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*---== ST REPORT ONLINE MAGAZINE ==---* """"""""""""""""""""""""" "The Original 16/32bit Online Magazine" _____________________________________ from STR Publishing Inc. """""""""""""""""" September 28, 1990 No.6.39 ======================================================================= STReport Online Magazine™ 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 USR/HST DUAL STANDARD 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 STReport Online Magazine and An International list of private BBS systems carrying STReport Online Magazine for their users enjoyment __________________________________________________________________ > 09/28/90: STReport™ #6.39 The Original 16/32 bit Online Magazine! ------------------------- - The Editor's Desk - CPU Report - Stock Report - DC Desktop - START CALLS! - Neodesk 3 - NE ATARIFEST - 128K CHIP SALES - STR CONFIDENTIAL * EXCLUSIVE!! INTERVIEWS-> DAVE SMALL -=- DENNIS HAYES! * * WAACE - THE SUPER EAST COAST SHOW - READY! * * ATARI TO BE AT WAACE IN FORCE! * ========================================================================== ST REPORT ONLINE MAGAZINE™ "Only UP-TO-DATE News and Information" -* FEATURING *- Current Events, Up to Date News, Hot Tips, and Information Hardware - Software - Corporate - R & D - Imports ========================================================================== STReport's support BBS, NODE # 350 invites systems using Forem ST BBS to participate in Forem BBS's F-Net mail network. Or, call Node 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. All SysOps in the F-Net are welcome to join the STR Crossnet Conference the conference code is #34813, and the "Lead Node" is #350. Join Today! ========================================================================== AVAILABLE ON: COMP-U-SERVE ~ DELPHI ~ GENIE ~ BIX ~ F-NET ========================================================================== > The Editor's Podium WAACE is next weekend and at the show, GEnie is going to unleash a surprise upon the entire telecommunicating community. Also, it is repor- ted that GEnie has invested over $10,000 in the display they are providing at the WAACE show. This show promises to set all kinds of neat records. Atari's support of the WAACE show has been top drawer all the way! This means the folks on the East Coast will get to see all the new stuff from our favorite computer company. Not to mention the fantastic new products from the superb corps. of third party developer support the computer line enjoys. STReport highly recommends attending this show, there will be TT computers there and all kinds of neat goodies for use with your ST com- puters. The best part is having the opportunity to meet and greet all the wonderful folks we 'type' to all year long. Don't miss this show it has all the earmarks of a big success. Ralph....... *********************************************************************** NOTICE NOTICE NOTICE NOTICE NOTICE NOTICE NOTICE NOTICE NOTICE NOTICE FOR A LIMITED TIME ONLY COMPUSERVE WILL PRESENT $15.00 WORTH OF COMPLIMENTARY ONLINE TIME to the Readers of; STREPORT 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! NOTICE NOTICE NOTICE NOTICE NOTICE NOTICE NOTICE NOTICE NOTICE NOTICE *********************************************************************** > COUNTERFEIT CHIPS STR FOCUS INTERVIEWS WITH DAVE SMALL & DENNIS HAYES =========================== CLEARING THE AIR - SETTING THE RECORD STRAIGHT Category 26, Topic 9 Message 184 Wed Sep 26, 1990 DAVESMALL at 20:45 EDT HackerCon doesn't really have transcripts. It was at a campground in the mountains west of Silicon Valley. Saw Bill at #2, Andy at #2 and #3 (86 & 87). They were the sort of people you'd like to work with, y'know? Just got word of who's been spreading the "Gadgets is Doomed" rumours. According to three different folks, it's Denny Hayes. Thing is, I have absolutely no idea why. Some speculations come to mind; in the meantime, I've already talked to Mr. LegalMan about a letter for Dear Denny, telling him to quit lying. Sure a pain to have to clean up after someone like that. -- thanks, Dave / Gadgets ------------ Upon re-examination of the paragraphs in question....... The two paragraphs noted below are indeed accurate in their representations and still, I do not find the _NAME_ of *ANY* person, persons, company or corporation noted as having done anything right or wrong in these comments. As far as the comment: Singletary writes: "Interestingly another fellow ST'er called me telling of difficulties in ordering a GCR just this past week. After calling all over the country he finally found ONE in Illinois. Since Dennis was raided in July, I can't help but wonder if, since Dennis seemed to be THE MAJOR SUPPLIER of MAC ROMS, this doesn't have something to do with it. If so, Apple may have effectively put a choke hold on the emulation business in general." In pointing out the GCR as the product being sought, there may have been an element of confusion introduced. On this point STReport clarifies, for the record; according to all the information available to STReport, the GCR is in no way involved in the Dennis Hayes matter other than simply being one of the Apple MacIntosh Emulators (GCR, AMAC etc.) that * COULD POSSIBLY * use the type of chips Dennis Hayes has admitted counterfeiting. Although, during the summer months there had been an effect upon the distribution of the GCR by a PAL failure and recall of product, (quickly correcting the PAL problem), it should be noted that there is no apparent relationship between that slowdown and the arrest of Dennis Hayes or the cessation of production/availability of counterfeit Apple 128k Roms. In the editor's commentary in last week's article, re-printed here: "In most situations such as this the reports about an arrest would normally appear at the time of the arrest, not 2 months later. In fact, to find that the 'defendant' has already plead guilty would seem to indicate that a "deal" had been cut. A deal could be comprised of many things, ie., admissions, additional testimony, implication of others, full co-operation in the prosecution of other "related" cases.. etc.. As a result, one can safely assume that the "shock waves" from this particular bust will be felt for some time to come. Additionally, the word is that Apple may be considering a sweeping civil matter involving those individuals who were engaged in the quantity distribution of the chips and software." STReport finds no problems whatsoever with these two paragraphs. In fact, a very reasonable explanation has been offered as to why the strange timing of the Dennis Hayes matter. There are absolutely no suggestive, hinted or otherwise alluded to, indications toward any entity in a deroga- tory manner. As far as Apple's intention's, (Apple * MAY *), again; STReport detailed a possibility, _ not _ a "cut in granite proclamation." As far as CENSORSHIP is concerned, STReport fully agrees with Mr. Small. STReport felt it * appropriate * to provide the FULL REPORT supplied by our reporter detailing completely * ALL * his conversations with Dennis Hayes. As for the CRIME itself, it cannot be played down, 5000 counterfeit Apple ROM sets translates into $500,000 (half million dollars). This is but one of the FACTS provided by the original press release provided verbatim in our issue last week. In no way shape or form were _any_ individuals, companies or corpor- ations directly implicated in this or any part of the release. Dennis Hayes is the ONLY person named in the account of this particularly offen- sive case. Later Monday evening STReport received a call from Dave Small, the fol- lowing is a condensed representation of that conversation. **** EXCLUSIVE STREPORT INTERVIEW **** DAVID SMALL Interview by R.F. Mariano In almost every news story and for that matter every story, there are three sides, side (a), side (b) and the non-partial side. In this matter, Streport will make every attempt to show the full and totally non-partial picture as it has unfolded to date. Above, we re-printed last week's article and below we present further information. The magnitude of this case is such that full clarification is warranted and every attempt will be made to bring out only the real facts as they are obtained from the principals involved in this matter. Dave Small has been called a genius, a guru, the King of the