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Syndicate ZMagazine Issue 062
_____________________________________
ZMAGAZINE Atari News and Information
Issue #62 July 17, 1987
_____________________________________
Publisher/Editor: Ron Kovacs
Assistant Publishers: Ken Kirchner
Susan Perry
_____________________________________
Xx ZMAG INDEX 62
<*> Zmag in copyright violation
<*> Instructions for ARC usage
<*> Zmag Newswire: * BBS Messages *
<*> Zmag Atari News Update
<*> Atari Fest Cancelled
<*> Zmag System Review
<*> Atari Fest Announcement
<*> CompuServe Edit Commands
<*> Disk Compacter Comparisons
<*> Download Assistance
_____________________________________
Xx NOTICE of COPYRIGHT VIOLATION
_____________________________________
EasyPlex
Date: 11-Jul-87 10:50 EDT
From: Clayton Walnum (ANALOG)
Subj: D.F.Scott article
In your Z-Mag 59 you have an article
authored by D.F.Scott. That article
came from a past issue of ST-Log and
is copyrighted by ANALOG Publishing.
The BBS you got it from is also in
violation of our copyrights. Please
remove the article from the databases
and anywhere else you've made it
available. Though we allow our
programs to be fairly freely
distributed, we do not do the same
with the magazine's text. We are,
after all, in the business of selling
magazines. Thanks for your attention
to this matter.
Clayton Walnum
Technical Editor
EasyPlex
Date: 11-Jul-87 21:51 EDT
From: Clayton Walnum (ANALOG)
Reply to: D.F.Scott article
Okay, print something about it in the
next issue, and along with it, I'd
appreciate it if you'd include a sort
of -warning- to other BBS and
newsletters that, just because we put
some of the articles in the databases
on Delphi, doesn't mean they should
treat the material as if it were
public domain. It's most definitely
not.
Keep up the good work.
---Clay
---==============---
Well, As you can all read we have
violated a copyright of Analog
Publications. The issue in violation
is ZMAG59. I will re-edit that issue
and remove the DF Scott article. If
your system is carrying old issues of
ZMAG, Please remove issue 59 from
your database and look for the
re-editted issue on the Zmag BBS and
the information services.
I must stress that if you send in any
article to ZMAG, Please make sure it
is not copyright any publication and
it must have reprint approval.
Please keep in mind part of the above
message. That BBS systems carrying
text from Analog Magazine are
violating their copyright.
_____________________________________
HOW TO USE ARC
ANTIC PUBLISHING, COPYRIGHT 1987
ARC (For the 8-bit Atari)
An ARC (pronounced -Ark-) file
contains one or more files which have
been compressed into a single file.
Use ARCX.COM to extract the files
from the .ARC file. ARCX is a
machine-language program which
requires at least 48K.
ARCX.COM may be downloaded from the
Utilities section of the Atari 8-bit
SIG (type GO ATARI8).
HOW TO USE ARCX.COM
Before running ARCX be sure you have
removed all cartridges and BASIC is
off. Now load ARCX.COM from DOS (use
DOS menu choice -L-), or type ARCX if
you are using Sparta or an OSS DOS.
ARCX will ask you for the name of the
ARC file to extract files from. (If
you don't remember the filename, you
can get a directory by pressing the
[+] key.)
After typing-in the name of the ARC
file, ARCX will ask you for the drive
to send the extracted files to. ARCX
will extract all files from the ARC
file and write them to the
destination drive.
Next, ARCX will ask you if you want
the screen turned off. If you press
'Y', then the screen will be turned
off during the extraction process.
This will speed up the process about
10%-20%.
ABOUT ARC
The expansion algorithms used to
extract ARC files are quite complex,
and therefore rather slow. (About one
minute for each 5K of source file.)
ARCX uses all available memory and
buffers the input and output so your
disk drives won't be running all the
time.
Keep in mind that the extracted files
can be more then twice the size of
the original ARC file. Be sure you
have enough room before you start!
ARC was originally written in C by
Tom Henderson of System Enhancement
Associates. The source code was
placed in the public domain allowing
for ARC and ARCX to be ported to a
wide variety of computers. For
complete instructions, refer to the
documentation files in the Utilities
library of the Atari 8-Bit SIG.
