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GEnieLamp Online Magazine Issue No.1.03
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GEnie ST
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ONLINE MAGAZINE
~ SURVEY RESULTS & ATARI TRIVIA WINNERS ANNOUNCED! ~
\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\////////////////////////////////////
July 1, 1990 ~ A T/TalkNET OnLine Publication ~ Issue No.1.03
////////////////////////////////////\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\
Publisher/Editor ................................... John F. Peters
Co-Editor ........................................ Darlah J. Pine
GEnie Lamp Staff: Sandy Wilson - Jeff Williams
Fred Beckman - John J. Kennedy - Larry Duke
""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""
FROM THE DESKTOP ........ [FRM] THE FUNNY PAPERS ........ [FUN]
Notes From The Editor. Cowtoons!
WHAT'S HAPPENING? ....... [WHA] HELP!!! ................. [HEL]
Class, Turn To Page 475. (NOT) For Beginners Only.
ASK MS. GENIE ........... [ASK] HEY MISTER POSTMAN ...... [HEY]
Questions & Answers About GEnie. Is That A Letter For Me?
ST ELSEWHERE............. [ELS] OFF THE RECORD .......... [OFF]
Other Areas Of Interest. Mini-Qwik-Views.
SOFT-WHERE? ............. [SOF] PD_QUICKVIEW ............ [PDQ]
Yours For The Asking. Yours For The Asking.
PRINT ME!................ [PRT] LOG OFF ................. [LOG]
GEnie Lamp Template To Print. 'Till Next Time.
[EOA]
""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""
READING GEnie Lamp GEnie Lamp has incorporated a unique indexing
"""""""""""""""""" system to help make reading the magazine a bit
easier. Just load GEnie Lamp into any ASCII word processor or text
editor. In the index you will find the following example:
FROM THE DESKTOP ........ [FRM] THE FUNNY PAPERS ........ [FUN]
Notes From The Editor. Cowtoons!
To get to the Funny Papers, set your find or search command to [FUN].
If you would rather scan the articles, search for [EOA]. [EOF] will take
you to the last page.
""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""
//////////////////////////////////// GEnie QWIK_QUOTE ///
/ "Does anyone else get the feeling that Dave Small is /
/ headed toward building the next "computer for the /
/ rest of us?" /
/ /
/ "Sounds like it, but he'll have to change his name. /
/ After all, who is going to buy a Small Computer?" /
///////////////////////////////// PAT.S / D-W-B ///////
[FRM]//////////////////////////////
FROM THE DESKTOP /
/////////////////////////////////
Notes From The Editor
"""""""""""""""""""""
o Are You A Shareware Author?
o New, Faster PC Emulator Announced!
o RoundTable News
o GEnie Lamp Contributors
SHAREWARE AUTHORS Recently, I came across a shareware program where
""""""""""""""""" the author requested the customary fee of $10.00 to
register his program. What was unusual about the request is that you
could also register the program by sending him a "GEnie gift
certificate" worth $10.00 of GEnie connect time. What a neat idea! One
of the major obstacles of registering shareware products is the time and
hassle involved in getting a check out the door. (I know it's not
_that_ hard, but hey, in the _real_ world, it's one of those things that
always seems to get put off until tomorrow.) By giving us the option of
giving you online credit, we would be able to register your program
online quickly and easily. You would be reimbursed for your hard work
and effort with "money" you probably would have spent online anyway.
Sending a GEnie gift certificate as a shareware payment to you is
as easy as typing GIFTOFTIME at any GEnie prompt. Your potential
contributer may choose the amount of $10, $25, or $50 increments.
Their GEnie account will then be billed for the appropriate amount
indicated. GEnie even allows for them to send you a personalized
GEnie Quik-Gram to you to let you know which program it is for.
As a shareware programmer you could benefit by offering a Gift Of
Time option. Give it some thought... it could save us both a lot of
time and hassle.
--= john =--
PC SPEED II PC Speed II should be out in MID JULY. This is a new
""""""""""" emulator (It will still be small enough to fit inside
your ST) that will have a 80286 microprocessor. It will run at 7.6 Mgh
which is roughly twice as fast as the hardware emulators now on the
market. The price has not been set yet, but it should be very close
to the current price of PC Speed I. More information in a few days.
(From CATegory 19, TOPic 9. Posted by [GORDON])
ATARI ROUNDTABLE NEWS
"""""""""""""""""""""
o Check out the **Latest** Hotwire Demo from CodeHead. See file#
15598 called HOTDEMO2.ARC.
o For the latest information on the WAACE show, see file #15563.
o The World of Atari messages have been moved to Category 11
Topic 17.
o Own an Atari Portfolio? (Or are you thinking of getting one?)
A new Portfolio RoundTable will be opening it's doors to the
public sometime in the near future. Watch for it!
CONTRIBUTORS TO THIS ISSUE A special thank you to following people who
"""""""""""""""""""""""""" have contributed, (whether they know it or
not!) to this issue of GEnie Lamp. They are: Neil Harris, "Pat.S",
"D-W-B", "T.JOHNSON4", "Hawk", Chris Carpenter, Bill Sheppard, Dave
Small, Dorothy Brumleve "MINSYEE" and probably a few others we may have
missed. (Sorry 'bout that!) Thanks, everyone.
The GEnie Lamp Staff
[EOA]
[FUN]//////////////////////////////
THE FUNNY PAPERS /
/////////////////////////////////
Cowtoons!
"""""""""
)\ (__)
/ \ (oo)
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Cow swimming at Amityville
(Where Jaws was filmed, for those less educated.)
"HAWK"
[EOA]
[WHA]//////////////////////////////
WHAT'S HAPPENING? /
/////////////////////////////////
Class, Turn To Page 475
"""""""""""""""""""""""
o A Look At A "Typical" Atari RT member
o Survey Summary Report
o Atari Trivia Winners Announced!
WHO ARE YOU? Based on the answers of over 700 GEnie Atari RT members,
"""""""""""" a "typical" RT member is a male, age 25 to 34 and earns
an annual income between $30,000 and $40,000. He found out about GEnie
from a magazine ad, and he now spends and average of $11.00 to $20.00
every month using the service.
While online, he uses an Atari ST 1040, has a double-sided drive
and he plans on adding a hard drive to his system as well as more RAM
and a PC Emulator sometime within the next year or so. While on GEnie,
he spends much of his time in the library checking for new files. He is
especially interested in downloading utilities. Although the size of
the file is not the number one factor when deciding on whether to
download a file or not, he prefers that the file be under 300K. He also
spends time in the Gadgets, Michtron and SoftLogik RTs as well.
Although he doesn't frequent the online conferences often, he keeps
up on them by downloading the RTC transcripts. When he does join in,
it's usually because the topic is on a particular piece of hardware he
is interested in.