Emulator designers and perhaps a few other well deserved, praise filled, titles. When he called Monday night in response to my request for an interview in a very informal format, I concluded he was a man willing to clear the air of confusion and set the record straight. The following, although not very long, conveys what STReport feels are the necessary clarifications. We begin with; What is your impression of this whole mess? "Shocking astonishment.. Surprise, In fact, I was totally unaware that an operation of this type was technically possible. I never suspected this at all" Was Dennis Hayes a Beta-tester for you at any level? "No, He was never a beta-tester for me or my company. What effect, if any, do you feel this latest development will have on the emulation market? "There are plenty of 128k roms available. There is no reason to expect this matter to adversely effect the market at all. For ex- ample, the numbers of surplus 128k rev (a) roms is large, (they had a scsi boot bug), since our device ignores the mac scsi driver, the bug does not effect us in any way. Subsequently they (Apple) came out with the 128k rev (b) roms, these fixed the scsi bug. But it introdu- ced the blind read slow down. No big deal, our device still operates fine with this revision. Rev (c) fixed everything. However, if one considers the number of chips left over after the revision swap outs, that's alot of loose, unused chips floating around." Have you or do you handle any ROM Chip sales. "We do not handle any sales of ROM chips at all." Can you possibly estimate how many machines Apple ships per month? "The last time I checked it was in the neighborhood of 70,000 per month." Would is be safe to say then that considering the number of machines shipped per month plus the number of revisions translates into plenty of non-counterfeit 128k rom being available? "There is no doubt that the numbers are quite high, 128k roms will be around for quite some time to come. I hadn't mentioned the upgrade kits that were so plentiful for some time in the past, in fact, there were so many of them that many were dumped on jobbers and split up with the 800k floppy drive going in one direction and the 128k roms going in another." Dave, in closing this interview, have you any thoughts you wish to convey to the readers? "This situation is truly temporary and will most certainly blow over as most all controversies do. There are plenty of legitimate sources for the 128k roms and therefore there is no problem in the foreseeable future. Things at GBS are on a 'business as usual' basis and we have a bunch of GCRs to ship at this time." Editor: For the record, never was the thought entertained, not even for a split second, that anybody at GBS knew anything concerning the Dennis Hayes matter. In fact the news of his arrest came as a complete and stunning shock to us as well. ===***=== **** EXCLUSIVE STREPORT INTERVIEW **** II DENNIS HAYES After all the various comments about who said what and what was or was not true and who should've done this or that have been heard. We decided to interview Dennis Hayes himself. Tuesday morning 09/25/90, STReport contacted Mr. Dennis Hayes and the following interview was obtained ex- clusively by STReport. We also have the original news article for refere- nce and have requested information from the Ass't US Attorney's Office as well. To begin; As a refresher, let's take a moment to review the documented history, during July, 1990 Dennis Hayes was served with a search warrant by Agents from the IRS and the FBI who searched Hayes' home at 12145 Bear Valley Court for the purpose of gathering evidence relative to an ongoing investigation pertaining to charges he was counterfeiting Apple 128k Roms. Subsequently, Mr. Hayes plead guilty to the charges. This was made public on Sept. 10, 1990 through information released by U.S. Attorney D. Michael Crites. Also, according to Hayes, as part of the guilty plea, he (Hayes) agreed to testify and/or fully co-operate with the authorities in the investigation and prosecution of future cases related to this matter. In a telephone interview during the morning of Tuesday, 10 Sept. 1990, STReport asked: Are you the Dennis "Denny" Hayes referred to in the article that appeared in the Cincinatti Post on Sept. 10 about the counterfeit Apple Roms? "Yes, I am." Mr. Hayes, what in your own words, happened beginning with the events in July? "Agents from the FBI and the IRS arrived at my home with court papers allowing them to search the house. Through the course of the search, they removed all my computer equipment, the photocopier, a fax machine and all my business records, electronic and hard copy. Also, they seized my 1987 IROC Z and my Piper Comanche airplane, cash and travelers checks. They also saw fit to take my Gun Collection, which included a number of handguns and 4 glass showcase encased, nickel plated, Federally licensed (200.00 each gun, License Fee), UZI sub- machine guns._ Ultimately after many consultations with my attorneys, I entered a plea of guilty to the charges listed in the press release." Mr. Hayes, were there any special arrangements agreed upon and/or other charges pending that were dropped in consideration for your guilty plea? "Yes I agreed to assist the authorities in any proceedings that may result from my case and for this they dropped a number of other pending charges." Mr. Hayes, When you say "assist" does that also possibly include testify as a witness for the government in the prosecution of others who are investigated and charged as a result of your case? "Yes, that is a part of the agreement." Mr. Hayes, I would like to read to you an accounting of the events that took place involving your case that appeared in STReport 6.38 9/21/90. I would like your comments on the validity and accuracy of the article. Would that be ok? Mr. Hayes acknowledged it would be ok. After reading the article to Mr. Hayes we asked if the information was accurate. "It's really very accurate except that I was never a Beta-Tester for anyone, my close friend Bruce was a beta-tester, maybe your reporter got the two of us confused. Also, I was never listed in the Spectre Manual as a source of Rom chips. That list was actually a separate slip of paper that was inserted into the Spectre package. It listed me along with a number of other sources of ROM chips. It also listed sources for PD Spectre and Mac disks." How many entries would you say there was in the database that was seized by the authorities? "Every person or business I ever delivered Roms to was in that data- base. They have all those records, every last one of them." Do you feel that 128k ROM availability will tighten as a result of the action against you? "I know it will, Apple dealers were also buying from me!" Now what does that tell you?" While on the subject of dealers how many Atari ST dealers were you selling to? Please, no names, just approximate numbers. "Let's see, I would say almost all of 'em bought from me at one time or another." Mr. Hayes, at this time I would like to thank you for your co-operation and candid replies. In closing, do you know if the pending expansion of the investigation has begun and if Apple is directly involved? "I have been told that certain agents familiar with the case have been sent to other areas to initiate proceedings. As far as Apple is concerned, it was related to me that Apple had told the agents in- volved in this case that they had never authorized the sale or use of their rom chips in anything but Apple products that would normally use the chips." At this point I would once again, like to thank you for your full co-operation. Editor: Great pains have been taken to NOT NAME a single person or entity. A number times during the interview names were mentioned and details were given. Since being under investigation is not the same thing as being charged, arrested, tried and found guilty, STReport has gone to great lengths to make certain that NAMES have NOT been used. FOLLOW-UP - LEGITIMATE CHIP AVAILABILITY On thursday, 27, Sept. 1990, STReport used the list supplied giving the sources of 128k Apple roms and called the firms listed therein. The first call went to Pre-Owned electronics (1-800-274-5343) where STReport spoke to a Mr. Charles Kouyoumijian, who responded to our questions concerning Mr. Dennis Hayes and counterfeit Apple rom chips. I asked if they had been aware of