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Silicon Times Report Issue 1051
SILICON TIMES REPORT
====================
INTERNATIONAL ONLINE MAGAZINE
=============================
from
STR Electronic Publishing Inc.
December 16, 1994 No. 1051
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Silicon Times Report
International OnLine Magazine
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R.F. Mariano
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> 12/16/94 STR 1051 "The Original * Independent * OnLine Magazine!"
"""""""""""""""""
- STR INDUSTRY REPORT - Apple Game Machine - Pentium NEWS
- Apple Sueing AGAIN - THUMBS PLUS UPDATE! - AWE32 Wins!
- Suzy B CD Offer - Frankie's Corner - COREL DATES!
- NEW LC SCREEN - People Talking - JAGUAR NewsWire
-* INTEL Critical of IBM! *-
-* LOTUS PENTIUM FIX! *-
-* PERFECTOFFICE SHIPS! *-
==========================================================================
STReport International OnLine Magazine
The Original * Independent * OnLine Magazine
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Current Events, Original Articles, Tips, Rumors, and Information
Hardware - Software - Corporate - R & D - Imports
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> From the Editor's Desk "Saying it like it is!"
""""""""""""""""""""""
Well now, here we are with one week to go. Next Saturday being
Christmas Eve. This is one Christmas I shall remember for the rest of my
life. In fact, its going to be a Christmas for me like they used to be as
a young man. A Christmas with Christ very much a part of the Season.
Here are the reasons why.
Yesterday, at about 6:30pm I received a call from one of my four
sons, Charles to be exact. Charles informed me of the fact that two of my
other sons, who are electricians and work together, were involved in an
industrial accident. Charles went on to say he had little or no other
information than to say they were at University Hospital being cared for
in the burn trauma unit. He told me he'd call me as soon as he had more
information.
Shortly after I spoke to Charles, I contacted Ralph and Victor's main
office to obtain more information. I was told to expect a call from the
man at the scene. He called shortly thereafter. He informed me that the
power distribution room was virtually destroyed and the main 440 volt
panel was disintegrated. I needn't tell you how that made me feel about
the physical condition of my sons but at least I was grateful for the man
being truthful with me. I called Charles back and one of his children
informed me that he had already gone to the hospital. At this point I
too, was on my way.
Once having gotten past the screaming emotional jolt that hit me as I
saw the condition of my two injured sons I realized that now was a time
for love and support not sorrow and pity. Shortly thereafter I was told
by one of the surgeons that their burns would have little or no scarring
effects except for a few small spots on their hands. They were both
admitted, room 609, we went to the room and shared small talk for a while.
It was obvious they were both in pain. Ralph was hooked up to an
intravenous morphine supply. I guess, indirectly, I'm trying to say
Ralph's condition was and is serious. Victor's was not as bad. Both of
them were hurting. They were at least five shades darker from the burns.
While their faces were dark, the doctors assured me they'd have no marks.
They did however have third degree burns on their hands. Fortunately,
there will be no losses of any digits, senses or faculties.
While at the hospital, I discovered that the Fire & Rescue Emergency
Team #23, headed by Cap't McAllister, that cared for my sons were the very
same folks my sons and I had been assisted by a little over a year and a
half ago when we three had saved a little girl's life (Sara Clarke) who
had drowned. They remembered us too. As I went home to try to get some
rest, I quietly thanked the Lord for the blessings he had given my sons in
this time of their need.
I arrived at the hospital today at about eleven am and both my sons
were up. Ralph was still looking rough and obviously feeling the effects
of the morphine. But Victor was up, dressed and already looking forward
to going home. (A good sign) I spent a considerable amount of time
talking to their doctors and the bottom line is that Ralph bore the brunt
of the explosive flash-over. Victor did come home today and his fianc,
Heather, has assured me she'll take the very best of care of him. (She's
a Nurse) The doctors told me that if Ralph settles down overnight he'll
be able to come home tomorrow. If not, for sure Sunday. As I type this,
I can only reflect on how really fragile our lives can be. I thanked God
for my sons and will continue do so. During this Christmas time, I can
now sincerely appreciate the meaning of "keeping of Christ" in Christmas.
Thank you for listening to me,
Ralph...
Of Special Note:
----------------
STReport will be branching out further to Internet's userbase in the
very near future. We've received numerous requests to receive STReport
from a wide variety of Internet addresses. As a result, we're putting
together an Internet distribution/mailing list for those who wish to
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If you're interested in being added to our mailing list, please, send
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we can do to make STReport available to you. we'll try it!
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STReport's Staff DEDICATED TO SERVING YOU!
""""""""""""""""
Publisher -Editor
""""""""""""""""""
Ralph F. Mariano
Lloyd E. Pulley, Editor, Current Affairs
Section Editors
"""""""""""""""
PC SECTION AMIGA SECTION MAC SECTION ATARI SECTION
---------- ------------- ----------- -------------
R.D. Stevens R. Niles J. Deegan D. P. Jacobson
STReport Staff Editors:
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Michael Arthur John Deegan Brad Martin
John Szczepanik Paul Guillot Joseph Mirando
Doyle Helms Frank Sereno John Duckworth
Jeff Coe Steve Keipe Guillaume Brasseur
Melanie Bell Jay Levy Jeff Kovach
Marty Mankins Carl Prehn Paul Charchian
Contributing Correspondents:
""""""""""""""""""""""""""""
Dominick J. Fontana Norman Boucher Clemens Chin
Eric Jerue Ron Deal Mike Barnwell
Ed Westhusing Glenwood Drake Vernon W.Smith
Bruno Puglia Paul Haris Kevin Miller
Craig Harris Allen Chang Tim Holt
Patrick Hudlow Tom Sherwin
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IMPORTANT NOTICE
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STReport, with its policy of not accepting any paid advertising, has over
the years developed the reputation of "saying it like it really is". When
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appeared. In closing, we shall arduously endeavor to meet and further
develop the high standards of straight forwardness our readers have come
to expect in each and every issue.
The Staff & Editors
"""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""
> STR INDUSTRY REPORT LATE BREAKING INDUSTRY-WIDE NEWS
"""""""""""""""""""
IBM/POWER-PC/PC SECTION (I)
===========================
Computer Products Update - CPU Report
------------------------ ----------
Weekly Happenings in the Computer World
Issue #51
Compiled by: Lloyd E. Pulley, Sr.
******* General Computer News *******
** Atari Releases Five Jaguar Games **
Hammered by critics over delays in getting software titles out, Atari
Corp. has responded with release of five new games for its 64-bit Jaguar
game system in time for the holidays. This brings to about 20 the number
of titles for the Jaguar, which sells for about $250.
Among the new games are "Kasumi Ninja," "Zool2," " "Iron Soldier",
"Busby" and "Val d'Isere Skiing & Snowboarding." Atari recently intro-
duced a version of the popular "Doom" game. Prices range from $60 to
$70.
** Sharp Unveils New PDA **
Sharp Electronics Corp. has introduced its keyboard-enhanced Zaurus
personal digital (PDA).
The company says Zaurus will be marketed to corporations as a produc-
tivity tool. It will also be positioned as a vertical application solu-
tion in fields such as medical, pharmaceutical. Sharp notes that target
customers -- primarily mobile professionals -- can send and receive e-
mail, send faxes, access online services, exchange information with
local and remote PCs, take notes on an electronic note pad, create maps
and drawings, generate documents and manage their time and information.
The PDA offers 1MB of RAM -- 750K of which is available for user data
and add-on software programs. Zaurus combines a pen for note taking,
drawing and accessing information and a keyboard for text intensive
applications like messaging and word processing.
Connected to a regular or cellular phone, Zaurus users can send or
receive messages and data using public e-mail services such as AT&T Mail
and access online services such as CompuServe. Users can also fax docu-
ments. An optional Zaurus Mail system allows small work groups to
exchange messages and data using a single Windows- based PC as an
electronic post office.
Zaurus measures 6.7 by 3.9 by 1.0 inches and weighs 13.6 ounces.
Set to ship in late January, the base Zaurus will sell for $749. A
model that includes a data/fax modem will cost $849.
** Matsushita Creates New Circuitry **
A breakthrough is being claimed by Japan's Matsushita Electric Indus-
trial Co. Ltd. in developing denser circuitry that it says will allow
manufacture of smaller portable phones, camcorders, computers and other
electronic goods.
Reports say the development, called "ALIVH" ("Any Layer Inner Via
Hole"), can reduce the size of circuitry by 30% to 50% and initially
will be used in-house for Matsushita's own products, allowing time to
perfect mass production using the technology.
Saying sample shipments of the ALIVH multi-layered wiring board will
be available in the second half of next year, company officials said
first applications could be for PCs, camcorders, portable phones, pagers
and CD-ROMS.
** Windows 95 to Get MIDI Support **
Microsoft Corp. says it plans to integrate Open Music System MIDI
architecture from Opcode Systems Inc. into its forthcoming Windows 95
operating system.
Microsoft notes that the move will extend Windows 95's Plug and Play
support to MIDI devices such as keyboards, synthesizers, effects
processors and drum machines.
Opcode states that it plans to bring its suite of professional music
software and hardware solutions, including Vision, Galaxy and Studio 4,
to Windows 95 in 1995's second quarter.
OMS is an industry standard for professional musicians, multimedia
developers and music enthusiasts that provides an environment for MIDI
programs and hardware to work together. OMS-compatible software enables
communication with a wide range of hardware devices such as external
MIDI and SMPTE interfaces, sound cards and MIDI synthesizers.
The first OMS MIDI implementation for Windows 95, including Plug and
Play, will be available as an extension to Windows 95 after the oper-
ating system has shipped. Subsequent versions of Windows will include
OMS MIDI as an integrated feature of the operating system.
** Combo Audio/CD-ROMs Planned **
Philips Media and Ardent Records say they plan to release a series of
combination audio/CD-ROM disks.
The AudioVision CD products will feature a full album playable on a
standard CD player and an interactive audio-visual section playable on a
standard Macintosh computer. The first releases, due out next year, will
feature the sights and sounds of two of Ardent Records' recent signings:
2 Minutes Hate and Techno-Squid Eats Parliament.
The releases will be distributed through PolyGram Group Distribution
in record and video outlets, and through Philips Media Distribution to
software retailers.
** WordPerfect Ships PerfectOffice **
WordPerfect's PerfectOffice applications suite is to begin shipping
tomorrow, two months after the redesigned software was first promised
but a month before some analysts' expectations.
The suite - word processing, spreadsheet and database programs - will
offer new technology, including Envoy, a workgroup publishing program
that allows users to send documents with formatting that crosses
computer platform boundaries.
** Apple Unveils Game Machine **
Apple Computer says it is developing a new CD-ROM game system that's
based on the PowerPC microprocessor and its Macintosh operating system.
Apple plans to license the platform, dubbed Pippen, to a variety of
vendors in different fields. The system is due out in late 1995.
"Now multimedia technology has the potential of reaching the penetra-
tion levels of audio CD players and VCRs," says Satjiv Chahil, vice
president of Apple Computer's New Media Group.
Apple believes that Pippin will provide significant advantages over
current CD-ROM- based multimedia players, many of which are focused
simply on playing game software. The company says Pippin will support a
wide array of multimedia titles.
Bandai Co. Ltd., a Japanese entertainment conglomerate, will offer a
multimedia player based on Pippen technology in late 1995.
** Researchers Develop New Screen **
A new flat-screen computer display is being developed by researchers
at Kent State University in Ohio, who say it might soon replace paper-
printed newspapers, magazines and books.
Director J. William Doane of Kent State's Glenn Brown Liquid Crystal
Institute said, "The display industry is looking for a flat-panel
display screen that's purely reflective, so it looks just like a piece
of paper, but has the potential for full color."
Reports are that KSU researchers, supported by a nearly $2 million,
three-year federal grant, invented a material (polymer-stabilized
cholesteric textures) "that produces high-contrast images without
backlights, now needed in liquid crystal display technology."
Institute Associate Director John West said the new screens produce a
display about the size of an average piece of paper and are about only
one-quarter of an inch thick, adding, "The new technology's main appli-
cation will be in electronic devices, such as portable faxes, electronic
books, magazines and newspapers, as well as a range of new portable
communication devices coming on the market within the next few years."
West said the image will be much better than TV pictures, using about
4 million pixels per page-size display as compared with current
television's some 300,000 pixels per screen. The technology also will
eliminate the expense of placing transistors at each pixel site, he
said.
KSU researchers say they expect a high-speed display using light-
weight, plastic material to be ready by mid-1995, that each "page" will
appear in a fraction of a second, the equivalent of turning a paper page
by hand.
The work is supported by the Center on Advanced Liquid Crystalline
Optical Materials, a consortium of Kent State, Case Western Reserve
University and the University of Akron.
** Apple Sues Over QuickTime Code **
Apple Computer Inc. has sued San Francisco Canyon Co., alleging the
small software publisher infringed on a video copyright in code that
Apple says now is being used by rivals Intel Corp. and Microsoft Corp.
The suit says Apple had asked Canyon to make a version of its Quick-
time video software that could run on computers using Microsoft's
Windows environment.
Apple alleges Canyon took Quicktime code written for Apple and gave
it to chipmaker Intel, which, the suit says, used the code in some of
its video-related software and also turned the code over to Microsoft.
The suit contends Microsoft included the code in its product, Video for
Windows version 1.1D.
** HP, Microsoft Eye Infrared System **
Hewlett-Packard Co. and Microsoft Corp. say they are developing a
Windows 95 infrared communications solution that will address the
growing need for low-cost, wireless communication between PCs, printers
and other peripheral products.
The software is being designed for PCs and peripherals with IrDA-
compliant infrared ports.
Infrared interoperability will provide users with "point- and-shoot"
file transfer, printing and other communication capabilities without
requiring cables or other accessories.
"Our overall goal for Windows 95 Mobile Services is to make using PCs
away from the desk easier and more powerful for everyone," says Brad
Chase, general manager of Microsoft's Personal Systems Group.
"Today's mobile PC users desperately want a low-cost, hassle-free way
to transfer files, print on-the-go and quickly share information between
devices," says Andy Seybold, editor of Outlook on Mobile Computing.
"Infrared communication looks like the best and nearest-term solution to
fill those needs."
** NEC Makes 1-Gigabit Breakthrough **
A tiny memory cell that can be used to make computer memory chips
able to store one gigabit -- a billion units -- of information has been
developed by Japan's NEC Corp.
Quotes from NEC officials say the firm will distribute samples of the
chips in 1998 and begin mass production in 2000.
NEC says a single chip of the new design could store 16 complete
works of William Shakespeare or four hours of music.
** PC Shipments Up 23%, IDC Says **
Researchers predict PCs shipments in the U.S. will hit 18.4 million
this year, up 23% from 1993. In fact, says International Data Corp.,
unit shipments will top 20% growth for the third year in a row.
Replacement of older-model PCs continued at a rapid pace and the
consolidation among the bottom tier of vendors that was rampant in 1993
has subsided this year.
IDC released this list of the top 10 vendors, their unit shipments,
market share and growth from 1993 to 1994:
1. Compaq, 2,355,000 units, 12.8% share, 61% growth.
2. Apple, 2,224,000 units, 12.2% share, 8% growth.
3. Packard Bell, 1,995,000 units, 10.8% share, 100% growth.
4. IBM, 1,868,000 units, 10.2% share, minus 8% growth.
5. Gateway 2000, 937,000 units, 5.1% share, 40% growth.
6. Dell, 780,000 units, 4.2% share, 4% growth.
7. AST, 733,000 units, 4% share, 18% growth.
8. Toshiba, 687,000 units, 3.7% share, 108% growth.
9. Acer, 465,000 units, 2.5% share, 88% growth.
10. (tie) Hewlett-Packard, 445,000 units, 2.4% share, 92% growth,
AT&T GIS, 445,000 units, 2.4% share, 93% growth.
All others, 5,446,000 units, 29.6% share, 3% growth.
******* Updated Pentium Bug News *******
-- Intel Team Tackles Pentium Flaw
An Intel Corp. scientist says the chipmaker has pulled together a
group to work on software to work around the flaw in versions of its
Pentium microprocessor.
Scientist Richard Wirt announced the plan this week in a message in
an Internet newsgroup where scientists have been discussing the problem
for more than a month.
Intel said the program will detect when one of the calculations that
results in an incorrect answer is about to be made and will calculate
the correct answer.
-- IBM Halts Pentium PC Shipments
IBM says it has stopped shipping all PCs based on the Intel Pentium
microprocessor.
The computer maker reports that its decision is based on tests con-
ducted by the IBM Research Division, stimulated by growing customer
concern that Pentium-related problems are more frequent than previously
estimated.
IBM says the tests indicate that while Intel's descriptions of the
flaw are technically accurate, there are many situations in which the
risk of error may be significantly higher. IBM says it is working with
customers on interim solutions and will resume shipments upon request by
its customer and business partners.
IBM says it will offer replacement Pentium chips at no cost to its
customers. It adds that it is working with Intel to help resolve
Pentium-related problems as quickly as possible.
-- Intel Calls IBM's Move Unwarranted
Intel Corp. said IBM Corp.'s decision to halt shipments of IBM compu-
ters using Intel's Pentium chip was "unwarranted." Intel again said its
own tests on the Pentium concluded that the frequency of encountering
the flaw is about once in every nine billion random division operations.
"Intel does not agree with the conclusions reached by IBM," Andrew
Grove, president and CEO of Intel, said in a statement in response to
IBM's announcement. "You can always contrive situations that force this
error. In other words, if you know where a meteor will land, you can go
there and get hit."
