ST Report: 22-Nov-91 #746

From: Bruce D. Nelson (aj434@cleveland.Freenet.Edu)
Date: 11/24/91-12:25:27 PM Z


From: aj434@cleveland.Freenet.Edu (Bruce D. Nelson)
Subject: ST Report: 22-Nov-91 #746
Date: Sun Nov 24 12:25:27 1991



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





 November 22, 1991                                                  No.7.46
 ==========================================================================

                  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
                 BBS:  904-786-4176  USR/HST DUAL STANDARD
                    FAX: 904-783-3319 12 AM - 6 AM EST
                 -----------------------------------------
    STR East: FNET 350 - The Bounty ST BBS <Home of STR> 1-904-786-4176
           STR West: FNET 075 - Bloom County BBS 1-415-965-9347
       STR Canada: FNET 018 - ///Turbo Board Support 1-416-274-1225
         STR Europe: FNET 1031 - <<<INTERNET>>> 011-44-296-395-935
    __________________________________________________________________

 > 11/22/91: STReport  #7.46  The Original 16/32 bit Online Magazine!
   -------------------------
     - The Editor's Desk      - CPU REPORT        - DC Software CIS CO.
     - FSM GDOS Update        - PORTFOLIO NEWS!   - Really? A MAC?
     - Sierra Unhappy         - SCANLITE & TRAY!  - STR Confidential

                   -* CHICAGO IS HAPPENING!  BIGTIME! *-
                    -* MIGRAPH ANNOUNCES SUPER OCR! *-
                         -* RR TYCOON TOURNEY! *-

 ==========================================================================
                  ST REPORT INTERNATIONAL ONLINE MAGAZINE
                     The _Number One_ Online Magazine
                              -* FEATURING *-
                     "UP-TO-DATE News and Information"
       Current Events, Original Articles, Hot Tips, and Information
             Hardware - Software - Corporate - R & D - Imports
 ==========================================================================
 STReport's  support  BBS,  NODE  350,  invites  BBS systems, worldwide, to
 participate in the Fido/F-Net Mail Network.  Or,  call Node  350 direct at
 904-786-4176, and  enjoy the excitement of exchanging information relative
 to the Atari ST computer arena through an excellent International  ST Mail
 Network.   All registered  F-NET - Crossnet SysOps are welcome to join the
 STReport Crossnet Conference.  The Crossnet Conference Code is #34813, and
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     COMPUSERVE WILL PRESENT $15.00 WORTH OF COMPLIMENTARY ONLINE TIME

                              to the Readers of;

                  ST REPORT INTERNATIONAL ONLINE MAGAZINE
                  """""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""
                  "The Original 16/32bit Online Magazine"

                         NEW USERS; SIGN UP TODAY!

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                 You will receive your complimentary time
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                       be online in no time at all!

               WHAT'S NEW IN THE ATARI FORUMS (November 22)

 LIBRARY CHANGE

 Now that CompuServe's Forum Libraries support  "Across Library Searching",
 we have  closed down  our exclusive  "NEW UPLOADS"  Library. All new files
 will now be made available in whichever Library can best classify them.

 Use the powerful BRO LIB:ALL command  to browse  through all  of our Forum
 Libraries.   Files will  be displayed  in reverse chronological order-from
 most recent to  oldest.    Download  file  NEWLIB.TXT  from  LIBRARY  1 of
 ATARIARTS  or   ATARIPRO  (now  called  "Forum  Help/Info")  for  complete
 information on other new and powerful Library commands.

 EDHAK DISCOUNT FOR ATARI FORUM MEMBERS

 Download file EDHAKD.LZH from  LIBRARY 2  of the  Atari Productivity Forum
 (GO ATARIPRO)  for a  full demo of EdHak version 2.25. This version can be
 used with the soon-to-be-released QuickCIS version 1.70. Craig Harvey (the
 author  of  EdHak)  has  also  announced a special discount for CompuServe
 members who which to order the full functioning version. Contact  Craig at
 User ID number 73047,600 for details.

 NEW FROM CODEHEAD SOFTWARE

 Codehead Software  has uploaded  a demo version of MegaPaint Professional,
 their amazing graphics tool.  See the files  MPDEMO.ARC and  MP2DEM.ARC in
 Library 16, Codehead Software of the Atari Vendors Forum (GO ATARIVEN).

 Also available is a demo of GENUS, the font editor for Calumus, PageSTream
 and other typefaces. GENUS is the  font editor  of choice  for the  top ST
 type designers.  This demo includes a text file to get you started on your
 test drive of this remarkable program,  as  well  as  information  about a
 SPECIAL  LIMITED  TIME  OFFER  on  Genus.    See GENDEM.LZH in Library 16,
 CodeHead Software (GO ATARIVEN).

 LEXICOR DEMO

 A demo version of  Lexicor's CHRONOS-3D  Keyframe Animator  program is now
 available!   See CHRNDM.LZH  in Library  9, LEXICOR  SOFTWARE of the Atari
 Vendors Forum (GO ATARIVEN).

 ATARI PORTFOLIO FORUM (GO APORTFOLIO)

 SYSOP* bj gleason has a new user ID.  Please  address all  messages to him
 at 75300,2517.

 The  programming  marathon  continues  with  a Portfolio outliner demo and
 PGfliX -- the closest thing to animation on your Portfolio!

 New calculators, lots of  graphic files,  and a  new launcher  program are
 some of  the latest  entries in our Portfolio Programming Marathon.  Check
 out the latest uploads by going into *any* library and typing BRO LIB:ALL.



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

            "GO APORTFOLIO TO ACCESS THE ATARI PORTFOLIO FORUM"


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






 > CHICAGO! STR SHOW NEWS            Chicago ComputerFest by Atari
   ======================



                       Chicago ComputerFest by Atari
                       -----------------------------
                           Update- November 20th



     We have updated exhibitors list for Chicago ComputerFest by Atari

 Our star-studded line-up:

 Main Floor
 ----------
  ABCO Computer Consultants           Gadgets by Small
  Atari Computer Corp.                Kaleita Art
  Apple Annie                         Mainstream America
  Application and Design Software     Mars Merchandising
  ASTMUM Montreal User Group          MaxWell CPU
  JMG Software                        Megatype
  Atari Entertainment                 Michtron
  Atari Explorer                      Micro Creations
  Atari Interface Magazine            Migraph
  BEST Electronics                    Missionware
  Branch Always Software              M-S Designs
  Clear Thinking                      One Stop
  CodeHead Software                   Oregon Research Associates
  CompuSeller West                    Phil Comeau Software
  CSA Ltd.                            Rimik
  C-Lab                               Rising STar Computers
  Double Click Software               Roland Corp.
  D.A. Brumleve                       SKware-One
  Electronic Spinster Graphics        Soft Logik
  eSTeem                              ST Informer
  Gadgets by Small                    Step Ahead
  Gribnif                             Sudden, Inc.
  Guitar Plus                         Toad Computers
  Hybrid Arts                         WizWorks!
  ICD                                 Wuztek/OPI
  ISD Marketing                       Zubair Interfaces


 8-bit Area
 ----------
  Atari Game Developers Arena         LJK
  Computer Software Services (CSS)    Mars Merchandising
  Dataque                             Newell Industries
  ICD                                 RACC (Rockford User Group- Demos)
  K.O. Distributors
  LCACE

     Atari corporation and ICD have promised that a VAST amount of 8-bit
 hardware and software will be available from them in the 8-bit area. This
 show may be the last chance for 8-bit users to obtain some of these
 items- don't be left out! Rumor has it Atari is sending a separate 40 foot
 semi trailer with 8-Bit products to sell at tremendous savings.

     Atari Entertainment has promised a special gift "while they last" for
 Chicago ComputerFest by Atari attendees.

     You may collect your gift on the main floor where we have the door
 prize drop box.

     Our seminar schedule is one of the most comprehensive ever to be
 assembled for an Atari-related event. There will be something for everyone
 both days! For a tentative listing of seminars, please see the end of this
 update for the full schedule.

     GEnie is the official source for Chicago ComputerFest by Atari
 information, please stop by the ST Roundtable, Category 11 (Shows) Topic
 10 (Chicago ComputerFest by Atari) for the latest in information, and show
 specials by our exhibitors.

     Our "hands on" training seminars have been finalized, please see the
 seminar schedule at the end of this update for the times and subjects-
 each session requires advance registration and a $15 "materials fee".  Buy
 your tickets for the Desktop classes early.

     The Computerfest by Atari is being held at the Ramada Hotel on Manheim
 Road just north of O'Hare Airport in Chicago Illinois.

     The Show is this weekend November 23rd and 24th.  The Show hours are
 10:00 AM to 5:00 PM each day.  Tickets are $6.00 per day or $10.00 for
 both days.

 Seminar Schedules

 Saturday November 23rd

 11:00 AM     Plaza   Introduction to Calamus with Mario Georgio
                      ($15.00 Materials charge)

 11:00 AM     D-12    Missionware-LottODDS.
 11:30 AM     D-11    D.A. Burmleve-Using Computers to Foster Creative
                      Thinking by Michael Marks.

 12:00 noon   D-10    Clear Thinking-Ed Hak,Metaphsycology
 12:00 noon   D-12    Dataque-Future of the 8-Bit.
 12:00 noon   D-23    Guitar Plus-Atari for the home MIDI hobby
                      by Bob Lytle
 12:00 noon   Salons  Atari Corp- "Atari Speaks"

 12:30 PM     D-11    Step Ahead- Tracker ST 3.0

  1:00 PM     D-10    Aladdin PC/Genie/HUGS meeting with Jaun Jimenez
                      On-Line Demo / TnT / Prizes for attendees.
  1:00 PM     D-12    Atari Corp. - Portfolio Q & A with Donald Thomas
  1:00 PM     D-23    Roland Corporation- New Products.

