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==(((((((((( == Z*NET INTERNATIONAL ATARI ONLINE MAGAZINE =========(( === ----------------------------------------- =======(( ===== March 2, 1991 Issue #91-08 =====(( ======= ----------------------------------------- ==(((((((((( == Copyright (c)1991, Rovac Industries, Inc. PUBLISHED BY ROVAC INDUSTRIES INC. ---------------------------------- Editor: Ron Kovacs Senior Editor: John Nagy Assistant Editor: Terry Schreiber, Z*Net Canada Contributing Editors: Jon Clarke, Mike Schuetz, Dr. Paul Keith Contributors: Keith MacNutt, Mike Mezaros, Ron Berinstein ----------------------------------------------------------------------- * USA * CANADA * NEW ZEALAND * JAPAN * GERMANY * UNITED KINGDOM * ----------------------------------------------------------------------- Z*NET NEWSWIRE.................................................. CALAMUS TUTORIAL - PART III........................Geoff LaCasse ALADDIN REVIEW..........................................Leo Sell WINDSOR/DETROIT INTERNATIONAL ATARIFEST............Press Release NAME THAT SOFTWARE CONTEST.........................Press Release THE SOFTWARE SHELF................................Ron Berinstein PUBLIC DOMAIN UPDATE...............................Keith Macnutt Z*NET NEWSWIRE ============== NEW ATARI VP OF SALES Bill Crouch's position of Vice President of Sales has been filled this week by Don Mandell. Don comes to Atari from a similar position at WANG, where he concentrated on vertical marketing. He plans to use his expertise to help sell Atari to the packaged markets of desktop publishing, drafting, etc. Already out and selling even before settling in his Sunnyvale office (next week), Don is very impressed and encouraged with the possibilities offered by the TT and Calamus, Dynacadd, and others. Mandell has been as long time associate of Jack Tramiel, owner and chairman of the board of Atari, and worked with Jack at Commodore years ago. NO WOOBOY - TURBO 20 INSTEAD Jim Allen of FAST TECHNOLOGY has been telling customers who have called to ask about the WOOBOY to wait for TURBO 20. WOOBOY was to be an adaptor to allow true 8 mHz operation of an Turbo 16 equipped ST when desired... enabling owners of FAST's popular CPU accelerator to also see SPECTRUM pictures, for example. Long promised, the Wooboy is nonetheless being dropped before introduction in favor of a revised accelerator. Jim has promised to offer T16 owners a favorable upgrade to his TURBO 20 accelerator, to be released soon. To run at 20 mHz (T16 was 16 mHz), Turbo 20 will also enable users to expand RAM on their STE and STACY computers to 10 or even 14MB. And it WILL show SPECTRUM. Pricing is not yet announced. LYNX RE-BUNDLED Atari Canada this week announced re-bundling and new pricing on the Lynx game machine. The Lynx machine is now packaged by itself without the Comlynx cable, AC adapter, or California Games software and has a suggested retail of $129.95 CDN. The new bundle is designed to make the games market take more than a second look at the Atari machine with its color and new price structure is designed to give the competition a run for the money. New marketing and sales techniques are in the works designed to boost sales even more. Atari is applying the pressure in the hand-held video game industry. Anyone who has played both the Lynx and its competitors will agree, the Lynx is better. The color graphics, stereo sound, and positioning of the controls leave the competition far behind. APPLE TO SHIP DEVELOPERS SYSTEM 7 Apple said this week that it will ship the near-final version of System 7, Apple's new version of system software for the Macintosh computer, to 13,000 Macintosh computer hardware and software developers. COMPUTER COMPANIES ANNOUNCE SUPPORT Twenty-one computer manufacturers have announced their intentions to build pen-based computers that will support the Microsoft Pen Windows operating system. These manufacturers include: CalComp, Canon, GRiD Systems, Fujitsu, Hitachi, Kyocera, Mitsubishi, Momenta Corp, NEC, NCR, Oki Electric, Samsung, Sanyo, Scenario, Seiko Epson, Sharp, Summagraphics, Telegroup, The Eden Group, Toshiba and Wang. IBM PRICE REDUCTIONS IBM announced price reductions this week on several models of the Personal System/2 (PS/2) line of computers. IBM PERSONAL SYSTEM/2 FORMER NEW STANDARD PRICE PRICE CONFIGURATION ------------------------------------------------------------------------ Model 30 286 E01 $1,995 $1,845 10MHz 80286; 1MB RAM; 1.44MB disk; 20 or 30MB fixed disk Model 30 286 E21 $2,345 $2,145 10MHz 80286; 1MB RAM; 1.44MB disk; 20MB fixed