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||||||| ST*ZMAGAZINE #40 September 29, 1989 |||||||
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||||||| Volume 1, Number 40 Ron Kovacs, Editor |||||||
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|||||||(c) 1989, Rovac Ind., PO Box 59, Middlesex, NJ 08846-0059|||||||
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||||||| News Headlines.... |||||||
||||||| * Atari Names New President |||||||
||||||| * New Computer Products Released |||||||
||||||| * Word-Up Virus Update/Response |||||||
||||||| * Fast Technology in Conference |||||||
|||||||=========================================================|||||||
|||||||CompuServe: 71777,2140 GEnie: ZMAGAZINE|||||||
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CONTENTS
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
Issue #40
[@] The Editors Desk....................................Ron Kovacs
[@] ZNet Newswire.................................................
[@] The Future of AtariFests?............................John Nagy
[@] Public Domain Shelf................................Alice Amore
[@] Word-Up Virus Update................................Ctsy GEnie
[@] ZMag News Archive...................................Ron Kovacs
[@] Hard Disk Park Utility.............................Bill Penner
[@] Fast Technology in Conference.......................Ctsy GEnie
[@] Star Wars Meets Star Trek.........................Scott Bowyer
THE EDITORS DESK
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
by Ron Kovacs
Before we get into this week's edition, I have an editorial response to
ST-World Editor Larry Payne and Publisher Richard Tsukiji. In the
latest issue of STW, there are reprints of letters to the editor, one
response from a reader in New Jersey stated that information read
recently in ST-Informer and ST-ZMagazine about Atari not supporting
future World of Atari shows and User Group fests.
We have never printed any such statement in this publication. The
article apparently being referenced appeared in our sister publication
ZNet. That article written by John Nagy, appeared in both ZNet and
ST-Informer's September issues as the cover story which was titled, "The
Future of AtariFests?".
No statement about Atari ending support for future shows ever appeared
in our publication, and rumors stating such are totally unfounded. I am
astounded at the response of the ST-World editor to the reader.
"Consider the source..." begins the reply which goes on to state, as our
article in ZNet did, that more World of Atari shows are scheduled.
Mr. Payne could have picked up a phone and called us to research the
rumor before printing it, much as we called Mr. Tsukiji before printing
our article about the Future of Atarifests. He would have found that
the so called rumor had no basis in fact and that no such statement was
in our publication. He could then have refuted the rumor directly but
instead he chose to simply insult ST-Informer and our publication.
In an effort to bring this rumor and others surrounding the article, I
have included the entire as written by John Nagy, in this weeks issue.
Please keep in mind that the article was written in August for the
September release.
ZNET NEWSWIRE
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
~ Atari Corporation Press Release: 9/29/89
I am pleased to announce that H. Michael (Mike) Morand joined Atari on
September 25, 1989 as the President of Atari Computer (U.S.). Mike will
be responsible for all operational aspects of Atari Computer sales,
marketing, distribution and administration within the United States.
Mike joins us from AST Research, Inc., where he was Vice President of
Systems Marketing and was responsible for launching their desktop
computer products into the market. In addition, Mike was in charge of
AST's advertising, public relations, and reseller development.
Mike's background also includes experience as a General Manager, and he
has held several senior level sales and marketing positions. Previous
companies he has been with include Xerox Corporation, Scientific Data
Systems, Data Card Corporation, MSI Data Corporation, and Litton
Systems, representing over 25 years experience in the computer industry.
Please join me in welcoming Mike to Atari.
Best Wishes,
Sam Tramiel
~ Nintendo announced this week it will raise its monthly output of
Gameboy video game machines from 300,000 units per month to 400,000 per
month by the end of the year. Nintendo has sold 710,000 Gameboys since
April. In the US 450,000 Gameboys have been sold since it began
shipping here at the end of July. Nintendo sells ehe hand-held video
game for $109.95 in the US.
~ NEC Home Electronics will begin shipping the ProSpeed CSX, next month.
It is said to be the first color laptop computer available in the United
States. The ProSpeed CSX measures 15 inches across, 14.4 inches deep
and 4 inches high. It weighs 18.5 pounds, including its built-in power
supply. The basic system, at $8,499, comes with two meg of RAM, a 42MB
hard disk and a 1.44MB floppy disk drive. Configured with a 100MB hard
disk, the system costs $9,499.
~ Tandy Corp. announced four new computer products this week, the Tandy
1100 FD, a lightweight, inexpensive PC compatible notebook computer;
FaxMate, an easy-to-use FAX system for PCs; Open Desktop, a graphical
user interface for UNIX-based systems; and GRiDPad, a four-pound
portable computer that uses handwritten input.
ST*ZMAG BBS CARRIER - Your BBS can be listed here too! Leave Email!!
ECIS (Expert Communications and Information System)
Fnet 1:324/117
Sysops: Bruce Budd/Ed Dukeshire
335meg; Supporting Atari, Amiga, C64/128, IBM, & MAC. Running TBBS
v2.1M (Multiline, 8 lines currently), 3/12/24 @(508)372-2399 (auto-
switching 7 lines) 96/19.2 @(508)521-0521 (Currier *HST* 1 line)
Registration required; Donations accepted
THE FUTURE OF ATARIFESTS? (Reprinted from September 1989 ZNet)
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
by John Nagy
Glendale AtariFest: Cancelled
San Jose World of Atari: Cancelled
Atari owners are wondering what will happen next as charges are made of
interference, failure to coordinate, insensitivity to user groups, and
unrealistic expectations of vendors. ZMagazine/Z*Net and ST-Informer
magazines hope to help user groups get back on track with their own
shows.
