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GEnieLamp Online Magazine Issue No.3.40
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~ SPECIAL EDITION: BEST OF '91! ~
\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\////////////////////////////////////
January 15, 1992 ~ A T/TalkNET OnLine Publication ~ Issue No.3.40
////////////////////////////////////\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\
Publisher/Editor ....................................... John Peters
Co-Editor ........................................ Darlah Potechin
Technical Editor ................................. Jeff Williams
TX2 Editor ...................................... David Holmes
[IDX] """"""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""
~ BEST OF '91! ~
""""""""""""""""
FROM MY DESKTOP ......... [FRM] DEALER VIEWPOINT ........ [DLR]
Notes From The Editor. By Sheldon Winick.
OF MICE AND MEN ......... [MIC] ONLINE FUNNIES .......... [FUN]
By Richard Brown. Tim_Toons By Tim Basham.
MEL'S MANOR ............. [MEL] TELETALK ONLINE ......... [TEL]
By Mel Motogawa. By Terry Quinn.
HUMOR ONLINE ............ [HUM] HACK'N ATARI ............ [HAC]
By Dorothy Brumleve. By Mark Dodge.
ST ALADDIN .............. [ALD] FOCUS ON ................ [FOC]
By Fred Koch. By Larry Duke.
READ IT! ................ [REA] PRINT ME! ............... [PRT]
By John Peters. By John Peters.
GEnie QWIK_QUOTES ....... [QWI] LOG OFF ................. [LOG]
By People Like YOU! GEnie Lamp Information.
~ GEnie LAMP AND TX2: SEE THE DIFFERENCE! ~
[REA] """"""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""
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:
HUMOR ONLINE ............ [HUM]
[*]GEnie Fun & Games.
To read this article, set your find or search command to [HUM]. If
you want to scan all of 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! Whenever you see a [*] in the
index or in the article header, that indicates that the article contains
TX2 graphics and/or pictures. To see the graphics, you will need the
following files:
LMP_340.LZH GEnie Lamp in TX2 format.
MINI_TX2.LZH Mini-version of TX2 Viewer (File #20441).
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.
A message number that is surrounded by brackets indicates that this
message is a "target" message and is referring to a "chain" of two
or more messages that are following the same topic. For example: {58}
""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""
////////////////////////////////////////// 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]
[FRM]//////////////////////////////
FROM MY DESKTOP /
/////////////////////////////////
Notes From The Editor
"""""""""""""""""""""
By John Peters
[GENIELAMP]
>>> BEST OF '91! <<<
""""""""""""""""""""
TOP OF THE PAGE Welcome to a very special issue of GEnie Lamp, "The
""""""""""""""" Best Of '91." I've gone through the past year of
GEnie Lamp issues and I've selected what I believe to represent the best
articles of '91. My thanks to all the people who have made all of this
possible - the GEnie Lamp writers, contributors, my co-editors - Darlah,
Jeff and David, and of course you. Your support _is_ appreciated!
[*][*][*]
//////////////// GEnie_QWIK_QUOTE /////
/ "Glad to see Qwik_Quotes is back... /
/ Now only if I had one /
/ (a Qwik Quote I mean)." /
////////////////////// Frank Bell /////
Well, Frank, I've got some good news for you!
One of the more popular features of GEnie Lamp is the Qwik_Quotes.
Qwik_Quotes came about when it became obvious to me I needed a way to
highlight one or two lines of humor, wisdom or wit that I would
occasionally run across while sifting through messages. Unfortunately,
due to some problems of mis-directed quoting in another online magazine,
a few policy changes were made and I had to drop the Q_Q idea unless the
quote consisted of the entire message or in very special cases, I
contacted the author asking for permission. That has all be resolved
now and I am happy to announce that Qwik_Quotes will once again become a
regular feature of GEnie Lamp.
I enjoy doing Q_Q and I especially enjoy the humourous ones. It
was a kick to go through all the old issues and re-read them again. In
this issue, you will some of the better Q_Q I found in-between all of the
feature articles - just like in the old days! Some have a story to
tell, some you have to read between the lines to catch their drift, and
others are just downright funny.
Here is one that remains one of my all time favorites:
//////////////////////////////////////// GEnie_QWIK_QUOTE /////
/ "WHY WON'T IT WORK? WHY WON'T IT WORK? WHY WON'T IT WORK??? /
/ (screaming, pulling out hair, throw a general-all-purpose- /
/ GFA Basic-tantrum)" /
////////// PRINCETON-U, CAT22, TOP3, MSG:149/M475) //////////
I believe that this is something that all programmers can relate
to, regardless of what language they program in :-).
[*][*][*]
In the latest issue of Livewire, my article on .GIF has created
some confusion among many readers. The problem is that I wrote and
submitted the article in October. During this long lead time, two files
mentioned in the article are no longer available in the library under
the number listed. Apparently, they have been deleted by the the
author. All is not lost however, and they have been updated and re-
uploaded. If you are interested in downloading these files, the new
files numbers are:
21918 GEMVIEW1.LZH X B.ZAWALSKI1 911213 120832 497 2
Desc: Ultimate Picture Viewer!
21573 DMJ_GIF3.LZH X R.GLOVER3 911115 194944 319 28
Desc: NEW! GIF Converter v3! Much faster!
Sorry for the confusion, but something like this is beyond my
control. (That's why I prefer online mags to paper mags :-).
[*][*][*]
In issue 3.41, we'll catch up on all the hot messages and files we
missed this issue. Until then, hope your '92 is a happy and prosperous
one!
Take care...
John Peters
[GENIELAMP]
P.S. This was going to be a strictly Best Of '91 issue. However, due
"""" to some late-breaking news, I'm going to make an exception.
Boring, the ST RoundTable is not! As you probably already know,
January 8th, in the ST RoundTable Wednesday RTC, it was announced that
Greg Pratt, General Manager of Atari U.S., is leaving Atari for greener
pastures. As to how this will affect Atari remains to be seen. the
effects of this action, however, the Atari representatives went out of
there way to calm the masses stating that the affects will be minimal.
Bill Rehbock from Atari Corp. said, "It was an offer that Greg
couldn't refuse. I assure you that it will not affect anything at all.
We are in the process of interviewing people for developer support and
marketing positions right now, building for a big 1992."
Bill went on to say, "There definitely shouldn't be any product
shortage problems, and there will be no problem signing up new dealer-
ships. Don and Mike Groh have everything quite together on the sales
side of things."
Strangely enough, there are no current plans to fill Greg's
position in the foreseeable future. One thing is for sure, the next few
months promise to be an interesting time.
/////////////////////////////////////////// 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 /
/////////////////////////////////
Anticipation and Perspective
""""""""""""""""""""""""""""
By Sheldon Winick
[S.WINICK]
>>> ANTICIPATION AND PERSPECTIVE <<<
""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""
Nature has a way of providing consistency and a reassuring feeling
that all is well with life as it provides us with normal seasonal
changes. There's a good emotional feeling that's provided as we watch
these regular changes and renewals of natures life cycles. We're
currently in the midst of Natures most colorful display as the Fall
colors reach their peak. Of course, you folks down in sunny South
Florida probably probably don't have the slightest idea what I'm talking
about; you really need to get out more often and see how the rest of the
world lives <grin>.
The problems of everyday life seem trivial and insignificant after
standing on a mountaintop and observing the grand displays of creation
and natures renewals. All of us periodically need to take the time to
escape from our manmade crises and problems, and allow time for our
minds to put our concerns back into proper perspective. As a much wiser
man than myself put it several thousand years ago: "To everything there
is a season, and a time to every purpose under heaven." (Ecclestiastes
3:1)
Nature's seasonal displays reinforce that statement, and leave us
with a renewed spirit of self and purpose, if we can only take the time
to contemplate the real important things of life and keep everything in
its proper perspective. But just as we anticipate nature's seasonal
cycles, we also anticipate changes that affect our everyday lives.
In the Atari world, we are constantly anticipating "new" products.
We all anxiously watch for every press release and announcement
concerning anything Atari does, or doesn't do. We eagerly await the
magazine articles that describe all the new products and rumors. We get
involved in endless debates of the merits or deficiencies of various
Atari products, many of which still haven't even been released.
We frequently get overly involved in debates over marketing
decisions made by Atari's top management and get frustrated when we feel
they are making mistakes. But we must realize that our viewpoints are
taken from a different perspective, sometimes, than those of Atari's
management. Our opinions are important, and Atari is obviously
interested in the valuable feedback we can provide, which should be
obvious by their active participation here on GEnie and the other online
services. But we must keep in mind that our viewpoints are only taken
from our own individual perspective, and final marketing decisions need
to consider the perspectives of all aspects of the marketplace.
It sometimes also appears that GEnie's Atari roundtables are overly
populated by Atari nay-sayers and critics. Some may have ulterior
motives in their criticism, and we need to take into account not only
what is being said, but who is saying it. We need to keep everything in
its proper perspective. But through it all, we can't help the anxiety
created by our constant anticipation of new products and desire for
anything new that could result in an improved market share for our
favorite computer platform.
Just as nature is constantly amazing us with her seasonal changes,
we enjoy the amazement and anticipation of new products for our Atari
systems. And unfortunately, the time between the first rumors and the
final product is always seemingly too long. The anticipation and
excitement frequently turns into frustration as our patience wears thin.
And that frustration is increased when we see other manufacturers beat
Atari with new releases; and watch as inferior computer platforms
outperform Atari at the bottom line -- sales volume and profits.
We keep anticipating "The Year of Atari", but get frustrated as we
see fewer Atari dealerships while the "clone" dealers are seemingly
everywhere. We anxiously await the new operating systems and system
enhancements, but can't help get frustrated when we watch the public get
so excited about Microsoft's "new" user-friendly interface, called
"Windows". We can't understand how so many computer users don't
understand that Microsoft's "invention" is 5 years behind Atari and
Apple, and puts so much demand on the operating system that even
attempting to run it on anything less than a 386/25 system is an
absurdity. And we can't help but get frustrated when we know that
despite the fact that the majority of MS-DOS software doesn't even run
under Windows, the American public is still so enamored over this piece
of software that it can't seem to keep even that in its proper
perspective.