To keep in touch with the outside world, he does find time to drop
into the bulletin board area to read or post messages and he frequently
uses E/Mail. He also enjoys calling local bulletin boards. His
favorite reading materials are STart magazine, GEnie Livewire, Computer
Shopper, Current Notes, ST Informer, Atari Explorer and the online
magazines.
Overall, there's very little he can find that he doesn't like about
GEnie Atari RoundTable.
ATARI SURVEY RESULTS
""""""""""""""""""""
(as of 13:40EDT 06/25/90)
1. How did you find out about the Atari Roundtables on GEnie?
Response: 783 out of 791 total visitors.
A. Ad in computer magazine 204 26%
B. Article in computer magazine 114 14%
C. Atari Fair/Trade Show 19 02%
D. User Group Meeting or 53 07%
E. From a local BBS 41 05%
F. From a friend 121 15%
G. From a software devel 19 02%
H. By direct mail 7 01%
I. Insert or promotion i 81 10%
J. I was on GEnie and fo 201 25%
K. Other 41 05%
2. Would you use an automated GEnie specific term program?
Response: 770 out of 791 total visitors.
A. All of the time 178 23%
B. Most of the time 253 32%
C. Some of the time 241 30%
D. I would not use an au 98 12%
3. On an average month, how much do you spend on GEnie?
Response: 787 out of 791 total visitors
A. Less than $10 77 10%
B. $11 to $20 204 26%
C. $21 to $30 182 23%
D. $31 to $40 115 15%
E. $41 to $50 65 08%
F. $51 to $60 39 05%
G. More than $60 84 11%
H. This is my first time 21 03%
4. What computer magazines do you read?
Response: 758 out of 791 total visitors.
A. Antic 124 16%
B. STart 525 66%
C. Current Notes 240 30%
D. ST Informer 288 36%
E. Atari Explorer 239 30%
F. ST World (USA) 142 18%
G. Compute 35 04%
H. Family Computing 12 02%
I. Byte 152 19%
J. Personal Computing 38 05%
K. InfoWorld 45 06%
L. Online Access Guide 10 01%
M. PC Week 39 05%
N. Atari Interface Magaz 67 08%
O. ST Report 281 36%
P. Z-NET 254 32%
Q. Computer Shopper 266 34%
R. St Journal 50 06%
S. Publish 46 06%
T. Personal Publishing 33 04%
U. GEnie Livewire 352 45%
V. I do not read any com 24 03%
5. Do you ever refer to these areas:
Response: 775 out of 791 total visitors.
A. Opening banners on Pa 301 38%
B. Banners on the ST doo 362 46%
C. "About the Roundtable 89 11%
D. "Roundtable News" sel 185 23%
E. "Feedback to Sysops" 88 11%
F. The GEnie Manual on p 47 06%
G. The GEnie HELP files 77 10%
H. I do not read or use 263 33%
6. Which of these do you like about the Atari Roundtables here?
Response: 777 out of 791 total visitors.
A. Software Libraries 728 92%
B. Weekly informal confe 135 17%
C. Special formal confer 144 18%
D. Bulletin Board 482 61%
E. Sysops 221 28%
F. Atari Corporation onl 259 33%
G. Price 307 39%
7. What do you dislike about the Atari Roundtables?
Response: 748 out of 791 total visitors.
A. Software Libraries 18 02%
B. Weekly informal confe 12 02%
C. Special formal confer 12 02%
D. Bulletin Board 31 04%
E. Sysops 7 01%
F. Atari Corporation onl 24 03%
G. Price 109 14%
H. Other 56 07%
I. None 533 67%
8. What items would you like to see more of in the library?
Response: 738 out of 791 total visitors.
A. Portfolio files 48 06%
B. Children's Applicatio 94 12%
C. Calamus/Outline files 80 10%
D. Music files 119 15%
E. Hardware Project file 216 27%
F. Emulator Support file 226 29%
G. Sound files 95 12%
H. Utilities 424 54%
I. Programming and Sourc 271 34%
J. Graphic Animation 240 30%
K. Business 311 39%
L. Telecomputing 368 47%
M. Games 370 47%
I. Educational Wares 53 07%
J. Demos 80 10%
K. Adult Library files 0
L. Fonts 0
M. Clip Art 0
N. Help files (GEnie Spe 115 15%
O. Help files (General) 8 01%
S. T.O.S. (Misc catch al 0
T. Not interested in the 0
9. What other online services have you used in the last month?
Response: 785 out of 791 total visitors.
A. CompuServe 291 37%
B. Delphi 96 12%
C. BIX 9 01%
D. The WELL 2 00%
E. Usenet/Bitnet/Arpanet 35 04%
F. Peoplelink 7 01%
G. The Source 2 00%
H. QuantumLink 2 00%
I. Dow Jones 7 01%
J. Prodigy 28 04%
K. PANN Network 1 00%
L. Local BBS's 342 43%
M. Other 70 09%
N. None 234 30%
10. What areas do you visit on GEnie?
Response: 757 out of 791 total visitors.
A. ST Bulletin Board 542 69%
B. ST Software Libraries 655 83%
C. ST Realtime Conferenc 171 22%
D. 8-bit Roundtable 78 10%
E. ST Developers Roundta 57 07%
F. Michtron Roundtable 139 18%
G. SoftLogik RT 121 15%
H. Gadgets RT 168 21%
I. Games Roundtable 99 13%
J. Other PC-specific are 271 34%
K. Other Roundtables (Sc 184 23%
L. Multiplayer Games 72 09%
M. Single Player Games 17 02%
N. CB 31 04%
O. News & Reference Serv 93 12%
P. Travel Services 81 10%
Q. Electronic Mail 335 42%
R. Other 91 12%
11. What computer model(s) do you own or use regularly?
Response: 743 out of 791 total visitors.
A. 520ST 63 08%
B. 520ST with RAM upgrad 226 29%
C. STE 5 01%
D. STE with Ram upgrade 5 01%
E. 1040ST 351 44%
F. Mega 2 93 12%
G. Mega 4 117 15%
H. STACY 8 01%
I. Portfolio 27 03%
J. Lynx 46 06%
K. Atari 8-bit 158 20%
L. Commodore 8-bit 22 03%
M. Amiga 27 03%
N. Apple II or IIGS 14 02%
O. Macintosh or Mac II 94 12%
P. IBM or PC clone 283 36%
Q. CP/M system 15 02%
R. Tandy system 25 03%
S. Other 76 10%
12. Do you own ONLY a single sided drive?
Response: 788 out of 791 total visitors.
A. Yes 43 05%
B. No 745 94%
13. When offered updates from a company would you prefer to
Response: 788 out of 791 total visitors.
A. download a software u 357 45%
B. be notified of a new 164 21%
C. depends on size of th 409 52%
14. If size is a factor on downloading updates, what is too large?
Response: 768 out of 791 total visitors.
A. less than 100k 46 06%
B. less than 200K 143 18%
C. less than 300K 130 16%
D. less than 400K 72 09%
E. less than 500K 22 03%
F. more than 500K 134 17%
G. Size does not matter 221 28%
15. What hardware purchases do you intend to make this year?
Response: 747 out of 791 total visitors.
