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Silicon Times Report Issue 0829
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*---== ST REPORT INTERNATIONAL ONLINE MAGAZINE ==---*
""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""
"The Original 16/32bit Online Magazine"
from
STR Publishing
""""""""""""""
July 17, 1992 No.8.29
==========================================================================
STReport International Online Magazine
Post Office Box 6672
Jacksonville, Florida
32205 ~ 6672
R.F. Mariano
Publisher - Editor
-----------------------------------------
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_____________________________________________________________________
> 07/17/92 STR 829 "The Original * Independent * Online Magazine!"
""""""""""""""""
- The Editor's Desk - CPU Report - PORTFOLIO NEWS
- Apple & MS Join Up - Analyst Busted - People Talking
- Kerr Open Letter - Legal Rights II - LOOKIN' AROUND
- GenieLamp Contest - CARPAL TUNNEL - STR Confidential
-* CALAMUS SL UPGRADE ANNOUNCED! *-
-* REVOLVING DOOR GOING STRONG *-
-* CLEVELAND FREE-NET UPDATE *-
==========================================================================
ST REPORT INTERNATIONAL ONLINE MAGAZINE
The Original * Independent * Online Magazine
-* FEATURING WEEKLY *-
"Accurate UP-TO-DATE News and Information"
Current Events, Original Articles, Tips, Rumors, and Information
Hardware - Software - Corporate - R & D - Imports
==========================================================================
STReport's BBS, The Bounty, invites BBS systems, worldwide, to participate
in the Fido/TurboNet/Atari F-Net Mail Network. You may also call our BBS
direct at 904-786-4176, and enjoy the excitement of exchanging information
relative to the Atari and other computers worldwide through the use of
excellent International Messaging Networks. SysOps, worldwide, are quite
welcome to join the STReport International Conferences. The Crossnet Code
is #34813, and the "Lead Node" is # 350. All BBS systems are welcome and
invited to actively participate. Support Atari Computers; Join Today!
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COMPUSERVE WILL PRESENT $15.00 WORTH OF COMPLIMENTARY ONLINE TIME
to the Readers of;
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""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""
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"GO APORTFOLIO TO ACCESS THE ATARI PORTFOLIO FORUM"
""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""
> From the Editor's Desk "Saying it like it is!"
""""""""""""""""""""""
The editorial is rather short this week because I am pressed for
time. I'll be at the Blue Ridge Atari Fest this weekend. I hope to meet
you'all there. Let me take a moment though, to thank all of you who have
sent Gifts of Time to STReport's account on GEnie {ST-REPORT}. Its with
heart felt thanks I say this. It gives us the enthusiasm to continue.
See you at the show.
Next week's issue will have an overview of the Blue Ridge Festival.
Ralph @ STReport International Online Magazine
THE STORM IS COMING!
""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""
STReport's Staff DEDICATED TO SERVING YOU!
""""""""""""""""
Publisher - Editor
""""""""""""""""""
Ralph F. Mariano
PC DIVISION AMIGA DIVISION MAC DIVISION
----------- -------------- ------------
Roger D. Stevens Charles Hill R. ALBRITTON
STReport Staff Editors:
""""""""""""""""""""""
Lloyd E. Pulley Sr. Dana P. Jacobson Michael Arthur
Lucien Oppler Brad Martin Judith Hamner
John Szczepanik Dan Stidham Joseph Mirando
Steve Spivey Doyle C. Helms
Contributing Correspondents:
""""""""""""""""""""""""""""
Michael Lee Richard Covert John Deegan
Brian Converse Oliver Steinmeier Tim Holt
Andrew Learner Norman Boucher Harry Steele
Ben Hamilton Neil Bradley Eric Jerue
Ron Deal Robert Dean Ed Westhusing
James Nolan Vernon W. Smith Bruno Puglia
Clemens Chin
IMPORTANT NOTICE
""""""""""""""""
Please, submit letters to the editor, articles, reviews, etc...
via E-Mail to:
Compuserve.................... 70007,4454
Delphi........................ RMARIANO
BIX........................... RMARIANO
FIDONET....................... 112/35
FNET.......................... NODE 350
NEST.......................... 90:19/350.0
GEnie......................... ST-REPORT
""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""
> CPU STATUS REPORT LATE BREAKING INDUSTRY-WIDE NEWS
=================
Issue #29
Compiled by: Lloyd E. Pulley, Sr.
-- Apple and Microsoft Join Forces
Apple Computer Inc. and Microsoft Corp. have formed a new alliance that
they say will strengthen their ties in the name of technology. Microsoft
has agreed to develop software for Apple's next-generation Macintosh,
due on the market in a few years, a machine to be powered by "PowerPC"
chips Apple is jointly developed with IBM. Reports also say that Apple
and Microsoft also will link a Microsoft software technology to the
Macintosh.
The two companies also will work together to incorporate Apple's
QuickDraw GX in future versions of Microsoft programs for the Mac. The
programs will have more powerful printing features, including new
imaging and typographic-quality text.
The new deal calls for customers with both Microsoft Windows-equipped
computers and Macintoshes to be able to access a broad range of
databases supported by the Apple technology. A database is a program
that stores pieces of information, such as customer accounts.
Both Apple and Microsoft said the agreement has no impact on the
copyright lawsuit. Apple brought a $5.5 billion suit against Microsoft
and Hewlett-Packard Co. in 1988, accusing them of producing software
that infringed on copyrights for the way information is presented and
controlled on the Mac. Last May, a federal judge dismissed a portion of
the case, ruling that nearly all of Apple's display symbols were not
protected under copyright laws.
-- Compaq Struggles To Meet Demand For New Prolinea
Compaq Computer Corporation says it is struggling to keep up with the
demand for its new line of low-priced personal computers. The Prolinea
is a low-end desktop family with a starting price of $899 without a
monitor. Prolinea systems are available with hard drives from 40 MB to
120 MB, and comes with DOS 5.0 installed. Compaq said it can build
Prolinea units at the rate of one about every 60 seconds. Compaq
expects to eliminate the backlog by August.
-- Apple to Bundle Microlytics Encyclopedia with Macs
Apple Computer announced today it will start bundling Microlytics Inc.'s
electronic Random House Encyclopedia with Macintoshes. The special offer
is good only on computers shipped for the higher education market.
-- Seagate and Quantum to Share Patents
Hard disk makers Seagate Technology and Quantum Corp., have agreed to
share their patents. The companies have agreed to license their tech-
nology to each other so they can compete on "commercial values" instead
of their patent portfolios.
Regarding the pact, Seagate President/CEO Alan F. Shugart says, "The
disk drive industry today runs the risk of becoming mired in costly,
unproductive patent litigation if this trend toward hostile patent
claims continues."
Quantum CEO William J. Miller adds, "This agreement by two of the
leaders in our industry begins to provide the basis for freedom of
design that we have not previously experienced."
-- Lotus Earnings Rise 62%
Lotus Development Corp. has reported a 62% increase in second quarter
earnings. The Cambridge, Mass., software developer said it earned $14.9
million, or 34 cents a share, in the three-month period ended June 27,
compared to earnings of $9.2 million, or 21 cents a share, in the second
quarter of 1991.
-- Time Magazine Computer Analyst Arrested for Alleged Faud
A computer analyst, Thomas Ferguson, 44, who worked at Time magazine's
Tampa, Fla., customer service headquarters has been arrested after
allegations he sold thousands of subscribers' credit card numbers for $1
apiece. Ferguson has been with the magazine for 18 months, faces four
counts of trafficking in credit cards, authorities said.
Police found computer disks containing the credit card numbers of about
80,000 subscribers at Ferguson's Clearwater, Fla., home. Authorities
said they met Ferguson four times to buy about 3,000 credit card numbers
since being tipped off to the scheme in June.
Time executives say that all credit card customers should examine their
credit card bills closely. If unauthorized purchases show up, they
should call the financial institution that issued the card.
______________________________________________________________
> ONLINE WEEKLY STReport OnLine The wires are a hummin'!
""""""""""""""""""""""""""""
PEOPLE... ARE TALKING
=====================
On CompuServe
-------------
compiled by Joe Mirando
From the Atari Productivity forum.
Well folks, we all know someone who has done it. People leaving the
ST platform for the MS-DOS world, while not something that any of us want
to hear, is a fact of life for whatever reason. But those who make the
switch often forsake any data that they've built up on their previous
machine and either start back at the beginning or attempt to re-enter the
information manually.
John S Saia 'fesses up:
"I admit it....I 've jumped ship....to a 486/33 machine...but, I need
a bit of help in transferring files (on floppies) from wordwriterST
and from Pha$ar to my IBM compatible....can someone help me
out....otherwise I'm doomed to retyping stuff for what seems like the
rest of my life. Thanks!"
Albert Dayes of Atari Advantage magazine offers advise:
"Word Writer is easy just save the files to ascii and then format a
720K floppy on your 486 and then copy the ST ascii files to it. The
Pha$ar I don't know if it has an ascii export ... if you don't have
too much data you can retype everything. (GRIN)"
Of course, if you don't want to type in all of that information, or dread
the thought of learning new programs that do what the old ones did, Darek
Mihocka of Branch Always Software, offers another possibility:
"John, you may be interested in the Gemulator Atari ST emulator. It
will allow you to keep running Phasar and Word Writer ST on your PC
without reformatting any disks or other drastic measures."
- Darek
Sysop Bob Retelle adds a bit of personal experience:
"John, as long as the programs you're using on the PC are compatible
with the ST files you already have, you should have no problem moving
them to the PC on floppies.. The ST and PC use virtually identical
floppy disk formats, so as Albert mentioned, just format the disks on
your PC and copy your ST files onto them directly from the ST. I move
stuff back and forth between my ST and PCs all the time..!"
BobR
Richard Gunter joins in with more information:
John:
"You've already heard from folks concerning your word processor
documents. Nearly every word processor I've ever seen or heard of has
either a save-to-ASCII or a print-to-disk function. The former will
strip the document of all format controls and special effects embedded
in it, saving only the text itself. Usually each line will end with a
CR/LF sequence, and paragraphs with two (the double return).
The print-to-disk function will usually do the line and page
formatting, including white space (margins on all four sides), but
you'll lose all the special effects (bold, italics, underline, etc.).
Also, some word processors have provisions to import or convert other
formats into their own. In this case, special effects are not lost,
although some manual editing may be needed to get everything to print
exactly the way you want it. Unfortunately, it's unlikely that any
IBM word processor will recognize an ST-only format, so you're
probably stuck with save-to-ASCII as the least of evils.
As to Pha$ar, I'm afraid you're out of luck. There is no export
feature in that program (I have 4.0, which I think is the last to be
produced). The only solution I can think of is a utility that will
intercept an attempt to print and redirect the output to a disk file.
At least that way, you'd be able to list transactions and perhaps
massage the file to the point that you can import to another program.
As always, the CodeHeads have a solution: the print spooler on their
Utilities disk allows you to direct the output to a file.
Remaining possibility is to get some enterprising and quick-working ST
programmer to build a converter program that can reformat the Pha$ar
register file into an ASCII layout. The original file has a lot of
binary data in it, and I don't believe the authors ever published any
information on the format, so it would take a little detective work.
It's sad, but Pha$ar's data file is in a closed form."
Richard G.
Have you ever known that a certain operation can be done on your computer
but had no idea of how to do it? I have found that it's usually the
simple things that "everybody else" seems to take for granted that elude
us.
Ed Martin asks:
"Does anyone know a way to call upon the Print Screen item in the
Desktop Options menu while running an application? Or failing, that do
you know of any good PD screen dump accessories? I often surprise
myself and produce a pleasing piece of graphics I would like to
preserve for posterity, but I can't print the screen. Thanks in
advance for any help provided."
... Ed
Sysop Bob Retelle answers:
"Ed, to do what it sounds like you want to do, try pressing the ALT
and HELP keys together to produce a screen dump to your printer...
Depending on your printer type, you might have to use the Printer
Setup menu of the Control Panel ACCessory to set the line width
properly.. the ST defaults to a wider line than most Epson compatible
printers. I use a little AUTO folder program that sets the width
automatically every time I boot up the computer so I don't have to
remember to do it before I want to print something..."
BobR
With humor, Ed replies:
"Ah! Light dawns! It's good to have ALTernate sources of HELP such as
yourself on tap. Thanks."
... Ed
Or, even worse, have you ever done the screen dump only to find that it
just doesn't look right? That the black and white picture that looks like
art on the screen is just a collection of dots with no esthetic value when
put on paper? Sysop Ron Luks adds:
"There's an excellent screen snapshot utility that installs as an
accessory and saves the screen as a Degas format file. You could then
print out the degas file with another utility. I think the filename is
SCRNSHOT.xxx or something like that."
Ron
Meanwhile, back at the Atari Vendors Forum, Beth Jane Freeman tells
Charles F. Johnson of CodeHead Software:
"I've been trying out Warp 9 some more. I think it doesn't work with
a program called GER2EN19.PRG. Once the program loads, the computer
crashes. I've also noticed that you get multiple cursors and cursors
that freeze on one part of the screen in Flash, but it is most
prevalent when I'm talking to an IBM computer. It doesn't seem to be
happening here. The program is greased lightning. It speeds up most
everything I've got and it doesn't do funny things to the control
panel (earlier version, not the CPX one), as Quick ST used to. It
also doesn't adversely affect Degas Elite."
---Beth---
Charles replies:
"Yes, I'm aware of the problem with GER2ENG (the German - to - English
translator). That program breaks a _ton_ of programming rules, and
that's why it's incompatible with Warp 9. You can use the WARP9.DAT
file to automatically disable Warp 9 when you run that program.
