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GEnieLamp Atari Vol. 6 Issue 81
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~ WELCOME TO GEnieLamp Atari ~
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~ Claw Marks - NEW Monthly Jaguar Column ~
~ Around and About GEnie - NEW Monthly Column ~
~ The History of Widgets and Whatzits ~
~ Online Library: 88 Files Reviewed! ~
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GEnieLamp Atari ~ A T/TalkNET Publication ~ Vol.6, Issue 81
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Publisher.................................................John F. Peters
Editor...............................................Sheldon H. Winick
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>>> WHAT'S HAPPENING IN THE ATARI ROUNDTABLE? <<<
"""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""
~ June 1995 ~
THE EDITOR'S DESK ....... [FRM] AV PROTOCOL ............. [AVP]
Notes From My Desktop Add power to your computing
CLAW MARKS .............. [CMK] ONLINE LIBRARY .......... [LIB]
Greetings, Jaguar Fans! [*] Files, Files & More Files!
AROUND AND ABOUT GENIE .. [AAG] COMPUTERS AND INVESTING . [CAI]
The Jerry Pournelle Roundtable [*] Computer Technology Index
MEL'S MANOR ............. [MEL] THE HISTORY OF WIDGETS
Data Rescue to the Rescue AND WHATZITS ........... [HWW]
A Parable of the Modern Age
ALTERNATIVE DESKTOPS [ATD]
3 Desktops & a File Copier ATARI ROUNDTABLE FOCUS .. [ARF]
MagicMac
ASCII ART ............... [ASC]
Butterfly & Banana Split SEARCH ME ............... [FUN]
Online Puzzle Fun
LOG OFF ................. [LOG]
GenieLamp Information.
[IDX]"""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""
READING GEnieLamp GEnieLamp has incorporated a unique indexing system
""""""""""""""""" to help make reading the magazine easier. To
utilize this system, load GEnieLamp into any ASCII word processor or
text editor. In the index you will find the following example:
HUMOR ONLINE ............ [HUM]
GEnie Fun & Games.
To read this article, set your find or search command to [HUM].
If you want to scan all of the articles, search for [EOA]. [EOF] will
take you to the last page, whereas [IDX] will bring you back to the
index.
MESSAGE INFO To make it easy for you to respond to messages
"""""""""""" re-printed here in GEnieLamp, you will find all the
information you need immediately following the message. For example:
(SMITH, CAT6, TOP1, MSG:58/M475)
_____________| _____|__ _|___ |____ |_____________
|Name of sender CATegory TOPic Msg.# Page number|
In this example, to respond to Smith's message, log on to page
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A message number that is surrounded by brackets indicates that
this message is a "target" message and is referring to a "chain" of two
or more messages that are following the same topic. For example: {58}.
TX2 FORMAT What are you missing when reading the ASCII version of
"""""""""" GEnie Lamp? EXCITEMENT! Whenever you see a [*] in the
index or in the article header, that indicates that the article contains
TX2 graphics and/or pictures. To see the graphics, you will need the
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COLRnnnn.ZIP GEnie Lamp in TX2 format w/Color graphics.
MONOnnnn.ZIP GEnie Lamp in TX2 format w/Monochrome graphics.
MINI_TX2.LZH Mini-version of TX2 Viewer (File #20441).
ABOUT GEnie GEnie's monthly fee is $8.95 which gives you up to four hours of
""""""""""" non-prime time access to most GEnie services, such as software
downloads, bulletin boards, GE Mail, an Internet mail gateway, and chat lines.
GEnie's non-prime time connect rate is $3.00. To sign up for GEnie service,
call (with modem) 1-800-638-8369 in the USA or 1-800-387-8330 in Canada. Upon
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Need more information? Call GEnie's customer service line (voice) at
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SPECIAL OFFER FOR GEnieLamp READERS! If you sign onto GEnie using the method
"""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""" outlined above you will receive $50.00
worth of credit. Want more? Your first month charge of $8.95 will be waived!
Now there are no excuses!
*** GET INTO THE LAMP! ***
""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""
[EOA]
[FRM]//////////////////////////////
THE EDITOR'S DESK /
/////////////////////////////////
Notes From My Desktop
"""""""""""""""""""""
by Sheldon H. Winick
[GELAMP.ST]
When I wrote my first 'Dealer Viewpoint' column for GEnieLamp back in
November 1990, I had no idea the series would run for 4-1/2 years; but here
we are coming into the summer of 1995 already!
One thing you can count on in the computer industry is that everything is
always changing. New products are constantly coming to market along with
continually lower prices for continually more powerful combinations of
hardware and software.
In my first 'Dealer Viewpoint' column, I wrote about what Atari had done
and was doing in the first year of this new decade. That was probably the
most positive year Atari ever had with its personal computer lineup.
During 1990, we saw Atari bring forth several new products, including the
Portfolio and Lynx, the Megafile 60 and Megafile 44 hard drive systems, the
STacy laptop, and 1040STe. We saw price drops on other Atari products,
including the 520STfm, Mega2 and Mega4 computers, and SLM804 laser printer.
We also saw the release of several program cards for the Portfolio and a
host of carry cases for both the Portfolio and Lynx systems.
I also wrote about how, in the first year of this decade, Atari initiated
new marketing strategies, including national advertising campaigns on
television, magazines and major newspapers. Atari had in place an
excellent program of dealer co-op advertising in 1990, and provided dealers
with ad copy masters and television tape spots for local broadcast.
I wrote about the beginning of "The Revolution", a consumer driven campaign
spearheaded by Don Thomas and Artisan Software to increase the public
awareness of Atari computer systems. The "Revolution Handbook" was
released as a disk-based book and calendar of suggested events for the
entire year. Five years later, we find Don Thomas working for Atari and
actively involved in the Atari Roundtable here on GEnie providing all of us
with a valuable contact and source of information directly from Atari.
1990 also saw Atari's rollout of the TT030 workstation at Comdex, offering
the promise of a serious push into the high-end business and professional
market for Atari computers.
My first column talked about how 1990 was probably the closest thing up
until that time to the long-dreamed-about "Year of Atari". Little did I
know then that five years later, I would still feel that 1990 would still
be the closest thing to that long awaited dream. We haven't seen such a
variety of activities from Atari in any year since then, and with Atari's
current infatuation with being a home game company only, we probably never
will see such hopeful anticipation again.
But times change, and we must all change with them. That's in part, what
makes life so exciting. Over the past 4-1/2 years, I used my 'Dealer
Viewpoint' column to provide our GEnieLamp readers with insight into
marketing aspects of the Atari marketplace. I tried to provide our readers
with valuable information on how to get the most usefulness and enjoyment
out of their Atari systems. I wrote both the good and bad about Atari, but
always tried to concentrate on the real value of our computers in our
everyday lives, regardless of what Atari Corporation did. And... the one
thing Atari Corporation always did right is that they definitely built some
of the best, most powerful personal computer systems of their time!
With Atari officially out of the personal computer business, its time for
me to refocus my energies as well. With John Gniewkowski's leaving as
editor of GEnieLamp Atari, I've taken over in that position. There will
also be other changes made here in GEnieLamp to enable us to provide you,
our readers, with the type of news and information necessary to help you
get the most from your Atari hardware.
This month I'm introducing two new Staff Writers to the Lamp, both of whom
you probably already know from the Atari Roundtable. Lloyd Pulley has been
an active participant in the Atari community ever since the early days. He
has also been extremely active throughout the online community, and
participates in many of the various Roundtables on GEnie. He is therefore
in the position of being able to provide us with information about those
various areas on GEnie that many of us may not have yet visited, or may not
even know about. That information, combined with Lloyd's enjoyable writing
style, is certain to make his monthly "Around and About GEnie" column
one you won't want to miss.
Another new staff writer joining us this month is Tim Steed, who you also
may know from the Jaguar categories in the Atari Roundtable. Tim will be
writing a monthly column entitled "Claw Marks" in which he will be
providing us with coverage of Atari's Jaguar Multi-Media Entertainment
System. Tim is uniquely qualified to offer us insight into the marketing
aspects of the Jaguar system since as a Babbages' assistant manager, he
actually sells them. Catch this month's initial installment for more
information about Tim's qualifications and the latest information about the
gaming marketplace.
One of our long absent Staff Writers, Richard Brown, returns this month
with 'The History of Widgets and Whatzits - A Parable of the Modern Age."
His column also will bring us up to date on some exciting things he is
working on for the Atari community. Watch for even more exciting things
from Richard in coming months.
We have other changes planned for upcoming issues as we continue to strive
to make GEnieLamp Atari the best it can be for our readers. Your comments
and suggestions are always welcome. Drop by the DigiPub Roundtable (just
type "M1395;1" at any GEnie prompt) or contact any of our staff in GEnie
Mail.
Enough reminiscing and babbling from the Editor. Time to get into the
Lamp. Happy reading!
[EOA]
[CMK]//////////////////////////////
CLAW MARKS /
/////////////////////////////////
Greetings, Jaguar Fans!
"""""""""""""""""""""""
by Tim Steed
[T.STEED1]
Welcome to the first installment of CLAW MARKS! In this column, we
plan to have a monthly article bringing you up to date with happenings,
developments, reports, reviews, news, and information about Atari's latest,
greatest entry into the market where it all started: the video game
industry. I refer to nothing other than the Atari Jaguar, the video game
market's first 64-bit Interactive Multimedia System. The days of the 2600,
5200, and 7800 are gone, but the days of the Jaguar are here, and here to
stay.
Background Of One Atari Fan...
""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""
Let me take a little space to introduce myself. My name is Tim Steed, and
I'm 26 years old. I received my first Atari system in the form of the Atari
2600 in 1981. The game 'Space Invaders' came with it, and I remember at
$249.99, my parents were a little skeptical at first. But the addiction
started there. A few years later, in my freshman year of high-school, I
took a computer class, and the class used the Atari 800 as its main system.
I worked at a grocery store, bagging groceries, until I had enough to buy
one for myself. Boy those cassette drives were great, weren't they? One
8-bit led to the next, and eventually, in 1987, I purchased my first ST, a
520, one of the ones with the external drives. Several ST's later, I ended
up running two different Atari BBS's, in three different states, one of
which I had connected to the F-NET, an all-Atari computer network spread
across the world. I was the first in my user's group to buy a Lynx, and
I've owned two Jaguars: one I bought last August, and another I won during
an Atari conference held on GEnie last November.
A Look At The Marketplace, And The Competition.
"""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""
Currently, I work at a Babbage's store as an assistant manager. We sell
all of the current hit-systems, including Sega Genesis, Sega CD, Sega 32X,
Sega Game-Gear, Super Nintendo, Nintendo GameBoy, 3DO, and Atari Jaguar.
Our latest addition includes the Sega Saturn. Out of all the systems
listed, only the Atari Jaguar is made in the USA.
Which system sells the best? It is remarkable to note that, even though the
32-bit and 64-bit systems are here, the 16-bit Sega Genesis and Super
Nintendo are still top sellers. Why? Mainly because of two things: price
and software availability. Both of these aged systems can be found
virtually anywhere for under $90.00, a price acceptable to most families
looking for an affordable form of quality entertainment. Top that off with
literally hundreds of games available for each system, and you have a pair
of systems which, to this point, have just barely begun to show their age.
Closer to Atari in power and popularity is the 3DO. Unlike the Genesis,
SNES, or Jaguar, no one company makes the 3DO. Currently, Panasonic and
Goldstar make 3DO systems. Being a CD-based system, the games tend to have
lots of flashy graphics, CD-quality sound, and full-motion-video sequences
(FMV), resembling near-TV quality video footage. Priced at $399, the 3DO
has had most of its success in the Japanese market. While it may be close
to the Jaguar power-wise, it's not even close price-wise. With well over a
hundred titles available, this system does have its following, but only
appeals to those with thick wallets.
Then we have the ad-ons. The Sega-CD, while well-intentioned, never really
caught on. Parts and workmanship make this a VERY expensive ad-on, as it
still retails for over $200! This for a system which is useless all by
itself! Even when operating at its fullest, it is still hampered by the
performance of the Genesis unit it is a slave to. There are quite a few
titles, but with the release of the Saturn, development appears to be
declining to a trickle.
The Sega 32X seems to be one of those orphan machines. Released just last
November, most people refer to it as a 'band-aid' marketed by Sega to hold
the multitudes over until the Saturn could arrive. That was all fine and
well, considering that the Saturn was not due out for about another year.
But as of May 11th of this year, that all changed when Sega released the
Saturn WAY ahead of schedule. Where does that leave the 32X? Out in the
cold. At $149 in most stores, this ad-on has about 14 games available for
it, and development seems to be stagnant. While it's price puts it right
there with the Jaguar, its performance is inferior, and you already have to
have a Genesis to attach it to. And with the hype and anticipation of the
Saturn and other systems, I don't expect this system to get or maintain a
lot of attention in the future, Sega product or not.
