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Silicon Times Report Issue 0094
*---== ST REPORT ONLINE MAGAZINE ==---*
"""""""""""""""""""""""""
"The Original Online ST Magazine"
_______________________________
June 30, 1989 Vol III No.94
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ST Report Online Magazine
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R.F. Mariano
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> STReport Issue: #94 The Online Magazine of Choice!
-------------------
- The Editors' Podium - CPU REPORT
- The Hand Held Wonder Toy!! - OLD GLORY!
- Whetmore joins Bushnell!! - CAPCOM SUPPORTS ATARI!
- CALAMUS ~ In Depth Review! - ST REPORT CONFIDENTIAL
- CIS ACQUIRES THE SOURCE!! - SMALL RESCUES STACEY!
---=== World of Atari Dearborn Commentary & Analysis ===---
=======================================================================
AVAILABLE ON: COMP-U-SERVE ~ DELPHI ~ GENIE ~ THE SOURCE ~ BIX
=======================================================================
> The Editor's Podium¿
We have in this issue, among other things, our coverage of the WOA
show from Dearborn Michigan. All three of our correspondents agreed that
the show had good attendance on Saturday, Sunday was another story, it
seems WOA was scheduled up against one of THE major annual events in the
great state of Michigan, "THE MICHIGAN 400 AUTO RACE".
Recently, we received a copy of The Shareware Connection, Issue # 1,
this is, in our humble opinion, a needed service in the ST Userbase. The
newsletter is well written and shows a great deal of promise for the
future. We highly recommend this newsletter to anybody interested in
knowing the latest info about Public Domain and Shareware software. Those
interested can contact these folks at PO Box 2224 Arvada, Colorado 80001.
Atari is definitely a company on the move, in the coming months we
will witness even more change in the structure of this growing company.
Naturally, as with all growing concerns, there are the ever present,
"growing pains". In whatever form they appear, they must be considered
for only what they are and no more, simply put, don't try to read anything
into what you are hearing or seeing, we have found that even though
whatever event is presented as the 'whole' story, there is usually a very
strong undercurrent which eventually ebbs and the real story always comes
forward. We, the users, must encourage Atari to push ahead and strive to
dominate the home computer market. We can and must do this together.
At STReport, our commitment of non-partial reporting of the news in
the Atari userbase is our bond. As far as sugar coated diatribe, the
chances of this occurring in this userbase are slim to none! There are
simply too many folks with more than a casual interest in Atari and it's
activities. That sort of press (propaganda) would not survive the time it
took to download it. As far as this magazine is concerned, we will, as
always, call it like we see it. In reality, our paramount responsibility
is to our readers, by presenting reliable information, contemporary
features and up to date news. In doing so, the total commitment is met.
Thanks for your support!
Ralph.....
"ATARI IS BACK!"
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> CPU REPORT¿
==========
Issue # 27
by Michael Arthur
Remember When....
In June 1979, Seymour Rubenstein, founder of MicroPro International,
introduced the WordStar word processor for CP/M, and in April 1983, when
WordStar 3.3 became the first version of WordStar for the IBM PC?
CPU INSIGHTS¿
=============
OS/2, DESQview, and the Future of the IBM PC
--------------------------------------------
When Microsoft introduced MS-DOS in 1981, one of its greatest
virtues was its support for an incredible (at that time) 640K of memory,
which was more than enough for any reasonable task. At that time, though,
Digital Research was offering M/PM, a multitasking version of C/PM, and
although it did not catch on, it caused many PC owners to desire that DOS
multitasked. And while rumors of a multitasking DOS persisted (often when
IBM/Microsoft was about to announce a new version of MS-DOS), nothing
became of them.
In 1984, these rumors surfaced yet again, when IBM was introducing
the IBM PC AT. By this time, as DOS programs had gotten larger and more
powerful, 640K of RAM was no longer the large amount of memory it used to
be, and PC users began to want support for more memory. This time, IBM
fueled the rumors by saying it was developing a new DOS that would fully
use the AT's abilities, foremost among which was the new 80286 chip.
At that time, QuarterDeck had come out with a program switcher called
Desq, and Digital Research was making Concurrent DOS, a program that could
multitask DOS programs. Although both programs used a windowing scheme,
as Concurrent DOS lacked essential features, and Desq didn't truly
multitask, they didn't become predominant.
But as time passed on, the "multitasking DOS" rumors were not
forfilled. Then, in 1986, Intel developed the 80386 chip, which featured
both an MMU chip and a virtual 8086 mode that allowed 8086 programs to
multitask. Seeing that the hardware was in place, many began to demand
that IBM provide the software to allow PC's to multitask.
Thus it was cause for celebration when IBM announced OS/2 along with
the PS/2 and MicroChannel in April 2, 1987. Just as promised, it used the
80286 chip's capabilities, supported up to 16 Megabytes of RAM, and most
importantly, multitasked. And although it didn't multitask DOS programs,
it did have a compatibility box to run them. But after the fanfare, some
flaws about OS/2 began to emerge that spoiled the good news.
OS/2: Trouble in Paradise
Now I am not talking about bugs, or inadequate features. I mean
mistakes made in the choice of its features themselves, more commonly
known as design flaws. And although OS/2 is a very powerful operating
system, with a task-switching algorithm/priority scheme that is more
sophisticated than Unix's, a vast array of facilities for InterProcess
Communications (or IPC's, which allow tasks, or processes, to communicate
with each other), and is, like the MicroChannel, based on previous
minicomputer technology, the fatal reality may be that OS/2's foundation
itself is not as sound as its many capabilities.
Foremost among these design flaws was the decision to support the
80286 chip, instead of the superior 80386 chip. The most obvious reason
is that the Virtual 8086 mode would allow a 386-specific OS/2 to multitask
both OS/2 and DOS programs at the same time. And as you may know, the
current situation (with the DOS Compatibility Box stopping all OS/2
programs while it runs only one DOS program at a time) has not been seen
as favorable. One of the other reasons deals with programming for OS/2.
The 80286 chip normally can only address 16-bit data segments that
are 64K in size. This is often a hindrance to programmers, especially
when writing large applications. In comparison, the 80386 chip supports
32-bit data segments that can be 4 Gigabytes in size. Also, one of the
main allures of OS/2 was the potential to port minicomputer applications
over to it so they could be run with microcomputers, and those programs
definitely use data segments larger than 64K....
Another problem with OS/2 is that it is far too large. OS/2 with
the Presentation Manager requires 2.5 Megs of RAM just for itself, and
since OS/2 programs are likely to be larger and more powerful, an OS/2
system would probably require around 7 Megs of RAM for optimal
performance. One corollary to this problem is that as OS/2 itself is
large, it is also very slow. Disk access is 50 percent slower in OS/2
than with DOS, and it is apparent that an OS/2 version of a program will
tend to be slower than a DOS version of the same program. It seems that
either OS/2's algorithms are not that optimized, or that OS/2 itself is
simply so large that it slows down the machine. And given the fact that
versions of Unix for the 80386 don't slow the CPU down as much as OS/2,
maybe it's just that the 80286 isn't capable of providing efficient
multitasking....
Around the time that people were discovering the flaws in OS/2,
Microsoft Windows was introduced. Immediately IBM Users began wondering
when OS/2 would employ Windows, and IBM promised that a windowing OS/2
(now known as the Presentation Manager) would be available soon. But
while many IBM Users waited for the Presentation Manager, a few were
seeking other ways to obtain a windowing multitasking operating system
which would correct the handicaps found in OS/2.
OS/2 and DESQview
While IBM/Microsoft were developing OS/2, and the IBM industry
waited for a multitasking system, a company called Quarterdeck Office
Systems continued to improve and modify Desq, their old program switcher,
to remedy its deficiencies. When the 80386 chip was made, and IBM did not
modify OS/2 so it would support it (and as actual programming on OS/2 did
not start until Early 1985, while the 80386 was announced in Early 1986,
IBM could have done this), Quarterdeck began to dream of a new Desq, which
would not only multitask DOS programs but become almost an operating
system unto itself. Ironically, this product became available just a few
months before IBM had started shipping OS/2 1.0.
The product that emerged, renamed DESQview, was now capable of much
more than its predecessor. Not only did it utilize the 80386's virtual
mode to support multitasking, but the wizards at Quarterdeck were even
able to get it to perform DOS multitasking with the 80286, 8086, and 8088
chips, something which was considered completely impossible. And in
addition to this, DESQview only has about 1% of overhead, meaning that it
will run DOS programs about as fast as DOS itself, as well as being able
to multitask them. Microsoft Windows, on the other hand, takes up over 10
percent overhead for its environment.
DESQview also has support for the Lotus/Intel/Microsoft Expanded
Memory Specification, or LIM EMS 4.0, so that it can handle up to 32 Megs
of RAM. And when used with a 80386, DESQview uses the 386's MMU (memory
management unit) to provide memory protection, so an "ill-behaved" program
doesn't crash or interfere with the system.
And seeing that any operating environment, even a DOS multitasker,
needs to have third-party support, Quarterdeck designed the DESQview API
(Application Program Interface) Toolkit, which allows programmers to
directly use DESQview's multitasking capabilities, as well as other things
found in a true operating system. The API lets applications use its IPC
facilities to exchange data between its own tasks and other DESQview-based
programs Also, since DESQview is a text-based windowing system, the API
lets programmers access its menuing and windowing routines to design
Macintosh-like features into DESQview-specific programs. Also, DESQview
supports PharLap's DOS Extender, which allows 386-specific DOS programs to
take full advantage of the 32-bit data segments of the 80386, be larger
than 640K, and multitask along with normal DOS programs. OS/2, in
comparison, does not yet support the features of the 80386....
But even though Desqview has so much going for it, there are a few
factors that give OS/2 a great advantage as an operating system in the
long run. One is that even though DESQview multitasks current DOS
programs, has guidelines to help make future DOS programs more powerful,
and will quickly support new technologies, it is working within an aging
standard, while OS/2 gives a newer, more sophisticated standard that was
built from the ground up for technologies such as multitasking.
