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Atari Explorer Online Issue 1993 05
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:: Volume 2 - Issue 5 ATARI EXPLORER ONLINE 6 March 1993 ::
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:: ::
:: ATARI .............. News, reviews, & solutions ............ ATARI ::
:: EXPLORER ............ for the online Atari .......... EXPLORER ::
:: ONLINE ................. Community .............. ONLINE ::
:: ::
:: Published and Copyright (c) 1993 by Atari Corporation ::
:: """"""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""" ::
:: Editor .............................. Travis Guy AEO.MAG ::
:: Assistant Editor GEnie............ Ron Robinson EXPLORER.1 ::
:: Assistant Editor CompuServe...... Albert Dayes AEO.1 ::
:: Assistant Editor Delphi..... Andreas Barbiero AEO.2 ::
:: News Editor ........................... Lyre AEO.3 ::
:: Editor-at-Large ................. Ed Krimen AEO.5 ::
:: Hardware Editor .......... Britton Robbins AEO.4 ::
:: ::
:: Contributors ::
:: """""""""""" ::
:: John J. Lehett Timothy Wilson ::
:: ::
:: ::
:: 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: AEO_MAG ::
:: Fnet: AEO Conference, Node 706 ::
:: AtariNet: AEO Conference, Node 51:1/10 ::
:: ::
::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::
Table of Contents
* From the Editors .......................................................
* Atari Works More! ............... Andreas delves deeper into Atari's new
integrated productivity package.
* Hardware Factor ....................... Britton starts out his series on
modems by delving into the Bell
and "vee dot" standards.
* Ron's Random Ramblins ..................... Falcon030 shareware, tbxCAD.
* Dateline: Atari! .................. Bob Brodie and Eric "MultiTOS" Smith
in GEnie's March kickoff RTC.
* GEnie News ........................... New files & happenings on Atari's
Official Online Resource.
* Caesar .............. Can Andreas really hold the Roman Empire together?
* Andreas' Den .................... Adding a new wing... a Falcon030 wing.
* An Introduction to UNIX and the Internet ...... Last Call - Part 4 of 4.
* Atari Users Online: The Internet ............ The world's biggest BBS?!?
* Developing News! ............................ Diamond Edge Upgrade Patch
STraight FAX update
A Day at the Races
Maxwell Moves
Silhoutte Colortrace 1.5
Soundlab 1.1
--==--==--==--==--
||| From the Editors ....... Atari Explorer Online: The Next Generation
||| Travis Guy
/ | \ GEnie: AEO.MAG
-------------------------------------------------------------------
Life is hard.
I happened over to a dear friend of mine's early last week, purely by
chance (maybe?). The door was open (strange), so I walked in, totally
unprepared for what I would find.
She had taken a lethal overdose of a prescription, not intending
anyone to find her until she had died. I got her to the hospital with
about 10 minutes to spare, according to the doctors.
After spending 3 days in intensive care, she was released. With
help, she has vowed never to do this again. The first words she spoke
to me in ITC were though, "It was the most calm, tranquil decision I
ever made." I held her, and together, we cried.
Words don't seem to flow too freely for me right now, so let's stop
here and let the rest of the issue speak for itself. It's a good one,
the staff has outdone theirselves, and are committed to continue to
bring you the best in news and information from the World Atari.
There's lots of stuff a' brewin.
There'll be no closing editorial this issue either. We will be back
again in a fortnight, so let me say here,
Until the next issue of AEO, I remain,
Your Editor
Travis Guy
--==--==--==--==--
||| Atari Works More ......................... And the Word was Written
||| By: Andreas Barbiero
/ | \ Delphi: ABARBIERO GEnie: AEO.2
-------------------------------------------------------------------
Atari Works is an extremely versatile software package that will run
on the entire line of Atari computers, from a one megabyte 1040ST, to
the Atari Falcon030. With two or three Speedo fonts loaded, and a
small cache set up for them, Atari Works WILL run on one megabyte ST,
but I would suggest the user have at least two megs, in order that
more fonts and a larger SpeedoGDOS cache can be used to speed up
redraws. With two or more megabytes of RAM, your system will have more
free memory for larger files to be created within Works, and allow
SpeedoGDOS to run faster. Saying that Atari Works is a totally
integrated software package, means that its word processor, database,
spreadsheet, and communications were intended to work together from
the outset. (maybe it should have been called Gung Ho!) A spreadsheet
can be set up or imported from one module to another, or a database
can be used for mailmerge purposes. Charts can be drawn and
transported at will, and word processor files will be transmittable
via your send-fax modem in the upcoming terminal module.
AtariWorks can have several database, spreadsheet and wordprocessor
files open at the same time, so you will want as much RAM as possible
to work with. Speedo utilizes an efficient caching system for scaling
fonts, but the more memory you can allocate it the better off you are.
But no matter what system you are running Atari Works on, from a
1040ST to an Atari Falcon030, the tools will still be the same and
offer you the same versatility.
This first module you will talk about is the Atari Works
wordprocessor. The features of this program are particularly
interesting to anyone who uses a word processor, and is frustrated by
the current crop of word processors. The best way to tell you about it
all is to describe my own experiences. Using Atari Works I converted
my Caesar game review from a straight ASCII program into a
professional presentation format, suitable for handing out as a flyer.
<<< See attached screenshot: AW_WORD.PC3 >>>
In order to quickly facilitate access to the command functions, Atari
Works supports a graphic tool bar across the top of the screen, that
can be selectively hidden if desired, in order to gain an extra line
or two on screen display. From left to right, the control boxes are:
[] Page display: A box which displays the page number you are viewing.
[] Page format selector: A drop-down menu of all the different formats
saved and accessible for on the fly page formats.
[] Text Justification: A set of four buttons which can select left
justified, right justified, centered, and full justification.
[] Line Spacing: Three buttons selecting, single spacing, one and a half
line spacing, and double spacing.
[] Tab settings: Four tab settings- left, right, center, and decimal
tabs.
[] Format Selector: A drop-down menu of all the fonts which you have
preset and assigned function keys to.
[] Text attributes: Seven buttons allowing you to select normal, bold,
italic, underline, outline, superscript, and subscript manipulation
for your text.
[] Graphics: Allows you to draw solid or outline objects to be drawn as a
metafile in your text file.
As you can see, the tool bar allows fast access to all the important
features of a word processor, and with a single glance you can tell
what you are set up to do at any time. The ease of formatting a
document is fantastic and is so self explanatory that you do not need
to constantly refer to a manual. Anyone who has used Word Perfect 5.1,
or any other number of cumbersome word processors on the various
platforms will appreciate this aspect immediately.
Importation of a ASCII document is simple. Atari Works imports the
document in the font selected as a default (from the preferences menu)
quite quickly, even with the notoriously skimpy SpeedoGDOS cache I am
known to use. ASCII can get tricky at times, especially with documents
that insist on having a carriage return after each line. Atari Works
can clear this annoyance by simply selecting all the text (either as a
block with the mouse, or select all the text with a CONTROL-A) and
then pressing CONTROL-M. Voila! Carriage returns dismissed!
The first thing I needed to do was change the font to one appropriate
for a review of a Roman era game. I wanted something reminiscent of
Roman style text, so I pressed CONTROL-A (select all) and then I hit
F4, since I had assigned it to a typically Roman font. Hot keys for
fonts, what a great concept! The entire text file was converted into
the new font. Using the mouse, I was able to quickly highlight a
section of text for manipulation. A highlighted block of text can
easily cut, copied, deleted, pasted, reformatted, etc. In this case I
wanted to change the title and subtitles into a different font from
the main body of text. I assigned the title font to F5 and with a few
quick mouse clicks I was able to highlight the desired text and press
F5 to change the font once again. Being famous for typos and
misspellings, I wanted to check things once again, so I ran it through
the spelling checker. Since words are easily added to the dictionary,
I have accrued a large personal dictionary, so words that would trip
up a generic spelling checker are not a problem anymore. There were
three honest spelling mistakes, and invariably the first suggested
spelling was the one I needed. Not only is the spell checker fast, it
also looks for phonetics, or sound alikes, making it a very flexible
in not only finding mistakes, but fixing them for you too!
Choosing the right words to use is almost as important as making sure
they are spelled right. Usually I keep a well used Roget's thesaurus
next to my computer. Even though most of the upscale word processors I
have used claim to implement a built in thesaurus, invariably they are
cumbersome and slow. On the PC I had to use at work, the thesaurus
function took so long to load, that I could go on a coffee run, and
return in time to start working again! In competition against other
word processors, the Atari Works thesaurus is unique. For instance
after I typed the word 'unique' I loaded the Thesaurus, off my
Syquest44, it took 4 seconds! Highlighting, or placing the cursor at
the end of a word brings up the word in context with a selection of
definitions. You can select the one that fits the context of your
sentence and quickly get a list of synonyms, antonyms, and related
words. This allows you to use alternate words that are tuned to the
concepts you are trying to bring across without having to fight the
program, or guess where the words you are looking for are hidden. You
can change to the new word by simply clicking on the one you wish to
use, and hitting return.
<<< See attached screenshot: AW_THES.PC3 >>>
At this point, my wife was delicately reminding me that she was
waiting to mail this masterpiece, so I reluctantly stopped
experimenting. (I think she used different terminology, the word
molasses-brain was used.)
After making sure the text was perfect, I printed it. SpeedoGDOS took
care of the rest, using the Deskjet driver I had previously set up
during installation of Speedo. As I watched in anticipation, the text
emerged onto paper. This was almost too easy. I was happy that I was
not being paid by the hour for this work!
In my playing around with the program, I found out how Atari Works
does the basics. Not only does Atari Works support font and page
layout macros, but the things that every word processor should do is
implemented also. Headers and footers can be assigned via a simple GEM
selector: choose the font, pick the size, assign a text attribute, and
tell the program how far in you want the header/footer to be in on the
page.
Search and replace is a simply performed action. With some other word
processors, I have found that if you accidentally start your global
search at the end of the text, it ends when the text ends. Atari
Works opens a smaller window with the word you are searching for in a
block of text for context purposes, and no matter where you start the
search will go from beginning to end, and around again, as many times
as you need to.
<<< See attached screenshot: AW_SRCH.PC3 >>>
Anyone who has used Word WriterST is familiar with the F10 key. Every
time you need to rearrange text in a paragraph after minor editing,
you have to reach up and hit F10. This sometimes resulted in a less
than perfect format, paragraphs would get stuck together, left margins
would change.... you name it. Atari Works handles formatting in real
time and automatically. Inserting text in the middle of a paragraph is
fun to watch as the paragraph adapts to your changes. My biggest
complaint about some graphic word processors was that it took a second
or two before the text would rearrange itself, making you wait for
screen redraws to occur before you can see what you document looks
like. Wait till you see Atari Works!
But the word processor is not just limited to text editing, You can
draw circles, squares, ovals, and lines of all shapes and with several
choices as to the thickness of the line. So not only can you emphasize
text with a font, but you can place it in a box, outlining whatever
you have to say. GEM metafiles are supported directly for now, and an
IMG import module is expected in the release version. Atari Works IS
growing, and changes increasing speed, as well as the functionality of
the program is an ongoing process. Overall, I have found it to run
faster than the early version of Calligrapher, and better than
Microsoft Write for the ST.
In case you haven't gotten what I am aiming at here, ease of use is
the point I am delicately trying to make with a sledgehammer! Other
programs may offer different options and features, but for what the
gritty end of a word processor is, getting text into a usable
document, Atari Works does this with the best interface I have seen.
In future articles, AEO will describe what it takes to set up a
spreadsheet and start organizing your data into a functional database.
In the meantime, if you have any questions, feel free to contact me at
AEO.2 on GEnie, or ABARBIERO on Delphi.
--==--==--==--==--
||| Hardware Factor - Modem Standards
||| By; Britton Robbins
/ | \ GEnie: AEO.4 Delphi: BROBBINS
---------------------------------
Not too long ago it was a simple thing to go out and buy a modem.
Basically, all you had to do was decide if 1200 baud was good enough,
or if you could afford to splurge for 2400 baud. Now, it can be
extremely confusing when trying to select a modem. There are so many
different protocols and standards that it's easy to get confused. In
this issue, I hope to clear the air about some of the standards, and
to help show the difference between BPS and baud.
The first telecommunication standards in the United States were
developed many years ago by the American Telephone and Telegraph
Company (AT&T). The two most widely used AT&T standards are Bell 103
and Bell 212A.
Bell 103 is modulation standard which allows communication at speeds
up to 300 bits per second (BPS). It uses a very simple type of
modulation called frequency shift keying or FSK. With FSK there are
basically two states for the carrier representing binary 0 and 1. One
of the biggest problems with trying to send digital data over the
phone is related to the analog phone system. Because of its small
frequency range, it can only accommodate limited amounts of digital
data. Bell 103 uses a carrier modulated at 300 baud and transmits data
at 300 BPS.
Bell 212A was the next standard developed that became widely used in
the United States. It modulates the carrier at 600 baud. 1200 BPS
speed is obtained by adding quadrature modulation to the 600 baud
carrier signal. This is the standard most 1200 'baud' modems in the
U.S. used. In many foreign countries the use of Bell 212A was
prohibited. Instead, an international standard, CCITT V.22 was
preferred.
CCITT stands for Comite Consultatif International Telegraphique et
Telephoneique. English translation: International Telegraph and
Telephone Consultative Committee. The CCITT basically took over the
job of setting communication standards at the international level.
All of the high speed standards used in modems today are sanctioned by
the CCITT.
V.22, pronounced "vee dot twenty two", is the CCITT equivalent of the
Bell 212A standard. V.22 uses a 600 baud carrier and provides 1200 BPS
transfer rate. Bell 212A and V.22 use the same form of frequency
modulation but they are not compatible with each other. They each use
different protocols to establish the connection, preventing them from
being able to "talk" to each other. Some modems support both protocols
for maximum compatibility.
V.22bis was the first real worldwide standard, popular in both Europe
and the United States. It still uses a 600 baud carrier but permits a
2400 BPS transfer rate. This is achieved by using a method called
trellis modulation that combines two different kinds of simple
modulation amplitude and quadrature. The two types of modulation
combine to provide each baud with 16 possible "states" representing
four bits of data (600 baud times 4 bits equals 2400 bits per second).
One modulation provides four distinct phases and the other gives four
distinct amplitudes, which, when multiplied together represent the 16
available states.
V.32 is the standard for high speed modems that operate in the
4800-9600 BPS range. V.32 uses a 2400 baud carrier instead of the 600
baud one used by V.22 and Bell 212A. At 4800 BPS, V.32 uses quadrature
modulation similar to V.22, but at the higher 2400 baud rate. To
achieve the 9600 BPS transfer rate, V.32 uses trellis modulation
similar to that of V.22bis.
V.32bis is the standard that the current crop of 14,400 BPS modems
use. The 14,400 BPS transfer rate is achieved by expanding on the V.32
standard by using different ranges of amplitudes and phases in the
modulation.
V.42 is an error correction standard. Error correction is a means by
which modems can actually correct for corrupted data during
transmission. It is similar to doing a file download using a transfer
protocol like X-Modem. Except, instead of the software checking the
accuracy of the transmission, the modem hardware does the checking
automatically. The modem requests the bad data bits to be re-sent
without you even noticing there had been a problem.
V.42bis is a data compression standard. V.42bis is the most efficient
of the compression protocols, providing up to a 4 to 1 compression
ratio. What that translates out to is, with a 9600 BPS modem you can
potentially achieve an effective transfer rate of 38,400 BPS. You
usually won't get that high a transfer rate when downloading
compressed files (LZH, ARC, ZIP, ZOO etc.).
That's my time for this issue. Next time I'll cover the MNP and FAX
protocols including some of the marketing tricks to watch out for when
selecting a modem.