disk Model 30 286 E31 $2,495 $2,295 10MHz 80286; 1MB RAM; 1.44MB disk; 30MB fixed disk Model 55 SX 031 $3,495 $2,995 16MHz 80386SX; 2MB RAM; 1.44 MB disk; 30MB fixed disk Model 55 SX 061 $3,895 $3,295 16MHz 80386SX; 2MB RAM; 1.44 MB disk; 60MB fixed disk Model 55 LS LTO $3,490 $3,325 16MHz 80386SX; 2MB RAM; 1.44 MB disk; diskless; 16/4 token ring adapter Model 55 LS LEO $2,950 $2,755 16MHz 80386SX; 2MB RAM; 1.44 MB disk; diskless; ethernet adapter Model 65 SX 061 $5,295 $4,445 16MHz 80386SX; 2MB RAM; 1.44 MB disk; 60 MB fixed disk Model 65 SX 121 $5,995 $4,995 16MHz 80386SX; 2MB RAM; 1.44 MB disk; 120 MB fixed disk Model 65 SX 321 $7,945 $6,745 16MHz 80386SX; 2MB RAM; 1.44 MB disk; 320 MB fixed disk Model 80 386 081 $6,845 $5,495 20MHz 80386; 2MB RAM; 1.44MB disk; 80 MB fixed disk Model 80 386 161 $7,495 $6,095 20MHz 80386; 2MB RAM; 1.44MB disk; 160 MB fixed disk Model 80 386 321 $9,895 $8,445 20MHz 80386; 2MB RAM; 1.44MB disk; 320MB fixed disk Model 80 386 A16 $10,195 $8,695 25MHz 80386; 4MB RAM; 1.44MB disk; 160MB fixed disk Model 80 386 A31 $13,195 $11,495 25MHz 80386; 4MB RAM; 1.44MB diskette; 320MB fixed disk JUDGE DISMISSES MICHIGAN BBS COMPLAINT A Michigan administrative judge has dismissed a complaint against Michigan Bell's action toward Bulletin Board Systems. Judge Daniel Mickerson allowed that the complaint could be filed again at a later date. In 1990, Michigan Bell shut down the 16 telephone lines connected to the Variety-N-Spice BBS. The Sysop James Imhoff, filed a complaint with the Michigan Public Service Commission. WORDPERECT RELEASED FOR POQET PC (ZNS) WordPerfect has released a special version of WordPerfect 5.1 for the tiny Poqet PC. The program is functionally identical to the standard DOS version of WordPerfect 5.1, but is being released on floppy disks and a Poqet ROM card. 512k RAM recomended. WordPerfect can be reached at (801)-225-5000. RUN MAC SOFTWARE ON THE PC FOR UNDER $1,000 (ZNS) Hydra Systems has developed an add-in board for the PC that gives PC users Macintosh compatibility and speed better than the Mac Classic. The board, using the same 68000 CPU found in the new Classic, will cost less than $1,000. Hydra claims that it hasn't yet come across any software that will run on a Classic or SE that won't work with it's board. The board doesn't feature an ADB (Apple Desktop Bus) port, instead it allows standard PC hardware to emulate ADB devices. Hydra hasn't yet announced when the new board will be unveiled. FARALLON TAKES CONTROL OF APPLE'S PC NETWORKING PRODUCTS (ZNS) Farallon Computing has taken over Apple Computer's line of AppleTalk products for the PC. Included are Apple's LocalTalk PC board and their network software, AppleShare PC. Farallon plans to offer AppleTalk packages for MS-DOS and drivers for Windows 3.0. For more information call Farallon at (415)-596-9100. NEW SIDEWAYS SUPPORTS LATEST 1-2-3 VERSIONS (ZNS) Funk Software's popular Sideways utility for Lotus 1-2-3 has been revised. The $89.95 program, which rotates spreadsheets for easier reading on dot matrix printers, now supports ALL versions of 1-2-3 for DOS, including 3.0 and 3.1. Funk Software can be reached at (617) 497-6339. NEW CORDLESS MOUSE RUNS FOR SIXTEEN HOURS (ZNS) Z-Nix Corporation has introduced a new cordless infrared mouse, the Cordless Super Mouse. Z-Nix's new mouse is capable of 400 cpi resolution and includes two rechargable batteries providing sixteen hours of continuous use. You can find out more about Z-Nix's $164.95 mouse by calling Z-Nix at (714)-629-8050. MICROSOFT TAKES ON PENPOINT (ZNS) Go Corporation's PenPoint pen-based operating system has some competition from the world's largest developer of operating systems and environments, Microsoft. Microsoft has shown a set of environment extensions for Microsoft Windows, dubbed PenWindows, that will allow it to be used on pen-based systems. Microsoft plans to incorporate the extensions into all of their own Windows based applications by the time Windows 3.1 is released. PenWindows will run on the same hardware as PenPoint, a 286 or better. IBM has signed on with Go to develop computers based on PenPoint technology and has not yet commented publicly on PenWindows. NUTEK DEVELOPS FIRST MAC CLONES REQUIRING NO MAC ROMS (ZNS) Nutek Computers says that it has developed Macintosh-compatible ROMs and operating system software. Until now, Macintosh-compatible computers have required that the buyer supply actual Mac ROMs and system software. Nutek's operating system will run all Mac software, but in order to avoid copyright infringement uses a GUI based on OSF/Motif, giving their Macs