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Text File | 1991-10-14 | 139.8 KB | 2,892 lines

|||||| |||||| || || |||||| |||||| || || ||| || || || || ||| |||| |||||| || |||| Your || || || || ||| || || |||||| |||||| || || |||||| |||||| GEnie ST || |||||| || || |||||| RoundTable || || || ||| ||| || || || |||||| |||||||| |||||| RESOURCE! || || || || || || || ||||| || || || || || ~ WAACE REPORT! ~ ~ DAVID SMALL ONLINE ~ ~ MEL'S MANOR: A Quick Look At Quick ST 3.0 ~ ~ DEALER VIEWPOINT: Atari's Renewed Spirit Of Cooperation ~ \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\//////////////////////////////////// October 15, 1991 ~ A T/TalkNET OnLine Publication ~ Issue No.2.34 ////////////////////////////////////\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\ Publisher/Editor ................................... John F. Peters Co-Editor ........................................ Darlah J. Pine Technical Editor ................................ Jeff Williams TX2 Editor ..................................... David Holmes [IDX] """""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""" ~ WHAT'S HAPPENING ON GEnie? TAKE A LOOK! ~ """""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""" FROM MY DESKTOP ......... [FRM] HEY MISTER POSTMAN ...... [HEY] Notes From The Editor. Is That A Letter For Me? ATARI IN THE REAL WORLD . [WOR] OFF THE RECORD .......... [OFF] Atari ST: Awesome Capability! Mini_reViews. MEL'S MANOR ............. [MEL] FOCUS ON... ............. [FOC] Quick ST 3.0. Spectre & Beginners. DEALER VIEWPOINT ........ [DLR] ST ELSEWHERE ............ [ELS] Anticipation & Perspective. Other Areas Of IntereST. PS's .................... [PSS] SYSOP'S CORNER .......... [SYS] Get It While It's HOT! ST RoundTable News. SMALL TALK .............. [SMA] LINKING UP W/LYNX ....... [LYN] David Small Online! Handheld Game Power! LOG OFF ................. [LOG] GEnie Lamp Information. [REA] """""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""" READING GEnie Lamp GEnie Lamp has incorporated a unique indexing """""""""""""""""" system to help make reading the magazine easier. To utilize this system, load GEnie Lamp into any ASCII word processor or text editor. In the index you will find the following example: HUMOR ONLINE ............ [HUM] [*]GEnie Fun & Games. To read this article, set your find or search command to [HUM]. If you want to scan all of the articles, search for [EOA]. [EOF] will take you to the last page, whereas [IDX] will bring you back to the index. TX2 FORMAT What are you missing when reading the ASCII version of """""""""" GEnie Lamp? EXCITEMENT! Whenever you see a [*] in the index or in the article header, that indicates that the article contains TX2 graphics and/or pictures. To see the graphics, you will need the following files: LMP_234.LZH GEnie Lamp in TX2 format MINI_TX2.LZH Mini-version of TX2 Viewer (File #20441) GEnie Lamp Online Magazine: SEE THE DIFFERENCE! MESSAGE INFO To make it easy for you to respond to messages re-printed """""""""""" here in GEnie Lamp, you will find all the information you need immediately following the message. For example: (DARLAH, CAT6, TOP1, MSG:58/M475) _____________| _____|__ _|___ |____ |_____________ |Name of sender CATegory TOPic Msg.# Page number| In this example, to respond to Darlah's message, log on to page 475 enter the bulletin board and set CAT 6. Enter your REPly in TOPic 1. A message number that is surrounded by brackets indicates that this message is a "target" message and is referring to a "chain" of two or more messages that are following the same topic. For example: {58} [EOA] """""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""" ///////////////////////////////////// GEnie_QWIK_QUOTE ///// / "I must point out, I LIKE using my 386 w/Windows at my / / workplace. Every time it crashes, I just wave to this / / little deshevled guy in the corner who comes over and / / try's to figure out what happened. Then I walk away. / / He gets the gray hair's, I get an extra coffee break." / / //////// (C.TOWNSLEY, CAT18, TOP22, MSG:82/M475) ///////// [FRM]////////////////////////////// FROM MY DESKTOP / ///////////////////////////////// Notes From The Editor """"""""""""""""""""" By John Peters [GENIELAMP] o WAACE REPORT: From Nate, Bob & Darlah. o TOP OF THE PAGE: Random Ramblings. o THOUGHT YOU SHOULD KNOW: RoundTable Happenings. o HOT SPOTS: Where The Action Is. o IT CAN'T WAIT: Hot Info! >>> WAACE A BIC SUCCESS! <<< """"""""""""""""""""""""""""" A SPECIAL REPORT for GEnie Lamp from Bob Brodie, [BOB-BRODIE] Nathan """""""""""""""" Potechin, [ISD] and Darlah Pine, [DARLAH]. Day one of the 7th annual WAACE exhibition was successfully concluded last night with an enjoyable banquet. Charles Smeaton officially announced formal attendence yesterday at 1200. There were well over 400 rooms booked at the Sheraton for this event. I know for a fact, speaking personally :-), that all exhibitors were more than pleased with both the turnout and the sales. [ISD] GEnie BUTTON MANIA! Button mania has been raving at the show. We have """"""""""""""""""" a new GEnie button, a button that reads "Responsible Reporting is a Moral Obligation". Seems like everyone had a button! Sales were brisk to put it mildly. I understand that one popular vendor moved 16 hardware systems yesterday alone. At the banquet last night David Troy won the coveted 'Author of the year' award from Current Notes. [DARLAH] IAAD PRESIDENT RESIGNS At the banquet, following my speech, I formally """""""""""""""""""""" announced my resignation as President of the IAAD, a position that I have held since the inception of the IAAD. I also took the opportunity to announce our new IAAD President, unanimously elected during a meeting held in my room by all IAAD members in attendance at WAACE, Nevin Shalit. [ISD] My seminar was well attended, although not packed. John Townsend and Ken Badeterscher gave a "Technically Speaking" seminar that packed out the whole room. I attended Ralph Mariano's (ST Report) seminar, in which Ralph had a number of staff assist him with his presentation. A nice touch, getting to see Dana Jacobson and Joe Mirando share the ST Report spotlight. Most of the software vendors that I spoke to were very happy. John Eidsvoog of CodeHead said that it was the best first day of a show that they have ever had. They spent much of the night copying disks in the room. They cut their entrance to the Sunday AM show so close, they had room service deliver to their booth! <GRIN> GEnie has been selling their Atari ST RT disk for $1 that sold very, very well. Darlah had the latest version of Aladdin, the docs, ArcShell, LZH Utilities, Air Warrior, RS Cards, a GEnie Index, the GEnie Manual, the latest issue of GEnie Lamp Online Magazine and Port- folio library listings all on the one disk for $1. There was a great deal of interest in new subscribers. We enjoyed the attendance of Michelle Taylor [Michelle.T or [ATARI-OZ]) from Atari Australia. I had the best seat in the house at the banquet, Michelle on one side, Tricia Metcalf from Gribnif on the other! :) In addition to the brisk sales in the retail area, the SWAP ROOM featuring used equipment sales was SO busy, the organizers of the show had to limit access to the room. The Fire Marshall was reportedly VERY interested in how full the room was getting!! :) The Lynx Room/Game Room was in full swing, with the competition for the free Lynx won by the son of John Karlovich of the Atari Elite user group in Pittsburgh, PA. Second year in a row!!!! For the first time on the east coast, users were able to purchase STalker 3.0, Sudden View, and Tracker 3.0, the latest upgrade to Nevin Shalit's powerful Tracker ST mailing manager program. Jim Allen was showing off the powerful accelators that he has, and of course, Dave Small was charming people with his singing of Neil Young songs... dazzling them with technology isn't enough anymore! <grin> ISD for the first time has taken a booth at an Atari Show, in addition to Nathan, ISD has sent down most of their staff-including Mario (a brilliant artist), Shawn - the customepppr service rep, and Julius- the tech support person. [BOB-BRODIE] Want to know more? Last minute uploads includes Stephen Plotch [S.PLOTCH] WAACE report. In it, Stephen gives us an interesting view of what happend at WAACE as seen through the eyes of a 13 year old. Plus, Nathan Potechin, [ISD] has uploaded a transcript of his "soon-to-be- famous-if-not-already" Middle Earth speech. Both of these files are definitely worth checking out! 21258 WAACE.DOC S.PLOTCH 17024 14 Desc: First full report on WAACE '91! 21253 SPEECH TXT ISD 12800 30 Desc: My WAACE Banquet Speech 1991 TOP OF THE PAGE T/TalkNET Publishing has released their first online """"""""""""""" "bookette," which is a tutorial on script writing for ST Aladdin by Fred Koch. STALDBK.ARC, File #21160, contains all of the ST Aladdin script tutorials that were previously published here in GEnie Lamp. The articles have been revised and updated plus the bookette sports a handy chart of all the script commands that are available. Interested in writing a script to do what _you_ want to do? Get this bookette! The first edition of Who's Who_ATARI! is now available in the ST library. It's still a long way from what I envisioned when I first come up with the concept, but it's a start. The goal of Who's Who_ATARI! is to become _the_ place to look if you need information on how to contact (or at least get your foot in the door) to anyone who has some connection with Atari. This includes user groups, online SysOps, editors/publishers, Atari dealers, developers, programmers, writers and anyone else that is associated with Atari computers. In short, this more-then-likely means you! Don't be shy... make it easy for us to find you. Post your bio in CAT 34 today. >>> THOUGHT YOU SHOULD KNOW <<< """"""""""""""""""""""""""""""" Dave Small has been busy in the bulletin board areas... He is planning on some "extremely devious Spectre utilities." No word as to what they are... Also reported by Dave is that version 3.1 is presently being worked on, and that he can now outdo a Mac IIfx (which happens to be Apple's fastest Mac to date). MegaTalk is "frustratingly close," but it's all waiting on one crystal. The software and manuals are finished. The new STBOOK and Spectre GCR are not compatible as is. However, Dave is excited about the new expansion connector saying that it has. "about a zillion things we always wanted." If Dave's excited about, we can all breathe a little easier :-). Last issue I reported that John Jainschigg of Atari Explorer magazine had made an appearance on the bulletin board and I'm glad to say that it looks as though he's here to stay. John is posting extremely interesting messages on topics ranging from how they put Explorer together to his thoughts on Desktop publishing programs and his experiences with the Atari Lynx and Portfolio. John hangs out, (where else?) in the Atari CAT (#14). Look him up - you won't regret it. Rick Flashman (Gribnif) reports that anyone who has upgraded to STalker 3 at or before the Glendale show should have by now received their package. Are you upset about the removal of the billing feature in the latest release of ST Aladdin? If so, a message to FEEDBACK is an quickest method to get your point across to the "higher-ups." Rod Martin suggests that to be most effective, be logical, to-the-point, and CALM. I agree. Honey is definitely better then vinegar. DATA DIET IS HOT! Due to finances (or I should say, a lack of) I run a fairly basic ST system. For example, my hard drive consists of a 7 year old Atari SH204 20 meg hard drive. Putting together GEnie Lamp requires the downloading of hundreds of files and the scanning of thousands of messages, (thank goodness for ST Aladdin!). Needless to say, I am _constantly_ deleting/moving files around trying to squeeze every last byte I can out of this tired old drive. Because of this, I became extremely interested when I read about Double Click's new program, DC DIET in one of their popular, "Program Of The Week" packages. After a few GEmail messages to DC, I was invited to beta test Data Diet, which of course I agreed. I'm happy to report that DC DIET has developed into a solid, "I- can't-do-without it" utility for my hard drive. Yes, I still move and/or delete files, but not quite as often as before. But what I _really_ like about Data Diet is once it is installed, you can forget about it as Data Diet is pratically invisible to the user. Effective, useful and it conveniently gets itself out of the way. Nice! Data Diet hasn't solved my storage problems - it would take at least another 30 megs to do that. However, it has gone a long way to help alleviate the situation. If you are desperate for storage room, you need Data Diet. (And apparently I'm not alone - the demo was downloaded 140+ times in the first 24 hours it was online!) I'd recommend to anyone who is concerned about storage space, to download the DATA DIET demo and give it a whirl. File #21165 >>> BULLETIN BOARD HOT SPOTS <<< """""""""""""""""""""""""""""""" [*] CAT26, TOP2, Msg:{49}..........ST Report: News or views? [*] CAT16, TOP14, Msg:{58}.........Pagemaker or Calamus debate. [*] CAT36, TOP4, MSG:{209}.........Lynx, Game Gear, Game Boy or ??? [*] CAT18, TOP16, MSG:{111}........Windows - Better then GEM? [*] CAT6, TOP11, MSG:{251}M1000....GEnie or CI$? [*] CAT14, TOP28, MSG:{68}.........CD ROMS and the ST. [*] CAT14, TOP40, MSG:{19}.........DC Diet - too expensive? [*] CAT18, TOP16, MSG:{119}........Z*NET not printing article. [*] CAT9, TOP16, MSG:{16}..........Suggestions etc. for Offender. [*] CAT18, TOP2, MSG:{27}..........Lynx programming on an Amiga. [*] CAT14, TOP15, MSG:{54}.........Where did the name Atari and the "Fuji" symbol originate? [*] CAT18, TOP4, MSG:{7}...........What is good customer support? [*] CAT4, TOP44, MSG:{109}.........Accelerator Wars. >>> OFF TOPIC MESSAGES <<< """""""""""""""""""""""""" [*] CAT16, TOP14, MSG:{77}.........Baseball. [*] CAT4, TOP34, MSG:{73}..........More Baseball! [*] CAT18, TOP25, MSG:(108}........Blue Star Tattoos, LSD and kids. IT CAN'T WAIT DEPARTMENT Atari users should be very careful when """""""""""""""""""""""" dealing with Dealers. Be sure that you are getting your product from an Authorized Atari Dealer that is certified by Atari to carry the product you are buying. If you have a question about a dealer, let us know.. We can check things out for you and let you know if the person is being honest with you about his ability to get product, etc. One last point.. We have some good dealers out there. Almost all of my dealings with our dealerbase shows them to be honest, trustworthy people who are very up-front about things. Unfortunately, we always hear way more about the bad ones than we do with the good ones! In all cases, if you can.. support your LOCAL dealer. He can't support you, if you don't support HIM. -- John Townsend, Atari Corp. (TOWNS, CAT31, TOP3, MSG:25/M475) Take care... John Peters [EOA] [HEY]////////////////////////////// HEY MISTER POSTMAN / ///////////////////////////////// Is That A Letter For Me? """""""""""""""""""""""" o ATARI ODDS & ENDS o WHAT'S NEW? o ATARIAN MINDS WANT TO KNOW o MESSAGE SPOTLIGHT >>> ATARI ODDS & ENDS <<< """"""""""""""""""""""""" CALLING ALL ATARIAN'S As far as Hewlett Packards' support for Atari is """"""""""""""""""""" concerned, I am in touch with developer support in order to volunteer support information and time to HP in order to better support Atari computers. When I first talked to HP about developing products for the Atari they were surprised but I may be able to convince them to at least maintain some basic tech. info for their phone operators. What is even more surprising is the HP has one of the best customer support reps in the industry. I just can't believe that they won't consider it. If users take the time to mail a statement of their committment to HP printers I will forward them to HP in bulk. First, be polite. Second, be firm. Atari users want HP to support them. Software Development Systems will continue to help users with HP printers re- guarding using their printer with the Atari. If the problem concerns printer connection, usage, and software compatibility, we will help. Otherwise we will refer you to HP customer support who will still answer printer specific questions. Software Development Systems will incorporate drivers in all of its software for all HP products. To reach SDS call (213) 595-9799 or write to us at: Software Development Systems 996 Redondo Ave. #404 Long Beach, CA 90804 (S.SAMDERS2, CAT4, TOP9, MSG:151/M475) ELECTRONIC ARTS ON GEnie Everyone, I just noticed that Electronic Arts """""""""""""""""""""""" is online in the GEnie mall. Type EADIRECT to get there. However, they do NOT have an Atari ST section. If you would like to see an ST section, why not leave them a message? (D.TANG2, CAT27, TOP3, MSG:44/M475) SST TOO MUCH? THINK AGAIN In my many telephone conversations with """""""""""""""""""""""""" Gadgets products owners, as well at shows such as Glendale, I've had more than one person comment that they would love to purchase the SST but just can't swing the $1400 it would cost. Now, granted...if you buy a SST with a 33mhz 68030/68882 and 4 megs of 80ns fastram DIRECTLY from Gadgets then the retail price *is* $1400. Problem is, you don't have to go that route! You can buy the board alone (complete with everything EXCEPT CPU, Math Chip and SIMMs) for $599. You can then add options as you see fit at MUCH lower prices! That is the nice thing about SST...you can expand WHAT you want WHEN you want. I contacted the folks at HI TECH (805-966-5454 ask for GENE) and got the following prices on 030 and 882 parts: 20mhz 68030...........