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Text File | 1990-01-26 | 59KB | 1,214 lines

======================================================================= ////// // // ////// ////// // / /// // // // // /// // // // ////// // // / // /// // // ////// // // /////// // ////// // // // ////// // // ////// // // /// // // // /// // // // // // // // // // // // // ////// // // // /// // // // /// // ////// // // ////// ////// // // ////// ======================================================================= Volume 5, Number 4 Z*NET ONLINE January 26, 1990 ------------ (©) 1990 by Rovac Industries, Inc. Post Office Box 59 Middlesex, New Jersey 08846 Z*NET ONLINE BBS (201) 968-8148 CompuServe Mail - 71777,2140 GEnie Mail - Z-NET ======================================================================= ISSUE #240 TABLE OF CONTENTS ---------- ----------------- * THIS WEEK Namm pictures available and more................Ron Kovacs * Z*NET NEWSWIRE ST Journal, Portfolio Update, Pointer Sisters, PCD2....... * NAMM EXCLUSIVE REPORT Report from last weeks NAMM Show.................John Nagy * Z*NET INDUSTRY NEWSWIRE Apple, Born On The Fourth, American Airlines.............. * CANADIAN ATARI CONVENTION Press Release from TAF.................................... * REVOLUTIONARY RESULTS Update on the Revolution from the Z*Net BBS............... * ST STACK Weekly Shareware PD Update.....................Alice Amore * PD PUB Monochrome/PD Files Review......................Mark Quinn * GRAPHICS AND ANIMATION Animate 4 Fix..............................Ctsy CompuServe * THE CLUB ROOM Publishing a User Group Newsletter.............Jim Chapman * SERIAL CABLES How to Make your own.............................Bill Graf * LINE NOISE Messages from our readers................................. * THIS WEEK -----------> by Ron Kovacs ------------- Earlier this week we released a number of NAMM pictures. Included in these archived DEGAS pics: Mic Fleetwood, Jimmy Hotz, Bob Brodie, and more all captured by John Nagy at NAMM last weekend. By request of our readers, we will no longer provide LZH formatted files for download on the services. Our following of 8-bit readers have NO WAY to extract the file. This week we are reporting on the NAMM show with an EXCLUSIVE report by John Nagy. Along with this report, the Z*NET Newswire contains more info from the show and details of a NEW Atari related publication coming this spring. Please give the Z*NET BBS a call at (201) 968-8148, 3/12/24, and let us know if your BBS carries us as a download. We provide an add-on BBS list, interesting message bases and animations by Robert Ford, aka The CyberPunk. Robert has recently joined the staff and is our BBS Co- SysOp. * Z*NET NEWSWIRE ----------------> ATARI NEWS FIRST ---------------- CROSBY GOES TO MIGRAPH: Jay Crosby, longtime right hand to Sig Hartmann at Atari (until Sig's November '89 "retirement" to become VP at TeleVideo), announced this week that he will leave Atari to join MIGRAPH. Jay and family will be moving Washington State shortly to do programming for the well known and respected software house. Migraph's best known ST products include EASY DRAW, TOUCH-UP, and the HAND SCANNER. Migraph's Liz Mitchell says that the new IBM versions of the ST applications are selling great all over the world, but that efforts will shortly focus on a new ST graphics publication package to premiere sometime in the spring. ST JOURNAL TO DEBUT: Amid the closings of many formerly popular ST magazines (ANALOG, ST-LOG, ST-EXPRESS, etc.), a new magazine will begin publication this spring. ST JOURNAL will be a serious-minded monthly patterned more like PC magazines and less like gamer tabloids. To be available in late March with an April cover date, the first issue will go to 10,000 or more ST users. Editor Tim Lewis and production/art director Steve Lesh have experience in other Atari magazines, and expect to set a new standard of excellence and service in a "real user" publication. Headlining columnists and contributing editors include Andrew Reese, John Nagy, Jim Allen, John King Tarpinian, Norman Weinress, and more. Contact QUILL Publishing, 818-332-0372 for more information. PORTFOLIO A HIT BUT OH WHAT A BITE: Dealers have had an alarming return rate on defective Portfolio computers. The breast-pocket wonder sells like hotcakes, but distribution people have mentioned that returns of some production runs reaches as high as 80% DEFECTIVE. Newer machines appear to be more reliable. COMMODORE SORE OVER AD FLOP: Insiders at Commodore Business Machines reported that the recent huge AMIGA advertising campaign was so costly that it would take a 38% increase in AMIGA sales to break even. Now that the dust has settled and the last of the famous visitors have left the levitated house of the Spielberg commercials, the results are in: Amiga sales are indeed up... by about 10%. Commodore may again be in SERIOUSLY DIRE financial straits in 1990. POINTER SISTERS CHANGE SIDES AGAIN: Last year at NAMM and other shows, the Pointer Sisters band appeared to promote ATARI. Much of their album and show performances relied on MIDI equipment controlled by Atari. So when the Pointer Sisters appeared at the now-infamous floating house of Amiga on the TV ads, we wondered why. More recently, the Band is back in the Atari camp, appearing again at NAMM. Members report that they did indeed get AMIGA equipment, and actually used it. It took experience to lead them to finally sort out the Atari disks from the Amiga ones, and retire the Amigas to the closet. From now on, it is ATARI all the way for the Pointer Sisters. PC-DITTO II SORTA SHIPPING: Avant-Garde of Florida has indeed begun shipping their new hardware IBM Emulator. Although no dealers have the units yet, some early orderers have at last received their PC-DITTO II. The good news ends there, though. Almost all of the owners reporting to date have had problems. The new emulator is very large, and does not fit in some 1040/520 computers... at least not with the keyboard installed! If that weren't bad enough, many simply do not work, and many more were shipped without documentation or without the software required to activate the emulator. AG is still refusing to do phone support (or even take machine messages or talk to anyone at all) while they scamper to try to patch one crisis after another. The long view still seems to favor AG and most users expect the problems to eventually be resolved. But in the meantime, PC- SPEED, being imported from Germany by MICHTRON, is getting a lot of sales and supporters. (Editors Note: In a recent message to a Z*Net associate, AG stated that there will be a software upgrade released shortly to correct a timing problem