Fujiology Archive

home *** CD-ROM | disk | FTP | other *** search

/ Fujiology Archive / fujiology_archive_v1_0.iso / !MAGS / STREPORT / STR1011.ZIP / STR1011.TXT < prev

Wrap

Text File | 1994-03-12 | 126.3 KB | 2,539 lines

SILICON TIMES REPORT ==================== INTERNATIONAL ONLINE MAGAZINE ============================= from STR Electronic Publishing Inc. March 11, 1994 No. 1011 ====================================================================== 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 * ITCNet 85:881/253 JAX HUB ~ FNET 350 ~ Nest 90:21/350 904-786-4176 MULTI-NODE 24hrs-7 days 2400-57.6 bps V.32-42 bis 16.8 USR Dual Standard FAX: 904-783-3319 12 AM-6 AM EST ----------------------------------------- Fido 1:374/147.3 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 ______________________________________________________________________ > 03/11/94 STR 1011 "The Original * Independent * Online Magazine!" """"""""""""""""" - CPU INDUSTRY REPORT - Disney Treats! - Compaq uses VSLI - Gates to sell TEAC - Newton 100-110 - NEW MAC OS - ETC? A Report - Jaguar "CATBOX" - The Recipe Box - 100 Mhz PC! - THUMBSUP! - The Old Fishin' Hole -* 700,000 PowerPC-Based MACS by END 1994! *- -* UNISYS WINS MAJOR CONTRACT IN RUSSIA! *- -* INTRACORP ACTS TO OUST EA'S ATTORNEY! *- ====================================================================== 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 1:374/147.3, ITC Node is 85:881/250 Crossnet Code is #34813, and the "Lead Node" is #620. All computer platforms BBS systems are welcome and invited to participate. ====================================================================== CIS ~ GENIE ~ DELPHI ~ BIX ~ PROWL ~ ITC ~ NEST ~ EURONET ~ CIX USENET ~ USPOLNET ~ CLEVELAND FREE-NET ~ INTERNET ~ FNET ~ AOL ====================================================================== 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!" """""""""""""""""""""" On one particular "computing" platform, the backstabbing and squabbling over the few bits of bux left to grab has become a rather obvious and depressing "sideshow". In one corner there seems to be a calculating force somewhere in Canada that's very busy trying to paint a fairly successful California graphics software house with a very dark and wide brush. Actually, the efforts couldn't be more obvious. Its sad because the scant numbers of users left in this platform are "getting the message" from these sleazy antics. Its chasing them away even quicker. If one were to step back.. take an objective view of the whole mahgilla; They'd sadly say; "It looks like a picture of ugly, half starved vultures fighting over a reeking, dead carcass!" Oh well, on to more vibrant and exciting things. The positive apprehension over the new goodies soon to be announced for Spring's annual push is amazing. Its coming on all fronts. The hardware front is bubbling over with talk about 100+Mhz machines as the norm in six month's time. The PowerPC talk is so strong it appears that its a "means to an end". Of course, its not but the enthusiasm of having a machine capable of "doing it all" is likened to a "dream come true". Shades of Gadgets by Small, there is now a Mac emulator for the PC! For most any PC! To top off the news... its very promising shareware as of right now. """""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""" 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 Internet.............RMARIANO@DELPHI.COM """""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""" > CPU STATUS REPORT LATE BREAKING INDUSTRY-WIDE NEWS """"""""""""""""" IBM/POWER-PC/PC SECTION (I) =========================== VLSI Technology chip sets go into Compaq LTE Elite The SCAMP IV chip set from VLSI Technology Inc. has been included as the chip set of choice in Compaq's new notebook computer called the Compaq LTE Elite. The SCAMP IV 486 notebook chip set, which packs a full-function PC into two chips, provides the system and peripheral functions for all five models of the high-performance LTE Elite family of computers which Compaq introduced as of Monday, March 7. Psion utilizes Motorola radio modem for Nation-wide NETS Psion Inc., U.S. subsidiary of British portable computer group Psion Plc, has launched the world's first hand-held terminal designed for nationwide wide area networks. Developed in concert with Motorola Inc., and called the RWAN, the system is based on Psion's HC hand-held computer fitted with a built-in Motorola Radio Packet Modem. The RWAN will provide users with nationwide wireless access over the PSDN networks operated by ARDIS and RAM, allowing mobile worker to communicate with other machines, EMail gateways and host databases in real time via radio. To support RWAN, Psion has developed MSIS, a radio communications job management software to run on the system. With over 40 percent of the U.S. workforce operating outside the office, MSIS helps the mobile executive deal with decision support, quotations, manpower management and distribution control on the spot. GATES/FA AND TEAC SIGN AGREEMENT Gates/FA Distributing Inc. of Greenville, S.C., announced that they had signed a distribution agreement with the Data Storage Products Division of TEAC America Inc., based in California. According to the agreement, Gates/FA will market TEAC America's entire line of floppy drives, hard drives, CD-ROM drives, tape drives, 1/4" tape drives and optical drives. "Known for its high quality manufacturing and price integrity, TEAC is a world leader in small form-factor storage," said Jerry Lumpkin, Marketing VP for Gates/FA, "and.. these innovative products will be a great enhancement to our System Integration Program. INTRACORP ACTS TO OUST EA'S ATTORNEY IntraCorp Inc., announced filing a complaint on March 4, 1994 petitioning the Superior Court of California to enjoin Palo Alto-based Fenwick & West (IntraCorp's former attorneys) from representing Electronic Arts in its merger with Broderbund. In its complaint, IntraCorp alleges that Fenwick & West has undertaken to represent an adverse interest because Fenwick & West previously represented IntraCorp in a $50 million action it filed against Broderbund in 1992. That litigation is currently pending in the U.S. District Court in Northern California and is set to go to trial by jury on Oct. 31, 1994. In the complaint, IntraCorp has asked the court to bar Fenwick & West from any further participation in the merger proceedings and from representing Electronic Arts until IntraCorp's litigation with Broderbund is concluded. Dataquest Estimates 700,000 PowerPC-Based shipped by end of year. As Apple Computer plans its PowerPC-based Macintosh launch next week, Dataquest estimates that 700,000 of the PowerPC-based computers will ship by the end of 1994. The new PowerPC-based Macintoshes have a low entry price, offer better price/performance value than workstations, and the high-end models are competitive with the 90-MHz Pentium desktop computers announced this week. Apple is the first top-10 personal computer company to launch a product based on a RISC microprocessor. UNISYS WINS MAJOR CONTRACT IN RUSSIA Unisys has been awarded the largest single banking automation contract in Russia by the Savings Bank of the Russian Federation, the company announced today. The integration project, valued at $127 million, provides one of the world's largest bank operations with the information services and technology to drive its major focus on enhanced customer service and operational efficiency. The Savings Bank of the Russian Federation, a new Unisys client, is one of the world's largest financial institutions in geographic coverage and number of customers and branches. In addition to its Moscow headquarters, the bank operates 78 regional headquarter banks, 2,300 branches and 43,000 bank agency locations. It employs 190,000 people and handles 212 million accounts. Its assets are worth $4.25 billion. AMD EXPECTS TO INCREASE Am486 MICROPROCESSOR SHIPMENTS Advanced Micro Devices said today that it expects to ship 900,000 Am486 microprocessor units in the current quarter. The company said previously that it expected to ship approximately 700,000 units in the quarter ending March 27, 1994. "Continuing operational excellence in our Sunnyvale wafer fabrication facility has resulted in improving yields and shorter cycle times for Am486 devices," said W.J. Sanders III, chairman and chief executive officer. "We expect that growing demand and wider acceptance of our Am486 family coupled with increased production will result in shipments of 900,000 units this quarter." We are gratified at the validation of our long-held conviction that we are licensed to sell chips incorporating Intel microcode," Mr. Sanders continued. "We expect that our vindication in the courts will further broaden customer acceptance of our Am486 products while encouraging us to redouble efforts for a rapid production ramp under a recently announced foundry agreement with Digital Equipment Corporation to augment our internal production capacity." _____________________________________________ > ETC? STR FOCUS! "Enhanced Throughput Cellular" """"""""""""""" White Paper: Enhanced Throughput Cellular (ETC) =============================================== March 7, 1994 AT&T Paradyne 8545 126th Ave N. Largo, Fl 34635 800-482-3333 (or 813-530-8623) What is ETC? ------------ "ETC" is an abbreviation for "Enhanced Throughput Cellular". ETC has been designed by AT&T Paradyne to allow for the highest throughput and the most reliable connections available today on the cellular network. The protocol consists primarily of enhancements to both the V.42 protocol and V.32bis modulation. Why was ETC developed? ---------------------- Standard PSTN modems do not perform well over the cellular network. While several companies have proposed proprietary protocols for cellular operation, tests show that none of these offer the performance needed to allow users to effortlessly use the cellular network. What products support ETC? -------------------------- All AT&T Paradyne dial modems support ETC today. This includes the following dial modem families: KeepInTouch PCMCIA card, Dataport 3700, and Comsphere 3800. Both the KeepInTouch PCMCIA card and the Comsphere 3800 are software downloadable, so all modems currently installed can easily be upgraded with ETC (with no charge). ETC has been licensed by many other modem companies. Product announcements from these companies are expected shortly. What rates can be achieved with ETC? ----------------------------------- Rates of 9600 and above are achieved the majority of the time with ETC. Under good cellular conditions, rates of 14400 are achieved most of the time. These are the data rates before compression -- V.42bis data compression can allow files to be transferred at 4x these rates. How does an ETC modem connect to a cellular phone? -------------------------------------------------- The KeepInTouch card allows a "direct connect" to many cellular phones. Direct Connect is a simple cable interface between the modem and the phone. It eliminates the need for costly and cumbersome "RJ11 adapter" boxes. (Contact AT&T Paradyne for the current list of phones supported.) While we recommend that ETC modems be used with direct connect, ETC also works well with RJ11 adapter boxes. Do I need a ETC on both ends of the connection? ----------------------------------------------- We have incorporated many improvements in ETC to increase its performance when interworking with standard V.32bis/V.42 PSTN modems. In general, adequate cellular operation is possible in most cases if ETC is implemented only on the mobile end. Quantifying this performance is difficult, however, as so many factors are involved. (Whose modem is on the PSTN side? How is it configured? etc.) The test report that we have published shows the results with one particular "standard V.42" modem. For this modem, the ETC-to-V42 results were even better than MNP 10-to-MNP 10 results. Note that MNP 10 offers no performance increase when interworking with standard PSTN modems -- MNP 10 modems are required on both ends of the link to gain any performance increase. For optimum performance, however, we recommend an ETC modem on both ends of the connection. Many Cellular Service Providers are offering Cellular Modem Pools in their areas. These Cellular Modem Pools provide an ETC termination in the cellular network, allowing any modem now connected to the PSTN to be accessed reliably using an ETC modem. Has ETC been tested against the competition? -------------------------------------------- Every company with a proprietary cellular protocol (including AT&T Paradyne) has presented technical literature explaining the advantages of their protocol implementation. While these papers are necessary for a general understanding of the protocol, they are really only academic studies -- any protocol can be made to look good on paper. We believe that extensive real world testing is the only accurate way to determine the best protocol. With this as our belief, AT&T Paradyne has performed this extensive testing. A test report, detailing the results, is available from us. We would point out that