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| (((((((( | Z*Net International Atari Online Magazine | (( | ----------------------------------------- | (( | October 4, 1991 Issue #91-42 | (( | ----------------------------------------- | (((((((( | Copyright (c)1991, Rovac Industries, Inc. | | Post Office Box 59, Middlesex, NJ 08846 | (( | | (((((( | CONTENTS | (( | | | * Z*Net Atari Newswire.................................. | ((( (( | * The Editors Desk............................Ron Kovacs | (((( (( | * Speed Wars At Glendale.......................John Nagy | (( (( (( | * Regulations On Mailorder - Part 2..................... | (( (((( | * WAACE Atarifest 1991.......................Last Notice | (( ((( | * Atari At Seybold.........................Press Release | | * A Flaming Editorial..........................John Nagy | ((((((( | * Tracker ST - Version 3.0.................Press Release | (( | * Perusing The Internet...................Bruce Hansford | ((((( | * Z*Net Software Shelf....................Ron Berinstein | (( | | ((((((( | ~ Publisher/Editor............................Ron Kovacs | | ~ Editor.......................................John Nagy | (((((((( | ~ New Zealand Bureau..........................Jon Clarke | (( | ~ Canadian Bureau........................Terry Schreiber | (( | ~ PD Software Reviewer....................Ron Berinstein | (( | ~ Reporter................................Dr. Paul Keith | (( | ~ Reporter................................Bruce Hansford ======================================================================= Atari News First - Where It Should Be! ======================================================================= * Z*NET NEWSWIRE ======================================================================= ATARI DOES SEYBOLD The Direct to Press division of Atari Corporation made another impressive presentation at the SEYBOLD Electronic Publishing Show, a 20,000 square foot show in two halls held this week in San Jose, California. This is the first time in two years that Atari has attended this publishing show. The range of DTP solutions plus electronic imaging and lithographic preparation for press included Pagestream, Calamus, Codehead Software, and the wide 3K line of products. According to reports from early in the show, floor traffic was light due to exceptional conference presentations, but the Atari area was well attended. Most show-goers to this internationally renowned publishing trade show are getting used to seeing Atari now, and the demonstrations of state of the art systems at reasonable prices seem to be well received. See the press material from Atari for Seybold, later in this issue of Z*Net. ROLAND IMPRESSED, ATTENDING ALL ATARI SHOWS Astounded by the great reception and product sales at the Glendale Atari show in September, the keyboard and music hardware giant ROLAND is planning to make Atari show appearances a regular thing. Company reps have asked Atari to advise them of any and all user and trade shows that will feature Atari products, and have booked a display at the upcoming WAACE AtariFest in the D.C. area in mid October. Expect them again at the Chicago Atari Fair in November. Groups that are planning shows should be certain to coordinating their work through Bob Brodie at Atari Corp in order to assure that Roland and other interested developers know of the event. Call Bob at 408-745-2052. NEW CD TITLES FOR ATARI AS CDAR505 NEARS Production of Atari's first CD, the Softsource Collection, should begin in late October and sell for about $30. The CDAR505 CD ROM player may be in dealers at that same time, beginning the demand for third-party CD releases. One such company, Computer Rock of the San Francisco area, was responsible for the two existing domestic Atari ST CD disks and has several more planned for immediate release. The ST Software Library, released two years ago, contains the Public Domain library supplied by Current Notes magazine at that time. The First ST Clip Art Disk was released in late 1990, and has thousands of IMG and other format clip art files. To be released in November '91, the Z*NET CD will have over 7,000 fully categorized and indexed programs, plus years worth of ZMAGAZINE, ST-ZMAG, and Z*NET news releases and news photos. Coming soon afterwards will be another ST release with complete text and disk archives of a major print magazine. Planned for 1992 are another clip art/graphics collection, a Z*NET supplement disk, and at least one other Atari title, bringing the their catalog to a minimum of seven titles. Prices for the CD's from Computer Rock, which will each carry up to 500 Megabytes of read-only data (over 700 floppy disks worth), will range from $39.95 to $69.95. Details on availability will follow soon. To order existing Computer Rock CD titles, call 415-878-9609, and be certain to mention Z*NET. FAST TECHNOLOGY PLANS CHEAP TINYTURBO 030 "We overbuilt the big one" says Jim Allen, developer of the Fast Technology Turbo 030 accelerator, "and I think the TinyTurbo will outsell it." TinyTurbo is a miniature execution of the 68030 board that will give 40 mHz