No Fragments Archive 12: Textmags & Docs

home *** CD-ROM | disk | FTP | other *** search

/ No Fragments Archive 12: Textmags & Docs / nf_archive_12.iso / MAGS / TEXTMAGS / ZNET / ZNET514.ZIP / ZNET514.ASC < prev

Wrap

Text File | 1990-04-06 | 55.7 KB | 1,218 lines

======================================================================= ////// // // ////// ////// Z*Net Atari Online Magazine // / /// // // // --------------------------- // /// // // // ////// // APRIL 06, 1990 // / // /// // // --------------------------- ////// // // /////// // Issue #514 ======================================================================= (©) 1990 by Rovac Industries, Inc. Post Office Box 59 Middlesex, New Jersey 08846 Z*Net Online BBS: (201) 968-8148 ======================================================================= Available on: * CompuServe * GEnie * Cleveland Free-Net * ======================================================================= *-{CONTENTS}-* - THIS WEEK Free magazine offer....................................Ron Kovacs - Z*NET NEWSWIRE Weekly news update............................................... - SPECTRE UPDATE Version 2.65..........................................Robert Ford - TORONTO ATARI USERS CONVENTION Exclusive Report......................................Jerry Cross - ST STACK Hagterm Reviewed......................................Alice Amore - PD/SHAREWARE STOP Weekly PD reviews......................................Mark Quinn - ALTERNATIVE MEGA KEYBOARD CABLE ......................................................Robert Ford - TRACKER-ST Press Release.................................................... - WIND-X Press Release.................................................... - CLEVELAND FREE-NET System description.......................................Len Stys *********************************************************************** THIS WEEK - Ron Kovacs *********************************************************************** SPECIAL FREE MAGAZINE OFFER CONTINUES You and your User Group or friends can have a free box full of brand new back issues of ST-Xpress for just the cost of shipping! Sprockets is a new ST hardware and software development company in Los Angeles, and it has taken over the old storage area belonging to ST- Xpress Magazine.. and there are lots of full boxes of back issues that must go. Z*Net has talked Sprockets into offering the magazines to user groups and readers of Z*Net Online rather then allow them to be destroyed. ST-Xpress was a respected, quality slick newsstand magazine supporting the Atari ST from 1986 through November 1989, when they released their final issue. Sprockets will be happy to send you or your user group a full box of issues if you send an address plus a short written statement saying that you will accept COD ground shipping charges though United Parcel Service. You should expect this charge to be $8-$15.00 at most typical locations. Remember, UPS will not ship to post office boxes. Each box typically contains 50 copies of a single issue, and many different issues are available... but please don't ask for specific months or mixed issue boxes. If you want more than one box, we can be sure to ship you a different month in each box. Most boxes are of the later issues... and a few might even come with the subscription disks in them! Remember, this offer is basically to see it that these old issues of ST- Xpress can go to some good use. Sprockets has volunteered to ship them without labor charges if your group will cover the shipping COD charges. If you want a box (or several) for your club or friends, send a card or letter right away to: Sprockets Magazine Giveaway 417B Foothill Blvd., Suite 381 Glendora, California 91740 This offer is open to any Z*Net reader and expires when the supply of magazines is exhausted or on May 15, 1990, whichever comes first. *********************************************************************** Z*NET NEWSWIRE *********************************************************************** STE GETS APPROVAL? Messages and rumors are floating through the pay services and some local BBS systems about the STE getting FCC approval. We have not validated the information yet, but hope to next week. PORTFOLIO FORUM Compuserve added an Atari Portfolio Forum this week to the current Atari line-up already available. To enter this area type go APORTFOLIO at any CompuServe prompt. ELECTRONIC ARTS AND NINTENDO Electronic Arts and Nintendo announced this week the signing of a licensing agreement under which Electronic Arts will develop and market videogames for the Nintendo Entertainment System. Nintendo will manufacture the videogames and allow Electronic Arts to utilize Nintendo's trademarks in the marketing of the products. INDIANA SYSOPS ARE NEXT Business rates being placed on Bulletin Board Systems continues to spread. BBS operators in Indiana are complaining that GTE is forcing them to accept extra-cost business rates rather than the residential rates they have been paying. A sysop of the 1149 BBS in Elkhart, Ind., says that the changes were a surprise. The worst part of the surprise seems to be the large jump in monthly rates. A typical BBS would find its monthly bill increased by almost 200 percent. The Indiana Utility Regulatory Commission said a tariff approving business rates for home computer lines was approved in January. The new tariff gives GTE wide- ranging control over its customers and can limit the length of calls when in GTE's judgement such action is necessary. GTE claims authority to change a BBS to business rates because the service is provided for use of the general public. MAXTOR TO PURCHASE MINISCRIBE Maxtor has agreed to pay $46 million to buy disk drive maker MiniScribe Corp. MiniScribe filed for Chapter XI bankruptcy reorganization on Jan. 1. The company had to be sold by this week or face a court-ordered bank auction. *********************************************************************** SPECTRE UPDATE - by Robert Ford *********************************************************************** Spectre 2.65 is now available