this testing was performed in conjunction with an independent party to ensure fair, equitable and unbiased results. While this test report is probably the most extensive ever published, it is only a small subset of the numerous tests that we have completed with our protocol. This published test consisted of side-by-side comparisons with MNP 10. MNP 10 was chosen because it is another protocol that has been widely advertised to have cellular advantages. The test results show that ETC is superior to MNP 10 in three of the most important areas of performance: 1. File completion percentage (placing a call and successfully completing a file transfer) 2. Minimizing total on-line time for a call (i.e. lowest cost) 3. Minimizing start-up time (allows ETC to complete even medium-length files normally in under one minute) What about international applications? -------------------------------------- AT&T Paradyne believes that ETC will work well on other analog cellular systems found around the world. We have already done testing on many of these systems and have achieved excellent results. What are AT&T Paradyne's plans for licensing ETC? ------------------------------------------------- AT&T Paradyne is licensing of ETC to other companies. Currently, Primary Access has announced ETC support in their Cellular Modem Pool product. A major announcement, involving many other modem companies, will occur in the near future. Will ETC become a recognized standard? -------------------------------------- AT&T Paradyne is striving to make ETC a defacto standard. We recognize the need to evolve ETC into a true standard, and plan to work towards that goal. Going directly to the standards process with ETC would result in a long delay before a standard would be approved. This would be counterproductive for the industry, as we believe that a reliable cellular protocol such as ETC is needed today. ETC is built upon CCITT V.42, while MNP 10 is built upon MNP 4. Therefore, we believe that ETC has a much better chance than MNP 10 of being accepted as a true standard. This is because CCITT has a stated policy that all future error control standards will be built upon V.42 and not MNP4. What about fax? --------------- ETC has a mode that provides improved fax performance. Other cellular protocols do not address fax. What about synchronous operation? --------------------------------- While asynchronous operation is the primary mode for ETC, it will also work well in synchronous applications. This is true because ETC is primarily built around the physical layer (modulation). Other cellular protocols do not work well in synchronous mode. What about the future enhancements? ----------------------------------- It is our intent to continually improve ETC and maintain the performance advantages we have today. ______________________________________________ > Disney Treats! STR Review """"""""""""""""""""""""" KIDS' COMPUTING CORNER ====================== by Frank Sereno In this week's article, I'm going to review some software you may find in the discount bins of your local software stores. These titles have been around for a couple of years or more, but many times these are still a good value. Donald Duck's Alphabet Chase from Disney Software is suitable for ages 2 to 5 years. This program does not support sound cards or VGA graphics. It will run on any IBM compatible from an XT through Pentiums in CGA, Tandy or EGA graphics. The EGA graphics are passable. It can even be run from a floppy drive. The object of this game is to help Donald as he rounds up the animated alphabet characters around his home. The child may wait for a letter to appear in the room and then press the corresponding key, or he may press any letter key at random and Donald will then find that letter. At the top of the screen will be a series of letters and when Donald catches an animated letter he will toss it up to the top of the screen. When Donald catches all the letters in that room, part of the Alphabet Song will be played. This game gives children a chance to interact with the keyboard and they can learn the alphabet with the help of adult supervision. This program can be found for $5 in many locations. Goofy's Railway Express is another Disney Software title. This program is identical in requirements and capabilities as Donald's. The premise of this game is that Goofy is the engineer on an old steam locomotive. The train has a route through several different screens. As the train puffs along, occasionally a shape will be seen in the smoke. When those shapes are visible, pressing the space bar will cause an animation based on that shape to appear. For example, a green half-circle will trigger an entertaining animation of a turtle at a campfire. With adult supervision, the child can learn various geometric shapes and colors. This program can be found for $5 also. The next two titles, Mickey's Crossword Puzzle Maker and Mickey's Memory Challenge, are also from Disney Software and are often found bundled together. Mickey's Memory Challenge can be run in VGA mode and does support AdLib compatible sound cards and the use of a mouse. This program is suitable for children ages 3 to 103. The objective is to match cards by selecting them in pairs to see the faces. Games can be played with 8, 15 or 24 cards. The player may choose to play with cards having Disney characters, common objects or small words. Two people can play taking turns or one person can play against the computer. A final option is for a single player to play against the clock. Players have the option to take a peek at the face of the cards at any time during play. This game is fun for adults and children. For children, the game enhances memory skills and hand-eye coordination. Available for $15 or less as a single title and for $25 or less when bundled with Crossword Puzzle Maker. Mickey's Crossword Puzzle Maker requires an IBM XT and 512k of free memory. It supports CGA, Tandy and EGA graphics. It supports various printers and allows the use of a mouse. It is recommended for ages 5 to 8, although you can create puzzles suitable for older age groups. A number of puzzles are included with the program and surprise puzzles can be made instantly choosing from 3 levels of 500 words, or you can create a puzzle with your own words and clues. Puzzles can consist of up to 20 words. Puzzles can be printed out or filled in on the computer screen. When printing and creating puzzles, you can chose from various Disney backgrounds. Puzzle clues can be either word clues or one of 185 included picture clues. Players can play against human opponents, computer opponents of three ability levels or complete the crossword alone. This program can be an excellent tool in teaching children spelling and vocabulary. Priced the same as Memory Challenge, it is a good bargain in educational software. As you can see, this older software is not as visually or aurally pleasing as many of the newer educational software packages available today, but these programs are not as expensive either. If you are on a tight budget or have a computer that is lacking in horsepower, these programs can be excellent choices. Even if you have the hottest Pentium machine, these titles can still prove to be worthwhile. As always, thanks for reading! ____________________________________________________ > THUMBSUP! STR Spotlight IS THERE ANY BETTER? THUMBSUP FOR THUMBSUP! """"""""""""""""""""""" ThumbsUp! Version 1.3d Now Available from Cerious Software ThumbsUp is a graphic file previewer, locator and organizer which simplifies the process of finding and maintaining graphics and clip-art files. It displays a small image (Thumbnail) of each file. You can use ThumbsUp to browse, view, crop, launch editors, and copy images to the clipboard. You can use drag-and-drop to organize graphics files by moving them to appropriate directories. ThumbsUp will also create a slide show from selected graphics, and install bitmap files as Windows wallpaper. You can print individual graphics files, or the thumbnails themselves as a catalog. Though not designed primarily as a conversion tool, ThumbsUp can convert any image that it displays to the appropriate native windows format. ThumbsUp will also convert metafile graphics to bitmaps. ThumbsUp! the only effective, elegant and inexpensive way to locate and organize your graphic files. You will be amazed by this sleek, fast, efficient graphics browser, which includes the following features: o Fast and accurate thumbnail generation -- by individual file, directory or entire disk. Disk scanning can be done in the background. o Support for many image and clip-art formats, both raster and vector, including: .BMP Windows or OS/2 bitmaps .ICO Windows Icon files .DIB,.RLE Compressed bitmaps .JPG JPEG (JFIF) files .WMF Windows metafiles .TTF TrueType fonts .GIF CompuServe GIFs .PCX Zsoft PC Paintbrush files .CDR CorelDRAW! (preview only) .MND Mandelbrot for Windows .TGA Targa TrueVision(TM) If you have Microsoft graphics filters (they come with Word for Windows and Powerpoint), ThumbsUp can use them to handle: .TIF Tagged Image Format Files .WPG DrawPerfrect graphic .CGM Computer Graphics Metafiles .PIC Lotus 1-2-3 Pictures .PCT Macintosh PICT files .HGL HP Graphics Language .DRW Micrographx Designer/Draw .PLT AutoCAD Plot files .EPS Encapsulated Postscript .DXF AutoCAD (2-D) files o Multiple graphic viewing windows with file save (several formats), print, copy, paste, crop, auto-crop, convert metafiles to bitmaps and more. o File management capabilites, including drag-and-drop for file organization, a color-coded directory tree for quickly locating directories with graphics, directory creation and file renaming, copying, deleting and moving. o Complete or partial catalog printing, with scalable thumbnails, file captions (if desired), and user layout control. o User-specifiable editors let you pick the editor of your choice -- by file type. o Enhanced solid color metafile viewing with 256-color drivers, which eliminates that ugly dithering which Windows does by default. o A built-in Windows Wallpaper hanger for any supported file type, and a customizable full-screen slide show. o A toolbar and keyboard shortcuts for common functions. o Extensive on-line help and customization of all aspects of the program. Hints and Tips -------------- File Manager Drag & Drop. ThumbsUp will act as a drag-and-drop client from File Manager. Simply drag file names from File Manager to the ThumbsUp window (or icon). ThumbsUp will open a view window for each file (up to the maximum number of view windows specified in the Viewer Options). You can also drag files from ThumbsUp to other applications. View Window Shortcuts. Double-clicking with the left mouse button in a view window will change it to full screen mode. Double-clicking with the right mouse button in a view window will close the window. Metafile Viewing. If you're displaying true-color (24-bits) or standard VGA, turn on "Dither Metafiles" from the Viewer Options dialog box. In the case of true-color, Windows never dithers; in the case of standard VGA, the special code to create solid colors for the dithered colors cannot work. Background Colors. For full-screen displays of 256-color images on a palette-based (256-color) display, select either black or white as the background color from the Viewer Options or the Slide Show Options dialog box, as ThumbsUp steals the other system colors to more accurately display the image. Internal Drag & Drop. Although ThumbsUp has only a single window, you can drag files to directories not visible on the directory list by scrolling it after selecting the files you want to move or copy. Performance. Though there is no built-in limitation on the number of file ThumbsUp can handle, I recommend creating multiple catalogs (databases) if you have more than about 5000 files. Besides the memory required, it will speed up access. ThumbsUp! is distributed as shareware and may be evaluated free of charge for up to thirty days. If you continue to use ThumbsUp after the thirty days have elapsed, you must register. The price for an individual license is US$50. Site and corporate licenses are available. Further information about licensing and ordering is available in the on-line help file. Enhancements ------------ Targa files (.TGA) are now supported. Slide show defaults to all files in current directory. ThumbsUp is a Drag-and-drop server (to other applications). You can view GIF, JPEG and Targa comment fields from the View window. Problems corrected ------------------ Slide show won't continually ask to insert disk if done on off-line directory. Short GIF files no longer cause GP faults. ThumbsUp no longer "goes behind" other apps after finishing thumbnailing. Several purging and index rebuilding problems are fixed, including better recovery from problems in the database. The Remove Tree option has been fixed. A little bit about the author of Thumbsup; ----------------------------------------- Phillip Crews [71501,2470], has been programming for twenty years; he never attended college except for a semester, after which he decided that he preferred the once-respectable "self-taught" method. Since then, Phillip has worked for several companies on VMS, Unix, MS-DOS, Windows and several less-known or obsolete operating systems, using C, C++, Assembly language, Pascal, LISP, Basic, DIBOL and a few others. Now, on to the juicy stuff... Phillip tells us the why and how Thumbsup! came into being. "I wrote ThumbsUp! because the available software (both shareware and commercial) either did not work well or didn't do things the way I wanted. I use and buy shareware when possible. Mainly because of the much more helpful and expedient response one can expect from the authors. More so than from the big software houses." "The first release of ThumbsUp came out in August 1993, and it continues to grow. The next release, which is currently being developed, will be a major update with many new features, including: * Keyword assignments and annotations, with boolean searches * Additional file types, including TIFF, CGM, WPG and PhotoCD. * Save and convert to most supported formats (at least BMP, GIF, PCX, JPG, TIF, WMF and CGM) * Color, color depth, sizing and rotation editing for images, including gamma correction. * Option sets stored by database * Improved international support * Improved network and SUBST drive support Phillip further states; "I am 32 years of age and married a wonderful, flaming redhead (Cricket) 12 years ago, after dating for only _two weeks_. We've been blessed with four unique children: Adam (10), Rachel (8), Leah (6) and Evan (4). They definitely keep us busy and happy! They're an independent, stubborn bunch, and we have no idea how they developed such personalities. To obtain the most recent version of ThumbsUp!.... -------------------------------------------------- Compuserve: THUMBS.ZIP in GRAPHSUP forum, library 3 (GIF viewers) THUMBS.ZIP in WINFUN forum, library 9 (Graphics Utilities) Also available in other forums. America Online: THUMBSUP.ZIP in the Windows area Internet: cerious/thumbs.zip via anonymous ftp from vnet.net For more information, please contact: Cerious Software 5424 Chedworth Dr. Internet: cerious@vnet.net Charlotte, NC 28210 Compuserve: 71501,2470 (704)529-0200 America Online: CeriousSW In Australia, New Zealand and Papua New Guinea, please contact: Patrick O'Sullivan Voice: 03 509 5250 PO Box 65 Fax: 03 576 0801 Armadale, Victoria 3143 CompuServe: 100240,273 Australia In Germany, please contact: Der PD-Profi Tel. 0 84 32 / 1296 Gerd Zottlein Fax. 0 84 32 / 8674 Schulstrase 13 D-86666 Burgheim """""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""" :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. Are your friends "busy" buddies? Are they being left out in the cold because their online service doesn't have room for them? Is "Almost OnLine" as close as they're getting to BEING online? Are they faced with busy signals, "come back later" messages and slow response? Well, we know how frustrated they must feel. We've been there -- done that! But, that's no longer the Case on GEnie. We've got the room, we've got the fun and we've got the greatest users....people just like you! So why not invite your buddies to join you on GEnie? We've designed a slick promotion in order to give you the opportunity to be a hero to your friends. To get them back online, get them some free time, and introduce them to GEnie Services. What you don't have to tell them is that you get something out of the deal, too! For each new user you bring to GEnie, we'll waive their first month's subscription fee, and give them a total of TEN free hours of standard connect time -- that's a $38.95 (C$50.95) value! If you and your buddy are still active GEnie subscribers three months from the date your buddy signs up, YOU get five hours of FREE standard connect time -- a $15.00 (C$20.00) value for each buddy you sponsor! And, for a limited time, you can even qualify for SPECIAL PRIZES!!! In addition to the five hours of standard connect time, prizes will be awarded to the three sponsors who bring in the most qualifying buddies between February 3, 1994 and March 31, 1994. The third-place Buddy sponsor will receive a GEnie satin jacket. The second-place Buddy sponsor will receive a 9600 bps modem. And the first-place buddy sponsor will receive a $500 gift certificate good at your favorite computer store. Like everything good, there are a few rules for the GEnie Buddy Bonus Program. You'll find the complete promotion rules on the GEnie Services Buddy Bonus page (type BUDDY or M1111). Be sure you review the complete rules before you contact your friends. So, if your buddies have been bragging about that other online service, just remind them that a pretty interface ain't worth squat if it doesn't log on! Bring them over to GEnie....we may not be pretty just yet, but we're definitely more fun! And, if a GUI is that important to them, tell them that we'll have both Mac and Windows front ends before the other guys get more computers! Don't stand IN LINE ....get ONLINE! 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 The excitement builds. Mac REport HQ is all aquiver with anticipation. The on-line services are buzzing with rumors. The news wires are full of stories about manufacturers and developers jumping on the bandwagon. What's causing all the excitement? This coming Monday's PowerMac roll-out, of course. What's to get excited about? Well, how about unprecedented speed? How about and entry level price of well under $2000? In fact, here are the rumored prices: (probable prices) Model Config Price 6100 8/160 $1725-$1775 8/250/CD $2200-$2250 16/250/Softwindows $2400-$2450 8/250/CD/AV card $2500-$2550 7100 8/250 $2825-2875 8/250/CD $3025-3075 1 6/250/SoftWindows $3225-3275 8/500/CD/AV card $3825-3875 8100 8/250 $4050-4100 8/250/CD $4250-4300 16/500/SoftWindows $5200-5250 16/500/CD/AV card $5350-5400 16/1 Gbyte/CD $5850-5900 I bet you paid much more than those prices for the Mac you're now using. Consider this. I paid $1799 for my Performa 450. For only a few hunderd more I can buy a faster (8-10 times faster) machine, with twice the memory and twice the storage space.Sounds good to me! GEnie Mac Users Held Hostage! Week ??? The reason the week number is a question mark, is that whenever a user inquires as to the status of GEnie's fabled Mac Frontend, the answer is _always_ "three more weeks". We realize that software takes time to develop, it's never ready when it's supposed to be and all that, but in my opinion, GEnie users deserve a straight answer to the question, "Where is the promised Mac Frontend?" After all, GEnie has been promising a Mac FE for at least several years now. A couple of weeks ago, STReport Publisher and Editor extraordinaire, announced that we would begin using RTF format for STReport. Nice plan, but he then heard from users of another platform. It seems that, out of all the readers of STReport, they are the only ones that don't have a word processor that can read RTF format. I take that back, they do have a word processor that can read RTF format, but most of them won't buy it because it, "costs too much." (around $125 street). Even so, Ralph won't abandon these users even though it appears that the manufacturer has abandoned them. Nice goin' Ralph! This week's Press Releases contain a lot of info about the new Newtons. From preliminary reports, handwriting recognition has been improved along with functionality. Also, in a big first for Apple, there is an upgrade path for those who bought the first Newton. Check the Releases for more info. _________________________________________ > Apple PR STR InfoFile """"""""""""""""""""" THIS RELEASE MOVED OVER PR NEWSWIRE ON MONDAY MARCH 7, 1994 AT 8:31 AM, EST Apple Charts New Course For Operating System Software Stand Out, Fit In Strategy Expected to Attract New Customers CUPERTINO, California--March 7, 1994--Apple Computer, Inc., today outlined its "Stand Out and Fit In" strategy for the future development of its Apple Macintosh operating-system software. The strategy calls for Apple to deliver regular improvements to Macintosh system software and its user interface that should make Macintosh customers even more productive, make it easy for Macintosh customers to coexist in mixed computing environments, as well as make it easier for Windows and MS-DOS customers to move to the Macintosh platform. "Stand Out" aspects of Apple's strategy include using the power of Apple's upcoming Macintosh on PowerPC systems to extend the Macintosh user interface capabilities. With future releases of system software, the interface is expected to incorporate elements of active assistance. Over time, greater levels of intelligence are to be made available, so that the computer can more actively help the user work, learn and communicate. Other "stand out" platform innovations are slated to include advanced graphics and multimedia technologies, improved speech recognition and text-to-speech capabilities, and enhancements that should make the Macintosh operating system the best platform for collaboration services. A key element of Apple's strategy, in terms of both standing out and fitting in, is the OpenDoc component application architecture. OpenDoc defines a new way for applications to be created, using object-oriented technology. These smaller applications, or software parts, which by design are interoperable with other parts and applications, can be mixed and matched to more effectively build custom solutions. With OpenDoc, a user opens a document, which can contain any kind of information or data, and edits or manipulates different kinds of data--text, graphics, sound, animation--without switching between different applications. This new way of interacting with a document lets the user focus on the task at hand, rather than on the capabilities or idiosyncrasies of the application. OpenDoc is a cross-platform application architecture, which contributes to Apple's goals for fitting in. Apple is working with companies such as IBM, Novell, Taligent, WordPerfect and Xerox to ensure that OpenDoc is developed and enhanced as an open standard; available on the most popular personal computing platforms; works well over computer networks; and is interoperable with other application architectures, such as Microsoft's Object Linking Environment (OLE). In addition to OpenDoc, Apple's "Fit In" strategy is designed to ensure that Macintosh customers work well in mixed computing environments. As part of this strategy, Macintosh on PowerPC systems are expected to feature applications compatibility with existing Macintosh applications. In addition, options are planned for application compatibility with Windows and MS-DOS software. Apple also plans system-level compatibility with popular networking protocols such as TCP/IP and Novell NetWare IPX; interoperability with mail and messaging systems; and interoperability with a wide variety of personal-computer file formats. 1994 Product Plans Apple plans to ship Macintosh on PowerPC this month, with an operating system that provides a robust foundation for future enhancements and compatibility with existing Macintosh applications. Plans for these systems include the option of compatibility with Windows and MS-DOS software. Later this year, Apple plans to ship a major release of the operating system, System 7.5, which includes a range of advancements in the areas of active assistance, customization, advanced graphics, networking and interoperability. Also in 1994, Apple expects to deliver OpenDoc to software developers. Future Product Plans Apple plans other major releases of system software in the coming two years. The first planned release is expected to incorporate OpenDoc and include further technology advances in the area of active assistance, as well as system-level improvements in areas such as multitasking, memory protection and data input/output. Apple plans to later deliver an even more advanced version of its operating system, which is slated to provide intelligent assistance, a fully exploited microkernel architecture and a significant advancement in graphics. THIS RELEASE MOVED PR NEWSWIRE ON FRIDAY MARCH 4, 1994 AT 8:16 AM, EST. Apple Expands The Newton Product Family Apple Ships the Newton MessagePad 110 and the Newton MessagePad 100, and Offers An Upgrade Program For Original MessagePad Owners CUPERTINO, California--March 4, 1994--Expanding the capabilities of Newton technology, Apple Computer, Inc. today announced the Newton MessagePad 110, the most recent addition to the Newton MessagePad family. The Newton MessagePad 110 incorporates many new improvements, features, and design modifications which are based upon suggestions from customers and licensees. With this announcement, Apple underscores its commitment to provide its customers with leading-edge technology, and to respond quickly to the diverse needs of mobile professionals. Newton MessagePad 110 The MessagePad 110 has 3 times the user space (the amount of memory available to the user for data storage) of the original Newton MessagePad; longer battery life (alkaline battery life has been doubled and NiCD battery life has been tripled); and a fast recharge feature which enables NiCD batteries to be fully recharged in 2-3 hours. The