with SOME systems. Look for this update shortly!) BOMB SQUAD: You have heard that the "driver" chips in your ST may be "weak" and causing bombs since you got TOS 1.4? Could be. But some technicians are saying this "solution" is being oversold. Although the 74LS373 chips in question can certainly be a problem, they almost ONLY are the source of bombs that occur when a cartridge is present, or after changing a 2-chip TOS set to a 6-chip set. Still have random bombs? Yet another patch file for TOS 1.4 has just been released by Atari that MIGHT solve it. POOLFIX3.PRG is a small AUTO file to be run at startup. IT adjusts the way TOS stores and allocates the pool of file and directory names. A problem can occur without the fix if there are LOTS of folders being encountered in hard drives. POOLFIX.PRG is not expected to change life for a lot of users, but for some, adding this file to the AUTO folder appears to have totally ended a few weeks of life in a mine field. It uses only 2K, and is available on GEnie, CompuServe, and most good BBS systems. BEWARE versions 1 and 2, released only weeks earlier. They made things WORSE! Ok, STILL bombing? Maybe you recently upgraded your hard drive to the latest ICD boot software driver? Some users have found that using the newest booter (Version 4.2.1) WITHOUT reformatting their hard drive is resulting in random crashes. Backup, format, restore, and things may all be fine. The docs don't say to expect this to be required, but bloody experience has borne it out. Good luck. The new booter is worth the effort. NEW AD AGENCY FOR ATARI: IN a press release this week, Atari announced that Marken and Associates will no longer be the Atari media and ad representative. Replacing Andy Marken and company is BOB THOMAS AND ASSOCIATES running public relations and media, with advertising managed through CHIAT/DAY/MOJO, considered by many to be a superlative agency. Atari says it needed a larger firm to be able to handle the growth and marketing approaches that will encompass a wide line of computers. Marken had been handling Atari for about a year, and had done good work with media kits and information. BT&A has offices at 228 Manhattan Beach Blvd, Manhattan Beach, CA 90266, as well as in New York and Toronto. Thomas, et al, can be reached at 213-376-6978. * NAMM EXCLUSIVE REPORT -----------------------> ATARI ONCE AGAIN THE COMPUTER OF CHOICE --------------------------------------- Eyewitness Report by John Nagy [Note: Pictures of the Atari booth and a number of the people and products mentioned in this article are available in the GEnie, Compuserve, and BBS libraries. They were made using the VIDI-ST digitizer and can be viewed with any DEGAS compatible picture viewer. Z*Net is proud to be able to continue our tradition of not just telling the news, but actually SHOWING it to you!] The National Association of Music Merchants show (NAMM) is a lot like a visit to the Twilight Zone... a peculiar mixture of tight leather and Brooks Brothers Suits... just what you would expect to see at the corner of New York's Wall Street and Los Angeles' Sunset Boulevard. You quickly pick up the protocols, though: don't stare at the pink hair. Apparently it is more acceptable to stare at the women in the revealing outfits that are plentiful both in the exhibits and in the audience. NAMM, the "international music market", is where music dealers, performers, integrators, manufacturers, etc., meet each year to set the agenda for the coming sales months. Everything musical is here, from banjo string companies through to the million dollar studio mix consoles. It draws big name performers both to see what the industry has new to offer and to support various companies with their endorsements and performances. The crowd is a wild mix of users and business persons sporting the full range of tattered levis and torn tie- died T-shirts with a safety pin in their nose up through immaculate 3- piece suits. And of course, music is coming at you from everywhere. This year's Winter NAMM is no different. Held in the Anaheim Convention Center next door to Disneyland January 19-21, it had close to a thousand exhibitors and maybe 100,000 visitors and sprawled into the Hilton and Towers and Marriott hotel convention facilities. There are literally miles of isles. It is a CES of music. In the midst of this, a 54' banner hung over the central snack bar, announcing "BEYOND MIDI - THE NEXT GENERATION FROM ATARI". A two room suite above the main floor beckons to show goers and offering a private meeting lobby and a completely outfitted recording studio. Atari brought nearly 20 STACY laptop ST machines to NAMM, and 10 of them went directly to the floor display of DR. T, a leader in MIDI software. Others were on display in the Atari lobby, and one was controlling sounds in the Atari studio next door. On hand for Atari were Donny Osmond, Jimmy Hotz, and Mick Fleetwood, who are also associated with a small Atari quarterly project called MIDI MAGAZINE. Hotz and Fleetwood are also involved in a project that many thought had died off... the ATARI/HOTZ MIDI TRANSLATOR. The keyless keyboard of the Hotz box was central stage at the Atari studio. This is said to be a real production version of the first model HOTZ box to be commercially available. All that was lacking on this one was the silk-screening on the back to identify the ports, and discussion overheard at the show indicated that some internal bracing should be beefed up, but what we saw, touched, even played with at NAMM will be shipping very shortly. This particular unit was used in the latest FLEETWOOD MAC LP and would be heading back into the real recording studio for more work as soon as NAMM was over. Whatz a Hotz? Well, it is sorta like a keyboard, but there are no moving pieces. The play surface is hard plastic, with no apparent give. Ridges and colors mark off different zones and rows of places to touch, but no marking are on any. The concept seems to be that you decide what does what. The box is an input device, but the heart of the HOTZ is the software. This program controls the ranges and harmonies available at any given time to match that of whatever music you are playing with. Set up properly, any child will be able to use the device and make/add pleasing music, playing with standard CD records. Encoded on the CD will be a few inaudible electronic bursts that tell the Hotz what to do when to keep things in tune. NO, it's NOT a "player piano" idea at all. You can choose the instrument and depth of chords, and choose the timing and notes to play. Hotz just makes sure the harmonies match and the notes are in the right chord structure. The result is that any improvisation, any guitar solo, anything you