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Silicon Times Report Issue 0403
*---== CPU NEWSWIRE ONLINE MAGAZINE ==---*
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"The Original 16/32bit Online Magazine"
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January 19, 1990 No.4.03
=======================================================================
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> 01/12/90: CPU Newswire¿ #403 The Original 16/32 bit Online Magazine!
----------------------------
- The Editor's Podium - CPU REPORT
- pc-ditto II OUCH! - Beckemeyer Report
- THE BEAT GOES ON!! - Cordless Mouse II
- AUA NewsBriefs - CPU Confidential
-------------
---====**** REVOLVING DOOR GETS ANDY MARKEN! ****====---
---===** STACY'S FUTURE IN SERIOUS DOUBT! **===---
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> The Editor's Podium¿
It is difficult, at best, to present a 'smiling face' week after week
when one realizes all is not well in our computing community. Considering
all the positive promises presented to the developers at the Atari Comdex
reception and of course, the promises made during a number of online
conferences, none of which have amounted to anything remarkable, one is
left with a one word question in mind.... WHEN? And where is the
advertising, the merchandising and most of all, the product?
Although not generally known throughout the Atari computing community,
there are those at Atari (at the top) who feel that Stacy should be
retired. You are not hearing things. Retired is the nice way of saying
there are serious regrets for having gone forward with this project and if
it could be reversed such would be the case. The bottom line in the
"Stacy Affair" will no doubt, surface in a short while. Could this be
because of type acceptance problems? The Stacy is not a "dumb terminal".
Or is it?
After having had the enjoyable pleasure of meeting Andy Marken
personally at Comdex, I find it absolutely amazing to learn that he and
his firm, Marken Communications, are history with Atari as of the Feb 1!
The man was "everpresent" at the Atari Comdex display, he was, without a
doubt, the unofficial ambassador for Atari. He made every visitor feel
important and welcome. At CES, he was responsible for more sale than any
one else at the hospitality suite. Oh well, so much for hoping to see an
end to the old, bizarre Atari business practices. This matter is covered
elsewhere in this issue.
Are these indications of Atari attempting to withdraw from a prominent
position in the computing public's eyes? Perhaps, the continued lack of
producing timely results and keeping promises is finally catching up to
those at Atari who feel the userbase is, indeed, a mushroom patch in need
of fertilizer? Time will tell. In the meantime, keep your eyes on the
ole faithful revolving door, word is, its going to 'heat up' pretty good
over the next 90 days...
One fact that must be said time and time again, the computers Atari
offers are absolutely among the finest to be had. (IMHO) If only I could
say the same about the company and its strange ways of doing business.
Thanks for your support,
Ralph....
NOTICE: Poolfix2.prg is NOT to be used, please wait for version 3.
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> CPU REPORT¿
==========
Issue # 50
----------
by Michael Arthur
Remember When....
In 1644, a 16-year old Frenchman named Blaise Pascal designed one of
the first mechanical calculators, the Pascaline, which was capable of
accurately adding numbers up to 9 digits large, in order to help his
father figure out Tax Levies, and when Alan Turing, a British
cryptographer/mathematician, invented the Turing Machine (a device capable
of eulating any mechanical process) in order to solve a mathematical
puzzle, or when the Turing Machine later became the foundation for ideas
behind computer technology?
CPU INSIGHTS¿
=============
Implications of Superconductivity
---------------------------------
Electricity is a vital part of our lives. It powers our cities,
runs our industries, and our needs for transportation could not be met
without it. Indeed, without electricity, civilization as we know it would
come to a grinding halt. But even as electricity plays a needed role in
today's world, we must recognize that since mankind cannot, at the present
time, produce an infinite amount of electricity, ways must be found to
make technology utilize it efficiently. Recently, a phenomenon called
superconductivity has received great notice as a way of actually doing
this. But in order to understand how superconductivity will affect our
lives, we must first understand how it functions.
Conductivity is defined as the ability to transmit electrical
current. This occurs when a stream of negatively charged electrons is
sent, or funneled, through a conductor, leading them to positively charged
protons, so their interaction will cause electricity. In ordinary
conducting materials, such as iron, copper, and other metallic substances,
electrons are loosely funneled through the conductor, which loosely
controls their direction. This means that that, as they are sent through
ordinary conducting materials, some of these electrons are able to break
away from the "stream", and crash into adjoining electrons. The impact of
this collision causes energy to be generated as heat which would otherwise
have become electricity.
In comparison, superconductive materials tightly control the flow of
the electrons, so they aren't able to break away and collide into each
other. This results in all of the electrons being used to create
electricity, and that none of the potential electrical energy is lost as
heat energy. An added advantage to superconductive materials is that
they generate far more intense magnetic fields than ordinary conductors.
But ever since it was discovered in 1911, superconductivity was only
achieved at temperatures approaching absolute zero, the temperature
designated as 0 Kelvin, at which substances have no molecular motion,
resulting in the total absence of heat. This meant that superconductors
could not be practical for any use, since the price of maintaining such
cold temperatures, in terms of both the cost of liquid helium, the only
substance capable of being that cold, and the inconvenience of the big and
bulky equipment required to handle it, would be prohibitive.
This has recently started to change. In 1986, scientists at IBM's
Zurich Research Labs used a class of metallic oxides known as ceramics as
superconductive material. This substance was able to maintain super
conductivity at the temperature of 35 Kelvin, far above absolute zero.
Over the past three years, the scientific community has further developed
this class of ceramic compounds so they remain superconducting at
temperatures up to 98 Kelvin, or Minus 283 Degrees Fahrenheit. While this
might also seem prohibitively cold, it is well above the temperature at
which liquid nitrogen can be used as a coolant. Liquid nitrogen is
inexpensive and relatively easy to handle. This means that
superconductivity could soon be in common use, and that its implications
can be fully seen for the first time.
One of the most obvious benefits of superconductivity is in the
production and transmission of electricity. Electrical generators make
electricity by a spinning turbine which rotates a magnet in a magnetic
field. If superconductors were used, not only would more electricity be
made, as it could be a more powerful magnet, but none of the potential
energy would be lost as heat. Also, current metallic wire in use as
electrical lines can lose 5-8 percent of the electricity they transmit
from power stations. If superconducting material were used in its place,
no electricity would be lost, and millions of dollars in the area of
energy production would be saved. However, since current superconductors
cannot maintain their superconductivity in normal conditions, changes in
developments of superconductive material will be necessary before this
occurs....
Magnetically levitated trains, or maglevs, are another development
which stands to benefit from superconductivity. These trains can run
up to 300 miles per hour because unlike ordinary trains, they levitate on
a bed of magnetic fields, generated by powerful magnets positioned on the
ground, and are propelled by other magnets located on both sides of the
train. It is a very promising technology, as there is no danger of going
off the track in a derailment, and that, unlike trains, its great speeds
aren't hindered by friction caused by being in contact with the ground.
Superconducting magnets can now be used to generate more powerful
magnetic fields, so these trains can go a lot faster than normally
possible. Japanese maglevs currently use superconducting magnets because
of this, but the equipment needed to store the liquid helium they required
was very expensive. Liquid nitrogen can more easily maintain the smaller,
more powerful superconducting magnets that will probably be used in
maglevs. The new developments in superconductivity can even help the
medical field. Magnetic resonance imagers (or MRI Scanners), which are
used to take detailed pictures of human tissue, operate by using
superconducting magnets. These devices have cost up to a million dollars
before, mainly because of the equipment needed to store liquid helium. Now
liquid nitrogen can replace liquid helium, and with much less required to
store it, the price of these lifesaving devices will drop dramatically.
But even though superconductivity will quickly benefit parts of our
lives, its implications will not truly be seen until materials that
maintain their superconductivity at room temperature are developed. Even
though the present developments in superconductivity stand to benefit
mankind greatly, the fact is that it wouldn't be feasible, or efficient to
force the vast majority of our technology to add on equipment to store
liquid nitrogen so it will work. Electrical lines, for example, cannot
use current superconductive material. In this case, room temperature
superconductors would be optimal.
One very important area that would benefit from room temperature
superconductors is computers. The IC's in today's computers generate a
great amount of heat, with the result that most computers today require
fans to keep them operational. Room temperature superconductors not only
would allow them to be very compact, but could allow for much faster
designs, especially in super computers. Mainframe-speed computers could
be the size of laptops, as superconductors allow systems to be designed
with extreme chip density, as there would be no worry of overheating, and
superconductivity would allow integrated circuitry to function far more
efficiently. And as computers themselves are attaining a continuously
greater role in civilization, the benefits of superconductivity multiply.
Eventually, room temperature superconductors will improve our lives
in the future. Space technology will vastly improve, as more powerful and
efficient satellites help our technological civilization collect and
transfer information, space stations become more versatile, and the
prospects for colonizing the stars loom over the horizon. It will, in
all certainty, be used in weapons of war, as fighters and bombers become
more sophisticated, using better stealth technologies to evade and destroy
the enemy. But while superconductivity is still relatively new in the
research lab, its implications are infinitely vast, and at the rate of
development, one cannot doubt that within the next decade, those
implications, both the ones mentioned here, and those yet to be imagined,
will advance our civilization into the twenty-first century....
Computer Security, an Internet Worm, and the Morris Trial
---------------------------------------------------------
Robert Tappen Morris, a former Cornell University Computer Science
graduate who created a worm which crippled around 7000 Unix computers
connected to the Internet compuer network in November 1988, is now being
tried in court. Charging that he intentionally created and released a
worm into the Internet network which caused millions of dollars in
damages, the prosecution intends to obtain a conviction based on the
1986 Computer Fraud and Abuse Act, which makes it a felony to cause more
than $1000 dollars in damages via a computer virus. Interestingly enough,
it seems that this Law does NOT require that the damage be intentionally
caused....
The alleged damages caused by the Internet worm consist of lost
computing time on the Unix systems, and the wages for the computer experts
needed to completely eliminate the virus from Internet. This damage has
been estimated to have cost several million dollars. Interestingly
enough, it seems that the Internet worm prompted the creation of several
computer security agencies, which later halted the spread of many other
computer viruses....