Dennis Hayes. Charles' response was an emphatic "YES! They had sent two of their people to a show in Washington a while back and found that Hayes was there undercutting their prices selling Apple Roms to such an extent that they left the show after only one day." I then asked him how they obtained their rom chips that they offer for sale. He responded that; "They are a major service hub for approximately 4000 Apple dealers and that they also buy up large quantities of old inventory and the inventory of those dealers who go out of business." When asked about the future of the used rom chip sales end of the business he stated he, "had no idea as they where out of stock at this time." I then called Shreve Systems (1-318-635-1121), in Louisiana. I spoke to Shanon Stanley who cheerfully provided me with answers to my questions, when I asked him if he had heard of Dennis Hayes, he said; "No, he had not." I then asked about the availability of Apple 128k rom chips. He responded with a positive; "We have 85 sets in stock at this time and we are expecting another 100 sets shortly." I then asked how do you obtain your rom chips? He stated; "We buy used and surplus Mac units and we perform upgrades on the units. Others we strip down and part out. If anyone is interested, we can supply the serial numbers of the units the chips are out of." I then called IB Computers in Portland, Oregon (1-503-297-8425). Jim Berry, operations manager answered my questions. I asked him if he was aware of Dennis Hayes and what had occurred, he said; "No he did not know who Hayes was." I then read the press release to him and he recalled that a customer had been the day before and mentioned it" At this point I asked Jim how he felt about the future of the 'used' 128k rom chip market and how many he had in stock. "We have 3 or 4 sets in stock at this time but a fellow from Canada ordered a set, so we are down to 2 or 3 sets. He said. "As for the future of the used chip market, I feel that temporarily there could be a real problem but in the long run, there will be more than enough chips available." He added. I then asked him about his sources of used Apple 128k Rom chips. Jim told us; "We purchase our used Apple 128k Roms from a number of sources including, Mac Products in Texas, Pre-Owned, and Pacific Software in California." - END - ********************************************************************** :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. ********************************************************************** > CPU REPORT™ ========== Issue # 85 by Michael Arthur Remember When.... In 1987, Lotus stopped its policy of copy-protecting its 1-2-3 spreadsheet program, and how it was the last major DOS software company to copy-protect its business applications software? UseNet Beat™ ----------- bdt!unisoft!hoptoad!pacbell!pacbell.com!decwrl!sun-barr!newstop!sun!imag- en!atar !apratt From: apratt@atari.UUCP (Allan Pratt) Newsgroups: comp.sys.atari.st Subject: Re: TT RAM Message-ID: <2304@atari.UUCP> Date: 19 Sep 90 00:21:46 GMT References: <3107@medusa.informatik.uni-erlangen.de> Organization: Atari Corp., Sunnyvale CA Lines: 56 csbrod@medusa.informatik.uni-erlangen.de (Claus Brod ) writes: -Is the TT's memory mapped by the MMU so that it appears -contiguous? No. There is no address translation going on in the MMU. If there were, every program that wrote an address into a chip (video, DMA, etc.) would have to be able to do the logical-to-physical translation. This is impractical, and would result in nearly 100% incompatibility with existing programs. The MMU is used, however, so don't mess with it. It's used to get around a bug in the 68030's design; I may explain in more detail later. -I need this info for my hard disk driver which has to -decide if some transfer is to be made into fast or slow RAM. Right you are. That's what the _FRB cookie is for. But you are looking at the problem in the wrong terms: rather than deciding what kind of RAM the transfer is destined for, your program should decide only what it has to: in this case, decide if it's being made to/from a place that the ACSI DMA chip can access. This prevents you from hard-coding the location or size of different pieces of RAM. This saves you from having to re-release your driver when somebody complained that he couldn't access VME RAM with it, because you didn't think of that. The ACSI DMA chip can access memory only in the low 24 bits of the address space, so that's your answer: you check the high byte of the transfer address. If it's zero, you can use ACSI directly. If it's not, you must use the FRB. You never examine any part of the address other than the high byte, and you only test that against zero. Minimizing the information you require in this way leads to maximum portability and future compatibility. As an aside to SCSI driver writers, you have less to worry about. As mentioned above, the definition of accessibility on the ACSI bus is "the high byte must be zero." The definition of accessibility on the SCSI bus is "the bus must be 32 bits wide." This means that A24/D16 VME memory is not accessible to SCSI, and you should use the buffer pointed to by the _FRB cookie. Finally, to defeat nit-pickers before they strike, I *know* that the ACSI DMA chip can't really talk to everything in the 24-bit ST address space: it can't see ROM, for example. But it *can* access any real RAM in that space, and if you're trying to DMA to something else (like the palette) you deserve what you get. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Claus Brod, Am Felsenkeller 2, Things. Take. Time. D-8772 Marktheidenfeld, West Germany (Piet Hein) csbrod@medusa.informatik.uni-erlangen.de ---------------------------------------------------------------------- ============================================ Opinions expressed above do not necessarily-- Allan Pratt, Atari Corp. reflect those of Atari Corp. or anyone else. ...ames!atari!apratt ============================================ bdt!unisoft!hoptoad!pacbell!pacbell.com!ucsd!sdd.hp.com!zaphod.mps.ohio-s- tate.e u!samsung!munnari.oz.au!comp.vuw.ac.nz!am.dsir.govt.nz!dsiramd!marcamd!me- rcury! cbbs!dgd From: STT@kcbbs.gen.nz (Jon Clarke) Newsgroups: comp.sys.atari.st Subject: Re: CDAR-504 not only seen but used Message-ID: <1990Sep20.144012.20093@kcbbs.gen.nz> Date: 20 Sep 90 14:40:12 GMT Sender: dgd@kcbbs.gen.nz (David Dix) Organization: STaTus BBS. The Atari BBS in Auckland, New Zealand. Lines: 66 -]Aaron writes.... -]They have been available here (NZ) for a bit longer than I can -]The unit presently come with developers documentation and example code -]and progs aimed at developers. Atari offer _no_ disks for the unit at -]all (although is does play music CD's ok :-), so you must rely on -]third party sources (the doc's say it supports the Hi-Sierra system). -]The buyers I have spoken to have been either developers or BBS's. The -]Atari BBS with one I have rung had a disk with lots of PD software and -]PD 'C' code for the ST on-line for downloading. Jon Clarke replies: Hi Aarron and all the others out there looking for the Atari CDar504 , CD_ROM player. *- WE HAVE NEW ROMS ON-LINE. -* I am happy to report we have been running one on our BBS {STaTus BBS} here in Auckland for over 9 months now. It is a cdar504 not the 500 you mentioned Aaron. It runs all three of the cd_rom formats however we only use the 'High Serria' and the "ISO 9660' format. Many people have produced roms that will run with the cdar504. To name a few we use on a daily basis on the BBS... [1] Current Notes {American Magazine [and a good one]} Atari ST only [2] D&C Enterprises Atari ST only [3] Graphics Lab All computers MAC,IBM,Atari ST [4] The Golden Immortal Atari ST only There are other ST specific roms comming on the market like... [1] Independant Association of Atari Developers {All ST related} [2] Z*Net PD rom {I understand it may be 2 disks {1.1 gigs}} [3] MirrorSoft {UK based games company} [4] There are several roms available from Australia {sorry forget their names} I know of only one other user in the country who uses his cdar504 out- side the dealer network and he is now in Auckland as well. This chap used to run his cdar504 on his BBS as well when he had Tinkerbell going Wellington. However there is something like 15 odd in use in NZ out side the dealer network. I rang Atari-NZ this to order another one for the BBS and was shocked to see