TT speed to ST computers for $699 complete. Expected to be ready in November, Jim says TinyTurbo will be for the mainstream user who wants speed but doesn't need the full blown implementation. With no fast RAM, it will have a 64k instruction cache. More details are in the article, "SPEED WARS AT GLENDALE", following the Newswire in this issue of Z*NET. MORE ON SOFT-LOGIK'S USER GROUP GIVEAWAY Two weeks ago, Z*Net announced Soft-Logik's Pagestream giveaway. The response has been so high that the company has asked us to share more of the details of the offer to streamline their response time. Atari user groups can get two FREE copies of the desktop publisher PageStream 2.1, plus another demo copy for their library. A related program will offer discounts for user group members when they buy PageStream from dealers. The groups should send a previous and current newsletter, add Soft-Logik to the groups mailing list, full adress information, group membership and president name. Or, call Soft-Logik at (800) 829-8608 for specific instructions before mailing your group's request. Soft-Logik, 11131 S. Towne Square, St. Louis, MO 63123. ======================================================================= * THE EDITORS DESK by Ron Kovacs ======================================================================= We have changed the look and style of Z*Net and of course we hope you find it comfortable. The WAACE Atarifest is NEXT weekend and we are going to be there in an unofficial capacity to report on the events. All east coast Atari owners should plan attending! Read the WAACE information contained in this issue for more information. Dr. Paul Keith is working on his report of the Seybold show and will have a full report for the next edition of Z*Net! ======================================================================= * SPEED WARS AT GLENDALE Exclusive Report for Z*NET by John Nagy ======================================================================= How fast is fast? That's the question that everyone had the answer to at Glendale... but the answers were as different as the people offering them. Dave Small, Jim Allen, and ICD each had news of speed. A major interest point at the Souther California Atari Computer Faire on September 14 and 15 was ACCELERATION of ST computers. Making first appearances at major US shows were no less than three new units. But the biggest crowds were drawn by the "030 Wars" of benchmarks between the Allen and Small 68030 upgrades. Lets take them one at a time. Totally new was the AdSpeed STe unit, giving the 68000 16 mHz performance to the 1040 and 520 STe machines. ICD Inc. has had their AdSpeed available for older models of the ST for over a year, but at Glendale, Jeff Williams showed their new totally plug-in board for the "e" series. While it was not installed for testing at the show, it uses the exact same circuit design that made the "old" AdSpeed fast and reliable, sharing the top rank of the 16 mHz accelerators. It remains fully compatible with every software package, allowing downshifting to 8 mHz. The new STe board has a socket ready for a pop-in math coprocessor, which would gain further speed increases from software designed to use the chip. To date, that's not much more than ISD's DynaCADD, but more is likely to come. Price is $349, up $50 from the regular AdSpeed, largely due to the costs of the sockets and new layout to fit the new machines. But the ease and safety of snapping it into place instead of desoldering your old 68000 makes up for the cost. Also seen for the first time was the "TURBO 25" from Jim Allen's FAST TECHNOLOGY. It was running in a user group booth all day both days, proving that heat is not a problem with the sped-up 68000 chips. Jim had offered the original Turbo16, then recently upgraded to Turbo20. The Turbo25 is more of a demo unit than an available product at this time, but when Motorola releases faster rated 68000's, it may be a commercial reality. It was running the "Boink" demo at a great clip. Now, to the "oh-thirty" boards that had the eye of every show goer... Dave Small of Gadgets by Small devoted most of his booth and demo time to his SST 68030 board, which is completed and virtually ready to ship. The remaining work to take it past gamma level test into full release is only on the driver software. Dave wants the thing to run everything right from the start, since there is no way to "downshift" the unit short of ripping it out and replacing your old 68000 chip. Dave calls the unit "available now" in that you can order it and see it and know it is done and coming at any moment now. It only goes in MEGA computers - until the adaptor is ready, also "soon". Jim Allen (Fast Technology) didn't come to Glendale, but he armed Nathan Potechin of ISD Inc with a Mega ST with Jim's 030 board installed, plus a newer but uninstalled version of the 030 board to show. Both designs have a coprocessor socket (as does the Gadgets unit) for the 68881 or 68882 math chip, although none was installed in any of the demo units. Nathan dutifully demonstrated the Allen product in the DTP area at the end