$75 33mhz 68030...........$175 20mhz 68882...........$55 33mhz 68882...........$140 50mhz 68030...........$225 50mhz 68882...........$154 Currently, THE CHIP MERCHANT (619-268-4774) is selling 80ns 1meg SIMMs for $34 each. Using these sources one could put together the following killer combos: 20mhz SST with 68030 and 4 meg fastram: $810 20mhz SST, 68030, 68882, 4 meg fastram: $865 33mhz SST with 68030 and 4 meg fastram: $910 33mhz SST, 68030, 68882, 4 meg fastram: $1040 As you can see, buying and installing the parts yourself can save you big bucks! If you want, you start off with just the SST board and a 20mhz 68030 and 4 meg fastram. You can upgrade to a 33mhz 030 at a later date. As for the math chip....unless you use DynaCADD or want the speed advantage of the math chip in Mac mode...don't bother. If you don't use DynaCADD or Spectre...the math chip is just sitting there doing nothing. -Mark (STACE, CAT4, TOP44, MSG:34/M474) A PERSONAL PUBLISHING INSIDER? This looks like an appropriate place to """""""""""""""""""""""""""""" request Calamus users to send me info- rmation about your DTP operations. I am very close to landing a gig a contrib. ed. to PERSONAL PUBLISHING magazine. Starting in Jan 92 (lag time, folks) PP is putting together an issue on alternate DTP platforms and one of 'em is Atari. I'll be writing the initial story and hopefully contribute a column alternating (naturally) with other alternate platforms -- there really can't be many others ... ;{) -- and I'd like to mention how real world businesses are already using Atari systems. I would also strongly suggest buying out copies of Jan issue and waiting to subscribe after that issue appears. This is for real!!! E-mail me at address on header of this message. (D.VICHA, CAT16, TOP14, MSG:68/M475) >>>>> Gregg Rodgers apparently won a professional design award for a """"" newspaper ad he set with Calamus/lino. You know, those big coffee table books showing the years best ads.. -I- knew he was good. :-) ..Todd (CHERRY.FONTS, CAT16, TOP14, MSG:73/M475) 24BIT.PRG SAVES THE DAY! 24 bit puts the Memory Management Unit (MMU) """""""""""""""""""""""" in the TT into a 24-bit mode. This means that addresses are only 24 bits rather than 32. The reason that this is necessary is because on the 68000, addresses are only 24 bit yet they carry about a 32 bit address. Some people got the idea that it would be a neat idea to take advantage of these unused bits and they used them. Well, when you go to a 68030 that has 32 bit addressing, it presents some problems (i.e. Bombs! :-) for these programs. There are some limitations of 24BIT.PRG though.. It will not let you use TT RAM. After you run 24BIT.PRG from your AUTO folder, as far as the TT is concerned, your TT RAM doesn't exist. 24BIT.PRG should only be used for applications that require it. You shouldn't have it loaded in your AUTO folder all of the time. I hope this helps.. -- John Townsend, Atari Corp. (TOWNS, CAT28, TOP20, MSG:36/M475) >>>>> And this too John........24BIT.PRG can be left in your AUTO """"" folder but named 24BIT.PRX until you need it. Then, disable all the .PRG and root level .ACC files that have been set to run in TT RAM at boot by renaming them to *.PRX while naming 24BIT back to .PRG. Then run it and when the TT boots, you'll be prompted to strike a key to continue. Not only does it blind side the TT RAM and allow previous versions of GFA applications to run, BeckerCAD actually runs on the TT if you use 24BIT. Some games need it too. That's by two bits worth.... -Keith Brooks New Horizon Calgary (K.BROOKS1, CAT28, TOP20, MSG:37/M475) PROGRAMMERS Is this topic currently dead? We love to publish small """"""""""" programs in Atari Explorer ... seems like all the programs you see, nowadays, do things like Desktop Publishing, whereas we all know that what the world needs is a good one-liner that puts lifelike cockroaches on your screen. Where are these small programs? -John @ Explorer (EXPLORER, CAT3, TOP24, MSG:50/M475) >>> WHAT'S NEW? <<< """"""""""""""""""" TRACKER/ST v3.0 RELEASED Step Ahead Software, Inc. is pleased to """""""""""""""""""""""" announce version 3.0 of Tracker/ST, the leading mailing list/mail merge program for the Atari ST, STe, Mega Ste and TT series of computers. Version 3.0 represents a _major_ up- grade to Tracker/ST, with many exciting and powerful new features. Tracker/ST v3.0 will begin shipping on October 12th, 1991 at the WAACE Atarifest in Washington, DC. Some of Tracker/ST v3.0's new features include: One-click tele- phone dialing (modem required), duplicate-name warning when adding names, the ability to copy a single name from one database to another with a simple keyboard or mouse command, completely unlimited filtering, and a powerful new report which prints out Tracker/ST's unique Long Notes for as many people as the user requires, with one single command. "Telephone dialing, duplicate-name warning, and moving names be- tween databases were the top three requested features for Tracker/ST," says Nevin Shalit, president of Step Ahead Software. "For example, many of our users work with two files, a 'Leads' file and a 'Customers' file. Tracker/ST v3.0 lets you copy a name from the Leads file to the Customers file in an instant, with no retyping whatsoever. It's the ultimate in convenience. Similarly, the duplication warning system prevents you from accidentally adding a name that is already in your Tracker/ST database." Unlimited filtering is another major addition to Tracker/ST v3.0. In previous versions only simple filters--such as people from the state of California--were permitted. Version 3.0 of Tracker/ST lets you set any imaginable multiple filter for reports, mailing labels, and mail merges. Says Shalit, "This feature allows the Tracker/ST v3.0 user to target mailings and reports with unlimited precision." Other new features in Tracker/ST v3.0 include the ability to export names in any format (for use with WordPerfect, WordUp, WordFlair II, and virtually any other word processor or database), expanded de- fault settings, the ability to retain Tracker/ST's extended Long Notes when doing an export and import within the program, and much more. A new installation program is also included, which makes setting up Tracker/ST on floppy disks a breeze. Of course, Tracker/ST v3.0 contains all the original features that have made it the leading program of its type for the Atari, including the ability to store an unlimited number of names in an unlimited number of separate files, label printing to all printers including laser printers and the Hewlett Packard Deskjet, and the world's easiest single-click mail merge system. Tracker/ST's only requirements are 1 megabyte of RAM and a double sided disk drive. The program is not copy protected and installs easily on any hard drive system. Step Ahead Software is also making a special introductory offer for Tracker/ST v3.0. Until the end of this year, Tracker/ST v3.0 will be available for the same $79.95 price as earlier versions of the program. On January 1st, 1992 the retail price of Tracker/ST v3.0 will rise to $99.95. Registered owners of Tracker/ST v2.0 and greater may upgrade to v3.0 for $25 ($30 after 1/1/92). Users should not send in their original disk, but must include their completed registration card with their upgrade order if they have not already done so. Those wishing to upgrade at the WAACE show should bring their original disks as proof of ownership. For more information about Tracker/ST v3.0 please contact: Step Ahead Software 496-A Hudson Street, #F39 New York City, NY 10014 212-627-5830 NEWDESK ICON EDITOR Software Development Systems offers a product """"""""""""""""""" called the Newdesk Icon Editor CPX. It was originally designed to edit the desktop icons for TOS 2.05 and above but it will work on all versions of TOS and will write 32x32 .ICN files for use in Hyperlink. If anyone has any questions you should address them to me in Category 2 - Topic 39. Our phone number for ordering is (800) 237-4SDS. -Scott Sanders (S.SANDERS2) Software Development Systems (S.SANDERS2, CAT6, TOP32, MSG:122/M475) MULTIDESK DELUXE UPGRADE Hi folks. This note is to let everyone know """""""""""""""""""""""" that I've just uploaded an ARC file that contains everything you need to upgrade MultiDesk Deluxe to version 3.3! This new version solves most (if not all) of the incompatibilities be- tween MultiDesk Deluxe and Neodesk 3.02, has several important bug fixes, and even adds the feature requested by a couple of people here -- a way to have nested folders containing nonresident DAs inside your MDX directory, letting you keep DAs organized with their accompanying data files. Have at it, folks; this is the most compatible version of MultiDesk _ever_! :) -Charles (C.F.JOHNSON, CAT32, TOP5, MSG:115/M475) HIGH DENSITY DRIVE FOR OLDER ST'S Most of the pre-STe machines have """"""""""""""""""""""""""""""""" the FDC soldered. We have just introduced a High Density Drive system for the older series of Atari computers called HDrive. It has a replacement controller chip that measures a little larger than the Floppy Disk Controller chip. It list for $199 complete with a HD drive. -Paul Wu, Opi (WUZTEX.OPI, CAT14, TOP14, MSG:159/M475) >>> ATARIAN MINDS WANT TO KNOW! <<< """"""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""" (Facts, Fiction & Maybe) FOR THE UMPTEENTH TIME! I "KNOW" this topic has been beaten to death """"""""""""""""""""""" already, but for the umpteenth time, the Stacy 2 _IS_ still available. We delivered another one to a customer just a few weeks ago. And.... Atari, as of last week at least, still had them in stock to fill dealer orders. Upgrading the Stacy 2 to 4 megs is a real easy job -- just remove one screw holding the access panel on the bottom of the Stacy case in place and pop in the correct size SIPPs. But you are correct in that the Stacy is STILL an FCC Class A device and not approved for residential usage. -Sheldon Winick (Computer STudio - Asheville, NC) (S.WINICK, CAT14, TOP29, MSG:177/M475) FOXY PORTFOLIO Hey! ... I'm just watching my video of Parker Lewis """""""""""""" Can't Lose (had to catch Eerie, Indiana, live) ... and guess what? One of the characters just pulled an Atari Portfolio from his coat and figured away!!! First T2 and now FOX! (D.STEWART28, CAT1, TOP1, MSG:94/M950) BOB BRODIE'S BBS? Tell the F-Net people to stop by the Z*Net Online """"""""""""""""" Conference. That's where I'm available at. I should have my BBS, Z*Net Online Golden Gate up by this weekend. I've sent off for my FNET registration, waiting for a node number now! regards, Bob Brodie Director of Communications Atari Computer Corporation (BOB-BRODIE, CAT14, TOP18, MSG:64/M475) WHY THE CDAR DELAY? Seems to me that you guys sell the CDAR at your """"""""""""""""""" shop, don't you? At least that's what George said at WAACE last year. As for the proof that Atari will make them available, take a look down under where there is a fine music education program for the ST on a CD ROM, called Sound Scope. The product exists in that market, and we provided CD ROMS for the area as a result. In the same vein, Jon Clarke, Sysop of the STatus BBS in New Zealand has 5 (that's right, no mis-print FIVE) CDARs online on his system. All because there is software to power the demand for the hardware. It's a similar situation to the XEP-80 fiasco, where Atari provided an 80 column interface...and it this case SOLD *lots* of them, without ANY software that supported the unit. To my bemusement, when I was at the Mid Florida Computer Club in Orlando, Florida recently, one woman attended the meeting soley because she had been told SIX years ago that Atari was going to be able to do 80 columns on an 8 bit, and wanted to know where in the *&^% it was. FORTUNATELY, I could point to the XEP-80 that we have provided as an offering to the club, along with AtariWriter 80 and say "Gee, Lady! It's been around for *years*!" regards, Bob Brodie (BOB-BRODIE, CAT14, TOP28, MSG:57/M475) TOS 2.07 FOR THE MASSES John Townsend, some months ago you wrote/ """"""""""""""""""""""" hinted here on GEnie that Atari was working on a new TOS. To my question '...will it be for the older STs...' you replied something like '...you'll be surprised...'. Also you, or was it Bob?, asked if we were willing to pay for the 'new desktop' and how much. Anyway, I want to thank you and everybody else involved for producing TOS 2.07? for the older Ataris with its retrograde fit. I've already ordered mine (from my local dealer) and hope to get it soon (this year or when ever it becomes available). Again, THANKS. (F.BELL1, CAT14, TOP32, MSG:113/M475) NEW COPS CHIP Well, since this is basically public knowledge at this """"""""""""" point.. The STBook has an key replacement IKBD package called the COPS chip. It is compatible with the IKBD and implements some other neat things for the STBook. This chip isn't pin for pin compatible with the old chip, but I could see us putting this into future keyboards.. Not sure when that'll happen tho.. Anyway, thanks for the ikbd info. It was interesting. - John PS. I definitely know about Dim Memory! <grin> Looking forward to seeing Dave, Sandy, and Crew at the WAACE Show! (TOWNS, CAT2, TOP31, MSG:102/M475) OWN A TT & GCR? By all means, *anyone* who is having problems using """"""""""""""" the TT & GCR and is interested in testing this fix, please use Email. For the time being, this will require your sending the GCR to me, since we do *not* want to post instructions for this until it's actually been proven to help. We also want an idea of actually what it will help. Many floppy problems may have nothing to do with the GCR, meaning that the fix won't help. On the other hand, we may find that 90% of the floppy problems can be fixed by the modification. We can only tell if we keep control of this. Please send Email to me if you can part with your GCR for me to modify. By the way, the reason we don't just exchange the GCR for a modified one is so that we prove that the fix works, not that just another fixed GCR works. George Richardson Merlin Group, Inc. (G.RICHARDSO1, CAT7, TOP51, MSG:99/M9690) STILL WAIT'N FOR KNIGHTMARE The only mention(s) of Knightmare so far """"""""""""""""""""""""""" have been sidebars and news type items in the English game mags. I believe ST Format had a full page news item on the game with a few screenshots. No ads that I've seen anywhere, though September was given as a projected release date. Anthony Crowther had a reputation as one of the fastest programmers in England when he did 8 bit games, so hopefully the deadline won't get extended too far. -John Henders (D.LEMAY2, CAT9, TOP9, MSG:5/M475) TEAM YANKEE II I see in ST Action that TY II is coming out soon... """""""""""""" (BJ.KING, CAT9. TOP31, MSG:14/M475) PATIENCE, PLEASE