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Silicon Times Report Issue 0842
*---== ST REPORT INTERNATIONAL ONLINE MAGAZINE ==---*
"""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""
"The Original 16/32bit Online Magazine"
from
STR Publishing
""""""""""""""
October 23, 1992 No.8.42
==========================================================================
STReport International Online Magazine
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Jacksonville, Florida
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R.F. Mariano
Publisher - Editor
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_____________________________________________________________________
> 10/23/92 STR 842 "The Original * Independent * Online Magazine!"
""""""""""""""""
- The Editor's Desk - CPU Report - PORTFOLIO NEWS
- PERFORMA vs FALCON - Trace Tech. - TEC Mega ships!
- Apple offers EASY WAY - WIZWORKS NEWS! - ATARI USER MOVES
- COLOR IMGs EXPLAINED - CANADIANS IRKED! - STR Confidential
-* THE REVOLVING DOOR - ALIVE & WELL! *-
-* APPLICATIONS vs UTILITIES? *-
-* NEW SYSLAW LEGAL GUIDE RELEASED! *-
==========================================================================
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
==========================================================================
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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
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WHAT'S NEW IN THE ATARI FORUMS (October 23)
Be sure to download file TOSPAT.LZH from LIBRARY 6 of the Atari
Productivity Forum (GO ATARIPRO). This archive contains a text file, from
John Townsend, listing the various TOS revisions and the patches that are
appropriate for each. In addition, the patch files themselves are
included. Contains: Folderxxx, CACHExxx, POOLFIX3, POOLFIX4, STEFIX,
SERPTCH, SERAILFX, and MACCEL3.
(Note: POOLFIX4 and SERIALFX are not from Atari, but may correct behavior
the Atari patches do not.)
NEW IN ATARI 8-BIT FORUM!
TEXTPRO fans rejoice. A beta of the long awaited Version 5 is now
available for testing. Please see messages #20900 & 20901 in the Atari
8-Bit Forum (GO ATARI8) for more information!
LYNX USERS IN ATARI 8-BIT FORUM!
Just a reminder to LYNX users that message section 16 and LIBRARY 16 (both
named LYNX) of the Atari 8-Bit Forum are devoted to this gaming unit!
FAVORITE FILES...
Be included in CompuServe Magazine! Please read and respond to message #
34449 in the Atari ST Arts Forum (GO ATARIARTS) regarding your favorite
Forum files!
NEW SYSOP INFORMATION FROM SUPRA
Revised information and order form for sysop purchase plan offered by
Supra for their SupraFaxModem V32 and V32bis. Download file SYSOP.TXT
from LIBRARY 15 of the Atari Vendors Forum (GO ATARIVEN).
THE ATARI PORTFOLIO FORUM ON COMPUSERVE
HAS BEEN DESIGNATED AN
OFFICIAL SUPPORT SITE BY ATARI CORPORATION
"GO APORTFOLIO TO ACCESS THE ATARI PORTFOLIO FORUM"
"""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""
> From the Editor's Desk "Saying it like it is!"
""""""""""""""""""""""
Speaking of priorities and special treatment.... the big question for
the last three weeks has been "Why have the Codeheads been left out in the
cold?" The double speak rhetorical answers we've been noting are not only
depressingly familiar, they're still ridiculous! Application vs Utility.
The nerve of some people. When one can stand still and watch this
marketplace pulse positive and negative with regularity, it becomes a
simple deduction, even for the neophyte, its alive but in deep, deep
trouble. When Atari's "braintrust" allows itself to be smoke screened by
the emotions, politics and head games of its underlings there is no room
left for reason and good common sense. We've stated this before and we'll
continue to say it again and again and again.
"When the Codehead name comes up....
its synonymous with solid support, innovative creativity
and
impeccable public relations."
Hmmm come to think of it, not even Atari can stack up to those
accolades. Seriously though, the Codeheads certainly deserve each and
every one of those pats on the back without reserve.
Why, oh why is Atari appearing to be stabbing the Codeheads in the
back? Why was the decision to give a Falcon to other developers who only
import products from Europe? Meanwhile the Codeheads not only import
products from Europe, both hardware and top notch software, they WRITE
modules and support code for those products. Codehead's expertise in
understanding and tweaking code to get the very best performance out of
Tos is above and beyond reproach. Whomever made the decision to exclude
the Codeheads from obtaining a Falcon early on made a decision that's
B.A.D.
[B]raindead [A]s [D]ecided
The time is now at hand to rectify a terrible wrong. Atari simply
must cut through all the rhetorical effluvient their information person is
using as excuses and get a Falcon to the Codeheads forthwith. After all,
its only the right thing to do.
On another note... its been noticed elsewhere that STReport is, once
again, the object of Mr. Brodie's public verbalization. While we are
elated to see him not "forgetting" us, it sad to see his energies are
still devoted to his, less than masterful, crusade of dis-information. In
any case, thanks for the mention Bob.
Atari's new Falcon certainly does hold hope for the future of Atari.
The machine is quite the "gizmo", its sure to dazzle even the snazziest of
households and gamesters. The Falcon030 portrays the most affordable
multimedia computer soon to be on the market today. It'll be nice to see
this bird arrive in time to make the Christmas rush a real rush.
Ralph @ STReport International Online Magazine
THE STORM IS BREWING!
"""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""
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
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GEnie......................... ST-REPORT
"""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""
"There is no comparison! The Atari Falcon
is far superior to the PC platform."
Sam Tramiel, 08/92
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> CPU STATUS REPORT LATE BREAKING INDUSTRY-WIDE NEWS
=================
Issue #43
Compiled by: Lloyd E. Pulley, Sr.
-- Accolade Wins Against Sega
A federal appeals court has ruled Accolade Inc. of San Jose, Calif., had
the right to disassemble competitor Sega Enterprises Ltd.'s video game
machine to figure out how to make games that could run on it.
Calling this "a major decision on computer copyright law," Washington
Post reporter John Burgess quotes Accolade supporters as saying the
ruling by the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in San Francisco will
promote competition by making it easier for small companies to create
products that work with big companies' machines.
A Sega spokesman declined comment, pending full examination of the
decision. Sega's supporters include IBM and Intel Corp., opposed by
generally smaller companies that use "open" publicly available technical
standards.
-- Modem Market Reaching $2.75 Billion
A new study predicts sales in the U.S. modem market will rise from $1.6
billion last year to $2.75 billion in 1998, for an 8% compound annual
growth rate.
A statement from Market Intelligence researchers of Mountain View,
Calif., says the modem market is "paced by smaller sizes and higher
speeds" and estimates, "Unit sales will nearly quadruple between 1991
and 1998, from 4.5 million to 17 million respectively per year, as
smaller pocket-sized modems surge."
Estimates in the report, called "Modem Markets: Survival of the
Fastest," include:
-:- Pocket-sized modem sales will grow from $146 million in 1991 to $887
million by 1998, when they will account for nearly a third of total
dial-up modem revenues.
-:- Very-high-speed modems operating at over 9600 bits per second will
grow the fastest, from less than 4 percent of the market in 1991 to an
estimated 57 percent by 1998.
-:- High-speed modems operating at 9600 bits per second, increasingly
the modem standard, also will expand from 27 percent of the market in
1991 to 43 percent by 1996.
-:- And, "Although medium-speed modems operating from 1200 to 4800 bits
per second were the market's largest segment in 1991, with 42 percent of
sales, and represent the largest installed base, their sales will soon
decline dramatically and slip into insignificance late in the decade,
accounting for less than 1 percent of market revenues by 1998."
-:- Leased and private-line modems "face a similar fate," the report
says, "from 63 percent of the market in 1988, they had already declined
to 26 percent by 1991 and are projected at barely over 1 percent by
1998."
-:- Fax capability will become an increasingly standard modem feature.
Many new high-speed modems will support features like remote network
access, Ethernet/Token Ring compatibility, modem-sharing and advanced
security. By 1998, digital modems will become the norm, in line with the
trend of telecommunications networks to digital structures.
-- Compaq Cuts System Prices
Compaq Computer Corp. has cut $100 or more off suggested prices of 13
selected models of its Compaq ProLinea, Compaq Deskpro/i, Compaq
Contura, Compaq LTE Lite and Compaq portable PCs. The cheapest Compaq
ProLinea desktop PC now carries a list price of $799, down from $899.
-- IBM Unveils "Valuepoint" PC
To compete in the low-end market, IBM this week launched four models of
a new system called ValuePoint, PCs priced starting at $1,299, including
a color monitor. Look for the ValuePoint units to go up against those
from Compaq Computer Corp., Dell Computer Corp. and AST Research Inc.
The entry-level ValuePoint model is powered with a beefed version of
Intel Corp.'s 386SX, which Ziegler notes also is in Compaq's cheapest
ProLinea. The IBM system has an 80MB hard drive.
-- Fujitsu Releases 1.8 Inch Optical Disc
Fujitsu has developed an extremely small optical magnetic disc 1.8-
inches in diameter, or half the size of a regular credit card.
Fujitsu, which is aiming the disc at the multimedia device market,
reports that its optical disc is covered with a cartridge the size of 5
x 5 cm. The current version can store 60 megabytes of data, but Fujitsu
plans to make the final version store up to 128 megabytes, or the
equivalent of 100 floppy disks. Fujitsu's optical disc is much smaller
than one made by Japan Victor which is 2.5-inches.
-- Toshiba Releases World's First 16-megabit Flash Memory
Toshiba has announced plans to release a 16 megabit flash memory chip.
The Japanese technology giant claims that this will be the first
commercial product of its type.
Japanese experts predict that flash memory will take over from magnetic
memory in the very near future, so any company that gets its flash
memory chips to market faster than the competition should succeed.
Toshiba plans to release the 16 megabit chipset by the end of the year
with a retail price of 15,000 yen ($125). This price is expected to fall
to a third (5,000 yen), once the company starts producing the chips in
volume, however.
To put matters in perspective, Intel has been selling a 4 megabit flash
memory chip for $50. Toshiba's equivalent costs $20. Toshiba officials
say they want to get this price down to $10 a chip in the very near
future.
Flash memories come in the form of semiconductor chip, which is
different from current magnetic disk memory. With these flash memories,
the size of personal computers can get drastically smaller.
Also, the flash memories are expected to replace the hard disks in the
PCs of the future. Toshiba is aiming to get electronic still-cameras to
market in a short space of time, as well as new products for the
notebook and pocket computer market.
-- Apple Computer Ships System 7.1, Quicktime 1.5
The long - awaited Macintosh operating system update -- System 7.1 --
with the new Quicktime 1.5 multimedia extensions is now shipping, Apple
Computer has announced.
___________________________________________________________
> ONLINE WEEKLY STReport OnLine The wires are a hummin'!
"""""""""""""""""""""""""""""
PEOPLE... ARE TALKING
=====================
On CompuServe
-------------
compiled by Joe Mirando
Well folks, another week has come and gone. And with each day,
someone asks a question about their ST. And, at least on CompuServe, for
every question that is asked there is at least one answer. Let's listen
in on some of the things going on.
From The Atari Productivity Forum
=================================
Bob Ledbetter posts:
"This may not be the place for this, if so yell at me. However...
My son has a Lynx (the hand-held game machine) and over the week-end
things started acting really wierd. For no apparent reason it will
only play the BMX game and then the little on the bike just sits at
the Starting Line trying to do a wheelie. No control over anything
except you can make him move forward, but nothing else. Cannot change
to another game on the cartridge either. This is the only cartridge
he has for it, so...I'm wondering if the cartridge itself has somehow
been damaged. That doesn't make sense -- to me, at least -- as
everything was working fine, and then, in the middle of playing the
BMX game it started behaving like this. Any ideas???"
