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Silicon Times Report Issue 1307
Silicon Times Report
"The Original Independent OnLine Magazine"
(Since 1987)
February 14, 1997 No.1307
Silicon Times Report International OnLine Magazine
Post Office Box 6672
Jacksonville, Florida 32221-6155
R.F. Mariano, Editor
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02/14/97 STR 1307 The Original Independent OnLine Magazine!
- CPU Industry Report - Counterfeit Wares! - Net Job Scams
- Epson 4 Color Ships - Hayes OFFERS - ITC FINED $250k
- Xfree86 Project - CompuServe Rated #1 - Informix SUES Oracle
- UnAbashed Atariophile - People Talking - Classics & Gaming
DIGITAL CAMERA MARKET BOOMS
Ohio Lottery Admits Piracy
UUNet, BOON or BOONDOGLE?
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The Publisher, Staff & Editors
STReport Tenth Anniversary
1987-1997
Florida Lotto - LottoMan v1.35
Results: 02/08/97: 3 of 6 numbers, no matches
From the Editor's Desk...
For the past year or so, I've been witness to a series of computer
shows put on by what I can only call "A Bunch of Yahoos". Either someone's
BLIND. or, the words "BUNDLED SOFTWARE, NOT FOR RESALE".. or, software
with a price that's too good to be true.. applies only to the outer reaches
of Southern Mongolia. What is going here? How are the "hemorrhoids of
society" getting their hands Corel Office Perfect 7, Windows 95-OEMSR2,
Adobe Photoshop 4, Adobe Pagemaker 6.5 and on and on.. Most, if not all
of this stuff is counterfeit! The OemSR2 package we saw was an outdated,
early version of OEM having file dates well before the RC candidate's true
dates. Don't buy this stuff folks. it'll victimize you, your computer and
the legitimate operators and support organizations all across the country.
I would imagine that computerists who buy this stuff are just as much
to blame, but one must stop and look at the temptation levels and then the
obvious legit look to the software from the package to the CD itself have
been faithfully copied. Its really up to all of us to make certain this
sort of thing does not continue. If you find that a Computer Show, Flea
Market etc. local to you, is allowing Boguus or, Bundled Software to be
sold, please call the local FBI office. It is Piracy! Piracy at it's very
worst. The FBI is highly interested in these nefarious practices. In
reality, its putting the software outlets out of business and in the long
run, its one of the major causes of the cost of software continually
rising. One of my questions is how are these sleeze bags getting their
greedy grips on the software to begin with? Obviously, someone, somewhere
is licensed to receive the Bundles and bootlegging them out the back door
or, a huge and very profitable counterfeiting group is happily rolling
along.
Bundled Software is provided to computer manufacturers, assemblers
etc., to be installed on NEW computers and the software and documentation
to be shipped with each machine its installed on. Obviously, its not.
Please, if you see this sort of thing going on. Call the FBI. Must we
watch many more than just Egghead being forced into Re-organization and
perhaps extinction because of this type of Criminal Activity?
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STReport's managing editors DEDICATED TO SERVING YOU!
Ralph F. Mariano, Publisher - Editor
Dana P. Jacobson, Editor, Current Affairs
Section Editors
PC Section Mac Section Shareware Listings
R.F. Mariano Help Wanted Lloyd E. Pulley
Classics & Gaming Kid's Computing Corner
Dana P. Jacobson Frank Sereno
STReport Staff Editors
Michael R. Burkley Joseph Mirando Victor Mariano
Allen Harkleroad Vincent P. O'Hara Glenwood Drake
Contributing Correspondents
Jason Sereno Jeremy Sereno Daniel Stidham
David H. Mann Angelo Marasco Donna Lines
Brian Boucher Ron Satchwill Leonard Worzala
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STReport Headline News
LATE BREAKING INDUSTRY-WIDE NEWS
Weekly Happenings in the Computer World
Compiled by: Dana P. Jacobson
Sex Site May Have Hosted Scam
From Montreal comes word the Royal Canadian Mounted Police are conducting a
fraud investigation because of complaints of excessive phone charges that
appeared after some computerists accessed a World Wide Web site run by a
Dallas, Texas, firm. Millions of dollars may have been bilked from people
who visited the Web
site -- http://sexygirls.com -- and downloaded what was characterized
online as "viewer" software need to see "adult" images.
The Newsbytes computer news service quotes Cpl. Marc Gosselin of the
Montreal RCMP Commercial Crime Section as alleging the site took money
from Web surfers without their knowledge by redirecting online visitors'
modems to a phone number to the southeastern European country of Moldova.
"To look at the pictures at the site, they had to download what the content
at the site called a 'viewer," says Newsbytes. "After the program was
downloaded and installed, it secretly disconnected the user from their
Internet service provider and dialed the phone number in Moldova -- all
while de-activating the modem's speaker. From Moldova, the user's data link
was rerouted to a company in Scarborough, Ontario, Canada. The link then
ended up at server at an unnamed company in Dallas, Texas."
Gosselin said the result was phone charges for the unlucky user that ranged
from $600 to $900 (Canadian). "In addition," says Newsbytes, "the Web
surfer would not know about the charges until their phone bill was
delivered, up to a month later.... Part of the reason the phone bills were
so high is that the modem stayed connected to the server, even if the Web
surfer thought they completely disconnected from the Internet. ... The only
way to terminate the link was to either reboot or completely shut down the
computer (meaning) if a computer user kept their computer on all night or
all day long, the charges would keep mounting."
Gosselin told the wire service that in Quebec alone, Bell Canada received
more than 1,200 complaints about the site. Canadian authorities also sa
the site kept itself a "secret" from the Net user. Gosselin said that while
a disclaimer appeared on one page of the site much of the time, a person
who went directly to the page where the viewer could be downloaded
completely missed the disclaimer. And the fact that "the modem's speaker
was turned off" shows an intent to deceive, he added.
Gosselin told Newsbytes he would not reveal the name of the company because
it has not yet been officially charged with any crime, but added the firm
appears to know authorities are "onto them," because the disclaimer at the
site changed several times. More recently, he said, the business seems to
be spelling out online exactly what happened when the "viewer" was
downloaded. More information on the RCMP's Commercial Crime Section can be
found on the Web (http://www.durham.net/rcmpbow/commcrm.html).
FTC Warns of Net Job Scams
The Federal Trade Commission is warning all of us -- especially college
graduates and out-of-work professionals -- to avoid Internet-promoted
business opportunities that look too good to be true. Probably, they are.
In a report called, "Fighting Consumer Fraud: The Challenge and the
Campaign," the FTC says, "Thanks to personal computers, desktop publishing
software and affordable video equipment, bogus sales pitches have the look
of legitimacy and lure millions of consumers to take the bait."
FTC officials told David Lawsky of the Reuter News Service business schemes
are a big part of consumer fraud that costs Americans a reported $250
million a year. "And far more fraud likely goes unreported," says Lawsky.
"Shady promoters aim at recent college graduates or out-of-work
professionals, frequently promising job placement with Fortune 500
companies, the federal government or travel carriers such as cruise ships
and airlines. ... Con artists retain processing or finder's fees they
charge, it said. Or they use personal financial information to debit client
bank accounts or use credit cards."
The FTC, working with the FBI and postal inspectors, has brought seven
actions against nine companies and 16 people who promised, falsely, to
obtain jobs for consumers. "By the end of 1996 these efforts had produced
more than $1 million in refunds for tens of thousands of consumers," said
the agency, which has responsibility for consumer protection.
The FTC warned those seeking jobs to:
O Be suspicious of any promises to find them a job, especially if the
company charges fees in advance or guarantees refunds.
O Check with the corporate offices of any company listed in an
advertisement to find out if the company is really hiring.
O Watch out for firms promoting supposedly "undisclosed" federal
government jobs, noting that all federal positions are announced to the
public.
CompuServe Vows Continued Fight
On news that a commercial mass e-mailer will appeal a federal court-order
ban, CompuServe has vowed to continue its fight against what it terms
"junk e-mailing" and "spamming." As reported, a federal judge in
Columbus, Ohio, has barred Cyber Promotions from sending unsolicited e-mail
advertisements to CompuServe's 5 million subscribers. CompuServe sued
Cyber Promotions last year, saying its host computers were bogged down
with junk e-mail, and that subscribers were complaining about having to
sift through their electronic mailboxes while the meter was running on
their accounts. Earlier this week, U.S. District Judge James L. Graham
wrote in a 32-page order, "CompuServe is entitled to restrict access to its
private property," adding the order will remain in effect until the case is
decided at trial or settled.
Now Cyber Promotions indicates it intended to appeal that decision. On
this issue, CompuServe general counsel Steve Heaton says in a statement
from Columbus, "The court's decision has a broad impact as the first
decision of its kind that says unauthorized mass junk e-mailing is illegal.
This precedent is likely to be used by other (Internet service providers)
to protect against intrusive and unwanted junk e-mail. CompuServe's goal
was to see this through to a binding court decision to prevent not only
this defendants spamming efforts, but those of others who would seek to
exploit CompuServe and its subscribers." This week's ruling can be read on
the Internet's World Wide Web (http://wsgrgate.wsgr.com/resour
ces/intprop/briefs/compu.htm).
Net Provider Fined $250,000
In a settlement with state states, Internet service provider IDT Corp. has
agreed to supply refunds to consumers, pay a $250,000 fine and change its
advertising pitch. Reporting from Lansing, Michigan, United Press
International says the settlement follows charges of false advertising over
dial-up charges and tech support leveled against IDT by attorneys general
in Michigan, New York, Iowa, New Jersey, Tennessee and Texas. Michigan
Attorney General Frank Kelley said in announcing the settlement, "Consumers
must be vigilant to avoid rip-offs in cyberspace as well as service
providers who don't deliver what the promise to business and consumers
alike."
New Jersey-based IDT was accused by the states of advertising "total"
Internet access for $15 a month, but then charging $29 a month for a
complete link with graphics. "Another come-on," says UPI, "was that
access meant 'almost always a local call' even though many dial-ups were
toll calls. And the attorneys General said IDT's 'free' technical support
required a long-distance phone call." The agreement calls for IDT to
refund customers who paid unexpected long distance charges for access or
for long distance charges for phone calls to technical support, customer
service or billing departments and those who were charged after canceling
accounts. UPI says refund claims including payment proof and other
documents must be mailed in 30 days to IDT Corp., 294 State St.,
Hackensack, New Jersey, 07601.
Net Chain Letter Blasted as Hoax
An Internet chain letter that talks of a 7-year-old girl dying of cancer is
said to be a fraud. The American Cancer Society in Ohio has condemned the
letter, which says corporate sponsors will donate money for each new
person who receives the message. In Dublin, Harvey Schwartz, the state
group's vice president of communications, told United Press the message
apparently started on America Online and has spread beyond that online
service. "The letter talks about Jessica Mydek, who is described as dying
from an acute and very rare case of cerebral carcinoma," says UPI. "The
letter says that as part of her dying wish, she wanted to start a chain
letter to send the message to live life to the fullest and enjoy every
moment."
Schwartz told the wire service the letter also states the American Cancer
Society and several other corporate sponsors have agreed to donate three
cents toward continuing cancer research for every new person that gets
forwarded the chain letter. However, as far as Schwartz's organization can
determine, the story is completely unsubstantiated and no fundraising
efforts are being made by the American Cancer Society in er name or by the
use of chain letters. "We don't even know if she exists," he added.
Meanwhile, Renee Deger of PC Week Online reports the e-mail claims to have
begun as the sickbed wish of the Mydek child, adding the cancer society
first learned of the electronic chain letter about two weeks ago when
would-be donors began calling their local chapters.
Add Deger, "The glaring clue that the rumor was most likely a hoax is the
response-driven 3 cents donation, said Pamela Donovan, a lecturer at the
City University of New York, who researches urban legends. Corporations and
charitable organizations generally don't dole out donations in such a
fashion, she said." Donovan said that what helps perpetuate such rumors is
that sometimes they are true, in the case of localized collections to pay
for an operation for a poor person, often a child, or someone with
inadequate insurance benefits, said Donovan. She said the rumors spread so
quickly because it's easy for people to participate.
Ohio Lottery Admits Piracy
Admitting its offices used computer programs without paying for them,
Ohio's state lottery commission has confirmed it will pay the Software
Publishing Association $187,000. Reporting from Columbus, Ohio, United
Press International says that in September, a lottery employee informed the
SPA about computer programs that had been copied and used without paying
for them. Kathy Weiss, chief legal counsel for the lottery, says employees
had been copying and using Borland, Corel and Software Publishing Co.
programs, including word processing programs. Assistant Lottery Director
David Griffin told the wire service the lottery commission has instituted
several policies, including periodic audits, to make sure the problem
doesn't recur. Also, the commission has hired a deputy director in charge
of computer security and a software librarian, to ensure software is not
copied.
Boston Wants Bans on the Net
Boston's City Council is being urged to add parental control on the
Internet to keep kids from peeking at porn on city library computers when
they are supposed to be surfing for homework help. A council meeting this
week heard parents complain the students were looking at naked people they
found on Internet sites. United Press International quotes City Councilor
Maureen E. Feeney as saying she is asking the council to schedule a
hearing to determine how students' access to sexually graphic materials can
be limited. The wire service says police and councilors have received
numerous complaints from concerned parents.
One father told the meeting he is upset to learn his 11-year-old daughter
and a group of other boys and girls were gathered around a terminal "to
look at pictures of naked people." A spokesman for the Boston Public
Library and its 26 branches, which have been equipped with Internet access
for the past 18 years, said it's "nearly impossible" to use software to
block out any particular information, adding that for every address
blocked out, children "will find a half-dozn others." Library officials
told the city the U.S. District Court in Philadelphia has ruled the
government could not force libraries to censor materials on the Internet,
because that would violate the First Amendment rights of children.
Portable PC Users Zap Batteries
Forty-one percent of portable PC users surveyed by Sherwood Research
indicated dissatisfaction with present battery life, ranking it 1 or 2 on
a scale ranging from 1 to 5, with 1 meaning "not at all satisfied."
Seventy percent of those surveyed felt that their portable system's
manufacturer exaggerated the projected life of the battery. "With current
users most frequently reporting a battery life of 1.5 hours, it is not hard
to understand the rationale behind their disappointment," says Nathan
Nuttall, computer research director for the Wellesley, Massachusetts,
market research firm. "Granted, features, power, and performance have
dramatically improved, but the high cost of these improvements on the
battery life of portable PCs is driving users to take note and complain."
Battery life has become an important purchase criterion for users planning
to acquire a new portable PC. Sherwood's research finds that 55 percent of
those who are planning to buy a new portable PC within the next 12 months
rank battery life a 4 or 5 on their list of purchase criteria, with 5
meaning "extremely important." In fact, 64 percent of these users are
willing to pay a premium and accept a half-pound weight gain for a larger
and heavier battery with an extra 30 minutes of life. But Nuttall advises
portable PC manufacturers not to waste their time tossing in a spare
battery to compensate for poor battery life. Over half of the users
surveyed by Sherwood stated they have no desire or intention of carrying a
spare battery around with them.
"Battery life for the majority of the current crop of portables PCs is just
plain poor," states Nuttall. "Users are sick of lugging around a spare
battery to keep their portable PC alive through a presentation or plane
fligh, especially when it is only a couple of hours long. Portable PC
manufacturers and component suppliers need to start focusing on what
fundamentally makes a portable PC system portable -- the battery.
According to Nuttall, the problem will only intensify for portable PC
manufacturers as the incorporation of power-hungry features, such as
faster processors, larger displays and CD-ROM drives, continue to eat into
battery life. And there is little prospect of a revolutionary battery
technology appearing in the portable computing arena during 1997.
Portable PC manufacturers need to begin demanding components, options, and
applications from suppliers that draw less power and offer better power
management abilities, concludes Nuttall. Vendors should be actively
devoting resources toward the development of future battery technologies
such as lithium-polymer1 and zinc-air, as well as toward the enhancement of
lithium-ion technology, he notes.
'Phenomenal' Growth for DSP Market
The market for digital signal processor (DSP) chips is booming, finds a
Mountain View, California, market research firm. Frost & Sullivan says
the DSP market grew a "phenomenal" 72.7 percent in 1995 to $1.73 billion.
DSPs are high-speed chips that use complex algorithms to transform analog
data into compressed digital data. The technology enables large amounts of
data to be transferred between two points in real time. The wireless market
continues to provide the largest opportunities in the DSP market, notes
Frost & Sullivan. Cellular telephones, base stations, pagers, multimedia
devices, and mobile modems all use DSPs in their designs.
Three of the most significant challenges currently facing the DSP industry,
according to Frost & Sullivan, are finding ways to integrate DSPs with
other processors on a single chip, increasing processing efficiency by
developing finer processing geometries and facilitating easier programming
and debugging. Frost & Sullivan semiconductors analyst David Johnson
says, "Companies like Texas Instruments, Lucent Technologies and Analog
Devices have dedicated themselves to developing technologies for the
digital revolution as primary business strategies. It can be expected that
a number of companies will seek to integrate DSP cores, computational units
or instruction sets in their devices in the near future."
Digital Camera Market Booms
New studies by the InfoTrends Research Group indicate that the worldwide
digital camera market will more than double in 1997, spurred by new
applications for digital cameras and lower prices. In 1997, the market for
low-end digital cameras -- priced below $1,000 -- will reach close to a
million units in North America, finds the Kansas City-based market
researcher. The market in Japan will rival North America's and is expected
to maintain an even higher growth rate during the next five years.
InfoTrends' five-year outlook for North America shows digital cameras
growig at almost 50 percent annually through the year 2001, reaching over 6
million units installed. Revenues resulting from sales of digital cameras
and related products will top a billion dollars in 2001 alone.
"The growth could even be higher," according to Kristy Holch, an InfoTrends
principal. "There are many factors that could escalate sales beyond the
forecast, such as the growing popularity of sharing pictures over the
Internet. However, there are also significant barriers that should not be
underestimated. Areas like user-friendliness, storage media
standardization, affordable photo-quality color output and
price/performance still need work." Business users will remain the primary
market until 1998 or later, when consumer computer users will become the
major force, finds InfoTrends. The mass consumer market, consisting of the
60 percent of households without a personal computer, will be much slower
to develop, according to the researcher.
Epson Ships Four-Color Printer
Epson America says its new four-color ink-jet printer provides a better
output quality than competing three-color models. The Torrance,
California, company reports that its $229 Stylus Color 400 printer
delivers 720 dot per inch (dpi) photo quality images and laser-quality
black text output. The unit provides a maximum 4 pages per minute
monochrome and 3 pages per minute color print speed. The product is bundled
with Sierra Print Artist and Adobe PhotoDeluxe software. "Epson's
customers are very savvy when it comes to image quality and they know that
three-color printing simply isn't good enough any more," says David
Flowers, Epson's entry- level ink jet product manager.
RealVideo Prepares for Launch
Progressive Networks -- the company that has given the Internet ears
through its RealAudio software -- now wants to do something for the eye
with RealVideo as well. The firm this week is announcing Time Warner,
ABC, C-SPAN and others have agreed to use its new RealVideo software to
send news clips, music videos and live sports event across the Internet, a
deal business writer David E. Kalish of The Associated Press says "helps
bring cyberspace closer to a full-fledged entertainment and information
medium."
Kalish says the software is billed as improving the image quality of the
Internet's moving images, which after traveling through phone lines
normally appear as jerky as turn-of-the-century silent movies. To view the
video, people first download the free RealVideo software from the company's
site on the Internet's World Wide Web (http://www.real.com), then choose
from a menu of Web sites and point and click to the programming they want.
"While many offerings, such as music videos, are free, others are not.
ESPN, for example, charges $5 a month for access to its live sports
events," Kalish says. "About 50 Web sites initially will use the video
technology, with that number expected to double by the end of the month."
With standard dial-up modem, RealVideo images still are choppy "though a
bit smoother than other Internet fare," says AP, "but more powerful modems
such as those used by many businesses deliver "full motion" or
broadcast-quality images. The company also says its technology compresses
digital information into a way that enables people to download images
faster." Analyst Ron Rappaport of Zona Research in San Francisco told the
wire service Progressive Network's success as the dominant supplier of
software for listening to audio on the Internet may help its foothold in
the video arena. PN estimates between 150,000 and 180,000 people a day
listen to music and other sounds through its Internet technology.
Breakthrough May Speed Computers
Scientists say they have found a way to quadruple performance of today's
microprocessor chips, which could speed up many computer functions.
Though still in the test stage, the improvement, announced by Plasma &
Materials Technologies Inc., "tackles a growing challenge faced by chip
makers as they cram more and more transistors onto each microprocessor,"
says business writer David E. Kalish of The Associated Press, namely,
"Keeping its signals from getting crossed." Of course, a chip's ability
to carry signals four times more efficiently would enable computers to
perform calculations in one-fourth the time it now takes and could allow
manufacturers to fit more transistors onto each chip, a growing hurdle to
building more and more powerful computers. The Chatsworth,
California-based Plasma & Materials Technologies, which sells manufactring
equipment to chip makers, said several customers are testing the new method
and, if found to be reliable, will use it for mass production in 1998.
"It would be used for producing microprocessors as well as memory chips
with improved capacity for storing computer information," Kalish added.
Specifically, the company says it has developed a better way to apply
insulation material between the millions of tiny wires that connect a
chip's transistors, dramatically reducing interference between the signals
they carry. "Chip makers typically use gases containing silicon dioxide to
create the insulation. The gas later hardens on the chip during a heating
process," says AP. "But the method developed by Plasma & Materials
Technologies over the past four years, dubbed 'Flowfill,' applies the
insulation in a liquid state and adds a tiny amount of carbon to the mix --
giving properties to the insulation that reduce interference between
wires." The insulation's "dielectric constant" -- a measure of its
effectiveness - is below 2.0, the company says, noting that is considered
far less than constants of about 3.5 for today's most efficient insulation.
Apple Completes NeXT Inc. Buyout
The $400 million acquisition of NeXT Software Inc. by Apple Computer Inc.
has been completed. As reported earlier, NeXT Chairman/CEO Steve Jobs now
will serve as an advisor to Apple Chairman Gilbert Amelio. Apple has
announced NeXT technology will be incorporated in Apple's plans to update
its operating system. The Reuter News Service notes the Mac operating
system will continue to be upgraded in regular biannual releases, while NeXT
technology will form the basis for Apple's next-generation operating system,
Rhapsody.
Apple officials told the wire service they believe the advanced technical
underpinnings and rapid development environment of Rhapsody will allow
developers to create new applications that leapfrog those of other
"modern" operating systems, such as Windows NT. Reuters expects the first
release of Rhapsody to be launhed to developers in mid to late 1997 and to
customers within 12 months, adding, "A unified Rhapsody release is expected
to be in the hands of customers by mid-1998. This will include
compatibility with existing Mac operating system applications, as well as
provide a platform for next-generation computing."
Online Access Sold, Folds
CMP Media Inc.'s NetGuide Magazine has acquired Online Access, the computer
industry's first Internet publication. NetGuide will incorporate Online
Access' paid subscriber base into its own starting with its April issue.
Launched in 1986, Online Access had a total circulation of 110,000 and was
published by Chicago-based Red Flash Internet Inc. The deal's term's
weren't disclosed. "Online Access was the industry pioneer," says Beth
Haggerty, publishing director for CMP's Internet media division, which
includes NetGuide Live and NetGuide Magazine. "We're sure this venerable
reader base is going to enjoy the depth and breadth of NetGuide. We look
forward to sending them their first issue. The acquisition of Online
Access represents another in a series of circulation boosts for NetGuide
Magazine, which debuted in December 1994 with a circulation of 200,000. The
magazine has since increased its circulation by 63 percent, including a
32.2 percent hike in 1996.
