|||||| |||||| || || |||||| |||||| || || ||| || || || || ||| |||| |||||| || |||| Your || || || || ||| || || |||||| |||||| || || |||||| |||||| GEnie ST || |||||| || || |||||| RoundTable || || || ||| ||| || || || |||||| |||||||| |||||| RESOURCE! || || || || || || || ||||| || || || || || ~ MEL MOTOGAWA: TAKES A LOOK AT CLEANUP ~ ~ RICHARD BROWN: ATARI AND THE REAL WORLD ~ ~ FRED KOCH: HIGHLIGHTS FROM THE ST LIBRARY ~ ~ TERRY QUINN: THAT'S ON ON GEnie? ~ \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\//////////////////////////////////// September 15, 1991 ~ A T/TalkNET OnLine Publication ~ Issue No.2.31 ////////////////////////////////////\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\ Publisher/Editor ................................... John F. Peters Co-Editor ........................................ Darlah J. Pine Technical Editor ................................ Jeff Williams TX2 Editor ..................................... David Holmes [IDX] """""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""" ~ WHAT'S HAPPENING ON GEnie? TAKE A LOOK! ~ """""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""" FROM MY DESKTOP ......... [FRM] HEY MISTER POSTMAN ...... [HEY] Notes From The Editor. Is That A Letter For Me? ATARI & THE REAL WORLD .. [WOR] ATARI_QWIK_TIPS ......... [TIP] IBM? Think Again! Atarians Helping Atarians. MEL'S MANOR ............. [MEL] OFF THE RECORD .......... [OFF] Rx For Your Hard Drive. Mini_Qwik_reViews. ST ELSEWHERE ............ [ELS] THE ONLINE LIBRARY ...... [LIB] _That's_ On GEnie? Get It While It's HOT! HACK'N ATARI ............ [HAC] FOCUS ON... ............. [FOC] Down To The Wire. GCR: Tips From A New Owner. LINKING UP WITH LYNX .... [LYN] LOG OFF ................. [LOG] Atari Handheld Power! GEnie Lamp Information. [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_231.LZH GEnie Lamp in TX2 format MINI_TX2.LZH Mini-version of TX2 Viewer (File #20441) GEnie Lamp Online Magazine: SEE THE DIFFERENCE! 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} [EOA] """""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""" ///////////////////////////////////////// GEnie_QWIK_QUOTE ///// / "I'll try it! This place is great. How can ANYbody with an / / Atari not be on GEnie? / /////////////////// SFRT, CAT6, TOP32, MSG:83/M475 /////////// [FRM]////////////////////////////// FROM MY DESKTOP / ///////////////////////////////// Notes From The Editor """"""""""""""""""""" By John Peters [GENIELAMP] o TOP OF THE PAGE: Random Ramblings. o THOUGHT YOU SHOULD KNOW: RoundTable Happenings. o HOT SPOTS: Where The Action Is. o IT CAN'T WAIT: Hot Info! o WHO ARE WE? ST RoundTable SysOps TOP OF THE PAGE BUSY, BUSY BUSY! Where do I begin? First off, I'm """"""""""""""" now legit! When I first proposed doing GEnie Lamp to Darlah, she gave me temporary access to her ST-GUEST account. Well, a little over a year later :-), my GEmail address has now been changed to GENIELAMP. Make a note: ST-GUEST will no longer work. From now on, use either GENIELAMP _or_ GENIELAMP$. We're pleased to announce that Nathan Potechin of ISD is now a GEnie ST RoundTable SysOp. Nathan's GEmail address will remain the same as before, [ISD]. Welcome aboard, Nathan! By the way, Nathan has uploaded the long awaited demo of the Calamus S/SL shell. Also included are the Frame, Page, Text, Style, Line, Raster and Document Converter modules along with a few import drivers and printer drivers. Check out this _hot_ demo. (Would you believe over _200_ downloads in less then one week?) It's file #20711. Richard Brown [R.BROWN30], our newest staff member is (right now!) covering the Glendale AtariFest for GEnie Lamp. Whispers from behind the scenes promise that this is going to be one dynamite show with some new surprises. Periodically, Richard will be uploading GEnie Lamp show reports to library #35. Watch for 'em! Also, be sure to check out Richard's article in this issue. Richard has a way of making me feel _good_ about owning an Atari ST. I think he'll do the same thing for you. CPU Publications has sure been busy! ST Connection, their flagship newsletter has recently undergone some major changes in looks and size. With their latest issue you now also get ST Link, a newsletter devoted to desktop publishing. It's like receiving two newsletters in one. Subscriptions rates are $14.00 per year. Another project CPU has going is a newsletter for Lynx aficionados called GAMEMASTER. The first issue has actual screenshots, reviews of Warbirds and Klax, game hints and clues and more. Subscriptions are only $10.00 per year. If you're into Lynx, get into GAMEMASTER! For more information on ST Connection or Gamemaster, drop a line to Stan Swanson right here on GEnie. His GEmail address is: STCONNECTION On to the bulletin boards! [*][*][*] ICD reports that they have just sent out the latest version of their FaST Tape backup software and it is available to ICD Tape Backup owners via Email. This is version 2.11 and it is TT compatible. For more information, see CAT4, TOP4, Msg:{81} or leave GEmail to [ICDINC]. George Richardson of Merlin Group, Inc. who is working with David Small of Gadgets let on that the Gadgets 68030 SST Accelerator and Memory Expansion boards are now in production. However, the software is not ready and David, "will not ship until he makes it more compatible with and ST that the STe is!". Lee Seiler reports that he is putting the final touches on his online tutorials which will be held here in the GEnie ST RoundTable. To keep tabs on this exciting program, keep an eye on CATegory 7, TOPic 10, Msg:{10}. Gordon Meyer of DO NOT STAMP Software is now updating his handy program Area Code Locator and he wants to hear from you if you have any suggestions or to report any bugs you may have found. Contact Gordon in CATegory 2, TOPic 38, Msg:{1}. Atari, for some strange reason, has made it somewhat difficult to upgrade the hard drives in the MegaSTe line. For gripes, comments AND some creative solutions, see CAT14, TOP14, Msg:{84}. It's certainly too early to panic... Stu Lyster [S.LYSTER] reports that he believes that he has been bitten by a particularly nasty virus. According to Stu, he lost access to his drive A:. He goes on to say that the virus seems to survive a cold boot (???) and it will even survive a re-format of the disk! (VKILLER reports executable code on a newly formatted, pre-infected disk.) There is some question as to whether or not this is truly a virus or something else that Stu may be not seeing. The conversation continues in CATegory 12, TOPic 16, Msg:{112}. >>> THOUGHT YOU SHOULD KNOW <<< """"""""""""""""""""""""""""""" ST Abreviator apparently does not work on all Atari TT computers (it bombs). Kyle Cordes of CorCom Software Products, author and distributor of ST Abreviator is looking into it and hopes to have a fix soon. Sheldon Winick of Computer STudio in Asheville, NC reports that he has just received a bundle of the latest issue of Atari Explorer and that they are going fast. Better late then never! Ed Krimen reports that he had talked with Mike Groh of Atari in Sunnyvale. Mike said that the next shipment of TTs should be around the end of October and will be class B. Ed says that he saw "piles and piles of MegaSTEs with 800 more in the truck container outside." Bob Luneski, programmer of the popular back up software, Diamond Back, has left a teaser stating that he will be at the Glendale show and he will have a "significant surprise" for us. Richard Brown, our Glendale reporter promises to look into it... watch for show reports in the GEnie Lamp library. Wonder whether or not you got a Math chip with your STe? [REALM] reports that if you take a flashlight and look down through the slot in the top cover you will be able to see the chip. It's located towards the front left corner, is square and has MC68881B16 printed on it. If it's not there, there will be an empty socket. FROM DOUBLE CLICK Now that I am back, I'll go ahead and post a bit """"""""""""""""" more info about DC NoveTalk. What we demonstrated at the Duesseldorf show was our ethernet host adaptor connected to a Novell network using twisted pair (10 Base-T) under the AT-Speed PC emulator. This is the current Novell networking capability: full Novell networking using your ST as a PC. At the Duesseldorf show, we received promises from Vortex, Beta Systems (Supercharger), Compo (AT-Speed) and Hans Sack himself pledging full cooperation in getting this working with their emulators. As for the TOS solution, Novell networking does not yet work into the scenario. DC NoveTalk, however, will provide a localtalk compatible port (similar to the port on the Mega STe, TT and Macintosh) which will be used for networking on the TOS side. The original prototype of this is being redesigned for use as a DMA device. A localtalk cartridge, however, will also be available for plain TOS networking on all ST computers. Currently, plans are being worked out to use the Universal Network for the TOS side. Retail price is not available yet, altho we expect it to be extremely reasonable. - mike (DOUBLE-CLICK, CAT30, TOP11, MSG:9/M475) >>> BULLETIN BOARD HOT SPOTS <<< """""""""""""""""""""""""""""""" [*] CAT14, TOP31, Msg:{120} Voice Mail wars! Atari has recently installed a voice mail system. It seems to be off to a somewhat rocky start! [*] CAT2, TOP19, Msg:{1} Reports and comments about a new multi- purpose ACC from Germany called Edison Utility. [*] CAT18, TOP7, Msg:{80} The "quotes" issue has changed its focus to the rights and wrongs of using quotes in advertisements. [*] CAT18, TOP16, Msg:{84} Are Atarians, as a whole, more knowledge- able about their computers then MS-DOS or Macintosh users? IT CAN'T WAIT DEPARTMENT Tim has released the latest version of ST """""""""""""""""""""""" Aladdin to the beta testers... it doesn't sport any major changes, but it does make some significant improvements over the previous versions. Gordon inadvertently released the beta copy into the public area so this version of ST Aladdin took on around 20 or so enthused but un- authorized beta testers. No harm done though... according to Gordon, barring any major bugs, this version will probably be the same one that is released sometime next week. New features include now include a "STAY" toggle - no more hitting that F5 key everytime you log on! Also now available is a new auto-pass called, "Custom Pass." Believe me, you're going to love it. For me it was just what the doctor ordered! Interestingly enough, there's a new protocol offered in the configuration menu called "FAST!". However, it's grayed out since GEnie doesn't have FAST! implemented yet. Watch for details here in an upcoming issue of GEnie Lamp. Once online, don't delay grabbing this ST Aladdin update. This isn't the version that Tim said would "knock your socks off," but it does offer enough changes to warrant the download. STOP THE PRESSES! ST Aladdin 1.3 is now available for downloading in """"""""""""""""" the ST Aladdin RoundTable. (M1000) FILE #139. >>> WHO ARE WE? <<< """"""""""""""""""" HAVE A QUESTION? If you have a question about GEnie, the RoundTables """""""""""""""" or whatever, you can now ask a SysOp! Post your question in the GEnie Lamp bulletin board, CAT 34. o Darlah J. Pine [DARLAH] o Sandy Wilson [SANDY.W] o Jeff Williams [JEFF.W] o Fred Beckman [FB] o Larry Duke [LARRY.D] o John J. Kennedy [JJKENNEDY] o John Peters [GENIELAMP] o Vince Averello [VINCE.A] o Nathan Potechin [ISD] Take care... John Peters [EOA] [HEY]////////////////////////////// HEY MISTER POSTMAN / ///////////////////////////////// Is That A Letter For Me? """""""""""""""""""""""" o ATARI ODDS & ENDS o WHAT'S NEW? o ATARIAN MINDS WANT TO KNOW o MESSAGE SPOTLIGHT >>> ATARI ODDS & ENDS <<< """"""""""""""""""""""""" RUNTIME FOR HYPERLINK There will be both a "RunTime" version of Hyper- """"""""""""""""""""" LINK (probably with a Sug Ret of $19.95) out as one of the priorities after the scripting gets finished. Of course there will also be Licensing of HyperLINK available to those wishing to include the runtime in the packaging with their HAP. -djt (D.THOMPSON66, CAT6, TOP32, MSG:82/M475) THANKS ATARI! I'd like to publicly thank Atari for their help in """"""""""""" making CodeHead Software's trip to the Atari Fair in Duesseldorf, Germany a resounding success! The assistance provided by Atari (Bob Brodie and Bill Rehbock in particular) was top-notch -- ranging from procuring parking passes to introducing key