  1:30 PM     D-11    CodeHead- Professional Graphics tools.
  1:30 PM     Salons  Gadgets by Small- "Small World" by Dave Small

  2:00 PM     Plaza   Introduction to PageStream with Dan Weiss
                      ($15.00 Materials charge)

  2:00 PM     D-10    Sudden, Inc.- Sudden View.
  2:00 PM     D-12    Atari Explorer- Magazine Production with John
                      Jainschigg.
  2:00 PM     D-23    Atari Corp.- Atari ST and the professional
                      musician.

  2:30 PM     D-11    Rimik- Multi GEM Demonstration.

  3:00 PM     D-10    Missionware- FLASH II. On-Line Demo.
  3:00 PM     D-12    RACC- 8-Bit Printer codes in popular WP's.
  3:00 PM     D-23    Hybird Arts- Product Workshop.
  3:00 PM     Salons  Atari Entertainment Division- "New Games &
                      Systems" with Bob Schuricht

  3:30 PM     D-11    Electronic Spinster Graphics- Spinning bits
                      into images.

  4:00 PM     D-10    Aladdin ST/Genie with Tim Purves.   On-Line
                      Demo / Tnt
  4:00 PM     D-12    Branch Always- GEMulator PC
  4:00 PM     D-23    ASTMUM- MIDI Tips and Tricks.
  4:00 PM     Salons  ABCO- "ST Report" by Ralph Mariano

  6:45 PM     Salons  Chicago Computerfest Banquet
                      ($25.00 per person- advance)
                      Main Speaker- Greg Pratt, Pres. Atari U.S.

 Desktop Publishing Classes at 11:00 AM and 2:00 PM ($15.00 each)


 Sunday November 24

 10:30 AM     Plaza   Advanced PageStream with Dan Weiss (Tentative)
                      ($15.00 Materials Fee)

 11:00 AM     D-10    Atari Inc.- Tech Topics/TOS
 11:00 AM     D-12    Atari/Motorola- 680xx internals (Tenetive)

 11:30 AM     D-11    Gribnif- Rick Flashman Presents Arabesque Pro.

 12:00 Noon   D-10    Double Click- Real Time Data Compression.
 12:00 Noon   D-12    Atari Entertainment- Lynx Gaming tips and
                      Technique.
 12:00 Noon   D-23    Guitar Plus- Atari in Professional Studio
                      Applications by Bob Lytle.

 12:30 PM     D-11    SKWare One- Seuat Demo/TnT

  1:00 PM     Plaza   Advanced Calamus with Mario Georgio (Tentative)
                      ($15.00 Materials Fee)

  1:00 PM     D-10    Aladdin ST/Genie with Gorden Monnier.
                      On-Line Demo/TnT
  1:00 PM     D-12    Dataque- T8/16 Q&A
  1:00 PM     D-23    Hybird Arts- "Hands On"
  1:00 PM     Salons  What's New From Atari

  1:30 PM     D-11    Step Ahead- Retouche Pro CD.

  2:00 PM     D-10    Atari Explorer- Atari Journalism
                      with John Jainschigg.
  2:00 PM     D-12    A & D Software- Universal NETwork.

  2:30 PM     D-11    eSTeem, Inc.- eSTeem PILOT Authoring Language.

  3:00 PM     D-10    Aladdin PC/GEnie with Juan Jimenez
                      On-Line/TnT.
  3:00 PM     D-12    Atari Corp.- Portfolio Q & A / TnT
  3:00 PM     D-23    Roland Corporation- New Products Demo.
  3:00 PM     Salons  Guitar Plus- Basic MIDI and how it works
                      by Bob Lytle

  3:30 PM     D-11    JMG Software- Hyper LINK.

  4:00 PM     D-10    ICD, Inc.- HD/Mass storage tips.
  4:00 PM     D-23    X-Lab- Product Seminar by Bob Lytle.

 Desktop Publishing Classes at 10:30 AM and 1:00 PM ($15.00 Material Fee)



           ____________________________________________________





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

    Issue #46

    Compiled by: Lloyd E. Pulley, Sr.


  -- IBM Expected to Cut 20,000 More Jobs in 1992

 According to industry executives, in the next few weeks, IBM will anno-
 unce that it will reduce its workforce next year another 20,000 jobs on
 top of the 20,000 it is cutting this year.

 If the cuts do take place, they would only amount to 5-6% of IBM's total
 workforce and could be accomplished by voluntary attrition through in-
 centive programs.

 Worldwide, IBM had 407,000 employees in 1986, 373,000 at the start of
 1991 and if the cuts should take place, would be down to 330,000 by the
 end of 1992.



  -- SPA Settles Another Copying Suit

 Four Seattle companies are paying $100,000 to settle a suit brought by
 Software Publishers Association (SPA). This is the second suit filed by
 SPA in Seattle this year challenging the use of copyrighted software.
 The earlier case, which involved a Seattle environmental consulting
 firm, resulted in the payment of a $350,000 settlement to SPA.



  -- TI and Hitachi Working on 64-Meg Dram

 Texas Instruments Inc. and Japan's Hitachi Ltd. have signed a 10-year
 agreement to work together to develop a 64-megabit DRAM (dynamic random-
 access memory) integrated circuit and associated production technology.

 Reports say that the agreement calls for a joint pilot production of the
 chip, but volume production and marketing of the chip will be carried
 out separately by each company.

 TI and Hitachi already are cooperating in the development of the DRAMS
 in the 16-megabit range that will replace the 4-megabits. The new agree-
 ment calls for the firms to develop a common design and manufacturing
 process for the 64-megabit chip with 0.35-micron design rules.



  -- Japanese PC Shipments Down

 For the first time since the Electronic Industries Association of Japan
 began compiling such data in 1978, the value of Japanese personal com-
 puter shipments fell 3.6% in the April-September period.

 While the Japanese domestic sector grew 3.7%, this was way below an
 average annual growth of 15-20% in the past five years.



  -- Tandy Completes Opening of Eight Computer City SuperCenters

 Computer SuperCenters International Inc. (CSI), a subsidiary of Tandy
 Corp., announced Thursday it has completed the opening of eight Computer
 City SuperCenters (CCS) nationwide.  CSI plans to open approximately 12
 to 15 stores per year for the next three years.

 In addition to carrying America's five best-selling personal computer
 products - Apple, Compaq, Hewlett-Packard, IBM and Tandy, CCS will also
 have available 31 additional leading brand names and will cary thousands
 of brand name personal computer and home office products.

 Victor will be Computer City's house brand of personal computers.



  -- Digital Sets Up $5 Million Grant For AIDS & Alzheimer's

 Digital Equipment has announced the initiation of a $5 million equipment
 grant program for health organizations dealing with HIV/AIDS or
 Alzheimer's Disease.

 The program, funded by Digital's Corporate Contributions Program, will
 make equipment grants of up to $500,000 available to non- profit
 organizations through a Request for Proposals (RFP) process extending
 through June of 1993.

 The RFP Program for HIV/AIDS and Alzheimer's Disease is designed to
 assist research, support services, and education and awareness programs
 dealing with these diseases. It is a further step in the company's
 commitment to support organizations concerned with critical health
 issues."



  -- Intel Announces Fastest Supercomputer - Paragon

 Intel is to announce its latest supercomputers, the Paragon series.
 Intel says the new Paragon represents the first in a strategy to deliver
 affordable, practical trillion floating point operations per second
 (teraflops) systems by the mid 1990s. The Paragon's i860 XP processor is
 capable of 42 million instructions per second (MIPS) and 75 double
 precision million floating point operations per second (mflops) when
 operating at 50 megahertz, Intel said.

 Intel says the Paragon combines the highest achievable processing power
 with an array of system functions. This new computer is the first to
 offer several advantages including the highest delivered performance
 using the i860 XP processor, so balanced and scalable output can be
 delivered to all components of an application including computation
 input/output, networking and graphical display, Intel said.





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

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

 As a reader of STReport International Online Magazine, you are entitled to
 take advantage of a special DELPHI membership offer.  For only $29.95 ($20
 off the standard membership price!), you will receive a lifetime subscrip-
 tion to DELPHI, a copy of the 500-page DELPHI: THE OFFICIAL GUIDE and over
 $14 worth of free time.

  NOTE: Special offers can be found in your favorite Atari magazines:

              START             CURRENT NOTES         ST INFORMER
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                          ======================
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     2. At the Username prompt, type JOINDELPHI.
     3. At the Password prompt enter STREPORT.

 For more information call:
                 DELPHI Member Services at 1-800-544-4005
                                    or
    at 617-491-3393 from within Massachusetts or from outside the U.S.

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


                           SPECIAL ANNOUNCEMENT
                           --------------------

 The 20/20  Advantage Plan  IS FANTASTIC!   And it features 20 hours online
 for just $20 a month!  The $20 is a monthly fee that covers  your first 20
 hours online via direct dial into one of DELPHI's two direct-access lines,
 or via a special Tymnet 20/20 Access code.   It  also gets  you additional
 hours at just $1.20 per hour.  And you get free access to several services
 on DELPHI as part of the Advantage Perks.

 Other telecom services may have additional charges.  Canadian Tymnet users
 have an  additional telecom charge.  Office Time access (7 a.m. to 7 p.m.,
 weekdays) may have an additional charge.   And  of course,  other restric-
 tions may apply.  But this is still an amazing deal!


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

 As a reader of STReport International Online Magazine, you are entitled to
 take advantage of a special DELPHI membership offer. DELPHI has waived the
 sign-up fee!   For a limited time, you can join the World's Premier Online
 Service for FREE!  Members can access DELPHI worldwide through hundreds of
 local access lines.


 For more information please contact:

           DELPHI at 1-800-544-4005 and ask for Member Services.

                 DELPHI- It's getting better all the time!



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





 > OOPS! STR Spotlight                       Boy Is Our Face Red!!
   ===================



                       Oops, We Made a Mistake or,
                          Boy Is Our Face Red!!

 Some corrections about the review of ABBREVIATOR ST that appeared in
 STR744......

   Ralph,

   Hi! Thank you (and ST Report) for the fine review of Abbreviator ST in
   last week's STR.  I really appreciate it.  However, the reviewer did
   make a few minor errors...