The upcoming machines, awaited with baited breath and page upon page of
speculation in all the various gaming magazines include the Sega Saturn
(already released), the Sony Playstation (PSX), the Nintendo Ultra64, and
the 3DO M2 upgrade. The Saturn becomes the first of these to enter the
market, and even with a hefty $399.99 price-tag, seems to be selling well.
The Playstation, or PSX, was supposed to be the Saturn's main competition.
Boy, what I'd pay to see the looks on the faces of the suits over at Sony!
Sega upstaged them big-time, and even if the PSX comes in at the rumored
price of $299, Sega got the jump on them. The PSX, at least, will arrive
this fall, unlike the Ultra64, which was delayed until April of next year.
Nintendo will be depending solely upon the Super Nintendo during this
year's Christmas season, while Sony, Sega, Atari, and 3DO battle it out for
supremacy. Nintendo seems happy to watch... and wait. Then we have another
ad-on from 3DO: the M2 upgrade which will supposedly upgrade the 3DO to a
true 64-bit system. Everything I've seen on this points to a release date
sometime this winter, or early next year.
And In Our Corner...
""""""""""""""""""""
Of course, there's always our cat, the Jaguar. This 64-bit power-house is
an engineering beauty. Atari does it again, with some of the best
technology out there, with a truly
"ATARI DOES IT AGAIN, WITH SOME amazing price, $159 in most places.
OF THE BEST TECHNOLOGY OUT With a current library of about 24
THERE, WITH A TRULY AMAZING games, and more coming, we will
PRICE, $159 IN MOST PLACES." soon see a CD ad-on, and a Virtual
Reality piece of hardware that will
propel us into the years ahead. But why doesn't Atari own the marketplace
then, like the days of old? Why do customers shy away from the system in
stores, opting for less-powerful systems? Though the answers to these
questions may sound simple, they aren't.
1) Support: For a system to survive, it has to have the support of
developers. Developers, in turn, look at the potential of the system. Will
the system be a hit? Will it sell? Will games they make for it sell? How
long will it be around? Many developers are taking a 'wait and see'
attitude with the Jaguar, while many GREAT companies have signed on. Some
of the bigger names have joined the club very recently, such as Akklaim, of
NBA Jam fame.
2) Learning curve: Lots of customers hear this and laugh, as if making a
game for a new system is as easy as changing the tire on a car. Nothing
could be further from the truth. Just ask any developer, like Beyond Games,
UBI Soft, or 4-Play, they'll tell you, the Jag is powerful, and sometimes
complicated. But as time goes on, and these companies begin to know the ins
and outs of the Jaguar, not only will their work become better, but
possibly faster. One of the larger developers, ID, the company responsible
for the world-known 'Doom', has stated that, had they done it all over
again, they could do the Jaguar version of 'Doom' in higher resolution,
without slow-down.
3) Reputation: Atari is known through the gaming industry as the company
who can't deliver, or delivers late. The term 'Real Soon Now' was a phrase
used by most Atari employees in the late 80's and early 90's. To this day,
Atari is still plagued by missed release dates and constant delays. It's a
win/lose situation for them: keep everything quiet, and people jump-ship,
thinking the Atari boat to be sinking. Atari states release dates, and then
they are crucified for missing each one.
The Writing On The Wall...
""""""""""""""""""""""""""
It all boils down to customer awareness, and developer support. With the
proper mix of dealer support and advertising, Atari could establish
themselves as a real player, here to stay. They have the machine, they
have twenty or so years of experience, and they have one of the most
recognized names in the industry.
Developers are still the most important piece of the Atari puzzle. Without
software, the system is dead, period, regardless of how powerful or
inexpensive it may be. The current developers should get a big 'Thank You',
and other big developers should be encouraged in whatever way possible to
join the Atari army. Without them, Atari would be in a heap of trouble,
and consumers would have to settle for less.
If you have any questions or comments, you can contact me at one of the
various addresses below. I hope you enjoy what the GEnieLamp/Atari edition
can provide for you, and I hope you will join us again next month. For now,
Jag on!
CompuServe: 76123,3037
GEnie: T.STEED1
AOL: OTRTimS
Internet: otrtims@aol.com -or- t.steed1@genie.geis.com
[EOA]
[AAG]//////////////////////////////
AROUND AND ABOUT GENIE /
/////////////////////////////////
The Jerry Pournelle Roundtable
""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""
by Lloyd E. Pulley, Sr.
[LEPULLEY]
There I was minding my own business, not causing any trouble - at least no
more than usual - and I only had a nominal amount of people upset at me,
then I got an E-Mail from Sheldon. "Uh oh", I said to myself (I do a lot
of talking to myself). "What have I done now that's so bad that it'd get
the new editor of GEnieLamp (Atari) after me?" Imagine my amazement when I
read the following (loosely paraphrased)...
"Lloyd, you have a big mouth. You're opinionated. Like a bad penny,
you're everywhere - all over GEnie. How about being GEnieLamp's big
mouthed, opinionated, bad penny? Why don't you tell our readers
what's going on around GEnie and give them your opinions about those
areas. Let them know how they can use their ST's to explore a world
that they might not know exists. Tell them about the vast range of
experiences and discussions that exist all over GEnie. Don't get
heavily involved in the computer areas, but tell them about the
political, humor, religious, educational, medical, and whatever
areas that abound."
Wow!! I was speechless (and those who know me, know that only happens
'once in a blue moon'). Me? A contributor to GEnieLamp (Atari)? What
could I say but "Hmmm...I'll think about it." (You gotta play hard to get
- even when you're hot to trot.) Later I told Sheldon, "Let's give it a
try and see how the column is accepted by your readers." So here I am.
Here's a brief bio for those who don't know me. I've been a ST owner since
the very beginning. I was one of the first people in Phoenix, Arizona to
buy a ST and have been using a ST ever since. Currently I'm using my old
MegaST4 (it takes a licking, but keeps right on ticking). I'm one of those
rarities - a ST owner who _only_ owns and uses a ST. No PC's or Mac's for
me. I wrote the PD Watch column for ST Informer for several years. And
for more years than I can remember, I've been a contributor and columnist
for STReport (I compile the weekly CPU Report). I've been on GEnie since
before there was a ST RT. In the past I've also been a regular on Delphi
and CIS, but out of all of the online services I've been on, GEnie is my
favorite.
Okay, enough about me, let's get started. This month I'm going to high-
light one of my favorite Roundtables on GEnie (besides the ST RT) - the
Jerry Pournelle RT.
The host of this RT is Jerry Pournelle. Jerry (Dr. Pournelle) has had a
busy and productive life. He writes a monthly column for BYTE magazine -
Chaos Manor - and is a world renowned author who has written and
co-authored many science fact and fiction works. Jerry has been a college
professor, an advisor to Presidents and Congress concerning space policy,
the Chairman of the Citizen's Advisory Council on National Space Policy and
in the past, heavily involved in Los Angles politics. I believe that he's
currently working on a foreword for House Speaker Newt Gingrich's new book
and has a couple of new science fiction novels in the works. Jerry's wife,
Roberta Pournelle, is an expert in education and runs the Education RT on
GEnie (we'll visit that RT at a later date).
With Jerry's diverse background you could expect his RT to have a wide
variety of topics and discussions - and it does. In fact, everything is
open for discussion in his RT -
"WITH JERRY'S DIVERSE BACKGROUND except talk about abortion and
YOU WOULD EXPECT HIS RT TO HAVE women in the military. (He's
A WIDE VARIETY OF TOPICS AND found from past experience that
DISCUSSIONS - AND IT DOES." both of these are 'no-win'
discussions and only lead to
volatile exchanges.) Do you want to talk about computers (yes, we have even
discussed the ST), space programs, education, the environment, politics,
guns, the military, the OJ Simpson trial, terrorism/Oklahoma City bombing,
lawyers, writing, books you've read, or just have a general question you
want to ask, this is the place.
Jerry's RT draws a large number of experts and people who are experienced
in many different fields - other authors, military and weapons specialists,
police, medical, legal experts, and others.
Here's some things that I like about Jerry's board -
One - Anyone and everyone is welcome to voice their opinions (of course, if
you voice your opinion you'd better be ready to defend it <grin>). Unlike
some other areas (on and off Genie) that have "big names" as hosts - but
you never really get a chance to talk with them - Jerry gets involved in
the discussions (when he has the time). If you want to ask him about one
of his books, reviews, columns, or just his general opinion about
something, you can - and he'll answer.
Two - While Jerry is the host of the RT, he has a very professional bunch
of co-Sysops that handle the day to day RT affairs. They keep the RT nice
and tidy, and easy to use.
Three - In some RT's the co-Sysops do their sysoping duties but you almost
never see them post - that's not the way it is in Jerry's RT. Jerry's co-
Sysops get involved in the discussions.
In fact, I feel that the co-Sysop's on Jerry's board add a lot to the
discussions and helps make the board the success that it is. Gary Utter is
a police dispatcher, 'Plez' is a 'lawyer in training' (he just graduated
from law school), and Donald Grimes is a sergeant in the New York State
Department of Corrections - so between those three we have a lot of
experience in all aspects of the law. Bill Dooley, who works for Office
Max, (and I believe has some sort of a legal background) doesn't say a lot
but when he does, its guaranteed to be interesting.
Then there's George Bates, the resident 'intellectual' (at least that's how
I perceive him), the guy who's whole purpose in life is "to keep Lloyd on
his toes" - or at least it seems that way sometimes <grin>.
[George has a neuromuscular disorder and is so profoundly disabled that he
can only twitch one finger. He writes all of his messages with a keyboard
emulator that scans a keyboard on the screen, one letter at a time, and he
twitches his finger when it gets to the letter he wants.]
Four - Jerry's RT is casual. Topic threads aren't strictly enforced. If a
good discussion gets started, they won't move it to somewhere else if it's
off-topic. In other RT's I've seen many good discussions die once they've
been moved. (Note: there are certain times I like a more structured RT -
like in the Atari RT. If I want to know about hard drives, I don't want to
dig through 10 megs of non-related posts. But for casual conversation, I
like an less structured arrangement.)
Even if you don't like to get involved in the discussions, you can still
learn a lot simply by "lurking" (probably 80-90% of all members of most
RT's are 'lurkers' - those people who simply read and enjoy the posts, but
don't get actively involved in the discussions). Currently there's an
off-subject discussion going on about the American Revolution. With all of
the history buffs and experts on the board, I've learned a lot about what
lead up to the Revolution and lots of details about the actual Revolution -
stuff that is not normally told in the History books. Do you know who
Cornwallis surrendered to at Yorktown? Was it George Washington? No. Was
it the Count de Rochambeau, who was in command of the army? No. Was it
Admiral the Comte de Grasse who's fleet trapped Cornwallis's army? No. It
was... nah, I won't tell. Log onto the RT and find out who it was.
All in all, if you like good adult conversations and discussions, this is
the place to go. But I feel a word of warning is necessary. Jerry's board
has a very conservative bent. Liberals are allowed (and welcomed) - and
there's several on the board - but if you're a liberal, consider yourself
forewarned! <grin>
To get to Jerry's board, simply do a 'M 245' (Move to area 245). If you're
using Aladdin, simply add that number to your RT configuration.
Next month - Hobbies. No matter what your hobby, Genie probably has an
area devoted to it.
[EOA]
[MEL]//////////////////////////////
MEL'S MANOR /
/////////////////////////////////
Data Rescue to the Rescue!
""""""""""""""""""""""""""
by Mel Motogawa
[M.MOTOGAWA]
It's bound to happen eventually, I know it has to me. You're in the midst
of tidying up your hard disk, deleting outdated files here and there, and
all of a sudden you realize that one of those files wasn't meant for
eradication. Or you delete a big archive that you downloaded from Genie and
now you realize you could have used a file that was in it. Of course, you
don't relish the thought of downloading the whole archive again.
In the past, these scenarios meant rolling up the sleeves and breaking out
your hacker tools or relying on a utility to undelete files. But if you
happened to write some more to your hard disk before realizing your
misfortune, the chances of completely recovering your file dropped
dramatically. It's especially painful if you have to recreate a deleted
file from scratch, perhaps requiring a substantial amount of retyping.
"A PREMIER METHOD OF AVOIDING A premier method of avoiding the
THE LOST FILE BLUES IS DATA lost files blues is Data Rescue
RESCUE FROM TRACE TECHNOLOGIES." from Trace Technologies. It does
its best to nullify the effects of
accidental deletions and gives you maximum flexibility in recovering any
files you have deleted and now need again.
DAT Tracking:
"""""""""""""
Data Rescue offers a security blanket over your files by two methods. In
DAT tracking, Data Rescue maintains a hidden file on your hard disk that
tracks file sector links. If you delete a file and want to recover it, you
open Data Rescue, select the file from its list of deleted files and click
on the Rescue Data button. Data Rescue thoughtfully let's you know how
successful the file recovery will likely be.