a more robust 3-D interface than actual Macs. Presumably, the hardware portion of Nutek's package will be compatible enough to run true Apple system software such as the upcoming System 7.0. Nutek soon plans to offer a full line of Mac clones and will offer their technology to other developers. No release dates have been announced. CARDINAL RELEASES LOW-COST, ONE-PEICE 386SX PC (ZNS) Cardinal Technologies has introduced a 20Mhz 386SX PC for $999 that has more in common with the Macintosh Classic than an identical price-tag. The PC10-386SX is a complete system, with VGA monitor, 3.5" floppy drive, PS/2 mouse port, two serial ports, a parallel port, 1MB of RAM (expandable to 8MB), two slots, and DR-DOS 5.0 in ROM all in one case. The PC10 is a "compact" system, about the same size as the Mac Classic, SE, or SE/30. A 40MB hard drive brings the price up to $1399. Cardinal Technologies can be reached at (800) 233-0187. ICD SOFTWARE VERSIONS COPYFIX Version 1.5 HDUTIL Version 4.01 ICDFMT Version 5.01 ICDBOOT Version 5.1.0 HDPARK Version 1.0 ICDTIME Version 2.0 TIMESET Version 1.5 COLDBOOT Version 2.00 CFGCBOOT Version 2.00 HDPARTS Version 2.00 CACHEOFF Version 1.2 CACHEON Version 1.2 CLDEMO Version 4.00 IDCHECK Version 2.00 RATEHD Version 2.00 WHEREIS Version 1.81 BOOTFIX Version 2.01 DESKTOP Version 3.02 CACHEHIT Version 1.10 HOST Version 2.00 CALAMUS TUTORIAL - PART III =========================== WORKING WITH TEXT Copyright(C)1991, by Geoff LaCasse GXR Systems, Vancouver, B.C. This is Part III of a series of articles devoted to the Calamus DTP software. Previous parts are available online in issues #9107 and 9107 of Z*Net Online. Now, we continue with Part III. Load your document from session 2, then move the mouse cursor onto its page. Click the right mouse button to change the pointer cursor to a hand shape, then click the left mouse button to select the frame we created at the end of session 2 (the frame will have visible handles at its corners and midpoints). Go back to the primary icon pad and click on TEXT, then OPEN TEXT EDITOR. The Text Editor window will appear in the middle of the page. Use the left cursor key to move the Text Editor cursor to the end of the line. Type in a paragraph. When you have several lines of text, click on the second icon from the left in the Text Editor window to close the Text Editor. Your text will re-appear in the frame. If, instead, you got a dialogue box which said please select a frame, then you did not follow the steps as outlined above. Information on the frame's Font and Style will also be missing from the Text Editor. Click on your document above or below the Text Editor (notice Calamus's Text cursor shape), click on the frame to select it, click on the Text Editor window, and then close it. Save the document at this point. Calamus has been known to crash on occasion, even in 1.09N. I save my document before and after each major operation. The text in our frame will be barely readable. Let's improve this situation. Calamus gives the user three views of the page--FULL PAGE VIEW, ACTUAL SIZE, and USER DEFINED VIEW. The three icons are located to the right of the primary icon pad, just above our page. Default is FULL PAGE VIEW. Position the mouse cursor on the third line of our text, inside our left margin, hold down the Control key and click the right or left mouse button. This gives us ACTUAL SIZE (or 100%). Or hold down the Alternate key and click a mouse button for USER DEFINED SIZE (default is 200%). Move to another position with the scroll bars or click with again using the Control/Alternate key, move the cursor to a new position, and click again. Where you click will become the centre of the screen. I use actual size to display page layout, the other views to examine its details closely. Set your view to ACTUAL SIZE (for the duration of this session). Our text will have the format we initially set up (SWISS 50, Left Justified, Line Spacing, etc). To change any of these values is a simple task. With our frame still selected, click on FONT SIZE, then on 24 (point size), and finally on the icon in the bottom left--RESTYLE TEXT. A dialogue box will appear, asking if you want to restyle all text. Click on OK. Text in the frame will change from 14 point SWISS to 24 point SWISS. Select OUTLINE and RESTYLE TEXT. The text will appear as 24 point SWISS Outline. You can also change sections of text or individual letters. Drag Calamus's Text cursor across some text, select a point size and style, and RESTYLE TEXT. Only selected text will be modified. Line spacing -- known as leading -- will increase to compensate