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Atari Explorer Online_Special Edition 01
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:: Special Edition #1 ATARI EXPLORER ONLINE 6 December 1992 ::
::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::
:: ::
:: ATARI .............. News, reviews, & solutions ............ ATARI ::
:: EXPLORER ............ for the online Atari .......... EXPLORER ::
:: ONLINE ................. Community .............. ONLINE ::
:: ::
:: Published and Copyright (c) 1992 by Atari Corporation ::
:: """"""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""" ::
:: Editor ............................... Travis Guy ::
:: Assistant Editor ............... Ron Robinson ::
:: Assistant Editor .......... Albert Dayes ::
:: Assistant Editor ... Andreas Barbiero ::
:: ::
:: Editorial Advisory Board ::
:: """""""""""""""""""""""" ::
:: President, Atari Corporation........................Sam Tramiel ::
:: Director of Application Software...................Bill Rehbock ::
:: Director, Computer Marketing ........................Don Thomas ::
:: Director of Communications...........................Bob Brodie ::
:: Corporate Director, International Music Markets....James Grunke ::
:: Atari Explorer Magazine............................Mike Lindsay ::
:: ::
:: Telecommunicated to you via: ::
:: """""""""""""""""""""""""""" ::
:: GEnie: AEO.MAG ::
:: CompuServe: 70007,3615 ::
:: Delphi: ABARBIERO ::
:: Fnet: AEO Conference, Node 706 ::
:: AtariNet: AEO Conference, Node 51:1/10 ::
:: ::
::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::
Table of Contents
* From the Editors .......................... Who we are - why we're here.
* Fall Comdex 1992 ......... Bob Brodie's wrap-up from the Las Vegas show.
* GEnie ST RoundTable news .... The newest stuff on GEnie for us Atarians.
* Merry Lynxmas ................. Atari has "Such a deal" for all Lynx
wannabyes. The perfect holiday present
at a never-before seen price.
* AEO Survey .................... Help mold AEO into what you want to see.
* Ron's Random Ramblin' ..................... The Three "R's" - AEO style.
* Dateline: Atari ................... Bob Brodie's December 4th GEnie RTC.
* Atari Software Catalog ........... Everything you can run on your Atari.
All in one book. It's a big book.
* Shutdown ................... It's difficult to say goodbye, but we must.
--==--==--==--==--
" From the Editors ........ Atari Explorer Online: The Next Generation
/|\ --------------------------------------------------------------------
Like the United States, Atari Explorer Online is undergoing some swift
changes in format, direction, and leadership. Alright, while AEO doesn't
function on the same level as the Federal Government, there are changes
you should know about.
Taking those three items in reverse order, please allow me to introduce
myself first. I am the new editor of Atari Explorer Online, Travis Guy. I
bring thirteen years of Atari computer ownership and five years of
experience, writing and editing in Atari media (the original ST Informer,
Atari Advantage, and Atari Explorer).
To assist me, I have a very able troika of Assistant Editors: Ron Robinson
our GEnie veteran, CompuServe's ever omnipresent Albert Dayes, and Andreas
Barbiero, a veritable firecracker of enthusiasm from Delphi. They'll
introduce theirselves here on the soapbax in our next isue.
We want AEO to be geared more towards what you want, the Online Atari
Crowd. To make this possible, AEO needs feedback. To begin the process, I
would like to ask everyone to fill out our First Annual "What I Want To
See In AEO" survey, and EMail it to one of our addresses. You'll find the
survey later in this issue.
Take the time to read over the transcript of the Friday night Bob Brodie
GEnie conference. There's some important Falcon030 news within. It seems
that the production Falcons have achieved FCC Class B certification. Not
much longer to wait, now.
Note that this is a "Lite News" special edition of AEO - not what we
expect to bring to you every other week, but just our way of saying, "Hi,"
and to let the online userbase know that we're back. I would like to take
this opportunity to thank Ron Kovacs, the original editor of Atari
Explorer Online for his generous offers of assistance to make this
transition an easy one. Ron has resumed publishing Z*Net, the longest
running online Atari journal. We give Ron and Z*Net our best.
In closing, everyone at Atari would like to wish "Godspeed, and a safe
voyage home" to all the forces that are being sent to establish the
relief lines in Somalia. Thousands of men and women are being asked to
sacrifice another holiday season away from their loved ones to render
noble humanitarian service "in harm's way."
--==--==--==--==--
" Fall Comdex 1992: The Final Report
/|\ By: Bob Brodie
----------------------------------
The 1992 Fall COMDEX was the first North American computing trade show for
the Atari Falcon030, and once again, Atari had a prominent spot in the
Sands Expo Center. The Atari Falcon030 was the clear centerpoint in all of
our efforts, with Atari showing the TT030, and the Portfolio in addition
to the Atari Falcon030. As in years past, Atari showcased our machines
around the applications of strategic partners and developers. We had a
different booth than in the past few years, which lent itself to a
different type of "island" or themed approach.
Telecommunications
On the telecommunications island, there was a brand new developer for
Atari called Digital-Optical-Analog. Their product, BlackMail is a voice
mail system that runs on the Atari Falcon030. The ability of the Atari
Falcon030 to operate a voice mail system will save thousands of dollars.
BlackMail permits the design of an automated single or multi-user voice
mail system. It can disperse pre-recorded information to a caller, store
the caller's message, and forward it upon request. Callers access
BlackMail using their touch tone telephones to navigate the system's
hierarchical voice mail menus, leaving or retrieving messages as
determined by the user.
Major functions are user configurable and may be updated remotely.
BlackMail has full archiving of messages, and selective message
forwarding, automatic paging, time stamping of messages, and adjustable
message compression (1.5:1:-6:1). BlackMail uses a hardware module to
connect the telephone lines to the Atari Falcon030, and then connects to
the serial port on the computer. This product will also function in the
background under MultiTOS. Minimum hardware requirement is an Atari
Falcon030 with 30Mb hard disk space.
Also on the telecommunications stand was STraight Fax from Joppa
Software, running on a TT030, using a Supra FAXmodem. Atari opted not to
have a dedicated fax machine for COMDEX, but rather to really entrust all
of their faxes to the STraight FAX system. STraight FAX was operated
flawlessly throughout the show. Printing of messages was done via Speedo
GDOS output to an Atari SLM-605 laser printer and Atari employees created
their faxes with Concierge (formerly known as ST Sutra). Some show
attendees commented on the fact that STraight FAX is similar to the
popular Winfax program from Delrina on MS-Windows.
Micro Creations was showcasing their unique telecommunications programs,
G.I.M.E. Term and G.I.M.E. BBS, on an Atari Falcon030. What sets G.I.M.E.
apart from other terminal programs is the unique graphics and sound
capabilities that are easily set up and viewed by other G.I.M.E. users.
They strongly hinted that a major upgrade of their product that takes
advantage of the capabilities of the Atari Falcon030 is underway. In
addition, Micro Creations also showed Phantom, a background file transfer
protocol. Phantom supports X,Y, and Zmodem protocols. An early version of
a new terminal program called Rapier was also shown.
Productivity Software
Prominently shown in the very front of the booth was the Kodak Photo-CD,
running on a TT030 with a Matrix graphics card, and also running on an
Atari Falcon030. Both of these machines were running a Photo-CD slide
show. All of the images shown were coming off a demo Photo-CD, all under
the control of Michael Bernards of Color Concepts in Germany. He is well
known as one of the members of the team that programmed Calamus SL, as
well as his own telecommunications program, Rufus. Michael was chosen to
go to Eastman Kodak's headquarters in Rochester, NY. He's completed the
enabling software that will allow our users to be able to access the
Photo-CD, as well as a developer tool kit for the Photo-CD.
Atari will be selling the software that will allow users to directly view
the Photo-CD images at a very low cost. This software will also allow
users to perform the same functions as a Photo-CD player from Kodak can,
such as rotate and zoom. The images will then be saved in standard formats
like TIFF and Targa. The Photo-CD will work with any standard CD ROM XA
unit.
