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SILICON TIMES REPORT ==================== INTERNATIONAL ONLINE MAGAZINE ============================= from STR Electronic Publishing Inc. September 16, 1994 No. 1038 ====================================================================== Silicon Times Report International Online Magazine Post Office Box 6672 Jacksonville, Florida 32221-6155 R.F. Mariano Publisher-Editor ----------------------------------------- Voice: 1-904-783-3319 10am-4pm EST STR Publishing Support BBS Network System * THE BOUNTY BBS * ITCNet 85:881/253 JAX HUB ~ FNET 350 ~ Nest 90:301/3 904-786-4176 MULTI-NODE 24hrs-7 days 2400-115.2 bps V.32-34 v.42 bis 28.8 Hayes Optima 28.8 V.FC Data/FAX USRobotics Dual Standard 28.8 V.FC Ready Fax FAX: 904-783-3319 12am-6am 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 ______________________________________________________________________ > 09/16/94 STR 1038 "The Original * Independent * Online Magazine!" """"""""""""""""" - STR INDUSTRY REPORT - V.34 Explained! - Hayes Speech - Compaq Intros Presario - Diamond Updates! - Creative BlasterWare! - Adobe Acrobat NEWS - MS Office NEWS - Jaguar NewsWire - People Talking! - Step Ahead News - STR Confidential! -* IBM TO DELAY NEW PPCS?? *- -* QEMM 7.5 -> REALITY!! *- -* POWER MACS GET BIGGER DRIVES! *- ========================================================================== 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 ITC/PROWL/USENET/NEST/F-Net/Fido Mail Networks. You may also call The Bounty BBS direct @ 1-904-786-4176. Enjoy the wonder and excitement of exchanging all types of useful information relative to all computer types, worldwide, through the use of excellent International Networking Systems. SysOps and users alike worldwide, are welcome to join STReport's International Conferences. ITC Node is 85:881/250, The Fido Node is 1:374/147.3, Crossnet Code is #34813, and the "Lead Node" is #620. All computer platforms and BBS systems are invited to participate. ========================================================================== CIS ~ DELPHI ~ GENIE ~ 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!" """""""""""""""""""""" As I sit here at 3:45pm listening to the thunderous noise coming from the surrounding Naval Air Bases with their aircraft taking off left and right, I have no choice but to remotely think that even while CNN is claiming the Haitian leadership still has the chance to get out and spare the Haitian people from an invasion, it might eventually happen. I wonder who'll claim responsibility when and if it happens. Truthfully, I am saddend by the whole sordid affair. I can honestly say that everyone I asked about this "invasion business" was clearly against its occurring. Hopefully, it will never come to pass. If it does, I'll support our troops until its over but never the decision to do so. One can only wonder how this great nation can justify such actions in this decade when only five decades ago, we fought against nations who were "doing" the same thing! (Forcing their will upon others) Why must we, as a huge super power, find Haiti's petty politics a major "threat" to our national security? Because a few thousand of its starving masses seeking refuge? Or, is it because of the clamoring of those large US Corporations whose "business life" is threatened?? Those very same corporations have been greedily taking advantage of Haitian workers for years by only paying them the average of $12.00 to $21.00 per 40hr week! Could it be the American Major League Baseball people? After all, ALL the baseballs used in the major leagues are made in Haiti. Finally, can it be the, all too powerful, Military-Industrial Complex of the USA that must continue to feed upon the flesh of not only this nation's young but also those of other nations to survive? One can't help but wonder if money isn't the real, all-powerful deciding factor behind the Clinton-Haitian Debacle. Admittedly, I am ashamed for and of my govt for these acts of self- serving discrimination. The ravaged peoples of Bosnia deservedly need the protective cloak of the UN and the USA. Much more so than we or any country in the western hemisphere does. Threatened?? By what? Three loudmouthed Generals commanding a ragtag mob in a poverty stricken country? Is it going to take another winter of seeing a constant stream of horribly mutilated men, women and sadly, children flowing from Bosnia to get some _real action_ there? How many must die from the hot action in Bosnia before Clinton gets off his duff and acts _in the name of the people_ to stop the horrific carnage there. Ultimately it will be proven that We, as a nation, a super power, really have/had nothing to fear from or about the Haitians. The "Haitian Defense Force" is only a name! A facade! They have nothing to boast of except a few dilapidated, if working at all, WWII fighter planes and an old, H55 (Korean War) Helicopter. Perhaps, after we bully our way through Haiti as we did in Granada and Panama, we may as a nation, finally be forced to have second thoughts about how we regard ourselves in the eyes of Almighty God. For, in the eyes of man, we can be regarded only as a belligerent giant protecting its own, seemingly selfish, interests. Ever wonder what would've happened if some other nation came along and kidnapped Bush, placed him on trial in a criminal court and then jailed him as we did Panama's Noriega? Whatever became of an individual nation's borders and sovereignty? Obviously, by our own actions, we do not respect any other nation's sovereignty. How, in heaven's name, can we expect any nation on earth to respect ours other than simply by brute force? Since 1987, our first issue, I've never seriously commented about politics except to poke some fun at the zany antics of a few politicos. I simply had to get those comments off my heart. It was and is hurting. I apologize for doing so. But maybe just maybe, the so called "expert advisors" will somehow see that the majority of the people in the USA do not support this Haitian action. Now, Back to computers and computing... Seybold was this past week and the news from its "hallowed halls are first beginning to filter back. In the next few weeks, we shall explore every last tidbit. Quarterdeck has announced QEMM 7.5, all the information about this memory saving wonder are in this issue, don't miss it. Thanks again for reading STR and in particular, my Haitian commentary, my first political and hopefully, last commentary. Remember we welcome your mail, let us hear from you! In closing, Delrina has asked for a list of annoyances in their WinComm Pro program... send them along to us in either Email or hard copy mail. Rest assured, Delrina will get each and every one of them. Thanks for your support! Ralph.... Of Special Note: ---------------- STReport will be branching out further to Internet's userbase in the very near future. We've received numerous requests to receive STReport from a wide variety of Internet addresses. As a result, we're putting together an Internet distribution/mailing list for those who wish to receive STReport on a regular basis, and we'll UUENCODE each issue and mail it to you. If you're interested in being added to our mailing list, please, send your requests to either "dpj@delphi.com" or, RMARIANO@DELPHI.COM. Look for mailings to begin by October first. We are also considering a number of Internet ftp sites in which to post our issues as well. Whatever we can do to make STReport available to you, we'll try it! """""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""" 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. Niles J. Deegan D. P. Jacobson STReport Staff Editors: """"""""""""""""""""""" Michael Arthur John Deegan Brad Martin John Szczepanik Paul Guillot Joseph Mirando Doyle Helms Frank Sereno John Duckworth Jeff Coe Steve Keipe Guillaume Brasseur Melanie Bell Jay Levy Jeff Kovach Marty Mankins Carl Prehn Paul Charchian Contributing Correspondents: """""""""""""""""""""""""""" Tim Holt Norman Boucher Clemens Chin Eric Jerue Ron Deal Mike Barnwell Ed Westhusing Glenwood Drake Vernon W.Smith Bruno Puglia Paul Haris Kevin Miller Craig Harris Allen Chang Dominick J. Fontana 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..................... 1:347/147.3 FNET........................... NODE 350 ITC NET...................... 85:881/253 NEST........................ 90:21/350.0 GEnie......................... ST-REPORT Internet.............RMARIANO@DELPHI.COM STReport, with its policy of not accepting any paid advertising, has over the years developed the reputation of "saying it like it really is". When it comes to our editorials, product evaluations, reviews and over-views, we shall always keep our readers interests first and foremost. With the user in mind, STReport further pledges to maintain the reader confidence that has been developed over the years and to continue "living up to such". All we ask is that our readers make certain the manufacturers, publishers etc., know exactly where the information about their products appeared. In closing, we shall arduously endeavor to meet and further develop the high standards of straight forwardness our readers have come to expect in each and every issue. The Staff & Editors """"""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""" > STR INDUSTRY REPORT LATE BREAKING INDUSTRY-WIDE NEWS """"""""""""""""""" IBM/POWER-PC/PC SECTION (I) =========================== Computer Products Update - CPU Report ------------------------ ---------- Weekly Happenings in the Computer World Issue #38 Compiled by: Lloyd E. Pulley, Sr. ******* General Computer News ******* ** IBM May Delay New PCs Until 1995 ** Reports say that IBM is "in a major dilemma" over the launch of its much-anticipated PowerPC-based PCs and may delay the systems' release until early 1995. "I don't think they will announce next month," Daniel Mandresh, a Merrill Lynch analyst said. An IBM spokesman said that the company's plan to introduce the PowerPC models remains intact, but whether or not that means a general availability has not yet been determined. ** IBM and CompuAdd Set OS/2 Deal ** Reports say that IBM and CompuAdd Computer Corp. have agreed to a joint marketing deal for current and future versions of IBM's OS/2 operating system, including the OS/2 Warp version now in beta test. Effective immediately, customers can have the 32-bit operating system preloaded on any system in CompuAdd's product line, which has been certified OS/2 compliant by IBM. "This agreement allows CompuAdd to capitalize on the growing momentum behind OS/2, and in particular we expect it to foster incremental sales of our high-end products," says Jerry Mixon, CompuAdd's director of sales and marketing. CompuAdd will continue to preload operating system software from Microsoft Corp. ** PC Input Device Deal Announced ** MicroSpeed Inc., a manufacturer of trackballs, mice and keyboards, says it has acquired the joystick, mice, trackball and game controller card product lines of Kraft Systems Inc. The deal's terms weren't disclosed. MicroSpeed notes that the acquisition gives it approximately 1,200 new retail outlets, making its product line available at over 3,500 locations nationwide as well as nearly 1,000 locations in Europe and other international markets. ** Compaq Introduces Presario PCs ** Compaq Computer Corp. this week will introduce the next generation of its Presario home computer line. Compaq introduced its first Presario models last year. The line is Compaq's fastest selling and most successful product in its history. According to reports, the new models all have a telephone answering machine, a speakerphone, a CD-ROM drive and stereo speakers. Some models can double as a television through a special hook-up, or users can run television in one window while working in another. ** U.S. Electronics Exports Rise ** The Electronic Industries Association reports that U.S. exports of electronics products reached more than $48 billion in the first half of 1994, representing a growth rate of 16% over last year's record exports of $41 billion during the same period. Imports of foreign electronics reached $55.4 billion in the first half of 1994, or 18% over last year's first half imports of $46.8 billion. ** Panasonic Notebook Has CD-ROM ** Panasonic Personal Computer Co. says it has created the first truly portable notebook computer with an internal, full-size CD-ROM drive and stereo sound. The system, called the V41, is designed to provides multimedia com- puting capabilities for mobile professionals. The V41 will be targeted at a wide spectrum of business applications, including sales present- ations, education and training, service and technical reference manuals, and legal databases. The V41 features a full-size, double-speed CD-ROM mounted under the keyboard. The unit supports CD-ROM, multi-session Kodak Photo CD and audio CD formats. The notebook weighs 8.4 pounds, with a floppy disk drive, and 9.1 pounds, with the main battery installed. The V41 accepts PCMCIA cards. The system is available in several configurations, including a DX4/100 MHz, DX2/50 MHz and, in late 1994, a 3.3-volt Pentium CPU. The system has standard RAM configurations of 4MB, 8MB or 16MB, and can be expanded to a maximum of 32MB via optional memory cards. The V41 goes on sale October 10. Three typical configurations and prices are: -:- Intel DX2/50 MHz CPU; 10.4 inch passive matrix (STN) color display; 260MB hard disk drive; 4MB RAM. $4,299. -:- Intel DX4/100 MHz CPU; 10.4 inch active matrix (TFT) color display; 450MB hard disk drive; 8MB RAM. $7,199. -:- Intel DX4/100 MHz CPU; 10.4 inch active matrix (TFT) color display; 450MB hard disk drive; 16MB RAM. $7,799. ** Court Halts Internet Promotion ** A credit-repair promotion on the Internet has been halted by a federal court in Sacramento, California, after the Federal Trade Commission filed a false advertising complaint. Reports from Washington, D.C., said that the FTC has charged Brian Corzine of Sacramento with making false claims in promoting a credit- repair program. Corzine said he was a reseller of a program that was developed by others and presented to him as legal. He explained that other businesses are also selling the same program, although they are not doing it by computer. "As these computer networks continue to grow, we will not tolerate the use of deceptive practices here any more than we have tolerated them on other recently emerged technologies for marketing," said FTC Chairman Janet D. Steiger. Corzine, who is also known as Brian Chase, sold the credit-repair program for $99 through a business he called Chase Consulting. He claimed on the Internet that he could provide legal ways to repair credit, although he actually suggested taking illegal steps. ** Compaq-Intel Feud Goes Public ** A report of a rift between Compaq Computer Corp. and its main micro- processor supplier, Intel Corp. first appeared Monday in Britians Fina- cial Times. The Financial Times report noted that at a recent technology confer- ence in Spain, Compaq chief executive Eckhard Pfeiffer accused Intel of pursuing strategies that were damaging Compaq. Compaq spokeswoman Yvonne Donaldson said that while she was unable to confirm Pfeiffer's precise remarks, "apparently the concerns that he voiced are concerns that we have voiced for several years." Donaldson said Pfeiffer commented on Intel's "Intel Inside" adver- tising campaign, which she said "suggests that customers only have to worry about what microprocessor they use in their computers. "The microprocessor is important," she said, "but Compaq's quality engineer- ing and design and manufacturing in our own shops, let me add, are factors critical to customers' happiness with the product." ** New PCMCIA Modems Unveiled ** U.S. Robotics Inc. has introduced four new PCMCIA modems: two Sportster models and two Courier models. The company notes that each product line will include a V.32bis Data/Fax PCMCIA modem and a V.34 Data/Fax PCMCIA modem. All of the products include both data and fax capabilities and are compatible with PCMCIA 2.1 slots. The $259 Sportster 14.4 Data/Fax PCMCIA 2.1 and the $499 Courier 14.4 Data/Fax PCMCIA 2.1 will ship in September. The $499 Sportster V.34 Data/Fax PCMCIA 2.1 and the $575 Courier V.34 Data/Fax PCMCIA 2.1 will ship in October. All four products include U.S. Robotics' Easy Install and CardSoft PCMCIA software by SystemSoft. They also include a compact dual-RJ11 connector for simultaneous modem and telephone connectivity. ** Acer Unveils Multimedia PCs ** Acer America Corp. has added six new models to its AcerAcros desktop and AcerPower minitower families. The $1,899 AcerPower 60MHz Pentium multimedia system features a 420MB hard disk drive, 8MB of RAM, 256KB of cache, a 16-bit sound card, a double-speed CD-ROM drive, a data modem and bundled software. At the high-end of the new PCs is an AcerPower 90MHz Pentium multimedia PC, featuring a 810MB hard disk drive, 8MB of RAM, a 16-bit sound card, a 14.4K bps data/fax modem with voice mail capability, a double-speed CD- ROM drive and bundled software. The system sells for $2,499. Acer is using the new systems to debut its OOBE (out-of-box experience) support material, which aims to eliminate the frustration users often encounter in setting up and customizing their new PC. Key elements of the OOBE program include: -:- A poster illustrating a seven-step PC set-up process. -:- A one-time "power-up" disk that guides users through setting up a printer, updating the system's time and date settings and completing online registration. -:- The Acer Computer Explorer (ACE) an intuitive menuing system that works with Windows. ** V.34 Modem for Compaq Laptops ** Piiceon says it has developed the industry's first V.34 internal direct-connect cellular fax/data modem for Compaq laptop PCs. The company says it will begin shipping evaluation units within 30 days. The $499 28.8K bps unit offers backward compatibility to V.32bis and V.FAST CLASS. It also provides V.FC, MNP 2-4, MNP 10 and V.42 error- correction support, as well as MNP 5 and V.42bis data- compression (data rates to 115.2K bps), Hayes AutoSync, Group 3 fax and both Class 1 and 2 