Hmm...I've never seen the multiple cursor problem in Flash, but then I
never call IBM boards. (Are you using ANSI mode?) I'll have a look
at it. Thanks for the compliments on Warp 9!"
Ms. Freeman adds:
"I guess that's one quick and dirty program. I've got the Warp
Control Panel on my hard drive, and I select it when I boot my
computer. I've been using your desk manager program, but I've been
looking at the competition. Seems your competitors programs are even
bigger than yours. I'm just going to have to get more RAM for my ST,
and while they have it open, I'll have your TEC board installed, too.
I think it will save labour costs that way."
---Beth--
-
If you use Calamus or another program that uses vector graphics fonts, you
may have noticed that they take up a lot of disk space. Wouldn't it be
nice if there was a way of making them smaller and still being able to use
them? Keith Bulmer had hoped that it was possible when he posted:
"Hi, can anyone help, i have been asked by a friend who uses Calamus
1.09N if it is possible to compress .CFN files and still use them,
possibly with one of the many executable file packers like DCSquish
etc. With over 8 meg of Fonts he is beginning to run out of HD
space..."
Many Thanks Keith.
Unfortunately, it was not to be, as Nathan Potechin of ISD marketing
explains:
"Sorry Keith. The answer is NO. If you squish them, they will no
longer be recognizable by Calamus. I might add that when you compress
a Calamus CFN, you will be lucky to get 2% compression as these vector
graphics are very tight to begin with. Hope this helps."
Nathan @ ISD
Keith comes up with the same, unfortunate (but effective) solution that
computer users have been employing for years:
"Thanks Nathan, it looks they will have to increase HD size or just
clear some of the old junk from it...."
Thanks for the help anyway.
Keith
Well, that's about all we have the space for this week folks. Check out
PEOPLE...ARE TALKING every week for info on all of those questions you
always hoped someone else would ask.
__________________________________________________________
> CT FEST! STR SHOW NEWS Connecticut AtariFest Update
""""""""""""""""""""""
DO YOU HAVE WHAT IT TAKES TO BE A CHAMPION?
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
The Time: August 15 and 16, 9 a.m. to 6 p.m.
The Place: Sheraton Hotel at Bradley International Airport
Windsor Locks, CT (Just north of Hartford on I-91)
The Event: The Northeast's Biggest Lynx Tournament This Summer!
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
HARTFORD, Conn.
(July 16, 1992)
Connecticut AtariFest '92 is excited to announce its First Annual
Lynx Tournament. The Tournament features the latest ComLynx-able games,
your favorite classics and yet-to-be released titles. Games will be
played among all contestants with Lynxes connected via ComLynx.
Loads of prizes will be given away during both days of the
Tournament. Novices shouldn't feel intimidated; prizes will be awarded
for both skillful play and dumb luck.
Atari will also set up individual Lynxes enabling players to playtest
new games in a noncompetitive setting. Lynxes, games and accessories
will be available for purchase. Area retailers are invited to sponsor a
"Champion" who will receive a free one-day pass to the show.
Participating retailers will share in the resulting publicity. Lynx
players are invited to get their local dealer to name them store
"Champion" for the show. Dealers should contact organizers below about
their designated entry.
In addition to Lynx contests, Connecticut AtariFest '92 will feature
exhibits of the latest in computer hardware and software by Atari and
third-party developers, state of the industry reports, seminars designed
to help you get the most out of your gear and imaginative applications
created by folks just like you. Admission to the show is $5.00 for one
day; $8.00 for both days.
Lynxes and games will be supplied by Atari. Contestants are asked not
to bring their own equipment. It will not be allowed on the exhibit
floor.
For more information about the Lynx Tournament or other Connecticut
AtariFest '92 programs, contact:
Brian Gockley, Chairman Doug Finch, Vice Chairman
Connecticut AtariFest '92 Connecticut AtariFest '92
GEnie: B.GOCKLEY GEnie: D.FINCH7
CompuServe: 75300,2514 CompuServe: 76337,1067
18 Elmwood Avenue 46 Park Avenue
Bridgeport, CT 06605 Old Greenwich, CT 06870
(203) 332-1721 (203) 637-1034
_____________________________________________________________
> FREE-NET UPDATE STR InfoFile Cleveland Free-net Atari S.I.G.
""""""""""""""""""""""""""""
The Atari S.I.G.
Six Years Old
and
STILL GROWING
Mark D. Leair
Cleveland Free-net Atari S.I.G.
The C.A.I.N. Users Group is pleased to announce the opening of an
improved "look and feel" for its Atari Special Interest Group (SIG) housed
on Case Western Reserve University's Cleveland Free-Net online computer
system.
The SIG, like its mother Free-Net, both started in 1986. Both
exist today with the same objective from 1986:
Provide FREE community computing and information exchange.
On July 20, 1992 C.A.I.N. plans to unveil its latest version of
the S.I.G. to the public. Join now, and be a part of history!
New Acquisitions
----------------
o Online SIG Menu Outline:
This text file will hold a map of the new SIG, showing
graphically how to maneuver within the SIGs menus.
o Improved Atari NEWS:
The Atari NEWS now takes the user to a sub-menu which indexes
the Atari NEWS into the following categories: All news,
weekly news (Atari SIG Newswire), monthly news (The Atari SIG's
newsletter), Atari Show Announcements, and The Rumor Mill
featuring an Annonymous Message Board.
o Improved Support Areas:
The Atari S.I.G. is pleased to continue to provide support to
all domestic Atari products. In addition to its continued
support, many of the support areas have added the following
features:
=+= A message bulletin board for users to
discuss their products.
=+= A description and history of the Atari Product.
=+= List of Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ List).
=+= Product-Specific Programming Forums, moderated
by a resident professional programmer.
=+= Tips, tricks, summaries, reviews on products
for each platform.
=+= Published articles, re-printed with permission.
=+= A file area providing information for obtaining
files from the large Atari Archives at the
University of Michigan.
=+= Latest online magazine for that particular
platform.
=+= A directory of users of the desired platform.
A support board has been set up for the following platforms:
8 bit computers, 16/32-bit computers, Portfolio, and the Lynx.
In addition to the above list, the 16/32-bit support area
features a Midi Application Forum, and the Lynx area features a
text file known as "The Best and Worst Games of 1991," a High
Score board, and its own voting booth.
o Voting Booth
Another new feature is the SIG's voting booth. On a regular
basis the SIG will be taking polls on serious and not-so-serious
items on developments at Atari Corp, Atari products, or on SIG
related items. In addition to our polls, users will have the
option to submit and suggest their own topics to vote on.
o Atari Library
This menu has been established to house a variety of reference
material and "history" of Atari and the SIG. First off, there's
a menu-selection called the "Information Base". In this menu
a user can find information like Atari Corp's world-wide
addresses, user group information, Bulletin Board phone numbers,
Atari Computer Dealers, Manufacturers' addresses, Important
Compuserve user addresses, and much more.
Next, there's a "Miscellaneous Information" section which
features documentation, tutorials, "How-to" projects, and game
solutions.
The library also contains a "time capsule" of old posts, news
items, and questions and answers posted on the SIG.
Furthermore, there's an online magazine area grouped by title,
The Atari SIG newsletter, an Atari SIG Log of SIG events, and
an area called the "Newsroom" where the newsletter will be
published.
o Real-Time Conferencing Available
The Atari SIG has sponsored real-time conferences using
Free-net's local chat (IRC) system. We're always interested in
providing a forum for guest speakers or developers to discuss
their products online. Interested parties should contact the
SIG at the address below:
How To Access the Cleveland Free-Net
------------------------------------
Internet/Telnet:
Telnet to one of the following nodes:
freenet-in-b.cwru.edu (or 129.22.8.75)
freenet-in-c.cwru.edu (or 129.22.8.76)
freenet-in-a.cwru.edu (or 129.22.8.82)
Telephone dial-up via modem:
(216) 368-3888
8-n-1 3oo/12oo/24oo/96oo (V32/42 bis) bps
Joining the Cleveland Free-Net
------------------------------
Once connected for the first time, one should select option
2 for "unregistered" or guest access. Next, you'll be asked
if you want to complete an application to get your own
personalized user id. Simply follow the directions for
obtaining an account.
After completing the preliminary application one may visit
the SIG by typing "Go Atari" at the "Your Command ==>"
prompt.
Contacting the Atari SIG
------------------------
The Atari SIG is interested hearing from all Atarians.
Please contact the SIG through one of the following lines
of communication:
Internet:
xx004@po.cwru.edu
BITNET:
xx004%po.cwru.edu@cunyvm
Compuserve:
INTERNET:xx004@po.cwru.edu
U.S. Mail:
The Atari SIG
P.O. Box 364
Mentor, OH 44061
U.S.A.
***********************************************************************
IMPORTANT NOTICE!
=================
STReport International Online Magazine is available every week in the
ST Advantage on DELPHI. STReport readers are invited to join DELPHI and
become a part of the friendly community of Atari enthusiasts there.
SIGNING UP WITH DELPHI
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Using a personal computer and modem, members worldwide access
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JOIN -- DELPHI
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$20.00! And if you go over that 20 hours, the rate goes up to only $1.20,
still 1/5th the price of other services.
There is no signup fee for joining the Basic Plan. There is a fee of
$39 when you join the 20/20 Advantage Plan, a one-time $19 signup fee and
your first month's $20 fee.
These connect rates apply for access via Tymnet or SprintNet (within
the continental United States) during home time (7 p.m. to 7 a.m. weekdays
and all day weekends) or via direct dial around the clock. Telecom
surcharges apply for daytime or international access via Tymnet or
SprintNet. See Using DELPHI online for detailed information on telecom
surcharges.
For more information, call: DELPHI Member Services at 1-800-544-4005
DELPHI is a service of General Videotex Corporation of Cambridge, Mass.
:IMPORTANT ANNOUNCEMENT:
DELPHI INTRODUCES THE 10/4 PLAN.
Effective July 1, 1992, all Basic Plan members will be upgraded to the
10/4 Plan and receive 4 hours of usage each month for only $10! For full
details, type GO USING RATES. SprintNet home time to begin at 6:00 p.m.!
Effective July 1, 1992, you may access DELPHI via SprintNet beginning at
6:00 p.m. local time without incurring a telecom surcharge. To find the
SprintNet node nearest you, type GO USING ACCESS.
DELPHI- It's getting better all the time!
***********************************************************************
> FALCON REVEALED STR InfoFile ATARI ADVANTAGE TO TELL ALL!
""""""""""""""""""""""""""""
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
| o | ATARI ADVANTAGE ANNOUNCES COMPLETE FALCON COVERAGE! | o |
| | """""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""" | |
| o | ATARI ADVANTAGE is proud to announce the first North | o |
| | American hands-on preview of Atari's hot | |
| o | new '030 computer -- THE FALCON. | o |
| | | |
| o | Complete Falcon coverage in the June/July issue of ATARI | o |
| | ADVANTAGE features over 10 devoted pages, including | |
| o | uncensored, up-close photographs that give you the first | o |
| | look at Atari's new entry level marvel. | |
| o | | o |
| | Detailed explanations on Digital Signal Processing, video | |
| o | capabilities, and many other Falcon facets take you into | o |
| | the architecture and clarify all rumors. We will also | |
| o | unravel the mystery of true color, stereo digital sound, | o |
| | how RAM sizes work, and other Falcon features which has | |
| o | everyone else guessing. | o |
| | | |
| o | Don't have a subscription yet? If you'd like to get your | o |
| | hands on this issue before it has sold out, you can do so | |
| o | by purchasing the June/July of ATARI ADVANTAGE from your | o |
| | local dealer or directly from us. To reserve your | |
| o | personal copy, please fill out the form below. | o |
| | | |
| o | Order your subscription today so you can be assured of | o |
| | getting this issue (which is sure to be a collector's | |
| o | edition) and future exciting issues covering the latest | o |
| | developments in the world of Atari. | |
| o | | o |
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take ADVANTAGE of us! Find a friend and the two
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Don't have any friends? $30 will buy a two
year subscription. It's hard to lose either way!
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price. Just print, clip and mail or E-Mail the following form:
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( ) YES! I want to take ADVANTAGE of the 2 fer offer. Please begin
two, one year subscriptions for me and my pal for $15 each. **
( ) YES! I want to take ADVANTAGE of the 2 fer offer, but I want to
keep the savings to myself. Please enter my two year subscription
for $30. **
( ) YES! Sign me up for a one year subscription at the regular price
of $22. **
( ) YES! Please send me the June/July issue with complete Falcon
coverage. I have enclosed $4 which includes postage and handling.
""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""
** In Canada and Mexico add $6 per year for postage; outside the
U.S., Canada and Mexico add $10 per year for postage.
Subscriptions payable in U.S. funds.
( ) Check or money order enclosed ( ) Bill Me - Subs only
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//////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////
Editor Note;
At last, the truth be known, just remember folks where you read about
the Falcon first.. over a year ago in our crystal ball feature. Be sure
to give Atari Advantage a try, its a FIRST CLASS, USA publication right up
there with AIM, Current Notes and Informer.
____________________________________________________________
> User Observations! STR FOCUS! Drew Reid Kerr "Open letter"
""""""""""""""""""""""""""""
AN OPEN LETTER TO DARLAH
========================
Downloaded from Delphi
GE Mail on 920711 at 01:14
To: DARLAH
Sub: STR'S FLAG
Darlah:
I'm going to keep this line of communication in e-mail initially ....
