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==(((((((((( == Z*NET INTERNATIONAL ATARI ONLINE MAGAZINE =========(( === ----------------------------------------- =======(( ===== MAY 10, 1991 Issue #91-19 =====(( ======= ----------------------------------------- ==(((((((((( == (c)1989-1990-1991, Z*Net Publishing Z*Net International ------------------- Z*Net New Zealand - Jon Clarke Z*Net Canada - Terry Schreiber Z*Net Germany - Mike Shuetz Z*Net USA - Ron Kovacs Z*Net PC - Mike Mezaros Z*Magazine - Stan Lowell Z*Net Monthly - John Nagy STAFF - Z*Net USA ----------------- Ron Kovacs - Editor John Nagy - Editor Ron Berinstein Mike Brown Steve Kostelnik Dave Kerr Keith Macnutt Mike Mezaros Geoff LaCasse Dr. Paul Keith Terry Schreiber Jon Clarke CONTENTS EDITORS DESK..................................Ron Kovacs Z*NET NEWSWIRE.......................................... WINDSOR/DETROIT ATARIFEST REPORT..............Mike Brown QUICKST 3.0................................Press Release AUA YEAR IN REVIEW..........................DC Signorini MAST ATARI SWAPFEST........................Press Release GOLDLEAF PUBLISHING UPDATE.................Press Release PD REVIEW..................................Keith Macnutt STIPPLE....................................Press Release ======================================================================= EDITORS DESK ------------ by Ron Kovacs ======================================================================= A welcome to Mike Brown, Steve Kostelnik and Dave Kerr to the Z*Net staff. These guys are preparing articles as we speak and you should start seeing something soon. AtariUser Magazine is currently printing the next edition and your comments have been passed along to the editor, John Nagy. He has asked me to tell everyone that you can get a subscription to AtariUser for only $15.00 US, $22 US Canada. Call 1-800-333-3567 and sign-up today for AtariUser Magazine. Since the problem exists that NOT everyone is getting a copy, the best way is to subscribe. Thanks to the birthday greetings in our FNET conference. They are appreciated! Until next week........ ======================================================================= Z*NET NEWSWIRE -------------- ======================================================================= ATARI CANADA ANNOUNCES TRADE-UP Atari Canadas General Manager Geoff Earle announced a new trade up program. This program allows an end user to trade in their existing 800/600/400/XL/XE eight bit CPU towards a new 520STFM. Total cost to the user $250.00 plus GST and Taxes if applicable. Users wishing to trade up should send a cheque or money order along with their CPU to: Atari Canada, 90 Gough Road, Markham Ontario, Canada Attention: trade- up plan. ATARI ON THE MOVE Atari Canada is making positive advances into the educational marketplace. Over five shows are scheduled during the past thirty days and next sixty add to that the two user group shows, Windsor and Vancouver plus three more MIDI shows scheduled this month can add up to quite a experience. Atari is making their presence known in the music and educational markets. New bundles from Atari will be offered next quarter combining hardware again with software. Atari has done this before, sometimes having good results and sometimes lead balloons. Last year Atari released an educational bundle which sold extremely well and will be attempting to duplicate those results. Atari Canada will be bundling Dorothy Brumleve's Kids programs. These programs are an instant hit with pre-schoolers and parents alike and should do well in the younger educational sales market. ATARI CANADA GETS PACKETIZER Atari Canada announced the purchase of a packetizer to allow better networking service with Datapac. Earlier this year Atari set up a bulletin board system to keep dealers aware of special pricing and service updates. Problems arouse when they tried to integrate this system with Datapac for nation-wide coverage. The Packetizer is a large interface which translates and buffers files from a mainframe to a PC. This will solve all our file transfer problems stated Geoff Earle (General Manager Atari Canada) now people will be able to upload and download files and updates. Without the packetizer dealers were limited to straight ASCII captures. NEW MACINTOSH Apple introduced two new Macintosh LC personal computers. These configurations, designed for business users, offer increased memory, storage and display capabilities. MICROSOFT UPDATE Microsoft announced Monday a special offer for current 3Com customers to upgrade from 3Com 3+Open Mail and 3+Mail to Microsoft Mail for PC Networks version 2.1. In another announcement, Microsoft announced that Brazilian Officers of Justice carried out a surprise raid at the Sao Paulo offices of Westinghouse Brazil on Tuesday, April 23, 1991. The Officers acted on a complaint jointly filed by Microsoft and Autodesk Inc. of Sausalito, Calif. The Officers, accompanied by two court appointed technology experts, examined all computers at the Westinghouse premises and discovered numerous unauthorized copies of MD-DOS and Autodesk's AutoCAD program. All unauthorized copies discovered were loaded onto computer hard drives. FREELANCE GRAPHICS FOR DOS Lotus is now shipping Freelance Graphics for DOS, an upgrade of its award-winning presentation graphics program. Freelance Graphics for DOS delivers a range of functionality typically associated with Windows, OS/2 and Macintosh presentation graphics programs, while running in 640K. AUTOCAD SUPPORT FOR WINDOWS Customers with DOS versions of AutoCAD Release 11 will have the ability to run the world's most popular computer-aided design program under the Windows operating environment thanks to a new AutoCAD Windows extension kit now under development, Autodesk. At the Autodesk Expo in Washington, the company demonstrated a complementary Windows extension of AutoCAD that will give its current and future Release 11 DOS customers the option to run AutoCAD on DOS, under Windows, or in both environments interchangeably. The AutoCAD Windows extension, which will include several diskettes and an installation guide, is scheduled to ship during the first half of 1992. HIGH-RESOLUTION DIGITAL IMAGE SCANNER Polaroid has announced a high-speed, high-resolution digital image scanner for incorporating original color or black-and-white photographic images into computer-generated documents and graphics. The Polaroid Digital Scanner CS-500 and software give desktop computer