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*---== ST REPORT INTERNATIONAL ONLINE MAGAZINE ==---* """"""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""" "The Original 16/32bit Online Magazine" from STR Publishing Inc. """""""""""""""""" June 21, 1991 No.7.25 ========================================================================== STReport International Online Magazine™ Post Office Box 6672 Jacksonville, Florida 32205 ~ 6672 R.F. Mariano Publisher - Editor ----------------------------------------- Voice: 904-783-3319 10 AM - 4 PM EST BBS: 904-786-4176 USR/HST DUAL STANDARD FAX: 904-783-3319 12 AM - 6 AM EST ----------------------------------------- ** Fnet 350 * Fido Node 1:112/35 * NeST Node 90:3000/350.0 ** privately owned & operated STReport support BBS ALL issues of STReport International Online Magazine are available along with A worldwide list of private bbs systems carrying STReport __________________________________________________________________ > 06/21/91: STReport #7.25 The Original 16/32 bit Online Magazine! ------------------------- - The Editor's Desk - CPU REPORT - VERTICAL or VERTIGO? - AMWAY DB REVIEWED - TANDY EXPANDS - MAC '040 ACCEL. SHIPS - Codehead Updates - TURBO BBS V2 - STR MailCall -* EXCLUSIVE! VANCOUVER SHOW! EYEWITNESS REPORT *- -* ATARI ON NATIONAL TV - SOON! *- -* XCONTROL PANEL RELEASED! *- ========================================================================== ST REPORT INTERNATIONAL ONLINE MAGAZINE™ The _Number One_ Online Magazine -* FEATURING *- "UP-TO-DATE News and Information" Current Events, Original Articles, Hot Tips, and Information Hardware - Software - Corporate - R & D - Imports ========================================================================== STReport's support BBS, NODE 350, invites systems using Forem ST and Turbo Board BBS to participate in the Fido/F-Net Mail Network. Or, call Node 350 direct at 904-786-4176, and enjoy the excitement of exchanging infor- mation relative to the Atari ST computer arena through an excellent Inter- national ST Mail Network. All registered F-NET - Crossnet SysOps are wel- come to join the STReport Crossnet Conference. The Crossnet Conference Code is #34813, and the "Lead Node" is # 350. All systems are welcome and invited to actively participate. Support Atari Computers; Join Today! ========================================================================== AVAILABLE EXCLUSIVELY ON: GENIE ~ CIS ~ DELPHI ~ BIX ~ FIDO ~ F-NET ========================================================================== > The Editor's Podium Some weeks you just can't win no matter what you do. Two weeks ago, some of our critics accused us of being too sensationalistic and rumor mongering, then last week many of these same people took us to task for not being sensationalistic enough. In last week's STReport (STR724), we referred our readers to a head- lined item in the San Jose Mercury News; "Ex-employee sues Atari, Executive" STR remarked; "Pratt has his own problems now, (Mercury News, San Jose, CA. (06-12-91). The incident in the San Jose Mercury News is SAD! And may drag Atari into even more mud." Even though Atari Corp. was also involved in this situation, a multi-million dollar lawsuit, STR felt that many of the alleged accusations in the lawsuit against Greg Pratt, president of Atari Corp., were of a personal nature and shouldn't be ex- panded upon. At least, not at that time. Since Atari Corp. was involved in the lawsuit, we felt it needed to be mentioned though. If our readers wanted to know more, they could reference it themselves. Comments about that brief reference varied greatly. Some congratul- ated us for not expanding on the subject and showing self-restraint, some wanted to know why we printed anything about the lawsuit at all, while some wanted to know why we just printed a teaser and did not give all of the 'dirty' details (amazingly, it was some of these same folks who took us to task just last week about being to sensationalistic). One of the other on-line magazines even felt it necessary to critique our issue (however, they only critiqued about 300 bytes out of a 139,000 byte issue). One of their writers got so involved in the discussion that, ac- cording to his posted apology, "the powers above" had to remind him "that derisive condescension is not appropriate" (I believe the phrase he used was "sycophantic slobber" in reference to people who paid to get online and offer positive support to STReport). There were even some who had an opinion about the issue and hadn't even read it!! We read all of the comments with interest. STR appreciates construc- tive criticism. However, if we had it to do all over again, we'd still print same information. What some folks don't seem to understand is that we can't "hide our heads in the sand" and pretend that bad news didn't happen or that it will simply "go away". No matter how much we might ad- mire a person, if he is accused of something that could cost him AND Atari millions of dollars, it has moved out of the personal arena and has become news. While we agree that a person's personal life should be his or her own, once that personal life overlaps into the public arena, it becomes public and news. While we will not 'try' this case in our publication, the reality of the situation is, the lawsuit was filed on Monday, 06-10-91 in the Santa Clara County Superior Court in the State of California by Atty. Mark Alan Fong on behalf of his client, Leslie Schmick. The reality of the situa- tion is that it was reported in a Pulitzer Prize winning newspaper, the San Jose Mercury News 06/12/91 on page 7f. The reality of the situation is that in America, everyone is innocent until proven guilty. Just repor- ting that there was a lawsuit filed does not make them guilty nor does it make the reporting media sensationalistic or rumor-mongering. Also in last weeks STR, my Quotable Quote said "WAY TO GO, GREGG!". Some folks know more about what I meant by that statement than I do. Some are convinced that the comment referred to the lawsuit against Greg Pratt and in no way could it be a reference to the good things that Greg has been doing at Atari. All I can say is, I hope these folks don't try to leave their current jobs and start a "career" of mind-reading. BTW, yes, I did misspell Greg's name in last weeks issue - this was brought to my attention by Dorothy Brumleve. Now, onto more pleasant topics. Last weekend, Terry Schreiber staged a very pleasant, well organized, weekend Atari show in Vancouver, Canada. From most all reports, it seems that everyone that attended the two day show, (both developers and users), had an enjoyable time. STReport spoke with Terry about the show. He said that the attendance was light, there was a considerable amount of sales enjoyed by the exhibitors. The overall attendance was 750-1,000 for the two days with Sunday (Father's Day) being the slowest day with an attendance of approx. 250 people. Some of the exhibitors reported loosing money, while some said they broke even or made "a couple of bucks" and there were a few who reported that they did well. Terry, a Znet correspondent, had six [6] ZNet buttons made up and passed them out at the show. Terry did a fine job in staging this show, it's a shame the turnout was so disappointing. Elsewhere in this issue is an EXCLUSIVE, EYEWITNESS REPORT of the VANCOUVER SHOW. Thank you once again, for your support!! Ralph............ TODAY'S NEWS ..TODAY! """"""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""" > STReport's Staff The regulars and this week's contributors! ================ Publisher - Editor ------------------ Ralph F. Mariano Staff Editors: -------------- Michael Arthur Lloyd E. Pulley, Sr. Dana P. Jacobson Lucien Oppler Brad Martin Walter Daniel Oscar Steele Robert Allbritton John Szczepanik Dan Stidham Contributing Correspondants: ---------------------------- Michael Lee Richard Covert Roger Stevens Brian Converse Oliver Steinmeier Ed Krimen Tim Holt Andrew Learner Norman Boucher Ben Hamilton IMPORTANT NOTICE ================ Please, submit letters to the editor, articles, reviews, etc... via E-Mail to: Compuserve.................... 