A good example of this is OS/2's LAN Manager. Because Local Area
Networks (or LANs) are becoming very popular, and OS/2 is a single-user
operating system, IBM and Microsoft designed a LAN Manager for OS/2 which
would handle every aspect of LAN Management, from the sharing of resources
and data, to ensuring the LAN's smooth operation. Many LAN Makers are
producing handlers to let their networks be controlled by the LAN Manager,
and although DESQview will soon support some of the more popular LANs,
OS/2's LAN Manager provides the type of comprehensive organization of a
Network that only an operating system can perform. Also, DESQview's API,
while allowing DOS programs to have some features of OS/2, cannot provide
the same type of functionality that OS/2 is capable of, simply because
OS/2 was designed from the beginning to support the sophisticated features
that future programs will need....
Another advantage of OS/2 lies in SAA, a new strategy that IBM has
implemented around OS/2 Extended Edition, a version of OS/2 with Database
Manager, an integrated SQL Database system that is compatible with IBM's
DB2, a mainframe database standard, and Communications Manager, which has
utilities to allow communications between separate IBM computers and
terminals. Systems Application Architecture, or SAA, is a common set of
guidelines that will allow users to learn and use applications on any IBM
system, from IBM Mainframes to the PS/2, more quickly, and for programmers
to port applications running on one IBM computer to another IBM system
more easily.
SAA consists of three components: CUA (Common User Access), which
defines Presentation Manager as the standard graphical user interface for
IBM applications, CPI (Common Programming Interface), which is a standard
set of operating system calls allowing IBM applications to be ported among
OS/2, OS/400, MVS, and VM, the Operating Systems used in IBM's PS/2,
workstation, and mainframe systems. CCS (Common Communications Support)
standardizes the various terminal emulations and protocols used for LAN,
modem/terminal communications in IBM systems. This unified approach to
computing could allow IBM Mainframe Users to integrate AT Clones and PS/2s
into their businesses, and would make the power of mainframe applications
available to OS/2 Users. However, since OS/2 Extended Edition will be the
VERY first application to support IBM's SAA, the success of SAA depends
solely on OS/2. And since the success of OS/2 is greatly dependent on the
success of SAA, a "chicken and egg" dilemma is established....
Also, most major DOS companies are making OS/2 products NOW, meaning
that it will shortly have a vast software base. In comparison, while
major software companies are considering using DESQview's API for their
products, DESQview-specific software probably won't be seen until after
OS/2 software is readily available. Of course, since DESQview can already
multitask DOS software, this might not be that important. But combine all
this with the fact that both IBM and Microsoft are putting their united
support behind it, and OS/2 has a good chance of being an emerging
standard. But ONLY if one of its most grevious handicaps is corrected
immediately....
Most of the potential of OS/2 as a replacement for DOS will go
unrealized if programmers cannot use new technologies with it, and if
users cannot use it with new systems. IBM and Microsoft have announced
that they are finally developing a 386-specific version of OS/2 that will
take advantage of its capabilities. These included 32-bit data segments,
being able to multitask both OS/2 and DOS programs, and using the 80386's
special features for faster, more secure multitasking. However, this
version of OS/2, which should have been made in the first place, will not
be available until Late 1990. And it is reported that Intel is preparing
to shortly announce the new 80486 chip, which will replace the 80386 as
the state of the art. And assuming that IBM/Microsoft won't do an
80486-specific version of OS/2 until 1991, when Intel will probably be
announcing an 80586 chip, it is more than likely that OS/2 will never
truly be at the forefront of computer technology, as IBM tries to make it
catch up with the status quo of the high end of the market. And as other
products (such as DESQview or Unix) will definitely take advantage of new
technologies at a quicker pace, OS/2 could be overtaken by a system like
Unix. Unless, of course, Big Blue wishes otherwise....
With OS/2, IBM presented the final segment of its plans for the
microcomputer of the Nineties. The other two segments, the PS/2 and
MicroChannel, have also faced stern criticism and strong competition,
partly because of the industry's tendency to be cautious of new
technologies. But there are other startling similarities between the
MicroChannel's situation and OS/2's. In both cases, IBM offered a powerful
new standard which was vastly different from anything in its field, which
garnered a great deal of controversy in the IBM world. With the
MicroChannel, though, the criticisms were not centered on any inadequacies
or faults it had, but on whether the PC world can afford to completely
switch to a new standard. OS/2, though, has several deficiencies that
hamper its usefulness. And even though it is supposed to be the operating
system of the future, its inability to support state of the art products
such as the 80386 limits its being feasible in high-end systems, where it
would be most useful.
Also, DESQview has many attractive aspects which OS/2 does not
currently have, making it a powerful alternative. But even though DOS as
an operating system will be around for a very long time, the fact is that
for high-end users, DOS has already become obsolete. So at least in the
high end of the market, a sophisticated operating system such as OS/2 will
be needed. And even though Unix is a viable option, the dissention within
its own ranks could cause OS/2 to win by default. So is the real issue
whether IBM missed the fundamentals with OS/2, forgetting the basic
tendencies and preferences of its userbase in striving to make a superior
product, or if IBM's timing in introducing OS/2 was faulty?
CPU REPORT CONFIDENTIAL¿
=======================
Sausalito, CA AutoDesk Inc. has introduced AutoCAD Release 10 for IBM
------------- 80386-based IBMs running under DOS. This version of
AutoCAD speeds up 3-D rendering/drawing operations by
20 percent, and uses PharLap's 386/DOS Extender to
break DOS's 640K limit....
AutoCAD for the 80386 chip will be shipping at around
Winter Comdex, for $3000.00, the standard price for ANY
version of AutoCAD. However, existing AutoCAD users
will be able to upgrade for $100.00.
Beaverton, OR NCube has introduced the NCube 2 Scalar Supercomputer,
------------- a parallel processing architecture which uses from 32
to 8192 processors to execute up to 60 billion
instructions per second, and 27 billion floating point
operations per Second, or nine times the speed of a
Cray Y-MP. Cost: From $500,000 to $30 million....
However, while it does run Unix, the only software
package currently being made for the NCube 2 is a
Parallel Server Architecture version of Oracle Inc.'s
SQL Database System. But then, with 170 customers
already waiting for delivery, the NCube 2 is certain
to revolutionize the industry....
San Francisco, CA Nintendo has obtained a preliminary injunction which
----------------- prohibits Atari Games, or its subsidiary Tengen from
selling the Tetris video game in the U.S.
Nintendo is suing Tengen, a subsidiary of Atari Games,
over the exclusive U.S. distribution rights to Tetris,
and since Tengen was selling a version of Tetris for
the Nintendo Entertainment System....
Tokyo, Japan In a recent agreement, Canon has decided to invest
------------ $100 Million dollars in NeXT Inc. In return, Canon
will receive 16.67 percent of NeXT's stock, and
exclusive Far East distribution rights for the NeXT
Computer. However, to prevent any potential takeover,
Canon cannot obtain more than 20 percent of NeXT Inc.
in the next 10 years....
This may be a golden opportunity for both NeXT Inc.,
who now has an excellent Asian sales network for the
NeXT System, and Canon, who has a valid entry in the
burgeoning Japanese workstation market....
_______________________________________________________________________
> "OLD GLORY" STR Feature¿
-----------------------
"WHAT IS GOING ON HERE?"
========================
by Ralph F. Mariano
Theme: This is 1989, ..some things we must hold dear to our hearts!
You're a Grand Old Flag, you're a High Flying Flag......
The "Supreme Court" has decreed that you are a just a rag! Ok to be
burned, soiled and done with as any demented misfit cares to do with you!
Flash Back!
----------
Iwo Jima, Second World War, A group of American Soldiers who have
fought through the blood soaked volcanic ash of this pacific atoll begin
to raise the Flag atop Mount Surabachi, ...
Afterthought...
--------------
We, the people, would love to see this "Supreme Court" tell THOSE
soldiers that some puke can BURN the Flag of the United States of America!
Flash Back!
-----------
An overview of the French population when the American Expeditionary
Force arrived and pledged to help win the First World War in the names of
freedom, justice and liberty for all. The sight; "the French people with
tears in their eyes saluting the American Flag" and treating the doughboys
as if they were their own sons!
Afterthought...
---------------
How it easy it becomes to understand "the how and why" when the people
of nations, whom we have fought and died for, show disrespect.
Especially, when they observe our "Highest Court" in the land permits
punks to desecrate the flag of our country. How then, can we ever expect
those folks in other nations to respect our flag or our citizens for that
matter?
A little history...
-------------------
The original circle of stars in "Old Glory" signifies the first
colonies to become the founding states.....but how many people actually
know what the colors of the flag signify?
Red ..is for the blood spilled in defense of our country!
White ..is for the purity of heart and thought!
Blue ..is for the undying loyalty of all Americans pledged to the flag!
Why all the fuss?
-----------------
There comes a time in every man's heart when he murmurs to himself,
"I stood all I can stand and I can't stand NO MORE!"
Folks, what is happening to our country? It seems to be the right
time to jump squarely in the face of every elected official from the local
dog catcher right up to and including the oldest Senator and let them know
that what is happening here in the USA, in 1989, is not correct,
respectful or at least, decent. Whatever became of stability, continuity
and just plain common sense??? Common sense is really just...
"Doing the Right Thing."
"Burning the Flag of the United States of America is the SUPREME INSULT
thrust upon each and every one of us. And especially upon those who have
fought and died for our beloved country!"
This recent decision of the Supreme Court scares the pants off me, if
this type of thought process is what "we the people" want ...then somebody
had better show me where I am .."cause there is not a single soul here in
this part of the country who agrees with them saying, it's ok to burn the
flag!"
:REFLECTIONS:
=============
The VietNam War Memorial, all those names, I'd love to see the Supreme
Court tell those citizens or their families ..it's ok to burn the Flag!
The Arizona Memorial, still a small but very evident oil slick comes
forth as a reminder to today's generations that the memorial is actually
the battleship itself. Wonder which of the justices on the Supreme Court
would volunteer to explain the how and why it's ok to burn the flag to
these citizens and their families???
Two very dramatic and harsh examples of just how insulted and outraged
the "SILENT MAJORITY" of the US population really is. The boneheads in DC
had better wake up and realize that the average US citizen is not a dolt
being led by a public relations expert's leash! The wave of indignation
is in it's beginning stages, and as it's magnitude increases, it becomes
very believable that if the course of current events and the attitude of
our present "leaders" doesn't change, the next National Election will
reflect a record setting change in government.
"IT'S TIME THEY STOPPED CUTTING EACH OTHER'S THROATS AND
PAYED ATTENTION TO THE PEOPLE!!"
