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Syndicate ZMagazine Issue 033
-----------------------------------
Zmagazine January 5, 1987
Issue 33
-----------------------------------
Zmag Staff:
Publisher/Editor in Chief:Ron Kovacs
Editor/Coordinator:Alan Kloza
Software Reviewer: Eric Plent
-----------------------------------
____________________________________
This Week in Zmag......
<*> PC PURSUIT THREATENED BY
FCC -RE-REGULATION-
<*> ATARI TO MARKET 32-BIT
BUSINESS COMPUTER
<*> ATARI FAIRS DEBUT ACROSS
THE COUNTRY
<*> NEW ATARI 8-BIT PRODUCTS
<*> ICD--A VISIT WITH THE COMPANY
THAT IS SAVING THE 8-BITS
<*> TECHNICAL TIPS--THE ATARI
XM301 MODEM
<*> COMPUTER EXPOS--FLEA MARKETS
AND EXPOS
<*> PC PURSUIT...A CAPSULE REVIEW
<*> GUEST EDITORIAL
All this and more in this weeks
edition of Zmagazine.....
____________________________________
Xx EDITOR'S NOTE
...New Beginnings...................
____________________________________
Welcome to a new year of Zmag! As
our first issue of the year goes to
press, we bring some discouraging
news for telecommunicators.
The FCC is considering new
regulations in the communications
industry which threatens the
existence of such services as PC
Pursuit.
Read about the proposals being
considered by the FCC in this issue
along with a review of PC Pursuit
and a guest editorial expressing
displeasure with those proposals.
Also, check out the hot news coming
out of Atari Corp. this month about
the new 32-bit business computer
that's in the works.
Zmag has changed its deadlines and
publication dates starting with
this issue. Look for new issues
every Monday rather than Friday,
beginning with this edition. We're
always looking for contributions
so if you have an article that
you'd like to publish in Zmag,
call The Syndicate BBS at
201-968-8148.
____________________________________
Xx ZMAG BULLETIN
...FCC Threatens PC Pursuit.........
____________________________________
IMPORTANT BULLETIN!
DISTRIBUTE AS WIDELY AS POSSIBLE
The FCC is considering reregulating
the packet-switching networks like
Telenet, Tymnet, Compuserve, The
Source and PC Pursuit. This could
result in additional costs to the
user. This is excerpted from
Infomat magazine.
FREE LOCAL ACCESS TO PACKET
SWITCHING NETWORKS MAY BE
ELIMINATED
By Tim Elmer
The Federal Communications
Commission (FCC) will vote on a
proposal to reregulate packet
switching networks that, if
approved, would eliminate free
local telephone access to those
networks.
-If this occurs, it might
eventually double or triple the
costs to those using packet
switching networks to access
commercial on-line databases and
information services and triple or
quadruple the costs to those using
Telenet's PC Pursuit,- said Philip
M. Walker, vice president and
regulatory counsel for Telenet
Corp.
-In terms of cost impact,- Walker
said, -if we had to pay local
access charges, it would cost us
about $3.60 an hour at the
originating end, for calls made by
users to on-line databases and
information services like
CompuServe and The Source.-
-And with PC Pursuit, for which we
have out-dial modems, we would have
to pay not only $4.60 per hour
access fees at the originating end,
but also $4.80 at the terminating
end, a total of about $8 or $9.
Obviously, to survive, we would
have to add those additional
charges to our current fees and
pass them on to our consumers,-
Walker Said.
That would almost certainly spell
the end of PC Pursuit, and it would
likely put out of business not only
many independent packet switching
networks but also many on-line
databases and information services.
FCC approval of changes being
considered in Computer III, Walker
said, -would really have a major
impact on anyone using a packet
switching service to access online
bulletin boards, databases, or
information services aimed at the
residential user. They are just
going to get creamed if this
happens.
Walker said that it was not clear
exactly when the FCC would vote on
the proposal, but that it would
probably be the latter part of
January or early part of February
1987. -They are moving very fast
on this,- he said.
____________________________________
Xx ATARI NEWS
...Business Machine in the Works....
____________________________________
ATARI TO TALK BUSINESS IN '87
(Dec. 25)
Atari plans to blitz the business
market in 1987.