compatibility. ** Power Macs Get Bigger Drives ** Apple Computer Inc. has announced larger hard disks for its Power Macintosh computers. All Power Macintosh models now feature at least 250MB and up to 1GB of mass storage. System prices remain unchanged. The computer maker has also reduced the prices of configurations which were already equipped with hard disks of at least 250MB. Apple has also announced the availability in the U.S. of the Power Macintosh AV Card. Priced at $479, the user-installable card allows owners to upgrade any Power Mac 6100/60 configuration to a Power Mac 6100/60AV, which features additional audio visual and multimedia capabilities. ** Toshiba Has Fax Machine/Printer ** The Electronic Imaging Division of Toshiba America Information Systems Inc. says it will offer the first multifunctional plain paper laser fax machine that incorporates the Microsoft Windows printing system. Utilizing a standard parallel printer interface, the TF505 fax can serve as a PC printer. The unit has a transmission speed of 14 seconds per page and a printing resolution of 300 dpi. It has a universal 160 sheet paper tray to accommodate both letter and legal-size paper. The machine has an automatic reduction feature to reduce legal-size documents to 8.5- by 11-inch sheets. The TF505 is equipped with 512KB of memory. It has the ability to store approximately 22 letter-size pages. A Fast Scan feature scans pages to memory before dialing. Delayed transmission of up to 24 hours and sequential broadcast dialing are standard. The machine's 20-page automatic document feeder can transmit 16 levels of gray scale for the transmission of photographs, line art, schematic and graphic communications. The TF505 features automatic redialing, 20 one-touch dialing keys, four programmable one- touch Group Dialing keys and last number redialing. The unit also comes with alphabetic dialing and a built-in phonebook for storing 50 frequently called destinations. The $2,399 TF505 will be available in the fourth quarter. Lotus Expects Notes Users to Double Lotus Development Corp. reportedly is preparing to introduce a lower- cost, scaled-down version of its Notes communications software this week. Analysts are quoted as predicting Lotus will introduce at the NetWorld/Interop trade show this week the Notes Express, to sell at $99 when purchased in volume. ** Sony Plans Internet Service ** Sony Corp of America is planning a new interactive online service to be available over the Internet. The U.S. subsidiary of Japan's Sony Corp. said the system will draw from all of Sony's operating companies and will be operated by Sony Online, a new division created for coordinating the interactive services offered by each of Sony's main operating divisions. ______________________________________________ > QEMM 7.5 STR InfoFile Quarterdeck has your computing future in mind! """"""""""""""""""""" QEMM 7.5 FOR WINDOWS AND DOS ============================ QUARTERDECK ANNOUNCES QEMM 7.5 FOR WINDOWS AND DOS The Safest, Most Powerful Memory Manager for Windows, DOS and Games Provides New Features for Windows, Stacker, IBM Thinkpads and more. SANTA MONICA, Calif., September 13, 1994 -- Quarterdeck Office Systems, Inc. (NASDAQ:QDEK) today announced version 7.5 of QEMM, its award-winning, category-leading memory manager. This new release marks the first time a memory manager has been released with native Windows installation, configuration, and reporting utilities. The new version will ship by the end of the fiscal quarter to Quarterdeck distributors and retailers. "We are constantly updating QEMM to meet the requirements of the newest platforms and applications," said Alexander Eckelberry, group product manager for utilities. "This new version has many enhancements including new utilities for Microsoft Windows, and significant under-the-hood improvements to QEMM itself. We have also increased our support for the IBM Thinkpad and Toshiba lines of portables, certain Compaq PCs and Stacker disk compression software; as well as enhancements to QEMM's ability to accommodate and configure a wider variety of unusual system architectures to provide increased available memory to these systems." "QEMM has been completely re-engineered internally" added Michael Bolton, QEMM technical product manager. "We are now using a 32-bit flat memory model that puts us in line with the present and future of PC operating environments, and that gives us improved performance. The QuickBoot feature and Stealth support enhancements are also impressive technological innovations from our developers." The major enhancements found in QEMM 7.5 are: --------------------------------------------- Windows Installation - QEMM 7.5 can now be installed from DOS or Windows, detecting the user's environment and presenting the approprate DOS or native Windows user interface. This is an improvement over having separate programs for DOS or Windows installation. Windows Version of Qsetup - QSETUP is the utility that allows the user to optionally customize QEMM configurations quickly and easily, and provides a wealth of technical tips for advanced users. Formerly a DOS-only program, Qsetup automatically presents the user with a DOS or native Windows interface in the same way as the installation program. New Manifest 3.0 - Manifest, Quarterdeck's award-winning system reporting and diagnostic utility, now comes in a version that presents a DOS or native Windows interface in the same way as the setup and installation programs. In both environments, new reports on hardware IRQs and on PCMCIA assist users in learning about their system configuration. Under Windows, Manifest will also provide detailed reports on memory usage by Windows itself and by the programs running under it. Enhanced Support for Stacker - Through a cooperative effort between Quarterdeck and Stac Electronics, QEMM 7.5 now includes technology to save Stacker 4.0 users an additional 8K, 16K or 32K of conventional memory, depending on disk size. This allows the Stacker driver to reduce its memory footprint to less than 10K in conventional memory, an innovation accomplished by providing a means for a Stacker driver to load its disk buffer into extended memory. This functionality is provided through a new Stacker driver, to be made available free of charge within the next 30 days by Stac Electronics to registered Stacker 4.0 users. "With Stacker 4.0, we significantly reduced our conventional memory footprint, and our users responded very positively," said Anne Galdos, senior product manager for Stac Electronics. "Now, thanks to this cooperative effort between Stac and Quarterdeck, Stacker 4.0 users will get even more conventional memory when using QEMM 7.5." Enhanced Support for IBM Thinkpads - The design of some IBM Thinkpads prevented previous versions of QEMM from correctly configuring these systems. QEMM 7.5 can now properly detect and optimize all current IBM Thinkpad models. PCMCIA Support - QEMM 7.5 is now the only memory manager to detect and accommodate automatically the memory addresses used by PCMCIA cards. This feature is essential for users of most current laptops and notebooks. QuickBoot - QuickBoot provides substantially faster system rebooting by providing a highly efficient routine for initializing the system hardware and BIOS. This is particularly valuable for programmers, power users and those configuring systems. It also makes the OPTIMIZE process faster. Stealth Enhancements - Stealth is the patented QEMM feature that gives users extra High RAM by mapping system, video, and other ROMs out of the first megabyte of memory. Stealth and OPTIMIZE have been improved to accommodate unusual BIOS designs. This will provide users of these systems with even more High RAM than was previously possible. 32-bit Flat Memory Model - QEMM's internals have been modified to use a 32-bit flat memory model. This provides improved performance and establishes a clear path for future innovations. Documented 3rd-party API - A previously undocumented feature of QEMM is its Application Programming Interface (API), which allows third party software developers to design their products with built-in support for QEMM. This gives access to ROMs that have been "Stealthed" away using Quarterdeck's patented Stealth technology and allows developers to manage or even emulate hardware via I/O port trapping. Built-in Fail-Safe Recovery - QEMM now records and saves your system configuration at installation and each time you run the OPTIMIZE program. At any time you can restore one of these configurations using the new OPTIMIZE/RESTORE option. The suggested list price of QEMM 7.5 is $99.95. In the United States upgrades for QEMM 7.5 are available both directly from Quarterdeck and from dealers. The upgrade price directly from Quarterdeck for QEMM 7.5 is $29.95 plus $5.00 shipping and handling. The suggested list price of the upgrade through dealers is $34.95. Quarterdeck registered users who purchased the current version of QEMM after July 20, 1994 may upgrade for $5.00 shipping and handling, with proof of purchase. All upgrades include new manuals. In the United States, users may upgrade from Quarterdeck by calling 24-hours a day. Contact Quarterdeck's automated order processing system, Quartermaster, at (800) 366-7145 (customer ID number is required), send a fax to (800) 354-3329 or call Quarterdeck's order department at (800) 354-4757. Canadian users may contact Quarterdeck Canada Upgrades at (800) 268-5181, or via fax at (905) 528-9349. Large volume MultiPaq and FlexiPaq upgrades are available upon request. Quarterdeck is a leader in software technology and specializes in enhancing the power and performance of personal computers. Their best known product, QEMM, manages a PC system's memory resources to make sure that applications, utilities, DOS and Windows programs can work together. Other Quarterdeck products provide multitasking of DOS applications running on one computer; while still others support seamless distributed computing by ensuring cooperation among multiple systems in cross-platform applications. Quarterdeck Office Systems, Inc. is located at 150 Pico Boulevard, Santa Monica, CA 90405. The company can be reached at (310) 392-9851. ____________________________________ > Hayes Speech STR Spotlight """""""""""""""""""""""""" DENNIS HAYES SPEECH KEY NOTE ADDRESS ONE BBSCON 8/18/94 I want to welcome everyone to Atlanta. This is our hometown where we started our business back in 1977 and I hope you enjoy the hospitality the city has to offer you. Every dynamic of your computer system is progressing. The speed of the processor is increasing. The size of the memory is growing. The resolution of the screen is increasing. The size of the hard drive is growing. For the typical PC user today, whether in a corporate environment or an individual user, the rate of change of each of the dimensions of the computing environment has been developing at a very rapid, predictable manner. For the past 15 years, the speed of modems has doubled every 18 months. And, the difference is dramatic. In 1981 we were sending data at 300 bit/s with the Hayes Smartmodem 300 and it was taking 9 hours to send a 1 megabyte file. Today with our OPTIMA 288 that same megabyte of data can be sent in less than a minute. We've seen a tremendous increase in speed and performance in the last few years but it wasn't enough. Late in 1993, our customers were telling us that the time had come for another leap forward with speed. They wanted more than 14,400 bit/s. The standard committee working on V.Fast was supposed to have finished V.34 two years earlier. They had just finished a round of sessions and all indications were they wouldn't get finished for probably another year. In order to meet the demand of our customers, we decided to deliver 28,800 bit/s with the V.FC technology. Fortunately we chose to do it in such a way that the whole industry would be equipped with a compatible transmission capability. Through the development efforts of Hayes working together with Rockwell, new technology allowed modem manufacturers of modems to build 28,800 bit/s devices that were almost instantly compatible because they worked on the same basic technology. At ONE BBSCON last year, we wanted a real test for this technology so we worked with several of the larger boards and Fidonet hubs to put these products into "live" service. We wanted to see if there were going to be any compatibility problems with the existing installed base of products, and after a couple of minor problems were discovered and fixed, we were able to bring to market one of the fastest, most reliable products ever. Reviewers agree with us. OPTIMA 288 has recently won awards from the editors of BYTE and PC Magazine. But what's happening now? V.FC is well established worldwide. There are now over a million modems in the installed base with V.FC. While the V.34 standard was being hammered out, over a million modems using V.FC technology have been in use day in and day out. Under the accelerated procedures for establishing standards, member countries of the ITU-T (International Telecommunications Union) are now voting on the V.34 standard expected to be passed by September. In that same timeframe, the V.34 standard will be well enough shaken out from the laboratory work and the testing to be a viable standard. In the meantime, with V.34 being anticipated, V.FC has served us very well and we are proud to have been able to be a part of that. In no way has the V.FC activity been intended to undermine the standards process, but it was only done to supplement. What does this mean for you as a board operator? It means that when you start to move up to 28,800 bit/s, remember that there is an installed base of one million V.FC modems. You are going to need products that support both V.34 and V.FC. Being as forward thinking as each of you are, you are probably thinking... what's the NEXT speed? Can we double the speed again? If you want to understand how the top speed works, it is a lot like trying to travel at the speed of light. You remember from your physics courses that if you get close to traveling at the speed of light, to get a small increase in speed, it takes a tremendous amount of energy. It is the same way when you're trying to get a little bit more information through a channel. You approach Shannon's Law as information passes through that channel. In order to get a little bit more information through there, it takes a tremendous amount of processing. The limit of speed of Shannon's law will not allow us to double the 288 speed like we did with 144. It will allow us to squeeze the sponge and get the last drop. You will probably see a V.34bis specification for approximately 33,000 bit/s. That will be the highest speed for analog modems. What else are we going to do with modems? Voice functionality in modems is about to get really hot. While voice modems have been available for several years, modems with voice functionality represent less than 5 percent of the market today. What exactly do we mean by voice? First, there is voice-data switching. There's a group that has developed and is licensing the capability of doing an automatic handshake between modems. Hayes has announced our support for this. This is called Voice View. You and I could be talking on the phone with each other and I could click on an icon on my machine, send the command to the modem, and go from voice mode into data mode. I can sit at the screen and read the screen. What you'll hear is a beep and quiet seconds then another beep, and all of a sudden the information pops up on your screen. Another type of voice is the voice record and playback -- similar to an answering machine. The third is simultaneous voice and data. Simultaneous voice and data allows you to send high speed data and communication with compressed voice or voice that is mixed into the analog part of the DSP. The two techniques are different in that when you mix it into the DSP, the cost per modem is very low. But the ability to take it in and out of the computer is limited. With the voice compression techniques, where the voice and data are mixed together before they are put through the channel and are able to feed it in and out of the computer system, a broader degree of flexibility is gained. I think if you find out now about what voice might be capable of doing and if you talk to the software developers who write the bulletin board tools, you'll have a big opportunity to get ahead of the wave and be prepared to be part of making it happen as we extend the capabilities of fax and add voice support. Voice offers new services such as the ability to store voice messages and the ability to take electronic mail and do voice annotation. Another area I'm getting very excited about is the possibility of sending compressed video over 28,800bit/s modems and ISDN connections. The compressed video opens up a big opportunity. It's like taking your .GIF viewers which give you a static picture and turning them into practically real time video or stored video capabilities. When we look at the "need for speed" as it's been referred to, and the opportunity that speed presents to broaden the applications, we very quickly arrive at the fact that the analog telephone line will go only so fast and that we're rapidly approaching that limit. In late `95 or early `96, ISDN is going to be needed by the PC community as a communications vehicle. This is the first time the PC industry or the BBS industry has been limited by something that's outside their control, and that's outside the technology. The limit comes from the fact that public policy and the public infrastructure are involved for ISDN to be available. You still cannot get ISDN in many places today. Where you can get ISDN, the tariffs often do not make sense. And, when the tariffs make sense, the installations are ridiculous. This is a problem that affects not only bulletin board operators but the entire computer industry and the entire social structure of the economy. It affects not only the United States. In order for information utilization to continue to develop in a natural manner, we have to have readily available the economic transport vehicles to help us