users the ability to inexpensively and conveniently scan, digitize, manipulate and store reflective images up to 4-by-6 inches including Polaroid instant prints. When it becomes available in the third quarter of 1991, the scanner and software, using industry-standard interfaces, will be compatible with Apple MacIntosh II computer systems. DOS SOFTWARE DEVELOPERS' KIT Silicon Graphics has announced the availability of the IRISVISION DOS Software Developers' Kit for Intel(R)-based personal computers. This new kit provides an interface for application developers to easily create interactive, 3D graphics on their personal computers. NEW PERFECT KISS Keep It Simple Software announced the release of Perfect KISS, a utility that makes WordPerfect simpler to use. 50 percent of all revenues from sales of Perfect KISS will be contributed to Save the Children and other non-profit organizations that help children. What makes Perfect KISS unique from other menus for WordPerfect is that it fits right into the flow of WordPerfect. Perfect KISS works with versions 4.2, 5.0 and 5.1 of WordPerfect. It is now available for $69 plus $5 shipping and handling from Keep It Simple Software, Inc., 26 Finchwood Drive, Trumbull, Conn. 06611, 203-375-0914. A hard disk and DOS 2.0 or greater is required. HAYES LOWERS 9600 BAUD MODEM PRICES Hayes has lowered its prices on two of its top of the line modems, the Hayes Ultra 96 (to $999 from $1199) and the Hayes V-Series Smartmodem 9600 (to $799 from $999), with similar price cuts taking effect on their line of Mac-compatible modems. The Ultra 96 supports the V.32 modem standard and features V.42/V.42bis error correction and data compression for enhanced transmission rates. The aging V-Series Smartmodem 9600 communicates using a proprietary method, similar to but incompatible with the method used by U.S. Robotic's HST modems. Unless connected with a modem of the same type, the V-Series Smartmodem 9600 will drop down to 2400 bps. $695 GENLOCK CONVERTS VGA TO NTSC, S-VHS Visionetics' new VGALink is an inexpensive multimedia board which converts VGA video to standard NTSC (American television), or Super VHS format, for only $695. The VGALink also accepts video input, and features a genlock device for synchronizing internal and external video. The board is capable of overlaying VGA and incoming video, making it a possible competitor to NewTech's $1500 Video Toaster system for the Amiga computer with the proper software. Visionetics claims that the only other board for the PC that is as capable as the VGALink is the Magni, which is priced almost three times higher than the VGALink at $1695. PROGRAMMERS TAKE ON FEDS FOR OVERTIME PAY The National Association of Computer Consultant Businesses is angry over the U.S. Department of Labor's regulations concerning overtime pay for computer programmers. Current regulations state that computer programmers making over $27.63 per hour are exempted from a federal requirement that would otherwise give them a guaranteed 150% rate of overtime pay. The NACCB claims that the original intent of the law has been skewed due to confusion; the Labor Department claims that skilled workers making upwards of $30 an hour don't need federal protection. AMD SHIPS FIRST 25MHZ 386SX In another swing at market leader Intel, Advanced Micro Devices (AMD) has begun shipping a 25Mhz 386SX chip in sample quantities. Intel's fastest 386SX is currently rated at 20Mhz. The Am386SX-25 follows on the heels of the Am386DX-40, which rated at 40Mhz is the fastest 386DX yet released. All of AMD's new 386SX and 386DX chips use considerably less power than Intel's versions, making them more suitable for high-speed laptops and notebook computers. The Am386SX-25 uses approximately 40% less power than Intel's current i386SX-20 and will be priced competitively. STOLEN CHIP ALERT On March 2nd, thieves stole 3000 computer chips from one of a major computer manufacturer's California locations. These chips are Intel 386 and 486 CPUs, and were valued at over $1.1 million. Beware of anyone attempting to sell you any quantity of these particular chips, especially if it is at surprisingly reduced price. Authorities believe the thieves will attempt to resell these chips within the US or Canada, probably in the midwest or east coast. These chips can be traced, and anyone buying them may find themselves in trouble -- deals too good to be true usually are. If you suspect that someone is attempting to sell you these chips, you are requested to contact your local FBI office (check the phone book for the number), and refer the agent in charge to casefile #87B-SC-15826. BBS FILE ALERT There is a file being circulated on BBS's called PKZ120.ZIP or PKZ120. EXE or similar, and that claims to be version 1.20 of PKZIP but in fact is a hacked version of PKZIP 1.10. As of the date of this writing, the latest version of PKZIP is version 1.10. Furthermore, due to this intentional act of vandalism, PKWARE will not release any versions of PKZIP in the future with the version 1.20. If you see the files PKZ120.ZIP or PKZ120.EXE on any BBS or on-line system, please ask the SysOp of that system to remove the files IMMEDIATELY, and please contact PKWARE to report where the files were seen. PKWARE is offering a reward of lifetime free upgrades for PKZIP to anyone who can provide information leading to the identification and prosecution of the person or persons responsible for creating this bogus version 1.20 of the software. They have only served to confuse and hurt the user community, and the perpetrators of this crime are at minimum in violation of Federal Copyright Law. If you have any information about the source of PKZ120.EXE or PKZ120.ZIP, please report it to PKWARE immediately, either: by Voice at 414-352-3670, by BBS at 414-352-7176, by FAX at 414-352-3815, or by mail: PKWARE Inc., 7545 N. Port Washington Rd., Glendale, WI 53217 ======================================================================= WINDSOR/DETROIT INTERNATIONAL ATARIFEST REPORT ---------------------------------------------- Oh! Canada: An Attendee's view.. by Mike Brown (LCACE) ======================================================================= Being a Michiganian here in exile in Illinois; I have fond memories of the years when I was growing up, and my first international adventures were spent in Canada. I remember Canada for wonderful Beer, friendly people, Beer, higher road speed limits, Beer, and gas by the litre. I realize that there is much