Happy Telecommunicating !
--==--==--==--==--
||| Ron's Random Ramblin'
||| By: Ron Robinson
/ | \ GEnie: EXPLORER.1
---------------------
Atari Falcon030 Software Update - Judging from the quantity and
""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""" quality of Atari Falcon030 specific
shareware software starting to arrive from Germany, I believe the
European programmers like what they have seen in the new computer and
are having a great time working with the new features. A few examples
downloaded from GEnie the past few weeks include:
"Mandelbrot Fractal" by R.J. Ridder is one of the best fractal
generators I have run across. This puppy must be seen to be believed
in true color! Output is to a GEM window and fractals can be saved to
picture files or animated along with tons of other features. This
program will run on all Atari computers and will take advantage of a
math co-processor if you have one. Fascinating...
"Frac!" by BrainStorm is a program/CPX to benchmark fractal generation
on all Atari computers. You can choose to run the program from memory,
to use a math co-processor or use the DSP in the Atari Falcon030.
Timing results using the default settings are:
"Fract!" -- Fractal Generation Time in Seconds
Memory FPU DSP Graphics
============================================
MSTe, 8 MHz 90 (monochrome)
MSTe, 16 MHz 46 (monochrome)
Falcon 16 MHz 48 12 (truecolor)
Falcon 16 MHz 34 10 (monochrome)
TT 32 MHz 18 16 (monochrome)
(Results of this benchmark represents results from one demo
program and should not be read to make general comparisons
between computers. But then, it does look like the DSP is
useful for things besides processing sound :-)
Yes, there are even some non-fractal programs appearing -
"Pro-Tracker" V2.1a by Griff of Electronic Images is a MOD sound file
player with 50KHz 16 bit (15 bit stereo) output for the Atari
Falcon030. The program can be run from the desktop or set as a
desktop application allowing you to click on a sound file to hear it.
"Winrec" V0.9 by Andreas Binner is a MultiTOS compatible
direct-to-disk recording program for the Atari Falcon030. The program
produces samples in the DVSM and AVR format.
tbxCAD is FUN! - I collect CAD programs like some people collect
"""""""""""""" baseball cards. I doubt there is any other non-game
application that more fully tests the power of computer hardware than
CAD can (OK, DTP software does also). I know there is no other class
of software that presents a wider range of cost, features and variety
in user interface as you will see in CAD software.
tbxCAD is definitely at the top of my "under $100 CAD package" list
for any computer. I find the program very intuitive and easy to use -
and just flat out fun! The selection of tools available from the
program is complete but yet the features are not so overwhelming to
induce you give up CAD programs forever. If you can use a drawing
program, you can use tbxCAD.
A new version 2.2 release is now available featuring: a few minor bug
fixes, many tool enhancements, and a number of added features. A new
program to translate standard DFX files to tbxCAD is now included,
allowing you to import CAD drawings from other CAD programs (DynaCADD,
AutoCAD, GfA Draft, etc.).
ABC Solutions provides excellent support of the product as recently
demonstrated when they AUTOMATICALLY mailed updates of this handy CAD
package to registered users last week.
tbxCAD -- ABC Solutions, 416.824.8484 (GEnie: ABC.SOL)
LAN City Beats SneakerNet - Back at the ranch, we now have an Atari
""""""""""""""""""""""""" Falcon030, MSTe and TT030 (Atari has been
berry, berry good to me) all networked via the Atari built-in LAN
hardware and PowerDOS/PowerNET software. A 520ST is also on the
network via MIDI ports. The network implementation is "Peer to Peer",
which means other computers look like a disk drive inside a "network"
partition - and your computer looks like a disk drive to the other
computers.
Thus, all programs and files are available from the desktop or
fileselector as if the other computers disk drive(s) were inside your
computer. Files can be copied between the computers in the background.
The network can also give you access to printers connected to the
other computers.
This is great! A couple of standard Macintosh AppleTalk LAN to phone
connectors plus standard telephone wire completes the connection
making it easy to network computers across the office or house. No
more keeping multiple copies of the same file on several hard drives
or systems. No more wondering which copy of a spreadsheet is the most
current.
Oh yes, SneakerNet is the process of copying a file to a floppy and
walking it over to another computer when you need to transfer a copy.
:-) This was the network technique used within Atari until the new
Atari Explorer Staff came to Sunnyvale and "netted" the magazine.
Errata - In the last installment of Ramblin', I managed to transpose
"""""" part of Trace Technologies phone number with their zip+4
number. My apologies to anyone inconvenienced by my error. A full
review of this very useful Atari utility will appear in a future issue
of Atari Explorer Magazine.
Data Rescue -- Trace Technologies 713.771.8332 (GEnie: K.GERDES)
============
End of the Line - I have been surprised how far some of the information
""""""""""""""" from this column has traveled. It also has been
interesting to see how a piece of information can transform after it
rattles through the computer networks, subject to enhancement and
interpretation by those who repost what they *thought* they read :-)
Please keep those cards and letters coming folks - suggestions,
complaints and just plain howdy's can be sent to EXPLORER.1 on GEnie,
24 hours a day, 7 days a week.
--==--==--==--==--
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
-- --==--==-- 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. --
-- --
-- --==--==-- Atari's Official On-line Resource! --==--==-- --
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
--==--==--==--==--
||| Dateline: Atari ........ Bob Brodie/Eric Smith's March RTC on GEnie
|||
/ | \ Courtesy: GEnie
-------------------------------------------------------------------
===========================================================================
(C) 1993 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 XTX99437,GEnie and hit RETURN. The system will prompt you for your
information.
===========================================================================
Special Edition Friday Night Real Time Conference
March 5, 1993
Dateline Atari! with Bob Brodie
Special Guest - Eric Smith
Host - Lou Rocha
<ST.LOU> Once again it is my great pleasure to welcome Bob Brodie,
Director of Communications for Atari Corp. to our monthly edition of
Dateline Atari! We also have the added honor of a special guest - none
other than the original author of MultiTOS, Eric Smith! Welcome to
both of our guests.
This is a special night for Atarians for another reason. Tonight we
expect to hear the long awaited news of Falcon030 shipping plans and
US prices. For several months we have followed the saga of Falcon
production and related software development. Last month we got an
excellent preview of Atari Works, the integrated wordprocessor,
database and spreadsheet.
Tonight we will hear about the long awaited (almost legendary) debut
of MultiTOS - Atari's multitasking operating system. Without further
ado, let's have the opening comments from Bob Brodie. <Bob told me
there was a TON of info, so settle back and enjoy> Go Ahead, Bob! Lou
and the rest of the gang here at the ST Roundtable!
<BOB-BRODIE> Once again, I'm delighted to be here for our monthly
gathering at Dateline: Atari! This month, I'm pleased to offer
something a little bit different from our normal fare. I've asked
Eric Smith, from the Software Engineering Group here at Atari, to join
us online to discuss MultiTOS. I know that you're all very anxious to
hear as much as possible about the capabilities of MultiTOS, and Eric
is just the man to answer all of your questions about MultiTOS. As
many of your may know, Eric developed a program called MiNT (which
stood for Mint is NOT TOS). Originally, MiNT didn't multitask with
GEM applications, but rather gave users a multi-tasking environment to
operate TOS applications from. MiNT is now incorporated into
MultiTOS, and has changed dramatically since Eric first wrote it.
Obviously, we were impressed enough with his efforts to offer him a
position within Atari! <grin>
Before we begin with the MultiTOS portion of our CO, I'm sure that you
are all very interested in the status of the delivery schedule for the
Atari Falcon030 here in the US. We have had a small setback in the
manufacturing of the unit. One of our suppliers is running about 10
days behind in providing us with a couple of components that we need
for the US machines. This means that the machines will probably
arrive in late March to early April.
The reception that we've had for the machines has been nothing short
of sensational!! The phone has been ringing constantly, with many
people interested in signing up as Atari dealers. As you might
expect, the main interest is coming from the music field, as few other
computer systems can match the digital sound capabilities of the Atari
Falcon030 right out of the box!! We have enough orders in hand that
we expect to be sold out quickly. This is the same type of reception
that the Falcon030 has gotten in the rest of the world, for instance
in Germany, where it was literally sold out in a matter of hours!!!
Much of our efforts here in Sunnyvale over the course of the last
month has revolved around finalizing plans for dealer agreements. It
is our hope that we'll be able to restore the value of an Atari
dealership, and help the dealers be able to be more profitable. We
will be soon going over the new arrangements with all of our current
dealers, as we release the pricing, and other sales related
information to our current dealers.
Now, we'd like to tell you a little bit about MultiTOS! While this
file is a little bit long, it will give you a pretty good idea of what
the capabilities of MultiTOS are.
MultiTOS provides your Atari computer with multitasking, the ability
to run more than one application at a time. Since your computer spends
much of its time waiting for user input, multitasking makes more
efficient use of processing power--when one application, say, your
word processor, is waiting for input, the rest of your computer's
attention is turned to other tasks.
MultiTOS includes several important features that make multitasking
reliable and efficient. Adaptive prioritization gives the most
processing power to the most important program running-- the word
processor you're typing into receives higher priority than the
processor-hungry compression program running simultaneously in the
background. Memory protection prevents one program from interfering
with another active program's data in memory. And if one program quits
unexpectedly or "crashes," MultiTOS protects other applications, which
continue to run; only in the most extreme circumstances will you need
to restart your computer.
MultiTOS runs existing, correctly-written TOS programs--as many as
your computer's memory allows. Some programs are already being
upgraded to take advantage of MultiTOS features, and more programs
written especially for MultiTOS are on their way, from Atari and
third-party companies.
MultiTOS can run as many programs simultaneously as will fit in
memory; GEM programs, Desk Accessories, and TOS programs can all
peacefully coexist under MultiTOS. You can move from one to the other,
using whichever you need. When one program is busy, you can set it
aside and work on something else until it's done. When you finish with
a program and exit it, the memory it occupied is freed for other
tasks.
All running programs share the screen, each putting up its own
windows; with several programs running, windows may overlap or be
hidden altogether by one another. The application that receives input,
like keystrokes, from you is called the foreground or topped
application, and other programs running simultaneously are background,
or untopped applications.
Unlike TOS, MultiTOS allows you to operate any window's gadgets to
move, resize, or scroll the window, even if the window is not topped.
When you click within a window (but not on its gadgets), that window
is topped, and so is the application that owns it. The topped
application's menu bar is displayed, unless it doesn't have a menu
bar--in that case, the menu bar is unchanged.
Running GEM programs under MultiTOS is straightforward: simply
double-click the program's icon. The MultiTOS Distribution Kit
includes two simple GEM programs, "Clock" and "Lines." Double- click
on CLOCK.APP, and an analog clock appears in a window, but the
Desktop's icons and menu bar are still visible. Double-click on
LINES.APP, and a graphics demonstration appears in a window. Resize
the Lines window so that you can see the clock and some of the
Desktop. Both programs and the Desktop are running simultaneously!
From here, you can run still other programs, or perform Desktop
operations like file copies.
Desk Accessories and MultiTOS
As with TOS, you can access your Desk Accessories from the "Desk"
menu. Unlike TOS, MultiTOS can load Desk Accessories as you need them.
Double-click on a ".ACC" file to run it, just as you would another GEM
application. You may want to keep only the essential Accessories
loaded at all times, and load others when needed. You can do this by
putting your ".ACC" files in a directory other than the root of drive
C:\.
TOS programs present a special problem for multitasking, because they
usually assume they are the only programs running, and that they have
the whole screen to themselves. Since TOS programs don't know how to
share the screen, MultiTOS does it for them, by giving them their own
"screen," within a window. When you double-click a ".TOS" or ".TTP"
program, MultiTOS runs another program, "MINIWIN," which sets up a
window in which the TOS program runs. MINIWIN lets you select the
size of the window TOS programs are given, and the font they use. You
can change this information by choosing "Configure..." in the leftmost
menu when running a TOS program. Note: TOS programs assume they're
using a "monospaced" font, where all characters are the same width.
MINIWIN allows you to choose "proportionally spaced" fonts, where a
"w" is wider than an "i," for example. If you choose a proportionally
spaced font, the program may look strange, but is otherwise fine.
When several applications are running, the topped application presents
its menu bar and receives your keystrokes. The others are in the
background, where you can still move and resize their windows, but you
can't click on their menus or give them keyboard commands. MultiTOS
provides several ways to manage all the applications you may have
running, and to choose which of them is topped.
The leftmost menu in the menu bar is called the "Desk" menu, because
that's what it's called when the Desktop is topped. When another
MultiTOS-friendly application is run, and the application has its own
menu bar, the application's name replaces "Desk" in the menu bar--this
is one way to tell which program is topped. Some older applications
will not do this, but will otherwise work fine.
The Desk menu contains the names of all installed Desk Accessories and
below, the names of all applications currently running, with the
topped application indicated by a checkmark. You can top another
program by clicking on its name in this menu; its windows (if it has
any) spring to the front, and its menu bar (if it has one) appears.
You can run as many programs as your available memory allows, but
there are reasons why you may not want to. Often, there is very little
difference in system performance with several programs running, since
many of these programs are just waiting for input. When programs are
actively processing, or reading and writing data on a disk, they
consume more of your Atari's processing power. You may be tempted to
leave things running in the background because it's so easy, but if
they make too many demands on the system, performance will suffer.
It's best to shut down any programs you're not planning to use, just
as you would exit them in TOS. This makes the most memory and
"computing horsepower" available for the programs you really need.
Experiment, and see what combinations of programs work well together.
Shut programs down with MultiTOS the same way you would with TOS:
save whatever you're working on, then select "Quit," click the "close"
gadget on a window, type "exit," or whatever. This gives the program a
chance to save and close any files it has open and exit cleanly,
returning your computer to its normal state. As always, it's best to
save your work and exit from all running applications before
restarting or turning your computer off.
Occasionally, a program may "hang" in a state where it is no longer
running correctly, but does not exit. When this happens, you can shut
the program down from the Desktop. Select "Install Devices" under the
"Options" menu, then open drive U:\, and then the "PROC" folder. This
folder contains "files" that represent all the programs currently
running under MultiTOS, along with parts of MultiTOS itself. To stop
or "kill" a program, simply drag it to the trash. Be very careful with
this technique. Kill only programs which have not responded otherwise,
or are otherwise behaving incorrectly. Be careful what you throw away,
because it is possible to shut down a part of MultiTOS itself, after
which it can be difficult to recover without restarting. If you aren't
sure what something is, don't kill it.
Although Atari has made every effort to accomodate even ill- behaved
TOS programs, you may occasionally encounter programs that are not
compatible with MultiTOS. These programs may "crash," (exit
unexpectedly) or "hang," (keep running without accepting input,
refusing to exit). Usually when this happens, MultiTOS continues
unharmed, along with any other programs running at the time of the
crash. Sometimes, if a program crashes in an especially spectacular
way, it can interfere with other parts of MultiTOS operation, or other
programs. If you see error messages on your screen, or if you notice
peculiar behavior from other programs, save your work and reboot your
computer. Try to isolate the problem to the particular program and
action that caused the crash, and report the problem to the program's
authors or publisher.
When you encounter a program which doesn't run under MultiTOS under
any circumstances but you need to run nevertheless, you can
temporarily disable MultiTOS, and restart your computer with TOS. To
do this, save any work in progress, shut down any running
applications, and restart your computer. You can use the Reset button,
or hold down <Control> and <Alternate> and press <Delete>.
Immediately after restarting, hold down the left <Shift> key. You will
be asked, "Load MultiTOS? (y)es (n)o." Press the <n> key, and your
computer will start up without MultiTOS.
With the power of MultiTOS comes responsibility. Since some older
programs expect to be the only thing running, they may not guard
against some things which can happen "when their backs are turned."
