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*---== CPU NEWSWIRE ONLINE MAGAZINE ==---* """""""""""""""""""""""""""" "The Original 16/32bit Online Magazine" _____________________________________ from STR Publishing Inc. """""""""""""""""" March 30, 1990 No.4.13 ======================================================================= CPU NewsWire Online Magazine™ featuring STReport ~ Online __________________________ Post Office Box 6672 Jacksonville, Florida 32205 ~ 6672 R.F. Mariano Publisher - Editor _________________________________________ Voice: 904-783-3319 10 AM - 4 PM EDT BBS: 904-786-4176 12-24-96 HST/14.4 FAX: 904-783-3319 12 AM - 6 AM EDT _________________________________________ ** F-NET NODE 350 ** 500mb Online ** STR'S owned & operated support BBS carries ALL issues of CPU/STR Newswire and An International list of private BBS systems carrying CPU NewsWire for their users enjoyment __________________________________________________________________ > 03/30/90: CPU Newswire™ #413 The Original 16/32 bit Online Magazine! ---------------------------- - The Editor's Podium - CPU REPORT - CPU STATUS REPORT - DR. DOOM review - PCD2 YIKES! - USENET Info - Tracker/ST Debuts - DynaCADD p IX - CPU CONFIDENTIAL ---===*** THE BOTTOM LINE ON EXPLORER ***===--- --==*** ADDED CEBIT COVERAGE ***==-- ========================================================================== CPU NEWSWIRE© "Only UP-TO-DATE News and Information" -* FEATURING *- Current Events, Up to Date News, Hot Tips, and Information Hardware - Software - Corporate - R & D - Imports ========================================================================== CPU/STR's support BBS, NODE # 350 invites systems using Forem ST BBS to participate in Forem BBS's F-Net mail network. Or, Please call # 350 direct at 904-786-4176, and enjoy the excitement of exchanging ideas about the Atari ST computers through an excellent International ST Mail Network. ========================================================================== AVAILABLE ON: COMP-U-SERVE ~ DELPHI ~ GENIE ~ BIX ========================================================================== > The Editor's Podium™ This weekend is the TAF show in Toronto. Bob Brodie will be there to meet and greet all present at this show. The show will include demonstrations of ISD's fine line up of great software like Calamus, DynaCADD and Outline. Also, it is rumored that Nathan will have "autograph" editions of the new Guide to Calamus Desk Top Publishing book availble. With the frivolity of "showtime" in air, one can't help but wonder what Atari is really "up to" in the US market and ..if in fact, Jack will return to alter the course of action Atari will take in the USA. By all indications Atari needs a definite plan of action in the states, at the rate they are going, they are with a doubt the best thing that ever happened for Apple, Amiga and IBM. Why? It seems they are sending their loyal followers to the competition in droves. This must stop and stop soon. Ralph..... ********************************************************************** :HOW TO GET YOUR OWN GENIE ACCOUNT: _________________________________ To sign up for GEnie service: Call: (with modem) 800-638-8369. Upon connection type HHH (RETURN after that). Wait for the U#= prompt. Type: XTX99587,CPUREPT then, hit RETURN. **** SIGN UP FEE WAIVED **** The system will now prompt you for your information. THE GENIE ATARI ST ROUNDTABLE - AN OVERVIEW ___________________________________________ The Roundtable is an area of GEnie specifically set aside for owners and users of Atari ST computers, although all are welcome to participate. There are three main sections to the Roundtable: the Bulletin Board, the Software Library and the Real Time Conference area. The Bulletin Board contains messages from Roundtable members on a variety of Topics, organized under several Categories. These messages are all Open and available for all to read (GEnie Mail should be used for private messages). If you have a question, comment, hot rumor or an answer to someone else's question, the Bulletin Board is the place to share it. The Software Library is where we keep the Public Domain software files that are available to all Roundtable members. You can 'download' any of these files to your own computer system by using a Terminal Program which uses the 'XMODEM' file-transfer method. You can also share your favorite Public Domain programs and files with other Roundtable members by 'uploading' them to the Software Library. Uploading on GEnie is FREE, so you are encouraged to participate and help your Roundtable grow. The Real Time Conference is an area where two or more Roundtable members may get together and 'talk' in 'real-time'. You can participate in organized conferences with special guests, drop in on our weekly Open COnference, or simply join in on an impromptu chat session. Unlike posting messages or Mail for other members to read at some later time, everyone in the Conference area can see what you type immediately, and can respond to you right away, in an 'electronic conversation'. ********************************************************************** > CPU REPORT™ ========== Issue # 60 ---------- by Michael Arthur Remember When.... In 1981, Apple responded to IBM's introduction of the IBM PC by a Wall Street Ad saying, "Welcome, IBM. Seriously.", and how in February 1983, after IBM had taken more than half of Apple's market share in the computer industry, Apple said it had developed the $10,000 Lisa computer to, "make IBM say, 'We've gotta respond to that.' "? CPU INSIGHTS™ ============ Industry Slowdowns, Recessions, and the Computer Industry --------------------------------------------------------- For 4 years, the computer industry has enjoyed a tremendous rate of expansion. Within this time, the low-end microcomputer market has declined in the list of priorities for many computer companies (most notably Apple), the Graphical User Interface grew from obscurity to popularity, and several innovations, including Postscript, Unix, Local Area Networks, the Federated stores, and RISC (or Reduced Instruction Set Chip) processors, climbed to the forefront of the computer industry. While nothing ever lasts, many people were surprised when signs of an industry slowdown, such as decreased sales by many large computer companies such as IBM, DEC, and Apple, began to appear in Late 1989. The Gardner Group, a consulting firm specializing in researching trends in the computer industry, recently published findings from 216 publicly held companies involved in the telecommunications, electronics, and computer industries. Interestingly, the Gardner Group found that while in the Fourth Quarter of 1988, US Computer Companies reported sales growth of 10.7 percent, those same companies' registered revenue growth rates of only 5 percent for the Fourth Quarter of 1989. The Gardner Group also found that in this same period, net margins for mainframe and minicomputer vendors sank from 6-10 percent to 3.4 - 3.7 percent, two record lows for these markets. While this may seem to indicate a growing popularity in microcomputers, it seems that the revenue growth rate for Desktop Computers in 1989 dropped to 17.5 percent. In 1988, sales were up by 25 percent. Also, revenue growth in computer software sales, which normally hover around 20 percent, also declined to 6.2 percent in the Fourth Quarter of 1989. However, while all of these signs would tend to indicate a slowdown in the computer industry, it would be wise to note that these declines could easily be temporary. And given the sometimes chaotic state of the computer industry.... CPU Addendum ============ CPU MacNews I: Apple II Push, Mac IIfx, SCSI/DMA ------------------------------------------------- Part of this article, appearing in CPU Report Issue 59, described part of the innovations found in both the recently introduced Mac IIfx, and in several of the other products Apple announced with it, such as their new line of Graphics Cards, and A/UX (Apple Unix) 2.0. Here is some additional information concerning these products: The Macintosh IIfx uses four custom chips as coprocessors in handling its I/O functions. Two of these chips control its floppy disk and serial ports, one is used as a dedicated Controller for its SCSI/DMA Port, and one is used as a controller for the Apple Desktop Bus (which controls peripherals like Mac Mice, keyboards, and trackballs). These chips will provide a considerable boost in the Mac IIfx's I/O handling.... Apple's use of I/O coprocessors, while not unique in the computer industry, is significant in that until recently, Apple has made its computers' CPUs handle many functions