Robert Morris wrote a computer worm which was designed to defeat
security flaws in the Unix operating system, and to slowly replicate
itself inside systems running Berkeley Unix. It used several methods,
including accessing debugging code left in E-Mail software by system
administrators (or Sysops), and by accessing "back doors" built into the
security program which allowed easy entry into a system. It has been
determined that the ONLY effect that the Internet worm had on Unix systems
was to use up an extensive amount of CPU time, which slowed system
operation to a tremendous degree.
Curiously, programmers examining the source code of the Internet
Worm have determined that it was actually a programming error (read: bug)
that caused the worm to replicate so quickly once it was inside Unix
systems. It would simply "fill up" the system with copies of them, and
its copies would, in turn, replicate themselves. This process eventually
took up so much CPU time that system operation ground to a halt. Morris'
defense intends to use this to prove that the both the worm's release into
Internet, and its replication (which caused the damage) was accidental,
and did not cause permanent damage. Meaning that he may not be liable for
any alleged damages....
But ponder, if you will, these questions:
1) How quickly does the computer industry really change, in both
developing new technologies and migrating from obsolete systems?
2) What are ways that programmers can prevent "bugs" from popping up in
programs?
---====***====---
CPU STATUS REPORT¿
==================
Alameda, CA Sun has recently introduced a Network Bundle for the
----------- TOPS LAN Network which includes Inbox 3.0, an E-mail
System, and TOPS Version 3.0. The DOS version of this
update supports the Mac Hierarchical File System (HFS),
and can run in extended memory....
Centram Systems, maker of the TOPS LAN Network, has
also been "spun off" by Sun Microsystems into an
independent subsidiary, instead of remaining a division
of Sun. It seems that TOPS, an Appletalk-compatible
LAN Network with a base of 60,000 users, has been under
intense competition, and that Sun may plan to sell
TOPS....
West Chester, PA Commodore has appointed Walter Simpson as its Director
---------------- for Product Marketing, and named Jeff Scherb as Vice
President of CATS (Commodore Application and Technical
Support). Responsible for Amiga Developer support,
Jeff Scherb will be overseeing efforts to boost the
Amiga software base in the fields of Unix, education,
and multimedia software....
Walter Simpson, who has been involved with the computer
industry for over 20 years, intends to heighten
Commodore's marketing strategies for consumer and
educational sales, as well as the business and
Government computer markets....
Tokyo, Japan Sony has announced that its News workstation, which has
------------ taken a great percentage of the Japanese workstation
market, will support OSF/1, the new Unix-based OS being
developed by the Open Software Foundation. Also, the
OSF has confirmed that the Mach operating system (used
in the NeXT computer) will be part of OSF/1....
San Jose, CA U.S. Memories, a planned consortium of American
------------ computer companies which was designed to boost the U.S.
DRAM chip industry, has been disbanded by Sanford Kane,
its CEO, due to a lack of support. Formed in May 1988
by seven companies, including IBM, DEC, National
Semiconductor, and Hewlett-Packard, U.S. Memories was
to become a $1 billion dollar venture to restore mass
production in the U.S. of DRAM memory chips, in order
to ensure a secure supply, and to retake some of the
75 percent of the $9 Billion dollar DRAM Market now
controlled by Japanese companies....
In order for U.S. Memories to have been formed, its
member companies needed to contribute $500 million in
capital, with the rest financed by loans. But
interestingly enough, the recent drop in DRAM prices
doomed the consortium, as companies like Sun and Apple
rejected U.S. Memories because of the current plentiful
supply of DRAM chips, and as several of its sponsor
companies grew wary of its usefulness. Many analysts
now say that this may indicate that American companies
are more interested in short-term gains than long-term
benefits....
_____________________________________________________
> PC DITTO II CPU/STR Spotlight¿ TO BE OR....NOT TO BE?
==============================
msgs CTSY GEnie Atari ST RT
Below, is a message sent to present and future owners of the now very
famous, PC DITTO II, hardware PC emulator for the Atari ST computers.
by its merchandising manufacturer, Avant Garde products.
Category 19, Topic 2
Message 183 Tue Jan 16, 1990
AVANTGARDE at 12:56 EST
To: All PC-DITTO II owners
We have just read the message traffic for this past weekend, and it
would be an understatement to say we have messed up. We apologize.
For those that did not get disks, we are sending them out. Somehow,
with all the parts that go into each package, a few disks were missed.
For those with boards that are not working, we are investigating the
bad boards. Since the board design does work, the problem is in
manufacturing. To bring you up to date, we began checking the
programmed parts this morning. So far, they appear to be ok. That
leaves the parts soldered on the board. As soon as we find the
problem part, we will be back online immediately to let you know what
we learned. Our manufacturer will have to replace or rework those
boards, if a part they received from their supplier was bad.
What I can say is this, please do not damage the pc-ditto II. We can
and will return your monies if they are returned as we shipped them to
you. We promise that if you have a bad board, we will make it right.
Soon. Please understand that this is a big undertaking and we're
small. WE do answer the phone, but the calls have been long and many.
Furthermore, with the bad board problem identified, we are spending
all of our time trying to locate the problem and rectify it. We will
not let you down. The product works well when it works. We won't
leave you hanging. Please hang in there a little longer. We will
have answers for all your problems.
Editor Note;
Since the advent of PCD II shipping, there has been much more
than just a few complaints about a disk missing or a booklet
missing. How about at the time of this writing, there is only
ONE PC DITTO II that this author can literally attest to its
running ok and it is thirteen hundred miles away in NYC. This
one as we understand it is a pre-production version that was hand
tested thoroughly prior to its delivery to Nevin Shallit a
reporter for ST Informer. And I might add, the first one sent to
him did not work. Incidently, that is apparently the only
version delivered in a timely manner to any publication.
It would appear that a good 90-99% of those who received the new
product recently have had negative results with either the
installation, the software, the booting or missing components to
the product, disks, booklets etc. We have seen posts and notes
from virtually all over the country from folks experiencing
varying degrees of serious difficulty with this release version
of PCD II. Perhaps the best thing to do would be to ship the
units back to AG and await a re-release of a working version of
the product. After all, since there are no warranty cards packed
with the units, thus no registration per se, and after recalling
the "hairsplitting" going on over the time limit on the 'special
prepayment offer' it would be a wise and prudent decision to
return all questionable units and please, do it with a recipient
signature required.
We now present, for your perusal, the various reader reactions to the
course of current events concerning the Avant Garde position taken and
responses forwarded to the users....
Category 19, Topic 2
Message 201 Wed Jan 17, 1990
D.BURKHALTER at 18:57 CST
Anyone who plans to return their PCD II damaged to AG should send it back
insured and certified! Just in case (I got burned by CMI but doubt AG
will do this) a problem arises. Keep your stub and the slip that comes
back until you have your refund. No point in losing $154 because of
stupidity. If something happens YOU are responsible proving that they
received the board back. Also send a letter with the return and make a
copy.
Burned before to the tune of $300,
-Dave
Editor Note:
To clarify a point mentioned, D. Burkhalter has a
considerable amount of equity involved with the now well
known situation of CMI, who closed down their operations
with a number of individuals left "holding the bag".
Category 19, Topic 2
Message 202 Wed Jan 17, 1990
E.GORELIK at 20:28 EST
Avant-Garde:
I'm not looking for a refund at the present time, but I am looking for
a working unit, and my chances of receiving one among the present batch
would seem to be near zero. So please be kind enough to hold up my order
till you have something that you can ship with justifiable assurance. To
make things easier on us both, if you've already sent me a unit I'll
simply refuse delivery and ask UPS to return to sender, then wait till I
hear an announcement from you that proven working units are now going out.
Though, as I say, this doesn't indicate that I want a refund. Good luck
on getting it all together.
I also hope to see a message from you on this thread addressing the
question of to solder or not to solder and to fit inside your ST or not to
fit inside your ST.
I wasn't one of those who read into your last message that you would
refuse to take back any units that have already been damaged due to
unfortunate attempts to cut and solder. Rather, I saw it as a cautious
statement not wanting to encourage anyone to experiment irresponsibly or
unnecessarily, and possibly for other reasons wishing to retain an option
on deciding how to handle any given case rather than commit yourself to a
policy with unknown implications. I also wasn't among those who waited
with breath all but suspended for months for your long-delayed product
and then mangled their ST's and ran up big bills trying to get it to work
when you finally sent it out but remained inaccessible by phone or modem,
but I would like to see them receive some consideration and fair play in
this, damaged units or no, and I also believe they'll get it.
D. Burkhalter:
That sounds like excellent advice, though I think in this case, where I'm
refusing delivery, that might be unnecessary.
------------
Category 19, Topic 2
Message 203 Wed Jan 17, 1990
B.MORTON5 at 20:30 EST
AVANT-GARDE: I received the pcditto II in good shape. UPS forwarded it
to me at my new address. As for me, I am looking forward to seeing
PCdittoII run. Let us all know soon what is the problem. Best Wishes.
Bev Morton
Editor Note;
Be advised, it would appear that Ms. Morton gave the unit
delivered a visual and not a functioning inspection.
Perhaps Ms. Morton would care to let us know how well
behaved the unit is once installed.
Category 19, Topic 2
Message 204 Wed Jan 17, 1990
L.BUDNICK at 20:19 CST
Well, THEY say silence is golden, but, I feel that time has come to add
my nickel's worth to this thread.
I, like many, sent in my $$$ to Avant-Garde with the expectation of
getting PCDII at a discounted rate. I had expected to see this product
delivered within a month or two from the time that I submitted my check.
Well, S**T HAPPENS! If you have been around the computer business for any
length of time at all, this is not the first time, nor will it likely be
the last time a product is planned to be delivered and is LATE!
Additionally, it is surely not the first time a delivered product has had
major problems once it was delivered.
For those continuing to whine, mostly the same people that were
whining about the product being late, you also have a responsibility for
finding yourself in the position you find yourself. You are responsible
for taking the RISK in sending in $$$ for a product that was still being
developed. I think over the course of this entire ordeal, Avant-Garde has
given each of us the opportunity to change our mind and to get our money
back. This offer was made during the delay in shipments and again with
the discovery of the product not being operational when it finally did
ship. Further, Avant-Garde has offered their apologies for the current
situation, and has indicated that they are working to resolve the
problems. What more can they do under the circumstances?