You can avoid these problems by not using one program or the Desktop
to interfere with another active program. For example, don't move
configuration or open document files for your word processor while
it's running; the program may assume the files are in their original
place, and behave unpredictably. Similarly, be careful with programs
that manipulate disk data directly; don't run a hard disk
defragmentation program in the background and save a file to the same
disk, or the results could be unpleasant. As more MultiTOS-aware
programs become available, these problems will be minimized.
That concludes our opening remarks about MultiTOS, Lou. We're ready
to take on all the questions that our guests might have tonight!
Naturally, we're prepared to answer MultiTOS questions as well as
almost anything else they might want to discuss with us.
<ST.LOU> Thanks for the preview of MultiTOS. Several people have their
hands /raised so let's get to them right away. Our first question is
from B.AEIN. Go ahead Bman...
<[Bman] B.AEIN> Bob, can you talk about new dealers, the Falcon 040,
or the Jaguar? Will there be coverage in mags like Popular Science?
What extras will be included with theFalcon? MTos on ROM? Thanks for
being here Bob. GA!
<BOB-BRODIE> Hi Bman, we've gotten a number of enquirys from new
dealers. I expect to be able to expand our dealer network
dramatically, and quickly as well. Among the most exciting thing to
the new dealer prospects is the fact that they will actually make
MONEY selling Atari Computers, unlike the skinny margins that most
clone dealers presently have to live with. Re the Falcon040: Sorry,
no comment about any 040 products. The Jaguar, our 64 bit game
console machine is due out this summer. The Falcon will ship with
MultiTOS, Atari Works, Speedo GDOS, and the other 8 applications that
we previously indicated.
<ST.LOU> Thanks Brian. Next we have Dave Shorr.
<[Dave] D.SHORR> Bob, what is the STatus of the dealer demo unit
program and Atari's service agreement with GE? GA.
<BOB-BRODIE> The dealer demo program is going to happen, naturally
dependent on the dealer accepting our new dealer terms and conditions.
as for the GE program, there are legal issues that are impeding that
event from going forward. Unfortunately, I don't know when it will,
or if it will happen. However, the Falcon030 in reality only has
about 6 components to it: The ram board, the floppy, the hard disk,
the power supply, the keyboard, and ... the motherboard. This makes
it very easy for just about anyone to be able to service the Atari
Falcon030. ga
<ST.LOU> Thanks. OK Steve Miller has been waiting. GA
<[IRATA native] S.MILLER58> Will MultiTos have the capability to open
an individual application multiple time? And will there be a unix
style command line capability? Or is MultiTos far from being anything
like UNIX running an x-windows type of envir.? and when it is going to
be available ?
<[Eric Smith] ST-GUEST> Yes, you can open applications multiple times
(assuming the application supports this; most do). You can use most of
the available command line interpreters for the ST under MultiTOS, and
they will run (like any .TOS or .TTP window) in a window. Much like
xterm under X windows, if you're familiar with that. MultiTOS is going
to ship with Falcons, and will be available for users shortly
aftwerwards. ga (By "users" I meant "non-Falcon" users, obviously
<grin>).
<[IRATA native] S.MILLER58> Will, MultiTOS support SLIP so that I can
use my DECstation's graphics capabilities at home? err if I used the
terminology correctly.
<[Eric Smith] ST-GUEST> We don't have SLIP support build into the OS,
but people could add this on with easily, using MultiTOS's loadable
device driver and file system features. ga
<ST.LOU> Next we have Chris Cassaday
<[Fiesta Atari] C.CASSADAY> Bob or Eric: TOS and TTP programs sound
like a pain. How do programs like ARC Shell and XYZ shell work under
MTOS? Concerning the desktop environment while running several apps:
Does the [B]ottom to Top feature of TOS 3.06 work on windowed
applications like it would on normal directory windows? Also, can you
use the right mouse button to manipulate applications in the
background in the same fashion? ga...
<[Eric Smith] ST-GUEST> Older versions of ARC shell didn't work under
MultiTOS, but perhaps there will be a new version that does. The
[B]ottom to Top feature works only on the desktop's windows; there is
a new key (control-alt-tab) for cycling between applications. Some
applications (MultiTOS aware ones) will let you manipluate them while
their in the background; for these applications you don't even need to
hold down the right mouse button, it all happens automatically! GA
<ST.LOU> You look pretty comfortable there, Eric! Ready for JCD from
NewDimensions?
<[JCD] NEWDIMENSION> Evening Bob. Has Atari decided on how MultiTOS
will be distributed to owners of current Atari computers? MultiTOS is
running GREAT on our TT and Mega STE. Congrats to Eric on a job well
done!!
<[Eric Smith] ST-GUEST> Thanks, JCD
<BOB-BRODIE> Jeff, it looks like we'll have to sell MultiTOS rather
than ... upload it to the online systems. We have an arrangement
with... DRI that requires that we pay a licensing fee for the use of
GEM on a per unit basis. So we will be working on packaging and of
course, pricing for MultiTOS in order to sell it to the user base so
we can honor our contract with DRI. ga
<ST.LOU> Bob, we now have James Vogh
<[James] J.VOGH> I have a MIDI question. Is there any software which
will allow the falcon to have the capabilities of a sound module such
as the Roland sc-55? Ga
<BOB-BRODIE> James, I'm afraid that I'm not familiar with the
capabilities of the Roland sound modules, and our music expert James
Grunke isn't in the office at this time. I'm afraid that I'm not up to
speed enough to answer that. My gut reaction is that it is possible,
but I don't think that there is such an application at this time. ga
<ST.LOU> OK, now we have Robb Albright
<[Robb/PAC prz] R.ALBRIGHT7> Eric, is there a feature in MultiTOS to
allow minimising of running-program windows, and if so, what does it
require of the program to allow this to happen. ga
<[Eric Smith] ST-GUEST> No, minimization isn't built in to the OS.
However, we will be publishing a specification soon to allow programs
to do this. Basically, your program should just make its window very
small and move it to a corner of the screen. There are calls to allow
you to check to see if any other windows are at a spot, so that you
can find an empty place. GA
<ST.LOU> OK... John Kuehn.. you're on
<[John] JKUEHN> Bob, What is the current status of Atari Kodak and the
Photo CD?
<BOB-BRODIE> John, our contract is a done deal. We're awaiting the
final versions of the developer tool kit which is being ported to our
platform by one of the developers from Germany. We had expected to
see something in about January time frame, but there have been delays
on his end in getting the product finished. Naturally, we're very
anxious to see this completed. ga
<[John] JKUEHN> Also will the multitos package come with .XFS CD- ROM
drivers? I Kodak developing the tool kit?
<[Eric Smith] ST-GUEST> No, the MultiTOS package will not come with
the CD-ROM driver. It will be available later as an add-on, I think.
(Ed. Note - Due to a system problem, ST.LOU was disconnected and back
up RTC sysop Mike Allen assumed RTC leaderhip.)
<BOB-BRODIE> Well, let me finish up the question that John asked, and
lets' try to keep a QUIET demeanor in the next few minutes. John, in
answer to your question about Kodak...They provide the source code to
the Photo CD software system. From the source code that they have
provided, we port the code to our platform. This is the very same
procedure that is done with the port to MS-DOS, and to the MacIntosh
platform as well. Mike, take it formal, please. :)
<MIKE-ALLEN> Sorry folks - I don't have Lou's raised hand list. I'm
going to have to fake it for a while. hold on while I get a piece oof
paper Ok, I have Craig Servin with his had up as well as a few others.
Go ahead craig
<[Craig Servin] C.SERVIN3> Is the new Desktop smart enough to deal
with longer file names? Also does MTOS give the 3D AES gadgets to TOS
< 4.0 machines? ga
<[Eric Smith] ST-GUEST> The desktop doesn't deal with longer file
names yet (future releases will, I hope) The 3D gadgets are built into
MultiTOS and will work on all machines. GA
<MIKE-ALLEN> Next is A. Warner
<A.WARNER6> Thanks Mike, Good Evening Bob and Eric My question is : If
delays continue to persist will the Multi-Tos and other New Atari
programs ship? ga Sorry I meant delays with the Falcon
<BOB-BRODIE> MultiTOS is on the machines that are coming from the
factory. We indicated that in the beginning of the CO, sorry you
missed.. it. ga
<MIKE-ALLEN> S.Miller
<[IRATA native] S.MILLER58> How much memory will I need to
_realistically_ run multiple apps.? The reason I ask, is I use
PageStream a lot on my 4 meg TT and it seems to GOBBLE memory. So,
will I be looking at upgrading to 8+ to mt btw PS and other programs?
and does it look like any virtual screen programs are going to work
with MT? GA
<[Eric Smith] ST-GUEST> Obviously it depends on the applications. I
would think that if you're already finding 4 megs tight, then
upgrading to 8 megs is a good idea. 4 megs is pretty much the minimum
for doing "serious" work. And yes, most "virtual screen" programs work
with MultiTOS. GA
<MIKE-ALLEN> Next is Sean from TWS
<[Sean@TWS] S.DOUGHERTY1> Good Evening Bob & Eric, Does MultiTOS allow
manual adjustment of the priority, and does it display the current
priorities? Does the HD on the Falcon030's contain demos of software?
Lastly, do windows that are inactive still update? GA
<[Eric Smith] ST-GUEST> The priority can be adjusted "manually", but
that isn't available on the desktop; I'm sure some enterprising
developers will release software to do it :-). Windows that are
inactive can still update, yes. Falcons ship with a variety of
applications (which work both with and without MultiTOS). GA
<BOB-BRODIE> Re the demo software... We will have a separate
arrangement with our dealers to get them
<[pat] P.FORISTER> Bob, can you tell me a little bit about the
surround sound capabilities of the Falcon? GA
<BOB-BRODIE> Pat, most of that is not directly dependent on the
Falcon, but rather on the specific application that is running on the
Falcon. For instance, the Audio Fun Machine application that we ship
with each Atari Falcon030 uses the DSP chip to create a surround sound
type of effect. This is a capability of the DSP that is documented,
and available to anyone wanting to create those types of effects with
their Atari Falcon030. ga
<MIKE-ALLEN> Chris from San Antonio is next
<[Fiesta Atari] C.CASSADAY> I've been wondering about this particular
question for a LONG time. With MultiTOS, will it be better to run
STalker as an .ACC or a .PRG? Will the 'Favour Concurrency' option
help at all? For the new AES 4 icons features, is a new icon editor
being written by someone? And finally, is it now realistic to think
of a TT030 as a file server in a LAN using MTOS and Dragonware
networking software? Seems like a tremendous opporunity to sell Atari
LAN set-ups with things like Atari Works to use in the office
environment. ga...
<[Eric Smith] ST-GUEST> I run STalker as a program. It seems to work
very well. (I'm not sure what difference the "Favour Concurrency"
option makes; I haven't felt the need to try it <grin>. I haven't
tried out the Dragonware networking software, so I don't know whether
it would work well or not. GA
<MIKE-ALLEN> Next is James
<[James] J.VOGH> I have a lynx question When will Eye of the Beholder
be released? GA
<BOB-BRODIE> James, I don't have a specific date for it at this time,
only that it will be available later on this year. Sorry I can't be
more specific for you at this time. We do expect to have more games
coming out for the Lynx at the rate of one to two titles a month
throughout the rest of 1993. ga
<MIKE-ALLEN> now for our favorite archivist, CHARLIE.
<[Charlie] ARCHIVIST> Hi Bob and Eric! I have two qestions for you,
not related to MultiTOS, as much as I'm panting for it. Sounds like
you've done a super job Eric, Thanks! First Question, whats the
status of MetaDos 2.0? we had someone looking for it, and I know I'm
eager to see it. GA on that one
<BOB-BRODIE> Charlie, I think it's a done deal, and we licensed it to
ICD in order for them to release it with their HD utilities. The
problem on our end was that the Atari host adapter didn't support the
full SCSI command set that was needed in order to be able to utilize
the CD roms. Since ICDs did, and their software/hardware is so
popular, it seemed like a reasonable decision to make. We'll have CD
ROM drivers for MultiTOS. ga
<[Charlie] ARCHIVIST> Oh that's what happened to it. I knew the Link
handled CD-Roms but I thought there was an Atari program still
pending. Ok, second question, I have a nice idea for a semi-regional
marketing thing. who should I contact to pitch this at with Atari
Canada sonambulant ga
<BOB-BRODIE> I'd approach a fellow Canadian who's residing here in
Sunnyvale right now. His name is Garry Tramiel. :) You can fax him at
408-745-2088, or send Snail mail. He won't come on- line.....YET. ga
<MIKE-ALLEN> Now tim @ aeo who has been very patient.
<[Tim@aeo_mag] T.WILSON14> Hi guys, ok, kinda a two parter - one, does
atari in general have plans for ethernet ports or options on their
machines in the future, and how about sockets or tcp/ip in multitos.
<BOB-BRODIE> Hi Tim, we'll both answer this one. Re the Ether net
ports, not on the current machine, although there are parallel and
SCSI ethernet adapters that can be used with the Atari Falcon030. All
that is needed is for software to be created to know that it is there.
We've discussed doing such a project here, and there is of course,
also the enterprising Chris Latham at Power Point Technology
(PowerDOS) that is very capable of doing such a project. I'll let
Eric handle the TCP/IP stuff...ga
<[Eric Smith] ST-GUEST> As I mentioned, it's easy to add new devices
or file systems to MultiTOS; they can be loaded at boot time. I've
heard that some people in Germany are in fact working on tcp/ip
software using this mechanism; no doubt some other developers are too.
I don't have any dates or future details, though. GA
<MIKE-ALLEN> Now for B.Carnahan
<B.CARNAHAN> Eric, Can a GEM app running under Mtos switch screen rez
without confusing Gem in using AES functions? Ga
<[Eric Smith] ST-GUEST> No, because other applications that are
running would still be using the wrong resolution. We have published a
way to cause a resolution change, but it requires shutting down all
other running applications, so it's not really a "nice" thing to do.
GA
<MIKE-ALLEN> And heeeeerees DOT
<[Baaad Dot!] D.A.BRUMLEVE> ST Format has recently reported that some
150 leisure devs in the UK are working on Falcon games. Any truth to
this? If so, when will the first ones be out?
<BOB-BRODIE> Dorothy, I cannot confirm the exact number of developers
in the UK that are working on the games, that's more Bill's area...
and he's snuck of to his home for the evening. I can tell you that at
the last meeting we had, he did say that there were over 35 Falcon
"capable" games, that would use DSP sound, etc, that were on target to
be delivered in June of this year. ga
<MIKE-ALLEN> Here is Chris from Texas again
<[Fiesta Atari] C.CASSADAY> Bob, so... MTOS won't be available until
after the Falcon is available? I'm REALLY looking forward to
purchasing MTOS. (If you couldn't tell already.) _Any_ idea of
pricing on Atari Works, SGDOS, or MTOS? ga..
<BOB-BRODIE> Chris, at this point that is correct. MTOS won't be out
for the other users until after the Falcons hit. I'm pleased to hear
that you are so interested in getting it, though. The pricing for
Atari Works/Speedo GDOS is set. The suggested list price for Works
with Speedo GDOS and 14 Bit Stream fonts is $129. The price on MTOS
hasn't been set yet, but I'm sure that it will be under $100 US. We
will also be selling a HD kit for Falcon030 buyers that don't opt to
buy the HD version as an original component, and that HD will come
with MultiTOS, Works, and Speedo GDOS installed on it. GA
<MIKE-ALLEN> Bob when/where can I get the AW/Speedo package? I'd like
to support my dealer and can I trade gdos 1.1 in <g> ga
<BOB-BRODIE> Mike, it looks like we're about 30 days away from shrink
wrap on Atari Works, and it will ship with the Speedo GDOS/font set up
that I descriped previously. It really does look great, and I'm sure
that you will be pleased. I've abandoned every other word processor
that I ever used, I'm really, really happy with the capabilities of
Atari Works. We'll probably be having a CO with the author of Works,
Pradip, in the next few weeks here on GEnie. ga
<MIKE-ALLEN> Now for Sean@TWS.