which (like graphics rendering) are performed better and faster by coprocessors. For example, until the Mac SE/30 and Mac IIcx, Apple never even included separate Video RAM as a buffer for graphics displays. In efforts to further accomplish this, Apple has introduced the Macintosh Display Card 8/24 GC, which combines an AMD 29000 RISC chip with a custom version of 32-Bit QuickDraw to provide a graphics coprocessing system which is vastly more efficient than before. For example, the 8/24 GC can display 24-bit (16 million color) Mac graphics up to 30 times faster than was previously possible. Also, the 8/24 GC has built-in support for Genlocking.... Unfortunately, one major obstacle may be its cost. Here is the price list for Apple's entire line of Graphics Boards: - Macintosh Display Card 4/8 (256 Displayable Colors): $700.00 - Mac Display Card 8/24 (16 Million Displayable Colors): $900.00 - Mac DC 8/24 GC (24 Bit Color Display, AMD 29000 Chip): $2000.00 But ponder, if you will, these questions: 1) How would the industry react to Atari introducing the TT030/2 (the 2 Meg Model of the 68030 TT) at a cost of $2500.00, especially given that similarly powered 68030-based machines cost 2-3 times as much? 2) In part of Xerox's lawsuit against Apple, Xerox called for Apple's copyrights on the Mac User Interface to be invalidated. Recently, this aspect of their suit was dismissed in Court. What are the implications of this, given that this was an important part of Xerox' lawsuit? 3) If Atari simply rented, leased, or built another manufacturing plant in which to manufacture their products, how would it help them to provide (and sell) enough product to meet any possible demand caused by any decent Advertising and Marketing Efforts? > CPU STATUS REPORT™ >>> LATE BREAKING, INDUSTRY WIDE NEWS <<< ================= Minneapolis, MA MONITERM CORP. REPORTS DRASTIC SALES DECLINE --------------- Moniterm Corporation, maker of the Viking monochrome display systems available for the Atari ST, Mac, Amiga, and IBM machines, recently reported a loss of $1.1 million dollars for 1989, compared with positive earnings of $350,000 in 12988. Also, their sales revenue decreased from $34.2 million in 1988, to $27.4 million in 1989. The principal reason for this deficit seems to be a recent slump in the High Resolution Display industry, as well as increasing competition in the Macintosh and IBM markets. In reaction to this, the company recently laid off 20 percent of its employees, and revamped its Sales and Marketing Divisions. Moniterm also announced that they will be introducing a new line of high resolution monitors later this Quarter.... Redmond, WA OS/2 2.0 MULTITASKS UP TO 16 "VIRTUAL DOS MACHINES" ----------- OS/2 2.0 (OS/2 for the 80386 chip) will multitask up to 16 DOS Compatibility Boxes, which can run as "background" processes. Windows 2.0 and related apps will also run in them. The DOS Compatibility Boxes emulate DOS 4.0, provide up to 624K of available RAM, and support the LIM EMS 4.0 expanded memory standard. They will also allow one to use the clipboard to paste text and graphics between OS/2 PM software, and DOS applications running in the 'Boxes'. However, asynchronous communcations in the 'Boxes' will only have a speed of up to 9600 baud.... Microsoft is also developing a "Windows Mapping Layer", to allow Software companies to port their programs easily from MS Windows to OS/2, but not support Presentation Manager calls, and only support 16-bit API calls (or OS/2 1.x operating system calls). Also, ported apps will run 5-10 percent slower than normal.... San Jose, CA INSITE FLOPTICALS MAY BECOME INDUSTRY STANDARD ------------ The new "Floptical" disk drive technology, as proposed by Insite Peripherals (its creator), Iomega Corp., and other companies, is being highly rated by the Micro Standards Committee of the Micro Managers Association (1-212-341-4237), as a new standard for Very High Density (VHD) diskettes. This was due to its easy installation (it fits in the space of traditional 3 1/2 inch drives), storage capacity (20.9 Megs per disk), and downward compatibility (it can read/write to 720K or 1.44 Meg 3 1/2 inch disk drives).... In the next step of this process, Insite's "Floptical" disk technology (which stores data magnetically on servo tracks embedded in Floptical disks, that are used to optically track that data) may be highly recommended when the Micro Standards Committee talks to ANSI about setting up a VHD Standards' Committee.... Errata: CPU MacNews, a segment of CPU Report Issue 59, stated that the ======= Macintosh IIfx's cost was $9000.00 for a system with 2 Megs of RAM. It seems that this is the actual price listing for the system configurations of the Mac IIfx: Macintosh IIfx Price List (without monitor or keyboard) ------------------------------------------------------- - Mac IIfx with 4 Megs of RAM, Disk Drive (Cost: $9000.00) - Mac IIfx with 4 Megs of RAM, 80 Meg Hard Drive (Cost: $9869.00) - Mac IIfx with 4 Megs of RAM, 160 Meg Hard Drive (Cost: $11,000.00) _____________________________________________________________ > THE BEAT GOES ON! CPU/STR Spotlight™ MUSHROOMS ARE FOREVER!! ==================================== Dear Readers, STReport, the first to present the following bulletin last week, now brings to you the inside story, THE TRUTH about why Explorer was so abruptly shut-down. """"""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""" ///// ////// /////// BULLETIN // // // /// ** //// // ////// BULLETIN // // // // ///// // // // March 24, 1990 """"""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""" STR Publishing Inc. 03/24/90 Mendham, N.J. <STR> ATARI EXPLORER PUBLICATIONS CORP. is reported to have ceased all operations and publication of the magazine known as "THE ATARI EXPLORER". According to STReport's sources the parent company, (alleged to be Atari) has been engaged in an attempt to sell this operation for some time and because of the lack of buyers, has in turn, ceased Atari Explorer's operations. Rumor has it that perhaps a certain very recent "EDITORIAL" snapped a number of hatbands in Sunnyvale and as a result, may have had "SOMETHING" to do with this CATASTROPHIC EVENT. Atari Explorer, long considered a standard bearer of Atari Corp. will certainly be missed. The Atari Explorer, publicly termed the "OFFICIAL ATARI JOURNAL" and its publisher, David H. Ahl have actually become household 'friends' to most all Atari users. Attempts to reach a responsible party at either Explorer or Atari Corp. willing to discuss this latest of tragedies to clobber the USA Atari market have been unsuccessful. ---====OOOOO====--- STReport will continue to bring you the latest news as soon as possible ..ongoing coverage of this late breaking story will continue on the feeds and will be presented as soon as we receive updates. --------------------------------------------------------------------- Newsline "Your Independent News Source" March 24, 1990 Bulletin Service copyright 1990 No. 27 --------------------------------------------------------------------- Although most folks had inklings of what was happening by thursday, 3/22/90, Atari seemed very reluctant to allow any real info to circulate. The reasons are more than evident..... read on McDuff! PRESS RELEASE FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE ************************************************************ March 28, 1990 For Additional Information, Contact: Jim Fisher Atari Corporation 1196 Borregas Avenue Sunnyvale, CA 94086 (408) 745-2010 ************************************************************ ATARI EXPLORER MAGAZINE TO EXPAND COVERAGE SUNNYVALE, CA- Atari Corporation announced today plans to enhance the ATARI EXPLORER magazine. This announcement is made formal following necessary actions taken to relocate the operation closer to headquarters in Sunnyvale, California. "We want to make notable changes in the production of Atari Explorer magazine to include expanded editorial coverage of additional products and enhance the environment for potential advertisers", stated Mr. James Fisher, V. P. Marketing and advertising. "The effort to present this news effectively and more timely requires the magazine staff to have 'instant access' to the technology and information available here." Atari plans to complete the current issue which is still in the hands of the printer and rush them to subscribers as soon as possible. At the time of this release, no changes to publication frequencies and subscriber fulfillment were considered and Mr. Fisher stated that subscribers and advertisers will always be the biggest priority. If necessary, extensions will be made to accommodate subscription commitments. END ...