Perhaps we need to find a way temper our anticipation with a better
sense of reality, and keep a better perspective on the the important
things in life. Perhaps we need to remember that just because a product
has been shown publicly, doesn't mean it is already in full production
and ready for delivery. Perhaps we need to keep in mind that just
because a manufacturer announces a new product and an anticipated
shipping date, doesn't mean that nothing could possibly go wrong and
delay meeting that goal.
I can't help but remember meeting some of the fine folks from Atari
Canada when we visited the Windsor AtariFest several months ago. And I
can't help but remember the position they took regarding rumors of new
and impending Atari products -- if they don't have it, it doesn't exist!
Perhaps that may at first appear to be an overly simplistic attitude,
but as far as the end user is concerned, it is really very true. And
while we can't help but anticipate the new products, we must remember
that until they appear on dealer shelves in their final form, they
really don't exist for the consumer.
We should also keep in mind that Atari was around back in the early
days of personal computing. How many companies today can say they
survived so long is such a volatile market? And how many companies have
fallen by the wayside during those years? Sure, we'd all love to see
our favorite Atari system better known and respected throughout the
computer community. We'd love to have a quality dealer in every city of
the country. And we'd love to see Atari hold a much larger market share
of the industry. We can't help but wonder "what if...." situations and
imagine what Atari's situation today would be "if only.....". But such
anxiety doesn't help anyone. And the resulting frustration doesn't
either.
We can, however, anticipate the future and watch as the new
management crew at Atari are willing to take the heat and learn to crawl
before they walk, and walk before they run. And they have, during the
past several months, been laying a solid foundation upon which they will
be building the future. They are making changes that should result in
an improved market position for their company. Sure there are still
many problems and hurdles to overcome. But the corner has been turned,
and there is a renewed spirit of cooperation and excitement eminating
from Sunnyvale that hasn't been seen for a long time.
Let's continue our own excitement and anticipation. But lets also
remember to keep everything in its proper perspective and not blow every
little rumor or announcement totally out of proportion. Let's continue
to provide our friends at Atari with the benefit of our experience and
opinions, as well as recommendations based on our own point of view.
But let's also keep the proper perspective on their analyses and
marketing decisions.
Most of all, let's continue to keep enjoying our own Atari
experiences and the comraderie of our fellow Atarians. Let's keep in
perspective the real value of our Atari systems for our own computer
"solutions" and how well suited they are for such a variety of interests
and needs. Let's keep up the excitement and anticipation for the
future. But most of all, let also keep the proper frame of mind and the
proper perspective on whatever happenings the future brings.
Happy (Atari) Computing.
Sheldon Winick (GEnie Address: S.WINICK)
Computer STudio (Asheville, NC)
[*][*][*]
Sheldon owns and operates Computer STudio, a full-service
Atari dealership in Asheville, North Carolina. In addition to
(Atari) computing, other interests include motorcycling,
skiing, camping and hiking. He is also Newsletter Editor for
the Blue Ridge Atari Computer Enthusiasts (BRACE) and was past
president of that user group. Sheldon is also a registered
architect, and operated his own architectural office between
1971 and the time he turned his computer hobby into Computer
STudio in 1988. He still does architectural work for select
clients, and currently has work in progress in Florida, North
Carolina and Colorado. His current architectural drawings are,
of course, being prepared on his Atari based CADD system,
using DynaCADD software.
/////////////////////////////////////// GEnie_QWIK_QUOTE /////
/ "I hate it when people complain that software is upgraded /
/ TOO much, as if someone is holding a gun to their head and /
/ making them upgrade each new version. The CodeHeads get /
/ that complaint a lot. I prefer authors to upgrade their /
/ software AS MUCH AS POSSIBLE, and let ME determine my up- /
/ grade frequency." -Terry L. May /
//////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////
[EOA]
[MIC]//////////////////////////////
OF MICE AND BYTES /
/////////////////////////////////
The Final Bell
""""""""""""""
By Richard W. Brown
[R.BROWN30]
>>> "The Winner, By Technical Knockout: ATARI! <<<
""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""
~ IBM Buckles Under Pressure ~
As we all know, when purchasing a new piece of software, very
often, a "README.1ST" file is included, mainly to brief the user on the
latest updates or to give information that was not printed in the
manual.
In the Atari universe, README files have a very common feel. What
do you suppose a README file on the IBM might have in store? Let's take
a look at the FIRST PARAGRAPH of the README file that comes with the
fine flight simulator, _Secret Weapons of the Luftwaffe_, for the IBM
family of computers:
(VERBATIM)
"To run SWOTL on your IBM, Tandy, or compatible computer, you must
have at least 581,000 bytes of RAM available. If your computer is
equipped with expanded memory, you can run SWOTL with as little as
543,000 bytes of RAM available. If you experience memory related
difficulties in running SWOTL, use the DOS program "CHKDSK" to see how
much free RAM your computer has available. You may need to disable one
or more TSR programs (if you're running any) to provide more free RAM
for SWOTL to use."
Notice that the first, most important, and fundamental worry on the
IBM is the limitations of DOS, the IBM's operating system.
In the first sentence of the README file, they're already talking
about RAM. Notice in the second sentence, they're talking about
'expanded memory,' that would-be saving grace that tries to offer RAM
above 640K.
In the third sentence they talk about RAM problems again, this time
within the hidden context that 'expanded memory' simply doesn't work.
Also, they eagerly tell the user how to run a program included with all
DOS setups, "CHKDSK," which is devoted to Microsoft's own worries about
RAM problems, "how much RAM is really free?"
In the forth sentence, they regret to inform the user that, in the
event of a memory crisis, the user must disable "one or more TSR
programs... to provide more available RAM for SWOTL to use."
If you are an Atari user with a 1040, Mega, or TT, by this point
you should be dancing on the ceiling.
What have we learned?
The simple truth to DOS: expanded memory, even a gigabyte's worth,
is meaningless and a red herring next to the central problem of DOS-
that anointed first 640K of RAM. Even high-end, respected software
titles that have had developmental funding akin to Atari's _hardware_
R&D budget suffer daily with this fundamental DOS inadequacy. We're
talking programs like LOTUS 123, folks...
The gist: It's fair to say that most DOS software for the IBM and
its enormous variety of compatibles must reside, or at least the main
program files, within 640K of memory.
Even a game can tax this memory, as is plainly obvious. Consider
what this takes away from the user:
Limited TSR programs, something like your Atari's AUTO folder
programs; only, in DOS, they try to emulate Desk Accessory status- a
stock DOS machine has no 'desktop'.
On Mount DOS, this is etched in stone:
"Too many TSR's mean 'OUT OF MEMORY' problems down the road."
And what about a desktop. Loading Windows 3 and the Norton Desktop
is the closest thing IBM users know to a graphical interface. Take a
guess where this combination of programs reside? That's correct. So,
what happens if you run a spreadsheet out of Windows 3? Well, many
things can happen related to memory. Some programs actually make some
use out of expanded memory, but the share of the 640K they must have
can lead to problems.
It's complex. Very complex. Almost like a witch's brew. A little of
this, a little of that, and... magic! Wonderful! Or... doom and
despair. It's hard to tell which will happen at any time...
Which makes me think, "What am I doing right now?" Hmmm...
I just added up my TSR's: 609,767 bytes
Now I added my desk accessories: 289,285 bytes
-------------
TOTAL RAM USED FOR HIGH POWER SETUP: 899,052 bytes
With this staggering overhead, tell me how many programs would be
successful under DOS right now? Of course, I'm not playing games. I'm
working on a 785K spreadsheet in LDW power (of course, writing this has
put a damper on THAT).
I doubt that 1% of all DOS users on earth could emulate this
situation, regardless of machine:
* Windowed environment
* 899K of TSR's and Accessories
* Lotus running with 785K Spreadsheet
Wait a minute...
O.K., what ELSE could I do, RIGHT NOW, without exiting my huge
spreadsheet:
1. View or Decompress any ARC, LZH, ZIP, or ZOO file,
2. View (on an SM 124) any Degas PI? or PC?, or any .IMG file,
3. Write a document with word processing control up to 33K in
length (you are reading one),
4. View any text file, with mouse controlled, FAST scrolling,
5. Field a phone call, and insert the person's name, address,
phone number(s), date of call -- everything and more that
you can do with a Rollodex in CardFile 3, my ready and able
"right-hand... desk accessory?" I makes for a paper-free
office,
6. While talking with the caller, with a mouse click provide
names, addresses and phone numbers to any of the people with
whom I generally do business, including pay scales or traffic
directions for same,
7. Take down notes on the conversation in copious detail and save
it to disk under a filename I'll remember,
8. If worried I won't remember some important detail, I can attach
a (long) note linked to the file name (that I won't have to
look for, it's ATTACHED) that is instantly ready to keep me on
track,
9. With a mouse click, instantly auto-dial that person back if I
remember something upon hanging up the phone (or dial any other
person, even if I can only remember the first three letters of
the last name),
10. Do _complete_ hard drive / floppy disk management, including
file copies, moves, changes in time stamps, hide files, lock
files, set archive bits, create folders, format floppies, copy
disks, erase files, comment files, graphically display how much
of my poor hard drive partitions are available at this time...
at some point the brain locks up trying to remember _all_ the
things... Oh! And view TWO directories at once in any
combination of drives/directories.
11. Set my appointment calendar, and print it.
12. Print a hard copy of THIS document, if I want it.
13. Save a Degas screen dump of the screen to hard disk. Actually,
99 of them...
14. ...or continue working on my spreadsheet....
And to think, this is not multitasking... but it is stock ST.
I defy any DOS user to emulate this power without multitasking.
Better yet, I defy it with multitasking: O.K., 486 IBM whiz-kids, let's
do a dare. Now, the rules are simple. This little game has to apply to
EVERY DOS MACHINE EVER MADE (the same goes for Atari):
When my hard drive is wrestled from me by the Terminator, and all
my Syquest platters turned to twisted junk, and all the hard drive parts
crushed by a steamroller... I can still boot my Atari to a graphic
environment with full mouse control and a high-power sophistication,
easily, from floppies.
Keeping up, DOS? O.K.:
Then, when the Terminator returns, takes all my floppies and eats
them for lunch, one by one, sparing one disk only, a floppy that has
just one text file on it... a word processing document with my
insurance company's number...
I can still boot my Atari, enjoy a windowed, graphic environment,
access the floppy with a mouse, read the file on screen, then print the
file as a screen dump to a dot matrix printer. While I call the
insurance company, I can offer the floppy to the Terminator for
dessert.
