ST Report: 26-Jul-91 #730

From: Bruce D. Nelson (aj434@cleveland.Freenet.Edu)
Date: 07/27/91-10:12:32 AM Z


From: aj434@cleveland.Freenet.Edu (Bruce D. Nelson)
Subject: ST Report: 26-Jul-91 #730
Date: Sat Jul 27 10:12:32 1991



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 > 07/26/91: STReport  #7.30  The Original 16/32 bit Online Magazine!
   -------------------------
     - The Editor's Desk      - CPU REPORT        - PORTFOLIO NEWS
     - FSM GDOS- When?        - PALMTOP FORUM     - IG GRAPHICS!
     - ATARI, A Victim?       - XCONTROL PANEL    - SILHOUETTE' HERE

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 > The Editor's Podium


     As another week goes by, while most folks  anxiously await  the highly
 touted  new  "Standard"  FSMGDOS.    The  XControl Panel is here and it is
 everything we were told it would be and then some.  We  have reported that
 B. Rehbock said FSM would be released August 1, 1991.  We shall see.

     I have  heard rumors  that many  folks already  have a copy of FSM and
 that its in widespread circulation in many "closed  circles".   If such is
 the case, then why must the loyal users wait and wait and wait?  Especial-
 ly if they have BOUGHT programs that will  perform much  with FSM  in use?
 If for  no other  reason that  to keep  the users  informed, the least the
 powers that be could do is keep info about the  progress of  this puppy at
 hand for all to see.  Oh well, nobody said things would be easy.

     The show  in Asheville,  last weekend, was excellent and it indeed in-
 dicated to the umpteenth degree how much Atari users were  desirous of new
 equipment and  information.   Elsewhere in  this issue are the accounts of
 this show  and observations  of what  the show's  amazing success possibly
 indicates.

     Product  is  just  starting  to  make a very "bashful" appearance once
 again.  But its to those whose orders were in for quite a while.  Hopeful-
 ly, we all shall see a full flow of product shortly.

     Thank you one and all, you continued support is greatly appreciated!



                                             Ralph....





                           TODAY'S NEWS ..TODAY!

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 > STReport's Staff              The regulars and this week's contributors!
   ================

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


          PC DIVISION         AMIGA DIVISION           MAC DIVISION
          -----------         --------------           ------------
          Robert Retelle      Charles Hill             R. ALBRITTON


 STReport Staff Editors:
 -----------------------
          Michael Arthur      Lloyd E. Pulley, Sr.     Dana P. Jacobson
          Lucien Oppler       Brad Martin              Walter Daniel
          Oscar Steele        Robert Allbritton        John Szczepanik
                              Dan Stidham

 Contributing Correspondants:
 ----------------------------
          Michael Lee         Richard Covert           Roger Stevens
          Brian Converse      Oliver Steinmeier        Ed Krimen
          Tim Holt            Andrew Learner           Norman Boucher
                              Ben Hamilton


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                 WHAT'S NEW IN THE ATARI FORUMS (July 26)


                      CONGRATULATIONS TO THE WINNERS!

     The  first  winner  of  our  $25  CompuServe credit for his early July
 upload of GEMXYZ.LZH to the Atari Productivity Forum (GO ATARIPRO) is Mark
 Kelling.  Thanks to Mark for sending us a copy of this fine program.

     The winner  of the  first $25 CompuServe credit for his July upload of
 Monopoly to the Atari ST Arts Forum (GO ATARIARTS) is  Edmund Cook.   Con-
 gratulations to Edmund with our thanks for this contribution.


                   PROGRAM OF THE WEEK FROM DOUBLE CLICK

     Double Click  Software brings  you DC Disk Stat, another DC program of
 the week!  This  program gives  you a  lot of  disk structure information,
 like sectors  per track,  total tracks, total sectors, and much, much more
 all from an easy-to-use GEM  interface.    Runs  as  either  a  program or
 accesory.   See DCSTAT.ARC  in Library 13, Double Click, of the Atari Ven-
 dors Forum (GO ATARIVEN).


                       NEW IN ATARI PORTFOLIO FORUM

     Announcing PBASIC v4.6!  The  new  version  of  the  Portfolio Forum's
 favorite  program  add  many  new  features.    Check  out  PBAS46.ZIP now
 available in LIBRARY 1 of the Atari Portfolio Forum (GO APORTFOLIO).

     Game players beware!  BJ Gleason has uploaded  an improved  version of
 Portris,  now  available  in  LIBRARY  1  of the Atari Portfolio Forum (GO
 APORTFOLIO).


          *** ANNOUNCING! -> THE NEW COMPUSERVE PALMTOP FORUM ***

     The CompuServe Palmtop Forum will  cover  all  palmtop  organizers and
 computers other than the Portfolio, which will remain in its own forum.

     One  of  the  hottest  items  in  personal  computing  is  the palmtop
 computer.  These units which  range  in  scope  from  personal information
 managers to full blown computers, are rapidly becoming an extension of our
 desktop systems and a part of our daily lives.

     CompuServe's new Palmtop Forum combines company sponsored support sec-
 tions  as  well  as  more  general  topics and libraries in a single area.
 Participating companies  include  Sharp,  Poqet  Computers,  and Traveling
 Software among others.

     According  to  forum  manager,  Ron  Luks,  the new forum will feature
 product support,  connectivity  to  desktop  machines,  fax  and messaging
 capabilities, as well as third party software applications.
 Please,  come  on  by  and  take  a  look  around.  Type GO PALMTOP at any
 CompuServe service prompt.



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

            "GO APORTFOLIO TO ACCESS THE ATARI PORTFOLIO FORUM"





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




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

    Issue #30

    Compiled by: Lloyd E. Pulley, Sr.


  --Tel Aviv, Israel                ATARI CHANGES MIND ABOUT PLANT IN
    ----------------                ISRAEL

 Atari Corporation has cancelled plans to build a $53 million computer
 plant in Israel. According to a telefaxed message from Atari to Zvi
 Koren, Israel's Trade and Industry Ministry's managing director, Atari
 blamed Israel foot-dragging for the decision.

 Atari said it had told the Trade and Industry Ministry on June 28 that
 it needed a reply no later than July 21, and that it was withdrawing the
 proposal because the reply had not come.  Ministry officials claimed
 Atari's formal request for the investment arrived only on July 16, and
 that a ministry commission still intended to discuss the request next
 week.  They expressed hope Atari would reverse its decision.


  -- Sydney, Australia              WORLD OF COMMODORE SHOW BREAKS RECORDS

 The Hunter Group of Canada organized "The World Of Commodore/Amiga"
 exhibition held in Sydney last weekend which attracted a record 29,642
 paying customers.  By contrast, the last New York World of Commodore/
 Amiga only had 19,000 visitors.  One reason for the record turnout was
 credited to the CDTV, Commodore's interactive, CD-based multimedia sys-
 tem.

