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Silicon Times Report Issue 0089
*---== ST REPORT ONLINE MAGAZINE ==---*
"""""""""""""""""""""""""
"The Original Online ST Magazine"
-------------------------------
May 26, 1989 Volume III No.89
=========================================================================
ST Report Online Magazine
------------------------------
Post Office Box 6672
Jacksonville, Florida
32236 ~ 6672
R.F. Mariano
Publisher - Editor
_________________________________________
Voice: 904-783-3319 10 AM - 4 PM EDT
BBS: 904-786-4176 12-24-96 HST
FAX: 904-783-3319 12 AM - 6 AM EDT
_________________________________________
** F-NET/FIDOMAIL NODE 350 **
Our support BBS carries ALL issues of STReport
and
An International list of private BBS systems
carrying STReport for their users enjoyment
-------------------------------------------------------------------------
> Issue: #89 STReport
-------------------
- The Editors' Podium
- MULTI-DESK vs FLEXCESSORY ..E.A.B. finds Pandora!
- CIS Fora - A Guided Tour
- NEODESK 2.03 -=- A Full Review for a 1st. Class program!
- "CHOPSTICK" Louie to Fly Again!
- Upgrade or STEP UP?
- A Different Viewpoint - Times are Changing
- Cascade of Lemons - STart Magazine
- ST REPORT CONFIDENTIAL
=========================================================================
AVAILABLE ON: COMP-U-SERVE ~ DELPHI ~ GENIE ~ THE SOURCE
=========================================================================
> The Editor's Podium
Scout World 1989 ..What a show for the youngsters!! I never grow tired
of doing a show or benefit that's for kids! Once again, after the initial and
normal set-up problems were resolved, Scout World 1989 was off to a roaring
start. The attendance was excellent and the Scouts and their parents were
surprisingly aware of the Atari Computer Lines this year...well, many
remembered us from last year and expressed gratitude for our being there once
again. Neil Bradley has provided us with an in-depth review of the show
elsewhere in this issue.
Atari is doing an excellent job of letting the US Market know they are
alive and well, the line-up of products being highlighted on the cable systems
are quite impressive. Atari is truly a leader in the MIDI field and a real
contender in the desktop publishing area. Fall Comdex promises to be a
"humdinger". (HINT)
Once again, we must point out that we are NOT part of any other
publication either online or off. Please, for the record, STReport has
NOTHING what-so-ever to do with any OTHER online publications unless so
noted.
Thanks for your support,
Ralph.....
"ATARI IS BACK!"
**************************************************************************
NOTICE NOTICE NOTICE NOTICE NOTICE NOTICE NOTICE NOTICE NOTICE NOTICE
FOR A LIMITED TIME ONLY
COMPUSERVE WILL PRESENT $15.00 WORTH OF COMPLIMENTARY ONLINE TIME
to the Readers
ST REPORT ONLINE MAGAZINE
NEW USERS SIGN UP TODAY!
Call any of the St Report Official BBS numbers
(Listed at the top of ST REPORT)
or
Leave E-mail to St Report - R.Mariano
Be sure to include your full mailing address so your
Compuserve kit can be immediately mailed to you!
NOTICE NOTICE NOTICE NOTICE NOTICE NOTICE NOTICE NOTICE NOTICE NOTICE
**************************************************************************
> Multi-Desk STR FOCUS¿
====================
"ONLY A JOKE" .. EAB
====================
by Ron Brunk
A furor has recently arisen over the latest E. Arthur Brown catalog in
which a program released under the EAB label, Flexcessory, is "compared" to the
program MultiDesk (also sold in the catalogue) by CodeHead Software. Both are
similar in that they allow the use of other programs from the drop-down
accessory menu. The difference lies in that Flexcessory allows the use of
programs with extensions of .PRG, .TOS, and .TTP. MultiDesk allows the use of
programs with extensions of .ACC (commonly known as accessories).
For those not familiar with the EAB catalog, it offers discount prices
on ST and Amiga software. Most offerings are accompanied by mini "reviews",
actually advertising blurbs in that, although they describe the products in
detail like a review, they only mention the good points and none of the bad.
On the front page of the latest issue a bright red headline announces that
"Flexcessory Beats Up MultiDesk" followed by "Authors, EABCO 'Fed-Up' With
Unfair Comparisons" and "Money Back Guarantee, Comparison Chart,... More...
-See Page 12". Turning to page 12 reveals a shadowed headline "Battle Lines
Are Drawn!" and, underlined, "We're Pulling Off The Gloves..." and finally,
once again, "Flexcessory Beats Up MultiDesk", "Story by Eben Brown".
One first must ask, why the phrases "Beats Up", "Battle Lines", and
"Pulling Off The Gloves" about a program that you are distributing?
Apparently, EAB felt that previous reviews had "judged by criteria favorable to
one when both should be judged on their own merits" and that EAB Company is
"fed up, mad as hell and 'not going to take it anymore!'" The "ad" goes on to
present a comparison chart (that is "being circulated by E. Arthur Brown
Company") and states that the criteria "clearly shows Flexcessory to be the
better value". What is not clearly stated is that EAB contributed as
"marketing and support" in the development of Flexcessory (and therefore surely
makes more profit from it's sale than MultiDesk). I talked to Eben Brown, and
he seemed surprised at the level of reaction to the ad, although he had
received at least one irate phone message on his answering machine. He stated
that the article was a joke, and was written with tongue in cheek in an effort
to draw attention to his program, which has gone largely ignored. He pointed
to the fact that on page 4, both programs are praised and offered as a set,
and to the outrageously one-sided and misleading way that the two are
compared.
In order to illustrate how one-sided and misleading the comparison
chart is, what follows are the features compared, all of which have "No"
under MultiDesk and "YES" under Flexcessory.