Please realize that the number one reason that """""""""""""""" Calamus S or SL has not yet shipped, is that I will NOT ship it until it is solid enough in my opinion. Please be patient, it will be worth the wait. (ISD, CAT16, TOP20, MSG:51/M475) ATARI, ARE YOU THERE? I need to find out if a 1040STfm can somehow be """"""""""""""""""""" connected to a Mac Local Talk network, so that you could print to an Apple LaserWriter from another room. If this is not possible with the 1040, then how about the Mega STe? I have a customer who teaches at the Simon Fraser University in Vancouver Canada, and she needs to do just that. I'd appreciate any help. -Graham Norton/Wizard Computer Systems (G.NORTON, CAT14, TOP4, MSG:87/M475) >>>>> Trust me, your requests have been heard ;-) """"" - John (TOWNS, CAT14, TOP4, MSG:88/M475) AUTO RACING FANS Speaking of Stunt Car Racer and Geoff Crammond, he """""""""""""""" has a new racer game coming out soon from Microprose UK. It's called Grand Prix Simulator and it's a Formula racing game. From the screenshots I've seen, it should be great!!! There also a game called Vroom from a company called Lankhor (France) that is simply phenomenal! It's the absolute best Formula 1 racing game I have ever seen! Even better than the Super Monaco Grand Prix type of games!!! It's out over there but the US importers don't have it yet. (A.BRITTON1, CAT9, TOP7, MSG:5/M475) >>> MESSAGE SPOTLIGHT <<< """"""""""""""""""""""""" Atari-ST RoundTable Category 18, Topic 4 Message 12 Wed Oct 09, 1991 NEVIN-S at 10:41 EDT Someone said that you can expect better support from a $100 million company than a $100,000 dollar company. I think the way to GET TO BE a $100 million company is to provide excellent support, from day 1, when you are a $10,000 company. If you look at the leaders in every industry, they ALL offer SUPERIOR customer support. Companies like WalMart, Nordstrom's, Dell, WordPerfect, and so on. These companies have always offered a high level of customer support, even when they were small (and yes, all of them were very small at one point). Time and time again, I read success stories of various companies and they invariably talk about how important their customer service is. The money spent on providing good support is always returned in a big way. Also, I think support is more than just being there when the phone rings. Obviously, many Atari developers (myself included) are 1 and 2 man shops, and can't be there every minute. If you can't be there to answer the phone then you definitely need to return calls as soon as possible. It's all relative, as well. If someone calls asking for information on what fonts a company has for sale, well that call can wait a day or two, no problem. If someone calls and says they are doing a huge project on a tight deadline and really in a bind, well then 1 or 2 days is NOT acceptable. It all depends on the situation. --Nevin [*][*][*] While on GEnie, do you spend most of your time downloading files? If so, you may be missing out some excellent information in the Bulletin Board area. The messages listed above only scratch the surface of what's available and waiting for you in the bulletin board area. If you are serious about your Atari, the GEnie Lamp staff strongly urge you to give the bulletin board area a try. There are literally thousands of messages posted from people like you from all over the world. ///////////////////////////////////// GEnie_QWIK_QUOTE ///// / "ATARI users may not be smarter than IBMers, but they do / / have better taste. / ///////// M.EVERHART2, CAT18, TOP16, MSG:109/M475 ///////// [EOA] [WOR]////////////////////////////// ATARI IN THE REAL WORLD / ///////////////////////////////// Atari ST: Awesome Capability! """"""""""""""""""""""""""""" By Richard W. Brown [R.BROWN30] Writer, Producer, Cinematographer Mutual General Pictures >>> HOW AN ST HANDLES THE MOVIE BUSINESS <<< """""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""" In these days of lambasting the Atari ST for its 'antiquated' capabilities, perhaps a tale of what the ST _can_ do in the modern arena could serve to quell the disbelieving. Unfortunately, it seems that many ST users never give their machine a run for the money. The users of the low-end 520 ST's may never have realized that by making the small step to the 1040 or Mega series, and now the STe and TT series, that a whole new world of awesome capability was only a few dollars away. The 520 ST may very well be the sole perpetrator of the ST's image crisis. For virtually all high-end ST uses, the 520 simple can't pass muster, and only due to RAM shortages. This was the machine that fostered Atari's 'games machine' image. For the fortunate with the 1040 ST or STe, and of course the Mega or TT series, dramatic, new vistas become possible. In the Motion Picture business, a great toll is exacted and required from a computer system. The ST has proved an ideal choice for Mutual General Pictures, which is currently marketing five feature films and one video series in the international arena. More than simply a distributor for acquired projects, Mutual General also produced several of these films in-house. This is the story of how Atari fits in to Mutual General Pictures' plan. Motion Picture Production may be simplified into three areas, pre- production, production, and post-production. The ST and Pre-Production: First, a story line must be developed and a script written. Since 1986, six feature films have been outlined and written on the ST at Mutual General. One exception in the six was a 'script- doctoring' job, where a poorly written script was imported to the ST from an IBM 'script writing' program and _totally_ reworked. Only one-third of the IBM work was left intact, with two-thirds of the writing being entirely ST. Although the IBM 'script writing' program was heralded as the 'state of the art' it proved totally insufficient in the task of rewriting. It was incapable of one important job: loading the entire script into memory to allow for massive block moves and editing. Like many IBM programs suffering under the DOS 640K limit, this program allowed only 30-35 pages to be in memory at a time. This served to split the attention of the writer, literally producing the analogy "can't see the forest for the trees." In the ST, the 30-35 page blocks were reunited into a contiguous script, and the rewrite proceeded with ease. More than 60 pages were deleted and painstakingly replaced with new story line. The film is now in international release. The ST has several programs to cure an ailing script or to write a new one: Word Writer (used 85% of the time), First Word (10% of the time) and the ill-fated Word Perfect ST (5% of the time). Regarding the other famed word processors used on other machines, including those of the dedicated 'script writing' variety, a few points can be made. No program can 'make' a writer. Ask Shakespeare. Writers who need the crutch of extensive on-line spelling or grammatical help, beyond the realm of the typographical error, are most likely not contenders in the cut-throat world of the movies. Mutual General receives in its offices an enormous quantity of 'dime-a-dozen' scripts. Meaning? The average finished script submitted by an independent writer in America today suffers from too many problems within the first 35 pages as to make reading the other 70 or 80 a waste of valuable time for the studio reader. In fact, many scripts are dumped by page 10. Good, original ideas, a knowledge of cinematic storytelling, and a knack for realistic dialog are far more important than Word Writer or Microsoft Word or WordPerfect on your computer. If the script works on all levels, 950 cocktail napkins will do nicely, thanks. Scripts can always be typed. The second phase of Pre-Production is budgeting: how much will the script cost to make? Mutual General has budgeted every project with the ST. Based on more than 25 years of production experience, the staff at MGP carefully designed a spreadsheet to do the task. At first, VIP Professional was used, but the very complex spreadsheet required more than 12 seconds to recalculate. Today, with the much improved and compatible LDW Power, the same spreadsheet, including nearly 20 percent more calculation fields due to additional subcategories, takes 2-3 seconds for recalculation and is more than liveable. The same spreadsheet on a high-end 486 IBM will recalculate far faster than our ST, but by the end of the production, the time savings may be, at most, two minutes, and in a 4-9 month production period, two minutes is something less than insignificant. Of course, in the deluge of software released for the IBM, there are dedicated "Budgeting" programs. We've tried them, and found them, without exception, to be devoid of the necessary detail that makes our spreadsheet so consistently accurate in terms of real production. Limited expandability is also a problem. MGP's productions are admittedly "low-budget" by comparison to the cushioned world of the $20 million show. For smaller films, every penny counts. So, we stick to the ST. Often, after the script is ready and preliminary budgeting complete, it's necessary to raise money for the production. Sales packages, including limited partnership agreements and debt offerings are the norm. The quality of these presentations is critical, so the ST must once again be employed to make professional quality documents. Starting with word processors, the documentation is prepared, followed by a formatting session in SoftLogik's unparalleled PageStream Desktop Publishing solution. With a good PostScript printer, PageStream will produce sales packages and the varied documents necessary with a quality that is unsurpassed by any other computer or any other software package. Not Mac. Not IBM. Not Quark or PageMaker. The needed documents are easily and quickly produced, even using IBM fonts and Macintosh graphics... all are useable within PageStream. With financing in place, we must assemble a crew. Currently, MGP uses the ever-present desk accessory CardFile 3 from Gribnif Software for a major portion of this task. By simply starting a new CardFile for the given production, all the names, addresses, phone numbers, and pay rates for each person or supply service is always at hand. Even more convenient, Cardfile allows instant access to any person or service by GROUP category or by a FIELD search, including, for example, the first 3 characters of a last name, or the building number, amongst other possibilities. This is an indispensable feature for a production manager that might not remember all the details about the generator supplier, but knows "It's 1236 'something' street." Type in '1236' in the address search field, and there's the card and all the information needed. Once chosen, the crew can be updated and contacted on either of two numbers with amazing auto-dialing speed. Daily notes from these production calls can be taken, stored, and printed using another Gribnif offering, the great desk accessory STeno. This program features most of the word processing functions and commands that are common to (and THE SAME as) programs like Word Writer. As they are desk accessories, both of these functions may occur during a session with another computing task, like revising the budget in LDW Power. Although desk accessories are not examples of true multitasking, they are as close to it as a human being can handle. Closer to production, the need will arise for special documents, such as "HOT SET" signs, ID badges for costumes, and various production forms. Once again, PageStream. The ST in Production: Finally, into production. At this point, much of the necessary work has already been handled by the ST. Still, one particularly important task awaits the now oft-used ST: rewrites. On a movie set, it is common for scripts to be multicolored, that is, printed out on various colored papers. Mostly, the color is added at the duplication phase, but the different colored script sections indicate which re-write is in use on a given scene. Various production exigencies will arise that dictate the changing of a script, sometimes on a day to day basis. Sanity is maintained by the writer and those colored photocopies. The ST's role in production may be furthered by adding accountancy to its 'to do' list. Tracking the actual expenses of a project during its creation can be vitally important to the project. The production manager must be able to know whether he can allow a director to shoot that extra take. In low budget production knowing what to give and take changes the artistic direction of the project, but without such knowledge, some standard catastrophes may occur: 1. Out of Money. 2. Out of Money. 3. Out of Money. When any of these problems occur, the production screeches to a halt. Sometimes it gets tricky... the money does not run out until the post-production editing period... or sometimes, the project gets stuck at the lab when the producers are unable to pay the bill. There are no IOU's in the movie business. Some producers specialize in 'rescuing' such projects, wherein a deal is made very favorable to the 'knight in shining armor.' Picking up a stranded film can save a fortune in production expense, and allow a product to be put out with a very favorable 'break-even' point. Using the ST wisely can make a monumental difference in preventing the perfect vision of hindsight. The ST and Post-Production: After a film is shot, all the film must be edited into the movie that we see. For every second of screen time, there may be ten seconds thrown out on the cutting room floor. In the professional world, there really is no 'cutting room floor.' Most editing rooms are enormously tidy and organized beyond compare. This is due to the reality that after five months, the editor may ask an assistant to FIND the 'trim' of the big crash scene in reel six. NOT finding it would cost money in reprints, and probably, the assistant's job (assistants are nearly 'a dime a dozen'). In post-production, the ST finds its first task in the editing room. All the footage must be logged, shot by shot, so that the editorial process is _creative_ rather than frustrating. Finding pieces of film amongst the many thousands or even millions of feet that have been exposed must be a simple process. For many years, film logging was done by hand with pencil and paper. The ST can dramatically improve the editor's life with a program like LDW Power. LDW offers significant data sorting procedures that can make finding a piece of film an easy task, regardless of how 'out of sequence' the film was shot. After the completion of editing, LDW can once again be used in the conforming, or negative matching process, which is the last step before the laboratory prepares to 'print' the film for theatrical exhibition. On another front, for productions that are shot on film, but are to be delivered only on videotape, LDW can be used very creatively to cut the costs of the process. LDW is especially effective if a film 'workprint' has been edited prior to the decision to go 'straight to tape.' All that is required is a little cleverness on the part of the spreadsheet programmer. Once a good series of templates are established, they may be used on all future productions. Luckily, very little changes in the film business. Of course, these were all examples of simple data management. More important to the creative side, the ST shines in the area of audio post-production. Few films are made today without MIDI and synthesizers, even in +/- $100 million epics like Terminator 2. As a sequencer for MIDI, the ST holds its own with any other system on the planet. For the low budget producer not using a super-pricey automated studio-for-hire, additional aspects of the ST's capability may come into play. While programs like those from Hybrid Arts have long and ably assisted soundtrack development, the German import Cubase has left an additional impact. Cubase is able to provide repeatable and mutable automated mix-downs of the various tracks used by the composer and sound engineer. For about $60-$70 a track (8 tracks minimum), Cubase offers the hardware to make automated mixdowns a reality on even a basic multitrack system. This significant new capability on the ST will