The Southern California Atarifest tradition - the Glendale Atarifest -
was cancelled this year by organizer John King Tarpinian. This user
group show set the pattern for successful fests nationwide in three
previous years, but this year it was unable to generate enough vendor
and developer support to make it happen. Although a conflict in hall
scheduling was perhaps the last straw, when John pulled the plug only a
month before the scheduled show date, only four vendors of any kind had
sent deposits confirming their participation. By that stage in prior
years, over 20 had been on hand. What was wrong? The problem may have
been that ST-World magazine publisher and World of Atari promotor
Richard Tsukiji had recently added a World of Atari show into his
schedule for San Jose, two hundred miles up the coast near San
Fransisco, for only a week later. Some user group leaders called
"foul", saying that this forced vendors to choose between the commercial
and user show. While it might have seemed that 200 miles was plenty
separation to avoid hitting many of the same likely attendees, a week
between shows was much too little time for most vendors to attend both
West coast shows. Worse yet, another show (WAACE in Washington D.C.)
was the NEXT weekend. And with the World shows promising Atari backing,
professional promotion budgets, and substantial discounts for vendors
who attend all of the World of Atari shows, those who don't have the
staff and budget for a continuous road show simply had to choose... and
Glendale was losing fast.
The conflict in California was not new, but was even worse than the
MACE/Dearborn World of Atari conflict earlier this summer. In the case
of Michigan, the World show (the second in the tour) was scheduled
almost seven months in advance, and announced more than a month before
the MACE user group of Detroit formally approved their show, to be held
only miles from the World of Atari site and six weeks before it. That
show brought alot of pressure and attention to the professional show
versus user group show issue. Fortunately, both Michigan shows were
reasonably successful, and Tsukiji made commitments to only take future
World of Atari shows where the user groups ASKED for them, places that
would not otherwise have an Atarifest.
Next, World of Atari moved to Dallas, Texas for a mid August show, the
third in the series. This was a site of successful locally produced
multi-computer brand shows as well as several Atarifests in previous
years, but the clubs in the area were not even contacted before the show
was scheduled, let alone consulted. Attempts by Dallas groups to make
suggestions or become involved went unanswered as ST-World and Tsukiji
went phone-silent for two weeks in July, worrying even Atari officials
who could not schedule their own involvement. The last word we heard
from area representatives was that Dallas groups were puzzled at being
left in the dark, getting more information from distant callers who
assumed they would be as "involved", Atari Users of North Texas has no
actual plans for any group involvement. Some if their members expect to
volunteer to help the show now that a local dealer has passed them show
fliers - only one week before the show. Club officers express concerns
over the lack of local promotion, and say that groups should have been
given some options early in the planning. Tsukiji confirmed that there
will be NO user groups having booths at the show. Press time has
arrived before the Texas show date, so we can't tell you yet how the
show worked out.
In California, the Glendale show was well publicised before any San Jose
plans were solidified. In fact, earlier this year, Glendale manager
Tarpinian even had discussions with Tsukiji about Glendale's September
date, and how, if at all, the first World of Atari show in Anahiem last
April might affect it. Don't worry, said Tsukiji, it's a long time
between April and September, you have nothing to worry about. But by
July, the San Jose date was announced, and the damage was done.
Under pressure of user group concerns, Atari appears to have asked
Tsukiji to cancel his San Jose show in an attempt to make peace with the
Glendale people, if not try to save that show. It seems that the
Glendale show was near and dear to the Atari Corporation heart, and the
likelihood of losing it was more than Atari wanted to permit. Tsukiji
did cancel his show, but it came too late to help Glendale for this
fall. Some discussions are underway to see if a date later in the year
could be arranged, but Tarpinian is wisely cautious, unwilling to
jeopardize other committed shows.
Throughout the fray, Atari remains on the side of HAVING shows, no
matter who puts them on. They have committed to appearing at any show
that is sufficiently organized and publicised. WAACE is presenting an
Atarifest October 7 and 8 at the Fairfax High School in Fairfax,
Virginia. Washington DC area Atarifests have a good reputation for
success and crowds. Also, the Kentuckiana Atarifest is planned for
Clarksville, Indiana on October 28-29. (Editor Note: This show in
Indiana has since been cancelled). Atari is palnning to send
representatives to both shows.
There may simply be too many Atari shows being scheduled nationally,
with little or no consideration for the vendors. Several developers
have expressed to us that they can do three, perhaps four shows a year
without seriously cutting into the time they need to run their
businesses at home.
Rumors abound of discontented dealers and distributors who complain that
developers at Atari shows have been b adly undercutting the dealer
pricing to sell to users directly. While the users love it, some
vendors say it unfairly depresses their market before, during, and long
after any show. Proposals to remedy this include asking developes NOT
to sell, or to offer discounts to local vendors so as to allow their
prices to remain competitive. Tsukiji says not a single complaint has
come to his attention directly, and that he sees no need to address
aproblem that has not yet been directly expressed. Contrary to rumors
and even to statements attributed to him by several sources, Tsukiji now
states that there will continue to be World of Atari shows, with at
least three more already planned. Dates are not available at this
writing.
ST-Informer and ZMAG/Z*Net would like to see user group shows succeed,
and to that end, we are offering to help any group that is planning a
show of their own. We can provide references, contacts at Atari and
developers, and advise in the coordination of dates. We can also help
with publicity and reporting before and at the shows. With cooperation
and communication, user shows and commercial shows can co-exist with
conflict or agonising decisions for vendors and developers. If your
group is considering holding an Atarifest, contact our offices. ST-
Informer: (503) 476-0071; Zmag: (201) 968-8148.
PUBLIC DOMAIN SHELF
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
by Alice Amore
GDOS1A, GDOS1B, GDOS1C
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
These files contain a bounty of 90 x 90 DPI GDOS-format fonts converted
from the Macintosh. An ASSIGN.SYS file is included. The fonts were
converted by Howard Chu using Neocept's FONTZ! program.
IMG_CATF
~~~~~~~~
The Cryptic \/\/izard (Chet Walters) has brought us many exceptional
shareware programs, not the least of which is PM_CAT, a cataloguer for
PrintMaster graphics. This time he's written IMG_CATF, which will
catalog .IMG files. .IMG files in specified folders are dumped to the
printer in configurable formats, such as 6, 12, or 15 per page, borders
on/off, preserve/ignore aspect ratio, and set fonts. Since this is the
demo version, it doesn't do much except display the many program
options. For a paltry $10., you can send for the full working version.
If your collection of .IMG files are numerous and/or disorganized, this
could be the best $10 you spend on computer-related STuff. (When
looking for this demo, make sure you get IMG_CATF, and not earlier
versions of this demo. Compatibility problems plagued the earlier
versions.)