1) "Loads/Dumps PRG, TTP, & TOS Utilities As If They Were Accessories"
The key here is that ACC is not listed. In fact, one of the biggest
advantages of MultiDesk is that it loads and dumps .ACC utilities that would
otherwise be unavailable without re-booting (after renaming all the accessories
you want to drop and add (unless you have something like Superboot or
DeskManager, in which case you still must reboot)). On the other hand,
PRG,TTP, and TOS utilities can all be run at any time from the desktop.
2) "Loads & Dumps Utilties (sic) w/o Rebooting"
As stated above, this is exactly what MultiDesk prevents when loading
accessories. The trick here is that EAB does not consider .ACC programs
to be "utilities".
3) "Handles Up To 15 Utilities Per Accessory Slot"
Once again, this is based on the assumption that .ACC programs are not
utilities because MultiDesk can load more accessories than anyone could ever
use. In fact, MultiDesk loads up to 32 accessories and has been loaded into
itself 130 levels deep, for a total of over 4,000 accessory slots! Of course,
that leaves only 1K per slot, but it's nice to know you'll run out of memory
before you run out of slots (or is it?).
4) "Unload All" or Individual Utilities from Desktop or Application"
Although MultiDesk does not allow unloading individual utilities, it
does allow all to be unloaded. New accessories can then be loaded and, since
they can be kept in a single folder to which the item selector automatically
goes to, it is very simple to pick and choose.
5) "Corner Clock Date"
6) "Adjustable RAM Disk"
7) "Adjustable Printer Spooler"
8) "Desktop Calculator"
9) "Control Panel"
10) "NotePad"
11) "PC/ST Compatible Formatter"
12) "Printer Configuration Utility"
13) "RS232 Configuration Utility"
14) "Screen Grabber/Saver"
15) "Advanced Show File Capability"
16) "Other Utilities Included"
17) "Compatible w/Shareware/PD Such As Twister or Fixdisk"
Charles F. Johnson of CodeHead Software pointed out that while the
above utilities were not included with the original MultiDesk, many of them are
now included with the latest version. In addition, a large variety of
accessories that do the same as the above listed utilities are abundantly
available in the public domain and as shareware which will run on MultiDesk. In
fact, there are usually more than one example of each from which to choose the
one that fits the job at hand. When questioned, Eben Brown informed me that
all of the above programs included with Flexcessory were written entirely by
the developers, and that any similarities were meant to make the utilities more
familiar to the users. Specifically he stated that, despite the remarkable
similarities of the screen shots in the manual, the control panel, RS232 port
configuration and install printer dialog boxes were hand drawn by the
developers.
The bottom line is that the EAB Company showed extremely bad judgement
in their attempt to call attention to their own program by publishing a
grossly unfair and highly misleading comparison between Flexcessory and
CodeHead's MultiDesk without making it absoutely clear that it was not meant
to be taken seriously. To his credit, Eben Brown has said he recognizes that
the ad was in bad taste, and intends to publish an explanation of his "joke" in
his next catalogue. CodeHead software has stated that, despite the good
relationship they have had with EAB in the past, they will no longer provide
their software to EAB until they receive at least a written apology in the next
catalogue.
Editor Note:
Hopefully, this episode will provide a little lesson about how valuable
an experience this really is for all of us. True professionalism can go a
long way towards peaceful relations throughout the entire userbase.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------
> CIS FORA STR Spotlight¿
======================
Forums on Compuserve
====================
PART 1: An Overview
-------------------
by Neil Bradley
The Editor of ST Report has requested that I provide a series of
articles on the forums available on Compuserve (CIS). This part will provide
an overview of the Foums available, how to access them and a sample message in
the message base of the Atari Arts Forum. Following installments will be on
message base and data library use; Subjects on the Atari Forums, and a very
brief description of a few of the other forums I use. The final part will be
on a PD program available in the Atari Productivity library called FORUM ST - a
program that will automate your entire CIS forum sessions, thereby saving you
money.
I have been using CIS for about 3 years now. The primary reason I
joined CIS was to gain access to the forums. At first glance, the forums are
appear overwhelming, the commands seem confusing, and the sheer amount of
information is staggering. I stress that this is only a first impression.
Once you jump in with both feet (or fingers) and use the forums, you will find
that they are easy to use. If you ever have problems, each forum's SYSOP,
his/her assistants, and almost all the users will be more than willing to help
you get settled and part of the "family". CIS has also created the "practice"
forum, which is available FREE to all subscribers for them to literally
practice everything that can be done in a forum, i.e. message writing,
uploading/downloading, etc).
HOW TO FIND A FORUM:
The easiest way to find a forum is to type the command: GO FORUM at any
"!" prompt. From there, CIS will give you a series of screens with all the
different forums listed. I am going to go through an actual session I spent on
CIS using screens that were captured on my computer. I am inserting my
comments in brackets [] for clarity. I am starting from the initial logon
screen and will take you step-by-step to the Atari Arts forum.
Here goes:
----------
CompuServe Information Service
21:36 EDT Saturday 20-May-89
Last access: 20:44 20-May-89
Copyright (C) 1989
CompuServe Incorporated
All Rights Reserved
CompuServe TOP
1 Subscriber Assistance (FREE)
2 Find a Topic (FREE)
3 Communications/Bulletin Bds.
4 News/Weather/Sports
5 Travel
6 The Electronic MALL/Shopping
7 Money Matters/Markets
8 Entertainment/Games
9 Hobbies/Life styles/Education 10 Reference 11 Computers/Technology 12
Business/Other Interests
!Go Forum
typed "Go Forum" at the !] ![CIS responds with the following screen:]
CompuServe FORUMS
1 Aviation Forums
2 Education Forums
3 Science/Technology
4 Entertainment/Games Forums
5 Financial Forums
6 Hardware Forums
7 Media/Electronic Publishing
8 Home/Health/Family Forums
9 Professional Forums 10 Software Forums 11 Sports Forums 12 Travel
Forums
!6 [I chose option 6]
CompuServe HARDWARE
HARDWARE FORUMS
1 Apple Users Group (MAUG)
2 Ask3Com
3 Atari Users Network
4 CDROM Forum
5 Commodore and Amiga Forums
6 Computer Club Forum
7 DEC Users Network
8 Epson Forum
9 Hewlett Packard PC Forum 10 IBM Users Network 11 Intel Corporation
MORE !3 [I used option 3, of course]
CompuServe ATARINET
Atari Users Network
1 What's New in the Atari
Forums
2 Atari 8-Bit Forum
3 Atari ST Productivity Forum
4 Atari ST Arts Forum
5 Atari Vendors Forum
6 ANTIC ONLINE (W)
!4 [I picked option 4, Atari ST Arts forum]
CompuServe ATARIARTS
One moment please...
