 another of these programs.  Further, God only knows how much support code
 has been generated by the Codeheads and then sent abroad for inclusion
 into the main programs.  As an afterthought, many Atarians have used
 Maxifile and Hotwire for so long they've begun to take them for granted. 
 They are, (Hotwire and Maxifile), top notch applications that serve many
 people's wide and varied needs while using Atari computers.

     To continue, its time the petty politics and vendettas came to a
 complete end if in fact, that's what is really going on.  If not then the
 system used to determine the distribution spread is in serious need of
 re-examination and stricter evaluation.  To leave the Codeheads "out in
 the cold" is a grievous logistical error.  This situation serves no useful
 or productive means to an end for either Atari itself or its userbase both
 real and hoped for.  It must be corrected forthwith.  How do you feel
 about this matter?  Let us hear from you.
   

     _________________________________________________________________




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


 - Sunnyvale, CA.                    Ken Badertscher Joins Taligent
   --------------
   
     Ken  Badertscher,  a  long  time  Atari  employee,  has left Atari for
 greener pastures.  Ken, noted for his work  with the  TOS group  and other
 outstanding software  accomplishments, left  after a 'marathon' session of
 weeks of long hours to bring the Falcon Tos to reality.
   


 - Sunnyvale, CA                           STOCK FOR A BONUS?
   -------------

     Recently, a number of Atari employees were offered a bonus for working
 long, long  well over  40 hour  weeks in  a drive to get Falcon Tos up and
 running.  It has been reported by our sources that the employees  were not
 too happy  with the  stock offering as a bonus.  In fact, there were those
 who asked and received a cash settlement instead.  The cash settlement was
 reported to be in the neighborhood of 600.00.


 - New York City, NY                      TEST MARKET AREA REPORTED
   -----------------

     Our sources have let us know that one of the test market areas will be
 New York's metropolitan area.    The  Falcon  ads  and  marketing  push is
 reported to  be destined  for this  area along  with others.   Many market
 analysts report the Falcon is Atari's final escapade and must  succeed for
 the company to survive.  By all indications, the Falcon may very well pull
 the company up from its long sleep.



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



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



 > A "Quotable Quote"            
   """""""""""""""""




               "A free press can, of course, be good or bad,
                    but most certainly without freedom,
               the press will never be anything but bad..."





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




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



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                   SEND FOR YOUR NEW ABCO CATALOG TODAY!




 """"""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""
                  STReport International Online Magazine
                        [S]ilicon [T]imes [R]eport
     Available through more than 10,002 Private BBS systems WorldWide!
 """"""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""
 STR Online!           "YOUR INDEPENDENT NEWS SOURCE"      October 16, 1992
 Since 1987      copyright (c) 1987-92 All Rights Reserved          No.8.41
 """"""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""
 Views, Opinions and Articles Presented herein are not necessarily those of
 the editors/staff, PCReport, STReport, AMReport, MCReport.   Permission to
 reprint articles  is hereby granted, unless otherwise noted.  Each reprint
 must include the name of  the  publication,  date,  issue  number  and the
 author's name.   The entire publication and/or portions therein may not be
 edited in any way without prior written permission.  The  entire contents,
 at the  time of  publication, are believed to be reasonably accurate.  The
 STR editors, contributors and or staff are not responsible for  the use or
 misuse of information contained herein or the results obtained therefrom.
 """"""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""


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