distributors and developers to actually demoing our software. Well done, guys! Charles F. Johnson - CodeHead Software - Member of the IAAD (C.F.JOHNSON, CAT14, TOP31, MSG:94/M475) DYNACADD/MATRIX BOARD I am very pleased to report that the latest """"""""""""""""""""" version of DynaCADD has had a VDI only mode added to the startup dialog. This option provides 100% compatibility with the Matrix board :-) We are currently expanding some of the color dialogs of DynaCADD to allow the user to select all 256 colors. Any version of DynaCADD 2.00.06 and above has this feature. (DITEK, CAT16, TOP3, MSG:100/M475) ST BOOK NOTES The STBook has Parallel Port, Serial Port, MIDI ports, """"""""""""" Pseudo-ASCI Port (combined DMA and Floppy Port), [huh? - ed.] key-board expansion port, a "bus" type expansion connector, etc. No LAN connector though. -- John (Atari Corp.) (TOWNS, CAT14, TOP7, MSG:57/M475) INTERESTING TIDBIT "In 1990 Apple spent a whopping $750 marketing """""""""""""""""" each Macintosh it sold." --Doug (Quote from MacWorld September 1991, p. 170) (DOUG.W, CAT18, TOP11, MSG:17/M475) BRIDGEPORT SHOW I visited the Bridgeport show Saturday. The main """"""""""""""" attraction was, of course, Bob Brodie. He impressed me with his patience and good humor through a full day of nonstop questions from showgoers. The most interesting things I heard him say: o FSM GDOS is finished, but won't ship for another month because the product must still be manufactured. o The TT is back in a lab for FCC Class B certification, this time with a 1.4M floppy. Bob is confident of certification by Christmas. o Atari will offer an upgrade to 1.4M floppies for TT's and Mega STe's. o An American developer is working on a CD-ROM 'front end' that will enable Atari computers to use the optical data discs now proliferating in the 'other' markets. No promises here, though. o Yes, Atari has Mike Fulton working on a new version of Word Up. Unfortunately, Mike has been so busy with his support job that he hasn't had a chance to do much. Bob was hopeful that Atari will hire another support staffer so Mike can concentrate on Word Up. Maybe next year... In the 'Keep the Faith' portion of his presentation, Bob was effusive about how well Atari equipment has been received at recent printing trade shows, and indicated that this is the major 'niche' that marketing efforts will be concentrated in... If Europe is taken as a whole, Atari is still #1 there. The reason that FSM has been delayed is that there was a question about how certain shapes were to be handled. An American developer wanted it done one way, a German developer another. It wasn't until last month's show in Germany that the two got together and agreed on a solution. The other big attraction for me was Gribnif. Rick Flashman demonstrated three programs that were new to me. One was a German DTP image manipulating program. Since I'm not a DTP person, I'll pass comment. You'll surely be hearing more about it since Rick seemed quite excited about getting the US distribution rights. Two other programs he showed excited ME. In fact, I went right over to the Gribnif booth and ordered them after the demo. They are designed to work together, and both are desk accessories. The first is STeno, a text editor with all the most-wanted features like word wrap, tabs and blocks. With a 32K buffer (can be made larger), it appears to use about 94K. STalker is the other ACC. This is a full-featured telecomm application, complete with script language, macro recording, full customization for each phone entry, multiple fonts, and a realtime GEM window. It also speaks 16 color ANSI. Want type-ahead? Use STeno as another window. Steno can also be used to manipulate any text you clip from STalker. The neatest features Rick showed were possible because these two programs are desk accessories. You effectively have multitasking; close either ACC and whatever was happening will keep on running. Download in the background with STalker while you run another program. Type some notes on STeno, then return to them later...they're still there. It sounded good to me, and I bought 'em. Stalker's manual wasn't ready, so I could only order. I hope to be able to use them together real soon. Finally, at the GFA booth I learned that people like me who bought just the Version 3 interpreter and later updated to both the interpreter 3.5 and compiler 3.5 can buy the compiler manual for $15 or the complete manual for $25 direct from GFA in Massachusetts. I think it's obvious that I'm glad I went! Thanks to F.A.C.E., ST.A.R.R., and Computers, Etc. for bringing a show to the Northeast. (F-D-PERCIVAL, CAT11, TOP13, MSG:13/M475) >>> WHAT'S NEW <<< """""""""""""""""" CODEHEAD SOFTWARE ANNOUNCES Automatic vectoring has arrived! AVANT VECTOR & REPRO STUDIO! CodeHead Software is releasing two power- """""""""""""""""""""""""""" ful new high-end graphics and image manipulation packages for Atari computers -- Avant Vector and Repro Studio! We're proud to bring these excellent state of the art products to North America. At CodeHead Software we're quite selective about the software we use personally. Not very many programs get a big "WOW!" out of us. But to say that we found Avant Vector and Repro Studio impressive is a major understatement ... in fact, they blew us away! AVANT VECTOR Avant Vector is an object-oriented graphics program, with """""""""""" sophisticated automatic tracing abilities which allow the conversion of bit-image graphics (such as IMG files or Degas drawings) to vector graphics consisting of lines, curves, and filled shapes. Vector graphics have several big advantages over bit-image graphics; the most important is that once an image has been converted to a mathematical vector description, it can be scaled up or down to any size without losing detail or looking "blocky". Bit-image graphics can be imported into Avant Vector in many formats, including IMG, TIFF, IFF, and Degas (both compressed and un- compressed), and also vector graphics in the CVG (Calamus), GEM (GEM 3 metafile), and EPS (Encapsulated Postscript) formats. You can save vector graphics in CVG, GEM, or EPS formats (in Avant Plot) for use in desktop publishing applications. New drawings can also be created from scratch with Avant Vector, and up to seven graphics windows can be opened at once with cut-and-paste and merge functions. The graphics created by Avant Vector can be imported into most popular Atari DTP programs, and can also be printed directly from within Avant Vector itself, with support for the Atari Laser, NEC 24-pin, and Epson 9-pin printers. In a recent review of seven auto-tracing programs for the Mac, PC, and Atari ST/TT in a European magazine, Avant Vector was rated the best of the bunch! The reviewer gave Avant Vector high marks for its totally unique "manual tracing" mode, which snaps curves and points along a bit image AS YOU DRAW THEM! The most amazing thing about Avant Vector is its smooth, almost transparent interface and extremely simple, consistent operation. You can learn everything you need to get around in minutes, and be creating extraordinary graphics in no time at all! There are two versions of Avant Vector. The high-end version, Avant Plot, contains extensive plotter support for serious professional applications, and EPS file import/export features. Both Avant Vector and Avant Plot are available immediately. REPRO STUDIO Repro Studio is a next-generation graphics program with a """""""""""" dazzling array of professional features. Available with or without a hand-held scanner (256 gray level), Repro Studio is the first ST graphics program to let you create and edit images with true grey tones, as well as standard monochrome or color images in many different formats. In Repro Studio the dots that make up your image can be set to a grey level instead of being simply on (black) or off (white). If you have a standard ST monochrome monitor, grey scales won't be shown on screen but rather are displayed as fill patterns. But you _can_ edit them and manipulate them with Repro Studio for use with DTP applications and in professional printing situations. In addition to its grey level capabilities, Repro Studio has an enormous number of powerful tools for working with bit-image graphics, including flexible cut-and-paste functions, many shape and fill options, bezier curves, lasso and masking functions, pixel prioritizing, raster "screens" for printing purposes, anti-aliasing and dithering, the ability to combine pictures in many ways, the ability to read and use GDOS, Calamus, and Adobe Postscript fonts, and much more. Repro Studio is able to load many different types of graphics files, including IMG, TIFF, Degas, Art Director, and Neochrome formats. After editing, touching up, or scanning, images can be saved in any of the above formats, or as Postscript files. Repro Studio comes with or without a 256 gray scale scanner. It is expected to be available by the end of the year, and like its companion, Avant Vector, will work with all ST, STe, and TT computers. PRICING Retail pricing for Avant Vector and Repro Studio is as """"""" follows: Avant Vector ............ $ 495 Avant Plot .............. 1195 Repro Studio ............ 195 Repro Studio w/scanner .. 895 --==* Special Introductory Prices *==-- If you place your order before December 31, 1991, you can purchase Avant Vector or Avant Plot for the following prices: Avant Vector ........... $ 445 (a savings of $50.00) Avant Plot ............. 1095 (a savings of $100.00) Order directly from us before the end of the year and save! (Most major credit cards accepted.) For further information contact: CodeHead Software PO Box 74090 Los Angeles, CA 90004 voice (213) 386-5735 fax (213) 386-5789 CodeHeadQuarters September 12, 1991 (C.F.JOHNSON, CAT32, TOP23, MSG:1/M475) ATTENTION ATARI DEVELOPERS ATARI SOFTSOURCE UPDATE Atari is now """""""""""""""""""""""""" making the Atari Softsource database and demo collection available on Syquest to dealers who request the info- rmation. We are making the database available in this way to prepare our dealers and users for the CD ROM version of Atari Softsource that we are now preparing. What does this announcement have to do with you, you may ask? What it means is that now is the time to act! If you have not yet made entries for your products, please do so now so that you can be listed on the first Atari Softsource CD. It also means that if you have already made entries for your products, you should check your entries (page 475, option 7) to make sure that the information in your entries in accurate and timely. If you have any questions about how to create an Atari Softsource entry, or if you already have an entry made, but need to change some of the information in it, please feel free to email me at my D.MCNAMEE account. Dan McNamee Atari Softsource Administrator BUY ATARI ST SOFTWARE ON GEnie Dear Silicon Direct Shopper, We have """""""""""""""""""""""""""""" finally put an Atari ST section in our on-line GEnie store. We plan to add new Atari titles every week to our current list of 50 entertainment titles. Within a couple weeks this ST section will include software for productivity, entertainment and edu- cation. You have the ability to dictate exactly what these sections include just by sending us your E-mail suggestions. We will be discounting everything in this new Atari section. If you have any comments or questions please feel free to contact us. Thank you for your time and patience, Todd Mollenkopf, Silicon Direct (FORWARD FROM DARLAH, CAT27, TOP18, MSG:1/M475) DC SOURCE NEWSLETTER Just a reminder to everyone that we have mailed """""""""""""""""""" out our "DC SOURCE" award winning newsletter the 2nd and 3rd week of August. This newsletter only went out to registered owners of Double Click Software products (in other words, you sent in your registration card). DC Source details our new products, give tips and hints, and has a discount offer on all our products (new and established products) that can go up to 45% off all products purchased! If you have not received your DC Source, please give us a call at 713)977-6520 so we can remedy the situation. - mike (DOUBLE-CLICK, CAT30, TOP9, MSG:30/M475) DIAMOND BACK V2.30 RELEASED Announcing Diamond Back V2.30 including: """"""""""""""""""""""""""" Diamond Super faST Compression ------------------------------ The compression algorithm used in Diamond Back II has been upgraded to the current