greatly impact both MIDI and live recordings alike. While the music track is being produced and recorded, the ST can serve one other, final task. Creating the titles for the movie. In the low budget arena, plain white, 'burned-in' titles over picture are the norm. For titles, 'art cards' are produced and photographed using an animation stand prior to being added to the film in the laboratory or 'optical house'. These 'cards' may be single credit listings for the opening titles, or the scrolling credits at the film's end. Once again, we'll use PageStream, with the thousands of prof- essional fonts it can use. Most important to titling is the clarity of the title cards. A high resolution output service will be used by the producer which usually involves a Linotronic Imagesetter. PageStream directly supports the Linotronic or other PostScript based imagesetter. At this point, the final program used in Atari's movie making process is often STalker from Gribnif, Flash! from Antic Software, or other (including public domain) telecommunications software. In many cases, the Linotronic service will have its own BBS which accepts XMODEM uploads of PostScript files for high resolution output. >>> TECH SPECS <<< """""""""""""""""" TECH SPECS The machine used for most of the tasks mentioned in this """""""""" article is an Atari Mega 4 with a 16 MHz Adspeed accelerator, a Megafile 30 hard drive, a 170 meg Quantum drive (60 megs of that are Mac), and an oft-transported Atari Megafile 44 Syquest drive. An SM 124 is the monitor of choice. Printouts are made currently on an AST PostScript printer (no longer available) and a Canon BJ10e Bubblejet (for portability). The Spectre GCR is also on the system, but that's another discussion. About that RAM: Four megabytes of RAM allow maximum versatility in that plenty of overhead remains even though close to a megabyte of RAM is used by desk accessories and auto programs on our system. The convenience offered by this huge slice of RAM is NOT able to be duplicated on a DOS (IBM) system due to the 640K barrier mentioned earlier. In other words, in this scenario the Atari can do something an IBM can't (without multitasking and a very pricey machine). So, go tell two friends, and they'll tell two friends, and... [EOA] [OFF]////////////////////////////// OFF THE RECORD / ///////////////////////////////// Mini_Qwik_reViews """"""""""""""""" o T-20: Worth The Extra Money o GERM CRAZY: One Complex Game o ARMOUR-GEDDON: The smoothest 3D sims around. o GCR TIPS: Buying A GCR T-20? WOW! Jim, what can I say...I had your T-16 for about a year, """"""""""" and been very happy with it. When you offered your T-20 I did know if it was worth the extra money...but I went ahead and took a chance and placed my order. Now that I've had it installed for about a week, all I can say is WOW!!! It's worth the money. I use Pagestream 2.1 12-18 hours a day and there really is a great speed increase. Thanks! If your still using a stock ST the T-20 will pay for itself very quickly in time saved...so if time is money to you, order a T-20 you'll love it! -Charlie @ Design for Print (C.MONTGOMERY, CAT4, TOP11, MSG:59/M475) GOING GERM CRAZY I think the authors got a little too caught up in """""""""""""""" what they were trying to simulate. Admittedly the human body systems are complex and complicated (as a Paramedic I know), but I think they went into too much detail. After reading the manual through about five times, I still don't really know where to start to run this game. The number of options available from each option that has been selected from an option (etc) is perplexing. The graphics are really pretty good, from what I have seen in the European mags they certainly beat Life and death, though this is not really a lifelike portrayal of body systems (arteries, veins, nerves) like Life and Death is. For anyone who doesn't know, Germ Crazy is a game based on the idea that in the next century, the common cold has mutated into a lethal form. Your brother comes down with it. You must decide how to treat him. You effect such things as body temperature, rest, nutrition. The very hard part of the game comes about when you get into into the section that allows you to custom create antibodies to combat the various mutated forms of the cold. You can have a LOT of different agents working at the same time, in different body areas. If you lose and area, you can have a bionic or prosthetic replacement put in, up to a point. The body shows rot and loss of use of a limb as it is effected by the germs. You can even go on the black market for cures not allowed under the law. The game is very intricate, it might be too much for me to devote the time to it to master it. (HAINES+, CAT9, TOP7, MSG:5/M475) ARMOUR-GEDDON A few things to say about Armour-Geddon: """"""""""""" 1. One of the smoothest 3D sims around. The helicopter control is the easiest and most intuitive control I've seen yet. The fighter control is sensitive, but can be mastered with a little practice and a soft touch. Screen update is very quick; comparable with Carrier Command. 2. Gameplay is frantic and hard. Almost too hard. There's always enemy aircraft to deal with. I can't survive too long.. even in training mode. 3. Multiplayer (two player) mode is not to be missed! You play as a team to try to accomplish the same mission as in single player (to pick up enough parts to build a neutron bomb and destroy an enemy beam cannon that is meant to destroy humankind). I have never been able to pick up any parts in single or multi play mode. It is easier with two players though. Direct connect null modem cable is required, modem will not work. Also two copies of the game are required as disk 2 must be in both system's drives. Not sure if one can get backup disks from Psygnosis, but that would enable you to play two players. Two player mode is very close to the blinding speed of the single player, but is MORE FUN! 4. The manual is not very complete. A two page "diary" of saved games gives good clues as to how to achieve the easiest and closest (location wise) objectives. Some things are just left out. How to pick up resources from fallen enemy aircraft? Who knows? --Any hints to help out would be greatly appreciated! I haven't found any magazines with hints yet. If anyone else has, leave a message here. I'm almost getting tired of defeat and need some breaks. I've read the manual countless times and can't find anything new. I am VERY impressed with this game, but I am now in need of HELP! (D.HYETT, CAT9, TOP11, MSG:9/M475) GCR TIPS I've just purchased the GCR, and found ROMS were less """""""" expensive if bought separately (rather than bundled with the GCR hardware). The GCR cost me $219 from Toad Computers (800) 448-8623; no tax as it was mail order out of state. I found the ROMS at Computer Network (818) 500-3900 for $180. You may also want to try Toad for ROMS. Mid-Cities Computers (213) 867-0626 carries ROMS for $200. For approx. $400 total, I now have a MAC PLUS (actually, better than a PLUS). Regarding lowered prices on used PLUS computers; I decided to go with GCR instead of a PLUS for these reasons: larger screen size; faster; I can use my existing printer (an Atari SLM804 laser printer) with GCR-if I had purchased a true MAC I would need to purchase another printer to go with it-a pretty hefty additional amount of money to consider. I was also interested in using GCR's transverter capabilities (I transvert a lot of files between the MAC and ST). It seemed that I wouldn't be able to easily port files between the two machines if I had purchased a MAC. In the long run, given potential new printer prices, additional commercial software that would be needed to port files back and forth, etc. it seems a much better buy to purchase the GCR. So far, I've been very happy with it. (M.FLEMING8, CAT7, TOP13, MSG:95/M475) //////////////////////////////////////// GEnie_QWIK_QUOTE ///// / "In fact, I think I'd like to propose a new manifesto for / / Atari Explorer: "Explorer -- the magazine for people who / / use Atari products, but like ... ... have a life." (grin)" / //////////////////////////////////// JOHN B. JAINSCHIGG ///// [EOA] [MEL]////////////////////////////// MEL'S MANOR / ///////////////////////////////// A Quick Look At Quick ST 3 """""""""""""""""""""""""" by Mel Motogawa [M.MOTOGAWA] >>> QUICK ST 3 - FOR A QUICKER ST <<< """"""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""" The popular Quick ST 3 screen accelerator is being updated and what an improvement! I thought the old version was fast, but version 3 is quicker yet. I haven't received the full release package and manual yet, but a preliminary disk of version 3.00 was sent out recently to those who had sent in upgrade fees. THE BENCHMARKS To give you a rough idea of the speedup I experienced, """""""""""""" I ran some tests on my monochrome 1040STe with TOS 1.60, with the blitter on, and my old color 520 ST with TOS 1.0 (color tests were run in medium resolution.) The benchmarking programs were Quick Index 2.2 as a .prg and the Ness Benchmark 1.1's dialog box draw test. I booted with QST 3 3.00 as the sole program in the auto folder and no desk accessories present. Thus we are imitating a best-case scenario. When you run QST 3 with other auto folder programs and desk accessories resident, the benchmarks will be lower of course. For comparison purposes, I dug out my old QST 2.20 and ran it from the auto folder also, on a clean system, grabbing benchmarks for it on the STe and my 520. Monochrome 1040 STe tests with blitter on: Quick ST 3 Quick ST 2.20 Ness Benchmark: 12.52 386% 12.64 382% Quick Index 2.2: TOS text- 325 305 TOS string- 1364 1233 TOS scroll- 104 102 GEM dialog- 270(475*) 262 *Benchmark with Zoom boxes turned off. Color (medium rez) 520ST TOS 1.0 tests: Quick ST 3 Quick ST 2.20 Ness Benchmark: 23.06 209% 22.46 215% Quick Index 2.2: TOS text- 403 373 TOS string- 2128 1845 TOS scroll- 179 177 GEM dialog- 246(434*) 241 *Benchmark with Zoom boxes turned off. As you can see, QST 3 3.00 and 2.20 were about the same in the TOS Scroll test and GEM Dialog test of Quick Index 2.2, the edge going to QST 3. When using the Ness Benchmark dialog draw test, QST 3.00 was slightly faster than 2.20 in monochrome. However, QST 3.00 scored significant increases in the TOS Text and String tests of Quick Index. Only in the color results for the Ness Benchmark, was Quick ST 2.2 faster. The QST 3 package includes a small program called Zoom Off which turns off the grow boxes that occur when a dialog box is drawn to the screen. By using this with QST 3.00, the GEM Dialog test of Quick Index jumps considerably, as it should. My system seems more snappy with Zoom Off installed, so I auto run it in my bootup sequence. This was not available with QST 2.20. QST On and Off programs are also provided that will turn the acceleration on and off. Helpful when you want to reminisce about the "good old days." QUICK ST GOODIES Another big advantage of the QST 3 package is the QST """""""""""""""" Customizer desk accessory, which allows you all sorts of neat options. You can turn QST 3 or the system zoom boxes on/off, you can choose either a normal desktop background pattern or a custom one or a picture, from the Degas, Neochrome or Prism Paint formats. There is a mouse wrap option that will allow the mouse to move offscreen and reappear on the opposite side and a mouse block feature that keeps the mouse pointer away from the drop down menus until you use the right mouse button. You can also edit the system font or fill patterns, load a custom screen font and save all your configuration settings so each time you boot, your system will take on the new look. Being a desk accessory, you can change all these features anytime. So what advantages does Quick ST 3.0 offer over earlier versions? There are many bug fixes. You don't have to juggle separate versions for color or monochrome. There are different machine specific versions, for the ST, STe and TT, so all bases are covered. Version 3 can be run from the desktop for even more speed. A whole slew of useful utilities are included, customizing options and you have a faster program than the last version. And I haven't touched on everything about Quick ST 3 or all the programs included in the package. When I consider all the new options, features, speed and additional utilities I get with Quick ST 3, I come away very impressed. Be sure to pick up a copy soon, for a Quick ST. Quick ST 3 $34.95 Branch Always Software 14150 N.E. 20th St. #302 Bellevue, WA 98007 (206) 885-5893 [*][*][*] Mel Motogawa has been hooked to his ST since 1986 and when not online, enjoys reading every ST mag he can lay his hands on. "After years of just reading messages and garnering infor- mation, I decided it was time to break out. Don't be a lurker forever, get the most out of the ST Roundtable. Ask questions online or answer the ones you can. Share the wealth!" [EOA] [FOC]////////////////////////////// FOCUS ON... / ///////////////////////////////// The Spectre/GCR Mac Emulator """""""""""""""""""""""""""" by Michael Fleming [M.FLEMING8] NOTE In issue 2.31, I reprinted a message that Michael Fleming had """" posted in the Gadgets RoundTable. I was so impressed with what Michael had to say, I asked him if he would like to rewrite it into an article format. Happily, Michael agreed. -ed.] >>> THE SPECTRE/GCR MAC EMULATOR <<< """""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""" ~ Tips For New Users ~ Here are some simple but important tips for those who've just purchased a GCR, or are considering the GCR Mac emulator for the Atari. These tips should save new GCR owners lots of trouble and time in setting up and using your new 'Mactari'. SHIELDING YOUR FLOPPY DRIVE Certain Atari ST computers seem to be """"""""""""""""""""""""""" prone to floppy disk read errors; especially the MEGA ST series. My MEGA 4 experienced lots of these when reading Atari-format floppies, and even more when reading MAC-format disks. Apparently the problem is caused by radio frequency interference (RFI) generated from the internal power supply, and shows up commonly on floppy drive A. There is a workable fix for this problem, and I would strongly suggest you look into it. The fix comes in the form of a do- it-yourself floppy drive 'shield', which will cost you a few dollars and an hour or so of your time. It consists of an aluminum housing (which can be cut from a disposable baking pan) with a few other assorted parts. Long-time GCR tester and support person Mark Booth (username=STACE) developed this shield. Download file #263 (D_SHIELD.ARC) from the GADGETS library on Genie for full instructions; almost anyone should be able to create the shield (no great technical skill required). Of course, keep in mind if you have a very new Atari that opening the computer for any reason may violate your warranty. From my personal experience, after building and installing my floppy shield, the drive has worked flawlessly with every disk I've used, which is a vast improvement. I'd recommend that you install this shield as your first step in preparing your GCR system for use. ROM CHIP TIPS Be aware that in addition to the GCR hardware/software """"""""""""" package you buy from Gadgets By Small or one of their distributors, you will need to also purchase 2 128K MAC PLUS Rom chips (Apple part numbers 342-0341 and 342-0342). These chips hold much of the MAC operating system. Gadgets does not sell these chips, but they are available from resellers of Mac parts, and from certain Atari dealers. See the GADGETS bulletin board on Genie; one of the topics under the Spectre/GCR category is entitled 'Where can I purchase Roms?'