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Z*NET Online Magazine Issue 527
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Z*Net Atari Online Magazine
July 6, 1990 Volume 5 No. 27 Issue: 527
#######################################################################
(c½) 1990 by Rovac Industries, PO Box 59, Middlesex, New Jersey 08846
#######################################################################
BBS 201-968-8148 * CIS 71777,2140 * Cleveland Free-Net * GEnie Z-NET
#######################################################################
Staff: Ron Kovacs, John Nagy, Alice Amore, Jon Clarke, Bruce Hansford,
Robert Ford, Mark Quinn, John King Tarpinian, Bruce Kennedy, Eric Gove
#######################################################################
CONTENTS
<*> Z*NET NEWSWIRE.....................................................
<*> LETTERS TO Z*NET...................................................
<*> Z*NET DOWN-UNDER.........................................Jon Clarke
<*> ATARI NZ UPDATE..........................................Jon Clarke
<*> Z*NET ECHOS.........................................Terry Schrieber
<*> ST STACK................................................Alice Amore
<*> LOOKIT AND POPIT......................................Press Release
<*> THIS WEEK:.........................................................
===============================
Z * N E T N E W S W I R E
===============================
BRODIE LETTER HOAX STIRS WOA WOES
New fires were started this week when Gordon Monnier of MICHTRON posted
information from a FAX he received on Monday. The FAX purported to be a
May 21st, 1990 letter written by BOB BRODIE, Atari's Manager of User
Group Services, urging developers to boycott World of Atari shows. In
part, it said:
-------------------------------------
"At Sam Tramiel's instruction, I am notifying you that officially Atari
will be supporting only the Glendale show.
"Atari will be boycotting the World of Atari show in San Jose and will
not be providing any support of this show.
"In an attempt to resolve any conflicts, Atari is supporting only two
shows this year, the Glendale show and the WACE show in Virginia.
"In concurrence with a directive for Sam Tramiel the following announced
exhibitors for the World of Atari show have cancelled and will BOYCOTT
the show: Gadgets by Small - STV - Prospero Software - Migraph - Wuztek
- Seymor Radix - SoftLogic Corporation - ST Journal - Antic/STart
Magazine - Carter Graphics and Computers - Best Electronics - Join the
boycott!!! Do not attend World of Atari! Hats off to David Small - He
will no longer be writing for ST World!!!"
--------------------------------------
The letter was on Atari letterhead and bore a signature purporting to be
Bob's. Reached Tuesday evening by Z*Net at his Reno hotel room as he
prepared for the PIP copier show, Bob stated that he had no knowledge of
the origins of the FAX, that the policy it presented is NOT Atari's
position, and that Bob was in fact not at Atari at the time the FAX
seems to have been transmitted, bearing an ATARI USA CORP fax
identification. Such ID codes are programmable, and so any machine in
the world could have sent the FAX.
While it is true that Atari USA is not planning to appear at the San
Jose World of Atari show, it is because of overcommitment of existing
show stock and personnel. There is simply no room for the hastily
announced San Jose show. However, word from those close to Atari and to
World of Atari say that promoter Richard Tsukiji has taken the decision
by Atari as a personal slap, engineered by Bob Brodie.
The FAX is an obvious hoax. Numerous words, organizations, and
developers names are mis-spelled, and the grammar is terrible. Those
who know Bob know that this could not be his work. Those who know Atari
know that it could not be Atari's position. Those who know Dave Small
know that he has not announced any plans to stop writing for ST WORLD
magazine, published by World of Atari promoter, Rich Tsukiji. And the
developers named in the FAX know that they have not subscribed to any
boycott of any kind.
Charles Cherry, manager of Developer support at Atari Corp, told Z*Net
on Thursday that, ironically, even as the supposed anti-WOA FAX was
first being discussed, World of Atari vendor information fliers were
being mailed to 1,000 developers worldwide along with the latest Atari
Developer newsletter. Charles added that a flier for WAACE was also
included, and that Glendale's show had a flier in last month's Atari
developer newsletter. He re-iterated the fact that Atari is no part of
any effort to boycott WOA shows.