can imagine (hear) in your head, you can play without the usual "clashes" of mistakes. In the studio, the input parameters would be keyed in before performance, with the same result. Perfect keying on solos and fills, with the musician free to create mood, depth, and accent. Musicians are by and large VERY interested in the Atari/Hotz device. It can be ordered NOW for a mere $7,000 by calling Atari at 408-745-4966. A consumer version is to be announced later in the year. The STACY drew plenty of attention as well, plugged into the MIDI setup and controlling the remarkable music that Hotz and Fleetwood demonstrated for small groups of visitors throughout the show. The other star of the MIDI studio was an audio-visual setup at the far end of the room. With it, Scott Gershin of SOUNDELUX showed how he did the sound and music for the Golden Globe Award winning movie "BORN ON THE FOURTH OF JULY" starring Tom Cruise. Scott did the sound for the blockbuster film using ATARI and MIDI equipment. To demonstrate, Scott showed us a raw edit of part of the movie with all the original sound recorded at the time. Although the visuals were great, the sound was horrid. Scott started tweaking, "sweetening", and adding sound effects. The Atari's whirred, and Scott described how Tom Cruise re-dubbed the lines for later insertion. In minutes, we viewed the same clip with fabulous stereo sound, stirring music, and clean clear voices and effects. Then Scott popped a cart out of the Atari Megafile 44 removable media hard drive and said, "Everything you just heard came off this drive. I can non-destructively re-edit, extend, move any part of it as many times as I want with no degradation in the digital quality sound." He said his full set of sound files for "BORN ON THE FOURTH" run a total of nearly 55 GIGABYTES of data, almost impossible to handle before the removable media made it easy. About four minutes of full- sample finished stereo mix audio can be held on each 44 megabyte cartridge. Scott says it is the commercial sound media of the future. SoundDelux can be reached at 7060 Hollywood Blvd, Suite 711, Hollywood, CA 90028, (213) 463-3855. Another neat discovery in the Atari Studio was the SYSTEM SOLUTIONS modified MEGA machines. They are rack-mountable and a sexy BLACK color (even the mouse!) to better travel with road musicians. The MST2-RACK (2 meg) runs $2299, $2999 for the MST4-RACK. Rackable hard drives and monitor equipment is also available. Contact Henry Bahr at System Solutions, PO Box 433, West Chicago, Illinois 60185, or call (708) 690- 0930. Visitors to the Atari lobby found plenty of good literature, informed people (including Jay Crosby, Frank Foster, Wayne Smith, Bob Brodie, Diane Goralchec, Charles Cherry, and John King Tarpinian), and a stack of PORTFOLIOS. But the item that was the biggest disruption to progress was undoubtedly the pair of LYNX games that absolutely everyone HAD to get their hands on. Atari's booth looked pretty good, considering the machines and supplies needed to assemble it barely made it to the show. Workers and volunteers from Orange County Atari User Groups arranged to have three days to set up... one more than anyone thought would be needed. Well, the equipment was mixed up and sent to the wrong airport, arriving two days late. Yikes. Long and hard work paid off with a good display, and Atari rewarded volunteers with Portfolios and even a pair of MEGA 4 computers for their outstanding efforts. The Atari exhibit did not draw the traffic that it might have on the main floor, but that was a trade off for privacy and ability to let the demos really scream. Some visitors were put off by the relatively "off limits looking" entrance door and stairs up to the booth, thinking that this was for employees or by invitation, despite the large ATARI sign above it. On the other hand, no one that came to the show LOOKING for Atari (lots!) would have missed it, and Atari had plenty of floor exposure in third party booths. This is one major show where the AVERAGE person knows who/what/why ATARI is about. What about the "other" computer companies? Well, it turns out that COMMODORE did in fact sneak a last minute booth into the show, but it was at the furthest corner of the furthest hall... and was largely boring. One Amiga was running some sort of sequencer (in color of course) but most of the display had nothing to do with MIDI or music. As a result, few attendees had time for browsing there. NO OTHER computer maker was there at all. Friday night's concert was also delayed by the equipment foul up, but went on as planned, featuring the members of the band CREAM at the Disneyland Hotel. Now called the JACK BRUCE BAND, they played after the MICHEAL SHRIEVE BAND (including POLICE guitarist Dave Torn). Frankly, most of the Atari people were so worn out from the hectic day, no one we talked to stayed for the whole concert! Lots of music industry people did, though, and seemed to be very happy with the performances. The concert was co-sponsored by MUSICIAN MAGAZINE. European music magazines are said to be "fighting" over who will get to co-sponsor a concert and presentation with Atari at the upcoming Frankfort Show. Sort of a German NAMM, it is the continent's most prestigious music event of the year. We'll keep you posted as we find out more. We already know that ATARI will be sponsoring the 24th anniversary WORLD TOUR of Fleetwood Mac, and Atari's Frank Foster will be going along on part of that tour. The largest tour ever for the band, it will begin in March in Australia. Atari will be the technology provider, and Frank will go along to conduct seminars and "grassroots" level support for the MIDI market of Atari. The HOTZ box will be a key part of the musical support Fleetwood Mac will use on tour. There was lots more to NAMM... more than one week's worth of news. So next week, Z*Net will tell you about the MIDI developers meeting and some exciting details about MIDI-TASKING. Yes, as we exclusively reported 2 weeks ago, Atari did show their endorsed multitasking system to developers. It looks -REAL GOOD- and we'll tell you what we can about it next week. Suffice to say for now, this system is REAL and can be ready to ship to consumers in the next 3-6 months. It is expected to be part of a bundle of MIDI software, including a HOTZ startup package, to be included with the STACY laptop ST... which should start shipping to dealers by February 1! We'll have a lot of other announcements and reactions from the developers at NAMM, all -an ONLY- in next week's Z*Net. * Z*NET INDUSTRY NEWSWIRE -------------------------> NEWS WITHOUT THE VIEWS ---------------------- SONY PREMIERS MACINTOSH-UNIX: Sony Microsystems at UniForum 1990, demonstrated