MIDILESN
~~~~~~~~
MIDILESN contains eight mini-lessons designed to introduce the computer
user to the ins and outs of MIDI. The author of these lessons, Morris
Miller, has a solid writing style, and encourages user groups to include
his lessons as a continuing series in newsletters and lectures.
VHSCROLL
~~~~~~~~
This file (which was inspired by the information contained in VIDEO.BAS
by Mike Stepansky) contains two programs which will scroll picture files
made with NEOChrome or D.E.G.A.S. One program scrolls horizontally, the
other vertically. These programs could be used for text demos,
especially if a timer were programmed in. Uploaded by M. Hughes.
HAIRSTYL
~~~~~~~~
Looking for a money-maker? This demo will explain how you can use your
ST, a suitable digitizer, a drawing program, and a Polaroid camera, for
a money-making venture: previewing hair styles on digitized faces for a
fee. The commercial version, "Computer Safari's Hair Style System"
contains 130 female hair styles in D.E.G.A.S PC1 format, and 40 pages of
hair style screen shots. We applaud Computer Safari for finding this
unique, necessary, and possibly lucrative application for the Atari ST.
WORD UP VIRUS UPDATE
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
Ctsy GEnie Service
CAUTION: I just received my WordUp 2.0 update this Saturday (9/23/89)
CAUTION: and I decided to test the disk created by the installation
CAUTION: program with Virus Killer 2.2. Well, it turns out the disk
CAUTION: was infected with a "Key" virus. I checked the 3 original
CAUTION: disks sent by Neocept and Virus Killer reported that each of
CAUTION: three disks contained the same virus.
CAUTION: CHECK YOUR ORIGINAL DISKS BEFORE INSTALLATION AND PLEASE
CAUTION: REPORT YOUR FINDINGS HERE.
CAUTION: I will try to get in touch with Neocept tommorrow, but my
CAUTION: may be tight. If someone has close ties with them, please let
CAUTION: them know.
CAUTION: *** CHECK YOUR WORDUP 2.0 DISKS FOR VIRUSES !!! ***
-Craig W. Daymon
NEWS REGARDING WORDUP V2.0
--------------------------
Neocept has discovered a HARMLESS virus on all of the WordUp v2.0
upgrades and new packages with serial numbers from WUP004000 to
WUP004249. This virus is completely harmless and does nothing more than
copy itself to the boot sector of all disks that are accessed. In fact,
this virus could arguably be called a "virus killer", since it wipes out
any harmful virus that may already occupy the boot sector. It is
remotely possible that this virus could be the "key" to activate some
other virus, or that this virus interacts to duplicate some other virus.
However, Neocept has already disassembled and looked closely at the
virus, and can find no indication of how it might act as a "key". To be
safe, users should clear out all but the first 32 bytes of the boot
sectors of their WordUp disks, using a disk editor or a virus killing
program.
It has been reported to Neocept that DESKCART, by QMI, is incompatible
with WordUp v2.0. It causes the keyboard handling of WordUp to function
incorrectly. If you have DESKCART, it should be completely disabled
before using WordUp. In version 2.0 of Wordup, we added low-level
keyboard buffers in order to correctly buffer the status of the SHIFT,
CONTROL, and ALTERNATE keys, to work around a bug in GEM. Some programs
which perform keyboard macros may not be compatible if they do not
follow compatible methods, such as those used by THUNDER, the spell
checker desk accessory from Batteries Included (which functions
correctly with version 2.0 of WordUp).
WORDUP & G+PLUS
---------------
With the help of a couple of our users, we have uncovered what appears
to be a problem with G+PLUS and the ASSIGN.SYS file created by the
WORDUP INSTALL PROGRAM. If you use G+PLUS and WORDUP together, and have
been getting a "NO FONTS LOADED" message when you boot WORDUP, read the
following for an explanation and solution.
The basic ASSIGN.SYS file included with the WordUp package is modified
by the installation program for the setup you choose. To make this a
bit easier, the font names in this ASSIGN.SYS file have a space
character in front of them. GDOS does not care and reads the font name
following the space, but G+PLUS apparently treats any line beginning
with a space as a comment, and ignores the font name following the
space. Since the ASSIGN.SYS file from WordUp has spaces or semicolons
at the start of each line, this makes it think there are no fonts
installed, and WordUp will give you a message to the effect of "NO FONTS
LOADED" when you boot. When you replacing G+PLUS with GDOS, the problem
disappears.
We have discussed this problem with the guys at Codehead, the publisher
of G+PLUS, and they are looking into it. (I would like to say that I
use G+PLUS myself and think it is a fine product, and I personally
recommend it. - Mike F. @ NEOCEPT)
If you have seen this error, then for the moment, in order to use G+PLUS
instead of GDOS, the ASSIGN.SYS file must be edited to remove the spaces
in front of the font names. See your WordUp manual for more information
on how to modify the ASSIGN.SYS. You will need to replace G+PLUS with
GDOS temporarily if you want to use WordUp to edit the ASSIGN.SYS file.
ZMAG NEWS ARCHIVE - OCTOBER
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
FROM THE ZMAGAZINE ARCHIVES
Compiled by Ron Kovacs
//// OCTOBER 1988 ////
~ Neil Harris resigns from Atari Corp and takes position at GEnie
Services. Soon after his resignation, a few Atari community members
comment openly about the problems surrounding the news. Data Pacific
released a newsletter in September and presented misleading information
which surfaces in October. David Small releases a public opinion
article on the pay servcies.
~ Spectre 128 begins arriving. This would be the first product released
by David Small's new company, Gadgets By Small Inc..
~ Sam Tramiel attends CompuServe conference and leaves a sour taste in
the mouth of all attendees. During the 75 minute conference the system
shut down and Sam soon announced a quick notice he was leaving and no
more questions were taken. Sam Tramiel stated in the conference that
the new effort for 1989 is to push the US market.
~ Atari raided several stores in New York City that were selling
imitations of it's video game consoles, joysticks and cassettes. In the
late September raid, Atari seized 700 consoles that resembled the 2600
game system. Value of this raid was over $100,000.