I ordered PCDII because I felt that AG had provided me with a quality
product in PCDI. I believe that given an opportunity to get the current
problems resolved, they will offer that same quality in their PCDII
product. This is a risk that I think is worthwhile taking for the amount
of $$$ involved, and the potential benefit I will derive should I be
correct. Again, this is my decision, and the responsibility for that risk
continues to be mine.
I suggest if you feel you got the SHAFT and the risk is no longer
worth it, quit your whining, request your money be returned, and don't
waste the time of those of us who follow this thread for support from AG.
If whining is your thing, go do it in category 18!
To AG, I certainly have not given up the ship. Keep on, keeping on! I
for one continue to look forward to a quality product being available in
the not to distant future. Thanks for your support to-date, and I am
awaiting the arrival of your new product with the same FAITH as when I
originally sent in my check.
Lorne.... (perhaps silent for too long, but not long enough) :-)
Editor Note;
Suffering in silence for more than a quarter of a year is a
bit much, especially when the phones are emitting constant
busy signals or a non-recording answering device is busy
devouring customer's long distance dollars. Certainly, if
people were able to reach a living responding person at the
other end 3/4 of the unrest would not be evident. Nobody is
asking that the ship be abandoned, they are simply asking
for a life vest.....
Category 19, Topic 2
Message 205 Wed Jan 17, 1990
J.ALLEN27 at 21:47 EST
Hey Nevin, I don't have an ST hooked to the phone, can you upload the SW?
I am beginning to wonder about the packaging the boards were shipped in.
I haven;t seen the packaging, can you describe it to me, if there was a
plastic bag was it pink or did it look like "polaroid filter" material. I
spend $1 each on the antistatic super bags I ship T16s in. Maybe these
things were getting zapped in shipping? I have to believe they tested
these ubits before shipment, but they are definitely not happy with
blitters when they are working. If you sending them back for repair, just
send the big board, even if you soldered the "clip" on you can still get
the main board fixed.
------------
Category 19, Topic 2
Message 206 Wed Jan 17, 1990
N.RECHTMAN1 at 22:25 EST
I thing AG made a big mistake not making a cartridge version or at least
an external unit like Supercharger, which seems to be from what I've read
really easy to use and work with AG, why don't you reconsider your poor
design.
Category 19, Topic 2
Message 207 Wed Jan 17, 1990
K.MULLIKIN at 19:36 PST
Has anyone tried to get PCDII to fit with the center post removed and
leaving the RFI shield out?
------------
Category 19, Topic 2
Message 208 Wed Jan 17, 1990
J.GARRISON5 at 22:37 EST
T.HESTER1,
I agree with you that the potential benefits of a working PCD II are
worth waiting for, but I disagree with your assessment of the capabilities
and knowledge of the various people who have received their PCD II's.
While your reference to the "JCL sign" might have merit if only a small
percentage of people could not understand the instructions, it is a
completely inappropriate analogy in this case. So far, NO one has been
able to get a production PCD II to work. That is, 100% of the people are
"misunderstanding" AG's instructions. As far as I'm concerned, that
falls under the category of "Poorly Written Documents". Either that, or
AG has shipped defective boards and/ or software to its customers.
As far as the actual knowledge of some or all of the customers is
concerned, as an electrical engineer I can tell you just from my attention
to this category that several of the people out there (J.ALLEN27 in
particular) are QUITE competent, full-fledged EXPERTS in these matters.
But that shouldn't even come into consideration here, since PCD II was
supposedly designed to be a user-installed device not requiring expert
knowledge. The mere use of the phrase "self-professed experts" tends to
insult those you said you did not intend to demean. It MAY yet turn out
that the "average joes" HAVE screwed up by misunderstanding AG's seemingly
inadequate documentation and attention to detail in the area of packaging
a complete product, but I doubt it. Your advice and thoughts on this
subject, even though you obviously meant well, hit a little wide of the
target.
J. Garrison
Editor Note;
Obviously, many of the 'complaints' both pro and con,
involving this PCD II matter are going to reflect the
charged personal feelings of those most effected by what is
going on, namely those who have bought and paid for a device
they now possess and it flat out does not perform at any
level of expectation. This is the crux of the matter, when
a user makes a purchase in the computing community he
expects support and justifiably so, especially when we are
looking at an 'in the field' hardware installation.
Presently, most folks with a problem may call the AG phone
number and expect either a non-recording answering machine
or unending busy signals. This method of diligent user
support soon would wear anyone's patience thin.
------------
Category 19, Topic 2
Message 209 Wed Jan 17, 1990
A.KLYM at 20:36 PST
In my attempt to install my PC-DITTO II into my old 520 ST, I removed my
center post. I have not had my RF shield for some time.
------------
Category 19, Topic 2
Message 210 Wed Jan 17, 1990
W.CHOW at 23:56 EST
J.ALLEN,
i looked at the bag the board came in again, it's still pink with bubbles
all over :-)
whoops! pop goes that bubble...
------------
Category 19, Topic 2
Message 211 Wed Jan 17, 1990
S.STAHL1 at 23:24 CST
At the risk of complicating matters more, I'd think that many of AG's
customers deserve compensation for the money spent on the fruitless
installation attempts; dealers charged from $50 to $100, wasn't it, for
installation? I'd suggest sending copies of the bills to AG, especially
if the boards have to be installed twice.
------------
Category 19, Topic 2
Message 213 Wed Jan 17, 1990
F.GIOMBOLINI at 22:45 MST
I want to repeat my plea - Please if anyone has the pcdittoII files please
upload them here. I need them to check out my board. Avant Garde says its
ok. I am indebted to you - thanks, Fred
------------
Category 19, Topic 2
Message 214 Thu Jan 18, 1990
NEVIN-S at 04:48 EST
For everyone's information, I spoke with Bill Teal last night. He is of
course very aware of the problem, and is working feverishly to locate the
specific culprit. He said as much here a couple of days ago, but I
thought folks would like to here it once again. He will come on line again
as soon as he has any more information, and asks you to just hang in
there. Anyone who returns their board will receive a refund, of course.
But of course he hopes you will hold on a bit longer while he tracks down
the specific problem.
Nevin
Editor Note;
While it is all well and good to allow the situation to calm
itself, this process could easily be accelerated by having a "warm body"
answering the telephone offering a reasonable explanation for what is
actually happening. The old "personal touch" goes a mighty long way in
giving good customers a reason for waiting for a much anticipated product.
While it is nice to see that a few (very few) have been able to discuss
this situation with Avant Garde, the majority of users nationwide have
not.
__________________________________________________________
> BECKEMEYER DEVELOPMENT CPU/STR OnLine¿
======================================
********** A N N O U N C E M E N T **********
SHAREWARE MULTITASKING MICRO RTX FOR THE ATARI ST!!!
(OAKLAND, CA) BECKEMEYER DEVELOPMENT TOOLS has released a version
of their multitasking operating system, MICRO RTX, as shareware
for the Atari ST line of computers.
MICRO RTX is a fully multitasking real-time operating system
which adds multitasking extensions to TOS, Atari's native
operating system. MICRO RTX can run standard TOS and GEM
programs without modifications and offers additional operating
system services for applications, such as interprocess
communication, installable device drivers, file and record
locking, device control, real-time prioritization of tasks,
efficent memory management, event signaling, message passing,
and much more.
Full programming documentation is included with the shareware
version, including source code to "C" bindings for popular
Atari ST "C" compilers.
End-user registration is a modest $35, which includes the program
disk and printed manual. Full developer status with technical
support services is $75. An advanced commercial version which
includes an unlimited binary redistribution license is $250.
CONTACT:
BECKEMEYER DEVELOPMENT TOOLS
P.O. Box 21575
Oakland, CA 94620
(415) 530-9637
BBS: (415) 530-9682
In an online note from D. Beckemeyer;
Ralph (ST-Report), there's so much to MT C-Shell and VSH that it is
hard to describe in a few lines of text. I don't know all the policies
here on GEnie yet regarding commercial announcements of that sort. I'll
give a short description here and check into\ uploading some more detailed
info.
MT C-Shell is an operating system for the ST. It is a general purpose
multitasking/multiuser OS. It has as standard a Unix-like user interface.
It has login IDs and passwords and has a command-line interface called the
C shell, patterened after the Berkeley Unix C shell. Really the C shell
is just a program that accepts commands and acts on them. MT C- a variety
of ways, such as special configuration files, batch files etc. The unique
thing about MT C-Shell is that it is TOS compatible. It emulates the TOS
system and can run TOS and GEM programs.
It is also a fully multitasking system in its own right, with many
advanced features -- like installable device drivers, interprocess
communication, priorities, etc. etc. Because of all the "user
customization" possible with the MT C-Shell system, it's hard to exactly
what the system does since it can do whatever you want -- it's hard to
draw the line as to wh what is MT C-Sell and what is an application or
configuration.
Basically, MT C-Shell gives you a system where you can run commands in
the background while you continue to work and it also allows you to set up
your system with a modem or terminal for multiuser use. There are also
hardware expansdion ioptions for up to 12-users on a Mega ST (or upgraded
1040 or 520).
VSH is a GEM "outer layer" for MT C-Shell. It includes GEM
applications, accesoryies and device drivers for "virtual terminals"
inside GEM windows, where you can have several MT C-Shell sessions visible
and active at the same time on one screen. Right now, as I type in this
message in one GEM window, I have other windows where I can switch over
and run any commands I desire. The windows are all running at the same
time, output may occur to any window asynchronously. The comands and jobs
started in a window even continue to run when the window is closed and not
visible - the output will be waiting there in the window when you open it
again. You can also use a VSH command window from the Desk menu from
within another GEM application.
Regarding upgrades, most upgrades of BDT products involve sending in
the disk with a $5 charge. The exceptions are MT C-Shell which is $10.00
and Hard Disk Toolkit V2.00 which comes with a new manual and has an
upgrade fee of $15.00
These are the most recent versions of our software;
Micro C-Shell is 2.74, Hard Disk Toolkit is 2.04 and hard Disk
Sentry is 1.20. MT C-Shell is also Version 1.20. Sentry, Hard
Disk Toolkit, and VSh are also available for download by reg.
owners on the BDT BBS at (415) 530-9682.
I hope this answers everyone's questions without being too long.