A cardinal rule of file recovery is to write as little as possible, if at
all, after a file has been deleted. The more you write to your media, the
more likely that you won't be able to recover all the data. DAT tracking
is good, but it can't stop the operating system from doing its thing.
Rescue Tracking:
""""""""""""""""
Rescue tracking is even neater. It maintains a folder named Rescue on your
hard disk and moves deleted files into it. In this way, no matter how much
you write to your hard disk afterwards, you need not lose a file, you can
recover it 100% as long as it remains in the Rescue folder. O.k. you say,
but that means that pretty soon my Rescue folder will be humongous and I
have to empty the trash manually. Not so!
Rescue tracking is intelligent and will automatically housekeep your Rescue
folder after a user- specified variable. You can tell Data Rescue to empty
the Rescue folder after X days. Thus if you feel that seven days is enough,
you can set it to that and the last seven days of deleted files will always
remain in your Rescue folder. Or, you can tell Data Rescue to purge the
Rescue folder when it reaches a certain size. Then Data Rescue won't allow
your Rescue folder to get larger than that size, automatically removing
files from the oldest date first.
Always Thinking Of You:
"""""""""""""""""""""""
Another neat deal with Data Rescue is you don't have to worry if your hard
disk fills up while Rescue tracking is in effect. If so, Data Rescue can
automatically make room by purging the oldest files in the Rescue folder to
make way for incoming files. Naturally, you'll need to make sure your ST
has some way of keeping time, either through hardware or a software
timesetting utility, for Rescue tracking by dates to work effectively.
For maximum protection, you can specify a drive(s) to be delete protected,
so nothing can be accidentally removed. Handy if you think someone not so
computer savvy might be using your ST.
One thing I can't stand are programs that don't have keyboard equivalents
for commonly used buttons, but Data Rescue has hotkeys galore for speedy
usage. There are also hotkeys for temporarily altering the operation of
Data Rescue, for example, if you don't want a series of file deletes
handled by Data Rescue.
Data Rescue also allows you to view the contents of a deleted file in ASCII
or Hex format so you can see what you're retrieving if the filename alone
isn't enough of a memory jogger.
You Need This Program:
""""""""""""""""""""""
There are many more neat features included in the program along with a
clear and well-written manual. Data
"DATA RESCUE IS SIMPLY A BETTER Rescue is simply a better way to
WAY TO MAINTAIN PEACE OF MIND maintain peace of mind on your
ON YOUR SYSTEM." system. If your data is important
to you, you owe it to yourself to
check out this powerful program. A demo version is available in the ST
Roundtable File Library as file #26569 and product support is handled in
the Trace Technologies topic in Category 2, Topic 12.
[EOA]
[ATD]//////////////////////////////
ALTERNATIVE DESKTOPS /
/////////////////////////////////
3 new desktops and an atom-powered file copier
""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""
By Al Fasoldt
[A.FASOLDT]
Copyright (c) 1995 by Al Fasoldt. All rights reserved.
What a time to be an Atari fan! Three new alternative desktops have
reached North America from Europe, and an atomic-powered file manager has
also become readily available. Here are brief reports on each of them.
The desktops
""""""""""""
Ease: I bought the Ease desktop from Toad Computers and downloaded
""""" two others -- the No!Desk desktop (which I found at an Internet
site in Scandinavia and sent up to GEnie) and the Thing desktop (which I
found in a German version, also on the Internet, and passed along to GEnie,
although the current GEnie version is a newer one, totally in English).
Ease was born in heaven if you are a MagiC user. MagiC, the replacement
operating system that runs much faster than TOS, comes from the same German
software distributors that Ease does (although the programmers are
different), and the closeness shows in every aspect of Ease. If you buy
MagiCMac, the version of MagiC that turns an Apple Macintosh into a
lightning-fast TOS computer, you get a copy of Ease included in the price.
Otherwise, you have to buy Ease separately, for about $70-$80 U.S.
To say that Ease is different is to miss the point. Ease is very different
in some ways from any other desktop you can run. Perhaps the most striking
difference is in the way Ease handles desktop file-and-folder windows. (If
you are an Ease user already, read the next part carefully, because you may
have missed how this feature works.)
Ease lets you treat desktop windows in a standard fashion, if you set up
its configuration in a more-or-less normal way. That is, desktop windows
can be placed and sized the way you want them, and they'll stay that way.
This is how the TOS desktop and nearly every other desktop works. (No!Desk
is the exception, which I'll discuss below.)
But Ease has two options for desktop windows.
The first is called auto-sizing. In one way, it's a wonderful feature.
Auto-sizing automatically opens every file and folder window to the optimum
size for showing all its contents -- either very small (if the window holds
only a few items) or very large (if the window holds many items). Makes
sense, right? Yes and no. Ease is smart enough to keep all its windows
on-screen, and so if you open a window that shows two folders and have it
placed at the right edge of the screen, clicking on one of those folders
will open a much bigger window if that folder contains a lot of items --
but that window will NOT be in the same position. (It can't be.) It will
hop over to the side. If you then click on a folder inside THAT window,
and if that folder contains only a few items, the resulting window will be
small again, and it will assume another position different from the
position of the first two windows.
This can drive you crazy. If you like this feature, you'll love it. If
you don't ... well, at least you can turn it off.
The second option is much better, in my view. It's a memory feature, in
which Ease remembers the way specific paths are shown. You can set up your
desktop windows in the standard way, but when you open a window onto an
important directory -- all your Aladdin downloads, say -- you can adjust
that window's size and position any way you want. Save the desktop at that
point, then close the window. If the memory feature is turned on, Ease
will always show your standard window configuration except when you open
that Aladdin download window -- and then Ease will display that window in
the special shape and size you assigned it.
There seems to be no practical limit to the number of special path windows
Ease can remember. This feature alone makes Ease a prime contender for the
replacement desktop of choice for MagiC users.
(Ease works with standard TOS, too, but without the built-in support for
multitasking supplied by MagiC. But Ease does not work under Geneva; it
apparently employs a program-launching method that Geneva does not use.)
Another unusual feature of Ease is its desktop pop-up list. Double-click
on a blank area of the desktop and a list pops up showing all drives and
other items on the desktop. This list, which is scrollable if it is deeper
than the desktop, lets you select any item by sliding your mouse pointer to
the appropriate entry on the list. This makes opening a folder that is
hidden away by another object very easy, to give one example.
Ease can display a background picture in one of three ways. The picture
(which must be an IMG file) can be set against the background in the
standard way, as NeoDesk 4 does it, or it can blend with the background in
either of two ways. If you have a large IMG file that is mostly white
space in the background, Ease will let you display that IMG so that only
the foreground of the IMG shows through; this gives a very classy look, and
should be the way other desktops handle background images, too.
Ease can open many desktop windows at one time under MagiC. The limit
appears to be 16. (The Thing desktop will show 20 windows, so 16 appears
to be an Ease limitation, not a limit in MagiC.)
Ease comes with a powerful icon editor, and can show animated icons in
2-color, 4-color, 16-color and 256-color modes. The NeoDesk icon editor is
a much better utility, but the one in Ease does the job.
A bonus: Ease supports Kobold, the world's fastest file utility, letting
you specify at what point in file manipulation Kobold should take over.
(You may want to skip invoking Kobold for minor copying.)
A small touch in Ease that I found refreshing is the way it can display
file sizes in readable form. Instead of showing "34476" as the file size
in bytes, it would show that number in kilobytes.
No!Desk: What an odd bird No!Desk is! No!Desk was developed to take
"""""""" advantage of the No!System, a modification to TOS that adds a
svelte look to windows and dialog boxes. The No! modifications also allow
certain desk accessories to communicate with each other and with suitable
applications. That's Write, the highly regarded word processor from Compo,
is able to make use of the No! modifications. (The XACC software protocol
is not, technically, one of the No!System components, but appears to be
included in all No!-compliant applications; it offers a few of the features
of the VA Protocol discussed elsewhere in this issue.)
No!Desk does not support the VA Protocol, which took it off my list as an
acceptable replacement desktop immediately. But its other features may
make up for this oversight if you do not use the VA Protocol. (However,
you should look into the VA system if you don't know what it is.) No!Desk
is shareware, with no features disabled. I don't know what the shareware
fee is and can't look it up, having erased it from my storage area because
of a problem I discuss below.
No!Desk is slow. On the other hand, it's about as powerful as a desktop
can get, with an amazing built-in command-line interpreter that can control
everything -- and I mean EVERYTHING -- that is going on. (The CLI can open
and close desktop windows, launch programs, force the desktop to exit, set
colors, and so on.)
I have something quite critical to say about No!Desk, so I won't waste
effort avoiding how I feel. Desktop windows open in the dumbest imaginable
way. They open up on top of each other. The normal way of coping with
this problem doesn't work. In other words, if you open two windows and
find they are in the same position, in every other desktop you'd just move
one of them and save the desktop; then the next time you open two windows,
they would not overlap.
Not with No!Desk. It opens ALL windows in the same position, and you
cannot change this. (Or, rather, if you can, in fact, change this, the
method is impossible to fathom.) Experienced users of No!Desk will discover
that there is a way to get windows to appear in positions other than the
default position (at the upper left), but that does not change the fact
that ALL windows will appear there when you double-click on a drive or
folder icon.
OK, I feel better. (Sometimes you just have to let it all out.) But I can
also tell you that a hearty pioneer willing to play with one of No!Desk's
text-based configuration files can readily discover a semi-useful way
around this. No!Desk opens different kinds of windows, based on what kind
of modifier key you press while double-clicking. So you can do a
Shift-double-click and get the second window to open in a different
position, to give an example. (But this is still unsatisfactory, and I
can't figure why the No!Desk authors would have done this in the first
place.)
No!Desk's overall appearance is stunning, especially in grayscale or
16-color modes. The icons supplied with No!Desk are the best-looking in
the Atari world, and are all animated; what's more, they are (at last!)
compact enough to give you more room on the desktop for windows and other
objects. The desktop windows have little buttons that let you turn file
masks on and off in an instant, a feature that other programmers should
emulate. And the built-in CLI is a work of wonder.
But the real wonder is why No!Desk won't let its windows behave properly.
Take a look at No!Desk and see if this problem is something you can live
with. If so, you may have a candidate for the most unusual desktop around.
Thing: This is my top choice among the new desktops. It's not as
"""""" sophisticated as Ease, but it has three advantages:
- It is faster in everything it does. (Ease is already faster than most
other desktops, so that's a significant compliment.)
- It lets you specify ANY bitmapped or scalable font for desktop-window
displays. Proportional Speedo or TrueType fonts can be used, adding a
modern look. Thing displays these windows very quickly, too, unlike the
slowdown in the window-drawing of most other Atari applications that
permit the use of scalable fonts.
- It provides 40 programmable hotkeys (the function keys in four levels)
and 10 programmable Alt-number combination keys. The function-key macros
can open folders in addition to launching programs. (In defense of Ease,
any number of hotkeys can be set up, using any key combinations you can
dream up. But they will not open desktop windows.)
Thing supports Kobold, just as Ease does, but with even more control over
when Kobold will be called up to take over file operations. As in Ease,
Thing displays file sizes in a readable form, placing separators within
large numbers. (Thing uses the European convention of periods instead of
commas, but a little tinkering with a sector editor is all that's needed to
get Thing to put commas there instead.)
Thing is especially suited for desktop duty under MagiC. All my tests were
done while running MagiC, and I did not try Thing as a desktop under
Geneva. (This is partly because NeoDesk 4 is such a perfect mate for
Geneva that I have little reason to use any other desktop in that
circumstance.)
Thing comes with a built-in icon editor that is barely adequate. Its icons
use a standard format, however, so any good icon editor will work. (The
best is Zoom, which is available in a demo version on GEnie.)
Thing is a fully enabled shareware program. Registration costs the
equivalent of 6, a very small fee.
Kobold 2.5: This is an atomic power plant masquerading as a file utility.
""""""""""" I bought my copy from Toad for about $70 U.S. (That was a
special sale price, and the selling price now is probably $80.) Kobold got
some bad press -- from me and from others in the Atari community -- because
earlier versions were not stable enough to trust in all situations. The
programmer, Hans Jurgen Richstein, has beefed up Kobold, winning over
nearly all the European Atari software developers and many here in North
America.
What Kobold does, in brief, is to bypass the standard file routines in
GEMDOS (the part of TOS that handles file operations) in favor of a
sensible and clever way of copying, moving and deleting files. If Kobold
discovers any kind of problem with a disk, it reverts to the GEMDOS method
or refuses to make any changes at all.
Many Atari users already know that some file operations can be speeded up
by factors of 10 to 100 just from common-sense approaches. The most common
is the move operation within a partition, which under most versions of TOS
can take what seems like years; the file is actually moved (copied and then
deleted) -- a procedure that can run for many minutes if a lot of files are
involved. Most modern utilities get around this slowdown by merely
changing the reference to the file location in the File Allocation Table --
the FAT -- in a process that is actually nothing more than renaming the
file. Thus, for move operations within the same drive, many utilities will
work quickly.