new industrial design features a protective lid, a round telescopic pen, and a narrower, sleeker form factor. Among the new software features are: - deferred handwriting recognition - letter-by-letter recognition - easier addition of new names to personal wordlist and Names File - faster infrared transfers All the software updates released since the launch of the original Newton MessagePad have been incorporated into the Read Only Memory (ROM) of all new Newton MessagePad systems. Newton MessagePad 100 To give customers a choice between the original Newton MessagePad form factor and that of the new MessagePad 110, Apple today announced plans to introduce the Newton MessagePad 100. This device will provide the new, improved software functionality of the MessagePad 110, while maintaining the popular form factor of the original Newton MessagePad. Upgrade Program To enable Newton customers to benefit from the rapid evolution of Newton technology, Apple will offer an attractive upgrade program to existing Newton MessagePad users. The Newton software upgrade program will give the original Newton MessagePad the new, improved software functionality of the MessagePad 110. Included in the the upgrade package will be a choice of two of the following Newton software products: - Newton Connection Kit for Macintosh or Windows - Dell Crossword Puzzles & Other Games on floppy diskette - DrawPad on floppy diskette - Dyno NotePad on floppy diskette. The upgrade will be available starting April 1994 by calling 1-800- SOS-APPL. Software additions to the Newton MessagePad 110 and the Newton MessagePad 100 include: Deferred Recognition Deferred recognition enables people to make notes and later turn some or all the notes into recognized text at leisure. For example, deferred recognition allows people to take notes quickly during a meeting without having to wait for recognition and correction. Later on the user can translate the notes into recognized text. Letter-by-letter Recognition Letter-by-letter recognition enables people to use words which are not in the wordlist, such as names, abbrieviations, acronyms and foreign language words, and add them to the wordlist quickly and easily. This feature allows people to bypass the user wordlist and the wordlist (the Newton dictionary of approximately 13,000 words) contained in the MessagePad ROM. By tapping the letter-by-letter recognizer button, users can instruct the recognizer to decipher individual letters without checking the recognized word against the wordlist. Improved Names File Functionality Letter-by-letter recognition is at its most useful in the Names File, where users enter proper names that are seldom in the wordlist. The increased functionality of the Names File enables people to add names to the wordlist quickly and easily, minimizing the time spent entering data. Distribution and Availability The Newton MessagePad 110 will be available from today across the United States in more than 2,000 computer retailers, Apple resellers and consumer electronic stores. The Newton MessagePad 110 is expected to be available in Canada and the United Kingdom later in March 1994, and in some international markets later in 1994. The Newton MessagePad 100 and the Newton software upgrade are expected to be available in the United States and the United Kingdom in April 1994, and in some international markets later in 1994. Pricing The Apple price for the Newton MessagePad 110 is US$599, and for the Newton MessagePad 100 is US$499. The Apple price for the Newton software upgrade (including two Newton software products) is US$99, plus shipping and handling. THIS RELEASE MOVED OVER PR NEWSWIRE ON FRIDAY MARCH 4, 1994 AT 8:33 AM, EST. Apple To License Newton Technology to Toshiba CUPERTINO, California--March 4, 1994--Underscoring the growing international support for the Newton platform, Apple Computer, Inc. welcomes Toshiba Corporation into the family of companies worldwide which are licensing Newton technology. Toshiba intends to develop a new line of products based on Newton technology. Toshiba Corporation is a founding member of the Newton Industry Association which was announced at the first International Newton Development Conference in December 1993. The participants of the inaugural session included, among others, Alcatel, ARM, BellSouth MobileComm, British Telecom/Cellnet, CirrusLogic, Deutsche Telecom, GEC Plessey, LSI Logic, Kyushu Matsushita, Motorola, ParaGraph, Scriptel, Sharp, Siemens/ROLM, Telia, Traveling Software and US West. These companies represent licensees of Newton technology, OEMs, component suppliers and marketing allies. This association is a forum that will promote the growth and interoperability of the Newton platform and associated devices. The association will also promote standards for Newton devices in the areas of wireless communications, telephony support, and office automation. THIS RELEASE MOVED PR NEWSWIRE ON FRIDAY MARCH 4, 1994 AT 8:30 AM, EST. Apple Ships Newton Connection Kit v 2.0 for Macintosh Newton Connection Kit v 2.0 Enables The Exchange Of Information From Desktop Applications With The MessagePad CUPERTINO, California--March 4, 1993--Apple Computer, Inc., today announced that it has begun shipping version 2.0 of the Newton Connection Kit for the Macintosh . Newton Connection kit v 2.0 makes it simple for people to exchange Newton information with common Macintosh applications. Newton Connection v 2.0 enables users to exchange and share their MessagePad information---notes, letters, name-cards, to-do lists, appointments, and even information created with many third party applications---with common desktop personal information management (PIM), word-processing, spreadsheet and database applications. It also enables users to access and edit MessagePad information easily using common desktop applications with which they may already be familiar. Direct Export And Import from Macintosh applications Newton Connection v 2.0 enables people to import and export native files directly from many common supported Macintosh applications to Newton's address book, calendar and notepad, by incorporating portions of the award-winning MacLinkPlus file translation library, a product from DataViz Inc. (Trumbull, CT). Supported Macintosh applications include common titles such as: Portfolio Software's Dynodex; Symantec's Act!; Now Software's Now-Upto-Date; Aldus' DateBookPro; PowerUp's Addressbook Plus; Microsoft's Excel, Word and Works; Lotus 1-2-3; WordPerfect; Nisus; and WriteNow, among others. Industry Standard Text Files Newton Connection v 2.0 enables people to create, save and modify industry standard tab-separated and comma-separated text files for exchanging (importing and exporting) Newton information with numerous PIM, database and spreadsheet applications, such as Aldus' TouchBase Pro, Claris Corporation's FileMaker Pro and Hypercard Address Stacks, among others. For example, a list of names, addresses and phone numbers stored in Claris' Filemaker Pro can easily be imported into the MessagePad address book. Newton Connection File Format Newton Connection has a rich intermediate text file format which supports all Newton information, enabling cooperating desktop applications to synchronize, as well as exchange information with a Newton MessagePad. Many desktop application developers are already working with Apple to support this format directly within their applications. Special Software Offer In a limited special offer, the Newton Connection kit for both Windows and Macintosh will include several sample Starcore Newton applications, while supplies of these samples last: Columbo's Mystery Capers, Silicon Casino, GoFigure, Fortune 500 Guide To American Business and Dell Crossword Puzzles and Other Word Games (demo versions). In addition, Newton Book--an electronic book containing descriptions of numerous Newton commercial and shareware applications--will be included in the special offer, as will the Newton DataViewer, which enables the import and export of spreadsheet data. The Newton DataViewer allows people to manipulate spreadsheet data from their desktop on their Newton MessagePad by scrolling horizontally and vertically, sorting by column, and exporting back to the desktop spreadsheet. Availability and Pricing Newton Connection kit v 2.0 for Macintosh was rolled out today across the United States, and is expected be available in computer retailers, campus resellers, consumer electronics stores and K-12 institutions. The Apple price of Newton Connection kit v 2.0 for Macintosh is US$99. Free Upgrades Apple will send all registered purchasers of Newton Connection v 1.00 a free upgrade to Newton Connection v 2.0. Customers who received a complimentary preview version of the Newton Connection Kit at MacWorld Expo in Boston in August 1993 will also be receiving a free upgrade to Newton Connection v 2.0. Registered users may expect to receive their upgrades in the latter part of March. THIS RELEASE MOVED OVER PR NEWSWIRE ON FRIDAY MARCH 4, 1994 AT 8:31, EST. Apple's Newton Technology Picks Up Even More Awards CUPERTINO, California--March 4, 1994--International acclaim for Newton technology continues to grow as the groundbreaking personal digital assistant (PDA) platform from Apple Computer, Inc., in the last month, garnered a suite of major industry acknowledgements. In the Ninth Annual MacUser Editors' Choice Awards, MacUser magazine touted Newton Intelligence (the underlying technology upon which Newton products are based) as "Breakthrough Technology of the Year" for the advance it represents in handwriting recognition technology, its free-form approach to data storage and access, and its intelligent assistance functions. The editors of Popular Mechanics magazine awarded the Newton MessagePad the "Engineering and Design award" from their "Best of What's New" award line-up. The Newton MessagePad has been selected to receive a prestigious Edison Best New Products Award for technical innovation from the American Marketing Association. Email users and vendors from fourteen countries across five continents endowed the MessagePad with the "Hardware of the Year" Award in the Twelfth Annual EMMSy Electronic Mail Industry Award, indicating that the MessagePad has been recognized as an outstanding piece of hardware internationally across the high technology industry. The German version of the Newton MessagePad picked up the "1993 Award for the Most Promising Product and Technology" from MACWELT, the leading Macintosh magazine in Germany. In addition, it walked away with the "Goldene DM" trophy from DM--Das Private Wirtschaftsmagazin. The German MessagePad was selected from several hundred product recommendations to receive one of two "1993 Product of the Year" awards for its revolutionary technology, alongside a tram from ABB Henschel, by a committee of senior managers, scientists and editors. In the United Kingdom PC Magazine recently announced the MessagePad as the winning product in the personal digital assistant category of their annual "Technical Innovation Awards", acknowledging that the MessagePad's innovative design makes it a key player in the emerging international PDA market. These awards build on the growing industry support for Newton technology. They join the significant honors recently bestowed on the Newton MessagePad by PC Magazine, PC LapTop, Computers Magazine, Byte magazine and Reseller Management magazine. "Newton technology continues to attract the attention of the industry experts across the world," said Gaston Bastiaens, vice president and general manager of Apple Computer's Personal Interactive Electronics (PIE) division: "With the launch of the next Newton product in the Newton family, we will see Apple continue to lead with innovative, effective and intuitive products and technologies." The Newton MessagePad is one product in the Newton family of products: handheld communications assistants that allow people to capture, manage and share information with tremendous ease and spontaneity. Products in the Newton family offer a rich variety of communications options, including faxing, beaming and electronic mail, which enable people to send, receive and share information through virtually every communication method available in the workplace today. The Newton Connection Kit (available for Windows and Macintosh ) enables people to be connected to their desktop computer at all times. THIS RELEASE MOVED OVER PR NEWSWIRE ON FRIDAY MARCH 4, 1994 AT 8:05 AM, EST Apple Computer Makes Six Newton Announcements CUPERTINO, California--March 4, 1994---Apple Computer, Inc. expanded the scope of its Newton technology today with a suite of announcements regarding new products, computer connectivity, and developer tools. The announcements include the following: - Newton MessagePad 110 Announced The Newton MessagePad 110 incorporates many new improvements, features, and design modifications which are based upon suggestions from customers and licensees. The MessagePad 110 has 3 times the user space (the amount of memory available to the user for data storage) of the original Newton MessagePad; longer battery life (alkaline battery life has been doubled and