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GEnieLamp Online Magazine Issue No.2.16
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~ SAM TRAMIEL SCHEDULED FOR REALTIME CONFERENCE! ~
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January 15, 1991 ~ A T/TalkNET OnLine Publication ~ Issue No.2.16
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Publisher/Editor ................................... John F. Peters
Co-Editor ........................................ Darlah J. Pine
Technical Editor ................................ Jeff Williams
""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""
FROM MY DESKTOP ......... [FRM] HUMOR ONLINE ............ [HUM]
Notes From The Editor. GEnie Fun And Games.
HEY MISTER POSTMAN ...... [HEY] TELETALK ONLINE ......... [TEL]
Is That A Letter For Me? LZH & ARC Information.
DEALER VIEWPOINT ........ [DLR] ATARI_QWIK_TIPS ......... [TIP]
Serious Computing. Atarians Helping Atarians.
MEL'S MANOR ............. [MEL] PD_QUICKVIEW ............ [PDQ]
Forget Me Nots. Yours For The Asking.
OFF THE RECORD .......... [OFF] ATARI CORP. ONLINE ...... [ATR]
Mini_Qwik_reViews. Straight Talk From Atari.
ST ALADDIN ONLINE ....... [ALD] THE ONLINE LIBRARY ...... [LIB]
ST Aladdin and You. Get It While It's Hot!
NIGHTS OF THE ROUNDTABLES [RTC] HOOKING UP WITH LYNX .... [LYN]
Wednesday Night Fun! Atari Game Power!
GOING BUGGY ............. [BUG] ST ELSEWHERE ............ [ELS]
Problems & Solutions. Other Areas Of IntereST.
LOG OFF ................. [LOG]
GEnie Lamp Information.
[IDX]
""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""
READING GEnie Lamp GEnie Lamp has incorporated a unique indexing
"""""""""""""""""" system to help make reading the magazine easier.
To utilize this system, load GEnie Lamp into any ASCII word processor
or text editor. In the index you will find the following example:
FROM MY DESKTOP ......... [FRM] HUMOR ONLINE ............ [HUM]
Notes From The Editor. GEnie Fun & Games.
To read the article on Humor Online, set your find or search
command to [HUM]. If you want to scan the articles, search for [EOA].
[EOF] will take you to the last page, whereas [IDX] will bring you back
to the index.
TX2 FORMAT What are you missing when reading the ASCII version of
"""""""""" GEnie Lamp? EXCITEMENT! Graphics, enhanced text, click &
go index plus more are yours when using David Holmes' TX2 viewer to read
the special TX2 version of GEnie Lamp. File #17619.
MESSAGE INFO To make it easy for you to respond to messages re-printed
"""""""""""" here in GEnie Lamp, you will find all the information you
need immediately following the message. For example:
(DARLAH, CAT6, TOP1, MSG:58/M475)
_____________| _____|__ _|___ |____ |_____________
|Name of sender CATegory TOPic Msg.# Page number|
In this example, to respond to Darlah's message, log on to page 475,
enter the bulletin board and set CAT 6. Enter your REPly in TOPic 1.
""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""
/////////////////////////////////////// GEnie QWIK_QUOTE //////
/ "I like your suggestion on the best way to to accelerate an /
/ MS-DOS machine. The only problem is I'm in a one story /
/ building and there's not enough distance from the window /
/ to the ground outside. Oh, well. If any MesSyDOS machines /
/ should happen to mistakenly wander in, guess I'll have to /
/ find another way to "accelerate" them with equal results!" /
///////////////////////////////////////////// S.WINICK /////
[EOA]
[FRM]//////////////////////////////
FROM MY DESKTOP /
/////////////////////////////////
Notes From The Editor
"""""""""""""""""""""
o SPECIAL ANNOUNCEMENT: Sam Tramiel In ST Realtime Conference!
o TOP OF THE PAGE: Comments and Other Misc. Ramblings.
o RTC TEMPLATE: Print Me!
SPECIAL ANNOUNCEMENT! The Atari ST Roundtable is happy to welcome Sam
""""""""""""""""""""" Tramiel, President of Atari Corporation, as our
special guest for the Realtime Conference on Wednesday, January 30,
1991. Please make plans to attend and participate. Mr. Tramiel will
welcome your questions and comments. Mark the date on your calendar
now. That's Wednesday, January 30th at 10:00pm Eastern, 9:00pm Central,
and 7:00pm Pacific/Mountain. This is one RTC you won't want to miss!
TOP OF THE PAGE Welcome to the biggest, monstrous, fattest issue of
""""""""""""""" GEnie Lamp yet!
I have to admit that am releasing this issue under duress. I've
tried to hold the issue to or below 100K, but folks, I just can't do it.
Believe me, I gave it my best effort. There is so much information,
tips, news, rumors and hot topics going on in the ST RoundTable I can
hardly keep up with it all!
So, how do I decide what to re-print and what to drag to the trash
can? I don't have a tried and true formula, no magical wand or set of
rules that determines whether or not I publish a message. Just an old-
fashioned gut feeling that if it interests me, there's a chance that it
will interest you. Hopefully, it's working...
[*][*][*]
It's confirmed! Yes, Sam Tramiel, President of Atari Corporation
is going to be online and in a very special Realtime Conference here on
GEnie on January 30th.
To help out the newcomers, below you will find a list of RTC
commands assembled in a template format. Just print it, cut it out and
have it available for the special RTC. If you need some practice time,
there are two Wednesday night informal Realtime Conferences scheduled
before the big night. Stop by and try it out.
PRINT ME! This issue's PRINT ME! template is a handy little chart to
""""""""" help you when you are participating in a formal or informal
RoundTable Conference. To make your RTC template, "clip" the following
chart and print it on your printer. Cut to size, then tape it to a
heavy piece of paper or thin cardboard. To use the chart, just insert
it behind your "F" keys located right above the main keyboard.
<cut here>
________________________________________________________________________
GEnie Lamp Template Atari ST RoundTable Conference
""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""
/HELp - List of commands /BLAnk - add blank lines
/BYE - log-off the RTC /CALl jj - call on job jj
/ECHo - echo to sender on /EXIt - return to menu
/JOB - add job # to message /KNOck rr - knock on door rr
/MONitor rr- monitor room rr /NAMe nn - add name nn to address
/PRIvate jj- go private with JOB jj /QUIt - return to menu
/RAIse-hand- get attention of leader /ROLl nDs - roll n dice of s sides
/ROOm rr- move to room rr /SCRamble k- scramble, w/ key kkkk
/SENd jj m - sends to job jj, msg. m /SHOw hh - show job of address hh
/SQUelch jj- squelch job jj - 4 max /STAtus rr - see users in room rr
/TIMe - display time and day /USErs - see number of users
/WHO jj - see address of JOB jj /XBLank - exit blank line mode
/XECho - exit echo mode /XJOb - exit job mode
/XMOnitor - exit monitor mode /XPRivate - exit private mode
/XSCramble - exit scramble mode /XSQuelch - exit squelch
........................................................................
<fold here>
________________________________________________________________________
<cut here>
If you've never been to an RTC before, this is the time to jump in
find out what all the excitement is about.
Take care...
John Peters
[GENIELAMP$]
PS. In the last issue we published the wrong address for David Cagle.
If you need to contact David, address your mail to DAVID.CAGLE.
Also, we received the following message from Dan Winslow, the
author of Hero! updating a message we had published in an earlier issue
of GEnie Lamp:
I was reading the latest GEnie Lamp and noticed a mention of my
up coming release of HERO! ( for which I am grateful :) ) under the
heading MIDI MAZE CRAZE. HERO! will accomplish 2 player play either at
one machine, or on two machines connected via modem ( 12 or 2400 baud )
but not via the MIDI cables. ote that it remains a 2 player game even
when two machines are connected by modem. I wish I could have
supported more players ( like 4 ) when in modem mode but some lack of
foresight on my part when coding the core routines and a lack of speed
since I am not writing in assembly precluded this.
////////////////////////////////////// GEnie QWIK_QUOTE //////
/ "Believe it or else, folks...I still don't know myself why /
/ Gene's idea works. It's the Bermuda Triangle of TOS." /
///////////////////////////////////////// C.F.JOHNSON //////
[EOA]
[HUM]//////////////////////////////
HUMOR ONLINE /
/////////////////////////////////
GEnie Fun And Games
"""""""""""""""""""
o ADSPEED: What He Doesn't Know...
o LJ III NEWS: All The Dirt That's Fit To Print
AdSpeed TRICKS I had a Turbo Graphics 16 freak come over, a 10th grade
"""""""""""""" guy. He spent this evening playing two games on my
AdSpeed equipped Mega: Xenon 2 by Psygnosis and the old but very
playable Joust. I did not tell him (shame on me!) that I had AdSpeed
installed.
Joust warmed him up. Sheesh, I can just barely play it with that
accelerator and thought that he would give it up after a few minutes.
Nope, he stayed with it for over an hour. A wrist cramp and a score
of over 200,000 points stopped him. No kidding, he was wringing wet
with sweat. I barely pulled 40,000 when playing this thing by myself.
I then booted up Xenon 2. This game blew his mind. Again, he did
not know about any accelerator. After about 15 minutes he yelled
wondering how to pause the game. I told him to press "P". He pressed
"P". He went at it again. Sweat again. In fact, he ripped his shirt
off and tore into the game. I'm not kidding! After reaching levels
I've never seen (about the fourth, I think), he finally died in the
game. He tore into it again and died at about the same spot.
The poor little guy was soaked. Seriously, I've never seen how
'physical' one could get at a video game. I chuckled and vow that I'll
never tell him about AdSpeed. In short, he totally enjoyed the game
saying that he has never seen a computer with games sporting such
challenges. HEE HEE HEE. Take that Turbo Graphics! I just thought
everyone would get a kick out of this.
Please, don't tell anyone I booted a game on my ST. Shhhhh.....!
(LRYMAL, CAT4, TOP16, MSG:28/M475)
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All THE DIRT THATS FIT TO PRINT
Publisher: N. E. Toner
Editor: Dewey Recharge
Science and Technology: Justin Readjust
Circulation Department: Willy Shakit
General Information: B. Rightback
Today's weather: Spotty, but clearing later.
Standing Story: HP DESCRIBES SOLUTION TO DENSITY PROBLEM
Hewlett Packard today announced a major upgrade to the popular
Laserjet III computer system, addressing the much-reported density
problems indicated by throngs of users who subscribe to electronic
bulletin board systems.
The solution, said to some to be a stop-gap measure until the
rumored Laserjet 4 is announced, involves a two-pass imaging process
that is said to improve the density of blacks while doubling printer
resolution.
Director of Marketing, I.Tellum, described the new process as a
proprietary double-density enhancement technology, also known as DDET.
"Implementing DDET is easy," according to Tellum. "The user simply
removes printed sheets and re-inserts them into the paper tray. On the
second pass, the density is improved by 100%."
Tellum continues to describe how their pioneering resolution
enhancement technology is further improved by a factor of 2, placing
twice as many dots on paper. Tellum also says HP is increasing their
response time on new orders of toner cartridges.
Hewlett Packard, a major supplier of computer office systems and
peripherals, has offices throughout the US and worldwide. For more
information, contact the HP LJIII News. (ctsey. DTP RoundTable)
(T.PIAZZA, CAT9, TOP2, MSG:159/M590)
//////////////////////////////////////// GEnie QWIK_QUOTE //////
/ "Next time a Mac owner says you don't have a REAL computer, /
/ ask him how come a 'toy computer/game machine' can emulate /
/ his machine, FASTER than his machine, when HIS can't seem /
/ to emulate YOURS at all?" /
//////////////////////////////////////////////// NTACTONE ////
[EOA]
[HEY]//////////////////////////////
HEY MISTER POSTMAN /
/////////////////////////////////
Is That A Letter For Me?
""""""""""""""""""""""""
o ODDS & ENDS
o ATARIAN MINDS WANT TO KNOW
o HOT TOPICS
o MESSAGE SPOTLIGHT
>>> ODDS & ENDS <<<
"""""""""""""""""""
MNP ON GEnie From what I have read here, MNP on GEnie is a mixed
"""""""""""" blessing. If you have noisy lines, it might help, but
with good lines, it doesn't make much difference. Also, it seems to
cause xmodem to really go SLOW. As for non-MNP systems, it turns itself
OFF. However, one might reasonably expect a modem with MNP would also
be a pretty good modem in other respects, but not necessarily. I would
stick with a reputable, known brand.
(NTACTONE, CAT1, TOP20, MSG:11/M1000)
SELF-EXTRACTING VIRUS Innocent bystanders?
"""""""""""""""""""""
o Bill has a virus in his system. Bill does not KNOW he has a
virus in his system - it hasn't done anything nasty yet.
o Bill calls GEnie and downloads a new version of ST Aladdin to
his system. It comes in a self-extracting archive.
o Bill does some other things, during which time the virus takes
a look at the new version of ST Aladdin (still in a self-extracting
archive) and attaches itself.
o The next day, Bill uploads ST Aladdin (still in the self-
extracting archive) to a local BBS, where Wayne, Mary, Sue, Bob, Carol,
Ted, and Alice all download it.
o Finally, all of them actually RUN that self-extracting archive,
thus feeding the virus into their own systems. (Of course, Bill already
had it...)
Note that neither Bill nor anyone else deliberately corrupted ST
Aladdin or deliberately transferred a corrupted version... but a virus,
nonetheless, infected 7 additional systems.