bridge the distances in making communications. A majority of the people in Public service Commissions who set the tariffs and many of the people who set public policy don't understand. A few states, such as Tennessee, have taken the lead. Tennessee has mandated that ISDN be made available throughout the state to everyone who wants the service. In doing so, the Public Service Commission has set reasonably priced tariffs for residential use and business use and has forced the cost of installation to be reduced so that it is affordable. As a matter of fact, the first six months they offered it, installation was free. Tennessee is an example that we need to hold up in front of every other state in the country and every other country in the world and say "Why can't you do this?" You've heard a lot today already about the importance of what happens in the public sector affecting the industry. I think one point that was made that is very relevant is as long as nobody was making money on bulletin boards, nobody cared. No law suits. No legislation. No taxation. Guess what? As soon as we as an industry start making money, these folks start crawling out from under the carpet everywhere. When I formed the Georgia High Tech Alliance, I really didn't know much about how state government worked. In the last four years, I've learned a lot about that. A lot of it is people who come from various walks of life to the state legislature because people in their community respect them and somebody convinced them to run for office. They want to try to do things that are right for the people they represent. The problem is that they get so many different people talking about what the right thing is. Unless there is a group to represent and people who have a common interest in what you provide -- unless we have a voice with the legislators -- they don't know when they are helping us or when they are hurting us. For example, they don't realize that if they pass a tax that it would damage our ability to grow a fledgling part of the industry. They don't know that if they pass some other local laws what impact they're going to have. They need someone they can go to. A lot of attention is placed on Washington. Certainly a lot is going on in Washington today with activities such as the NII. Crime is one of the hottest topics in the country today and computer crime is a part of that. Misuse of information systems has become a topic that gets headlines. Television shows are full of stories on stalkers and pornography, or adult material getting into the hands of children. All that stuff scares people who don't know about it. On the other hand, there has been some publicity, but not nearly as much as I think there could be, about the positive side of bulletin boards and Sysops. Positive things like being able to use bulletin boards during the floods in South Georgia or the earthquakes in California need to be made more visible. So, we need some way to have a public voice for public policy, as well as a public voice for public relations. I think we're ready to get something organized. It's up to you! I think that Sysops need their own group. There's one that is being proposed that has initial funding to get it started -- the Association of Online Professionals. I've agreed that if we can raise enough money to operate the organization for a year, I'll serve as the Chairman for the first year. If there's anyone here who wants to be involved, we'd love to have your help because the issues are massive. The tidal wave is over our heads and about to break on us. Politicians need to create issues that can get them votes. There are two ways for politicians to create issues and they can either be for issues or against issues. They appeal to issues that get people's attention on an emotional level. One way they do that is by saying they're going to do things that help the state to raise money or help the country to raise money. The other way to do that is to promise to stop bad things from happening. There's a good reason to be involved with law enforcement but there's also due process involved in the government. Look at the emotional appeal that it has to parents to say we're going to prevent people from exposing your children to violence and nudity. My point is not that we shouldn't worry about what people want to use the media for, but I think that unless there is an industry-based initiative to allow parents to make choices about what children can see on the system or to give them the kind of control they would have with a TV set to block out certain channels, it is going to become political and certain politicians are going to pick it up. Video games (Nintendo and Sega) are already in the middle of it. How long will it be before politicians recognize how many users you represent and how long before we are required to get licensed like amateur radio operators? Can you imagine what it would be like if you had to be licensed to be a Sysop by the federal government or FCC? Can you imagine what it would be like if several states started passing entertainment taxes on activities when people get on for chat sessions -- let alone the moods among some of the telephone companies to go to the Public Service Commission and say we want to charge more for data services? We killed that when it first reared up in Oklahoma, however we have to always watch for those kind of things. There's legislation in Washington today that, unless some things get modified, will force you to provide public access on your board to groups that qualify for public access in television. How would you like to have to provide 25% of your air time or say every fourth or every fifth frame that you transmit to a public service announcement? The problem is the people who are trying to deal with these issues don't understand where we are. Hayes has operated a bulletin board service for years, and we know that the people who are in the position of passing those kinds of laws or creating those kinds of regulations, don't understand what we do. You know also that, when you get organized as we did here in Georgia with the Georgia High Tech Alliance, you can do incredible things. Here in Georgia we did two things that I'm really proud of through the Alliance. Aside from stopping a couple of ridiculous tax bills which might have passed, we got legislation passed that relates to computer crimes. And, we got a software tax exemption law passed. We did this by working with the legislators so that they could understand the real issues. As Sysops, we need to take the issues that our industry faces into "regular talk" that can be understood by people outside our industry -- the politicians. We can take initiatives to head off political juggernauts. While some of you may have a problem with this, we need to take the initiative to establish an industry-based rating system regarding the nature of materials on boards. We need to tell people what we're doing. We need to demonstrate that along with freedom we are willing to take responsibility. Again, we're not going to mandate what the content is but we're saying that choices should be available. It's important for people to know they can exercise control over their environment, and they have choices they can make. In a free society, I think that's where it belongs. I think that all this talk about information highways has really brought us into the mainstream of society. The thing that we have to understand is that being in the mainstream means we bring all the social issues with us. The same con artists that try to take advantage of people over the telephone, the same criminals that might do something wrong in any other forum, are going to do it in this medium. We have to be able to show that there are responsible, credible businessmen and hobbyists who are doing something that is very important and who should be able to continue to do it with the freedom that allows rapid innovation and rapid change. I found an interesting note about the information highway in some of the research we were doing recently. The perspective of the people in Washington is information highway. It is big infrastructure, big projects, lot of concrete factories cranking out stuff and public money and the government. A 12-year old student in one of the gifted programs in Atlanta came up with something I thought was very revealing and shows the difference between the mentality of the people in Washington and the mentality of our children. This 12 year old kid said this information highway stuff is from the sixties and said we ought to think about it like it was the information super worm hole. Think about it: kids watching TV and dealing with concepts in science fiction can see that the capability of a worm hole can throw you across the galaxy in an instant. That is really much more like what we have. We have the ability and technology to continue straight through the world to create totally new communities of interest, to create new villages of interest. People with common interests can do things in the electronic media in ways that have never been possible. This will allow for social evolution at a much faster rate than we can imagine and with it we bring along all the parts of society. We need to be assured that the public, as well as the people who make policy, know that we're ready to do the job -- to be responsible and to make the technology continue to develop in ways that are going to serve the good of the public as well. If we make money along the way, that's fine too! With your help and your support, I think that we can make a big impact at both the State and Federal level. It takes money to do the mailings, to do the communications, to get the legal research done and things like that. Aside from that, it takes commitment. The kind of commitment I've seen in many of you in the way you operate your board. Something that you did not knowing if it was going to make money or not. Something you wanted to do. Something you believed in. That's the kind of commitment that can make a big difference and a huge impact when you go to the political centers and deliver our message. I want to thank you for making this industry what it is. It's incredible what you've done. It is incredible what we're going to do over the next decade. I just hope we all have a lot of fun while we're doing it. Thank you very much. For further information about AOP (Association of Online Professionals), contact Dave McClure at AOP 202 265-1266 or at 1818 Wyoming Avenue NW, Washington, DC 20009, Fax:202 265-7308, E-mail 70631.266@compuserve.com. ________________________________________________ > ACROBAT 2.0 STR InfoFile """""""""""""""""""""""" Adobe Systems Introduces; VERSION 2.0 OF ADOBE ACROBAT ============================ Adobe Systems Introduces Version 2.0 Of Adobe Acrobat Product Family Enables More Direct Access to, Better Management, Use and Reuse Of Electronic Information, Plus Customization and Integration Within Existing Computing Environments San Francisco, Calif. (September 12, 1994) (NASDAQ:ADBE) Adobe Systems Incorporated today announced Version 2.0 of Adobe Acrobat electronic document software, a major upgrade to its family of software products that expand users' ability to access, manage and use electronic documents across diverse computing platforms. In addition, the Acrobat Reader 2.0 will be available for free distribution to Macintosh and Windows platform users, and with a standard licensing agreement, Acrobat Reader 1.0 will be available to DOS and UNIX users. Version 2.0 of the Adobe Acrobat product family is designed to address specific customer needs, ranging from general business office uses to traditional publication applications, to the collaborative efforts of workgroups. Version 2.0 provides timely and direct access to electronic information, document security features and better ways to manage, use and reuse information. Adobe Acrobat 2.0 software is a complete solution for integrating with existing computing environments, and with more than 500 Application Programming Interfaces (APIs), the ideal product for customization. "Adobe Acrobat 2.0 software acts as the universal electronic information standard for direct, timely access to electronic documents that can be managed easily, used and reused as necessary and integrated seamlessly with existing computing environments," said John Warnock, chairman and CEO of Adobe Systems. "We hope that, in a few years, users will be so comfortable with the seamless electronic interchange of rich information that they won't be concerned about which operating systems they or their customers are using." The Adobe Acrobat 2.0 Product Line ---------------------------------- The Adobe Acrobat 2.0 product line consists of Adobe Acrobat Reader 2.0, Adobe Acrobat 2.0, Adobe Acrobat Pro 2.0 and Adobe Acrobat for Workgroups. Adobe Acrobat 2.0 software is available for Apple Macintosh and Microsoft Windows platforms. Adobe Acrobat 2.0 products include the following components: Acrobat Reader 2.0 is the tool for viewing, navigating and printing PDF files. Adobe Acrobat 2.0 is targeted for general office users. It includes the new Acrobat Search, Acrobat Exchange, PDF Writer for creating PDF files from common business applications and Acrobat Reader for Macintosh, Windows, UNIX and DOS. Acrobat Pro 2.0 is packaged to meet the demands of corporate and commercial publishers creating visually rich documents with applications and fonts using Adobe PostScriptt technology. The package comes standard with Adobe Acrobat 2.0 software, plus Acrobat Distiller for Macintosh 680X0, Power Macintosh or Windows and Acrobat Reader for Macintosh, Windows, UNIX and DOS. Acrobat for Workgroups 2.0 is a collaborative application that lets workgroups get the most out of large volumes of information available on a network. It includes Acrobat Catalog, a Windows application that creates full- text indexes for collections of PDF files shared over a network of Macintosh and Windows users, allowing them to find information instantly with Acrobat Search. Acrobat for Workgroups also includes 10 licenses for Adobe Acrobat 2.0 software for Macintosh or Windows, plus Acrobat Distiller for Macintosh 680X0, Power Macintosht or Windows and Acrobat Reader for Macintosh, Windows, UNIX and DOS. Acrobat Reader software is the tool for viewing, navigating and printing electronic documents. The program lets users display and print documents in the PDF format and use navigation features such as article threads, annotations and links. Versions of Acrobat Reader run on DOS, Windows, Macintosh and UNIX systems. Acrobat Reader will be included with all Adobe Acrobat 2.0 products and is available free of charge from on-line services, the Internet and from Adobe for a nominal shipping and handling fee. Adobe Acrobat 2.0 software enables users to create PDF files with PDF Writer from any standard desktop application. Acrobat Exchange 2.0 lets users view and print PDF files as well as annotate, build navigational links into and add security controls to PDF files. Acrobat Search is a new feature in Acrobat Exchange that lets users retrieve PDF files by conducting full-text searches of indexed PDF files. With the TOPICt Search Engine, licensed from Verity, Inc., users can search full document texts including charts, graphs and captions by key words, phrases, proximity, word stemming, synonym and other parameters. Acrobat Distiller converts any PostScript language files created with DOS, Windows, Macintosh or UNIX applications into PDF files. It can be used with files from drawing, page layout or image editing programs; documents containing high-resolution or Encapsulated PostScript (EPS) language artwork or images; or documents containing complex blends or gradient fills. Acrobat Catalog creates full-text indexes for collections of PDF files shared over a network of Macintosh and Windows users, automatically building on-line indexes of all PDF files. This enables users to manage large volumes of information on a network. New Feature Highlights ---------------------- More Direct Access to Information --------------------------------- Full-text search lets users find specific information in multiple PDF files. Users can employ a variety of techniques to search for words anywhere in the body of a document, including graphs, charts and captions. Cross-document and application links and bookmarks provide quick access to hard-to-find or often used information, allowing users to link instantly to related information in other PDF files or in other applications. For example, users can link automatically to a QuickTimet movie or a word processing program. Article Threads make it easier to read multiple-column documents on-screen by automatically zooming or centering the view, for example. This allows users to easily read multi-column documents on-screen. Thumbnails offer a miniature page overview and let users copy and paste, and replace or delete pages. Better Ways to Manage Information ---------------------------------- Acrobat Catalog is a Windows platform application that works with network servers and CD-ROMs to automatically generate word lists or "indexes" that support searches of PDF documents across an enterprise. Security features enable authors to prevent or allow PDF files from being opened, printed, copied, saved and changed. Multi-user notes simplify document review, allowing users to merge and export annotations. Users can also customize their notes with a personal label and color. The ability to copy and paste formatted text and graphics from PDF files into other applications enables users to reuse information. Compressed file formats include a default binary file format and industry standard compression methods to minimize file size and optimize use of network resources. Document information features let users assign document titles and other specifics to speed searches and obtain file information on fonts, security and so on. Integrating with Current Environments and Customization ------------------------------------------------------- Lotus Notes users can embed PDF files in Lotus Notes databases, preserving the true look of documents. Users can also search the text of PDF files