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-
- SILICON TIMES REPORT
- ====================
- INTERNATIONAL ONLINE MAGAZINE
- =============================
-
- from
- STR Electronic Publishing Inc.
-
-
- January 21, 1994 No. 1004
- ======================================================================
-
- Silicon Times Report
- International Online Magazine
- Post Office Box 6672
- Jacksonville, Florida 32221-6155
-
- R.F. Mariano
- Publisher-Editor
- -----------------------------------------
- Voice: 904-783-3319 10 AM-4 PM EST
-
- STR Publishing Support BBS Network System
- * THE BOUNTY BBS *
- FIDO 1:112/35 ~ ITCNet 85:881/253 ~ FNET 350 ~ Nest 90:21/350
- 904-786-4176 USR/HST 24hrs-7 days
- 2400 -38.4 bps V.32-42 bis 16.8 Dual Standard
- FAX: 904-783-3319 12 AM-6 AM EST
- -----------------------------------------
- Fido 1:112/35 The Bounty STR Support Central 1-904-786-4176
- FNET. 620 : Leif's World ................1-904-573-0734
- FNET. 690 : PASTE BBS....................1-206-284-8493
- FNET. 489 : Steal Your Face BBS..........1-908-920-7981
- MNET - Toad Hall BBS.....................1-617-567-8642
- ______________________________________________________________________
-
- > 01/21/94 STR 1004 "The Original * Independent * Online Magazine!"
- """""""""""""""""
- - CPU INDUSTRY REPORT - Digital > Losses - Microsoft Profits UP
- - Stacker & PCTools - AOL users UP - Connect 2.44
- - Deliverance a Review - HP Dashboard - The Old Fishin' Hole
-
- -* SEGA TO WORK WITH MS ON NEW OS FOR GAMES! *-
- -* JAMES BUCKLEY APPOINTED PRESIDENT OF APPLE USA *-
- -* US GOV'T. SUED OVER DATABASE! *-
- -* HP COLOR PRINTER SALES DOUBLED IN '93! *-
-
- ======================================================================
- STReport International Online Magazine
- The Original * Independent * Online Magazine
- -* FEATURING WEEKLY *-
- "Accurate UP-TO-DATE News and Information"
- Current Events, Original Articles, Tips, Rumors, and Information
- Hardware - Software - Corporate - R & D - Imports
- ======================================================================
- STReport's BBS - The Bounty BBS, invites all BBS systems, worldwide, to
- participate in the Fido/PROWL/ITC/USENET/NEST/F-Net Mail Networks. You
- may also call The Bounty BBS direct @ 904-786-4176. Enjoy the wonder and
- excitement of exchanging all types of useful information relative to
- computers, worldwide, through the use of excellent International
- Networking Systems. SysOps, worldwide, are welcome to join the STReport
- International Conferences. The Fido Node is 1:112/35, ITC Node is
- 85:881/253 Crossnet Code is #34813, and the "Lead Node" is #620. All
- computer platforms BBS systems are welcome and invited to participate.
- ======================================================================
- CIS ~ AOL ~ DELPHI ~ BIX ~ FIDO ~ PROWL ~ ITC ~ NEST ~ EURONET
- USENET ~ CIX ~ CLEVELAND FREE-NET ~ INTERNET ~ FNET ~ GENIE
- ======================================================================
-
- COMPUSERVE WILL PRESENT $15.00 WORTH OF COMPLIMENTARY ONLINE TIME
- to the Readers of;
-
- STREPORT INTERNATIONAL ONLINE MAGAZINE
- """"""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""
- "The Original 16/32bit Online Magazine"
-
- NEW USERS; SIGN UP TODAY!
-
- CALL: 1-800-848-8199 .. Ask for operator 198
-
- You will receive your complimentary time
- and
- be online in no time at all!
-
- "Enjoy CompuServe's forums; where information is at its very best!
-
- """"""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""
-
-
- > From the Editor's Desk "Saying it like it is!"
- """"""""""""""""""""""
-
- Earthquakes, Blizzards, Killer Cold Waves and no end in sight. A
- moment's silent reverence for those who have perished and those who
- continue to suffer as a result of mother nature's madness. This is
- certainly beginning to look like the year that "was" already.
-
- Would you believe that... in certain circles some say STReport is
- really "the online magazine"? No matter how much I like to hear it...
- the truth is we are simply trying to please the most readers with the
- best variety in informative coverage. Your mail has certainly helped in
- forming the current setup for STR. We are always open to suggestions for
- further improvement.
-
- On the entertainment front, its amazing to witness the comments and
- strange postures being taken as a result of Doom becoming more and more
- popular. As in most everything, there are those who are passionate about
- the game... <g> and those who are equally passionate about not liking the
- game only... that's where the rub lies. Those who have voiced their
- disapproval the loudest have also stated that as long as the "demonic
- graphics" are in Doom they'll "continue to play the shareware version
- without registering and getting the two additional levels". This, to me,
- is an exercise in pure hypocrisy! "Won't pay to play but as a freebie
- its ok! The demonic symbolisms etc. are ok as long as the almighty buck
- ain't involved but as soon as you have to hit the hip.... the religious
- zealot's "bless me now" nerve is zinged! This is pure bunk! It smacks
- of snake oil and smoke dancing nothing more and nothing less. Anybody
- remember the famous TV preacher caught with a Texas Prostitute? When he
- was caught... he said he had done "wrong". But a month or so later, "he
- was there to "teach her the errors of her ways". True understanding and
- brotherly love are fast becoming a thing of the past. As it all seems to
- be hooray for me and the he** with you! Sad but true.
-
- The folks at ID software have produced a fine software package in Doom
- and deserve every lick of success they can possibly savor. To ID I say
- Keep up the good work! You're doing just fine. Folks, if you haven't
- had an opportunity to see Doom yet, do so ..you owe it to yourselves.
- Its a fine example of the future having arrived early. Superb
- programming!
-
-
-
-
- """"""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""
-
-
-
- STReport's Staff DEDICATED TO SERVING YOU!
- """"""""""""""""
-
- Publisher -Editor
- """"""""""""""""""
- Ralph F. Mariano
-
- Lloyd E. Pulley, Editor, Current Affairs
-
-
- Section Editors
- """""""""""""""
- PC SECTION AMIGA SECTION MAC SECTION ATARI SECTION
- ---------- ------------- ----------- -------------
- R.D. Stevens R. Glover R. Noak D. P. Jacobson
-
-
- STReport Staff Editors:
- """""""""""""""""""""""
-
- Dana P. Jacobson Michael Arthur John Deegan
- Lucien Oppler Brad Martin Judith Hamner
- John Szczepanik Dan Stidham Joseph Mirando
- Doyle Helms Frank Sereno John Duckworth
- Jeff Coe Steve Keipe Guillaume Brasseur
- Melanie Bell John Donohue
-
- Contributing Correspondents:
- """"""""""""""""""""""""""""
- Tim Holt Norman Boucher Harry Steele
- Clemens Chin Neil Bradley Eric Jerue
- Ron Deal Robert Dean Ed Westhusing
- James Nolan Vernon W. Smith Bruno Puglia
- Glenwood Drake
-
- IMPORTANT NOTICE
- """"""""""""""""
- Please, submit letters to the editor, articles, reviews, etc...
- via E-Mail to:
-
- Compuserve................... 70007,4454
- America Online..................STReport
- Delphi......................... RMARIANO
- BIX............................ RMARIANO
- FIDONET........................ 1:112/35
- FNET........................... NODE 350
- ITC NET...................... 85:881/253
- NEST........................ 90:21/350.0
- GEnie......................... ST-REPORT
-
-
- """"""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""
-
-
-
- > CPU STATUS REPORT LATE BREAKING INDUSTRY-WIDE NEWS
- """""""""""""""""
-
-
-
- IBM/POWER-PC/PC SECTION (I)
- ===========================
-
-
-
- Computer Products Update - CPU Report
- ------------------------ ----------
- Weekly Happenings in the Computer World
-
- Issue #04
-
- By: Lloyd E. Pulley, Sr.
-
-
-
- ******* General Computer News *******
-
-
- ** Microsoft Profits Up 22% **
-
- A 22 percent jump in profit for the second quarter has been reported
- by Microsoft Corp. Microsoft earned $289 million, or 95 cents a share,
- in the most recent quarter, up from $236 million, or 78 cents a share,
- in the year-ago quarter. Revenues rose to $1.22 billion from $938
- million.
-
-
- ** HP Color Printer Sales Doubled in '93 **
-
- Hewlett-Packard Co. reports that it more than doubled its color
- printer sales last year. HP says it sold approximately 2 million color
- inkjet DeskJet printers worldwide in 1993, a 122% increase over 1992 when
- the company sold nearly 900,000 units. HP color printer sales in 1991
- were 120,000.
-
- HP's says its sale of 2 million color DeskJet printers represents a
- figure greater than all other makes of color printers combined, based on
- statistics supplied by BIS Strategic Decisions, a market research firm
- located in Norwell, Mass. HP notes that it has sold more than 10 million
- monochrome and color inkjet printers since its first model was introduced
- in 1984.
-
-
- ** Digital Reports 2nd Quarter Loss **
-
- Digital Equipment Corp. today reported a second quarter loss of $72.1
- million, compared with a loss of $73.9 million for the same period a year
- ago. The computer maker continues to face a tough recovery with revenues
- for the quarter down 12% to $3.25 billion, compared to $3.69 billion in
- the fourth quarter of 1992.
-
-
- ** PC World to List Top Computers **
-
- PC World this week introduced the PC World Top 20, a monthly listing
- of the industry's leading PCs. Beginning with its February issue, the PC
- World Top 20 will each month provide readers with a top-down ranking of
- the PCs that were analyzed by the PC World Test Center.
-
- "The PC World Top 20 ranks the first time a monthly computer
- publication has responded to the ever-shortening PC product cycles --
- which is roughly six months for R&D, three months to promote and sell,
- and three months to 'unload' the product," says PC World's
- Editor-in-Chief Phil Lemmons. "The PC market is moving so incredibly fast
- that buyers need continuously updated information and recommendations."
-
- The PC World Top 20 will be comprised of three PC categories -- the
- Top 20 Power Desktops, the Top 20 Budget Desktops, and the Top 20 Mobile
- PCs (10 power notebooks/subnotebooks and 10 budget notebooks and
- subnotebooks). The top five products in each of these categories will be
- honored as the monthly "Best Buy."
-
-
- ** Sega to Work With Microsoft on New Operating System for Games **
-
- Microsoft Corp. has agreed to supply Japan's Sega Enterprises Ltd.
- with a new operating system for Sega's 32-bit home video game player,
- "Saturn," to be released in November.
-
- A spokesman with Sega, Japan's largest maker of commercial-use
- amusement equipment, said the two firms also are considering cooperating
- in developing new game software.
-
- Saturn is to have two 32-bit RISC (reduced instruction set computing)
- chips in its central processing unit. Reports says Sega plans to sell it
- for less than $450.
-
- Sega's move follows an announcement last week by Japan's consumer
- electronics giant Matsushita Electric Industrial Co. Ltd. that it planned
- for the launch on March 20 of a 32-bit home entertainment player jointly
- developed with 3DO Co. of the United States, and six software titles.
-
-
- ** Tektronix Unveils Desktop Color Printers **
-
- Tektronix Inc. this week announced the Phaser 220i and Phaser 220e
- thermal transfer color printers. The 600 by 300 dots-per-inch units
- output at two pages per minute, feature network connectivity options and
- print on most laser papers.
-
- The Phaser 220 printers include dual-tray configuration options, large
- tray and ribbon capacities and automatic ink- level sensing to minimize
- the need for printer maintenance or operator attendance.
-
- The Phaser 220e and 220i are priced at $3,995.00 and $5,995.00,
- respectively. Both printers are available now.
-
-
- ** America Online Subscriber Rate Jumps **
-
- "As a result of strong word of mouth and a growing list of partners
- who bundle America Online with their products, our subscriber growth has
- continued to accelerate," said Steve Case, president and CEO. "These new
- bundling agreements can help us attract new PC owners, further increasing
- our market share."
-
- Dell, a leading manufacturer of personal computers, will now include
- America Online with all of its PCs sold through consumer channels. By
- preinstalling the Windows version of America Online in these computers,
- Dell purchasers will see an icon representing America Online on their
- Windows desktop. This will provide quick and easy access to the America
- Online service.
-
- US Robotics, a leading manufacturer of modems, will expand their
- bundling agreement with America Online to include their entire line of
- consumer modems. US Robotics' Macintosh line of modems began bundling
- America Online last year.
-
- "As 1994 unfolds, we plan to continue to expand bundling and content
- partnerships because we believe they help us attract and retain
- customers. We plan to continue to add compelling content in a number of
- areas such as news, personal finance and shopping," Case added. "By
- making it easier for consumers to try our services, and providing them
- with compelling reasons to continue as customers, we believe we are
- well-positioned to take advantage of the encouraging market trends for
- consumer online services."