Of course, even now, I can still boot my Atari....
That's what applies to ALL ST's. And where is DOS? Didn't make it
to the finish. Never had a chance...
Good try, though, almost kept up.
///////////////////////////////////////// GEnie QWIK_QUOTE //////
/ "...if you heard about it from the FNET, it's probably bogus. /
/ All of the *really* good rumors about Atari (READ: the ones /
/ that I plant! :) come from here on GEnie." /
////////////////////////////////////////////// BOB-BRODIE /////
[EOA]
[FUN]//////////////////////////////
ONLINE FUNNIES /
/////////////////////////////////
Tim_TOONS!
"""""""""
||| ATARI ...... Power without the Price ......
/ | \
A little too much power!!!
/
___-----___- ======_ _ --_ ____ _ ____
--___---_- ==== o\ ___-- ____ | |
\ ____------_____-- ==( | ____-----_ _| |
\ _______----_ \__O __ __[===]|____|
\ /\ ________________/________/_=============
\ / \ -_ / ______/ --- \__________) |
\/ \ _-- / | |
\ | |
| |
| |
_____ _______
|im |oons By Tim Basham (1991)
////////////////////////////////////// GEnie_QWIK_QUOTE /////
/ "I look forward to the day I don't need the Amiga around, /
/ I will then beat that 1084 to pieces with a bat... /
/ as soon as my eyes stop bouncing up and down ;-)" /
//////////// J.ALLEN27, CAT4, TOP5, MSG:116/M475 //////////
[EOA]
[MEL]//////////////////////////////
MEL'S MANOR /
/////////////////////////////////
Do You Know The Way To LH5?
"""""""""""""""""""""""""""
By Mel Motogawa
[M.MOTOGAWA]
>>> DO YOU KNOW THE WAY TO LH5? <<<
"""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""
What I like to ask, if I have to send or receive a file, is whether
the other person is set up for -lh5- lzh files. I haven't seen many using
it yet. Most are still using the old -lh1- lzh format, no doubt because
of the newness of the -lh5- format. Old habits die hard. If you've been
thinking about delving into the -lh5- archive format, let's examine how to
do so in a painless fashion.
What's An LH5? A new variation of the lzh archive format that compresses
"""""""""""""" better than normal lzh programs and is very fast at Add
operations, compared to earlier lzh'ers. Files using the -lh5- format are
created by Lharc 2.01h (aka Lzh201h) by Thomas Quester. (File #21432 in
the file library.) Files created using -lh5- compression still carry an
.lzh extender. But when you do a Verbose on the archive, the compression
type shows up as -lh5- instead of the more common -lh1- of earlier lzh
programs. You've probably noticed how the ST RT File Library is now
showing which files are compressed with the -lh5- format in the file
description.
Wait A Minute! Strange Things Are Afoot! Yes, you probably noticed how a
"""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""" file compressed in the -lh5-
format can only be extracted using Quester's program. This is to be
expected since it is a new type of compression. When using an older Lharc
program, you may get various results when trying to do a verbose or
extract operation on a Quester -lh5- lzh. Perhaps a message from the
program that the file in question is an unknown format, a crash or what
seems to be a good extraction, but it's not. A text file may be corrupted
or a program could crash when booting. The answer? Just start using
Quester's program exclusively for your lzh adds, extracts, verboses, etc..
It can handle -lh5- files or the older -lh1- files and you gain by getting
about the best compression possible for the ST and fast extractions. Just
remember to let others know that you have used the -lh5- format on your
archive, until it becomes more popular. Take my word, it will.
So Just How Good Is LH5? To give you an idea of the compression power of
"""""""""""""""""""""""" the -lh5- format, I took the last GEnie Lamp
file GELMP235.TX2 which is 139,305 bytes long. I then compressed it with
ARC602, LHARC102, ST ZIP 0.9 and LZH201H on my 8mhz STe. A hard drive was
used for all disk i/o including the creation of temporary files by some of
the programs. Note that the results below are sorted by file sizes.
Lzh201h- 69 secs/59,252
ST Zip- 43 secs/60,043
Lharc102- 122 secs/63,906
Arc.ttp- 53 secs/75,140
In this example, you can see that ST Zip really flies and achieves
nearly the same compression of the -lh5- format in far less time. I've
noticed this with many other text files. ST Zip shines on these and is
usually close to -lh5- compression. Lzh201h beats the older -lh1-
compression format by a small margin, but is much faster. I've noticed
this also on the files I archive. The smaller the file, the less -lh5-
will beat -lh1-.
For an example in the other direction, I tested the above 4 programs
at archiving 6 files totaling 557,346 bytes. There were 2 degas pics
(64,068 bytes), 2 ascii files (151,059 bytes) and 2 executable files
(342,219 bytes). Again, Lzh201h came out on top.
Lzh201h- 265 secs/225,540
ST Zip- 167 secs/242,608
Lharc102- 540 secs/244,193
Arc.ttp- 210 secs/322,916
As you can see, Lzh201h beat the next competitor by 17k, not an
insignificant amount. And it beat Arc.ttp by a whooping 97k. When you're
paying for a download, this makes a big difference. I wouldn't mind
seeing all archives that come out over 100k ARC'd, be put out in the -lh5-
format. It staggers my mind to think of how much you would save on some
of those huge ARC'd files.
I was surprised that ST Zip beat Lharc102 in this test. So I decided
to try another challenge. I archived 17 graphic files which included 2
GEM files, 2 SPC files and 13 IMG files. They totaled 281,204 bytes.
Lzh201h- 150 secs/170,009
Lharc102- 312 secs/175,289
ST Zip- 104 secs/195,015
Arc.ttp- 153 secs/214,300
Finally, I decided to throw in archiving my folder of cpx's, 24 of
them totaling 251,982 bytes.
Lzh201h- 135 secs/120,227
Lharc102- 277 secs/124,879
ST Zip- 93 secs/150,518
Arc.ttp- 123 secs/162,974
From all this, clearly the -lh5- format is a winner. It has
comparable speed with Arc.ttp while getting much better compression. ST
Zip is a hot rod in speed, but the -lh5- format beats it in file size
every time, as does Lharc102 usually. Lharc102 gets close to Lzh201h, but
the speed differences in the Add operation makes this no contest. Keep in
mind, though, that I used Lharc102 to represent all -lh1- lzh archivers.
You may get better results with another during Adds, but I used to use
Lharc102 in my pre-lh5 days since its speed in Add operations was very
good.
So How Do I Get Into Creating/Extracting LH5 Files? First off, download
""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""" two files. File
#21432 LZH201H.LZH and file #20271 ARCSHL26.ARC. Use your favorite LZH
utility to extract Lzh201h since it is compressed in the older -lh1-
format and use an ARC utility to extract Arc Shell. Take the following
files and place them wherever you keep your archive utilities, LHARC.TTP
and ARCSHELL.PRG. If you're already using an earlier version of Arcshell,
just copy the new one and Lharc to wherever it resides.
Fire up Arc Shell. If it asks you where arc.ttp is, just point it
out with the file selector that appears. You should now see the Arc Shell
main screen. Proceed to configure Arc Shell for Lzh201h as the docs
direct. Don't forget to highlight the "Quester LZH mode" button in the
configuration dialog. After everything is set up for your liking, save
your configuration. Now you're set up to handle any arc or lzh file you
download from GEnie with the GEM ease of Arc Shell. (And don't forget to
send in the shareware contribution to Charles F. Johnson, the creator of
Arc Shell.)
Another great shareware shell for Lzh201h is the EDM Shell (file
#21535), by David Holmes, which can be configured to oversee your ARC, 2
LZH's, ZIP and ZOO utilities, five programs in all. It has very flexible
parameter passing.
I have close to 100 double-sided disks of old files I've downloaded
from GEnie, backups of important data files and other miscellaneous stuff.
I'm slowly converting all these from the old lzh to the newer -lh5-
format. Saving 5k here, and 10k there, can really add up over 100 disks.
I've heard that some have had problems with the Lzhxxx series when
archiving many files at once, but I've -lh5-'d whole partitions and yet
successfully extracted files from the archive. But who knows? I use
Quester's -lh5- format all the time and really appreciate the great
compression. I hope this information will prove helpful to you in getting
your feet wet with -lh5- archives. It's great stuff!
[*][*][*]
Mel Motogawa has been hooked to his ST since 1986 and
when not online, enjoys reading every ST mag he can lay
his hands on. "After years of just reading messages and
garnering information, I decided it was time to break
out. Don't be a lurker forever, get the most out of the
ST Roundtable. Ask questions online or answer the ones
you can. Share the wealth!"
/////////////////////////////////////// GEnie_QWIK_QUOTE /////
/ "This is starting to sound like a rip off of COLA WARE! /
/ Of course, REAL cola ware requires nothing less than JOLT! /
/ I'se not a 'Pepper! Never have, never will." /
/////////// BOB-BRODIE, CAT14, TOP40, MSG:65/M475 //////////
[EOA]
[TEL]//////////////////////////////
TELETALK ONLINE /
/////////////////////////////////
Standards?
""""""""""
By Terry Quinn
[T.QUINN1]
>>> STANDARDS? WE DON'T NEED NO STEENKING STANDARDS! <<<
"""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""
Recently, there have been a number of heated discussions in the
RoundTable's messages bases concerning the entire notion of programming
standards. One thing has become very clear - several of the
individuals participating in the discussion (including some who should
know better) have only a very foggy idea as to what standards are, how
they come about and what one should do about them.
To begin with, standards emerge from several sources and depending
upon the source and usefulness of the standard may last for a long time or
be very short lived.
At the top of the pyramid are the standards imposed by government
organizations. Everyone is familiar with the National Bureau of Standards
and the FCC - two organizations (among many) who impose standards which
affect all of us. For the most part, the regulations imposed by bodies
such as these must be met by everyone without favor or prejudice. For
example, whether a manufacturer is huge (like IBM) or small (Atari), all
their products must not emit more than a certain amount of radio "noise"
or they can't sell their product. Period! While some standards imposed
by these bodies are narrow in scope (the "Tempest" standard for EMI for
example) all standards imposed by government fiat are notably rigid in
application.
The next level down on the pyramid are such voluntary government
private organizations as the American National Standards Institute (ANSI),
Underwriters Laboratories and the Canadian Standards Association (CSA).