they had all been sold, and they are awaiting the next shipment. I know there are a few in Canada, Steve Gold uses one up there and we spent a little time with him and Bob Brody several months ago helping Steve get Metados sorted out on his system. One thing to remember here is that Metados is (C)opyrighted to Atari and is not PD! If you are into serious DTP or a BBS I would suggest you get a CDAR504 as soon as you can! Jon Clarke +---------------+-----------------+---------------------------------+ | o( ) STaTus | The Atari BBS | Snail mail to : Jon Clarke, | | / /\ BBS. | in Auckland,NZ +------------+ RD#2 Drury, | +---------------+-----------------+ Running:: | Auckland, | |Mail : STT@kcbbs.gen.nz | MBBS Ver 3 | New Zealand. | | : J.Clarke6 - GEnie +------------+--------------------+ | : 72000,3555 - CIS | Node 1&2 :+64-9-606067 / 608485 | +---------------------------------+---------------------------------+ > CPU STATUS REPORT™ ================= - Tokyo, Japan NEC CLOSE TO DESIGNING 1-GIGABIT DRAM CHIP ------------ NEC has announced that it has developed a CAD/CAM (Computer-Aided Design and Manufacturing) system for developing integrated circuits. NEC is testing this system by launching an effort to design economically feasible 256-megabit and 1-gigabit DRAM chips. If this project succeeds, NEC could be offering 1 Gigabyte SIMM modules (for 1024 Megabytes of RAM) several years before others in the semiconductor industry.... NEC officials say that its new CAD/CAM system (which runs on an NEC supercomputer) has discovered that current chip manufacturing methods use too much silicon in the non-conducting film used to separate a chip's circuit layers. NEC also believes that its chip manufacturing software will prove that 256-megabit (if not 1-gigabit DRAM chips) can be produced with current manufacturing technologies. In comparison, other semiconductor vendors (like Toshiba) are building new factories to produce 16-megabit DRAM chips currently under development.... - Scotts Valley, CA BORLAND INTRODUCES QUATTRO PRO 2.0 SPREADSHEET ----------------- Borland Inc. is now selling Version 2.0 of its Quattro Pro spreadsheet program. This upgrade features support for 3-D Graphs, slide shows (with the ability to print to color 35-mm slides), and "live links" to Borland's Paradox database program. In addition, it has a "Solve For" option, for performing tasks like determining how much to spend on something to maximize profits. Quattro Pro 2.0 also can import files from several other spreadsheet programs (like Microsoft Excel), and can run on an IBM XT with 512K of RAM. Quattro Pro 2.0 costs $495.00, but Quattro Pro 1.0 owners can upgrade to Version 2.0 for $79.95. Also, owners of other DOS spreadsheet programs (like Lotus 1-2-3) will be able to buy Quattro Pro 2.0 for $100. Over 500,000 copies of Quattro Pro have been sold since it started shipping in October 1989. Dataquest, a major market research firm, has estimated that Quattro Pro seized over 25 percent of MS-DOS spreadsheet sales for the First Quarter of 1990. Curiously, Lotus Corp. is suing Borland over Quattro Pro, saying that its user interface violates Lotus' copyrights on the 1-2-3 user interface.... - Washington, DC BRAZIL OPENS UP COMPUTER MARKET TO FOREIGN COMPANIES -------------- Brazil has recently announced that it will be removing restrictions on computer imports by the end of 1992. In order to foster its own computer industry, Brazil kept foreign computer companies (like Apple and IBM) from selling large amounts of microcomputers there in the 1980s. Now that Brazil has the world's sixth largest computer market, it will be opening up its market to outside competition. Brazil's microcomputer industry is worth over $5 billion a year,with a significant market for Apple II and IBM compatibles. While there are over 300 domestic computer companies in Brazil, only 30 international computer companies currently do business there. Brazil will now reduce restrictions on joint business ventures, as well as its $1 billion limit on imported computer products. However, few computer companies may be investing in the Brazilian market. Sales in Brazil's computer market have fallen by 20 percent in 1990, due to efforts to reduce the country's huge inflation rate. Also, it seems that Brazil recently tried to buy several Cray X/MP supercomputers, but was stopped by the US Government. Apparently, it was feared that Brazil would use those supercomputers in a nuclear weapons development project.... - Washington, DC CONGRESS TO APPROVE BILL BANNING SOFTWARE RENTALS -------------- The Senate and the House Judiciary Committee have passed bills that will allow software publishers to prevent computer stores and businesses from renting out their software. Rep. Mike Synar of Oklahoma (a democrat) has sponsored the House's Bill, and Congress is expected to pass his bill (or the Senate's proposal) before October. Mike Synar's bill is aimed at preventing video rental stores from renting microcomputer software, since software pirates who don't own modems can easily obtain commercial software through them. Interestingly enough, the bill does NOT prevent video rental stores from renting out Nintendo Game Cartridges, since Nintendo games can't be copied by software pirates. It seems that Nintendo earns revenue from cartridge sales, since they manufacture ALL Nintendo game cartridges.... _________________________________________________________________ > NEODESK 3 !STR InfoFile™ "As good as if not Better than TOS 2.0!" ======================= NEODESK 3 THE REAL ALTERNATIVE! =============================== OVERVIEW -------- NeoDesk 3 is a complete replacement for the built-in desktop that comes with the Atari. It is the easiest and most affordable way to rea- lize your Atari's true potential. NeoDesk 3 adds many new features and enhancements over the original desktop, while keeping full compatibility with your current and future software. Not only will your computer be more powerful, it will also be much easier to use. It doesn't get any simpler. NeoDesk 3 is the ultimate upgrade for your Atari ST. INSTALLATION ------------ NeoDesk 3 can easily be installed so that it comes up whenever you boot the computer. OUTSTANDING FEATURES -------------------- NeoDesk has "JILLIONS" of new features and enhancements available, this is only a few of the more outstanding features we found to be superb..: o FILE CLIPBOARD Store files and folders temporarily in memory while changing floppy disks, paths, or reorganizing your hard disk. You can think of it sort of an automatically expanding and shrinking ramdisk. The File Clipboard grows and shrinks according to the files you place within it. o DESKTOP NOTES Write important notes, numbers, or doodle right on the desktop itself! Simply double-click on the desktop itself and a cursor will appear. [Esc] clears the line. o DESKTOP ICONS Place commonly used programs, files, and folders directly on the desktop. You can then select the icon and use "Install Desktop Icon..." to rename the icon and assign a unique key to it. Selecting that key will select and open the icon. o CUSTOM ICONS Assign different icons (each with its OWN COLOR) to any file or fol- der. This makes it much easier to locate and manage them. Many icons are included, with more available. And of course, you may create your own Icons or use the Icons from earlier versions. o ICON EDITOR This multiple window Icon Editor lets you edit and modify custom icons for any file or folder. Includes a complete set of drawing tools. Select "Edit Icons..." to call it. Double-click on any icon to edit it, on the desktop to edit it. This editor is far superior to any Icon editor I have used, including the older version from Gribnif. o SPLIT-WINDOWS Easily split a window so that it will display two different parts of the same directory. Very useful when copying or manipulating files. To do this, drag the "Split Window Bar" under the window information line to any window position. o "SELECT ALL" ABILITY A new window button (left of the bottom horizontal bar) lets you select all the files in a single directory, even if they don't fit in the window. You can even keep files selected while you scroll the window to a new location by holding down the [Shift] key. o INDEPENDENT WINDOWS Each window can be set to display text or icons, independently of each other. Each window can even have its own sorting and text