There will also be a developer kit that will allow third parties to
directly access all levels of Photo-CD in their applications. Price on the
developer kit has not been set at this time.
Adjacent to the Photo-CD was DMC Publishing showing off Calamus SL,
already accessing images from the Kodak Photo-CD. Calamus was shown on a
TT030, with a GE-Soft TT ram board and a Cyrel Sunrise color board
installed. With the GE-Soft board installed, the TT had a total of 42
megabytes of RAM installed. The CyberCube card was a true 24 bit color
board, fully compatible with both Calamus SL and the Photo CD. The card
was driving a 21" Mitsubishi color monitor, and looked phenomenal! It was
very impressive to see a present application already working with the
Kodak Photo-CD. DMC's staff was also showing a beta version of the
Dataformer module, that will allow the use of many more file formats
within Calamus SL.
On the other side of the Photo-CD, Atari had the most unique application
at the show, a high end embroidery machine controlled by an Atari TT030.
The product is called the STitchitizer, and is produced by a company from
Minnesota called Data Stitch. This unit was powering a Toyota embroidery
machine, and used a Nanoa monitor running at 1024x768 with a Dover
Research AlberTT card. The unit on display at the show was busily churning
out baseball caps with a series of different Atari logos in full color, at
the rate of about 1 hat every 10 minutes.
The hats, as you might imagine, were very popular with show goers. This
particular application caught the eye of Jack Tramiel, who promptly
instructed us to make a deal to buy every hat that was produced at the
show. The STitchitizer is capable of much more complex projects than just
baseball caps. In the past, we've had them produce some jackets for us
with a beautiful rendition of the Shanghai image off of the Lynx game
packaging.
Audio/Sound & Music
Music has long been a mainstay of Atari's business. The Atari Falcon030
will only enlarge that market share. The DSP chip in the Atari Falcon030
is bringing new excitement to developers! There is no other machine at the
price point of the Atari Falcon030 with the capabilities of creating
better-than-CD quality sound. Having live performers using the Atari
Falcon030 at the show was a major coup. No other booth had such a truly
show stopping performance. Developers showing their music products
included: Barefoot Software, D2D Systems Systems, and Singular Solutions.
Some of you may recall some of the staff at Barefoot Software from their
previous company, Hybrid Arts. Barefoot was demonstrating GenEdit, and
SMPTE Track Platinum, their full featured MIDI sequencer. Barefoot
Software was represented by Dana Byrd and Jeff Naideao. Among the
interested onlookers at the Barefoot display were members of Ray Charles'
Band, who were appearing at the Desert Inn throughout COMDEX.
It was a common sight throughout the show to find Paul Wiffin of D2D
Systems on the wrong side of his stand, jamming with Jeff from Barefoot.
To say that their products will work as well with each other as Paul's
amazing guitar and Jeff's sensational keyboard do with each other is
something of an understatement!
D2D Systems is the UK based developer that created the Falcon D2D program
that is bundled with every Atari Falcon030 sold. D2D Systems showed
several of their music products. D2D Edit; stereo direct to disk recording
and editing software. This package gives users 16-bit, 50kHz sample
quality. The program also allows non-destructive waveform editing, MIDI
time-code driven cue sheet, punch-in recording, and on-the-fly marker
creation. SPDIO is a SPDIF format digital interface for D2D-Edit that
allows the Atari Falcon030 to sample at 44.1 and 48kHz, which is ideal for
DAT editing and CD compilation.
T4T/FX is a multi-track recording software that records 4 tracks to a hard
disk, and has a realtime mixer/EQ to the Falcon stereo out. This product
will also allow up to two simultaneous effects from the Falcon030 DSP
chip. In January, D2D Systems will be shipping 4I/4O, their hardware audio
expander. This will also allow the Atari Falcon030 to sample sound at 44.1
and 48kHz rates. The expander will have 4 professional quality stereo
analog inputs, and 4 professional quality stereo analog outputs. The 4I/4O
will also have a SPDIF digital interface, and will also support AES/EBU
formats.
Singular Solutions recently announced their alliance with D2D Systems to
market a professional quality digital audio recording and editing system
built upon the Atari Falcon030.
Singular Solutions' A/D64x provides two channels of "audiophile quality"
(16 bit delta-sigma ultralinear) analog-to-digital conversion with 64
times oversampling and a three stage linear phase digital anti-alias
filter, plus an integral phantom powered microphone pre-amp, absolute
digital overload indicators, and digital audio input and output.
An Atari Falcon030 equipped with D2D Edit provides users with a full
featured digital audio workstation capable of recording and editing CD
quality sound. Singular Solutions President Steve Klein stated, "The Atari
Falcon030, in its basic configuration, is an incredible machine for
digital audio work. The inclusion of the Motorola 56001DSP definitely puts
Atari in prime position to capture a major share of the rapidly expanding
digital audio market. The addition of our A/D64x and D2D Edit results in a
truly professional quality system at a price that just can't be beat."
Atari announced state of the art speech products that take advantage of
the Atari Falcon030's built in DSP. Building on the promise of affordable
technology, Atari users will be able to use speech to command and control
the Atari Falcon030. Atari speech products shown include "text to speech"
and "command control" or "voice navigation" speech recognition. The
system will deal with continuous speech and multiple languages, as well as
a process known as "word spotting" that allows users to use natural
phrases as commands. In addition, the system eliminates the need to
program new or original words, making hundreds of consumer applications
easier to learn and use.
In addition to the high end of the music and sound business, Atari also
showed a little something fun for everyone that purchases an Atari
Falcon030. The System Audio Manager (S.A.M.) will allow you to be able to
assign a sound file to a keypress, a la the Sound Master on the Mac. Of
course, Atari has gone one better than the Mac, because you can
accomplish all that on an Atari with NO system slow down at all. SAM will
play AVR files, Sound Master files, and sound files in the WAV format used
by the SoundBlaster card from Creative Labs on the PC side.
Applications/Utilities
John Russell Innovations supplied one of their GENLOCKs for display at
COMDEX. JRI's prototype box was running on an Atari Falcon030, connected
up to a video camera, focused in on show attendees while they walked by
the booth. As their image was placed on the monitor, a video titling
program scrolled text across the screen explaining the many features of
the Atari Falcon030. The video titling program was written by Atari's
Mike Fulton, and used Speedo GDOS for the font displays!
Compo showed a series of applications for the Atari Falcon030. Among them
is the exciting new product MUSiCOM. MUSiCOM is direct to disk recording
system, including sound manipulation and effects capabilities. Included
with the program are "Karaoke" and harmonization effects that are easy to
use on your own recordings. MUSiCOM will retail at less than $100, and
will be available by January, 1993.
Also shown by COMPO was the well known word processor That's Write 2.
This is an upgrade from their earlier version of That's Write which adds
programming, outline font capabilities, enhanced mail merge, improved
multiple document handling (now up to 10 documents at a time!), as well
as interaction with That's Address 2... another new product from COMPO.
That's Address 2 is an easy to use database program for mailing lists,
and address management. That's Address 2 will be available first quarter
of '93 for $99 US.
A future version of That's Write that uses Speedo fonts, and which
outputs PostScript files is also being shown. This version will be
available in 1993, and price has not been set at this time. That's Write
2 is available NOW, and retails for $259.95 US.
On Tuesday, Hans Jorg Sack arrived at COMDEX from Germany, hand carrying
COMPO's new Atari Falcon030 PC board. The tentative name for the product
is Falcon Speed. The first version of the product will be a 16Mhz 286,
retailing for about $150. It will support VGA, Super VGA, and Windows
3.1! This product will give the performance of a 16-20Mhz 386SX with a
Windows accelerator card because it will take advantage of the Atari
Falcon030's higher bus speeds than are found on a stock PC. COMPO reports
a 486 version will be available before March of '93.