Conjecture and investigation continues at Atari and at Michtron and
Gadgets By Small, the only two developers known to have received the
FAX. It is assumed that the FAX was sent by some party wishing to
further inflame the ATARIFEST conflict between Bob Brodie and Rich
Tsukiji. Several messages on GEnie claim that Richard has said that he
intends to "get Bob fired" at Atari; others point out the tight
relationship between Gordon and Richard; still others point to conflicts
between Gadgets and others. As a result, this move could have come from
almost any corner with almost any agenda: casting doubt and accusations,
attacking character, smearing the WOA, smearing Bob or Gordon, or just
for "fun". Nobody is laughing, and most all of those involved vow to
find the culprit. We'll keep you posted.
CEBIT 90 NOTES - IN CASE YOU DIDN'T KNOW
Sam and Leonard Tramiel were on hand at the show with Richard Miller,
VP of R&D of Atari in Sunnyvale. At the Atari press conference, Sam
Tramiel was not specific, but hinted at the possiblity of a hand-held
ST. Atari is also exporting Lynx game machines to Japan.
MAXTOR OWNES MINISCRIBE
Maxtor announced that its acquisition of the assets of MiniScribe was
finalized Saturday, June 30, and the resulting new Maxtor wholly owned
subsidiary is now called Maxtor Colorado Corp. Maxtor successfully
submitted a bid totalling approximately $46 million for virtually all
the assets of MiniScribe Corp. in U.S. Bankruptcy Court in Denver on
April 4. Maxtor's product line, includes a 3.5-inch, 40-megabyte disk
drive and a new family of inch-high 3.5-inch drives starting at 80 meg.
Maxtor's products range from 40 megabytes to 1.7 gigabytes, and are
designed for high-performance computer systems, workstations, local area
networks, personal computers and laptops.
MEDIAGENIC FIRST DEVELOPER
Mediagenic announced today that it is the first US company to be granted
a license by Nintendo to develop video games for Nintendo's new 16-bit
Super Famicom video game system. The Super Famicom will be introduced
in Japan later this year.
MICROSOFT PAYS INVESTORS
Microsoft has agreed to pay $1.5 million to settle out-of-court a year
old suit by investors who claim the software publisher misled them.
With the settlement, MicroSoft admits no wrong doing in the matter and
do so to save the hassle and expense of a complicated class action suit.
NEW LASERS EXPECTED FROM APPLE
Apple will unveil two new low-cost laser printers next week.
The new printers will cost $2,000 to $3,300, and one of the new models
will include Adobe Systems PostScript software for desktop publishing.
Later this year, Apple will introduce another low-cost version for Mac
later in the year.
NEC UNVEILS MAINFRAME
NEC has unveiled a new line of mainframe computers that are twice as
fast as a mainframe made by Hitachi and about 3.8 times faster than its
own previously fastest model. Hitachi introduced a mainframe last month
and dubbed it the fastest in the world.
CHANGE IN COMPUTER FRAUD AND ABUSE ACT
A change in the 1986 Computer Fraud and Abuse Act that could lead to
prosecution and conviction of whistle-blowers and journalists as well
as spies is being sought by the Bush administration. The change would
eliminate a provision in the current law requiring proof of espionage
would make it a crime to use or cause the use of a computer to obtain
classified information without authorization. It is being heralded by
the Department of Justice as making the law "more useful." The
penalties would remain the same as they are now, which calls for
violators to spend up to 10 years in prison for a first offense and 20
years for second offenders. As the law now stands, it is illegal for an
unauthorized person to obtain classified information by computer "with
the intent or reason to believe that such information so obtained is to
be used to the injury of the United States, or to the advantage of any
foreign nation." According to the news report from The Washington Post,
the Department of Justice wants to drop the clause "intent or reason to
believe" because it "has narrowed the application of the computer
espionage provision as to render it virtually useless." If the clause
is removed, an individual could be found guilty if there is proof he or
she obtained certain information electronically without it having to be
delivered or transmitted to any other person or government.
===============================
L E T T E R S T O Z * N E T
===============================
Dear Fellow Atarians,
I would like to give you additional information regarding the Pip
conference in Reno and other previous shows. Although your information
was not inaccurate, there is some clarification that needs to be made.
I work for a company named Transcoast Systems, Inc. This company was
started by two fine gentlemen, Don Kimble and Fred Segal. This company
is a VAR for Atari and ISD and sells desktop publishing solutions to all
areas of the printing industry. It has been Transcoast who has been
responsible for Atari being represented in such a professional manner.
I would like to quote ZNet526 "This show is one of a series of industry
and "private" showings that Nathan and Atari have been quietly offering
to receptive audiences across the continent for some time now." While
not to detract from any and all help both ISD and Atari have given, it
has been T.S.I.'s financial responsibility and organizational
responsibility to get these industry shows in gear.
