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Z*NET Online Magazine Issue 514
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////// // // ////// ////// Z*Net Atari Online Magazine
// / /// // // // ---------------------------
// /// // // // ////// // APRIL 06, 1990
// / // /// // // ---------------------------
////// // // /////// // Issue #514
=======================================================================
(½) 1990 by Rovac Industries, Inc.
Post Office Box 59
Middlesex, New Jersey 08846
Z*Net Online BBS: (201) 968-8148
=======================================================================
Available on: * CompuServe * GEnie * Cleveland Free-Net *
=======================================================================
*-{CONTENTS}-*
- THIS WEEK
Free magazine offer....................................Ron Kovacs
- Z*NET NEWSWIRE
Weekly news update...............................................
- SPECTRE UPDATE
Version 2.65..........................................Robert Ford
- TORONTO ATARI USERS CONVENTION
Exclusive Report......................................Jerry Cross
- ST STACK
Hagterm Reviewed......................................Alice Amore
- PD/SHAREWARE STOP
Weekly PD reviews......................................Mark Quinn
- ALTERNATIVE MEGA KEYBOARD CABLE
......................................................Robert Ford
- TRACKER-ST
Press Release....................................................
- WIND-X
Press Release....................................................
- CLEVELAND FREE-NET
System description.......................................Len Stys
***********************************************************************
THIS WEEK - Ron Kovacs
***********************************************************************
SPECIAL FREE MAGAZINE OFFER CONTINUES
You and your User Group or friends can have a free box full of brand
new back issues of ST-Xpress for just the cost of shipping!
Sprockets is a new ST hardware and software development company in Los
Angeles, and it has taken over the old storage area belonging to ST-
Xpress Magazine.. and there are lots of full boxes of back issues that
must go. Z*Net has talked Sprockets into offering the magazines to user
groups and readers of Z*Net Online rather then allow them to be
destroyed. ST-Xpress was a respected, quality slick newsstand magazine
supporting the Atari ST from 1986 through November 1989, when they
released their final issue.
Sprockets will be happy to send you or your user group a full box of
issues if you send an address plus a short written statement saying that
you will accept COD ground shipping charges though United Parcel
Service. You should expect this charge to be $8-$15.00 at most typical
locations. Remember, UPS will not ship to post office boxes.
Each box typically contains 50 copies of a single issue, and many
different issues are available... but please don't ask for specific
months or mixed issue boxes. If you want more than one box, we can be
sure to ship you a different month in each box. Most boxes are of the
later issues... and a few might even come with the subscription disks in
them!
Remember, this offer is basically to see it that these old issues of ST-
Xpress can go to some good use. Sprockets has volunteered to ship them
without labor charges if your group will cover the shipping COD charges.
If you want a box (or several) for your club or friends, send a card or
letter right away to:
Sprockets Magazine Giveaway
417B Foothill Blvd., Suite 381
Glendora, California 91740
This offer is open to any Z*Net reader and expires when the supply of
magazines is exhausted or on May 15, 1990, whichever comes first.
***********************************************************************
Z*NET NEWSWIRE
***********************************************************************
STE GETS APPROVAL?
Messages and rumors are floating through the pay services and some local
BBS systems about the STE getting FCC approval. We have not validated
the information yet, but hope to next week.
PORTFOLIO FORUM
Compuserve added an Atari Portfolio Forum this week to the current
Atari line-up already available. To enter this area type go APORTFOLIO
at any CompuServe prompt.
ELECTRONIC ARTS AND NINTENDO
Electronic Arts and Nintendo announced this week the signing of a
licensing agreement under which Electronic Arts will develop and market
videogames for the Nintendo Entertainment System. Nintendo will
manufacture the videogames and allow Electronic Arts to utilize
Nintendo's trademarks in the marketing of the products.
INDIANA SYSOPS ARE NEXT
Business rates being placed on Bulletin Board Systems continues to
spread. BBS operators in Indiana are complaining that GTE is forcing
them to accept extra-cost business rates rather than the residential
rates they have been paying. A sysop of the 1149 BBS in Elkhart, Ind.,
says that the changes were a surprise. The worst part of the surprise
seems to be the large jump in monthly rates. A typical BBS would find
its monthly bill increased by almost 200 percent. The Indiana Utility
Regulatory Commission said a tariff approving business rates for home
computer lines was approved in January. The new tariff gives GTE wide-
ranging control over its customers and can limit the length of calls
when in GTE's judgement such action is necessary. GTE claims authority
to change a BBS to business rates because the service is provided for
use of the general public.
MAXTOR TO PURCHASE MINISCRIBE
Maxtor has agreed to pay $46 million to buy disk drive maker MiniScribe
Corp. MiniScribe filed for Chapter XI bankruptcy reorganization on
Jan. 1. The company had to be sold by this week or face a court-ordered
bank auction.
***********************************************************************
SPECTRE UPDATE - by Robert Ford
***********************************************************************
Spectre 2.65 is now available from Gadgets by Small, Inc.
I got the latest Gadget News-Herald, The Journal of Leading Emulation
Technology & Sorcery. In case your wondering what the heck that is, it
is Gadgets by Small's newsletter. Very informative and damn fun to
read!
Anyway, they've just finished up version 2.65 of the Spectre software
and what follows is a list of the improvements...
- Quick Disk Detect. (GCR users) Very quickly checks to see if disk
is GCR (Mac) format if so you pop right into Mac mode. No more long
delay while disk is analyzed.