-
- America Online, Inc., based in Vienna, is a leading provider of online
- services to consumers. The company offers its more than 550,000
- subscribers a wide variety of services, including electronic mail,
- conferencing, software, computing support, interactive magazines and
- newspapers, and online classes. Founded in 1985, the company has
- established strategic alliances with dozens of companies including Time
- Warner, CNN, The New York Times, Knight Ridder, Tribune Company, IBM and
- Apple. Personal computer owners can obtain America Online software at
- major retailers and bookstores, or by calling 800-827-6364.
-
-
- ** Government Sued Over Database **
-
- Tax Analysts, a nonprofit publisher of legal information, has filed
- suit in federal court asking for portions of the Department of Justice
- (DOJ) JURIS database under the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA).
-
- The dispute concerns public records which West Publishing, a private
- company, provided to the Department of Justice for use in its JURIS
- online Computer Assisted Legal Research (CALR) database system.
-
- The data are public records and, by federal law, not copyrightable.
- West, however, claims that it owns the arrangement of the data, and the
- Department of Justice is not free to release it.
-
- JURIS was established initially for DOJ's use. The President, by
- Executive Order 12146 (July 18, 1979), directed DOJ and its head, the
- Attorney General, to expand JURIS for use throughout the government legal
- community. All federal agency users share the cost of JURIS operation,
- database management and improvements.
-
- JURIS is organized into and contains federal case law material,
- statutory law, digest material, tax documents, Federal regulations,
- Federal manuals, work product material, legislative histories, federal
- administrative law opinions and decisions, treaties, DOJ publications on
- the FOIA and other such legal materials. The basis of the suit is that a
- federal agency should not be making exclusive arrangements to give away
- public data to a private company.
-
- The lawsuit will be heard by U.S. District Court Judge Richey, the
- same jurist who is presiding over an FOIA case involving public access to
- electronic mail records.
-
-
- ******* General Computer News *******
-
-
- ** Autodesk Ships AutoSketch Release 2 **
-
- Autodesk Inc. is now shipping AutoSketch Release 2 for Windows, a 2-D,
- CAD-based drawing package.
-
- Autodesk notes that the software "combines the power and precision of
- computer-aided design with the freedom of an illustration program by
- providing tools for creating sketches, technical drawings, diagrams and
- information-based graphics and presentations."
-
- The latest AutoSketch release features a new user interface, as well
- as improved file import/export capabilities and additional drawing tools.
- It also offers expanded CAD functionality and interoperability.
-
- AutoSketch Release 2 software is now available through Autodesk
- resellers and the retail channel at a suggested price of $299. Existing
- AutoSketch customers can upgrade to Release 2 for $99 (certain
- restrictions
- may apply).
-
-
- ** OS/2, Valuepoint Machines Unite **
-
- In a move intended to sharpen its appeal to business, government and
- other commercial customers, IBM PC Co. this week begins bringing its PS/2
- and ValuePoint products under one brand team.
-
- While PS/2 and ValuePoint computers will maintain their different
- labels for the time being, they will be sold by one team to be known as
- the Commercial Desktop brand, with Stephen Cohen, who led PS-2 marketing,
- directing the group. (The ValuePoint brand was designed to offer less
- costly models that are updated more frequently than PS/2.)
-
- He said IBM will continue to develop PS/2 and ValuePoint computers
- separately, partly because they have different technical designs for how
- information is moved inside them.
-
-
- ******* General Mac News *******
-
- ** James Buckley Appointed President of Apple USA **
-
- Apple Computer Inc. this week appointed James J. Buckley, 43, as
- president of Apple USA effective immediately. Reports say that Buckley
- will be responsible for all of the division's sales, marketing, channel,
- customer service and support activities.
-
- A nine-year veteran of Apple Computer, Buckley was most recently vice
- president and general manager for Apple USA's Higher Education division
- and was responsible for directing all sales, marketing, customer support
- and service operations to 3,500 colleges and universities in the United
- States.
-
- Buckley held positions as Apple USA's vice president and general
- manager for Northern Operations in Norwalk, Connecticut, vice president
- and general manager for Apple's Central Operations Group located in
- Chicago, area sales director of Apple's U.S. North Central Area, and
- director of educational sales at the company's Cupertino headquarters.
-
-
- ** Apple Introduces Macintosh Performa Money Edition Computer **
-
- Money Magazine and Apple Computer have teamed up to create the
- Macintosh Performa 560 Money Edition, a multimedia computer designed
- especially for those who want to take advantage of the latest technology
- to manage their personal finances.
-
- Reports say the system features popular personal finance and
- organizational programs such as WealthBuilder by Money magazine, Quicken,
- MacInTax, Willmaker and Personal Recordkeeper; the ClarisWorks integrated
- database, word-processing and spreadsheet package; the Datebook
- Pro/Touchbase Pro Bundle for calendar and address-book capabilities.
-
- It also includes interactive educational programs such as the 21
- volume New Grolier Multimedia Encyclopedia CD-ROM, the TIME Almanac
- CD-ROM and the American Heritage Dictionary as well as entertainment
- programs such as the World Tour Golf CD-ROM and Monopoly, and a special
- Money version of the After Dark screen saver. In addition, the system
- features MacLink Plus/Translators Pro, which enables users to exchange
- information easily with MS-DOS and Windows files.
-
- The Macintosh Performa 560 Money Edition computer features powerful
- Macintosh multimedia hardware, including a Sony Trinitron color monitor,
- 160-megabyte hard disk, an internal double-speed CD-ROM drive, built-in
- stereo speakers, digital sound and microphone, and a send/receive fax
- modem.
-
- Sold directly through Apple and at selected Circuit City stores in the
- United States, the computer retails for $2,199.
-
-
- ___________________________________________________________
-
-
-
- > STACKER & PCTOOLS STR Feature
- """""""""""""""""""""""""""""
-
-
-
- STACKER AND PC TOOLS
- ====================
-
- RAMBOOST "CAN'T FIND PROFILE" FILE UNDER STACKER 3.1
-
- SITUATION:
- ----------
- Install Stacker 3.1. Reboot and RAMBoost may display the message "Error:
- Can't find profile D:\RAMBOOST\DATA\RAMBOOST.INI." However, RAMBOOST.INI
- does exist in the \RAMBOOST\DATA directory on the uncompressed drive D:.
-
- CAUSE:
- ------
- This message may occur if DEVICE=C:\STACKER\STACHIGH.SYS is loaded after
- DEVICE=D:\RAMBOOST\RAMBOOST.EXE LOAD in the CONFIG.SYS, and when
- RAMBOOST.EXE and RAMBOOST.INI are on the uncompressed drive.
-
- SOLUTION:
- ---------
- Option 1: Edit the CONFIG.SYS file, move the STACHIGH.SYS device driver
- prior to RAMBoost, and reboot. This method will not allow
- RAMBoost to load the STACHIGH.SYS driver into upper memory.
-
- Option 2:
- 1. Move the RAMBOOST.EXE file to the \PCTOOLS directory on the
- compressed drive
-
- 2. Move the RAMBOOST.INI file to the \PCTOOLS\DATA directory on the
- compressed drive.
-
- 3. Edit the CONFIG.SYS file and change the path to RAMBOOST.EXE to
- reflect the new directory. For example:
-
- DEVICE=C:\PCTOOLS\RAMBOOST.EXE LOAD.
-
- However, do not change the loading order of RAMBoost and STACHIGH.SYS.
-
- 4. Reboot. This will allow RAMBoost to load the STACHIGH.SYS driver
- into upper memory.
-
- NOTES:
- ------
- Prior to Stacker 3.1, RAMBoost had to be installed on the uncompressed
- drive. With Stacker 3.1, this is no longer necessary.
-
-
- PC TOOLS CANNOT FIND SYSTEM FILES UNDER STACKER 3.1
-
- SITUATION:
- ----------
- Install Stacker 3.1. Run PC Format, and select "Install System Files."
- PC Format formats the floppy, but will report "unable to locate system
- files."
-
- Run EDisk, and EDisk will report "Could not find system files." Under
- Stacker 3.0, both PC Format and EDisk could find the system files.
-
- CAUSE:
- ------
- The method PC Format, and EDisk use to determine where the system files
- are, no longer works under Stacker 3.1, due to changes in how Stacker 3.1
- handles drive swapping.
-
- SOLUTION:
- ---------
- Option 1: Update to PC Tools Pro V9 which solves these
- incompatibilities.
-
-
- Option 2: To create bootable floppy disks, use DOS Format with the /S
- parameter.
-
- To create an Emergency Disk:
-
- 1. Format a bootable floppy disk using DOS Format with the /S
- parameter.
-
- 2. Run EDisk, and select Configure Disk.
-
- 3. Deselect "Format disk first," and deselect DBLSPACE.BIN from the
- list of files for EDisk to transfer.
-
- 4. Select Create Disk to make the Emergency Disk, and when EDisk
- prompts for a disk, insert the bootable floppy created with DOS
- FORMAT /S.
-
- NOTES:
- ------
- PC Tools Install normally renames DOS FORMAT.EXE to FORMAT!.EXE, so it
- may be necessary to type FORMAT! to run DOS Format.
-
- Deselecting DBLSPACE.BIN from the list of files for EDisk to transfer is
- necessary. DOS Format with the /S parameter will place the Stacker 3.1
- DBLSPACE.BIN file on the floppy. This file is Hidden, System and
- Read-Only.
-
- EDisk will default to copying the DOS DBLSPACE.BIN file, which is
- slightly different than the Stacker DBLSPACE.BIN file, to the floppy.
- Because the file on the floppy is HSR, EDisk will display the message
- "I/O Error. Permission denied error during open for output operation in
- DBLSPACE.BIN" when it attempts to overwrite the file.
-
-
- NUMBER OF BUFFERS TO USE WITH CP BACKUP AND STACKER
-
- QUESTION:
- ---------
- Is a special configuration required for Central Point Backup when running
- a disk compression program such as Stacker or SuperStor?
-
- ANSWER:
- -------
- No special configuration is required when running a disk compression
- program, such as Stacker or SuperStor. However, when running a disk
- compression program, CP Backup may require more buffers when
- troubleshooting a problem such as file miscompares or errors reading
- files from the hard drive. The additional buffers will help with the
- on-the-fly decompression of files. Start by editing the CONFIG.SYS file
- and set BUFFERS=50. It may be necessary to increase buffers to 60, 70 or
- even 90 if problems continue.
-
- In some cases, a disk cache like PC-Cache or SMARTDrive can be used in
- place of increasing buffers. Even when using a disk cache, buffers
- should be set to at least 30.
-
- PC TOOLS V7 AND STACKER VERSIONS 1 THROUGH 2
-
- GENERAL CONCEPT:
- ----------------
- Stacker takes a portion of a partition, compresses that portion, and
- creates a new, software-driven partition that can hold twice as much data
- as the original partition. The new partition, called the Stacker volume
- or Stacker drive, compresses all data stored to it and decompresses all
- data called from it.
-
- The Stacker volume is actually a large file stored on the original, non-
- compressed drive, called the Host drive. Stacker files will always be
- stored in the root directory of the Host drive, and unlike SuperStore,
- there can only be one compressed file per partition. The file name of
- the Stacker volume will vary depending on the version of Stacker and the
- method used to create the Stacker volume.
-
- METHOD OF CREATION NAME OF STACKER FILE
-
- Stacker V1.1 or upgraded STACVOL.000 for first drive
- to V2.0 from V1.1 STACVOL.001 for second
- drive etc.
-
- Stacker V2.0 and used the install STACVOL.DSK for all drives
- program to create Stacker volumes
-
- Stacker V2.0 and used Stacker STACVOL.000 for all drives
- commands to create Stacker volumes
-
-
- EXAMPLES OF STACKER DRIVES:
- ---------------------------
- If a system has an 80m hard drive, +-----------------+
- partitioned as one drive C:, | C: |
- DOS will see this drive as: | |
- | |
- | |
- | |
- | 80 Meg |
- | |
- | |
- | |
- | |
- | |
- +-----------------+
-
-
- The user installs Stacker and instructs the program to compress as much
- hard drive space as possible. Stacker requires that one or two meg
- remain uncompressed. After the Stacker volume is created, DOS now sees
- the drive as:
- +-----------------+ +-----------------+
- | C: | | D: |
- | | | |
- | 2 Meg | | |
- | | | |
- +-----------------+ | |
- | 160 Meg |
- | |
- | |
- | |
- | |
- | |
- +-----------------+
-
- Assuming 50% compression, twice as much hard drive capacity is available,
- but all data has been moved to D:, a drive that was not present prior to
- running Stacker. Setup files, environment settings, batch files, etc.
- still point to the C: drive, which means the system is not going to run
- correctly.
-
- That leads to what causes the most confusion on Stacker drives:
-
- DRIVE SWAPPING:
- ---------------
- By installing the SSWAP.COM command in the CONFIG.SYS, Stacker can place
- the drives back to the way they were before the compression. Stacker
- V2.0 does this automatically with the Install program. This is how DOS
- will see the drives when SSWAP is used:
-
- +-----------------+ +-----------------+
- | C: | | D: |
- | | | |
- | | | 2 Meg |
- | | | |
- | | +-----------------+
- | 160 Meg |
- | |
- | |
- | |
- | |
- | |
- +-----------------+
-
- Everything is back to the way it was - almost. Stacker must make DOS
- aware of the swapping during the boot process. Unfortunately, the only
- way to do this is to create another CONFIG.SYS and another AUTOEXEC.BAT
- for the second drive. The files are normally identical. In this example,
- the actual AUTOEXEC.BAT is on drive C: and the actual CONFIG.SYS is on
- drive D:, even though both C: and D: each have an AUTOEXEC.BAT and
- CONFIG.SYS.