for the first time its "Worknetting Server." The server opens Apple Macintosh and MS-DOS networks to the Unix operating system without requiring Unix experience on the part of the users, provides Macintosh networks with the high- performance I/O throughput necessary to handle large network activity and makes accessible the nearly limitless storage provided by Sony's optical products. BORN ON THE 4TH OF JULY: While dominating The Foreign Press Association's awards last weekend, "BORN ON THE 4TH OF JULY" was also winning the battle at the box office with a gross of $6.2 million. The drama of a Marine who is wounded in combat and comes home a paraplegic and an anti-war activist captured Golden Globe awards for best picture, best actor, best director and best screenplay. AMERICAN AIRLINES SELECTS GRID: American Airlines announced it has selected GRiD Systems as exclusive vendor for its battery-powered, laptop computer purchases in 1990. An initial multi-million dollar order was placed this month. GRiD was selected as American's exclusive vendor after the company did extensive research and testing on available laptops. Laptops acquired in the purchase will be used by American's passenger sales group, a direct sales force. The laptops will enable American's sales representatives to serve accounts more efficiently. The sales agents also will use the laptops for word processing and account management. * CANADIAN ATARI USERS CONVENTION ---------------------------------> PRESS RELEASE ------------- The Toronto Atari Federation, sponsor of the upcoming SECOND CANADIAN ATARI USERS' CONVENTION, is a non-profit users' group whose sole aim is to serve the Atari community in Canada. As a user group, we understand fully how attendance at computer shows can amount to a major item in the yearly budget. However, we feel strongly that user groups are key players in the world of Atari. Therefore, we are offering a special, reduced rental rate for booths to all Atari user groups. As an Atari user group, your fee will be 57% off the regular Exhibitor's Rate. That is, you pay only $125.00 Canadian. The SECOND CANADIAN ATARI USERS' CONVENTION will certainly be the major Atari event of the year. The previous Convention was a runaway success, and we are determined to outdo ourselves in 1990. We hope that you will want to share in the excitement with us. This special offer for user groups is subject to the availability of booths. Only one booth per user group at this special price. To ensure that your user group does not miss out, please respond as soon as possible. * Please note that booths rented at the special reduced rate for user groups may not, in every instance, be a standard 10' x 10' due to the shape of the room. Dear Exhibitor The Toronto Atari Federation is pleased to announce an event of special interest to Atari dealers and user groups. The SECOND CANADIAN ATARI USERS' CONVENTION will be held on April 1, 1990 at the Airport Hilton Hotel, 5875 Airport Rd. Mississauga, Ontario. This special event comes as a direct result of the demand, both from dealers and users, which followed the highly successful "First Canadian Atari Users' Convention," held in November, 1988. That show exceeded everybody's expectations, drawing a crowd of over 2,000 attendees in just 5 hours, generating a great deal of business for participating retailers, receiving very favourable reviews in magazines such as Antic, STart and Computer Shopper, and attracting a surprisingly large percentage of attendees from outside the Toronto area and from the United States. A conservative estimate of attendance for the upcoming show is 3,000 attendees, making this event the largest gathering of Atari users ever in Canada. Dealers can look forward to immediate contact with a very large segment of the Atari market. For dealers this is the premium segment of the market - attendees are eager, enthusiastic and ready to make significant hardware and software purchases. Users will be drawn by a very wide variety of exhibitors and other attractions. Exhibitors' costs will be kept as low as possible, since we are a non- profit users' group whose only aim is to serve the Atari community in Canada. Admission prices will also be kept low in order to attract the largest crowd possible. The SECOND CANADIAN ATARI USERS' CONVENTION will feature, retailers, displays by software developers and hardware manufacturers, guest speakers conducting a day-long series of seminars in our lecture rooms, and a major exhibition by Atari Canada. The Airport Hilton Hotel is an excellent hotel with the highest reputation and first-rate convention facilities, conveniently located on the Toronto Airport Strip near several major expressways and right on the public transit system. Room rates will be specially discounted for everyone connected with the Convention. Our promotion of the Convention will be even more dynamic and professional than in 1988, supported by a much larger budget. The advertising campaign will include major newspaper advertisements, press releases, posters, pamphlets, and a BBS campaign across North America. If you are interested in obtaining more information on how to be an exhibitor at Canada's Atari event of the Year, please feel free to call one of the phone numbers listed below or leave mail on GEnie to M.SEARL1. Booths will measure 10'x10' and will be curtained on three sides; one 8' table, draped. One Hydro outlet is included in the booth price. Power bars and extension cords are the responsibility of the exhibitor. Extra tables are also available for a nominal charge. We expect all booths to be sold well before the show date. To confirm your participation in the Second Canadian Atari Users' Convention, please Respond as soon as possible. For inquiries, do not hesitate to call me at (416) 477-2085 or Mike Searl at (416) 245-5543. A FAX number will be provided from Feb 1st to April 1st for your convenience. The number will be (416) 245-5089. Yours truly, Paul Collard, Convention Coordinator The Canadian Atari Users Convention Press Information For Immediate Release The Second CANADIAN ATARI USERS' CONVENTION ========================================== The largest gathering ever of Atari computer users in Canada is expected at the upcoming Second Canadian Atari Users' Convention to be held at the Airport Hilton Hotel On April 1, 1990 from 10am to 6pm. Sponsored by the Toronto Atari Federation, one of the largest computer user groups in North America, the Convention will offer the public a once-a-year opportunity to see what is new and exciting in the world of Atari. There will be exhibits, seminars and demonstrations by a wide variety of retailers, guest speakers, user groups from Canada and the