With a NON-self-extracting archive, this sort of INNOCENT
corruption of a program and spreading of a virus is MUCH less likely to
occur. The virus could only get into ST Aladdin itself (inside the
archive) if Bill were to de-archive and then re-archive... one might
wonder why Bill would do that.
(DAEDWARDS, CAT3, TOP3, MSG:85/M1000)
>>> ATARIAN MINDS WANT TO KNOW! <<<
"""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""
(Facts, Fiction & Maybe)
INFORMER II NEWS I realize that as some of you have noticed (H.Crowe)
"""""""""""""""" has not been very active online lately. For this I
apologise. But as Mel Motogawa pointed out we have indeed been very
busy working on the latest version of the program. We have been putting
in many Loooooong hours of late and are doing everything we can to make
the program as bug free as possible before it goes out the door.
Yes indeed we are alive and well. You may have not heard much
about Soft-Aware or INFORMER II lately.......but all that is about to
change! You will be soon reading about INFORMER II in the pages of ST
Informer magazine (how appropriate) and seeing our ads there as well.
Unlike other databases for the ST INFORMER II is continuing to be
supported and upgraded. There are many new features in version 2.03
and much work has gone into making it as useful and usable to all Atari
Users as possible. Including that INFORMER II is now resolution
independent, with the exception of the graphic images, this means the
database you created on a color ST will also work just the same on an
STe or a TT!
So stay tuned, INFORMER II will be shipping any day now. When it
does there will be an official announcement here along with a
description of the new features that have been added.
(R.SKRALY, CAT6, TOP4, MSG:80/M475)
CODEHEADS ARE BUSY! We will soon be releasing version 2.4 of HotWire.
""""""""""""""""""" The bad news is that our new update price is $10.
Watch for an announcement in this topic very soon. We plan to release
new versions of HotWire, MaxiFile, MultiDesk, CodeKeys, and G+Plus one
week from today, January 15.
(J.EIDSVOOG1, CAT32, TOP8, MSG:12/M475)
>>>>> We don't have plans to change the date format of CodeKeys, but
""""" very soon we'll be releasing a special program we wrote for
ST Aladdin (a couple of them actually) called DATENAME. It renames
files using the current date. Chaining it (in HotWire) to ST Aladdin
will allow you to automatically archive your ST Aladdin captures to
daily files instead of accumulating a cumbersome multi-megabyte file.
(J.EIDSVOOG1, CAT32, TOP22, MSG:114/M475)
IMAGE SYSTEMS SURPRISE Wow, thanks for all the Image Systems leads!
"""""""""""""""""""""" The calls are really starting to roll in on
people interested in the M24LMax for the TT/Mega/NeXT/Sun. Yes folks it
works with all of 'em!
Things are starting to get very interesting in the Atari market
again. Which is one of the reasons that Image Systems has decided to
split off a section of its company to do nothing but Atari. Kind of a
new years surprise I guess. So to make it official here is the scoop.
Starting Jan. 1, 1991 the old offices of Dover Research open again!
We will start by taking over the Colour ISAC biz. Expect things to be a
bit jumbled for the first few days but... better and better as we go.
The number to reach us is (612) 492-3913.
We are also going to be putting out new products for the new
machines from Atari. Expect some surprises in the April (yes, 1991)
time frame. We will continue to work closely with our mentors at Image
Systems on Atari-Monitor deals. Thanks again for your support in 89,90
and we look forward to 91!!!
(J.CRASWELL, CAT4, TOP21, MSG:55/M475)
ZMODEM RUMOR I heard on another service that Chuck Forsberg is writing
"""""""""""" an update to zmodem that will COST any implementor as in
GEnie, CIS, Delphi. According to this person, there is big resistance
to paying the fee he will be requiring for implementation of his new
protocol. (J.NESS, CAT30, TOP7, MSG:85/M475)
BAD NEWS FOR TAX ADVANTAGE I just read in Current Notes that the Tax
"""""""""""""""""""""""""" Advantage program will not be updated for
1991. I called Simon & Schuster software to confirm this and they
stated that the program was discontinued for all systems and not just
the ST. Double Eagle software used to publish the program up until last
year. Maybe we can convince Harry Koons of Double Eagle software to
continue. (B.BEAUCHEA, CAT6, TOP9, MSG:1/M475)
WHAT'S NEXT CHET? Jim's got some things up his sleeve that will make
""""""""""""""""" more than just your head spin. This is the topic
to watch. There's some exciting things coming along in '91 for our
favorite little 680x0 machines.... ;)
(C.WALTERS1, CAT4, TOP11, MSG:42/M475)
WORD UP = ATARI WRITER ST? I'm surprised no one mentioned it here, but
"""""""""""""""""""""""""" I heard that Neocept went out of business,
and Word Up was bought by Atari. It is going to be rewritten and re-
leased as Atari Writer ST! Can anyone verify this?
(D.HOLMES14, CAT 13, TOP6, MSG:82/M475)
HP DESKJET EMULATOR Interesting -- a company we know has developed (or
""""""""""""""""""" says they have) an SLM804 driver that emulates an
HP Deskjet at 300 dpi. (At least, I think so). This would allow the
SLM804 to be driven at 300 dpi. More news as I hear more.
(DAVESMALL, CAT7, TOP16, MSG:94/M475)
SUPERCHARGER VGA CANCELLED? According to what a Rio-Datel represent-
""""""""""""""""""""""""""" ative stated the VGA card has been cancel-
ed because of cost... Let's get some feed back from Talon and or Rio on
this please... (W.SAKERS3, CAT33, TOP2, MSG:63/M475)
>>> HOT TOPICS <<<
""""""""""""""""""
CAT 4, TOPIC 11 Jim, you completely ignored (at least...that's the way
""""""""""""""" it appears) John and Jeff's comments about Whoa-Boy.
I agree with their comments. I haven't ordered because it wasn't ready.
I am sorry if Whoa-Boy isn't going to be a cash cow for you but I
think you owe it us (those that have supported you by purchasing your
product) to actually manufacture what you promise.
Frankly, and to be quite honest, I am beginning to wonder if you
*ever* had any intention of making Whoa-Boy.
Personally, I see your lack of follow-through on Whoa-Boy as
directly affecting my ability to recommend any of your current or future
products. (STACE, CAT4, TOP11, MSG:69/M475)
>>>>> After serving this marketplace for a year and a half. Leaving
""""" no customer unsatisfied. Providing an excellent solution to a
pressing problem. Providing technical support above and beyond the call
of duty, reaching far beyond the realm of the T16....
...and after working my ass off for months to provide the market
with new and wonderful solutions to many remaining pressing problems...
I have to come on here tonight to read that piece of trash.
Let's get some things aired out here:
Number one: You were given...GIVEN...the 4th T16 made. Months
before other users could get them.
Number two: You were upgraded AT COST to a production T16.
Number three: You were so tickled PINK with the T16s that you
recommended them to your friends, your user group,
and anyone else who would listen.
As I recall, you even asked for a "dead one" so you could frame it
and mount it on the wall...it was "so beautiful".
Number four: You spent a year and a half...seems like a lifetime...
continuing to be tickled PINK.
Number five: You are a sysop in the Gadgets by Small RT.
Number six: You are probably compensated in someway for this,
correct?
Number seven: Recently GBS and Fast Tech have been placed in a
competitive relationship.
Background:
For a year and a half the T16 was the only viable acceleration
solution for the ST in North America...and a damn good solution too.
Over that time, Fast Tech has provided excellent tech support, far
beyond the preview of just the T16. Fast Tech has made sure we have NO
dissatisfied customers. Fast Tech has rarely ever charged for any
service work, including repair of heavily damaged motherboards that
Atari service would never touch. Fast Tech has provided fast, usually
FEDX shipping, and rarely if ever charged for it. We even purchased
back...at full retail... a customers T16 that just couldn't be made to
work in his system...there's only been one.
In Sept 90', along comes a competitor. They introduce a "feature"
the T16 lacks. A few of my nicest, and friendliest customers...who do
much more with their STs than run Calamus or Pagestream...asked if there
was a way I could add that "feature" to the T16 as a retrofit.
I sat down and figured out how I could retrofit the AFFECT, as I
don't believe in that particular feature. And I did. I told the folks
here on GEnie that the "Whoaboy" was born. Asked if anyone wanted one.
Asked at WAACE too. I got back requests for 18 units. Out of nearly
2000 customers. I also made it clear the T16 would not EVER have that
feature, and that the Whoaboy was only a retrofit for those hooked on
Spectrum512. Those people who bought T16s, mind you, freely gave up
Spectrum in order to use the T16. We have always been clear on the
incompatibility.
Now I believe I was very clear about the Whoaboy, it was a retrofit
for T16 owners, not an attempt to block sales of AdSpeeds. Any new
purchasers wanting the "feature" would buy an AS.
You Mark, seem to want people to feel I'm somehow RIPPING THEM OFF.
You snidely insinuate I am trying to give ICD a hard time....if I were
I'd add the "feature" to new T16s. You rudely insinuate I am somehow
screwing my customers because there's not enough money in it...if I were
I'd do the above and make'm upgrade at a profit. You rudely insist that
I OWE YOU this device...I have news for you, I OWE you NOTHING. You
come here and post on your high horse that "my lack of this and that has
affected your ability to recommend my products"...like I could give a
rats ass what you recommend. No customer of mine, after the many months
of satisfaction the T16 has brought them, would care in the least what
you think. In fact, no customer espousing all encompassing satisfaction
with my product would ever come along and accuse me of what you have.
So I'm really floored by this. I can't understand your motivations
Mark. You claimed...and proclaimed...to be a satisfied customer, very
happy with your T16. Now all of a sudden it's "a ripoff"? I'm giving
you the shaft? I'm treating you badly? I'm plotting to overthrow the
government maybe too?
How I run my business, how I assign my capital, when I introduce a
product...especially an addon meant to be "a favor" to older
customers... is MY business, and NONE OF YOURS. No company OWEs an
enhancement to its customers. I suppose Intel OWES everyone out there
with 386s an upgrade to 486s?
Fast Tech has demonstrated its support quality, through hard work.
Our extremely low price for the T16...VERY LOW FOLKS...has demonstrated
the lack of a CASH COW syndrome.
Mark, I lost any "respect" I had for you after your first post
here. I feel sure the people here on GEnie see right through you. It's
a shame.
Now after months of working my butt off to develop a group of new
products for the ST, really "KNOCK YOUR SOCKS OFF" stuff, and after
working 18-20 hour days, plus doing outside consulting to keep the bills
paid, I have to come on here and be faced with this rude, childish,
assanine post. A post from someone with "un-determined" motives. A
post that whispers to me...WTF are you doing bothering with this CRAP?
After sinking most of my savings into this ST venture called Fast
Technology, I really have to question WHY? Why would anyone go through
all this pain, do all this work, just to get s__t on by some....one
like Mark?
Perhaps you folks can help me find an answer? Explain to me why I
should waste another nights sleep?
Please.
(J.ALLEN27, CAT4, TOP11, MSG:71/M475)
>>> MESSAGE SPOTLIGHT <<<
"""""""""""""""""""""""""
Freedom Of Speech?
Atari-ST RoundTable
Category 34, Topic 1
Message 8 Sun Dec 30, 1990
D.HAYES4 at 13:17 EST
Powerful ain't the word. I haven't checked to see if they made my
statement available in all areas yet. Most of the areas in which I
placed it, removed it stating that it was too controversial. One told
me they would let it stay if I removed all comments against Dave Small,
Apple Computer, the FBI, and the IRS. The Atari area was the best.
There I just had to remove what I said about Dave. But I still haven't
seen it in their files yet.
You're not allowed to tell the truth if you say anything bad about
anyone or anything, so the public thinks life is a bowl of cherries.
It's called freedom of information. Oh Well, I tried!
Denny
Atari-ST RoundTable
Category 34, Topic 1
Message 9 Sun Dec 30, 1990
JWEAVERJR at 15:32 EST
Oh, goodie - another yahoo yelling about "freedom of speech".
<yawn>
Denny, what "freedom of speech" _really_ means is _not_ that GEnie
(or anyone else) has to subordinate their service to you, and print/
publish/distribute anything _you_ think should be printed/published/
distributed, _even_ (and this is the important part) if you're paying to
receive what they _do_ decide to print/publish/distribute.
What "freedom of speech" _does_ mean is that you are completely
free to start up your _own_ online service, and print/publish/
distribute whatever _you_ want to there. Of course, you'll still be
subject to certain limits, just like GEnie is - there are perfectly good
laws against libel and slander, and there are also certain other
prohibitions and limitations to _complete_ "freedom of speech"
(involving things like national security and incitements to riot and so
on). But then, on your own service, that would be _your_ concern.
Please let us know when your service opens, and what the Detroit
access number is, OK? -JW
[*][*][*]
While on GEnie, do you spend most of your time downloading files?
If so, you may be missing out some excellent information in the Bulletin
Board area. The messages listed above only scratch the surface of
what's available and waiting for you in the bulletin board area.
If you are serious about your Atari, the GEnie Lamp staff strongly
urge you to give the bulletin board area a try. There are literally
thousands of messages posted from people like you from all over the
world.
////////////////////////////////////////// GEnie QWIK_QUOTE //////
/ "To those who hate LZH and refuse to use it: fiddlesticks! ;)" /
///////////////////////////////////////////// B.WOODWORTH3 /////
[EOA]
[TEL]//////////////////////////////
TELETALK ONLINE /
/////////////////////////////////
LZH & ARC Information
"""""""""""""""""""""
Archiving & other File Compression Techniques
"""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""
By Terry Quinn
[T.QUINN1]
Over the last several months, there has been considerable
discussion in both the ST-Aladdin and Atari ST roundtables on the merits
(& demerits) of the various programs for compressing files.