for those lines with larger point size text. We will examine leading (led-ding) closely in the coming sessions. Select convenient text point sizes from the Font Size table. Alternately, select any size from 1-999 points in tenths of a point using the SELECT FONT SIZE icon just below and to the right of the A/vertical ruler. Click on this icon, backspace or use the Escape key to erase the present value, type in a new value, and press RETURN to accept it. Select some text and RESTYLE TEXT. Calamus offers a number of text styles (Normal, Shadow, Underline, Superscript, etc.) but no Italic or Bold. Instead, Italic, Bold, and Bold Italic are separate fonts (or typefaces), and must be loaded independently. To load a new font, select the EXTRAS menu, then LOAD FONTS. When a dialogue box appears, select LOAD, click on a font, then OK (you can only select one font at a time), and finally OK to load it into memory. If you need a second font, click on LOAD before the second OK and select another font. Calamus will not allow you to load a font if you have insufficient memory. Potential problems. If your Calamus.set file is incorrect, Calamus won't find your Fonts folder. Redo your Calamus.set file and try again. Those 1040 owners will have limited font support because each font takes 17-45K of memory. Load only what you need. Calamus saves the font definition (but not the font itself) with each document. If you have insufficient memory for both document and its fonts, you will be prompted for replacements. To save memory select one already in use. Calamus will also prompt you for a replacement if the program is unable to find a font definition. We will discuss these points in a later session, but be aware of the problem when loading someone else's Calamus document. Go to FONT MENU (our second icon pad). The fonts you loaded will be listed here, in the order of selection. Your default font (probably SWISS) will be highlighted. Highlight another, select some text, and click on RESTYLE TEXT. The text font will change but point size, style, and justification will retain their previous values. Alternately, click on a font, and then RESTYLE TEXT. Select OK when the dialogue box appears. All text in the frame will change to the new font (and SELECT FONT SIZE value). Open the Text Editor to confirm the change. Use fonts sparingly and with purpose. Too many and your work will look sloppy. Too radical a design and your text will be difficult to read. Study the various designs (there are perhaps 5,000 for Calamus) and pay attention to their suggested use. For example, headline and body text fonts are generally not interchangeable. Listen to the professionals, or use materials available at your local libraries and computer stores as resources. Single disk-drive Calamus users will want to restrict fonts on their data disks to save room for documents. Our example document has left justification. It's a simple matter to change this format to Right, Centre, or Justification. In the middle of the TEXT RULER icon pad are four small page-like icons, TEXT LEFT ALIGNED, TEXT RIGHT ALIGNED, CENTRE TEXT, and JUSTIFY TEXT. To change justifications, select your text with the text cursor, and click on one of the justification icons. The paragraph or paragraphs you selected will change to the new value. Justification only works on paragraphs. You can select a letter or phrase, but the complete paragraph will be modified. Before ending this session, go to the EXTRAS menu, and click on STATISTICS. This dialogue box shows you your available system memory. You 1040 users, in particular, should be constantly aware of your memory status because Calamus will crash without notice if it runs outs of memory. Clicking on GARBAGE COLLECTION frees up memory used by the program (cut and pasting, frame creation). Do it often. Quit Calamus. You don't need to save your file, the next session will introduce a new multi-column document format. I DREAM OF GENIE ================ REVIEW OF ALADDIN by Leo Sell GEnie users now have software to make their online time more enjoyable, thanks to the magic of a program called Aladdin. This software for the ST automates your online time with some features that are explained below. For instance, one of the things I thought might be nice was screen dumps of some of the Aladdin screens. Aladdin let me EASILY search for possible programs to capture screens. Unfortunately, none of them did what I wanted. In a nutshell, Aladdin automates almost anything you might want to do on GEnie. I haven't found all of the bells and whistles. But, I've found it far easier to