A. Modem 82 10%
B. Hard Drive 197 25%
C. Floppy Drive 61 08%
D. Syquest Drive 117 15%
E. Digitizer 39 05%
F. Large screen monitor 37 05%
G. Multisync/Multiscan m 91 12%
H. Mouse 72 09%
I. Joystick 39 05%
J. Printer 91 12%
K. Processor Accelerator 108 14%
L. Ram expansions 167 21%
M. PC Emulator 162 20%
N. Mac Emulator 111 14%
O. Hard Drive backup sys 69 09%
P. Fax 41 05%
Q. STE 73 09%
R. Stacy 85 11%
S. Portfolio 21 03%
T. Scanner 80 10%
U. I will not be making 93 12%
16. I attend the weekly ST Roundtable Realtime Conferences:
Response: 775 out of 791 total visitors.
A. Nearly every week 21 03%
B. One or twice a month 53 07%
C. When there is a speci 241 30%
D. Never 460 58%
17. I would attend more Realtime Conferences if they were held on:
Response: 738 out of 791 total visitors.
A. Saturday 68 09%
B. Sunday 69 09%
C. Monday 12 02%
D. Tuesday 11 01%
E. Wednesday (No change) 65 08%
F. Thursday 3 00%
G. Friday 22 03%
H. I would not attend mo 488 62%
18. In the Realtime Conferences, I would like to see:
Response: 515 out of 791 total visitors.
A. More Atari Corporatio 178 23%
B. More software and har 203 26%
C. More issue related th 64 08%
D. More formal conferenc 19 02%
E. Less formal conferenc 51 06%
19. I download transcripts from the formal conferences;
Response: 739 out of 791 total visitors.
A. All the time 31 04%
B. Some of the time 414 52%
C. Never 294 37%
20. What is your sex?
Response: 780 out of 791 total visitors.
A. Male 758 96%
B. Female 22 03%
21. What is your age?
Response: 783 out of 791 total visitors.
A. Under 18 14 02%
B. 18-24 111 14%
C. 25-34 308 39%
D. 35-44 270 34%
E. 45-54 70 09%
F. 55-64 8 01%
G. 65 or over 2 00%
22. What is your household income?
Response: 767 out of 791 total visitors.
A. Under $15,000 27 03%
B. $15-20,000 43 05%
C. $20-30,000 118 15%
D. $30-40,000 129 16%
E. $40-50,000 106 13%
F. $50-60,000 94 12%
G. $60-70,000 60 08%
H. $70-80,000 42 05%
I. $80-100,000 23 03%
J. Over $100,000 34 04%
K. Prefer to not say 91 12%
23. Tell the developers what you want/need and/or other comments.
Response: 761 out of 791 total visitors.
A. Yes 289 37%
B. No 472 60%
TRIVIA QUIZ WINNERS!
""""""""""""""""""""
1. Jkelley John F. Kelley 2. O.KOSMATOS Odisseas Kosmatos
3. G.E.M. Gary E. Martin 4. JON.DUNN Jon W. Dunn
5. K.HILTS Kenneth l Hilts 6. M.MCCANN2 Mike W. Mccann
7. JAKOB John K. Brochu 8. B.STRINGER Bruce J. Stringer, MD
9. Dave Koster 10. JRHARRIS John R. Harris, II
11. V.LICARI Vin Licari 12. R.ACOSTA Ricardo Acosta
13. S.NOAH Stuart Noah 14. S.GAREE Steven F. Garee
15. P.GENOVESE Paul R. Genovese 16. GRMEYER Gordon Meyer
17. NCBATES Norman C. Bates 18. M.KENNEDY3 Matthew J. Kennedy
19. S.MEEHAN2 Steve M. Meehan 20. D.STIDHAM Dan Stidham
~ CONGRATULATIONS TO ALL! ~
//////////////////////////////////// GEnie QWIK_QUOTE ////
/ "While there is no question about the complete and /
/ absolute illegality of copying the ROMs, it's more /
/ likely the consequences would not be jail, but /
/ complete financial ruin. Apple would spend thousands /
/ to make sure that every dime you earned for the rest /
/ of your life belonged to them. That's after, of course,/
/ they've taken your house, car, bank account, Star Wars /
/ posters, and collection of floppy disk boxes full of /
/ rubberbands and paperclips." /
//////////////////////////////////// MINSYEE /////////////
[EOA]
[HEL]//////////////////////////////
HELP!!! /
/////////////////////////////////
(NOT) For Beginners Only
""""""""""""""""""""""""
o I'm Late, I'm Late... For a very important date!
o GEnie Lamp QWIK_TIP: Zmodem
GETTING HELP Time is money, and that is especially true when you're
"""""""""""" online. Your best defense against a enormous bill at the
end of the month is knowing what to do and when to do it. "(NOT) For
Beginners Only" is a column written with that principle in mind. Over
the next few issues, this column will discuss some of the tricks and
procedures that you can use on GEnie that will cut the amount of time
you spend online AND at the same time increase your online productivity.
[*][*][*]
GENIE REMINDER SERVICE Do you have trouble remembering IMPORTANT
"""""""""""""""""""""" dates? Like your anniversary? Or a parent's
birthday? Or a dinner date with someone special?
Now GEnie helps you remember those important dates with the GEnie
Reminder Service. Never again will you need to experience that sinking
feeling when someone says, "You forgot AGAIN?" Through GEnie Reminder
you can enter important information about ANY upcoming event ... whether
it's next week, next month or next year. Just tell GEnie the date you
want to be reminded and on that date the reminder you entered will be
delivered to your GE Mail address. You won't have to pay anything extra
for using the GEnie Reminder Service. It's included at GEnie's BASIC
CONNECT RATES!
The GEnie Reminder Service allows you to create a message to
yourself regarding important dates or events in the future and specify a
date on which the letter will be delivered in GE Mail. Reminders can
also be queued for other GEnie members.
To set up your own personal reminder service, type M 202 at any
GEnie prompt. You will see the following menu:
GEnie Page 202
GEnie Reminder Service
1. About GEnie Reminder
2. Reminder Service Instructions
3. Enter a Reminder
4. Display all your Reminders
When you select Option 3 from the GEnie Reminder Service menu GEnie
will prompt you for the date the reminder is to be delivered. You may
specify a date up to three years in the future. The format for the
delivery date is: YYMMDD.
YY = Year, MM = Month and DD = Date. GEnie will then request the
GE Mail address which is to receive the reminder. You will also be
given the option of adding other GE Mail addresses to the Carbon Copy
list.
Once addressing is complete you will be prompted to enter your
reminder/message. You will enter your reminder using the same line
editor available in GEnie's bulletin board. Wait for the 1> prompt
before beginning to type. Make sure you press <RETURN> at the end of
each line (don't type more than 80 characters for any one line) and wait
for the next line number prompt before continuing with your reminder.