First, a little scientific history to place this discussion in its
historical context. Archiving (whether ARC or LZH or ZOO based) is a
practical application of mathematical theories on data compression.
While many have contributed towards the development of this field, it is
generally considered that the one who started it all was Terry A. Welch
with his article "A Technique for High Performance Data Compression"
published in the IEEE Computer journal (Vol. 17 No. 6; June 1984). This
article described the central technique (Lempel-Ziv coding) which is
used by all of the major compression programs.
In 1985, a shareware company known as System Enhancement Associates
picked up on the ideas contained in the article and released the first
widely used archiving program ARC. Now, this was the time of the IBM PC
and so it was released first for this platform. In subsequent months,
this program was released for other platforms including (but not limited
to) the 8 bit Atari and the ST. Of course, since the original program
was written for a computer with a command line interface (MS/DOS), all
subsequent releases have tended to use the same interface. (If you were
wondering why ARC and LHARC are *.TTP type programs this is probably the
reason).
Somewhat later, a programmer in Japan; Haruyasu Yoshizaki; wrote
another archiving program based on a more advanced mathematical
technique Lempel-Ziv-Huffman encoding (now you know where LZH came
from). Since he wrote it in C and placed it in the public domain, the
basic method spread quickly to all kinds of computers. Now, LZH
archives tended to be smaller than ARC archives due to the more advanced
method of encoding but it also took longer to compress them since the
mathematics concerned were more complex.
ZIP archives came about primarily as a result of a lawsuit between
System Enhancement Associates and PKware; another shareware company.
Due to legal reasons, Phil Katz was forced to come up with yet another
compression technique totally different from ARC. In the process, he
developed what is widely considered the best archiving method yet (at
least on the MS/DOS side of things) and enjoys a wide popularity. In
fact, many BBS Sysops (that's system operators for the uninitiated) for
political reasons, will only allow MS/DOS uploads to be in "Zipped"
form.
While all of these compression techniques have evolved since their
introduction, they all share one common "flaw"; their interface.
Currently, the most popular method of dealing with this "flaw" is to use
a "shell"; a program which provides either a graphic interface (as in
ARC Shell by Charles F. Johnson) or menu driven interface to make them
easier to use.
Since at present for the ST, the mix of archived programs is about
50% ARC and 50% LZH, the easiest way to deal with archived programs is
either with a program which incorporates both of these techniques (like
the superb DC XTRACT commercial programs by Double Click Software) or by
using an arc shell together the most recent programs of each type (Dcopy
3.21 or ARC 6.02 for ARC; LHARC .60b or LHA 1.21 for LZH). Properly
setup, any of these will enable you to deal with any archived programs
for the ST with just a few mouse clicks.
Which is best? Well, it depends upon what you wish to accomplish.
If your goal is maximum compatibility for your archive, ARC still seems
to be the best choice since it is the oldest and available for older 8
bit platforms (like the 8 bit Atari) as well as more advanced computers.
This is the reason why this online magazine (as well as others) is
ARCed. If maximum compression is your goal (to either save space or
minimize download time); then by all means feel free to experiment with
LZH. As long as you stay away from fancy features (like compressing
folders), the most current programs seem both compatible and stable.
/////////////////////////////////////////// GEnie QWIK_QUOTE /////
/ "Dang....I don't know how you can do it guys, but this upgrade /
/ is the best $20 I'll ever spend on my computer...well, maybe /
/ the $9.95 for the mouse pad..." /
//////////////////////////////////////////////////// D-W-B /////
[EOA]
[DLR]//////////////////////////////
DEALER VIEWPOINT /
/////////////////////////////////
Serious Computing
"""""""""""""""""
By Sheldon Winick
[S.WINICK]
For one reason or another, it seems like a large number of computer
owners, even many Atari owners themselves, have no idea of the
capabilities of the Atari ST computers. Of course, a large number of
computer owners of all types of systems are still relatively computer
illiterate when it comes to understanding exactly what a computer is
capable of doing to help make our lives more enjoyable or increase our
productivity.
But we Atarians have much more built-in capabilities in our Atari
ST systems than most other computer owners. While the owners of those
"other" systems must generally have to expand their hardware and go
through a tedious installation procedure with each new software
application they wish to run, those of us who are knowledgeable about
the ST generally take for granted that our ST's are always ready to
fulfill our needs and desires.
I am constantly amused at the astonished looks of amazement when
an out-of-town visitor drops by and seems surprised to see a "real"
Atari dealership. I am surprised myself when many of those visitors
tell me they've had an ST for several years and never knew that the ST
could do serious computing. And they will definitely see us running
"serious" applications, from our point-of-sale system to our desktop
publishing, MIDI, and CADD (Computer Aided Design and Drafting)
applications.
One of the greatest things about owning an ST is the ease at which
we can expand our horizons and move into new areas of interest and
creativity. Desktop video applications are a joy, with all the great
color graphics and sound capabilities that are already built into our
ST's. Plug in a couple of MIDI cables, MIDI software and whatever MIDI
instruments you desire, and your ST is ready to instantly become the
best music computer in the world. Add the appropriate point-of-sale
software and your ST will be ready to run whatever kind of retail
business you desire. Pop in business software applications such as
word processing, spreadsheets or data base management programs and your
ST is ready for the business world. Add specialized software
applications for construction estimating, project management, desktop
publishing or CADD and your ST will take you through the most complex of
tasks with ease; all the while allowing you to spend your energy on
expanding your horizons and unleashing your creativity, thanks to the
ST's user-friendly operating system.
We always try to make sure our customers are aware of their Atari
computer's capabilities. In fact, we're actually using our ST's in a
variety of ways for our own productivity as well as to show our
customers how they can get the most out of their own systems. And, like
most avid Atarians, we're always adding new things to our computers to
expand our own horizons.
Last month we added a Houston Instruments DMP-61DL architectural
D-size (24" x 36") 8-pen plotter to our CADD system. And with the
Moniterm monitor, Turbo 16 and DynaCADD software, the Mega system takes
a second place to nobody when it comes to professional CADD. And the
CADD professionals who've so far seen our Atari-based CADD system in
action all agree with that assessment. The power of ISD Marketing's
DynaCADD software unleashes the graphics potential that Atari built
into the ST/Mega system, and really makes CADD as much "fun" as it is
productive.
This month's addition is the Panasonic FX-RS505 flatbed scanner.
Although Panasonic is now making their scanners available without the
previously bundled IBM interface, they still do not have a standard ST
interface available here in the U.S. or Canada, so we had to bring them
in from Germany, along with scanning software. But the effort was well
worth it; the full-page scans at 200, 300 or 400 dpi are absolutely
fantastic. We delivered the first flatbed scanner to a very happy
customer the day after we installed our own system, and have additional
desktop publishing professionals who will soon also be taking delivery
of a Panasonic scanner from us.
Serious computing! That's what the ST is best at. That's what we
most enjoy at Computer STudio. We're a "serious" computer dealer, with
"serious" computer systems, marketing the ST in a "serious" manner. Our
goal, as should be that of all Atari dealers, is to market the Atari
systems in a truly professional manner, and show anyone who comes in
that we have the best personal computer system available anywhere.
There are a plethora of computer dealers (of all brands) around the
country that really are nothing more than used-car or department store
salesmen selling computers. The Atari ST deserves better than that. It
needs to be marketed professionally, by qualified personnel who are
trained and knowledgeable in the products they're carrying.
The bottom line is this. If it can be done on a computer, it can
probably be done better, faster and easier on your ST than on most any
other computer platform. And, when it comes to normally complex high
end applications such as Desktop Publishing and professional CADD, the
ST really shines.
Serious computing -- that's what Atari computers are all about!
Happy (Atari) Computing.
Sheldon Winick (GEnie Address: S.WINICK)
Computer STudio (Asheville, NC)
/////////////////////////////////////// GEnie QWIK_QUOTE ///////
/ "Why wouldn't we be? I can disagree with someone and still /
/ like them. You should see (hear) some of "knock-down, drag- /
/ out" fights that Ralph and I have, but I still like him... /
/ even if he is wrong. <grin>" /
/////////////////////////////////////////////// LEPULLEY /////
[EOA]
[TIP]//////////////////////////////
ATARI_QWIK_TIPS /
/////////////////////////////////
Atarians Helping Atarians
"""""""""""""""""""""""""
o HARD DRIVES WOES: Adaptek Help.
o TRACKER/ST: Using TOS 1.4? You Need This Program.
o CLEANING FLOPPY DRIVES: Should You?
o PC EMULATORS: Want Speed Or Cash?
o POWER SUPPLY WOES: Give Me Power!
HARD DRIVE WOES In my own limited experience, I have found that the
""""""""""""""" Adaptek Controller was the culprit in most cases.
Most of the Adapteks have a socketed eprom, and that socket get corroded
with crud because of the blower and well its in the airway path. Reseat
that chip and use a plain (pink) pencil erase to GENTLY wipe the edge
connectors on the Adaptek to ensure solid connections of the 19 and 34
pin connectors.
Failing this, the next step would be to obtain a replacement of
either the Hard disk Mech or the Adaptek controller, my strong
suggestion is to replace the Adaptek with an OMTI 3527a RLL Controller
and reformat the drive with a true SCSI format. I did that 19 months
ago on all our in house systems (9) and the OMTI has proven to be very
reliable. The added bonus is it will seem to give new life to your
drive. (Buffered track Reads). ICD has the OMTI cards both MFM
and RLL. (ST.REPORT, CAT4, TOP2, MSG:20/M475)
TRACKER/ST All Tracker/ST users who have TOS 1.4 or above (this
"""""""""" includes Stacy owners, STe owners and some regular ST
owners who have upgraded to TOS 1.4), go to the Atari File Libraries and
download file # 17710 IMMEDIATELY. This file, called BUTTONFIX, allows
users of TOS 1.4 and above to position the cursor in Tracker/ST's text
editor and set margins with no hassle whatsoever! The infamous "double
click" syndrome is FIXED by Buttonfix. Buttonfix also eliminates
problems you may be having with Interlink, Flash, Aladdin, and Calamus.
Download it NOW if you own TOS 1.4 or above! MANY THANKS TO CHARLES
JOHNSON FOR THIS PROGRAM.
(NEVIN-S, CAT6, TOP23, MSG:69/M475)
CLEANING DRIVES Your drives do need cleaning once in awhile but only
""""""""""""""" clean them about once every 6 months to a year. The
disk cleaners are ok as long as you do not abuse them. If you use them
too much, then you will mess up the drive. Since the heads rest against
the disk, they tend to get buildup on them just like a VCR, etc. does.
They do need cleaning periodically but, the problems are usually loss of
data or not being able to read the data.
(R.WATSON15, CAT2, TOP2, MSG:35/M475)
FAST OR CHEAP? The PC Emulator business is so competitive, and people
"""""""""""""" want so much speed, that they dropped the price of PC
Speed to try to goose sales. People have been opting for AT Speed,
because it is quite a bit faster. If you are willing to live with
Nortons of about 4.0, grab the discounted PC Speed. It works just fine.
(J.NESS, CAT19, TOP9, MSG:69/M479)
POWER SUPPLIES Brother Wang apparently wasn't much for quality. I
"""""""""""""" recently bought one of the Best power supplies and can
definitely recommend it. I took the old power supply and replaced all
the capacitors on the board - cost $16, I think. The thing still worked
erratically. Then I read a tip here on GEnie that I should resolder the
heat sink connections as well. Now the thing works OK. My suggestion
is to replace all the capacitors, then resolder EVERY SINGLE CONNECTION
on the bottom side of the board.
(A.VALENT, CAT14, TOP4, MSG:130/M475)
>>>>> We've had to replace the capacitors on three power supplies, and
""""" a fourth needs them too (it has a tough time powering up when
cold). I discovered the heat sink problem this past weekend when my
MegaFile 30 would simply power down by itself (like a thermal shutdown),
then after 10-30 seconds would spin back up. One of the heat sink
solder connections was broken and depending on the temperature would
break connection. I find it amazing that Atari actually uses the heat
sink as part of the circuit!
(DOUG.W, CAT14, TOP4, MSG:131/M475)
///////////////////////////////////////// GEnie QWIK_QUOTE //////
/ "Never mind folks-I went to Aladdin and it uploaded just fine /
/ even though I didn't know what I was doing." /
///////////////////////////////////////////// W.JOHNSONJR /////
[EOA]
[MAN]//////////////////////////////
MEL'S MANOR /
/////////////////////////////////
Forget Me Nots
""""""""""""""
by Mel Motogawa
[M.MOTOGAWA]
For this article, I thought I'd share a few time-saving tips and
interesting features I've come across in some of the various programs
(pd, shareware and commercial) out for the Atari ST. Every time I
notice a neat feature in a program, it makes me want to share it with
others so they too can benefit from the thoughtful programming talents
built into much of our software. I hope you'll find some of these tips
and hints helpful in getting the most enjoyment out of your ST.
EDHAK 2.0 (Shareware by Craig Harvey) Have you ever lost a good
""""""""" amount of work when you quit a program without saving your
document? Been using your telecommunications program to capture a list
of new files and then realized your capture buffer was off? Yikes.
Well, now there's hope. Edhak 2.0, by Craig Harvey, to the rescue!
With Edhak, you can search through your system's ram for a text
string. If Edhak finds it, it will place the text and the surrounding
data in its buffer. From here, you can highlight what you want and save
it to disk or print it if you'd like. A very handy function.
