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Syndicate ZMagazine Issue 163
| ROVAC ZMAGAZINE |
| Issue #163 |
| June 27, 1989 |
|Copyright 1989, RII|
|This week in ZMagazine|
*** Daisy-Dot III Font Preview ***
Roy Goldman
*** CompuServe New 8-bit Uploads ***
** Day One--World of Atari Dearborn **
John Nagy
*** GEnie New 8-bit Uploads ***
*** Atari Booth ***
Malcom Cleveland
*** The Public Domain Desk ***
Lawrence R. Estep
* Analog Computing Table of Contents *
*** Z*Net Newswire 8-bit Edition ***
Harold Brewer
|DAISY-DOT III FONT PREVIEW|
|by Roy Goldman|
Released June 23, 1989
Printer: File to Download:
Epson 9-pin/Legend/Bluechip DD3DME.ARC
(100% Epson Compatibles)
Star Gemini/SG/Other Stars DD3DMS.ARC
(not 100% Epson Compatible)
NEC Prowriter/C.Itoh 8510A DD3DMP.ARC
ATARI XMM801 DD3DMX.ARC
INTRODUCTION
Daisy-Dot III is about one-half
complete. In fact, the new font editor
is virtually done. Among a huge
selection of new editing features, the
most appealing aspect of the new font
editor is the brand new Daisy-Dot III
font format. While Daisy-Dot II
allowed characters with a maximum size
of 19 columns by 16 rows, Daisy-Dot III
fonts allow characters up to 32 columns
wide by 32 rows high. As a result, DD3
fonts will be larger, have more detail,
and have better-defined extenders. And
don't worry, DD3 will still be
compatible with your bursting
collection of older DDII fonts!
I've already used the new font editor
to create two impressive fonts that
demonstrate the advantages of the new
format. This demo will print out every
character from each of these fonts.
(The output for this demo has been
redirected from the new font editor's
-Print Font- command).
****** IMPORTANT NOTICE TO *******
****** NON-EPSON PRINTER OWNERS *******
This demo will not only give you a
glimpse of what is still to come with
Daisy-Dot III, but it will also help me
make DD3 compatible with more printers.
Since I only have access to Epson
printers, the demos coded for the other
printers are based solely on printer
manuals. And as we all know, manuals
alone are rarely enough, so I'm not
sure this demo will work for non-Epson
users. But if I can find and correct
compatibility problems in small demos
like this before I release the actual
programs, I'll be very happy!
So PLEASE, let me know through
conventional mail or EMail what this
demo produced on your printer. And if
possible, I'd really appreciate it if
you could send me a copy of the output
from your printer. With your help, I
can hopefully make DD3 fully compatible
with more of the most popular printers.
RUNNING THE DEMO
First, use an unARCing utility to
extract the DD3DM?.OUT file from the
ARCed file you downloaded as instructed
in the above chart.
Next, initialize your printer by
setting the top of form and turning it
off and then back on.
From DOS, copy DD3DM?.OUT to your
printer by using P: (or PRN: with
SpartaDOS X) as your destination file.
The raw printer data will be -copied-
to your printer. That's it!
Enjoy!
| Roy Goldman |
|2440 South Jasmine|
| Denver, CO 80222 |
| CIS: 72347,3705 |
| GEnie: RGOLDMAN |
(Editor's note: These ARCed files can
be found on the pay services and
bulletin boards. The two fonts which
were printed to my Star NX-10 from
DD3DME.ARC were noteworthy and reflect
Roy's Daisy-Dot III dedication.)