embedded in Lotus Notes databases. Industry-standard interfaces help applications play together. As an OLE (Object Linking and Embedding) server supporting OLE automation, Acrobat Exchange integrates with major Windows applications such as Visual Basic. Adobe Acrobat 2.0 software seamlessly integrates with Macintosh applications through AppleEvents. Comprehensive APIs allow customization and extend functionality. Developers can integrate Adobe Acrobat software with other applications and create enhancements to standard Adobe Acrobat 2.0 functions. They can also customize the Adobe Acrobat 2.0 interface. APIs are part of the Acrobat Software Developers Toolkit, available separately from the Adobe Developers Association. For more information, call (415) 961-4111. Price and Availability ---------------------- The Adobe Acrobat 2.0 product line is expected to be available from Adobe authorized dealers within 30 days. Acrobat Reader 2.0 will be available for free distribution to Macintosh and Windows users, and with a licensing agreement, Acrobat Reader 1.0 will be available to DOS and UNIX users. Acrobat Reader will be included in all Acrobat software packages and available from on-line services, or can be obtained from Adobe for a nominal shipping/handling fee of $9.95 for the Macintosh or Windows platforms on floppy, and $14.95 for the Macintosh, Windows, DOS and UNIX versions on CD-ROM. The CD-ROM also includes bonus content such as the complete works of Shakespeare, an informal dictionary of computer terms, Adobe technical literature and product information and U.S. historical documents. Adobe Acrobat 2.0 will have a suggested retail price of $195; Acrobat Pro 2.0 will cost $595; and Acrobat for Workgroups will be $1,595. Volume and other discounts are available. Adobe is also working with a variety of system integrators and value added resellers. Customers may contact Adobe at 1-800-87- ADOBE for the dealer nearest them. Adobe Systems Incorporated, founded in 1982, is headquartered in Mountain View, California. Adobe develops, markets and supports computer software products and technologies that enable users to create, display, print and communicate electronic documents. The company licenses its technology to major computer and publishing suppliers, and markets a line of type and application software products. Revenue for fiscal 1993 exceeded $313 million. ----------- Acrobat, Adobe, Acrobat Catalog, Distiller and PostScript are trademarks of Adobe Systems Incorporated, which may be registered in certain jurisdictions. Apple and Macintosh are registered trademarks, and Power Macintosh and QuickTime are trademarks of Apple Computer Inc. Microsoft is a registered trademark, and Windows is a trademark of Microsoft Corporation. UNIX is a registered trademark in the United States and other countries, licensed exclusively through X/Open Company Ltd. Lotus Notes is a registered trademark of Lotus Development Corporation. TOPIC is a registered trademark of Verity, Inc. ____________________________________________ > Kid's Computing Corner STR FOCUS! """"""""""""""""""""""""""""""""" Kids' Computing Corner ---------------------- KID'S BOOK GIANT LAUNCHES AGGRESSIVE SOFTWARE PUBLISHING AND MARKETING EFFORT Western Publishing Company, Inc. Signals Its Commitment To Edutainment Software By Launching Extensive Marketing Support for Step Ahead Software Racine, WI., Sept. 6; Western Publishing Company, Inc., publisher of children's Golden Books, today announced an aggressive trade and consumer marketing campaign to support its new Step Ahead Software line. The plan focuses on consumer advertising and retail merchandising and promotion. The Step Ahead Software line of interactive "edutainment" software is based on the Golden Books Step Ahead workbook series and includes five titles designed for children ages three through eight. The software will be launched primarily through mass-market outlets and sell for less than $25 at retail, a dramatic price break for consumers. "Western Publishing is the first to launch a high-quality affordably-priced educational software line to the mass market," said Bonnie Predd, senior vice president for planning and new business at Western Publishing Company, Inc. "This unique price/quality/distribution model merits a high level of promotional and advertising support to reach non-traditional and first-time software buyers. Our educational software marketing spending level to launch our line equals the total consumer advertising dollars spent last year on the entire educational software category." Step Ahead Software is the first children's edutainment software from Western Publishing Company, Inc., the nation's leading publisher of children's books. The five-title line will be launched in September in more than 500 WalMart and more than 500 Kmart stores' children's book departments. The accompanying consumer advertising campaign begins with the November and December issues of several magazines including Parents, Parenting, Family Fun, Family PC and People's Holiday Gift Collection. "Our marketing efforts will be timed to boost retailers' fourth quarter sales and access mass-market shoppers," said Predd. "We plan to maintain trade support into the next year." --A Trusted Brand In A New Medium-- "Home use of educational software is an exploding market and an increasingly important part of how children learn to think, reason, count and spell," said Predd. "At Western Publishing, we believe price and availability should not be a barrier. "The Golden Books 50-plus-year heritage is about providing high quality, sensibly-priced children's products to America's families through thousands of mass retailers," continued Predd. "We have brought that same business philosophy to the creation, pricing and distribution of our first line of computer products. The name families have trusted for decades in print now will be focused on quality children's computer software." The initial Step Ahead Software line includes five titles. "ABC with Hickory and Me" is designed for children ages three to six and is available in both Windows and Macintosh versions. It teaches children letter/sound relationships for consonant and short vowel sounds, uses pictures to illustrate beginning letter sounds and teaches sequencing of letters in alphabetical order. "123 with Hickory and Me" teaches simple math skills, and focuses on recognizing numerals, counting to ten and matching sets of numbers. "Monker's Math Factory" and "Monker's Spelling Submarine" are designed for children ages six to eight. "Monker's Math Factory" builds on children's basic math skills by reviewing number families, helping children understand the concept of place value and helping them practice single and double-digit addition and subtraction. "Monker's Spelling Submarine" teaches beginning and ending consonant sounds, long and short vowel sounds, letter blends and rhyming words and word families. The fifth title, "AJ's World of Discovery" addresses more cognitive thinking skills including reasoning, memory, logic and creativity. Four additional lessons that augment and enhance this program can be purchased directly by consumers via a toll-free phone number. The supplements are called "World of Math" and "World of Language." Each comes in a version for ages four to five and six to seven, and all are run in conjunction with the initial AJ program. Characters With Nervous Systems: Superior Graphics and Animation Make Software Fun and Engaging For Children Western Publishing Company, Inc., together with an advisory board of educators, used its strength as a major publisher of the Step Ahead educational workbook line to create the curriculum for the software. The company then teamed with Sierra On-Line, Inc., a leading publisher of entertainment and education software, to create the products. Since children learn to speak and read via a combination of sight and sound, Western Publishing commissioned Sierra to use its patented lip-sync technology. "Children are very demanding about the animation quality in software," said Sherry Short, who produced the line at Sierra On-Line, Inc., in Bellevue, Washington. "They are quick to point out badly dubbed voices or awkward character movements that don't match the environment." "We used advanced multimedia programming techniques developed by Sierra to produce cutting-edge, high-resolution animation in the Step Ahead Software. These techniques produce animation quality that's close to what is seen on television and film." The characters were given personalities and "nervous systems" through which they display human traits like scratching their heads, winking and laughing. Children can click on different characters and options so they can craft their own learning experience. An original musical score and sound effects were added to round out the package. The result is entertaining, interactive software which closely imitates the one-to-one teaching methods that are used by parents and teachers. --Helping Mass Merchants Sell Software-- Western Publishing's marketing support program addresses retailers' concerns about working with edutainment software for the first time. The company will maintain a technical support line for consumer's hardware or software questions about using educational software. A CD-ROM sample is being created that will include five-minute demo versions of each of the new titles. Since many retailers do not use CD-ROM players but do use televisions and VCRs, Western Publishing is providing a POP demonstration video. Additionally, retailers can sell the software from a colorful and dramatic floor display or a counter pack. The packaging resembles the company's best-selling Step Ahead workbooks to capitalize on the brand's consumer awareness. The packaging is also more compact than traditional software packaging which increases merchandising options for both the mass-market and more traditional software retailers. Western Publishing Company, Inc., a subsidiary of Western Publishing Group, Inc., is the nation's largest creator, publisher, printer and marketer of children's storybook, electronic interactive storybook, coloring books and other activity books. It is also a major producer and marketer of children's audio cassette and book sets, video cassettes and music albums. These products and books are sold principally under the Golden Book brand name. Step Ahead Software Titles At-A-Glance --Western Publishing Company, Inc., The Publisher of Golden Books, Creates One-on-One Tutorials Delivered Through The Home P.C.-- Title For Ages What Does It Teach? ----------------------------------------------------------------------- ABC with Hickory | Three to Six | Children learn the following alphabet and Me | | and letter sound skills via fun games ($19.95 to $24.95)| | with the characters Hickory and Nat: | | | | Understanding letter/sound | | relationships for consonant and | | short vowel sounds; | | | | Using pictures to illustrate | | beginning letter sounds; | | | | Sequencing letters in alphabetical | | order. ------------------------------------------------------------------------ 123 with Hickory | Three to Six | Interactive program with Hickory and and Me | | Nat makes children enjoy learning to: ($19.95 to $24.95)| | | | Recognize numerals; | | | | Count to 10; | | | | Match sets of numbers. ----------------------------------------------------------------------- Monker's Math | Six to Eight | Elementary school-aged children built Factory | | on these math skills: ($19.95 to $24.95)| | | | Reviewing number families; | | | | Understanding the concept of place | | value; | | | | Practice single- and double-digit | | addition and subtraction. ------------------------------------------------------------------------ Monker's Spelling | Six to Eight | Learning to read is fun for kids Submarine | | It's made easier as children ($19.95 to $24.95)| | enjoy learning about: | | | | Beginning and ending consonant | | sounds; | | | | Long and short vowel sounds; | | | | Letter blends; | | | | Rhyming words and word families. ------------------------------------------------------------------------ AJ's World of | Four to seven | This software product helps children Discovery | | learn cognitive skills including: ($19.95 to $24.95)| | | | Reasoning; | | | | Memory; | | | | Logic; | | | | Creativity and imagination. | | | | 4 supplemental lessons are available | | for purchase via a toll-free phone | | number. These additional lessons, | | called World of Math and World of | | Language, run together with AJ's | | World of Discovery and address | | specific math and language skills | | geared to the two different age | | groups. ------------------------------------------------------------------------ I hope to receive review copies of some of the above titles and review them before the Christmas shopping rush. I previously reviewed AJ's and I'll reissue a mini-review of that title in a few weeks. Next week I'm going to look at some shareware titles, including Phonics 123. Until next time, I thank you for reading. For: Western Publishing Company, Inc. From: The Newlin Company 1220 Mound Avenue 72 Madison Avenue Racine, WI. 53404 New York, NY 10016 Contact: Kim McLynn Contact: Daniel Urbas (414) 631-5202 (212) 689-0777 ___________________________________________ > Creative Technology NEWS! STR FOCUS! """""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""" CREATIVE TECHNOLOGY INTRODUCES BLASTERWARE SOFTWARE PRODUCT LINE SINGAPORE -- August 24, 1994 -- In order to broaden its range of multimedia product offerings for the retail and OEM marketplace, Creative Technology Ltd (Nasdaq: CREAf) today announced a new line of BlasterWare software titles. With the release of its first five high-quality, affordable titles in September, Creative aims to increase brand name recognition of its successful line of Blaster multimedia products. The company will be marketing its software titles worldwide and will aggressively promote its new titles through Sound Blaster audio board and multimedia upgrade kit promotions. "Creative pioneered multimedia by providing standard-setting, quality consumer products that redefined value and quality to the end-user. BlasterWare draws from the success of Sound Blaster hardware by answering consumer demand for software marketed under a respected and recognizable brand name," said Arnold Waldstein, director of software product marketing for Creative Labs, Inc., Creative Technology's U.S. subsidiary. "In addition, BlasterWare broadens merchandising possibilities for the multimedia hardware retailer and provides branded distribution to the distribution channel. Creative will provide resellers with a comprehensive merchandising plan in which BlasterWare titles will be positioned together with their Sound Blaster counterparts, the industry-leading sound cards that not only defined PC audio but also comprise over 60% of PC audio card market share," added Waldstein. Titles ------ The following five titles are the first in a series of titles to be marketed by Creative under the BlasterWare product name. The company will roll out additional titles throughout the winter and spring. Creative's existing VoiceAssist speech recognition software and series of Screen Singer family entertainment titles will also be marketed as part of the BlasterWare line. A Brief History of Time (S.R.P. $59.95) --------------------------------------- Based on Stephen W. Hawking's best-selling book of the same name, this interactive CDROM allows users to explore black holes, quantum theory and even the Big Bang with the renowned scientist. Created by Jim Mervis & Robit Hairman for Crunch Media, A Brief History of Time captures Hawking's disposition and features easy navigation of spectacular visuals, animation, film excerpts, and text. American Visions: 20th Century Art from the Roy R. Neuberger Collection (S.R.P. $49.95) Featuring over 189 works from 129 American artists including Georgia O'Keeffe, Jackson Pollock and Stuart Davis, this title has already been honored with two awards, a 1994 NewMedia Magazine INVISION Award and an international CINDY award - for its stunning visuals, unique design and remarkable user interface. Created by Eden Interactive, American Visions presents an innovative way to view art and gain insight by allowing the user to access background information, quotes and anecdotes on the artist and the era in which the work was created. Gus Goes to Cybertown (S.R.P. $39.95), Gus and the Cyberbuds Sing, Play & Paint-Along (S.R.P. $39.95), Gus Goes to Cyberopolis (S.R.P. $39.985) Modern Media Ventures' series of educational titles feature the learning adventures of a hip dog named Gus and his friends the Cyberbuds. Included in each title are eye-catching graphics and animation, full motion video, digital photos, playful sound effects, and original songs, all of which offer children numerous fun adventures and exciting learning opportunities. "We're very excited to bring to market a series of innovative titles from small software developers who can truly benefit from Creative's retail presence. The BlasterWare program will provide these developers with the necessary resources to gain shelf space without the normal difficulties associated with an affiliate label program," said Greg VandenDries, Creative Labs' v.p. of sales. Stephen Reade, head of retail software sales for Creative Labs, added "The introduction of this new product line will create a new model for distribution for developers and will enable Creative to introduce a well-packaged, well-merchandised software selection for both end users and retailers." Creative Technology Ltd develops, manufactures and markets a range of sound and video multimedia products for PCs under the Blaster family name. The company's Sound Blaster sound platform enables PCs to produce high-quality audio for entertainment, educational, music and productivity applications, and has been accepted as the industry standard sound platform for PC-based software. CREATIVE LAUNCHES SOUND BLASTER COMPATIBILITY PROGRAM THREE SOUND BLASTER COMPATIBILITY LOGOS OFFERED TO REGISTERED DEVELOPERS SINGAPORE -- September 6, 1994 -- Creative Technology Ltd (Nasdaq: CREAf) today launched