Most of the standards developed by these bodies are voluntary in the sense
that they are not imposed by government fiat but in effect establish a
minimum standard in such areas as product safety that companies don't dare
violate or they cannot sell their product. Standards at this level are
usually arrived at by consensus by committees made up of people in the
affected industries. Besides basic product safety standards, there are
a number of other standards from this level which affect both hardware
and software. For example, computer languages such as "C" or "Cobol"
are regulated to a degree by ANSI. This is beneficial to the public at
large since if one knows a standard version of some language, it is
possible to move from one computer to another without much difficulty.
At the lowest level of the standards pyramid are those standards
which develop from the marketplace; either from the efforts of companies
or individuals. When you reach this level of the standards "pyramid",
it gets very sticky as to what is and is not a bonafide "standard".
Sometimes a company may establish a "standard" without meaning to due to
its sheer usefulness in the marketplace. A good example of this is
Hewlett Packards Printer Control Language. Even though this standard was
originally developed for no more reason than to enable HP to introduce a
good inexpensive (relatively speaking) laser printer, it became widely
adopted by other manufacturers due to HP's successful efforts to market
their printers and the elegance of the "standard" itself.
Some standards are established by the reaction of the marketplace
alone. For example, the business communities reaction to IBM's first
personal computer was enough to establish the MS/DOS - Intel platform as a
"standard" despite the fact that there were superior hardware/operating
system platforms already on the market when it was introduced. This event
is fairly uncommon however and even mighty IBM failed to supplant their
original standard with micro-channel architecture when they attempted to
introduce a technically superior architecture as a standard for the PC
marketplace. Here is where the first "rule" comes into play - It doesn't
matter what a manufacturer does or does not do to establish a "standard"
if it isn't accepted in the marketplace.
Second, a "standard" must be timely. It must offer sound technical
basis for something which needs to be done "now" but hasn't happened yet.
One of the reasons that HP has had such success with their printers is
that their method of controlling their laser appeared at just the right
time. Another such example was the earlier standard for controlling dot
matrix printers established by Epson.
Third, a standard must be well done from a technical standpoint - The
history of Windows by Microsoft might provide a useful illustration of
this point. Windows was intentionally developed as a graphics
environment "standard" for all Intel platform computers but did not become
widespread until it became sufficiently usable to be useful. Windows 1.0
was by all accounts a real dog but the current version actually offers
some real technical benefits for the end user.
Fourth, a standard must be economically feasible to adopt. This is
what tripped up IBM when they introduced their PS/2 line of computers. By
the time the PS/2 computers appeared, most of their potential customer
base had an enormous investment in PC/AT buss machine and it was not
economically feasible for them to junk their original investment and opt
for the new systems. The fact that there are more "clones" than true blue
IBM's sold these days is primarily a result of economics. This also
applies to programs. Even though IBM hasn't produced a 8 bit PC in years,
most software being written today will work on their original machine
because software developers want to maximise the return on their efforts
by writing for the greatest number of machines. This is one other reason
for the proliferation of the clone market as well - it makes no sense for
a software developer to write something which only runs on an original IBM
machine.
Fifth, a "standard" must be well documented. The widespread presence
of Unix operating systems on a variety of platforms is in part due to the
developers widely disseminating the technical details (and even the source
code). Unix has been around for so long and is so well known, Bell
Laboratories has derived a substantial amount of revenue for developing
it.
In conclusion - how is Atari doing with respect to standards? Well
we got some good news and bad news. The good news is that they have made
a real effort to product hardware which is "upward compatible" with their
previous products. If programmers tried to follow the "rules" and not do
such tricks as writing directly to hardware, a program written for the
original 520 will run on the most current products. Atari should be
strongly commended on this point. The bad news is that some individuals
at Atari think that just because Atari does something, the result should
be immediately adopted as a "standard". A good example of this one is
their new FSM GDOS module. This has been so long in coming that most
developers who needed this capability have long ago developed their own
methods.
What should be done? Two things:
"Listen, Listen, Listen" and "Sell, Sell, Sell". Listen to what the
"potential" market place is demanding and develop your standards on that
basis. Sell your products to the best of your ability because the more
products out there the greater the return on your efforts.
//////////////////////////////////////// GEnie QWIK_QUOTE //////
/ "I still have two friends who don't know how to use Windows, /
/ a chiropractor who can't figure out his desktop publishing /
/ software, and a father-in-law who is thrilled to death /
/ because he learned how to copy files this month!" /
//////////////////////////////////////////// C.KLIMUSHYN /////
[EOA]
[HUM]//////////////////////////////
HUMOR ONLINE /
/////////////////////////////////
Fun & Games On GEnie
""""""""""""""""""""
By Dorothy Brumleve
[D.A.BRUMLEVE]
>>> YOU CALLING ME AN ADDICT? <<<
"""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""
HEY YOU! Yeah, _you_, the guy at the end of the bar, the one holding
"""""""" the Practical Solutions Mouse in his hand! You calling me an
_addict_???
Well, I deny it! Absolutely! Why, I don't hardly use my computer
at _all_, except when absolutely necessary for modeming, word
processing, desktop publishing, graphics design, programming,
accounting, corresponding with my chums...I know it's a bit _excessive_,
but it's not _abnormal_! Why, everybody I know does the same thing!
Look around you here! Everybody in this place has a computer! We
couldn't _all_ be addicts, could we?
What's that you say? Does it interfere with my life??? Of course
not! I still interact with my family. The family room is right next to
my computer room. I can hear everything that goes on out there from in
here! And they can hear me shouting at them just fine. Well, no, I
guess we _don't_ go out on the town much, but look: who _needs_ that?
I _do_ make sure I watch at least one HBO show a week with my spouse.
I'm not neglecting anybody! In fact, the computers _enhance_ the lives
of everyone in the family! We all have our own, and each of us has our
own special use for them.
OK, OK, I admit that I take the machine with me on vacations and
such. But what's so weird about that? Who wants to go on a picnic and
do nothing but eat and play volleyball? Or drive for hours in the car
with nothing to do except listen to the radio and talk to the kids?
Come on, get real. It's not a _negative_ thing to have a computer along
at times like that. It's not like I'm _dependent_ upon it or something.
I can take it or leave it; I just _choose_ to take it. That's all.
Yessir, guy, you're accessing the wrong file. No addicts here!
Maybe you've been staring at that screen saver too long.
(D.A.BRUMLEVE, CAT14, TOP30, MSG:109/M475)
//////////////////////////////////// GEnie QWIK_QUOTE //////
/ "Beware also of the power supply heat sinks. One of them /
/ has 300 volts AC on it; it gently lifted me across the /
/ room one day." /
/////////////////////////////////////////// DAVESMALL ////
[EOA]
[HAC]//////////////////////////////
HACK'N ATARI /
/////////////////////////////////
[*]POWERDRIVE: Install It Yourself!
"""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""
By Mark L. Dodge
[M.DODGE.2]
>>> POWERDRIVE(tm) INSTALL IT YOURSELF! <<<
"""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""
PLEASE REMEMBER! You are responsible for any damage or liability when
"""""""""""""""" you make any modifications or upgrades to your
equipment. Also keep in mind that opening your computer may void your
guarantee. If you are unsure of your ability to take on a hardware
project, find someone who isn't.
If you decide to take on this project, we _strongly_ suggest that you
download the diagrams which accompany this article. L228_PWR.LZH is a
separate, optional MONO picture file. Use the "Load DEGAS..." option in
the TX2 viewer to view.
Note that due to the intricate detail involved in Mark's diagrams,
the diagrams are available in MONOCHROME format _only_.
[*][*][*]
POWERDRIVE POWER! Perhaps you've never heard of it. Or maybe you have
""""""""""""""""" but never gave it much else than a quick glance. If
you're in the market for some sort of a "speedy" hard disk backup
device, you should seriously consider the POWERDRIVE by DreamPark
Development. Accompanied with Diamond Back II hard disk backup and
restore utility, (written by Robert D. Luneski), they make an excellent
team. I was amazed at how rapidly the two worked together as I backed
up my entire hard disk to less than half of the normal number of data
disk typically required. And it was all done in far less than half of
the normal time requirements. What's really nice is that the entire
modification can be done in about 30 to 45 minutes, and for less than
$250.00.
You might want to consider a few other conveniences the POWERDRIVE
has to offer as well. Imagine your entire floppy disk library shrinking
to at least 50% of what it currently is. And with hard density disk
prices dipping to an amazing $.79 each (mail order) it can be done
relatively cheap. The speed of the new floppy controller chip increases
floppy disk drive access speed significantly. Read and write routines
seem to "snap to attention" as you command them from the desktop or from
within any application. To sum it up, it's the quickest floppy drive
performance I've ever witnessed on any type of computer system.
PARTS AND TOOLS The kit comes with (see figure 1) a POWERDRIVE printed
""""""""""""""" circuit board, 2.5mm socket with wires attached, 34-pin
ribbon cable with connectors, 28 - 34 pin adapter, and a 28-pin socket.
Additional parts you will need to complete the job are also listed in
figure 1.
The necessary tools required are as follows;
o 1 pair of needle nosed pliers
o 1 pair of dikes
o 1 25 Watt (or lower) soldering iron
o 1 solder vacuum pencil or solder wick
o A small quantity of 60/40 solder
o 1 pair of wire strippers
o 1 #2 Phillips type screwdriver
o 1 set of jewelers screwdrivers
DISASSEMBLY Refer to figure 2. Remove the four Phillips type screws
""""""""""" from the bottom side of the disk drive case that hold the
case together. Lift the top of the case off from the rear forward,
sliding the case off of the front of the disk drive mechanism. Now hold
the drive mechanism in one hadn and remove the remaining four screws that
hold the drive mechanism in place. Disconnect the four pin power
connector and the 34-pin ribbon cable connector. Set the disk drive
aside.
Turn your computer over so that you are looking at the bottom side
of the case. Remove the six Phillips type screws that hold the case
together. (520 STfm/1040 owners see figure 3.) Turn the computer over
so that it is right side up. Remove the top of the computer case.
Gently lift the keyboard and locate the keyboard connector plug to the
right. Disconnect the keyboard plug by pulling on the black connector.
Avoid pulling on the wires for disconnection which may break one of the
wires.