>>>> ITS BACK TO THE MUSHROOMS ...AGAIN! In all fairness and honesty to the readers and users the whole story leading up to the demise of Explorer as we all know needs to be told. It is very distasteful to see a "PRESS RELEASE" of the type we presented above. First getting right to the point, Atari was very unhappy with the content Betsy Staple's editorial in Explorer's most recent issue (Mar-Apr) and had halted its delivery at the printers. The issue referenced in the statement above is a subsequent, re-written (Mar-Apr) issue. If this is the type of 'information release' we can expect of Mr. Fisher, perhaps its better they be kept just for circulation within Atari. The real issue here is, of course, "was the right the thing done?" Clearly the statement by Fisher; "The effort to present this news effectively and more timely requires the magazine staff to have 'instant access' to the technology and information available here." This is a nice way of saying "we want tighter and more stringent control over the publication and its staff". And that, folks is the purest, simplest form of blatant, constrictive censorship. It means that, beyond a shadow of a doubt, Atari Explorer Magazine is for all intents and purposes a dead issue and will become nothing more than a company newsletter. As for the 'official press release', is this the extent of respect we can expect from Atari's corporate "think tank"? Surely they didn't think we would not get the truth about why Explorer went down, "the editorial that was critical of Atari because of a late remittance to the printer..." Actually the entire (already late) issue was done and ready for shipment to the subscribers at the time Atari corporate first saw the critical remarks. It was at this time the decision was angrily and hastily made to halt the delivery of this particular issue and in fact, to pull the plug on Explorer completely. With the subsequent release of the " pull the plug" information, Atari decided, four days later, to come forward with the above 'alleged' press release. Like all true heros, Betsy Staples is gone... but not forgotten. "Three cheers to Betsy for saying it like it she saw it". "Mr. Fisher stated that subscribers and advertisers will always be the biggest priority." If this is true Mr. Fisher, then by all means, please restore editorial integrity and credibility to Atari Explorer. The implementation of this alleged upgrade of Explorer will long be remembered as the most obvious of foot shots we have yet to see come from the corporate conclave at Sunnyvale. The editorial "may" have been critical of Atari, but believe this, the "knee jerk" reaction and course of action taken by Atari will long be remembered for exactly what it really was. _______________________________________________________________ > DR. DOOM CPU/STR Review™ Review of DR. DOOM's REVENGE ======================= DR. DOOM's REVENGE ================== by Oscar Steele Comic book characters - Batman, to be specific - have become extremely popular in the past few years. The latest jump from comic books is THE AMAZING SPIDER-MAN AND CAPTAIN AMERICA IN DR. DOOM'S REVENGE. You alternately play Spider-Man and Captain America in what's billed as an interactive comic book adventure. The game packaging includes two disks (single-sided), a comic book, a coupon, an instruction manual and an Atari ST technical supplement. The comic book is a standard 16 page variety. The coupon offers a 50% savings on a 12 issue subscription to your favorite Marvel title - this saves you $6. If the coupon influences your purchase, you better hurry - it expires April 1, 1990! The manual is informative and layed-out nicely. It covers enough information for those who haven't even heard of Spider-Man; it even includes biographies of the various characters. The technical supplement covers additional pertinent information. The ST version contains an additional super-villain. The game is also Hard Disk installable (it's a life-saver, using floppies I thought I'd die of old age before I saw the next section). The game is manual copy-protected; you must answer questions whose answers are in the manual, such as "What color are Peter Parker's eyes?" As mentioned earlier, DR. DOOM'S REVENGE is a comic-book adventure. The player "reads" a comic strip on-screen to a point where he/she takes control of the action. Gameplay consists of the player alternately controlling Captain America and Spider-Man. If one of your character's health points are depleted the game ends. The challenge is to try to kill all opponents to reach Dr. Doom. Each superhero has basic commands and special ones (Spider-Man shoots webs and sticks to walls while Captain America attacks with his shield). Although the graphics are decent, the scrolling is awful. It's first grader stuff. In fact, the scrolling is so jerky and annoying that it becomes distracting. Control of the joystick is sluggish; there's a small lag from when I moved the joystick to when the character responded. The game is tremendously easy on the first level - the robots were easily overcome by either continuously shooting webs or attacking with the shield. Then, boom, second level became immediately too difficult. When I first saw this game, I couldn't wait to play it. Once I did, I discovered that the game's addictiveness is next to nill; its main purpose in life is as a dust-collector. The main fault is the gameplay. If the joystick controls, animation and scrolling were significantly improved, then my interest would have been held at least as long as an average shoot 'em up. But as it is, Dr. Doom is limited to being a novelty item. If you're a die-hard comic book advocate, then you might get some kicks in "being" Spider-Man or Captain America. Getting a limited edition comic book and six bucks off a subscription is also tempting. At $44.95 it's absolutely overpriced; even at $26.95 (from MICROTYME) I wouldn't recommend it. Also, I saw a brochure for an X-MEN game coming soon. If it's released for the ST, I hope they do a better job. Dr. Doom is a bad application of a good idea. As a sidebar, I went to a local comic book store to see if the "Collector's Edition" comic is actually headed to being a classic. The store's owner told me that it MIGHT be a classic, and it MIGHT even be worth some money once the game is no longer on the market. However, if you're counting on becoming rich off of it, don't. Since, the average comic book is worth about a dollar he'd pay you 50 cents. If you want to look at acquiring the book purely as an investment, then count on it being a LONG-TERM investment. SCORECARD ---------------------------- Graphics......... 6.7 D+ Sound............ 3.0 F- Addictiveness.... .5 F- Documentation.... 8.5 B Value............ 3.5 F- (based on $26.95 price) Overall.......... 4.5 F- Difficulty: Average Game save : Yes Retail price: $44.95 MICROTYME's price: $26.95 System Requirements: 520/1040/MEGA ST, Color Monitor, Joystick Published by: Medalist 180 Lakefront Dr. Hunt Valley, MD 21030 (800) 876-1151 Next week I'll be looking at Iron Lord, the latest from UBI SOFT. It's an "epic adventure/arcade game" in which you play a noble knight whose uncle seizes the throne and kills the king, who is coincidentally your father. Please mention STReport when ordering a product you've seen reviewed. It doesn't cost you a penny and it helps spread the word about our organization. ___________________________________________________________________ > Stock Market ~ CPU NewsWire™ Watchin' the Scheckles Grow! =========================== THE TICKERTAPE ============== by Michael Arthur Concept by Glenn Gorman On Monday, Atari stock went down 3/8 of a point, and dropped another 3/8 of a point on Tuesday. It went up by 1/8 of a point on Wednesday, and stayed even on Thursday, and went up 1/4 of a point on Friday. Finishing up the week at 6 3/8 points, Atari stock has gone down 3/4 of a point since the last report. Apple Stock was up 2 points from Friday, March 16, 1990. Commodore Stock was down 1/8 of a point from 3/16/90. IBM Stock was down 1 5/8 points from 3/16/90. Stock Report for Week of 3/19/90 to 3/23/90 _________________________________________________________________________ STock| Monday | Tuesday | Wednesday | Thursday | Friday | Reprt|Last Chg.|Last Chg.|Last Chg.|Last Chg.|Last Chg.