ST Report: 17-Jun-94 #1025

From: Bruce D. Nelson (aa789@cleveland.Freenet.Edu)
Date: 06/30/94-04:45:51 PM Z


From: aa789@cleveland.Freenet.Edu (Bruce D. Nelson)
Subject: ST Report: 17-Jun-94 #1025
Date: Thu Jun 30 16:45:51 1994



                             SILICON TIMES REPORT
                             ====================
                        INTERNATIONAL ONLINE MAGAZINE
                        =============================
                                                        
                                    from
                       STR Electronic Publishing Inc.
                                     
                                     
   June 17, 1994                                                 No. 1025
   ======================================================================
                                       
                            Silicon Times Report
                        International Online Magazine
                            Post Office Box 6672
                      Jacksonville, Florida  32221-6155
                                                         
                                R.F. Mariano
                              Publisher-Editor
                  -----------------------------------------
                     Voice: 1-904-783-3319  10am-4pm EST
                                                        
                  STR Publishing Support BBS Network System
                             * THE BOUNTY BBS *
            ITCNet 85:881/253 JAX HUB ~ FNET 350 ~ Nest 90:301/3
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                       FAX: 904-783-3319 12am-6am EST
                  -----------------------------------------
       Fido 1:374/147.3 The Bounty STR Support Central 1-904-786-4176
           FNET. 620 : Leif's World ................1-904-573-0734
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           FNET. 489 : Steal Your Face BBS..........1-908-920-7981
           MNET - Toad Hall BBS.....................1-617-567-8642
   ______________________________________________________________________

 > 06/17/94 STR 1025  "The Original * Independent * Online Magazine!"
   """""""""""""""""
 - CPU INDUSTRY REPORT    - 1st. Online TradeShow! - DELL CUTS $$! 
 - Aerosmith on CIS!      - Kodak Digital CAMERA   - After Dark Sued!
 - Mario's Fun Review     - Exide Elect. Scammed?  - 32bit Access
 - AWE 32 SUPER CARD!     - People Talking         - STR Confidential!

                         -* ZIFF EMPIRE FOR SALE! *-
                     -* JUNKIE & SMEG VIRUSES Found! *-
                 -* ANOTHER DRAM Chip Shortage Predicted! *-

   ======================================================================
                   STReport International Online Magazine
                The Original * Independent * Online Magazine
                           -* FEATURING WEEKLY *-
                 "Accurate UP-TO-DATE News and Information"
      Current Events, Original Articles, Tips, Rumors, and Information
              Hardware - Software - Corporate - R & D - Imports
   ======================================================================
 STReport's  BBS  -  The Bounty BBS, invites all BBS systems, worldwide, to
 participate  in  the  ITC/PROWL/USENET/NEST/F-Net/Fido Mail Networks.  You
 may  also  call  The Bounty BBS direct @ 1-904-786-4176.  Enjoy the wonder
 and  excitement  of exchanging all types of useful information relative to
 all  computers,  worldwide,  through  the  use  of excellent International
 Networking  Systems.  SysOps,  worldwide, are welcome to join the STReport
 International  Conferences.    ITC  Node  is  85:881/250, The Fido Node is
 1:374/147.3,  Crossnet  Code  is #34813, and the "Lead Node" is #620.  All
 computer platforms and BBS systems are welcome and invited to participate.
   ======================================================================
       CIS ~ DELPHI ~ GENIE ~ BIX ~ PROWL ~ ITC ~ NEST ~ EURONET ~ CIX
       USENET ~ USPOLNET ~ CLEVELAND FREE-NET ~ INTERNET ~ FNET ~ AOL
   ======================================================================

      COMPUSERVE WILL PRESENT $15.00 WORTH OF COMPLIMENTARY ONLINE TIME
                             to the Readers of;
                                       
                   STREPORT INTERNATIONAL ONLINE MAGAZINE
                   """"""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""
                   "The Original 16/32bit Online Magazine"

                          NEW USERS; SIGN UP TODAY!

                CALL: 1-800-848-8199 .. Ask for operator 198

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                                    and 
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     "Enjoy CompuServe's forums; where information is at its very best!

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


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

      By all rights, and reason I should be somewhat upset with the manner
 in which certain of our news releases, which appeared in our STR
 Confidential last week, were rebutted.  Instead, its now just another
 boring "page" in our book of light weight experiences.  Further, it might
 be worthwhile to note a rather inexperienced "sysop's helper" of a major
 network was suffering from what appeared to be a terminal case of
 "deletitis" in a message base.  He proved to be an embarrassment to all. 
 All in all, its been an interesting week.

      Beginning next week, we hope to start a series on modems; the high
 speed variety.  All three major chipset implementations will be looked
 over.  Also, for the summer, we shall be doing a series on true multi-
 media.  That is; from the very start to the finished product.  Artwork,
 scanning, sound, animation and documentation.  Stay tuned for more...
   
      The final (or, so we hope) shakeout in the computer marketplace
 appears to be slowly taking shape.  Of course, its obvious the PC in all
 of its incarnations is clearly going to previual over all the others.  Its
 just a matter of "guessing" when the other platforms will either conform
 or collapse.  The strongest of the "other" platforms is Apple.  But they
 are in the very subtle but definate process of 'conforming' to the spec
 and the marketplace's demands.
  
      To each and every family out there.... have a wonderful Father's Day!
   
                                              Ralph....





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



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

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

                  Lloyd E. Pulley, Editor, Current Affairs


 Section Editors
 """""""""""""""
      PC SECTION     AMIGA SECTION       MAC SECTION    ATARI SECTION
      ----------     -------------       -----------    -------------
      R.D. Stevens     R. Niles           J. Deegan     D. P. Jacobson
      

 STReport Staff Editors:
 """""""""""""""""""""""

           Michael Arthur           John Deegan         Brad Martin    
           John Szczepanik          Dan Stidham         Joseph Mirando
           Doyle Helms              Frank Sereno        John Duckworth
           Jeff Coe                 Steve Keipe         Guillaume Brasseur
           Melanie Bell             Jay Levy            Jeff Kovach    
           Marty Mankins            Carl Prehn          Paul Charchian

 Contributing Correspondents:
 """"""""""""""""""""""""""""
           Tim Holt            Norman Boucher           Clemens Chin   
           Eric Jerue          Ron Deal                 Mike Barnwell  
           Ed Westhusing       Glenwood Drake           Vernon W.Smith
           Bruno Puglia        Paul Haris               Kevin Miller
           Craig Harris        Allen Chang              Dominick J. Fontana

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

                  Compuserve................... 70007,4454
                  America Online..................STReport
                  Delphi......................... RMARIANO
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                  ITC NET...................... 85:881/253
                  NEST........................ 90:21/350.0
                  GEnie......................... ST-REPORT
                  Internet.............RMARIANO@DELPHI.COM

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



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



                         IBM/POWER-PC/PC SECTION (I)
                         ===========================

  
   
                   Computer Products Update - CPU Report
                   ------------------------   ----------
                  Weekly Happenings in the Computer World
   
                                Issue #25
   
                         By: Lloyd E. Pulley, Sr.



                  ******* General Computer News *******


                    ** DRAM Chip Shortage Predicted **
  
    Market researchers at Dataquest Inc. looks for a shortage of 16-meg 
 DRAM chips by the end of year.  The shortage could be as much as 20% of 
 1995's first quarter demand.
  
    One reason given for the shortage is the increased demand from the 
 personal computer industry.  Worldwide PC sales are expected to grow at 
 15% for 1994, while U.S. growth rate is expected to approach 16%.
   
    Dataquest further predicts the average memory per desktop PC will 
 rise from 5.5MB in 1993 to nearly 8MB in 1995, and it calls that 
 estimate "conservative."
  
  
                  ** IBM Developing Disk Drive Sensor **
  
    IBM Corp. says its scientists have produced a sensor that will give 
 computer hard drives the capability of storing 10 billion bits of data 
 per-square-inch, which is 20 times the current density level.
  
    IBM is calling the sensor a "spin-valve head," noting it is already 
 five times more sensitive than today's best commercially available disk 
 drive sensor.
  
    The computer company explained the new sensor is based on a giant 
 magnetoresistive (GMR) effect, which was discovered less than six years 
 ago. IBM is the first to create a product that utilizes the GMR effect.
  
  
                   ** Junkie,' 'Smeg' Viruses Formed **

    Two new especially virulent computer viruses, "Junkie" and its rela-
 tive "Smeg," have been discovered in the United States and as far away 
 as London's financial district.
  
    Sources say that Junkie was discovered last month after an Ann Arbor, 
 Michigan, man bought a new computer for his son. The virus shut down the 
 computer and went undetected until local computer consultant Jim 
 Shaeffer found it using a special program.
  
    Frank Horowitz, an anti-virus software specialist said Shaeffer re-
 ported the virus to him.
  
    "This is the first time we've seen this," Horowitz said, "and there 
 are going to be many others like this."
  
    Horowitz said that Junkie is unique because, unlike other viruses, it 
 can attack a diskette, a computer's boot sector or its executable files. 
 (Most other viruses, he said, attack only one of those three crucial 
 areas.)
  
    He added it also is dangerous because standard, scanner-type anti-
 virus software can't find Junkie. The virus is "polymorphic," meaning 
 it's characteristics are always changing to avoid detection.
  
    Horowitz also found it disturbing that Junkie was found in a new com-
 puter, adding the computer might have been infected at the factory.
  
    After Horowitz posted electronic messages about Junkie, the similar 
 Smeg virus was found in computers used by London financial services 
 firms. He added he has received reports from across the country about 
 the new virus but that it is impossible now to tell how far it's spread.
  
    Horowitz said that by breaking Junkie's code he could tell the virus 
 was created this year. The code also contained the virus name, a stan-
 dard procedure, he said, for vandals who want to know when their 
 creation gets publicity.
  
   
                    ** Kodak Unveils Digital Camera **
  
    Eastman Kodak Co. has introduced a new $11,000 digital camera.
  
    The Kodak Professional DCS 420 Digital Camera joins the company's 
 currently available DCS 200 digital camera. The new product features a 
 full-frame CCD imager that delivers a total resolution of 1.5 million 
 pixels, 36-bit color (with 12 bits per RGB color) and the ability to 
 store images on removable PCMCIA cards (both hard disk and memory 
 devices).
  
    The camera also provides a high-power battery pack that's good for at 
 least 1,000 images per charge, with a recharge time of approximately one 
 hour. A built-in microphone supports image annotation, allowing users to 
 record sound clips before or after exposing an image. Kodak says the 
 camera can be used for desktop publishing, presentation development, 
 catalog publishing, scientific research and a variety of "on location" 
 imaging needs. The camera also will be targeted at a range of military, 
 law enforcement and government applications.
  
  
                  ** Dell Cuts Dimension Unit Prices **
  
    Prices on all of Dell Computer Corp.'s Dimension desktop products 
 have been cut by an average of $200 on standard configurations.
  
    Dell also unveiled its first mini tower systems, the Dell Dimension 
 XPS MT and the Dell Precision MT.  These new towers include models with 
 Intel Corp.'s 90MHz Pentium processor.
  
  
                   ** New PCs Double as Radios, TVs **
  
    A colorful new brand of PCs that can double as radios and televi-
 sions, take telephone messages and send faxes is being unveiled by
 Packard Bell Electronics Inc.
  
    And did we say "colorful"? Look for the units to eschew the clay-grey 
 of most PCs and come in exotic hues such as teal, azure and sahara.
  
    "This is like adding a tie to a suit," Packard Bell CEO Beny Alagem 
 said.
  
    But it will be the merging of technologies -- radio, TV and phone -- 
 that will attract the most attention.  A user can turn on the system's 
 radio or TV with the double-click of a mouse button.
  
    "Control panels come up on the monitor for volume, tone, brightness 
 and other functions," he reports. "The TV picture can be adjusted from 
 the size of an icon to full screen."
  
    Every model Packard Bell is introducing has stereo speakers and 
 nearly every one has a CD-ROM drive as a standard feature. Each comes 
 with 27 software titles, including 11 CD-ROMs.
  
    The computers range in price from $1,000 to $3,000, depending on the 
 kind of microprocessor and size of memory and data storage. Packard Bell 
 will sell models based on Intel Corp.'s 80486 and Pentium 
 microprocessors.
  
  
                     ** IBM Adds Micro Channel PCs **
  
    IBM Corp. says it's shipping new PS/2 76 and 77 Micro Channel PCs.
  
    The PS/2 76s and 77s are available in a variety of processor config-
 urations and offer Pentium upgradeability.
  
    Processors for the systems include Intel 486SX 33MHz, 486DX2 66/33MHz 
 and 486DX4 100/33MHZ CPUs. IBM says the graphics performance of the PS/2 
 76s and 77s have been enhanced with the addition of a new VESA SVGA 
 local bus graphics chip incorporated on the system board. Additionally, 
 new PS/2 77 Ultimedia multimedia models offer full- screen, full-motion 
 video using a new system board-based feature called MediaBurst Movie.
  
    The systems also feature IBM's Power on Error Detect function for 
 local area network (LAN) attached systems. The patent-pending feature, 
 used in conjunction with IBM's NetFinity systems management software, 
 alerts a LAN administrator or support staff of power-on errors with 
 detailed error and configuration information from the problem system.
  
    System prices begin at $2,365.
  
  
                ** Nintendo Taps Canadian Firm for 3-D **
  
    Canadian advanced graphics maker Alias Research Inc. has been tapped 
 to create custom 3-D graphics for Nintendo's 64-bit Project Reality home 
 video game system, a hardware system being developed for Nintendo by 
 Silicon Graphics Inc.
  
    Nintendo America Chairman Howard Lincoln said the multimillion dollar 
 investment brings together the world's leading names in 3-D graphics.
   
    Reports say the cartridge format Project Reality unit, scheduled for 
 introduction in North America and Japan in fall 1995, will carry a 
 suggested $250 retail price.
  
  
                   ** Compression Software Unveiled **
  
    LEAD Technologies of Charlotte, North Carolina, has announced a new 
 data compression utility that can save DOS and Windows software pub-
 lishers an additional 22% on disk replication costs over previously 
 available compression technologies.
  
    The proprietary data compression algorithm is designed to work with 
 the Microsoft SDK, replacing Microsoft's compression with LEAD's when 
 the user builds the final distribution diskettes. The company says it 
 will modify the utility to work with any install routine at no cost.
  
    "A publisher shipping 10 diskettes with their application should be 
 able to realize a savings of two diskettes per package even if they were 
 previously compressing their install disks with the Microsoft SDK or 
 other existing compression techniques," says LEAD president Rich Little. 
 "If the ten diskettes were shipped in uncompressed format, we can reduce 
 the diskette count to four."
  
  
                   ** Aerosmith Comes to CompuServe **
  
    A new song by Aerosmith will be downloadable from CompuServe later 
 this month. It appears to be the first original composition to be dis-
 tributed via computer by a major record label.
  
    Geffen Records says the song, "Head First," will be available to 
 CompuServe subscribers for a limited time beginning June 27. The 
 Associated Press reports the rock group recorded the song during its 
 recent "Get a Grip" sessions, but left it off the album.
  
    CompuServe and Geffen are describing the venture as an experiment, 
 "the promise of digital delivery of entertainment but also the current 
 limitations of technology. For instance, only owners of a multimedia 
 personal computer with stereo speakers and a large hard drive would find 
 it practical to obtain the song." ("Head First" will be a 4.3MB file.)
  
    Aerosmith is waiving royalties for the song and that CompuServe will 
 not charge for the connect time it takes to download it.
   
  
                    ** Airplane' Sues Over Toaster **
  
    Berkeley Systems Inc., which attracted national attention by suing a 
 competitor over a parody of its Flying Toasters screen saver, now is on 
 the receiving end of a lawsuit. Members of rock group Jefferson Airplane 
 say flying toasters was their idea.
   
    In a statement, Berkeley Systems says it hasn't seen the actual suit, 
 but that it earlier received a letter from The Jefferson Airplane claim-
 ing trademark rights and copyrights to the Flying Toasters based on 
 cover art from Airplane's 1973 "30 Seconds Over Winterland" album.
  
    The company has had other toaster scraps. Last year it won its suit 
 over Delrina Technology's parody screen savers.
  
    Of the latest action, Berkeley President Wes Boyd disputed the 
 rockers' claim, saying, "The Flying Toasters in After Dark 2.0 were 
 independently created in 1989. We were completely unaware of the album 
 at the time." 
  
  
                   ** N.C. Firm Alleges Online Scam **
  
    A North Carolina network peripheral company said it has been victim-
 ized by what it terms "an online marketing scam" by an employee of a 
 competitor.
  
    In a statement, Exide Electronics Group Inc., which makes network 
 power management and power protection systems, says the activity 
 "culminated in the publication of a fake user testimonial maligning 
 Exide Electronics in PC Week," a Ziff-Davis Publishing trade magazine.
  
    Exide says the letter to PC Week editors, which "disparaged and 
 grossly misrepresented Exide Electronics' products and services," also 
 was posted "under a false user name" in the PC Week Extra forum operated 
 by Ziff's ZiffNet online service carried on CompuServe.
  
    Says the statement, "The letter was subsequently published in the May 
 23, 1994, issue of PC Week attributed to 'Name Withheld By Request.' 
 However, the CompuServe identification number for the user name was the 
 same as an employee of a vendor of uninterruptible power systems that 
 competes with Exide Electronics."
  
    Exide says other letters denigrating Exide Electronics under a second 
 false user name also were posted to PC Week's forums under the same User
 ID number.


                   _______________________________________



 > Mario's Fun with Numbers STR Review
   """""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""

 Kids' Computing Corner
 ----------------------


                          MARIO'S FUN WITH NUMBERS
                          ========================


 by Frank Sereno

      Mario's Fun with Numbers is one of the programs in Software
 Toolwork's Mario series of educational programs.  This particular program
 is intended for preschoolers ages 2 to 5.  Available for IBM compatibles,
 this DOS program requires a 286 or higher CPU, 640k of ram, a VGA display,
 a mouse, and a sound card capable of reproducing digitized voices.  Fun
 with Numbers occupies a whopping 10.2 megs of hard drive space.  Children
 learn many math and language concepts during gameplay.

      Fun with Numbers main screen shows 10 islands or worlds.  Nine of the
 worlds are games for the child to play, the tenth is the home of Mario and
 the Princess.  The child may choose either Mario or the Princess to be his
 on-screen persona by clicking on the character.  Play begins by clicking
 on one of the islands.  In many of the games, the child must click on
 Mario's brother Luigi to wake him up to get audible instructions and begin
 the game.

      SINGSONG World is represented by an animal character and some musical
 notes.  Once in SINGSONG World, the child may choose to listen to one of
 four songs dealing with numbers.  These are "This Old Man", "Ten Little
 Koopas", "One, Two, Buckle My Shoe" and "Five Little Monkeys Jumping on
 the Bed."  The songs are very cute and entertaining.  Animated video is
 presented along with the music showing the activities described in the
 songs as well as showing the number symbols.  In the case of the "Monkeys"
 animation, it is not in sync with the lyrics of the song.

      Number World is represented by an island containing the numbers zero
 through three.  The child's task is to lead Mario to the correct number as
 called for by the program.  On the first level, the numbers are shown in
 proper sequence above room doors.  Mario must pass the numbers on to Luigi
 at his conveyor belt.  At higher levels, numbers are displayed in a random
 order making it more difficult to find the correct answer. This game will
 teach the relationship between the number names and symbols.