70007,4454 GEnie......................... ST.REPORT Delphi........................ RMARIANO BIX........................... RMARIANO FIDONET....................... 112/35 FNET.......................... NODE 350 NEST.......................... 90:19/350.0 *********************************************************************** COMPUSERVE WILL PRESENT $15.00 WORTH OF COMPLIMENTARY ONLINE TIME to the Readers of; ST REPORT INTERNATIONAL ONLINE MAGAZINE """"""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""" "The Original 16/32bit Online Magazine" NEW USERS; SIGN UP TODAY! CALL: 1-800-848-8199 .. Ask for operator 198 You will receive your complimentary time and be online in no time at all! 300-1200-2400-9600 WHAT'S NEW IN THE ATARI FORUMS (June 21) FINDING FILES FAST! During June, explore the many programs and files available in CompuServe's Atari ST Forums with File Finder -- now reduced to $6 per hr for all baud rates, including 9600. The Atari File Finder includes all files within the Atari Arts Forum, Atari Productivity Forum, and Atari Vendor Forum. Type GO ATARIFF to access this service. LEXICOR ONLINE SUPPORT """""""""""""""""""""" Lexicor Software welcomes Bill Rayl as their official CompuServe on- line support person! Bill will be uploading graphics and animation files, running the upcoming Lexicor animation tutorial conferences and answering questions about Lexicor's hot new product line. Please continue to send all messages to the Lexicor User ID number 75300,763. NEW FILES FROM LEXICOR SOFTWARE The following new uploads have been added to the Lexicor libraries: Library 1 of the Atari Arts Forum (GO ATARIARTS): DINO2.LZH -- TT Low rez PNT picture of a dinosaur skeleton. ALBERT.LZH -- TT Medium rez PNT picture of Albert Einstein. Library 9 of the Atari Vendors Forum (GO ATARIVEN): GROUND.LZH -- GroundWalker animation for the ST. HELCYL.LZH -- Helicycle animation for the ST. SEAHRS.LZH -- Awesome 3D Seahorse animation for the TT! **** NEW ATARI CONTROL PANEL **** XControl is the newest newest version of the Atari control panel. It is designed to take advantage of features only available in the latest (>2.0) versions of the operating system. It is released into distribution with the following notice. Read the warning in Xcontrol.txt in the archive. Atari Corporation is not responsible for any damage that results from the use or misuse of this program. Copyright 1991 Atari Corporation. It is now available in Library 1 of the Atari Productivity Forum (GO ATARIPRO) under the name CPX.ARC. NEW MICHTRON DEBUTS! The new Michtron has uploaded a file containing their new address and phone number along with a price list on their product line. See the file MTPRIC.TXT in library 3 of the Atari Vendor Forum (GO ATARIVEN). PROGRAM OF THE WEEK DC Reserve, another program of the week from Double Click Software, acts as a reserve tank of RAM. It will save a predefined amount of memory when you execute a program that grabs all available RAM for its own use. See DCRSRV.ARC in Library 13, Double Click Software, in the Atari Vendors Forum (GO ATARIVEN). NEW IN ATARI PORTFOLIO FORUM Custom Base, a program to turn your Portfolio into a data collection device, is now available in LIBRARY 1 of the Atari Portfolio Forum (GO APORTFOLIO). A copy of the File Manager program, distributed by Atari Corp. with all new Portfolios is now available in LIBRARY 1 of the Atari Portfolio Forum (GO APORTFOLIO) for those who purchased their units before the FM card was included. File provided courtesy of Atari Corp., all rights reserved. A new version of Don Messerli's PGSHOW and STReport's Forum Notes by Judy Hamner are now available in LIBRARY 1 of the Atari Portfolio Forum (GO APORTFOLIO). THE ATARI PORTFOLIO FORUM ON COMPUSERVE HAS BEEN DESIGNATED AN OFFICIAL SUPPORT SITE BY ATARI CORPORATION "GO APORTFOLIO TO ACCESS THE ATARI PORTFOLIO FORUM" *********************************************************************** > CPU STATUS REPORT LATE BREAKING INDUSTRY-WIDE NEWS ================= Issue #26 Compiled by: Lloyd E. Pulley, Sr. - Tokyo, Japan TOSHIBA TO LAY OFF 10% OF ITS US WORK ------------ FORCE - CUTS PRODUCTION AND PRICES Due to the slump in the U.S. PC market, Toshiba says it will lay off 10% of its employees in the U.S. by the end of June. About 200 out of 2,000 employees will be laid off at Toshiba America in Irvine, California. Toshiba will cut production of its best-selling T3100 laptop computer by 20% and has lowered the prices of PCs from 19 to 33 percent. Currently, Toshiba has about a 2 percent share of the U.S. PC market. - Fort Worth, Texas TANDY TO OPEN COMPUTER SUPERCENTERS ----------------- Tandy Corporation has announced that it will open a new nationwide chain of computer supercenters selling IBM, Apple, Compaq and Tandy brand machines at what the company described as 'low' prices. The computer supercenters will be called Computer City and will also provide repair service and training. Each facility having about 20,000 square feet of selling area, a servie facility and warehouse space. Tandy anticipates opening as many as six supercenters in 1991. In addition to the supercenters, Tandy said it will open satellite stores in each market. The satellites will carry most of the products sold in a supercenter, and will use a 'just-in-time' delivery system, receiving product from the area supercenter. The stores will also carry software, peripherals, accessories and supplies, as well as personal office equipment, and will provide training. - Tokyo, Japan MEGABYTE DRAM CHIPSET UNPOPULAR; ------------ SALES ARE SLOW According to the Nikkei, a Japanese daily newspaper, sales of 4 megabit (MB) dynamic random access memory (DRAM) chips are slumping. The reason for the slump is simple - U.S. computer companies are cutting purchases of the chips as the recession begins to bite. NEC and Mitsubishi had been planning to increase production of 4MB DRAM chips but have now shelved those plans in the face of falling sales. NEC is considering the possiblity of switching the bulk of its 4MB production over to 1MB chips. - Austin, Texas MAC 68040 ACCELERATOR NOW SHIPPING ------------- Owners of the MAC SE/30 and the IIsi, can now increase the performance of their machines with the TokaMac SX. Fusion Data Systems manufacturers of the TokaMac SX says it is the only Motorola 68040 accelerator available for the Macintosh SE/30 and the IIsi, and the only accelerator compatible with Apple's new System 7.0. The company claims that the accelerator will increase the performance well beyond the levels of the IIfx, Apple's fastest Macintosh, as well as the i486 based PCs and Sun's SPARCstation IPC. Applications which are floating point intensive will obtain workstation-type processing times up to 300% faster than those of the Macintosh IIfx. Users of graphics and desktop publishing applications are also expected to benefit from processing speeds up to 185% over the IIfx. Both these type applications are input/output intensive. The TokaMac has a suggested list price of $2,995 plus $50 for an 030 PDS adaptor card. The unit will be available in July. - Santa Clara, California NATIONAL BRINGS 7 DRAM CONTROLLER ----------------------- CHIPS TO MARKET National Semiconductor has just announced seven entries in its family of very large scale dynamic memory controller chips, offering speeds up to 33mhz. Intended for 32-bit and high-performance RISC systems, the new chips will be used in mainframes as well as workstations, peripherals, imaging systems, and communications applications. Why the need for the new chips? As the industry moves toward much faster 80386 and 80486-based systems (Intel is talking about 50- and 100-MHz. 486 chips), there is a great need for faster memory access and the chips that can control faster memory, such as these just announced by National Semiconductor. - Solon, Ohio TECMAR INTROS 1 GIGABYTE TAPE DRIVE ----------- FOR PCS Tecmar has introduced 2 models of a one gigabyte (GB) quarter-inch tape system, the Proline 1000 and QT-1000. The new units are believed to be the first gigabyte capacity systems, and offer a data transfer rate of 14.4 megabytes-per-minute. The