of the Computer Network booth. Jim's unit, too, is said to be "available", but like Dave's unit, that doesn't mean you really can walk away with one just yet. Jim says he should begin shipping units sometime in late October. It was running fast and furious all day in the Computer Network booth, doing Calamus SL and DynaCADD flawlessly. A smaller version of the 68030 system is planned by Fast to be called the Tiny Turbo, should be ready sometime in November. Jim expects it, at far lower a price and with a minimum of user configurable options than the big boards, to be the real seller for speed demons. It will have 64K of cache RAM, run an '030 at 40 mHz, and should be only slightly larger than the Turbo16/20/25. While the two companies' boards are similar in concept in that they substitute the faster and more versatile Motorola 68030 CPU chip for the original ST 68000, the execution differs significantly. The Gadgets's board uses no cache RAM other than that built into the 68030, and instead opts for up to 8 meg of "fast RAM" in standard dynamic SIMMS packs, pluggable in rows as the user wants, needs, and can afford. By loading programs in this memory, clocked at the same speed as the CPU, the computer need not "brake" to the 8 mHz motherboard speed every time it needs instructions. The 68030 can be any of the available speed ratings, again based on user needs and budget. A 33 mHz 68030 is not cheap. Faster ones will be more expensive by quantum leaps. The operating crystal that sets the clock speed for the 68030 is also pluggable, and Dave demonstrated 33 and 36 mHz operations. He has tried it at up to 50 mHz, but the dynamic RAM speed becomes a problem. The show demo units had 80 and 60 nanosecond rated RAM, and when running at 36 Mhz with no wait states (no CPU waiting for the rest of the world to catch up), the 80 nanosecond chips weren't fast enough to run error- free. The solution is to add wait-states via the configuration program, which slows some operations enough to stabilize the RAM, but allows the full CPU speed on execution. The Fast Tech board took a different approach to RAM. An external Static RAM cache is available to the 68030, in a similar fashion as in most 68000 speeder boards. Here is where the instructions from the executing programs reside, ready anytime the CPU wants them. The original design of Jim Allen's board had no "fast RAM" as in the Gadgets' board. However, another version of the Fast board now offers 4 meg of 32 bit RAM, which completely replaces the motherboard ST RAM. The result is a completely 32 bit memory path with no video timing contention, allowing the ST to operate at the full speed virtually all the time. Jim adds that the 32 bit RAM can be used for/with existing custom video boards, making ST bound color and big screen add-on monitor options run at far above TT speeds. Nathan's demo machine did not have any fast RAM installed, and had only a 4k cache instead of the production 16K cache, but another board was being shown by Nathan that did have surface-mounted (not user- configurable) RAM. This unit arrived too late to be shown in a machine, so the effectiveness of the fast substitute RAM could not be tested. The running board was clocked at 40 mHz. Because Nathan (by his own admission) is a software man and not a hardware man, he could not say much about the details of the design or driving software of the Fast Tech board. Putting a 68030 in an ST requires the use of a different TOS version than the ST came with. Version 1.4 won't do it. Version 1.6 and above will. Dave Small has arranged a licensed version of TOS 2.X from Atari to include with his unit. Jim Allen has had a license to use an altered TOS 1.6 for six months, with patches for his memory handling built into his custom ROMs. The job was done by the same folks in Germany that developed the "Kaos" TOS alternative. Jim says that a free TOS upgrade for all buyers will be available within a few months, once the details of his patches to 2.X TOS can be worked out. So what we had at Glendale presented a worst-case scenario for establishing a realistic opinion of which board might be better, faster, cheaper, or less fattening. Dave had no external cache; Jim had no fast RAM; Dave had 33 or 36 mHz; Jim had 40 mHz; Dave had a memory allocation /fast RAM/wait state configuration program that adjusts for the current setup; Jim had a single setup without anything we could see as to memory handling. It was also suggested that the changes in the routines in custom TOS's might account for some differences in operation efficiency over Atari TOS as well. And neither machine, nor their driver software, was actually in the production form. Yikes. Nope, there is absolutely no fair way to compare the products at this time. COMPARING THEM ANYWAY You wouldn't let me get away without a comparison, so here goes. I hope to put things more in the way of observations than in head-to-head competition. And I bet Dave and Jim will each find some justifiable fault with some part of what I'll report, but this is what I saw and what I heard, plus what other knowledgeable