state of the art in Lemple-Ziv derivative algorithms and has been converted to hand optimized 68000 assembly language code. The net result is compression speeds greater than %600 faster (yes, that is more than 6 times faster) and compression ratio %20 smaller than V2.26. Effective compression rates can reach in excess of 100 Kb/sec. This results in compressed backups being actually FASTER than standard non-compressed backups because of the decreased disk activity. Faster backups using 1/2 the disks. Check it out at it's world premier at the Glendale show! Enjoy, -Bob (B.LUNESKI1, CAT2, TOP42, MSG:138/M475) >>> ATARIAN MINDS WANT TO KNOW! <<< """"""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""" (Facts, Fiction & Maybe) ATARI NOTEBOOKS? Laird, as far as I know, they have NOT been shown """""""""""""""" since last Sunday, when the AtariMesse in Duesseldorf ended at 6.oopm. The machines shown there were five production-model Books; there was also at least one Stylus, but I don't know if it was factory-made. Last night Bill Rehbock said in the RTC that the Book will ship to Europe in September and to the US at Comdex; Comdex is in October this year. He did not give a price, but he did say US pricing would be "competitive". (D.A.BRUMLEVE, CAT14, TOP7, MSG:33/M475) MAKE*A*DATE The commercial version of Make*A*Date (2.0) will be """"""""""" available within the next couple of weeks. Jonathon is doing some fine-tuning on the print drivers and I am getting the manual finished up as well. Although the program will retail for $24.95, those who order by December 31st, 1991 can get it for $19.95. (STCONNECTION, CAT2, TOP4, MSG:69/M475) DYNACADD DOES WORK ON SST By the by, contrary to what I believe was """"""""""""""""""""""""" reported here previously, the TT version of DynaCadd *does* work on the SST. I think when Dave tested it, the Math Coprocessor was not installed in his machine. Without that the TT version won't run. Runs great with it installed. I guess some people (myself included) are going to want FPU chips after all! George Richardson - Merlin Group, Inc. (G.RICHARDSO1, CAT4, TOP44, MSG:140/M475) FSM-GDOS? The initial run of FSM-GDOS is being manufactured locally. """"""""" We had hoped to have units in for the Duesseldorf Atari Messe, but there were problems with the package design. My (personal opinion) guess is that the first FSM-GDOS packages that ship to Goldleaf will be sans outer box. The first real, live, full shelf units will show up at Glendale. -Bill Rehbock, Atari Corp. (B.REHBOCK, CAT14, TOP18, MSG:47/M475) 24BIT BOARD There does not currently exist a 24bit board for the """"""""""" Atari. However, I believe the first one will probably come from Cybercube within the month. (ISD, CAT16, TOP3, MSG:104/M475) DATA DIET Data Diet is being introduced at a price of $59.95. As soon """"""""" as the manual is completed it will be ready to go (we're shooting for the Glendale show, but I'm not promising). - mike (DOUBLE-CLICK, CAT30, TOP12, MSG:15/M475) GEnie GOING FLAT FEE? The last I heard was that they were not going to """"""""""""""""""""" do anything to GEnie*Basic service for a few months as they wanted to see exactly what was happening. (This was in March). They want to see what people are doing, and what GEnie users are doing. You have to remember GEnie is part of GE, big companies do things slowly. Once GEnie makes up their mind what they want to do, they have to get it approved by higher ups. This can take a very long time! (GORDON, CAT1, TOP5, MSG:32/M1000) CAN'T WAIT FOR MULTIDESK DELUXE As the release date for MultiDesk """"""""""""""""""""""""""""""" Deluxe approaches, we have still not finalized the prices for the purchase or the update. If you really want to make sure to get the update as fast as possible, and you trust us , you can send in your disk with a credit card number. Then we'll just charge the appropriate amount when we are ready to ship. If you're not happy with the price when we announce it, you can E-mail us a cancellation. I can guarantee that the update won't cost more than $300 ...in fact I can even guarantee that it won't be more than $30 (or less than $15).-John (J.EIDSVOOG1, CAT32, TOP8, MSG:31/M475) >>> MESSAGE SPOTLIGHT <<< """"""""""""""""""""""""" Category 18, Topic 7 Message 101 Fri Sep 06, 1991 J.STEINER [John] at 23:52 EDT Nathan: Don't worry about feeling that you are inadequately expressing yourself, because you have me for company. I tend to keep my mouth shut because, occasionally, people misunderstand what I am attempting to say. For example, Dana could have perceived that I was attacking him. I wasn't, but he could have perceived it as being so. I know the rule is to attack ideas, not people. Occassionally the people are so bound to the idea that attacking the idea is considered an attack on the person. <> Thanks for the post... John [*][*][*] While on GEnie, do you spend most of your time downloading files? If so, you may be missing out some excellent information in the Bulletin Board area. The messages listed above only scratch the surface of what's available and waiting for you in the bulletin board area. If you are serious about your Atari, the GEnie Lamp staff strongly urge you to give the bulletin board area a try. There are literally thousands of messages posted from people like you from all over the world. [EOA] [WOR]////////////////////////////// ATARI AND THE REAL WORLD / ///////////////////////////////// IBM? Think Again """"""""""""""""" By Richard W. Brown [R.BROWN30] The ABC's, and the Birds and the Bees A.K.A. The Downfalls of IBM, or Why Atari User's Should Keep Their Pearly Whites A-Grinin' So, you've decided that your Atari ST has run its course. It's time to move on to the wonders of IBM, or the countless numbers of DOS clones. Instead of selling your Atari, you give it to your cousin Timmy so he can play 'all those games.' You're in charge, so you take the credit card down to the BIG computer store, nothing like that Mom and Pop Atari store where you once shopped... Think of the power! And with all this COMPETITION in the IBM marketplace, think of the LOW PRICE! Think of the software selection! Think of all the things you'll FINALLY be able to do... Think again. Entering the world of DOS is a step toward the Stone Age. Let's say you're into spreadsheets, and that 386 or 486 number cruncher really seems like the cat's meow. Remember desk accessories and TSR's (_T_erminate and _S_tay _R_esident programs, a.k.a. AUTO folder prg's like The Little Green Selector), those little GEMS that made life a breeze? Things like CardFile 3, that great address book, phone dialer, appointment calendar? Or Stalker/Steno, the great coms program/text editor duo? Or Maxifile? Or DC Shower? FORGET THEY EVER EXISTED! Enter the DOWNFALLS OF DOS. No matter what IBM you're going to purchase (more than likely it won't be an IBM, anyway), you are going to learn the horrors of the DOS 640K limit. Like a well-hidden scorpion poised to strike its unsuspecting victim, DOS is there ready to dish out 'OUT OF MEMORY' statements. Of course, coming from the ST world, you are already savvy to the need for memory: stock ST's always had .5 to 4 megs of RAM available to do all your bidding. With a 4 megabyte Mega ST, remember not thinking twice about loading in 300-400K of accessories? Remember the joys of Multidesk, where you could get past the 6 accessory limit, and load up 10 or 15 accessories, encompassing a good megabyte of RAM? It was so convenient. RAM to burn... So, you know better. You'll fix those memory woes. Your shiny new 386 is going to come with 8 megs of RAM, just to show the ST that you've got power to spare. Finally, it's all set up. You've got Windows 3. You've got the Norton Desktop. You've got Lotus. And you've got a MATH CO-PROCESSOR to make Lotus run at WARP SPEED! So you fire up your machine. You note with some puzzlement, that the machine is dumb. It won't boot without the DOS floppy disk. Oh, no problem! You soon learn that all you need to do is to copy all those DOS files onto the boot partition. In fact, the installation procedure is kind of fool proof. Pretty soon, you get the computer booting flawlessly from the hard drive. Great! Then you add your Microsoft Mouse. That helps out. Starts to feel like your old Atari. So you get a little cocky... You get an equivalent amount of accessories and TSR's that make your IBM wonder FEEL like the Atari you once knew. Now after a minute or so of booting, you begin to wonder, 'Wow! The VGA color is great, but gee, that's quite a long boot time." No problem though, it's all there and working like a champ. So you load up Lotus. Now you're ready for some real action. Just to snicker at your ex-ST friends, you pull a disk from your pocket. Sly devil! You've saved out that Atari LDW file in Lotus format! You won't even have to re-type a thing! The best of two worlds! All that slaving you did on your Atari, all that finger as that abysmally slow 68000 did that "I think I can... I think I can..." super slow recalculation... It's all going to be such a breeze on the B'mer that you just have to laugh. And there's icing to cement your grin. Now, you have ALWAYS for Lotus, too! Wow! WYSIWYG and PostScript to boot! The Atari never had it so good. Smiles come to your face. The file is loading... You think of the SPEED your gonna have with the co-processor. And that FAST, 32 BIT processor... and ALWAYS to boot! You're riding high on expectation, the grin spreading ear to ear... WAIT A MINUTE! OUT OF MEMORY? I'VE GOT 8 MEGS! The scorpion strikes. You've been stung. The accessories, TSR's, and yes, even that cute mouse have robbed DOS of the so precious as to be divine 640K. The DOS barrier. But you know Lotus can access above 640, it says so! Access above it, yes, but need the base 640? Yes on that, TOO. And you've robbed your machine of that 640K. Your spreadsheet has yet to breach a megabyte of RAM, and yet you're out of memory. Even with 8, 10, 12, or 100 megs online. That's just the way it goes. By now, the sun's gone down, you're computer room is dark. As you reach for the light switch, you remember a line from a horror movie, "Welcome to _Fright_ _Night_... for REAL...." Disgusted, you check on free RAM. 8.13 megs FREE??!!! Ouch! The scorpion strikes once more for good measure. So you re-boot, leaving the computer off for a time. 'Let the RAM die for a good re-boot...' And you try again. OUT OF MEMORY!!?? I'VE GOT 8.13 MEGS FREE!!?!?!?! Yeah, you can cope... As the frustration mounts, you disassemble your true glory. One by one, you dismantle the desk accessories, the TSR's, ALWAYS... everything until all you see is the repulsive command line interface. You see: C:\> So you start typing: C:\>D: You get: D:\> You type again: D:\>cd LOTUS You get: D:\LOTUS> It's bare. Stripped to the bone. Lotus loads. No accessories. No TSR's (except the BUNCH of patches you KNOW you need for that 8 megs of RAM you bought). And you try that file again... Not even sure that it will load at this point, maybe even doubting it... Will the scorpion strike? You've got no mouse, no accessories, no convenience... As the sweat beads on your brow, you think, "I've got no ST..." And you're right. Any DOS user who works day in, day out with IBM's or clones will echo this story. Same thing happens with some of the mainframe coms programs at the office. 