a cost-free, formalized program that will allow registered developers to offer software titles that have been tested and guaranteed by Creative to be 100% compatible with Sound Blaster(tm), the industry standard for high quality PC audio. Developers will be given free access to three different Sound Blaster logos for incorporation onto packaging and collaterals, assuring both the end-user and the retailer that their software titles are fully Sound Blaster compatible. The Sound Blaster audio product family has captured over 60% market share, with over 95% of all software titles claiming Sound Blaster compatibility. This program emphasizes the importance of Sound Blaster by ensuring software customers full compliance with the multimedia sound standard as well as the highest performance and quality, said Arnold Waldstein, director of software product marketing for Creative Labs, Inc., Creative Technology's U.S. subsidiary. Logos ----- Reflecting the evolution of Creative's successful Sound Blaster audio card family from basic 8-bit to 16-bit sound to 32-voice Advanced WavEffects(tm) synthesis, Creative's three new logos include Sound Blaster, Sound Blaster 16 and Sound Blaster AWE32(tm). Software titles carrying any of the three Sound Blaster logos operate with all Sound Blaster audio cards, though their feature sets vary. These titles will begin to hit the channel in the fall. Registered developers who participate in the program will also be eligible to partake in other Creative marketing programs including bundling, tradeshows, advertising, channel events and catalogs as well as several retail promotional opportunities. Waldstein added that Sound Blaster is a symbol of multimedia quality to the consumer marketplace. To the developer, Sound Blaster is a technical standard that brings coherence to the underlying audio capabilities of the platform. To the retailer, it is an umbrella under which to sell a series of standard-setting multimedia products. And to the consumer, it is a symbol of value and a guarantee of performance. Creative Technology Ltd develops, manufactures and markets a range of sound and video multimedia products for PCs under the Blaster family name. The company's Sound Blaster sound platform enables PCs to produce high-quality audio for entertainment, educational, music and productivity applications, and has been accepted as the industry standard sound platform for PC-based software. CONTACT INFORMATION ------------------- Benita Kenn Creative Labs, Inc. (408) 428-6600 ext. 6406 Creative Technology Ltd was incorporated in 1983 and is based in Singapore. Creative Technology's U.S. subsidiaries include Creative Labs, Inc., E-mu Systems, Inc. and ShareVision Technology, Inc. Creative also has other subsidiaries in China, Europe, Japan, Singapore, and Taiwan. The company's stock is traded on Nasdaq under the symbol CREAf and on the Stock Exchange of Singapore. # # # Blaster, BlasterWare, Sound Blaster and VoiceAssist are trademarks of Creative Technology Ltd. E-mu is a registered trademark of E-mu Systems, Inc. and ShareVision is a registered trademark of ShareVision Technology, Inc. A Brief History of Time is a trademark of Crunch Media Corporation. American Visions: 20th Century Art from the Roy R. Neuberger Collection is a trademark of Eden Interactive. Gus Goes to Cybertown, Gus and the Cyberbuds Sing, Play and Paint-Along, and Gus Goes to Cyberopolis are trademarks of Modern Media Ventures. ________________________________________ > MS OFFICE! STR Spotlight """""""""""""""""""""""" Microsoft Announces; ------------------- OFFICE PROFESSIONAL & BOOKSHELF INTEGRATED PRODUCTIVITY PACKAGE BEST-SELLING OFFICE SUITE ADDS MULTIMEDIA REFERENCE CAPABILITY REDMOND, Wash. _ Sept. 8, 1994 _ Microsoft Corporation today announced the availability of Microsoft Office Professional & Bookshelf, a CD-ROM-based productivity package for the Microsoft Windows operating system. This newest version of Office Professional integrates Microsoft's popular Bookshelf '94 CD-ROM reference library into the family of Microsoft Office products, while adding special functionality to enable these products to work together seamlessly. Bookshelf '94 will join Microsoft Word, Microsoft Excel, the Microsoft PowerPoint presentation graphics program, the Microsoft Access database management system, Microsoft Office Assistant and CapScreen to complete the office suite contained in the Office Professional & Bookshelf CD-ROM. "As millions of users move to CD-ROM, they are demanding more from their applications," said Pete Higgins, senior vice president of desktop applications at Microsoft. "Office Professional & Bookshelf offers users a single, powerful package that addresses the business needs of small, medium and large organizations." CD-ROM Adoption Takes Off ------------------------- The CD-ROM market is currently experiencing explosive growth worldwide, a phenomenon partly attributable to increasing use of CD-ROMs in the business sector. According to a recent Dataquest report, CD-ROM drives constitute one of the fastest-growing segments of the hardware market, with 1994 sales expected to top 17.5 million units worldwide. This figure is nearly twice the number of drives sold in all previous years combined, and more than half were sold to businesses. CD-ROM drives are particularly popular in small businesses; approximately 45 percent of small businesses already own a CD-ROM drive or plan to purchase one in the next year. Microsoft has developed Office Professional & Bookshelf to provide the world's most popular business applications in a single package, with one-click access to important information. Office Professional & Bookshelf brings together a number of applications and, through the seamless integration of their key technologies, enables them to function as a cohesive and consistent set. Through the Microsoft Office Manager (MOM), users will be able to open instantly any of the applications within Office Professional & Bookshelf simply by clicking an application button found on the MOM toolbar. Because it is delivered on CD-ROM, installing Office Professional & Bookshelf is quick and easy. "In our work of supporting financial, medical, and legal businesses, we've found Microsoft Office to be a valuable asset," said Jim Lasser, partner in the consulting firm of Lasser, Stern, Kinder and Company, Inc. "A number of our customers currently use Bookshelf in conjunction with Office to obtain census information for their sponsors, which they then import into Word documents or Microsoft Excel spreadsheets. To have all this capability available on CD-ROM is invaluable, particularly for small businesses that don't have the resources to maintain a research department." Another unique feature of Office Professional & Bookshelf is the inclusion of Microsoft Office Assistant. Designed for small businesses, Office Assistant contains 54 predesigned templates that cover everything from invoices and purchase orders to financial statements and business plans. For users interested in developing multimedia, the new CapScreen feature offers the ability to record and play back all actions performed on the computer screen. CapScreen also allows users to annotate these actions verbally as they perform them to aid in later review during playback. The Reference Works of Bookshelf '94 The functionality within Bookshelf '94 redefines traditional ideas of reference by providing lightening-fast searches, easy access to information, and rich capabilities for sound, video and animation. Bookshelf '94 goes beyond printed reference books to offer rich multimedia, such as 80,000 dictionary words, each spoken in a human voice, and more than 60 animations and video clips of scientific concepts and historical events. Simply clicking a desired word within a document can produce a definition, a list of synonyms, or the pronunciation of the word. With Office & Bookshelf, users have one-click access to hundreds of thousands of entries in any of the following popular reference sources: - The American Heritage Dictionary, Third Edition - Roget's Original Thesaurus of Words and Phrases - The Columbia Dictionary of Quotations - The People's Chronology - The Concise Columbia Encyclopedia - Hammond Intermediate World Atlas - World Almanac and Book of Facts 1994 Technologies That Work Together ------------------------------- Combining the IntelliSense and OfficeLinks technologies of Office with the multimedia reference capabilities of Bookshelf '94 has produced an extremely effective productivity package. For example, a user who wants to include a particular quote or definition from Bookshelf in a document, spreadsheet or presentation need only drag and drop it into the desired Office application. Because they automate simple tasks and make complex tasks easier, these features allow users to concentrate more closely on the task at hand. Built into every Microsoft Office program, IntelliSense technology senses what users want to do and intelligently produces the desired result. Examples of IntelliSense technology include AutoCorrect in Word, which automatically corrects common typing and misspelling errors; TipWizard assistant in Microsoft Excel, which monitors what users do and then makes suggestions on how to perform tasks more quickly and easily; and ToolTips, provided in all the applications in Office Professional & Bookshelf, which instantly identifies the functions of each toolbar button. Another Microsoft innovation, OfficeLinks makes it easier to share information among applications and to accomplish cross-application tasks. With OfficeLinks, users can concentrate on their work, rather than the tools they're using. For example, users can easily create a Microsoft Excel spreadsheet in a Word document, by simply clicking a button on the Word toolbar. Without leaving Word, the user can access all of the Microsoft Excel tools and menus. Pricing and Availability ------------------------ Expected to ship by the end of September, Microsoft Office Professional & Bookshelf will be available for approximately $599; a version upgrade or competitive upgrade price will be available for approximately $399. System Requirements ------------------- To ensure flexibility and accommodate various hard-disk space needs, users can choose from three installation options: typical, laptop (minimum), and complete/custom. Microsoft Office Professional & Bookshelf requires 59 MB of free disk space for the typical installation, 31 MB for the minimum installation, and 84 MB for the full installation. Microsoft Office Professional & Bookshelf requires a minimum of 6 MB of memory running under Microsoft Windows 3.1 (8 MB recommended). A Multimedia PC is needed to take full advantage of the multimedia functionality. Founded in 1975, Microsoft (NASDAQ "MSFT") is the worldwide leader in software for personal computers. The company offers a wide range of products and services for business and personal use, each designed with the mission of making it easier and more enjoyable for people to take advantage of the full power of personal computing every day. *** Microsoft, Bookshelf, PowerPoint and Microsoft Access are registered trademarks and Windows, IntelliSense and TipWizard are trademarks of Microsoft Corporation. World Almanac and Book of Facts is a registered trademark of Funk & Wagnalls Corporation. The Original Roget's Thesaurus of English Words and Phrases (Americanized Version) is licensed from Longman Group UK Ltd. The People's Chronology is licensed from Henry Holt and Company, Inc. The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language, Third Edition is licensed from Houghton Mifflin Company. The Columbia Dictionary of Quotations and The Concise Columbia Encyclopedia are licensed from Columbia University Press. Hammond Intermediate World Atlas is licensed from Hammond Incorporated. The World Almanac and Book of Facts 1994 is licensed from Funk & Wagnalls Corporation. """""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""" :HOW TO GET YOUR OWN GENIE ACCOUNT: _________________________________ Set your communications software to Half Duplex (or Local Echo) Call: (with modem) 800-638-8369. Upon connection type HHH (RETURN after that). Wait for the U#= prompt. Type: XTX99587,CPUREPT then, hit RETURN. GEnie Information copyright (C) 1994 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) ====================== John Deegan, Editor (Temp) > ITU - CCITT STR InfoFile V.34 V.FC - What does it all mean? """""""""""""""""""""""" ITU/94-16 * ITU Press Release PR16/1994 TITLE: MILESTONE IN MODEM TECHNOLOGY: THE V.34 STANDARD....(ITU-94-16) ITU/94-16 ORIGINAL: English Milestone in modem technology: the V.34 standard is agreed upon by ITU-T and put under ballot for adoption. Study Group 14 of the International Telecommunication Union - Telecommunication Standardization Sector, ITU-T (formerly known as CCITT), has been meeting in Geneva, Switzerland for the last week to decide on the approval of the long-awaited standard for future high-speed modems. The meeting was chaired by Mr K. Kern (Germany). The work of Study Group 14 covers modems and transmission techniques for data, telegraph and telematic services. The adoption of the standard will give a go-ahead signal to the industry to offer new products using high performance data transfer technology. Work on the drafting of the standard started some three years ago Termed by industry experts V.fast in its development stage, V.34 as it will now be called, will surpass the current technology used in data transfer via traditional telephone lines. V.34 future modems will transfer data at speeds twice the current technology, thus the nickname V.fast. By increasing transmission speed, they will drastically cut down the time needed by computers and faxes and in turn lower user phone bills. These new modems will have variable data transmission capacity ranging from 2'400 bits/second all the way up to 28'800 bits/second. The new modems will use a feature called "line probing" that will allow modems to identify the capacities and quality of the phone line and adjust themselves to allow, for each individual connection, for maximum throughput using the highest possible data transmission rate. In addition the standard will support a half-duplex mode of operation for fax applications and will support automoding to existing V-series modems. Other important features of the new technology include an optional auxiliary channel with a synchronous date signalling rate of 200 bits/second. Data conveyed on this channel would be independent of the primary channel (2'400 - 28'800 bit/second) and would consist mostly of modem control data. Multi-dimensional trellis coding will be used to gain higher immunity to noise and other phone line impairments thus improving throughput. V.34 modems will also be the first modems to identify themselves to telephone network equipment (handshaking). Most important to the industry, V.34 will not only foster world-wide connectivity due to its adaptive capabilities, but will enlarge the market opportunities in areas which face poor telephone line quality. V.34 technology has been long in coming and has had to overcome many obstacles. One year ago, members of the modem manufacturing industry had become so impatient, they suggested that an interim standard for modems be approved. This interim standard, however, only made speed improvements. The proliferation of high-speed non-V.fast modem production led many market analysts to become sceptical of the interoperability such non- V.fast technology-oriented products. The adoption of V.34 is therefore very opportune. "V.34 modems will be transmission devices that will be faster, more reliable and cheaper to use," said Mr Kern at the outcome of the meeting. Given its half-duplex mode of operation, the use of V.34 will also help reduce costs of fax transmissions and make feasible the use of colour fax. "The fax market is in sharp increase on a global basis, thus providing a new market outlet for modem manufacturers," Mr Kern added. The approved standard should be applicable within a period of 16 weeks maximum. "One of the main issues for the future will be to make it possible for V.34 modems to adapt their speed while transmitting data to adjust with changes occurring on the lines such as noise impairments," concluded Mr Kern. BREAKTHROUGH FOR DEAF AND HARD OF HEARING ----------------------------------------- At the same meeting of Study Group 14, a standard - Recommendation V.18 - was also approved. It will provide, for the first time, recognition of the communication needs of the deaf and hard of hearing. This Recommendation, with its capability to interwork with all existing devices, provides the platform on which a universal standard communication device can be built. A maximum period of one month is required for circulation the draft recommendation to the Membership, a three-month period is given for the ballot. * ITU < = International Telecommunication Union * * TSS < = ITU Telecommunication Standardization Sector * * TIES < = ITU Telecom Information Exchange Services * I.T.U. and I.T.U.