observers had to say while watching the various tests and performance measures. First, understand that neither 68030 system upgrades for ST computers will make an ST into a TT. What they will do is make the ST very, very fast at doing what it already does as an ST. Both systems make and ST faster than a TT while executing ST software. A "real" TT from Atari is required to run TT specific software - at any speed. TESTING DAVE'S The options available with the Gadgets software make testing quite technical. The configuration program that sets up the fast RAM for operation, TOS instructions, and the stack also sets the number of wait states and burst states by simply changing the name of the AUTO folder file. By changing the name of the same program to TEST, it operates as a benchmarking and memory stability tester. The faster of the two Gadgets boards at the show was consistently turning more than 7 MIPS (million instructions per second), while an unmodified ST does about .5 (one-half) a MIP. With a smile, Dave said he wouldn't compare it to a "real" TT because he "didn't want to bite the hand that feeds him TOS". Using Darek Mihocka's QUICK INDEX benchmarking program while running at 33 mHz, 3 wait states, 3 burst states (the most stable configuration for Mark Booth's demo machine that uses 80 ns SIMMS RAM), these were the results: TEST Compared to TT Compared to ST CPU MEMORY: 121% 861% CPU REGISTER: 102% 843% CPU DIVIDE: 103% 1056% CPU SHIFTS: 104% 3661% Mark reported that by using 60 ns RAM, a 36 mHz clock speed, and one less wait and burst state, he was able to reach 151% and 1100% for CPU Memory numbers. Dave Small explained that the Register, Divide, and Shift numbers will be almost entirely dependent on clock speed of the CPU, and should not be significantly affected by any cache or fast RAM arrangement, and pointed out that his 33 mHz numbers were virtually the same as the 32+ mHz TT. He added that the "real performance" of any machine will be more affected by the manner that the operating RAM is handled, and will be reflected most by the CPU Memory test. TESTING JIM'S As mentioned before, there was no adjustable setup program for the Fast Tech board, as it is already included in the ROM chips on the unit. It operates at 40 mHz, had a 4K cache and no fast RAM. The Quick Index numbers: TEST Compared to TT Compared to ST CPU MEMORY: 78% 498% CPU REGISTER: 124% 1024% CPU DIVIDE: 124% 1278% CPU SHIFTS: 126% 4465% Observers noted the 78% memory speed vs a TT, and commented that it was obviously memory-bound, having to use the slower RAM on the motherboard. Jim Allen estimates that the larger instruction cache of the production units alone will increase the memory number significantly, and that the 32 bit RAM equipped unit will "completely blow everything else away" and run up to double the speed of the demo. The memory equipped unit was, as mentioned earlier, not installed and running to be tested. TESTING JIM'S VS DAVE'S No one was particularly comfortable with the Quick Index numbers being the only reference for comparison, so several more real-life tests were suggested. The best seemed to be the calculation and re-draw time for a complex object using DynaCADD. The file "3DCUP", a three dimensional wine goblet, was chosen, using a macro that did three views, the final one being the "hidden line removed" drawing. Average time on the Jim Allen (Fast Technology) board at 40 mHz, 4k cache, no fast RAM: 54 seconds. Average time on the Dave Small (Gadgets) board at 33 mHz, 3 wait, 3 burst, with fast RAM: 48 seconds. Later, Mark Booth reconfigured with faster rated RAM, 36 mHz, 2 wait and 2 burst states, and got 44 second runs for the same DynaCADD test. He estimates by extrapolation that if it were run at 40 mHz like the Allen board, the time should be under 40 seconds. Jim Allen, on the other hand, admits that the demo board without his 32 bit RAM setup should be executing such tests of real software at perhaps only half the speed of his fully fleshed out design. He adds that the no-RAM unit and even the TinyTurbo will be faster than the demo unit in Nathan's computer, due to larger cache sizes. Nathan also says that Calamus SL runs faster on Jim's demo board as-is than it does on a TT. I think that we have certainly proved one thing: comparison of speed is not exactly possible at this time. Well, maybe two things. These two boards are REALFAST. COSTS Comparing costs is almost as confusing as comparing performance. Options upon options affect performance and the wallet in inverse proportion. Fast Technology hasn't completely solidified all the details of their pricing, but at this point, these figures look pretty certain: the "large" board with soldered-in 40 mHz 68030 and crystal, 16k cache - $1,199; same board with 4 meg of 32 bit RAM installed, $1,999; the Tiny Turbo 030 with 40 mhz and 64k cache (non-upgradable) - $699. Discounts are offered for registered FAST TECHNOLOGY and ISD product owners - $500 off the full blown unit, and $299 or $199 off the $1,199 unit for Fast or ISD owners, respectively. Discounts on the Tiny unit may also be offered when