company claims that, in some instances data transfer rates faster than those of the non-compressed drive can be attained. The new units are compatible with IBM AT, 286, 386 and compatible sys- tems, PS/2 systems and the Macintosh. Tecmar provides a SCSI (Small Computer System Interface) kit which includes a SCSI interface board, cabling, a user manual and software. - San Francisco, California MICROSOFT & EVEREX WIN MS-DOS ------------------------- COUNTERFEITING CASE Microsoft Corp. and Everex Systems Inc. have announced a jury award in their lawsuit against eight defendants responsible for counterfeiting the Microsoft MS-DOS operating system. The jury "awarded Microsoft and Everex damages that will exceed $4.3 million after the anticipated treb- ling provided by statute." Now that the trial of this case has concluded, Microsoft and Everex plan to refer the matter to the U.S. Attorney and the FBI for possible criminal prosecution. - Dayton, Ohio COMPUTERS MAY HELP REDUCE FIRE RISK ------------ Mark Dietenberger, a researcher at the University of Dayton (Ohio) may save your life. Dietenberger has developed a computer model that he says can predict the spread of fire, smoke and toxic gases on different fur- niture materials and designs. According to Dietenberger, most people who die in fires in their homes or aboard aircraft die from smoke inhalation - that is breathing in carbon monoxide or other toxic gases that are released when furniture burns. Says Dietenberger, "Using my furniture fire model, manufacturers may be able to evaluated materials that are developed to be safer or more fire retardant or to burn without the fire getting too big." Dietenberger's research is sponsored by the Building and Fire Research laboratory of the National Institute of Standards and Technology. - Spokane, Washington SOFTWARE CUTS SOME JAIL COSTS BY 50% ------------------- Pricor, a private jail company headquartered in Tennessee has purchased the JALAN JAIL system. The system will be installed at the Angelina County Corrections Facility in Diboll, Texas, with five other Texas fac- ilities to be installed in the future. According to Jan Robinson, president of JALAN, the system documents an offender's activity from the minute he is taken into the jail. It tracks court appearances, medical visits, personal belongings, funds, and other details. Robinson says the system "practically makes paperwork obsolete and decreases booking time by 50 percent or more." JALAN's prosecutors system was recently recognized by the Western Region Government Technology Conference with its "Featured Solution" award. JALAN says it has installations of its specialized software for the criminal justice field in 21 states and the Virgin Islands. Addendum ======== One thing that the we forgot to include in last week's article about the refunds for Masterlink owners. If you already sent in your disk for upgrading, you don't have to do anything else. Intersect has all of your information and will automatically send you your refund. However, there is no set date for when the refunds will be sent. It is a very time consuming job to write all of the refund checks. So the re- funds will be sent out when they get the time. Lloyd Pulley Intersect Software 3949 Sawyer Rd. Sarasota, Florida 34233 Work: 813-923-8774 BBS: 813-924-4590 """"""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""" IMPORTANT NOTICE! ================= As a reader of STReport International Online Magazine, you are entitled to take advantage of a special DELPHI membership offer. For only $29.95 ($20 off the standard membership price!), you will receive a lifetime subscrip- tion to DELPHI, a copy of the 500-page DELPHI: THE OFFICIAL GUIDE and over $14 worth of free time. NOTE: Special offers can be found in your favorite Atari magazines: START CURRENT NOTES ST INFORMER ATARI INTERFACE MAGAZINE SIGNING UP WITH DELPHI ====================== Using a personal computer and modem, members worldwide access DELPHI services via a local phone call JOIN -- DELPHI -------------- 1. Dial 617-576-0862 with any terminal or PC and modem (at 2400 bps, dial 576-2981). 2. At the Username prompt, type JOINDELPHI. 3. At the Password prompt enter STREPORT. For more information call: DELPHI Member Services at 1-800-544-4005 or at 617-491-3393 from within Massachusetts or from outside the U.S. DELPHI is a service of General Videotex Corporation of Cambridge, Mass. SPECIAL ANNOUNCEMENT -------------------- The 20/20 Advantage Plan IS FANTASTIC! And it features 20 hours online for just $20 a month! The $20 is a monthly fee that covers your first 20 hours online via direct dial into one of DELPHI's two direct-access lines, or via a special Tymnet 20/20 Access code. It also gets you additional hours at just $1.20 per hour. And you get free access to several services on DELPHI as part of the Advantage Perks. Other telecom services may have additional charges. Canadian Tymnet users have an additional telecom charge. Office Time access (7 a.m. to 7 p.m., weekdays) may have an additional charge. And of course, other restric- tions may apply. But this is still an amazing deal! For more information please contact: DELPHI at 1-800-544-4005 and ask for Member Services. DELPHI- It's getting better all the time! """"""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""" > VANCOUVER! STR SHOW NEWS **** EXCLUSIVE EYEWITNESS REPORT! **** ======================== VANCOUVER - A FUN EVENT! ======================== by Edward F. Flanigan Stepping out into the brisk air Sunday afternoon, I felt happy that I was able to attend the Vancouver Atari show. By now stories have begun floating around, some saying that developers didn't do so well in terms of sale, others saying that most at least covered their costs or did reas- onably well. That's important because it sets the stage for future shows. It's the long term story. The short term story is about the Atari users that went to the show. I don't think there were many that didn't have a good time or that didn't enjoy themselves. It was truly a fun event. And a big round of thanks goes to all the people that worked to put it together. Terry Schreiber dedicated much of his time to show production. He's the one who pulled all the pieces together. And even though the turnout of users was less than expected, that doesn't detract one iota from the good time had by the people that did attend. Walking into the Stevenson High School gymnasium, the first booth to greet me was JMG Software showing Hyperlink and selling it at a discounted price. All I can say is wow. George has got a winner on his hands. Once he adds what he is planning on adding, it will be a top of the line Hyper- Card clone (my opinion, no hype or comparisons coming from anyone else). HyperLink was running beautifully on a TT (is it quick?!). To the right was Canoe Computers selling their accelerator board. There wasn't a machine setup for display, but it looked like sales were going pretty well. They also had ST travel bags which looked quite handy. Right next to them was PDC Software. They had a bunch of stuff. Starting from the right was a Mega running the Stealth telecommunications program. This really looks like it has potential. I was impressed by what I saw and am planning on picking this sucker up real soon. Next there were some Calamus Fonts (Mirthful! Fonts, Fonts by Guber) and the Calamus Font Resource Guide. Not being a Calamus freak, the RAM upgrades caught my eye more - unpopulated to 2.5 megabyte upgrades and STE 2 megabyte upgrades from Frontier. On another Mega there was the Monster Stereo Cartridge playing a TCB Tracker music demo. To the left was Dave Small showing off the SST and the Spectre GCR. He had a couple of machines and had a small crowd about him while he was explaining his magical wizardry. About this time, a fellow started a music demonstration that really impressed the dickens out of me. This guy was very good. He was using a STacy laptop somehow to help him along in playing his music. It was loud and enjoyable! Walking farther along, there was Double Click software showing their wares. These included DC Data Diet (DC Data