<[Sean@TWS] S.DOUGHERTY1> How do other applications see the U:\
directory, and what would happen if one attempted to load a task into
say, Atari Works or 1st Word? GA
<[Eric Smith] ST-GUEST> Drive U: looks to applications like any other
drive. If someone tries to load a process into Atari Works or 1st
word, they would see a whole lot of garbage in their window :-).
(Actually, a sensible word processor would pretty quickly figure out
that this wasn't a proper document...) GA
<MIKE-ALLEN> Next is Brian, a fellow RTC sysop
<BRIAN.H> Hi Bob and Eric!!!! I have two quick questions. A developer
in the BBS stated that the TT is cancelled and this is the reason why
he is not continuing with a product for the TT. Is the TT gone???
Second, is the new developer contract out to dealers??? Thanks. GA.
Brian we have only a few TTs left in stock at this time, and the
amount of interest in the product has dropped dramatically as the
Falcon030 comes closer to the actual shipping date. We would be very
happy to continue producing TT030s, as long as we have enough interest
to make it worthwhile to fire up the production lines. If there isn't
sufficent interest, then it doesn't make any sense to produce say,
five thousand TTs. Re the new developer contract to dealers, I think
you mean the dealer agreement to dealers...we don't have any reason to
send the developers agreement to the dealers! :) The dealer agreement
will be going out next week via our rep firms. ga
<MIKE-ALLEN> And now the Doctor is IN.
<[Dr. Bob] W.PARKS3> First off, Thank you guys for staying so late-
Don't worry, though, there's not much snow on the roads :-) Will the
Falcon ship with: a) a VGA monitor adaptor b) a ST monitor adaptor c)
both d) that's Bill's area :-)
<BOB-BRODIE> e) or a composite adapter f) none of the above. The video
adapter is a separate item that will be purchased at the time of the
sale by the customer, and HIS choice will depend on what he wants to
do with his Falcon030. ga
<MIKE-ALLEN> next is Chris
<[Fiesta Atari] C.CASSADAY> Just wondering... Specifically, do
Aladdin and PageStream co-exist peacefully under MTOS? Seems like I
could be doing a user group newsletter right now... [;^)
<[Eric Smith] ST-GUEST> Aladdin has a nasty habit of locking
the
screen; while the screen is locked you can't get to other
applications. But otherwise it works fine (i.e. there's no damage
done, and once the screen is unlocked you can get to your other
programs). So I would say the answer is probably "sort of". I haven't
tried that particular combination yet, though. GA
<MIKE-ALLEN> I understand that there is a version 2.0 of Aladdin
coming that should be friendlier with MTos. Next is S.Miller
<[IRATA native] S.MILLER58> how will we go about getting MT? I would
like to get a copy _the_ day it is realeased, even if I have to drive
to San Jose to get it. It's only 180 miles from me. And is SGDOS easy
to set up and use? ga
<BOB-BRODIE> We will be selling MultiTOS to our dealers, so you will
be able to order it from your dealer with little problem. Speedo is
very easy to use. There is a diskette with an install program that
works just fine, and prompts you through about four disks to install
your printer driver, and the .ACCs for the fonts and the printer
drivers. ga
<[IRATA native] S.MILLER58> I have a dealer here in San Luis Obispo,
but he told me just the other day he has had _NO_ contact with atari
corp. What about that kind of thing?
<BOB-BRODIE> Who's the dealer?
<[IRATA native] S.MILLER58> Computer Logic
<BOB-BRODIE> I have a feeling that he is buying everything from one of
our distributors, Pacific Software Supply, which by coincidence, is
also located in San Luis Obispo. :) He'll probably be able to
continue buying product like Works/Speedo from him.
BTW, we had Travis Guy, our editor of Atari Explorer Online just run
the PageStream/Aladdin combo. Worked fine, as long as he ran Aladdin
first. He said that PageStream likes to grab most of the ram right
away. :) ga
<MIKE-ALLEN> Next is K.Richard.
<K.RICHARD2> About optional HD will it be available in different
megs??ga
<BOB-BRODIE> Yes, basically it will be in 80 meg, 120 megs, and 200
megs. The price will vary according to market conditions on the HDs.
Virtually all of the machines that have been ordered at this... point
have been 4 meg/65 meg machines, so that's what the initial shipments
will be. Probably in April or May, I don't have a copy of the
production schedule in front of me. To be sure, we want to supply the
users with the one meg machine as well, and also make it easy for them
to get the HD kit in a sensible fashion. BTW, did I mention that we're
thinking of a Four Meg/No HD combo? Some of our dealers have thought
that it would be a good offering to have in the product line. ga
<MIKE-ALLEN> How about a 14 meg no HD combo? ga
<BOB-BRODIE> You can order the one meg machine and a fourteen meg ram
board to get that unit, Mike. We will have upgrade boards for four
megs of ram, and fourteen megs of ram. :) Then of course, you could
order the HD kit with the 200 meg HD!
<MIKE-ALLEN> Next is John.
<[John] JKUEHN> Eric, What is the reason that MiNT Ver 0.95 and the
ICDXX.XFS combination only reads Kodak ISO9660 Photo-CD disks? Bob,
ICD says that they are currently waiting for a fix from Atari for a
problem with Metados 2.0. Comments? GA.
<[Eric Smith] ST-GUEST> I haven't seen the ICD .XFS file system, so I
don't know why it only reads Kodak disks. Probably it's based on an
older version of the .XFS driver (which was developed originally by
the same developer doing Photo CD, so he obviously had a certain focus
:-). Also, MiNT 0.95 is very old; the version going into MultiTOS is
1.04. GA
<BOB-BRODIE> John, don't know...better check with Bill Rehbock on that
one. ga
<MIKE-ALLEN> Next is Sean from TWS
<[Sean@TWS] S.DOUGHERTY1> How much will the monitor adaptors cost
(estimate okay), and do you need both for a multisync monitor? Could
you say if Alan Skaggs of A-Online Computing in Tampa, FL is a real
dealer? GA Sean, the monitor adapter go for about $15 if memory serves
me correctly. For a MultiSynch monitor, you'll just need to VGA.
A-Online in Florida does have an account with us, mostly he just buys
parts, and does service. I don't believe that he sells new product,
but I'm not 100% sure about that one.ga
<[Sean@TWS] S.DOUGHERTY1> Can you get the TV/ST resolutions on a
MultiSync using the VGA adaptor? ga
<BOB-BRODIE> I think that it depends on the monitor, not the
connection...
<MIKE-ALLEN> Now Brian again.
<BRIAN.H> Hi again. What does/can ATARI offer to user groups to
promote the ATARI line of computers? I believe user groups are the the
most economical form of advertising for ATARI. Do you have press kits,
information packages, etc.? What about lending of equipement for mall
presentations, etc. I am amazed at the number of members in the user
group I am in, considering there is no dealer within 20 hours of
driving. GA?
<BOB-BRODIE> Brian, in the past we have offered user groups a
tremendous amount of support in the form of free equipment on loan for
their shows, like mall presentations, etc. We have not, as a rule,
sent out Press kits to user groups, because the material that we send
to the public vs. the press vs. the dealers is all different. For
example, in Milwaukee every summer, we loan about 50+ systems to a
user group for use at a huge gaming convention, and they also manage
to make a little bit of money off of it. I feel that in the next
year, we'll be more inclined to do those things in conjunction with a
DEALER as well as a user group. Often, we're much better off working
through the dealer than just the user group. The user group is always
very enthusiastic about the product, but not always as sales oriented
as we'd like. For example, in Las Vegas this past COMDEX, we had (as
we always do) a great group of guys from the Las Vegas groups helping
us out with the Falcon030 set up, etc. But they were really having a
great time checking out the machines for *themselves* as well, if you
know what I mean. :) ga
<BRIAN.H> I agree Bob a dealer would be best. But in our case A show
or proper presentation may attract a dealer. Thanks for the answers, I
really appreciate them. GA
<ST.LOU> Thank you Mike for backing me up tonight. Bob and Eric, it's
been a long night, full of terrific information. I look forward to
preparing tonight's transcript and reading what I missed <grin> Thanks
again Eric. See you in April, Bob!
<ST.LOU> Closing comments, Bob, Eric?
<[Eric Smith] ST-GUEST> You're very welcome.
<BOB-BRODIE> Thanks again for a wonderful evening on GEnie. I hope
that it was as much fun for all of you as we had. This time we had a
total of four people online in my office for most of the night, and
had a terrific time! I'm looking forward to next month's CO already!
Thanks again, and goodnight!
--==--==--==--==--
|||
||| GEnie Atari ST RoundTable News
/ | \ Courtesy: GEnie
------------------------------
= REALTIME CONFERENCE =
Join Bob Brodie for the latest news from the world of Atari in
DATELINE ATARI 10 pm EST Friday 5th of March in the Atari RTC page
475;2. FLASH. Late Breaking News, joining Bob this Friday will be a
special guest, Eric Smith, of Mint and Multi-TOS fame. For the
latest, factual, up to the minute news, please join us.
= DARLAH' TREAT =
NEW DARLAH'S TREAT CLUBDEMO.LZH Option 9 on THIS PAGE!!!!
INFOworks presents Club Dominoes, the most authentic and realistic
dominoes simulation available for ANY computer. If you enjoy playing
Mah Jong, Ishido, Backgammon, Yahtzee or Cards, you'll like Club
Dominoes! For ANY Atari ST/STe/TT w/512k, low or med rez, and hard
disk installable. Download from page 475 Option 9 for FREE!!!!!
NEW DARLAH'S CLASSIC TREAT MJ30DEMO.ZIP Option 10 on THIS PAGE!!!
This DEMO of Mah Jong solitare from Cali-CO. is a PLAYABLE demo
that contains 3 layouts, 3 tablecloths and 3 tile sets.
All the layouts are winable, but they will all be the same!
The REAL version has MANY layouts, tile sets, tablecloths
and ALL the Games are DIFFERENT!
= 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 =
Do you have a question about the ST Roundtable? Are you confused
about where to find a topic? Need help looking for a file in the
Library? We will try to help you. Drop into the Help Desk Real
Time Conference. Any question about the Atari ST/TT is welcome.
Or drop in just to chat!! Sunday Night at 9:00 p.m. EST on
PAGE 475 Option 2.
= RTC Transcripts =
Last two month's RTC transcripts
---------------------------------------------------------
27777 CODEHEAD.ARC X BRIAN.H 930218 16640 205 13
Desc: CODEHEAD RTC dated 18 Feb'93
27614 BRODIE5.ARC X ST.LOU 930206 16896 520 13
Desc: Brodie RTC Transcript Feb 1993
27339 IAAD_RTC.ARC X BRIAN.H 930115 17152 140 13
Desc: IAAD RTC 13 Jan 93
27268 BRODIE4.ARC X ST.LOU 930109 17152 687 13
Desc: Falcon 030 and Software News!
---------------------------------------------------------
= LIBRARY =
Last Month's Top Downloaded Programs/Utilities:
---------------------------------------------------------
27832 STZIP22.ZIP X E.JOLLEY 930223 123648 380 40
Desc: STZip version 2.2
27568 CENTPED.LZH X GRMEYER 930202 92416 331 8
Desc: awesome version of Centipede
27737 DE102103.LZH X ORA.TECH 930216 119936 324 2
Desc: Diamond Edge V1.02->V1.03 Patch
27634 MANDALA.LZH X J.EIDSVOOG1 930207 5120 298 21
Desc: Kaleidoscopic Extend-O-Save Module
27756 DROPOUT.LZH X J.EIDSVOOG1 930217 4224 274 21
Desc: Pieces of your screen will drop out!
27557 SAVERS12.LZH X J.DILLENBURG 930201 71936 265 21
Desc: 6 Warp 9 screen savers
27864 FLYSHP13.LZH X CODEHEAD 930226 7168 235 21
Desc: Flying Shapes screensaver for Warp 9
27669 NEOP302A.LZH X GRIBNIF 930212 240256 229 21
Desc: NeoDesk 3.02 to 3.03 Patch (rev A)
27829 PUZZLE.LZH X J.EIDSVOOG1 930222 3840 227 21
Desc: Sliding Puzzle Screensaver Module
27697 STZIPMAN.ARC X D.CLARK59 930213 5120 195 40
Desc: GEM MANUAL FOR STZIP V2.1
---------------------------------------------------------
Last Week's Top Downloaded Programs/Utilities:
---------------------------------------------------------
27832 STZIP22.ZIP X E.JOLLEY 930223 123648 380 40
Desc: STZip version 2.2
27864 FLYSHP13.LZH X CODEHEAD 930226 7168 235 21
Desc: Flying Shapes screensaver for Warp 9
27829 PUZZLE.LZH X J.EIDSVOOG1 930222 3840 227 21
Desc: Sliding Puzzle Screensaver Module
27873 FORTUN12.LZH X CODEHEAD 930227 30208 152 21
Desc: Fortune Cookie EOS module for Warp 9
27830 SLAB11.LZH X ROB-G 930223 252416 110 29
Desc: New! DMJ's SoundLab v1.1
27831 FIT_ACC.LZH X V.REINA1 930223 15616 103 8
Desc: neat puzzle game
27794 MOVPIC20.ZIP X OUTRIDER 930221 13184 100 21
Desc: Now Randomize ANY File Type!!
27857 GROCRY21.LZH X R.HOEKSTRA1 930225 35968 95 2
Desc: Version 2.1 of The Grocery Lister
27819 DRVSPACE.LZH X D.PANKE 930222 5120 84 2
Desc: Displays FREE SPACE on HD partitions
27872 TRACE.LZH X K.LORD 930226 62848 82 28
Desc: graphic/sound presentation program
---------------------------------------------------------
Last Month's New Demos:
---------------------------------------------------------
27906 BBSXDEMO.LZH X C.SANCHEZ2 930301 242432 7 10
Desc: BBS Express! ST DEMO v1.79c
27856 TBX_DEMO.LZH X ABC.SOLN 930225 164864 52 10
Desc: New demo of tbxCAD
27818 CLUBDEMO.LZH X J.HANLEY4 930222 98688 458 10
Desc: Playable demo of Club Dominoes.
27799 PALMASTR.LZH X CYBERCUBE 930221 110208 81 10
Desc: The ultimate color handling utility
27791 COPNROB.ARC X V.VALENTI 930220 39168 40 10
Desc: A two player action game demo.
27703 FRAC_DSP.LZH X J.ROY18 930214 30464 37 10
Desc: Fractal generator for the Falcon DSP
27657 MT32EDT.ARC X L.WHITE17 930210 123648 12 10
Desc: Corrected Med Res Problem
27636 SOLUTION.LZH X P.DUBE 930207 233856 19 10
Desc: Solutions demo, mathematics software
27608 MTW_DEMO.LZH X BPENNER 930205 76672 107 10
Desc: STWRITER USERS - MultiWriter Demo
27529 MOUSEBT4.ZIP X P.LEFEBVRE 930131 54528 59 10
Desc: Mouse Boot IV demo
27520 PIANODEM.LZH X J.COLLINS22 930131 53504 99 10
Desc: DEMO version of Pianistics 1.10
---------------------------------------------------------
Last Month's Press Releases in the Library
---------------------------------------------------------
27893 LOGICBLK.TXT X T.IHIRA 930228 3712 15 14
Desc: OBJ routine DATA BASE,1000s routine
27870 SERMOUSE.PR X CYBERCUBE 930226 6272 66 14
Desc: CyReL Serial Mouse Manager intoduced
27869 PALMASTR.PR X CYBERCUBE 930226 5504 58 14
Desc: CyReL Palette Master introduced
27868 M161280.PR X CYBERCUBE 930226 3968 72 14
Desc: CyReL SUNRISE M16-1280 Introduction
27842 SHOWKC.ASC X B.WELSCH 930224 1792 51 14
Desc: Kansas City AtariFest Press release
27833 SACEXPO3.TXT X A.STUDER1 930223 6656 41 14
Desc: SAC Exposition March 13, 14, 1993
27828 TOAD393.ZIP X TOAD-SERV. 930222 13824 193 14
Desc: Toad SPECIALS, Silhouette, STFAX!