NiCD battery life has been tripled); and a fast recharge feature which enables NiCD batteries to be fully recharged in 2-3 hours. The new industrial design features a protective lid, a round telescopic pen, and a narrower, sleeker form factor. Among the new software features are: - deferred handwriting recognition - letter-by-letter recognition - easier addition of new names to personal wordlist and Names File - faster infrared transfers All the software updates released since the launch of the original Newton MessagePad have been incorporated into the Read Only Memory (ROM) of all new Newton MessagePad systems. The Newton MessagePad 110 will be available from today across the United States in more than 2,000 computer retailers, Apple resellers and consumer electronic stores. The Newton MessagePad 110 is expected to be available in Canada and the United Kingdom later in March 1994, and in some international markets later in 1994. The Apple price for the Newton MessagePad 110 is US$599. - Newton MessagePad 100 Announced To give customers a choice between the original Newton MessagePad form factor and that of the new MessagePad 110, Apple today announced plans to introduce the Newton MessagePad 100. This device will provide the new, improved software functionality of the MessagePad 110, while maintaining the popular form factor of the original Newton MessagePad. The Newton MessagePad 100 is expected to be available in the United States and the United Kingdom in April 1994, and in some international markets later in 1994. The Apple price for the Newton MessagePad 100 is US$499. - Upgrade Program For Original MessagePad Owners To enable Newton customers to benefit from the rapid evolution of Newton technology, Apple will offer existing owners of the Newton MessagePad an attractive upgrade program. The Newton software upgrade program will give the original Newton MessagePad the new, improved software functionality of the MessagePad 110. Customers availing of the upgrade program will also be offered a choice of two Newton software products, included in the upgrade price. The upgrade will be available in the United States starting April 1994 by calling 1-800-SOS-APPL, in the United Kingdom in April 1994, and in some other international markets later in 1994. The Apple price for the Newton software upgrade (including two Newton software products) is US$99, plus shipping and handling. - Newton Connection v 2.0 for Macintosh Ships Newton Connection v 2.0 enables users to exchange and share their MessagePad information---notes, letters, name-cards, to-do lists, appointments, and even information created with many third party applications---with common desktop personal information management (PIM), word-processing, spreadsheet and database applications, running on the Macintosh platform. It also enables users to access and edit MessagePad information easily using common desktop applications with which they may already be familiar. Newton Connection kit v 2.00 for Macintosh was rolled out today across the United States, and is expected be available in computer retailers, campus resellers, consumer electronics stores and K-12 institutions. The Apple price of Newton Connection kit v 2.0 for Macintosh is US$99. - New Version of the Newton Toolkit To Ship Soon This new version of the Newton Toolkit--the comprehensive developer system for the Newton platform--is anticipated to be available in early April 1994. The Newton Toolkit is a powerful, sophisticated, yet easy to learn development environment designed to reduce significantly the time taken to develop creative Newton applications. Among the enhancements to the Toolkit are graphical tools, special utilities and Newton Book Maker--a new tool for publishers which facilitates the creation of electronic books. - StarCore offers The Newton Solution Apple is offering three Newton software packages from StarCore, each containing a suite of business solutions designed to help mobile executives work more effectively. Each Newton Solution package is compatible with all products in the Newton family, and incorporates two applications designed to meet the needs of sales people, mobile professionals or business executives. Apple plans to release The Newton Solution packages in March 1994 at an Apple price of US$199. The value of the applications plus the flash card, if purchased separately, is approximately US$400, making The Newton Solution packages good value for business users. THIS RELEASE MOVED OVER PR NEWSWIRE ON FRIDAY MARCH 4, 1994 AT 8:32 AM, EST. Apple's StarCore Introduces The Newton Solution CUPERTINO, California--March 4, 1994--Apple Computer's StarCore software publishing and distribution group today announced three application packages for Newton , each offering a suite of business solutions specifically designed to help mobile executives work more effectively. The Newton Solution packages are compatible with both the recently-announced Newton MessagePad 110, the Newton MessagePad 100 and other products based on Newton technology. "StarCore designed The Newton Solution packages to offer users a complete set of mobile business applications all pre-loaded on one PCMCIA card," said Ken Wirt, director of marketing for Apple's Personal Interactive Electronics (PIE) Division. "Using any one of the three solution packages with the Newton MessagePad will improve dramatically any mobile professional's ability to work effectively and efficiently while they're away from their office." Each of The Newton Solution packages contains two applications designed to meet the needs of either sales people, mobile professionals or business executives. In addition, every package contains "Notion : The List Manager for Newton," which offers people more than two dozen ready-to-use templates that make it easy to organize, sort and send "to do" activities, follow up instructions and project information, and "Jigsaw Strategy Game," a compelling one- or two-person strategy game that challenges players to seize territories and match designs on a grid. StarCore's The Newton Solution package options include: "The Newton Solution: Mobile Sales Manager" is designed to provide sales professionals with tools to access quotas, price lists, travel expenses, customer information and other data easily. The package includes "Money Magazine Business Forms," which provides 13 commonly- used business formats, including expense reports, sales invoice/order quotations and planning guides and schedules, that people can fill out easily while in a meeting or on the road, and "GeoAssist" for referencing toll free numbers, local phone access numbers and air, auto and travel information for more than 1,000 cities. "The Newton Solution: Professional Idea Manager" is designed for consultants, accountants, lawyers, small business owners and other professionals who routinely calculate, process and record data. This package includes "Dyno NotePad," an outlining tool which captures and organizes thoughts and personal information in a variety of outline- formats and hierarchies. Also included is "Mobile Math," which integrates math functions into Newton's Intelligent Assistance with more than 80 formulas. The application "floats" and can be accessed easily from other applications. "The Newton Solution: Executive Productivity Manager" is ideal for Newton users who make presentations on a regular basis and want to call-up text and notes during their speaking engagements. The package includes "PresenterPad," an application that aids speakers by teleprompting information, pacing presentations and cueing slides. The second application in the package is "Economist World in Figures," which gives users a wide range of detailed facts and figures, including economies, exports/imports, populations and trade, on approximately 60 countries. The four applications in each solution package are pre-loaded on a 2 MB flash card. The cards also have 800 KB of additional storage space, so users can easily download and store information as needed. Apple plans to release The Newton Solution packages in March 1994 at an Apple price of US$199. The value of the applications plus the flash card, if purchased separately, is approximately US$400, making The Newton Solution packages good value for business users. Apple Computer Inc.'s StarCore group, which is part of the PIE division, publishes and distributes software on CD-ROM for Macintosh , DOS and MPC platforms and on PCMCIA cards and floppy diskettes for devices based on Newton technology. The StarCore product library is focused around six software categories: edutainment, sports, entertainment, reference, business applications and self-improvement. THIS RELEASE MOVED PR NEWSWIRE ON FRIDAY, MARCH 4, 1994 AT 8:15 AM, EST. New Version Of Newton Toolkit To Ship Soon Newton Toolkit Enables Developers To Build Creative Applications Quickly And Easily CUPERTINO, California--March 4, 1994--Apple Computer, Inc, today announced that a new version of the Newton Toolkit--the comprehensive developer system for the Newton platform--is anticipated to be available in early April 1994. The Newton Toolkit is a powerful, sophisticated, yet easy to learn development environment designed to reduce significantly the time taken to develop creative Newton applications. Among the enhancements to the Toolkit are graphical tools, special utilities and Newton Book Maker--a new tool for publishers which facilitates the creation of electronic books. The Newton Toolkit includes everything needed for a developer working on a personal computer to create Newton applications extremely quickly. The Toolkit employs reusable objects--modules of software code which have already been designed to perform useful tasks. Applications built with the enhanced version of the Toolkit may incorporate pictures, text and sound, as well as take advantage of the communications capabilites of Newton technology. Graphical tools enable developers to construct their applications while viewing them on the monitor, using tools for browsing, editing and debugging source code. The Newton Toolkit also contains special utilities which enable Newton applications to be distributed on floppy disks and downloaded from the desktop, as well as on PCMCIA cards. Integral to the new version of the Toolkit is Newton Book Maker, a new tool for publishers which facilitates the creation of electronic books for devices based on Newton technology: travel guides, reference materials and corporate documentation. Newton Book Maker has already been used by thousands of developers to create and publish titles for Newton users. Newton Book Maker automatically creates sophisticated, customizable and easy-to-navigate applications from electronic documents (such as those created in familiar word- processing applications) containing both text and graphics. Using Book Maker, people without any programming expertize can create interactive Newton books quickly and easily, using the expansive body of publications already available in electronic form. "International interest in developing titles for the Newton platform continues to grow. Over 3000 Newton Toolkits have already sold, and more than 1000 developers expressed their enthusiasm for the Newton platform at the International Newton Development Conference in December 1993," said Gaston Bastiaens, vice president and general manager of Apple's Personal Interactive Electronics (PIE) division. "The continous evolution of the Newton Toolkit makes it an ever more attractive, productive and inspiring environment for developers. More than 32 Newton titles created by third party developers are now shipping, and another 60 have been publicly announced." The Newton Toolkit package will include a free Newton developer CD containing comprehensive documentation, technical information, tutorials, utilities and sample code. The beta version of Newton Toolkit for Macintosh is already available today by calling APDA on 1-800-282-2732. All registered owners of Newton Toolkit will receive the final version of the Newton Toolkit by mail in April 1994. Apple expects the Newton Toolkit for Windows to be available later this year. That's it for this week. Be sure and check in next week for the real scoop on the new PowerMacs and much more! As always feel free to send me your comments, questions, etc.. to America OnLine: STReportRN CompuServe: 70323,1031 GEnie: R.NOAK ********************************************************************** 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 WHAT'S NEW IN THE ATARI FORUMS (March 11) FORUM REORGANIZATIONS We've begun the Atari Computer Forum re-organization and consolidation. Type "NAMES" to see a list of the new section names in the Atari Productivity Forum. The Atari Productivity Forum (GO ATARIPRO) will be renamed the Atari Computing forum and will have a new GO word (GO ATARICOMPUTING) which will be enabled shortly. In the interim, GO ATARIPRO will still get you there. We will be closing down the message sections in AtariArts shortly. Unfortunately, there is no way to merge the messages from AtariArts into the messages in this forum, so please "wind down" your conversations in AtariArts and resume