You may also elect to compose your reminder offline and upload it.
Option 4, "Display all your Reminders" allows you to view any
reminders that are queued for delivery. You can either display or
delete reminders with this option.
Don't miss another birthday, anniversary, or any occasion! Enter
your events into the GEnie Reminder Service NOW!
[*][*][*]
GENIE LAMP QWIK_TIPS If you are having problems when using Zmodem to
"""""""""""""""""""" download files from the library, it's possible
that you are starting your Zmodem program too soon. After seeing the
"file ready" prompt, try waiting until you see the **B00000000000000
number before invoking your Zmodem program.
///////////////////////////////////////// GEnie QWIK_QUOTE /////
/ "Yeah, she blowed up real good, Ron! Smoke and everything! /
/ You really know how to spice up a Calamus demonstration. /
/ Next time you demonstrate a Linotronic, I want to be there." /
////////////////////////////////////////// TJOHNSON4 ////////////
[EOA]
[ASK]//////////////////////////////
ASK Ms. GEnie /
/////////////////////////////////
Questions & Answers About GEnie
"""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""
o Is GEnie 200 STs Connected Together Via The MIDI Ports?
o Should I IGNore or CANcel?
o Is GEnie Considering Other Transfer Protocols?
Hi everyone, welcome to, "ASK Ms. GEnie!" I've been selected by
the GEnie Lamp Staff to field any questions that you may have about the
Atari ST RoundTable or GEnie in general. Let's get started...
Dear Ms. GEnie,
I'm curious as to how GEnie is set up. Does it run on several
mainframes, 200 ST's, or what? Is the entire GEnie system inside one
building?
Curious
Dear Curious,
Ms. GEnie had to do some snooping around in some pretty dark
places, but I found out what you wanted to know. GEnie runs on the
Mark III system operated by its parent company, GE Information Services.
Mark III consists of a number of NEC/Honeywell DPS90 mainframes located
in three supercenters around the world. GEnie is run from the center
in Ohio. The others are in Maryland and in Holland.
The mainframes are configured as clusters of 3, 4, or 5 mainframes.
GEnie is set up on three different clusters. When you switch from one
cluster to another, you see the familiar "PLEASE WAIT" message. There
are a total of 12 mainframes running GEnie at the moment.
In terms of storage, GEnie has more than 85,000 files in software
libraries. GEnie takes up more than 30 disk packs. Each disk pack
holds 300,000 sectors of 1260 bytes each (which is why all file sizes
in the software libraries are even multiples of 1260). Multiplying
this out, you can see that it takes more than 11 gigabytes to hold
GEnie today!
Aside from the supercenter, there's a lot of computing power on
the GE network itself. When you call the local number, you go through
a multiplexer into a Honeywell minicomputer before being routed via
satellite or leased line to the supercenter. In total, the GE
Information Services network handles more than 500,000 calls every day
for businesses and individuals around the world.
Thanks for the excellent question, Curious.
Have a Happy!
Ms. GEnie
[*][*][*]
Dear Ms. GEnie,
While in the Bulletin Board area, what is the difference between
the IGNore and CANcel command?
Devoted Reader
Dear Devoted Reader,
(Devoted? Dat's nice!) You can use IGNore all and it will ignore
all topics in all Categorys unless you have used CANcel and then you
would have to use JOIn to resume seeing messages in this area. CANcel
ignores a Category forever more and IGNore only ignores it till the
next time. You will see new messages with IGNore but not with CANcel.
Genie WILL update the Categorys you have not been in by typing ALL
after IGNore. You can also join a canceled category if you SET that
category.
Have a Happy!
Ms. GEnie
[*][*][*]
Dear Ms. GEnie,
Hi Ms. GEnie! Recently I switched to Zmodem to download files
from GEnie. I know there are lots of other protocols available -- is
GEnie considering adding other transfer methods to the list?
Wonder'n
Dear Wonder'n,
Not at the moment. GEnie is not currently considering anything
new. GEnie currently support Xmodem, Xmodem CRC, Xmodem 1K,
Ymodem batch, Ymodem-G, and Zmodem. Ymodem-G is the fastest protocol
if you have an MNP-compatible modem, and Zmodem is about 95% efficient
for file downloading. There's just not much room for improvement!
Have a Happy!
Ms. GEnie
[*][*][*]
If you have a question you would like for me to address, post your
question on the GEnie Lamp Bulletin Board, CAT 34, TOPic 4 or leave
E/Mail to me, Ms. GEnie, in the "Feedback to SysOps" option on page 475.
[EOA]
[HEY]//////////////////////////////
HEY MISTER POSTMAN /
/////////////////////////////////
Is That A Letter For Me?
""""""""""""""""""""""""
o MESSAGE BOARD HOT-SPOTS
o GOING BUGGY? ST BUG/VIRUS ALERT
o BULLETIN BOARD HIGHLIGHTS
BULLETIN BOARD HOT-SPOTS 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. To
help get you started, here are some of the bulletin board highlights
that have been posted in the last couple of weeks.
[*][*][*] [*][*][*]
HOT, HOT, HOT! Charles F. Johnson posted the following message in
"""""""""""""" CATegory 11, TOPic 11:
What about the "lending library" maintained by the ATARI ELITE? I
notice you didn't even mention that -- and that's what concerns me, and
most other developers I've talked with. A "lending library" is nothing
more than software rental. Your club buys one copy of a program, then
makes who-knows-how-much money from that one copy...while the developer
makes ONE sale. Do you think this is fair and honorable? And do you
think that everyone who "borrows" these programs returns them without
keeping a copy for themselves? (If so, I have bridge in Brooklyn I'd
like to convince you to buy.) - Charles Johnson, CodeHead Software
HOT, HOT, HOT II Another HOT-SPOT has developed in CATegory 26, TOPic
"""""""""""""""" 4 over two of the online mags, ST Report and Z-NET.
DIARY 1.9R an .ACC mini-word processor is generating some discussion.
"""""""""" See CATegory 2, Topic 40 for
SANS COMPUTER Mc Donalds, Burger King? The hot non-computer related
""""""""""""" topic this time around is Hamburgers. Get in on the fun
in CATegory 12, TOPic 19.
HITACHI-MOTOROLA The controversy in CATegory 18, TOPic 7, over the
"""""""""""""""" Hitachi-Motorola dispute is now picking up speed.
MAGAZINES Does the lead-time to publishing a magazine make a
""""""""" difference when it comes to publishing timely articles?
CATegory 22, TOPic 9.
MA BELL Various RT members from all over the country are relating
""""""" their experiences (mostly bad!) about their phone service.
All is not equal when it comes to the phone company. CATegory 8, TOPic
5.
SCRIPT Interested in learning about the new word-processor called
"""""" Script? See CATegory 13, TOPic 5.
SHADOWLINK? There's still talk going on about a possible update to
""""""""""" Shadow or (dare I say it?) a complete super-terminal
program by the wizards at Double Click Software. CAT 30, TOPic 1.