|COMPUSERVE NEW 8-BIT UPLOADS|
Courtesy of CompuServe's Atari8 Library
Uploader address
Filename/type
Date Size Downloads
[75026,1604]
DRAW72.ARC/binary
28-Jun-89 29952 Accesses: 1
[71450,1050]
AELCAT.TXT
27-Jun-89 22144 Accesses: 1
AELPD1.TXT
27-Jun-89 2176 Accesses: 1
WEA001.TXT
27-Jun-89 2560
[71777,430]
HACKER.PSF/binary
27-Jun-89 640
[75026,1604]
DRAW71.ARC/binary
27-Jun-89 53504 Accesses: 1
[72347,3705]
DD3DM.DOC
24-Jun-89 3786 Accesses: 28
[72750,373]
MEGMEN.ARC/binary
24-Jun-89 4736 Accesses: 8
[72750,373]
STARBR.DCM/binary
24-Jun-89 38784 Accesses: 8
[72347,3705]
DD3DME.ARC/binary
23-Jun-89 4352 Accesses: 22
DD3DMP.ARC/binary
23-Jun-89 4352 Accesses: 2
DD3DMS.ARC/binary
23-Jun-89 4352 Accesses: 6
DD3DMX.ARC/binary
23-Jun-89 4352 Accesses: 2
[74030,2020]
APACVI.ARC/binary
22-Jun-89 22528 Accesses: 42
[71777,2140]
Z162.ARC/binary
21-Jun-89 15872 Accesses: 39
Dearborn World of Atari Report
|DAY ONE--WORLD OF ATARI DEARBORN|
|by John Nagy|
Reprinted from ST-ZMagazine #26
Hot. HOT! Although mostly from the
weather!
As I type this from the show floor, six
others share the effort to make this
the most immediate issue of ST*ZMAG
ever produced. It is 9 PM Saturday
night, halfway into the Dearborn World
of Atari show, the second in the tour.
ST-WORLD and Richard Tsukiji have
produced here a show that is neither a
disappointment nor a whopper.
Detroit area ATARIANS had to brave
90-something heat and 100+% humidity to
make it to the plush Dearborn
Hyatt-Regency hotel. Official numbers
are not available yet, but a consensus
estimates over 1,500 people sweltered
their way to the show. The Hyatt air
conditioning is no match for the
weather, and the temperatures in the
hall varied from warmer than
comfortable to hotter than reasonable.
But it was still better than outside!
The sales floor here in Dearborn is 50%
larger overall than that at DISNEYLAND
in April, but fewer developers and
dealers populated it. To make up for
that in part was the ATARI CORP area,
at over five times the space they had
last time, several user groups with
booths, and a food and resting area at
one end of the hall. Over fifty
different booth areas were on this show
list.
These areas include retailers RITE-WAY,
ALPHA SYSTEMS, INNOVATIVE CONCEPTS,
CAL-COMM, BEST, and a guest appearance
by FIRST STOP. Developers were
GRIBNIF, CODEHEAD, GADGETS BY SMALL,
SIERRA ON-LINE, FAST TECHNOLOGY, SEYMOR
RADIX, ICD, INTERSECT, MICHTRON,
IMAGEN, REEVESOFT, SOFTREK, DATAFREE,
and ACCUSTAR. Rounding out the show
were ZMAG/ST*ZMAG/ZNET (that's us!),
ST-WORLD Magazine, GEnie
Telecommunication service, ABACUS books
and software, and the user group tables
of CHAOS (Lansing), GAG (Flint), MAGIC
(Detroit), and GLASS (Detroit).
Seminars today included -The Future of
ATARI- featuring Sig Hartmann, Dave
Small and the MAC Emulator SPECTRE 128
GCR, 8-bit Graphic Operatings Systems
with Alan Reeve, Constructing a Hard
Drive with ICD's Tom Harker, a look at
FLEETSTREET 3 Desktop Publishing from
George Miller of Michtron, Dorothy
Brumleve talked about Computers and
Kids, and a National User Group Forum
was held at the end of the day. Look
elsewhere in this and future ST*ZMAGs
for details on each of these events.
Friday night set the hectic tone for
this show as the ZMAG crew assisted in
the setup of many DTP systems with
laser printers for ATARI. New User
Group Rep Chris Roberts got his
trial-by-fire as he struggled to
organize the volunteers unboxing stacks
of new Atari equipment 'til well after
1 AM, with the air conditioning OFF.
Saturday saw no large lines waiting to
enter at opening, but the crowd soon
clogged all the aisles and the buying
frenzy began, the second for the
Detroit area in only 6 weeks...and also
the second in over two years. Vendors
were VERY happy with sales.