Informix Sues Rival Oracle
Claiming theft of trade secrets, Informix Software Inc. has sued its
arch-rival Oracle Corp. and 11 software engineers who left Informix,
alleging the engineers enriched themselves by misusing proprietary Informix
information. For its part, Oracle claims the employees quit the Portland,
Oregon, office of Informix because they were disenchanted with top
management and the direction the company was headed, adding the
researchers not only approached Oracle for jobs but had spoken with
Microsoft and several Portland-area companies.
The Associated Press says the suit, filed in Multnomah County, Oregon,
Circuit Court, seeks to prevent the 11 researchers from keeping their jobs
at Oracle's Portland office and asks that searches be performed on all
their computers, and those owned by their relatives, to ensure they have
not taken competitive information. If the developers are allowed to stay
at Oracle, Informix wants safeguards that they will not share trade
secrets, AP says.
Informix and Oracle compete in the market for corporate database software
and, says AP, "by losing key developers from its Portland office, Informix
contends it loses potential revenue and expertise." The wire service says
Informix has offered to give 10 of the employees their jobs back, the
exception being former vice president of research Gary Kelley, who
Informix contends recruited the other 10 employees on Oracle's behalf while
h still worked for Informix.
"Together," says AP, "the 11 employees represented 22 percent of the core
team and 50 percent of the managers who worked on Informix's extended
parallel servers, a technology used for storing massive amounts of data.
They also were working on a database technology that can store graphics and
sounds as well as text." Meanwhile, Oracle contends it advised the
departing Informix employees not to bring or disclose any trade secrets. As
a matter of policy, Oracle asks all employees to promise in writing that
they bring no trade secrets from former employers.
CompuServe Rated #1 for Business
NetGuide magazine has named CompuServe the best online service provider for
business. In its Editors' Choice awards, the magazine gave CSi a grade of
A- compared with C+ for the next-best online business information service.
"The vast range and excellent quality of CSi business services put it miles
ahead of any other ... in this area," the magazine reports in its March
issue. Strengths cited by NetGuide include strong reference materials,
well-focused online discussion groups and general depth and breadth of
information. The publication put CSi significantly higher than its
competitors and said CompuServe is easier to use than "the Web's infinitely
confused endless resources." Besides its resources geared toward big
business, NetGuide also recognized CompuServe's information available for
entrepreneurs in the Small Office/Home Office market. Specifically,
NetGuide cited CompuServe's Standard & Poor's 500 for stock updates, the
Reuters news wire, Magazine Database Plus and TrademarkScan as examples of
the diversity of system's reference materials.
Net Service Providers Grow 9,475%
The number of Internet service providers has grown from about 24 at the
start of 1996 to 2,298 by the end of the year. And before you get out your
calculator, that's a growth rate of 9,475 percent. So says the Omaha,
Nebraska, American Business Information Inc., which calls Internet service
companies the fastet growing businesses of last year, based on information
derived from its database. Meanwhile, says the Reuter News Service in a
report on the ABI numbers, health and fitness program consultants
represented the largest decline in numbers for the year to 2,662 at the end
of the year from 3,317.
"Other firms that are growing in numbers," says Reuters, "range from the
high-tech, such as computer networking, pager services and cellular
telephone services, to bagel shops and tattoo parlors. ... Businesses that
are declining in number include retail typewriter sales and services, comic
book stores, baseball sports cards and memorabilia stores, coffee and tea
shops and antenna systems." ABI's database is compiled from 4,800 Yellow
Page directories, business white pages and other public information and is
verified with additional telephone calls.
E-Mail Vendors Ranked by New Users
A handful of top software vendors dominated the market for new corporate
e-mail users in 1996, finds preliminary research from International Data
Corp. The Framingham, Massachusetts, market researcher reports that
IBM/Lotus held the number one position in 1996 with 8.4 million new users
of its Notes, cc:Mail, and OfficeVision products, representing a 26
percent share. Netscape, a new entry in the e-mail market in 1996,
captured the second spot and a 17 percent share with 5.5 million new users
of the Netscape Mail component of its Navigator browser. Microsoft took the
third spot with 4.4 million new users of its Exchange and Mail products.
Overall, the corporate e-mail market added 32 million new users worldwide
in 1996, finds IDC. IDC's Web site (www.idcresearch.com) contains
additional research and recent news releases.
Consumers Defy Tech Marketers
A new survey from NFO Interactive finds that significant marketing
challenges confront high-tech vendors in converting non-computing
consumers, upgrading current computer users and marketing emerging
technologies. "The industry is in a rut; the current benefit/price ratio
is too low to support rapid, across the board growth," says Charlie Hamlin,
executive vice president of interactive business development for the
Greenwich, Connecticut, market research firm. For non-computing
households, less than 8 percent indicated they plan to buy a computer in
the next six months. The major reason cited was the lack of a compelling
reason to buy. Only 2 percent expressed interest in Internet appliances; 1
percent would "probably" buy a PDA and 2 percent indicated they would buy a
digital camera.
Computing households that are reluctant to upgrade their systems indicate
they are waiting for PC prices to drop or for a must-have reason to buy.
Survey results also indicatethe Internet could be the factor that drives a
decision to upgrade. Additional factors include support and training for
Internet technology. The one area of strong growth is the Internet and
online services, with survey results indicating that between five and 15
million households are likely to connect to the Internet over the next six
months. Other NFO surveys have shown that three to four million households
connected to the Internet over the past nine months. "These survey results
show that continued market growth will require marketing strategies that
target the distinct segments of the current consumer technology market
with appropriate product and service characteristics, pricing models,
distribution channels and communication strategies," says Hamlin.
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
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Folks, the LEXMARK Optra C has to be the very best yet in its price range.
It is far superior to anything we've seen or used as of yet. It is said
that ONE Picture is worth a thousand words. The out put from the Lexmark
Optra C is worth ten thousand words! Send for the free sample now. (For a
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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
IS UUNet at Fault? STR Spotlight
UUNET, BOON OR BOONDOGGLE?
By Ralph F. Mariano
Why is it UUNet seems to have the most problems in maintaining
reliable Internet Networking? What is the reason for the . like clockwork-
like failures of UUNET feeds at least once a month for a approximately
three to six hours for the last four months? After experiencing another in
the annoying procession of failures and usual local excuses, we decided to
take the matter to the source of the problem itself, UUNet.
A call was placed to UUNet's headquarters (1-800-900-0241) at
approximately 02:33pm on Feb. 11, 1997. After being shuffled around
between three different (top echelon people, VP marketing, sect'y. to VP
Network Admin, sect'y to VP PR) we were told the party actually able to
either explain and/or correct the problems and possible misunderstandings
would return my call.
When one considers the amounts of money being PAID TO UUNet for
Internet feeds, ($5000.00 &up per month), it becomes rather difficult to
understand the rather nonchalant attitude we experienced at the hands of
their top people. Here we find an entire region, the Southeastern USA, is
down. and they simply didn't have a time explanation. The local ISP's are
actually.. no, literally "up in arms" over the outages. We've been told
they are in the process of organizing for the purpose of financing legal
counsel to deal the regular and predictable outages. At 03:35pm we called
UUNet again and were eventually connected with Kevin Coyne allegedly "the
man with the answers". Unfortunately, we were unprepared for the vague,
indirect pablum answers we were about to be fed. I now know what it is
like to be a cultivated mushroom.
A number of questions we posed to UUNet's Kevin Coyne, ext:5628, also
were deftly avoided or, went un-answered. "Are you aware the ISP services
of AT&T and Southern Bell are operating quite reliably? Are you aware the
subscribers of the Independents served by UUNet are cancelling their ISP
accounts and going to the "Big Boys" in pursuit of reliability? It is sad
to see the little ISP being squeezed out because of UUNet "equipment
failures". An alleged "relay switch failure" - Can you say CLOUD? Of
course, a full explanation of the situation from Coyne was NOT forthcoming.
Doesn't it seem rather odd that the companies you lease your lines
from is not only a direct competitor of yours but also in direct
competition with those you service?? Why is it AT&T and Southern Bell are
not experiencing the regular, annoying and inconvenient outages you are?"
we asked of Kevin Coyne. Could it possibly be that somewhere, somehow,
there may actually be unfair competitive business activities taking place?
Each and every question was either avoided, sidestepped or answered
with vague non informative noise. Ie., "a switch failure in Jacksonville".
"RIIIIGHT" ..in my very best Bill Cosby, doing the Moses skit, voice.
Since when. does it take six or more hours to change out a switching
device? After all, they are simply connected to the system with plugs and
jacks. Some one's clouded aamong the Clouds alright and as usual, it's the
consumer taking on the chin. In this case, the consumer is the ISPs and
their subs.
About three months ago, STReport reported that it seemed rather odd
that AT&T and Southern Bell, along with the other Baby Bells, were both
"feeding at the trough and OWNED the very same trough". We were under the
impression that this sort business tactic and practice was frowned upon.
Its these types of practices that seemingly have the consumer holding the *
ragged, short end of the stick * unless of course they "subscribe to either
AT&T or one of the Baby (Oy Ve! What Babies!) Bells for their Internet
Access." By that I mean if one uses an independent ISP its either outages
and poor connections or, if one is using either AT&T etc., its manna from
heaven time. Something is definitely wrong with this picture.
It is time we began a letter writing campaign to each of our Congress
Critters. The abuses from the monolithic, Telecommunications Monster
seemingly, is already beginning. I'm willing to bet the big Bells and
their "Bell Headed" leadership are already blaming the Internet itself for
the outage problems. This is hogwash.. It is a lack of reliable Bandwidth
being made affordably available to independents like local ISP's and UUNet.
Odd though, AT&T and the Baby Bells seemingly have plenty of Bandwidth.
Something is definitely rotten in Denmark.
Perhaps a formal investigation of ALL the "Bells" is appropriately in
order. Hopefully, as a result of doing so, a very sad chapter in the
history of the Internet and the Bell Monsters will never be written. The
way it looks right now, its going to be a devil of a horror story.
EDUPAGE STR Focus Keeping the users informed
Edupage
Contents
Lehman Calls For Global Patent Protection
Toll-Free Calling Goes Global
Next-Generation Memory Chips From NEC
MCI Ties Voice, Data Transmissions Together
First Technology Literacy Grants Released
Microsoft Drops Windows NT For PowerPC Chips
Hayes Has A Deal For You
America Online Adds 50,000 Modems
Repetitive Strain In Academia Not Limited To Coursework
Intel Offers Stock Option Plan To All Of Its Employees
Texas Sizes Up Anti-Trust Charges Against Microsoft
Cell Phones & Car Accidents
The One Mailbox
Ameritech Long-Distance Plans Taken Up Short
Microsoft To Offer Russian Spy Photos
College Club Online Service Links Academics
Companies Overlook Ex-Employee Access Problems
Software Piracy Revisited
Imelda-Dot-History-Dot-Revision
LEHMAN CALLS FOR GLOBAL PATENT PROTECTION
U.S. Commissioner of Patents and Trademarks Bruce Lehman has recommended
the establishment of a global patent office, noting that the current
system requires inventors to file patent applications in every country in
the world. "We need a global system that takes advantage of technical
advances," says Lehman, who plans to propose automating the Patent
Cooperation Treaty -- which provides for multiple filing of patent
applications -- to the World Intellectual Property Organization in the next
few weeks. Domestically, Lehman says the Clinton Administration could
very well back off on its attempt to redefine the distribution right under
the Copyright Act to explicitly include a "transmission" right. (BNA Daily
Report for Executives 4 Feb 97)
TOLL-FREE CALLING GOES GLOBAL
Toll-free calling via "800" numbers is going international, with a new
service sponsored by long-distance carriers such as AT&T, MCI, Sprint,
WorldCom, USA Global Link and the International Telecommunication Union,
which is administering the system. The numbers will sport the usual "800"
prefix, followed by eight, rather than the usual seven, digits. Experts
predict the new numbers will have a profound effect on international
business and marketing efforts. More than 15,000 U.S. companies have
already applied for the new numbers. (Tampa Tribune 8 Feb 97)
NEXT-GENERATION MEMORY CHIPS FROM NEC
Calling its new 4-gigabit dynamic random access memory (DRAM) chip the
largest yet developed, NEC says the new chip can store more than 4 billion
bits of information -- enough to hold 47 minutes of full-motion video, or
256 times the capacity of the 16-megabit DRAM chip now commonly used. NEC
says it will begin selling the 4-billion bit chips around 2000. (New York
Times 7 Feb 97)
MCI TIES VOICE, DATA TRANSMISSIONS TOGETHER
MCI is developing a new network architecture called Vault that will link
the computers that govern MCI's voice network to the company's Internet
backbone. The new arrangement will allow companies to combine the
intelligence of the voice network with the flexibility of the Internet,
says MCI's president and COO. "It's like a single command-and-control
center for all network capabilities," says the director of Perot Systems.
"That's the answer to a telecom manager's prayers." Vault's technology
will allow Web surfers to click on a "call agent" button to launch a phone
call to a company's sales department, and also will allow customers to use
one line to access an application running simultaneously on the voice and
data network. MCI plans to have Vault-based services ready for market by
year's end. (Information Week 3 Feb 97)
FIRST TECHNOLOGY LITERACY GRANTS RELEASED
President Clinton released yesterday the first installment of a $200-
million grant program to put computers and Internet connections in
schools, and to provide teachers Internet training. The initial $14.3-
million went to Illinois, Mississippi and New Mexico. In Clinton's weekly
radio address, he cited statistics showing that 65% of schools were
connected to the Internet as of last fall, compared with 35% in 1994.
"That's how we must prepare our children for the 21st century -- with the
full promise of the Information Age at their fingertips," he said. (St.
Petersburg Times 9 Feb 97)
MICROSOFT DROPS WINDOWS NT FOR POWERPC CHIPS
Microsoft will phase out its Windows NT support for computers running on
PowerPC processors, which include many of the Apple Macintosh machines in
operation today. "There's a limited demand from both customers and OEMs,"
says a Microsoft product manager. "We've just seen very limited demand for
PowerPC systems and decided to phase it out." The company will continue to
support customers who have PowerPCs with NT 4.0 and 3.51. The
announcement comes two months after IBM, Motorola and Groupe Bull decided
to scrap production of PowerPC-based machines running Windows NT.
(InfoWorld Electric 7 Feb 97)
HAYES HAS A DEAL FOR YOU
Hayes Microcomputer Products is offering current modem users a trade-in on
a new 56-Kbps device for just $99. To take advantage of the offer, users
must register on Hayes' Web site, < http://www.hayes.com >, and they will
be contacted when the 56-Kbps models are ready. Users who mail their old
modems to Hayes along with $114 (which includes $15 for shipping and
handling), will receive a K56Flex-based modem, normally a $200 value.
(MacWeek 10 Feb 97)
AMERICA ONLINE ADDS 50,000 MODEMS
America Online is leasing 50,000 modems from other companies in order to
speed up its plans to increase access capacity by 60%. AOL chief
executive Steve Case says the added capacity should "significantly cut
down" on the problems recently experienced by customers who got only when
busy signals when they attempted to log onto the service. (New York Times
7 Feb 97)
REPETITIVE STRAIN IN ACADEMIA
NOT LIMITED TO COURSEWORK
Although there is little evidence that computer-related repetitive strain
injury has become as much a problem for colleges and universities as it
has for the American workplace, the condition is getting more and more
attention from academic administrators. Dr. David Diamond, a staff doctor
at MIT, says: "It's not a crisis, in the sense that we're not having a
meltdown here. It's a chronic low-level risk, which for those who are
most affected can be hugely significant. The bulk of students are in a
situation where the day after typing for eight hours, there's some
burning. Touch your elbow, and it's tender. They're on the verge." (New
York Times 9 Feb 97)
INTEL OFFERS STOCK OPTION PLAN TO ALL OF ITS EMPLOYEES
Intel is offering stock options to all of its 50,000 employees, the only
condition being that they must have received satisfactory performance
evaluations. If Intel stock rises, employees will be able to buy shares at
the option-price and, if they choose, sell them immediately to lock in
profits. A company executive says: "This is a compensation element that
only means something if the company becomes more successful, so let's
figure out how to get our profitability up ... and our stock price up."
(San Jose Mercury News Center 12 Feb 97)
TEXAS SIZES UP ANTITRUST CHARGES AGAINST MICROSOFT
Texas is the first state to begin a formal inquiry of charges that
Microsoft has used business tactics that violate antitrust laws.
Microsoft says it received a request for documents related to competition
over Internet software marketing. Netscape received a similar request from
Texas in December. Netscape has accused Microsoft of giving PC
manufacturers a discount on its Windows95 operating system if they agreed
not to install NetScape's Navigator software for browsing the World Wide
Web. The Netscape charges also prompted a separate investigation of the
issues begun by the U.S. Department of Justice last summer. (AP 12 Feb
97)
CELL PHONES & CAR ACCIDENTS
Researchers at the University of Toronto say that drivers whose attention
is distracted while talking on a cellular phone are four times more likely
to be involved in an accident. However, insurance companies do not plan
to raise insurance premiums, because accident rates have not increased
overall. The researchers also found little difference between the use of
a receiver or hands-free model of phone, indicating that the problem is
one of mental, rather than physical preoccupation. (Toronto Globe & Mail 13
Feb 97 A1)
THE ONE MAILBOX
Octel Communications, the world's largest provider of voice-messaging
systems, has a new product called Unified Messenger that consolidates all
voice-mail, e-mail and fax messages in a single mailbox accessible by
phone or computer. The system, which works in concert with Microsoft's
Exchange e-mail system, enables workers to call up a list of voice and e-
mail messages on a computer screen, and play the voice messages back
through the PC's speakers. Mobile workers can dial into the voice-message
system and retrieve e-mail messages that are read aloud in a computer-
generated voice. "There are definitely people who are e-mail-centric and
people who are voice-mail-centric," says Octel's CEO. "Usually, sales and
marketing runs on voice mail, while the rest of the company uses e-mail.
Every single company I've come across has those constituencies. People
need that gap bridged." (Wall Street Journal 13 Feb 97)
AMERITECH LONG-DISTANCE PLANS TAKEN UP SHORT
Ameritech's hopes of becoming the first regional telephone company to get
Federal Communications Commission approval to offer long-distance as well
as local service in Michigan encountered an obstacle this week when the
FCC said that it had not supplied sufficient evidence that it faces real
competition for local service in that state -- a condition which must be
met before a local service provider can enter the long- distance phone
service market. Following the FCC ruling, Ameritech suspended its efforts
to win for approval to offer long-distance service in Michigan, but is
expected to resubmit a new application as soon as possible. (New York
Times 12 Feb 97)
MICROSOFT TO OFFER RUSSIAN SPY PHOTOS
Microsoft has contracted with North Carolina-based Aerial Images to publish
very high resolution (to one meter) photographs snapped by Russian spy
satellites. The photos, which were all taken during the 1990s, are the
first Russian-satellite-origin pictures to appear on the Internet, says
Aerial's VP. The initial photos to appear on Microsoft's Web site will
show Los Angeles, Washington, D.C., San Francisco, Rome and London. The
photos may be downloaded for a charge of $30 per square kilometer, with the
proceeds to be split between Aerial and the Russian space agency. The
images are likely to be used by mapping services, construction companies
and developers, forestry workers and government agencies, says Aerial.
(Wall Street Journal 13 Feb 97)
COLLEGE CLUB ONLINE SERVICE LINKS ACADEMICS
College Club, developed by students at the University of San Diego, offers
students and faculty members a nationwide e-mail system with services
geared toward the U.S. academic community. Users receive a free e- mail
account, and may participate in chat rooms, discussion groups, and take
advantage of tools to design resumes, find jobs and build their own Web
pages. (Chronicle of Higher Education 14 Feb 97)
< http://www.collegeclub.com/ >
COMPANIES OVERLOOK EX-EMPLOYEE ACCESS PROBLEMS
A majority of U.S. companies neglect to monitor all of the e-mail, voice
and information systems that their employees can access, and as a result,
often forget to shut them off when the employees leave, says a program
manager at Computer Science Corp.: "No matter what anyone says, there is
no way for a large organization with distributed systems to track all
employees' passwords from a central place. Today, companies have faith in
their employees' good nature and presume they'll do the right thing." One
ex- employee of a Big Six accounting firm continued to use the company's e-
mail and voice-mail systems a year after he left, and even accessed the
company's internal network occasionally, although by that time he was
employed by a competitor. Outsourcing network functions just exacerbates
the problem: "It's hard enough to know when your own employees leave the
firm, much less other firms' employees," says the chief technology officer
for Vanstar Corp. To maintain some degree of control, experts recommend
giving employees one centrally controlled password for all systems, from e-
mail to file servers, contradicting the common assumption that one
password creates a system that's especially vulnerable to hackers.
(Investor's Business Daily 12 Feb 97)
SOFTWARE PIRACY REVISITED
The playwright George S. Kaufmann once defined satire as something that
closes on Saturday night, but in the newspaper business it's something
that gets taken seriously. A recent software piracy story in the
Petersburg Times (and subsequently in Edupage 11 Feb 97) failed to include
an introduction that indicated that the piece was satirical and included a
fictitious quotation. (St. Petersburg Times 10 Feb 97)
IMELDA-DOT-HISTORY-DOT-REVISION
Imelda Marcos, the former first lady of the Philippines, plans to set up
her own Web site to argue her case that she and her deceased husband
Ferdinand have been unjustly accused of pilfering billions from the
country's treasury. (Toronto Globe & Mail 13 Feb 97 B12)
Edupage is written by John Gehl (gehl@educom.edu) & Suzanne Douglas
(douglas@educom.edu).
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Apple/Mac Section
Help Wanted
Xfree86 News STR InfofileMetro Link - XFree86 AnnouncementFebruary 5,
1997METRO LINK INCORPORATED ANNOUNCES
Donation of Dynamic Loader Technology to XFree86 Project, Inc.
FORT LAUDERDALE, Florida - February 5, 1997 - Metro Link Incorporated, a
world-renowned provider of X, Motif, and OpenGL, today announced the
donation of its X server dynamic loader technology to the XFree86 Project,
Inc. "We hope that the donation of our loader technology will help to
improve the available implementations of the X Window System. We encourage
its use in freeware as well as commercial applications for the benefit of
all users. Our goal is to promote the long term viability of X in the
spirit of other contributors like Digital, HP, or SUN." said Morgan Von
Essen, president of Metro Link.
"Metro Link and XFree86 have enjoyed a cooperative relationship over the
years. Metro Link has been involved with XFree86 since the beginning,"
said David E. Wexelblat, director and founder of the XFree86 Project, Inc.
"Several Metro Link employees have made massive contributions to XFree86."
THE LOADER TECHNOLOGY
Metro Link's dynamic loader technology supports ELF and COFF objects,
making it possible for the X server to load these modules at runtime. This
eliminates the need to rebuild X server binaries and allows developers to
distribute updated modules without having to touch any other files. Server
extensions can be loaded and unloaded as needed. Metro Link has placed
the dynamic loader technology under an X Consortium-style copyright, so
that it will be truly free. This gives the XFree86 Project the right to
use the donated source code for any purpose. The dynamic loader will
become an integral part of the XFree86 server in a future release.
The loader software is part of Metro-X, Metro Link's commercial X server,
and has been used in demanding mission-critical environments for the past
year and a half.
ABOUT METRO LINK
Metro Link Incorporated is a Florida corporation in continuous existence
since 1989, specializing in the X Window System and extensions to X for
commercial and government markets. Current offerings are Metro- X, Metro-
Media (multimedia), Metro OpenGL (3D graphics), and Metro Link Motif
(graphical user interface). Software is available for many UNIX-like and
real-time operating systems.
ABOUT THE XFREE86 PROJECT
The XFree86 Project, Inc., is a non-profit, all-volunteer Delaware
corporation funded solely by corporate and individual gifts. Over 100
volunteer developers and testers prepare each release for a user community
estimated to number over a million.