Sysop Don LeBow answers:
"Did you try cleaning the contacts on the card? That'd be the place to
start. Do try to see if you can borrow another cart from someone and
see if it does the same thing.
If worse comes to worst, you can send it in to Atari Corp. for repair
... not sure on the charge."
Bob replies to Don:
"Thanx for the help. It was dirty contacts. The ole pencil eraser
cleaning trick did the job. Thanx for the tip!!!"
Mark Kapeluck asks about a problem he's having with un-compressing an LZH
file:
"I have downloaded the file "ICONS.LZH" twice and in both cases gotten
crc errors when trying to uncompress it. I have no problems otherwise
with the unlzh15.prg."
Sysop Keith Joins tells Mark:
"You need to update your LZH utility program to one that handles the
newer lh5 compression. Look in library 4 and get LHARC.TTP and that
should handle things."
Meanwhile, as part of a continuing conversation about the sound sampling
capabilities of the FALCON030, Mark Kelling posts:
"Just because you have a DSP capable of full CD sound quality there is
no reason it HAS to run at that rate. You can choose a lower sample
rate and use less bits. The original ST could play sampled sounds and
do so very well with only a VERY cheap sound chip. A demo of this is
something called TREK Sounds. This was a collection of samples of
Star Trek sound effects, music and dialog which would play very well
on the ST. A sample of Kirk saying "To boldly go ..." is the largest
at about 5-7 seconds and is only 32K bytes. (I still have it if anyone
is interested!)
Let's do a little re calculation of the figures you gave. You wrote:
"DSP Recording at 44.1KHz in 16-bit costs 10Mb a minute!!!"
OK, lets go with an 8 bit sample. Sonic quality would not be that
much degraded. I speak from experience, my brother is a musician and
has quite a few 8 bit sampler keyboards as well as one [expensive!] 16
bit. The sample quality depends more on the quality and clarity of
the original sound than the bits used. Using 8 bits halves the
required storage so that puts us at 5Mb/min.
Well, why do we need 44.1KHz samples? True, CD quality sound is nice
but the average game sounds are in a much lower frequency range than
that provided by such a fast sample. (Just for info: We have to
sample at 2X the highest frequency we expect to record.) We can go
with a 22.05KHz to halve our space requirements again bringing us to
2.5Mb/min. If we are handling a large number of lower frequency
sounds: large engines running, wind noise, characters grunting etc. we
can sample these at 12KHz and halve storage again giving 1.25Mb/min.
This is quite sufficient since most sounds could be reused/combined to
produce a wide variety of effects. Also, music could be looped in such
a way that only a few seconds would provide enough background sound
for an entire scene.
Using lower sample times and less bits would free time up in the DSP
for it to do decompression of the sampled sound if needed. So sound
from a DSP is quite within range of current game manufacturers, the
hard part is getting them to program for it!"
When asked about what hard drive mechanism was best, Tom Mynar posted:
"My vote is for Fujitsu, they are real fast and have a 5 year
warranty. I picked up a real nice drive from East Coast Electronics
(in Texas, 713-821-8366, in Penn 215-431-1527). I bought a 520mb for
$966, it can transfer as fast as my ICD Advantage can take it, I think
even faster. I don't have their ad in front of me, but I bet the
80/100+ mb drives are correspondingly priced (the other prices I had
on the 520 were 1095, 1150)."
Albert Dayes of Atari Explorer Magazine, a regular fountain of knowledge
about our favorite computer and all related things, replies to Tom:
"I heard that if you don't buy the drive direct from Fujitsu you don't
get the 5 year warranty. Have you heard anything about that? There
was a discussion about warranty periods on hard drives in the IBM
hardware forum."
Tom tells Albert:
"I have an invoice from the dealer, which states "5 year manufacturer
warranty. I have also received similar information from Hard Drives
International. However, in California, the laws state that all I have
to prove is that I bought it as an end user - the warranty holds.
Nice to be in CA."
From the "Who the heck came up with that name?" category, people are
talking about the latest advancement in data storage technology. After
being asked if someone was making up non-sense names Sysop Bob Retelle
posts:
"Yup, "floptical" is a real word all right.. it was just invented
recently, so you know it's gotta be real..! Actually, I just read a
little bit about these interesting little technological gems..
they're a "hybrid" between regular old magnetic recording floppy
disks, like you have in your ST, and laser disks like a CD-ROM drive..
The drive uses a regular magnetic read/write recording head, but
instead of relying on a stepper motor and information recorded
magnetically on the disk to position the head, there's a laser which
reads the track information from the disk surface, and positions the
head far more precisely. The laser does not read or write the data on
the disk, it only reads the pre-written track position info. This
lets the head write in far narrower tracks than a normal floppy disk,
which allows a lot more tracks to be written side by side... thus a
LOT more info can be recorded on each floppy... something like 20
Megabytes.. (on a floppy!)
The magical thing about the drives is that they can ALSO read (hmm..
but I don't recall whether they can WRITE) a normal 720K or 1.44 Meg
floppy disk too. And to top it all off, the disks themselves are
rather inexpensive when you consider they each hold 20Megs. Now.. I
want to see how much a regular hard drive could hold if they used
laser positioning in one of THOSE..!"
Albert Dayes tells Bob:
"Flopticals can read and WRITE 720K, 1.44meg and 21meg floppy disks."
Bob, getting psyched about this news, posts: "All right..! That
makes them even better than I thought, Albert...
James Port asks Bob Retelle:
"How fast are they Bob? Like hard drives? More like floppies?
Somewhere in between? Definitely sounds like an interesting gizmo. I
guess the media would have to come pre-formatted then, yes? Does this
drive up the media price? What kind of a price tag does the drive
carry?"
Bob answers:
"James, I believe the flopticals are more on the order of floppy drive
access times than hard drives, since they're in effect just more
precise floppies.. but as Albert mentioned, I haven't looked at
access times.. The disks themselves are special, so of course they're
more expensive (wish I could remember more details..), but I'd think
you'd be able to format them yourself. I'm going to a have to look
into these more closely.. It seems we're seeing a lot of new
technologies, and new applications for existing ones, all the time.."
From The Atari ST Arts Forum
============================
If you are an avid game player, there is most likely no device for your
computer that's as important to you as your trusty joystick. Phil Payzant
posts:
"This seems like as good a place as any to butt in with a question of
my own. I have been playing FS-II, FOTI, F-19 and more recently
MicroProse's Grand Prix, as well as several other flying/driving games
that require simultaneous joystick and keyboard use. I'm on my fourth
(different) joystick, and still haven't found one that I consider
satisfactory. Ideally, I'd like one that clamps to the table (as
opposed to the suction cups that always let go at a crucial moment)
but my dealer isn't aware of any on the market. I also really wish
Atari had provided for analog joysticks, but I guess there's no way
around that. Anyway, I'd appreciate any suggestions for or comments
about preferred models of joystick."
Sysop Bob Retelle (I still remember those Aardvark games for my T/S 1000,
Bob) tells Phil:
"There was a review of a joystick clamping device in an issue of AIM
some time ago.. The device clamps to the table edge, then clamps the
joystick to itself. I'll see if I can dig up that issue for more
details..."
Pat Augustine tells Phil:
"Actually, I'm in kind of the same boat myself! My favorite joystick
is the Epyx 500XJ (the "ergonomic" one). But since Epyx folded their
tent, I've been unable to buy them. I have one left that is still
working, and when it gives up, I guess I'll have to go back to my
second favorite, Suncom's Slick Stick (which, by the way, is shaped
perfectly for that clamping device Bob mentioned). For FOTI (back
when I could fly it <g>) I used the Gravis Mousestick, which has a
nice base to it. My computer desk is a REAL desk, with a center
drawer, that I put the MouseStick in, and slide mostly closed. It does
a great job of holding the MouseStick for me, and the MouseStick makes
FOTI a real dream to fly (though it's not quite as nice in other
games)."
Bob adds:
"Pat, speaking of "flying" your computer, I was in a computer store
yesterday and saw the latest in, er.. "joysticks" for flight
simulators.. It was an airplane control yoke style controller, like
you've probably seen before, but this one was a lot larger than most,
with buttons all over it, and it even had an "artificial horizon"
"instrument" in the center... I almost felt like I had to radio in
for clearance just to walk past the thing..!"
Pat tells Bob:
"I think I've seen that one! That artificial horizon sure is cute,
isn't it? Too bad none of those things work on the ST line. But then
again, after looking at the prices, I'm kind of GLAD none of them work
on the ST!"
Phil posts:
"Thanks for your comments. What makes a Gravis Mousestick different
from other joysticks? I've never seen one, although I note several
people here use them. As for FOTI, you ought to be able to get a good
deal on a used ST, and it would be worth it for FOTI alone!"
Pat tells Phil:
"The Gravis MouseStick is not just a joystick, but a MOUSE in Joystick
clothing. It LOOKS like a joystick, but it sends MOUSE signals, so you
get analog input rather than digital (not just "left" but how MUCH
"left"). Makes more much smoother flying, and feels better in your
hands than the mouse does. It will also work in joystick mode, but I
prefer a tighter joystick for real joystick wiggling, so the Gravis
stays in Mouse mode all the time. Please note that Gravis makes a
plain joystick that looks similar to the Mousestick that does NOT have
those features, but does have the large base and nice feel that the
Mousestick provides. The joystick is red/black and the MouseStick is
grey."
John Damiano joins in the conversation:
"I have a Gravis Mousestick which I love. It seems to work ok with
most everything. Its very smooth and you can customize the response."
Jim Linton jumps into the discussion and tells Phil:
"I have used the Kraft 4 way 8 way Maze master for years even with the
old 8-bit Atari computers, can't be beat. You can block out the diag.
for maze games like Pac Man or you can use them with games like Grand
Prix. The are also fairly cheap at about 12-13 dollars, hope this
helps."
From the Atari Vendors Forum
============================
Duane Keenan tells us:
"My new TT has developed a strange bug: One click chooses the program,
but a double-click only starts to load the pr program. It takes a
third click to get the program (any program) loaded completely. It
also seems to require 3 clicks to quit. Could the CPX or Control panel
have gotten messed-up? Also, I can't delete a folder... trying to
change the status between read only & read/write is impossible- both
selections are grayed-out. Any hints?"
Sysop Ron Luks posts:
"Those are REALLY odd problems, and (unfortunately for you) this is
the first time we've heard of either of them. I think your best
answers would come directly from Atari Corp and they don't regularly
monitor this forum as much as the AtariPro forum. I'd suggest you
re-post this message in Ataripro directed to Mike Fulton or John
Townsend or Dan Macnamee."
Brian Gockley of ST Informer Magazine tells Duane:
"A lot of problems on the TT & MegaSTe derive from conflicts or errors
in the Newdesk.INF file. Try renaming it INX, rebooting and seeing if
your problem is gone."
Dick Paddock posts:
"If you haven't tried this, I suggest you change the double-click
rate. This can cause two to appear as one, or vice versa."
Pat Augustine asks:
"Is there a way to use ESDI drives on the ST? I may have an
opportunity to pick up some fairly large ESDI drives (300MB) for next
to nothing and was wondering."
Tom Mynar tells Pat:
"Someone asked this question awhile back and I believe the response
was that you have to use their older software. Plus the SCSI==>ESDI
controller boards. Unless you can get it so cheap that buying a large
power supply is offset, it might not be as good a deal as it looks.
If they are large (8") old drives, they probably have a short lifespan
left."
Pat tells Tom:
"Thanks for the feedback. The price could still be right (FREE! my
company may be throwing them away, but maybe not). I wonder where one
would get a SCSI-->ESDI board?"
Albert Dayes tells Pat:
"You can try selling the ESDI drive in the IBM hardware forum since
they sell hard drives over there. (GO IBMHW)"
Well friends and neighbors, it's time for me to wrap this up. Tune in
again next week and listen to what they say when...