'OUT OF MEMORY.' Get used to it. You have a DOS machine now. Trouble from the start. Not quite right. Antiquated in some respects. You remember, way back, to those days of Atari. What was it you used to call DOS. "Disk Operating System?" Or was it "Dim-WITTED Operating System?" So, you keep on the IBM trail. So many users have got to be RIGHT, right? It's true, some things shine through, working really well. The VGA color is great. But various glitches in your day to day work start to show up. So, you look for a breath of fresh air. You log on GEnie, and download IBM Aladdin... The textual interface is so far a cry from ST Aladdin that you find it, in practical terms, useless. Then you remember how it was. You really enjoyed the power of instantly probing DEEP into sub\sub\sub\sub\sub directories on the ST. Quickly finding a file to upload 3 directories and 4 sub directories away... The simple things that you simply can no longer do... Not as fast. Not as well. Not with Windows. Not with Norton. So you end up simplifying the use of directories on the IBM. You end up simplifying a LOT. You end up PAYING a LOT for software. You find that what once took one now takes three steps. Again, some things are really nice, some things are really wretched. But you start getting critical. Your wonder machine has lost its diamond-lustre. You find Windows by itself restricts operations, even without Norton's desktop. Nothing seems so rosy anymore. In the end, you wonder if peer-pressure made you do it, and why, why... you stick with it. So, you develop a sense of humor about the whole thing. You arrange a cute little start-up message for only you to see: Each day you boot-up, and the computer pleads to you... WARNING! USE OF THIS DEVICE MAY REVERSE DARWIN'S THEORY... YOU RISK BECOMING A BLUBBERING THING OF THE PAST! IS THAT THE PRIMORDIAL SWAMP A-CALLING? UGGA-MUGGA! [EOA] [TIP]////////////////////////////// ATARI_QWIK_TIPS / ///////////////////////////////// Atarians Helping Atarians """"""""""""""""""""""""" o FOLDER TALK: The 40 Folder Limit Re-visited. o PHA$AR NOTES: Tips & Hints. FOLDER TALK Al Fasoldt writes: """"""""""" >>> The 40-folder bug can cause a worse problem with TOS 1.0 than >>> the loss of a few k of memory by using FOLDRXXX. Keep in mind >>> that a "folder" to TOS is not just a subdirectory. Quite right! Just having a _drive_ increases the 'folder count'! >>> And realize that you won't (usually) get bombs on the desktop to >>> tell you you've reached the limit. Instead, you'll get trashed >>> directories and other gross yuck. >>> Go without the folder fix at your own peril. This part of your message bears _repetitive_ retelling! I totally agree! My point is that it just doesn't make sense to increase it up _too_ far however. A user isn't likely to create 100 or so directories in a series of sessions at the computer. Remember that the 'XXXX' in FLDRXXXX isn't the _total_ number of folders and drives the user has, just the number of _additional_ folders and drives _added_ to the '40-folder limit'. Thus, putting 100 in there would increase it to 140, not 100. Mine's set at 20 giving me a total of 60 drives and folders before I'd hit the 'bug'. Counting the external drive and the 4 'partitions' of my hard drive, that gives _me_ 55 folders left or 11 per drive. Since the disk in my external drive is almost always just a blank formatted and write protected disk, I can use those 11 elsewhere on the hard drive partitions. (11 folders on a single single sided disk is a bit much. Not likely to occur!) Again, my point is to make _intelligent_ use of FLDRxxx.PRG. And if you're running off a 512K machine, intelligence in memory use is a requirement! (I started off in computers in the 4-bit days, before the first Atari 400 came out, when memory was literally hand-made, so I'm used to using tiny amounts of memory. Other users, especially these days, are not as likely to be so lucky. Programmers, in North America anyways, seem to forget that we don't all have 4+ Megs of memory available!) Opps! Sorry for the 'sermon'. (C.GRIMSBY, CAT14, TOP32, MSG:83/M475) >>>>> C.GRIMSBY, you say that a user is unlikely to create 100 or so """"" directories in one session; you are of course aware that the number of folders in your pool has to do with folders already existing, as well as those the user creates? In the older TOSes, even just LOOKING at a folder (without opening it) added to your folder count. I believe that that's been fixed (or is fixed with one of the patches) so that you have to actually OPEN it to add it to your count, but this meant that if you had two folders on your drive, and each folder contained ten folders each, opening ONE folder would put thirteen pathnames in your pool. As you say, TOS uses the pool for more than just folders, so having a 40-folder limit and saying "Gee, I only have opened 35 folders" is asking for trouble. It's easier to rack the folder count up than you think. I just did a quick check in Maxifile and counted 420 folders on my hard disk. Fortunately, I use ICD Boot to increase my folder count to 440, I use Poolfix to dynamically re-arrange that pool, and Maxifile itself has routines to keep my pool from getting too full, so I NEVER see the Folder limit anymore. Here's a rule of thumb you can use for folder management on a hard disk: Temporarily set your folder limit to some ridiculous number (999 will do!) and actually count your folders using the Show Info on your drives. Allow TOS to have the 40 built-in slots for its own use (i.e. don't take them into your calculations). Add 10-20% to your folder count for future expansion depending on your estimated need, and add another 10 for use on floppies (If, like C.Grimsby, you never use floppies, don't bother). Reset your FOLDRXXX.PRG to this amount (XXX = AmountOfActualFolders + 10-20% + 10). Then make ANOTHER copy of FLDRXXX.PRG, install it directly after your first copy, and rename it FOLDR100.PRX. Remember that everytime FOLDRXXX runs, it ADDS to your folder count, so if you had five FOLDR100.PRG files in your AUTO folder, you'd end up with 540 available folder slots. Use this extra FOLDR100.PRX file for those times when you're doing folder intensive work, like backups, file maintenance, installing new software, cleaning up all those little files that seem to appear like magic on computers (*.BAK files, and the like) and other work that's going to take you into the depths of your file system. -Ron Grant (R.GRANT11, CAT14, TOP32, MSG:84/M475) PHA$AR NOTES You are right, PHASAR isn't set up to use more than one """""""""""" register file at a time, at least easily. I don't have the latest version 4, only version 3, so this advice may be dated. If you run from two floppy drives, put phasar.prg on say floppy A and put a copy of the tutorial register file on floppy B. Then fire up PHASAR from drive A and modify the tutorial file in B to what you want and save it. This way you could have each register on a separate floppy (identify the floppy jacket with a pen so you know which it is because the files will always be named phasar.reg), and just put the disk with the file you want to work on in drive B before firing up Phasar from A. I use a hard drive so it's a bit trickier to access the register file you want from multiple ones. I put each .reg file in a separate folder named in a way that makes sense to me (Phasar89 for example) and have phasar.cfg files (or whatever the setup/configuration files are called) in another folder for each .reg file that sets the path to the appropriate register's folder. Then I activate the register I want by changing the 3 letter extension of the appropriate .cfg file to a valid one (otherwise I leave it as .cfx or something phasar doesn't recognize). Then when PHASAR is launched, it sees only one .cfg file and it sets the path for the .reg file I want to use. This all can be set up for easy use with SuperBoot. -Rob (R.WOODBRIDGE1, CAT6, TOP13, MSG:182/M475) >>>>> Interesting solution, Rob. You can do something similar if you """"" just move the REG files to where PHA$AR can't find them. PHA$AR will then ask you for the path/file you want when you first run the program. Not quite as fancy as your method, but it works for the few times I have needed to access a separate file. (SANDY.W, CAT6, TOP13, MSG:183/M475) >>>>> I sometimes need to look at records from previous years, so I """"" just save them as PHASAR.R89, PHASAR.R90, etc. The current one is PHASAR.REG, of course. If I want to look at a previous year, I change the current one to PHASAR.R91 and change the one I want to look at to PHASAR.REG. It works fine. You just have to keep track of which file is which, but that's easy enough. The extensions tell you which one is "missing", and therefore current. There seems to be something in the menu that allows you to call for a different file, but I've never been able to use it. I guess the .REG extension is critical. (K.VANDELLEN, CAT6, TOP13, MSG:184/M475) >>>>> The current version of Pha$ar allows you to switch REG files. (CHAZ, CAT6, TOP13, MSG:185/M475) >>>>> Yes, Chaz is right. Ver 4.0 of Phasar allows you (via menu """"" selection) to change REG files. All you have to do is keep them in separate directory (such as Rob suggests above i.e. 'Phasar90' folder, 'Phasar89' folder etc.). When you select 'change register file' under the file menu it will ask you where the new REG file is. See page 135 in the manual. -KMRick (R.MARTIN46, CAT6, TOP13, MSG:186/M475) [EOA] [MEL]////////////////////////////// MEL'S MANOR / ///////////////////////////////// Rx For Your Hard Disk! """""""""""""""""""""" by Mel Motogawa [M.MOTOGAWA] >>> CLEANUP ST 4.16 <<< """"""""""""""""""""""" ~ Rx for your hard disk! ~ Peace of mind is a very desirable thing. But any computer user knows that he has to live with the possibility of hard disk or floppy errors. For a variety of reasons, "so let it be written, so let it be read" is not always true. Whether the blame is laid on the power company, the software, our hardware or ourselves, at times data on a hard drive can get corrupted and happily it's not always irreversible. Anything that can minimize the chances of this happening, and helping out when it does, is well worth the expense in my mind. CLEANUP ST from ICD, Inc. is one of those programs in my software """""""""" toolbox that I wouldn't be without. A GEM-based program that runs in medium or high resolution, it is designed to analyze the disk structure of your hard disk. By recognizing various types of corruption and repairing it when possible, it has saved my skin more than once and has come to earn my highest respect. STANDARD EQUIPMENT To use Cleanup ST, you must have any model of an """""""""""""""""" ICD host adapter in your system. You can have other hosts online too, if the ICD one is somewhere in the system. Since an ICD host adapter came with my hard drive, this was no problem and I think that many ST users are also in this camp, from what I hear. Be sure to also use the latest ICD hard disk driver (included on the Cleanup ST master disk). Cleanup ST will work on TOS (GEM) and PC-Ditto partitions, as well as ramdisks and floppy drives. MR. CLEAN Cleanup ST is very comprehensive in the tests it runs, """"""""" checking such things as the boot sector, FAT, directory and for bad sectors. The list is exhaustive on what all it checks. The biggest problem I've had on my drive is developing occasional invalid clusters or a cluster chain error. I've tried recovering from these types of errors in the past with other utilities and Cleanup ST beats the others hands down in ease of use and friendliness. Little messages will pop up letting you know what the program is doing and whether it should proceed with an operation. There have been times when I wasn't sure whether to proceed or not, but I just went ahead and turned Cleanup loose and so far it's always fixed the problem properly. This intelligence in the program is something I really appreciate. How many people are heavy-duty disk hackers? I shudder to think how bad my hard disk would be right now, if I didn't have Cleanup ST regularly inspecting its confines. Since I'm always paranoid about having something awful happen to my data, I use Cleanup ST to do a full sweep of my hard disk partitions every few days. It usually finds a few errors and wipes them out pronto. The same goes with floppy disks, I usually won't trust one until the program has given it a clean bill of health. Cleanup ST has hotkeys for many of the dialog box buttons, which I love since I'm a hotkey fanatic. Usually it's the first letter of the button text. A Control-C aborts a check that is in progress. You can choose to check one or more partitions at a time. And you can set up a special configuration file, in the same directory that Cleanup ST runs from, that will automatically configure many of its parameters when it boots. There is a Test mode that doesn't make any corrections to the drive. Auto mode disables some of the messages from Cleanup ST freeing you from interacting with the program unless it finds an error. A new Print mode allows you to send a defect report to the printer. You can configure how the program checks for bad sectors, save and restore partition and boot sectors and a whole lot more. DON'T LEAVE HOME WITHOUT IT To me, Cleanup ST is the next best thing """"""""""""""""""""""""""" to having a seasoned hard drive expert living next door. But, if you need help working with the program, it comes with a clear 24-page manual (not sure if I have the