David -- Beckemeyer Development
CONTACT:
BECKEMEYER DEVELOPMENT TOOLS
P.O. Box 21575
Oakland, CA 94620
(415) 530-9637
BBS: (415) 530-9682
____________________________________________________________
> NEODESK REVISITED! CPU/STR FOCUS¿ An interesting series of tests...
================================
A COMPARISON OF NEODESK AND ATARI'S DESKTOP
===========================================
an interesting study conducted by the folks a Gribnif...
We were sitting around the other day and decided that we had never
really done a direct comparison of the speed increase of NeoDesk over
the built-in desktop.
For these tests we used a Mega ST4 with the Blitter turned on. The
machine was equipped with the newer TOS 1.4 and was running on a SM124
monochrome monitor. We also repeated the tests on a Moniterm Viking 2
monitor. Apart from the NeoDesk Control Panel, no other software was
running (when the Moniterm was used the Moniterm driver software was
also running). A plain out-of-the-box copy of NeoDesk 2.05 was used.
The newer TOS 1.4 was used since it is supposed to have the latest (and
fastest) version of the built-in desktop.
Since a manual stopwatch was used, there is probably error margin
of about .3 second. All tests were done three times, best time of the
three was used.
We created a folder with 800 files within it. This directory was
then scrolled from top to bottom with a series of different options.
This was done by holding the mouse over the scroll arrow and holding it
down until all the files had been scrolled. When NeoDesk was used to
display text all the file size, date, and time displays were left on (to
be identical to the built-in desktop as possible).
On the SM124 monochrome monitor:
Type of Test NeoDesk 2.05 Built-in Desktop
------------------------------------------------------------------
min:secs min:secs
With a window that was the full
width of the screen and 2 icons
high (show as icons)............ 0:07.4 0:57.1
With a window that was the full
width of the screen and 5 lines
high of text (show as text)..... 0:48.5 5:30.2
With a window the full size of
the screen (show as icons)...... 0:08.7 1:24.5
With a window the full size of
the screen (show as text)....... 0:58.6 6:23.8
On the Moniterm Viking 2 monitor:
Type of Test NeoDesk 2.05 Built-in Desktop
-------------------------------------------------------------------
min:secs min:secs
With a window that was the full
width of the screen and 2 icons
high (show as icons)............ 0:05.7 0:37.7
With a window that was the full
width of the screen and 5 lines
high of text (show as text)..... 0:30.7 2:17.2
With a window the full size of
the screen (show as icons)...... 0:06.4 (see below)
With a window the full size of
the screen (show as text)....... 0:48.31 6:07.3
It seems that the built-in desktop is has problems displaying a
window the size of the Moniterm screen if it is full of icons. The
built-in desktop can only display up to 249 icons in a window at the
same time. If you attempt to display over 249 icons in the same window
it will start behaving in some rather peculiar ways. It will refuse to
scroll and when it does scroll it will do so incorrectly. Seems that no
one ever bothered to see if the built-in desktop could handle a screen
of the size of the Moniterm. Because of this we were unable to test its
scrolling speed on a full size window on the Moniterm.
More interesting information discovered while doing these tests:
Maximum number of files viewable in a full screen window:
Type of display NeoDesk 2.05 Built-in Desktop
-------------------------------------------------------------------
# of files # of files
SM124 Monochrome, Icons.......... 64 49
SM124 Monochrome, Text........... 18 18
SM124, with no text, size, or
date display (only NeoDesk can
do this)....................... 72 n/a
SM124, with no options, in small
text size (again, only NeoDesk
can do this)................... 128 n/a
Moniterm, Icons.................. 368 249*
Moniterm, Text................... 147** 147**
Moniterm, no text options (only
NeoDesk can do this)........... 441 n/a
Moniterm, no text options in
small text size (again, only
NeoDesk can do this)........... 880 n/a
* Due to a bug in the built-in desktop, it will only display the first
249 icons that can fit in a window. In theory it could display a
total of 300 icons.
** With all file size, date, and time information displayed both the
built-in desktop and NeoDesk display the information in 3 columns
wide. Unlike the built-in desktop, you can turn off the multiple
column display with NeoDesk.
Most of the speed increase in NeoDesk derives from one simple thing.
We do not use the VDI (Virtual Device Interface) part of the Atari
operating system. This is the part that handles all screen drawing,
blitting, and text drawing. The built-in desktop (and just about every
other program available for the ST) depend heavily on the VDI. By
writing our own drawing, blitting, and text drawing routines in our own
high-speed code which uses the LINEA we are able to create a MUCH faster
environment. Sure this requires much more work, but we think the above
numbers speak for themselves.
For more information contact your dealer or:
GRIBNIF SOFTWARE
PO Box 350
Hadley, MA. 01035
1-413-584-7887
------> Look for Gribnif on CIS in the Atari Vendor Forum.<------
_________________________________________________________
> CPU/STR Tech Notes¿ 5 1/4 drive connections.....
==================
Correct Pinout to add your own 5 1/4 drive to the ATARI ST.
34 Pin Drive Connector Atari 14 Pin Din Connector Signal
-----------------------|-------------------------------|----------------|
2 - - - - - -|- - - - - - - * - - - - - - - -| Media Change |
4 - - - - - -|- - - - Not USED!! - - - - - -| In Use |
6 - - - - - -|- - - - Not USED!! - - - - - -| D3 Select |
8 - - - - - -|- - - - - - - 4 - - - - - - - -| Index Pulse |
10 - - - - - -|- - - - - - - 5 - - - - - - - -| D0 Select |
12 - - - - - -|- - - - - - - 6 - - - - - - - -| D1 Select |
14 - - - - - -|- - - - Not USED!! - - - - - -| D2 Select |
16 - - - - - -|- - - - - - - 8 - - - - - - - -| Motor ON |
18 - - - - - -|- - - - - - - 9 - - - - - - - -| Direction |
20 - - - - - -|- - - - - - -10 - - - - - - - -| Step |
22 - - - - - -|- - - - - - -11 - - - - - - - -| Write Data |
24 - - - - - -|- - - - - - -12 - - - - - - - -| Write Gate |
26 - - - - - -|- - - - - - -13 - - - - - - - -| Track 00 |
28 - - - - - -|- - - - - - -14 * - - - - - - -| Write Protect |
30 - - - - - -|- - - - - - - 1 - - - - - - - -| Read Data |
32 - - - - - -|- - - - - - - 2 - - - - - - - -| Side Select |
34 - - - - - -|- - - - - Not USED! - - - - - -| Ready/Media cng|
(Any ODD Pins)- -|- - - - - 3 and 7 - - - - - - -| Logic Ground |
_______________________________________________________________
* NOTE!!!
A jumper Must be installed between pins 2 and 28 of the drive
itself This connects the Media Change Signal to the Write protect
signal. This is required only if you intend on removing a disk,
inserting a new one and getting a new directory by hitting the
(ESCape) key.
_______________________________________________________________
> FTL RESPONDS! CPU/STR Spotlight¿ FTL tries hard to satisfy!
===============================
THE FINE ART OF CUSTOMER SATISFACTION
=====================================
FTL Replies;
News Flash from Gestapo Headquarters!
- - -
Regarding the debate over my request to stop uploading saved games. I
think I can propose an alternate solution. As I mentioned before, my
concern is primarily protecting our copyrights. I really don't want to
discourage people from trading Champions. However, currently the saved
game file contains more than the Champion stats. In discussing this with
my staff we came up with the idea of creating a utility that would extract
only the Champion data from a game file and convert it into a form that
could be uploaded and directly read by the Chaos Strikes Back Utility
disk. Would this be an acceptable solution?
Editor Note;
to FTL....
Not only is the solution offered by you (FTL) excellent, it also
illustrates clearly, for all to see, why this company is the success it
is.. These good people recognize the true value of customer support and
offer themselves to this ens unselfishly. Many thanks are offered for a
quick and equitable solution. Your sense of humor is to be applauded.
Your handling of this entire situation could easily be a lesson in
diplomacy and good will all of us can learn from. Again, thanks.
---===**===---
Regarding the Champion picture files.
Here, is a description of the format of these files.
(All offsets in bytes)
offset 0: 0x91A7 Magic number for Portrait file
offset 2: 0x000A System reserved use
offset 4: 0x0001 Identifies file originates from Atari ST
offset 6: 0x0001 System reserved use
offset 8: 0x0001 System reserved use
offset 10: 0x0000 System reserved use
offset 12: 0x0000 System reserved use
offset 14: 0x0000 System reserved use
offset 16: "NICKNME",0 Nickname (8 bytes total incl zero delim)
offset 24: "CHAMP TITLE",0 Title (20 bytes total incl zero delim)
offset 44: portrait data See note 3.
- - -
Notes:
1. Title is optional (first byte may be zero), but all Champions must
have a NICKNAME (offset 16)
2. Valid characters for nickname or title are uppercase A-Z, comma,
period, semicolon, colon, and space.
3. Portrait is 464 bytes (32 pixels wide by 29 lines tall)
saved in Atari planar format as follows:
line 1 <16 bit plane 0> MSB is leftmost pixel
<16 bit plane 1>
<16 bit plane 2>
<16 bit plane 3>
<16 bit plane 0> LSB is rightmost pixel
<16 bit plane 1>
<16 bit plane 2>
<16 bit plane 3>
Lines 2-29 repeat as above.
4. Color palette is not saved in file but is assumed to be as follows:
color 0: 0x0000 Black
color 1: 0x0333 gray
color 2: 0x0444 gray
color 3: 0x0310 brown
color 4: 0x0066 cyan
color 5: 0x0420 brown
color 6: 0x0040 green
color 7: 0x0060 green
color 8: 0x0700 red
color 9: 0x0750 gold
color 10: 0x0643 flesh
color 11: 0x0770 yellow
color 12: 0x0222 gray
color 13: 0x0555 gray
color 14: 0x0007 blue
color 15: 0x0777 white
- - -
If anyone writes any useful utilities with this info I'd like to
receive a copy. Send it to:
Wayne Holder
C/O Software Heaven Inc.
6160 Lusk Blvd. Suite C-206
San Diego, Calif 92121.
__________________________________________________________
> THE BEAT GOES ON CPU/STR Spotlight¿ When, sweet William, when?
===================================
LOOMING ON THE HORIZON, THE MUSHROOM PATCH!