Simply select "view/edit ram" from the Edhak menu. Accept the
first default of "R->B" which tells Edhak to copy the search string, if
found, into its buffer. Click on the "find" button and then enter the
text string in the dialog box that follows. Edhak will ask you if this
should be a case-sensitive search, to which I answer "no". Finally,
Edhak will ask you where you want to begin your search. I usually just
accept the default of the beginning of ram (0k in the dialog.)
You'll usually have to repeat the above process 3 or 4 times before
you find the string desired. If you're a programmer and know where to
look, that's great. A Codekeys macro will make short work of answering
all the prompts in the above setup. Don't forget that you can hit F6 to
have Edhak search the remainder of its buffer for another occurrence of
the string. But to search beyond the buffer, in the remaining ram, you
will need to go through the above procedure and when you get to the
dialog box that asks you where you want the search to begin, click on
the "->>" button. This will start the search again, just beyond the
Edhak buffer you've perused.
If the body of the text that you were looking for looks odd, try
clicking on the "text<->hack" menu item in Edhak's menu bar.
I have found a few times when even the ram search of Edhak couldn't
recover my text. Keep in mind that the more your system's memory is
rearranged after you've lost your text, the smaller the chances are
you'll find what you want. If you run a few more programs and such, the
text you're looking for may be history. But 9 times out of 10, if I
initiate my search immediately, I've recovered my text with no
problems.
(A demo version of Edhak 2.0 resides in the ST RT files section,
#16590.)
MAXIFILE 2.0 (Codehead Software) Maxifile 2.0 by Charles F. Johnson
"""""""""""" is chocked full of handy features that will give you
maximum power in manipulating the files on your hard, floppy or disk
drive.
One of my favorites is the "auto select" feature. This comes in
handy when you're trying to archive many important files to floppies and
would like to get the most mileage from that double-sided disk. Auto
select will fill your disks to the brim and you won't have to go through
the hassle of mentally calculating how many more files will fit on your
destination disk.
Just set up your source and destination paths in Maxifile. Then
shift-click on the Bytes Used counter down in the lower left-hand
corner. Doing this starts the Auto Select function and Maxifile will
read your destination disk, calculate how many files from your source
path will fit and highlight these. Now just select Copy or Move and
you're on your way. Awesome! I always get a real kick out of it when
I see Maxifile highlight just the files that will fit on my destination
path with no required interaction from me. Isn't that what I bought a
computer for anyway, to free me from such mundane tasks?
A quick click on the Bytes Used counter, without holding down the
shift key, will select all the files on the current path. Much faster
than the GEM desktop method. In the past, I've laboriously selected a
bunch of files on the GEM desktop and then accidentally clicked the
mouse at the wrong time, deselecting all my hard work. No good!
Maxifile's method is painless.
Shift-clicking on any _file_ will cause all files with that
extender to be highlighted. This is great when you want to do batch
renames on file extenders. For example, shift-click on any file with
an ".acc" extender and all your ".acc" files will instantly be high-
lighted. Then click on the "name" function of Maxifile and you'll be
able to quickly rename them to ".acx".
Have you ever copied some files to another disk and discovered late
in the operation that there wasn't enough room? Frustrating, no? In
Maxifile there is a Check Destination Space function, in the "warnings"
section. If selected, Maxifile will automatically check your source
path to see if it has enough free space _before_ it starts copying.
No more having to wait until the last few files to discover you need
more room.
(A demo of Maxifile is file #12965 in the library.)
HOTWIRE 2.3 (Codehead Software) Hotwire 2.3, also by Charles F.
""""""""""" Johnson, has a very neat feature I wish all programs
imitated. You can set the default status of all alert box buttons!
For example, if you change the path of a program installed in a Hotwire
menu slot, Hotwire asks you if you want to reset or keep the current
options for the program. The default button, the one that is
highlighted and will be acted on if you hit return, was "reset". But
by holding down the Alternate key while I clicked on "keep", it became
the new default. Saving the configuration to Hotwire made the change
permanent. I wish every program could do this with their dialog boxes.
Hotwire does it now.
Hotwire's chaining feature can be a real timesaver if you use
.ttp-type programs that exit after one use. There are various disk
checkers and program packers that will do one operation and then quit,
whereas you may have wanted to do several more operations. Just set up
the program to chain back to itself, so when it quits Hotwire will
automatically rerun it again. By placing the program in a ramdisk, the
reexecution of it will seem almost instantaneous. Hotwire also has a
built-in function for breaking out of the chain when you're done.
Neat, huh?
Since I rarely use up all the slots in my Hotwire menu's, I use
the leftover ones for reminders. You can right click on an empty menu
slot and type in up to 20 characters. Typically, the hotkeys I've
assigned to my desk accessories via PopIt (another great Codehead
program) are placed in the menu slots as headings to remind me of which
hotkey goes to which accessory. Like "Cntl-3 = Codekeys". But if you
have any information that is helpful, like a reminder of your
anniversary or such, it can be placed in an empty slot to jog your
memory every time you bootup.
Don't forget that you can left, center or right justify the
headings you assigned to the Hotwire menu slots. Just use the
appropriate justification button in the heading dialog box accessed by
right clicking on the slot. If it's a program name, you access the
heading box from the options box. Right click on the program's name in
the Hotwire main menu and then in the options box and you'll find your-
self in the heading dialog.
(A demo version of Hotwire can be found at file #15598 in the
ST RT libraries.)
DC DESKEY 3.0 (Double Click Software) I spend much of my computing
""""""""""""" time at my word processor and hate losing work to a
power outage. DC Deskey 3.0 has a very handy feature that allows you to
save your document after a given number of keystrokes. I prefer this
over a "save after X number of minutes" because sometimes I like to
"take five" away from the computer to get a snack and I don't want my
document regularly being saved every few minutes when I haven't made any
changes. DC Deskey allows you to select a GEM drop-down menu item to be
acted on after however many keystrokes you want. You can also set up a
warning bell for a certain number of keystrokes before Deskey does its
thing which let's you know what's coming up. If your word processor has
a 'save and resume' feature, like First Word Plus does, then this
function becomes nearly transparent. The auto-save kicks in and after
its done, control is returned to you. This keystroke save function is
a real lifesaver if you live in dread of frequent, unexpected blackouts.
TOS 1.4/1.6 (Atari Corporation) Yep, even the lowly GEM desktop has a
""""""""""" few little goodies perhaps you weren't aware of. With TOS
1.4/1.6, you can _move_ files from one path to another by selecting
them and then holding down the Control key as you click-and-drag them to
the destination window. You can also _abort_ any copy, move or delete
operations by holding down,
logically, the Undo key. Many dealers offer
TOS upgrades to 1.4 and if you buy an STe, it comes with 1.6 from the
factory.
CODEKEYS 1.2 (Codehead Software) Many terminal programs offer auto-
"""""""""""" dialing. If the bbs you want to call is busy, it will
dial the number again. But usually they will dial the number right
away, once they get a busy signal. I don't know about you, but it gets
on my nerves to hear my modem attack dialing a bbs over and over again
without stopping. I'd really prefer to have it wait a minute between
tries. With Codekeys, can do! Just set up a Codekeys macro that will
dial the bbs and then repeat after, say, one minute. If the number is
busy the carrier will drop in a few seconds and Codekeys will take
care of redialing the number for you. Just remember to deactivate your
repeating macro, when you finally connect, by pressing its hotkey
again.
(A demo version of Codekeys is in the ST RT library, #17508.)
BUTTON FIXER (Freeware by Charles F. Johnson) Have you noticed how
"""""""""""" some programs, under TOS 1.4, have hypersensitive slider
bars? You click once on the slider and get paged two screens or more.
No matter how fast you are at single- clicking, the system seems to
think you've clicked two or three times. If you've experienced such
behavior, be sure to d/l the freeware desk accessory Buttnfix from
GEnie (File #17710) and start enjoying being able to make use of the
slider bar. It works great and will only take up 390 bytes on your
disk. Category 32, topic 25 is devoted to Button Fixer as well.
LITTLE GREEN SELECTOR 1.8B (Shareware by Charles F. Johnson) After
"""""""""""""""""""""""""" using the Little Green Selector for the
past few years, I must confess it's hard to think about having to
double-click on a filename in the standard GEM file selector. Just
clicking the right mouse button _once_ on a filename, in the LGS, seems
so much more easier and convenient. And I'm getting more equal
distribution of wear on the buttons too. You can also left click on a
filename to put it up in the selection line and then right click on it,
up in the selection line, to make that file's extender the mask. Now
only files with that extender will be displayed. And don't forget that
a simple right-click on any of the drive buttons will give you the
important bytes free/used statistics.
I like the "Find" feature of the LGS when I need to locate a file
amidst my hodge-podge of folders quickly. It is very fast and accepts
wildcards too! For example, doing a search on "???D????.*" located a
file called "deadmail.txt" on my ST Aladdin path. When I archive whole
disks with the LZH format, I like to convert any ARC files that may be
on them to LZH's first, then let LZH store them along with the rest of
the files. LGS will sniff them out fast, even if they're nested deep
within several folders.
(The Little Green Selector 1.8b is file #17165 in the ST RT
library.)
DC SQUISH 1.4 (Double Click Software) This program compressor has
""""""""""""" really saved me a ton of disk space and does its work
well. Don't forget that you can save the configuration of DC Squish,
the status of the fastbit, tpa, keep original, alerts and destination=
source buttons by clicking on the DC Squish logo up in the upper left
hand corner of the screen. Squish will save the configuration data to
itself and the next time you boot it up it will be set just like you
left it, ready to save you more disk space.
(A demo of DC Squish is file #16660 in the ST RT library.)
MVG 2.0 (Wizworks) MVG is a terrific monochrome image editor with
""""""" more features than you can shake your ST's mouse at. I use it
for all my ST bit-image work, converting pics to different formats and
'touching up' screenshots I've captured. I'm no artist, but MVG helps
me out with a powerful array of drawing tools. Although it looks like
you will have to leave your desk accessories at home with MVG, no way
would Dr. Bob leave you in the lurch. There is a neat back-door way to
access your desk accessories in MVG 2.0. Click on the "What Be MVG"
slot under the Desk menu. In the display box that comes up, there is a
hidden button that will allow you to have access to your desk
accessories. It's right next to the "font buf" indicator, in that
little spot where there are no buttons, just grey.
Of course, an errant desk accessory could crash your system and
take your hard work with it. But I really appreciate the Dr. giving me
a choice instead of locking out access to desk accessories like some
programs do.
(A demo of MVG can be found at file #15186 in the ST RT files
section.)
[*][*][*]
Sigh. I could go on but I know that if this article gets much
longer nobody will want to d/l the magazine. :-) Oh well, if you
discover a time saving tip or feature that will help everyone else out,
don't be shy in posting a message in the appropriate category and topic
and share the wealth. I've often purchased programs on the basis of
what was discussed in the message bases in the ST Roundtable on GEnie.
They're a rich source of valuable information and often you can speak
directly to the developer. Thanks!
COMPANIES MENTIONED (With Genie ST Roundtable Category and Topic data
""""""""""""""""""" for more information on the programs described.
An asterisk (*) below means that the entire GEnie category is devoted
to the company.)
[*][*][*]
DC Deskey 3.0/DC Squish 1.4 Edhak 2.0
Double Click Software C.HARVEY - Genie
P.O. Box 741206 Clear Thinking BBS
Houston, TX 77274-1206 P.O. Box 715
(713)977-6520 Phone Ann Arbor, MI 48105
(713)944-0108 BBS Category 2, topic 40 on GEnie
Category 30 on GEnie*
MVG 2.0 TOS 1.4/1.6
Wizworks Atari Corporation
P.O. Box 45 Customer Relations
Girard, OH 44420 P.O. Box 61657
(216) 539-5623 Sunnyvale, CA 94088
Category 7, topic 5 on GEnie (408) 745-2367
Category 14 on GEnie*
Maxifile 2.0/Hotwire 2.3/Codekeys 1.2
CodeHead Software
P.O. Box 74090
Los Angeles, CA 90004
(213) 386-5735 [9am-1pm (Pacific time) Monday through Friday]
(213) 386-5789 [FAX]
Category 32 on GEnie*
Little Green Selector 1.8b
Charles F. Johnson
P.O. Box 1250
Pacific Palisades, CA 90272
Category 32, topic 15 on GEnie
/////////////////////////////////////////// GEnie QWIK_QUOTE //////
/ "I think am approaching the 70 Hours of DynaCADD use since last /
/ Friday! Whew! One of those rush jobs thats been around since /
/ November. The kind that sits on a desk until it's an emergency."/
///////////////////////////////////////////////////// REALM /////
[EOA]
[PDQ]//////////////////////////////
PD_QUICKVIEW /
/////////////////////////////////
Yours For The Asking: UNCLE2_0
""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""
By Fred H. Koch
[F.KOCH]
Program Name : Uncle Carl's Famous Disk Librarian
Filename : UNCLE3_0.ARC
Library Area : 2
Program Number : 17497
File Size : 113400
Program Type : Disk directory
Author : Carl J. Hafner [C.HAFNER]
Version Reviewed: 3.0
File Type : Shareware ($15.00)
[*] [*] [*]
WHAT IT IS This program is called a disk librarian but is closer to a
"""""""""" disk directory display/print utility.