-
- If the /SYNC option is used on the end of the SSWAP line in the
- CONFIG.SYS, Stacker will automatically ask if both files should be
- updated next time a reboot occurs.
-
- SWAPMAP:
- --------
- Users are frequently confused as to which drives are swapped and which
- are not.
-
- The Stacker SWAPMAP command will display exactly which drives are swapped
- and the drive letter that each drive has after swapping. Following is
- the SWAPMAP display from the preceding illustration:
-
- Drive A: was drive A: at boot time
- Drive B: was drive B: at boot time
- Drive C: was drive D: at boot time [D:\STACVOL.DSK = 80 MB (physical)]
- Drive D: was drive C: at boot time
-
- This will tell the user that drives C: and D: are swapped. After
- swapping, drive C: is the STACVOL file.
-
- THE CONFIG.SYS
- The following lines will be in the CONFIG.SYS on Stacker systems:
-
- DEVICE=C:\STACKER\STACKER.COM C:\STACKER.DSK
- DEVICE=C:\STACKER\SSWAP.COM C: D:
-
- The first line loads the Stacker drive into memory. If there are two
- Stacker volumes, the line would look like the following:
-
- DEVICE=C:\STACKER\STACKER.COM C:\STACVOL.DSK D:\STACVOL.DSK
-
- The STACKER.COM device driver requires about 34k to 40k of memory,
- smaller if the system has a Stacker hardware coprocessor, and can be
- loaded high. SSWAP is NOT a TSR, and may be executed from the DOS
- command line.
-
- STACKER DANGERS:
- ----------------
- Even though Stacker will double the hard drive space, there is a price to
- pay. Stacker will slow down faster systems, like 386 and 486 machines.
- It may, however, speed up slow XT machines if a coprocessor is installed.
- It will primarily slow down applications that open many files, such as
- Windows, network applications, scan functions in CPAV and CP Backup, etc.
- It is important to remember that the Stacker volume is just one big file.
- That means that if any part of that big file is damaged in any way, the
- entire contents of the drive may be damaged. One corrupt file, one bad
- sector, one cross-linked file or one error in the FAT can potentially
- destroy the entire Stacker volume and thereby lose all of the data
- (files) in the volume. Although some of these problems can be repaired,
- others can not. It is very important that Stacker users have current
- backups.
-
- DETERMINE FREE SPACE ON A STACKER VOLUME:
- -----------------------------------------
- The amount of free space on a Stacker system causes a lot of confusion.
- PC Shell, CP Backup, and the DOS DIR and CHKDSK commands will all report
- different numbers for the amount of free space on a Stacker drive. To
- get the most accurate report of free space, run Stacker's SCHECK program,
- which is Stacker's version of CHKDSK. Following is an example:
-
- Stacker Drive Statistics
- ------------------------
- Stacker Drive STACVOL File
- Drive D: C:\STACVOL.000
- --------------------------------------------
- Total Bytes: 139,804,670 69,907,456
- Bytes Used: 102,277,120 (73%) 53,654,528 (76%)
- Bytes Free: 37,527,522 (26%)* 16,252,928 (23%)***
-
- Stacker Drive Compression Ratio = 1.9:1
- Projected Bytes Free = 30,252,184**
-
- * The amount of free space on the drive with full 2:1 compression. This
- compression ratio is not always the case, so this number may be a little
- high. This is the number that Stacker passes to DOS. PC Shell and
- CHKDSK will report this number.
-
- ** The amount of free space on the drive with the current compression
- ratio, which is 1.9:1 in the example. Again, this number is subject to
- change, but it is more accurate than the number that PC Shell or CHKDSK
- will report. This is the number reported by the DOS DIR command.
-
- *** The amount of free space on the drive with no compression. This is
- the actual disk space available without Stacker. If, for example, a user
- reports that there isn't any free space on the drive after copying a
- number of ZIP files (which hardly compress at all), but PC Shell reports
- that there is 10m free, run SCHECK and look at this number. This is the
- actual, non-stacked, amount of space free.
-
- STACKER ERRORS:
- ---------------
- There are two primary errors and both are usually caused when the system
- locks or by rebooting within a large program like Windows or CP Backup.
-
- "Write Protect Error" or "Volume is Write Protected" is usually a minor
- error. To correct, perform the following:
-
- 1. From the root of the non-stacked drive, remove the Read-only
-
- attribute from the Stacker file by typing SATTRIB -R STACVOL.DSK.
-
- 2. Go to the Stacked drive and type SCHECK /F. It will report most
- errors, but may not fix all of them.
-
- 3. Run CHKDSK /F on the stacked drive.
-
- 4. Reboot. The Stacker drive will be accessible once more.
-
- "Read Fault" errors are very serious. The good news is that they are
- almost always localized to one or two directories, and do not effect the
- entire drive like a write protect error. In these situations it is best
- to refer the caller to Stacker tech support.
-
- STACKER AND CENTRAL POINT PRODUCTS:
- -----------------------------------
- ANTI-VIRUS
- ----------
- Bootsafe will always report "Partition / Boot Sector was Modified".
- Simply place the drive letter of the non-stacked drive at the end
- of the Bootsafe line in the AUTOEXEC.BAT.
-
- Do not immunize the Stacker volume or the Stacker files located in
- the STACKER directory. CPAV 1.2 has STACKER.COM and SSWAP.COM in
- the Immunization Exceptions List.
-
- Installing CPAV on a V1.0 or V1.1 Stacker system will cause all of
- the lines added to the AUTOEXEC.BAT, such as SET CPAV=, Bootsafe
- and VSafe, to be added to the wrong AUTOEXEC.BAT file. This
- normally will cause no problem, but if the lines are to be removed
- or changed, make sure both AUTOEXEC.BAT files are checked. With
- Stacker V2.0 this doesn't matter, since both of the AUTOEXEC.BAT
- files are the same.
-
- COMPRESS
- --------
- Compress will display a message as soon as you call up the program,
- reporting "A Stacker volume has been detected", and gives a warning
- message asking the user if they are sure they want to continue.
-
- Even though this message displays, we have not received any reports
- of data loss from our users or from STAC. Compress is a DOS level
- application, and since Stacker is a device level driver, there
- should be no problems. It is important to remember, however, that
- the Stacker volume is just a file, albeit a very large one. If a
- Stacker user suspects files are fragmented, Stacker has an optimize
- program called SDEFRAG.
-
- CP BACKUP
- ---------
- IMPORTANT: It is generally not necessary to back up the STACKVOL
- file; exclude it from the backup. If a user has already backed it
- up and is trying to restore it, simply overwrite the existing
- STACVOL file.
-
- The data in a Stacker volume will be backed up normally. You can
- even restore a backup done on a Stacker system to a system that
- does not have Stacker.
-
- Stacker allocates by sectors; DOS allocates by clusters. CP Backup
- is not fooled by the fact that DOS allocates a minimum of 2k per
- file; it takes the actual size of the file into account. Therefore
- CP Backup will report a great deal less than Stacker does. For
- example, SCHECK reports 104m, but CP Backup only reports 82m. This
- is because CP Backup is reporting the actual space used, not the
- allocated space reported by Stacker and DOS. CP Backup will still
- backup the entire drive.
-
- Backing up is usually slower with Stacker. This is because CP
- Backup calls for a file, Stacker decompresses the file, CP Backup
- compresses the file and writes it to floppy or tape, and Stacker
- compresses the file.
-
- For troubleshooting, Stacker usually requires more buffers than
- normal; 40 or more. These buffers are used for on-the-fly
- compression.
-
- DIRECTORY MAINTENANCE
- ---------------------
- With Stacker V1.0 or V1.1, it is not a good idea to delete a large
- directory (10m or more) on a Stacker drive. It may damage the
- volume. This should not be a problem with Stacker V2.0.
-
- DISKFIX
- -------
- The DiskFix Repair a Disk function in PC Tools V7.1 provides
- Stacker support and will cause no problems if run on Stacked or
- Host drives.
-
- There is no need to run Surface Scan on a Stacked drive. Simply
- run it on the Host drive and it will cover both. Remember that the
- Stacked drive is just a file.
-
- DO NOT run a BIOS Surface Scan on a Stacker volume. As noted
- previously, this will make BIOS calls which are potentially
- dangerous to Stacker.
-
- FILE FIX
- --------
- File Fix cannot fix a file on a stacked drive. With PC Tools V7
- and V7.1, 9/21/91 file dates will return the error "A serious disk
- error has occurred. Run Diskfix". With 10/18/91 file dates, the
- error message will be "Copy to a non-compressed drive before
- continuing".
-
- Move the file to be fixed to an uncompressed drive and run File Fix
- again. Make sure that there is sufficient disk space available on
- the drive where the file will be fixed; double the space of the
- damaged file is required.
-
- PC-CACHE
- --------
- The status window for PC-Cache does not show Stacked drives, only
- actual partitions. Since Stacker is just a file, it IS cached, it
- just does not appear in the status window.
-
- PC FORMAT
- ---------
- Stacker (and other compression software) users will get "Cannot
- Find System Files" error message when trying to format a bootable
- floppy. PC Format will ask the user to place a system disk in
- drive A:. Once this is done, the system files will be transferred
- to the floppy.
-
- PC SHELL
- --------
- RENAMING THE VOLUME LABEL OF A STACKER DRIVE WITH PC SHELL WILL
- DESTROY THE ENTIRE VOLUME. This has been re-created in-house. The
- DOS VOL command may be used. Remember that any BIOS call like
- this, that bypasses DOS, is dangerous to the Stacker file and is
- not recommended.
-
- Remember that the amount of free disk space reported by PC Shell
- will usually be high. Refer to the example in the Determine Free
- Space section of this document.
-
- With only a few exceptions, PC Shell and its' applications, Desktop
- and Commute should have no problems with Stacker volumes.
-
- UNDELETE
- --------
- All three delete protection methods, DOS, TRACKER & SENTRY, have
- been tested in-house. All run without problems with 100% success
- rate.
-
- We have recently received reports regarding Sentry. During the
- initial Stacker installation, Stacker does not compress hidden
- files.
-
- If a user has a large, 10m for example, Sentry directory (all of
- which is hidden), on an 80m drive, and instructs Stacker to
- compress 78m, Stacker will ignore the 10m Sentry directory and will
- actually compress 68m. Once the user reboots and loads the Stacker
- driver, the system will lock and the Stacker volume will not be
- accessible.
-
- NOTE: This is a serious problem.
-
- Advise users who experience this problem should report it to STAC
-
- electronics as they are working on a solution to this problem.
-
- NOTES:
- ------
- PC Tools Pro V9 is generally compatible with all versions of Stacker
- through Stacker Version 3.1. PC Tools Pro V9 DiskFix and Optimzer also
- support fixing, and optimizing, a Stacker compressed volume.
-
- CANNOT FORMAT FLOPPY DISKS WITH STACKER 3.0 INSTALLED
-
- SITUATION:
- ----------
- With Stacker 3.0 installed, PC Format may display the message "Format
- Failure" when trying to format a floppy disk.
-
- CAUSE:
- ------
- Stacker 3.0 remaps floppy drives via the Stacker driver to allow floppy
- disks to be mounted and stacked.
-
- SOLUTION:
- ---------
- Option 1: Run PCFORM.EXE with the undocumented command-line parameter
- /K:8.
-
- For example:
-
- PCFORM A: /S /K:8
-
- /K:8 disables PCFORM routines that normally check for Stacker partitions.
-
- Option 2: Remove the A:, B:, or the @ from the end of the STACKER.COM
- line in the CONFIG.SYS file and reboot.
-
- PC FORMAT CANNOT FIND SYSTEM FILES ON A COMPRESSED VOLUME
-
- SITUATION:
- ----------
- PC Format may display the message "We were unable to the locate system
- files. Please insert a system diskette in drive A:" when using the
- option to Install System Files.
-
- CAUSE:
- This may occur on a computer running Stacker disk compression software.
-
- SOLUTION:
- ---------
- Option 1: Run the DOS Format program with the /S parameter to create a
- bootable disk. For example:
-
- FORMAT! A: /S
-
- Option 2: Run PC Format from a batch file that contains the following
- steps. Refer to the Stacker documentation for the proper
- commands and syntax.
-
- a. Unswap the drives with the Stacker utility SSWAP. For
- example;
-
- SSWAP D: C:
-
- b. PC Format command for the target floppy drive;
-
- c. Reswap the drives; reverse the order of the drives used in
- step a; for example;
-
- SSWAP C: D:
-
- NOTES:
- ------
- This problem may also occur with other disk compression programs, such as
- SuperStor.