Today's government must improve:
a) It's attitude toward the common man.
b) It's LACK of response to the 'little guy'.
c) An obvious lack of understanding the majority of it's citizens.
The Supreme Court is appointed by the Executive Branch, (The
President) and approved by a committee made up of elected representatives
of the people...understandably, it is difficult to remove a justice once
appointed, but perhaps a PRESIDENTIAL MANDATE for either a change in the
Supreme Court's decision to ok flag burning, or ...An AMENDMENT to the
Constitution to prohibit desecration of the FLAG of the United States of
America in ANY manner whatsoever, would be in order!
(as long as it is NOT "debated to death" or
"footballed" in the "hallowed halls" forever.)
The wheels of government however slow, must be kicked into high gear
at this time to make sure that this "Lame Duck Supreme Court" hasn't sent
a message to the enemies of Democracy and the USA, that the FLAG and it's
bearers are fair game!
HELP SAVE THE FLAG!
note: Feel free to send this essay to your congressman, senator, or
whomever...it may be duplicated at will. Please, help get this
outrageous ruling reversed!
PLEASE, DON'T BURN THE FLAG....
I love this country, and what it stands for, I have seen what is
happening in other areas of the world first hand and believe me, we have
the GREATEST NATION the World and history has EVER known!
Ralph F. Mariano
_______________________________________________________________________
> WOA Dearborn STR Feature¿ An overview of the World of Atari Show
------------------------
World of Atari Dearborn Michigan
================================
Viewpoint #1 June 24 and 25, 1989
by Randall A. Kindig
When the name Atari is mentioned in the same sentence with computers,
most people (at least those in the U.S.) fail to see the connection.
However, to a small but loyal group of people, Atari is THEIR computer
company. For those people, those who wouldn't trade their Atari computer
for all the Big Blues or Apples in the world, Atari means EXCITEMENT.
This is the type of people who packed the World of Atari Show, held June
24-25 in Dearborn, Michigan, only 10 minutes from the Detroit airport. It
was a large show, in terms of square footage, held in a very large, very
plush, Hyatt Regency Hotel. However, unfortunately, the attendance was not
as large as the facilities that were provided. Officials of the show
stated that there were an estimated 2800 people over the 2 day period,
which is certainly much smaller than the previous World of Atari held in
the Disneyland Hotel, but would have to be considered a success
nonetheless. Saturday was definitely the best attended day, with certain
booths so packed it was almost impossible to walk through the aisles.
* The Format of the Show *
One very large conference area was packed with Atari retailers and
developers, including, of course, Atari Corp. itself. In addition, there
were seminars held at various intervals throughout the day in some
additional reserved conference rooms right near the exhibit area, with
most of them scheduled for Saturday. The entry fee was $5 for a single
day and $7 for the entire 2 days, which is more than reasonable. In fact,
if you stayed at the Hyatt, all it took was to show your room key to get
free entrance. A drawing was held on Sunday during which many pieces of
hardware and software were given away to a lucky few (not one of which did
this reviewer win!). The prizes included a couple of XF551 disk drives,
an SX212 modem, many pieces of software, and a color 520ST computer
system.
* The Exhibits *
The number of retailers and third party developers was very large, so
I may have missed one or two. But, the following should be a fairly
comprehensive list. Unfortunately, the map given out at the show was
inaccurate, apparently due to the fact that some vendors who were to show
up did not do so at the last minute. (more on that later):
CodeHead Software
=================
John Eidsvoog and the infamous Charles Johnson (I mean that in a
complimentary fashion Charles!) were there showing their entire line of ST
software. This includes G+Plus, Multidesk, Hotwire, MidiMax, and a new
set of programs called Codehead Utilities. This includes Multifile, which
is a multi-featured GEM-based file handling utility. Another program
allows one to rearrange the AUTO folder. Art Gallery 2.0 is a
multi-format graphics viewer/slideshow. It will handle DEGAS, TINY, NEO,
SPECTRUM 512, and ART DIRECTOR format pictures and will even work as a
desk accessory to load these formats into DEGAS Elite. There also is a
RAMdisk, print spooler, disk copy program and many, many others. This is
an excellent value at only $29.95! I was glad to see that their booth was
always very busy. This is one company ST users definitely should go out
of their way to support!
Reeve Software
==============
They were showing their GOS operating system (ST Junior) for the 8-bit
line. One can almost imagine he's using an ST when on this program.
CHAOS, 1ST Stop
===============
These 2 groups (CHAOS being a user group and 1ST Stop being a
retailer) were sharing an area and showing the new real-time video
digitizer, Vidi ST. This is an excellent digitizer from Scotland which
can capture frames from a VCR without needing to pause the picture and
many special effects capabilites are built into the software. I couldn't
resist purchasing one!
JRI
===
John Russell Innovations were showing their genlock for Megas at $650
suggested retail, the $99.55 JATO accelerator board, and the ST4096C
board. The accelerator board may not work on those ST's which have slow
RAM chips and has a switch to select between the enhanced 16 MHz operation
and original 8 MHz operation. The ST4096C retails for $49.95 and gives ST
and Mega computers a 4096 color palette rather than the standard 512 color
one. It requires no soldering, trace cutting, or jumpers and claims to be
compatible with all existing software. It requires purchasing an
additional Shifter chip from Atari.
Innovative Concepts
===================
They were showing 8-bit products primarily, but also had version 2.5
of the ST Xformer available, which allows running some 8-bit software on
the ST.
ICD
===
They were showing their entire line of 8-bit and ST hard drives. In
addition, they had their new tape backup system, which works at 6.5 MB per
minute, has a built-in clock, SCSI and DMA ports, and stores 155.7 MB on a
single cassette.
Datafree Industries
===================
They had European magazines (which are fun to look through, some great
products are available over there). Also, they were showing their
accelerator board (that's 4 boards now that I know of!), which has an
external on/off switch, does not use a RAM cache, and retails for $119.95.
They also had some RAM upgrades boards available
Migraph
=======
Migraph had a very large booth at the show. Their primary focus was
to show and sell their new hand scanner, which is bundled with Touch-Up.
The scanner has a 4 in. scanning window and has scanning resolutions of
100, 200, 300, and 400 dpi. Price $429 for the package. A new version of
Touch-up (1.5) was introduced to be bundled with the hand scanner.
Enhancements include hard drive caching so that it is now limited only by
hard drive space rather than memory, an on-screen 2x magnifier, a bolding
feature to make all or part of an image stand out, an on-screen locator in
lightning mode, and, best of all, no more PSK device (for copy
protection)! This new version should be available now and will be free to
current hand scanner/Touch-Up package owners. The hand scanner alone is
$314, $15 of which will be refunded when Migraph receives the PSK from the
previous version of Touch-Up. For those that only own Touch-Up, version
1.5 will cost $35, $15 of which will be refunded for the old PSK. Thank
you, Migraph, for getting rid of the PSK! There was a great deal of
interest at this booth.
Abacus
======
They were showing their entire line of ST reference books and had some
good deals on them. Abacus also had some of their software for sale, such
as Datatrieve and Assempro. Also, they were offering BeckerCad for an
introductory price of $95 (retails for $395) until July 15.
InterSect Software
==================
Another great Atari-only software company, Intersect was showing their
newest version of Interlink, and talking about the upcoming Masterlink
telecommunications program. They also were showing Revolver.
Softrek
=======
Wayne Buckholdt was showing the latest version (1.57) of Turbo ST, the
speedup program. This version makes window redraws faster, has a
Wordperfect and Word Writer speedup, is compatible with more software (in
fact, they claim 100% compatibility), can use the Blitter chip on those
machines which have one, and is 52K in size. Version 1.6 is almost ready
and will be split into color and mono versions to reduce the program size.
He was also upgrading all previous versions for registered owners at no
charge during the show, with $5 being the normal fee. I think Wayne was
feeling some heat from the new Quick ST created by Darek Mihocka (of ST
Xformer fame) which is available for a $20 shareware fee and which has
most of the same features as Turbo ST.
Imagen - They were showing the new postscript emulator, Ultrascript.
Michtron/Microdeal
==================
This was another large booth. They had a lot of software for sale, as
well as a laser disk player/Journey to the Lair combo which could be
hooked to the ST for $950. They were also selling the new Fleet Street
Publisher II Deluxe bundled with Ultrascript for $169 and Tempus II, the
ultra high speed text editor.
ST World
========
Of course, since Richard Tsukiji was organizer and promoter of the
show, ST World had a large booth and was selling subscriptions to their
magazine.
GENIE - GENIE was showing their online system and signing folks onboard
GEnie ...Darlah and the whole gang where there!
Atari Corp.
==========
Atari had 2 very large booths in the middle of the exhibit hall, one
dedicated to ST's and the other for 8-bits. They were again showing the
STACY, the Portfolio, and Megafile 44. The Megafile 44 provides 44 MB of
storage capacity and uses a removable cartridge. It has a fast 25 ms
access time in an 8 in. by 5 in. by 1.6 in. cartridge. They are claiming
that this gives ST users "unlimited hard disk storage and data back-up
capabilities." The price is "less than $1200", with cartridges running
about $150. No word on when it would be available. They were also
giving out an International ST Software Catalog, which was marked on the
front as normally costing $12.95, but was found to be published in 1987.
The PC4, an 80286-based PC-compatible, was not shown. They were also not
showing the newly-announced Color Portable Video Game System. This is a
direct shot at Nintendo and has a 4096-color palette, allows connecting up
to 8 systems together for multi-player games, built-in 3.5 inch LCD color
monitor, 16 MHz clock, is capable of using up to 16 MB cards, uses 6 AA
batteries, weighs 1 pound, is about the size of a videocassette, and will
retail for $150.
Gribnif
=======
A new version of Neodesk, numbered 2.04, was released just for the
show, according to Gribnif. It was on sale for the show price of $35.
This version contains Moniterm support, is smaller (about 20.8K), and has
support for the public domain BigScreen program.
Sierra On-Line
==============
Showing several of the games in their ST line, ie; King's Quest IV,
Space Quest IV.
Accustar
========
Another game company, and announcing that a new game called Winger
would be available soon.
Alpha Systems
=============
They were showing Digisound, Switchback, Polydisk, and other ST and
8-bit software and hardware. Digisound is a program to turn your ST into
an inexpensive drum type sequencer for $29.95. Swithback allows switching
between 2 programs in memory at once, a la Revolver.