do library searches for software, and far, far easier to write, send, and read GEnie mail. Most of the commonly used functions are easily figured out with a little experimentation on the drop-down menus. Aladdin also checks your GEmail each time you log on/ off. Here's a quick walkthrough of how I've used Aladdin. Last weekend I wanted to drop Bob Brodie (Mr. Atari, himself) a line using GEmail. So, I fired up Aladdin, chose "Write Mail" under the GEmail menu, and had a quick note ready to go in a couple of minutes. Oh, and there's that screen dump search to do, too. So, click on "Search for Files" under the Library menu and type in a search term - like "screen dump". One more detail, drop down the Roundtable menu and make sure the ATARISTR (Atari ST Roundtable is selected). OK, so now I'm ready. Choose "Do Autopass 2" under the Terminal menu, and walk away. Aladdin logs on, sends the mail, reads my mail, and searches for files using the term "screen dump". If Aladdin found any mail, it tells me that too. If I had mail to read, I can easily read it, offline, and write a reply for later. As for the files.... by clicking on "Choose Download-Browse" under the Library menu, I am presented with a list of files to mark appropriately. Downloading one is as easy as marking the file for download, and telling Aladdin to go do it. No hassle, no muss, no fuss!! You can also have Aladdin do any one of the tasks, rather than combinations. Lots of flexibility, here. All of that, and I only touch on Aladdin's capabilities. One that I don't use is following messages on topics in various roundtables. Another, very powerful feature is a scripting capability, giving you the user the ability to do almost anything you can imagine - with a little extra effort. There are a few things to be careful of when you use Aladdin. For instance, I had trouble when I didn't have the same "break" character set on GEnie as in Aladdin. I couldn't stop some of the things I started!! Once I set my break character on GEnie properly, I had no further problem interrupting GEnie. Another caution/confusion is that Aladdin changes automatically to a command/no-prompt mode. Believe me, it is a little disquieting when the only prompt you get is "1>". If you go into terminal mode and need the menus for some manual manipulations, enter 'C' to toggle out of command mode, in most cases. If that doesn't work, type "pro" for prompt, then choose the kind of prompt you want. The manual is also kind of daunting. After all, this is a BIG program. Plan on printing 100 to 200 pages. My suggestion is that you print it out, skim it enough to set up Aladdin for you, then put away for awhile. Practice using GEnie and Aladdin in the Star Services area and consult the manual as needed. Once you're comfortable, use Aladdin everywhere it can help you. Tim Purves and Gordon Monnier have done a great job with this program and continuing support on GEnie. I like it LOTS. As a near-casual user of GEnie, it really makes my online life easier. If you want it, log onto GEnie and type "m1000". Follow the prompts to download the program and the menu. If I haven't lost you non-GEnie users, here's how you can join. After all, at only $4.95 flat fee per month, you have access to a lot of information such as Grolier's American Encyclopedia, news, GEmail, and much, much more. Other areas of interest, such as the computer bulletin boards, are an additional $6.00 per hour. Joining is free. Set your software to half-duplex, dial 1-800-638-8369. When you connect, type "HHH" (no quote marks). When the "U#=" prompt displays, type "XTX99493,GENIE", press return and follow the prompts. (You'll need a credit card number). WINDSOR - DETROIT INTERNATIONAL ATARIFEST ========================================= Press Release FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE -- February 1991 Ann Arbor, MI/Windsor, Ontario, Canada -- The Windsor Atari Users Group of Windsor, Ontario, Canada and the Washtenaw Atari Users Group of Ann Arbor, MI are hosting the Windsor/Detroit International AtariFest on May 4-5, 1991 at the St. Clair College of Arts and Technology in Windsor. With support from both Atari US and Atari Canada, the show promises to be a "must attend" event for Atarians everywhere. St. Clair College is conveniently located in Windsor, only minutes from the Ambassador Bridge and Windsor International Airport. Hotel accomodations, car rentals and a number of restaurants are also near the college. Regularly scheduled flights are available from Toronto to Windsor, and charter flights are available from Detroit Metro Airport. Exhibitors