_____________________________________
Xx ZMAG NEWSWIRE
_____________________________________
BBS NOTES MAY BE -CONFESSIONS-?
Messages left on a computer bulletin
board system may end up in court
being called electronic -confessions-
by police.
Authorities have told The Associated
Press that several Santa Clara
County, Calif., teen-agers arrested
on charges of using stolen credit-
card numbers to order thousands of
dollars of computer equipment left
notes on a BBS after their
apprehension.
Sheriff's Deputy Curt Gomes told the
wire service, -We don't need the
confessions to prosecute, but they
are icing on the cake. This shows an
attitude that just hours after they
were arrested, they seemed to think
the crimes they committed are looked
upon lightly by society. They are not
concerned with retribution or legal
punishments.-
San Jose police found the online
messages earlier this week when a
fourth teen-ager was arrested. A BBS
operated in the youth's home
contained messages in which, says AP,
-two of the teen-agers arrested two
weeks ago for theft gave their
opinions of the officers who pursued
them. Other users joined in the
dialogue in a text police read after
they seized two computers- 7/15/87.
As reported earlier, two teen-agers
were arrested last week after they
were allegedly caught picking up
stolen computer equipment at a
Cupertino, Calif., house. A third
teen surrendered the following day.
The fourth youth, 18-year-old BBS
sysop Christopher Michael Gothard of
San Jose, was booked 7/15/87 on
suspicion of illegally using
telephone access codes and defrauding
three long-distance telephone
companies. --Charles Bowen
CompuServe
Online Today
_____________________________________
Xx ZMAG ATARI NEWS UPDATE
_____________________________________
The Mega ST and the SX212 modem are
at the last step before arriving. We
have received pre-production samples.
These are the first units off the
line with all the same components,
packaging, and production techniques
as the real thing. We get a small
number of these to test and make sure
there are no last-minute glitches.
When we give the go-ahead, the next
step is real production.
The Atari PC is looking likely for
later this Summer. The XEP-80 (for
the 8-bits) is waiting on one part
which turned out to have an
incredibly long lead time on orders
-- once we have the part we'll turn
these around ASAP. The SLM804 Laser
Printer is waiting on one final
component also, as well as the final
version of the software drivers that
support it.
New software from Atari includes the
first titles in the Arrakis Advantage
series of middle-school-level
educational programs. There will be
17 in total, of which 4 have hit the
stores already and the rest are in
various stages of finalization.
Shortly after the SX212 modem hits,
we will release an add-on package for
8-bit owners which is to contain an
SIO cable and the program SX EXPRESS
by Keith Ledbetter, as well as the
new handler file. Of course, SX212
owners with the 8-bits can also use
it through the 850 interface using
existing terminal programs set up for
Hayes-compatible modems.
The blitter chip is working and is in
the pre-production Mega ST's
mentioned above. The AMY chip is
still in development, and may still
see the light of day -- some day. AMY
is a stubborn beast.
Speaking of stubborn, Microsoft Write
is also still in development. Nearly
finished now, too, although a few
small bugs remain to be expunged.
SHOW NEWS: Atari made history by
becoming the first computer
manufacturer to exhibit at NAMM, the
National Association of Music
Merchants show in Chicago. The ST was
present throughout the show in
virtually every booth where there
were MIDI instruments. Atari sales
people at the show were beseiged by
music dealers eager to sign up as
Atari dealers. By the time this
4-day event was over, there were
literally hundreds of dealer
applications waiting to be approved.
Before NAMM, Atari had 50 music
stores as dealers -- it looks like
there will be 250 when the new
dealers are selected.
In other news from NAMM, Keyboard
magazine announced the results of its
latest reader survey. The Atari ST
computer has rocketed into the #1
slot in the vital -Intent-to-buy-
category ahead of perennial leader
Macintosh! The word in Atari HQ is
-Today MIDI -- tomorrow, Desktop
Publishing!-
(C) Copyright 1987 by Atari
Corporation, all rights reserved.
For the exclusive use of GEnie
members, no-charge bulletin boards,
and Atari user groups. May be
reprinted only with this notice
intact.
_____________________________________
Xx Atari Fest Cancelled
_____________________________________
THIS IS A NOTICE THAT THE ATARIFEST,
ORIGINALLY SCHEDULED FOR CHICAGO ON
THE 25TH AND 26TH OF JULY, 1987, HAS
BEEN OFFICIALLY CANCELLED.