 Along with the local Australian vendors, there were overseas exhibitors,
 some with brand-new product to test on the marketplace. Most software
 vendors had a number of CD-based applications for the CDTV system. These
 ranged from new versions of old games, right up to full encyclopedias
 complete with moving video and stereo sound.


  --San Jose, California            SURVEY RATES 7 FIRMS TOPS WITH
    --------------------            CUSTOMERS

 According to a fourth quarter survey by Dataquest entitled "The Score
 Report: Desktop Personal Computer Customers Satisfaction Survey", U.S.
 business PC users are the most satisfied with CompAdd, Dell, Everex,
 Apple, Epson, AST, IBM, and Compaq.

 The survey questioned end-users in their levels of satisfaction in the
 categories of quality, value/price, upgrade/compatibility, footprint/
 friendliness, product delivery, technical documentation, and commitment
 to customers, Dataquest said.


  Washington, DC                    DOCUMENTS WILL SOON BE TALKING
  --------------

 David D. Weinberger of Interleaf predicts that future documents will not
 only provide information, they will customize their own contents depen-
 ding on who is reading them. Computer documents will soon be, according
 to Weinberger, "adding information, changing graphics, and even deter-
 mining what readers may or may not see." The intelligent document will
 be an active publication, capable of changing itself depending on just
 who is viewing it.


  --San Jose, California            ACCORDING TO STUDY,
    --------------------            PAPER WHITE MONITORS BEST FOR THE EYES

 According to a sponsored by Cornerstone Technology by Professor James E.
 Sheedy f the University of California at Berkeley, blurred vision, head-
 ache, back pain, slowness of eye focus, tired or sore eyes, burning or
 itchy eyes, light sensitivity, and neck or shoulder pain are common
 symptoms among people who work with computer video display terminals
 (VDTs).

 Sheedy said that the general evidence indicates that a light background
 on a display is better than a dark one, a higher monitor refresh rate is
 better than a lower one, and clearer images are easier to read.

 Sheedy's study compared a "paper-like" monochrome 19-inch monitor at
 120 dpi and 67 Hz refresh rate to an IBM personal computer (PC) video
 graphics adapter (VGA) 14-inch monitor at 640 x 480 pixels with a
 refresh rate of 60 Hz.  The results showed a 33% increase in reading
 productivity for the "paper-like" monitor over the IBM VGA monitor.

 The study was carried out at the request of Cornerstone Technology and
 the VDT "paper-like" monitor was provided for the study by Cornerstone,
 the manufacturer of the unit.  The Cornerstone VDT is normally supplied
 with an IBM PC and retails for $2495 - more than some IBM PC's.

 The study comparing the Cornerstone Dualpage VDT to the IBM PC monitor
 left out several points, Sheedy admitted. The Cornerstone monitor was
 monochrome and the IBM PC monitor was color, but set to display in black
 and white. The Cornerstone monitor displayed two pages at once, while
 the IBM PC only displayed one page at a time.

 Also, the study was geared to a long period of time reading the same
 document. No conclusive evidence was gained that people who switch
 documents often, or who are looking up at the screen then down, in a
 data entry situation, would be more productive.


  --Broomfield, Colorado            SCANNERS AND MACS
    --------------------            TO NORTHWEST RURAL SCHOOLS

 To help students in rural and remote areas of the northwest U.S., Pentax
 Technologies will be supplying more than 300 Pentax IQ Scan desktop
 scanners with Apple Computers supplying Macintosh workstations to com-
 plete the scanning systems.

 The $55 million program, funded by the US Department of Education, will
 provide satellite-transmitted courses in math, science, and foreign lan-
 guages to the remote locations in Alaska, Idaho, Oregon, Washington, and
 Montana.

 The remote sites, called "Star Schools" receive sound and pictures sim-
 ultaneously on TV monitors. The students' work and test answers will be
 scanned by a Pentax scanner at the site, stored in the Macintosh work-
 station, then sent by modem to program headquarters for grading.


  --New York, New York              IBM TO INVEST $1 BILLION
    ------------------              IN CHIP-MAKING SYSTEM

 IBM will, over a 10-year period, invest approximately $1 billion in an
 experimental system to produce memory chips more efficiently and econo-
 mically.

 The project involves a system by which on intense X-rays from a 27-ton
 machine, called a superconducting synchrotron storage ring, will etch
 circuits many times finer than those now made by light beams.

 Motorola, a partner with IBM in the development of the improved RISC
 6000 processor, is also an investor in the superconducting synchrotron
 storage ring. It is estimated that the machine itself will cost up to
 $20 million.


  -New York, New York               IBM 2ND QUARTER EARNINGS DROP 91%
   ------------------               17,000 TO GO

 IBM has announced that its 2nd quarter earnings were $114 million, or 20
 cents a share. These figures represent a 91% decline from 1990's 2nd
 quarter figures of $1.4 billion, or $2.45 a share. IBM, the world's lar-
 gest computer maker, is blaming its quarterly figures on a worldwide
 economic slump.

 IBM said it plans to reduce its workforce by at least 17,000 employees
 this year from the 1990 year-end figure of approximately 373,000.


  --Dallas, Texas                   TI LOSES $27 MILLION
    -------------                   WILL REDUCE STAFF

 Texas Instruments (TI) has announced that it lost $27 million on net
 revenues of $1686 million, compared with 2nd quarter revenues of $1592
 million a year ago. As a result, TI will reduce its staff by about 3,200
 people worldwide. The cuts will be through domestic voluntary retirement
 and selected involuntary reductions worldwide.


  --Houston, Texas                  COMPAQ REPORTS 81% 2Q EARNINGS DROP
    --------------

 Compaq Computer Corporation has reported that a 81% drop in second
 quarter earnings over the same period last year. Earnings for the 1991
 2nd quarter were $20 million, earning shareholders 23 cents per share.
 Shareholders saw a $1.18 per share return for the same period last year.


  Santa Clara, California           INTEL POSTS BIG BUCKS FOR 2ND QUARTER
  -----------------------

 Intel's domination of the microprocessor market has been emphasized once
 again with its financial report for the 2nd quarter ended June 29, 1991.
 Revenue rose 20% and net income 35% over the similar period last year.

 As part of the company's profit sharing scheme, Intel employees would
 receive a cash bonus equivalent to 6.8 days pay. The company said that
 "the bonuses are paid semi-annually and are based on a pretax income
 formula."



 To give everyone an idea about the coverage in our PC offering...

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

    Issue #4

    Compiled by: Lloyd E. Pulley, Sr.


  --Westboro, Massachusetts         DATA GENERAL INTRODUCES
    -----------------------         386SX NOTEBOOK

 Data General Corp. has announced the introduction of the Walkabout /320
 Notebook Computer, a 80386SX-based computer.

 The Walkabout /320 is based on the 20 MHz Intel 80386SX processor and,
 with battery pack, weighs less than 6 pounds and has dimensions of 8.5"
 x 11" x 1.8". It contains 2-MB RAM memory (expandable to 6-MB), a 40MB
 or 60MB hard disk, an internal 1.44-MB, 3.5-inch floppy diskette drive,
 an RS-232 serial port, a parallel interface, and interfaces for an
 external monitor, a numeric keypad and a PS/2-style mouse.