Welcome to Atari ST Arts Forum, V. 4D(63)
[And now we arrived!]
----------------------------------------
From now on, you can get
directly to the Atari Arts forum by typing "Go Atariarts" at any ! prompt.
ONCE YOU ARE IN THE FORUM:
If you are a first-time caller, all the forums will take you through a
welcome/registration process. There is no added cost to join a forum, just
the normal CIS connection charges. We now continue with the tour and the
actual screens that I received:
----------------------------------------
Atari ST Arts Forum Menu
1 INSTRUCTIONS
2 MESSAGES
3 LIBRARIES (Files)
4 CONFERENCING (0 participating)
5 ANNOUNCEMENTS from sysop
6 MEMBER directory
7 OPTIONS for this forum
Enter Choice
[I want to read messages]
Atari ST Arts Forum Messages Menu
Message age selection = [New]
1 SELECT (Read by section and subject)
2 READ or search messages
3 CHANGE age selection
4 COMPOSE a message
5 UPLOAD a message
Enter Choice [I want to read messages - option 1 allows you to set specific
areas you wish to read. Right now, I just want to read new messages.]
Atari ST Arts Forum Read Menu
Read
1 [NEW] messages
2 Message NUMBER
3 WAITING messages for you (0)
Search [new] messages
4 FROM (Sender)
5 SUBJECT
6 TO (Recipient)
Enter choice
3826 S2/Games <- The msg #, Section # and Section Name)
19-May-89 21:38:25 <- Date/Time message was left on CIS Sb:
#9486-#FALCON & Piracy <- See explanation below
Fm: Spectrum HoloByte 76004,2144 <- Who sent the msg, and their CIS nbr
To: Patrick Yang 73437,1440 (X) <- Who the message is for, the (X)
means Patrick has received the
message Dear Patrick:
Please remember that Disk 2 of Tetris is NOT copy protected. Also, Disk 2
of FALCON and ORBITER are also not copy protected. Only Disk 1 (which does
not save any data) is copy protected. You should be able to make backups of
Disk 2's with any copy program.
I'm not sure what disk access you're referring to. Tetris, FALCON,
ORBITER? Tetris should only access the disk (once loaded) every time a
level is changed. Actually, I just booted up the ST version of Tetris and I
didn't notice it accessing the disk at all during game play.
No.19 Type <CR> for next or CHOICES!off
[<- I typed off - to log off CIS]
------------------------------
[The subject line lists the Subject (Falcon & Piracy), and the message number
that the sender is replying to (in this case #8486)]
I hope that this introduction has been helpful. My thanks to the SYSOPS of
Atari Arts Forum, Spectrum HoloByte, and Patrick Yang for allowing me to use
portions of CIS in this article.
See you on-line!
--------------------------------------------------------------------------
> LEMONS?? STR Spotlight¿
======================
START SENDS A MESSAGE?
======================
by R.F. Mariano
The June 1989 Issue, STart magazine displays prominently, a statement
that sez the "ST MEANS BUSINESS" and then.. LEMONS all over the place?? What
gives?? What KIND of message is Start trying to send to the community when
they say the ST means business and then shows a kiddie LEMONade stand ON THE
FRONT COVER PAGE!!! Out in plain sight so everybody who casually walks past the
newsstand will see the Atari ST surrounded by, of all things, LEMONS!
-------
Are we to understand that the ST is only suited to apply business
management programs to the operation of a LEMONade stand or is this just a
cameo presentation of our favorite machines buried in a fruit stand? Frankly,
the use of fruits and especially, LEMONS and or LEMONade stand, seems to
deliver an extremely mixed, if not garbled, message and most certainly will
never be associated with corporate America.
Times sure have changed, or have they? We seem to remember that
anytime a product was considered poor it was draped in LEMONS..... In our
humble opinion, START and it's magnanomous management team owe an apology to
not only the entire ST userbase but to the Publishers of WordWriter ST, Atari
and all the folks who bought PHA$AR from the Catalog.
Editor's Note:
--------------
At STReport we too read and enjoy STart Magazine and have the greatest
respect for Andy Reese's ability. We feel this "lemonescent scenario" slipped
through the cracks and now that we have brought attention to it, Andy can seal
it. Actually, aside from the "LEMON FRESH" front cover, the issue was good
reading.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
> NEODESK 2.03 STR Review¿
=======================
NeoDesk 2.03 from Gribnif Software
==================================
By William Y. Baugh
If you are a steady reader of ST Report, you'll undoubtedly know that I am an
avid fan of NeoDesk. This program by far has been the most useful, helpful and
best supported of any that I use. In last weeks issue, I gave a brief overview
of just the new features of version 2.03 (while omitting some, also); so I've
been asked to write a more in-depth review of the program for those of you who
do not own the program.
NeoDesk is, as the name states, a completely new desktop that you may use to
replace the current GEM desktop. NeoDesk may not be auto-booted, but may be
executed by using STARTGEM.PRG (or Headstart 1.1) or may be double-clicked and
ran as a usual program. While in memory, NeoDesk uses approximately 126K while
installed, but drops into a 25K shell when a program is executed. After the
program is terminated, the shell will reboot the NEOMASTR.EXE file and reload
NeoDesk. This is an optional feature in that if you have the memory available,
you may keep NeoDesk resident at all times. Either way you choose is great. I
have a Mega 2 with a hard drive and use the shell option. It only takes ~5
seconds to reboot the program (this is NeoDesk loaded and directories read from
three, 13 meg partitions on a 29 ms drive), so the memory saved is well worth
the time delay.