      Counting World is designated by an island containing a pair of gloved
 hands with the numbers one through ten placed on the corresponding digits. 
 Upon choosing this game, the child will then get to choose between
 counting items in Mario's bedroom or his kitchen.  Various objects in each
 room can be selected.  Move the white cursor around the room and it will
 turn red when over an interactive object.  Clicking on these objects will
 cause the computer to count the number of each object using the voices of
 a group of children.  The child is encouraged to count along aloud as
 well.  This game will teach counting and numbers.

      Comparing World is represented by an island holding three buckets of
 differing sizes.  In this game the child will learn vocabulary by
 comparing and contrasting items by size, number and position.  On the
 first level, children are asked to compare items based on size as short,
 long and medium.  On the second level, children will compare and choose
 items based on numerical concepts such as more or pair.  On the third
 level, children will choose items based on the items position relative to
 other items such as above a shelf or under a branch.  These lessons will
 help a child learn how to better express concepts.

      Pattern World is illustrated by a geometric rope on an island.  The
 child makes no on-screen choices in this game, but is encouraged to recite
 aloud with the computer's chorus as they describe the patterns.  Patterns
 are made in shapes, words, numbers and finally with animals drawn slowly
 on the screen.  In the shapes section, the computerized children will
 recite the shapes being placed on the screen such as circle, triangle,
 circle triangle and then ask the child what will come next.  For words,
 the screen may show a pig with a shovel to create the pattern of "pig-
 dig".  Numbers are counted aloud in normal order and then in twos in both
 even and odd numbers.  Finally, in the animal section the different
 pictures are drawn on the screen and the child is encouraged to guess the
 animal from the shape.  Then the interior pattern of the animal is drawn,
 the picture is colored and finally it is animated to leave the screen. 
 This portion is entertaining but unfortunately the same four animals are
 used over and over and over again.

      Categorization and organization are taught in Sorting World.  Sorting
 World is represented by an island containing three watermelon wedges and
 three cookies.  On screen there will be many objects of  various geometric
 shapes, sizes and colors.  On the first level, the child must sort the
 items by shape, on the next level by size, on the succeeding level by
 color, then another level where sorting is done by color and shape,
 another level based on size and shape and then the final level asks for
 the items to be sorted by size, shape and color.  I think this part of the
 program would have been more instructional if it had the child sort more
 than one category on each screen.  For example on the first screen, while
 several shapes may be represented, the program only asks for the child to
 find one particular shape, perhaps a triangle.  Soon the child will learn
 of the repetitious nature of the program after the first or second
 triangle and he will not have to think very much to find the next object
 as it will be another triangle.

      Shape World is indicated by an island holding various colored
 geometric blocks.  The child will learn the four basic shapes of geometry
 (circle, triangle, square and rectangle) by building trains with these
 shapes.  On the first level the child will be asked merely to find the
 correct shape, but in higher levels the items asked for will be
 differentiated by size and color as well as shape.  This is a good game
 for learning colors, sizes and shapes.

      Same and Different World is represented by an island with three fish
 and a shopping cart on it.  This game teaches similarities and differences
 between objects as well as building language skills and vocabulary.  Eight
 levels of gameplay will keep a child entertained.  On the first four
 levels, the child must determine which object is different or unrelated of
 four objects.  On the first level, three objects are identical and one is
 different.  The next level has three objects that are closely related such
 as a pen, crayon and pencil are all used for writing or drawing.  The
 third level consists of three items which are still related but more
 abstractly.  For example, the objects may be a beach ball, a shell, a sand
 castle and a car.  The car does not belong but the relationship between
 the other objects takes a bit more thought to find.  On the fourth level.
 three items are part of a whole and the fourth is unrelated.  For example,
 a lamp shade, a bulb and an electrical plug which are parts of a lamp may
 be shown along with an unrelated hammer.  On the next four levels, the
 object is to find the items that are related and leave the unrelated item
 by itself.  The levels are the same as for finding the different or
 unrelated item.

      Finally we come to the last game, How Many World.  It is designated
 by an island with peanut bags.  Children learn the number symbols and
 names as Mario helps at the zoo.  On the first level, Mario must feed the
 elephant the correct number of peanuts.  The computer will ask for a
 number.  On the screen there are several peanut bags with a number symbol
 beside each one and the corresponding number of peanuts in the bag.  On
 the next level, the child completes a picture of an animal by adding the
 requested number of stripes, whiskers, etc.  Again the number symbol is
 place next to the corresponding number of items.  On the third level,
 three kinds of animals will be shown on the screen in differing numbers
 with the number symbols displayed.  The child will then be asked to choose
 a specific number of specific animals.  For example, there may be five
 monkeys, two lions and seven zebras and the child will be asked to find
 seven zebras.  Finally the child will be asked to match numbers to the
 animals that are pictured.  The numbers will be represented symbolically
 and with a corresponding number of dots.

      Graphically, this program breaks no new ground.  The colors are nice,
 but some of the characters are a bit blocky.  Some of the animations are
 not smooth enough.  On sound, this program uses many excellent digitized
 sound effects, voices and music but there is a problem.  The voice that is
 used for asking the child to make selections was recorded in one word and
 short phrase clips that are pieced together to make full sentences.  These
 sentences are not smoothly flowing and do not sound natural.  The
 interface does not allow access to audible help.  The child will receive
 audible instructions on how to play each world when he enters it, but he
 cannot get help after that point.  On the plus side, text help and
 information is available to the parent by pressing the F1 key.  This text
 help will tell the purpose of each lesson as well as give helpful hints on
 games to play away from the computer to reinforce the lessons of Fun with
 Numbers.  Playing the games is a simple matter of pointing and clicking
 with the mouse.  This program has a lot of play value as it has many
 levels of interest for younger children.  Most children will come back to
 this program for many hours of fun.  Educational value is quite good as
 many valuable lessons are taught.  I believe this is a good program for
 its cost.  It's available for around $25.

                     Graphics            7.00
                     Sounds              7.00
                     Interface           8.00
                     Play Value          8.50
                     Ed. Value           8.00
                     Bang for the Buck   8.00
                     Average             7.75

      In this week's mail, I received an offer from TRO Learning, Inc. 
 This offer included a coupon worth $10 towards the purchase of several
 Plato mathematics courses which are claimed to offer 258 lessons covering
 over 925 learning objectives for students from second grade through
 college studies.  I'm going to try to get more information about the
 available courses and report the information here at a later date.  If you
 wish to investigate on your own, you may contact them at 1-800-44-PLATO
 (1-800-447-5286) or write them at:

                             TRO Learning, Inc.
                            4660 West 77th Street
                            Minneapolis, MN 55435

      Be sure to mention Silicon Times Report as your source for this
 information.  This might influence TRO to send out a review copy to this
 scribe.  As always, I thank you for reading!


                    ____________________________________




 > AWE 32 by Sound Blaster STR FOCUS!       AWE 32 Has It ALL!
   """"""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""



                     FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS FOR SB AWE32
                     =======================================



      This is a frequently asked question document for the Creative SB
 AWE32 sound card. This document summarizes many frequently asked questions
 and answers about the SB AWE32. If you have a question, please check this
 file before calling Creative Technical Support as you may find the answer
 contained in this document.

 This FAQ is organized into the following sections:

      [A]     SB AWE32 in General
      [B]     Editing Tools
      [C]     Programming Information
      [D]     SoundFont(TM) Banks
      [E]     Introduction to the EMU8000 chip
      [F]     How do I ...
      [G]     References
      [H]     NRPN Table

 Before you continue ...

      This document assumes you have a basic understanding of how MIDI
 works, the different MIDI messages, and how your MIDI sequencer works. If
 you are not familiar with these topics, please consider consulting a
 friend who has experience with MIDI, or consulting books on MIDI. A list
 of recommended reading on MIDI can be found in section G of this document. 

 Contents
 ========

 SECTION A - SB AWE32 IN GENERAL
 -------------------------------
 1.  What is the SB AWE32? How does it differ from the SB16?
 2.  How much memory is shipped with the SB AWE32 card?
 3.  What is the recommended SIMM memory access speed?
 4.  How do I upgrade the memory on the card?
 5.  What are the uses of the 512 KB DRAM on the SB AWE32?
 6.  Would adding DRAM to the SB AWE32 increase the performance of WAVE
     file editing or manipulation?
 7.  Is it possible to use AWE32 sounds (16 channels) together with FM
     sounds from the OPL-3 chip (16 channels) in CakeWalk?
 8.  How many MIDI channels can the SB AWE32 handle in Windows?
 9.  What MIDI sequencers will work with the SB AWE32? Are special drivers
     required?
 10. Are there any plans for OS/2 and Windows NT SB AWE32 drivers?
 11. What I/O port addresses are used by the EMU8000?
 12. Why doesn't the EMU8000 have a built in MIDI interpreter?
 13. Does the SB AWE32 support MIDI Sample Dump to transfer samples to the
     EMU8000?
 14. What is "CC0" documented in Appendix G-4 and G-5 of the SB AWE32
     Getting Started Manual? How are these variation tones accessed?
 15. What "drum kits" are available in GS mode?
 16. Does the SB AWE32 respond to MIDI aftertouch?
 17. My PC system does not have a working NMI. What can I do to use
     AWEUTIL?
 18. Is there a WaveBlaster upgrade option on the SB AWE32?
 19. What is the benefit of adding a WaveBlaster to the SB AWE32?
 20. Is it possible to load AWEUTIL into high memory?
 21. Does AWEUTIL have to stay memory resident?
 22. What are the long term plans to solve the problem with DOS extender
     games?
 23. Will software written for the SB16 work with the SB AWE32?
 24. Does Creative have any plans for a SCSI version of the SB AWE32?
 25. What CD-ROM drives does the SB AWE32 support?
 26. What are the different reverb and chorus variations available on the
     SB AWE32?
 27. What are the undocumented "JP6," "JP8" and "JP9" jumpers on the card? 

 SECTION B - EDITING TOOL
 ------------------------
 1.  Will there be a preset editor for the SB AWE32?
 2.  Will it be possible to patch multiple sounds across different keys,
     such as a drum kit?
 3.  How are new instruments created on the SB AWE32?
 4.  What functionality will the preset editor offer?
 5.  What is SoundFont Bank Maker for SB AWE32? How do I get this
     application?
 6.  Will the bank editing software load samples from other systems e.g.
     Akai S1000 or Yamaha TG55?

 SECTION C - PROGRAMMING INFORMATION
 -----------------------------------
 1.  Is programming information available for the SB AWE32?
 2.  Is the effect engine on the SB AWE32 programmable?
 3.  When will the developer kit become available? What will be the cost of
     the developer kit?

 SECTION D - SOUNDFONT BANK
 --------------------------
 1.  What are SoundFont Collections?
 2.  How do SoundFont Banks work?
 3.  When will SoundFont Banks become available?
 4.  What can I do with SoundFont Banks?
 5.  Will having 28 MB on the SB AWE32 improve the sound quality over a
     standard 512 KB SB AWE32?

 SECTION E - INTRODUCTION TO THE EMU8000 CHIP
 --------------------------------------------

 SECTION F - HOW DO I ...
 ------------------------
 1.  How do I make use of RPN documented in the SB AWE32 MIDI
     Implementation chart?
 2.  How do I change an instrument's sound parameter in real time?
 3.  How do I select the SB AWE32's reverb and chorus variation type
     through MIDI?
 4.  How can I maximize my system's memory so that I still have plenty of
     room to run games after installing the SB AWE32?
 5.  How do I load a SoundFont Bank?
 6.  How do I get the latest drivers for the SB AWE32?

 SECTION G - REFERENCES
 ----------------------

 SECTION H - SB AWE32 NRPN IMPLEMENTATION
 ----------------------------------------


                            -----===-----===-----===----- 
     
     Section A - SB AWE32
     --------------------
 1.   What is the SB AWE32? How does it differ from the SB16?      
     
      The SB AWE32 is a standard SB16 MultiCD with the EMU 8000 Enhanced
      WavEffect music synthesizer chip. The card includes all the standard
      SB16 features. Additionally, the SB AWE32 includes the Advanced
      Signal Processor and multiple interfaces supporting Creative, Mitsumi
      and Sony CD-ROM drives.

      The EMU8000 is a sub-system offering high quality music synthesis
      using advanced wave effects technology. It comes with an onboard
      dedicated effect engine. The effect engine provides high quality
      effects like reverb and chorus to MIDI playback. The EMU8000 supports
      up to 32 voices, and the effect amount for each voice can be
      controlled via MIDI. 

      The EMU8000 comes integrated with 1MB of General MIDI samples and
      512KBof DRAM for additional sample downloading. It can address up to
      28 MB of external DRAM memory. There are two SIMM sockets on board
      for DRAM expansion. The SB AWE32 supports General MIDI, Roland GS and
      Sound Canvas MT-32 emulation.

      Note: MT-32 Emulation on the SB AWE32 is similar to that of the Sound
           Canvas; e.g., MT-32 sysex is not supported.

 2.   How much memory is shipped with the SB AWE32 card?
      
      The card ships with 1 MB of General MIDI ROM samples and 512 KB of
      DRAM for user sample downloading. There is a pair of SIMM sockets for
      DRAM upgrades.

 3.   What is the recommended SIMM memory access speed?
      
      Hardware specifications call for SIMM modules with 80 nanosecond or
      better access times.

 4.   How do I upgrade the memory on the card?
      
      To upgrade the memory, you can purchase standard SIMM modules and
      insert them into the SIMM sockets provided on the SB AWE32. (If you
      are not familiar with inserting SIMM modules, check with a technician
      where you purchased the SIMM's. They should be able to help). You
      will also need to reconfigure the memory selector jumper on the SB
      AWE32 card.  The SIMM socket on the SB AWE32 were designed to    
      accommodate industry standard 30-pin SIMM modules. You will need to
      insert two SIMMs of the same memory size into both of the sockets. 

 The available memory options are:

           2  MB (using 2 1 MB SIMMs)
           8  MB (using 2 4 MB SIMMs)
           32 MB   (using 2 16 MB SIMMs)

      Note that you cannot mix different size (that is, 2 MB and 8 MB) SIMM
      modules together on a single SB AWE32 card.

      There are also 72 pins SIMM modules on the market. Such SIMMs can be
      found on motherboards that use 8 or 16 megabit SIMMs or as cache RAM.
      They are incompatible with the SIMM sockets on the SB AWE32 card.
      The EMU8000 treats the first 4 MB of its DRAM address space as ROM
      memory. As a result, when you insert two 16 MB SIMMs onto the SB
      AWE32, only 28 MB will be addressable.

 5.   What are the uses of the 512 KB DRAM on the SB AWE32?    
     
      The on-board 512 KB of memory is used to hold user samples. In GS
      synthesizer mode, this 512 KB is used to hold the sound effects of
      GS.  In GM synthesizer mode, the 512 KB DRAM is free, so it can hold
      SoundFont banks containing samples.

      MT-32 Synthesizer mode uses a small portion of the 512 KB of memory,
      therefore you can still load your own SoundFont bank samples into the
      rest of the free RAM space.

 6.   Would adding DRAM to the SB AWE32 increase the performance of WAVE
      file editing or manipulation?
      
      Addition of SIMM DRAM to the SB AWE32 will allow you to accommodate
      more SoundFont bank data. This, however, will not increase the
      performance of WAVE file editing or manipulation as the latter does
      not make use of the SIMM DRAM on the SB AWE32.

 7.   Is it possible to use AWE32 sounds (16 channels) together with FM
      sounds from the OPL-3 chip (16 channels) in CakeWalk?
      
      You can use both the AWE32 sounds AND the OPL-3 FM sounds together in
      CakeWalk. As both the AWE32 and OPL-3 appear under Microsoft Windows
      as two separate MIDI devices, you can play both devices
      simultaneously. The following is a step-by-step guide:

      1.  Startup CakeWalk.
      2.  Select "Settings", then "MIDI Devices"
      3.  You will see a dialog box with MIDI IN devices on the left, and   
      
         MIDI OUT devices on the right. Click on both "Sound Blaster AWE32  
        
         MIDI Synth" and "Voyetra Super Sapi FM Driver."
      4.  Select "OK"
      5.  Activate the "Track/Measure" Window.
      6.  Locate the "Port" column in the Track/Measure Windows.
      7.  If you want a track to be playing back using AWE32, double click
          on the track's "Port" section, and select "1:Sound Blaster AWE32
          MIDI Synth." On the other hand if you want the track to be    
          playing back using the OPL-3 then select "2:Voyetra Super Sapi FM
          Driver." 
         
      You can repeat steps 6 and 7 on other CakeWalk tracks to assign the   
      output port as desired.

 8.   How many MIDI channels can the SB AWE32 handle in Windows?    
     
      Under Windows, the SB AWE32 has two MIDI synthesizer devices,    
      "EMU8000" and "OPL3". Each MIDI device is capable of supporting 16
      MIDI channels, with 15 being melodic, and one channel (MIDI channel
      10) being percussive. 
     
 9.   What MIDI sequencers will work with SB AWE32? Are special drivers     
      required?
      
      The SB AWE32 package ships with a Windows SB AWE32 MIDI driver.       
      Therefore, the SB AWE32 can be used with any Windows based MIDI
      sequencer software. For DOS, the sequencer software needs to have
      native SB AWE32 support.

 10.  Are there any plans for OS/2 and Windows NT SB AWE32 drivers?      
      
      The SB AWE32 OS/2 driver is currently in beta stage. The Windows NT   
      driver is currently in development.

 11.  What I/O port addresses are used by the EMU8000?
      
      The addresses used by the EMU8000 are relative to the base I/O
      address of the SB16. EMU8000 Addresses are at 6xxH, AxxH and ExxH. It
      occupies the first four addresses at each location. For example, if
      the SB16 base I/O address is 220H, the EMU8000 addresses are     
      620H-623H, A20H-A23H and E20H-E23H.

 12.  Why doesn't the EMU8000 have a built in MIDI interpreter?

      One of the design goal of the SB AWE32 is to offer high quality music
      at an affordable price. The EMU8000 is just like any other
      synthesizer chip such as OPL2, OPL3 or OPL4. It does not have the
      capability to interpret MIDI commands. For it to understand MIDI
      commands, a MIDI interpreter is required, and this will involve  
      adding an additional processor to handle MIDI commands and other
      components adding to the cost of the product.     
     
      After our analysis of price and performance, we decided that our
      current implementation offers the best in terms of price as well as
      performance. 
     
      To support existing games that use MPU-401, we provide a feature
      known as MIDI feedback using NMI (non-maskable-interrupt) which 
      installs a small TSR program, AWEUTIL. AWEUTIL works by trapping data
      going out to the MPU-401 port and re-directs it back to the SB AWE32.
      AWEUTIL provides compatibility with many games that support the
      MPU-401 interface, but will not always work with protected mode games
      due to the complicated ways in which DOS extenders handle NMI. Note
      that you can still continue to play your favorite DOS protected mode
      game with the on-board OPL3 FM chip.

      We are working closely with the game developer community to port
      their MIDI driver to support the SB AWE32. We have a porting     
      laboratory at Creative Labs, Inc., where we invite developers to port
      their drivers to natively support the SB AWE32. We believe that in
      the near future the SB AWE32 will be widely supported. Currently, we
      already have support from several major audio driver developers for
      the SB AWE32 platform. 

 13.  Does the SB AWE32 support MIDI Sample Dump to transfer samples to the 
      EMU8000?
      
      No. The sample transfer between PC and SB AWE32 is through the PC
      bus, and does not dump via the SB AWE32 MIDI port.