U.S., software developers and hardware manufacturers. "Show Special" prices offered by retailers, Public Domain software from user groups and reduced room rates at the Airport Hilton ensure bargains for everyone. A special feature will be a major exhibition by Atari Canada, where a full range of their product line, from 8-bit computers and game machines, through 1040ST's, Mega 2's, Mega 4's and PC clones will be on display. One of the biggest draws is sure to be the recently released and widely praised Atari Portfolio, an MS-DOS compatible computer which fits in the inner pocket of a business suit and the latest new Atari STE and STacy. Other highlights include new products, several from Europe, which enable the ST line to emulate IBM and Macintosh machines more quickly and more easily than ever. The Second Canadian Atari Users Convention is being held at the Airport Hilton Hotel, located on Toronto Airport Strip, 5875 Airport Rd., Mississauga, Ontario. For more information contact our Public Info-Line at (416) 425-5357, or the TAF On-Line BBS at (416) 235-0318 * REVOLUTIONARY RESULTS -----------------------> FROM THE Z*NET BBS ------------------ Message : 392 [Open] 1-25-90 3:37am From : Timekeeper To : All Subject : New Atari Dealer! Sig(s) : 2 (The REVOLUTION!) Recently, I stopped in a computer store out of curiosity to see if they carried any ST software, not that it surprised me, but no they didn't stock any. However, I talked to them for awhile, and showed them my official REVOLUTION member ID and explained what the REVOLUTION is about and how there are lots of us Atari's out here who want/need a local shop to purchase our hardware/software. After discussing it with them, they said they would be able to carry the Atari products IF through BBS's we could get enough people to call the store and tell them you are from the REVOLUTION and would like them to carry Atari products. This is not for just the local guys either because they also handle mail order, sooo lets get these calls/letters rolling, I for one would love to have a place to get software/hardware without having to drive for an hour or two just to look at whats out/new. We need all the people we can get to do this! If you took the time to read this document, please take the time to make a 40 second phone call to them. The store is: TV ONE Computer/Video Discount Computers & Software Sales * Service * Training #7 Delsea Plaza, Delsea Dr. Westville, NJ 08093 (609)848-3770 Fax(609)853-1229 And the best part of it all is that they are currently 75% Amiga, so we will be moving in on their territory! ----------------------------------------------------------------------- The Timekeeper is proud to be a member of The REVOLUTION! Any comments would be appreciated... ----------------------------------------------------------------------- * ST STACK ----------> WEEKLY UPDATE ------------- by Alice Amore KDODLR15.ARC <--------- !This file is SHAREWARE! Programmer: Kristofer H. Cruz KDOODLER, version 1.5, has grown from a mildly interesting doodler into a full-featured graphics drawing program. Its many features include the following: Color or mono Imports PrintMaster shapes Imports MacPaint files Magnify or fatbits Separate color palettes Editable fills Color Fills Improved error checking Four working screens Cut-N-Paste, Buffer, Blend Screen inversion Copy-N-Paste, Buffer D.E.G.A.S.-compatible Bit Image (Doodle) Format Contrasting Bezier Curves Editable text Editable paint Editable linetypes Text rotation Image mirroring Image ghosting Image negatives Circles, ellipses, box, Rbox Chalk Rubberbanding Lines Undo command Printing position line FULL MacPaint window Circular arcs Variable spray paint Elliptical arcs Loads NeoChrome pics (low res only). Ability to mix two D.E.G.A.S. or BIF files with a MacPaint file. Improved printer dump (skips null lines). Import MacPaint files into most ST DTP programs (mono only). Epson screen dump supports single, double, and triple strike. If you enjoy doodling of the high tech sort, you'll enjoy KDOODLER. """""""""""" CALSUATE.ARC <--------- !This file is SHAREWARE! Programmer: Does Compute Software Are you dieting? Here's a program which handles all the drudgery of computing caloric intake, and whipping up daily and weekly menus. The "food library window" contains food name, serving size, and calorie total. Use the three "meal windows" to store daily intake. Just point, click, and drag a food from the library into a meal window. A calorie total is displayed above each meal window at all times making it easy to avoid exceeding your desired total. A grand menu can be printed out from your data. It will help you track your intake from day-to-day and/ or week-to-week. After your data is entered, you can print out daily or weekly menus. Although the food library is skimpy, you can add your own foods, providing your serving sizes and calorie counts are accurate. If you're not sure, you can order a heftier food list directly from the programmer. """"""""""" GEMDESK.ARC <--------- !This file is SHAREWARE! Programmers: Gereon Steffens and Stefan Eissing GEMDESK is an impressive piece of shareware from W. Germany. Unfortunately, the documentation is completely in German, although the program itself is fully English. (We would hope that some kind bi- lingual will translate the documentation and upload an English version). At the heart of GEMDESK is GEMINI, the actual desktop alternative. GEMINI has all the usual desktop doo-dads, plus some extras. Most display options can be user-configured right on the desktop. Some of the features we've all been hungering for are here: an icon editor, icons in two sizes, unsorted directories, delete disk, and a (seemingly) extensive command line-ish editor. I encountered numerous "bugs", but, without documentation, who knows what a bug looks like? This is a big file, almost 300K in ARCed format. If you have room for it, fine. Take a look at this file for yourself. If you uncover any goodies, let everyone know. GEMDESK supports extended res. It must be deARCed using ARC 6.02. """""""""""" S_STUDIO.ARC Programmer: Cory Chapman SPRITE STUDIO, a low resolution painting program written in GFA BASIC, helps in creating sprites for games and animations. Any file can be loaded (raw data included), but most will find the program useful for working with DEGAS and NeoChrome files. You can draw, fill, airbrush, change the color palette, make frames, boxes, circles, and discs. Also supported are magnify, line, text entry (four different sizes), line size (8 choices), plus many more options. A specialty is the ability to cut and paste between two graphic windows. """""""""" SEXIST.ARC <--------- !This file is SHAREWARE! Programmer: Albert