from Gadgets by Small, Inc. I got the latest Gadget News-Herald, The Journal of Leading Emulation Technology & Sorcery. In case your wondering what the heck that is, it is Gadgets by Small's newsletter. Very informative and damn fun to read! Anyway, they've just finished up version 2.65 of the Spectre software and what follows is a list of the improvements... - Quick Disk Detect. (GCR users) Very quickly checks to see if disk is GCR (Mac) format if so you pop right into Mac mode. No more long delay while disk is analyzed. - Configuration Page. (128/GCR) Press Help key while in Mac mode to get the Configuration Page. Doesn't work in 832K Mac mode. Allows you to select Mac 512k or Mac Plus mode, make right mouse button a shift key or a toggle for left button (use this for Stacy), select "SLM-804 via ImageWriter II emulation" and other stuff. - European Laser Printer Support. (128/GCR) Can now use standard A4 and standard American paper sizes. - Right Mouse Button. (128/GCR) Hold down right mouse button and it functions as a shift key. Great for shift-clicking with one hand. Second option for the right button is as a toggle. Click it once and the computer thinks you are holding down the left button. Click again and it thinks you let the left button go. Great for the Stacy. - Defaults to Mac Plus mode. - Extended Parameter RAM is now supported. - Now works with the Moniterm 1.0 driver. - Booting is more flexible. (128/GCR) Can know have System boot from hard drive via keypress even if you didn't select it under Spectre menu. - 60hz VBL!!! (128/GCR) Vertical Blank is now 60hz instead of mono monitors 70hz. That means sound plays at normal speed instead of 15% faster. Benchmark programs are now accurate. Great to tease your Mac friends, especially if you have a T16! - Xon/Xoff Serial Support. - True Serial Break Support. - MS Word 3.02 NOW WORKS!!! - MultiFinder is now "rock solid." - No More Mouse Lockups at Bootup! - SLM-804 Emulator Tall Adjusted. - Slow SCSI sped up some. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Contact: Gadgets by Small, Inc. 40 W. Littleton Blvd., #210-211 Littleton, Colorado 80120 (303) 791-6098 Free upgrade to registered 2.3 users. $20 to version older version owners. Robert Ford <- the CyberPunk Z*Net BBS Sysop *********************************************************************** TORONTO ATARI USERS CONVENTION REPORT - Jerry Cross *********************************************************************** The Toronto Atari Users Convention was held last weekend, drawing what I estimate a little under 1000 attendees. The room was never packed elbow to elbow like many shows I have attended, but a steady stream of people still made it difficult to move around. Parking was impossible! Even though there was a huge lot at the hotel it was filled to capacity and I ended up parking in a pay lot next door for $10. OUCH! The most noticeable thing about this show was the abundance of dealers and lack of software/hardware developers. There appears to be a number of reasons for this. The upcoming WOA and Pittsburg shows, trouble getting past the Canadian border trolls, being a one-day show instead of the more traditional two-days, and the long drive from California and other parts of the country all had a part in their decision not to attend then TAF show. The TAF committee still did an outstanding job filling the booths, and had an excellent assortment of seminars. If you were looking for Atari products to buy this was the show for you. For folks who came to see new products this show was a disappointment. For us reporters it was just another slow news day. This was the very first show I have attended that Atari displayed their ENTIRE product line, from the 2600 game machine and LYNX right through the PC-Clones! You could even buy (yes, that's right, BUY) some of these products from the dealers attending the shows. Lynx, STacy's and Portfolios were in abundance, and the quick shopper even saw a few Atari CD-Rom's being sold (until Atari put a stop to that!). Seems the CD-Roms were supposed to be released to developers first, but one dealer had some for sale ($750 Canadian + tax). Boy was I tempted, but the thought of those border trolls scared me away. Among some of the new products was a new update to the VIDI-ST digitizer. It now supports full color. Unfortunately, they did not have any for sale at the show and the flyers were gone before I could get my hands on one. I did order a copy and will review it in a later issue. Simple Software showed their "Survival Guide To The ST", a small book that explains "all those terms you don't understand, shows you how to avoid problems and what to do when you do encounter them". This is a good book to give a first time ST users. They also were showing a few Clip Art disks, and "The Loan Arranger", a loan and mortgage calculating program. Contact Simple Software for more information. (416)427-4361. Michtron, one of the regular Atari show attendees, was "blowing out" their entire product line at fantastic prices. D.A. Brumleve was showing her line of educational programs. Clear Thinking Software displayed a new desk accessory called "Diary & Edhak". This inexpensive program will edit any size file (up to 99 megs) by loading the part needed. It has many of the standard word processing features, Macros, cut and paste, and many others. This is a great little word processing accessory. Write to Clear Thinking, PO Box 715, Ann Arbor, MICHIGAN 48105. Lantech, a Canadian hardware developer, was showing their 10 Megabit local area network. They had three ST's networked together and visitors could experiment around with it. Features include 10 megabit transfer rate, self-contained interface that plugs into the cartridge port, and quick connect cabling. You can access any disk drive and any printer from any of the computers connected to the network. Cost is only $179 per computer. Call (510)744-7380 for more info. Strata Software was showing STalker 2.0, a background terminal program loaded with features but low in price ($30). One feature I noticed in their literature