The final COMPO product being shown was CompoScript. This is a complete
PostScript clone from COMPO. CompoScript uses Adobe Type I fonts, with
output possible to virtually all printers. It can also convert EPS files,
and PS files to GEM IMG and TIFF formats. CompoScript is available NOW,
and retails for $349.95, or an upgrade from UltraScript is $200.
HiSoft has established a relationship with Oregon Research Associates to
distribute their products here in the US, and all of Oregon Research's
products in the UK. Diamond Edge, the Atari equivalent of Norton Advanced
Hard Disk Utilities, does hard disk optimization and data recovery easier
than any product on any other platform! In addition to Diamond Edge,
their popular hard disk back up utility, Diamond Back, was shown. Diamond
Back supports backups to floppy disk, and most popular tape drives.
HiSoft also demonstrated the new Atari version of Superbase 4. This is
compatible with Superbase 4 for Windows. This is a high-powered database
product that allows audio and video to be integrated into a database. You
can store a name, address, phone number along with a picture and voice
sample! There are hundreds of Superbase applications that have been
written for the PC that will work under Superbase for the Atari. The
product is expected to ship in March of '93.
HiSoft's booth wouldn't be complete without a selection of tools for the
programmers among us. DevPac Version 3 was shown, with a complete face
lift given to it, from the editor through to the debugger. HiSoft's
assembler is now at least 40% quicker than its predecessor, and supports
the 6881/2 co-processors. The manual alone for DevPac Atari 3 is over 350
pages full of examples and clear help for programmers. Included in the
manual is additional help for programmers using TOS 2.x or TOS 3.x.
Lattice C 5.5 has become the C language of choice for the programmers at
Atari, and HiSoft had it on display as well. Lattice C 5.5 is fully
compatible with the STE and TT computers. It supports the 68000-68040,
6881, 68851, and has improved Motorola/Devpac compatibility. Additional
library support is provided for maths libraries for the TT, and Mega STE.
Lattice C 5.5 also comes with a FSM GDOS library and a CPX library.
HiSoft Basic version 2 was shown, with its 68000-68030 compiler, working
typically at 3500 source lines per minute on a 520ST, or faster yet on a
TT! HiSoft Basic version 2 includes full ST/STE/TT operating system
libraries, including DMA sound libraries. The product comes with over 800
pages of documentation in two volumes with extensive tutorials.
SpeedoGDOS was shown along with Concierge (formerly ST Sutra) by a
representative from Bitstream. The output of Bitstream fonts on an Atari
Computer is nothing short of gorgeous! Bitstream showed Concierge doing
all of its output to a HP DeskJet 500 printer. Concierge incorporates
full word processor, database, and spreadsheet capabilities in a "Works"
like environment. Each tool can cut and paste between the other, so you
could highlight a series of cells out of a spreadsheet, and then drop
them into your word processor. The word processor will have drawing and
mail merge capabilities. The database will have full reporting
capabilities, and the spreadsheet will have charting functions.
SpeedoGDOS replaces FSMGDOS as Atari's font scaling module and will work
with BitStream fonts, which are readily available.
Graphics
HiSoft demonstrated an outstanding paint package for the Atari Falcon030,
TruePaint. It has very good import and export capabilities, supporting
all popular file formats such as Targa, GIF, PCX, JPEG and TIFF.
TruePaint also has animation capabilities and a wide variety of effects
such as smear, shear, wrinkle, smooth, rainbow, and brush effects like
watercolor, and chalk. TruePaint works in all resolutions, including the
768x480 true color mode. It has an easy to use multi window environment
with menus, toolbox and keyboard shortcuts. Other capabilities include
zoom, full screen mode with edit, color picker, bezier curves, and
FSM/SpeedoGDOS support. The manual on the product is just being completed
and it is expected to ship next month.
Goldleaf continues their high end publishing emphasis with a series of
new applications from Digital Arts in Germany. DA's Picture is a powerful
image editing application that directly support the Kodak Photo-CD. DA's
Picture allows users to combine images, retouch photos, cut, copy and
paste between images. DA's Picture supports all Atari Falcon030 video
modes and is compatible with all graphics cards for Atari computers. With
a 24 bit graphics card installed, DA's picture takes full advantage of
the system, providing you with 24-bit editing and a palette of 16.7
million colors. DA's Picture will be available in the first quarter of
1993.
DA's Vektor is a new vector drawing, autotracing, and animation program.
This product requires a 68030 based ST/STE, a TT030, or an Atari
Falcon030 with a minimum of 4 megs of ram. DA's Vektor has 3D color
graphics capabilities, and color animation. Users can import graphics, use
them as-is or autotrace them, combining the images with sound, music, and
animation to create personal integrated media presentations. DA's Vektor
will be available in the first quarter of 1993.
CJ 10 Look is a software package that controls the popular Canon CJ10,
allowing it to function as both a 24-bit tabletop scanner and as a color
printer. CH 10 Look is easy to use, and supports all of the CJ 10's
built-in options and will be available in the fourth quarter of 1992.
GT Look II provides users with high quality, high resolution images for
publishing and image editing. It includes many features unavailable with
other scanners and software. GT Look II supports the entire Epson GT line
of scanners, and even allows users to scan 4"x5" transparencies. GT Look
II is available now for $450.
Goldleaf Publishing also showed their well known document processor,
Wordflair II. Wordflair II has included the top 80% of the features that
are found in the best word processors, databases, and spreadsheets. This
means you get WYSIWYG word processing, with full font scaling built in
from 4-99 points, a spell checker, thesaurus, and a hyphenation
dictionary. Calculation capabilities, allow with business graphics,
simple database capabilities, and basic page layout functions complete
Wordflair II impressive capabilities.
Portfolio
The Atari Portfolio was the focus point for the BSE company, a leading
VAR for Atari. BSE introduced two new universal interfaces for the
Portfolio, complete with standard parallel and serial ports, and utility
functions. The Micro "Snap-on" Universal Interface and the Universal RAM
Interface allow the Portfolio to be used for inventory control, equipment
testing, machine control, field sales automation, point of sale and other
complex applications that previously required bigger laptop computers.
Games/Entertainment
Entertainment has always been synonymous with Atari, and COMDEX didn't
fail to show some new ways to have fun with the Atari Falcon030. Atari
has commissioned three games to be produced on the Atari Falcon030, Steel
Talons, an impressive conversion of the hit Lynx game; Raiden, another
fun offering converted off of the Neo Geo; and Cyber Assault, a graphic
shoot-'em up game. Scheduled to be shown, but not quite ready for the
show was the latest from Jeff Minter, LlamaZap! Preliminary glimpses of
this game have given cause for a lot of excitement in Sunnyvale!
CONCLUSION/Commentary
I've been disappointed by the coverage of the 1992 COMDEX that I've seen
to date. It seems that none of the other on-line magazines have enough
manpower or time to be able to report on professional exhibitions any
longer. ST Report, once again "reporting" on something that they don't
attend, primarily reprinted posts off of GEnie. Z*Net Editor John Nagy
had less than a day to spend at the show. ST Report also printed an
article from someone who attended the show for a day, but he never
bothered to speak to any of us at the show and identify himself as a
journalist. Many of his observations were scattered, and he missed some
of the most significant portions of our exhibit. There is just too much
to see at COMDEX in less than a full day.
Because this is an extremely important exhibition, I feel that it is
important to convey what was exhibited in Atari's booth in greater
detail. I hope that this report has accomplished that goal! With so many
new applications coming out to support Atari, and its users, the future
looks bright indeed!
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" GEnie Atari ST RoundTable News
/|\ Courtesy: GEnie
------------------------------
***************************************************************
Happy Holidays from the Atari Roundtable and GEnie!
This month Darlah will be bringing you multiple Holiday Treats.
The first two are a color and mono version of OXYD a HOT new game.
"Darlah's Treat of the Month" at 475;9 on the menu is the MONO version
of OXYD. And "Darlah's Treat of the Month II" at 475;10 is the COLOR
version.
Also see Category 9 Topic 45 for useful information on how to use
the game. See Category 21 Topic 7 for explicit hints and tips.