latest) or you can get help from ICD online on GEnie (Category 4, topic 2) or by giving them a call. The support of ICD for their products is some of the strongest in the business and the program is constantly being updated. A new demo of Cleanup ST was just uploaded to the ST RT file library recently. (File #20832) Why not download it and try it out for yourself? I appreciate the fact that ICD has created a great host adapter, and then saw fit to create a powerful disk diagnostic tool to work with it and their numerous other utilities. I sleep easier at night knowing that my partitions are under the watchful eye of Cleanup ST. If you are using an ICD host adapter in your system, I would strongly recommend that you purchase a copy of Cleanup ST ASAP. It hasn't let me down yet. CLEANUP ST 4.16 $29.95 (upgrades from earlier versions- $10 and """"""""""""""" original Cleanup ST master disk) ICD, Inc. 1220 Rock St. Rockford, IL 61101 (815) 968-2228 Phone (815) 968-2229 BBS (800) 373-7700 Orders [*][*][*] 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 infor- mation, 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!" [EOA] [OFF]////////////////////////////// OFF THE RECORD / ///////////////////////////////// Mini_Qwik_reViews """"""""""""""""" >>> CALAMUS SL & DTP <<< """""""""""""""""""""""" The major difference between Calamus SL over 1.09N or S is the fact that Calamus SL handles colour. I am learning a thing or two in this regard and perhaps I can share with you some of my ongoing education. Especially since I've noticed that everyone has a different point of view so this could really prove educational for us all. The following is an example of the type of real world scenario currently being enacted by one of my beta testers. I thought that some of you might find this of interest. It is his last weeks report to me and has NOT been edited to protect the innocent. :-) If he had his own GEnie account I would have had him upload this himself. I'm working on him. :-) "Well, I've spent the last 2 weeks doing a wonderful 4 colour process layout for a mailer, including a colour scanned TIFF image and all sorts of fancy text effects (albeit with PD fonts...). In the process I've gotten to explore SL quite a lot and I have to admit, it's one hell of a program. Great attribute handling, virtual memory works fine, (you use it a lot with a 1.6 Mb TIFF in your document) and in practice it's really not so slow after all. I've also gotten to the point where I go nuts without the magnifying glass feature in the old Calamus... I like the way that the text attributes are organized now, very efficient. The master page feature makes it very easy to do registration marks/crops etc. but the TXT files Mario uploaded to me say that the Final version will have a "Working space" function that will automatically print cropmarks and the name of the separation. A damn fine idea and one less advantage for Quark. :-) The tiling feature in the Print box is a godsend and I find I'm using it 80% of the time I print, simply maaahvelous. And the Sort feature lets me have the pages stack in order on the Deskjet. The ability to control the offset of the frame copies is another major improvement. Now we get technical again... Colours in SL, hummm... The txt files Mario sent me went a long way in explaining just what was going on in that Colour/Raster Settings box and how the Separation Module is supposed to work. I'll try to put it into layman's terms for you. (Nathan here: I did need this in laymans terms. I'm also learning!) First a glossary of sorts: RGB - Red/Green/Blue, The ADDITIVE colours, ie; R+G+B = White - (monitors) CYM - You know them, The SUBTRACTIVE colours ; C+Y+M = BLACK - (print ink) CYMK - Due to contamination of printing inks, C+Y+M = Brownish Black so printers add a fourth colour (Black) to darken the darks and increase the contrast of the colours. UCR - Under Color Removal; Printers figured that since they were going to print a black colour anyway, why not remove the colours where the CYM colours were at 100% and just print the black there. This gave darker blacks and saved colour ink to boot. GCR - Grey Component Replacement; Printers then figured out that while they were replacing the solid blacks, they might as well replace the areas where the CYM values made a grey (ie; C,Y & M at 50%) with a corresponding screen value. (ie; Black at 50%) TA-DA, more ink saved. Second, a primer on how most North Americans design for color printing: The traditional way: A designer draws up comps and gets client approval for the final design and type/colours/artwork/photos or what- ever. The designer farms out the various parts to typesetters/artists/ photographers and then puts it all together into a "mechanical" with overlays for each spot colour (specifying the colours as Pantone PMS numbers or as CYMK%s.) He then gives it to the printer, who has the artwork/photos separated (using the UCR and/or GCR methods) and then everything is stripped together at the film stage. From film, a colour proof is made (several types, most common are Chromalins and ColourKeys) which is OK'd by the client. If OK, plates are made and the job is printed. The DTP (Mac) way: A designer draws up comps and gets client approval. Near the final set of comps, he may opt for laser proofs or even colour postscript output to sell the idea to the client. Once the client OKs the idea, the designer locates the artwork/photos for the piece and scans them into the document, adjusting for colour balance/ contrast etc.; The copy for the piece is imported from a WP document and text attributes are set. Once the pieces are all in place, final proofs are printed for client approval (B&W or Color) at 300 dpi. Any colours in the piece are specified as PMS colours and translated to CYMK values by the software. Once the client OKs the proofs, the piece is output to film on a Lino (which requires special screen angles and frequencies) via a RIP. Colour proofs (Chromalins) are made from the Lino film as a last proof check before the print run. If OK, the plates are made and the job printed. The SL difference: (According to the information in the manual parts I've seen and my own experience so far) Drawing up the comps and getting approval is the same. SL supports all the good 300dpi colour proof printers and if one can't be found, you can export the page as a Postscript graphic and have it printed at any service bureau that has a colour proof printer. The only trouble seems to be in specifying the colours to be used. According to the manual, SL saves all colours in the RGB system and calculates CYM values from the RGB values, adding black only as a "calculated value" derived from the RGB intensities. What this means is that you cannot enter a colour as a CYMK value, only as an RGB value. ow for most amateurs, as long as the printed colour is close to the colour they saw on their monitors, they'll be happy. However, for professional designers, exact colour matching is imperative, that's why the Pantone system was created. Monitor colours are too inconsistent due to phosphor changes and colour balance settings inherent in every monitor without software control of these variables. Now, when doing 4-colour work, designers specify their colours as CYMK %s ( ie; C @100% / Y @0% / M @63% / K @ 37%) so that the software has an easier time doing the separation. There are many references in use that give the exact CYMK %s for each colour displayed and the standard is the Pantone to CYMK translator swatch book, which gives you the best of both worlds. At the moment, scanning is possible using the Microtek 3000z directly with the German driver program or by porting it over from a service bureau network for a fee. Mark at EpiSet just happens to have a 3000ZS (the one with the SCSI port) so if you can find that scanner support driver, we'll try it out directly into the Mega. The TIFF I scanned for my job was scanned by a Mac, edited in Photoshop and output to a PC as a TIFF file of 1.6 Mb. We then hooked the PC and Mega up with a NullModem cable and shot it across at 19,200 baud. Works great. When I get my MultiSync monitor I'll try playing with the image colours myself, but for now it's easier on the Mac's high rez screen. I would recommend 26 Mb of RAM to anyone working with colour. My TIFF was only 3x5" @ 250 dpi and it was 1.6 Meg! At 400 dpi it was 7 Meg! I am told that a letter size photo at 300 dpi is about 22 Mb (sheesh) The print function doesn't seem to like working from Virtual Memory either, it ends up dividing up the page into 1000s of parts and crashing. You need at least 500k of real RAM left to print in any reasonable time (especially @1270 dpi). Summary: A very impressive program overall and quite addictive once you let it spoil you. The colour issue is a big one though. Pantone support is a must (or a module that lets you enter CYMK values and have them translated to the SL system). Scanning needs to be supported, I mean why support CYMK printers if you can't get the image in the first place? The ability to output to Postscript format is a stop-gap solution that will keep a lot of smaller users happy until they can afford their own color printers and Separation Modules. The Vector Dataformer should be somehow registered like the CG fonts. By allowing PS output, you could make pirate copies very useable, something you wouldn't want to do; So I'd keep a tight rein on that particular module. All in all, the potential here is incredible. The fact that you can do so many things from within the main program gives a whole new meaning to the words user-friendly. I get annoyed when I "have" to go to Outline to do something now...talk about spoiled! Talk at you soon; P.S. Oh, about the radiused corner raster boxes. My buddy with Pagestream II was showing off how he could control the radii in two dimensions with this fancy dialog box. I had to admit that SL was lame in this area until I realized that I could make one just as quick using the Vector drawing tools with even more control... Shut him up I did, yessir! (Nathan again...As I mentioned earlier, I am not yet qualified to comment on matters colour in nature. I do know a few things but readily admit and look forward to the lots remaining for me to learn. It is entirely possible that the above information is not entirely accurate but it is certainly clear as far as the author understands it. In the thought that I'm not the only one with a thing or two to learn, I have taken the opportunity to share this file with you.) Nathan Potechin September 9, 1991 (ISD, CAT16, TOP20, MSG:1/M475) [EOA] [ELS]////////////////////////////// ST ELSEWHERE / ///////////////////////////////// _That's_ On GEnie? """""""""""""""""" By Terry Quinn [T.QUINN1] Samizdat in America or Publishing the Annals of Alternative Cultures Narrator "I would like to take you, if I may on a strange journey." Audience "Just how strange is it?" (Rocky Horror Picture Show) Everyone reading this is familiar with reasonably "official" online publications like the GEnie Lamp but few are aware that lurking in the bowels of GEnie are some publications that make the ruminations of this online magazine seem positively normal. In fact the traditions of alternative culture that arose in the 1930's (at least) has found its way onto the data spaces of GEnie. Now in case you haven't figured out what I'm talking about, drop by page 470 and have a look around. Back in the early days of Science Fiction there arose a subculture who was determined not to just read about it but to actually try to do something. One of the ways these pioneering individuals chose to do something was to publish their own ruminations in the form of "Fanzines". Early fanzines were usually crude, mimeographed tomes which were hard to read and still harder to understand. One found bad puns, amateurish prose and a heck of a lot of imagination in these early zines; in short nothing a commercial publisher would touch with a 10 foot pole. Hence, individuals were forced to publish their works themselves if they wanted to be read. A few of these early fans kept at it despite ridicule from the mundane world and eventually evolved into widely read commercially successful writers (Isaac Asimov for example). What has not been widely known or appreciated is that this process of "evolution" by way of "fannish" acculturation has continued and even flourished to this day. The advent of large networks such