HOW TO CONTACT METRO LINK
http://www.metrolink.com/
+1 954 938 0283
CONTACT: Morgan Von Essen, 954-938-0283
HOW TO CONTACT XFREE86
http://www.xfree86.org/
xfree86@xfree86.org
Kids Computing Corner
Frank Sereno, Editor
fsereno@streport.com
The Kids' Computing Corner
Computer news and software reviews
from a parent's point of view
In the News
Hi there gang! This week's news is that The Kids' Computing Corner is
holding another drawing to give away a program. We have a copy of the
Macintosh version of Titanic: An Adventure Out of Time that will be awarded
to a lucky winner via a random drawing. Entries will be accepted through
12:01am Thursday, February 20 and the winner will be announced in the
February 21 edition of the Silicon Times Report. To enter, all you need to
do is send an e-mail to me with the word Titanic in either the message body
or the subject header. My e-mail addresses are fsereno@streport.com and
fsereno@matrix.uti.com. The winner will be notified by e-mail and the
prize will be shipped as soon as I have the winner's address. The staff of
STR Publishing is not eligible for this contest.
Ultimate Children's Encyclopedia
Windows CD-ROM
about $30
for ages 7 to 12
The Learning Company
6493 Kaiser Dr.
Fremont, CA 94555
(800) 852-2255
Program Requirements
OS: Windows 3.1
CPU: 486SX/25
HD Space: 6 MB
Memory: 8 MB
Graphics: 640 x 480, 256 colors
CD-ROM: Double-speed
Audio: 8-bit sound card with MIDI
Optional: printer
review by Frank Sereno
If you are looking for a user-friendly reference program for your children,
Ultimate Children's Encyclopedia may be just what you are searching for.
It features more than 28,000 articles and it includes a dictionary,
thesaurus, atlas and two encyclopedias all on one CD-ROM.
The program is hosted by Zak. This friendly youngster will assist your
child if he needs help in using the program. Zak really has an easy job
because the program is very easy to use. Simply click on links to start a
voyage of learning and discovery. The "go back" button will retrace your
steps. It's really very much like a Web browser with spoken help. The
main interface is Zak's room. There are 17 categories covered by Ultimate
Children's Encyclopedia that are represented by objects in the room. By
passing the cursor over these objects, the program will display text
defining the categories. You can even link to America Online's Compton's
Living Encyclopedia for updated information.
You can enter a search for a specific subject, choose a subject from a list
or just browse the excellent reference material looking for items of
personal interest. Once you are reading an article, you can easily follow
links to related articles, study a timeline, learn word definitions, view
maps and more. The writing is specifically tailored to children so the
articles are clear and concise. Most articles include interesting pictures
and some include sounds.
I do think that the program is better suited for children ages 9 and up
because all the articles must be read. Despite the fact that the writing
is designed for young children, first and second graders will be
overwhelmed by the text. Perhaps if The Learning Company had given the
option for the articles to be read aloud to the user, it would be more
suitable and much more fun for younger users.
I found Ultimate Children's Encyclopedia to be a very interesting and
informative reference program. It packs an enormous amount of material
onto a single CD-ROM. It's affordably priced and backed by a 30-day
satisfaction guarantee. Bring this reference collection home and you'll be
able to "look it up with Zak" today!
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If there are any questions please use either E-Mail or call. On
another note. the ASCII version of STReport is fast approaching the "end of
the line" As the major Online Services move away from ASCII.. So shall
STReport. All in the name of progress and improved readability. The
amount of reader mail expressing a preference for our Adobe PDF enhanced
issue is running approximately 15 to 1 over the ASCII edition. Besides,
STReport will not be caught in the old, worn out "downward compatibility
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Many grateful thanks in advance for your enthusiastic co-operation and
input.
Ralph F. Mariano, Editor
rmariano@streport.com
STReport International Online Magazine
Classics & Gaming Section
Editor Dana P. Jacobson
dpj@streport.com
From the Atari Editor's Desk "Saying it like it is!"
Okay, so I've been having fun this past week - I'm entitled to a
little bit of fun every once in awhile, aren't I? What have I been doing,
you ask? Well, last weekend I decided to look around for a book - a guide
of sorts to learn a little more about HTML programming. Yes, I love the
HomePage Penguin program, but it is limited. I wanted to know if I was
capable of putting together a web page from scratch (I am NOT a
programmer). Looking at the source code for a number of various web pages
I've seen, including my own, I decided that HTML wasn't brain surgery.
With a guide book, I should be able to do this. So, I did find one fairly
good one. It wasn't the one that was recommended to me, but this one
appeared to be something that would teach me the basics. Note, I said the
basics.
So, after reading it through, I began to re-do some of the pages that
I had begun with HomePage Penguin. Hey, this stuff isn't so bad after all!
Put together some graphics and place them where I wanted them. Do some
wrap-around text where I wanted - not bad. Put some e-mail and web site
links in was a snap. This is fun as I can look at my progress as I go.
I'm writing the code while in Flash II's text editor and running CAB from
within Flash to see what the page looks like. Edit along the way to get it
just right. I still have a way to go to update my current pages and add
more to them, but this is fun. It's also more rewarding doing it "by hand"
rather than having some elaborate program do all of the work for you and
then the "programmer" taking the credit for a great page. I'm not knocking
the programs; I'd definitely use them too if they were available. But, it
does give one a sense of self-satisfaction to be able to say you did it
yourself.
I'm working on a few pages at the moment. As mentioned in past weeks,
I did put together a page for my user group as well as a page for my BBS.
Well, I'm gathering notes so I can add other user groups to my page,
including as much information about them as possible, including links to
their web pages (if they exist) and e-mail links. Same thing with the BBS
page. If I can break away from this stuff, I'll put together a form so I
can post it on the web as well as the Usenet to solicit groups and boards
to be included. I'll keep you all updated as I progress more. If you have
any ideas or suggestions, please drop me a line at: dpj@delphi.com or
dpj@streport.com.
This week's issue is jam-packed with all kinds of interesting items!
It's usually a "scrape together" an article or two and hope no one
complains about the sparseness of the contents. In the past, it's
typically feast or famine - this week, it's feast.
Oregon Research is coming out with TermiteTCP, a new Internet tool for
Atari users. Sounds interesting. The Safari '97 show in Houston is next
weekend. This show may be their last, so catch it if you can! The Phenix
is coming (why not the Phoenix?). Check out the news regarding this new
Atari computer "clone". The Unabashed Atariophile has come out of
hibernation and provided us with a terrific column this week. I think
Michael has outdone himself this week! LOTS of programs profiled in this
week's column. And we have even more news this week, so don't miss a
thing!
Until next time...
Safari ` STR ShowNews97
Safari '97 - Only a week away!!
The seventh annual Houston Atari Safari computer show will be held on
February 22nd, 1997 from 10 am to 5 pm. Safari '97 will be held at the
Four Points Hotel, 7611 Katy Freeway, Houston TX. Primarily a vendor
show, Safari '97 will include:
Computer Direct (Canada's largest Atari reseller)
ChroMagic Software Innovations (Developer of ST and Falcon software and
hardware
Crawly Crypt Corporation (Manufacturer of Atari specific CD's)
Emulator's Inc (Developer of ST emulators for Windows PC's)
It's All Relative (Developer of ST software and distributor of CD ROM's)
More Than Games (A liquidator of 8-bit and ST software)
Systems For Tomorrow (The midwest's largest Atari reseller)
Toad Computers (The east coast's largest Atari reseller)
Trace Technologies (Developer of ST software)
In addition a large number of user tables will be at the show. This is the
largest Atari show in Texas! ... for the year so far, it's the largest in
the US.
Contact HACE (Houston Atari Computer Enthusiasts), the sponsor of Safari
'97 for additional information:
HACE
PO BOX 820335
Houston TX, 77282-0335
or email: hace@delphi.com
or contact George Iken, (281) 493-0122
George Iken
Houston Atari Computer Enthusiasts
Here's a press pre-release of the Oregon Research internet software. It
seems they are _not_ releasing a browser but a PPP program with Telnet, FTP
and email. They are working with the CAB people for compatibility.
Anyway, here it is...
Greetings,
Re: TermiteTCP
Although we have not officially announced it (working on the press release
before I got sick) the port is already in progress. It is a 100% BSD
socket compliant implementation of TCP/IP with integrated PPP driver. It
fully supports all of the current Internet standards as specified in the
RFC's. Setting it up is brain dead as all you need to know is your ISP's
phone number and your user name and password and the ability to click on
the Connect button. Everything else is automatically negotiated with the
host. The base system will ship with FTP, Telnet, and e-mail clients as
well as a Software developers kit for third party clients. We are working
with the CAB people to have CAB support TTCP on release. It has been
commercially available on the Amiga for over a year and the core stack and
PPP drivers are rock solid. All of the critical routines are implemented
in hand optimized assembly making it the highest performance stack
available for micro computers. The target release is sometime before
April. Target price is not set yet but will probably be the same as the
Amiga version which is $69.95 retail ($49.95 street) and will include a
150+ page printed manual including "Reggies Guide to the Internet" a
comprehensive tutorial on the Internet and Internet resources.
Feel free to pass this information on to whomever you wish.
Best regards,
Bob Luneski
Oregon Research Orders/Info: (503) 620-4919
16200 SW Pacific Hwy. Ste 162 Tech Support:(503) 968-9250
Tigard, OR 97224 FAX: (503) 624-2940
Here's the most recent news about the Phenix (sic) Falcon clone by Centek
in France. This is to the Falcon what the Medusa/Hades systems are for the
Falcon. CPU options are040 and 060 and 080 (when available). The 080 =
100x the 040!
The result of our enquiry
Centek thanks every person who answered our questions. It's the first time
that a constructor consults the users to define the future capabilities of
a machine.
700 envelopes sent, 397 answers returned, 23%.
The 397 answers are:
58 programmers
15 hardware conceptors
55 musicians
21 using PAO (Calamus or else)
55 simple users
42 graphists (POV, WEB pages, etc...)
165 Falcon owners
78 STF/E TT owners
32 own an Atari plus another machine
25 computer students
9 don't own their Atari anymore
Some people can appear in two or more categories.
PHENIX: the hardware:
It will be based on a 68040 with an upgrade to 68060. In the future, the
hardware will be optimized for 68060. If enough machines are sold, a
portable PHOENIX can be possible.
For the future, Motorola is preparing the 68080 that is 10 times faster
than the 68060 with the same frequency. Some people would like a Power PC
instead of a 680x0. But those chips are very expensive and won't satisfy
the Atari public. Most of all, the PHENIX team has not the knowledge to use
such a chip (this would have been possible with a greater team, with more
money, more hardware: as we haven't them...).
The PHENIX is the synthesis of several existing machines: Falcon, Amiga,
Macintosh, PC, Unix stations. - CPU Motorola MC 68040/66Mhz (easy upgrade
to 68060: 1600 francs with the exchange of your old 040, not expensive to
run 10 times faster!!!).
- BUS 32 bits (data and addresses), 33MHz - RAM 64bits SIMM interlaced
(40% faster than 32bits) up to 128Mb (4 slots).
- No DIMM?? No, because DIMM 2Kb is cheap but not so fast, and the DIMM
4kb is very fast but very expensive!!!
- Flash EPROM 64Kb containing the boot of the DOLMEN system allowing
immediate upgrades by soft transfers.
- Compatibility with the AES (rewritten version of the current TOS).
Only GEM-programs will be accepted under DOLMEN.
- DSP 56302 (compatible with 56001), 66Hz (1 MIPS per MHz) with 6 DMA
channels 32 bits.
- A slot for a second DSP 56302 chained with the first. - connector DSP
26 pins for Audio-digital interface (compatible with Falcon 030).
- IOP (Internal Operating Processor) 683xx managing 4 serial ports, one
parallel port and 2 independant DMA channels 32 bits. They will transfer up
to 44 Mb/s in theory (better than the current Power MAC 10Mb/s), waiting
for the tests.
- Fast SCSI 2 WIDE 16 bits with DMA 32 bits (15 periph chained). Maxi:
20Mb/s in theory.
- ZILOG 16 bits with 4 DMA channels. Printing, receiving files, sending
files at the same time!!!
- Voice synthesizer processor (High quality) - 3 PCI slots for graphic
cards, Ethernet, etc... The choice of 3 slots is wanted: one for the
graphic card, one for Ethernet, and one for what you want. No ISA, nor VME
buses.
- Graphic card: Matrox, 2Mb (up to 8Mb) with two versions: Mystic (for
everyone) and Millennium (Pro). Matrox is a good choice, because they are
preparing a daughter board for real time video!
- 2 slots for Audio/Midi (2 versions: 16 bits (for everyone, 100 francs)
and 24 bits (pro)). The basic config will contain the 16 bits card, if you
ask, you can have no audio card.
- 2 slots direct to CPU for various extensions (emulation, diagnosis,
ram, graphic card,...)
- standard keyboard PC 105 keys (the TT one was too expensive, sorry!)
- mouse 3 buttons
- floppy 1.44
- CD rom x4 SCSI 2 (faster and more up to date than IDE). A faster CD is
not justified as the SCSI 2 gives it enough speed for the multimedia
applications.
- RAM 8Mb.(As prices decrease, it may be 32Mb) - Black Tower or Rack 19
(you can choose). - you can get the mother board for personal config for
4000 francs (more or less).
- Price: under 10 000 francs.
- special prices for sellers and developers.
Speed comparison with a Falcon (Theory... :)
- BUS x 2
- graphic card that frees CPU time: x 2
- 68040 66MHz : x 12 (or 68060 120 MHz: x 62!!!)
Summary: PHENIX 040: 48 x Falcon
PHENIX 060: 270 x Falcon
(for the 68060, depending on the code, you can get up to x540 as several
instructions can be executed in parallel). If you want to get crazy: the
68080 is ten times faster than a 68060!!!
The price is calculate to the lowest possible, considering its power and
the cheap extensions, its price is very attractive compared to other
platforms (PC or MACS: you must upgrade regularly those machines to get an
acceptable power to run the latest softs, I said 'acceptable', not
'correct'!)
DOLMEN: the soft
It is not another step with TOS/GEM but a total rewriting of some TOS parts
(AES, VDI, Speedo) with a look like 'X Windows' and all its options. The
DOLMEN operating system is the synthesis of Atari-GEM, Amiga-Workbench,
Apple-finder, PC-Windows, UNIX-X-Windows.
It is extensible, the DOLMEN.SYS folder contains various other folders: -
PRG (system programs such as Word processors, HTML, workgroups... with an
easy upgrade)
- FONTS (SPEEDO, TRUE TYPE, POSTSCRIPT and (?)CALAMUS). - MODULES
(sound, images, txt, animations, 3D,...) - DRIVERS (CD ROM, video, DSP,
printers,...) - ICONS (old ones and new ones)
- HELP (texts and sounds)
- KEYBOARD (according to your country)
- LANGUAGE (resources according to your country)
The modules will be a part of the system. I mean that if you have the
correct module for one format, every application will be able to save/load
with this format. The icons can be treated in two ways: as a separated
file, or included into the header of the application. This way, when you
copy a file, you get its icon by the way.
According to the extensions of the files, you can specify that they will be
treated by the system (with a module) or by a specific program (for
example you can tell DOLMEN that GIF, IMG, PAC, TIFF are treated by the
system viewer and that the other formats will be treated by Image Copy 5.)
The system will be divided in sub-programs: viewers, icon editor,
res-change, file selector, background copies and printing, etc...
The resolution change won't reboot the desktop, as this will be handled by
the graphic card itself.
A TCP/IP, SLIP/PPP will be integrated with the Internet connection on
either a serial port or on the Ethernet card (1,25Mb/s, option).
The system is,of course, multitasking with windowing of every application,
and so, multi windowed. You can personalize your desktop (sounds, images).
The system will handle the *.BAK files (saving or deleting). Protection
(with a password) of physical units, folders or files.
- Auto save of the settings of each application.
- Load/save music/video in DTD.
- Every current option of the TOS/GEM.
- Enhanced MAC FAT.
- Resume function to wake up your computer.
An overlay of programming for PC compatibility (with the emulation card) to
simplify to translation of PC games on the PHENIX.
Ready for developers on March 1997.
Ready for the public on June/July 1997.
A hard&soft documentation will be available with the developers kit from
CENTEK, you'll get one too into your system as HTML pages. Besides, you'll
be able to rent a Phenix to finalize your softs on this machine.
Why PHENIX?
Because of the idea of this bird that is reborn from its ashes into the
mythology. The spelling is English for a better general understanding
across the world.
The distribution will start from CENTEK, and then in centers agreed by
CENTEK. Yes, you'll have to demonstrate your capabilities! An European
distribution will come later.
This machine won't be a French-only computer. We plan to sell it in the UK,
USA, and most of all Germany where people, developers and the magazines are
waiting for it.
The PHENIX is not a concurrent of the HADES and Medusa, those machines are
'pro', we want to touch the personal user.
Our Enquiry:
Looking at the results, a large part of you are pessimistic according the
future of the machine. You can stop wondering: a lot of contacts are made
all around the world coming from enthusiastic people. Some people think
that a simple conversion from PC/MAC of the sifts would be sufficient to
make the PHENIX live. Here is our opinion:
Softs created on PC/MAC are commonly written in C with non-optimized code.
That's why they need so much MIPS/RAM/MHz to make them run correctly. The
CPUs are becoming unaccessible to the common programmer, the HARD isnot
understood anymore as it changes every six months. Too short to learn how
to optimize anything!
That's why we prefer from the start a developers kit in assembler with
optimized biblio for this system and then (later, let us take enough time
to make it good) a C developer's kit with optimized libraries.
Your remarks concerning the PHENIX
Many of you seem very enthusiastic about this project, reading your letters
we have found some 'genius' that we'll contact to make them a part of the
PHOENIX project. Even some PC owners found it good (bored by M&I). Good
new: one girl replied!!! She uses the Atari as a secretary. Some other
persons were very negative. The danger is that their names are known from
you, they write articles into magazines, they even write programs for
Atari, but always saying the Atari is dead, but they still go on working
with it! Are they jealous? Are they stupid? Their influence on the Atari
world is great and they should close their mouth sometimes...
CENTEK would like to thank the PFM team and everyone who replied and helped
us in this project.
Heissler Olivier.
Roni Music Home Page offers free down load of the Sweet Sixteen MIDI
Sequencer for Windows and Atari computers. Sweet Sixteen is a
comprehensive and powerful MIDI sequencer for PC/Windows and Atari ST/STE
range of computers.
Sweet Sixteen offers Piano Roll, List and Transform edit pages as well as a
dedicated Mixer page you can use for your favourite synthesizer.
Two versions are available:
1. A demo version which is a complete version of Sweet Sixteen with all
file saving disabled.
2. A "lite" version which lets the user save files but certain other
functions are disabled.
Check it out at: http://home1.swipnet.se/~w-11396
Rolf Nilsson / Roni Music <roni@mbox317.swipnet.se>
Nybogatan 21, S-212 32 Malmoe, Sweden
Phone: +46-40+494411
URL http://home1.swipnet.se/~w-11396
STR Feature
The Unabashed Atariophile
by Michael R. Burkley
February 14, 1997
I'm sorry to say that it's been awhile since my last "Unabashed
Atariophile" article, but you already know that. The reason for my delay
has been the continuing saga of the failure of my PC to boot. It's been
over a month now that I've had this piece of sorry equipment sitting on my
desktop not doing much of anything at all. It's sitting there because my
local dealer doesn't have any idea why it's not working either. That's
rather frustrating because it worked just fine before he upgraded it! Oh
well, someday...
Until then I'm carting my TT with Cattamaran back and forth between the
church building and my home. All of my work is being done with it, and
actually, I'm very glad about that! I said above that my PC was "sitting on
my desktop not doing much of anything...." The something that it is doing
is providing power to the hard drive it contains. I'm using HD Driver and
BIGDOS08 to access that PC formatted drive with my TT. Doing that I can get
all the information and archives off of it, and use it to write
descriptions for you!
If you are a programmer I have a request for you. Please don't put any "-"
or "'" or any other special characters in your program or file names. I'm
working on another CD of Public Domain/Shareware/Demo software, and when
those characters are included in the filename the filename cannot be
properly written to the standard CD format. Other standard characters are
automatically substituted for the offending character by the CD-making
software. That means your program often won't run, which isn't good for you
or me! There are a number of very useful programs which fall into this
category (ST-GUIDE.ACC by Holger Weets is one that comes to mind).
My listing of files today is a mixture of the old and new (to be honest, I
guess mostly old). I'm finally beginning to catch up on my descriptions.
Now I'm just working my way through my hard drives describing as I go. Some
of the belo files are from Delphi, my favorite online place, while others
are from the Internet. Some of the Internet sites you will probably
recognize, others you won't. Unfortunately, I can't tell you how to find
them other than doing a search for "Atari" or "Hensa" or "UNIKL" with an
Internet search engine such as Yahoo. I've just stored them away in their
respective site folders and not recorded the "URL" addresses. I'm sure if
you find something interesting you'll be able to search it out. If not,
give me a shout, and I'll see what I can do.
On to the descriptions...
I found the following on the AURA Homepage:
AURA_LIB is the PMOD-library used by the AURA crew for many of their demos.
The PMOD format is a PC-relative format including some project
informations in the assembled modules and header files for easy use. That
means you can include pre-assembled files in your source (faster assembling
times and shorter source codes), by accessing the different module-routines
with normal labels (with the headerfiles). A tool to manage the complete
lib is included. The PMOD-Lib is about 500 KBytes, including modules and
sources for routines like polygon-drawing, gouraud-routines,
DSP-transformations, 030-transformations, relocating programms, mouse,
colour-handling (including the complete POV-table of colours defined with
names), DSP and 030 macros and so on...
C3D2_POV is the Cyberscuplt to POV converter v.1.41 coded by BDCannibal of
AURA. This program converts 3D2 objects to POV, and, if desired, it
generates "smooth_triangles" for (pseudo) round edges. The archive includes
the (highly portable) C source which can be compiled using Pure-C or GCC.
The TOS Exec is in the archive.
FALC_DOC is a comprehensive documentation of the video system (and more) of
the Atari Falcon by Chris of AURA (dated 1993). Unfortunately (for me),
it's all in German (Tat / Digital Chaos has written an English translation,
but I don't know how to ask him for it, as the file ID tells me to do so!).
Chris considers this his "masterpiece". Ther is a lot of English
documentation though. There is information on the Falcon Audio system, its
Multi-Function Peripheral (68901), the DSP, and lots of other stuff
(meaning: I don't know what it is!) for the ST/STE/TT and Falcon. Chris
was one of the authors of the Screenblaster 3.0 video upgrade for the
Falcon, so he knows his stuff.
FEV_WEEK by AURA is a conversion of the TCB 24 hours screen (the "Syntax
Terror") to the Falcon. BDCannibal wrote this in two weeks while he was ill
(hence the title, Fever Week). The demo is only runs on a TV or Atari color
monitor (RGB) as the author didn't have a VGA monitor at the time of
writing.
GULLE_AM is a Falcon only "Gulle am Bach" demo by AURA that won first prize
at the Fried Bits 2 (1994) shorttro-competition. It features colorful 3D
dots and morphing wireframe objects (everything calculated on the DSP). The
first "dot" screen feature more than 1400 pixels, which are transformed,
moved, projected and shaded in realtime. The second screen features 400
points connected with 200 lines. The demo uses the normal STE-trackreplay
(by Innovator) for its sound as the two animated screens use 100% of the
DSP all by themselves. According to the internal docs this demo works on
RGB/TV or a VGA type of monitor with at least 2 MBytes of free RAM. The
file description which I read before I downloaded it said it only works
with an RGB monitor. The truth? You'll need to find out on your own!
