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Silicon Times Report Issue 0922
*---== STReport International Online Magazine ==---*
"""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""
"The Original 16/32bit Online Magazine"
from
STR Publishing
""""""""""""""
May 28, 1993 No. 9.22
=========================================================================
STReport International Online Magazine
Post Office Box 6672
Jacksonville, Florida
32205 ~ 6672
R.F. Mariano
Publisher - Editor
-----------------------------------------
Voice: 904-783-3319 10 AM - 4 PM EST
Support BBS Network System
* THE BOUNTY BBS *
* TURBO BOARD BBS SYSTEM *
FNET 350 ~ Fido 112:35 ~ Nest 90:21/350.0
904-786-4176 USR/HST 24hrs - 7 days
1200 - 19.2bps V.32 - 42 bis 16.8 Dual Standard
FAX: 904-783-3319 12 AM - 6 AM EST
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FNET. 350 : The Bounty *<Home of STR>*...1-904-786-4176
FNET. 489 : Steal Your Face BBS..........1-908-920-7981
_____________________________________________________________________
> 05/28/93 STR 922 "The Original * Independent * Online Magazine!"
""""""""""""""""
- The Editor's Desk - CPU Report - PORTFOLIO NEWS
- High Speed Modems - WP & FAXBIOS - GOOD IDEAS
- JAGUAR -> FALL'93 - FEST NEWS'93 - STR Confidential
-* ATARI POSTS BIG LOSSES ..AGAIN! *-
-* LEXICOR TO FOCUS SUPPORT ON CIS! *-
-* CONFLICT OF INTEREST IN GEnie's ST RT? *-
-* "FALCONWAIT" OVER! SMALL, SLOW SHIPMENTS BEGIN! *-
=========================================================================
STReport International Online Magazine
The Original * Independent * Online Magazine
-* FEATURING WEEKLY *-
"Accurate UP-TO-DATE News and Information"
Current Events, Original Articles, Tips, Rumors, and Information
Hardware - Software - Corporate - R & D - Imports
=========================================================================
STReport's BBS, The Bounty, invites BBS systems, worldwide, to participate
in the Fido/NEST/Atari F-Net Mail Network. You may also phone The Bounty
BBS direct @ 904-786-4176, and enjoy the wonder & excitement of exchanging
information relative to computers, worldwide, through the use of excellent
International Networking Systems. SysOps, worldwide, are quite welcome to
join the STReport International Conferences. The Crossnet Code is #34813,
and the "Lead Node" is # 350. All BBS systems are welcome and invited to
participate. Support your favorite computer! Teleconference Today!
=========================================================================
CIS ~ DELPHI ~ BIX ~ NVN ~ GENIE ~ FIDO ~ FNET ~ NEST
EURONET ~ CIX ~ CLEVELAND FREE-NET ~ INTERNET
=========================================================================
=============
* ATARI EDITION *
=============
COMPUSERVE WILL PRESENT $15.00 WORTH OF COMPLIMENTARY ONLINE TIME
to the Readers of;
ST REPORT INTERNATIONAL ONLINE MAGAZINE
"""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""
"The Original 16/32bit Online Magazine"
NEW USERS; SIGN UP TODAY!
CALL: 1-800-848-8199 .. Ask for operator 198
You will receive your complimentary time
and
be online in no time at all!
WHAT'S NEW IN THE ATARI FORUMS (May 28)
BATSUB "SEAFOX" CLONE GAME
Download file BATSUB.ARC from LIBRARY 2 of the Atari Arts Forum (GO
ATARIARTS) for BATSUB, a SEAFOX clone game. Move the submarine to fire
torpedoes that will sink moving ships. The program runs in low resolution
with sound.
VERSION 2.01 OF SOS HANGMAN
Download file HANGM2.LZH from LIBRARY 2 of the Atari Arts Forum (GO
ATARIARTS) for SoS Hangman 2.01. This is a much improved version of the
recently released SoS Hangman accessory. The new version features a better
looking game window,and almost 400 new puzzles in 7 categories.
SCROLLING THUNDER IN ATARIPRO
Download file SCRTH.LZH from LIBRARY 4 of the Atari Productivity Forum (GO
ATARIPRO for Scrolling Thunder, a viewer or browser for text files
(actually, any kind of file) with a difference. It exclusively uses
hardware smooth scrolling, available only on STe/MegaSTe/TT/Falcon, to
produce the smoothest, fastest display of text you've ever seen. It scrolls
forward or backward at variable speed, and is almost entirely
mouse-controlled.
NEW SOFTLOGIK DEMO IN ATARIVEN
Download file FLAGS.LZH from LIBRARY 11 of the Atari Vendors Forum (GO
ATARIVEN) for Sample EPS (Adobe Illustrator) files of the new Flags of the
World clipart collection now being sold by Soft-Logik Publishing. The
archive contains four flags.
THE ATARI PORTFOLIO FORUM ON COMPUSERVE
HAS BEEN DESIGNATED AN
OFFICIAL SUPPORT SITE BY ATARI CORPORATION
"GO APORTFOLIO TO ACCESS THE ATARI PORTFOLIO FORUM"
"ENJOY CIS' ATARI FORUMS WHERE CENSORSHIP IS A DIRTY WORD!"
"""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""
> From the Editor's Desk "Saying it like it is!"
""""""""""""""""""""""
This is the big weekend! Memorial Day Weekend... this is the time we
are supposed to remember all the members of our armed forces who served
their country well and especially those who paid for our freedom with their
lives.
Now for a less serious thought. The Falcon is shipping.. slowly and
in small numbers but its shipping and that's good news. Now, let's all pay
close attention to the stir we hope it creates in the computing community.
This issue presents a number of interesting topics some of which are
bound to peak your interest. Please have a safe holiday weekend and above
all else enjoy yourselves! I know I will there's a very special Pink Floyd
show here in town this weekend and a recorded show of ZZ Top and Led Zep
immediately after the Floyd Laser Show. Yup, you guessed it I'll be there.
<very big grin>..
Ralph....
"""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""
STReport's Staff DEDICATED TO SERVING YOU!
""""""""""""""""
Publisher - Editor
""""""""""""""""""
Ralph F. Mariano
PC DIVISION AMIGA DIVISION MAC DIVISION
----------- -------------- ------------
Roger D. Stevens Robert Glover R. ALBRITTON
STReport Staff Editors:
"""""""""""""""""""""""
Dana P. Jacobson Michael Arthur John Deegan
Lucien Oppler Brad Martin Judith Hamner
John Szczepanik Dan Stidham Joseph Mirando
Steve Spivey Doyle C. Helms
Lloyd E. Pulley, Editor Emeritus
Contributing Correspondents:
""""""""""""""""""""""""""""
Michael Lee Richard Covert Scott Birch
Brian Converse Oliver Steinmeier Tim Holt
Andrew Learner Norman Boucher Harry Steele
Clemens Chin Neil Bradley Eric Jerue
Ron Deal Robert Dean Ed Westhusing
James Nolan Vernon W. Smith Bruno Puglia
IMPORTANT NOTICE
""""""""""""""""
Please, submit letters to the editor, articles, reviews, etc...
via E-Mail to:
Compuserve.................... 70007,4454
Delphi........................ RMARIANO
BIX........................... RMARIANO
FIDONET....................... 112/35
FNET.......................... NODE 350
NEST.......................... 90:21/350.0
GEnie......................... ST-REPORT
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STR'S "BELIEVE IT? OR.. WHAT?"
<>###############################<>
"There is no comparison! The Atari Falcon
is far superior to the PC platform."
Sam Tramiel, 08/92
About the scathing Forbes Magazine Critique of Atari;
"My new office, which has a better view than my old one, is so far
quite satisfactory. And Richard Miller is in my old office. The
Forbes article was a mish-mash and misconstrued article full of half
truths. We are anxiously awaiting the release of the Atari Falcon to
bring us back to the forefront. The article has given us some laughs,
but otherwise has not affected us."
Sam Tramiel, 08/92
About marketing plans and the future....
"As I said before, all marketing announcements will be made at
Duesseldorf. I will not comment on future models of the Falcon.
WE ARE TALKING TODAY ABOUT A MACHINE.....
WHICH WILL BE SHIPPING NEXT WEEK."
Sam Tramiel, 08/92
A fantastic observation, considering the date it was made...
"I've just returned from Asia, where I saw the first Atari Falcon
production coming off the lines. Let's hope this new offering will
make it in North America. I know that the specs are great."
Sam Tramiel, 08/92
Again, the dates of the statement conflict with the facts now known....
"We have not yet even given the machine to the FCC. And we are only
applying for Class B approval. According to our "experts", it should
pass Class B."
Sam Tramiel, 08/92
"...... We are not working for Wall Street but to
make money for our shareholders and only think long term."
Sam Tramiel, 11/92
psssst.
FYI.... The Shareholder's equity is fine.... NOT!
The Stock is hovering around $0.81
CHRISTMAS '92 has COME and GONE...
AS HAS...
JANUARY 1993, FEBRUARY 1993...
FALCONS ....anyone?
By the Way.... Does the Falcon work well
with
any... of the SLM Laser Printers?? NOPE! NOT YET!
Wanna bet there won't be any?
Better yet...
Which _MAJOR_ US Software Developers & Publishers
are
producing NEW Software for Atari's FALCON???
Besides, who _needs_ a CARTRIDGE PORT anyhow!
"The Jaguar will be released in the Fall, in time for Christmas.
Sorry, I have no comment about other computers to follow the
Falcon030. We don't have enough of those on the street yet to worry
about the next batch in my department anyway. :)"
Bob Brodie 05/26/93
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> ONLINE WEEKLY STReport OnLine The wires are a hummin'!
"""""""""""""""""""""""""""""
PEOPLE... ARE TALKING
=====================
On CompuServe
-------------
compiled by Joe Mirando
73637,2262
Hidi Ho good neighbors and neighborettes, I'll put the big news right up
front this week...
Ron Luks, the Boss Sysop, posts:
"In an effort to answer more of your questions concerning the new Falcon030
computer, Bill Rehbock (Director of software development) and James Grunke
(Director of Atari Music) have offered to hold an online Conference.
However, considering the state of online, interactive COnferencing
software, with its delays and system response, and in light of the fact
that our membership in the Atari Forums is truly international and there is
probably no way to pick a time that all of our members can attend, I feel
that you folks deserve better value for your connect dollars.
Therefore, I have alternately suggested, and they have accepted, a proposal
to do a 20-QUESTIONS format. (We may sometime in the future schedule
interactive conferences, but I've been dying to try out this idea for a
couple of years, so please bear with me. [grin])
A popular men's magazine (Playboy) contains a monthly celebrity interview
of great length as well as a shorter feature where a popular figure is
given a list of 20 questions and provides answers. Sort of a
mini-interview.
Because the questions will be prepared and submitted in advance, I will
have a chance to pick the best 20 and forward them to Bill and James on
Wednesday evening (May 26th). They have agreed to return the answers for
online posting by Friday so you can download and read them over the
Memorial Day weekend (for us Yanks).
I believe this format has the following advantages. First, even given good
system response, we usually manage to ask and answer approx. 20 questions
in a two hour period. If the CO is full, you may have to sit online for 2
hours just to ask one question and if its real busy, you may not get a
chance to ask any.
Secondly, the sysops have to edit, spell check, and clean up the transcript
anyway and past experience has shown that we get 5-20 downloads of a
transcript for every 'live' attendee anyway. If you cannot attend, you
have to HOPE somebody there will ask the question you want answered. This
system gives EVERY member a chance to post a question in advance. I will
personally accept all your questions, try to combine as many as possible
into the total of 20 questions asked, and to cover as wide a range of
subjects as possible.
Thirdly, we wont have to have any situations where our guests will reply
with "I'll check into that and get back to you tomorrow...." We'll keep
them on the hot seat. [heh heh]
I think this system will present as much information as an interactive
COnference with considerably greater value for your connect dollars. You
will get as much information with a few minutes downloading as you would
get sitting for hours in an online conference.
Therefore I am asking every member to submit their questions for Bill and
James as a reply to this message. Feel free to ask multiple questions but
I will do my best to compile a set from as many different members as
possible. I will take full responsibility for the ultimate questions
asked, but that does not mean that you should not ask "the tough
questions." In fact, I would encourage you to ask the "tough questions."
Bill and James have agreed to answer whatever is submitted. I will send
off the final 20 questions at 5pm EDT Wednesday, May 26th, so get yours in
early. Preference will be given to questions submitted first.
If this format works as well as I anticipate, there will be more of these
in the weeks and months ahead. Since our first "guests" will be Bill and
James, I will ask you to narrow your questions to the new Falcon030 with a
special emphasis on music/midi applications, although any Falcon030
question will be considered fair game.
And finally, in a sense of fair play and sharing with the entire Atari
community, permission will be given to all Atari BBS sysops to redistribute
the unedited question and answer file on their BBS systems after the first
72 hours of availability on the Atari Forums on CompuServe. We will also
encourage BBS sysops to gather questions from their users and submit them
through us. I will ATTEMPT but not promise to assign a users name to the
final questions whenever possible, so Bill and James will know who asked
any particular question.
Well folks-- you asked for direct feedback from Atari Corp and here's your
chance. Send those questions in asap!"