more to Canada, but these are the things that I usually had to deal with on my "day trips" of the past. Actually going to Canada and renting a hotel room, dealing with currency conversion, and so forth was a new experience. After about the first half-day, it was like second nature. No biggie, eh? The purpose of our visit to the Windsor show was (selfishly) to promote the upcoming Chicago Computerfest by Atari; and doing that left me little time for the normal "show" stuff. Although the official attendance figures were not in as of this writing, the attendance "looked" to be a bit low. I'd estimate that probably 400-500 people per day made the show. Also, unlike other shows that I've been to in the past, the seminars seemed to be a bit under attended. I'd like to stress that this is only MY impression, and I hope that the actual numbers are better than they looked. Atari Canada and the show organizers did an excellent job of promotion, day-of-show coordination, and the like. All of the elements for a very good show were there, why there was not double or triple the attendance is beyond me - it certainly was not due to lack of effort on the part of the parties involved. The most fun thing to do at any AtariFest, in my opinion, is visiting with the usergroup representatives in attendance. Nine area Atari user groups had booths where group information, PD libraries, and the like were on display. The groups included: Atari ST/Mega Users of Montreal, Genesee Atari Group, London Users of STs, MAGIC, Mid-Ohio Atari Users Group, Spectrum Atari Group of Erie (PA), WACO (Huntington PA), Washtenaw Atari Users' Group, and the host group, Windsor Atari Users' Group. If you roamed around a bit, it was easy to find representatives of at least a half-dozen other US and Canadian Atari User Groups. This "gathering of the faithful" was alone worth the price of admission. I'm sure that a full product-oriented report will be in this issue, so I will not rehash that subject. I will say that I was absolutely blown away by Gadgets by Small's SST 68030. Poor Dave fell victim to the baggage handler's union and had the three prototype SSTs that were with him all but smashed in transit. Dave - can you say "Carry on Baggage"? I knew you could. A heroic effort by all concerned got one of the SST's in working condition. Continuous crowds gathered around the Gadgets booth to see "the fastest ST on the planet". Most people just stared in disbelief, while traces of drool found on the floor of the general area made walking by the Gadgets booth a bit of a hazard. Bob Brodie and Geoff Earle (Atari Canada) put on a very entertaining "Ask Atari" session, it was most interesting to hear answers from both the "corporate" and the "affiliate" perspectives. Geoff is a great guy to talk to and if there is any decency in the world, should have a very stellar future with Atari. As a counterpoint to the enjoyment of the show itself, the return passage over the Ambassador Bridge, and "back in the USA" was not an enjoyable one at all. For starters - the light shower of earlier in the day had turned into some serious RAIN, making the driving a bit dicey. The irritation of the weather was nothing compared to having to deal with our wonderfully efficient United States Customs Service. I had been told some incomplete information before we left on the trip concerning the amount of merchandise that could be brought back by individuals without being subject to customs duty. Needless to say I was shocked when I was told to "pull over" into the inspection area with my tiny pile of purchases at the show, and a few souvenirs. I got socked with a 10% duty by US Customs on what I was "importing". A little investigation (once safely back in the USA) found an information guide published by the Canadian Ministry of Industry, Trade and Commerce. Concerning duty on Canadian goods when returning to the USA, the guide states - "US residents returning from Canada may take back, once every 30 days, merchandise for personal or household use to the value of $100 free of US duty and tax, provided they have remained in Canada 48 hours. Residents of the US visiting Canada for less than 48 hours may take back $10 worth of goods free of US duty and tax. If any article brought back is subject to duty or tax, or if the total value of all articles exceeds $10, no article may be exempt from duty or tax. Members of a family household are not permitted to combine the value of their purchases under this exemption." In spite of blowing my budget, and the hassles, I'd go back to Windsor tomorrow if they announced a show. The WAUG/WAUG crew is to be congratulated for the professional job that was done - I heard few negative comments about ANY aspect of the show - as a matter of fact, the little things (like the free lunches for developers) seemed to make a BIG difference. I hope that Atari Canada will support this show so that it will become a permanent fixture on the North American show circuit. Windsor Show Comments ======================================================================= Reprinted from the Z*Net Online Conference Conf : Z*Net Online Conference Msg# : 3220 Lines: Extended Read: 3 Sent : May 8, 1991 at 4:07 PM Recv : May 9, 1991 To : Ron Kovacs From : Stash at {{{{ Realm of Chaos }}}} Subj : Dave Small Thought I would share this story that probably made the whole trip worth while for Dave.. While at the booth a kid about 8/9 years old got out of his wheel chair and walked up to Dave (looks like he had some kind of muscle/ nerve dissorder) and Introduced himself.. Then he told Dave that he used Spectre all the time and that it was the BEST pice of work he had ever sceen "DAVE, you are a genious!! I have been looking forward to this for such a long time.." By now there was dead silence by everyone at the booth.. "Dave you should re-write TOS.. You know I get more throughput in spectre than in atari mode?? (dave) "Well modem drivers and rs232 operating systems are hard to write.." (Kid) "but Dave it is nothing you can't do.. I also think it's very nice that you hire handycapped people also, One day I want to learn how to solder.." By now I think everyones eye's were getting wet.. "Dave, Can I get an upgrade to my spectre disk?" Dave took his personal copy out of the drive and handed it to him "Here, take mine," He then walked (or floated) back to his wheel chair, stopped and then came back to ask for an autograph.. It's the kind of thing that I am sure Dave will never forget.. "thanks Dave for the disk, I'm just one of youre small fans.. OOooo sorry No pun intended." He went back his he chair and left with his disk.. The thing that was neat about this little guy is that he was very intelligent. Who knows, he may one day optimize spectre himself.. there was a little more to the story but, I'll let Dave tell it as only he can.. I know I'll never forget it.. Conf : Z*Net Online Conference Msg# : 3219 Lines: Extended Read: 3 Sent : May 8, 1991 at 3:54 PM Recv : May 9, 1991 To : Ron Kovacs From : Stash at {{{{ Realm of Chaos }}}} Subj : Winsor show.. I'll try to be brief.. 