Grove reiterated the company's policy to replace Pentium chips for
any customers who might encounter the problem in the course of their
applications.
-- Lotus: Change 1-2-3 for Pentium Use
Lotus Development Corp. said this week that users of its Lotus 1-2-3
spreadsheet working on computers with Pentium microprocessors can still
perform accurate floating point calculations.
Reports are that Lotus has issued instructions for making a minor
change in the 1-2-3 software that circumvents the floating point flaw in
the Pentium so that the floating point calculations are handled by 1-2-3
and not the Pentium chip.
To make the change, Lotus 1-2-3 for Windows users should follow this
simple, four-step process:
--Highlight the 1-2-3 icon in the Program Manager.
--Select File Properties.
--Add 1/8space3/8 -s after the last character in the 1-2-3 Command
Line path.
--Choose OK.
Lotus said this will work every time the user loads Lotus 1-2-3.
The 1-2-3 workaround has been tested by Lotus and already runs in all
copies of 1-2-3 for DOS release 3.4 and 4.0 and 1-2-3 for Windows
release 4, 4.01, and 5.
-- Industry Torn Over Pentium
"Somebody is wrong. Who do you believe? If I were a consumer, I'd be
totally confused."
So says publisher Richard Shaffer of ComputerLetter, speaking with
Wall Street Journal reporters Bart Ziegler and Don Clark this week about
the growing controversy over Intel Corp.'s flawed Pentium chip.
"It could damage the credibility of the industry," Shaffer added. "My
biggest concern is this will cause consumers to have some real Christmas
doubts about the Pentium."
-:- Software giant Microsoft Corp. says the Pentium flaw does not
affect its Windows operating system and that the company still has
confidence in the Intel flagship chip.
-:- Digital Equipment Corp. joined computer makers Gateway 2000, Dell
Computer, Compaq Computer Corp. and Packard Bell in backing Intel,
saying it will continue selling PCs with Pentiums.
-:- NEC Corp., Japan's biggest PC maker, said it found the Pentium
flaw caused negligible harm, and that it would continue shipping
computers.
-:- However, Japan's Nomura Research Institute said it had found
technical problems in test financial programs and had asked makers --
including Compaq -- to replace free about 150 Pentium-based PCs.
-- Gateway Continues Pentium Sales
Gateway 2000, the leading direct-sale PC marketer, says it won't halt
Pentium PC shipments.
"The Pentium processor is the most tested, most analyzed processor in
history, and we think it is as reliable as any microprocessor ever put
in a PC," says Ted Waitt, chairman and CEO of Gateway.
-- How Many Pentium Designers...?
D'ya hear the one that asks, "How many Pentium designers does it take
to change a light bulb?"
"0.99904274017, but that's close enough for non-technical people...
or alternatively, we're not actually quite sure, but don't worry, light
bulbs don't blow very often..."
________________________________________________________
> THUMBSPLUS NEWS!STR InfoFile
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THUMBSPLUS VERSION 2.0C
=======================
Announcing ThumbsPlus version 2.0c, the only effective, elegant and
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o Fast & accurate thumbnail generation by individual file, directory or
entire disk. Disk and directory scans can be done in the background,
allowing you to continue working.
+ Support for many image and clip-art formats, both raster and vector,
including:
.BMF Corel Gallery clip-art .PAT *Corel pattern files
.BMP,.DIB Windows or OS/2 bitmaps .PCD Kodak PhotoCD
.CDR *CorelDRAW! .PCX,.PCC Zsoft PC Paintbrush
.CGM Computer Graphics Metafiles .PSD ++ Adobe Photoshop 2.5
.CMX *Corel Presentation Exchange .RAS,.SUN Sun Raster files
.CPT Corel PhotoPaint .RAW Raw Grayscale
.EPS *Encapsulated Postscript .RLE Compressed Win Bmps
.GEM GEM Metafiles .TGA,.WIN Targa TrueVision TM
.GIF CompuServe GIFs .TIF Tagged Image Format
.ICO Windows Icon files .TTF TrueType fonts
.IFF,.LBM Amiga Images, Deluxe Paint .WAV Sound files
.IMG GEM Images .WMF Windows metafiles
.JPG JPEG (JFIF) files .WPG ++ WPerfect (v1 & v2)
.MND Mandelbrot for Windows
* Only the preview image is accessibly directly for those types marked
with a (*). The complete image may be available if an OLE server for
the type is loaded on your system.
+ Using Aldus Rev1 graphic filters, which Thumbs+Plus can automatically
locate on your hard disk, you may be able to handle the following
formats (and others)
.DRW Micrographx Designer/Draw .PIC Lotus 1-2-3 Pictures
.DXF AutoCAD (2-D) files .PLT AutoCAD Plot files
.HGL HP Graphics Language .WPG DrawPerfect graphic
.PCT Macintosh PICT files
+ Using OLE, Thumbs+Plus can thumbnail and view any file for which an OLE
server is present on your system. Some possible types include:
.AVI Video for Windows animation .PPT P Point presentation
.DOC Word for Windows document .PUB Microsoft Publisher
.GRA Microsoft Graph
+ Multiple graphic viewing windows with file save (BMP, GIF, JPG, TGA,
PCX, TIF, WMF), print, copy, paste, crop, auto-crop, convert metafiles
to bitmaps and more.
+ On-the-fly gamma correction and quick dithering of 24-bit images for
8-bit (256-color) displays.
+ Zoom-in (2x - 9x), stretch to fit, and stretch to fit width.
o Enhanced solid color metafile viewing with 8-bit (256-color) drivers,
which eliminates that ugly dithering which Windows does by default.
+ Image editing and conversion capabilities:
- Color adjustment (contrast, gamma, brightness, RGB)
- Color depth (bi-level/4 to 256-color/grayscale,truecolor) w/several
palette selections and dithering options.
- Rotate and re-size with interpolation (anti-aliasing)
- Miscellaneous: Invert/flip vertical/flip horizontal/autocrop/swap red
and blue.
- Edit or add comments to supported types (TIF, GIF, JPEG).
- Batch (unattended/background) mode to edit & convert multiple files,
while still using your computer for other tasks.
+ For saving JPEG files, Thumbs+Plus provides a "loss preview" so you can
see an indication of the difference between the original and the
compressed file. (Requires 16- or 24-bit display.)
+ Install and remove TrueType fonts quickly and easily -- while looking
at them. ++ It also shows which fonts are currently installed (by font
name).
+ Support for drag-and-drop from File Manager to view, drag-and-drop to
other applications (like File Manager), and DDE support for using
Thumbs+Plus to view files (or open Thumbs+Plus databases) from File
Manager.
o File management capabilities, including drag-and-drop for file
organization, a color-coded directory tree for quickly locating
directories with graphics, directory creation and file renaming,
copying, deleting and moving.
o Off-line (removable) device support, for cataloging floppies, CD-ROMs
or other removable media. The thumbnails are available even when the
disk is not on-line -- and Thumbs+Plus can even label disks.
o Complete or partial catalog printing, with scaleable thumbnails, file
captions (if desired), and user layout control.
o User-specified editors let you pick the editor of your choice -- by
file type, or use the File Manager association.
+ "Automatic Clipboard Save" provides the ability to automatically save
clipboard contents to disk files. Thumbs+Plus saves each time the
clipboard changes.
- Select format (BMP, GIF, JPG, PCX, TGA).
- Clipboard metafiles can be saved as .WMF or a raster format.
- Specify the desired path and file name prefix.
- Useful for screen or window capture too (using PrintScreen and
ALT+PrintScreen).
- Unobtrusive -- you don't have to activate the program for each
capture.
o A built-in Windows Wallpaper hanger (centered or tiled) for any
supported file type, and a customizable full-screen slide show.
++ Now you can remove wallpaper from the program, too.
o A toolbar and keyboard shortcuts for common functions.
o Extensive on-line help and customization of many aspects of the
program.
++ Automatic (or manual, by directory tree or disk) removal of "orphaned"
thumbnails (thumbnails for files which were moved or deleted from
another program).
++ Customization of the file list, so that it can include the date and
time or size of the files, and for sorting by date, size, extension or
name.
++ Selection of files to display, or files to select, by file name mask.
++ Export selected thumbnails to Windows bitmap files.
****
Thumbs+Plus is distributed as shareware and may be evaluated free of
charge for up to thirty days. If you continue to use Thumbs+Plus after the
thirty days have elapsed, you must register. The price for an individual
license is US$50. Site and corporate licenses are available. Further
information about licensing and ordering is available in the on-line help
file.
****
To obtain Thumbs+Plus version 2.0c:
CompuServe: THMPLS.EXE in GRAPHSUP forum, library 3 (GIF viewers)
THMPLS.EXE in DTPFORUM, library 6 (PC DTP Utilites)
THMPLS.EXE in WINFUN forum, library 9 (Graphics Utilities)
Also available in other forums.
America Online: THMPLS.EXE in the Windows area
Internet: cerious/thmpls.exe via anonymous ftp from vnet.net
The Bounty BBS THMPLS.EXE in Graphic Programming
Installation is simplicity itself: Just run the program and it will set up
and configure itself automatically.
______________________________________________
> Frankie's Corner STR Feature
"""""""""""""""""""""""""""""
THE KIDS' COMPUTING CORNER
==========================
by Frank Sereno
Wallobee Jack "The Secret of the Sphinx"
dual format CD-rom for Windows/Mac
Ages seven & up
MRSP $29.95
WordPerfect Main Street
1555 N. Technology Way
Orem, UT 84057-2399
phone 800-451-5151
IBM Requirements Mac Requirements
CPU: 486SX or higher CPU: Color Mac or higher
Graphics: 256-color VGA Graphics: 256 colors
Hard disk: 1 meg Hard disk: 0 k
RAM: 4 megs Ram: 2.5 megs
OS: Windows 3.1 OS: System 7.0
CD-rom: Double-speed CD-rom: Double-speed
Sound: MPC compatible sound card
Wallobee Jack "The Secret of the Sphinx" is a blending of cartoon and
gaming action over three-dimensional computer graphics. The animations
and visuals in the program are unique and beautiful. The game portion
consists of solving visual and audio logic puzzles to gather clues. If
you gather enough clues, you will solve the "Secret of the Sphinx."
The game features two heroes. Wallobee Jack is a kangaroo from the
Australian Outback and Francesca Fellini is a savvy American cat. They
must outwit their foes in the quest for the missing nose of the Sphinx.
Dagon is a vile crocodile who seeks the nose to sell it for a fortune in
money. Cleocatra is a priestess who seeks world domination by using the
nose to call on the power of the Egyptian god, Seth. She will use two
bumbling henchmen to prevent Wallobee and Francesca from solving the
mystery.
The graphics are excellent. The cartoon animations use vibrant colors and
smooth movement. The backdrops are three-dimensional digitized renderings
of photographs. The audio portion is very good. Native music is used to
set the mood. Sound effects were expertly digitized and are used
liberally throughout the program. The voice tracks are clear and
distinct. The voice acting is very credible with suitable emotion.
"Sphinx" features a very simple user interface. It is point and click
with a twist. For much of the game, the cursor will be the normal arrow.
When it is time to help Wallobee and Francesca solve a puzzle, the cursor
will become a hand which will be used to click on the correct answers. In
scenes featuring Dagon, you can impede his progress by finding bombs which
are hidden by hotspots on the screen. You must move the mouse until the
cursor becomes a bomb and then click it. If you aren't fast enough, Dagon
will find the clue and be one step closer to obtaining the nose. The game
has two difficulty settings for puzzle difficulty and clicking skill. The
higher clicking skill allows less time to solve the puzzle. My opinion is
that an option should be available for no time limits on solving the
puzzles to make it easier for younger children.
Another problem with the interface is that no save game or pause features
are included. You can pause the game by task-switching to another
application but you cannot save a game in progress. Every time you make a
mistake in the game, you must start over from the beginning.
I find the verbal abuse in this game to be disconcerting. Cleocatra is
constantly haranguing her henchmen. Dagon always insults the player
personally. Sensitive children and the politically correct may not enjoy
the humor of being called "a loser" or "slug."
The program also has many long loading periods. The program's
documentation includes no recommendations for speeding up this portion of
the game. I was running the program on a 486DX2-66 with eight megs of RAM
and a fairly large permanent swap file. Loading periods could last up to
ten seconds.
Play value for "Sphinx" is fairly good for older children. I believe
younger children will become too frustrated with the interface and Dagon's
dissing. This could be a good program for adults because the program does
have some jokes oriented for them. If you have younger children, you can
play the game and they will enjoy watching the cartoon adventure. The
program does have a randomization feature so the game is different each
time it is played. This gives the game good replay value.
This program has limited educational value. It may pique children's
curiosity in geography and social studies. The program does use music and
graphics from Egypt. Information is given about the customs and history
of that land also. The puzzles may help children develop logic skills and
the program also teach mouse skills and develop coordination.
This program is not suitable for everyone due to the shortcomings in the
interface and the abusiveness of the insults spoken. It is reasonably
priced and it does have a 90-day money back guarantee. My suggestion is
to try it before you buy it or check the store's return policy since not
all stores will honor WordPerfect Main Street's policy.
Ratings
Graphics ........... 9.0
Sounds ............. 9.0
Interface .......... 6.0
Play Value ......... 7.5
Educational Value .. 5.0
Bang for the Buck .. 7.0
Average ............ 7.25
###
Read with Me 1 & 2
IBM Windows CD-rom with video cassette
Ages three to seven
MRSP $59.95
WordPerfect Main Street
1555 N. Technology Way
Orem, UT 84057-2399
phone 800-451-5151
IBM Requirements
CPU: 486SX or higher
Graphics: 256-color VGA
Hard disk: 1 meg
RAM: 4 megs
OS: Windows 3.1
CD-rom: Double-speed
Sound: MPC compatible sound card
This package combines two floppy-based programs into a value-priced CD-rom
offering. Rusty and Rosy Raccoon lead children on a fascinating and
entertaining voyage of discovery. Four learning games are included plus a
computer video segment.
Catch-A-Match teaches children to match numbers, letters, colors, shapes
and sizes. Children receive visual and audio cues to select matching
objects on the screen. The parent or child can choose an individual
category or work with all concepts at random. The child progresses to
higher level of difficulty as he completes each screen correctly. Three
backdrops are included to keep the program interesting and fresh for the
child but the games remain the same in concept. The program "bookmarks"
each child's progress so that he may continue from the level last played.
Coloring Box is a nice painting program which encourages creativity and
teaches color and letter concepts. Children can use fifteen different
colors to color the provided backgrounds or they can use a blank template
to create their own masterpieces. The program also includes sixty-eight
graphic stamps and twenty-four shapes to place in the pictures. Children
can also select many patterns for filling solid objects. Text can be
placed on the picture by clicking on a letter and then clicking on the
desired location on the picture. Nine pictures may be saved per child.
The program could use an undo button to undo the last action and a warning
on the trash can icon because clicking on it results in the instant
destruction of the picture.
Treasure Hunt is a variation on concentration. Children will match
rhyming words, pictures to word names, shapes, letters, and more. This
activity will strengthen memory skills, teach vocabulary, shapes and
names, recognition of rhymes and more. The game allows individual, two
player and individual against the computer playing modes. The deck starts
with six cards and will increase to thirty cards as the child's skill
increases. Children will be enticed to continue playing to uncover the
scene beneath the cards. If the cards are matched quickly enough, the
child will earn a prize.
The final game is Word Traveler. Children will construct words using the
phonemes (speech sounds) which make up words. This activity is hosted by
a pair of friendly robots who will properly pronounce each part of the
word and then the whole word. The game features three levels of play.
The easy level features single-letter beginning sounds and two-letter
ending sounds. Pictures of words that can be made with the sounds are
shown below the letters. If the child clicks on the picture, a robot will
pronounce the name.
The medium game features beginning, middle and ending sounds. The child
can choose from eight beginning sounds, two middle (vowel) sounds and six
ending sounds. These sounds can use one or two letters. When a word is
formed, one robot will speak a sentence which will define the word. The
hard level allows children to use all twenty-six letters to form words of
up to eleven letters. On all levels, each time a word is made it is added
to the child's word list. He can go to the list and have words
pronounced, print the list and more.
The final activity is Watch with Me. It consists of short, animated
movies which teach children the alphabet by name, shape and sound. The
animations even show how to write letters. Watch with Me is composed of
ABC Songs, Songs and Rhymes, and Trace a Letter. The videos are shown in
a small window. They can be enlarged but they become blocky and
pixelized. ABC Songs features ten renditions of the ABC Song. Songs and
Rhymes features twenty-six rhymes, poems or songs. Each features an
individual letter of the alphabet. Trace a Letter teaches how to draw
uppercase letters. The animation will begin with a character which has a
name starting with the letter. Eventually the character will become that
letter. The program will then ask the child to trace the shape of the
letter as it is drawn on the computer screen. These animations are done
well and many are quite amusing.
The same animations used in Watch with Me are included on a VHS video
cassette included in the package. The animations don't look quite as good
on the larger screen of most televisions as they did on the computer but
they still have good educational value. I did notice that the linear
presentation of the video tape is not as entertaining as the unstructured
nature of viewing the animations on the computer. One can view the
animations in any order on the computer, viewing favorites as often as one
may please.
The graphics are very colorful. They are not as detailed on some programs
but they are quite good. The animated movies in Watch with Me are very
good while some animated sequences in other portions of the program are
jerky. The sounds are very good. All voice tracks are well-spoken with
excellent diction and cheeriness. Sound effects are used often. The
program features classical music for the Trace a Letter section and folk
songs for the Songs and Rhymes portion.