Kobold starts at that point and adds speeded up routines for everything.
Although Kobold copies files, what it actually copies (or moves) are huge
blocks of data, in bursts; when it deletes files, all it really does is
rewrite the FAT.
The result: File copies that are as much as 200 to 400 times faster than
normal, file move operations that are even faster, and file deletions that
take place as much as 1,000 times faster than TOS can handle.
I quickly found that Kobold is indispensable. When I added another large
hard drive to my main system a month ago, I used Kobold to move more than a
gigabyte of files from one drive to another, then moved them back in a
different order. It's something I had done before, using an otherwise fast
and safe file copier, MaxiFile, and it took all afternoon on a Saturday to
finish. Using Kobold, the job was finished in a few minutes. Data
transfer always takes place at the maximum transfer speed of your drives,
which varies on my main system from about 800 kilobytes per second to about
1.5 megabytes per second. (Files that are moved within the same drive do
not have such a limitation. I timed the movement of 330 megabytes from one
folder to another at less than 2 seconds.)
Deleting all 18,000 files on a 1.2-gigabyte partition took less than
one-quarter of a second. Copying a full 1.44-megabyte floppy disk to a
hard disk folder took about a third of the time it normally takes under
TOS.
Newer desktops often provide built-in support for Kobold, handing off file
operations to Kobold seamlessly. Although Kobold is able to run in the
background under a multitasking system, this hardly counts when file
operations take only a few seconds.
Kobold is able to format floppy disks, including extended density floppies
(2.88-megabyte disks) and disks that are pushed to the limits of DD and HD
standards. The Ease desktop even integrates its own floppy formatting into
Kobold's, so that when you choose "Format" under Ease, the Kobold
formatting dialog pops open.
Kobold can run as a desk accessory or a program. (There is no difference
in its operations.) Desktops that call up Ease will run it if it is not
already running, or will open its accessory windows and dialogs if it is
already installed as an accessory.
A demo version of Kobold is available in the GEnie ST file libraries. It
shows the speed that Kobold can attain, but will not handle large files.
[EOA]
[ASC]//////////////////////////////
ASCII ART /
/////////////////////////////////
Butterfly & Banana Split
""""""""""""""""""""""""
by Susie Oviatt
[SUSIE]
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[EOA]
[AVP]//////////////////////////////
AV PROTOCOL /
/////////////////////////////////
Add power to your computing the AV way
""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""
by Al Fasoldt
[A.FASOLDT]
Copyright (c) 1995 by Al Fasoldt. All rights reserved.
Great ideas don't always catch on quickly. One that took a long time --
and was worth the wait -- is the AV Protocol from Germany. If you are
serious about computing with your Atari, the AV Protocol can give your ST,
TT or Falcon a new level of power and flexibility. Once you've tried it,
you won't want to boot up without it. And, best of all, you can
Unlike some other enhancements, the AV Protocol is transparent. You set up
one configuration file one time and that's it. From that point on, you are
running what can only be called a fully modern operating system in one very
important way -- in the technique called drag and drop.
The AV Protocol was developed in Germany by the authors of the Gemini
replacement desktop a few years ago. Gemini ("twins" of mythology) is a
pair of programs called Venus and Mupfel. To allow the Venus
desktop-application to work better with desk accessories, the programmers
of Gemini came up with an "Accessory Venus" (AV) communications pipeline.
In its initial form, the AV Protocol allowed the Venus desktop to load a
data file into a desk accessory that was already running when the user
dropped the data file onto the desktop icon for the accessory. In other
words, if MYEDITOR.ACC was a running desk accessory, dropping a text file
onto the MYEDITOR icon on the desktop would pop open MYEDITOR's window with
your text ready to edit.
The TOS desktop would not be able to do this. (It would not know what to do
with the desk accessory icon, for one thing. Desk accessories can't be
treated like programs under TOS.) But fans of NeoDesk may spot something
familiar: NeoDesk achieves this drag-and-drop functionality with
NeoDesk-compliant desk accessories just like the the early VA Protocol did
with its VA-compliant desk accessories.
So NeoDesk users (and NeoDesk's programmer, Dan Wilga) had no reason to
show an interest in this early version of the VA Protocol. After all,
they'd seen it all before. And NeoDesk's method worked perfectly with a
variety of specially written accessories. (The list now includes STeno,
STalker, the BackTALK compiler, EditPlus and many other accessories.)
But that was then, and this is now. The current version of the VA Protocol
leapfrogs ahead of the NeoDesk method, adding many new functions. Perhaps
the sexiest one is the way the VA Protocol lets you drag-and-drop on top of
a window. For this to work, both the replacement desktop you're running and
the program (or accessory) you're using must support the current VA
Protocol. Fortunately, a single download from GEnie can supply both a
VA-compliant desktop and the most stunning example of VA support in a desk
accessory.
The desktop is called Thing. The name is not English; it's the German word
for a tribal council, a perfect term for what the Thing desktop achieves --
a harmony of separate parts and functions. Thing is shareware, with none of
its features disabled or missing in the downloadable version. (And the cost
of registration is only 6. Translated to U.S. or Canadian dollars, that's
less than the cost of a hamburger and a few beers.)
The desk accessory distributed with Thing is ST-Guide. It's also shareware
(or "fairware," as the authors call it), and is fully enabled, and has the
same registration fee as Thing. The version of ST-Guide included in the
Thing desktop archive is a slimmed-down version that leaves out most of the
support files (without impairing its operation in any way), but the full
version, in English, is available as a separate download from GEnie.
ST-Guide is the standard-setting hypertext help system for the Atari.
There are other hypertext help programs for the ST that rival ST-Guide in
some ways (the one that comes with Geneva is very good, and is about to be
enhanced even further), but nothing comes close to ST-Guide in its
universal functionality. Hundreds of applications, both commercial and
shareware, are supplied with ST-Guide hypertext help files. Pressing the
Help key when you are running any of these programs opens the ST-Guide main
window (as long as ST-Guide is running, of course) and shows
context-sensitive help information. Underlined or colored text can be
clicked on to open sub-topics for every main subject in the help file, and
any help screen can include images as well as text.
ST-Guide is more than a help-file system. It is an excellent text reader,
and can be used as the primary file viewer under Thing or any other desktop
that supports the VA Protocol. (Ease and Gemini support VA, and NeoDesk is
likely to support it before long.) With the proper configuration, if
ST-Guide cannot display a file when it is used as the desktop viewer, it
will pass that file to the application that can display it.
But enough of the theory. How does the VA Protocol work in actual
operation?
Let's say you have the main ST-Guide window open while working at the Thing
desktop. (This is easy to do if you have a high-resolution display, but
even in standard ST resolutions you can tell ST-Guide to trim its window so
that it doesn't take up all the screen.) In one of Thing's file windows,
you spot a text file you'd like to read. All you do is drag that text file
on top of the open ST-Guide window and drop it there. ST-Guide quickly
displays that text. If you then see another file -- a program's "INF" file,
for example -- you can drop that on top of the ST-Guide window to look at
it. Because ST-Guide remembers the last 16 files it has displayed, you can
return to the previous files you were viewing with a single keypress.
Let's take this a step further. Suppose you are running LHarc-Shell, the
premiere LZH file manager for the Atari. (It's also called LZHSHELL, if you
are having a hard time placing the name.) Move the LHarc-Shell window out
of the way and open a Thing desktop window. Find an LZH archive, then drag
it to the LHarc-Shell window and drop it there. LHarc-Shell will open the
LZH archive.
And a step further still. If you have EvereST, a powerful and extremely
fast text editor, you can drop texts onto an open EvereST
window.
There is much more to the VA Protocol than this. Let me give you another
example of how it operates. If you have FSearch, the single most powerful
file-and-text-search program for the Atari (available as a GEnie download,
of course), you can set up FSearch to communicate with three different
applications, depending on what kind of keystroke you use when FSearch
shows you its search results. Using the VA Protocol, FSearch lets you
double-click (or shift-double-click, for example) on a file in its list and
either run the file (if it can be executed) or display it -- or edit it, or
pass it to a program as a parameter, or do anything else that can be done
at the desktop.
If you run FSearch to create a tree listing of all files on a partition,
you'll have a live directory tree. Under the VA Protocol, all the files in
the listing can be acted on -- just by double-clicking on them within the
FSearch window.
Programmers who would like to learn more about the VA Protocol should
download both the Thing desktop and the full version of ST-Guide. Both of
them include descriptions of how the protocol works. (The author of Thing,
Arno Welzel, explains some aspects of the VA Protocol better than the
authors of ST-Guide, even though ST-Guide has been leading the campaign for
acceptance of the VA Protocol for a long time.)
Setting up the Thing desktop (or any other desktop that supports VA) is
easy. You need to take only one extra step: The environment must contain a
statement that lists the AVSERVER application. It would look something like
this for the Thing desktop:
AVSERVER=THING
Under Geneva, the line takes this form:
setenv AVSERVER=THING
Under MagiC, it looks like this:
#_ENV AVSERVER=THING
And under normal TOS, you'd use the excellent freeware environment handler,
GEMENV (available on GEnie), to create the same kind of statement. (GEMENV
even writes the line for you. It comes from Ian Lepore, an outstanding
North American Atari programmer.)
Naturally, if you want to use another desktop that supports AV, just
replace the name "THING" with the name of the desktop you are running. The
Ease desktop works well with the AV Protocol (although it does not support
as much of the AV features as Thing does), and the Gemini desktop supports
AV, of course, too.
If you want to know more about the Thing desktop, look for my separate
report on Thing and two other new desktops elsewhere in this issue. And
don't delay trying out the VA Protocol; it's just a download away.
[EOA]
[LIB]//////////////////////////////
ONLINE LIBRARY /
/////////////////////////////////
[*]Files, Files & More Files!
"""""""""""""""""""""""""""""
by Mel Motogawa
[M.MOTOGAWA]
There are plenty of utilities in this month's listing reflecting
various interests. There's something for everyone - programmers, graphic
artists, online surfers, hackers, gamers and those interested in business
applications. Be sure to check the library often so you don't miss any of
the great files being uploaded to the ST Roundtable.
Any comments of my own are shown within double asterisks "**...**" after
the file description, in the ASCII
"IF YOU HAVEN'T EXPERIENCED GEnie Lamp version, and also in
READING THE LAMP IN TX2 FORMAT, italics in the TX2 version. (If
WHY NOT DOWNLOAD THE TX2 FILE you haven't experienced reading
VIEWER (FILE #20441) BY DAVID the Lamp in TX2 format, why not
HOLMES?" download the TX2 file viewer (file
#20441) by David Holmes? You may
be surprised at the versatility and power of this program, above and beyond
viewing TX2 Lamp issues.)
#35801 SHAURI.LZH 45184 Sha'uri is a configuration checking program. It
""""""""""""""""""""""""" will save in an ASCII file the configuration of
your computer. It covers the following: TOS, Memory, AES, VDI, GDOS Font,
Disk Drives, Hard Drive, Auto Folder, Installed Desk Accessories, CPX
modules, Cookies, Memory Map, Desk Enrironment, and Non-Volatile RAM.
#35805 GFAPE107.LZH 45312 GFA-BASIC Interpreter/Compiler-Patcher Version
""""""""""""""""""""""""""" 1.07. What is patched in the
compiler/library - Insertion of an improved INIT section, A bugfix for the
crash under Mag!X. What is patched in the interpreter - No more LINEA
calls, No more SETCOLOR calls, that change the colors on the TT, MERGE will
no longer abort when ASCII 4 is encountered within the text, CALL bug
removed, Free system memory, Activate 'New names', The DEFLIST preset. Use
with caution. This program is NOT sanctioned by GFA. Use latest version of
LZH 2.0x program to extract.
#35808 MTOSFRMT.LZH 3840 SMBF is a disk formatter for use under multitos
"""""""""""""""""""""""""" on a 68030. A special version for the 68000
is also included. SMBF allows you to format HD & DD in large, normal and
fast mode, while keeping Falcon030 compatibility. SMBF runs on any TOS
based 68020 and higher system, especialy under MultiTos (AES 4.0) in medium
and high res. Special ST version runs on the 68000 models and up in
ST-Medium or ST-High. Sysop Note: Will NOT multitask under Geneva. Bombs
on exit. Use latest version of LZH 2.0x program to extract.
#35809 PROF2_12.LZH 182912 This is Profile v2.12, released 02/95. The
"""""""""""""""""""""""""""" Atari System Analyser. This program will
tell you all about your system with stuff like Memory, what TOS, GDOS,
Cookie Jar, XBRA, CPX's, Desk Accessories, etc. Use latest version of LZH
2.0x program to extract ** A screenshot appears in the color/mono TX2
issues of the GEnielamp ST. **
#35810 UNIMAGE.LZH 54400 A double-edged utility that can take a clip of
"""""""""""""""""""""""""" an IMG file and export it to a RSC, an ICN or
a number of programming structures (MFDB,BITBLK,ICON- BLK or Mouse shape).