//// OCTOBER 1987 ////
~ Atari launched the CDROM at the Personal Computer World Show in
England. At the unvieling, Atari announces that the CDROM will be
shipping by Christmas 1987 and will sell in the UK for $650.00. In
addition, Atari said that when technology prices fall low enough, they
will make the system available for all of it's machines.
~ Antic Magazine see's seven Atari PC clones on an Atari workbench in
Sunnyvale running Lotus 1-2-3 and Flight Simulator.
~ Atari ships developers the Mega 4 with blitter chip to developers.
~ Atari starts shipping Mega 2 and Mega 4 computers to authorized Atari
business computer centers.
~ Atari announces closing of purchase for Federated Group stores.
~ Atari's rare advertising campaign begins with the XE Game system on
local television stations across the nation. The advertising was sparce
and not seen in all areas of the country.
//// OCTOBER 1986 ////
~ Atari Explorer returns with a new publishing staff after missing from
the news-stands for over a year.
~ Star Glider ships for the ST.
~ Compute Magazine reviews Hacker 2, Chessmater 2000, and Music Studio
for the ST.
~ The Los Angeles Atari Faire takes place and was a successful show.
Some of Atari's personnel were on hand.
~ Astra announces HD+ for the ST, a 20 meg hard disk and 1 meg floppy
disk in one unit.
~ Virtusonics announces a new graphics/animation product called Virtuoso
for the 8-bits.
HARD DISK PARK UTILITY
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
by Bill Penner
Reprinted from Puget Sound Atari News
C Programming for ST'ers who want to play it safe!
Do you have a hard disk and get tired of looking for the hard disk
parking program? Well, I do. I park my hard disk every time I power
down to insure nothing on the hard disk is damaged by power up or power
down. Some hard disks have a built in parking operation, but the lower
price ones (like Seagate ST-225 drives) do not have this feature.
Here is a quick C hack to create an accessory, when executed will go and
execute another program. I wrote this using Laser C, but there is
nothing that should be compiler dependent. Now when I want to shut
down, instead of pulling up the drive C: directory, then the folder and
then fire up the program, I simply click on the menu entry >>>> Park It!
<<<< and it does.
PROGRAM DETAILS
The program is a very simple example of an accessory. The first thing
that must be done is to initialize the GEM variables. This is done with
the appl_init() routine. The appl_init() routine passes back an
application ID number will be needed. Under the old Megamax C, a bug
existed here that required a variable gl_apid to be declared as an
external integer and then the value of gl_apid is used in place of ap_id
following the appl_init() call. The menu_register(ap_id,"
>>>> Park It! <<<<") is the command which actually installs the name in
the desktop accessory table. This routine then returns the menu ID
number.
The while(TRUE) is simply a construct to cause the program to loop
forever. An accessory can not actually exit (except in certain
circumstances during resolution changes) else the system bombs. Either
evnt_multi() or evnt_mesag() can be used. This is the command that
waits for a message to tell the accessory the user has selected the menu
entry. The messages do need to be checked to make sure the command is
an accessory open command. Once the message is verified to be an open,
the command Pexec() is used to start the desired program. Remember,
when setting the program name, use double backslashes for each
backslash.
Oh well, I hope this proves useful to someone.
/*****************************************************************/
/* PARKUTIL.C by Bill Penner 26 November 1988 */
/*****************************************************************/
#include <stdio.h>
#include <osbind.h>
#include <obdefs.h>
#include <gemdefs.h>
#define TRUE 1 /* Nothing like a bit of truth */
#define FALSE 0
typedef struct msgfmt { /* Structure for message pipe xfers */
unsigned msgnum;
unsigned oap_id;
unsigned extbyt;
unsigned dat1;
unsigned dap_id;
unsigned dat2;
long addr;
} MSGFMT;
MSGFMT msg; /* Structure for message transfers */
int ap_id; /* Application ID number */
int menu_id; /* Keeps track of this process */
int fi_hand; /* Handle for file operations */
int ret; /* Just junk... */
/*****************************************************************/
/* Main Routine */
/*****************************************************************/
main()
{
int event;
ap_id = appl_init();
menu_id = menu_register(ap_id," >>>> Park It! <<<<");
while(TRUE)
{
event = evnt_multi(MU_MESAG, 1,1,1, 0,0,0,0,0, 0,0,0,0,0,
&msg,0,0, &ret,&ret,&ret,&ret,&ret,&ret);
if(event & MU_MESAG)
{
if((msg.msgnum == AC_OPEN) && (msg.dap_id == menu_id))
Pexec(0,"C:\\AUTO\\HARDDISK\\PARK.PRG","\0","\0");
}
}
}
[EOF]
FAST TECHNOLOGY IN CONFERENCE
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
Ctsy GEnie
Jeff.W
------
Welcome to the Fast Technology Real Time Conference! Our guest this
evening is Jim Allen, creator of Turbo 16, the 16 Mz ST accelerator.
Jim is here this evening to answer your questions about Turbo 16 and
other ST enhancements he may have in the works.
Let's begin. Welcome to the RTC, Jim Allen, and thanks for being with
us tonight. Do you have any opening remarks before we start taking
questions?
FAST TECH
---------
Turbo16 is a 16 Mhz accelerator for the ST. We have designed it to be
compact enough to be installed in all STs and it will generally give you
a speed improvement of 50%, so what takes 10 secs will now take 7.5 to
5 secs.
We used every sensible trick in the book to get this speed and feel this
is the fastest we can get with a 68000 alone, any further will need a
68030. Turbo16 uses caching to effectively speed up ST. Caching allows
the processor to keep a copy of what is in the STs ram in a smaller high
speed ram which the processor can access at full 16 (or whatever) Mhz.
This is the same technology used in typical 386 PCs.
D.Anderson22
------------
And all of this can be yours for the low cost of $299.
Fast Tech
---------
Which in light of the $399 in the Mac world is very reasonable!!!
Jeff.W
------
Let me introduce Dave Anderson. Dave has been helping Jim test Turbo 16
and helping him with marketing and who knows what else! <grin> Say hi,
Dave!
Fast Tech
---------
The ST is a tough computer to design for. The custom chips are not
documented and they are changed from time to time, so getting a reliable
upgrade done took a while!!! We are shipping T16s now.