it becomes available, perhaps in November. More options: 50 mHz 68882 with a 50 and 60 mHz crystal (some video boards can handle the 60) - $299; virtual memory option making your available virtual RAM 128 meg via hard drive - $299. Installation will be available from Fast for $100 flat rate, and motherboard swaps will be available for near zero downtime in professional operations. MAC implementations of the same boards are planned very, very soon. Call Fast Technology for details on all pricing and discounts. The Gadgets SST with no 68030, no memory, and no coprocessor is $599. What DO you get? The board itself, the driver FastRAM Utilities, TOS 2.X on ROM, and a bunch of empty sockets. You can "roll your own" using your own parts (Dave suggests you solicit a free sample 68030 from Motorola, assuming you can concoct a half-decent cover story about a product you are developing!). Or, buy the parts from Gadgets at prices they guarantee to be non-competitive, but convenient: 16 mHz 68030 - $200; plus 4 meg SIMMS (80 ns) - $460; 4 meg alone - $260; 33 mHz 68030 plus 68882 plus 4 meg - $800. Dave heavily encourages professional installation of the CPU socket in your MEGA computer. SO, WHICH ONE DO I WANT? This time, I'm going to slip out without an answer. No doubt about it, any one of the final versions of either company's board will dazzle and amaze. All of them will outrun Atari's own TT030 machine by clear margins. But remember, a 68030 equipped ST is NOT a TT... it WON'T run TT software, have the extra TT resolutions, or a VME slot. But it WILL run ST software at speeds never before seen, and be affordable alternatives to a TT for those persons who will not need the TT features - at least for now. The cheapest unit will be the Tiny Turbo, and if it performs anything like the larger unit Fast had at Glendale, it will be a great deal. The middle rank in pricing brings options from both Gadgets and Fast, and their performance may be similar. Probably. Tests of the products when they are actually shipping will tell more. At the top end, the versatility of the very configurable Gadgets board may make it a good choice for those who want it all. But wait - there's more to come! ICD Inc., makers of AdSpeed and the Advantage ST Host Adaptor, will privately admit to doing continuing development on a 68030 accelerator. When I asked for details, Jeff Williams of ICD said "Nice try!". ICD has a firm policy against discussing products that are not finished. Their AdSpeed line is a good example. While CMI, JRI, FAST, and other companies began the acceleration game, they talked to the press endlessly, long before a product could be bought. ICD announced their AdSpeed long after the others, but were ready to sell it when they announced it. And it was an outstanding execution. Expect the same course of action and quality if and when the curtain goes up on an ICD '030 product. SO? I'll take any one of them if I can afford to! It looks like there's not a bad choice available in the lot. Good luck! FAST TECHNOLOGY, P.O. Box 578, Andover, MA 01810, 508-475-3810. GADGETS BY SMALL, 40 W. Littleton Blvd #210-211, Littleton, CO 80120, 303-791-6098. ======================================================================= * REGULATIONS ON MAILORDER Part 2 ======================================================================= (This document is from the Federal Trade Commission, San Francisco, CA. It contains the various regulations regarding mail order purchases.) (3) Wherever a buyer has the right to exercise any option under this part or to cancel an order by so notifying the seller prior to shipment, to fail to furnish the buyer with adequate means, at the seller's expense, to exercise such option or to notify the seller regarding cancellation. In any action brought by the Federal Trade Commission alleging a violation of this art, the failure of a respondent-seller: (i) To provide any offer, notice or option required by this part in writing by first class mail will create a rebuttable presumption that the respondent-seller failed to offer a clear conspicuous offer, notice or option; (ii) To provide the buyer with the means in writing (by business reply mail or with postage prepaid by the seller) to exercise any option or to notify the seller regarding a decision cancel, will create a rebuttable presumption that the respondent-seller did not provide the buyer with adequate means pursuant to paragraph (b)(3) of this section. Nothing in paragraph (b) of this section shall prevent a seller, where he is unable to make shipment within the time set forth in paragraph (a) (1) of his section or within a delay period consented to by the buyer, from deciding to consider the order cancelled and providing the buyer with notice of said decision within a reasonable time after he becomes aware of said inability to ship, together with a prompt refund. (c) To fail to deem an order cancelled and to make a prompt refund to the buyer whenever: (1) The seller receives, prior to the time of shipment, notification from the buyer cancelling the order pursuant to any option, renewed option or