It is a game that is bound to keep you busy for hours on end.
It has multi-levels with each level having its own unique puzzle.
Please post your codes and hints and tips as you play. Both versions
are TT/ST/STE compatible!
***************************************************************
= REALTIME CONFERENCES =
|====================================================================|
| Real Time Conference Special Events Calendar |
|====================================================================|
| Dec. 9 - John Cole from Lexicor will present PHOENIX 512 - |
| a powerful new graphics program. There will be a |
| DOOR PRIZE of one free copy of PHOENIX 512. |
|====================================================================|
| Dec 16 - Join guest Zenobot for a night of game discussion. Eric |
| (WED.) will answer your questions concerning which games to buy |
| for Christmas. Come on in and get a few hints! |
|====================================================================|
= Scheduled Wednesday RTC Guests =
Have an idea for an Realtime Conference? Wish to promote a product,
show or service? Atari Roundtable Realtime Conference provides an
excellent platform for announcements and discussions. Contact RTC$,
for requirements and information on holding formal RTCs. We also
capture and edit the formal conferences and uploads them into the
Atari RT's Library for you.
= Monday Realtime Conference =
Stop in for Monday's Desktop Publishing Realtime Conferences. Hosted
by Lou Rocha with regular guests dealing with all aspects of DTP and
associated topics.
= Atari ST Help Desk =
Atari ST Roundtable holds a Sunday Help Desk to answer your questions
on GEnie, Atari ST Roundtable and the line of Atari computers. Stop in
and ask questions or just visit the Atari RT staff and users. The Help
Desk starts at 9:00 pm EST Sunday on page 475;2.
= RTC Transcripts =
26713 BRODIE2.LZH X ST.LOU 921128 12416 252 13
Desc: RTC Transcript/Bob Brodie
26683 WSI_RTC.ARC X BRIAN.H 921126 11008 65 13
Desc: 25 Nov RTC with Phil Comeau
26592 TRACETEC.LZH X BRIAN.H 921119 8448 72 13
Desc: TraceTech's RTC 18Nov92
For Realtime Conference inquires and comments contact: RTC$
= LIBRARY =
Last Week's Top Downloaded Programs/Utilities:
-------------------------------------------------
26707 BLITZ144.ARC X E.MONACO 921127 30336 185 2
Desc: Now defragments... AUTOMATICALLY!!!
26632 GROCERY.LZH X R.HOEKSTRA1 921122 30976 184 21
Desc: Grocery/Shopping list creator
26714 NEOSECRT.LZH X A.FASOLDT 921128 37760 176 21
Desc: Secrets of NeoDesk: Tips 'n' tricks
26700 ALADVIEW.ARC X J.ALLEN37 921127 24704 175 7
Desc: View and Search Aladdin Files
26737 SPBT80.LZH X G.W.MOORE 921129 155392 97 2
Desc: Super Boot V8.0 - Great New Version!
26702 TERA_124.LZH X GRMEYER 921127 91392 94 2
Desc: TerraDesk v1.24 Desktop Replacement
-------------------------------------------------
Last Week's New Demos:
---------------------------------------------------
26745 FOOLDYOU.LZH X T.MILLER23 921130 4480 27 10
Desc: Demo... Can you count the sprites?
26675 JAMHOUSE.LZH X S.THOEN 921126 252672 66 10
Desc: New Demo for the STe/TT/Falcon
26655 SCANMAND.LZH X GRMEYER 921124 72832 36 10
Desc: Radio Scanner DB demo
26654 GUI4GFAD.LZH X GRMEYER 921124 39680 42 10
Desc: Auto create GUI for GFA (demo)
26642 OUTOFWRD.ARC X V.VALENTI 921123 59520 54 10
Desc: A shoot-em up typing program.
26640 HOOKMATH.ARC X V.VALENTI 921123 93696 47 10
Desc: A multiple choice math program.
26639 MAGNOBAL.ARC X V.VALENTI 921123 118144 67 10
Desc: One or two player action game.
26614 MJ30DEMO.ZIP X J.SNYDER7 921121 111360 61 10
Desc: Playable Mah Jong Demo - GREAT!
---------------------------------------------------
Last Week's Press Releases in the Library
-------------------------------------------------
26773 3DFLPTCL.TXT X MAG.SOFTWARE 921201 2688 56 14
Desc: 3D Floptical Intro Price Beats PMC's
26754 DMJGIF31.TXT X J.PIERCE5 921130 2432 63 14
Desc: * Flash! DMJ-GIF 3.1 now available!
26739 CNDECTOC.ASC X JOE.WATERS 921129 3200 19 14
Desc: Current Notes Dec Table of Contents
26719 SNTRY110.TXT X P.COMEAU1 921128 2816 64 14
Desc: Spelling Sentry 1.10 Announcement
26678 CATALOG.ZIP X B.VARGO 921126 112640 92 14
Desc: D & P Computer Catalog
-------------------------------------------------
--==--==--==--==--
" Merry Lynxmas ..... Atari's Lynx - specially priced for the holidays
/|\ --------------------------------------------------------------------
A CHRISTMAS PRESENT -- from ATARI!
==================================
ATARI LYNX: And a special low price
*** $79.95 ***
Order now and get your Lynx faster than Santa!
Order by December 21 and receive your order by Christmas!
Free Federal Express delivery!
Hurry! Offer expires 1/31/93!
Call 1-800-327-5151 to order now!
This Christmas,
push your mind to the edge
with the Atari Lynx:
Backlit screen,
stereo sound,
50+ incredible games,
"Flip" controls for left handed players,
Play with up to 8 friends with "ComLynx",
4,000 brilliant colors (16 bit graphics engine),
The worlds largest portable video game screen (3.5" diag.)
Atari Lynx has over 50 games - all jam packed with full color graphics,
digital stereo sound and radical arcade style action that you won't find
anywhere else. Get the picture? You'll find plenty of games at your
favorite store (call us for the location nearest you).
Many titles available at these fine locations:
Electronics Boutique, Software Etc., Babbages,
Waldensoftware,
Nobody Beats the Wiz, The Good Guys, Toys 'R' Us.
Or order all the software you can handle:
Xenophobic, Rampage, Batman Returns,
Pinball Jam, Gates of Zendocon, Toki,
Switchblade II, Steel Talons, Electrocop,
Ms. Pac Man, Zalor Mercenary, Ninja Gaiden,
Paperboy, Rygar, A.P.B,
Awsome Golf, Warbirds, Basketbrawl,
Blue Lightning, California Games, Hockey,
Viking Child, Xybots, Tournament Cyberball,
Shadow of the Beast, NFL Football, S.T.U.N Runner,
Turbo Sub, Chip's Challenge, Block-Out,
Hard Drivin', Superskweek, Crystal Mines II,
Rampart, Checkered Flag, Lynx Casino,
Shanghai, Klax, Scrapyard Dog,
Ishido, Pac-Land, Roadblasters,
Kung Food, Hydra, Robo-Squash,
Baseball Heroes,
World Class Soccer,
Gauntlet--The Third Encounter,
Todd's Adventures in Slime World,
Bill & Ted's Excellent Adventure,
and more!
COMING SOON: Joust, Pit Fighter, Dracula, Dinolympics, Power Factor,
Dirty Larry, Renegade Cop and more every month.
The entire Lynx game library is available from us, by calling
1-800-327-5151. And don't forget to order your Atari Lynx for only
$79.95 -- that's $20 off through 1/31/93! And get FREE Federal
Express delivery.
Or send check or money order to:
Atari Lynx
P.O. Box 61657
Sunnyvale, CA 94088-1657
(For CA residents, please add sales tax)
Call for further information 1-800-327-5151.
This offer expires 1/31/93.
"Atari", "ComLynx", and "Lynx" are registered trademarks of Atari Corp.