Let me say that both Atari and ISD have been a great help. Atari has
provided show equipment and thier backdrop, not to mention all the help
from Bob Brodie and company. Bob has given his time and effort to
support us, as well as the needed equipment. Bob, has also been in the
booth during the past show and will be in Reno this week. Art and Bill
have also been great. And Elizabeth Shook, when at Atari, was also.
ISD, has been very cooperative in providing support and in providing
Nathan himself. Nathan is a tremendous dynamo! Nathan and company will
be in Reno this week to help out. And Nathan takes our calls, gives us
technical support and is forever answering our questions and concerns.
It was through Nathan, Elizabeth and Joe Mendolia that Pip got their
first demo. It was Transcoast that sold the system to Pip and trained
them. It was through Nathan and Transcoast that STart magazine got
their demo. It was Transcoast that trained them and designed their
template (see the credit in July's issue in From the Editor).
It was Transcoast that set up the first Calamus service bureau in the
U.S. at Omni Comp in San Francisco. It was Transcoast who purchased the
booth at Prep-Tech in San Francisco (a pre-press trade show).
Transcoast has also purchased the booth in Reno and will be there to
sell systems.
I would like to see credit given where credit is due, and Transcoast has
put quite a bit of effort and money into selling a professional desktop
publishing solution to a professional market. Transcoast, especially
Don Kimble, has really been the catalyst in this marketing effort.
Ike Eisenschmidt
Technical Manager
Transcoast Systems, Inc.
388 Market Street
San Francisco, Ca (415) 296-2572
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-----------------------------------------------------DOWN-UNDER--------
by JON CLARKE
==================== ---------------
The ST saves the day [again and again]
==================== ---------------
Here I was with end of year budgets looming and only a weekend to
complete my spread sheets in 'Lotus 123'. Now the thought of spending
a lovely weekend in the office was definately not what I had on my mind.
Now to add fuel to the fire, so to speak, I did not have an IBM at home
to run 'Lotus 123' on. However, I did have my trusty ST sitting there
and I could remember hearing that there is a program avalible on the ST
that is 'Lotus 123' compatible.
After a quick trip to my local dealer, my fears of a long dreary weekend
spent huddled over my IBM at work had vanished. What a load off my mind
this was. You see, while I was at the dealers, a chap came in and
demoed a program called "LDW POWER". Well, when I saw that it was
indeed 'Lotus 123' compatible I was over the moon.
By Monday morning we had all the budgets done. My sanity was restored
and the ST had won the day again.
The problem:
End of year budgets, to be submitted by Monday at 9am complete with the
'Lotus 123' spreadsheets. No IBM or IBM Clone at home.
The fear:
Spend a beautiful weekend in the office, instead of at home.
The Solution:
An Atari ST, "LDW Power", and a forgiving wife.
<*><*><*><*><*><*><*>
Dateline: Friday night. Last day of the month.
Problem : Monthly reports are due on Monday morning.
Your typist/secretary has been away sick all week and you have been
advising some Tibetians on "Yeti farming". You did not have the chance
to do any reports at all today. To compound this, your wife is taking
you to a craft show tomorrow, and has issued the ultimatum, "If you go
to that 'flaming' office on Sunday, DO NOT COME HOME'. "Geese, how is a
guy to get his washing done?"
The office is the local 'Kamakuza' site. A show-piece for the MS_DOS
enviroment. At home you have your trusty and true Atari ST, often
frowned upon by your workmates as a toy and games machine.
Sounds like fiction? Well this has indeed happened to me, but the
"Yeti farmers", went home early. Having spent all week working to the
max, I often get to Friday and realize that all the reports are due on
Monday. Some time ago I bought "First Word" and "Tempus" for this very
reason. Now, even under the threat of marital discord I can spend an
hour or two on Sunday morning as my beloved is asleep, doing my monthly
reports. When I have finished, I pop them onto a 3 1/2 inch floppy disk
and take it into work on Monday and "import" them into "Word" on my IBM
PC. The monthly blues have been overcome.
Moral : The Atari ST is a PC of many talents. Try one of then today!
[ ========================///=========================== ]
<*><*><*><*><*><*>
I was driving down the Pacific highway tonight, where to my suprise I
saw Lloyd. That in its self was not unusual, but his car was covered in
WATER. So I said to him "Why is your car parked in the sea?" "Simple"
he replied "I needed to dip my lights!"