| -----|--------------|-----------|-------------|-------------|------------| Atari|6 1/4 - 1/8| 6 -1/4| 6 ---- |5 5/8 - 3/8|5 5/8 ---- | | | | | | | -----|--------------+-----------+-------------+-------------+------------| CBM |8 7/8 + 1/2|8 5/8 -1/4|8 5/8 ---- |8 3/8 -1/4|8 1/4 -1/8| | | | | | | -----|--------------+-----------+-------------+-------------+------------| Apple|42 3/8 +2 1/8|41 3/8 - 1|41 5/8 +1/4|40 3/4 -7/8|42 1/4 | | | | | | +1 1/2| -----|--------------+-----------+-------------+-------------+------------| IBM | 107 + 3/8| 108 - 1|107 1/4 -3/4|106 1/2 -3/4|105 -1 1/2| | | | | | | -----'-------------------------------------------------------------------' 'Sls' refers to the # of stock shares that were traded that day. 'CBM' refers to Commodore Corporation. '----' means that the stock's price did not change for the day. ______________________________________________________________ > PCD2 YIKES! CPU/STR FOCUS™ "The phone ain't off the hook!" ========================== ctsy GEnie Atari ST RT R.DEAN3 posts; The below listed programs have been tested and work with PC_Ditto II v1.01 on a 520ST with 2.5meg AERCO easieST Solderless Ram Expansion using 80ns Drams. External Power Supply, revision H motherboard & TOS 1.4 in ROM. and a Supra 40 MEG hard drive. All of the programs that I owned were tested both from floppy and the hard drive. Loaner programs were only tested from disk. TITLE DISTRIBUTOR Calendar Creator Plus v3.01 Power Up Create a Calendar Epyx Impossible Mission II Epyx L.A. Crackdown Epyx Street Sports Soccer Epyx Destroyer Epyx Dive Bomber Epyx 4x4 Off-Road Racing Epyx Print Magic Epyx Desk Mate Print Magic Epyx Techno Cop Epyx The Games: Winter Edition Epyx (Needs Joystick Support) Sub Battle Simulator Epyx Tetris Spectrum Holobyte Where in the USA is Carmen San Diego Broderbund Where in the World is Carmen San Diego Broderbund Rockford Arcadia VUGIF v1.70 Offe Enterprises Chuck Yeager's Advance Flight Trainer Electronic Arts Turbo Tax 1990 v7.01 Chip Soft Word Perfect Library Word Perfect Corp Word Perfect 5.1 Word Perfect Corp Norton's Advanced Utilities 4.5 Peter Norton Harvard Graphics v2.13 Software Publishing Corp PFS: Professional Write v1.03 Software Publishing Corp PFS: First Publisher v2.0 Software Publishing Corp PFS: First Choice v2.0 Software Publishing Corp CShow v8.00a Canyon State Systems ProComm v2.4.3 Data Storm dBase IV Sampler Ashton Tate Lotus 123 Release 2.2 Lotus Development Corp PC Tools Deluxe v5.5 Central Point Software Le Menu v2.0 Bartel ***************************************************************** The following programs failed on PCD2, but did run on a Motorola PC01 AT Clone. CopyIIPC All versions tested Central Point Software Procomm+ v1.1b Data Storm SikeKick+ Borland Memory Mate Broderbund ***************************************************************** For those of you trying to decide whether or not to have your clip soldered in, DO IT!!!. I just had mine soldered in by a Navy Micro Miniature Repair Tech and it is GREAT!!! (Best job of soldering I've ever seen), no more wondering when the clip will slip loose or if PCDII will boot. System tests with Norton's SI=4.2 PC Tools =280% CPUTEST =24.84mhz (PD) The only problems I have had with any MS-DOS programs that do run is occasional lockups with Word Perfect 5.1 (Using it now) and screen trash while CShow boots. The Mouse does work with several programs (WP51/PFS First PUB/PCTools sometimes) but not with all. I'm configured as serial & using a cordless mouse. The ONLY NEGATIVE IMPACT having the board connected to my ST causes when in Atari mode is that Spectrum is blown away. A hint for owners of the newer Supra drives, there are 2 button switches on the bottom of the hard drive which set your SCSI address. Change to any address other then 0 and PCDII will no longer interfere with Spectrum! Was it worth the Money & wait? You bet it was!!! Those who sent their boards back for refunds really made a mistake. Well done Avante Garde!! Congradulations on another fine product. Keep up the good work and get us the fixes as soon as ya can. (Sure looking forward to seeing what other goodies you have in store for us). K.RICHARDS posts; to:avantgarde I just tried checking my voltages on the old rev. A 520st. I have a good +5 volts coming in from my external power supply. I have discovered that several of the PCD II 74LS??? chips have no voltage across pins 10-20, 8-16, and 7-14. Chip C9 has < 3 volts, c1 and c8 also have < 3 volts??? Do I have a board problem?? I disconnected my HD. Configured PCDII to not use a HD and booted with the PCDII disk with the 1.0001 software. It still locks up while in ST mode with no messages when I start the PCDII prg. I haven't replaced my 74ls373's with 74als373 chips yet! What else voltage wise can I check on the PCD II board to ensure that my PCDII board has enough volts to run??? Mike K.BESIG posts; Boy it's great to finally have a working PCD2! I received my PALS yesterday and outside of problems with the generic mouse not functioning, I am real happy with this board. Reguarding the Blitter problems- I have a 1040 with Blitter added which had to be turned off with the PCD2 board installed. I was able to fix this by adding a TTL buffer to the Blitter BR output line. I used a 7408 with inputs tied together, but any non-inverting arrangement should work. Make sure the buffer output is directed toward the 68000. I'm really not sure what is driving the blitter crazy, but it seems to be related to the ditto board/cable termination. Whatever it is, it's a hardware problem- the software fix that avant-guard is working on won't fix this one. J.ALLEN27 posts; I suspect that the internal structure of the blitter has the BR signal built as an output BUT the actual signal on the pin is fed back into the chip. If this was true any noise on that line could cause ALL SORTS of crazyness to happen. That fact that with the blitter active the blitter enters an "oscillatory" state of BR...BG...BGACK...BR....tells us the noise on the actual pin can lead to the chip making mistakes. Just buffering the chip, like with a 7408 is all that's really needed. The buffer can be installed on the clip and not affect the motherboard at all. AG should make such a mod "official" and issue instructions for Mega owners!!! I.ADAMS posts; I left E-mail for AG and got no replay on GEnie but got my PCDII by second day air a couple of days later (the UPS clerk couldn't understand what I was laughing about until I explained to her that that "2nd day air" package was ordered in October of last year). Anyway -- it doesn't work. I have a 1 meg 520ST-FM with Rev.D motherboard and CPU parallel to the internal drive. PCDII arrived with the new PALs installed, & I tried it with both versions of the software. My 74LS373s or whatever don't ever give me trouble & I don't have the IMP chips. I slopped the Tweak all over the connector and 68000 and bent the connector pins to where it took a half-hour of major struggle to force it onto the CPU (prior to making it that tight I kept getting faulty installation messages). It locked up every time after pressing RETURN at the Insert DOS prompt. There would be one drive-stepping sound and then lock-up city. I tried IBM PC-DOS 3.0, 3.2, & 3.3, and all of them worked fine with PCD-I. All locked up PCD-II. I tried booting in color and in monochrome, with and without the Spectre GCR cart hooked up, and with all auto & accessories removed, booting from floppy and from hard drive. Same result every time - lockup on booting DOS. I took everything apart & tried a continuity check on the 68000 connector I get a good solid connection indicated between every pin on the PCDII connector and every pin on the 68000, as well as with every other point on the computer motherboard. The computer works normally whether or not the PCDII board is attached. So what am I supposed to try next???? I'm not about to solder in something that gives no indication of working anyway. Unless someone gives me some good suggestions, this thing goes back in the box and back to Florida on Tuesday next. (Even if it did work, it can't fit either inside my computer - for obvious reasons - or outside it, since the cables are too short and too stiff to route anywhere.) Does anyone have any ideas??? Since I have no problem with the power supply supporting Spectre, I presume that it's not a power supply problem. DCASTALDI posts; R.DEAN3: I have been using PROCOMM PLUS v1.1b for two weeks now without a proplem. What doesn't work with your copy? p.s. I have the commercial version, not the "test drive" version and the only thing that doesn't work is using ZCOMM (DSZ.EXE from Chuck Foresberg of OMEN TECH) as an external protocol. But DSZ.exe doesn't work with my dad's clone either. Let me know what your problems are. Dennis Castaldi _______________________________________________________________ > ON USENET CPU/STR InfoFile™ Pertinent Info on transfers ========================== This short article describes how to submit