WHAT IT DOES Uncle Carl's Famous Disk Librarian (referred to here-after
"""""""""""" as UNCLELIB), is a disk cataloging utility which works
in medium or high resolution. UNCLELIB will read all directories from
either your Floppy or Hard drive, and allow you to save this information
to disk in ASCII format. UNCLELIB will also allow you to view this
information before deciding to save it. A Print option is available,
allowing you to have a printed copy of your directory, and a Disk
Formatting option allows you to format a Floppy disk directly from the
program.
UNCLELIB saves your files as individual CJH files and allows you
to create individual folders for each disk category like GRAPHICS or
UTILITIES. You can then create each of the appropriate files in the
corresponding folder. You can also append different disk directories
to a single file providing a single list of files from multiple disks.
Most larger single file database programs require you to load the
program and then the file in order to make sense of the stored
information. Since the files in UNCLELIB are saved in strict ASCII
format you DON'T have to load the program to view or find a specific
file (although you can if you want to). Simply double-click on that
file from your Desktop to view it. If you have erased a disk you can
remove that directory from your library by simply dragging that
particular file to the Trash can. A single larger library usually
requires you to load the program and to specify fields and conditions
governing the section you wish to delete. If you like you can also
copy the CJH directory of a certain disk TO that disk. That way if you
want to know what's on that particular disk you don't have to open
every folder and look. You can simply double-click on the CJH file and
see the entire directory of that disk. Here again you don't need to load
the program to view a specific directory.
UNCLELIB includes a file display function which allows displaying
any ASCII file in a standard GEM window for forward and backward
scrolling. There is a disk label printing option which allows entering
up to 11 lines of 23 characters. Special types of printing are provided
for the label if you have an Epson compatible printer.
Other features include a SEARCH option which helps you locate
specific files within the library, a CLOCK for setting the time and
date, a Colour Palette for changing the screen colours to your
preferences and an ASCII file print function. File operations now
include Stamping, Renaming, Deleting, Verifying, Installing/Deleting
Folders and turning the Sound on or off. The renaming feature allows
using some characters which are not allowed from the GEM desktop.
A sample of the program output gives the best idea of the
information captured by UNCLELIB.
* Disk Name: Sample CJH File
~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~
B:\
CAPTURE.TXT 7,337 02:51:50 11-09-1990 | | | | | |A|
CONTROL.ACC 20,080 16:44:10 11-14-1990 | | | | | |A|
DESKTOP.INF 644 15:04:32 11-14-1990 | | | | | |A|
NEODESK.DAT 21 15:04:10 11-14-1990 | |H| | | | |
SAMPLE.FLD folder 1 15:05:28 11-14-1990 | | | | |F| |
UNCLE3_0.BAK 77,266 00:29:54 11-15-1990 | | | | | |A|
UNCLE3_0.DFN 3,572 15:09:18 11-14-1990 | | | | | |A|
UNCLE3_0.GFA 77,266 00:30:02 11-15-1990 | | | | | |A|
UNCLE3_0.LST 7,329 20:10:06 11-14-1990 | | | | | |A|
UNCLE3_0.RSC 17,446 20:10:12 11-14-1990 | | | | | |A|
GRAND TOTALS: SIZE:210961 ~ FILES:9 ~ DIRECTORIES:1
=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-
B:\SAMPLE.FLD\
SAMPLE_2.FLD folder 2 15:06:52 11-14-1990 | | | | |F| |
UNCLELI2.INF 33 14:40:44 11-14-1990 |W| | | | |A|
GRAND TOTALS: SIZE:33 ~ FILES:1 ~ DIRECTORIES:1
=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-
B:\SAMPLE.FLD\SAMPLE_2.FLD\
UNCLELIB.INF 33 20:14:14 11-14-1990 | | | | | |A|
GRAND TOTALS: SIZE:33 ~ FILES:1 ~ DIRECTORIES:0
=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-
VOLUME NAME: UNCLELIB.DSK
BYTES FREE:504832 ~ BYTES USED: 211027
TOTAL FILES:11 ~ TOTAL FOLDERS:2 ~ GRAND TOTAL:13
=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~
The last element at the far right of the display contains the file
attributes. There are five columns with the following possible values.
|W|H|S|V|F|A|
"W" means that a file is "Write protected"
"H" means that a file is "Hidden"
"S" denotes a "System file"
"V" denotes the "Volume name" (or disk name)
"F" denotes a "Folder"
"A" denotes an "Archive bit"
The search mode requests you enter a few KEY letters which may be
contained within the name of the file you are searching for. There is a
maximum input capacity of 12 characters for the Search string (the same
number of characters contained in a filename, period included). Any
file name containing the entered KEY letters will be displayed.
[*] [*] [*]
PD_Q RATING * * *
"""""""""""
DOCUMENTATION GOOD
"""""""""""""
PD_Q COMMENTS UNCLELIB is a decent disk directory lister/printer. It
""""""""""""" groups the files by folder and provides all file infor-
mation including file attributes. It allows combining multiple disk
directories into a single file, but then it requires a text editor to
update specific disks without recreating the entire file. This program
is primarily designed to create an ASCII directory of a single disk.
The main menu clears the selections after each disk read requiring
the choices to be repeated for each disk. The search function will
scroll if too many file names are displayed, and does not show the path
to the file names. This makes it only good to determine if a specified
file is on the disk, not where it is.
The label option is exited if RETURN is pressed to move to another
line instead of using the arrow keys and the BOLD print did not work on
my STAR NX-1000 printer which is an Epson compatible printer. No
printer driver editor is provided, so if any print options don't work
you are out of luck.
There are several shareware reminders that appear from time to
time. Hopefully these are eliminated from the program if you register,
but the documentation does not mention the reminders or state a version
of the program without the reminders will be sent if the program is
registered.
If you are looking for a program which will create an ASCII file
or printout of the files on a disk, you should consider this program.
//////////////////////////////////////// GEnie QWIK_QUOTE //////
/ "The only option left is a civil suit, which can take months /
/ (even years) and costs a LOT of money. In the dwindling ST /
/ market, that's not even remotely possible; we've got much /
/ better things to spend our time and money on. /
/ /
/ Where's Rambo when you need him?" /
//////////////////////////////////////////// C.F.JOHNSON /////
[EOA]
[OFF]//////////////////////////////
OFF THE RECORD /
/////////////////////////////////
Mini_Qwik_reViews
"""""""""""""""""
o LDW POWER: First Look at 2.00
o POWERMONGER: A Detailed Look
LDW POWER 2.00 The new version 2.00 of LDW Power comes with a 68-page
"""""""""""""" "Addendum #1" that covers all of the changes made to
LDW Power in versions 1.10 and 2.00. There is no file that comes on the
disk that covers its new features.
LDW Power 2.00 has been expanded to support the extended macro
command set of Lotus 1-2-3, v. 2.01, that's all. It does not claim to
run all Lotus 2.2 macros. Many of the new commands involve window
management or support the new Graphics Editor included now in LDW Power
2.00.
LDW Power 2.00 appears to me to be bug-free. The only bug that I
was aware of in the previous v. 1.10 was when your cursor rested in a
column on the far right of your screen and you executed a /Range Erase
{Insert} {Down} command, the screen became confused and displayed a
different section of the worksheet than the one you were working on. I
am _very_ pleased to report that that bug no longer exists in v. 2.00.
Other improvements in v. 2.00 include (scanning the new addendum):
o Improved window management of imported 1-2-3 files so that their
function is identical to that in 1-2-3
o Easy changes to frozen title areas by means of temporary
duplication
o Column width adjustment using the mouse and/or cursor keys
o Identification of cells with hidden "notes" by displaying them
with bold text (very handy)
o Protected cells are displayed using either color or shading
depending on which monitor you're using
o The ability to designate that you be alerted before doing a /File
Retrieve so that you can verify that you saved the worksheet
you've just finished with
o A new configuration program that allows you to delete program
features in order to increase free RAM for worksheets
o Up to 4 graph windows can be open at once (maximum of 5 total
windows)
o An additional 2 data ranges are permitted in the /Data commands
for a new total of 8 (A-H)
o A draw option allows you to add text, boxes, and lines to your
graphs
o A new /Graph Save Dump Screen command has been added for users
with printers that lacked a GDOS driver and whose only
alternative in the past was to do an Alt-Help screen dump that
gave them the GEM window as well as the graph, logarithmic scaling
can now be done on graphs instead of only normal linear scaling
o 3 new graph types (Manhatten, Stacked Line, and High-low) have
been added
o A 3-D display for graphs (nice!) has been added
o Exploding pie charts can now be created with user-selectable
shading
o 24-pin printer support is now included
o The device number for your GDOS printer is now modifiable from
within the program (in case you have more than one printer/plotter
attached to your system, I suppose)
o Grid lines can now be printed along with the worksheet provided
that the SIDEWAYS printing program is not used
I think you get the general idea.
(M.SQUIRE, CAT6, TOP2, MSG:147/M475)
POWERMONGER basically looks the same as Populous though the controls
""""""""""" are along the front as well as the left side. At the
very back (top of the screen) you can see your captains hovering over
the 3-D topographical warmap which shows the part of the map that you're
currently viewing. There's a complete map off to the left top that
shows the entire territory.
The detail is amazing. There are birds that fly all over the
screen and it shows their shadows as well. Trees and sheep dot the
landscape as well as towns which consist of farms, ranches, taverns,
townhalls, barns, ruins, towers, and workshops that you can invent
almost any of the following depending on the resources that are
available in the immediate vicinity: Catapults, Cannons, Swords, Pikes,
Bows, Boats, Ploughs, and Pots. I've made all but swords so far and it
seems that the bows along with the catapults do the most damage, but I
would think that the cannons do considerably more than the catapults.
The catapults are really nice to look at when they either lob a big rock
or they hurl greek fire and destroy some buildings. When someone dies,
their body falls to the ground and then their souls in the form of white
angels fly up the screen to Heaven. Really cute touch!
The object of the game is to conquer every territory on a rather
large map. I think it's about 10 across and I haven't gotten far enough
down to see the bottom of it, yet. So that's at least 50 territories to
conquer, though you try to go to the right and then down. It becomes
more difficult by having less resources when you begin a new territory.
You can't take your huge armies to the next one. The bottom right
territory is the hardest in the game. You can only conquer adjacent
territories and you only need to conquer 2/3 of it to move on. Some of
them are set up nicely having large roads to connect the various towns.
The two player mode is the same as Populous either via modem or
null modem cable. You can have up to two computer opponents in the game
for a total of four in the game at a time. I've only seen two other
kingdoms besides my own in my games so far. The other kings are called
Jayne III, Jos XVIII and Harold II. (I think.)
Everybody in the game has a name and a job.
Anything in the game can manipulated. That is, you can kill sheep,
chop down trees and I think shoot down carrier pigeons, though I haven't
tried this last one yet.
Another annoying point is that you have to enter in a number for
copy protection by looking at this map of a territory and comparing it
to several in the book to find the right answer. The drawings are done
in black and white some in gray scale though I guess they all are pretty
well distinctive enough.
I suppose this game could get tiring if I don't keep getting some
surprises like the different Kingdoms use different strategies when
fighting and I still don't know how to trade properly or use alliances,
yet.
If you can look at it before buying it, good, otherwise if you
like Populous or any imperialistic game I think this is a good buy for
about $40. (J.CHIN, CAT9, TOP73, MSG:44/M475)
/////////////////////////////////////////// GEnie QWIK_QUOTE //////
/ "Moving up from a floppy system to hard drive, is comparable to /
/ moving from a one bedroom apartment to large home. You have /
/ much more room to put your things." /
//////////////////////////////////////////////// S.PIERSON1 /////
[EOA]
[ATR]//////////////////////////////
ATARI CORP. ONLINE /
/////////////////////////////////
The Bottom Line @ Atari
"""""""""""""""""""""""
From Bob Brodie...
""""""""""""""""""
USER GROUPS & PIRATES? Well, I tend to disagree with it. We do let
"""""""""""""""""""""" the developers know that user groups are an
invaluable resource, and most of them acknowledge that. Some of them
will take a little more convincing, as they tend to think that the sole
reason user groups exist is to pirate software.
<No FLAMES PLEASE! THAT'S WHAT THEY SAY! HONEST!!>
However, we are in the process of forming specialized user groups
for the musicians, called the Atari MIDI Alliance. Frank Foster is the
mastermind of this project, and I hope to get it off the ground in short
order. We currently include a card with all of our products offering to
send a list of user groups out if the purchaser will send us a stamped
self addressed envelope.
Most of our ad space (such as they are) is pretty well used up
already. I hope that more of the local ads will point to the dealers,
and the dealers will be involved with the local user groups. In my old
group, we were very active in all of our local dealers. Made sure that
they had copies of our newsletter, flyers about the group, and tried to
help promote the dealer as well. For example, one of our dealers was
(is) Computer Games Plus. They worked with us to schedule a GAME DAY
where we set up a number of computers throughout the room, each with a
NEW game that they were selling. It gives people an honest chance to
try before they buy, and was a big hit. Of course, if you don't have
a dealer close by, that can present a problem.
From Ken Badertscher...
"""""""""""""""""""""""
ULTRASCRIPT? Looks like we have a lack of communication between QMS/
"""""""""""" Imagen and Atari. Atari does not have the rights to the
UltraScript program, so there is no way we can fix the problems. They
own the source code, it was programmed by them, and it is being co-
marketed by us.
Probably the person that you contacted at QMS/Imagen didn't realize
that Atari doesn't have the source code. That wouldn't surprise me,
because of the way personnel have been shuffling around there for the
past few months. It's just an unfortunate consequence of their re-
organization.