 14.  What is "CC0" documented in Appendix G-4 and G-5 of the SB AWE32
      Getting Started Manual? How are these variation tones accessed?  
     
      CC0 is short form for Continuous Controller 0 (zero), which is MIDI
      Bank Change.

      The SB AWE32 offers Sound Canvas compatibility by including the user
      bank instruments found on the Sound Canvas. User bank instruments are
      simply instruments of a similar class or variation. For example,
      General MIDI instrument number 25 is the Steel Acoustic Guitar, and
      its variation is the Ukulele.

      A user bank tone is just like any other General MIDI instrument. Take
      for example the Ukulele variation tone. Lets assume you are currently
      doing MIDI editing under CakeWalk Apprentice, and you sequenced a
      track that uses Steel Acoustic Guitar. You play the track back, and
      feel that the Steel Acoustic Guitar does not quite cut it, so you
      decide to give Ukulele a try. What you would need to do is to insert
      a MIDI bank change of value 8 (the user bank for Ukulele) in that
      track, follow immediately by a program change of Acoustic Value to
      select the user bank tone.  What you have just accomplished is to set
      the MIDI channel in which the Steel
      Acoustic Guitar instrument is playing to the user bank instrument 
      "Ukulele."

      Note that the user bank instruments are available only in the "GS"
      mode of the SB AWE32. You can switch to "GS" mode via the Windows AWE
      Control Panel applet. 

 15.  What "drum kits" are available in GS mode?
      
      A drum kit is a collection of percussive instruments (snare drum,
      bass drum, hi-hats, etc.) laid across the entire MIDI keyboard. Under
      General MIDI, MIDI channel 10 is reserved for percussion instruments.
      General MIDI defines only one drum kit, which is the Standard Kit.
      Under the "GM" synth mode of the SB AWE32, channel 10 automatically
      uses the "Standard Kit". MIDI music would be very boring if everybody
      used the same drum kit in every MIDI song. Imagine all MIDI songs
      using the same snare drum and the same bass drum, and you will have
      an idea of how similar every MIDI song will sound.

      Under the "GS" synth mode of the SB AWE32 there are 11 (including the 
      Standard Drum Kit) different drum kits you can use on MIDI Channel
      10.
    
     These drum kits are:

     Name                  Program No.     Description 

     Standard/Jazz         1 or 33         Standard General MIDI drum kit.  
                                          Jazz is similar to the Standard 
                                          drum kit.

     Room                   9             Similar to that of the Standard 
                                           kit except that it has more room 
                                          ambiance. 

     Power                 17             Again similar to that of the
                                          Standard kit, but with more power
                                          kick and snare drums.
                                             
     Electronic            25             Electronic drum kit. Most of the
                                          percussion instruments in this
                                          drum kit are reminiscence of old
                                          analogue and digital rhythm
                                          machines (such as the Roland
                                          TR-707 and TR-909 rhythm machine

     TR-808                26             Electronic drum kit, reminiscence
                                          of the Roland TR-808 rhythm
                                          machine. 

     Brush                 41             Similar to the Standard kit
                                          except that brushes have been
                                          added. This kit is mostly used
                                          for Jazz MIDI pieces.
  
      
     Orchestra             49             An immense collection of concert
                                          drums and timpani.

     SFX                   57             A collection of Sound Effects.

     CM-64/32L            127             Same as the Roland MT-32 drum
                                          kit.  This drum kit contains
                                          standard percussion at the lower
                                          range of the keyboard, and sound
                                          effects at the higher range of
                                          the keyboard.

      Drum kits are very easy to access under MIDI. Each drum kit is
      essentially an instrument and you select a drum kit by selecting an
      instrument, just as if you would select a melodic instrument. For
      example, if you want to select the TR-808, all you have to do is to
      perform a program change to 25 on MIDI channel 10. After the program
      change, all percussion sounds will be played back through the TR-808
      drum kit.

 16.  Does the SB AWE32 respond to MIDI aftertouch?
      
      The SB AWE32 Windows MIDI driver prior to version 1.03 does not
      support MIDI aftertouch. The current SB AWE32 driver supports    
      aftertouch AND MIDI controller 11 (expression).

      See the item "How do I get the latest drivers for the SB AWE32?" in   
      section F for further information.

 17.  My PC system does not have a working NMI. What can I do to use
      AWEUTIL?

      One of the most common causes of a system not having a working NMI is
      that the system's memory parity checking has been turned off. You can
      check your system's memory parity checking status by activating your
      system's BIOS setup. Consult your system's user manual on how to
      activate BIOS/CMOS setup and memory parity checking.

      If your system does not have a working NMI or you have a DOS     
      protected mode game, then you can only play games using FM music.
      Note that this NMI problem only applies to DOS games or applications,
      not to Windows games or applications. Under Windows, all applications
      play music and sound effects through the standard SB AWE32 Windows
      drivers.
     
      As more developers include native SB AWE32 support, this NMI problem
      will gradually disappear.

      Some of the protected mode games already have SB AWE32 support via    
      special drivers (such as Miles Design Inc's AIL drivers).  You can   
      obtain more information on these drivers in the Sound Blaster forum 
      on CompuServe, or on Creative's BBS. See the item "How do I get the 
      latest drivers for the SB AWE32?" in Section F.

 18.  Is there a WaveBlaster upgrade option on the SB AWE32?
      
      Yes. Each SB AWE32 features a WaveBlaster connector.

 19.  What is the benefit of adding a WaveBlaster to the SB AWE32?  
      
      The WaveBlaster connector was included on the SB AWE32 to provide
      users an alternative wave-sample synthesis method other than the
      EMU8000 on the SB AWE32. By incorporating a WaveBlaster onto the SB
      AWE32, the total polyphony of this combination will be increased to
      64, the total number of timbres expanded to 32, and you will have
      access to a secondary palette of sampled sounds.

 20.  Is it possible to load AWEUTIL into high memory?
      
      AWEUTIL automatically searches for high memory and will attempt to
      load itself high if enough high memory is available.

 21.  Does AWEUTIL have to stay memory resident?
      
      AWEUTIL serves two purposes; to initialize and control the reverb and 
      chorus effects of the FM hardware on the SB AWE32 card, and to
      provide NMI MIDI Feedback.

           AWEUTIL /S

      will initialize and set the reverb and chorus effect of the FM
      hardware, and then terminate. It will not stay resident in memory. 
      If you want to activate NMI MIDI Feedback, then run AWEUTIL /EM:XX 
      (XX = GM, GS or MT32) before starting your game.

      When you finish the game, remember to run
      
           AWEUTIL /U

      to unload AWEUTIL from memory.

 22.  What are the long term plans to solve the problem with DOS extender   
      games?
      
      We are currently getting developers to natively support the SB AWE32.
      So far we have had good support from John Miles Inc. with their SB
      AWE32 Miles (real and protected mode) drivers, from Accolade, from
      HMI and from John Ratcliff with his MIDPAK drivers. As more and more
      developers support the SB AWE32, the DOS extended game's problem will
      gradually disappear.

 23.  Will software written for the SB16 work with the SB AWE32?    
      
      Definitely. The SB AWE32 uses the same base system as the SB16, so it
      is fully compatible.


 24.  Does Creative have any plans for a SCSI version of the SB AWE32?   
      
      We will deliver a SCSI version of the SB AWE32 when there is     
      sufficient demand.


 25.  What CD-ROM drives does the SB AWE32 support?
      
      The SB AWE32 supports Creative, Sony and Mitsumi CD-ROM drives.

 26.  What are the different reverb and chorus variations available on the
      SB AWE32?
      
      Reverb and chorus effects add warmth and movement to MIDI playback.   
      There are eight reverb types and eight chorus types available on the
      SB AWE32.

     Room 1-3,        This group of reverb variation simulates the natural
                      ambiance of a room. Room 1 simulates a small room,
                      Room 2 simulates a slightly bigger room, and Room 3
                      simulates a big room.

     Hall 1-2,        This group of reverb variation simulates the natural
                      ambiance of a concert hall. It has greater depth
                      than the room variations. Again, Hall 1 simulates a
                      small hall, and Hall 2 simulates a larger hall. 
                 
     Plate,           Back in the old days, reverb effects were sometimes
                      produced using a metal plate, and this type of reverb
                      produces a metallic echo. The SB AWE32's Plate
                      variation simulates this form of reverb.

     Delay,           This reverb produces a delay, that is, echo effect.

     Panning Delay,   This reverb variation produces a delay effect that
                      is, continuously panned left and right.

     Chorus 1-4,      Chorus produces a "beating" effect. The chorus
                      effects are more prominent going from chorus 1 to
                      chorus 4. Feedback Chorus, This chorus variation
                      simulates a soft "swishing" effect. 
     
     Flanger,         This chorus variation produces a more prominent
                      feedback chorus effect.

     Short Delay,     This chorus variation simulates a delay repeated in a
                      short time.

     Short Delay,     This chorus variation simulates a short delay
                      repeated (feedback) (feedback) many times.

     These effect variations can be selected by the following sysex
     messages: 
     
     Reverb sysex macro
          
     F0 41 10 42 12 40 01 30 XX CS F7
      
     where XX denotes the reverb variation to be selected, and CS denote a
     checksum value that is ignored. The valid values for XX are:

             0 - Room 1
             1 - Room 2
             2 - Room 3
             3 - Hall 1
             4 - Hall 2
             5 - Plate
             6 - Delay
             7 - Panning Delay

     Chorus sysex macro

     F0 41 10 42 12 40 01 38 XX CS F7

     again, XX denotes the chorus variation to be selected, and CS notes a
     checksum value that is ignored. The valid values for XX are: 
     
             0 - Chorus 1
             1 - Chorus 2
             2 - Chorus 3
             3 - Chorus 4
             4 - Feedback chorus
             5 - Flanger
             6 - Short Delay
             7 - Short delay (FB)
      
 27.  What are the undocumented "JP6," "JP8" and "JP9" jumpers on the card? 

      JP8 Is a digital (SPDIF) out from the EMU8000.

      Pin definition:         0 - signal, 
                              1 - signal ground.

      JP6 and JP9 are meant for manufacture diagnostic purpose, and should
      not be used by end user.

                          -----===-----===-----===----- 
     
     Section B - Editing Tool
     ------------------------
 1.   Will there be a preset editor for the SB AWE32?

      We are currently working on a preset editor for the SB AWE32,    
      code-named "Vienna." Vienna will allow you to create and customize
      your own SoundFont bank files. You can create WAVE files to import
      into Vienna to create your own instruments. Vienna also allows you to
      program you own presets (tweaking the envelopes' generators, the LFOs
      and such). 
     
 2.   Will it be possible to patch multiple sounds across different keys,
      such as a drum kit?

      Yes, Vienna was designed for making drum kits as well. 

 3.   How are new instruments on the SB AWE32 created?

      As mentioned above, you can create your own samples (using
      WaveStudio) to import into Vienna. As an example, let's say you have
      a Steinway piano you would like to sample it and use the Steinway
      sound on your SB AWE32. What you need to do is sample your Steinway
      in 16 bit mono WAVE files. Then you can use Vienna to edit its preset
      and save it as a SoundFont bank file and load it as a user bank into
      your SB AWE32 to play just like any normal MIDI instrument.

 4.   What functionality will the preset editor offer?

      Here is what you will be able to do with Vienna:

      -   Multi-sample arrangement
      
         Multi-sampling is the technique of sampling a musical instrument
      at different musical intervals, arranging the samples across a MIDI
      keyboard and assigning key ranges (for example, from key C3 to C4) 
      to these samples. Vienna allows you to visually assign samples to key
      ranges.
      
      -   Preset editing
          
         Once you arrange your samples across the keyboard, you can then
      start to program the instrument's envelopes and LFOs to your liking.
      Refer to the section on "Introduction to EMU8000" for information on 
      envelopes and LFOs.

      -   Loop point selection
      
          Vienna allows you to visually select the loop points of a sample. 
         
      -   Drum kit arrangement
      
          Vienna is not limited to just creating musical instruments; you   
          can also layout and save a drum kit using any samples you desire. 
         
 5.   What is SoundFont Bank Maker for SB AWE32? How do I get this     
      application?

      SoundFont bank Maker for SB AWE32 is a simple utility for you to
      experiment with SB AWE32 sample downloading capability. It is not a   
      substitute for Vienna.  Refer to the section "How do I..." for more   
      information on obtaining this utility.

 6.   Will the bank editing software load samples for other systems e.g.
      Akai S1000 or Yamaha TG55?

      There are no plans at this time.


                           -----===-----===-----===----- 
      
     Section C - Programming Information
     -----------------------------------
 1.   Is programming information available for the SB AWE32? 

      We are working on a SB AWE32 Developer Information Pack, which will
      contain both Windows and DOS programming information.  For DOS
      environments, we have created library functions based on common MIDI
      commands such as NoteOn, NoteOff, ProgramChange, etc. Special care
      has been taken to ensure that the library can be used for building
      TSR drivers or embedded MIDI drivers in an application.

      For Windows environments, we will provide the API for sample     
      downloading and effect control.

 2.   Is the effect engine on the SB AWE32 programmable? 

      The effect engine on the SB AWE32 is dedicated to produce reverb,
      chorus and QSound effect, and is not intended to be programmable. You
      can, however, select different reverb or chorus variations using
      sysex. Refer to the section "What are the different reverb and chorus
      variations available on the SB AWE32?" for more information.

 3.   When will the developer kit become available? What sort of prices
      will the developer kit be?

      There will not be a SB AWE32 developer kit available for sale. Once
      the Developer Information Pack is ready, we will make it publicly
      available for free.  Keep a look out in Compuserve and Creative BBS
      for SB AWE32 developer kit announcement.

                          -----===-----===-----===----- 
     
     Section D - SoundFont Bank
     --------------------------
 1.   What are SoundFont Collections?
      
      E-mu SoundFont Collections are CD-ROMs that contains SoundFont Banks
      of varying sizes (0.5 MB to 8 MB). E-mu's SoundFont Banks will
      include both instruments and sound effects. Many of E-mu's
      traditional instrument sounds will be included (for example Proteus
      1-3) as well as some new sounds.

 2.   How do SoundFont Bank work?

      SoundFont Banks can be loaded into RAM on the SB AWE32. They can then
      be used in conjunction with a MIDI sequencer to create soundtracks or
      other kinds of audio creations.

 3.   When will SoundFont Bank be available?
      
      SoundFont Banks will be available this summer. SoundFont catalogs
      should be available in June, and E-mu will start taking orders once
      the catalog is available.

 4.   What can I do with SoundFont Banks?
      
      You can:

     a.  Load SoundFont banks of your choice into the RAM of your SB AWE32
         and use this set of sounds as you compose with a MIDI sequencer.

     b.  Create your own SoundFont Bank with SoundFont Objects from various
         SoundFont Banks you already have using E-mu's SoundFont Editor
         software.

     c.  Edit individual SoundFont parameters with E-mu's SoundFont Editor
         to create your own version of the sounds and then assemble your
         own SoundFont Objects into a SoundFont Bank. Creating your own
         SoundFont Objects and Banks gives you the freedom to create your
         own unique instruments and sound effects to differentiate your
         soundtracks. 
         
 5.   Will having 28 MB on the SB AWE32 improve the sound quality over a
      standard 512 KB SB AWE32?
      
      Absolutely! The more RAM memory on your SB AWE32 the larger and
      fuller the sound samples you can include in your SoundFont Banks.
      E-mu will be providing 8 MB of SoundFont Banks in our collection that
      will be of interest to serious musicians.

                             -----===-----===-----===----- 
     
     Section E - Introduction to the EMU8000 Chip
     --------------------------------------------
      The EMU8000 has its roots in E-mu's Proteus sample playback modules
      and their renowned Emulator sampler. The EMU8000 has 32 individual
      oscillators, each playing back at 44.1 kHz. By incorporating
      sophisticated sample interpolation algorithms and digital filtering,
      the EMU8000 is capable of producing high fidelity sample playback.    

     
      The EMU8000 has an extensive modulation capability using two
      sine-wave LFO's (Low Frequency Oscillator) and two multi-stage
      envelope generators.

 1.   What exactly does modulation mean?
      
      Modulation means to dynamically change a parameter of an audio
      signal, whether it be the volume (amplitude modulation, or tremolo),
      pitch (frequency modulation, or vibrato) or filter cutoff frequency
      (filter modulation, or wah-wah).  To modulate something we would
      require a modulation source, and a modulation destination. In the
      EMU8000, the modulation sources are the LFOs and the envelope
      generators, and the modulation destinations can be the pitch, the
      volume or the filter cutoff frequency.

      The EMU8000's LFOs and envelope generators provide a complex
      modulation environment. Each sound producing element of the EMU8000
      consists of a resonant low-pass filter, two LFOs, in which one
      modulates the pitch (LFO2), and the other modulates pitch, filter
      cutoff and volume (LFO1) simultaneously. There are two envelope
      generators; envelope 1 contours both pitch and filter cutoff
      simultaneously, and envelope 2 contours volume. The output stage
      consists of an effects engine that mixes the dry signals with the
      Reverb/chorus level signals to produce the final mix.

 2.   What are the EMU8000 sound elements?

      Each of the sound elements in an EMU8000 consists of the following: 
      
      Oscillator     
         An oscillator is the source of an audio signal.  
     
      Low Pass Filter
         The low pass filter is responsible for modifying the timbres of an
         instrument. The low pass filter's filter cutoff values can be
         varied from 100 Hz to 8000 Hz. By changing the values of the
         filter cutoff, a myriad of analogue sounding filter sweeps can be
         achieved.  An example of a GM instrument that makes use of filter
         sweep is instrument number 87, Lead 7 (fifths).

      Amplifier
         The amplifier determines the loudness of an audio signal. 

      LFO1
         An LFO, or Low Frequency Oscillator, is normally used to
         periodically modulate, that is, change a sound parameter, whether
         it be volume (amplitude modulation), pitch (frequency modulation)
         or filter cutoff (filter modulation).  It operates at sub-audio
         frequency from 0.042 Hz to 10.71 Hz.  The LFO1 in the EMU8000
         modulates the pitch, volume and filter cutoff simultaneously. 

     LFO2
         The LFO2 is similar to the LFO1, except that it modulates the
         pitch of the audio signal only.

     Resonance
         A filter alone would be like an equalizer, making a bright audio
         signal duller, but the addition of resonance greatly increases the
         creative potential of a filter. Increasing the resonance of a
         filter makes it emphasize signals at the cutoff frequency, giving
         the audio signal a subtle "wah-wah," that is, imagine a siren
         sound going from bright to dull to bright again periodically.

     LFO1 to Volume (Tremolo)
         The LFO1's output is routed to the amplifier, with the depth of
         oscillation determined by LFO1 to Volume. LFO1 to Volume produces
         tremolo, which is a periodic fluctuation of volume. Lets say you
         are listening to a piece of music on your home stereo system. When
         you rapidly increase and decrease the playback volume, you are
         creating tremolo effect, and the speed in which you increases and
         decreases the volume is the tremolo rate (which corresponds to the
         speed at which the LFO is oscillating). An example of a GM
         instrument that makes use of LFO1 to Volume is instrument number
         45, Tremolo Strings. 
         