Locate the three Phillips screws along the front of the RF shielding
and remove them. Use a pair of needle nosed pliers to straighten the
tabs around the perimeter of the RF shielding so that they align over the
openings on the top portion of the case. Now remove the RF shielding top
portion. Along the back side of the motherboard are two (sometimes
three) Phillips type screws, locate and remove them so that the mother-
board can be removed from the bottom portion of the case. Now extract
the motherboard from the bottom of the case and remove the bottom
portion of the RF shielding.
INSTALLING THE MODIFICATION KIT Locate the floppy controller chip
""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""" labeled WDC 1772 which has 28 pins. It
is necessary to remove this chip which will be replaced with the 28-pin
IC socket that is included with the POWERDRIVE kit. Refer to figure four
for assistance regarding removal. If the floppy disk controller chip is
mounted in a 28-pin socket already, then simply remove it from the socket
using a jewelers screwdriver. Just slip one end of the jewelers
screwdriver under the chip and begin lifting slowly. Work the chip loose
from both ends until it removes easily. If not, then it is necessary to
remove the chip using a couple of the tools listed above.
Use a pair of dikes to snip each leg of the chip in half. Leave
enough of each leg so that they are protruding above the motherboard.
This will make extraction much easier. (See figure four.) Heat the
remaining portion of chip leg with a solder iron. When the solder
becomes hot, grasp the leg with a pair of needle nosed pliers and remove
the scrap. Repeat this until all 28-pin locations are cleared.
Figure five illustrates the clearing of excess solder using a solder
vacuum. With all 28 of the solder pads cleared, insert the new 28-pin
socket and solder into place. Figure five can assist in this area.
With the new socket installed, insert the 28 to 34-pin adapter board
into the 28-pin socket that was installed and orientate it as shown in
figure five. It is necessary to route the DRIVE0 and DRIVE1 SELECT
signals from the Yamaha sound chip. Attach a jumper wire to pin number
19 (DRIVE 1 SELECT) and another jumper wire to pin number 20 (DRIVE 0
SELECT) of the 40-pin IC U19 (Yamaha sound chip). Make sure that both
wires are long enough to reach any of the six holes on the left side of
the 28 to 34-pin adapter board.
Attach the wire from pin number 20 (see figure 6) of the Yamaha
sound chip to the DRIVE A SELECT side of the 28 to 34-pin adapter board.
Attach pin number 19 of the Yamaha sound chip to the DRIVE B SELECT side
of the 28 to 34-pin adapter board. Notice that the DENSITY SELECT signal
points are labeled. Install the 2.5mm socket wires
as illustrated in this
figure. Make sure that the wires from the 2.5mm socket are routed thru an
opening in the top portion of RF shielding prior to making the solder
connections at the 28 to 34-pin adapter board. If you are installing two
1.44MB floppy drives, then it is necessary to obtain an additional 2.5mm
socket and wire it the same way as drive A but make all connections for
the drive B side.
Drill a hole in the back of the plastic case housing as illustrated
in figure 6. If it is drilled about 1/8" from the top of the case
housing, there will be enough room to fit everything back together in its
original form. Install the 2.5mm socket thru the drilled out mounting
hole. (This is not necessary for computer types with internal drives.)
Figure seven illustrates the proper assembly of all the components.
It is important to ensure that pin one on the 34 conductor cable aligns
with pin one on the POWERDRIVE board. This figure also illustrates
options available for configuring the two jumpers for type of drive used.
Make sure to configure them according to the type of drive(s) you are
using.
Figure eight gives a couple of examples as to where the POWERDRIVE
board can be mounted. The ribbon cable, or flat wire, can be routed in-
between the RF shielding. You might want to use electrical tape along
the edges where the ribbon cable is going to be routed. This will
assist against cuts in the run.
Finally, figure nine shows how the high density signal should be
connected at the drive mechanism. There are jumper settings located at
the bottom of each drive illustrated for proper operation. It's very
straight forward.
And that's all there is to modifying your hardware for this
particular upgrade. Keep in mind that I have written this for those
interested and those that may find it useful after their purchase of the
POWERDRIVE. The real "magic" for using the 1.44MB format is in the
software package included with each POWERDRIVE kit. I think it's a
wonderful upgrade and encourage any user to invest in a POWERDRIVE.
Especially if you own a hard disk drive.
Too bad ATARI doesn't adopt this as a "STandard"!
////////////////////////////////////////// GEnie QWIK_QUOTE ////
/ "Elsewhere in territory #87 of PowerMonger, I ran across a /
/ group of what appear to be Century 21 agents (at least their /
/ jackets look like it) that seem to be performing unnatural /
/ acts on some sheep (deceased ones at that). Real strange!" /
///////////////////////////////////////////////// C.KERNS ////
[EOA]
[ALD]//////////////////////////////
ST ALADDIN ONLINE /
/////////////////////////////////
ST Aladdin And You
""""""""""""""""""
by Fred H. Koch
[F.KOCH]
Intro to Scripts, interrupted
"""""""""""""""""""""""""""""
(Too good to believe? :-)
I am going to interrupt my normal sequence of articles on writing
scripts for ST Aladdin 1.2 for some great news for script writers and
users. The next article will continue with the current script
capabilities of ST Aladdin.
Since I have been experimenting with ST Aladdin scripts and writing
more than a few scripts, Gordon and Tim were gracious enough to allow me
to take a look at what scripts will look like in the future ST Aladdin.
I hesitate to provide this look since it may discourage people from
writing scripts for ST Aladdin 1.2 but decided this was just too good to
pass up.
First let me tell you this will not be available in the near
future. Lots of smaller changes to be worked on in ST Aladdin before
the time can be expended to fully debug this new script language, but it
will knock your socks off when you get it! (Please don't bug Gordon and
Tim about this. They didn't want me to say anything, you know,
something about not releasing features until they are ready to be
distributed, and all that stuff. But, being the person I am, I just
couldn't pass this up. Please, Gordon and Tim, don't hold this against
me. I promise next time I won't tell a soul.)
This new and improved script language is designed with the user in
mind. Not only does it not take programming experience to use, it is so
easy to use, if you can log onto GEnie with ST Aladdin, you can create
your own custom script. Sound hard to believe, just wait.
There are over two hundred fifty commands which the new script
language understands. This may sound a little daunting at first, but it
is no problem, mainly because you don't have to remember them to write a
script. In fact, you might not ever have to type a single script
command. That's right, you can create an entire script without typing a
single script command.
I know what you are thinking, here is another auto script program
which will record what I manually do and then play it back. Well, you
are partially right. Scripter (my name, the official one remains to be
released) will record all your online actions and play them back at a
later time, but it can do much more.
When Scripter is run from the ST Aladdin terminal menu there are
two choices, RECORD user script or PLAY user script. If no scripts are
available RECORD is the only option selectable, PLAY is grayed out.
GEnie will have a new file available for use with Scripter. In
that file are all the menu screens available on GEnie. The version I
got to see only had the thirty most popular pages, but it was enough to
see how things will work.
Let's take a look at what a typical recording session with Scripter
will be like. When RECORD is selected Scripter looks for the menu file.
If the file is not found you have the option to log onto GEnie or abort
the recording session. If log onto GEnie is selected, an item selector
is presented to enter the script name and Aladdin logs onto GEnie using
your user ID and password. Scripter stops at the opening screen of
GEnie where you can manually navigate through the desired actions. At
any time you can select stop and Scripter will stop recording your
actions and save the script file. The script will automatically stop
when you log off GEnie during the recording session. The script can be
played to accomplish the exact actions you just recorded. If you want
to make different choices during script playback, you need to modify the
script placing variables where the desired choices were made.
The really nice features of Scripter show up when the GEnie menu
file is available. If the menu is available when RECORD is selected
things seem to proceed as before but there are a few major changes.
Instead of logging onto GEnie, the menu screens are presented off line.
All the menu choices can be selected, but of course no data is shown.
All desired selections can be recorded for execution during script
playback. This is the same as manual recording, but you are off line,
so no charges are accumulating the entire time you are creating the
script. The real advantage comes when you reach a menu choice or entry
request which you wish to set-up as a variable. Instead of having to go
back and modify the recorded script, just press the ? and a variable
will be assigned to that selection. If you want to specify some text to
be displayed when the variable value is requested, all you need do is
press ALT T. A dialog box appears where up to three lines of 75
characters each can be entered. Again the script can be stopped at any
time by selecting STOP or pressing ALT S. It is automatically stopped
when LOG OFF is selected.
After a session is recorded it can be played back whenever you want
to accomplish the script actions. If the script has no variables it
will proceed from start to finish with no interaction required. If a
capture was used during the original recording, the same file name will
be used and the information appended if the file already exists. If any
variables were used in the script, the script will display the menu
selection line or the entered text requesting the variable value. Once
all variable values have been entered, the script will log onto GEnie
and accomplish all actions.
As if this isn't enough, there is more. Any script can call any
other script. This means if during a recording session, you decide you
want to perform a previously recorded script, it can be done. While
recording, just press the ALT I key to include another script. An item
selector will be displayed to select the desired script. There are some
precautions here. The script being recorded must be at a prompt where
the included script can legally start and the included script must end
at a place where the new script can begin again. This is not a problem
if the included script was recorded all the way through log off since
start and stop occur at a page menu.
Including scripts works with either Scripter mode, that is, with
manual recording or with the GEnie menu file. The difference is if you
are in the manual record mode, the included script will be executed
immediately, where in the menu record mode, the script will just be
inserted in the proper place, and only played when the recorded script
is played. If the inserted script ended with a LOG OFF, it will not log
off GEnie, just return to the recorded script. The one hazard to
inserting scripts in the GEnie menu mode is you don't know where the
inserted script will end. If it was stopped before the LOG OFF command,
it may not be at a page menu, which could cause problems. I have
suggested the inserted script display the final menu item where it stops
to prevent any confusion when using the GEnie menu mode.
One of the nice features of the insert script command is it allows
creating custom script sequences. Select RECORD user script and then
just start inserting the desired scripts. When all scripts have been
inserted, select LOG OFF and the script is ready to go. With this
feature you can even use the same script multiple times allowing you to
essentially create your own AutoPass 1 script.
If it weren't for the intelligent way Scripter uses variables
multiple scripts could cause a serious conflict. Since Scripter assigns
variables as they are encountered in the script, multiple scripts are no
problem. As the script is executed, each variable is assigned a
sequential number which will be used to match the value with the proper
script location. It is even possible to have the same value entered
multiple places in the script. This is accomplished by pressing ALT D.