. I found some of the later entries to be very helpful, listing company names and phone numbers. The chips are easily inserted into the GCR hardware. SYSTEM SETUP Just as you would need for use with any true MAC, you """""""""""" will need a set of MAC 'System Tools' disks in order to get your new 'MAC' up and running. Some users suggest going to an Apple dealer and purchasing these System disks with their associated manuals. In my area, no local Apple dealer had the older versions of system tools on their shelves now that System 7 has been released. GCR does not yet run System 7, but does run earlier systems (still in use on many MACs). I found that even though no dealer carried the older Systems as a package to be sold with an enclosed manual, they all had archive copies of each of the older Systems. They were very willing to sell me (for $20) four floppy-disk copies of the System of my choice, minus the packaging and manual of the originals. One local dealer was willing to give me these disks as a courtesy. The point here is you should have no trouble at all finding a dealer with copies to sell you. Go to the dealer with 4 blank double- sided, double-density disks (to be formatted by the dealer during the disk copy to 800 KB MAC capacity). I recommend asking for copies of 'System Tools package 6' which contains 'System 6.0.5' and 'Finder 6.1'. You can use other systems and finders, but I find these to work very nicely. EVERYTHING YOU ALWAYS WANTED TO KNOW ABOUT THE MAC At this point, a good idea would be to """""""""""""""""""""""""""" learn more about your new Mac- how to operate it and get the most you can out of it. Especially since you will not have received a System manual as described above, a good book on the MAC is essential. I found 'The Macintosh Bible' by Sharon Zardetto Aker et al to be very helpful. Within its pages, you can easily discover lots of information about the System and Finder and many other topics. Most bookstores carry it, but try to buy from a source which also carries the associated Mac Bible floppy disks- for minimal additional cost you get 2 floppies filled with free software, shareware, and public-domain programs for the MAC. The disks are less expensive if bought with the book; technical/computer bookstores should carry the version with disks. HEAP HEAVEN Once you get your GCR up and running, one of the first """"""""""" things you should do is use a shareware program called 'Heaptools' (comes on a disk with the GCR) to increase Heap system size. This sounds pretty technical, but it is easy to do. Read the instructions which come with Heaptool. I increased my system size to 256K. Prior to doing this, I ran into a problem running certain software, but after increasing, the same software runs perfectly. Note that real MAC users must sometimes increase heap size; for GCR users this step appears to be mandatory. FINAL THOUGHTS I've been very happy with my GCR purchase. For less """""""""""""" than half the price of a low-end MAC, I have a high- powered Atari running MAC software faster and on a larger screen area than the MAC PLUS. My 'Mactari' has more RAM than a base model MAC, allowing me to run larger programs. I use Atari's laser printer, and can continue to use it during MAC emulation; if I'd bought a true MAC I would have had to purchase a new printer to go along with it, increasing the overall cost. I'm also happy with the GCR's transverter software, which makes it fairly easy to swap Atari and MAC files back and forth; something which could be more difficult or costly to achieve if I had purchased a true MAC. I hope the tips I've presented here will help first-time GCR users; I didn't have all these suggestions at hand when purchasing my GCR, and consequently I had some trouble learning to run it. Follow the above advice and you should save yourself hours of lost time trying to figure things out. Enjoy your GCR! [EOA] [DLR]////////////////////////////// DEALER VIEWPOINT / ///////////////////////////////// Anticipation and Perspective """""""""""""""""""""""""""" By Sheldon Winick [S.WINICK] Nature has a way of providing consistency and a reassuring feeling that all is well with life as it provides us with normal seasonal changes. There's a good emotional feeling that's provided as we watch these regular changes and renewals of natures life cycles. We're currently in the midst of Natures most colorful display as the Fall colors reach their peak. Of course, you folks down in sunny South Florida probably probably don't have the slightest idea what I'm talking about; you really need to get out more often and see how the rest of the world lives <grin>. The problems of everyday life seem trivial and insignificant after standing on a mountaintop and observing the grand displays of creation and natures renewals. All of us periodically need to take the time to escape from our manmade crises and problems, and allow time for our minds to put our concerns back into proper perspective. As a much wiser man than myself put it several thousand years ago: "To everything there is a season, and a time to every purpose under heaven." (Ecclestiastes 3:1) Nature's seasonal displays reinforce that statement, and leave us with a renewed spirit of self and purpose, if we can only take the time to contemplate the real important things of life and keep everything in its proper perspective. But just as we anticipate nature's seasonal cycles, we also anticipate changes that affect our everyday lives. In the Atari world, we are constantly anticipating "new" products. We all anxiously watch for every press release and announcement concerning anything Atari does, or doesn't do. We eagerly await the magazine articles that describe all the new products and rumors. We get involved in endless debates of the merits or deficiencies of various Atari products, many of which still haven't even been released. We frequently get overly involved in debates over marketing decisions made by Atari's top management and get frustrated when we feel they are making mistakes. But we must realize that our viewpoints are taken from a different perspective, sometimes, than those of Atari's management. Our opinions are important, and Atari is obviously interested in the valuable feedback we can provide, which should be obvious by their active participation here on GEnie and the other online services. But we must keep in mind that our viewpoints are only taken from our own individual perspective, and final marketing decisions need to consider the perspectives of all aspects of the marketplace. It sometimes also appears that GEnie's Atari roundtables are overly populated by Atari nay-sayers and critics. Some may have ulterior motives in their criticism, and we need to take into account not only what is being said, but who is saying it. We need to keep everything in its proper perspective. But through it all, we can't help the anxiety created by our constant anticipation of new products and desire for anything new that could result in an improved market share for our favorite computer platform. Just as nature is constantly amazing us with her seasonal changes, we enjoy the amazement and anticipation of new products for our Atari systems. And unfortunately, the time between the first rumors and the final product is always seemingly too long. The anticipation and excitement frequently turns into frustration as our patience wears thin. And that frustration is increased when we see other manufacturers beat Atari with new releases; and watch as inferior computer platforms outperform Atari at the bottom line -- sales volume and profits. We keep anticipating "The Year of Atari", but get frustrated as we see fewer Atari dealerships while the "clone" dealers are seemingly everywhere. We anxiously await the new operating systems and system enhancements, but can't help get frustrated when we watch the public get so excited about Microsoft's "new" user-friendly interface, called "Windows". We can't understand how so many computer users don't understand that Microsoft's "invention" is 5 years behind Atari and Apple, and puts so much demand on the operating system that even attempting to run it on anything less than a 386/25 system is an absurdity. And we can't help but get frustrated when we know that despite the fact that the majority of MS-DOS software doesn't even run under Windows, the American public is still so enamored over this piece of software that it can't seem to keep even that in its proper perspective. Perhaps we need to find a way temper our anticipation with a better sense of reality, and keep a better perspective on the the important things in life. Perhaps we need to remember that just because a product has been shown publicly, doesn't mean it is already in full production and ready for delivery. Perhaps we need to keep in mind that just because a manufacturer announces a new product and an anticipated shipping date, doesn't mean that nothing could possibly go wrong and delay meeting that goal. I can't help but remember meeting some of the fine folks from Atari Canada when we visited the Windsor AtariFest several months ago. And I can't help but remember the position they took regarding rumors of new and impending Atari products -- if they don't have it, it doesn't exist! Perhaps that may at first appear to be an overly simplistic attitude, but as far as the end user is concerned, it is really very true. And while we can't help but anticipate the new products, we must remember that until they appear on dealer shelves in their final form, they really don't exist for the consumer. We should also keep in mind that Atari was around back in the early days of personal computing. How many companies today can say they survived so long is such a volatile market? And how many companies have fallen by the wayside during those years? Sure, we'd all love to see our favorite Atari system better known and respected throughout the computer community. We'd love to have a quality dealer in every city of the country. And we'd love to see Atari hold a much larger market share of the industry. We can't help but wonder "what if...." situations and imagine what Atari's situation today would be "if only.....". But such anxiety doesn't help anyone. And the resulting frustration doesn't either. We can, however, anticipate the future and watch as the new management crew at Atari are willing to take the heat and learn to crawl before they walk, and walk before they run. And they have, during the past several months, been laying a solid foundation upon which they will be building the future. They are making changes that should result in an improved market position for their company. Sure there are still many problems and hurdles to overcome. But the corner has been turned, and there is a renewed spirit of cooperation and excitement eminating from Sunnyvale that hasn't been seen for a long time. Let's continue our own excitement and anticipation. But lets also remember to keep everything in its proper perspective and not blow every little rumor or announcement totally out of proportion. Let's continue to provide our friends at Atari with the benefit of our experience and opinions, as well as recommendations based on our own point of view. But let's also keep the proper perspective on their analyses and marketing decisions. Most of all, let's continue to keep enjoying our own Atari experiences and the comraderie of our fellow Atarians. Let's keep in perspective the real value of our Atari systems for our own computer "solutions" and how well suited they are for such a variety of interests and needs. Let's keep up the excitement and anticipation for the future. But most of all, let also keep the proper frame of mind and the proper perspective on whatever happenings the future brings. Happy (Atari) Computing. Sheldon Winick (GEnie Address: S.WINICK) Computer STudio (Asheville, NC) [EOA] [ELS]////////////////////////////// ST ELSEWHERE / ///////////////////////////////// Other Areas Of IntereST """"""""""""""""""""""" By Terry Quinn [T.QUINN] >>> BARGAINS IN THE HOME OFFICE ROUNDTABLE <<< """""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""" Now that you have had ST Aladdin for a month or so and have received your first bill, it's heart failure time. You have been having so much fun downloading files and playing dragons gate (Page 915) that you completely forgot to keep track of your bill. Well, believe it or not, GEnie has an answer to this problem too. It's called the Home Office Small Business Roundtable (HOSB). This Roundtable is chock full of ideas as to how to start and run your own business and not coincidentally, make money. A quick scan over this area reveals several major categories encompassing a wide variety of businesses. Are you good at Arts and Crafts? Check out "Making Creativity Pay" a category for all sorts of ways to make money on activities considered "art" including painting, ceramics and writing. Do you enjoy or consider yourself good at sales? There is an entire category about retailing as well as one about mail order (if you are not so inclined). There is even a category about multilevel marketing where you can get the lowdown on every multilevel marketing company you have ever heard of and quite a few you probably haven't. If you are good at a keyboard, you can explore the possibility of offering some sort of Secretarial Services both traditional and nontraditional (Medical Transcription). Finally, if you can't figure where else your talents fit, there is always the Consultants Corner. When you look below the surface layer, you can find advice on all sorts of fascinating subjects like Garage Manufacturing, Tax Preparation or even how to erase a bad credit history. While the advice you read is general rather than legally binding in nature, in one respect it is even more valuable; everyone there is slugging it out down in the trenches and can speak from experience. In conclusion, if you think that you can use a few extra bucks each month or need to do something more substantial (like landing a *choke* job), its well worth your effort to check out this Roundtable (page 370). It's part of GEnie*Basic services so is even more of a bargain than you could possibly imagine. [EOA] [PSS]////////////////////////////// P.S.'s / ///////////////////////////////// Get It While It's Hot! """""""""""""""""""""" by Mel Motogawa [M.MOTOGAWA] HOT FILES! While browsing through the ST Roundtable file library, I """""""""" found some files that I thought you would also find interesting. Although not a comprehensive listing by any means, I hope it will get you interested in the thousands of powerful and interesting programs in the library. They're available for just the cost of the download time. Be sure to browse the file description for memory and system requirements. [*][*][*] 21193: MD33UPGR.ARC 64128 This patch program will bring your copy of Multidesk Deluxe up to version 3.3 status. Fixes some bugs and adds some features. Also includes a new version of MDXTITLE to work with the new nested folders in the MDX directory feature. Color or mono. 21165: DD_DEMO.ARC 60160 At long last, the demo of the intriguing new program from Double Click Software, Data Diet. We've had program packing utilities for the ST for some time, but if you've long yearned for _data_ compression like the PC and Mac platforms have, here it is now! Imagine, being able to compress those big word processing, spreadsheet, database, whatever files to a fraction of their original size and still read them when you want, with no interaction from you required. The demo only works on .doc files, but gives you a good idea of what you can expect. The demo of DC Squish let's you see what compression ratios can be achieved on executable files, without really squishing them. Data Diet Tools is an all-in-one compression, decompression, file information, statistics tool for your dietized system. If your hard drive is bursting at the seams, or even if its not, you owe it to yourself to download the Data Diet demo asap! Floppy drive users can also reap benefits from Data Diet. It's the neatest thing since hard drives themselves. Color or mono. 21160: STALADBK.ARC 48000 Everything you ever wanted to know concerning writing scripts for ST Aladdin, the amazing GEnie navigator that is now up to version 1.30. (If you don't have the latest version, download it from the ST Aladdin Roundtable.) Fred Koch has thoroughly mastered the art of script writing and covers the subject in a complete fashion in this text file. A must-have if you want to get the most out of ST Aladdin's script feature. 