Diet? Who comes up with these names -- it's fine, makes you think...), DC Utilities, and DC Desktop. Great stuff at a great price. I know what's next on my list of software to buy! GoldLeaf was showing off WordFlair II, which is mighty impressive, and ProFlight, a great flight simulation game. They also had other HiSoft products. Gribnif was next to GoldLeaf and they were showing their absolutely awesome NeoDesk 3 (if you don't have it, get it, now!) They had two bo- oths setup with demonstration units. Compo Software came all the way from England to show their products which included That's Write, Write ON, and a great mouse. Remik Enterprizes was showing off MultiGEM, a great program that al- lows you to multi-task, in a way, several programs. It worked fairly well. Soft Aware was showing Informer II, a database. SoftLogik had an impressive setup with the latest PageStream output- ting COLOR printouts of files. They looked excellent. Zubair Interfaces had their Z-RAM upgrades. The Codeheads were busy selling their stuff, they appeared busy most all the time. They had G+Plus, MaxiFile, MultiDesk, Lookit/Popit and the rest of their line. Branch Always Software was displaying the latest version of Quick ST, version 3. It is a sped up version of the previous version and really did look quicker. GramSlam, the grammar checker, was being shown by Phil Comeau Software. Micro Creations was showing a graphical terminal and a Poker game. A & D Software had their excellent Universal Item Selector, a program which no one should be without. ICD was selling AdSpeeds left and right, as well as their other products. There were several MIDI producers including Musicode Software and Mind over MIDI. Cherry Fonts had an impressive lineup of Calamus fonts available. And Atari had a very nice display up on center stage. This included several Lynxes in the foreground. In the background were at least half a dozen computers with such celebs as Nathan from ISD showing off Calamus. I even saw some of Atari's notable personalities floating by. In another area there was a seminar room with people such as Dave Small, Gribnif, and Nathan of ISD giving lectures. The eating area had a stage also where some performances were made and where user groups had some tables set up. Saturday seemed pretty lively with people flowing in and out of areas. I decided to come back on Sunday to see how things were like and admitted- ly, they were rather bleak. I even saw a few developers leaving their booths to chat with other developers. In talking with some of them, most expressed satisfaction with attending the show, even though not all of them made money. It seems some things are more important than that! *********************************************************************** :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. -> NOW! GENIE STAR SERVICE IS IN EFFECT!! <- GEnie Information copyright (C) 1991 by General Electric Information Services/GEnie, reprinted by permission *********************************************************************** > SFAN & ATARI!! STR Spotlight SFAN travels in fine company! ============================ ATARI TO GET ONGOING NATIONAL TELEVISION EXPOSURE ================================================= Science Fiction, Fantasy & Adventure Network to use TT030 in its show productions! by R.F. Mariano According to our sources, the Atari TT030 is the 'preferred' computer system of the SFAN Cable network. The TT030 is intended for use in aiding all facets of product and in particular the graphical creations unique to the network and its various shows. In return, Atari will receive regular, ongoing promotional exposure throughout the entire SFAN network. Can you imagine that? At last, Atari will no longer be the Dangerfield of computers! Lexicor Software, a high end graphics programming and publishing house, is also heavily involved in the Graphical Productions. In this author's opinion, there is no better compliment to the TT030 than Lexicore's very powerful software/hardware combinations. SFAN is very close to launching its spectacular entertainment line-up and is merely awaiting the opportunity to tie up some loose ends. Atari's Bill Rehbock has been very instrumental in securing Atari's commitment to supply sup- port for the SFAN project. Additionally, in a move guaranteed to generate controversy and speculation, Walter Koenig and the Science Fiction, Fantasy & Adventure Network have chosen the STAR TREK 25th Anniversary Convention as the time and place to make their affiliation public. This decision has been made in consideration of the point of progress of negotiations with major in- vestors and the possibility for wide exposure as a result of news coverage of the Silver Anniversary Convention. In addition to the initial public revelation of SFA Network, Koenig is announcing his position as network spokesperson and host and executive producer of an innovative one-hour weekly original program. This hour will allow Koenig the opportunity to explore the entertainment industry as well as science, science fiction, and fantasy through prominent personalities in those fields. Respected and well-liked by those in the entertainment industry and those in the areas of serious Science Fiction writing, Koenig will be able to call on his years of experience and knowledge of the people involved. Following meetings with some of the most famous members of the Science Fiction Writers of America and conversations with the current President of SFWA, Ben Bova, SFA Network enjoys their support. In addition, Arthur C. Clarke continues to lend personal encouragement. To guarantee the best possible programming mix for our audience, Kerry O'Quinn, founder and former publisher of STARLOG magazine, is on-staff as advisor for programming mix and scheduling. In addition, O'Quinn will be actively engaged in the process of bringing his Science Fiction anthology series, Future Tales, to the Network at the earliest possible date. Future Tales, a fully-developed series concept, will consist of half-hour programs with scripts from original works of some of the most prominent Science Fiction writers. Other positions within the SFA Network have been filled with experienced executives and engineers who enjoy the respect of the entertainment industry. Assembly of a team from within the ranks of the industry lends necessary credibility to SFA Network. In order to live down the general industry assessment of such a project and the assumption that there is not sufficient programming to support such an offering, the affiliation of well-established industry professionals was found to be vital. SFA Network has chosen to follow established methods of developing its project, concentrating on the tremendous amount of work to develop a credible offering and presence. The revelation of the existence of SFA Network at the Silver Anniversary Convention will require no apologies. An Open Letter to: Atari Computer Atari Developers (IAAD) Atari Users Science Fiction, Fantasy & Adventure Fans In somewhat awed reply to the phenomenal response from IAAD and Atari Computer, I have to take this opportunity to express our thanks and our hopes that we are all headed, hand-in-hand, toward a much brighter future for the Science Fiction, Fantasy & Adventure Network, Atari developers, loyal Atari users and Atari Computer itself. There is really nothing more appropriate than a "renegade, outsider" project to be so fully supported by a "renegade, outsider" computer manufacturer and its developers. From the first moment I saw innuendoes, then hints, then rumors, then pictures of the TT030 I believed that there was a place for it with the SFAN project. Once I saw the astounding capabilities of LEXICOR Software's Prism-Paint teamed with the TT030 I knew that a match had been made...and Lee Seiler (shy and retiring gentleman that he is) seemed to "feel it in his bones" from the first time I called him and badgered him about what Prism-Paint could "really" do. He provided invaluable insight into dealing with Atari on matters of this nature and effectively "strung me along" with siren promises of cooperation...and that has