them in this combined forum. The library files will be re-organized next and finally the files from AtariArts will be moved to this forum and AtariArts closed down completely. Section 7 is reserved for Atari Registered Developers and sections 12 and 13 are currently unused. All other sections 1-17 should be available to all members (although some of these are currently empty of messages). The staff has shuffled around the existing threads to their new locations but if we missed any moves, please point them out. We hope that having all Atari Computer Information in a single forum (soon to be expanded to more sections and libraries) will better serve the interests of our membership. As always, your comments are appreciated. LOWER CONNECT TIME RATES ------------------------ CompuServe members billed under the Standard Pricing Plan now pay lower rates for access to extended (hourly priced) services. The new rates for CompuServe's extended services are $4.80 per hour for access at 300, 1,200 and 2,400 bps, and $9.60 per hour for access at 9,600 and 14,400 bps. This pricing change reflects up to a 40 percent reduction from previous rates for extended service products. Communications network and product-specific surcharges still apply. The monthly basic services rate of $8.95, which provides access to more than 50 product areas, remains unchanged, as do rates for CompuServe members billed under the Alternative ("pay-as-you-go")Pricing Plan. Through this pricing reduction, CompuServe is passing along cost savings realized by the use of advanced technology and "commodity"-priced hardware in its host computer systems. For complete information about CompuServe's Standard and Alternative Pricing Plans, to check your current billing option or to change from one billing option to the other, GO CHOICE. > From the Atari Editor's Desk "Saying it like it is!" """""""""""""""""""""""""""" I have one question: Is this snow ever going to end?? I'm sitting here writing this week's column knowing that another storm is upon us here on the East coast. This is really getting out of hand! Spring is _supposed_ to be less than two weeks away...... I must admit, finally, that I'm getting caught up in the Jaguar fever. It's happening for a number of reasons. First of all, I'm seeing some positive signs that Atari is very serious about this machine - something up until a short time ago, I had serious reservations about. Atari has increased its support staff, for one thing, to help make the Jaguar successful. It wasn't that long ago that Atari was down-sizing its operation to help maintain costs. Also, more Atari staff is visibly online than ever before, hopefully a step in the right direction that will continue for some time to come. So, what does this new burst of enthusiasm mean with regard to STReport? Simply put, we'll be adding more Jaguar coverage to the Atari section of the magazine. I had considered starting a "spin-off" of STReport, devoted to the Jaguar. Ralph and I discussed this, and we both came to the conclusion that a separate magazine wasn't really necessary. We have Jaguar coverage now; we'll just expand it to include reviews and general info. However, I will be expanding our Atari staff to help in these endeavors. I will be referring more to this staff addition a little later on. I also now have a rationalized excuse to buy a Jaguar for myself rather than wait a little longer!! Along with this effort, we have been working with Atari's Don Thomas to help make this possible. Don has been extremely gracious and cooperative the past few weeks for which I'd like to extend my thanks. When I first accepted this editor position, one of my first goals was to re-establish a cooperative working relationship with Atari again to enable us to provide our readers first-hand information from Atari rather than being in a position to make some assumptions that weren't always accurate. Will this relationship influence our editorial views? No, we will continue to tell it as we see it, but with a better flow of information, we'll be able to do a better job. So, with that in mind, we look forward to covering the Jaguar in more depth in the immediate future. I've contacted a number of potential Jaguar reviewers, including our own online fisherman, John Duckworth, for help in this expanded endeavor. We will be determining an expanded coverage schedule soon, and hope to start this no later than the first of April. We will be receiving game carts in the meantime, and hope to have enough time to have at least a couple of reviews for that initial addition. As usual, we will continue to provide Jaguar- related news weekly as we have in the past. In this issue you'll find a number of related articles as this has been one exciting week for Jaguar news! One of the first questions that I know I'll be asked in E-Mail is whether or not we will be discontinuing our Atari computer coverage in favor of the Jaguar. The answer is a resounding NO!! We will continue to keep you up-to-date on the computer side of things. While Atari may have put their computer products on the back burner, there are still new products being released by 3rd parties and we will do our best to keep you abreast of them. Well, we have some exciting things for you this week, so let's get to them!! Until next time... Delphi's Atari Advantage TOP TEN DOWNLOADS (3/9/94) (1) DATABASE CHANGES (6) WHYNTRNT.ZIP (2) MARCEL WORD PROCESSOR V. 2.2 *(7) REVENGE DOCUMENT DISPLAYER 3.1 (3) WHATIS 6.6 *(8) PROFILE 1.44 (4) WINGLORD *(9) DELPHI FTP AUTO-LOGON SCRIPT (5) HSMODA02 HIGH SPEED PORT FIX *(10) MONO MONITOR BROKE? * = New on list 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 #10.10) ATARI EXPLORER ONLINE (Current issue: AEO - VOLUME 3, ISSUE 4) Look for the above files in the RECENT ARRIVALS database. ____________________________________________ > PGST 3.0? STR FOCUS! Chances are... SLIM & NONE! """""""""""""""""""" PAGESTREAM 3.0 FOR ATARI MACHINES? FUTURE IN DOUBT! ---------------------------------------------------- (Editor's note) In last week's issue, we reproduced a letter from Atari United! which proposed a letter campaign to Soft-Logik to upgrade Pagestream for Atari computers. There has been some discussion online at Compuserve about the impact of such a letter campaign. While a letter campaign can't possibly hurt (so write yours today!), there's no guarantee that it will make it possible. There are other factors to be evaluated as well. Soft-Logik's CIS representative, Michael, provides some insight to this: "There is no magic number of people that have to write in for us to port 3.0 to the Atari. We didn't ask people to write in, the same people kept asking us over and over again online how much response we had had. We said it was poor, they said how would we know if we didn't count, so we said fine, send a letter. ST Informer printed something to that effect. Since then we've been getting maybe a letter or two a week, hardly a flood. I don't know, maybe 30-50 letters all told, maybe 100 requests if everybody who has ever called or emailed us online. Small numbers. In any case, we can't port 3.0 based on upgrade sales alone. We must sell a healthy number of new copies to stay in business. We can only sell new copies if Atari is selling computers to new users. That is the only way. At this time, Atari is selling only a handful of computers, and not to new users. Unless things change, we won't be able to port 3.0 to the Atari. When we announced 3.0 for the Amiga, Atari was upset that we wouldn't develop it for Atari first, although even they must realize their market has collapsed. They asked what they could do to help us port 3.0 to the Atari. They were very eager to help out. We gave them some hints, ie selling computers to new users, and that was the last we heard from them. Until Atari gets back into the computer business, we cannot dream of porting 3.0 to the Atari. At this time, it doesn't appear that Atari is in the computer business since they are concentrating on games." Michael @ Soft-Logik Publishing Corp. Regardless of what might happen, I'd still recommend sending out that letter as soon as possible. Soft-Logik is never going to upgrade Pagestream without seeing a concerted interest in the product, especially new users. A number of Atari supporters were dramatically affected by the recent California earthquake. Dana Byrd and Jeff Naideau, from Barefoot Software, have finally started to get things going again although things are still hectic. However, they did manage to get word out that they're moving forward. From Delphi, I saw the following post: Announcing a NEW Phone # for Barefoot Software. It is the only line so please be patient. Dana & Jeff have been through a hard time with the earthquake destroying the business. They are still having computer problems (got any loaners?<G sort of>) Dana say she will call back as soon as possible, so if the machine is on, leave a message. Also Stephan Daystrom is always available on CIS. and Snail mail is being forwarded (I still don't know the new address<G>) THE Number IISS!!>>>310-455-0171 Dana says she apologizes for any inconvenience this has caused. It's good to know that both Dana and Jeff are getting things back to normal again; we hope their losses were minimal. ____________________________________ > STR InfoFile """""""""""" Label Madness - Finally, A Solution!! ===================================== Graphic Effects, the company that brought you the Atari Font Resource Guide, the largest collection of Public Domain and Shareware Fonts is proud to present...Avery Plus(sm) Avery Plus is a collection of templates for Avery/Dennison's line of Specialty Labels. These templates are compatible with Pagestream and all versions of Calamus..including Calamus NT! It is no longer a chore to create great looking labels. Avery Plus is an easy and efficient way to produce professional looking labels with graphics from virtually any printer and includes preset layouts for Avery laser products. Labels supported are: Avery# Dimensions # of Labels Description 5260/5160 1 x 2 5/8 30 Rectangular Labels 5267 1/2 x 1 3/4 80 File Folder 5161/5262 1 x 4 20 Address 5162/5262 1 1/3 x 4 14 " 5163 2 x 4 10 " 5164 3 1/3 x 4 6 Mailing Labels 5266 2/3 x 3 7/16 30 5293 1 2/3 24 Circle 5294 2 1/2 12 " 5295 3 1/3 6 " 5660 1 x 2 5/6 30 Transparent Address Labels 5662 1 1/3 x 4 1/4 14 5663 2 x 4 1/4 10 5196 2 3/4 x 2 3/4 9 3 1/2 inch Floppy 5197 1 1/2 x 4 12 5 1/4 inch Floppy 41257 6 Ring Binder Small 41358 6 Ring Binder Large 5371 Business Cards 5385 Standard Size Roladex Cards 5390 Name Tags 5389 4 x 6 2 Index/Post Card 5388 3 x 5 3 Index/Post Card Custom Templates are available. Pricing: Atari Font Resource Guide 19.95 plus $2s/h ($4 off 1st order!) Avery Plus(Calamus/Pagestream) 34.95 plus $1.50 s/h For more information on Avery Plus or The Atari Font Resource Guide, which now contains over 500 PD/Shareware fonts for all versions of Calamus and 370 ATM Type 1 fonts for Pagestream/Windows/etc...write to: Graphic Effects 197 North Washington Avenue Centereach, NY 11720-1925 (516) 471-1529 (Voice and FAX) ___________________________________________________ > SuperMac STR InfoFile """"""""""""""""""""" *** Reprinted with permission *** Sysop note-- you can access more of the BUSINESSWIRE via the OTC newswire in the Executive News Service area of CompuServe. SUNNYVALE, CALIF. (MARCH 9) BUSINESS WIRE - March 9, 1994--SuperMac Technology Inc. (NASDAQ:SMAC), the leader in color graphics technology, made public today its plans to incorporate the new Texas Instruments MVP chip into future product design. SuperMac will utilize the MVP chip in a new accelerator card for CD-ROM content developers using SuperMac's Cinepak video compression technology. The MVP chip will offer a significant performance boost for Cinepak, due mainly to its powerful architecture of four parallel processors and one RISC master processor. "Our Cinepak software algorithm has become the de facto standard for CD-ROM compression and real-time playback on multiple computer and game platforms," said Jay Torborg, vice president of engineering at SuperMac Technology. "We intend to utilize the phenomenal capabilities in the MVP chip to dramatically accelerate Cinepak's front-end compression." Cinepak has become widely used by multimedia developers, game designers, and digital-video artists to produce CD-ROMs of their work. Cinepak's real-time playback across multiple platforms is highly desirable to this audience because it eliminates the need to re-create their work for each platform. However, Cinepak's slow video compression during the production phase is the number one limitation expressed by these users. A Cinepak hardware/software accelerator solution that incorporates the MVP chip would represent a major advance for this market. "Each of the DSP-like processors on the MVP will give us a noticeable performance increase for Cinepak compression, but with four of them, the time-savings will be incredible," Torborg said. Cinepak is a video compression/decompression (CODEC) scheme that enables each video frame to occupy less storage space than usual, while retaining highly accurate colors