   1) Abbreviator ST costs only $19.95 (_including_ postage within the
      U.S.), not $25. (Canadian orders add $2, international add $5.)

   2) Abbreviator ST is now being sold by my company, CorCom Software
      Products. The author listed "Cordata" as the company; I've never
      used or even heard of this name!

   3) CorCom's phone number is (314) 921-0668. Mastercard and Visa orders
      are welcomed.

   Could you include a "correction" in STR so that your readers will be
   able to locate Abbreviator ST? Thanks again for the review!

   -Kyle Cordes
    -CorCom Software Products

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

 In last  week's issue  of ST Report (STR745) we re-printed an article that
 was called "Wake Up and Smell the Coffee". Since there was no copyright or
 author  listed  in  the  article,  we  could not give proper credit to the
 author.

 We've since discovered the fact that this excellent article was written by
 Richard Brown  who also uploaded it to the ST Roundtable file area (file #
 20650) and was later printed in Genie Lamp issue #230 (file # 20723).

 STReport wishes to extend its thanks to Richard Brown for  his informative
 article and  to John  Peters (Genie  Lamp) for bringing this matter to our
 attention.




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


                    :HOW TO GET YOUR OWN GENIE ACCOUNT:
                     _________________________________

                       To sign up for GEnie service:

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

                 Type: XTX99587,CPUREPT then, hit RETURN.


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

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

 Catch a LIVE conference at 5  pm eastern,  Saturday and  Sunday with Z-NET
 and ATARIUSER's John Nagy. Find out what you are missing.  See you in Room
 1.

 Check out an exciting new program  from  ISD,  TMS  Cranach  Studio.   The
 full-featured DEMO version is now available, file # 21650.  An ESM example
 file is also available for it, file # 21652. This  program compliments the
 ISD product line and is a "must see".


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


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





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



 A Little of This, A Little of That
 by Michael Lee


    Some various comments about Stereo Replay - Cat. 10, Topic 6, Msgs
    2,5 - From the from the ST Roundtable on Genie...
    From Marty Klein...

    Stereo Replay and associated software is terrific on the TT. Hook the
    cartridge stereo output to an amplifier and you get CD quality sound.
    I've recorded several minutes of stereo CD with *excellent* results.

    The Stereo replay software is also easy to use and excellent feat-
    ures. Lot of fun. I have also been able to play and edit practically
    all (including Mac) digitized sounds.

    This has got to be the best stereo digitizer on the market.

    From Doug Wheeler...

    Although the Stereo Replay cartridge does have both inputs and out-
    puts, you can play samples just fine using the STE's and TT's built-
    in DMA sound.

    I haven't tried running the software in TT medium res., although the
    docs say it should (it says the software works in any mode at least
    640x400 (they even say that it won't work in ST or TT low, so they do
    acknowledge the TT).

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

 Comments from Bill Rehbock (Atari) about FSM GDOS - Cat. 14, Topic 18,
 Msg. 114 - from the ST Roundtable on Genie...
    FSM GDOS update

    1) We, well, honestly I had some problems with the first source that
    I was using for the artwork for the packaging for FSM.  I have since
    turned the box design project over to the able hands of Stephen
    Samuels up in San Francisco (actually further North :-).  I have the
    almost final proof of the package design and it looks great.

    In the mean time, during the sale of the copies of FSM GDOS that
    Goldleaf Publishing distributed (which was the fastest, most
    effective way I could think of to get the gosh darn thing out on the
    market) a few minor bugs turned up. Bugs were found in the LaserJet
    driver, which has gone in to test and looks really good.

    A feature has also been added to FSM GDOS that allows applications to
    find the _absolute_ bounding box of the bitmap of a character, this
    will allow FSM-aware applications to perform more efficient character
    deletion when backspacing and the like. A few other speed enhance-
    ments have been done in the mean time.

    I have checked with the duplication/packaging service that we are
    using and the bottom line is that FSM will be on dealer shelves four
    weeks after the box art is turned over to them. Read that: "Mid
    December"

    HOWEVER...If anybody has an absolute, really bad immediate need for
    FSM GDOS (and you don't own WordFlair so you didn't get FSM through
    them) please leave me E-Mail and I'm pretty sure that Don Thomas in
    customer relations will be willing to help me out in taking your
    $59.95 for an advance order on FSM GDOS as long as you don't mind not
    getting a pretty box. :-)

    2) For Ralph's information... There was an announcement to developers
    that FSM GDOS was available (announcements as far back as January).
    The FSM development package is rather large (~40 pages of docs & 5
    disks).  We didn't want to waste time and money sending it out to
    every developer blindly and we wanted to ensure quality feedback and
    bug reports from the developers that were using it. Hence, we distri-
    buted it on an 'on-request' basis only, to developers that showed a
    real interest in it.

    The developers that we received bug reports from and general feedback
    from were mailed and e-mailed updates.  There were several blatant,
    obvious bugs in the first two developer releases, so we knew who was
    actually developing it and who wasn't - it weeded out the serious
    people very quickly. (BTW, the first rev allegedly showed up on two
    pirate bbs's :-( With the cooperation of the developers that were
    involved and helped, FSM has become a very, very, good, very solid
    product.

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

 About Arsenio Hall and the STacy - From John J. (Atari Explorer) - Cat.
 14, Topic 3, Msg. 128 - from the ST Roundtable on Genie...
    To Randy, et. al: The Stacy used on the Arsenio Hall show may have a
    big label on it, but I'd like to clarify that it's being used as a
    TOOL, not as a "prop."

    The Stacy is the favored sequencing controller of Jeff Fair, the
    sound designer responsible for many of the effects heard in the first
    few seconds of the show's current "intro" segment. Specifically, it
    receives SMPTE time-code striped onto the video segment that opens
    the show. The SMPTE code triggers elements of a sequence that the
    Stacy then outputs to a sampler, in which multiple effects have been
    digitally recorded: drum hits, the "zooming" sounds that back up
    Arsenio's "signature comet" as it streaks across the L.A. skyline,
    and even the sound of Arsenio Hall himself, yelling "Crank it up!"
    The sequenced/sampled drum hits cue the band (the Posse), and they
    actually play the theme live, behind the video.

    The producers of The Arsenio Hall Show are very concerned that music
    on the show be live -- insofar as possible. That's why they (and
    Jeff) have gone to so much trouble to create a data-interface between
    this video-footage, the Stacy (which ties the whole thing together)
    and the band, rather than simply recording the music and effects,
    once and for all, on the tape.

    During the remainder of the show, the Stacy orchestrates sound
    effects, and helps out the band in other ways. Jeff's wife, by the
    way, is Starr Parodi, one of the Posse's two keyboard players, and
    they conspired together to make this intro segment possible. Starr is
    also a real fan of the Atari, and uses Atari sequencers in her own
    composing and performance. Her latest album, produced by Jeff, is
    called "Change," and is presently available on the Gift Horse label.

    Marc Vale, of Keyboard Magazine, interviewed Starr and Jeff for Atari
    Explorer's upcoming (one week and counting) MIDI issue, and we had
    Darryl Estrine do a cover shoot of them, in their home studio. Wait
    'til you see this! (grin)

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

 More misc. information from Bill Rehbock (Atari) - Cat. 14, Topic 31,
 Msg. 139 - from the ST Roundtable on Genie...

    The next shipment of TT's is due in next week.  No dealers have the
    1.44 drives yet, they _should_ be in this shipment, but no
    guarantees.

    I will guarantee that the machine you get from Don at Compuseller
    West will have TOS 3.06. 3.06 has features such as: memory test
    during boot up (abort with a key); faster detection of no floppy in
    drive situations; the TT now boots into TT medium res with the cache
    on; the VDI is about 20% faster; all 256 ASCII codes can be easilty
    accessed by holding down <alt> and typing the ASCII value on the
    numeric keypad; the 3.06 ROMs are 100% 1.44meg drive ready. There
    other enhancements also, these are the ones I remembered off the top
    of my head.

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

 Some info about Space Quest IV and Kings Quest V from Sierra - Cat. 9,
 Topic 32, Msgs 125, 129 - from the ST Roundtable on Genie...
    From Vince Patricelli...

    I read that Sierra has Space Quest 4 already ported for the ST but
    has not decided if they will release it yet. Perhaps if enough Atari
    owners write in about it being released, they might just do it! I
    love the Space Quest Series and would really like to see this game
    available. Any Sierra fan should write and request this fine program
    to be released.

    Sierra, Inc
    P.O. Box 485
    Coarsegold, CA 93614
    Attn: Ken Williams


    From David Holmes...

    I just talked to Corey Cole at Sierra, and he said that King's Quest
    V and Space Quest IV for the Atari are NOT finished products. They
    may have started it, but they definitely didn't get very far into
    them. They did start a Quest for Glory II ST, but realized that they
    would LOSE money if they finished and released it. I know Sierra
    wants its customers happy, but I doubt they're willing to lose money
    in order to do so.

    If you want to play Sierra games the way they were designed, you need
    either a 286 w/VGA or a color Mac.

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

 Magic Pockets by the Bitmap Brothers - From E.Baiz - Cat. 9, Topic 33,
 Msg. 1 - from the ST Roundtable on Genie...
    This is very good game that has come from the Bitmaps. It is somewhat
    like a Nintendo-type game where you have a character that moves
    around from level to level. The graphics and animation are
    outstanding. The sound is not bad either. On a STe you get stereo
    music both from the ST and digitized. Excellent game and a must for
    any ST owner. I have the demo from ST Action and I must this one.

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

 The Omnimon Peripherals HDrive kit is now available - From Paul Wu
 (Omnimon Peripherals) - Cat. 4, Topic 17, Msgs 1,2,9,10 - from the ST
 Roundtable on Genie...
    Here it is. The long awaited HDrive Kit from Omnimon Peripherals Inc.
    is finally here. The HDrive kit consists of a floppy disk controller
    board "HDFDC" measuring 1" by 2", and a replacement disk drive. The
    HDFDC is a drop-in replacement of the old WD1772 floppy controller
    chip. It is 100% compatible with all register commands therefore
    insuring software compatibility.