User groups are selling WORLD OF ATARI
Mugs and Hats for $5, featuring the
same logo that appears on all the new
paraphernalia at this show. Volunteers
working doors or generally helping the
show got special red versions of the
hat to help identify them. Many
members of the CHAOS groups spent a lot
of time helping understaffed ATARI in
their sprawling booths, which featured
more equipment than software to run on
it.
CHAOS user group presented the VIDI-ST
video digitizer, which caused a major
traffic tie-up in the front aisle.
Stocks they brought for sale were
nearly exhausted at the end of the
day...they plan to take mail orders on
Sunday. The $149 unit was a real crowd
pleaser.
Gribnif introduced yet another upgrade
for their NEODESK, adding large monitor
support and a host of other intriguing
pluses. Codehead debuted a great
utility disk with some unique items.
Not a lot else was BRAND new...I will
have more details after DAY TWO.
Sunday seminars are scheduled to have
PROGRAMMING in HISOFT BASIC with
George Miller, James Allen with the
TURBO 16 accelerator, and Darek Mihocka
will talk about his new set of
Shareware QUICK utilities, including
the QUICK ST blitter emulation
software.
While the enthusiasm and attendance are
NOT what we hoped at this show, spirits
are higher than one might expect in
this heat wave. Part of the problem
with the show has been
publicity...while this show was
expected to have plenty of mass media
advertising, the last minute blitz
never occurred. Organizer Richard
Tsukiji had told us to expect major ads
in the DETROIT NEWS and FREE PRESS, but
says ATARI did not arrange their co-op
money. As a result, the show has
mostly -preached to the choir-, leasing
the faithful to a great degree but
doing little to reach out to the
general public.
Watch for a wrap-up of the show, coming
in ST*ZMAG.
|GENIE NEW 8-BIT UPLOADS|
Courtesy of GEnie's 8-bit Atari Library
No. File Name
YYMMDD Bytes Access Lib
4445 ATARISALE.TXT
890628 1260 3 1
Desc: Hardware & Software for
sale cheep!
4443 COMPUTERSALE.TXT
890625 1260 16 11
Desc: MISCELLANEOUS ITEMS FOR
SALE
4440 MEGAMENU.ARC
890624 5040 7 2
Desc: A BASIC FOR RUNNING BASIC
GAMES
4438 DD3DM.DOC
890623 5040 30 15
Desc: Daisy-Dot 3 Font Demo:
Documentation
4437 DD3DME.ARC
890623 5040 22 15
Desc: Daisy-Dot 3 Font Demo:
Epson 9-pins
4436 DD3DMS.ARC
890623 5040 14 15
Desc: Daisy-Dot 3 Font Demo: Star
Gemini
4435 DD3DMP.ARC
890623 5040 7 15
Desc: Daisy-Dot 3 Font Demo: NEC
Prowriter
4434 DD3DMX.ARC
890623 5040 7 15
Desc: Daisy-Dot 3 Font Demo:
Atari XMM801
4433 CONTENTS75.TXT
890623 2520 15 23
Desc: AUGUST 89 ANALOG PREVIEW
4432 APACVIEW.ARC
890622 23940 10 4
Desc: GIF to APAC picture file
decoder
4431 Z162.ARC
890621 17640 91 13
Desc: ZMagazine #162 for 20 June
1989
4428 BOWL3FIX.ARC
890620 40320 12 9
Desc: BOWLING ASSISTANT V. 3.03
UPGRADE
Dearborn World of Atari Report
|ATARI BOOTH|
|by Malcom Cleveland|
Reprinted from ST-ZMagazine #26
First, let me say that I am an 8-bit
owner. I make no claim to know
anything about the ST's except
mouse-clicking. This is a review from
the prospective of a true 8-bitter. If
Atari were to announce tomorrow that
they were no longer going to
sell/support ANYTHING 8-bit, I still
would not see the need to dispose of my
old 800. That said, let's continue...