-T.S.S. since 1993; formerly C.C.I.T.T., (Comite Consultatif International Telegraphique et Telephonique, International Telegraph and Telephone Consultative Committee) * What is I.T.U. (International Telecommunication Union) ? The ITU, an agency of the United Nations, with its headquarters located in Geneva, Switzerland, is a world-wide organization within which governments and private sector coordinate the establishment and operation of telecommunication networks and services. It does held the responsibility for the regulation, standardization, coordination and development of international telecommunications as well as the harmonization of national policies. * Main Address and E-Mail: ITU - International Telecommunication Union Place des Nations, Case Postale/P.O. Box CH-1211-Geneve/Geneva 20 ** Suisse/Switzerland ** Telephone: ++41-22-730.51.11 * Telefax: ++41-22-733.72.56 Telegrams: ITU GENEVE * Telex: 421 000 UIT CH X.400 email; S=itumail; P=itu; A=Arcom; C=ch ; O=CCITT. * For General Information from: ITU Telecom Information Exchange Services (TIES): International Telecommunication Union Information Services Department Place des Nations CH-1211-Geneve/Geneva 20 ** Suisse/Switzerland Tel: ++41-22-730.55.54 * Telefax: ++41-22-730.53.37 Internet email: helpdesk@itu.ch X.400 email: S=helpdesk; A=arcom; P=itu; C=ch * Other helpful addresses are shown below in the <Appendix> at the end of this document. ==================================================== §---- CCITT/ITU-TSS * V-Series Recommendations ----§ ==================================================== PART 1 - GENERAL ---------------- V.1 Equivalence between binary notation symbols and the significant conditions of a two-condition code. V.2 Power levels for data transmission over telephone lines. V.3 International Alphabet No.5. V.4 General structure of signals of International Alphabet No.5 code for data transmission over public telephone networks. V.5 Standardisation of data signalling rates for synchronous data transmission in the general switched telephone network. V.6 Standardisation of data signalling rates for synchronous data transmission on leased telephone-type circuits. V.7 Definitions of terms concerning data communication over the telephone network. V.8*Draft > Procedures for starting sessions of data transmission [1994] over the general switched telephone network. V.9*Draft > Definition of flow control standard, integrating the [1994] existing de-facto systems (XON/XOFF and RTS/CTS) with advanced synchronous communications procedures. PART 2 - INTERFACES FOR VOICE-BAND MODEMS ----------------------------------------- V.10 Electrical characteristics for unbalanced double-current interchange circuits for general use with integrated circuit equipment in the field of data communications. V.11 Electrical characteristics for balanced double-current interchange circuits for general use with integrated circuit equipment in the field of data communications. V.13 Simulated carrier control. V.14 Transmission of start-stop characters over synchronous bearer channels. V.15 Use of acoustic coupling for data transmission. V.16 Medical analogue data transmission modems. V.17 The most recent Fax standard, speed up to 14400 bps. [1991] V.18*Draft > It does provide, for the first time, recognition of [1994] the communication needs of the deaf and hard of hearing. V.19 Modems for parallel data transmission using telephone signalling frequencies. V.20 Parallel data transmission modems standardised for universal use in the general switched telephone network. V.21 300 bits per second duplex modem standardised for use in the [1964] general switched telephone network. V.22 1200 bits per second duplex modem standardised for use in [1980] the general switched telephone network and on point-to-point 2-wire leased line telephone-type circuits. V.22bis 2400 bits per second duplex modem using the frequency division [1984] technique standardised for use in the general switched telephone network and on point-to-point 2-wire leased line telephone-type circuits. V.23 600/1200-baud modem standardised for use in the general switched telephone network. V.24 List of definitions for interchange circuits between data terminal equipment (DTE) and data circuit-terminating equipment (DCE). V.25 Automatic answering equipment and/or parallel automatic calling equipment on the general switched telephone network including procedures for disabling of echo control devices for both manually and automatically established calls. V.25bis Automatic calling and/or answering equipment on the general switched telephone network (GSTN) using the 100-series interchange circuits. V.25ter*Draft Combination and integration of V.25bis and AT system. [1994] V.26 2400 bits per second modem standardised for use of 4-wire leased telephone-type circuits. V.26bis 2400/1200 bits per second modem standardised for use in the general switched telephone network. V.26ter 2400 bits per second duplex modem using the echo cancellation technique standardisedfor use on the general switched telephone network and on point-to-point 2-wire leased telephone-type circuits. V.27 4800 bits per second modem with manual equaliser standardised for use on leased telephone-type circuits. V.27bis 4800/2400 bits per second modem with automatic equaliser standardised for use on leased telephone-type circuits. V.27ter 4800/2400 bits per second modem standardised for use in the general switched telephone network. [1976] V.28 Electrical characteristics for unbalanced double-current interchange circuits. V.29 9600 bits per second modem standardised for use on point-to-point [1976] 4-wire leased telephone-type circuits. V.31 Electrical characteristics for single-current interchange circuits controlled by contact closure. V.31bis Electrical characteristics for single-current interchange circuits using opto-couplers. V.32 A family of 2-wire, duplex modems operating at data signalling [1984] rates of up to 9600 bits per second for use on the general switched telephone network and on leased telephone-type circuits. V.32bis Extension to V.32, with speed at 14,400 bps using TCM. [1991] V.33 14400 bits per second modem standardised for use on point-to-point 4-wire leased telephone-type circuits. >>> >>> Pending and un-official (de facto) high-speed+ standards: (***) V.34 formerly V.FAST, CCITT-ITU draft specifications, up to 28800 bps, [1994] with advanced line probing function, calling tone modulation and (*)(**) multi-dimensional trellis coding. (*) From reliable source, to be officially ratified not before Oct.94. (**) UPDATED NEWS FROM ITU-TIES: "The V.34 standard is agreed by..." See Press Release of June 9, 1994 --> File: V34-FAST.DOC. V-FC formerly V.Fast Class, based on the draft specification of V.34, proposed by Hayes Microcomputer Inc., developed by Rockwell Inc. V.32TER formerly V.32terbo, up to 19200 bps, supported by AT&T and USR. V.32ASL Between two V.32terbo USRobotics HST modems, up to 21600 bps. V.32HST High Speed Technology-proprietary by USRobotics, up to 16800 bps. V.32UHS Ultra High Speed-proprietary, up to 16800-19200 bps, by ZyXEL. Under beta testing, ZyXEL-proprietary up to 21600 bps. V.34ZyX Up to 28800 bps, proprietary-protocol by ZyXel; with upgradable option to ISDN support (beta under testing phase). CV.Fast formerly Codex V.Fast, up to 24000 bps, supported by Motorola. V.fastC formerly V.fast-Class, up to 24400 bps, by Supra Corp./ZOOM Tel. PEP/Trb formerly PEP/Turbo PEP, up to 23000 bps, by Telebit (and w/UNIX). >>> >>> (***) See note below. PART 3 - WIDEBAND MODEMS ------------------------ V.35 Data transmission at 48 kilobits per second using 60-108 kHz group band circuits. V.36 Modems for synchronous data transmission using 60-108 kHz group band circuits. V.37 Synchronous data transmission at a data signalling rate higher than 72 k bits per second using 60-108 kHz group band circuits. V.39*Draft > Procedures and definition of fast serial interfaces, [1994] operating at one Megabit/sec and more. PART 4 - ERROR CONTROL ---------------------- V.40 Error indication with electromechanical equipment. V.41 Code-independent error control system. V.42 Error-correcting procedures for DCES using [1989] asynchronous-to-synchronous conversion. V.42bis Data compression procedures for DCEs using error correcting [1990] procedures. V.42terDraft > Compression standard for asynchronous communications, [1994] including now the multiple data streams over one single connection, allowing for separate compression libraries. PART 5 - TRANSMISSION QUALITY AND MAINTENANCE --------------------------------------------- V.50 Standard limits for transmission quality of data transmission. V.51 Organisation of the maintenance of international telephone-type circuits used for data transmission. V.52 Characteristics of distortion and error-rate measuring apparatus for data transmission. V.53 Limits for the maintenance of telephone-type circuits used for data transmission. V.54 Loop test devices for modems. V.55 Specification for an impulsive noise measuring instrument for telephone-type circuits. V.56 Comparative tests of modems for use over telephone-type circuits. V.56bis*Draft > Definition and specifications of the ITU-T standard [1994] for modem testing. V.57 Comprehensive data test set for high data signalling rates. V.58*Draft > Modem management allowing for stored templates, used as [1994] database of modem parameters, linkable to a comms protocol. PART 6 - INTERWORKING WITH OTHER NETWORKS ----------------------------------------- V.100 Interconnection between public data networks (PDNs) and the public switched telephone networks (PSTN). V.110 Support for data terminal equipments (DTEs) with V-series type interfaces by an integrated services digital network (ISDN). V.120 Support by an ISDN of data terminal equipment with V-series type interfaces with provision for statistical multiplexing. V.130*Draft > Definitions of terms and settings for ISDN terminal adapters [1994] including the standard framework within which other ISDN standard can be implemented. V.230 General data communications interface layer 1 specification. (***) Un-official notes added by: R. Schiappacassa, Consulting Engineer CIS_ID 70374,3542, CH-6830-CHIASSO, TI, Switzerland {Sources}: Byte, PC Computing, PC Magazine [US/UK], Online Access, PC World, Windows User [US/UK], Windows Sources, Win DOS Magazine, Chip, PC Format, PC Plus, PC Today, Computer Shopper [US/UK], DOS Extra, DOS International, Connect, TeleCom, MC, CompuServe Magazine; private European BBSes, ITU-TSB and ITU-TIES in Geneva, Switzerland. <APPENDIX> ITU-TIES DOCUMENTATION: ITUDOC Contact Information -------------------------------------------------- * If you have general question on ITUDOC, please contact: International Telecommunication Union Information Services Department Place des Nations CH-1211 Geneva 20, Switzerland Telephone: ++41-22-730.55.54 * Telefax: ++41-22-730.53.37 Internet email: helpdesk@itu.ch X.400 email: S=helpdesk; A=arcom; P=itu; C=ch * If you have questions relating to the ITU Telecommunication Standardization Sector documents, please contact: Telecommunication Standardization Bureau Electronic Document Handling International Telecommunication Union Place des Nations CH-1211 Geneva 20, Switzerland Telephone: ++41-22-730.58.57 * Telefax: ++41-22-730.58.53 X.400 email: S=tsbedh; A=arcom; P=itu; C=ch Internet email: tsbedh@itu.ch * If you have questions relating to the ITU Radiocommunication Sector documents, please contact: Ms. Annabel Behrouz ITUDOC Support Radiocommunication Bureau International Telecommunication Union Place des Nations CH-1211 Geneva 20, Switzerland Telephone: ++41-22-730.53.15 * Telefax: ++41-22-730.57.85 X.400 email: G=annabel; S=behrouz; A=arcom; P=itu; C=ch Internet email: behrouz@itu.ch * For other support or if you wish to make a suggestion on how the service can be improved, please contact: Mr. Robert Shaw ITUDOC Project Leader Information Services Department International Telecommunication Union Place des Nations CH-1211 Geneva 20, Switzerland Telephone: ++41-22-730.53.38/55.54 * Telefax: ++41-22-730.53.37 X.400 email: G=robert; S=shaw; A=arcom; P=itu; C=ch Internet email: shaw@itu.ch ********************************************************************** 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 an extremely 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 20/20 Advantage Plan 20 Hours for Only $20! ----------------------------- Advantage Members have always enjoyed the lowest DELPHI access rates available. On the new 20/20 Advantage Plan, members receive their first 20 hours of access each month for only $20. If you happen to meet someone online or find some other diversion, don't worry because additional usage is only $1.80 per hour. 20/20 Advantage rates apply for access via SprintNet or Tymnet from within the continental United States during home time or via direct dial around the clock. Home Time is from 6pm to 6am weekdays. Access during business time carries a surcharge of $9 per hour. These rates apply for most services, but note that there are some surcharged areas on DELPHI which are clearly marked with a "$" sign. Who is eligible to take advantage of the plan? Any DELPHI member in good standing. Applications are reviewed and subject to approval by Delphi Internet Services Corporation. It's easy to join. If you meet the eligibility requirements, you can apply online -- at any time -- for membership in the DELPHI 20/20 Advantage Plan. Your membership becomes active at 4 a.m. Eastern Time on the first billing day of the following month. The $20 charge will be billed to you at the beginning of the month to which it applies. Any portion of the 20 hours not used in any month does not carry forward into the next month. Advantage rates may be changed with 30 days notice given online. 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 the BEST Value and getting BETTER all the time! ************************************************************ ATARI/JAG SECTION (III) ======================= Dana Jacobson, Editor > From the Atari Editor's Desk "Saying it like it is!" """""""""""""""""""""""""""" Well, is everybody enjoying either being back in school, or having the enjoyment of seeing their kids going back? Yes, it'll soon start to look and feel like fall again - where did the summer go? Probably, it's gone in much the same vein as the '94 baseball season!! I had to make a comment about that fiasco! Unbelievable. I think that this country will be searching for a new "national past time" from now on! Of course, the ones really hurt by all of this are the fans and the businesses that depend on the baseball season. How typical... I had to get that out of my system - sorry about that! We're looking to improve upon the pages of the Atari section of STReport... again! I'm a little disappointed with my current lack of more computer news, specifically with more reviews and general interest articles. With just a "two-man" team consisting of CIS Editor Joe Mirando and myself, it's extremely difficult at times to do the original articles that we'd like to see in these pages. So, if you're interested in contributing, especially on a regular basis, please get in touch with me. The entire Atari computing community will benefit! STReport will be branching out further to Internet's userbase in the very near future. We've received numerous requests to receive STReport from a wide variety of Internet addresses. As a result, we're putting together an Internet distribution/mailing list for those who wish to receive STReport on a regular basis, and we'll UUENCODE each issue and mail it to you. If you're interested in being added to our mailing list, please, send your requests to either "dpj@delphi.com" or, RMARIANO@DELPHI.COM. Look for mailings to begin by October first. We are also considering a number of Internet ftp sites in which to post our issues as well. Whatever we can do to make STReport available to you, we'll try it! Well, let's get on with this week's issue, shall we?! Until next time... Delphi's Atari Advantage! TOP TEN DOWNLOADS (9/14/94) (1) 1ST GUIDE (6) DL VIEWER *(2) DC XTRACT PLUS 2.2C (7) IMAGELAB (3) GEMVIEW 3.06 *(8) THINGY SCREEN TOY (4) JENS SENDS GIF VIEWER (9) BOULDER DASH CLONE (5) NEODESK 4 DEMO *(10) LHARC VERSION 3.10 * = 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 10.36) ATARI ONLINE (Current issue: AEO: VOLUME 3, ISSUE 11) Look for the above files in the RECENT ARRIVALS database. > Delphi's Internet! STR NewsFile! - Delphi Increasing Internet Support! """""""""""""""""""""""""""""""" For immediate release: In an attempt to make the Internet a little less daunting to access, DELPHI's Atari Advantage SIG is now offering two new Internet features to its members. Both are designed to make the task of maneuvering around the 'net less intimidating for novice Internet users. The first offering is called an Internet Gopher. First developed at the University of Minnesota, Gophers use a system of menus to access sites on the 'net. Simply choose an item number from the menu, and you are presented with the next menu, until you find the particular thing you want. The Gopher in DELPHI's Atari Advantage SIG Gopher currently has a few Atari-specific Gopher sites on its menus, including the HENSA site in the UK, and will be adding more as they are located. The second offering, just out of development by DELPHI, is by a means to access the World Wide Web. WWW is another means to access sites around the world, and uses a form of hypertext instead of menus. Because of inherent delays due to using a packet-switching network for access, the WWW access for DELPHI is currently limited to an ASCII based interface. It displays pages in straight ASCII, using index numbers for branching to other pages and file areas. (Those index numbers appear within the text of the page inside square brackets, e.g. [1].) WWW pages are maintained by people all over the world, with all kinds of subject matter available. WWW pages with an Atari flavor currently exist and will be made available to DELPHI's Atari Advantage SIG members as soon as possible. Both of these offerings greatly decrease the effort needed to locate and obtain information from the Internet. Program files, data files, text files. All can be downloaded to your system with little or no problem. Both offerings require that members have Internet access on DELPHI, but at just $3 a month, the benefits certainly outweigh the expense. Combined with DELPHI's 20/20 plan, you can access the Internet for little more than $1.15 an hour. And, since DELPHI has no surcharge for high speed access (up to 14.4 in some areas), it is easily the most economical of all the major online services. To sign up for DELPHI, simply use your modem to dial up 1-800-365-4636. Press <RET> a couple times to sync up, then enter IP26 at the Password: prompt. Or for more information, call 1-800-695-4005 and talk with one of DELPHI's friendly Customer Service representatives. > Aladdin Ghostscript! STR InfoFile! - PostScript Support Update! """""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""" A beta release of Aladdin Ghostscript 3.01 is now available from: ftp://lifshitz.ph.utexas.edu/pub/atari/ghostscript/gs301bt1.zoo. The code in this archive is a 68000 executable, and has all of