- Configuration Page. (128/GCR) Press Help key while in Mac mode to
get the Configuration Page. Doesn't work in 832K Mac mode. Allows
you to select Mac 512k or Mac Plus mode, make right mouse button a
shift key or a toggle for left button (use this for Stacy), select
"SLM-804 via ImageWriter II emulation" and other stuff.
- European Laser Printer Support. (128/GCR) Can now use standard A4
and standard American paper sizes.
- Right Mouse Button. (128/GCR) Hold down right mouse button and it
functions as a shift key. Great for shift-clicking with one hand.
Second option for the right button is as a toggle. Click it once
and the computer thinks you are holding down the left button. Click
again and it thinks you let the left button go. Great for the
Stacy.
- Defaults to Mac Plus mode.
- Extended Parameter RAM is now supported.
- Now works with the Moniterm 1.0 driver.
- Booting is more flexible. (128/GCR) Can know have System boot from
hard drive via keypress even if you didn't select it under Spectre
menu.
- 60hz VBL!!! (128/GCR) Vertical Blank is now 60hz instead of mono
monitors 70hz. That means sound plays at normal speed instead of
15% faster. Benchmark programs are now accurate. Great to tease
your Mac friends, especially if you have a T16!
- Xon/Xoff Serial Support.
- True Serial Break Support.
- MS Word 3.02 NOW WORKS!!!
- MultiFinder is now "rock solid."
- No More Mouse Lockups at Bootup!
- SLM-804 Emulator Tall Adjusted.
- Slow SCSI sped up some.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Contact:
Gadgets by Small, Inc.
40 W. Littleton Blvd., #210-211
Littleton, Colorado 80120
(303) 791-6098
Free upgrade to registered 2.3 users.
$20 to version older version owners.
Robert Ford <- the CyberPunk Z*Net BBS Sysop
***********************************************************************
TORONTO ATARI USERS CONVENTION REPORT - Jerry Cross
***********************************************************************
The Toronto Atari Users Convention was held last weekend, drawing what
I estimate a little under 1000 attendees. The room was never packed
elbow to elbow like many shows I have attended, but a steady stream of
people still made it difficult to move around. Parking was impossible!
Even though there was a huge lot at the hotel it was filled to capacity
and I ended up parking in a pay lot next door for $10. OUCH!
The most noticeable thing about this show was the abundance of dealers
and lack of software/hardware developers. There appears to be a number
of reasons for this. The upcoming WOA and Pittsburg shows, trouble
getting past the Canadian border trolls, being a one-day show instead of
the more traditional two-days, and the long drive from California and
other parts of the country all had a part in their decision not to
attend then TAF show. The TAF committee still did an outstanding job
filling the booths, and had an excellent assortment of seminars. If you
were looking for Atari products to buy this was the show for you. For
folks who came to see new products this show was a disappointment. For
us reporters it was just another slow news day.
This was the very first show I have attended that Atari displayed their
ENTIRE product line, from the 2600 game machine and LYNX right through
the PC-Clones! You could even buy (yes, that's right, BUY) some of
these products from the dealers attending the shows. Lynx, STacy's and
Portfolios were in abundance, and the quick shopper even saw a few Atari
CD-Rom's being sold (until Atari put a stop to that!). Seems the
CD-Roms were supposed to be released to developers first, but one dealer
had some for sale ($750 Canadian + tax). Boy was I tempted, but the
thought of those border trolls scared me away.
Among some of the new products was a new update to the VIDI-ST
digitizer. It now supports full color. Unfortunately, they did not
have any for sale at the show and the flyers were gone before I could
get my hands on one. I did order a copy and will review it in a later
issue.
Simple Software showed their "Survival Guide To The ST", a small book
that explains "all those terms you don't understand, shows you how to
avoid problems and what to do when you do encounter them". This is a
good book to give a first time ST users. They also were showing a few
Clip Art disks, and "The Loan Arranger", a loan and mortgage calculating
program. Contact Simple Software for more information. (416)427-4361.
Michtron, one of the regular Atari show attendees, was "blowing out"
their entire product line at fantastic prices. D.A. Brumleve was
showing her line of educational programs.
Clear Thinking Software displayed a new desk accessory called "Diary &
Edhak". This inexpensive program will edit any size file (up to 99
megs) by loading the part needed. It has many of the standard word
processing features, Macros, cut and paste, and many others. This is a
great little word processing accessory. Write to Clear Thinking, PO Box
715, Ann Arbor, MICHIGAN 48105.
Lantech, a Canadian hardware developer, was showing their 10 Megabit
local area network. They had three ST's networked together and visitors
could experiment around with it. Features include 10 megabit transfer
rate, self-contained interface that plugs into the cartridge port, and
quick connect cabling. You can access any disk drive and any printer
from any of the computers connected to the network. Cost is only $179
per computer. Call (510)744-7380 for more info.
Strata Software was showing STalker 2.0, a background terminal program
loaded with features but low in price ($30). One feature I noticed in
their literature is the ability to use the DC-Port interface to provide
multiple sessions, each with it's own window. Another toy for you modem
addicts! Two bbs's at once! For more info call them at (613)591-1922.
Intrinsic Software displayed "Command!", a windowed command line
interpreter. If you just are not happy with GEM and want something with
more of an MS-DOS feel, this is for you. Features a CLI window that can
be scrolled and moved around, 20 built-in commands like Dir, Erase,
Rename, etc. and is user configurable. It works as either an ACC or PRG
file, and works in all resolutions. Price is $24.95 but is available
through the end of April for $19.95. Call Intrinsic Software at
(416)421-1494.