and excellent image quality. The high-quality compression and high compression ratios result in high frame rates and greatly minimizes compression artifacts which make for a great playback experience for the user. The advanced image-compression techniques of Cinepak allow full-length movies to fit on a CD-ROM while retaining true color and realistic quality much closer to the original video source material. SuperMac has licensed Cinepak to Apple Computer, Microsoft Corp., Creative Labs, The 3DO Company, Atari Corp., Cirrus Logic, Sega of America Inc., and Weitek Corp. "As a point of reference, the speed of a Cinepak accelerator card built around the MVP chip running on a standard Macintosh will run rings around any personal computer on the market," Torborg said. SuperMac plans to ship products containing the MVP chip technology in 1994, but volume shipments will depend on Texas Instruments' production schedule, according to Torborg. Based in Sunnyvale, SuperMac designs products that accelerate and enhance the performance of PowerPC, Macintosh and Windows-based computer systems. The company is a leading supplier of graphics peripherals to the color-publishing, digital-video, digital photography and business productivity markets. Its products include accelerated color graphics cards, image-processing accelerators, large-screen color displays, color printers and digital-video solutions. _______________________________________ > LYNX DEALS! STR InfoFile """""""""""""""""""""""" Atari Offers Online Community Special Lynx Promotion! NOTICE: PLEASE FEEL FREE TO FORWARD THIS OFFER TO FRIENDS! Atari Corporation is looking for ways to reward onliners for their dedicated support of our products. We have come to appreciate the volume of great ideas, suggestions, criticisms and compliments. We know you are buying our products already, but we think you deserve a little more. The following offer is available to members of all popular online services including the Internet and public access BBS's. It is also available to readers of popular online magazines who choose to support their readers by reprinting this offer. Look for other online offers soon. SPAN: Good from 3/1/94 to 6/1/94 OFFER: Buy a Lynx, get 2 carts free. BONUS: Free Scorpions CD Single to first 100 orders! DESCRIPTION: Buy a Lynx game system for only $99.99 and receive your choice of TWO game carts free ($80 value. That's like getting the Lynx for just $20!) CHOOSE FROM: * World Class Soccer * NFL Football * Checkered Flag * Pinball Jam * Pitfighter * Dracula; The Undead * Batman Returns ($49.99 value!) * Chip's Challenge * Dirty Larry, Renegade Cop * Rampart (Don't see your favorite?... ask!) WHAT IS A LYNX? Atari(r) Lynx(tm) is the ultimate portable video game machine. It delivers over 4,000 colors, up-to 8-player connectivity potential, 16-bit graphics engine, 3.5" diag. playing screen, hardware scaling, headphone jack, right/left handed controls and lots and lots of cartridges to choose from. ...Arcade video game fun everywhere you go. Note: If you already own a Lynx, use this one to ComLynx with family members or put it aside as a gift ... (keep the free carts for YOU!) ... or form an alliance with a friend and split the costs! Terms subject to change without notice. Offer valid only to North American locations. HOW TO ORDER ATARI CORPORATION OFFERS: (It's easy) 1) Fill out the order template below. 2) a. E-Mail (PRIVATELY) this order to any online Atari representative. Ask for it to be forwarded to Don Thomas or Bob Brodie. (BEST METHOD) b. Fax order to 408/745-2088. (SECOND BEST) c. Mail order to P.O. Box 61657, Sunnyvale, CA 94089 d. Call your order to 408/745-2098 (9-5 PST) Note: Phones are often jammed with excited Jaguar callers. Please be patient! FULL NAME TO SHIP: ADDRESS TO SHIP: APARTMENT, SUITE, LOT: CITY, STATE, PROVINCE, POSTAL CODE: DAY PHONE NUMBER: ( ) NIGHT PHONE NUMBER: ( ) ON-LINE SERVICE USED: ON-LINE USER I.D./ADDRESS: NOT THE PASSWORD! ----- Complete if first order in 12 months ------- | FULL NAME ON CREDIT CARD: | | MASTERCARD/VISA NUMBER: | | EXPIRATION DATE: | -------------------------------------------------- EDIT ORDER BELOW: DESCRIPTION QTY EACH EXTENDED ================================================== 1 Lynx complete 1 $ 99.99 $ 99.99 2 ??????? cartridge 1 FREE FREE 3 ??????? cartridge 1 FREE FREE 4 ================================================== SUB TOTAL ............................ $ 99.99 CALIFORNIA TAX (8.25% if applicable).. $ 0.00 SHIPPING & HANDLING* ................. $ 4.95 ================================================== TOTAL (U.S. funds) ................... $ 104.94 # # # END OF FILE # # # Due to being in the right place at the wrong time, we missed last weekend's special Tempest 2000 offer from Atari. However, we can still share with you the winners of that special offer to ship 10 copies of Tempest 2000 in advance of the game's scheduled release in a few weeks. NOTE: THIS MESSAGE MAY BE RE-BROADCAST AT READER'S DISCRETION. (text file created 03/08/94 by Donald A. Thomas, Jr. @ Atari Corporation) I am pleased to report that Atari Corporation has begun accepting preorders for Tempest 2000. This award winning Jaguar game cartridge features four mindblowing versions of Tempest on one cart. Features include classic variations of the original Tempest PLUS three enhanced variations including Tempest Dual (for two players). To help celebrate the release of this product, ten copies of Tempest 2000 have been flown in advance. These have been sent this afternoon (3/8/94) by means of U.P.S. to ten qualified preorder customers. Congratulations to the following ten "Jaguardians": P. Blagay of La Mesa, CA R. Cupples of Ames, IA T. Funke-Bilu of Claremont, CA G.A. Glenn of San Diego, CA D. Glowacki of Greencastle, IN K.M. Lee of Corpus Christi, TX J.T. Millar of Jeffersonville, PA R.J. Sherman, Jr. of Louisville, KY (1 of 2 ordered) T. Steimle of Cleveland, OH J. Van Valer of Menlo Park, CA We, at Atari, thank everyone who has placed a pre-order. PLEASE tell your friends that they will be able to find Tempest 2000 within a couple of weeks at their local store! For those who are interested... all the orders collected by a predetermined time were printed and alphabetized. Duplicates were removed. Mike Fulton wrote a quick program in C that provided a list of random numbers from -10 to 10 over the total number of orders. (I broadened the range to make certain there was no preference or abandonment of the first and last number). We used the list of random numbers to represent positions in our alphabetized stack. Tempest 2000 is $59.99. Orders may be placed through Atari Corporation if desired. Fax 408/745-2000; Voice 408/745-2098. (E-Mail works too [75300,1267].) Look for other promotions soon. I suggest you visit this forum frequently to make sure you don't miss out! <g> Don Thomas Atari Corporation _____________________________________________________ > GORE?? GUTS?? STR Spotlight """""""""""""""""""""""""""" VIDEO GAMES RATINGS CONTROVERSY! ================================ WASHINGTON (AP) -- Video game makers, trying to head off a bill that would require them to label the sex and violence on their programs, are pointing to one company's voluntary ratings as proof that the industry can police itself. For the last six months, Sega of America Inc., whose bloody Mortal Kombat and NightTrap games came under fierce congressional attack last year, has been voluntarily rating all of its titles based on the amount of sex or violence. Games suitable for all ages are labeled "GA," for general audience. Those labeled "MA-13" are most appropriate for children 13 and older and an "MA-17" label is for users 17 and older. The video industry is creating its own rating system and is looking at Sega's ratings as a guide, said Jack Heistand, chairman of committee that is crafting a voluntary ratings plan for the $6 billion-a-year industry. Ed Volkwein, Sega's senior vice president of marketing, said about 90 percent of Sega's games are labeled "GA," 7 percent are "MA-13" and 3 percent are "MA-17." The labels are meant as guidance and there's nothing to prevent a youngster from buying a game rated "MA-17." But consumer response has been positive, said Volkwein, who is scheduled to testify about the ratings today before a Senate subcommittee. Sega, based in Redwood City, Calif., is one of the two largest makers of video games in the country. The industry's plan relies on a board of experts to review and rate each title before they hit retailers' shelves, Heistand said. Educators, parents, child psychologists and business people will be on the board; their identities will not be made public, he said. The industry, which is in the process of putting together it first trade association, will hire a director to oversee the ratings system, Heistand said. The director will appoint the board's members. Lawmakers were pleased but skeptical. The senators "will not pull legislation at this point," said Jim Kennedy, press secretary for Sen. Joseph Lieberman, D-Conn., chairman of the Senate Governmental Affairs subcommittee on regulation and information. "We want to keep their feet to the fire," Kennedy said, declining to say what would make lawmakers abandon legislation. Lieberman and Sen. Herb Kohl, D-Wis., have been riding herd over the industry. In February, they introduced a bill requiring the industry to create a ratings or warning label system so that parents will know whether the games contain violent or sexual images they don't want their children to see. As for the industry's own system, Heistand, who also is senior vice president of San Mateo, Calif., game producer Electronic Arts, could not say whether quantitative or qualitative measures or a mix of both would guide the board's judgments. It was not clear how many companies will abide by the industry's plan. But Heistand said he expected support from the seven, accounting for 50 percent of worldwide game sales. Those companies include Nintendo, Atari and 3DO. The plan does not include penalties for companies that do not keep their commitment, he said. Lieberman last held a hearing on the issue in December. Since then a number of companies changed their marketing plans. Numerous studies have suggested a link between violence on television and aggressive behavior in children. Lieberman says the link is probably stronger when it comes to video games. "With television shows, violent images are measured in the dozens per hour," he says. "With video games, violent images occur in the thousands per hour." ATARI ANNOUNCES TOTAL OF 86 DEVELOPERS, PUBLISHERS AND LICENSEES FOR JAGUAR SUNNYVALE, Calif., March 7 /PRNewswire/ -- Atari Corp. (AMEX: ATC) announced today that its award-winning Jaguar 64-bit game system has attracted 86 top developers, publishers and licensees since its introduction in November 1993. Among the 48 new partners announced today are ReadySoft Inc., publisher of "Dragon's Lair," "Dragon's Lair II" and "Space Ace"; Bullfrog Productions Ltd., developer of "Populous" and "Powermonger"; Imagineer, publisher of "Wolfenstein 3D (SNES)"; Jaleco, a leading manufacturer of arcade games and home video games including "Super Bases Loaded" and "Pro-Sport Hockey"; and Sculptured Software, developer of "Mortal Kombat" for Acclaim. "The innovative technology unleashed by Jaguar challenges us to change our approach to developing software," said Glen Williams, technical director, Williams Brothers Development, one of the newly signed software developers. "With Jaguar, game developing is no longer a matter of working within the machine's capabilities, but of living up to them." Since Jan. 1, 1994, Atari has signed 48 new partners. These are: Accent Media Productions Anthill Industries (ASG) All Systems Go Argonaut Software Ltd. Audio Visual Magic Bethesda Softworks Bjorn Joos/Kris Van Lier Black Scorpion Software Borta & Associates Bullfrog Productions Ltd. Clearwater Software Computer Music Consulting Cybervision CyberWare Delta Music Systems Inc. Domark Group Ltd. DTMC Duncan Brown Elite E-On EZ Score Software Inc. GameTek Inc. Genus Microprogramming Inc. H2O Design Corp. HiSoft ICD Inc. Imagineer Co. Ltd. Jaleco Limelight Media Inc. Manley & Associates Inc. NMS Software Ltd. Photosurealism PIXIS Interactive ReadySoft Inc. Rest Energy Sculptured Software Inc. Software Creations Team Infinity Team 17 Software Ltd. Technation Digital World Techtonics Teque London Ltd. Thrustmaster V-Reel Virtual Xperience Visual Concepts Williams Brothers WMS Industries "We are pleased the industry's most innovative, successful software companies continues to join the Jaguar team," said Sam Tramiel, president of Atari. "Jaguar is the world's most powerful multimedia video game system. Consequently, this platform offers leading developers and publishers unprecedented creative and commercial opportunities." "Atari has used cutting-edge technology to push Jaguar's system architecture beyond the industry's next natural stage and leaped ahead of its competitors in the process," said Lou Viveros, president of V-Reel and Viveros and Associates, a leading video game consulting firm. "Our games will require creativity