Atari: an American company traded on the American Stock Exchange
--==--==--==--==--
" The First Annual Atari Explorer Online Reader Survey
/|\ ----------------------------------------------------
::: This survey may be freely distributed throughout the Atari Online :::
::: Community as long as it is not edited, altered, or modified in any :::
::: way to change content or intent. This survey is Copyright ½ 1992, :::
::: Atari Explorer Online. :::
We, the editors of AEO, want to know what course you want us to follow.
Do you want issues that focus on "This week on the online networks..." or
would you rather have all original material, and to heck with the online
conferences and message roundups?
Here's your chance to tell us.
Please take a few minutes to complete the survey. When you're finished,
EMail the survey to us at one of the addresses shown at the end of the
survey. Please do not respond to the survey in any Bulletin Board /
public area, as other users wouldn't want to spend online dollars reading
99% of the same text over and over again.
The rules are simple: Every response must come from an _active_ user
name/user number. Don't vote more than once, and feel free to take as much
space on the essay portion of the survey as you need!
-- --
I. In each of the topics listed, indicate on a scale of 1 to 5, your
interest.
5 equals "I would get AEO every week to read articles on this."
4 equals "This interests me. I would read a few articles on this."
3 equals "I have no interest in this subject. I may or may not
read any articles on this."
2 equals "This bores me. I would only read an article on this if
necessary."
1 equals "Total boredom and annoyance. I would avoid this."
-- --
Your
Rating Topic
----------------------------------------------------------------------
--------- News from Atari (Press Releases, Interviews)
--------- News from Developers (Press Releases, Interviews)
--------- News from Atari User Shows
--------- News from Atari-attended Trade Shows
--------- Computer Industry (non-Atari) News
--------- Online News (Recaps of the three major Online Nets)
--------- Online Conference Reprints
--------- Lynx Material (reviews, news)
--------- Portfolio Material (reviews, news)
--------- Editorial
--------- Product Reviews
--------- "Build-it-Yourself" Hardware Articles
Programming Articles in:
--------- General
--------- Assembly
--------- BASIC (GFA, HiSoft, True)
--------- C
--------- GEM
--------- Mint/MultiTOS
--------- Pascal
--------- PowerDOS/Powernet
--------- Telecommunication software scripts
--------- UNIX
--------- Non-Atari, Non-Computer articles that feature topics
related to Starships named "Enterprise" (Ok. We're
Trekkers, we know lots of you are also, so we'd like to
slip in Star Trek related material from time to time.)
II. In addition to the biweekly appearance of AEO, we would like the
flexibility of putting together "News Flash" material to be uploaded
to the Nets should a situation warrant it. On the same 1-to-5 scale
as Question I, what would be your interest in such bulletins?
--------- AEO News Now
III. This is the essay portion of the survey. Please complete the
following sentence. "I would like to see AEO cover...."
Thanks for your input into Atari Explorer Online. Please EMail your
responses to: GEnie: AEO.MAG
CIS: 70007,3615
Delphi: ABARBIERO
Fnet: Node 760
AtariNet: 51:1/10
This survey will be valid for two weeks (until December 20, 1992). At
that time, the results will be tabulated and posted, and AEO will begin
its change into the direction you, the users, want it to take.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
-- --==--==-- GEnie Sign-Up Information --==--==-- --
-- --
-- 1. Set your communications software for half duplex (local echo) --
-- at 300, 1200, or 2400 baud. --
-- --
-- 2. Dial toll free: 1-800-638-8369 (or in Canada, 1-800-387-8330). --
-- Upon connection, enter HHH. --
-- --
-- 3. At the U# prompt, enter XTX99436,GENIE then press <Return>. --
-- --
-- 4. Have a major credit card ready. In the U.S., you may also use --
-- your checking account number. --
-- --
-- For more information in the United States or Canada, call 1-800- --
-- 638-9636 or write: GEnie, c/o GE Information Services, P.O. Box --
-- 6403, Rockville, MD 20850-1785. --
-- --
-- --==--==-- GEnie Sign-Up Information --==--==-- --
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
--==--==--==--==--
" Ron's Random Ramblin'
/|\ By: Ron Robinson
----------------------
Welcome to the return of Atari Explorer Online! Ron Kovacs and his crew
certainly did a fine job in the past and we will do our best to live up
to and improve the standards they have set for Atari Explorer Online.
I'm Ron Robinson, one of the writers for Atari Explorer and also one of
Explorer's on-line representatives on GEnie. We hope to make this column
a regular, covering of a wide range of topics and work in progress. I'm
here for the fun of it all, so please never hesitate to leave questions
or suggestions to EXPLORER.1 on GEnie.
There is a lot going on in AtariLand right now; the Falcon received a
good launch and FCC approval while at Comdex. Production units on the way.
Atari will be bundling software with computers again (all right!). New
developers are showing interest, as are old developers returning to the
fold. The Digital Signal Processing technology incorporated into the
Falcon will result in consumer product breakthroughs yet to be imagined.
Atari Explorer Magazine is resuming publication with an issue at the
printer and the following issue in edit now.
Have you seen the Kodak PhotoCD yet? If not, visit a local photo shop and
check it out, the photos must be seen to be appreciated. 256 color VGA
is sufficient for video that looks _better_ than a print! Resolution is
fabulous - zoom in and you can see the grain of the film. I witnessed a
demo where a small section of the screen, not much larger than a `=' was
enlarged to reveal an American flag - you could count the stars and
stripes on the magnified screen.
Looking for that special something to treat someone or yourself this
Christmas? Don't miss the special Lynx offer from Atari elsewhere in this
issue for starters! It looks like Atari is going to test the "shop from
home" concept with this offer, let's hope the results are good for
everyone.
Or if you want to treat your favorite computer to something, one of the
best hard drive utilities on any computer is Diamond Edge from "OREGON
RESEARCH ASSOCIATES". Diamond Edge will protect your data, help you
recover accidentally erased files, diagnose problems on your drives,
repair file damage, recover data, optimize your drive for more speed and
even backup critical data. A review of this very highly recommended
product will appear in the next issue of Atari Explorer along with its
very capable competition. ORA is now also handling the Hisoft line of
products in the US. Check 'em out:
Bob Luneski
Oregon Research Associates
16200 S.W. Pacific Hwy. Suite 162
Tigard, OR 97224
503 638 6182 (fax)
503 620 4919
An interesting demo was uploaded to the GEnie libraries this week of a
shareware product from CyRel that allows you to use a standard PC serial
mouse connected to the ST serial port - all without hacking the cable!
The CyReL Serial Mouse Manager Utility allows use of a wide range of mice
and Summagraphics tablets products connected to your Atari ST, Mega STe or
TT serial ports. The program includes a wide range of adjustments and
configurations and even includes a screen saver. The demo seems to work
quite well once configured and will work from the extra serial ports on
the Mega STe and TT. My shareware fee is on the way and I'll report back
on how the real thing works, or you can check out the demo yourself.
(Support shareware authors!)
Every few weeks someone posts a message in the hardware area describing
how their SM124 monochrome monitor just died in a puff of smoke. (that's
the way I want to go - poof!) For those who are electronically inclined
(and aware of the safety hazards working on high voltage electrical
equipment), this failure is often caused by the same component -
capacitor C714 shorts out and unfortunately often causes the failure of
several other components via a domino effect in the process. The part is
relatively easy to change and worth a try if your monitor is dead and you
are ready to send it to the electronics graveyard. If you decide to try
replacing the capacitor, the challenge then becomes finding a replacement
for this 2.2uf, 50 volt, low ESR, non polarized capacitor. Best
Electronics, savior of the Atari hardware hacker, may be able to help:
Best Electronics
2021 The Alameda Suite 290
San Jose, California 95126
Phone: 408-243-6950 (minimum order required)
Next time I need to remember to talk about some CAD projects in work,
Cardfile, OutBurST, Toad Computer and perhaps some other goodies if the
Atari Gods smile on my UPS person. Developers - talk to me! We are here
to help you too! I better put a wrap on this for now but don't be afraid
to suggest topics for future columns. Keep those e-mails and messages
rolling, be kind to SysOps and we'll see ya in the funny papers!
