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Z*NET Online Magazine Issue 94-01
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Z*NET NEWSWIRE Copyright (c)1994, Syndicate Publishing
Volume 9, Number 1 February 12, 1994
Call the Z*Net News Service BBS (908) 968-8148
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
Publisher/Editor..........................................Ron Kovacs
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
|#| The Editors Desk...............................Ron Kovacs
|#| Z*Net Newswire.................................Ron Kovacs
|#| CT AtariFest 1994............................Announcement
|#| 1993: Year In Review...........................Ron Kovacs
|#| The Cursor Cowboy..........................Jacques Leslie
|#| Cybercube Product Listing and Update.........Announcement
|#| Through The Looking Glass..................Tom D'Ambrosio
###### THE EDITORS DESK
###### By Ron Kovacs
###### ---------------------------------------------------------------
It has been nearly 8 months since I have written anything on this Atari
computer. After Z*Net ended publishing last year, I spent a little time
with Atari Explorer Online magazine and asked Travis Guy to release me.
I was not fired, there were a few political games going on at the time
and those words, "you're fired" were never stated by the AEO staff. For
the record, I enjoyed working with the guys at AEO, but consistant
personal problems caused my time to become sparse with little time for
writing or editing.
Since my divorce in 1992, things have changed dramtically with my life.
I spend all of my free time with my kids, who are the most important
people in my life right now. The rollercoaster ride over the last 18
months has been interesting and depressing, however, things get better
over time. My life has changed and the priorities previously
established are not the same today.
There are many people in the community who have known about my problems.
I want to thank them for honoring my privacy and being there when I
needed them. Their support and understanding during this long and
difficult time is greatly appreciated.
I am back at my keyboard again. My kids are into a regular routine and
do not require constant attention from me. However, there still is the
parenting feature that will always be there. Even as I type this, my
seven-year old daughter wants to sit here and type something, although,
she doesn't have an idea of what she wants to write. My son is on the
other side of the house, surely getting into trouble as it is a little
too quite at the present time. :-)
Being a single parent is not and will not be an easy task. However,
putting together Z*Net material has always been one of my favorite
hobbies. In 1994, I am NOT too sure what I am going to be contributing,
if anything. My future here depends on what my children need first,
then if there is time available, I would like to work on a few projects
and put out some regular Z*Net editions.
Well, those are my comments, there is a Z*Net edition that follows this
essay. This is a different Z*Net from years past. There are NO staff
members working on material. This is going to be a solo event for the
time being. Bruce Hansford has supplied some of the news material and
there is a commentary piece from a regular Z*Net reader.
The focus of the NEW Z*Net will be NEWS and TELECOMMUNICATIONS. There
will be FOUR regular weekly releases. Next month I will re-think my
feelings on this and announce the official end or continue.
COMMENTARY
In the Atari Explorer Online Conference and Echo, (FNET and ATARINET),
I asked the readers to submit some commentary pieces. The focus on this
is their feelings of Atari in 1993. The first submission appears in
this edition. These columns are not published to create problems in the
community. They are just comments coming from Atarians. If you have
something to say, send them along. Rebuttle space for any published
commentary will be supplied.
1993
Along with the articles in this edition, I am starting a column covering
the 1993 YEAR in REVIEW. After each column, a 1993 commentary will
follow.
Regards and best to everyone in '94.
-*-
###### Z*NET NEWSWIRE
###### Industry News and Telecommunications Update
###### ---------------------------------------------------------------
ATARI FALCON LIGHTS THE WAY
Fully exploiting the incredible power and versatility of Atari's Falcon
030 multimedia computer, TECNATION DIGITAL WORLD (Palo Alto, California)
have developed sonovista, the world's first Intelligent Sound-to-Light
Graphics and Video Typewriter. A powerful yet easy to use real-time
interactive graphics system that draws on the Falcon's state-of-the-art
digital technology and Tecnation's special 'BiT BOPPER' software to
create never seen before visual effects for use at nightclubs, raves,
concerts, and other music and dance venues. Sonovista's intriguing
visuals are based on TecnationUs unique multi-layer VideoGobos, digital
images whose appearance can range from simple abstracts and logos, to
the most complex and psychedelic fractal chaos patterns. And an array
of enchanting color filters, instant visual FX, and VideoGobo
transparency masks offer limitless creative potential to aspiring
CyberJockeys'.
Alternatively, sonovista can be left to run unattended generating its
own automated light show. And the powerful iCUE (Intelligent Cue) system
allows any effect to be instantly stored, and subsequently recalled at
the press of a button or under external control. For those occasions
when the CyberJockey needs to talk to the audience, the CyberWriter*
video typewriter allows eye catching text to be keyed in live, and
instantly displayed on top of animating VideoGobos. Sonovista offers
the music and dance industry a dramatic and versatile new medium that
excites and wows audiences as the dynamic imagery on the surrounding
video screens responds to the ambient music. And by connecting the
system to a vision mixer, sonovista graphics may be blended or keyed
with a live video signal from a stage camera, turning an event into more
of a live interactive music video.
Additionally, artists may create their own VideoGobos using popular
computer graphics programs. The VideoGobos can then be installed on
sonovista's hard drive in a matter of seconds via the built in 3.5
floppy drive.
Tecnation chose the Falcon because its specification was ideal for the
requirements of the sonovista project, namely a stereo audio input and
DSP (Digital Signal Processor) to help with sound processing, and the
BLiTTER graphics chip that assists with generating sonovista's real-time
interactive visual effects. The MIDI interface offers a range of
control options.
High End Systems, Inc., the world's foremost intelligent lighting
company has been appointed distribution rights to sonovista by
Tecnation. sonovista was subsequently launched by High End Systems at
Lighting Dimensions International in Orlando, Florida, the lighting
industries premier trade show. For further details contact, TECNATION
DIGITAL WORLD Palo Alto, California, U.S.A. Alex Blok - Tel: (415)
327-4332. HIGH END SYSTEMS, INC., Austin, Texas, U.S.A., Tel: (512)
836-2242.
NEW CUSTOM CHIPS
Texas Instruments has announced a highly integrated set of chips that
combines a TI486 cpu with other key system components. When used by
computer manufacturers, these chips will result in portable computer
designs that have fewer chips and reduced power consumption to create
smaller, lighter weight portable computers with longer battery life.
Specifically designed for notebooks and superportables, the three chip
system, named Rio Grande includes an enhanced integrated 486SX-class
microprocessor. The second chip controls the credit-card-sized
accessory slots used in most of today's portable PCs for additional
memory, fax, or modem capabilities. A third chip controls all other
standard system functions. The new TI chips employ the Peripheral
Component Interconnect (PCI) bus developed by industry-leading PC
suppliers for use primarily in high performance desktop personal
computers. Production shipments of Rio Grande are scheduled for this
fall to support the introduction of Rio Grande-based notebook PCs by
manufacturers at COMDEX.
COMPUSERVE CC:MAIL HUB SERVICE
The CompuServe Mail Hub facilitates message exchange among LAN-based and
remote users of a wide variety of email systems and services. Through
the hub, cc:Mail customers can exchange messages and files economically,
reliably, securely and globally between associates within their
organization and with other companies. In addition, they can exchange
messages with key audiences and suppliers who use other email systems
such as CompuServe Mail, the Internet, Novell NetWare MHS, Lotus Notes,
MCI Mail, SprintMail, AT&T Mail, AT&T EasyLink, Infonet, Deutsche
Bundespost, and the Japanese NIFTY-Serve. The CompuServe Mail Hub is
available for $9.80/hr. when accessing with a 1200 or 2400 bits per
second modem and $14.80/hr. at 9.6 or 14.4 kilobits per second. To use
the CompuServe Mail Hub, cc:Mail users need a modem, CompuServe
membership and cc:Mail Router or a cc:Mail Remote or Mobile product.
For registration details, CompuServe members can GO CCMAIL on
CompuServe. Non-members of CompuServe can call 1-800-457-MAIL and ask
for the cc:Mail representative for membership information.
ELECTRONIC ARTS AND BRODERBUND MERGE
In an agreement announced this week, Electronic Arts and Broderbund
have signed a definitive agreement to merge. The merge is expected to
be completed by the end of May 1994 and is subject to approval by the
stockholders of each company and other customary conditions. Broderbund
will become a wholly owned subsidiary of Electronic Arts, with
operations continuing in Novato, Calif. Electronic Arts' operations
will continue in San Mateo, as well as in its other worldwide locations.
Doug Carlston will join Electronic Arts' board of directors, which will
now consist of eight members. Both companies expect Carlston to remain
active in the management of the combined organization.
VIDEO GAME AGE RATINGS
An association of British computer software publishers launched an age
rating system for video games this week amid concerns the new generation
of video games are too violent. The self-imposed code would be similar
to the age categories used on videos and films and is designed to guide
parents when they buy the games for their children. The self-regulatory
code also is designed to stave off government control of video games and
distinguish them from illegal pirate software that may have a
pornographic content. The association said the rating given to each
game would depend upon its content rather than its degree of difficulty.
Depictions of criminal activity such as vandalism, the use of bad
language and graphic fighting scenes would affect a game's rating.
SCULLEY QUITS SPECTRUM
Former Apple Computer chief John Sculley resigned from his posts as
chairman and chief executive of Spectrum Information Technologies,
saying he quit because of accounting and Securities and Exchange
Commission questions about the company. He resigned early this week.
Sculley said auditors last week concluded "they could not support
(Spectrum's) current method of accounting with respect to revenue
recognition." This announcement caused Spectrum stock to plunge in
heavy trading on the Nasdaq, losing more than half its value as it fell
$3.33 to $2.25 a share. Sculley also said he had filed a federal
lawsuit against Spectrum President Peter Caserta "in connection with
matters relating to the circumstances under which I was induced to join
Spectrum, to my obvious detriment." Sculley, 54, left Apple on Oct. 15,
four months after resigning as chief executive officer from the
personal-computer giant. He had been named Apple's CEO in 1983 and
added the chairmanship in 1985 after ousting Apple co-founder Steve
Jobs.
HP REDUCES TONER PRICES
Hewlett-Packard has announced a 17 percent price reduction on its
remanufactured toner cartridge to meet customer and market demand for
lower prices. The HP Optiva 95R toner cartridge now is $79.00. The new
lower pr ice provides further incentive for 3 million HP LaserJet II,
IID, III and IIID printer users to participate in HP's toner-cartridge-
remanufacturing program. Customers participate in the program by
purchasing the HP Optiva 95R toner-cartridge exchange packet from their
computer or office-supply dealer. The packet provides a convenient
method of mailing-in used cartridges and receiving remanufactured HP
Optiva 95R toner cartridges directly from HP. In addition to the
exchange packet which is tailored to small- and medium-sized businesses,
HP has designed an exchange program for volume purchasers. Under this
program, HP works with its resellers to provide these customers with
remanufactured toner cartridges. Sales information may be obtained by
calling 1-800-LASERJET (527-3753).
SEGA CHANNEL EXPANDS
The Sega Channel has announced the signing of an additional cable
company as a launch partner for the new interactive video game channel.
Colony Communications, representing 790,000 subscribers - signed a
letter of agreement to launch Sega channel in 1994, following a three
month in-market test. Sega channel is the cable industry's first
interactive service, providing Sega Genesis video games on-demand, 24
hours a day. Sega Channel subscribers will choose from a wide selection
of popular games, special versions of soon-to-be-released titles,
gameplay tips, news, contests and promotions. The programming will be
updated monthly to keep it new and exciting. Sega Channel will be
priced in the range of most premium subscription services. Launching in
fall 1994, the Sega Channel concept was developed by three entertainment
leaders, Sega of America, Tele-Communications, and Time Warner
Entertainment Company.
Z*NET TELECOMMUNICATION UPDATE
------------------------------
910 AREA IS MANADTORY
Telephone subscribers across the central part of North Carolina have
effectively had two area codes. But that comes to an end on this
weekend. North Carolina's new 910 area code went into effect on Nov.
14, 1993, replacing the 919 code on more than a million lines. However
calls went through even if the caller dialed the old area code.
Beginning Sunday (February 13, 1994) at 2 a.m., callers must use 910 to
complete their long distance call. The 910 area code includes most
customers in the Greensboro, Fayetteville and Wilmington calling zones.
The 919 area code will continue to be used by most customers in the
Raleigh and Rocky Mount calling zones. Callers using the 919 code after
2 a.m. Sunday will hear a recording stating, "The area code for the
number you dialed has been changed to 910. Please use the 910 area code
on this call."
NEW MCI DATA CENTER
Construction of the highly automated 180,000 square foot center is
scheduled to begin in April of this year and, while the specific terms
of the contract were not disclosed, MCI is expected to make a
substantial investment in the building and equipment. Currently, MCI
operates a switching center in Omaha that handles nearly 5 million calls
per day. Last month, MCI unveiled networkMCI, its long-range strategy
to develop the nation's information superhighway, and prepare for the
interactive multimedia world of the future. The new center will
primarily be used for data processing functions and will employ the most
advanced fiber optic technology, including optical and magnetic disks
capable of storing over 15 terrabytes, or 15 trillion bytes of data --
the equivalent of over 400,000 sets of encyclopedias. Some of the state
-of-the-art equipment to be initially installed includes four of the
largest mainframe computers available in the marketplace today, capable
of processing over 20 million instructions per second; 12 robotic tape
silos that each hold 5-6 thousand tapes, and can find and mount or
dismount and file a tape in 30 seconds; plus air conditioning units
capable of cooling over 1,000 homes and enough emergency electrical
generating capacity to power a small city.