 The battery is a removable, rechargeable NiCad battery  which Data General
 says provides  a minimum  of 3 hours of continuous operation. A universal,
 autosensing AC adapter is also provided as standard equipment.

 Optional add-ons for the Walkabout /320 include an  80387SX math coproces-
 sor, back-up battery pack, soft carrying case, external ''accounting-styl-
 e'' numeric keypad, memory upgrade kits, and internal  2400-bps modem with
 4800-bps send-FAX capability.

 Pricing for  the Walkabout/320  begins at $3,695 for the two megabyte RAM,
 40MB unit.


  --Houston, Texas                  COMPAQ CUTS LTE PRICES 22%
    --------------

 Compaq Computer has announced that it has reduced the suggested retail
 price of its award winning LTE and LTE/286 notebook computers by as much
 as 22% in what it describes as "a move to continue its aggressive
 pricing strategy and increase market share" in the growing notebook
 market.

 The Compaq LTE line has won a number of reader and editor awards from
 various trade and business publications. The LTE units weigh six pounds
 and measure 8-1/2 inches X 11 inches, the size of a standard sheet of
 typing paper. The LTE Model 20 runs on a 80C86 chip, has 640K of random
 access memory (RAM) expandable to 1M, and a 20-megabyte hard drive. The
 LTE/286 runs on a 12 megahertz 286 chip. The standard 640K of RAM is
 expandable to 4.6M and has a 1.44-megabyte disk drive. It's available
 with either a 20 or 40 MB hard drive.

 The LTE has been reduced $250, to $1,749. The LTE/286 with a 20M hard
 drive has dropped from $2,499 to $1,949 while the 40M version dropped
 $550 to $2,249.


  --Scotts Valley, California       BORLAND OFFERS FREE SIDEKICK
    -------------------------

 Borland International has announced that anyone buying the $495 retail
 version of Quattro Pro 3.0 or the $795 version of Paradox 3.5 can get a
 free copy of the company's Sidekick 2.0.

 The free promotion, called Borland Bonus Days, runs until October 31. A
 coupon will be attached to the box of new Paradox and Quattro Pro pro-
 ducts. A free copy of Sidekick 2.0 can be obtained by simply returning
 the coupon and a copy of the sales receipt direct to the company. Bor-
 land says that the offer does not apply to competitive upgrade versions
 of the two products.

 Borland's Sidekick 2.0 is a personal organizer containing the Time
 Planner, Address Book, and Communications, as well as a Notepad and
 Calculators.


  --New York, New York              IBM ENHANCES RISC 6000;
    ------------------              "VISUALIZATION" SYSTEM

 IBM has announced enhancements to its RISC System/6000 line of work-
 station units and a high-end visualization system. It has also announced
 price cuts of up to 42% on items in the RISC 6000 line of products.

 The new RISC System/6000 graphics products -- the Power Gt4x, Power Gt4
 and Power Gt3 -- are internally attached graphics subsystems that are
 connected to the workstation via Micro Channel slots. The products range
 in price from $3,500 to $17,000 and are said by IBM to "deliver a
 fivefold improvement in 2-D graphics performance and an eightfold
 increase in 3-D performance."


  --White Plains, New York          IBM LOWERS PS/2 L40 LAPTOP PRICE
    ----------------------

 IBM says it has reduced the price of its PS/2 L40 SX laptop computer,
 which was launched March 22, by 12% to $5,245 from $5,995. IBM has also
 cut the price of the 80 nanosecond memory options for the system by up
 to 45%.


  --New for the PC                  Software Aids Decision-Making
    --------------

 Phil Paulson's Decisions/Decisions is scheduled to begin shipping from
 Dalton Dialogic at the end of July.

 The package uses a seven-step decision method distilled from academic
 research on the decision-making process, Paulson said.  Its interface
 uses seven successive screens of different colors, working from a small
 block of color in the center of the screen to larger and larger rectan-
 gles to symbolize emerging from a tunnel. The interface also uses the
 familiar concepts of pull-down menus.

 Plans call for Dalton Dialogic to distribute the software initially
 through direct mail. A scaled-down version, called Decisions/Light, will
 be available on bulletin boards. So will decision templates with rele-
 vant information for certain common types of decisions already built in.

 The software will sell for US$149 in the United States and C$169 in
 Canada.


  --New for the PC                  Richmond Offers Maximizer Lite
    --------------

 Hoping to appeal to the owners of lightweight laptop and notebook com-
 puters, Richmond Technologies & Software has launched a scaled-down
 version of its contact management software, Maximizer.

 Maximizer Lite can maintain client lists and a to-do list and produce
 letters and notes using built-in word processing capabilities complete
 with spell checking. It lacks the support for multiple databases, income
 and expense tracking, file combining and updating functions, fancier
 list manipulation, and personal diary features found in the full pac-
 kage.  Also, the spelling checker uses an 80,000-word rather than a
 120,000-word dictionary.

 The new Maximizer Lite package fits on a single 3.5-inch diskette and
 sells for C$129.  The original Maximizer has been renamed Maximizer
 Advanced and will continue to sell for C$395, with a network version
 priced at C$895.


  --New for the PC                  Windows Image, Audio Compression
    --------------                  Software and Board

 Optibase has announced new tools for image and audio compression:
 Optitools for Windows 3.0 and the +Audio coprocessor board.

 Optitools is a software developer's kit for programming a Motorola
 digital signal processor (the 56001 DSP) that is on the Optibase 100 and
 500 compression/expansion add-in boards for compression and expansion of
 images and audio, the company said.

 Optibase says its Optitools is better because it provides the right
 compression/expansion tool for the right job. Compression of images and
 audio is an important issue, as a minute of uncompressed video can take
 a gigabyte of disk space.

 Optibase says its Optitools product does just that with four types of
 compression/expansion algorithms. The four are Joint Photographic
 Experts Group (JPEG) for simple continuous tone images, AADCT for
 continuous tone images mixed with text, Lossless for absolute image
 integrity with compression up to 1:3, and Voice and Music that enables
 the addition of voice or music to applications.

 One of the biggest applications for the new technology is desktop video
 conferencing. According to Optibase, "The 1990 market for desktop video
 conferencing alone was $300 million, a figure we project will zoom to $1
 billion in the next four years."

 Optibase says the board handles both digital and analog conversion,
 software buffers help minimize distortion and can compress in ratios as
 high as 1:8.


  --New for the PC                  Inset Updates Hijaak
    --------------

 Inset Systems has updated its Hijaak screen-capture software.  Version
 2.02, which adds new screen capturing and file conversion capabilities,
 is shipping now.

 The new version can capture screens with resolution of up to 1.024 by
 768 pixels and 256 colors, conforming to the Super VGA display standard.
 The previous version supported only standard VGA, a spokeswoman said.
 Super VGA is supported under DOS and under Microsoft Windows. Hercules
 clone cards are also now recognized.