HIFIDREA is "High Fidelity Dreams," a sounddisk containing the best modules
by Tip and Mantronix of AURA. It features a fast ST and STE tracker replay
and fancy volumemeters (also running on ST). The code and design and
graphics of this demo are by Aeon and the music is by several people. This
is an .MSA file and requires a program such as MSA_2_32 to make into a
runnable form.
ILLUSION is a Falcon only demo EX-Illusion by AURA. It's a demo with a
different and attractive style. It was made as a contrast to all the
flashing techno-demos that you can find everywhere. Slow pictures, slow
music, different 3D animations (all 3D calcs uses the DSP), all make for a
8.5 minute show which will help you to relax a bit. Coded and designed by
BDCannibal; poems by Heinrich Heine; pictures by Herm and JMS and music by
Domm. See ILLU_SRC for the source code of this demo.
ILLU_SRC is the (nearly) complete sourcecode for the Falcon "EX-Illusion"
Demo (dated June, 1995). See ILLUSION above for the complete package. By
AURA.
INDYINT2 is the Indymagintro X from AURA, a small intro for the Indymag.
Some Blitter-filled-EOR-fields. Looks nice, sound by C. Huelsbeck (from
Turrican). According to the author the text is the truth and nothing but
the truth!
KRANK is "the worst module ever!" by BDCannibal of AURA. I haven't listened
to it yet, but I think it might have something to do with a sneeze, as
"Gesundheit" is in the description twice! Anyone know how to play a MOD
file while running GEMulator?
LAMEMINE is Lamemine, a minesweeper clone running on your Falcon in Hires
(640*480), coded by BDCannible of AURA (dated 1993). It is fast, lame
(according to the author!, but since it has lots of levels and options, why
is it lame?) and has NO hiscore list. On RGB you get it interlaced. Docs
included.
MATHEMAT is "Mathematica", a dentro from AURA showing mathematical effects,
like Keftales, SPlines, IFS-Fractals (including a small editor for your
pleasure) and a solid 3D-graphics screen. Several people took part in this
project: The coding and design was by Christ, the 3D Screen by BDCannibal,
graphics by Dan (one font by Carnera), and the chiptunes by Dark Angel.
Dated 1992 and runs on a color STE (at least), but doesn't run on my TT.
MONEYROU is "Money Makes the World Go Round," a little comic (2 screens i
low res Degas format) by JMS and BDCannibal of AURA. According to the
author "it should be funny, but of course, nobody understands it (BBCs
plots are allways played in high-logic...)." Actually, I thought it was
rather amusing, involving a wishing well, an optimistic coin tosser, and an
opportunistic well-dwelling dragon.
OYSTERS is The World is my Oyster," a funny little party demo coded by
Chris, BDCannibal and Cody of AURA and released on a Friday the 13th in
1992 (I can't remember what month though). According to the authors is
includes unspectacular graphics and music with some laugh-making
scrolltexts. I think they are being a bit self-deprecating here! I
especially liked the little frog that jumped across the intro screen as
each portion of the demo uncompresses in memory. Overall I thought it was
pretty good. It runs on a color STE (it doesn't work on my TT, I don't know
about anything else). This comes as an MSA file and requires a program such
as MSA_2_32 to make into a runable form.
STSOUND is the Yamaha YM2149 Chip Emulator v3.10 (dated Nov. 1996) for MS
DOS and Windows based machines by Arnaud Carre (Leonard/ OXYGENE). YM is a
software YM2149 chip emulator. This chip is a FM synthethic sound
processor. It is inclued in the AMSTRAD CPC and in the ATARI-ST. So you can
play music from these both machine with YM !! For emulation, you need a
SoundBlaster(TM) card for the DOS version, or any card for the WINDOWS
version. Detailed English docs and numerous tunes to play (by Jochen
Hippel) included. Cardware (send the author a nice illustrated postcard).
Found on the AURA homepage.
The next set of two files were found on an Internet site in Berlin,
Germany:
KAYFOUR is KayFour v.2.9 by Ralf Gesellensetter (dated Feb. 8, 1996). This
program is a multifunctional bankloader for the Kawai K4 synthesizer and
the Atari ST. With this program and your Kawai K4 you can automatically
recognize and load the following bank data types: .K4, .BNK, .SND Complet
Dump, and .HEX. You may also print out all the ound names on your Epson
printer, save a table of your Bank's contents as a 32k doodle format
picture, print-out a list of effects, crossreference, unused effect
patches, export the sound's names and check sums in order to use them in a
data base, send single sounds to any memory cell, and save comments on your
bank data. The program comes with both English and German resource files,
and while all the dialogs are in German (even in the English version), the
English docs include a dictionary of German/English words that will make
this easy to use. The author is always willing for you to send some cash
his way!
SOX6PL9 is the SOund eXchange program, SOX-6 Patchlevel 9 compiled for the
ST-TT (perhaps Falcon?) by Uwe and orginally written by Lance Norskog, et.
al. This .TTP (i.e.: command line operated) "Universal" Sound Sample
Translator translates sound samples between different file formats, and
performs various sound effects. SOX is intended as the Swiss Army knife of
sound processing tools. It doesn't do anything very well, but sooner or
later it comes in very handy. This release understands "raw" files in
various binary formats, Sound Blaster .VOC files, IRCAM SoundFile files,
SUN Sparcstation .au files, mutant DEC .au files, Amiga/SGI AIFF files,
Macintosh HCOM files, Sounder files, RIFF/.WAV, Turtle Beach .SMP files,
Apple/SGI AIFF and 8SVX, Atari .SND files and Soundtool (DOS) files. The
sound effects include changing the sample rate, adding echo delay lines,
applying low- and band-pass filtering, and the infamous Fender Vibro
effect. I don't know when this was compiled, but the file dates are all
Nov. 13, 1996.
I found the next file on the CyberStrider site:
IPRN201D is iPRN II v. 2.01 demo by Petee Missel (dated May 1996). This
shareware program is a printout accelerator that can yield almost 40 times
the printing speed TOS can bring you. It will speed anything going out the
printer port. More than that, it fixes that annoying 40 sec. delay when
you've forgotten to turn your printer on but your computer hasn't figured
that out. Now with IPRN you get the error message immediately. This demo
only fully accelerates the first printout, doesn't support the registered
control panel CPX that allows you to configure it, and one or two other
minor limitations. The faster your computer is the faster your printouts
will be. Unfortunately for me this doesn't accelerate Calamus output (but
with my Cattamaran TT and SLM605 I guess I really don't need any
acceleration!). This won't work with Atari emulators like GEMulator or the
Janus board, but everything else is fine. Detailed docs.
Now for a LONG list of files from Delphi:
BIGLIFE is BigLife v.3.00 by Owen Rees (dated Dec. 1993). This GEM based
program is the most interesting and full-featured adaptation of "Life" that
I have seen (just get it and I think you will agree with me!). It's not the
Milton Bradley game of LIFE which I'm writing about here, but the computer
program which tracks "generations" of "cells" as they live and die on your
computer screen as based on a simple set of rules. This version allows you
to set the size and rules of your "universe,"create, save, and load your
own patterns, load patterns from a sampling included with the program, and
even load XLife format files from X-Windows. The patterns included with
this are beautiful and fantastic! Rocketships, shooting guns, gliders, and
more are all included! The patterns are so much more complicated and
beautiful than I thought possible. The docs make for fascinating reading,
too. I recommend this program to you! ST-Falcon compatible in ST
resolutions (you can even make the cells display in any two colors). As an
aside, David Brin's book, "Glory Season" has an interesting sub-theme of
how this type of game can spread and influence a society. "Glory Season"
was a very interesting book. I didn't like it much as I started it, but as
I read further and further into it I liked it more and more. I recommend
that to you as well!
GEO_PI is Gio_Pi,two excellent programs by Gio Ciamp designed for
calculating the number "Pi" (you know, 3.1415926...). Output goes
simultaneously to screen and file. Stuart Lyster of Canada and Gio have
been in a partnership over the years in writing "Pi" calculating programs.
This one (dated Jan., 1996), for all ST/TT/Falcon computers, is one of the
best. Stuart wrote the documentation. His Web site address is included so
you may contact him for more information about calculating "Pi".
HUECKEL a program by Uwe Schneider (dated July 1992) which will allow all
of you physical chemists out there to calculate the MO vectors and eigen
values (MO levels) of organic Pi-systems according to the Hueckel
approximation. The heart if this program is a diagonalization of the
Hueckel matrix as proposed by Givens and Householder. Completely keyboard
based, this program is easy to run and should work on any ST-Falcon in any
res. (best in mono). It is compatible with Geneva as well. The program is
in English and has both English and German online helps. More detailed docs
are in German. You really need to be a chemist to make sense of this
program (maybe a working chemist would be a better qualification, since I'm
still a chemist!).
LP104USA is Laborant Professional v.1.04 (the English Version) by Jens
Schulz (dated June 18th, 1995). Laborant Professional is an astounding
GEM-based chemistry program for the "curious chemistry user." This program
does _everything_ a chemistry student or professional might want.
Obviously, such a statement is a bit exagerated, but consider: the Table
of Contents listing the functions available in LP is 270 lines long! Just
as another example he has included a very capable Units conversion option
right in the program. Not only is LP useful in Chemistry, it finds
application in biology, physics, pharmaceutical sciences and mechanical
engineering (thermodynamics)! Nevertheless, its main application is as a
universal chemistry program for the daily work in laboratories and in the
teaching of chemistry. Compatible with any ST(TOS 1.2 or higher)-Falcon
computer, color or mono, in ST med. or higher with 1 meg or more of RAM.
Geneva, MultiTOS, MultiGEM, and MagiC all work just fine. If you are
working as a chemist, or studying to do so (or did do that but now are
working at another job...say as a pastor!) then Laborant Professional is
for you!
Laborant Professional is divided in several scientific divisions :
- Stoechiometry with powerful formula-/equation analysis
- Data processing (Error determination, interpolation, approximation)
- Statistical tests
- Linear equation systems and matrix operations
- Thermochemistry (incl. databases)
- Reaction kinetics
- Chemical solutions and conversions
- Chemical calculation methods of a wide variety
- Tables and exercising programs
- Import/export of experimental data (to a WIDE variety of platforms and
program types)
- Integration of external programs
- TeX support
The program is now fully translated into English in both ASCII and TeX
documents.
Here are two other of my favorite programs of Jen's. He is one creative
guy!
PMJ_ENG2 is Premium Mah Jongg II (the English version) by Jens Schulz &
Thomas Grube (dated Oct. 10, 1993). Mah Jongg is an old chinese board game
in which you seek to remove pairs of tiles from a set of 144 tiles stacked
in a five level pyramid. The game itself might be old, but Premium Mah
Jongg II is anything but old. It is full of features, has excellent game
play and graphics, and is unfortunately quite addictive! It will run in all
ST and TT res, and up to 256 colors on Falcons and graphic cards. I can't
begin to list all the features (but I'll try anyway): First of all, there
are excellent English Docs which explain all the rules of Mah Jongg II and
all the features of the game. Next, the program will tell you all the free
tiles available if you wish (only in the solitaire, non-tournament mode).
It will even check, in real-time if you have reached a dead end in your
play (if it doesn't tell you you're finihed then there is a matching tile
SOMEWHERE!). It will repeat your game for you and allow you to replay your
game from any point. If you don't like the color of the tiles or background
you can change them! This game has a solitaire practice mode, a tournament
mode, and a "happening" mode. The happening mode is where the game produces
multiple copies of the exact same set of games for as many players as
desired. These players then each play the games and the times are compared.
The fastest player wins (and as a prize gets taken out to dinner by the
other players!). This game is shareware, but you only need to pay if you
get so good that you can beat the highest tourney level (or participate in
a "happening"). Recommended. Floppy or hard drive installable. On a
personal note I was surprised to see my name listed in the docs! Joseph M.
Turner (ATARIPOWER7 on Delphi) and I were
thanked for the help we've give Jens (Joseph has done much more than me!).
Also mentioned was the fact that Mah Jongg II cannot be distributed by any
Commercial PD company except Suzy B's Software (hmmm...I've heard that name
from somewhere before <g>)
VALENCY is Only! Valency by Jens Schulz (dated Dec. 24, 1994). I especially
like Only! Valency (O!V) because it reminds me of my chemistry background.
But as the opening screen of this game says, "You will love and curse this
game at the same time." It sure is a challenge! You don't have to be a
chemist to play O!V, all you need is quick reflexes, both mental and
physical. O!V is a boardgame which presents you with 300 levels of
molecules which you need to build using the atoms at hand. Unfortunately,
molecules aren't nice 2 dimensional beings. They are 3D and so are the O!V
molecules. As you build your molecules to match the pattern goal you need
to rotate your molecule to bring the next link into view. This gets
complicated...and fun! Of course, the above would just be too easy, so Jens
has added all sorts of traps and dropouts to slow you down. There are
solitaire (without time limits) and several Tournament modes (with
decreasing time limits) options. This excellent game will play on any
ST-Falcon from ST Low res through VGA 640*480 16/256 colors (including
CrazyDots and Matrix graphic cards). Keyboard or mouse controlled.
Shareware. English and German versions included (and their respective
docs). As with anything by Jens I recommend this.
PHUNIT is the Probe House Unit Converter v.1.0 prg/acc by William Wong (a
good teacher,and you can tell!). For the ST-Falcon and Geneva compatible,
this GEM based program will allow you to convert practically any unit into
another. It's amazing all of the features it has! Here is a list of <some
of> the units it can handle:
Length : feet, inches, yards, centimeters, meters, kilometers,
statute miles, nautical miles, par-secs, light-years,
mils, microns, millimicrons, angstroms, x-units, rods,
fathoms, furlongs.
Mass : pounds, grams, kilograms, tons, amus, ounces, stones.
Speed : m/sec, ft/sec, km/hr, cm/sec, knots, miles/hr.
Volume : cubic meters, cubic cms, liters, gallons, cubic feet,
cubic inches, barrels, hogsheads, boardfeet, cords.
Area : square meters, square cms, square feet, square inches,
circular mills, acres.
Density : kg/m3, slug/ft3, gm/cm3, lb/ft3, lb/in3.
Time : days, years, hours, minutes, seconds, decades, score,
centuries, millenia, fortnights.
Force : newtons, dynes, pounds, gram-force, kilogram-force.
Energy : btus, ergs, ft-lbs, hp-hr, joules, calories, kilowatt-hours,
electron volts, MeV.
Pressure: atmospheres, dynes/cm2, inches of water, cms Hg, torr,
mms Hg, inches Hg, lbs/in2, lbs/ft2, newtons/m2, bars,
pascals.
Plane Angle : degrees, minutes, seconds, radians, revolutions.
Power : btus/hour, ft-lbs/min, ft-lbs/sec, horsepower, kilowatts,
watts, calories/sec.
Area : square meters, square cms, square feet, square inches,
circular mills, acres.
Density : kg/m3, slug/ft3, gm/cm3, lb/ft3, lb/in3.
Time : days, years, hours, minutes, seconds, decades, score,
centuries, millenia, fortnights.
Force : newtons, dynes, pounds, gram-force, kilogram-force.
Energy : btus, ergs, ft-lbs, hp-hr, joules, calories, kilowatt-hours,
electron volts, MeV.
Pressure: atmospheres, dynes/cm2, inches of water, cms Hg, torr,
mms Hg, inches Hg, lbs/in2, lbs/ft2, newtons/m2, bars,
pascals.
Electric Charge :
coulombs, bcoulombs, amp-hrs, faradays, statcoulombs,
electron charges.
Magnetic Induction:
gauss, kilolines/in2, webers/m2, tesla, gamma.
Light : Footlamberts, Nit, Millilamberts, Candelas/in2,
Candelas/ft2, Candelas/m2, Stilb.
Temperature :
Fahrenheit, Celsius, Rankine, Kelvin.
There are others too! Wow! Color or mono. Docs included.
AMYJOGS is an FLC animation for the Falcon. It has been converted from an
ERic Schwartz AMIGA animation by Barry Summer, the animation expert on
Delphi. Watch Amy the squirrel jogging along. This was converted with Apex
on the Falcon and the Apex FLC falcon player program is included This FLC
can be viewed on a "PC" as well.
DUEL is the Duel .FLM animation by, I think, Barry Summer using both new
and old materials. It is a true color FLH animation, put together with Apex
media. It shows a view of a robot warrior turning and firing (this was
taken from a Cyber .SEQ animation thought to have been done by Timothy
Wilson) with a true color space background, which shows the galactic beings
which are being fired upon. Use the Apex .FLH viewer to view. I guess that
means you need a Falcon (or a graphics card?) to view this animation.
INSHAPE is the InShape 3D Modeler & Shader Demo v.1.02. InShape is for all
TT's and Falcon's (with an FPU Chip) and 16 or 256 color display. I've used
this demo on my TT and found it to be fast in display and in the animation
of the provided samples. It seems relatively simple to use, and with the
detailed docs and tutorials included in the demo, you will certainly be
able to learn how to use this capable program. There are some limitations
in the size of your renderings/raytracings, but that's it!. You can even
save your creations! The docs mention an InShape Intro program, but that is
not included in this archive. InShape is distributed by Cybercube.
LIGHTING by Robert W. Stiles (dated 1994) is a very nice screensaving
program which you must run rather than have automatically appear after a
set time. Actually, Lighting is not so much a screensaver as an animation
of a lightning storm. Just run it and sit back and watch! It's pretty neat
to see the flashes of lightning on your screen and not have to worry about
it zapping your system! About the only thing that's missing is the "Boom"
and "Crash!" and the patter of fat rain drops on the window. Robert
developed this storm on a palette-based color display system. It was
developed on a Falcon and VGA color monitor, but it works on my TT and STE,
and should work on any ST. Docs and Pure "C" source code included.
AIRBAG is Airbag v.1.1 by Apache of tnb. This will work with any ST-Falcon
computer. Airbag is a small boot manager expecially useful for games, as it
works in 40 character mode. It doesn't use the mouse, but rather the
keyboard and has built-in help. It allows 10 Preset bootups, each with up
to 28 AUTO programs and 28 .ACCs. The program and docs are in German, but
it's very easy to use anyway (of course, it's even easier to use if you
read German!).
LAUNCHER is Launcher v.2. by Frank Vuotto of F10 Software (dated 1994).
This is an excellent and well-thought out utility. I've installed it on my
NeoDesk Desktop and in Geneva and that's where it's going to stay! Launcher
allows you to install a list of programs into it and then easily run them
with just some mouse clicks. This works very well from the standard desktop
(you can run your programs without searching through mounds of folders),
but it is also very valuable for NeoDesk and other Desktop replacement
users. Most desktop replacements only allow a certain number of programs to
be placed on the desktop. You can use Launcher to increase that number
tremendously and free up a lot of space on your desktop at the same time!.
Place Launcher once on the desktop and you get another 32 programs just two
clicks away. Rename it to indicate what type programs are listed in it and
install it multiple times on the desktop (a Utility Launcher, a Sound
Launcher, a Games Launcher...)! You can also pass documents to a parent
program and sometimes launch accessories (tose that also run as programs).
This version now allows you to automatically return to Launcher when you
exit a program so you can launch another. Launcher only uses 42K of system
memory! Color or mono. ST-Falcon and Geneva compatible. SHAREWARE (I've
registered). Hensa.
NBCBS is NBCBSnnn, v.1.0 by Oliver Scheel (dated June, 1991). This is a
disk cache program based on the original CACHEnnn program by Atari. This
one however, gets rid of some buglets. This will help speed up your hard
drive accesses. Of course, if you use ICD's boot up software you don't need
to use this at all. They have an excellent cache already onboard.
OHNO is the "Oh No!" sound sample v.1.1 by David Oakley (dated 1992). Place
this in your AUTO folder and you will hear a really cute "Oh No!" when you
press the reset button on your computer (requires the DMA sound of the
STE-Falcon computer).
SCHONER2 is the Schoner Screensaver v.0.9 by Stefan Becker (dated Jan. 24,
1993). This is an excellent .ACC screensaver that allows you to choose
between a sliding puzzle, a StarTrek "Warp" effect, and a third-party saver
(see below). You can configure how long it takes to start, and which saver
will automatically be active. It also has "corners" which allow you to
prevent it from activating or cause it to activate immediately. Thorsten
Pohlmann wrote an additional module for Schoner which causes the screen to
drip down in globs (this one doesn't work on my TT with the high res.
monitor installed - the author says that it is especially good in color,
though). Works with TOS, MultiTOS, Geneva, and Magic operating systems.
German and a RufTrade English translation included. Works with Graphic
cards, too. Source code (C) is included, and the author invites you to
write more modules for Schoner!
SPEEDI2 is Speedi v.2.0a for the Mega STE by Philip Hough (of VR CREW).
This program will allow you to configure the speed and cache status of your
Mega STE either at bootup or from the desktop. It's simple to use seems
very nice (as recognized from the well-writen docs since I don't have a
Mega STE to try it on). The author asks you to register (either snailmail
or Internet), but no money need be involved.
S_ART_10 is Screen Artist v.1.0 by Massimo Farina (dated January, 1997).
Screen Artist is a GEM-based Color Screen Saver .ACC for all
TT/Falcon/68030 board upgrades with the FPU chip. This is a newer version
of the author's shareware TT ARTIST program. This file is an awesome PD
screen saver (I've heard that it beats out any Mac, PC, or Unix screensaver
around, and I as far as I've seen it's true). It comes with over 45
animated modules which can either be chosen directly or set randomly each
time it starts. It takes advantage of all available colors (color and
greater than 640x400 res. required). It's hard to tell you which is my
favorite module. There is an awesome line drawing animation, a great clock
display (actually a bouncing watch!), excellent fireworks, several fractal
generators, a message you can post, and much, much more. It even can
include sound with it's modules if you so choose. Multi-tasking friendly.
Docs in ASCII and Papyrus format, and GIF screenshots showing the
screensaver options included. Compatible with the Magic operating system as
well.
TCACHE64 is TCache v.6.4 by Ralf Biedermann (dated Nov. 1995). TCache is a
very fast Harddisk-Cache for the Atari range of computers
(ST/STE/TT/Falcon). A cache program stores sectors from disk/harddisk
in RAM and increases the speed of repeated disk accesses quite
dramatically. The author states that you can increase the speed of those
multiple accesses by six times or more. You may select the amount of memory
you wish to dedicate to the cache, set passwords, re-direct requests for
access from one drive to another (this is a very nice feature if you need
it), and much more. Even if you have a hard disk driver like ICD's with its
own cache, th
is cache program has many more options. Docs included.
Shareware (either send something to an animal-related charity or something
to him).
TWILIGHT is the TwiLight screensaver Demo v.1.30 from Delirium Arts (dated
May, 1995). This is an awesome screensaver for ST-Falcon computers with
color or mono monitors (automatically checking your resolution and
displaying the number of colors available). This demo comes with 18 sample
screensavers and the commercial version has even more (along with helps for
making your own). I especially like the "Balloon" module which shows many
different kids of balloons (one even being rowed!) floating across a
scrolling landscape). The animations are awesome. For you Falcon owners out
there there is a module which will speed up your Falcon by shutting the CPU
out from all screen activities when activated. This will free up the CPU to
work on your project, speeding it up considerably! You can even have
TwiLight pass output from your main application (so you know when something
finishes up without checking yourself). You may configure TwiLight to play
a sound sample when coming out of screensaver mode. TwiLight also upports
the MOD-file player Paula. This demo works for 1.5 minutes of screensaving
activity. LOTS of features and options. Docs included. I recommend this
commercial program to you. Check with your local dealer <I know-sigh> or
call up your non-local dealer for information about getting this.
DACA122A is Da Capo v.1.22 (.PRG/.ACC) by Dr. Francisco Mendez of the Max
Planck Institute of Biochemistry (dated Sept. 6, 1995). This is an
excellent GEM-based address database and more (company names, favorite
forms of address, phone numbers, comments, and more). It allows you to keep
a record of birthdays (and reminds you of them when they are near).