     LFO1 to Filter Cutoff (Wah-Wah)
         The LFO1's output is routed to the filter, with the depth of
         oscillation determined by LFO1 to Filter. LFO1 to Filter produces
         a periodic fluctuation in the filter cutoff frequency, producing
         an effect very similar to that of a wah-wah guitar (see resonance
         for a description of "wah-wah") An example of a GM instrument that
         makes use of LFO1 to Filter Cutoff is instrument number 19, Rock
         Organ. 
      
     LFO1 to Pitch (Vibrato)
         The LFO1's output is routed to the oscillator, with the depth of
         oscillation determined by LFO1 to Pitch. LFO1 to Pitch produces a
         periodic fluctuation in the pitch of the oscillator, producing a
         vibrato effect. An example of a GM instrument that makes use of
         LFO1 to Pitch is instrument number 57, Trumpet.

     LFO2 to Pitch (Vibrato)
         The LFO1 in the EMU8000 can simultaneously modulate pitch, volume
         and filter. LFO2, on the other hand, modulates only the pitch,
         with the depth of modulation determined by LFO2 to Pitch. LFO2 to
         Pitch produces a periodic fluctuation in the pitch of the
         oscillator, producing a vibrato effect.  When this is coupled with
         LFO1 to Pitch, a complex vibrato effect can be achieved.

     Volume Envelope
         The character of a musical instrument is largely determined by its
         volume envelope, the way in which the level of the sound changes
         with time.  For example, percussive sounds usually start suddenly
         and then die away, whereas a bowed sound might take quite some
         time to start and then sustain at a more or less fixed level.

         A six-stage envelope makes up the volume envelope of the EMU8000.
         The six stages are delay, attack, hold, decay, sustain and
         release. The stages can be described as follows:

         Delay,   The time between when a key is played and when the attack
                  phase begins.     
                  
         Attack,  The time it takes to go from zero to the peak (full)
                  level.

         Hold,    The time the envelope will stay at the peak level before
                  starting the decay phase.

         Decay,   The time it takes the envelope to go from the peak level
                  to the sustain level.
      
         Sustain, The level at which the envelope remains as long as a key
                  is held down.

         Release, The time it takes the envelope to fall to the zero level
                  after the key is released.

         Using these six parameters can yield very realistic reproduction
         of the volume envelope characteristics of many musical
         instruments. 
         
     Pitch and Filter Envelope
         The pitch and filter envelope is similar to the volume envelope in
         that it has the same envelope stages. The difference between them
         is that whereas the volume envelope contours the volume of the
         instrument over time, the pitch and filter envelope contours the
         pitch and filter values of the instrument over time. The pitch
         envelope is particularly useful in putting the finishing touches
         in simulating a natural instrument. For example, some wind
         instruments tend to go slightly sharp when they are first blown,
         and this characteristic can be simulated by setting up a pitch
         envelope with a fairly fast attack and decay. The filter envelope,
         on the other hand, is useful in creating synthetic sci-fi sound
         textures.  An example of a GM instrument that makes use of the
         filter envelope is instrument number 86, Pad 8 (Sweep).

     Pitch/Filter Envelope Modulation
         These two parameters determine the modulation depth of the pitch
         and filter envelope. In the wind instrument example above, a small
         amount of pitch envelope modulation is desirable to simulate its
         natural pitch characteristics.   This rich modulation capability
         of the EMU8000 is fully exploited by the SB AWE32 MIDI drivers.
         The driver also provides you with a means to change these
         parameters over MIDI in real time. Refer to the section "How do I
         change an instrument's sound parameter in real time" for more
         information.
     
                           -----===-----===-----===----- 
      
     Section F - How Do I ...
     ------------------------
 1.   How do I make use of RPN documented in the SB AWE32 MIDI      
      Implementation chart?

      RPN is a short form for "Registered Parameter Number." Registered
      Parameter Numbers are used to represent sound or performance
      parameters.  MIDI 1.0 specified three RPNs: RPN 0 for Pitch Bend
      Sensitivity, RPN 1 for Coarse Tune and RPN 2 for Fine Tune. The SB
      AWE32 implements only RPN 0, Pitch Bend Sensitivity.

      Before going into how to set pitch bend sensitivity, let's go into
      how pitch bending is used in MIDI. Pitch Bending is normally used to
      pitch shift (that is, make the pitch go higher or lower) a sustained
      note to achieve a "pitch gliding" effect.  The default pitch bend
      sensitivity of the SB AWE32 is +/- 2 semitones, that is, you can go
      high or low of the current note by 2 semitones when using the pitch
      bend wheel. If you desire a more dramatic pitch bending effect, then
      you would need to change the pitch bend sensitivity to a higher
      value.

      Following are step-by-step instructions to set a pitch bend
      sensitivity value other than the default 2 semitones. 
      CakeWalk Apprentice will be used as an example.

     1.  Bring up the "Event List" window for the track you want to set
         pitch bend sensitivity.
      
     2.  Go to the top of the event list (page up) and insert a MIDI
         controller event, with controller number 101 and a controller
         value of 0.
         
     3.  Insert another MIDI Controller event immediately, with controller
         number 100 and controller value of 0.

     4.  Insert another MIDI controller event immediately, with controller
         number 6, and set the controller value to the desired pitch bend
         sensitivity in semitones.

 2.   How do I change an instrument's sound parameter in real time?

      You can change an instrument's SoundFont parameters (for example, LFO
      depth and speed, envelope contour) through MIDI in real time via
      NRPN, or Non Registered Parameter Number control.

      NRPN is identical to that of RPN, except that Registered Parameter
      Numbers are agreed upon by the MMA (MIDI Manufacturers Association)
      and JMSC (Japan MIDI Standards Committee), and Non Registered
      Parameter Number may be assigned as needed by individual
      manufacturers. 
      
      NRPN consists of:

           NRPN MSB        MIDI Controller 99
           NRPN LSB        MIDI Controller 98

      NRPN MSB and LSB form a value that indicates the desired sound
      parameter.  After sending NRPN MSB and LSB, MIDI controllers 6 (Data
      Entry MSB) and 38 (Data Entry LSB) are sent to pass in the value for
      the sound parameter.

      To send a NRPN message, the following steps are required:

           send NRPN MSB with MSB of sound parameter
           send NRPN LSB with LSB of sound parameter
           send Data Entry MSB with MSB of sound parameter value       
           send Data Entry LSB with LSB of sound parameter value 

      As NRPN and Data Entry messages are MIDI controller messages, any
      MIDI sequencer software that supports editing of controller message
      (such as CakeWalk, MasterTracks Pro) is capable of sending them.

      For SB AWE32 NRPN to be functional, NRPN MSB has to be 127, and NRPN
      LSB set to the desired parameter to be controlled (refer to the
      section "SB AWE32 NRPN Implementation" for a list of NRPN implemented
      on the SB AWE32.)

      Data entry MSB with Data entry LSB together forms a 14bit number. The
      middle value 8192 (0x2000, Data MSB = 64 and Data LSB = 0) is taken
      as value 0. To convert from MSB and LSB to actual value, here is the
      equation:

           Actual value = (MSB * 128 + LSB) - 8192

      To convert an actual value into MSB and LSB, here are the steps: 
           
           MSB     = (actual value + 8192) / 128
           LSB     = (actual value + 8192) % 128

      A "Reset All Controllers" message (MIDI controller 121) restores the
      instrument's original SoundFont parameters.

      Refer to section [H] for a table of NRPN implementation.

 3.   How do I select the SB AWE32's reverb and chorus variation type
      through MIDI?
      
      You can select the reverb and chorus variation via sysex. The SB
      AWE32Windows (not DOS) driver recognizes two strings of sysex; one
      for selecting reverb variation, and the other for selecting chorus
      variation.

      Reverb sysex string:
      
      F0 41 10 42 12 40 01 30 XX CS F7
      
      Where XX indicates the reverb variations (from 0 to 7), and CS
      indicate a checksum for this sysex string. CS is ignored by the MIDI
      driver.

      Chorus sysex string:
      
      F0 41 10 42 12 40 01 38 XX CS F7

      Where XX indicates the chorus variation (from 0 to 7), and CS
      indicate a checksum for this sysex string. CS is ignored by the MIDI
      driver.

 4.   How can I maximize my system's memory so that I still have plenty of
      room to run games after installing the SB AWE32?
      
      There are two drivers (CTMMSYS.SYS and CTSB16.SYS) you can remove
      from CONFIG.SYS. These two drivers provide digital playback and
      recording interface under DOS. They are not used by the EMU8000
      subsystem.  By removing these two drivers, you will not be able to
      run PLAY.EXE, RECORD.EXE and SB16SET.EXE under DOS, but you will gain
      approximately 30K of memory.

 5.   How do I load a SoundFont Bank?

      Loading SoundFont Banks is easy. Just use the SB AWE32 Windows
      Control Panel Applet, AWECP.EXE, as follows:

     a.  Use the up or down arrow keys next to the user bank number to
         select the desired bank. A dialog box appears.

     b.  Select the directory that contains the *.SBK files.

     c.  Double-click the desired file to load it into the particular user 
         bank.

 6.  How do I get the latest drivers for the SB AWE32?

     The latest SB AWE32 drivers, utilities and game compatibility list can 
     be found at the following sites:

             Inside U.S.A., Canada and South America
             Creative Labs, Inc BBS : (405)742-6660

             Inside Europe
             UK BBS  : (44)743-360287
             Germany BBS : (49)2131-919820

             Inside Asia
             Creative Technology BBS : (65)776-2423

             CompuServe
             type GO BLASTER to enter the Creative Labs Forum 

                           -----===-----===-----===----- 
      
     Section G - References
     ----------------------
 The definitive guide to MIDI would be "MIDI 1.0 Detailed Specification",  
 published and distributed exclusively by :

      International MIDI Association
      23634 Emelita Street
      Woodland Hills, CA  91367
      USA

 Other MIDI related publications are :

      Music Through MIDI
      Using MIDI to create your own electronic music system by Michael Boom
      published by Microsoft Press
      Catalog number : ISBN 1-55615-0260-1

      The MIDI Manual
      by David Miles Huber
      published by SAM
      Catalog number : ISBN 0-672-22755-6

                           -----===-----===-----===----- 
     

     Section H - SB AWE32 NRPN Implementation
     ----------------------------------------
 NRPN LSB 0 (Delay before LFO1 starts)
 Realtime        : No
 Range           : [0, 5900]
 Unit            : 4 milliseconds
 Delay from 0 to 22 seconds.

 NRPN LSB 1 (LFO1 Frequency)
 Realtime        : Yes
 Range           : [0, 127]
 Unit            : 0.084Hz
 LFO1 frequency from 0Hz to 10.72 Hz.

 NRPN LSB 2 (Delay before LFO2 starts)
 Realtime        : No
 Range           : [0, 5900]
 Unit            : 4 milliseconds
 Delay from 0 to 22 seconds.

 NRPN LSB 3 (LFO2 Frequency)
 Realtime        : Yes
 Range           : [0, 127]
 Unit            : 0.084Hz
 LFO2 frequency from 0Hz to 10.72 Hz.

 NRPN LSB 4 (Envelope 1 delay time)
 Realtime        : No
 Range           : [0, 5900]
 Unit            : 4 milliseconds
 Envelope 1 Delay from 0 to 22 seconds.

 NRPN LSB 5 (Envelope 1 attack time)
 Realtime        : No
 Range           : [0, 5940]
 Unit            : Milliseconds
 Envelope 1 attack time from 0 to 5.9 seconds.

 NRPN LSB 6 (Envelope 1 hold time)
 Realtime        : No
 Range           : [0, 8191]
 Unit            : Milliseconds
 Envelope 1 hold time from 0 to 8 seconds.

 NRPN LSB 7 (Envelope 1 decay time)
 Realtime        : No
 Range           : [0, 5940]
 Unit            : 4 Milliseconds
 Envelope 1 decay time from 0.023 to 23.7 seconds.

 NRPN LSB 8 (Envelope 1 sustain level)
 Realtime        : No
 Range           : [0, 127]
 Unit            : 0.75dB
 Envelope 1 sustain level from full level down to off (0.75 dB step).

 NRPN LSB 9 (Envelope 1 release time)
 Realtime        : No
 Range           : [0, 5940]
 Unit            : 4 milliseconds
 Envelope 1 release time from 0.023 to 23.7 seconds.

 NRPN LSB 10 (Envelope 2 delay time)
 Realtime        : No
 Range           : [0, 5900]
 Unit            : 4 milliseconds
 Envelope 2 Delay from 0 to 22 seconds.

 NRPN LSB 11 (Envelope 2 attack time)
 Realtime        : No
 Range           : [0, 5940]
 Unit            : Milliseconds
 Envelope 2 attack time from 0 to 5.9 seconds.

 NRPN LSB 12 (Envelope 2 hold time)
 Realtime        : No
 Range           : [0, 8191]
 Unit            : Millisecond
 Envelope 2 hold time from 0 to 8 seconds.

 NRPN LSB 13 (Envelope 2 decay time)
 Realtime        : No
 Range           : [0, 5940]
 Unit            : 4 milliseconds
 Envelope 2 decay time from 0.023 to 23.7 seconds.

 NRPN LSB 14 (Envelope 2 sustain level)
 Realtime        : No
 Range           : [0, 127]
 Unit            : 0.75dB
 Envelope 2 sustain level from full level down to off.

 NRPN LSB 15 (Envelope 2 release time)
 Realtime        : No
 Range           : [0, 5940]
 Unit            : 4 milliseconds
 Envelope 2 release time from 0.023 to 23.7 seconds.

 NRPN LSB 16 (Initial Pitch)
 Realtime        : Yes
 Range           : [-8192, 8191]
 Unit            : cents
 Pitch tuning between -8192 and 8191 cents.

 NRPN LSB 17 (LFO1 to Pitch)
 Realtime        : Yes
 Range           : [-127, 127]
 Unit            : 9.375 cents

 If data value is greater than 0, this will cause a positive (from 0 to  
 maximum) 1 octave shift at LFO peak. On the other hand, if data value 
 is smaller than 0, this will cause a negative (from 0 to minimum) 1 
 octave shift at LFO peak.

 NRPN LSB 18 (LFO2 to Pitch)
 Realtime        : Yes
 Description     :
 Range           : [-127, 127]
 Unit            : 9.375 cents

 If data value is greater than 0, this will cause a positive (from 0 to  
 maximum) 1 octave shift at LFO peak. On the other hand, if data value 
 is smaller than 0, this will cause a negative (from 0 to minimum) 1 octave 
 shift at LFO peak.

 NRPN LSB 19 (Envelope 1 to Pitch)
 Realtime        : No
 Range           : [-127, 127]
 Unit            : 9.375 cents

 If data value is greater than 0, this will cause a positive (from 0 to 
 maximum) 1 octave shift at envelope peak. On the other hand, if data 
 value is smaller than 0, this will cause a negative (from 0 to minimum)  1
 octave shift at envelope peak.

 NRPN LSB 20 (LFO1 to Volume)
 Realtime        : Yes
 Range           : [0, 127]
 Unit            : 0.1875 dB

 Data values smaller than 64 causes a positive phase (from 0 to maximum)  
 volume modulation via LFO1 with magnitude of 12 dB at LFO peak. On the  
 other hand, data values greater than or equal to 64 causes a negative  
 phase (from 0 to minimum) volume modulation via LFO1 with magnitude of  
 12 dB at LFO peak.

 NRPN LSB 21 (Initial Filter Cutoff)
 Realtime        : Yes
 Range           : [0, 127]
 Unit            : 62Hz
 Filter cutoff from 100Hz to 8000Hz

 NRPN LSB 22 (Initial Filter Resonance Coefficient)
 Realtime        : No
 Range           : [0, 127]

 The EMU8000 has a built in resonance coefficient table comprising 16
 entries. Values 0-7 will select the first (0) entry, values 8-15 selects
 the second (1) entry and so on.

 Coeff   Low Fc(Hz)   Low Q(dB)   High Fc(kHz)   High Q(dB)   DC Att(dB)
 -----------------------------------------------------------------------  
 0          92            5           Flat          Flat           - 0.0
 1          93            6            8.5           0.5           - 0.5
 2          94            8            8.3           1             - 1.2
 3          95           10            8.2           2             - 1.8
 4          96           11            8.1           3             - 2.5
 5          97           13            8.0           4             - 3.3
 6          98           14            7.9           5             - 4.1
 7          99           16            7.8           6             - 5.5
 8         100           17            7.7           7             - 6.0
 9         100           19            7.5           9             - 6.6
 10        100           20            7.4           10            - 7.2
 11        100           22            7.3           11            - 7.9
 12        100           23            7.2           13            - 8.5
 13        100           25            7.1           15            - 9.3
 14        100           26            7.1           16            - 10.1
 15        100           28            7.0           18            - 11.0

 NRPN LSB 23 (LFO1 to Filter Cutoff)
 Realtime        : Yes
 Description     :
 Range           : [0, 127]
 Unit            : 56.25 cents

 Data values smaller than 64 causes a positive phase (from 0 to maximum) 
 filter modulation via LFO1 with magnitude of 3 octaves at LFO peak. On  
 the other hand, data values greater than or equal to 64 causes a  negative 
 phase (from 0 to minimum) filter modulation via LFO1 with  magnitude of 3 
 octaves at LFO peak.

 NRPN LSB 24 (Envelope 1 to Filter Cutoff)
 Realtime        : No
 Description     :
 Range           : [-127, 127]
 Unit            : 56.25 cents

 Data values greater than 0 cause a positive phase (from 0 to maximum)  
 filter modulation via Envelope 1 with magnitude of 6 octaves at envelope  
 peak. On the other hand, values smaller than 0 cause a negative phase  
 (from 0 to minimum) filter modulation via Envelope 1 with magnitude of 6  
 octaves at envelope peak.

 NRPN LSB 25 (Chorus Effects Send)
 Realtime        : No
 Range           : [0, 255]

 Chorus send, with 0 being the driest (no chorus effects processing), and  
 255 being the wettest (full chorus effect processing).

 NRPN LSB 26 (Reverb Effects Send)
 Realtime        : No
 Range           : [0, 255]

 Reverb send, with 0 being the driest (no reverb effects processing), and  
 255 being the wettest (full reverb effect processing).

                          -----===-----===-----===----- 
              100694/FG-R1 - Copyright (c) 1994 Creative Labs Inc.

 Inside U.S.A., Canada and South America, contact:       

                   Creative Labs, Inc.  Technical Support
                            1523 Cimarron Plaza,
                         Stillwater, OK 74075 U.S.A.
                             TEL (405) 742-6622
                             FAX (405) 742-6633
                             BBS (405) 742-6660

                    Operating Hours (U.S.A. Central Time)
                     Mon-Sun  8:00am-12:00am (16 hours)
                            Public HolidayClosed
                          BBS 24 hours operational

 Inside Europe, contact:       

               Creative Labs (IRELAND) Ltd.  Technical Support
                       Blanchardstown Industrial Park,
                     Blanchardstown, Dublin 15, IRELAND

                                   Ireland
                            TEL (353) 1-820-7555
                            FAX (353) 1-820-5052

                                   France
                           TEL (33) 1.39.20.04.21

                                     UK
                             TEL (44) 734-344744
                             BBS (44) 743-360287

                                   Germany
                            TEL (49) 2131-102838
                            BBS (49) 2131-919820

 Note: Inside Europe, please direct all faxes to Ireland.