binaries to the Usenet newsgroup. A companion article lists all previously-published binaries, and a third article explains how to retrieve and unpack binaries posted by others. I am always looking for suggestions on how to improve the usefulness of the newsgroup, and can be contacted as listed below. -- Steven Grimm koreth@panarthea.ebay.sun.com -------------------- Subject: Submitting binaries for publication Items intended for posting or queries and problem notes should be sent to atari-binaries@panarthea.ebay.sun.com. If you are on a UUCP-only site, you can send them to {backbone}!sun!ebay!panarthea!atari-binaries. If you're in Europe, you can send binaries to the European submoderator, Jan-Hinrich Fessel, at unido!atari-binaries (or, if you're a masochist, atari-binaries@unido.informatik.uni-dortmund.de.) He will test them and forward them to me. Submitting to him saves net bandwidth, so it's encouraged. If you want verification of arrival, so say in a cover note, or at the beginning of your submission, if it is small. I try to verify that a program works, and if I can't get it to work, I may hold up posting it for a couple of days. Please note that, except in rare cases, software without documentation will not be published. The backlog from receipt to posting varies from one to four weeks depending mostly on the set of submissions currently in my queue. If you are submitting both sources and binaries, PLEASE send the two separately. If I have to separate your sources from your binaries by hand, your submission will most likely sit on the back burner for a while. Also, as of volume 8, I will only accept binaries packed with an archiver for which source code is widely available. For the time being, this pretty much means arc, zoo, and lharc. If you want to use a nifty new archiver, make the source code available to the public (posting to comp.sources.atari.st is fine.) -------------------- Subject: The structure of comp.binaries.atari.st articles Each posting in comp.binaries.atari.st is called an "issue"; there are roughly 100 issues to a volume. The division is arbitrary and may vary. There are two types of articles in comp.binaries.atari.st: binaries and "information postings." They can be distinguished by the subject line: Subject: v10INF2: Index and other info This first word in the title identifies this as the third info posting of volume six. Similarly, the subject line shown below: Subject: v10i081: ibmboom -- Detonate IBM clones over the network identifies this as the 81st binary article in Volume 10. Large programs are broken up into smaller pieces, and have subject lines that look like this: Subject: v10i041: slowmand -- The world's slowest fractal system part04/30 Certain information about the system configuration required to use the program is given on the keywords line. Keywords: uuencode, 1meg, medium, high This means that the program requires at least one meg of RAM and runs in medium or high resolution. Following is a list of keywords; new ones may be added as needed. They are mostly self-explanatory. uuencode - program is uuencoded (UNIX uudecode required to unpack) uue - program is uuencoded (ST uud required to unpack) arc - program is archived (arc required to unpack) zoo - program is a zoo archive (zoo required to unpack) lharc - program is an lharc archive (lharc required to unpack) high - high resolution medium - medium resolution low - low resolution 1meg - needs 1 meg of RAM The first few lines of an article are auxiliary headers that look like this: Submitted-by: jackt@atari.UUCP (Jack Tramiel) Posting-number: Volume 10, Issue 80 Archive-name: free The "Submitted by" is the author of the program. If you have comments about the binaries published in comp.binaries.atari.st this is the person to contact. When possible, this address is in domain form, otherwise it is a UUCP bang path relative to some major (backbone) site. The "Reply-To:" header line in the article's main header points to the submitter, to make commenting about binaries easier. The second line repeats the volume/issue information for the aide of notes sites and automatic archiving programs. The Archive-name is the "official" name of this program in the archive. Large postings will have names that look like this: Archive-name: desktop/part01 Since most archive sites run UNIX, articles are given UNIX-style filenames rather than ST-style filenames. I do make an effort to keep filenames to 8 characters or smaller, however. ___________________________________________________________ > NEW FEATURE! CPU/STR OnLine™ A new user participation feature! ============================ ONLINE SPOTLIGHT ================ by Oscar Steele Hi! Welcome to ST Report's newest weekly column. I'll be reporting on a number of topics relating to telecommunicating on the major networks (BIX, Compuserve, Delphi and GEnie). With ST dealers and user groups scattered about the country, the modem has become an instrumental tool for ST users to keep in touch and aware of the ST situation. But with literally hundreds of new messages and files available for downloading, it's just not possible keep up with EVERYTHING that's happening EVERYWHERE each week. That's where we come into the picture. My job is to tell you what's happening, where the action is and who's involved. This will give you the opportunity to use your time efficiently and find things that interest you. The hottest downloads will be discussed. Upcoming events, conferences and news relating to the services will all be covered. Please give us some time to get up to speed. It's a big world out there in telecommunication land. And it'll take us a few weeks to get caught up and hooked into the daily groove of things. I'd appreciate if you'd let us know your comments, opinions and suggestions. ST Report has online sections on the networks where you can leave messages and talk to the ST Report staff, including myself. _______________________________________________________________ > TRACKER ST!! CPU/STR InfoFile™ This is a HOT item! ============================= TRACKER/ST ========== Tracker/ST is an exciting new productivity package for the Atari ST, which combines mailing list, mail merge, and person-tracking features in a single integrated software solution. Fully GEM based for ease of use, Tracker is the ideal program for anyone who does mailings on a regular basis, or who needs to keep track of people for any reason. Some of Tracker's powerful features include: >>> Powerful and easy to use mail merge. Merge letters to everyone or set up exact criteria for a merge. Powerful GEM text editor _built in_ with automatic reformatting (no need to press the F10 key), bold, italic and underline attributes, etc. >>> Computer aided entry saves you thousands of keystrokes when entering names--up to 10,000+ keystrokes saved for every 250 names you enter into Tracker/ST. >>> Sixteen preset label formats for single, 2 or 3 across labels, and laser printed labels (with _no_ label creeping). Edit these and add your own for custom label formats. >>> One-step "subscription aging" command automatically tracks remaining time in a membership or subscription. Great for groups with memberships that need to be adjusted on a weekly, monthly, or annual basis. >>> Full GEM interface with drop down menus, click on buttons and keyboard commands for ultimate ease of use. >>> Unique "Quick Letter" option for those occasions when you need to send a single "almost form letter." Great for business reply mail and followup letters. >>> Unlimited notes for each person in your Tracker/ST files. Notes are not limited to a few characters or words. >>> Category, rank, source and I.D. fields to help you identify each entry in your list. >>> Full reports to screen and printer, including easy to use sorting, filtering, grouping, counting, and summarizing. No need to use complicated "dot prompts" or learn a confusing database language. >>> Import and export names in ASCII and Tracker/ST formats. >>> Easy transfer of names from all popular ST data management packages into Tracker/ST. >>> Number of names limited only by disk space. >>> Comprehensive manual with full tutorial and complete index. Manual is spiral bound. >>> Installs easily on your hard drive--not copy protected. Tracker/ST is perfect for businesses of all types, religious and school organizations, theater and music groups, photographers, freelance writers and artists, clubs, newsletter publishers, salesmen and saleswomen, etc. Tracker/ST will run on any Atari ST with one megabyte of RAM and a double sided disk drive. The program runs in medium resolution color and high resolution monochrome, and also completely supports the Moniterm