AT&T SCALES DOWN
AT&T announced this week that it plans to phase out 14,000 to 15,000
jobs in its communications units over the next two years to streamline
operations and reduce its costs in the highly competitive long distance
business. AT&T is looking to save nearly $900 million a year. Some
8,000 to 9,000 positions will be phased out in Consumer Communications
Services. As part of this action, the unit will consolidate certain
sales and service operations that will result in the closing of centers
in Providence, R.I.; Charleston, W.Va.; Bloomington, Minn.; Cheyenne,
Wyo.; Itasca, Ill.; Pleasanton, Calif., and Silver Spring, Md. The
Business Communications Services unit will phase out about 6,000 jobs.
Overall, about 8,000 management jobs will be affected, including
headquarters staff and administrative support functions, while the rest
will be nonmanagement positions in operations and clerical areas.
Nearly 5,000 of the 51,000 in New Jersey jobs will be lost.
Notification of work groups affected by the reductions, will start by
the end of the month, and notification of individual employees by the
end of March.
TELECOM CHARGES DROP
The British telephone war escalated this week with the two major
telecommunications companies announcing plans to cut prime time charging
rates. Mercury Communications said it will match British Telecom in its
scrapping of its most expensive rate period. The BT price cut, which
comes into effect on March 9, will make a 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. peak charge
rate the same price as the current standard afternoon rate. Mercury
said in a statement that while it did not object to paying the charges,
it believed that the manner in which the charges were calculated was
unfair. The company is currently mounting a legal challenge against BT
to pay a flat rate for BT lines rather than being charged for the time
Mercury customers use their phones using BT lines.
###### CT ATARIFEST 1994
###### Show Announcement
###### ---------------------------------------------------------------
ACT Atari Group is running another _MAJOR_ Northeast computer event.
Last year's successful move to the Windsor Court Hotel means only one
thing: ENCORE! CT Fest '94 is just as convenient to reach as ever - only
two hours from Boston or New York. The hotel has excellent room rates,
free and plentiful parking, easy access from Interstates 91, 95, 90, 84,
80 and is located just 1 mile from Bradley International Airport (free
shuttle service for hotel guests). Join us for an informal, low cost
dinner Saturday night, and mix with old friends.
What about the Jaguar? Come on out and get (64)BIT! We'll have the
largest Jaguar competition in New Egland, with the latest games and
gear. With all the excitement generated by this hot new machine, you
owe it to yourself to get the personal skinny.
We expect an even greater number of vendors this year, surpassing the
excellent turnout of the past shows. CAF '93 vendors included:
* A&D Software * Gribnif Software
* ABC Solutions * Kurlan Music
* BaggettaWare Software * Lexicor Software
* Barefoot Software * Marcel Software
* Best Electronics * MegaType Software
* Clear Thinking * Oregon Research Associates
* Codehead Technologies * Soft-Logik Publishing
* CompuServe Information Services * Software Spectrum
* Computer Zone * Straight Edge Software
* Derric Electronics * Thin Air Labs
* East Hartford Computer Repair * Toad Computer
* Evangelo's Software * Wizztronics
* GEnie
In addition to our commercial supporters, many user groups came from
hundreds of miles away to be with us for CAF '93. Those in attendance
included The Boston Computer Society, Western Massachusetts Atari User
Group, Atari ST and Mega Users of Montreal, South Shore Atari Group
[Mass], Atari User Group of Greater Hartford, Scranton Area Atari User
Group (PA) and Long Island Atari User Group (DBUG-Danbury and FACE-
Fairfield [both CT] were represented in the ACT Atari booth). Most user
groups offered numerous demonstrations, public domain disks and great
clip art collections, with most of the groups offering "recycled"
hardware and software items.
We'll have our Lynx Competition, with multiple Comlynxed competitions
underway at all times, the Portfolio Corner, staffed with industry
experts, an endless stream of door prizes and seminars in abundance (in
the past we've had everyone's favorite Atari Corp. personality -
Director of Comuunications Bob Brodie, John Eidsvoog of Codehead, Jeff
Naideau from Barefoot, Dave Troy of Toad Computers, Joe Mirando & Dana
Jacobsen from ST Report and many others). Stay tuned for this year's
list of speakers.
All in all, we hope to have the best Northeast show yet, and we look
forward to your participation. Make your plans now for the most
exciting Atari Weekend this summer!
CONNECTICUT ATARIFEST '94 TRAVEL TIPS
BY CAR: Traveling Interstate 91 Northbound, take Exit 41, a right off
the exit ramp and another right at the next stop sign. You can see the
hotel from there. Southbound, take Exit 41 and bear right; the hotel is
straight ahead. Call the CT Tourism Division at (800) CT-BOUND.
BY AIR: Many airlines serve Bradley International Airport. Call your
travel agent for a list. Many area lodgings offer a courtesy van from
the airport; make arrangements by using one of the phones in the baggage
claim area.
BY RAIL: Rail passengers can reach Windsor Locks aboard several trains
that run daily between Washington, D.C., Boston, and several points
between the two. For information about fares, schedules, restrictions
and connecting trains, contact Amtrak by phoning (800) USA-RAIL.
WHERE TO STAY: The Windsor Court will be offering special rates for CAF
'94 attendees, call them at 203-623-9811 (Fax 9808). There are many
other hotels in the area: Bradley International Motor Inn, Budgetel Inn,
Courtyard by Marriott, Days Inn - Tobacco Valley, Fairfield Inn, Harley
Hotel, Holiday Inn - Windsor Locks, Homewood Suites, Journey's End -
Springfield (Mass.), Ramada - East Windsor, Sheraton - Hartford
(Downtown), Sheraton Tara - Springfield and Simsbury Inn.
WHAT TO DO:
For further information, call Angela or Brian Gockley at 203-332-1721.
E-mail can be directed to 75300,2514 on CIS.
O U R F O U R T H A N N I V E R S A R Y ! S H O W ! ! !
CONNECTICUT ATARIFEST '94 10 a.m.-5 p.m. Saturday 8/27/94
August 27-28, 1994 at the 10 a.m.-4 p.m. Sunday 8/28/94
Windsor Court Hotel, Windsor Locks, CT (Hartford area).
###### 1993 : YEAR IN REVIEW
###### Compiled by Ron Kovacs
###### ---------------------------------------------------------------
This is the first of a continuing series of the Year In Review: 1993.
As the new year started, the biggest controversy taking place was with
GEnie and ABCO Computer Consultants. Here are a few comments about the
story from my Editors Desk in January 1993.
If you are up to date on community news, you should know by now that
there are a number of comments and allocations being made against the
mail order company, ABCO. This is the same company that advertises in
ST Report Online Magazine each week.
In our last few editions of the 1992, we told you about some of the
things taking place and also published an article written by one of
their unhappy customers. In the last three weeks, more people are
surfacing with problems, specific to ABCO Computer.
In our own investigation, if you want to call it that, we have validated
the Better Business Bureau's label of unsatisfied rating, and spoke
breifly with Ralph Mariano, the owner. He commented, "ABCO will satisfy
all of it's customers.", Mariano went on to state that he had over 2800
customers. Mariano has not commented publically about the situation nor
of the lawsuit filed by one of his unhappy customers.
For futher information about ABCO, read the next edition of Atari
Explorer Online magazine, due January 2, 1993.
BLACKMAIL FOR ATARI
BlackMail allows the design of an automated single or multi-user voice
mail system which can disperse prerecorded information to a caller,
store the caller's message, and forward it upon request. Callers access
BlackMail using their touch tone telephone to navigate the system's
hierarchical voice mail menus, leaving or retrieving messages as
determined by the user.
COMPUSERVE EXPANDS NETWORK PRESENCE TO HONG KONG
CompuServe extends it's high-quality network access to the Pacific Rim
with the installation of a local access point in Hong Kong. The Hong
Kong node will be utilized by corporate customers of CompuServe's value-
added network services and members of the company's online information
service.
FALCON FCC NUMBER
Atari announced two months ago that the Falcon had passed FCC approval.
Z*Net News has received documentation from the FCC containing the FCC
identifier which is: EBAF030ST. The certification was applied for on
September 18, 1992 and approved November 5, 1992. Some of the comments
on the Grant include: "This device must be supplied with a shielded AC
power cord if one is required to ensure compliance." "This grant is
issued to permit marketing only when a ferrite loaded video cable or
split ferrite core equivalent to the type that was used during
certification testing is marked with each unit." "This device has shown
compliance with new rules adopted under Docket 87-389 and is not
affected by Section 15.37, transition rule." The FCC file number is:
31010/EQU 4-3-4. Equipment Class: TV Interface Device.
MULTITOS RELEASE EXPECTED NEXT WEEK (January)
MultiTOS, which recently was released to Atari developers in beta form,
is working quite well according to Bob Brodie. Atari is now focusing on
an installation program and planning to make MultiTOS run on all Atari
68000 systems. Next week Atari will have a version of MultiTOS
available for shipping, although the way they plan on distributing the
product as yet to be decided.
OUTBURST! 3.0
The early versions of OutBurST! 3.0 that have a file creation date in
November 1992 have a minor flaw in them. The manual states to put the
OBURST.INF file into the AUTO folder, but with the early version you
must put the file on the root of the boot disk.
GEMULATOR 2.1
The 2.1 update which fixes the 32 meg partition limit is still in the
works. Stacker compatibility is one of the things Mihocka is trying to
support. He is also hoping to be able to test it on the new DOS 6's
compression. In the meantime, as with the 2.0 upgrade, some features
and a number of bugs have been repaired, so very shortly, a maintenance
upgrade called Gemulator 2.05 will be released.
ATARI LYNX
Free Federal Express delivery!, Hurry! Offer expires 1/31/93! Call
1-800-327-xxxx to order now! Push your mind to the edge with the Atari
Lynx: Backlit screen, stereo sound, 50+ incredible games, "Flip"
controls for left handed players, Play with up to 8 friends with
"ComLynx", 4,000 brilliant colors (16 bit graphics engine), The worlds
largest portable video game screen (3.5" diag.) The entire Lynx game
library is available from Atari by calling 1-800-327-xxxx. And don't
forget to order your Atari Lynx for only $79.95 -- that's $20 off
through 1/31/93! And get FREE Federal Express delivery. Or send check
or money order to: Atari Lynx, P.O. Box 61657, Sunnyvale, CA 94088-1657.
This offer expires 1/31/93.
CMC EXPANDS
The Computer Musician Coalition (CMC), an international, artist-driven
collaboration, dedicated to the success of electronic musicians world-
wide, announces the formation of a new division, the Creative Musicians
Coalition (CMC), dedicated to the success of all independent musicians
including the non-electronic bread. For more information about CMC
memberships, music submission procedures, and a free copy of AFTERTOUCH
- New Music Discoveries write or call: Ron Wallace, Creative Musicians
Coalition, Computer Musician Coalition, 1024 W. Willcox Ave., Peoria, IL
61604, Phone: (309) 685-4843, FAX: (309) 685-4878, Or Email: S.GARRIGUS
(On GEnie).
ABCO COMPUTER
In January 1993, the continuing ABCO debate was in full force. Some of
the discussions that took place were between a user, Don Harris who paid
for product from the Florida company and didn't receive the goods.
Also, overseas sysops went sevens months without product after paying.
From : Ben Van Bokkem: "If anyone in the US can point us in the right
direction to recover the monies that Ralph Mariano STOLE from us, or put
some 'pressure' on him some way, it would certainly be appreciated!"
Then Atari started receiving letters from customers online on GEnie
regarding ABCO Computers and Ralph Mariano: From: Walter S. Wilson:
"This same Publisher/Editor (who owns ABCO), has a bad rating with the
Better Business Bureau in his home state, has many very unsatisfied
customers, has a FREE FLAG on GEnie in the ST RT, gets free advertising
for his company under the guise of an E-mag in a GEnie pay area, and is
completely aloof concerning any of these complaints." From J.ENOS
[JENOS] (GEnie User): "I sold Ralph Mariano of ABCO Computers my Hard
drives for $1030, and found his check no good. Can anyone suggest a way
I might resolve this problem."
SPEEDOGDOS NEAR RELEASE
SpeedoGDOS, Atari's scalable font replacement for GDOS/FSM GDOS is just
nearly ready for release. Atari is currently evaluating the
installation package. The present Speedo package consists of a five
diskette set, which includes lots of BitStream fonts. Users of Speedo
will be able to call an 800 phone number that BitStream operates to
order fonts to use with SpeedoGDOS.
ST SUTRA TO CONCEIRGE TO ATARI WORKS
Atari has changed the name of Conceirge, a word processor, database and
spreadsheet program to Atari Works. When originally announced the name
was ST Sutra, then late in 1992, Atari changed the name to Conceirge.
Atari Works, the same product is still undergoing testing.
FALCON DELAYED TILL MARCH
The Atari Falcon030 has been expirencing some manufacturing problems.
The sub-contractor that has been manufacturing Atari Falcon030s for
Atari has not been able to meet Q/A or production requirements. A
number of the machines coming from this sub-contractors factory have
failed diagnostic tests. Representatives from the factory were due
in Sunnyvale last Monday afternoon to discuss a resolution of these
problems. Atari expects these problems to delay "significant" shipments
of the Falcon until March 1993.