Multiple sorts are allowed, and you can display your information in several
different ways. It uses GDOS (SpeedoGDOS?) to print out your files. It was
written TOS-clean, so it needs only a TOS-compatible platform and at
least 512 KB RAM (in fact, it was tested successfully from the Atari 520
ST with a monochrome SM124 and original TOS up to MagiCMac running on
Apple's PowerPC with a 17" and 32K colours monitor)! As I expected, it is
also fully compatible with Geneva from Gribnif. Here are just a few more of
Da Capo's features:
O GEM standards (Clipboard, non-modal windows dialogues, UNDO, Context
sensitive help, Cut/Copy/Paste, GDOS and 3D Dialogues)
O Display as a table or mask with colour icons
O AV support, 1st Base Pipeline, Selectric and ST-Guide support with
online help.
O Flexible import/export options (including import of ASCII text
O This formerly commercial program is now released as Shareware (limited
only to 40 records at a time). Now all in English. Docs included.
3DANIM is a Falcon only program by Nemrod, CU and Flatliner. It will allow
you t display Cyber format 3D2 files (that are the same as the screen size
or smaller) and rotate them on screen. The program uses the DSP and is
quite smooth in its animation. It includes several sample files. Docs
included.
BRAIN_VW is the ImageViewer JPEG and Targa (JPG & TGA) picture viewer v.0.9
from Brainstorm. The uploaded file ( *FAST* JPG/TGA DSP VIEWER on Delphi)
says it uses the DSP and only works with the Falcon, but that's not
correct. It works on my TT in TT high res., too (it reduces the true color
images to mono fast and well. Dated 1992. No docs. Just run it and select
the image using your item selector and mouse.
BREAKOUT is a Falcon-only Breakout clone by Thomas Haines (dated June 22,
1994). This colorful game (running on a TV, RGB, VGA, or Multisync monitor
that can do ST res and 4 meg of RAM) is keyboard controlled, has good MOD
music (taken from the Plastikk demo, though you can substitute your own MOD
file), has some good outdoor picture scenes (and some other less than the
best graphics, too), and a built-in level editor. Some interesting docs,
especially the really weird story and the joke at the end!
DSPBIND is a set of bindings for Lattice C V.5.5 on the Falcon030 by Dave
Malham (dated March 29, 1993). He wrote these because of "the failure of
Atari to provide bindings with a sensible int = 32 bits rather than 16."
As he says, these bindings use "#pragma inline code to get round Atari's
inconsistant use of short int's and other silly things. Int = 16 is not
mentioned in the Falcon documentation, and so he is putting these bindings
into the Public Domain to save others the problem. It's too bad that I
really don't have any idea of what the above means! Oh well, I don't have
time to become a programmer, too! I'm just glad that there are a lot of
Atari Programmers out there!
DUNEBUG is a Falcon only True Color .FLH animation with the Apex media
player program included. This animation shows a flying saucer hovering over
a planet and encountering one of its inhabitants. It is about 600 frams in
length.
BURNING is a small Falcon demo entitled "Burning Waters FB3-1995" by The
Chaos Engine. This was created for the Fried Bits III coding convention
back in 1995. It is a "graphics and Sound Effects demo according to the
uploader (since I don't have a Falcon...). It's one of four "96ktros" I've
found from Fried Bits III (the others are Doomino <which I've seen in other
places as 96K_STAX>, FZWERM, and HIRNTOD). They get their name from the
fact that they are all under 96K in size (though they've been compressed
with Pack Ice or some other program packer to get them that size).
DOOMINO is Doomino v.0.8, a small Falcon demo of a 3D graphics engine
designed to ultimately produce a "Doom" like clone. I've seen it uploaded
in other places as 96K_STAX (which is the name of the file within the
archive). This was created for the Fried Bits III Eastern Coding Convention
back in 1995. It's one of four "96ktros" I've found from Fried Bits III
(the others are BURNING, FZWERM, and HIRNTOD). They get their name from the
fact that they are all under 96K in size (though they've been compressed
with Pack Ice or some other program packer to get them that size).
FZWERM is a small Falcon demo showing a series of Pixel Effects and music.
I can't tell you any more as I don't own a Falcon. This was created for the
Fried Bits III Eastern Coding Convention back in 1995. It's one of four
"96ktros" I've found from Fried Bits III (the others are BURNING, DOOMINO,
and HIRNTOD). They get their name from the fact that they are all under 96K
in size (though they've been compressed with Pack Ice or some other program
packer to get them that size).
HIRNTOD is a small Falcon demo showing a series of Scrolling Text Effects.
It also uses the SP-Protracker 3.0 player by bITmASTER of BSW (I found
that by using a text editor to scroll through the uncompressed program.) I
can't tell you any more as I don't own a Falcon. This was created for the
Fried Bits III Eastern Coding Convention back in 1995. It's one of four
"96ktros" I've found fom Fried Bits III (the others are BURNING, DOOMINO,
and FZWERM). They get their name from the fact that they are all under 96K
in size (though they've been compressed with Pack Ice or some other program
packer to get them that size).
FALCEXTN is Falcon STOS Extension v. 1.2 by Anthony Jacques (dated 1995).
This is an extension that has been written to allow STOS to take advantage
of the new capabilities of the Falcon. There is both graphic and audio
fixes here. The docs are in HTLM format, but you can still read them easily
enough (or get an HTLM reader such as CAB15 or WB_140E!). The docs cover
how to use this. If you are a STOS programmer and want to write Falcon
compatible programs get this! Shareware.
FLICTC47 is FLICTC v.4.7 by Sven Bruns. This is a Full-speed, _fast_
FLI/FLC format animation player for the Falcon. It runs in all
HiColor-resolutions (Atari calls them True Color...), with 320x200 pixels
or bigger on a Falcon. FLIs may be played directly from the disk if
necessary, so you can play some pretty big animations! Whether you have a
standard Falcon or an accelerated version, this player will take full
advantage of your hardware. You can run it from a command line or instal it
as a desktop icon. It can run at 608 frames per second (on an accelerated
Falcon) and runs as fast as a 486 based machine on a standard Falcon. It
was compatible with every FLI/FLC animation tested and it also works with
Screenblaster and NVDI. It has a lot of other features too (like optional
double buffering which eliminates flicker!). The program comes in English
and German variations with their respective docs. Not MultiTOS compatible.
KALEIDO is Kaleido V1.0 by David M. Levi and Matthew D. Bednall (dated
1994). Kaleido is a color icon editor for the Atari Falcon computer and
works in RGB (TV) or VGA with 256 colors with a resolution of 320*200 or
320*240. Kaleido has 16 color drawing tools, the ability to grab pictures
from uncompressed Degas picture formats, Iff pictures and MS-Windows BMP
format pictures. It allows you to create 16, 4, and two color (mono) icons
and all the little features that go along with making your icons "just
right." The program and docs are in English. There's even online help!
LOSTBLUB is the Falcon only "Lost Blubb - A Lazer demo" by Martina, Photon,
Energizer, Dan and Stax (dated May 18, 195). This is one HUGE demo! It
comes compressed as four .ZIP files totalling (compressed!) 4.56 MEG! So
you can see, you need a lot of hard disk space (about 7 meg free). You also
need a lot of RAM, about 3.6 Meg of RAM free. Just what is this demo about?
Well, this demo contains about 450 True color pictures, lots of excellent
8-channel Octalyzer MODs (all created and performed by the authors and/or
their friends), digitalized animations, and much more. This demo runs using
a multitasking system. So while you are watching an effect, the next part
is being loaded, depacked, relocated and set up in the background. The demo
won the Fried Bits 3 Coding Convention in Bremen, and the music won the 3rd
place at the same party. It does not work on VGA, because this would mean
to do the demotiming twice. VGA-screens still use up more bus-time, even
when forced to 50 Hz, and as this demo constantly runs at the maximum
limit, it proved to be impossible. Sorry all VGA users...The uploader
comments that, according to the reports on the Atari newsgroup, you need to
run this off your internal IDE drive rather than a external SCSI. The docs
seem to disagree with this, so you'll need to find out for yourself!
MOONSPEE is the Falcon-only demo of the French game MoonSpeeder (this is
the demo, but I am almost sure that I've downloaded the full game (which
has been released by the authors), which is supposed to be excellent--I
just can't find it!). There was a demo release of an earlier demo of this
game, but this demo is now a complete mirror of the commercial game, with
training missions and more. I don't know the limitations of this demo,
since they aren't mentioned in the docs. You have full control over your
MoonSpeeder, choosing from a variety of options. The game also has lots of
sounds and music as well. Joystick, keyboard, mouse, Jaguar Joypad, or
analogic joystick controlled. VGA monitor is mentioned in the docs, but
there's a small hint in the docs that it might work with other monitor/TV
types as well. I don't know.
_ANALYZ is the Music Analyzer, 1995 by Roel van de Kraats. This is a simple
program for your Falcon which graphically shows the incoming sound as 2
stereo vu-meters, 2 14-band spectrum analyzers and 2 scopes. It has the
source code included.
PLWAV100 is the Falcon-only Playwave v.1 (Build 1) by Mark Himsley (dated
April 2, 1995). This is a simple WAV playing program. Just drop your WAV
file onto this TTP program and it will be played. Playwave picks the
closest Falcon sample rate to play the .WAV file at, then sample repeats to
get the sample frequency correct. Well it's close enough for most purposes.
Due to the conversion from one sample rate to another playwave.ttp can be
quite processor intensive. If you use verbose mode on a 16Mh Falcon in >4
colours you may get hickups in the audio. Docs included.
POUSPOUS is Pous-Pous v.1.3 by Denis Miquel (dated January, 1995). This
PRG/ACC is a Shareware True Color sliding puzzle game for the Falcon. You
may load a Targa image (two samples included) and select the number of rows
and columns you wish to use. The program will then break up the image into
"row times column minus one pieces" and scramble them. Your job, should you
agree to accept it, is to unscramble the pieces. You may also choose to use
numbers instead of a Targa file, which is a little easier if you're not
good at jigsaw puzzles. Greg Evans at Delphi translated the resource file
from the original French into English. Thanks Greg! The complete docs are
in French.
RUNNING is the Running Preview of a "Doom"-like 3D engine for the Falcon by
STAX (dated April 8th and 23rd, 1996). You may have seen an early version
of this as 96K_STAX or DOOMINO, but this is much more advanced. Move around
an area with texture-mapped walls, impressive sky, and excellent sounds.
Aim your gun at the monsters (I gather that you can't shoot them yet). You
can increase or decrease the screen size, thus increasing or decreasing the
details in the scene. Open the doors (according to the updated docs there
are doors in this version though there's a bit of a conflict in reports of
whether they really are there or not. I can't tell as I don't have a
Falcon. Anyone want to donate one?). Lots of docs detailing how to use the
program. Maybe this will show up someday as a full game. Contact the author
to find out (his internet address is included). 2.9 meg uncompressed.
SCRDUMP is v.1.0 of a screen dump program by Th. Morus Walter (dated April
20, 1994). It will allow you to either dump the whole screen, or a
specified portion by rubber banding, to and xImage file. Falcon only. The
program and docs are in German.
Note: there is a newer version of STOOP recently uploaded on Delphi, but I
haven't cataloged it yet. If the below sounds interesting then just get the
newer version!
STOOP104 is STOOP v.1.04 by Sven Bornemark (dated 1994). STOOP is a
Shareware Falcon-only Boot Manager. 4 Meg of RAM and a VGA or RGA monitor
in any resolution. Stoop has its own graphical interface and uses the mouse
for most operations though it does make some use of the keyboard. The list
of Stoop's features take up two pages, so I won't bother. Suffice to say
that if you want to configure your boot up in almost any number of specific
ways, and choose among them for a specific use, you can do it with Stoop.
It also allows you to re-order the contents of your AUTO folder, copy,
delete, rename, and move files and folders using its own file selector,
control the volume of your internal speaker (!), and much more. I know how
much time my boot manager helps me, so I recommend that if you own a Falcon
you check this one out. Not crippled shareware, but don't let that stop you
from supporting the author!
TBLASTER is the Tank Blaster Demo, v.1.0Beta by Fabrice Vende (dated Sept.
24, 1995). This Falcon only game is a multiplayer (up to six on one
Falcon), shoot-your-friend tank battle game. I like all of the options the
author has come up with. You can play on teams (one person driving and the
other person running the turrent) and/or more than one tank on a team
(colors distinguish teams and tanks), you can use a "hunt" mode where you
have to search for a specific tank and ignore the others (unless they are
hunting for you!), or you can just be out to get everyone! Control is by
normal joysticks, Joysticks using the STE enhanced joystick ports, the
Jaguar Joypad, and/or the keyboard. This uses either an RGB or VGA monitor
in True Color mode. It requires at lease one meg of free RAM. Nice graphics
and sound. The demo version has only two soundtracks. There are five in the
registered version. The demo doesn't allow you to save your
configuration, nly contains 1/4 of the graphics, and only has 16 levels
instead of the 1000 editable ones in the registered version. And
registration is only $10. That sounds like "a honey of a deal" to me!
English and French docs included.
WD2D_PRO is the Wax Direct To Disk Player, Professional Edition prg/acc by
WAX (dated November 13th 1994). This English language Falcon only GEM based
program (with multi-Tasking possibilities) will allow you to play or record
any sample which is 16 bits (mono or stereo) at any conventional frequency.
Even with external sync if you can connect one on your DSP port! Here are
some of its features:
" Loop option on single track selection
" Selectric multiple selection compatible
" Allows text files with list of tracks to replay (.LT)
" Handles multiple formats list of tracks
" Handles/saves DVS compatible file format
" Mathematical analysis and distortion calculation
" Optional Pseudo stereo replay for mono tracks
MONEY_10 is Easy Money, The Address Book and Financial Manager v.1.0 by
Anthony Watson of Mountain Software. Easy Money is a fully relational
database with facilities for accounts, invoices, and transactions. Various
search features are available to quickly analyze your records. While Easy
Money is designed for business uses, it could easily be used to handle your
personal accounts and expenses, or even as a basic address book. Originally
written to supply their own needs, Mountain Software is now releasing this
program as fully functioning shareware. It will run on any ST-Falcon with
at least one meg of RAM. Color or mono (higher res. supported). A hard
drive is recommended and GDOS or SpeedoGDOS installed if you are using its
print functions. Docs included.
ADR_RIP is the Adrenaline ripper v.1.06 by "Dr. Computer." This program
will allow you to search through your programs and pull out (rip) the music
and pictures it contains. Some music and picture formats are automatically
recognized while others you will need to manually search through the progrm
(with big help from this program). Ethically, I'm not so sure of this
program. The author asks people to use it wisely and not to rip off other
programmers code (good for him), but it seems to me that something like
this can be abused. Stealing code on our platform is like cutting off your
nose to spite your face! Don't! ST-Falcon compatible. Color monitor
required (512K RAM for ST, but 1 meg recommended for everyone). Docs
included. I found this on Hensa.
BLITTER is the STOS STE Blitter Extension by L.J.Greenhalgh. This is an
extension of the STOS programming language (the upload says that it will
work with any ST-Falcon) which allows you to access the blitter, if
available. Seventeen different commands are included. You can quickly clear
the screen, check for blitter availability, even use the CPU to do
something else while the blitter is doing its calculations (getting
double-time work out of your computer!). Docs included.
CDBIND01 is the CDROMIO interface by Julian F. Reschke (dated May 16,
1994). This is a series of three source code listings (.C and .H) designed
to provides a *nix type interface to the CD-ROM specific functions. May be
used either with a MiNT specific CD-ROM device driver or with the new
MetaDOS lowlevel drivers.
CONTROL3 is the Stos Control Extension v.3.0 by L.J.Greenhalgh (dated
1994). STOS may be powerful and easy to learn but it is very unstructured
when compared to languages like C and GFA basic. This extension adds a
switch construct to STOS which makes program listings shorter and more
readable as well as _many_ other useful commands. BAS source, fonts,
pictures, and other utilities included on this disk, but if you register
you get lots more graphics and other helpful tools). Docs included.
CYBER is the STOS Cyber extension v.1.00 by Andy Cato and Martin Cubitt.
This extension (which includes the compiler extension) will allow you to
view a cyber animation sequence (.SEQ) and depending on the way you set the
flag will either loop or just go through the sequence once. In ay case you
can press the spacebar to exit the sequence once going. Numerous .BAS
examples, six .SEQ files, and docs included.
EXTNSEL2 is the STOS Extension Selector v.2.0 by L.J.Greenhalgh (dated July
1994). This program allows you to select which specific STOS extensions you
wish to load at boot up. You may selectively activate/deactivate you
selections, view which ones are active, and restore your standard
configuration with a button click. You can even
print out a list of the currently selected extension's commands to the
printer.
GBP_EXT is the GBP STOS Extension v.4.7 by Neil Halliday of GBP Software
(dated 1994). This extension allows you to do things with STOS that you
aren't supposed to be able to do without machine language modules tying up
your machine. The docs list a slew of commands for you to use. This archive
only contains the run time version of this extension. If you want the
compiler version you much register (inexpensive).
GFAPE107 is the GFA-BASIC Interpreter/Compiler-Patcher v.1.07 by Christoph
Conrad and Gregor Duchalski (dated Oct. 22, 1994). This program provides a
convenient method of making useful patches to the GFA-BASIC 3.x interpreter
and compiler. The patches are included and you can select which ones you
wish to use. Two patches are available for the compiler. They are the
insertion of an improved INIT section and a bugfix for the crash under
Mag!X. There are ten patches to the Interpreter, all of which improve
capabilities or fix errors with various machines. This looks like an
excellent program for all of you GFA Basic programmers out there! Docs
included. Freeware.
ICBIS is the "I Can't Believe It's STOS" extension v.1 by Richard Hunt,
(dates from April, 1994 through Sept. 20, 1994). ICBIS is a STOS extension
which corrects the only 15 sprite on screen and slow sprites at that
limitation of STOS and brings many additional facilities easing some, quite
complex, programming tasks considerably. This advance is all under your
direct control and so also requires a bit more thought before tapping at
the keyboard. The docs help guide you though this, of course (it's always
nice when people write useful documentation!). This file includes the
compiler extension in source code format (.S), the ICBIS executible
program, and several example files. ICBIS provides you with a sprite
toolkit which allows you to have...
" Up to 65535 sprites - not a measly 15.
" More than one sprite bank can be used in the program directly - no
more copying banks to bank 1! Saves on memory too.
" Faster than the existing sprite system when lots doing and ...
" Autoback can (and should) be turned off - 50 to 100% increase in
speed!
" Allows for easy parallax scrolling as sprites blanked with a specified
(hence current) screen, not the last background.
" Global offset for sprites - ideal for large screen/scrolling games.
" Comprehensive and pixel perfect collision detection.
" Background collision detection as well (what pixels under sprite!)
" Invisible sprites (!) make for even faster collision detection.
" Sprite movements can by precisely synchronised.
" Animation position can be determined by a simple command.
" Sprites can be copied to any screen at any point, unlike put sprite!
" Control is easier as updating of animation and movement only done at
redraw.
" Numbers of sprites/moves/anims/areas required set by yourself, up to
255 each for the latter. Thus keeping memory requirements to a minimum.
" Very fast screen copy type command for full screens.
" Existing STOS sprites can be used in your programs as well (65550
sprites!) or if you don't use the STOS system ...
" No sprite buffer needed on compilation thus freeing more memory!
" Fast plotting of backgrounds using sprites (uses optimised plotting on
even boundaries of 16)
Wow! This looks like it does a lot! STOS required (obviously!). I found
this on UKI in three different archives. It's on Delphi in one piece.
MISSLNK is the Top Notch Stuff, release 1.0 by Billy Allan and Colin Watt
(dated Feb. 1993). In it you will find two STOS extensions - Misty and The
Missing Link. There is also a large doc/source file giving details on how
to write your own STOS extensions, use Assembly in your STOS programs, and
much more! It gives an easy "how-to" guide to writing extensions, including
11 commands from the Misty and Missng Link extensions. There are also
several utilities such as:
ú COLDBOOT Does a cold boot of your machine
ú FIGGY A program which will allow you to configure your computer
memory to 1/2, 1, or 2 meg for those difficult programs.
ú HERTZ Switches back and forth between 50/60Hz with color monitors.
ú PAL_REST Restores default palette with keypress, by B. Allan.
ú RAZREZ An excellent .ACC to play a wide variety of chip music files
ú ZAK, or Muzak Application v.1.0 which allows for easy playback and
recognition of music files. This program recognises a wide variety of
formats (the docs just say that and not which kinds) and will also depack
all of the common packers.
Shareware.
MNLU_TRQ is Mnilu Tranquil v.2.10.1, a GFA basic compiler for GFA v.2 with
added support for GFA Basic 3.5E from Spectre Software. This is not the
official GFA compiler (the authors of this program have nothing to do with
GFA) nor can it replace the official compiler, but it will enable everyone
without a compiler to turn their .BAS or .GFA files into stand-alone
program files. Postcardware from Spectre. Docs included. Works in ST medium
resolution and above (including graphic cards).
NAUDIEMO is two programs that show what can be done with the NAUDIO sample
replay library by Nat. The first is NaTracker, a prg/acc ProTracker MOD
player for all ST-Falcon computers. It's a simple interface, but it works
and sounds fine! I could get it to crash by accessing the .acc menu while
the program was playing (don't do that!). The next sample is N-Quiz and
QizMake. These two form a set which allows you to make and play sound
quizzes (with questions like "What is the name of this song?" or "What is
the name of this group?" when a sound file is played. Best in Low res, but
it works just fine in mono or med. res, too. Not Geneva compatible. Just
what is the NAUDIO library? It allows you to program digital audio
programs for all Atari hardware platforms by allowing you to load, save,
and play samples an modules on the PSG, the StarSampler+ (I have no idea
what these two are!) or the STE and Falcon DMA (but the program has a
"slow" or "fast" ST mode, so it seems to work on those, too. (hmmm...the
original docs say "all atari's".
NINJA is the STOS Ninja Tracker Extension v.1.05 for 1meg STE/TT/Falcon
machines by L.J.Greenhalgh (dated 1995). This extension allows you to play
mods at up to 21khz in your STOS programs in the background on any
STE/TT/Falcon. It shoud be able to play any four channel protracker mods
and the vast majority of chip music formats avaliable. This extension has
been fully tested on the Falcon030 and works perfectly. You don't need to
convert any MOD files, just load them and play them! Docs included.
BACH11 is the Brutal Algorithmic Canon Harmonist, v.1.1 by Thierry
Rochebois (though when running the program through a text editor it says
v.1.0 inside the program). This program works with a MIDI synthesizer
connected to the ST. It generates a complex canon: 2, 3 or 4 instruments
(MIDI channels) plays the same melody with time delays and pitch
translations and the program manages that it is harmonically nearly
correct. I love canons, so this sounds like a very interesting program!
ST-Falcon compatible, or so the uploader said. It doesn't work on my TT,
though I don't have a MIDI keyboard hooked up. No docs.
LPS124 is LPS (Play Long Samples) by Uwe Reder (dated Dec. 23, 1993). This
program will allow you to pPlay sound files with unlimited length by
loading parts of it while continiously playing the sample. It can handle
files with a sampling precision of 8 or 16-bit on 1 or 2 channels. Due to
the sound hardware of the Atari ST replaying is always 8-bit on 1 channel.