-
-
- BOOTSAFE MAY REPORT BOOT SECTOR CHANGE ON COMPRESSED VOLUME
-
- SITUATION:
- ----------
- Run Bootsafe on a drive, which has been compressed with a program such as
- Stacker or SuperStor, and Bootsafe will display the message "The Boot
- Sector and/or the partition table has been modified." This may occur
- each time the computer is rebooted, even if "Update" was previously
- selected.
-
- CAUSE:
- ------
- The compression software rewrites the boot sector of the compressed
- volume each time the computer boots, usually because of drive swapping
- performed by the compression software. When the boot sector of the
- compressed volume changes, Bootsafe detects the difference and will
- display the warning message.
-
- SOLUTION:
- ---------
- 1. When the message is displayed, select "Continue" or "Update." Do
- not select "Rebuild" as this could cause loss of data.
-
- 2. Edit the AUTOEXEC.BAT file, and specify the uncompressed volume's
- drive letter on the Bootsafe line. For example, if drive C: is the
- compressed volume, drive D: is probably the uncompressed volume.
- In this example, the correct syntax for Bootsafe would be:
-
- BOOTSAFE D:
-
- NOTES:
- ------
- Running VSafe and VWatch will detect known boot sector viruses. Bootsafe
- will detect unknown viruses that may change the boot sector.
-
-
- INSTALL MAY FAIL TO TRANSFER SYSTEM FILES TO THE RECOVERY DISK
-
- SITUATION:
- ----------
- Run Install and select to create a Recovery Disk, select the format
- button, and the message "We were unable to locate system files. Please
- insert a system diskette into drive A:" may display.
-
- CAUSE:
- ------
- This may occur on a computer running disk compression software, such as
- Stacker or SuperStor, under MS-DOS or DR-DOS
-
- SOLUTION:
- ---------
- Option 1: During the Install process, specify the boot drive as the
- drive where the AUTOEXEC.BAT file is located. If running
- Stacker, SuperStor or other disk compression software, and the
- drives have been swapped, the AUTOEXEC.BAT file may not be
- located on drive C:.
-
- Option 2: Run INSTALL /RD while logged onto the boot drive. For
- example, if the install disks are in drive A:, log onto the
- boot drive, and at the DOS prompt, type:
-
- A:\INSTALL /RD<Enter>
-
- Option 3: Run the DOS Format program with the /S parameter to format a
- system disk for use as the Recovery Disk rather than selecting
- to format the disk through Install.
-
- ___________________________________________________
-
-
-
- > DASHBOARD 2.0 STR InfoFile
- """"""""""""""""""""""""""
-
-
- NEW VERSION OF DASHBOARD FROM HP HAS
- MORE THAN 25 NEW FEATURES AND ENHANCEMENTS
-
- Dashboard Speeds Past Competitors
- as Sales Exceed 300,000 Units
-
-
- Hewlett-Packard Company is shipping Release 2.0 of Dashboard for
- Windows, a major upgrade to its award-winning, push-button utility panel
- for Windows. Release 2.0 of Dashboard adds the features most requested
- by its growing base of users, including snap-off toolbars and a DOS
- Command
- Line.
-
- "Users have driven Dashboard sales far beyond our expectations," said
- Harry W. (Webb) McKinney, general manager of HP's PC Software Division.
- "Release 2.0 gives them the features they asked for without asking them
- to give up a product design they're already comfortable with."
-
-
- Release 2.0 of Dashboard adds 25 new features and enhancements that
- help users work faster than ever before in Windows, including:
-
- o vertical or horizontal orientation enables users to
- put Dashboard within easy reach in the position they
- like it best;
-
- o hotkeys and hot mouse-clicks give users new options
- for toggling, launching and more;
-
- o snap-off toolbars let users personalize Dashboard and
- put quick-launch buttons, the printer panel or the
- program menu exactly where they want them;
-
- o Dashboard Run Window allows users to use DOS commands
- and drag-and-drop to launch DOS and Windows
- applications and files without ever leaving Windows;
-
- o the Resource Gauge's new Drive Watch monitors network
- drives, removable drives and CD-ROM drives;
-
- o sizing options, custom colors, custom fonts, custom
- screen backgrounds, launch mini-buttons and new
- gauges let users customize Dashboard to suit their
- needs.
-
-
- User Feedback Positive
-
- "Whether you're a power user or you're new to Windows, Dashboard puts
- you in the driver's seat," said Howard Kelley, a Dashboard 2.0 beta user,
- and president and chief executive officer of Sally Corp., a maker of
- entertainment robots. "New users love the instant access to
- applications. More experienced users -- especially in networks -- love
- the gauges and the customizing features. Release 2.0 of Dashboard builds
- on a great concept with lots of new power, yet HP has kept its promise to
- keep Dashboard simple."
-
- "Dashboard is ideal for the corporate environment," said Harris Z.
- Tilevitz, director of information systems for New York-based Skadden,
- Arps, Meagher & Flom, a leading U.S. law firm. "Dashboard makes it
- easier to work within Windows and allows better training and support for
- large corporate user groups. The new release is even more customizable,
- with features like snap-off toolbars and the vertical orientation."
-
- According to HP, Dashboard 1.0 has sold more than 300,000 units and
- holds a strong market position among Windows application launchers.
-
- Dashboard is available in English and German. It received PC
- Magazine's Best of 1992 honors in the January 1993 issue, the Best of
- 1992 in the January issue of Home Office Computing and Windows User
- Magazine's Editorial Best Award for 1992.
-
- Upgrade Prices and Availability
-
- Dashboard is $99.00 (U.S.). Users of Dashboard 1.0 can upgrade
- directly from HP for $29.00 or purchase Dashboard 2.0 through retail
- stores and receive a $15 upgrade rebate from HP.
-
-
- Dashboard 2.0 requires 1.5 MB of free disk space and Windows 3.1.
- Sales inquiries should be directed to Hewlett-Packard Company, PC
- Software Division, 974 East Arques Avenue, Sunnyvale, CA 94086. The
- phone number is 1-800-554-1305.
-
- Hewlett-Packard Company is an international manufacturer of
- measurement and computation products and systems recognized for
- excellence in quality and support. The company's products and services
- are used in industry, business, engineering, science, medicine and
- education in approximately 110 countries. HP has 93,800 employees and
- had revenue of $16.4 billion in its 1992 fiscal year.
-
-
- _______________________________________________________
-
-
-
- > CALLING CIS STR Feature
- """""""""""""""""""""""
-
-
-
- Compuserve - getting there from India
- =====================================
-
-
- ctsy CIS
-
- by Atul Chitnis
-
- I got a call this morning. All the way from Bombay. Wow ! The
- gentleman at the other end had a very interesting query - what's
- Compuserve's Bombay phone number ?
-
- Oh oh.
-
- Many moons ago, I wrote a full article on Compuserve. I never had
- so many responses to anything I wrote in my life before! Not even after
- that unfortunate incident I had with a cheque I once issued without
- checking my bank balance....
-
- But the phonecall gave me reason to think - Compuserve seems to be
- indelibly on the Indian businessman's mind. Am I to blame for that ?
- Yes? What a nice feeling!
-
- Anyway, I went back and dug up that issue of PCQ (the one I had to
- steal from Dayanand at PCQ Bangalore because I couldn't get a copy on
- the newsstands), and re-read what I wrote in those days.
-
- Woefully inadequate. Surprising that you dear people still read my
- column. OK, let me make amends - here's the inside dope on how to get to
- Compuserve.
-
- Modemer's Paradise
- ------------------
- Everytime I log into Compuserve, I have this warm feeling washing
- over me. It's like coming home. The sight of the "You have Electronic
- Mail waiting" notice is like seeing my dog sitting on the doorstep
- wagging its tail seeing me approach. And, on entering the the various
- forums I frequent, being greeted by "11 messages waiting for you" feels
- like my daughter running down the garden path, arms outstretched, yelling
- "Papa!".
-
- Not for nothing does the world speak of Compuserve as "the biggest
- communication service in the universe (unless proven otherwise)". With
- almost a million people frequenting the place, it is the world's biggest
- meeting place. And it is just a phone call away.
-
- It is surprising how easy it is to meet people on Compuserve. An
- innocent query in a forum, and you get responses from all over the world,
- from people who want to help you, who want to know you, who want to
- interact with you...
-
- I have made it a habit of signing my name as "Atul Chitnis [India]"
- in forums. That country tag alongside my name is almost certain to get
- me responses - simply because people can't believe that I am calling from
- India (where people supposedly still live in caves and use smoke signals
- to communicate).
-
- And it also helps in business - especially since India's markets are
- opening up, and there are plenty of people out there who want to do
- business with our motherland, but were scared because of the lack of
- communication facilities. The very fact that I am able to communicate
- via Compuserve gives them hope.
-
- Yes, Compuserve is a modemer's paradise. Let me get you there.
-
- Getting to Compuserve
- ---------------------
- There are three steps you must take to get to Compuserve.
-
- 1. You HAVE to have a modem, a phone line and a PC of sorts.
- 2. You have to have a line of communication to Compuserve.
- 3. You have to get a Compuserve account.
-
- Let's take them one at a time :
-
- Getting a modem, etc.
-
- You'll have to have a PC (or a Mac, or a...), you have to have a
- phone, and you HAVE to have a modem.
-
- The first two are usually already in place (else you wouldn't bother
- reading this article).
-
- The third part is important, because this is where most people goof.
-
- Buy a GOOD modem (not a cheap Taiwanese "deal"). The better the modem,
- the better the returns. Make sure it has error correction (MNP/V.42),
- and make sure it is fast. If you haven't bought a modem yet, but are
- about to do so, do NOT buy a 2400 bps modem. Those old clunkers are
- outmoded and will be history in a year or so. Buy a 14400 bps, V.32bis
- modem.
-
- Do NOT buy an internal modem - they are cheaper, but much more
- trouble. Make sure that your PC's serial port has a 16550AF UART chip -
- without it, you cannot communicate at high speeds.
-
- Do NOT buy/acquire/steal an imported modem - believe me, you'll be
- sorry (unless, of course, the modem is made by a VERY reputed
- manufacturer such as Hayes, Multitech, Motorola, US Robotics, Supra or
- AT&T - just remember that the Indian P&T may not allow you to use an
- imported modem). And don't judge the modem's quality by the fact that
- "it sends faxes just fine" - sending a fax is not a real test - it hardly
- strains the modem.
-
- Getting a line of communication to Compuserve
- ---------------------------------------------
-
- There are a number of ways to connect to Compuserve. Some are
- expensive, some are more expensive, some are ridiculously expensive.
-
- The cheapest way is retiring to the Himalayas and establishing
- contact via meditation. That's cheap, but has been know to fail, so
- don't bank on this option.
-
- A more reliable (but also more expensive) way is calling Compuserve
- directly with an ISD call to the USA. One of the 14400 bps numbers is
- 001-614-764-2917. Remember that the tariff is one pulse (local call) a
- second.
-
- Cheaper than a call to the USA is calling the Compuserve node at
- Hong Kong. Since HK is a SAARC country, the tariff is only one pulse
- every 1.2 seconds. The number is 00852-3041332. The number takes both
- 9600 and 2400 bps calls.
-
- Cheapest (relatively) is INET (provided you use it wisely). To get
- an INET account, contact your local Telecom office. It costs Rs.1820 for
- registration - what you need is a X.28 dialup account. INET will not
- give you an account unless you are using a modem cleared for use in India
- by the DoT - another reason for buying a reputed modem of Indian
- manufacture. INET is now available in 89 cities in India. INET usage
- charges are Rs.200/64kb of data, plus Rs.4 per minute.
-
- Once you have your INET account, connect to the local INET node
- using your PC and modem.
-
- When you get to the "*" prompt, type "Npppppp,uuuuu-03132", where
- "pppppp" is your INET account's password, and "uuuuuu" is your INET
- account number.
-
- In a few seconds, you'll see the word COM on your screen, and a few
- seconds later you'll be prompted for a host name - enter "CIS". Next you
- will be asked for your Compuserve User ID and password - enter them and
- you are on.
-
- But we are ahead of ourselves. Let's first of all get ourselves a
- Compuserve account.
-
- Getting a Compuserve account
-
- Actually it is very easy getting a Compuserve account - you can
- register online. But there is a fatal hitch - Compuserve will only let
- you register if you have a credit card (VISA/MasterCard/AmericanExpress)
- that is valid in the USA. This rules out your local credit card - the
- RBI rules forbid it, except for a few rare exceptions (such as when you
- are a registered, $$$ earning exporter).
-
- So how do you get around this?
- -----------------------------
- One way is to ask your contact abroad to open the account for you,
- based on his/her credit card, and give you the user id and password.
- You'll have to come to some arrangement to pay back the money. If your
- contact abroad has difficulties getting an account, ask him to call
- Compuserve's service centre (voice) at 1-800-848-8990. Or you can call
- them from India at 001-614-457-8650. The service centre will give you
- all the help you need.
-
- Another way is to ask someone abroad for the use of his/her credit
- card number (you'll also need the date of expiry and the bank on which it
- is drawn). This is dicey, and usually works only if your contact trusts
- you completely (son/daughter studying/working abroad, relative, VERY good
- friend, etc.) Then you can use that credit card number to register
- online.