Now that you've seen this post, we'll continue on with our regularly
scheduled program.... uh, I mean, with our usual format. Gee, I guess I
_AM_ watching too much television.
From the Atari Productivity Forum
=================================
Dazzz Smith replies to Ron's post about the questions for Atari:
"While I prefer the idea of detailed questions and replies I also
think that CO's have their place in the scheme of things comms wise.
Wouldn't it be possible to combine the two?"
Ron, being the top-notch guy that he is, tells Dazzz:
"Okay. We'll have a CO, too. But how about sending me a couple of
questions for this experiment. We'll try one or two of these files and
then schedule a CO and see which works better.
Sound fair?"
Dazzz tells Ron:
"Hey don't do it on my say so, ask around, see what everyone else thinks.
As another thought, why not see if its possible to do a question file
for some of the other Atari houses? e.g. Atari UK, Atari Germany,
Atari Australia etc."
Greg Kopchak posts:
"Forecaster III is now available for the Atari Falcon series. The program
predicts the weather, offers a detailed analysis of current conditions, and
plots normals by month.
It also offers a viewer for GIF weather graphics from GEnie (M461) and CIS.
It plots raw radar data from WeatherBank on a US map, and displays RLE
weather data from CIS.
It also displays ASCII weather graphics from both WeatherBank and CIS. CIS
ASCII graphics can be displayed as a graphics plot.
Templates for graphing weather data are included for use with 123 or any
spreadsheet that can read WKS or WK1 format. A set of templates for
graphing with Atariworks in the .STF format is also included.
The program is Multi-Tos ready and will run on a monochrome monitor (no
color GIF), Atari color monitor, broadcast TV, or VGA monitor. GIF weather
graphics are great on a VGA or broadcast TV monitor.
Dealers, contact Pacific Software about upgrading your stock to the Falcon
version.
Forecaster III for the Falcon is available from Randall Kopchak, It's All
Relative Software, 2233 Keeven Lane, Florissant, MO 63031 for $35.00,
postpaid, or ask for it at your favorite Atari dealer.
Registered users can upgrade to the Falcon version for $10.00, postpaid,
from the address above."
Jonnie Santos asks about a grammar checker for the ST series:
"I use WordWriter on the ST which has a built in spell checker. I wanted a
grammar checker and found an ad in Atari Interface for one. It's called
GramSlam - pretty neat (and cheap too!). In that same ad they advertise a
spell checker "Spelling Sentry" and a English grammar, punctuation, etc
reference as well called "Grammar Expert."
The company is: Wintertree Software Inc.
43 Rueter Street
Ontario, Canada K2J 3Z9
(613) 825-6271
Brian Gockley of ST Informer tells Jonnie:
"All of those programs you mentioned are top flight! I use them everyday,
and couldn't be happier with both the support and the quality."
Jonnie tells Brian:
"Except that I wanted to put a box around a document and make the title in
large letter using WordWriter and couldn't. I exported it to PageStream
and got the results I originally wanted.
Just for laughs I uploaded the file in ASCII format to my personal file are
here and then had a Mac friend download it. They put it into PageMaker and
got the same results - pretty cool (neat), eh?
Last night I loaded Norton's AntiVirus into our PC at work and it wrote a
few lines into: AUTEXEC.BAT, CONFIG.SYS, WIN.INI When I rebooted something
didn't take and the sucker froze... Without thinking I started to reach
for the power switch on the hard drive (like I've done on my Ste) so that I
could shut it off and then reboot from the defacto setup in TOS. Then
shaking my head after I realized the hard disk is internal and not
turn-off-able... I didn't know about "System disks" or the Ctrl-C trick
after hearing the BIOS beep until after the tech bailed me out. So this
evening it is with pleasure I'm using my Ste knowing I can get myself out
of most any problem (the few that occur)."
Stephen Petrenko puts out a call to those more knowledgable:
"I NEED HELP PEOPLE. IT IS GETTING HARDER AND HARDER TO FIND SOFTWARE FOR
MY 520 ST. CAN YOU SOLVE THIS QUESTION FOR ME? IS THE ST COMPATIBLE WITH
IBM OR ANY OTHER COMPUTERS OUT THERE THAT SEEM TO HAVE SOFTWARE READILY
AVAILABLE. I FIND IT INCREASINGLY ANNOYING AND DISHEARTENING IN TRYING TO
FIND PROGRAMS FOR MY ST.WHAT CAN I DO?"
Andrew Wright asks Stephen:
"What exactly are you looking for? There's little that the ST can't do. The
only real restriction is the screen resolution and lack of colours which
make image handling a bit weak. When you say 520, do you mean a half meg
machine? I can understand your problem if that's the case - most decent s/w
needs a meg or more these days.
And no, the ST isn't IBM compatible without an emulator fitted - and I
wouldn't recommend that.
Let us have a list of what you want to do and I'm sure we can make a few
suggestions."
Sysop Brad Hill tells Stephen:
"The difficulty in shopping for Atari software is frustrating for many of
us. However, there _is_ good software out there. It's just a question of
finding it. You need to be connected into the community of Atari users,
since most software stores don't carry Atari programs. Fortunately, you've
come to the right place <grin>. The people online here know virtually all
the software which can accomplish whatever you need to get done, from
desktop publishing to games. Some of it can be downloaded from our
libraries, and the commercial programs can often be purchased through the
mail.
Do you have specific types of programs in mind? ave you browsed in
the libraries for demos of commercial programs, as well as shareware?
Let us know what you need/want, and we can probably point you in the
right direction! Also, let us know if you need any help navigating the
libraries, OK?"
Mike Mortilla asks...
"Dumb question # 65...
Can I attach a SCSI drive to my ST or Stacy? I heard that the Stacy was
Scsi, but how would I connect the drive?
I need a Syquest 44 for a sampler and would like to use the syquest with
the stacy and maybe the ST.
Any knowledgable answers would be appreciated."
One of the most knowledgable people in the Atari on-line community, Albert
Dayes of Atari Explorer Magazine tells Mike:
"You will probably need ICD's LINK to hook up the Syquest to your Stacy.
Also for your external hard drive it might have both a SCSI and DMA port on
the back to allow daisy-chaining of DMA (asci) and SCSI devices."
Tim Myers posts this tidbit:
"Well here's the latest bad news guys.....
(BTW this is a clip from a UK Atari network called TurboNet, I hope
that I haven't upset anybody by quoting from another network but it does
help to quote the source of these kind of reports IMO.)
========================================================================
Msg #6 / 1-11 Time: 20 May 93 19:15:30
From: Paul Civati
To : Steve Taylor
Subj: Re: Falcon HD corruption
---------[T_ATARIS ]-----------------------------------------------
ST> Well, you know how I hate spreading unsubstantiated rumours but...
ST> Several falcon owners on cix have reported HD corruption requiring
ST> reformatting and repartitioning. They suspect this may be due to
ST> using a ramdisk.
ST> Also, there seems to be a bug with the NEWDESK.INF processing which
ST> results in it being saved with garbage in it if you set up too many
ST> different icons for different files. And by too many I mean about 15
ST> ;-(
ST> Roll on 4.07 says this RSN falcon owner. Yep, that's the Atari RSN.
Daron Brewood has found the latest 4.02 bug, if say C: gets full and you
try to write a file it overwrites onto D:, over the FAT's too, :-(((
I was just thinking last night that there must be one major bug that
someone still hasn't found!
Yes my 'stable version' guess is 4.07 / 4.08 too.
-Paul-
! Origin: Paul's V32bis Point off The Tavern BBS London UK (100:1011/0.1)
=========================================================================="
Well, it is disappointing, but this stuff does happen... just look at DOS
6!
From the Atari ST Arts Forum
============================
Steve Holt asks about utilities for his ST:
"I'm looking for an Atari utility that is the equivalent of a PC Tools or
Norton for the IBMPC. Something that will un-erase files, backup, view,
etc. Any ideas would be appreciated."
The ever-present Albert Dayes of Atari Explorer magazine tells Steve:
"There is a program in the (GO ATARIPRO) forum called ST-TOOLS which
provides similar capabilities to PC-Tools."
Myles Cohen tells Steve:
"Look for TOOL19.LZH in LIB 4..."
Lee at Lexicor Software tells us:
"I just heard about an article in ST FORMAT magazine that Atari has re
introduced the 520 STFM. With a much lower price in England. Form what I
gathered it is supposed to challenge the SEGA system and bring in baskets
of cash. There are quotes from Official atari types, and several comments
from both SEGA and Commodore. Seems like the wrong time to be bringing
back an old machine? lets hope this has no effect on the Falcon works!"
Ron Luks replies:
"I read the same info about the 520STFM in the UK. I don't see it as an
effective challenge to the Sega Genesis or Super Nintendo, but then again,
if it were priced and marketed shrewdly, it just might.
I don't think Atari would be making moves with the STFM if it would
seriously effect the Falcon effort. I'd have to think they have taken that
into consideration and would only go ahead 'safely.'
One thing I have noticed as recently as this past week-- Atari Corp does
seem to have a new 'zeal' internally and they appear to be much more
focused than they have been for quite a long time. I think this new focus
is the most positive news I've heard and look forward to the results of
that focus."
Sysop Brad Hill adds his thoughts:
"I don't think the re-introduction of the STfm indicates any backing off
of the Falcon effort. And I'm glad to see increased activity and
enthusiasm about any of the Atari products... it seems to me it can only
help the platform as a whole."
Robbie Cooke asks about the specs on Atari's Falcon030:
"Can anyone tell me if the Atari Falcon can go above 640x480 in rez?I heard
the Amiga 1200 has the 640x480 as it's default but can go higher because of
some kind of mode called interlace."
Jonathan tells us more about "that other machine":
"I don't know about the falcon, but the Amiga 1200 can do resolutions from
320x200 all the way up to 1200x400 and has other screen modes like 800x600,
640x480, 742,486, 912x816, etc.. All of these can run in HAM8 mode which
is 262,000 colors out of a pallete of 16 million."
Peter Joseph professes:
"I don't get it all. What's wrong with having the OS in ROM chips and just
swapping chips for upgrades like we do now? It's not expensive, and it
seems just as easy as the methods you guys are proposing. I guess I must
be missing something; please explain...I need input."
Sysop Bob Retelle explains the ins and outs of of operating systems on ROM
chips and on disk:
"For one thing, it would be a lot less expensive if the OS was on disk..
new TOS ROMs run well over $100 when they come out.. I bought the DOS 5.0
upgrade for $39.
Another problem with a ROM based OS is that once it's burned into silicon,
it's a lot harder to make the decision to upgrade it again in a short
period of time. Masked ROMs have to be thrown away.. they can't be
re-burned. Disks could always be re-written.
Also, it's FAR easier for the average computer user to just put a disk in
the drive and type INSTALL, than to open up the computer, remove the RF
shield, find the right chips, pull them out, figure out which chip goes in
what socket and insert them without damaging them, then put it all back
together and hope it works... or in more extreme cases, having to hack the
motherboard to put a 2 chip OS in where there used to be a 6 chip set.. or
having to solder in an adapter board because the new OS comes on completely
foreign ROMs.
The idea of a removable, re-writable "OS on a cartridge" would go a long
way toward fixing a lot of those problems. It would be a little more
expensive at the initial purchase of the computer, but it would make
upgrades easy and inexpensive."
From the Atari Vendors Forum
============================
John Amsler tells Mark of SoftLogic Publishing:
"...Don't get me wrong -- I _LOVE_ PageSTream!! If there'e ever another
version released for the Atari, I'll be first in line to get it! I just
get irritated -- and, BTW, I'm a prototypical "Type 'A'" personality --
at having to wait for the thing to print. (I've got a HP-LJIIIp with
3 Mb of memory.)
I guess I got accustomed to things like EasyDraw, which print relatively
fast."
Ron Luks posts and interesting note:
"I've been talking to some folks at Atari over the past few days and they
are very, very upbeat about the status of the Falcon, which is now
'officially shipping' according to Bill Rehbock. More details to follow,
hopefully provided by Atari Corp themselves."
Beth Jane Freeman adds another interesting note:
"Recently, I wrote a letter to Snapple, the soft drink company. They
are one of the few companies on Long Island that manufacture something
that's is completely independant of government defense contracts, and we
need more such companies here. Well, within a week, I got a letter back,
and it was individual, not a form letter. Enclosed was a $1.00 off coupon
for Snapple That's the way you deal with customer inquiries. You thank
them and reward them in a small way, at least. Snapple isn't a huge
company like any of the Fortune 500 or something, but they act human.
Maybe it's the all natural soda they sell. They must drink it, too."
Jim Ness tells Beth:
"This year, Snapple Lemonade is my official umpiring drink, replacing
Gatorade Lemonade flavor.
Of course, the weather in the Chicago area, from April 1 until now, has
been so cool, that I haven't needed to carry much Snapple..."
From the Atari Portfolio Forum
==============================
I'm going to put in a shameless plug for the Connecticut AtariFest '93 by
printing this post:
"This is just a quick note to let you know some of what's being planned for
our "Portfolio Corner" at the Connecticut AtariFest '93.
First off, we'll have the one thing that would make any Portfolio exhibit
successful: BJ GLEASON. That's right, CompuServe's Portfolio Sysop (not
to mention his being a prolific programmer).