As far as UltraScript ST goes... Atari can't fix the program if
Atari doesn't have the rights to modify it, much less the source code!
I'd love to see some arrangements made so that it can be fixed, though.
>>>>> Do not use the number returned by appl_init() as an indicator of
""""" whether or not your program is running as a DA. It will almost
certainly change in the future.
From John Townsend...
"""""""""""""""""""""
SECURITY PROBLEMS To be honest the biggest problem is security. We
""""""""""""""""" released a beta version of TOS 1.4 to developers and
the version went all over creation. It was even uploaded to the ST RT
here on GEnie several times.
We can't have RAM-loaded versions of TOS being leaked into the
general public. We can't support them. We don't _want_ to support
them.
So, how do we solve the problems of RAM-based TOS versions making
their way onto BBS systems and into the hands of general users?
SHAREWARE THOUGHTS Another point.. you should never expect shareware
"""""""""""""""""" contributions. I think that's a bad way of looking
at it. If you write programs and release them to the public expecting
the "bucks to start rolling in" you are in for a serious disappointment.
On the other hand, if you release something that has wide appeal
and it is found to be useful to people in general, you will probably
start to see some contributions and feedback on your program.
DoublePage III from Doug Wheeler is one such program I am aware of.
PinHead from Charles Johnson is another.
I guess the point that I am trying to make is that you should hang
in there, not get discouraged, and keep writing code. Find some hole
in the market out there that isn't filled and fill it. Find some new
angle that will get you some recognition for your efforts. "If at first
you don't succeed, try, try again.." Or something like that! :)
ODDS & ENDS The TT computers that are now shipping and being built
""""""""""" have 720K drives in them. This could possibly change in
the future. We would like to include 1.44 megabyte floppies, but there
are technical and supply problems that must be overcome before this can
happen. Officially, I do not know when (or if) we will begin making TT
machines with 1.44 megabyte floppies.
>>>>> The latest revision of HDX software should accompany Mega STE
""""" machines. Every ST/TT machine should run FOLDRXXX.PRG. Other
than that.. I don't think there are any other programs needed.
Certainly none of the patches that we have released. Those are all
fixed in the ROM revision present inside the Mega STE.
From John Jainschigg
""""""""""""""""""""
ATARI EXPLORER OOOOOH! OOOOH! Clayton Walnum just called and asked me
"""""""""""""" to check into the Explorer topic ... I've had my head
buried in a C compiler for the past couple days (yes, yes, PHONE.ACC
... I know ...) ... And WOW! All this positive feedback! I can't
believe it! You actually LIKE the magazine? Shee ... (shufflin' feet)
... I'm like ... really delighted to hear that people are getting their
issues.
In case anybody HASN'T gotten their issue, or wants to subscribe,
or something like that, our new customer service phone and address are:
Atari Explorer Customer Service PO Box 6488 Duluth, MN 55806 (218)
723-9202
This should NOT be confused with our editorial/advertising address
and phone: Atari Explorer Magazine 29-05 Broadway Astoria, NY 11106
(718) 545-2900 Fax: (718) 545-8200
And yes, the next issue should be out within some sort of window of
opportunity roughly corresponding to a normal bimonthly publication
schedule.
From David Cagle
""""""""""""""""
PORTFOLIO TALK You should always turn off the Portfolio when inserting
"""""""""""""" or removing any peripheral (RAM card, parallel
interface, etc.) UNLESS it is specifically stated that it is ok not to
do so.
One reason is that while a RAM card is inserted in the Portfolio,
it is getting the power to remember the data stored on it from the
Portfolio's battery supply. Simply removing the card from the system
without powering down may cause a momentary lack of power to the card
which could cause you to lose the data on the card.
Another reason is that the Portfolio goes out and polls for
peripherals when powered on. If you were to plug on a serial interface
or such without powering down then up again, the Portfolio might not
know that the interface had been plugged in, thus causing some problems
when you first go to access it.
>>>>> 512k RAM Expansion......$299.00 Compact plug-in module adds
""""" 512k to Portfolio RAM. Total memory size is 636k. User may
increase size of C: drive and/or program memory. Low power consumption
with battery backup. Expansion bus is preserved for use with standard
peripherals. That's all I have...for more info, call XoteriX at
818-888-7390.
From Jim Tittsler
"""""""""""""""""
KEYBOARD SWITCH Trying to install a Stacy keyboard into a ST, Mega, or
""""""""""""""" STe would be a pain. The Stacy keyframe is a simple
switch matrix that does not include the ikbd microcontroller that is
part of the ST/Mega/TT keyframes. In Stacy, the microcontroller has
been moved onto the memory board (and the mouse/joystick connectors onto
the motherboard). (It is the same matrix layout as the ST however, so
it's not impossible... just quite messy.)
TT TALK The TT video is at (near) VGA speeds. It will not directly
""""""" Genlock to an NTSC or PAL frequency signal. (Of course you
could add a different video card on the VMEbus...)
The TT RAM (Fast RAM) goes on expansion board that plugs into the
TT030.
The timing of the TT color video is not the same as VGA. If your
VGA monitor has horizontal and vertical width and position controls you
may be able to adjust it to display the TT video adequately. It is
really intended to be used with the Atari monitor (or an adjustable
multi-sync).
[*][*][*]
Do you have a question about or for Atari? Did you know that the
Atari ST RoundTable is your direct line to the Atari Corp? Bob Brodie
[BOB-BRODIE], John Townsend [TOWNS], Jim Tittsler [JTITTSLER], David
Cagle [DAVID.CAGLE] and Ken Badertscher [K.BAD], John Jainschigg
[EXPLORER], Dan McNamee [D.MCNAMEE], (among others) are all frequent
visitors to the RT bulletin board and can sometimes even be found
online in the Wednesday night Realtime Conferences. Interested in
hearing what they have to say? Look to this column to hear it straight
from Atari: The Bottom Line.
/////////////////////////////////////// GEnie QWIK_QUOTE //////
/ "I'd have been a FOOL to write anything expecting to make a /
/ killing off shareware contributions. /
/ /
/ <I might have been a fool even to do what I DID do! But I /
/ DID manage to stay married through all that programming!"> /
///////////////////////////////////////////// W.WOOTAN //////
[EOA]
[ALD]//////////////////////////////
ST ALADDIN ONLINE /
/////////////////////////////////
ST Aladdin And You
""""""""""""""""""
"I used to believe that Flash! was the end-all be-all, but for
GEnie you can't beat ST Aladdin (once you get the reins on it).
I get more messages and faster with ST Aladdin. Even had a race:
ST Aladdin won, IMHO, hands down. (by a lot more than a nose,
like GEnie 22 min, Flash! 47 min)."
Wally Wallster
HINTS_TRICKS_&_TIPS
"""""""""""""""""""
NO HARD DRIVE? There are two ways I would recommend. If you don't
"""""""""""""" call many RTs AND you call frequently, you could try
setting yourself up a small (maybe 400K) RAMdisk and putting the data
files (the RT- specific) stuff on it. Otherwise, set yourself up that
same RAMdisk and copy ST Aladdin (along with configuration files, etc.)
to it - then change floppies and run Aladdin from the RAMdisk, with all
the data files on the floppy. This will be slower, but you get more
room. (DAEDWARDS, CAT1, TOP3, MSG:8/10/M1000)
DISAPPEARING MESSAGES? Since the new version will be out soon, this
"""""""""""""""""""""" may be moot. But I found a rather odd way of
retrieving replies that have been mysteriously erased. You create a
reply and then hit Esc to save it. You then check the "Roundtable"
menu and notice that "Edit-Delete Replies" is greyed out! Ouch! Your
reply is gone. Well, move the mouse over to the "Library" menu and
click on "Choose Download-Browse". Then go back over to the
"Roundtable" menu and check the status of "Edit-Delete Replies".
I know it sounds funky, but it's worked for me twice now. Don't
ask me why this will cause a deleted message to come back. Thought it
might save someone a little grief until 1.2 hits the file section.
(M.MOTOGAWA, CAT5, TOP1, MSG:4/M1000)
KEYBOARD COMMANDS
"""""""""""""""""
prev = left-arrow
next = right-arrow
line down = down-arrow
line up = up-arrow
page down = space bar
page down = shift & down-arrow
page up = shift & up-arrow
first = shift & left-arrow
last = shift & right-arrow
prev topic = control & left-arrow
next topic = control & right-arrow
(K.TROESCH, CAT5, TOP1, MSG:514/M1000)
CLEARING THE D/L FILES I you want to erase a particular d/l listing,
"""""""""""""""""""""" just go into the Data folder and erase the .DAT
.FMK .IDX for each listing you want to get rid of.
(S.PIERSON1, CAT2, TOP3, MSG:90/M1000)
PROBLEMS? If you're watching the screen when Aladdin hits some line
""""""""" noise that fouls up one of its commands to GEnie (resulting
in ST Aladdin waiting for an expected GEnie prompt that never comes),
you can just click on FIX at the top of the terminal screen. This will
force ST Aladdin to go on with its next task.
To prevent a long unproductive amount of time when something like
this happens when you are not attending your system, make sure you don't
have a long timeout period specified in your Configuration screen. When
the timeout period has elapsed and ST Aladdin hasn't received its
expected prompt from GEnie, ST Aladdin will disconnect your modem from
the line. If you have a long timeout period specified, it may appear
that ST Aladdin has locked up, but it really hasn't (if everything is
working right). (JEFF.W, CAT1, TOP10, MSG:5/M1000)
/////////////////////////////////////////// GEnie QWIK_QUOTE /////
/ "Sometimes us programmer types just have too much faith in the /
/ goodness of the human spirit and when we see evidence that it /
/ just ain't so then we get a little goofy." /
/////////////////////////////////////////////// C.WALTERS1 /////
[EOA]
[LIB]//////////////////////////////
THE ONLINE LIBRARY /
/////////////////////////////////
Get It While It's Hot!
""""""""""""""""""""""
>>> CHECK IT OUT! <<<
"""""""""""""""""""""
ATTENTION ALL DC DESKTOP OWNERS! We have just uploaded a new extension
"""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""" for the DC Desktop: DC DESKTOP AUTO
SELECTOR. With DC Desktop AUTO (DCD AUTO) you can choose which DC
Desktop modules to load everytime you bootup. You can also choose
resolution and default CABINETs on bootup! All using a graphical
interface from the AUTO folder!
o DCD AUTO also has presets, so you can setup predefined programs,
rez and default CABINET!
o DCD AUTO is a SIGNIFICANT enhancement to the DC Desktop. You
must get it!
Also (the best part possibly) you MOVE all of your DC Desktop
programs from the AUTO folder into your DC Desktop Information directory
and put DCD_AUTO.PRG in their places! DCD AUTO will execute the ones
you choose!
DCD AUTO uses only 256 bytes of memory and causes absolutely _no_
memory fragmentation on bootup as a result of executing the programs!
This is one slick enhancement! A very special Season's gift from us
to our DC Desktop users! BTW - the file is #17672 in library 2.
(DOUBLE-CLICK, CAT30, TOP3, MSG:72/M475)
PHA$AR & TAXES I have prepared a file PTAX_90.ARC which should soon be
"""""""""""""" available. It is a step by step procedure for updating
the tax program of PHA$AR for the recent tax changes for the current
year. (J.MEEHAN3, CAT6, TOP13, MSG:100/M475)
BOWLING SECRETARY Version 5.01 of 'The Bowling Secretary' is now
""""""""""""""""" available for downloading. This file has many new
features that should make the secretaries job a little easier. This
version corrects _all_ of the errors that I was made aware of that were
in the earlier versions (3.0-4.01) and _should_ work correctly. If you
have any problems, leave a message here where I (or anyone else) can
help you with them. It will be a whole lot faster than sending regular
US Mail. And if you use ST Aladdin to send it it will be cheaper too!!
(R.JOHNSON, CAT2, TOP4, MSG:1/M475)
ADD_A_CLOCK One of my STs does not have a clock card. I found a
""""""""""" program called TX-CLOCK.LZH (file 17566) that seems to
work great. It allows easy update of the time and date. It also stores
the current date/time to the drive so if you do not input the current
data, it will use what is one the drive. This at least gives a more
current version than what is in the ROM.
(D.CHARTER, CAT32, TOP2, MSG:56/M475)
STOS PATCHES The first is STSFIX14.LZH and will upgrade STOS to run on
"""""""""""" TOS 1.4 machines. It will be file #17886. The second is
the STOS upgrade to allow STOS and compiled programs (when compiled
after the upgrade) to run on all machines up to TOS 1.6 (maybe even
higher, read the docs!). I am sorry, but I am not sure if you must
already be upgraded to TOS 1.4 before the TOS 1.6 will work. The TOS
1.4 fix isn't that big, so if you aren't already upgraded to 1.4, I
suggest you do that first...and always work on backup copies! The
second file is called, appropriately, STSFIX16.LZH and will be file
#17888 (hopefully). Happy STOSing!
(R.MARTIN22, CAT3, TOP9, MSG:75/M475)
FIDONET UTILITY It just occurred to me that I forgot to post a message
""""""""""""""" in this topic concerning LED which I uploaded a couple
of weeks ago. Not only did I forget, but I also deleted the text I
wanted to use. As some of you have already seen, file #17851,
LED10ENG.LZH, has been uploaded to file library 7. This file is intend-
ed for FidoNet users running The-Box Messagebase and BinkleyTerm 2.40.