==========================================
by R.F. Mariano
The indecision, the vascillation, the obvious lack of direction....
and the most detrimental, a total lack of continuity in inter-departmental
communication are going to be our ruination. (recently overheard in the
far reaches of the west coast at a certain fortune 500 computer company)
In the past we have read;
"Atari, in keeping with Sam Tramiel's promise that the US was Atari's main
market and that "ATARI WAS BACK" in the US, introduced two new computers
in Dusseldorf Germany, THE WEEK AFTER THE ATARIFEST IN DALLAS TEXAS."
"The Atari Show in Dusseldorf Germany was a great success for Atari.
There were lots and lots of exhibitors and people. The diversity of
the programs being shown at this show were simply amazing. There were
ST's driving knitting machines, making vinyl signs, playing music,
designing all kinds of tech things, word processors up the kazoo, and
all kinds of top quality, serious software."
"Atari had 4 STE's and 4 TT's at the show. The STE's were playing 2
Atari games that were not impressive (graphics wise) The TT's had one
(single screen) demo that also was not very impressive. It was
interesting that Maxtor, a German company, had a board there that they
plan to sell in week or two that had graphics comparable (better?)
than the TT and they had some really nice graphics demos to put on
their screen (digitized on a MAC II). Their board was very
impressive."
Response at the show was NOT VERY FAVORABLE TO THE STE.
Comments heard included:
"The STE brings the ST's graphics and sound up to the level of the
Amiga 500".
"It's too little to late" . "The STE should have been put on sale 2
or 3 years ago, its already outdated!"
A major English newspaper mentioned that they doubted if anyone
would write software for the STE and if there was no software why would
anyone purchase the STE?
"The TT was more impressive but with everyone accustomed to Atari
showing products a year or two before release, people were NOT overly
excited. The case had an unusual design that looked nice but did not seem
to be very functional. Most people seemed to think the TT was there more
to keep people from abandoning Atari more then that it was close to being
ready for sale. It was interesting to find that for the past year
everytime one heard the expression "TT" they also heard about how it
would have UNIX and be expandable (read: card slots) but the TT at
Dusseldorf did not have UNIX and could not be expanded. According to
Atari, the expandable Unix version of the TT will be along 3-6 months
after the first TT is sold." ....sure but when? And where??
"The ST in Germany is, and at the same time, was considered a hi-tech,
state of the art, business machine. The vast majority of the computers
sold, are sold with a mono monitor. But the German folks feel that Atari
has lost the price and performance advantage that it once had over other
computers. Sales of the Megas and ST's are slowing in their computer
stores. So Atari Germany went and sold a bunch of 520's to a large
discount chain store. (where has that happened before??) This caused the
dealers to get even more upset but managed to keep Atari Germany's sales
up over last year. It seems to be, Atari Germany is losing computer
dealers equally as fast as they are in the USA."
"Interesting thing about this is that Atari Germany has made up a
special "blue box" for the 520 with nice graphics and bundled some
software with it. Very similar to what Atari England has been doing. The
only difference is that all the Ataris sold in England are for the home
market. The vast majority of computers sold in England are 520's with a
color monitor."
IT LOOKS LIKE ATARI HAS FIGURED OUT THE BEST WAY TO SELL THE 520'S IS
TO BUNDLE SOME SOFTWARE WITH THEM AND SELL THEM AT A DISCOUNT TO CHAIN
AND DISCOUNT STORES. --> THE POWER PACK DEAL <--
But rather than really going after this market they are coming out
with a top of the line Unix machine. What do they really want to do?
Sell 520's to discount stores or sell TT's to computer stores." Perhaps
both.....
---===**===---
The above commentary first appeared in SEPTEMBER of 1989, regarding the
undefined plans of Atari and its international m
arketing goals. The sad
part is here we are already into the first quarter of 1990, and everything
that was speculated in the above passage seems to have been cast in stone!
Even down to the "broken promise syndrome." "WE WILL RELEASE IN THE USA
FIRST" As time has shown, this statement became the punch line to the
slogan "Atari is back". Obviously, both became the "JOKE OF THE YEAR".
It appears as if Atari's marketing plan is to sell discounted 520's,
bundled with at least 10-12 software packages, to discount stores and mail
order houses. Until the TT is released, how will the loyal dealers
survive? Do they think all the dealers will eagerly return and line up to
purchase the new "STE " & "TT" computer lines when and if they become
available in the USA? You can bet your bottom dollar that as soon as the
TT ensemble is generally available the mega style and type ST computer
will go the way of the DoDo bird. (Remember the 800XL-130XE scheme?) Oh
sure, there are those who will say otherwise, but face reality, you cannot
stop progress ..no matter how much it hurts. Even if its not perceived as
progress. Is it really progress? Or simply a lateral move to market
already passe designs?
Its becomes very interesting to note that in Germany, the ST is sold
as a business machine, in England it is sold as a home computer/game
machine, and in the US it is sold as a computer.
As we grope about in the quagmire of;
o what is type accepted and what is not.
o which product is on the mass marketer's shelves.
o which version of the Portfolio is going to survive.
o whether or not the STE will be in the mega style case.
o when these new products will be on sale.
o when the national advertising (TV) will occur.
These are but a few of the constantly asked questions we are posed
with week in and week out, it is easy to see where the users and potential
users are being driven to other markets. It is time to really begin to
push Atari and its leadership to the threshold of new added success
despite themselves. Regretfully, it is easy to see where they haven't
really learned a darn thing from 1989, the rank politics are still in
evidence, the non-sense of who is trying to "shine" in the bosses' eyes
continues at an unbridled pace and those who are involved are far to busy
with their dumb corporate in-fighting to grasp the everyday, real life
happenings in the computer world that really count. It is absolutely
absurd to see a fortune 500, 400 million dollar corporation represented on
almost all fronts by amateurs. Atari must clean up its image and do it
with much haste.
________________________________________________________
> ATARI'S IMAGE CPU/STR SOUND OFF¿ A candid opinion...
===============================
THE IMAGE OF ATARI
==================
by Dave Scarpa
There has been much made of the fact that the Atari line of computers
are not taken seriously as powerful personal computers. Some blame
Atari's long association with the video Game Market. Some also blame the
fact that image doesn't fit in with the IBM suit and tie crowd. If Atari
is aiming to hit more of the business crowd with its line of PC's, then
they are indeed missing the mark. I make that comment because I believe
the dealers could go along way in furthering Atari's cause by improving
their own image.
I speak specifically of a dealer in my area. And I am not saying that
all dealers are the same. When you walk into my local dealer's shop the
first thing that greets you are sales people often wearing very casual
clothing, usually jeans and tees. Now I am not saying that these
individuals do not know their product, I know they are quite well versed,
however I doubt if an executive who is looking to invest lots of money for
his company will think so. I know from being in the retail business that
the image you present to the consumer goes along way to influence their
opinions of your product.
Once you get by the sales people what greets you next is a shop which
is always quite a mess. In evidence are broken computers on workbenches
with their innards hanging out, not a sight to likely to convey confidence
in possible new customers! The place also is generally in a state of
disarray, parts a strewn here and there, along with the items that
they've come out of.
I am not on a personal attack of Atari dealers and I hope most dealers
operate with a measure of professionalism, for if the Atari line is ever
to be given its due, then the dealers, the lifeblood of Atari, must be the
ones who convey this message to the consumer. To do so the dealers must
be ready to lift Atari's image above that of a gaming machine and hacker's
delight, to one of a serious PC. To accomplish this task dealers must be
ready to present themselves in the most professional way they can and
shed the old image of a computer hobbyist, and present a new one as a
computer professional.
____________________________________________________________
> "THE MOUSE" CPU/STR Review¿ Practical Solutions' Infrared beauty.
==========================
by Lloyd E. Pulley
Last week, CPU/STR had a so-called 'review' of Practical Solutions' new
Cordless Mouse. After reading this 'review', I came to the conclusion
that it was more of a press release than a review. It told you
everything you ever wanted to know about Practical Solutions', a little
about their new Infrared technology but almost nothing about the
Cordless Mouse (aka The Hamster). The following are a few pieces of
information that I found lacking in the CPU/STR article, things that I
felt were needed to make a good review....
First, there was no description of the mouse or it's receiver. After
reading the review, a reader didn't know if the mouse was 8" x 5" x 2"
or 4" x 2.5" x 1" (the later is the closest).
The mouse is approximately the same width as the Atari mouse, a little
bit longer (about 3/8") and a trifle shorter (about 1/2"). It fits very
nicely in the palm of the average adults hand. The receiver is about
2.25" x 2.5" x 1" and what little power that it uses is drawn from the
mouse port on the ST. The receiver comes with a cord that is
approximately 3 ft. long (1.5 meters according to the specifications
....but what red-blooded American knows how long that is? Give me
feet/inches any day of the week!). The cord is long enough that you can
put the receiver just about anywhere you want. Both the mouse and the
receiver are a nice light-grey color; just a little lighter than the
normal ST/Mega case.
Two, the 'review' told you nothing about what type of power the mouse
uses. Does it use 22 9-volt batteries or just two AAA batteries?
The Cordless mouse will work with two AAA batteries (not included).
I've found the best ones to be the new Alkaline's (according to a recent
Consumer Report article that I read, all Alkaline batteries are just
about the same....but I degress). The average user will get 6-8 weeks
from a set of Alkaline batteries. A user that uses their computer 10-16
hours a day will probably have to replace them a little more often.
Just like anything else, there will be some users that get 6 months from
a set of batteries and others that will only get two weeks, but the
average should be 6-8 weeks. Also, you can use the rechargeable
batteries with the Cordless Mouse. Of course, since these have less
power (1.25v compared to 1.5v for a non-rechargeable), they will
replaced more often. Under normal conditions, a rechargeable battery
should last 7-10 days. The batteries fit in the underside of the mouse
and are very easy to replace (my wife has 2" nails and has no problem
replacing the batteries).
Third, nothing was said about the special anti-static silicon rubber
coated ball that almost eliminates the need for cleaning the mouse (I've
had my cordless mouse for over two months now and I still haven't
cleaned the rollers/ball and I had to clean my Atari mouse almost every
week). Plus, this special ball allows the mouse to roll very freely and
smoothly.