There were several reasons for doing
this, but FIRST and FOREMOST, let me
dispell three major rumors that have
been spread about the 'Fest in
Chicago.
FIRST: The 'Fest in Chicago did NOT
at ANY time have any problems with
the unions. This is a rumor spread
out of Michigan through a
misunderstanding on their part, and
has not at any time been true.
SECOND: Last Spring, a Wisconsin
group started rumors that the Chicago
'Fest was cancelled - at THAT time.
WRONG! It may be now, but not
previously.
THIRD AND FOREMOST: ATARI DID NOT
PULL THE PLUG ON THE CHICAGO FEST.
The decision to pull the plug was
made by the two Chicago area groups
that did all of their work - Lake
County Atari Computer Enthusiasts
(LCACE), and the ChicagoLand Atari
User's Group (CLAUG). It is my
understanding from Neil Harris, that
at least one downstate Illinois group
has been spreading the 'Word' (read
RUMOR) that Atari Corp. pulled the
plug. Not true. Atari DID advise us
that if the fest looked real shakey
that it might be best to drop the
show and reschedule, but it was our
decision. This we chose to do.
WHY THE 'FEST FAILED
There are several reasons why the
'fest failed. We had planned the show
to be held in a local Ramada Inn.
Now, I don't know how much of a
guarantee other groups in hotels had
to give, but the best deal we could
come up with was a 100 room per night
guarantee plus a substantial fee for
the 12700 sq. ft. hall. This IS high
compared to other cities, but very
reasonable around here. We went with
this for several reasons. There were
NO unions to consider. The Hotel was
within a couple blocks of O'hare
airport, and within a mile of several
Interstate highways. Food and rooms
were available on the premesis.
To cover the expenses of the hall,
booths, power, etc., we had to have a
minimum of 30 vendors to pass the
break-even point. As of 15 June, only
5 had bothered to commit with money -
the rest gave a bunch of excuses
about not scheduling budgets more
than 30 days in advance, and the
like. What these companies fail to
realize is that we needed their
downpayments in advance so we could
cover our own expenses. What it
finally came down to was that we were
looking at a $6000.00 committment for
the hotel alone, with only 5 vendors.
Our phone calls and letters to the
lagging companies failed to do any
good - they wouldn't even send a
downpayment. Last October when Sandi
was in town, we were told that if we
had trouble getting vendors to
commit, that Atari would give them a
push for us. In May, we went to
Sandi, and were told then that she
couldn't do that, and we were on our
own. We found out too late from Neil
Harris, that this was NOT the
official Atari position.
Secondly, The groups involved were
spread out over too wide an area. In
all, there were over 300 miles
between the northernmost (Militari)
and southernmost (BASE) groups with
CLAUG, LCACE, SCAT, and RACC in
between. Those of you who are
thinking about organizing a fest,
keep that in mind. It is impossible
to keep in good contact over a large
distance without running up
extraordinarily large phone or gas
bills. We also had a problem with
meeting attendance. When the meetings
were held after the Suburban Chicago
(SCAT) meetings, almost all six
groups attended (except Militari, who
only attended two or three meetings
through the whole course of events).
When the meetings were unanimously
scheduled after the CLAUG or LCACE
meetings, SCAT, RACC, and Militari
never showed up - even when there was
no conflict with their own meetings -
and these accounted for half of the
committee meetings. You cannot
communicate if you don't show up for
the meetings. Bear in mind that all
attending groups agreed on the next
meeting dates and places before a
time and place was definitely set.
Lastly, if a group volunteers to
perform a specific job, it is up to
them to make sure it is done. In our
case, Militari volunteered to copy
and compile the packet for our second
mailings. After they volunteered, we
never heard from them again. The
Suburban Chicago group volunteered to
do the first and second mailings to
vendors, and the mailing to dealers -
in short, to fill the hall with
exhibitors. They also volunteered to
do all the printing and the ticket
design to help fulfil the obligations
of the Rockford group. The second
vendor package mailings were
eventually done by LCACE instead of
Militari and SCAT,) and the printing
was done by CLAUG and LCACE. To top
it off, we found out on 6 June that
the tickets had not even been
designed yet - much less had any
printed for pre-show sales (a VITAL
part of our plan,) nor had they done
any dealer mailings - after telling
us for well over a month that it had
all been taken care of.