"Goodbye Lloyd"
I said, but when I turned the next corner, there he was with a car door
under his arm. So being a curious Kiwi I said "Whats the door for,
Lloyd?" "Oh, when it gets hot I can wind the window down" , he
retorted.
[ ========================\\\///=========================== ]
** A T A R I N E W Z E A L A N D D E A L E R M E E T I N G **
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
STE prices Drop!!! 2 meg ste now $1899
4 meg ste now $2449
The main reason for this is because the Ste's may now be upgraded by
local dealers WITHOUT voiding warranties. Atari is calling them
rampacks and the prices are as follows:
1 meg pack (520 to 1040) $200
2 meg pack (512 or 1040 to 2meg & 2 meg to 4 meg) $600
These prices may not include labour.
2 new atari packs available! The extra pack (with 1 meg ste) and the
discovery pack (with 520stfm) An Atari colour monitor may be purchased
with the extra(ste) pack for only $700 ($200 off). All Discovery pack
520stfm's have tos 1.4 on rom!
Ste version of PC Speed now available $999 installed
Gauntlett III (looks good) now available on the Lynx.
Atari TT should be available in about 3-4 weeks. Points of interest
are:
(*) Estimated $6000 without monitor
(*) Comes with 68881 co-processor
(*) 68030 is running at 32mhz not 16mhz as stated in all the articles
I've seen.
(*) The monitor plug is a D-9 and most VGA monitors should work.
(*) Co-processor may be upgraded to 68882 (socketed)
(*) Intelligent keyboard has support for 3-button mice
===============================
Z * N E T E C H O S
===============================
Atari West BBS, Node #505
Terry Schreiber
(FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE - July 1990)
Cherry Fonts
Unit #4 - 2250 Tyner Street,
Port Coquitlam, B.C.
Canada V3C 2Z1
Phone: (604)944-2923 (after July 11th)
Date: July 2, 1990
Contact: Todd Johnson
Cherry Fonts announced a July release of five new Cherry FontPaks. Each
FontPak contains four to six high quality fonts for use with Calamus
Desktop Publishing software. They have been packaged so that all
currently available fonts within an individual family have been kept
together. All families consist of at least two styles and some have
three or four. Each of the fully scalable outlines can be used within
Calamus to produce type at any size from extremely fine print up to
colossal characters larger than a page in height.
Every font has been hand drawn using extremely high resolution typeface
rendering software and has been subjected to rigorous testing for weight
balance and character spacing. They have been optimised for the
resolution offered by professional imagesetting equipment and therefore
print respectably at all resolutions.
Todd Johnson, owner of Cherry Fonts explains, "Numerous professional
graphics industry personalities have been enlisted in the choosing and
testing of these typefaces and I'm very proud of the initial response
they've received."
Five FontPaks will comprise the initial release and more will be
released as they are developed. They are being made available through
the normal dealer network at a price of $42.95 US ea. ($49.95 Canadian.)
The FontPaks and the individual fonts will also be available directly
from Cherry Fonts.
GEnie
T.Johnson4
Page 475, Catagory 5,Topic 4
Cherry Fonts
Wine and Dine
Atari Canada is all set up to the yearly wine and dine for it's
Canadian dealers. This year, unlike most years, it will be held in
Toronto on August 8th with Atari footing the bill to fly in it's
westcoast dealers. More details were not available at publishing time.
"Z-Net Echos" - What is it?
Myself, being a bulletin board sysop and an avid Z-Net reader happened
to notice that ST Reports was available to all BBS sysops on the FoRem
network and Z-Net was not available. There is even an St Reports
conference available for people to leave messages and transfer
information world-wide.
Although both online magazines are available on most major services
(Compuserve, GEnie, Delphi), I felt that they should also have a
conference and an equal opportunity on the FoRem/Turbo networks. If you
have a local system that runs either FoRem or Turbo BBS leave a message
to the Sysop (system operator) that you would like him to join this
conference.
(Note to SYSOPS - Lead node is #448)
"SIMANIA or How to lose ALL track of time"
Sim City, long awaited for the Atari ST has now been released. I was
so full of anticipation for this program I had our software supplier
ship it "Air overnight". The gameplay is strickly strategy and somewhat
reminded me of the M.U.L.E that as a former eight bitter I played till
the sectors wore off the disk.