BEST Electronics
================
They had many 8-bit and ST items, such as cartridges, modems, spring
key stiffeners and more for sale.
FAST Technologies
=================
Jim Allen was showing his Turbo16 accelerator board, which now will
come in a single version and retails for $299. Jim claims that this is
the best and most compatible accelerator on the market, stating that it
has been tested even with Spectre 128. It uses a 32K static RAM cache so
as to speed up all aspects of running a program. It uses CMOS components
and is built such that it should be able to be used with the new PC Ditto
II because it does not cover the 16 MHz 68000 chip. It will come with a
desk accessory to allow shutting it off (for games). As with all
accelerators, it does require soldering work, because the original 68000
chip is soldered to the motherboard in the ST. It has to be desoldered
and a socket and board is installed in its place. it should be available
July 1. Jim was also talking about some future products his company is
working on, such as a Blitter adapter so all machines can use the Blitter
chip, a 68030/68882 accelerator board which require the Turbo16 as a base,
a $250 genlock for all ST's, a 640 X 480 color graphics board for Megas,
and an inexpensive upgrade to change any ST's monochrome resolution to 800
by 560. Call (508) 475-3810 to order or get info on any of the above
products.
Gadgets by Small
================
The whole Small family, even the 'small' Smalls, were at the show,
taking orders for the Spectre GCR, which will allow reading and writing
Mac disks directly in the ST drive with no interface. It is scheduled for
release by August 1 and will retail for $299. Dave stated that he is
working some very minor bugs out of the software while the hardware is
being produced. $50 will hold one for pre-orders and Gadgets by Small
will give owners of Spectre 128 a $100 rebate towards Spectre GCR. In the
meantime, there was much talk about the first portable Mac, a STACEY with
a Spectre GCR cartridge.
Seymor Radix
============
They were showing and selling the new interface, DVT VCR, which allows
using a standard VCR as a 360 MB tape backup system for hard drives. It
retails for $249.95, works at 8 megabits per minute, and fits in the
cartridge slot. They were also selling IMG Scan, the scanner which
attaches to the print head of your printer.
Some other vendors were at the show, the busiest of which were Rite
Way Computers of Warren, Michigan and Cal Com of Silverspring, MD.
They had many great deals available and undoubtably were pleased with
their sales. Many local ST users groups were also present, such as CHAOS,
GAG (my favorite acronym at the show), GLASS, and MAGIC. They all had PD
disks available at low prices and had demos of various sorts at their
booths.
Exhibitors Who Didn't Show
Several exhibitors were advertised in the pre-show fliers that did not
show up. Most notable was Avant-Garde, of PC Ditto fame. Many attendees
were disappointed that they couldn't get a look at the soon to be released
PC Ditto II. Show officials stated that Avant-Garde was busy trying to
get PC Ditto II into production and decided they would rather miss the
show than not get it out on time. Also missing was Astra, which we later
found out went out of business, Supra Corp. and Antic Publishing, all very
important in the ST arena. No reasons were given for these no-shows.
Seminars at the Show
The seminars which were given at the show were as follows:
Future of Atari - Given by Sig Hartmann and very well attended. It
will be reported on in a later segment.
Spectre 128 GCR - Also very well attended. Dave Small is very
humorous and fun to listen to.
Graphics Operating System - Alan Reeve
Desktop Publishing - George Miller of Michtron
Computers and Kids - Dorothy Brumleve, highly informative!
National User Group Forum - No one showed up to host this one.
What Turbo 16 Will Do For You - Jim Allen of Fast Technologies
Programming in Hisoft BASIC - Again, George Miller of Michtron
Quick ST and ST Xformer - Darek Mihocka, well attended!
Show Specials
There were many special deals at the show, some of which you only
dream of. As the show got closer and closer to the end, it seemed that
some of the vendors were trying to clear their stock, with the show
attendees benefiting. Here are only a few of the many specials I saw:
Timeworks ST Publisher..................... - $55 - Cal Com
Vidi ST.................................... - $149.95 - 1ST Stop
SupraModem 2400............................ - $119.95 - Rite Way Computers
Set of all 10 Abacus ST Reference Books.... - $80 - Abacus
Interlink - $20 - upgrade to Masterlink - $20 - Intersect Software
Turbo ST................................... - $35 - Softrek
10 DS/DD disks............................. - $8.90 - Rite Way Computers
and many, many others!
Sig Hartmann's Seminar on the Future of Atari
Atari Corp's Vice President Sig Hartmann gave a talk on the future of
their company to a standing-room-only crowd of enthusiastic fans. Those
who have heard Sig speak know that he seems like a down-to-earth,
tell-it-like-it-is spokesperson. The talk lasted over an hour and many
topics were covered.
We present some of the highlights:
----------------------------------
1) Sig stated that the ST now has 5000 titles worldwide. He
expressed regret that, unfortunately, few "big name"
companies have decided to develop for the ST. He has talked
to some of those companies, but has had little luck thus far.
He did emphasize that the current software line is excellent,
however.
2) Atari will try to attend more conferences like the recent
government technology show which was held in Sacramento. Sig
stated that Atari attending that show caused much interest to
appear in their products.
3) Atari is now a 1/2 billion dollar company, with 1800
employees worldwide.
4) He emphasized the U.S. push this year and stated that
Atari will try to build more product in the U.S. .
5) When asked about the rumored enhanced ST, with improved
resolution and color, Sig would not confirm or deny, pointing
out Atari's new policy of not announcing a product until it
is about ready to ship. In fact, he put his job on the line
and said that if Atari doesn't ship by the announced latest
date, he personally will resign.
6) When queried about recent and future advertising, he said
that 3 to 4 months ago their was some advertising fairly
localized in California, where Atari is based. He stated
that Atari did have a large ad budget and more will be done
in the areas where Atari products sell well. Sam Tramiel had
said that it takes 3 things to sell well: product, ads, and
distribution channels. Now that they have product, the other
2 items are being improved. He emphasized that all of this
will happen this year!
7) As for shipping dates: Portfolio, Laptop, and new
handheld game machine - September 1989. TT - guaranteed
before end of year.
8) Sig stated that they have shipped 500 CD ROM units to 3rd
party developers.
9) 100 Portfolios have been produced thus far.
10) On the subject of TOS 1.4, Sig said that it is released
to production for new machines. Current ST owners can now
get EPROMS from their dealers with the new TOS or the dealer
can order them from Atari. If you don't have a local dealer,
contact Sig by mail and he will get you a set. No price was
mentioned.
11) He stated that Chris Roberts, a long-time 8-bit and ST
user, is now the User Group Coordinator.
12) The ATW is currently available only in Europe. It was
released there first because it was felt that the U.S. could
not provide proper support. It is, however, awaiting FCC
approval and is expected in the U.S. by the end of the year.
13) The dealer base has expanded in the last 6 months and
Atari expects many more by the end of the year. No numbers
were given.
----===----
Viewpoint #2
by D. Mitchell
Due to the extreme heat on Saturday morning, my car overheated on the
way to Dearborn, thus and I was forced to drive slower to get there. I
arrived around midday, to find the show area pretty well packed with
people. I missed the Sig Hartmann talk, as well as the David Small
seminar, but I'm told he really packed them in.
The Atari booth was rather tame. Chris Roberts was there, as well as
Sig, and a few no names. The Crazy Glued portable (STACEY) was there. The
keyboard felt a bit different, but a bit spongy. Someone mentioned that
the keyboard actually clicked. I did not think so. Definitely not an AT
quality keyboard. The screen was a bit dim, and the contrast wasn't too
hot either. It did have two built in floppy drives, and with the screen
down, the whole unit is hardly any bigger than a 1040ST. I want it!
Codehead was about the only software booth that was packing them in.
They had their new product Codehead Utilities, which look pretty cool. The
Gribnif booth had Neodesk 2.04, and SofTrek was showing Turbo ST 1.57.
This new Turbo ST is damn fast!
START (Antic) didn't show. Megamax didn't show. Bill Teal didn't
show. There was a _lot_ of empty space .
Riteway computers had a huge booth where they were selling just about
anything. Cheap disks, cheap magazines, etc. BEST also had a large booth
with all kinds of gizmos and parts for Atari.
Two 16MHz boards were being shown. Jim Allen of Fast Technologies was
showing his board, now priced at $300. Using Quick Index 1.6, it scored
135% on the CPU memory test, and over 200% on the other CPU categories.
What this means to the average users is a 50%-60% speed increase on just
about _any_ ST program. I was able to verify this by benchmarking the ST
Xformer, and sure enough, it was 50%-60% faster (i.e. about 80% of full
speed). Turbo ST really flies with this board. The board is turned on by
an AUTO folder program, so no external switches are required, therefore,
NO FCC regulations are not violated. On the other hand, the Datafree
board, which does have a switch and sells for about $130 has absolutely no
effect on the Xformer and may speed up some programs by a mediocre
20%-30%.
GEnie has a booth set up with a modem to allow people to try out the
service. Atari sysops Darlah, Jeff Williams, Holly Stowe and Sandy Wilson
were there.
Migraph was demoing Touchup on the Moniterm monitor. Real neat stuff.
On Sunday, when the doors opened at 10am, no one showed up! By 11am,
maybe 20 or 30 people showed up, and many of those were repeaters from
Saturday. It picked up by around noon or 1pm, but thinned out soon after.
Some booths started packing up around 3pm!
The seminars on Sunday drew a thin crowd. The Xformer/Quick ST
seminar only drew about 40 people, who stuck around for the whole 90
minutes of the talk. Ignac and D. Mihocka took turns demoing the 7 Quick
Utilities and the latest 130XE emulator.
It was rather disappointing that the seminars weren't announced on the
PA. (or if they were, it couldn't be heard). A number of folks announced
their seminars themselves. Also, the whole room only had one entrance and
exit door. The booths close to the door had lots of business, while
booths stuck out way in the corner of the show area were idle. David
Small's booth and Jim Allen's booths were in that corner, and it appeared
that they should have had more traffic.
Richard Tsukiji was predicting 5000 people would attend the show. In
our humble opinion, we figured that no more than 1800 could have gone
though on Saturday, and 500 on Sunday would have been a miracle! (not
counting the repeaters) <grin>.