                            Inside Asia, contact:

                 Creative Technology Ltd.  Technical Support
                        67 Ayer Rajah Crescent #03-18
                               Singapore 0513

                             TEL (065) 870-0433
                             FAX (065) 773-0353
                             BBS (065) 776-2423

                      Operating Hours (Singapore Time)
                           Mon-Fri  9:00am-6:00pm
                            Sat    9:00am-1:00pm
                         Sun & Public Holiday Closed
                          BBS 24 hours operational



                        CompuServe: (type) GO BLASTER
             Internet E-mail address:  72662.1602@compuserve.com

                _____________________________________________




 > 32BIT Access STR FOCUS!                 Is it for you?
   """""""""""""""""""""""


 Introduction
 ============

 Microsoft has added many performance enhancements to Windows since its 
 initial release.  One of these enhancements has been the 32-bit Disk 
 Access feature.  Many people use this feature without actually knowing 
 what it does and without actually knowing if it really helps!  Microsoft 
 has since extended this feature and has now implemented 32-bit File Access 
 as well.  There have been several questions on exactly what 32-bit disk 
 access is, inside of Microsoft Windows 3.1 and also 32-bit file access 
 now available in Microsoft Windows for Workgroups 3.11.  This document 
 will explain the definition of each feature in detail along with 
 performance results when using 32-Bit File Access.

 32-Bit Disk Access
 ==================

 The 32-Bit Disk Access feature of Windows, also know as FastDisk, was 
 first introduced with Windows 3.1. It brought new technology to users 
 of the Windows operating system and delivered improved performance 
 over Windows 3.0 when running DOS based applications under Windows.

 32-Bit Disk Access is a set of protected-mode device drivers that work 
 together to direct INT13 calls to the hard disk controller and direct 
 them in the most efficient way for the system - either through the 32-bit 
 interface with the hard disk controller or through the system BIOS.

 Since 32-Bit Disk Access works directly with the hard disk controller, it 
 can only support a disk controller that supplies an appropriate virtual 
 device driver to support that controller.  Windows 3.1 ships with one such 
 device WDCTRL which supports only disk controllers that are compatible
 with 
 the Western Digital 1003 controller interface standard.  Most IDE drives 
 fall under this standard however SCSI drives do not.  Some SCSI controller 
 manufactures have decided to develop their own 32-Bit Disk Access drivers 
 but Adaptec has decided not to for reasons explained later.

 32-Bit Disk Access is only available under 386 Enhanced mode. In Enhanced 
 mode, Windows and Windows applications run in protected mode whereas DOS 
 programs run in real or virtual mode.  The system must switch to virtual 
 mode whenever a DOS program is executed from within Windows.  This mode 
 switching is time consuming.  The following is the process that takes
 place while running a DOS application from within Windows.  When a DOS
 application makes a call to read from a file, Windows traps this interrupt
 (INT21) and switches to protected mode, where several virtual devices
 check the call for actions they need to perform.  Once the call is
 checked, Windows returns the call back to DOS, switching back to virtual
 mode.  DOS finds the requested location on the disk and generates an INT13
 call to the disk controller BIOS.

 Again, Windows traps this interrupt, switches to protected mode, checks
 the call, and returns the INT13 call to the controller BIOS which is in
 virtual mode.  The BIOS then performs the function on the disk and returns
 from the call.  At this point Windows switches back to protected mode to
 perform more processing, then returns back to virtual mode to let DOS see
 the return from the original INT21 call.


 Here are the steps that take place during a DOS application call to the
 disk.

 1. Application  - INT21 call to read from the disk
 2. Windows      - Traps the call, switch to protected mode
 3. Windows      - Returns to DOS, switch to virtual mode
 4. DOS          - INT13 call to disk controller
 5. Windows      - Traps the call, switch to protected mode
 6. Windows      - Returns to BIOS, switch to virtual mode
 7. BIOS         - Performs INT13 function call
 8. Windows      - Traps the return, switch to protected mode
 9. Windows      - Returns to DOS the result, switch to virtual mode
 10. DOS         - Receives the result, supplies the result to application
 11. Windows     - Traps the return from DOS, switch to protected mode
 12. Windows     - Returns result to application, switch to virtual mode
 13. Application - Application receives the result from the original INT21
                   call

 Many things happen during a simple call to read from a disk!  As you can 
 see, Windows switches from virtual mode to protected mode and back again 
 many times which can be very time consuming.  This is where 32-Bit Disk 
 Access is applied.  The 32-Bit Disk Access driver replaces the Disk 
 controller BIOS.  The 32-Bit Disk driver can perform all of its functions 
 from within protected mode.  From the steps shown above, you can see that 
 with the 32-Bit Disk driver, you can eliminate steps 6 and 8, a savings of 
 at least two mode switches per disk request.

 Another function of  the 32-Bit Disk Access driver is to supply multiple 
 non-Windows applications with virtual memory.  Without 32-Bit Disk Access, 
 Windows needs to provide non-Windows DOS applications physical memory
 only.  Virtual memory is also known as the Windows swap file and is used
 when there is not enough actual memory for the application.

 So, the times you benefit most from the use of  the 32-Bit Disk Access 
 driver are when you are running Non-Windows DOS applications and you don't 
 have much physical memory and must use the swap file. Benchmark programs 
 under Windows that don't execute DOS programs or don't use the swap file, 
 will not show any performance improvement when using 32-Bit Disk Access.

 32-Bit File Access
 ==================

 Windows for Workgroups 3.11 extends the 32-Bit Disk Access to provide
 32-Bit File Access as well.  32-Bit File Access provides a 32-bit code
 path for Windows to access and manipulate information on disk by
 intercepting the DOS INT21 services in protected mode, rather than
 handling the INT21 services in virtual mode by DOS.

 INT21 services manipulate the DOS File Allocation Table (FAT), which
 governs the way information is written to and read from a FAT-based disk
 volume.  In addition to protected mode INT21 services, 32-Bit File Access
 also provides a 32-bit protected mode replacement for DOS based disk cache 
 programs such as SmartDrv.  The 32-Bit File Access functionality provided 
 in Windows 3.11 is implemented as two Windows virtual device drivers, 
 VFAT.386 and VCACHE.386.

 The requirements for 32-Bit File Access are different from that of  32-Bit 
 Disk Access.  32-Bit Disk Access intercepts INT13 calls destined for the 
 disk controller BIOS that communicates with the hard disk.  32-Bit File 
 Access intercepts DOS INT21 calls which manipulate information stored on a 
 disk device.  The VFAT virtual device provides support for the protected 
 mode INT21 services.  In order for VFAT to load on a given disk volume, 
 one of the following conditions must be true.

 1. A 32-Bit Disk driver is used, or
 2. The real mode mapper is installed (supplied with Windows 3.11) to 
    provide a 32-bit Disk Access interface to the DOS device driver chain.

 In order for VFAT to mount on disk volumes, VFAT must see a 32-Bit Disk 
 Access interface for a given disk volume.  A special virtual device driver 
 called the real-mode mapper (RMM.D32) provides a mapping service to take 
 protected mode file I/O calls from VFAT and sends them through the DOS 
 device driver chain (in our case ASPI).  The real-mode mapper is installed 
 by the Virtual Memory dialog box in Windows automatically when 32-Bit File 
 Access is enabled.  This will be the method used when an Adaptec Host 
 Adapter is installed.

 With VFAT there are only two mode transitions to process an INT21 request 
 from a DOS-Based application and only one mode transition when processing 
 an INT21 request from a Windows-Based application.

 A companion driver to VFAT is VCACHE. VCACHE provides a 32-bit 
 protected-mode replacement for the DOS based SmartDrv disk cache program.  
 Where VFAT is responsible for reading and writing information to the disk, 
 VCACHE is responsible for managing the information VFAT writes to or is 
 present in the cache.  The caching routines provided as parts of 32-Bit 
 File Access differ from that offered by SmartDrv in the following ways:

      32-Bit File Access caching routines are implemented as 32-bit 
      protected mode code, thus reducing the need to transition to real 
      mode to cache disk information

      32-Bit File Access read-ahead routines work on a per-file basis 
      rather than on a per-sector basis, thus helping to ensure that 
      information read into the disk cache will be used with a higher 
      probability.

      32-Bit File Access caching routines share cache memory with the 
      protected-mode network redirector (VREDIR.386), thus reducing the 
      extra memory overhead for maintaining multiple cache buffers.

      32-Bit File Access caching routines cache information on a per-file 
      basis providing improved performance over SmartDrv, which caches on 
      a contiguous sector basis.

      
 Performance Results
 ===================

 The tests were run on a 486-66 MHz system with 16MB RAM.  The SCSI 
 subsystem consisted of a 1540C and a Maxtor 540S hard drive.  
 The benchmark used was WinBench 4.0 and the tests run were the 
 Disk WinMark and Disk Tests.  Comparisons were between running 
 Windows for Workgroups 3.11 with 32-Bit File Access turned off and 
 with it turned on.

 Performance Summary             
 ===================

 It is interesting to note that while 32-Bit File Access gives you 
 substantial improvement during Random Read/Writes and Sequential Writes, 
 it gives you less performance during Sequential Reads!  When using a disk 
 cache such as SmartDrv or VCACHE the majority of your disk access will be 
 Sequential Reads.  However, WinBench weighs the results differently and 
 gives a WinMark disk mix score of 354KB/Sec with 32-File Disabled and 
 1080KB with 32-Bit File Enabled.  The individual scores as well as the 
 overall score should both be noted when comparing performance results.


 Conclusion
 ==========

 Windows disables both 32-bit Disk Access and 32-bit File Access by
 default.  Some computers such as laptops, notebooks, and systems that use
 INT13 to detect disk access for power conservation, will not properly
 identify when the 32-bit Disk Access driver is accessing the hard disk. 
 If the hard disk powers down in the middle of a write or read action, data
 loss may result.  As with 32-Bit Disk Access, the 32-Bit File Access
 feature is disabled by default when Windows for Workgroups 3.11 is
 installed.  Both 32-Bit Disk and 32-Bit File Access can be enabled through
 the 386 Enhanced dialog box.

 The benefits you might gain from having 32-Bit Access enabled will depend 
 entirely on your individual configuration and environment.  Performance
 will vary from machine to machine.  If you encounter problems, or a
 decrease in performance, simply turn off 32-bit Access through the 386
 Enhanced dialog box.  If you don't enable 32-bit File Access, be sure to
 continue using SmartDrive to provide disk caching functionality.





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

                     :HOW TO GET YOUR OWN GENIE ACCOUNT:
                      _________________________________

       Set your communications software to Half Duplex (or Local Echo)
                      Call: (with modem) 800-638-8369.
                Upon connection type HHH (RETURN after that).
                          Wait for the U#= prompt.
                  Type: XTX99587,CPUREPT then, hit RETURN.

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

                                      
                                       
  """"""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""
                                 
        ___   ___    _____     _______
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          An Official Forum of the International Computer Users Group
    
                    *** STReport available in MAC RT ***
                                 ASCII TEXT
                            for ALL GEnie users!



                           MAC/APPLE SECTION (II)
                           ======================
                         John Deegan, Editor (Temp)






 > Politically Correct Computers? STR Feature
   """"""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""



                        POLITICALLY CORRECT COMPUTERS
                        =============================


 From the Jerry Pournelle RT on GEnie



  
 The news is out folks (okay, it's still a rumor officially.)

 FLEX will be adopting the new terminology standard suggested by Windows 
 Sources in their latest June issue.  The Bureau for Avoiding Lexically 
 Offending Neologisms Engineered Yesterday has set down regulations 
 designed to make sure that any words used to describe software or 
 hardware do not unintentionally offend anyone.
  
 Following are some of the changes:
  
   1) Hard disk drives will now be referred to as tumescent disk drives.
  
   2) Floppy disk drives shall be now called relaxed disk drives.
  
   3) Software bugs are now new features.
  
   4) Fatal software bugs are now special features.
  
   5) System crashes will be rephrased as upgrade opportunity.
  
   6) The turbo/slow button on a system will now be called 
      turbo/megahertz-challanged button.
  
   7) A drive's FAT, formally File Allocation Table, will now be called 
      HEFTY, How Each File Takes Yards.
  
   8) For the computer manufacturer, the on/off switches must now be both 
      child proof and accessible to arthritic users.
  
   9) The BIOS, Basic Input/Output System will be replaced with the less 
      graphic BMCES, Basic Mutually Consenting Exchange System.

  10) For software developers, screen color schemes are required to 
      include black, brown, red, yellow, and white in an accurate 
      reflection of the racial makeup as recorded in the 1990 U.S. 
      Census.

 Please input your comments on the new standard being implemented.
  
                                              Thank you.


             __________________________________________________





 > SYMANTEC OFFER! STR InfoFile       FREE NORTON UTILITIES
   """"""""""""""""""""""""""""                AND
                                        NORTON ANTIVIRUS
   



  SYMANTEC OFFERS FREE NORTON UTILITIES AND NORTON ANTIVIRUS
      SOFTWARE TO BBS OPERATORS WHO POST A CODE OF ETHICS


 FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE                              

 CUPERTINO, Calif. -- June 15, 1994 -- Symantec Corporation
 (NASDAQ:SYMC) today announced that as part of its support for the
 upcoming National Computer Ethics and Responsibilities Campaign
 (NCERC), it will give free copies of The Norton Utilities 8.0 and
 The Norton AntiVirus 3.0 to bulletin board system (BBS) operators
 who post one of the many code of ethics on their system.

 The National Computer Ethics and Responsibilities Campaign is a
 formal, structured effort designed to promote ethical computing
 and information practices.  It is sponsored by the Computer
 Ethics Institute, Washington DC, as well as some of America's
 leading computer software, technology, chemical, and financial
 companies, and associations, including Symantec Corporation.

 The NCERC will formally be launched on June 21, 1994 with a
 morning press conference and Congressional briefing in the
 Rayburn House Office Building, Washington DC.  The Capitol Hill
 events will be sponsored by the Honorable Edward J. Markey,
 Chairman of the House Subcommittee on Telecommunications and
 Finance. the Honorable George E. Brown Jr., Chairman, Committee
 on Space, Science and Technology and the Honorable Charlie Rose,
 Chariman of House Administration.
                               
 "We wanted to do something which would support the main
 objectives of the NCERC -- to increase awareness of computer and
 information ethics issues, and to get every day end users
 focusing on computer ethics and responsibilities.  What better
 way than to provide an incentive for computer bulletin boards to
 participate.  BBS' are a major force in the computer
 communications infrastructure.  Millions of threads of electronic
 discussion occur on them every day," said Dr. Peter Tippett, Co-
 Chairman of NCERC and Director of Security and Enterprise
 Products at Symantec.

 Symantec's plan allows any bulletin board system operator (SYSOP)
 to choose from any currently available codes of ethics including"
 "The Ten Commandments of Computer Ethics" or "The Basic Tenets of
 Computer Ethics" both developed by the Computer Ethics Institute
 (CEI); "The Five Considerations for Computer Conduct", developed
 by SRI; "Six Unacceptable Internet Activities", by the Internet
 Activities Board; or EDUCOM's "Basic Statement of Computing
 Ethics."  All of these codes of ethics can be found in a file
 called ETHICODE.TXT in the NCERC CompuServe Forum (GO
 CIS:CETHICS) or on the Software Creations Bulletin Board (508-368-
 7139).

 To claim their free software, the BBS SYSOP must place the chosen
 ethics statement in such a manner that all normal BBS users will
 see it in the normal course of their use on the BBS.  The SYSOP
 must agree that this or another of the approved codes will remain
 as part of the sign-on process for at least four months.  The
 first 500 requests received by September 30, 1994 for either The
 Norton Utilities or The Norton AntiVirus, which include evidence
 or a statement of compliance with these conditions, will be sent
 a complete package of the software.

 Requests may be mailed to:

                         BBS Ethics Software Request
                              c/o Peter Tippett
                            Symantec Corporation
                                2500 Broadway
                         Santa Monica, CA 90404-3063

 E-Mail requests:
 (Subject field should be:  BBS Ethics Software Request)
                            Internet:  ptippett@symantec.com
                            CompuServe:  72350,750
                            MCI:  ptippett or 429-5370

 "We have long provided tools which help computer users prevent or
 recover from security problems, data corruption or loss, computer
 viruses and other mishaps involving PCs, Macintoshes and
 networks," said Ellen Taylor, Symantec vice president and general
 manager of The Peter Norton Group.  "It only makes sense for us
 to help the computing community avoid many of these problems in the first
 place.  To the extent that we get more responsible use of computers, the
 industry will grow faster, establishment of burdensome legislation and
 restrictions will be less likely, and we will all benefit."

 Symantec Corporation develops, markets and supports a complete
 line of application and system software products designed to
 enhance individual and workgroup productivity as well as manage
 networked computing environments.  Platforms supported include
 IBM personal computers and compatibles, Apple Macintosh computers
 as well as all major network operating systems.  Founded in 1982,
 the company has offices in the United States, Canada, Australia
 and Europe.  Information on the company and its products can be
 obtained by calling (800) 441-7234 toll free, or (503) 334-6054.
                               
                          


                         Computer Ethics for Users

                           Dr. Peter S. Tippett
                Director, Security & Enterprise Products,
                      Symantec, Peter Norton Group
                           ptippett@symantec.com

                   Director, Computer Ethics Institute
      National Computer Ethics & Responsibilities Campaign Co-chairman


 The following are several codes of ethics collected from other sources.
 Please feel free to use them with appropriate reference to their
 sources.

 The Computer Ethics and Responsibilities Campaign itself does not
 subscribe to or support any particular set of guidelines or any
 particular viewpoint on computer ethics. Rather, the Campaign's mission
 is to foster thought and discussion about ethical and moral issues as
 they apply to the uses and abuses of computer and information
 technologies.

 Several different, but complimentary approaches to thinking about
 computer ethics for computer users are summarized below.   These should
 provide a basis for discussions and education on computer ethics for
 computer users.


   NOTE:   BBS - Symantec offer participants: For the purposes of
   participation in Symantec's offer to BBS operators, only the numbered
   paragraphs need to appear in your BBS screen.  Other paragraphs which
   are not numbered are considered discussion and may be used or not.   All
   numbered paragraphs (and those preceded by the number symbol, #)
   associated with the chosen code of ethics must be included on any given
   system.  The numbers themselves are not required in your implementation
   of any of these codes.



                   The Six Basic Tenets of Computer Ethics:
                (Computer Ethics Institute, Working Committee)

 1. Golden Rule: Always use information systems in such a manner
 that the rights and legitimate interests of others are respected.

 TWO COMMON FALLACIES:
 The lack of computer and information technology-specific rearing, along
 with some of the inherent properties of computers and networks
 (particularly the binary nature of computers and an isolation-voyeur
 nature of network computing) has led to two pervasive fallacies among
 many in the computer generation.

 2. The Nintendo Fallacy  I understand that just because something
 is legal, it isn't necessarily moral or right.  Just because something
 is easy, doesn't make it right.

 Many in the computer culture believe that computers will not let them
 cheat or, by extension, do wrong.  Both computer games, and the binary
 nature of computers themselves seem to foster this belief.  Many users
 believe that if something would be wrong or unethical, then there should
 either be a law against it, or the computer or system should prevent
 them from doing it.  For example, many users believe that if a computer
 security system has a weakness, they should be exploited,  or that,
 because writing a computer virus is not explicitly illegal, and because
 the first amendment protects freedom of speech, then writing and trading
 in computer viruses is good, or at least, OK.

 Plucking the feathers off of a live bird is legal in most places, but it
 clearly isn't right. Similarly,   Copying someone else's term paper and
 representing it as your own, or pirating software are both quite easy,
 but not right.