We'll also have products on display from a lot of innovative companies and
vendors such as BSE, makers of hard drives for our favorite palm-top, and
MegaByte Computers, the "512k upgrade guys.
We will also have a disassembled portfolio on display for those who always
wondered what the "guts" of a Portfolio look like.
In addition to the information about the show that's already been placed in
the libraries throughout the ATARI forums (or is that fora?) we'll be
posting info here right up to showtime (June 12/13).
Please feel free to ask questions, make suggestions, offer demos, displays,
literature, or just say "hello"."
Sysop BJ Gleason replies:
"It sounds great... I'm really looking forward to it... Send me e-mail
about any and all arrangements I need to make, and I'll tell you what I can
bring with me...
I might be able to unveil a few new things...."
Of course, being the die-hard gadget freak that I am, I replied:
">> I might be able to unveil a few new things.... ;-) <<
COOL! Now I'm looking forward to this more than ever!"
In a bit of a departure for the Portfolio forum, BJ Gleason asks Don Thomas
of Atari:
"Are the rumours true that there will be a model with a detachable
keyboard?"
Don tells BJ:
"Yes, it *is* true that there *are* rumours that there will be a model with
a detachable keyboard."
Mike Barney asks Marty Mankins:
"Since you work for WP, is it possible that WP would release the old word
processing program in WP EXEC (the one that works on the port) to the
portfolio
public in shareware or freeware form. I realize that WP EXEC isn't sold
anymore. I was thinking maybe WP could release a special version that
would
stop working in 30 days if the person that downloaded it didn't purchase
it.
Is this a workable idea???"
Marty Mankins tells Mike:
"WP in an interesting company. They could do something like this, but all
of their ventures are based on a cashflow value. If it makes a lot of
money, then it'll work. If it is something that will help the small user
base (200,000 or less), then they ignore it until the market increases.
As for the WP EXEC WP module, they now have stopped selling the program and
don't support it. Fortunately, I got a copy before it went out.
So my answer is: I don't think WP Corp. will do what you ask. It's hard to
understand, but they don't really have an interest in palmtops."
Don Thomas jumps in and adds:
"I think I understand why the lesser interest in palmtops... it's hard to
justify a $395 package on a $299 machine. Although, my numbers are off,
the point is there. It's business. Why dedicate resources on a $69.95
application, when the rest of your business draws so much more.
Palmtop users often require as much tech support for a $69.95 application
as desktop users do for a $395 application. It's hard to tell a desktop
user to hold as you finish assisting a Palmtop user.
This is an essential problem Atari has attracting dealers for the
Portfolio. Even with as many units CompUSA sold, it drove them nuts that
the users had as many questions as the guy who bought a $3000 system. It's
tough. Mail order does fairly okay for us, since most people have a
different expectation in the level of support they require when they buy
through the mail."
Marty Mankins tells Don:
"Oh, I agree with the support issues, which is why WP didn't go with the
Portfolio version of WordPerfect.
But, there comes a time when you should take a loss for the first little
while. My guess is that if WP Corp. were to be like Lotus and write
software to go in the ROM of some palmtop, then they could make some
serious cash down the road. Think about it if they were to get something
like the Portfolio or the HP 100LX (or both).
It's now water under the bridge, but HP did approach WP about putting s/w
on a future machine (I don't know if it was the 100LX or the rumored
subnotebook). When HP told them they had sold 150,000 units of the 95LX,
they turned it down. HP has since sold another 150,000 units and even more
world wide. And the 100LX has sold even more. And my guess is that Atari
has sold about 250,000 Portfolios since it's introduction.
So while it would not be the immediate bread winner, it could turn into
something great."
Don Thomas adds:
"Keep in mind that a lot of those Doctor's and students taking notes may
not be looking for much more than what any built-in Editor offers on a
palmtop. Usually formatting, fonts, margins, etc. are most important on
formal documents a secretary prints out or what may have been transferred
to a desktop.
It's hard to visualize what a document might look like on a smaller screen
and in note-taking environments, it may not be as important."
Well folks, that's about it for this week. With Falcons finally starting
to hit the streets, I'm sure we'll have even more interesting stuff in the
coming weeks. So tune in every week and listen to what they are saying
when....
PEOPLE ARE TALKING
___________________________________________________________________
> CPU STATUS REPORT LATE BREAKING INDUSTRY-WIDE NEWS
"""""""""""""""""
Computer Products Update - CPU Report
------------------------ ----------
Weekly Happenings in the Computer World
Issue #16
By: John Deegan
Sunnyvale, CA ATARI LICENSES CINEPAK COMPRESSION TECHNOLOGY
SuperMac Technology Inc. announced that Atari Corp. has licensed SuperMac's
Cinepak advanced video compression technology. The agreement with Atari
marks the fourth licensing pact for Cinepak. SuperMac's Cinepak technology
serves both the electronic entertainment and computer markets. Cinepak is
part of Apple Computer Inc.'s QuickTime standard. As well as Creative Labs
Inc.'s digital-video developments in the PC arena. Cinepak is also
available on The 3DO Co.'s upcoming Interactive Multiplayer multimedia
system. Cinepak is a video compression-decompression (codec) scheme that
allows each video frame to use less space than usual, while still retaining
high quality colors and images.
Orem, Utah WP CORP. & OPTIUS SOFTWARE COOPERATE
Wordperfect Corporation has announced that Word Perfect 6.0 for DOS,
scheduled to ship June 28, will include support forthe innovative FaxBios
specification, giving users easy access to network fax resources from
within WordPerfect. Optius Software, a key member of the group that
developed FaxBios and a leading vendor of fax server software for Netware
LANS, currently supports FAXBios in its award winning FACSys Product.
Information regarding FaxBios is available on Compuserve (go faxbios) or by
sending a fax request to 1-801-222-3991. Technical specificationsa can be
obtained by contacting WordPerfect Corporation 1-800-321-4566
______________________________________________________________
> HIGH SPEED MODEMS STR InfoFile HELP WITH THE INSTALLATION
""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""
HIGH SPEED MODEMS - UARTS AND PORTS
===================================
by Robert J. Niland
reprint permission granted to STReport 05/28/93
re: What to do after the high speed modem arrives. Edition 01 Apr 93
This article applies only to Windows 3.0 and 3.1, and not to NT, OS/2
or DOS apps not running under Windows.
One of the unadvertised limitations of most current Windows PCs is that
their RS-232C (serial, COM) performance is seriously deficient. Almost
everyone who purchases a high-speed modem (V.32bis, V.32, PEP or HST)
discovers the problem the first time they try to download a file or accept
an incoming FAX (at 9600+) after upgrading the modem. Overrun and retry
errors abound, even when the only active application is the datacomm or
FAX program. If the transfer completes at all, it may take even longer
than with the old 2400bps modem.
There are three reasons for the problem:
1. The Universal Asynchronous Receiver/Transmitters (UARTs) used in most
PCs are primitive Ns8250 devices with single-byte FIFO buffers. If the
operating system/driver cannot read and flush each character at high
interrupt rates, the next incoming character overwrites the FIFO and
the previous one is lost. DOS, being a fairly single-minded
environment during datacomm, can usually keep up. Windows can't.
2. Windows has more operating system overhead than plain DOS, and
interrupts often take longer to service. Overruns are much more likely
than under DOS. As soon as you report to your PC/modem vendor that you
are losing data, you may be advised that "you need to upgrade to a
16550". More likely, since there seems to be a conspiracy of ignorance
about this issue, you'll get no useful advice at all. Most of the
store-front and mail-order sources I spoke with in attempting to solve
my own problem had never heard the term "16550" and many didn't even
know what a UART was.
3. Even your PC has Ns16550A UARTs (and PS/2's do), or if you can upgrade
your mother/COM board or add a new COM board, you may STILL experience
errors and overruns because the standard MicroSoft Windows COM drivers
don't take full advantage of the 16550. Windows 3.1 is improved in this
regard over 3.0, but I still recommend a driver upgrade. Applications
like ProComm+/Win (which is what I use) cannot get around this problem
by themselves.
If you have a modem CARD, you may not have a problem, as the modem part of
the card can be designed to be aware of the state of the UART, and avoid
overrunning it; however, I wouldn't want to bet that the card designers
were that clever, and will insist on a 16550 UART if I ever buy a modem
card. Some modem cards don't even have conventional UARTs, but if they
are to work with standard Windows drivers, they need to simulate one.
Use MSD.EXE (below) to see what the modem card is, or is pretending to be.
The Hardware Situation.
The UARTs on most PC COM ports are based on National Semiconductor Ns8250
or Ns16450 chips (or megacells inside VLSI chips where you can't replace
them). You can ID the UART type on your system by running the MicroSoft
diagnostic program \WINDOWS\MSD.EXE. Be sure to run it in DOS *before*
bringing up Windows. The Windows serial API may prevent MSD from
accurately identifying a 16550 if you run it from a Windows DOS prompt.
The Ns16550 UART has separate 16-byte transmit and receive FIFOs with
configurable trigger levels, and can run reliably at clock rates up to
460,800 bps, although with current modem technology, there's no point in
pushing your luck by going over 115,200 bps. The 16550 has shorted access
cycle times than the 16450 or 8250. The 16550 also has DMA capability, but
it is not clear that any PC drivers ever use this. For more technical
info, see National Semiconductor Application Note AN-491.
So, what UART component do you have?
Try to locate the UART on your mother board, multi-function I/O card, COM
board or ISA/MCA modem card. If you can't find a socketed component with
the numbers "8250" or "16450", your COM ports are probably buried in VLSI,
and you won't be able to perform a chip replacement. If you can DISABLE
your VLSI COM ports (as I chose to do), you can at least add an aftermarket
COM board.
If you have one or more socketed 8250 or 16450 chips, you can buy plug-in
Ns16550AFN or PC16C550CN (low power CMOS version) ICs from several
suppliers typically for $9 to $15 each. The "N" chip is the normal 40-pin
dual-in-line package. Other styles are available, but avoid any Ns16550
chips without the "A" (the 16C550C are presumably all OK).
Early Ns chips have bugs, although National will reportedly exchange those
of their own manufacture for free. Clone chips are available from various
IC makers other than National. The manual for the TurboCom drivers states
support for the following (apparently equivalent) chips:
National Semiconductor: 16550A, 16551, 16552
Chips&Technology: 82C607
Texas Instruments: t16c550a
Silicon Systems: 73M550
VLSI 16C550
TurboCom warns about the pre-"A" Ns16550 and Western Digital 16C550,
says that problems have been reported with early IBM PS/2 55SX and 70
systems (IBM reportedly will upgrade them).
If you DON'T have socketed 8250/16450 chips, you'll need to buy an after-
market COM or multi-function board. If this is a modem card situation, you
may be hosed. To add a new COM or multi-function card, you'll need to
either disable the COM1/2 port(s) you are replacing, or re-assign them to
COM3/4 (although watch out for IRQ conflicts without TurboCom).
Although cheaper cards are available, in the interest of getting the
problem solved quickly I elected buy the Modular Circuit Technology
MCT-AIO+ card from:
JDR Microdevices
2233 Samaritan Drive
San Jose CA 95124
(800) 538-5000 voice US
(408) 559-1200 voice other
(800) 538-5005 FAX US
The MCT-AIO+ (and the "+" is important) sells for $89.95. It is an 8-bit
ISA card providing:
Port Type Connector Address and IRQ Comments
COM DB9M COM 1,2,3 IRQ 2,3,4,5 Ns16550AFN in socket
COM ribbon COM 2,3,4 IRQ 2,3,4,5 Ns16550AFN in socket
Parallel DB25F LPT1,2,3 IRQ 5,7
Game ribbon
The kit includes a ribbon cable and DB25F connector for the secondary COM
port, a ribbon cable/connector for the game port, two bulkhead plates for
the ribbon-based connectors and a 9F-to-25F adaptor cable. Each port can
be individually disabled, and the COM ports have TX, RX, RTS, CTS, DTR,
DCD, and DSR jumpers.
JDR also sells a Super-I/O m-f card that also has IDE.
I have heard from several people about less expensive m-f I/O cards with
16550s:
TSD Systems
(407) 331-9130
$19.95 for the card, plus $9.95 per 16550.
Greenfield Trading and Distributors
(518) 271-2473 (voice), (518) 271-7811(FAX).
Their card is $33 w/one 16550, $45 w/2, and they sell 16550AFNs for $13.
R&S DATA SYSTEMS, INC.
820 East Highway 434
Longwood, FL 32750
PHONE: (407) 331-1424
FAX: (407) 331-8606
2COM/LPT/Game card w/2 16550s for $39
I have no personal experience with any of the firms except JDR.
Meanwhile, back at the MCT card from JDR... I only needed two serial ports,
and am running out of IRQs on my PC, so I disabled my built-in VLSI-based
8250 ports. However, with the TurboCom driver (below), I could have set
the internals as COM3 and 4, using IRQ sharing.
The Software Situation
Simply upgrading to 16550 UARTs will not completely solve common overrun
problems. The standard MS serial drivers don't take full advantage of the
16550. The Windows 3.0 drivers are even less capable, and the Windows 3.1
drivers have the following limitations:
- They enable only the receive FIFO, and only at rates above 2400 bps.