27771 CAF93_01.TXT X B.GOCKLEY 930218 2816 66 14
Desc: Connecticut AtariFest '93 News
27768 TOADNEWS.216 X TOAD-SERV. 930218 6656 178 14
Desc: News about SILHOUETTE upgrade & Toad
27749 SINGULAR.LZH X C.FLUEGEL 930216 3072 55 14
Desc: The press release and specs for the
27743 GEMUL21.TXT X BRASOFT 930216 7680 121 14
Desc: Gemulator 2.1 announcement
27658 SHOW2.ASC X B.WELSCH 930210 1792 53 14
Desc: press release for the kc show
27655 SHOWINF.LZH X B.WELSCH 930210 3712 23 14
Desc: Kansas city atarifest vendor pak
27640 TOAD0208.LZH X TOAD-SERV. 930208 10496 291 14
Desc: SPECIALS/News from Toad Computers!
27639 TOADBBS.TXT X TOAD-SERV. 930208 1664 78 14
Desc: NEW Toad Computers STraight FAX BBS!
27615 SACEXPO4.ASC X M.WARNER8 930206 7040 79 14
Desc: Vendor/Developer List
27609 MULTIWTR.DOC X BPENNER 930205 3200 157 14
Desc: PRESS RELEASE for new MultiWriter
27604 CTSWAPEX.TXT X D.FINCH7 930205 5376 15 14
Desc: More on exhibitors at CT swapmeet
27598 GLEAFNAM.ARC X WORDFLAIR 930204 2944 57 14
Desc: Goldleaf's activities at NAMM
27565 CT_SWAP.TXT X D.FINCH7 930202 2432 28 14
Desc: Press Rel. re Connecticut Atari Show
---------------------------------------------------------
Contact: LIBRARY$
= COMMENTS =
You are free to use anything in this brief but files and Bulletin
Board quotes must be made in accordance to Atari ST Roundtables, Atari
Corporation and GEnie policies.
Feel free to contact me on any questions, comments or suggestions.
John G. Hartman [J.G.H.] Atari Roundtable, PR Sysop
--==--==--==--==--
||| Caesar ................ You too can bring civilization to the world!
||| By: Andreas Barbiero
/ | \ Delphi: ABARBIERO GEnie: AEO.2
--------------------------------------------------------------------
Caesar, by Impressions, is similar to SimCity and Populous, two
popular 'God' games, but on a far larger scale. As the Decurian (one
step above a citizen, the working equivalent of a mayor) of the city
not only are you charged with bringing into existance a Roman city
complete with roads, businesses, militia, aqueducts, and the
ubiquitous Roman forum - order must be brought to an entire province.
With both provincial and city levels demanding your time, creating a
civilized province is much more involved than in many other games of
this genre. Not only are you building a capital city worthy of the
Roman Empire, but an entire provincial network of roads,
fortifications, clearings, and cohorts of professional soldiers must
be created and maintained to secure the safety and stability of your
population, and the trade they depend on to live. Even a well laid out
city will fail if the province in which it depends on is not pacified
and linked with roads. Your ability to construct buildings and pay
yourself a handsome wage is dependent on the taxes you raise from
these people, and naturally the more successful their ventures, the
more money your taxes will bring in.
Caesar provides a more realistic threat to your city and provinces
than just the natural disasters in SimCity. Barbarians are a constant
threat, but can be combated by your soldiers, organized in cohorts,
which you can base close to the trouble areas in your province.
Without these loyal troops, the chaotic hordes of barbarians will
enter your carefully planned city, laying waste to everything in
sight. A city police force is also a necessity and building garrisons
for these militia within the city will control rioting citizens as
well as the barbarians. Yes, your local citizens will rise up in
revolt if you neglect their needs!
=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=
//// Death and Taxes... and more death!
=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=
Your civic work force consists of slaves. While a distasteful method
of finding a labor pool, the nasty parts of slavery are glossed over.
The quickest way to obtain more slaves is to take care of the ones you
have, not by capturing men in combat, as was most likely what happened
in reality. Apply more money to their welfare, and you will always
have enough slaves to assign to combat fire, maintain the streets and
buildings, or to fight for you in a pinch.
Like every other political figure, you have councillors to guide and
advise on how well you are managing your governance. By clicking on
the Forum Icon, and then the appropriate advisor, you can check your
level of favor with Rome, and keep an eye on the economy of the
province.
Your success is measured by Peace, Prosperity, Culture, and Empire.
These goals are graphically represented by columns, metered from 0% to
100% These columns represent the level to which you have kept out the
Barbarians, supplied jobs, set up trade, and built things like
theatres, schools, hospitals, and arenas. Once the minimums for each
of these goals are met, a promotion will be forthcoming, sending you
off to a new province.
=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=
Impressions of IMPRESSIONS
=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=
Impressions UK has brought out several ST games in the past few years.
Caesar is also a successful title on the PC, and the first of two new
games by Impressions for use on the ST. Another game by Impressions,
Cohort, will be updated to Cohort II. Cohort II will allow you to link
up with Caesar and fight out those gripping battles with the great
unwashed in technicolor detail. As the default combat scenes in Caesar
are limited to choosing an overall tactic and the actual outcome is
reported in short text form, using Cohort in combination with Caesar
will make your fighting strategy just as interesting as working your
province.
Caesar is distributed on a double sided disk, and is not hard drive
installable. I have tested it on a TOS 2.05 Mega STe and everything
works as advertised. It did not load on a TT030, which we tried... but
some really good news! It did run on an Atari Falcon030! The gameplay
was a bit smoother, and faster, but not unplayable. A few of the
graphics were corrupted in some views, but the gameplay onscreen was
untouched. Everything there ran flawlessly, with only one or two icons
scrambled at the bottom. With the enclosed quick reference card,
anyone who had not seen the game before would still be able to play
the game without hinderance.
The graphics themselves are well done, animated people walk around
your city with a purpose, carrying out their tasks. Buildings
progress from tents to palaces - if you provide the necessities.
The animation is more complete than in Populous, and you have to
be careful that you don't become too busy watching the activity in
your city, and forget that you are there to build and create a
bigger city! There is no dearth of color, and the shapes of the
sprites on screen are well defined and easy to identify.
The only problem with the three-quarters presentation of Caesar is
that sometimes when you place a tall building in the city, smaller
areas behind them could be hidden, leaving empty space that you could
neglect to notice and could be better used with houses or other
buildings.
The variety of things that you can build far outstrip the meagre
selection in SimCity or Populous. Fountains, markets, businesses of
all kinds, temples, arenas, hospitals, schools, and more can be built
by the enterprizing young emperor. Most of the game only needs to load
once, but with activities like repeated fighting, or consulting your
advisors the constant disk access gets a bit tedious. The manual is
complete, and teaches you exactly what you need to get started and a
handy reference card is included. If you are looking for a sucessor
for SimCity, this is the game for you! Now, if they could only get the
darn thing on a hard drive....
Graphics: Good
Sound: None in Game
Documents: Good
Playability: Excellent
Overall: Excellent
Ratings are based on a scale of Excellent, Good, Fair, Poor, Awful.
Overall is a subjective rating representative of the game as a whole.
The review copy of this game was kindly provided to AEO by a proud
Atari-only dealer, Steve Kipker of
STeve's Software Sales
5 West Street
Woodland, CA 95695
Info: 916-661-3328
GEnie: S.KIPKER
--==--==--==--==--
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
-- --==--==-- CompuServe Sign-Up Information --==--==-- --
-- --
-- To sign up for CompuServe service, call (voice call) (800) 848-8199. --
-- Ask for operator #198. You will be sent a $15.00 value CIS membership --
-- kit for free. --
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--==--==--==--==--
||| Andreas' Den ................ Pass the beer and hand out the salsa!
||| By: Andreas Barbiero
/ | \ Delphi: ABARBIERO GEnie: AEO.2
-------------------------------------------------------------------
This week I have been busy working with MultiTOS and Atari Works, but
there was so much else going on in the Atari World that I had to find
some time to put this column together for ya'll.
The CodeHeads had a great CO on GEnie last month, and they have
released some new Warp 9 Extend-O-Save modules. They keep getting more
and more ambitious with these programs and the results are
outstanding. If you haven't upgraded or (God forbid!) are not using
Warp 9, GET IT! I used to think screen savers were a waste of time,
but as my son sporadically demands more attention from me during my
computer time, I was suprized to see that even with a 5 minute delay
set into Warp 9, Mandala (my favorite screensaver module) kicks in
more often than I thought it would! You can find these files on GEnie
or your local BBS.
Delphi, with its full Internet access, has been a clearinghouse for
some interesting Atari Falcon030 shareware. Included in this deluge is
a file stating that it can change the screen refresh from 60Hz to
78Hz, supposedly making the flicker less noticable in interlaced
modes. As with all hacks, compatability may be an issue. These files
should be making it to the other services, as well as making an
appearance on the BBS circuit. Many programmers have Atari Falcon030s
and are experimenting with the graphics ability of the machine. Higher
resolution and colors have been claimed, and we should have our
Internet correspondents investigating these claims and finding out
more about them. Wouldn't we all LOVE to see 1280X960 in 65,000
colors??? MAYBE.
DAVIDSHORR on Delphi has written a little program called PoolTool, and
as he describes it, "PoolTool will allow any user of Atari's HDX 3.01
or greater to change the value of the OS Pool size variable located in
the Atari hard disk driver. This variable is used by the driver to
perform the same function as the separate FOLDRXXX AUTO folder
program; PoolTool will let the user set how many extra folders the
driver will allocate at bootup time. This eliminates the need for the
separate FOLDRXXX program; unfortunately, current versions of the
driver will only make use of this variable on TOS versions 1.00 and
1.02; later versions must continue to use the separate FOLDRXXX.
This program should not be needed on newer versions of TOS, as they do
not need FOLDRXXX, if anyone has any suggestions as to what can be
done with this program can contact the author at the above Delphi
address.
Many of you are have been interested in the release of AtariWorks, all
I can say is that the production team are hard at work and updating
it. The latest version I have is dated February 22nd! Every time they
get the thing to go as fast as I thought it could be made to be, they
make it faster!
Here are a few message about the new crop of Atari Falcon030's, an ever
increasing penetration of the computer market is taking place,
with distributors and developers getting primed for the March release.
>Newsgroups: comp.sys.atari.st
>From: tose@brosme.dhmolde.no (Torbjoern Ose)
>Date: 3 Mar 93 00:13:24
Since I'm in a good mood tonight I thought I'd share this little bit
of information with the rest of you guys. While reading the rather
more intersting Maus news from germany (compared to the recent stuff
on here that is) I came across this: (translated to english (well.. my
kind of english) for the benefit of those who can't read the official
Atari language):
Olaf_Mootz says something like: " I have just been on the phone to GE
Soft blah blah blah they are working on a card for the Falcon!!
Without second level cache but with additional FASTram (upto 32MB) and
using 32Mhz! To be displayed at CeBit"
This should cheer up those (including yours truly) who weren't too
happy about the speed of the Falcon.
Cheers,
Torbjoern
--
Torbjorn Ose - tose@unix03.dhmolde.no - "Things Take Time - Piet Hein"
And from the USA:
Conf : ST_HW_SW
Msg# : 68/68 Lines: Extended Read: 6
Sent : Feb 16, 1993 at 9:22 PM
To : All
From : Dan
Subj : Falcon 030
A couple of notes about the Falcon and a little crow eating. First
off, there are two but they are identical and we saw no reason to have
them both set up. As it is, the other is destined for other parts but
we will keep the first. Secondly, the machine was not permanently
hooked up to the monitor that was there (I believe it was a JVC
SC1224), that monitor just happened to be handy. Thirdly, my speakers
we only working on one channel through the Falcon as I hadn't repaired
them.
When Dan was there we tried using the SC1224 in all resolutions but
the JVC failed to handle it. Today we hooked up a Goldstar SC1224 and
it worked famously, though the desktop flickered like an Amiga. Makes
sense, the 1224 wasn't designed to display that resolution (640 X
480). When Slidshow ran (RGB) version it supported overscan. This is a
giant leap forward for Atari display parameters.
The more I use the Falcon, the more I am impressed by it. I am still
getting used to it and am an absolute amateur with Multi-TOS (MiNT).
Speaking of MiNT, it is memory hungry. With the 4 meg version there
isn't much room (around 2 meg after MiNT installation) to run
anything. This isn't a heck of a lot of room to stretch about in. The
"nicest" program outside of the stuff we got for it in regards to
memory usage has been Sillouette. Nice program by the way. It will
leave about 1 meg free after running (I assume this would change when
large files are opened.) One thing, Sillouette must run in ST High
resolution.
Like a lot of programs that have run on the Falcon (Not necessarily
MiNT) they run in a "compatible" resolution. One exception was
Castles. This would execute in any Falcon resolution and transfer to
low res. Dooesn't exit so cleanly though.
I'm looking for more pictures that run on the Falcon slideshow. They
have a TGA extender and the theroy is that they are Targa Image Format
files but they have been modified in some strange manner (The Targa is
the leading Video capture board in the PC world and you could expect
to pay around $2000.00 US for a good setup.) The files in the slide
show are ALL the same file size. That is not possible unless they have
been fiddled with. They will load into Photo Styler on the PC but with
some distortion. (Actually they load into Photo Styler with the true
aspect ratio according to the file but some of them appear distorted
on thge PC while others looked squashed on the Falcon.)
Back to displays. The machine is now set up with a TT monitor that we
have temporarily. This will not last long I think though the display
is comparable to a Multi-sync monitor (It bloody well should!). We
also have a Viewsonic 6E in the store for a short time. This has so
far been the best display device for the machine that we've seen.
Inside the Falcon-first, there isn't a heck of a lot of room. The 4
meg memory card is about 2 X 4 1/2 inches and about half an inch high.
It sits bridged across the O.S. which now resides in a socketed
flat-pack (square) chip. Kind of like a small MMU. The drive is a 65
meg Seagate 2 1/2 inch IDE drive about the size of a pack of
cigarettes but half as thick. Nice drive. Chips are surface mounted
and the board itself appears to be a multi-layer board. What this
means is that service will be a board swap procedure. It will be
amusing to see how that is handled. The board is surprisingly clean
for a one-of production run like this. It is very likely the
production dyes and so forth existed, they just needed to find a home.
(Wanted: One (1) Falcon 030 production facility.)
Back to the memory, they are using 4 meg DRAM chips on this card and
it will be amusing to see the 16 meg board. I assure you that will be
a tight fit.
The Falcon does sport a fan, positioned just next to the mouse ports
(Still in their much-loved spot) and as close to the RAM as possible.
It is very quiet and the Seagate makes a bigger if still quiet noise.
In closing (for now) Paul Varn mentioned that there was a write-up
about the Falcon in BYTE magazine. I haven't seen it but it is
refreshing to see an Atari product get national press attention. Let's
only hope that the powers that be have the forsight not to screw it
up.
-Daniel
______________
Dan (no relation) Aylward
dud@u.washington.edu
In other news, we expect to have some of the members of the TOS
development team online on Delphi soon, for a conference, so get your
questions ready, they will be ready to answer them!