R.Schneeberg
------------
I would like to know what effect if any Turbo16 will have on PC-DITTO
II? And are you selling it through dealers too or only by mail?
D.Anderson22
------------
T16 sales are PRIMARILY being handled through dealers.
Fast Tech
---------
PCDII is a DMA device and goes to memory and gets IBM opcodes and
executes them so PCDII will NOT be sped up much if any.
T16s are sold through dealers only...unless you are in timbuktoo!!!
I don't want to leave anyone out but dealers have the resources..chips..
etc to help the install.
Installation requires the removal of your 68000 which is soldered into
the ST. This is not a simple thing to do. Also if something goes wrong
the dealer has the parts and knowledge (generally) to fix an ST.
M.Woods1
--------
Thanks. Jim, I'm puzzled. If its a 16Mhz accelerator, why only a 50%
speed improvement and not 100%, or so?
Fast Tech
---------
The STs memory cannot be sped up so it is the limiting factor here and a
cache can only offer a percentage of effective speedup for the ram.
D.Anderson22
------------
I'd like to add here that 50% is the approximate AVERAGE. Some
applications are sped up more and some less.
M.Arthur2
---------
ANY SOFTWARE INCOMPATIBILITIES?
Fast Tech
---------
Yes!!!! Spectrum512 and programs like it, anything that counts on the
speed of the CPU. VIDI-ST can't run in full speed mode and other
digitizers can have the same trouble.
Jeff.W
------
Can you turn Turbo 16 'off' in order to run these guys?
D.Anderson22
------------
Yes. Auto folder program, desk accessory or hardware switch.
Fast Tech
---------
But spectrum512 still won't work. It is very easily affected by any
change in speed and T16 ALWAYS has the 16Mhz clock on the CPU.
J.Nalewick
----------
Any info on Ditto I speed increase? What about a socket for PC-Ditto 2?
Fast Tech
---------
Yes. DITTO I runs a Norton of .3 normally but now with T16 runs a
Norton of .6
D.Anderson22
------------
Read: "up to 100% increase."
Fast Tech
---------
The interface for PCDII will be a small board that goes into the ST
before T16 and has connections for PCDII's ribbon cable, etc. It will
also have a socket for the blitter chip so 520/1040 users will get to
add a blitter chip.
ABGRAF
------
Did you have any disk access problems? I found some with Radius on an
SE.
Fast Tech
---------
We are lucky that Atari built the ST so well. The STs disk access is a
DMA activity and the speed is fixed in hardware, it is processor
invarient!! The Mac is not and Mac users suffer!!!
D.Burkhalter
------------
What does the 68030 have over the 68000 to make it faster?
Fast Tech
---------
The 68030 has a 3 clock cycle instruction cycle and it has an
instruction and data cache..small but effective. It is also very
efficient in some of it's instructions and has many new features that
make it a better CPU.
J.Nalewick
----------
At Detroit David Small gave T-16 high marks. Any comments? After I
heard his remarks, T-16 was the one to buy!
Fast Tech
---------
Well, we paid him very well for those marks. <grin> Dave has had a
prototype for quite a while. Who better to test Spectre? He is a
person who appreciates a good product. Sounds like we'll have to send
Dave a bonus. Thanks.
V.Averello
----------
What type of processes get sped up the most & which ones the least ??
Fast Tech
---------
Printing postscript, arc/unarc, assembling/compiling from ram disk, PC
DITTO type emulations, are all sped up the most. Communications and
digitizers are sped up the least.
M.Arthur2
---------
What would the advantage be to have a blitter and the T16?
Fast Tech
---------
The blitter can help alot with basic graphic operations, but the SW has
to be good. TurboST 1.6 is an example of SW that really uses the
blitter, Tempus is another program. It can get you another 10-15%
speedup. It is a specialized device though, so only certain graphic
operations are helped, for instance drawing straight lines like in
window boxes. It is all a price performance calculation, benchmarks are
available that show the worth of the blitter, you have to make your own
decision.
Jeff.W
------
Are there certain models of ST's that may have trouble with T16?
Fast Tech
---------
There are some memory upgrades in old 520 STs that hang over the 68000
and block any upgrade to the processor, but there are some that don't.
There is no machine that we don't fit in, including the STacy.
Jeff.W
------
Short of removing those upgrades, is there any chance of getting T16
installed on those systems? Care to name names, Jim? Inquiring minds
want to know!
Fast Tech
---------
Only if the ram upgrade is modified somehow. And that is a case by
case situation because there are so many!!! EasyRam doesn't fit at all.
Zram requires a bite off the end of the board, no others have been
found. Datafree and AERCO fit fine.
Jeff.W
------
What chips have you found T16 has problems with that might need
replacement?
Fast Tech
---------
We have found that some blitters cannot drive a fully loaded (T16/
TOS1.4/etc) bus and even some of the eproms too. Also there are some
MMU chips whose timing is far enough from nominal. That there can be
problems, but nothing insurmountable. That is why we sell through
dealers, so somebody knows enough during the install to be able to track
down an offending custom chip and swap it out for a more nominal one.
So far things are going real well with installs and we haven't seen many
instances of these problems.
Jeff.W
------
What other projects do you have on the burner, Jim?
Fast Tech
---------
We have been thinking of a hard disk bootup delay. I am sick of turning
half the system on then the other half. It is a bolton addon. Should
go for $50? We will see what we can get it down to when we go for
production. It will resemble an rs232 gender bender but for the DMA
port.
The 030 will take up alot of time from development in the Comdex time
frame, after that maybe we will know more about the STE and check into
ST upgrades to get it's features.
We have also been approached to join an Atari developers group that is
now forming...or trying to. This sounds like a really needed thing in
order to interface more effectively with Atari. I hope more developers
get involved with it.
There are some neat things we would like to do but haven't investigated
enough to see if they are feasible. For instance: A 4 meg memory
upgrade for the mega 4. It would require the use of a second MMU and
SHIFTER chip combo and would be completely seamless to current SW.
C.S.Smeton
----------
Hello, I am the Seminar Coordinator for the WAACE show and would like to
mention that James Allen will be attending our Fest. I think its full
steam ahead with more vendors than in the previous 5 years of WAACE!