The child's interface is point and click. Many sections provide audible
help for the child. The parent's controls are accessed by typing control-
shift-s. Various menus allow the parent to select the activities the
child will play and whether the printer can be used. The parent's section
also includes on-line help and information on educational goals for each
section. The manual is very thorough in describing the methods and
objectives of each activity. Its troubleshooting section is very short.
WordPerfect does offer limited free technical support by calling to a
specific number at their headquarters.
Children should find plenty to entertain and amuse them in this fine
product. The arcade-type games are fun to play and the animations are fun
to watch.
Read with Me 1 & 2 has great educational value for preschool children. It
teaches numbers, colors, shapes, letters, sounds, counting, vocabulary and
more. The program packs in many learning concepts.
Bang for the Buck is quite good. This program can be found for under $50
at many discounters. It isn't cheap, but it is chock full of value and
entertainment. With Novell/WordPerfect's 90-day money back guarantee, you
can't go wrong.
Ratings
Graphics ........... 8.5
Sounds ............. 9.0
Interface .......... 8.5
Play Value ......... 9.0
Educational Value .. 9.5
Bang for the Buck .. 9.0
Average ............ 8.91
###
MECC Announces Holiday Specials
In the last few weeks MECC, a developer of award-winning educational
software, has released several new titles. These releases include four
new CD-rom titles. All products are available for IBM compatible and some
are available for the Macintosh as well.
Museum Madness is a mystery-solving game designed for children ages ten to
thirteen. Children help a robot to learn about science, interact with
historical figures and solve puzzles. They will test their logic skills,
history and science knowledge, and attempt to solve the mystery.
Estimated retail pricing is $27.50 and the product is available for IBM
computers and color Macintoshes running System 7.0.
Trouble Troggle Math offers a learning experience within colorful cartoon
worlds. For children ages six to twelve, the program graduates each
student through sixty levels of difficulty as his skill increases. A
special calculator is used to save a kidnaped Muncher. Available for
Windows and Macintosh, estimated retail price is $39.50.
Yukon Trail is the third in the trail series of adventure simulations.
Players ages ten and up will become gold prospectors participating in the
Klondike Strike. Players learn history and geography facts as they make
critical decisions in their quest for gold and glory. Yukon Trail is
available for both Windows and Macintosh in floppy and CD-rom formats.
The CD-rom version features digitized speech and period photographs.
Retail price is estimated at $39.50 for floppy disks and $46.50 for the
CD-rom version.
Amazon Trail has been enhanced for release on CD-rom. This new version
will feature new digitized voices and sounds to enrich a learning
adventure for players ages ten and older. Estimated price is $39.50 and
the program will be available for Windows computers.
Storybook Weaver DELUXE combines two successful floppy-based products into
one CD-rom. The original Storybook Weaver is combined with My Own Stories
and adds a text-to-speech capability, a Spanish language feature, a
drawing tool and more. Designed for children ages six to twelve,
Storybook Weaver DELUXE will be available for Windows at $39.50.
Oregon Trail II is a CD-rom simulation of early pioneers fulfilling the
dream of America's Manifest Destiny. Players ages ten and up will
experience life on the Oregon Trail by interacting with dozens of
realistic characters and making life-and-death decisions. Oregon Trail II
features three-dimensional graphics, video footage and sound effects to
give the simulation more realism. The retail price is approximately
$57.50.
Contact MECC at 6160 Summit Drive North, Minneapolis, Minnesota 55430-4003
or call Customer Service at 1-800-685-6322, extension 529.
###
Thinkin' Things Collection 2
floppy disk or CD-rom for IBM or Mac
ages six to twelve
estimated retail $42
Edmark
P.O. Box 3218
Redmond, WA 98073-3218
phone: 206-556-8484
IBM Requirements Mac Requirements
CPU: 386DX-25 CPU: Color Mac or higher
Graphics: 256-color VGA Graphics: 256 colors
Hard disk: 13 megs for floppy Hard disk: n/a
RAM: 4 megs Ram: 4 megs, 5 for SYS 7.5
OS: DOS OS: System 6.0.7
CD-rom: Double-speed CD-rom: Double-speed
Sound: MPC compatible sound card
Optional but recommended is a microphone
Thinkin' Things Collection 2 carries forward the ideals and agenda of
Thinkin' Things Collection 1 to help children create strong thinking
skills by developing problem solving, memory, visual thought, listening
skills, creativity and more. TT2 does not teach children by drilling them
to memorize facts, but encourages them to think creatively by allowing
them explore and use various tools and instruments in five activities.
The main screen features the icons for the five activities. Simply click
on an icon to start an activity. Oranga Banga's Band is represented by
the band. 2-3D BLOX is represented by a cylindrical map of the earth. A
cube featuring unique animals is the icon for Frippletration. A picture
of Toony the bird is the entrance to Toony's Tunes. The final activity is
Snake BLOX which has an icon of a snake of squares moving through a window
in a cube.
Oranga Banga's Band lets children write three-part rhythm using nine
different instruments in explore mode. The Question and Answer mode will
ask the child to listen to the music and then identify a band member with
his particular rhythm line. These exercises will teach children rhythm,
learn to read and write rhythm patterns and will enhance auditory
discrimination.
2-3D BLOX encourages three-dimensional visualization by having the
children work with a variety of rotating 3-D objects. The child can use
the rudimentary painting tools to create artwork which will be instantly
mapped to the rotating shapes, create his own backdrops or he can use the
stock items. Children can make a customized shape by using a lathe tool.
Background music and text can be added to the 3-D masterpiece which can be
saved for later viewing. The program even provides suggestions to aid
creative thought.
Frippletration is concentration with a twist. Players can choose to play
with audio or visual clues to build auditory or visual memory and
discrimination. The game is for one or two players. Unfortunately there
is no computer opponent option. The game will progress from sixteen cards
to thirty-six to sixty-four.
Toony's Tunes' create mode allows children to play and save their own
original songs while playing one of four unique xylophones. Most
interesting is the Sheep-a-phone which is reminiscent of Monty Python.
Children can also listen to Toony play fifteen classic children's songs.
In the Learn-A-Tune Mode, the child must follow Toony's example to learn a
song. This will strengthen auditory memory, listening skills and
recognition of pitch.
The final activity is Snake BLOX. This activity allows children to layer
background and foreground layers. This creates a perception of depth when
snakes are run under and over the various features. Many tools are
available to create background art. Numerous background music tracks can
be used to give the creation a music video appearance. The Ideas section
includes many designs that will fascinate and inspire the creativity in
anyone. Masterpieces can be saved for later viewing and editing. This
activity will enhance visual analysis and synthesis skills.
TT2 features very good animation and graphics. Animations are very
smooth. Vibrant colors are used throughout the program. The sounds are
excellent. The songs for the BLOX activities are very interesting and are
great for establishing a mood. Digitized sound effects are very lifelike.
The voices are well-done with plenty of enthusiasm.
The interface is point and click. Audible directions are provided in
Toony's Tunes, Frippletration and Oranga Banga's Band. Vocal
encouragement is used generously and enthusiastically. The BLOX
activities have no audible or visual help screens. The child is free to
explore and learn the tools and icons from his own experience. The user's
guide does explain all these tools and suggests activities for parents to
share with their children to enhance the learning process. The guide also
includes a thorough troubleshooting guide. If this fails, technical
support is available via a toll call. The program includes an Adults
Section to set preferences for the program and to monitor the child's
progress in non-BLOX activities. The program is KidDesk aware so using
TT2 with KidDesk is very simple.
This program is both fun and fascinating. The non-BLOX activities are
filled with humor, interesting sound and lots of vocal encouragement. The
BLOX activities have an almost infinite number of creativity
possibilities. This program will inspire children to play and create for
many hours.
TT2 has excellent educational value. It encourages creative thought,
enhances auditory and visual skills, increases musical appreciation and
provides auditory and visual memory training. The BLOX activities should
fascinate everyone, even adults. It would be interesting to see if people
will trade BLOX files in the future. If only these created gems could be
made into executable files that anyone could run!
Bang for the Buck is great. TT2 is reasonably priced. It represents a
great leap forward in computer methodology for educational programs. It
inspires children to think creatively. Fact memorization will always be
necessary, but creative thought is that which allows us to progress in
science and the arts. And don't forget Edmark's holiday special! KidDesk
Family Edition is included in specially marked packages of Edmark
products. Enjoy fi
le security, ease of operation and many great features
in KidDesk Family Edition.
Ratings
Graphics ........... 9.0
Sound .............. 9.5
Interface .......... 9.0
Play Value ......... 9.5
Educational Value ..10.0
Bang for the Buck .. 9.5
Average ............ 9.41
###
The mailing list is still under construction. Maybe we will work out all
the bugs for the new year. I'm still accepting applications for software
reviewers. Send a sample article to the addresses listed below. If the
title has not been reviewed before in this magazine, your article may be
published with full credit to you. If your writing is good and you accept
the challenge, I'll send an evaluation copy of a recent program to you.
You write a review and get to keep the software. I pay for the costs of
shipping the software. Details on how to submit articles can be finalized
later.
Addresses:
Internet: frank.sereno@uti.com
FidoNET: Frank Sereno, 1:2235/10
U.S. Mail: 528 West Ave.
Morris, IL 60450-1768
As always, I thank you for reading!
___________________________________________
> Delrina Award STR InfoFile
""""""""""""""""""""""""""
DELRINA WINS 1994 STAR AWARD
for
EXCELLENCE IN TECHNICAL AND SOFTWARE SUPPORT
Industry Unanimous in Selecting Delrina as the Most Improved
SAN JOSE, CA and TORONTO, ONT -- December 13, 1994 -- Delrina Corporation
(Nasdaq:DENAF, TSE:DC) the world+s leading vendor of PC communications and
electronic forms software, today announced receipt of the prestigious 1994
Software Technical Assistance Recognition (STAR) Award from the Software
Support Professionals Association (SSPA) during ceremonies held at the
recent Software Support +94 Conference in Monterey, CA. Delrina won the
award for illustrating the greatest improvement in customer satisfaction
along with overall gains in support productivity.
The STAR Awards are given annually to recognize excellence in four
categories of software and technical support. Competing companies undergo
a rigorous self-nominating process, and winners are selected by SSPA+s
Advisory Board members. There are more than 360 member companies in the
SSPA including Microsoft, Lotus, WordPerfect/Novell, IBM, Sun, and Apple.
"This award is a tribute to the hard work and dedication that the
technical support team has put into delivering superior customer support,"
said Jim Moore, Director of Operations at Delrina. "With the commitment
of our executive management team we have built an environment that has
empowered Delrina employees to treat customers as if they were the only
customer in a business that belonged to them. We have many stories where
our people have put in the extra effort to satisfy our customers."
"In all the years that we have been presenting these awards, I have never
seen a company win so big," said Bill Rose, SSPA founder and Executive
Director. "This year, all 12 members of the board unanimously agreed on
Delrina as their number one selection."
"We are pleased to be singled out for this excellence by our peers," said
Dennis Bennie, Delrina Chairman and CEO. "Our investment in high quality
support is a major success factor in maintaining leadership in our
markets. We are an example for others to follow."
Since 1992, Delrina+s customer service contacts increased rapidly from 250
telephone calls per day to more than 4,000 contacts today. Delrina+s
Technical Support Centre in Toronto now handles more than 100,000 customer
contacts per month. For every 10,000 contacts Delrina receives only two
complaints.
The Company was able to improve service quality through extensive customer
surveys and responding with innovative services, instituting a pay for
performance plan to focus employees on delivering a high quality service,
and investing substantially in training, technology, and facilities. This
included the development of specialized knowledge databases, call tracking
systems, fax on demand information distribution, diagnostic tools,
extended support services, and the operation of Radio Delrina which
provides telephone traffic reports, music, and other useful information on
Delrina products and services while callers hold for a Delrina
representative.
Founded in June 1988, Delrina is a high-profile Canadian success story and
ranked among the fastest growing software companies in North America. The
company develops, markets and supports PC-based software products and
services for fax, voice, data communications, electronic forms processing,
and consumer markets. Delrina employs more than 550 people with
headquarters in Toronto, Canada, and offices in San Jose, CA, Washington
DC,
Kirkland, WA, the U.K., France, and Germany.
****
Press Contact:
Josef Zankowicz
Delrina Corporation, (416) 441-4658
Internet: josefz@delrina.com
____________________________________
> STR InfoFile
""""""""""""
Creative Reflects on Another Award Winning Year
===============================================
Sound Blaster AWE32 Receives PC Computing's Most
Valuable Product Award in the Multimedia Hardware Category
SINGAPORE -- December 12, 1994 -- With the holiday season fast
approaching, Creative Labs, Inc., a subsidiary of Creative Technology Ltd.
(Nasdaq: CREAF) might be thinking of decking its halls with another
showcase. This year the leading PC audio provider received awards from
many organizations including industry publications and distributors, among
others. In Las Vegas, at COMDEX/Fall, the largest computer trade show in
the United States, it was announced that Sound Blaster AWE32 earned
PC/Computing's prestigious "Most Valuable Product" (MVP) Award in the
multimedia hardware category. Sound Blaster Value Edition also received
an award in the consumer hardware/add-in-board category from Merisel,
Inc., at its annual "Hot Performers" ceremony at COMDEX.
"We're delighted with PC/Computing's selection of Sound Blaster AWE32 as
an MVP. To be awarded first place from an extensive list of multimedia
hardware products is the best endorsement any product can receive," said
W.H. Sim, Creative Technology's chairman and CEO. "Both the AWE32 audio
card and the AWE32 Value Edition have been extremely successful in
furthering Creative's goals. These products clearly offer consumers high
performance features at great price points and deliver the type of
superior sound and speech quality that they expect from Creative," he
said.
Sound Blaster AWE32 combines the powerful features of Creative's award-
winning Sound Blaster 16 Advanced Signal Processing card with the great
sounding Advanced WavEffects digital sample playback synthesis
capabilities of E-mu Systems' EMU8000 integrated audio DSP. AWE32 Value
offers users a cost-effective means of obtaining all of the Advanced
WavEffects realistic instruments and sound effects capabilities of the
AWE32 audio card.
The recognition that Creative received this year from PC/Computing and
Merisel represents exciting new developments in Creative's wealthy list of
achievements. The company has won much acclaim through the many awards
its products have received since Creative sold its first sound card in
1989. The following are highlights of the numerous awards that Creative
received in 1994.
Sound Cards
------------
Computer Shopper's Best Buy of 1994, Computability Sound Board --
Sound Blaster AWE32
Infoworld Buyer's Assurance Seal -- Sound Blaster AWE32
WordPerfect for Windows Magazine Reader's Choice (Best Sound Card) --
Sound Blaster Series
PC World's Best Buy -- Sound Blaster AWE32
WordPerfect Magazine Reader's Choice (Best Sound Card) -- Sound Blaster
Series
Windows Magazine Reader's Choice (Best Sound Card) -- Sound Blaster Series
Multimedia World Reader's Choice (Sound Board Under $200) -- Sound
Blaster 16
Multimedia World Reader's Choice (Sound Board Over $200) -- Sound Blaster
16 Advanced Signal Processing
Windows Magazine's WIN 100 Award -- Sound Blaster 16 Advanced Signal
Processing
HOMEPC Magazine Editor's Choice 100 Top Products Award -- Sound Blaster 16
Advanced Signal Processing
PC/Computing (Best 200) -- Sound Blaster 16 SCSI-2
PC Magazine Editor's Choice -- Sound Blaster 16 Basic Edition
Multimedia World Reader's Choice Finalist -- Sound Blaster 16 Advanced
Signal Processing
Multimedia/Video Products
-------------------------
PC World, World Class Award (Best Multimedia Upgrade Kit) -- Sound Blaster
Discovery CD 16
Multimedia World Reader's Choice (Best Multimedia Upgrade Kit) -- Sound
Blaster Discovery CD 16
New Media Magazine's Thumbs Up Award -- Video Blaster RT300
Multimedia World Reader's Choice (Best Voice Recognition Software) --
Creative VoiceAssist
Multimedia World Reader's Choice Finalist (Best Video Digitizer) --
VideoSpigot For Windows
CONTACT INFORMATION
Sandra O'Halloran
Creative Labs, Inc.
(408) 428-6600, ext. 6405
Creative Technology Ltd. develops, manufactures and markets a family of
sound and video multimedia products for PCs under the Blaster family name.
The company's Sound Blaster sound platform enables PCs to produce high
quality audio for entertainment, educational, music and productivity
applications, and has been accepted as the industry standard sound
platform for PC-based software.
Creative Technology Ltd. was incorporated in 1983 and is based in
Singapore. Creative Technology's U.S. subsidiaries include Creative Labs,
I n c ., E-mu Systems, Inc., Digicom Systems, Inc. and ShareVision
Technology, Inc. Creative also has other subsidiaries in China, Europe,
Japan, Malaysia, Singapore, and Taiwan. The company's stock is traded on
Nasdaq under the symbol CREAF and on the Stock Exchange of Singapore.
Sound Blaster is a registered trademark of Creative Technology Ltd.
Advanced WavEffects, Creative VoiceAssist, Sound Blaster AWE32, Sound
Blaster Discovery CD 16 and Video Blaster RT300 are trademarks of Creative
Technology. VideoSpigot is a registered trademark of Supermac Technology,
Inc. E-mu is a registered trademark of E-mu Systems, Inc. and
ShareVision is a registered trademark of ShareVision Technology, Inc. All
other products mentioned herein are trademarks of their respective owners
and hereby recognized as such.