 3. The Samsonite Fallacy  I understand that people are always the
 ones ultimately harmed when computers are used unethically.  The fact
 that computers, software, or a communications medium exists between me
 and those harmed, does not in any way change my moral responsibility
 toward my fellow humans.

 Like the unbreakable luggage, novice computer users are constantly told,
 they can't break or harm anything by playing with the computer.
 However, the root of  this fallacy may exist more because of the mask
 that computers can provide their users.  Users can easily use their
 computer to camouflage their identity (like a one way mirror), or to
 monitor, read, or alter other people's information without their
 knowledge or consent.  Whatever the root cause, it is common for users
 to ignore the fact that causing harm or disruption to a computer system
 or its information, actually results in real harm to other people, not
 just to the computer or data.

 PLEDGES: 
 In an effort to define concepts of  responsible computing that could be
 both understood and implemented by a 10th grader, The Working Group on
 Computer Ethics and the Computer Ethics and Responsibilities Campaign
 defined the two fallacies above and just three "basics" which are
 thought to cover perhaps 80% of the ethical issues end users are likely
 to encounter.  In the interest of simplicity, ease of understanding and
 ease of use, there was no attempt to try to describe or address the many
 other issues of end user computer ethics:

 4. Respect Authors -- Piracy and Plagiarism  I will respect the
 rights of authors including authors and publishers of software , as well
 as authors and owners of information.  I understand that just because
 copying programs and data is easy, it is not necessarily right.

 5. Respect Privacy -- Breaking and Entering   I will not break into
 or use other people's computers or read or use their information without
 their consent.

 6. Respect Property & Order -- Malicious Software    I will not
 write or knowingly acquire, distribute or allow intentional distribution
 of harmful software like bombs, worms and computer viruses.

 FOUR PRIMARY VALUES:
 The National Conference on Computing and Values proposed four primary
 values for computing.   These were originally intended to serve as the
 ethical foundation and guidance for computer security.  But they seem to
 provide value guidance for all of us who create, sell, support, use, or
 depend upon computers.  That is, they suggest to us the values which
 will tend to improve and stabilize the computer and information world,
 and to make these technologies and systems work more productively and
 appropriately for us.

 #    We should strive to:
 1.   Preserve the public trust and confidence in computers.
 2.   Enforce fair information practices.
 3.   Protect the legitimate interests of the constituents of the system.
 4.   Resist fraud, waste and abuse.


 #  CONSIDERATIONS FOR CONDUCT 
 Don Parker at SRI defined five "tests" or considerations to use when
 trying to decide whether something would be ethical or not.  They are
 designed to be used by anyone to help them understand the ethical
 implications of something they are about to do.

 1. Informed Consent -  Try to make sure that those people affected
 are aware of your planned actions and that they don't disagree with your
 intentions even if you have rights to do these things.

 2. Higher Ethic In The Worst Case -  Think carefully about your
 possible alternative actions and select the most beneficial necessary
 one that would cause the least or no harm  under the worst
 circumstances.

 3. Change Of Scale -  Consider that an action you take on a small
 scale or by you alone might result in significant harm if carried out on
 a larger scale or by many others.

 4. Owners' Conservation Of Ownership -  As a person who owns or is
 responsible for information, always make sure that the information is
 reasonably protected and that ownership of it and rights to it are clear
 to all users.

 5. Users' Conservation Of Ownership -  As a person who uses
 information, always assume it is owned by others and their interests
 must be protected unless you explicitly know it is public or you a are
 free to use it in the way you wish.


 #  UNACCEPTABLE INTERNET ACTIVITIES:
 In January 1989 Internet Activities Board published for general
 distribution a document called Ethics and the Internet (RFC 1087).  It
 proposes that access to and use of the Internet is a privilege and
 should be treated as such by all users of this system.  The IAB
 "strongly endorses the view of the Division Advisory Panel of the
 National Science Foundation Division of Network, Communications Research
 and Infrastructure" which, is paraphrased here,

 #.   Any activity is characterized as unethical and unacceptable
      which purposely:

 1.   seeks to gain unauthorized access to the resources of the Internet,
 2.   disrupts the intended use of the Internet,
 3.   wastes resources (people, capacity, computer) through such actions,
 4.   destroys the integrity of computer-based information,
 5.   compromises the privacy of users.
 6.   involves negligence in the conduct of Internet-wide experiments.


 #  TEN COMMANDMENTS OF COMPUTER ETHICS:
 In 1991, The Computer Ethics Institute held its first annual Conference
 on Computer Ethics in Washington DC.  The conference theme was "In
 Pursuit of a Ten Commandments of Computer Ethics."  These commandments
 were produced there and have been the most visible guide lines for
 computer ethics since.

            The Ten Commandments of Computer Ethics:

 1.  Thou shalt not use a computer to harm other people.
 2.  Thou shalt not interfere with other people's computer work.
 3.  Thou shalt not snoop around in other people's files.
 4.  Thou shalt not use a computer to steal.
 5.  Thou shalt not use a computer to bear false witness.
 6.  Thou shalt not use or copy software for which you have not paid.
 7.  Thou shalt not use other people's computer resources without
     authorization.
 8.  Thou shalt not appropriate other people's intellectual output.
 9.  Thou shalt think about the social consequences of the program you
     write.
 10. Thou shalt use a computer in ways that show consideration and respect.

 People who are interested in participating or helping to arrange for
 sponsorship of The National Computer Ethics & Responsibilities campaign
 should contact either of the campaign co-sponsors:

                 Dr. Peter S. Tippett, Campaign Co-chairman
                    (Director, Computer Ethics Institute)
                  310-459-9565 campaign office & voice mail
                              310-459-8513 Fax
                            ptippett@symantec.com
                            Compuserve  72350,750
                       MCI Mail:  ptippett or 429-5370
                  Director, Security & Enterprise Products
                        Symantec, Peter Norton Group
                          2500 Broadway, Suite 200
                           Santa Monica, CA 90404

                    Nick Routledge, Campaign Co-chairman
            National Computer Ethics & Responsibilities Campaign 
                             18054 Bluesail Dr.
                         Los Angeles, CA 90272-2901
                           Vox:  310-450-7941 x 15
                              FAX: 310-450-1069
                        E-mail:  6300836@mcimail.com




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                           ATARI/JAG SECTION (III)
                           =======================
                            Dana Jacobson, Editor


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


      Y'know, it's been one helluva week!  Between listening to speakers
 at work give a day and a half seminar on "CQI" for managers and reading
 mail from a few cranky Atari users and developers, I feel the urge to
 reflect in kind.  However, I will restrain myself and keep focused!

      A number of issues have come out since last week's issue.  I swear
 that there's a continual full moon over southeastern Canada and every
 few months or so it has an unusually strong effect.  The reactions from
 that part of the globe to one of the STReport Confidential reports were
 over-reactions and downright tasteless.  The reactions were to write a
 few messages online, making a number of insults along the way instead
 of taking the time to compose a tactful statement and sending it along
 as a letter to the editor, or something similar.  After all, if you want
 to attempt to clarify something so the readers get another viewpoint,
 where better than to capture the same audiences?  Instead, we get the
 same smokescreens and insults.

      Those messages did manage to accomplish one thing, however.  I
 responded to a few of them because they didn't deserve to go
 unanswered.  Surprisingly, one online service was the scene of deletion
 of messages from both parties resulting in reactions from the userbase,
 both upset and elated.  Fortunately, the end result was that there was
 the recognition that there was an emotional over-reaction.  Hopefully,
 this type of knee-jerk reaction will not re-occur.

      But, these reactions and subsequent comments resulted in a number
 of questions from readers and myself.  One question that came up a few
 times from various people was what role does Ralph Mariano have in the
 Atari section of STReport?  The answer, simply put, is very little.
 I'm surprised that people even asked!  One user even seriously asked me
 why I didn't take on a more active role in the Atari section of the
 magazine instead of Ralph trying to balance between multiple sections!
 Except for an occasional Atari-related item in "STReport Confidential,"
 the Atari section of STReport is put together by me.  It's been this
 way since last fall!  Every editorial, article, news item, column
 (excluding 'People Are Talking'), press release, review, etc. are all
 packaged weekly and sent "press-ready" by me.  STReport is put together
 by having a "shell" all formatted and the articles and/or section
 pieces are plugged in as they arrive.  It actually works quite nicely.
 I even use the same style with a pre-set Atari section "template" which
 makes life very easy.

      So, the bottom line is that the Atari section is not done, or
 influenced, by Ralph, as some would like to think.  I'll take the
 credit for the good and bad things that appear in the Atari section.

      The other "question" that came up was one that I've asked myself a
 few times over the past couple of months.  And that was, am I simply
 "spinning the wheels" trying to maintain an Atari computer online
 magazine (or more specifically, an Atari section within STReport's
 'new' multi-platform format)?  I added the Jaguar section because it
 helped to supplement the computer side since Atari's focus was in that
 direction.  Computer news for Atari users is simply not what it used to
 be.  Yes, it's still there, but usually sporadic at best.  Without the
 resources that we'd like to have (a widespread staff and sources), it's
 more of a "catch-as-catch-can" endeavor.  The Atari section is not what
 I'd like it to be in terms of quantity and quality.  My feeling is to
 continue to provide our readers with whatever news and information
 possible, but I still question the "spinning wheels" syndrome.  I
 realize that STReport is not the only Atari support group to feel
 "constrained" by this.  AEO is usually predominantly Jaguar-focused
 lately.  Current Notes has cut back its number of issues, for a number
 of reasons.  Z*Net's "comeback" was short-lived.  I'm sure that the
 list is longer.

      For the present, nothing is going to change here at STReport as
 far as the Atari section is concerned.  However, I will be taking a
 hard look from time to time to see if we, or specifically, if I should
 try to keep at it.  Some people have related to me that _some_ news and
 information is better than none; others have told me why bother.  At
 the moment, I "bother" because the Atari community still exists and I
 feel it's important to support it.

      Let's get off of the dreary stuff now!  The summer CES is less
 than a week away!!  This show always generates a lot of interest
 regardless of your interests.  We're certainly looking forward to it
 here at STReport, especially since we'll have two Jaguar staffers in
 attendance.  We're lining up some great reports and information for
 you, so be on the lookout for it.  We've got articles planned,
 interviews, and even a video of the event's highlights!  It should be
 an exciting couple of weeks coming up here.  I can't wait and I wish
 that I could be in attendance personally!!  Oh well...

      I've had my say, probably longer than I should.  I'd be interested
 in hearing some of your reactions to the current Atari scene and also
 STReport's role in it all.  Please feel free to make your opinions
 heard, whatever they may be!

                                                Until next time...
                      __________________________


                       Delphi's Atari Advantage!!
                       TOP TEN DOWNLOADS (6/16/94)                       
                                                                            

       (1) AEO JAGUAR EDITION #2         *(6) DATELINE ATARI JUNE 94        
      *(2) SPEED OF LIGHT VIEWER V3.1     (7) ASCGIF-ASCII GIF VIEWER       
       (3) OCR V1.25                      (8) GEMRAM V.1.6                  
       (4) TETRIS/BITRIS/COLUMNS         *(9) FIGHT OFF THE MUTANT TOMATOES 
       (5) NEOCOM - TERMINAL PROGRAM     *(10) WYRD WAYS                    

                             * = New on list                                
                              HONORARY TOP 10                               
                                                                            
   The following on-line magazines are always top downloads, frequently   
   out-performing every other file in the databases.                      
                                                                            
                   STREPORT (Current issue: STREPORT #10.24)             
         ATARI EXPLORER ONLINE (Current issue: AEO - VOLUME 3, ISSUE 9)     
           Look for the above files in the RECENT ARRIVALS database.        

                    _____________________________________



 > Internet's "Atari Announce"! STR NewsFile! - New Internet Source Takes
   """"""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""              Off!


 The latest Internet newsgroup, "comp.sys.atari.announce" is only a
 couple of weeks old, but announcements are starting to filter in with
 some interesting news and information.  Here are a few of the latest
 announcements:


 > Falcon Sample Editor! STR InfoFile!
   """""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""

 Subject: [SOUND] FALCON SAMPLE EDITOR! Date: Mon, 13 Jun 94 10:58:49 GMT
 Organization: Computer Unit, University of Exeter, UK Lines: 71 Approved:
 ysiu@lexicor.com Message-ID: <2tifhi$fjr@news.bu.edu> NNTP-Posting-Host:
 csa.bu.edu Originator: lexicor@csa


   ***********************************************************************
   ** **              S    U    P    E    R    S    A    M           ** **
   ***********************************************************************
                      The Superb Sample Editor v1.01  
   ***********************************************************************
          A Terrosaur Systems Production for the Falcon030        
                   Copyright (C) 1994 by Daniel Hastings 
   ***********************************************************************

 SuperSam is Shareware! To enable the program's full functionality you
 must send the registration fee to the author.

 What is SuperSam?
 -----------------
      SuperSam is a sound sample editor for the Falcon030. A sound sample
 is a digitally stored sound. Hence with SuperSam you can digitally store
 sounds on disk, and edit them in a variety of ways including reversing
 them to play them backwards, cutting and pasting, combining multiple
 sounds and many more functions. SuperSam eventually aims to be able to
 do anything you could possibly wish to do to a sound sample.

 Features
 --------
 SuperSam has many features including:

   *  Handles 6 sample file formats
   *  Handles 8 bit mono, 8 bit stereo and 16 bit stereo samples
   *  Clipboard cut, copy, load, paste, replace, overlay
   *  Ability to import/export from the GEM clipboard
   *  Ability to sign and unsign samples
   *  Ability to fade in/ fade out samples
   *  Ability to boost volume by 25% or to the max possible
   *  Ability to reduce volume by 25% or to zero
   *  Ability to zoom in for finer editing
   *  Flexible deleting
   *  Ability to swap the channels on a stereo sample
   *  Ability to pan the stereo image left to right or vice versa
   *  Ability to edit only the left or right stereo channel
   *  Ability to shift sample playback frequency
   *  Ability to create samples from the MIC input
   *  Supports all Falcon playback frequencies
   *  Customisable
   *  Can be installed as an application to play samples when they
      are double clicked
   *  Will play or load a sample dropped on its desktop icon
   *  Online HELP system
   *  Batch conversion between file formats
   *  Jukebox mode to play all samples in a folder
   *  Fully GEM legal programming
   *  MultiTOS compatible
   *  Dynamic Memory Allocation

 SuperSam is now being uploaded to many FTP sites and distributed through
 NeST and CIX. It will also be shortly submitted to comp.binaries.atari.st.

 Newsgroups: comp.sys.atari.announce Subject: [GAME] ISOLA a strategy game
 Date: 13 Jun 1994 12:47:17 +0200 Organization: U.F.R. I.M.A., University
 of Grenoble, France Lines: 27 Approved: Lexicor@world.std.com Message-ID:
 <2thgp4$5kc@news.bu.edu> Originator: lexicor@csa


                 ___________________________________________



 > ISOLA! STR InfoFile!
   """"""""""""""""""""

 Hello,

 I've uploaded the third version of ISOLA on:

         atari.archive.umich.edu
         ftp.tu-clausthal.de
         ftp.cnam.fr

         The goal of the game is to isolate the opponents by moving
         and placing blocks on a 8x6 grid. You can play against computer
         (four levels). There is also a online help and availability to
         save games.

         This have been programmed under GEM, and should works on all
         resolutions.

         Enjoy it,

         Thierry

 Thierry Grellier
 Thierry.Grellier@ufrima.imag.fr 
 DESS Genie Informatique

               ______________________________________________



 > STELLO! STR InfoFile!
   """""""""""""""""""""

 From news.bu.edu!csa!lexicor Tue Jun 14 20:15:10 1994 Path:
 news.bu.edu!csa!lexicor Newsgroups: comp.sys.atari.announce Subject:
 [GAME] STELLO a new Othello game. Date: 10 Jun 1994 18:52:23 GMT
 Organization: Dept. of Math. & Computer Science, Odense University,
 Denmark Lines: 33 Sender: news@wagner.imada.ou.dk (USENET News System)
 Approved: ysiu@lexicor.com
 Message-ID: <2tacp7$dr4@news.bu.edu> Keywords: Othello, strategic game,
 multitasking, gem Originator: lexicor@csa

 Hello everybody.

 After five years of development, here it is. The ultimate
 Othello/Reversi playing program "Stello".  Outstanding features such as:

  - Works under Gem, all Atari computers, all screen resolutions,
    (x resolution must be at least 640)
  - Supports Multitos and WINX
  - Uses multitasking under Multitos
  - Advanced gameplaying algorithms,  alfa-beta minimax,  iterative
    deepening,   response  killer  table,   saves  game  tree  and
    uses the zerowidth minimax modifikation.
  - One of the best Othello programs in the world.
  - Background pictures on the board
  - Supports english, german and danish (Hey i live in Denmark).

 I could go on forever, but why don't you try to download it and see for
 yourself.  More details in the documentation.  By the way it is a
 Shareware game. I have uploaded the game to the following ftp sites, in
 the file STELLO.LZH.

                          atari.archive.umich.edu
                          ftp.uni-kl.de
                          ftp.uni-paderborn.de
                          ftp.cnam.fr

                          Happy Othello playing.
                          Claus J. Pedersen.


                 __________________________________________




 > Lexicor Software Supports Local User Group! STR NewsFile!
   """""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""

 (Editor's Note)

 One of the things that I've found to be unique about the Atari
 community is the support that many Atari developers perform to
 help out user groups.  Even though this is a shameless plug for
 my own user group and one of our local developers, I think it's
 important to recognize such efforts by our developers.

 Lexicor's Yat Siu currently resides in Boston, the home of one of a few
 remaining Atari user groups in the area.  Yat has spoken to a few of
 the groups, including ours - the South Shore Atari Group (SSAG).  Yat
 has also attended a number of our meetings and helped with others'
 presentations.  He's carted in the Medusa and other hardware components
 to help out the group.  Annually, SSAG sponsors what has routinely
 become one of our most successful and enjoyable events, our hardware
 and software auction.  This has not only been a great source for
 inexpensive deals for the members, but a great fund-raising event for
 the group.  Yat has recently donated what amounts to approximately
 $1,200 worth of software and hardware to the group as auction items as
 well as raffle prizes!  I feel that this type of support, greater than
 the typical level of support that we've come to appreciate from
 various developers, needs to be mentioned publicly.  STReport is as
 good a public source as any to do so.  Here's the announcement that has
 been posted on various online sources to announce the event:

       The South Shore Atari Group & Lexicor Software Announce the
                        5th Annual SSAG Auction!!

     This Coming Friday, June 17th at 7:00pm at the U/Mass Boston
     Harbor Campus, McCormack Hall Room 1-207. Look for signs pointing
     the way. Arrive early, Bid High,, Bid Often!!!
  
 Lexicor Software will be sponsoring the SSAG with close to 1000 U$D worth
 of Hard and Software.
  
 The Grand Prize, which is meant to be for the actual Pick-out-of the hat,
 is a 4 Megabyte Simm Module for Falcon Owners (very useful if you only
 have a 1 Meg Falcon worth nearly 200 U$D) and a complete beginner
 rendering package consisting of Cybersculpt 1.1. (Retail value 69.95 U$D)
 and Phoenix Version 1.0 actual value 89.95 U$D with the Utilities Disk
 value 49 U$D
  
 The Grand Prize is worth 408.9 U$D (RRP all)
  
 Other than that, Lexicor will be auctioning for the SSAG the following:
  
 3 non-manual versions of Prism Paint 2.  Retail $99.00 if bought off
 the shelf with manual.
  