People are talking
***********************************************************************
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
======================
Using a personal computer and modem, members worldwide access
DELPHI services via a local phone call
JOIN -- DELPHI
--------------
Via modem, dial up DELPHI at 1-800-695-4002
then...
When connected, press RETURN once or twice
and...
At Password: type STREPORT and press RETURN.
DELPHI's Basic Plan offers access for only $6.00 per hour, for any
baud rate. The $5.95 monthly fee includes your first hour online.
If you spend more than 200 minutes online a month, you'll save money
by enrolling in DELPHI's optional 20/20 Advantage Plan. You'll enjoy up
to 20 hours online each month for the ridiculously low price of just
$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.
Try DELPHI for $1 an hour!
For a limited time, you can become a trial member of DELPHI, and
receive 5 hours of evening and weekend access during this month for only
$5. If you're not satisfied, simply cancel your account before the end of
the calendar month with no further obligation. If you keep your account
active, you will automatically be enrolled in DELPHI's 10/4 Basic Plan,
where you can use up to 4 weekend and evening hours a month for a minimum
$10 monthly charge, with additional hours available at $3.96. But hurry,
this special trial offer will expire soon! To take advantage of this
limited offer, use your modem to dial 1-800-365-4636. Press <RET> once
or twice. When you get the Password: prompt, type IP26 and press <RET>
again. Then, just answer the questions and within a day or two, you'll
officially be a member of DELPHI!
TOP TEN DOWNLOADS (10/21/92)
""""""""""""""""""""""""""""
STREPORT 8.41
NEW SWEDISH MONO EMULATOR
DROIDS
PAULA20D.LZH
CINDY CRAWFORD SPECTRUM
SILKMOUSE 2.6
GEMDOS MANUAL
CYBERNETIX
MEGA DEPACK V.20
POWERDOS 1.2
All of the above files can be found in the RECENT ARRIVALS database
for at least one week after the posting of this list. Please Note
that in the case of online magazines, only the most current issue in
the database at the time of this compilation is considered for the Top
10 list. Also, for all files, a submission is eligible for the Top 10
list for only four weeks after its original uploading.
DELPHI- It's getting better all the time!
***********************************************************************
> FALCON vs PERFORMA STR FOCUS! Comparing the two...
"""""""""""""""""""""""""""""
A BRIEF COMPARISON; FALCON vs PERFORMA
======================================
by K. E. Baum
I just recently stopped by STAPLES(an office supply Super store) here
in southeastern PA, and was greeted by a large banner announcing the
arrival of APPLE's Performa line. This is APPLE's new low cost line of
computers that will be sold in several different department stores
including SEARS. Anyway, I just couldn't resist a comparison with Atari's
new and current offerings, as well as a 486 clone. (Please feel free to
correct me if I have any facts wrong)
(Apple Performa) (Atari) (Laser)
model : 200 400 600 Falcon Mega/STE 486SX/25
PROC : 68030 68030 68030 68030 68000 80486
SPEED : 16MHZ 16MHZ 32MHZ 16MHZ 16MHZ 25MHZ
MEMORY:
stock: 4Mb 4Mb 4Mb 4Mb 4Mb 4Mb
max: 10Mb 10mb 64Mb 14Mb 4Mb N/A
DISPLAY:
max res:512x342 640x480 640x480 640x480 640x400 800x600
#colors: 1 256 256/32K 256/64K 2/4/16 256
SOUND:
max res : 8bit 8bit 8bit 16bit 8bit beep
max rate: 22khz 22khz 22khz 50khz 50khz boop
channels: 1 1 1 8 4 chirp
STORAGE:
#-floppy:1-1.44 1-1.44 1-1.44 1-1.44 1-1.44 1-1.44,1-1.2
hard disk: 80Mb 80Mb 160Mb 65Mb 48Mb 100Mb
EXPANSION
SLOTS: 0 1PDS 3NuBus/1Ac 1PDS/Cart 1VME/Cart 5?
SOFTWARE:
O/S: Sys 7.1 Sys 7.1 Sys 7.1 TOS 4? TOS 2.6 DOS 5\Win 3.1
other: see below
PRICE:
list: $$$ $$$ $$$ $1399 N/A N/A
retail: $1300 $1450 N/A N/A $1100 $1500
Notes
=====
All Performa's come with the following software:Symantec Greatworks,
an integrated WP/DB/spreadsheet/charting/paint/draw/telecom program.
Teleware M.Y.O.B., a checkbook/cardfile program At Ease, a System 7
extension for children and novice users.
Also the Performa 400 and up come with T/Maker ClickArt, a collection
of clipart. The # of colors on the Perform 600 are listed as 256/32K. The
Performa 600 can only display 256 colors. However there is another model,
the Performa 600CD, which is the same as the 600 with the addition of a CD
Rom drive and the ability to display 32K colors.
The Performa 200 includes a 9" monochrome Monitor(It's a MAC Classic
II with a new name). The Performa 400(it's a MAC LC II really)& 600
require the Performa Display($350) or Performa Display Plus($$more).
The Laser 486 also comes with Microsoft Works for Windows and the
price INCLUDES a .28 SUPER VGA MONITOR!
The Atari Falcon is reported to come with a couple of Games, Audio
management & recording software and utility programs. The Mega\STE comes
with Hard drive utilities & CPX's. The Atari Falcon is the only computer
here that I know features a DSP chip & port. Since all Performa's come
with 4Mb as their base,I only listed Atari's with 4Mb configurations.
***********************************************************************
: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 Announcements (FREE)
1. If you use American Express to pay your GEnie bill............
2. October 26th, Page 945, Something Completely Different........HYW
3. Play GEnie's Football Pool and be a...........................PRO
4. Discuss the crisis up North in a FREE RTC on 10/26 in.........CANADA
5. RTC 10/25: How SMALL BUSINESS benefits from BARTER............HOSB
6. The Adventure Continues: KING'S QUEST 6 ONLY $51.97 at.......EXPRESS
7. Get a JUMP on HOLIDAY SHOPPING. FREE Catalogs at..............LANDSEND
8. STEVE BARNES, Sunday the 25th at 8 Eastern in the.............SFRT
9. Read this - or miss the HOT ACTION in.........................SOFTCLUB
10. 700+ Small Business Center addresses now online in...........DIRECTORY
11. Questions answered immediately in the NEW Mac HelpDesk........MAC
12. Synthetic KALE contest, only on the...........................PSRT
13. Don't be a turkey; get your Thanksgiving clipart at...........WP
14. Compaq, Tandy, Toshiba - which notebook to get; help is at....LAPTOPS
15. Handymen and Wannabees - Have we got a place for you..........*HOME
Atari ST RT
-----------
Wednesday, Oct. 28 , 10:00 pm EST
---------------------------------
Purple Mountain Computers Inc will be highlighting their products.
Talk with Darek Mihocka about GEMULATOR; Don Crano about STEALTH PMC;
and Oscar Steele about Floptical drives and PMC 's other products.
Of Special Note:
----------------
All RTC attendees for that night will receive a DISCOUNT on GEMULATOR
and STEALTH from PMC!
Last Week's Top Downloaded Programs/Utilities:
----------------------------------------------
26105 DOUBLE2.LZH X S.JOHNSON10 921012 2688 220 2
Desc: STE screen height doubler - v2.0
26080 AUTOSRT4.ARC X EFS 921010 10112 196 2
Desc: Version 4.1 of autosort.
26081 BLITZ_13.LZH X E.MONACO 921010 27648 137 2
Desc: Latest Version!!!
26126 CHOICE10.LZH X T.MCCOMB 921013 21248 134 18
Desc: A new PD Font- Choice10 Type1/CFN!
26094 STR_VIEW.LZH X E.GOODMAN1 921011 14720 121 2
Desc: Digital Media's STReport Viewer
26079 WRTBT504.ARC X EFS 921010 22272 115 2
Desc: Version 5.04 of writeboot.
26137 C_SANTA.ARC X J.KOCHER1 921014 85248 114 8
Desc: arcade Santa game/great graphics
GEnie Information copyright (C) 1991 by General Electric
Information Services/GEnie, reprinted by permission
***********************************************************************
> The Flip Side STR Feature ".... a different viewpoint..."
"""""""""""""""""""""""""
A LITTLE OF THIS, A LITTLE OF THAT
==================================
by Michael Lee
One of the things that I find the most difficult about writing this
column is the ST Roundtable on Genie. There is so much ST information
available there, that it becomes tricky to decide what to use and what
not to use. Now that my column only comes out every-other-week, it's
become even more difficult. I just went through over 2 megs of posts to
put this column together. Since I try to keep my column down to 18-25k,
you can see that I can only use 1/100th of what is available.
(Sung to the tune of Green Acres)
"Geeee Neee is the place to be,
If you want info on your ST."
All of this week's posts are from the ST Roundtable on Genie.
----------------
Want to know how to upgrade your Warp 9 or QuickST? - From John Eidsvoog
(CodeHead Technologies) - Cat. 32, Topic 8, Cat. 32...
Current Warp 9 information as of October 17, 1992 is as follows:
Latest version: 3.73
Release notes: 3.70
Retail price: $44.95
Update from Quick ST or Turbo ST: $30 plus $3 shipping
Update from Warp 9 3.50-3.61: $15 (no shipping)
Version 3.70 added the new modular screensaver, Extend-O-Save (as well
as other new features). For more information about this upgrade, see
file #25744 W9EXTEND.TXT or read about it in the Warp 9 topic.
----------------
About the TEAC upgrade from John Eidsvoog (CodeHead Technologies) - Cat.
32, Topic 30, Msg. 140...
For some time now we've been selling an improved version of the TEC
specially designed for the Mega Bus, but we've never formally
announced it.
The TEC Mega lists for the same price as the TEC Bus Bridge that we
formerly carried -- $155. The advantage of the TEC Mega is that it is
all contained on one board. This board contains the Mega Bus connector
AND has a "through" connector! This means that it will no longer tie
up your bus and another board can easily be plugged into the TEC
Mega's connector.
The TOS chips reside right on the TEC Mega and the only other connec-
tions that need to be made are two wires which have "pins" on them and
get pushed into two of the holes in the ROM socket.
Installation is even easier than it was before. Simply pop out your
ROM chips, plug the TEC Mega into the bus, and push the two wires into
their proper locations.
------------------------------------------
| :::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::: | <--bus connector
| --------------- ====PAL==== |
| | Even Chip | |
| --------------- |
| --------------- ---==--- |
| | Odd Chip | |
| --------------- |
------------------------------------------
It's a very clean design because there are no more ribbon cables and
it doesn't tie up the bus. Installing the TOS switching option is also
much easier because you no longer need to piggyback a socket on top of
your ROM chip.
We'll have the new TEC Mega boards (as well as the standards and CPU
versions) at the WAACE show this weekend. Supplies will be limited, so
if you're interested, come early. If you've been waiting to get the
speed, usefulness and functionality of TOS 2.06, wait no longer. It
couldn't be easier.
----------------
Want to upgrade your Calligrapher Pro to Calligrapher Gold? - From John
Eidsvoog (CodeHead Technologies) - Cat. 32, Topic 32, Msg. 101...
The update from Calligrapher Professional to Gold is called the Gold
Extension. It retails for $100 and can be purchased through your
dealer or directly from us. If you buy it from a dealer, send us your
original UK disks and the Extension's registration card and we'll send
you a complete set of the Gold disks. I'm not sure if the Gold
Extension disk is capable of updating a UK Pro to a US Gold. If you
get the Extension from us, once again send us your UK disks so we can
send you a complete set of disks.