DITEK LAUNCHES DYNACADD 2D
Ditek International announced DynaCADD 2D for the Atari ST and TT
computers. The Atari Falcon version will be available in January 1993.
DynaCADD 2D is the 2D portion of Ditek's powerful 2D/3D Computer Aided
Design and Drafting solution that has been on the market for the past
two years.
MUSITEK TO DEBUT A FIRST AT NAMM
Musitek will introduce the world's first automatic music reading
software at the NAMM winter trade show. This breakthrough product is
MIDISCAN for Windows and runs on IBM PCs and compatibles. MIDISCAN
converts printed sheet music into multi-track MIDI files. Music Reading
Software (MRS) is similar to Optical Character Recognition (OCR) for
text. A scanner first captures images of the score. MIDISCAN
automatically processes each page, extracting its musical content. The
reconstructed score is displayed as standard notation within an
interactive graphic window for easy point-and-click editing. The music
is then saved as a multi-track MIDI file which can be loaded into any
MIDI sequencing or notation software for playback through a synthesizer
or MPC audio card. Musitek will exhibit at Booth No. 2628 (Hall C)
throughout the NAMM trade show.
SOUND BLASTER UPGRADE KITS ANNOUNCED
Creative Labs announced two new versions of its Sound Blaster Multimedia
Upgrade Kits. Expected to ship later this quarter, the new versions
were introduced at the Consumer Electronics Show. The Edutainment CD
Upgrade Kit is a multimedia upgrade package consisting of a Creative
Labs CD-ROM drive, Sound Blaster Pro and speakers.
SPA HAS BANNER YEAR
The Software Publishers Association announced that 1992 marked the most
active year for its anti-piracy activities to date. Working on behalf
of its members, the SPA investigates cases of software copyright
infringement involving corporations, educational and non-profit
institutions, commercial dealers, and bulletin boards. Most
investigations begin with a call to the SPA anti-piracy hotline (1-800-
388-7478). Information gathered from telephone conversations are then
reviewed by the SPA's in-house litigation staff. Depending on the
strength of the information and the severity of the case, legal action
can be taken using cease and desist letters, corporate audits, or Ex-
Parte seizure orders. In 1992, up to 30 phone calls per day poured into
the hotline. Based on these leads, the SPA took action against 747
organizations.
DATELINE ATARI! WITH BOB BRODIE - JANUARY
First I'd like to give some status reports on some projects that we're
working on here at Atari. MultiTOS has a recent beta version go out to
our developers just before Christmas. This version appears to be
working quite well, although not perfect (I found a bug today, and got
it fixed!!). We're now focusing on an installation program for
MultiTOS, which was presented to me for evaluation yesterday. You'll be
pleased to know that the entire package fits on a single 1.44 meg
floppy. At this point in time we're planning on allowing ALL Atari
68000 computers to be able to run MultiTOS. There was some discussion
that we might compile MultiTOS in such fashion that only users with
68030 boards, TT030s, or Atari Falcon030s would be able to use MultiTOS.
In speaking to the TOS group, they feel confident that they will have a
shipable version of MultiTOS next week. Still to be decided is how we
are going to distribute MultiTOS to our customers. Once that decision
is made, we'll let you know via an annoucement here on GEnie, and in
Atari Explorer Online Magazine.
SpeedoGDOS, our scalable font replacement for FONT GDOS/FSM GDOS is just
about ready, too. As is the case with MultiTOS, we're evaluating the
installation package very carefully so as to make it very easy for end
users to install SpeedoGDOS. Presently the package consists of a five
diskette set, which includes lots of BitStream fonts. I have been VERY
impressed with this system. I had lived with extreme system slowdown
when running FSM GDOS with more than 12 fonts on my system at work. I'm
now running 71 Speedo fonts, with no noticable performance degradation
at all!!
Our customers will be able to call an 800 phone number that BitStream
operates to order fonts to use with SpeedoGDOS. While not all of the
BitStream font families have Speedo fonts in them, there is over 1,000
typefaces available that do.
We've decided to change the name of Conceirge (previously ST Sutra) to
Atari Works. It is still undergoing some testing, although it is much
improved from when it was shown back at the Toronto Show last April.
Much of the work has focused on the database portion of the program to
improve the database import capabilities of the program. We're in the
process of expanding our beta test group, and we're getting lots of good
input from them for improvements in Atari Works. I'm very pleased with
how the program is improving, and am even starting to use it myself much
more often than before. Many of our staff members here at Atari, like
the Administrative Assistants are starting to use Atari Works for their
everyday word processor of choice.
Now, regarding the Atari Falcon030. I spoke at length with Sam Tramiel
about the production/shipment status of this product on Monday. The
sub-contractor that has been manufacturing Atari Falcon030s for us has
not been able to meet our Q/A or production requirements. The number of
the machines coming from this factory that have failed diagnostic tests
is completely unacceptable to Sam. He is _angry_ about this, as
producing Atari Falcon030s is of paramount importance to us.
Representatives from the factory were due in Sunnyvale on Monday
afternoon to discuss a resolution of these problems with Sam.
Regardless of the outcome of that meeting, Sam indicated to me that he
was meeting with a representative from another factory to bring on board
another manufacturer to produce Falcons for us. We expect this to delay
significant shipments of Falcons until March.
There have been some rumors circulating that the Falcon030 is not FCC
approved, and this is reason for the delay. This is simply not true!!
As Atari indicated months ago, the Falcon has met with FCC approval. I
note with some amusement that a request for FCC numbers was made by ST
Report's staff in the message bases on GEnie, AFTER our offices had
closed for the holidays. Until today, there was never a request made to
our offices for the actual FCC number via anything resembling
conventional means, like a phone call, letter, or fax. Not even a
request in email!! Today, Ralph Mariano called me and asked about the
FCC status of the Falcon, and dicussed in detail with me his attempts to
have the FCC provide him with the number. I don't understand why he has
had problems getting this information, as it is a matter of public
record.
At the time of his call, I didn't have the number at my desk...but I do
now! So, as promised, here is the FCC approval number for the Atari
Falcon030: EBAF030ST, application dated September 18, 1992, granted
November 5, 1992.
Falcon030s will continue to be available in small quantities until we
get our second sub-contractor on board, or the production problems with
the original contractor are resolved. Review units are being provided
to publications that we believe can assist us in "getting the word out"
on the Falcon.
UPDATE BY SMALL
I'm sorry to have been offline for a bit. The local cold settled into
the ol' lungs here at the Small family (probably came from the local
school/disease exchange where our kids go), and was headed towards
pneumonia. It took awhile for yon doctors to find the right pills
(e.g., most expensive) to cure it. In the mean time, we were just
zonked out.
It seems to be clearing up now, so there are signs of hope.
(Six dollars a PILL?)
On the TT/SCSI front, substantial progress has been made. Low level
assembler code now understands TT SCSI and various devices have been
tried. This involved a subtle, a partitioning scheme from Atari called
XGEM (been around since AHDI 3.02), and which I'm still leaning on real
hard to make it solid. It was Not Fun to put a Mac partition into an
XGEM "chain"; it tended to break the chain. Anyway, the front-end
(formatter, displayer, etc) is DONE except for any bugs that pop loose
(none so far) and I'm working on making removable media support
practical from *inside* Mac mode.
Spectre 3.1 HAS NOT BEEN RELEASED, contrary to press reports. The
reporters responsible have been shot.
Removable support, plus a few things I'm a hacking at while coughing
(little pun there), plus bug fixes for the cache thing and stuff, ought
to make this the best Spectre ever.
I NEED TT BASED USERS TO BETA TEST. You must have good sense about
backups! We have had bugs before that have blown away partition tables,
and you MUST be able to restore your data, for your sanity and mine.
Beta Testing is a mixed bag -- ask any of the people who have done it.
If you wish to, PLEASE send me an email describing your TT outfit (I am
particularly after people with lots of TT RAM, like the GE Soft board;
I have 8 meg TT RAM in my machine with that board, and love it!) because
of some, errr, new things I would *like* to release in this next cut.
ATARI EXPLORER MAGAZINE
Atari Explorer Magazine was finally released. The November/December
1992 edition contained a lot of information about the Falcon030, Hard
drive back-up software, articles from Peter Donoso, Ron Robinson, Rob
Schilling, Jerry Davis, Mark Jansen, BJ Gleason, Travis Guy and Scott
Sanders. ALso, look for Lynx game reviews from Clayton Walnum.
APPLE POSTS EARNINGS
Apple Computer reported record revenues for its first fiscal quarter,
which ended December 25, 1992. Net revenues for the first quarter of
fiscal 1993 were $2 billion, a 7.4 percent increase from the $1.863
billion reported in the first quarter of the prior year. Net income for
the first quarter was $161.3 million, as compared to the prior year's
first quarter net income of $166.0 million.
HAYES SETTLES WITH MULTI
Hayes has announced that a settlement has been reached with Multi-Tech
Systems. This settlement concludes the litigation which was begun in
December, 1988, when Multi-Tech initiated patent litigation over the
Hayes '302 patent in the United States District Court, Minneapolis,
Minn. As part of the settlement, an undisclosed amount of money was
paid to Hayes and Hayes has agreed to make certain modifications to its
White Paper with respect to TIES modems. All claims in connection with
the litigation in Minnesota have been dismissed by both parties. All
other terms of the settlement are confidential.
CONSUMER ACTION ALERTS US CONSUMERS
Consumer Action is alerting consumers to new federal safeguards that
took effect last week which will make it easier for people to complete
pay phone calls. The safeguards, approved by the FCC last July,
prohibit blocking long distance company five-digit access codes at pay
phones and some hotel/motel phones. The FCC also now requires long
distance companies to provide toll-free "800" or "950" numbers for
callers to reach their services. Public phones (such as pay phones and
hotel room phones) are already prohibited from blocking calls made using
these access numbers. Consumer Action offers the following advice for
people trying to reach their chosen long distance company when calling
away from home: The first thing you should do is look on the phone for
the name of the long distance company that serves it. If you see
another company's name, you can still reach your long distance company
by dialing its access number. For example, you can reach the three
largest long distance companies by dialing these numbers: - AT&T, 102880
or 1-800-CALL ATT - MCI, 950-1022 or 1-800-950-1022 - Sprint, 103330 or
1-800-877-8000.
IBM TO SELL BUILDING AND LAND
IBM has announced that it will sell its building and land located at
6450 Guadalupe Mines Road in Southwest San Jose. The 86,000-square-foot
building, which sits on 130 acres of land, is used primarily as office
and laboratory space. It is a satellite building of IBM ADSTAR's San
Jose site, located on Cottle Road. IBM said the sale of the building
and land is part of a continuing effort to reduce expenses. Employees
and projects now residing in the building will be relocated to other
buildings in the San Jose area.
NAMM 1993 NEWS
John Nagy reported that Atari received thousands of orders for Falcons
at NAMM, faces from the music industry like Thomas Dolby, Jon Anderson
and a few others attended and the overall feeling of a great show was
apparent.
NEW PRESIDENT
President Clinton took office with hopes of change for our country,
something I was personally pleased about. It feels nice having a change
after 12 years!
RICHARD MILLER STEPS DOWN
Richard W. Miller announced this week that he was stepping down as
chairman and chief executive officer of Wang Laboratories in order to
facilitate the company's business plan and organization structure for
emergence from Chapter 11 protection. The board of directors named the
three top executives of the company to lead Wang in a newly established
corporate executive office.
IBM LOSES RECORD $5.46 BILLION
IBM reported a record $5.46 billion loss for the fourth quarter and a
loss of $4.97 billion for the year. The world's largest computer maker
said 1992 marked the second straight losing year for its businesses.
IBM lost $2.86 billion in 1991 - the first loss ever for the company.
But if not for a $1.9 billion one-time gain resulting from adoption of a
new tax accounting standard, IBM's 1992 loss would have been a mammoth
$6.87 billion. While the vast majority of the red ink represented costs
associated with massive staff reductions and corporate downsizing, the
results for the 1992 fourth quarter included a $45 million operating
loss - the first quarterly operating loss in IBM's 79-year history. IBM
reduced its payroll by more than 40,000 employees in 1992. Since 1986,
the computer maker has slashed its work force by more than 100,000.
Revenues for the quarter totaled $19.56 billion, down 11% compared with
$21.97 billion for the fourth quarter of 1991.
CALLIGRAPHER 3
CodeHead Technologies and Working Title US announce the release of
Calligrapher 3 that adds new features, streamlines the installation
procedure, is compatible with the Falcon030 and MultiTOS, and no longer
uses GDOS!
FALCON NEWS
The first Falcons (not pre-production or 'first' production machines)
are being delivered to dealers in Germany. Some were even sold and in
the hands of end users before Christmas. :-) Many dealers are or have
increased their earlier orders beleaving the first few batches will be
completely sold out and that at suggested Atari retail prices.
ATARI WORKS
Bob Brodie indicates on GEnie, that Atari Works would most likely be
included (bundled) with new hardware sales and sold as a separate
package to current owners. The program is said to work with machines
from the Falcon on down.
MORE NAMM NEWS
This year's showing by ATARI at NAMM has been the biggest and best ever.