The Sunnyvale, Calif., computer
manufacturer, known for its home
computers, told Computer + Software
News it is developing a 32-bit,
Unix-compatible machine for its first
foray into the Fortune 500 community.
The machine, expected to be introduced
in the first half of 1987, apparently
will compete with an unnamed Unix-based
machine Apple is working on.
Atari plans to sell its for less than
$3,000, while an Apple source told the
trade weekly that the-Paris-code-named
computer will cost between $6,000 and
$8,000.
The new Atari ST machine will allow
users to off-load graphics and I/O
processing, a capability that frees the
machine for other tasks, said Neil
Harris, Atari's director of marketing
communications.
--Daniel Janal
Online Today
___________________________________
Xx ZMAG ATARI NEWS
....News for 8-Bits................
___________________________________
(Taken by permission from AUGN #3)
ATARI FAIRS NATIONWIDE
The first of three Atari fairs
has been held with outstanding
results. A total of more than ten
thousand consumers have been
exposed to Atari computers in the
Los Angeles, San Jose, and Portland
areas during August, September, and
October. During November, the
-road show- moved to Pittsburgh,
with 1987 dates including Allen-
town, Chicago, Salt Lake City,
Denver, Boston, Buffalo, Dallas,
and more.
Each show begins with a media
blitz for the weeks before the show
dates. The show is promoted by
independent dealers and Atari Corp.
through newspaper and radio ads as
well as in-store promotions. User
groups place community events
announcements, distribute posters,
and have mass mailings.
In the show itself are dealers,
software developers, user group
booths, and an Atari Corporate
booth. Special seminars are held
which target specific
areas of interest such as music,
business, and technical subjects.
Participants in the shows so far
have included Antic, Analog,
Activision, Batteries Included,
Haba, Hippopotamus, Regent, OSS,
Michtron, FTL Systems, Metacomco,
Beckmeyer Development, Quickview
Systems, Abacus, Maxthink, Stra-
tegic Simulations, and many others.
Many products have been shown to
the public for the first time at
Atari Fairs including Atari's own
-MicroSoft Write- word processor,
the forthcoming -BLITTER- chip, and
the 80-column card for the XE line,
as well as Antic's 3-D glasses for
-CAD 3-D-, -Haba Write II- from
Haba, Michtron's -8-Ball Pool-
game, -Regent Word II-, -DEGAS
Elite-, -Cambridge Lisp- from
Metacomco, -Magic Sac- from Data
Pacific (a Macintosh emulator), and
countless others. Guest speakers
included Atarians Sam Tramiel,
Leonard Tramiel, Shiraz Shivji, Jim
Tittsler, and Neil Harris, along
with developers like Tom Hudson,
Frank Cohen, Malcom Cecil, Paul
Heckel, and columnist extra-
ordinaire Jerry Pournelle. There
have been some dynamite MIDI/music
demonstrations by Hybrid Arts along
with their entourage of top name
musicians.
Participating dealers reported
spectacular sales both at the fair
and at their stores during the fair
thanks to the promotions sur-
rounding it. IB Computers in
Portland reported their all-time
best sales on the Saturday of their
fair.
____________________________________
Xx ATARI 8-BIT NEWS
...New Products for the Atari.......
____________________________________
ANTIC PUBLISHING INC., COPYRIGHT
1987. REPRINTED BY PERMISSION.
SUPER RAT,
RAOS
Zobian Controls
1156 Old Mill Lane
P.O. Box 6406
Wyomissing, PA 19610
(215) 374-5478
48K disk
SuperRAT, a new high-accuracy
digital version of Zobian's mouse for
Atari 8-bit computers, can access every
pixel in Graphics 8. It comes with
Accu-Draw for $69.95 and with RAOS for
$99.95.
RAOS ($49.95), the Rat-Actuated
Operating System, gives you a -GEM-
system on your 8-bit Atari. RAOS has
its own icon-based desktop program,
Z-DOS, replacing DUP.SYS, and a
mouse-controllable, user-programmable
windowing environment occupying 3K of
RAM. RAOS uses a Player/Missile cursor
to select icons and is compatible with
most memory upgrades.