The object of this game is to build a city with all the roads,
residential, commercial, and industrial areas. These all have to be
powered so you have a choice of nuclear or coal power plants. You have
to run hydro lines to all lots for building to commence. You can even
add airports and seaports as well as a train after laying down the
tracks. You control the taxes and the allotment of funds for the
police, fire and maintenance services.
There are many more interesting aspects to this game but the space I
have is too small to fit them in.
The first night - a little after 7:00pm, boot-up (by the way this game
is not disk copy protected and runs off a harddrive) and start layouts
of the residential areas and roads. 11:30pm reached town status (I
should note that this was on easy mode with disasters disabled) "gees I
wonder how long I have to go before it becomes a city" 3:30am (six pack
of coke and pack of cigarettes later) city status. "How much more can I
go" 6:45 AM Traffic jams everywhere and two hours till work, sign-off
time.
9:45 AM Great to work at an Atari dealership, reload my scenario and at
it again. A little balancing and let it run and collect taxes to build
up my banking. 5:40 save scenario, mega bucks in the bank now and I
won't bore you with the outcome of it all as I am still at it five days
now.
There are many scenarios already programmed into the game as well such
as the San Francisco earthquake or Godzilla and Tokyo event. Well worth
the bucks to the strategy player.
===============================
S T S T A C K
===============================
by ALICE AMORE
VE_10 Version 1.0 Programmed by Timothy M. Garay * SHAREWARE *
================= ============================== =============
Vulcan Embassy BBS was written in GFA BASIC 3.0 (source code is
available from the programmer). This looks to be a small but friendly
and easy-to-maintain BBS program with message bases, and uploading/
downloading via shell programs. Set-up seems straight-forward enough
for almost anyone.
TREK5.LZH Programmed by Paul V. McCullough
========= ================================
This is a large file (550+K) but well worth the download time, even more
so if you're a dyed-in-the-wood Trekkie. You will see an excellent
animation of the Starship Enterprise leaving a deep space drydock, then
going off into warp. Programs used for creation of this file include
Cyber Sculpt, Cyber Studio, Cyber Control, and Cyber Paint. However,
you do not need anything more than this file to run the animation...
except for at least 2 megs of memory. If you're using an original Mega
2, clear out all those memory-hogging desk accessories before you load
this animation. For those who have less than 2 megs and Cyber Paint,
you can still view this animation by using the "More" function.
INVITE.ARC Programmed by Albert Baggetta * SHAREWARE *
========== ============================= =============
Q: When does a party invitation not look like a party invitation?
A: When you use Albert Baggetta's INVITE program to make it resemble
something legal and ominous.
This program produces documents ("documnetus officialis") that won't be
tossed in the trash heap with the other junk mail. Your document can
resemble either a subpoena or a summons. It all looks very legal until
you get to the bottom line and find out that you're expected to "appear"
at a party (or some other innocuous event). Use this program to invite
guests just about anywhere... but don't send these "invitations" to
anyone who has a history of heart problems.
!UPGRADES! !UPGRADES! !UPGRADES!
---------- ---------- ----------
!UPGRADES! !UPGRADES! !UPGRADES!
SPRITE15.ARC Programmed by Cory Chapman * SHAREWARE *
============ ========================== =============
SPRITE STUDIO is a low-resolution painting program written in GFA BASIC.
It's used for creating sprites for animations and games. Any file can
be loaded into the program and treated as a "graphics file". Many of
the familiar paint program functions are here: draw, fill, airbrush,
palette definition, frame, box, circle, disc, magnify, line, text,
block, grid, and so forth. Sprite files can contain 320 sprites, and
can be cut and pasted. You can "test your animation", if desired.
This is version 1.5. Along with some minor changes, you can now set
default values for fill patterns, line width, text size, and block type,
either transparent or opaque. Included are routines for loading a
sprite file in GFA BASIC.
AGP.LZH From: Data Horizons, Inc. *DEMO*
======= ========================== ======
Demo version of AGP 2.0, a genealogy data management system. Color or
mono. This demo limits data to a maximum of 14 individuals and 14
marriages.
CASSETTE.ARC Programmer: Scott Sanders * SHAREWARE *
============ ========================== =============
Cassette Label Maker, version 1.2. Prints audio cassette labels which
fit nicely into the standard cassette case. Space is provided for
artists, songs, etc. There are several different ways to format the
labels for printing. This version of CASSETTE is compiled and no longer
requires GFABASRO.PRG to run. Also, it now will run in monochrome.
There will be some confusion about CASSETTE.ARC and CASSETTE.LZH.