This displays a list of variables already used in the script, from which
one may be selected to fill the required place. There is even a
capability to select any of the configuration variables, such as user ID
or BB page number, as well as set up a table of default values to use
for variables. Scripter has the most flexible use of variables in any
script language I have seen.
Scripter has a built in time feature which will allow starting a
script at a specified time or with a specified delay. When a script is
placed into a delayed start, you are returned to ST Aladdin to perform
other operations. As long as you don't leave ST Aladdin the script will
be performed when the time arrives. The only precaution is to not be
doing one script or manual action on GEnie when the time for the script
arrives, because it will begin when it should. A feature which asks if
the timed script should start, wait until you are finished, or abort
would be nice. Perhaps this will be added to the final version, after
all this is only a beginning, but what a beginning.
You will notice I haven't mentioned anything but key board commands.
All scripts can be written without knowing about the syntax of the
language, sequence of events required, string handling or any of those
things. If you are really determined to make script writing hard, you
can do all script writing manually with the 250 plus commands. I don't
know why you would want to do this, but the capability is still there.
Oh by the way, did I mention the number of scripts is limited only by
disk space. Since each script is assigned its own file name, and loaded
from an item selector, you can place scripts anywhere you choose and
have as many as your disk will hold. And for floppy drive users,
scripts can be stored any where the item selector can find them, which
includes floppy disks. The only problem with floppy drives is if the
disk isn't in place when the script is run, things will come to a
screeching halt.
There might be other features added before the general public sees
Scripter, although I can't imagine what. Voice recognition? For those
who have been waiting to write their own scripts once Scripter is
released you will have to wait no longer. This has to be the easiest
script writer I have ever seen. The only thing which could be easier
would be to have someone else know exactly what you wanted and do it for
you, but then what personal satisfaction could be gained from that?
Now if I could only get ............... ring ring ring ring.
What? What time is it? 4:00? This can't be a dream! :-)
//////////////////////////////////////// GEnie QWIK_QUOTE ////
/ "He was ready to buy the package!!! Then I thought that I /
/ better ask him what machine he had... he said, "I've got a /
/ Wang 386". I said, "I'm sorry Sir, but this software is /
/ only available for the Atari line of computer systems." /
/ He was not a happy camper...:)" /
/////////////////////////////////////////////// ERIDDLE ////
[EOA]
[FOC]//////////////////////////////
FOCUS ON... /
/////////////////////////////////
The Atari TT: First Impressions
"""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""
By Larry Duke
[LARRY.D]
>>> FIRST IMPRESSIONS OF THE TT030 <<<
""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""
The UPS truck showed up on Thursday. Of course, I was sleeping
that afternoon since I had to work until 7:00 am the next morning. Two
boxes, one brown and rectangular, one white and cubical, awaited me when
I awoke. The TT030 had finally arrived.
I had the insight to read of other's experiences, so preparation
was done in advance (which is the best time to do preparation, by the
way). The ICD tape drive and external disk were assigned sequential
SCSI ID numbers and a 9-pin modem cable had been purchased. Set up was
a breeze. A new world of power computing was at hand.
With the flip of a switch, the computer came to life. There is a
built-in delay before things actually start (default time set to 90
seconds) allowing the hard drive time to spool up. It's easy to bypass
this delay by either pressing any key when things are ready, or by
installing the "NOROACH" program on the boot sector of a floppy in drive
A. The screen came to life and a monitor full of crisp, clear colors
looked back at me. So far, things were going *very* well. The learning
process had begun.
There are two basic questions asked when ST users discover the
TT030. First is "How fast is it?" followed closely by "What software
runs on it?". The answers to both of these questions are not quite as
easy as they seem. Allow me to explain....
The TT030 has two different types of RAM. ST-RAM is relatively
slow in order to be compatible with video output. Programs loaded here
are faster, but not blazingly so. The other area is TT-RAM, which
contains no video memory. Programs loaded here are noticeably faster.
To complicate things, some programs can work in TT RAM, some only in ST
RAM. Trial and error or relying on other's experiences are the only
ways to determine which way to go with a given program. There are
flags in the first few bytes of programs and accessories that are set or
reset to show which area of memory should be used. ATARI has released a
file called PRGFLGS to change these flags easily, as does the new
version of MAXIFILE by CODEHEAD.
The answer to the speed question is dependant on where the program
will load. All (gosh, I hate to use that word) programs that run in the
68030 environment will be executed faster. Those that load into TT RAM
will really fly. For example, UNLZH version 1.72 works in TT RAM. I
can extract a 1.3MB text file in under 15 seconds. This used to take me
about 45 seconds to do on the AdSpeed equipped MEGA.
What software runs? Most all of it, that I can see. There are
some restrictions on a few programs, though. Some get totally confused
when they find RAM someplace they don't expect (early compiled GFA BASIC
programs fall into this category). Disabling the TT RAM, which must be
done at bootup with the 24BIT.PRG in the AUTO folder, solves most of
these problems. Early GFA BASIC compiled programs fall into this
category. From what I've been told, the compiler stuck their own data
in the upper portions of the addresses. Now that the TT030 can use
these upper bits, the extra data can lead to problems unless you disable
the addressing using the 24BIT program.
Some programs expect to run ONLY in the ST resolutions. The
addition of TT-LOW (320*480 with 256 colors) and TT-MEDIUM (640*480 with
16 colors) tends to confuse programs the don't expect to see the
additional capacity. The list of programs that do this is long, but
very distinguished. CALAMUS, DEGAS ELITE, INTERLINK, and GFA BASIC are
some of the fine programs that need to run in ST resolutions.
There was one elusive incompatibility with the new XCONTROL.ACC,
the new, extended control panel. UltraScript does not get along with
the new control panel for some reason. Disabling that, and running Mike
Fulton's US68030.PRG to load the program allowed me to use UltraScript
once again.
What impresses me the most about the new machine? There are so
many improvements, it's really hard to list them...I write down one, it
reminds me of another, and the snowball effect takes over. The screen
is really nice, as is the additional memory (ST-RAM is expandable to
10MB, TT-RAM to 16MB). The colors are displayed very nicely, much
better that the SC1224; crisp, sharp and very clear. I really like the
user definable keystroke equivalents for the menu items on the desktop.
Vast improvements in the desktop itself (now called NEWDESK) such as the
ability to place file and directory icons on the desktop are very
worthwhile. The new resolutions are great; it's really nice to see 30
lines of text in a window with 16 colors and GIF pictures look so good
in 256 colors. The expanded abilities of both the 68030 and the TT
architecture are highly desirable.
What would I change? Not too much, really. The mouse cable comes
out of the left side of the keyboard and I keep running into the
connector. The mouse I use is just the wrong height so it winds up
clicking on the left mouse button when this happens. Through a
remarkable set of coincidences, I have deleted one file from the hard
drive that I didn't want intend to delete because of this situation.
The monitor has no volume control on it, sound is controlled by the
Extended Control Panel. Not that big of a problem, it's just that I
have to remember to turn it down BEFORE I go into INTERLINK late at
night so I don't wake the family.
Overall, I am pleased with the computer. OK, so that's an
understatement...I am actually THRILLED with the computer. It runs more
software than I expected, it looks good in both styling and display, and
it does all of this with great ease at a blistering speed. Heck, if my
wife would let me, I'd buy another one!
/////////////////////////////////////// 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]
[REA]//////////////////////////////
READ IT! /
/////////////////////////////////
Mags & Zines: Directory
"""""""""""""""""""""""
By John Peters
[GENIELAMP$]
READ ALL ABOUT IT The following is a list of publications specifically
""""""""""""""""" for the Atari user taken from the Atari ST
RoundTable bulletin board and library. Although I searched _everywhere_
I could think of, I might of missed one or two (or more) publications.
The data was taken from actual files/messages so it should be accurate.
Any inaccuracies found, or if you have a publication you would like to
see listed, please leave GEmail to [GENIELAMP$]. This list will be
updated and reprinted here in GEnie Lamp on a regular basis. For
obvious reasons, ;-) the publications are listed in alphabetical order.
>>> ONLINE MAGAZINES <<<
""""""""""""""""""""""""
AUA NEWSBRIEFS ONLINE MAGAZINE
""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""
For : Atari users (Generic)
Who : The Atari Users Association
Where : GEnie/Online Services/Various BBSs
Editor: Derek C. Signorini
Freq. : Monthly
Cost : Free (Download chrg. if applic.)
GEmail: [DC.SIGNORINI]
USmail: Atari Users Association
P.O. Box 123
Canonsburg, PA 15317
Phone : 412-745-8930
BBS : 412-746-8699
EXPRESS TIMES
"""""""""""""
For : BBS Express ST! SysOps
Who : C&R BBS
Where : GEnie/Commercial Services/Various BBSs
Editor: Rick Sanchez
Freq. : ???
Cost : Free (Download chrg. if applic.)
GEmail: [C.SANCHEZ2]
BBS : 717-765-8623
GEnie LAMP ONLINE MAGAZINE
""""""""""""""""""""""""""
For : GEnie Atari ST RoundTable Members
Who : T/TalkNET Online Publishing
Where : GEnie/Various BBSs
Editor: John Peters
Freq. : 2 time per month (1st and 15th)
Cost : Free (Download chrg. if applic.)
GEmail: [GENIELAMP$]
USmail: T/TalkNET Publications
ATTN: John Peters
5102 Galley Rd. Suite 115/B
Colorado Springs, CO 80915
GEnie LAMP [PR]
"""""""""""""""
For : GEnie Atari ST RoundTable Members
Who : T/TalkNET Online Publishing
Where : GEnie/Various BBSs
Editor: Fred Koch
Freq. : Weekly (Friday)
Cost : Free (Download chrg. if applic.)
GEmail: [GENIELAMP$] or [F.KOCH]
USmail: T/TalkNET Publications
ATTN: John Peters
5102 Galley Rd. Suite 115/B
Colorado Springs, CO 80915
ST REPORT INTERNATIONAL ONLINE MAGAZINE
"""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""
For : Atari ST users
Who : STR Publishing
Where : GEnie/Commercial Services/BBSs
Editor: Ralph Mariano
Freq. : Weekly (Friday)
Cost : Free (Download chrg. if applic.)