- They never enable the transmit FIFO, which results in an interrupt
rate of 10x during uploads.
- They set the trigger level at 14 bytes (too high - it's easy for 2
more bytes to arrive before the driver can read the FIFO).
- The Ports menu of the Control Panel only allows speeds up to 19200.
With a V.32bis modem, sparse data and text can easily compress 3:1
or more, suggesting that a host DTE connect rate of 57,600 bps would
be effective.
- The API won't accept rates above "CBR_128000".
- The API won't let DOS programs know there is a 16550 there, and even
if it did, DOS programs that aren't 16550-aware get little benefit
from a 16550 port with the standard drivers.
- They don't allow IRQ sharing for COM3,4.
- The BIOS doesn't initialize COM3,4 properly in many systems.
- Windows provides no workaround for apps that don't provide port
speed options above 19200 bps.
These problems are reportedly NOT solved in Windows NT or DOS 6.0, and may
or may not be addressed in any Windows releases after 3.1 (but before 4.0).
Rumors suggest they "may" be solved in Windows "4.0".
You can get replacement drivers that solve all of those problems by buying
a copy of "TurboCom", current version 1.2, from:
Bio-Engineering Research
Pacific CommWare Division
180 Beacon Hill Lane
Ashland OR 97520-9701
(503) 482-2744 voice
(503) 482-2627 FAX
(503) 482-2633 BBS
MCImail: 344-5374
CompuServe: 71521,760
Price was around $50 as I recall. Bio-Eng is not set up to accept credit
cards, so I had to send a check. Egghead and 1-800-Software list TurboCom
but as far as I know, they don't stock it. Bio is not a software company
per se. They apparently needed reliable hi-speed serial connections for
an in-house instrument application, wrote their own driver, discovered a
market for it, revised it to be a general purpose COM driver suite. They
recently upgraded it for Windows 3.1. It is run-time licensed.
I now have my host (DTE) connect rate set to 57,600 bps most of my
datacomm apps, and I am having ZERO problems with downloads. I routinely
see transfer rates that exceed 2,000 bps. I am also using 115,200 bps
when linking an HP95LX to my PC, with lossless bi-directional I/O.
Uploads to various remote systems are another matter, because many hosts
are still using antique UARTs and drivers.
Note that 19200 is still the highest rate that the Windows 3.1 Port menu
in Control Panel will allow in configuring a COM port. TurboCom gets
around this by allowing you to specify, on each port, a factor that will
set the real UART rate to a multiple of the rate passed through the
Windows APIs and dialog boxes.
I also have CTS/RTS hardware flow control enabled, and I suggest that you
do the same. Even if you only ever transfer 7-bit ASCII data, Xon/XOff is
not a sufficiently reliable method of flow control. The informal (DEC)
standard for Xon/Xoff hysteresis is that the sender may transmit another
16 (yes, sixteen) bytes after receipt of the Xoff from the receiving
system or device. The 16 byte FIFO in the 16550 is clearly not big enough
to let us rely exclusively on Xon/Xoff. A well-respected datacomm
engineer has informed me that the 16550's can't really do CTS/RTS all
by itself in the DOS/Windows environment, so using data rates above
115,200 may still be risky.
Even with hardware flow control, a 16550 with TurboCom can still
experience overruns in very busy systems, with lots of apps running and
serious swapping in progress. If this is your situation, you may need to
buy a co-processed COM board, but this will cost you more than a
16550/TurboCom upgrade. A review of two such boards, and a review of
TurboCom, can be found in the Feb'93 issue of "Windows Sources" magazine.
I suggest trying a 16550/TurboCom upgrade first, and experiment with
process priorities and time slices if you are a "power user" whose
thrashing system still runs into comm problems.
Closing Soapbox Comments
The state of RS-232C serial datacomm support is an embarrassment across
the computer industry. Because it is the oldest standard I/O interface,
the job of designing hardware and writing software often seems to be
assigned to the least senior or lowest ranked engineers at computer
companies. The design of the average serial port is at least ten years
behind the state of the art. In my last job, with a major workstation
vendor, I lobbied for improved serial ports when they were doing the
initial designs of a new system. That family of machines was
subsequently introduced with 16550 ports. However, this is the
exception. Few computer companies seem to have any champions for decent
I/O.
You may as well learn what you can about serial I/O, because this
situation shows no sign of improving soon. When V.FAST arrives, I expect
cries of outrage from Windows users world-wide whose 8250 PCs "sort of"
work today with V.32, but will fail miserably with V.FAST. Without a
hardware-buffered UART (like the 16550) and without software drivers that
use that UART to best advantage, a V.FAST modem will be a waste of money.
Regards, 1001-A East Harmony Road
Bob Niland Suite 503
Internet: rjn@csn.org Fort Collins CO 80525
CompuServe: 71044,2124 (303) 223-5209
Copyright 1993 Robert J. Niland
All Rights Reserved
Permission is granted for automatic redistribution of this article, via
electronic, magnetic and optical media, in an unedited form, through any
Usenet newsgroup where the article is posted by the author. Permission is
granted for each CompuServe and Usenet reader subscriber and each person
who received this article from Compuserve, an ftp site authorized by the
author or via electronic mail from the author, to retain one electronic
copy and to make hardcopy reproductions of this edition of this article for
personal non-commercial use, provided that no material changes are made to
the article or this copyright statement. All other copying, storage,
reproduction or redistribution of this article, in any form, is prohibited
without the express written consent of the author, Robert J. Niland.
***********************************************************************
IMPORTANT NOTICE!
=================
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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
--------------
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Try DELPHI for $1 an hour!
For a limited time, you can become a trial member of DELPHI, and
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this special trial offer will expire soon! To take advantage of this
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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 (5/26/93)
(1) STREPORT 9.21 5/21/93
(2) ZNET9315, 5/7/93
(3) AEO: VOLUME 2 - ISSUE 10
(4) DC XTRACT PLUS 2.2
(5) GEM-VIEW
(6) MASTERBROWSE 1.0
(7) SPEED OF LIGHT 2.5
(8) BRODIE9.ARC
(9) DTMT 1.01
(10) HANGMAN ACCESSORY
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!
***********************************************************************
> A FRESH OUTLOOK! STR Feature A few GOOD Ideas??
""""""""""""""""""""""""""""
ATARIANS TRYING TO HELP ATARI
=============================
by Robert Dytmire
Since my article in STReport 9.20 I have received some very enthusiastic
responses. Some questions were raised on how feasible the takeover of
Atari really is. Well, if Atari goes to federal bankruptcy court and we,
the users have bundled together a recovery plan AND some support from a
major backer (Xerox is now a stockholder in Atari!). If Warner
Communications could be convinced to support us, then the money issues take
care of themselves. What these companies will want to see is a strong
business plan and lots of support from the people involved. That means
FIRM support of my general business plan, and ACTIVE participation from ALL
the Atari users left. After all, several major companies have been bought
out by their employees, why not a user group buying out Atari.
Some Details:
* Our purchasing power as a user group is, at the moment, rather
limited. On the good side (for us) Atari's stock is now valued at
$.88/share. That means $88 bucks will buy 100 shares! Now multiply that by
100,000 users we're talking 100,000,000 shares of stock (enough to control,
maybe even buy outright-I'm having a broker check out the details) the
company. Now, in my last article, I said you only needed to invest $15-$20
bucks apiece. I still stand by that for the following reasons:
1) If (when) Atari drives themselves into the ground the stock will be
worth much less than $0.88/share. It could be bought for as little as
$.10/share if Atari really screws up.
2) We only need to show that we are SERIOUS about this project and
raise some REAL money and we'll be able to attract investors. Remember,
it's Atari with the bad name, not us.
3) These big companies have no wish to lose money with Atari. If they
see we're serious and think we can increase the value of their stock then
they will be willing to take additional steps to secure their investment
(namely, supporting us!).
EVERY USER COUNTS! I cannot stress this enough. Letters, organizers are
NEEDED! If you have never done anything active in the Atari community, if
you're reading this in a depressed Atari Community and you feel alone, and
if your thinking of going Big Blue then HELP US and HELP YOURSELF! If you
are a professional of some sort I NEED YOUR ADVICE! Please don't send any
money until I can square away the legal aspects of this project.
Organization is needed most RIGHT NOW, EVERY DAY COUNTS and I cannot
continue this on my own.
If you know any investors have them contact one of the people on the list
at the end of this article and they'll be happy to answer any questions
they might have.
Some more details:
I think the best way to go will be for all of us to decide when and how
much stock we will purchase. We then elect amongst ourselves a leader who
will then be given proxy to vote with our shares. This will, in effect,
allow us to control Atari through it's stock. You, the user, will form a
block that effectively owns Atari corp. Later, when we've started to
re-build, we can issue new stock and re-build the company.
Potential investors:
* Many professionals are always looking for a good deal, even if it
involves some risk. Show my articles to your doctor/lawyer/boss and ask if
they want to get involved. If they do, show them how to contact me and
I'll be happy to work with them.
* Some large direct vendors of IBM clones are taking a beating in the
current computer market. Our project may be just what they need to revive
themselves. If our business plan is put together correctly, we stand a
good chance of attracting a large, established, corporation as a partner in
investment.
Additional comments:
* I have read Atari's dealer contract. This contract is probably one
of the reasons Atari has such a hard time breaking into the market. I
wouldn't sign the thing as written. I admire the current set of dealers
all the more because of the risk of potential for loss they are taking (by
Atari Corp itself!). One of the first things I would like Atari to do is
hire a large customer support/tech staff and re-write that awful d
ealer
agreement.
* The Falcon is an AWESOME machine, but I would like to tell you all a
little story (and remember my last article):
In walked a couple looking to spend quite a chunk of money on a new
system. They looked at the 386 system and then were shown the new Atari
Falcon. The Falcon was shown very expertly to these folks. It's graphics,
and built-in windowing features were displayed to perfection. Atari Works
(which is the first piece of decent software out of Atari in years) drew
their attention. The sale was all but made (I overheard the wife saying "I
WANT it!") UNTIL then husband asked the fatal question: "Can it run
EXCEL?". After it was admitted the machine could not (at least not without
an expensive emulator) they lost interest in the machine.
Why bring this up? Because it supports my argument that Atari MUST get the
BIG TIME software houses supporting their platform AT ALL COSTS! Many
users could care less if the machine preforms better than the box over
there if the machine cannot run that nifty program that the box can (the
old Beta/VHS story). Atari is rapidly painting itself into the BETA corner
and can only get out my MASSIVE MASSIVE customer support and a re-tailoring
of it's machines. Atari needs a customer support service that is second to
none and a very liberal dealer agreement (they should go so far as to GIVE
a demo unit to EVERY dealer). They NEED to get a contract with WAL-MART or
K-Mart and most of all, they need to stop living in surreal world of their
own design.
Contact points:
Robert Dytmire
633 Pony Farm Road.
Jacksonville, NC 28540
(919)-347-2202
G. Allan Mangam
50 Prince Drive
Maumelle, AR 72120
Note: I could use some more regional contact points (Duh!). If you are
interested then contact me pronto!
Note: Dropix ST will be out within 30 days!!
Final note: This article may be published freely (PLEASE!) as long as it
appears in it's entirety and the contents are not edited.
___________________________________________________________
> CT FEST'93 STR SHOW NEWS The Summertime Atari Event!
""""""""""""""""""""""""
THE CT ATARIFEST '93!
=====================
JUNE 12 & 13, AT THE WINDSOR COURT HOTEL
WINDSOR, CT. (JUST ABOVE HARTFORD)
Free Parking!
Low Room Rates!
More Vendors!
More Floor Space!
CONNECTICUT SHOW TO FEATURE ATARI'S LATEST ENTRY
================================================
HARTFORD, Conn. (April 12)
More than 1,000 Atari computer enthusiasts are expected to converge
here June 12 and 13 at Connecticut AtariFest '93, and are certain to debate
whether the star of the show -- THE LONG-AWAITED FALCON030 COMPUTER --
lives up to its advance billing.
Yep, that ACT Atari Group is running another major NorthEast computer
event. Last year's successful CT Fest had over 700 attendees, which
merited a larger location, so we've moved a mile away (exit 42 on I-91)
into bigger and better quarters. We're just as convenient to reach as
ever, and only two hours from Boston or New York! The new hotel has
excellent room rates ($35.00 per room), free and plentiful parking, easy
access from Interstate 91, I-95, I-90, I-84, I-80, an in house Sports Bar,
a bigger ballroom and is located just 1 mile from Bradley International
Airport (free shuttle service for hotel guests).
The Falcon030 is a perfect low cost tool for the professional artist,
with 8 track, 16 bit musical capabilities, truecolor graphics and a 32 bit
DSP chip. The Falcon will be bundled with several music programs,
including a 4 track 'Direct to Disk' editing and recording program, a sound
sampler and an all purpose productivity package called AtariWorks.
The Hartford show will likely be one of the first encounters the
general public has with the new machine and software leading designers have
produced for it. Atari was performing quality control tests on the latest
production models shipped to the Sunnyvale headquarters in mid-April.
The two-day event will feature more than 40 exhibitors, including
several of the top names in music software development and MIDI equipment.
Tentative music exhibitors include Barefoot Software (formerly Hybrid
Arts), Digital F/X, Steinberg/Jones, Pro Musica, Compo Software and others.