_____________________________________________
> PerfectOffice Ships!STR Spotlight
"""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""
NOVELL SHIPS PERFECTOFFICE 3.0 FOR WINDOWS
New suite receives acclaim from beta users and early reviews;
Novell offers special $199 upgrade price
OREM, Utah Dec. 14, 1994 Novell, Inc. today announced that
PerfectOffice 3.0, its first desktop applications suite, is shipping on
schedule and will be available on retail shelves before the end of the
year. PerfectOffice 3.0 combines WordPerfect, the best-selling word
processor of all time, with award-winning applications in six different
categories. The new product goes beyond traditional suites by offering
superior program integration with PerfectFit technology, task automation
with the first cross-application scripting language and network benefits
for both end users and IS managers. PerfectOffice 3.0 is also the first
suite to include workgroup publishing tools for collaborative computing.
PerfectOffice 3.0 has already received industry acclaim since its
announcement in June 1994. PC/Computing gave the product a 4.5 (out of
five) star rating, the highest score in its suite review (November 1994)
and called it "the best all-around suite for integration." The Nov. 14,
1994 issue of InfoWorld claimed that the product "has a definite shot at
the office suite title." The Oct. 25 issue of PC Magazine predicted that
"PerfectOffice may well change what we expect from suites."
"We are thrilled to see such a tremendous early response to this
product," said Ad Rietveld, president of WordPerfect, the Novell
Applications Group. "We are confident that PerfectOffice offers the best
integrated software solution on the market and will begin to define
the next generation of network applications."
Beta Users Discover Innovations in PerfectOffice
------------------------------------------------
"The installation routine was easy, especially for a network
administrator, said Tim Hickernell of Commonwealth Edison Co. in Chicago.
"It provides centralized management of user defaults in far more detail
than in other suites."
"The user interface makes sense," said Bruce Norton of Norton
Innovation in Lititz, Pennsylvania. "There are QuickTasks and Experts all
over the place so you can spend more time using the product and less time
learning it."
"The scripting language, PerfectScript, is like nothing else I've
seen in other office suites," said Paul Dalton, of Jackson & Walker, a
Texas law firm. "It's a really nice, easy-to-learn, cross-application
approach."
Two Versions of PerfectOffice Now Shipping
------------------------------------------
PerfectOffice is now shipping in two versions Standard and
Professional. PerfectOffice Standard includes the following products:
- WordPerfect 6.1 (word processor)
- Quattro Pro 6.0 (spreadsheet)
- Presentations 3.0 (presentation graphics)
- InfoCentral 1.1 (personal information manager)
- Envoy 1.0 (workgroup publishing tool)
- GroupWise 4.1 client license and QuickLook (integrated e-mail,
calendaring and scheduling)
PerfectOffice Professional will include all of the above products as
well as Borland International's Paradox 5.0, a relational database, and
Novell AppWare (formerly Visual AppBuilder), a fifth-generation visual
custom development tool.
A third version, PerfectOffice Select, will offer the industry's
first "create your own" suite solution and is scheduled for release in
first quarter 1995. Using new CD-ROM-based technology, customers will be
able to select from any of the applications in the Standard and
Professional versions, as well as certain Novell GroupWare applications,
WordPerfect Main Street products, and a variety of integrated third-party
applications.
PerfectFit Integration Dramatically Improves Ease of Learning
-------------------------------------------------------------
PerfectFit technology provides each of the PerfectOffice components
with unparalleled program integration including a consistent user
interface, common tools, and PerfectScript, the first cross-application
scripting language to be included in a suite. Each of the programs in
PerfectOffice shares consistent toolbars, pull-down menus and common key
dialog boxes.
PerfectFit ensures that each PerfectOffice program looks and feels alike,
so users can easily learn each of the applications.
PerfectFit technology also provides PerfectOffice users with the most
extensive set of common suite tools in the industry. The speller,
thesaurus, drawing module, grammar checker, file manager, Coaches, Experts
and QuickCorrect feature are shared among applications. In addition
to consistency, users benefit from conservation of system resources and
memory.
In addition to PerfectFit technology, PerfectOffice is the first
suite to offer support for Object Linking and Embedding (OLE) 2.0
functionality in five applications. Users can easily drag and drop data
among PerfectOffice programs. With "in-place" editing, users can edit
"objects" (such as a Quattro Pro spreadsheet) directly from WordPerfect or
other PerfectOffice applications.
QuickTasks Help Users Focus on Tasks Rather than Applications
-------------------------------------------------------------
PerfectOffice goes beyond the traditional ease-of-use features found
in competing suites to automate entire tasks for users, independent of
individual applications. New QuickTasks, accessible from the Desktop
Application Director (DAD), automatically perform simple and complex tasks
directly from the desktop, letting users concentrate on tasks rather than
applications. QuickTasks don't force the user to open individual
applications in order to get work done. Users can access more than 50
QuickTasks to automatically create letters, faxes, spreadsheets and slide
shows; update InfoCentral records; schedule meetings; open e-mail;
generate mail merges or perform other common tasks. Users can also use the
QuickTask Expert to create their own customized QuickTasks.
PerfectOffice Leverages the Network to Help Users Work Together Better
----------------------------------------------------------------------
"The merger of WordPerfect and Novell, and the acquisition of Quattro
Pro, has helped the new Novell create the industry's first network suite,"
said Mark Calkins, general manager of Novell's Business Applications
Division. "Being the first network suite means much more than just running
on a network. PerfectOffice is the first suite to begin to integrate
network and workgroup services with desktop applications, making it the
best solution for end users, as well as for system administrators who
manage software across an enterprise."
PerfectOffice is the only suite to include a workgroup publishing
tool for collaborative computing. Envoy lets users electronically view,
annotate and distribute documents across the network while keeping all
graphic design elements intact even if they don't have the software
that was used to create the document. The innovative compression
technology in Envoy often reduces files to one-third their size,
conserving network resources as documents are distributed.
PerfectOffice integrates all of its products with GroupWise, Novell's
leading groupware solution. From within each of the PerfectOffice
applications, users can access GroupWise to send e-mail, schedule personal
and group appointments, check calendars, and assign and manage workgroup
tasks.
For system administrators, PerfectOffice supports Novell's NetWare
Navigator, giving them the ability to easily install and update software
across a network. PerfectOffice includes two network installation models:
the Corporate model allows administrators to control the settings for
an enterprise from a central location and the Professional model lets
users define their own settings.
Industry's Best Toll-Free Customer Support
------------------------------------------
Novell is the only software vendor to offer toll-free, no-fee support
for its business applications (Microsoft and Lotus offer toll support
only). PerfectOffice users can receive six months of toll-free, no-fee
Classic Service, after which they can choose from a variety of other
support options.
Pricing and System Requirements
-------------------------------
Until March 31, 1995, users of any version of Novell applications
(WordPerfect, Quattro Pro, etc.) or NetWare can upgrade to PerfectOffice
Standard 3.0 for $199 (US) and users of competitive products can upgrade
for $239 (US).
For new users, the suggested retail price (SRP) of PerfectOffice
Standard is $659 (US). Users of competitive products can upgrade for an
SRP of $299 (US). The suggested retail price of PerfectOffice Professional
is $859 (US) and users of competitive products can upgrade for an SRP of
$399 (US).
PerfectOffice requires a 386-25MHz machine or better with 8MB RAM,
and Windows 3.1 or higher.
For more information about PerfectOffice 3.0 for Windows, customers
can call (800) 451-5151.
The business of Novell Inc. (NASDAQ:NOVL) is connecting people to
other people and the information they need, enabling them to act on it
anytime, anyplace. Novell is the world's leading network software
provider. The company's software products provide the distributed
infrastructure, network services, advanced network access and network
applications required to make networked information and pervasive
computing an integral part of everyone's daily life.
***
WordPerfect and Quattro are registered trademarks of Novell, Inc.
P e r fectOffice, PerfectFit, PerfectScript, Presentations, Envoy,
InfoCentral, GroupWise and AppWare are trademarks of Novell, Inc. Windows
is a trademark of Microsoft Corporation. Paradox is a registered trademark
of Borland International.
________________________________________
> COREL ON THE ROAD! STR InfoFile
"""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""
ROAD SHOW!
==========
The Product Specialist Team of Corel Corporation is scheduling a
North American, UK and Germany blitz during January and February. These
events are planned for most major cities to give our existing registered
users and prospective new users a chance to watch our exciting product
demonstrations and find out about Corel's direction and plans for the
future. If you plan to attend, you must RSVP as space is limited, by
calling 613-728-0826 ext: 85090. Please leave the location of the show
you plan to attend and your name and telephone number.
January 30, 1995 (9:30am-12pm)
Marriott Boston Copley
110 Huntington Ave.
Boston, MA
January 31, 1995 (9:30am-12pm)
New York Vista
3 World Trade Center
New York, NY
February 1, 1995 (9:30am-12pm)
Rittenhouse Hotel
210 W Rittenhouse Sq.
Philadelphia, PA
February 2, 1995 (9:30am-12pm)
Omni Inner Harbor Htl
110 West Fayette St.
Baltimore, MD
February 3, 1995 (9:30am-12pm)
Sheraton City Ctr Hotel
1143 New Hampshire Avenue NW
Washington, DC
February 6, 1995 (9:30am-12pm)
Hyatt Regency Dallas
300 Reunion Blvd.
Dallas, TX
February 6, 1995 (9:30am-12pm)
Queen Elizabeth Hotel
900 Rene Levesque W
Montreal, PQ
February 7, 1995 (9:30am-12pm)
Westin Galleria
5060 W Alabama St.
Houston, TX
February 7, 1995 (9:30am-12pm)
Inter Continental
200 Bloor Street West
Toronto, ON
February 8, 1995 (9:30am-12pm)
Marriott KC Downtown
200 West 12th Street
Kansas City, MO
February 9, 1995 (9:30am-12pm)
Delta Bow Valley
209 4th Avenue SE
Calgary, AB
February 9, 1995 (9:30am-12pm)
Hyatt Regency Milwaukee
333 West Kilbourn Av.
Milwaukee, WI
February 10, 1995 (9:30am-12pm)
Four Seasons
791 West Georgia St.
Vancouver, BC
February 10, 1995 (9:30am-12pm)
Forum Hotel Chicago
525 N Michigan Av.
Chicago, IL
February 10, 1995 (9:30am-12pm)
Atlanta Hilton & Tower
255 Courtland St NE
Atlanta, GA
February 14, 1995 (9:30am-12pm)
Marriott Biscayne
1633 N Bayshore Drive
Miami, FL
February 15, 1995 (9:30am-12pm)
Sheraton Inn Tampa
7401 E Hillsborough Av
Tampa, FL
February 17, 1995 (9:30am-12pm)
The Westin Hotel
1900 Fifth Avenue
Seattle, WA
February 21, 1995 (9:30am-12pm)
Marriott Portland OR
1401 SW Front Street
Portland, OR
February 21, 1995 (9:30am-12pm)
Inter Continental
251 South Olive Street
Los Angeles, CA
February 22, 1995 (9:30am-12pm)
Omni Detroit Hotel
333 E Jefferson Avenue
Detroit, MI
February 22, 1995 (9:30am-12pm)
The Mark Hopkins
1 Nob Hill
San Francisco, CA
February 23, 1995 (9:30am-12pm)
Marriott Minneapolis
30 South Seventh St.
Minneapolis, MN
February 23, 1995 (9:30am-12pm)
Ritz Carleton
2401 E Camelback Rd
Phoenix, AZ
February 24, 1995 (9:30am-12pm)
Brown Palace
321 17th Street
Denver, CO
""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""
A T T E N T I O N -- A T T E N T I O N -- A T T E N T I O N
FARGO PRIMERA PRO COLOR PRINTERS - 600DPI
For a limited time only; If you wish to have a FREE sample printout sent
to you that demonstrates FARGO Primera & Primera Pro SUPERIOR QUALITY
600dpi 24 bit Photo Realistic Color Output, please send a Self Addressed
Stamped Envelope [SASE] (business sized envelope please) to:
STReport's Fargo Printout Offer
P.O. Box 6672
Jacksonville, Florida 32205-6155
Folks, the FARGO Primera Pro has GOT to be the best yet. Its far superior
to the newest of Color Laser Printers selling for more than three times as
much. Its said that ONE Picture is worth a thousand words. Send for this
sample now. Guaranteed you will be amazed at the superb quality. (please,
allow at least a one week turn-around)
A T T E N T I O N -- A T T E N T I O N -- A T T E N T I O N
""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""
: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.
Fire up that high-speed modem and head for your favorite GEnie Software
Library! Effective October 10, 1994, you'll be able to participate in an
open beta test, offering access to GEnie Services at 9600 bps for as
little as $5.00 per hour.
As a result of an arrangement with Sprint, GEnie will be offering 9600 bps
access from almost 300 SprintNet locations. Best of all, this high-speed
access will not be subject to high-priced surcharges. The normal $2.00
per hour SprintNet surcharge will apply...even at 9600 bps! This open
beta test is expected to run through the end of the year.
To find the number of the SprintNet access number nearest you, simply type
PHONES at any GEnie menu prompt (or use the "Move To Keyword" option in
GENIE for Windows and type PHONES). Remember, this rate applies only to
9600 bps access via SprintNet. So be sure to choose the access number
showing "9600" in the "Baud Rate" column AND "SprintNet" in the "Network"
column.
From the "Fine Print" department, please note that the $2.00 per hour
surcharge for SprintNet access is applicable even during your initial four
hours of monthly usage.
So, whether you're into downloading software, reading bulletin boards, or
accessing databases, it's about to become cheaper to do it faster!
GENIE Information Services copyright 1994 by General Electric
Information Services/GENIE, reprinted by permission
""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""
___ ___ _____ _______
/___| /___| /_____| /_______/ The Macintosh RoundTable
/____|/____| /__/|__| /__/ ________________________
/_____|_____|/__/_|__|/__/
/__/|____/|__|________|__/
/__/ |___/ |__|_/ |__|_/____ Managed by SyndiComm
/__/ |__/ |__|/ |__|______/
An Official Forum of the International Computer Users Group
*** STReport available in MAC RT ***
ASCII TEXT
for ALL GENIE users!
MAC/APPLE SECTION (II)
======================
John Deegan, Editor (Temp)
> WRECKED LIVES STR FOCUS!
""""""""""""""""""""""""
OF HEARTBREAK AND SORROW
========================
MATT DEATHERAGE UPDATE - 12/94
==============================
Matt Deatherage, who is in prison right now, is going to have a very
lonely Christmas without our help. (If this whole prison thing is news to
you, you need to see the information files sent out earlier this year. To
get them, ftp to ftp.netcom.com and look in /pub/dl/dland/, or just send
mail to dland@netcom.com and I'll mail them back to you.)
This file, written by Eric Mueller and expressing some views of Matt's
family and other friends, explains a little about what happened since
those two files and what is going on right now.
WHAT HAPPENED IN JULY
=====================
After Matt was arrested in March, we made a public plea for letters to the
judge, asking you to explain who you were, your relationship with Matt and
how you felt about the situation. Over 150 letters were received by the
judge---and for that, we sincerely thank you.
This is a small excerpt from the news story that ran on July 9th in the
San Jose Mercury News:
------<snip snip> <cut here>-------
CUPERTINO MAN GETS 3 YEARS IN SEX-VIA-COMPUTER CASE
Just months after his sexual exploits startled computer users
nationwide, a remorseful Cupertino man was sentenced to more than three
years in prison Friday for his sadomasochistic encounter with a boy he met
through an on-line service.
"I apologize to this court and this county," Donald "Matthew"
Deatherage told a Santa Clara County Superior Court judge.
Deatherage's March arrest sparked debate on computer bulletin boards
throughout the country as well as a letter-writing campaign in his
defense. But more significant, it alerted parents to the potential danger
in what many thought was an innocent way for their children to communicate
with others.
Shackled at the waist and wearing a jail-issued brown shirt reserved
for inmates in special, protective custody, Deatherage said he had been
racked with guilt over what he had done and understood the fear that his
case generated.
"I can only submit to you the evidence that you've read -- that this
evil is not me and is not in me," Deatherage, 27, said.
"I made a terrible mistake. I became attached to and involved, falling
in love with a person who is not legally able to express the consent that
he did."
Despite Deatherage's professed remorse, Judge Charles Gordon sentenced
him to three years and four months in prison, one year shy of the maximum.
'Love is not just sex'
"Many of your feelings are misguided," said Gordon, who received more
than 150 letters seeking leniency for Deatherage. "Love is not just sex."
Gordon said he did not give Deatherage the maximum term because he
took into consideration the Apple Computer engineer's lack of criminal
history and early no-contest plea to two counts of lewd and lascivious
conduct with a minor and one count of sodomy.
Still, Gordon mentioned the vulnerability of the 14-year-old boy --
who went by the computer tag "Mr. Alone" -- and the prosecutor noted the
concern the case brought to parents who buy computers for their children.
"In the minds of people in this community, they've purchased computers
so their children can be educated and use them for their benefit, not so
that they would be subject to the kind of acts that the defendant
perpetrated on the victim on this case," Deputy District Attorney Hector
Moreno Jr. said.
'A good man'
Deatherage's lawyer, Dennis Alan Lempert, painted a different picture
of the defendant, describing him as a "good man who had done a lot of good
throughout his life."
Lempert also lashed out at the media and prosecutor, who he says
vilified Deatherage.
Kent Fillmore, who appeared in court to lend emotional support to
Deatherage, expressed some dismay over the sentence. "I don't think he's a
threat to anybody," said Fillmore, adding that it was he who first
introduced Deatherage to America Online, the computer service Deatherage
used to meet the boy through electronic mail. "I think it was kind of
severe."