large screen monitor. A hard drive is recommended. Tracker/ST is available NOW. See your local dealer or send a check or money order for $79.95 to: Step Ahead Software, Inc. 496-A Hudson Street Suite 39F New York City, NY 10014 For more information; Please call: Step Ahead Software at 212-627-5830 during normal East Coast business hours. ___________________________________________________________ > DynaCADD 1.7 CPU/STR Review™ The conclusion..... ============================ DynaCadd Vs AutoCad ===================== by Myles Goddard This is our last and final installment of our comparison of Dynacadd and AutoCad. After adding some last minute additions to our box drawing I will attempt to express my views on both programs. Let's work on our DynaCadd drawing first and then go on to the Autocad box. Of course, the first thing we do is click on the DYNACAD.PRG. After it has finished loading, it will prompt us to start a new drawing or start where we left off in our last session. Of course, we will select AUTO. It will load the drawing in with all the attributes intact and ready to go. Okay, I can see the box from overhead, or the Z axis. Let's add a hatch pattern to simulate some insulation. As you probably recall, a hatch pattern is merely a fill pattern that you control the shape and size of. The first step is to click on the INSERT icon at the top left of the screen. Next go to the drop down menu under SET UP. Go to the option called HATCH PATTERN and click. A smaller window will appear and display the default hatch pattern. You can use either the left or right arrows to scroll through the many hatch patterns available. Pick any pattern and hit OK. Now go to the lower icon pad where you see the icons for height and width. As you click on each dimension, the calculator will pop up. Enter your digit, say "4" and hit return. Repeat for the other dimension , enter "4" and again hit return. Now move down to the icon for selecting the hatch borders, or select ALL. Hit the mouse button and the hatch will fill in the area between the lines. Easy, huh? One thing you will notice on a hatch, is that it takes quite a while to complete and the more complex the pattern is the longer it takes. My 1040 doesn't have a math co-processor or accellerator so the hatching does take a while. If you just want to do a cross section and do not want to take as much time as with a fill, try this. Instead of using the hatch icon, pick SECTION, enter your distance between lines and angle, select ALL and your section is completed in a second or two. Now let's add some dimensions to our box. First go to the DIMENSION icon, click it and select DIMHORI. This will allow the measurement of any point on the screen. The icon to the left of DIMHORI is DIMLINE. Choose DIMLINE and then pick the top line of the box. An information window will appear, showing the dimensions between the two points. If it is what you want, hit return and it will automatically dimension the line. If you look at the Dimension sub-menu you can see that there are many ways to dimension your drawing and no matter how your object twists and turns, there is a dimension tool that will fit the bill. Remember, before you attempt to dimension any drawing you have to load in a font style, otherwise it will tell you in a nice way that you need to load a font! Proceed with the rest of the wall lines and repeat the process. After you have completed that, you can save your drawing or print it out on your printer. DynaCadd supports many printer types and plotters. Now let's go to our Autocad drawing and add the final touches to it too. Unless you have configured Autocad to run on EGA (640 x350) you will have to load your ADI screen drivers. I have decided to use 640 x 480 resolution because on my high rez monitor, when the resolution is higher than 800 x 600, it is difficult to see the grid points! Let's zoom in on our box. It is a red, double thick red walled box. (I like having the different colors for the different entities.) We have to go to the side menu to the command DRAW and select HATCH from the submenu. We are then prompted on our command menu area for a hatch pattern. If you know which pattern you want, enter it on the command line, if not hit the "?" and return and it will list all available patterns. Let's pick ANSI32, which is steel. It now prompts for the scale, hit return to default at 1. Now it wants you to input the angle, hit return for 0. Now we get the SELECT OBJECT(S) prompt. Let's select our outer walls and inner walls. This will fill the area between the walls. An easier way to do it is to select hatch, pick C for crossing window, make a rubberband window over the box, hit the right mouse button and zap, the hatch is complete. Dimensioning our box is easy with Autocad. Just select DIM from the side menu, select LINEAR, then HORIZONTAL. Next pick our line at the top left corner of the box, click, and then pick the top right corner of the box and click. Now it will ask for the location of the dimension text. Pick any point above the line and click the button. Your outer wall is now dimensioned. If you want to add a bit of color you can change the text but we will not go into that at this time. We can change our dimension text scale by using the DIM VARS subcommand of DIM. We can change our text to any size we want so you might want to lay around with it for the best results. After dimensioning the rest of the drawing, you might want to save it or print it out. Autocad supports a wide variety of output devices. That's it for now, folks. There is so much we did not cover in this short series on these two fine CADD packages. Both programs perform extremely well and I have enjoyed using both of them. I have been using AutoCad for a year now but have only had the pleasure of using DynaCadd a few months. The major thing both have in common is that they are complex and probably do more things that I would ever use in my lifetime. I like the idea that AutoCad can be used on so many computers systems and display devices. I'm sure that the main reason AutoCad is so widely used is that it has been out for so much longer than most Cadd packages and has had plenty of time to be refined and honed to become the industry standard. I prefer the icon based system that DynaCadd uses. It seems to keep all the commands within easy reach and accessable at all times. Both programs have about the same setup routines, with the edge going towards DynaCadd, because of it's one window setup system. Color, yes, this feature has to go to AutoCad. I like using a drawing with all the entities different colors. Resolution, again, AutoCad gets the nod. With so many device drivers out there for AutoCad, it can be used on many display systems. I can run at 1024 x 768 or 640 x 480 or even 640 x 350 if I want. Maybe Atari will develop some hardware that will allows many colors on a multisync monitor in high rez. Speaking of monitors, I have to say that I have seen DynaCadd running on a Viking 19" monochrome monitor and the display was very impressive. Oh I would love to have that set up with a Mega 4, <sigh>. Okay, back to business..... Both programs are complex to say the least but I feel that a new Cadd user would have an easier time with DynaCadd because of the superior icon interface. I didn't get much time to fiddle with all the macro commands of either program but I have seen Autocad customized in various ways. So now we come to the big question. Are the programs worth the price? A definite yes on both counts. Even though Autocad retails for $ 3000.00, it does so many things well and is so powerful, it is well worth the money. DynaCadd retails for $ 995.00. Is it worth the price? Again, a definite yes. As with Atari, DynaCadd offers a lot of bang for the buck. The Atari ST and DynaCadd were meant for each other. I only wish that the world knew more about the ST computer and the high end applications that are available for business uses. I have decided if I ever go into business for myself in the computer drafting field, I'll be taking my ST with DynaCadd with me. In my opinion, DynaCadd can hold it's own with any of the Cadd programs on the market today. Myles Goddard _______________________________________________________________ > CPU NEWSWIRE CONFIDENTIAL™ Sayin' it like it is..... ========================= - Hannover, West Germany ***** CeBIT NEWS ***** ---------------------- 1.1 CeBIT news 4:13 39/2020 UK14@DKAUNI2.BITNET ("O. Steinmeier") to 9 of 39 (23%) A few days ago, someone asked for news from the CeBIT-fair in Hannover/West Germany. I've been there last saturday. Here are some impressions: The TT and the UNIX-TT have been presented by ATARI. They