--==--==--==--==--
" Dateline: Atari ................ Bob Brodie's December 4th GEnie RTC
/|\ Reprinted courtesy of GEnie
--------------------------------------------------------------------
===========================================================================
(C) 1992 by Atari Corporation, GEnie, and the Atari Roundtables. May
be reprinted only with this notice intact. The Atari Roundtables on GEnie
are *official* information services of Atari Corporation.
To sign up for GEnie service, call (with modem) 800-638-8369. Upon
connection type HHH (RETURN after that). Wait for the U#= prompt.
Type XJM11877,GEnie and hit RETURN. The system will prompt you for your
information.
===========================================================================
Friday Night Special Edition Round Table Conference
Host - Lou Rocha
Guess - Bob Brodie, Director of Communications
Atari Corporation
<[Lou] ST.LOU> Our guest tonight is Bob Brodie. Bob has some
interesting updates on the state of Atari ;-) GA Bob. Let 'er
roll.
<BOB-BRODIE>
Hi Lou, it's a pleasure to be online on GEnie once
again...especially so soon after our last conference! I truly look
forward to our friday night gatherings that we'll be having on the
first Friday of every month...right here on GEnie!
First, I'd like to start off by saying that we're going to be
releasing another editon of Atari Explorer Online magazine this
weekend. Yes, AEO is back, under the able direction of our new
editor, Travis Guy. Some of you might recall Travis from his time
at ST Informer Magazine, where he was a frequent contributor. With
the coming of Mike Lindsay and Darren Meer to Sunnyvale as the
editors of Atari Explorer Magazine, we've also inherited some of
their fine editors and writers that they've worked with over the
years.
No doubt some of you on GEnie have noticed new posting from people
using accounts like AEO.1, or Explorer.1. These are some of the
staff members that we've brought on board...and one of them could be
you! Yes, we're looking for writers. If you're interested in
writing for one of the Atari publications, I invite your application
in email, to myself, Mike Lindsay (Email address: EXPLORER), or
Travis Guy (Email address: AEO.MAG). Atari Explorer Online will
continue to be the "farm" for the printed version of the magazine.
Rather than offer our writers money, we're offering them GEnie
accounts to allow them access to the best Atari information base on
the planet!
Next, I'd like to talk a little bit about a Christmas promotion
we're beginning with the Lynx!
Atari is focusing directly on the Nintendo Game Boy, with a new ad
campaign set to hit major newspapers across the US beginning
December 13, 1992! The full color, four page ad show a Game Boy on
the front labelled Christmas Past, and then shows an Atari Lynx,
labeled Christmas Present! The picture also shows the Game Boy price
as $79.99, and the price tag says "Same old price, Same old Game
Boy". The Atari Lynx has a price tag on it as well, which reads
$99.99 (which is x'ed out), and a new price of $79.99 which reads
Same price for a limited time only! Here's a sample of the text
file that we'll be releasing soon on GEnie to publicize this:
A CHRISTMAS PRESENT -- from ATARI!
""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""
Atari Lynx: And a special low price
*** $79.95 ***
Order now and get your Lynx faster than Santa!
Order by December 21 and receive your order by Christmas!
Free Federal Express delivery!
Hurry! Offer expires 1/31/93!
Call 1-800-327-5151 to order now!
This Christmas, push your mind to the edge with the Atari Lynx.
Backlit screen, 50+ incredible games, Stereo sound, "Flip" controls
for left handed players. Play with up to 8 friends with "ComLynx",
4,000 brilliant colors (16 bit graphics engine), the world's largest
portable video game screen, (3.5" diag.)
Atari Lynx has over 50 games -- all jam packed with full color
graphics, digital stereo sound and radical arcade style action that
you won't find anywhere else. Get the picture? You'll find plenty
of games at your favorite store (call us for the location nearest
you).
Many titles available at these fine locations:
Electronics Boutique, Software Etc., Babbages, Waldensoftware,
Nobody Beats the Wiz, The Good Guys, and Toys 'R' Us.
Or order all the software you can handle: Xenophobic, Rampage,
Batman Returns, Pinball Jam, Gates of Zendocon, Toki, Switchblade
II, Steel Talons, Electrocop, Ms. Pac Man, Zalor Mercenary, Ninja
Gaiden, Paperboy, Rygar, A.P.B, Awsome Golf, Warbirds, Basketbrawl,
Blue Lightning, California Games, Hockey, Viking Child, S.T.U.N
Runner, Xybots, NFL Football, Shadow of the Beast, Tournament
Cyberball, Turbo Sub, Chip's Challenge, Block-Out, Hard Drivin',
Superskweek, Crystal Mines II, Rampart, Checkered Flag, Lynx Casino,
Shanghai, Klax, Scrapyard Dog, Ishido, Roadblasters, Kung Food,
Hydra, Robo-Squash Gauntlet -- The Third Encounter, Pac-Land, Todd's
Adventures in Slime World, Bill & Ted's Excellent Adventure, World
Class Soccer and more!
COMING SOON: Joust, Pit Fighter, Dracula, Dinolympics, Power Factor,
Dirty Larry Renegade Cop and more every month.
The entire Lynx library is available from us, by calling
1-800-327-5151. And don't forget to order your Atari Lynx for only
$79.95 -- that's $20 off through 1/31/93! And get FREE Federal
Express delivery.
Or send check or money order to:
Atari Lynx
P.O. Box 61657
Sunnyvale, CA 94088-1657
(For CA residents, please add sales tax)
Call for further information
1-800-327-5151.
This offer expires 1/31/93.
"Atari", "ComLynx", and "Lynx" are registered
trademarks of Atari Corporation
We've also got some news on The International Software Catalog!
The 1992 International Software Catalog (Item# C303288-001) is now
available from Atari Corporation. If you haven't heard about it yet
check out the messages on GEnie in category 14, topic 42.
The catalog has more than 400 pages, contains nearly 500 entries, and
features almost 175 screen shots. Categories covered include
Publishing and Graphics; Multimedia and Hypertext; Personal
Productivity; Connectivity and Communications; Music; Business;
Education; Entertainment; Computer Aided Design; Medical; Development
Tools and System Software; and Peripherals. Atari Falcon030 listings
are also included. Along with the product description the reader is
provided with developer information designed to help them acquire the
product if it is unavailable from thier local dealer. Suggested
retail prices are also listed.
If your local dealer runs out of catalogs you may order your catalog
directly from Atari by writing to:
Atari Customer Relations
International Software Catalog
P.O. Box 61657
Sunnyvale, CA 94088
The price is $12.00 per book. Add 8.25% sales tax if ordering from
California, Illinois, or Texas. Also include $5.00 shipping and
handling per order. Payment may be made by check, money order,
MasterCard, or VISA. (Allow 2-4 weeks additional if paying by personal
check)
If you would like to order by VISA or MasterCard you can also leave
E-mail on GEnie to G.LABREC with your name, address, phone, card
number, and expiration date-- Greg will forward the order to Customer
Service.
******************** SPECIAL USER GROUP OFFER ********************
For a limited time, any registered user group may purchase the
catalog in lots of 10 books. When ordering a lot of 10 books the cost
would be $10.00 per book plus $8.00 shipping for the lot.
<BOB-BRODIE> OK, Lou...that finishes up the annoucements that I
had. GA
<[Lou] ST.LOU> Thanks Bob. I see you have been real busy. I thank
you on behalf of all ATari users for these announcements and I
hope they make it into the online magazines next week. Now we are
ready to take questions from the floor.
<[Lou] ST.LOU> Jerry Eckert, thanks... you are first. Jonesy will
be next. Please get your question ready.
<[jerry] C.ECKERT> Any info on the ST Book... us musicians need it?