------<snip snip> <cut here>-------
I heard some interesting tidbits from Matt's sister after the sentencing,
who said that Matt told her the judge refused to read any of those many
supportive letters he received on Matt's behalf. I don't know if that's
true or not, but with that many letters, you'd think the judge would be a
little more understanding...
In any case, the next step for Matt was "processing" at San Quentin State
Prison. This is where he's moving to SQ (which is in Northern California)
and they determine the final location for him. He won't be staying at SQ
because he's considered a sex offender.
Here's where things get screwy. Matt was supposed to be in an out of SQ in
60 days---from the end of June to around September, at the latest.
However, he's still there, and we don't have ANY idea why he hasn't been
moved or when he will be moved (one theory is that everyplace he would be
moved to is full and they're waiting for a bed to open up). We don't
receive any advance notice that he will be moved; neither does he.
THE CURRENT SITUATION
=====================
I received a letter from Matt today (12/12/94)---he's lonely, very bored,
and believes his friends have abandoned him. He explained things at San
Quentin a little more to me; my comments are in brackets:
"I have a 'restricted custody' designation--I must be held in a secure
perimeter under a gun and/or constant supervision. Most Level I yards are
minimum/no security; you could walk away if you were so inclined. CDC [San
Quentin?] has a habit of overriding people in my position to Level III to
provide extra security, putting them in with lifers or those in for 15
years or so.
"All illegal male/male sexual acts of any kind quality for these
restrictions, where male/female or female/female acts only quality if
violent or with children under 14. If I'd been with a 14-year-old girl or
I was a woman, my time would be much easier. As it is, in the CDC's eyes
I'm equated with rapists, sexual assaulters and people who sodomize
6-year-old girls.
"The law also gives inmates several rights, but CDC ignores them as they
see fit. For example, penal code section 2601 gives inmates the absolute
right to receive books except when it would jeopardize safety. San
Quentin, though, refuses to let people in the 'reception center' have
them, even though such a policy is illegal. They barely let us use the law
library, which is our only access to the courts, and we're locked up 150
of 168 hours each week. No church, either, for protective custody. If we
get sick, we can see a doctor in 4-5 weeks. Very few phone calls: 1 per
month or so.
"We are allowed non-contact visits [a glass wall between Matt and the
visitor], 15 per month, but no one has visited. Only a few people have
written---regular letters from some Apple II folk from around the world
and from Dave [Lyons]. Occasional letters from other friends but none from
the GEnie staff [where he worked for a while] and none from anyone at
Apple. What I do get is usually 2-3 weeks late from the mail room, if it's
not withheld altogether on some flimsy 'contraband' pretext."
So, it's not a pretty situation right now, that's clear. Based on this
letter and other things I've heard from his sister and his parents, Matt
is _lonely_ and could really do with some pen pals or at least some
correspondance. And that leads to...
A CHRISTMAS GIFT FOR MATT
=========================
What we have in mind for a Christmas gift to Matt is simple and easy to
do---but would mean so very much to him.
We like everyone who reads this to send him a picture postcard. This
postcard can be of anything you want: your home town, a funny cartoon, a
local tourist attraction, you decide. On the postcard, you can write
whatever you want: anything from "Happy holidays" to a long letter (in
very, very tiny handwriting!).
So, pick up something cute, slap a 19 cent stamp on that puppy, *be sure
your name and return address is on the postcard*, and mail it to:
M. Deatherage - 2C38
P. O. Box J-26463
San Quentin State Prison
San Quentin, CA 94974
If you really want to make his day, send him two postcards. Or three. Or
send him a dozen over the next 12 weeks or 12 months. The point is not
that it's a postcard (though that makes it kind of neat)---the point is
that you write to him and he'll know we're thinking of him.
(And, if you're inclined to send him more, Matt is not allowed to receive
books or magazines while he's "being processed." A real letter written by
a real person would mean much, much more to him, I believe.)
MORE DETAILS
============
I'll send out more detail as I have them. Like I said, we don't really
know much, not the least of which is when he'll be moved out of San
Quentin.
I can pass on letters to Matt's sister, parents and close friends, if you
wish to contact them for whatever reason.
I wish I had more information to tell everyone, but I'm afraid that's it.
QUESTIONS? COMMENTS? GOOD JOKES?
================================
Send 'em to the author of this document, Eric Mueller, at
<dland@netcom.com>.
HAPPY HOLIDAYS
**********************************************************************
IMPORTANT NOTICE!
=================
STReport International OnLine Magazine is available every week for your
reading pleasure on DELPHI. STReport's readers are invited to join DELPHI
and become a part of an extremely friendly community of enthusiastic
computer users there.
SIGNING UP WITH DELPHI
======================
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JOIN --DELPHI
--------------
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Advantage rates may be changed with 30 days notice given OnLine.
TRY DELPHI FOR $1 AN HOUR!
For a limited time, you can become a trial member of DELPHI, and receive 5
hours of evening and weekend access during this month for only $5. If
you're not satisfied, simply cancel your account before the end of the
calendar month with no further obligation. If you keep your account
active, you will automatically be enrolled in DELPHI's 10/4 Basic Plan,
where you can use up to 4 weekend and evening hours a month for a minimum
$10 monthly charge, with additional hours available at $3.96. But hurry,
this special trial offer will expire soon! To take advantage of this
limited offer, use your modem to dial 1-800-365-4636. Press <RET> once or
twice. When you get the Password: prompt, type IP26 and press <RET> again.
Then, just answer the questions and within a day or two, you'll officially
be a member of DELPHI!
DELPHI-It's the BEST Value and getting BETTER all the time!
************************************************************
ATARI/JAG SECTION (III)
=======================
Dana Jacobson, Editor
> From the Atari Editor's Desk "Saying it like it is!"
""""""""""""""""""""""""""""
Brrrr!! Winter is here! A couple of brief snow squalls and below
freezing temperatures....and 'tis the season. I keep "threatening"
Ralph that I'm going to send him some nice, cold snow down to Florida
one of these days. I just know he misses the stuff!
Thinking back over this past year (boy, did it fly by!), it's
really strange to think about a year gone past without Atari in the
computer business. We've been fortunate, in a sense, that Atari
computing news has been adequate for us to maintain an Atari section
here within STReport. "Within" STReport sounds strange in itself! I
recall the good old days when STReport was primarily Atari news; and
there was plenty of it. The number of dedicated supporters has
dwindled, but there are still "many" continuing in the Atari tradition
and their offerings are still coming our way. Granted, a lot of the
names that we grew to appreciate and expect some fantastic things have
moved on. 1995 is going to be an interesting year; and I can only hope
that Atari computing will still be an enjoyable pastime. Reality
tells me that things will probably get a lot worse before (if) they
ever get better. However, I know that I'll continue to enjoy the
machine that I started using eight years ago and never regretted making
the initial plunge.
And while I'm doing so, I hope to still be right here every week
providing you the latest informative news possible to help your
computing needs.
The holiday celebrations have already started with office parties
and family gatherings. Please, play it safe and be responsible. Do
NOT drink and drive.
We'll see you all just before the holiday with our next to last
issue of the year!
Until next time...
________________________________
Delphi's Atari Advantage!!
TOP TEN DOWNLOADS (12/14/94)
(1) ATARI INTERNATIONAL FTP SITES (6) OUTSIDE 3.3 DEMO
*(2) CAIN 11/94 (7) WARP 9 NVDI DISPLAY FONTS
*(3) CRACK ART V. 1.36 (8) SOFT-SCI SCREENSAVER V.2.7
*(4) SIRCWARE VIRUS KILLER (9) RECENT CHECK BOOK PROGRAM
*(5) SYSTEM SPEED CHECKER *(10) STARBALL V.1.6, PINBALL!
* = New on list
HONORARY TOP 10
The following on-line magazines are always top downloads, frequently
out-performing every other file in the databases.
STREPORT (Current issue: STREPORT 10.50)
ATARI EXPLORER ONLINE (Current issue: AEO: VOLUME 3, ISSUE 13)
Look for the above files in the RECENT ARRIVALS database.
______________________________________
> CDSELECT! STR InfoFile! - CD-ROM Access for BBS SysOps!
"""""""""""""""""""""""
Press Release
=============
December 11, 1994
Finally, what every Atari FoReM, Turbo, and Transcendence BBS
SysOp has been waiting for:
* * * * * * * * * * *
* CDSELECT *
* v1.1 *
* * * * * * * * * * *
Now, you too can hook up a CD ROM to your BBS!!!
CDSELECT is a program that will let any Atari FoReM, Turbo, or
Transcendence BBS SysOp operate a CD ROM (or actually ANY type of
removable media) for file downloading.
That's right, make THOUSANDS and THOUSANDS of files available to your
users without having to spend lots of $$$ on purchasing additional hard
drives. After the initial CD ROM drive purchase (some drives as low as
$99), it will be like adding a removable 600 Meg hard drive to your
system already loaded with files for only $10-$40 each!
Here are some of the features of v1.1:
- Users are able to browse and download files from any CD.
- SysOps can easily browse and copy files from CD to the
hard drive.
- Inactivity time and time remaining on BBS are monitored.
- Optional monitoring of Upload/Download ratio's
- I/O redirection and carrier detection are provided.
- Access level protection.
- All downloads performed are accurately recorded and
correctly updated in your BBS files.
- Xmodem, Xmodem-1K, Ymodem, Ymodem-G, and Zmodem protocols
are ALL supported for downloading.
- Displays the name of currently featured CD
- Calculates the number of download blocks and approximate
transfer time
- Allows text files to be viewed online
- Compatible with TOS 2.05 and TOS 2.06
- 24 hrs a day support BBS for assistance, suggestions,
and updates.
- Inexpensive and easy to install.
If you have been waiting to add a CD ROM to your BBS, the time is NOW,
and CDSELECT is for YOU!
CDSELECT v1.1 is available now for only $15.00 US ($20.00 Canadian)
which includes shipping and handling. Send a check or money order to:
Dennis Peters
10 Fourth St.
Pittston, Pa. 18640
~~~~ ORDER TODAY!!! ~~~~
For all of you who would like to try CDSELECT for yourself, just call
The SAAUG BBS at (717) 655-6483 and apply for a password. Call back a
day or so later, and select menu option 'O' for Online CD ROM access.
For all of you current owners of CDSELECT v1.0, you can call The SAAUG
BBS now and download your FREE upgrade to v1.1!
My fellow Delphinians: The previous press release was provided to me
by our club president, who has worked diligently for thousands of hours
on this program! It's the answer if you operate one of the above BBS's
and want to add CD-rom technology to it. Try it!
_______________________________
> SARA Debuts! STR NewsFile! - CD Search & Retrieve Software Available!
""""""""""""""""""""""""""
SARA Search and Retrieval Software
For the Atari Computer
SARA Search and Retrieval Software will allow you to search and view
the information on many CD's currently available on other platforms.
SARA has support for the following CD's
The Family Doctor - DOS Version
Sherlock Holmes on Disc
Multimedia Audubon Animals
Wayzata World Fact Book
Time Man of the Year
The Art History Encyclopedia
Software Toolworks Reference Library
Text can be accessed with any Atari computer from the ST to the Falcon
and TT using either a monochrome or color monitor in 80 column mode.
Graphics can be viewed on any Atari with 16 colors available in 80
column mode (TT and Falcon).
You will find having the Software Toolworks Reference Library at your
fingertips very handy.
SARA requires a CD rom driver. We suggest ExtenDOS Pro by Anodyne
Software for best use.
SARA is available for $59.99, postpaid, from It's All Relative Software,
2233 Keeven Lane, Florissant MO 63031 USA. Or ask for it by name at your
favorite Atari dealer.
_________________________________________
> Suzy B's On CD! STR InfoFile! - Suzy B's Software on CD Released!
"""""""""""""""""""""""""""""
NEW FROM SUZY B's SOFTWARE: TWO VOLUME CD SET
PUBLISHED BY TOAD COMPUTERS!
****
Suzy B's Software has been collecting and cataloging Atari Public
Domain/Shareware programs and files for the past five years. Known for
the "Honey of a Deal" they offer their customers by allowing them to
customize the disks they order, Suzy B's now offers, in teamwork with
Toad Computers, an even sweeter deal. Their complete software library
is being released in a two volume, 11,000 file, 1,300 meg CD collection.
These CDs are not not 11,000 files of fluff either. Suzy B's has removed
all the outdated versions of programs unless an older version has some
specific features that make it useful in and of itself. This library is
all the evidence needed to show how busy they've been in combing through
the online services throughout the country.
We had one amusing...and very frustrating...problem in in getting all of
our software onto these two CD's. The people we were working with could
not get their software to recognize all of the files we gave them. It
was incapable of handling that many files at one time (around 70,000!).
Finally, after much work on their part (they really are nice guys) they
were able to finish the job. They were stung by all of our files, but
we don't think that will happen to you!
Each file is individually described, sometimes with a description
reaching over a page (the main catalog is over 3.4 megabytes of ASCII
text!). You are likely already familiar with the quality of the
descriptions, since they have all been written by Michael Burkley, "The
Unabashed Atariophile" himself. The files are grouped in such ways as
to allow you to easily buzz through the CDs. There are 51 separate
categories, and each file within a category resides in its own folder,
with a catalog description within each folder. Since all of the files
are uncompressed, you can run them directly from the CD, saving a lot of
hard drive or floppy disk space!
What's the cost? Not much at all. You can get our two volume CD for
only $69.95, either from Suzy B's Software or through Toad Computers.
Now that's "a honey of a deal!"
And what do you get when you order this amazing 2 CD set? A double CD
jewel case with 2 custom-made CD ROMs packed inside! It's attractively
packaged and a must-have for any serious Atari user!
It's compatible with all ST computers. ExtenDOS is recommended for
accessing the disks and may be purchased from Toad Computers for $19.95.
Suzy B's Software
3712 Military Road
Niagara Falls, NY 14305
716-298-1986
Toad Computers
570 Ritchie Highway
Severna Park, MD 21146
(800) 448-8623 Orders
(410) 544-6943 Information
Other interesting stuff you might like to see...
Suzy B's Software..."A Honey of a Deal"
Suzy B's Software is buzzing onto the scene of the Public Domain/
Shareware supply services with a difference. Supplying single- or
double-sided disks as requested, we will fill the disks full with
compressed self-extracting files (compatible with all TOS versions).
That in itself gives you a good deal, but Suzy B's goes on to give you
what the owner, Susan Burkley, calls "a honey of a deal." She asks,
"How many times have you wanted a utility and a game from a P.D. service
but had to buy two disks to get them both?
With Suzy B's we put your individual selections on a single disk so
you can pick and choose and get more of what you want. Do you want a
game, a children's program, a picture file or two, the most recent
version of ST Writer, and a NASA press release? You can have them all
on one disk! All our files are compressed in a self-extracting format to
give you even more of what you want.
Right now we have about 11,000 files from which to choose--our catalog is
over 1,400 pages long--THREE POINT FOUR Megabytes of ASCII text, and it
keeps growing! It's a lot more work for us, but you get a honey of a
deal!"
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
How did Suzy B's Software come about? One day in 1989 Susan and
Michael Burkley ordered twenty single-sided disks from a major PD disk
supplier. After getting the disks and sorting them and discarding the
"stuff" they couldn't use, well, they didn't have much left. And so, an
idea was conceived. After nearly two years of work, Suzy B's Software
was born. Susan, with the help of her husband, runs Suzy B's Software
out of their home. Dividing up the labor between them, Susan runs the
administrative end of the business while her husband Michael combs
through the 1000's of online files to bring you the best in Public
Domain/Shareware offerings. Susan manages both home and business while
Michael is the pastor of the Niagara Presbyterian Church and the author
of "The Unabashed Atariophile," an ongoing series of articles in Atari
Explorer Online.
To All Shareware Authors (please pass this along!):
Suzy B's Software is offering you an opportunity to increase your
Shareware registrations. If you will place a brief text description of
our service in your software's documentation (see below) we will give a
free two disk Suzy B's Software catalog (value $2) _and_ a $3 discount
on a Suzy B's Software disk to each person who registers one of your
programs. If they register two they will get a total of $6 in credits.
Even if a person is just _upgrading_ your software (and if you charge
money for the upgrade!) they still get the $3 discount! Please get in
touch with us if you wish to participate in this program, or if you wish
to get one of our catalogs and see our selection first hand. Maybe we
can help each other!
Suzy B's Software
3712 Military Road
Niagara Falls, NY 14305
716-298-1986
Suzy B's carries an ENORMOUS selection of Atari PD/SHAREWARE software
as well as having a VERY unique approach to software distribution.
Call today for a catalog, I think you'll be pleased!
Suzy B's Software puts your individual selections on a disk so you can
pick and choose and get more of what you want. Do you want a game, a
children's program, a picture file or two, the most recent version of
almost any PD Program, and a NASA press release? You can have them all
on one disk! Right now they have about 11,000 compressed files from
which to choose! With Suzy B's software you get "a honey of a deal!"
Good News! Everyone who registers one of my Shareware programs will
receive a free two disk Suzy B's Software catalog (value $2) _and_ a
$3 credit towards the purchase of a disk from the Suzy B's Software
collection. Register two programs, get a $6 credit towards the
purchase of two or more disks; register three programs, get a $9 credit
towards the purchase of three or more disks...and so on! What if
you've already registered, but have an older version of my software?
Just upgrade for a fee of $x and you'll still get the Suzy B's
discount. Now that sounds like "a Honey of a Deal!" Just include
a SASE with your registration fee so that I can mail a certificate
of registration back to you for use with Suzy B's.
___________________________________
JAGUAR SECTION
==============
T2K Audio CD! CatBox! Syndicate!