Atari Falcon030 interesting facts-
Out of the Atari Falcon030, Amiga 1200, and the Mac Performa 400, the
Atari is the only one with a floating point co-processor socket on
board, allows for the most memory to be placed in the machine, stock,
and the only one with stereo input and stereo outputs. Of course this
is in addition to the DSP, MIDI, SCSI 2, DMA audio....
Amberstar has a new relative... Ambermoon due to be released this
summer, this one sports smooth scrolling and a host of new quests and
a 800 by 800 map... a few times larger than the original! In the
meantime we are waiting for Legends of Valor to hit the US shores...
it promises to be one of the best RPGs ever. Who says there's no new
Atari ST software available?
As a closing remark, I just want to say, if you have seen the recent
rash of 'no crossposting' with messages from AEO staff, this is not to
be stuffy or egotistical, but to keep people from using the messages
for personal reasons. I realize that 99% of you all are perfectly
content to ask questions and read what we have to say, and all this is
NOT pointed at you. Thank you for understanding, and any questions or
comments can be sent to me at AEO.2 on GEnie, or ABARBIERO on Delphi.
Feel free to use AEO_MAG on Delphi also, as it will send your comment
to the entire staff. AEO.MAG on GEnie will get right to Travis Guy,
your AEO editor!
--==--==--==--==--
||| A Beginner's Guide to UNIX and the Internet - Part 4
||| By: Timothy Wilson
/ | \ Internet: WILSONT@RAHUL.NET GEnie: AEO.8
----------------------------------------------------
Chapter 4 - Usenet: The biggest, baddest message bases in the world.
Well, since I found out people actually read the first three in this
series, here is my final UNIX article.
"Usenet" is (from what I gather) set up much like Conf-Mail on fido-net
etc, but it has the benifit of being transfered on the Internet's
T1 and T3 lines, (100k baud to 1.5M baud). This means you get new
information almost hourly.
There are about 1500 or so 'newsgroups' that work sort of like a
GEnie RoundTable, or a Compuserve SIG. Each newsgroup has a name (of
course) and are grouped loosely into major categories. Each sub group
is delimited with a period. So lets take a look at a few newsgroups I
'subscribe' too.
rec.arts.anime
comp.sys.atari.st
comp.sys.atari.st.tech
rec.autos
sci.virtual-worlds
The original newsgroups were for discussions about 'educational' or
'scientific' stuff. Since every message thread seems to drift into
other things eventually, the 'other' newsgroups were invented.
Stuff like: sci. math. comp. were all the original technical or
educational groups. Since there was so much other chit chat, new
groups such as soc. rec. and alt. were created, supposedly to keep
that type of talk out of the 'real' newsgroups.
Well, it backfired. Nowadays, groups like alt.sex and rec.autos take
up most of the traffic!
some definitions...
rec= recreation
soc= social
alt= alternative (not always carried by all sites)
sci= science
comp= computers
alt groups get really wierd. Such newsgroups like:
alt.ensign.wesley.die.die.die
alt.kill.bob
alt.dragons_inn
There are other...er... stranger and oddball groups too. Some sites
don't want these alt groups since some are on the wierd/lewd/nasty
side.
Theres a newsgroup for just about every hobby or sport.
rec.basketball.college
rec.sewing
or computer system:
comp.sys.atari
comp.sys.amiga
comp.sys.mac
comp.sys.msdos
Like mail, the newsgroups can only handle 7 bit characters.
Files can be sent via mail or the Newsgroups, but it can get tedious
to extract them.
There are in fact, newsgroups just for files, they have 'binaries'
in the name somewhere.
like:
comp.binaries.atari.st
There is usually an accompaning 'sources' group too.
comp.sources.atari.st
Which have the raw C or asm code in the post.
In order to get files into a 7bit mail/news friendly format, a program
was made called: uuencode
uuencode takes an input file and changes it into a 7bit format.
uudecode takes a uuencoded file, and outputs what it used to be.
Some news sites or news readers can't support large files, so stuff is
sent in parts.
(the 'uu' means Unix-to-Unix, its a function of the UUCP system)
But hey.. why all this talk of news and file when I haven't told you
how to read it yet? Be patient. I will. Eventually.
If you see a posting with stuff like:
begin 644
table
!@#$%^&*()1234567890
M <----miscelanious garbage here---->
M "" "" ""
etc.etc.
...its a uuencoded file, not a error.
Ok, now how to get at the goodies.
Here are a few popular readers: 'nn', 'rn', 'trn'
To use one, just enter it on a command line.
-----------
unix% nn
-----------
(nn means: No News is Good News, its the best way of viewing News/SIGS
I've ever seen!)
After executing one of the readers, it reads a file called '.newsrc'
Remember that files that begin with a dot are invisible to a straight
'ls' command.
The .newsrc (say: dot news ahr see) file contains all of the availible
news groups. Take a look at it and browse the groups.
It might look like:
alt.junk: 1-23
alt.somemore.junk: 1-2341
comp.sys.idiot.box!
comp.sys.atari.st: 1-2794
...
A colon means you are subscribed, and the numbers are the read articles.
a exclaimation point, (or 'bang' as somepeople call it) denotes a news
group that you are NOT subscribed to. (Like the C language 'NOT' of
course.)
If you are subscribed, then you will see any new messages from that
group when you enter your reader.
If you don't have nn, I would bitch at someone till you get it.
it's really spiffy.
rn is much like a standard bbs, you see all the messages, a page at a
time. There isn't an easy way to just read the articles you want.
I'll assume you have nn, it is growing in use, and should be around.
nn will set up a screen full of article titles, with letters next to
them. press a letter, (a-s, lowercase!) and that corresponding
article is highlighted. When you are done selecting articles on this
page, press <space> and the next screen shows up, until you are at the
end. Pressing <space> once more, and you get to read the first
article you picked. The articles are run through a 'less' type of
scroller, so you don't have to worry about ctrl-s/ctrl-q like you do
on most BBS'es.
nn also sorts all matching articles together and shows the 'depth' of
replies.
like:
b Ron Roase >>>Falcon, where is it?
c abs6221 >>>>
d Apyx >>
e Atari A Robot Weekly postings to A.A.
f wilsont >Multi-Tos and the Falcon.
g johnboy -
So there are three articles, with the original title: Falcon where is it?
already, there is a follow up to a followup. And a followup to the fourth
power.
The dash '-' means that there was something wierd, and the sort failed.
actaully, the article 'g' was posted before mine, 'f'. But something
got wierd somewhere. 'g's article was the one I responed too, but
it somehow didn't get posted to the other sites as fast, and there was
a lag. Nothing's perfect.
Not an error, just don't be confused if you read the reply before the
real letter (doesn't happen very often).
At anytime, press '?' to bring up a help screen.
Some useful keys while selecting articles:
< back one menu page
> forward one page
Z (capital!) read articles NOW, return to selecting afterwards
Q quit
S save selected articles to a contiguous file. (follow prompts)
P previous newsgroup
G goto another group (type the name in when the prompt shows up)
, move cursor up
/ move cursor down
. select current article where the cursor is.
while viewing articles, it's pretty much like 'less'.
including:
n next article
= jump back to selecting articles again
/<regexp> like 'less' , search for a regular expression
h help...or is it '?', i don't remember. well, try em both.
R reply to this article via mail
F create a 'followup' article (continue the thread)
----I see a uuencoded file, I want it, but how do I get it?
part 2.
Save away all parts (it might or might not have multiple parts) into
one file, using 'S' in nn or using the merge function of your editor.
(can I get any more vague?)
then edit everything out upto the 'begin' and everything after 'end'.
save away the new file.
type:
------------
unix% uudecode <filename>
unix%
------------
Not much happened, but it's all done. You should have a nice binary
file in your directory now.
Most likely its a .arc or .zoo file too. Maybe even a .Z file.
Pretty simple, just remember to edit out the news headers that would
be in the 'middle' of 2 or 3 files merged together.
If you have problems. Mail me! I'll help!
Some atari newsgroups to read:
comp.sys.atari.st
comp.sys.atari.8bit
comp.sys.atari.st.tech
comp.binaries.atari.st
comp.sources.atari.st
Some fun stuff to read:
(in my opinion)
rec.humor.funny (only funny jokes show up here)
rec.games.mud.announce (telnet sites for muds)
rec.games.mud.diku (diku's are the best kind of mud IMHO)
alt.galactic-bloodshed (all about this great game)
rec.games.programmer (tips, tricks)
rec.games.design (game ideas in general)
sci.virtual-worlds (find out where Virtual Reality is really going)
sci.physics.fusion (fusion research)
alt.internet.access.wanted (find out where internet access is)
alt.ensign.wesley.die.die.die ( a bunch of people who really hate Wesley)
rec.autos.sport (sports cars, racing)
alt.internet.bbs (bbs's with usenet access)
Yes, your Atari has the power to become a UUCP site. That means you
could get Usenet delivered directly to your Serial port. UUCP is Unix
to Unix CoPy - an established set of protocols that are still around,
though not much used by the larger sites. What you could do is set up
a UUCP program on your computer, and have it call a site with a 'feed'
and get all the updated newsgroups and mail that was delivered to you.
Your Atari would then have its own private adress (usually a branch
of the feed site) from which you could send and recieve mail. Of
course, a 14.4k baud modem comes in handy here.
Not a beginner's subject, but it exists if you ever wanted to do it.
Well I guess thats it. A lot of this might seem somewhat sketchy, but
I didn't want to insult anyone's intelligence, or bore you with every
last detail.
I hope, at the very least, you can mail me if you have a question.
Unix or the Internet is not any more complex than a bbs. Go ahead,
experiment... just don't do a rm *.* in your home directory!!
There are loads of files and information to be gleaned from the internet.
The internet is a world wide community, so don't be suprised to see
posts from germany, england or russia.
I think I'll wrap up with a few tips/pointers.
FTP at the sites night time hours.
Scan the .newsrc file for what interests you.
Man pages are your friend.
Mudding can be adictive, beware.
Use the source, Luke.
On Usenet, don't believe everything!
Watch any quota's you might have.
Use archie if you can't find a file.
Mail support@yoursite if you get into a problem.
Don't screw around with other sites, a trace takes a matter of
milliseconds.
Common keys:
Ctrl-R redraw screen
Ctrl-L " "
Ctrl-Z Suspend process
Ctrl-C quit program
Ctrl-\ Quick! kill it!
/<regexp> search for a regular expression
?<regexp> search backwards for regexp
h move left
j move up
k move down
l move right
ctrl-U kill line (on SUN's)
<tab> complete partial file name.\______on the command line in most shells
<esc> " " /
your keyboard arrow keys might work in some situations
A typical login for me:
unix% elm
<read mail, reply etc..>
(5-45 minutes)
unix% nn
<read news>
(1 hour)
unix% ftp atari.archive.umich.edu
<look at /atari/Newitems >
(5-10minutes)
unix% telnet archie.unl.edu
<look for a file that sounds interesting from newsgroups>
(5-10minutes)
unix% sz files......
<grab em>
(varible)
unix% telnet <a mud site>
<play my daily dose of mud!>
(1-1.5 hours)
unix% exit
<log off>
I'm what you call a 'net hound.' :)
If there are any things I left uncovered, mail me and I'll make up
a question answer chapter or something.
This has been the 4th chapter in the continuing saga of "An Atari users
guide to the Internet and UNIX"
As before, this sure as heck ain't professional! Its not meant to be.
so no flames, unless I'm hideously wrong about something.
=>B^P&
(flat top evil nerd with a bow tie sticking his tongue out)
--==--==--==--==--
||| Atari Users Online: Threads from the Internet
||| Compiled by: J.J. Lehett
/ | \ Internet: JJL101@PSUVM.PSU.EDU GEnie: AEO.8 Delphi: JLEHETT
-------------------------------------------------------------
This month's wrap-up of Internet seems to have something for everyone:
MSTe owners to TOS 1.2 and 1.0 owners; Spectre owners to Unix
Workstation folks; beginning C Programmers to the cutting edge of the
latest MiNT source code.
There is currently a proposal being discussed on the comp.sys.atari
groups of the internet to split-off a .advocacy group. The intent of
the proposal is to try to filter out a majority of the flame-wars and
'My computer is better than yours' posts from the main groups.
Hoefully, this will decrease the noise ration in the main Atari
newsgroups themselves, saving the casual newsgroup reader from the
time-consuming perusal of messages he might not be interested in.
Whatever your opinion, be sure to read and post your thoughts on this
to the news.groups area.
Feel free to email mail with any comments you may have regarding
this column.
=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=
//// Adding A Hard Drive to a MegaSTe
=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=
From: anisko@usdtsg.UUCP
Anyways, I have a MegaSTe/4 with NO internal hard drive (just a
Megafile 30 sitting near it). If I wanted to put an internal hard
drive in, what pieces of hardware would I need? (host adapter, etc?).
----------
From: ekrimen@wet.UUCP (Ed Krimen)
Atari sells a hard drive kit for the TT and Mega STE that includes
everything you need to install a hard drive in your computer. I think
the host adapter is already in your computer; you could probably open
up the bay and take a look for yourself. In any case, the kit has
everything you need. (I hope Atari is still selling these.)
Talk to your dealer. If he knows nothing about it or gives you the
run-around, find another dealer. If you don't know of one, leave me
e-mail and I'll recommend a few.
Oh, BTW, Atari's kit doesn't include the hard drive mechanism itself.
Your dealer could find one for you though. I'd recommend a Quantum
drive.
Also, ICD is on the verge of releasing their SCSI Professional
utilities which don't require an ICD host adapter in the system to
use them. You might want to check into this package as well. I
prefer not to use Atari's hard drive utilities because ICD's have
more features. You can order the package now, and you'll receive
everything but the manual, which isn't finished yet. The package is
$50 and I've heard that it includes CleanUp.
=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=
//// Choosing And Learning A C Compiler
=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=
From: lchd_ss@uhura.cc.rochester.edu (Ho Ling Cherd)
I have Prospero C and Mark William C. Can someone tell me which of
this 2 and the GCC is a better C package to work with?
I am looking for an assembler also. Is there any public domain
assembler available?
Also, can someone please give me examplese of the case where using
assemmble language is better or necessary than using C or other high
level language?
----------
From: warwick@cs.uq.oz.au (Warwick Allison)
I can't speak for Prospero C or Mark William C (do they still exist?),
but GCC is an EXCELLENT compiler. The pros/cons are:
1. GCC produces FAST code.
2. GCC is slower at generating code.
3. GCC is Free (ie. you get updates :-]).
4. GCC is more correct (ie. follows ANSI standard more closely).
5. GCC code is more portable.
6. GCC uses LOTS of memory. 2M minimumj for GCC, 4M for G++.
GAS, the GNU assembler, is part of the GCC suite. You can also do
inline assembler with GCC (actually, this is the preferred technique
for me).
Assembler is very rarely necessary. Only cases are for writing
interrupt routines, since you can't say "RTE" in C :-).
Assembler is useful when used sparingly, and then only when you've
already written the code in C. I write everything in C, then for the
parts that I find are too slow (find out by using gprof, the GNU
profiling tool), I convert to inline assembler, with the C code
conditionally excluded. ie.:
void add(int a, int b, int* c)
/* Not that anyone would really do this :-) */
{
#ifdef NOASM
*c=a+b;
#else
asm("
movel %0,%2@
addl %1,%2@
" : // No outputs
: "d" (a),
"d" (b),
"a" (c)
);
#endif
}
----------
From: paetau@mits.mdata.fi (Rasmus Paetau)
I'd like to learn programming in C, but I don't know which C I should
buy. I have a 4 meg STe system with a color monitor and _no_ HD. What
ic GCC++ (or whatever it was called) like? I heard it requires 4 megs
of memory, I guess that means it doesn't fit on a single floppy disk?