21154: PROQUEUE.ARC 227968 VDOS Proqueue was a commercial alternative desktop program that is now being released in updated form as shareware. Looks like the GEM desktop, but has many extra features. If you're not sure about downloading it, download the small 3k text file describing VDOS Proqueue 3.0. (File #21155 VDPQSHAR.ARC.) Color or mono. 21148: LUNACY31.LZH 82304 Around Mel's Manor, game playing is a rare occurrence. Sadly, there just doesn't seem to be enough hours in the day. But I remember an earlier version of Lunacy and this file is an update that works with TOS 1.62. This is a superb tetris clone that runs in color and has many options for configuring the game. If you like tetris-like games, you'll love Lunacy. Color. 21145: REVERSIX.ARC 12800 An interesting shareware cpx that allows you to go head-to-head with your ST in a game of Reversi. I tried it in mono and low resolution. Works well and does play a mean game. 21092: GNOMPLOT.ARC 87296 If you're into astronomy, this is a night sky star plotter with a twist. It will show you the stars, but also allow you to click on a star and have the constellation it is associated with blink on and off to easily identify the whole. 1 meg., mono required. 21087: MEGACK_M.LZH 92928 21085: MEGACHEK.LZH 93312 These are updates of the powerful Mega Check checkbook program. You may gasp when you see the main screen and check the menus. With over 100 functions, 90 user-defineable functions and check printing built-in, you won't want for features. Now available in color (file #21087), you can tell much thought went into this application. A very worthy checkbook/finance program. Registering the program will get you a validation file to unlock the 30 record limit. One meg. required. 21060: FZT_DEMO.LZH 232960 There seems to be a real proliferation of terminal programs for the ST. Public domain, shareware and commercial. FZT is a new shareware terminal program that is packed with an impressive number of features. To list a few: unique interface, XYZmodem support with the ability to add additional protocols, auto start receiving or sending on transfers, custom fonts, arc/lzh/zip shell and tons more. If you're shopping for a new terminal program, this is definitely one to consider. The program especially looks great in medium resolution. Mono or medium resolution. [EOA] [SYS]////////////////////////////// SYSOP'S CORNER / ///////////////////////////////// ST RoundTable News """""""""""""""""" By Darlah Pine [DARLAH] (intro by John Peters) [GENIELAMP] o BUYERS/SELLERS: Read This! o WHO ARE WE? GEnie ST RoundTable SysOps >>> BUYERS/SELLERS POLICIES & PROCEDURES <<< """""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""" Are you thinking about buying some used ST equipment? Perhaps you have some rarely used equipment laying around that you would like to sell. If so, the ST RoundTable has specific areas set aside just for that purpose. In the bulletin boards area, it's Category 27. In the library, it's Library #26. Many people have had great results from posting here or by responding to an ad. It's a great way to get the word out to the general Atari world. However, like everything else, there's bad along with the good, and whether you are a seller or a buyer, there are some things you should think about before posting a "for sale" ad or when you respond to an online ad. o Don't forget to determine 'who' pays the shipping and handling. If it is not explicitly decided and agreed to beforehand, it is usually the receiver who gets to pay the shipping and handling charges. o Consider getting any implied warranty or guarantee of suitability or fitness *IN WRITING*. Insist that the seller include his/her full name and address in that warranty as well, and then include the seller's supplied address ON the check or money-order. Also include on the memo line of a check or money-order specifically what items are being paid for. SELLERS When shipping multiple items via COD, always try to package """"""" everything in ONE carton if possible. If this is not feasible, be sure to fill out SEPARATE forms and labeling for each package, and be sure to divide the COD dollar amount between the packages relative to, or according to the *VALUE* of the items contained within each package! Do NOT simply divide the total COD amount by the total number of packages being shipped. The reasoning for this is because a person taking delivery of an order can take only *partial* delivery and REFUSE a specific package in a multiple package shipment. EXAMPLE Joe agrees to sell Bob a hard drive and a laser printer """"""" for $1000. Joe packages the the two items in to two separate cartons, and makes the COD labels out for $500 each. When they arrive at Bob's door, Bob picks up one box, and realizes it is fairly light, and figures the hard drive is in one box and the printer must be in the other box. However, Joe made out the the COD amounts for each at $500 each. Now if Bob were an unscrupulous person, he *could* take delivery of the 'heavier' box *only* (obviously the laser printer), and refuse shipment of the light box,(hard drive) and get an laser printer for only $500. Furthermore, Joe would have little, if any, legal recourse since the receiver can refuse to take delivery of any portion of a multiple package shipment. INSURANCE!!!! Don't forget to insure items of value exceeding $100 """"""""""""" (For most carriers). Furthermore, make YOURSELF the beneficiary of any insurance payments, should your items be damaged in shipping, NOT the receiving party!. I know of more than one individual who ended up with nothing, while the intended receiver got an insurance check... HERE ARE THE RULES Atari ST Bulletin Board Category 27: For Sale/ """""""""""""""""" Wanted library 26 - The *Atari ST* Classifieds - For Sale & Wanted Areas o No commercial ads here without prior consent of DARLAH. o Messages posted here are subject to purging after 30 days. It is recommended that you delete your message when your ad is no longer viable. o Any unlawful copies of software offered for sale here shall meet the full wrath of DARLAH. o Be Nice, and Be Fair. Any who are not are subject to above noted wrath. o Before posting an ad, be sure to read topic 1 for any updates and/or revisions to our policies regarding this category. o No ads accepted for anything except Atari related hardware/ software o You MUST delete your ad after it is no longer needed o Files uploaded to the software library CANNOT be in 7 bit format o Everyone is advised to proceed warily in dealing with people you do not know - neither the *Atari ST* or GEnie can determine the validity of postings here - nor can any guarantee about the performance of individuals be given from the *Atari ST* or GEnie. Above mentioned wrath will be applied in any cases of fraud which stem from this public service. DISCLAIMER This category is provided for the convenience and use of """""""""" the *Atari ST* members in advertising used Atari specific and related items. Although the *Atari ST* staff will take reasonable measures against fraudulent or illegal use of this category, GEnie, and or the staff and management of this RoundTable are no way liable for unsatisfactory merchandise purchased through an ad in this category, nor do we make any claims regarding the suitability or fitness of any advertised item in this category. It is obligatory on the buyer to establish suitability of an advertised item before purchasing. Furthermore, it is also obligatory on the buyer to verify all terms and conditions of a sale with the advertiser before taking delivery of item(s) advertised in this category. By terms and conditions, we are referring to item(s) listed for sale, price, method of delivery, insurance on delivered items, cost of delivery, etc. >>> WHO ARE WE? <<< """"""""""""""""""" HAVE A QUESTION? If you have a question about GEnie, the RoundTables """""""""""""""" or whatever, you can now ask a SysOp! Post your question in the GEnie Lamp bulletin board, CAT 34. o Darlah J. Pine [DARLAH] o Sandy Wilson [SANDY.W] o Jeff Williams [JEFF.W] o Fred Beckman [FB] o Larry Duke [LARRY.D] o John J. Kennedy [JJKENNEDY] o John Peters [GENIELAMP] o Vince Averello [VINCE.A] o Nathan Potechin [ISD] [EOA] [SMA]////////////////////////////// SMALL TALK / ///////////////////////////////// David Small Online! """"""""""""""""""" By Dave Small [DAVESMALL] >>> 16 Mhz 68000 ACCELERATORS VS. 16 MHZ 68030 ACCELERATORS <<< """"""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""" This one bothers me a lot. First, there's a LOT of apples-oranges comparisons - - fastram and caches are two different creatures! Second, it is extremely vague for someone to say that while the 68030 SST whallops a board in benchmarks, it doesn't in "real world" applications. This is extremely nebulous, and typlifies much of the which-accel-board debate going on. The 68030 is an optimized 68000 in many ways. For instance, in shift operates, it just walks all over the 68000's 6+2n cycles per n shifts, because the 030 has a barrel shifter (means, "speed"). I typically see the 68030 running at 17 times the speed of the ST's 68000, when running the 68030 at the VERY slow clockrate of 16 Mhz. At 32 Mhz, where I am used to hanging out, it's 34 times faster. Third, the two people asserting that a 16 Mhz 68000 accelerator will outrun a 16 Mhz 68030 *sell* 16 Mhz 68000 accelerators. There is an of-course interest in making their accelerators look good. My feeling is that the 68030 will walk all over a 68000, at the same Mhz rate, *given that it is fed properly*. This is the key, that we discovered through a lot of work, here at Gadgets, to making the SST really *move*; when I can execute 4 megabytes worth of solid program in less than half a second, which I can easily on a stock SST, that is moving really, really fast. (Mileages vary, but we're easily up around 10-12 times faster than an ST). I did a review of 16 Mhz 68000 accelerators for START magazine a bit ago. (I picked Jim Allen's as the fastest, by the way). If you take a straight 16-Mhz 68000, stick it into the ST without any help, and do benchmarks, you find only about a 10% speed increase, and that only because of a fluke in the ST memory cycles. The problem? The thing is starving for instructions! The ST and its memory architecture forces an 8 mhz clockrate on ST memory, PERIOD. This is extremely difficult to change at the ST level -- it's built into many of the big ST VLSI chips. So, the reason you see that 16 Mhz 68000 running so blasted slow, not twice as fast as you'd expect, is it is sitting around most of the time trying to get the next instruction from memory. This is like taking an engine, and not giving it anywhere near enough carburetion: the engine cannot get NEAR enough gasoline and air to perform to spec. Car nuts call carbs 1, 2, or 4 "barrel"; each "barrel" is one mixing- area, and the more barrels, in general, the more the engine can pull in, and the more the engine is potentially capable of. The ST's memory system is strictly a 1-barrel carb outfit. Those doubting should take the JRI "JATO" accelerator and test it. It is this exactly and gives you 10%. I tested it for START. I do want to commend the price on it, though, an ultra-fair $99. When you want to accelerate the 16 Mhz 68000's, you need to add a 2-barrel carb; only THEN can the engine get enough into it to start putting out horsepower. So, to add a 2-barrel carb in my analogy to the 16 Mhz 68000's, you add a "cache". (I am not disclosing any trade secrets here to my knowledge). A "cache" is a small *static* (means, expensive, high speed, and darn tiny) RAM chip, with a special governor chip. Whenever you hit 8-Mhz memory, with the 1- barrel carb that the ST forces you to, the ST data is stored in the cache. The key thing comes NEXT ACCESS! During the next access, instead of hitting the ST RAM at 8 Mhz (1 barrel), the cache steps in, says, "ahem! I have that data right here!" (somewhere in its 16,384 bytes of stored data), and feeds the data into the 16 MHZ 68000 at 16 Mhz -- truly 2 barrel carb speed. The 68000 sighs gratefully, does NOT have to wait on ST RAM, and goes faster. Why does this matter? Because most programs "loop" here and there. They re- execute the same instructions over and over; it's a common programming practice. The first time through a multiple-repeat-loop, yeah, you run at 8 mhz; oh well. The SECOND time through, it's been cache-stored, the second barrel of the carb kicks in, and you're zinging along at 16 Mhz. Another help is with ST video RAM. Video RAM is also 8 Mhz RAM, and is the memory out of which your ST's video image is built out of, 60 or 70 times a second. (This is *so d*mn intensive a process that indeed the ST really has 16 Mhz memory, split HALFWAY between video, and CPU -- it beats the ST *to death* just to display that image up there.) Much ST animation, say the popular "Boink!" program, involves moving video. If you can have that video-to-be- moved partly stored in cache, so much the better; you don't have to fetch it from memory at 8 Mhz (and wait and wait....) and store it at 8 (and wait and wait...). Caches are EXTREMELY popular when main memory is really expensive. You don't get all the performance of high speed main memory, but you do get a lot of it. When I wrote the START article, the Fast-Tech board was best (NOTE: ICD was not on-market yet!!), and gave about a true 12 Mhz performance; this reflects the mix of 8 and 16 Mhz opcodes and memory stuff happening. In my analogy, the second barrel of that carb was open, on average, about half the time. THIS WAS "REAL WORLD" TESTING, NOT Q-INDEX or anything else!! See the START article. Both ICD and FastTech have upped their speed a bit on the 16 Mhz accelerators, I believe around 10%, but I do not know the exact %. That cache RAM has a problem, see ... it is only 16,000 bytes. Your ST is from 512,000 to 4,096,000 (4 million) bytes. The cache is frankly forever discarding old, relatively unused entries in favor of the ones getting used, and as you can see, it's "hitting" on about half the cycles on average. (If it hit 100%, we would see true 16 Mhz performance; we don't.) The "hit rate", or # of cycles the cache finds a stored entry vs. # of times you have to hit doggo ST memory, is a tricky thing, and much research has gone into the "ideal" cache size (and not only in ST machines!) I have an 80386SX accelerator that works this exact same way in my AT&T 6300 PC clone. It, too, uses a 16,384 (16K) cache -- BUT, they give you the option to expand the cache to 64K. Then, they tell you in the manual that frankly, you should not bother -- you're not going to get that many more "hits". So, you see, the cached accelerators are VERY dependent on what software you run. They LOVE nice tight loops that load into the cache, so they don't have to touch ST memory! They HATE code that executes straight-though, without looping, because of all that time spent storing away stuff that ultimately has to be dumped; look, a 16K cache is ONLY 0.004 (0.4 percent) the size of a 4 meg ST! That means that data is going through the cache faster than Montezuma's Revenge. So we come to Quick Index, which everyone seems to think has SOME place in the benchmarking world. In all honesty, I see it being referred to when it says something nice about product A, and being slagged when it says something nice about product A (A being any of several products). Let's look at a 16K cached 16 Mhz 68000 accelerator's results, in this case an ICD AdSpeed. I have read repeatedly online that its performance is VERY close to that of the FastTech Turbo-16; I do not know which is faster, either. CPU Memory: 163% CPU Register: 203% (Here's our 2 x speed from cache) CPU Divide: 202% (same) CPU Shift: 206% (etc). You get the idea? In this benchmark, we are just running a loop, that fits wonderfully inside the 16K cache, and thus runs at twice ST speed at 16 Mhz. In the "Real World" I see referred to, it's more like around 150%-160%, depending on exactly what you're doing; it WILL vary from application to application. If you zap the cache, take the ST's numbers (all 100%) and add maybe 10% to them. That's killing the second barrel of the carb. Now the 68000 series of chip is "16 bit"; it likes inhaling gas and air mixture 16 bits, or two bytes (two characters) at a time. You can see how nicely this matches up with ST memory, which is also 16-bit (although no one ever probably mentioned this to you). Okay, now the part you're looking forward to (?). The 68030 is a next-generation 