CASSETTE.ARC is a similar application, but about two years old.
Remember that the file reviewed here is CASSETTE.LZH.
CHEKBOOK.ARC Programmer: Steve MacMillan
============ ============================
Version 1.14 of CHECKBOOK. Written in GFA BASIC, v. 3.07. Some bug
fixes. New in this version: the report function uses the 'search
dialog box' and sends all matches to screen or printer, along with the
totals. 'Calc Date' lets you specify any date for a temporary balance
at the bottom of the screen. 'Purge Checkbook' deletes all checks in
the current check list up through your last bank agreement.
CLOCKRAM.ARC Programmer: Carl J. Hafner
============ ===========================
This is Uncle Carl's clock accessory, version 4. You guessed it... it's
a clock in a desk accessory. Public domain from Incoherent Ramblings.
Written in GFA BASIC. Included also is Uncle Carl's RAM Accessory,
version 1. It calculates and displays the amount of free RAM in your
ST.
DESKSW11.ARC Programmer: Charles F. Johnson * SHAREWARE *
============ =============================== =============
Billed as "The Ultimate Read-Only Control Panel", this is version 1.1
of Desk Switch.
Instantly switch from one desktop to another. Desk Switch works with
.INF files to correctly set icons (including trash can), windows, screen
colors, printer settings, RS232 settings, blitter, key repeat/delay,
bell and keyclicks, mouse response rate, installed applications, more.
This version fixes some previous bugs.
LGSEL17.ARC Programmer: Charles F. Johnson * SHAREWARE *
=========== =============================== =============
From Little Green Footballs Software, here is the "Little Green File
Selector", version 1.7. This is THE file selector of choice. Does
everything.
Lots of new STuff in this version:
o Fixes incompatibility with some MIDI sequencer programs.
o Scroll arrows now have a Macintosh-like appearance and behavior.
o Right-clicking on a folder now shows you an information display for
the folder which contains mucho information about said folder.
o Files now have "guide numbers", or characters displayed next to them.
Using these characters in conjunction with either shift key will allow
you to auto-select a file or open a folder. The characters can be
turned on or off.
o Fill patterns are now available for the background in the main dialog
box.
o A bug has been fixed concerning the typing of '*.*' on the "directory"
line.
MGWRITER.ARC Programmer: Dr. Bruce Noonan
============ =============================
This is a special upgrade of ST Writer Elite. Designed for children and
for people with low vision, this version is Moniterm-compatible, works
in all three resolutions, gives quad-sized print in low res. MGWRITER
has no GEM, and it can't load more than one printer driver.
Documentation is not included here, but can be had by downloading ST
Writer Elite.
MMM171.LZH Programmer: Dave Henry * SHAREWARE *
========== ======================== =============
Midi Music Maker is a monster program which allows you to hear music
files from a variety of sources. Among these file types are:
Type of File From
------------ ----
o Music Studio, Music Studio '88 Atari ST
o Music Construction Set Atari ST
o EZ-Track (single track) Atari ST
o Standard Midi Files (format 0, format 1) All computers
o Sid Player Music (including stereo) Commodore 64/128
o Master Composer Commodore 64/128
o Advanced Music System (I and II) 8-bit Atari
o Antic Music Processor 8-bit Atari
o Midi Music System 8-bit Atari
o Orchestra-85/90 Color Computer
o Lyra 1 and 2 Color Computer
Version 1.7 incorporates the following changes:
o Antic Music Processor files will now play. Includes display of lyrics
if provided.
o SID stereo files will play if Alternate Format is selected. This
increases the voices to 6 if .STR files are available.
o Values in the note control window can be changed while the music is
playing.
o Four different problems related to playing of MMS files were
corrected.
PERU11.ARC Programmer: Dan Panke * SHAREWARE *
========== ======================= =============
Version 1.10 of Peruser, a text-reading program. New: quick commands
for jumping to the start of and end of text, search for headings, plus
music and picture display.
RAMPLS12.LZH Programmed by John Harris * SHAREWARE *
============ ========================= =============
Versions 1.2 of the RAMPLUS utilities and DESKFMT. Bugs fixed. RAMPLUS
is a fast and memory-efficient RAMdisk with a built-in print spooler
which does not require a separate buffer. Also includes a mouse
doubler, screen saver, a unique 11-sector formatter, and a GEMDOS fix
that allows an extra 2K to be stored on every disk. Written in
assembly.