On to other things. RiteWay Computers of Warren, Michigan deserves some
attention for their support of user groups. Faced with hauling a large
truck load of merchandise past the border trolls, and then trying to
compete with a number of other Toronto area dealers, RiteWay could
easily have said "no way!". But instead they bought a booth and spent
their time pretending to be a carnival booth. They set up a craps table
at their booth and if you rolled "craps" you got a FREE T-shirt. They
also had a Panasonic 24-pin printer to be raffled off. No products to
sell, no pretty girls in mini-skirts ("We're saving them for Pittsburg",
Ron said), just a pile of sales flyers and lots of happy visitors.
Thanks for the support, RiteWay!
I was a little disappointed with the seminars, but they were still a
great success. Nearly all of them were well attended with people being
forced to stand during some of them. However, they seemed to be more of
a sales-pitch then a seminar. I would have preferred to have a couple
local people on the panel to give their own views on the products and
how they use them. One example is the MAC-Emulation seminar. It
consisted mostly of a history of the Spectre/GCR products and little
discussion of the practical use of the product. But it was still very
interesting.
The "Ask Atari" seminar was worst. I got the impression the folks at
Atari Canada didn't seem to know much about their products. A few of
the technical questions seemed to get poor answers. There was still a
reluctance to answer questions about the TT. It seems that Atari Canada
is also having a hard time getting products. When questioned about the
STacy, it seems Canadian stores did get a couple computers. But the
stores are reluctant to sell them because they want one as a store
display model. Future shipments are not expected until fall. Also, I
realize that Atari-Canada is separate from Atari-USA and they have their
own user group coordinator. But why was Bob Brodie delegated to a seat
in the back of the room and not up front where he could help field
questions? What a waste!
That's it! The TAF show was well worth the visit. It will be a few
days before we find out just how well they did but from what I saw it
seems the dealers sold an awful lot of computers and hardware. I hope
the TAF folks can put together another show next year, and I hope more
developers can attend it.
***********************************************************************
ST STack - by Alice Amore
***********************************************************************
The big news this week concerns communications software. Read on.
HAGTRM33.LZH Programmer: Hagop Janoyan * SHAREWARE *
======================================================================
HagTerm Elite, version 3.3, is a powerful and sophisticated
communications program which contains not only a bounty of useful
features, but its own script language. This script language
("HagScript") allows the user to manipulate over 90 commands. In fact,
many of HagTerm's functions are controlled by script commands. The user
is thus able to build custom-made menus.
Let's look at the program. The following features are offered:
o User-friendliness. Icons, buttons, and instructions can all be
accessed via mouse from the Main Menu. In fact, all of HagTerm
Elite's features can be mouse-driven.
o Keyboard equivalents are available, too. The ALT/CTRL keys can
enable most menu items and settings.
o Xmodem, Xmodem 1K, Ymodem, and ASCII protocols. Partially compatible
with Shadow transfer protocols.
o Compatible with DCOPY. UnLZH is also supported.
o A full-featured disk formatter, plus other disk utilities.
o Outside programs can be run from within HagTerm Elite.
o To save memory for those using 512K, screen redraws can be
eliminated by storing a menu in memory. The user has the choice of
which menu to store.
o Dozens of commands can be saved in the same default file.
o Screen colors can be changed and saved.
o Keyclick and bell can be toggled on or off.
o Turn off VT52, if desired.
o Set the time and date from within the program.
o Upper right-hand corner displays system time and program timer.
o Many toggles/settings are contained right on the Main Menu. You
don't have to wade through a series of configuration screens to
change a setting.
o Highly variable baud rates, from 50-19200.
o Desk accessories are available through the Main Menu.
o Four modes (Main Menu, Terminal Mode, Dial Mode, and Editor Mode) are
interactive.
o Insert script commands via the INSERT key from menus. Also, the
"history buffer" will store 50 commands.
o Fast Dial Option. This option will let you type all or part of a
BBS name. This information is then treated as a string. The correct
BBS will be dialed, and any name/password/whatever information
related to the BBS will be sent automatically. Or, you can type in
just the phone number and the same BBS-related information will be
sent.
o 80 slots are available for names/numbers of BBSes. Each slot also
contains optional user name and password, plus default files which
load automatically on connection to a BBS. Also, something we've
all been waiting for: a two-line comment area for storing
miscellaneous notes about each BBS! (If ever there was a time-saver,
this is it. Throw away those scribbled notes.) Each "dial item" can
contain its own auto-log sequence. You can define a wait/answer
string, and your answer string can even contain variables. Multiple
dial items can be selected very easily.
o BBS lists can be organized into "pages". Five pages (with titles)
are available, each holding 16 entries.
o Dialing items can be deleted, inserted, cut, and pasted.
o Dialing directories can be printed out in short, detailed, or
summary form.
o Different file paths are available for scripts, defaults, dialing
directories, uploads, downloads, etc.
o The autodialer (which can multiple-dial) can recognize specific
connect/failure strings. Delay time can be specified.
o Info about the last-dialed BBS is stored in a system variable.
o A status line in terminal mode can be toggled on/off. (This allows a
true "full screen" while BBSing.)
o There is a "clear screen" feature which also resets the colors.
o Includes a full-featured text editor using assembler routines for
text display (for very fast text display and scrolling).
o Mouse-controlled function-selection and text-scrolling.
o On-screen display of X,Y position of the cursor, line number, and
CAPS status.