----===----
Viewpoint #3
World of Atari Show
Dearborn Michigan
by Terry Russell
For me, the day started at about 2am Saturday morning as I counted
down the minutes until I started the 237 mile trip to Dearborn Michigan
from Akron, Ohio.
Going into details on all the booths at the show would take forever
as there many of them and the activity around them was quite heavy.
Actually, it became very apparent that it would be impossible to see
everything in the hall and still have the time to attend the interesting
and informative seminars and believe me, the seminars was where we wanted
to be!
At the Abacus display we noticed a new item among their growing list
of products that support the Atari ST, a new Cad program, (Computer Aided
Design), BeckerCad, which is said to be a full featured system. While
not being overly knowledgeable about Cad programs, what was evident to the
untrained eye was indeed quite impressive. The President and CEO of
Abacus a very friendly and informative person, Arnie Lee talked with us
about Abacus, it's products and the Atari ST.
Mr Lee proceeded to describe, in depth, their (Abacus) support for the
ST market and of the new products currently available. Additionally, he
pointed out that existing books were sold out and that they were being
re-published and updated. He illustrated the fact that the US market was
still small and that they expanding as the market itself expanded.
About 11:00 am, we proceeded to attend the "Atari's Future" seminar
with Mr. Sig Hartmann, we found the room already full of fellow users and
Dealers waiting for the seminar to begin. As the seminar was brought to
order, Mr. Hartmann welcomed all of us. Listening to him speak and later
talking with him personally was the high point of the entire show. In
person, he is such a friendly, knowledgeable person, I can't remember ever
having met a person with so much charisma! During his talk he answered
questions in a straight forward and sometimes humorous manner that kept
everyone's attention. He requested we "hang tough" with Atari as it
rebuilds itself in the US Market place. He assured that the 8bit would be
supported along with the entire Atari product line. He stated that "Jack
wants to be one of the biggest in the USA home computer market!"
He also pointed out, "In order to do this you have got to have 3
things, One is good distribution, a powerful advertising budget set aside
and the third thing, he stated; "Is products, and this is all gonna happen
this year and next". He told us that Sam is really pushing and working
his behind off pushing everyone in the Atari organization. He said that
the funding was available, and that Jack and Sam planned on spending it.
He said that after last year, the strongest commitment was the
strengthening of the US market. When asked about the new Tos 1.4 Mr.
Hartmann told us that Atari plans on providing it thru their dealers and
distributors and that we should talk to our local dealers about providing
us with the upgrade.
Back to the main show where I talked with the President of a fellow
usergroup called Chaos. I got my socks knocked off as he demonstrated
Vidi ST. It appeared to me as he showed it to me that he was as excited
about it as I was and for good reason. Vidi ST is a cartridge that
captures a picture that uses a 16 shade palette not just from a camera but
also from VCR or TV or other composite devices in 1/50th of a second (No
waiting ), it's FAST! You don't need a still picture for this champ. It
is the very first real time frame grabber out for the Atari ST. It
captures pictures from the source you provide just as fast as you send
them to it. Then you can watch what you have stored in ram in playback
mode, or you can display 16 different frames on the screen, you may then
decide which you wish to save. As I watched I saw how easy he was able to
go forward and backward through the screens and the different modes that
were available.
Next stop, Migraph with the Viking monitor set up to make me feel even
more excited. They were demoing the Newest version of Touch-Up software
v1.5, which is a great program for the ST graphic and desk top publishing
enthusiasts such as myself. Actually, anyone would be impressed by it. On
display was their new hand scanner, the picture looked as good on the
screen as it did on the hardcopy. Considering the great package deal that
Migraph is offering for Touch up and the Scanner it is a must for anyone
who wants a full featured, easy to use, product.
I stopped next at ICD's booth, they were selling goodies as fast as
they put them up for sale! It seemed every where I looked someone was
walking with one of there fine products under arm. The tape back up
system was a real hot item. The 8bit lines seemed a little slow, but were
made up for by many ST sales.
I stopped by CodeHead and was impressed by the fine products they were
offering and it seemed that they had something for everybody!
A big disappointment to me was that Avant-Garde Systems did not make
the show. As an owner of PC Ditto, I am really looking forward to the new
PC Ditto II soon to be released.
I also wanted to get an eye on Atari's newest release in the game
market the Atari Color Portable Video Game System but it was not to be
found anywhere!!
Atari was selling the Megafile 44 a removable cartridge hard disk, it
stores 44 megabytes of data. It has a 4 inch removable cartridge. It's
access time is impressive with 25ms, and the size of the unit is only 8" x
5" x 1.6". The price will be less than 1200.00 and additional 44 megabyte
cartridges are available for about 150.00 each. It will make a nice
addition to any system. Also on display was Stacey, the lap top ST
computer that has 1 meg onboard, 3.5 floppy and hard drive. It has a mini
trackball that may be used instead of the mouse and packs a heck of a
punch with its storage capacity.
Next, Turbo 16 for the ST was being demo'ed ...The ST flew with the
upgrade installed. Watching, as the screens popped in and out so fast, I
thought it was an AT 386 running! There was nothing slow about that
rascal and when he used it with Turbo ST it was like it was in 4th gear.
Look out!..Michigan 400; Atari is on the way. Turbo 16 has a list price
of $349.99 and one version fits all machines.
The Spectre GCR running on the new Atari Stacey! How about that, an
Atari laptop running faster than the Mac SE and with a built in hard drive
for a fraction of the cost of what an Apple costs. Just another reason
why Atari is becoming so popular. The demonstration included loading a
real Macintosh disk in to the ST systems equipped with the GCR and it
booting up. With products like this and PC Ditto II available, it makes
one wonder why people pay MORE for LESS with other computers.
I went to the Alpha Systems Booth next and spoke with the President,
George Morrison about the fine products They had on display. By the end
of Saturday there was very little left to sell as the crowd present at
this booth literally bought everything but the tables! Several times as
he was demonstrating the hardware and software, people asked to buy the
demo units. CODEHEAD bought the last 2 Ultra disks which is a two meg
battery backed up Ram disk that plugs into the cartridge port on the ST.
The software provides many features such as printer spooler ect. as well
as hav
ing a clock option available too. It will allow you almost instant
access to that code you want to compile and is alot faster than even a
hard disk. Also available was their new product Jam Master which is a
full blown Midi Sequencer complete with full digitized keyboard sampling.
It has four voice polyphonic sound. And is fully Gem driven. Back Track
was also demo'ed and offered for sale, this is a software program that
allows the user to utilize the backside of his double sided disks
separately. It is nice when backing up original S/S software that
normally takes a whole disk. With this product you could take 2 Copy
protected original disks and back both of them to one double sided disk!
Beatbox ST Sound Digitizer and many products for the 8bit were present for
demonstration too.
Across from Alpha Systems was Best Electronics with anything you could
ever want for the ST. They had things available that most dealers tell
you are unavailable! I found several items that I personally had been
looking for like a rebuild kit for a mouse or an extra mouse cable. I
heard an add for the company was "If they don't make it you will find it
at Best" and from all the products I saw on display I believe it...
My next stop was at Gribnif for a look at the latest version of
Neodesk. Neodesk is a desktop alternative and is it a class act. Imagine
booting up your hard drive system and instead of wading thru folders to
boot your favorite utility, you find it on your desktop and after double
clicking on it Neodesk does the work of finding it and booting it for you.
The Icon Editor allows you to create Icons that are really great, and that
is something that I would enjoy. It has many features that really were
needed in the normal Gem desktop. The newest version makes it shine even
more by being able to take advantage of the new TOS 1.4 when it becomes
available.
One of the larger booths at the show belonged to Michtron/Microdeal.
They had an assortment of the fine products that they currently feature in
the MichTron Catalog. Fleet Street Publisher was looking real good. I
wanted to attend the seminar they had, but only caught the tail end of it.
They said that many more features are planned for Fleet Street's future
releases. At the booth, I spoke to Tim Purves about several of their
products including Michtron BBS 3.0 program. I run this on my bulletin
board so I can say with the experience that this is one powerful program!
The built in C like language makes it very easy to customize the BBS. The
MCL language supports many of the C commands and if you know a little C
it's a piece of cake to use. The BBS program comes ready to run, so you
can learn as you use it. It has it's own compiler and a well written
manual.
Sierra's booth was displaying their new software for the Atari ST
line. Many of the popular and colorful programs that are released for the
ST can take advantage of the new Stereo hardware. As I watched one of my
favorites Kings Quest IV being played utilizing their stereo system I was
very impressed with the fantastic sound.
SofTrek's newest version of Turbo ST is FAST. The software blitter as
it's called is fully compatible and what a speed increase you get with it!
I watched a demo on one of the 16mhz boards for the Atari ST and a stock
ST with Turbo ST ..well, the Turbo ST equipped stock ST actually beat the
one with the new accelerator in it and when ST Turbo was added to the
machine with the 16 mhz board the results were fantastic. Softrek was
offering free upgrades to their registered owners as a way of thanking
them for the support they have shown.
I stopped by the JRI, (John Russel Innovations) booth and saw two very
exciting new products. One was the ST4096C color enhancement system which
was selling for only 49.95! It gives the ST the ability to display 64
colors at one time from a selection of 4096 colors over the 512 it can
select from. The difference from 16 to 64 is quite vivid and the extra
availability of 4096 colors is fantastic. The other product is one that
has long been awaited in the Atari community, Genlock which allows
interfacing with professional video gear.
There were many things at the show I did not have the time to look
over, because I could only be present for one of the two days the show was
on. I would like to thank Ralph for giving me an opportunity to share my
experiences with you. If a World of Atari show opens near your hometown,
you really should plan to attend it, you will be glad you did! In the
meantime, enjoy using those great Atari Computers.
Editor Note:
------------
Where was everybody on Sunday??? The Michigan "400" ran on Sunday...
This was heard in a number of conversations concerning the weak attendance
of WOA on Sunday of this past weekend. According to CBS Sports, who
telecast this National annual racing event, this year's race was attended
by the largest crowd in the last twenty years. We made mention of this
fact, * the Michigan 400 Race being on the SAME day *, because we noticed
a number of comments pointing out that Atari was at fault for the poor
attendance performance at this show...
Let's be fair here, Atari is NOT at fault, no person or entity is.
Again, a set of circumstances, blunders and lack of a professional
approach at the planning stages gave cause to this unfortunate occurrence
(a) The show running so soon after the highly successful MACE Expo.