68000. Many instructions are optimized, as I mentioned before -- shifts are 17 X faster !! -- and so forth. The 68030 has, built INTO the chip, a 256 byte cache for instructions, and 256 bytes for data. These compare pretty directly to the 16,384 byte caches used in the Turbo-16 and in the ICD AdSpeed. Now, you may think that 256 bytes isn't enough to cache much, but you'd be surprised; I see terrific performance gains just from snapping the cache on, with nothing else! For instance, when you double click on a disk icon, you can't even *see* the "growing window" animation -- I mean, SNAP, it is open. That's because the window animation stuff fits into 256 bytes of onboard cache. Again, if you don't have to hit ST memory, you SCREAM. The 68030 also does "pipelining". It has a chunk of silicon whose sole job is to grab instructions and stuff them into the 68030's waiting-to-do line, so the actual CPU never (ideally) has to wait on stuff. Okay, let's stuff a 68030 SST into the Atari, and switch off the caches -- make it breathe from a 1 barrel carb, ST memory. (Turning off the cache is a menu pull down item, right where you are used to seeing Blitter ON/OFF, and is ALSO a CPX control-panel item!) You get EXACTLY what we would expect out of Q-Index, and in this case, out of programs. Oh, sure, some opcodes that are optimized for the 030 run faster, but it isn't enough to make a big dent. We see right around 1 X (not a typo -- exactly ST speed, +/- 10% for various arcane reasons)! Again, we are *starving* the 68030. Even if I run it at 40 Mhz, which a whole lotta people are shortly gonna be running at, if you starve it from ST memory, you're hurting. You won't make 55 MPH. So, let's do a SORT-OF apples-to-apples comparison between the ICD AdSpeed, with its 16-bit cache, and the SST, with its 256/256 byte caches. Note this is unfair; the ICD has 32 times the cache size! We are doing this DELIBERATELY without "FastRAM", which I have not discussed yet. Here are the results: Again, Q-Index. Reality "in the real world" seems to be about 150% in speed on the AdSpeedQ-Index shows 200%. I don't really know where the 68030 compares in there. AGAIN, WE ARE CRIPPLING THE 68030 IN THIS TEST; the 68030 *wants* a 4-barrel carb. It is known as a "32 bit" processor, likes dealing with 4 bytes at a time, and folks, I'm here to tell ya, it detests going down to ST memory speeds. (The 68030 internal cache is 4-barrel *to the max*!) ICD Adspeed SST 68030, no fastRAM (both w/ cache(s) on CPU Memory: 163% 357% CPU Register: 203% 410% CPU Divide: 202% 515% CPU Shift: 206% 1767% (see note) (Note: The barrel shifter of the 68030 gives the 68030 an extreme advantage over the 68000 chip. That's progress. I do not consider 17 times the performance of the 68000 to be a "fair" estimate of how fast the 030 averages over the 68000. In what I call a typical SST configuration, you'll see more like 8-12 times, depending on a lot of things.) As you can see, the 4-barrel carb of the 68030's internal instruction cache stuffing instructions into the 68030, and the data cache doing the same, is giving, well, plus or minus, 2 X the performance of the 2-barrel carb of the AdSpeed ... I mean, more-or-less averaging and I am not trying to be exact, but the average of those numbers is 427%, DISCARDING THE 1767 FIGURE FIRST !! (Hey, 427 -- a favorite engine size of mine!) Now, if we have a program that fits all nice and proper inside the 256 byte instruction cache for its time-critical stuff, then the 68030 is going to walk *all over* the 68000: see above numbers. If the program's inner magic is bigger than 256 bytes, but less than 16K bytes, then probably we will see the ICD board coming off its 2-barrel cache, and the SST coming off its 1-barrel from-ST-RAM (gack!). In that case, I would expect the SST to lose. If the inner magic is bigger than 16K, and it doesn't loop much, both boards are going to be running out of ST RAM so much you ain't gonna see much at all over ST speed, period. *IT ALL DEPENDS ON THE PROGRAM!!!!* Now do you see why I feel so uneasy when someone who *sells* a 16K 68000 accelerator, who has a vested interest in making it look good, says flatly that they think it'll outrun the SST? In truth, it depends on the case. Q- Index will sure show the SST winning; that's the 4- barrel internal cache, max efficiency, showing. The Turbo-020 was brought up. This board is a 68000 clocking along at 20 Mhz. In recent discussions with its creator I talked about Mac benchmarks. Remember how the "16 Mhz" T-16 gave about 12 Mhz performance? Well, the T-020 gave about 16 Mhz performance, and I checked on it, because I thought it was Spectre spazzing out on Mac benchmarks. Well, no; T-020 *averages* 16 Mhz performance. It is difficult to extrapolate from Q-Index, but I feel EXTREMELY uneasy with the flat assertion that even a 20 Mhz T-020 would "beat", so to speak, a 16 Mhz 68030. Let me plug in my T-020 and I will put in the numbers next note. (This is a NEW, just-opened-the-plastic T-020, ok?) T-020, 16K cache SST, 256/256 cache CPU Memory: 197% 357% CPU Register: 254% 410% CPU Divide: 254% 515% CPU Shift: 259% 1767% Again, discarding the 1767% shifter value FIRST since I do not consider it fair in comparison (although it sure is nice in certain things!!), the SST is *averaging* 427% compared to the T-020, which is *averaging* 241%. The SST is 1.77 times faster running in its slowest MHZ, most crippled mode (eg, no fast RAM). Are you seeing why I get so uneasy at these flat assertions that cached 68000- style accelerators are "faster" than the SST "in the real world"? Again, PLEASE do not consider Q-Index to be the end-all of benchmarks. It was not designed to be -- although, its results ARE rather interesting! Now really, the T-16/20 and ICD AdSpeed are not upgradeable in the field, to my knowledge. (Tom, Jim: correct me if I am wrong.) I have never heard of an upgrade other than bugfixes and that sorta fun. Now let me tell you why the SST screams so fast, really, no kidding, now that I've laid the groundwork of caches and 16/32 bit and 8 Mhz ST RAM. Would you keep in mind that this knowledge cost a LOT of money? It is really expensive to come up with a theory and test it via breadboard when you're messing around with this stuff. (I don't think George or Jim would have any problem with me saying this, nor Tom at ICD). An odd thing happened in 1989-1991: Memory prices fell through the basement. Remember those 16,000 (16K) memory boards for your 8-bit? They cost, I believe, $199; I had to buy some. And I think the 128K RAMDISK board from (I forget the name) cost over a thousand dollars; I reviewed it for Creative Computing ... Nowadays, a MEGABYTE -- 1,048,576 bytes, to be precise -- will cost you roughly thirty bucks if you pick up a MacWeek and find out that the Chip Merchant in San Diego has the best prices you're gonna find. That is for, quote, 80 nanosecond, page mode, SIMM memory, 8-bit, unquote. It is unbelievable. Remember, part of the reason that caches came into be (not all!) is that memory cost so dadblamed much, and it was MUCH more bang-for-buck to get, say, 50% improvement in performance (like T-16/20 or ICD AdSpeed) for the cost of that 16,284 byte static RAM chip. Folks, THOSE chips have NOT come down in price ANYTHING like "dynamic RAM", the above 1 megabyte stuff I'm talking about. Those statics cost a good chunk of the T-16 board. I don't know if Jim is willing to post what he's getting them at, but perhaps he could give a ballpark figure in the interests of educating everybody. (Look, retail price for buy-1-part is available in any RAM pricing catalog; we all know the accelerator companies are getting a better price because they buy more at a chunk, so they get a quantity discount.) Okay, now we get to what I consider a "properly" rigged out SST -- namely, one with fast RAM. I mean, you don't drop a heavy-duty V8 into a car and then stick a 11 barrel carb on it! The idea is performance, ear-bleeding acceleration, traffic tickets, funun! You *carefully balance* the carb and the engine. As any rodder will tell you, if you put too much carb on an engine, you're in deep trouble; it'll cough, die, and so forth, be a bitch to drive in stop-and-go traffic, and a REAL pain. (Ask me how I know this.) For you gear-heads, the air-fuel mixture drops below a certain velocity when you over-carb, the gasoline component condenses on the walls of the intake manifold, and your cylinders get leaned out or pure air -- choke, spit, backfire, die. Also, you *carefully balance* the engine to the vehicle. An overpowered car is no fun, it is plain scary; you have to override your reflexes to "punch it" lest you just spin the tires, or (worse) go off the road. Similarly, an underpowered car isn't much fun on entrance ramps and stuff. So what we did with the SST is carefully examine the COST of a cache, versus what it would give us. Then we took note of the rapidly falling price of memory, thought about it -- and said, "What can we do with a pure-RAM setup? No cache (except the 68030's own built-in)?" The answer surprised us a *lot*. We found that, in our best judgement, a cache was not cost effective. People, this IS the *ST* market, "power without the price", right? And the static RAM chips are awfully pricey. Let's look --To implement, let's say, a typical 16K cache requires FOUR 8K static RAM chip, plus a complex chip to manage everything. Two of the 8K static chips are the actual cache. Were you wondering how on earth the cache kept track of which *address* was stored? You guessed it: the other two 8K chips. That's 32K in static RAM total. (This is why ads for accelerators say "32K of static memory" when in reality you're getting 16K of cache; the other 16K is needed to make the 16K-real-cache work!) Add to this some logic that gives me nightmares to implement the cache. If you think about it, this is no joke. Ya gotta discard old entries... read in new ones ... you must make *certain* that no joker in the deck is going to make the cache inconsistent with ST memory (instant disaster!) and so forth. And then I looked at a 1 megabyte, REALLY fast dynamic RAM chip, not 8,192 bytes long, but a FULL one megabyte ... and compared prices. Wheels turned in mine and George's head. Remember how I said the 68030 is a 4-barrel carb, or "32-bit" chip? When you want to drive the 68030 at 100%, you feed it things 4 bytes -at a time-; it annoys the 68030 to have to only get 2 at a time (and you lose performance). We took four 1-meg chips, each of which stores one byte, put them side-by- side, and GOT 32-bits across. When going to this memory, the 68030 could see, "Me Want 32 Bits", hit the whole memory array ONCE, and all four memory chip/SIMMS would cough up a byte AT THE SAME TIME for 32-bits total. The 68030 smiled on that a WHOLE bunch! This RAM *must* be 100% dedicated to the 68030. In regular ST memory, you will remember, fully half the RAM's capability drives video. No way in SST RAM / FastRAM; you want the 68030 to get the 32-bits it wants -right now-, not have to wait for video or somesuch silliness. We're talking about a hotrod here. So you end up with two TYPES of RAM: 16-bit RAM, which the ST's 68000 likes, and which it shares 50-50 with video, and 32-bit RAM, which is FULLY DEDICATED to a voracious 68030. Does this sound familiar? You bet it does. *Atari did the same thing*. (You may be interested to know that we settled on this design BEFORE we knew how the TT was layed out ... and we and Atari reached the same conclusion.) Atari's "TT RAM" is fast-RAM, feeds the 68030 32-bits at a time. Atari stocks TT's with a 4 meg ST and 4 meg TT RAM on separate boards (they must be), and there are supposed to be 16 meg TT RAM boards, according to the Richard Miller conference, although I have never seen one. Now I do get enthusiastic about things, so I hope you'll bear with me. But given that SST RAM is *such* an integral part of the SST design, of power- without-pricey-cache-RAM, and given that we don't honestly think we're giving up performance because of what Motorola gave us, let me ask you this: Is it fair to compare an SST without fastRAM, without its carb, to an ICD or T- 16/020 WITH its internal onboard cache? I don't think so. That's comparing a deliberately crippled SST to a fully operational 68000 board. And even so, the SST has a tendency to win -- which is really Motorola at work. The 030 is many generations past the 68000. I want to also emphasize that the SST is *USER* upgradeable, whenever you want. You DON'T have to send the thing to us! Whenever you feel like it, you can turn up the speed. I am a big believer in this because I live on a salary too, and I know what its like to buy something, then upgrade it. I don't want to stick you with the cost of a full, maxxed-out SST which your salary may not be able to afford, if I can help you get what you want *over time*, when *you* feel you can afford it. In the Gadgets RT, our own inimitable Mark Booth has already posted Alternate Sources where you can get *better prices* on some chips we sell. We're happy to do this. For instance, we price RAM rather highly. We do this on purpose. WE DO NOT WANT TO BE IN THE RAM BUSINESS! This is a ferocious, dog-eat-dog business -- check out the RAM ads in any computer magazines! What we want to do is get you started, then let you populate your board the way YOU want, not force you to do it OUR way. One of the reasons the Apple II and the IBM PC were so popular was that they had slots and could be populated, customized, according to a user's needs. I feel strongly that's the way to go, and that is the SST's design. [Heck, we only SELL RAM chips so that a) if you can't find them you can still get them and b) so you KNOW those chips work. Some chips are "pulls" from computers, used, which I have little problem with -- but, yes, they can be dead, and returns are a hassle.] Now do you see why I feel that comparing the SST, which is expandable in many ways, to a no-expansion-possible 68000 accelerator is an apples-and-oranges comparison? You can setup an SST into a computer that is REAL definitely 1990's competitive, that'll blow the socks off darn near anything else there IS, and you can even do it in easy steps that don't kill your wallet. The lowest possible price SST will still make you sit up in your chair when you first switch it on, as the Q-Index sorta indicates; even at worst, if it ONLY matches a AdSpeed, I mean, that's a Worst? And from there it's up to you to expand however you like. The manual gives some suggested routes that are easy on the wallet, as does Mark Booth. (Users are advised that Mark knows where to get the best price on anything technological in Southern California). And that same low-priced SST can be upgraded, without ONCE sending it back to us, to the absolute top of the line, unbelievable screamer we'll show at WAACE. There are a few RARELY discussed things about 68030 boards that you really ought to consider. It bothers me that they haven't got more discussion, because I don't want to see hacked-off buyers that are having problems. - Compatibility You bought an accelerator to run your PRESENT SOFTWARE faster, right? What if that software breaks on your fire-breathing accelerator? What was the point? Sure, you can ask the manufacturer, who maybe went out of business a year ago, to "fix" the software to TT spec, and I can tell you how much luck you'll get. People that have followed the Spectre / GCR Mac emulators know how I feel about compatibility. I DO NOT write, say, Microsoft, and say, "Oh, please, would you fix the check for the Radius Full Page Display" that is crashing the ST? I fix it in Spectre, so you can run it. I have a similar attitude towards ST software. And you would be very surprised at how much of the Spectre R&D turns out to apply directly to the SST. It's nice to grab already-debugged code and re-use it. I don't wait for someone to (if ever) upgrade to TT spec. This is no joke. There are significant differences in things like stack frame sizes, interrupt handling, user-mode legal instructions, and particularly 24- bit mode. Right now, to the best of my knowledge, the SST will run out of the box more ST software than any other 68030'd ST. Right now, to the best of my knowledge, the SST will