become more than reality. This week, we received word from Lee that he had wholeheartedly decided to participate as much as necessary to make us a success...and shortly after that word came that Sam Tramiel had decided to throw Atari's hat "in the ring". Without a moment's hesitation, RIO Computer jumped in with the promise of a second TT030 and open-end support...DoubleClick just checked the address and said, "We're not sure what you need, but everything will be in the mail today." And today Nathan Potechin, President of ISD and IAD called to ask what we need...Calamus Outline Art "on the way". When I track this back, I have to believe in luck...I've wound up with Arthur C. Clarke as a pen-pal (who admires my "initiative and persisten- ce"!!), the chance to get to know how bright and kind a gentleman Walter Koenig really is, the chance to meet some of the best and brightest Science Fiction Writers in the country, and the chance to find out more about Kerry O'Quinn and how he brought STARLOG Group to its stature, and the chance to find out what kind of support the IAD and Atari can offer. The potential really is here to get the word into millions of households in the country that Atari Computers, their developers, and their users do more than total scores in video arcades. When we debut there will be consistent screen credit to Atari and developers for their contributions. In addition, we have three original programs which will provide opportunities for exposure of Atari hardware and software to dif- ferent degrees. CINEMAGIC will concentrate on the world of movie effects and illusion; EXPLORING TOMORROW will deal with futurism and where computers and man are headed together; and WIDGETS AND WHATCHAMACALLITS will offer the opportunity for the offbeat and the unusual to make its way into the nations' homes. Once again, let me express my sincerest thanks to Atari, the Atari Developers, STReport and the Atari users I hope to count among my viewers and fans. And especially those users on CIS who helped in every way to get these wonderful events to occur. If 20 hour days seven days a week for better than two years is glamourous, then welcome to the world of glamour! Michael (Mike) Kelley, President Science Fiction, Fantasy & Adventure Network ____________________________________________________________ > STR Portfolio News & Information Keeping up to date... ================================ THE ATARI PORTFOLIO FORUM ========================= On CompuServe by Judith Hamner 72257,271 There is a new feature in the forum. Threads which are deemed to be of continuing interest will be saved in the library. Look for the .THR exten- sion. New this week we have P2ST.THR which discusses connecting the Port to Atari ST computers. Also, PPPMDM.THR describes the comands needed to use Practical Peripherals Pocket Modem with the Port. APFCAT.ARC, found in Lib 1, gives a listing of all files available in the forum libraries. This listing includes file descriptions in a new for- mat and is current through June 15. B. J. Gleason has uploaded a new version of Pchess. Look for PCHESS.ZIP. It offers a better looking board and does not require special settings. See message #13042 for Harry Watts' report on Comdex. Of special in- terest is an external 512k upgrade from Autobyte Products. Comparison of the competing palmtops is inevitable. This week there are two interesting threads in progress. One discussing the features of the Poqet and the other discusses the utility of the HP95LX. _____________________________________________________________________ > STR Mail Call "...a place for the readers to be heard" ============= STReport's MailBag ================== Continued from last week... About loyalty and the future of Atari... from GEnie Category 14, Topic 31 Message 165 Sun Jun 16, 1991 R.COVERT1 [Richard] at 20:31 EDT Well, the subject of me being a Developer has been brought up. And I have several problems that asking Atari for help might not resolve. For one, just how much can Bob Brodie or John Townsend do? I ask them for reasons why the TT isn't Class B certified, and they can't asnwer. OK. They aren't in a position in Atari to know. But, the poor USA market makes it hard for me to justify spending my TIME (i.e money) developing ANYTHING for the ST/TT. And I am sure that many other developers feel the same way. So, just what can Topics such as "FEEDBACK TO ATARI" do? I don't know? But, there are many progr ams lacking for the ST/TT that could be written but won't be. For example, there are NO FLOWCHARTING programs for the ST/TT. There are many for the PC or the MAC. A smart programmer could write such a program in a short time. But why would he do it for the ST/TT? There isn't even a national magazine to advertise your product in anymore. So, that is what I ask Atari. What are they going to do to reverse the market here? And *WHEN* will the TT Be Class B Certified? Ever? the STacy never did become Class B certified, and now it has be dropped and replaced by the ST Notebook. Which of course, isn't Class B certified either. What a mess. Makes MS Windows 3 or X windows look better and better to me. ------------ Category 14, Topic 31 Message 166 Sun Jun 16, 1991 N.KABACINSKI at 23:40 EDT I've been trying to support you guys and keep Atari alive but this recent 1040ST that I bought will probably go up for sale before the end of the year. And that's really ashame guys, considering I've been using Atari computers for many years now. I started with a Atari 400 w/16K and since then bought a 130XE and now a 1040ST. All that a software developer has to do these days is log onto GEnie and the ST roundtable and determine that they will not support Atari just by seeing all of us HOUNDING Atari to get their **** together. Looks real good to these developers when they see that the very users that "invested" in an Atari can't even get the company to support them. And you see it happening more and more everyday. How much longer does Atari plan to stay in business when software companies everyday are anouncing that they are dropping ST support? Do you know how many times I wrote Atari letters looking for technical support and never ever heard a word or peep? Some way to treat people that generate YOUR PAYCHECKS!!!!! All I can say now is if I can't get a decent IBM emulator for the ST, I'm selling out for IBM where I don't have to drive 150 miles to find a gosh darn dealer!! Its too bad that its gonna end this way. I really liked the ST..... N. Kabacinski Average Atari User Since The Atari 400 ------------ To both Mr. Covert and Mr. Kabacinski; Elsewhere in this issue is an article about the very things you dis- cuss; the shape of the Atari market and the message Atari seems to be sen- ding out. Along with the obvious negative results many of the users are witness to. This vertical market thing and the "groupies" orbiting around it and cheerleading seem to have "clouded" Atari's vision of the future. Keep up the noises, sooner (hopefully) or later, someone out there in Sun- nyvale who makes real decisions will come up with a profound discovery that there's more to computing than a narrow, bicycle spoke thick, slice of the entire market! Atari had better pay attention to the entire market instead of just a minuscule segment. And FAST! ..Editor from the FNET... Conf : Atari 16/32 Bit Msg# : 18966 Lines: 14 Read: 1 Sent : Jun 19, 1991 at 10:44 AM To : ALL From : Sean Price at MASATEK (213)518-9524 Fnet#429 Subj : Atari If Atari keeps with their current practices in the US, they will not even exist here, let alone be a force in the computer industry. I sell Atari computers and products, and deal with the largest Atari distributor in the US. I've been trying to get Mega STEs for over two months with no success. Atari keeps promising delivery on a certain date, and when that date comes around it's "Oh, Sorry. There were only 5 Mega STEs on the ship that just came in. It looks like about two more weeks.". This is a ridiculous way to sell computers. You can't expect the public to buy computers that aren't being delivered. It really angers me because I've been an Atari computer user for 12 