Fourth, nothing was said about the 600 mm/sec tracking speed. The
Cordless Mouse receiver has a built-in micro-processor that will
internally increase the acceleration the faster you move the mouse.
This almost eliminates the need for most software mouse accelerators.
Fifth, also ignored was the fact that the Cordless Mouse has a 200 cpi
high resolution. This is almost double what the normal Atari mouse.
This means that you don't have to move the mouse as far to do things on
the screen or need as much desk space.
Sixth, nothing was said about how the mouse automatically shuts-off
after 8-10 minutes of non-use. This feature was put in to save the
batteries life. (It's possible in future versions of the Cordless Mouse
that this might be a user modifiable feature.)
Seventh, nothing was said about being able to use the mouse from up to
five feet away from the receiver (you're no longer encumbered by a
cord). At one PHAST meeting (PHoenix Area ST users...<plug>) I was able
to set a demo up on the desk and then set in the audience and run the
demo.
Eighth, nothing was said about the price of the Cordless Mouse. It
retails for $139.00 but you can pick them up mail-order for $99-$109.
That does make it one of the more expensive mouses (mice? meese?) on
the market. Is it worth it? Let me put it this way, my wife would kill
me (and probably be found not-guilty by reason of justifiable homicide)
if I ever got rid of my Cordless Mouse (Audry II). After a couple of
days of use (yes, it does take a little while to get used to it...just
like it would take a couple of days to get used to a Jaguar if you'd
been used to driving a Model T), my wife started referring to the old
Atari mouse as 'The Tank!'.
That about does it. I've done reviews before, but this is the first
time I've ever reviewed a review.
Lloyd E. Pulley, Sr.
Well, Lloyd, now that you have 'reviewed the review' I must admit you made
the difference... hopefully, folks will try this infrared beaut out.
Mark at Practical Solutions has a real winner in the works with the
cordless mouse.
___________________________________________________________
> Stock Market ~ CPU NewsWire¿
===========================
THE TICKERTAPE
==============
by Michael Arthur
Concept by Glenn Gorman
Atari Stock went up 1/2 of a point on Monday, and went down 1/8 of
a point on Tuesday. On Wednesday it was down 1/4 of a point, and on
Thursday, it went up 1/8 of a point. On Friday, Atari Stock went down 3/4
of a point. Finishing up the week at 8 3/4 points, Atari stock is down
1/2 of a point from the last report.
Apple Stock is down 3 1/4 points from Friday, January 5, 1990.
Commodore Stock is down 1 1/2 points from 1/05/90.
IBM Stock is down 1 7/8 points from 1/05/90.
Stock Report for Week of 1/08/90 to 1/12/90
_________________________________________________________________________
STock| Monday | Tuesday | Wednesday | Thursday | Friday |
Reprt|Last Chg.|Last Chg.|Last Chg.|Last Chg.|Last Chg. |
-----|------------|-------------|------------|-------------|-------------|
Atari|9 3/4 + 1/2|9 5/8 - 1/8|9 3/8 - 1/4|9 1/2 + 1/8|8 3/4 - 3/4|
| | | | | 101,800 Sls |
-----|------------+-------------+------------+-------------+-------------|
CBM |9 5/8 - 1/8|8 7/8 - 5/8|8 5/8 - 1/4|8 1/2 - 1/8|8 1/4 - 1/4|
| | | | | 266,800 Sls |
-----|------------+-------------+------------+-------------+-------------|
Apple| 38 + 1/4|37 5/8 - 3/8| 36 -1 5/8|34 1/2 -1 1/2|34 1/2 .00 |
| | | | |1,534,800 Sls|
-----|------------+-------------+------------+-------------+-------------|
IBM |100 3/8 +5/8|99 3/8 - 1 | 99 - 3/8|99 7/8 +7/8|97 7/8 - 2 |
| | | | |1,347,700 Sls|
-----'-------------------------------------------------------------------'
Short term interest in Atari stock has been low thus placing it in
similar light to Texas Air etc...
'Sls' refers to the # of stock shares that were traded that day.
'CBM' refers to Commodore Corporation.
______________________________________________________
> WORD FLAIR!! CPU/STR FOCUS¿ A few words from its creator....
===========================
WORD FLAIR - PLANS FOR THE FUTURE
=================================
Mon Jan 15, 1990 WORDFLAIR
From: Lauren Flanegan-Sellers
Blue Chip Software Inc.
Howdy! Sorry I took so long to reply to all your messages. We still
have not received any GEnie documentation, and I just haven't had time
until now to figure it out myself. Thank you Lloyd and Jeff for passing
on our telephone conversations in my absence.
First, I'd like to thank all of you for you interest in Wordflair and
for buying our product. I designed the product nearly four years ago, and
we have spent the past two years coding for the Atari. So we are happy
it's finally out, and find all of the interest and comments gratifying
..even the complaints. We are committed to making Wordflair the best
document processor on any machine, so keep those ideas and suggestions
flowing. We're listening!
Perhaps a little history will clairify some of our design decisions.
We originally licensed Wordflair to Atari. As a small development house,
we thought it better to focus on product and let Atari use its marketing
"muscle" to help us achieve maximum distribution. The ST market was just
unfolding, and we thought that such a great machine would take some market
share away from Apple. We didn't think we were a big enough company to
sell our software to Atari's projected "jillions of users." And ..
MacWrite had certainly gotten a big assist from Apple and Claris, so we
thought the same idea would work with Atari. In hindsight, perhaps that
was a naive position.
At any rate, one of Atari's covenants was that Wordflair be a GDOS
product. As part of our agreement, Atari was to supply GDOS, printer
drivers, a spellchecker, and hyphenation dictionaries in different
languages. For a variety of reasons we terminated our agreement with
Atari just before COMDEX. It was an amicable, mutual termination and we
remain on excellent terms with Atari. However, the net result was that we
had to launch Wordflair 1.0 with GDOS and a limited number of printer
drivers, and minus Atari's spellchecker. That is why Wordflair's initial
SRP is the rather low, $99.95. In our view, Wordflair 1.0 is an excellent
solution to the creation of short, compound documents, and offers real
value to Atari users.
We plan significant upgrades to Wordflair over the next year. We
have a long wish list and will add your comments and suggestions as we go
along. Just make sure that you send in your customer registration cards
so that you will be able to take advantage of the attractive offers coming
very soon.
We will mail out FX-80 and NB15 printer drivers along with a
maintenance upgrade, version 1.01, to all registered users this week. The
FX-80 printer driver should have been on the distribution disk but was
inadvertently omitted. Please excuse our error. We should have checked
out the master disk Atari gave us more carefully. It won't happen again,
I promise. The upgrade fixes a bug that we missed in our testing. (SIGH)
In version 1.0 the printer fonts were not closed completely upon
exiting which could interfere with other GDOS programs for those of you
using multiple assign.sys files. This problem has been fixed with version
1.01. As a temporary workaround, you can reboot after using Wordflair and
before using another GDOS program.
As Lloyd Pulley has told you, we are working on more printer drivers
including support for 24 pin printers and the HP deskjet. We are also in
the process of evaluating spellcheckers and thesauri. We are currently
leaning toward Proximity. As soon as we complete our evaluation and have
a firm ship date, we will send a mailing to all registered users offering
a very attractive upgrade price for the new features. Other features
coming include postscript support, hyphenation, faster importation of .img
files and importation of comma delimited format into our record files.
The following are answers to Tom Moore's questions and comments:
Although you cannot overlap regions, you can imbed them like the
children's barrel game. Try imbedding text regions in the white space of
graphic regions to add comments or text to imported meta or .img files.
Set the grid to scale first, and turn snap on to help align the imbedded
regions. Overlapping regions are on our list but will not be among the
first upgrades. We do plan a number of improvements to the handling of
.img files including auto optimization. For now, note the dimensions of
the original and draw out a graph region of the same size using a scaled
grid, snap and t-square before importing the file. You can remove any
imported graphic by double clicking on the graph region at the "Remove
Picture?" box. Also doing macro page layout in the title mode speeds the
redraw significantly when positioning graphics.
The term "regions" originated with the Xerox Parc interface, Alan
Kay's group. Regions is a term widely used in Macintosh software
programming and object oriented programming in general.
That's all for now. Will try to be less wordy in the future but I had
some catching up to do. We will put a Wordflair demo on GEnie soon so
keep looking.
Thank you again for all of your support. I look forward to
communicating with you often via GEnie.
Lauren Flanegan-Sellers
________________________________________________________
> AUA NEWSBRIEFS CPU/STR InfoFile¿ AUA * OFFICIAL * Updates.....
===============================
ATARI USERS ASSOCIATION
=======================
NEWSBRIEFS
==========
by D.C. Signorini
Once again I will start this column by thanking all of you who have
taken the time to write or call me concerning the revamping of the Atari
User's Association. When I first considered taking on this project, I was
a bit concerned about not generating enough support. I am, however, happy
that I did decide to take on the AUA!
I would like to take this time to change a request that I originally
made concerning the people who had sent their application's in prior to
December 1989. In my first article, I stated that it would not be
necessary to send in a new application. Due to some loss of data during
the transition of the AUA from New Jersey to Pittsburgh, I am requesting
that EVERYONE take the time, and the .25 cent stamp and send in your
applications again. Because we plan on offering PRE-DECEMBER 1989 AUA
members an extension or a special offering, I want to be certain that all
of the data that I have at this time is correct and that no one will be
left out. So, if you have already sent in your application prior to
December, 1989, then I need you to take a moment and fill out the new
application and send it to me. If you have not as of now sent in your
application, then what are you waiting for??
I attempted to give Bob Brodie a call this week, however, much to my
dismay, I got his answering machine. Bob is at the NAMM show and will be
un-available until January 22. I intend to give him a call at that time
to discuss the future of the AUA and the, much anticipated, support of
Atari Corp.
This past week, a gentleman from Wisconsin called me to inquire about
the AUA. He was a bit concerned in that he felt as though the AUA may
become a capital venture and will be solely interested in turning a
profit. People, while I encourage feedback of all types, I must be able
to stress to you that this is far from the truth. The AUA was re-formed
to unite the Atari Community. The Atari Elite, the user group that has
elected to back me and my efforts in the AUA is a non-profit organization.
I have no intention of making the AUA a money making venture. I have
stated before, my sole goal is to unite the ST community under one name.