ATARI had a private room this year. The room is about 1,000 sq. ft.
There are sixteen developer stations. The Developers inside the ATARI
booth are D2D Systems, Cho-Magic, CodeHead Software, Barefoot Software,
Thinkware, Dr. T's Music, Compo Software, MGI, On Stage, Hotz
Technologies, Digital F/X, Oktal, Steinberg/Jones and Yamaha. There was
also a performance stage where five demonstrations are being given each
day. The FALCON is the star of the show. EQ Magazine awarded ATARI
Product of the Year for the FALCON.
ST-REPORT BANNED FROM GENIE ST RT
Now GEnie's ST RT has taken a position regarding ST Report. It has
banned all future issues from it's libraries and will close the ST
Report bulletin board catagory on Monday. Some will say that this is
the reward to ST Report for it's continuing assault on Atari and Atari's
employees. Other will say that it violates free speech, while others
will say it was a personal problem. No matter how you label it, the
final word on this stands with GEnie. Although I am not pleased by the
actions of the GEnie ST RT in banning ST Report, I understand it and
know that it was a difficult matter to decide. I am surprised that it
took so long to happen. That alone shows the patience that has endured
over the years. Which brings us back to what GEnie decides. It is the
GEnie management that controls the content of what appears on their
service.
ATARIUSER MAGAZINE TO SKIP ISSUES
Shortly before reaching its second anniversary of uninterrupted monthly
publishing, John Nagy's AtariUser Magazine will be skipping two issues.
Nagy has told Z*Net that the January and February 1993 issues will be
rolled into the March issue in an effort to get back on a reasonable
production schedule. Subscribers will not lose out, as renewal dates
will be back up appropriately. AtariUser has a new staff, and is
rebuilding its databases after taking over the magazine from Quill
Publishing in late 1992. The December 1992 edition was not available
until late in December, and it became clear that AtariUser would have to
produce three issues in only 45 days in order to get back on schedule.
This would be impossible under good circumstances, but Nagy reports that
too many advertisers are running late in payments and are generally low
on funds for more ads. When an accident while moving his residence
broke Nagy's foot, flattening him for most of January without access to
his (packed) computers, any hope of catching up via any means other than
combined issues vanished. "I really tried to avoid this, as 'combined
issues' and schedule problems have plagued Atari magazines for years.
It never happened to us before," said AtariUser Publisher and Los
Angeles Attorney John Nagy. The "March" AtariUser is expected to be
released in early February, putting less than 60 days between it and the
last release.
APPLE TO UNVEIL NEW COMPUTERS
Apple is expected to break with its usual practice of pricing its
computers at a premium to comparable IBM-compatible models. The new
machines are expected to be offered at lower prices than the
competition. The Macintosh Color Classic is expected to cost between
$1,300 and $1,400, while the PowerBook 165c notebook computer is
expected to cost about $4,200. The Centris machines are expected to use
Motorola Corp.'s 68040 microprocessor, with the two models costing
$2,000 and $3,000. The new Quadra 800 is expected to be used for
networking and graphics and carry a price tag of $3,600.
JOHN AKERS RESIGNS
IBM cut its quarterly dividend by more than half this week and Chairman
John F. Akers surprised directors by recommending they begin looking for
someone to replace him. Akers announced that directors had accepted his
recommendation to begin the process of selecting a new chief executive
officer. Akers will remain as chairman and CEO during the selection
process, which IBM expects to take approximately 90 days. Akers, who
reaches retirement age next year, has come under fire for allegedly
being too slow to sense and react to the changing market. Critics also
said he lacked the resolve to undertake the kind of massive streamlining
necessary to avert the company's massive losses.
AND MORE NAMM AND ATARI, 1993
This year, Atari opted for a suite bordering the hall that featured
electronic instruments and computer software. The 40' by 80' room was
draped in black and a miniature performance stage graced the far end,
complete with lighting overheads, a full mix board, several Atari
computers, and a simply huge (over 39") VGA monitor. Ringing the room
were 15 workstations, manned by third-party developers, Atari personnel,
and volunteers organized through the L.A. user group "HACKS",
coordinated by John King Tarpinian and managed by Tara Jacobs. Outside
of the Atari area and in the main flow of foot traffic, Motorola had a
booth that was promoting the use of their DSP systems in new music
devices. On their front table was a single computer. An Atari Falcon.
No MAC. No PC. But according to the woman running the Motorola booth,
the Falcon was a BIG HIT, with most musicians knowing about it and
wanting one ASAP. Atari's Director of their Music Division, James
Grunke, was selected to be one of the five directors for the MMA, the
Midi Manufacturers Association. This professional organization is a
powerful standard-setting group, and the word after the announcement of
Grunke was that IBM Corp was quite surprized and perturbed to have been
passed over. Overall, the NAMM show was a hit for Atari.
GENIE AND STR SPLIT
COMMENTS FROM DARLAH POTECHIN OF GENIE AND RALPH MARIANO OF ST-REPORT
After many attempts by all parties involved it has become clear that the
relationship between STReport and the Atari RoundTables on GEnie will
not improve enough to warrant our continued support. Therefore,
effective immediately, we will no longer accept issues of STReport.
Effective Monday, February 1, 1993, we will be closing Category 24. On
behalf of the Atari Roundtables on GEnie I sincerely apologize for any
inconvenience this might cause our valued customers. Sincerely,
Darlah J. Potechin Atari Roundtables
Here we go again folks... STReport refuses to drop to its knees and
allow Darlah and her minions to "edit" the contents of STReport, we
refuse to not tell it like it is and what happens. "SHUT THEM DOWN!"
Thats what happens. How very original. <smirk> We too, regret and
apologize to see such behavior from the leadership of this RT
but then.. it is not new. We have seen this sort of happenstance to
one degree or another over the last five years. The permitted lynch
mobs, the permitted baiting, the permitted badgering and the ultimate
open censoring and ostracizing of all who would dare to criticize or
simply publicly disagree with "Queen" Darlah and the members of her
"court". Ralph @ STReport International Online Magazine
MULTIWRITER RELEASED
MultiWriter is a new, non-WYSWYG (what-you-see-is-what-you-get), word
processor developed to be fully compatible with ST Writer Elite.
MultiWriter is fully compatible with all versions of TOS and MultiTOS,
the new multi-tasking operating system from Atari Corp. MultiWriter was
developed because it was clear that ST Writer was not compatible with
the new operating systems. MultiWriter works with existing ST Writer/
ST Writer Elite files. The program displays and operation resemble ST
Writer Elite, so if you are experienced with ST Writer Elite, you will
be up and running quickly. MultiWriter has been tested and works with
Gemulator from Branch Always Software. MultiWriter also has been tested
with and works well with Spelling Sentry, a spell checking program from
Wintertree Software Inc. The program supports importing and exporting
text in five formats; ASCII, ST Writer Elite, WordPerfect, 1st Word, and
WordWriter formats. MultiWriter supports three languages, English,
German, and Spanish. When the program is configured, one of the three
languages can be selected and the settings saved.
ATARI EXPLORER COVER GIRL AT PLANETARIUM
Dr. Fiorella Terenzi, the January/February Atari Explorer Magazine Cover
girl will be at the Morrison Planetarium, Golden Gate Park, February 8
and 9 at 7pm. Terenzi's "Music From The Galaxies", a recently released
CD on Island Records, will be the focus of the event titled, Music From
The Galaxies and Optical and Radio Astronomy. Tickets are $10.00. For
more information on this event call: (415) 750-7127. For more on the
development of the Music of From The Galaxies CD, read the Jan/Feb
edition of Atari Explorer Magazine.
DATELINE ATARI! WITH BOB BRODIE - FEBRUARY 1993
I'd like to welcome every one to our February installment of Dateline
Atari! I hope that all of you are enjoying these conferences as much as
I am. I'm pleased with the opportunity to interact with each of you,
and share with you all the latest events in the Atari Community.
Tonight, I want to start things off by discussing the current status of
the Atari Falcon030, and then we'll talk about our integrated package,
Atari Works.
At our last session of Dateline Atari, I told you about the delay in the
shipments of the Atari Falcon030 to North America. The reason for the
delay was unacceptable performance from one of the contracted
manufacturers that Atari is dealing with. At that time, I also
indicated to you that we would be bringing on another firm to supply us
with Atari Falcon030s, as well as attempting to resolve the quality
concerns with the units at the original manufacturing site. I'm pleased
to report that the new factory has come on-line in the speedy fashion
that we anticipated that they would. We have seen the first runs off of
that line, and the quality is dramatically better than the original
units. A recent run tested out at less an 0.5% defect rate, which is
thrilling news to me! This means that our projections last month that
Falcons would be available in North America in March is right on target!
We _WILL_ to have the machines in stock in March!!
The added plus of this delay is that we have completed MultiTOS, and all
of the machines in North America will ship with MultiTOS! There will be
no customers that will purchase Atari Falcon030s that will have to be
"retrofitted" with MultiTOS! While we are still debating internally how
we want to distribute MultiTOS to the established user base, I'm very
pleased that it is _done_. In addition to the inclusion of MultiTOS, we
will be finalizing Atari Works as well, and hope to have that available
as well to ship with each Atari Falcon030, along with SpeedoGDOS.
Let's talk about Atari Works at this point, and try to give you a
glimpse of what is coming with that product. Atari Works is a fully
integrated word processor, database, and spreadsheet. It's intended to
provide the average user just about anything that they might require in
a package to be used in either the home, or for a small business/home
office scenario. Most of our energies with Atari Works have been
focused on the word processor component of Works, as we believe that
word processing is still the most common usage for home users. The
Atari Works word processor offers multiple documents, full cut and paste
between documents and the other portions of Works, easy set up of
justification (left, right, center, or proportional), and importing of
GEM metafile images. Atari Works has full SpeedoGDOS support, which
means multiple scalable outline fonts with multiple sizes, and your
usual bold, italics, underline, outline, superscript, subscript,
footnotes, and headers. Works uses the Proximity dictionary system, and
updated version of the system that was used with Word Up and WordFlair
II. There is also a thesaurus included with Works. Works has full
search and replace capabilities, again easily activated by drop down
menus.
One of the features that I really enjoy in using Atari Works is the
exceptionally easy mail merge capabilities with Atari Works database
module. It's always been something of a pain for me to have to mail
merge. It seemed to me that there was never really a system that felt
very intuitive to me for mail merging. With Works, there is a drop down
menu called "Begin Merge" that allows you to begin the process. It's
TERRIFIC!!! On the editing side of the coin, Works allows you to
transpose letters that just need to be flip-flopped with a Control-T
command. Its also "intelligent" about it's editing, in that if you
begin moving around text, Works will recognize the need for additional
spaces and automatically insert the spaces for you. There are also
commands that will allow you to do a number of different text commands,
like setting areas to all caps, or all lower case, and other text
handling.
The word processor of Atari Works also supports the importation of
standard ASCII text, the Microsoft Rich Text Format (RTF) files. This
is an increasingly popular format used with PC and Mac word processors,
like Microsoft Word. The logical extension of that is that your
documents at work can be saved out as .RTF files, and readily brought
into Atari Works with the formatting fully intact!!
The database portion of Atari Works will import .DBF files, tab
delimited ASCII, and comma delimited ASCII. The Atari Works database is
a breeze to set up and work with, too! If you start a new database
file, the system begins prompting you for field names, until you tell it
you're done. Once the fields are entered, you simply click on the field
and hold down the mouse button while you drag the field to the desired
size! Simple, eh? You can add additional fields later by simply
clicking on the database form with your mouse. Fields are moved about
the page simply by clicking and dragging them. You can display the
records in a form fashion, or in a list fashion that looks very
spreadsheet-ish to me. :) Since everything in Atari Works is fully
GEM compliant, you can also highlight portions of the database records,
and save out the area as a GEM metafile and drop it into your document!
Of course, this also applies to the spreadsheet as well. That makes
displaying graphs and tables as part of your document easier than it's
ever been before.
Bill Rehbock, the product manager for Atari Works, tells me that the
database portion of Works will feel very familiar to anyone that has
ever used a database on a Mac. My sentiment was that I didn't find an
overpowering need to run to the docs just to get things going, the
database has a very comfortable "feel" to it. I'm not generally
comfortable with ANY database, so I have great confidence that most of
you will really enjoy
the database portion of Atari Works.
The spreadsheet portion of Atari Works is Excel command compatible. Our
intention with the spreadsheet is not to compete against stand alone
products like LDW Power, but to provide a good, basic speadsheet for
users to be able to chart, graph, and track their finances. We have
some portions of our business presently tracking their finances under
the spreadsheet of Atari Works.
I could go on a little bit longer about the spreadsheet, but I think
I've gone on about as long as I dare on this opening. Let's see what
kind of questions are out there, Lou!
MULTITOS UPDATE!
Eric Smith reported that some major last minute changes to MultiTOS.
On the up side, these should improve compatibility with old applications
quite a bit. The down side is that MultiTOS will be delayed somewhat.
Most GEM programs that "follow the rules" should be MultiTOS compatible.
TOS and TTP programs that don't do any graphics (i.e. that use ordinary
ASCII text for output) will also generally be MultiTOS compatible.
There are exceptions, of course. The most common cause of
incompatibility is accessing memory that doesn't belong to the program
(other than the officially documented system variables, of course).