Once the program is loaded and the desktop is up, it looks and feels much
like the GEM desktop...but with MANY extra features! For starters, you have a
totally new control panel accessory which allows you to set date and time,
display a upper-right corner clock, turn on or off the Blitter (if you have
one) and a screen saver (you may set the time delay also), set the key repeats
and the delay in between repeats, cut on or off the key click and warning bell,
set the sensitivity of the mouse click and see the total and available memory
(whew!). You even have a screen saver for monochrome monitors! Another
accessory, the Printer Queue, allows you to have multiple files printing at
once (the wait in line...). The queue has an internal 8K buffer and runs on an
interrupt based system for faster printouts. You cannot print an ASCII file
from desktop by double-clicking on it, all this does is show the file. In
NeoDesk, you must use the Printer Queue to handle these print jobs. This is
not a drawback since the programmers at Gribnif have vastly improved the queue.
Another big plus is there are two different resource files; one for color the
other for monochrome. These allow you to have totally different desktops, each
specific for the monitor (by the way, NeoDesk does not run in low-res).
One of the nicest features of NeoDesk is the ability to totally customize the
desktop to your own personal tastes. Especially now, with the release of
version 2.03, you may individualize each and every icon to your liking. The
system icons; such as the folders, drives, batch and text files, etc. can be
redrawn (using an extremely friendly icon editor), but only one icon serves for
each of the groups. This is not so with the program icons; you may have a
different icon for every program that you have! So, after drawing your system
and program icons to your liking, you have a totally individualized desktop
that you may feel more comfortable using.
Placement of icons is a breeze with a feature found in most DTP's, Snap to
Grid. This allows you to specify the size and placement of the icons and once
set, places all icons the same distance apart from each other and from the
sides of the desktop. Speaking of the icons, you are not restricted to viewing
in just the icon mode. You may select between two text sizes (normal and
small) and you can specify what you want displayed along with the file name
(such as the size, date and time). Another fantastic feature is the ability to
place programs on the desktop (these are shown as the icons drawn for them,
even in text mode). What happens is that NeoDesk remembers the path of the
program and whenever you double-click on the icon, it executes the program.
This is a needed feature for hard drive owners who are tired of digging down 4
and 5 subdirectories to find the program.
Thirty-two program icons may be on the desktop at one time! Also, in version
2.03, you may assign keyboard equivalents to the programs on the desktop by
using the Install Desktop Icon menu. You select a letter not used by a drive
and assign it to the program. The program may be executed by holding down the
shift key and double pressing the letter of the program (Hotwire's nice, but
these features allow instant access...). A tip for people currently running
2.03 and run in text mode; only select and save permanently those icons needed
for your desktop programs. I noticed an extreme slow down of NeoDesk reading
my partition directories. This is because the program is going through and
matching icons saved with the file names, even though you are in text mode. It
is a minor thing, but became an annoyance when my 'C' partition was so slow in
being read.
Standard features, such as the Show Info option, has been greatly enhanced to
included functions like renaming the volume, showing the number of hidden
files, and the entire info of the drive in question (Sides, sectors, tracks,
etc). Doing a show info on a file allows you to change the time/date stamp to
the time "right now" and will allow you to change the access features
(read/write or read only). The formatting option has been expanded to include
82 tracks/10 sectors and will twist disks if the TOS is the newer versions.
You may have noticed that I did not mention anything about changing the name of
a file by using the Show Info command. Well that's not the way it's done in
NeoDesk! To change the name of a file, all you do is press the Control key and
click on the file you want changed; a dialog box appears and you retype the
name. It's that simple! (Folders may be renamed, but it is kind of
involved...) Along with this option, all commands that are accessed by the
mouse have keyboard equivalents. You can open and close windows, scroll
windows and even do "Show Info" on any drive by pressing a combination of
keys.
The real heart of NeoDesk shines through when you first start file copying.
For starters, you are not restricted to just copy files anymore, now you have
the option to Move files if you like. Moving files first copies them to the
destination, then deletes them from the source disk. This saves you the
trouble of going back and deleting them yourself. Secondly, NeoDesk uses all
available memory as a buffer in which files are copied into before they are
written to the destination disk. This expedites things greatly, especially
going from hard drive to floppy.
NeoDesk has incorporated a new status box while copying that shows you the
number of files left to be written and the path being copied or written. When
selecting your files, you may rubberband in any direction, plus (while holding
the shift key) select files by clicking and rubberbanding them. Once your
files are selected, you can find the size and of the group by reading the
status line running underneath the drive letter at the top of the window (the
line may be scrolled by using the right and left arrow keys). Options may be
changed in the Set Preferences menu that allow you to set whether or not you
want to confirm copies/moves/deletes, pause after TOS applications and the
maximum limit of files per folder (Gribnif has thought of everything!). Also,
if you are buried 4 subdirectories deep, you can hold the Control key and press
the Clr Home key to bring yourself back to the root directory. No more closing
the window and reopening or clicking back through all the subdirectories. Also,
new with 2.03, is the ability to load other desktop information files that have
been saved through NeoDesk. This allows you to have many different desktops
for differing applications.
Dan Wilga and Rick Flashman and the others at Gribnif have done a fantastic
job with the programming and especially the support given for NeoDesk. I
discovered a slight problem the other night and, being extremely lucky, caught
Mr. Flashman on GEnie. We talked for around 40 minutes discussing the problem
and other questions about NeoDesk. I do not think other programmers would take
the time out of their busy schedule to do a one-on-one such as that. Also the
folks at Gribnif are perfectionists! They never stop working on ideas for
upgrades (which one is in the works right now). So between the program the
cost ($49.99 retail) and the support, you can't lose with this fine
production.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------
> Atari Stock ~ STReport¿
======================
THE TICKERTAPE
==============
by Glenn Gorman
Atari Stock dropped 1/8 of a point on Monday, up 1/8 on Wednesday,
dropped 1/4 on Thursday and another 1/8 on Friday. Finishing up the week
at 6 3/8 points, down 1/2 of a point from last Friday.