    Installation is quite easy: for ST computers with a socketed 1772,
    remove the old chip and the new HDFDC module plugs in place of the
    old chip. For the people that have STs with soldered-in 1772s, they
    need to have an authorized Atari dealer to desolder the old chip and
    put in a replacement IC socket which we provide. The 1.44MB disk
    drive is then installed in the space previously taken up by the Atari
    disk drive. If you can not locate a dealer to perform such upgrade,
    we will help you locate a dealer or do it ourselves for a nominal
    fee. This kit works with all STs, STEs, and Megas.

    The kit retails for $199 with the drive. We package Teac drives with
    our kit and it is the only drive we endorse. Teac manufacturers
    several 3.5" HD drives and not all of them work with the ST. If you
    have the same model we sell, the HDrive kit minus drive is $99.

    You will only need one HDFDC for both internal and external drives
    and you can use the HDrive with Spectre GCR in the 720K mode. We
    claim 100% compatibility because when a 720K disk is inserted, the
    board operates just like your 1772. The enhanced mode "kicks in" only
    when a HD disk is inserted.

    When shopping for HD controller upgrades, beware of mods that solders
    on top of your existing chip. First of all, it is difficult to
    install and usually even more difficult to reverse the
    process.Secondly, piggy backing tends to overheat the component
    especially with the 1772 which operates "hot". Our kit uses surface
    mount component to insure minimization of board real-estate and it is
    designed to keep the chip operate "COOL" therefore prolong the life
    expectancy of the upgrade.

    HDrive is an "auto-switch" design. It is register compatible with the
    WD1772. HDrive relies on the OS to read the disk to find out what
    kind of disk is inserted.

    The HDrive requires that the installer cuts out enough clearance for
    the disk ejection button.

    We use Teac 235HF. There are several versions of 235HF available on
    the market. You need the ones with one single row of jumpers.

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

 Important Moniterm info from C.Grimsby - Cat. 4, Topic 25, Msg. 71 -
 from the ST Roundtable on Genie...

    For those of you who haven't heard, MoniTerm filled for Chapter 11
    Nov. 11th, and laid off 22 percent of their workforce. Being a local
    company, this was reported in the local paper, the Minneapolis Star
    Tribune.

    This doesn't mean Moniterm is out of business, as they _are_ going to
    try to make a go of it, however rumors of a buy-out are floating
    around.

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

 Info about TigerCub from E.Baiz - Cat. 10, Topic 7, Msg. 1 - from the ST
 Roundtable on Genie...

    I use TigerCub and I am very satisfied with it. It is probably the
    best sequencer made for any computer under $100. The only thing I
    find that is displeasing is the fact it only supports 12 tracks. The
    people at Dr. T are now thinking about adding more.

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

 Until next week.....



           _____________________________________________________





 > RR Tycoon Tourney STR InfoFile      RAILROAD TYCOON SCENARIO TOURNAMENT
   ==============================




 Put on your conductor's hat and enter....



                            CAPTAIN MIDNIGHT'S
                   RAILROAD TYCOON SCENARIO TOURNAMENT!!



 Brought to you by Captain Midnight's Game Room, The Atari ST On-Line
 Games Newsletter.

 Now that one of the year's greatest games is out (in not altogether per-
 fect condition) (but the bugs are cured), it's time to see who can really
 build an empire of railroads.

 OBJECT: To find the best-run and efficient railroad. Location does
 not matter.

 RULES:

 1) You have to own the Atari ST version of Railroad Tycoon. Only ST
 entries will be counted.

 2) Only _one_ entry per empire builder.

 3) All entries must be submitted by one of two ways:

    A) e-mail to D.KERR1
    B) by floppy disk sent to:
       Four Corners Communications
       160 Fifth Avenue  #614
       New York, NY 10010

 4) All entries must be compressed either by ARC or LZH.

 5) All submitted railroads must be at least 25 years old in game years.

 6) There will be only _one_ winner.

 HOW TO SAVE YOUR RAILROAD:

 When you think you have perfected your railroad, save it to the first slot
 after clicking "Save Game." You can also save it to another directory by
 pressing the directory's letter in the save procedure.

 Games are saved with _two_ files: a .MAP file and an .SVE file. They cor-
 respond by the prefix RRT0, which means the first save slot.  Both files
 must be submitted!

 Also include a 50-word description of your railroad, including why it
 works so well and its name.

 Submit your name, mailing address and daytime phone number.

 DEADLINE FOR SUBMISSIONS: December 31, 1991

 Winners will be announced and notified by February 1, 1992.

 JUDGES:

 Myself, but I have the king of Railroad Tycoon judging as well Mr. Russell
 Sipe, editor/publisher of Computer Gaming World and author of The Official
 Guide to Sid Meier's Railroad Tycoon (Compute! Books) PRIZES (and they
 are hot):

 "The Official Guide To Sid Meier's Railroad Tycoon" book and a one-year
 subscription to Computer Gaming World, donated by Russell Sipe and the
 magazine.

 "Master Populous" -- the new book by Clayton Walnum, donated by its
 publisher, SAMS/Macmillan.

 A choice of "Red Storm Rising," "M1 Tank Platoon," "Gunship" or "Midwin-
 ter" -- donated by "Quentin" of Microprose!

 "Night Shift" -- the superb LucasFilms game, brand new, in the bag,
 donated by me.

 If you have any questions, please post them in the message forum or e-mail
 me (D.KERR1).  [Genie]

 If this tournament is successful, I will follow this with a similar one
 for SimCity.

 GOOD LUCK!!


 Drew Reid Kerr

 P.S. employees, family or friends of MicroProse are ineligible.



          _______________________________________________________






 > DOUBLE CLICK CIS CONFERENCE STR FOCUS     CIS & DC Software's Online CO.
   =====================================


 Double Click Software online in a Conference on CIS Atari Fora.


 (1-1,Moderator) Welcome to a special edition of the Compuserve Atari
 Forum's Thursday Night Conference!  Tonight we're pleased to present as
 our special guests, Mike Vederman and Keith Gerdes of Double Click
 Software.  DC products include the DC Desktop, an enhancement to GEM's
 desktop; the DC Utilities package, which contains a number of great
 utilities to make your life easier; and their latest product, Data Diet, a
 real-time file compression system that can save gobs of space on your hard
 disk.  Mike & Keith, do you have any comments you'd like to start out
 with?

 (1-5,Mike & Keith) Yes, thank you for hosting us tonight.  We are pleased
 to be here and talk to all the wonderful people out there in modem-land.
 :-) We are very anxious to get things going, so we'll keep the intro
 short.

 (1-1,Moderator) oh, ok... :-)

 (1-1,Moderator) Pattie, you have the floor!

 (1-7,Pattie) Wow, that was fast! Thanks!  Mike and Keith, how does Data
 Diet work?  Are the compression routines like an ARC or LZH??

 (1-5,Mike & Keith) Well, Pattie, I'm glad you asked that!  :-)  Data Diet
 is the first Atari real-time compression program, which means that it
 actually compresses them when you write them to disk, and normalizes
 (decompresses) them when you read the files in.  All transparently to the
 program that is currently running.  As you would expect, doing com-
 pression on-the-fly can really slow the system down.  If we were to use
 ARC of (ee-gad) LZH for the actual compression, you can imagine what kind
 of slow-down you'd see.  What with the speed of hard disks now very, very
 quick, we couldn't see that using anything like ARC or LZH to be fast
 enough.  Sooo...  Over the past 2+ years, Keith has been perfecting his
 proprietary compression algorithm (which first appeared in DC Squish).
 Now he has gotten it to compress at over 100 kilobytes per second on an 8
 mhz ST, and decompress at a rate of 3x - 5x faster.  <too make a short
 ayes-no answer long :->

 (1-7,Pattie) One final question, if I may... How much time does this add
 to loading in a file?  Do you have something like a percentage extra
 loading time?

 (1-5,Mike & Keith) Determining the actual increase in load time of a file
 is really difficult to put into a neat percentage figure.  Some times it
 is next to nothing, sometimes it is a little more than nothing, although
 the actual time will definitely determine (oops...) the actual size will
 determine the time.  And, of course, the file is only normalized once
 while you are using a program, so the first time the file is loaded is the
 only time you see that 'slowdown'.  Which, frankly, is not really a factor
 we have ever heard a comment on.  Most people make a reference to a
 slowdown on the save of the file, not the reading in of the file.  In or-
 der to minimize the effect of slow-down on writes, we have designed Data
 Diet (DD) to have two modes of compression, one is actually real-time mode
 that compresses the file(s) when you write to them, while the other mode
 only dietizes the file(s) when you start a program or quit a program.  SO,
 for example, if you create an article in First Word for that stupendous
 magazine AIM (while operating in what we call terminate mode <arnold mode
 at DC :->), then every time you save out the file while still in FW is at
 the full-speed of FW.  THen, when you quit FW, the file is dietized then.
 In what we call real-time mode, every time you save the file out, it is
 compressed.  This is a real resource hog, and is the way the IBM and Mac
 programs perform their disk data compression.  And it is the same way our
 yet-to-be-seen competition from Germany does it (which we have been told
 is unusably slow...).

 (1-1,Moderator) Ok, Ron, you're up!

 (1-2,Ron Luks) What does Data Diet do to files... that are already compre-
 ssed, like ARC and LZH files?

 (1-5,Mike & Keith) Well, Ron, I'm glad you asked that question... :-) Data
 Diet has a lot of flexibility built into it.  You can exclude any number
 of files, folders, or drives from dietization, therefore, you can exclude
 already compressed files from being dietized.  Some files, like digitized
 sound files are, are too random to compress adequately, so you can exclude
 them as well, and DD will just ignore them any time they are read or writ-
 ten.

 (1-2,Ron Luks) But DD doesn't exclude ARc and LZH files automatically
 then?

 (1-5,Mike & Keith) DD has a configuration file that allows you to specify
 any type of file by extension or complete filename to exclude.  It even
 has a means of excluding a file, folder or drive on-the-fly.