(b) Poor planning, in as much as the WOA show Co-Ordinators should
have been more flexible in it's date schedules.
(c) Those folks who find it easy to blame Atari forget that WOA,
although very nice and quite entertaining, is a totally for
profit business venture of ST World Magazine. Not Atari's
responsibility!
______________________________________________________________________
> An Inside View STR Feature¿ A candid View of W.O.A. Dearborn...
--------------------------
...From the Other Side of the Table
===================================
There was a sense of excitement getting ready for the Dearborn World
of Atari show. For the first time we were going to have 3 of us manning
the booth and thanks to our newest sysop, Jeff Williams, we incorporated a
raffle into the show. Will it be worth it?? That was on my mind from the
very earliest stage of preparation.
The show was a joint effort with Sandy Wilson and Jeff Williams
putting in more than their share. We were still excited when it came to
setting up. Although we wanted to set up the night before, that was not
possible. Due to the count of equipment being less than what Atari stated
it should be, Richard Tsukiji was hesitant at being the distributor of the
equipment. I don't blame him. I would not want to be responsible myself.
Off to the jacuzzi we went to chill out....relax or heatup, depending on
one's interpretation. We would have plenty of time to set up in the
morning.
The first day of the show was relatively busy. I must admit that I
did notice one thing about this show that was more acute at this show.
People were serious. They asked questions. The crowd seemed very
intelligent and informed as a whole. It led me to come to the conclusion
that the Michigan area seems to be in touch with what is happening with
the Atari community. It was nice to see.
The second day of the show was much quieter but people came back the
second day with questions they did not think of the 1st day. It gave us
the time to solve problems they may have and to help them in areas they
might of not been aware of.
The second day of the show I got the opportunity to mill around and
talk to the others. I heard more than once that the timing of the show
was the reason for the less than assumed turnout. I now find out that
their were other factors that contributed to this. Michtron mentioned
that they were very happy with sales. To them it was a success. It
seemed like sales were high all over. Fleet Street Publisher with
Ultrascript seemed to be very popular. Tempus II was a hot mover. Craig
S. Thom, from ICD (my 8 bit sysop) told us more than once that sales for
their hardware was high. He seemed to be VERY happy.
Milling around the crowd, with a sense of genuine care was Sig
Hartmann. He spent a great deal of time talking to a number of people at
the show as well as myself. We discussed the GEnie as well as his
concerns on Atari's voice in the community. His concerns on misinformation
was very obvious. I have every belief that his concern is one of the key
factors in prompting a good flow of accurate information.
I was disappointed at the lack of PA system announcing the
conferences. I must say though that they were attended well and people
still managed to find out the times etc. The conferences that were
planned were varied and quite informative. It was good to see such a
variety.
Although this is only a partial view of the show from my perspective,
it does lend you to answer that question I was pondering at the onset of
preparing for this event. Will it be worth it?? I think so. The term
quality comes to mind vs quantity. This show had it. The word caring
comes to mind. The dealers, software developers and retailers really gave
you the sense that they cared what the prospective buyer wanted. I
realize it goes with the territory but the feeling seemed to go further.
Thank you Atari for helping promote this show and others planned.
With genuinely caring about the Atari market and the consumers that may
enter this world and already exist, it eases my mind that Atari is taking
steps to become a presence in this arena.
When the next WOA show comes to your neighborhood, take the time to
check it out. You will be glad you did.
Darlah J Pine
(Chief GEnie Atari Sysop)
_______________________________________________________________________
> Atari Stock ~ STReport¿ The "tale of the tickertape"...
======================
THE TICKERTAPE
==============
by Glenn Gorman
Atari Stock went of 1/4 of a point on Monday, 1/4 on Tuesday, and 1/4
on Friday. Finishing up the week at 8 5/8 points. Up 3/4 points from last
Friday.
Glenn Gorman
+---------------------+
| ATARI STOCK WATCH |
| Week 06-19 to 06-23 |
+=======+==========+===========+=============+============+=============+
| | Monday | Tuesday | Wednesday | Thursday | Friday |
+-------+----------+-----------+-------------+------------+-------------+
| Sales | 1075 | 5361 | 1287 | 683 | 2537 |
+-------+----------+-----------+-------------+------------+-------------+
| Last | 8 1/8 | 8 3/8 | 8 3/8 | 8 3/8 | 8 5/8 |
+-------+----------+-----------+-------------+------------+-------------+
| Chg. | +1/4 | +1/4 | ---- | ---- | +1/4 |
+=======+==========+===========+=============+============+=============+
| From > THE CAVE ST BBS <> 609-882-9195 <> 300//9600 HST <> F-NET #351 |
+=======================================================================+
_______________________________________________________________________
> CALAMUS STR Review¿ The first of a series, comparing DTP programs..
==================
Calamus--From ISD
=================
by William Y. Baugh
Calamus, in my opinion, is the finest DTP out for the ST. It is unrivaled
in ease-of-use, speed and print quality. This week, I will give an
overview of Calamus, then for next week, I will collaborate with Associate
Editor Ron Brunk to compare Calamus to Pagestream.
Once Calamus is loaded (which it loads quite fast for a large program;
unlike Pagestream) you must first either load in a previously created file
or start from scratch. Once either is selected, you are presented with a
full size view of the page. This view is changeable either by dropping
down the View menu or by using the icons in the upper middle of the
screen. The three icons select between full page (which is presently
displayed), normal display or a definable display which defaults to 200%,
but can be set to any size you are comfortable with. I like about a 80%
size, which zooms in, but still keeps the page width within limits of the
screen (no horizontal scrolling). Depending upon the function being
executed will dictate the size of the screen. If you are importing text,
or doing massive font style changes, you will want to see the entire page.
But on the other hand, if you're working on raster graphics, it's nice to
be able to have the page zoomed in for closer scrutiny.
Now it's time to define the work area (framing). Unlike other DTP's,
Calamus handles this function quite differently. Under the frame icon,
there are seven different sub-icons; these are used to define the frames
and what will be placed within them. The frames consist of text, line,
Raster area, Vector graphics (DEGAS, etc), Raster graphics (Geometric,
definable shapes), header/footer and rotated text frames. When each frame
is drawn, the icon it is represented by remains in the frame, thus
allowing easy identification. Also, every frame has its own "effects"
icon that allows you to modify the existing parameters, choose different
graphics, etc. These features are the heart of Calamus, and where you
will probably spend the most time working from. Once your page is
complete, you may save it to disk as a layout.
When each frame is drawn, you always have the ability to change the size,
either multidirectional or proportional, protect the frame so no
accidental work or deletions occur, move, copy and delete frames. If you
have one frame overlapping another, you may choose to move the frame into
the background or keep it in the foreground. This, accompanied with the
raster graphics, can make some spectacular effects such as the GEnie logo
Ralph created to use in the CPU Newswire. There are seven(!) overlapping
frames in this display that creates a very unique texture. This is a
helpful function if you use the same page layout time and time again.
Text input is handled conveniently with the features of the text editor
and special functions found within the text sub-icons. There are eight
icons lining the top of the text side menu which allow you to view the
selected character set and dictionary, display text rulers, change font
size and styles, create text macros and use the built-in clipboard. The
editor is a separate GEM window which may be moved and sized as you
please. This feature also differs from most DTP's in that you have the
editor to type with; no more typing in the frame and hassling with the
proportional spacing. You may send your created text to the desired text
frame or receive text from a frame. The font and justification codes are
displayed in the editor and may be changed therein. Within the windows,
text rulers are offered to help in the formatting of the text. The rulers
display the margins, tabs, and the justification chosen. You may change
any of these by clicking and holding the appropriate icon.
For larger works, importation as ASCII or from several popular word
processors (WordPerfect, Wordwriter ST and 1st Word) is preferable. The
importation of text from the word processor keeps paragraphs and
structural aspects complete. ASCII, on the other hand, can be brought in
structured or unstructured; but in creating the file as ASCII, you lose
some of the structure, depending upon the word processor. One quirk with
Calamus, that can be a real bear at the beginning, is the importation of
text into preset columns; especially when the document covers more than
one page. To make the importation work properly, you must first set up
the pathways that tell Calamus where you want the text to flow. This is
done (appropriately enough) with the Text Flow icon. You may set-up
whether you want the text to flow from column to column or from the last
column to the next page, etc. The confusion occurs in knowing exactly how
to set this up and the right order and placement of mouse clicks to allow
you to do this. Once learned, it becomes second nature; but learning it
is another story. Also included in the text features is the ability to
block off sections of text and create footnote and index frames.
Once your work is on the screen, you will not be disappointed. Calamus is
a true, "WYSIWYG" program. The screen resolution is amazing; only to be
outdone by the printout. I have been using Calamus to create a newsletter
for my usergroup; printing it out with my KX-P1092 (9-pin) printer.
Granted, the print-out is slow (around 20 minutes for a page) but the
printing algorithm is efficient. The printer will do three passes a line
creating a spectacularly sharp image. When the print-out is copied, it's
hard to tell whether it was printed with a laser printer or not. The only
drawback to using a 9-pin printer is that you lose the effect of varying
degrees of shadowing. This is not true for 24-pin printer where there is
only one pass per line. Calamus supports a whole slew of printers with
the drivers included with the program.
Macros are available to expedite your work. These text macros are a must
for desktop publishing; especially one as advanced as Calamus. The
ability to store up to 21 different macros allows great flexibility plus;
no more having to dig down into nested icons for a function you use
continuously. When you define a macro, you give it a title to reference
through the macro menu and a keyboard equivalent. From the keyboard, you
just press the control key and the defined key to execute the macro.
Macros may be defined as "text, differing styles of text and instructions,
plus formatting commands."
A clipboard area is also available to make life a little easier. The
clipboard may be used as a temporary storage for blocks of text. The text
may be just part of a column ,headline, etc. or may be footnote entries or
indexes. These entries may be taken at a later time and inserted into the
Header/Footer frames. Any of these may be left in the clipboard, while
the original is deleted from the working page.