I never read the ST Report posts on any on-line services. Nor do I have
any or have I had any affiliation with Ralph Mariano. There are a number
of things that I certainly don't agree with him on and I'm not crazy about
the way he presents certain topics.
I just downloaded the STR and I am truly appalled to find that STR has
lost its flag because "it does not support GEnie enough"(??). I have not
seen the actual letter telling Ralph that the flag was pulled, so pardon
me if I don't have the exact quote right.
Unless Ralph broke a criminal law, slandered GEnie, or took a personal
potshot at you, I can't for the life of me see the reasoning behind this
act.
Obviously, financially, this can't be the reason -- I don't know how many
downloads there are a year, but I know that Z*NET and STR always seemed to
be neck and neck in the download department.
I have never found ST Report to be biased against any one on-line
service. He seems to report about all of them equally.
I know people here in GEnie constantly bring up his "agenda" constantly,
but frankly, it seems only a small handful of people know his "agenda."
I've been a regular here for over a year and he's certainly opinionated
but I don't see any harmful "agenda" unless there's something I don't know
about (blowing up Sunnyvale?).
Yes, Ralph certainly has a mouth and it seems to make waves, but I
completely disagree with removing his free access to GEnie. People here
are completely free to read this newsletter, which provides an
alternative news service to Atari's own Explorer Online and GEnie Lamp,
and interpret it any way they may. There's a lot of work put into that
newsletter, whether it's rough stuff or not, including transcripts of
conferences, product reviews and community news. If that isn't of value to
GEnie's Atari community, I don't know what is.
OK, there's a lot of rocking the boat from Ralph and his club. You may not
be depriving him of his freedom of speech, but you are putting him on
unequal footing with other newsletters by charging him for any access to
GEnie. It seems you are making him "pay for speaking his mind." Whether
you agree or not, he has his right to say what he wants, but the service
is unquestionably there.
I don't know what the politics is behind this action but it seems pretty
suspicious to me. I don't belong to any organization and I don't walk with
any newsletter editors. But I don't walk around the Atari world with
blinders either. It appears someone is trying to put the squeeze on Ralph
for saying things they don't like. No, I don't know if this is true, but
this whole thing reeks of sneaky manipulation.
I do not plan on joining the topic discussing this act yet. But I want to
make it clear I do not support this tact. It is clearly a charge against
Ralph's freedom of speech to publish his newsletter. It is unfair and
unethical.
I plan on downloading STR only on Delphi in the future, where my download
charge won't go into the pockets of GEnie and Atari. I plan on making this
recommendation to others as well. I will also give Ralph a donation of the
Gift of Time -- not because I think he's a wonderful human being -- but
because GEnie and Atari have violated his basic rights.
This letter will be uploaded to the GEnie BBS and other on-line services
by the end of the week.
Drew Reid Kerr
Editor Note:
Drew Reid Kerr is not affiliated with STReport International Online
Magazine in any manner. Now that that's been said, I must point out there
are a few misinterpretations of the actual situation in Mr. Kerr's
missive.
First, I'd like to point out the difference between GEnie and the ST
RT. While GEnie is the service, the ST RT is where the problem has
arisen, not with GEnie in any way shape or form. Additionally, it becomes
completely understandable why the powers that be at GEnie have abided by
Darlah's wishes even when the original agreement indicated the internal
account was not under Darlah's jurisdiction. There are contracts with
GEnie to be upheld. Darlah is a contract holder thus, the resulting
decision. While I may find the decision uncomfortable, I can understand
the reason for GEnie not interfering with the operation of Darlah's RT.
Also, it should be pointed out the cost of the Internal account and the
free flag were being charged to Darlah's RT.
As for an "Agenda" this is a convenient term used by our strongest
"supporters". Its a catch-all for everything they disagree with. Its
their right to do so and although it may not be to our benefit, we will
support their right to disagree with us to the bitter end.
"Rocking the Boat" is one of time's proven methods to effect change.
Its usually implemented as a last resort. Many times the more subtle
attempts often go un-noticed. Thus, the perception of "rocking the Boat".
Truth is, its a known fact the squeaky wheel gets the grease.
The only premise in Mr. Kerr's missive I must disagree with is the
redirection of downloading. This is disagreeable with STReport as its
directed toward GEnie proper and that is wrong. We strongly urge our
readers on each service to download the files we supply when and where
they wish. STReport is NOT leaving GEnie, we need your support there as
well.
_________________________________________________________
> LICENSING HOAX! STR Feature "LEGAL-RIGHTS PIRATES"
""""""""""""""""""""""""""
SOFTWARE COPYRIGHT/LICENSE QUIZ
===============================
By: Albert Silverman
From the Mac RT on Genie
Introduction
This is the second article in a series on "piracy"--with a reverse
twist. This series currently includes the following articles:
(1) Great Software Licensing Hoax (LEGAL RIGHTS PIRACY1)
(2) Software Copyright/License Quiz (LEGAL RIGHTS PIRACY2)
(3) Great School Copyright Robbery (LEGAL RIGHTS PIRACY3)
(4) San Diego County--Truth Squad (LEGAL RIGHTS PIRACY4)
(5) ADAPSO and SPA--Trade Pirates (LEGAL RIGHTS PIRACY5)
(6) Aldus--Snaring a Pirate Chief! (LEGAL RIGHTS PIRACY6)
-------------------------------------------------------------
You cannot reject the computer software industry's attempted piracy of
YOUR legal rights in the handling of your computer software, while at the
same time avoiding committing piracy yourself, unless you understand the
basic applicable laws. Please note that the following quiz goes somewhat
beyond these basic legal principles; hence the knowledge which is requ-
ired to answer many of these questions does not fit the "basic" descri-
ption.
Answer "YES" or "NO," based upon your understanding of these laws.
Although several of these questions have not been specifically addressed
in the courts, the answers (which are given following the list of ques-
tions) reflect a highly probable decision if the question were to reach
the courts. Answer as many of the questions that you can (or that you can
even understand!) before looking up the answers. Good luck!
___ (01) Do you violate the copyright law by making a backup copy of a
copy-protected program, even though the software publisher furnishes a
second (pseudo-backup) copy labeled "archival" or "backup"?
___ (02) Do you violate the copyright law by having (as opposed to using
simultaneously) more than a single backup copy of one program on hand?
___ (03) Do you violate the copyright law by using a backup copy which
you have made instead of using the purchased copy, even though the pur-
chased copy has not been damaged?
___ (04) Do you violate the copyright law by paying someone else to make
a backup copy FOR you, rather than making it yourself?
___ (05) You have purchased a single copy of a copy-protected program. In
order to make a backup copy, it is necessary to alter the scheme of copy-
protection. However, this alteration cannot be detected while using the
program; apart from the "invisible" altered copy-protection, the backup
copy is identical with the original copy from which it was prepared. Do
you violate the copyright law by transferring this backup copy along with
the original copy?
___ (06) You are licensing the use of a computer program and the license
agreement forbids you from adapting and/or modifying the program in any
manner. Can you be successfully prosecuted for violating the license ag-
reement if you choose to disregard this prohibition?
___ (07) A school loads a copy of a computer program which it owns onto a
network for distribution to ten computers for use by ten students in its
computer classroom. Is the school guilty of violating the copyright law?
___ (08) You are licensing the use of a program and the license agreement
forbids you from using the software on more than one CPU (central pro-
cessing unit) at a time. Can you be successfully prosecuted for violating
the license agreement if you disregard this restriction?
___ (09) You are licensing the use of a program and the license agreement
forbids you from lending it. Can you be successfully prosecuted for vio-
lating the license agreement if you lend this program to a friend, with-
out charge?
___ (10) Do you violate the copyright law by lending to a friend, without
charge, the original copy of a computer program to which you own the
title?
___ (11) Do you violate the copyright law by copying a single purchased
program to hard disks on several computers within a business establish-
ment?
___ (12) If you purchase the title to a computer program and the package
contains two otherwise-identical disks, one of which is labeled
"archival" or "backup," do you violate the copyright law by using both
disks at the same time on separate computers?
___ (13) You are licensing the use of a copy-protected computer program.
Two copies of the program are supplied by the publisher, one of which is
labeled "archival." The license agreement forbids the simultaneous use of
both copies on separate computers. Can you be successfully prosecuted for
violating the agreement if you fail to heed this prohibition?
___ (14) If you purchase the title to a computer program and the package
contains two otherwise identical disks, one of which is labeled
"archival" (or "backup"), do you violate the copyright law by selling the
archival (or backup) disk while retaining ownership of the other disk?
___ (15) Do you violate the copyright law by possessing a copy of a
computer program when you do not rightfully possess the original from
which the copy was prepared?
___ (16) You are licensing the use of a program and the license agreement
forbids you from making more than two backup copies of the software. Can
you be successfully prosecuted for violation of the license agreement if
you make three backup copies?
___ (17) You are licensing the use of a program and the license agreement
forbids you from making more than two backup copies of the software. Are
you guilty of copyright infringement if you make three backup copies?
___ (18) You are licensing the use of a program and the license agreement
forbids you from creating a derivative work based upon the program. Can
you be successfully prosecuted for violation of the license agreement if
you disregard this prohibition?
___ (19) You are licensing the use of a program and the license agreement
forbids you from creating a derivative work based upon the program. Do
you violate the copyright law if you disregard this prohibition?
___ (20) You agree with a software publisher, in writing, that you will
place a copyright notice on the disk label of a backup copy which you
make of the program. Do you violate ANY law (i.e., either breach the
agreement or infringe the copyright) by failing to do so?
___ (21) You purchase a computer program and find, after you open the
package, that there is a plain, sealed envelope containing the program
disk. There is also, printed on a separate sheet among the various papers
enclosed with the program, a license agreement containing a clause that
prohibits you from selling it. The document of agreement states that the
software publisher is retaining the title to the software. Can you be
successfully prosecuted for violating the license agreement if you sell
the program?
___ (22) You are licensing the use of a computer program and are provided
with a 5 1/4'' disk and a 3 1/2'' disk, both of which contain the same
program. The license agreement states that you cannot use these two disks
simultaneously on different computers. Can you be successfully prosecuted
for violating the license agreement if you fail to obey this restriction?
___ (23) You purchase a computer program which is recorded on both a 5-
1/4'' disk and a 3-1/2'' disk that are contained in a plain, sealed
envelope inside the software package. You are not able to use the 3-1/2''
disk and therefore give it to a friend. Impatient to use the program, you
do not open the instruction manual before you load the program from the
5-1/4'' disk into your computer. Later, during the use of this program,
you decide to look up in the manual some point about the operation of the
program. Upon opening the manual, you find a license agreement inside,
which prohibits you from using both disks simultaneously on separate
computers. Have you violated ANY law by giving away the 3-1/2'' disk?
___ (24) You purchase the title to an upgrade of a computer program but
are not required to exchange the earlier version for the upgraded ver-
sion. Do you violate ANY law if you sell the earlier version, for which
you no longer have any use?
___ (25) You work for a newspaper and are preparing to write an article
about a particular computer program. Your friend, who is licensing the
use of a copy of this program, makes a copy and gives it to you for your
use in preparing this article. The license agreement restricts the use of
the program to one CPU at a time. Is either of you guilty of violating
ANY law?
___ (26) You are licensing the use of a program and the license agreement
prohibits you from disassembling the program source code. Do you violate
ANY law if you fail to heed this prohibition?
___ (27) You are licensing the use of a computer program and the license
agreement prohibits you from exporting the software to a country to which
the United States bans such exports. Can you be successfully prosecuted
for violation of the agreement if you export the software?
___ (28) Do you violate the copyright law by renting a computer program
to which you own the title?
___ (29) You have received a free copy of a copyrighted program over an
electronic bulletin board. The operator of the bulletin board has been
given permission by the copyright owner to distribute the program in this
manner. You are also warned in an accompanying notice that you are not
permitted to sell this copy. Do you violate ANY law by selling the
program against the wishes of the copyright owner?
___ (30) Do you violate the copyright law by making a backup copy of an
unprotected (i.e., not copy-protected) program and lending it to a
friend, without charge, while retaining but not using the original copy
as long as your friend is in possession of the borrowed backup copy?
___ (31) You are licensing the use of a computer program and the license
agreement contains a clause which states that you must destroy a backup
copy that you have made if you sell the program. Do you violate ANY law
if you sell the program and transfer, along with the original copy, an
exact copy which you made for backup purposes?
-------------------------------------------------------------
ANSWERS
The "Section" numbers referred to in these answers refer to the applic-
able portions of the copyright laws.
(01) NO:
Your right to make backup copies of a program under Section 117 is not
affected by the presence of copy-protection nor by the number of copies
of the program which you own.
(02) NO:
Paragraph (2) of Section 117 contains the phrase: "all archival copies
are destroyed." The closing paragraph of Section 117 contains the phrase:
"the copy from which such copies were prepared." The CONTU report that
provides the intent of this statute also contains the phrase: "and to
prepare archival copies of it." Since you are permitted to make more than
one backup copy, it follows that you may have more than one copy on hand
at one time.
(03) NO:
The intent of Section 117 of the copyright law is to protect the pur-
chased copy of the program from damage by mechanical or electrical
failure. This is most easily accomplished by the day-to- day use of a
backup copy in place of the purchased copy.
(04) NO:
The opening sentence of Section 117 contains the phrase: "to make or
authorize the making of."
(05) NO:
Since a program that is "altered" by modifying or removing the scheme of
copy-protection cannot be distinguished in its operation from the ori-
ginal program from which it was prepared, it contains all of the infor-
mation about the content of the copyrighted material. Hence it may be
transferred along with the original copy; in accordance with the transfer
provision of Section 117, it is an "exact" copy of the program.