o Four markers can be placed within text files, and you can jump to
any of the marks. You can go to a specific line number by mouse-
clicking and typing in the line number.
o Automatic word-wrapping on/off.
o Cut, paste, move, merge, or delete a block. Upload, or save the
block to disk.
o Upload the entire buffer or only a marked block.
o HAGSCRIPT
"HagScript" is what makes HagTerm so user-configurable. Scripts can
become very complex. Among the more than 90 commands available through
HagScript are the following:
WAIT DELAY MODE KEYPRESS PRINT PAUSE TERMINAL
OUT INPUT STRICT BAUD LINEFEED DUPLEX CLS
DIAL MAIN INKEY MACRO STATUS ALERT FILESELECT
MENU DIR EXECUTE LOADDIAL LOADDEF IF DO
GOTO GOTOL LABEL LET SGET SPUT DRAW
PLOT LINE BOX CIRCLE COLOR SETCOLOR DEFTEXT
TEXT ACCESS STOP DELETE MFOLDER DFOLDER TYPE
COPY EDITOR CAPTURE OPENCAP CLOSECAP RENAME DIALNUM
DIALNAME PARITY FLOW STOPBITS CHAR BUFFER AUTOPAUSE
PRINTER KEYCLICK VT52 REDIAL BELL PRINTFILE COLORTOG
WAITTIME WAITDATE WAITTIMER TIMER PLAY SETMACRO AUXCLEAR
SETTIME SETDATE UPPER DCOPY UPLOAD DOWNLOAD LOADBUFFER
LOADSCRIPT DIAL.CONFIG DIAL.AUTODIAL
DIAL.LOG DIAL.AUTO.REDIAL DIAL.AUTO.SCRIPT
DIAL.AUTO.DEFAULT REDIAL.TIME MONO.LINES
The author of HagTerm Elite and HagScript is a 16-year-old college
student. He is to be commended for working so hard on this monstrous
project, and he is to be doubly commended for telling us that there are
bugs in HagTerm Elite. (I couldn't get this program to run on a 1-meg
520, but it did run nicely, for the most part, on a Mega 2.) He outlines
most of these bugs in his documentation, and has promised to spend the
summer of 1990 working furiously on bug-fixes and enhancements,
something he has had little time to do during this past school year.
Atarians will be eager to see a finished product, as this program is
potentially a modem-bender.
As per his request, please send bug reports to the programmer via the
BBSes he lists in the docs, or by phoning or writing to him. And
remember to encourage him. Better yet, register! HagTerm is
*SHAREWARE*.
MINI_BBS.ARC Programmer: Mike Hill *SHAREWARE*
======================================================================
MINI BBS is an extremely small utility. Simply put, it allows someone
to call your computer via modem and read a message. The message itself
can be as long as desired. The caller is logged on, sent the message,
and logged off.
This arrangement is handy for many purposes, but especially if you're a
SysOp whose hard drives have crashed (I can identify with that), and you
want to keep your callers informed about any progress you're making.
MINI BBS can be run on a "bare-bones" system (a 512K machine and a
single/sided floppy).
Be sure to give MINI BBS a trial run before slapping it online. You
might have to do a bit of modem-tweaking to make it work properly with
your particular modem.
***********************************************************************
PD/SHAREWARE STop - by Mark Quinn
***********************************************************************
File name: BODYSHOP.ARC Author: F.Hundley
Program name: Body Shop File type: Educational
If your elementary or junior high school age child doesn't know a left
metatarsus from a right scapula (personally, I fit into this category as
well), then he or she ought to spend time boning up with BODY SHOP. The
program allows the child to click on the medical or common names of
bones and organs and either have them appear within the framework of
great-great-great Uncle Clarence, who donated his body so your budding
orthopedist or neurosurgeon can get cracking, or place them there
himself with the mouse. The student is given a certain number of tries
when attempting to place the parts in their niches.
The menu items are large enough for most children to read, and the
skeleton itself is colorful and detailed to the extent that most of the
parts are recognizable.
Most children could use a visit with Clarence at the Body Shop. Those
who don't require such a visit could probably build their own computer
or Uncle, for that matter.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
(The following program runs in monochrome ONLY.)
File name: GILGALAD.ARC Author: Markus Dheus
Program name: GILGALAD File type: Game
"A dark King threatens your country and you are the only one who can
save your people from total slavery. To defeat the enemy, you must go
through plain, forest, town, temple, and swamp in order to reach his
fortress and push him from his dark throne."
Swamp? Ugh. I don't think I'll wear my designer chain mail this time.
In GILGALAD you control a young maiden (who is handy with a knife,
surprisingly) with the mouse and have her do all the above before her
energy runs out or a number of moons (nicely displayed in the lower
left-hand corner of the monitor) have passed. It's refreshing to see
heroine in a male-dominated genre. The King in Gilgalad's homeland is
appropriately dark. I met two nasties (a wizard and a monster) in
particular that reduced a once-strapping Gilgalad to a shadow of her
former self. Gameplay is confined to a window with a 'frame' around it.
The graphics are, in a word, superb. I'll add some more words here:
they are also pleasing to the eye. I haven't seen such finely-detailed
rocks on my screen since MEGAROIDS. And the movements of the on-screen
objects are smooth enough to satisfy the most jaded joystick jockey.
Be sure to follow Mr. Fass' directions before attempting to boot the
game (and thanks to him for uploading such a prize).