Baggetta "Sexist" is a dirty word nowadays. If you are one (and you sexists know who you are, I'm sure), you might want to keep that fact out of your written work. And if you're not a sexist, you still may be guilty of using a lot of sexist language without even knowing it. SEXIST is a program which scans ASCII files for gender-related words, then gives you the percentile of male-related and female-related words in the document. Although this program won't change your attitude, it may improve your writing slant. """""""""""" FLEXSORT.ARC <--------- !This file is SHAREWARE! Programmer: Albert Baggetta "Flexi-Sort" is a sorting program for ASCII files. It will do its best work with files containing lists (of people, places, things). I tried it with various sorts of ASCII files, and it became confused with most of them. But with simple, standard lists, it worked very well. You might want to try it yourself with file lists and such. Sorting can be done in ascending or descending order. You can sort on every line, every other line, or every third, fourth, or fifth line. You can also sort on an initial line character. Once your file is sorted, it can be loaded into your word processor for further work. """""""""""" COMPRESS.ARC Programmer: Mike Hughes This program compresses low resolution D.E.G.A.S. files (*.PI1), loads them all into memory at once, then displays them at breakneck speed. This is done by using only low res picture files and ignoring color cycling. Supposedly, this program will do a better compression job than TINY STUFF. Two programs are included. One does the compression, and the other does the displaying. During display, you can adjust the speed. There is also a toggle which causes the display to start again with the first picture file after the last one has been seen. """""""""""" FLIPSIDE.LZH Programmer: Derrick A. Hall FLIPSIDE will let you read double-sided disks on a single-sided drive. However, you must use the included formatting program or any other good formatter which allows 10 sectors. Side One will be readable on single/ double drives, while Side Two will be readable only on double-sided drives. FLIPSIDE can be run as either a desk accessory or from the desktop. """""""""" BAPACK.ARC Programmer: Branch Always Software BA PACK allows you to run programs that have been "packed" into a smaller size. First you must pack the program you plan to use. Any .PRG, .TOS, .TTP, or .ACC program file may be PACKed. The savings in disk space can be especially useful to those without hard drives. Even though your program is PACKed, it is still executable. The larger the program, the more space will be saved. BA PACK requires 1 meg of memory. """""""""""" TRASHCAN.ARC Programmer: Dan Wilga If you're a registered user of NeoDesk 2.05 (or later), you'll want this file. The NeoDesk Recoverable Trashcan permits the retrieval of deleted files (while using NeoDesk, of course). For those who have early versions of 2.05, a patch program is included in TRASHCAN which will let you use more than one "NeoDesk Accessory" at a time. * PD PUB --------> MONOCHROME AND PD UPDATE ------------------------ by Mark Quinn File name: IFFCNV.ARC Program name: IFFCNV Program type: Utility Programmed by: Bruce Holloway This was a joy to review. IFFCNV will "Convert" the following formats. (This chart is in the docs, and does such a good job of explaining things, I thought I'd include it here.) Input format Output format Neochrome (.NEO) Neochrome (.NEO) DEGAS (.PI?) DEGAS (.PI?) Tiny (.TN?) IFF (.IFF) IFF (.???) Spec512 (.SP?) The programmer planned on adding two more input (.GIF, and .IMG) and three more output (.GIF, .TNY, and .SP?) file types, but I have no information on whether he plans to do so (or already has done so!), or is dead set against the whole proposition. The program was last copyrighted in '88. The following "conversion parameters" are just a click away: Dither (off, shade, and diamond), Palette (color, monochrome, Spectrum 512), Resolution (all three supported), Compression (average, dropout), Convert (convert and display picture), Display (display picture in resolution closest to original). The program functioned flawlessly, allowing me to view an .SPC pic (of all things) on my monochrome monitor. It took a few seconds to "convert" the pic, but the results were worth the wait. File name: LBDEFDEM.LZH Program name: The Definitive Demo by The Lost Boys of London Program type: Demo Programmed by: The Lost Boys You owe it to yourself to take a long look at this demo from The Lost Boys, including a throbbing, digitized ST-Replay-4-sampled piece (this section requires one meg or more), and more music than you can shake a baton at (there are fifty selections from various ST games). My favorite was the theme from "Warhawk". (How many ways can you describe how good the graphics are in a demo? They're good.) "Quinn's Quickies" AREACODE.LZH Update. Find out where that "strange" area code is, in Canada or US. CONCORD2.ARC Bible concordance. Romans through Philemon are included. The King James Version and the New International Version can be ordered from the programmer(s). GODSWORD.ARC To be used with the public domain KJV Bible. Shareware. * GRAPHICS AND ANIMATION ------------------------> ANIMATE 4 --------- Ctsy CompuServe Atari Forums #: 17827 S2/Games 22-Jan-90 11:06:18 Sb: #17801-#ANIMA4.ARC Fm: SYSOP*Bill Aycock 76703,4061 To: Terry May 75076,3576 (X) Terry, I don't have any .DL? delta animations - never seen one, as a matter of fact - and I suppose a lot of folks are the same way. Luckily, patching either ANIMATE3 or ANIMATE4 to default to SEQ instead of DL? is very simple. All you need to do is: 1. Boot with the TinyTool accessory or load it into MultiDesk. (If you don't already have it, it's TTOOL.ARC in LIB 6 of ATARIPRO.) 2. Go into TinyTool and click on FILE, then load whichever version of ANIMATE you want. 3. When the little info line says "File offset (beginning=0)": - for ANIMATE3, type in $4A03 - for ANIMATE4, type in $4A90 and hit return. In a second the file screen will show up, and the first three bytes displayed will be DLT (for v3) or DL? (for v4). 4. Click on the 44 on the first line, then type in 83 and hit return. 5. Click on the 4C on the first line, then type in 69 and hit return. 6. Click on the 54 (for v3) or 3F (for v4) on the first line, then type in 81 and hit return. 