The show, sponsored by ACT Atari Group, will be held at the Windsor Court
Hotel, just off Interstate 91 at exit 42.
Connecticut AtariFest'93 promises to showcase the work of several
musicians and will include some live music sessions.
Other vendors will demonstrate new equipment and software that will be
of interest to musicians whether they're on or off the job. Among them,
organizers have received tentative nods from A&D Software, ABC Solutions,
Baggetaware, Barefoot Software, Compo Software, Computer Studio, Derric
Electronics, East Hartford Computer Repair, Gribnif Software, ICD Inc.,
MegaType Software, Soft-Logik Publishing, Toad Computers, Wizztronics. Last
year 14 user groups participated, and that number is expected to grow by
June.
A Home Business and Entertainment Expo that will focus on high-tech
gadgetry designed for home use is also planned. Central activities will
include a New England Lynx Tournament for the gamester in the family, a
Portfolio corner for the on-the-go palmtop computer user, and other
technology such as VCRs, lap/palmtops, voice messaging systems, satellite
receivers, CD-ROM, fax-modems, large screen TV, printers, audio-video
components, cellular phones, office supplies, video games or add-on units
and accessories.
We'll have our annual New England Lynx Competition, with multiple
Comlynxed competitions underway at all times. Last year's winners took
home prizes ranging from games to accessories to complete Lynx Systems!
Bring your best player and join the fun.
We'll have the Portfolio Corner, staffed with industry pundits and
filled with every imaginable palmtop peripheral! Last year we had a few
Portfolios disassembled at the booth, a real insight into surface mount
technology!
For those of you with an eye towards seminars, we'll have them in
abundance, last year's question and answer session with Bob Brodie drew
standing only crowds! In addition, we had John Eidsvoog's walk through the
Codehead graphic tools, Jeff Naideau of Barefoot Software showing off
EdiTrack Platinum, Dave Troy of (Guess[ribbet]) Computers, STReport's Dana
Jacobson and Joe Mirando and many, many others.
And to top things off, come out and see the Falcon 030 in all its
glory. By then we expect to see some rad new programs out and some really
excitement! All in all, we hope to have the best Northeast show yet, and
we look forward to your participation. Make your plans now for the most
exciting Atari Weekend this spring!
For further information, call Brian Gockley at 203-332-1721 or Doug
Finch at 203-637-1034. We can also be found on GEnie in Category 11 or on
Compuserve in the Atari Forums. E-mail can be directed to B.GOCKLEY or
D.FINCH7 on GEnie or to 75300,2514 or 76337,1067 on CIS.
***********************************************************************
:HOW TO GET YOUR OWN GENIE ACCOUNT:
_________________________________
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 costs only $4.95 a month for unlimited evening and weekend access to
more than 100 services including electronic mail, online encyclopedia,
shopping, news, entertainment, single-player games, and bulletin boards on
leisure and professional subjects. With many other services, including the
biggest collection of files to download and the best online games, for only
$6 per hour.
MONEY BACK GUARANTEE! Any time during your first month of membership if
you are not completely satisfied, just ask for your $4.95 back.
GEnie Announcements (FREE)
1. Monday, May 31 is a GEnie Holiday...........................
2. GEnie Announces Rate Restructure Effective July 1, 1993.....*NEWRATES
3. NEW Consumer Electronics RT on-line for ALL your questions..CE
4. Gladiatorial Games -- Saturday, May 29th....................GEMSTONE
5. Religion and Sex: Mix with care.............................RELIGION
6. Reptile and Exotic Species Trivia and Chat RTC Friday In....PET
7. FREE RTC 5/30: New products and live shortwave listening....RADIO
8. RTC 6/2: Your rights as a computer user with a NY D.A. in...VIRUS
9. 2 Chances to Play Disney RTC Trivia - ONE for FREE in.......FLORIDA
10. We don't just talk your ASCII off in the GE-MUG RTC.........MAC
11. Hurry - Grab these commercial games before it's too late....SOFTCLUB
12. WordPerfect 6.0 introduced; over 500 Clip-Art volumes on....WP
13. The latest in Usenet "source" postings archived daily in....UNIX
14. New McAfee Anti-Virals now available for download in the....VSRT
15. HP 100LX palmtop computer, the latest in hot products, on...LAPTOPS
___ ___ ____ __ __ ___ to the
|\ |\ | == |\ | _\ | || \/ || ==
| |/\| || _|| | | | | O || || _| J E R R Y P O U R N E L L E
| || |_ | |__| |__ | || |\/| || |_
|__/\__||___||____/____/|____||/ |/ |___| RoundTable
================================================================
Your Host and Chief Sysop
Jerry Pournelle.....JERRYP [Chaos Master]
First Assistant Sysop
Gary R. Utter..........GARY.UTTER [RT Manager]
Second Assistant Sysop
Timothy Pleasant..............T.PLEASANT [RT Archivist]
Third Assistant Sysop
Bill Dooley..............Bill.Dooley [RT Assistant]
Chief Librarian
R.B. (Brad) Andrews...............R.B.ANDREWS [RT Librarian]
================================================================
GEnie Information copyright (C) 1991 by General Electric
Information Services/GEnie, reprinted by permission
***********************************************************************
> GEnie Announces NEW PRICE STRUCTURE STR FOCUS!
""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""
GENIE ANNOUNCES NEW PRICING:
SIMPLER, MORE AFFORDABLE AND, AS ALWAYS,
THE BEST VALUE ONLINE
An Open Letter to GEnie Subscribers
From John Barber, General Manager of GEnie:
On July 1st, a new pricing structure goes into effect at GEnie. It's a big
day for us -- the result of months of planning, number-crunching,
monitoring and maneuvering around the competition.
And once again, we're looking forward to showing the online community that
no one offers a better value than GEnie.
We have to admit that over the last few months, it's been difficult to
watch the other major online companies, one after another, proclaim that
their new prices make them "the ultimate value."
But rest assured, we do not intend to give up our leadership position as
the best value online.
GEnie has always offered its subscribers the best combination of
sophisticated services, information, entertainment -- and affordability.
And we've done it once again. Starting July 1st, GEnie will offer you the
lowest hourly connect time of all the major online services; combined with
a highly-competitive monthly subscription fee; and credit each month for up
to four hours online.
Effective July 1st, this is GEnie's new U.S. pricing structure:
- Our monthly subscription fee becomes $8.95 a month.
- Our standard hourly connect rate drops to $3.00 an hour.
- And every month, you'll get a credit for up to 4 hours of
standard $3.00 connect time.
It's about that simple. For our Canadian and international PDN customers,
a complete price chart is available as menu option #2 on this page. It
also contains the fine print regarding prime time, baud rates, etc., so
it's worth taking some time to look over.
SIMPLY BETTER
You might notice one more important benefit to our plan.
We kept it simple. It's easy to understand, easy to live with. For
starters, we've simplified the pricing. All the services formerly in
GEnie*Basic and in GEnie Value are now treated equally, and available at
the same low price -- $3.00 an hour in non-prime time.
Multi-player games, downloading, computing bulletin boards, real-time
conferences -- they're all just $3.00 an hour. (Half what you've been
paying for GEnie Value services!)
GEnie*Basic services, yes, they're now included in the $3/hour group, too.
GE Mail -- it's $3.00 an hour, with no limit to the number of messages.
Internet Mail is now $3 an hour, with no registration fee. And don't
forget. You also get a credit for up to four hours of $3/hour time, every
month.
OK, NOW WHAT DOES IT MEAN TO MY MONTHLY BILL?
Let's cut to the chase. This is what everyone really wants to know.
The answer is -- for the majority of our users, it means very little change
at all, or a change for the better.
When we started working on the price change, we studied the usage patterns
of our active members to see who would be affected, and to what extent. We
concluded that more than 85% would see about the same or lower bills at the
end of the month.
For the people who like to keep to a strict budget each month, this plan
offers a lot of flexibility and a broader range of services than before.
You have a set subscription fee. And for that fee, you get a credit for
four hours of standard connect time to spend just about anywhere on GEnie.
There's no asterisk-chasing to make sure you haven't strayed into Value
services. Less worry of credit card shock. You can even explore areas of
GEnie you thought you couldn't afford before.
For the active users who spend significant hours a month on GEnie,
especially in the former GEnie Value services, you should see a tremendous
savings. The hourly rate is half what it was before -- and the best in the
business!
Now -- who will see prices rise under the new system? Generally speaking,
anyone who's accustomed to making unusually heavy use of GEnie*Basic
services will have to change his or her usage to keep monthly bills down.
SO WHY CHANGE?
Maybe you're wondering why we're bothering to change the rate, if so few
people are affected. After all, GEnie has had flat fee pricing for three
years now.
Well, we did it for a couple of reasons. With our new pricing, we can
continue to stay competitive in the marketplace, and we can continue to
improve our service to you.
We found that, under the former pricing, a small number of our customers
were making heavy demands on our service -- demands which began to outpace
our infrastructure and capacity. The result was a level of performance
that pleased no one. Not you. Not us. And yet, while other companies were
eliminating or reducing their flat-rate access, we were holding to ours.
Something had to change. And a price restructuring was the best solution
for the majority of our users.
Now, with the new rates, no one group of members is unduly favored; GEnie
can continue to stay highly competitive among online companies; and we can
continue to improve our service to you.
OTHER IMPROVEMENTS IN THE WORKS
There are other changes involved here besides our prices. "Staying
competitive" means offering you better products, better service and better
system performance.
Right now, we have a number of improvements in the works. We're developing
new front-end software packages for Windows and Macintosh systems -- look
for more on that over the coming months. We're making technical
improvements to enhance our performance and speed. We'll be adding new
services soon, along with new bulletin boards and of course, we'll continue
to update our software libraries with more valuable files.
SOME THINGS NEVER CHANGE
GEnie has always been the very best service for people who really enjoy
being online, and who expect great products and the best value for the time
they spend with us.
That's not going to change. In fact, this new pricing structure should
make it even easier for you to enjoy everything we have to offer. We're
looking forward to seeing you online.
Sincerely,
John Barber
General Manager, GEnie
G E n i e P r i c i n g
(effective July 1, 1993)
+-----------------+----------------------+
GEnie Services | U.S. (U.S.$) [5]| CANADA (CAN $) |
+-----------------------------+-----------------+----------------------|
|Monthly Subscription Fee | $8.95/month | $10.95/month |
+-----------------------------+-----------------+----------------------+
|Hours Credited Per Month [1] | Up to 4 hours | Up to 4 hours |
+-----------------------------+-----------------+----------------------+
|Hourly Connect Charge | $3.00/hour | $4.00/hour |
+-----------------------------+-----------------+----------------------+
|GEnie Premium Services |Prices vary per individual service. |
| |These include: Charles Schwab Brokerage |
| |Services (not available in Canada), Dow |
| |Jones News/Retrieval (R), The Official |
| |Airline Guides Electronic Edition (R) |
| |Travel Service, QuikNews clipping |
| |service, Telebase Investment |
| |ANALY$T (SM),ARTIST (R) gateway. |
+-----------------------------+----------------------------------------+
Additional Charges (where applicable) [4]
+-----------------------------+----------------+-----------------------+
|Prime Time Surcharge [2] | $9.50/hour | $12.00/hour |
+-----------------------------+----------------+-----------------------+
|9600 Baud Surcharge | $6.00/hour | $8.00/hour |
+-----------------------------+----------------+-----------------------+
|Communications Surcharge: | | |
| 800 Service [3] | $6.00/hour | -- |
| Extended Network | $2.00/hour | -- |
| SprintNet | $2.00/hour | -- |
| Datapac | -- | $6.00/hour |
+-----------------------------+----------------+-----------------------+
| [1] Credit for up to 4 hours of standard $3.00 U.S. ($4.00 CAN$) |
| connect time. Hours credited apply to current month only. |
| [2] Prime-time: 8 a.m. - 6 p.m. local time on weekdays only. The |
| prime-time surcharge is in addition to $3/hour charge. Prime- |
| time surcharge is waived for selected holidays. Residents of |
| Hawaii, Alaska, Indiana, Arizona and Puerto Rico, please verify |
| hours with GEnie Client Services. |
| [3] "800" Service surcharge waived at 9600 baud. |
| [4] State taxes will apply in some areas. |
| [5] International PDN subscribers billed in U.S.$ at U.S. rates. |
+----------------------------------------------------------------------+
Other notes:
1. There will no longer be additional charges or registration fees for
Internet mail gateway use.
2. Club pricing options will be eliminated effective July 1.
Editor Note:
------------
OF COURSE, OPINIONS ABOUND RELATIVE TO THE NEW RATE CHANGES BY GENIE.
55100 26-MAY 01:57 General Information
Competition drops prices... sorta
From: BIBLINSKI To: ALL
It appears that GEnie has changed (or is about to) their pricing structure.
The low GEnie Star service fee has been eliminated, and a minimum $8.95 per
month fee has been instituted. The monthly minimum includes 4 hours, and
additional hours are $3. While that does get them down some, the 20/20
plan here is still less expensive for those who find themselves spending
much time online.