SIM CITY Is finally out for the ST! This game promises to be an ST
"""""""" classic. Learn more about SIM CITY in CATegory 9, Topic 46.
MISC. GAMES Other game areas that are generating messages in CATegory
""""""""""" 9 are DRAGON'S LAIR, TOPic 45, F-29, TOPic 48, HERO'S
QUEST, TOPic 32, LEISURE SUIT LARRY, TOPic 64. SHUFFLEPUCK CAFE, TOPic
52 and ULTMIA V, TOPic 71.
SOFTREK Turbo 1.82 by Softrek updates are now available. For
""""""" distribution information, see Category 2, TOPic 16.
WORDUP 3.0 A RT member posted a message stating that he had called
"""""""""" Neocept asking them when they will be releasing Wordup 3.0.
They stated that the the new version is "currently" being shipped. He
goes on to say that, "With any luck we should get our upgrades by
Christmas <grin>." Find out more in CATegory 13, TOPic 6.
[*][*][*] [*][*][*]
GOING BUGGY? In GOING BUGGY? you will find messages that have been
"""""""""""" posted by RT members that have found a problem with a
particular piece of software or hardware. 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.
LHARC I just discovered a new LHARC incompatibility. I have begun
""""" using SI Ramdisk. With it running, LHARC.PRG (.51) usually
crashes while trying to create an LZH file. (Sometimes, it works tho.)
I'm not running out of memory...I have 400k or so free, and I was
making very small LZH's. (Also, some of the files that work are bigger
than some that crash.)
Oh well, I downloaded LHARC 102, and it works...just a warning for
anyone that uses SI Ramdisk and LHARC.
CATegory 2, TOPic 28, Message 52, J.THORNBURGH [John]
TYPECAD_DC-SHOWIT Attention TypeCAD users: Avoid uTypeCAD when you
""""""""""""""""" have DC-SHOWIT installed. Seems DC-SHOWIT does
some NASTY things to TypeCAD's SAVE function. Scary situation! Gregg
should have it sussed out shortly.
If you want to experiment with this to see the problem.. BACK-UP
YOUR FONT TO ANOTHER DISK FIRST.
Fair warning, I'd say. :-)
..Todd
CATegory 5, TOPic 4, Message 116, T.JOHNSON4
[*][*][*] [*][*][*]
MESSAGE HIGHLIGHTS The Atari STe computer is finally starting to show
"""""""""""""""""" itself here in the United States. If you own a STe
or you are thinking about getting one, this issue's Message Highlight
should be of interest to you.
STE OWNERS HERE IS A TIP FOR ALL CURRENT AND FUTURE STE OWNERS THAT
"""""""""" WILL HELP MINIMIZE THE COLOR BOOTING PROBLEM...
If you wish to boot your system to medium res on the color monitor
WITHOUT installing the patch program, SIMPLY SAVE YOUR DESKTOP IN HIGH
RES using either a mono monitor or a mono monitor emulator. When the
computer tries to boot on a color monitor with an INF file that was
saved in mono, it will go to medium res instead of low...
Simply go through your disks that you want to boot in medium and
save (or copy) the desktop.inf file from high res...now all of your
disks will boot WITHOUT installing the patch on all of them...
Hope this helps!
CATegory 14, TOPic 40, Message 135, M.KENNEDY3
[*][*][*] [*][*][*]
The messages which are 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
country.
//////////////////////////////////// GEnie QWIK_QUOTE ///////
/ "Add to that stuff like 18" hard disk cables vs. 36", /
/ with troubles from that, floppy ringing from driving too /
/ hard, monitor noise, power supply noise -- maybe we ought /
/ to hold weekly prayer services at the RTC to keep 'em /
/ going another week." /
/////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////
[EOA]
[ELS]//////////////////////////////
ST ELSEWHERE /
/////////////////////////////////
Other Areas Of Interest
"""""""""""""""""""""""
GADGETS RT NEWS
"""""""""""""""
o Version 2.65 of the Spectre software began shipping this week.
All *registered* version 2.3 users will receive version 2.65
free of charge. Please use Category 8, Topic 9 for all version
2.65 comments/questions.
o Issue #4 of the Gadgets News-Herald was also mailed this week.
Please post any newsletter comments or questions in Category 1,
Topic 2.
o We have a virus *aimed at us* nowadays. It started in Germany
aimed at Aladin. It checks for Mac OS running on Atari
hardware. If it finds it, it plots a message and crashes.
Robert Woodhead, who makes Virex, talked to me and it doesn't
look too bad at all. It isn't a subtle virus at all that
sneaks in and wreaks havoc -- more like some self-righteous
MacProgrammer. But hey, we've made the big time -- a virus of
our own!
I watched a guy at Atari find 40 infected nVIR virus files on
a Syquest -- folks, PLEASE download Disinfectant and check your
HD's. The viruses are darned sneaky, sysops cannot be certain
that something does not slip by (some viruses are time-delayed
to, say, July of a year), and they wreak havoc on your system.
(DAVESMALL)
ATARI 8-BIT RT NEWS
"""""""""""""""""""
o Take a look in the Bulletin Board, CATegory #5, for a complete
area of product support that is available for your Atari 8-bit
computer.
o Joining us here are Bob Puff, DataQue, Reeve Software, Keith
Ledbetter, Mat Ratcliff, Glenda Stocks, and Roy Goldman, just
to name a few.
o New for our Atari 8 machine machines! Oasis BBS support is now
available from Z Innovators and Glenda Stocks! She is uploading
sample BBSs for Oasis, games, upgrades, and more for this great
BBS! We also offer private support for all current registered
OASIS sysops. To reach Z Innovators, the online account is
"Z.INNOVATORS".
o Bob Puff has released BOBTERM v1.1, and it is now available in
the Software Library. Read the bulletin board for details of
Bob's other projects!
o REEVE.SOFT is online supporting DIAMOND OS, the cartridge based
Graphic Operating System for the Atari. Alan Reeve, the author,
is uploading upgrades, utilities, and more for that great
product.
o Keith Ledbetter has released his EXPRESS BBS programs into the
Shareware community! Check out the Software Library for the
new uploads!
o We are ALL waiting patiently for Roy Goldman's release of
DAISY DOT III! Don't miss the announcements!
MICHTRON RT NEWS
""""""""""""""""
o We have some special guests and topics lined up for the next
few conferences. June 23rd will be a special co on the World
of Atari Show. We will discuss all the new things there at
the show.
o July 7th we will have Hendrick Bilges with us, a German ST
user, to share some information about the ST in Germany.
o July 14th we will have special quests from England. John
Symes from MicroDeal our English Publisher will have some of
his better programmers on line to discuss Games and England
with us. With a 6 - 9 hour time difference these guys are
going to be up at 4 in the morning their time so please try
to come to this one! Make them feel like it was worth while!.
o The programmers co was a success. Lots of programers stopped
in and discussed short cuts they could take in programming
that all powerful GFA BASIC. The GFA BASIC topic reached
over 600 messages so I condensed it and placed it in the
library, and we started over at message #1. We nowhave had
almost a thousand messages on GFA BASIC.