This game was written in '86, and it has aged well. I would say that
ANY monochrome user who likes this sort of scenario will love Gilgalad.
Highly recommended.
"Quinn's Quickies"
ARCLZH21.LZH
Version 2.1. Converts ARC format to LZH, or LZH to ARC. Create self-
extracting LZH files, convert between self-extracting and non-self-
extracting LZH files. Switch between the program and your accessories.
Format a disk. Looks good in medium or high resolution.
HACK30.LZH
A role-playing D&D game. Uses ASCII characters. See if you can find
the amulet somewhere below level twenty of the maze. Has editable
configuration file. Runs in monochrome too.
SAM_SAM2.LZH
1-meg demo from Gator Gulch BBS. Has 9 digitized samples and MIDI
sound effects. Often funny.
***********************************************************************
AN ALTERNATIVE TO THE MEGA'S KEYBOARD CABLE
***********************************************************************
by Robert Ford --> the CyberPunk! (ZNet BBS SysOp)
I've had my Mega for a few years now and suffered long enough with the
awkward placement of the keyboard cable connector. Those with Megas
know that it is right next to the cartridge port. The problem with this
setup comes up when you need to install a cartridge. Small cartridges
like Spectre 128 or ST Replay have no problem, but cartridges like
ComputerEyes, VidiST, Discovery Cartridge, etc. are so wide that the
extending keyboard cable is in the way.
To remedy this you have to bend the cable down and out of the way. This
is a very unnatural position for the cable causing stress on the wires
and the jack itself. There are quite a few ways of fixing this and it
wasn't until I ruined my keyboard cable recently that I actually did
anything about it. What follows is what I did. There are other, more
obvious, solutions, but I figure I'd tell you the route I took.
Because the keyboard cable jacks are standard telephone style jacks it
seems obvious to just use a telephone extension cable. Well,
unfortunately, standard phone wire you have in your house has four
wires. Atari uses a six wire cable like the multiline cables that
business' use. That wasn't too much of a problem for me because I came
across a six wire phone extension. Unfortunately when I plugged it in
my keyboard didn't work. Upon closer inspection I realized that the
wire on the Mega was reversed. The obvious solution here would be to
get a crimper and a new male jack, cut one jack off and put the new jack
on upside down. Well, I didn't have a crimper or a new jack.
What I did was to take a trip to good old Radio Shack and picked up two
6-Wire Modular Jacks (Cat. No. 279-420.) All that has to be done is to
wire these two boxes together. What follows is the wiring directions:
BOX 1
~~~~~
Yellow <-----------------> Black
Black <-----------------> Yellow
Blue <-----------------> White
White <-----------------> Blue
Green <-----------------> Red
Red <-----------------> Green
Now that you have the boxes wired together you can put the covers back
on them. Included with each box is a piece of double-sided adhesive
foam. With the adhesive attach the backs of the boxes together to make
a nice little cube.
To hook your keyboard up to the computer take your standard cable, the
one that came with the computer, and attach it to your keyboard jack and
into one of the jacks on your "box." Now take the 6 wire phone cable
and insert one end into the other jack in your "box" and the other end
into the computer's keyboard jack. That's it.
Since the phone wire is pretty flimsy, maybe flexible is a better word,
when you plug in a cartridge the cable can now be easily tucked out of
the way.
Besides having the cable out of the way of the cartridges you also have
the added bonus of an extended keyboard cable.
Hope this little hack was helpful to some of you.
***********************************************************************
TRACKER-ST - Press Release
***********************************************************************
Step Ahead Software is proud to introduce Tracker/ST, an exciting new
productivity package for the Atari ST which combines mailing list, mail
merge, and person-tracking features in a single integrated software
solution. Fully GEM based for ease of use, Tracker/ST is the ideal
program for anyone who does mailings on a regular basis, or who needs to
keep track of people for any reason. Some of Tracker/ST's powerful
features include:
>>> Powerful and easy to use mail merge. Merge letters to everyone or
set up exact criteria for a merge. Full GEM text editor _built
in_ to the program with automatic reformatting (no need to press
the F10 key), bold, italic and underline attributes, etc.
>>> Computer aided entry saves you thousands of keystrokes when
entering names--up to 10,000+ keystrokes saved for every 250 names
you enter into Tracker/ST.
>>> Sixteen preset label formats for single, 2 or 3 across labels, and
laser printed labels (with _no_ label creeping). Edit these and
add your own for custom label formats.
>>> One-step "subscription aging" command automatically tracks
remaining time in a membership or subscription. Great for groups
with memberships that need to be adjusted on a weekly, monthly, or
annual basis.
>>> Full GEM interface with drop down menus, click on buttons and
keyboard commands for ultimate ease of use.
>>> Unique "Quick Letter" option for those occasions when you need to
send a single "almost form letter." Great for business reply mail
and follow-up letters.
>>> Unlimited notes for each person in your Tracker/ST files. Notes
are not limited to a few characters or words.
>>> Category, rank, source and I.D. fields to help you identify each
entry in your list.
>>> Full reports to screen and printer, including easy to use sorting,
filtering, grouping, counting, and summarizing. No need to use
complicated "dot prompts" or learn a confusing database language.
>>> Import and export names in ASCII and Tracker/ST formats.
>>> Easy transfer of names from all popular ST data management
packages (Timeworks Data Manager, Zoomracks II, SuperBase, DBMan,
etc) into Tracker/ST.
>>> Number of names limited only by disk space.
>>> Comprehensive manual with full tutorial and complete index.