 (1-1,Moderator) Neil, you're up!

 (1-9 N. Bradley) A question on compatibility:  I run a BBS, and I would be
 interested to hear... how that would affect the read-write of files on the
 bbs, both .. when the user is downloading files, accessing doors, etc. I
 have experienced ..problems with DC Squish on some of the programs on my
 bbs that won't.. run properly when squished.

 (1-5,Mike & Keith) Well, Neil, thanks for asking that question!  :-) First
 of all, running a program from doors in a program can be very problematic.
 Especially when it is a BBS program.  However, depending on the version of
 DC Squish you are using (latest is 1.4c), I would suggest that to insure
 100% compatibility with running a program that you _always_ set the TPA
 button when you Squish a program....  AS for DD... We can't really recom-
 mend DD for a BBS operator, since it never terminates, however, if you
 often run doors programs, then it could possibly work OK.  The problem
 with a BBS scenario is that DD uses a temporary work directory to store
 the normalized file.  If you run a BBS program that doesn't run other pro-
 grams, which normally runs without terminating, then you'd essentially
 have one copy of the file in your work directory, and one copy where it
 originally resides.  Additionally, most files on a bbs are already
 compressed, thereby you wouldn't get any savings using DD.

 (1-1,Moderator) ok, your turn Pat!

 (1-12,Pat Augustine) This is more of a Id-like-to-see question. Would it
 be possible to add a line to  DATADIET.INF, to tell Data Diet not to run
 during certain programs? I can't count the times I've de-arc'ed something,
 only to have Diet come along and compress it before I can look at it.

 (1-5,Mike & Keith) Pat!  You are the man!  Don't you know it's against the
 law in most states to read someone else's mind???  We are currently tes-
 ting this feature right now in the current beta version.  <OK, who's been
 talking to Pat :->

 (1-1,Moderator) ok Chris, you're up!

 (1-6,Chris Sorensen) How safe is my data?  As an example, let's say I've
 just finished a rather lengthy session with a database.  I exit the progr-
 am, then start it again later to check an item. For some reason, a sector
 in the middle of the db got stepped on, and the db is only partially read-
 able, up to the damaged sector.  With a "normal" (non-dietized) file, I
 could use a disk utility to recover most everything beyond the damaged
 sector.  What happens with DD?  Have I lost everything beyond the damaged
 sector?  The whole file?

 (1-5,Mike & Keith) Yes.  :-) I just conferred with Kieth, and he tells me
 that you would lose all of the data after the 'hole' in the file.  DD w-
 ould be unable to re-synchronize its way in the file, and it would be
 lost.  Chances are, in your example, that the program would have trouble
 if it were a file you attempted to recover by hand.  Of course, a text
 file would be another story, since you could rewrite the missing section.
 We aren't aware of any compression technique that can recover a missing
 section of a single file.

 (1-1,Moderator) ok, Keith Joins is up!

 (1-10,keith joins) What would the consequences be if DATADIET.TBL got tra-
 shed?  I guess in other words, is it a good idea to make frequent backups
 of that file?

 (1-5,Mike & Keith) If DATADIET.TBL is lost or you delete it, then the f-
 iles waiting to be dietized would remain in the work directory and you
 would have to manually move them out of the work directory.  DD is desi-
 gned to not touch files it doesn't know about.

 (1-5,Mike & Keith) In this case, since the DATADIET.TBL file tells DD what
 needs to be done, since it would be gone, DD would just assume nothing
 needs to be done.

 (1-10,keith joins) it would have no effect on normalizing already dietized
 files?

 (1-1,Moderator) So DATADIET.TBL is only used for dietizing, not normalizi-
 ng?

 (1-5,Mike & Keith) DATADIET.TBL is used to tell DD everything.  Let me
 digress momentarily... DD is composed of several parts: DATADIET.PRG is
 the AUTO folder handler that is the actual workhorse (and it's only 10K!!-
 !); DATADIET.APP/ACC is the front-end to DD that lets you examine files in
 use, configure DD, and perform various other housekeeping chores; and fin-
 ally, DD_TOOLS.APP/ACC allows you to singly or batch dietize/normalize a
 file, folder or partition, and you can get info on a single file or get
 'calories' on a folder or partition, which displays alot of statistics
 about your disk, including space saved and what size drive your drive l-
 ooks like with DD installed.  Sooo...  if you are using DD_TOOLS, then
 DATADIET.TBL doesn't have any control, since DD is put into real-time m-
 ode.
 (1-1,Moderator) Ok, final call for questions here... Paul is next, and
 after further questions we'll have the drawing! Paul, you're on!  Well,
 looks like Paul must've stepped out.  In the meantime, M&K, any new stuff
 in the pipeline?

 (1-5,Mike & Keith) Whoa!  New stuff.  Have we got plans.  First of all, we
 will soon be releasing Game Workbench, absolutely the best animated inter-
 active video game system in the world, bar none.  GW combines several sup-
 erb tools with the best sprite manipulation, page flipping, map scrolling,
 and animation techniques used by professional game programmers.  With GW
 you can easily create a Dungeon Master, Batman, Time Bandit, Speedball,
 Asteroids, Sinistar, etc. type game.  It is truly astounding.  GW has been
 in design and construction for 3 years now, and is a shining masterpeice
 of true video craftsmanship.  One of the best things about GW is it is
 designed to allow you to write the game once, and if you follow the guid-
 elines we set forth, you will be able to compile the same game on another
 platform with a minimal to no effort.  Currently, we have plans to release
 an IBM PC version of GW, and after that a Macintosh version.  Beyond that,
 we will see what platform to write it for NeXT.  <grin>  GW comes with
 three program tools: Animatic is the best sprite animation editor availab-
 le, with many many features, including scaling, fading, blurring, and o-
 ther special effects, 100 sprite buffers, the ability to manipulate each
 frame or ranges, cut and paste between sprite films, and it is also a com-
 plete paint program.  You can also use it to create fonts and create to-
 kens for your playfield maps.  The Cartographer uses playfield tokens cre-
 ated with Animatic to allow you to create your scrolling map for your Time
 Bandit clone (or Vanguard clone :-).  Finally, the Film Spy lets you se-
 arch for and save out graphics from any file, so you can lift sprites from
 another game.  The heart of GW is the 450+ game routine library that in-
 corporates all of the best professional techniques for sprite manipulation
 (movement, collision detection, etc, with unlimited sprites), animation
 (it will play Cyber or Chronos animations from the disk - oh, and Animatic
 will load them in and let you use them as sprites, as well as import many
 other sprite formats), page flipping, color interrupts on every scanline
 (or a different resolution), digitized and background music, loading and
 detection of a picture file format, keyboard, joystick and mouse handling,
 plus much much more in a very easy to use format.  The best thing is GW
 will be usable with your favorite C compiler or compiled GFA BASIC.  Much
 much more.  It will have an introductory price of $99.95.  We also have
 plans for many other things, including a package of CPXes for the new
 extensible control panel, DC NoveTalk which was shown working at
 Dusseldorf allows your PC emulator in your ST to talk to and use a Novell
 network (so it isn't just stand-along anymore), and DC Talk will give any
 ST (note _ST_) localtalk ports so you can have a cheap and _fast_
 network.  All this and more...  Anyone know how to make the days longer?
 :-)

 (1-2,Ron Luks) ok folks....

 1-1,Moderator) Sounds great! It's getting late, so do you have any closi-
 ng.
 statement before the drawing?

 (1-5,Mike & Keith) You can write to us for our newsletter for more details
 on what we have planned for the future:  PO BOX 741206, Houston, TX 77274.

 (1-2,Ron Luks) Lemme step in and thank Mike and Keith for hosting this
 CO...

 (1-2,Ron Luks) and give the details of our online "drawing" for a free
 copy ...
 of Data Diet. First, no sysops or Free accounts eligible ) (sorry Pattie
 and Lee) [g].
 (1-10,keith joins) booo! hiss!

 (1-7,Pattie) Ron, ahhh shucks! :)


 (1-2,Ron Luks) Every other user will type the following command EXACTLY as
 ...
 shown.  It will roll 5 6-sided dice...

 (1-2,Ron Luks) and the highest total wins the prize. ...

 [10] keith joins - you pay here <g>

 (1-2,Ron Luks) In case of a tie score, the highest numbers (the tie) roll
 a ...
 a second time. ....

 (1-2,Ron Luks) The command is /ROLL 6 5

 (***DICE***) Chris Sorensen rolled (6) 5,2,1,5,5=18

 (***DICE***) Pat Augustine rolled (6) 3,5,1,2,5=16

 (***DICE***) Frank K. rolled (6) 3,6,5,5,3=22

 (***DICE***) Marc Champagne rolled (6) 5,1,2,6,4=18

 (***DICE***) Rob R. rolled (6) 5,6,4,3,3=21

 (***DICE***) Charles Carroll rolled (6) 4,3,4,1,4=16

 (***DICE***) Lee rolled (6) 5,1,4,6,2=18

 (***DICE***) Mike & Keith rolled (6) 5,2,6,4,4=21

 (***DICE***) wda rolled (6) 3,6,4,6,5=24

 (1-1,wda) :-)

 (1-10,keith joins) frank's winning!

 (1-3,Frank K.) Are you kidding me?

 (1-2,Ron Luks) Looks like Frank K is the winner!  Congrats

 (1-10,keith joins) too bad bill

 (1-1,wda) oh darn! hehe

 (1-3,Frank K.) I've never won anything in my life. Gosh.  Thanks!!!!

 (1-2,Ron Luks) Frank-- drop an EMAIL to Mike and Keith and send them your
 address

 (1-12,Pat Augustine) Congrats, Frank!

 (1-17,Rob R.) Those dice were loaded <g>

 (1-10,keith joins) neil: you get the wok!

 (1-7,Pattie) Congrats Frank!

 (1-3,Frank K.) Wow.  I'm excited about GW and the other new things. That's
 great
 Keith, THANKS!

 (1-5,Mike & Keith) Congratulations Frank.  Of course, all contestants must
 meet eligibility rules and pay applicable tax title license and destina-
 tion charges.  Your milage may vary, some states do not allow restric-
 tions...