STAR FLEET 1
Electronic Arts
1820 Gateway Drive
San Mateo, CA 94404
(415) 571-7171
$49.95, $48K disk
In Star Fleet 1, each new level at
the Officers Academy lets you role-play
different characters and experience
unique tasks. As a member of the
Alliance, you must protect its outer
regions against the invading Krellan
and Zaldron empires. After graduating
from the academy, you'll command one
of 36 cruisers with a sophisticated
array of weaponry at your fingertips.
BASIC ENHANCEMENTS II
First Byte
P.O Box 32
Rice's Landing, PA 15357
(12) 627-3596
$24.95, 48K disk
First Byte's Enhancements to BASIC,
Version II is a completely rewritten
package, not just an upgrade. You can
access many DOS functions in immediate
mode. Enhanced BASIC II makes it
easier to trace your program flow for
debugging. The software renumbers,
block deletes and provides automatic
line numbering.
MIND TUNER
Mind Link Communications Inc.
Box 488
36 Adelaide Street East
Toronto, M5C 2J6 Canada
(416) 961-8858
$24.95, 48K disk
In the market for self-improvement?
Mind Tuner uses proven psychological
principles to help you manage stress
and improve your personality and
performance with visualizations,
positive affirmations and subliminal
messages that you can write for
yourself.
VIDEO TITLE SHOP,
MERCENARY: 2ND CITY,
FIVE FROM PSS
Datasoft
19808 Nordhoff Place
Chatsworth, CA 91311
(818) 886-5922
48K disk
Develop title screens on your Atari
for your VCR or video camera, and then
record the screens directly to
videotape with Video Title Shop
($29.95). Choose from several type
styles and sizes, create borders and
add flair with the scrolling and
fade-in/out features. The
package inclues Micro-Painter Plus for
graphics that can be used as
backgrounds to titles.
Experienced players of Mercenary
will find the Second City on the other
side of the Planet Targ, and once again
you must escape. You'll be hindered by
those warring planetary factions.
Mercenary: The Second City ($14.95)
must be played in conjunction with
Datasoft's original Mercenary game
disk.
Five new games come by way of
England's PSS:
Tobruk ($34.95) is a re-creation of
the desert battle that threatened
England's presence in North Africa.
Bismarck ($34.95) puts you in
command of the Royal Navy or the
Bismarck itself.
Swords & Sorcery ($34.95) is a
role-playing fantasy that takes you
through the underworld on a quest for
secular and spiritual power.
Saracen ($29.95) sends you through
100 mazes of increasing complexity as
you seek and try to destroy the evil
Saracen warrior.
Black Magic ($24.95) puts you into
100 mazes of a fantasy world as you set
out to destroy the forces that have
overrun the kingdom of Marigold,
restoring the Golden Age it once knew.
WARSHIP,
ROADWAR 2000,
GEMSTONE HEALER,
WARGAME CONSTRUCTION SET,
SSI CLASSICS
Strategic Simulations Inc.
1046 N. Rengstorff Avenue
Mountain View, CA 94043
(416) 964-1353
48K disk
SSI's newest release includes
Warship ($59.95), a tactical
ship-to-ship World War II game, Roadwar
2000 ($39.95), a science fiction
adventure, Gemstone Healer ($29.95),
the sequel to the role-playing
adventure Gemstone Warrior, and the
Wargame Construction Set ($29.95),
which lets you build your own war,
fantasy or science fiction games.
The SSI Classics line brings back
proven hits -- now at only $14.95 each.
Titles include Combat Leader, Computer
Baseball, Computer Bismarck, Cytron
Masters, Eagles, Fortress, Galactic
Gladiators, Gemstone Warrior and Warp
Factor.
____________________________________
Xx ZMAG PANORAMA
..Features, Tips and Reviews........
____________________________________
The Pilgrimage To ICD
By Mike Brown
While vacationing in the Chicago area
just before Christmas, I was fortunate
enough to be able to make the trip to
nearby Rockford, home of Atari
computer accessory company ICD.
For those who do not know, ICD has
been most prolific in the last few
years, producing such great products
as SpartaDOS, the US Doubler 1050
enhancement, the Rambo XL memory
expansion, the P:R: Connection 850
replacement, and recently the Multi
Input-Output Interface.