1) RiMik Enterprises announced A TRUE multitasking gem for the ST.. He claims to have been using it for the past 2 years.. Product is called Multigem. It looks like you can put up to 6 ACC type files into the ACC slots, each one opens a window with the program running in it.. To be shipping in 3 wks.. for info (619 630 1217 ) 2) The show was attended by about 1000 people for both day's. Vendors were not real happy but did well.. It was nice for the people who went.. You never had to wait more then 5 min to talk to ANY of the vendors.. Even Dave Small. (who I helped work his booth) 3) Mega talk boards went into production, but, the run was bad.. A little more of a delay here.. The SST boards were running.. Beta testing to be in a couple of weeks.. No Idea of shipping.. Dave has a color board he is working on which will piggy back the SST board.. it's wire wrapped right now.. looks like it might go 24 bit color.. He did not talk to much about this.. 4) The mega STe-1 is a reality in Canada. I bought the last of 8 savtec sold that day.. TT's were also selling well.. mega STe-1 has the same case as the mega 4.. no hard drive or co-processor. (though the socket is there) tos 2.05, GREAT keyboard.. Atari announced that they will sell a hard drive upgrade kit for the mega STe-1.. they are also working on a floppy controller replacement for 1.44 meg floppies.. ======================================================================= QUICK ST 3.0 ------------ Press Release ======================================================================= "It's as easy as A-B-C... Accelerate, Benchmark, Customize" Branch Always Software 14150 N.E. 20th Street Unit 302 Bellevue, WA 98007 Phone: (206)-885-5893 BIX: darekm CIS: 73657,2714 Delphi: darekm GEnie: brasoft Quick ST 3.0 is the newest addition to the Quick ST family of software accelerators for the Atari ST and TT computers. For a more detailed description of the product and benchmark results for various ST and TT configurations, write for our free newsletter (please include a SASE). All 520/1040ST, Mega ST, STE, Mega STE, and TT/030 computers are supported. 1 megabyte of RAM and a hard disk are recommended (but not required) for use with some of the customizing features. Quick ST 3.0 contains various utilities to speed up and customize your ST or TT. Included are: - Quick ST software accelerator version 3.0 - Quick Index benchmarking utility - MegaBlit graphics editor - Desktop Customizer font, icon, and pattern editor - sample fonts, icons, fill patterns, and graphics These are some of the new or enhanced features of Quick ST 3.0: - Speed: Faster screen redraws than before. Speeds up desktop fonts (including the 16x32 TT font), GDOS fonts, GEM graphics, Line A graphics, and screen scrolling. - Improved hardware compatibility: Fully compatible with the new Mega STE and TT/030 computers, as well as 68020, 68030, and 16MHz 68000 accelerator boards. - Speeds up all screen resolutions: All standard ST and TT screen resolutions, as well as non-standard screen sizes such as 1024x768 and 1280x960. Quick ST 3.0 is the only software accelerator that speeds up TT screen resolutions. - Requires a single QUICKST3.PRG file: ST, Mega ST/STE, and TT versions are provided, each one optimized to give you the maximum speed for your particular machine. No additional renaming or copying of files is required when changing monitors. - Installs from the desktop as well as the AUTO folder: If you boot your computer without Quick ST 3.0, just run QUICKST3.PRG from the desktop directly instead of having to reboot the machine. - Quick Index 3.0 now includes benchmark references for the Mega STE and TT computers: Compare the speed of your computer to the speed of other ST, STE, and TT computers. Compares CPU, disk, text, scrolling, and graphics performance. - Customized screen resolutions: Requires TOS 1.4 or higher. Allows you to set the desktop's resolution to any arbitrary size. 1280x960 or 800x600 or even 1024x1024. View either part of the virtual screen (and scroll around it using the mouse) or display the entire large screen shrunk down. This is ideal for such things as emulating TT screen resolutions on an ST or for use with desktop publishing applications. - Desktop pictures: Loads DEGAS, Neochrome, Prism Paint, or Windows 3.0 graphics files as the background for the desktop in all screen resolutions. Supports PI1, PI2, PI3, PC1, PC2, PC3, NEO, PNT, and BMP files. Pictures that are too small or too large for the current screen resolution can be tiled, cropped, or re-positioned. - Customizing: Supports the editing and replacement of the desktop fonts, icons, and fill patterns. - Memory requirements: Memory usage varies between the ST, STE, and TT versions, as well as with the number of customizing features in use. Typically about 40K of RAM is required plus 32K to 150K per desktop picture installed. Quick ST 3.0 still uses less RAM than competing products. - Free updates: We know what a pain it can be keeping up with the latest versions of a product, and Quick ST is no exception. So when you buy or update to Quick ST 3.0, your next update is free! Suggested retail price for Quick ST 3.0 is $34.95 U.S. It can be ordered at an introductory price of $29.95 U.S. before June 30, 1991 by sending payment in U.S. funds to Branch Always Software at the address at the top of this file. Sorry, no credit card orders are being taken for this introductory offer. Quick ST 3.0 will begin shipping in June and will be available for purchase at the Pacific Northwest Atari Festival. If you are currently a registered Quick ST user, you have already received our newsletter telling you about Quick ST 3.0. The update fee is $15 U.S. and must be included with the update form from your newsletter. The original Quick ST disk is not required, and the update includes a new disk and manual and one free update after that. If you are currently