options. The new button at the lower left corner of the window toggles a window between text or icons. o SMART FILE COPYING No more useless disk swaps. In a very efficient and fast manner, as many files and folders that will fit into all the available memory are read in at once. Especially nice for hard drives, this feature is a real benefit for all hard drive users. o SMART DISK COPYING NeoDesk 3 can intelligently detect the type of format used on the original disk and format the destination disk the exact same way. You can even copy identical hard disk partitions. o FULL MACRO IMPLEMENTATION Automate any series of desktop operations like opening windows, copying or deleting files, executing programs, etc. Then assign them to any key on the keyboard. Select the menu entry once to start recording and a second time to end recording. Does not record inside of running programs or in dialog boxes. o ACTIVE ICONS Drag any group of files to any program icon and that program will be automatically executed with all the selected files as parameters. o SEARCH FILES Easily search your system for that missing file. When found it will open a window to it, scroll to the file, and select it. o FILE TEMPLATES Up to six file templates are supported. For example, you could have a single window display all files ending in both ".TXT" and ".DOC" endings. o DISK FORMATTING You can specify 9 or 10 sector format, number of tracks, and even use the newer "Twister" option. o REORDER MODE You can easily reorder any directory on your system. Select it once to enter the reorder mode, a second time to exit it. o ENHANCED FILE "SHOW" Neodesk 3 is able to display Degas, Degas Elite, and NeoChrome pic- tures. Right mouse button goes forward a page, left mouse button back a page. o ENHANCED INSTALL APPLICATION You can select the type of application you are using, if NeoDesk should unload for it or not, and more. o SUPERB DIABLO MANAGEMENT The Diablo Emulator purrs like as kitten with Neodesk 3, just drag a file or a number of files to the LASER PRINTER ICON and they will be printed. Has a 'form feed' in the drop down menu if needed. COMMENTS -------- NeoDesk 3 has many other features many of which were barely touched upon here. Features like a NEW ENHANCED Control Panel with its own screen saver and corner clock, Printer Queue, Print Directory function, and much more. NeoDesk 3 comes with a superb, well written 140 page illustrated instruction manual, two disks, several extra utilities (one can even replace the system fonts!), and a recoverable trashcan for NeoDesk. The FORMAT AND FILE COPY functions in Neodesk 3 are so unique they even remove the boredom of these mundane everyday tasks by providing information relative to the task and it is constantly updated. This is a very nice touch. The Gribnifs have really outdone themselves on this one! This version is equal to if not better than TOS 2.0. How to Order ------------ To order your own personal copy of NeoDesk 3 for $69.95, Please call the TOLL FREE ORDER LINE: 1-800-284-4742. You will receive ** FREE ** 2nd Day Air shipping. If you have any questions at all, or comments about the NEW NEODESK 3.01, you may reach us at: Voice: (413) 584-7887 Fax: (413) 584=2565 Gribnif Software P.O. Box 350 Hadley, MA 01035 U.S.A. A NOTE FROM THE PRESIDENT OF GRIBNIF Hello, Let me try to clarify some of the confusion and explain how the upgrade process is working. Then everybody can sleep better at night, knowing that their NeoDesk 3 upgrade is coming soon. First of all, Dan is not directly involved in the upgrade/shipping process. He works full time programming (even though NeoDesk 3 is finished, there is other stuff he is working on). He also does not work at the same location where the upgrades are handled from. Because of this, he is not always up to date on what is happening with the upgrades. Last time we sent out a newsletter (for NeoDesk 2.05) we sent it "after" we were ready to ship the product. There were no big delays, but lots of people complained that they felt that "registered" users should be notified FIRST before anybody else. Soooo, this time we mailed the newsletter EARLY. They went out bulk mail the second week of August. The product itself would not be ready until September. We figured on two to three weeks for delivery and for the users to start returning them. We then printed in the bottom of the newsletter that users should wait "4-6 weeks" to receive the upgrade. That means that the upgrades should have begun arriving this week and for the next several weeks. We were even hoping to be able to beat that initial estimate. Well, the truth of the matter is that several factors have occurred which were not calculated into the original timetable: 1. We received many upgrades sooner than expected (some people used Federal Express to get the upgrades in!!). Last time we did upgrades we got "x" number of upgrades per week, easy stuff. This time we got most of the upgrade within a one week period! 2. While the printer delivered the manuals in time, he forgot to print the disk labels. These were just delivered last week. I hate to use such a silly excuse, but it is necessary to have labels on the disks we send out. 3. The combination of the Glendale show, and going out to three user group meetings has taken almost a full week out of the schedule. These were scheduled far in advance and therefore could not be cancelled. 4. Our hard disk (used for handling the upgrades) decided to die (second time this happened). We have set up a temporary hard disk just for upgrades, but that still took a couple of days away from getting real work done. 5. Our Stacy died, which was being used to handle the database. Atari ran out of replacement Stacy's, so we tracked down somebody with enough technical experience to fix it. It is supposed to arrive today via UPS. (Thank's Mario!) What does this mean? It means the upgrades are being delayed by about a week. The upgrades are NOW starting to ship about one week after the initial promised "4 weeks". We were hoping to get them all out within a two week period (therefore the "4-6 weeks" line), but since there are so many more of them we think it is going to take 3 weeks or so (an extra week). I was surprised the other day on the phone when a customer seemed to think that somehow all the upgrades would ship at once. Let me try to explain the process required to upgrade a SINGLE copy of NeoDesk 2.0 to version 3: 1. Open the envelope and see what it is. This way we can separate it from regular mail (like bills waiting to be paid, technical support mail, free subscriptions to Popular Mechanics, etc.). 2. Make sure nothing is missing in the upgrade. You would be surprised how many people forget to include things like the "origi- nal disk", "order form", or "money". Many people also add incor rectly (Example: $20.00 + $2.00 = $15.00), they need a note in the mail asking for the missing funds. 3. If any of the above are missing, place the upgrade in a special "problem" pile and send the user a post card informing him of what he/she forgot to include. 4. Orders paid by check are pulled out and deposited at this time. The volume has been such that the time between cashing and shipping has been about 2 weeks. This is the longest that we have ever gone. This is done so we can find those that will bounce. Those that bounce are obviously delayed until payment is received. Those paid by credit card need a credit card slip filled out (by hand). 5. Run the disk through the special upgrade program we have. This reads in the necessary information from that disk. 6. Place a new disk in the drive. The special upgrade program now formats it and writes the new version of NeoDesk 3 on the disk. Stick a disk label on it. 7. Print serial number stickers for this copy. Place those stickers in the correct locations (disk, manual, etc.) 8. Find the user in the database, update his record. Enter the credit card number into the bank's computer system. 9. Print out a mailing label with his address. 10. Enter the INVOICE system. Write up and print an invoice. 