-
- Connect to Compuserve using one of the ways mentioned above. When
- the connection to Compuserve is established,enter "177000,5000" as User
- ID and "PC*MAGNET" at the password prompt. When asked for the agreement
- number, enter "Z11D9200". (This may have changed, check a recent copy of
- PC Magazine). Enter the information that will be asked off you,
- (including the credit card number).
-
- Once you have registered, you'll be issued a user id, but not a
- password. The password will be sent to you by post after about 10 days,
- after Compuserve has verified the credit card information. Once you get
- your password, go online and change it immediately (GO PASSWORD).
-
- At the end of all this, you will have a valid Compuserve account.
- Congratulations. Sit back and have a Coke. Now don't call Compuserve.
- You ain't ready for it.
-
- Using Compuserve effectively
- ----------------------------
- Before you call Compuserve (after you get your own account), please
- sit down and think. Communication of any form can be expensive unless
- you do it right. Standard Compuserve rates are $12.80 per hour at 2400
- bps, $24 at 9600/14400 bps. If you use only e-mail and some selected
- services, then these rates can be $8.95/$16.00 per month, but it is easy
- to go outside these selected areas.
-
- Go out, and buy all the back issues of PCQ you can find that have
- 1993 in the masthead. Read my past articles. I have spent a good part
- of the year writing about effective communication methods, bone up on
- them. While you are at it, get a PCQ subscription so that you don't miss
- out on anything in the future.
-
- Get a copy of OzCIS 2.x (the world's best Compuserve automation
- program). OzCIS 2.x is shareware, but you can download it only from
- Compuserve (GO CIS:OZCIS) or get it from a friend. BBSs (including mine)
- CANNOT offer OzCIS 2.0 or later because the author, Steve Sneed, does not
- permit it. OzCIS saves me thousands of dollars a year, because it
- accepts all input from me before calling Compuserve, then goes online and
- rips through all requested actions and logs off, allowing me to peruse
- the results offline. You'll need a special script to use it with INET -
- you can pick it up from my BBS in the PCQ forum (filename OZINET2.ZIP).
-
- Getting help
- ------------
- Once online to Compuserve, the best place to ask questions about
- Compuserve is in the Practice forum (GO CIS:PRACTICE). This area is free
- of Compuserve charges (but you will still be paying for communication
- costs).
-
- Ask your questions, and you are sure to get answers. Just remember the
- following golden rules when posting a message :
-
- 1. Do not send a message that is ALL CAPITAL LETTERS. This is
- considered rude and may get you banned off the area.
-
- 2. Be brief and to the point. State your question in a couple of
- sentences - long messages are frowned upon.
-
- 3. Don't send unsolicited messages to anyone using e-mail. You usually
- will make friend with people in the forums, then can carry on your
- relationship with them using e-mail if they indicate that this is
- desirable.
-
- There are various other ways of getting help.
- ---------------------------------------------
- The best way to learn about Compuserve is to pick the brains of a
- friend who has a Compuserve account.
-
- There are also consultants who can help you (yup, guys like me), but
- since it is their profession, they'll charge you for it. Dependant on
- how good the guy is, a consultant can very quickly get you up to speed.
- Make sure that HE has a Compuserve account himself and verify this on
- Compuserve by checking the membership directory (GO CIS:DIRECTORY) for
- his name. I know a number of conmen who say that they have "extensive
- Compuserve experience" after having seen a distant acquaintance log in
- once, and who'll gladly take you for a ride at your expense. Beware of
- such parasites. And NEVER divulge your INET or Compuserve passwords to
- anyone, even your friends. Always type them in yourself when needed. A
- "shady" friend/consultant will show his true nature when he asks you for
- the password instead of asking you to type in the passwords yourself.
-
- As a Compuserve member, you will also receive a free subscription of
- the Compuserve Magazine, which is also an invaluable resource.
-
- There are some excellent books in the market - browse through your
- local computer bookstall, you are sure to find something.
-
- Become a member of a BBS near you. Many Compuserve members also
- frequent BBSs, and you could ask them.
-
- And finally, explore Compuserve online (carefully). Make sure that
- you have your capture/log file open, so that you can read everything that
- happened later when you are offline. Do not spend time online reading
- what appears on the screen.
-
- Logout
- ------
- I hope that this time round I have really given enough details on
- how to get to Compuserve. And I hope this article helps all those people
- abroad who wish to have their Indian counterparts contact them via
- Compuserve, but didn't know whether (and how) it could be done.
-
- See you on the other side.
-
- ----------
-
- Note : This article appeared in the PC Quest magazine in January,
- 1994 and has been uploaded here with permission of the magazine.
-
- ATUL CHITNIS is the Managing Director of A.R.B.Constellation, a
- Communications Consultancy firm in Bangalore, India and can be
- contacted via E-mail at 70620,563 on Compuserve,
- 70620.563@COMPUSERVE.COM via InterNet, via his BBS at +91-(80)-3341137
- (User ID SYSOP or log in as GUEST) or c/o PC Quest, New Delhi. He
- writes a regular column called COMversations for PC Quest.
-
- PC Quest is India's leading Computer magazine.
- A subscription costs $50/year.
- Write to:
-
- PC QUEST
- D-74, Panchsheel Enclave
- New Delhi 110 017, India
- Make subscriptions payable to: CYBER MEDIA (INDIA) LTD.
-
-
-
-
- """"""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""
-
- :HOW TO GET YOUR OWN GENIE ACCOUNT:
- _________________________________
-
- Set your communications software to Half Duplex (or Local Echo)
- Call: (with modem) 800-638-8369.
- Upon connection type HHH (RETURN after that).
- Wait for the U#= prompt.
-
- Type: XTX99587,CPUREPT then, hit RETURN.
-
- GEnie Information copyright (C) 1991 by General Electric
- Information Services/GEnie, reprinted by permission
-
-
- """"""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""
-
- ___ ___ _____ _______
- /___| /___| /_____| /_______/ The Macintosh RoundTable
- /____|/____| /__/|__| /__/ ________________________
- /_____|_____|/__/_|__|/__/
- /__/|____/|__|________|__/
- /__/ |___/ |__|_/ |__|_/____ Managed by SyndiComm
- /__/ |__/ |__|/ |__|______/
-
- An Official Forum of the International Computer Users Group
-
- *** STReport available in MAC RT ***
- ASCII TEXT
- for ALL GEnie users!
-
-
-
- MAC/APPLE SECTION (II)
- ======================
- Randy Noak, Editor
-
-
-
- I had written an opening editorial carping and complaining about the
- bitter cold that we've been experiencing here in the Midwest. Then the
- earthquake hit California, and the cold didn't seem like such a big deal
- after all. All of us at Mac Report wish for a speedy return to normalcy
- for our Los Angeles readers.
-
- Circle March 14 on your calendar. It looks like that will be the
- release date for Apple's PowerPC computers. From all reports, they are
- faster than greased lightning and priced to make even the most jaded
- DOS/Windows user ready to dig into his/her pocketbook. After March 14
- will also be the time to find great bargains on all those "obsolete" Mac
- Quadras gathering dust on the dealer's shelves.
-
- Who remembers Winky Dink? For those readers who don't, Winky Dink
- was the first Interactive TV show. Aired in the early 1950's, Winky Dink
- fans could, with the aid of a special "magic screen" that was stuck on
- the picture tube and "magic crayon" assist Winky Dink in his endeavors.
- When Winky Dink came to a chasm, no problem. Kids across America busied
- themselves drawing a bridge for Winky Dink to cross. Winky Dink needs a
- canoe to cross a river and evade the bad guys? No problem. Kids from
- California to Virginia were busy drawing the means of Winky Dink's
- escape. Kids _loved_ Winky Dink. Parents _hated_ Winky Dink. It seems
- that some children, in their haste to help their favorite cartoon hero,
- would "forget" to place the "magic screen" over the picture tube
- resulting in a Crayola-covered mess. Needless to say, Winky Dink didn't
- last too long. With all the talk lately about "Information Highways" and
- Interactive Television" it's nice to look back and realize that,
- baby-boomers had the opportunity to participate in some of the latest and
- future technologies earliest experiments.
-
- Enough of my reminiscing. On to the column. This week there's a
- review of Inline Software's Deliverance, a press release about Apple's
- new Performa, and the Mac Report Mail Bag. Remember, something big is
- coming!
-
-
-
- _______________________________________________________
-
-
-
-
- > DELIVERENCE STR Review
- """"""""""""""""""""""
-
-
- DELIVERANCE
- ===========
-
-
- From Inline Software
-
- by Jeff Coe
- Senior Associate Editor
-
-
- Sharpen up your battle axes folks, we ve got some serious monster
- bashin to do. Deliverance is a good old fashioned Hack-and-Slash game
- with a few unusual twists thrown in to keep it interesting. You control
- the barbarian warrior called Stormlord as he sets out on his quest to
- rescue some fairies from the castle of the evil Tnarom . Armed with an
- unlimited supply of throwing axes, Stormlord must search the many levels
- of the castle, free the fairies from their bondage, and guide them back
- home. To get home, he must pass through the Pits of Fire (stage 2), the
- Enchanted Forest (stage 3), and even fly on the back of a mechanized
- dragon in the Winged Warriors Filled Skies (stage 4). Each level is
- different enough in game play, graphics and type of bad-guys to make sure
- you don t get tired of the whole thing. In fact, the final stage on the
- flying dragon could even be a different game completely. The first three
- stages have our hero on foot, doing hand to hand combat with the evil
- ones. He either throws an axe at them, or hold the axe and hacks away
- when things get real close. The dragon riding section is more of a
- sideways scrolling shoot em up, so none of the experience you gained
- early on in the game will be of any use to you there.
-
- Since the majority of the game is played on foot, I ll tell you a
- bit more about it. Your perspective on the game is from the side. You
- control Stormlord as he walks left or right, jumps up, crouches down or
- uses his weapon. The same keyboard command for jumping will also make
- your man climb ladders. The standard key assignments have you using the
- arrow keys to control direction, and the spacebar to attack.
- Combinations of an arrow with the spacebar permit Stormlord to throw long
- or short, or to hold on to the axe and just swing it in an arc all around
- himself. Combinations of arrow key presses will make your fighter jump
- left or right. These keys can be reassigned if you have a layout you
- think might be better.
-
- Personally, I hate the arrow keys all in a row along the bottom of
- the Apple Keyboard II that I use. A separate cursor control pad is much
- more natural to me, so I set my left, right, up and down keys to be the
- 4, 6, 8 and 2 keys on the numeric keypad. The game also supports the
- MacFly , Gravis GamePad and MouseStick II controllers. Unfortunately,
- I don't have any of those so I can't comment on how they respond here,
- but this game just screams for a joystick! At any rate, back to the game
- play. In addition to hacking monsters into little pieces, you also gotta
- save the fairies, remember? Some of them are locked up in these fancy
- closet things on all the different floors of the first section. To open
- a closet, you center your fighter in front of it, press up, which in this
- case makes him turn to face it, and press up again which then actually
- opens it. If there was a fairy in there, she ll come flying out and buzz
- around a bit. Touch her to add her to your collection. It s possible
- that the closet could also contain something else. It might be a giant
- spider or a couple of bats, which you need to kill quickly before they
- drain too much of your health. Or, the closet might contain a key, which
- you ll need in order to pass through doors. Watch your reflexes when
- opening closets! It s all too easy to instinctively hit the spacebar
- after opening one in order to slice a bat, and then find out you just
- whacked a fairy. You can t save them if you kill them!
-
- Lets talk monsters. Each section of the game has unique creatures
- not found elsewhere. The main nasties in the first section look alot
- like the monsters from the movie ALIEN . These guys come after you
- usually one at a time, but occasionally in groups. They also spray a
- delightful green blood when you get a good hit in. This is also the
- section with the spiders and bats I mentioned before. The second
- section, the Pits of Fire, is where the neatest monsters are. They look
- kind of like devils, but they have the unique ability to fade into the
- walls and disappear. Occasionally you ll see one as a blur on the wall
- behind you as it moves about. They can only be killed when they re solid
- though, and they don't stay solid for very long. As in the first
- section, there are some flying nasties to contend with, as well as a lava
- monster that pops up through a hole in the floor to spit fire at you.
- Section three as flying and walking monsters too, but your battle ground
- is on platforms up in the trees. I'll leave the details up to you to
- discover on your own. Each level also has the traditional end of level
- Boss monster that must be defeated in order to progress onward. These
- range from giant fire-breathing dragons to mechanical hero smashers, to
- combination animal machine type creatures. Probably the coolest is a
- giant mechanized spider thing that throws exploding spheres at you. Very
- tough to kill, too!
-
- Each section of the game will give you a password when you beat it.
- All the information about your current game will be the same when you
- enter the next level, including the number of lives you have left, the
- number of fairies you have, and the amount of health you hero currently
- has. An interesting project for someone might be to try to decode the
- password system. With a bit of luck, you could then enter each level
- with all of your three lives and full strength, not to mention lots of
- fairies.
-
- Just a quick note on strength or health. You start with a bar
- across the bottom of the screen that gets longer or shorter depending on
- the number of hits you ve taken. Resting will allow your health to
- gradually increase up to full again. If it gets too short, you loose a
- life. You have three lives. Enough about that.