Programs that grab system vectors are more likely to have problems than
programs that don't, but there are always surprises.
TO CLASS B TT, OR NOT TO CLASS B TT
Bill Rehbock reported that the TT030 does have Class-B certification,
but only the absolute latest revision of it. To pass Class-B
certification, there were many changes to the motherboard and it did
require the re-addition of the internal metal shielding that makes it
difficult to add memory, and change ROMs. To accomodate the shielding,
a different tooling for the plastic case is required also. Since the TT
is not as much of a broad-interest machine as the 1040STE or MegaSTE, it
was decided that FCC Class-A certification was sufficient to accomodate
the needs of the majority of purchasers of TTs. These people would have
been annoyed by the shielding and didn't need Class-B as they were being
used in business environments anyway. A Class-B computing device is
explicitly labeled as being "CLASS-B". The general verbage that is on
the TTs rating label is the Class-A legal-eze.
MORE CUTS FROM IBM
IBM, which has already announced it is cutting 25,000 workers from its
payroll, may actually reduce its workforce by as many as 40,000 as
reported by the New York Times last week. Daniel Mandresh, a Merrill
Lynch analyst, stated that the extra cutbacks could require a special
charge against earnings of roughly $1 billion to pay for financial
incentives to encourage people to quit. IBM has maintained a no-layoff
policy and has reduced its personnel from a high of 407,000 workers in
1986 to 300,000 at the end of 1992 with the reductions entirely through
early retirement offers. IBM reported a $4.97 billion loss last year.
CHANGES FOR NeXT
Next Computer will stop making its comptuer workstations, a move that
will idle about 300 of its 500 employees. Next will instead focus on
producing operating software for other machines. Steve Jobs said Next
will unveil a variety of new software products on May 25. Last year,
Jobs announced Next would become software-driven, developing programs
designed to run on its NextStep operating systems. Next has agreed to
sell its hardware business, including its automated manufacturing plant
in Calif., to Japanese electronics giant Canon, which owns 17.9 percent
of Next. Jobs, who co-founded Apple Computer and started Next in 1985,
said about 100 Next exmployees will go to Canon, while another 200 will
be laid off.
COMPUSERVE LOWERS CONNECT CHARGES
CompuServe has announced that it is reducing hourly connect-time charges
for members who participate in its Standard Pricing Plan for the
CompuServe Information Service. Connect-time charges will drop as much
as 37.5 pct for most CompuServe services, including its popular forums,
beginning Feb 28. Under the Standard Pricing Plan, members will now pay
a monthly fee of $8.95 for unlimited connect-time use of 36 basic
services, such as travel, shopping, investment and games. When using
CompuServe's other services, members will pay an hourly charge of $8.00
for access at 1200 or 2400 baud and $16.00 for 9600 baud. Previously,
members paid a monthly fee of $7.95 and hourly charges of $12.80 and
$22.80 for access at 1200/2400 and 9600 baud.
SINGULAR SOLUTIONS
Singular Solutions announced that the first digital audio workstation
built upon the Atari's latest computer, the Falcon030, is slated for
shipment. The combination of Singular Solutions A/D64x(tm) Audio
Interface and D2D EDIT(tm) from D2D Systems of Cambridge, England
represents the first professional quality audio production system to
employ the extensive digital audio capabilities of the Atari Falcon030.
GEMULATOR VERSION 2.1
Branch Always Software releases version 2.1 of the Gemulator, the Atari
ST emulator for DOS and Windows compatible PCs. Gemulator allows a 386
or 486 based PC to directly run most Atari ST software (except for games
and music software) and supports all versions of TOS, four different
screen resolutions, and can provide up to 8 megabytes of RAM to ST
programs.
NEW AQUISITION FOR TOAD
Toad Computers announces that it has acquired the exclusive worldwide
distribution and marketing rights to Silhouette. The newest version of
Silhouette, version 1.5, supports color and adds many new features.
Version 1.5 also sports a new name: Silhouette Colortrace.
SPEEDO AND WORKS: READY TO ROLL
SpeedoGDOS and Atari Works are getting manufactured as stand-alone
products. The SpeedoGDOS add-on should be _around_ $60.00, and Atari
Works will be _around_ $120.00 or so and it will include SpeedoGDOS.
These prices are of course, are subject to change.
MAGAZINE MYSTERY
Detectives from Sunnyvale have solved the mystery of the lost 3rd class
November/December issues of Atari Explorer. The gory details have not
yet been released but a reputable source states they will be outlined in
the next edition AEO, if not sooner.
DIGITAL AUDIO WORKSTATION FOR FALCON
EQ Magazine states that there will be the first Digital Audio
Workstation for the Atari Falcon 030 ($1594), made by Singular Solutions
of Pasadena, CA and D2D Systems of Cambridge, England.
DATELINE ATARI! WITH BOB BRODIE - MARCH 1993
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!
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 left most 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.
FALCON ARRIVING SOON!
The timeframe for Falcon's hitting North America always did work out to
mid-to-late March (my Birthday is March 26th, BTW. :-) Things are still
looking good, but naturally, we're all sweating big time here in
Sunnyvale, as having things scheduled to hit in that time frame means
that if they come in too close to the end, and the last week of March
being a half-week, doesn't give much margin for error, as the last week
of March is the first half-week of April and we _really_, _really_,
really, want this to hit "on time". :-)
To be continued..............
###### THE CURSOR COWBOY
###### By Jacques Leslie
###### Copyright (c) 1994, Wired InfoBot
###### ---------------------------------------------------------------
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G*E*T**W*I*R*E*D*!
THE CURSOR COWBOY
Dave Hughes is the best-known online personality in the country and
Colorado's cowboy poet laureate with a mission: Hook up the 5.5 billion
brains on the planet.
Even though Dave Hughes and research scientist George L. Johnston had
conversed innumerable times by phone and computer network, Johnston
still wasn't entirely prepared for his first face-to-face encounter with
the self-proclaimed "cursor cowboy." It was the night before the two
men were to speak at a Washington D.C. computer technology workshop, and
they were registered in the same hotel.
"I knocked on Dave's door," Johnston said, "and here's this big guy with
a cowboy hat sitting on the side of his bed disassembling his telephone
and hooking his computer to it with gold-plated alligator clips."
At first Hughes's behavior struck Johnston as extreme; appropriate,
perhaps, for a teenage hacker, but unseemly for a 64-year-old highly
decorated retired Army colonel. But Johnston eventually came around.
"Now it makes completely good sense to me," he said. After all, "if the
hotel doesn't have jacks, how are you going to connect without taking
the phone apart?"
And connecting - using his computer and modem to exchange ideas with
some of the millions of people who subscribe to computer networks
throughout the world - is precisely what Dave Hughes has been doing for
the past 14 years, with a passion that some might label obsession.
Hughes estimates that during that time he has been linked to a computer
network or bulletin board an average of four or five hours a day, has
read 30 or 40 million electronic words, and has posted at least a
million of his own.
Thanks to his loquaciousness, Hughes is unquestionably the best-known
online personality in the country. His postings are staples of computer
conferencing systems as far-flung as the WELL in Sausalito, California,
and Metanet in Washington, D.C. To his admirers, he's "the prairie
populist," "the cowboy poet laureate online," even "the Ben Franklin of
the Information Age." Playing upon the cowboy persona that he has
cultivated in his postings, Hughes himself says his "great equalizer" is
not a six-shooter, but his laptop computer.
Jack Rickard, who as editor of Boardwatch Magazine has monitored the
proliferation of computer bulletin boards to their current level of more
than 60,000 US systems, calls Hughes "the online bumblebee - he cross-
pollinates a lot of things. He gets the Unix people involved with
bulletin boards and the bulletin board hobbyists involved with Unix, and
then he gets both of those involved with the Internet and ties in the
educators to all of them."
Sometimes the online controversies Hughes inspires evoke a hornet more
than a bumblebee, as when he unapologetically violated WELL guidelines a
year ago by distributing pro-Ross Perot postings without permission, or,
more recently, when he became the only WELL user to express ardent
support for the military's ban of homosexuals.
Eat!
^^^^
Considering Hughes's down-home comportment, it's tempting not to take
him seriously. He customarily packs his snowman's girth into attire
that includes a Stetson hat, string tie, and cowboy boots, and his
online writing style is heavy on "ain'ts" and casual with spelling. He
is, moreover, just as garrulous in person as he is behind a keyboard.
Ask him a question, particularly about telecommunications, and be
prepared for an hour-long response whose riverine course can be diverted
by interruption but not halted.
On a recent Saturday morning, for example, Hughes greeted me at his home
in Colorado Springs with a monologue about the utility of packet radios
in linking laptop computers around the world. We then sat down to
breakfast, and although Hughes's wife Patsy placed scrambled eggs,
bacon, and toast on the table, he declined to take a bite, for fear of
slowing down his narrative. Ten minutes later, Patsy silently emerged
>from the kitchen displaying a paper on which she'd written one word:
"Eat." Hughes laughed and kept right on talking.
If Hughes's discourses are meandering, however, they usually have a
point - often one that has escaped telecommunications entrepreneurs and
policy makers. He has earned his volubility, in a sense, by focusing
extraordinary energy and inquisitiveness on telecommunications issues
and compiling a significant record of achievement, usually without the
support of any major institution, by dint solely of the clarity of his
perceptions. He's both a gadfly and a visionary, whose cowboy trappings
disguise the singularity of his purpose. Louis Jaffe, Hughes's former
business partner, was not indulging in overstatement when he said, "Dave
has been one of the key figures worldwide in legitimizing computer
communication for the average person and for illustrating its
potential." Hughes, for once, is more succinct: "My life's mission is
to hook up the 5.5 billion brains on this planet."
Although that objective is surely beyond even Hughes's expansive reach,
his accomplishments point tantalizingly in that direction. More than a
decade ago he taught the first college course (on the nature of
electronic discourse) for credit using asynchronous computer
conferencing, thus pioneering a pedagogic method that has since become
widespread. After starting his own computer bulletin board system in
Colorado Springs in 1981, he used it to marshal support for local
political campaigns, and enjoyed enough success to demonstrate the
usefulness of bulletin boards in politics.
In 1987 he branched out, providing the inspiration and technical
knowledge necessary to establish the Big Sky Telegraph regional
conferencing system in Montana, which links isolated rural communities
and schools by computer. In 1991, after an eight-year campaign to
popularize a potentially low-cost telecommunications graphics standard,
the North Atlantic Presentation Level Protocol Syntax (NAPLPS,
pronounced NAP-lips), he persuaded Microstar Software, a Canadian
company that developed two key NAPLPS programs, to release its software
as inexpensive shareware, dramatically enhancing NAPLPS's prospects.
After being rebuffed in efforts to develop his own integrated NAPLPS
software in this country, Hughes hired two Russian programmers to do the
work for one tenth of what the effort would have cost in the United
States (he plans to market the product this year).
As if to confirm his expertise in building inexpensive
telecommunications networks, Hughes was one of three people asked in
December by a member of President Clinton's transition team to estimate
the cost of establishing a computer network for the nation's public
schools. With NAPLPS conceivably poised for public acceptance and an
Administration newly ensconced in the White House that appears to grasp
the importance of telecommunications, Hughes believes the culmination of
a decade and a half of work may be at hand.
If that happens, Hughes may at last be in position to reap substantial
financial benefit from his labors. In addition to his military pension,
he says he only earns between $20,000 to $35,000 a year from consulting,
giving speeches, and operating his bulletin board systems. Income,
however, is clearly a secondary concern: Hughes is a preacher whose
keyboard is his pulpit, and whose satisfaction is proportional to souls
converted to the gospel of computer telecommunications.
Networking for the Middle Class
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
Part of Hughes's underlying motivation seems to stem from class
consciousness. It's possible that he first felt the sting of class
distinctions just after his father, a wholesale food salesman, died of a
ruptured appendix when Hughes was six years old. His mother moved to
Denver with his three sisters and left him with a wealthy aunt in
Colorado Springs; even now, Hughes speaks of his aunt with an edge, as
if her upper-class world were not entirely congenial to him. "I'm not
concerned about the elites - they'll take care of themselves," he said.
"I'm not concerned about the disadvantaged - we have central systems
coming out the ears for them, working pretty well. I am very much
concerned with the middle class, particularly the lower-middle class.
What the hell does the Information Age mean to them? We haven't
answered that question." Unless we do, Hughes asserts, we're headed
for a division between the information-rich and information-poor.
Hughes's empathy for the common man was apparent by the end of his
military career. A West Point graduate, he emerged from the Korean War
as the most highly-decorated member of his class; later he fought in
Vietnam and worked as a Pentagon counterinsurgency expert. His ideas
formed the basis of a seminal 1966 speech by then-Secretary of Defense
Robert S. McNamara, which argued that economic, social, and political
developments were as important as military considerations in determining
national security.
But it wasn't until Hughes retired from the Army in 1973 that the full
extent of his class concern surfaced. Living once more in Colorado
Springs, he volunteered to head a local centennial celebration, and then
transformed the affair into an effort to revitalize an historically
significant but economically depressed seven-block working-class
neighborhood he dubbed Old Colorado City. When Hughes discovered that
landlords were reluctant to rehabilitate their ramshackle properties
because the improvements might lead to increased taxes, he invited state
legislators to march in the centennial parade and participate in a five-
day reenactment of the town's glory days. He then used the opportunity
to persuade the lawmakers to enact legislation declaring a five-year
moratorium on tax increases for commercial buildings more than 30 years
old. Hughes eventually presided over a rejuvenation so successful that
even now, not one vacancy sign appears in the windows of Old Colorado
City's commercial buildings.