11. Place it all in a mailer, put correct postage, stamp it, finally place it in the "to be mailed stack". This is why it takes time to get an upgrade out. They are handled in "first in/first out" basis. We manufactured a small group of copies for the Glendale show, since it would not have been a good idea to spend $3,000 getting to a show in California and then not have any product to sell. The product is still not shipping to distributors. I hope that this letter (sorry about the length) explains any con- fusion about delays. I must admit, I now have my second thoughts about shipping a newsletter before the upgrades are ready to ship. We are getting these out as fast as possible. As many of you have noticed, I have stopped using GEnie (since I am spending all my free time helping get these upgrades out). Please bear with us, and you will all be set. It was noted to me that I should probably take all of this as a compliment, since people are "biting at the bit" this much. We really are happy that people are so exited about the new version. So are we! Sincerely, Rick Flashman, President Gribnif Software __________________________________________________________________ > STR Mail Call™ Letters to the Editor ============= Electronic Mail Sent : Sep 22, 1990 at 12:11 AM To : RALPH MARIANO From : DAVE DONER Subj : STR Dear Ralph, Thanks for the quality online publication, I enjoy it immensely, and consider it to be the best source of news and information regarding Atari and the ST line. I acted upon two of the articles in this weeks issue: TWEAKING THE SM124... and the double sided drive swap, and found small problems in each case. The double sided drive mentioned is identified as an NEC Model FD1073A. The correct model # is FD1037A. The supplier mentioned, Timeline, is sold out of those drives. They gave no indication of buying more. In the article by Sunfox about tweaking the SM124, he misses an impor- tant part of the adjustment. The vertical size and centering information is exactly correct, however there should be more to the horizontal ad- justment than what is given. If you find the HORIZ. CENTERING pot, then look toward the front of the monitor about half an inch and toward the closer side about half an inch and you will see what looks like a white plastic spool with copper wire wrapped around it. In the core of the spool is a small allen wrench socket. This control is the H. SIZE ad- justment. If you put a metal tool in the socket to adjust it, the hor- izontal screen size will shrink a great deal. Adjust this clockwise sev- eral turns and then remove the tool. You can get the width of the screen quite close to the edge. Then use the HORIZ. CENTERING pot to center the picture and to minimize the edge distortion of the picture. I for one, am *VERY* glad I took the challenge and cracked the case of my monitor. It is truly amazing what a difference it makes to have a full screen. Thanks to Sunfox for opening my eyes. Thanks again to you Ralph for the quality publication. I appreciate your efforts a great deal. David Doner Thanks Dave, Its letters such as yours that give us the much needed encouragement to carry on and provide STReport week after week and in- dependent of outside influences. Ralph....... ______________________________________________ > Stock Market STReport™ Watching the Sheckles.. "Sheckle" ===================== THE TICKERTAPE ============== by Michael Arthur On Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday, the price of Atari stock stayed the same. On Thursday, the price of Atari stock went down by 1/8 of a point. On Friday, it stayed the same, finishing up the week at $3.125 a share. The price of Atari's stock had gone down 1/8 of a point since September 14, 1990. Apple Stock was down 2 1/2 points from Friday, September 14, 1990. Commodore Stock was down 3/4 of a point from 9/14/90. IBM Stock was up 2 3/8 points from 9/14/90. Stock Report for Week of 9/17/90 to 9/21/90 __________________________________________________________________________ STock| Monday | Tuesday | Wednesday | Thursday | Friday | Reprt|Last Chg.|Last Chg.|Last Chg.|Last Chg.|Last Chg.| -----|-----------|-------------|-------------|------------|--------------| Atari|3 1/8 ----|3 1/8 ----|3 1/8 ----| 3 - 1/8| 3 ---- | | | | | 11,000 Sls | 39,600 Sls | -----|-----------+-------------+-------------+------------+--------------| CBM |5 1/4 -1/4|5 1/4 ----| 5 - 1/4|4 7/8 - 1/8|4 3/4 - 1/8| | | | | | 45,600 Sls | -----|-----------+-------------+-------------+------------+--------------| Apple|33 3/4 |33 3/8 - 3/8|32 1/2 - 7/8|31 5/8 -7/8|31 1/2 - 1/8| | -1/4| | |901,200 Sls |1,373,800 Sls | -----|-----------+-------------+-------------+------------+--------------| IBM |105 1/8 |107 1/4 |108 3/8 |107 7/8 -1/2|106 3/4 -1 1/8| | +3/4| +2 1/8| +1 1/8| |2,211,500 Sls | -----'-------------------------------------------------------------------' '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. ___________________________________________________________ > START CALLING! STR InfoFile™ STart Magazine calls for programmers! =========================== :CALLING ALL PROGRAMMERS: START Wants You! START Magazine is always on the lookout for new and innovative software for our monthly disk and we welcome your submissions. Due to the requests we get from our readers, however, we are more likely to accept the following: o -- utilities (small programs that make using the ST even easier) o -- broad-based applications (full-featured databases, word processors, telecommunications programs, etc.) o -- games (preferably not shoot-em-ups) o -- MIDI programs o -- graphics software o -- scientific applications o -- programming tutorials (particularly for BASIC and C) We would also like to see word processing/desktop publishing macros, and add-ons and enhancements for existing programs. We aren't interested in extremely specialized applications, or things like label makers, disk catalogers and simple database programs. A special note to game programmers: the majority of our submissions are games, so a unique and intriguing premise will definitely help your chan- ces! Be Professional Your submission should pay special attention to error-checking and user proofing. Thousands of ST owners, from beginners to experts, each with a different system configuration, run the programs we publish. We want to see interfaces that are clear and easy to use. Above all, program submis- sions to START must do the following: 1. restore the user's Desktop color palette at the end of the program (these are the colors the user has chosen, not the default colors); 2. check to see if there is enough memory available. If not, the program must display a warning message (e.g., NOT ENOUGH MEMORY!) and exit to the Desktop; 3. give all memory allocated to the program back to GEM when the program ends. This includes resource files and GDOS fonts; 4. check the screen resolution if the program is not resolution indepen- dent. If the resolution is wrong, the program must give an appropr- iate error message (e.g., THIS PROGRAM RUNS IN LOW-REZ ONLY!) and make a clean exit to the Desktop; 5. make sure there is enough room on a disk before writing to it; 6. never assume that the program is running from a certain drive. Prog- rams should look in the current directory (the directory from which the program was run) for their support files, and put an error message on the screen if they can't be found; 7. use alert boxes for error messages so the average person has time to read them; 8. if the program uses sound, make sure the sound chip is turned off when the program ends; 9. include a copyright notice. Put your name on it, so that it is protected! If it is bought by START, we will need to change it to reflect the new owner of the copyright; 10. include documentation that explains the exact minimum hardware requirements needed for the program to function, such as screen resolution, amount of memory, printer type, disk space, joystick, etc. The following are suggestions on how to tailor your program to make life easier for the end-user: o -- keep the number of support files as small as possible. Give them appropriate names, so that they're easily identified. o -- make the program run in as many resolutions as possible. o -- test the program for compatibility with TOS 1.0 (original STs), 1.2 (Megas), 1.4 and 1.6 (STEs). Notify START of any problems, or if you cannot test the program with other TOS versions. o -- if possible, test the program with the various popular memory-resi dent programs, such as item selectors, alternate Desktops, etc. This is especially important if your program is an accessory or an AUTO- folder program! Again, notify START of any problems. o -- beta-test the program! Have