already committed to exhibit at the show include: Atari US Atari Canada Branch Always Software Canoe Computer Channel One Computer Clear Thinking DA Brumleve Double Click Software Fast Technology Goldleaf Publishing ICD Inc. Innovative Concepts ISD Marketing Joppa Computer Mainstream America MegaType Micro Creations Musicode Software Nice & Software PDC Distributors Phil Comeau Software Talon Technology Unicorn Publications What's This? Wiz Works Many other developers, including GEnie, Soft-Logik Publishing, Gadgets by Small, Michtron and CodeHead Software have indicated interest in exhibiting at the show. Show times are 10-6 on Saturday and 10-5 on Sunday. Tickets are only $4 Canadian per day at the door, and children under 12 will be admitted free of charge when accompanied by an adult. Door prize drawings and seminars will be held throughout both days. Advance tickets can be purchased for $3 Canadian (or equivalent US exchange rate) by sending check or money order to Windsor/Detroit International AtariFest, 3487 Braeburn Circle, Ann Arbor, MI 48108. For attendees flying in for the show, Northwest Airlines is offering 40% off round trip coach airfares and 5% savings on other applicable round trip fares. Canadian attendees can save from 25 to 40% on coach fares. Call 1-800-328-1111 for reservations. The "profile number" for the discount airfares is 03257. Northwest Airlines is the official airline of the Windsor/Detroit International AtariFest. Special show discounts on car and truck rentals is available from Budget Rental, the official car rental company for the show. Low convention rates are available on everything from Ford Escorts to Lincoln Town Cars. To make your reservation, call 1-800-333-8840, identify yourself as an attendee of the show and give them the "rate code" of CNVNR1. For more information on the show, contact Craig Harvey, President of WAUG - Ann Arbor at (313) 994-5619 or Brian Cassidy, President of WAUG - Windsor at (519) 966-0305. Developers interested in obtaining booth space at the show should contact Pattie Rayl at (313) 973-8825 ASAP. NAME THAT SOFTWARE CONTEST ========================== Press Release **************************************************** ANNOUNCING THE GREAT DC "NAME THAT SOFTWARE" CONTEST **************************************************** You too can help us to develop computer software. HOW? We are looking for a name for a new piece of software we will be releasing. Your job is to provide us with a name for our software. Here is what the software does: + Compress / decompress files as you use them. + Completely transparent operation. + Access files same as always. + Save _lots_ of disk space! If you are familiar with Disk Doubler (Macintosh) or Double Disk (PC), then you know what we are talking about. Here are the rules: 1) Contest is open to anyone exclusive of relatives, friends or employees of Double Click Software. 2) The contest will run until March 31, 1991. 3) Entries may be sent via US mail, GEmail, CompuServe email, Usenet email, or through email on the DCS BBS. See below for addresses. 4) All entries should be postmarked by midnight March 31, 1991. 5) One grand prize winner and two runners-up will receive the product as a prize for the contest. 6) The grand prize winner and runners-up will be selected by Double Click Software. 7) Only three prizes will be awarded. In the event of a tie, the entries received first will be given precedence in placement of awards. 8) All judges decisions are final. 9) Entries will be judged on creativity, applicability of the name, and how the product name looks as a filename (ie, FILENAME.EXT). 10) Each product name entry MUST have the letters DC first (ie, DC Squish). Filenames do not need to have the letters DC in them (ie, DESKEY30.ACC). 11) Winners will be announced on or before April 15, 1991. 12) Winners will be notified by phone. Submit your entries to one of the following addresses: GEnie : DOUBLE-CLICK CompuServe : 75300,577 Usenet : uace0@menudo.uh.edu DC BBS : (713)944-0108 For questions ONLY, call Double Click Software : (713)977-6520 NO ENTRIES WILL BE ACCEPTED BY PHONE! ONLY PRIVATE EMAIL WILL CONSTITUTE ACCEPTABLE ENTRIES. ANY PUBLIC MESSAGE STATING A POSSIBLE NAME WILL HAVE THAT NAME *EXCLUDED* FROM THE ENTRIES. Entries must have the following elements to be valid: Your Name Your Street Address Your City, State and Zip Your phone number Suggested product name Suggested filename EXAMPLE: Michael B. Vederman PO Box 741206 Houston, TX 77274 (713)977-6520 DC SQUID DCSQUID.PRG THE SOFTWARE SHELF ================== by Ron Berinstein