 The new release adds options to clip captured images and to remap colors
 in the images. The software will also let the user choose from 3 fonts
 for captured screen text to get the best resolution on the chosen output
 device.

 Version 2.02 also adds support for a variety of additional graphics for-
 mats, including added variants of the TIFF, Windows Metafile, Macintosh
 PICT and AutoCAD DXF formats. Seven new facsimile formats are supported.
 The new release also lets users create PostScript files using the Cyan-
 Magenta-Yellow-Black (CMYK) color model as well the Red-Green-Blue (RGB)
 model. According to Inset, the CMYK model produces better blacks than
 RGB.

 The suggested retail price for Hijaak remains at US$199, while users of
 Version 2.0 can upgrade free and users of previous versions can do so
 for US$50, the spokeswoman said.  The software is shipping now.





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 > The Flip Side STR Feature              "..a different viewpoint"
   =========================





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


 by Michael Lee


 I just have time for a short column this week before hitting the road
 again.  Here's a few comments about articles in past issues of ST Report
 from some of our readers.  You might even recognize a couple of their
 names.

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

 From Leland Dumas, about an article in ST Report by Lloyd Pulley, "Up-
 grading the Memory in Your STe/MegaSTe" - Category 14, Topic 40, Mes-
 sages 18 & 22 - from the ST Roundtable on Genie...
    I just installed 4 megs in my STe using your directions. I just
    thought I'd let you know that it seems to be working fine (so far!).
    I may disagree with a lot of your comments (g), but thanks to your
    description, I saved myself some bucks on the memory upgrade.  Thanks
    a lot, I really appreciate it!

    One thing I probably should mention.  Lloyds directions on the memory
    upgrade are great, but if you're totally ignorant about this type of
    thing (like me!), be careful taking things apart. I stupidly removed
    ALL the screws from the back when I opened the computer. Then, since
    it said to remove the small cover, I removed the one with only 2
    screws.  I ended up with my disk drive in my hand!

    So, when you open it up, just remove the screws around the edges,
    (including the one that says you'll void your warranty [g]). If any
    of the screws are 2 or 3 times the length of the rest of them, put it
    back before you open it.

    Also, the cover you need to remove will have a half dozen screws and
    2 of those pieces of metal that have to be twisted to straighten out.
    I know it sounds a bit difficult, especially if you're a klutz like
    me, but it's really quite simple.

    Again, a big thanks to Lloyd Pulley for the article that told me what
    to do. There is only one dealer in my area (a music dealer), and his
    idea for repairs is to replace everything. I probably saved a bundle
    doing it myself.

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

 From Dave Small (Gadgets by Small) on some news articles in CPU Report -
 Category 26, Topic 2, Message 556 - from the ST Roundtable on Genie...
    Comments on latest issue --

    Couple issues back [NOTE: CPU Report 20] -- many thanks for tip on
    Prodigy sucking up HD stuff and uploading it.

    On SAFEWARE (Computer Insurance) [NOTE: CPU Report 29], I'd give them
    a 100% recommendation.  I got Safeware in the L.E. Systems 8-bit disk
    drive days.  During an extreme late midnight session, an epromer with
    the "hot" side shorted to the chassis ground ground-looped through my
    drive, blowing up about, I don't remember exactly, $1500 worth of
    equipment in half a sec.

    SAFEWARE could not have been more helpful or friendly. They sent out
    a guy to look at the smoked remains of the Atari 800 circuit board --
    literally, the middle of the chips had exploded outwards! -- and
    wrote us a check.

    We have been customers of SAFEWARE ever since.

    One thing I like a *lot* is they also insure your software. So, if
    your copy- protected-and-unbackupable-disk goes down, they'll pay to
    get a new one. This is mondo cool. And their rates are just lovely.

    I strongly recommend SAFEWARE as computer insurance, both for your
    software and hardware. (You DO know that software always ends up
    being more costly, long run, than hardware...)

    Nice job, Ralph.

    -- thanks, Dave / Gadgets

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

 Until next week.....







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


                    :HOW TO GET YOUR OWN GENIE ACCOUNT:
                     _________________________________

      To sign up for GEnie service: Call: (with modem) 800-638-8369.

               Upon connection type HHH (RETURN after that).
                         Wait for the U#= prompt.

                 Type: XTX99587,CPUREPT then, hit RETURN.

                       **** SIGN UP FEE WAIVED ****

           The system will now prompt you for your information.

            -> NOW!  GENIE BASIC STAR SERVICE IS IN EFFECT!! <-



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


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





 > Blue Ridge Atari Fest STR SHOW NEWS    "EXCLUSIVE EYEWITNESS REPORTS"
   ===================================



                           ATARI FEST IN THE SKY
                           =====================


 by Ralph F. Mariano


     Following this  diary like  report, there is the observations of other
 folks who were in attendance at the Blue Ridge Fest, I'm sure you'll enjoy
 those too.   Back to the Fest, we arrived early friday afternoon.  I drove
 up from Jacksonville with two of  my sons,  (there are  four).   One could
 immediately appreciate  the fine mountain air it was cooler than I was ac-
 customed to and it was fresh.  At night you could see lightning bugs.  Its
 been  reported  that  they  are  very  particular creatures, they will not
 populate an area that  does not  have high  quality air.   I  haven't seen
 lightning bugs yet in Jacksonville, Florida, it must be those effervescent
 paper mills that seem to "glow in the  night".   I visited  the mall where
 the  show  was  scheduled  to  be  held  and  found that everything was in
 readiness.  Sheldon Winick, owner of Computer Studio,  had everything well
 under  control  and...  I  might  add  this  fellow  is a class act all by
 himself.  His store was an oasis in  the eyes  of all  beholders.  Imagine
 how unique, an Atari store with hardware and software in stock!

     The show  began at  noon on Saturday I arrived shortly thereafter, the
 show was scheduled to run 'til  6pm that  same day.     The show certainly
 received plenty  of publicity via Sheldon's advertisements on TV promoting
 Atari and the show.  By the way, there was NO front money from  Atari, the
 front money came out of Sheldon's pocket.  I asked him if there was a pos-
 sibility of reimbursement and he was confident that  the co-op advertising
 arrangement Atari has for its dealers would cover the cost.

     Computer Studio is a fine example of a high quality Atari Store that's
 designed to cater to 'all' Atarians.  About 8 - 10 feet to the left of the
 entrance was  "the setup"  ..a TT, Calamus SL, a plotter and SLM605 laser.
 This was where Nathan spent the best part  of his  time showing  the finer
 points of  Calamus SL.   Between  those who were watching Nathan and those
 waiting in, what seemed  like, a  perpetually long  line to  the check out
 at the  cash register, there was a constant flow of people gathered around
 and passing by Nathan.  The store itself is an exercise in  perfection, an
 ideal example  of how  a first  rate store should appear.  There was ample
 software on display, (everywhere you looked),  plenty of  hardware for all
 to see  and touch  and of course, the needed inventory to satisfy everyone
 even the most discerning of shoppers.