Glenn Gorman
+---------------------+
| ATARI STOCK WATCH |
| Week 05-15 to 05-19 |
+=======+==========+===========+=============+============+=============+
| | Monday | Tuesday | Wednesday | Thursday | Friday |
+-------+----------+-----------+-------------+------------+-------------+
| Sales | 806 | 708 | 475 | 325 | 186 |
+-------+----------+-----------+-------------+------------+-------------+
| Last | 6 5/8 | 6 5/8 | 6 3/4 | 6 1/2 | 6 3/8 |
+-------+----------+-----------+-------------+------------+-------------+
| Chg. | -1/8 | ---- | +1/8 | -1/4 | -1/8 |
+=======+==========+===========+=============+============+=============+
| From > THE CAVE ST BBS <> 609-882-9195 <> 300//9600 HST <> F-NET #351 |
+=======================================================================+
--------------------------------------------------------------------------
> HOLOBYTE - STR NewsPlus¿
=======================
"CHOPSTICK" Louie Will Fly Again!"
---------------------------------
The Atari Forums will sponsor a National Online Teleconference on:
Friday, June 2nd, at 9:30 PM EDT.
GUEST SPEAKER: Gilman "CHOPSTICK" Louie of Spectrum Holobyte.
------------------------------------------------------------
The Spectrum Holobyte Conference is going to be held in CompuServe's
Electronic Convention Center¿. The Electronic Convention Center¿ was designed
specifically for special conferences of this nature and can have as many as 300
people participating simultaneously without causing the slightest speed
decrease. In addition, the center offers the capability of holding a more
structured conference, making it possible for you to ask your questions and be
answered by Gilman Louie without any interruptions. Top performance is
absolutely guaranteed!
Lastly, the Electronic Convention Center¿ offers additional conveniences
(discussed later in this text) that will make your participation in this
conference amazingly easy. If you've participated in other national
conferences of this type before and have been underwhelmed at the way it was
conducted and the performance of the service during 'heavy' usage, this
conference is your opportunity to experience the communication power of a
professional-quality global information network.
ACCESSING THE CONVENTION CENTER
As mentioned above, the Spectrum Holobyte conference will be held in
CompuServe's Electronic Convention Center¿ -- NOT the conference area of
this Atari Forum. To access the Convention Center, type GO CONVENTION at any
CompuServe command prompt.
When you type GO CONVENTION, CompuServe will display the following menu:
Electronic Convention Center¿
INFORMATION/RESERVATIONS
1 Instructions
2 List Conferences/Make Reservations
3 Review/Cancel Reservations
4 Conference Etiquette
Enter choice !
Choice 1 allows you to view the complete instruction guide for using the
Convention Center. Choice 2 and Choice 3 allow you to list upcoming special
conferences and any advance "reservations" (NOT NECESSARY FOR THIS
CONFERENCE!) you might have made. Lastly, choice 4 provides some information
on the etiquette followed by participants in an electronic conference.
On Friday, June 2nd at 9:00 (a half hour before the conference is scheduled
to begin), the Convention Center menu will appear as shown above with the
addition of menu choice 5 which will allow you to enter the Spectrum Holobyte
conference. An example of how the Convention Center menu will appear from
9:00 through the end of the conference on June 2nd appears below:
Electronic Convention Center¿
INFORMATION/RESERVATIONS
1 Instructions
2 List Conferences/Make Reservations
3 Review/Cancel Reservations
4 Conference Etiquette
JOIN CONFERENCE IN PROGRESS
5 Atari ST/Spectrum Holobyte
Enter choice !
All you will need to do is select choice 5 in order to join the
conference.
Once you select choice 5, CompuServe will prompt you to enter your name:
What is your name? John Doe
Enter your name and press a <CR> as shown in the above example.
If you enter the conference area before 9:30 PM EDT, you can chat briefly
with other early arrivers until the moderated conference begins.
ASKING A QUESTION
Once the moderated conference begins, only the moderator and guest speaker
will be allowed to openly communicate at all times. Other participants must
signal that they would like to ask a question or make a comment by using the
/QUESTION (or /QUE) command. Once you issue the /QUE command, CompuServe
will add your name (in order) to the queue. When it is your turn to speak,
CompuServe will beep your terminal and display a message explaining that it
is your turn and you may now ask your question. If you attempt to openly
communicate before it is your turn to speak, the Convention Center will send
you a reminder that in order to ask a question or make a comment, you must
enter the /QUE command and wait for your turn.
If you issue the /QUE command and change your mind about asking a question,
you can enter the /UNQUE command to remove your place from the queue.
USING THE BUFFER
The Electronic Conference Center¿ makes it possible for you to compose
or upload your question or statement into a buffer area, followed by giving
you the option of editing the text using standard CompuServe EDIT commands
(type /HELP within the editor to receive a list of editing commands). Then,
you can send your pre-composed buffer when it is your turn to speak in the
conference. Here are the commands you will need to know in order to use the
buffer feature of the Convention Center:
/BUFFER EDIT - Brings you into "edit" mode where you can
compose, ASCII-upload, or edit your text.
/BUFFER SEND - Send buffer to all participants.
OTHER COMMANDS YOU SHOULD KNOW ABOUT
The following list of commands are available to you in the Convention
Center:
/BUFFER EDIT Edit text buffer
/BUFFER SEND Send text buffer
/BULLETIN Display short bulletin
/COMMANDS Show list of commands
/DAY Show date and time
/DISPLAY Change message display
/ECHO Show input as it is typed
/EXIT Exit the conference
/NOECHO Do not show input
/HELP Command help text
/NAME Change your name
/NOSEND Refuse private "send" messages
/OFF Log-off
/SEND Send a private message
/STATUS User/guest count
/WHO Show last speaker
/USERS List users
/LOOK Question status (how many people are in the queue)
/QUESTION Question request
/UNQUEUE Cancel a question
If you have any questions, please feel free to post a message to the Sysops
of the Atari Forums. Otherwise, hope you found this introduction file useful
and we're looking forward to seeing you at the conference!