Time Warner Cable Debuts! New Games!
And Much More!
> From the Editor's Controller - Playin' it like it is!
""""""""""""""""""""""""""""
It's getting close to the end of the year. What I usually like to
at this time of year is to give a rundown of the past year, the good
and the bad. I will be doing so, but not this week. I think it's
important to reflect on what's happened with Atari and the Jaguar's
successes and/or failures. Suffice to say, it's been an unusual year
for Atari; and to be quite honest, a "qualified" different one than
we've seen in recent years. We'll get into it more the next couple of
weeks.
We've some interesting items for you this week. Included in this
issue is some interesting news about the CatBox. We haven't heard much
about this Jaguar add-on for quite some time. It's currently in
production and should be available next month. We've included some
informative material regarding its capabilities and specifications.
Tom Sherwin joins us this week with his debut article. Tom offers
us a commentary on the newly-released Tempest 2000 Audio CD. Tom joins
our growing STReport Jaguar team and anxious to be involved with future
game reviews and commentaries.
Atari and the Jaguar have been making business headlines a lot
these past few weeks. Sam Tramiel has been focused in a recent article
in "PC Week," an interesting article in the December 5th issue. The
Boston Globe has had articles about the Jaguar (among other consoles)
and also an article regarding Time Warner's interactive cable station.
Everything was extremely positive. It seems that the momentum, later
than we all had hoped, is building. Barring any foolish mistakes, and
giving the impression that they can't shake their historical stigma,
Atari can have a banner year starting quite early with a good number of
new games at the start of the new year. But first, let's see what this
week brings us!
Until next time...
> Jaguar Catalog STR Inf
oFile - What's currently available, what's
""""""""""""""""""""""""""" coming out.
Current Available Titles ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
CAT # TITLE MSRP DEVELOPER/PUBLISHER
J9000 Cybermorph $59.99 Atari Corp.
J9006 Evolution:Dino Dudes $49.99 Atari Corp.
J9005 Raiden $49.99 FABTEK, Inc/Atari Corp.
J9001 Trevor McFur/
Crescent Galaxy $49.99 Atari Corp.
J9010 Tempest 2000 $59.95 Llamasoft/Atari Corp.
J9028 Wolfenstein 3D $69.95 id/Atari Corp.
JA100 Brutal Sports FtBall $69.95 Telegames
J9008 Alien vs. Predator $69.99 Rebellion/Atari Corp.
Doom $69.99 id/Atari Corp.
J9036 Dragon: Bruce Lee $59.99 Atari Corp.
Club Drive $59.99 Atari Corp.
J9007 Checkered Flag $69.99 Atari Corp.
Available Soon ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
CAT # TITLE MSRP DEVELOPER/PUBLISHER
CatBox $69.95 ICD
Theme Park TBD Ocean
Syndicate TBD Ocean
Troy Aikman Football$69.99 Williams
Sensible Soccer
J9012 Kasumi Ninja $69.99 Atari
Val D'Isere Skiing $59.99 Atari
Cannon Fodder TBD Virgin
Hover Strike $59.99 Atari
Iron Soldier $59.99 Atari
J9042 Zool 2 $59.99 Atari
Bubsy $49.99 Atari
Hardware and Peripherals ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
CAT # TITLE MSRP MANUFACTURER
J8001 Jaguar (complete) $249.99 Atari Corp.
J8904 Composite Cable $19.95
J8901 Controller/Joypad $24.95 Atari Corp.
J8905 S-Video Cable $19.95
_________________________________________
> Industry News STR Game Console NewsFile - The Latest Gaming News!
"""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""
CONTACT: Atari, Sunnyvale
Ron Beltramo, 408/745-8852
Edelman Public Relations
David Harrah, 415/968-4033
9-DEC-1994 10:32 Atari releases more Jaguar game titles; five new games
available for holiday giving
SUNNYVALE, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Dec. 9, 1994--Continuing to add
momentum to its growing catalog of software, Atari Corp. (AMERICAN:ATC)
Friday announced the release of five new games for the holiday-selling
season.
The exciting array of coming new games includes "Kasumi Ninja,"
"Zool2," "Bubsy," "Iron Soldier" and "Val d'Isere Skiing & Snowboarding."
"We're adding more Jaguar games every month and we'll continue to add
to our library of titles throughout 1995," stated Sam Tramiel, president
and chief executive officer of Atari. "Consumers can buy the affordable
Jaguar knowing that a wide variety of compelling games will be available
to exploit the revolutionary technology of the only 64-bit system on the
market."
With Jaguar's cutting-edge graphics, 24-bit true color and CD-quality
sound, game players experience the latest in video game technology.
Following is an outline of planned Atari releases for early December
1994:
Game Title Game Category MFG,SRP
Kasumi Ninja Combat $69.99
Zool2 Action/Adventure $59.99
Bubsy Action/Adventure $49.99
Iron Soldier Action/Strategy $59.99
Val d'Isere Skiing &
Snowboarding Sports $59.99
More than 200 third-party developers have agreed to create new titles
for the Atari Jaguar and a steady stream of titles are in process for
release in 1995. Other Jaguar titles expected in the first quarter
include, "Hover Strike," "Space War 2000," "Troy Aikman NFL Football,"
"Rayman," "Double Dragon V," "Theme Park," "Syndicate" and "Fight for
Life."
Since its release, Atari's Jaguar game system has been named the
industry's "Best New Game System" (VideoGames Magazine), "Best New
Hardware System" (Game Informer) and "1993 Technical Achievement of the
Year" (DieHard GameFan).
Atari markets interactive multimedia entertainment systems, including
Jaguar, the world's only 64-bit system, and the only video game system
manufactured in the United States. Atari is headquartered at
1196 Borregas Ave., Sunnyvale, CA 94089.
Contact: Ron Beltramo Tammy Lindsay David Harrah
Atari Time Warner Edelman P.R.
408/745-8852 407/667-2034 415/968-4033
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
ATARI JAGUAR ON THE LOOSE IN TIME WARNER CABLE'S FULL SERVICE NETWORK
Orlando, FL . . . December 14, 1994 . . . Atari Corporation's Jaguar
64-bit interactive video game system went on-line today with the
initiation of Time Warner Cable's Full Service Network (FSN) in Orlando,
Florida. Atari Corporation's CEO Sam Tramiel joined Time Warner
Chairman Gerald Levin at today's inauguration event in Orlando. Jaguar,
the world's first and only 64-bit interactive game system features
high-speed animation, textured three-dimensional color images and
graphics, and CD-quality sound.
Consumers will access the Atari games on the Full Service Network
using the 64-bit Jaguar game system device, which processes more than
100 times as much data at one time than 16-bit games, and twice as much
as 32-bit game systems. This significantly increases speed and lets the
game player experience superior graphic performance and animation action.
Through the Full Service Network, the Atari games are digitally compressed
and stored on magnetic hard drives, and downloaded to the game device at
the consumers' request.
"Time Warner Cable's Full Service Network is the most advanced
interactive network ever built, and it gives subscribers the most
advanced interactive gaming system available -- the 64-bit Atari Jaguar,"
said Atari President and CEO Sam Tramiel. "Atari's Jaguar system brings
the most sophisticated hardware and games to the network."
Atari Jaguar Interactive Multimedia Systems are also in use at the
"Home of the 21st Century, " a model home equipped with Full Service
Network capabilities, and other state-of-the-art home services located
in the Sweetwater, Wekiva, Lake Brantley and Springdale community near
Orlando. Five 64-bit Atari Jaguar Interactive Multimedia systems are in
use in the home, which is sponsored by Time Warner Cable's Full Service
Network and Southern Living Magazine.
"We're proud to offer consumers the Atari Jaguar system because it's
the most advanced and powerful system available today," said Full Service
Network President Tom Feige. "When we compared the graphics and
capabilities of the game systems on the market, Atari Jaguar was the clear
choice for us."
Since its release in November 1993, Atari's Jaguar system has been
named the industry's "Best New Game System" by Video Games Magazine, "Best
New Hardware System" by Game Informer, and "1993 Technical Achievement of
the Year" by DieHard GameFan.
Time Warner Cable is the nation's second largest cable television
operator with 7.3 million customers in 34 states, and serves more than
500,000 customers in its Florida division. Time Warner Cable's Full
Service Network is a digital, interactive television network which merges
cable, computer and telephone technologies to provide customers greater
choice, control and convenience in accessing information and services.
Atari Corporation markets interactive multimedia entertainment
systems, including Jaguar, the world's only 64-bit game system, and the
only video game system manufactured in the United States.
___________________________________
> 3DO & Hard Times? STR NewsFile! - 3DO Broke in 7 Months?
"""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""
The Sunday, Dec. 12, New York Times had an article about 3DO in its
business section. The article basically said that 3DO had a lot of
start-up momentum because of its CD-ROM game format and modest ($3/
game sold) licensing fees. But now that everyone else, including
established players Nintendo and Sega, are have or are about to
introduce 32-bit, CD-ROM-based systems and 3DO has raised its licensing
fee to $6/game 3DO is in big trouble. The following are excerpts from
that article:
"Mr. Hawkins has to demonstrate soon that his supposedly superior
technology can catch on with consumers, who during its first year
on the market held back because of a lack of software, and developers,
whom Mr. Hawkins expects not only to create dazzling games that run
on 3DO's systems but also pay for the privilege of doing so. Otherwise,
by next Christmas, more firmly established players - Nintendo and
Sega, to name a few - will have vastly improved systems of their own,
at the same time that Sony, the consumer-electronics giant, and
possibly Apple Computer, will have waded into the market."
"Wall Street analysts, once red-hot on Mr. Hawkins company, have
cooled, and 3DO's stock trades at $10.625, far from the $47.75 peak
it hit in October 1993, and even below where it was trading a week
ago. On Monday, Mr. Hawkins warned a group of financial analysts
that the company would run through its modest $21M cash cushion
in seven months unless a runaway consumer purchases replenishes its
coffers."
> Jaguar Developers STR InfoFile - Current Developer News!
""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""
CatBox Short Fact Sheet
=======================
version 12/13/94
----------------
CatBox was designed for all Jaguar owners and adds features to your
Jaguar that are not available on any other game system.
This stylish device plugs directly into the back of your Jaguar console.
CatBox provides standard connections for Audio.... Video.... and
Communications.
(AUDIO)
The Audio section includes RCA type stereo output jacks to connect the
Jaguars true stereo sound directly to your stereo, TV, or VCR.
CatBox includes a high performance stereo headphone amplifier with
volume control and twin headphone jacks. You won't believe the sounds
of your favorite games through headphones. The separation and dynamic
range are incredible.
The audio signal is also passed through the Analog RGB monitor
connector to support monitors with built-in sound.
(VIDEO)
CatBox has the video connections to make your Jaguar show its stuff!
You can select composite video, S-Video, or Analog RGB and use them in
any combination.
Composite and S-Video are commonly found on better TVs, VCRs, and
video cameras. The standard connectors are used on CatBox.
Analog RGB monitors are color monitors with a horizontal sync rate of
15.75 kilohertz. These are normally the monitors found on Atari ST and
Amiga computers and will give the highest quality picture at a very
reasonable cost.
(COMMUNICATIONS)
CatBox has the power for multi-player games with CatNet,... RS232,...
and a DSP pass through connector.
CatNet supports up to 32 players in a local network using low cost RJ11
telephone extension cables.
RS232 supports standard connections to computers, modems, and other
serial devices.
The DSP pass through is provided for the Atari Voice modem and other
future communications devices.
Of course, the game cartridge must support communications for it to
work. Doom from Atari and Aircars from MidNite Entertainment Group
are two examples of games that network with CatBox communications
ports.
You may order CatBox directly from Black Cat Design or from your local
Jaguar dealer. If your dealer is not offering CatBox, please have him
contact us.
CatBox is presently in production and will begin shipping in early January
1995. The suggested retail price is $69.95. Monitor adapters, cables
and other accessories are also available.
You may reach us by fax at 815-968-6888
Send questions to:
Black Cat Design, Inc.
1220 Rock Street
Rockford, Illinois 61101
For more detailed information, see the CatBox Preliminary manual.
- TOM -
CatBox Preliminary Manual - December 13, 1994
CatBox is a low cost, high value peripheral designed to plug into the
Jaguar AV/DSP connectors on the rear of the console and provide
standard ports for connectability.
CatBox consists of two printed circuit boards (PCBs) mounted inside a
stylish case. The larger lower main board is called the I/O PCB. The
upper board is called the AVC PCB and holds the logic, amplifier, signal
conditioning, and patchwork in order to make everything work. The AVC
PCB also has space for future expansion and custom designs. CatBox
power is provided by the Jaguar game console. There are two LEDs on
CatBox which illuminate to show power and flicker to show
communications activity.
Cleaning the CatBox
If you need help with this, call a cat lover. We like dogs.
Opening the CatBox
There may be a need to see what is really inside the CatBox. Most
developer types wouldn't have read this far so this is really intended
for the novice and it will not void your warranty.
Remove the volume knob by gently prying it off with a screwdriver or
knob extractor.
There are two screws that hold the CatBox metal case together and two
more that hold the circuit boards in place. Remove the two philips
screws on the case bottom and slide off the top. Remove the two inner
screws that hold the boards in place.
Lift the board assembly out of the case bottom and pull the two boards
apart with your fingers.
The top AVC board which looks like it is mounted upside down has all
the electronics on it that make CatBox work. The bottom I/O board has
most of the connectors on it and the LEDs. The user moveable jumper
plugs are all on the AVC board.
Wow!
Besides looking extremely cool, CatBox provides three main functions for
Jaguar owners. These are Audio, Video, and Communications (AVC).
Each has three sections for a total of nine features!
AUDIO SECTION
Audio signals are distributed on CatBox in three different places. These
are the RCA type line level audio output jacks for left, right, or mono
output, the mono line level RGB monitor output, and the amplified stereo
headphone jacks.
Line level audio.
The I/O PCB has two RCA phono jacks that pass high quality line level
audio signals (600 ohm) from the Jaguar to other audio devices such as
audio pre-amplifiers. The red colored jack passes right audio while the
white colored jack passes either left or mono audio. The left/mono
switching logic works in the following manner. When an RCA cable is
plugged into the right audio jack, the white jack passes the left audio
signal. When there is no plug inserted into the right audio jack, the
white jack passes the sum of left and right audio which is called mono.
Use standard RCA stereo audio cables.
RGB monitor audio.
Pin 9 of the Analog RGB connector also carries the mono audio signal.
This signal is used for Atari SC1224 or SC1435 monitors or any other
monitor that has an audio amplifier and passes mono audio through its
monitor signal cable. Since most users will prefer to use stereo audio,
this mono signal is automatically disconnected when an RCA cable is
plugged into the right/mono (red) audio jack or when headphones are
installed. This function can also be disabled by removing jumper J1
(RGB Audio). For more information, see Analog RGB in the Video Section.
Headphones.
CatBox includes dual stereo headphone jacks on the AVC PCB. These
support the common 3.5mm (1/8 inch) size headphones as used with most
portable stereo equipment. Low noise amplification is provided to match
the 32 or 16 ohm loads common with headphones. We have found that
headphones with a sensitivity rating of about 100 dB SPL/1mW work very
well with the CatBox. Headphones with lower sensitivity numbers usually
have lower quality sound and lower volume.
The headphone jacks take top audio priority and will disconnect all other
audio output signals when a 3.5mm plug is inserted. There is a volume
control knob on the rear of the CatBox. Take care when adjusting this
level as higher volume levels for extended periods of time may cause
permanent hearing damage. Optional headphone extension cables are also
available for your convenience.
VIDEO SECTION
The three video outputs from CatBox are Composite Video, S-Video, and
Analog RGB. These three and the Jaguar RF output may all be used at the
same time or in any combination to connect multiple displays. Analog
RGB has the best quality display while Jaguar RF has the lowest quality.
Composite is much better than RF and S-Video is better than Composite.
The output you will use depends on the capabilities of your television or
monitor.
Composite Video
The yellow RCA jack provides composite video out. This signal is
commonly available on VCRs and may be used for recording purposes.
Since composite video has no provisions for audio, be sure to use one of
the CatBox audio sources as well.
S-Video
S-Video used to be called S-VHS but was often confused with the totally
different S-VHS high definition video tape standard. S-Video has also
been called Composite Chroma and Composite Luminance and was used
in the early 1980s on the Atari 800 XL and the C-64 computers. Today
the standard S-Video connector is the 4 pin round mini DIN as found on
many high end VCRs, TVs, video cameras, and CatBox. S-Video cables
are commonly available at Audio/Video stores. S-Video provides an
extremely sharp picture that is surpassed only by a good analog RGB
monitor.
Analog RGB
This connector is a female (holes instead of pins) DB9 located between
the composite video and S-Video connectors. Don't confuse this with the
other DB9 on the CatBox I/O PCB which is male (pins) and provides
RS232. The Jaguar supports Analog RGB monitors with a Horizontal
Sync rate of 15.75 KHz. These monitors were very popular around 1985
but are not all that common anymore since VGA which has an H-Sync of
31.5 KHz became the new standard. Look in the older used market for
some great bargains. An H-Sync rate of 15.75 KHz was found more
commonly on monitors made between 1984 and 1990. The Atari ST color
monitors and the Amiga color monitors both required this slower H-Sync
rate.
Since there is no one standard for RGB connections, custom RGB cable
adapters are available to adapt most monitor cables. These include Atari
SCxxxx, Amiga, DB9, and DB15. If you would like to make your own
cable adapter, the pin connections follow.