Manual is spiral bound for easy reference.
>>> Installs easily on your hard drive--not copy protected.
Tracker/ST is perfect for businesses of all types, religious and school
organizations, theater and music groups, photographers, freelance
writers and artists, clubs, newsletter publishers, salesmen and
saleswomen, etc.
Tracker/ST will run on any Atari ST with one megabyte of RAM and a
double sided disk drive. The program runs in medium resolution color
and high resolution monochrome, and also completely supports the
Moniterm large screen monitor. A hard drive is recommended.
Tracker/ST is available NOW. See your local dealer or send a check or
money order for $79.95 to:
Step Ahead Software, Inc.
496-A Hudson Street Suite 39F
New York City, NY 10014
For more information please call Step Ahead Software at 212-627-5830
during normal East Coast business hours, or visit our on-line support
area on GEnie, in Category 6, Topic 23 of the ST RoundTable.
***********************************************************************
WIND-X - Press Release
***********************************************************************
March 28th, 1990
ENiGMA Software
4431 Lehigh Road
Suite 299
College Park, Maryland 20740
(202) 636-9078
Wind-X is (c) ENiGMA Software, 1990.
What It Does
============
Wind-X works as both a desk accessory and as a program. It operates
solely using legal GEM and TOS calls, and thus, permits itself to work
in conjunction with other GEM programs. By utilizing this method,
Wind-X can work in conjunction with most GEM based applications,
allowing the user to utilize the power of the Wind-X utilities and
applications while within another application. On top of that, Wind-X
lets the user work with it using the familiar GEM AES environment, so
there is no need to worry about adjusting to a new graphics environment.
Utilities within Wind-X are allowed to run using information passed to
the individual copies of Wind-X running on that system. Wind-X
utilities have the ability to patch themselves to everything in their
parent [the actual Wind-X program/DA], including the window redraws,
timer events, message events, keyboard events, and mouse button events.
By allowing so many possibilities, the Wind-X utility can be as open
ended as the programmer requires.
The main use for Wind-X would obviously be to relieve Atari ST users of
the feeling that they must carefully pick and choose what accessories
and programs are run. Not to be confused with programs like MultiDesk¿
by CodeHead or FlexCessory¿ E.A.B., Wind-X doesn't run standard GEM
programs and accessories under its interface, but customized utilities.
The advantage in this is that the utilities can present their graphic
interfaces to the user for use at any time. What it all boils down to
is that Wind-X lets the user see the program and interact with it while
simultaneously permitting input to the program's "peers" [other Wind-X
utilities in this case]. In essence, it expands the capabilities of the
limited multitasking kernel running under GEM on the Atari ST.
With a number of Wind-X applications in the works, we expect that it
will become a viable alternative to using standard desk accessory
technology, since it will offer comparable capabilities to the end user,
with the addition of the multitasking capabilities.
How To Use Wind-X
=================
Wind-X will be sold in a single package consisting of:
1) Several pre-configured copies of Wind-X.
2) A collection of WNX utilities in order to make the program worth
using! [it really isn't much without the WNXes!]
3) A utility called WindXCnF, which is a "Wind-X Configuration"
Utility, which runs as both a desk accessory and as a stand-alone
program.
4) A manual.
All you need to do is make a few copies of the accessory, and use
WindXCnF to set up the particular utilities you want to run within that
particular copy of Wind-X.
It is possible to run multiple copies of Wind-X *simultaneously* so that
the user can access a slew of WNXes at once. I have personally tested
nd run over 40 applications at one time. However, your system will show
signs of slowing down as you use more and more utilities that need to
latch into the timer routines of Wind-X.
[In the pictures used in this demo, you can see how my desktop looked
using a bunch of clock programs!]
How you interact with each utility is up to the WNX programmer, and it
can range from keypresses to mouse clicks.
Wind-X Features
===============
o Wind-X runs as both a desk accessory and as a program.
o Full compatibility with all ST's from 512k to 4MB, with the ability
to run on everything from TOS 1.0 to TOS 1.6/030.
o Complete access to the existing "limited multitasking" kernel of the
GEM AES via Wind-X itself for its child processes [WNXes] via a TRAP
handler.
o Up to 16 applications running per Wind-X window within ANY GEM
application that permits the user access to desk accessories.
o Interprocess communication between WNXes, particularly those running
under different copies of Wind-X.
o A "cookie jar" for WNXes running so that they can decide whether to
run or not, so that if multiple copies will cause a conflict, the
application will be "smart" enough to know how to react.
o Hopefully (fingers crossed) compatibility with MultiDesk [if Wind-X
doesn't already work under MultiDesk]
o Works with Quick ST by Darek Mihocka. In fact, due to the vast
improvement in redraw speed for the WNX utilities, I recommend using
Quick ST in conjunction with Wind-X.
o Takes advantages of special features in DC Desktop¿.
o Pending a chance to talk to Eric Rosenquist (hey, dude!), Wind-X will
probably support the clipboard interface utilized by Strata
Software's "STalker" [an excellent telecom package, with the ability
to do *everything* in the background] and "STeno" [text editor/
capture buffer].
o ....a LOT of .WNX utilities!
Price
=====
Wind-X will retail for $29.95. Because we're honest, we'll say $30.
Dealer inquiries are welcome, and encouraged!
A public domain utilities disk for Wind-X users will probably be
released for free.
Other ENiGMA Software Products!