-
- More Technical Stuff...
-
- Deliverance can be played on any Macintosh with a color monitor.
- You need at least System 6.0.7 or higher, a hard disk, and 4MB or RAM.
- The game can be played in several different modes, depending on your
- hardware. You have the choice of playing in 16 or 256 color modes, and
- in a large full screen mode or a smaller window mode. The small mode
- gives you a total gaming area that takes up about 25% of your screen
- area. The graphics are very sharp this way, but I found it more
- difficult to play. The graphics at full screen are just a touch on the
- blocky side, but still very good. One sour note here though. If your
- Mac is on the slow side (like an LC II or a Performa 400 through 430) the
- large graphics in 256 color mode don t scroll very smoothly. In fact it
- could make you sea-sick to watch it. Fortunately, dropping down to 16
- color mode helps alot, and there is also an option they call FASTER
- that darkens the screen a touch, but seems to pick up the pace a bit too.
- Small screen graphics were great no matter what, and this mode also
- offers you the added bonus of being able to switch between applications
- if you re the type that enjoys doing more than one thing on your computer
- at a time. Sound in the game is pretty good, but nothing to get excited
- about. All things considered, Deliverance is a pretty good game. The
- graphics are good, the sound is fair, and the game play is good. On a 1
- to 10 scale I'd give it about an 8.
-
- Deliverance is published by:
-
- Inline Software
- 308 Main Street
- Lakeville, CT 06039-1204
- (203) 435-4995
-
- They can also be reached on-line:
-
- AppleLink: INLINE.TECH
- America Online: INLINE
- CompuServe: 75300,2014
- GEnie: INLINE
- MCI Mail: INLINE
-
- If you ve read this far and you decide to buy the game, I have a
- little cheat for you that can help make the early stages a little easier.
- If you make your character walk up to a wall, turn him around to face the
- other direction, and then press down and towards the wall, most of the
- time old Stormlord will crouch down, turn around and begin floating
- straight up the wall through floors and everything. You need to be very
- careful with this because if you go above the top of the playing field
- into unprogrammed areas you crash your Mac. There are some places where
- it doesn t work too, but it saved my butt a couple times. I owe this one
- to my son Chris, who figured it out just messing around.
-
- Now... go get those beasties!
-
- Jeff Coe is a 36 year old computer hobbyist with experience on a variety
- of platforms.
-
- ________________________________________
-
-
-
- > PERFORMA MONEY EDITION STR InfoFile
- """""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""
-
-
- Macintosh Performa 560 Money Magazine Edition
- =============================================
-
-
- Here's an interesting press release. It looks like Apple has realized
- that software sells computers. This is a package that answers the
- question, "What the heck do I need a computer for?" Hopefully, Apple will
- pursue this in future models.
-
- RELEASE MOVED OVER THE PR NEWSWIRE AT 8:31:AM EST, MONDAY, JANUARY 17,
- 1994
-
- Money and Apple Team Up to Offer Multimedia Personal-Finance Computer
- System
-
- January 17, 1994--Money magazine and Apple Computer, Inc. today
- introduced a multimedia personal computer system aimed at providing
- consumers with a complete solution for home and financial management.
- The Macintosh Performa 560 Money Magazine Edition offers a unique
- combination of power, performance and programs with 19 preloaded
- software packages worth more than $1,900 MSRP.
-
- The system features popular personal-finance and organizational
- programs such as WealthBuilder by Money magazine, Quicken, MacInTax,
- Willmaker and Personal Recordkeeper; the ClarisWorks integrated
- database, word-processing and spreadsheet package; the Datebook
- Pro/Touchbase Pro Bundle for calendar and address-book capabilities;
- and an introductory subscription to the America Online interactive
- information service.
-
- It also includes interactive educational programs such as the 21-
- volume New Grolier Multimedia Encyclopedia CD-ROM, the TIME Almanac
- CD-ROM and the American Heritage Dictionary as well as entertainment
- programs such as the World Tour Golf CD-ROM and Monopoly, and a
- special Money version of the After Dark screen saver. In addition,
- the system features MacLink Plus/Translators Pro, which enables users
- to exchange information easily with MS-DOS and Windows files.
-
- The Performa Money Edition was designed specifically for people who
- want to take advantage of the latest technology to manage their
- personal finances. It features powerful Macintosh multimedia
- hardware, including a Sony Trinitron color monitor, 160-megabyte hard
- disk, an internal double-speed CD-ROM drive, built-in stereo
- speakers, digital sound and microphone, and a send/receive fax modem.
-
- The Macintosh Performa 560 Money Edition will be sold directly
- through Apple via a 24-hour toll-free phone number, 800-351-6111, and
- carries an Apple price of $2,199. The system, available Jan. 15 in
- the U.S. only, will also be sold nationwide at selected Circuit City
- stores.
-
-
- ___________________________________________________________
-
-
-
-
- > STR Mail Call "...a place for the readers to be heard"
- """""""""""""
-
-
- STReport's MAC MailBag
- """"""""""""""""""""""
-
-
- Adobe's recent announcement of prices cuts on their popular Font
- packages was welcome news, but now Adobe has announced even further cuts
- for their Type On Call customers. Priced from $25 to $179, Adobe's high-
- quality fonts are now an even bigger bargain. Call 1-800-682-3623 for
- more info.
-
- The Cobb Group announces ThePage for Mac desktop publishers, Full of
- "Ideas, Tips & Hints.", ThePage is available for $59 per year. Write The
- Cobb Group at P.O. Box 35160, Louisville, KY 40232-9719.
-
- Whoa! An envelope with "FINAL NOTICE - Please Open Immediately" written
- on the front. Boy, this really frosts me. Of course it's a final notice
- for a software offer, but, in my opinion, sending a potential customer a
- letter that makes it appear that he/she is a deadbeat is not the way to
- get them to purchase your software. I won't give this company the
- benefit of a mention.
-
- C-WUG, the ClarisWorks User Group is offering a free upgrade to
- ClarisWorks 2.1 to new members. Join C-WUG and they will send you the
- upgrade when it is released by Claris. There are a lot of benefits
- available for C-WUG members including book discounts, access to C-WUG's
- extensive library of templates, graphics, and help files, MacAcademy
- videotape rentals, free telephone help and more. For a limited time the
- first year's membership is only $29. Call C-WUG at 1-313-454-1969.
-
-
- That's it for this week. I hope to make a special announcement in the
- next week or two, so keep your eyes open! As always, please feel free to
- send your comments or questions to me at:
-
-
- America OnLine: STReportRN
- Compuserve: 70323,1031
- GEnie: R.NOAK
-
-
- ____________________________________________________________
-
-
-
- > FOR A LAUGH OR TWO STR Feature
- """"""""""""""""""""""""""""""
-
-
-
-
- WHAT WOULD HAPPEN IF GOD
- HAD TO DO IT ALL OVER AGAIN?
-
-
-
-
- From the Jerry Pournelle RT on GEnie...
-
-
-
-
- AND GOD SAID:
-
- "IN THE BEGINNING, GOD CREATED HEAVEN AND EARTH." He was then faced with
- a Notice of Violation and a class action lawsuit for failing to file a
- Part A notification and an environmental impact statement with HEPA
- (Heavenly Environmental Protection Agency), an angelically staffed agency
- dedicated to keeping the Universe pollution free.
-
- God was granted a temporary permit for the heavenly portion of the
- project, but was issued a "cease and desist" order on the earthly
- portion, pending further review by the HEPA.
-
- Upon completion of His construction permit application and environmental
- impact statement, God appeared before the Heavenly Environmental
- Protection Commission to answer unresolved questions regarding His
- application.
-
- When asked why He began these projects in the first place, God simply
- replied that He liked to be "creative." This was not considered adequate
- reasoning; and God was required to substantiate this further.
-
- HEPA was unable to see any practical use for earth, since "THE EARTH WAS
- VOID AND EMPTY, AND DARKNESS WAS UPON THE FACE OF THE DEEP." And God
- said, "LET THERE BE LIGHT." He really should never have brought up this
- point, since one Commission member was very active in the Sierrangel Club
- and immediately protested, stating "How was light to be made? Would it be
- a nuclear-powered or coal-fired generating plant? Would there be strip
- mining? What about thermal pollution? Air pollution? Universal warming?"
- God explained that the light would come from a huge ball of fire. No one
- on the Commission really understood this, but it was provisionally
- accepted assuming (1) there would be no smog or smoke resulting from the
- ball of fire, (2) a separate burning permit would be required, and (3)
- since continuous light would be a waste of energy, it should be dark at
- least one-half of the time. And so God agreed to "DIVIDE THE LIGHT FROM
- THE DARKNESS, AND HE CALLED THE LIGHT 'DAY', AND THE DARKNESS 'NIGHT'."
- (The Commission expressed no interest with in-house semantics.)
-
- When asked how the earth would be covered, God said "LET THERE BE
- FIRMAMENT MADE AMIDST THE WATERS, AND LET IT DIVIDE THE WATERS FROM THE
- WATERS." One ecologically radical Commission member accused Him of
- double-talk, but the Commission tabled action since God would be required
- first to apply for a "firmament" permit from the ABLM (Angelic Bureau of
- Land Management), would be required to obtain water permits from the
- appropriate agencies involved, and further, insure that construction of
- any firmament would result in no net loss of wetlands.
-
- The Commission asked if there would be only water and firmament, and God
- said "LET THE EARTH BRING FORTH THE GREEN HERB, AND SUCH AS MAY SEED, AND
- THE FRUIT TREE YIELDING FRUIT AFTER ITS KIND, WHICH MAY HAVE SEEN ITSELF
- UPON THE EARTH." The Commission agreed to this, as long as only native
- seeds were to be used.
-
- About future developments, God also said "LET THE WATERS BRING FORTH THE
- CREEPING CREATURE HAVING LIFE, AND THE FOWL THAT MAY FLY OVER THE EARTH
- UNDER THE FIRMAMENT OF HEAVEN." Here again, the Commission took no formal
- action, since this would require approval of the Game and Fish
- Commission, coordinated with the Heavenly Wildlife Federation and the
- Audubongelic Society.
-
- It appeared that everything was in order until God said that He wanted to
- complete the project in six days. At this time He was advised by the
- Commission that His timing was completely out of the question. HEPA would
- require a minimum of six to nine months to review the permit application
- and environmental impact statement, and then there would have to be a
- 45-day public comment period followed by public hearings. After any and
- all public comments were considered, it could feasibly take 12 to 18
- months before a permit could be issued.
-
- And God said, "THE HELL WITH IT!"
-
-
-
- **********************************************************************
- IMPORTANT NOTICE!
- =================
-
- STReport International Online Magazine is available every week for
- your reading pleasure on DELPHI. STReport's readers are invited to join
- DELPHI and become a part of a friendly community of enthusiastic computer
- users there.
-
- SIGNING UP WITH DELPHI
- ======================
-
- Using a personal computer and modem, members worldwide access
- DELPHI services via a local phone call
-
- JOIN --DELPHI
- --------------
-
- Via modem, dial up DELPHI at 1-800-695-4002
- then...
- When connected, press RETURN once or twice
- and...
- At Password: type STREPORT and press RETURN.
-
- DELPHI's Basic Plan offers access for only $6.00 per hour, for any
- baud rate. The $5.95 monthly fee includes your first hour online. For
- more information, call: DELPHI Member Services at 1-800-544-4005 DELPHI
- is a service of General Videotex Corporation of Cambridge, MA.
-
- Try DELPHI for $1 an hour!
-
- For a limited time, you can become a trial member of DELPHI, and
- receive 5 hours of evening and weekend access during this month for only
- $5. If you're not satisfied, simply cancel your account before the end
- of the calendar month with no further obligation. If you keep your
- account active, you will automatically be enrolled in DELPHI's 10/4 Basic
- Plan, where you can use up to 4 weekend and evening hours a month for a
- minimum $10 monthly charge, with additional hours available at $3.96.
- But hurry, this special trial offer will expire soon! To take advantage
- of this limited offer, use your modem to dial 1-800-365-4636. Press
- <RET> once or twice. When you get the Password: prompt, type IP26 and
- press <RET> again. Then, just answer the questions and within a day or
- two, you'll officially be a member of DELPHI!
-
- DELPHI-It's getting better all the time!
-
- **********************************************************************
-
-
-
- ATARI/JAG SECTION (III)
- =======================
- Dana Jacobson, Editor
-
-
-
- > From the Atari Editor's Desk "Saying it like it is!"
- """"""""""""""""""""""""""""
-
-
- Well, I'm still alive (if you call this living!). I had a follow-
- up doctor's appointment late last Friday evening, including another
- x-ray. I got a chance to see the x-rays, and see the comparison
- between the two sets. I also learned that I'm suffering from _double_
- pneumonia. Apparently, the infection is in both lungs. It looks weird
- in an x-ray, but shows that it's clearing up. I don't feel any better
- physically, but I'll take the doc's word that I'm improving. He also
- told me to stay out of work another week, at least; and gave me an
- additional prescription to continue with the antibiotics I'm currently
- on. I've never been this sick for this length of time; I hope none of
- you ever experience this.