continuing option under this part; (2) The seller has, pursuant to paragraph (b)(1)(iii) of this section, provided the buyer with a definite revised shipping date which is more than thirty (30) days later than the applicable time set forth in paragraph (a)(1) of this section or has notified the buyer that he is unable to make any representation regarding the length of the delay and the seller (i) has not shipped the merchandise within thirty (30) days of the applicable time set forth in paragraph (a)(1) of this section, and (ii) has not received the buyer's express consent to said shipping delay within said thirty (30) days; (3) The seller is unable to ship within the applicable time set forth in paragraph (b)(2) of this section, and has not received, within the said applicable time, the buyer's consent to any further delay; (4) The seller has notified the buyer of his inability to make shipment and has indicated his decision not to ship the merchandise; (5) The seller fails to offer the option Prescribed in paragraph (b)(1) of this section and has not shipped the merchandise within the applicable time set forth in paragraph (a)(1) of this section. (d) In any action brought by the Federal Trade Commission, alleging a violation of this part, the failure of a respondent-seller to have records or other documentary proof establishing his use of systems and procedures which assure compliance, in the ordinary course of business, with any requirement of paragraph (b) or (c) of this section will create a rebuttable presumption that the seller failed to comply with said requirements. Note 1: This Part shall not apply to subscriptions, such as magazine sales, ordered for serial delivery, after the initial shipment is made in compliance with this part. Note 2: This part shall not apply to orders of seeds and growing plants. Note 3: This Part shall not apply to orders made on a collect-on- delivery (C.O.D.) basis. Note 4: This Part shall not apply to transactions governed by the Federal Trade Commission's Trade Regulation Rule entitled "Use of Negative Option Plans by Sellers in Commerce", 16 CFR Part 425. Note 5: By taking action in this area, the Federal Trade Commission does not intend to preempt action in the same area, which is not consistent with this part, by any State, municipal, or other local government. This part does not annul or diminish any rights or remedies provided by this part. In addition, this part does not supersede those provisions of any State law, municipal ordinance, or other local regulation which impose obligations or liabilities upon sellers, when sellers subject to this part are not in compliance therewith. This part does supersede those provisions of any State law, municipal ordinance, or other local regulation which are inconsistent with this part to the extent that those provisions do not provide a buyer with rights which are equal to or greater than those rights granted a buyer by this part. This part also supersedes those Provisions of any State law, municipal ordinance. or other local regulation requiring that a buyer be notified of a right which is the same as a right provided by this part but requiring that a buyer be given notice of this right in a language, form, or manner which Is different in any way from that required by this part. In those Instances where any State law, municipal ordinance, or other local regulation contains provisions, some but not all of which are partially or completely superseded by this part, the provisions or Portions of those provisions which have not been superseded retain their full force and effect. Note 6: If any provision of this part or its application to any person, Partnership, corporation, act or practice is held invalid, the remainder of this part or the application of the provision to any other Person, partnership, corporation, act or practice shall not be affected thereby. Note 7: Section 435.1(a)(1) of this part governs all solicitations where the time of solicitation is more than 100 days after promulgation of this part. The remainder of this part governs all transactions where receipt of a properly completed order occurs more than 100 days after Promulgation of this part. ======================================================================= * WAACE ATARIFEST 1991 Last Notice! ======================================================================= WAACE AtariFest '91: The WAACE AtariFest is Saturday and Sunday October 12 and 13 in Reston, Virginia, about seven miles East of Washington D.C.'s Dulles Airport. The show is again at the deluxe Sheraton Reston International Conference Center, with outstanding facilities for the show, demonstrations, and seminars. Show hours are from 10AM to 5PM both days, with special events including a swap meet, a cocktail party, and a banquet on Saturday evening. Vendors committed to appear at press time included: Accusoft D. A. Brumleve Codehead Software Phil Comeau Software Current Notes Magazine Debonair Software eSTeem Inc FAST Technology ICD Inc ISD Marketing Inc JMG Software Joppa Computer Products L & Y Electronics Michtron Micro Creations Musicode