--------------------------------------------------------------------------
> SCOUT WORLD STR Feature¿
-----------------------
Atari and Scout World '89
=========================
by Neil Bradley
My Atari ST users group, ST JAUG, was invited once again this year
to participate in Scout World 1989. We were provided with two forty foot
booths, power and two telephone lines to "STrut our STuff" to the scouts.
Scout World is an annual get-together of the Boy Scouts of America
for Florida. It is held to honor Armed Forces Day at the Naval Air Station,
Jacksonville, Florida. The estimated attendance this year was over 100,000
scouts, their parents/scout leaders and spectators. There were exhibitors
set up in two aircraft hangers (each easily capable of holding 2 or 3 P-3
Orion airplanes [large 4 engine turbo-prop]), as well as static aircraft
displays in the vicinity of the hangers.
ST Jaug was provided two forty foot booths across from each other in
one isle in one of the hangers. We easily filled them with over 35 ST's,
ranging from a 520STFM complete with TV, to 3 MEGA-4 systems one with a
complete MIDI sound system. Another MEGA 4 was there with an Atari SLM 804
Laser Printer, 260mb Hard Drive and a Princeton Ultra-Sync monitor for DTP
demonstrations. Due to our placement and careful planning, you could see the
Atari banners from just about anywhere outside the hangers coupled with the
attraction of the MIDI music playing, and you had a foolproof people attracting
setup. It didn't hurt to have Domino's Pizza right around the corner! If we
didn't draw the people, the Pizza sure did! (In fact the manager of the
Domino's booth invited our users group to function planned for the 4th of July
..he KNEW where the crowds were coming from!)
Once everyone was setup and running, we had literally 80-120 people
constantly in attendance, all staring raptly at the various demos running. By
far the most attractive game running was Falcon by Spectrum Holobyte,
followed closely by Dungeon Master by FTL. Gauntlet I and Terrorpods had a
steady draw of younger scouts trying out their arcade skills. The Falcon ST
display and demo was particularly effective, as we had two 1040's connected
together with a null-modem cable running at 19,200 baud. This demo always
had a line of 10-12 people waiting to fight it out with each other. We once
tried to change the demo to something else, but were promptly compelled to
leave it running by the requests from a very large and enthusiastic crowd.
After the Falcon demo, the next most popular demo was Calamus and
Pagestream using the Atari SLM-804 Laser Printer for DTP. This, in
particular, drew the parents close attention. There were pleasant displays of
surprise to find out that the Atari DTP system with Laser Printer costs less
than many other systems WITHOUT the Laser Printer. There were many serious,
pointed questions asked, and a LOT of interest in the Atari as a viable, DTP
system.
The MIDI display and demo attracted both scouts and parents. The
system in use consisted of a Mega4, Yamaha FB01 and a KORG Poly 800 MkII
coupled to a Premier mixer, Marantz amplifier and Bose speakers all in all it
performed quite well. A high-school band teacher also stopped by and stayed
for a long time, taking many notes. The look of pure joy on one scout's face as
the simple tune he composed at the keyboard using Music Studio was played so
EVERYONE could hear it that alone was worth the effort for entire show.
There was a smaller, but just as interested crowd around the ST
display and demo of the AVS system. The constant "Oh Look! - the California
Raisins" was heard the entire day. The use of AVS on a 1040 with the
Tweety-board, plugged into a portable "Boom Box" for the stereo sound drew a
lot of interested questions. One parent commented that had she known that
the Atari could do stereo like that, she wouldn't have bought her son an
Amiga!
Speaking of the competition, I took a short walk over to the other
hanger where the Commodore booth was. When I saw one C-64, one C-128 and
one Amiga, and compared that to our 35+ machines, it was no surprise that
their attendance was nothing like ours. With our Dungeon Master running
against the Commodore booth's offering of Millipede, It could easily be seen
why our gaming display alone was drawing more of a crowd than their
offering.
It must be said here though, the President of the Commodore users
group came over to us at the start of the show and offered to lend us a hand
in setting up, as his group had arrived earlier than ours - a very nice
gesture. It is always nice to know that we CAN work together if we want to.
One of the most interesting things to be noticed during the day was
the fact that the scouts would come by, do some looking around, play a game
or two, and then later bring their parents back. Then the parents would
start asking serious questions about the ST system. When the parents found
out that the Atari can emulate the IBM and MAC (we stressed that there was an
added hardware and /or software cost involved - we did not want to deceive
the parents) the interest in the ST increased significantly, especially
considering that including adding the Magic Sac, Discovery Cartridge, or
Spectre 128, the cost was still much less than the purchase of another
computer system. Add the obvious graphic superiority, MIDI, and DTP
capabilities of the ST, and we could see the realization of the true
attractiveness of the ST awaken in people's eyes.
I personally worked the Dungeon Master and Gauntlet I demos. By far
the most asked question from the scouts was "Is this (Dungeon Master)
available for any other computer?" The reply was that it is available for
other machines too. It was fascinating to watch the scouts play DM, and
then have a parent shoulder their way up to the front of the crowd to take
their scout, and all of a sudden stop and stare, just as engrossed as their
child.
Something that was noticed by everyone in our users group was the
fact that people were aware of the Atari as a COMPUTER, not a game machine.
Out of the literal thousands of people that walked by our booths, there were
perhaps only 2 or 3 people the entire day that made the typical comment "Oh,
you mean Atari makes computers too?" Finally, Atari is making itself known
as a viable computer system - hopefully, it isn't too late.