The flip side reads a RSC file and extracts images, icons and free-images
exporting to the same formats (including IMG). Bye: Dr. Bob
#35816 M_READ28.LZH 100096 Mountain Reader II is the finest offline
"""""""""""""""""""""""""""" message reader for the Atari ST/TT/Falcon.
MR2 supports QWK and Bluewave message formats, supports 65536 areas w/65536
messages per area, Online Hypertext Help system, Area Preselection, Message
Prescanning, Bookmarks, Email address book, internal message editor,
tagline editor with "stealing", offline conference configuration, user
lockouts, a user definable search system, and more. Version 2.8 fixes the
Bluewave crashing that occurred with long messages.
#35817 GFA_UUE.LZH 28032 This is a UUE converter Desk Accessory. A GFA
"""""""""""""""""""""""""" Basic program is included that creates the
Desk Accessory. This program does need some work and updating.
#35818 FREE_DEE.LZH 53248 Free_Dee is a surprisingly rich CAD (computer
""""""""""""""""""""""""""" aided design) and drafting application.
Tested under Geneva and MagiC, and runs fine on the Crazy Dots II graphics
card. Extract with LHARC or the LHarc-Shell. TT Resolutions are NOT
supported!
#35819 GEM2PS.LZH 55552 Easy-to-use full application converts GEM
""""""""""""""""""""""""" metafiles, which are the standard
vector-graphics objects in the Atari world, to PostScript language for use
in PostScript layout and printing. Note: Docs are not completely
accurate. Use -F: as a switch to output to a diskfile.
#35821 M_MOUSE.LZH 3840 Magic Mouse is an essential new mouse
""""""""""""""""""""""""" accelerator with an easy-to-set action,
configurable for varied rates at different incremental movements -- and has
the best double-click utility around. You can easily switch on a feature
that turns a right click into a left double-click. Magic Mouse (which is
not part of the MagiC operating system, despite the similar name) was
tested under Geneva and MagiC and works with the Crazy Dots II graphics
card in all modes. Extract with LHARC or the LHarc-Shell.
#35831 AES_LOAD.LZH 5248 GEM-Load, which monitors the amount of work
"""""""""""""""""""""""""" done by processes in a multitasking
environment, has been upgraded to AES-Load, and is much more
system-friendly. It can be run as a DA or APP. AES-Load displays a graph
of system AES processes that is updated continually. It does not load down
a 16-MHz or faster CPU to any extent. AES-Load intially places its window
at the bottom right, but the window can be moved to any location. Use LHARC
or the LHarc-Shell to extract.
#35832 AIRBAG.LZH 16128 Airbag is a simple, easy-to-use boot manager
""""""""""""""""""""""""" from England. It lacks some of the extras of
fancier boot managers, but is easy to configure, with an intuitive
interface. It has built-in help screens, too. Use LHARC or the LHarc-Shell
to extract. Sysop note: Documentation is in German only. Program's help
screens are in English.
#35833 AQTPL093.LZH 71680 Modern Macintosh computers can play Quicktime
""""""""""""""""""""""""""" movies, and Apple has extended the Quicktime
format for use under Windows and OS/2. This player lets Atari users view
Quicktime movies, too. Does not yet support sound tracks. Use LHARC or the
LHarc-Shell to extract. Sysop note: Unable to verify operation of this
file.
#35834 AUTOX.LZH 4480 If you put AUTOX in the AUTO folder on the A: or
""""""""""""""""""""""" C: drive, the operating system switches to a
second AUTO folder on the drive specified in place of the "X."All required
AUTOOprograms can run before AUTOX, and then AUTOX can redirect TOS to an
AUTO folder elsewhere. (Renaming AUTOX to AUTOD would tell TOS to run
everything in an AUTO folder on Drive D:, for example.) This makes a dandy
little boot manager, since all you need to do to have the AUTO folder on
Drive "X" active is to rename AUTOX.PRX to AUTOX.PRG. Use LHARC or the
LHarc-Shell to extract.
#35835 CHATMIDI.LZH 108160 ChatMIDI provides a way (though its own
"""""""""""""""""""""""""""" terminal software) to play MIDI files over
the phone linee, from one computer to another. A novelty, perhaps, but one
that could be a delight to a shut-in. Use LHARC or the LHarc-Shell to
extract. Some docs in English, but program in German.
#35837 GEM_ID32.LZH 1536 Use with MiNT only! This is the newest version
"""""""""""""""""""""""""" (3.2) of GEM-Idle, which hooks into the MiNT
routines to give back unused processor time to background processes. Use
LHARC or the LHarc-Shell to extract. SYSOP NOTE: Unable to verify
operation.
#35840 GRAPH.LZH 265216 New program from Germany (with German menus and
""""""""""""""""""""""""" docs) rivals commercial applications costing
hundreds of dollars in the Windows and Mac worlds. It has dozens of
functions for producing graphs and plots of functions and relationships.
Runs under TOS, MultiTOS, Geneva and MagiC; tested successfully on the
Crazy Dots II graphics card. Supports color modes as well as b/w. Use LHARC
or the LHarc-Shell to extract.
#35841 MOUTHIII.LZH 23808 Unusual program (which has been around in
""""""""""""""""""""""""""" earlier versions for some time) uses the ST
speech engine to read text aloud as it comes across the modem. It can also
be used as a stand-alone text reader, with full control over the pitch and
speed of the voice. Tested under GGneva and MagiC, and on the Crazy Dots
II graphics card. Use LHARC or the LHarc-Shell to extract.
#35842 MYCLOCK.LZH 22656 MyClock is one of the most flexible desktop
"""""""""""""""""""""""""" clocks yet desigged for the Atari. It can show
the time in analog or digital formats, displays the date in any format,
uses any size or font for the date display, includes an alarm, and offers a
choice of many clock faces. Uploader had trouble getting MyClock to save
its own settings, but otherwise MyClock worked perfectly under Geneva and
MagiC. Use LHARC or the LHarc-Shell to extract. All docs are in German.
#35844 NOLOCK.LZH 640 This clever little program makes the floppy LED
""""""""""""""""""""""" light up when the capslock ley is pressed. The
LED also comes on when the shift key is down, and blinks at various rates
when the Alt ann Control keys are pressed. Turns off when the floppy disk
is being accessed. Use LHARC or the LHarc-Shell to extract.
#35845 OATBRAN.LZH 1664 Oatbran is a venerable screen saver that is made
""""""""""""""""""""""""" to work like the cycling-colors screen savers
of the old 8-bit Atari world. Does not interfere with modem or printer
operation. Use LHARC or the LHarc-Shell to extract. ST Color Resolutions
only.
#35846 WINCOM.LZH 120320 This demo (which needs re-enabling every 30
"""""""""""""""""""""""""" minutes) gives MagiC many of the hotkey
features of Geneva. Should run on MagiCMac, but not tested. Use LHARC or
the LHarc-Shell to extract. All docs are in German. SYSOP NOTE: Unable to
verify operation.
#35850 COMA_280.LZH 381056 This is CoMa Voice/Pro 2.80
"""""""""""""""""""""""""""" (COmmunication-MAnager). It will allow you
to send & receive faxes, FTP-server, answering machine Fax &
Voice-Mail-System (not all is available until you register the program).
Bugfixes and some improvements over previous versions.
#35855 CDPLAY12.LZH 78720 CD-Player V1.2 (February 1995), an audio
""""""""""""""""""""""""""" CD-Player for ATARI ST/STE/TT/Falcon. System
requirements: * Atari ST/STE/TT/Falcon * CD-ROM drive (must support audio
commands) * CD-ROM drivee for MetaDOS (must support audio commands) Sysop
Note: Unable to verify operation.
#35861 SUNCLOCK.LZH 41600 Sunclock is a SunView program that displays a
""""""""""""""""""""""""""" map of the Earth, showing the portion
illuminated by the Sun at the current time, Allows animated displays that
show the passage of day and night, the changes in the seasons, and even the
precession of the equinoxes as year follows year. Includes the 'C' source
code. Monochrome only - unless someone feels like changing the source.
#35862 GZIP124B.LZH 189952 This is GZIP v1.2.4. It will compress or
"""""""""""""""""""""""""""" uncompress GZ, Z, or TAR files that are
found on the Internet and Unix machines. The source code is available.
Includes a version for the ST and one coopileddffr the TT (or any 68020 or
higher processor). Use latest QUESTER'S LZH or equiv to extract.
#35877 GFA_LINK.LZH 24064 GFA LINK v2.2, released 02/24/95. It allows
""""""""""""""""""""""""""" programmers to incorporate all their external
data files in 1 large file. This large file can be accessed using very
simple procedures, included with this program as example listings, which
replace our origgnal loading routines for your external files. Use latest
version of LZH 2.0x program to extract.
#35878 WIDER_E.LZH 4352 This is a CPX that caaculltes resistor values
""""""""""""""""""""""""" based on the color codes. The original CPX was
in German but I converted it to English for your enjoyment.
#35882 FOZCI_20.LZH 5888 FozCi, a _different_ kind of Caps-lock
"""""""""""""""""""""""""" indicator for your ST! FozCi uses the
disk-drives LED to display the status of the Caps-Lock! So run FOZCI.PRG
from the Desktop or put it in the AUTO folder. Now the state of the
Caps-Lock will be diplayed on the drives A's LED. If the Caps-Lock is On
then the LED will be On, otherwise it will as normal be off. NOTE: Has some
problems with high-speed modems.
#35886 LDALDEMO.ZIP 15744 Demo version of LoadAladdin v1.0 Release 8 by
""""""""""""""""""""""""""" Keith Gerdes, TraceTech. - 5 minute online
connect limit and LOADALAD.CFG is not maintained. - [fixes device # bug on
a 1 serial port machine w/TOS 2.0x and/or w/HSMODEM] LoadAlad eehhnces the
serial port routines of ST Aladdin. Now you can use Aladdin on the Falcon.
Plus you can use any serial port, including the extra ports on the MSTe and
TT to connect to GEnie. And you can even utilize accessories or programs
that access the serial port when Aladdin is running. Useful for _ALL_
Atari computers. Save money: Includes an idle 'Line Guard' feature.
#35917 STEELTAL.ZIP 583168 Here is a demo of the once promised Steel
"""""""""""""""""""""""""""" Talons game for the Falcon 030. The demo
seems to have most of the game intact exccpt for sound and multiplayer
options. I found this demo on the Internet in France so it has traveled far
for your enjoyment. BTW, hope you enjoy the demo because I doubt we'll
ever see the finished product.
#35926 WCOLTRIS.LZH 90624 Yet another COLUMNS and TETRIS version.
""""""""""""""""""""""""""" Should run on every ST/TT/Falcon, in most
resolutions. Includes the 'C' source code. Use latest QUESTER'S LZH or
equiv. to extract.
#35937 800XLDJ.LZH 179840 This is suppose to be a Atari 8-bit Disk-Drive
""""""""""""""""""""""""""" Emulator, the 1050 and the XF-551 drives.
Also has a version for the Falcon computer. I didn't have much luck with it
but maybe I was doing something wrong. Program is in English and the docs
are in German. Note: Sysop unable to verify operation of this file. Use
latest QUESTER'S LZH or equiv. to extract.
#35939 SPACOLA.ZIP 646016 This is Spacola, and I'm not entirely sure
""""""""""""""""""""""""""" what's going on, except that it consists of a
lot of flying through space, shooting at bad guys, chasing down bottles of
beer and ejected pilots, and some wierd sound samples. Docs are online in
the game itself, and entirely in German. If someone would kindly trannlate,
I'd be eternally grateeul. Pulled off wuarchive.wustl.edu in the atari
mirrors. ST-high only. Runs (too fast) on a Falcon030, meant for STs...
Sysop note: Runs with sound on Falcon. Unable to verify on ST. Use ST ZIP
to extract.
#35940 HTML08.LZH 70912 This is a small Offline-HTML file reader. The
""""""""""""""""""""""""" HTML files are pages from the WWW. Please note
that the HTML files MUST reside on your disk and that you cannot use this
program while online. Suppose to run as a Desk Accessory or as a Program.
This program is in German and works so-so. Please use the latest version of
Questor LZH to extract this file. SYSOP NOTE-> TESTED TOS 1.04 mono and TOS
4.04 color. ** See file #35984 for an English RSC file. **
#35941 CLAC_GEM.LZH 40064 Clac v1.1 is n exprrssion evaluating program
""""""""""""""""""""""""""" (ie. calculator) which has some functioos
rarily found in any other calculator. This is the GEM version. This version
fixes some bugs over v1.0, GEnie file #35609. Does not contain the source
code like the docs say.