and flexibility in the development process and outstanding system performance during game play. Consequently, the decision to develop for Jaguar was an easy one." V-Reel will develop and market Arena Football exclusively for Jaguar. This represents the first license of the Arena Football League for home video game systems. V-Reel also plans to develop Horrorscope, a Jaguar fighting game based on the 12 characters of the Zodiac. Atari Jaguar is the world's first 64-bit interactive multimedia home entertainment system and is the only video game system manufactured in the United States. Jaguar was recently named the industry's "Best New Game System" (VideoGames Magazine), "Best New Hardware System" (Game Informer) and "1993 Technical Achievement of the Year" (DieHard GameFan). Atari expects to deliver its Jaguar CD-peripheral mid-year at a suggested retail price of $200. Atari Corp., based in Sunnyvale, manufactures and markets 64-bit interactive multimedia entertainment systems, video games and personal computers for the home, office and educational marketplaces. NOTE: All trademarks are the property of their respective owners. -0- 3/7/94 /CONTACT: Terry Valeski of Atari, 408-745-2000; or Lynn Thompson of Cunningham Communication, 408-764-0740, for Atari/(ATC) CO: Atari Corp. ST: California IN: CPR SU: ______________________________________________ > CAT BOX STR InfoFile """""""""""""""""""" CAT BOX(TM) - THE FIRST ALL-IN-ONE INTERFACE FOR THE ATARI JAGUAR March 7, 1994 -- Black Cat Design, a designer of computer peripherals and accessories, and ICD, today announced Cat Box, the complete interface adapter for the Atari Jaguar 64-bit game system. Cat Box plugs directly into the AV/DSP ports on the back of the Jaguar. Its custom case measures just 6 x 1.5 x 1 inches and perfectly accents the sleek Jaguar design. Cat Box provides all of the standard connections that Jaguar customers desire. Standard ports include: S-Video, Composite Video, Left & Right Audio Out, Dual Stereo Headphones, Analog RGB Video, RS-232, ComLynx, and DSP. All connectors are "industry standard". Standards are a big part of Cat Box and connectivity is the key. The RS-232 port will connect to standard modems. The ComLynx port will join other Jaguar and Lynx game systems for multi-player games and other networking ideas. Black Cat Design is actively working with game developers to ensure support for these ports. An imaginative, well thought out design includes flexibility for the future. Internal expansion connectors for future add-in cards ensure that Cat Box will be as useful then as it is now. Future products under consideration include a Midi interface and an internal modem. ICD has licensed Cat Box from Black Cat Design for exclusive world-wide distribution. Thomas Harker, president of ICD, explained, "This product is an unbelievable value. I wouldn't be surprised if all Jaguar owners buy a Cat Box. My family is really thankful for the headphone jacks when our twin boys are playing Raiden. Finally, peace and quiet again in the game room. The boys can't wait for the next generation of multi-player games to arrive. Imagine, dual Jaguars head to head. Cat Box will help make this possible. It makes so much sense, I don't know why it wasn't done before." The Cat Box will begin shipping early next quarter at an MSRP of $49.95. ICD is taking orders now with shipments expected in May. For further information, contact ICD Public Relations in the United States by phone (815) 968-2228 extension 222 or fax (815) 968-6888. Cat Box is a trademark of Black Cat Design. Other trademarks are those of their respective holders. _____________________________________________ > JAG OWNERS! STR FOCUS! """""""""""""""""""""" Calling all Jaguar owners!! With all of the enthusiasm being generated with the Jaguar these past few months, it makes sense for us at STReport to have additional coverage for this terrific new machine. So, we'll be looking for Jaguar owners to do reviews of current games, and new ones when they are released. I'm in the process of finalizing plans with Atari to obtain current games available, and new ones as they are available. I also plan to talk with other Jaguar game developers to establish a similar effort. As it stands with Atari, the games we obtain for review will be on a _loaner_ basis. Loaner "contracts" will be discussed shortly; and all reviewers will be required to abide by these contracts (you won't be able to keep the games!). If you're interested in doing game reviews, please contact me via E-Mail at the following addresses ASAP: Delphi: DPJ CIS: 71051,3327 GEnie: D.JACOBSON2 Toad Hall: (617)567-8642 or 569-2489 All potential reviewers should include some writing samples along with your E-Mail. Since we expect a good response, we need to select people who have good writing skills. You do _not_ have to be an Atari computer user to be eligible. Please include with your message your name, address, phone number(s), and online address(es) so we can contact you. We'll also be interested in people to do non-review articles about the Jaguar. Some examples would be articles on peripherals, game tips, FAQs (Frequently Asked Questions) and answers, cheats, etc. So, help share your Jaguar enjoyment with others! Please get in touch with me as soon as possible to get in on the fun. -Dana P. Jacobson STReport Atari Editor __________________________________________________ > The Old Fishin' Hole STR Feature """""""""""""""""""""""""""""""" THE OLD FISHIN' HOLE ==================== -A Guide to the Online PD/Shareware Waters. by John R. Duckworth Grab your favorite recipes, get your fingers ready, and have your printer fired up because this week we'll be taking a look at an updated application that is sure to have everybody cooking! "The Recipe Box v.4.4" by Anthony Watson of Mountain Software is a very useful recipe filing and retrieval application which should be on every cook's hard drive. The program should run on all Atari TOS computer systems with at least a 512k of memory (although I had a bit of a problem getting it to run on my Falcon with over a meg for some strange reason) and in any resolution greater than 640x200. The application runs in a GEM window so there should be no problem getting it to run comfortably under MultiTOS or Geneva. Taking control of the desktop colors and changing them without notice was one of my biggest complaints with some of Mountain Software's other efforts. Mr. Watson has fixed that in "The Recipe Box" by providing a selection in the setup menu to allow the program to use the desktop colors. The program only uses the first four colors of the desktop, so if the user elects to go with their own system colors, most likely the program's 3-D buttons will no longer appear to be so. Perhaps a better idea would be to allow the user to remap which desktop color is assigned to a certain segments of the 3-D buttons. That way those with 16 desktop colors available could take advantage of that fact. Other interlace options include setting how certain text and background attributes. After "The Recipe Box" is set-up to your liking, it's time to start typing in all those recipes which you've accumulated over the years. The main screen consists of two columns, one with a list of chapter names and the other with a list of recipes in the currently highlighted chapter. The chapter names can be anything you wish, after all, it's _your_ recipe book. To input a recipe, the user may either import it from the systems clipboard, a disk file, or he/she may choose to type it in manually. "The Recipe Box" automatically recognizes those recipes in Meal-Master, Computer Chef, or Recipe Box 3.5 formats. There are literally thousands of recipes available online in the Meal-Master format alone. It's no huge chore to enter a recipe manually, simply enter the title, list the ingredients on the left side of the screen and then finish off with the instructions on the right. Voila! The user now has the beginnings of a respectable computerized cook book. Recipes may be viewed, exported, or printed at any time. Suppose a recipe makes 3 servings but you have 6 guests coming for dinner. No problem as far as "The Recipe Box" is concerned. Simply click on the resize button, type the number of servings desired, and the program recalculates the needed ingredients. Recipes may be exported in Meal-Master v.7 format which most other platforms will be able to use. Printing a recipe is simple as well, they may be done individually or by the batch. With GDOS (SpeedoGDOS) loaded, "The Recipe Box" produces wonderfully formatted recipes with fonts specified by the user. Other useful features of the package include a search utility (to find all of those chocolate-chip cookie recipes), a handy calorie chart (to see just how much you'll have to exercise after baking that cake), a grocery list (no longer will you have to manually write those long lists), and a meal planner (no more excuses when the kids ask what they'll be having for dinner tomorrow). "The Recipe Box" is a great package which should even appeal to the ladies out there (heck...my Mom is starting to bug me to loan her my old ST). The demo version available online is limited to 60 recipes, and a registered version is available from the author for $35.00. Another useful utility which I received this week is the "HD Free CPX" by Michael Fordermair of Ghostbyte software. This small CPX shows free hard drive space as well as system memory available. Although the info box displays a copyright date of 1992, it has just recently been translated to english. It will make a nice addition to those users with an extensible control panel. We've hit the bottom of the pail for this week. Tune back in a week from now for another round of new public domain/shareware offerings for you favorite computer. Comments/questions/recipes e-mail: JDUCKWORTH@delphi.com. +----------------------------------------------------------------+ | Old Fishin Hole Tackle Box * | +----------------------------------------------------------------+ | Recipe Box 4.4 | | GEnie: Atari ST RT - #32138 | | | | HD Free CPX | | Delphi: Atari Advantage - READ HARD DRIVE FREE | | GEnie: Atari ST RT - #32171 | +----------------------------------------------------------------+ * 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. """""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""" STReport's "EDITORIAL CARTOON" """""""""""""""""""""""""""""" > A "Quotable Quote" The "Who Cares?" Dep't. """"""""""""""""" "Today is the Tomorrow.... You worried about Yesterday!" """""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""" > DEALER CLASSIFIED LIST STR InfoFile * Dealer Listings * """"""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""" --------------- ABCO Incorporated ================= P.O. Box 6672 Jacksonville, Florida 32221-6155 Est. 1985 1-904-783-3319 1994 SPRING SPECIALS NOW IN EFFECT! ------------------------ ABCO manufactures custom storage devices! INTEL 32 BIT 486[DX]33-66 Tower P24T READY (HAS ZIF SOCKET) PLUG-IN UPGRADABLE (easy) 8MB ram upgradable to 32MB 1MB SVGA VESA VIDEO CARD Sound Blaster Compatible Stereo Sound Card DOS 6.2 - Windows 3.11 Included 256K CACHE - 1.44/1.2 FLOPPY Drives, Mouse & 101 deluxe Keyboard 250MB IDE hd - 2 SERIAL, 1 PARALLEL, 1 GAME PORTS 250W POWER SUPPLY TOWER SYSTEM 14" Non-Interlaced SVGA 1024x768, 28dpi Monitor 33Mhz ver. S&H Incl 1295.00 495.00 with order, balance COD other higher powered packages available or, design your own! Call for value added pricing! Call: 904-783-3319 Anytime, Voice Mail =====******===== Syquest Removable 44-105-270mb SCSI Drives All Size 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 Soundblaster Cards and compatibles 8 & 16 bit Pro Audio Spectrum STUDIO 16 - 16bit - Midi - Audio Recognition Top of the Media Vision PAS 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.) """""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""" STReport International Online Magazine -* [S]ilicon [T]imes [R]eport *- AVAILABLE ON OVER 20,001 PRIVATE BBS SYSTEMS """""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""" STR Online! "YOUR INDEPENDENT NEWS SOURCE" March 11, 1994 Since 1987 copyright (c) 1987-93 All Rights Reserved No.1011 """""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""" All Items quoted, in whole or in part, are done so under the provisions of The Fair Use Law of The Copyright Laws of the U.S.A. Views, Opinions and Editorial Articles presented herein are not necessarily those of the editors/staff of STReport International Online Magazine. Permission to reprint articles is hereby granted, unless otherwise noted. Reprints must, without exception, include the name of the publication, date, issue number and the author's name. STR, STReport and/or portions therein may not be edited in any way without prior written permission. STR, STReport, at the time of publication, is believed reasonably accurate. STR, STReport, its staff and contributors are not and cannot be held responsible in any way for the use or misuse of information contained herein or the results obtained therefrom. """"""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""