LPS has the ability to recognize unsigned linear, signed linear or
logarithmic coded samples. For replaying a sound file you need a fast
device (for example a harddisk or a ramdisk) 'cause floppy-disks are just
to slow! The program supports a wide variety of sound formats:
1. Interchange File Format 8SVX by Electronic Arts (*.iff/*.svx)
2. Audio format by NeXT and Sun (*.snd/*.au)
3. Audio format by Audio-Visual-Research (*.avr)
4. Resource Interchange File Format by Microsoft (*.wav)
5. Creative Voice file format by Creative Lbs (*.voc)
6. HSND-format introduced by Maxon's CrazySounds (*.hsn)
7. Audio format used by Sound Machine (*.sam)
8. raw data or unknown formats (you have to help the program here).
9. ST-Falcon and Multi-TOS compatible.
10. Docs included.
7UP_2_3 is 7UP v.2.3 by Michael Thnitz (dated Feb. 25, 1995). 7UP is an
excellent GEM-based text editor. The docs are in German, but there is an
English RSC file for you to use. 7UP uses all the advantages of GEM and
more. It is mouse and/or keyboard controlled, allows up to seven windows
open at one time, uses GDOS if available (with various size fonts even
without GDOS!), includes programmable function keys, imports its own
desktop with icons, allows you to format your text and preview the printout
(printing may be done as a background task!), has a comprehensive set of
column calculation and statistical functions (in a text editor even!), and
much, much more. SHAREWARE. ST--Falcon compatible with any amount of RAM.
Color or mono. This is an excellent program! I have included Mike Valent's
excellent translation of the documentation for an older version of 7UP (vs.
2.09d), which I think you will find valuable. Support Shareware authors!
Uncompresses to 1.06 meg, so you will either need a hard drive or
uncompress the parts you need bit by bit (It will run from a floppy. The
reason the archive is so large is because of the German
and English versions and all the docs).
LEXICON is Lexicon v.1.0 by Ian Clarke (dated 1995). Lexicon permits the
use of the mouse to simulate keyboard commands, such as ordinary characters
like: "AM7+=$ etc, non standard keys such as HELP and UNDO and combinations
of Control, Alternate, and shift keys with ordinary characters. How can a
MOUSE do that? By doing what mouses (or mice?) do best - drawing shapes!
With Lex (Lexicon) installed you can simulate any key or combination of
keys by holding down the right mouse button while you 'draw' a shape on the
screen, Lexicon will use a clever system to match this symbol with one in
its library (hey do not even have to be exactly the same), and simulate the
appropriate key being pressed, your computer will not know the difference!
This is a different idea, but it sounds really neat. With a quick flick of
your mouse you can make any complex key combination! Docs included.
ST-Falcon compatible. Color or mono (color better).
1STG0197 is 1st Guide, the Shareware Prg/ACC by Guido Vollbeding which will
allow you to view/play a large variety of picture and animation files on
all Atari machines, all system configurations, and in all screen
resolutions and color depths (from 1 bit mono to 32 Bit TrueColor). This
release, dated January 16, 1997, is the basic release of 1st Guide. It
doesn't contain all of the "extras" you get when you register (just about
everything else you could imagine to make this even more useful). Here are
the file formats you can access using 1stGuide...
.IMG GEM-(X/T)-Image picture files, Level-1/2/3
(1 Bit Monochrome up to 12 Bit RGB XIMG Colormap, RGB-TrueColor/Gray/Alpha
TIMG direct pixel)
.IFF Interchange File Format: ILBM - Interleaved Bitmaps (1 Bit
Monochrome up to 12 Bit RGB Colormap)
.GEM GEM-Metafiles (including bezier curves under appropriate VDI, e.g.
NVDI >= 2.12)
.RSC GEM-Resource files (simple up to 64 K and extended > 64 K)
.PNG Portable Network Graphics, all 'flavors' according to the current
specification
.JPG - .JPE - .JPEG Joint Photographic Experts Group - pictures:
JPEG/JFIF-Standard (24 Bit TrueColor, 8 Bit Gray),
Baseline/Multiscan/Progressive Support
.MPG - .MPE - .MPEG Moving Picture Experts Group - movies:
MPEG-1-Video-Standard (24 Bit TrueColor), MPEG-1-System (Video+Audio
interleaved)
.SAM - .SND - .AVR Sound-Sample files (8 Bit Mono only at the moment)
.DOC - .OUT - * Textfiles (including attributes)
You can even define hypertext-like links between files in a simple manner,
which provides the possibility to create large information systems to be
used interactively with 1stGuide. This archive contains excellent English
and German docs. If you use this remember to register it!
AMADEUS is Amadeus the great (command line) composer v.1.0 by Paul
Cartwright and Paul Hamer (dated, July 26, 1994). Are you tired of always
having to type in a tortuous command line in order to carry out a seemingly
simple task?
i.e. cc myprog.c -lgem -mc68030 -o myprog.prg
If so, then AMADEUS.TTP is the answer! It can improve your productivity in
those command line programs immensely! All you have to do is edit one (or
maybe two to be flash) files and true speed can be at your fingertips! What
Amadeus allows you to do is to set up beforehand what you generally wish to
do with each file type you experience. When you double-click on that file
type Amadeus creates the correct commands and feeds them to the correct
program. You set it up once and that's it! If you program, uncompress files
(though using a program like ZTZIP26 of LHA_310 is better, in my mind), or
any other TTP program then this file is for you! Directions are included.
Best when used with Geneva, NeoDesk, Magic, MultiTOS, etc. as some of the
older TOS (1.0 and 1.02, I think) have a bug in "passing parameters."
These alternate desktops and operating systems fix that even on the older
TOS. C source code included. Freeware.
BKITE161 is BoxKite v.1.61 by Harald Becker. This is an alternative file
selector. Very nice, with 3D look on a Falcon. Directories, files, and
executables are shown in different colours on a Falcon. All of the docs are
in German, but the program is still easy to use (especially if you speak
German!). This looks very much like Selectric, but with a few other
features. Works under MiNT/MultiTOS, and can handle long filenames. It also
allows you to designate a right mouse click as a double left click (which I
like). Also the size of the file selector box can be altered to how
big/small you want it, just by dragging the mouse. When I used this on my
STe mono monitor BoxKite filled the whole sceen and some items overlapped.
It almost seems like it was written for a higher res... I suspect that it
is some conflict with my system as I've not heard of this problem from
anyone else. You can use any item selector calling .acc to call this file
selector. ST-Falcon. Shareware.
BREAK is a program which will allow you to interrupt any program (apart
from the desktop), when installed in the auto folder, or started by
clicking on it. Breaking into programs is then done by the CONTROL-DELETE
keypress.
EGALE is gale v.2.7i by David Reitter and Christof Schardt (dated Aug. 25,
1995). What's gale for? Here's a few examples: Two identical filenames
on different disks, same filesize, same datestamp but are they really
exactly the same? When gale loads two identical files a dialog is
displayed confirming they are identical, and you can either select other
files, exit or continue and display the files. Or... You update a program
or document, then decide some of the changes you've made are a backward
step, and would like to review all the changes made since you last saved a
back-up. Load the current and back-up files into gale and the differences
between the two files will be highlighted. You can save the differences as
a file and review these as desired. Or... You discover a minor but nasty
bug in a program you've already released! Load the original and updated
executable files into gale and after following a simple procedure gale
will generate a compact patch program which you can release to your users.
So...In principle these tasks could be performed using a text editor or
other application but gale is designed to manage these tasks easily for
you, which it does with the minimum of fuss via an enhanced GEM interface.
Save your brain, let gale take the strain! The program and docs are in
English. ST-Falcon Geneva, MultiTOS, and MagiC compatible. Shareware.
FIGGY is a small program which will allow you to configure your computer
memory to 1/2, 1, or 2 meg for those difficult programs that require a
specificmemory configuration. Just choose the option, click on a button and
reboot. It's too bad that it can't turn a 1/2 memory ST into a 2 meg
machine!
MEDSPEED is a simple program by Jurgen Stessun which will test the maximum
transfer rate of any drive in your system. One nice feature of this program
is that it uses actual data on your drives to run the tests. It
also works for Floppy disk access which will allow you to see in real terms
how much better the various "Fast" disk formats are over the standard
formats. GEM based, STE compatible (at least) though when I try to run it
on my full system (Geneva and a slew of other stuff included) the program
works but locks up after its first test. English program with German docs
included. I don't know where the file name MEDSPEED comes from as the
program name is LESETEST.PRG.
METADS26 is Atari's MetaDOS v.2.60. With this file you can get any SCSI CD
ROM drive going on an Atari TT or to use an `Atari CDAR 504' CD ROM on an
Atari with ACSI port. It does NOT support SCSI drives connected to an ACSI
port. It does NOT support the Atari Falcon030 at all (in these cases,
you'll need third-party drivers). This release fixes only some small
problems present in previous versions. According to the docs you shouldn't
expect any further development of this. I personally use Roger Burrows
"ExtenDOS" software which works just fine, and I recommend that to you.
PALREST4 is a small program by Billy Allan (one of the authors of the Misty
and Missing Link STOS extensions). When you click on this you store away a
little program in memory which allows you to restore default palette with
keypress. This is great when you run a program which messes up your screen
colors!
ANTIDOTE is Antidote v.3.7 by Kai Trygve Holst, dated Sept. 28, 1994 and
released in the complete and unrestricted form on March 12, 1996. Antidote
is a virus killer for all Atari TOS computers. With a smooth and quick GEM
interface, Antidote is extremely easy to use. Antidote is fully
multi-tasking and very fast in its virs checking (over 250 files/sec in
checking for Link viruses!). Antidote has been successfully run under TOS,
MiNT, Geneva and Magic. It should also be 100% compatible with future
releases of any of these, or other, environments. Antidote recognizes a 211
harmess bootsectors (Demos, commercial games etc), 155 resident (TSR)
programs, 64 different cookie jar entries, 6 bootsector anti-viruses, 21
known file packers and archivers, all 5 known link-viruses, and 64 known
bootsector viruses. Detailed docs are included, and best of all, it's free!
I personally am using the Ultimate Virus Killer, as it is still being
supported (Antidote might still come out in an upgraded version, but not
yet). This seems like an excellent program, nevertheless. Detailed docs
included.
INVITER is a set of two PageStream 2 documents by Craig Baltzer. They are
two birthday invitations he made for his boy (Craig) and one of his girls
(Charly). One invitation has a Spiderman theme while the other is a 101
Dalmations theme. The Crackling Fire font is included (the other two fonts
come with PageStream). The printout looks best in color, but it will work
with a mono printer, too. Found on Delphi.
HP_PING is the HomePage-Penguin v.1.6 .ACC/.PRG by Matthias Jaap (dated
). With the HP-Penguin you can create your own HTML-page without knowing
any HTML-commands. You create it by answering a few questions. You can
choose a background, make a two-column-text, insert a picture and many
more. It looks pretty simple to do, and from what I hear, works pretty
well. According to the author, Webspace v.1.4b doesn't display HP_PING
files correctly and so he recommends the use of CAB (or Netscape 2.0 -
gasp!). This program will run in English, German, and French, and includes
English and German docs (both text and ST-Guide format). Shareware (he's
continuing development, too!). It will run on any ST/TT/Falcon with TOS 1.4
- 4.4, MultiTOS, Geneva, or Magic OS and ST Medium or better. Great!
PRHELL99 is the pre-release version 0.99 of Hell's BBS by L. Anliker (Teddy
of TMC). This is a new ANSI compatible BBS designed to be the fastest
around, and just about the most capable one, too. As I haven't run this, I
can't vouch for the author's statements, but he certainly has made it
attractive for you to try it (other than the name, that is, IMHO). It's the
complete version, and it's free (though he encourages you to register it).
Set up your message and file areas, and the modemers will come! This
archive includes docs and .RSC files for English, French, and German. A
powerful scripting language is included. The author says the docs are
sparse intentionally. He doesn't like to write docs (he's a coder!), and he
wrote the BBS for peple who don't need a lot of docs! He also recommends
that you get a copy of Everest as the BBS benefits from a text editor and a
copy of GSZRZ for Z-Modem transfers. ST-Falcon, Multitasking,
MagicMac/MagicPC compatible.
ATIMES_7 is The Atari Times issue 7 (dated Nov., 1996). This HTML
newsletter (use CAB15 or WS_140_E to view -- you can use a standard text
editor to read the .HTM files, but you miss out on the fancy text and the
pictures) is full of excellent reviews of ST-Falcon software (shareware and
commercial), interviews with Atari programmers, and, of course, reviews of
Jag games. Based in Britian, Croft Soft Software is a PD, Shareware, and
Licenseware software company which has put together seven of these
newsletters since May, 1996. I recommend it to you.
MAGG22ST is Maggie 22, the ST(e) version (and more--see below), dated
January 18, 1997). Maggie is a wonderful disk magazine that covers not only
computer news (obviously focusing on the Atari line), but also touches on
movies, music, politics, and more. I enjoyed the scores of articles: the
game reviews, the looks forward to new Jag games, the detailed reviews of
ST and Falcon demos, the secret (or not so secret now) formula for Coca
Cola (Really! Now you can make your own!), and much more. There is even a
quote from me hidden away inton article (I knew these guys were smart!).
Maggie 22 is designed to run off any ST/STE, (color or mono), but it is
best run in ST medium. Actually though, it will run on a Falcon, TT,
MagicMac, and maybe more. There is a Falcon only version available, too,
that takes specific advantage of the Falcon's capabilities (see MAGG22F1
and MAGG22F2). I recommend this, and all of the previous Maggie issues to
you. Requires an 810K floppy or hard drive to use.
V22DISK and V22MAN is the Spiritware Bible Concordance v.2.2 and Disk
Manual by Don Clifton of the Fifteen Ave. Bible Church. This is an
EXCELLENT Bible concordance for the entire Bible, both Old and New
Testaments. It's what I use all the time (though I actually use .3.107--see
following description). This concordance allows you to search for any word
or phrase throughout the entire Bible or through any selected portion of
it. You may also look up specific verses. The program presents you with
three windows, the first being the line you enter your search criteria. The
second window presents you with the results of your search. You may scroll
through the list of verses which contain your required word or phrase,
selecting which ones to examine in detail. The final window shows the
selected verse in its larger context. Lots of options! This archive does
not contain any scripture. You must get them separately (see files
KJVDISK1-3). You may only select one version of the Bible at a time. This
version requires at least one meg of RAM, a Double-sided disk drive or a
hard drive (with only the DS Drive you can only access selected portions of
the Bible at any one time), and an ST-TT computer. While this version works
on the TT it only can use ST med. or high. This used to be shareware, but
is now freeware. I'd still urge you to support the author and his church,
as all the money goes towards mission projects. For a new version, but one
which requires a hard drive and two meg of RAM, see V31DISK.
V31DISK and V31MAN the Spiritware Bible Concordance v.3.107 and Disk Manual
by Don Clifton of the Fifteen Ave. Bible Church. This is an EXCELLENT Bible
concordance for the entire Beble, both Old and New Testaments. I use this
version all the time. This concordance allows you to search through
multiple translations of the Bible [the King James version, the New
International Version (NIV), the New American Standard Bible (NASB), and
the Greek New Testament and Dictionary from CCAT (available online as files
GNTDISK1-3) are currently available, though I think you'll have to search
through the used commercial software market for the NIV and NASB versions
as they are no longer available through Spiritware]. As with any
concordance you may look up specific words and find where they are mentione
in the Bible. With the Spiritware Concordance you may also look up phrases
and specific verses. Two translations may be displayed at once. Even the
Greek will be displayed in Greek letters (as long as GDOS or one of it's
newer varieties is installed). See the description of V22DISK for more
details of how the program works. This version will work on any ST-TT in ST
med through TT high (great!). It requires a DS drive (for installing the
software), a hard drive, at least two meg of RAM, and one or more of the
biblical texts. This used to be shareware, but is now freeware. I'd still
urge you to support the author and his church, as all the money goes
towards mission projects. This is also available directly from the Fifteen
Avenue Bible Church's Website.
The next set of files have come from the Hensa Internet site:
525_V211 is Five to Five, v. 2.11 by Harald Schnfeld and Bernd Spellenberg
(dated July, 1995). 'Five to Five' is a program to interconvert various
sound file types, as used on different computer systems. Some packing
algorithms and the following file types are currently supported by 525 are:
DVSM (ATARI Falcon 'WinRec'); AVR (ATARI); HSN (ATARI 'CrazySounds');
FORTUNE (ATARI Falcon 'Fortune'); SND, AU (Sun, Mac, NeXT); WAV (PC); AIFF
(Mac, ATARI (Cubase), and Raw data. With this version you may now convert
the sample frequency of the sound data and use an adjustable low pass
filter. Five to Five runs on all ATARI computers of the 680x0 series, no
matter if MultiTOS, Geneva, or Magic is installed or not (and is fully
multi-tasking itself), and on Macintosh computers running MagicMac. 525
needs about 250 KB free RAM. English and German program and docs included.
SHAREWARE.
ACEDEMO is a demo advertising the meetings and activities of the Atari
Computer Enthusiasts of Columbus (ACE_C). It uses GFA Basic and a sound
playing program entitled "Playback" by Tristan Hunting to show scrolling
text messages, a message board, and a bouncing (and bonking) Atari Logo on
a blue ball. Works and any ST-Falcon.
ARGVSPEC is a text file by Ken Badertscher detailing the GEMDOS Extended
Argument (ARGV) specification. For all of you programmers out there... The
Pexec() function of GEMDOS allows a program to pass to a child process a
command line up to 125 characters long, with arguments separated by spaces.
No provision is made in GEMDOS for the child to know its own name. This
makes it difficult for C programs to correctly fill in argv[0], the
standard place where a C program finds the command which invoked it.
Because the command line arguments are separated by spaces, it is difficult
to pass an argument with an embedded space. This document will specify a
method of passing arguments which allows arbitrary argument length,
embedded spaces, and support for argv[0]
ASCDRAW is ASCII-Draw v.1.6 by Eero Tamminen of Finland (dated March 1,
1994). This is a 'drawing' program for *characters*. This program will
provide you with the means to do those little boxes and line-drawings which
you sometimes see on a "PC." It provides you with 6 different box-styles,
the ability to pick and use whatever ASCII character you wish, and Block
functions (copy, move, mirror, flip, slant, delete, invert). When saved as
an ASCII file (see example below!) you can import it into your modeming
messages and have them appear in all their ANSI compatible glory (what you
see in ASCII below is not as neat as if you were using an ANSI compatible
program). Keyboard and/or joystick controlled. Program and online help (and
doc file) in English. Color or mono. ST-Falcon compatible.
example!
Suzy B's Software!!!!!!!!!
AVFM11 is Al's Virtual File Manager v.1.1 by Alan Richardson (dated May 25,
1995). AVFM is a program launcher with a difference. With this program you
can do away with your desktop (almost). You can set it up to run all of
your programs with a double-click from one location (AVFM's). You do this
by setting up "virtual files" which have a link to the actual program file
but may have up to 30 characters in it's name (so you can really describe
what the program is!). Selecting that virtual file tells AVFM to run the
program. Docs included. Color or Mono. ST-Falcon and Geneva compatible.
COSTA134 is CoSTa v.1.34 by Gary A. Priest (dated Jan. 3, 1996). CoSTa is a
program is a program which will help you to cut your online expenses by
keeping you aware of how much online time you are putting in each day,
week, month, whatever. Each time you connect to your serer using the
supported programs (Atari NOS, MiNTnet, and Connect) a log file is
created/appended with the current start date and time, plus an awful lot of
other information. CoSTa runs over this log file and extracts all the
information it requires about each call made, it then calculates the length
of the call and the cost. Each call can easily be seen in the main window,
along with a current phone bill total. ST-Falcon compatible. Docs and
online help included.
ESCPAINT is ESCape paint v.0.4 by Norman Feske (dated May 5, 1996). This is
a True Color paint program that will allow you to create wonderful pictures
(only if you have artistic talent, though!). It runs in any Falcon color
resolution. It has a beautiful interface with non-modal tool boxes. Just a
few of its features are...
-a lot of block functions (32 paste modes..)
-drawing effects
-fast realtime zoom
-degas zoom
-loads ice-packed xga-pictures (screenformat)
-reads xga,trp,tru,tru-block,tga,pi9,epp-palette,indy-palette,gem-palette
-saves xga,epp-palette
-different help screens and online help in menuscreen.
The docs seem to both say that this is a Falcon only program and that the
program works best when used with a Falcon "if possible." Well, it doesn't
work with my TT, so I do suspect that it is Falcon only. It also says that
it will not work with MagiC. No real docs included, but the program is in
English.
FIGLT211 is Figlet v.2.1.1 by Eero Tamminen (Atari version) and Glenn
Chappell and Ian Chai (original programmers). Figlet is a program that
creates original characters and signatures out of ordinary screen
characters. Do you want to write your signature to show it online? While
not the same as what you might do with a pen Figlet can take one of the
included "fonts" and allow you to create a signature file that is uniquely
yours. It even allows you to print from right to left for all of you Hebrew
and Arabic writers out there! This archive also includes a folder named
FIGFONTS which contains 10 additional figfonts (in addition to the 17
alrady in this archive). Docs included. See the friendly example below...
FRDM115E is the Freedom File Selector v.1.15e Demo (English) by Christian
Kruger & Kolja Koischwitz. This is a *non modal* file selector. What that
means is that when you call up this file selector it doesn't completely
take over your screen and shut everything else out. You can have it visible
and still use whatever else is currently on screen. Freedom allows you to
have at least 8 non modal file selectors or alerts at them same time under
Mag!C, MiNT and single TOS! Selectric compatible, XAcc2, AV and MultTOS
Drag&drop, (ICFS)Iconify, Unix masks, Clipboard export, file delete.
Copy/move via AV server or Kobold_2. ST-Falcon, MagicMac and Gemulator
compatible. Fully configurable, fonts, icons, etc. English docs included. A
number of bug fixes and enhancements are found in this version. More of its
features are:
- Freedom alert boxes can optionally be placed in windows
- Any program which understands the VA_START protocol is no longer
blocked!
- Long filename support
- User definable font and size
- Drag&drop font protocol support
- Keyboard layout 99% Selectric compatible
- Multiple file selection (naturally Selectric compatible)
- Up to 40 user definable filenames, paths and extensions
- History Popup to select from last 20 selected files
- The ultimate in intuitive interface design using Enhanced GEM
featuring Short paths, minimal clicks, shortcuts and Popups
- Left handed mode!
- Unix masks (*,?,[]) and extension lists (*.TOS,*.PRG)
- Icons representing files/folders
- Drag&drop support (paths and files and be dragged to the file
- selector (AV, MultiTOS, Drag&drop) and vice versa
- Messages concerning directory changes evaluated using SH_WDRAW,
AV_PATH_UPDAE, SC_CHANGED
- Fuzzy file location! Freedom tries everything possible to ascertain a
reasonable application name even under single TOS. Freedom looks for XAcc,
AV and even Menutitle0 if the string looks promising (not the Atari symbol
or Desk).
- File delete, new file/folder creation and file/folder info
- Search using mask to select or deselect files
- Export paths or selected files as ASCII listing to the Clipboard
- Full communication with available AV Server (eg Thing/Gemini)
- File delete, copy, move via Drag&drop, using an AV Server or
- Kobold 2 running in parallel using the KOBOLD_PATH environmental
variable
The following restrictions apply to the demo version:
- Only the first four characters in editable fields can be changed.
- The filesize in the file selector and 'Object Info' dialog is replaced
with the string '<Demo!>'
MIDIHANC is The MIDI Enhancer v.1.2 by Harald Wolfgang Rieder. The MIDI
Enhancer allows you to play microtonal music on a conventional synthesizer
supporting the MIDI poly mode (multi mode). It also allows you to play
microtonal music in a band of MIDI instrument players with one
"harmonizing" player. In the 18th century the equal tuning of musical
instruments won through against the meantone tuning and against natural
scales. Those sounded better but had a major disadvantage: they only
allowed making music in a subset of the 12 keys. If you wanted to make
music for example in F#, and your piano was tuned in C, you had to retune
each single key before playing. The MIDI enhancer allows you to tune your
instrument while you play it ! Or another musician can tune while you play.