years, and believe that they make excellent computers. Unfortunately it's hard to make other people believe they are great computers if they never see one. Later, Sean Price Hang in there Sean, we see where a very "highly informed" source of "irrefutable" information has stated publicly that Atari will be delivering upwards of 200,000 machines per month. While its extremely difficult to believe such figures, its likely that with the sub contrac- ting just beginning we shall see nothing but improvement. My guess is, and its just a guess, we'll see decent improvement but nowhere near those dream city figures. Atari is trying..... Editor.... from CIS.... 17-Jun-91 00:57:51 Sb: #27032-#STR 724 ATARI NEWS 1ST! Fm: Charles Hill 76370,3045 To: STReport - Ralph 70007,4454 (X) Ralph, While I do not own an Atari computer, I enjoy reading ST REPORT as it contains a lot of interesting information. I only have one real complaint it's to darned big! I d/l STR from CompuServe and thus incur line charges proportional to the time spent online. Hence, the bigger the file the more I pay. The latest issue was 71097 bytes long (arced) and that is pretty darned big. Now, I admit I don't know that much about Atari file compression, and it may be CIS Forum policy to accept only .ARC files, but I could've sworn I saw some others. In doing my own tests, I dearced STR724.TXT and then recompressed it using ZIP v1.02 and LHARC v1.20 on an Amiga. The results follow: ORIGINAL TEXT (Uncompressed) .... 139,561 bytes ORIGINAL TEXT (ARCed)............ 71,097 bytes RECOMPRESSED TEXT (LHArced) ..... 60,655 bytes RECOMPRESSED TEXT (ZIPped) ...... 57,375 bytes Best case (ZIP) resulted in a savings of 12,722 bytes! This would significantly decrease d/l transmission time and possibly boost the number of d/ls since the smaller size would make the file more attractive. Arc, ZIP, LHArc and Zoo are available on the Amiga, and I have seen all of them except LHArc on an MS-DOS system. I know I have seen Arc and ZIP for the ST and I was under the impression that LHArc was originally written on an ST. Is there any possibility of changing compression schemes? OTHER ----In the latest ST-REPORT (724) there was an article on upgrading a Mega ST to TT capabilities. The article stated that an 80 Mb hard drive was $625 even though the ad for drives at the bottom of STR was in the $500 range. Heck, I purchased a Seagate ST-296N (80 Mb SCSI) for $350 mail order! Granted, it was a 5 1/4" drive, for the price difference you can get an external case w/power supply. The article fails to point out the major advantage of upgrading the Mega as opposed to selling it and getting a TT -- it can be done a little at a time, making it MUCH more affordable. The TT would be a major cash outlay, not to mention the delay between the time you sold the Mega and actually got in the TT. (As I understand it, they are scarce in the U.S., no?) Finally, is it possible to put the words ST-REPORT or STR in the KEYWORDS section on CompuServe? If I miss an issue then I have to BROWSE through a weeks worth of uploads to find the one I missed. Boring when you don't have an ST. Thanks for a great online mag! -Chas Mr. Hill, Thanks for the input and reading STReport. We did, not too long ago experiment with LHARC but it became obvious that ARC was the only way to go. Maybe, at some time in the future. As for the upgrade article, I can see the wisdom of the writer and of course, your points also. However, I might point out a decent case with a power supply and a blower is approximately $100.00, a host adapter $90.00, the ribbon cables $25.00 now, if I add that to your figure of $350.00 its not too far off the mark. I think the real point the writer was trying to make was that upgrading an older device can become more expensive than buying a newer model. In any case, thank you for caring to write and and thanks for your support. As for the key words, consider it done. ....Editor ____________________________________________________ > AMWAY CONTROL SYSTEM STR Review This program is dedicated to Amway =============================== COMPUTER ORDER PLUS ST ====================== by James Nolan So, you're sitting at home in your office on order night when the phone rings. As you answer it and find out who the distributor or customer is, you bring up their record on the computer and start entering their order. When you're done, you print out a copy with all the totals - PV, BV, and cost. All of this is done WITHOUT filling out a BA1 or SA1. Next you start adding this to your group order. Then the phone rings again... Rarely does a program package come along that can really get someone excited and keep them that way. Then after prolonged use, the same program prompts the user to keep asking himself while giggling, "How did I ever survive without this jewel?" These are the feelings I experienced while using the fine product "COMPUTER ORDER PLUS ST" written by Robert Re of Pacifica, California. This program is strictly dedicated to Amway distributors who are building a multi-level marketing business. Yes, I said AMWAY, the 3.2 billion dollar MLM giant out of Ada, Michigan. So if you're not involved in the best of two worlds, meaning "Power Without the Price" teamed with the time leveraging/income diversifying advantages the Amway opportunity provides, this article really may not light your fire. If, however, you are one of those rare networking entrepreneurs with an Atari ST looking for a way to speed up your business, this is IT! If you've been considering buying the networking software from Amway and run- ning it in the IBM mode, hold your keyboard until you've checked this one out. The program, comes on 2 disks with complete docs in a handsome binder. It is readily evident that a lot of time and effort went into making the docs simple and easy to read and follow. the same conscientious effort is evident in the development of the program. It's hard to explain in detail all of the great features that this program has to offer but I will touch lightly on most of them. C.O.P. ST is very user friendly. It can be installed on the hard drive or run from floppies as program and data disks. If you're using disk drives, C.O.P. ST will prompt you when to change data disks. It will also number the disks itself to ensure the right one is in use. I tested the program on a monochrome system but it also runs in medium resolution and allows you to set the colors for each of the different screens within the program. An especially nice feature is the security code access. This is helpful if the system is set up in a warehouse environment. The code can be changed or bypassed. From what I can see, anything you could do before can now be done with the program (and much faster). This includes but is not limited to: generation of orders, optional inventory control, back order tracking, catalog updating, performance bonus statements, year end reports, add/delete new distributors, "family trees", and sort & print orders ac- cepted by the RDCs. There are separate programs for database utilities, generating year end reports and for ordering from the Personal Shoppers catalog. The data utility module allows you to create new or fix old databases. With it you can move, copy or merge different groups in your network. This is extremely useful when your group reaches close to 1000 distributors and you want to set different databases for each leg. I really like this feature because as your business grows, the software doesn't slow you down. Year end reports information such as group or in- dividual bonuses, PV/BV totals, orders and sales tax, bonuses received and total cost PV/BV totals are generated giving you some excellent tax stats for your IRS returns. You shouldn't rely solely on these reports for your tax return but it can help tremendously. You will also be able to deter- mine if you need to submit a 1099 form for any of your distributors. At present, the Personal Shoppers module only contains items handled by the RDCs but other items can be added up to a total of 2000. Other features of C.O.P. ST include single unit pricing, editable printer codes from within the program, the