     The  exhibitors  all  had  fine  mini-shows  going,  displaying  their
 products for  all to see.  A number of exhibitors declared they were 'sold
 out' at the end of the day.   Nevin Shalit,  Step Ahead  Software, said it
 was  an  excellent  day.    ICD  had  the  prototype  of  their  new 16Mhz
 accelerator on hand for all to  see.   Jeff Williams,  ICD's rep, detailed
 the design  to all who expressed an interest in the 1040STe 16Mhz upgrade.
 As usual, the appearance of the board was excellent and very professional.
 A&D Software  was well represented by B. Gockley and his wife, they did an
 excellent job of demoing A&D's fine offerings.  Goldleaf had their goodies
 giving cause  to all  who stopped by the exhibit to proclaim all the ooh's
 and aah's normally heard whenever the Atari computers get going with super
 impressive software.  ISD's Nathan Potechin was quite busy demoing Calamus
 SL in Sheldon's store and trying to keep up with the action  in the mall's
 concourse.

     The show's  seminars went  quite well,  there were two spacious rooms,
 one on the main concourse and the other  off to  one side,  setup to stage
 the informative  and entertaining  seminars in.   The afternoon's schedule
 was setup to present the seminars  concurrently in  both rooms  except for
 the last  two seminars  (STReport &  Atari).   They were scheduled to take
 place in the main seminar room on the concourse.   As a  result, they both
 were  SRO.  The  room  itself  sat  110 people.  Both the STReport and Bob
 Brodie seminars were packed and ran overtime.

     On a scale of 10, the show easily  reached a  10 and  is definitely on
 our list  of shows to participate in next year.  To Sheldon Winick and all
 the support folks from BRACE .. "A job well done!"




                         The Asheville Atari Show
                         ========================


 posted by Bill Aycock 76703,4061, CIS Sysop

     The Blue Ridge Atari Fest was  just a  half-day show,  so I'm  back in
 Greensboro now.  Somewhere around 400 Atarians from all over the southeast
 showed up, some of them driving four or five hours  to get  there! I think
 it was  a very successful show, when you take the size into account. Lotsa
 folks bought lotsa stuff. :-)

     The folks from Double Click weren't able to make it, but all the other
 exhibitors showed up. Here's a quick rundown:

     John Fox  from Goldleaf  showed off  Wordflair II,  their new Document
 Processor. It's kind of  a cross  between a  word processor  and a desktop
 publisher, and  it was  really impressive  - I  even picked  up a copy! It
 looked to be easy to use and very powerful, with  lots of  nifty features.
 The folks  who designed  it did  a good job! (I'm sure the Goldleaf people
 here would be glad to give you more  details.) Wordflair  II uses  the new
 FSM-GDOS outline fonts to produce great output. (FWIW, Bob Brodie stated a
 number of times that FSM-GDOS should be shipping around the  first of next
 month. Of  course he couldn't _promise_ that, but he was fairly confident.
 Also FWIW, FSM-GDOS is controlled through  a slot  in the  new CPX control
 panel.) Goldleaf's demo was running on an 8-meg TT with a big monitor, but
 the docs say it should run on an ST with at least  1 meg  and two double--
 sided drives.  (Obviously, the more memory the better, and a hard drive is
 highly recommended!)

     Jeff Williams from ICD had a  table  filled  with  their  hardware and
 software  for  STs-  host  adapters,  AdSpeeds,  Cleanup  ST, etc. He also
 brought some stuff for 8-bitters- an MIO, SpartaDOS  and related programs,
 Mac65, cables, and the like.

     Dorothy Brumleve's  table had a demonstration of her kidprgs. She also
 gave a talk titled "Empowering Young Learners Through Technology."

     Nathan Potechin from ISD Marketing was there to  represent the Calamus
 line.  He gave a seminar on Calamus SL.

     Darlah Pine also attended, and showed off Genie to interested parties.

     Nevin Shalit  from Step  Ahead Software  had a booth demonstrating his
 Tracker/ST.  He held a seminar that explained Tracker/ST, and  also showed
 off the new features of PageStream's latest release.

 Don Terp,  a long-time  Atarian from  Read Mountain  Press, gave a talk on
 "DTP on Atari Computers".

     Other exhibitors included Ralph Roberts, author of "Computer Viruses",
 Brian Gockley  from ST  Informer, and Clifton Willard from Willard Produc-
 tions. There  were  also  a  number  of  people  showing  off MIDI-related
 software- Mike  Cloninger from  Dragon Studio,  Dr. Tim  Brumleve with the
 K5/K5M voice librarian, and  Eric  White  from  KAUG  (the  Knoxville user
 group) with a MIDI demo. (The MIDI stuff was in another hallway, and since
 it's all beyond me I didn't spend much time there. :-)

     Of course, Ralph Mariano of STReport was everywhere, seeing everything
 and everyone <grin>.  He gave an interesting talk titled "Current Events";
 no doubt he'll be reporting on the show himself.

     Likewise, Bob  Brodie  from  Atari  was  on  the  scene,  talking with
 everyone. His  seminar packed the meeting room, and was a great way to cap
 off the day.

     There were a bunch of door  prizes: copies  of Tracker/ST  and EdHack,
 four sets  of TOS  1.4 ROMs,  $100 gift  certificates from ABCO, a Migraph
 hand scanner with TouchUp, and lots more I couldn't keep track of. :-)

     So there's the gist of the show. It was the first AtariFest  I've been
 able to attend, and despite the small size it was a lot of fun!



       ____________________________________________________________







 > IG Graphics! STR InfoFile               Instant Online Graphics
   =========================





                         WHAT'S INSTANT GRAPHICS?
                         ========================



 by Larry Mears


     Instant  Graphics  (IG)  is  a  desk  accessory  terminal for your ST.
 MS-DOS clone support coming in a few months,  see MS-DOS  IG below.  IG is
 used with  a modem,  it's a  dumb terminal in the sense it doesn't do file
 transfers but when it comes to online graphics IG is extremely smart.
 Since IG is a accessory you can use it to do the  online graphics  and pop
 back to your favorite terminal to do file transfers and the other standard
 fair.

     IG is sort of like super VT-52 or ANSI but  these are  character based
 graphics.  Try drawing a circle with VT-52 or ANSI you got pixels the size
 of  cursors!  IG has  real pixels  it has  commands that  tell it  to draw
 lines,    plot  points,  set  colors,  set fill patterns, draw rectangles,
 boxes with and  without rounded corners.  There are text commands  to plot
 text to  the screen.  The plotted text can be put at any X,Y coordinate on
 the screen using the system   FONT and  at several  different point sizes,
 big  text  for  titles.    IG  also  does bitblit so animation can be done
 online.  BBSs can really be souped up  with IG.   There  are ZONE commands
 for turning  a standard  BBS into a mouse driven BBS remotely, IG is wild!