If any profit is made, it will be turned back into the AUA to make it
better and stronger. The more funds that I can generate by membership,
the more benefits I will be able to offer the entire community. Granted,
a newsletter published only 4 times a year will hardly keep anyone in
touch with the world. However, it is a start. In time, with your support,
I wish to publish that newsletter 12 times a year. But as you know, this
takes a lot of hard work by us and of course, strong support from you.
Somehow the AUA application got published before the information
about joining the AUA and much to my dismay, I am sure that many people
were a bit confused or did not know what was going on. Well, finally, the
information about membership is here. Again, you can join the AUA for
free or you can show support by taking advantage of the other 2 packages.
You have nothing to lose if you join for free!
This week, I regretfully accepted the 'resignation' of Joe Muha,
Public Relations Officer of the AUA. I am very grateful for all the help
that Joe gave me in getting the AUA off of the ground again, however, Joe
found very little time, in his busy schedule, left to devote to the AUA.
He has promised to return in a few months. I wish Joe all of the luck in
his new career and congratulate him for graduating from College.
::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::
To Whom it may concern,
I am writing this letter upon request in order to clarify some events
that have occurred in the past 3 or so months concerning the Atari User's
Association.
In the later part of 1989, when the AUA was first placed up for grabs
by R. Guidagno, I was first to offer my support by taking over the
organization with the backing of the Atari Elite of Pittsburgh. While I
am still very enthusiastic about the success of the AUA, I have found that
I have very little time to devote to the organization and instead of
giving a half-hearted effort, I have decided to take a back seat so to
speak for a while until I graduate from college and get settled in my new
home in Cleveland, OH.
I am very confident that DC Signorini will continue on with the AUA
in a positive direction, and I have agreed to work with Derek when I am
able to help with new ideas and how-to's. I am very appreciative of all
of the support that I received from the Forem crossnets, and I am sure
that the AUA will be a huge success. I hope that in 6 or 7 months I will
again be able to be a leader in the AUA, but for now, I need to take the
time to get started in my new career. I wish Derek the best of luck in
his new endeavour, and I also hope that all of the Atari people give him
the support that he needs to get the AUA off of the ground again!
Sincerely,
Joseph V. Muha
Director, Public Relations
Atari User's Association
::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::
That's it for this week. Remember, I can be reached on GEnie and
Compuserve. I am also working on getting a third phone line to facilite
better service to the users calls. Below you will find the AUA
information pack and the AUA application...
Always Atari,
Derek C. Signorini
AUA Coordinator
GEnie: DC.SIGNORINI FIDO 129/96.2: DC Signorini CIS : 72327,1060
Fnet node #19: DC Signorini
---===**===---
Information Pack
AUA MEMBERSHIP FEES
PACKAGE ONE: ACTIVE DUAL AUA/ATARI ELITE MEMBERSHIP -- $15.00
Includes one year DUAL memberships to both the
Atari User's Association AND the Atari Elite.
Your benefits include:
o Subscription to the Atari Elite
Electronic Chronicles, the newsletter
on disk sent 6 times a year. Contains
the newest in PD software, reviews,
columns, advertising, etc... Compare
this to the $79.00 subscription fee
to STart Magazine.
o Subscription to the AUA newsletter
published (projected) 4 times a
year.
o Enhanced Access time on the Atari
Elite BBS supporting 19,200 baud,
120 megs online, FIDO, and FNET.
o Special purchase prices offered by
the Atari Elite. With the Atari
Elite's buying power, you can pick
up on some good deals!
o Special group discounts at Microtyme
o Special purchase prices offered by
the AUA. Once again, numbers talk!
o Special mailings from both the Atari
Elite and the AUA.
o ANY AND ALL BENEFITS of being a member
of the LARGEST Atari User base in the
world!
PACKAGE TWO: ACTIVE AUA MEMBERSHIP -- $5.00
Includes one year membership to only the Atari
User's Association.
Your benefits include:
o Special purchase prices offered by
the AUA. Once again, numbers talk!
o Special mailings from the AUA including
the AUA newsletter published 4 times a year.
o Membership in the Largest Atari User Base
in the world!
o Special group discounts at Microtyme
PACKAGE THREE: NON-ACTIVE AUA MEMBERSHIP -- $$ FREE $$
Includes one year membership to the Atari User's
Association. This membership does not entitle you
to any mailings made by the AUA but still makes
you eligible for any special purchase prices
offered by the AUA or any group discounts offered by
Microtyme.
All you have to do is fill out the application, and
update your membership application once a year.
Microtyme is an Official AUA Supplier at 1-800-255-5835
--------------------------- Clip Here ---------------------------
////////// // // ////////// ** ** **
// // // // // // ** ** **
// // // // // // ** ** **
////////// // // ////////// ** ** **
// // // // // // *** ** ***
// // ////////// // // *** ** ***
THE ATARI USER'S ASSOCIATION SUPPORTING THE REVOLUTION
>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>> MEMBERSHIP APPLICATION
Thank you for your interest in the Atari User's Association.
Please take the time to complete this application and mail it
to the address below.
=========================================================================
First Name:_____________________ LastName:______________________________
Address:________________________________________________________________
City:________________________________ ST:____
Zipcode:____________________
Country:_____________________________
Age:(optional)_______________________
Telephone: ( ) - _________________ Occupation:__________________________
[ ] Check here if you want your name on the AUA Public Membership
Directory
(This will allow you to be placed on national mailing lists for Atari
ST products and information)
=========================================================================
HARDWARE: [ ]520ST [ ]1040ST [ ]MEGA 2 [ ]MEGA 4 [ ]STacy [ ]Other
MONITOR : [ ]COLOR [ ]MONO [ ]OTHER:____________________________________
DRIVES : [ ]DSDD [ ]SSDD [ ]HARD DRIVE Model/Size:____________________
PRINTER : [ ]9 Pin Dot Matrix [ ]24 Pin Dot Matrix [ ]Laser [ ]DeskJet
Printer Model:____________________________________________________
MODEM : Max Speed [ ]300 [ ]1200 [ ]2400 [ ]4800 [ ]9600 [ ]14,400
Modem Model:______________________________________________________
OTHER __________________________________________________________________
EQUIPMENT
__________________________________________________________________
=========================================================================
Primary Use of your Atari
Computer:_________________________________________
________________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________________
If you are a member of a User Group, Please give: Name, Address,
Telephone,
BBS # (if applicable), and President's
Name:________________________________
________________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________________
Comments:_______________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________________
I can be reached at FNET node:___________ and/or FIDO
node:_________________
=========================================================================
MEMBERSHIP FEES: [ ] Non-Active AUA Membership -- $ FREE $
[ ] Active AUA Membership -- $ 5.00/year
Please Select ONE [ ] Active Dual AUA/Atari Elite -- $ 15.00/year
=========================================================================
Mail to: The Atari User's Association
C/O The Atari Elite, Inc.
P.O. Box 18293
Pittsburgh, PA 15236
=========================================================================
MicroTyme Computers is an official supplier of the AUA at 1-800-255-5835
=========================================================================
The Atari Elite, Inc. is a non-profit organization. Atari Mega 2, Mega 4,
520ST, 1040ST, and STacy are registered trademarks of Atari Corporation.
=========================================================================
------------------------ Clip Here ---------------------------
____________________________________________________________
> GDOS EXPLAINED CPU/STR InfoFile¿
===============================
John Townsend posted the following information regarding G-Dos in response
to a series of questions from L. E. Pulley.
Lloyd,
Let me explain a few things about GDOS to you.
1. The ASSIGN.SYS file: This file is nothing more than a listing
of the various device drivers and the corresponding fonts that
are loaded whenever an application calls them. Now, let's talk
a little about some of the questions you had:
a. Each device driver is a file on the disk that is loaded. They
each have an 8 character filename and a 3 character extender.
If you look at one of your ASSIGN.SYS files, you will notice
that the device drivers are the unusual looking lines as they
have numbers in front of the filename. They usually look like
this:
21 PRINTER.SYS ; Printer Driver for SLM804
The driver line is usually followed by lines that look like
this:
ATSS10LS.FNT
ATSS12LS.FNT
ATSS20LS.FNT
31 META.SYS ; META Driver for Easy Draw
You will notice that the last line is another driver. This is
the start of another section that consists of the driver and
the fonts that are used by that driver.
b. You expressed some confusion over the use of the drivers and
what they actually did. Well, each driver is given a device
number in the ASSIGN.SYS file. This is also an Atari standard
that is defined in the Developer's Documentation and the GDOS
Installation manual. The standard is as follows:
Device Identification Numbers
------------------------------
Device Type Device Number
----------- -------------
Screen 1 - 10
Plotter 11 - 20
Printer 21 - 30
MetaFile 31 - 40
Camera 41 - 50
Tablet 51 - 60
As you can see, this is why your printer drivers have device
numbers like 21 and 23. Now, a word of caution. Most of the
GDOS Programs out there count on your Printer being device 21
and will have problems printing if you don't have the device
defined as Device 21. There are programs out there (like
OUTPRINT.PRG from MiGraph) that will allow you to change the
device number to print to.
As for what a META.SYS file is.. This is a driver for MetaFiles
and should be defined as device 31. This is where most GDOS
applications expect this device driver to be located. As for
what a METAfile is.. well, a METAfile is a stored picture of
VDI Commands. The most common example I can give you is the
.GEM files that Easy Draw creates. These are MetaFiles.
c. As for your GEMSYS folders, we should clear that up right now.
You only need one GEMSYS folder. This folder can contain all
of the fonts and drivers you ever use. To fix this problem, you
are going to have to figure out which set of screen fonts
printer fonts, and drivers you wish to use and then create an
ASSIGN.SYS file accordingly. This is not an easy problem to
solve. If you would like help with this, please leave me Email
and I will try to help. But, there is no reason to have 6
different ASSIGN.SYS files. You really only need one.
d. You will notice that DeskSet II uses a driver called MEMORY.SYS
This driver is a special driver that allows an application to
treat memory as a GDOS device and then do VDI commands to memory.
To my knowledge this driver is only used with DeskSet II.
-- John
PS. Lloyd, keep those questions coming! I am going to get you setup
properly with GDOS if I have to call your house on my own time
and spend three or four hours setting you up! <grin>
------------
Lloyd,
* Ding *
GDOS: Round 2! <grin> Anyway, this is fun! Let me try to answer
some of these questions!