(06) NO:
The adaptation and/or modification of a copyrighted work belongs within
the exclusive province of the federal copyright law and cannot be rest-
ricted within an agreement.
(07) YES:
Since the simultaneous use of unauthorized copies in an educational
setting negatively impacts the market for the program, it violates the
doctrine of "fair use."
(08) NO:
In order to use a single program on several computers simultaneously, you
must make copies (either permanent or temporary, via a network) of that
program. Since the making and/or use of copies is regulated under the
copyright law, such conduct cannot be restricted within a license
agreement.
(09) YES:
Section 109(d) permits the one who owns the title to a program to control
its transfer by means of an agreement.
(10) NO:
Section 109(a) permits the one who owns the title to a computer program
to transfer it without the permission of the copyright owner. Section
109(b)(1)(A) does not prohibit the one who owns the title from lending
the program without charge; rather, it forbids the lending of software
for the purpose of direct or indirect commercial advantage.
(11) YES:
A hard disk copy is equivalent to a backup copy which is used as a
working copy in place of the original copy. Thus using a single program
simultaneously from several hard disks is equivalent to the simultaneous
use of backup copies. This is forbidden by the doctrine of "fair use" in
Section 107, due to the negative impact upon the market for the program.
(12) NO:
Since you rightfully own two copies of the program, you do not violate
the copyright law by using these copies as you see fit, despite the
labeling by the software publisher of one of the copies as "archival" or
"backup."
(13) YES:
Since you do not own the title to the program, you must obey any restri-
ctions imposed by the title owner upon the use of publisher- furnished
copies of the program.
(14) NO:
Section 109(a) permits the title owner to transfer either disk, without
regard to its labeling.
(15) NO:
Mere possession of an "orphaned" copy does not violate the copyright law,
since its intended use may qualify for a "fair use" exception. If there
is no "fair use" exception, the purchased original from which the copy
was prepared may have been destroyed, in which case the use of the
orphaned copy does not violate the copyright law.
(16) NO:
Since the making of backup copies is regulated under the copyright law,
this conduct cannot be restricted within a license agreement. Since
Section 117 does not limit the number of backup copies which can be made,
you are not guilty of copyright infringement if you make more than a
single backup copy.
(17) NO:
Section 117 places no limit upon the number of backup copies which can be
made.
(18) NO:
The creation of a derivative work is regulated under the copyright law
and cannot be restricted within a license agreement.
(19) YES:
Under Section 106, the copyright owner has the exclusive right to create
a derivative work.
(20) NO:
Since matters involving the copyright notice are regulated under the
copyright law, your failure to heed a copyright notice requirement
imposed by the software publisher cannot be prosecuted as a violation of
the agreement. Since you may make backup copies, free from any
requirement to add anything to whatever copyright notice might exist on the original copy, you do not violate the copyright law by failing to
supplement the copyright notice that exists on the original copy.
(21) NO:
Since you were able to access the program disk without being aware of the
existence of a license agreement, the execution of the agreement is
defective. Therefore you have purchased the title to the program, even
though the so-called "license agreement" states that the software pub-
lisher is retaining the title. Thus you are free to sell the program
without his permission, in accordance with the provisions of Section
109(a).
(22) YES:
Since you do not own the software, you are bound to obey and use
restrictions which are imposed upon you by the one who owns the title.
(23) NO:
You own the title to the software since you were able to gain access to
the program without being aware of the existence of both a license
agreement and the fact that the software publisher is retaining the
title. Any so-called "license agreement" which appears only in the
instruction manual and is not referenced before you can gain access to
the program disk is not a valid document of agreement. Hence you are free
to transfer either one or both of the disks without permission from the
copyright owner.
(24) NO:
Since you are not licensing the use of the program, Section 109(a)
permits you to sell EITHER version of the program without the permission
of the copyright owner.
(25) NO:
Since the making and/or use of copies is regulated under the copyright
law, this conduct cannot be restricted within a license agreement. You
are not guilty of violating the copyright law, since the copyright law
permits the use of an unauthorized copy for journalistic use under the
doctrine of "fair use."
(26) NO:
Disassembly of a program may be required as one step in creating a
derivative work, which is conduct that is regulated under the copyright
law. Hence disassembly cannot be prohibited within a license agreement.
Yet the mere act of disassembling a computer program does not, in itself,
constitute the creation of a derivative work. Hence you may do so without
violating the copyright law.
(27) NO:
The export of software is regulated under federal law. Hence it cannot be
prohibited within a license agreement.
(28) YES:
Section 109(b)(1)(A) prohibits the rental of software, whether or not you
own the title to it.
(29) NO:
You have acquired the title to the software, by virtue of the method
which you have obtained it. Section 109(a) permits the one who owns the
title to a computer program to sell it without the permission of the
copyright owner.
(30) YES:
Section 117 requires that any backup copy that is transferred must
accompany the original copy from which it was prepared.
(31) NO:
The transfer of backup copies is regulated under the copyright law and
cannot be restricted within an agreement. You are not guilty of copyright
infringement, since Section 117 permits any exact copies to be
transferred along with the original from which they were prepared.
-------------------------------------------------------------
Read all about it in "THE COPYRIGHT GAME, ETC.--A Strategic Guide for
the Computer Software User," by Albert Silverman. ISBN 0-9527435-1-8. 330
pages in nominal 8-1/2"x11" format, softbound with an attractive cover.
What is the purpose of this book? Replacing the legal Mumbo-Jumbo with
plain English, it provides an all-inclusive, detailed, and impartial
explanation of the computer software copyright laws, using past court
cases for clarification of obscure language in the written letter of the
law. Since there is NO commercially-generated distortion, it is likely
that you will find some surprises; i.e., which run contrary to the
industry's self-serving "interpretation" of the law. Thoroughly debunked
is the industry's attempt to pirate your legal rights by the use of a
phoney "licensing strategy." Included is a detailed and entertaining
analysis of several leading Software License Agreements. In summary, you
are provided with sufficient and accurate information (i.e., the legal
FACTS) to permit you to handle your computer software in the manner
intended by the U.S. Congress, while safely ignoring those industry
perversions of the law which seek to gain for it an unfair advantage--at
YOUR expense.
Exposed in great detail is the outrageous software industry piracy of
the legal rights of unsophisticated software users (directed by
unconcerned educational administrators) within the California public
schools. For the first time ever, this well-hidden scheme has been
unearthed (with supporting and incriminating documentation from my
extensive research into the inner educational sanctum) and is being made
public. Although this ongoing effort is particularly well-organized in
California, the premier "computer state," it blankets the entire nation,
leaving no educational level uncovered.
The disastrous result of this exceptionally cozy relationship between
the computer software industry and the California Department of Education
is explained. If you are at all concerned about the way in which this
illicit educational-commercial "partnership" affects the integrity of
computer education in your public schools and drains away your tax money
to line the software industry's pockets with unwarranted profits, this
book is essential reading.
What will NOT be found in this book? Since its sole purpose is to
ensure that you understand precisely what conduct is required for your
(simultaneous) compliance with federal copyright law and state licensing
law, there are no sermons about your "moral" or "ethical" obligations.
That is, it is only your hard and fast LEGAL obligations which are
addressed. The industry's "moral suasion" is most often an attempt to get
the software user to obey the law; i.e., it is a substitute for the
economically-unfeasible prosecution of small- scale violations of the
copyright law. On the other hand, there may also be a piratical attempt to
make an end-run around the law. That is, when there is NO ground for legal
action against the software user, the industry may seek to gain its own
way, either by shaming the user with claims of immoral and/or unethical
conduct or by the use of a phoney (and ususally coercive) "license." This
book sorts it all out for you.
--------
The price of $19.92 (check or money order) includes $4.50 for
handling, shipping by UPS, and sales tax if shipped to a California
address. A street address is required for shipping purposes. Off-
the-shelf delivery from:
INTELLOGIC PRESS
P.O. Box 3322
La Mesa CA 91944
--------
Any questions? If you want information about the subject matter of
this article, or if you want more information about my book, send me a
message by GE Mail. My GEnie mail address is A.SILVERMAN4. Or you may
write to me at the above address, enclosing a stamped, self-addressed
envelope if you would like a reply.
***********************************************************************
:HOW TO GET YOUR OWN GENIE ACCOUNT:
_________________________________
To sign up for GEnie service:
Set your communications software to Half Duplex (or Local Echo)
Call: (with modem) 800-638-8369.
Upon connection type HHH (RETURN after that).
Wait for the U#= prompt.
Type: XTX99587,CPUREPT then, hit RETURN.
GEnie Information copyright (C) 1991 by General Electric
Information Services/GEnie, reprinted by permission
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> LOOKIN' AROUND STR Feature Checkin' GEnie Out
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ALL AROUND GENIE
================
Compiled by Lloyd E. Pulley, Sr.
Senior Editor of ST Report
A few posts that I found interesting in my travels around Genie. Most
are related to computers and/or the ST, some are not.
------------------------------
From the Atari ST RoundTable -
Category 18, Topic 2
Message 17 Wed Jul 15, 1992
A.FASOLDT [Al Fasoldt] at 00:31 EDT
Long message alert!
All:
Here's a copy of a letter I wrote to a friend of mine on GEnie after he
said he wanted to abandon the ST after many years of ownership.
I am sorry to hear about your decision to abandon the ST. I am tempted
to try to dissuade you, but instead I'd like to tell you about my own
disillusionment over the ST and Atari in general and what became of it.
About a year ago, I'd finally reached the bottom of my willingness to
wait for Atari. I was sick of reading about and hearing about all the
new and wonderful things that were going on in the other camps -- the PC
and Mac. By the end of 1991, I'd made up my mind. I was switching to my
PC, and leaving my ST for the occasional fun program and game, or maybe
for running a BBS.
So I got smart. Instead of moving to Windows, which I already knew would
not satisfy an ST user, I bought GeoWorks.
Now GeoWorks is amazing. There's no doubt about it. It can make any PC
run rings around Windows. It multitasks with any PC, even the oldest and
slowest model. If there were any single graphical interface that makes a
PC behave like a computer should behave, it would have to be GeoWorks.
As you know, for a decade or more I have used Ataris professionally. I
did all my writing on them -- first, an 800XL, then a 130XE, then a 576K
130XE, then a 520ST, then a 1040ST, then a 4-meg 1040ST, and now a 4-
meg, 16-mHz 1040ST. I used them for many other purposes, too. I did that
because I like them; I like the way they respond. I guess they would be
the sports cars of the PC world. I like sports cars.
I got deep into GeoWorks. I wrote a long documentation for GeoWrite, the
wonderful GeoWorks word processor -- you know, the same sort of thing I
did for Flash, a "Secrets of ..." text. I love GeoWorks and all its many
modules. It's wonderful.
But within a few months I found myself writing again on my ST. I found
myself organizing my next book on my ST. I found myself learning new ST
programs, enjoying them, looking for others, hoping to find some of the
software I would have liked to have had on the PC.
I'd like to say, "Then a funny thing happened on my way out the door
when I tried to abandon Atari..." But it was more than funny; it was
eerie. I like the ST too much; I *love* the ST too much. It's not just a
syrupy crush. The kind of love that I have is based on some cold, hard
realities. Those are the things I really want to tell you about. I know
I am not going to change your mind. Only you can change it; nobody will
ever do it for you.
The ST is not like a PC. It is a little like a Mac and a little like an
Amiga. Let's start at the beginning.
PCs use 80x86 series CPU chips, either from Intel, their inventor, or
from chip makers who have cloned the CPUs. All 80x86 chips must follow
the same internal architecture of the first chip in the series, the
8088. The 8086 came shortly afterward, and was a big improvement, but
the architecture requirements were the same. Instead of creating a new
chip that didn't have the failings of the 8088, Intel decided to keep it
compatible with the 8088. And that's been the story for every Intel PC
chip since.
So what?
Well, for starters, those chips, even the 80486, address memory in a
strange sort of way. They grab only 64K at a time. This is called a
memory segment. If you have ever looked at the length of ".com" files --
the standard PC executable program, comparable to an ST ".tos" file --
you may have noticed something odd: None of them are more than 64K in
length. They can never be longer than that. Not now, not in the future.
That's because no PC, no matter how new or old, can address more than
64K of memory at once; it just can't, no matter what else has been done
to make it fast or sleek.
You are surely noting that this is just *1/10th* of the memory limit
that you are accustomed to hearing about in the PC world -- the 640K
limit. Yes, a PC can only address 64K at a time; the 640K limit is the
standard maximum for *all* the memory that can be addressed when the
segments are pulled to and from RAM one at a time. This standard has
been bent and massaged and altered by very clever programming, so that
most modern DOS systems can now allow the CPU to address something like
700K or even more -- but only after a painful process or trial and
error, to see what memory can be redistributed. It's something like the
trial and error of rearranging your AUTO folder so that conflicts don't
cause some programs to crash, only its a lot harder, and much less
reliable.
How, then, can a PC work with a program larger than 64K? It uses ".exe"
files, which can be 600K or more in length. An ".exe" program tells the
PC to load it 64K at a time. A nice workaround, yes. But it is a salient
reminder that the processor can only see 64K segments, and that means
that when memory is addressed, nothing can make that chunk of memory any
larger. And this means that an 8 mHz PC, which has the same processor
speed as a standard ST, is nowhere near as fast in actual memory access
and execution. A 16-mHz ST is comparable to a 33-mHz PC; a 40-mHz SST
(from Gadgets by Small) cannot be matched by any PC, even a 66-mHz
clock-doubled Hewlett-Packard. The laws of physics tell us so, as do the
benchmarks, because of the way the ST's Motorola chip works. It has a
flat memory model, which is fancy talk for the way it addresses memory
linearly. The ST can grab 4 megs at a time; the Falcon can grab 14 to 16
megs at a time.