Fast Tech
---------
WAACE looks like a real winner!!!! WAACE is a great bunch too! I hear
great things, I hope Atari will do a better job of supporting than they
have alluded to so far!!!
Bob-Brodie
----------
Our area reps called me today. They are expecting 6000 at WAACE.
Fast Tech
---------
Yes I want to thank all the T16 users and purchasers for their patience.
It has taken us a while to get these out the door but the ST user and
developer community is just the best there is!!! And I mean that!!!
Thanks for coming.
=======================================================================
(C) 1989 by Atari Corporation, GEnie, and the Atari Roundtables. May
be reprinted only with this notice intact. The Atari Roundtables on
GEnie are *official* information services of Atari Corporation. To sign
up for GEnie service, call (with modem) 800-638-8369. Upon connection
type HHH (RETURN after that). Wait for the U#= prompt. Type XJM11877,
GEnie and hit RETURN. The system will prompt you for your information.
=======================================================================
STAR WARS MEETS STAR TREK (Reprinted from Puget Sound Atari News)
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
EPISODE: "DAVID AND GOLIATH" by Scott Bowyer
Submitted to PSAN by Marc Ingle, S*P*A*C*E
Kirk: Captain's log: Stardate 8199.2. After reports came in of an
unknown globular vessel that destroyed one of our colony planets, we are
on patrol in our quadrant in case it should show up here. All is
peaceful so far.
Spock: Captain, we are picking up unusual energy readings in the star
system on our port side.
Kirk: Mr. Sulu, bring us to that system, warp 3. Uhura, sound red
alert.
The Enterprise enters the system, and encounters the alien ship moving
at sub-light speed toward a populated planet. Unknown to Kirk and
company, the ship is the Death Star III, a 'small' (500 mile diameter)
death star constructed by governor Torg to further his ambitions. Due
to a bad malfunction in its hyperspace drive, it made a huge jump in
time and space and wound up in an unknown galaxy. Once there, governor
Torg decided to set up his own little empire, far away from that nasty
rebellion. Encouraging him in this is Dec Vadic (sound familiar?), a
student of the late Darth Vader, and now a powerful lord and user of the
Force.
Kirk: Uhura, open hailing frequencies. <She nods> Alien ship, this is
Captain James T. Kirk of the starship Enterprise. Why are you invading
our space?
DStar: This is governor Torg. We are here to conquer your galaxy.
Prepare to surrender your puny ship or be destroyed!!!
Kirk: Starship captains never surrender. <Click> Sulu, warp us out,
quick!
A second later, the death star's weapons open fire. They soon find out
the practical problems in hitting a faster-than-light vessel with light-
speed weapons and tracking. The Enterprise hauls off with no damage.
Kirk: They want war, we'll give them war. Mr. Sulu, make a firing pass
at warp 2. Checkov, fire our phasers at that thing.
The Enterprise warps by, with the death star's weapons firing hopelessly
behind. The phasers fire and hit the death star's shields, with no
appreciable effect.
Spock: No effect, captain. Their shields are incredibly strong.
Kirk: Let's try another firing pass, this time with both phasers and
photons. Engage.
The Enterprise zips by again, firing full weapons with no effect again.
This time however, the death star launches 50 tie fighters to make
things harder.
Spock: The alien ship is now launching some 50 small fighter-ships.
Kirk: Sulu, back off at just over light speed to lure them away a
little. Then launch our four shuttles to keep them busy.
This is done, and the shuttles, moving at 6c, and armed with a single
phaser, engage the tie fighters. At sub-light speed, the tie fighters
would have massacred the administrative shuttles, but the FTL shuttles
start slowly picking off the tie fighters. One shuttle is destroyed
after accidentally ramming one tie fighter and being hit by two others.
The battle continues on.
Kirk calls a conference in the briefing room, and Checkov suggests
attacking again when a reserve shuttle is ready. The shuttle is to be
packed with explosives (a suicide shuttle) and rammed kamakazi style
into the enemy ship while the Enterprise fires conventionally. With
some misgivings and technical changes the plan is approved. The scene
moves back to the bridge.
Kirk: Let's try your plan out, Mr. Checkov. I want to come in on
another firing pass, timing our fire to hit just after the shuttle. I
want full overloads of the photon torpedoes, and as much power as we can
shove through the phasers. Divert the remaining energy to the shields.
We'll also drop to sublight speed just before firing for maximum
accuracy. Then go back into warp drive. Mr. Sulu, engage when ready.
The plan starts up all right. The shuttle explodes, and the Enterprise
fires a truly terrific blast, definitely noticed on the death star.
However, now that the Enterprise is below light speed, the death star's
guns can start taking effect (not the planet-wrecker). The ship shakes
violently as the energy bolts hit the shields. This shaking only stops
when the computer takes the Enterprise back into warp drive a few
seconds later. The crew rubs their various hurting parts, and return to
their posts.
Kirk: Uhura, damage reports, all decks.
Uhura: <Into intercom> All decks report damage. <Pause> Dr. McCoy
reports two concussion cases in sickbay, and one very upset stomach --
his.
Intercom: Engineering to bridge! No engine damage, but shields down
60%. They canna take another blasting like thot!
Intercom: Phaser room to bridge! Captain, the phaser coils are damaged
from the large amount of energy we just fired. They'll hold for now,
but I wouldn't recommend trying that again. We may not have any more
phasers.
Uhura: Other decks report minor damage.
Kirk: Ohhhh. Mr. Spock, what did we do to them?
Spock: Sensors indicate reduced power on enemy ship's shields.
However, they are quickly being repaired. If we could maintain this
rate of firing, we would eventually breach their shields, but we are
just one starship. Brute force does not seem to be the solution.
Kirk: What do you have in mind then?
Spock: I was able to do some extra scanning while we were at sublight,
and determined something of possible importance. Their shields are not
continuous, but have boundaries that are not precisely fitted. A small
ship, such as one of their fighters or our shuttles can slip through the
shields and attack from inside them.
Kirk: What can a shuttle do to that?!
Spock: That... is the problem.
Checkov: If a shuttle can go through the hole in the shield, why not a
photon torpedo?