is the ability to use the DC-Port interface to provide multiple sessions, each with it's own window. Another toy for you modem addicts! Two bbs's at once! For more info call them at (613)591-1922. Intrinsic Software displayed "Command!", a windowed command line interpreter. If you just are not happy with GEM and want something with more of an MS-DOS feel, this is for you. Features a CLI window that can be scrolled and moved around, 20 built-in commands like Dir, Erase, Rename, etc. and is user configurable. It works as either an ACC or PRG file, and works in all resolutions. Price is $24.95 but is available through the end of April for $19.95. Call Intrinsic Software at (416)421-1494. On to other things. RiteWay Computers of Warren, Michigan deserves some attention for their support of user groups. Faced with hauling a large truck load of merchandise past the border trolls, and then trying to compete with a number of other Toronto area dealers, RiteWay could easily have said "no way!". But instead they bought a booth and spent their time pretending to be a carnival booth. They set up a craps table at their booth and if you rolled "craps" you got a FREE T-shirt. They also had a Panasonic 24-pin printer to be raffled off. No products to sell, no pretty girls in mini-skirts ("We're saving them for Pittsburg", Ron said), just a pile of sales flyers and lots of happy visitors. Thanks for the support, RiteWay! I was a little disappointed with the seminars, but they were still a great success. Nearly all of them were well attended with people being forced to stand during some of them. However, they seemed to be more of a sales-pitch then a seminar. I would have preferred to have a couple local people on the panel to give their own views on the products and how they use them. One example is the MAC-Emulation seminar. It consisted mostly of a history of the Spectre/GCR products and little discussion of the practical use of the product. But it was still very interesting. The "Ask Atari" seminar was worst. I got the impression the folks at Atari Canada didn't seem to know much about their products. A few of the technical questions seemed to get poor answers. There was still a reluctance to answer questions about the TT. It seems that Atari Canada is also having a hard time getting products. When questioned about the STacy, it seems Canadian stores did get a couple computers. But the stores are reluctant to sell them because they want one as a store display model. Future shipments are not expected until fall. Also, I realize that Atari-Canada is separate from Atari-USA and they have their own user group coordinator. But why was Bob Brodie delegated to a seat in the back of the room and not up front where he could help field questions? What a waste! That's it! The TAF show was well worth the visit. It will be a few days before we find out just how well they did but from what I saw it seems the dealers sold an awful lot of computers and hardware. I hope the TAF folks can put together another show next year, and I hope more developers can attend it. *********************************************************************** ST STack - by Alice Amore *********************************************************************** The big news this week concerns communications software. Read on. HAGTRM33.LZH Programmer: Hagop Janoyan * SHAREWARE * ====================================================================== HagTerm Elite, version 3.3, is a powerful and sophisticated communications program which contains not only a bounty of useful features, but its own script language. This script language ("HagScript") allows the user to manipulate over 90 commands. In fact, many of HagTerm's functions are controlled by script commands. The user is thus able to build custom-made menus. Let's look at the program. The following features are offered: o User-friendliness. Icons, buttons, and instructions can all be accessed via mouse from the Main Menu. In fact, all of HagTerm Elite's features can be mouse-driven. o Keyboard equivalents are available, too. The ALT/CTRL keys can enable most menu items and settings. o Xmodem, Xmodem 1K, Ymodem, and ASCII protocols. Partially compatible with Shadow transfer protocols. o Compatible with DCOPY. UnLZH is also supported. o A full-featured disk formatter, plus other disk utilities. o Outside programs can be run from within HagTerm Elite. o To save memory for those using 512K, screen redraws can be eliminated by storing a menu in memory. The user has the choice of which menu to store. o Dozens of commands can be saved in the same default file. o Screen colors can be changed and saved. o Keyclick and bell can be toggled on or off. o Turn off VT52, if desired. o Set the time and date from within the program. o Upper right-hand corner displays system time and program timer. o Many toggles/settings are contained right on the Main Menu. You don't have to wade through a series of configuration screens to change a setting. o Highly variable baud rates, from 50-19200. o Desk accessories are available through the Main Menu. o Four modes (Main Menu, Terminal Mode, Dial Mode, and Editor Mode) are interactive. o Insert script commands via the INSERT key from menus. Also, the "history buffer" will store 50 commands. o Fast Dial Option. This option will let you type all or part of a BBS name. This information is then treated as a string. The correct BBS will be dialed, and any name/password/whatever information related to the BBS will be sent automatically. Or, you can type in just the phone number and the same BBS-related information will be sent. o 80 slots are available for names/numbers of BBSes. Each slot also contains optional user name and password, plus default files which load automatically on connection to a BBS. Also, something we've all been waiting for: a two-line comment area for storing miscellaneous notes about each BBS! (If ever there was a time-saver, this is it. Throw away those scribbled notes.) Each "dial item" can contain its own auto-log sequence. You can define a wait/answer string, and your answer