ability to jump between functions without exiting the program - ie. jump out of a distributor's order screen to update an item in the catalog and then back again, auto creation of folders for new months, ghosting of unusable options in the pull down menus, saving of payment info right on the SA1 (date & check#) and setting of state sales tax and shipping charges. You can even set variable char- ges on retail for your customers as % increase, % decrease or flat rates. Another nice speed feature used throughout the program is the use of ALT keys for various functions such as catalog item find, printing, sor- ting orders, totals, RDC credits, back order marking and SCO charges. That's all we'll cover this issue. Next time we'll go more in depth into the main program and all of its abilities. "COMPUTER ORDER PLUS ST" written by Robert Re 501 Ebken St. Pacifica, California 94044 _____________________________________________________________ > VERTICAL NICHE MARKET? STR FOCUS "Is that VERTICAL or VERTIGO?" ================================ IS ATARI "ON THE RIGHT TRACK?" ============================== by Ralph F. Mariano What is this 'vertical market' thing? Is it or does it serve the best interests of the entire userbase? A vertical market is a "slice" (usually a very narrow slice) of the overall marketplace a company targets as an area in which to sell its products. Consider this; In the entire USA computer marketplace, DeskTop Publishing holds approximately (3%) of the total computing userbase. Two years ago, one of the more popular publishing magazines did a survey to see what type machines were in use in DTP. They found, at that time, Apple had 71% of the DTP market, the remainder was categorized "other". Recently, they re-did the survey and found that IBM & Clones had 53% of the market and that Apple had 41%. That left a GRAND TOTAL OF 6% for the remainder of machines to enjoy. Now, lessee.... 6% of 3% is, in reality, just how many users in the USA? Maybe 25,000 or so, perhaps a few more. This is the 'Phoenix' Atari is trying to chase?? Who sucked Atari into this debacle? What about all the loyal users being left behind? Most industry ob- servers agree that Atari has perhaps 200,000 (min) machines in use in the USA. Now, of these how many of these users can afford, consider or are even interested in the high end DTP vertical market? Can you say maybe 2%? Yes, those who have been buying, selling, upgrading and enhancing their Atari hardware, release after release, since the introduction of the 520 are the real backbone. Where are they headed? What future have they in the current scheme of things? Sure, we have heard the expression; "Oh well, they'll have to change their way of thinking, they'll have to pay the price." "Oh really????" Take a GOOD look around, who is really PAYING THE PRICE at this time? The ENTIRE USERBASE is, thats who. Atari INCLUDED! Honestly, there is nothing wrong with pursuing a vertical market as long as the remainder of the market is not seriously neglected. The Atari computer is a terrific machine that will do many, many things for the user. While all the players, including the US Government, readily recognize the Cottage Computer Industry, (computers used at home for business or business conducted from home using computers), Atari is roaring off in what appears to be a totally different direction. The very sad thought is three years ago certain people, including Sig Hartmann, recognized the enormity of the Cottage Computer Industry. Once again, Atari had a golden opportunity. He was "up" on working this area and in fact, had excellent demographic studies that pointed to its vitality in the future. That can be an integral part of Atari's future but only if someone out there realizes that NOT EVERYONE IS INTO THE HIGH DOLLAR DESK- TOP PUBLISHING ARENA. There are literally tens of thousands of users out there who could care less about a $10,000 - $230,000 '17 speed' "hell" or Lino devices. They want a choice of a top drawer word processor, a spread sheet, an accounting system, a point of sale setup w/bar code reader, an entertainment variety, telecom, utilities, and most important of all, solid support from both Atari and the developers. Now, it appears a LOUD and CLEAR message about Atari's niche market selectivity and preferences has been sent to the users, retailers, MAJOR software developers and publishers by Atari's actions alone in the last two quarters. This impression must be dispelled and darn fast if Atari is to survive let alone grow in the overall computing arena. 'Tis a shame but if one ponders about how many of the major software houses are STILL fully supporting the Atari computer with full program upgrades, NEW VERSIONS not "maintenance support", right now - this year, as opposed to two years ago it gets scary. In addition, check out the number of FULL TIME - ATARI ONLY DEVELOPERS, whose sole source of income is from development in the Atari arena, there are in this marketplace. Go ahead, I dare you! Now, query the very same developers about the plat- forms they are quietly adding to their development business or flat plan- ning to move to. The alarm bells are ringing louder than they EVER have in the past. Come on Atari.... WAKE UP! Reality suddenly becomes shocking. SOMEBODY DROPPED THE BALL! In both the private sector and at Atari. What happened to full developer and dealer representation? For example; Monitoring the target markets and overall market trends, advising the devs, Atari and other manufacturers of market swings and fads, etc.. Of course, the most important responsibility; Continued ongoing en- couragement of Major third party players in the industry to continue support of the Atari computers, (why wasn't MIGRAPH at CEPS?). What is REALLY happening with Word Perfect? Is the relationship still alive? Is there ongoing discussion about new releases? Has this really been done and if yes, where are the results? How can this possibly be achieved now? Atari has dumped Marken, a fine PR and promotional firm. The entire Atari market is in shambles! The proof is in the pudding! Dealers are upset, Product Rep firms are ready to drop Atari from their support lists. I am afraid the report card for Atari this year, so far, is an extremely dismal disappointment. It appears, on the surface, that only one area of the market was given any substantial attention and promotion. That area folks, is Desk Top Publishing. STReport uses DTP programs for many things yet we still realize the vital need to pay attention to the entire market. Desk Top Publishing is here to stay but it is most certainly not a means to an end. Oh! excuse me, its now called "Direct To Press" yeeech! For three years, Desk Top Publishing clearly indicated the area in which a program was designed to perform. All of a sudden, that's all "old fashioned". (What ever HAPPENED to cause the DECLINE of the MIDI MARKET, APPLICATIONS MARKET and the ENTERTAINMENT MARKET?) Perhaps, its time for some re-thinking. Like.. Its time to go back to basics! Forget all the hype and hoopla, stop trying to make a silk purse out of a sow's ear. The YUPPIE era is dead and so is the thinking of that era. The leadership at Atari must wake up and promote Atari for what it is, not what a few "dreamers" would like to think it is. Atari must get back to basics. Advertise the greatest, most affordable machines made. Build to meet the generated demand. Sell these great machines to satisfy the generated market. The 1040STe, MegaSTe are the backbone of this company. The TT030 is far more than just a Graphics Work Station (as some would LOVE to have you believe) but until software is written and released expressly for the TT, that takes full advantage of ALL its power, is in place at the user levels it only has the "potential" of being anything more than a decent "front end" to a few Desk Top Publishing programs. For this end, must the com- pany sacrifice all other avenues of revenue generation? The time for real change is at hand. ____________________________________________________________ > CODEHEAD UPDATES! STR InfoFile LATEST VERSIONS & PRICES ============================== CODEHEAD