It was the search for an MIO that
originally brought me to
Rockford and ICD, I had planned
to just pick up a MIO and take
advantage of their special on Adaptec
hard disk controllers, but upon
talking to ICD founding father and
guiding light Tom Harker over the
company BBS, I asked if it would be
possible to take a short tour of their
facility and tell you what it was
like.
The home of the most creative and
technologically advanced products for
Atari computers is a rented section of
what was once a large manufacturing
company that has fallen on hard times.
ICD has what is called a -suite-
within this facility and also leases
manufacturing and warehouse space at
this location.
When I first arrived,
I wondered if it was the right
address, as there was no indication
that there were other companies under
the wing of the larger company. After
being assured that I was in the right
place by the guard, I was led back to
ICD's -nerve center-.
Tom explained to me that they were in
the process of getting several new
products to market, (more later) and
that things were somewhat in an
uproar.
The one thing that did catch me by
surprise around the ICD offices, was
the IBM PC -Clones- being used around
the office for -serious- work. I would
think that a company that makes its
living on the Atari computer line
would be anxious to prove the
viability of Atari computers in an
office environment.
In the course of going through the ICD
manufacturing facility (on the second
floor), Tom and I discussed ICD's
philosophy; -We (at ICD) have all been
consumers, and have been in the
situation where a product does not
work as advertised, or does not work
at all. We probably over-test our
products, but we want to be known for
putting reliability and quality
first.- The testing and -burn-in-
areas are where the most Atari
computer equipment is used. I saw a
row of 600XL's running a special
cartridge program that verifies the
operation of every MIO that ICD ships.
I also saw an area in the
manufacturing facility where specially
modified equipment checks out each US
Doubler chipset before it is packaged.
This 100% commitment to quality is
unique in an industry founded on
-cookie-cutter- production methods.
As impressive as the plant tour was,
the really fun stuff was getting a
preview of what is to come in the next
few months from ICD. Tom held
impromptu demos of everything that is
promised from ICD and offered several
surprises.
The products that were shown to me
were PROTOTYPES, and may be different
when or if they hit the market. The
first thing I saw was a prototype of
the PRINTER CONNECTION. I had
envisioned this as a stripped-down
P:R: Connection, but it is obvious
that they went with a clean sheet of
paper on this one! The actual
electronics module is barely larger
than the hood for a standard
Centronics type printer connector. The
Printer Connection does not require
you to buy anything extra such as
cables or the like, just plug it into
an Atari Serial port and to your
printer! Unfortunately, the device
must be the last on a -daisy chain- as
there is no way to connect another
serial device to it. The tentative
price for this little gem is $59.95
and will be available around the
middle of February.
The most impressive demo was the
forthcoming 80 COLUMN ADAPTER for the
MIO. Tom apologized to me about the
quality of the display, since the one
I was shown was just a prototype, and
that they had some firmware massaging
to do before it would be ready for
market. I use IBM PC's quite
frequently with EGA monitors, and I
swear that in text mode, the 80 col
MIO was just as sharp as the best text
displays I have seen. The adapter will
support the full Atari character set,
but I am not sure about graphics,
since I was told that has not yet been
decided. The output of the adapter s
full RGB nine-pin output (same as the
IBM PC), but no mention was made about
sound support (since most RGB monitors
do not have internal speakers). A
pleasant surprise is that when
displayed on a color RGB monitor, the
adapter displays in 16 color mode! Tom
said that there is -almost no
software- that supports the adapter at
this time, but ICD plans on working
with software developers and may
market not only patches for existing
software, but also whole applications
packages for the adapter. The adapter
is designed to be easily added to a
MIO by the end user, I understand that
it just involves removing four screws
from the MIO case and plugging a
daughterboard into the MIO main board,
the built-in firmware does the rest.