 (1-2,Ron Luks) ok folks.  Thats it. Thanks to all who attended.  G'nite
 all.

 (1-5,Mike & Keith) Frank, send email to 75300,577


            __________________________________________________



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



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

 On CompuServe


 by Judith Hamner  72257,271


     We have another week's worth of great uploads. Marathon programmers
 BJ Gleason, Dave Stewart, and Don Messerli are to be congratulated and
 thanked for their effort.


 LAUNCH.ZIP is an improved version of Launch by David Stewart.  This update
 incorporates suggestions from P Craig Davis.

 AU1091.TXT and AU1191.TXT are the October and November Portfolio columns
 from AtariUser Magazine. PA07.TXT is issue #7 of Portable Addiction.

 These are being uploaded regularly by BJ Gleason.
 PB01.TXT is his Pbasic programming column re-printed from RE:Port.

 MAC.ZIP by David Stewart is a program to easily define keyboard macros.

 MCMAP.ZIP is a program by Don Messerli to give a visual represention on
 screen of how space is allocated on a RamCard.  This will illustrate the
 degree of file fragmentation.

 TOUCH.EXE by BJ Gleason will set the date and time stamp on a file to the
 current time in the system clock.  Wildcards are supported.

 CPORT.ZIP is a test version of a CompuServe navigation program by David
 Stewart. There has been much demand for a program to automate CompuServe
 use with the Port. This version will logon, go to the selected forum and
 download new messages. David would welcome your comments.

 Steve Liberty is experimenting with an outliner for the Port.

 SL-OUT.ZIP Is a small version that will handle 50 line files.

 Don Messerli and BJ Gleason have developed a new graphics standard. The
 PGX standard has all pictures, text and control information in a single
 file.

 PGFLIX.ZIP is a PGX viewer by Don Messerli.

 DOMINO.ZIP is a PGX animation file which can be used to try out the
 viewer.

 PGCAP.ZIP is a screen capture program by BJ Gleason. Pgcap will allow
 you to capture a screen to a file in PGF or PGT format. The files can then
 be converted to other formats using PGCONV.

     We also have some announcements. CFEST1.TXT is a pre-show update for
 Computerfest by Atari.  The show will be held this weekend in Chicago.
 AUTOBY.TXT gives descriptions of Autobyte Products Software.



          _______________________________________________________





 > REALLY? A MAC? STR FOCUS     a humorous look at 'getting started'
   ========================




                      A MACINTOSH CONVERT? - NO WAY!
                      ==============================




 by Dana P. Jacobson


      Before even getting started, I must state for the record that most of
 what you are about to read is based on pure assumption on my part.  Some
 of these assumptions are made because of lack of knowledge and/or
 experience.  I've assured myself that I'll probably be corrected a number
 of times, but the experiences and observations I'm about to reflect are,
 at the least, humorous to more experienced users.

      At the recent WAACE show, a friend received one of the Spectre 128
 cartridges that Dave Small passed out.  Since this friend already had a
 GCR, he gave me the 128.  Well, I wasn't really that enthusiastic about
 it, since I really had no desire to "use" a Mac, so it sat on the shelf
 for a couple of weeks.  Well, I happened to hear that someone was selling
 their ST set-up, including a Spectre, so I bought the Mac ROMs for a great
 price.  I also managed to get a couple of disks which included the
 System/Finder software, a telecommunications program, a word processor,
 and a couple of games.  Okay, I could at least _do_ something now.

      I was given a brief explanation how to get going, so I was on my way
 to muddle through learning how to use a "new" computer.  Put the Spectre
 disk in, ran the Spectre program, and I'm almost there.  It seems almost
 to unbelievable to comprehend, but supposedly when I hit the Return key,
 I'll enter the Mac world by using my ST.  I did, and it did.  "Welcome to
 Macintosh".  Well, so far it's friendly, now what?  No icons like my ST
 desktop displays.  Hmm, oh yeah, hit F1 and the A drive appears.  Hit F2
 and the B drive is there (I haven't got the courage yet to run it on my
 hard drive!).

      Now things look familiar, so I open up the System/Finder disk to see
 what's there.  Nothing that I can use directly, so I close it up again.
 Check out the other drive and run the telecommunications program.  It has
 drop down menus, but when I move the cursor to one, nothing happens.  Oh
 yeah, hold down the mouse button to access the menus.  Let's read the
 docs.  On the ST, double-clicking on a non-executable file will bring up
 the familiar "Display, Print, Cancel" dialog box.  Double click this Mac
 document and the program runs!?  Well, now that I'm here, let's check out
 the program anyway!  I got all of my settings straightened out.  Where's
 the dialer?  Another menu for that, put the number in and dialed.  Hey, it
 worked!!  Oops, I don't have the function key macros I'm used to with In-
 terlink!!  What's my password for this BBS??  Hang up....

      Alright, let's check out one of the other disks, but we may go back
 to the telecom in a bit.  Take out the System disk, insert a game disk.
 Oops, that doesn't work.  Well, on the ST I can hit the [ESC] key to re--
 read a new disk, so let's try it on the "Mac".  Nope, that doesn't work.
 Oh yeah, if I hit F1 before, it should read the disk.  Nope, I get this
 weird flashing "A" at the top of my screen.  Hit F1 again.  Please insert
 "UnNamed Disk HFS", it says.  Huh?  None of my disks are "named"!!  Put in
 the System disk again; maybe it acts like TOS on disk.  Still nothing.
 Click on "B" - nothing.  I guess I messed something up!!

      I turned the system off and started over again.  Loaded Spectre, hit
 Return, and nothing!  I made a frantic call and was reminded that to
 change disks, you must "eject" the disk first.  Well, when I hit that but-
 ton in front of my floppy drive, the disk ejected!!  Oh, you have to
 either select "Eject" from the drop down menu or drag the disk icon to the
 trashcan.  Drag it to the trashcan??  That will erase the disk!!  Not on
 the Mac!

      Well, it was a moot point for the present, since I apparently had
 trashed the system disk.  I hadn't made a back-up because I hadn't figured
 that out yet!  Got a replacement and started over again.  I checked out
 this "Eject" method, and I got that darn flashing "B" this time (I left
 the system disk in this time!).  Took out the disk, and replaced it with
 another, hit F2.  Hey, it worked!  Played a game or two of the Mac's ver-
 sion of Shanghai, called Mombasa - nice game!  Let's try the telecom
 program again and see if I can download something.

      I found my password, and succeeded in getting online.  I read a few
 messages and went directly to the Mac SIG.   Found a small file of
 interest, let's get it.  I figured out how to select the right transfer
 protocol and proceeded to download the file, or so I thought.  How do I
 save the file?  There's no room on this disk, and I just can't put in a
 blank disk.  There's no access to "eject" or to the desktop to "trash" the
 disk!!  Sheesh, this is frustrating.  I hung up and explored the menus
 more thoroughly.  I had no idea how to get at the docs, so I guessed.  I
 found a "Receive Folder" option and realized I had to "predetermine" the
 file destination _before_ I started to download.  Weird item selector, but
 it worked.  I did manage to go back and get the file, but it took some
 doing!

      I left Spectre alone for a couple of days, but I was determined to
 learn some more.  I still haven't been able to figure out why I can't
 display a doc file.  Sometime I get thrown right into the program, as what
 happened with the telecom program.  In others, I get an odd error message
 saying something to the effect that I can't access that application or
 something.  Sooner or later, probably _much_ later, I'll figure it out!!

      I discovered the Transverter program and learned that I could copy
 files from the ST disk to a Mac disk, or vice versa, great!!  At least I
 could download in ST mode and get the programs onto a Mac disk!!  I found
 UnStuffit for the Mac, so I could uncompress that file I downloaded ear-
 lier.  That worked although I have no idea how!  I learned how to format
 disks so I'd have some available.  It was frustrating to learn that there
 are more than one format "type" available.  Decisions decisions...  I even
 managed to figure out how to shut the system down before literally shut-
 ting it down!!  What a chore!

      If running Mac software using Spectre is supposed to be an indication
 of how a Mac operates, I'd rather use my ST any day!  Granted, I'm still a
 novice with Spectre, but first impressions are important.  Operating the
 "Mac" just isn't intuitive, or at least it wasn't for me.  If I was ever
 to consider going to another computer platform, it probably won't be to
 the Mac.  I've learned first hand what I knew all along: the ST is a
 machine that is simple to operate right from the beginning.  Having a Mac
 or IBM logo on a computer doesn't necessarily mean that the machine is
 going to live up to its hype.  Knowing that I can emulate the Mac now with
 Spectre can only be a plus (once I know what I'm doing!), but if I didn't
 have Spectre, I'd still be more than satisfied.  Being able to emulate the
 Mac allows me to do more exploring of various software that I might not be
 able to use with my ST alone.  The great part of all this is that I'm
 still using my ST, only using it _as_ a Mac.  I admit that I haven't ex-
 plored much yet using Spectre, but what I've learned so far is that I
 still prefer Atari machines and that the Mac world didn't win over a
 potential convert.


          _______________________________________________________






 > STReport's Editorial Page                 "SAYIN' IT LIKE IT IS!"
   =========================


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


     The Chicago Computerfest by Atari is a very real and magnanimous
 happening at the Ramada Hotel O'Hare in Rosemont, Illinois.  This show
 promises to be one for the "books".  Its been related that Atari is
 sending two, possibly three, "eighteen wheelers" jam packed full of
 goodies for the show.

     There's something for all Atari enthusiasts at this show, the "8 bit
 users, Lynx players, Portfolio affectionados, Unix Gurus, Desktop
 Publishing Wizards, Midi Artists, 16 bit users and of course, the curious
 and soon to be ... new users."

     Atari has most assuredly outdone themselves in providing a solid, well
 planned, platform from which to launch this, the very first fully Atari
 supported effort by the fine folks of the LCACE usergroup.