the PostScript support files and three fonts (Courier, Times-Roman, Charter-Italic) compiled into the code. This reduces the baggage that accompanies GS, but it makes the executable rather large (~800K). Also included in the archive are a bunch of files to support the new on-line help features. The extensive changes in the Atari interface are certain to have introduced bugs, so please expect them. When enough kind people have made useful bug reports and most problems appear to be fixed, I plan to make available several versions with various levels of hardware support. There will probably also be versions without the start-up files compiled into the executable. The Atari interface has changed a good deal since GS 2.61. Look at http://godel.ph.utexas.edu/Members/timg/gs/gs.html if you want an overview of what has changed before you download anything. Tim Gallivan timg@landau.ph.utexas.edu > Atari 8-bit Omnibus! STR InfoFile! - More Atari 8-bit Support Access """""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""" Since Atari dropped the 8-bit computer line it's become progressively more difficult to find software and equipment for our Atari 8-bit computers. The days of Antic and Analog issues filled with ads are gone. Many suppliers and software authors can no longer afford to advertise. Back in April, I decided to try to remedy this. I sent out a mailing to over ninety suppliers, inviting them to send in free ads for "The Atari 8bit Omnibus". This resource guide will be available for sale beginning October 10th for $5 US, including shipping and handling. Once it's being printed I will release full ordering information. Right now, I'm offering the same free advertising to the rest of the Atari 8bit community. Free classified ads will be accepted, subject to the following limitations: (1) Maximum 50 words/ad, two ads per person. Editor decides what constitutes a word. Editor will edit oversize ads. (2) All ads must pertain to the Atari 8-bit computer line. (3) All ads must include the advertiser's full name and postal address. Email and phone numbers are a good idea as well. (4) Advertisers offering software may only offer software originals. Ads offering pirated software will be refused. (5) Editor and publisher are not responsible for personal losses dues to situations arising from these ads. (6) Hope nobody was scared off by all this. (7) Send ads via Email to: D.PATERSON2@genie.geis.com Use the message title: Omnibus Ad Thanks for your support. Watch for the release announcement later this month. Jaguar Section ============== > From the Editor's Controller - Playin' it like it is! """""""""""""""""""""""""""" You can once again feel it in the air! New Jaguar games information is starting to filter out of the woodwork once again, including news of titles not mentioned much before. Jaguar ads are once again hitting a number of cable stations. There's even talk of Atari advertising during NFL football games this season! Could this be the start of what we've all been waiting for these past months? We can certainly hope. Alien vs Predator has "unofficially" gone into production and the first runs are expected by Columbus Day. The last bug was discovered and fixed last weekend. This is one of those games that has been highly anticipated for months. From all reports, it will have been well worth the wait. I already have it ordered and I've usually waited a few weeks after a game has been released before considering getting it! Look for our review of Brutal Sports Football review within the next two weeks. Editor Marty Mankins has been busy on an extended business trip and he hopes to get back to the review shortly. We'll also be doing a couple reviews of AvP shortly. We're anticipating as the new games come out in October and November that we'll all be kept quite busy in the next few weeks! Let's get to the latest Jaguar news! Until next time... > Industry News STR Game Console NewsFile - The Latest Gaming News! """"""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""" -/- Electronic Arts Ripe for Takeover -/- A New York computer industry analyst said today that Electronic Arts Inc. is an extremely attractive acquisition candidate for a large content provider or other firms involved in developing the information superhighway. Reuters reports that Lee Isgur, an analyst with Jeffries & Co., said that the scarcity of large, successful interactive software companies combined with Electronic Arts' negligible takeover defenses make the firm ripe for a takeover within the next 12 to 18 months. Isgur said that Electronic Arts has a superb track record, a strong balance sheet and interactive software expertise. However, its directors only own 11.6 percent of the stock with most of the balance owned by institutions and venture capitalists leaving the directors with very little control over a corporate takeover attempt. "With the right bid, we think the management of Electronic Arts could become accustomed to working with a 'Big Content Company' or 'Information Highway Behemoth,'" Isgur wrote. CompuServe's Quick Quote (GO QQUOTE) reports that Electronic Arts Inc. stock was up 18.8 cents to $18.375 in mid-afternoon trading. > Jaguar Online STR InfoFile Online Users Growl & Purr! """""""""""""""""""""""""" There have been numerous messages online mentioning potential Jaguar games that, no one but those involved in the actual games seem to know about, are close to being released. These are occasionally being referred to as "secret" games, but more than likely, they are third party developments that Atari simply hasn't mentioned because they haven't been apprised, yet, of their current status. One of these games, Aircars, was recently mentioned by ICD/4Play president Tom Harker. Some, like myself, thought that the impending new game might be 4Play's Star Battle. Harker dispells that possibility, but mentions Aircars: "I wish it was StarBattle but that is scheduled to be completed in Winter. :-( Aircars and the guys at MidNite Entertainment Group are what and who I have been working with. It will be the first network game out as far as I can tell. They are trying for 8 players and we should be testing that out this weekend. Later, - TOM - And more from Mr. Harker: Aircars or Air Cars is the current working title and probably the final title. I don't have much to say about it at this time so go ahead and start the rumors. :-) They are trying to support 8 players with CatBox and 2 players with Jag modem. Of course it is tough to get hardware at this time to test things out. MidNite has not sent it to Atari for "approval/testing/encryption" yet but will any day. I hope to be playing it myself this weekend over the network. It is supposed to go into final intensive beta testing in a week or two. Aircars are hovercraft type vehicles. Since I don't have any "official" info from MidNite, I will wait for that before spilling more. MidNite is a new company but made up of pros. Former Atari titles include a couple of Lynx games. I believe all of their previous work was under contract for Atari or other game companies. This is their first independent title. - TOM - And then to top it all off, Dave from Bits of Fun adds: To All, MidNite Entertainment Group proudly presents: AIRCARS CATEGORY: 3D Science Fiction/Simulator SYSTEM: Atari Jaguar 64-bit Interactive Multimedia System NO.OF PLAYERS: 1 to 8 DESCRIPTION: You are in a Post-holocaust era. A highly technical organization has emerged to re-organize society as they see fit, E.vil B.ureaucratic N.uclear E.codestructious R.ebellion S.ociety. You have been given the responsibility to defend this new threat to a decimated Earth. The only weapon that can do the job is a prototype AIRCAR. Capable of traveling over all terrain in any conditions, this is more than an off-road toy. Sophisticated electronic systems allow this vehicle to install improved weaponry and armour. Now you must go and kick some E.B.N.E.R.S. butts! HIGHLIGHTS: Fast paced action through a variety of terrain and climates. Upgrade your AIRCAR with weapons and armour by scavenging wrecks, destroyed buildings, and finding ancient treasures. Battle various enemies to include tanks, turrets, and other AIRCARS. Up to eight players can play together on separate Jaguars, through serial port connection. (Possibly with the use of the Catbox.) For a realistic fell, AIRCARS uses 3D, stereo 16-bit sound, Gouraud shading with light source and atmospheric effects to all objects and terrain. Suggested retail price at this time $54.99 Street date end of November - 1st week December Any and all of the above subject to change. We are accepting advance orders. Dave Bits of Fun And from that 'Net Surfer, Dimitri LaBarge, on CIS also: Hi all! First of all, no new news on the production front, except we can probably add Air Cars to the list of early November releases--it's very nearly complete and they'll hopefully be finishing up network testing this weekend. Of course, by now most of us have seen or have heard of the Jag commercials running on cable--they've been sighted frequently on USA's Duckman, MTV's Beavis and Butthead as well as Speed Racer, and on TNT's 75 Years of the NFL. For those of you anxious to spot a spot <g>, it's always the second or third commercial at Beavis & Butthead's 7-minute break (the first break--they run the short version of the commercial here), and the 23-minute break (the second one--there's a longer version with more clips here). For those of you without cable, so far we know that they're going to show up on The Simpsons and NFL Football games. Target marketing indeed! Some people have wondered when the AvP ad will start to air--I wouldn't expect this one until October. Now, a little news from Daily Variety, and a game that has aroused some curiosity, Rise of the Robots: >>The world of thinking robots is about to hit your nearest cd-rom dealer, as Time Warner interactive is releasing a new warrior game that uses artifical intelligence to heighten the competition. Called "Rise of the Robots," the program features 3-d fighting robots and a program that has the ability to learn opponents' favorite fighting moves and act accordingly. The program uses movie-quality computer generated graphics and martial arts choreographed by Black Belts, and features a new rock score written by Queen's Brian May (YES!, YES!, YES!). Time Warner will release the program both on CD-ROM and floppy disk on November 17 in North America with a simulataneous release on CD-ROM, floppy and on *8 other interactive platforms.*<< [emphasis mine] 8 platforms? Could the Jag be among them?? November 17... Let's see...well, looks like Atari is optimistic about its future, as it's advertising for additional developers in Game Developer magazine. Other Jag sightings...Wired magazine lists the Jag platform as one that the new CyberMaxx helmet will support...an ad for an IBM PC Fair in a Penn State college newspaper had Jag eyes and said "Win three Jags!"... rumors of a third party joystick? So far, not a bad month a'tall... Dimitri _________________________________________ > ONLINE WEEKLY STReport OnLine The wires are a hummin'! """"""""""""""""""""""""""""" PEOPLE... ARE TALKING ===================== On CompuServe ------------- compiled by Joe Mirando 73637,2262 Hidi ho friends and neighbors. Well, it's been a long week. But no matter how hectic and drawn-out a week gets, I make it a point to check and see what's going on with my favorite on-line service. I always enjoy catching up on what's new, the questions that people want answered, new products, and all manner of things. But sometimes things get so hectic that it's an effort to put all this information into this column for the rest of you. I start to wonder if anybody really reads this column... I mean, what the heck, if nobody reads it, why bother writing it? Then, along comes an occasion like the Connecticut AtariFest. Several people mentioned to me that they found something useful in the column. And friends like Myles Cohen, who pointed out to me that my CompuServe ID number no longer appeared on my column header, showed me that folks really do read this column. Believe me, at times like this, that little bit of info means a lot... Thanks Myles! Well, let's get on with the reason for this column... all the great news, hints, tips, and info that's available every week here on CompuServe. From the Atari Computing Forum ============================== Chad Blain posts: "At work there is an Atari SM124 (if that makes sense) and we need to transfer files (mostly text) to a Mac based system. My question is... -Can files (text or graphics) be transferred to the Mac? If so how? Hopefully you can assist me, otherwise I will be re-typing well into the new year.<g>" Albert Dayes at Atari Explorer OnLine Magazine tells Chad: "You can format a 720K on the MAC using the Apple File Exchange and that disk can be used on the Atari. The Atari is MS-DOS file system compatible. I assume that the Atari had a double sided drive." Sysop Bob Retelle tells Chad: "The SM124 model number you mentioned refers to the monochrome Atari monitor only... the actual computer model number should be on the upper right of the keyboard. Actually though, the exact model of the computer really doesn't matter... as Albert mentioned, the Atari file format is compatible with MS-DOS, so it's also compatible with the Mac File exchange program. Atari graphics files are usually Atari specific, although most of them can be converted to the GIF format for transfer to the Mac. Text files may or may not be compatible with Mac text processors, depending on the Save format.. if you Save the files on the ST in ASCII though, they should transfer OK, although without formatting commands." Jon Sanford tells Chad: "You can transfer files from the Atari to the Mac if they are in ASCII format. Special word processor files probably wont make it unless you get some special programs. If you can tell us which model Atari you have it will be easer to give you the right instructions. There is a Mac program called Debaleiser (? sp) lite & regular that claims to translate IMG & GEM & ...a amazing lot of other file formats. I am valiantly trying to squeeze it into my computer budget. The heavy duty version is @$250. On the subject of half-gigabyte hard drives selling for $350.00, Albert Dayes of Atari Explorer OnLine Magazine posts: "Someone was saying somewhere else that 1.0 gig hard drives are close to $500 now as well. It sounds like a relatively good price on the 500 meg drives." John Amsler tells Albert: "WOW!! I didn't know the prices had fallen *that* far!" Sysop Bob Retelle adds his thoughts on the subject: "It's really amazing how the prices on hard drives has dropped recently.. I bought a Western Digital 540Meg drive a couple of months ago for $399, and I've seen them as low as $299 now..! I never would have believed it... (and I used to think my 20 meg drive on my ST was so biiiiig..." John Amsler tells Bob: "When I upgraded my dual-floppy 1040ST to a grandiose system with two floppy drives AND a gift from the gods in the form of a Megafile30 (for which I paid $525 during a *sale*!!), I thought Niagara Falls would dry up before I'd fill up THIRTY megabytes! Heh, heh. Who knows, twenty years from now a 500Mb HD may seem like 360K 5.25" floppies seem to us now!" Bob tells John: "I got that WD 540 Meg drive at Egghead a few months ago.. their price has dropped since then, and other PC outlets have dropped the price as low as $299... take a look through Computer Shopper for some real surprises..!" Peter Joseph tells Albert (and the rest of us): "I read on another forum that someone got a 1GB drive (IDE) for _under_ $500. What's amazing is that my Atari Megafile 60 is only about a quarter full and it's got everything I use regularly and some not so regularly on it. My new PC on the other hand has a 1GB drive in it, and it came loaded with about 130MB of stuff. It's so ironic; I'll never come close to filling the 60 with the ST, but I'm adding stuff to the 1GB at a rate that would use up the 60 in no time. This PC stuff takes a lot more room. Then they give us 640k of 'conventional' memory to use it. Go figure." Albert tells Peter: "It is amazing on the prices. I still can not see how you did not fill up your Atari hard drive. When I went from 20 meg to an 85 meg it was filled within 2 days." John McCarthy jumps into the conversation: "I think the real fast HDs are still expensive. Not all HD are suitable for say, digital audio or video. Just a thought." Albert Dayes muses: "I was looking at the 9 gigabyte Seagate hard drive recently. That is the one I want! <grin>... It is only $4500 for 9 gig drive. It meets all of the requirements of the Unix system at work. Even I can dream of having it on my Atari. <grin>." Peter Joseph tells Albert and the rest: "Heh heh. Up until about 2 years ago, I never even had a hard drive. Once I got it, I only really put on it what I used regularly. A couple databases and associated files, telecommunications stuff, word processors, MIDI stuff, and many utilities to name some of it. The stuff I do doesn't involve large files like graphics and animation files." Sysop Bob Retelle posts a word of caution about those "low, low prices" advertised in magazines: "The drives quoted with these amazingly low prices are usually IDE interface drives... SCSI drives of similar capacity are usually a bit more expensive, but still not bad compared to what they used to be, not all that long ago.. Another thing to note is that there seems to be an increasing trend for SCSI drives to be very large capacity (and with correspondingly large prices), while the middle-large range drives (like the 500-540 meg sizes mentioned in these messages) are mostly available in IDE. Where I work we're replacing all the HUGE (I mean washing machine sized!) disk drives with SCSI hard drives in the 1.2 gigabyte range.. we can put half a roomful of drive capacity into a large PC tower case, and at a fraction of the cost of the original 200 Meg RP06 drives.. Progress is just simply amazing..!" Robert Aries tells Bob: "I have a Megafile 30 that's full, and a Link hooked up to a floptical. I was hoping to just stick a bare SCSI drive in the Megafile case (use its power supply and hopefully ditch the fan that sounds like a 747), and use the Link to access it. You're right, SCSI drives under 500 megs are getting rare these days. I honestly don't think I need more than 300 or so. (I know, famous last words <g>!)