===============================
ENiGMA was founded after we decided to do a disk magazine, called STatus
Disk Magazine. You have probably seen some of our articles in STReport/
CPU Newswire or Atari Interface Magazine. Due to the response to STatus
Magazine, we took the plunge into writing more software for the Atari
ST.
STatus requires a 1MB, a double-sided drive, and a color monitor. A
future revision [due October, for the WAACE AtariFest 1990] should
permit it to run on single-sided drives, on just 512k of RAM. Whether
or not support for monochrome, Moniterms, and Image Systems' card is
possible is dependent upon the number of requests we get for those.
STatus can be ordered direct from ENiGMA for $7.50 for a single issue
[PLEASE specify whether you want a back issue or the most recent
issue!], or $30.00 for a 6 issue/12 month subscription.
Who IS ENiGMA Software, Anyways?
================================
Come see us at the Pittsburgh AtariFest 1990 on April 28th and 29th
[where we hope to premiere Wind-X!] to find that out!
***********************************************************************
CLEVELAND FREE-NET
***********************************************************************
by Len Stys
The Cleveland Free-Net is the largest free, open-access, community
computer systems in the world today. It is often called an "electronic
city" because it has almost everything that a real city has. It has a
post office, cafe, and several buildings that hold close to one hundred
different SIGs or Special Interest Groups. The system has 96 megabytes
of RAM, 2.3 gigabytes of hard disk storage, and has close to 32 incoming
lines (but is capable of supporting up to 360 simultaneous users). The
system has also recently become Internet accessible.
The Cleveland Free-Net was first an experiment by Dr. Tom Grunder with
support from Case Western Reserve University and the Information Systems
division of AT&T. The experiment was to see if a "free community
computer system" could actually work. On July 16, 1986, the Cleveland
Free-Net prototype was opened by Ohio Governor Richard Celeste and
Cleveland Mayor George Voinivich. The prototype only had 10 incoming
lines but attracted 7,000 users. The community computer system was a
complete success. In August of 1989, the system moved up in software
and hardware and moved out of its experimental stage and into reality.
Case Western Reserve still provides financial support for the system but
the key to the economics of operating it is the fact that the system is
literally run by the community itself. Everything that appears on Free-
Net is there because of individuals or organizations in the community
who are prepared to contribute their time, effort, and expertise to
place it there and operate it over time. This is contrast to commercial
services which have very high personnel and information-acquisition
costs and must pass those costs on to the consumer.
These are some of the SIGs and sections available on Free-Net:
Adam Computers Aeronautics Aging Information
AIDS Information Center Aircraft All-denominational Forum
Arts Atari Computers Athletic Injuries
Baha'i Faith Forum BBS's Business and Indus. Park
Business Information Business Computing Byte Animal Clinic
Cafe (User Chat) CAMLS Library Camping
Commodore Computers Community Center Computer Corner
Courthouse Culinary Arts SIG Cuyahoga County
Network Services Dental Health Dr. Who Forum
ECCO Center Education Electronic Mail
Family Medicine Clinic Fantasy Fire Safety
Fishing For Sale Freedom Shrine
Games Gay/Lesbian Geriatrics
Home Care IBM Jobs
Kiosk Law Legal Information
LGCSC Library Literary Arts
Lotus Software Media
Natural History Physics Post Office
Religion Safety Schoolhouse
Speeches Sports Medicine Star Trek
Tandy Computers Tax Clinic Technology
Television Texas Instrument Computers
UFO's University Circle Veterinary Science
As you can see, there are many sections to the Cleveland Free-Net and
you will be happy to know that the largest computer SIG on Free-Net is
the Atari SIG. The Atari SIG consists of Atari News, User Group
Information, bulletin boards for all Atari computers, a Wanted & For
Sale Board, a Programmers' Forum for Atari programmers, Software/
Product Information, On-Line Magazines (YES! Z*Net is available!), User
Group Newsletters, an Information Base, Archives, Time Capsule, and the
Atari SIG Log. The Cleveland Free-Net seems to have something for
everybody and it is still growing!
Due to the success of the Cleveland Free-Net, a non-profit organization
by the name of the National Public Telecomputing Network (NPTN) has been
established. This organization's main objective is to help establish as
many Free-Net community computer systems as possible in the U.S. and
throughout the world. This will be accomplished by the dissemination of
Free-Net software (to qualified parties of $1 per year) and by providing
the technical and management support necessary to help those systems
succeed. As of now, there are several Free-Net type cities in Northeast
Ohio and are spreading across the country to Cincinnati and Peoria,
Illinois. Soon, your city may have a Free-Net of its own!
If you would like to visit the Cleveland Free-Net then you can go about
it in one of two ways. You can dial (216)368-3888 at 300/1200/2400 baud
or you can connect to Free-Net from Internet by the IP address of
"freenet-in-a.cwru.edu". Don't forget to stop at the Atari SIG while
your here by typing "Go Atari" at any menu.