<BOB-BRODIE> Jerry, we made a decision to re-design the ST Book at
the suggestions of the musicians. So, it's in the works. Look for
it sometime in '93, most of our energies are focused on the
Falcon at this point in time. We are adding the back lit screen
that the musicians asked for, but that throws out much of the
system that was designed to be such a long life battery based
system. Backlit screens take up to 65% more energy to power...
it's gonna be a drain. :) But most musicians don't regard the
battery life as a problem, they just want a small, portable,
powerful system. ga
<[Lou] ST.LOU> Jerry, do you have a follow up question for Bob?
<[jerry] C.ECKERT> No, I agree we have all the power we need up on
the stand, portablilty is the issue and most musicians I know are
solidly behind Atari. We really need this hardware. Thanks!
<[Lou] ST.LOU> Thanks Jerry. Our next question is from Jonesy.
Welcome back and GA.
<[Jonesy] M.JONES52> Bob, any chance of seeing a "Spring Fling"
promo along the Lynx lines for the Falcon? <g>
<BOB-BRODIE> Jonesy, well it would be a very nice thing to do, but
I think it would depend on what the products reception would be.
Most of the time our retailers do a very good job of giving their
customers a very good value on the products we sell. I think that
the Atari Falcon030 will continue that tradition. :) It is very
possible that we might have some additional software available at
that point in time that we'd thrown in to increase the value of
the Falcon030 when purchased. ga
<[Lou] ST.LOU> Thanks. Followup Jonesy?
<[Jonesy] M.JONES52> I can dig it. Thanks. Just musing that it's
time to counter-attack. GA.
<[Andreas] AEO.1> What is the present status of the 'Atari Games'
games for the STe/MSTe/TT/030? i.e. the versions of Steel Talons,
specifically written for the abilities of the above machines.
<BOB-BRODIE> Steel Talons was shown at COMDEX, along with a few
other games that were already ported to the Atari Falcon030, like
Raiden and Cyber Assualt. We've had a developer conference in the
UK for the Falcon030, which is where an awful lot of entertainment
software has been coming from. The Falcon was VERY well viewed by
the major development houses. Especially because of the things
they can do with the DSP chip. In several instances, employees of
software houses were asking about getting a machine to start their
OWN software company...<grin> ga
<[Lou] ST.LOU> Andreas... do you have another question for Bob?
<[Andreas] AEO.1> Falcon software is a top issue, I was just
wondering if there was going to be a game or two that was gonna
thrash the power of the MSTe, which really has yet to be tapped,
as well as the TT.
<BOB-BRODIE> Stop by some time and say Hi, Andreas... we'll talk
to Bill! You can write an article, and maybe catch a glimpse of
the future in Falcon gaming! ga
<[Lou] ST.LOU> Thanks. Our next question is from Ron at Atari
Explorer.
<[Ron] EXPLORER.1> Bob, would it be possible for you to give us a
quick Falcon update on FCC status, bundled software candidates and
planned Falcon configurations? GA
<BOB-BRODIE> OK, Ron...the Atari Falcon030 is indeed FCC approved,
type B. The stickers that were on the machines at COMDEX were
there because we had not heard from the FCC what the actual ###s
were for the Atari Falcon030. Like the IRS, the FCC has to be
taken quite seriously, and their field rep at COMDEX even
challenged that the numbers had been issued. We gave him the ##s,
and he left to check on them. Didn't return either. :) The
current plan for bundled software with the Atari Falcon030
includes...
System Audio Manager, Talking Clock, a true color, dsp sound
version of Breakout, Land Mines, Cal/Appt, a rolodex type of
application, Audio Fun Machine, which uses the DSP to create lots
of wonderful sound effects via a microphone, Falcon D2D, a hard
disk recording system that allows users to get started in high
quality HD recording, and ProCalc, a full featured scientific
calculator. ga
<[Lou] ST.LOU> Ron... another question?
<[Ron] EXPLORER.1> Great! That's it for now Bob, thank's for
spending time with us. GA
<[Lou] ST.LOU> Back to Jonesy then....
<[Jonesy] M.JONES52> Can we look forward to more independent media
discussion of the Falcon (a la the Keyboard article)? Jerry
Pournelle in Byte, for instance? <g,d,r> Is Cal/Appt based on
Bill Aycock's work? GA
<BOB-BRODIE> Yes, there are a number of Falcons out in the que to
be reviewed by mainstream reviewers now. I think that there will
still be an emphasis on the part of the sound, music, and Pro
Audio mags to be really excited. They have the greatest IMMEDIATE
gains from the Falcon030. ga
<[Jonesy] M.JONES52> Thanks, Bob. Looks like some good stuf in
the works. GA
<[Lou] ST.LOU> Thanks Jonesy. I have a question. Everyone else can
/RAI again ;-)
<[Lou] ST.LOU> Bob, what is the status of Concierge and will any
of the new Falcon software run on ST's.
<BOB-BRODIE> I'm working on Sam to change the name for starters,
Lou. :0 Right now the leading candidate is Atari Works, although I
still like Keith Brooks "Ensemble" idea. It's looking much better
than when you might have seen in back in April at the TAF Show.
They've just re-done the manual, and I expect to be sending out
some copies for review in the next couple
of weeks. Re the Falcon
software on the ST...well, yes and no. SAM will work on STEs and
TTs. This is due to the DMA sound requirement. Likewise Talking
Clock. ProCalc and CalAppt will run on all machines. But Audio
Fun Machine and D2D call specifically on the DSP, so I don't see
them working on anything other than the Atari Falcon030. ga
<[Lou] ST.LOU> How will Concierge be distributed? Will it be
bundled or discounted for new owners?
<BOB-BRODIE> We had planned to bundle it once it was ready, and
sell it at a good price for current users. However, that might
change, because at COMDEX there was some interest from someone
that thought it was one of the best packages he's ever seen. He
wants to sell the product himself at retail! :) I tend to doubt
that we're going to release the product to him, although it is
quite flattering to hear that the WP is so highly regarded. ga
<[Lou] ST.LOU> I have another question about multimedia
applications but first I will let Andreas ask his question... BTW,
does Concierge run on the ST?
<BOB-BRODIE> Yes, it does work on all systems at this time. There
is also a sound feature that will allow you to tag a sound file to
a document in the program that will only work on 030s. ga
<[Lou] ST.LOU> Thanks GA Andreas.
<[Andreas] AEO.1> Are the 'emergency flights' of F030s to the US a
reality or a rumor? (An airlift rather than the sealift method).
One of the users in BAAUG said they heard it from one of the STR
guys and asked me about it yesterday. Or, is it just one of those
STReport... err... rumor things floating about that might need to
be nipped in the bud!
<BOB-BRODIE> Consider it nipped, and consider the source as well.
<[Lou] ST.LOU> Bob...is there any news on multimedia applications
for the Falcon? GA
<BOB-BRODIE> Lou, there are a host of things in development from
across the globe. Just today I saw a VERY exciting digital sound
editor... plug your source right into the Falcon's microphone
jack, and begin recording. This is another new developer that is
coming on board because of the capabilities of the Atari
Falcon030.
There are a couple of other applications in the works as well,
including video titling, GENLOCKs, and a system to easily tag a
picture with a sound file. There is also a developer working on a
terminal program that will have SOUND files in a window as well as
graphics. :) ga
<[Lou] ST.LOU> Bob, Paul Blagay is next.
<[paul] P.BLAGAY> I know you haven't really made many comments
regarding a Falcon 040, but if it does exist will you have an
upgrade for the 030?
<BOB-BRODIE> Paul, that's way premature. First we have to get more
of what we're building out the door to everyone that's clamoring
for them THEN worry about what the "Falcon - The Next Generation"
is gonna look like! :) We'll give some thought to the idea, but
it will probably depend greatly on exactly what the 040 ends up
being...if it's a HIGH END workstation, as some people hope, wish....
<< DEMAND >> that it be, then maybe we'll do an uprgade. :) ga
<[Lou] ST.LOU> GA J. Andrews
<J.ANDREWS23> Just a quick one, Bob... When the F030's do get to
the US, what configurations will we be expecting? I have seen
rumors about an additional 1280x960 made, and 4Meg minimum... any
comments...