We also offer "lateral" upgrades from UK Pro to US Pro, or UK Gold to
US Gold, for $30. Those with UK versions do not have PostScript
support and can get our version and support for $30.
----------------
From Keith Gerdes (Trace Technologies) - Cat. 2, Topic 12, Msg. 1 - from
the ST Roundtable on Genie...
--------------------------
|| ||
|| Introducing ||
|| Trace Technologies ||
|| ||
|| A Press Release ||
|| October 12, 1992 ||
|| ||
--------------------------
Trace Technologies is owned and operated by Keith Gerdes. You may be
familiar with Keith's commitment -since 1986- to the Atari ST com-
munity through his commercial and PD endeavors - including Data Diet,
Squish, STuffer and other fine utilities; many of which were distrib-
uted by or in association with Double Click Software.
The first new software package to be distributed by TraceTech is Data
Rescue- 'the complete data recovery solution'. Data Rescue is on
schedule for a November 1992 release. Look for a demo to be uploaded
shortly after this press release.
And TraceTech is the new distributor and point of customer support for
Data Diet. I want to thank DC for nudging me out of their "nest",
giving me the opportunity to fly on my own. Version 2 is scheduled to
ship in December 1992 as both an upgrade to current owners and as a
new package- product announcement with full details in November. Also,
please watch your online service for any change regarding the Data
Diet support area.
TraceTech looks forward to serving the ST userbase by producing the
advanced software you've come to expect while striving for excellence
in support.
Oh, by the way, a glimpse into the first half of 1993 yields at least
two more new products!
"Just call me the new old kid on the block..." :^)
Contact methods:
Mail
Trace Technologies
PO Box 711403
Houston, TX 77271-1403
Phone
(713) 771-8332 [weekdays 1PM-5PM Central Time]
Online
GEnie: K.GERDES
----------------
Info on The Newdesk Editor CPX - from REALM - Cat. 2, Topic 39, Msg.
156...
...The number I reached him on was 1-800-237-4737. His tech support
line is 1-310-595-9114, although no one called me back. Might as well
do the address too...
Software Development Systems
996 Redondo Ave. #404
Long Beach, CA 90804
----------------
From Dave Nutkins (HiSoft) - Cat. 3, Topic 3, Msg. 76...
HighSpeed Pascal version 1.6 for the Atari available.
This version adds the following features over version 1.5:
* support for Line Debugging and global variable names for use with
Mon from Devpac 3
* support for the TT's math co-processor. The new FPU code will also
take advantage of the co-processor on the Falcon030 if fitted.
* further improved compatibility with Turbo Pascal 5.0
* VDI arrays are larger
This will be available from Oregon Research Associates soon. If you
want to upgrade urgently from version 1.5, then you can order directly
from us by returning your master disks with payment of 7.50 pounds.
----------------
You want to connect your Sega up to your SC1224 monitor? - Cat. 4, Topic
8, Msg. 6 & 9...
From Jeff Wiles...
Raymond Cable does make cables to connect a SC1224 to a Sega and the
price is around $35. I had them make me one about 8 months ago but it
didn't work for me. They told me I was the first one that couldn't get
the two to work together and they refunded my money so it's worth a
shot. Very good people to deal with and your money back if it doesn't
work.
From Barry Reeves...
When I called Sega they gave me the number to _Redmond_ Cable
(206)882-2009. They are right here in Washington state although there
is also a Tennessee number, (615)478-5760.
---------------
Some interesting Desk Jet information - Cat. 4, Topic 9, Msg. 62 & 74...
From Mike Valent...
*Color printing from ANY DeskJet*
P.S, Inc. does refills and alternately can provide DJ cartridges
filled with ink of various colors. I've recently received cyan, yellow
and magenta cartridges and have been experimenting with four-pass
four-color C-Y-M-K printing from Calamus SL. While the procedure of
changing cartridges and refeeding the sheet of paper through the four
color printing cycles takes a bit of time and effort, the results
really look great!
More from Anna Mason (Atari Advantage)...
P.S. Inc will take your empty ink cartridges and refill them with
colored ink. They give excellent service, too. You can write them for
information and an order form at:
P.S. Inc.
317 Booye Terrace
Northfield, NJ 08225
Their phone #'s are:
(609) 645-1888
FAX (609) 641-5235
----------------
From Cat. 4, Topic 10, Msgs 30 - 31...
Question from Bob Morrow...
Anyone know if I can simply take a 1.44 MB floppy and a new floppy
controller and drop them into my STe/TOS 2.06 without any problems? I
may have to cut the case, but that's not a big deal.
Answer from Tom McComb...
No you can't. You need additional support circuitry.
----------------
Questions and answers about the ISAC Card - Cat. 4, Topic 28, Msgs. 163-
170...
Question from Jim Ness...
Are there any op system incompatibilities with the ISAC card? Does it
work okay on TOS text screens, giving more columns and rows? And, also
with GEM windows, etc?
Does Warp 9 help the speed?
Answer from Jim Allen (Fast Tech)...
The ISAC is $299, available at Dover or through myself.
Yes Jim, it is very very compatible, TOS text screens have more
rows/columns, GEM windows are bigger, etc.
Warp9 not only helps it's CRITICAL!! There are so many more bits
moving around that the better code in Warp9 is a godsend.
ISAC uses the same memory structure...pixel encoding/bit interleaving
...that the video on the motherboard uses. So it has a leg up over the
other color boards in the compatibility dept.
Any monitor that can do 1024x768 at 60Hz non-interlaced should be a
good partner for the ISAC card.
Another question from Charlie Townsley (sysop)...
...Is the ISAC a VME card for the MSTE or so I have to get the AlberTT
for that? Or would the AlberTT not work either?
Answer from Jim...
The ISAC is for MegaST computers. The AlberTT is for MegaSTE and TT
computers.
Question from K.SCHAFER4...
Is the AlbertTT card $299 also? I haven't been able to get any info
from anyone. (mebbe Aladdin is eating my mail)
Answer from Jim...
Last I heard the AlberTT was $500+, I don't know where it stands now,
will try to find out.
----------------
Want to build your own "Mutant ST" - Cat. 4, Topic 36, Msgs. 119-121...
Question from David Vasileff...
...Suppose that I have a PC XT case w/PS. What can I do to transform
it into a hard drive/second floppy case for my good ol' 1040STf?
What I have in mind is to buy a host adapter and a hard drive
mechanism. I need help in picking out the right adapter/mechanism, and
any cabling that I need to pick up as well. I don't know what cables I
already have in the case, so it won't help to ask. Can I put in a 3.5"
hard drive? Or should it be 5.25? Do I have to mount stuff in there
and secure it somehow, or can it just kind of sit in there?
Please note that I've never owned a hard drive, so you can throw in
any 'every hard drive owner should know' info if relevant.
Answer from Norm Weinress...
Yes you can, and I have already done it. The only cable that wasn't
easily available was one for connecting the 3.5" floppies. I had to
make that myself. The XT case and power supply will work fine. I used
an ICD host adapter and SCSI hard drives. The cable to connect them is
a standard one used in all the PC's. The cable from the host adapter
to the ST is supplied by ICD.
The floppies have a connector for 34-pin ribbon cables. I had to use a
cable for ST floppies, with the strange 14-pin connectors, and cut off
one end and attach it to a 34-pin connector. Not easy and not for the
beginner. Maybe you could get an Atari store to do it for you. I also
had to change some jumpers inside the Atari so it would expect both
floppies to be external. Again, a shop is your best bet for that.
Another answer from Ron (Atari Explorer)...
Fair warning -- brewing your own can become expensive if you make a
mistake and become pretty frustrating if things don't work. You may
need some "hands & eyeballs on site" kinda help. The extra $100 to get
a packaged and tested unit is worth considering. A great option is
ICD's new Link adaptor that allows you to use standard SCSI
(Macintosh, etc.) drives. But, if you enjoy doing things yourself,
it's not all that bad.
I'd recommend an ICD host adaptor and 3.5" SCSI hard drive combo. This
will give you to most reliable long term data storage solution. A
Syquest drive is worth considering also. Syquests are SCSI 5.25"
removable cartridge drives and in all other ways act like a fast hard
drive. They can be used for backups or you can set up different
emulation cartridges to be used as needed.
Initial investment is a little high but you can then add 44/88 meg
cartridges as needed at $60/$100 a shot.
My view of an ideal combination is a relatively small fast SCSI drive
(50 meg are pretty cheap now) and a Syquest. A floppy would fit in one
bay, the Syquest would another bay and the hard drive could be
stuck inside after you remove the PC mother board.
Best Electronics may be able to help you with a floppy cable:
Best Electronics
2021 The Alameda Suite 290
San Jose, California 95126
408-243-6950
If you don't like drilling holes, a mounting trick that can be used if
you do not plan on moving the enclosure around a lot is to use servo
tape to mount the drives to the bottom of the case (hope nobody laughs
at me too hard here :- ). Servo tape can be bought at most hobby shops
that sell radio control equipment.
Servo tape is a rubberized double sided tape which does a good job of
isolating noise and vibration along with holding things down (as in
taking a RC/10 straight into a railroad tie at 30mph and having
everything fly off the car but the radio gear stuck down with the
servo tape :-) You can peel the tape up and clean things off with
lighter fluid if you change your mind or want to rearrange things.
----------------
From Chet Walters (WizWorks) - Cat. 7, Topic 13, Msg. 82...
=========================================================
NEW PRODUCT ANNOUNCEMENT FROM WIZWORKS!
MA HUBBARD'S CUPBOARD and Assorted (not sordid) Utilities
$19.95
=========================================================
MA HUBBARD'S CUPBOARD Designed as an extension to TOS 2.06, NEODESK,
TT TOS, HotWire and ANY program that let's you execute another program
from within (Dr. Bob's MVG, FLASH, HYPERLINK). Instant access to
twenty programs in a twinkling! 100% Assembly! Uses only 30K! Swap any
number of menus in and out while using only that 30K! Access to
hundreds of programs. Make it as complicated or as simple as you like.
Make nice menus for the kid's game disks. Command lines fully (and
conveniently) supported. Easy "chaining" for batch-like automation.
Screen blanker capability (use those included or write your own) and
date/time display. Single click/single key launches.
NOTE: Why was Ma Hubbard's even written with all those program
launcher menu programs and alternate desktops already out there?
Because all the other one's are OVERKILL! Ma Hubbard's, though it can
serve as such, is not intended for use as a "replacement" desktop. It
is intended as a supplement to existing launchers and desktops.
Enhancement, not replacement is the order of the day with Ma Hubbard's
without the overkill complications and memory hungry madness.
FSEL EXEC Put this as an icon on your desktop in TOS 2.06 or NEO DESK
and you can run a program using the file selector or call up UIS III as
a utility. A 100% assembly teeny tiny 1.5K program that won't suck
memory from the program that you execute from it.
TT PRINT OR SAVE Use the ALT/HELP keys on ANY ST or TT to save your
screen to disk or print it on your HP LASER compatible printer
(DeskJets too). Works in all ST and TT resolutions with grey scaling
for prints of 16 color screens. Prints in three sizes and landscape.
Works fine on big screen monochrome and other non-standard sized 16
color screens!
FUJIMAUS This one's a HOOT! Your mouse pointer looks where it's going!
It goes to sleep if you don't move it for a while. As it sleeps, it
will look around to see where the heck you have gone to! Your ST busy
bee also becomes animated ticking clock! Great fun! Also included is a
rotating or rainbow FUJI symbol to decorate your desktop. All 100%
assembly and interrupt driven to be cross compatible with nearly
everything. Conflicts with FEW programs on the ST or TT. Fully
configurable for your tastes. Use what you like, don't what you don't.