(F.BELL1, CAT8, TOP18, MSG:1/M475)
D O U B L E-P A G E I V Includes all the features of version III
"""""""""""""""""""""""" plus:
- True GEM application with menu bar
- Support 1x132 printouts as well as 2x80
- Allows complete editing of the page header
- Allows the header and border to be turned off
- Simplifies selecting arbitrary tab sizes
- Supports the new .FFT small, fast font file format
- Supports alternate printers through loadable drivers (only SLM
included)
- Allows for wildcard (and multiple wildcard) printouts
- SLM driver automatically detects the SLM device number
- Allows pages to be collated
- Has option for audio alerts when user interaction is required
- Print speed has been increase greatly
- Overstrike printing is support
This is all available in file #17990 - DUBLPAG4.LZH
(DOUG.W, CAT14, TOP11, MSG:129/M475)
TWO COLUMN PRINTER I just uploaded a new release of TWO COLUMN PRINTER
"""""""""""""""""" (2COLUMNS.PRG) to the library. It's file #17910.
New features in Release 4 . . .
o True Tabs: A tab will now cause printing to jump to the next tab
stop rather than to just skip a constant number of spaces. Only
regular tab spacing is supported but this is adjustable. This
feature is mainly useful to people printing source code who want
TWO COLUMN PRINTER's output to match their editors.
o Blank Line Filter: There is now a limit to the number of blank
lines in a row that will print. This keeps paper from being
wasted when files contain long series of blank lines. The size
of this "filter" is adjustable.
o Repair "botched printout" option: Ever had a long printout go
bad when your printer ate the last few sheets? Maybe you've
misloaded your paper at the start of side two? With previous
versions all you could do was reprint the whole file. Release 4
will allow you to print selected pages only and to skip the ones
that came out right the first time.
o Lower memory requirements: There is a new printing mode that
allows much bigger files to be printed under tight memory
conditions.
o Aladdin Manual: Several changes were made so it would do a
better job of printing the raw version of GEnie's Aladdin manual.
o A couple bugs were fixed and cosmetics on "big screen" were
cleaned up.
TWO COLUMN PRINTER is a FREE program. Enjoy.
(JWC-OEO, CAT1, TOP9, MSG:49/M475)
/////////////////////////////////////////// GEnie QWIK_QUOTE ////
/ "[Spectre] 3.0 is truly amazing, behaves exactly like a real /
/ Mac, with one exception - it doesn't seem to ever crash; I /
/ got curious about the crash page as it just wouldn't show up, /
/ nothing was crashing, I had to wait 3 days to see it." /
////////////////////////////////////////////// J.WHEELER4 /////
[EOA]
[RTC]//////////////////////////////
NIGHTS OF THE ROUNDTABLES /
/////////////////////////////////
Wednesday Night Fun!
""""""""""""""""""""
ST Real-Time-Conferences Highlights
"""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""
~ January 2 & January 9 ~
BUTTON FIX
''''''''''
<[Bad Ken] K.BAD> Problem is, J.M., we aren't sure of the real cause of
the problem. BUTTNFIX is like an aspirin. It fixes
the symptoms, but the double-event bug is a mysterious
disease.
<[Larry Rymal] LRYMAL> Would the double-event bug be related to the so
called "phantom typist"?
<[Bad Ken] K.BAD> Probably not, Larry. Different things cause the
phantom typist, from what I understand of it.
<[Bad Droog] C.F.JOHNSON> Larry: I don't think so. The PT is an
interrupt-related thing.
<[Dan] GRIBNIF> naw, the phantom typist is on all versions of TOS
<[Larry Rymal] LRYMAL> Otay, just wondering.... I haven't been hit by
the PT for months now. KNOCK, KNOCK
<[NevMan] NEVIN-S> By the way, folks BUTTONFIX is file 17710. D/L it
if you have TOS 1.4.
<DAVESMALL> Does TOS 1.6 or 2.0 require buttonfixing?
<[The Ninja] J.ROY18> Small, yes.
<[NevMan] NEVIN-S> Davesmall, YES. I tested the problem on the TT
and it remains.
LANGUAGES
'''''''''
<DAVESMALL> J.D. That's an interesting idea. I've found that the best
way of learning a language is to set a task in it and go
for it.
<DAVESMALL> I did an 8080 emulator to learn 68000, for instance.
<[Mad Mike] M.ALLEN14> Dave - sounds like me. I learned 6502 assembly
by writing a PILOT interpreter!
STALKER 3.0
'''''''''''
<[Matt] M.WEILERT2> I use, recommend and ENJOY!!! STalker!
<[Bad Ken] K.BAD> Aladdin is better for getting GEnie messages, but
STalker is what I use for general purpose
telecommunicating.
<[Bad Ken] K.BAD> The newest beta stalker has some *incredible*
programmability.
<[Rebel] OUTRIDER> Is STalker still getting updated? I haven't
heard anything new on it lately.
<[Bad Ken] K.BAD> Absolutely, Terry. Beta 3.0 is nearly out of beta.
<[Bad Ken] K.BAD> STalker 3.0 that is (I'm beta testing 2 beta 3.0's
these days ;)
<DOUG.W> STalker 3.0 beta is a bit overwhelming!
<[Bad Ken] K.BAD> The programming language in STalker is INCREDIBLE.
<[Bad Ken] K.BAD> You can do *anything* with it.
<[The Ninja] J.ROY18> Why not Alpha instead of beta?
<[Matt] M.WEILERT2> Ken, is he e-mailing update notices?
<[Rebel] OUTRIDER> What can you guys tell me about STalker v3.0? :^)
<[Bad Dot] D.A.BRUMLEVE> There is an Alpha, but it's not the Beta.
<[The Ninja] J.ROY18> Outrider, scripts, zmodem...
SADAMFIX.PRG
''''''''''''
<M.JONES52> Hi, John. I'm looking forward to your new program.
<[Sysop] JEFF.W> New program? Which is that, Jonesy?
<M.JONES52> SADDAMFIX.PRG
<J.EIDSVOOG1> You mean SADAMFIX
<M.JONES52> yep!
<J.EIDSVOOG1> Yeah, Jeff, you got it, 1/15
<[Sysop] JEFF.W> What will SADAMFIX.PRG do, John?
<J.EIDSVOOG1> Actually CFJ and I have written a nifty little program
for use with Aladdin.
<J.EIDSVOOG1> It's called DATENAME and will rename files with a date.
<J.EIDSVOOG1> For instance, ST_IN.TXT would be renamed to
ST_IN01.91 (today)
<M.JONES52> John, I like it. When can we get it?
<[Sysop] JEFF.W> Oh, I think I understand, John. Sounds neat!
<J.EIDSVOOG1> We'll upload it within the next couple of days...free.
<J.EIDSVOOG1> It takes a command line so you can have it work on as
many files as you want.
<J.EIDSVOOG1> When chained to Aladdin in HotWire it does it
automatically.
<[Sysop] JEFF.W> So, John, it would take the daily archive files,
for instance, and rename them?
<J.EIDSVOOG1> Yes, and you can direct them to a folder if you want.
<J.EIDSVOOG1> It solves the "huge file" problem.
<[Sysop] JEFF.W> John --- Cool! I'm looking forward to it!
HAVING FUN!
'''''''''''
<[RinTinTin] DAVESMALL> is here.
<[RinTinTin] DAVESMALL> is not here.
<[RinTinTin] DAVESMALL> has left.
<[RinTinTin] DAVESMALL> has left.
<[Grimmy] OUTRIDER> <grin>
<[Fred] FB> doesn't know.
<[Julius] ISD2> has right.
<[Blackhawk] R.OLSEN5> Make up your mind Dave
<[Julius] ISD2> has left.
<[Grimmy] OUTRIDER> is laughing.
<[Paul] P.SWANSON3> only here in spirit.
<[Sysop] JEFF.W> Poor guy didn't know if he was coming or going.
<[Flash] C.DURANTE> Hi Dave, Bye Dave...
<[JR] J.WENZEL2> <--- Is confused
<[Grimmy] OUTRIDER> is leaving.
<[Sysop] JEFF.W> Toodles, Grimmy.
<[Grimmy] OUTRIDER> has what?
<[Grimmy] OUTRIDER> has left.
<[Blackhawk] R.OLSEN5> has left.
<[Paul] P.SWANSON3> has right.
<[JR] J.WENZEL2> has TT
<[Yowser] J.EIDSVOOG1> has rift
<[Paul] P.SWANSON3> hasn't yet
<[Flash] C.DURANTE> Hazy at best...
<[Yowser] J.EIDSVOOG1> has n'pfeffer.
<[Cary] CGEE> Hmm..I need a beer...
[*][*][*]
GET IN ON THE FUN! On Wednesday evening of each week, you can find
"""""""""""""""""" Realtime Conference sysop, [JEFF.W] (Jeff Williams)
in RTC room one, along with several ST users and developers. JEFF.W and
company can probably help you with many of the GEnie or ST questions and
problems you might have. Stop by on Wednesday evenings starting at
10:00 pm Eastern for help for your problems and maybe even some rumors
and gossip!
//////////////////////////////////////// GEnie QWIK_QUOTE //////
/ "What do you mean "not a real computer?" Ha! This computer /
/ is way b-- hey! my computer's melting! aaaah! it's melting.../
/ melting... xcvmxfdk /
/ /
/ NO CARRIER /
/////////////////////////////////////////////// C.EBERLE /////
[EOA]
[LYN]//////////////////////////////
HOOKING UP WITH LYNX /
/////////////////////////////////
Atari Game Power!
"""""""""""""""""
>>> LYNX ODDS & ENDS <<<
""""""""""""""""""""""""
SHANGHAI RELEASED! Atari releases yet another cartridge for the Lynx:
"""""""""""""""""" Shanghai (part #: PA 2063) - $39.95
Shanghai is based on an ancient Chinese game call Mah-Jongg. The
object of the game is to remove pairs of tiles from a pile of 144 tiles
so that the last move of the game is to remove the last pair of tiles.
The game Shanghai allows you to play the traditional, or Dragon,
shaped pile of tiles. It also allows you to play different shaped
piles, such as Bear or Fish. While playing the game, it keeps track of
how many tiles are left in the pile and how long you have been playing.
Your score is not only how many tiles you removed, but how long it took
you to do it, and how many hints you needed to do it.
You can play Shanghai in four different modes: Solitaire (Single-
player), Two-player Alternating Competitive (The players take turns of
10 seconds in length to remove tiles from the pile), Simultaneous
Competitive (Two players remove tiles from the same pile at the same
time), and Cooperative (Both players work to clear the puzzle as quickly
as possible). The Two-Player modes are only accessed when you have two
Lynx systems linked together using the comlynx cable that comes with
your Lynx system.
(DAVID.CAGLE, CAT36, TOP2, MSG:145/M475)
LYNX DEVELOPERS Finally, got the developer info I was looking for from
""""""""""""""" Atari's Lombard office. There are currently 12
registered Lynx Developers: Alpine Software, APTI Game Systems, Color
Dreams, Cyber Labs, John Handy, Knight Technologies, Lore Games (UK),
Loricel (France), Reflex Software, Shadowsoft, Telegames USA, and US
Gold (UK). I'm contacting these companies and hopefully I'll have some
info on what they're working on in time for the next issue of APE.
(C.SMITH89, CAT36, TOP5, MSG:145/M475)
LYNX REPAIRS The Lynx is currently not a dealer-serviceable item. If
"""""""""""" the back light goes out, you'll need to return it to
Atari for replacement with another Lynx.
If it happens during the 90-day warranty, we'll replace it for
free. If it happens after the 90-day warranty expires, the cost of
replacing the Lynx is $90.
For more info on this procedure, call our Customer Relations people
at 408-745-2367 or 408-745-5759.
(DAVID.CAGLE, CAT36, TOP5, MSG:120/M475)
LYNX: INSIDE INFO For those of you who own a Lynx and would like some
""""""""""""""""" "inside info" on it, be sure to pick up the Jan/Fed
1991 issue of Atari Explorer magazine. It really goes into detail
concerning how the system works and access the information on the cards.
Definitely worth the $2.95 cost of the issue.
(DAVID.CAGLE, CAT36, TOP5, MSG:122/M475)
>>> HINTS & TIPS <<<
""""""""""""""""""""
GOT A SCRATCH? To solve the problem of scratching the Lynx screen
"""""""""""""" invest in the $4.99 (list) Lynx SunScreen, its
definitely worth it. As far as the power supply/game carts I wouldn't
worry about it to much, the contacts to the games are protected by the
plastic holders. I'm very happy with my Lynx Kit case :)
(ERIDDLE, CAT36, TOP5, MSG:150/M475)
>>>>> Hint for screen cleaning... I have seen Lynx screens get
""""" scratched by wiping them with a soft cotton cloth. In order to
avoid this, I ran to my local optometrist (i.e. eye doctor ;-) and
bought a $5.00 cloth for cleaning glasses. Make sure when you get your
cloth that it works with plastic lenses. I am not talking about
disposable wipes, I am talking about a special material cloth that
should outlast your Lynx. It is a heavy silky material and completely
non-abrasive. (A.FRIESEN, CAT36, TOP5, MSG:146/M475)
>>>>> I have found that the spray-on plastic polish designed for
""""" cleaning compact discs works wonders in taking out small
scratches on the Lynx screen. A quick spray and wipe every 3-4 weeks
keeps my Lynx screen nice and clean and virtually scratch free.
(STACE, CAT36, TOP5, MSG:144/M475)
LYNX MINI_REVIEWS Hi all, I feel like giving my feelings a few games
""""""""""""""""" so sit tight...