     Oh, there's more... How about sound effects, 20  of them  that use the
 CPU itself  to control the sound envelope for really amazing sound effects
 from the ST!  You can use GIST (from ANTIC) to edit new sound  effects and
 plug them into one of the 20 sound effect slots with online commands.  The
 sound effects can be played as musical notes for online music and if you
 run a MIDI BBS there is a utility for converting Music Studio tm  files to
 IG MIDI  format so  they can  by played  by your MIDI keyboard online! All
 this neat  stuff  is  done  with  standard  ASCII  text  commands  that IG
 interprets online.   Example:   G#O 319,99,25:  <--- draws a circle at x y
 319,99 radius of 25 pixels.

     It's real simple and  interpreted just  like BASIC.   The  G# gets the
 terminal's attention 'O' is the command itself.  IG is a Shareware project
 (dream) of mine with  6 years  development behind  it.   IG is  a powerful
 graphics tool  for online  communication with  impact.   It looks meek and
 mild mannered on the surface but if you will read the docs on the commands
 you will be very surprised.

                                SYSOP INFO
     To IGnite  your BBS with IG it has to be able to handle alternate text
 menus.  FoReM  and  ///TURBO  Board  bbs  software  does   this  with  its
 GRAPHICS.TXT file  and the  *.GRx files.   Work  up IGized  menus for your
 BBS!!!  IG215 is available on GEnie, this  is the  latest version.   There
 is a  loadable EMU  version of IG215b for Interlink tm.  A few IG BBSs are
 around already,  WRB 205-837-2025  I added  IG menus  to it  myself, I'm a
 remote sysop  there.  The best way to IGize your BBS is to get your remote
 sysop to do it, unless you have a  second ST  to use  as a  IG terminal to
 call your BBS with.  The graphics appear on the terminal side only, on the
 BBS side the SYSOP  sees the  raw IG  commands only.   There  is a Instant
 Graphics XNET  The London Smog bbs is the lead node 632, it even has a few
 UK boards in it.  London  Smog 714-546-2152  USR DUAL  STANDARD (I think),
 "Clueman" is  SYSOP, "Mr.  Rodgers" the  best IG artist around, Bob Ahsley
 and Robert Gieger are  very  talented  at  IG  also.    Call  the  SMOG to
 experience the  ST IG.   I  can be reached on GEnie as L.MEARS or HAUG BBS
 205-722-0900 node 74 as Larry Mears for more info.

                                MS-DOS IG
     Blue Instant Graphics! (BIG) is the MS-DOS version of IG.  It is about
 90% compatible  with it's ST ancestor.  BIG uses I# instead of G# the dif-
 ferences are sort of like going from one BASIC to another.   Most commands
 have the  same syntax or at least the same function.  BIG will be released
 well before Christmas, this Fall I hope.  It requires 256K video  RAM with
 EGA or  VGA color.   BIG  is a  full working basic terminal, it has Zmodem
 built in with Xmodem  fall back,  supports three  16 color  modes 640x200,
 640x350, 640x480(VGA  only).   BIG has all the graphics IG has and several
 real FONTS.  BIG does sound effects via  the PC  speaker and  plays notes.
 BIG can  be used  with the  standard ANSI driver so you can have your cake
 and eat it too!  For Adlib tm, SoundBlaster tm owners there is support for
 playing ROL files online and doing sound effects that sound like they came
 right out of a SCIFI flick.  BIG will literally  'ROCK' the  online world.
 If you like ANSI you will flip over BIG! BIG will be released as Shareware
 in demo version with a register fee of $25.  Keep a eye out for it  on the
 major online services this Fall.  I hope to eventually write a MAC version
 also.  It all depends on my finances mostly.



       ____________________________________________________________





 > ATARI - A VICTIM? STR FOCUS         "Why is everybody picking on me?"
   ===========================




                          WHO IS PICKING ON WHOM?
                          =======================



 by R.F. Mariano


     My goodness, the reports read as though Israel has done  Atari a dirty
 turn.   Most of  our readers  will recall, a few weeks ago, where STReport
 presented the account of the Israeli newspapers headlining Atari had "mis-
 sed" the  deadline for  the business deal on the new factory.  Seems Atari
 would have had an edge if they had gone with the Israeli proposals.  Some-
 thing to effect of "duty free into Europe"... Not bad.

     According to  the latest  reports, it  seems its  now the Israelis who
 have "dragged" their feet.

     "U.S. based Atari Corp has cancelled plans to build a $53 million com-
     puter plant in Israel due to government bureaucracy, Israeli officials
     said.   A telefaxed message  from  Atari  to  the  Trade  and Industry
     Ministry's managing  director, Zvi Koren, blamed Israeli foot-dragging
     for the decision.

     In April, Atari proposed  Israel take  part in  investments that could
     reach $150 million to build a plant and produce personal computers and
     electronic games.  Israel's investment would be at least 38 pct, offi-
     cials said.  Atari said it had told the Trade and Industry Ministry on
     June 28 that it needed a reply no later than July 21, and that  it was
     withdrawing the proposal because the reply had not come.

     Ministry officials  claimed Atari's  formal request for the investment
     arrived only on July 16, and that a ministry commission still intended
     to discuss  the request  next week.   They  expressed hope Atari would
     reverse its decision."    - Reuters


     Hard to believe, an entire nation would 'pick on' Atari.  But then ...
 it appears  that everyone, from STReport to the country of Israel, are all
 picking on "poor, little old Atari."  This "Atari being picked on" premise
 is getting extremely difficult to believe as each year goes by.

     For the  last three years, in most all situations that placed Atari in
 a poor light, (product  shortages, favoring  the European  Market, lack of
 advertising, neglect  of the US market) has always been the fault of some-
 one or something else but NEVER Atari.  Hmmm it would seem the whole world
 is out  to do  Atari in.   Or could the leadership, Tramiels and immediate
 underlings, be their own worst enemies?

     Once again, the US marketplace is STARVING for  products.   Why?  What
 or who will be blamed this time?  Maybe an Alien invasion, a chip shortage
 on Mars or a bad economy in Rumania!  They've used up all the conventional
 excuses and readily available scapegoats.

     Distributors, Dealers  and users  are clamoring  for a  strong flow of
 product in the USA, what do we hear for an  answer?   Almost sheer silence
 except for  the occasional bleating by a few at Atari saying that STReport
 is this or that and of course the "Osbourne Lessons".   However,  to date,
 all that's  come forth from Sunnyvale has been defensive remarks ,retorts,
 snorts and preposterous carrying on by a few of the newfies.   Atari needs
 to either 'get with the program or get with the program'.

     Take a look at the success of these "one day" shows.  Three years ago,
 if someone would have proposed that Atari attend a "half day show"  in the
 _hallway_ of  a shopping mall in a small southeastern town, the hysterical
 laughter would have caused catastrophic snowslides  in the  Himalaya Moun-
 tains!