In conclusion, Scout World '89 was a huge success. We exposed the
Atari ST system to thousands of people, the people were INTERESTED in the
system, serious questions were asked, and probably most significantly, people
were interested in the ST as a COMPUTER, not a game machine. This was my
first ever participation in a show like Scout World. You can bet I will do
it again, whenever the opportunity presents itself.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------
> ST REPORT CONFIDENTIAL¿
======================
- New York City, N.Y. ***** PORTFOLIO BEGINS TO ARRIVE! *****
------------------
Atari is indeed 'moving right along' we have it on good authority that
the prototypes of the Portfolio are now being put through their paces and the
general remarks are the machines are very well made, "the keyboard may be small
but it is very functional and has a good feel to it." We were told.
- Hunt Valley, MD. ***** MICROPROSE RELEASES PIRATES FOR ST! *****
---------------
Microprose's acclaimed PIRATES!, a combination role playing adventure,
arcade type action, and historically accurate game, is set to be released this
month. The best part is, this version (according to Microprose) incorporates
the very best elements of both the previous releases of this game to other
computer areas. This release will feature full midi support according to
Ken Lagace, Microprose's resident sound engineer
- New York City, N.Y. **** COLOR HIGH RESOLUTION MONITOR FOR ST! ****
------------------
According to Image Systems Corp., we will soon be seeing a superb, HIGH
RESOLUTION Color Monitor for our favorite computer. The actual FULL
specifications are not available at this time, however, this is what we have at
this time (1024 x 768 Color) The best part is this board is non-interlaced
which means there is absolutely no flicker. Although only in the prototype
stage, the creator, Jay Craswell, stressed it will be a reality soon enough.
We will let you know of developements as soon as we are able. Just another
proof that the ST community is on the move right along with Atari
--------------------------------------------------------------------------
> STR Spotlight¿
=============
Second Class Citizens: An Accident of Birth
or So It Seems...
-------------------------------------------
By: Chris Thompson
Borland's Turbo C for the IBM PC is a slick package. It produces slick
code that is not only fast, but it is also small. In a recent Benchmark test
against Microsoft QuikC v2.0, Turbo C was the best in every category.
(Categories included File Size, and Execution speed of different types of
Programs.) It is a premium software package that I would have no qualms in
buying. If I had an IBM, that is.
Now Borland has brought their wonderful compiler to the ST world. And
of course, they have released it in the biggest market first; namely, Germany.
That's all well and good, but here's where the problem comes in. Borland has
no immediate plans for US release.
Now I know that the US market is not the size of the European Market,
but are we really that small a number to not deserve a shot at Turbo C? I
think not. Americans are being treated as second class citizens because there
aren't enough ST users for Borland's tastes.
Having talked to several programmers recently, we found that every
single one of them said that they wanted to see Turbo C in the states.
We urge all of you to write to Borland and tell them that there are ST
Users out there who want quality software. Their Address is:
Borland International, Inc.
Office of the President
1800 Green Hills Rd.
P.O. Box: 660001
Scotts Valley, CA 95066-0001
Turbo C is wanted in the states. There is no reason we should not be
able to purchase this fine program.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------
> GOOD ADVICE InfoFile¿
=====================
News - Product Info
-------------------
CTSY OF CIS
-----------
26-May-89 05:33:50
Sb: #10137-Memory
Fm: Ed Waldorph 73637,42
I usually do not comment on the subject of memory upgrading. I have
not seen a memory upgrade that I would personally use. After giving the
subject considerable thought I bought a Mega 4.
If you meet all the following criteria..
I would recommend upgrading your memory:
1. Money is an _absolute_ consideration. You cannot afford the
$100-200 difference between the upgrade and a Mega 2, and you are
willing to forgo the upgraded TOS, blitter chip, detatched and
improved keyboard, double-sided more reliable disk drive and bus
expansion capability.
2. Your time and effort are worth nothing (or practically nothing).
3. You have a source of RAM chips below market price.
4. In the event of a hardware failure in the CsPU you are willing:
a. To undo and remove completely the upgrade, and
b. Reinstall it after replacing the system board, or
c. Scrap the unit and buy another CPU
Ed
--------------------------------------------------------------------------
> Changing Times STR FOCUS¿
=========================
A DIFFERENT VIEWPOINT
---------------------
By: Chris Thompson
Atari never ceases to amaze me. I had just finished writing an article
for STReport in which I lamented the 'End of Atari.' And then Atari goes and
SHATTERS every premise that story was written on.
Maybe I'd better backtrack a bit. I recently went out to the local
computer store. It's a nice, albeit overpriced, little store specializing in
ST, Amiga, and IBM Clones. There is some 8-bit software but it's on its way
out. For some reason I looked over into the IBM section and one of the clones
caught my eye. What was Timeworks' Publish-It ST doing on an IBM screen?? In
an instant I fell in love with the VGA screen. A large crystal clear screen
stared back at me. It reminded me of PageStream on the Amiga with no flicker.
The graphics were so clear and the WYSIWYGness (Did I just invent a word?) of
was so nice it nearly blew me away. The fonts were very readable. The imported
graphics were sharp. This is how Desktop Publishing should be.
I will be the first one to admit that at that point I was 100% IBM
illiterate. I couldn't have told you the difference between an XT and an AT.
Back in the stone ages when I bought my 520ST your computer choices were
limited. A 520ST with 512K of RAM and ROM chips holding TOS that was so new it
was still warm. A Commodore Amiga 1000 with 256K (Yes, 256K) and Kickstart and
Workbench on disk. Or an IBM XT running 4.77 MHz and something like DOS 2.1.
The IBM's were expensive, slow and had graphics that were second rate. I
believe there were AT's at this time. Probably a 286 machine at 6Mhz. I'm not
sure. I never looked into the IBM because of the expense. I bought my trusty
520 workhorse because I thought it was the BEST machine out there. (The 1040
was announced three weeks after I bought my 520. And would I even consider an
Amiga? ...Bite your tongue.)