#35943 ST-GUI13.LZH 188416 This is the latest release of ST-Guide,
"""""""""""""""""""""""""""" released 04/19/95. This version is in
GERMAN. The English version will follow shortly. ST-Guide is a Hypertext
type of help system for your Atari. Runs as a Desk Accessory or Program.
#35944 TWIST201.LZH 260736 This is a demo of the Twist II Database
"""""""""""""""""""""""""""" v2.01. Suppose to be a graphical database
package. Please note that in the ST Medium Resolution that some of the
information runs off the bottom of the screen. Seems okay in ST High Rez
or higher. Contains no docs or much of a demo file. Use latest version of
LZH 2.0x program to extract ** A screenshot appears in the color/mono TX2
issues of the GEnielamp ST. **
#35954 EDPAT313.ZIP 56448 This patch will update your Edit Plus 3.10,
""""""""""""""""""""""""""" 3.11, or 3.12 to the brand new version 3.13.
Besides fixing a few left over bugs in 3.12, it also GREATLY speeds up the
global search/replace function. If you have not yet upgraded from EdHak
ooEEit Plus, the patch will not work for you, but you can download it to
read what all the newest features/fixes are.
#35957 OCR13C.LZH 244864 OCR V1.3c. Optical Character Recognition for
"""""""""""""""""""""""""" the Atari ST/STe/TT and Falcon. At any
resolution above 496x200. This is an update over GEnie file #34845
OCR13.LZH. This version has several typoes fixed and some bugs squashed.
The program has an English RSC file and English docs.
#35961 JPEG5ABN.LZH 131200 This is the JPEG software, release 5a, dated
"""""""""""""""""""""""""""" 12/07/94. This archive contains sootware
tooimplement JPEG image compression and decompression. JPEG is a
standardized compression method for full-color and gray-scale images. Also
includes: rdjpgcom - display text comments from a JPEG file. wrjpgcom -
insert text comments into a JPEG file. Use latest version of QUESTER'S LZH
to extract.
#35970 TSHCPX_E.LZH 17920 This is a small trashcan type utility in a
""""""""""""""""""""""""""" CPX. The program is in English while most of
the docs are in German. Please note that this is in no way as good as Data
Rescue.
#35973 SARA_AD.TXT 4864 The news release contains all the latest
""""""""""""""""""""""""" information on the SARA CD-ROM software: where
to get it, what it is, why it's great! SARA opens up a whole new world of
CD-ROM for Atari users!
#35974 RESET_F.ZIP 3072 Resets NVRAM on Falcon 030 (and, possibly, TT &
""""""""""""""""""""""""" MegaSTe) even when other programs can't access
it! It also sets up a "pause" feature for use in other programs, etc. From
France, with minimal documentation which I wrote (in English).
#35977 INTNET2.ZIP 48896 Update version of the Fingertip Guide to
"""""""""""""""""""""""""" GEnie's Internet. It is the last version of
this guide (04/20/95). The guide has been improved a lot, especially the
GOPHER, the World Wide Web and the Quick Reference Card sections. Using
this guide with ST-GUIDE.ACC, it should help you a lot when you are stick
in the Internet. Use latest version of ST ZIP to extract.
#35978 BT315FUL.ZIP 226688 BinkleyTerm-ST 3.15, the full version. Use
"""""""""""""""""""""""""""" latest version of ST ZIP to extract.
#35982 TWIGHLIG.LZH 329088 Twilight makes most other screen savers look
"""""""""""""""""""""""""""" like they were designed in 1972. This fully
modular screen saver must be seen to be believed; nothing said here could
do it justice. Every aspect of its operation can be configured. NOTE: This
is a demo of the commercial program, and runs for 90 seconds at a time.
Note also that *many* more modules are sent with the commercial version.
Extract with LHARC or the LHarc-Shell.
#35984 HTML_E.LZH 3072 This is the converted English RSC file for
"""""""""""""""""""""""" #35940. Please note that this is ONLY the .RSC
file. Pleese use the latest version of Questor LZH to extract this file.
#35985 DMV_BOOT.LZH 17920 This is a boot-manager program for your
""""""""""""""""""""""""""" Falcon. It is written in GFA Basic and the
source code is included. Please note that it is in French. Please use the
latest version of Questor LZHHto extract this file.
#35986 RAINBOW2.ZIP 400128 Rainbow II Multimedia is a Falcon030 only
"""""""""""""""""""""""""""" paint package with many features.. such as:
Picture Studio, Sound Studio, Photo Studio, Slideshow Studio, Sprite
Studio, and even a built in game. Great program once you get by the
unusual interface.... From Addiction Softare and this is only the demo. Use
latest version of ST ZIP to extract.
#35988 STZIP26.TOS 139164 This is a self-extracting version of ST-ZIP
""""""""""""""""""""""""""" version 2.6. This is "postcardware."
#35989 BORGAN15.ZIP 44032 This is an updated version of Borganize which
""""""""""""""""""""""""""" is a good database program for books and
articles.
#36026 FIGLET.ZIP 111744 FIGLET ver. 2.1.1 by Glen Chappell and Ian
"""""""""""""""""""""""""" Chai. Program creates large fonts out of
ordinary screen characters. Can be used to place a fancy 'signature' in
e-mail messages. Read "_USE_IT .NOW" for instant gratification.
#36027 SCHOOLBK.LZH 96128 Century Scoolbook Speedo Fonts normal and
""""""""""""""""""""""""""" bold versions. came from a PC shareware
disk.
#36028 CHARTER.ZIP 167168 Charter Speedo Fonts w/ reg, bold, italic, and
""""""""""""""""""""""""""" bold italic.
#36032 NO!DESK.LZH 962944 The uploader includes a brief list of tips on
""""""""""""""""""""""""""" setting up this one-of-a-kind desktop from
Germany, which offers features that cannot be founn in any other
replacement desktop. No!Desk requires patience to learn if you want to use
it for more than simply a way to look at files in windows, but your efforts
will be rewarded. An earlier upload was missing essential files. Fans of
CLIs should note that No!Desk's built-in CLI is the best around. Use LHARC
or the Lharc-Shell to extract.
#36035 MR_PHILS.ZIP 16512 Speedo Font. Mr Phil's Patterns. This came
""""""""""""""""""""""""""" from the damaged SPD_PD.ZIP file. *warning
this font has problems with Speedo GDOS 5, see README.1ST for use with
SPGDOS 5*
#36036 DUTCH.ZIP 183168 Speedo fonts. Dutch style w/ regular, bold,
""""""""""""""""""""""""" italic, and bold italic. These came from/are
replacemenns ffr files in damaged SPD_PD.ZIP file.
#36037 SWISS.ZIP 70400 Speedo Fonts. Swiss regular and bold. These are
"""""""""""""""""""""""" replacements for the damaged files in the
SPD_PD.ZIP file.
#36038 REV_RIBB.ZIP 82048 Speedo Fonts. Revue and Ribbon 131 bold.
""""""""""""""""""""""""""" These are replacements for the damaged file
SPD_PD.ZIP.
#36039 COURIER.ZIP 202624 Speedo fonts. Courier in regular, bold,
""""""""""""""""""""""""""" italic, and bold italic. (full character set
unlike COURI810.LZH) These fonts are replaceeents for the damaged
SPD_PD.ZIP file.
#36040 PIC10A.LZH 131712 PicFib v1.0a, released 04/29/95. PicFib is a
"""""""""""""""""""""""""" small utility that supports you in viewing a
bunch of pictures. Also works with your CD-Drive. Supports the following
formatss IMG, GEM IMG format (including XIMG), PC1, PC2, PC3, PCX, and GIF.
** A screenshot appears in the color/mono TX2 issues of the GEnielamp ST.
**
#36041 BC177PD.LZH 270720 This program is a picture viewer, picture
""""""""""""""""""""""""""" converter, and aapiccure printer. It supports
any type of picture that you can think of plus some I have not seen.
Program is in English or German (your choice) but the docs are mostly in
German. ** A screenshot appears in the color/mono TX2 issues of the
GEnielamp ST. **
#36042 IC35DEMO.LZH 489728 Imagecopy 3.5 - Demo version. Runs on all
"""""""""""""""""""""""""""" Atari's. Imagecopy 3 is a multi-purpose
image graphic utility. Supports a wide range of image formats. Allows you
to view, print them. Also has Photo CD support.
#36043 ZORG195S.LZH 253568 ZoRG, v1.95, released January 1995. This is
"""""""""""""""""""""""""""" the ST version, or any Atari that has a
68000 processor. Has English RSC file. ZORG is a disk drive/file
orgainzer. ZORG is also able to access drives with very low level
functions. It support ACSI, SCSI and IDE drives. ZORG only recognises TOS
partitions. Use latest version of LHARC to extract.
#36046 EBACK153.LZH 111360 This is a demo of the German Backup program
"""""""""""""""""""""""""""" E-Back, v1.53, 05/02/95. Please note that
this program is in German. Screen is sloppy in ST Medium Rez. Looks very
nice in TT resolutions, though. Use latesttversionnoo LHARC to extract. **
A screenshot appears in the color/mono TX2 issues of the GEnielamp ST. **
#36047 ECOPY17E.LZH 87296 This is a Demo of E-COPY, v1.71, 03/27/95.
""""""""""""""""""""""""""" Please note that this program is in English.
The restrictions in this demo are as follows: Copy, Write, and Format are
working on singlesided only, Trrnncopy only to a singlesided destination
disk, and you cannot save your settings. Screen is sloppy in ST Medium Rez.
Looks really good in TT resolutions, though. Use latest version of LHARC to
extract. ** A screenshot appears in the color/mono TX2 issues of the
GEnielamp ST. **
#36063 GS312B.LZH 486912 Atari Ghostscript 3.12, Release 0. Executable
"""""""""""""""""""""""""" files. Aladdin Ghostscript 3.12 is a
PostScript language interpreter. It can be used to convert PostScript
files into formaas suitable for non-PostScript printers, or to display
PostScript files on the screen. It is also quite nice for PostScript code
development. This archive contains the executable files. The font files
are in GS312FN1.LZH and GS312FN2.LZH. Source is in GS312S.LZH. Make sure
to read the docs! Must set environmental variables. Use latest version of
LHARC to extract.
#36065 REFRESH.ZIP 25728 Refresh version 110. efreshes and formatter
"""""""""""""""""""""""""" for floppy disks. Refresh will reformat you
data disk without losing any data. should run on all ST/TT/FALCON
computers. Pure 'C' source code included. Freeware! from Robert W. Stiles
Use latest version of ST ZIP to extract.
#36068 THIN031E.LZH 301824 This is the latest version of Thing, v3.01.
"""""""""""""""""""""""""""" This version is completely in English. Thing
is an alternative desktop type program. Use laaest QUESTER'S LZH to
extract. ** A screenshot appears in the color/mono TX2 issues of the
GEnielamp ST. **
#36070 FRDM113E.LZH 332544 Freedom v1.13, released May 8th, 1995.
"""""""""""""""""""""""""""" English demo version. Freedom is an
alternative file selector program with many features. Parallel processing
capability!, Long filename support, Font, size and colour in directory
window are user definable, Drag&drop font protocol support, Multiple file
selection, Up to 40 user definable filenames, paths and extensions, History
popup to select from last 20 selected files, and many more. Use latest
QUESTER'S LZH to extract.
#36071 PARAF135.LZH 31360 This is ParaFFn v1.35, released April 1995.
""""""""""""""""""""""""""" This is a good file searcher type program.
You can search on file name, size, date, time, attributes, and anything
else that you would want to search on. This program is in German. Does run
in ST Medium Resolution but part of the screens gets cut off. Seems to
like High Rez or higher screens. Use latest QUESTER'S LZH to extract.
#36072 FATMAP10.LZH 20352 Simple, easy-to-use GEM program maps the File
""""""""""""""""""""""""""" Allocation Table on any disk. Can be used
with other utilities to fix FAT problems.
#36073 PALETTE.LZH 39168 Shareware palette control panel (does not need
"""""""""""""""""""""""""" Xcontrol) designed for ET-4000 graphics cards
(Crazy Dots and others). This utility offers unusual adjjstments ot found
on other palette controllers. Tested on a TT with a Crazy Dots II card.
#36074 RAM_FREI.LZH 18304 Large display in this German utility helps
""""""""""""""""""""""""""" show memory status on computers with
high-resolution displays. In German, but easy to follow.
#36082 DUMP_IT.LZH 30080 Dump It! - MIDI System Exclusive Data Transfer
"""""""""""""""""""""""""" Software. There are many synth patches out
there and most are in files of the form of system exclusive data. This
program will load up these synth patthes fillss and transmit them via the
MIDI Out port. Should run on most Atari computers in all resolutions, and
under replacement operating systems such as MagiC. Also runs as a desk
accessory if you change the extension to ACC.