     Now,  Atari  is  attending  such  shows.   Why?  Because they are suc-
 cessful.  When one considers over 400 folks  came from  five states around
 to attend  the Brace  Show in  Asheville, one  simply must  ask why?.  The
 answer is obvious.  Because they want to see, feel and buy  the latest new
 products.   The "feeding  frenzy" at Sheldon's Computer Studio was as fan-
 tastic as it was unbelievable.  The line to the  cash register  was 15 and
 20 people  deep all  day long.   And nobody was giving anything away!  The
 prices were the normal, everyday prices.  Folks  were buying  software and
 hardware and I might add in multiples.

     The moral  of the  story is  why can't Atari see the enormous cash cow
 called the US market that's waiting for the  "bright lights"  in Sunnyvale
 to find  it?  Possibly, the heads in Sunnyvale are marching to a different
 drummer.  A drummer most of  us are  not too  familiar with.   Oh,  how we
 would love to see an abundance of products in the pipeline, flowing freely
 to all corners of  the country.   The  major distributors  in the  USA are
 ready, willing and able to do the job.

   Atari, the ball IS in your court.  The Fans are in the stands waiting
     for the real thing.  Its a sell-out crowd.  Its FAST BREAK time!




        ___________________________________________________________




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



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

 On CompuServe


 by Judith Hamner  72257,271


     The big  news of  the week  is that there is a new forum on CompuServ.
 Go Palmtop  and look around.  Portfolio support will  remain as  is in the
 Portfolio forum.  Rumor has it that PowerBasic will be released "real soon
 now".  If you haven't been scanning the message board, you've been missing
 some great  info. There have been several very informative threads on bat-
 tery useage.  Try the threads  beginning  with  msg  #13852  and  with msg
 #13974.   Msg #14132  has information  about a  bulletin board which has a
 Portfolio section. Finally, see msg #14047  for full  information on Atari
 Safari to be held in Houston in September.

     There are  some new  uploads for  those looking  for external storage.
 HARD10.ZIP is an improved device driver for the  Flashdrive hard  disk in-
 terface.    FORIBM.TXT  disscusses  the  use of the HP9114 portable floppy
 drive and has information on software to format floppies in  a format com-
 patible with  IBM compatibles  and the Portfolio.  PBAS46.ZIP contains yet
 another update to Pbasic.    New  features  include  MID$,  string sizing,
 graphics and more along with minor bug fixes.  This new version  will also
 run on the new HP95LX palmtop as well as desktops.  PORTNE.TXT announces a
 new newsletter by David Stewart.



      _______________________________________________________________




 > XCONTROL STR Spotlight               "Extensible Control Panel"
   ======================




                     THE NEW XCONTROL PANEL FROM ATARI
                               OR...WOW!!!!



 by: Lloyd E. Pulley, Sr.


 After  months of rumors and promises,  Atari has finally released  their
 new Control Panel for the ST and TT lines to the general public.  I have
 only one thing to say, "Wow!! This was worth the wait!!"

 When the rumors about the new Control Panel started, it was thought that
 it  would  only work with the TT's and MegaSTe's,  but according  to  an
 Atari representative, "It will work on all ST, Mega, STacy, STe, MegaSTe
 and TT systems.   Basically, if it is a TOS machine, it will run the New
 Control Panel."

 The new Control Panel is known by 2-3 different names;  the New  Control
 Panel,  XControl,  and Extended Control Panel but according to an  Atari
 representative, its official name is "Extensible Control Panel". For the
 sake of our sanity, I'll just call it XControl in this article.

 XControl is a replacement for the old Control Panel.  Like the old  Con-
 trol Panel, it allows you to configure your systems - double-click rate,
 key repeat rate,  colors, printers, modems, etc.  XControl can do all of
 that and more!   What makes XControl different is that it loads in indi-
 vidual CPX's as it needs them (for the non-technical,  consider a CPX  a
 module) instead of having everything in one program like the old Control
 Panel did.   And once it's done with that CPX, it unloads it.  That way,
 it's not tying up memory when you don't need it (like accessories do).

 XControl  comes  with one CPX that sets the mouse  and  key  parameters,
 another that sets printer parameters, another that sets modem parameters
 and another that sets colors - just like the old Control Panel. But with
 XControl you're not limited to just those choices,  you can add CPX's to
 do other things. Things like mouse accelerators, special sound CPX's for
 STe  owners,  special color CPX's for TT owners,  CPX's for laser  prin-
 ters,etc.   Developers can program CPX's to handle the configuration  of
 their  software or hardware from the XControl Panel - ICD already has  a
 CPX that will allow you to configure their hard drive software from  the
 XControl Panel and another for the AdSpeed owners.

 You might ask, "why do I need a CPX when I have accessories?"  As I said
 earlier, accessories tie up memory all of the time, whether you're using
 them or not.  When you're done with a CPX, XControl will 'disconnect' it
 from the system,  thus not tying up precious memory.  Also,  CPX's don't
 tie up accessory slots.  With normal GEM, you're limited to a maximum of
 6 accessories,  with XControl,  you can have 100 different CPX's on your
 boot  disk,  all of them at your beck and call any time you're in a  GEM
 program.

 The default mode of the XControl Panel is to load/unload CPX's,  but for
 the floppy drive users,  it can be configured to make all CPX's resident
 and not free'd up until XControl is shut down.  That way the floppy user
 doesn't have to worry about putting in his boot-disk every time he needs
 a CPX.

 One problem that popped up with XControl is a bug in TOS14FIX (the  ver-
 sion of TOSFIX 'fixed' by the German developer) kept the Modem Setup CPX
 from working properly. Atari has already distributed a TOS14FX2.PRG that
 corrects that problem (they 'fixed' the 'fix').

 One drawback to XControl is that it uses almost 66k more memory than the
 old Control Panel and almost 86k more memory that ROCP. That's not a big
 deal to a 2.5 or 4 meg user,  but it could be very decisive to a 512k or
 1-meg user.

 One interesting sidenote, the power and ease of use of CPX's has already
 started some controversy. Atari feels that, "The purpose of the new Con-
 trol Panel is to come up with a standard way that Atari and third  party
 developers can configure various aspects of there system and in the case
 of the General CPX...to report what the configuration is. Basically, the
 idea  is  that  the Control Panel is the place you go  to  "control"  or
 configure your system."

 While Atari might feel that the XControl Panel is just "a place that al-
 lows you to configure your systems",  many of our ST developers are  al-
 ready working on ways to expand that definition.  In the brief time that
 XControl has been out,  we've already received some nice CPX's from Ger-
 many. CPX's that will format disks, serve as calendars, ASCII converters
 and  more.  There is little doubt that our own U.S./Canadian  developers
 won't be far behind with their own CPX's.

 I  might not need a calendar enough to want to tie up an accessory  slot
 and 30-50k of memory, but it is nice to have one that I can call up when
 I need it, but when it's not in use, it isn't using any memory.

 One way to look at it is,  a company might make a product that according
 to  the  company's  'guidelines' is only  a  stapler.  But  third  party
 companies might make a staple puller and a small straight edge to add to
 it.  So now, it's more than a stapler.  In my opinion (and some others),
 as long as the add-ons don't effect the original purpose of the  stapler
 and how it works,  I can see nothing wrong with them.  It will be inter-
 esting to see how this controversy comes out.