In view of the short time before we
could no longer cancel, the lack of
support from Sandi, absolutely NO
advance ticket sales and the fact
that we were hitting a stone wall
with vendors (other than the 5 we
had) we decided to cancel. We are
currently thinking of completely
re-organizing the committee with a
rescheduled date next year, but
nothing has been decided yet. If we
do reschedule, you can bet there will
be several MAJOR changes made from
the first attempt.
If you have any questions, comments,
or (hopefully) suggestions, leave
mail on GENIE to G.FEID, on
CompuServe to number 74146,162, or on
the 'Once In A BLUE MOON' BBS at
312-457-2219 - 24 hours a day,
300/1200 baud.
_____________________________________
Xx ZMAG SYSTEM REVIEW
_____________________________________
MACH CHANNEL 8 MAIN MENU
Atascii/Ascii News
Browse files Other BBS'
Call Larry Polls
Download Quickscan
Experiments Read E-mail
Feedback Send E-mail
Goodbye Title Page
Help Files Upload
Index of Files Ventures
Just Trivia What's New
Kartoons Your Stats
Library Zmag Online
Members List *Board List
*_ Library and Archives _*
[1] RAM UPGRADES FOR XE'S
[2] P.C. PURSUIT SERVICE
[3] NEW ST IBM EMULATOR
[4] Call Waiting Fix!!
[5] BBS Express! Ordering Info
=========M.A.C.H. SUB-BOARDS=========
[1] Public Forum (All)
[2] The Sandbox (Request)
[3] Consumer Line (All)
[4] M.A.C.H. Homebase (Members)
[5] Other BBS's (All)
[6] *BITCH Board* (Users)
[7] Jokes and Riddles (Request)
[8] $ For Sale $ (All)
[9] Hot Downloads (All)
10] Contributors (Special)
Z*MAG Online!! Your MACH Channel 8
connection with the computer world.
_____________________________________
ZMAGAZINE Published Weekly
Publisher/Editor--Ron Kovacs
Assistant Publisher--Ken Kirchner
Edited by Jim Lachance (MACH BBS)
_____________________________________
[1] Read Z*Mag
[2] Abort to Main Menu
ZMAG INDEX 60
_1_ Zmag Newswire..Atari Update
_2_ Newswire Cont..New product
_3_ ICD Tour.......A visit inside
_4_ CIS Watch......850 Interface Pins
_5_ Zmag Review....QUBIE Modem
_6_ Atari Answers..from CDAC Mag June
_7_ Zmag UGOM......Ol Hackers
_8_ Atari Rumors...
_9_ Antic Online...June Faire Report
_10_ Publishers Page
Your Choice?[0]:
_____________________________________
Xx ATARI FEST ANNOUNCEMENT
_____________________________________
ANNOUNCING!!!!!
The 1987 Magic-Atari Show
August 28-30 at the Southfield Hilton
Featuring:
Seminars by:
Neil Harris (Atari)
Gorden Monnier (Michtron)
David Small (Magic-Sac)
Tim Purvis (Michtron)
Frank Foster (Hybrid Arts)
Also, a MIDI-Music concert, sponsored
by Hybrid Arts, featuring
professional musicians!
PLUS!!!
MIDI-MAZE, a multi-computer, multi-
player maze game played on 16 Atari
ST computers!
First prize in this contest is a
Casio keyboard, plus software (an
$800 value!).
TICKETS!
Advanced tickets are available from
local user groups, or you may order
by mail.
One-day pass $4 At the door $5
Three day pass $8 At the door $10
To order, send check to:
The Atari Magic Show
28111 Imperial Drive
Warren, MI 48093
For more information, call the
HOTLINE at (313)751-8291 (recording)
or call the UserGroup Coordinator
(313)736-4544.
_____________________________________
Xx COMPUSERVE HELP
_____________________________________
QUICK REFERENCE LIST OF EDIT
COMMANDS:
By: Mike Shoenbach
Atari SIG SysOp
(note that the -$- indicates using
ESCAPE instead of RETURN)
/T$ will move the cursor to the Top
of the file.
/B$ will move the cursor to the
Bottom of the file and display
the bottom line.