At the same time I might as well ask what kind of books there are
available that I should consider?
----------
From: davidli@simvax.labmed.umn.edu
You can use Sozobon C or Ian Lepore's version called 'Heat and Serve
C', they are non-ANSI C compilers which can be used conveniently from
a double-sided floppy drive. Our user group treasurer demonstrated
Pure C to our programmers' group on a double-sided floppy. I seem to
remember that Mark William's C (and probably a good number of other
commercial C compilers) worked well on a floppy only system. You can
always set up a 1-2 meg ram disk on your 4 meg system.
GNU C is not usable on a non-hard drive system. Forget about it until
you have a 20+ meg hard drive. Once you get a hard drive, you'll wish
you had more space, so I would recommend looking at 40 meg as a
minimum. I saw a nice "portable" hard drive with the ICD Link demoed
at our programmers' group meeting last night. It had a 40 meg Connors
mechanism, weighed less than the keyboard that I'm typing this message
on, and cost about $350 with the ICD Link included.
It's a matter of personal taste. There are, quite literally, hundreds
of books out there which deal with C programming. You might want to
check out C: THE COMPLETE REFERENCE (2nd ed.) by Schildt, and there's
always that old standby THE C PROGRAMMING LANGUAGE (2nd ed). by
Kernighan & Ritchie. Your best bet is to go to a local book retailer
and check out their computer section. You can also check out some of
the computer book clubs listed in magazines such as Computer Language
or The C Users Journal.
For Atari-specific programming, check out the Taylor Ridge books by
Clayton Walnum, or look for issues of ST-Log which had his C
programming column in them. Compute! magazine put out a series of
books by Sheldon Leemon which covered C programming of TOS, VDI and
AES. Bantam had, at one time, a fairly nice book about programming
using GEM. One of the comp.sys.atari.st FAQs has a list of
Atari-specific books.
----------
From: cbbrowne@csi.uottawa.ca (Christopher Browne)
Nope. Not even close to a single floppy, even if you compressed it
using Zoo. GCC (the C compiler is called gcc, and the C++ compiler is
called G++, although I'm being VERY slightly misleading by saying
so...) requires a good few MB of disk space. No single one of the
major pieces would even FIT on a single floppy.
For instance, the C compiler proper (gcc-cc1.ttp, I think it's called)
is about 800-900K in size; the C++ compiler proper (gcc-cc1plus.ttp?)
is about 950K; the library file GNU.OLB weighs in at about 800K, and
this ignores entirely the large group of .h header files, and other
utilities, and, and, ... You get the picture.
A minimal GCC configuration takes roughly 5MB of disk space.
I'd suggest getting HSC (Heat 'n Serve C), which is one of the
friendlier versions of the Sozobon C compiler. It's free, just like
GCC, and makes MUCH more modest demands on disk and memory space.
You'd be able to hold the ENTIRE compiler and libraries on a ram-disk,
and still have a couple of MB free for the compiler to run in. You'd
then put the source code on floppy, which is the safest way to do
things.
HSC isn't an "ANSI" C compiler, but rather uses the more classical
"K&R" version of C.
Look around atari.archive.umich.edu, in the directory
/atari/Languages. The file is probably called something like
hsc133.lzh.
For C programming in general? The two "famous" books are:
The C Programming Language, by Kernighan and Ritchie. Published by
Prentice Hall (I think). There are TWO editions - the "classic"
version that defined the language for the first generation. "K&R"
stands for "Kernighan and Ritchie," and is used about equally often to
refer to:
a) The classical version of C defined in this book, or
b) This book.
There's a new edition that describes ANSI C. I'm not sure which
version you'd want.
Harbison & Steele: A C Reference Guide
This book describes and contrasts features of both K&R C and ANSI C.
These are two of the top books; there's an OCEAN of books out there on
C.
My personal favorite is "Software Engineering Using ANSI C"; published
by Springer Verlag. The authors, whose names I don't recall (and the
book is on the bookshelf in my OTHER office) are on the ANSI
committee, and the book explains lots of tips & traps, particularly
those that relate to the common differences between C compilers.
I'd suggest looking for a GOOD computer bookstore; perhaps a
university bookstore, and browsing the various C books available.
There's a bunch of rather crummy books that are available at the
standard "shopping mall" bookstores; I'd suggest looking for something
better.
I'd suggest that if you're after more information that you direct
specific C questions to Comp.lang.c, as that's a more appropriate
forum. Or maybe Comp.sys.atari.st.tech, if it's Atari specific.
=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=
//// Combining AHDI AND ICD Formatted Hard Drives
=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=
From: entropy@gnu.ai.mit.edu (maximum entropy)
The Megafile currently boots with AHDI 3.01. I'd like to run it with
the ICD software instead, so I plan to boot with the Toadfile, copy
the contents of the Megafile onto a cartridge, format the Megafile
with ICD software, copy everything back to the Megafile, and then
reconnect the Megafile as the boot device. (Am I correct that the
first device in the DMA daisy chain is the boot hard disk?) The
question is, will my AHDI-formatted Megafile be accessible while I'm
running the ICD boot software, or will I have to do a backup/restore
to floppy to get everything copied over?
Also, will I have to diddle any switches to hook up both drives at the
same time, or does the DMA bus automagically figure things out from
the order in which they are cabled to the machine?
[...] Will I still be able to access the ICD adapter's internal clock
if the ICD adapter is second in the chain?
----------
From: hohmuth@freia.sax.de (Michael Hohmuth)
The device which it boots off is always device number 0, no matter
where the device is in the chain. So be sure you give your Toadfile a
device address different from 0. (To be more correct: It boot from the
first DMA device it can read and execute a boot sector from.)
The ICD software is compatible to AHDI, so you will be able to access
your AHDI-formatted partitions while running the ICD driver.
I think it's not nessecary to boot from your Toadfile. You could
install the ICD booter on your Megadrive and then boot from it. In
this case, you would not have to change your Megafile's device number
(which, as I heard, is even impossible with some older Megafiles).
<re: the clock question>
Yes, you will. The ICD host adapter's clock is device number 6 and
can always be accessed, no matter where it is in the chain.
=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=
//// East Asian Software for the ST?
=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=
From: bohn@utrurt.uni-trier.de (Hartmut Bohn)
Hi,
I just read your question about Chinese on the ATARI ST. Yes, there is
a word processor called SINOTEXT which was made a few years ago at the
University of Bremen, Germany. There are both GB and BIG5 versions.
The input method is great - dynamic full word pinyin. However the
formatting capabilities are very poor, for the program was originally
designed as an editor for TeX documents.
If you only need a few CHinese characters in your text and have a word
processor which is able to handle graphics, you can also type the
characters with Sinotext (or some DOS Chinese editor which uses GB
coding), save the file and then use the PD program "VPCT" which
displays the characters in 24x24 pixels on the screen. Make a screen
hardcopy to disk and use the characters as graphics in your word
processor. I did this for my M.A. thesis and the result was quite
good.
There is another program called SIGNOPRINT which allows you to produce
mixed Western/Chinese text with the Signum!2 word processor. But you
also need a GB editor like SINOTEXT.
SINOTEXT is available for 250.-- German Marks at the University of
Bremen - I can look up the full address for you if you want it.
Other CHinese programs for the ST:
VPCT (View and Print Chinese Text) and
CPREVIEW (Chinese Preview) can display GB coded files on
ATARIs with SM124 monitor. THey are available via anonymous ftp
from ifcss.org or ftp.kth.se (dir: /CJK/atari).
I also made a patched version of VPCT which displays traditional
characters instead of simplified.
SIGNOPRINT is available for DM 40.-- from Christian Riedel - I can
look up his address, too.
Then :-) there is CHinDEX, my electronic index to "A Chinese- English
Dictionary" for the ST. Get a demo from one of the ftp sites mentioned
above!
----------
From: bohn@utrurt.uni-trier.de (Hartmut Bohn)
Chinese/Japanese/Korean/Other East-Asian Software for ATARI?
A new ftp site is just being set up for Chinese, Japanese, Korean and
other East Asian Software at the "Leibniz Rechen- zentrum" in
Muenchen, Germany. I am supposed to take care of the ATARI
subdirectory.
While there is some Chinese software, I do not know about any
Japanese, Korean or other East Asia related software for the ATARI.
If you know about any such software, please contact me at
bohn@ldv01.uni-trier.de
or: ucc02ab@sun3.lrz-muenchen.de
Thanks in advance!
Hartmut
P.S. The ftp site is: ftp.lrz-muenchen.de dir: /pub/culture/east-asia
=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=
//// 2 Chip AND 6 Chip TOS-Ready Motherboards
=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=
From: rossin@hpfcso.FC.HP.COM (Ted Rossin)
The two chip set will not work in your machine unless you add some
logic to drive the chip select lines during the entire address space.
You will also need to supply two extra address lines to the two chip
set.
----------
From: sheppard_r@kosmos.wcc.govt.nz
A lot of machines have the logic fitted for both 2 and 6 chip sets,
some 2 chip machines don't have the Rom sockets fitted and some have
them the rong way around..
Board No. for machines... Mega 2 C100501
4 C100167
520STF C070243
1040ST C070789
1040ST C103225
These are boards that have the 2-6 chip logic fitted...
=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=
//// Simultaneous Key Press Results
=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=
From: lchd_ss@uhura.cc.rochester.edu (Ho Ling Cherd)
While type this message, I accidentally press shift-sd and I got this
on my screen --- S<stuff that I stored for F-1 key>D I am using
Uniterm 2.0e. What actually happend? I have came across this a few
time with my 520ST and I thougth there were problems with the keyboard
but I am using a different keyboard/ machine now.
----------
From: hyc@hanauma.jpl.nasa.gov (Howard Chu)
Kind of a bug in the keyboard mechanism. If you have not completely
released one key before going to press the next, you get the keycode
for a different key. So if you had typed S and reached for the D, you
get the F1 key if the S was still down when you hit D. This happens to
me a lot when I'm typing fast.
Actually, as it was explained to me, if you have any 3 keys pressed
down, and you examine the parallelogram that is described by those 3
points and a 4th point, you'll see that the actual keycode you get is
that of the 4th key. So, the reason you have this problem with S and D
is because you also have the shift key pressed at the same time...
=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=
//// MiNT Version 0.99
=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=
From: anneklin@acs.bu.edu (Patricia Anne)
Is this an 'official' release? Should I be using this?
----------
From: ersmith@netcom.com (Eric R. Smith)
The answer to the first question is "sort of," and the
answer to the
second one is "that depends on how lucky you're feeling" :-).
I was in a hurry; zillions of people have been asking for updated
source, but I simply haven't had time to do a 'real' release. So I
threw together the files from my directory and sent them up. In the
process I left out asm.y by mistake; and the usual README file didn't
get written. Sorry about those omissions; I will try to correct them,
but it will be some time before I can get a real, organized release
including the Lattice and PureC support, plus docs. MultiTOS is
consuming an enormous amount of time; as with any software project,
the closer it comes to release the more urgent are the bug reports.
So consider this an "interim" release, for people who just can't wait
and who don't mind risking life, limb, and hard disk while testing
new software :-).
Also: as Mike pointed out in his message, this is also a source code
only release. Please observe this restriction. As beta software, MiNT
0.99 is suitable for use only by experienced programmers, and I
*don't* want people misunderstanding its status at all. Moreover, this
release contains Atari code as well as my own, so observing the
restrictions on distribution is doubly important -- how well people
respect the conditions will determine whether or not we will release
future versions of the MiNT source code to the general public.
=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=
//// MROS? What is it?
=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=
From: heritier@delta4.frec.bull.fr (Franck HERITIER)
Does someone know what is M-ROS for Atari ST ? What is the editor
of this multitask system ? Can you evaluate it ?
---------
From: coonstot@quads.uchicago.edu (charles orville onstott)
M-ROS is the multitasking environment developed by Steinburg-Jones for
use with their MIDI software.(Cubase, editor/librarians, etc.) It
also, I believe, allows communication between various components of
Cubase itself and between Cubase an other programs that would be
running simultaneously. (Midi data exchange, triggering, events, etc.)
M-ROS works behind the scenes whenever you load any Steinburg-Jones
package. IT has no editor as such. In fact, if I am not mistaken,
Cubase itself needs M-ROS to function properly (independent of their
other packages.) HOWEVER, M-ROS is a PART of the Cubase package and
is not a seperate load.
There is another package distributed with Cubase called "Switcher"
which allows you to load multiple programs and have them run
simultanteously. It is limited only by resident RAM(no swapping
capabilities that I know of-- though newer versions of Cubase have
loadable modules to aid memory crunches.) This would be the closest
thing to an editor for M-ROS that I can imagine. Essentially it's a
menu screen that you call up using an alt-key combination. You can
also jump directly to other programs by using alt-#.
Switcher is primarily intended to be used with Steinburg-Jones
software though it will work with others. (I have, for example, run
Word Perfect simultaneously with my Cubase without any trouble.)
=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=
//// Floating Point Number Plotting...
=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=
From: nino@vmars.tuwien.ac.at (Marinos Yannikos)
I need a program, which can read floating-point numbers in ASCII
representation (eg. "0.333\n0.442...") and use them for plotting
functions (the numbers are the function values). I need to be able to
display a 3d-height field (a function F: [0,1]x[0,1]->R) and a 2d-grid
with several functions plotted at the same time. The output should be
a GEM .IMG. Does anyone know such a program? What about Gnuplot?
----------
From: timg@ccwf.cc.utexas.edu (Tim Gallivan)
I believe the ST port of Gnuplot does everything you mention, except
output in IMG format. It does, however, have postscript output, which
can be printed or converted to IMG using ghostscript. Unfortunately
the axis labels and other text produced by gnuplot are not exactly
beautiful.
I have used Gnuplot on the ST a fair amount, and it seems quite stable.
=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=
//// Ctrl-Alt-Del Warmstarts on A Pre-TOS 1.4 Machine
=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=
From: SML108@psuvm.psu.edu
Hi, has anyone ever written a utility to add ctrl-alt-del warmstarts
to TOS 1.2 and earlier?
I'd like to be able to reset without the modem hanging up...
----------
From: mbernar@erenj.com (Marcelino Bernardo)
There is a hardware trick you can do, which I've been using with my
1040STf (I'm sure it has TOS 1.2). If you toggle the state of the
monitor sense pin in the monitor connector the ST reboots without
disconnecting the modem (I think it disconnects by turning the DTR off
during reset). Since I have a multisync monitor connected to my ST
with a homemade switch box, this is easy for me to do.
The other thing you might do is to set your modem to ignore the state
of DTR. In my modem, a Multitech, which is Hayes compatible, switch 1
in the 8- sition switch is used to force DTR on at all times.
=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=
//// No Floppies, No Sound, Now What?
=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=
From: nrc@cbnews.cb.att.com (N. Richard Caldwell)
I have an Atari ST that boots up showing no disk drives on the
desktop. I have an old diagnostic cartrige and it says "No Floppies"
when I try to test the drives. It also fails to produce any sound
during the audio tests.
It's been a while since I've fiddled with these things. Does this
indicate a problem with the Western Digital chip or the Yamaha chip?
How much do these run and are their any good sources?
----------
From: wrighttj@uhura.aston.ac.uk (Auntie Tim)
The floppies are run partly by the sound chip (I _think_ it takes the
clock from it) so that's probably broken. Try tapping the thing a few
times... (Well, I've got a six year old STm and that's how I get it to
work :)
No sound suggests a dead Yamaha chip, which handles drive select
lines and other stuff for the floppies as well as sound.
----------
From: nisimura@sran233.sra.co.jp (Tohru Nishimura)
MMU chip replacement may solve your problem.