-
- I hope that all of our southern California friends made it through
- Monday morning's earthquake unscathed. I can't understand how you
- people do it, how you accept this as a common occurrence and rarely
- think twice about it. I mean, I live in the Northeast and hurricanes
- are a common weather phenomena here. But, hurricanes can be tracked
- and we have plenty of advance warning and plenty of time to prepare.
- With quakes, there's no real warning and no real preparation! Or, have
- we just all become numbed to these kinds of "natural" disasters? It's
- a scary thought, regardless...
-
- Last week I had wanted to make a few comments about the CES, but I
- just didn't have the energy to think. I'm planning better this week,
- and started my column _very_ early to prepare for the periods of no
- energy. Anyway, is Trip Hawkins really a bozo; or did he seriously
- underestimate the significance of Atari and the Jaguar? I couldn't
- believe some of the remarks this man made at CES!! Kudos to Ron Luks
- for raising Hawkins' consciousness with his poignant question! I also
- hope that someone mailed Hawkins a copy of the "rebuttal" that Atari's
- Don Thomas (unofficially) made last week, and was printed in STReport.
- Don did a great job of countering all of Trip's comments. I think it'll
- be awhile before Trip makes another speech at one of these events; at
- least before screening the audience!
-
- All I keep hearing these days is a plethora of praise for the
- Jaguar. The only negative messages that I've seen have been on CIS and
- posted by a self-proclaimed Nintendo employee. To-date, the games
- available have been getting rave reviews from the users. It's
- reminiscent of when the Atari 2600 first came out! I believe that the
- excitement is going to continue for quite some time.
-
- Still nothing on the computer side of things, however. There have
- been a few tidbits here and there, but no real indication as to what
- the future holds for Atari computers. Take, for example, some
- questions and answers from last week's Delphi online conference with
- Bob Brodie regarding the CES and other topics:
-
- (Editor's note: The following questions, answers, and comments
- were taken from an "unofficial" transcript of the CO. Formatting
- and spelling corrections were made to make reading easier. DPJ)
-
- Tony> Yes, tonight at the user meeting a question came up. Are the
- proceeds for the Jag going to be used to help out the computer
- end of the Atari line ??
-
- BOBBRO> Yes, that is our plan. Naturally, we cannot devote 100% of the
- resources generated by the Jaguar to the computer line. We
- must be sure to re-invest in the Jaguar as well. But we are
- very much still interested in the computer business.
-
- Gordie> In the meantime, can we take the last answer as a confirmation
- that TOS is not dead?
-
- BOBBRO> Yes
-
- Bry> I don't know too much about CES, but I would like to know if Atari
- plans to (with the current computer climate) put future Falcons
-
- into production, or will Atari continue its efforts with a
- next-generation machine?
-
- BOBBRO> No comment is the real answer to that. Sorry.
-
- (Editor's note: ...and later on in the conference...)
-
- BOBBRO> We are looking at the idea of making the Jaguar chipset on a
- card, or perhaps a whole new computer.
-
- On the one hand, it certainly sounds like Atari is still
- interested in staying in the computer business, but with no clear cut
- indication as to direction. But, when pressed for specific answers for
- future plans, the reply was 'no comment.' Somehow, I don't get that
- warm & fuzzy feeling when I see this. I realize that Atari is
- presently unwilling to make any commitments with regard to non-Jaguar
- issues; but that lack of commitment is what has me and many other Atari
- users concerned. Atari's focus these days is on the Jaguar. The
- Jaguar's CD player apparently is scheduled to go on sale sometime this
- summer. If Atari's energy is on the Jaguar, for how long? What will
- be the determining factor for Atari to say it's time to re-invest in a
- computer line? There are just too many intangibles here. Speculation
- can drive us all insane, but what else is there? What of the dealers
- and developers? I can just imagine what's going on in their minds
- these days!
-
- Where is Atari headed? A fair question, but I don't think even
- Atari is quite sure at this moment. They have an apparent winner and
- plan to let it ride. Atari has gone full-circle: from the 2600 game
- console to the Falcon 030 computer. That circle is starting over again
- with another game console, the Jaguar. Will the path bring any new
- variations this time around? It's impossible for anyone to say.
-
- I haven't forgotten Part 2 of our online support staff article.
- I've begun work on the Compuserve section, but it's far from complete
- at this moment. I apologize for the lack of continuity in this piece,
- but it just can't be helped.
-
- STReport's resident online fisherman has landed another big one
- this week. Check out John Duckworth's column as he describes CoNnect
- 2.44, a communications program that keeps getting better. And, our
- resident Compuserve columnist, Joe Mirando, has found the usual variety
- of interesting tidbits while perusing the various Atari Forums.
-
- So, let's see what's happening with these folks, and anything else
- of interest along the way!! Meanwhile, I'll get ready for another
- appointment with my doctor Friday and see if I'm anywhere close to
- being near "normal" again!! This has got to break sooner or later!
- Until next time.....
-
- Dana P. Jacobson
-
-
- From Delphi's Atari Advantage
- TOP TEN DOWNLOADS (1/19/94)
-
- (1) CD ROM INFO (6) TOAD'S SYSINFO
- (2) ST ZIP 2.4 (7) DIRECT-DRIVE
- (3) PREMIUM MAH JONGG (8) MYCLOCK V.1.07
- (4) LHARC VERSION 2.99 (9) PFXPAK V3.0
- (5) BRODIE CES CONFERENCE (10) ATARI MAIL ORDER DEALERS
-
-
- HONORARY TOP 10
-
- The following on-line magazines are always top downloads, frequently
- out-performing every other file in the databases.
-
- STREPORT (Current issue: STREPORT #10.03)
- ATARI EXPLORER ONLINE (Current issue: AEO - VOLUME 2, ISSUE 22)
- Look for the above files in the RECENT ARRIVALS database.
-
-
-
- _____________________________________________________
-
-
-
-
- > The Old Fishin' Hole STR Feature
- """"""""""""""""""""""""""""""""
-
-
- THE OLD FISHIN' HOLE
- ====================
-
-
- -A Guide to the Online PD/Shareware Waters.
-
- by John R. Duckworth
-
-
- As I watch the evening news I feel a great deal of sorrow as I
- watch the hundreds of people who have lost their homes, cars, and in
- some cases friends and relatives to the earthquake in California. I
- sincerely hope that our friends in California will be able to recover
- quickly and move on with their normal day to day lives. This week
- I'll be taking a look at a shareware terminal program from Germany
- which may just be the answer for those who are outgrowing their old,
- dated terminal packages. By having an easy to use, dependable
- communications program, we will be more able to stay in contact and
- ultimately help those who are faced with situations like those in the
- Los Angeles area.
-
- "CoNnect 2.44" by Lars & Wolfgang Wander is a wonderful GEM
- compliant shareware communications package from Germany. "CoNnect"
- works on any Atari TOS computer and even works fine with
- multi-tasking operating systems such as MultiTOS.
-
- Although many of the options and features in "CoNnect" may only
- be obvious with the manual (available by registering), I will try to
- cover those features that most users will look for (and need) in a
- terminal program. The first task after unpacking the file is to set
- up the program for your specific needs, which is fairly
- straightforward and intuitive. Most users will want to start with the
- options available within the terminal window itself such as emulation,
- file transfer settings, terminal window and buffer sizes, and the port
- to use for communication. Most of these settings are fine at their
- default settings, but it is nice to know that everything is virtually
- customizable...right down to the terminal window title and colors used
- for the window.
-
- Next phone numbers for bulletin boards and online services will
- need to be entered into the dialing directory. This is a simple as
- clicking on an empty slot and entering a name and phone number. I
- looked for an area to set emulation for each service, but was unable
- to find such an option perhaps it can be changed from a CoSHy script.
- BY this time you are probably asking..."What exactly is a CoSHy
- script?"...well, CoSHY (not sure what it stands for since the demo
- version I received didn't contain a detailed document file) is a
- scripting language which seems mighty powerful for a terminal program
- which isn't commercial. Some parts of the CoSHy language can be
- pieced together from the extensive (and humorous) online help system,
- but the easiest way to program a useful CoSHy script is by the learn
- option.
-
- By choosing the "Learn a script" option from the miscellaneous
- menu, "CoNnect" will basically intercept all keyboard events and
- write them to a script file. In this way automatic log-on scripts can
- be written painlessly and effortlessly. It took all of 10 seconds for
- me to create a script to automatically log-on to Delphi. No strange
- syntax needed to be learned...it was natural, as it should be. More
- complex scripts can apparently be written, but a manual may be
- helpful when attempting such a feat.
-
- Most users appreciate it when programmers include keyboard
- shortcuts for menu options. The "CoNnect" author take this concept a
- step further by letting the user choose which keys he wants for each
- selection in the program. Default settings may be chosen which will
- assign hotkeys automatically. Another useful option is the ability to
- track online charges (and automatically log calls) for online
- services. Probably the most unique feature of "CoNnect" is the
- ability to assign sounds and/or .mod files to certain system and
- program events. "Paula" is needed when using .mod files from within
- "CoNnect".
-
- "CoNnect" is a very professional and complete communications
- package. Some other features (which I wasn't able to test) were its
-
- fax and answering machine (voice mail) capabilities...I am a bit
- tempted to get a ZyXEL just to use the answering machine feature!
- "CoNnect" has just about everything needed in a telecommunications
- package (and probably more). If you feel you are outgrowing your
- terminal program which you are now using, then by all means take a
- look at "CoNnect". The only feature missing is background
- downloading, so I may just hang on to STalker for a while more.
-
- Until next week, hang in there...it can only get better! I always
- appreciate constructive e-mail, if you have any questions or
- comments: JDUCKWORTH@delphi.com.
-
-
- +----------------------------------------------------------------+
- | Old Fishin Hole Tackle Box * |
- +----------------------------------------------------------------+
- | CoNnect v.2.44 |
- | Delphi: Atari Advantage - (READ CONNECT) |
- | |
- +----------------------------------------------------------------+
- * The Tackle Box is meant to provide assistance in finding files
- mentioned in the column. It should not be considered a COMPLETE
- listing and is provided for convenience only. Delphi Atari Advantage
- files should be found in the Recent Arrivals section of the database
- until moved to their appropriate sections.
-
-
- ___________________________________________________
-
-
-
-
- > ONLINE WEEKLY STReport OnLine The wires are a hummin'!
- """""""""""""""""""""""""""""
-
-
-
- PEOPLE... ARE TALKING
- =====================
-
-
- On CompuServe
- -------------
- compiled by Joe Mirando
-
-
-
- Hi there everyone. I'll tell you right off the bat that this week's
- column is going to be shorter than usual. I'll explain right after the
- applause dies down <grin>.
-
- This past week my grandmother lost her battle with cardio-pulmonary
- problems after more than four months. As anyone who has lost a close
- relative knows, it is quite a shock (even if, as in this case, it is
- expected).
-
- My grandmother, although un-aquainted with most of today's technology,
- was always interested and amazed by what it had to offer. I can remember
- many times when she would watch over my shoulder as I accessed online
- services, displayed digitized pictures, or did anything else that my
- computer can do. She was in awe of e-mail, stock quotes, downloading,
- and Desktop Publishing (If on-line bingo had ever caught on she would
- have run out and bought a computer for herself). She would often utter
- those well-worn words: "What'll they think of next?" as she watched, and
- always supported me in my electronic endeavours, even though the
- reasoning for some of them eluded her. For this, and for so much more,
- I will miss her dearly.
-
- I would like to thank those of you who expressed interest and concern
- after I mentioned my grandmother's heart attack back in September. Your
- e-mail messages have shown me that electronic interaction need not be
- cold and impersonal. Thank you once again.
-
- Well, I guess that I should start the column now, huh? Okay, let's
- get busy...
-
-
- From the Atari Productivity Forum
- =================================
-
- Steven Russell tells us:
-
- "First off, I want to say that I am fairly new to this forum and have
- been reading a lot of the messages from here on various subjects. I
- believe that this is the place for someone to go if they are looking
- for help in a particular area or need information about a given
- subject. I have owned an Atari computer for only a little over two
- years now and I wouldn't trade it for anything.
-
- I have question about the RAM Gizmo board for the Falcon030. When I
- install it on the Falcon and boot the computer the screen stays blank
- and you can hear some clicking, like the computer is trying to read the
- RAM but can't find it. The board is brand new and has 4 MEGs installed
- on it and the jumpers are positioned in the correct locations ( I think
- ). Can anyone tell me what the problem might be and a probable solution
- for a fix? I'm hoping that the board isn't damaged or bad from the
- factory. That would be a bummer."
-
- Rob Rasmussen tells Steven:
-
- "Hopefully someone familiar with the RAM Gizmo board can answer your
- question. I am curious how to install a board into a Falcon - it has no
- slots like TT, right? Tell us more about Gizmo. I might get a Falcon.
- How do you like yours?"
-
- Brian Gockley of ST Informer tells Steven:
-
- "We've installed RAM boards without any trouble, I would strongly
- recommend you contact the manufacturer and get a new board. It may have
- damaged RAM on it. I assume that everything works again when you take
- it out again?"