Arriving at the front door, I see a few
familiar faces. Club members to be
exact. I wouldn't know an Atari
Executive if one stepped on my big toe
(but from the commentary I've heard,
neither would anyone else...but I
digress). Once at the CHAOS table, I
was assigned to help out at the Atari
Tables. -We really need some help over
there- is very close to several quotes
spoken by several people.
Atari has two sets of tables. Both
U-shaped and facing each other with
lots of space for curious onlookers, it
looks like a great many people are
expected flock around. Indeed, a great
many people passed by on their way from
one bargain to another. Most of them
drawn by some impressive 8-bit images
on 15 inch monitors: an XE Game system
playing Bug Hunt; a 7800 game system
and a Pole Position II cartridge (not
working); an XE running an 80 column
version of Atariwriter; a second XE
game system with SX-Express at 1200
baud calling Genie; and (at my station)
two 65XEs running Beta Test Versions of
XE Maze, the 8-bit version of Midi
Maze.
I kept the XE Maze busy all day
grabbing people and convincing them to
play. Actually, it was quite easy.
People would walk by and say -WOW!
Midi Maze!-, pick up the joystick and
start playing. I could pick out the ST
users right away. They were always the
ones to press the RESET button before
doing anything. -Ooh! Midi Maze!-
<Click> -Oh! It's on an 8-bit, too!-
Chris Roberts was very friendly and
seemed most grateful for the help. (He
was the only one to actually say
anything to me.) I spotted one more
person from behind the other Atari
tables, but he like most of the others
from -that camp- stayed far away from
us most of the day. This made me look
like the person in charge of the table.
(Really! One guy was so impressed by
the way I was talking up XE Maze that
he asked if he could get his tape
recorder an record an interview!)
After a while I got a little curious to
see what Atari brought from their home
base. Other volunteers had mentioned
that they were helping carry and unpack
-lots of boxes of stuff- for the Atari
people before the show opened, so I
looked around behind the tables to see
what was there. There was a second
copy of Bug Hunt and lots of flyers.
It bothered me to notice that a user
group would bring more 8-bit programs
than Atari. Oh sure, 'XE Maze comes on
a 1Meg cartridge' and 'it can use the
XM301 and SX212 modems' are nice things
to advertise, but if you want to sell
machines, isn't it a good idea to let
people see that software exists for it?
Maybe it's because I see the world
differently from the rest of the world.
Maybe with all the bargains to be found
(1020 Printer/Plotter at $9.95 for
example) you don't have to demonstrate
more than 4 pieces of software. Maybe
nobody really cares for 8-bit machines
anymore.
Maybe tomorrow will be better...
Maybe...
|THE PUBLIC DOMAIN DESK|
|by Lawrence R. Estep|
AEL Atari 8-bit PD Librarian
July 1989
We have lots of new disks that have
been added to the library in the past
month. Among them are several disks
with text adventures for all of you
game fans out there, over 15 AMS disks,
and many other great utilities, games,
educational programs, and demos.
The new PD Library catalog is available
now on The Atari Scene! BBS at
(502) 456-4292. Printed copies of it
should be available at the Computer
Fair. New additions will be listed in
this column each month, and added in
supplement pages to the catalog until
the next regular catalog is issued in
January. I think that this new
semi-annual catalog schedule will make
it easier for everyone to keep up with
what is available in the library.
We are exchanging PD programs on a
disk-to-disk basis with anyone who has
a disk that is not currently in our
library. Please donate some of your
favorite PD disks today!
Member disk prices are $3 each with
non-member prices currently at $5 each.
If you buy 5 disks, you get 1 disk
free.
If anyone experiences a problem with a
disk (incorrect programs on disk, bad
disk, bad program, etc.), please bring
it with you to the next meeting with a
short note explaining the problem
encountered, and we will be glad to
exchange it for another disk.
The address for mail-order purchases
and mail exchanges is
AEL PD Library
c/o Lawrence R. Estep,
524 Roseview Terrace, New Albany, IN,
47150-4457.
Please add $.50 per disk shipping and
handling, and $1.00 if you are a
non-member and wish to have a catalog.
***Late Update***
The Genealogy program that has been
frequently requested lately has just
arrived, along with 3 disks full of
Flags Of The World pictures. All of
these have been added into the library
and catalog. Watch for more details on
new additions next month!