a user of Turbo ST or NVDI, you may purchase Quick ST 3.0 at a special price of only $20. Send a check or money order and proof of purchase of either product (which can be a manual page, or a photocopy of the disk) to Branch Always Software at the above address. Please note that Quick ST 2.2 is NOT being discontinued at this time. If Quick ST 3.0 sounds like what you need but you don't have a hard disk or a lot of RAM, or simply don't need the whole assortment of customizing features, then Quick ST 2.2 is for you. The price of Quick ST 2.2 is only $24.95 and most Atari dealers sell for less. All trade names are the trademarks or registered trademarks of their respective manufacturers. ======================================================================= AUA YEAR IN REVIEW ------------------ by DC Signorini ======================================================================= One year ago this month, the AUA was officially in full operation. We had established a new headquarters in Canonsburg, Pennsylvania and at the time had a membership base of only 300 members. Since that time, we have come a very long way and am very happy to say that the AUA and the concept of a world wide organization is a success. Through all of this, we have not forgotten those who helped us get to where we are today. While I can not go through the entire list of those people who backed us, they know who they are and without them, the AUA would be no further along today than the once conceived World Wide Atari Network. (That organization never made it off of the ground because too many people were too skeptical about its purpose.) We greatly appreciate the support, and we will one day give back what was given us. We were not without the skeptics either. Many are still trying to cast illusions on the AUA, mostly because they fear that the AUA survived and is larger than had ever been thought. We hope that over the course of this year, we will be able to convince these people that the AUA is alive and well, and is a service oriented organization here for the user. So, over the past first year of operations, exactly what has the AUA done? It is best presented in outline form: o Currently stands as an organization with over 1500 members in 22 countries world wide making AUA the largest organization of ST users in the world. o Operates a 24 hour BBS system free to its members where they can call for support or questions. o 24 hour voice message taking system which allows our users who have problems or questions reach us and get a quick response. o Publishes the largest circulating disk magazine in the United States 6 times a year. The NewsBriefs Disk Magazine currently has 4 volunteer staff writers who contribute their time and thought for all of our members to enjoy. o Active in Anti-Piracy issues and distributes information on how one can combat piracy in his or her area. o Maintains a massive database of information including BBS lists, Usergroup lists, user mailing lists, and an up to date vendor listing. o Operates the User Group Affiliation Program, or UGAP, which is an affiliation program for user groups to get involved in the AUA. We currently have 14 affiliated groups in UGAP. o Maintains a Category on GEnie and is available on that service for questions or comments and support. We also have access to Compuserve, Fnet, and Fido. o Moderates an AUA Conference on Fnet where over 30 BBS's across the country are active. o Publishes a monthly online magazine, The NewsBriefs Online Magazine, which contains information about the organization and general Atari news. NewsBriefs Online is distributed on GEnie, Compuserve, Fnet, Usenet, Fido, and on private BBS systems all over the world and is read by over 20,000 ST users each month. o Currently offers advertising for vendors in our disk magazine as reduced rates. We also offer free of charge advertising in AUA mailings when flyers are provided to us. o Currently welcome any organization sponsoring an Atari show to provide us with press releases or flyers which we will distribute with or in our publications as well as promote on our BBS and AUA Conference. o Operate the ST-Exchange (STX) PD/Shareware Library. This library, housing now nearly 500 disks and 10,000 files, is free to use by our members. o Have special group discounts on several third party services such as the ST Connection publication (Computer Publications, Unltd.), selected software vendors, and a few dealers across the country. o Sponsors the "User's Mark of Excellence" award that is a plaque given to the authors of the best products for the Atari ST platform by category. Our members vote for what they feel are the best, and we in turn show the developers our appreciation for their hard work. o Sponsored the very successful "BYTE LETTER" which was a letter writing campaign directed to the editors of BYTE magazine for not mentioning the Atari ST as a powerful DTP computer in an October 1990 review. Early estimates showed that nearly 5000 letters were sent to the magazine and the Editor, Fred Langa, personally replied to many of them. No other letter writing campaign has been as successful in the history of the Atari ST platform. I may have missed a few things, and this list grows almost monthly. We are very active in almost every aspect of the ST arena and are striving to be a quality support organization. But our job is not easy! At times, the workload is overwhelming and we are calling for writers for the NewsBriefs Publications. So, if you have some thoughts to get off of your keyboard, then by all means, drop us a line and write for us! Now, I must stress that basic membership in the AUA is free. As a member, you receive all of the above benefits, minus the disk magazine subscription. In order for our letter writing campaigns to be a success, we need membership by the masses. Our goal is 5000 members by the end of next year. We should hit 2000 easily by this Christmas, and the 5000 plateau would be an achievement for any userbase (except for the Boston Computer Society, which has a rumored 22,000 members). Take a moment of your time and a .29 cent stamp and join the AUA! You have absolutely everything to gain! In the mean time, we invite you to inquire about the AUA by writing to us, or if you would rather contact us directly, we may be reached at 412-745-8930 or on our 24 hour BBS at 412-746-8699. If that is not enough, then try looking us up on GEnie at DC.SIGNORINI or in the AUA Category on the ST Roundtable (category 20). We are looking forward to hearing from you! Again, we wish to thank everyone who helped make the first year of the AUA a great one! Please continue to show your support for the Atari ST, and those who support the platform! ======================================================================= MAST ATARI SWAPFEST ------------------- Press Release ======================================================================= The Milwaukee Area ST User Group (M.A.S.T.) will be sponsoring an Atari Swapfest on June 2nd, 1991 from 10:00 AM to 4:30 PM at: Bowlero Red Carpet Lanes 11737 W. Burleigh St. Milwaukee, WI We wish to thank the following developers and vendors for committing to attend the show: Apple Annie Branch Always Software Compu-Seller West Dennis Palumbo Fonts G.K. Enterprises ICD Innovative Concepts Kolputer Systems Komtech Micro Magic MissionWare Software M-S Designs Paper Express SKware One Taylor Ridge Books Timeworks Toad Computers Other User Groups that will be attending; LCACE MAAUG GCACE RACC M.A.S.T. also will have two tables set-up for selling used equipment both for our members and on a commission basis. There will be the new TT and Mega STe computers at the show. I have been assured that both machines will also be for sale. We also will have the new Atari Coupon Books And Catalogs from E. Arthur Brown available to the attendees. We hope that you will be able to join us in Milwaukee for this show. We will be updating this notice as we have more information. Ticket cost is two dollars in advance, three dollars at the door. If you are a developer or a vendor and would like to display, please leave E-mail to Bob Carpenter (GEnie ID: R.CARPENTE18), or David Mumper (GEnie ID: D.MUMPER) on Genie, Richard Laudenbach (Delphi ID: Rlaudenbach) on Delphi, Jim Hand on Compuserve or to Teri Krofta on Usenet ,"the Net", at baaa02@mixcon.com. for more information. If you need advance tickets, please send two dollars (check or money order please) and a self-addressed envelope to: M.A.S.T. P.O. Box 25679 Milwaukee, WI 53225. For more information, please leave E-mail to one of the people listed above. If you need additional information, need directions, have some questions, or just want the latest info, check us out on GEnie Category 11 (User Groups and Shows), Topic 16 in the Atari ST Roundtable. Those of you with ST Aladdin, don't forget to update your topic lists! Bruce Welsch President M.A.S.T. ======================================================================= GOLDLEAF PUBLISHING UPDATE -------------------------- Press Release ======================================================================= Goldleaf Publishing, Inc. 700 Larkspur Landing Circle Suite 199 Larkspur, CA 94939 415-257-3515 Goldleaf Publishing, Inc. is a major publisher of high end software for Atari computers. Our offerings fall into three categories -- Document Processing, Digital Pre-Press, and Programming Tools & Utilities. Many of these titles were developed in Europe, where they have been proven in a very demanding and mature marketplace. We believe these products make the Atari "solution" highly competitive with Macintosh and IBM compatibles in terms of performance, ease of use, and overall value. We invite you to contact us for more information. ATARI SOFTWARE LIBRARY DESCRIPTIONS AND PRICING I. Document Processing Wordflair (TM) Developed by Goldleaf Publishing and introduced in December 1989, Wordflair is an integrated document processor that provides the critical functions of a word processor, page layout program, spreadsheet, and database in a single easy to use program. Wordflair combines text (multiple fonts and point sizes), graphics, calculations, and data all on an electronic page. Wordflair lets you quickly and easily create letters, data sheets, invitations, newsletters, etc. without switching between programs. Perfect "all around" software for the Atari enthusiast. Requires at least one megabyte of RAM and two disk drives. SRP: $99.95 Wordflair II (TM) Wordflair II is as superset of the original product that adds many vital features for the porofessional user. In includes the Proximity/Merriam Webster spell checker (116,000 words with up to five user dictionaries), thesaurus, and hyphenation. Tab or comma delimited data can be imported to and exported from databases such as Tracker ST and used to produce highly sophisticated mail merges. Full support of FSM GDOS opens up a world of high quality typefaces (Garamond, Palatino, Lucida, etc.) that can be scaled on the fly from 4 to 99 points. This is the perfect product for small businesses or organizations needing to create truly impressive looking documents like order forms, "smart" invoices that calculate themselves, data sheets, and the like but can't afford the time needed to switch between several programs to get the job done. Requires at least one megabyte of RAM and two disk drives. SRP: $149.95 Sherlook (TM) Sherlook is an entry level Optical Character Recognition (OCR) program that offers fast and accurate conversion of printed pages into computer usable text files. Working with a scanner, Sherlook can convert printed text into a text file that can be edited with Wordflair or your favorite word processor. Sure beats typing! Sherlook requires at least one megabyte of RAM. SRP: $199.95 Sherlook Professional (TM) Sherlook Professional adds the ability to recognize multiple font and point sizes as well as multiple columns on a page. It has a unique "training" feature that allows you to "teach" the program to recognize characters. With direct scanner support, Sherlook Professional can process up to 12,000 characters per minute. Requires at least two megabytes of RAM. SRP: $899.95 II. Digital Pre-Press Retouche (TM) Developed by 3D Computerbild in Germany, Retouche is a powerful black and white image processing program that allows the creative manipulation of scanned images for use in desktop publishing. Sophisticated dithering features allow you to create "gray scale" images even on a monochrome system. Requires at least one megabyte of RAM, a hard disk, and a monochrome monitor. SRP: $299.95 Retouche Professional (TM) Retouche Professional is a "digital lithography" system for producing halftone images of impeccable quality. It features sophisticated brightness and contrast control, a gallery of filters for performing artistic effects, and a "jobs" feature that organizes scanned images, masks, type and line art, for the easy assembly of spectacular photo