Spock: It will be a difficult shot, but possible. I am now feeding the
coordinates to your station, Mr. Checkov.
The Enterprise comes in on another attack run at warp 2. Checkov aims
his best, and four photon torpedoes arc towards one of the death star's
shield boundaries. Two hit the boundary and do temporary damage to the
shields. The other two go through the gap and impact on the death
star's surface, producing two good-sized craters.
In the meantime, another shuttle is destroyed in a spectacular three-way
ram, which the shuttle commander suspects was intentional by the empire.
Still the score is 34 tie fighters destroyed, vs. 2 shuttles. All in
all, a pretty good trade, the shuttle group commander thought. Then the
death star launched another 40 tie fighters, and the group commander
thought "then again..."
Kirk: Analysis, Mr. Spock.
Spock: At this rate, using continuous attack, it will take us literally
years to destroy this ship. Our combat power will be exhausted in 20
hours, requiring us to break off to refuel.
Kirk: Well, then. They can't hurt us as long as we're under warp
drive, and we can't seem to do meaningful damage to them. In short, a
'Mexican standoff'.
Spock: Not quite. They are still approaching the planet, and will
arrive in 10 hours. And the planet cannot maneuver at warp speed...
< Play appropriate Trek music... >
*****************************
* *
* Commercial goes here... *
* *
*****************************
Kirk: Can we beam down? There doesn't seem to be much we can do up
here.
Spock: It is very difficult, but with precise calculations we should be
able to beam one landing party through the gap in the shields.
Kirk: Make it so.
Spock: Captain?
Kirk: Excuse me, wrong line. Do it mister!!
Kirk, Spock, Dr. McCoy, and three security guards with pre-printed
bulls-eyes on their shirts beam down to just under the death star's
surface. Kirk, Spock, and McCoy and armed with heavy ray guns (from the
ST tech manual), the only three that the ship's store had. As backup,
they all have standard type II hand phasers with extra power packs. The
guards are armed with phaser rifles and type II phasers. All members
are wearing the life support belts seen in the animated series. The
forcefield might be handy for stopping shots. Oddly enough, Kirk is
wearing two belts, but nobody seems to notice.
McCoy: (Fumbling with ray gun.) I'm a doctor, not a soldier! What am
I supposed to do with this cannon?
Spock: You make sure this slide here is at 'stun'. Then set the other
slide to wide-angle beam. Aim in the general direction of the target,
and push the firing control. You almost literally cannot miss.
Kirk: I wonder if we've been detec..
A barrage of laser shots appears around them, courtesy of five
stormtroopers. McCoy reacts first, and tries out Spock's instructions.
McCoy points in their direction, closes his eyes, and pulls the trigger.
Spock dives out of the way just in time. The stormtroopers collapse
immediately.
McCoy: (Looking pleased with himself.) Well, what do you know...
Spock: Hopefully you will improve with time.
Kirk: At least we know stun weapons work on them, so we don't have to
kill them. But, where do we go from here?
Spock: My tricorder indicates some kind of control center about five
decks below.
Kirk: Too far and probably too well guarded. Where's the controls for
that planet-wrecker? If we can knock it out, we can buy time for the
rest of the fleet to get here.
Spock: It is two decks down, and about 50 miles in that direction.
They manage to evade some groups of guards, ray some others, and take an
elevator and a 'train' to within a mile of their desired destination.
They get off and almost immediately get into another fire fight. This
time Kirk is hit by a blast from the stormtrooper commander. The force
field generated by the life-support belt stops it, but the high-pitched
whine from the belt's generator, and the dropped energy level, indicate
it will only stop one or two more shots. A few shots from Kirk's ray
gun soon cleans out the opposition. Meanwhile, Vadic walks on the death
star's bridge.
Vadic: I sense a disturbance in the Force. I suspect we have intruders
aboard.
Officer: Yes, our sensors picked them up about 20 minutes ago.
Governor Torg is on his way right now.
Vadic: Do you mean that your sensors picked them up 20 minutes before
my command of the Force did?
Officer: Uhhhhhhhhh, yes. Aaaakkkkk!!! <Thump>
Vadic: It is dangerous to be too efficient. (Strides off the bridge to
locate Kirk and company.)
The landing party goes on and encounters a closed blast door. Some
cutting with Kirk's ray gun set on 'disintigrate' soon opens it up
though. Between some more blast doors and occasional groups of
stormtroopers, Kirk's ray gun is soon exhausted. He sets it to a mild
self-destruct and hurls it away. He is now armed with his trusty
phaser. They continue on.
Spock: There seems to be two possible control centers for their planet
beam. One is 14 degrees to our right and the other is 53 degrees to our
left.
Kirk: Spock, McCoy, we'll take the right one. Everybody else, take the
left one. Contact me when you get there, and tell me what you find.
Let's go.
The security guards take a wrong turn later and walk into a large room
with 150 stormtroopers in line on the opposite side of the room, weapons
ready. They don't even ask for surrender, but open fire immediately.
After scoring enough glancing hits to knock out their force-fields, the
imperial troopers can't seem to score any hits. The wall behind the
security guards is covered with little dents from energy bolts hitting
it, but the guards are unharmed. The unequal fire fight goes on, with
the guards slowly dropping the stormtroopers, and the stormtroopers
missing. Meanwhile, above and behind the guards, governor Torg is
slowly pushing a grand piano into position. With a last mighty heave,
he pushes it over the ledge to fall on the oblivious security guards
below. Crash... Sproing!!!! No more security guards. (They're flat,
Jim.)
Kirk, Spock, and McCoy are almost at the control center, when Kirk spots
what appears to be his twin brother at the end of an empty corridor. He
runs after him, motioning the other two to hang back. His double
disappears into an adjacent room, and Kirk follows him. The illusion
disappears and Kirk is face to face with Dec Vadic.
Vadic: So, you are their leader. You will learn of the power of the
Force.
Kirk: I'll show you force! (Fires phaser.)
Vadic intercepts the beam with his lightsaber, and learns to his
annoyance, the phaser beam doesn't bounce off. It ends there, with the
lightsaber and phaser beam cancelling each other out. It appears to be
just a matter of whose power pack runs out first. Vadic doesn't wait
for the outcome, and Kirk feels invisible fingers squeezing his throat.