DB9S
1 Red
2 Green
3 Blue
4 Horizontal Sync
5 Vertical Sync/Composite Sync
6 Ground
7 Ground
8 Ground
9 Mono Audio/NC
Note that jumper J7 (VS CS) on the AVC PCB allows you to select
Vertical Sync (VS) or Composite Sync (CS) which is a combined sync
signal not to be confused with Composite Video. The CatBox default is
set for VS. If the vertical screen keeps rolling after adjusting
vertical hold, try moving this jumper to the CS position.
The mono audio signal which feeds to the Analog RGB connector may
also be disabled by removing the audio jumper J1 on the AVC PCB.
Although there is built in protection so that leaving this jumper enabled
will not cause any problems, it is a good idea to disconnect J1 if you do
not plan to use the Atari13 monitor adapter.
The following is a list of compatible Analog RGB monitors that have been
tested and the adapter requirements.
15.75KHz Horizontal Sync monitors that have been tested and their
general requirements.
Monitor/Model Adapter J7 Position J1
Position
Atari SC1224 JVC Atari13 VS or CS ON
Atari SC1224 Goldstar Atari13 VS Only ON
Atari SC1224 Samsung Atari13 VS or CS ON
Atari SC1435 Magnavox Atari13 VS or CS ON
Commodore 1084D Magnavox Amiga23 CS Only OFF
Commodore 1084S Magnavox Amiga23 CS Only OFF
Commodore 1950 Amiga23 OFF
Magnavox Professional RGB 80 OFF
NEC Multisync Color Monitor None VS Only OFF
NEC 3D HD15S VS Only OFF
Sony 1302 OFF
Princeton Graphics Ultra 14 None VS Only OFF
Please write or send a fax if you have any questions about other monitors
or would like a custom adapter made. Please also send us your positive
experiences with other RGB monitors that we have not listed so we can let
others know. Please do not ask us to support VGA and SVGA monitors
that can't sync down to 15.75KHz. The required scan doubling adapter
would cost more than the Jaguar even if manufactured in high volumes.
There are exceptions to the above rules. For example if an Atari ST
monitor cable for a Commodore 1084 monitor then naturally you should
use the Atari13 adapter instead of the Amiga23.
Atari SC1224 & SC1435 History
The following information is an attempt to clear up the confusion in
identifying the three different SC1224 monitors made for the Atari ST.
These are all 12 inch color monitors and were later replaced by the
SC1435 14 inch color stereo monitor which was made by Philips/Magnavox.
The oldest was made by JVC and is identified by the 'Made in Japan'
label on the back. These were mostly made in 1985. The FCC ID number
is EBA90YSC1224. The signal cable and power cables both unplug from
the rear of the monitor. The case top has ventilation slots. The JVC
has a two-tone color scheme with a dark gray bezel (around the tube
face) and a light gray casing. The push On/Off power switch is on the
front bottom next to volume and contrast knobs. The JVC monitor is the
best of the SC1224s.
Next came the Goldstar monitor which was 'Made in Korea'in 1986.
The FCC ID is EBA9QKSC1224. The signal cable does not unplug from
the rear. The case top is solid and the entire case is light gray in
color. There are three knobs all on the right side of the case. These
are On/Off/Volume, contrast, and brightness.
The last SC1224 was also 'Made in Korea' in 1987 by Samsung. The
FCC ID is A3L9QNSC1225. Perhaps they had intended to call this the
SC1225 when it was registered. Both the signal and the power cables are
fixed in the case and cannot be unplugged. Like the JVC monitor, the
Samsung is back to the two-tone color scheme with a dark gray bezel and
light gray casing. The push On/Off power switch is on the front bottom
next to volume, brightness, and contrast knobs. This is the least
desirable and ugliest of the SC1224 monitors but it does work.
In 1990 the SC1435 was "Made in Taiwan" for Atari by Philips/Magnavox.
This is a 14 inch stereo monitor. Both cables unplug in the rear. The
color is all light gray and a nice swivel stand is available. The
push On/Off switch is on the rear. This is the best color monitor
made by Atari for the ST and also works quite well with the CatBox.
COMMUNICATIONS SECTION
Two new communications methods are available on CatBox along with a
DSP pass through. These are called CatNet and RS232. Communications
allow you to connect two or more Jaguars together for multi-player games
either directly or with modems. Each method is exclusive depending on
the toggle switch position on the rear. The three position communications
toggle switch next to the RJ11 jacks, points to the port which is
enabled.
UP = CatNet. Center = DSP Pass though. Down = RS232.
The dual purpose power LEDs (lights) also show communications activity.
The left LED blinks off when the Jaguar transmits data. The right LED
blinks off when the Jaguar receives data. The activity should be
visible to the human eye up to about 57.6K baud. You will need bionic
eyes to see the activity on higher baud rates.
Naturally since the Jaguar is a cartridge based system and not user
programmable, drivers, baud rates and protocols are set by game
developers. Check your game manual for more information on
communications support.
RS232
Simple RS232 is provided on CatBox through a male DB9 on the I/O
PCB. This is connected as in the IBM AT standard as follows.
DB9P
1 NC
2 RXD (receive data)
3 TXD (transmit data)
4 NC/DTR
5 Ground
6 NC (DSR)
7 NC (RTS)
8 NC
9 NC
Note that there is no hardware handshaking. DTR is fixed on. An IBM
AT type null modem cable may be used to connect two Jaguars together
by their RS232 ports. An IBM AT type modem cable may be used to
connect CatBox to a modem.
CatNet
The communications toggle switch should be up for CatNet support
CatNet is a new dual-differential type of communications which is based
on RS485. CatNet connects Jaguars together with standard 4 or 6 wire
telephone cabling and RJ11 plugs. Although common telephone
extension cables may be used, two conductor cables are not supported.
Because of the wiring scheme used, plug polarity is not important. Cable
runs of 1000 feet have been successfully tested but it is more practical
to keep cable runs under 100 feet between Jaguars. Terminators should
be left in the unused CatNet ports (ends) when running a network. Low
cost 25 foot cables and replacement terminators are available from
Black Cat Design.
CatNet is a half duplex network which requires arbitration. CatNet uses
6P4C RJ11 phone type connectors and cabling and is reliable up to 120K
baud per second with very long cable lengths. Up to 32 devices will work
under CatNet although we expect to see it used more commonly in small
local networks with a maximum of 4 or 8 players.
DSP pass through port
A DSP pass through port has been provided for compatibility with future
devices that may require it. A prototype of Atari's Jaguar Voice Modem
has been successfully tested while plugged into the DSP port. The
communications switch should be in the center neutral position when
using devices plugged into the DSP port.
Options and miscellany.
The following parts and accessories are available from Black Cat Design
and better dealers:
CatBox $69.95
Atari13 adapter $14.95
Amiga23 adapter $14.95
HD15S adapter $9.95
Custom adapter $19.95 (please supply pinouts)
Headphone extension cable $9.95
Null modem cable $9.95
CatNet cable 25ft. $4.95
CatNet terminator $4.95 (standard equipment)
Every effort has been made to make this a cost effective, innovative,
indispensable peripheral for your Jaguar system. We would like to hear
your comments and suggestions. Please write.
CatBox is a product and trademark of Black Cat Design, Inc. Copyright
1994 All rights reserved.
For more information contact Tom Harker at:
ICD, Inc.
1220 Rock Street
Rockford, IL 61101
815-968-2228 ext. 222
fax 968-6888
GEnie ICDINC
CompuServe 76004,1600
_______________________________
> Tempest 2000 CD Audio Soundtrack! STR Commentary! - T2K "Techno-Rave"
"""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""
Tempest 2000 CD Audio Soundtrack!
=================================
by Tom Sherwin
Ever since T2K appeared, everyone that played it knew that the
music should stand on its own. That time has arrived with the advent
of the Tempest 2000 Soundtrack CD. The game soundtrack has been re-mixed
and enhanced to make it more stand-alone music than background tunes.
There are also some completely new track mixes which are in the same
vein as the original soundtrack.
The Music
---------
The "Old" - The re-mixed versions of the game soundtrack are just super!
Take what you've already heard, make it "deeper", add a few variations
to keep it from getting irritating, and you've got what you wanted and
more. None of the CD versions are "verbatim" copies of the game, so if
you're a purist, you may not care for some of the "artistic liberties".
But the essence is certainly there and all of them have added bits which
give them more than "just some game music" feel.
The New - There's something in there for everyone. The basic rhythm
ranges from the mildly soothing to wild and frantic. Some of it is just
plain WEIRD... very much something that would appeal to John Cage fans.
Incoherent, VERY fast, and no real melody. Some of it would appeal
to the "hip-hop rappin'" crowd... repetitious, low bass beats,
"scratchin'" effects, and a good dance music quality. Some of it is
very difficult to describe. It has no real common theme. It seems
to be more of an "exploratory" type of music.
FWIW, my personal faves are the re-mixed warp stage tracks (warp
stages one and two). Tres cool!
As a warning, you have to like this kind of music to warrant buying the
CD. If you're happy leaving Tempest tunes in the background, or really
don't get into "techno-rave" (their term, NOT mine), the soundtrack may
just sound like a bunch of synthesized schlock. But if you love the game
music or get into the techno beat, the T2K soundtrack is a worthy title.
The Packaging
-------------
The cover is almost the same as the T2K box cover, but all it has is the
demon. I think they should have used the actual box cover with all of
the other goodies, but that's just MHO. Anyway, it is very professional-
looking, not like it came out of the back of someone's garage. I do
have a couple nitpicks. First, the little insert is more of an
advertisement for T2K (the game) than anything else. I would like to
have seen something that went into how the soundtrack was made, what
equipment was used, pictures of the recording session, etc. They don't
need to sell the game in there. Odds are that you bought the
soundtrack because you already have the game and liked the music so
much. An interview with Jeff Minter would have provided extra value.
Second, most CDs have a listing of the tracks on the back
jewel case insert. This is not the case with the soundtrack. You have
to leave the jewel box open or remove the insert to see the track listing.
OK, so I'm anal, but leaving it open just increases the chances of me
stepping on it or something getting in there which can scratch the CD.
Removing the insert puts it at greater risk of getting lost or
accidentally being used as a coaster.
Summary
-------
If you really like the T2K soundtrack, this CD will not disappoint.
There will probably be some new stuff that you'll like, too. There's
a lot of "broadcast-quality" music in there so don't be surprised if
you tune into your favorite progressive radio station and hear some
Tempest tunes blaring. You may not like all of the tracks, but you're
sure to find some favorites. So pop in the CD, sit back, and feed your
head to the Web all over again...
From Atari's Don Thomas:
This review of the Tempest 2000 Soundtrack was posted publicly and
passed on to me for my enjoyment...
I thought I'd share it with all of you.
-- Don Thomas
Atari Corporation
=========
From: Eric Elias <eelias@delphi.com>
Newsgroups: rec.games.video.atari
Subject: Review: T2K Soundtrack CD
Date: Sun, 11 DEC 94 19:19:44 -0500
Organization: Delphi (info@delphi.com email, 800-695-4005 voice)
Lines: 107
Message-ID: <p0wW2JQ.eelias@delphi.com>
NNTP-Posting-Host: bos1g.delphi.com
Hi all. I received the Tempest 2000 Soundtrack on Saturday and I
have listened to it constantly, along with Pear Jam's Vitalogy(I have
'diverse' music tastes), and I have a review for those who are thinking
of buying it.
Here is a breakdown of every track and my opinion of it. At the
end, I will give an overall grade to the sound quality of the disk and
the package itself.
Here are the tracks...
Thermal Resolution - This track is a mix of all the new
sequences added to the game soundtrack. It
starts with the mood of the game and adds
a more club oriented rave to the
underlying soundtrack.
Mind's Eye - The music found in the first BLUE level of T2K is
presented here. Extra music is added to make a
more fluent, song-like track. Extra dubbing
enhances the feel of this track to a point where
you will want to play this track instead of
listening to the game's score.
T2K - A dubbed track featuring some of the sound bits from the
game. It is a fast paced feature that has vocals
replying, "Let's GO!" and "1999!"
Ease Yourself - A trance-like track with more sound bits from
the game. More club oriented and has a logical
flow from start to end.
Tracking Depth - A 100+ BPM track featuring some really good
sequences. This track is one of my three
favorites due to way the techno is performed.
This track has the feel of older, well known
techno tracks by other groups in the UK.
Constructive Demolition - The music from the YELLOW level is
featured here. It starts off
sounding like the game exactly. It
is then blended with variations
that fade into another techno
melody that enhances the feel of
the track. Very nicely done!
Future Tense - An offbeat techno-track which is blend of
synthesizer and voice samples. A moody track.
Digital Terror - The music from the RED level makes itself
known here. This is a powerful track that is
a hit! The strength of the tune is enhanced
with a funky approach that is excellent. This
is my favorite track... from the game and on
this CD. Excellent use of mixing to create a
feel unlike any other.
Hyper Prism - This track is what I call Digital Terror, part
two. If you could add to the sound of Digital
Terror then this would be it. It has voice
samples and a good rocking beat.
Glide Control - The music introduced at the first Warp stages
is heard here. It is accompanied by a mixture
of sound effects and beats that have to be
heard. This one sounds like a movie sequence.
And how did they get those llamas and Yaks to
sing on cue? ;)
Ultra Yak - The music from what I call the RAINBOW stages (the
ones where you can see through the web and the
web's color rotates the entire spectrum) is
presented here. This one would make a good sound
bit to wake up on. The sound is less harsh than
the cart and it has a nice rock oriented feel.
2000 Dub - This track features the music from the Second WARP
stages. It is mostly a reggae mix that is enhanced
with trumpets and a nice clean beat. This song
ends in a funky beat mode that wraps up the whole
CD nicely.
Sound Quality is very clear with full stereo. I, er, made a tape of
the T2K music from the game and I was comparing it to the CD. I am
happy to report that I can throw away that tape and listen to the CD
because the CD is a highlight of the carts tunes. The tracks mixes
have me wishing that they were on the cart. The dynamic range of the
tracks are good with an equal dosage of bass. Very nicely done!
Overall package is excellent. If only there was a way to put the CD box
in the game box and keep them together...oh well. Inside the 2 page
booklet are T2K game explanations, some reviews from magazines and
newspapers, and screen shots of the different levels within the game.
Color and picture quality are very high.
My hat's off to Atari. Their first venture into a Game Soundtrack is
exceptional and may set a standard by which other companies will have
to match if they want to publish a CD of their carts tunes. My only
gripe with the overall package is that I want more of it. I hope that
in the future (Defender 2000...hint...hint...hint...) the IDI Musicians
are used again to produce more music. If this CD is any indication of
their talent...watch out!
That's it.
Respectfully,
Eric Elias (eelias@delphi.com)
________________________________________
> Jaguar Online STR InfoFile Online Users Growl & Purr!
""""""""""""""""""""""""""
From Compuserve's ATARIGAMING Forums:
STReport Jaguar staffer, Dominick J. Fontana offers:
*** Brutal Sports Football ***
I just confirmed from Telegames that the first batch of Brutal Sports
Football carts didn't work properly with some early versions of the Jaguar
game unit. They stated that neither the early Jaguar consoles nor the
first batch of BSF carts were defective, but that there were some minor
changes to later Jaguar consoles. BSF was tested on the later consoles
and it was found out afterwards that they would crash on earlier Jaguar
consoles. That's why Telegames didn't release any BSF carts for a few
months. They changed it slightly so it will work on all Jaguar consoles
and are now shipping it again. However, they stated that they never
recalled the first batch of carts.
The bottom line is that if BSF isn't crashing, then you don't have a
problem. If it is, then you should call Telegames, and they will allow
you to exchange it for the newer cart, which should work fine on all
Jaguar consoles.
Dom Fontana
Neil Jenkins offers some comments from a UK gaming mag, regarding
the soon-to-be-released Syndicate:
All,
This is the UK Jaguar Syndicate Review from Computer & Video Games.
I have only included the review parts specific to the game, points on
actual fun on killing people etc have been removed.
"Some of the more infamous moments of british gun lore tend to feature
such incidents as the loner who's pushed too far, then pushes back at
the first person he meets - or the cop who thought the safety was on
before blowing the top of some guys head off. And with such incidents
in mind, its a wonder that Syndicate never struck a controversial chord
with anyone.
The potentials still there. While the SNES and Megadrive versions,
whether through technical limitations, or higher forces are fronted
with cartoon-like graphics, the jag version is a bullet-by-bullet match
to the PC Original. Obviously with such small graphics, there's not much
gore potential, but programmers Bullfrog succeeded in squeezing out
every bloody drop while giving innocent bystanders more occupational
hazards than a skinny dipper in a piranha pool. As well as a few more
inventive, if less painful, ways to die.
The object is to simply take your company to the top of the corporate
table by for more: killing or kidnapping execs from rival companies.
Its a lot simpler than pretending they've been up to no good on the
stock exchange, or with their secretaries. One day all businesses will
be run this way, until then we just have to content ourselves with
buying just enough shares to turn up at the AGM and Heckle the director.
Reviewer 1 - Jaguar Syndicate is a perfect conversion of the Amiga and
PC originals, although to my ear at least, some of the sound effects
are not quite as meaty as the PC version. Still thats a minor fault in
an otherwise excellent game. Using the jag pad takes some getting used
to as the controls make full use of the telephone pad (!), but once
you've got that cracked the games just as playable as ever. Uncensored,
unaltered and by far the best version of Bullfrog's Syndicate to hit
any console. Mark Patterson.
Reviewer 2 - Compared to the 16-Bit versions, this is leagues ahead. It
retains the dark, moody atmosphere of the original, although the new
zoom features are tricky to use and frankly pointless. Using the Jag's
over complicated pad takes some getting used to, especially if you've
played the game before with a mouse. Along with JagDoom, this is one of
the best games you can get for the Jag at the moment, and as for the
violence - bloody great, isn't it?