The tuning is done by a single key press. MIDI instrument required. Docs
included. Shareware.
SBJ is Johann's Blackjack Table, by Johann Ruegg (dated 1990). This
ST-Falcon Blackjack card game simulates a Las Vegas blackjack table with
1-6 players (1-3 players in ST low resolution). It allows you to split,
double down, and buy insurance. A sngle player may play multiple hands at
once. If asked, the program will give advice (at your own risk!). The game
may be customized by specifying the rules you wish to follow (number of
decks, shuffle point, double down after split). There can also be computer
generated players. Keyboard controlled.
The next set of files is from the UMich Atari site:
AGRABT_2 is Agraboot 2 by Michael James (dated March 10, 1993). This
program is an antivirus bootsector protector designed to keep your computer
virus free. Viruses are small computer programs that are often hidden on
the boot sectors of your floppy disks. They are designed to comy themselves
to new floppies as you use them, and eventually to do something nasty to
them (just what depends on the virus). This program will warn you of a
suspicious boot sector on a disk by flashing the screen. If it detects a
known virus it flashes the screen red. Some viruses are reset resistant,
meaning that if you just press the re-set button the virus will still
survive. This program provides you with an option to clear your memory of
re-set proof viruses. Bam!@ They're gone! Explanatory docs included. Color
only. ST-TT and perhaps Falcon compatible (the author didn't know). This is
a good program, and it's free. For a commercial program I would suggest that you
check out the Ultimate Virus Killer. That's an even more comprehensive virus
killing program (by far).
GEMORY is Gemory (GEM Memory) v.1.0 by Uwe Holtkamp and Jurgen Holtkamp. It
is a pleasing "Concentration" type game using the mouse and a large number
of hidden "cards" which, when turned over, show a variety of drawings. The
object is to try to match up the pictures before the computer does. The
only problem is that the computer doesn't seem to forget once it sees a
card--so you had better not! This works in all color or mono and with TOS,
Geneva, MultiTOS and MagiC. It even runs as an accessory if you rename it.
The program and docs are in German, but you can figure out the play easy
enough. The entire program is ademonstration of what can be done through
the PDial Pure Pascal Library available through the authors. I found this
on the Atari UMich archive and on Delphi.
GEM_MIND is Gem Mastermind v.1.0 by Uwe Holtkamp and Jurgen Holtkamp. It
is a well-done implementation of MasterMind. This works in all color or
mono and with TOS, Geneva, MultiTOS and MagiC. It even runs as an
accessory if you rename it. The program and docs are in German, but you can
figure out the play easy enough (though I suspect only if you know how to
play MasterMind in the first place). The entire program is a demonstration
of what can be done through the PDial Pure Pascal Library available through
the authors. I found this on the Atari UMich archive and on Delphi.
OUTMUSIC is an .SPL sound file entitled OUT:RUN.SPL. Another program in the
archive will display (in mono or color) a convertible sports car racing
away from you on a Palm tree lined road. The picture is from some game
(Outrun?) as there is a scorebar at the top. The sound is OK but nothing to
write home about. This works on my ST and STE, but not on my TT.
PUNSSI is PUNSSi by Eero Tamminen (dated March 9, 1995). Punssi is a small
arcade game for two players on a mono system. You are in the role of the
new information fetching 'agents' (ie. software filters) that roam the
InterNet. Your mission is to guide the found information (represented as a
ball) to your host computer and to avoid the (Intel/Micro$oft sales) droids
which try to confuse you with mis-information. Getting contaminated by
mis-information kills you and reverts you to where you started. The goal is
to score points by pushing (bouncing) the ball to your home area on the
opposite side of the "Intel Outside" screen and to avoid the droids that
tail you and your opponent. When you'll chrash into a droid, you'll lose
one of your nine lives and start again from your original location; the
droid that crashed into you disappears and the other droid splits into two
new droids. The ball returns to its starting place after it has been pushed
into the 'goal'. English docs and program. Joystick controlled. C source
included. TOS, MiNT, MultiTOS compatible. I found this on Atari UMICH and
Delphi.
TSCH603 is tcsh v.6.03.00 PL3 for MiNT (and MultiTOS) ported y Michael
Hohmuth (dated May 5, 1993). Tcsh is a version of the Berkeley C-Shell,
with the addition of: a command line editor, command and file name
completion, listing, etc. and a bunch of small additions to the shell
itself. 865K uncompressed.
WHIST is WhiST by Andrew S R MacCormack of Scotland (dated 1992). It is the
card game Whist and run in color only. To play a card just click on it with
your mouse. It was written and compiled with GFA Basic v.3.5 and the
program sprites were drawn with Animaster. Shareware. I found this on the
Atari UMich archive and on Delphi.
The next set of files is from the UNIKL Internet site:
COVERMUS is Covermus by Matthias Bohmer (dated August 1992). This program
allows you to create Calamus 1.09 documents which may then be printed out
through Calamus (either 1.09 or SL) for Audio Cassette Labels. If you're
like many people you copy your favorite CD based music to cassettes so you
can just listen to your favorite songs. But once you get those songs on the
cassette you can't remember what's on them! Try to pencil in all that
information on the label that comes with the cassette! With Covermus you
can take care of that problem! Run the program and you will see an
on-screen label. Click on a track (line) and you can enter the song title
and play time. Click on the menu entry "Speichern Calamus" and the program
will write a Calamus file. Print it out; slip it into the CD case, and
you're set! You may also load and/or print out an ASCII text file with the
information you desire, but since the entire program and docs are in German
I haven't bothered to figure this out. This runs on my GEMulator so it
should run on everything. Postcardware.
FCOUNTER is Folder-Counter v.1.02 by Lucky LooK, dated 1993. Just run this
simple TOS program and it will look through the drive it is on and return
to you the number of folders on that drive.
SILENCE is Silence v.1.1 by Christian Fuchs (dated 1995). Silence is an
AUTO folder and Accessory which will turn off your hard drive after a
specifiedtime (ah, t
he blessed silence!). Beginning to use your computer
again will cause the drive to spin up. This program comes in an STE and TT
version and a version which will work on all ST line computers with an
XHDI-compliant hard disk driver. The program and docs are in German, though
there is some basic help in setting it up in an English text file written
by the author (sufficient for your needs). Shareware.
Finally, the next set of files are for the Falcon and are
from....hmmm...where are they from?
ACEL_CPU by Peter Green is a detailed and lucid set of text, IMG pictures
and Calamus files which detail how you may accelerate the CPU and Math
co-processor in your Falcon computer. You can take your 68030 from its
rated 16 MHz to 18 MHz or even up to 36 MHz! The Math co-processor can be
accelerated from 16 MHz to 50 MHz (after sending in your shareware fee)!
The highest acceleration requires the Power Up2 to be fitted in the
machine. Zoom you Falcon to faster than TT speeds! The cost? About $10 for
parts!
ALT_HELP is a Falcon screen capture utility by Wax (dated Nov. 19, 1995 as
per the author's file description - though the programmer has said "1996"
in the program file this is incorrect. I know as I first downloaded it in
1995!). By pressing the Alternate and Help keys you may save your screen as
a raw data and palette file. It works in all screen modes. Docs and Visual
Assembler v.4.0 source code provided. Great for programmers. This also runs
on my TT in TT High, but I can't get it to save any files, so I guess that
doesn't count!
AM_DEMO is a Falcon-only demo of SoundPool's Audio Master v.1.7 (dated Nov.
23, 1995). This is a two track recording and editing program that will
allow you to load mono or stereo sounds, edit them, and export them in
.AIF, .AVR, or .RAW formats. No docs, but I imagine you can still figure
out the program.
A_TRACK is a Falcon-only demo of AudioTracker v.1.40 from SoundPool (dated
late 1995 or early 1996). This program will allow you to do one pass
recording of 8 track of digital audio on your falcon when using an ADAT
interface (one is available from SoundPool, just by chance!). This demo is
limited to two minutes of 48KHz recording time. The full version requires a
dongle in the Cartridge port. The program is in English while the docs are
(mostly) in German.
BUGABOO is a German disassember for the Falcon entitled BugaBoo F0.2b
(Oct. 24, 1993) as based on BugaBoo v.1.7.14 (dated Aug. 1, 1993). Written
by -Soft's (Markus Fritze und Sren Hellwig) this program was adapted to
the Falcon by Chris of Aura and The Innovator of NEWline (no mention of
authorization to do so though). The authors have also written an ST version
which is very popular (so I've been told). Shareware.
DB_BCON by Dr. Bob is a bcon_out replacement for Falcons with TOS 4.01
(dated Feb. 14, 1994). By using this you will restore cursor save, color
changes and line-wrap escape codes of VT52. DB_BCON can be installed either
from the desktop or placed in the AUTO folder and run automatically at
powerup. The author does not know if this will work for other Falcon TOS
versions (he hopes that it's not needed in those versions, but...). He also
includes some files for a "before and after" study of these bugs. Run them
first, then run DB_BCON and then run them again! As usual, Dr. Bob has
included some excellent and interesting docs. This archive also includes
Dr. Bob's TXTHUES. This simple utility for all ST/STE/TT's allows you to
set the TOS foreground and background colors. TXTHUES reads the current TOS
colors and presents a dialog box allowing you to select separate choices
for both backgroung and foreground colors. It also allows you to set
LineWrap ON/OFF/IGNORE.
Whew! That's a lot of files! I just checked and it's about 33 meg of ZIP
compressed files! I have about another 600 meg of compressed files already
downloaded and not yet described, so I guess I won't run out anytime soon!
I guess that means I'll be back again, Lord willing. Take care, and drop
me a line to say hello. I'm always glad to get mail!
May God Bless,
--Michael R. Burkley
The Unabashed Atariophile
Suzy B's Software
p.s.: You may contact me at
MRBURKLEY@DELPHI.COM,
MICHAEL-R-BURKLEY@WORLDNET.ATT.NET, o at
M.BURKLEY@GENIE.COM
- Michael is a former Polyurethane
- Research Chemist and currently
- the Pastor of the Niagara
- Presbyterian Church
Gaming Section
Telegames!
'Crash' Breaks A Million!
GameDay '97 Tops!
TV Genie!
Virtuality Goes Bust!
And Much More!
From the Editor's Controller - Playin' it like it is!
Who said persistence never pays off? For months now I've been hoping
that we'd have reviews for the current crop of Jaguar releases from
Telegames, Towers II and Breakout 2000. However, there's usually a "catch"
when those reviews don't appear, week after week after week. No, I can't
blame the reviewers. We can't review a game that we can't test! I've been
after the folks at Telegames to send us review copies of the games since
they announced release dates, and likely even before that! Well, this past
week I received a package in the mail with the Telegames name on the return
address label. Lo and behold... Towers II is going out in the mail this
weekend and we should see a review in the next couple of weeks. Being an
old fan of Breakout and its tons of clones for the Atari computers, I'm
going to take a look at Breakout 2000. I hope to get that review out as
soon as possible also. And, we hope to see more from Telegames this month
for even more reviews.
Included in the Telegames package was a variety of literature which I
hope to reproduce in next week's issue. More info on the upcoming games
will be the primary focus of that report. So stay tuned! Lots of other
industry news this week, also. Virtuality, the company that was working on
the VR unit for the Jaguar, is running into some hard times at the moment.
It appears that they were pinning a lot of hopes on the success of the
Jaguar. As did a lot of other people... The major console systems are
reaping some rewards for some of their best sellers. We've included that
info in this issue. And to round tings out, some new product announcements
from a variety of sources. So, sit back and relax, and enjoy this week's
issue!
Until next time...
Industry News STR Game Console NewsFile - The Latest Gaming News!
Virtuality Shares Suspended In London
LONDON, ENGLAND, 1997 FEB 7 (Newsbytes) -- By Sylvia Dennis. Virtuality,
the virtual reality (VR) company, has asked for its shares to be suspended
on the London Stock Exchange. According to the company, which came to
market in a blaze of publicity back in 1993, the share suspension is to
allow "clarification of the group's financial position." Virtuality came
to the public's notice in March of '95 when it announced plans to develop
two VR games for the Atari Jaguar games console. The contract with the
London VR software house, came after a late '94 deal between the two
companies for the development of a head-mounted VR display unit for the
Jaguar. Terms of the '94 contract called for Virtuality to develop VR game
systems for the consumer marketplace, using a VR headset like a motorcycle
helmet.
While the Atari Jaguar has all but faded away, Newsbytes notes that
Virtuality has done rather well by pioneering the installation of its own
VR coin-op technology in so-called virtual reality games arcades around the
UK. Things may not be so rosy for the company however. Today's financial
media in London reports that, unless the company can negotiate a cash
injection or a takeover by a larger company, then administration or
receivership "is thought to be just weeks away." Ironically, today's glum
news comes just four months after Denis Ohryn, the company's chairman, said
that things are better today than at any time since the flotation of a few
years ago.
According to the Daily Telegraph, Philips in the Netherlands is tipped as a
possible buyer for Virtuality. However, officials with both companies have
refused to comment. The Telegraph also suggested that a low-cost VT headset
deal -- possibly along the same lines as the Jaguar deal -- is in the
offing. Virtuality's problems appear to stem from a slump in profits from
the group's arcade division. While video arcade goers were happy a few
years ago to pay around UKP 2 ($3.20) for a "ride" on the company's VR
machines, today's machines from the likes of Sega and others appear to be
more popular, Newsbytes notes. When Virtuality was floated back in 1993,
the shares were priced at 170 pence. After rising to a high of 360 pence
last year, the group's shares have now been suspended at 68.5 pence.
"MDK" Demo Spreads Like Wildfire Across Internet
COSTA MESA, CALIF. (Feb. 7) BUSINESS WIRE -Feb. 7, 1997-- Gamers,
consumers, other gaming sites scramble to download first look at Playmates
Interactive Entertainment's upcoming title via exclusve interactive demo
Thousands of gamers and consumers this week stampeded through the Internet
to get the first look at Playmates Interactive Entertainment Inc.'s
genre-busting title, "MDK." The exclusive interactive demo of the game
first appeared on the Happy Puppy games site on Feb. 2, and has already
garnered more than 4,000 downloads and 1,000 entries into the "MDK: Dying
to Win" sweepstakes. In a manic migration, the demo has flown from Happy
Puppy to numerous unofficial Internet gaming and consumer sites, such as
GameSpot, c/net and eXscape -- proving that "MDK" is unquestionably one of
the most highly anticipated titles of the year.
Featuring jaw-dropping graphics and engrossing gameplay, "MDK" is the first
PC CD-ROM title to be developed by Shiny Entertainment, the developers
responsible for the smash hits "Earthworm Jim" and "Earthworm Jim 2."
"MDK" is scheduled to be released in May, with a Sony PlayStation version
available the same month. "The response to the 'MDK' demo is truly
amazing," said David Localio, Playmates Interactive's vice president of
sales & marketing. "We're thrilled that gamers and consumers have so
totally embraced 'MDK' and we feel that this gives us a glimpse of how huge
a response this game will receive in May."
Tapped as the official "MDK" site from Feb. 1 to Feb. 14, gamers can go to
Happy Puppy happypuppy.com) for the demo and also enter in the "MDK: Dying
to Win" sweepstakes. Dozens of prizes will be awarded, such as signed,
limited-edition "MDK" posters and copies of the forthcoming title. The
grand prize is a trip for two to Los Angeles to have lunch with Shiny
Entertainment game developers and participate in paint-ball war games at
Close Encounters. Prizes will be awarded randomly. The "MDK" demo
delivers three "arenas" from one of six levels of the action title, set in
the future when aliens have conspired to turn the
Earth into one giant strip mine. The player assumes the identity of Kurt
Hectic, whose mission is to destroy the leaders of the mobie mining cities.
To effect a successful mission, the crew at Shiny has given Kurt some
awesome and creative firepower.
Possibly the coolest -- and deadliest -- hardware available to Kurt is a
helmet-mounted sniper rifle and vision goggles that can zero in on an
enemy up to two miles away. More deadly equalizers that players can
preview on the demo include "Thumper" (a giant hammer) and the "world's
smallest nuclear bomb." Other elements of the final version that can be
previewed on the demo include a unique parachute device, multiple camera
angle mode and screen shots from other levels. Playmates Interactive
Entertainment publishes PC CD-ROM titles and video games for Sony and Sega
console systems, including the worldwide hit "Earthworm Jim." It is a
subsidiary of Playmates Toys Holding Limited, whose stock is listed on the
Hong Kong Exchange. The company's Web address is www.playmatestoys.com.
Crash Bandicoot Experiences Tremendous Worldwide Sales
FOSTER CITY, CALIF. (Feb. 13) BUSINESS WIRE -Feb. 13, 1997--Sony Computer
Entertainment America Inc. today announced that the PlayStation game, Crash
Bandicoot, has sold well over one million units worldwide. Released in
September 1996 in North America, November 1996 in Europe, and December 1996
in Japan, Crash Bandicoot has captured gamers' attention all over the
world. Produced by Universal Interactive Studios, Inc. (UIS), created and
developed by Naughty Dog, Inc. exclusively for the PlayStation game
console, Crash Bandicoot redefines classic action platform gaming and takes
the genre to new heights, delivering a truly captivating gaming experience.
A number of factors enhance the gameplay experience and make Crash
Bandicoot a standout title across the globe: a humorous storyline;
amazingly detailed and colorful environments; multiple camera perspectives;
fully-modeled and texture-mapped cartoon-style characters; music and sound
effects created by professional movie effects editors; and controls that
feel as solid as the best action games around. "PlayStation's leading
character-based platform game, Crash Bandicoot, joins the ranks of an elite
list of phenomenally successful PlayStation game titles with worldwide
sales surpassing the one million unit mark," said Kaz Hirai, chief
operating officer, Sony Computer Entertainment America Inc.
"Games like Resident Evil and Tekken 2 -- and now Crash Bandicoot - are
what makes Sony Computer Entertainment the global leader and PlayStation
the number one video game platform for developers, retailers and
consumers." "We are extremely pleased to see our efforts rewarded by the
success of Crash Bandicoot," said Mark Cerny, president, Universal
Interactive Studios, Inc. "Tremendous graphics and gameplay, coupled
with the cutting-edge, creative marketing campaigns developed by Sony
Computer Entertainment in North America, Japan and Europe proved to be a
winning combination."
Yippee-ki-yay! Sega to Bring Arcade Smash Home
(Feb. 10) BUSINESS WIRE - WHAT: "Die Hard Arcade" PLATFORM: Only on
Sega Saturn, of course WHEN AVAILABLE: Mid-March WHERE: Everywhere WHY:
Because everyone deserves to kick some terrorist butt! Lovers of fast
action and swift, pinful justice will definitely get their fix with Sega's
new action/arcade title, "Die Hard Arcade." Modeled after the first "Die
Hard" movie from Fox, players must assume the role of hard-hittin' N.Y.
detective John McClane or his partner as they fight, kick and shoot their
way through five stages of confrontations with insane terrorists in the
Nakatomi building -- all to save the President's daughter. "Die Hard
Arcade" is one of the leading arcade translation games for the Saturn with
these key features:
- Five pulse-pounding levels of immersive 3-D rendered environments.
- Two-player cooperative action, which allows gamers full interactivity
with each other and the environments.
- More than 12 weapons and motions to choose from, so players can get
into the assault-style action using jump combinations, guns, pepper spray,
brooms -- even ignite a fireball with hairspray and a lighter -- just to
name a few.
- Motion-captured character movement, more than 1,000 motions.
- Full 360-degree movement, so you can attack from every angle.
- Use everything! No gun available? Use that grandfather clock or TV
in the room ... everything is a weapon!
- Blast from the past -- retro arcade fun from the Sega vault! You can
play "Deep Scan" and squire extra lives before starting gameplay.
- Get ready for "Die Hard Arcade" on Sega Saturn.
NFL GameDay '97 Sacks the Competition
FOSTER CITY, CALIF. (Feb. 11) BUSINESS WIRE -Feb. 11, 1996--Sony Computer
Entertainment America Inc. reported today that NFL GameDay '97 for the
PlayStation game console was one of the standout hits of the holiday
season. After only six weeks, NFL GameDay '97 has already shipped more
than 350,000 units, with additional retailer reorders continuing. "The
original NFL GameDay was, up until last month, our best-selling
PlayStation title to date," said Jack Tretton, vice president, sales, Sony
Computer Entertainment America. "Seeing the great initial sales figures,
as well as consumer and retail praise, NFL Gameay '97 is already another
blockbuster hit."
NFL GameDay '97, which shipped on December 5, has received critical acclaim
from enthusiast press, consumers and even professional football players.
Edgar Bennett, running back for the world champion Green Bay Packers and
serious PlayStation video gamer, beat Terry Glenn, wide-receiver for the
New England Patriots, 22-6, in the Second Annual Game Before the Game in
New Orleans. Afterwards Bennett commented that he thought that NFL GameDay
'97 is "the greatest football game that's out on the market right now. I
really think they did their homework as far as studying the players and
studying the game of football, so you have to tip your hat to them."
ULTRA Game Players proclaimed that NFL GameDay '97 "... is by far the best
football game ever made."Virtually every publication that covers the video game
industry agreed with that statement, including Next Generation which described
it as a "hard-hitting, fast-paced football game with more moves, options, and
playability than anything out there." "In only its second year of
release, the NFL GameDay series has converted hundreds of thousands of
sports gamers to a new brand," said Peter Dille, senior director, product
marketing. "Once sports gamers experienced the superior gameplay and
smoother animation's of NFL GameDay '97, there was no turning back."
NFL GameDay '97 is the most realistic football video game available.
Features include: more than 1,500 NFL players; the most sophisticated
artificial intelligence in a video game; actual NFL uniform designs --
both home and away; actual player numbers on the uniforms; and, all 30 NFL
teams. NFL GameDay '97 features the motion-capture animation of the
Oakland Raiders' All-Pro wide receiver, Tim Brown, for the most accurate
movement in a video football game.
Sony, Namco, Polygon Create New Computer Graphics Company
TOKYO, JAPAN, 1997 FEB 13 (Newsbytes) -- By Martyn Williams. Three leading
companies in the computer graphics and gaming field - Namco Ltd., Sony
Computer Entertainment (Japan) Ltd. (SCE), and Polygon Pictures Inc. - have
formed a new computer imaging company. Dream Pictures Studio will create
computer graphics for use in computer games. The new company, capitalized
at 200 million yen (US$1.61 million), will have SCE and Namco as the major
shareholders. Each company will take a 45 percent stake, with the
remaining 10 percent to be held by Polygon. The company teams the current
leader in home gaming equipment, SCE produces the PlayStation console, and
a major producer of both home gaming and arcade gaming software, Namco.
Polygon is a producer of computer graphics for video games. The new
company will recruit 200 computer graphics designers to produce a movie,
for release in 1999, with an American movie studio, said Japan's Kyodo
News.
TVGenie Uses Multimedia Magic to Turn a PC Into a TV
FREMONT, CALIF. (Feb. 11) BUSINESS WIRE -Feb. 11, 1997-- Watch TV, A Video,
or Play Video Games with New External TV Tuner. With TVGenie a computer
doesn't have to be all work and no play. This external TV Tuner box
quickly and easily turns a standard PC monitr into a fully-functional
television set, without the need for complicated set up procedures or
special drivers. In fact, TV Genie doesn't even require the host computer
turned on!
TVGenie connects directly to the monitor, by-passing the computer system
completely, in order to eliminate any possible compatibility hassles that
might be caused by internal tuner boards. There is no need to open the
computer in order to install a board. In minutes, people can watch their
favorite television show or video, or pit themselves against any enemy in
their favorite Sega, Nintendo or Sony Play Station video games. In
addition, the unit supports full-screen viewing and costs significantly
less than any comparable internal TV tuner. Other features include support
for TV; stereo input and output; coax, Composite/S video input; and
auto-scan tuning, which automatically tunes in any receivable broadcast or
TV channels.