Tom noted that the adapter will have
its own screen memory, so -normal-
computer memory will not be
significantly affected by the use of
the adapter. What of the -official-
Atari 80 col adapter/printer
interface?? Tom showed me a
pre-production version of one stripped
down to the board level, the layout
looked crude in comparison to the MIO
adapter I had just seen. -We plan on
being compatible with software written
for the Atari adapter. We work quite
closely with Atari and have a
developer's non-disclosure agreement
with Atari-. The preliminary price of
the 80 column MIO option is $99.95,
and they are promised by the end of
January.
One other item that I saw, was a most
preliminary version of SPARTA DOS X;
SpartaDOS 3.3. Tom explained that 3.3
was mostly 3.2 modified to work in ROM
(shades of the ST!), and that X would
have a lot more -neat stuff-. The
literature I have on it says that
SpartaDOS X will have full 80 col
support, support for the Atari 3 1/2-
drives, and the Indus GT high speed
mode.
The preliminary price for
the SpartaDOS X cartridge is $79.95
and no release date is given.
All in all, the -fact-finding mission-
to ICD HQ was an extremely enjoyable
experience. It's encouraging to see
their strong commitment to advancing
the Atari 8-bit world.
__________________________________
Xx ZMAG RANDOM NOTES
....Tech Tips.....................
__________________________________
MODEM MODIFICATION
I recently bought an Atari XM-301
modem and discovered that it has a bug.
When used with the 1050 disk drive, it
causes the drive to time-out
periodically and slows down software
loading.
To fix this, three 47 0 ohm (2%
tol) resistors can be connected to pins
# 3, 9 & 13 on the circuit board,
connecting to the I/O cable. Just
unsolder the I/O cable wires from the
board, older the resistors to the wires
and hook them back on to the circuit
board. My modem now works without a
hitch.
Steve Coffman 72337,3457
___________________________________
Xx ZMAG CURRENT EVENTS
...Shows, Expos, Fleamarkets.......
___________________________________
Ken Gordon Computer Shows
The following is a list of current
and/or future computer shows and
expos being held by Ken Gordon
Productions, Inc. All shows in
this list are indoor shows, so they
will be held rain or shine. Ad-
mission to each show is $7.00 for
adults, or $5.00 for children (age
5-12). If you need any more infor-
mation about these shows, you can
contact Ken Gordon Productions at
(201)297-2526 in NJ, or toll free
1-800-631-0062 outside NJ. This
list is presented to you by Steve
Godun (no affiliation with Ken
Gordon Productions, Inc).
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
SHOW: Apple & Commodore Expo
Show, Sale, and Fleamarket
DATE: Sunday, January 11, 1987
TIME: 10am thru 4pm
LOCATION: Aspen Manor Convention
Center (Parsippany, NJ)
SHOW: (All Systems)
DATE: Saturday, February 7, 1987
TIME: 9am thru 4pm
LOCATION: William Paterson College
Recreation Center
(Wayne, NJ)
SHOW: (All Systems)
DATE: Sunday, February 22, 1987
TIME: 10am thru 4pm
LOCATION: New York Penta Hotel
(New York City, NY)
___________________________________
Xx ZMAG REVIEWS
...PC Pursuit.....................
___________________________________
By Greg Figueroa
The Telecommunications market
has never been so blessed with such
a service as PC Pursuit. PC Pursuit
is a service of GTE Telenet, and is
very helpful with the wallet in terms
of long distance phone bills.
For $25 a month, you can access
the following metropolitan areas all
you want within the standard times of
6 PM to 7 AM Monday thru Thursday,
and from 6 PM Friday to 7 AM Monday.
At the time of this writing,
there are 14 areas you can call, and
they are:
City Area Code
------------------------
Atlanta 404
Boston 617
Chicago 312
Dallas 214
Denver 303
Detroit 313
Houston 713
Los Angeles 213
Newark 201
New York 212
Philadelphia 215
San Francisco 415
Seattle 206
Washington D.C. 202
------------------------
And early this year, the
following 11 cities will be
added to the PC Pursuit network:
City Area Code
------------------------
Portland 503
San Jose 408
Phoenix 602
Milwaukee 414
Tampa 813
Glendale 818
Cleveland 216
Research Triangle
Park 919
Miami 305
Minneapolis 612
Salt Lake City 801
------------------------
For more information on PC
Pursuit, or to register for it, call
the support board -In Pursuit of...-
at 1-(800)-835-3001. It has all the
information you need and you can even
register through the board for the
service.