." Peter Joseph agrees with Robert: "Hehe. Truer words were never spoken. Between that and the SLM's fan, I am almost inclined to use hearing protectors when using the ST." John Amsler asks Robert: "Say, how do you like the floptical? I've been hemming and hawing for almost a year now, zig-zagging back and forth between the decision to buy one and the decision to wait until the prices drop even further." Robert Aries tells John: "The floptical is great but the price difference between that and a Syquest may not be that much nowadays. I got mine on sale from Purple Mountain Computing. I paid around $250, I think (it's been a while). One advantage the floptical has that you couldn't get with a Syquest is that it'll read & write DOS HD 1.4 meg floppies as well as standard TOS disks. This means that I'm disk compatible with Atari, DOS, *and* Mac machines (Apple File Exchange on the Mac only reads & writes HD DOS disks, not 720K). The flopticals make great backup disks for my hard drive, and with ICD's software I can even boot from them (I'm pretty sure on this, not positive). I'm a musician, and there are times when I need to bring my computer setup to a studio; bringing the floptical is a lot easier than my Megafile 30! Another advantage: The floptical is a SCSI device. Theoretically I can use it with my wife's Mac setup as well as my ST (haven't tried it yet). All around it is a great medium; much faster access & throughput than floppies (not as fast as Syquests, though), and the disks themselves look identical to 3.5" floppies, so I'm assuming they're more rugged than Syquest cartridges (you don't worry much if you drop a 3.5" floppy, do you?!). If you don't need massive storage (flopticals are 21 megs; disks are around $15 each) or super fast access & throughput, but do need floppy compatibility with all formats, the floptical is a great choice." On another subject, Derek Inwood asks: "Can anyone help me with the problems I have had with downloads? I have tried downloading with a number of different terminal programs including Storm, Connect, Vanterm, Miniterm & QuickCIS using X,Y modem and Compu [Cserve B without success. The only time I succeeded was using Shadow as a standalone terminal and downloading a small file. This has been driving me crazy so I would be grateful for any help." Dazzz Smith tells Derek: "You are probably connecting to CIS using 7-E-1 for the terminal emulation yes? You need to switch to 8-N-1 to use one of the transfer protocols or alternatively use a mode to strip a bit, i.e. in Freeze Dried you can logon with Strip 7th bit as the emulation which solves the problem." Graham Addicott asks: "I work with a small company and we use Atari 1040 STE computers and 1st Word Plus What we need is a laptop computer that will work on 1st Word Plus and transfer the work done to the office computers. In an ideal world we'd like a laptop that took the same floppy disks as we use in the office machines. Rumor has it that there was a laptop (not the heavy Stacy) but that it was only on sale in continental Europe. Can anyone help?" Sysop Bob Retelle tells Graham: "Atari did make a handful of notebook sized computers based on the ST series, but they were so limited in usefulness that they were never really put into full production. Other than the Stacy, there really isn't a portable solution from Atari. It's *possible* that you might be able to run the Gemulator ST emulator board in a PC compatible laptop if you can find one that will accept a normal half-sized PC add on card. For full-speed emulation of the ST, you need a 486 based system. The floppy disks are compatible between the ST and a PC if you remember to format them on the PC, and to format them as 720K disks." Jonnie Santos posts: "..I haven't been doing much of anything new with my STe lately. Just basically using QCIS to retrieve/post some Email. I did get around to using Straight FAX and think it's pretty neat. I will be getting a DOS Box probably before Xmas only because my job has decided to allow me to connect via modem to work - this will be really convenient for me! So I've been trying to think about what to do with the STe. I'm thinking about putting the Michtron BBS back OnLine but it won't support modems speeds over 2400 - and I don't like the way Forem BBS software make you manually hit the RETURN key to get to the login prompt. Then I've thought about dedicating the STe to a MIDI program (I know, more toys...) And then again I thought about putting it in a bookshelf and using it for a database of books and music (but I really don't have that much of either...) But most of all I just have this overwhelming feeling that I MUST not just get rid of it or sell it (gee, what do they sell for?... $100...)" STReport Atari Section Editor tells Jonnie: "MichTron BBS has been upgraded (new name too!) and should be coming out sometime this month. If you're running one line, the system will now support the higher baud rates with no problem!! I'm looking forward to getting it!!" Jonnie tells Dana: "That may be a good choice (re: the new Michtron BBS software)... I've got one of these nifty 14.4k Supra modems with the green digital display that would work nicely with a higher supported bps rate BBS software. I wonder if it'll net like the old MNET setup? I remember downloading the MNET archive from Toadhall but I never installed it. Different subject... I bought a JAG and have Raiden, T2k and Cybermorph - have you seen any more titles available yet? My attention span is rather short and the JAG has been sitting idle for a while now." Dana fills Jonnie in on some of the new Jaguar games: "...There's Crescent Galaxy, Wolf 3D, Dino Dudes, and Brutal Sports Football as well. There are a number of new games imminent (October?), such as AvP, Checkered Flag, Doom, Kasumi Ninja, Zool2, Dragon, and Space Wars. There are probably others." Paul Nicholls asks: "Some time ago someone mentioned that they had seen 16 or 256 color weather maps in the GO MAPS area on CIS using a Windoze program. Every time I've been there I just get 2 or 4 color maps. Would anyone who can capture one of these please mail it to me? I'd like to find out why I don't get exactly what I select when the resolution menu appears." Sysop Jim Ness tells Paul: "The highest available rez in Maps is 378x240x16. When you enter the Maps area, CIS sends an enquiry sequence, asking your program what features it supports. Maybe your response sequence tells CIS you only support 4 colors?" Well folks, that's about it for this week. Gee, now that I've finished the column, I feel good. It HAS been fun. I tend to forget that knowledge can be its own reward. But I guess that people like SysOps Bob Retelle and Jim Ness, Albert Dayes, and Myles Cohen already knew that. Be sure to tune in again next week (same time, same station) and be ready to listen to what they are saying when... PEOPLE ARE TALKING _______________________________________ > STReport CONFIDENTIAL "Rumors Tidbits Predictions Observations Tips" """"""""""""""""""""" - Los Angeles, CA MA BELL ON THE "PROWL" AGAIN?? --------------- The excerpts below from the Los Angeles Times: "Shorter phone calls may soon cost more." "Telephone companies want to impose a new charge on communications such as e-mail." "Today, as people leave voice mail rather than call back--or send e-mail rather than call at all--some 52 percent of residential phone calls last one minute or less, compared with 22 percent of such short connections in 1982." "Telephone companies are not happy about this. They say it is costing them money--not because overall phone traffic is down (it isn't), but because the first few seconds of a call, when the initial connection is made, is the most expensive to handle." "Not surprisingly, they have a solution: a new "set-up" charge that could make some short-duration calls as much as five times more expensive." Other things this will effect are: pagers, fax machines, and credit card scanners. - Peoria, IL CONTEST! -> DIGITAL PHOTOGRAPHY '95 ---------- The PEORIA ART GUILD presents DIGITAL PHOTOGRAPHY '95, a juried exhibition to be held April 21 - May 20, 1995. The ENTRY DEADLINE IS FEBRUARY 1, 1995. Entrants may print out and use the form at the end of this file as their official entry. This is the second year that the PEORIA ART GUILD has sponsored this juried competition to explore current work being created in this new medium. The images selected for the exhibition will be shown in both the "physical space" of the gallery, and in the "virtual space" of computer networks, where more than 14,000 people (as of September) have seen the 1994 exhibit. Any two-dimensional image that had its origin in a lens-imaging camera devise and was brought to completion within a computer is eligible. Jurors are: ----------- Mark Siprut, Lecturer, Art Department, Sand Diego State University Author of The Photoshop Handbook (Random House) Howard Goldbaum, Associate Professor, Bradley University SLIDE SUBMISSION ---------------- Artists may submit a maximum of three entries for the non-refundable fee of $15. Checks or money orders should be made payable to the Peoria Art Guild. Entries must be received by February 1, 1995. Mail or deliver to: Digital Photography '95, The Peoria Art Guild, 1831 N. Knoxville Ave., Peoria, IL 61603. All slides must be standard 2x2 35mm color transparencies in a cardboard or plastic mount. No glass mounts will be accepted. Each slide must be labeled in the manner shown below, with the information on the slide matching that on the entry form. Slides of accepted entries will be retained by the Peoria Art Guild as documentation for the exhibit. top of slide __________________________ | entry | | TITLE letter | | _____________ | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | |_____________| | | | | Artist's Name | |_________________________| ENTRY RULES ----------- * All artists working in computer-photography media are welcome. * All entries must be received by the February 1 deadline. * Accepted work must be delivered between March 8 and 22. * Each artist may submit up to three works. * All art must be original and entirely the work of the individual artist. * Only individual works may be entered (portfolios or works in series will not be counted as one work). * A non refundable entrance fee of $15 must be received at the time of slide submission. * Enclose a S.A.S.E. for return of slides and/or notification slip. * Entry form may be duplicated. The Peoria Art Guild is a nonprofit, member-supported organization dedicated to the advancement of Fine Arts and Fine Crafts in the community. A 40% commission on all sales resulting from this exhibit will be retained by the Peoria Art Guild. JURYING ------- Jurying will be by slide submission only. The jurors will review all slides submitted and determine which entries will be included in the exhibition. Artists whose works are accepted from the slide jurying process will be notified by mail with further shipping information and labeling material. An RartistUs statementS will be requested of accepted entrants. The jurors reserve the right to withhold from the exhibition works which do not fulfill the expectations as indicated by the slides. Prize awards will be determined by the jurors after viewing of the exhibited work. All accepted work must remain for the duration of the exhibition. CALENDAR OF DEADLINES --------------------- February 1 Deadline for receipt of slide entries. February 8 Jurying of slides. February 11 Acceptance notification mailed. Slides of rejected entries returned to artists. March 8 - 22 Work accepted for exhibition must be received during these dates. April 21 Exhibition opens. May 20 Exhibition closes. Shipped artwork will be returned as soon as possible following the close of the exhibit. ENTRY SPECIFICATIONS -------------------- Any photographically-derived work using computer image-processing is acceptable. Works submitted may be in any type of two-dimensional print format (silver print, C-print, Ilfochrome, dye sublimation, thermal wax-transfer, etc., window-matted in one of the following sizes: 11 X 14 16 X 20 20 X 24 Mattes should be white or neutral gray. AWARDS ------ First, second, and third place cash awards totaling $500 will be offered. There will also be four Honorable Mention Awards. INSURANCE The Peoria Art Guild will insure those photographs selected for exhibition for their fair market value while on the Art Guild premises only. While the Peoria Art Guild will exercise professional care in handling all works submitted, it cannot assume responsibility for accidents or incidental damage to works not accepted for exhibition. The Peoria Art Guild will not insure works while in transit. The artist must assume insurance responsibility for shipment to and from the Peoria Art Guild. DELIVERY OF WORKS FOR EXHIBITION -------------------------------- Photographs selected for exhibition must be matted, NOT framed, and sent prepaid in a sturdy, reusable container. (A fiberboard shipping container is preferred.) A check (to the Peoria Art Guild) to cover all return shipment and insurance charges (if desired) must be included with the work. Work will be exhibited under glass. Return shipment of artwork and slides will be made in the same container and in the same manner as received. Artists selected for inclusion in the exhibit will be asked to submit an "artist's statement" with the work shipped to the exhibition. AGREEMENT --------- Submission of an entry to this exhibition constitutes an agreement by the entrant to the conditions set forth in this prospectus and for the reproduction of their work for all publicity purposes connected with the exhibition. Scans made from the slides of winning entries will be posted in low-resolution format to selected national computer networks, with copyright notice credited to the individual artist. The Peoria Art Guild reserves the right to install accepted works in any manner deemed necessary for exhibition or security reasons. Please print clearly or type. Mail signed entry form, notification form, slides, entry fee, and a 4" x 9.5" self-addressed, stamped envelope to: Digital Photography '95 The Peoria Art Guild 1831 N. Knoxville Ave. Peoria, IL 61603. ENTRY CHECKLIST * Completed, signed entry form * Notification form * Entry fee enclosed * Slides * S.A.S.E. (for notification) ------------------------------CUT HERE----------------- Name ____________________________ Address __________________________ City _____________________State______ Zip Phone __________________________ e-mail __________________________ I have read and fully understand the conditions of the Peoria Art Guild's "Digital Photography '95" Show. signed__________________________________ SLIDE "A" Title ________________________________ Medium ______________________________ Matte Height _____________ Matte Width ______________ Image Height _____________ Image Width ______________ Value ___________________ SLIDE "B" Title ________________________________ Medium ______________________________ Matte Height _____________ Matte Width ______________ Image Height _____________ Image Width ______________ Value ___________________ SLIDE "C" Title ________________________________ Medium ______________________________ Matte Height _____________ Matte Width ______________ Image Height _____________ Image Width ______________ Value ___________________ (If not for sale, indicated value for insurance and write "NFS.") NOTIFICATION FORM Name __________________________ Slide "A" ____accepted ____rejected Slide "B" ____accepted ____rejected Slide "C" ____accepted ____rejected - Sunnyvale, CA DIAMOND LAUNCHES MAJOR MULTIMEDIA BUSINESS STRATEGY ------------- Diamond Computer Systems, Inc. announced a major expansion of its multimedia business strategy and a change in its corporate name to: DIAMOND MULTIMEDIA SYSTEMS, INC. "Our new name reflects Diamond's strategic direction, technology leadership and future growth opportunities," said William J. Schroeder, president and CEO of Diamond. "Leveraging our strength in high performance graphics, Diamond is now ideally positioned to deliver next-generation, multimedia solutions for the desktop." Technology convergence has fueled Diamond's transition into the multimedia arena, Schroeder said. "As users continue to demand cost-effective, multimedia capabilities for their personal computers, the need for companies to offer an integrated solution for audio, video and graphics becomes crucial. Future applications of these technologies include interactive video, desktop conferencing and entertainment graphics." Over the past five years, Diamond has become one of the leading graphics subsystems suppliers with its popular Viper, Stealth and SpeedStar graphics accelerators targeted for the personal computer market. Last year, the company broadened its multimedia offerings with its first digital video capture and playback product, VideoStar, and its SonicSound line of sound cards. Diamond also announced that it will begin shipping multimedia upgrade kits incorporating one of the industry's fastest quadruple-speed (4X) CD-ROM drives, a 16-bit FM synthesis, wavetable-upgradable sound card and 30 software titles ranging from Compton's Interactive Encyclopedia and Family Doctor to several leading game titles. """""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""" STReport's "EDITORIAL CARTOON" """""""""""""""""""""""""""""" > A "Quotable Quote" He's gonna run for President!! """"""""""""""""" -- As Quayle delivers speech on education, He keenly observes, "Quite frankly, teachers are the only profession... ....that teach our children." Dan Quayle - September 18, 1990 """""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""" > DEALER CLASSIFIED LIST STR InfoFile * Dealer Listings * """"""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""" --------------- ABCO Incorporated ================= P.O. 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