When Hughes joined the online world in 1979, he demonstrated the same
qualities of vision, persistence, and political acumen to attain his
aims. Hughes's first computer conferencing experience was on a McLean,
Virginia-based system called The Source. He quickly realized that the
value of this new medium lay in its users's abilities to converse and
provide information to one another, and he tapped into The Source to
consult experts in urban redevelopment for the Old Colorado City
project.
It's likely, in fact, that Hughes understood The Source's business
better than its own managers did, for they believed the system should
focus on providing information services from institutions like the
Associated Press. Hughes suggested various stratagems to enhance user-
to-user communications, and when they went unheeded, he closed his
account and started his own bulletin board system in Colorado Springs.
The Source was eventually sold.
Colorado Springs was fertile ground for computer bulletin boards:
Because the town was surrounded by military installations and high-tech
companies, many residents were already comfortable with digital
technology. Now Hughes showed them the political potential of computer
networks. His first notable foray into electronic politics occurred
when he discovered that the city planning commission was promulgating a
zoning ordinance that would place stringent restrictions on home
businesses. Hughes believed the proposed ordinance was based on the
out-of-date Industrial Age notion that businesses such as backyard auto
body shops were likely to disrupt neighborhoods, when in fact the people
who worked at home were more likely to be harbingers of the information
age.
He attended the commission's next meeting, persuaded the officials to
table the ordinance for 30 days, then wrote a letter to the city
newspaper inviting citizens to discuss the proposal on his bulletin
board. The result was that when the commission held its next meeting,
175 people attended. "When I walked into the meeting," Hughes said, "I
knew I'd done something, but I hadn't organized anything. All I did was
run a goddamned bulletin board. " Responding to the public pressure, the
planners twice rewrote the ordinance, which was eventually passed by the
city council.
>From then on, Hughes says, residents began expressing their political
views on the bulletin board, and city and county officials began reading
it to stay politically attuned. Hughes tried to insure that the board
reflected popular sentiment by naming its political discussion area
after a working class tavern in Old Colorado City called "Roger's Bar."
Although Hughes drinks sparingly, he made it a point to visit the bar at
least once a week, and persuaded its owners to install a phone jack at
one of the booths so that he could connect his laptop to his bulletin
board. Hughes then invited patrons to use his laptop to log on from the
bar. And when Hughes logged on to other conferencing systems, he did
his best to make the bar famous, extolling it as "the neighborhood bar
in the Global Village."
Hughes's interest in telecommunications was not limited to the political
realm. After Frank Odasz, a self-described "retread carpenter" with an
interest in networks, contacted Hughes in 1984, Hughes became Odasz's
mentor, and the two men developed the idea for a low-cost regional
network based in Odasz' home town of Dillon, Montana.
Called Big Sky Telegraph, the network was designed to counter the
isolation that is a fact of Montana life by providing a cheap,
multipurpose alternative to the long-distance phone calls that are
Montanans's principal means of communication. Funded by various
foundation grants, the system went up in January, 1988, and soon linked
more than 100 one-room schools, as well as bigger schools, women's
centers, organizations for disabled people, and many other groups.
Eventually the system grew to include six "Tiny Sky" networks dispersed
around Montana and Wyoming. Since most people consider teleconferencing
forbiddingly complicated, Big Sky offered free online lessons and sent
"circuit riders" with computers and overhead projection systems around
the state to give demonstrations.
The system proved so useful that the state government decided to emulate
it, establishing 17 more local computer networks under the aegis of the
Montana Educational Telecommunications Network (METNET). With so many
local networks, users could connect while paying lower long-distance or
even local phone rates, and their postings could be distributed to all
networks on the system overnight.
Using similarly ingenious low-cost techniques, METNET enabled students
in tiny rural schools to communicate with students of the same age
around the world. Cynthia Denton, until last year a teacher at the only
public school in Hobson, Montana (population 200), describes the benefit
of such links. "When we got our first messages from Japan, a wonderful
little fifth-grade girl named Michelle was asked if she was a boy or
girl. She was extraordinarily indignant at that, and said, 'I'm
Michelle - I'm a girl, of course.' Then I pointed out the name of the
person who had asked the question and said, 'Do you know if this is a
boy or a girl?' She said, 'No, how am I supposed to know that?' I said,
'Oh, the rest of the world is supposed to know that Michelle is a girl,
but you have no social responsibility to know if this is a boy or a
girl?' She stopped and said 'Oh.' And then she rephrased her reply
considerably."
Hughes promoted computer networks as teaching tools again when George
Johnston, a research scientist at the Massachusetts Institute of
Technology's plasma fusion center, offered to teach an online course in
chaos mathematics. Within two weeks of their conversation, in the late
summer of 1990, Hughes had assembled a class of 20 high school students
in Colorado, Montana, and Wyoming, and Johnston began teaching the
semester-long course. Johnston ended up teaching the course three
times, and considers it a qualified success. One junior high school
teacher reported to Johnston that it led the students to "taste the
excitement of research that I did not have until my senior year" in
college. Another student's success in the course emboldened her to
apply for admission to MIT, where she was accepted and began her
freshman year last fall.
Yet Johnston believes that the biggest lesson he learned in teaching the
course was about the limitations of online instruction -- something
Hughes had grasped a decade earlier: "In order to teach science and
mathematics, you need symbolic and graphic capabilities," Johnston said.
But standards now in use on computer networks enable low-cost
transmission of text only. Johnston tried to make up for the absence of
the online equivalent of a blackboard by using words to portray graphs
and mathematical equations, but found the alternative inadequate.
Johnston now understood why Hughes had been an ardent supporter of
NAPLPS since learning of its existence in 1983, and became Hughes's
vocal ally in gaining acceptance for the standard.
Unlike ASCII, currently the dominant telecommunications standard, NAPLPS
facilitates the transmission of foreign language text, mathematical
equations and scientific graphs, images, and even crude animation.
Furthermore, it has the potential to transmit simple imagery far more
economically than methods now in use, because it uses text-like symbols
rather than data-intensive bit maps. Nevertheless, until now it has
failed to catch on, among other reasons because its advantage of economy
decreases in the case of complex, high-definition images that many high-
end telecommunications users require. To Hughes, however, this was no
major drawback, since the uses of telecommunications he found most
compelling did not demand such sophisticated imagery.
Hughes became NAPLPS's most prominent and outspoken advocate. Using the
software, he conducted a two-day workshop for impoverished Native
American artists from five northwestern reservations, showing them how
to create simple images that could be transmitted electronically. Some
of the results can now be downloaded for a minimal charge from Denton's
Russell Country bulletin board system in Hobson; 85 percent of the
proceeds are passed back to the artists. Hughes also has been working
to create a word-processing program that uses NAPLPS to enable deaf
people to communicate in written sign language.
Based partially on the enthusiasm that some bulletin board operators are
at last showing for NAPLPS, Hughes is confident that the standard will
gain widespread acceptance in 1993. But that development will not be
universally cheered. Mike Liebhold, a senior scientist in media
architecture research at Apple Computer, endorses Hughes's notion that
low-cost software is essential to provide schools, libraries, and
communities with access to telecommunications services, but he considers
NAPLPS too dated to accommodate the video and sound uses of
telecommunications that he believes are coming soon. "Five years ago I
would have had no reason to object to a NAPLPS strategy, but now I think
we've crossed the threshold," he said. "It seems foolish at this point
to work with such a retrograde software architecture."
Liebhold's criticism infuriates Hughes, among other reasons because
Hughes believes that Apple has a vested interest in NAPLPS's failure.
Hughes argues that the "improved communications environments" Liebhold
envisions are too complex to function within the vast majority of
computers now owned by schools and other low-end users. They therefore
would be forced to buy expensive computers, such as Apple's Macintosh
line. NAPLPS, on the other hand, works on virtually all computers in
use today.
Hughes@grave.com
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
Hughes is clearly irrepressible, even more so than his response to
Liebhold's criticism suggests. Indeed, if he has his way, nothing - not
even his death - will deter him from promoting his vision of a connected
world. His list of projects includes software that would facilitate
transmission of his ideas from his gravesite. His plan is to encode his
thought processes within a heuristic program that, after his death,
would digest new information and offer Hughesian responses. He has gone
so far as to draw up a codicil to his will calling for installation of a
solar-powered, radio-linked computer above his crypt that would begin
transmissions precisely six months after his death. Hughes says, "It
will come alive on bulletin boards and say, 'This is Dave Hughes - wanna
chat?'" With a laugh, he adds, "Nobody will know the difference!"
**********************************************************************
CURSOR COWBOY SIDEBAR CURSOR COWBOY SIDEBAR CURSOR COWBOY SIDEBAR
**********************************************************************
Postings from a Net Cowboy
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
Excited by Ross Perot's enthusiasm for "electronic democracy," Hughes
became an ardent Perot supporter during last year's Presidential
campaign, and used one of his bulletin board systems to promote Perot's
candidacy. When Perot dropped out of the race in July, Hughes posted
this message on the WELL:
==> I hope all *you* cynics - who bitched about Perot running, and are
now bitching about his not running - are happy he is out of it. But let
me give it to you loud and clear. I *refuse* to vote in this election
and take the *slightest* responsibility for the next bullshit 4 years
which promises to be absolutely more of the same avoiding of the hard
questions, promises none of them can keep, and whch will lead - if there
is no collapse of the national goverments ability to pay (as has
occurred in California) there will be vastley more cynicism than you
have ever seen. So don't you *dare* lecture me as if there is something
wrong with *me* because i refuse to support either of the two party
choices - or their parties. It is you who will be the ones contributing
directly to 'no change' when change is desperately needed. There will
be NONE now. And I'll be back here in June of next year to tell you - I
told you so.
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
In November, 1992, Hughes visited Moscow to meet the Russian computer
scientists he had hired to develop his NAPLPS program, and posted a
serialized account of his trip on the WELL. In this excerpt he visits a
McDonald's Restaurant in Moscow, accompanied by his Russian acquaintance
Tania and her daughter Zhenia.
==> When I had wondered aloud about the Moscow McDonald's earlier, there
was lots of revelations about how Zhenia had been there many times -
paid for by foreign boyfriends - while Tania had been there only twice.
Knowing how poor restaurants were in the city, and the limited diet they
were on at their flat, I suggested I would treat them to dinner there.
Tania wanted to know whether I was 'homesick' for McDonald's. No, I
said. I really just wanted to see how it operated and whether I could
detect any difference in flavor between a Big Mac in Moscow - with beef
>from Russia - and ones back home.
So we grabbed a bus and arrived to see over 700 people in line waiting
to get in, as darkness fell. Tania was ready to abandon the wait,
Zhenia really wanted to go. "Only 25 minutes" she said, and I noticed
the line moving briskly. So I said lets wait and we did.
It took almost 40 minutes, and I got irritated enough to block one of a
score of people who just muscled their way to the front past the line,
but all in all it was a time for study of faces outside in the grey
night, the bright-lighted activity inside, and the proof of something
the whole thing respresented. For in spite of the fact that things were
desperate economically, and prices in rubles for its offering were
considered high, McDonald's was obviously prospering. And the people in
line did not look particularly different from those on the street in
general.
The whole operation, given the great crush of people, looked efficiently
run. When we got inside it only took about 2 minutes to order and get
served. I ordered a Big Mac and a Strawberry shake, while Tania and
Zhenia ordered ordinary hamburgers, shake, Sprite, and french fries. It
came to 800 rubles, which, as Tania pointed out, was one-tenth the
monthly salary of a scientist in Moscow. 800 rubles was slightly over
$2 US . I calculated that the same order would have cost at least $6
dollars in Colorado Springs.
Of course they will only take rubles there, so I had $5.00 changed on
the street, at the rate of 370 to one.
We even got a place to sit in the brightly lighted interior, with scores
of counter attendents, clean up crews, and managers about, and counter
attendents 3 deep. About 3 times the intensity of operation in every
square meter of floor space of any McDonald's I have ever been in. It
was very clean and continuously kept that way. Most people carried
their own trays to the trash receptacles when finished.
I could detect absolutely no difference in the taste of the Big Mac, the
ice cream shake, or the french fries from any McDonald's fare I have
eaten anywhere else. Which, given the Russian source of the beef,
somewhat suprised me in a country where I noticed that all fruit,
tomatoes, meats privately prepared, all tasted a little different from
their US counterparts.
I laughed when I saw the Cyrillic spelling of Big Mac on the hamburger
wrapper. So I carefully folded it up and took it with me as a really
notable souvineer.
It was a pleasant outing, all in all.
On the way out in the busy dark, we happened across the spot where that
lifesize cut-out of Gorbachev stands for tourists to have their humerous
picture taken. I put my Stetson on Gorbachev, a fur hat on myself, and
had Tania snap the flash picture. Everyone standing around was laughing
loudly, as the hat 'did' something for Gorby.
But Moscow had its revenge, after all. A gust of wind knocked my $200
Stetson into the wet street where it smudged quite a bit. And in
walking further on Gorky Street I stepped where I thought solid ground
was in the center of a huge man-hole cover and sank up to my booted
ankle in dirty black Russian muck, leaving a scum on my $165 Justin
boots for the rest of the stay.