 All-in-all,  I have to give Atari a big 'atta-boy' for the new  XControl
 Panel.  John, Ken, all...you did good!!





    __________________________________________________________________





 > SILHOUETTE! STR InfoFile                   RELEASE ANNOUNCEMENT
   ========================




                          Silhouette Version 1.0
                   Demonstration version to be released
                           Wednesday, July 24th



 A Bit-Image and Vector Graphics Program with
 Auto-Tracing Feature


 Requirements:
 ST/TT system  with at  least 1  megabyte (2M recommended) of RAM.  ST high
 resolution on the ST or TT supported.   Please read  the accompanying text
 file.

 Atari Users,

 Its ready  but let me be the first to say (before Ralph or Ron, etc.) that
 its quite late in arriving.   My apologies  and especially  to a  few that
 have patiently  waited (your copies will be arriving in the mail).  I wish
 Silhouette had been completed a year earlier.  I would have treated myself
 to a  nice vacation.   As  things stand  now I look forward to catching up
 with some bills.

     Silhouette began as a  project to  create an  auto-tracing program for
 the  Atari  ST.    In  the  course  of developing the tracing algorithms I
 realized that there would not be a perfect  solution, i.e.   perfect auto-
 tracer, at  least not  within a  reasonable amount of time.  Therefore, it
 was necessary  to  develop  the  auto-tracing  routines  around  a drawing
 program that  would allow the user to load bit images and prepare them for
 auto-tracing.  Also the ability  to  auto-trace  and  then  spruce  up the
 auto-trace would  be of great value.  The result is a drawing program with
 some unique drawing features for creating  bit image  and vector graphics.
 The auto-tracing feature links the two graphic types together.

     The auto-tracing  of Silhouette works best with line art.  It will not
 attempt to determine the type of fill patterns  existing and  then replace
 them  with  a  vector  graphics  fill pattern.  Silhouette will auto-trace
 graphics and offer several degrees of variability in how it  is processed.
 One can  output a raw trace which might be of value for very small objects
 or for objects with many horizontal and vertical lines.  Or one can output
 an auto-trace  with GEM  2.0 bezier curves which are loadable by the high-
 -end desktop publishing  programs.    Maxwell  was  approached  by several
 sign-makers interested  in a  auto-tracer and  with the bezier output, the
 auto-tracing function will be of great value.  When spline auto-tracing is
 selected  Silhouette  will  seek  out  the  important points in the trace,
 points at corners or points that help define the curvatures of the image.

     Output of  the auto-trace  is sent  directly into  the vector graphics
 window along  with a gray shaded bit-image of the trace area.  One can ad-
 just the control points of the polylines or splines while  referencing the
 bit-image in  the background.  The polyline editing function was developed
 to speed up editing.  One can move from control  point to  point by simply
 hitting the  keys 'Q' or 'E' and add or delete points with the keys 'A' or
 'D'.

     You might find some of the operations in Silhouette unorthodox  but in
 the short  term you  will find  out why  they work as they do.  Most every
 function begins with a single left mouse button click.   No need  to main-
 tain the  mouse button  down while  drawing or editing.  This frees up the
 hand motion and allows for smoother motion of  the mouse.   Operations are
 terminated with  right mouse button click or by hitting the ESCAPE or UNDO
 key to cancel.  Objects in  the raster  or vector  windows can  be deleted
 with the  ESCAPE or  UNDO key too.  Movement of whole objects, while being
 drawn, is accomplished by depressing  the  left  mouse  button  during the
 move.

     Let me describe the main features in version 1.0.

     * Auto-tracing : Raw or splined auto-tracing with adjustable
                      parameters. Background bit-image display.

     * Drawing tools: clipper, freehand, line, polyline, circle, ellipse,
                      elliptical arc, circular arc, polygons, stars,
                      parabolas, spray can, text (supports FSM GDOS),
                      pixel editor tool.

     * Smoothing:     B-splines, Bezier curves. Convert polylines into
                      either splines and visa-versa. Convert Circles or
                      Ellipses into bezier curves (GEM 2.0 format).
                      Multi-point or 4 point (GEM 2.0) beziers supported.

     * Magnification: Magnify the vector window image up to 16 times.
                      Drawing resolution achieves up to 3200 DPI.

     * Graphics
         Input:       Bit image formats IMG, DEGAS, TINY, MACPAINT. Vector
                      graphics GEM format.

     * Graphics
         Output:      Bit images as IMG files. Vector graphics as GEM
                      meta files or DXF universal CAD format.

     * Clipboard:     Two clip buffers for the raster (bit-image) graphics.
                      Separate cut and copy buffers for vector graphics.
                      Will accumulate copied or cut objects. Clip buffers
                      save to disk and can be re-loaded during future
                      sessions.

     * Duplicate,
         Reshape :    Duplicate vector objects in three ways (freehand,
                      radial or cartesian). Reshape objects in several
                      ways: size, stretch, free corner warp, skew
                      (parallogram), skew (trapezoid).

     * Rotate:        Rotate polyline objects to a 1/10th of a degree.

     * Splice and
         Cut:         Splice and cut polylines.

     * Data:          Object information is continuously updated on the
                      information line while an object is being created.
                      The bit-image and vector window are size adjustable.

     * Manual:        100 page manual in a three ring binder and slip
                      cover.

     * Hardware
         Support:     Operates on the ST, STacy and TT. 1 megabyte
                      required but 2 megabytes recommended. ST high
                      resolution supported on the ST and TT.

     * GDOS           Supports the old GDOS and new FSM GDOS.


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


 We are accepting orders now:

     Silhouette  is  available  directly  from Maxwell CPU for $109.95 plus
 $5.00 shipping (U.S. Post in U.S. and Canada). Shipping by UPS overseas is
 available upon request.  We accept VISA and MASTERCARD or will ship COD or
 accept personal check.

 CALL:  (303)-666-7754  between 8AM and 6PM (MST), Mondays-Saturdays.


 Special Offers:

     Buy version 1.0 now for 109.95 before August 15th and upgrade to
     version 1.5 (expected release date September 15, 1991) for $20.00.

     The new features of version 1.5 will include:

     Object grouping, snapping to grid or guides, snapping to
     object(s) symmetry points, ruler system, additional auto-tracing
     features, iso-contouring of bit-images, output to Calamus file format.
     Enhanced DXF file output. Conversion of all complex curves (elliptical
     arcs, parabolas, etc.) to bezier curves. Duochrome (two color) video
     graphics support.

     Owners of Silhouette will be able to purchase direct the MicroSoft
     Windows version of Silhouette for 45% off the retail price. Expected
     release date of December 1, 1991.


      ______________________________________________________________




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



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                   THAT'S BEEN RE-DESIGNED BY THE 'CREW'!"

                                     ....The Double Hump Society




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