your friends and relatives try it. Challenge them to find as many bugs as possible. Remember that if our readers find problems with your program, START will ask you for technical support. o -- don't assume people will read the documentation. Give on-screen help, explanations, or instructions, or make it so obvious that someone can figure it out while handcuffed in a dark room with Def Leppard shrieking at maximum volume. How To Send It Each program submission must include the following: o -- a cover letter that states the name of the program, what it does and how to run it. Include your address, work and home phone numbers; o -- a hard copy of the article (double-spaced); o -- a disk that includes the program, all accompanying files, source code and an ASCII version of the article. o -- a self addressed, stamped envelope if you wish your materials returned. Once again, START welcomes all program submissions! We look at each and every item that we receive. We do get a lot of submissions, however, so please wait four to six weeks before inquiring about your program's status. Payment for the program will be established upon acceptance. We look forward to seeing your work. Please send your program to: START Program Submissions 544 Second St. San Francisco, CA 94107 Features, Reviews, Tutorials, Etc. START isn't just looking for great programs, we're also in the market for articles geared toward increasing our readers' productivity: reviews of individual products, comparisons of products within categories (floppy disk drives, add-on interfaces), miniature "textbooks" on applications and hardware, and buying guides. Occasionally we'll publish standard jour- nalistic articles, tailored to our audience, such as profiles of top Atari Corp. executives or the pros and cons of writing commercial software for the ST. Your query letter should include an explanation of why you, and not one of our more established authors, should cover a particular subject or write a particular review. It should also include information on how you can be reached. Please send all queries to the above address. For author and review guidelines, send an SASE to: START Author Guidelines 544 Second St. San Francisco, CA 94107 (Note: START Magazine cannot be held responsible for any unsolicited material.) _______________________________________________________________ > NEW ENGLAND ATARIFEST '90 STR SHOW NEWS™ ======================================= //////NEW ENGLAND ATARIFEST '90\\\\\\ STATUS REPORT Confirmed to exhibit as of 25-Sep-1990: ////////////////////MANUFACTURERS, DEVELOPERS, ETC.\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\ o Atari Corporation (U.S.) o Gribnif Software Sunnyvale, CA Northampton, MA Bob Brodie Rick Flashman, Dan Wilga & Tricia Metcalf o Beta-Cad North Attleboro, MA o Bill Jensen Dick Barlik Jamaica Plain, MA o Codehead Software o Chor-Ming Lung Los Angeles, CA Boston, MA John Eidsvoog o Dr. T's Music Software o Taylor Ridge Books Boston, MA Manchester, CT Al Hospers Clayton Walnum o Fast Technology o TidBit Software Engineering North Andover, MA Maynard, MA Jim Allen Jeff Lomicka /////////////////////////////////DEALERS\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\ o Bit Bucket Computer Store o Granite Computers West Newton, MA Nashua, NH o Computer Bug o Micro National Hadley, MA Danvers, MA o Computer Zone o Syntronics Computer Center North Attleboro, MA Boston, MA o ERM Electronic Liquidators Melrose, MA ///////////////////////////////USER GROUPS\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\ o Atari UG of Greater Hartford o Rhode Island ACE Hartford, CT Providence, RI o BCS/Atari o South Shore Atari Group Boston, MA Hyde Park, MA o Nashoba Valley Atari Users' Soc. o S.T.A.R.R. Acton-Boxboro, MA New Haven, CT o N. Attleboro Atari Computer Club o Valley Atari ST North Attleboro, MA Methuen, MA /////////////////////////SEMINARS (TITLES TENTATIVE)\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\ 0915 "GEnie STAR*SERVICES" Darlah Pine, GEnie Atari RoundTables 1000 "COLOR DTP WITH PAGESTREAM", "TRACKER/ST" Nevin Shalit, Step Ahead Software 1100 "CALAMUS AND OUTLINE ART" Nathan Potechin, ISD Marketing, Inc. 1300 "NEODESK 3: THE ULTIMATE DESKTOP" Rick Flashman, Gribnif Software 1400 "WHATEVER COMES TO MIND" Jim Allen, Fast Technology 1500 "ATARI SPEAKS" Bob Brodie, Atari Computer (U.S.) /////////////////////////////ACCOMODATIONS\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\ Susse Chalet Boston $43.70/night single 900 Morrissey Boulevard $47.70/night double Dorchester, MA Phone (617) 287-9200 ///////////////////////////SHOW INFORMATION\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\ Location: UMass/Boston Hours: 9:00am - 4:00pm Harbor Campus Dorchester, MA Admission: $5.00 Date: October 27, 1990 Free Parking /////////////////////////////FOR MORE INFO\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\ o GEnie: Email D.JACOBSON2 o DELPHI: Email DPJ or NORMAN238 ST RT Cat 11 Top 20 ATARI/SSAG sig, DELPHI/Boston o BCS/Atari BBS (24h, 3/12/24/96) o N.E. AtariFest '90 info-line (617) 396-4607 (617) 527-4952 (recording) o Write: New England AtariFest '90 c/o Boston Computer Society One Center Plaza Boston, MA 02108 Tables are still available ($150 single, $275 double, $35 UG single). Address inquiries to any of the sources listed above. Make checks payable to Boston Computer Society, and send to the address above. _______________________________________________________________ > HAGTERM ELITE STR InfoFile™ A new many featured term program.. ========================== ================================== PRESS RELEASE Sept. 1990 ================================== ATARI CORNER PUBLISHING is happy to announce a substantial discount on HAGTERM Elite for Atari User Groups! Please read below for more information. But first, an upgrade to HagTerm Elite is now available: ~~~~~~~~~~ -UPGRADES- ~~~~~~~~~~ HagTerm Elite v4.38 is now available for distribution. All registered users with HagTerm Elite v4.2 or earlier should have been notified of the new upgrade. However, less than 40% of HagTerm Elite users have registered their produ- ct! PLEASE, it is very important to send in your registration form. If you haven't sent it in yet, do it NOW! All registered users regularly receive upgrade notices when a major upg- rade is available. Un-registered users are not notified of new versions, and no upgrades will be given to them. Upgrades are only $3 plus the original disk (or $4 without), and they are usually worth getting! ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ -USER GROUP DISCOUNT- ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ As a show of support for Atari User Groups across the country, HagTerm Elite will now be provided to User Groups at a 40% discount! That's right, user groups may now purchase HagTerm Elite for only $18 per copy instead of the $30 retail price! To qualify for this discount, a minimum of five copies must be ordered at one time directly by the user group. Also, all copies will be sent to only one address (preferably, to an officer in the User Group.) To order, please write a letter to the below address. Include the fol- lowing information in the letter: 1) The name of the user group. 2) Small description of the User Group (such as the computers are supported, the SIG's provided, etc.) 3) The address of the User Group's general meeting. 