GEmail: [ST.REPORT]
USmail: STR Publishing Inc.
Post Office Box 6672
Jacksonville, FL 32205-6672
Z*MAGAZINE
""""""""""
For : Atari 8-bit users
Who : Z*Net Publishing
Where : GEnie/Commercial Services/Various BBSs
Editor: Ron Kovacs
Freq. : ???
Cost : Free (Download chrg. if applic.)
GEmail: [Z-NET]
USmail: Rovac Industries, Inc.
Post Office Box 59
Middlesex, New Jersey 08846-0059
BBS : 908-968-2024
Z*NET INTERNATIONAL ATARI ONLINE MAGAZINE
"""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""
For : Atari ST users
Who : Z*Net Publishing
Where : GEnie/Commercial Services/Various BBSs
Editor: Ron Kovacs
Freq. : Weekly (Saturday)
Cost : Free (Download chrg. if applic.)
GEmail: [Z*NET]
USmail: Rovac Industries, Inc.
Post Office Box 59
Middlesex, New Jersey 08846-0059
BBS : 908-968-2024
>>> ATARI DISK MAGAZINES <<<
""""""""""""""""""""""""""""
ADVENTURE SYNTAX MAGAZINE
"""""""""""""""""""""""""
For : Atari ST/Adventure & RPG players
Who : SynTax
Editor: N/A
Freq. : Bi-monthly
Cost : 5 Pounds 25 Pence/Thirty Pounds Overseas Air
GEmail: N/A
USmail: SynTax
9 Warwick Road
Sidcup, Kent
DA14 6LJ ENGLAND
>>> ATARI NEWSLETTERS <<<
"""""""""""""""""""""""""
ATARI PORTABLE ENTERTAINMENT
""""""""""""""""""""""""""""
For : Atari Lynx users
Who : APE
Editor: Clinton Smith
GEmail: [C.SMITH89]
Freq : Quarterly
Cost : $6.00 per year
USmail: APE NEWSLETTER
2104 North Kostner
Chicago, IL 60639
BRANCH ALWAYS NEWSLETTER
""""""""""""""""""""""""
For : Atari ST users
Who : Branch Always Software
Editor: Darek Mihocka
GEmail: [BRASOFT]
Freq : ?
Cost : Free registered users of Quick Tools and Quick ST
II. All others (USA): 9" S.A.S.E
USmail: Branch Always Software - Newsletter
14150 N.E. 20th Street, Unit 302
Bellevue, WA 98007 U.S.A.
Phone : 206-885-5893
ST CONNECTION
"""""""""""""
For : Atari ST users
Who : Computer Publications Unltd.
Editor: Stan Swanson
GEmail: [STCONNECTION]
Freq : Monthly/10 issues per year
Cost : $14.00 per year/$48.00 w/pd disk
USmail: Computer Publications Unltd.
P.O. Box 2224
Arvada, Colorado 80001-2224
Phone : 303-423-6805
GAMEMASTER
""""""""""
For : Atari Lynx/Jaguar users
Who : Computer Publications Unltd.
Editor: Stan Swanson
GEmail: [STCONNECTION]
Freq : Monthly/10 issues per year
Cost : $10.00 per year
USmail: Computer Publications Unltd.
P.O. Box 2224
Arvada, Colorado 80001-2224
Phone : 303-423-6805
STRADER
"""""""
For : Atari users (Generic) For sale/trade etc.
Who : The Final Draft
Editor: Dave Colon
GEmail: [D.COLON2]
Where : U.S.Mail/BBSs
Freq : Every 2-3 weeks
Cost : .25 (w/S.A.S.E)
USmail: STrader
Phone : 4633 Janeau Cir. Suite B
Homestead, FL 33039-1173
>>> ATARI MAGAZINES <<<
"""""""""""""""""""""""
ATARI INTERFACE
"""""""""""""""
For : Atari users (Generic)
Who : Unicorn Publications
Editor: Bill & Pattie Rayl
Freq : Monthly/10 issues per year
Cost : $18.00 (US, $30.00 Canadian)
GEmail: [UNICORNPUB]
USmail: Unicorn Publications
3487 Braeburn Circle
Ann Arbor, MI 48108
Phone : 313-973-8825
BBS : 313-973-9137
ATARIUSER
"""""""""
For : Atari users (Generic)
Who : Quill Publishing Co.
Editor: John Nagy
Freq : Monthly
Cost : Free/$2.00 (Optional subscription: $21.30)
GEmail: [ATARIUSER]
USmail: AtariUser
113 W. College St.
Covina, CA 91723
Phone : 818-332-0372
Fax : 818-332-2869 Fax
818-332-5473 (Direct advertising)
CURRENT NOTES
"""""""""""""
For : Atari users (Generic)
Who : Current Notes, Inc.
Editor: Joe Waters
Freq : Monthly/10 issues per year
Cost : $27.00 per year/$47.00 for two years
GEmail: [JOE.WATERS]
USmail: Current Notes, Inc.
122 N.Johnson Rd.
Sterling, VA 22170
Phone : 703-450-4761
ST INFORMER
"""""""""""
For : Atari users (Generic)
Editor: Ron McDonald
Freq : Monthly
Cost : $19.95
GEmail: [ST-INFORMER]
USmail: ST Informer
909 NM Starlite Place
Grants Pass, OR 97526
Phone : 503-476-0071 (TO SUBSCRIBE: 1-800-800-2563)
Fax : 503-479-1825
//////////////////////////////////////// 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]
[PRT]//////////////////////////////
PRINT ME! /
/////////////////////////////////
Templates You Can Use!
""""""""""""""""""""""
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 "Fxx" 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.
PRINT ME II
"""""""""""
>>> Atari ST RT Software Library Template <<<
"""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""
ST Aladdin defaults to library #1 when you upload a file. With
this handy template, you can now direct your uploads to the proper
library.
~ Cut Here ~
________________________________________________________________________
GEnie Lamp Template Atari ST RoundTable Conference
""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""
1. Genie Help Files 2. Utilities
3. Language/Programming 4. Graphic Animation
5. Graphics & Art 6. Business
7. Telecomputing 8. Games
9. Educational 10. Demos
11. Music 12. Adult Library
13. Atari Archives 14. Press Releases
15. Newsletters & Reviews 16. OS-9/68000 for the ST
17. Digitized Sounds 18. Desktop Publishing
19. CPU-STR NEWSWIRE 20. Printer Drivers
21. T.O.S. (The Other Stuff) 22. ICD Product Support
23. ST-LOG 24. Emulator Support
25. Z-NET 26. FOR SALE/WANTED
27. Hardware Projects 28. Graphic Utilities
29. Music Utilities 30. ISD Product Support
31. Children's Applications 32. Portfolio Support
33. Current Notes 34. IAAD (P)
35. GEnie Lamp - The Online Magazine 36. GE_Lamp Submissions(P)
........................................................................
~ Fold Here ~
________________________________________________________________________
~ Cut Here ~
/////////////////////////////////////// GEnie QWIK_QUOTE //////
/ "What really gets me going is how well ST Aladdin does it's /
/ stuff. Every time I try something new, I tend to wonder if /
/ the program really knows what it is. And yep, it do. /
/ Amazing. I suppose to some it's kind of 'ho-hum', but then, /
/ I still have admiration for the guy who figured out the /
/ machine to make paper clips..." /
///////////////////////////////////////////// M.JONES52 /////
[EOA]
[QWI]//////////////////////////////
GEnie QWIK_QUOTES /
/////////////////////////////////
Best Of GEnie Qwik_Quotes
"""""""""""""""""""""""""
///////////////////////////////////// GEnie_QWIK_QUOTE /////
/ "I must point out, I LIKE using my 386 w/Windows at my /
/ workplace. Every time it crashes, I just wave to this /
/ little deshevled guy in the corner who comes over and /
/ try's to figure out what happened. Then I walk away. /
/ He gets the gray hair's, I get an extra coffee break." / /
//////// (C.TOWNSLEY, CAT18, TOP22, MSG:82/M475) /////////
////////////////////////////////////// GEnie_QWIK_QUOTE /////
/ "One of the strengths of the IAAD is its diversity. It's /
/ pretty darn hard to come up with a consensus, but it also /
/ means our brainstorming sessions yield quite a variety of /
/ ideas to choose from. The bickering you may see out here /
/ now and then between closely-competing developers has /
/ little to do with the IAAD's goals and procedures. In the /
/ IAAD, the focus is on what we have in common in terms of /
/ goals and problems -- and solutions!" /
/ -D.A. Brumleve, Member, IAAD /
/////////// D.A.BRUMLEVE, CAT26, TOP3, MSG:65 /////////////
/////////////////////////////////////// GEnie_QWIK_QUOTE /////
/ "Hey, what a fun topic! Anyone else notice how frisky the /
/ Californians get when the Santa Anna's are blowing?" /
//////////////// MUSE, CAT66, TOP9, MSG:66 /////////////////
//////////////////// GEnie QWIK_QUOTE ////
/ "Anyone who says the ST market is dead /
/ hasn't been around this RT!" /
////////////////////////// CAPT.COOK ///
/////////////////////////////////////////// GEnie QWIK_QUOTE ////
/ "What? Tim said something you didn't understand? He wouldn't /
/ do THAT. Of course, you probably didn't remind him to speak /
/ in English, rather than C. It is dangerous to interrupt a /
/ programmer with a question, the answer might come back in /
/ Assembler, and REALLY mess with your mind. Grin." /
//////////////////////////////////////////////// NTACTONE /////
///////////////////////////////////// GEnie QWIK_QUOTE //////
/ "That's correct, IF your 68000 is located in a cool spot, /
/ there is clearance, the keyboard isn't a hassle, the top /
/ is off, and the phase of the moon is correct." /
/////////////////////////////////////////// DAVESMALL /////
//////////////////////////////////////// GEnie QWIK_QUOTE //////
/ "Let's see, we have P/D, we have freeware, we have shareware /
/ that is not shareware, we have shareware that is commercial /
/ and we have commercial that is commercial." /
/////////////////////////////////////////////// LEPULLEY /////
//////////////////////////////////// GEnie QWIK_QUOTE //////
/ "If that other service worked that fast at straightening /
/ out billing problems I would likely never of discovered /
/ GEnie. Their error was one of the better things that /
/ have happened to me, sort of like being dumped by a girl /
/ friend only to find someone great." /
/////////////////////////////////////////// J.MEEHAN3 ////
////////////////////////////////////////// GEnie QWIK_QUOTE ////
/ "[Trying to find the perfect printer] is like trying to find /
/ the 'perfect' mate. He/She doesn't exist. You're happier /
/ falling in love with the one you've got. :-)" /
//////////////////////////////////////////////// R.GRANT11 ///
/////////////////////////////////////////// GEnie QWIK_QUOTE /////
/ "We just gotta help a guy named MacIntosh get his ST running!" /
////////////////////////////////////////////// ST-INFORMER /////
///////////////////////////////////////// GEnie QWIK_QUOTE ////
/ "As usual, your feedback makes a difference; the GEnie CO's /
/ on both the 128K ROM Mac emulator and on the 68030 made /
/ the decision to build both products. (I recommend it to /
/ *any* company as a marketing research tool.)" /
///////////////////////////////////////////// DAVESMALL /////
////////////////////////////////////// GEnie QWIK_QUOTE ////