FUJDESTT.ARC will plant the famous Fuji logo on your desktop, and spin it around. This week's uploaded version fixes the overscan feature, and works with both the ST, and, the TT. REFLEX.LZH is a small GFA program, but, to the point. When the circles filled with green turn red (at different times) you click the mouse button. Your response time will be measured. Your imagination supplies the rest.. you could be responding to a Bogie at three o'clock, or you could be waiting in your formula racing car for the starting light. Under the heading "Light hearted and somewhat fun," you might download EYETEST.ARC, an "eyetest" for "old timers" that let's you decipher a PC3 file. (to be viewed in Hi Res. only) And, if you really wanted to know about the creation of computers, a don't miss is, I_BE_AM.ARC, a small text file describing the computer's "Genesis." Under the heading of "Things I'm never gonna use, but, some may really need it," download DCLEFTY.ARC. a real small auto folder program (that needs to run before any other that requires a button press). Same will make your left and right mouse buttons swap their functions. Ideal for lefties! Plus, ICN.ARC an icon drawing program designed to save the icon data image and mask image in the file format required by Digital Research's Resource Construction Set (RCS). "Personally, Icon not understand pro Icon people." <smile> The Desktop Publishing SIG had some nice arrivals this week, MVG-DEM5.LZH is the latest demo version of Dr. Bob's MVG (Multi Viewer Graphica) A modular DTP graphics program. MVGTOYBX.ARC is a set of five "toys" (Multiple sub-functions). The Toybox of files is designed to work with MVG v. 2.0 or higher. Included is DB_Gem, MultiCap, LoadQuad, MultiLoad, ToCells and more! LITEMAIL.LZH is a simple to operate, basic label program.. it will handle about 3500 labels on an ST, about 500 on a 520. Various size labels are possible, and this might be ideal for a small group or business. The most recent uploaded version of BOOKER.ARC corrects a recent upload of a version that repeated the bottom line. You'll need a Laserjet or Deskjet printer to use it, but, it will make printing simple "books" and manuals easy by printing an ASCII file four pages to a page in small print. Then, fold and staple does it! 605ENVLP.ARC is John King Tarpinian's Calamus template for addressing envelopes and printing them with the new Atari laser printer. AREACODE.LZH and POSTAL22.LZH have both been upgraded to versions 2.2 each. Both PRG/ACC/TOS (rename as you wish) type programs, the former will locate and identify telephone area codes in North America, the latter, will give you zip code information. Under the heading, "My favorite program of the week." SNAPIT.ARC replaces the Alt-Help screen dump without the need of a menu bar, and, with the ability to be turned on and off without rebooting.. Instant Degas format "snaps" are taken of the screen. Look for them in the root directory of the drive the program is in. GFA programers shouldn't miss, GRAPUTIL.LZH, three sets of routines so that animation can be included in programs and .NEO files can be compressed. And, GFAMAK06.ARC is the latest updated version of GFAMAKER.ARC. This version produces smaller code. Warning: Downloaders of FINCALC.LZH may be in for bad news, the file recently uploaded this week to GEnie seems to have been corrupted. Suggestion: Never miss another Birthday, Anniversary, or occasion, take a look at CALSHO46.ARC (this newest version fixes a small bug). You will need the previous version though as well in order to get the .ACC file. CALSHO46 will post the prescribed events on your screen when you boot up. It also includes several historical events in it's format that lets you in on a variety of informative pieces of data. The above collected information written and compiled by Ron Berinstein, co-sysop, CodeHead Quarters BBS (213) 461-2095. Files submitted to CodeHead Quarters BBS and others downloaded from GEnie and Delphi were used as source material for the list. PUBLIC DOMAIN UPDATE ==================== by Keith MacNutt VIEWGIF V1.2 Craig S. Buchanan 4-319 MacKay St. Ottawa, Ont. Canada K1M-2B7 INTRODUCTION VIEWGIF allows the ST user to display and convert GIF picture files to NEO, DEGAS, MACPAINT, SPECTRUM, AIM OR FL FORMAT. GIF stands for graphic image format and is used primarily for the IBM PC, GIF is also used on the AMIGA. Now that the ST has a viewer and converter for these files, we have virtually an unlimited supply of pictures to view and convert to any one of the above mentioned formats. VIEWGIF is GEM based, and runs in all three ST