I remained blissfully ignorant of the ever changing IBM world until
very recently. I began reading IBM magazines and was shocked. A 33Mhz
IBM? A 10Mhz XT clone for $500 (No Monitor)? Eight MegaBytes of
Motherboard RAM? I was flabbergasted. IBM even has VGA graphics that
compete with the highly touted Amiga. (OK they beat the Amiga.) What
really threw me for a loop was the fact that the IBM can do TRUE
Multitasking. It may not be flawless, but it works. With WINDOWS/386 you
can load a program into it's own window. Resize it, move it, Load up
something else and it's still running. (Are you seeing this Jack Tramiel?
Please put aside your differences with DRI and give us GEM/XM)
And then what did I discover but Laptops. To me a laptop had always
been a Radio Shack 102 laptop with slightly more power than my calculator.
Toshiba now has the T1000 with 512K, a CGA Monochrome screen, and IBM XT
compatibility. Need more? The T5200 runs on an Intel 80386 32bit CPU.
(That's 32 folks, not 16 like the ST) It runs at a scorching 16 MHz and
has EGA Monochrome graphics, 3 megs of RAM, a 40 meg hard drive and a 3.5" floppy.
WOW!
IBM's are now elegant pieces of machinery. I never thought I'd hear
myself say that, but it's true.
I actually priced AT clones. I actually wrote an article for ST Report
saying that the ST was far too outclassed in the power user area and would
never be accepted as a standard unless major changes were made. I actually
even considered selling my ST for a 386 AT. (I was delerious, broke, and
lusting after 20MHz and VGA) I was ready to upload my article to Ralph's BBS
but it was busy.
Aha, then it happened. I logged on to a local BBS and started reading
messages. PC Ditto II?? What's that? A board for the ST that will let me run
XT software at 10Mhz?? Nah, couldn't be.
But it's true. Bill Teal of Avant-Garde has created an electronic
masterpiece. As I read about it I began to reconsider my goals. The only
programs that I need to run on an IBM would be personal programs like
WordPerfect 5.0 (Hey guys, how about an ST Version??). Do I need eight megs of
RAM? Do I need to run at 33Mhz? Does anyone really need 1024x768 resolution
with god knows how many colors? Well, No, ..Not really. It's nice though!
But then came the biggest question of all. The ST might be able to run
the IBM version of WordPerfect 5.0, but, can an IBM run the ST version of
Dungeon Master?? Aha!! A loophole! The ST does have a niche in this wild and
crazy world of computers. If you own an ST, you can run IBM and Mac software
at full speed (or better). What is there that this beast can't do? Need faster
CPU Speed? John Russell is as much a saviour as Bill Teal. John's company,
JRI, makes a 16MHz accelerator board for the ST. Need better graphics? Call
on John again for his graphics board for 320x200 with 64 colors out of 4096.
Need more than 4 megs of RAM? Well, um... Nobody's Perfect.
I'm now thoroughly satisfied with my ST. I'm going to buy PC-Ditto II.
I'm going to wait and see, while saving up, if CEKA's Mac Emulator materializes
and what it is like before I decide between it and Spectre GCR. But,
eventually I'm going to have an ST that absolutely Kills the IBM. How many
PC's can run the software for THREE computers??
*** ST's Forever - Plain Vanilla PC's never. ***
--------------------------------------------------------------------------
> STReport InfoFile¿
=================
ABCO COMPUTER ELECTRONICS INC.
P.O. Box 6672
Jacksonville, Florida 32236-6672
Est. 1985
_________________________________________
Voice: 904-783-3319 10 AM - 4 PM EDT
BBS: 904-786-4176 12-24-96 HST
FAX: 904-783-3319 12 PM - 6 AM EDT
_________________________________________
HARD DISK SYSTEMS TO FIT EVERY BUDGET
-------------------------------------
All systems are complete and ready to use, included at NO EXTRA COST
are clock/calendar and cooling blower(s).
ALL ABCO HARD DISK SYSTEMS ARE FULLY EXPANDABLE
(you are NOT limited to two drives ONLY!)
(all cables and connectors installed)
SEAGATE HARD DISK MECHANISMS
ICD HOST ADAPTERS USED
EXCLUSIVELY
* OMTI HIGH SPEED CONTROLLERS *
42mb #SG44710 549.00 - (1) mech 65mb #SG60101 719.00 - (1) mech
85mb #SG840110 949.00 - (2) mech 132mb #SG3A1210 1049.00 - (2) mech
*** 260mb #SGT41776 1889.00 - (4) mech ***
NO Embedded controller ("N") drives used! - NO ROM HEADACHES
------------------------------------------------------------
ALL Units: Average Access Time: 26ms - 30ms
ALL UNITS COMPATIBLE WITH --> MAGIC SAC - PC-DITTO/II - SPECTRE/GCR
LARGER units are available - (special order only)
--------------------------
*** Available for ST - Amiga - Mac - IBM ***
LOWBOY - STANDARD - DUAL BLOWER CABINETS
FAST Cabinets - Custom Walnut WOODEN Cabinets
6 month FULL Guarantee
followed by
6 month Parts & Labor Warranty
(A FULL YEAR of COVERAGE)
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-------------------------------------
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ORDER YOURS TODAY!
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--------------------------------------------------------------------------
> A "QUOTABLE QUOTE"¿
==================
"The two most common elements in the UNIVERSE, known to man, are
HYDROGEN and STUPIDITY!"
-Harlan Ellison
-------------------------------------------------------------------------
ST-REPORT Issue #89 "Your Independent News Source" May 26, 1989
ALL RIGHTS RESERVED copyright 1989
-------------------------------------------------------------------------
Views, Opinions and Articles Presented herein are not necessarily those
of ST Report or CPU Report. Reprint permission is granted, unless noted
otherwise. All reprints must include ST Report or CPU Report and the
author's name. All information presented herein is believed correct, ST
Report or CPU Report, it's editors and staff are not responsible for
any use or misuse of information contained in this publication.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------