SUPER FLAGS A super fast super convenient BATCH flag setter for
executables that will let you set the FASTLOAD, TT RAM, PROTECTED
MEMORY and other bits in program headers. Can set/unset a single
program, only one path full, or every program on every drive that's
hooked to your system! No more hunt and peck! Lets you set the
FASTLOAD bits on PageStream's executable modules for really fast
running of PageStream with little effort on your part.
IMG TO ICON Convert any bi-level IMG file to a Degas compatible ICN
file.
MA HUBBARD'S GAME - For ST low res or ST high res. Takes any DEGAS
picture and makes a 31 tile sliding block puzzle out of it. Can you
slide them into the right places? Easy, medium and hard. A real
challenge (for you cheaters, there's a "cheat" mode).
All this with Ma Hubbard's CupBoard, plus more for only $19.95!
=========================================================
NEW PRODUCT ANNOUNCEMENT FROM WIZWORKS!
Ladies Purdy and Ugliee!
Mug Shot! Data disk #3
$19.95
=========================================================
The long awaited ladies disk for Mug Shot! TWO complete .MGS files!
Uglieee! George Fenton, who brought you the wild and crazy guys in
MadToons, has been having some strange nightmares. He's put them on
disk for you to customize as you will with Mug Shot! Make likenesses
of your mother- in-law, your spinster aunt, or even the lady behind
the counter at K- mart who won't give you a refund because you forgot
your receipt!
Purdy! Classic beauties! In direct contrast to the ladies above, you
can make your dream girl right in your own home. Who said the ST
wasn't sexy!
===================================================================
Only $1.00 shipping and handling per order (except Tray).
WizWorks! PO Box 45 Girard, OH 44420
We are not listing our phone number. Since it has been necessary to
work a "day" job to survive as WizWorks, we cannot always answer the
phone on a regular basis. We would prefer that you mail your orders.
The reason being that you will get our answer machine more than likely
and we will have to call you back several times and it will be hard to
make a connection. Plus, it will up our phone bill as it will yours,
and we cannot afford a large phone bill right now. Please mail us a
check, money order or send us your MasterCard/VISA number and
expiration date. Please give us a full address too. Don't worry,
you'll get same day service on mailed in orders and there will be no
delay. Sorry, but that's the reality of the market.
----------------
From John Trautschold (Missionware Software) - Cat. 8, Topic 2, Msg.
142...
/*----------- Important Notice from Missionware Software -----------*/
Hi everyone... Just wanted to post a quick notice regarding upgrades
from 2.0 to 2.01...
I'm going to be out of town on business for two weeks beginning next
Monday, October 26. I'll be returning on November 6. Although regular
orders will continue to be shipped while I'm gone, I won't be able to
do any upgrades until I return. Therefore, if you send in your disk
for upgrade and it doesn't get returned promptly, please don't panic!
We'll get them turned around as soon as we get back. If you could
spread the word around a bit about this, I'd appreciate it.
BTW, although I'll be out of town during this period, I will be
traveling with my trusty old Stacy and will continue to communicate
with all of you via GEnie. I may not be able to get on daily, but I'll
do the best I can.
Thanks for your understanding. As you know, Missionware Software
prides itself on customer support and we regret not being able to
handle all of your needs during this period. Unfortunately, business
is business, so...
----------------
From John Snyder (Cali-Co) - Cat. 9, Topic 16, Msg. 1 & 3...
On October 30 1992, Cali-Co. will be releasing Mah Jong solitaire 3.0
for the Atari ST.
This is a solitaire game in which the tiles are removed by pairs, the
object being to remove all the tiles from the playing board.
Owners of Mah-Jong Solitaire 2.x can obtain a copy of 3.0 for the
modest sum of $10 plus the original 2.x disk. Mah-Jong Solitaire 3.0
can be ordered directly from Cali-Co for $39.95, or from local
dealers. Dealer enquiries are welcome.
Note: Cali-Co uses minimalistic recycled and recyclable packaging
with the intent to be environmentally friendly. Hopefully, this will
encourage other corporations to help reduce packaging waste.
...There is a sound effect that the user can turn off or on. As in
previous versions of Mah Jong, 3.0 provides Controls for customizing
the "Look and Feel" of the game play.
Sorry about no music, but we don't really have a development system
for coming up with and then incorporating "Real" music into our
products. If anyone out there has any suggestions... I'd LOVE to hear
them! I have had success using PD .MOD players with 3.0 , but I have
never seen a system for making such files or incorporating them into
ones programs.
----------------
From ZENOBOT - Cat. 9, Topic 17, Msg. 5...
Oxford Softworks, makers of fine computerized board games, is planning
to release an ST version of Omar Sharif's Bridge, which is already out
in MS/DOS format and distributed by Interplay US.
Interplay wouldn't carry the ST version, of course, so it would be an
import and under Oxford Softworks' name.
----------------
About the LINK - Cat. 14, Topic 9, Msgs 70-71...
Question from Ron Kohorn...
...What is the difference between the LINK and a host adapter or is
the LINK just a type of adaptor. Also when a hard drive has a clock,
is it in the host adaptor or the drive itself.
Answer from Doug Wheeler (ICD)...
The Link is simply a very small external host adapter (it's the size
of a cable connector). If a hard drive has a clock, it is on the host
adapter, not the drive itself.
----------------
What speed of SIMMS should you use - Cat. 14, Topic 14, Msgs. 10-12...
Question from Brian Harvey (sysop)...
Am I correct that some MEGA STEs had 80 ns SIMMS, while others have 70
ns? Is it clearly written on the SIMMS? Is it in secret code? Do I
need a Capt Crunch decoder to understand the code?
The reason I am asking is that I can get a friend to buy me some 70 ns
SIMMS but I do not want to buy them unless they are the right size. (I
need to upgrade my MEGA STE from two to four megs.)
Answer from Sheldon Winick (Computer Studio)...
The last two numbers on the SIMMs represent the speed (i.e. If the
last two numbers printed on the chips is 10, the speed is 100ns).
Anything faster than 120ns will work just fine. Most of the factory
installed SIMMs that Atari uses are either 100ns or 120ns, although I
think you'll find that most of us dealers normally carry faster SIMMs
as they're currently readily available and nearly the same price as
the slower SIMMs (it just makes good business sense to carry products
that have a larger market appeal to minimize stocking requirements).
One recommendation I will make however, is to try to keep all the
SIMMs in your machine the same speed, as some machines tend to give
some rather 'funky' video displays when different speed SIMMs are
installed. But in any event, 120ns or faster is all that you will
need.
----------------
About MultiMedia - Cat. 25, Topic 10, Msgs. 6-7...
From Ringo (Lexicor)...
Has anyone else seen/read "Computer Pictures" magazine, it is an
excellent magazine that covers MultiMedia products. It is by-monthly
at a price of $8.00 Phone 914-328-9157.
Now this one of the key magazines that ATARI should place Ads. It is
also very clear that the current growing area in computers is the 3D
animation industry. The faster the machines the easier is to render an
animation. Software applications are now in the works and ATARI needs
this market.
Some of the Key components for multimedia & computer animation
software is the Graphics Tablet, it was made very clear in this
publication that a tablet with a pen is more flexible than the mouse.
3D animation rendering, high quality Film retouching/image processing
applications are a must have for graphic professionals and DTP users.
Lexicor has made computer animation much easier for users and current
plans are to provide all ATARI users with the best graphics programs
possible. That is why Lexicor is working on Phoenix 512 and other
applications.
This program works will all ST/e/Mega/MegaSTe/TT/Falcon systems and
provide a very flexible system that will render files in a large
number of resolutions with using colors palettes from 512 to 16.8
million!
Graphical communication is the next step for computers, Sony and many
others are working on this.
So the graphics machine "ATARI" needs this applications and Lexicor
Software is ready to provide this for all ATARI users.
From Ed Krimen...
There are a few computer graphics/multimedia/imaging/video industry
publications that Atari could advertise in. In addition to Computer
Pictures, there's Computer Graphics World, which is really slick.
There's also AV Video, and then TV Technology which is mainly
broadcast-oriented, but I have seen many Amiga references in there
before. New Media which was mentioned here before is new and is also
good.
Actually, Computer Pictures can be sent to you free, as well as the
others (except for Computer Graphics World). I don't pay for any of
them. I've never paid for Computer Pictures. I even get reminders for
free subscriptions to it. In fact, I haven't received one for a long
while, so it's about time I give them a call. :^)
They list an 800 number in the Mar/Apr issue. It says, "Then pass this
copy of Computer Pictures along to a colleague to read, or if you want
to keep it for yourself, give us a call on 1-800-800-5474 and ask us
to send a copy to your colleague."
----------------
Until next week.....
_____________________________________________________________
> COLOR IMAGES EXPLAINED STR InfoFile In depth explanations
"""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""
UNDERSTANDING COLOR IMGS
========================
A novel by Dr. Bob
27 September 1992
IMG file formats, bi-level and color
------------------------------------
The IMG standard from DRI is composed of a file header and encoded (or not
encoded) bit-image data.
Bi-level, or monochrome, IMGs have a very straight forward and efficient
storage method. In fact, the compression ratio is about the best around
for non-LZW compression (GIFs and some TIFFs use LZW to achieve quite a
great compression ratio).
Bi-level IMGs have been in widespread use for quite a while but with the
advent of color video systems, the IMG standard has become bogged down.
This is due, primarily, to the vagueness in the description of the IMG
file format concerning storage of the color data (both the color palette
and the color bit image itself).
Since GEM has taken a rather backseat position in the computing world
today, it is doubtful that DRI will assist in clarifying the issue.
And since it can be said that ATARI is the last real GEM strong hold in
the computing world (being that the ST's operating system is designed in
its entirety around GEM), it would seem a rather natural step that they
(Atari) take some step or steps to either publish a standard or at least a
suggestion for a standard for color IMG graphics.
Alas, this has not happened. In all the seven years since the ST came into
being, no color IMG format has gelled into a standard.
Several vendors have designed both legal and illegal variations of the IMG
standard in order to support color but in the end, all that has come into
being is incompatibility.
This document will describe four different renditions of color IMG
formats (variations on a theme, you might say). A fifth, which has been
discovered but not yet dissected, will be appended at a later date.
Names will be given to discern one version from another. These names are
not intended to detract from anyone's rights or give any privileges to
anyone, but simply to keep some clarity amidst the confusion.
First we'll examine the normal bi-level IMG format to give us a basis for
later comparison.
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
GLOSSARY insert:
BI-LEVEL: Two colors. Usually meant to be black and white (B/W).
This is often called monochrome although 'monochrome' can
also imply shades of grey. Bi-Level is a more accurate
description of the black-n-white imagery we're concerned
with in this document.
TOKEN: Used in uncompressing a file. A code, usually only a byte,
that indicates the start of a compression scheme.
For IMGs, there are four different tokens:
$80=Bit-string, $00=Pattern-run, $00+$ff=VRC (note: two bytes)
and there is Solid-run which is any other value not listed
above.
WORD: A 16-bit value, taking up two bytes of space. The order
is Motorola Hi-Lo. (on other systems, the order may be
reversed to lo-hi)
Sample: 256 = hex $0100 $01,$00
128 = hex $0080 $00,$80
DRI: Abbreviation of Digitial Research Inc., the owner of
GEM (Graphic Environment Manager) and its parts
such as AES, VDI etc
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
The standard DRI IMG file header is comprised of eight (8) words:
word offset typical description
--------------------------------------
0 $00 $0001 IMG version
1 $02 $0008 Header length *
2 $04 $0001 Number of planes
3 $06 $0002 Pattern def len
4 $08 $0055 Microns width
5 $0A $0055 Microns height
6 $0C $0280 Image width
7 $0E $0190 Image height
--------------------------------------
Let's examine each of these.