 3 non-manual versions of Raystart 1.1.  Retail $189.00 if you bought
 this off the shelf with the manual.
  
 If you bid and successfully get any of these six fine programs you
 can get the manual by sending in the registration card with the
 request to purchase the Manual at just the cost of the Manual.
  
 We wish to thank Lexicor and Yat Siu for their generous gift to the
 South Shore Atari Group!!
  
                        NoRm!

                   _______________________________________



 > From Compuserve's News Service! - Interesting tidbits!
   """""""""""""""""""""""""""""""


                   PAPER SAYS ZIFF EMPIRE IS FOR SALE

   The computer industry is abuzz today over a report that Ziff
 Communications, a leading publisher of computer magazines, is being put
 up for sale by the Ziff family.

   The Wall Street Journal reported this morning the family is asking
 between $2 billion and $3 billion for the publishing empire, which has
 about $1 billion in annual revenues.

   The Reuter News Service says Ziff has retained Lazard Freres to find
 a buyer to conduct an auction, adding industry observers have told the
 paper the Ziff family anticipates bids from telecommunications companies,
 online businesses and large magazine publishers.

   Besides publishing PC Magazine, PC Week and PC Computing magazines,
 Ziff has an active database business, an online service and a computer
 trade show operator. On CompuServe, it produces the large ZiffNet service
 (GO ZIFFNET).

   Analyst William Bluestein of Forrester Research Inc. told the Journal
 the Ziff family is cashing out because it believes the market is at a
 peak.

   Reports from Reuter News Service are a regular feature of CompuServe's
 Executive News Service (GO ENS).


                   K-III MAY MAKE BID FOR ZIFF EMPIRE

   K-III Communications Corp., which publishes 50 consumer and trade
 magazines and most recently bought the assets of Dun & Bradstreet
 Corp.'s machinery information division, says it is in the hunt to acquire
 the Ziff Communications empire. Other potential buyers remain
 non-committal.

   As reported yesterday (GO OLT-224), the Ziff family is putting up for
 auction its massive holdings in computer magazines, databases, online
 services and computer trade show operations.

   "We've been actively looking at and acquiring businesses, and this is
 the type of business we would look at closely," K-III President Charles
 McCurdy told Jeffrey Benkoe of the Reuter News Service. Asked if K-III
 is interested specifically in purchasing Ziff's computer magazines,
 McCurdy added, "We would be interested in them, yes." He declined, though,
 to say whether K-III has been in negotiations with Ziff officials.

   An unidentified publishing industry source told Reuters the Ziff
 announcement came earlier than expected, adding, "They were not really
 ready to circulate the information," though word had spread throughout
 the industry that Ziff was about to shop around.

   Meanwhile, Ziff said in a statement late yesterday that chairman Eric
 Hippeau and other senior executives "plan to remain with the company
 after the sale." It did not elaborate.

   Other communications giants declined comment on whether they will bid
 for the Ziff properties. However, business writer Skip Wollenberg of The
 Associated Press reports that among names mentioned as other possible
 bidders are the Newhouse family's Advance Publications Co., Hearst Corp.,
 Britain's Reed Elsevier and Germany's Bertelsmann AG.

   Benkoe collected "no comments" from officials at Capital Cities/ABC
 Inc., News Corp. (which owns TV Guide among other magazines), Hachette
 Filipacchi Magazines and Conde Nast Publications Inc.

   Reuters quoted Standard & Poor's analyst Heather Goodchild as saying
 she doesn't expect News Corp. or Time Warner Inc. to buy any Ziff pieces,
 saying such purchases might put pressure on their debt ratings.

   One of the Ziff family members -- grandson Robert Ziff -- told AP the
 Ziffs have ruled out any sale to computer publishers International Data
 Group or CMP, saying the family doesn't want to share confidential
 financial information with smaller rivals who probably couldn't raise
 sufficient financing for a competitive bid.

   How extensive is the Ziff empire?

   AP says New York-based Ziff Communications employs more than 4,300
 people across its four divisions and has annual revenues of about $1
 billion.  Ziff-Davis Publishing is the company cornerstone, producing
 computer magazines, newspapers, newsletters, books and other media.

   The wire service lists these specific holdings:

   -:- The Ziff-Davis Publishing Co. publishes eight magazines in the U.S.
 led by the industry's largest single computer title, PC Magazine. The
 other U.S. magazines are PC Week, PC-Computing, Computer Shopper, MacUser,
 MacWeek, Windows Sources and Computer Gaming World.

   Its Cobb Group publishes newsletters about software and its Ziff-Davis
 Press publishes computer books like the "How It Works" series. It also
 publishes the semi-annual newspaper supplement Personal Computing. Plans
 have been announced to launch Computer Life magazine for computer users
 and Family PC magazine for parents and kids. It also plans to publish
 InterActive Week, The Newspaper for the Information Highway.

   The company also publishes seven magazines in Germany, the United
 Kingdom and France and has 35 licensed editions in 28 countries.

   -:- The Ziff-Davis Exposition and Conference Co. sponsors the
 Networld-Interop trade shows and conferences that cover computer
 networking. Its Seybold conferences are leading shows in graphic
 communications, graphic arts and printing. It also recently held Digital
 World, a trade show on the convergence of the computer, entertainment
 and telecommunications industries.

   -:- The Information Access Co. provides information and research
 databases. They are available in more than 20,000 libraries and serve
 15 million people annually.

   -:- Interchange Network Co. provides online information. Its ZiffNet
 online service provides software and information on buying computers and
 reports more than 200,000 subscribers on Compuserve, Prodigy and Apple's
 World.

   Reports from Reuter News Service and from The Associated Press are
 accessible through the Executive News Service (GO ENS).


                     COMDEX SAYS "NO" TO SEXY SOFTWARE

   Sexually explicit software and other suggestive materials will no longer
 be welcome at the Comdex computer trade shows.

   Following more than a year of complaints by some exhibitors and
 attenders, Comdex sponsor Interface Group says it has decided to
 prohibit displays of sexually-oriented products.

   Vice President Milt Herbert told The Associated Press, "This particular
 type of material does not fit with the kind of computer trade show they
 want to attend."

   AP says about 20 makers of sexually explicit software were among the
 1,100 companies that participated in Spring Comdex last month in Atlanta,
 which was attended by about 80,000 people. The wire service observed the
 development of CD-ROM has created "a niche industry" for sexually-oriented
 software.

   Says the wire service, "The makers of such software have drawn a lot
 of media attention during the last few Comdex conventions. ... Other
 trade shows, including the Consumer Electronics Show, typically place
 exhibitors of sexually explicit products in a separate room or building
 away from the main trade hall."

   Herbert said the Interface Group will continue to welcome all software
 companies, but said it will more stringently enforce an existing
 contract provision allowing it to exclude any material it deems offensive.

   He acknowledged the ruling may cause some software companies to choose
 not to attend, but "we are willing to pay that price in order to keep
 our general business objectives in line."

   Reports from The Associated Press are accessible through the Executive
 News Service (GO ENS) and in AP Online (GO APONLINE).


                    POULSEN ADMITS COMPUTER CRACKING

   Former fugitive computerist Kevin Poulsen faces up to 40 years in
 prison and a $1.7 million fine after pleading guilty to charges he broke
 into systems to rig radio promotional contests, eavesdrop on private
 citizens and thwart police investigations.
  
  The 28-year-old Poulsen, scheduled for sentencing Oct. 17, pleaded
 guilty in federal court to computer fraud, interception of wire
 communications, mail fraud, money laundering and obstruction of justice.

   Asked as he was led in shackles from the courtroom why he entered the
 plea, Poulsen said simply, "Because I am guilty."

   Assistant U.S. Attorney David Schindler told Elka Worner of United
 Press International that Poulsen rigged promotional radio give-away
 contests and fraudulently won two Porsches from radio station KIIS-FM,
 $20,000 in cash from KPWR-FM and at least two trips to Hawaii and $2,000
 in cash from the same station.

   In court, Poulsen also admitted:

   -:- Using aliases and phony identification between 1989 and 1991 in
 order to retrieve and sell one of the Porsches and to launder the
 proceedings of the sale.

   -:- Accessing computers to identify undercover businesses used by the
 FBI, to locate FBI wiretaps and to eavesdrop on private citizens.

   Poulsen, known to some in the computing underground as "Dark Dante,"
 told the judge he obstructed justice by making a phone call minutes
 after his arrest to alert his accomplice to hide the computers used in
 his illicit activities.

   Before his arrest in April 1991, Poulsen, whose exploits once were
 featured on TV's "Unsolved Mysteries" broadcast, eluded authorities for
 nearly a year and a half, on charges in an indictment returned by a San
 Francisco grand jury.

   Poulsen's courtroom appearances are not finished. He is slated to stand
 trial in July in San Francisco on 18 counts of telecommunications and
 computer fraud, including charges he stole Pacific Bell access codes to
 invade an Army network and to obtain information used in FBI investigation
 of former Philippine President Ferdinand Marcos.

   He also is accused of obtaining unpublished phone numbers for the
 Soviet consul in San Francisco. Poulsen faces 37 years in prison for
 those charges, The trial is pending.

   Reports from United Press International are accessible in CompuServe
 NewsGrid database (GO NEWSGRID) and through the Executive News Service
 (GO ENS).


                 ___________________________________________



 > ONLINE WEEKLY STReport OnLine          The wires are a hummin'!
   """""""""""""""""""""""""""""
         
          
              
                            PEOPLE... ARE TALKING
                            =====================
             
              
  On CompuServe
  -------------
  compiled by
  Joe Mirando




      Hidi ho friends and neighbors.  Well, summer has come early to my
 neck of the woods.  We're in the middle of a bonafide heat wave.  The
 temperature and humidity are suddenly oppressive and I'm grateful for
 the chance to sit inside and work on this column.

      One of the things that's always bothered me about the change of
 seasons is the way it affects people while they're driving.  People
 become... hmmm what would be the appropriate politically correct term...
 ah yes, intellectually challenged... yeah, that's it.  People on the
 road tend to become intellectually challenged when there's a sudden
 change in the weather.  I'm glad that it usually doesn't happen on
 this electronic highway.  

      So c'mon with me and cruise down the highway.  We can play the
 digital equivalent of that license plate game.  Its easy.  You just pick
 out the interesting stuff.  Let's give it a try...


 From the Atari Computing Forum
 ==============================


 Michael Koepps asks about an ST emulator for his DOS machine:

   "Some years ago I had an Atari ST 1040 and used an Dos Emulator called
   PC Ditto, which worked fine.

   As I swapped to a Dos based system I am now looking for a
   Program(software, PD) that emulates an Atari on a Dos based system.  I
   would be pleased if anyone could help me."

 Sysop Jim Ness tells Michael:

   "What you want is the GEMULATOR package, which is a PC card holding
   the TOS operatiing system roms, plus software emulation.  A 486/25 runs
   at roughly the same speed as a 1040, during emulation."

 The big kahuna, Chief Sysop Ron Luks, tells Bill Aycock:

   "I dont know if I've mentioned it recently, but I wanted to again say
   thanks for your ADB (Aycock data base program).  I use the Vendors
   information constantly, and as a desk acc its readily available while
   I'm still logged on using FLASH or FLASH II."

 Bill tells Ron:

   "My pleasure! It's always nice to hear that someone else finds a
   program I basically wrote for myself to be useful. :-) I keep a couple
   copies set up as non-resident MDX's so I can get at several address
   books easily. Works better than my memory, in most cases."

 John Damiano of Transierra tells Bill:

   "I don't think you have written anything that wasn't excellent and
   useful..you..Jim Ness and The Codeheads have been great over the
   years. Thanks for all your efforts."

 Bill tells John:

   "Thanks! Although some of the little odds and ends may have been only
   marginally excellent and partially useful..."

 Fred Clark asks about downloading files:

   "I have tried to download ZIP25.tos 3 times without any luck. The
   program quits sending after 700 KB. Could you please let me know if
   it's the file or just my comms software."

 Carl Barron tells Fred:

   "Look for stzip 2.6... version 2.5 is VERY BUGGY!!"

 Bill Aycock tells Fred:

   "the ZIP25 file is nowhere near 700k in size... what comm software are
   you using? Do you have an error-correcting modem?"

 We'll keep you informed of Fred's progress.
 Sean Collins posts:

   "I've been watching the recent discussions about Atari.  As for
   myself, I like the Atari computers, even if the company itself has
   rarely if ever offered reliable support. But there are three things I
   would like to be able to improve; somebody here probably knows how.
   (I'm really way behind when it comes to Atari hardware and software.
   I've been using Atari for seven years, but haven't kept up with
   developments.)
   
   First, I envy those PC people (like myself when I'm at work) who get
   great screen resolution and color all at once (not to mention a bigger
   screen to begin with). Is there a way  to  get that  with an ST
   ...  that doesn't cost a lot of  money?  And  is there  a way to get
   good multiple fonts onscreen with the ST?
   
   Second,  I'm  wondering  if there's some  good  multitasking software
   available  somewhere,  so  that  one  can  run  several programs at
   once.
   
   Third,  I've  been using Hisoft Basic for years,  and I like it.  But
   I'd like  to "upgrade" (if there's  such  a  thing  as upgrading  to
   something that is already several  years  old)  to Hisoft's Power
   Basic,  or something better still. Any suggestions about where I could
   get it?  (Michtron, the company that produced Hisoft Basic, has I
   gather has gotten out of Atari -- or has it?)

   It probably sounds to some like I just walked in out of  the middle
   ages.  Well, I did, sort of."

 Yat Siu of Lexicor Software tells Sean:

   "If you told us what Atari you were thinking of upgrading we might be
   able to help you in more detail. There are ways to get higher
   resolution using Multisync Monitors, but they generally do not equal to
   the term cheap :)
   
   Most of the time, it might even be better to purchase a TT or Falcon,
   however if you have a 1040, and do not wish to spend more in multiple
   colors and high resolution graphics you might consider the overscan
   program which will make more screen space on a SM124...like 20-30% more
   I think..black and white naturally.

 Sean tells Yat:

   "Right now I'm using a Mega2 with an SM124. Where's the overscan
   program available?"

 Yat offers to help out:

   "Let me check it out for you, one is commercial, another is shareware
   which I saw on ftp.."

 Peter Joseph tells Sean:

   "In addition to what others will tell you about here, I can highly
   recommend you get a TEC (Tos Extension Card) from Codehead Technology.
   It will bring you up to date with the latest TOS for the ST line,
   currently 2.06.  It is a major upgrade and makes the desktop so much
   easier to use that I can't believe I lived without it as long as I did.
   It's about $140 for the megabus version if I remember right and it's
   very easy to install.  It also offers a switch option that allows you
   to switch between TOS 2.06 and whatever you have now, for those few
   programs that don't like TOS 2.06.  Actually, I use the switch very
   little; I have 2.06 and 1.04 installed and I can't stand to go back to
   1.04.  Spoiled I guess."

 Steve "P" tells us:

   "I'm trying to figure out if getting a VGA monitor for my falcon will
   be worth the extra $$.  Right now, I'm running on an SC1224 for color
   stuff and my old SM124 for mono, namely CUBASE, which I run most often.
   
   My question is, will getting a VGA monitor get rid of the IRRITATING
   flicker that comes along with the HiRes emulation mode on the Falcon,
   so I can use one monitor for both mono and color programs?? (A dream of
   mine for years (grin).....) As it is now, it's doable, but murder on
   the retinas!
   
   I'm just plain sick and tired of 6 years of switching monitor cables
   every time I want to switch resolutions.  Does anyone know if getting a
   VGA monitor will do away with this flicker???  (Am I being redundant?
   Did I ask this already?)"

 Kris Gasteiger tells Steve:

   "I have a Falcon, and an SVGA monitor, which I generaly use in 16
   color/640*480 mode, high res, reasonable screen redraws. True color
   mode only offers a 40 column display in VGA mode, and redraws seem
   slower. 256 color/640*480 mode also seems to slow down the display, but
   it is awesome for some stuff. I think the expense of the SVGA monitor
   is well worth it.
   
   I got an EMC Low Radiation 14" SVGA monitor from the Computer Zone, in
   N. Attleboro, MA.  The display is rock solid, the resolution is great,
   and the colors are rich. I wouldn't go back unless I needed 80 column
   True Color mode... Oh, specify .28 dot pitch, anything larger just
   can't cut it. ( I find things look grainy on a larger dot pitch
   monitor... ).
   
   You get that flickery display using interlaced mode on the 1224
   monitor, not worth the eye strain if you ask me...
   
   Instead of switching cables, try getting a monitor switch box. This
   would be your cheapest solution. I think there was even an article on
   how to build one in a recent ST Format, the British Magazine."

 Yat Siu of Lexicor tells Steve:

   "For higher resolution work, a VGA is very much required...you can also
   use the BLowUP Hardware or Software to increase your pixel-clck and
   get 1.a better refresh rate 2.no flicker at higher resolutsion and 3.
   upto 1024x768 or 1280x1024 in 16 colors (1024x768 in 256) physical
   screen resolution...
   
   Blowup on a VGA can also help you get nearly 72-78Hz on the regular
   Falcon VGA modes...then you will have no noticeable flicker...a VGA is
   much better..and if you use a device such as BlowUP you can get high
   resolutions which is useufl for your work with Cubase I would
   imagine.."

 Jody Golick asks for help with a problem:

   "Since I got my Atari SLM804 laser printer I have experienced a high
   rate of system crashes and lockups when printing with Notator and
   Calamus.  The crashes come during printing jobs and seem to be quite
   random.  Reboot and try again seems to eventually get the job done
   though occassionally I have had to re-try several times in a row before
   achieving results.
   
   Does anyone share my experience?  Anyone care to offer explanations,
   hypotheses or solutions?"

 Albert Dayes of Atari Explorer Online Magazine asks Jody some questions
 about the problem:

   "Have you tried using a clean system?  No desk accessories and the
   bare minimum in auto folder programs?  Have you checked your DMA cable
   from your printer to your computer to see if it is a good connection.
   What Atari are you using and what version of TOS?"

 Jody tells Albert:

   "I drive a 4 meg STE with TOS 1.6.

   The AUTO folder contains:
   
   Warp9 Folder100 Poolfix4 LGSelect Hotwire
   
   For ACCS  I have Maxifile and Multidesk with the Warp9 control
   accessories loaded.  I haven't actually tried disabling Warp9 yet.  I
   just hate to live without it...
   
   I thought maybe it was a memory problem but the files are not
   necessarily long or complicated.  I have been printing some pretty long
   pieces with Notator but not dense enough to seriously tax memory as far
   as I can tell (less than 20 percent of Notator's free memory).  The
   annoying thing is that the problem is so inconsistent.  The printer
   chugs along happily and I start to think I've got it licked when whammo
   the system locks up.  Re-boot, start at the page which killed it and
   voila until the next time it happens.  It's possible that it is a
   Notator thing.  Maybe I'll repost my question in a MIDI area."

 Albert tells Jody:

   "It is possible it is a Notator Logic related problem.  Another
   possible reason could be loose chips.  The MMU, Shifter and DMA come to
   mind."

 Jody tells Albert:

   "I am not using Notator Logic.  I have "Classic" Notator 3.16 - as far
   as I know the end of the line for a fine program.
   
   Loose chips?  The thought of opening up the box makes me anxious and
   apprehensive.   I don't have time to lose if I make things worse - and
   with King Klutz at the controls anything can happen!