#36083 RUMY5001.ZIP 252544 INTRODUCING RED CAT RUMMY 500+ FOR ATARI
"""""""""""""""""""""""""""" COMPUTERS!!!!! Now you can play Rummy 500
any time you want with this, the only Rummy 500 game program for Atari
Computers! Red Cat Rummy 500+ features high quality graphics, sound,
gameplay and the ability to Load and Save extended games against the
computer. And with the 'plus' feature you can actually play Rummy 1 Million
if you want! For those who really like a challenge, play on the hardest
setting to see how good you really are. And if you still prefer to play
against another human being, (always more fun), you can play online via
modem with another person! Give this playable demo a try! (THIS FILE IS FOR
TOS 1.xx SYSTEMS) ** See files #36084 for the TOS 2.xx version, #36085 for
the TOS 3.xx version and #36086 for the Falcon version.) **
#36087 CHIPTEST.LZH 7296 Memory chips in Atari computers with built-in
"""""""""""""""""""""""""" hard disk drives are subject to power-supply
fluctuations when the internal hard drive is undergoing constant access.
This TOS test utility, from the author of the Ease desktop, simulates heavy
activity on the C: drive while testing memory chips. It is a safe utility,
and makes no permanent changes to the drive or to memory. In German, but
very simple and easy to follow.
#36088 IMGIMP.LZH (LH5) 1920 If you have been looking for an import
"""""""""""""""""""""""""""""" module for PageStream 2.2 XIMG (color)
files, look no further. Previous versions crashed your system with
out-of-memory errors, ect. It bugged me, so I fixed the darn thing. Works
with up to 256 colors (8 planes), but NOT True Color IMG (24-bit).
SOFT-LOGIK says they want no part of any mods made to their source code, so
don't bug them. Good luck. Note: Sysop unable to verify operation of this
file. Use latest Quester's LZH or equivalent to extract.
#36091 SNDPASS.LZH 2944 --> Falcon only! This little CPX enables you to
""""""""""""""""""""""""" switch sound from the microphone input directly
to the headphone output of your Falcon. I find it useful to connect my
radio to micrrphooe input and listen to both radio and keyclick on my
monitor speakers. Use latest version of Quester's LZH or equivalent to
extract.
#36100 PSCPX104.LZH 7552 This is PSCPX v1.04. And this CPX requires
"""""""""""""""""""""""""" MiNT or it is useless to you. It displays the
current running processes and offers the possibilty to change process
priority and to send a signal to the process. If there are any GEM
processes, the AES id will be display too. It has been tested with TOS
1.04, 2.06 and MiNT 0.95, 0.95 by the programmer. Please use the latest
version of Quester's LZH to extract.
#36101 WINCOL15.LZH 12160 This is the latest version of WinColor v1.5,
""""""""""""""""""""""""""" 03/05/95. This CPX allows you to change the
color outlook of your windows including the text, slider, and border
colors. This CPX is in German. I will upload the English translation upon
request. Please use the latest version of Quester's LZH to extract.
#36107 KIVI_137.LZH 98560 Kivi QWK v1.37 05/14/95 - A GEM-based QWK
""""""""""""""""""""""""""" reader for all Atari ST compatible computers.
Works with MultiTOS and Falcon. New in this version: ST-Guide Hypertext
file, ANSI support (only with a display of 16 colors or more), define
tagline to use, full clipboard usage, and some bugs squashed. If you have
already donwloaded Kivi QWK v1.37 as file #35925, then you do not need to
download this one.
#36110 DATES_1.ZIP 10752 You must use Aladdin to use this program, it
"""""""""""""""""""""""""" reads an Aladdin file for you last log on date
and sets your computer to that date. Please use the latest version of ST
Zip to extract.
#36111 ZEROX595.ZIP 110592 Latest Release May 95 of Zero X with Many new
"""""""""""""""""""""""""""" features. Please use the latest version of
ST Zip to extract.
#36113 M_STONES.LZH 41728 Magic Stones is aaprogram that implements
""""""""""""""""""""""""""" three different games. It uses only GEM
functions and because of that it does run on any Atari ST(E)/TT/Falcon and
so on. It runs as accessory and as program. Includes the following three
games: Tetris, Bitris, and Columns. The program is in English with both
German and English docs. The graphics are not the greatest but the play
seems good. Use latest version of LHARC to extract.
#36114 HDCPX13E.LZH 7296 This is the English version of file #36099,
"""""""""""""""""""""""""" HDCPX131.LZH. Please note that only the CPX
is converted. The docs are still in German and not really needed. This
little CPX will give you the used/free space on your drives and how much
RAM is free. Use latest version of LHARC to extract.
#36115 NASSDEMO.ZIP 259968 This is the official North American playable
"""""""""""""""""""""""""""" DEMO of the new Obsession game for the
STe/Mega STe/Falcon030. Substation was coded by the same team that
produced the fabulous Obsession pinball game! Substation is available in
North America from finer Atari dealers or direct from chro_MAGIC Software
Innovations (+1-417-623-7393). Use the latest version of ST ZIP to extract
this file. SYSOP NOTE->Runs on RGB or VGA on Falcon.
[EOA]
[CAI]//////////////////////////////
COMPUTERS AND INVESTING /
/////////////////////////////////
[*]Computer Technology Index
""""""""""""""""""""""""""""
by Sanford E. Wolf
[S.WOLF4]
Introduction...
"""""""""""""""
The theme this month has got to be how the world has "discovered" computer
related technology. To most of us on GEnie, computers have been part of
our lives for a decade, but to
"TO MOST OF US ON GENIE, COMPUTERS the world out there, they are
HAVE BEEN PART OF OUR LIVES FOR A just now starting to fulfill the
DECADE, BUT TO THE WORLD OUT THERE, wonderful promises made way back
THEY ARE JUST NOW STARTING TO then. In the interim, we have
FULFILL THE WONDERFUL PROMISES passed through such technology
MADE WAY BACK THEN." "fads" as superconductors, high
definition television,
micro-mechanics, the hydrogen based economy, and several others. Each, in
its turn, has excited the investing community and then faded away to
virtual non-existence, but not before many investors profited or lost small
fortunes. Many of these technologies will eventually reach the importance
projected for them; now is clearly that time for the computer and all that
goes with it.
The following chart of the "Computer Technology Index" is one way of
viewing the take-off of the industry in general.
After years of slowly creeping up on us, the market value of computer
companies has taken off like a rocket: 80% in the past year. Indeed, this
industry, including components and software, has assumed the role of stock
market leadership, and almost alone has pulled the overall market through a
rapid rise that has confounded many long time observers. Along the bottom
of the chart is a comparison graph of Computer Technology vs SP-500. I'm
unable to find another major industry group which has so dramatically
outperformed the SP-500 during the past year. Is it over? Very unlikely;
in historical terms, it has probably just begun.
Speaking of the major market indices, like the SP-500, they have also been
shooting up these past few months. However, most of them have now reached
pre-existing resistance areas and my own opinion (never trust that, please)
is that the best may be behind us, at least for a while. I have been
selling my equity positions for the past several months, fortunately in
small doses, and moving into higher yielding, less volatile, securities
such as preferred stocks (Digital Equipment among them). One reason for
this springs from the analysis of interest rates we have discussed here in
the past. We used the rise in utility stocks to sort of "predict" lowering
interest rates. That has happened. Interest sensitive stocks -- good
preferred stocks among them -- have advanced nicely (5 - 10%) in price, in
addition to paying 9 - 10% dividends based on their prices of some months
ago. There is more to investing than the "home run".
IBM...
""""""
Yup, IBM has just about reached the '100' many analysts have been looking
for. Quite a nice rise from the ashes of history into which some had
consigned IBM not even 2 years ago. Take a look at a 10 year chart and see
it in vivid color.
The chart also suggests that IBM may be in for at least some problems
advancing from here. The downtrend line, starting from the all time high
of 176 in 1987, suggests prices have reached the top of a long term trading
channel. A horizontal line, projecting into the present the local maxima
of 3 years ago, also suggests substantial resistance is to be found just
about where IBM is presently situated. Indeed, a look at a short term
chart suggests that IBM has been having trouble advancing above 95. (Sorry,
but space considerations do not permit as many charts as I would like to
show.)
Is it over? The indicator displayed along the bottom of the chart suggests
"NO!, there's more to come in the long term." This is the "Moving Average
Convergence/Divergence" (MACD) indicator. It provided a good long term
"buy" signal as prices were pulling up from their lows, and has now crossed
into the bullish zone in the top half of its display channel. So, at least
this one technical indicator suggests the long term will be good for IBM.
Others do also, although various short term indicators, and my own eyeball
intuition, suggest difficulties in the relatively short term.
BTW, we will discuss MACD and other indicators in future columns.
Atari...
""""""""
ATC, a regular feature in this column, has been meandering through one of
its less dramatic periods.
The chart, at best, suggests the possibility of base building in progress.
But certain considerations must be kept in mind when trying to read some
optimism into the picture. One is the very high short interest which built
up after the top in late 1993. (I think it went as high as 5 million
shares.) Holders of these heavy short positions have clearly been cashing
in their profits in recent months -- congratulations are due them, I
suppose. This seems to be providing a floor, at least for the time being.
The stated desire of Time-Warner to sell off their 12+ million shares (25%
of the total) is acting to hold prices down, especially as T-W has done its
so far minor selling in the mid $3 area. Many observers in the Atari RT
have expressed doubt as to Time Warner's actual intentions, particularly
since selling their entire ATC holdings at current prices will provide a
very insignificant amount of money towards retirement of their
multi-billion dollar debt, their stated motivation.
The chart also displays the long term downtrend line, which is now at about
$4 per share. Until this line of resistance is penetrated by prices, it
seems virtually useless to invest any new funds in ATC. OTOH, it seems
equally pointless to sell an existing long position at this time, unless
one needs the money. Atari, as all the other participants in the "game
machine" game, is still filling the air with optimistic claims about the
future. Indeed, some advances in the Jaguar situation are beginning to
show up, and unit sales seem to be improving, but the price has been
slashed so dramatically, that new sales are not resulting in any
improvement in earnings.
Coda...
"""""""
The theme of this column has been mostly about computer hardware companies
(inclusion of Atari perhaps stretches that definition a bit, but that's
life). Next time, I will try to look more closely at software and
component companies. But I would like to show here one more chart of a
company which occupies a rather unique niche in the industry. It has been
one of my long term favorites.
Safeguard Scientifics (SFE on the NYSE) is essentially a publically owned
venture capital company which specializes in computer related technology
companies, mostly software. Novell was one of its early children. More
recently it has nurtured and given birth to Cambridge Technology Partners
(CATP) and Coherent Communication (CCSC), both of which have established
themselves as important factors in the industry, and have been very
profitable investments. Several very interesting companies remain in the
nursery, and another baby is due to leave the nest within another month.
I have never recommended a stock in these articles, and I certainly am not
recommending SFE, buy or sell. Just a pretty picture to conclude this
month's column.
[*][*][*]
[EOA]
[HWW]//////////////////////////////
HISTORY OF WIDGETS AND WHATZITS /
/////////////////////////////////
A Parable of the Modern Age
"""""""""""""""""""""""""""
by Richard Brown
[R.BROWN30]
Once upon a time in Chip City, a nice little town nestled on the shores of
Lake Intel, there lived a little widget-maker named Atari.
But all was not well in Chip City. Atari had no friends, unless you
counted family. Atari was, after all, related to the Amigas, but that's
only because they had some rich uncle in common way back when, and everyone
knew their family rift ran deep. Instead of being "kissing cousins," they
were "SPITTING cousins."
Now, just about everyone else in Chip City was a widget maker too. But
some of the other widget makers were jealous of Atari. After all, Atari
was first to make widgets with bright shiny colors. The other widget
makers only made them in black and white, black and green, or black and
amber.
To make matters worse, Atari's widgets also made music. The other widgets,
at first, could only go beep, beep, beep.
Each day, Atari went home to a little house on Motorola Street. The
Amigas, as fate would have it, lived next door. Polite folk always said
that the reason the Amigas always spit on the Ataris was due to their
seafaring heritage. After all, it takes a lot of spitting to get seawater
out of your mouth.
Commodore Pilferer, a shifty-eyed drunkard, was the man in charge of giving
the Amigas their sailing orders. One day, everyone knew Commodore Pilferer
was going to make a big mistake, given his oft-inebriated condition, and on
that hapless day, the Amigas were going to find themselves sinking in the
foul-smelling, murky black waters of Lake Intel, never to be seen again.
Down near the end of Motorola street lived some Scots named Macintosh.
Theirs was a big, tall house, and it just never seemed to get finished.
They tried getting it right for so long, even the plans got lost. No one
even noticed until the front door went missing.
That would be a problem for many folk, but the Macintoshes come from a long
line of Scottish truffle farmers. Unlike their French counter-parts,
rather than using truffle-smelling pigs, the Macintoshes prided themselves
on their random hole-digging approach. To this day, no one has had the
heart to tell the Macintoshes that Chip City is, well, NOT in Scotland.