resolutions. Once a picture is loaded, it can be scrolled both horizontally and vertically within the window and can be cropped or shrunk before it is saved to a different file format. FUNCTION OVERVIEW Under FILE on the menu bar the first thing the user will find is GIF INFO. Clicking on this option will bring up a file selector, and the user can pick a GIF file to find info on. Next is LOAD FILE which brings up a fileload form with the option to load GIF, IFF, LBM, MAC, NEO, DEGAS, FL and CP8 formats. Currently in DEGAS mode, VIEWGIF will only load un-compressed files. In MAC mode they will be loaded and translated into the current ST resolution. SAVE FILE will display a file save form in which the user can choose from GIF, FL, NEO, DEGAS, MACPAINT and MAC STARTUPSCREEN to save to. In the DEGAS mode the user can only save pictures in un-compressed format. CLOSE - Closes the top window. QUIT - Exits the program. EDIT - Under EDIT on the menu bar, the first feature is CLIP. CLIP crops the current image in one of the four window boundaries by simply sizing and scrolling the window. Next select CLIP and choose the corner CLIP will use. SHRINK - Shrink halves the image size by using one of three methods. LINEAR works best on 256 color images and the two STAGGERED modes work best on 4 and 16 color images. COLORS - Colors allows the top window color palette to be edited and SAVED with the file. USED allows the user to modify the color palette of the image but the changes will not be saved with the file. DESKTOP - Returns the palette to the desktop colors. TRANSFORM -Converts a GIF image to one of several formats without first converting the picture to the screen format. MODE - Under MODE on the menu bar the user will find COLOR. When color is selected, LOAD GIF, IFF, and LBM translates the file into a color picture and GRAY will load the files into gray scale. COLOR OPTIONS - Under this option the selections are FREQUENCY, COLOR SPACE and IGNORE NB. FREQUENCY - chooses colors based on their frequency in the image. COLOR SPACE - chooses colors based on their frequency and distribution. IGNORE NB - prevents the darkest colors from being displayed on some monitors which can not display these colors. GRAY OPTIONS ORDERED works only in monochrome mode and converts the gray scale image to a monochrome one. DISPERSED uses a dot dither to convert the gray scale to 2,4 or 8 shades of gray depending on the current resolution. HISTOGRAM affects DISPERSED gray scale by using HISTOGRAM equalization to maximize contrast of the image. SCALED affects DISPERSED in that the gray dithers using scaling to insure full gray scale coverage in the resulting image. ENHANCE selects an edge enhancement before dithering to clear up the blurry edges of an image. FULL SCREEN MODE produces a image that fills the screen and invokes an instruction list which allows the user to scroll around the screen or escape to gem. After reading the documentation and using the program, I feel that this program and its future updates, should be included in all ST users collections. Considering the vast library of GIF files on the IBM bulletin boards, this program would be of most importance to anyone that does DPT or like most people who just like to collect pictures. The only thing that I found negative was the slow file conversions and loading of GIF pictures. This problem should be fixed in future updates and to all that register their versions, this might be one of the features they would like to see in the next revision. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Z*NET International Atari Online Magazine is a weekly publication covering the Atari and related computer community. Material contained in this edition may be reprinted without permission except where noted, unedited and containing the issue number, name and author included at the top of each article reprinted. Opinions presented are those of the individual author and does not necessarily reflect the opinions of the staff of Z*Net Online. This publication is not affiliated with Atari Corporation. Z*Net, Z*Net Atari Online, Z*Net Newswire, and Z*Net News Service are copyright (c)1991, Rovac Industries Incorporated, Post Office Box 59, Middlesex, New Jersey 08846-0059. Voice (908) 968-2024, BBS (908) 968-8148 at 1200/2400 Baud 24 hours a day. We can be reached on Compuserve at PPN 71777,2140 and on GEnie at address: Z-Net. FNET NODE 593 ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Z*Net International Atari Online Magazine Copyright (c)1991, Rovac Industries, Inc.. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~