     The list of supporters coming from the userbase for this show is
 indeed impressive.  The listing reads like a "who's who" in the Atari
 Community.  Congratulations and heartfelt thanks are extended to each and
 every one of them for coming forward to help make this show a wonderful
 success.

     ABCO Computer Consultants, my company, is among those listed as
 attending.  While I would LOVE to be there I am, unfortunately due to
 circumstances beyond my control, unable to attend in person.  However, I
 am with you all in spirit and there will be more than adequate
 representation for both ABCO Computer Consultants and STReport
 International Online Magazine.

     In addition to this souvenir issue from STReport that highlights a
 number of the fine exhibitors at the show, ABCO Computer Consultants has
 donated a complete, ready to run ABCO 105mb hard disk system to the show
 organizers to be given away to a lucky Grand Prize winner!  Also donated
 by ABCO are (6) Door Prizes, $100.00 ABCO Gift Certificates.

     Please, be sure, one and all, to have a wonderful time at this show,
 and above all else I hope all of you have fond memories of both the show
 and the Atari wonders you experience for many years to come.  This show is
 sure to be remembered as the "Ultimate Atari Experience!"

     At this time, I'd like to take a moment to wish the warmest of Holiday
 Cheer to everyone in the Atari Community.  ThanksGiving, Chanukah and
 Christmas signify  a wonderful time of the year for everyone.  The
 marvelous Holiday Season,  a time for renewing old friendships and the
 making of wonderful new ones.   There may have been times, over the past
 year, when relationships became somewhat strained but because of solid
 friendships, these situations are easily overcome.  To one and all, enjoy
 the very warmest of holiday cheer and for the coming year, good health
 and fortune.

                                             thanks again,

                                             Ralph.........







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




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


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



 From GEnie ST RT
 Category 9,  Topic 32
 Message 143       Tue Nov 19, 1991
 K.SCHAFER4 [Necromancer]     at 21:49 EST

 I received the following letter after I sent one to Sierra, asking them to
 continue developing for the ST line:

 Dear Mr. Schafer,

 Let me begin by saying that Sierra On-Line appreciates your support of our
 software, and in turn we would like to do our best to support you in your
 use of that software.

 Unfortunately the Atari computer market is not growing at a rate that
 makes producing games for the Atari profitable. We have been producing
 programs for the Atari for many years in the hope that the sale of Atari
 computers will pick up. We have found that the cost to convert programs to
 the Atari format is greater than the profit from the sales of the Atari
 software.

 I tend to blame Atari for the lack of agressive marketing of the Atari
 computer here in the United States. It is difficult to convince management
 to invest in the Atari platform when Atari thenselves simply have not made
 the effort to increase their market share here in the states. I hear
 people make comments that the market is strong overseas, which is true.
 However, America is our primary market.

 I have always enjoyed supporting the Atari computer. They are so easy to
 use that they almost run themselves. I hope that I am wrong and that
 management will continue to support the Atari computer. I do appreciate
 your interest in our products and I am sorry that I had to return such a
 negative letter. Ken Williams did read and initial your letter, so feel
 confident that it did not fall on deaf ears. He simply receives too much
 mail to respond to each one personally.

 In closing, I would like to say, we at Sierra On-Line appreciate your
 support of our software, and in turn, we like to do our best to support
 you in product usage. Should you have any further questions, please feel
 free to contact me personally.

                              Sincerely, Mike Welzer Customer Service

 (this letter was dated November 6, 1991)


 From GEnie ST RT
 Category 35,  Topic 3
 Message 133       Sat Nov 16, 1991
 S.CRANDALL1 [SRC]            at 00:21 EST

 Goldleaf and others

 I have had problems with WF II before the release of FSMGDOS.  Tell me,
 anybody, does justification work?  Most of the things I do are short
 documents, and I still have trouble.  I will try increasing the cache but
 I don't think that that will help the justification problem.

                                        SRC


 From GEnie ST RT
 Category 28,  Topic 14
 Message 164       Sat Nov 16, 1991
 J.ALLEN27 [FAST TECH]        at 14:23 EST

 I look at it then as.. "Why did they go to the EFFORT to make a crippled
 cover, and use a different set of disks in the box?"  If this is just a
 helpful response to buyers needs.  They had to invest cash money to make a
 second cover mold, and they have to add overhead to the packing process to
 differentiate and exclude HDX disks from non-drive machines.

 Why not just leave the drive out of the non-drive models, and keep all the
 rest the same?
  ------------

 Category 28,  Topic 14
 Message 165       Sat Nov 16, 1991
 REALM [Joey]                 at 15:34 EST

     Jim, Excellent question! To bad it has no logical answer.:-(
  ------------

 Category 28,  Topic 14
 Message 166       Sat Nov 16, 1991
 M.ANGIER [Mike Angier]       at 16:13 EST

 My dealer said that I could just plug in an SCSI drive (external) and use
 that...no mention of the lack of driver software...

 Since all TT's ship to dealers in the no HD config., why go to the extra
 cost of then selling a HD kit to those dealers who then have to install it
 with mounting hardware and a new cover... I'd think that having the HD
 cover and bracket installed in the first place would not be much more
 expensive than the present cover.

 Later, Mike

 PS:  when was the last time you saw a PC clone with a block of plastic in
 it's empty drive bays?



 From STReport Editor D.J.P.
 Item    8586146                 91/11/16        08:13

 From:   NEVIN-S                         Nevin Shalit

 To:     D.JACOBSON2                     Dana P. Jacobson

 Sub: Thanks...!

 Dana, I wanted to really thank you for that very thorough and favorable
 review of Tracker/ST.  It's clear that you really explored the program,
 and I appreciate that..!

 I'm going to try to find a true HP Laserjet this week so I can write a
 fool-proof driver. I'll keep you informed.

                              Once again, thanks again..!

                                        --Nevin



 Conf : STReport Online
 Msg# : 16698/16709  Lines: Extended  Read: 2
 Sent : Nov 20, 1991  at 10:22 PM
 To   : ALL
 From: : Serge Marelli at ComNet Luxembourg, Europe @363
 Subj : Piracy


   I read following message in another base...  what do you think about it?

    From: KURTISS FOSKEY                   Read: Public
    Conference: XNET PROGRAMMING CONFERENCE
             ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

  > Hey, is Origin looking for game programmers?  If so who should i write
 t
  > or call? I'd love to work for a cool company like Origin!
  >     The Warlock
  > P.S. Are they ever going to do Ultima 6 or 7 for the ST?

 Talked to Lord British over the summer. ST is out of the Ultima line of
 games. Not only that, but ST is out of all Lord British games. What's more
 is that supposedly the ST is being phased out of all Origin releases.
 Seems that proof has been found that shows we STers to be the biggest
 collection of Software Pirates in the entire computer world. I think
 someone has gotten their data screwed up, or has given in to too much
 propoganda, but regardless, the word in the software industry is Atari ST
 = Piracy.  For this reason, expect American releases for the ST to
 continue to drop.
 Originated from ///---PASTE BBS---/// (Fnet 690)

           ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

   Now if that was true, it would really mean the ST is in danger...






  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              Judith Hamner
                    John Szczepanik          Dan Stidham

  Contributing Correspondents:
  ----------------------------
          Michael Lee         Richard Covert           Roger Stevens
          Brian Converse      Oliver Steinmeier        Tim Holt
          Andrew Learner      Norman Boucher           Ben Hamilton
          Neil Bradley        Eric Jerue               Ron Deal
          Robert Dean         Ed Westhusing            James Nolan
                    Joe Mirando              Vernon W. Smith

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

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


       ____________________________________________________________





 > STReport CONFIDENTIAL        "Reporting ABOUT Atari...not FOR Atari!"
   =====================

      * "Rumors - Tidbits - Predictions - Observations - Hot Tips" *
         ========================================================





 - Federal Way, WA.      MIGRAPH ANNOUNCES INTELLIGENT OPTICAL CHARACTER
   ---------------          RECOGNITION APPLICATION FOR ATARI SYSTEMS



     "Since the release of the Migraph Hand Scanner, we have been searching
 for  an OCR Solution that would meet Migraph's high quality and
 performance standards", state Migraph president Kevin Mitchell.  "Migraph
 OCR is the result of a joint development effort between Migraph and a top
 developer of OCR software on UNIX based systems.  The combination of the
 OCR engine and Migraph's interface provides a powerful, yet easy to use
 program."

     "Perhaps a better indication of our commitment to the ST market can be
 measured by the emergence of Migraph OCR, The Omnifont based OCR product.
 You will not find any of the leading PC Software giants rushing to spend
 thousands of dollars, and several man-years to port a $500 OCR package to
 the Atari. Nor has any developer for the ST made the large upfront cash
 investment necessary to bring Omnifont technology to the ST.

     Well, just like you, we at Migraph got tired of waiting. So we forged
 a strategic alliance with an OCR Omnifont engine developer. Together, we
 are bringing their mature UNIX OCR engine coupled with our intuitive
 interface to the ST market. The cost to Migraph has been substantial. We
 have focused our complete financial and manpower resources on this
 project.  We've done this knowing that your satisfaction and word of mouth
 recommendation would generate years of sales as we continue to support and
 improve the product."

     Optical Character Recognition is the process of using software to
 recognize text characters that have been scanned into the computer.  The
 end result is an ASCII file which can be loaded into a word processor or
 desktop publishing programs.

 OMNIFONT TECHNOLOGY

     Migraph OCR uses Omnifont Technology, widely recognized as the leading
 technology for OCR products.  Omnifont technology enables the program to
 recognize characters based on mathematical definitions rather than a set
 pattern.  This greatly increases the speed of the application as well as
 its accuracy.

     "Having the Omnifont engine makes this a quality product.  Adding
 'Intelligence' makes it a superior product" states Kevin Mitchell.
 "Trainable OCR programs have the capacity to learn new symbols aided by
 the user.  Migraph OCR uses lexicons and linguistic dictionaries to help
 recognize characters, so that fewer characters are presented for
 identification by the user.  The end result is quicker and better
 character recognition and a more satisfied user."