   Maybe for tomorrow's printing I'll knock out Warp9 and see if there
   are any noticeable results."

 Peter Joseph tells Jody:

   "Get a hold of Charles Johnson from CodeHead.  He may tell you it is
   Warp 9 not interacting well with Notator.  I use SMPTEtrack from
   Barefoot Software and I have to use the Warp9 .DAT file to disable W9
   when SMPTEt loads.  It's right in the W9 docs that it doesn't work well
   with MIDI prgs.  He says the problem lies with the MIDI programs, not
   Warp9.  In fact, it seems I remember it specifically listing Notator as
   one of the offending programs, but I can't be sure."

 Jody tells Peter:

   "In fact, some changes were made to Warp9 to make it more compatible
   with Notator and, before the laser printer I used them together without
   apparent problems.  However, there may be a conflict.  I am still
   testing, but I will let you (and Charles) know if I get definitive
   results."

 Gee, this must be the week for problems.  Mark Kelling tells us:

   "I have a perplexing problem with my MEGA 4 ST.  The desktop is
   screwed up. When I first turn my computer on, I see the desktop appear
   with the windows opened as I like.  After either running any program or
   doing a Show/Print of a text file, I come back to a desktop with only
   Disc icons and a Trash Icon. No opened windows!  If I try then to open
   more than ONE window, I get the "Desktop has no more windows available"
   message.  So far I have had no real problems with running programs or
   other noticable system problems.  I just fear this is a sign of an
   impending disaster.
   
   The folowing steps are what I have tried over rthe past two days to
   fix the problem:
     
   1. Resaved the Desktop.Inf file directly from the desktop.
   
   2.  Did a hard drive check with the ICD Ckeck program as well as an IBM
       hard disk tools program.  Various unclaimed file sectors where
       found and fixed.
   
   3.  Copied an old Desktop.INF file from a known good disk.
     
   The problem persists.  I did compare the new INF file written by my ST
   to the old one and the numbers listed on the #W lines are quite
   different from the old INF file.  Any help anyone might be able to give
   me would be appreciated."

 Albert Dayes jumps in and tells Mark:

   "Check to make sure your DMA cables are not loose.  Also turn off the
   ICD write cache and make sure the ICD write verify is on.  You might
   also want to check your chips (DMA, MMU, SHIFTER) to make sure they are
   firmly in their sockets.
   
   Delete your desktop.inf file and then check to make sure your
   filesystem is in "good" health.  No missing chains or cross-linked
   sectors.  Then set up the desktop the way you like and then resave the
   desktop."

 Mark tells Albert:

   "Thanks for the advice.  After checking my DMA cable, I found it had a
   bad line in it giving intermittant signal.  Strange how that would
   trash RAM where the desktop.inf file is loaded but not any place else
   (that I noticed anyway).  Luckily I had a second DMA cable which I am
   now using.  So far, the problems have all gone away.  I had begun to
   think maybe the RAM in my old MEGA was starting to fade away and become
   senile.  Also, I found that my F drive dir.  was "Filled with garbage"
   to quote my Hard drive tools package. After fixing t that and doing a
   reformat of drive C and rebuilding the desktop.inf file, I think I'll
   be OK for a while.  Thanks again for your quick and thorough reply!"


 From the Palmtop Forums
 =======================

 Gerald Simons posts:

   "My portfolio just died.  When I cold boot it, all I get is the first
   Atari Logo copywright screen.  When I try to move on to initialize the
   machine, nothing happens.  If I turn it off and back on the screen is
   all garbage.  Anyone have any ideas?  Or has it just outlived it useful
   life?  Does anyone know if it is possible to repair a Portfolio?"

 Sysop Judy Hamner tells Gerald:

   "It is usually not feasible to repair a Portfolio. Atari has a
   replacement program where it can be swapped for a new one.
   
   You can try using a fresh set of batteries. Low batteries can make the
   machine appear dead. Try the cold boot process again too. Another
   frequent source of problems is the ribbon cable for the screen. It runs
   through the hinge and can get crimped. Sometimes a little careful
   wiggling can help if this is the problem."

 Nick Hill posts:

   "I'm thinking of buying a Palmtop. Possibly the Psion 3a of HP 100.
   How well does the Psion link to the desktop. Can we swop files?  Are
   there many 3rd party programs available?  Any other recomendations?  My
   main use would be Diary (view by Month or Week - not day by day), + an
   address book."

 David Kramer tells Nick:

   "I just went through the tortuous decision of choosing between the
   Psion and HP.  I chose the HP.  It was definitely the right decision
   for me, because it runs DOS, so I can write programs for it.  Both
   units have their strengths and weaknesses.  The Psion is a little
   smaller and lighter, the screen is slightly bigger, and the
   top-of-the-line Psion is about $250 less than the top-of-the-line HP.
   However, the top-of-the-line HP comes with 2 megabytes of memory
   compared to Psion's 512 kilobytes (one fourth as much as the HP).
   Psion's OS offers a pretty GUI, cooler looking case, and two
   proprietary card slots for more memory, modems, etc. The HP offers full
   DOS compatibility (it's an XT-class computer with DOS 5.0 built in), HP
   ruggedness, and one industry-standard PMCMIA type II slot. The Psion
   can output touchtone from its speakers so it can dial your telephone,
   and the HP has an infrared port that can communicate with a printer, or
   learn IR signals from any other device and control it.
   
   Both palmtops connect easily to the desktop, but in order to answer the
   question you didn't ask, I need to know what computer you're using and
   what software, if any, you use now for appointments and diary.  Both
   programs can share data with certain other programs, but the HP's
   "connectivity pack" comes with most of the programs from the palmtop
   for your computer.   So you can run the same exact programs
   (appointments, phone numbers, etc) on your desktop and your palmtop.
   
   Both units can run third party programs.  The Psion has its own
   interpretive programming language, OPL.  You can write your own
   programs in it.  There is a C developer's kit, but it is very
   expensive.  There are several programs available on cards that you
   insert, like financial packages, bibles, dictionaries, etc.  OPL
   programs don't take up much space, since they are interpreted, not
   compiled.  The HP can run almost any IBM-compatible software that can
   fit in storage, and use CGA-resolution or lower.
   
   I suggest you look at section 7 of this forum, and the HPHAND forum.
   Beware that both sides are extremely opinionated to the point of
   snottiness and bigotry, but the Psion folks are much worse.  If you
   have any questions, feel free to ask.  I've already done all the
   research, so there's no sense in both of us going through it.  Tell me
   more about your needs and limitations."

 On the subject of PDA's (Personal Digital Assistants), which use a
 touch-sensitive screen and writing stylus as a means of data entry, John
 Davis tells us:

   "Ever since the new pen based PDA's came out I've been fascinated by
   them. I have been thinking about buying one and am real close to doing
   so. For several reasons from what I read I seem to like the Z-PDA
   better than the Newton. For one, I'm from a PC and Windows background
   and just feel I will get along better with Geos than the Newton OS.
   Also, over the years I have probably purchased 6-7 Tandy PC's so have a
   natural inclination to products sold by them. I have a couple of
   questions.
   
   1) It seems lately that I have not heard much about the Z-PDA. I would
   hate to purchase an orphan. Do you all see this as a continuing
   product? It's not going to be dropped the day after I purchase it, is
   it?
   
   2) I have 2 main uses planned for the Z-PDA. First, I write a daily
   column that I publish on the Internet. I'd like to use the Z-PDA to
   gather notes, etc. for my column. So I would be writing in a bunch of
   stuff, then moving it over to my PC for proofing, etc. How suitable
   would the Z-PDA be for this use? Am I going to be real discouraged with
   the HWR?
   
   3) My other main use is as a front-end data capture for Quicken (this
   is what really gives the Z-PDA the edge over the Newton IMO). I use
   Quicken heavily; BUT I use the DOS version. I thought I had read that
   the Z-PDA version of Quicken can only be uploaded to the Windows
   version of Quicken. Please tell me this isn't so.
   
   Any answers would be greatly appreciated. I'm a little concerned
   because I have periodically checked in here to see what was going on
   with the Z-PDA and as of late this place appears to be dead. I hope
   this isn't due to a lack of interest for the product."

 Sysop Marty Mankins tells John:

   "To answer your questions,
   
   1. The Z-PDA is not orphaned, but the market demand is low now.  It's
   part of a new product line selling slump.  This is a good time to buy
   cause prices are low.
   
   2. The Z-PDA would work great for what you want to do.  Notes about an
   article are what it's best at doing.  Now, actually doing the article
   on the Z-PDA is not something I'd recommend.
   
   3. Pocket Quicken is perfect for keeping your accounts in order.  You
   will need Quicken for Windows 3.0 or newer for data transfer.  No other
   version that I know of is supported.  You may want to contact Intuit
   and see if a future DOS version will support Pocket Quicken.
   PalmComputing sells a $20 package for tranferring Quicken files."

 Ed Ballot tells us:

   "Geoworks has released a shareware version of its desktop OS in the
   IBMAPP forum.  It is called GeoPublish because the apps included in it
   are for editing/publishing (GeoWrite, Text Editor, Scrap Book).  Most
   interesting is that it includes the ability to link (via the file
   linking feature) to the Zoomer and PT-9000.  This makes the remote
   machine (from both the desktop and the PDA side) look like another disk
   drive, so one can easily move files back and forth.
   
   I would encourage everyone to try it out.  Besides being located in
   the IBMAPP forum (Desktop Pub library), it is also available at ftp
   sites (like oak.oakland.edu and tech-ftp.geoworks.com) and various BBS
   and shareware vendors.  The entire system is a couple of megabytes, so
   downloading with a 2400 bps modem may be painful.  for those who don't
   want to spend the time downloading, you can order GeoPublish on disk
   for $9.95 at 1-800-238-5885 (or email to
   INTERNET:orders@geoworks.com)."


      Well folks, there's lots more that I could include in the column this
 week, but space (and time) is short so I'll end here.  If you want more,
 more, more, why not log on and do some browsing around?  There's only
 one thing you need to know, and that's to always listen to what they are
 saying when...


                             PEOPLE ARE TALKING


              _________________________________________________




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



  - New York City, NY        V.34/V.FAST 28.8kbps standard is CLOSE!
    -----------------

      YES .. that's right, the Offical V.34/V.FAST 28.8kbps standard was
 just approved last Thursday in Geneva by the ITU-TSS! Well ...almost. The
 process is not quite done yet, although it did clear what is probably the
 last major hurdle.

      The vote that took place last week was the vote of the study group
 to send it before the entire ITU-T for ratification.  Ballots should be
 mailed out sometime in July to the entire ITU-T.  Keep in mind these
 votes are not cast by the industry, but rather by the governments.  The
 U.S. vote is cast by the U.S. State Department.

      It is expected that these ballots should be back in and the standard
 fully ratified and blessed sometime in September or October.




 - Los Angeles, CA                 CANON Intros NEW Laser Printer!
   ---------------

      Canon Computer Systems, Inc. (CCSI) today introduced its new, high
 end offering in a growing line of value-driven laser printers for the
 Small Office and Home Office market (SOHO) - the LBP 860 Business Laser
 Printer.  The LBP-860 offers an upgradeable, high performance printing
 solution in an affordable package that brings true, 600 dots per inch
 (dpi) output, 8-page per minute (ppm) speed and industry-standard PCL5e
 compatibility to the small office environment.


            ____________________________________________________




 > ONLINE TRADE SHOW!! STR Spotlight
   """""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""





                         THE 1ST ONLINE TRADE SHOW
                         =========================



 6/15/94



 ANNOUNCING ComOnLine.  Automated Trade Show Exhibition - Downtown
 Anywhere.  Get a look via Lynx or any URL via http://www.awa.com/

 Lighthouse Productions, publishers of the Interactive Yellow Pages, the
 Roadmap to the Information Superhighway and many other informative books
 and manuals about the Information Revolution, announces the most
 significant breakthrough for tired executives who are used to traveling
 thousands of miles each year to demonstrate their new products.  

 Now, there is a better way!  The ComOnLine Trade Show.

 The Information Superhighway can be thought of as a new Virtual Space
 filled with developing new Virtual Communities in which you can promote
 your products in many different ways.  There are currently about 20
 Million users OnLine from government agencies, to nearly all colleges and
 universities and a growing number of corporations.  Indeed, by most
 estimates, this community is growing at a rate of about 15% PER MONTH or
 ABOUT 3 MILLION NEW COMPUTER USERS PER MONTH.  This represents a growth
 rate about 10 times the population growth of this country and it is a
 global phenomenon that will continue as more and more people buy
 computers and more and more of these connect to each other via some kind
 of network.  AND THIS IS JUST THE INTERNET. There is an additional 30
 Million computers who are connected to the Information Superhighway by
 way of dial up Bulletin Boards and this number is growing just as fast. 
 Soon, the distinction will be non-existent.  Cable TV and even phone
 companies are delivering new communications systems that will only
 INCREASE THE RATE OF GROWTH. 


 Now, you can with the FIRST ONLINE TRADE SHOW, ComOnLine.  It's ON-GOING 
 -  24hrs/day, 7 days/wk, 52 weeks/yr.  So, all the media people can find
 you AT THEIR CONVENIENCE.  And they can meet more deadlines with your
 information because you are always there demonstrating new products all
 the time.  Whenever anyone wants a story for their publication, they just
 pick up a mousepointer and go DOWNTOWN ANYWHERE.  The Convention Center,
 shows up on their monitors and then, they merely scroll around the
 various menus until they find your 'Booth'.  They read your material,
 play your demonstrations on their PC's, download any additional
 information you want to give them, and you have achieved your objective
 at a fraction of the cost of YOUR TIME AND MONEY.  You could supply them
 with your complete Yearly Report if you wanted to, but better than that
 would be a VIDEO SHOWING YOUR PRODUCT IN ITS BEST LIGHT.  


 MANY NEW PRODUCT INTRODUCTIONS WILL SUPPORT YOU:

 The movement will be toward a WINDOWS INTERFACE SUCH AS CHAMELION OR
 WINGOPHER, that allows the average computer user to find you with ease
 and view your space as if it were on his/her own computer in REAL TIME. 
 'Let your mouse do the walking'.
  
 This points to the other main advantage of exhibiting OnLine.  This area
 is not only open to the Media, but also the 50 Million or so computer
 users can browse here whenever they feel it convenient.  In fact, we
 believe that you can earn enough in sales of products at your OnLineTrade
 show booth to more than pay for all your expenses by having show specials
 or promotions. AND FOR A LIMITED TIME:

 Take advantage of low INTRODUCTORY PRICING.  

 AND If you join ComOnLine to exhibit your product you will receive a free
 listing in the INTERACTIVE YELLOW PAGES, a publication from Lighthouse
 Productions that is distributed FREELY to millions of people all around
 the world electronically.  Your Free listing can serve to notify the
 world of your new booth in the Trade Show.  This listing alone costs
 about the same as your membership in the ComOnLine Trade Show, so you're
 getting two advertising and PR deals that will absolutely knock your
 socks off, for the price of one!

 CONTACT:
                             Michael Mathiesen 
                        ComOnLine Director of Sales
                           Lighthouse Productions

 Phone         (408) 423-8580 Voice
               (408) 423-0131 FAX

 CompuServe    72254,16
 AOL           TRUEBLU4U  
 InterNet      lite@netcom.com





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


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

 > A "Quotable Quote"              "The Naked Truth!"
   """"""""""""""""" 


               "IT IS IN THE ABILITY TO DECEIVE ONE'S SELF..
                  ..THAT THE GREATEST OF TALENT IS SHOWN!"

                                              ...Napolean Blownapart


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


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




                             ABCO Incorporated
                             =================
                               P.O. Box 6672
                      Jacksonville, Florida 32221-6155
                                 Est. 1985
                               1-904-783-3319

                    1994 SPRING SPECIALS NOW IN EFFECT!
                          ------------------------
                 ABCO manufactures custom storage devices!
                                      
                INTEL 32 BIT 486/66, VLB w/Math CoProcessor 
            8MB ram upgradable to 64MB 1MB SVGA VESA VIDEO CARD
                 Sound Blaster Compatible Stereo Sound Card
               DOS 6.2 - Windows for Workgroups 3.11 Included
      256K CACHE - 1.44/1.2 FLOPPY Drives, Mouse & 101 deluxe Keyboard
             340MB IDE hd - 2 SERIAL, 1 PARALLEL, 1 GAME PORTS
                       250W POWER SUPPLY TOWER SYSTEM
              14" Non-Interlaced SVGA 1024x768, 28dpi Monitor
                          66Mhz, S&H Incl 1695.00
                       695.00 with order, balance COD
                  other higher powered packages available
            or, design your own!  Call for value added pricing!
                   Call: 904-783-3319 Anytime, Voice Mail

                              =====******=====

                 Syquest Removable 44-105-270mb SCSI Drives
                        All Size Platters Available

                 Diamond Speed Star 24x SVGA/VGA Video Card w/1mbVRAM
            Diamond Stealth & Viper 1mb & 2mb - Call for prices
                     Enhances Windows SPEED and EFFICIENCY
               Diamond High Performance Sound Cards Available
               Soundblaster Cards and compatibles 8 & 16 bit
        Creative Technologies' Sound Blaster AWE 32 SUPER Sound Card
      Pro Audio Spectrum STUDIO 16 - 16bit - Midi - Audio Recognition
            Top of the Media Vision PAS Line - True Multi-Media
              IDE Super IO cards & 16550 UART 2 & 4 Port Cards

                   Call: 904-783-3319 Anytime, Voice Mail
                                     
           """"""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""
                                     
                              COMPUTER STUDIO
                              ===============
                          WESTGATE SHOPPING CENTER
                        40 Westgate Parkway -Suite D
                            Asheville, NC  28806
                               1-800-253-0201
                                Orders Only
                               1-704-251-0201
                                Information
                         FULL LINE COMPUTER DEALER

           """"""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""
                                                        
                           EAST HARTFORD COMPUTER
                           ======================
                              202 Roberts St.
                          East Hartford CT.  06108
                               1-203-528-4448
                         FULL LINE COMPUTER DEALER
                                                        
           """"""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""
                                                        
                             MEGABYTE COMPUTERS
                             ==================
                                907 Mebourne
                              Hurst, TX 76053
                               1-817-589-2950
                         FULL LINE COMPUTER DEALER
                                                        
           """""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""
                                                        
                             SAN JOSE COMPUTER
                             =================
                              1278 Alma Court
                            San Jose, CA.  95112
                               1-408-995-5080
                         FULL LINE COMPUTER DEALER
                                                        
           """"""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""
                                                        
                              CompuSeller West
                              ================
                            220-1/2 W. Main St.
                          St. Charles, IL., 60174
                             Ph. (708) 513-5220
                         FULL LINE COMPUTER DEALER
                                                        
           """"""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""
                                                        
    (DEALERS; to be listed here FREE of Charge, please drop us a line.)

  """"""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""
                   STReport International Online Magazine
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                AVAILABLE ON OVER 20,001 PRIVATE BBS SYSTEMS
  """"""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""
  STR Online!         "YOUR INDEPENDENT NEWS SOURCE"         June 17, 1994
  Since 1987     copyright (c) 1987-94 All Rights Reserved         No.1025
  """"""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""
 All  Items  quoted, in whole or in part, are done so under the provisions
 of  The  Fair Use Law of The Copyright Laws of the U.S.A. Views, Opinions
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 editors/staff  of  STReport International Online Magazine.  Permission to
 reprint    articles  is hereby granted, unless otherwise noted.  Reprints
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