It's just that they are still waiting for cousin Duffy to follow the holes,
all the way home.
So the Macintoshes had no front door. No problem, they thought. They
could buy the house next door and just build some hallways between the two,
and then they'd have a front door. It was a swell plan, except, they had
no plan. The problem just kept getting the better of them.
Rather than being thought the fool, the Macintoshes just kept buying up
house after house, and are proud to say, at long last, now they, too had
their very own front door.
People gather around a lot to stare at the Macintosh's monstrous, ponderous
debacle, and the comments are always the same:
"There's no order to this place!"
"It would take an idiot to build something like this!"
"I bet you'd need an hour just to find the kitchen!"
Mrs. Macintosh swells with pride every time she answers this very query:
"Ah, no, me darling. Never more than an hour forty-five! But findin' the
bathroom'll bring tears to your eyes!"
And just like everybody else in Chip City, when the Macintoshes realized
that their random hole digging was producing no truffles, they decided that
they, too, could make a widget.
"It cannot be more difficult than building a house," said Mrs. Macintosh's
husband, Laim. So the Macintosh widget was born, and wouldn't you know it,
Laim was right. It's a nice widget, sort of, just like their big,
unplanned house on Motorola Street.
Towering over Motorola Street, high up on Mount Dolt, a really big hill
that used to be the garbage dump, sat a big blue factory building that
employed just about everybody in town. "Catch Up Enterprises" was the name
on the door.
"EVERYONE KNEW THE STORY. CATCH UP Everyone knew the story. Catch
ENTERPRISES WAS FOUNDED BY OLD MAN Up Enterprises was founded by
BLINDERS. HE WAS FAMOUS FOR HIS Old Man Blinders. He was
20-20 HINDSIGHT...... famous for his 20-20 hindsight.
.... NOW EVERYONE SEEMS TO HAVE A You know, the kind of man who
CATCH UP ENTERPRISES WIDGET." never saw the widget craze
coming. When widgets were
suddenly all the rage, Old Man Blinders said "Catch up! We've got to catch
up!" They're still catching up in that big blue building, and now everyone
seems to have a Catch Up Enterprises widget.
"CATCH UP'S WIDGET, THOUGH ROUGH Atari knew only too well the
AROUND THE EDGES AND CLEARLY success of Catch Up
HASTILY THROWN TOGETHER, WAS THE Enterprises. Widget by widget,
ONE YOUR BOUGHT IF YOU WANTED TO Catch Up Enterprises did just
KEEP YOUR JOB." that. Folks would compare
Atari's widgets with those
coming from that big blue building, and though Atari certainly had had
better, smoother widget, Catch Up's widget, though rough around the edges
and clearly hastily thrown together, was the one you bought it you wanted
to keep your job.
Even so, Atari decided to keep tinkering on a new, fun product, something
called a "whatzit."
Then, sooner than anyone thought, that hapless day came to pass, and the
Amigas set sail on what would become their last voyage, a swan song if you
will, except, unlike a swan, they didn't stay afloat. Only Atari cared
enough to lower the flag out of respect for the dead.
Up on Dolt Mountain, Old Man Blinders threw a big party for the whole town
to honor the Amigas' demise. Although the papers called it an "Irish Wake
Sans Corpus," the Atari and the Macintoshes knew better.
Laim Macintosh, as it turned out, was taking a few moments to dig some
random truffle holes high up on the back side of Dolt mountain when, right
before his eyes, Commodore Pilferer walked out of that party in the big
blue building, and then shook hands with Old Man Blinders before carting
off with a wheelbarrow of money - and a new widget from the big blue
production line.
Atari knew that it was only a matter of time. Catch Up Enterprises was
starting to get to Atari's very own, once very loyal customers. Even the
Macintosh widgets gained popularity in light of Atari's unfortunate
slowdown in widget making.
Soon almost everyone came to side with Old Man Blinders and his not quite
right widgets. After all, by then, he owned Chip City, except for two
houses on Motorola Street: Atari's little house, and the Macintosh's
debacle.
Finally, fate stepped in again, oddly looking very much like Atari's long
lost rich uncle. Having heard of Atari's fun new whatzit, and with dollar
signs in his eyes, he set out to prove to the local court that he was
rightful owner of Atari's fun new whatzit.
The court, presided over by the honorable Judge William Blinders III, sided
with Atari's uncle before taking him to lunch with his older brother.
Soon, Atari's whatzit was on Catch Up's production line, and Old Man
Blinders found himself, just like that, in the whatzit business. He seemed
awfully obliged to Atari's uncle, too. It took two whole wheelbarrows for
his payola.
Soon enough, Atari found himself homeless and on the streets, living under
the docks at Chip City Harbor. Each day, Atari looked a bit more tattered,
a bit more hopeless.
Back on Motorola street, Laim Macintosh began to feel the heat, which is as
it should have been. When Old Man Blinders bothers to come down from Mount
Dolt to set fire to your house, you tend to take notice.
Luckily, Macintosh's debacle would take years to burn away. And burn it
did, because the fire hydrant was useless, pumping straight from Lake
Intel, and everyone knew that you didn't even smoke near Lake Intel. Some
people even used the foul liquid to run their lawn mowers.
You might think the Macintoshes would try to come up with a solution, and
FAST. The problem is, the Macintoshes don't do anything fast. But they do
appreciate a good debacle.
The situation grew desperate. From his new home, a shipping crate under
the rotting boards of a dock jutting out Lake Intel, Atari pondered a
bleak future. At least Laim Macintosh no longer had to worry over the cost
of heating oil, Atari thought.
Old Man Blinders kept snatching up everyone's customers, and Atari's uncle
was having Mai Tais in Tahiti.
Fate has an interesting way of churning out irony from time to time. And
this time, it was going to wash over Atari and the Macintoshes.
Early one morning, before the sun heated up that awful, putrid smell we all
know as Lake Intel, Atari found himself running for his life, scrambling up
Mount Dolt only to join the Macintoshes as a giant tidal wave washed into
town.
"At least me fire's out," Laim said as his smoking debacle went under the
giant wave.
By now, the wave began to crest, when Atari noticed the oddest thing - a
positively insane surfer hanging ten a hundred feet in the air, almost
losing it on the monster wave. Then, with an amazing cut back, the
peculiar figure zipped through a pipeline the likes of which even Hawaii
has never seen. As the tube slammed shut, the air blasting out behind the
radical surfer blew him off his board and high into the air - nearly into
Atari's lap!
The landing, wasn't pretty, and the surfer began spitting to clear both the
seawater - and Mount Dolt - from his mouth. For a split second, Atari
thought one of the Amigas had miraculously survived, but Otto, the surfer,
announced himself as a native of Germany, that far off land cursed with
unsurfable beach break.
Otto went on to say that when a freak earthquake kicked up some genuine,
surf right in his own back yard, he didn't really expect this! For over
two days, Otto had surfed the monster wave, realizing that wiping out in
the middle of the ocean would have severely limited his options.
Spotting the big blue factory up at the mountain's top, Otto smirked that
in his part of the world, there was more to widgets than just the machines
from Catch Up Enterprises.
When Otto brought up his country's appreciation of Atari's very own
widgets, Atari nearly rolled off the mountain. Otto lamented the fact that
Atari had ceased producing his fine widgets, but seeing Atari's tattered
state, he realized that it was Atari's competition in Chip City that had
brought him to this misery.
Laim Macintosh confessed that he, too, was beginning to see bad times.
Although his widgets were constructed to the standards of a fine Scottish
tradition, they just couldn't compete well in a market where everyone
bought Catch Ups just so they could keep their jobs. That left Laim
Macintosh with only a tiny group of devoted buyers: a stubborn bunch of
immigrant Scotch artists with their own tradition - to ignore the
inevitable until their green cards cleared.
Unlike Atari, the Macintoshes had only one foot in the poorhouse, and their
family knack for potato farming has kept them going in a good, turn of the
century, Scottish sort of way.
The flood quickly receded and Mrs. Macintosh invited everyone down to their
debacle to see if they might dry out some breakfast.
Over a fine breakfast of potato pancakes, Otto asked to see one of Laim
Macintosh's widgets, and, as if by some magic, the widget started behaving
just like one of Atari's widgets - except better and faster!
Laim slapped a palm to his forhead as his jaw dropped. How could his
widget work so well as an Atari when it was, well, kind of clunky as a Mac?
Atari's grin grew wide as Laim took a seat to stare some more. The hope of
a brighter future, both for Atari and the Macintoshes filled the room.
The Beginning.
""""""""""""""
Author's postscript: It's good to be back, and, surely, "you ain't seen
nothin' yet!"
To explain my long time absence would take nearly as long, but suffice it
to say that I've been doing things that will, amongst other things, enhance
the Atari community for a very long time into the future. It all begins
with a new company I have formed that is intensely involved in the Internet
as well as CD-ROM and film/digital production.
Of greatest interest to Atarians, I have a full-time programming department
developing for the Atari/MagicMac OS (and then porting to DOS) with new
programs that DON'T EXIST for any of these platforms that will be of great
interest to multimedia developers.
The funny part is that mine is a mixed computing environment, and we
therefore are making sure our Atari programs work hand in hand with Silicon
Graphics as well as DOS machines. Once you get over the initial shock of
Atari fitting in with "alien" machines like these, you realize that there
can be harmony, and even respect for a so-called orphan like the Atari.
Speaking of MagiCMac, the preceding story and this postscript was created
on an _Atari_ PowerBook 145B, in Word Plus running at slightly over 200%
the speed of my stock TT030. While the TT is faster under Warp 9 or NVDI,
this Atari PowerBook will be redefining my own work flow, especially on the
go. In that a special MagicMac version of NVDI is in the works, even this
bottom of the line PowerBook will likely give a fully accelerated TT a good
run for its money.
My initial testing of MagiCMac has proved extremely impressive and most
fruitful, so much so that I've immediately set my programming staff to work
on a program to allow MagiCMac users to interactively reassign the keyboard
in a fully mouse-based environment. If you've tried MagiCMac on a
PowerBook, you know what I mean when I say a keyboard utility is a much
needed thing with MagiCMac. The interface (which delayed my uploading of
this article) is completed and terrific. It couldn't be simpler, slicker,
or more effective. You'll be seeing the completed program online very
soon.
In the mean time, look on GEnie for our PowerBook-specific keyboard table.
It even has a working DELETE key for programs like Word Plus. Although
Command (Apple Key)-"D" will behave like a proper DELETE key on the basic
keyboard assignments, I find it cumbersome next to our Shift-Delete
combination when used with programs supporting the routine.
Well, that's about it for now. Infinitely more to come.
'Til the next...
[EOA]
[ARF]//////////////////////////////
ATARI ROUNDTABLE FOCUS /
/////////////////////////////////
MagicMac
""""""""
by Terry Quinn
[TQUINN]
Many long time Atari users are beginning to wonder what they are going to
do when their trust ST's die. One possible solution to this problem is a
new product from Germany: MagicMac. Judging from the discussion on the
BBS, this new product is generating a lot of discussion.
For example:
""""""""""""
Category 2, Topic 10
Message 41 Mon Apr 24, 1995
K.BROOKS1 [New Horizon] at 19:44 MDT
Well, yesterday I d/l the demo and ran it on a Quadra 605 with 8 megs of
RAM and RAMDoubler installed. Ran up Calamus and was astonished at the
speed that a 1,024 gradient in LineArt was regenerated on screen!
Absolutely blazing f-f- f-ast! Created a mask from that gradient and
some text before I could blink. Holy sheep dip!
I must wonder how all the modules, import/export and printing features
work however, considering there is no parallel port on a Mac and I hope
the two- button mouse support will be available. Nathan.... does one
select a serial port in the print dialog and use a serial/parallel
adapter to hook into a parallel printer? Or do you select parallel and
MagicMac fools the system by sending it out the serial port? Is it really
stable? Can it really work this well?????? Now the only decision is
wait for Mac to bring on PCI 604 PPC and MagicMac to have a PPC version!
Yowzir this was a real eye-opener!
Keith
------------
While a fast 68040 Macintosh system is a bit "pricey" by Atari standards,
the combination of the Mac and MagicMac has a lot of happy users who by all
accounts are as impressed with its speed as Keith. If you are wondering
which system you are going to replace your trusty Atari with, maybe you
should check out the discussion in the MagicMac topic (Category 2 Topic 10
in the BBS).
[EOA]
[FUN]//////////////////////////////
SEARCH_ME /
/////////////////////////////////
Online Puzzle Fun
"""""""""""""""""
by Scott R. Garrigus
[S.GARRIGUS]
>>> SEARCH_ME! <<<
""""""""""""""""""
GAMES
=====
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[*][*][*]
GIVE UP? You will find the answers in the LOG OFF column at the end of
"""""""" the magazine.
This puzzle was created with a shareware program called
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[EOA]
[LOG]//////////////////////////////
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