string can even contain variables. Multiple dial items can be selected very easily. o BBS lists can be organized into "pages". Five pages (with titles) are available, each holding 16 entries. o Dialing items can be deleted, inserted, cut, and pasted. o Dialing directories can be printed out in short, detailed, or summary form. o Different file paths are available for scripts, defaults, dialing directories, uploads, downloads, etc. o The autodialer (which can multiple-dial) can recognize specific connect/failure strings. Delay time can be specified. o Info about the last-dialed BBS is stored in a system variable. o A status line in terminal mode can be toggled on/off. (This allows a true "full screen" while BBSing.) o There is a "clear screen" feature which also resets the colors. o Includes a full-featured text editor using assembler routines for text display (for very fast text display and scrolling). o Mouse-controlled function-selection and text-scrolling. o On-screen display of X,Y position of the cursor, line number, and CAPS status. o Four markers can be placed within text files, and you can jump to any of the marks. You can go to a specific line number by mouse- clicking and typing in the line number. o Automatic word-wrapping on/off. o Cut, paste, move, merge, or delete a block. Upload, or save the block to disk. o Upload the entire buffer or only a marked block. o HAGSCRIPT "HagScript" is what makes HagTerm so user-configurable. Scripts can become very complex. Among the more than 90 commands available through HagScript are the following: WAIT DELAY MODE KEYPRESS PRINT PAUSE TERMINAL OUT INPUT STRICT BAUD LINEFEED DUPLEX CLS DIAL MAIN INKEY MACRO STATUS ALERT FILESELECT MENU DIR EXECUTE LOADDIAL LOADDEF IF DO GOTO GOTOL LABEL LET SGET SPUT DRAW PLOT LINE BOX CIRCLE COLOR SETCOLOR DEFTEXT TEXT ACCESS STOP DELETE MFOLDER DFOLDER TYPE COPY EDITOR CAPTURE OPENCAP CLOSECAP RENAME DIALNUM DIALNAME PARITY FLOW STOPBITS CHAR BUFFER AUTOPAUSE PRINTER KEYCLICK VT52 REDIAL BELL PRINTFILE COLORTOG WAITTIME WAITDATE WAITTIMER TIMER PLAY SETMACRO AUXCLEAR SETTIME SETDATE UPPER DCOPY UPLOAD DOWNLOAD LOADBUFFER LOADSCRIPT DIAL.CONFIG DIAL.AUTODIAL DIAL.LOG DIAL.AUTO.REDIAL DIAL.AUTO.SCRIPT DIAL.AUTO.DEFAULT REDIAL.TIME MONO.LINES The author of HagTerm Elite and HagScript is a 16-year-old college student. He is to be commended for working so hard on this monstrous project, and he is to be doubly commended for telling us that there are bugs in HagTerm Elite. (I couldn't get this program to run on a 1-meg 520, but it did run nicely, for the most part, on a Mega 2.) He outlines most of these bugs in his documentation, and has promised to spend the summer of 1990 working furiously on bug-fixes and enhancements, something he has had little time to do during this past school year. Atarians will be eager to see a finished product, as this program is potentially a modem-bender. As per his request, please send bug reports to the programmer via the BBSes he lists in the docs, or by phoning or writing to him. And remember to encourage him. Better yet, register! HagTerm is *SHAREWARE*. MINI_BBS.ARC Programmer: Mike Hill *SHAREWARE* ====================================================================== MINI BBS is an extremely small utility. Simply put, it allows someone to call your computer via modem and read a message. The message itself can be as long as desired. The caller is logged on, sent the message, and logged off. This arrangement is handy for many purposes, but especially if you're a SysOp whose hard drives have crashed (I can identify with that), and you want to keep your callers informed about any progress you're making. MINI BBS can be run on a "bare-bones" system (a 512K machine and a single/sided floppy). Be sure to give MINI BBS a trial run before slapping it online. You might have to do a bit of modem-tweaking to make it work properly with your particular modem. *********************************************************************** PD/SHAREWARE STop - by Mark Quinn *********************************************************************** File name: BODYSHOP.ARC Author: F.Hundley Program name: Body Shop File type: Educational If your elementary or junior high school age child doesn't know a left metatarsus from a right scapula (personally, I fit into this category as well), then he or she ought to spend time boning up with BODY SHOP. The program allows the child to click on the medical or common names of bones and organs and either have them appear within the framework of great-great-great Uncle Clarence, who donated his body so your budding orthopedist or neurosurgeon can get cracking, or place them there himself with the mouse. The student is given a certain number of tries when attempting to place the parts in their niches. The menu items are large enough for most children to read, and the skeleton itself is colorful and detailed to the extent that most of the parts are recognizable. Most children could use a visit with Clarence at the Body Shop. Those who don't require such a visit could probably build their own computer or Uncle, for that matter. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ (The following program runs in monochrome ONLY.) File name: GILGALAD.ARC Author: Markus Dheus Program name: GILGALAD File type: Game "A dark King threatens your country and you are the only one who can save your people from total slavery. To defeat the enemy, you must go through plain, forest, town, temple, and swamp in order to reach his fortress and push him from his dark throne." Swamp? Ugh. I don't think I'll wear my designer chain mail this time. In GILGALAD you control a young maiden (who is handy with a knife, surprisingly) with the mouse and have her do all the above before her energy runs out or a number of moons (nicely displayed in the lower left-hand corner of the monitor) have passed. It's refreshing to see heroine in a male-dominated genre. The King in Gilgalad's homeland is appropriately dark. I met two nasties (a wizard and a monster) in particular that reduced a once-strapping Gilgalad to a shadow