The META.SYS driver should be in your ASSIGN.SYS file and located as
device 31. You should just put it in the ASSIGN.SYS and not worry about
it. Any application that needs to use it will look for it and find it.
It won't affect the applications that don't use it.
Most of the GDOS applications out there assume that your printer is
defined as GDOS device number 21. So, you and your friend some have the
printer defined in the ASSIGN.SYS file as device 21. The only problem
you could run into is if you had two printers (like an SLM804 and some Dot
Matrix Printers) and had them hooked up at the same time. The only way
you could do this would be to install the default printing device as
Device 21. The other could be device 22 or 23. A word of warning tho,
most GDOS applications assume a device number of 21. The only one that I
know of that doesn't is OUTPRINT.PRG (the printing program for Easy
Draw). So, if you had two printers and needed to use both under GDOS then
this would might be a case for two ASSIGN.SYS files. Is this making
sense? If not, please say so... maybe I can clear this up later.
The Printer Driver does control the output on the printer. However, the
Printer Driver has to get it's fonts from somewhere, so it loads them off
disk. Therefore, an additional reason for bad quality could be poorly
designed fonts.
Maybe I should take a second and explain what GDOS does. GDOS stands for
Graphic Device Operating System. What this means in English <grin> is
that GDOS is a method for allowing devices to interface to the VDI. VDI
stands for Virtual Device Interface. The whole idea behind VDI is that
it allows you to do _device independant_ output to devices. This means
that you can still have programs that worked on 180x180 DPI Dot Matrix
Printers still work years later when you have 1000DPI Laser Printers and
the only thing that would change would be the driver and fonts for the
printing device. The program would need NO changes at all. (assuming it
is written properly to begin with)
So, to sum up what GDOS does in one sentence.. GDOS is the Interface that
allows you to hook up devices to the VDI and do Device Independent output
to them. Is this making any sense at all? Is this looking like Greek?
Am I talking to myself? <grin>
One comment I would like to make.. GDOS isn't perfect and I don't want
to give anyone the impression that I think it is. It has some flaws that
need fixing and hopefully we will get to those soon (please don't ask me
when.. you should know better! <grin>)
On a final note, thanks for asking some great questions and keep them
coming. This is fun and maybe the readers will learn something!
-- John Townsend
Atari Corp.
PS. I can see it now.. John's little GDOS Talk: As told to Lloyd Pulley!
<grin>
Oops.. I missed a couple of questions.. Darlah.. The GDOS Installation
Utility is shipped with Microsoft Write and is an Atari Product. I will
see what I can find out about it's release, etc.
I also would like to point out that there is NO such thing as a stupid
question! Please ask. I will answer anything I can. Well, until next
time...
____________________________________________________________
> CPU NEWSWIRE CONFIDENTIAL¿ Sayin' it like it is.....
=========================
- Sunnyvale, CA. ****** MARKEN COMMUNICATIONS FIRED!!! ******
-------------
In a surprising and devastating revelation, we found that Atari Corp.
has, in its infinite wisdom, fired perhaps the best public relations firm
ever representing Atari Corp. The information comes from a very reliable
source, that Sam fired Andy Marken and his company effective Feb. 01 1990.
Apparently the revolving door is moving even better than we thought.
While on the subject, there are strong indications that the door will not
slow down as there are three more prime candidates headed its way.
- Sunnyvale, CA. ***** ATARI WILL ATTEND CEPS & SEYBOLD *****
--------------
According to our source, Atari has had a change of heart, and is now
planning on attending these shows. Its nice to see someone out there is
tuned into reality and plans to help Atari polish its image and grow in
1990.
- New York City, N.Y. ******* STE UN-ANNOUNCED FEATURES! *******
-------------------
CPU NewsWire's sources have come through in fine style once again. It
seems the STE has a number of marvelous features that have gone quietly
un-publicized! Here's the scoop... First, the 4096 color control panel is
out. Also, the TOS 1.6 bug fix program is also out. Also, I saw technical
docs for the STe. It has some more hidden features which Atari has not
told anyone about yet, such as a built in digital master volume control,
and even bass and treble controls for the audio!
- Timonium, MD. ****** PORTFOLIO UPGRADE IN THE WINGS? ******
-------------
An internal Portfolio memory upgrade you say? Sounds interesting.
Could be they changed 62256s to 621024s. Suddenly, you have 512K with no
noticable power consumption increase. And who said there would never be a
'286 version of the Portfolio? Ah.. yes the big question is; will the
newer Portfolio be compatible with the early versions? Could these be
the reasons we are seeing the original device on sale in discount houses
already? (ie; Price Savers) The answer is ....YES (watch all the
denials fly, until, that is, the actual deals hit the streets)
- Los Angeles, CA. ***** PROMINENT DEVELOPER MIFFED! *****
---------------
Charles F. Johnson, in a recent statement expresesed his displeasure
with editor and publisher of ST Informer, a monthly ST oriented hard copy
publication.
To Rod McDonald,
I really didn't appreciate the cheap shot you took at me in the
"Potpourri" column of the latest ST Informer. If we're going to start
playing the game of "who stole ideas from whom", I can mention _more than
one_ feature of the Start Selector/Little Green Selector (or of CodeHead
Software's MultiFile/MaxiFile) that seems to have mysteriously found its
way into UIS II or III. But I won't, because I don't like playing that
game.
"Whining" was a very apt title indeed for that section of your column.
Your remarks were uncalled-for, untrue, and unprofessional. I'm
disappointed in you and in ST Informer; I thought your magazine was a cut
above this kind of inane backbiting. Apparently not.
Charles F. Johnson
Little Green Footballs Software
Editor Note;
<sigh> somebody ought to tell Mr. McDonald, some things are
better left unsaid..
- Sunnyvale, CA. ***** POWER PACK CONCEPT MAY NOT HAPPEN HERE *****
-------------
The "Power Pack" is the idea (selling in England) to bundle the 520 with
about 10 titles, mostly games, some home user applications. It is not an
announced promotion. I don't know of plans to introduce it for the second
quarter, although I think its a good idea.
Elizabeth Shook
Atari Corporation
Editor Note;
The power pack concept was fully detailed in our special CES
Report #402a wherein it was shown at the reception/hospitality
suite. Surely, after the success it has shown in Europe, it
wasn't a "testing of the waters" here in the States and has yet
to be decided? If so, this is just another nail..... Wouldn't
it be nice to know just who is the spokesperson for Atari and be
able to rely upon the information forwarded by same?
- TORONTO, CANADA ****** TOS 1.4-1.6 GETS A BAD RAP! ******
---------------
A READER WRITES; I am trying to get TOS 1.4 in Toronto, and so far, have
been unsuccesful. Last week I phoned Atari Canada and was told that they
were out of stock and had no idea when ("one week, one month, two months,
we don't know") they would be getting new stock.
Today I phoned a local dealer (SaveTech) and was told that TOS 1.4
will no longer be available because it is being replaced by TOS 1.6 which
is shipping inside the new STe (already selling in Canada). Is this
true? I was also told that it would be a 2 chip set. I have a 1040ST
(Rev.C) with the 6 chip TOS 1.0 and don't want to go to 2 chips if
possible. Accurate info would be greatly appreciated. (I might end up
ordering 1.4 mail order from the U.S.) Thanks.
---------------
At this point, we must clarify, there is no basis in fact for the
statement that TOS 1.4 is being replaced by TOS 1.6. There is however, a
two chip and a six chip set containing TOS 1.4 presently available. The
time frames for delivery is another question. Past performance concerning
delivery timeliness should speak adequately for this matter.
- Chicago, IL. ***** ATARI DEALERS CONCERNED ONCE AGAIN *****
------------
"There were FOUR versions of the STE marked on the box this one came
in, with four different part numbers." "What the heck does Atari expect
me to do order a number of each, when the deciding factor is the SIMMs
installed in it.?" This was the strong message the dealer who called was
trying to convey to Atari. Our humble opinion is that; Dealers will not
order 2 or 4 meg STes, not when it makes sense economically to order one
type of computer (the basic version) and add SIMMs as they are called for,
in the field, by the customer. Besides, if dealers refuse to order the
variety of pre-configured models, it would seem that Atari should be wise
and prudent enough to allow the configuring of the memory to be a DEALER
INSTALLED OPTION. ESPECIALLY since they recently enjoyed a $10,000,000
write-off in the 3rd Quarter of '89 due to dropping DRAM prices. In any
case, the smart money folks say make a single model. ie; a 1mb (dealer
upgradable) mega style, 2 piece unit, STE and set all kinds of sales
records.
_________________________________________________________
> Hard Drive Info CPU/STR InfoFile¿ Affordable Mass Storage
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FAX: 904-783-3319 12 PM - 6 AM EDT
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32mb #SG32238 549.00 42mb #SG44710 619.00
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320mb #SGN7788Q 3295.00
Listed above are a sampling of the systems available.
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We would offer floppy drives.. but Computer Shopper has 'em at the right
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* TWIN SYQUEST 44MB REMOVABLE MEDIA DRIVES ... PROGRAMMER'S DELIGHT *
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* SYQUEST 44MB REMOVABLE MEDIA DRIVE AND HARD DRIVE COMBINATIONS *
- Syquest 44 Model [555] and the following hard drives -
50mb SQG51 $1299.00 30mb SQG38 $1219.00
65mb SQG09 $1339.00 85mb SQG96 $1399.00
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_______________________________________________________________
> A "Quotable Quote"¿
=================
CPU NewsWire,
"OFTEN IMITATED ..NEVER DUPLICATED!!"
... A moment of truth
--------------------------------------------------------------------------
CPU/STR¿ "Your Independent News Source" January 19, 1990
16/32bit Magazine copyright ½ 1989 No.4.03
--------------------------------------------------------------------------
Views, Opinions and Articles Presented herein are not necessarily those of
the editors, staff, CPU NEWSWIRE¿ CPU/STR¿ or CPU Report¿. Reprint
permission is hereby granted, unless otherwise noted. All reprints must
include CPU NEWSWIRE, CPU/STR or CPU Report and the author's name. All
information presented herein is believed correct, the editors and staff
are not responsible for any use or misuse of information contained herein.
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