as GEnie has enabled such activities to expand and flourish far beyond the original days of hand distributed mimeographed pages. Online distribution has in many respects expanded the original reach of such efforts to a worldwide phenomenon. Browse through the SFRT and you will find such efforts as "Imagenations" (the "official" SFRT zine), Other Realms (mainly reviews of others works) and Furbytes (the Electronic Furry Fanzine). Where else can you see such evidence of imagination as as "Uncle Bobs Alligator Farm and Tofu Museum" or read about "Furnography" (furry erotical modeled after Penthouse magazine. In fact, much of what you will see in these fanzines can be considered suitable as prize winning material for the Bulwer Lytton bad fiction contest. Consider the following passage quoted directly from one of the publications in the online SFRT library: "They reeled back howling and we rushed upstairs to the door, only to fined it barricaded with J.G. Ballard re-issues... That was the last straw, because we know Ballard officially belongs to us... Our blood was up, and we swarmed into the place, yelling the sacred name of LeGuin and lashing out right and left with our shepherd's crooks..." Still, at least writing such has this hasn't suffered from the homogenization which is characteristic of most writing these days. Spelling checkers and Grammar checkers would most likely throw up on this stuff but the one problem with such helps is that they tend to make writing look pretty much the same. No one can accuse fen of being conventional and their writing certainly reflects this. Further explorations in this area turns up other examples of artistic expression that is in the very least not commercially publishable. Poetry, songwriting and other art forms have been part of this culture from the beginning and still continue to flourish in the electronic medium. In fact, the relative low cost of this medium has probably expanded the horizons of this culture far beyond the reach of active fans of just a few years ago. Next time you want to travel to a strange land, you need travel no further than your own computer. Visit the SFRT and be prepared to see things that you previously couldn't conceive even in your wildest imaginings. [EOA] [LIB]////////////////////////////// THE ONLINE LIBRARY / ///////////////////////////////// Get It While It's Hot! """""""""""""""""""""" by Fred H. Koch [F.KOCH] >>> The ST RT Library <<< """"""""""""""""""""""""" ~ New files from Aug 25 to Sep 9, 1991 ~ HOT FILES! Here I will present a short summary of some of my favorite """""""""" files from the ST RT Library. I make no attempt to list all new files, only those which were of particular interest to me and I believe will be of interest to you. The last line of the description indicates the file number, file size, the approximate download time in minutes at 200 cps (within .5 min, overhead not included) and if the program runs in Monochrome or Color. 200 CPS is generally achievable with Zmodem downloading. >>> ARCHIVE UTILITIES <<< """"""""""""""""""""""""" LZH201D.LZH Quester LHarc program, version 2.01d. This is the most """"""""""" complete, lh5 compatible program for the ST! It works fine with Arcshell 2.6A, allows recursive directories, it's very fast, and generates the smallest archives of any compression program on the ST (at this time). A must have for the serious telecommunications person. Docs in German. ShareWare. Does not work with some shells. [*]File number 20666, 40320 bytes, 3.5 min, Monochrome & Color. >>> DEMO PROGRAMS <<< """"""""""""""""""""" GOGOST42.ARC Gogo->ST version 4.2. A program launcher with memo """""""""""" capability which will display a memo based on the specified date/time. Launch 50 programs from each screen with a single mouse click, or load another menu screen with a single mouse click. ShareWare $15.00. [*]File number 20678, 67200 bytes, 6 min, Monochrome & Color. CAL_S/SL DEMO.ARC This is a complete working version of the new """"""""""""""""" Calamus shell, save disabled. It will only work on either an Atari monochrome monitor or on a TT in either ST high or TT medium resolution. This is an arced file containing the demo program itself as well as a small sampling of modules that will be included with the program. It is almost entirely in English. For those of you wishing to preview Calamus S/SL, this is it. Questions may be asked in CAT 16. 1.5 meg min recommended. [*]File number 20711, 661376 bytes, 56 min, Monochrome Only. STENV42A.LZH This is ver.42a which clears up some bugs. Otherwise it """""""""""" still prints Envelopes in three sizes, Return address labels in most any label config Mailing labels 1,2,3,or 4 across again in most any label config. Rolodex/ Index cards . Photo labels and Photo title labels and you can choose your Print font and type style has it's own simple database. This is a DEMO Shareware Program ($7.00). [*]File number 20726, 31488 bytes, 3 min, Color Only. SLDRIVER.ARC This arced file contains the following additional drivers """""""""""" for use in the Calamus S/SL DEMO file #20711; ASCII, DEGAS, GEM IMG, GIF, Wordperfect and 1st Word Plus import drivers as well as two additional printer drivers; BJ 10E and HPLJII. These drivers are only of use to you if you have already downloaded the DEMO file. [*]File number 20798, 27392 bytes, 2.5 min, Monochrome Only. VRUSPCHG.ARC This is a demo of the ultimate Virus Killer 5.0. It will kill all known viruses both bootsector and link. Also included in this arc file is Flu a virus simulator program. Commercial œ9.99. [*]File number 20821, 93184 bytes, 8 min, Monochrome & Color. >>> DESK ACCESSORIES <<< """""""""""""""""""""""" PULLDOWN.LZH This ACC gives your computer Macintosh-like pull-down """""""""""" menus. English docs version of file number 20546. ShareWare. [*]File number 20667, 3200 bytes, .5 min, Monochrome & Color. CLIPBRDE.ARC This ACC is the clipboard included with GEMINI 1.0. The """""""""""" original version had menus and dialog boxes in german. This revision is about 95% english. With this program you can view ASCII files from within other programs. You do not need GEMINI to use this program. Displays text is a standard GEM window. Can run as a program. Public Domain. [*]File number 20826, 69120 bytes, 6 min, Monochrome & Color. >>> GAMES <<< """""""""""""" STBLIPS.ARC This game will let you play BATTLE BLIPS (battle ship) """"""""""" over the modem. It is a .ACC file, and it has graphics! Play against another computer over the modem. It's real neat as you can see their moves before they choose where to bomb. Can play against your own computer too. [*]File number 20758, 21504 bytes, 2 min, Monochrome & Color. BOING.ARC BOING is an excellent arcade game. It is very addictive and """"""""" has excellent graphics. Well worth the download time. No Documentation. [*]File number 20820, 38528 bytes, 3.5 min, Color Only. COWS_87S.ARC Cows! v8.7s, this is a much expanded and improved Cows! """""""""""" on-line text adventure game. Save the world from those crusty Moovian agents! A totally unique experience... Demo version 60% disabled. Can be run from home computer as well (no BBS required). ShareWare $10.00. [*]File number 20829, 135168 bytes, 11.5 min, Monochrome & Color. >>> GRAPHICS <<< """""""""""""""" ELIECOLR.ARC +++ The Eliemouse Complimentary Coloring Book +++ """""""""""" Treat your young children to a magical coloring book featuring Eliemouse. This full-featured program allows the user to paint an assorted collection of pictures of Eliemouse (only two are included in this demo). Magic touch sparkles as you choose colors and as you paint the picture. Compliments appear randomly to commend good work done. Fun for young and old alike. ShareWare $6.00. [*]File number 20738, 51584 bytes, 4.5 min, Color Only. GAR_FIELD.ARC This file contains three copies of the same picture the """"""""""""" uploader drew of the famous JIM DAVIS cartoon characters. The pose is in a director's chair. Includes a .PI1, PI3 (for monochrome users) and SPC for Spectrum users. AdWare. [*]File number 20848, 38272 bytes, 3.5 min, Monochrome & Color. >>> INFORMATION STORAGE <<< """"""""""""""""""""""""""" BDB_12.ARC Tim Early's Book Database ver. 1.2 This is a GEM library """""""""" database. Includes many features for ordering, sorting by author/series etc. Full report generating functions. This version will run in ST high/medium and TT medium rez. BDB is freeware. [*]File number 20762, 79872 bytes, 7 min, Color Only. FB18.LZH First Base version 1.8, a database program last uploaded as """""""" GEnie #19231. It further improves the search function and provides for saving the file without exiting plus a few other minor changes. This program is an in-memory data base program which makes it very fast to access, sort, or review data. It is usable with just 512K memory but for larger applications 1 meg or more may be needed. The program provides for printing data in various formats or restoring to a file in an altered form. Includes program to read disks into First Base format. ShareWare. [*]File number 20784, 43264 bytes, 4 min, Monochrome & Color. >>> MUSIC <<< """"""""""""" 4_SONGS.LZH 4 excellent quality QUARTET songs with VOICE set. You can """"""""""" listen to these tunes if you own QUARTE or have downloaded Q_PLAYER or Q_PLAY2. FreeWare. [*]File number 20652, 45952 bytes, 4.5 min, Monochrome & Color. Q_PLAY22.LZH QUARTET PLAYER 2. Includes the tune from a James Bond """""""""""" film, CASINO ROYALE. Play those QUARTET songs with ease. This version eliminates the restriction of 20000 bytes of song files. [*]File number 20814, 59904 bytes, 5 min, Monochrome & Color. 50FTWOMN.LZH QUARTET song: Attack of the Fifty Foot Woman by The """""""""""" Tubes. If you don't own QUARTET, use Q_PLAY22 (file #20814). [*]File number 20850, 50944 bytes, 4.5 min, Monochrome & Color. THE_LOOK.LZH QUARTET song: The Look by Roxette. If you don't own """""""""""" QUARTET, use Q_PLAY22, file #20814. [*]File number 20851, 47744 bytes, 4 min, Monochrome & Color. >>> PROGRAMMING <<< """"""""""""""""""" GXXINC.LZH These are the include files for G++, the GNU C++ compiler. """""""""" These files are _required_ for proper operation. The co- exist with, rather than replace, the GCC include files. More instructions are available in the readme.txt file in GXXBIN.LZH. You must already have GCC 1.39.1 or greater to use G++. [*]File number 20730, 87168 bytes, 7.5 min, Monochrome & Color. GXXLIB.LZH This file includes the object libraries for G++, the GNU """""""""" C++ compiler. This file is a companion to GXXINC.LZH and GXXBIN.LZH. See the readme.txt file in GXXBIN.LZH for installation instructions. [*]File number 20733, 114432 bytes, 10 min, Monochrome & Color. GXXBIN.LZH This package contains the binaries for the GNU C++ """""""""" compiler, G++, as well as an installation manual. There are two other files in this package, GXXLIB.LZH and GXXINC.LZH. All three are needed for proper operation, as well as GCC, the GNU C compiler. This file was archived using MSDOS LHarc 1.13. [*]File number 20753, 432640 bytes, 36.5 min, Monochrome & Color. FPLIB21.ARC This is version 2.1 of David Brooks' floating-point math """"""""""" library for the Sozobon C compiler. If you're using the original Sozobon release (not Ian Lepore's version), you should replace your floating-point libm.a with this version. The archive includes source code as well as the library objects. [*]File number 20810, 40320 bytes, 3.5 min, Monochrome & Color. >>> TELECOMMUNICATIONS <<< """""""""""""""""""""""""" DCDRPDTR.ARC DC Drop DTR will drop the computer's RS232 DTR line for """""""""""" one second, then reassert the line. This should hangup any modem which is connected. Program suggested by James Faircloth. 100% assembly. ST, STe and TT compatible. FreeWare program of the week. [*]File number 20804, 3968 bytes, .5 min, Monochrome & Color. TLINK31.ARC TripLinK! 