of her former self. Gameplay is confined to a window with a 'frame' around it. The graphics are, in a word, superb. I'll add some more words here: they are also pleasing to the eye. I haven't seen such finely-detailed rocks on my screen since MEGAROIDS. And the movements of the on-screen objects are smooth enough to satisfy the most jaded joystick jockey. Be sure to follow Mr. Fass' directions before attempting to boot the game (and thanks to him for uploading such a prize). This game was written in '86, and it has aged well. I would say that ANY monochrome user who likes this sort of scenario will love Gilgalad. Highly recommended. "Quinn's Quickies" ARCLZH21.LZH Version 2.1. Converts ARC format to LZH, or LZH to ARC. Create self- extracting LZH files, convert between self-extracting and non-self- extracting LZH files. Switch between the program and your accessories. Format a disk. Looks good in medium or high resolution. HACK30.LZH A role-playing D&D game. Uses ASCII characters. See if you can find the amulet somewhere below level twenty of the maze. Has editable configuration file. Runs in monochrome too. SAM_SAM2.LZH 1-meg demo from Gator Gulch BBS. Has 9 digitized samples and MIDI sound effects. Often funny. *********************************************************************** AN ALTERNATIVE TO THE MEGA'S KEYBOARD CABLE *********************************************************************** by Robert Ford --> the CyberPunk! (ZNet BBS SysOp) I've had my Mega for a few years now and suffered long enough with the awkward placement of the keyboard cable connector. Those with Megas know that it is right next to the cartridge port. The problem with this setup comes up when you need to install a cartridge. Small cartridges like Spectre 128 or ST Replay have no problem, but cartridges like ComputerEyes, VidiST, Discovery Cartridge, etc. are so wide that the extending keyboard cable is in the way. To remedy this you have to bend the cable down and out of the way. This is a very unnatural position for the cable causing stress on the wires and the jack itself. There are quite a few ways of fixing this and it wasn't until I ruined my keyboard cable recently that I actually did anything about it. What follows is what I did. There are other, more obvious, solutions, but I figure I'd tell you the route I took. Because the keyboard cable jacks are standard telephone style jacks it seems obvious to just use a telephone extension cable. Well, unfortunately, standard phone wire you have in your house has four wires. Atari uses a six wire cable like the multiline cables that business' use. That wasn't too much of a problem for me because I came across a six wire phone extension. Unfortunately when I plugged it in my keyboard didn't work. Upon closer inspection I realized that the wire on the Mega was reversed. The obvious solution here would be to get a crimper and a new male jack, cut one jack off and put the new jack on upside down. Well, I didn't have a crimper or a new jack. What I did was to take a trip to good old Radio Shack and picked up two 6-Wire Modular Jacks (Cat. No. 279-420.) All that has to be done is to wire these two boxes together. What follows is the wiring directions: BOX 1 ~~~~~ Yellow <-----------------> Black Black <-----------------> Yellow Blue <-----------------> White White <-----------------> Blue Green <-----------------> Red Red <-----------------> Green Now that you have the boxes wired together you can put the covers back on them. Included with each box is a piece of double-sided adhesive foam. With the adhesive attach the backs of the boxes together to make a nice little cube. To hook your keyboard up to the computer take your standard cable, the one that came with the computer, and attach it to your keyboard jack and into one of the jacks on your "box." Now take the 6 wire phone cable and insert one end into the other jack in your "box" and the other end into the computer's keyboard jack. That's it. Since the phone wire is pretty flimsy, maybe flexible is a better word, when you plug in a cartridge the cable can now be easily tucked out of the way. Besides having the cable out of the way of the cartridges you also have the added bonus of an extended keyboard cable. Hope this little hack was helpful to some of you. *********************************************************************** TRACKER-ST - Press Release *********************************************************************** Step Ahead Software is proud to introduce Tracker/ST, an exciting new productivity package for the Atari ST which combines mailing list, mail merge, and person-tracking features in a single integrated software solution. Fully GEM based for ease of use, Tracker/ST is the ideal program for anyone who does mailings on a regular basis, or who needs to keep track of people for any reason. Some of Tracker/ST's powerful features include: >>> Powerful and easy to use mail merge. Merge letters to everyone or set up exact criteria for a merge. Full GEM text editor _built in_ to the program with automatic reformatting (no need to press the F10 key), bold, italic and underline attributes, etc. >>> Computer aided entry saves you thousands of keystrokes when entering names--up to 10,000+ keystrokes saved for every 250 names you enter into Tracker/ST. >>> Sixteen preset label formats for single, 2 or 3 across labels, and laser printed labels (with _no_ label creeping). Edit these and add your own for custom label formats. >>> One-step "subscription aging" command automatically tracks remaining time in a membership or subscription. Great for groups with memberships that need to be adjusted on a weekly, monthly, or annual basis. >>> Full GEM interface with drop down menus, click on buttons and keyboard commands for ultimate ease of use. >>> Unique "Quick Letter" option for those occasions when you need to send a single "almost form letter." Great for business reply mail and follow-up letters. >>> Unlimited notes for each person in your Tracker/ST files. Notes are not limited to a few characters or words. >>> Category, rank, source and