told me that they will start delivering the TOS-machine in June, the UNIX- machine will be available next fall. Developers can get their machines in May. But don't forget: That's what ATARI told me, so let's hope the best. The battery-problem of the laptop Stacy hasn't been solved. Tempus Word (a new textprocessor from the author of Tempus) will not be available until summer. Someone told me that the announced delta-module (80386SX-emulator) will never be delivered ... Vortex, a German hardisk-distributor, announced an AT-emulator, based on a 8-mhz-80286. The board which I saw in Hannover has about the same size as the PC-SPEED-board (no slots, no co-processor!). Vortex says the ATonce-board (that's the name) is 35% faster than a 8-mhz-V30-computer (it's not allowed to compare products in ads in Germany, so they didn't name the PC SPEED/Supercharger). The ATonce-board has to be soldered on the 68000 and will cost less then DM 500 (< $250). A small German company showed a ST-emulator for the Commodore Amiga - and it works! Most of the standard-software is running nearly as fast as on a real ST. The QUICK INDEX benchmark reported a performance of 93 - 98 percent. The price: about 600 DM (< $300). The 'medusa'-emulator will be available in April for the Amiga 2000, a version for the smaller Amiga 500 a bit later. You have to use the original TOS, which is not included with the emulator board. But you get a program which reads the ATARI-ROMs and saves the OS on a disk. The medusa-board can emulate the STE, so perhaps it is the fastest way to get a STE in the US to buy an Amiga and install the medusa-module ... (just a joke !?). I hope that all these news are correct (especially the dates and prices). Oliver Steinmeier (uk14@dkauni2.bitnet) Waldhornstr. 4-8 D-7500 Karlsruhe 1 49-721-377892 _______________________________________________________________ > FAST-FAX CPU/STR InfoFile™ Michtron Releases FAST-FAX .. ========================= For the Atari ST, Commodore Amiga, and IBM PC's and compatibles. There are many things to consider when purchasing a fax machine or a fax modem. You can purchase a fax machine for $600 that will take one page of paper at a time and send it to one location while you stand beside it and dial the phone. You can purchase a more expensive fax machine for around $1000 that can handle more then one page and even send a fax after you have left for the day. (But it will probably take you about 10 minutes to program it to send that fax). You can buy a really nice fax machine for $2000 that will send more then one fax. However these machines are even more difficult to program. Even worse, if you get an error while sending the first fax in the series, that's all for the night. Fast FAX is more efficient at scheduling and transmitting fax's then any self-contained fax machine at any price! The software is exceptional! With just a few clicks of the mouse you can send one fax to hundreds of people! With another click or two you can schedule transmissions to occur around the globe during non-peak hours and enjoy reduced telephone rates. (Normally, you'll be able to save about 50% on these calls.) These features save you time and money. Fast FAX will actually pay for itself in only a few short months. Quality is another prime consideration when purchasing a Fax machine. The normal process for sending a fax is to prepare your document, print it out using your printer, then take it to a fax machine which scans the page and sends it. The receiving machine then prints it out. However, problems arise if the original document was not perfectly straight when it was scanned. The receiving machine is going to print it out just a tiny bit crooked. This may not seem important, but the page is scanned in a series of dots. These dots will not line up in a straight line and this will cause the letters printed by the receiving fax to be jagged and hard to read. Fast FAX simultaneously converts and transmits Graphics, Letterheads, and signatures along with text directly from your disk using its own 8 MHz 68000 microprocessor and 32K of built in memory giving you outstanding transmissions every time! Advantages in receiving with Fast FAX. When Fast FAX receives a fax it is saved as a disk file. This file can be displayed and read on your screen, or printed on most popular printers. You can also save the fax in graphics format and load it into the more popular graphics programs. If someone faxes you a graphic you can save many steps and improve quality greatly. A normal graphic is scanned in, printed at the receiving end, scanned into the computer and by then needs extensive touchup. Fast FAX lets you load the original scanned image directly into a graphics program. Fast FAX: o Saves your money by scheduling non-peak hour transmissions. o Saves more money by using ordinary paper. o Saves your valuable time by sending multiple faxes to multiple locations. o Has better quality than normal fax machines due to its onboard 68000 processor and built-in RAM and ROM. o Has outstanding software making it easy to use. o Communicates with G3 fax devices at 9600 baud. o Provides document storage and forwarding capability. o Allows automatic scheduling of operations. o Automatically provides a transcript of each operation. o Has User-definable fax headers. o Works with most widely used dot matrix and laser printers o Permits you to view fax documents on your computers screen. o Saves Graphic images as .IMG files on the Atari and IBM PC. o Saves Amiga graphics as .IFF files. For more information and to place your order, call MichTron at (313) 377-8898. _______________________________________________________________ > AUA CONFERENCE CPU/STR OnLine™ AUA's first online conference ============================== =*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*= This is an edited re-print of The Atari Users Association RTC held each Saturday evening at 9:00 pm EST, on the Atari RTC on the GEnie Network. =*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*= <[Jon @ A.U.A] J.CLARKE6> Ok can we get under way Please .......... <[Derek @ AUA] DC.SIGNORINI> Go ahead jon... <[Jon @ A.U.A] J.CLARKE6> Ok news from the Atari Users Association Down-Under first then news from the Atari Users Association in the USA from Derek 1/ Australian User groups join.. ACE in New South Wales.. AACE in South Australia WAUG in Hamilton New Zealand <D.A.BRUMLEVE> Been busy, haven't you? <[Jon @ A.U.A] J.CLARKE6> WAUG in Wanganui NZ WACE in Wellington NZ MAUG in Palmerston North NZ. Also Atari-NZ are now open to all user groups for monthly meetings and discussion groups.. 2/ FIDO-MAIL : an international thread from NZ has started. responces from Australia, UK and South Africa have come to light. That is it for a mo... Dereks turn then I will continue.. GO DC. <[Derek @ AUA] DC.SIGNORINI> FNET conference has been established for the AUA and I have also begun petitioning for a designated FIDO base... Overall, response has been heavy in the last 2 weeks. More and more people are beginning to comprehend what the AUA is about... While I have not approached the user groups as strongly as Jon , I have established a link with several bbs's throughout the country and have distributed the AUA material to those BBS's... We are going to begin work on a Video for the AUA that will be distributed free of charge to user groups to show at their meetings...the more we can help the user groups, the more they will help us. I will also be sending complimentary issues to all user groups that we have listings for, and will also include Developers... Our press release is almost complete, and that too will be distributed... The AUA BBS list is 500 numbers long and growing... I am maintaining that on SuperBase Professional as well as the Club database!!! I am glad Precision Software published that database for the ST!!! That is all for now...anyone have any questions?? <D.A.BRUMLEVE> I have a question... <[Jon @ A.U.A] J.CLARKE6> Go Dot. <D.A.BRUMLEVE> Do groups join _as_groups_, or should the individuals join? <[Derek @ AUA] DC.SIGNORINI> Groups as a whole...right now, we have made provisions for individual membership, however..... <D.A.BRUMLEVE> Would a group voting to join need to fill out 40 forms, one for each member then? <[Derek @ AUA] DC.SIGNORINI> A strong plan for membership of entire user groups is being developed now... What we would like to see, Dot, is have the user group join first... Then... <[Scott] S.FITZGERAL2> You will please send information to our group at the address I gave before? <[Derek @ AUA] DC.SIGNORINI> We are probably going to offer the user group members individual benefits, i.e. User groups can