montages. Its library of over 120 hand optimized halftone screens matches the appropriate screen angle and dot pattern for the output device and desired printing press. For use with the TT/030 Publishing Workstation or the Image Speeder(TM) Publishing System only. SRP:$999.95 Retouche Professional CD (TM) (Color Design) Retouche Professional CD encompasses Retouche Professional's full feature set and adds true color retouching capabilities. Working in either 8 bit or 24 bit mode, a skilled operator can produce separated film of continuous tone images with absolutely astounding speed and quality. For use with the TT/030 Publishing Workstation or the Image Speeder (TM) Publishing System only. SRP: $1999.95 Didot Line Art (TM) This program is aimed at the graphic artist wanting to create line art, logos, labels, and such in a friendly environment. A variety of tools already familiar to the artist makes it possible to manipulate type outlines, bezier curves, and scanned images with ease. Prints Postscript (TM) to disk or outputs to any popular printer or image setter. Requires at least one megabyte of RAM and a monochrome monitor. SRP: $399.95 III. Programming Tools and Utilities Devpac ST 3.0 (TM) Widely regarded as the most powerful assembly language development system for Atari computers, Devpac ST incorporates an integrated editor/ assembler/debugger, a stand-alone assembler/debugger, and a fast linker. Version 3.0 includes a brand-new multi-window editor and re-designed interface with many more assembly optimizations, Hisoft Basic 2 and Lattice C linkable code, and faster, more flexible assembly. Another major step forward for assembler programmers, novice and expert alike, Devpac ST 3.0 includes assorted libraries, example files, and an extensive ring-bound manual. SRP: $119.95 Devpac TT (TM) The professional 68000/68882 assembly language platform designed for the Atari TT and all of its features. Capable of compiling at 200,000 lines per minute, Devpac TT supports DRI, GST, and Lattice linkable code as well as Atari executable format and S-records. SRP: $249.95 Harlekin (TM) All the programs you're ever likely to need in one desk accessory! Harlekin comprises a very fast word processor, an extremely powerful scrapbook, a disk editor, a terminal program, a calendar, a RAMdisk, a printer spooler, and much, much more. Harlekin requires at least one megabyte of RAM. SRP: $99.95 Hisoft Basic 2 (TM) A complete, integrated BASIC system incorporating a multi-window interactive editor. Press a key to compile at over 3000 lines per minute. Version 2 includes a tremendous increase in speed of program development and extra flexibility, an extensive, well-documented GEM library, support for the 68030 and 68882 TT chips, and is linkable with Devpac ST 3.0 and Lattice C code. The package includes an editor, compiler, linker, resource editor, GEM toolbox, and a code profiler. SRP: $149.95 Hisoft C Interpreter (TM) Designed for the beginning C programmer, this development tool features an integrated editing and debugging environment that lets you develop, debug, and test programs quickly and easily. Hisoft C Interpreter greatly enhances and simplifies the transformation from Basic to C. A myriad of useful utilities complete the package. SRP: $99.95 Highspeed Pascal (TM) Designed to be compatible with the hugely successful Turbo Pascal 5.0 (TM) for MS-DOS machines, Highspeed Pascal is packed full of features that make it simple for everyone to learn and use. Compilation speed is over 20,000 lines per minute. TT compatible. SRP: $179.95 Knife ST (TM) The ultimate disk recovery and editor system for both hard and floppy disks. Host to a complex array of features, Knife ST offers incredible power over many facets of data storage. Useful for any power user. SRP: $59.95 Lattice C (TM) The fastest and most complete C compiler for the ST! Includes editor, linker, assembler, disassembler, librarian, resource construction set, 1200 pages of documentation in three volumes and the most complete set of C libraries ever released on the ST. SRP: $269.95 Lattice C TT (TM) The TT version of the Lattice C compiler contains many changes designed to take greater advantage of the TT, 68030, and 68881. Full support has been added for all the new OS calls and, additionally, extra functions are available for even easier porting of programs from other environments. Includes full 68030/68882 libraries in addition to the 680x0 family versions, high performance floating point code (in excess of one million Whetstones per second), new C++ features, complete UNIX make utility, and even faster code - performance in excess of 7000 Dhrystones. SRP: $449.95 ProFlight (TM) A supremely accurate flight simulation of the Panavia Tornado military aircraft. Using exact flight equations Hisoft has produced by far the most advanced product of its kind. Runs in either color or monochrome and is hard disk installable. SRP: $69.95 Tempus (TM) An extremely fast and flexible editor, useful for anything from text files to source code. Features include many popular word processing options as well as those catering to programmers. SRP: $79.95 Special introductory pricing is in effect. For discounts or more information on any of these products, please contact your local Atari dealer or Goldleaf Publishing at 415-257-3515. All trademarks are those of their respective owners. Copyright 1991 Goldleaf Publishing, Inc. All Rights Reserved. ======================================================================= PD REVIEW -------------------- by Keith MacNutt ======================================================================= 2-BIT F-KEYS 2-BIT Software, INC. Suite 144 5824 Bee Ridge Road Sarasota, FL 34233 F-Keys is a program which allows you to assign text strings to your function keys. This is very handy if you are using a text editor or a Word Processor where you are entering multiple entries of the same information. While in a program, F-Keys does not interfere with the normal function keys since to activate the program you must push the Alternate key at the same time as the F key. Not only do you get F1 to F10, but by pushing the Shift key you also get f1 to f10, making for 20 programmable keys in all. As an example, if you want to use f1, you will need to push Alternate-shift-F1 to get that combination. F-Keys will work in all three resolutions and can be run as a program or an accessory by changing the last three letters to either PRG or ACC. To run as a program from