7. Now the first three characters shown on the upper right should be SEQ. Click on the WRITE button at the bottom of TinyTool to write your changes to the file. 8. Ta-daaa! Done! --bill-- * THE CLUB ROOM ---------------> PUBLISHING A MULTI-USERS GROUP NEWSLETTER ----------------------------------------- by Jim Chapman, PSAN Coordinator (Reprinted from Z*Net, January 1990) Ahhh, done at last and I can now look forward to a full night's sleep! It's 5:30pm on December 1st and we've just finished mailing out nearly 700 copies of the December issue of the Puget Sound Atari News (PSAN). I'm one day late with the mailing, but that's not too bad ('cause we got'em out before the weekend and avoided a three day delay - I'll try to do better next month!). Now all I have left to do is deliver three or four newsletter packets to nearby stores and users groups, complete and send out the Z*NET distribution form, and make archival copies of this month's articles/graphics/DTP files from the hard drive onto floppy disk. Thus, my 50 to 100 hours of monthly newsletter work are nearly finished... And I can start preparing for the next month's issue while I catch up on my other club duties and family responsibilities (in a more leisurely manner, of course)..... But wait, maybe I'd better first explain what PSAN is, and how I came to be so deeply involved in it's production.... The Puget Sound Atari News is a 48 page, monthly, glossy-covered, magazine style newsletter cooperatively produced by thirteen (the present number) Atari computer users groups located in Washington State, British Columbia, Nevada and California. PSAN began in the Fall of 1984 as the combined newsletter of three Seattle area users groups. The first issues were simply three separate newsletters stapled together and bulk-mailed. (This provided three times as much newsletter at less cost than a previous single issue!) My role then was to help with the labelling and do the mailing (a piece of cake). A year and a half later I stepped forward to become the 'unofficial' PSAN coordinator (publisher) in an effort to keep the then-failing newsletter alive. Now I was printing portions of the newsletter, doing paste-ups/final editing, scurrying back and forth to the local MinuteMan Press, and more (while retaining all previous duties, of course). In early 1987 I offered to print the other club's newsletter sections in an effort to standardize page quality and formatting - And soon I found myself editing all PSAN article input! Shortly thereafter it seemed logical to adopt a true magazine format (we'd previously added a table of contents while retaining multiple newsletters under a common cover). Next, a glossy cover was added (to everyone's approval); and finally in February 1988, I took the desk-top publishing plunge. Suddenly, my news letter workload seemed to double! So, when 1989 finally rolled around, I thought I might just as well volunteer to become the 'official' PSAN honcho - everyone was looking to me to make the necessary decisions anyway! With the June 1989 issue we switched to a new printer (offering lower prices and better bindery) and added Z*NET (which, I might add, very nicely rounded out the content of our publication). This brings us up to the present. The Monthly Schedule In order to work up our regular 36 pages of newsletter content we need a certain amount of organization.... Input deadlines (for both articles and ads) are usually set around the middle of the month preceding publication. Now I'd be less than honest if I said that everyone always submitted their input according to this schedule! But, some lateness can usually be tolerated as I can't possibly edit and layout all articles at one sitting. As a matter of fact, as we usually have forty or more articles (including Club News submissions) plus front and back covers per month, I'm darned happy if I can finish the desk-top publishing layout within one week! The most difficult part of this process is finishing up the final few pages. I often find myself with, say, 1 1/2 open pages, and have time-sensitive articles (which must be included in this issue) that require 2 1/4 pages! Sometimes it takes more than one day to juggle everything so that it will fit neatly or in a logical sequence! This final layout is made more difficult because time is becoming very critical now - I've got to get the completed newsletter laser printed and to the print shop on the scheduled day/time! Layout completed, I hurry to my friendly Atari computer store (Butler's Computer's - a 30 minute drive) to do the actual laser printing. (No, I don't have my own personal laser printer! But one day.... ) If all equipment is functioning properly and my DTP layout is near-perfect (a rare occurrence!), my work here will be be completed in less than two hours. More often than not, however, things go awry and I'm lucky to finish in time to get the completed pages to the print shop somewhere around closing time. (But, what would life be without it's little challenges!) Our printer, a small 'mom and pop' printing/copy business, officially requires a full week to print, collate, bind and trim the 800 copies of our newsletter. Now, this is a good turn-around time (at least compared to other print shops we've dealt with). And... every now and then, when their other business is a little slow and they have no equipment/paper/ ink problems, they can finish-up our job in as little as three days by working overtime! On more than one occasion this has helped us meet a deadline that would have otherwise been missed! The final production step is the mailing. This is usually accomplished in a single day - It only requires about 8-10 man-hours! On my way to get the completed newsletters (about 25 miles from home), I pick up the completed mailing labels from Cindy, our database person. At the printer's I pack the four over-stuffed boxes (about 200 pounds total) of newsletters into my car. Then, it's off to Bruce's house to label and sack the nearly 600 bulk mailed newsletters and to package-up the other 120+ which must be mailed individually. We work fast because I still have to get everything to the Post Office before the 6pm closing time. Failing to meet this schedule will cause our delivery date(s) to slip a full day (or three days if it's a Friday)! Phew! Aside from a few administrative tasks, I've finished with this month's PSAN. Now, while mulling over tentative ideas for the next issue, I can sit back and admire the fruits of our collective labor... and feel good about being an Atari enthusiast! How PSAN succeeds PSAN is organized/controlled by a Letter Of Agreement. Participation is open to any non-profit computer club whose purposes includes education and improving computer literacy. All participating clubs are equal owners of the newsletter and share the expenses at an equal rate based on the quantity of newsletters received/mailed each month. Controls are also in place to insure that critical or sensitive matters (such as publication name, budget (cost) limits, fiscal agent, spokesman, restrictions, etc.) are