One of the major impacts the price restructuring will have is that there
may be a lot of non-computer specific RT users who will opt to switch to
DELPHI. When the price was so low for unlimited usage, they could spend a
lot of time online with GEnie, and not feel it in the pocketbook. That
will no longer be true. So, traffic here on DELPHI overall will likely
increase, which may slow the system down a bit, especially if there are
hardware problems. I haven't heard anyone in DELPHI's management express
any anxiety over the hardware (since they significantly increased the
storage space here recently), so I don't anticipate any repeats of what we
were experiencing a few weeks ago. There are still a few changes in
process (the transparent kind), so Murphy still has a chance to interfere,
but in the end, DELPHI will be a stronger, hopefully faster, system.
--Gordie <maybe Lloyd will be back?!> Meyer
55106 26-MAY 06:02 General Information
Genie Price Structure
From: FBELT To: ALL
I wonder if the new $8.95 fee will let you get into the Atari area with the
four hour time limit? Genie is a good service, can download stock quotes
into charting program, Sienfeld and Rush Limbaugh BB's, but Delphi is
better. The advantage plan can not be beat.
Does anyone use Internet? If yes, what for? I signed up for a couple of
months and couldn't find anything on there that I wanted to do?
55107 26-MAY 08:24 General Information
RE: Genie Price Structure (Re: Msg 55106)
From: ISDMARKETING To: FBELT
The flat fee of US $8.95 is system wide and, as Gordie mentioned earlier,
includes 4 hours of connect time, also system wide. Any additional time
spent online will be charged at $3.00 an hour, down from $6.00 an hour. For
those that used GEnie's so-called Value services, their prices just dropped
in half or better. For those that spend all their time in GEnie's Basic
services, from July 1, the price will go up for them. The Atari RT on GEnie
is a Value service so their prices just dropped in half. For those that
spend less than 4 hours online, there will no doubt be a substantial
savings. It is an aggressive move by GEnie which should accomplish more
than one purpose. As Gordie also mentioned Delphi could get their share of
those people that were on GEnie stricktly in the basic service areas for
free and would now have to pay. Whether that is good or bad, I don't know.
;-)
Sincerely
Nathan
55119 26-MAY 18:46 General Information
RE: Competition drops prices... sorta (Re: Msg 55100)
From: SCOTTJ To: BIBLINSKI
Gordie, I feel the same way. I think a lot of people will move to Delphi or
to NVN , the new kid on the block thanks to this rate increase.
Scott Corley
_________________________________________________________
> CONFLICT OF INTEREST? STR Spotlight NON-PARTIAL - UNBIASED FOR ALL?
"""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""
CONFLICT OF INTEREST IN ST RT?
NON-PARTIAL, UNBIASED DEALINGS FOR ALL?
by Ralph F. Mariano
An editorial essay
------------------
Sure, there'll be those that will say I have a "very special reason"
for writing this article and they'll be 100% correct. Truth is truth.
Let's look at a few points of interest; In the past four years, the Atari
ST RT area on GEnie, under the guidance of Darlah Hudson Pine Potechin, has
focused on a number of developer/dealer/consumer situations with great
gusto. Among those having been spotlighted in the ST RT are; Computers
Plus, Computrol, Tech Specialities, Zephyr Computers, Avant-Gard (PC
Ditto), ST MicroWorld, AIM Magazine, ABCO Computers and most recently, Fast
Technology. Of the above listed firms, only a few are still in business.
Each and every one of them were spotlighted in Darlah's area under
extremely unfavorable conditions.
Avant-Gard took advance orders on a product called PC-Ditto, they
ultimately disappointed a very large number of customers who order the
product and when they received it either didn't work or wouldn't fit in the
machine it was intended for. It was a sad and very lengthy situation with
incessant delays and non-delivery. Its been rumored there were well over
one hundred unhappy consumers with this happening. This "incident" was
allowed to run for well over six months in the ST RT with the adverse
publicity slowly eroding customer confidence week by week. Zephyr and
MicroWorld, both companies belonging to one person, Bill Yerger, was also
allowed to be taken to task not once but twice! The second time in less
than a year. Tech Specialities also raked over the coals in Darlah's area
enjoyed equal "lynch mob" treatment. Now comes ABCO, owned and operated by
me. Abco was given a "topic all of its own". But only after the topic it
was being discussed in went awry. That makes TWO topics for ABCO. While
there should be no problem with objective reporting, STReport finds that
this is NOT the case in DARLAH'S ST RT. ABCO has been drawn, quartered,
roasted and thoroughly toasted for the last six months in her RT. Has
there been any end? Heaven Forbid! Instead participation in the
festivities is encouraged. Like each and every other firm who "enjoyed"
Darlah's unique and special treatment, their business certainly did not
grow and prosper.
Now all of a sudden, one of the well over one hundred persons who've
prepaid for a Tiny Turbo or a Turbo 25 from Fast Technologies jumps up and
complains about having to wait for over a year... the Topic is opened and
"quietly" closed in the span of less than a weekend! And the maneuver was
done with the customer's permission. (could it possibly be because the
customer was hoping for speedy delivery or a refund?) In any case we
respectfully submit that this WAS NOT equal and fair treatment on Darlah's
part. After all,... the Abco topic is STILL open and the ranting goes on
and on and on by the same old, familiar harpies. Will Darlah ever learn to
treat everyone equally? Its doubtful.
STReport presents last week's opening overview of the events relating to
Fast Tech and the prepaid orders for Tiny Turbo and T-25s.
A SIGN OF THE TIMES!
====================
by R. F. Mariano
The following posts were gleaned from both Delphi's and GEnie's Atari
areas to indicate a trend that's been slowly developing in the Atari
community. It appears that a number of complaints are beginning to surface
relative to a number of developer and dealer time frames in delivering
their products. At this point in time, after having had first hand
experience in these matters, one can only hope that common sense and
patience be brought to bear in these tough times.
The accusation that "such and such" or "so and so" is a _rip-off_ is
an outrage. Until such time as it can be proven beyond a shadow of a doubt
in a court of law, these accusations are a complete menace to the Atari
platform and other, financially stable developers. Sure, there's serious
delays and broken promises involved, but one must understand the conditions
under which these situations develop.
from Delphi's Atari area
54924 19-MAY 19:45 General Information
Fast Technology
From: BCHOPICK To: ALL
FAST TECHNOLOGY RIP-OFF!
I would like to let all of you know the troubles I have experienced with
FAST TECHNOLOGY. As you know, FAST TECHNOLOGY sells hardware accelerator
cards for the ATARI line of computers. In APRIL of 1992 I ordered a
TINYTURBO030 for my MEGASTE. The ad claimed 6-8 weeks delivery. I waited
and waited and waited! Of course the check was cashed immediately (APRIL
28th, 1992). I called once a month and everytime got the same thing.
DELAYS! DELAYS! DELAYS! Finally in March of 1993 I was fed up with the
delay nonsense and demanded a refund. Jim Allen said that he was having
financial trouble and could not issue a refund til the end of the month. I
thought nothing of it and figured that since I have waited this long for
the product, why not a couple of weeks for a refund. Well. Here we are
May 10th (2 months later) and no refund. Calls to FAST TECHNOLOGY only
lead tofrustration. All you get is an answering machine and no return
phone calls. It sure looks to me that JIM ALLEN does not know how to
handle a business. And I feel sorry for all the other people he is
dragging along the same path. Of course, I have already contacted the
Better Business Bureau of Pennsylvania. They said that I would have to
fill out some forms and they will get right on it. I am not happy with the
situation at all. And for a man who keeps such a high profile in the
ATARI COMMUNITY, it is pathetic!
Robert A. Chopick
GENIE: R.CHOPICK DELPHI: BCHOPICK
WORK: 717-288-6140
From GEnie's Atari Area
Atari-ST RoundTable
Category 18, Topic 11
Message 1 Wed May 19, 1993
R.CHOPICK [Bob] at 20:12 EDT
FAST TECHNOLOGY RIP-OFF!
I would like to let all of you know the troubles I have experienced with
FAST TECHNOLOGY. As you know, FAST TECHNOLOGY sells hardware accelerator
cards for the ATARI line of computers. In APRIL of 1992 I ordered a
TINYTURBO030 for my MEGASTE. The ad claimed 6-8 weeks delivery. I waited
and waited and waited! Of course the check was cashed immediately(APRIL
28th, 1992). I called once a month and everytime got the same thing.
DELAYS! DELAYS! DELAYS! Finally in March of 1993 I was fed up with the
delay nonsense and demanded a refund. Jim Allen said that he was having
financial trouble and could not issue a refund til the end of the month. I
thought nothing of it and figured that since I have waited this long for
the product, why not a couple of weeks for a refund. Well. Here we are
May 10th (2 months later) and no refund. Calls to FAST TECHNOLOGY only
lead to frustration. All you get is an answering machine and no return
phone calls. It sure looks to me that JIM ALLEN does not know how to handle
a business. And I feel sorry for all the other people he is dragging along
the same path. Of course, I have already contacted the Better Business
Bureau of Pennsylvania. They said that I would have to fill out some forms
and they will get right on it. I am not happy with the situation at all.
And for a man who keeps such a high profile in the ATARI COMMUNITY, it is
pathetic!
Robert A. Chopick
GENIE: R.CHOPICK DELPHI: BCHOPICK
WORK: 717-288-6140
----------
Atari-ST RoundTable
Category 18, Topic 11
Message 2 Wed May 19, 1993
LEPULLEY [Lloyd Pulley] at 21:52 EDT
Bob,
I'm sorry to hear about your problem. I've always gotten everything that I
ordered from Jim. Have you tried leaving him E-Mail? He seems to stop by
around midnight (EDT) to take part in Topic 2 - maybe he'll see your E-Mail
during one of his visits and take care of your problem.
Lloyd E. Pulley, Sr.
----------
Atari-ST RoundTable
Category 18, Topic 11
Message 3 Thu May 20, 1993
J.ALLEN27 [FAST TECH] at 17:27 EDT
I would like to apologize to Mr Chopick, and the other people awaiting
refunds. I told him in March I was in financial difficulty and that hasn't
changed. There have been almost no sales since February, and what few T25's
and one Turbo030 that has been sold all went to pay refunds. There are 4
people still waiting, all here on GEnie. In the last 4 months I have had to
borrow money to pay the phone bill and GEnie bill, and have not been able
to call back everyone who calls in, the phone bill was running $700/month
and with no sales I simply cannot generate those kinds of bills any longer.
I have taken on an engineering job that will get me back on my feet in the
next 'couple weeks, and I will be able to clear up the remaining refunds
near the end of the month, all I can ask is your patience.
As it is, I do not even have the funds needed to ship the Tiny030's, but I
will be able to do that too in a few more days. So for folks awaiting
Tiny030's, please don't panic and all ask for refunds, the boards are
nearly done and ready to go and I'm desperately working to get them shipped
as soon as possible.
If I were If I were able to I would give the refunds immediately, but there
is simply no money, at all. I have a stack of bills totalling over $6000,
so I have not even been able to pay my own personal bills for 4 months, the
only bill I have paid is the phone, GEnie, my health insurance, and my car
insurance. I I were going to go out of business the first thing I'd do is
drop the phone, and the GEnie, it is because this is only a temporary
difficulty that I have borrowed from relatives to maintain them.
I remember, a few months back, when a user...not even a customer...came
into the Fast Technology topic, and chastized me and complained that people
were waiting for Tinys. At that point 12 people cancelled thier orders,
and I refunded thier orders, and it cleaned out my remaining cash reserves.
It left me broke, which I still am. I hope that this topic will not do the
same, I can't imagine it getting worse, but the world can suprise you. All
I can ask is that users waiting for their Tiny030's hang in for just a week
or two more.
Thank you, James C. Allen, Fast Technology
----------
Atari-ST RoundTable
Category 18, Topic 11
Message 4 Thu May 20, 1993
R.CHOPICK [Bob] at 20:44 EDT
Jim,
I am sorry for your situation and I HOPE it IMPROVES. BUT! Not
answering the phone and NOT getting back to CUSTOMERS who you have TAKEN
money from is SIMPLY bad BUSINESS. I am a MANAGER of a computer store and
believe me in a market with such LOW profit margins the thing that MAKES or
brakes you is CUSTOMER SERVICE! You DON'T take someone's MONEY and ignore
phone calls. Anyway. CALL ME TOLL FREE 1-800-456-5689!
BOB CHOPICK
----------
Atari-ST RoundTable
Category 18, Topic 11
Message 6 Thu May 20, 1993
DARLAH [RT~SYSOP] at 21:44 EDT
Jim may get a bit 'emotional' at times but honest, I have always
found him.
Sorry to hear about your problems. It appears in this economy
most people are feeling it.
Please keep us aware of your progress.
Sincerely,
>>Darlah
----------
Editor Note:
------------
More of Darlah's ever so, "even handed handling of the RT, unbiased
and completely fair across the boards". NOT!
Atari-ST RoundTable
Category 18, Topic 11
Message 8 Fri May 21, 1993
ALGORHYTHM [DanielKeller] at 05:56 EDT
No, I won't add my testimonial on Jim's character to this list, but only
because I haven't personally dealt with him. I will say this, though:
Bob, I can understand your frustration at not being responded to.....I've
been through a similar situation with another ST-based company, which is
still not resolved to my satisfaction. BUT---I think it's very important to
choose your words carefully, since what you say in a public forum can have
a profound effect on the business and careers of people who are dedicated
to a difficult market. This is particularly true if you elect to START a
topic with the expressed intent of flaming on someone....undoubtedly, there
are companies that deserve this treatment. But judging by the (A) many
testimonials in his favor, and (B) more importantly, his quick response to
you here, I doubt if he's one of them.