-
- Sysop Bob Retelle adds his voice to Brian's:
-
- "It would probably be a good idea to contact the manufacturer of the
- RAM expansion board about your SIMMs..
-
- While in theory all 1 Meg SIMMs should be functionally equivalent, in
- practice there are some differences that can render particular SIMMs
- incompatible with some applications.
-
- In particular, sometimes "3 chip SIMMs" are not fully interchangable
- with "9 chip SIMMs", even though they have the same pinouts and
- specifications.
-
- It might be that your SIMMs are perfectly OK, but just incompatible
- with the expansion board. Hopefully the manufacturer of the board
- would have some experience with this and would have recommendations
- about what kind of SIMMs would be fully compatible."
-
- Steven replies:
-
- "The board came unpopulated and we are using Seimens Sims. Yes, When we
- took the board out, everything worked like brand new. I have the same
- problem with two different boards now and am begining to wonder if the
- sims might be bad as well. I guess that I will give the manufacturer a
- call and find out what they think. I really do appreciate your help
- though.
-
- I will give the manufacturer a call and find out if they have
- experienced this sort of thing in past or present.
-
- It seems that they would some how find a way to make the SIMMs more
- compatible with other SIMMs and different expansion boards. Sounds like
- a tall order, but if they could some how get together on a standard
- then the consumer would benefit greatly. I'm not sure if it would be to
- their benefit or not though.
-
- I have another question for you. I was wondering if you watch Computer
- Chronicles on Sunday afternoons? Do you remember the show that was on
- Sunday before christmas when they did coverage of the CES show? I was
- wondering why they do any coverage of Atari? they had coverage of
- almost everyone else but them. I really think that they should have had
- some sort of coverage of Atari for the efforts that atari has put forth
- in the past few months with the release of the Falcon030 and now the
- Jaguar. I guess that I'm just upset because Atari has not done a whole
- lot of advertising in the past and I would sincerelly like to see Atari
- get back to the for-front of the game and computer industry. Maybe
- wishful thinking.
-
- One more question before I go. Do you know of any Boot managing
- software that will work on the Falcon? Something like superboot v8.0 or
- Desk Manager. I really hate the fact that if you want to load any boot
- programs or desk accessories, you have to rename them and then reboot
- the system. Not only time consuming but a little bit of a hassle as
- well. I have been looking at the BBS's and Atari Base, but to no
- avail."
-
- Boris Molodyi jumps in and tells Steven:
-
- "Re: your boot manager question. Take a look at XBOOT from Gribnif
- (they have a section in ATARIVEN). It can handle AUTO programs, ACC's,
- and CPX's, also ASSIGN files (or any other kind of files you might want
- to use), and has many very nice features. It also uses GEM-like
- interface, with mouse support, and works on Falcon."
-
- Steven thanks Boris:
-
- "Thank you for the advice about XBoot, I think that was maybe the only
- boot manager that I haven't tried yet. I will look into it though. You
- know, If I were a programmer I would write my own boot manager program,
- but alas, I am not so I have to rely on others to come up with idea and
- hopefully there will be one strictly for the Falcon in the near
- future."
-
- Boris Replies:
-
- "I've tried many boot managers, too, and I've found that IMHO, XBOOT
- is the best. It has all the features, is compatible with all ST to
- Falcon machines, manages AUTO, ACC and CPX files, data files, has a
- scripting language etc."
-
- I'd like to add my "thumbs up" to that. XBOOT is a truly useful
- program. It skillfully bridges the gap between novice and expert. It
- can do as little or as much as you wish it to. It's a nice piece of
- work.
-
- Meanwhile, Ian Fleming asks about modems:
-
- "I am thinking of upgrding to a V32,fax modem.The Supra and the Zoom
- seem very good value.I would appreciate any feedback from users or
- other recommendations. What fax software is available for the ST?"
-
- Sysop Jim Ness tells Ian:
-
- "I've had very good luck with Practical Peripherals modems. My current
- one is a 14400. And, Ron Luks swears by Supra modems.
-
- I know you can GO SUPRA and GO PPIFORUM for Supra and PPI support
- online."
-
- Rob Rasmussen tells Ian:
-
- "I can't comment on Zoom since I've never used one. I use a Supra
- FaxModem v32bis and STraight FAX! Recommend them highly."
-
- Charles Smeton tells Ian:
-
- "My company, NewSTar Technology Management, makes STraight FAX! 2. It
- supports Class 1 and Class 2 Send/Receive FAX Modems such as the Supra
- and Zoom FAX Modems. It is available in the UK from System
- Solutions/Atari Workshop. Look for a review of STraight FAX! in an
- upcoming issue of ST Review Magazine.
-
- We also have a press release in the file area here with the features of
- STraight FAX! 2."
-
- Steve Adams posts:
-
- "I have a couple of questions about the Falcon:
-
- - Will 520 peripherals work with it (monitors, floppy drives, hard
- disks)?
-
- - How much memory can be put into a Falcon?"
-
- Bob Wilson tells Steve:
-
- "Technically one can put 14 megs into a FALCON. You can not use any
- floppy drives with the falcon and all hard drives externally must be
- SCSI. The standard ATARI expansion port is missing (you can not use an
- ATARI laser either). You can use ATARI monitors."
-
- Sysop Jim Ness posts this little bit of info:
-
- "Some cost trivia for folks who enjoy such things...
-
- 14400 service (available in 10 major cities) provides an average of
- about 1550 bytes per second for file transfers and message downloads.
- Under the new pricing, this means a cost of $1.76 per meg of data.
-
- 9600 service averages about 930 bytes per second, thus costs $2.94 per
- meg.
-
- 2400 service averages about 230 bytes per second, thus costs $5.94 per
- meg.
-
- It's pretty clear that if you are using an autonavigator to download
- files and messages, faster is better.
-
- The above average data speeds are typical for my area (Chicago) and
- may differ depending upon how you connect to CompuServe. The costs
- quoted do not include surcharges which may apply to your connections."
-
- Jonnie Santos posts:
-
- "Today's silly question of the hour is:
-
- Is there voicemail available (software/hardware) for the ST?"
-
- Sysop Bob Retelle tells Jonnie:
-
- "As far as I know, there is no voicemail product available for the ST.
- There is one under development (I'm not sure if it's been released or
- not) for the Falcon, but that one requires the DSP in the Falcon, so
- it's not likely there'll be a version for the ST..."
-
- Yat Siu corrects Bob:
-
- "Actually Bob...Voice Mail is sort of supported in Connect version
- 2.40 and 2.50 will have Class I Fax implementation as well.
-
- It can function as a Answering Machine too...EXCEPT that for this it
- requires the Zyxel Modem specifically...probably not quite THE
- VOICEMAIL but it's something for a regular ST User :)"
-
-
- From the Atari ST Arts Forum
- ============================
-
- Chris Punton tells us:
-
- "I was wondering if I can view LHZ and other pictures on an IBM PS2.
- More importantly are the IBM and ATARI compatible? I thought they
- where."
-
- Sysop Bob Retelle tells Chris:
-
- "The IBM and Atari computers are not compatible, at least not in the
- normlly understood sense of an "IBM compatible" computer.
-
- The CPU chip is quite different, so the software won't run between the
- systems.
-
- On the other hand, there ARE some areas of compatibility, for example
- the compression methods you mentioned are compatible.. ARC, LZH and
- ZIP to name a few can be compressed and uncompressed by either kind of
- system interchangiably.
-
- Any GIF file we have here in the Atari libraries can be viewed by IBM
- picture viewers, but so far there is no IBM picture viewer that we know
- of that will display Atari specific file formats like .SPC or .SPU,
- although there is one IBM program that will display DEGAS (.PI1, .PI2,
- .PI3) format picture files."
-
-
- From the Atari Vendors Forum
- ============================
-
- Beth Jane Freeman tells us:
-
- "I discovered something very interesting. When you import a graphic to
- the picture window, you can used variable zoom to make the image
- larger. This makes it MUCH easier to clip out a part of it."
-
- Mike Mortilla thanks Beth:
-
- "That could be very helpful. I also like to keep the "show pictures"
- option off until the set-up of the page is done. Then I don't have to
- wait forever for the screen to re-draw.
-
- PageStream is such a great program. I only wish they'd upgrade it. The
- only reason I have Calligrapher is to do flex-text. But I wouldn't
- consider working in it regularly. I think it would be very good for
- someone who publishes mags & newletters, but for the one page at a time
- user (me, f'rinstance) PgStream isthe cat's Meowwwwwww!"
-
- Beth tells Mike:
-
- "Yes, I agree, PGS is the Cat's Meow! I have a Tif file of my friend's
- cat, done on the IBM with Logitech's Fotoman, and I've used him as PGS
- clip art, and it comes out terrific. Thank goodness for all the import
- modules they have for PGS.
-
- I think you could flex the text by doing the text as an object and then
- using slant and/or twist under the Rotate menu. Perhaps that would do
- what you want to the text. Me, I love to collect fonts."
-
- Mike replies:
-
- "Actually, Beth (that;s my wife's name, tooo...<g>) I sometimes need
- to wrap words around curves (like a circle) the PgStrm features don't
- allow this and also distort the letters.
-
- Not a *BIG* deal but something I need to do at times. Yeah! Fonts are
- Fun!"
-
-
- Well folks, I told you that this would be a short column. I hope that
- you enjoyed it and got something out of it anyway. That's what
- CompuServe is all about... enjoyment and learning. It's a winning
- combination. So tune in again next week, same time, same station, and
- listen to what they are saying when...
-
-
- PEOPLE ARE TALKING
-
-
- """"""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""
-
-
- STReport's "EDITORIAL CARTOON"
- """"""""""""""""""""""""""""""
-
- > A "Quotable Quote" Words of Wisdom.....
- """""""""""""""""
-
-
-
-
- "NOTHING IS IMPOSSIBLE FOR THE MAN WHO
- DOESN'T HAVE TO DO IT HIMSELF!"
-
-
- - A.H. Weiler
-
-
-
-
- """"""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""
-
-
- > DEALER CLASSIFIED LIST STR InfoFile * Dealer Listings *
- """"""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""" ---------------
-
-
-
-
- ABCO Incorporated
- =================
- P.O. Box 6672
- Jacksonville, Florida 32221-6155
- Est. 1985
- 1-904-783-3319
-
- 1994 SPECIALS IN EFFECT!
- ------------------------
- ABCO manufactures custom storage devices!
-
- INTEL 32 BIT 486 33-66 Tower PENTIUM READY
- (HAS SOCKET) PLUG-IN UPGRADABLE (easy)
- 4MB ram upgradable to 32MB
- 1MB SVGA VESA VIDEO CARD
- DOS 6.2 - Windows 3.1 Incl.
- 256K CACHE - 1.44/1.2 FLOPPY
- 200MB IDE hd - 2 SERIAL, 1 PARALLEL, 1 GAME PORTS
- 250W POWER SUPPLY TOWER SYSTEM
- other high power packages available
- or, design your own! Call for pricing!
- Call: 904-783-3319 Anytime, Voice Mail
-
- =====******=====
-
- Syquest Removable 105mb SCSI Drives
- 44 - 105 mb Platters Available
-
- Diamond Speed Star 24x SVGA/VGA Video Card w/1mbVRAM
- Diamond Stealth & Viper 1mb & 2mb - Call for prices
- Enhances Windows SPEED and EFFICIENCY
- Diamond High Performance Sound Cards Available
-
- Pro Audio Spectrum STUDIO 16 - 16bit - Midi - Audio Recognition
- Top of the PAS Media Vision Line - True Multi-Media
-
- IDE Super IO cards & 16550 UART 2 & 4 Port Cards
-
- Call: 904-783-3319 Anytime, Voice Mail
-
- """"""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""
-
-
- COMPUTER STUDIO
- ===============
- WESTGATE SHOPPING CENTER
- 40 Westgate Parkway -Suite D
- Asheville, NC 28806
- 1-800-253-0201
- Orders Only
- 1-704-251-0201
- Information
- FULL LINE COMPUTER DEALER
-
- """"""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""
-
- EAST HARTFORD COMPUTER
- ======================
- 202 Roberts St.
- East Hartford CT. 06108
- 1-203-528-4448
- FULL LINE COMPUTER DEALER
-
- """"""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""
-
- MEGABYTE COMPUTERS
- ==================
- 907 Mebourne
- Hurst, TX 76053
- 1-817-589-2950
- FULL LINE COMPUTER DEALER
-
- """""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""
-
- SAN JOSE COMPUTER
- =================
- 1278 Alma Court
- San Jose, CA. 95112
- 1-408-995-5080
- FULL LINE COMPUTER DEALER
-
- """"""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""
-
- CompuSeller West
- ================
- 220-1/2 W. Main St.
- St. Charles, IL., 60174
- Ph. (708) 513-5220
- FULL LINE COMPUTER DEALER
-
- """"""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""
-
- (DEALERS; to be listed here FREE of Charge, please drop us a line.)
-
- """"""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""
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- STR Online! "YOUR INDEPENDENT NEWS SOURCE" January 21, 1994
- Since 1987 copyright (c) 1987-93 All Rights Reserved No.1004
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