4) The mailing address (no PO Boxes, please). A recent copy of the group's newsletter (if one exists) must be included with the letter. There is a $4 S&H charge (per five copies.) Individual personal checks and Money Orders (please make them payable to Hagop Janoyan) from the user group members are accepted. Send them to: Atari Corner Publishing 515 Wing Street Glendale, CA 91205 For more information, please call (818) 242-5692. _____________________________________________________ > DC DESKTOP STR InfoFile™ DESKTOP REPLACEMENT ======================= Feature for feature, DC Desktop is the best buy available! In case you aren't aware of what DC Desktop already has to offer, here is a brief synopsis: + Place program icons directly on the GEM desktop - even documents! + NOW desktop folder icons; open a folder directly, no more searching + Execute program icons by double clicking or by pressing a 'hot key' + Chain program execution - when one exits, another runs + Extended parameter passing + Unique file, drive and folder icons + Color icons + Exclusive CABINET virtual disk drive - store files from anywhere in your system in one location - A desktop in a window! + Keystroke equivalents for the desktop menus + Call up desk accessories with a key press + Load or save up to 11 different desktops with a keypress! + Load or save up to 11 different CABINETs with a keypress! + Exclusive SHOW replacement modules - replace the system SHOW file routine with several modules that: - View text, 1st Word or Word Writer files (complete mouse control!) - View Degas, Degas compressed, NEO, ART, Tiny, Spectrum (normal, compressed and smooshed), image and Macintosh MacPaint pictures view any picture in any resolution! - Verbose list or extract ARC files - More modules on the way! + Replace the desktop with a picture or pattern, even randomizes either one! + A _completely_ recoverable TRASH to safe-guard your files + A printer spooler which spools normal printing, screen dumps, and even works like a printer queue which you can copy files to or delete files from. + Close to 100 never-before-seen icons + An icon editor which allows you to import icons from different files; the icon editor is more like a paint program with a host of special tools. + Call up the file selector with a key press + Completely modular - save valuable system memory! + All modules can run as stand-alone programs with a simple key press - no need to use memory to access all features! + A command line interface + A terminal program + A folder sorter + Special hooks to work best with Quick ST 2.2 + 100% pure assembly language - FAST, FAST, FAST! + Completely _open_ architecture with examples and technical information so you can hook into the DC Desktop, create your own SHOW modules, or create special RAM resident programs - all information included in the package + Even more! + One _completely_ LOW price of $39.95 DC Desktop offers features of dozens of current ST software, all which sell for more than DC Desktop alone! ========================================================================= The Double Click Software DC Desktop has been upgraded to version 1.2 Owners of version 1.0 may upgrade to version 1.2 for $15.00 This cost covers the new manual $7.50 and the new disk and programs $7.50 If you do not wish to purchase the new manual, you may buy only the disk. We strongly recommend you purchase the new 88 page manual. To upgrade, send in your original disk plus the required amount _and_ $3.00 for shipping and handling. If you do not wish to return your original disk, or have lost your orig- inal disk, include an extra $5.00 with your order. You must be registered with us to order the upgrade. If you have not sent in your registration card, you can do so with the upgrade order. If you are a resident of TEXAS, include 8.25% sales tax. Update prices at a glance: -------------------------- New disk alone $ 7.50 New disk and lost disk fee $12.50 New disk and new manual $15.00 New disk, new manual and lost disk fee $20.00 Shipping and handling $ 3.00 TEXAS residents add 8.25% on total The New DC Desktop v1.2 features include: ----------------------------------------- + Folders on the desktop: open folder directly, copy/move directly to desktop folder icon + Color icons for all icons + Unique icons for all folders possible + Position drive letters anywhere within the icon + Random bootup picture + Random bootup pattern + Added features in DC Icon Editor + DC Terminal program now included + Folder sort program included + Brand new "point and click" 88 page manual. Very easy to follow, all instructions explained in a simple step-by-step fashion. + Diablo emulator compatible + All bugs have been squashed + more If you have questions, or you wish to place an order by phone, please call us today at: (713)977-6520 We accept VISA and MASTERCARD orders. We can also be reached online On GEnie: DOUBLE-CLICK On CompuServe (GO ATARIV, vendor area 13 (very shortly)) 75300,577 On Usenet: uace0@menudo.uh.edu On our BBS: (713)944-0108 _________________________________________________________ > STReport CONFIDENTIAL™ "BLOCKBUSTER ATARI NEWS FIRST!" ===================== - New York City, N.Y. COMPUTER SHOPPERS ENDS ST COVERAGE ------------------- The Editor of Computer Shopper notified a a number of folks today that the November Issue of Computer Shopper would be last issue that carried coverage of Atari Computers. As some folks have noted, CS may be widely read, but it is because of the advertisements not the coverage of various computer platforms. STReport feels that to NOT cover the Atari computer lines is their (Computer Shopper's) loss.. not Atari's or its userbase. Soon, Computer Shopper may narrow its coverage even further, perhaps to only the messy dos world. - Plainview, NY ** WARNING ** NEW DESKTOP(S) SLIP OUT ------------- Through one of the ever-present cracks in the armor, slipped a disk version of TOS 2.0, (TT TOS) or rather a portion of it. According to reports this is not the entire TOS or OS for that matter. It is only a portion of and it needs the code already in the chips to work properly. From the reports we have, its alleged to work well with TOS 1.4.... Also, there is a "3.01" version that's all German (not translated yet) also rumored to have made its way into the USA. Be very careful, do not run these "jewels" from your hard drive. Who knows what they will do? Who knows if they are even trustworthy? If you value your system.... think twice. STReport tried to reach Atari today for comment, and has yet to receive a call back. Therefore, until the whole story is known, its best to be careful and not fool with this unknown entity. __________________________________________________________ > Hard Disks STR InfoFile™ Affordable Mass Storage.... ======================= NEW LOW PRICES! & MORE MODELS!! =============================== ABCO COMPUTER ELECTRONICS INC. P.O. Box 6672 Jacksonville, Florida 32236-6672 Est. 1985 _________________________________________ Voice: 904-783-3319 10 AM - 4 PM EDT BBS: 904-786-4176 12-24-96 HST FAX: 904-783-3319 12 PM - 6 AM EDT _________________________________________ HARD DISK SYSTEMS TO FIT EVERY BUDGET _____________________________________ All systems are complete and ready to use, included at NO EXTRA COST are clock/calendar and cooling blower(s). -ALL ABCO HARD DISK SYSTEMS ARE FULLY EXPANDABLE- (you are NOT limited to two drives ONLY!) 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Prices also reflect various cabinet/power supply configurations (over sixty configurations are available, flexibility is unlimited) *** ALL Units: Average Access Time: 24ms - 34ms *** ALL UNITS COMPATIBLE WITH --> SUPERCHARGER - PC-DITTO/II - SPECTRE/GCR LARGER units are available - (special order only) NO REPACKS OR REFURBS USED! - Custom Walnut WOODEN Cabinets - TOWER - AT - XT Cabinets - Keyboard Custom Cables Call for Info ALL POWER SUPPLIES UL APPROVED -* 12 month FULL Guarantee *- (A FULL YEAR of COVERAGE) QUANTITY & USERGROUP DISCOUNTS AVAILABLE! _________________________________________ DEALERS and DISTRIBUTORS WANTED! please, call for details Personal and Company Checks are accepted. ORDER YOUR NEW UNIT TODAY! CALL: 1-800-562-4037 -=**=- CALL: 1-904-783-3319 Customer Orders ONLY Customer Service 9am - 8pm EDT Tues thru Sat ________________________________________________________ > A "Quotable Quote"™ ================= "METHINKS.. HE DOTH PROTESTETH TOO MUCH!!!" Charlie Shakinghorse -------------------------------------------------------------------------- STReport™ "Your Independent News Source" September 28, 1990 16/32bit Magazine copyright © 1990 No.6.39 -------------------------------------------------------------------------- Views, Opinions and Articles Presented herein are not necessarily those of the editors, staff, STReport™ CPU/STR™ or ST Report™. Permission to reprint articles is hereby granted, unless otherwise noted. Each reprint must include the name of the publication, date, issue # and the author's name. The entire publication and/or portions therein may not be edited in any way without prior written permission. The contents, at the time of publication, are believed to be reasonably accurate. The editors, contributors and/or staff are not responsible for either the use/misuse of information contained herein or the results obtained therefrom. --------------------------------------------------------------------------