You have heard about PCs with oodles of extra memory, no doubt. Mine has
2.5 megs of extra memory. Many have 4 megs or 8 megs or even more. PCs
must have an 80286 or higher CPU to address that extra memory, unless
they use a bank- switching technique pioneered by Apple in the Apple II
and used by Atari very effectively in the 130XE. (That's how my 130XE is
able to make use of 576K of total memory.) This bank-switching on a PC
is good for only one basic use -- a ramdisk -- unless you use DesqView,
which shuffles programs into and out of those banks of memory, 16K at a
time. (Yes, not even 64K at a time; because of an even greater
limitation in the architecture than I have described so far, bank
switching on a PC, even an 80486 running with 32 megs of extra memory,
can only work 16K at a time -- the same amount of switched memory, by
the way, that the 130XE pulls in and out when it switches banks.)
Windows cannot make use of that bank-switched memory, which is why
Windows will not run adequately on an older PC. Windows must use what is
called extended memory, which takes advantage of a property of the 80286
and higher CPUs enabling them to switch into a different operating mode
so that they can reach up past the old limit of 640K (even this limit is
not as simple as I have made it out so far, since the actual limit is 1
meg, but IBM put system ROM chips into the area above 640K, so without a
lot of trickery a PC can't get past 640K; the real point is that there
is no way for it to get past 1 meg at all without switching into that
other mode).
That mode switching also takes processor time, and is yet another reason
why a PC is not as fast as an ST in the way it works. But what really
matters is the fact that the CPU cannot switch modes and still address
that 640K of memory properly; it must switch into one mode and then
switch back, many thousands of times a second ... unless, of course, the
PC user forgoes the use of that extra memory for programs and uses it
for a disk cache or ramdisk, which is basically what most of them do.
Most PC programs are 640K-compatible programs that never have anything
to do with extra memory, and it will always be that way. It cannot be
any other way.
This, in turn, means that software that runs on PCs cannot work as
smoothly as software that runs on any of the Motorola-chip machines (the
ST, the TT, the Falcon, the Mac and the Amiga). It can't. Period. This
is not theory. It just plain can't.
What about the Mac? Macs are getting cheaper, and that's good. But let's
talk about how Macs work. First, Mac files have two parts -- a data fork
and a resource fork. A Mac file isn't just in one place; it's in two.
The Mac itself does its own housecleaning, so that when you drag a file
to the trashcan, the Mac knows enough to delete both parts.
But that odd way of splitting up files (something Apple regrets, since
it was completely unnecessary, and will not be repeated in any future
Apple operating systems) gets in the way of normal operations; it makes
many of the typical things the Mac does much slower, and it guarantees
that life with a Mac will be dictated by the Mac and not by what you
want to do with it. The Mac is not easy to use; it is, for someone who
know how delightful an ST can be, exceptionally cumbersome.
But that's just the start. The Mac's operating system is not just on ROM
chips as TOS is. It's in ROM and on a system disk. That system disk must
be present at all times. (It's in the hard drive for HD-equipped Macs,
but must be on a system floppy otherwise.) This is precisely the way PCs
work. Except for some laptops and for Tandy's low-end PCs, all PCs have
the OS on disk and in ROM. (DOS-in-ROM should have caught on when Atari
showed how to do it, and how much of an advantage it was, but internal
documents from Microsoft showed that it saw the ST as a serious
competitor for Intel-based PCs, and it was not about to "copy" the ST's
way of doing things.)
Let's back up to point one. Since Mac files live in two places, and
since the Mac (point two) has its OS on disk and in ROM, the Mac
accesses its HD or its floppies constantly, just to do its normal work.
The ST can run for months without accessing anything but memory -- the
way computers should operate.
Macs also have very small screens, unless you pay a lot of money and buy
one of the modular Macs.
The Amiga isn't a finished computer, and cannot be compared with the ST.
It's a nice hack, but not a serious computer except for graphics.
So, what would you find as an ST user if you turned to a PC? A lot of
software to choose from, and a very dull life. And a lot of
configuration problems. And clunky daily use.
And the Mac? Expense or slowness; you have a choice.
Lee, this is a pivotal time for Atari. The Mega STe is perhaps one of
the finest personal computers around, and it costs $600 to $700. Memory
can be dropped in because it uses SIMMs; it can handle two modems at
once (even three, if you aren't doing anything truly fancy with the
third); it has stereo digital sound output; it offers 16- gray-scale
monochrome (which the Mac can't do except for the high-priced models)
and a 4,096-color palette (which the cheaper Macs can't come within
4,094 colors of matching); it even has a wonderful detached keyboard and
a VME slot for any sort of add-on. And of course it now has a 1.44-meg
floppy.
The Falcon is an unknown, but an exciting one. In its favor will also be
an inexpensive price, along with amazing graphics.
This is also a pivotal time for Atari software. NeoDesk and TOS 2.06
both bring much of the Mac's desktop design to the ST (drag-and-drop
from the desktop, a full range of installed applications, and more), and
they make the ST more powerful than a Mac because they add full macro
abilities (press an Fkey to run a program in NeoDesk, or to do that and
more with TOS 2.06) that the Mac cannot have without add-ons.
Word-processing and desktop-publishing software on the ST is finally at
the same plane as on the Mac, and much better than on the PC. Databases
and spreadsheets are as good in most ways, better in others. And of
course MIDI on the ST, TT (and, soon, Falcon) has no peer.
Even support is better in some vital ways on the ST. Sure, Atari eats
swampwater, but so does Apple, and so do all the others. Just monitor
the other areas of GEnie and you'll see. ST users give each other more
support than the users of any other computer; GEnie has made it clear
that its busiest support area has been the ST roundtable for many years.
(Bob Brodie got more than 1,000 E-mail letters *alone* from GEnie when
he said he was reconsidering where to spend his on-line time.)
Is this a good time to leave the ST platform? Lee, in my opinion this is
the best time to *stay* with the ST. I am sure I cannot change your
mind, but I hope I've given you a good reason to think things over.
Al
Postscript: My friend left the ST world anyway. But perhaps he will come
back....
------------------------------
From the Aladin ST RoundTable -
Category 6, Topic 1
Message 218 Sat Jun 13, 1992
NTACTONE [Ron Hunter] at 13:08 EDT
Well, maybe a little, at least to be cautious where mechanical things
are concerned.
There are two kinds of cacheing, read cacheing, which is completely
safe, as the data is ONLY read, and any writes go directly to the disk,
and write cacheing, where the data is written to the cache (ram), and
not written to the drive until that sector hasn't been updated for a
while, or that ram space is needed for another sector.
There is quite a speed advantage to both, read and write cacheing, but
the delay between writing the sector to ram and physically writing it to
disk can cause problems if something unexpected, like power loss
(happens a lot here), or a program lockup, or too fast pressing of the
reset button, causes the rewritten data not to be written to the disk.
If that data happens to be a directory, or FAT sector, data loss can
occur.
I prefer not to take that chance, and use ONLY a read cache. The cache I
use DOES have what is called 'write optimization', which means that if a
write doesn't actually CHANGE a sector, the writing to disk is bypassed,
and this is obviously quite safe.
------------------------------
From the Jerry Pournelle RoundTable. A discussion about Carpal Tunnel
and other computer related health problems. Messages 1 - 40
E.WHITAKER1 - Does using a rolled-up towel at the base of the keyboard
help?
B.NASH - I thought for all the world that I had ruined my wrists a
couple of months ago, after a 48-hour stint at the keyboard to finish
something over Memorial Day. About Wednesday or Thursday of that week, I
couldn't sleep for the pain, and unable to muster the grip to turn a
doorknob. The best wrist rest I found was a relatively flat one, made by
Logitech, for about $12.00. I would've paid many times that (at the
time), for one that was heated.
DENNYA - ...I'm on the lookout for some kind of wristpad. I haven't had
much trouble with hand pain since I started forcing myself to take
breaks every few pages.
JERRYP [Chaos Master] - Rolled up towels probably help. Adjusting
posture helps more. But really, it's just typing. Mousing hurts me more
than typing which is one reason I have been reluctant to change to a
Windows word processor.
Most outfits will give you a 'wrist protector' as part of a promotion,
if you like them. My arrangement is such that I don't use wrist rests
and don't like them much, but Niven does.
But really, it's just typing, and I have been doing that for a living
for about 30 years now.
J.WELLS1 - By the way: There is a significant debate going on in the
medical/legal community that carpal tunnel syndrome is the creation of
worker comp attorneys who are working on the behalf of their "injured"
employee plaintiffs.
Carpal Tunnel Syndrome resulting from typing or signing checks or so on
may be a myth.
B.NASH - J.Wells, scoff if you will, but I am a former amateur boxer,
lift weights, played baseball for 18 years, and can muster a grip well
in excess of 200 pounds, but after programming for 12 years, and
spending a 3-day weekend glued to a keyboard, cannot even turn a
doorknob? Myth? Hardly!
GARY.UTTER - I personally have suffered from carpal tunnel syndrome
since the 60's. At the time my doctor told me it was from doing a lot of
heavy physical work with my hands, specifically, farming and auto mec-
hanics. I have had lots of time to learn to deal with it, and at this
point, for the most part, it has become so unconscious that I can't
really describe what I do to avoid problems. I DO have problems,
regardless, and 3 Indocin capsules over a 24 hour period are usually
sufficient to take care of it.
Half the people I work with seem to be wearing braces and Ace bandages
these days. Myself, I wonder if it has anything to do with the fact that
we have had three people (so far) retire with permanent disability (at
full pay) in the past two years on a claim of carpal tunnel (with
supporting medical documentation).
D.JONES117 - Jerry, maybe you don't have a problem because you learned
to type the correct way in school. I know that when I took typing the
instructor was always telling me to keep my wrist straight and not let
my elbows drag down my wrists. At home I rest my wrists on the desk, and
the keyboard is less that an inch about the desk surface.
T.HOLSINGER - JerryP, the difference is that you work for yourself
rather than other people <g>.
After punning that your financial motivation supposition is correct,
here is my response as an attorney who does Workers Compensation
representation.
The key is being able to set your own pace, take breaks when you feel
like it, get up from the keyboard, fiddle with the relative positions of
the keyboard, monitor and chair to find the most comfortable positions,
etc. You as a self- employed person whose time is extremely valuable can
take as much time, and spend as much money, as you want doing that
because avoidance of long-term downtime is vital.
Secretaries and especially data entry clerks do not have those options.
The cost of mitigation measures for any one individual is a significant
fraction of the cost you would pay for equivalent measures (yours are
much better, BTW), while the productivity loss from injury to any one
low-paid relatively fungible worker is far lower than it would be for
you.
This means that employers do not have the financial incentive you do to
take adequate protective measures. Then throw in the institutional
problems of managers letting low-level staff "waste" their time in non-
productive activity such as carefully adjusting ergonomic factors at
their workstations in a manner unique to each worker.
Also, Jerry, carpal tunnel syndrome is not limited to typing. It
concerns most any repetitive activity involving the wrist. The local
food-processing industry (Foster Farms, Con-Agra, etc.) is plagued with
it.
DAEDWARDS [Don Edwards] - Medically, carpal tunnel syndrome is a very
real thing. A bit of anatomy here:
The carpals are the wrist bones. (The metacarpals are the hand bones;
there are equivalent sets, tarsals and metatarsals, at the end of your
legs. Both finger and toe bones are phalanges.) There are seven of them
in each wrist, arranged vaguely like this:
hand thumb
: :: /
wrist
However, if you were to remove the hand and look at the end, you would
see that the bones are arranged something like this:
_
/ \
(Well, the typeface exaggerates it a bit.)
A sheath of ligament covers the open side, causing the arch to hold its
shape. The area with the bones on three sides and the (non-stretchy)
ligament on the other is the carpal tunnel.
In that tunnel run the tendons for whole-hand tilting and control of the
index and middle finger; a couple blood vessels; and the major nerves
for the hand (other than the thumb and little finger).
If the tendon in the tunnel develops tendinitis, it swells. Problem is:
there is very little room for it to swell. But it swells anyway. Carpal
tunnel syndrome officially occurs when the swelling is bad enough to
constrict and damage the nerves. A roughly equally bad problem can occur
if the swelling constricts the blood vessels.
Carpal tunnel syndrome (CTS) is very real, very painful. Believe it.
Now some comments on, why now?
Typewriters enforce a certain amount of variety. A person who types fast
enough to have any risk of developing CTS thereby, simply cannot type
nonstop for hours at a time on a typewriter: he'll have to put in new
paper several times.
Even with PCs, though, there is a lot of variety in how people approach
the thing. I know a number of people who figure that if they can reach
the keyboard and see the screen, it is good enough; others pay attention
to their body. I used to be that way myself. Some people work for hours
straight; others automatically take breaks every few minutes with their
hands away from the keyboard. (Either a recognizable break, or doing
some other work, or "think time"; the wrists can't tell the difference.)
Paying attention to your body, and responding to what it tells you, is
sufficient to prevent 99% of CTS cases. The problem is that "responding
to what it tells you" may involve new furniture, a new keyboard,... in
other words, money the boss may not be willing to spend (money the boss
may not HAVE).
Let's put it in money terms.