Kirk: Aaaakkkk!!!
< Play appropriate Trek music... >
****************************************
* *
* Commercial: Have sore throat pain? *
* Try new and improved 'Force-off'. *
* *
* Available everywhere. *
* *
****************************************
Gasping, Kirk checks his life-support belt and finds it in good working
order. This 'Force' just goes right through it! Feeling light headed,
Kirk feels for his other belt, a gift from a certain kelvin commander,
and presses the button. <Beep> Vadic turns into a little black cube,
and the pressure stops. Kirk picks him up, and drops him into a
convenient belt pouch. He then goes back to his companions.
They then storm the planet-wrecker control center and take it, after
taking enough hits to knock out Kirk's and McCoy's belts and drop
Spock's to one shot. Kirk attempts to contact the security team and
soon realizes they must have been wiped out. Spock takes the time to
examine the machinery, and soon figures out how to stop it. He takes
McCoy's ray gun, pulls some wires from the other machinery, and soon
makes a bomb. Kirk nods and hides it in a critical machine.
MCCoy: What's going on? What's that thing-a-ma-jig gonna do anyway?
Spock: It is set to destruct when the planet beam fires. It should
cause the beam to reverse at a critcal point and backfire into this
ship's core. The result should disable their engines or destroy this
ship, depending on random factors.
They start heading back to just under the surface to be beamed up.
Meanwhile the death star is almost within firing range of the planet.
Kirk's communicator beeps.
Kirk: Kirk here.
Sulu: Captain, they've just tightened their shields. We can now only
beam two at a time through. We'd better start beaming now.
Kirk: Okay. I'll stay. Beam Spock and McCoy up first.
Spock: No, you are too valuable. You and the doctor beam up.
McCoy: Shut up both of you. I'm staying.
Sulu: Captain, we don't have much time. They're about to fire.
Kirk: Okay. Beam me and McCoy up.
Kirk and McCoy get up okay, but the shields tighten some more and the
gap is too small to do any beaming. Kirk rushes to the bridge to see
what he can do. Spock hears the ominious words 'stand by' on the death
star's loudspeakers.
Kirk: Everybody listen. Here's what we're going to do. We will drop
to sublight speed and drop the #2 shield for beaming. Fire phasers and
photon torpedoes to widen their shield gap as much as much as possible,
and beam mister Spock out. Then go back to warp speed. Get ready...
Now!
With the bridge personnel cringing, the Enterprise drops to sublight.
The imperials are caught by surprise. Risk the ship for just one man?
Their reactions are a bit slow, and few seconds elapse before they start
opening fire. 'Commence primary ignition' goes over the loud-speakers
into Mr. Spock's ears. The phasers and photons hit the shield
boundaries, opening them just enough for the transporter beam to get
through. Then the death star's guns start hitting. Some shots hit the
#1 and #3 shields, but some go through the deactivated #2.
Holes start appearing in the hull. As transport is completed, the death
star fires the planet-wrecker. The gun backfires as planned, and the
death star explodes. With all the wreckage and energy flying around,
the Enterprise is not to be seen. Is it destroyed?
< PLay appropriate Trek music... >
******************************************
* *
* Commercial: Get a piece of the rock. *
* *
* ...Prudential *
* *
******************************************
The Enterprise kicked into warp drive just as the death star exploded,
and outran the the blast wave. Mr. Spock is rematerialized safe and
sound, as no doubt everyone expected. Without the death star the tie
fighters quickly surrendered and the shuttlecraft recovered. The
colonists on the planet get the biggest fireworks display they have ever
seen. The scene shifts to the usual ending bridge scene.
Kirk: Well, we've just reenacted the old David vs. Goliath story.
Fortunately, David won again. It looks like we have a definite
technological lead on that civilization, even if they do have more bulk.
McCoy: I'd like to think it was the people on our ship that made the
difference. After all, we tried brute force, and that didn't work. But
through a lot of good ideas, and mercy of God, we triumphed.
Spock: Indeed, the value of a good crew is difficult to express in
quantitative terms, but is nonetheless very valuable.
Kirk: Spock, I'm curious. What was the probability of us getting away
with what we just did. What odds did we beat?
Spock: With anyone else leading, I'd estimate the chances against our
success at 3,417,138 to 1. However, you have shown in the past an
incredible talent for what humans call "getting away with murder".
Therefore, with you leading, i estimated the odds at being 98% in our
favor. <Crew chuckles>
Kirk: Set course for starbase 1, ahead warp factor 2.
<Ending scene of Enterprise heading off to the stars...>
My thanks to all whose contributions to the SW vs. ST debate for
furnishing some of the ideas and situations presented here. Most
particular thanks to these three:
The inventors of "star fleet battles", on which this is loosely based.
The person who brought up the law of Star Trek, "redshirts always die"
and the law of Star Wars, "stormtroopers always miss", and the
combination problem of "what happens when redshirts fight stormtroopers,
given the above laws". Hopefully I resolved this satisfactorially.
The person who brought up the idea of Kirk always "captain kirking his
way out of a situation", and how that is more powerful than the force.
This provided the inspiration for the whole beamdown sequence.
I think I had an original solution to the Kirk vs. Vader problem. Hope
you liked it. As far as my writing skill and my lack of development of
the SW characters --- "I'm a programmer, not a literary genius!!".
Thank You, Scott Bowyer
***********************************************************************
ST*ZMagazine Issue #40
Friday, September 29, 1989
Copyright 1989, Rovac Industries, Inc..
Post Office Box 59
Middlesex, New Jersey 08846-0059
(201) 968-8148
Reprint permission granted as long as ST*ZMag and the original author is
credited. This is issue and all previous editions are NOT to be
seperated into seperate articles without permission. BBS systems
providing menu systems for easy online reading is permitted providing
the above is followed.
GEnie material used by permission. GEnie is a service of GE Information
Systems.
Puget Sound Atari News reprints used by permission. PSAN is a user
group publication serving 13 user groups across the country and Canada.
ST*ZMag, Rovac, ZNet are not affiliated with Atari Corporation.
***********************************************************************