the desktop, simply double click on the program, and to run as an Acc, place the renamed program in the root directory on the boot drive and re-boot the computer. Once installed and the program is run, you will see a screen that requests that you press a function key. To enter a text string for that key, simply press the function key (F1-F10 or left-shift-F1-F10) and enter the text string, remembering to press Return to assign that string to the Function key. To save this information press the UNDO key and you will be asked if you wish to save this setup. If you say yes, this information will be written to a file called 2BSFKEYS.DAT, and any previous file of that name will be renamed 2BSFKEYS.BAK. To use these keys within a program, press the ALT key and the desired function key at the same time, and whatever has been programmed into that key will now appear after the cursor. DC BOOT IT V1.0 Double Click Software by Keith Gerdes and Michael B. Vederman PO BOX 741206 Houston, TX 77274 DC BOOT IT allows you to run a 'BOOT DISK' from the desktop. Now this may not seem like a big deal, but for those users that purchased an accelerator board or have one of the new MEGA STE's that run faster then 8 Mhz, this program "IS A BIG DEAL". One of the first things these people will find is that either the game or application won't run or that it is too fast to play properly. This program will allow you to set the accelerator frequency of the processor from the desktop or utility program that came with your machine or upgrade board, and also 50 or 60 hertz mode before booting the floppy disk. To use the program, double click on the program DCBOOTIT.PRG, and a menu will appear with a choice of using floppy A or B, 50 or 60 Hertz mode and the resolution you will be using. The documentation doesn't state whether you must be in the proper resolution before running the program, but it wouldn't hurt to try this if it fails on the first attempt. Basically what DC BOOT IT does is to try and fool the system into thinking that the system is un-initialized and that the computer has been RESET or COLD BOOTED. Now this will not work in all cases, but this should work in the majority of them. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ QUOTE THIS ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Silence is Golden because of an over abundance of idle chatter. ======================================================================= STIPPLE ------- Press Release ======================================================================= The Atari ST/STE/TT Image File Viewer from Zocra Technologies *"noun: dotted painting, giving gradation of shade." PROGRAM OVERVIEW STipple is a program for viewing, translating and saving graphic images on the Atari ST, STE and TT series computers. STipple supports a wide variety of graphic image file formats ranging from computer dependant formats such as NEO, Degas and MacPaint to hardware independent formats such as GIF and CP8. STipple allows your ST to show graphics created on a PC, an Amiga, or whatever, even if the original image has more colours or pixels than the ST can display. Likewise STipple will load and display any ST graphic in any resolution. It also allows you to convert your Atari ST images into GIF and MacPaint formats for exchange with other systems. STipple has a rich translation feature which will translate between a number of graphic file formats without first converting them to an ST resolution. This file-to-file translation allows conversion without a loss of image quality. Conversions include GIF, Spectrum 512, and AIM. STipple is GEM-based and operates in all three ST resolutions, and five of the six TT resolutions. When an image is loaded it can be scaled and then rendered with a variety of painting and dithering options. Images can be scaled prior to dithering for maximum picture quality. Once loaded and rendered, images are displayed in scrollable windows. The on-screen images (rasters) can be clipped and scaled and their colours can be edited. The resulting image can be saved in a variety of Atari and non-Atari formats. HOT FEATURES o Easy to Use! Simply select "Load Image" and select the file. o Colour Dither! Images can be rendered in colour either by painting or dithering. The colour dither is slower but produces fantastic images in 16 colour mode. o Two Gray Dithers! Images can be rendered in grayscale using two dithering routines. o Edge Enhancement! Blurry images can be "sharpened" prior to any gray dither by selecting "edge enhancement". o Arbitrary Scaling! Images can be scaled by arbitrary percentages, from 5% to 500%. Individual horizontal and vertical scaling provided. o Pre Dither Scaling! Scale image before dithering for maximum image quality. o Colour Editor! Edit image colours with a moveable menu! o Full Screen Mode! Simply press "Escape" and the image fills the screen. Use keypad to scroll. o Full Screen File Save Preview! Full screen mode shows clipping when saving NEO or Degas screens. o Resolution/Size Converter! A monochrome image can be converted to a 4 or 16 colour image reduced in size. Likewise a 4 colour image can be reduced to a smaller 16 colour image. o STE Support! Fully supports STE's 4096 colour palette. o TT Support! Supports TT Medium and TT High. (TT Low not supported yet.) Additional image save options for larger screens. (.PI5 & .PI7) o Overscan and large screen monitor support! Full Support for non- standard resolutions. o Includes BONUS UTILITY PROGRAM FixMac! Remove Mac Headers from Mac GIF files. Place Mac Headers on headerless MacPaint files. PROGRAM DETAILS The following graphic file types can be viewed and translated: NEO, Degas, Degas compressed, GIF, PCX, IFF, LBM, MacPaint, Mac Startupscreen, CP8, FastLoad (.FL), AIM (.IM). Images can be saved in the following formats: NEO, Degas, GIF, MacPaint, Mac Startupscreen, FastLoad. Graphic files can be directly converted to the following file types: GIF, CP8[3], Spectrum 512 (SPU), AIM, CP8[1]. STipple is written in C and assembler using Borland International's Turbo C and Turbo Assembler. DEMONSTRATION For a demonstration of some of the features found in STipple try ViewGIF 1.2, STipple's shareware predecessor. STipple is more powerful, faster and easier to use than ViewGIF. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Z*Net International Atari Online Magazine Copyright (c)1991, Rovac Industries, Inc. =======================================================================