Software Rio Computers SLICCWARE Step Ahead Software ST Informer/A & D Software Toad Services Unicorn Publications/Atari Interface Magazine Wizworks Call the Sheraton Reston Hotel at 703-620-9000 and mention the WAACE AtariFest for hotel rates of $59 per night for single or double occupancy, $66 for triple and quad. The Sheraton address is 11810 Sunrise Valley Drive, Reston, VA 22091. For additional WAACE information: John D. Barnes, 7710 Chatham Rd, Chevy Chase, MD 20815, GEMail: J.D.Barnes, CIS: 73047,2565 ======================================================================= * ATARI AT SEYBOLD Press Release ======================================================================= Professional Systems Group -------------------------- A division of Atari Computer Corporation NEWS RELEASE Contacts: Harry Miller SEYBOLD BOOTH NUMBER 942 Public Relations Counsel (510) 938-5663 Office (510) 939-5655 Fax Bill Rehbock (408) 745-2082 Office (408) 745-2083 Fax FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE PROFESSIONAL SYSTEMS GROUP SHOWS NEW HIGH QUALITY, DIGITAL PUBLISHING SOLUTIONS AT SEYBOLD SHOW "Direct To Press" Products Offer Added Features, Speed, Quality Compatibility With Existing Standards Makes New Platform The Logical Alternative Sunnyvale, California - September 23, 1991 -- The Professional Systems Group, a division of Atari(tm) Computer Corporation, will show its Direct To Press digital publishing solutions at the Seybold Publishing Conference and Exposition on October 2-4 in San Jose. At their booth, the Professional Systems Group will demonstrate the irrefutable logic of choosing their TT030 computer as a publishing platform. Each of the pre-press solutions possesses clear advantages over the existing competition. Those advantages are manifest in a richer feature set, quicker speed of operation, and in visibly higher output quality. As if that weren't enough, the Direct To Press systems are affordably priced compared to other alternatives. Direct To Press systems provide output quality one would expect from much more expensive dedicated typography system. Direct To Press includes full-featured, high quality, and high performance tools for every phase of pre-press work from document processing ans design to photo retouching and imagesetter film output. Direct To Press is a solution provided by the Professional Systems Group. This solution combines software, hardware, and support to implement a superior publishing system. Design and typography output workstations take advantage of the sophisticated graphics and pure processing power of the Atari TT030(tm), the company's high performance computing platform. Available as custom configurable systems, Direct To Press is targeted at pre-press and printing service bureaus and in-house design and productions departments, as well as freelance designers, artists and publishers. Systems based on the Direct To Press products and concept are distributed through a network of value-added resellers and dealers. Publishing System Hardware Platform The Atari TT030 provides the ideal computing platform for the Direct To Press publishing tools. It features a 32MHz Motorola(tm) 68030 microprocessor with on-chip cache and memory management as well as a 68882 math coprocessor, 8MB of RAM (expandable to 26MB), and 80MB hard disk, and a wide range of video and storage expansion options. Output for proofing purposes is provided by the 300 dot per inch Atari SLM605 (tm) laser printer. The SLM605 features a small footprint, high quality output, and fast 6 page per minute operation. The TT030 performs even better in graphics-intensive applications than the specifications would indicate. Several factors help explain this phenomenon. First, the machine's architecture vastly reduces screen redraw time by using a 64-bit wide video data path. Next, the TT030 uses DMA (Direct Memory Access) channels for disk, video, printer, and sound data transfer. And, up to 10MB of video RAM can be used. These hardware advantages are leveraged by an operating enviroment that minimizes overhead without sacrificing ease of use or power. "We designed the TT030 to be a great platform for sophisticated publishing applications," said Greg Pratt, Atari Computer Corporation. "But the performance and output quality that our strategic software and hardware partners have achieved makes these systems a compelling choice. When you consider that most system selections are based on output quality, speed of operation, ease of use, and affordability, we really are 'the logical alternative.' You can't afford not to look at the TT030 and the Direct To Press system solutions." Three Software Product Families Meet a Broad Range Of Needs The Direct To Press solutions generally follow one of three complementary approaches: Soft-Logik's PostScript(R)-based PageStream(R) 2 provides direct compatibility with that industry standard. The Calamus(R)SL and tms Cranach Studio(R) family of high-end publishing applications, including proprietary SoftRIPS(R) for specific models of typesetters and imagesetters deliver a wide range of features and fast