A wrist rest, a good one, costs about $15. A foot rest, about $25? A
table too low can be raised by putting cheap, short pieces of wood under
the legs; or a platform can be put on top of the table, which is a bit
more expensive but probably safer. The extreme case, a new ergonomic
keyboard - the one my employer is looking at lists for $690.
On the other side: a day off work, on sick leave or disability pay,
probably costs about 200% of straight pay, minimum. (That's loss of your
work, plus the pay you collect. Depending on what you do and how good
you are at it, the loss could be far higher.) I have missed 3 days due
to tendinitis in my wrists; a lady I work with has missed a total of
over 7 months due to CTS.
The test they do on your nerves, to determine if you have CTS, costs
about $700. Plus you will have at least one medical appointment before
the test, and at least one medical appointment after the test. I have
had this test once; the lady I mentioned has had it four times. (It is a
PAINFUL test involving running electricity through the nerves in your
arm and hand. If you are lucky and get a really good doctor to do the
test, the pain comes in about 5-millisecond bursts; if the doctor is not
so good, the bursts are about a second each. I had a good doctor, and I
told him he could quit because I'd confess to anything. The lady
mentioned above is my source for the longer figure. Even with a good
doctor, before he is half done you will be willing to confess to
anything if he will just quit.)
Prescription pain killers will also be covered by industrial insurance.
They aren't exactly inexpensive.
So, clearly, the industrial insurance fund is money ahead to take
serious preventive measures early on. This is where the employees of
self-insured companies may have an advantage: either way, it all comes
out of the employer's pocket.
What are some preventive measures?
People who spend hours in a row at the keyboard, like I do, should not
bother fixing only one problem unless that's all they CAN fix. Whole
books have been written on the subject of work-area design. I'll try to
give a quick rundown - but it won't be short.
Start with the chair. It should be set high enough that your feet can
sit comfortably flat on the floor directly beneath your knees or
slightly forward. Sit far enough forward that the front of the chair
doesn't quite touch the back of your lower legs, and adjust the back so
that your back is straight and you are leaning backward very slightly.
If your chair won't accommodate this, look for a different chair. (Those
weird-looking "chairs" that consist of a couple of tilted pads are very
good for sore backs but hell on sore knees. I know this from personal
experience.)
Put the keyboard on the table or desk in front of you. Scoot yourself up
so that you can reach it comfortably with your arms and hands in an "L"
shape - right angle at the elbow, wrists straight or VERY slightly bent
upward, upper arms vertical. If the table is too low: adjust it upward;
put a platform under the keyboard; put something under the table legs;
get a new table. Or if it is too high: adjust it downward; get a new
table; raise your chair and get a footrest.
Take another look at your arms, with your fingers on the home row. There
is a good chance that your hands are in front of your neck; if so, your
wrists are bent to the side at a horrible angle. Time to look for a
replacement keyboard. A WIDER replacement keyboard. The ideal is that
your hands should be in front of your shoulders, but that probably
cannot be done with a standard keyboard. (Some ergonomic keyboards allow
for separation of the keyboard halves; don't buy without reading further
because I have more about keyboards later.)
Stop by a medical supply place or a pharmacy, or a friend who wears
wrist braces while using the keyboard. Check the splints in the wrist
braces; see how your wrist is bent while wearing them. That is the MOST
you want your wrist bent. Now go back to your keyboard and sit down; put
your fingers on the home row and drop your arms until the wrist or palm
is resting on the surface beneath. Is your wrist bent more than the
splint indicated? If so, get a wrist rest. Whatever supports the wrist
comfortably at an acceptable angle will do; soft wood might be ok or you
may want a bit of padding.
Now here's where a mouse is really useful. Move away from the keyboard
and lay one hand on the table as if you were using an imaginary
keyboard. Do the same with the other hand EXCEPT put the edge of the
mouse under the base of your thumb, so that your hand is at an angle to
the table. Sit like that until you can definitely say which hand is more
comfortable. Bet it's the one with the mouse under it. You want a
keyboard that will let you tilt your hands at least a bit like that. If
you can't find one that gets serious about it, a passable substitute is
to raise the right side of the keyboard by maybe a quarter inch. (I
suspect that left-handers would do better to raise the left side.)
Now let's get the screen at the right height. I assume you work directly
on the screen (as opposed to copying from a paper source). The front of
the screen should be vertical, and some part of it should be at eye
level. Experts say the top of the screen; I prefer a point about 1/4 of
the screen height lower. (If you have bifocals, this won't work. Put the
screen at a height where you can see it and tilted so that it is at a
right angle to your line of sight. Or maybe get a set of single-
prescription glasses for terminal work.)
Now look at the overall lighting level. You don't want a whole lot of
light for looking at the screen; turn down the lights. But you do want a
fair amount of light for looking at other things, so get a little desk
lamp. One good place to put it is directly on top of your monitor,
shining down so that it forms a "curtain of light" directly in front of
the screen WITHOUT shining either into your eyes or onto the screen.
Once the light is adjusted, you may want to adjust the brightness of the
screen.
And finally, check for glare on the screen. Glare can variously be fixed
by closing curtains, moving the computer, minor changes in screen angle,
light shades, anti-glare screens... but it can make portions of a screen
impossible to read.
[Note: This thread continued next week.]
______________________________________________________________
> GEnieLamp Contest STR InfoFile Computer WARS???
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(*) Entries selected for publishing in upcoming issues of
GEnieLamp will receive $12.00 worth of GEnie time _upon_
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The Details
"""""""""""
o The contest is open to all GEnie members. (If you are not a
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staff writers and GEnie employees/contractors are welcomed to
submit articles, but are not eligible for prizes.
o Contest entries are to be 500 words or less and in ASCII
format. At the top of your article, be sure to include your
name and your GEmail address.
o Deadline for submissions is no later then midnight, August 15,
1992.
o When you are ready, you can upload your entry to the temporary
library #8 in the GEnieLamp RoundTable (M515;3).
o All entries become the property of GEnieLamp Online Magazine.
o Entries will be judged by the GEnieLamp Editors, Co-editors
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So what'cha you waiting for? This is an easy contest! You're
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+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
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_______________________________________________________
> CODEHEAD INFO STR InfoFile Prices and Version Numbers
""""""""""""""""""""""""""
CODEHEAD TECHNOLOGIES
=====================
Prices and Version Numbers: Tuesday, July 14, 1992
---------------------------------------------------
UTILITIES VERSION MANUAL RELEASE NOTES PRICE UPGRADE
HotWire 3.0 1.3 2.3 $44.95 $10.00
MaxiFile III 3.0 2.0 3.0 Addendum $44.95 $15.00
HotWire Plus (includes Maxifile) $69.95 $20.00
MultiDesk Deluxe 3.4a 3.0 $49.95 $20.00 + $3 S/H
CodeKeys 1.3 1.1 $39.95 $10.00
LookIt & PopIt 1.2/1.1 1.0 $39.95 $10.00
G+Plus 1.5 1.2 $34.95 $10.00
CodeHead Utilities 4 Release 3 & 4 $34.95 $10.00
MidiMax 1.3 1.0 $49.95 $10.00
MIDI Spy 1.0 1.0 $79.95
Warp 9 3.61 3.61 $44.95 $20.00 + $3 S/H
CALLIGRAPHER WORD PROCESSOR PRICE
Professional $175.00
Gold 250.00
Gold Extension 100.00
URW Font Disks (64 choices) 34.95
GRAPHIC TOOLS
Avant Vector (with EPS) $545.00
Avant Plot $895.00
Genus Font Editor $175.00
MegaPaint Professional 4.0 $175.00
Cherry Font Packs $42.95
HARDWARE
TOS Extension Card $139.00
TOS Ext. Card - CPU or BUS Bridge $155.00
TOS Chip Set $60.00
TERMS
"""""
Check, Money Order, Mastercard, Visa, and American Express are accepted.
Basic shipping charges are $3.00 to addresses in the US, $4.00 to Canada,
and $6.00 to Europe. Some packages, such as Avant Vector and MegaPaint
require higher shipping charges. Please call for exact rates.
UPGRADE POLICY
""""""""""""""
MaxiFile updates are $15.00, which includes a 67-page manual addendum.
MultiDesk updates (to MultiDesk Deluxe) are $20.00 plus $3 shipping,
which includes a new manual in a three-ring binder. Warp 9 upgrades are
$20.00. Send in your original Quick ST disk or a Turbo ST disk (any
version). Updates to previous versions of MegaPaint are $100.00. All
other updates are $10.00 each plus $5.00 extra if a new manual is
required. If you are updating HotWire and have the old red and black
manual, you'll need a new manual. To order any update, send us your
original disk plus the appropriate payment. Order are usually filled the
same day they are received.
__________________________________________________________
> ISD NEWS STR InfoFile ISD announces SL upgrade & Name Change
"""""""""""""""""""""
THE LATEST ISD CUSTOMER MAILOUT WITH A TWIST!
=============================================
July 9, 1992
Toronto, Ontario, Canada
from Nathan Potechin
THE FUTURE
Since 1986, ISD Marketing, Inc. has played a vital role in the Atari
community. It has been my pride and pleasure to be President of ISD since
January 1987.
In order to place a stronger emphasis on what has become the main
activity of ISD - the Calamus SL product line - we have restructured to
better address the needs of our many Calamus customers.
Our strong and continuing commitment to the entire Atari community has
resulted in the formation of DMC Publishing, Inc.
-------------------------------------------
"It gives me great pleasure to announce the
formation of DMC Publishing, Inc.."
-------------------------------------------
As president, it will be my mandate to continue to establish the
Calamus alternative in the desktop publishing arena throughout North
America. We will continue our role as publisher, providing the very best
product support of which we are capable. We will also act as an OEM
Reseller and Value Added Reseller (VAR) both for ourselves and to assist
others to do the same.
If you had the opportunity to walk into our offices today, you'd be
faced with everything from a 1040 ST to a Mega ST4 (running on a 68030 at
40 MHz) to a fully-loaded TT, with 36 meg RAM, (using the GE Soft RAM
expansion board), the Cybercube 24 bit-color card, a 760 meg Micropolis
SCSI hard drive, a 17" hi-res MAG Monitor, both an HP Deskjet500C and
Spectrastar thermal transfer color printer for color proofing, an SLM605
for black and white proofing, an Ultre Setter Imagesetter (from 400 to
3000 dpi on typesetter film or paper) and an Eskofot Film Developer.
FOCOLTONE
We are also proud to announce that we are the North American
representative for Focoltone Ltd., a U.K. firm which has developed and
released a complete Color Matching System that has already become famous
for the precision of its end result.
Focoltone modules are available on both the Mac and IBM and are, in
fact, supplied with such products as Quark Xpress, Adobe Illustrator and
Ventura Publishing.
We are proud to announce that the Focoltone color tables are now
available as a module for Calamus SL at no additional charge!
The Focoltone Color System provides the first and most advanced
process color tint system for the design and print industry since 1929.
It's a quick and simple system that brings together the specifier,
repro-house and printer into a partnership that ensures the prepress
proof and finished printed work will match.
The Focoltone Color System includes a 763 color Swatch Book, a set of
16 Color Charts with process color specifications, a Color Specifier Chip
Book with 5 swatches of each color perforated for error free
communication, or a set of 16 Color Charts on newsprint. A compete kit is
available.
If you want more information on the complete Focoltone Color System,
please ask. Complete product literature is available.
Calamus SL
We are really pleased with the response to Calamus SL so far. In fact,
the number of people that took advantage of the original upgrade offer far
exceeded our initial expectations. Thank you!
As anticipated, the new modular design, has become the center of a
powerful and ever-expanding universe of DTP tools.
Many of the features previously inactive are now up and running as
they should. As of July 1992, we have an update for Calamus SL.
Note: while there will be NO CHARGE for the update from SL to SL, there is
a fee of $10.00 applied to cover shipping and insurance.
As a Calamus SL owner, you will be able to purchase modules to suit
your specific needs. Development continues on many additional modules, 3
more of which are now available: Dataformer, Brush, and Mount.
WYNIWYG
"What You Need Is What You Get"
DMC brings "WYNIWYG" to desktop publishing. The modular concept means
that you purchase exactly what you need today, with the knowledge that
additional modules are available when you require them. Your choice is
now easier and more economical, since you will be purchasing specialized
modules, rather than entire packages.
We believe that you will enjoy working with Calamus SL, not only
because of its new power, but because of its similarity to Calamus 1.09N.
The skills you have already developed are applicable in SL and your
productivity will increase.
The basic Calamus SL upgrade package contains:
* A 600 page manual.
* three program disks
and twelve standard modules:
* Clipboard Module
* Page Module
* Frame Module
* Text Module
* Text Style Module
* Line Module
* Raster Area Module
* Document Converter
* System Parameters Module
* PKSWrite Module
* Raster Generator Module
* Focoltone Module
Calamus SL contains dozens of new features and powerful enhancements from
Calamus 1.09 as follows:
* Above all else, the ability to accept modules,
internal or third party.
* The ability to process and preprocess large
passages of text with speed and precision.
* Extended raster control with freely definable
raster angles and widths. Intensity and contrast
can now be corrected, while an integral histogram
allows you to optimize an image for your output
device.
* The PKS-Write Module provides standard
wordprocessing functions plus the ability to edit
layout information.
* The addition of Cache and Virtual Memory speeds
up and extends memory-dependent functions.
* Create hundreds of macros, each assigned to a
definable key binding which can be saved and
automatically installed in each work session.
* Open up to seven documents at a time. Cut & paste
to our new scrolling clipboard.
* Create and assign master pages (style sheets).
* Create and save text style lists.
* Expand, compress and skew text.
* Rotate and mirror frames.