SOFTLOGIK ROUNDTABLE NEWS
"""""""""""""""""""""""""
o Full transcript of May 3rd conference is in the libraries -
FILE #576. News of Pagestream v2.0..!
[EOA]
[OFF]//////////////////////////////
OFF THE RECORD /
/////////////////////////////////
Mini-Qwik-Views
"""""""""""""""
o SCRIPT WORD PROCESSOR
o THE GRAVIS MOUSE STICK
o ST JOURNAL
o SIM CITY
SCRIPT WORD PROCESSOR I just bought Script earlier this week.
""""""""""""""""""""" Overall, I am very impressed with it.
Particularly, it's speed. A few things are annoying though, and I hope
that they are being considered for attention in any upcoming revisions.
I have version 1.0. I find it handy to be able to insert "soft"
hyphens into words so when a longish word wraps to the next line, I
can give it a soft hyphen and the part of the word in front of the
hyphen jumps to end of the previous line with the rest at the start of
the next line. If I should rearrange the text or format of a document,
the soft hyphen hides itself and the word appears whole again. But the
dictionary doesn't like words with soft hyphens in them. It treats
each part of the word separated by a soft hyphen as unique words.
Even if the word isn't broken up at the end of a line, the dictionary
treats words like "treatment" (with a soft hyphen between syllables)
as two words: TREAT and MENT. Irritating.
Another dictionary quirk which may or not be Script's fault is
that while it is checking a document, it doesn't always display the
word it can't find in its dictionary in context in the document
window. Some times it does, but some times it doesn't. This may be
due to something else in my system interfering with Script, but I
haven't tried isolating it yet.
I wish the ruler section wouldn't "fade out", becoming inactive
while work is done in the text window. It's annoying to have to click
on the ruler to select it and again to activate the ruler feature you
wish to use. Also, I find that Script doesn't always redraw the ruler
when I move back to the text window. Again, this may be a trouble
with something else in my system.
One other thing. It doesn't do well when saving files as ASCII.
One particularly annoying thing is that it turns apostrophes into
commas. A word like "DOESN'T" becomes "DOESN,T" in the ASCII file.
And it seems to save ASCII files with lines of a certain fixed width.
I haven't seen any way to make it save the ASCII files with a line
length of, oh say, 70 characters.
Overall though, I like the user interface. Everything seems to
make sense to me. The manual is slim, but very ample in describing
this easy to use word processor. The screen display is very fast and
the fonts look wonderful. It's a gem alright. Like some gems, Script
has a flaw here and there, but it is still a gem. I hope that it is
supported with upgrades to correct the things I've highlighted here.
Jeff Williams (JEFF.W)
[*][*][*]
THE GRAVIS MOUSE STICK I thought I'd leave a small note about what I
"""""""""""""""""""""" think of the new Gravis Mouse Stick since the
price is coming down to the reasonable area at least through the Mail
Order System. (I bought mine through Computability for $63.97 or so
although I noticed that it is still $130 at a local Atari dealer so it
depends on where you buy it).
The construction seems flawless to me, it is very well made and
the same stick can be used for an ST or an Amiga. For those of you in
the dark this is a joystick that plugs into port 0 (mouse port) or
actually a small box with an LCD display plugs into port 0 and the
joystick plugs into that. With this joystick you can either emulate a
mouse in any of the three screen resolutions or you can make it self
centering or proportional. You can even program it to be a digital
joystick just like any other that you would use.
I thought this would be an ideal substitute for a mouse pad when
there is very little room on the desk and it is, my problem is that I
guess I'm more used to a mouse than I thought. While the movement is
very smooth and the buttons work great it seemed awkward to me although
I was getting sort of used to it when I finally went back to my mouse
a week later. For someone who is not completely dedicated to a mouse
it makes a very good substitute, is fine for using on the lap so you
don't have to worry about whether you're right handed or left handed
and it is easily programmed for a startup setting and 3 alternate
setting (yes it's completely programmable!).
It gets its power from the port it's plugged into but somehow
without any batteries it saves all the setups even when the computer is
turned off. I like it most for games like Sim City where a regular
mouse on a quarter of a mouse pad (typical conditions around here) is
really hard to use. I think I'll probably keep it for games and stick
to my mouse for regular applications until my mouse dies and I'm
forced to use it all the time.
All in all I give this product an A+ for engineering and quality
and a B+ (with a mouse being an A) for useability, mainly because it's
hard to switch when you get used to a mouse. If you have been thinking
of an alternative to a mouse like a trackball then I would also explore
the Gravis Mouse Stick, for the money you get a mouse that you can
still move and click with one hand (a disadvantage of a trackball) and
you even get a pretty nice digital joystick when you need one in port 0.
Chris Carpenter
[*][*][*]
ST JOURNAL I decided to see what all the hulabaloo was about with ST
"""""""""" Journal, so I order the first issue. It arrived today and
I can say that it looks like a very nice mag, better than ST Xpress
which I also liked. For the benefit of those who are wondering what ST
Journal is all about and if it's worth subscribing to, here are a few
points.
74 pages from cover-cover, all glossy with not too many ads yet,
most are full page. There is a _nice_ review of 9 of the major word
processors for the ST, a Namm report, a nice column by Jim Allen on
developing hardware for the ST, an informative news section from Znet,
some ads for some nice stuff I've never heard of before, a monthly disk
in conjunction with BRE software, a crossword puzzle, latest software
versions chart, best selling products chart, an interview with Bob
Brodie, a comprehensive product index/reader service page (shades of
the big Blue mags), a commentary by Andrew Reese, a perspective view
by Norm (Hi Norm!) and an overall very nice page layout/makeup using
what looks like Calamus in a very professional manner. That's just
scratching the surface, though, there are a lot of other good articles
and features. The next issue is supposed to be focusing on hardware.
Oh, colors are basically black text with shades of blue for text
and backgrounds. The only really obvious spelling errors were on the
reader service page's instructions. At first, I thought it was done on
purpose, they were so obvious. But, ST Journal is by no means riddled
with spelling errors, in case you're wondering. Overall a very nice
mag that I'm sure to subscribe to, it's that good.
It's nice to see another high quality mag in the ST arena.
Mel (M.MOTOGAWA)
[*][*][*]
SIM CITY OK, folks, guess I'll give the first in-depth report! I
"""""""" bought it at B&C Computervisions in Sunnyvale, CA, (paid
through the nose for it $54, but I wanted it NOW!), BRE has it
advertised for $30 in ST Informer. Also, San Jose Computer probably
has it. Now, on with the game:
It runs in low resolution only, has paper-based copy protection
(meaning you enter a city name or population from a non-copyable brown
piece of paper with hundreds of names), and can be loaded on your hard
disk (loads from mine in about two seconds flat!). It's fully
GEM-based, but since it is a simulation rather than a fast-paced arcade
game it doesn't suffer by virtue of being GEM-based. You would have
access to desk accessories.