run "programs that everyone knows are impossible to run on a 68030". I mean, heck, it's impossible to run Mac software on the ST; everyone knows that! HiSoft's DevPak has this *nice* clip & paste utility for moving Spectre compatibility code to the SST software ... I'm tempted to give away some more compatibility problems and their solutions, to prove with facts I know what I'm doing. (Any look at a 68030 manual will verify what I say about burst mode, etc). However, I'm just wrapping up some code that ought to greatly increase compatibility with programs that absolutely, impossibly cannot run on the 68030. I am strongly tempted to make up a test disk for 030 accelerator makers and see if they can run the same programs the SST can. [*][*][*] Well, there you have it. I don't think the SST is getting a fair comparison from its two competitors, both of whom are known to be bringing 68030 accelerators out in addition to their 68000 line. I've told the best I can exactly why I don't think this is fair, why the SST is setup for fastRAM, and why I think this is a good thing. I've given about as much design philosophy as I can. And people, this information has cost me a great deal of GCR-made money and time to learn; I'm giving it away here. Sure, I'm "biased" towards the SST (as another SST was accused of). Is that a big surprise? What I am seeing is disinformation (e.g., comparing cached 68000 accelerators to SST's without even fastRAM!) that I consider no-fair. What we *are* comparing here is performance for the price, which is a lot of what the ST is all about. I feel that by perceiving the reality of falling D- RAM prices, by a lot of hard work, by letting you use the most common RAM modules (hence, the most competitively priced!), by working hard on compatibility, we are giving you the best you can get. Finally, in the recent Z-Net, there's a faceoff between two of the 68030 accelerators in the market. I can see that I did not do a good job of informing the reporter (John Nagy) about some tech details of the board and the realities of RAM pricing. I invite you to read it and check it out. Essentially, with the burstmode design and fastRAM, but only running at 33 MHZ, we outperformed a cache design running at 40 MHZ. Folks, that is giving a 17.5% headstart to the competition, and we still won. That's for me confirmation of all the timing tables we worked out so long ago, and backing George in his design -- and watching burstmode, done the way we did it (standard, cheap chips *you* can afford) do its thing. 'nuff. Questions are welcome. I release copyright on this post on condition that reprints not be edited, as I'd like to help educate the user base on what a cache does and what, say, 32- bit fastRAM *is*. There is a real lack of understanding in what these boards do, and I'd like to help with that. Sure, I believe in the SST -- but that doesn't mean there isn't some good information within. Note: GEnie itself imposes some reprinting restrictions. -- thanks, Dave Small Gadgets by Small, Inc. [EOA] [LYN]////////////////////////////// LINKING UP WITH LYNX / ///////////////////////////////// Handheld Game Power! """""""""""""""""""" o NEW GAMES: And They're HOT! o LYNX ODDS & ENDS "Todd, How do you like the game? There's so many new games out I can't decide what I want next. Was that me complaining of too many games?:-)" (REALM, CAT36, TOP12, MSG:6/M475) >>> NEW LYNX GAMES OUT! <<< """"""""""""""""""""""""""" TURBO SUB OUT! Just picked up Turbo Sub. Pretty cool. The graphics """""""""""""" and sound are good but there is a noticeable slowdown when there is a lot of stuff on the screen. -Aric Friesen (A.FRIESEN, CAT36, TOP2, MSG:115/M475) >>>>> Hi! I just picked up "Turbo Sub" today also. The graphics and """"" sound are great! The game play isn't bad, but I found it too easy for my tastes. After playing it for 5 times, I think I got to the end (I believe level 17 is the last?). It's the level you go up into outer space and go against the "Big Purple Ship". :) I wish they made it a lot harder. But, it does show off the Lynx's graphic capabilities. (BARBARIAN, CAT36, TOP2, MSG:117/M475) >>>>> I like it... every once in a while, you just need to play a game """"" where you just blow off some steam and not have to think much. Turbo Sub fits this need just right... plus the great graphics don't hurt either. (ROBO, CAT36, TOP14, MSG:2/M475) >>>>> I really like the fact that Turbo Sub is a good game for just """"" sitting down and playing to kill a few minutes. So many games anymore are so deep that you have to have at least 1/2 hour to play them. I like the "quick and dirty" shoot em ups where if you have five minutes to kill, you can have five minutes of fun playing a mindless game. Turbo Sub is good for that. -Aric Friesen (A.FRIESEN, CAT36, TOP2, MSG:124/M475) SCRAPYARD DOG TOO? Well, Scrapyard Dog showed up at the store today. """""""""""""""""" I havn't gotten to play it too much yet. But so far I like what I have seen. So far the game seems very good. Surprises hidden EVERYWHERE! (M.KENNEDY3, CAT36, TOP12, MSG:1-3/M475) >>>>> Scrapyard Dog is a great game! There are six levels, and each """"" level consists of four rounds with an extra-difficult henchman at the end of each level. There are things to climb/jump on and in everywhere, and a large variety of enemies to kill or avoid. Here's what I've seen so far: Level 1 - The Junkyard This level has evil rats, cats, birds, and gun- """""""""""""""""""""" toting dogs to harass you at every turn. Mountains of garbage, old tires, trash cans, boxes, toilets, appliances, and other stuff abound. Three secret rooms and a few shops are also hidden about the place. There is also a warp to level 3. Level 2 - The City This level has some of the same baddies as level 1, """""""""""""""""" plus falling pots, opening windows, and, when you get to the sewer section, snakes and deadly water. You can climb on window sills, mailboxes, lamp posts, parking meters, and other stuff up and down (and below) the street. There is also a warp to level ? (the Desert). Level 3 - The Forest Bees, killer rabbits, gnomes, shooting flowers, """""""""""""""""""" and more snakes add to the enemies on this level. You can run around on the ground, jumping on logs and over holes, or you can climb into the trees, but watch out for the birds. Level ? - The Desert Guess what? More snakes! Plus vultures, tumble- """""""""""""""""""" weeds, and more. This level is tough! Judging from the picture on the front of the box, I would guess that the last two levels are a mountain/cave, and a castle. The graphics are excellent. Nice, colorful, detailed backgrounds with lots of different stuff on each level. There are hidden bonuses _everywhere_! The sound is good. There's a tune that plays in the background throughout the game (but it can be turned off), which changes quite a bit as you go. There are also a few sound effects, mostly shots, crashes, etc. which aren't digitized or anything, but they do the job. All in all, Atari did a fantastic job on this one! Would I buy a Scrapyard Dog 2 ? Yes, definitely. Oops, a video game review without the 'a' word ? Okay, I'll say it. Scrapyard Dog is ADDICTING! (M.S.JACKSON, CAT36, TOP12, MSG:7/M475) EASTER EGGS? Well, on my first night playing this great game I have """""""""""" managed to find a easter egg.. You can get free shields.. (pretty easy to find this easter egg too, although it took me a while to perfect how I did it).. See if you guys can find it out.. Also there SHOULD be a level skip in this game, I have not found this, but I am pretty sure it is in there.. It was in there at Winter CES, and I believe Steve Tyno (Producer of the game) stated that there will be a level skip in it. So start hunting!!! -Todd (Gamers Forum BBS 602-897-7828) (T.ELLERING, CAT36, TOP12, MSG:5/M475) AND CHECKERED FLAG? Psssttt!! I heard that Checkered Flag is in the """"""""""""""""""" warehouse and should be making it's way to the stores now. Pass it on. (D.MCNAMEE, CAT36, TOP5, MSG:176/M475) >>>>> Checkered Flag isn't on the way...it's out! Bought one """"" tonight! Well, a friend and I picked up Checkered Flag tonight. Nice graphics. The "Gentlemen Start your Engines" sounds great. And... the cars pass you in STEREO if you are using the new Lynx! (M.KENNEDY3, CAT36, TOP5/15, MSG:178/1/M475) >>>>> I played Checkered Flag (I didn't buy it yet-I'm saving my money """"" for CyberBall, Hard Drivn', and STUN Runner-I'll have someone get me Checkered Flag for Christmas <he he>) Anyway, it looked prettye cool, but... It takes some getting used to (ala Road Blasters?) as we have seen before, it is hard to drive a car with a joypad (also-Atari programmers seem to have more of a problem with that than others-I have played other driving games on many other systems with joypads/joysticks and none of them were as difficult to get used to as the Lynx's driving games). Also, you can Lynx 6 people for racing competition and also have the computer throw in up to 9 drone cars. I noticed a slowdown in game speed when there were 9 other cars on the track as opposed to only yours. Also, the game wasn't annoyingly easy (that's a plus!) Often driving games are made way too easy (RoadBlasters anyone?) I also say Scrapyard Dog-didn't play it. It looked like it had pretty good graphics, but I don't know about playability. -Aric Friesen (A.FRIESEN, CAT36, TOP5, MSG:189/M475) >>>>> If you liked Pole Position, you'll love Checkered Flag. """"" Basically it's Pole Position with customizable features. The side mirrors are nicely- done but you're too busy looking ahead to watch them. The billboards from Pole Position are also there - apparently they're for Lynx games to come - "Awesome Golf", "Grid Runner", "Baseball Heroes", "Cyberball", etc. Definitely a must buy if you're into driving games!! (T.CHAPMAN2, CAT36, TOP15, MSG:7/M475) >>> LYNX ODDS & ENDS <<< """""""""""""""""""""""" LYNX INSIDER MOVES ON Hi guys! Yes... It is true. I am no longer """"""""""""""""""""" working for Atari Corp. My last day was on Sept. 6th., but that doesn't mean I've given up on the Lynx. It still blows the competition away. Don't worry about software releases. From what I saw before I left, there's plenty coming down the pipeline. Glad to know I'm well remembered here on GEnie. I'll be dropping in from time-to-time, not as often since I now have to pay to get in here [just like everybody else ;p]. -Dave "Robocop" Cagle (ROBOCOP, CAT36, TOP10, MSG:10/M475) MORE LYNX COVERAGE Yo! Thought you might be interested to know that """""""""""""""""" Atari Explorer Magazine is covering Lynx in a big way -- At least 6 games reviewed every issue, normally prior to release. Subs are only $9.95/year to GEnie subscribers. Call (218)723-9202 or write Atari Explorer, PO BOX 6488, Duluth, MN 55806! (EXPLORER, CAT36, TOP2, MSG:111/M475) >>>>> Hiya, folks ... I'm the guy what was responsible for the """"" "informative" reviews of Lynx games in Atari Explorer. Hey, how 'bout that color, huh? These shots were generated off a video interface, in-house at Atari, and were badly cropped because we had already layed-out the Lynx section with conventional slides by the time the new shots arrived. Sorry you couldn't see the top and bottom lines of Ishido, though the other games showed up pretty well. In any case, we seem to have solved the "awful Lynx color" problem. In the upcoming Fall #2 issue of Explorer, look for reviews of: o Bill & Ted's Excellent Adventure o Tournament Cyberball o Awesome Golf o Qix o Fidelity Chess o S.T.U.N. Runner All are awesome, particularly (IMHO) Fidelity Chess, which keeps beating me with alarming regularity at Level 2. I *blow away* Portfolio Chess (also reviewed, also HOT!) at Level 2. Next step (I fear) must be a tournament. Atari hand-held systems battle it out in the stratosphere of unlimited-ply analysis! -John @ Explorer (EXPLORER, CAT36, TOP2, MSG:119/M475) //////////////////////////////////////// GEnie_QWIK_QUOTE ///// / "Yep, and "atari" itself is a term from Go, a very polite / / way of saying (I seem to recall) "your position is shaky, / / and under threat; unless you do something (and even if you / / do, <snicker>) I'm gonna have your guts for garters" or / / somesuch. In fact, the name alone provoked part of my / / original attraction to the computer line back in 1980, / / being fond, but a poor player, of Go. / ///////// M.JOHNES52, CAT14, TOP15, MSG:58/M475 ///////////// [EOA] [LOG]////////////////////////////// LOG OFF / ///////////////////////////////// GEnie Lamp Information """""""""""""""""""""" o COMMENTS: Contacting GEnie Lamp o GENIE LAMP STAFF: Who Are We? o WITH A LITTLE HELP: GEnie Lamp Writers o WRITERS: Writing For GEnie Lamp o HOT OFF THE PRESS: When And Where? COMMENTS? If you would like to ask a question, leave a comment or just """"""""" drop in and say hi, you can contact us in CAT 34 in the ST bulletin board area. If you prefer to remain private, send your GEnie Email to GENIELAMP$ on page 200, or leave a message to one or more of the following addresses: GEnie LAMP STAFF """""""""""""""" o John F. Peters [GENIELAMP] Publisher/Editor o Darlah J. Pine [DARLAH] Co-Editor o Jeff Williams [JEFF.W] Technical Editor o David Holmes [D.HOLMES14] TX2 Editor - Fred Koch [F.KOCH] PD_Q/Online Library/[PR] - Mel Motogawa [M.MOTOGAWA] Mel's Manor/PS's - Terry Quinn [T.QUINN1] ST Elsewhere/Softview - Sheldon Winick [S.WINICK] Dealer Viewpoint - Richard Brown [R.BROWN30] Atari And The Real World o Larry Duke [LARRY.D] GEnie Lamp Advisor o Sandy Wilson [SANDY.W] GEnie Lamp Advisor o Fred Beckman [FB] GEnie Lamp Advisor o John J. Kennedy [JJKENNEDY] GEnie Lamp Advisor o Vince Averello [VINCE.A] GEnie Lamp Advisor o Nathan Potechin [ISD] GEnie Lamp Advisor GEnie Lamp CONTRIBUTORS """"""""""""""""""""""" o Michael Fleming [M.FLEMING8] Focus On... o Nathan Potechin [ISD] WAACE Show Report o Bob Brodie [BOB-BRODIE] WAACE Show Report o Darlah Pine [DARLAH] WAACE Show Report U.S. MAIL """"""""" T/TalkNET Publishing CO. ATTEN: John Peters 5102 Galley Rd. Suite 115/B Colorado Springs, CO 80915 ATTENTION WRITERS Have you ever thought about writing an article? """"""""""""""""" Well, here's your chance. WRITERS.ARC File #17920 located in the GEnie Lamp library, #35 is a short text file that will give you information on our polices, what we are looking for and how to go about writing and submitting your article for possible publication in an upcoming issue of GEnie Lamp. Whether you are interested in taking on one of the columns now found in GEnie Lamp, starting a new column, or just submitting a one time article, we want to hear from you. So, take a quick look, fire up the word processor and get busy on that article! HOT OFF THE PRESS GEnie Lamp is published on the 1st and the 15th of """"""""""""""""" every month for our Atari ST RoundTable members on page 475, option 5. If you prefer to download your issue of GEnie Lamp, you will find the current issue as well as all the back issues on page 476, in the GEnie Lamp library, #35. GEnie Lamp is also distributed on electronic bulletin boards worldwide. (If your favorite BBS doesn't have it, upload it!) GEnie LAMP [PR] GEnie Lamp [PR] is a great way to keep up with all the """"""""""""""" latest press releases, new product announcements and Atarifest/show information. Also included are all the want ads and for sale ads from the ST RoundTable bulletin boards. For more information, contact the editor, Fred Koch. [F.KOCH] \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\//////////////////////////////////// (c) Copyright 1991 T/TalkNET OnLine Publishing, Atari Corporation, GEnie, and the Atari RoundTables. May be reprinted only with this notice intact. The Atari RoundTables on GEnie are the *official* information services of the Atari Corporation. Signed articles and message reprints are the opinion of the authors and are not necessarily the opinion of the publisher or staff of GEnie Lamp. We reserve the right to edit all letters and copy. To sign up for GEnie service, call (with modem) 1-800-638-8369. Upon connection type HHH. Wait for the U#= prompt. Type: XJM11877,GEnie and hit RETURN. The system will then prompt you for your information. ////////////////////////////////////\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\ [EOF]