Calamus uses an incredible feature known as internal vector fonts. Vector
fonts differ drastically from GDOS raster fonts in that they are not
predefined and rigidly structured to follow an ASSIGN.SYS file. This is
to say, you make the decision at the time of use as to how large you want
the font. No more having to use font sizes that the manufacturer wants
you to use. Within the fonts icon, you may load differing fonts, or use
the one currently in memory. The sizes of the fonts range from 4 up to
999.5 points in steps of 0.1! Calamus comes with two font styles (Time
and Swiss are the major ones and a Desktop font that is quite limited)
with 13 variations on these fonts (bold, italics, bold-italics). More
fantastic fonts are available through ISD. There is also a great font
editor (that also comes with fonts) that may be used interactively with
Calamus.
Once you have your text in place, you may want to highlight it by using
either line frames or the raster graphics frames. Line frames allow you
to display either lines (of course) or arrows which may point to the text,
title, picture etc., to emphasize a certain aspect of your page. The
raster graphics are interesting in that they allow you to choose from a
variety of geometric shapes, fill, shadow, and framing patterns to create
very interesting effects. There are a number of different patterns, plus
they are also user definable (you may create your own). With these
graphics, in conjunction with the line frames, the possibilities are
endless for creating special effects on the page. Another eye catching
feature is the ability to rotate text. When the frame is drawn, text may
be imported or typed in the editor, brought into the frame and rotated,
with no distortion. This works very well for title pages and
advertisements.
Vector graphic frames are the areas where DEGAS, .IMG, .GEM, etc. files
are imported. These window are like any other in that they may be sized,
moved, and copied. Importation of graphics is fast! ISD's screen
algorithm is one of the best! The importation and screen updating is the
fastest I've seen yet on the Atari. This becomes important when you have
multiple drawings on the screen and want to scroll vertically; other DTP's
(Pagestream in earlier versions) took forever recalculating and drawing
the image. With Calamus, it's a breeze.
Being such a complex program, it can not be summed up in just a few pages.
As I said before, a more indepth look and comparison with Pagestream is on
track for next week. Also, if you get the chance, take a look at Calamus
yourself, you won't be dissappointed.
________________________________________________________________________
> Atari Hand Held STReport InfoFile¿ A look at the New Game System.
==================================
A.P.C.E.S. -> THE UTOPIAN GAME TECHNOLOGY
=========================================
The Atari Portable Color Entertainment System has the entire gaming
industry buzzing with enthusiasm and envy for "a marketing stroke of
genius with perfect timing!" Being an Atari computer enthusiast, agreeing
with this statement is not easy for me but ..admittedly, it is true.
Although the Atari APCES is more expensive (149.95 msr)and slightly larger
than it's nearest(?) competitor, Ninetendo's lackluster Gameboy.
The Atari unit is far more sophisticated than * anything * on the
market today, it offers full color on a 3.5 inch LCD monitor with 160x102
pixel resolution. The monitor displays dot matrix graphics in up to 16
colors at a time from a possible palette of 4,096 colors. The unit
operates on 6 "AA" batteries, an AC adapter or Auto cigarette lighter
adapter and includes a headphone jack. A connecting cable can be employed
to interconnect up to eight units for multi-player challenges.
One feature that left handed users will enjoy is the screen images may
be rotated 180 degrees, thus enabling the user to comfortably operate the
eight direction control pad with either hand.
A partial NEW Game Cartridge Release list:
o California Games - Athletics at it's best...
o Monster Demolition - Nasty Beast destroys all in it's path..
o Impossible Mission - Spy vs Criminal Brain and his droids
o Blue Lightning - Flying and jet fighter simulation...
o Time Quests & Treasure Chests - from Dungeons to Outerspace Adventure..
o The Gates of Zendocon - Aliens and Space wars...
(Average cost per cartridge 35.00)
This gaming system was developed by Epyx, and prototypes were ready as
early as the January CES however, being "sworn" to secrecy at the time it
was impossible to report a thing about the unit. Epyx will continue to
work closely with Atari in the development of new game cartridges and both
companies are actively negotiating with a number of companies on licensing
agreements and development programs for third party development.
_______________________________________________________________________
> ST REPORT CONFIDENTIAL¿
======================
- Dearborn MI. ***** SIG HARTMANN CLEARS THE AIR!! *****
-----------
Sig Hartmann made a very simple and quite clear statement that TOS
1.4 is available to Developers and those who need it NOW for a "particular
purpose", this answer was in reply to a remark passed in the dealers
conference yesterday, Sat 6/24/89, where an attendee blurted out that TOS
1.4 would NOT be available until Christmas.
In no way, did Mr. Hartman propose that TOS 1.4 in ROM was in full and
general distribution. Although the TOS 1.4 ROM chips are currently at the
manufacturer, the actual delivery date is not known at this time, (a
reasonable guess would be SEPT). Once again, for those who have a
definite need, they may, through their dealers or Atari direct, obtain TOS
1.4 in EPROM (special exceptions only) until such time as the regular ROM
chips become available.
- New York City, N.Y. **** MINDSCAPE OFFERS SUPERB NEW GOODIES! ****
-----------------
The list is formidable and very reassuring that we, (STers), are "on
our way to the front row"...STAR TREK - The Final Frontier; Gauntlet II;
Fiendish Freddy's Big Top 'O' Fun; Harley-Davidson..The Road to Sturgis,
are among the new releases to be seen across the next year from Mindscape.
Industry analysts expressed very positive remarks that Atari appears to be
"on the way back".
- Chicago, IL **** ACCOLADE SNUBS NOSE AT ATARI!! ****
-----------
It seems Accolade is releasing HARDBALL II for the Amiga and IBM but
the Atari ST is OBVIOUS by it's absence.
In addition, they are releasing:
Heat Wave;.......... (Offshore high speed racing),
The Cycles;......... (International Motorcycle Racing)
Eye of the Storm;... (Vietnam Huey simulation).
Lastly, they are also introducing their first graphic adventures..
Conspiracy;......... The Deadlock Files (Spy thriller),
The Third Courier;.. (Infiltrate behind the Berlin Wall)
Don't Go Alone;..... (A Spooky Haunted House Scarem up)
All for either the IBM, Amiga or Apple but no Atari... Maybe Sunnyvale
ought to look into this?
- Chicago, IL **** CAPCOM STRONGLY SUPPORTS ATARI! ****
-----------
CapCom instead, is expanding it's Computer Gaming Catalog and has
introduced a host of new titles some of which are:
L.E.D. STORM........Driving challenge packed with danger!
LAST DUEL...........Chivalry is not Dead, save a princess!
SIDE ARMS...........Wearing a High Tech Space Suit, you fight Aliens!
POCKET ROCKETS......Motorcycle Racing 600cc!
FORGOTTEN WORLDS....Intergalactic Wars, Save the Earth!
STREET FIGHTER......International Street Fight Competition!
STRIDER.............Futuristic Swordsman battles strange enemy camps!
Coming Soon on a monitor near you are:
GHOULS AND GHOSTS...Sequel to "Ghosts 'N Goblins"
CABAL...............a One man army fights against terrorists.
BLACK TIGER.........D&D type, fight 3 Dragons to reclaim a kingdom.
TIGER ROAD..........Ancient China, rescue kidnapped children.
HUNT FOR THE FLYING CIRCUS
A World War One flight combat game pitted against
the infamous Red Baron!
Capcom has the faith in Atari's future and shows it by continuing to
release quality entertainment software for the Atari ST community.
- Almeda, CA. **** CHEVY CORVETTES RULE! ****
-----------
VETTE! is the name, Street Racing is the Game!! Spectrum Holobyte is
putting the finishing touches on their new street racing simulation.
There are four street courses set in San Francisco...the graphics will
leave you breathless, they are awesome! Observation vantage points of the
game are stunning.. front, rear, above, left, right, and helicopter.
In the game you'll deal with cable cars, pedestrians etc.. There are four
models of Corvette to choose from ..they have outstandingly realistic
attributes! We are patiently awaiting our review copy...
- Cupertino, CA. ***** WHETMORE JOINS BUSHNELL!!! *****
-------------
Russ Whetmore, known as a developer's developer has left Apple and
joined forces with the "Father of the Atari", Nolan Bushnell. Whetmore,
famous in the Atari Community for Home Pak, Preppie and a virtual host of
other dandy goodies, wrote MacDraw II for Apple. The union of Whetmore
and Bushnell should produce some dazzling entertainment software.
- Littleton, CO. ***** GCR STEADILY ADVANCING TO PERFECTION *****
--------------
August is the inaugural month for the GCR, and ....all indications are
positively a GO. The GCR will make it's grand appearance on time and it's
fanfare will be the virtually error free operation one can expect from it.
It is nice to see the GCR right on track. It's going to be a busy summer.
Also, for all the STacey fans, had it not been for Dave and Sandy the
STacey would never have been seen at Dearborn, seems some rough weather
gave it a good "G" force test. Sandy pieced it back together with super
glue! Dave was busy hunting down the raw materials. <grin>
- Columbus, OH. ***** C.I.S. ACQUIRES THE SOURCE *****
-------------------
Amidst a flurry of related stories, the final line to emerge reveals
that Compuserve Information Services (CIS) has purchased the Source, "lock
stock and barrel". CIS, owned by H.R.Block, is the largest and most
popular of the information services offering worldwide access. With the
addition of the Source's facilities, CIS now offers a wider range of
services and in turn, it's services are now available to many more users
almost overnight.
- Sunnyvale, CA. ***** ATARI COMES UP "LIGHT" *****
--------------
Seems the inventory count for the hardware brought to Dearborn was no
where near the same upon arrival back at Sunnyvale.... According to three
different sources, this could amount to a sizeable loss. The sad part is
no list was available to see who "borrowed" what at the show.
_______________________________________________________________________
> PCP BBS List STReport InfoFile¿
==============================
Atari ST BBS's
Accessible through PC Pursuit
As compiled by Neil Bradley and Gil Seward
For ST REPORT
All BBS Phone numbers were verified during the month of June - 1989
The following is a list of Atari ST BBS's that are accessable through
the telecommunications network called PC Pursuit - a division of Telenet.
All the numbers listed below were verified by Neil Bradley or Gil Seward
during the month of June, 1989. The BBS's are listed by city, showing the
PCP outdial node, phone number, name, highest baud rate, and the BBS
software program used. In the "Note" column are misc. notes concerning
individual BBS's. "Priv" means that the BBS is private, requiring a
system password for access. "$" means there is a user fee for unlimited
access. "Multi" means that the BBS has more than one telephone line,
allowing multiple users on at once (Currently only available using
Michtron 3.0 and the DC Port). Only one phone line formulti-line numbers
are listed. "Nights" means the BBS is available only after 1700, LOCAL
time for the BBS.