<<< CLEVELAND FREE-NET SYSTEM INDEX >>>
Area Description KeyWord/Direction
=========================================================
Adam Computers go adam
Administration Building go admin
Administration Q & A go admin.q
Aeronautics go nasa
Aging Information go aging
AIDS Information Center go aids
Aircraft go nasa
All-denomination Forum go all.denom
Alzheimer's Disease go alz
Animals go animal
Animals go nat.hist
Apple Computers go apple
Apple II Computers go apple2
Apple, Macintosh go mac
Arts Information go arts
Arts, Literary go lit
Arts, Video go video
Atari Computers go atari
Athletic Injuries go sportsmed
Baha'i Faith Forum go bahai
Brecksville, City of go brecksville
Bulletin Board Systems go bbs
Business and Indus. Park go business
Business Information go business
Business, Fire Safety go fire
Business, Personnel go personnel
Business, Software go lotus
Business, Travel go travel
Business Computing go bus.comp
Byte Animal Clinic go animal
Cafe (User Chat) go cafe
CAMLS Library go camls
Camping go outdoors
Cancer go cancer
Case Western Reserve Univ. go cwru
Change Password go password
Change Terminal Type go term
Chess go chess
Choose editor go term
City Government go brecksville
City Government go city.reps
City Government go cleve
Cleveland Area User Groups go user.groups
Cleveland Chess SIG go chess
Cleveland Connection go cleve
Colleges go cwru
Commodore Computers go commodore
Community Center go community
Computer Corner go computer
Computer SIGs go comp.sigs
Computers, Adam go adam
Computers, Apple go apple
Computers, Apple II go apple2
Computers, Atari go atari
Computers, business go bus.comp
Computers, Commodore go commodore
Computers, editors go terminal
Computers, education go ecco
Computers, games go games
Computers, general go computer
Computers, Lotus Software go lotus
Computers, Macintosh go mac
Computers, Tandy go tandy
Computers, terminals go terminal
Computers, Texas Instruments go ti
Computers, Timex/Sinclair go ts
County Engineer's Office go county.eng
Court of Appeals, State go state.reps
Courthouse go court
Culinary Arts SIG go food
Cuyahoga County go county.eng
CWRU go cwru
CWRU Bookstore go bookstore
CWRU Film Society go cine, films
CWRU Information Network Services go ins
CWRU Physics Department go physics
CWRU Student Activities go activities
Dental Health go dental
Dr. Who Forum go dr.who
e.mail go post
ECCO Center go ecco
Education go school
Education, Administrators go teacher
Education, College go cwru
Education, Gifted go gifted
Education, Learning Center go learn
Education, Library go library
Education, Mathematics go math
Education, Special Ed. go special.ed
Education, Teachers go teacher
Elected Officials, County go county.rep
Elected Officials, County go state.reps
Elected Officials, Federal go fed.reps
Family Medicine Clinic go fam.med
Fantasy go scifi
Fine Arts go arts
Fire Safety go fire
Fishing go outdoors
Food go food
For Sale go for.sale
Freedom Shrine go shrine
Games go games
Gay (LGCSC) go gay
General Medicine go fam.med
Geriatrics go aging
Gifted Education Center go gifted
Government House go govt
Government, taxes go tax
H.O.P.E. Cancer Center go cancer
Handicapped Information go handi
History, Natural go nat.hist
Home Care go nursing
IBM go ibm
Index go index
Jobs Available go jobs
Kiosk go kiosk
Law go court
Law go law
Legal Information go court
Lesbian go lesbian
LGCSC go lgcsc
Library Information go camls
Media, Science Fiction go sf.media
Medical Information go medical
Medicine go st.silicon
Medicine, Psychology go psych
Medicine, Sports go sportsmed
N. Coast SciFi & Fant Association go ncsffa
NASA go nasa
What's New in Electronic City go new
Outdoors SIG go outdoors
Physician Assistant go pa
Physics go physics
Public Square go public
Recipies go food
Recreation go rec
Religion go religion
Religion, Baha'i Faith go bahai
Religion, All-denom go all.denom
Running go runners
Schoolhouse go school
Science go sci
Science Fiction go ncsffa
Science Fiction, Star Trek go startrek
Senate go fed.reps
Skepticism go skeptic
Skiiing go ski
Special Education go special.ed
Special Interest Groups go sigs
Speeches go podium
Speeches go toast
System Information go info
Tandy Computers go tandy
Tax Office go tax
Texas Instr Computers go ti
Timex/Sinclair Computers go ts
UFO's go ufo
User Groups go user.groups
Users Guide, Online go guide
Video Arts go video
Wanted & For sale go for.sale
The number for the Cleveland Free-Net is: (216) 368-3888.
300/1200/2400 baud. Type "Go Atari" to get to the Atari SIG.
<<< THE ATARI SIG >>>
1 About the Atari SIG
2 User Group Information
3 Atari News
4 General Bulletin Board
5 Specific Computer Boards
6 Programmers' Forum
7 Wanted & For Sale Board
8 Software/Product Information
9 Atari Library
10 Help-Line (Tech. Q & A)
11 Directory of SIG Members
-------------------------------
h = Help
x = Exit the Free-Net
Your Choice ==>
<<< SPECIFIC COMPUTER BOARDS >>>
1 8-bit Computers
2 16/32-bit Computers
3 Atari MS-DOS Computers
4 Video Game Entertainment
-------------------------------
h = Help
x = Exit the Free-Net
Your Choice ==>
<<< ATARI LIBRARY >>>
1 Information Base
2 Archives
3 Time Capsule
4 On-Line Magazines
5 User Group Newsletters
6 Atari SIG Log
-------------------------------
h = Help
x = Exit the Free-Net
Your Choice ==>
=======================================================================
=======================================================================
Z*Net Online Magazine is a weekly released publication covering the
Atari community. Opinions and commentary presented are those of the
individual authors and do not reflect those of Rovac Industries. Z*NET
and Z*NET 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. (No guarantees required!)
=======================================================================
=======================================================================
ZNET ONLINE Atari News FIRST!
Copyright (c)1990 Rovac Industries, Inc..
=======================================================================