IMG version:
This denotes the version of the IMG file format. It is always one (1), by
DRI's specification. No other IMG version has ever been designed (or
authorized) see: XIMG also
HEADER length:
This is, slightly, a misnomer since it alludes to the LENGTH of the
header. It is actually the number of WORDS in the header, so it may be
more accurate to term this: HEADER COUNT
All bi-level images have an 8 in this word, meaning that there are 8 words
in the header. The value found here for color images will vary depending
mainly on the size of the palette and also the particular color IMG
rendition.
note: since the palette is stored within the header of the IMG
file, HEADER COUNT includes the palette data as well as
the standard header.
Close attention must be paid to this word when working
with color IMG files since it is the only way we have
to determine the start of the image data.
With bi-level IMGs it was safe to assume that all IMG
file headers were fixed at 8 words. An assumption like
this can be dangerous when working with color IMGs.
Always determine the header length from this word.
the start of the image is found using:
IMAGE_START = Filestart + (HEADER_LEN*2)
Number of PLANES:
This is, as it seems, the number of planes in the image. Bi-level (mono)
images have, of course, only one plane.
This word also dictates, as one would assume, the number of colors in the
image. An image with 4 planes has 16 colors and an image with 8 planes has
256 colors.
NUMBER COLORS = 2^PLANES.
PATTERN DEFINITION length:
This word is only of importance for one of the compression techniques in
the IMG specification from DRI. Some authors may use it and some may not.
It specifies the size of patterns for the token PATTERN-RUN, and is
usually either one (1) or two (2) but can, in all legality, be ANY number.
You'll find, however, that it is usually an EVEN number when it's higher
than 1.
A 1 means that the pattern to be duplicated is one byte in length or
8-bits. A 2 means the pattern is two bytes wide, 4 means it is four bytes
wide and so on.
MICRONS, words 4 and 5:
MICRONS denote the actual size of the pixels. They can be teeny tiny dots
or they can be huge. Many authors may choose to ignore this (and many do)
since it is common practice to treat one dot as one video pixel. Also of
interest here is the fact that both WIDTH and HEIGHT are specified. This
means that the pixels may not necessarily be square (equal in width and
height). This is often the case when the image is based on a particular
video resolution such as Atari/ST Medium resolution or the PC's 2-color
resolution or any other resolution where the aspect is not 1:1 (the TT's
low rez comes to mind also).
DPI = (25,500/MICRONS)
MICRONS = (25,500/DPI)
85 MICRONS = 300 DPI
255 MICRONS = 100 DPI
And finally, image WIDTH and HEIGHT: words 6 and 7. Width is specified in
number of pixels and height, of course, is the number of lines (or
rasters).
Although the width is stated in number of pixels, the image only stores
whole bytes. If the image WIDTH is 633 pixels then 80 bytes are stored. 79
full bytes and one last byte of which only 1 bit contains any information.
The other 7 bits are not valid image data and may be blank, filled or
totally garbage.
-----------------------------------------------------------------
A note on IMG compression methods:
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
Although this document does not go into detail on the different
compression methods used, there are some details which are important and
that are not mentioned or not clearly stated in the normal channels.
All and any compression ends at each raster boundary. In other
words: each raster is compressed individually. Pattern runs, byte
strings, bit runs all end at the end of each raster. Each new raster, if
compressed, starts a fresh compression sequence. There is no overrun from
one raster to another.
Although it up to the author which compression functions to use, it is
necessary for an IMG reader to expect a VRC function (even though one
particular IMG may or may not contain one). Always assume that an absence
of any VRC (or VRC=0) is the same as VRC=1. This will avoid confusion.
Since a VRC of 1 does NOT mean to repeat the raster 1 time but means only
to write the raster once.
Actually, a VRC code of 1 (one) is completely unnecessary in any IMG. If
this is encountered it is probably due to a fluke in the authors encoding
technique and/or a lack of clarity in his/her source of IMG documentation.
This is not to say that a VRC of 1 is in any way illegal. Quite the
contrary, it is completely legal; just not a necessity.
-----------------------------------------------------------------
*** COLOR IMG FORMAT VARIATIONS ***
It can be said that there is only one IMG format in existence. While this
is technically true, it is more a case of semantics than an actual
real-life truth.
If there were only one IMG format then there should be no compatibility
problems with any color IMG file and any application that attempts to
access that color IMG file. Sadly, that is not the case. While there may
be only one FORMAT, there is certainly an abundance of color 'dialects'.
Each of which is just different enough to cause woes to the end user.
What can be so difficult in establishing
a standard color IMG format?
The main areas of contention are:
1) color palette, what type of system
2) arrangement of the bit image planes
A third item has arisen due to the existence
of the different 'dialects'
3) How to discern one type of color
IMG file from another.
- - - - - - - - - - - - - -
1) COLOR PALETTE:
a) where
b) what kind
DRI specified no particular method for storing the color palette. Nor did
they say where it should be stored.
A) where
Every color 'dialect' design has, quite curiously, chosen the best method
as to where to store the palette data. It is placed directly after the
normal file header and the HEADER LENGTH word is adjusted to include this
palette data.
Conclusion: no problem here.
B) kind of color
HOW should the palette be stored? This question arises since the ST
community has for a long time used and has grown accustomed to the fixed
size files of DEGAS, TINY and NEO. When authors then started to design
color IMGs they naturally carried over some of their learning, namely the
palette.
These DEGAS, TINY and NEO files used a palette that is similar to the
palettes of other computer systems but with the Atari ST specific word
sized colors. This is commonly called a 'hardware' or, in the ST
community, the 'XBIOS' style of palette.
Since we're working with DRI's IMG file format, it is natural to assume
that the color palette also be stored as a DRI standard may or might be.
So, other authors decided to, instead, store the palette as the VDI
portion of GEM would expect it.
Both methods have their advantages. The XBIOS method lends itself to easy
porting of other file formats since it is directly hardware oriented and
can be efficiently and quickly converted to VDI colors. The VDI method,
while portable with a little extra effort, does not require any
modification for use in a VDI environment.
Conclusion: incompatible palettes.
2) BIT IMAGE PLANES
Due to DRI's vague documentation, no clear method has been established as
to how to store the color bit image data and seems to be totally open to
each authors interpretation.
Some have chosen to store each plane of data in its entirety and separate
from another, while other authors decided to interleave rasters of each
plane.
Once again, each method has advantages and disadvantages. Somehow, it
would not be surprising to soon find yet a third method appear that stores
each pixel in its entirety (like GIF files) or even a fourth method that
stores the plane data in a direct ST video layout (like DEGAS, TINY, NEO).
Conclusion: incompatible bit-image
If it is true, then, that there exists only one IMG format then it must
also be true that the IMG format is, indeed, incompatible with itself.
-------------------------------------------------------------------
Here, then, are four of the color IMG dialects currently in use.
We'll label them:
NOSIG, HYPERPAINT, XIMG and STTT.
NOSIG is an archaic dialect that is limited to 16 colors. We call it
NOSIG because it contains no signature or no means by which to determine
exactly what dialect this file may be.
We say it is fixed to only 16 colors because, 1) no 256 color IMGs of this
sort have been seen and, 2) one must _assume_ that any 8-plane form would
follow the same procedures as a four plane file.
SIGNATURE: none
PALETTE : XBIOS (fixed at 16 colors)
BITIMAGE : separate planes
HYPERPAINT is an IMG format with a twist. A noted graphic editor will also
create these files when used on an STe (using the STe's higher color
capacity).
SIGNATURE: word $0080 precedes palette
PALETTE : XBIOS
BITIMAGE : interleaved raster planes
XIMG is called such since it stores that ascii text, "XIMG", as a
signature in the file header.
note: XIMG states an img version of 2
SIGNATURE: long "XIMG" precedes palette
PALETTE : VDI style
BITIMAGE : separate planes
STTT is called such since it stores that ascii text, "STTT", as a
signature in the file header.
SIGNATURE: long "STTT" precedes palette
PALETTE : XBIOS
BITIMAGE : separate planes
Legend for following chart:
A) NOSIG
B) HYPERPAINT
C) XIMG
D) STTT
Sample/Typical IMG file headers for 4 plane/ 16 color IMG file:
offset description A B C D
-----------------------------------------------------------------
0 imgver 1 1 2 1
2 hedlen 24 25 59 27
4 planes 4 4 4 4
6 patdef 2 2 1 1
8 micwid $0294 $022C $022C $0116
10 michgt $02DF $022C $022C $0116
12 imgwid _ _ _ _
14 imghgt _ _ _ _
- - - - - -
16 pal $0080 "XI" "ST"
18 pal "MG" "TT"
20 $0000 $0010
22 pal pal
24
-----------------------------------------------------------------
notes:
the image width and height are not shown as these will be
totally dependent upon the particular image in the file.
'pal' denotes where the palette begins in the header.
a 256 color IMG header is very similar. PLANES will be 8
and the value in 'hedlen' will be larger to encompass the
larger color palette.
The value in the header's headlength will always contain at
least an eight since the IMG must have at least the 8 normal
header words. Additional words will be added to this sum for
the palette and any signature word or long.
VDI palette: 3 words per color (1 for each of R,G,B)
XBIOS palette: 1 word per color.
For a 16 color VDI palette : 48 words
For a 16 color XBIOS palette: 16 words
For a 256 color VDI palette : 768 words
For a 256 color XBIOS palette: 256 words
Different variations of color IMGs may also include a signature
which is also counted in the HEADER LENGTH word.
NOSIG
off descrp A
---------------------------------------------------------------
0 imgver 1 always 1, as per DRI specs
2 hedlen 24 24 words = 8 normal + 16 color
4 planes 4 four planes
6 patdef 2
8 micwid $0294 38 DPI
10 michgt $02DF 34 DPI
12 imgwid _
14 imghgt _
- - - - - -
16 the palette begins here and is 16 words in the
XBIOS format (1 word per palette entry)
immediately following the palette is the bitimage
with each plane stored in its entirety.
notes: none
problems: Since no signature exists, one must _assume_ that any
4-plane IMG file is actually this format.
possible:
solution: Check for all other variants first. If the other
tests fail then assume that the IMG is this type.
"""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""
HYPERPAINT
off descrp B
---------------------------------------------------------------
0 imgver 1 always 1, as per DRI specs
2 hedlen 25 8 normal + 16 colors + 1 signature
4 planes 4 four planes
6 patdef 2
8 micwid $022C 45 DPI
10 michgt $022C 45 DPI
12 imgwid _
14 imghgt _
- - - - - -
16 $0080 (128) this is the only signature of this
dialect.
18 the palette begins here and is 16 words in the
XBIOS format (1 word per palette entry)
immediately following the palette is the bitimage
stored as 4 rasters (one from each plane) inter-
leaved.
notes: The order of the rasters are inverted! Plane-0 is
the last raster in each group. In a four-plane IMG,
the order of the rasters is: planes 3,2,1,0
problems: The simple signature is misleading since the NOSIG
variant expects the palette to begin here, may easily
mistake the $0080 signature word to be the first
color of the palette.
Since these two dialects, NOSIG and HYPERPAINT, are
very different in plane layout, you'll find that a
wrong choice of dialect will result in a totally
trashed picture.
possible:
solution: The possibility of $0080 being the first palette
entry is slim (but still probable). "Best Guess"
is all that can be said here.
===============================================================
XIMG
off descrp C
---------------------------------------------------------------
0 imgver 2 NOTE THIS!!
2 hedlen 59 8 normal + (16 colors *3) + 3 signature
4 planes 4 four planes
6 patdef 1
8 micwid $022C 45 DPI
10 michgt $022C 45 DPI
12 imgwid _
14 imghgt _
- - - - - -
16 "XIMG" signature (4 bytes)
20 $0000 zero word
22 the palette begins here. It holds 3 words per color
in the VDI format of 0-1000.