I had same experience as yours after SIMM memory upgrade with old
1040f; Internal floppy drive got crazy and no sound at all, however
other components continued to work flawlessy including HD with ICD
adaptor. Sometimes drive and sound worked just after boot for a
while.
I checked power supply voltages at every suspecious points and
resulted in vain. Thus I drawed the conclusion I damaged circuit with
my novice soldering, got (aged, but sligthly newer than mine) 2nd
1040f for replacement. Before I settled memory upgrade kit, I popped
the MMU chip up from 2nd 1040f, insert it into older one. IT GOT WORK
WITH CHARM. It seems original MMU chip is so faulty that it can not
handle unordinaral configuration. (I desoldered all original DRAM
chips on PCB) I donot confirm yet that old MMU does NOT work even with
2nd 1040f.
----------
From: nrc@cbnews.cb.att.com (N. Richard Caldwell)
Thanks to everyone who responded to my question about my ST which
didn't recognize the disk drives and had no sound.
I suspected that it was the Yamaha chip since as someone pointed out,
it also provides the drive select lines. I intended to heat up each
of the solder joints before replacing the chip but I figured I'd tap
around on it a bit first. I had already reseated and tapped on
everthing else, the Yamaha chip is hidden under my memory upgrade
board.
A few taps on the Yamaha chip and the machine booted up just fine.
Sound and drive access is back to normal. It sounds like I probably
have a poor connection to the sound chip so if the problem resurfaces
I'll just resolder it.
=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-
//// Transfering ST Files From a Unix Workstation
=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-
From: jans@candida.nada.kth.se (Jan Snellman)
A few days ago, I posted a question about how to transfer files from a
UNIX workstation to my newly bought Atari. Thanks to the helpful
letters (and post) I received, I succeded in this venture. As
m0ali001@ulkyvx.louisville.edu (M Ali) pointed out, the trick is to
transfer the files to LOW DENSITY (720k) PC floppies, which
appearently the Atari manages to read. I used Apple fileconverter to
do this.
An email from toef@ukc.ac.uk (Tom Fuegi) verified this, and he
furthermore recommended me to henceforth use my terminal program to
transfer files. I certainly will, as soon as I understand the Kermit
mode of UniTerm. He thought it wise to grap the file
/atari/starter.tos at atari.archive.umich.edu so that I should be able
to unpack files locally on my Atari; however I think I will use the
UNIX versions of zoo et cetera and do the unpacking on my SUN.
Chris.Forker@newcastle.ac.uk on the other hand pointed out a more
direct route. He said, I quote:
>If you can transfer information too a PC form your SPARCII then you
>can also transfer info to the Atari. Just insert a disc from the Atari
>into the SPARC and use your local method for mounting the floppy on
>the Sun. You will now be able to transfer data from the Sun onto the
>floppy. Un-mount the floppy drive when you have finished, then eject.
>Take the disk to the Atari, and with any luck you should have all the
>files you copied. When you move files from the Atari to the Sun using
>the procedure as above, do not forget to use the command `dos2unix'.
>This will make the files readable by UNIX. The Atari uses the same
>format as the PC in placing `^M' at the end of each line..
...
>PS- my commands are
>1) to mount the floppy: mount-fd
>2) to unmount the the floppy: umount-fd
>3) to ejetc the disc: eject
>4) the floppy drive is : /pcfs
>5) just use standard UNIX commands to access /pcfs
I have not tried this, but the manual entry for pcfs says
DESCRIPTION
PCFS is a filesystem type that allows users direct access to
files on MS-DOS formatted disks from within the SunOS
operating system. Once mounted, a PCFS filesystem provides
...etc, and generally supports Chris's claim. I did not know this. I
thought the floppy was located somewhere under /dev/rsd0... You learn
something every time you ask ):.
--==--==--==--==--
|||
||| Developing News: Important items from TOS platform developers
/ | \ -------------------------------------------------------------
=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=
//// Diamond Edge 1.03 Upgrade Patch
=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=
February 16, 1993
Oregon Research Associates has released a patch to upgrade Diamond
Edge 1.02 to version 1.03 on GEnie and CompuServe.
This patch is considered essential for all users of Diamond Edge and
Oregon Research Associates strongly urges all owners to upgrade
to version 1.03 immediately.
This upgrade provides two enhancements: enhanced large screen monitor
support and a bug fix to Disk Medic.
The Disk Medic bug only occurs during certain severe directory
corruption causing all of the lost clusters to be saved into a single
file. This upgrade patch allows lost clusters to be saved as
individual files - increasing the possibility of recovery.
When utilizing Diamond Edge version 1.02 or earlier, if you receive a
report of thousands of duplicate files or corrupted directory
entries, the disk or partition has suffered severe directory
corruption. This problem is generally correctable, but attempting to
do so with version 1.02 or earlier may lead to additional corruption
of the data.
Version 1.03 fixes the bug in Disk Medic, thereby allowing correct
recovery of the data from the corrupted disk or partition.
It should be noted that this type of corruption is a rare occurance.
=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=
//// Straight FAX 1.07
=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=
Suggested Retail: <<$69.95>> Upgrade Price: $2.00
The release of version 1.07 of Straight FAX, by NewSTar Technology
Management and distributed by Toad Computers, will be released shortly.
To obtain the upgrade, send $2.00 and your original disk to Toad
Computers at the address provided below. You may also download it from
the Toad Computer bulletin board free after requesting it from the
SysOp.
Registered owners of Straight FAX on GEnie whose email addresses are
known will receive the upgrade automatically.
For further information, contact Toad Computers, 570-F Gov Ritchie Hwy,
Severna Park, MD, 21146. Technical support and upgrade requests can be
mailed to the address above or by calling (410) 544-6943 or by FAX
(410) 544-1329.
Online, a message may be left on the Toad Bulletin Board at (410) 544-
6999. Inquiries and upgrades may be sent to TOAD-SERV. on GEnie; or,
on CompuServe, at 72470,1605.
=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=
//// A Day at the Races
=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=
Team Software is the developer of a comprehensive horse racing
simulation, entitled A Day at the Races (ADAR), with a wide range of
features.
Whether or not you are a horse racing fan, you can enjoy either single
or mulit-player race simulations. With up to 15 players, you can play
the game "head to head", or amuse your guests during a party.
A Day at the Races requires a color monitor (or TV) and may be
installed on a hard drive since the program is not copy-protected.
The features of A Day at the Races include:
o Racing information databases are appended and modified during
play, including up to 50 jockeys, 500 horses and 15 players.
o Each jockey and horse has their own distinct attributes, strengths
and weaknesses.
o Players may buy and sell horses through auctions, outright sales,
purchases, and claiming races.
o A racing session may be designed by the user, randomly by the
computer, or in tandem.
o A racing session consists of up to 9 races with up to 9 entries
per race.
Their are several factors invloved when setting up for a horse race.
Some of these factors are: the horses and the jockey's riding them,
the race type (claiming, maiden, allowance, handicap), race length, and
the type of special wager (win, place, show, daily double, exacta, big
exacta, quinella, trifecta, and jackpot).
As a new player, you start out with $1000 with two basic ways to
increase your funds.
The first is to own a horse; entering the horse in races and winning
one of the first four spots provides you with a share of the purse.
Although this can bring in a large amount of money, their are
associated expenses for owning, caring and racing a horse - including
stable and jockey fees.
The second method is by wagering on races. Just as in real horse
races, there are many things to consider when handicapping horses:
track conditions, post position, past performance, weight of the
jockey, length of the race, the jockey's skill, health of the horse,
class of race, and many more.
The actual race is presented in real-time, smooth scrolling animation.
A major part of the racing simulation is the abundance of statistical
information that is available. Fourteen different reports may be
output to the screen or the printer. Some of these reports are: Horse
Standings, Jockey Standings, Player Standings, the Racing Form, and the
Racing Program.
A Day at the Races also keeps track of a Hall of Fame list for players,
horses and jockeys. As jockeys retire and horses go to pasture, they
are automatically added to their respective lists if they have enough
wins.
As a simulation of the race track, A Day at the Races makes a great
learning tool for horse racing enthusiasts just starting out. The
program remains true to life in many of the racing aspects. Included
in the documentation booklet are definitions of many of the words and
phrases used at the track.
ADAR is an entertainment product that may be enjoyed by a wide range of
users: horse racing fans, people wanting to learn about the track,
sports fans, fans of simulations, users who want a game that can be
played at a party, and people who simply want a fun computer game.
For more information, contact TEAM Software P.O. Box 7332 Washington, DC
20044-7332. Or, by phone, call (703) 533-2132. For FAX, (703) 538-
4598. Inquiries may also be sent online, via GEnie to MLAKE; on
CompuServe at 73717,3174; or on Internet at mlake@irscscm.uucp uucp
...!uunet!media!irscscm!mlake or ...!uunet!mimsy!bogart!irscscm!mlake.
=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=
//// Maxwell CPU has moved
=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=
Maxwell CPU, creators of Silhouette, has moved. The new address for
the company is:
Maxwell CPU
1533 Meyer's Station Road
Odenton MD, 21113
Phone: (301) 261-0637
However, correspondence and upgrade requests for Silhouette should
now be sent to Toad Computers - see the press release below!
To contact Tim Reyes of Maxwell CPU, you may send inquiries to T.REYES
on GEnie or 75300,674 on CompuServe. Alternately, you may leave an
inquiry on the Toad Computers bulletin board.
=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=
//// Silhouette Colortrace 1.5
=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=
Suggested Retail: $119.95 Upgrade Price: $25.00
Severna Park, MD - February 16, 1993
Toad Computers of Severna Park, MD has acquired exclusive worldwide
distribution and marketing rights to Silhouette Colortrace from Maxwell
CPU. Extensive marketing in the United States, Canada and Europe is
planned.
Silhouette Colortrace, formerly known as Silhouette and developed by
Maxwell CPU, is a vector and bit mapped graphics package offering many
unique graphics tools for advanced users. Now, besides monochrome
artwork, you can add color to the mix; creating original vector or bit
mapped graphics or edit existing graphics.
A new, upgraded, bitmap to vector conversion process supports color
graphics. This new process is optimized to have reduced memory
requirements - taking less of your valuable RAM. With the soon to be
released Speedo GDOS, standard Bitstream fonts can also be included in
your graphics. Speedo GDOS text may be converted to modifiable vector
objects - a feature that allows for the creation of custom logos and
other text effects!
Silhouette Colortrace exports standard monochrome and color file
formats like Illustrator EPS (for use with Pagestream), GEM metafiles
and Calamus CVG.
With the latest version, color support in TT030 medium (16 colors)
resolution and Falcon030 16 and 256 color modes has been added.
Monochrome support exists in either 640 x 400 or 1280 x 960 pixel
resolutions.
Additional features of Silhouette Colortrace include:
[] Takes advantage of TT medium and Falcon 16 and 256 color
graphics modes (even overscan).
[] Outputs to color GEM metafiles, Calamus CVG, and Illustrator
EPS formats (for use with PageStream).
[] Color or monochrome bitmap to vector conversion with
upgraded features and reduced memory requirements.
[] Import and Export Calamus vector CVG files.
[] Supports the Atari Clipboard for application sharing of
IMG and GEM files.
[] Supports GEM 3 Bezier Metafiles.
[] Magnification of vector or bit images up to 16 times with
grid and ruler systems.
[] Separate bit-image and vector windows with the ability to
import bit-images into the vector window.
[] Allows warping of objects along a curve.
[] Advanced duplication methods allow control of object
width, height, rotation, line width, gray scale,
duplicate distribution. Use separate sizing and
rotation reference points.
[] Supports printing through GDOS.
[] Supports Dr. Bob's ScanLite to allow direct scanning into
the bit-image window.
[] Advanced drawing tools: lines, polylines, b-splines, beziers,
polygons, stars, circles, ellipses, elliptical and circular
arcs, spraycan, parabolas, round boxes (with adjustable
rounded edges), rectangles, flood fill and more!
Silhouette Colortrace has a suggested retail price of $119.95.
However, for a limited time only, advance orders will be accepted at
$99.95 (including shipping).
Toad Computers will provide technical support and upgrades to current
Silhouette users via phone, mail and online - through their own
bulletin board and via GEnie and CompuServe. To utilize the Toad
Computers BBS, call (410) 544-6999. The bulletin board operates at 300
to 14,400 baud with eight bits, no parity and two stop bits.
Registered owners of Silhouette 1.25 or higher may upgrade to
Silhouette Colortrace (version 1.5) for $15 + $3 shipping and handling.
Please send payment and your original disk to the address below -
making sure to add 'Silhouette Upgrade'.
Alternately, registered owners of Silhouette may obtain the upgrade by
calling the Toad Computers bulletin board (as mentioned above) and
download it. In order to do so, you must provide a Visa, MasterCard or
Discover card account number and expiration date to the SysOp. A
charge of just $15 will be assessed to your credit card. You may also
download the upgrade after sending the same information to Toad
Computers on GEnie or CompuServe at the addresses listed below.
Please note that the upgrade price for Silhouette Colortrace will
change after April 20, 1993 to $25.
Silhouette Colortrace is expected to be shipped in approxiamately five
weeks.
For further information, contact Toad Computers, (if upgrading add
'Silhouette Upgrade'), 570-F Gov Ritchie Hwy, Severna Park, MD, 21146.
Alternately, credit card orders may be placed by calling (800) 448-TOAD
(448-8623). Technical support and upgrade requests can be mailed to
the address above or by calling (410) 544-6943 or by FAX (410) 544-
1329. Please note that technical support will not be provided on the
800 line.
Online, a message may be left on the Toad Bulletin Board at (410) 544-
6999. Inquiries and upgrades may be sent to TOAD-SERV. on GEnie; or,
on CompuServe, at 72470,1605.
=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=
//// SoundLab 1.1 Demo
=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=
SoundLab version 1.1 has just been uploaded to GEnie! Damian Jones, of
DMJ-GIF fame, has recently upgraded SounLab adding many new features
that you should not be without. These new features include:
o GEM fileselector and accessory support.
o DigiSound hardware support.
o Automatic find for block start and end.
o More sample formats - WAV, SMP, and others.
o Faster edit routines.
You may download the unregistered version, try it and if it meets your
needs, register for just $20. Registered users receive a full program,
the printed manual, and source code to play the music in the background
of your own programs in GFA Basic, C, or Assembly. All of this on a
regular, unmodified ST - you don't have to own a STe, TT030 or
Falcon030 to take advantage of background sound.
Help support the shareware concept by registering today! An guarantee
quality software's continued developement!
For more information, or to register, send mail to Damien M. Jones, PSC
8 Box 657, APO AE 09109.
--==--==--==--==--
(This issue printed on recycled photons)
--==--==--==--==--
Atari Explorer Online Magazine is a bi-weekly publication covering the
Atari computer community. Material published in this issue may be
reprinted under the following terms only: articles must remain unedited
and include the issue number and author at the top of each article
reprinted. Reprint permission is granted, unless otherwise noted at the
beginning of the article, to registered Atari user groups and not for
profit publications. Opinions presented herein are those of the individual
authors and do not necessarily reflect those of the staff, or of Atari
Corporation.
--==--==--==--==--
Atari, ST, Mega ST, STE, Mega STE, TT030, Atari Falcon030, TOS,
MultiTOS, NewDesk, BLiTTER, Atari Lynx, Atari Jaguar, Atari
Portfolio, Atari Explorer, Atari Explorer Online, and the Atari Fuji
Symbol are all trademarks or registered 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) 1993, Atari Computer Corporation
* * *
* * *
* * *
* * *
:::::::::::::::::::::::::::::: A E O :::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::
:: Volume 2 - Issue 5 ATARI EXPLORER ONLINE 6 March 1993 ::
::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::