3.1 , A VERY much Improved version to 3.0 with """"""""""" a lot of add-ons, extra features, and fixes. The Only BBS type program that supports Drop Down Menus, as well as a Full Online Help Sysop Mode. Can be used to manage huge libraries or as a BBS. Supports the St/STE, UIS, ANSI/ASCII/ VT52 and IG Menus. Too many options to even list. Drop Down Menus are configurable as well as the Fkeys in TinyTerM! and ChaT! up to 180 choices for each area. Built in ARC/LZH/ZIP Verbose, Telecommunications, and Games. ShareWare $25.00. [*]File number 20812, 307200 bytes, 26 min, Monochrome & Color. >>> TEXT FILES <<< """""""""""""""""" TX2FORMAT.LZH This short text file gives complete details on the TX2 """"""""""""" file format, levels 2 though 4. Using this information, anyone can create a program which can support TX2. The author wants this to become a standard, so please, check this out. FreeWare. [*]File number 20613, 3840 bytes, .5 min, Monochrome & Color. CALAMS17.ARC Calamus discussion from the ISD category in the Bulletin """""""""""" Board. This archive contains general discussion, some printer information, and speculation about Calamus SL. The discussion continues in Category 16 Topic 2 in the BB. Feb 2, 1988 to Aug 26, 1991. [*]File number 20638, 71522 bytes, 6 min, Monochrome & Color. MEGASTE_4.ARC Messages from the Mega STe topic in the Bulletin Board """"""""""""" from July 11, 1991 through August 29, 1991. This archive contains much miscellaneous discussion along with some comments about monitors and math chips. The discussion continues in Category 14 Topic 14. [*]File number 20685, 63104 bytes, 5.5 min, Monochrome & Color. HD_2.ARC General hard drive discussion from the Bulletin Board from """""""" April 16, 1991 through August 19, 1991. This archive contains information about specific drives, problems and solutions. The discussion continues in Category 4 Topic 39. [*]File number 20687, 56064 bytes, 5 min, Monochrome & Color. LIB_02.LZH Complete archive of files in the ST Library #2 - UTILITIES, """""""""" in text format. [*]File number 20737, 69888 bytes, 6 min, Monochrome & Color. LIB_03.LZH Complete archive of files in the ST Library #3 - LANGUAGE """""""""" AND PROGRAMMING, in text format. [*]e number 20740, 28672 bytes, 2.5 min, Monochrome & Color. LIB_04.LZH Complete archive of files in the ST Library #4 - GRAPHIC """""""""" ANIMATIONS, in text format. [*]File number 20741, 14336 bytes, 1.5 min, Monochrome & Color. LIB_05.LZH Complete archive of files in the ST Library #5 - GRAPHICS """""""""" AND ART, in text format. [*]File number 20743, 65536 bytes, 5.5 min, Monochrome & Color. LIB_06.LZH Complete archive of files in the ST Library #6 - BUSINESS, """""""""" in text format. [*]File number 20745, 11392 bytes, 1 min, Monochrome & Color. LIB_07.LZH Complete archive of files in the ST Library #7 - TELECOM- """""""""" PUTING, in text format. [*]File number 20746, 22528 bytes, 2 min, Monochrome & Color. LIB_08.LZH Complete archive of files in the ST Library #8 - GAMES, in """""""""" text format. [*]File number 20747, 43264 bytes, 4 min, Monochrome & Color. LIB_10.LZH Complete archive of files in the ST Library #10 - DEMO's, """""""""" in text format. [*]File number 20748, 19456 bytes, 2 min, Monochrome & Color. LIB_11.LZH Complete archive of files in the ST Library #11 - MUSIC, in """""""""" text format. [*]File number 20749, 30720 bytes, 3 min, Monochrome & Color. LIB_12.LZH Complete archive of files in the ST Library #12 - ADULT, in """""""""" text format. [*]File number 20750, 20352 bytes, 2 min, Monochrome & Color. LIB_13.LZH Complete archive of files in the ST Library #13 - ATARI """""""""" ARCHIVES, in text format. [*]File number 20751, 16384 bytes, 1.5 min, Monochrome & Color. ALASER7.ARC Discussion from the Atari laser topic from March, 1991 """"""""""" through August 31, 1991. Includes discussion of the SLM 804, SLM 805, toner, and the Phantom of the Laser modification. The discussion continues in Category 14 Topic 11. [*]File number 20773, 65152 bytes, 5.5 min, Monochrome & Color. STQ&A4.ARC Messages from the hardware question and answer topic. Some """""""""" things covered include various monitor problems, looking for parts, and some floppy drive information. These messages are from October 1990 through August 31, 1991. The discussion continues in Category 4 Topic 10 in the Bulletin Board. [*]File number 20779, 52480 bytes, 4.5 min, Monochrome & Color. BUILDDRV.LZH This file will tell you how to build your own 720k drive. """""""""""" Pictures included. [*]File number 20825, 11392 bytes, 1 min, Monochrome & Color. BBSX9109.LZH This is a listing of 104 verified BBS Express! ST """""""""""" Bulletin Board Systems in operation for September 1991. [*]File number 20833, 4352 bytes, .5 min, Monochrome & Color. >>> UTILITIES <<< """"""""""""""""" ST_TYPE.LZH This TOS program describes what kind of ST you have, """"""""""" including TOS version and date, blitter status, GDOS status, and more. C source code included. FreeWare. [*]File Number 20622, 10752 bytes, 1 min, Monochrome & Color. SAT400.ARC This is version 4.00 of my Satellite Tracking Program. """""""""" This program is for use in predicting a satellites location using either the NASA two-line orbital data, standard Keplerian orbital parameters, or a position and velocity vector (such as the NASA M50 format). A data file is provided containing two-line data for 638 satellites. This program is for the use of hams, weather satellite users, or anybody interested in visually observing satellites. FreeWare. [*]File number 20643, 146560 bytes, 12.5 min, Color only. AV375.LZH Version 3.75 of Ascii-View, an Ascii Text File Reader. ALL """"""""" features can be selected via the mouse or keyboard. Two scrolling speeds are supported one lightning fast the other slow and crystal clear. Desk accessories are now accessible. A benchmark feature displays how fast YOUR computer can scroll a file. View 48 lines of text at once with a monochrome monitor. Recall previously viewed files with just a keypress. Advanced Search, Set Marker, Block, Print features are available and MUCH more. Extensive online help. FreeWare. [*]File number 20644, 59392 bytes, 5 min, Monochrome & Color. DCRUNREZ.ARC DC Rez Run automagically switches resolution before """""""""""" running desired programs. Just say no to "Please run in ???? resolution" alerts! 100% assembly. ST, STe, and TT compatible. Program of the Week. FreeWare [*]File number 20698, 4864 bytes, .5 min, Monochrome & Color. [*][*][*] Fred is a computer addict from morning to dusk. Having worked with Big Blue and Macs in various jobs, he settled down to the ST as his computer of choice. He started with the trusty 400, worked through each model, and is hoping for an STe in the near future. His wife looks forward to power outages so she can see him somewhere other than in front of the monitor. [EOA] [HAC]////////////////////////////// HACK'N ATARI / ///////////////////////////////// Down To The Wire """""""""""""""" o FEEL THE POWER: Installing A New Power Supply o INSTALLING A 3 1/2" TOSHIBA DRIVE FEEL THE POWER! Has anyone completely rewired their ST and drives to """"""""""""""" am IBM 200 watt power supply, and done away with the ATARI power supplies all together? (N.HARD, CAT4, TOP36, MSG:152/M475) >>>>> Everything I have in my 'Mutant' is powered from a 160 watt XT """"" power supply. I removed the power connector from the mother- board, installed a 6-wire male/female connector to it, and then connected that to the power supply. The hard drive, hard drive controller, and floppies use standard connectors so they weren't a problem. You have to know the pinouts of your power connector to install it correctly. I have the SAMS Photofact for my 520ST so that wasn't a problem. If you have a manual for your ST there should be a section in the back that shows the pinouts for the power supply connector. The XT power supply uses standard color coding: +5v Red +12v Blue -12v Yellow GND Black Hopefully those are right. Somebody correct me if I'm wrong. I cut off the standard motherboard connector from the XT power supply and wired that to my new connector. (H.SARBER, CAT4, TOP36, MSG:153/M475) >>>>> Just an added note...ST's, starting with the STfm models, only """"" use +5 and +12 volts; no -12. The six-pin connector going to the ST mainboard has two red wires (+5), three black (ground) and one blue (+12). I have remounted a 1040 STe and power everything from a PC supply (200 or 220 watts). I have also modified this Mega4, removing the floppy and rewiring to allow external floppies. I then bought a midi-sized PC tower and mounted two floppies, two hard drives and a tape backup unit in it (got room for one more drive). The host adapter is also mounted inside, as well as the tape controller. All are powered off the PC supply (250W), although I haven't haven't powered the Mega from it, I could. -Norm (N,WEINRESS, CAT4, TOP36, MSG:154/M475) >>>>> I've got mine wired to a 230W (it came with the box) supply, """"" it's no problem. Just remember that most of these supplies require a minimum load on the B+ lines so you will most likely have to load the 5V+ and 12V+ down (1-3A) depending on what you have (ISAC, T16, ADSpeed, hard drives etc...). with some heavy (wattage) power resistors or just put a few extra hard drives in ;-) -Carl (C.STANFORD, CAT4, TOP36, MSG:155/M475) A QUIET DRIVE FOR YOUR ST I just replaced the internal floppy drive """"""""""""""""""""""""" on my 1040STf, and I thought I'd leave a few comments. The original drive was a Chinon, and even when it did work it was horribly noisy. It failed by having the spring on the upper R/W head break. Best Electronics sells a new head, but for $80. I got a new non-Atari drive for $64. The new drive is a 3 1/2 Toshiba. It's a 1/3 height drive. The hardest part was configuring the jumpers. The catch is, you *don't* configure them. There are three jumpers behind the power connection, and two of them came shorted. I tried hooking the drive up, but although the motor would run, the drive select light wouldn't come on, and the ST wouldn't recognize it. I tried all possible permutations of the jumpers, but nothing worked. I finally noticed a *very* tiny switch next to the data plug. It's a tiny black box with a miniscule lever sticking out of it. You may need a magnifying glass to see the lever. I pushed the lever to the opposite (right) position using a jeweler's screwdriver, and put the jumpers back to their original settings. Eureka! The disk booted up fine. I got some 1/4" nylon spacers, and replacement mounting screws that were 1/4" longer than the originals. I used a small hacksaw to trim out the lower right corner of the drive opening in the upper half of the ST case, to make room for the Toshiba's eject button. I screwed everything together, and it works! I noticed that some other people here said that they had to reverse the plug on the data cable because the key was on the wrong side. I didn't have that problem; the key matched the slot in the drive's socket. However, I did have to put a half-twist in the data cable since the socket on the Toshiba was rotated 180 degrees from the Chinon socket. I was able to verify the orientation by noting which end of the plug matched pin 1 on the Chinon, and matched that end with pin 1 on the Toshiba. In addition, the wire for pin 1 on the ribbon cable had a stripe. I have heard that Atari screwed this up on a number of STs (key is wrong, or pin 1 is not the marked wire), so the safest way to do it is to match the plug based on how it was connected to the original drive. Despite the key, it is possible to plug the Toshiba in upside down. I did this by accident, and gave myself a real scare. If you do this, when you power up the ST the drive lights go on right away, instead of after a quick pause, and they don't ever go out. It works fine now, and having a *quiet* drive is wonderful. / / * / Alan * * (STARFALL, CAT4, TOP14, MSG:97/M475) [*][*][*] 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. -Ed. [EOA] [FOC]////////////////////////////// FOCUS ON / ///////////////////////////////// GCR: Tips From A New Owner """""""""""""""""""""""""" By Michael Fleming [M.FLEMING8] >>> TIPS FOR THE NEW GCR/SPRECTRE USER <<< """""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""" I'm a new owner of GCR, and would like to share a few simple tips with those considering a GCR purchase. If you're like me, you know very little about the MAC and how to interface with it. I also didn't fully understand how to get started with GCR. A) If you have a MEGA Atari ST model, please search the GADGETS libraries for a document by GEnie user 'STACE' on shielding your internal floppy drive. I can't begin to describe how much trouble my floppy gave me prior to being shielded. I wasn't even able to read the MAC startup disk. Once shielded, the drive has worked flawlessly with every disk I feed it. The shield will take a few hours of your time to create, but is inexpensive