As Tania noted, "The dirt in Moscow is very dirty." But I had a taste
of what swallowed up Hitler and Napoleon's armies in the Russian winter.
(c) 1993 Wired magazine
###### CYBERCUBE PRODUCT LISTING AND UPDATE
###### Announcement/Press Release
###### ---------------------------------------------------------------
It has been brought to my attention that some confusing and sometimes
conflicting information has been posted publicly on various services to
which we do not have access. Some would even say that false information
was deliberately being spread about our products by those with not so
hidden motives and agendas.
In the following paragraphs, I will provide a general outline of our
activities here at Cybercube that have taken place during 1993, and what
the future will hold for 1994. In this way, you can all read the
current status of our products and company from the source, us.
/// GEM-View File and Image Viewer, Release 3
=============================================
We are particularly pleased that Dieter Fiebelkorn's GEM-View File and
Image Viewer has enjoyed an ever increasing popularity since we've
started representing it here in North America.
GEM-View is a very fine example of a high quality SHAREWARE product,
and judging from the many letters and customer responses, GEM-View
user's fully share this view.
GEM-View has gone through it's most dramatic upgrade yet. The very
structure of GEM-View has been changed to accomodate the growing demands
and to add even more flexibility. These changes represent the sum of
numerous suggestions and ideas put forward by GEM-View's large installed
user base. Please allow me to take this excellent opportunity to extend
our thanks to all registered users for their continued commitment and
support. Your feedback has helped to define and shape GEM-View into one
of the most flexible and extensible tools available on this platform.
GEM-View 3.xx is now modular. GEM-View comes complete with modules for
loading, processing, converting, saving, and printing a wide variety of
file and image formats. You can add or remove any number of modules,
thus customize GEM-View to your own requirements.
At the same time, this flexible modular concept allows third party
developers to design new GEM-View modules. This will lead to a further
expansion of the number of available modules and bring a whole new array
of file and image processing capabilities to GEM-View.
The new modules are more efficient and have been upgraded to provide
better performance. Loading of GIF files is now up to 500% faster, JPEG
processing times have been reduced by 30%.
We are also the ONLY authorized North American representative to handle
all registration aspects. GEM-View offers a 14 DAYS UNRESTRICTED TRIAL
PERIOD. This provides everyone with the unique ability to fully
evaluate and test the program at their own leisure.
Should you find it useful yourself, and decide to register GEM-View,
we've made the registration a very easy and simple process. There is no
need to send in disks, CRI's or remitting money overseas. Just send a
check or money order for US $30 or Cdn $42 to:
Cybercube Research Ltd, 126 Grenadier Cres., Thornhill, ONT L4J 7V7,
Canada, and we will send you a customized copy of GEM-View with your own
personal key. Please mark your payment clearly and make checks payable
to Cybercube.
/// InShape 3D Modeler & Shader
===============================
We at Cybercube are very pleased to bring you another hiqh quality
application for the Atari platform. Cybercube has been appointed the
exclusive North American distributor for the InShape 3D Modeler &
Shader.
InShape is a feature-packed, fully integrated 3D modeling, rendering and
animation system that introduces a new level of flexibility, user-
friendliness and professionalism.
It handles three dimensional objects, images and animations with
extraordinary ease and elegance. The built-in editors streamline the
whole creative process and facilitate the design of even complex models.
But one of InShape's most characteristic features is the abundance of
photorealistic surface definitions, bump maps, animated waves, wrinkles,
textures and image mapping features.
InShape is a sophisticated yet easy-to-use program with a modern 3D-
style user interface. Presently, we offer two versions, one
specifically designed for the Falcon030, the InShape INTRO (1.00) and
the TT030 version, called InShape 1.02.
InShape retails for much less than you would expect from such a powerful
package. It has been priced very aggressively and it's different
versions cover a wide range of applications.
The INTRO version let's you explore the power and versatility at an
incredible low entry-level price. InShape 1.02 provides you with
increased speed, power and bigger image sizes. But there is even more
to come.
Shortly, we will introduce InShape Release 2.00. With it, InShape will
run on any VDI compatible graphics card, utilize True Color displays,
fully support multi-tasking environments such as Multi-TOS, GENEVA or
MAG!X, import and export an increased number of file formats, provide
improved editors and many additional features. Creating even the most
demanding objects will become as easy as doodling on your scratch pad.
For more information, about InShape INTRO, 1.02 or the new Release 2,
please refer also to our InShape related press releases available on
many fine BBS systems and information networks.
Our decision to bring this truly amazing package to all Atari users here
in North America was based on the apparent lack of a professional
solution for those particular applications and repeated requests from
our CyReL SUNRISE M16-1280 True Color High Resolution Graphics Cards
customers.
We at Cybercube are in a unique position to offer a complete solution,
ranging from the right hardware components, like our highly acclaimed
CyReL SUNRISE M16-1280 graphics cards and the CyReL VidiMix16 Desktop
Video Modules, to the necessary software services.
Cooperation with several other leading vendors of high quality software
for your Atari system will guarantee the best possible compatibility of
the existing product line with coming attractions.
In the coming weeks we will also introduce the CyReL ACCUframe utility
and thus add professional single frame recording capabilities to the
InShape package. A fast and feature-rich animation player is scheduled
to debut as well and will allow you to view your (InShape, Vivid,
Animator, MPEG) animations right on your desktop.
InShape Release 1.00 and 1.02 is available now. We have had some
delivery problems over the holiday season due to a higher than expected
demand, but we have since made all the necessary arrangements to avoid
any future delays. We would also like to invite all interested users to
take a test drive and experience the power of InShape for themselves.
We are convinced that the quality and scope of the program speaks for
itself. A demo version complete with tutorials and instructions can be
found on all major BBS systems and networks. And following the old
motto that a picture says more than a thousand words, have a look at
some of the 24-bit InShape images on-line.
Once you made yourself familiar with InShape, you might also want to
take advantage of the 'InShape User to User' program . This new program
has been designed to provide a forum for InShape users to share their
knowledge and experience.
Now you and your fellow InShape users will benefit if you know about a
special tip or trick. And while sharing your insight, you can
accumulate some valuable credits or points, which can earn you a FREE
GEnie On-Line Time Bonus. For more details, please refer to the InShape
User to User press release.
/// SPECIAL OFFER: Math FPU's for Falcon030's
=============================================
When we first introduced the InShape package, a lot of users asked for a
economic way to upgrade their Falcons with an Motorola MC68881 or
MC68882 floating point unit (FPU).
Back then, we were able to offer a limited quantity of MC68882-20 (20
MHz) FPU's for just US $49 (about half of the regular price). We were
not surprised when they sold out quickly.
But we've continued to receive a lot of requests. Therefore, we are
very glad to announce that we once again have a limited number of these
devices in stock. Please note that these are not factory-new parts.
These are parts from routine system upgrades and we have tested their
functionality, which we will guarantee. The FPU's come complete with a
detailed installation instructions.
But best of all, the price is still the same: act now and pay only US
$49 for a 20 MHz MC68882. In an unmodified Falcon, you would only need
a 16 MHz device, but the 20 MHz will give you some extra 'breathing'
room for future upgrades.
We recommend the use of MC68882 FPU's over MC68881 types since the
MC68882 offers approx. 2.5 times the performance of its predecessor, the
MC68881.
/// CyReL SUNRISE M16-1280 True Color High Resolution Graphics Cards
====================================================================
We have added a lot of value to our highly acclaimed graphics cards
during 1993. Not only has the standard software package grown to over
4 megabytes, but we've also been able to reduce the prices of our CyReL
SUNRISE M16-1280 cards to a new and very attractive level.
The CyReL SUNRISE M16-1280 combines a sophisticated graphics controller
with 2 MB of fast video RAM and a top of the line video DAC (digital to
analogue converter) to form a very flexible graphics system.
By employing the latest technologies, custom designed components and
more than 70 video clock frequencies up to 128 MHz, the CyReL SUNRISE
M16-1280 cards achieve a new level of performance and integration. The
CyReL SUNRISE M16-1280 offers a wide range of operating modes from
economic Monochrome displays to dazzling True Color imaging
capabilities.
The CyReL SUNRISE M16-1280 can be operated with any industry standard
analog monitor, ranging from small 12" analog greyscale to 17" VGA
monitors and even to high end multi-sync monitors up to 37".
Due to the versatile video timing generator, resolutions up to 3400
(horizontal) and 2048 (vertical) can be programmed. Every M16-1280 card
supports multiple frame buffers in 32/24bit (True Color), 8bit (256
colors), 4bit (16 colors), 2bit (4 colors) and 1bit/pixel (monochrome)
modes, allowing up to 262 frame buffers simultaneously.
On-board hardware assisted blit and drawing functions accelerate the
graphics output and screen updates. The built-in expansion connectors
provide further opportunities for enhancements and represent a flexible
way for future upgrades.
Multi-media applications can take advantage of the new and exciting
CyReL VidiMix16 Desktop Video expansion module. It allows every SUNRISE
card to record live video clips, instantly resize and capture True Color
video images in real-time. The VidiMix16 encodes computer generated
pictures, animations and images in 12 different international TV
standards while providing a host of special effects.
All colors can be selected from a range of 16,777,216 shades. Pseudo
Color and True Color modes (with gamma correction) are available. The
True Color modes support an 8-bit alpha channel and, in conjunction with
the VIDIMIX16 module, assists professional real-time superimposing of
live video images, graphics and templates.
Smooth scrolling and panning allows virtual screen sizes beyond the
normal monitor resolution. Interlaced or non-interlaced modes with
various refresh rates up to 260 Hz are programmable.
The boards feature a separate 2MB Video RAM frame buffer to maximize the
use of the internal Atari RAM and thus eliminating the necessity to
expand the ST/TT RAM in order to operate the cards.
The reason why we used the more expensive video RAMs instead of normal
DRAMS is rather obvious. Conventional DRAMs only allow either the CPU or
the video logic to access the memory. Since the user certainly wants a
flicker-free and stable picture, the video logic has a higher priority
over the CPU. This results in sometimes large bus bandwidth losses
easily exceeding 50%. The CPU is being put 'on-hold' every time the
video logic reads the memory. Since this is a constant process, there
are only small portions of time in which the CPU can do something
useful.
On the other hand, VRAM update cycles on the M16-1280 take a maximum of
5% bus bandwidth depending on the selected resolution, mode and
controller settings. Most of the time it is even less. This results in
a very high bus bandwidth for CPU cycles and blit speeds of 60 million
pixels per second can be achieved.
Up to four CyReL M16-1280 cards can be present in a single Atari TT030
system. This allows multiple-monitor operation (e.g. for video walls,
large presentations or show attractions).
In the Mega STE, only one CyReL M16-1280 card can be installed. This is
due to the fact that only 4 MB of address space are reserved for the VME
bus as opposed to the 16 MB in the TT030. The Mega STE is based on the
68ooo CPU and can only address a maximum of 16 MB of memory.
Considering this, the VME bus already utilizes an astonishing 25% of
that address space.
Our boards also comes complete with their own custom 256 Color and True
Color VDI drivers, offering compatibility with almost all GEM
applications available. A number of system accessories increase the
comfort and ease of configuring the various features of the cards.
We have just shipped the latest release of our custom CyReL VDI drivers,
and once again, they show a considerable increase of speed and
flexibility. The drivers are updated on almost a monthly basis and each
customer receives a one-year FREE update service.
The Standard CyReL M16-1280 software package includes:
CyReL RUN-ME-FIRST Interactive GEM Installation
-----------------------------------------------
Fully GEM based, interactive installation program with graphics and easy
-to-follow instructions. Shows entire installation process with on-
screen animations to familiarize the user with all the necessary
procedures. Automatically copies all software.
CyReL CM16_VIP Initialisation & Diagnostic Program
--------------------------------------------------
Flexible diagnostics program checks every card during each boot-up
sequence and installs up to four CyReL cards per system.
CyReL VDI Driver for 256 Color Mode
------------------------------------
Custom designed driver for 8 bits per pixel mode. Contains CyReL XBIOS,
GEMDOS, LINEA and VT52 Emulators.
CyReL VDI Driver for True Color Mode
------------------------------------
Custom designed driver for True Color Mode operation. Contains CyReL
XBIOS, GEMDOS, LINEA and VT52 Emulators.
CyReL SERMOUSE Serial Mouse Driver
----------------------------------
Screen saver, mouse accelerator and serial mouse driver, and
SUMMAGRAPHICS tablet driver all in one nice package for comfort and
improved user-friendlyness.
CyReL M16 Palette Master Accessory
----------------------------------
One of the most powerful color utilities available. Allows total
control over the configuration and use of your color palettes, with
gamma control and cut & paste functions.
CyReL M16 VDI Configuration Accessory
-------------------------------------
Configure the various OS related functions of the card and the
associated drivers. Gives instant readout of used mode, VT52
configuration, XBIOS and LINEA Emulators.
CyReL Serial Mouse Manager Accessory
------------------------------------
Control the response curve of your mouse and fully configure the serial
mouse driver with this easy-to-use GEM accessory.
CyReL XCHANGE2 Video Mode Changer
---------------------------------
Easily change from one video mode to another. Simply use this mode
changer to switch resolutions or color modes.