<BOB-BRODIE> The Falcon030 will come in 1 meg, no h/d, 4 meg 65
meg h/d, and 14 meg/65 meg HD configurations. The 14 meg boards
will be available for purchase as an upgrade. Anything that you
read about a 1280x960 mode is untrue. I expect the initial
shipments will consist mostly of 4 meg units with the 65 meg hard
disks. ga
<[Lou] ST.LOU> The 14 meg machine, Bob... is that recommended for
MultiTOS?
<BOB-BRODIE> Depends on what you're planning on multitasking, Lou.
If you are going to have a lot of ram hungry applications, yes! On
the other hand, if all your doing is some online work and word
processing, then a four meg machine might be fine. ga
<[Lou] ST.LOU> Thanks. How did you know how I use my computers? ;-)
<[Lou] ST.LOU> Andreas has another question then I would like to
hear about COMDEX. GA Andreas.
<[Andreas] AEO.1> Thanks for the rumor control. How is Kodak
going to relate to the F030 and Atari in general. They have an
interesting package with the F030 and the PhotoCD...
<BOB-BRODIE> Andreas, we presently have the only platform that
conicides with the vision that Kodak has for the Photo-CD...that
it be a FAMILY, consumer based product. With the Atari Falcon030,
we can access the images, while enabling the family to DO THINGS
with their pictures that were previously impossible for them to
do. While it is true that there are other CPUs that can do the or
I should say ACCESS the Photo-CD, there is none that are intended
to be HOME computers. They are all business machines, not placed
in the family room, rather in Dad's office, or in a business
place. Remember, the whole PHOTO-CD concept is based on people,
ordinary people, taking a roll of film in for developing and
having their pictures placed on the Photo-CD.
<[Lou] ST.LOU> Bob, Nathan sent me a brochure on Photo CD and it
looks amazing. I can't wait to see it run with Calamus. I know it
was a big hit at Comdex. Jonesy has a Comdex question for us.
<[Jonesy] M.JONES52> Bob, any more news or followup activity from
Comdex? Any further thoughts on how the Falcon and other
offerings were received? (I'm still fascinated by the computer-
run embroidery system. Hook that up to TV image input...) GA
<BOB-BRODIE> I've been disappointed by the coverage of COMDEX that
I've seen to date. It seems that none of the other on-line
magazines are able to report on professional exhibitions any
longer. ST Report, once again "reporting" on something that they
don't attend, primarily reprinted posts off of GEnie. Z*Net
Editor John Nagy had less than a day to spend at the show.
ST Report also printed an article from someone who attended the
show, but he never bothered to speak to any of us at the show and
identify himself as a journalist. Many of his observations were
scattered, and he missed some of the most significant portions of
our exhibit. There is just too much to see at the show in less
than a day, and that holds true for this corresondent as well as
others. Because this is an extremely important exhibit, not just
for Atari, but the entire computer industry, I feel that it is
important to have reported what was exhibited in Atari's booth in
greater detail. So, Atari Explorer Online will have a detailed
article written by yours truly in the next issue. ga
<[Lou] ST.LOU> Bob... I am VERY pleased to hear this. As you know
there has been much debating on a number of related issues this
week in the BB. I hope that your AEO article will lay to rest any
doubts that exist in their minds and anyone else's that Atari is
making the best effort it can to promote the success of the
Falcon. GA
<BOB-BRODIE> Lou, I provide DETAILS about the products, not just
fluff. There was some terrific products shown at COMDEX. But no
one else has said anything about them.
<[Lou] ST.LOU> Bob, STReport did not to carry your RTC last week.
I don't know if they will carry this one. I will be preparing a
text file for those who missed it and for the many others who no
longer download STReport.
<BOB-BRODIE> Lou, all we can do is provide the best information we
can. If they choose not to print it...fine. Anyway, enough about
them...any more questions?
<[Lou] ST.LOU> I am glad to know that AEO will carry both
transcripts. Shall we open up the floor to general questions? BTW,
have you had dinner yet, tonight?
<BOB-BRODIE> Dinner? I knew I forgot something!!
(Ed. Note - Bob Brodie stayed online for another hour to chat with
the attendees. Since many of the comments had already been
covered, the informal part of the Round Table Conference was not
included in this transcript.)
<[Lou] ST.LOU> Our guest tonight has been Bob Brodie, Director of
Communications for Atari Corporation. On behalf of GEnie and
members of the ST Round Table, I would like to thank Bob for once
again taking the time to bring Atari users the latest news.
DATELINE ATARI! with Bob Brodie is a regular monthly feature of
the ST Round Table. Please join us again at 10:00 p.m. Eastern
Time on the first Friday evening of each month.
If you have any comments about tonights RTC, or anything related
to Atari, please post them in CATegory 14, TOPic 31 - Feedback to
Atari.
========= The Atari ST Round Table - Join in the fun! ==============
--==--==--==--==--
" Atari Software Catalog
/|\ ----------------------
The 1992 International Software Catalog (Item# C303288-001) is now
available from Atari Corporation. If you haven't heard about it yet, check
out the messages on GEnie in category 14, topic 42.
The catalog has more than 400 pages, contains nearly 500 entries, and
features almost 175 screen shots. Categories covered include Publishing
and Graphics; Multimedia and Hypertext; Personal Productivity;
Connectivity and Communications; Music; Business; Education;
Entertainment; Computer Aided Design; Medical; Development Tools and
System Software; and Peripherals. Atari Falcon030 listings are also
included. Along with the product description the reader is provided with
developer information designed to help them acquire the product if it is
unavailable from their local dealer. Suggested retail prices are also
listed.
If your local dealer runs out of catalogs you may order your catalog
directly from Atari by writing to:
Atari Customer Relations
International Software Catalog
P.O. Box 61657
Sunnyvale, CA 94088
The price is $12.00 per book. Add 8.25% sales tax if ordering from
California, Illinois, or Texas. Also include $5.00 shipping and handling
per order. Payment may be made by check, money order, MasterCard, or VISA.
(Allow 2-4 weeks additional if paying by personal check)
If you would like to order by VISA or MasterCard you can also leave Email
on GEnie to G.LABREC with your name, address, phone, card number, and
expiration date - I will forward the order to customer service.
******************** SPECIAL USER GROUP OFFER ********************
For a limited time, any registered user group may purchase the catalog in
lots of 10 books. When ordering a lot of 10 books the cost would be $10.00
per book plus $8.00 shipping for the lot.
--==--==--==--==--
" Shutdown ............................ Power off, EXIT, BYE, Logoff
/|\ ------------------------------------------------------------------
Thank you for reading this special edition of Atari Explorer Online. We
will return in two weeks with the results of our Online Survey as well as
news from Atari and maybe a few goodies for everyone to "ooh" and "aah"
at. If you, or someone you know, would like to write for us at Atari
Explorer and at Atari Explorer Online, drop us a note online and we'll
outline the advantages of working with us.
Until the next issue of AEO, I remain,
Your Editor
Travis Guy
--==--==--==--==--
Atari Explorer Online Magazine is a biweekly publication covering the
Atari computer community. Material published in this edition may not be
reprinted without written permission, unless otherwise noted in the
article. Opinions presented herein are those of the individual authors and
do not necessarily reflect those of the staff, or of Atari Corporation.
--==--==--==--==--
Atari is a registered trademark of Atari Corporation. ST, Mega ST, STE,
Mega STE, Atari Falcon030, TOS, MultiTOS, NewDesk, BLiTTER, Atari Lynx,
Atari Portfolio, and the Atari Fuji are all trademarks of Atari
Corporation. All other trademarks mentioned in this issue belong to their
respective owners.
--==--==--==--==--
Atari Explorer Online Magazine
"The Official Atari Online Journal"
Copyright (c) 1992, Atari Computer Corporation
:::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::: A E O :::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::
:: Special Edition #1 ATARI EXPLORER ONLINE 6 December 1992 ::
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