/Pn$ will Print -n- amount of lines
beginning with the current line
/n$ will move the cursor down
through the file -n- amount of
lines and will display only the
-n-th line
/L/unique string$
will Locate and display the line
which contains the unique string
/Dn$ will Delete -n- amount of lines
beginning with the current line
and display the first line left
undeleted
/R/new line$
will Change an unwanted old line
to a specified new line and
display the line
/C/old string$
will remove the old string from
the line display the line
/n(GC/old string/new string/)$
will Globally Change the -n-
occurances of an old string to a
new string. If -n- is larger
than the number of occurances,
this message will be displayed:
[STRING NOT FOUND]
This is a normal message meaning that
you've changed every occurance of the
old string that was available.
/W$ will tell you what your current
line number is.
_____________________________________
Xx Disk Compacter Comparisons
_____________________________________
The following text is a comparison of
a few popular disk compacting
programs. This part of this weeks
issue is in 80 column format.
SAVINGS SAVINGS
Program Sectors Bytes Time comp Time expand %sectors %bytes
Object files 614 76433 00:00 00:00 - -
Disk Com 2.2 586 73166 5:38 4:37 5 4
ShrinkXE 598 74714 4:39 2:26 3 2
Scrunch 3.0 583 72800 5:10 5:33 5 5
ARC 1.2 458 57165 11:50 12:37 34 34
***************************************************************************
Save Bas
files 285 34912 00:00 00:00 - -
Disk Comm 2.2 282 35288 3:26 2:10 1 -1
ShrinkXE 295 36807 2:55 1:10 -3 -5
Scrunch 3.0 286 35827 3:20 4:48 -0 -3
ARC 1.2 246 30719 6:47 5:51 16 14
-=====================-
Text Files 662 82575 00:00 00:00 - -
Disk Comm 2.2 669 83554 8:03 5:00 -1 -1
ShrinkXE 661 82537 4:58 2:39 0 0
Scrunch 3.0 655 81859 5:31 5:56 1 1
ARC 1.2 402 50189 11:23 13:08 65 65
_____________________________________
Xx Downloading Express
______________________________________Downloading 1030 EXPRESS using
TSCOPE.
You will need to download 2 files:
XPRS21.BIN is the EXPRESS program.
XPRESS.DOC is the DOC file.
Warning: these are <BIG> files.
EXPRESS is 263 sectors! The DOC file
is 170. Believe me, the connect time
is well spent. I suggest you download
the files late at night/early in the
morning for maximum speed.
Ready? OK, log on to CIS using
TSCOPE. Go to DL2 and BRO XPRS21.BIN.
At the (R D M) prompt, press D to
download. If you've set your CIS
DEFALT to VIDTEX, as noted in the
TSCOPE docs, ignore the next
paragraph. Otherwise..
You'll see a menu of 'transfer
protocols'. Press 3 to select
COMPUSERVE 'A' protocol.
Next prompt asks you to type in the
file name for your Atari. Make sure
that you include the D: prefix! So
you'll type in something like
D1:EXPRESS.OBJ
IMPORTANT! Make <SURE> that you have
enough space on your destination
disk! See the file lengths above.
NOTE: TSCOPE <IS> compatible with the
XE RAMDISK, assuming you booted up
with RAMDISK.COM Of course, IF you
use D8:, you'll have to go to DOS
after logging off (CONSOLE-CONTROL-
ESCAPE) to copy the files from D8: to
an external disk before you turn off
the computer!
Once you give TSCOPE the file name,
the download proceeds automatically.
Assuming there are no problems, it'll
take around 30 minutes at 300 baud.
Got it? NOW you need to also download
the .DOC (instruction) file. Get back
to the DL2! prompt and BRO
XPRESS.DOC.
Repeat the above 'D'ownload procedure
(again, make SURE you have enough
room on your disk.)
Read the DOC file (you can do that in
DOS 2 or 2.5 by using the C command
to COPY the disk file to E: Make a
'hard copy' by using C to COPY the
disk file to P:) and you're ready to
go.
As always, if you have questions or
problems, ASK!
>>don lebow 70717,720
_____________________________________
ZMAGAZINE July 18, 1987 Issue #62
Please contribute!!
(c)1987 Ron Kovacs
_____________________________________