SOFTWARE ================= LATEST VERSIONS & PRICES 06/21/91 PRODUCT VERSION MANUAL RELEASE NOTES PRICE HotWire 3.0 1.3 2.3 $44.95 MaxiFile 3.0 2.0 3.0 $44.95 HotWire Plus (includes Maxifile) $69.95 LookIt & PopIt 1.2/1.1 1.0 $39.95 G+plus 1.5 1.2 $34.95 CodeHead Utilities 3 n/a Release 3 $34.95 MultiDesk 2.2 2.0 $29.95 MidiMax 1.3 1.0 $49.95 CodeKeys 1.3 1.1 $39.95 ----------------------------------------------------------------- Shipping & handling charges on the above items are as follows: Addresses in USA $3.00 Addresses in Canada $4.00 All other Addresses $6.00 ----------------------------------------------------------------- UPGRADE POLICY -------------- MaxiFile updates are $15.00 (which includes the 67-page addendum manual). All other updates are $10.00 for each disk and $5.00 per manual. If you are updating HotWire and have the old red and black manual, you'll need the newer manual. If you are updating a version of MultiDesk less than version 2.0, a new manual is mandatory. These charges include ship- ping and handling. You must send in your original disk plus check, money order, or credit card number (with exp. date) and we will make every ef- fort to send your upgrade back to you the same day we receive it. It's a good idea to give us a call before sending in an upgrade order, so we can let you know about any special offers or charges that may occur. We reserve the right to change any of the information contained in this product list at any time without notice. --------------------- CodeHead Software P.O. Box 74090 Los Angeles, CA 90004 Tel: (213) 386-5735 Fax: (213) 386-5789 --------------------- _____________________________________________________________ > ///TURBO BOARD VER. 2 SHIPPING! STR InfoFile ============================================ Application for ///Turbo Board Ver 2 Upgrade ___________________ ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ ___________________ ___________________ SYSOP'S REAL NAME :_______________________________________________ STREET ADDRESS :_______________________________________________ COUNTY/CITY :_______________________________________________ STATE/PROVINCE :________________ COUNTRY :________________ ZIP/POSTAL CODE :________________ PRESENT SERIAL # :________________ (Both lines of TURBOKEY.DAT) ________________ VOICE PHONE NUMBER :________________ BBS PHONE NUMBER :________________ BBS NAME :_______________________________________________ FNET NODE # :________________ FIDO NODE # :________________ $29.95 Version 2 Turbo Key Registration, Printed V2 Addendum and Version 2 Release Disk __ $ 6.00 Air Mail to USA __ $25.00 Express Mail to the USA or Canada Only __ $12.00 Air Mail International $__.__ Total - USA and International - All prices in US Dollars ($) - Canadian Residents, Use CDN $ instead - Ontario Residents please add 8% PST (No GST unless you want to add it) - Canadian Packages sent 1st Class Post - USA and International sent Ground, unless Airmail or Express paid ** DUE TO AN INCREASE OF N.S.F. (BAD) CHEQUES, WE WILL NO LONGER ACCEPT PERSONAL CHEQUES UNLESS THEY HAVE BEEN CERTIFIED. ALL UNCERTIFIED PERSONAL CHEQUES WILL BE RETURNED TO SENDER. Please make out your Certified Cheque or Money Order payable to: BITBLIT SYSTEMS Send your Completed Order Form with payment to: Bitblit Systems 1580 Liveoak Dr Mississauga, ON Canada L5E 2X6 American and Foreign residents, remember to check for correct postage. Comments:_________________________________________________________________ __________________________________________________________________________ __________________________________________________________________________ __________________________________________________________________________ __________________________________________________________________________ __________________________________________________________________________ __________________________________________________________________________ __________________________________________________________________________ __________________________________________________________________________ __________________________________________________________________________ -------------------------------Cut here ---------------------------------- """"""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""" > Hard Disks STR InfoFile ***** ABCO PRICE CHANGES! ***** ======================= ** EFFECTIVE IMMEDIATELY! ** 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!) (all cables and connectors installed) * ICD HOST ADAPTERS USED EXCLUSIVELY * OMTI HIGH SPEED CONTROLLERS * * ICD ADSCSI+ HOST ADAPTERS * FULL SCSI COMMAND SET SUPPORTED * * SCSI EMBEDDED CONTROLLER MECHANISMS * WE PAY SHIPPING!!! >BLUE LABEL UPS!< Deluxe 2 bay Cabinet w/65w auto-switching PS Model Description Autopark Price ================================================== SGN4951 51Mb 28ms 3.5" Y 479.00 SGN1096 85Mb 24ms 5.25" Y 549.00 SGN2055 105mb 17ms 3.5" Y QUANTUM 699.00 SGN6277 120Mb 24ms 3.5" Y 789.00 SGN1296 168Mb 24ms 3.5" Y 1019.00 ================================================== FULLY ASSEMBLED SCSI DRIVES DEDUCT $60.00 ADD $35.00 for 4 BAY SUPER CABINET w/250w PS PLEASE NOTE: The above is partial listing only! CPU ACCELERATOR & MEMORY UPGRADES AVAILABLE & INSTALLED >> ABCO is now taking orders for 1040 & MEGA STe Computers! << Call for VERY special Introductory prices! If you don't see what you want listed here, call us. Odds are we have it or, can get it for you! AT THE BEST POSSIBLE PRICE! "We service what we sell. (when necessary)" ****** SPECIAL - SPECIAL ****** * SYQUEST 44MB (#555) >> ABCO "44" << REMOVABLE MEDIA DRIVE * - SYQUEST 44 MB DRIVE - ICD ST ADSCSI PLUS H/A - ICD Utility Software - 3' DMA Cable - Fan & Clock - Multi-Unit Power Supply (1) 44 MB Syquest Cart. --->> SPECIAL! NOW ONLY __$ 645.00__ <<--- **** SCSI UNITS -> ONLY $585.00 **** WE PAY SHIPPING!!! >BLUE LABEL UPS!< COMPLETELY ASSEMBLED AND READY TO RUN! Cart and Utility Software Included! EXTRA CARTS: $ 74.50 DRIVE MECH ONLY: $ 349.95 ****** SPECIAL - SPECIAL ****** * TWIN SYQUEST 44MB REMOVABLE MEDIA DRIVES ... PROGRAMMER'S DELIGHT * SPECIALLY PRICED ** $1019.00 ** Includes TWO cartridges! * SYQUEST 44MB REMOVABLE MEDIA DRIVE AND HARD DRIVE COMBINATIONS * - Syquest 44 Model [555] and the following hard drives - 50mb SQG51 $ 819.00 85mb SQG96 $ 1019.00 LOWBOY - STANDARD - DUAL BLOWER CABINETS CUSTOM CONFIGURATIONS AVAILABLE WE PAY SHIPPING!!! >BLUE LABEL UPS!< Listed above are a sampling of the systems available. Prices also reflect various cabinet/power supply configurations (over sixty configurations are available, flexibility is unlimited) ALL UNITS COMPATIBLE WITH --> SUPERCHARGER - AT/PC SPEED - GCR LARGER units are available - (Custom Configurations) *>> NO REPACKS OR REFURBS USED! <<* - Custom Walnut WOODEN Cabinets - TOWER - AT - XT Cabinets - * SLM 804 Replacement Toner Cartridge Kits $42.95 * * Toner Starter Kits $49.95 * * Replacement Drums $183.95 * >> MANY other ATARI related products STOCKED << ALL POWER SUPPLIES UL APPROVED -* 12 month FULL Guarantee *- (A FULL YEAR of COVERAGE) WE PAY SHIPPING!!! >BLUE LABEL UPS!< 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 ABCO is EXPANDING!! CALL FOR INFORMATION! ____________________________________________________________ > A "Quotable Quote" ==================== "HIDING ONE'S HEAD IN SAND, TO AVOID THE FACE OF THE BEAST, CHANGES NOTHING!" or, "FABRICATIONS CRUMBLE WHEN CONFRONTED BY TRUTH!" ....Zircon Zagnut """""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""" STReport International Online Magazine™ Available through more than 10,000 Private BBS systems WorldWide! """""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""" STReport™ "YOUR INDEPENDENT NEWS SOURCE" June 21, 1991 16/32bit Magazine copyright © 1987-91 No.7.25 """""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""" Views, Opinions and Articles Presented herein are not necessarily those of the editors, staff, STReport™ CPU/MAC/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 entire 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. """"""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""