Graphics 75
Sound 82
Playability 91
Value 91
Overall 91
If you like action strategy games and haven't played this on PC it sounds
like an excellent buy. If you haven't played it and have a PC with CD
Rom you'd probably be better off buying Syndicate CD which is this
version + the American Revolt addin missions for PC at about the same
price.
IMHO, the good news is that this is another solid excellent game that
has been ruined on SNES and Mdrive and is great on Jag. If Sensible
Soccer and Cannon Fodder are just as playable the jag will get a
library of excellent games in the next two months.
Neil.
_________________________________
> ONLINE WEEKLY STReport OnLine The wires are a hummin'!
"""""""""""""""""""""""""""""
PEOPLE... ARE TALKING
=====================
On CompuServe
-------------
compiled by
Joe Mirando
CIS ID: 73637,2262
Hidi ho friends and neighbors. Well, I'm still playing with my
Jaguar... and loving it! It's a really great machine and does everything
that it's supposed to. I read an interesting article in Friday's USA
TODAY. It was about today's crop of video games and mentioned just about
all the major names in the arena. Sega, 3DO, Nintendo, Panasonic, Atari,
and Sony.
The gist of the story was that today's games are awesome, and that
companies like Sega should get as much mileage out of their current
offerings as they can before Nintendo comes out with its 64 bit system.
The article also said that Atari was counting on the Jag to "resurrect it
from the ashes", but that if they don't really push it into the
marketplace, they could "go down in flames".
Hmmm, where have I heard that before?? At any rate, they were
impressed with the machine. Take that, Mr. Dorfman.
Things are much quieter on the Computer side than I'd like to see,
but there are still a lot of questions being asked and answers being given
right here on our favorite online service... CompuServe. Let's take a
look...
From the Atari Computing Forums
===============================
When John Amsler uploads a encryption program for the ST that provides
an encryption system known as PGP, Sysop Ron Luks tells him:
"Thanks for the upload of PGP for the Atari, but I have been informed
by the powers that be, that PGP programs cannot be uploaded to
CompuServe because they would be eligible for downloading by foreign
citizens and that violates some US laws.
I regret that we cannot have the file, but the authorities have
required CompuServe to remove previously uploaded copies."
John tells Ron:
"OK, but that begs two questions:
1. It's on the Internet -- foreign citizens can get it there!
2. It's on probably several hundred BBSes and, again, "bad" people
(i.e., foreigners <g>) can get it there with impunity.
(I know that the export of PGP to foreign countries violates certain
national security laws, because encryption software is classified as
munitions. The Ph.D.s in math at the NSA should simply work harder!
<g>
And to think: Last year I applied to work at the CIA! Maybe it's
better I didn't get a response. I might not have been happy working in
an organization of intellectually moribund people such as those who
make such policies.)...
(A recent issue of Dr. Dobb's Journal had the C code for the heart of
PGP: its random number-generating routines. With that, someone could
essentially write their OWN encryption software and accomplish the same
thing as PGP!)"
Sysop Jim Ness tells John:
"Yeah, you can get PGP all over the place, but CIS does not want to be
the one made an example of, when the gov't cracks down.
Of course, CIS still faces some exposure if somebody uses the new FTP
faciliy here to get PGP via Internet."
Ron tells John:
"All the points you raise are correct, but nontheless my hands are
tied. You cant use the defense of "other people exceed the speed limit"
when you are pulled over by a radar trap. (I know-- I tried it. [g])
There are a lot of illegal files on the Internet, which puts
legitimate network services on an unfair footing, but again, there's
nothing I can do about that. [sigh]"
Sysop Bob Retelle adds:
"It's pretty much the same situation as when Wolfenstein 3D couldn't be
made available on CompuServe because it violated German law, and
CompuServe has direct nodes in Germany.
It's a problem, and something that's going to be happening more and
more as we open up the "Information Highway", but CIS has to play by
the rules, even if not everyone else does."
Food for thought, huh folks? Meanwhile, Albert Majkrzak asks:
"I have many ST data floppies that I would like to read on my PC. Is
there a way to convert to files? They were made on Word Writer ST....
I want to use them with Windows 3.1"
Albert Dayes of Atari Explorer Online Magazine tells the other Albert:
"If you format a 720K (3.5 inch) floppy on the PC you can move the
data between both your ST and PC without any problems. For Word Writer
files I think the only option is to save in ascii format. There is a
program in the library called Marcel (sp??) that can import several
different file formats. It can also output RTF which can be used with
many windows programs."
Andrew Fletcher warns both Alberts:
"But be careful! If you use floppies formatted on a PC on the ST, they
will all have the same serial number as far as the ST is concerned. The
ST uses the serial number to determine if a floppy disk has been taken
out of the drive and changed for another.
What this can mean is that if you are using IBM formatted disks on the
ST some sectors meant for one disk can end up on another, probably
corrupting some of your important data.
You can avoid this by only using one IBM formatted disk and making
sure all the others were formatted on an ST, or by putting a serial
number on an IBM formatted disk using an ST disk editor. I have a
(home-brewed) program that will do this too. I will upload it if you
wish.
Hope this helps (and doesn't confuse!)."
Hartmut Hoss asks...
"Who can help? I need a CompuServe information manager for a Atari ST
with monochrome monitor. Please tell me the name and where I can get
it."
Andrew Fletcher tells Hartmut:
"I'm fairly new to CompuServe myself so maybe there are information
managers I don't know about.
The one I'm using at the moment is QuickCIS which seems quite good. I
downloaded ST/Forum as well but didn't use it as it didn't seem to
have any advantages over QuickCIS. Both of them are the libraries in
this forum. I found them by doing GO ATARIFF."
Sysop Ron Luks tells Hartmut:
"There is no CompuServe Information Manager (CIM) released by
CompuServe for the Atari ST. Only a PC, MAC and OS/2 version."
Simon Churchill adds:
"Do a Library search with the word 'QUICKCIS' There are about 6
files, I have yet to unpack them myself, but will hopfully get round
to it."
Benjamin Eby posts:
"I am a new STE owner and a new compuserve member. This is all pretty
new to me. My comm. software is ST Talk V. 1.1. My modem is a
quicktel Xeba. Question #1: how do I get this to run at 9600bd? The
modem requires the software to compress data. Can I do this with my
software? Q #2: This software runs VT52 mode. Am I missing out on some
features available on other software? (I kind of picked up on this in
the message section.) In conclusion, I am very excited to be part of
this forum. I think it is great!"
Sysop Bob Retelle tells Benjamin:
"Hi... welcome to the CompuServe Atari Forums..!
I'm not familiar with your Xeba modem... I assume that the software you
mentioned needing would be to implement MNP data compression and error
correction..?
ST-Talk is a rather old program.. I'm pretty sure it was released
before the MNP standards were implemented, so I doubt it supports any
level of MNP protocols.
We have several good telecommunications packages here in our software
library that you might want to check out... and there are still a
number of commercially available telecom programs from the vendors here
online too.
I'm sure the other members in the Forum will have some suggestions for
their favorites...!"
Simon Churchill tells Benjamin:
"Hello and welcome to the forum, I am Simon Churchill and travel
around the forum's most night's in the U.K.
If you are looking for Comm's program's then look for 'STORM' or
'QUICKCIS', use these word's to search the libraries. Quickcis is an
off-line reader, this mean's the program is told what to do and then
Logs on, read's messages, down loads any files then logs off. This
saves you money as you read your messages off-line. It also saves on
your Compuserv acount."
Benjamin asks:
"Why is it that when I download a program using x-modem, I can only
read it, but it will not run? I'm puzzled. Do I need something else
to run the file?"
Carl Barron asks Benjamin:
"Which file did you download, 90% or more of the files here are
compressed with something. most likely lzh,zip or arc. There are few
ready to run programs here. Heres a couple arclzh.* [I forget what its
called] and stzip26.* I think they are both self extracting files.
Compression saves dl $$ and makes sure all needed files are enclosed
in a 'neat' package."
Benjamin tells Carl:
"Thanks for the info. I need arc. uncompression progr. Where do I get
this?"
Sysop Bob Retelle explains Arc to Benjamin:
"Almost all of our files here are compressed to save you time (and
money) when you download them.
But before you can RUN them, you will have to uncompress them back to
their original size.
There are several popular compression schemes used for Atari files.
You will need to download the uncompression utility programs for the
particular type of compression used on the files you're interested in.
If you can tell us which files you downloaded, we can give you the
exact uncompression utility you'll need to process the files so you can
run them."
Bob tells Benjamin:
"The file you need to get is in Library #4 here. It's called
ARCLZH.PRG
After you download it, put it in a folder or on a floppy disk of its
own and double click on it. The program will "self-extract" into a
number of files and programs, including the unARC utility you need.
Included in the group of files is the ARC utility, the LZH
compression utility, some documentation files and a shareware "shell"
program that can make using the compression utilities a lot easier.
Be sure to read the documentation for the ARCSHELL program carefully,
if you decide to try it..."
Benjamin tells Bob:
"I have already downloaded Storm and will need LZH to un- it. I can
hardly wait. This is like opening Christmas presents!"
Bob Waxer asks:
"Is there a way to connect a VGA monitor to a 1040ST? I seem to
remember reading about a way to do this some time ago. Any help would
be appreciated."
Albert Dayes of Atari Explorer Online Magazine tells Bob:
"You need a switch box that handles the monitor or you can make your
own cable. I think TOAD computers sells switch boxes to handle VGA
monitors. Porbably available at other dealers as well."
Simon Churchill adds:
"If you intent to use a standard VGA monitor please remember it can
only display in high resolution. This is because the ST gives out
colour at 15.5Khz which requires a special monitor to cope. If you
got a special multi-frequency monitor then you would ned to buy a
switch box cable.
If you have a normal VGA monitor with a 15 way 'D' connector and am
happy with High res only then send me any detail's you have about the
monitor and I can then check the info I have. If it matches then I
can supply you with the required detail's to make a cable yourself."
Yat Siu of Lexicor tells Simon:
"The other alternative is to attack a graphics board onto your atari
(even 520 or 1040 ST, ST(e)) then you can get high end graphics even on
a regular ST.
Otherwise you will need to get a very flexible monitor, I believe the
ones from NEC (older series, 2D, 3D) can sync to 15.5khz."
Simon tells Yat:
"There are some monitor call 'MICROVITEC' They can handle the 15.5Khz
but personaly I would like a Graphics card and monitor. I am looking
at one called the NOVA Graphics Card. There is talk of a interface
for the ST series machines but I would need to contact the company to
find out how thing's are progressing."
Yat tells Simon:
"Funny you should ask... me, the MICROVITEC Monitors are of very high
quality. The NOVA Board can infact fit into the regular ST with a 50
U$D extra (about 35 Pounds) device that need sto be soldered into your
ST and you ST also needs to be put into a tower casing.
In the U.K. the NOVA Board is available through 16/32 which is Lexicor
Software's UK representative. THeir number is (634) 710 788, however if
you have anymore specific questions feel free to ask me or anyone else
at Lexicor Software."
Benjamin Eby asks:
"I just wanted to find about any hardware upgrades available for my
1040 STe. Accelerators, video cards, sound cards/chips, anything! I
also need to know about copatability. I'm using Warp 9 screen speeder
upper, and Shadow, and Pinhead. Long live Atari! Hail to the
Chief!!!!!!!!!!!!!!"
Brian Gockley of ST Informer fame tells Benjamin:
"Yikes, there are too many to list! Why don't you call Toad Computers
and get their catalogue? 1-800-448-8623.
Once you've seen the catalogue, you'll have more ideas.
Your only problem is the bottlenecks of the 1040; the closed
architecture makes it hard to upgrade sometimes. A number of folks just
take t he whole thing and put it into a tower case; that leaves room
for anything."
Benjamin exclaims:
"I can put my Atari into a tower case? Where do I get it? pleeeeeeze
tell me!"
Simon Churchill tells Benjamin:
"Look in Lib 6 (I think) for a file called 'TOWER2.TXT' (Again I think)
or D/L ST1050. My report about the fun I had putting my ST into a
proper ST Tower case can be read in all it's glory. It's one fun txt
file."
On the subject of the Jaguar, Atari's hot new game machine, Michael
Montsko posts:
"There may be some good news on the STOCK Front. Although the Jaguar
may not be selling as well as expected in the states I hear the oversea
sales are quite strong. 4th quarter earnings may be up do to great
software sales(nice profit in software). Lets just hope promotional
costs don't cut into the 4th quarter earnings too much."
Geoff Boyle asks:
"Does anyone know where i can buy joystick controllers for the old
Atari console system ?
Is anyone still making them.
These are the switched joysticks with a square base. (I'm new to this
forum so apologies if i've left this in the wrong location!)"
Albert Dayes tells Geoff:
"You can try Toad Computers or Best Electronics for the joysticks."
Sysop Bob Retelle adds:
"I've had problems finding the good old Atari joysticks myself before..
every now and then I find a store selling out their old stock, but
usually these aren't the Atari brand (which I greatly prefer), but one
of the add-on kind from another company.
At any rate, finding closeouts like that are about the only way to find
the joysticks in stores.
Be aware that the same joysticks work in Commodore-64 and VIC-20
computers, or any of the Atari computers, so if you find joysticks
labelled for those, you can use them on the Atari 2600 game console
too.
(I even have a joystick that works on these systems that's shaped like
a hand grenade.. the stick comes out the top, and you squeeze the
handle down the side for the fire button..!)
For mail-order, the sources Albert mentioned are a good place to start.
We have a text file in the software library here named SUPORT.TXT
which gives the names and addresses of companies which still support
products like the joysticks you want... check it out.."
Joseph Vottis tells us that he...
"...Just bought the Jan 95 issue of GAME FAN magazine. There is a
news item on an Atari press release. "Atari has joined forces with
Virtuality to offer home virtual reality games by Christmas 1995." Sam
Tramiel is quoted as saying " By Christmas 95, Jaguar owners will
already be wearing the VR headsets and playing VR games at home. While
others in the industry play catch up trying to offer 32 and 64 bit
systems, Ataris is extending our technological advantage over our
competitors by delivering a high quality VR experience." Picture of a
great looking girl with a super cool head mounted display and a smile
as big as Baltimore.
OK. Why wasn't I told about this! ?<g>. Anyone got the scoop?. I
looked in the library but saw no press release. Can anyone from Atari
comment on this??"
Cody Maloney tells Joseph:
"Yes, its true. I known about it for about close to 2 months. I was on
late last night and I saw Sam Tramiel come online. I was talking to
him. He told me and about 5 other people the news about the VR helmet.
Pretty cool eh?"
Sysop Bob Retelle tells Joseph:
"I guess nobody got around to putting the Press Release about the VR
units from Virtuality for the Jaguar into the library...
It was posted here in the message base a few weeks ago, but it's
probably scrolled off by now."
Sysop Bob Retelle asks:
"I think I missed this before... you said the monsters *don't* respawn
in the Nightmare level of Jag DOOM..?
Ouch..! What is it that makes it "Nightmare" then..? Do they still
move faster on that level..?"
Sean Fitzpatrick tells Bob:
"Well there seems to be a lot more baddies(than the other modes).
There also speeded up and about 10xmore aggresive. I'd also say that
the baddies missile weapons move a lot faster. Then again this seems
to be a feature of jag doom. I never remeber having this much trouble
fighting a cacodemon(they constantly kill me where as on the PC it was
faily easy to take one with a pistol given time).
This coupled with the slightly slower chain gun/Plasma gun and having
no real save option make nigtmare a much harder proposition(You always
restart with that little old pistol remeber):(
I'd go as far as saying the ultimate doom challange.
If anyone thinks the above comments where of base for any reason
please correct me?
One thing I've noticed is that a lot more of the textures are
missing(some nice new Doom 2 ones) than I first thought but most of the
levels are nearly intact(with the occasional total butchery). I am
however amazed at how well the jaguar handles doom(I do think it would
have problems with doom 2 now(then again so did my DX2 at points)).
Lastly, This may sound odd, but the jaguar seems version seems very
robust speed wise until the game morph's a wall/object. The PC seemed
prone to slowdown for different reasons! BTW They both slow down if
you can see too much of the level at once or have a truly stupid number
of baddies on screen(the jag seems better than most PC's here):)
All
in all given ID's comments about not utilising the system fully
the jaguar must be capable of some truly awesome things."
Well folks, that's it for this week. Tune in again next week, not only
for this column, but for this year's edition of my Christmas talk with
my niece, Samantha. Sammy is now six years old and she's been asking
questions that are even more involved than the ones she asked just last
year. I first began with an editorial two years ago entitled "Yes
Samantha, there is a Santa Claus... He Just Won't Be Bringing Falcons
This Year". If you have the time next week, check it out. And, as
always, be prepared to listen to what they are saying when...
PEOPLE ARE TALKING
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STReport's "EDITORIAL CARTOON"
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> A "Quotable Quote" It keeps getting better and better....
"""""""""""""""""
I submit the following defintion to the American Lexicon....
Pentium (Pen*ti*um); verb. To make a mistake, and poorly handle
the after effects, regardless of public opinion. Often coupled
with technical double talk minimizing the problem.
Common usage "To pull a Pentium".
For example:
"GM pulled a Pentium over their pickup truck recall."
"The Democratic party pulled a Pentium in explaining the recent
election results."
"Orange County pulled a Pentium with their bankruptcy."
"The UN is pulling a Pentium in Bosnia."
....Andrew Carol 71350,3646
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