* Control frame placement and size to (7) seven
decimal places.
* Print parts of pages (tiling).
* Define more than 16 million colors and save in
color lists.
* Set units of measurement for pages, fonts and
lines.
* Choose from three frame display modes:
Transparent, Opaque and Inverted.
* Align frames to other frames.
* Define vertical alignment settings.
* Currently, more than a dozen modules and scores
of drivers are available for use with Calamus SL.
We will publicize the availability of new
modules, drivers and upgrades through our normal
Customer Support channels, as well as through
periodic mailings to our registered users.
* The upgrade charge to our Registered 1.09N
customers remains at US $200.00 or $229.00 CDN.
This includes the new manual, program and modules
as indicated above.
MORE MODULES
We now have six additional modules available for separate purchase as
part of our decision to offer you "WYNIWYG": Speed Line (Autotracer)
Module, Color Separation Module, Vector Graphic Editor Module, Dataformer
Raster and Vector Modules, Brush Module and the Mount Module.
SPEED LINE AUTOTRACER
Speed Line brings monochrome Autotracing to Calamus, converting
illustrations to vector graphics. It automatically creates vectors,
utilizing Bezier curves, lines and areas. The simplified user interface
offers several optimizing functions to enable you to define line, angle
and pixel correction together with conversion options for Bezier curves
and line art. The Speed Line Autotracer converts a raster graphic to a
vector graphic within seconds. This can then be modified by any of the
existing Calamus drawings tools, particularly those contained in the
Vector Graphic module or Outline Art. Your cost is US $50.00 or $60.00
CDN.
COLOR SEPARATION
Our color separation module allows you to define separation filters,
including the definition of undercolor removal UCR and adornment (spot
color). This module allows the use of CYMK, CMY and IHS models, as well
as the capability to support new models such as FOCOLTONE, now available.
You will require this module to generate 4 color separations. Your cost is
US $50.00, $60.00 CDN.
VECTOR GRAPHIC MODULE
Our Vector Graphic Module allows the creation and editing of
monochrome or color vector graphics, editing of polylines for irregular
text flow and much much more. I have enclosed a few snap shots of the
many features. This is the perfect internal tool for editing autotraced
graphics. You can join sub-paths, distort and freely rotate all elements
or even apply different colors to every vector graphic part. Your cost
for this module is US $100.00 or $120.00 CDN.
DATAFORMER
The long-awaited DATAFORMER module comes in two parts - DATAFORMER
RASTER and DATAFORMER VECTOR. As the name implies, each part works on the
respective type of frames. The essential use of Dataformer is to convert
Calamus graphic frames or pages to other file formats for export.
DATAFORMER RASTER will export to Degas (PI?), Doodle (PIC), NeoChrome
(NEO), STAD (PAC), GEM Image (IMG), Enhanced Simplex (ESM), Block (BLK),
PC Paintbrush (PCX), IFFILBM (IFF), TIFF (TIF), Targa (TGA), Calamus
(CRG), and GIF87a (GIF).
DATAFORMER VECTOR will export to Calamus (CVG), GEM Metafile (GEM),
Autocad (DXF), HPGL Plotfile (PLT), Encapsulated PostScript (EPS) and
PostScript (PS).
DATAFORMER has an array of options that are specific to each export
file type. In all formats the output can be frame or full page size. The
graphic can be exported according to the original size or according to
user defined size including A5, A4, A3, B5.
In some file formats, there are choices of saving with Color,
Grayscale or Monochrome; in others you can specify ALL or STANDARD (VDI)
colors and FILLED or OUTLINED fill patterns.
There are also options to save 1-, 4- and 8- bit grayscale or 8- and
24- bit color.
For PostScript files, the options include FILLED or EMPTY fills and
you may choose to save an image with the file. For EPS you may choose to
attach a TIFF with the converted file. Your cost is US $100.00 or
$120.00 CDN.
MOUNT
MOUNT is a newcomer to the array of Calamus SL modules. MOUNT allows
the user to print more than one page on each sheet of printed paper. Paper
sizes must be two or four times the size of the working page format. For
example, if you are working on half size pages (5.5 x 8.5) you could use
MOUNT to print two pages on each piece of letter size paper. You can also
print multiple copies.
The MOUNT module is "smart". It can collate and mount your pages
automatically. For example, a 12 page booklet (half size pages) can be
printed in camera ready order: 1/12, 2/11, 3/10, 4/9, 5/8, 6/7, thus
eliminating the need to paste up your work. You can also choose to print
consecutive pages or multiple pages on the printed page. The costs is US
$50.00 or $60.00 CDN.
BRUSH
The BRUSH Module is a raster graphics editor that looks and works like
any of the basic external modules. It has two command groups - the first
allows you to select from a palette of 20 brush sizes and shapes,
including one that is variable. The second command group accesses the
same color table that is available in the other modules. This means you
can now color your raster graphics!
To use BRUSH, you must have a raster graphics frame selected. The
frame must contain data from one of the Calamus import formats - IMG,
STAD, NEO, PI?, PC?, RAW, CRG, CRD. Your cost is US $30.00 or $35.00 CDN.
If you have not already done so, place your upgrade order to Calamus
SL today; and order any additional modules that you may require. If you
already own Calamus SL, thank you. The three new modules now available
are only the beginning. Hundreds of modules remain in development at this
time.
Note: All prices are subject to change without notice.
PRICES US CDN
Upgrade to Calamus SL from 1.09N 200.00 229.00
Upgrade to Calamus SL from 1.09x 230.00 260.00
Update to Calamus SL 07/92 from SL 02/92 0.00 0.00
USER to USER TIPS on 4 diskettes 20.00 24.00
Vector Graphic Module 100.00 120.00
Speed Line Autotrace Module 50.00 60.00
Color Separation Module 50.00 60.00
Brush Module 30.00 35.00
Mount Module 50.00 60.00
Dataformer Raster & Vector Module 100.00 120.00
The Guide to Calamus Desktop Publishing 30.00 35.00
Outline Art PROMOTION 100.00 120.00
The Calamus Font Editor PROMOTION 50.00 60.00
Focoltone Color Swatch Book 79.00 95.00
Focoltone Set of 16 Color Charts 169.00 200.00
Focoltone Color Specifier Chip Book 200.00 240.00
Fast Technology's 40 mhz TURBO 030 1495.00 1695.00
-----------------------------------------------------------
Vector Graphic Clip Art Library CLEARANCE 30.00 35.00
MasterPlan CLEARANCE 20.00 24.00
VIP Professional CLEARANCE 30.00 35.00
STAccounts CLEARANCE 20.00 24.00
ACCounts 2.0 CLEARANCE 50.00 60.00
Note: There will be a charge of $10.00 for shipping and insurance on all
shipments.
DMC Publishing,
2800 John St., Suite 10
Markham, Ontario.
L3R 0E2
TEL 416-479-1880
FAX 416-479-1822
_____________________________________________________________
> STReport CONFIDENTIAL "Rumors Tidbits Predictions Observations Tips"
"""""""""""""""""""""
- Columbus, OH COMPUSERVE MEMBERS URGED TO FIGHT "MODEM FEE"
------------
(16-Jul-92) A commissioner with the U.S. Federal Communications
Commission (FCC) recently stated that the FCC may again examine the
possibility of imposing "modem fees" for information service companies.
Observers have said the fees could drive up telephone line costs to
information services companies by as much as 300 percent, some or all of
which online service members would likely bear.
CompuServe again needs your help in fighting any proposed cost increase
so that online services can grow and remain affordable. The ramifications
of the FCC's possible action is explained online (GO FCC). This area is
free of connect charges.
CompuServe asks that you send a letter to the FCC in opposition to modem
fees and also to write to certain U.S.Senators to encourage legislation
that would require the FCC to allow CompuServe and other information
services companies to use new and more efficient technologies without
being subjected to higher telephone line access charges. Also, please copy
Congressman Edward Markey of Massachusetts, Chairman of the House
Telecommunications Subcommittee. In 1987, a similar letter writing
campaign by online services users helped prevent increased access charges
from being implemented.
The GO FCC area lists the names and address of FCC commissioners and U.S.
Senators to whom you should write. Or, CompuServe will soon make available
an FCCgram you can send electronically for 29 cents to the FCC and
Senators. (Composing online is free.) A sample message is provided.
CompuServe is subsidizing this low 29-cent rate. GO TELECOM to read more
about this issue in the Regulatory Affairs section of the
Telecommunications Forum. Your support of affordable information
services is deeply appreciated.
- Sunnyvale, CA REVOLVING DOOR GOING STRONG!
-------------
According to our sources, Larry Segal and Dana Plotkin are no longer
part of the LYNX division in Lombard IL. The Lynx, a highly successful
handheld game machine is one of Atari's best selling products. Also its
reported the operation of the Lynx division will be brought back to
Sunnyvale and placed under the capable guidance of B. Stollar.
Additionally, the twenty two some odd programers for the Lynx who are
based in Lomard, were informed their job were secure.
- Sunnyvale, CA MR. SMITH GOES TO ATARI!
-------------
At the same time as the Lynx story was breaking for us, another of our
sources informed us of Ron Smith's coming on board at Atari. Smith whose
marketing and management skills expertise are very desirable at Atari is
reported to have a one year contract (non-interference). Lotsa luck to
you Mr. Smith!
- San Francisco, CA ATARI & EPYX FACE OFF
-----------------
Sketchy rumors are filtering in there may be another lawsuit in the
works... for approx six million dollars. The rumors abound that Atari is
suing the principals at Epyx. __________________________________________________
> STR Mail Call "...a place for the readers to be heard"
"""""""""""""
STReport's MailBag
""""""""""""""""""
from CIS
#: 66751 S17/Community Square
09-Jul-92 01:01:05
Sb: #66643-Calif. IOUs
Fm: Greg Wageman 74016,352
To: John Townsend @ Atari 70007,1135
John,
I think my sense-of-humor gland was seriously depleted when I wrote that
message to you. It was late, the check was in the mail... what more can I
say?
I was trying to make a couple of points, but in a fairly lighthearted way.
Like for example, your company (Atari Corp.) can only continue to pay you
while they have revenue, and revenue comes from sales mostly. Support for
your users is good, particularly if those users are generating more sales,
but if they're not, the company should be looking toward other ways to
spend its money to generate more sales and therefore more revenue...
I'm sorry to be giving a basic lesson in economics to those of you here
who know all this too well, but it seems to me that, to quote Sidney
Greenstreet in the "Maltese Falcon", "in the heat of action, men are
likely to forget where their best interests lie."
I can only speak for myself, in the end. I just sent in my check and got
my developer docs. I am planning to get a TT very soon. I am not on any
network, currently, except CIS. In the past I have been on BIX, GEnie and
Usenet. I could still have access to these if I chose, but I have settled
on CIS... If Atari Corp. "officially" abandons CIS, I might just have to
"officially" abandon Atari. Quid pro quo.
-Greg
#: 66762 S17/Community Square
09-Jul-92 08:19:28
Sb: #66758-Ancestors
Fm: Atari Advantage magazine 70007,3615
To: STReport - Ralph 70007,4454
Ralph,
I just got your ABCO catalog the other day ... its done very nicely. I
like the support services information you had like GEnie, CIS, and the
print magazines too. About 2 years ago I bought my Syquest (44meg) from
you and it is still running perfectly.
-- Albert Dayes @ Atari Advantage magazine
#: 66920 S1/Forum Business
12-Jul-92 15:30:20
Sb: #65359-Online support survey
Fm: Ron Berinstein 76645,1766
To: SYSOP*Ron Luks 76703,254
Ron, it is my opinion that Atari be represented by a qualified
spokesperson on every forem that has demonstrated their desire to promote
the Atari platform and assist users of that platform.
"C" hence would be my vote.
A forem like Compuserve that serves the world as well as the U.S. must be
recognized, supported, sustained, and promoted!
Ron Berinstein
From GEnie
Item 5558192 92/07/12 17:10
From: Requested Name be withheld
To: ST-REPORT R.F. Mariano
Sub: BTW
Ralph,
I've re-activated my CIS account. Starting with the next issue
of ST Report (once I get my new password), I will be DL'ing it from
there, not here. It's not much, but it will be my blow for Freedom of
the Press.
From the FNET
Conf : STReport Online
Msg# : 20946/20959 Lines: Extended Read: 2
Sent : Jul 09, 1992 at 6:01 PM
Recv : Jul 09, 1992
To : Gerry Mon @Fnet 504
From : Steve Taylor
Subj : Re: Wars
In a message of <07 Jul 92 08:49:00>, Gerry Mon @Fnet 504 (100:2/0)
writes:
>> Previously Spider-man wrote:
>>
>> As the Director of Communications for Atari Corp. don't you think that
>> B owes it to Atari and to Atari's users to be unbiased and even-handed
>> in treatment of various software developers. It's not as though
>> Atari
>> I never understood this "unbiased" argument. I feel that this is
>> impossible. We are all human and we all have biases. All businesses
>> form partnerships with other businesses.
>>
>> Finally, this is America. I would like to think that Bob Brodie is
>> entitled to having personal preferences in certain third party
>> software.
Well sure, Bob Brodie is entitled to his *personal* preferences but when
he uses Atari Corp. to bolster his biases it does not leave them a great
deal of credibility. Not everybody can get free TTs, laser printers,
Falcons etc. but it seems like a bit more than chance is involved.
Finally, this is the UK and it affects us here as well when this sort of
bias has a negative effect on the Atari community of which we are all
part.
Ridiculous favouritism is no way to run a successful company...
ATB, Steve.