Take care, and remember to buckle up
for safety, and Don't drink and drive.
-Lawrence R. Estep
|ANALOG COMPUTING TABLE OF CONTENTS|
|August 1989|
FEATURES
Nuclear Mountain...........Brad Timmins
An exciting search-and-destroy
mission, written in Atari BASIC.
Gun Assist........Matthew J.W. Ratcliff
Atari's new light gun has become a
popular gaming peripheral. Here's a
machine-language routine that'll help
you use the light gun in your own
programs.
Picture Perfect........Joe. D. Brzuszek
This combination picture editor and
animator will let you manipulate your
MicroPainter format pictures in a
variety of useful ways.
Capital!...............Bryan Schappel &
Barry Kolbe
Get ready to make your first fortune
in this commercial-quality,
machine-language game of high
finance.
REVIEWS
Dark Chambers.....Matthew J.W. Ratcliff
Choplifter........Matthew J.W. Ratcliff
COLUMNS
BASIC Training...........Clayton Walnum
Boot Camp....................Tom Hudson
Database DELPHI........Michael A. Banks
The End User.........Arthur Leyenberger
DEPARTMENTS
Editorial................Clayton Walnum
Reader Comment
8-bit News
M/L Editor...............Clayton Walnum
BASIC Editor II..........Clayton Walnum
Disk Contents
|Z*NET NEWSWIRE 8-BIT EDITION|
|by Harold Brewer|
Computer Software Services (via
Bob Puff) updated me on two of
its upcoming hardware products:
The Black Box, featuring SASI/SCSI
port for hard drive installation,
P: port, and R: port, has seen its
first price increase even before
being available to the public.
Due to increased costs of circuit
boards, the base price will rise
from $169.95 to $199.95.
64K Black Boxes may show a similar
price increase, but due to the
programming prowess of Mr. Puff,
this added 64K for a print spooler
(and added cost) may not be
needed. A hint of using the
computer's own RAM (in 130XEs and
expanded 800XLs) for a print
spooler in conjunction with the
Black Box may become reality.
The Multiplexer, an upcoming
system of connecting up to eight
slave 8-bits to one master 8-bit,
has a price connected to its name:
For the -One Master/Two Slaves-
combination>$199.95.
For each additional Slave
>$ 69.95.
Mr. Puff has been extremely busy
in non-CSS activities the past few
weeks, and this trend may continue
for a few more. Keep looking to
ZMagazine for news of these two
hardware releases.
Orion Microsystems (with Keith
Ledbetter in attendance) informs
all Atari 8-bitters of the
proposed initial shipping date of
its Express! Cartridge (a terminal
(modem) program in a cartridge)).
With Express! documentation being
printed and cartridges being
assembled, an end-of-June date
is targeted.
Glenda Stocks, owner and
programmer of Oasis BBS software,
announces the new PC Pursuitable
telephone number for Oasis BBS
support: (617) 380-7886
(MABOS node).
While you are awaiting the
completion of a file transfer or
a fractal image, take a few
minutes and write to a favorite
magazine which carries Atari 8-bit
information/advertising. This
can give the magazine an awareness
of the Atari 8-bit's popularity
which goes hand-in-hand with sales
of the magazine and its
advertiser's products.
After you have addressed this
letter's stamped envelope, perhaps
look at your software collection.
If you have some -shareware-
files, you could do worse than to
send a contribution to each
author. Without these folks,
your Atari 8-bit could be one step
closer to obscurity.
| Rovac Industries, Incorporated |
| P.O. Box 74, Middlesex, NJ 08846 |
| (201) 968-8148 |
|Copyright 1989 All Rights Reserved|
CompuServe: 71777,2140
GEnie: ZMAGAZINE
Source: BDG793
ZMagazine Editor: Harold Brewer
ZMagazine Headquarters BBSes:
Centurian BBS--(314)621-5046
(618)451-0165
Chaos BBS--(517)371-1106
Shadow Haven--(916)962-2566
Stairway to Heaven--(216)784-0574
The Pub--(716)826-5733