===============================
L O O K I T A N D P O P I T
===============================
PRESS RELEASE
JULY 4, 1990
CODEHEAD SOFTWARE ANNOUNCES: LOOKIT! & POPIT!
When Doug Harrison showed us these two incredible programs, we were
amazed...not only at the programs themselves, but at how well they fit
into the CodeHead line of products! Both LookIt! (the amazingly fast
file viewer/binary editor) and PopIt! (desk accessory hot keys)
complement and enhance the other programs in the CodeHead catalog,
particularly HotWire and MultiDesk. These programs are a must for
anyone's utility folder!
Some of you may know Doug as the author of the highly-acclaimed
shareware spreadsheet and graphing program called OPUS. We're honored
to welcome a programmer of his caliber into the CodeHead Corral.
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LOOKIT! -- The ultimate ST file viewer/binary editor
LookIt! Overview
LookIt! is an incredibly fast, easy to use ASCII file viewer and binary
file editor. It features a custom user interface which overcomes many
of the shortcomings in GEM. Some of LookIt!'s features include:
- super-fast text display, Blitter/Turbo ST/Quick ST NOT required
- use the mouse OR the keyboard to page and scroll up/down through text
or binary files; three configurable scrolling speeds
- as many as 32 files can be held simultaneously in memory
- fast, powerful searching options -- LookIt! supports a powerful (yet
simple to learn) regular expression "language" as well as exact match
searching
- search strings may be assigned to keyboard commands, making it easy to
skip from topic to topic in online magazines or captured messages
- up to 18 saveable search strings
- binary file editing on both the hexadecimal and ASCII representations
of binary files
- mark blocks of text or binary data and save them to disk, print them
or delete them from the file
- set up to four "bookmarks" in each file, and instantly return to any
mark with a single keypress
- flexible display options, including color and font size control in
high resolution modes
- printer options allow 40 byte strings to be sent before/after each
file and provide for draft/final and condensed print modes; margins
may be set and headers printed
- all program options are saved in a configuration file, making it easy
to customize LookIt! to your preferences
- may be installed as an application for the GEM Desktop or CodeHead's
HotWire, to let you show files by double-clicking them
- powerful command line options allow loading of CFG files from paths
other than the default, automatic printing of files, wildcard
expansion
- an enhanced GEM menu bar that can be operated either with the mouse OR
the keyboard; use the arrow keys to move through drop-down menus
- innovative Mac-like user interface, with keyboard equivalents for all
dialog box functions, vastly enhanced editing functions, a unique
improved file selector (that can be disabled if desired), and much
more
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POPIT! -- HotWire your desk accessories!
PopIt! Overview
PopIt! is a desk accessory that lets you assign "hot keys" to your desk
accessories, and call up any accessory simply by typing its hot key! In
other words, PopIt! "HotWires" your desk accessories.
And PopIt! communicates with CodeHead's MultiDesk (version 2.0 or
greater required) to let you assign keys to accessories loaded into
MultiDesk. This means that you can instantly get at an unlimited number
of desk accessories!
- no more reaching for the mouse just to open a desk accessory
- shows all installed desk accessories in a scrollable window
- accessory names can be shown in sorted or unsorted order
- hot keys can be assigned to all keys on the keyboard, with or without
the Shift, Alternate, and Control keys
- typing the hot key for an accessory opens it instantly, in any GEM
program that normally supports DAs
- hot key assignments can be saved and loaded as needed
- print out the list of hot keys for handy reference
- hot key processing can be disabled at ANY time
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Ordering Information
The projected release date for LookIt! & PopIt! is July 20, 1990. The
retail price for the package (which includes both programs and a
detailed manual) is $39.95.
LookIt! & PopIt! can be ordered directly from CodeHead Software at:
CodeHead Software
P.O. Box 74090
Los Angeles, CA 90004
Voice: (213) 386-5735
Fax: (213) 386-5789
We accept most major credit cards. If ordering by mail, include a check
or money order for the amount indicated plus $2.00 shipping ($3 Canada,
$5 Europe). LookIt! & PopIt! will also be available at any ST dealer
that carries CodeHead products; if your dealer doesn't have it, ask him/
her to order it!
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THIS WEEK: DOWNLOAD PUMPING
T H E L A S T W O R D
===============================
We really didn't expect to mention this issue again, but unexpected
events and announcements have made it appropriate. We hope you will
bear with us for a moment.