* Origin: Steve Taylor's Point on <<<InterNet>>> (100:100/0.11)
Conf : STReport Online
Msg# : 21001/21011 Lines: Extended Read: 1
Sent : Jul 12, 1992 at 12:38 PM
To : Gerry Mon
From : Frank Sereno at Fnet Node 557, Software Syndicate elk grove,I
Subj : WARS
GM>I don't understand your argument. Are you saying that there would be
GM>no controversy if Atari decided to buy a bunch of FoReM packages and
GM>bundled it with every ST sold?
GM>I'm sure that the FoReM guys would rather have Atari do this than
GM>just using their software for their BBS.
Hmm, maybe this will be Brodie's next move in the war against ///Turbo.
Hey, I am sure that other DTP companies are very unhappy about the fact
that Atari pushes Calamus and Pagestream but they don't have anyone
participating in Fnet.
GM>What Bob had said was that the Lombard guys felt "it was a pain in
GM>the butt to get support for Turbo" and that they were surprised at
GM>how much better support came from the FoReM people.
GM>Given the fact that it was an unregistered shareware version of Turbo
GM>now explains why the Lombard guys might have gotten poor support.
To tell you my opinion, I don't think the people in Lombard ever tried
to contact Bob or John Miller. I played around with ///Turbo v1.0 and
sent John several Fnet-mail letters and he answered all of them. I
never did register the package because my modem has carrier detect
problem and ///Turbo kept thinking someone had called the bbs, but John
was very helpful.
GM>The important thing is that I feel Bob Brodie was telling the truth
GM>but that he used very poor judgement. So he's human. Everybody
GM>makes mistakes. I say, let it past.
Everybody makes mistakes but why is he still playing games locking out
nodes, etc.? I have met Mr. Brodie a couple of times, I have seen him
conduct his business at shows and on the nets and I am less than
impressed. He comes across as a pompous and self-serving man. Shoot, I
remember all the controversy in the anti-piracy conference about the
Atari student discount program. At the Chicago Atarifest, a college
student asked him about discounts and Bob brushed him off by telling him
to see Don Bahr of CompuSeller West. Problem was that Don had NEVER
been informed of any student discount program. I had to get the
information for Don via the Anti-piracy conference as Mr. Brodie
insulted that user as he (the user) complained in that conference. Of
course, Bob could have taken that all to e-mail, but he felt it more
important to insult that user as illiterate on a national echo.
Something is definitely wrong with Atari when they can't communicate
with respected and nationally recognized dealers about various programs
such as student discounts. I don't know if that is part of Mr. Brodie's
job or not, but it should be SOMEBODY's! I see that professionalism is
very lacking at Atari.
---
* SLMR 2.0 * It's the end of the world as we know it and I feel fine
From GEnie's ST RT
Category 15, Topic 6
Message 95 Sat Jul 11, 1992
J.D.BARNES [J.D.] at 08:13 EDT
While Daralh may not be free to discuss flags and the like, the rest of us
are certainly free to speculate.
Free flags serve a valuable purpose by allowing the managers of an
information service to allow dedicated workers in the community the
freedom to explore a service, to stimulate discussion, and to provide an
opportunity to synthesize the available data into other, perhaps more
useful forms. They also contain the seeds of their own corruption.
It is easy for the holder of a free flag to abuse it by engaging in
diatribes against others on the service. I have seen a number of instances
of this from quarters other than ST-REPORT. Those who have to pay to post
their views tend to be more considered in their postings.
The managers of the service also find themselves at risk when they are
tempted to yank a free flag becasue the holder takes positions that are
unpopular or "politically incorrect". As proprietors of commercial
enterprises the managers of the service are free, indeed they are
obligated, to protect themselves and their superiors from damage arising
out of indiscriminate slanders. This is a fine and dangerous line to
walk. The legal system has made it difficult for a public personage to
sustain charges of malicious intent arising out of the spoken or written
word. It is however, possible to demonstrate that allegations are patently
untrue and that such allegations were known to be false and were made with
intent to do damage.
Over the years I have observed that ST Reports' revelations have often
caused a great deal of pain, but that for all the shouting, there was
almost never any proof that the substance was false. Free speech brings
with it a certain amount of pain.
If, in the final analysis, Ralph's free flag is yanked, I am sure that his
supporters will find the wherewithal to carry on the cause of independent
thought, careful research, and penetrating analysis. If some elements in
the online community find that their best interests are not served by
supporting this activity from its own resources, so be it.
The Atari community seems to be undergoing a sort of information implosion
these days. The absorption of Z-Net into AE Online, the failure of several
glossy ST magazines, and the fissioning of ST Informer are merely the most
obvious examples.
If anything those independent voices that remain deserve more support
rather than less. The independent forums generate fresher ideas than do
the controlled ones. There is a great deal of value in analyses of events
seen through glasses that lack a rosy tint.
From what Ralph has said we can expect to keep on seeing ST Report here on
GEnie. One suspects that the absence of a free flag may give them a new
esprit d corps and enhance their independence.
"""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""
STReport's "EDITORIAL CARTOON"
""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""
> A "Quotable Quote" "...BUT I THOUGHT.......!"
"""""""""""""""""
"THE PRESS MUST BE FREE;.....
IF SOMEONE FINDS THEMSELVES ANNOYED BY IT,...
LET THEM EXAMINE THEIR OWN CONDUCT AND THEY WILL FIND THE CAUSE!"
... a wise old man
"""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""
> ABCO SPECIALS! STR InfoFile * NEW 1992 Prices! MORE Products! *
""""""""""""""""""""""""""" --------------------------------
Special for the Summer! 15% off on all orders of 150.00 or more!
** EFFECTIVE IMMEDIATELY! **
NOTICE: ABCO will BEAT OR MATCH * ANY *
Advertised or Invoiced price * WE WILL NOT BE UNDERSOLD!
ABCO COMPUTER CONSULTANTS
P.O. Box 6672 Jacksonville, Florida 32236-6672
Est. 1985
_________________________________________
Voice: 904-783-3319 10 AM - 4 PM EDT
BBS: 904-786-4176 12-24-96 HST
FAX: 904-783-3319 12 PM - 6 AM EDT
_________________________________________
HARD DISK SYSTEMS TO FIT EVERY BUDGET
_________________________________________
All systems are complete and ready to use, included at NO EXTRA COST
are clock/calendar and cooling blower(s).
*-ALL ABCO HARD DISK SYSTEMS ARE FULLY EXPANDABLE-*
(you are NOT limited to two drives)
(all cables and connectors installed)
- Available for all Platforms -
* ICD HOST ADAPTERS USED EXCLUSIVELY * OMTI HIGH SPEED CONTROLLERS *
* ICD ADSCSI+ HOST ADAPTERS * FULL SCSI COMMAND SET SUPPORTED *
* SCSI EMBEDDED CONTROLLER MECHANISMS *
* MAXTOR - SEAGATE - QUANTUM *
WE PAY SHIPPING & INSURANCE!!! >UPS!<
(Cont. USA)
VISA - MASTERCARD - NO SURCHARGE!
*** NEW!!! ULTRA MODERN "SUPER STYLE" CABINET ***
DELUXE 2 bay Cabinet W/65w Auto PS & Blower
*** 90 DAY LIMITED OFFER!! ***
- AT NO EXTRA COST! -
Cabinet & ICD ADSCSI Plus Host [Hard Disk Ready] $259.95
Model Description Autopark Price
==================================================
SGN4951 51Mb 3.5" Y 419.00
SQN1096 83mb 3.5" Y 519.00
SQN2055 120mb 3.5" Y 574.95
SQN1296 213mb 3.5" Y 839.00
SQN4055 340mb 3.5" Y 1310.00
==================================================
Standard "Shoebox Cabinet style is also available
FULLY ASSEMBLED SCSI DRIVES DEDUCT $60.00
ADD $35.00 for 4 BAY "SUPER CABINET" w/250+w PS
MODERN TOWER CABINETS AVAILABLE Call for Info!
PLEASE NOTE: The above is partial listing only!
Many other configurations available.
20mb - 3.5gb
NOTICE - NOTICE - NOTICE - NOTICE
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SPECIAL PURCHASE! * 83mb - 1345mb * Hard Disk Mechanisms
Call for SUPER PRICING!! Limited Time Only!!
FULLY ASSEMBLED SCSI DRIVES DEDUCT $60.00
ADD $35.00 for 4 BAY SUPER CABINET w/250+w PS
EXOTIC TOWER CABINETS AVAILABLE Call for Info!
PLEASE NOTE: The above is partial listing only!
FAST TECHNOLOGY ACCELERATOR UPGRADES AVAILABLE & INSTALLED
*****
>> ABCO proudly offers ATARI PRODUCTS <<
Call for ABCO's * HIGHLY COMPETITIVE PRICING! *
ATARI COMPUTERS * STILL THE BEST VALUE!
*****
Original Atari Mouse replacement: $35.00 NEW!
If you don't see what you want listed here, call us.
Odds are, we either have it or, can get it for you!
* GUARANTEED * AT THE BEST POSSIBLE PRICE! *
** 800-562-4037 **
"WE SERVICE WHAT WE SELL"
****** SPECIAL - SPECIAL ******
* SYQUEST 44MB (#555) >> ABCOFILE "44" << REMOVABLE MEDIA DRIVE *
- SYQUEST 44 MB DRIVE - ICD ST ADSCSI PLUS H/A
- ICD Utility Software - 3' DMA Cable
- Fan & Clock - Multi-Unit Power Supply
(1) 44 MB Syquest Cart.
--->> LIMITED TIME SPECIAL! NOW ONLY __$ 579.00__ <<---
**** SCSI UNITS -> ONLY $489.00 ****
WE PAY SHIPPING & INSURANCE! >UPS!<
(Cont. USA)
COMPLETELY ASSEMBLED AND READY TO RUN!
Cart and Utility Software Included!
EXTRA CARTS: $ 69.50
DRIVE MECH ONLY: $ 339.95
****** SPECIAL - SPECIAL ******
* TWIN SYQUEST 44MB REMOVABLE MEDIA DRIVES ... PROGRAMMER'S DELIGHT *
SPECIALLY PRICED ** $895.95.00 **
Includes: * TWO * cartridges!
* SYQUEST 44MB REMOVABLE MEDIA DRIVE AND HARD DRIVE COMBINATIONS *
- Syquest 44 Model [555] and the following hard drives -
** 50mb SQG51S $759.00 105mb SQG105S $959.00 **
Or, YOUR choice of Hard Disk Mechanism!
LOWBOY - STANDARD - DUAL BLOWER CABINETS
CUSTOM CONFIGURATIONS AVAILABLE
** ANNOUNCING THE NEW! -> ABCO CD-ROM! **
:Special Introductory offer:
ABCO CD-ROM $359.95 (limited time only)
Listed above are a sampling of the systems available.
Prices also reflect various cabinet/power supply configurations
(over sixty configurations are available, flexibility is unlimited)
* IBM - MSDOS - AMIGA - ATARI - APPLE - MACINTOSH *
ALL UNITS COMPATIBLE WITH --> SUPERCHARGER - AT/PC SPEED - GCR
LARGER units are available - (Custom Configurations)
*>> NO REPACKS OR REFURBS USED! <<*
- Custom Walnut WOODEN Cabinets - TOWER - AT - XT Cabinets -
Atari SLM 804, SLM 804PCV Laser Toner Kits
Memorex 2108, 5287
Oasys Laserpro 5287, 5308, Express 830, Express Series II
Silver Express, Gold Express
** $41.95 shipping Included **
Atari SLM 605 Laser Toner Kits
AT&T 593, CAF Laser, DSI Laser, DTP Systems, Epson EPL-6000
Facit P6060, Fontx Syslaser, Harris3M 2006, M-Tally MT905
Microtek Turbo PS, OAS Laserpro Executive, Packard Bell 9500
TEC LB 1305, Toshiba PageLaser 6
** $41.95 shipping included **
(TWO Toner Carts Incl.)
Panasonic Laser Toner Kits
Panasonic KX -P 400 series, Panafax UF-750 Facsimile
** $41.95 shipping included **
-- ALL TONER KITS * IN STOCK * --
* Toner Starter Kits-$62.95 *
* Replacement (804) Drums-$186.95 *
ABCO is PROUD to announce the acquisition of
the exclusive U.S.A. distribution rights for
** Bitblit Software's ///Turbo Board BBS. **
This fine Atari ST BBS system software and
user support is available through ABCO to all
Turbo customers in the USA. Call for current
pricing.
>> MANY other ATARI related products STOCKED <<
ALL POWER SUPPLIES UL APPROVED
-* 12 month FULL Guarantee *-
(A FULL YEAR of COVERAGE)
WE PAY SHIPPING & INSURANCE! >UPS!<
(Cont. USA)
QUANTITY & USERGROUP DISCOUNTS AVAILABLE!
_________________________________________
DEALERS and DISTRIBUTORS WANTED!
please, call for details
VISA - MASTERCARD - NO SURCHARGE!
Personal and Company Checks accepted.
ORDER YOUR NEW UNIT TODAY!
CALL: 1-800-562-4037 -=**=- CALL: 1-904-783-3319
Customer Orders ONLY Customer Service
9am - 8pm EDT
Tues thru Sat
ABCO is EXPANDING!! CALL FOR INFORMATION!
SEND FOR YOUR NEW ABCO CATALOG TODAY!
THE CATALOGS ARE DONE! & BEING MAILED!
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STR Online! "YOUR INDEPENDENT NEWS SOURCE" July 17, 1992
Since 1987 copyright (c) 1987-92 All Rights Reserved No.8.29
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