The only feature I can see that it is missing versus some other
versions is the ability to print the city (although you could probably
do an Alt-Help and get a screen dump). I can't seem to get the undo
key sequence to work, either, but that's not too critical.
Game play is very good - I'm fascinated by this thing! The
instructions are designed to cover all machines, each with its own
section, as well as some common sections. There is also an ST-addendum
correcting some of the main manual, though the addendum was clearly
written by someone for whom English is _NOT_ their native language!
Documentation overall is decent, though some further explanations would
be satisfying (I think we're supposed to figure out some of the details
of game play).
I'll leave it to someone else to give a full description of what
Sim City is all about, but my general impression of the ST port is
excellent - nothing seems to be lacking that the other machines have
(except print city). Go out and buy it - Maxis has promised to port
all future enhancements and other products to the ST (including
SimEarth), so let's give them a good reason to have faith! For more
info, see Scorpia RT, Category 15.
Billsville - population 78,235 and growing!!
Bill Sheppard (CYCLONE)
[EOA]
[SOF]//////////////////////////////
SOFT-WHERE? /
/////////////////////////////////
What's New?
"""""""""""
PD_PICK_QWIKS As usual, the libraries have been racking up a lot of
""""""""""""" new files the last couple of weeks. Here's a list of
the files that have been uploaded since the last issue if GEnie Lamp.
No. Name Bytes Lib Description (06/14/90 - 06/27/90)
""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""
15639 CARRIER.ARC 5040 4 CAD-3D2 Aircraft Carrier CVN-70
15638 ASN111.LZH 103320 7 ASSASSIN 1.11 (6/26/90) BBS Game
15636 ALASER5.ARC 47880 13 Discussion of the SLM804 to 6/10/90
15635 SCHARG1.ARC 66780 13 Supercharger discussion to 6/24/90
15634 BLDWYCH1.ARC 74340 13 Messages from Bloodwych topics
15632 CO062090.ARC 12600 13 WizWorks/Dr.Bobware RTC - 06/20/90
15631 FRED.LZH 267120 10 French game demo with good graphics.
15630 JCP_RAM.TXT 6300 26 Current prices on ST RAM Upgrades
15627 ZMODMFUN.TXT 6300 7 Quick and fast way of using Zmodem.
15626 CFRG.ASC 2520 30 Calamus font resource guide
15624 ATRINEWS.ARC 30240 15 Another newsletter from Cleveland
15623 BIO.ARC 42840 10 Biorhythm graphing program
15622 THINKPZL.ARC 25200 8 Thinking puzzle
15621 PAPACNT.ARC 54180 6 Paperless Accountant
15620 MAYNARDG.LZH 35280 5 Maynard G. Krebs San Francisco 6/67
15619 STASHDEM.ARC 32760 10 New hard drive backup program demo
15617 STUFFED.ARC 3780 14 STUFFED disk mag in N. America...
15616 TUNEDEMO.ARC 97020 11 DEMO of Dr. T's Tunesmith!
15615 CRYPGRAM.LZH 11340 9 Helps solve Cryptograms.
15614 MONOEMU.LZH 5040 2 Mono Emulator, works with TOS 1.4
15611 PHOTON.LZH 85680 8 Space Shoot-em Up DEMO
15610 STREADER.LZH 69300 2 The Ultimate Text reader!
15609 ASNSETUP.TXT 1260 8 For those that can't use ANSUTIL.TOS
15608 TYPE.LZH 17640 2 Small but fast text reader. LoRez2
15607 WPLUSIMG.LZH 37800 28 Utility to load Color IMG into 1WD+
15606 SEURPIX3.LZH 73080 5 Pictures drawn with SEURAT 2.0
15605 SEURPIX2.LZH 85680 5 Pictures drawn with SEURAT 2.0
15604 SEURPIX1.LZH 79380 5 Pictures drawn with SEURAT 2.0
15603 PC_COLOR.LZH 8820 24 Tool to modifier ths SUPERCHARGER
15602 ZNET525.ARC 22680 25 Latest Atari News
15601 STSENTY2.LZH 7560 2 ST SENTRY v2.0, All New-A Must Have!
15600 MEGAYEAH.TXT 1260 26 Mega ST2 For sale & other goodies!
15598 HOTDEMO2.ARC 74340 10 The 2nd demo version of HotWire!
15597 STR625.ARC 57960 19 Blockbuster Atari News 1ST!
15595 SUBMIT1.ARC 28980 3 Batch utility language
15594 MNYBRDRS.ARC 46620 5 PrintMaster Borders --> IMG format.
15593 CHARCOAL.LZH 7560 5 Nice TNY pic of a woman
15592 DEMCON.LZH 18900 5 TNY pic portraying hope
15591 ECSTACY.LZH 5040 5 TNY pic of a sexy woman
15590 LAURIE.LZH 10080 5 TNY pic of Laurie Anderson
15589 AGP.LZH 163800 10 AGP: A Genealogy Program (Demo)
15587 WASHN_DC.ARC 5040 8 Fight Simulator II Situations
15584 SLAVE.ARC 20160 32 Host/Slave protocol comms
package
15583 KP_DM_62.ARC 71820 10 Kidpublisher Professional 6.2 Demo
15582 KPT_DM23.ARC 50400 10 Kidpainter 2.3 Demo Version
15579 MAILLABL.LZH 3780 30 Calamus .CDK for laserprinter labels
15578 MACICE07.LZH 21420 2 96 MORE (whew) Mac/DC icons.
15576 MACICE06.LZH 31500 2 125 more unique Mac icons for DC.
15575 ASN110.LZH 91980 7 ASSASSIN -- New Online BBS Game
15574 STI9006.TXT 2520 15 ST Informer, June 1989 Contents
15564 RACER.ARC 73080 10 Radio Controlled Racing monitor
15563 WAACE-1.ARC 8820 14 WAACE AtariFest 1990 Update...
15562 BZSUB10.ARC 7560 15 Submissions kit for BetaZine
15561 MODEM_EZ.LZH 15120 7 Modems made easy, done in Calamus
15559 WALKER.ARC 7560 4 CAD 3D and CYBER CONTROL animation
15557 PROMPTER.PRG 1260 2 Displays your msg in an alert box.
15555 EL_PASO.ARC 12600 5 Logo for the El Paso ST users group
15554 DPPDINFO.ARC 28980 27 PowerDrive Internal Mod Update file
15551 BZ13.ARC 28980 15 BetaZine Atari News/Features V1,#13
15550 PIG_BANK.ARC 31500 10 Children's accounting program
15549 MANYICN1.ARC 177660 5 PM-->IMG converted icons, 500+!!
15548 2_5MEG_1.TXT 2520 26 2.5 MEG or !1 MEG systems for sale.