Best of luck, Jim.
----------
The most important point to remember is the damage such inflammatory
posts can cause. As Jim Allen states;
"I remember, a few months back, when a user...not even a
customer...came into the Fast Technology topic, and chastized me and
complained that people were waiting for Tinys. At that point 12
people cancelled thier orders, and I refunded thier orders, and it
cleaned out my remaining cash reserves." Folks, this is exactly how
it occurs, the mere fact that mention is made of possible problems a
"run on the company" usually happens.
The next most severe incident is to find the electronic banking
services are dropping the charging merchant's credit card acceptance
privileges because of too many "charge-backs" (customer refund requests).
Not to mention the problems that can arise when the charges to customer
credit cards are made through other merchant account terminals than that of
the actual seller. These problems can all pop up at once when public
complaints are made to the bank where the credit card was issued. The
electronic banking services can spot a problem long before it becomes a
public spectacle. They will act immediately if elements of the merchant
agreement are not being followed as outlined in the agreement. Especially
the clause prohibiting the posting of sales for another merchant on a
contract terminal unless of course, its previously agreed upon. All it
takes is one customer complaint in this type case. It is a breach of
contract and can cause immediate cancellation of the accepting/charging
merchant's terminal access privilege.
Its really smart to use either email or all the patience one can
possibly muster in these situations as its in the best interests of all
other involved parties to do so. It'll give the merchant the much needed
additional time to satisfy his outstanding orders, while allowing the
merchant to continue doing business thus, helping the already meager cash
flow in this dying, if not dead, Atari marketplace. It makes no sense to
try and force the merchant out of business by making a "loud public outcry
or spectacle" of the situation. Although, in recent months this seems to
have been the case. As a result, certain folks will be satisfied and
others well.. they'll be satisfied but it will take more time than
originally anticipated. Hopefully, these matters will be dealt with
swiftly and to everyone's satisfaction. The only recognizable problem
noticed at this time, is the viability of third party products designed and
ordered over a year ago. After all, the company itself (Atari) is busily
introducing a new computer line, (the Falcons), which is excessively late
and the platform itself is losing developers left and right. Perhaps a
systematic approach to refunding those users who ordered and pre-paid for
product as opposed to trying to fulfill the "original" orders would be the
"right thing to do".
Bob Chopak, of Computer Garden, posted the messages above concerning
his pre-paid order. STReport acknowledges he has been more than patient
and should have at least been given a return call or two. When we called
Mr. Chopak for an interview he was quite accommodating and straight
forward. It seems his biggest complaint was that he, like many of others
with similar complaints, was not kept informed of the progress of his order
nor were his telephone calls returned. As STReport continues to receive
information relative this situation, we shall keep the userbase informed of
the progress being made in resolving the problem. STReport adds, that we
fully expect Mr. Chopak and the others who've complained to fully satisfied
in as short a time as possible under the present conditions.
\\\---///
STReport is compiling a list of those persons who've prepaid either
Fast Technology or ISD/DMC Marketing (Fast Tech's Canadian Rep, owned and
operated by Nathan Potechin (Darlah's husband and Co-Sysop in the ST RT))
for the Tiny Turbo and the T-25 accelerators. The majority of users who
have prepaid have been waiting for either almost a year or a little over a
year for delivery of the products or a refund. Its pretty sad when one
sees the very same harpies swing into gear to heap praise on a firm that's
basically being accused of doing the very same thing the other firms listed
above were accused of doing. Taking advance payments and making slow
deliveries. Did they all receive the very same exposure and treatment in
Nathan and Darlah's ST RT on GEnie?? NOPE! The recently opened message
area in Category 18, Topic 11 of Nathan and Darlah's ST RT on GEnie is
already closed! How very even handed and fair of them. It couldn't
possibly be because the shoe is now on another foot and it fits far to
tight?
A number of the users are willing to wait until the end of June, a
number of others are already banding together to take some type of recovery
action. STReport is accepting the names and information of those who have
prepaid for product and received nothing so far. Register your name with
STReport either in Email on any of the services or call 904-783-3319 to do
so.
As a recipient of the Nathan & Darlah Show "treatment" in the ST RT,
I will unhesitantly make note that I feel they closed the topic to gain
some sort of relief from the possible headaches expected to come from such
open, derogatory public complaints. And of course, the ensuing flood of
expected refund requests. Regardless of the reasons brought forth,
ethically speaking, the topic about the lack of delivery on the part of
Fast Technology should have been left open as has been the case for ABCO
or, on the other hand, BOTH topics should have been closed. This is not
the case, the Fast Tech topic was quickly closed, the Abco topic is not.
This is a classic example of both a conflict of interest (Nathan being the
Canadian rep for Fast Tech) and biased actions on the part of Darlah and
her husband Nathan. How long is this outrage going to be allowed to
continue? Truly, its time for equal, non-partial treatment for all to
return to the Atari ST RT on GEnie. Until some personnel changes are made
this is highly unlikely to occur.
___________________________________________________________
> CONFLICT OF INTEREST II STR FOCUS! UNFAIR COMPETITVE PRACTICES EXPOSED!
""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""
UNFAIR ADVANTAGES & COMPETITIVE PRACTICES EXPOSED!
==================================================
by Ralph F. Mariano
an editorial essay
Why have a number of people begun to ask WHERE IS LEXICOR on GEnie?
Now, STReport must ask.. Why have the free flags in the ST RT for Lexicor
been cancelled without prior notification? How long before the Lexicor
category ultimately disappears? Is this another case of Nathan and
Darlah's unbiased and even handed dealings? I think not! It appears as if
the old, "if you don't do things OUR way we'll drub you out of the ST RT
and ultimately out of business." Since Nathan and Darlah rule over all the
Atari areas including the Developer RT, the IAAD RT and of course, the ST
RT, this can honestly be seen as a solid, irrefutable conflict of interest.
Its not correct, ethically speaking, to be governed by those you directly
compete with in business! This is truly sad to see. This is exactly the
case with Lexicor. Especially with Nathan talking about Lexicor's Seilor
and this reporter being "in bed together" during last wednesday night's
open conference in the ST RT. (One can only wonder what is meant by THAT
SNIDE remark. I have a capture of the comment) It would appear the abuse of
sysop power by both Nathan and Darlah has created an extremely hostile
atmosphere for the users, developers and members of the press who would
dare to disagree with their tactics. 'Tis time for a change.
STReport called Lexicor's Lee Seilor for an interview regarding the
current state of affairs between Lexicor and Nathan, Darlah and GEnie.
Lexicor's Mr. Seilor read a prepared statement to this reporter. Part of
which we present now;
"There is an inherent conflict of interest for any Atari Business in
the ST RT on GEnie. Lexicor is taking all appropriate and proper actions
to seek remedies. Lexicor is aware that at least one message with regard
to Lexicor Products has been severely Censored and on information and
belief other messages have been deleted from the message areas. "Lexicor
has been advised that certain messages relating to their business will not
be allowed." Seilor said.
In this reporter's humble opinion, a Canadian Competitor of Lexicor's,
or any other business/developer, who is in control of areas Atari requires
developers to be part of could easily be considered a conflict of interest
in the least and indeed could very possibly be looked upon as "restraint of
trade and/or control of US citizens' business interests by a foreign
person(s) or entity." Further, it is our opinion, that the practice of
bestowing upon Nathan powers in the Atari Areas on GEnie is wrong. It
appears to be a flagrant disregard of business ethics and a conflict of
interest. If he is to have these powers then it stands to reason that
every business and developer should also have them as that would guarantee
an even competitive platform. Also if its to continue, he then continues
to enjoy free access and a governing position over those he is in direct
and indirect competition with. It an unfair competitive advantage. This is
not good at all especially since he can do most anything he wishes with
files, messages, people's posts, people's access privileges etc., As an
example Lexicor was also dropped from the IAAD, because of some trumped up
charges of violation of non-disclosure. Again, as a recipient of the
"special treatment" all of this sounds ever so familiar. One can only
wonder how many others have silently gone down this very same unjust path
before.
As an aside, the Federal Trade Commission Act has given the Federal
Trade Commission Authority to pursue unfair trade practices of all types
both direct and indirect. Anyone can obtain a copy of the Rule and
Regulations by sending a request to the Commission in Washington D.C. or at
any of their regional offices.
_______________________________________________________________
> BLUE RIDGE ATARIFEST'93 STR SHOW NEWS "The Summertime Atari Event!"
"""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""
1993 Blue Ridge ATARIFEST
"""""""""""""""""""""""""
FOR IMMEDIATE DISTRIBUTION
""""""""""""""""""""""""""
The Blue Ridge Atari Computer Enthusiasts (BRACE) and Computer Studio
invite you to participate in the Fourth Annual Blue Ridge AtariFest in
beautiful Asheville, North Carolina. Show dates and times are:
Saturday July 24, 1993 10am - 6pm
Sunday July 25, 1993 Noon - 5pm
Just as in previous years, we have arranged for FREE Booth space for Atari
developers!! (We're only requesting the donation of a door prize).
We can promise both developers and show-goers an energetic and exciting
show with as enthusiastic a crowd of Atarians as you'll find anywhere, plus
the support of Computer Studio in the mall.
We're once again taking over the Courtyard Shop (mall) area at Westgate
Shopping Center for the show (location of Computer Studio), plus the use of
vacant store spaces for seminar sessions. Seminar sessions will be 45
minutes in length, and developers are welcome to conduct a seminar on their
product line or approved topic of their choice (seminar sessions are
limited, so first come, first served).
This year's show dates also coincide with Asheville's annual Bele Chere
street festival, when downtown Asheville is closed to vehicular traffic and
becomes what must be one of the largest street fairs in the country.
Westgate Shopping Center is one of the primary Park-and-Ride shuttle
centers for transporting people to and from downtown, and we've arranged to
have the shuttle service pick up at the front entrance of the mall and drop
off at the rear entrance, so everyone taking the service from Westgate WILL
walk through the AtariFest exhibition area sometime during the day. This
will be a great opportunity to showcase Atari and Atari related software
and peripherals, and introduce them to people who aren't already Atari
owners. Bringing in NEW blood is the key to the growth of this platform,
and this will be our opportunity to begin that process with a captive
audience.
Additional discussions of the show, as well as confirmations of your
participation, are welcome in GEnieMail and in the Blue Ridge
AtariFest topic 13 in Category 11 here on GEnie.
HOPING TO HEAR FROM YOU SOON.
HAPPY ATARI COMPUTING.
IT'S HAPPENING IN ASHEVILLE!
Where: Westgate Shopping Center - Asheville, N.C.
Take any major highway into Asheville (US 19-23, US 26 or I-40) to the
I-240 loop, then take the "Westgate/Hilton Inn Drive exit" into the
Westgate Shopping Center parking lot.
When: 24-25, July 1993
Time: 10:am to 6:pm SAT
12 Noon 'til 5pm SUN
Points of contact:
Come for a day or come for the weekend,
but do come and enjoy yourself.
Great Smokies Hilton Resort Hilton Inn Drive (704)254-3211
Toll-free reservation phone number 1-800-733-3211
Radisson One Thomas Wolf Plaza (704)252-8211
Rate: $62.00 per room (1-4 people)
====== Additional Hotel / Motel Information ===========
Days Inn I-26 and Airport Road (704)684-2281
I-40 Exit 55 (704)298-5140
Econo Lodge US 70 East, I-40 Exit 55 (704)298-5519
Holiday Inn 275 Smoky Park Hwy (704)667-4501
Toll-free reservation phone number 1-800-HOLIDAY
Red Roof Inn I-40 and US 19-23 Exit 44 (704)667-9803
Toll-free reservation phone number 1-800-843-7663
Budget Motel I-40 Exit 44 (Enka-Chandler)
West Asheville Exit (704)665-2100 Best
Western Asheville Central 22 Woodfin St (704)253-1851
========= Local Bed & Breakfast lodging Information =========
Aberdeen Inn 64 Linden Ave (704)254-9336
Albemarle Inn 86 Edgemont Road (704)255-0027
Applewood Manor 62 Cumberland Circle (704)254-2244
The Bridle Path Inn Lockout Road (704)252-0035
Cairn Brae B & B 217 Patton Mountain Rd (704)252-9219
Carolina B & B 177 Cumberland Ave (704)254-3608
Cedar Crest Victorian Inn 674 Biltmore Ave (704)252-1289
Corner Oak Manor 53 St. Dunstan (704)253-3525
Cornerstone Inn 230 Pearson Dr (704)253-5644
Flint Street Inn 100 & 116 Flint Street (704)253-6723
The Lion and The Rose 276 Montford Ave (704)255-7673
The Ray House B & B 83 Hillside St (704)252-0106
Reed House 119 Dodge St (704)274-1604
The Wright Inn 235 Pearson Drive (704)251-0789]
(1-800-552-5724)
A more complete listing of Bed & Breakfasts can be obtained through the
Asheville Area Chamber of Commerce.