prosper from the AUA as well as individual members and also those not in a user group... Will do scott.. <D.A.BRUMLEVE> Also, does your newsletter accept ads? <[Derek @ AUA] DC.SIGNORINI> Right now, Dot, we are offering FREE advertising but you have to supply the material ie...a stuffer. We will cover the postage. <D.A.BRUMLEVE> I see, not space in the newsletter itself. That could really run up your postage costs if people took advantage of it. <[Jon @ A.U.A] J.CLARKE6> Dot here in NZ and outside the USA we supply a monthly disk you can advertise in here for FREE if you like.. <D.A.BRUMLEVE> Oh, I do like that! <[Jon @ A.U.A] J.CLARKE6> it goes to AUA Member USER groups only .. <[Derek @ AUA] DC.SIGNORINI> Also, Dot, the Electronic Chronicles Disk Magazine offers advertising as well...it too is a disk based news-letter. <D.A.BRUMLEVE> I assume they duplicate it for members...How come we don't do that in the US monthly? <[Jon @ A.U.A] J.CLARKE6> ** For many reasons if I may explain.. ** <D.A.BRUMLEVE> Please. <[Jon @ A.U.A] J.CLARKE6> 1/ Here in the Pacific we do not have access to On-line services, as most of you are aware, so the DISK has Z-Net and PDQ on-line mags on them, along with any news of the AUA. This is sent to all the member User groups of the Atari Users Association, so they can use it in their newsletters and on their BBS. They pay for postage and send me a blank disk. <D.A.BRUMLEVE> I see. <[Jon @ A.U.A] J.CLARKE6> 2/ In the USA you have open access to GEnie and can get them from you local user group so it is of no purpose. Does this cover it for you? <D.A.BRUMLEVE> Yep. <[Derek @ AUA] DC.SIGNORINI> Dot...if I may clarify those members who contribute $15.00 to the AUA receive the Electronic Chronicles Disk Magazine 6 times a year. It is similar to what Jon is speaking of, however...it has original work and has been published for 5 years now and has a circulation of 300 now... (mostly original work...) It also contains PD software etc...advertising, etc...and is very <D.A.BRUMLEVE> I'm going to post the info on our group bbs and bring it up at the next meeting. <[Derek @ AUA] DC.SIGNORINI> informative as well. Ok, by all means please do that....I will make sure that you get all updated material here on Genie...in EMAIL. <[Jon @ A.U.A] J.CLARKE6> Any more questions about the Atari Users Association? <D.A.BRUMLEVE> Are you working on EVERYTHING outside North America, Jon? <[Jon @ A.U.A] J.CLARKE6> Yes I am, I look after the real world <grin> <[Derek @ AUA] DC.SIGNORINI> ha! <D.A.BRUMLEVE> You probably should get somebody to handle Germany... <[Derek @ AUA] DC.SIGNORINI> Jon has many friends in dark countries...haha <D.A.BRUMLEVE> I think I might have somebody for you... <[Jon @ A.U.A] J.CLARKE6> Please send me an address Dot. <D.A.BRUMLEVE> If you want German-speakers. <[Jon @ A.U.A] J.CLARKE6> yes..That is fine Dot no problem. <D.A.BRUMLEVE> He is in the Netherlands. And he has many connections. He used to be a member of SAG. I'll send him the info on the AUA and see what he says. <[Derek @ AUA] DC.SIGNORINI> Thanks dot...that would be great.... <[Jon @ A.U.A] J.CLARKE6> Thank you Dot I would love you to do that.. We will close the Atari Users Association rtc till next week ,see you all then and tell your friends about the RTC and the AUA. ====== Microtyme is an Official AUA Supplier at 1-800-255-5835 --------------------------- Clip Here --------------------------- ////////// // // ////////// ** ** ** // // // // // // ** ** ** // // // // // // ** ** ** ////////// // // ////////// ** ** ** // // // // // // *** ** *** // // ////////// // // *** ** *** THE ATARI USER'S ASSOCIATION SUPPORTING THE REVOLUTION >>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>> MEMBERSHIP APPLICATION Thank you for your interest in the Atari User's Association. Please take the time to complete this application and mail it to the address below. ======================================================================== First Name:_____________________ LastName:______________________________ Address:________________________________________________________________ City:________________________________ ST:____ Zipcode:__________________ Country:_____________________________ Age:(optional)____________________ Telephone: __________________________ Work: ____________________________ [ ] Check here to place name in the AUA Public Membership Directory (This will allow you to be placed on national mailing lists for Atari ST products and information) ======================================================================== HARDWARE: [ ]520ST [ ]1040ST [ ]MEGA 2 [ ]MEGA 4 [ ]STacy [ ]Other MONITOR : [ ]COLOR [ ]MONO [ ]OTHER:___________________________________ DRIVES : [ ]DSDD [ ]SSDD [ ]HARD DRIVE Model/Size:___________________ PRINTER : [ ]9 Pin Dot Matrix [ ]24 Pin Dot Matrix [ ]Laser [ ]DeskJet Printer Model:______________________________________________________ MODEM : Max Speed [ ]300 [ ]1200 [ ]2400 [ ]4800 [ ]9600 [ ]14,400 Modem Model:________________________________________________________ OTHER PERIPHERALS_______________________________________________________ ________________________________________________________________________ EMULATORS IN USE:_______________________________________________________ ________________________________________________________________________ ======================================================================== Primary Use of your Atari Computer:_______________________________________________________________ ________________________________________________________________________ ________________________________________________________________________ ======================================================================== If you are a member of a User Group, Please fill in: UG Name: _______________________________________________________________ Address: _______________________________________________________________ City _________________________________State _____ ZIP _______Country____ BBS # ______________________________________No. of Members______________ President's Name:________________________________Phone:_________________ ________________________________________________________________________ ________________________________________________________________________ Comments:_______________________________________________________________ ________________________________________________________________________ ________________________________________________________________________ I can be reached at FNET node:___________ and/or FIDO node:_________________GEnie_________________CIS______________other______ ________________________________________________________________________ ======================================================================== MEMBERSHIP FEES: [ ] Non-Active AUA Membership -- $ FREE $ [ ] Active AUA w/NewsLetter -- $ 5.00/year Please Select ONE [ ] Active AUA W/Newsletter & Disk -- $ 15.00/year ======================================================================== Mail application to: The Atari User's Association Attn: D.C. Signorini P.O. Box 18293 Pittsburgh, PA 15236 ========================================================================= MicroTyme Computers is an official supplier of the AUA at: 1-800-255-5835 ========================================================================= ------------------------ Clip Here --------------------------- ___________________________________________________________________ > Hard Disks CPU/STR InfoFile™ Affordable Mass Storage.... =========================== NEW PRICES! & MORE MODELS!! ============================ ABCO COMPUTER ELECTRONICS INC. P.O. 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ORDER YOURS TODAY! 904-783-3319 9am - 8pm EDT _______________________________________________________________ > A "Quotable Quote"™ ================= "YOU WILL CLEAR ALL NEWS AND EDITORIALS WITH US FIRST" ...Famous Last Words -------------------------------------------------------------------------- CPU/STR™ "Your Independent News Source" March 30, 1990 16/32bit Magazine copyright © 1990 No.4.13 -------------------------------------------------------------------------- Views, Opinions and Articles Presented herein are not necessarily those of the editors, staff, CPU™ NEWSWIRE™ CPU/STR™ or CPU Report™. Reprint permission is hereby granted, unless otherwise noted. All reprints must include CPU NEWSWIRE, CPU/STR or CPU Report and the author's name. All information presented herein is believed correct, the editors and staff are not responsible for any use or misuse of information contained herein. --------------------------------------------------------------------------