15546 AROUSAL2.ARC 16380 12 Computerized foreplay!
15545 STICKLER.LZH 30240 2 Remember important dates
15544 BARTSALE.TXT 5040 26 Barter/Sale/Trade haves and wants
15543 BTF_II.LZH 143640 8 Demo of Back to the Future II game
15542 FASTLZH5.LZH 34020 2 Fastlzh gem 1.5 ttp 2.5 add 1.8
15541 MAC_ICON.LZH 107100 2 676 MORE Mac icons for DC Desktop!
15540 VE_10.LZH 91980 7 BBS in GFA BASIC 3 source available
15537 ZNET524.ARC 25200 25 Latest Atari News
15536 STR624.ARC 40320 19 Current events Atari 16/32 world
15535 LGSEL17.ARC 42840 2 Little Green File Selector 1.7
15534 GELMP102.ARC 32760 35 GEnie Lamp Online Magazine #1.02
15532 KV_PARK_.ARC 79380 31 2-5 yrs. Animated playground puzzle
//////////////////////////////////// GEnie QWIK_QUOTE /////
/ "I have an answering machine on my phone. If I call /
/ and get an answering machine then hang up, their /
/ answering machine will call me back and visa versa. The /
/ thing is if you don't hang up all the way, the $$ are /
/ ticking away. Ever listen to blank junk for an hour on /
/ your machine?? Maybe your machine is calling another. /
/ Oooh sounds like twilight zone time to me." /
//////////////////////////////////// DARLAH ///////////////
[EOA]
[PDQ]//////////////////////////////
PD_QUICKVIEW /
/////////////////////////////////
Yours For The Asking
""""""""""""""""""""
Program Name : Valgus^2
Filename : VSQUARED.LZH
Library Area : 8
Program Number : 15298
File Size : 26752
Program Type : Thinking/action game
Author : James R. Glenn
Ver. Reviewed : 2.0
File Type : Shareware (Postcard, full disk, etc.)
[*] [*] [*]
WHAT IT IS Valgus^2 (pronounced "Valgus squared", and henceforth
"""""""""" referred to as VSQ) is naturally the sequel to Valgus,
which itself was a public domain version of Tetris. In VSQ, the seven
familiar Valgus pieces as back, but they are tired of falling straight
down the screen! Instead, they will come at you from all four sides of
the 27x27 playing area.
WHAT IT DOES In the middle of this area is a solid 3x3 block. When a
"""""""""""" piece hits this block or any other pieces that have
fallen before it, it will become locked into that place, and a new piece
will drop from a randomly chosen side. The object of the game, instead
of completing lines across the screen, is to complete squares around the
center block. The first square out is 5x5, the next is 7x7, and so on.
T o help you keep track of which square each position on the screen
belongs to, once a piece has fallen, each of its four constituent blocks
will change colors. When you complete a square, all the squares on top
of it will move in. Once you complete a certain number of squares (5 on
the first level, 7 on the second, and so on) the round will end and you
will be awarded a bonus. The playfield is then cleared and a new round
begins.
[*] [*] [*]
PD_Q RATING * * *
"""""""""""
DOCUMENTATION Good
"""""""""""""
PD_Q COMMENTS First, boot-up Valgus, (a Tetris clone). Now imagine
""""""""""""" playing it but instead of watching the shapes drop from
the top, imagine having the objects drop from all four sides. And you
thought Valgus was addictive!
Like the original, the first few levels of play are fairly easy.
Unless the game catches you sleeping, the blocks fall into their proper
place without too much effort. Get ready though, once you start getting
into the upper levels, you better be alert and ready because the blocks
start falling fast... real fast, and remember, in this version you're
bombarded from all four sides. (It gets worse--you don't even want to
think about level 7!)
Complaints? Only one. No Sound. Nothing. Not even a beep.
Either I haven't figured out how to turn the sound on, or James decided
to leave the sound out. Why, I can't imagine. To me, it's sound and/or
music that makes or breaks a game. (I realize not everyone feels this
way. For those who do prefer no sound, use the column control.)
Even without the sound effects, Valgus^2 holds my interest.
Valgus^2, is one of those, "Just one more time" games. If you have
something important to do, don't boot up this game. You've been warned!
[EOA]
[PRT]//////////////////////////////
PRINT ME! /
/////////////////////////////////
GEnie Lamp Template
"""""""""""""""""""
PRINT ME! Are you a new member on GEnie? If so, this GEnie Lamp
""""""""" template can come in handy when exploring the Atari
RoundTable.
To make your GEnie Lamp 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 template, just insert it the slot
behind your "F" keys located right above the main keyboard.
~ cut here ~
______________________________________________________________________________
GEnie Lamp Template #3 GEnie
""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""
<BYE> - Bye, logoff the system. <C>ommand - Toggles command/menu mode
<F>eedback - Send FEEDBACK to GE <H>elp - Help
<L>ocate m - Locate member m <M>ove xxx - Move to Page xxx
<M>ove xxx;y - Move to Page xxx;y <N>otify m n - Send a notice n to member m
<NON>otify - Toggle No Notify <P>revious - Move to Previous Page
<PA>ssword - Change your password <PH>one - Information on GEnie access #s
<PO>rt - Display the Port Number <R>ead - Read your new mail
<S>end - Send a new letter <T>ime - Print the current time and date
<U>sers - Display members nearby <U>sers ALL - Displays ALL members on line
<U>sers p - Displays GE Mail address of members on line using product p
..............................................................................
~ Fold Here ~
______________________________________________________________________________
~ Cut Here ~
[EOA]
[LOG]////////////////////////////////
LOG OFF /
///////////////////////////////////
'Till Next Time
"""""""""""""""
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. Or if you
prefer to remain private, you may use the "FEEDBACK TO SYSOPS" command
on page 475, or leave a message to one or more of the following
addresses:
o John F. Peters (ST-GUEST) Publisher/Editor
o Darlah J. Pine (DARLAH) Editor
o Sandy Wilson (SANDY.W)
o Fred Beckman (FB)
o Jeff Williams (JEFF.W)
o John J. Kennedy (JJKENNEDY)
o Larry Duke (LARRY.D)
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 145, 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 146, in the
GEnie Lamp library, #35.
PROBLEMS? If you are having trouble finding your way around GEnie or
""""""""" have a question you would like an answer to, we've asked
Ms. GEnie, our resident expert, to start a column just for you. If
you would like to have Ms. GEnie tackle one of your questions, you can
post your message in CAT 34, TOPic 4. (See "[ASK] MS. GEnie" for more
details.)
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½ 1990 by 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 *official* information services
of Atari Corporation.
To sign up for GEnie service, call (with modem) 800-638-8369. Upon
connection type HHH (RETURN after that). Wait for the U#= prompt.
Type XJM11877,GEnie and hit RETURN. The system will prompt you for
your information.
Signed articles 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.
////////////////////////////////////\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\
[EOF]