If you have any other questions,
please feel free to contact me on CIS
in Easyplex or the Atari 8-Bit Forum.
My PPN # is 72347,576.
___________________________________
Xx ZMAG GUEST EDITORIAL
...By Alan R. Bechtold.............
___________________________________
At the risk of over-simplification,
I think I should first describe
just what a packet switched
networking service is. These are
the services you use to access
online databases and commercial
online services, such as CompuServe
and The Source, with just a local
telephone call. Once you call the
local Telenet or Tymnet number, for
example, and a connection is made,
you are then connected with a
computer that puts you in
communication with the online
services with which you wish to
communicate.
This computer is handling a number
of calls into the main system
computer at the same time. It
takes information you send and
delivers it in -packets- to the
proper destination, picks up
information from the online service
computer you called, and sends it,
also in -packets- because this
allows the network's computers to
offer protocol conversion and
handle several ongoing
communications sessions at the same
time.
FCC regulations allow AT&T and Bell
Operating Companies (BOCs) to
engage in packet-switching network
operations, but they must also
maintain completely separate
accounting of their voice and
packet switching operations. They
must also offer free local-calling
access to their lines to any
competitors engaged in the packet
switching service industry.
The above regulations have allowed
Telenet and Tymnet, among others,
to operate at a reasonable cost in
a competitive atmosphere. This is
a case of regulation of a business
actually resulting in increased
competition and lower prices to
consumers.
As things stand now, you can call
any local Telenet or Tymnet access
number and use these services to
inexpensively access such only
services as CompuServe, The Source,
Delphi, and countless others. In
addition, GTE's new PC PURSUIT
service now offers you the access,
through their Telenet packet
switching service, to literally
hundreds of local bulletin boards
in cities all across the
country--for the flat charge of $25
per month.
But, the FCC is now being asked to
REREGULATE this segment of the
communications industry, elimin-
ating the FCC requirements that
AT&T and BOCs keep separate
accounting records of their voice
and packet switching services, and
eliminating the stipulation that
the BOCs and AT&T must offer their
competitors in the packet switching
business free access to their local
telephone connection lines.
The idea is patiently ridiculous.
Mark Fowler, Chairman of the FCC,
has been hailed by the press as a
-air-market zealot.- The chances
are very good that he views this
proposed reregulation as the magic
road to increased competition and a
fairer pricing for consumers.
Unofficially, the word is out that
the FCC advisory committee now
considering this matter is indeed
leaning in favor of the proposed
reregulation of the packet
switching industry. If the
committee recommends these changes,
it's likely that a majority of the
five voting members of the FCC will
vote in favor of the changes.
The proposed reregulation could
very well spell the death of PC
PURSUIT. Because GTE also uses
dial-out modems at the other end of
their Telenet connections for PCP
service, the company would be
forced to pay an hourly charge at
BOTH ends of the phone line --
totaling up to $9 per hour. These
fees would have to be added to the
flat $25 per month that GTE now
charges for access to PCP. It
would simply make the final cost to
PCP customers too high for the
service to remain practical and
affordable.
So, this is ONE TIME you MUST use
your word processor to produce some
letters opposing this proposed
reregulation! Write to:
Honorable Mark Fowler
Chairman of the Federal
Communications Commission
Washington D.C. 20554
Refer to Computer Inquiry III in
your letters. State clearly, in
your own words, that competitive
packet switching services should
not be reregulated or subjected to
carrier access charges, and then
explain why not. Tell Mr. Fowler
that reregulation of packet
services will completely destroy
the existing fair market for these
services, and eventually increase
costs, not DECREASE them.
And Hurry! I have heard this
matter will be going before the FCC
for a vote in the latter part of
January or early part of February.
Time is running out.
Help save PC Pursuit. Write today!
-----------------------------------
Zmagazine January 5, 1987 Issue33
Please Contribute!!!
-----------------------------------
Next issue January 12th. Look for the
updated Zmag Systems list in a future
edition. Due to the length of the
current list. We have decided to stop
publishing all the systems each week.
We will spotlight 3-5 systems each
week. Happy New year! Ron