( 16 colors = 48 words)
(256 colors = 768 words)
immediately following the palette is the bitimage
stored as separate planes.
notes: none
problems: Eight plane images may appear a bit unwieldy but
innovative coding can easily clear this hurdle.
possible: Keep a pointer to the image buffer start and
solution: weave the image into the proper planes as you
uncompress it.
"""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""
STTT
off descrp D
---------------------------------------------------------------
0 imgver 1 as per DRI specs
2 hedlen 27 8 normal + 16 colors + 3 signature
4 planes 4 four planes
6 patdef 1
8 micwid $0116 90 DPI
10 michgt $0116 90 DPI
12 imgwid _
14 imghgt _
- - - - - -
16 "STTT" signature (4 bytes)
20 $0010 palette count (or the number of colors)
22 the palette begins here and is in XBIOS form
(1 word per palette entry)
( 16 colors = 16 words)
(256 colors = 256 words)
immediately following the palette is the bitimage
stored as separate planes.
notes: the 'palette count' word is a good redundancy check
problems: Eight plane images may appear a bit unwieldy but
innovative coding can easily clear this hurdle.
possible: Keep a pointer to the image buffer start and
solution: weave the image into the proper planes as you
uncompress it.
______________________________________________________________
> SAME OLD POLITICS? STR FOCUS! SOFTWARE SELLS HARDWARE!
"""""""""""""""""""""""""""""
What Are Applications?
or
Should The CodeHeads Have a Falcon?
Compiled by Lloyd E. Pulley, Sr.
Senior Staff Editor
for STReport
Recently there's been quite a bit of controversy on all of the major on-
line networks about whether Atari should put CodeHead Technology at the
top of the Falcon list to receive a Falcon 030. The following are two
posts from the ST Roundtable on Genie (Category 32, Topic 11, Posts #96
and 109) discussing this subject.
STReport feels that after you read the CodeHead's response, you'll agree
with us that the CodeHead's have taken the high-road in this discussion.
----------------
From OUTRIDER -
Like others, I've gotten kind of angry about the Code-Heads not being
among the first to get a Falcon. I posted messages in AtariNet to Bob
Brodie from both Charles and John, as well as my own message, all
expressing displeasure over this situation, and asked WHY. Here is
Bob's response:
-----8<-----
Atari ST Computers / Atari Explorer, #96 of 101
Date: 20 Oct 92 23:13:00
From: Bob Brodie of 51:1/13.706
To: Terry May
Subj: CodeHeads Falconless - Why?
In reply to:
>Can you please explain why CodeHead Technologies, arguably the most
>respected, most liked, and most important developer for the Atari
>platform has been unable to secure a Falcon030 for development?
Sure...they don't write ANY applications. The CodeHeads (whom I regard
as personal friends) are creators of some of the most wonderful util-
ity software on the market. I personally own almost every piece of
software that they have written. Maxifile, MultiDesk, HotWire, G+Plus,
Code Keys, Warp 9 are all wonderful products.
None of them by themselves gives people a reason to purchase an Atari
Falcon030. They * enhance * the performance of the Atari Computer, via
various means.
With all due respect, none of the applications that CodeHead is pre-
sently selling is created by them. The TEC Board is imported from
Germany. Calligrapher is from the UK. Avant Vector is from Germany,
MegaPaint is from Germany. NONE of those applications has been created
by CodeHead Technologies.
We've been asking them to create applications for several years now.
They've not produced a single one. While I share your sentiment that
they are well respected, liked, and revered, I cannot share your view
of their importance. DMC, the makers of Calamus S/L is important.
SoftLogik, the creators of PageStream is important. Digitial Arts, the
creators of Retouche is important. Digitial F/X. creators of a
terrific direct to disk recording system is important. Dr. T's is
important. Steinberg, creators of Cubase is important. All of these
developers give people a reason to choose an Atari Computer because of
an application. CodeHead does not.
Please do not take this as a flame to CodeHead. It's not. You asked
why they don't have an Atari Falcon030 yet. This is why...no flame
intended. If they have some application up their sleeve, they should
fill us in on it. Again, I consider the CodeHeads to be personal
friends. They know why they don't have a Falcon.
--- FiFo V2.1o [IOSmail 0.89]
# Origin: FNET #706: Z*Net Golden Gate - California
* Origin: * 51:1/13.0@Atarinet.ftn Z*Net News Service 908-968-8148
(51:1/13.706)
-----8<-----
And in reply to a message I posted from GSCOTT-MOORE, also expressing
displeasure at the CodeHeads being Falconless (although it's addressed
to me, it's actually to GSCOTT-MOORE):
-----8<-----
Atari ST Computers / Atari Explorer, #99 of 101
Date: 20 Oct 92 23:14:00
From: Bob Brodie of 51:1/13.706
To: Terry May
Subj: CodeHeads Falconless - Part 3
In reply to:
>Where the heck do I forward this message where someone will know how
>I feel about this idiocy? I am really miffed that you guys aren't
>4 months into the machine and both hailing it's glories and
>RECTIFYING AND OPTIMIZING ITS DEFICIENCIES! What the heck are
>"utility" programmers for anyway?
OK, so you found someplace to forward it to. :)
In answer to what the heck are "utility" programmers for anyway...Good
question. They are to enhance the applications and the system software
on a computer. In the rest of the message it was fairly clear to me
that the author hasn't seen the NewDesktop yet. If he really wants to
give CodeHead more business, he should buy a TEC Board from them.
(smile)
Don't get me wrong, they write great stuff. And they will get a
Falcon. AFTER applications programmers.
PS- ST Report is a less than credible source. Please don't quote them
in this conference any more...all it ever brings us is trouble. Thanks
for understanding.
--- FiFo V2.1o [IOSmail 0.89]
# Origin: FNET #706: Z*Net Golden Gate - California
* Origin: * 51:1/13.0@Atarinet.ftn Z*Net News Service 908-968-8148
(51:1/13.706)
-----8<-----
There were other responses to my query, from U.S. users and overseas
users alike, all very much supportive of the CodeHeads and their quest
for a Falcon, and their importance to the Atari community.
I felt Bob's answer was very honest and straightforward, but it didn't
change my opinion much. I think loyal developers who command an
equally loyal following deserve the same loyalty from Atari.
Response from John Eidsvoog at CodeHead Technologies -
The quest of CodeHead Technologies to obtain access to a Falcon has
drawn much attention lately across the Atari community. Discussions
about the reasons why we've been unable to get a Falcon are pointless
and only serve to divide an already small group of Atari enthusiasts
at a time when we should all be working together toward salvaging the
remains of the Atari market.
The parallels between the Atari market and the United States of
America are remarkable. Both institutions were once great but have
faltered over the last few years as a result of misguided management.
Luckily, we can do something about the state of the nation by casting
our votes for those we feel can best reverse the decline we've
experienced. But in the case of Atari, we have less control. As Atari
enthusiasts, we're very limited in what we can do to help. Voicing our
concerns will have no effect if no one is listening. The trick is to
get someone to listen. As to how that can be done, I have no idea.
History has taught us that Atari's direction is unswayed by the advice
of its customers.
At CodeHead Technologies we've always been quite independent in our
development needs, not requiring much of anything from Atari except
new machines when they were released. Our support for Atari computers
has been steadfast over the years, unswayed by the opinions and degree
of respect we receive from Atari management. While we may not agree
with the habitual misdirection of Atari's marketing efforts, we have
continued to try our best to provide our customers (and theirs) with
the best software possible.
In turn, we expect nothing from Atari but a fair shake. All we desire
is that nothing impede our abilities to assure our customers of
compatibility between our software and the hardware on which they'd
like to use it.
There seems to be a need by many to place software into predefined
slots of either "applications" or "utilities". When Bob Brodie was
asked why CodeHead has been unable to secure a Falcon030 for
development, he responded "they don't write ANY applications." While
it's true that much of the software we write is utility software, we
consider at least two of our creations, HotWire and MaxiFile, to be
_applications_. They provide us with a solid base from which to
operate our computers. We could not be nearly as productive as we are
without the use of HotWire for software development and daily
operation of our computers as we fill orders, do DTP work, graphics,
and on-line support. And MaxiFile is acclaimed by many as one of the
best tools for use on _any_ platform. Who's going to ask Norton when
they're going to write some "real applications"?
Perhaps the best argument I can make is in relation to Atari's idea
that applications are what sell computers, not utilities. I don't
think anyone will dispute the fact that there is one piece of software
that is responsible for an unprecedented surge in the sales of IBM-
compatible computers and clones in the last couple of years. That
piece of software is Microsoft Windows. Whatever one's individual
impressions are about Windows as a usable tool, there's no denying
that it has single-handedly been responsible for a revolution in the
popularity of MS-DOS machines. It has turned these clumsy command-line
driven machines into user-friendly machines to which those who are not
computer-literate can relate.
So the question is, which slot does Windows fall into? Is it a
utility? If so, how could it possibly be responsible for selling all
those millions of machines? Is it an application? If so, why aren't
HotWire and MaxiFile considered applications?
But let's ignore this flaw in logic and assume that CodeHead has NOT
written any applications. Bob said, "We've been asking them to create
applications for several years now. They've not produced a single
one". We've answered this question over and over but apparently it
hasn't sunk in. Before we invest man-years in the development of a
major application, we need to have some assurance that we'll be able
to sell more than a thousand copies. We keep waiting, and the Atari
market keeps dwindling. No intelligent businessman is going to simply
pour money down a black hole.
You see, we've been asking Atari to sell computers for several years
now! There has not been a significant number of NEW Atari customers
for several years, and this makes it impossible to sell significant
numbers of software applications.
So you may be asking, "why is it that other developers are able to
write major applications for Atari computers?" Let's examine the
developers who are "important" in the eyes of Atari. Every one of them
is either based in Europe, where there used to be a healthy market, or
strongly entrenched in other platforms (like the Mac, PC, or Amiga)
where they can make enough money to take a gamble on porting their
software to the Atari (or continuing to simply maintain it).
German Atari developers: DMC, Digital Arts, TradeiT, etc.
MIDI developers heavy into other platforms: Dr. T, Steinberg, Digital
F/X, C-Lab.
SoftLogik: Making most of its current income from the Amiga market,
but trying desperately to continuing supporting Atari.
Where does this all leave CodeHead? We are indisputably the most
prolific and most respected Atari-only developer in the US.
What does that get us? The respect of our customers.
John Eidsvoog /|\ Member of the IAAD
CodeHead Technologies \|/ Serving the Atari Community
______________________________________________________________
> STReport CONFIDENTIAL "Rumors Tidbits Predictions Observations Tips"
"""""""""""""""""""""
- Sunnyvale CA REVOLVING DOOR ALIVE & WELL!
------------
The latest victims of Atari's infamous "Revolving Door" are Bernie
Stollar who was going to revolutionize and upgrade Atari's communicative
skills. Bernie, originally from the Village Voice in NYC, has departed
from the hallowed halls of Atari after only a short stay.
Then comes Alwin Stumph the newly appointed head of Atari Europe. The
various Atari subsidiaries in Europe were consolidated under Stumph's
Atari Germany. Stumph, long regarded as _the_ main thrust behind Atari's
successes in Europe leaves shortly after it was revealed the construction
costs of the new German facilities were just shy of ten million dollars.
While unavailable for comment, it is rumored his departure may be linked
to the now obvious "late delivery dates" of the new Atari Falcons
earmarked for Europe.
- Rockville, MD. GENIE'S ST RT HOSTS NOVELTY "LIVE" HONG KONG CONF.