Reservations should be made immediately, as July is the height of our
tourist season.
=========== CAMP GROUNDS ================
(reservations are a must during this time of season):
Mount Pisgah:
About 20 miles southwest of Asheville on the Blue Ridge Parkway at
mile post 408.6 (National Park Service). 690 acres. Elevation 5000'. One of
the nicest campgrounds in Western North Carolina. 67 tent sites, 70 RV
sites. For reservations: P.O.Box 749, Watnesville, N.C. 28786; phone (704)
235-9109. No showers. Groceries and restaurant. Nature program. 14 day
stay limit.
Lake Powhatan:
4 miles south of Asheville on State road 191, 3.5 miles west on SR
806. 30 acres. 98 tent/rv sites. Reservation available thru Mistix
1-800-283-CAMP. Disposal station. No showers. Swimming; lifeguard; fishing;
nature trails; bicycles. 14-day stay limit.
While in the area, you might want to consider a little sightseeing,
and include a visit to the Biltmore House here in Asheville (the largest
single family residence ever built in the U.S.--its a "castle"). A visit to
the Biltmore can be a full-day's activity as you will want to view the
house, visit the winery, and walk some of the grounds and gardens.
Hours:
The House 9 am to 6pm The Gardens 9am to 7pm
Conservatory 9am to 5:30pm
The Winery Monday-Saturday 11am to 7pm Sunday 1pm to 7pm
Other areas of interest include; the Thomas Wolf home (adjacent to the
Raddison), the Blue Ridge Parkway and Folk Art Center. A drive up the Blue
ridge Parkway to enjoy the higher elevations and incredible views of our
mountains. Perhaps a hike up to Mount Pisgah and look back down to
Asheville(you can see Mt. Pisgah from most anywhere in Asheville). A short
drive from Mt. Pisgah will take you to Sliding Rock (for those of you
travelling with kids who are still kids at heart), the Cradle of Forestry
(first forest school in the country), waterfalls, trout hatchery, etc. For
the adventurous, white water rafting on the Natahala River near Bryson
City (approx one and a half hours from here).
There's obviously loads more to see and do around Asheville (in
addition to the Blue Ridge AtariFest and a visit to Computer Studio :-). If
any of y'all would like maps and additional tourist info of the area I
might suggest contacting the Chamber of Commerce:
Asheville Area Chamber of Commerce
151 Haywood Street
P.O. Box 1010
Asheville, NC 28802
704-258-6111 FAX: (704)251-0926
___________________________________________________________________
> NVN WANTS YOU! STR InfoFile Another Network Supports Atari!
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_______________________________________________________________
> STReport CONFIDENTIAL "Rumors Tidbits Predictions Observations Tips"
"""""""""""""""""""""
- Sunnyvale, Ca ANOTHER ROARING LOSS DECLARED!
-------------
Atari Corp. reported a TWO MILLION DOLLAR loss as first quarter
salesof the company's computers and video games slumped. The loss of three
cents per share in the three months ended March 31 came on sales of $10.1
Million, down sharply from $44.1 million for the same period in 1992, when
Atari lost $13.8 million, or 24 cents per share.
- Chicago, IL FALCON 040 RUMORED IN THE "WORKS"
-----------
According to ever famous "super snoop" the Falcon 040 is in the
distant future called Fall'93 or thereabouts. Its reported to be the
fabled two piece design so desired by most everyone and... to be the high
stepping machine the "power users" crave. Will it make its debut at
Comdex'93? Time will tell.
_______________________________________________________
> STR Mail Call "...a place for the readers to be heard"
"""""""""""""
STReport's MailBag
""""""""""""""""""
Messages * NOT EDITED * for content
-----------------------------------
From Delphi's Atari areas
54507 8-MAY 12:50 8-bit Atari
RE: Miscellany (Re: Msg 54499)
From: OCS To: KAMARO_KID
> The company (Atari) is supposed to cater to us, not the inverse! We
> are the customers after all!
This indeed is one of the wisest sentences I have read in here for quite
some time. Applause!!!!
> I do not think that Atari Corp. has purchased this entire sig for
> their own private amusement.
If they had, they would probably have kicked me and some others out quite
some time ago <grin>
Oliver
55004 22-MAY 08:17 8-bit Atari
RE: Miscellany (Re: Msg 54507)
From: RMARIANO To: OCS
Oliver,
Believe me, they are trying all the time to boot out those who don't
"dance the Atari dance" or "sing the Atari song". Its pretty blatant.
Even AEO is getting into the fray now. Take note of which online service's
sign-up offer is obvious by its absence from the last issue. Its getting
bad.... real bad. For a company that's on its knees economically and
marketshare speaking they sure are arrogant.
Kamaro Kid certianly does have it right, Atari has lost grasp of its
intent and purpose... they are supposed to cater to the needs of their
customers instead they do the exact opposite. Seems I recall somebody
saying "Atari firmly believes in HOORAY FOR US & THE HECK WITH YOU" a few
years ago. The protests were far, wide and loud. Sure looks like the guy
was right. Actually, the minister if disinformation & co., are very busy
burning their bridges behind them. Very Foolish.. <sigh>
Ralph @ STReport International Online Magazine
55005 22-MAY 08:26 8-bit Atari
RE: Miscellany (Re: Msg 54511)
From: RMARIANO To: ANALOG4
"This SIG is firmly a tool of Atari Corp.? I not sure what that means,
exactly, but I can assure you that, while we appreciate Atari's presence
here, Atari has no control over what happens here whatsoever. You can say
what you want, as long as everybody gets treated with respect."
If anyone can say this, I can. This Online are
a, the one Clay speaks
of is not under the control of Atari in any way at all. It basically is
under the control of the users and moderated by Clay and his assistants. I
might add, its a pleasure to attend and actively participate in this Atari
area. Every so often it becomes evident that the "powers that be" in a SIG
are really doing a great job.
The best way to see they are doing a great job is the level of
transparency they offer the users in the sig. If they are forever trying
to form opinions, control message strings etc., they are not transparent at
all. In the case of these Atari SIGS Clay and the gang are doing an
excellent job and deserve to be commended for their fine approach to
moderating and vibrant and lively Atari area that gives every appearance
of growing larger every month. Moderating and NOT influencing is the key
to a successful SIG no matter which platform or what format.
Job well done Folks!
Ralph @ STReport International Online Magazine
From CIS Atari Fora..
#: 86181 S1/Forum Business
26-May-93 04:56:15
Sb: #86176-20 Questions
Fm: MYLES COHEN 71570,3142
To: Sysop*Brad Hill 71333,2165
I went into SAM ASH yesterday and asked if they had any FALCONS for demo or
sale...
They said that there was only one in the store... still packed in its box
and for sale at $1289.00...
There were no Demos set up...
I assume that this model was supposed to be their dealer demo...but was
never unpacked...
If you hurry, you can snap it up...
Across the street at MANNY'S...They had one demo unit on display and would
take orders...price was also $1289.00...they would not commit themselves on
delivery dates or whether there would be any other configurations in the
future...this one was minimal...4 meg with the 85 meg IDE drive...they
seemed doubtful that there would even be a future for the FALCON...
#: 86309 S17/Community Square
28-May-93 12:48:10
Sb: #86308-#84816-Gemulator
Fm: bob wilson 72355,1637
To: Dave Groves[Diabetes] 76703,4223
I have not bothered to port it yet. GFA for windows is bug filled and
incredibly badly documented. If you look at the sample programs, many if
not most use commands which you will not find any where in the docs. Their
section of WINAPC has been silent since the compiler came out and the bugs
started pouring in. I have been trying to get SPEEDO GDOS working with
B/STAT but to little avail. I thought that I had tracked it down to a
conflict with WARP 9 but no such luck. In all regards SPEEDO seems simply
like FSM with a different font technology. All of the incompatabilities of
FSM seem to be present.
From GEnie's MAC RT....
Category 40, Topic 5
Message 62 Thu May 27, 1993
J.BUDIL [Jonathan] at 01:41 EST
Of course, when funds are low, decision-making becomes really simple. ;-)
Glad you're having so much fun, Swampy. <GRIN>
--Jonathan in Normal
------------
Category 40, Topic 5
Message 63 Thu May 27, 1993
D.D.MARTIN [Swampy] at 19:35 EDT
JONATHAN!!
Fun? I'm having a ball! I got Quick Keys installed today. It took
reading the manual to figure out how to do it without having to live with
all their pre-existing macros. Shades of CodeHead stuff now! %^). I also
had fun with After Dark. I just put the Fish into outer space with the
Warp modual!
I'm starting to get the hang of Claris Works. PageMaker is pretty easy
too. After years of PageStream at least I know the features I need and can
find them in the PM Index... LOL
Hugs...Swampy
------------
Category 40, Topic 5
Message 64 Thu May 27, 1993
GSCOTT-MOORE [Gerry] at 20:50 EDT
Swampy:
I can't believe it took me so long to get off my butt and get QuickKeys.
What a delight. QE and Now Utilities have made my MacUsage blissful.
Gerry
------------
Category 40, Topic 5
Message 65 Fri May 28, 1993
R.NOAK [Randy] at 01:14 EDT
Hmmm. I got a QK II demo disk here somewhere. I'd better check this out.
Randy @ Southlake, Inc.
------------
Category 40, Topic 5
Message 66 Fri May 28, 1993
J.BUDIL [Jonathan] at 01:49 EST
Gerry:
I've got *no* excuse for not using QuicKeys avidly yet--because I won it
during my first RTC (within my first few days) at this roundtable. Well,
there was the matter of a Master's thesis...but that's old news now. I
guess that whenever I have free computer time, I can't help myself: GEnie
is a magnet! :) Who has time for installations?
SWAMPY!!
I gotta admit, I love how you always address me with all-caps and two
exclamation marks. It makes me feel so significant. ;) Yes, After Dark's
a real hoot. I highly reccommend "The Art of Darkness," by Peachpit Press.
It is a small book that tells stories about all of the modules, is
officially recognized as _the_ A.D. book by Berkeley Systems, and has nine
new knockout modules from the company, including fractal forest, spin
brush, and my personal April Fool's favorite, Bogglins.
I know PageMaker *very* well, but you've got the jump on Q.K. :)
--Jonathan in Normal
------------
From the FNET....
Conf : STReport Online
Msg# : 24005/24005 Lines: 4 Read: 1
Sent : May 23, 1993 at 9:35 AM
Recv : May 24, 1993
To : Ralph Mariano
From : Eric Palm at Fnet Node 647, E.H.C.R.- Node 647 Ct
Subj : the size of your....
Wow Ralph, you've got some hefty ST Reports coming through. It's all I
can do to laser print each issue and to read them (It's my only source of
what's happening with Atari without all the bull I get when reading the
message bases). Keep up the good work.
Conf : STReport Online
Msg# : 24004/24005 Lines: Extended Read: 1
Sent : May 23, 1993 at 3:36 PM
To : Wolf
From : Rich Calsada at Fnet Node 669, Dateline: Atari
Subj : ERRONEOUS REPORTS?
W> Yes, there is a degree of truth in your posts regarding "things
W> Atari", but you err when you run out of facts, and report as fact,
W> information you invented to fill in the blanks. This is no
W> different from what the good people at "Inquirer", "Star", and about
W> a dozen other tabloids. But, at least the tabloids give you
W> interestingly retouched photos to look at.
What's really amusing about this is the same thing can be said about
Atari Corporation and they don't seem to get minutely picked over like
Ralph does. It's pretty easy to see Atari's hidden agenda -- Usually no
product, like the bull sh-t about why fsm gdos was'nt out and that was
week after week with a new excuse.
So now we come to your nit picking of the Atari Explorer affair as
reported by Ralph. My feeling is Ralph got the gist of the story right,
which people might be interested, unfortunately I'm sure we will get
more post on how Ralph screwed it up, when in fact it looks like it was
fairly acurately reported.
The shame of it is, that if you took Atari to task over in the Atari
net like you are doing to Ralph, it would'nt take long before your
originating node would be locked out of the net.
So what's Ralph's hidden agenda? Maybe its being a little pissed at
watching a company screw over a very loyal user base that's supported
them for years. It's a good thing all those Falcons came in, in late
October 92 like a Trameil said they would. And just thing you can now
buy a similiarly equipt MAC with a color monitor for the same price as a
Falcon without a monitor. Ah yes "Power without the Price"
~ MMST 2.65|R: $$$ not found -- A)bort, R)efinance, D)eclare bankruptcy
Msg# : 3228/3245 Lines: 17 Read: 1
Sent : May 26, 1993 at 12:02 PM
To : Don Liscombe
From : Bob Brodie at Fnet Node 319, Atari Base USA
Subj : Re: <3222> Important News!
In reply to:
> Glad to see you back in the base, Bob. I know how busy things get at
> times. Is there any information you can give us, or tentative dates, on
>
> 1) The Jaguar release?
> 2) New Atari computers (upgrade from the Falcon)
Hi Don, thank you for the welcome back! I've missed being here.
The Jaguar will be released in the Fall, in time for Christmas. Sorry, I
have no comment about other computers to follow the Falcon030. We don't
have enough of those on the street yet to worry about the next batch in my
department anyway. :)
regards,
Bob Brodie
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