I.D. fields to help you identify each entry in your list. >>> Full reports to screen and printer, including easy to use sorting, filtering, grouping, counting, and summarizing. No need to use complicated "dot prompts" or learn a confusing database language. >>> Import and export names in ASCII and Tracker/ST formats. >>> Easy transfer of names from all popular ST data management packages (Timeworks Data Manager, Zoomracks II, SuperBase, DBMan, etc) into Tracker/ST. >>> Number of names limited only by disk space. >>> Comprehensive manual with full tutorial and complete index. Manual is spiral bound for easy reference. >>> Installs easily on your hard drive--not copy protected. Tracker/ST is perfect for businesses of all types, religious and school organizations, theater and music groups, photographers, freelance writers and artists, clubs, newsletter publishers, salesmen and saleswomen, etc. Tracker/ST will run on any Atari ST with one megabyte of RAM and a double sided disk drive. The program runs in medium resolution color and high resolution monochrome, and also completely supports the Moniterm large screen monitor. A hard drive is recommended. Tracker/ST is available NOW. See your local dealer or send a check or money order for $79.95 to: Step Ahead Software, Inc. 496-A Hudson Street Suite 39F New York City, NY 10014 For more information please call Step Ahead Software at 212-627-5830 during normal East Coast business hours, or visit our on-line support area on GEnie, in Category 6, Topic 23 of the ST RoundTable. *********************************************************************** WIND-X - Press Release *********************************************************************** March 28th, 1990 ENiGMA Software 4431 Lehigh Road Suite 299 College Park, Maryland 20740 (202) 636-9078 Wind-X is (c) ENiGMA Software, 1990. What It Does ============ Wind-X works as both a desk accessory and as a program. It operates solely using legal GEM and TOS calls, and thus, permits itself to work in conjunction with other GEM programs. By utilizing this method, Wind-X can work in conjunction with most GEM based applications, allowing the user to utilize the power of the Wind-X utilities and applications while within another application. On top of that, Wind-X lets the user work with it using the familiar GEM AES environment, so there is no need to worry about adjusting to a new graphics environment. Utilities within Wind-X are allowed to run using information passed to the individual copies of Wind-X running on that system. Wind-X utilities have the ability to patch themselves to everything in their parent [the actual Wind-X program/DA], including the window redraws, timer events, message events, keyboard events, and mouse button events. By allowing so many possibilities, the Wind-X utility can be as open ended as the programmer requires. The main use for Wind-X would obviously be to relieve Atari ST users of the feeling that they must carefully pick and choose what accessories and programs are run. Not to be confused with programs like MultiDesk™ by CodeHead or FlexCessory™ E.A.B., Wind-X doesn't run standard GEM programs and accessories under its interface, but customized utilities. The advantage in this is that the utilities can present their graphic interfaces to the user for use at any time. What it all boils down to is that Wind-X lets the user see the program and interact with it while simultaneously permitting input to the program's "peers" [other Wind-X utilities in this case]. In essence, it expands the capabilities of the limited multitasking kernel running under GEM on the Atari ST. With a number of Wind-X applications in the works, we expect that it will become a viable alternative to using standard desk accessory technology, since it will offer comparable capabilities to the end user, with the addition of the multitasking capabilities. How To Use Wind-X ================= Wind-X will be sold in a single package consisting of: 1) Several pre-configured copies of Wind-X. 2) A collection of WNX utilities in order to make the program worth using! [it really isn't much without the WNXes!] 3) A utility called WindXCnF, which is a "Wind-X Configuration" Utility, which runs as both a desk accessory and as a stand-alone program. 4) A manual. All you need to do is make a few copies of the accessory, and use WindXCnF to set up the particular utilities you want to run within that particular copy of Wind-X. It is possible to run multiple copies of Wind-X *simultaneously* so that the user can access a slew of WNXes at once. I have personally tested nd run over 40 applications at one time. However, your system will show signs of slowing down as you use more and more utilities that need to latch into the timer routines of Wind-X. [In the pictures used in this demo, you can see how my desktop looked using a bunch of clock programs!] How you interact with each utility is up to the WNX programmer, and it can range from keypresses to mouse clicks. Wind-X Features =============== o Wind-X runs as both a desk accessory and as a program. o Full compatibility with all ST's from 512k to 4MB, with the ability to run on everything from TOS 1.0 to TOS 1.6/030. o Complete access to the existing "limited multitasking" kernel of the GEM AES via Wind-X itself for its child processes [WNXes] via a TRAP handler. o Up to 16 applications running per Wind-X window within ANY GEM application that permits the user access to desk accessories. o Interprocess communication between WNXes, particularly those running under different copies of Wind-X. o A "cookie jar" for WNXes running so that they can decide whether to run or not, so that if multiple copies will cause a conflict, the application will be "smart" enough to know how to react. o Hopefully (fingers crossed) compatibility with MultiDesk [if Wind-X doesn't already work under MultiDesk] o Works with Quick ST by Darek Mihocka. In fact, due to the vast improvement in redraw speed for the WNX utilities, I recommend using Quick ST in conjunction with Wind-X. o Takes advantages of special features in DC