/ "I am amazed at all the help that has been offered. No /
/ wonder the ST is still such a great machine. The people /
/ make the difference. Thanks again to all." /
///////////////////////////////////////////// W.FURR2 ////
////////////////////////////////////// GEnie QWIK_QUOTE ////
/ "Let's see, we now have Australia and Germany posting in /
/ here. GEnie is truly an international operation." /
///////////////////////////////////////////////// ISD ////
/////////////////////////////////////// GEnie QWIK_QUOTE ////
/ "Ha, I have an Australian and a German talking about this /
/ Canadian's driving ability; isn't GEnie wonderful. :-)" /
////////////////////////////////////////////////// ISD ////
////////////////////////////////////// GEnie QWIK_QUOTE ////
/ "I don't think the issue is an ST emulator for the TT... /
/ the question is how to get the software to slow down /
/ enough so you can use it!!!! Dungeon Master will /
/ murder ya, real quick like." /
////////////////////////////////////////// BOB-BRODIE ////
//////////////////////////////////////////// GEnie QWIK_QUOTE ////
/ "There were some bugs in the Euro Version. All of a sudden you /
/ are flying upside down?. Real bummer when you are landing." /
////////////////////////////////////////////// F.GIOMBOLINI ////
//////////////////////////////////////////// GEnie QWIK_QUOTE ////
/ "Most of your questions, and the questions to your responses /
/ have been answered in the responses to your questions replies. /
/ Did that come out out right?" /
//////////////////////////////////////////////// BOB-BRODIE ////
///////////////////////////////////////// GEnie QWIK_QUOTE ////
/ "Whoooo whooooo whoooooo Yikes! It's the coppers! Run!!! /
/ Topic police!" /
/////////////////////////////////////////////// T.MCCOMB ////
////////////////////////////////////// GEnie QWIK_QUOTE ////
/ "I will never spell Aladdin "Alladin" I will never spell /
/ Aladdin "Alladin" I will never...." /
////////////////////////////////////////// M.CHANDLER ////
////////////////////////////////////////// GEnie QWIK_QUOTE ////
/ "I am ready for a sequel to CHAOS STRIKES BACK! It is a 99. /
/ Dungeon Master is a 1000 in my book. I am ready to waste /
/ another 6 months of my life wandering down dark corridors." /
/////////////////////////////////////////////// E.SENNEMA ////
//////////////////////////////////////////// GEnie QWIK_QUOTE ///////
/"It's classified. I could tell you, but then I'd have to kill you."/
///////////////////////////////////////////////// KEN @ ATARI /////
//////////////////////////////////////// GEnie QWIK_QUOTE ///////
/ "It only took two hours, because my girl friend put my flush /
/ cut diagonals in the SILVERWARE draw (of all places)! I /
/ popped the 68000 out with a pair of fingernail clippers. :-)" /
////////////////////////////////////////////// TIMPURVES //////
///////////////////////////////// GEnie QWIK_QUOTE /////
/ "Oops. Well, I now see that someone else helped you, /
/ and since I can't update and delete this message, /
/ without bringing on the old lost message bug, you'll /
/ just HAVE TO READ IT! <grin>" /
////////////////////////////////////// M.KELLER1 /////
/////////////////////////////////////// GEnie QWIK_QUOTE /////
/ "I think you misunderstood what I understood that someone /
/ else misunderstood. /
/ /
/ Goodness! I hope whoever it was that originally didn't know/
/ what to do has figgered it out by now! Meanwhile the rest /
/ of us aren't confused, but convinced the other is so. :-)" /
///////////////////////////////////////////// C.EBERLE /////
//////////////////////////////////////// GEnie QWIK_QUOTE ////
/ "We've been told that the ST-E features a 1/2" thick lead /
/ shielding around its (plutonium-powered) self-contained /
/ power supply. We feel that ought to handle any RFI easily."/
////////////////////////////////////////////// DAVESMALL ///
/////////////////////////////////////// GEnie QWIK_QUOTE //////
/ "I think maybe these guys are trying to tell us something?? /
/ Just a few years ago 48k had me jumping for joy! Now it /
/ takes 4 megs or more and a harddrive." /
///////////////////////////////////////////// D.EUSTACE ////
/////////////////////////////////////// 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 /////
////////////////////////////////////////// GEnie QWIK_QUOTE //////
/ "To those who hate LZH and refuse to use it: fiddlesticks! ;)" /
///////////////////////////////////////////// B.WOODWORTH3 /////
///////////////////////////////////////// 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 /////
/////////////////////////////////////////// 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 /////
//////////////////////////////////////// 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 /////
/////////////////////////////////////////// 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 /////
/////////////////////////////////////////// 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 /////
/////////////////////////////////////////// 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 /////
/////////////////////////////////////////// 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 /////
/////////////////////////////////////////// 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 /////
////////////////////////////// GEnie QWIK_QUOTE ///////
/ "Not only would it not pass FCC, but you might find /
/ large numbers of aircraft forming up in a holding /
/ pattern over your house... *grin*" /
////////////////////////////////// G.RICHARDSO1 /////
/////////////////////////////// GEnie QWIK_QUOTE /////
/ ">> What Lloyd, Ralph, and John Townsend said.... /
/ /
/ Probably the first time in history that all three /
/ agreed about the same thing <real big grin>." /
///////////////////////////////////// LEPULLEY /////
//////////////////////////////////////// GEnie QWIK_QUOTE //////
/ "Have you uploaded it to GEnie yet? :-) If not then no I'm /
/ not using it. <grin>? /
///////////////////////////////////////////////// WAYNED. ////
///////////////////////////////////////// GEnie QWIK_QUOTE /////
/ "This topic makes me do a lot of wondering. I wonder if all /
/ the time spent writing and reading all the messages in this /
/ topic could be used working at a part-time job to buy an /
/ extra hard drive, eliminating the need to pack programs?" /
////////////////////////////////////////////// J.EIDSVOOG1 ///
////////////////////////////////// GEnie QWIK_QUOTE //////
/ "After having read the first half dozen comments to my /
/ problem, I award the prize to Chad for figuring out /
/ what my problem really was! <grin>" /
///////////////////////////////////////// M.KELLER1 ////
///////////////////////////////// GEnie QWIK_QUOTE //////
/ "About that manual - I just threw (tossed) it into my /
/ Neodesk printer icon and left the room. /
/ /
/ Thirty minutes later, viola! The page numbers were at /
/ the bottom of the pages and everything. Couldn't be /
/ better. Except, now my Panasonic printer growls at /
/ me every time the cursor gets too close to the /
/ printer icon. Oh, the prices we pay." /
/////////////////////////////////////// W.WILSON34 ////
////////////////////////////////// GEnie QWIK_QUOTE /////
/ "Thank you, Sandy. Spoken like a true TOP COP. :^)" /
//////////////////////////////////////// OUTRIDER /////
[EOA]
[LOG]//////////////////////////////
LOG OFF /
/////////////////////////////////
GEnie Lamp Information
""""""""""""""""""""""
o COMMENTS: Contacting GEnie Lamp
o GENIE LAMP STAFF: Who Are We?
o WITH A LITTLE HELP: GEnie Lamp Writers
o CONTRIBUTORS: This Issue
o WRITERS: Writing For GEnie Lamp
o HOT OFF THE PRESS: When And Where?
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:
GEnie LAMP STAFF
""""""""""""""""
o John F. Peters [GENIELAMP] Publisher/Editor
o Darlah J. Pine [DARLAH] Co-Editor
o Jeff Williams [JEFF.W] Technical Editor
o David Holmes [D.HOLMES14] TX2 Editor
- Fred Koch [F.KOCH] PD_Q/GEnie Lamp [PR]
- Mel Motogawa [M.MOTOGAWA] Mel's Manor/PS's
- Terry Quinn [T.QUINN1] ST Elsewhere/Softview
- Sheldon Winick [S.WINICK] Dealer Viewpoint
- Richard Brown [R.BROWN30] Atari And The Real World
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
o Nathan Potechin [ISD] GEnie Lamp Advisor
U.S. MAIL
"""""""""
John Peters
5102 Galley Rd. Lot #115/B
Colorado Springs, CO 80915
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. GEnie Lamp is also distributed
on electronic bulletin boards worldwide. (If your favorite BBS doesn't
have it, upload it!)
DON'T FORGET! GEnie Lamp sisters issue, GEnie Lamp [PR] is released
""""""""""""" every Friday night here in the ST Library, #35. In
GEnie Lamp [PR] you will find all the latest press releases,
announcements show information and want ads from the library and
bulletin board compiled into one easy to download file. Contact Fred
Koch [F.KOCH] for details.
\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\////////////////////////////////////
Material published in this edition may be reprinted under the
following terms only. All articles must remain unedited and
include the issue number and author at the top of each article
reprinted. Reprint permission granted, unless otherwise noted, to
registered Atari user groups and not for profit publications.
Opinions present herein are those of the individual authors and
does not necessarily reflect those of the publisher or staff of
GEnie Lamp. We reserve the right to edit all letters and copy.
Material published in this edition may be reprinted only with the
following notice intact:
\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\////////////////////////////////////
(c) Copyright 1991 T/TalkNET OnLine Publishing, Atari Corporation,
GEnie, and the Atari RoundTables. The Atari RoundTables on GEnie
are the *official* information services of the Atari Corporation. 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]