CyReL RUNNER Program Launcher
-----------------------------
Automates many program lauching procedures and correctly handles and
trasfers command lines to up to 100 applications.
CyReL CONFDISP Video Parameter Editor <A>
-----------------------------------------
Edit the video timing settings to suit any monitor.
CyReL VIEW_GIF
--------------
GIF viewer for the CyReL graphics cards (256 colors).
CyReL SHOW_PCX
--------------
PCX viewer for the CyReL graphics cards (256 colors).
CyReL VIEW_JPG
--------------
JPEG viewer for the CyReL graphics cards (True Color).
CyReL CCALAMUS Calamus SL Shell
-------------------------------
Calamus Shell to launch Calamus in True Color.
CyReL CO_LINE3 Outline 3 Shell
------------------------------
Shell to launch Outline Art 3 in True Color
CyReL TC_SHIFT utility
----------------------
Reconfigures the cards to work in alpha_RBG mode instead of RGB_alpha
when operating in True Color.
CyReL INIT_E2P EEPROM Initialization Program
--------------------------------------------
Re-initializes the configuration EEPROM on the card.
CyReL BLOCK_PAINT
-----------------
Simple fun program to demonstrate the redraw speed and correct VDI
functionality.
CyReL M16 User's Reference Manual
---------------------------------
Contains clear installation instructions, explanation of error messages,
technical discussions, glossary, connector layouts, licenses,
description of OS modifications, assistance as well as tips and tricks
on how to operate the CyReL M16-1280 graphics cards. 8.5" x 11", spiral
bound, 35 pages.
CyReL Catalog Disk
------------------
More than 2 MB of images, product listings, prices, press releases,
overviews, feature lists, free demos and more.
Screen Grabber by Richard J. Sherman Jr.
----------------------------------------
We are very pleased to be able to offer this outstanding screen snapshot
utility written by one of our CyReL M16-1280 customers. Supports more
than a dozen formats and a nice variety of options.
OnLine Help and Documentation Files
-----------------------------------
20+ Files containing the latest changes and additions as well as many
chapters found in the manual have been added for convenience and easy
reference.
Predefined Color Palettes
-------------------------
35+ ready-to-use color palettes to customize the appearance the desktop.
Excellent to show the amazing and smooth color ranges available.
Predefined Video Modes and Resolutions
--------------------------------------
80+ Files containing pre-defined video timings for the most popular
monitors.
Monitor specifications
----------------------
Lists more than 500 monitors and their specifications. Useful tool for
comparisons, to find out about limits and allowed frequency ranges.
Included Demo programs:
Dieter Fiebelkorn's GEM-View Release 3.xx
-----------------------------------------
A demo of probably the most popular File and Image Viewer available for
this platform has been included as an excellent demonstration of the
dazzling 256 and True Color modes. Works with almost all standard file
formats and features a 14 DAY UNRESTRICTED TRIAL PERIOD.
InShape 3D Modeler & Shader DEMO
--------------------------------
This is a demo of the unique and feature-packed InShape, an integrated
3D object editor, scene editor, animation generator and raytracing/
rendering engine. Comes complete with tutorial, overview and sample
images.
Optional Programs:
CyReL Ambiance Desktop/Image Manager
------------------------------------
Replace the dull desktop patterns with stunning 256 color PCX images or
any background tiles you can imagine. Put some dazzling color fades,
tiled images, stacked images or centered images right where you will
enjoy them most. Comes complete with a number ready-to-use of clips and
images on two 720 KB disks or one 1.44 HD floppy.
CyReL MonoFlex VDI
------------------
Run any monochrome VDI accelerator on the CyReL M16-1280 graphics cards.
Improves VME performance and adds IDE support as well.
CyReL GrandFLIx Animation Player <A>
------------------------------------
Join the excitement and play any InShape *.IIM, Animator *.FLI/FLC,
Vivid *.IMG or MPEG *.MPG animation right on your desktop.
CyReL VidiMix16 Driver <A>
--------------------------
Add desktop video functions to your CyReL M16-1280 graphics cards and
open up a whole new multi-media world.
CyReL ACCUframe VTR Control <A>
-------------------------------
Control single frame recorders just with the click of a mouse button.
Create animations, edit tapes and control your tape decks via graphical
GEM based user interface.
The CyReL SUNRISE M16-1280 graphic cards now retail for only US $995.
We think that this package represents an outstanding value. And many of
our customers agree. They found this CyReL product to be an excellent
addition to their system. We in turn would like to thank all our users
for their support and we wish all of them all the best with their future
projects and endeavors. Have a prosperous 1994.
Best Regards,
CYBERCUBE RESEARCH LTD.
Ralf Doewich
/// Contact Addresses:
======================
If you have any questions regarding any of our products, please do not
hesitate to contact us at:
Cybercube Research Limited
126 Grenadier Crescent
Thornhill L4J 7V7 Ontario Canada
Tel.: (905) 882 0294, Mon-Fri, 10:00 AM to 4:00 PM, EST
Fax : (905) 886 3261
BBS : (905) 882 5895, 300 to 14,400 baud
GEnie: CYBERCUBE
CRS-Online: Cybercube.Research
InterNet: cybercube.research@camrem.com
or cybercube@genie.geis.com
Further, we would like to invite all interested users to join us in any
of our GEnie topics, whether you are interested in GEM-View (Category 7,
Topic 33), InShape (Category 7, Topic 41) or any other CyReL product
Category 16, Topic 12), simply drop-by and say hello. Don't be afraid
to ask. We are here to help.
###### THROUGH THE LOOKING GLASS
###### YEAR IN REVIEW: 1993
###### (An ST'er comical look at todays PC-society)
###### Commentary by Tom D'Ambrosio
###### ---------------------------------------------------------------
If you are not one of the nearly 70-million Intel-based computerists out
there, or 30-million Mac users, you are probably a member of the
"frowned upon" computer society, like myself. You may find yourself
dealing (almost daily) with people far less knowledgeable than yourself,
looking down in judgement upon you, when you tell them what computer you
use/prefer. I call these pseudo-family members "cyber-stepchildren".
It never ceases to amaze me how much more knowledgeable "cyber-
stepchildren" are compared to their mainstream counterparts.
Some 12% of all Atari computer users probably own a modem, and almost
all of them use it _daily_. This ratio of computer-to-modem ownership
is _far_ higher with the "less popular" computers than among Mac or PC
owners.
It is this fact that I am talking about. The less knowledgeable
"majority" sitting in judgement of the more knowledgeable "minority" is
commonplace:
The "smart kid" in school being picked on by the "class bully".
The car buyer who purchases a Hyundai and is ridiculed by the guy
with a Toyota.
Even Volkswagen "glorified" the old VW-Bug as "ugly" in it's 1970's
ad campaigns... the car that took you to work all week, but was left
in the garage when you go out Saturday night.
In psychology, this effect is known as the "beauty=good" syndrome.
How many times have you been asked:
"Can you (lowly Atari owner) help me (ignorant PC user) figure out how
to use '________'?"
We've all probably heard the stories of the PC-salesperson who picks up
the PC mouse, points it at the screen, and clicks it like a remote
control.
Or the man who accidentally exited "Window's" on his PC, and then calls
his dealer in a panic, thinking he broke his $2500 computer because all
he now gets in a "C>" with flashing line on a blank screen?
Or the woman who thought that she had to use "FORMAT" everytime she
wanted to delete a file?
Don't laugh. All these stories are true, and are only an example of
what is wrong when computer companies try to cram Hi-tech down the
throats of an unprepared Low-tech society.
It infuriates me to no end when someone, supposedly of authority, makes
your feel like a twelve year-old (no offence to any 12-year olds reading
this, who are smarter than the average 12 year-old just by downloading
it) when faced with a serious, yet uncommon, subject.
For example, I currently want to get into the "InterNet". I am also a
college student, but my school does not subscribe.
Knowing that students get InterNet access free if their school foots the
bill, I asked my "Advanced CoBOL" professor if he knew anything about
the school adding InterNet access to the schools BBS.
Professor: "InterNet"? What's that?
Me: It's a global computer network that allows schools and
businesses around the world to communicate with each other.
Professor: What is it good for?
(my big mistake here...)
Me: "It is a global network of networks set up by the Department
of Defense years ago, but now run by schools and private
industry. It was designed to stay up even in the event of a
nuclear attack. You may have heard people mention it
recently as the only way of getting information in/out of
Southern California after the earthquake."
The words "nuclear attack" drew a snicker and a huff. My remaining
words were spoken to his backside as he walked away, and I felt like
some 12-yearold raving lunatic, and that I only wanted it because "it
sounds neat".
I felt like I had just said "the network UFOs are reported to."
Another time, late last year, again at college with a "superior
professor", we were to do a report on any piece of computer hardware
which had a "networking" theme to it. I chose to report on the new
(then unreleased) "Atari Jaguar", and its future network potential.
The report, obviously unread (due to a total lack of folded pages) was
still "pretty enough" to draw an A- with the added comments, "What does
this have to do with networking?" scrawled on the coversheet.
I did not realize at that time how my report would then "brand me" in
the classroom in the following weeks.
It wasn't until after debating the test question:
In order to be used, an IBM PC _must_ have:
a) COMMAND.COM
b) CONFIG.SYS
c) AUTOEXEC.BAT
d) None of the above.
I answered "d" to the above (knowing his fondness for trick questions),
realizing that those are all MicroSoft DOS files not found in all PC
software (such as OS/2).
Of course, my answer was "wrong", as the professor pointed out to me
without hesitation:
"We aren't talking about some autobooting video-game here. We are
talking about _using_ the computer, which is impossible without DOS."
That little side-comment about "video-games" was an indirect reference
to my selection of the "Jaguar" for my report a week earlier. A slam
that only he and I were privy to.
I was labeled a "game playing kid" in his eyes, eventhough I play fewer
games than he does... as I have watched him frequently play "Solitaire"
and "Tai-Pei" from "Window's".
I replied: "If COMMAND.COM (supposedly the correct answer) is so
necessary, then how do you load COMMAND.COM without COMMAND.COM already
loaded?"
The professor was so red faced with anger, had this of been High school,
I'd certainly would have been sent to the principals office for
disrupting class.
So again, I was labeled a "kid" after some "PC-intellectual" was faced
with my questions.
I now have a far greater respect for "kids". :)
Kids today are becoming the first to pick up on new technology.
Everyone knows of at least one family that has their 7-yearold child
program their VCR for them... or have heard the story of "Junior"
showing Dad how to do his taxes from Lotus 1-2-3.
I'm tired of being judged by people whose VCRs have been flashing
"12:00am" for eight years.
And it doesn't end there. With the advent of the "Computer Appliance"
where PC's are becoming as common as blenders, people who _ARE_
intelligent, and know how to use (and even program) their computers can
still dazzle me with the depth of their stupidity.
This time it was a PC using "co-worker" who decided to write his own
"After Dark" compatible screen saver module. A very proficient
programmer, who felt that (to paraphrase SNL's "All Thing's Scottish"
sketch) "If it's not Intel, it's crrrrrr*p."
He decided what he wanted was a peaceful "beach scene" with the sun high
in the sky, waves crashing at the shore, and sunbathers on the sand.
The end result was quite impressive, and he had no quams with rubbing
everyone else's noses in the fact he wrote it himself.
So proud was he of his screen saver, that he decided to leave it running
overnight, so it would be seen by everyone as they left, and the first
thing they saw when they came in that morning.
The next morning, "Joe-PC" has to exit to DOS to do some file work.
Upon exiting to DOS's black screen, he was treated to a darkened image
of a beach with orange sun burned into the monitor.
Unfortunately, this "screen saver" didn't change screens or color, so
after running all night with the same bright orange sun and white sandy
beaches for 15 straight hours, he had managed to ruin a good $400
(company owned) SVGA monitor.
I had no qualms "rubbing his nose in his mistake", which I saw coming
from a mile away... even if a part of me did empathize with him.
So, who is the "smart computerist" today? It's the person who is smart
enough to sit and actually _use_ any computer despite the processor it
runs on, and can get themselves out of a jam when the unexpected
happens.
A favorite story of mine is of the unnamed NASA engineer who, in 1986
<?>, after being told that since NASA could not afford to build yet
another satellite to go visit the outermost planets, it was now his job
to "reprogram" Voyager-II's on-board computer to change it's flightpath,
and do this with the little fuel left onboard.
This little miracle entailed reprogramming a circa 1978 tech computer in
_binary_ via TOGGLE SWITCHES, by remote, and calculating a swing past
Jupiter, thusly "slingshotting" it to a point in space close enough to
photograph these planets when they are nearest together 6 years later in
1992... with a zero margin for error due to a lack of fuel should its
trejectory need correcting later on.
So, fellow "cyber-stepchild", take pride in the fact you aren't "just
another face in the PC crowd." And the next time someone criticizes you
based mearly on your choice of computer system, remind them "It's not
the computer you use, it's what you do with it."
Computers are no longer the "status symbols" they may have once been.
And a person should never buy a computer smarter than they are. But,
unfortunately, with the swelling ranks of "I don't know why I need one,
I just know that I do" becoming the battle-cry of millions, I wish a
long and happy life to my fellow "cyber-stepchildren" that are far more
comfortable outside the "main-stream".
Tom D'Ambrosio.
Cyber-Stepchild and proud Atari owner.
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