SLIME WORLD is definitely one of the best. When I first got it I was
''''''''''' disappointed with it, and I let it sit around. Then one
weekend, I sat down and played it. I got through levels 1-3 and stopped
halfway through level 4. I don't know why but I suddenly got into the
game that day. Slime World is not a game you can just sit down and play
for 5 minutes. If you have 30 minutes or more, read the story (i.e.
diary) and give it a try. I really got into the game--started thinking
about the characters etc.
CHIPS CHALLENGE is also a very good game. I spent a lot of time with
''''''''''''''' it.
KLAX's sounds are truly incredible. I wish all of the games had this
'''''' great sounds. It is also a very good game.
XENOPHOBE is very good. I never played the arcade version, but it
''''''''' sure beats the Nintendo version I played.
MS. PACMAN I have some trouble with Ms. Pac Man. Firstly, this game
'''''''''' is crying for a joystick . I often end up turning too soon
or too late or the wrong way. In fact I have not played a game where at
least 2 of my lives were lost due to the little Ms. not going where I
wanted her to go. It is the only game for the Lynx that the Nintendo
version is better than.
ROADBLASTERS is crying for a steering wheel. Actually though, now
'''''''''''' that I have gotten used to the controls it is a fairly
good game. Due to the inaccuracy of steering with a control pad, I have
never finished with a Multiplayer greater than 7. (I usually finish the
arcade with a 10).
RAMPAGE is just plain boring. I am sure it would be really good com-
''''''' lynxed, but no one I know has Rampage so I cannot test my
theory. The music is also poor, and sometimes sounds exactly like
Chip's Challenge (i.e. they were too lazy to write their own music and
simply copied it from Chip's).
ZARLOR MERCENARY I also own Zarlor Mercenary, but I just got it
'''''''''''''''' yesterday so I haven't had a lot of time with the
game. From what I can tell, it is a good shoot 'em up and is even
better when 4 players are Lynxed together.
PAPER BOY I don't own, but have played Paper Boy, and I was extremely
''''''''' disappointed with the sound and the graphics and the game-
play and the music. (A.FRIESEN, CAT36, TOP23, MSG:11/M475)
/////////////////////////////////////////// GEnie QWIK_QUOTE ////
/ "I have seen the error in my ways!! I took a chickens foot /
/ and waved it over the computer then used a shrunken head /
/ dipped in anti-freeze and it works now. :-)" /
/////////////////////////////////////////////////// REALM /////
[EOA]
[BUG]//////////////////////////////
GOING BUGGY? /
/////////////////////////////////
Problems & Solutions
""""""""""""""""""""
In GOING BUGGY? you will find messages that have been posted by RT
members that have found a problem, a virus or an unusual situation with
a particular piece of software or hardware. We
will also re-print their
solutions (if any).
It's important to remember that just because someone says they have
found a bug or caught a virus, that things are not always as they seem.
There is the possibility that they may be having a problem with a
conflicting desk accessory or auto-program or it could even be hardware
related and specific only to their set-up.
[*][*][*]
LDW You are having the LDW Power graph problem (no text) because of
""" having Turbo ST 1.4 installed. However, I hasten to add that the
latest version of Turbo ST (1.82, soon to be 1.84) does not have that
problem any longer so the true answer to your problem is to upgrade your
copy. Questions on upgrading may be directed to Wayne Buckholdt, the
program's author, by posting a note over in Category 2, Topic 16.
(M.SQUIRE, CAT6, TOP2, MSG:136/M475)
DC DESKTOP On folder files, I found a bug this week concerning this
"""""""""" and saving from the desktop using the <ALTERNATE>+<LEFT
SHIFT> save desktop key combination. What will happen is you will lose
the path info in this file. Instead of using the desktop keys (until
we release the next patch program), just save the desktop from the DC
Icon Installer program. It saves the folder path file correctly.
>>>>> See my reply in the STalker section. It is a conflict of
""""" KEYSTROKES assigned in DC Desktop and STalker/STeno. Basically,
you are pressing a key combination in STalker/STeno which DC Desktop
thinks should run a program or call up a module. To alleviate this,
just reassign the keys in DC Desktop to not be the same as those used
in STalker/STeno.
We do have STalker/STeno, so we'll look into fixing this. We have
fixed it for other DAs, so it'll just take some looking in to.
(DOUBLE-CLICK, CAT30, TOP3, MSG:66/M475)
ANOTHER VIRUS Unfortunately, there is an undocumented feature in the
""""""""""""" operating system that allows for the possibility of a
bootsector virus that does not look like it is executable (the checksum
can be anything at all). There is a "do everything" virus checker from
the U.K. that detects this type, among others. All of the viruses that
are in the U.S. now seem to be of the type that use the checksum,
though, and not this other type.
(GRIBNIF, CAT2, TOP27, MSG:8/M475)
SPECTRE USERS Again, for everyone, when using 6.0.x System, it is
""""""""""""" ESSENTIAL to use Installer. Installer gets rid of
hidden stuff you don't see and plays all sorts of magic you can't do
easily; it is far from "dragging system and finder" anymore to update to
a new system. We always use Installer to update our Mac IIfx's here at
Gadgets (just got #2) and for any Spectre application; you must too to
get reliable operation. Otherwise, you're just asking for crashes...
(DAVESMALL, CAT4, TOP52, MSG:81/M475)
NEODESK HELP As you figured out, if you are autobooting NeoDesk 3
"""""""""""" together with MultiDesk you MUST have an extra copy of
NEOLOAD.PRG in the AUTO folder. This is the way it was designed to run.
>>>>> It seems the Print Queue's form feed option is -broke-. This
""""" should be easy enough to fix in the next minor revision. In the
meantime, you can remove the printer queue and print directly to the
printer icon. If you saved the queue printer settings with "Save
Configuration...", NeoDesk 3 will remember those settings even without
the queue loaded. Therefore, it will correctly issue a form feed after
every file (though you will lose the ability to print in the
background).
>>>>> If you were getting a crash when changing resolution or warm-
""""" booting from NeoDesk 3 and you are using an ICD host adaptor
with ICD software, we may have found the cause of the problem and how to
fix it. Since we were unable to duplicate this problem on our ICD
setup, we are not sure if this fixes it. What we do know is the
following:
1. ICD, who has been helping us all along in trying to find the cause
of this problem, found a bug in their previous HD_UTIL program.
If you had installed the previous version of the ICD booter with
this HD_UTIL, you would suffer the before mentioned problems.
2. Fixing this problem in the HD_UTIL and using the newer fixed
version to install the ICD software on the hard disk made the
problems go away on ICD's system.
I am a little hesitant to openly declare "the problem is fixed"
until a couple more people who have experienced this problem are also
able to resolve it with the new version of the ICD HD_UTIL (it uploaded
by ICD last night).
So, if you were one of the people having this problem, could you
please try installing the new version of the ICD software with the new
version of the HD_UTIL and see if that fixes the problem? Once I get a
couple more positive responses, we can then openly declare the problem
fixed. (R.FLASHMAN, CAT17, TOP14, MSG:198/199/M475)
WARNING Unfortunately the REVERSI.ACC from STart is one of the most
""""""" misbehaved desk accessories out there. It does lots of things
in a very questionable manner. I'm not surprised to hear that it
interferes with the operation of _any_ program.
(K.BAD, CAT6, TOP1, MSG:709/M475)
SUPREMACY LOCK-UP I think I may have found a solution to the lock-ups
""""""""""""""""" in Supremacy. Use one of the 50hz booter programs
to run it. I've not had a lock up since I've done this.
(D.LEMAY2, CAT9, TOP15, MSG:9/M475)
VIRUS AGAIN? I just picked up the January issue of Atari ST User (UK
"""""""""""" mag) and the latest Vkiller shows both disks as ? (not
sure). This is the same magazine that last month had the Green Goblin
virus found on it's cover disk.
(WAYNED., CAT12, TOP16, MSG:72/M475)
>>>>> Yes, it appears that the January issue of ST User went out with
a copy of the Green Goblin virus on it. I've received several notices,
copies of the disk, and questions about it.
This is a nuisance virus, not a destructive one. It will spread
very rapidly, but doesn't do any file destruction. You can remove it
with the current version of VKILLER, but if you've booted your ST with
this disk in drive A, it will have started spreading. That means you'll
have to check every disk you have for the virus.
(G.WOODSIDE, CAT12, TOP16, MSG:74/M475)
SPECTRE 3.0 AND 1.4 MEG DRIVES Gadgets has, and has been looking at,
"""""""""""""""""""""""""""""" the 1.4 meg drive. It does not work
with Spectre 3.0. It is not known yet if it can be made to work in a
future version of Spectre software or not.
(STACE, CAT7, TOP68, MSG:193/M475)
////////////////////////////////////////// GEnie QWIK_QUOTE //////
/ "I talked to GEnie Client Services about this and they were /
/ the first technical assistance people that I have ever called /
/ that have been of any HELP! It was a moving experience to not /
/ have to explain what a modem was over the phone." /
///////////////////////////////////////////////// C.EBERLE /////
[EOA]
[ELS]//////////////////////////////
ST ELSEWHERE /
/////////////////////////////////
Other Areas Of IntereST
"""""""""""""""""""""""
o LIVEWIRE MAGAZINE: Can't Wait?
LIVEWIRE MAGAZINE Now, in addition to the 4-color, hardcopy version of
""""""""""""""""" GEnie's LiveWire magazine you receive in the mail,
GEnie offers you an online version. This is especially useful in case
your local Post Office regularly eats your copy....or you just can't
wait to see what the news is.
LiveWire Magazine is published bi-monthly as an informative tool
for GEnie users. All subscribers to GEnie online services receive
LiveWire as a part of their $4.95 monthly membership fee. The magazine
profiles various areas of GEnie and features standing columns for
computer RTs. Learn about what's hot on GEnie and how to make the most
of your time and money online.
LiveWire's bi-monthly schedule starts with a January/February issue
and concludes with November/December. Mailing lists are updated with
each issue so, for example, if you subscribe in January or December, the
first issue you receive should be the March/April issue.
Beginning with the Jan/Feb 1991 issue, if you are waiting for your
subscription to start or just can't wait for the mail to sneak a peak at
the news, LiveWire is available online.
To access the online version, type *LIVEWIRE. Item 2 on the menu
is a Table of Contents for the current issue (January/February) and
Item 3 contains the actual magazine. This is part of GEnie
Star*Services, so their is no additional charge for reading LiveWire
online.
/////////////////////////////////////////// GEnie QWIK_QUOTE ////
/ "A hazard of an office in the home I guess. But it does have /
/ its advantages too. I mean, I can work in my PJ's all day /
/ (and night too) and nobody is the wiser. Except for money, /
/ power and women, ol' Hef's got nothing on me <hee hee>." /
////////////////////////////////////////////// C.WALTERS1 /////
[EOA]
[LOG]//////////////////////////////
LOG OFF /
/////////////////////////////////
GEnie Lamp Information
""""""""""""""""""""""
COMMENTS? If you would like to ask a question, leave a comment or just
""""""""" drop in and say hi, you can contact us in CAT 34 in the ST
bulletin board area. If you prefer to remain private, send your GEnie
Email to GENIELAMP$ on page 200, or leave a message to one or more of
the following addresses:
ATTENTION WRITERS Have you ever thought about writing an article?
""""""""""""""""" Well, here's your chance. WRITERS.ARC File #17920
located in the GEnie Lamp library, #35 is a short text file that will
give you information on our polices, what we are looking for and how to
go about writing and submitting your article for possible publication in
an upcoming issue of GEnie Lamp. Whether you are interested in taking
on one of the columns now found in GEnie Lamp, starting a new column, or
just submitting a one time article, we want to hear from you. So, take
a quick look, fire up the word processor and get busy on that article!
HOT OFF THE PRESS GEnie Lamp is published on the 1st and the 15th of
""""""""""""""""" every month for our Atari ST RoundTable members on
page 475, option 5. If you prefer to download your issue of GEnie Lamp,
you will find the current issue as well as all the back issues on page
476, in the GEnie Lamp library, #35.
WITH A LITTLE HELP...
"""""""""""""""""""""
o John F. Peters [ST-GUEST] Publisher/Editor
o Darlah J. Pine [DARLAH] Co-Editor
o Jeff Williams [JEFF.W] Technical Editor
- David Holmes [D.HOLMES14] TX2 Editor
- Terry Quinn [T.QUINN1] Contributing Author
- Fred Koch [F.KOCH] Contributing Author
- Mel M. Motogawa [M.MOTOGAWA] Contributing Author
- Sheldon Winick [S.WINICK] Contributing Author
o Larry Duke [LARRY.D] GEnie Lamp Advisor
o Sandy Wilson [SANDY.W] GEnie Lamp Advisor
o Fred Beckman [FB] GEnie Lamp Advisor
o John J. Kennedy [JJKENNEDY] GEnie Lamp Advisor
o Vince Averello [VINCE.A] GEnie Lamp Advisor
\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\////////////////////////////////////
(c) Copyright 1991 T/TalkNET OnLine Publishing, Atari Corporation,
GEnie, and the Atari RoundTables. May be reprinted only with this
notice intact. The Atari RoundTables on GEnie are the *official*
information services of the Atari Corporation.
Signed articles and message reprints are the opinion of the authors
and are not necessarily the opinion of the publisher or staff of
GEnie Lamp. We reserve the right to edit all letters and copy.
To sign up for GEnie service, call (with modem) 1-800-638-8369. Upon
connection type HHH. Wait for the U#= prompt. Type: XJM11877,GEnie
and hit RETURN. The system will then prompt you for your information.
////////////////////////////////////\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\
[EOF]