--------------
In a precedent setting "real time" environment, the ST RT on GEnie
held an online conference originating at the GEIS Head Office in the Far
East's jewel of the Orient, Hong Kong. A first for GEnie, the novelty
conference was enjoyed by all in attendance. (approx 15 users) A number
of prices were made mention of in relation to USA prices, ie., 4mb STe
$150.00 US ea., Lynx games are $4.00 US ea., Not bad, considering the
exchange rates, but.. when one adds in the air fare etc..
- Boca Raton, FL CIS ATARI AREA SEARCHES FOR MIDI SYSOP
--------------
Due to changing priorities and interests, our MIDI expert, John Davis,
has informed me that he is no longer able to devote adequate time and
energies to the job of AtariArts Forum MIDI Sysop. Rather than do an
incomplete job, John has suggested that we ought to find someone with more
time to handle the task, especially with the upcoming introduction of the
Falcon.
Therefore, effective immediately, I will begin accepting applications for
the job of MIDI/Music specialist for the AtariArts forum. Applicants
should respond via EMAIL to Ron Luks 76703,254 between now and November
10th. Include your qualifications in the area of Midi/Music, your
familiarity with the CompuServe Forum software, and any ideas for building
up the Midi/Music activity (messages and library files) in the AtariArts
Forum.
Job responsibilities will include; posting and replying to messages and
user questions in the Midi/Music message section and previewing files
uploaded to the Midi/Music library. You will be furnished with free
access to the Atari Forums upon acceptance and after a brief time period,
a system-wide free user ID.
Please include a phone number (daytime preferred, but evening phone is
okay) so that we can talk in realtime.
Ron Luks - 76703,254
Manager, Atari Forums on CompuServe
- Winona, MN NEW SYSLAW BOOK: MASSIVELY REVISED AND EXPANDED!
----------
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THE LEGAL GUIDE FOR ONLINE SERVICE PROVIDERS
by Lance Rose, Esq., and Jonathan Wallace, Esq.
SysLaw provides BBS sysops, network moderators and other online service
providers with basic information on their rights and responsibilities, in
a form that non-lawyers can easily understand. Subjects covered include
the First Amendment, copyrights and trademarks, the user agreement,
negligence, privacy, criminal law, searches and seizures, viruses and
adult materials.
SysLaw not only explains the laws, it gives detailed advice enabling
system operators to create the desired balance of user services, freedom,
and protection from risk on their systems.
SysLaw is available from:
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800-321-8285 or 507 452-2824
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You may order by credit card or by mail.
Price is $34.95 plus $3.00 shipping and (if applicable) sales tax.
Price is subject to change after January 1, 1993.
For additional information please contact:
Publisher Brian Blackledge at 800-321-8285.
- Cupertino, CA APPLE OFFERS THE "EASY WAY"
-------------
The Easy Way; Apple USA offers creative financing and special software
package deals that include applications to run IBM compatible personal
computer (PC) software on the Macintosh and for data exchange with PCs to
businesses. The emphasis placed in the direct mailout literature is
toward the purchase of a Macintosh IIsi. Financing choices include a
lease to businesses with no money down, no security deposit, and no
payments for 30+ days. A "90 day same as cash" plan on a purchase of a
Macintosh and software or peripherals purchased at the same time via the
Apple Credit Card is also offered along with a unique trade-in/exchange
program where Apple will accept used Apple, IBM, and Compaq computers with
a minimum cumulative trade-in/exchange value of $1,000 credit toward the
purchase of a new Macintosh. Excellent software package deals such as
Lotus 1-2-3 for Macintosh, Wordperfect for Macintosh, Universal SoftPC and
AccessPC is offered to Macintosh computer buyers for the discount price of
$399.00 The SoftPC and AccessPC software products are specifically aimed
toward allowing Macintosh users to run PC software programs and exchange
data with PC users via floppy disks.
- San Diego, CA "MYSTERY ORDER" OF 25,000 FALCONS PENDING?
-------------
According to our sources, the _may_ be a twenty five thousand unit
order of Falcons in the works. Although the originator of the PO is being
kept under wraps, its alleged to be a strong 'blue chip' purchaser.
Further its been reported the order is hinged on a solid delivery time
table and will, more than likely, contain a clause known as a penalty
clause. This could very well be the beginning bell heralding the
successful journey of the Falcon for Atari.
- Glendale Ca. ATARI USER MOVES TO NEW LOCATION
------------
Ask for your FREE copy of AtariUser, every month at participating
computer stores, music stores, and user groups, or subscribe now for home
delivery. Subscriptions are now only $15 for one year (12 issues), or $25
for rush First Class Delivery. Foreign delivery is $30 a year. Credit
card orders are accepted by phone, and sample copies are $2 by mail.
Contact AtariUser at their NEW address and phone numbers
--------------------------------------------------------
AtariUser Magazine
249 North Brand Boulevard, Suite 332
Glendale, CA 91203
Telephone/Voicemail: 818-246-6277
FAX: 818-242-2129
GENIE: ATARIUSER
__________________________________________________________
> STR Mail Call "...a place for the readers to be heard"
"""""""""""""
STReport's MailBag
""""""""""""""""""
Messages * NOT EDITED * for content
-----------------------------------
From FNET/USENET; CANADIANS IRKED!
Atari USA examples
Nntp-Posting-Host: cc4.crl.aecl.ca
Organization: AECL RESEARCH
Date: Tue Oct 20 09:02:09 EDT 1992
-In article <19OCT92.08565967@cc4.crl.aecl.ca- csullogg@cc4.crl.aecl.ca
-writes: Now that Atari Canada has died, I have to deal with Atari USA.
-The situation has gone from poor to awful. My only impression of Atari
-USA is that the corporation is, on the whole, suicidal. I thought I had
-communication problems with Toronto; hell, things look rosy compared
-with Sunnyvale.
-Care to describe some of your experiences with Atari USA?
When Atari Canada closed its office, I called Sunnyvale. It took 5 calls
before someone was named to handle my inquiries; Barbara Benson. I Fax'ed
her the details of an order that I had placed with Atari Canada just
before it closed its office (TT, Portfolios). Barbara Fax'ed me that she
would look after my order and that it would take about a week to process.
Her FAX was on August 13th. The TT came in the last week of September, the
portfolios arrived last week. Incidentally, I spoke with Shirley Taylor
about the order and twice I was told that the Portfolios had been shipped.
On the third call to Sunnyvale re: the Portfolios, the order was FINALLY
shipped.
I ordered a TT030/4/50; a TT/2/50 was shipped. I called Sunnyvale and was
told a 4 meg TT RAM board was also being shipped. It arrived about 4 days
after the TT. The client has a 32 meg TT RAM board and wanted 4 megs of ST
RAM. I have asked for an RA number for the TT RAM and as yet have not
received one.
The invoice came in for the TT and I Fax'ed Atari USA to ask if the
invoice was in US or CDN dollars. That was last week; still no reply. If
it is in US dollars, the price of the TT030/2/50 will be $CDN 165 higher
than the TT030/4/50 that Atari Canada quoted me. Now that I have had to
supply 2 megs of ST RAM out of my inventory, I will end up losing money on
the sale (my cost is now higher than retail and I have dozens of calls and
FAX charges piled up from trying to get the order completed).
This whole interaction with Sunnyvale has been a disaster. I even Fax'ed
Sam Tramiel and asked him to tell his Canadian market rep to get on the
job. I have asked if I could get ONE FALCON to demo and I have yet to
receive either a yes or a no.
So, have things gone from poor to awful, you bet! I'll repeat what I
Fax'ed to Sam Tramiel. I jump through hoops for my clients; any one who
wants to market a product that has inherent weaknesses (low visibility
of Atari makes marketing hard) has do work hard to sell. I expect
Atari USA to treat its clients (its dealers) with respect and to do
whatever it takes to keep product flowing to them. If I quit Atari sales,
I still have a good income to live on. If Atari USA folds, you guys will
be looking for work!!
C'mon, get it together and make it tolerable for me to sell Atari
products.
Atari Enthusiast and Ticked-off Reseller
---A reply message to the above---
I've spoken to three of the Toronto dealers and without fail they are
ALL reporting the same problems! I was actually encouraged that Atari
Canada were shutting down, as the type of operation was costing Atari
money; BUT I expected they would leave an intact sales/marketing force.
Now, this is turning into an UNMITIGATED DISASTER!! Toronto is one of
the top four markets in North America (L.A., Chicago and N.Y. being the
others), there is a strong (for Atari) user base and dealers can't get
stock, or can only get it at prices that are completely irrational, given
the market here. WAKE UP ATARI - PLEASE!!!!! Don't lose the market share
you have, here.
From GEnie's ST RT
John Eidsvoog of the Codeheads clears the air.... but the _hurt_ is still
very evident over the "NO FALCON FOR THE CODEHEADS" debacle.
Category 32, Topic 31
Message 69 Tue Oct 13, 1992
J.EIDSVOOG1 [CodeHead] at 11:11 EDT
Rod Martin,
>...but I won't press.
Wow, is that what you call "not pressing"?
It sounds like you've now accepted the re-explanation of my original
comment, but you're not going to believe that Charles's comment meant
anything other than that we're leaving the Atari market. (And please
don't take that last sentence out of context and say the CodeHeads said
"we're leaving the Atari market".)
Charles said "Maybe they're trying to tell us something. Maybe we
should listen." That's all he said. It's quite clear. He didn't see
"we're leaving the Atari market". He didn't say "that's it, we're fed
up...we're outta here". He didn't say "we're not gonna take it any more".
He said exactly what he said.
I don't know if it's a GEnie problem, or a general problem in reading
comprehension, but it really starts getting bothersome how many times
people put their own interpretation on statements that are made in plain
English. Both Charles and I are well skilled in the English language and
when we make statements, we expect them to be taken literally. No
translation is necessary. Occasionally, we may make a mistake in getting
our message across, but we always try to rectify it.
Admittedly, Charles's statement may have been vague, but the most I
could make of what he said at face value is that it is some sort of
threat. Maybe he's trying to scare Atari into respecting us as a real,
professional software company, worthy of their support.
As to how you can jump to the conclusion that this means we're leaving
the Atari market, I don't know.
Once again, please DO NOT take any of the numerous quotes and
statements in this message out of context. WE ARE NOT LEAVING THE ATARI
MARKET. I'm at a loss as to how I can make that any more clear.
John
------------
Loyal Codehead Fans upset....
Category 32, Topic 31
Message 74 Tue Oct 13, 1992
LYRE at 23:38 EDT
Rob,
BTW, the ST Aladdin program is currently at version 1.50. I haven't
checked to see if W9 fonts operate correctly or not. I'll get back to
you.
Codeheads,
I know that this might seem trivial, but have you thought about doing
a survey? Why not ask in the various (ha ha) Atari publications that
*all* the readers reply to it. Make it a reader reply type thing, no
postage necessary (your chances of getting a response are better).
This might help to sway Atari in regards to obtaining a Falcon.
After all, if alienating a software vendor who is supporting 90% (or
whatever it happens to be) of Atari's market so that they can not provide
product for a computer that might very well be a "Do or Die" situation for
Atari (that's my assumption, not necessarily true) then they are _causing_
the potential failure of their own business. But then, that is not
exactly "news" now is it?
Lyre
"""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""
STReport's "EDITORIAL CARTOON"
""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""
> A "Quotable Quote" "We don't advertise because ...."
"""""""""""""""""
"The business that considers itself immune to the necessity of
advertising sooner or later finds itself immune to business!
OR...
Doing business without advertising is like winking at a girl in the
dark. You know what you are doing, but nobody else does!"
...excerpt from business 101
"""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""
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STR Online! "YOUR INDEPENDENT NEWS SOURCE" October 23, 1992
Since 1987 copyright (c) 1987-92 All Rights Reserved No.8.42
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Views, Opinions and Articles Presented herein are not necessarily those of
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