 Migraph OCR includes these additional features:

     = Directly supports the Migraph and Golden Image Hand Scanners

     = Loads IMG and TIFF files

     = Defines text and graphic areas; saves out text as ASCII files and
       saves graphics in TIFF or IMG format.

     = Includes four different linguistic databases: English, French,
       German and Dutch.

     = Allows the user to create dictionaries for multipage documents that
       have the same type of characters (mathematical, Greek, etc.)

     = Easy to use interface.

 REQUIREMENTS

 Migraph OCR will run on any Atari ST, Mega, STe or TT system with 2mb ram
 and a hard disk drive.

 AVAILABILITY

 Migraph OCR will be available this December through normal distribution
 channels as well as direct from Migraph.  The suggested retail price is
 $299.00

 For additional Information:

                               MIGRAPH INC.
                          200 South 333rd Street
                                 Suite 220
                          Federal Way, WA  98003
                           1-206-838-4637 voice
                            1-206-838-4702 Fax






 - Girard, OH                       DR BOB'S SCANLITE! HERE!!
   ----------


                         New From Dr. Bobware
                              Dr. Bob's
                           S C A N L I T E

 Scan and Save software that directly supports many hand scanners
 available for the ST/TT. GeniScan/ST (tm), Migraph (tm), DAATAscan (tm)
 and the Golden Image (tm) hand scanners are currently supported with
 plans to add to that list as the need arises.

 ScanLite requires less than 20k of memory making it an excellent choice
 for systems without megs and megs of memory. ScanLite is a superb choice
 for those who like to scan large images while at the same time being
 able to keep their favorite system enhancements installed. ScanLite is
 great too for large systems when all you want is a quick, no-hassles
 scan & save.

 View as You Scan in all ST and TT resolutions. Easy to use dialog for
 desired scan length in either inches or centimeters. An adjustable time-
 out feature that's compatible and convenient across the accelerator
 board spectrum. No more drumming your fingers on the desk while you wait
 for a timeout. No more timeout before you can get situated for an ideal
 scan.

 ScanLite saves scans as .IMG files in either super-compact or 'uncom-
 pressed' format for maximum compatibility across system platforms.

 ScanLite CAN RUN AS A PROGRAM OR AN ACCESSORY! For accessory running,
 ScanLite has a fully configurable memory reserve feature which allows
 scanning within programs that take all of system memory space for
 themselves (like PageStream). Or, should you choose to run as an
 accessory with no memory reserve feature, ScanLite will take only 20K of
 memory space until you call it up. It will then use what's available
 from the system, giving that memory back when it's done!

 When ScanLite is installed as an accessory, it's fully loaded with the
 ability to communicate with other programs running under GEM! This
 enables you scan directly into any program that's designed to "talk" to
 ScanLite! We are currently discussing ScanLite compatibility with
 several other ST/TT software publishers so if you'd like to be able to
 scan directly into your favorite program, give the publisher a call and
 ask if they are ScanLite ready!

 ScanLite currently has the ability to directly interface with the
 COALESCE merging software that comes with THE TRAY from WizWorks! Scan
 directly into COALESCE for easy picture perfect full page scans with
 your existing DAATAscan (tm), GeniScan/ST (tm), Golden Image (tm) or
 Migraph (tm) hand scanner.

 ScanLite is available for only $20 from......

                                 WizWorks!
                            Post Office Box 45
                             Girard, OH 44420
                              (216) 539-5623
                         MasterCard/VISA accepted
                   (3%) Shipping only $1.00 additional!



 - GIRARD, OH                          DR. WIZWORKS STRIKES AGAIN!!!
   ----------


                         New From Dr. WizWorks!
                             THE TRAY (tm)!
           FULL PAGE SCANS USING YOUR EXISTING HAND SCANNER!

 THE TRAY is the ultimate hand scanner guide measuring 20 inches long by
 12 inches wide to easily accomodate US letter, US legal, and Euro A4
 paper sizes. It's manufactured with strict tolerances and has an at-
 tached clear vinyl overlay to hold your page rock-steady for accurate
 scanning.

 Just place your hand scanner into the cradle and scan both halves of a
 page. Use the included ST/TT COALESCE software written by Chet Walters
 to merge the two images together into a full page! The COALESCE software
 can print the freshly merged image to HP DeskJet, HP LaserJet or Atari
 SLM laser printers with a multiple function for fast "photocopies" or,
 you can elect to save the full page as an .IMG file for use with any
 software you like. COALESCE can also re-load these full page .IMG files
 (or any .IMG for that matter) for quick re- printing anytime.

 COALESCE is also specially designed to directly interface with Dr. Bob's
 ScanLite so if you're a Scan Lite owner, you can scan and save directly
 from within COALESCE!

 THE TRAY gives you a steady helping hand to straghten out any scanning
 task and fits most hand scanner body styles available for the ST/TT line
 of computers. THE TRAY is a trademark of the LYRA Group and comes with
 the ready to run COALESCE merging software for all ST/TT computers. The
 THE TRAY fits GeniScan/ST (tm), Golden Image (tm), Migraph (tm),
 DAATAscan (tm) and most other scanner bodies available for the ST/TT.

 Available for only $69.95 ..... Why pay more?

                                 WizWorks!
                            Post Office Box 45
                             Girard, OH 44420
                              (216) 539-5623
                         MasterCard/VISA accepted
                   (3%) Shipping only $4.00 additional!

 Both ScanLite and THE TRAY will be introduced at the Chicago AtariFest!

 The manuals have already gone to the printers!



           ____________________________________________________






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




                "There is no conversation more boring.....
                     than one where everybody agrees!"


                                                Michel De Montaigne




        __________________________________________________________




 > ABCO SPECIALS! STR InfoFile    * NEW HOLIDAY Prices!  MORE Products! *
   ===========================       *** SUPER ***  HOLIDAY SPECIALS!


                        ACT NOW LIMITED TIME ONLY!
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              P.O. Box 6672  Jacksonville, Florida 32236-6672
                                Est.  1985
                 _________________________________________

                   Voice: 904-783-3319  10 AM - 4 PM EDT
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                    FAX: 904-783-3319  12 PM - 6 AM EDT
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                   Call for ABCO's Introductory prices!

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           If you don't see what you want listed here, call us.
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                         "We service what we sell"

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

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

          - SYQUEST 44 MB DRIVE         - ICD ST ADSCSI PLUS H/A
          - ICD Utility Software        - 3' DMA Cable
          - Fan & Clock                 - Multi-Unit Power Supply
                          (1) 44 MB Syquest Cart.
                --->> SPECIAL! NOW ONLY __$ 645.00__ <<---
                   **** SCSI UNITS -> ONLY $585.00 ****

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

                        EXTRA CARTS:      $  74.50
                        DRIVE MECH ONLY:  $ 349.95

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

   * TWIN SYQUEST 44MB REMOVABLE MEDIA DRIVES ... PROGRAMMER'S DELIGHT *
                       SPECIALLY PRICED ** $1019.00 **
                       Includes: * TWO * cartridges!

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

         ** 50mb SQG51S   $819.00     105mb SQG105S    $1019.00 **

                 LOWBOY - STANDARD - DUAL BLOWER CABINETS
                      CUSTOM CONFIGURATIONS AVAILABLE

           Listed above are a sampling of the systems available.
      Prices also reflect various cabinet/power supply configurations
    (over sixty configurations are available, flexibility is unlimited)

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

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

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

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

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

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

                    -- ALL TONER KITS  * IN STOCK * --

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

                    ABCO's Replacement Toner Advantages
                    ===================================

     A Few Pointers about the NEW and SUPERIOR replacement Toner Cartridges
     for the SLM 804 and SLM 605 Laser printers.

 Quality
 -------

      o  Better density the OEM Toner under all testing conditions.
         (AVG 1.40-1.50)

      o  Formulation completely compatible with the OEM initial toner and
         supply toner.  This replacement Toner may be added to the Laser
         Printer along with OEM initial toner or supply toner.

      o  The NEW replacement initial toner will maintain a high level of
         quality "much longer" using the replacement toner.

      o  Much smaller drop in density is realized when printing in the
         continuous mode.

     Test Pattern:
                     10 graphic pages
                     1000 text pages  (3 alternating pages)

     Time Schedule:
                     330 prints continuously
                     1 hour pause, 3-4 times a day
                     normally 1000 copies a day
                     maximum 1400 copies a day


                   OEM                        ABCO'S NEW STANDARD
                   ---                        -------------------

     Density       1.30 - 1.40                        1.40 - 1.50

     Yield         92.1 g/1000 copies                 95.3 g/1000 copies

     Waste toner   20.3 g/1000 copies                 14.3 g/1000 copies

     Transfer Rate       78%                                85%

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

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

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

                     DEALERS and DISTRIBUTORS WANTED!
                         please, call for details

                 Personal and Company Checks are accepted.

                        ORDER YOUR NEW UNIT TODAY!

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

                ABCO is EXPANDING!!  CALL FOR INFORMATION!


                                GOOD NEWS!
                                ==========

 ABCO  Computer  Consultants  now  has  a  SUPER  computer  goodies catalog
 available.  Drop us a note and we will mail  your copy  to you!   You'd be
 surprised  at  the  variety  of  products we offer at substantial savings.
 Don't wait!  Send  for  your  catalog  now  and  get  the  great Christmas
 Discount Coupons.  It'll make Santa feel great about the holidays!

                         ABCO COMPUTER CONSULTANTS
                         =========================
                               P.O. BOX 6672
                     Jacksonville, Florida, 32205-6672
                               904-783-3319



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                  STReport International Online Magazine
     Available through more than 10,000 Private BBS systems WorldWide!
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 16/32bit Magazine          copyright   1987-91                     No.7.46
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 Views, Opinions and Articles Presented herein are not necessarily those of
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 must include the name of the publication, date, issue #  and  the author's
 name.  The entire publication and/or portions therein may not be edited in
 any way without prior  written permission.   The  entire contents,  at the
 time of publication, are believed to be reasonably accurate.  The editors,
 contributors and/or staff are not responsible for the use/misuse of infor-
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