decided only by unanimous agreement of the participating clubs. Rules and regulations, however, are not enough. More important is the attitude and actions of the principals involved. We have strived to be an association of friends with common interests in Atari computers. Our focus is on helping each other and promoting our mutual interests in computers. This caring, sharing, and cooperative approach has created a trusting atmosphere that allows us to function rather efficiently with minimal conflict. (In fact, I can't recall ever having any serious disagreements with any of the current PSAN groups!) PSAN also has a core of dedicated and hard-working contributors whose unselfish and supportive efforts month after month make the newsletter possible. (Obviously, we can never have too much of this!) WEAKNESSES? You bet! Costs are higher than we'd like. We never seem to have enough on-time article input. Newsletter print quality is a never-ending struggle. The whole operation is excessively dependent on one person. And more..... Obviously there are good arguments as to how our efforts might be better directed elsewhere or reasons why we shouldn't work so hard. But, in my mind, this newsletter is part of our mutual 'life force'; take it away and we lose something - and become collectively weaker. For my part, I plan to continue the effort - it's great having the opportunity to be productive, a little creative, and receive an occasional 'atta boy'! * THE JOY OF SERIAL CABLES --------------------------> Download from GEnie ------------------- by Bill Graf When I first started playing around with projects that had to connect into the joystick ports of my first ATARI computer, an XE 130, I discovered how neat Radio Shack Joystick Extension Cables were they come about 10 feet long and have D9 connectors made on to the ends [one male and one female]. You just chop off the proper end, with enough cable for for your project, strip back the outer covering and connect up the 9 wires however you wish. Now joystick ports don't use all the pins but these cables have all 9 wires. So when I decided to make two serial cables for the portfolio I naturally used extension cables Part # 270-1705, one reason is that they provide a nice neat connection in proportion to the size of the PF serial adapter. My only problem seems to be I always have plenty of male ends left over. No big deal since the cost is only $5.49 for the whole cable. The other parts needed are D25 female ends and covers Part #'s 276-1548 & 276-1549 respectively. I always use the solder type, however a crimp type D25 connectors are available. Only use about 3 to 3-1/2 feet of cable to limit resistance and prevent interference [the cables are unsheilded but I have had no problems with them]. The wire colors are generally as follows, however, since nothing is certain in this world, you should always check the pin to pin continuity. PIN 1 = BROWN PIN 2 = RED PIN 3 = ORANGE PIN 4 = YELLOW PIN 5 = GREEN PIN 6 = BLUE PIN 7 = GREY PIN 8 = WHITE PIN 9 = BLACK NOW TO MAKE A SERIAL CABLE FOR A PRINTER OR A MODEM CONNECT THE D25 as follows: MALE D9 COLOR WIRE IN CABLE connect to FEMALE D25 PINS* PIN 1 = BROWN ---------------------------->PIN 8 ALL PIN 2 = RED ------------------------------>PIN 3 PIN 3 = ORANGE --------------------------->PIN 2 OTHER PIN 4 = YELLOW --------------------------->PIN 20 PIN 5 = GREEN ---------------------------->PIN 7 PINS PIN 6 = BLUE ----------------------------->PIN 6 PIN 7 = GREY ----------------------------->PIN 4 LEFT PIN 8 = WHITE ---------------------------->PIN 5 PIN 9 = BLACK ---------------------------->PIN 22 EMPTY * Some applications will need a gender changer or a male D25 could be substituted. NOW TO MAKE A NULL MODEM CABLE TO CONNECT THE PORTFOLIO SERIAL PORT WITH AN ST, MEGA, OR AN IBM or COMPATIBLE PC or XT CONNECT THE D25 AS FOLLOWS MALE D9 COLOR WIRE IN CABLE connect to FEMALE D25 PINS PIN 1 = BROWN (NOT CONNECTED AT ALL) PIN 2 = RED ------------------------------>PIN 2 PIN 3 = ORANGE --------------------------->PIN 3 PIN 5 = GREEN ---------------------------->PIN 7 PIN 4 = YELLOW -------------) PIN 4----) & connect together| | jumper wire PIN 6 = BLUE ---------------) PIN 5----) connect 2 pins PIN 7 = GREY ---------------) PIN 6----) & connect together| | jumper wire PIN 8 = WHITE --------------) PIN 8----) connect 3 | pins PIN 20---) PIN 9 = BLACK (NO CONNECTION AT ALL) That's it, put the hoods on the D25's and you're in business, BUT, check the connections with an ohm meter or battery and bulb circuit tester before to try it, No guarantees if you blow up your gear, but it works for me! ..........Bill Graf GEnie E mail ABGRAF * LINE NOISE ------------> MESSAGES FROM THE ZNET BBS AND EMAIL ------------------------------------ Jan 14, 1990 This letter is to inform you that the BBS named L'Echange carries your magazine. It is available to all the members of the BBS (350 users) for Download every week. L'Echange is a french BBS, located in Montreal Quebec, Canada. It is operated on a 1040ST since October 1986. The telephone number is (514) 522-2301 I would like to use this moment to encourage you to continue your great work. Thank You, Eric Tremblay 73117,460 *``*``*``*``*``* (EDITED TEXT) First, I want to thank you for the excellent job you've been doing with the Z_Mags, and now Z-Net. Your publication proudly occupies a space on my BBS. They are an invaluable source of information for my club newsletter. If I can convince the members, I hope to sign up for Z-Net sometime soon. I called your board to register mine on the Z-Net BBS list. I've been carrying the mag since the board went up, last July. I've collected back issues of both Z-Mags and maintain a library for my users. I currently read Z-Net through my membership in MVACE. Like I mentioned, my club, ACEC (Atari Computer Enthusiasts of Columbus (OH)) doesn't carry it yet. My board is: The Mind^s Eye BBS 614-231-3716 ======================================================================== Z*Net Online is a weekly online magazine covering the entire Atari community. Opinions and commentary are those of the individual authors and do not reflect those of Rovac Industries. ZNET and ZNET ONLINE are copyright 1989, 1990 by Rovac Industries. Reprint permission is granted as long as ZNET ONLINE and the original author are included. Reprinted articles are not be edited without permission. ======================================================================== NEWS WITHOUT THE VIEWS ======================================================================= ZNET ONLINE Atari News and Reviews FIRST! Copyright (c)1990 Rovac Industries, Inc.. =======================================================================