and well worth it. Thanks, Mark, for this great idea! B) Be aware that once you buy the GCR, you must also purchase 2 MAC PLUS ROM chips (see my entry in the 'Where can I purchase ROM's topic in this bulletin board for info on buying these). C) You also need a set of MAC 'System Tools' disks in order to get your new 'Mac' up and running. In previous messages on the GADGETS board, people have suggested going to an Apple dealer and purchasing these System disks with their associated manuals. I found that no local Apple dealer is selling the older versions of system tools now that System 7 has been released (NOTE: do *not* try running system 7 just yet). But, none of this was a problem. Most Apple dealers were very willing to sell me an older version (they all charged $20). I was able to find one local dealer who was willing to *give* me the 4 system tools disks for free as a courtesy (I bought a box of floppies from them to make the copies - thought they deserved a little something). When you go to your Apple dealer, ask for copies of 'System Tools package 6' - contains 'System 6.0.5' and 'Finder 6.1'. You can use other systems and finders, but I find these to work very nicely. Note: a manual is not included with these disks. D) The last item I used and found very helpful is 'The Macintosh Bible' book, buy Sharon Zardetto Aker et al. Most bookstores carry this, but try to get it from a bookstore which also carries the associated Mac Bible floppy disks - for minimal additional cost you get 2 floppies filled with free software, shareware, and public-domain programs for the MAC. The disks are less expensive if bought with the book; technical/computer bookstores should carry the version with disks. I'm really happy with my GCR purchase. Every program I've tried runs on it except one (a game which seems to 'lock up'- I'm going to contact Dave Small on this; but it's pretty trivial compared to all the major software I've been able to run flawlessly - keep in mind that there are still buggy programs which can also lock up a real MAC too). On the 'down' side, GCR is not a totally perfect 'MAC'; keep in mind that for the most part GCR will not run MAC copy-protected software (but there's not a lot of protected software around these days). Personally, my only other quibble with GCR at this point is with the MAC sounds being produced through my Atari's speaker - most sounds are kind of average or even a bit 'grungy'; I wish they were as clear and sterling as real MAC sounds. I read someone's post on the board stating that GCR reads every other sound byte instead of every sound byte - if this is true, perhaps it explains the someone lack-luster sound production. In any case, sound does work and isn't the biggest deal; just a minor disappointment. THIS IS REALLY IMPORTANT! Once you get your GCR up and running, one of the first things you should do is use a shareware program called 'Heaptools' (comes on a disk with the GCR) to increase Heap system size. This sounds pretty technical, but its easy to do. Read the instructions which come with Heaptool. I increased my system size up to 256K I believe. Prior to doing this, I ran into a problem running some software, but after increasing, the same software runs perfectly. Note that real MAC users often must do this too. That's about it as far as some simple, condensed hints on getting started with GCR. Follow the above suggestions and they should save you hours or days of lost time trying to figure things out. Enjoy your GCR! (M.FLEMING8, CAT7, TOP18, MSG:146/M690) [EOA] [LYN]////////////////////////////// LINKING UP WITH LYNX / ///////////////////////////////// Atari Handheld Power! """"""""""""""""""""" "Gosh, with all of these people calling the Lynx II, "BatLynx", maybe Atari could get it into Batman II... It's supposed to be out next Summer... could be awesome to have Bruce Wayne Com- Lynxed up w/Alfred and Vickey Vale in a heated game of Slime World." (ERIDDLE, CAT36, TOP4, MSG:186/M475) >>> LYNX ODDS & ENDS <<< """""""""""""""""""""""" WHAT'S NEW? I just heard that APB will also starting reaching stores """"""""""" very soon. Took a trip down to the PR offices today and got to try out some upcoming stuff. Checkered Flag-Pole Position style driving game, comlynable by 8 players. Tremendous scaling,graphics and sound. At the start, a guy says "Gentlemen start your engines" and then begins waving the green flag. They let me try out Super Monoco GP on GameGear to compare, and Checkered Flag was infinitely better. Ishido - Nice looking and sounding strategy game. The opening credits are shown over fireworks going off (first time I've seen fire- works at the start of a game). Turbo Sub-First person shooter with great graphics and scaling. Scrapyard Dog - Very fun, cute mario-style contest with lots of hidden rooms and warps. Hard Drivin - Smooth fast 3-d graphics, nice crash replays. The control takes a little bit to get used to, but is useable and yes, if you hit the cow it has a digitized moo. Viking Child - Good platform game that looks a lot like the ST version. >>>>> Finally, I got to try STun Runner. This is a killer translation """"" with fast smooth scaling and it plays and looks just like the arcade game. It even has the digitized female voice "Welcome STun Runner". This is the latest Lynx release schedule and as always it's subject to change. September: Ishido Checkered Flag Turbo Sub Scrapyard Dog October: Bill and Ted's Hard Drivin' Rolling Thunder Viking Child November: Bad Boy Tennis (that's a new one) 720 Hockey NFL Football Robotron STun Runner (this may show up sooner) Tournament Cyberball December: Cabal Hydra Lynx Casino STrider 2 Toki Worldclass Soccer Baseball Heroes Basketbrawl Dirty Larry GeoDuel HyperDrome (used to be GridRunner) Also, although there were some talks between Atari and SSI they aren't currently working on anything. That may change in the future. (C.SMITH89, CAT36, TOP5, MSG:158-159/M75) PACLAND MANIA I bought PacLand a few days ago and I'm having a lot of """"""""""""" fun with it. I find it much more relaxing than the hitting/punching/kicking games that require split-second timing and memorization of a huge game layout. When I play games, I want to be relaxed. The ones that cause cramps in your thumbs and fingers and make the player start twitching and yelping are the ones that bore me quickly. As of this moment, PacLand is my second-favorite Lynx title (my favorite is Shanghai). (JEFF.W, CAT36, TOP7, MSG:7/M475) >>>>> Jeff- what's the deal with the spring board on the little """"" island? How do you get enough ooomph to jump across the rest of the water? Also, did you notice that jumping at the 'break' gets you a 100 or 1000 point bonus? -Tom (T.MCCOMB, CAT8, TOP7, MSG:8/M475) >>>>> Tom, When you reach the end of the spring board, hit your A or B """"" button to jump, then continuously press your joypad button rapidly to the right and you will clear the water. As for the bonus at the end of the level, I've gotten 100, 300, 1000 and now can get 7,650 bonus points most of the time. If you jump just as you hit the back of the church, then jump again a split-second later, you should get 7650 points. Pac-Land's much better than I had expected. In fact, the first GameGuide (due in just a couple of weeks) focuses on the game. (STCONNECTION, CAT36, TOP7, MSG:9/M475) >>>>> Tom - According to the poster/instructions that came with """"" PacLand (I hate that poster/instruction sheet combo), you have to "pump the joypad as fast as you can to give Pac-Man enough power to clear the dangerous waters." I wasn't sure what that meant, but while jumping, I keep tapping the joypad in the direction of the jump and it works for me. BTW, I don't know if it's been noted here already, but in Round 2 (going through the forest) if you push the 2nd tree stump you jump over to the left far enough, you're leapfrogged into Round 9 and you get about 80,000 points for your effort. I've noticed that this is only on your first attempt for Round 2. If you've already lost a life before attempting this, the stump won't move. (JEFF.W, CAT36, TOP7, MSG:10/M475) GAMEMASTER & STAR-LINX JOIN HANDS GameMaster and Star-Linx BBS are """"""""""""""""""""""""""""""""" proud to announce that the Lynx Game Rating System (originated by Star-Linx) is being expanded and will be a co-op effort. Lynx players are encouraged to rate their favorite (or not-so-favorite) games so that Lynx enthusiasts in general can get a good idea of what the current Atari Lynx game library has to offer. BY SUBMITTING GAME RATINGS TO EITHER GAMEMASTER OR STAR-LINX, YOU BECOME ELIGIBLE TO WIN THE NEWEST LYNX GAME TITLE EACH MONTH! A press release with more information and a rating form is available in the Press Release category of the ST file library. Rating forms will also be available in each issue of GameMaster or by direct input while visiting Star-Linx. Game ratings will be compiled and will appear in each issue of GameMaster along with winner's names. >>>>> GameMaster is proud to announce the creation of GameGuides for """"" the Atari Lynx. Each GameGuide will focus on a specific game title and will include a game overview, 3 reviews by 3 different Lynx gamers, a game rating section and will also include hints and tips for that game title. A new GameGuide will be available every month focusing on the hottest new Lynx title. GameGuides will be available on a subscription basis ($19.95 for 12 issues) and will also be available as individual guides ($3.00 each/$2.00 each for subscribers). The first GameGuide will be available in just a couple of weeks (mid-September). If you'd like some additional information, read the press release in Category 14 of the ST file library or ask your questions here. (STCONNECTION, CAT36, TOP16, MSG:23-25/M475) ///////////////////////////// GEnie_QWIK_QUOTE //// / "I HATE Airport Security Checks. / / I HATE Baggage Check-in lines. / / I HATE waiting in long lines just / / be harrassed by Customs Officials. / / Come to think of it, I don't like / / Customs Officials much either. / / (Needless to say, it was not a very / / fun flight back)." / / / / "On the bright side of the flight, the people / / at Frankfurt airport security did vacuum out / / my Stacy with some funny looking bomb-sniffing / / thing a ma jig. Thanks, guys :-)" / ////////////////////////////////// JMGSOFT C ///// [EOA] [LOG]////////////////////////////// LOG OFF / ///////////////////////////////// GEnie Lamp Information """""""""""""""""""""" o COMMENTS: Contacting GEnie Lamp o GENIE LAMP STAFF: Who Are We? o WITH A LITTLE HELP: GEnie Lamp Writers o WRITERS: Writing For GEnie Lamp o HOT OFF THE PRESS: When And Where? COMMENTS? If you would like to ask a question, leave a comment or just """"""""" drop in and say hi, you can contact us in CAT 34 in the ST bulletin board area. If you prefer to remain private, send your GEnie Email to GENIELAMP$ 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 - Mark L. Dodge [M.DODGE2] Hack'n Atari - Fred Koch [F.KOCH] PD_Q/Online Library/[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 GEnie Lamp CONTRIBUTORS """"""""""""""""""""""" o Michael Fleming [M.FLEMING8] Focus On... U.S. MAIL """"""""" T/TalkNET Publishing CO. ATTEN: John Peters 5102 Galley Rd. Suite 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!) GEnie LAMP [PR] GEnie Lamp [PR] is a great way to keep up with all the """"""""""""""" latest press releases, new product announcements and Atarifest/show information. Also included are all the want ads and for sale ads from the ST RoundTable bulletin boards. For more information, contact the editor, Fred Koch. [F.KOCH] \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\//////////////////////////////////// (c) Copyright 1991 T/TalkNET OnLine Publishing, Atari Corporation, GEnie, and the Atari RoundTables. May be reprinted only with this notice intact. The Atari RoundTables on GEnie are the *official* information services of the Atari Corporation. Signed articles and message reprints are the opinion of the authors and are not necessarily the opinion of the publisher or staff of GEnie Lamp. We reserve the right to edit all letters and copy. To sign up for GEnie service, call (with modem) 1-800-638-8369. Upon connection type HHH. Wait for the U#= prompt. Type: XJM11877,GEnie and hit RETURN. The system will then prompt you for your information. ////////////////////////////////////\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\ [EOF]