Desktop™. o Pending a chance to talk to Eric Rosenquist (hey, dude!), Wind-X will probably support the clipboard interface utilized by Strata Software's "STalker" [an excellent telecom package, with the ability to do *everything* in the background] and "STeno" [text editor/ capture buffer]. o ....a LOT of .WNX utilities! Price ===== Wind-X will retail for $29.95. Because we're honest, we'll say $30. Dealer inquiries are welcome, and encouraged! A public domain utilities disk for Wind-X users will probably be released for free. Other ENiGMA Software Products! =============================== ENiGMA was founded after we decided to do a disk magazine, called STatus Disk Magazine. You have probably seen some of our articles in STReport/ CPU Newswire or Atari Interface Magazine. Due to the response to STatus Magazine, we took the plunge into writing more software for the Atari ST. STatus requires a 1MB, a double-sided drive, and a color monitor. A future revision [due October, for the WAACE AtariFest 1990] should permit it to run on single-sided drives, on just 512k of RAM. Whether or not support for monochrome, Moniterms, and Image Systems' card is possible is dependent upon the number of requests we get for those. STatus can be ordered direct from ENiGMA for $7.50 for a single issue [PLEASE specify whether you want a back issue or the most recent issue!], or $30.00 for a 6 issue/12 month subscription. Who IS ENiGMA Software, Anyways? ================================ Come see us at the Pittsburgh AtariFest 1990 on April 28th and 29th [where we hope to premiere Wind-X!] to find that out! *********************************************************************** CLEVELAND FREE-NET *********************************************************************** by Len Stys The Cleveland Free-Net is the largest free, open-access, community computer systems in the world today. It is often called an "electronic city" because it has almost everything that a real city has. It has a post office, cafe, and several buildings that hold close to one hundred different SIGs or Special Interest Groups. The system has 96 megabytes of RAM, 2.3 gigabytes of hard disk storage, and has close to 32 incoming lines (but is capable of supporting up to 360 simultaneous users). The system has also recently become Internet accessible. The Cleveland Free-Net was first an experiment by Dr. Tom Grunder with support from Case Western Reserve University and the Information Systems division of AT&T. The experiment was to see if a "free community computer system" could actually work. On July 16, 1986, the Cleveland Free-Net prototype was opened by Ohio Governor Richard Celeste and Cleveland Mayor George Voinivich. The prototype only had 10 incoming lines but attracted 7,000 users. The community computer system was a complete success. In August of 1989, the system moved up in software and hardware and moved out of its experimental stage and into reality. Case Western Reserve still provides financial support for the system but the key to the economics of operating it is the fact that the system is literally run by the community itself. Everything that appears on Free- Net is there because of individuals or organizations in the community who are prepared to contribute their time, effort, and expertise to place it there and operate it over time. This is contrast to commercial services which have very high personnel and information-acquisition costs and must pass those costs on to the consumer. These are some of the SIGs and sections available on Free-Net: Adam Computers Aeronautics Aging Information AIDS Information Center Aircraft All-denominational Forum Arts Atari Computers Athletic Injuries Baha'i Faith Forum BBS's Business and Indus. Park Business Information Business Computing Byte Animal Clinic Cafe (User Chat) CAMLS Library Camping Commodore Computers Community Center Computer Corner Courthouse Culinary Arts SIG Cuyahoga County Network Services Dental Health Dr. Who Forum ECCO Center Education Electronic Mail Family Medicine Clinic Fantasy Fire Safety Fishing For Sale Freedom Shrine Games Gay/Lesbian Geriatrics Home Care IBM Jobs Kiosk Law Legal Information LGCSC Library Literary Arts Lotus Software Media Natural History Physics Post Office Religion Safety Schoolhouse Speeches Sports Medicine Star Trek Tandy Computers Tax Clinic Technology Television Texas Instrument Computers UFO's University Circle Veterinary Science As you can see, there are many sections to the Cleveland Free-Net and you will be happy to know that the largest computer SIG on Free-Net is the Atari SIG. The Atari SIG consists of Atari News, User Group Information, bulletin boards for all Atari computers, a Wanted & For Sale Board, a Programmers' Forum for Atari programmers, Software/ Product Information, On-Line Magazines (YES! Z*Net is available!), User Group Newsletters, an Information Base, Archives, Time Capsule, and the Atari SIG Log. The Cleveland Free-Net seems to have something for everybody and it is still growing! Due to the success of the Cleveland Free-Net, a non-profit organization by the name of the National Public Telecomputing Network (NPTN) has been established. This organization's main objective is to help establish as many Free-Net community computer systems as possible in the U.S. and throughout the world. This will be accomplished by the dissemination of Free-Net software (to qualified parties of $1 per year) and by providing the technical and management support necessary to help those systems succeed. As of now, there are several Free-Net type cities in Northeast Ohio and are spreading across the country to Cincinnati and Peoria, Illinois. Soon, your city may have a Free-Net of its own! If you would like to visit the Cleveland Free-Net then you can go about it in one of two ways. You can dial (216)368-3888 at 300/1200/2400 baud or you can connect to Free-Net from Internet by the IP address of "freenet-in-a.cwru.edu". Don't forget to stop at the Atari SIG while your here by typing "Go Atari" at any menu. <<< CLEVELAND FREE-NET SYSTEM INDEX >>> Area Description KeyWord/Direction ========================================================= Adam Computers go adam Administration Building go admin Administration Q & A go admin.q Aeronautics go nasa Aging Information go aging AIDS Information Center go aids Aircraft go nasa All-denomination Forum go all.denom Alzheimer's Disease go alz Animals go animal Animals go nat.hist Apple Computers go apple Apple II Computers go apple2 Apple, Macintosh go mac Arts Information go arts Arts, Literary go lit Arts, Video go video Atari Computers go atari Athletic Injuries go sportsmed Baha'i Faith Forum go bahai Brecksville, City of go brecksville Bulletin Board Systems go bbs Business and Indus. Park go business Business Information go business Business, Fire Safety go fire Business, Personnel go personnel Business, Software go lotus Business, Travel go travel Business Computing go bus.comp Byte Animal Clinic go animal Cafe (User Chat) go cafe CAMLS Library go camls Camping go outdoors Cancer go cancer Case Western Reserve Univ. go cwru Change Password go password Change Terminal Type go term Chess go chess Choose editor go term City Government go brecksville City Government go city.reps City Government go cleve Cleveland Area User Groups go user.groups Cleveland Chess SIG go chess Cleveland Connection go cleve Colleges go cwru Commodore Computers go commodore Community Center go community Computer Corner go computer Computer SIGs go comp.sigs Computers, Adam go adam Computers, Apple go apple Computers, Apple II go apple2 Computers, Atari go atari Computers, business go bus.comp Computers, Commodore go commodore Computers, editors go terminal Computers, education go ecco Computers, games go games Computers, general go computer Computers, Lotus Software go lotus Computers, Macintosh go mac Computers, Tandy go tandy Computers, terminals go terminal Computers, Texas Instruments go ti Computers, Timex/Sinclair go ts County Engineer's Office go county.eng Court of Appeals, State go state.reps Courthouse go court Culinary Arts SIG go food Cuyahoga County go county.eng CWRU go cwru CWRU Bookstore go bookstore CWRU Film Society go cine, films CWRU Information Network Services go ins CWRU Physics Department go physics CWRU Student Activities go activities Dental Health go dental Dr. Who Forum go dr.who e.mail go post ECCO Center go ecco Education go school Education, Administrators go teacher Education, College go cwru Education, Gifted go gifted Education, Learning Center go learn Education, Library go library Education, Mathematics go math Education, Special Ed. go special.ed Education, Teachers go teacher Elected Officials, County go county.rep Elected Officials, County go state.reps Elected Officials, Federal go fed.reps Family Medicine Clinic go fam.med Fantasy go scifi Fine Arts go arts Fire Safety go fire Fishing go outdoors Food go food For Sale go for.sale Freedom Shrine go shrine Games go games Gay (LGCSC) go gay General Medicine go fam.med Geriatrics go aging Gifted Education Center go gifted Government House go govt Government, taxes go tax H.O.P.E. Cancer Center go cancer Handicapped Information go handi History, Natural go nat.hist Home Care go nursing IBM go ibm Index go index Jobs Available go jobs Kiosk go kiosk Law go court Law go law Legal Information go court Lesbian go lesbian LGCSC go lgcsc Library Information go camls Media, Science Fiction go sf.media Medical Information go medical Medicine go st.silicon Medicine, Psychology go psych Medicine, Sports go sportsmed N. Coast SciFi & Fant Association go ncsffa NASA go nasa What's New in Electronic City go new Outdoors SIG go outdoors Physician Assistant go pa Physics go physics Public Square go public Recipies go food Recreation go rec Religion go religion Religion, Baha'i Faith go bahai Religion, All-denom go all.denom Running go runners Schoolhouse go school Science go sci Science Fiction go ncsffa Science Fiction, Star Trek go startrek Senate go fed.reps Skepticism go skeptic Skiiing go ski Special Education go special.ed Special Interest Groups go sigs Speeches go podium Speeches go toast System Information go info Tandy Computers go tandy Tax Office go tax Texas Instr Computers go ti Timex/Sinclair Computers go ts UFO's go ufo User Groups go user.groups Users Guide, Online go guide Video Arts go video Wanted & For sale go for.sale The number for the Cleveland Free-Net is: (216) 368-3888. 300/1200/2400 baud. Type "Go Atari" to get to the Atari SIG. <<< THE ATARI SIG >>> 1 About the Atari SIG 2 User Group Information 3 Atari News 4 General Bulletin Board 5 Specific Computer Boards 6 Programmers' Forum 7 Wanted & For Sale Board 8 Software/Product Information 9 Atari Library 10 Help-Line (Tech. Q & A) 11 Directory of SIG Members ------------------------------- h = Help x = Exit the Free-Net Your Choice ==> <<< SPECIFIC COMPUTER BOARDS >>> 1 8-bit Computers 2 16/32-bit Computers 3 Atari MS-DOS Computers 4 Video Game Entertainment ------------------------------- h = Help x = Exit the Free-Net Your Choice ==> <<< ATARI LIBRARY >>> 1 Information Base 2 Archives 3 Time Capsule 4 On-Line Magazines 5 User Group Newsletters 6 Atari SIG Log ------------------------------- h = Help x = Exit the Free-Net Your Choice ==> ======================================================================= ======================================================================= Z*Net Online Magazine is a weekly released publication covering the Atari community. Opinions and commentary presented are those of the individual authors and do not reflect those of Rovac Industries. Z*NET and Z*NET ONLINE are copyright 1990 by Rovac Industries. Reprint permission is granted as long as Z*NET ONLINE, Issue Number and author is included at the top of the article. Reprinted articles are not to be edited without permission. (No guarantees required!) ======================================================================= ======================================================================= ZNET ONLINE Atari News FIRST! Copyright (c)1990 Rovac Industries, Inc.. =======================================================================