Those of you familiar with PC Pursuit will notice that some outdial
cities are not included in the below list. This is because we could not
find any current ST BBS's in those cities.
PC Purusit is a telecommunications system that allows computer users
all over the country to call other computer systems in 34 different cities
throughout the United States. The basic cost of PC Pursuit is $30.00 for
30 hours, and each additional hour costs $4.75 per hour. There are other
options available as well. To access PC Pursuit you need to know the
local in-dial phone number for Telenet. Once you access Telenet/PC
Pursuit, you then tell PC Pursuit to connect to an outdial city, and then
tell PC Pursuit to dial the BBS Phone number in that city. PC Pursuit
supports 300/1200/2400 baud rates. For more information about PC Pursuit
you can contact Telenet at: 1-800-835-3638 (voice) or 1-800-835-3001 Data
(300/1200/2400 baud).
I apologize to those BBS's that are not included in this list. If you
wish to be included in a future revision to this list, leave a message to
the Sysop of ST SYNCRONISITY (Gil Seward) at (415) 526-6471. He has set
up a user name of BBSLIST, password MORE for anyone who wishes to provide
updates.
Finally, I wish to offer my thanks to the number of SYSOPS who took the
time to stop and "Chat" with me about the BBS project. Special thanks to
Dave Lockwood of Meetpoint Station (415) 782-8248 for his assistance in
providing a list of BBS's for verifying.
Neil Bradley
-------------------------------------------------------------------------
PCP NODE PH# BBS NAME BAUD SOFTWARE Note
------- --- -------- ---- -------- ----
Atlanta GA (404)
---------------
GAATL 425-2718 Marietta BBS 2400 Forem Priv
GAATL 428-7237 Overmind 2400 STADEL
Boston, MA (617)
----------------
MABOS 595-0221 Atari (8-BIT) 1200 NIGHT-LITE
MABOS 567-8642 Toad Hall 2400 MICH 3.0 Multi
MABOS 396-4607 BCS Atari 2400 MICH 3.0
MABOS 471-2270 Games People Play 2400 MICH 3.0
MABOS 328-9230 Harbour Light 2400 MICH 3.0
MABOS 582-0657 Mace West 2400 MICH 2.1
Chicago, IL (312)
-----------------
ILCHI 889-1240 Chicagoland Atari Users Group 2400 EXPRESS
ILCHI 457-2219 Blue Moon BBS 2400 EXPRESS
ILCHI 213-9299 Northwest Passage 2400 EXPRESS
ILCHI 690-3724 Lions Den 2400 Carina
ILCHI 695-8617 Dragon's Egg II 2400 Forem ST
ILCHI 520-1780 Software Plus BBS 2400 ?
ILCHI 916-0893 Crooked Dragon Inn 1200 Forem ST
ILCHI 690-3724 Lions Den 2400 Carina
ILCHI 695-8617 Dragon's Egg II 2400 Forem ST
ILCHI 520-1780 Software Plus BBS 2400 Other
ILCHI 916-0893 Crooked Dragon Inn 1200 Forem ST
ILCHI 364-5428 White House 9600 Other Priv
ILCHI 295-5207 Black Knight's Manor 2400
Cleveland, OH (216)
-------------------
OHCLE 582-1904 Nerd BBS 2400 Other Priv
Colton, CA (714)
----------------
CACOL 887-553 West-Line BBS (Byron's BBS) 2400 Mich 3.0
Denver, CO (303)
----------------
CODEN 431-1404 Mile High BBS 2400 Forem
CODEN 452-4383 Diggers Tomb 2400 Forem
Glendale, CA (818)
------------------
CAGLE 401-9611 The Abode 2400 Other
CAGLE 760-0943 Infinity 2400 Forem
Houston, TX (713)
-----------------
TXHOU 446-4933 2400 EXPRESS
TXHOU 486-1877 H.A.S.T.E. 2400 MICH 3.0
TXHOU 261-0556 Knowhereland BBS 2400 Forem
TXHOU 339-2995 Megaboard 9600 Forem
TXHOU 556-5436 Dark Side of the Moon 2400 Forem
TXHOU 541-9160 The ATARI ST 2400 MICH 3.0
TXHOU 944-0108 Double-Click Software Support 2400 MICH 3.0
TXHOU 827-8041 Floppy Wizard 2400 Forem
TXHOU 776-3699 Bit Bucket 2400 Forem
Los Angeles, CA (213)
----------------------
CALAN 929-9449 USS Enterprise 9600 Forem
CALAN 864-9740 Old Bailey 2400 EXPRESS
CALAN 634-8993 Target Range 2400 EXPRESS
CALAN 663-6886 The Luv Connection 2400 Forem MULTI,$
CALAN 826-4288 MIDI Network 2400 Forem
CALAN 320-1541 Torrance Forem 1200 Forem
Minneapolis, MN (612)
---------------------
MNMIN 374-1707 Alha-Tech Computers 2400 Forem $
MNMIN 925-0900 KBAD 2400 STADEL
MNMIN 784-8643 ****POOF**** 2400 STADEL
MNMIN 788-1833 ST WHolsealers Club II 2400 STADEL
MNMIN 544-5118 The Flight Line 9600 Forem
MNMIN 451-4005 Inner City BBS 2400 Forem Priv
MNMIN 781-0823 MIDIAPOLIS 2400 STADEL
Miami, FL (305)
---------------
FLMIA 253-6918 Shadow's Keep 2400 Forem
FLMIA 261-6096 Damage, Inc 2400 XPRESS
FLMIA 271-0688 ASIM 2400 MICH 3.0
FLMIA 386-9764 Southern Atari Remote 2400 MICH 3.0
Newark, NJ (201)
----------------
NJNEW 242-3619 Newark BBS 2400 Mich 3.0 Multi
New York, NY (212)
------------------
NYNYO 473-0542 Peoples BBS 2400 MICH 3.0 Nites
NYNYO 496-7660 West Side BBS 2400 MICH 2.0
NYNYO 604-3323 New York City BBS 1200 Oasis (8-bit)
Oakland, CA (415)
-----------------
CAOAK 436-6262 Ace Software 2400 OTHER
CAOAK 526-6471 ST Syncronisity 2400 BBS/ST
CAOAK 834-1707 The Enhancer 2400 BBS/ST
CAOAK 236-8242 T.B.A. 2400 Carina
CAOAK 845-1789 MicroWorld 2400 MICH 3.0
CAOAK 436-6262 Ace Software 2400 MICH 3.0
CAOAK 695-9247 Bloom County BBS 2400 Forem
Palo Alto CA, (415)
------------------
CAPAL 782-4402 STu's Place 2400 MICH 2.1
CAPAL 790-1375 Tavern 2400 Forem ST
CAPAL 782-8246 Meetpoint Station 2400 Star-Net
CAPAL 581-1787 Fo-Star 2400 Star-Net
Philadelphia, PA (215)
----------------------
PAPHI 335-4805 Star Station 2400 MICH 3.0
PAPHI 755-5667 Silver Dragon 2400 MICH 3.0 Multi
PAPHI 586-8705 ST Atari Haven 2400 MICH 3.0
PAPHI 673-8384 Sector One 2400 Forem
Phoenix AZ, (602)
----------------
AZPHO 242-3686 ST Base 2400 1ST Base
AZPHO 439-0995 Abyss 1200 KBBS
AZPHO 276-6102 Jefferson Software 1200 STADEL
Portland, OR (503)
------------------
ORPOR 292-1321 Fortune 9600 Forem
ORPOR 246-9712 3cpu 2400 Citadel
ORPOR 245-9405 Portland Atari Club 1200 Forem
Sacremento, Ca (916)
--------------------
CASAC 364-0173 Dream Park BBS 2400 Forum
CASAC 638-9923 Axolotl BBS 2400 BBS Express
CASAC 392-7279 Select 1200 Carina
CASAC 423-2544 Access 1200 Carina
San Diego, CA (619)
-------------------
CASDI 284-3821 S.D.A.C.E. 2400 MICH 3.0
CASDI 282-6815 Computer Outlet 2400 Mich2.1 (Nite)
CASDI 691-7844 Computers Plus 2400 Forem (Nite)
San Jose, CA (408)
------------------
CASJO 985-9219 Electronics BBS 2400 Forem
CASJO 378-5450 Masters of Software 2400 Forem
CASJO 998-9419 PI-NET 2400 Forem
CASJO 745-5308 Atari Base #1 2400 MICH 3.0 Multi
CASJO 985-8675 Kome 2400 MICH 3.0
CASJO 985-7573 The Board 5.1 1200 MICH 3.0
CASJO 353-4669 CompuCat LaserBreath Caverns 2400 Forem
CASJO 986-0215 B.A.A.U.G 2400 Mich 3.0
Salt Lake City, UT (801)
------------------------
UTSLC 565-0850 FACP-ST 2400 Forem
Seattle, WA (206)
-----------------
WASEA 271-8613 The Budget Board 2400 EXPRESS
WASEA 822-4085 Studio 1200 WILDCAT
WASEA 562-0128 Xanth 1200 BBS/ST
St Louis, MO (314)
------------------
MOSLO 394-9264 Orion BBS 2400 Forem
Washington, DC (301/703/202)
---------------------------
DCWAS 967-6575 Bit Heaven 2400 Forem
DCWAS 250-7303 Merlin's Litterbox 2400 Forem
DCWAS 577-3659 Vanguard Datasystems 2400 MICH 3.0
DCWAS 425-5824 Hallucination 2400 MICH 2.1
DCWAS 641-9769 Gallifrey 2400 Forem
DCWAS 742-4056 The Attic 2400 Express
________________________________________________________________________
> A "QUOTABLE QUOTE"¿
==================
"Tis better to be thought a fool...
...than to open one's mouth and remove all doubt!"
ATARI IS BACK!
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ST-REPORT Issue #94 "Your Independent News Source" June 30, 1989
ALL RIGHTS RESERVED copyright 1989
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Views, Opinions and Articles presented herein are not necessarily those
of ST Report or CPU Report. Reprint permissions are granted, unless
otherwise noted. Reprints must include ST Report and/or CPU Report and
the author's name. Information presented herein is believed correct,
ST Report and/or CPU Report, it's editors and staff are not responsible
for any use or, misuse of the information contained in this publication.
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