In mid-May, when Z*Net went public with the matter of "download pumping"
on GEnie telecommunication service (deliberate manipulation of the
posted access numbers to make a file appear more popular), we took quite
a barrage of criticism. The most vocal was Lloyd Pulley, an outspoken
participant on GEnie and a writer for several Atari magazines including
ST INFORMER and ST REPORT. Next in line was Ralph Mariano, who seethed
his way through an accusatory editorial in ST-Report the following week.
Both Lloyd and Ralph took the position that our reportage of the matter
was sensational, unfounded, and probably a cover for our own pumping or
an encouragement for our readers to pump the Z*NET download numbers.
The next week, GEnie officials posted a message that they were
monitoring for false downloads and had caught someone in the act. At
the time, they would not release details.
Then on Monday, July 2, Neil Harris posted these two messages in the ST-
REPORT message area:
====================================
Category 26, Topic 4
Message 126 Mon Jul 02, 1990
NHARRIS [Neil] at 12:51 EDT
For the record:
This week's issue of ST-Report was downloaded 27 extra times,
apparently to make the count look better.
The main culprit was Lloyd Pulley, with 22 downloads. Lloyd was also
the person who downloaded ST-R 69 times a month or so back, and who was
caught and who promised me personally to never do it again. Taking him
at his word, I didn't reveal his identity at the time, but after the
latest incident, well, he made his own bed and he can lie in it.
Ralph downloaded it an extra 5 times himself.
I really hate to have to spend any of my time going through lists of
downloaders, and making the programmers here keep track of this stuff.
Znet's download count is clean.
=====================================
In a slightly later message, Neil posted:
"Apparently Ralph's 5 downloads were the result of testing a noisy local
node, which he did in conjunction with one of GEnie's client services
folks. It might be more prudent in the future to choose a different
file to use for testing, but in this case there does not appear to be
any ulterior motives.
"There are still 22 downloads yet to be explained, though..."
Lloyd has since replied, admitting that he did the pumping because he
"didn't believe the Z*NET numbers", and went on to say that he owed no
one of the commenting public an apology. He also challenged the
"jackals" and "vultures" to criticize his actions.
Z*Net believes that Lloyd Pulley should be publicly held accountable,
much more for his hypocrisy and defiant, remorseless attitude than for
the act of "pumping". He has placed himself above the rules of fairness
and honesty over which he regularly takes others to task.
Ralph Mariano has not yet responded to the matter in his message area on
GEnie. Although "testing a noisy node" is not "pumping", Mr. Mariano
cannot be so naive (or expect anyone else to be so naive) as to think
that it was appropriate or honest to select his ST-REPORT magazine to
test repeated downloads during a time when the issue of accurate access
numbers was under dispute. Calling this action "poor judgement" is
being very kind.
Since GEnie has announced that they are monitoring access, ST-REPORT has
shown a 24% downturn in true access counts, while Z*Net has exhibited
only a 4% decline. This has resulted in Z*Net LEADING ST-Report for the
last six weeks in true accesses by as much as 36%, and an average of
14%. This is a change from ALWAYS TRAILING by as much as 20%, and an
average of 8%.
Moreover, ST-Report continues to exhibit the lowest access counts that
it has shown since early 1989, and lower than ANY numbers achieved by
Z*NET during 1990. We are left to wonder: Is ST-REPORT's true
readership and popularity FALLING that fast, or have the access counts
been manipulated each week on GEnie for over a year now? This is
particularly curious, as ST-Report is of late enjoying higher access
count numbers on CompuServe than ever before... or are THOSE numbers
real? Faking downloads on CmpuServe is more difficult because the
download must be completed for every count. While this makes the job
tedious it is certainly not impossilbe for the dedicated deceiver.
These are probably questions we won't see answered. And here's hoping
that we won't have cause to ask them, or even to bring up this topic
again. A final word: GEnie cannot be expected to continue to monitor
for dishonest activity. Don't trust the numbers to help you decide
"who's on first". Use your MIND. READ and THINK.
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Z*Net Atari Online Magazine is a weekly released publication covering
the Atari community. Opinion and commentary presented are those of the
individual authors and do not reflect those of Rovac Industries. Z*NET
and Z*NET ATARI ONLINE are copyright 1990 by Rovac Industries. Reprint
permission is granted as long as Z*NET ONLINE, Issue Number and author
is included at the top of the article. Reprinted articles are not to be
edited without permission.
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ZNET ATARI ONLINE MAGAZINE Atari News FIRST!
Copyright (c)1990 Rovac Industries, Inc..
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