The included remote control allows users to control all working functions
(including channel and volume control, as well as more advanced functions
such as Alarm, Sleep and Timer) through a combination of the control
buttons and an on-screen display. TVGenie, which works with any VGA or
Macintosh Multisync monitor, costs only $149 retail.
GT Interactive Reports Record Revenues Up 56 Percent
NEW YORK (Feb. 10) BUSINESS WIRE -Feb. 10, 1997--GT Interactive Software
Corp. (NASDAQ: GTIS) today reported record revenues for the fiscal year
ended December 31, 1996 of $365 million, a 56 percent increase over the
previous year. Operating income in 1996 before merger and other one-time
costs and goodwill amortization rose 35 percent to $46 million. Net income
for the full year was $25 million or $.38 per share. (Because GT
Interactive was a sub-chapter S corporation for part of 1995 and not a
public company for the full year, net income and per share full year
comparisons are unavailable.) "We are very pleased with our achievements
during our first full year as a public company," said Ron Chaimowitz,
presient and chief executive officer of GT Interactive. "Unlike most of our
competitors, we were profitable in all four calendar quarters. We also
accomplished what we set out to do at our initial public offering by
achieving strong revenue growth, in particular a 63 percent increase in
overall publishing revenues; market share leadership in interactive games;
four strategic acquisitions; entry into the video games market; and a
fast-emerging international business."
Revenues for the fourth quarter of 1996 were $135 million, a 30 percent
increase over the comparable 1995 quarter. Net income for the quarter was
$8.5 million, a 16.8 percent decrease from the fourth quarter of 1995.
Earnings per share for the quarter were $.13 versus $.16 in the prior year.
The decline in net income for the quarter was primarily the result of
video game product delays which reduced the company's higher-margin
publishing revenue relative to its lower-margin mass merchant distribution
sales, which exhibited significant growth. The strong growth in mass
merchant sales during the fourth quarter was a reflection of seasonal
trends as well as the continuing shift of sales to this channel. GT
Interactive's higher-margin publishing sales were 48 percent of net revenue
during the fourth quarter compared with 60 percent in the 1995 quarter, and
54 percent for 1996 as a whole.
In 1996 GT Interactive had the number two market share in front-line games
and the number one share in value-priced software, according to PC Data.
Two GT Interactive games - - Duke Nukem 3D and Quake -- performed among the
year's top 10 best-sellers. Publishing revenue rose from $121 million in
1995 to $197 million in 1996. Front-line publishing revenues grew
approximately 95 percent, and revenues of value-priced software rose
approximately 20 percent. At $40 million, international revenues increased
in excess of 275 percent, comprising the fastest-growing segment of GT
Interactive's business.
"Looking to the balance of 1997, we believe GT Interactive has the
industry's strongest games lineup for PC as well as N64, Sony Playstation
and Sega Saturn," Chaimowitz added. "We expect international sales to
continue to be the fastest growing component of our business, augmented by
our acquisitions of Time Warner Interactive and One Stop in Europe, as well
as our agreement with Midway Games. In addition, we intend to continue to
acquire, invest in and form alliances with the most creative and innovative
independent design groups in the industry."
GT Interactive's 1997 lineup includes Unreal, from Epic Megagames;
OddWorld: Abe's Oddysee, from OddWorld Inhabitants, (of which GT
Interactive owns 50 percent); Total Annihilation(TM), the first title from
GT Interactive's recently announced internal studio, Cavedog Entertainment;
Shadow Warrior, from Apogee/3D Realms, creators of Duke Nukem 3D; as well
as a host of titles from its children's subsidiary,
Humongous Entertainment.
GT Interactive will also offer one of the largest console lineups overseas
as a result of its agreement with Midway Games. During 1996, GT
Interactive:
O Released 47 new titles globally for PC, Macintosh, Sony Playstation
and Sega Saturn including industry best-sellers Duke Nukem 3D, Quake and
Final Doom;
O Acquired The WizardWorks Group, a top-ten value-priced software
developer and publisher;
O Acquired FormGen Corporation, publishers of the number one PC hit,
Duke Nukem 3D;
O Acquired Humongous Entertainment, premier developer and publisher of
award-winning children's software featuring original characters Pajama Sam,
Freddi Fish and Putt-Putt;
O Acquired 50 percent of OffWorld Entertainment, Inc. (known as Oddworld
Inhabitants), obtaining exclusive global publishing rights to Oddworld
software titles for all media, including PC, console, print, merchandising
and online vehicles;
O Acquired Warner Interactive Entertainment, a European subsidiary of
Warner Music Group, in a cash transaction;
O Acquired 10 percent of UK-based software developer Mirage;
O Entered into an agreement with Target Stores whereby GT Interactive
became Target's primary national supplier of entertainment software;
O Obtained an exclusive option from WMS Industries to publish Atari
titles for PC worldwide and next-generation video game systems in Europe
and other foreign territories;
O Entered into an exclusive broad-based publishing agreement with
children's author Mercer Mayer for rights to publish Mayer's catalog,
including Little Critter, L.C. and the Critter Kids, Little Monster and
Critters of the Night across all interactive media;
O Launched full version of id Software's Quake globally;
O Struck exclusive global publishing agreement with Epic Megagames Inc.
whereby GT Interactive obtained exclusive rights to publish Unreal and a
sequel for PC, and an option for Sony PlayStation, Sega Saturn and Nintendo
64 systems on a worldwide basis. In addition, GT Interactive obtained
rights to Epics' UnrealEd, a proprietary 3D authoring tool for publishing
associated game "level sets."
Fox Interactive Inks With Top Developer
LOS ANGELES, Feb. 10 /PRNewswire/ -- Riding the wave of a very successful
fourth quarter, Fox Interactive, in continuing its mission to create
compelling and popular interactive entertainment, has signed three new
product development deals in January with many of the top multimedia
developers in the industry.
"Every title we create is unique, therefore we seek out development teams
with the individual skills and creative talents best suited for each
particular property," explains Jon Richmond, president, Fox Interactive.
"This approach gives us the freedom and flexibility to work with innovative
and cutting-edge developers from all over the world and bring the best
possible products to the marketplace."
Adding to its current slate of projects already in various stages of
production, Fox Interactive has begun development of three new titles:
Title: ALIEN RESURRECTION
Platform: PlayStation, Saturn and Windows(R)95 CD-ROM
Developer: ARGONAUT SOFTWARE
Based in London, Argonaut Software Ltd. has gained a reputation as one of
Europe's leading developers and a pioneer in state-of-the-art hardware
technology. Argonaut is responsible for developing leading-edge
entertainment software for next generation video gaming platforms.
Title: X-FILES DATA FILES
Platform: Windows and Macintosh CD-ROM
Developer: BYRON PREISS MULTIMEDIA
Founded in New York in 1992 Byron Preiss Multimedia Company, Inc. (Nasdaq:
CDRM), develops and Publishes award winning multimedia software, online
services, broadcast content and books for the consumer education market.
Simon & Schuster, the publishing operation of Viacom, acquired 20 percent
equity interest in Byron Preiss Multimedia Company, Inc., in March 1995.
Title: ANASTASIA
Platform: Windows and Macintosh CD-ROM
Developer: MOTION WORKS GROUP LTD.
Headquartered in Vancouver, B.C., Motion Works is an international digital
technology company that
designs, creates and produces digital Multimedia on CD-ROM, we sites, TV,
film, DVD print and audio media as well as special effects and post
production for film and television.
Nintendo Announces New Games, Accessories
REDMOND, WASHINGTON, U.S.A., 1997 FEB 10 (Newsbytes) -- By Jim Mallory.
Nintendo of America has announced more than a dozen new Nintendo 64, Super
Nintendo Entertainment System (Super NES), and Game Boy games and
accessories for release in the first half of 1997. Many of the new games
are designed for Nintendo 64, the company's new 64-bit game system that
came to market in late 1996. Beginning today Nintendo 64 users can buy
Mario Kart 64, a three-dimensional (3-D) racing game for up to four players
that has a suggested retail price of $69.95.
Mario Kart 64 offers more than 16 race courses, a battle arena mode and
eight characters from the world of Mario. Nintendo spokesperson Eileen
Tanner said more than 1.4 million copies of Mario Kart 64 were sold in
Japan following the game's release there in mid-December. Also available
for Nintendo 64 are Blast Corps, a destruction adventure game for a single
player. The objective of the $69.95 game is to stop a runaway nuclear
missile carrier before it blows up the world. After clearing a path for
the carrier, the player has to find six scientists who can prepare a safe
detonation site for the bombs.
Blast Corps 64 is set for release in late March
Star Fox 64 is a 3-D space shoot-'em-up game for up to four players. The
game's objective is to protect the planet Corneria from intergalactic
enemies. The game has a $69.95 suggested retail price and is supposed to
ship in late June. Also planned for the first half of the year is Force
Pak, a Nintendo 64 accessory that fits into the Nintendo 64 four-port
controller and vibrates when it receives signals through the two-way
controller ports. For example, when a player scores a hit with a missile
the pack will vibrate the whole controller. Nintendo said the Force Pak
will ship in late June. No pricing has been set yet.
Third-party suppliers have set several Nintendo 64 releases, including NBA
Hangtime, a basketball game for up to our players that is already on retail
shelves; Turok: Dinosaur Hunter, a single-player game that will ship in
early March; and DOOM 64, a Nintendo 64 game based on the classic game of
the same name. Nintendo said DOOM 64 will have new weapons and enemies and
more than 30 new and larger levels when it ships in March.
Other Nintendo 64 offerings scheduled release before mid-year include
Mission Impossible and Hexen, while Super NES players will can now play
The Legend of Zelda: A Link to the Past, a $34.95 offering from Player's
Choice Series that is available this week. Eileen Tanner told Newsbytes
more than 1.7 million Nintendo 64 systems have been sold since its launch
12 weeks ago. Asked about pricing of the games being developed by
third-party developers Tanner said those prices will be set by the
developer companies and aren't available yet.
Nintendo hasn't forgotten Game Boy aficionados. The company will release
Game Boy pocket Colors, a hardware casing that will come on black,
yellow, green, red, transparent, and silver. Colors will have a $54.95
price tag when it ships in April, said Nintendo. New Game Boy games
include The Legend of Zelda: Link's Awakening and Mole Mania, both for
$19.95 and shipping now. King of Fighters '95 is also shipping with a
$29.95 price tag. Kirby's Star Stacker, a puzzle for up to two players, and
Game & Watch Gallery, a one-player game collection, will ship in mid-May.
ONLINE WEEKLY STReport OnLine The wires are a hummin'!
PEOPLE... ARE TALKING
On CompuServe
Compiled by Joe Mirando
jmirando@streport.com
Hidi ho friends and neighbors. Before we get into all the cool stuff
that people are talking about this week, I want to let you in on a little
secret. Most computer users are idiots. No, I don't mean that they are
actually mentally sub-standard. What I mean is that most of them still
equate processor speed with power (of course, those darn "Intel Inside"
commercials don't help). Let's get one thing straight... processor speed
has very little to do with what you can or cannot do with your computer,
only with how fast you can do it. With an 8 MHz Atari ST, I have been able
to view QuickTime Movie files, cruise the web, and communicate around the
world at the speed of light (actually, at the speed of electrons through
copper wire and several dozen repeater stations <grin>).
It's not that I'm a computer-whiz either. Sure, I know lots of stuff
about them, but almost none of it is technical. I am not a programmer, nor
an electronics engineer. The sum-total of my computer experience has been
to wait for someone to tell me that something couldn't be done and then
find some sneaky way to do it. Sometimes, it's a matter of looking at the
problem from a different direction. Sometimes it requires "almost"
solving the problem and having others say "Oh, now all you have to do
is...". And sometimes (like with internet access) it's only a matter of
finding a little-known program or accessory that will turn the tide.
So, "why does that make most computer users idiots?", you're now
asking. It's because they don't usually actually learn about what their
computer, modem, or online service is doing. They don't have to. If you
are a computer user on a "popular" platform, you most likely have only had
to insert a disk or CDRom and hit the install button to get the latest and
greatest applications running. That's why companies that do system
integration and troubleshooting are making money hand-over-fist. A little
knowledge goes a long way in the Information Age.
Several days ago, I was attending a non-computer related online
conference when I happened to mention that I had just gotten a web browser,
news reader, and internet mail system working on my computer. "Oh,
incompatible version?", asked one of the other conference members. "No," I
replied, "just trouble finding one that worked". "Well," she said, "Both
Navigator and Explorer work well for me. I found that you need at least 16
meg or memory to make it work well though". "I've only got four meg", I
said. She replied, "Oh, Windows 3.1, huh? Well, how fast is your
processor? If you're running a Pentium, maybe you can get away with it."
"Nope," I proudly typed, "No WinDOZE here! My processor is running at a
whopping 16 MHz. It's not a PC, it's an Atari ST. The OS is built in so
it doesn't take up 12 meg of memory, so I don't need that 16 meg."
The poor woman didn't know what an ST was, how something as slow as 16
MHz could even be called a computer, or why someone wouldn't want to use
Windows. She continued on about how anything slower than a 100 MHz
Pentium was useless, that you simply couldn't get on the web with anything
as slow as 16 MHz, and you certainly couldn't do it with a computer that
was eight or ten years old. "Why?", I asked. "The internet doesn't care
how fast your computer is. It simply sends information until your modem
says 'stop for a minute, I've got to compute all this stuff... okay
continue'. It doesn't care if you've got a whiz-bang MMX Pentium or a
Commodore VIC-20. You see, computers, unlike people don't make
judgements".
Many of the folks I have dealings with tend to think I'm "throwing
shots" about easy access to all this new technology. Not so. I simply
feel that you can miss a lot when all you have to do is install an
application to get what you want. As far as the easy access goes, I think
that's great. But there is also a price. You usually don't get to see the
'guts' of what's going on, so you can end up taking it for granted. That's
not always the case, but it is an ever-present danger. Remember:
Processor speed isn't power, knowledge is. New machines and mult-megabyte
software is okay, but hacking around with an "antique" and an "alternative
approach" is a feeling that most of the computing world will quickly come
to take for granted as they load up the latest game or operating system.
I'm not trying to say that my trusty MegaSTE can do anything that one
of those new machines can do, just that it can do what I need it to do. It
doesn't do it as fast as those new models, but it _does_ it. And sure,
I've got to dig and scratch to get it to do some of the things I want it
to, but that's how I learn about what's going on. Ask any of the PC users
what TCP/IP, PPP, SLIP, or DMA are, or what http or URL stand for and
they'll probably say "I dunno". The internet and especially the World Wide
Web are wonderful things. The knowledge I've gained by having to "dig" to
be a part of it have only increased my sense of wonder... how 'bout you?
Well, this has gone on much longer than I had intended and you're
probably quite sick of it by now. So let's get to all the news, hints,
tips, and info available on CompuServe.
From the Atari Forums on CompuServe
Our friend Myles Cohen ponders:
"I wonder if I am the only one who wants to throw furniture around after
downloading a huge arc'd file that promises the world...in flawless
English in the file description... Only to find out that the blankety-
blank program is completely in German without any translation at all...
Gosh and golly...if it is in German only...why not have the program
description in German only... Or...at the very least...a warning (GERMAN
ONLY) in the program description that these libraries list for downloads...
Or does anyone feel that this is just an unimportant gripe?"
Dana Jacobson agrees with Myles:
"One of the biggest complaints that I've had over the years are programs
that are completely non-English, and not stated as so. And I've probably
posted a few of them myself over the years without realizing it! I agree
with you that a file descriptions should include that fact. I also know
that many SysOps (not here!!) just check to see if the archive is okay,
but don't check the program to see if it works. To be fair (a little bit)
to non-English programs - many are easy to figure out how to run. It's the
long read-me files of alert boxes that I can't understand that drive me
crazy when I run into a problem. What's the solution? A better attempt
at international courtesy by the uploaders? I know, that still doesn't
help you with that huge download! <g> BTW, which file was it (so we can
avoid it!!)."
Myles tells Dana:
"CONNECT.TOS...and the latest PAPYRUS demos...
Grrrr...."
I've got to tell you folks that Myles is one of the nicest guys in the
world and normally quite easy-going, so when he _growls_, you can bet that
there's a good reason for it. Anyway.
Dana tells Myles:
"Hmmm, I downloaded them both but haven't had a chance to look at them
yet. I'm not surprised that Connect is in German, but I thought that
Papyrus was in English. Shouldn't assume, I guess."
Sysop Bob Retelle tells Myles:
"I just added a note to the Connect file to indicate that it's in German...
Carsten just said that the new version of the Papyrus demo he's uploading
will be in English..."
Jondahl Davis tells us:
"I'm thinking about getting on the net with my Falcon. I got an old version
of STik and CAB from a CD- ROM. That version requires a SLIP connection. I
downloaded something called Oasis here, but I can't get it
to unpack. Isn't a .TOS file an executable? What are you running? Who would
you recommend as a service provider? Two people at Netcom told me it's
impossible to connect an Atari with the net, you have to use a Mac or PC.
I'm using a CompuServe PPP connection at work, but that's a company
account. Compuserve doesn't look like the way to go for my home use. Any
guidance would be appreciated."
Having recently done it, I tell Jondahl:
"In general, any provider that does not require the use of a special
browser for access should be do-able. The trick is to get the Atari to
recognize and use a PPP connection. There is a file in the library here
called PPPKIT14.ZIP which, if you follow the directions carefully (and
have some luck), will allow you to do just that. I am using CAB 1.5,
CAB.OVL (version 1.21), and PPPKIT to access the Web via CIS. If it can be
done here, it should be do-able just about anywhere. You do however have
to stay away from "cookies" (for instance, I cannot access my other online
service provider via CIS because the other service utilizes a cookie to
determine membership, so it doesn't recoginze me) and JAVA scripts.
There are also two commercial browsers that will be available soon.
WebMaster from Oxo Concept will cost about $60.00 U$D. The offering from
Oregon Research Associates is the other... I don't know much about it
other than the fact that, if it's from ORA, it's probably going to be
damned good."
Jondahl replies:
"Thanks for the info. I was very discouraged by my last call to Toad. The
person on the phone claimed they were trying to stay in the Atari
business,but they didn't have anything I asked for in stock. Even the stuff
in their last catalog was no longer available. They were not very helpful
relative to Web browsers,either. I may have OR's number on a flyer
somewhere;I'll give them a call. I'm looking for a BlowupFX for my Falcon.
Toad didn't seem optimistic about getting one. Are there any other dealers
left?"
I tell Jondahl:
"I had the same feeling right after _my_ last call to them [Toad]. I guess
we really can't blame them though. If you're in business, you've got to
sell what moves. While it might not hurt to keep some Atari Stuff in
stock, it takes up money and space that could be used for "hot" items (read
PC wares). And to boot, you might _never_ sell a good portion of the
Atari merchandise in stock. I'm not happy about it by any means, but I do
understand it. Yes there are a few dealers left... but I can't think of
any right off the top of my head. I'm sure that folks here can make
recommendations. Well guys?? C'mon, don't make me look bad! <grin>"
Michel Vanhamme replies:
"I think a member of this forum recommended B&C Computervisions. There you
are <g>"
Dana Jacobson, who has gotten the WWW bug too, asks:
"Can an Atari user publish a Web page here on CompuServe? I was curious
and ventured over to the Internet area but it seems that you need a
specific (PC) program to do a page and publish it. Are there other ways?
I have a few pages I'd like to submit but not sure how to go about doing so
here. Any tips?"
Sysop Jim Ness tells Dana:
"The program used to upload a finished Web page is a proprietary Windows
program, unfortunately. You'd need a Windows machine or a trusted friend
who would use your account to upload via his/her machine."
Joe Villarreal asks Dana:
"Have you been able to access the internet here on CompuServe using Stik
and CAB (Crystal Atari Browser)?"
Dana tells Joe:
"I can't access the Internet via CompuServe using STiK/CAB because CIS
requires PPP access which isn't supported [yet] by STiK/CAB. Rumor has it
that the next upgrade will provide PPP access."
I tell Joe:
"Sorry to butt in, and maybe this isn't what you wanted to know, but I have
been able to log into CIS using CAB and MiNTnet... it's a fairly painless
installation and you get to keep your original TOS version in the process.
After MiNT runs, it runs a program called OLDGEM that brings back TOS/GEM
from the roms (I guess). The only difference is that you now have access
to drive "U" which 'contains' all of the devices attached to your computer
from ports to drives to keyboard and monitor. This is not a bad
alternative. The PPPKIT14 archive here includes everything you need
except for the CAB archive. You don't use STik at all. There are scripts
included to allow you to connect, disconnect, and exit (like you have to do
in WIN95).
I've had no luck tracking down the 2 problems I've seen: Transfer errors
(results in garbled pics) and, Occasionally trashing the FAT of the
partition I'm running both CAB and MiNTnet from. I believe that the
latter is caused by in-complete file saves, but I'm not sure. The former
is very odd because PPP provides error checking and should therefore be
more solid than SLIP (which gives me _no_ problems at all). Once I get
these 2 problems sorted out, I'll archive the entire thing up and upload it
here."
Joe tells me:
"You're not butting in Joe and I appreciate the info. I saw the PPPKIT14
file here. I haven't tried to run Mint so I didn't bother downloading it.
Maybe one of these days. Does the PPPKIT14 file contain Mint? I would
not think it does but I could be wrong."
I reply:
"Yes, the PPPKIT contains everything you need except for the main CAB
archive. Get the latest version of that and PPPKIT, and you're set.
Ummm, I should have said "You're set to start configuring the thing". <g>
Truthfully though, it's not that hard to set up. Heck, _I_ did it, so how
hard can it be?? The only catch is that you need 2 meg to run both
MiNTnet and CAB. Other than that, just about anything goes (computer-
wise). I've got a minimum setup going now (no other AUTO programs or
ACCessories except for HSMODEM7, XCONTROL, and NOHOG.. which is necessary
for some reason), and hope to be able to start adding all my little bell-
and-whistle things bit by bit once I get a few problems sorted out. If
you're the least bit interested in trying this out, don't hesitate... you
learn quite a bit just by reading the docs included."
Keith Mountjoy asks for help for a friend:
"I have a friend with an STe who would like to get on to compuserve and the
WWW. Does anyone know if CIS software is still available, or of any other
software that will do the job?"
I tell Keith:
"There is no CIM-type software available from CompuServe for the ST series
of computers, but a generic terminal program will allow your friend to
access most of CIS (this forum, for instance). There is a program called
QuickCIS which was written by our own Jim Ness, but it is no longer being
upgraded and needs several work-arounds to function well... Probably not
for the beginner, but there are a few experienced users here who still use
it. There are several shareware terminal programs here in the
Telecommunications Library which are quite good. Freeze-Dried Terminal,
STorm, and one or two others come to mind (well, actually only Freeze-
Dried and STorm come to mind... that's why I didn't name the others
<grin>).
There are also two commercial terminal packages that come to mind: FLASH
II from Missionware Software, and STalker from Gribnif software are both
great packages which provide just about everything you could need online
(accept intenet access). Surfing the 'Net is a bit of a problem right now.
It can be done (I'm doing it) but it's not a project that you want to "get
your feet wet" with. Two commercial Internet packages are due out
shortly: Webspace from Oxo Concept, and TermiteTCP from Oregon Research.
Since neither is available yet (except for a _demo_ version of Webspace)
there isn't really a lot to say about them yet."
Well folks, that's about all for this week. I'm still trying to iron
out the problems with PPP access and, as soon as I do, I'll find a way to
make it easy for you to do it too. So tune in again next week, same time,
same station, and be ready to listen to what they are saying when...
PEOPLE ARE TALKING
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