performance. And the ReTouche Professional(TM)/Didot Professional(TM) family of digital lithography, line art, and page layout tools uses proprietary hardware technology to create raster images of pages within the host software, eliminating the need for an external RIP, and uses specialized hardware to greatly enhance output speed and quality. Files can be easily exchanged among the tools, and with many other industry- standard desktop publishing programs: The TT030's floppy disk format is identical to that of MS-DOS, so data files on floppies can easily be transferred. Similarly, file transfer can be accomplished via an Ethernet network. Most of the applications can import and export files from popular applications on other platforms. Professional Systems Group is a new division of Atari Computer Corporation whose mission is to provide superior computing solutions for vertical market segments where output quality and execution speed are the highest concern. Professional Systems Group combines its computing platforms with high performance software and peripherals to meet and exceed the needs of these demanding audiences. Atari is a registered trademark, and TT030 and SLM605 are trademarks of Atari Corporation. Motorola is a trademark of Motorola, Inc. PageStream is a registered trademark of Soft-Logik Publishing Corporation. Calamus SL and Calamus Outline Art, Calamus SoftRIP are registered trademarks of DMC/Ditek International. tms Cranach Studio is a registered trademark of tms GmbH. PostScript is a registered trademark of Adobe Systems. ReTouche Professional CD, Didot Professional, ad the Image Speeder are trademarks of 3K Computerbild. ======================================================================= * A FLAMING EDITORIAL by John Nagy ======================================================================= Yes, a real editorial in Z*Net! Many readers have noted that they are rare, and a few have been pestering us to be more vocal. A very few more have been saying that Z*Net is Atari Corp's mouthpiece, with only the news that Atari sees fit for the public to know, while another magazine touts itself as being ABOUT Atari instead of FOR Atari. Nonsense. Z*Net is, above all, FOR the ATARI USERS. It's been our judgement that pompous commentary, barracuda headlines, and veiled insults do little to help the user of Atari equipment get the maximum enjoyment from their computer, and so they have little reason to be in Z*Net. Recently, a writer submitted an article for publication in Z*Net. It was turned down. He then posted it as a standalone file on GEnie with a tag line that said it was what Z*Net wouldn't tell you. Why did this happen? How often does this happen? Is Z*Net censoring the news??? Articles are often reviewed and returned for re-write by magazines, and Z*Net is no exception. Even our regular Z*Net correspondents have had their material cut or returned when the content or tone failed to meet Z*Net's purpose. Often. Is it censorship? No and Yes. An example: a writer submitted a story about the hard drive cover on Mega STe 1's. It detailed the facts about how it was apparently designed to prevent retrofitting a drive by the end user without Atari's own replacement parts. It then went on to say that this was another example of how Atari is trying to shaft the user for its own gain, and that we shouldn't stand for it. We ran the story, up to where the facts stopped and the commentary began. Readers, you aren't fools. If we tell you that Atari has rigged their system to prevent home or third-party additions, you can understand what that means to you. You DON'T have to be beaten on the head with what you ought to think and feel about it. You gain nothing by it. And the news story meshed with an editorial is not the way we choose to do business at Z*Net. Was the editorial content censored? In a way. It certainly was submitted and did not appear. Why not? Our decisions on running of content, whether positive, negative, or neutral, is based on the usefulness of the information. There are times when a commentary or editorial is useful. Those tend to be when: 1. The writer has a unique position of information or viewpoint that causes his opinion to be unusual and informative, OR 2. The writer has made a unique or unusual analysis of common events such that his discussion is informative and thought provoking, OR 3. The editor believes that some actual change for the better could occur as a result of the editorial. Now you know why editorials are rare in Z*Net. Really, that is all there is to it. If the opinion material is just another in a string of standard complaints about product availability, release dates, lack of dealers, lack of advertising, etc., what's the point in running it? 80% of our readers could have written the same viewpoint from memory. The other 20% is happy enough with their own situation and has no need or desire to be told to be unhappy. So nobody needs it. Out it goes. We've been asked often enough why we don't join in blasting Atari Corp for what we must obviously see as flaws. Heck, if it's obvious, who needs to repeat it in Z*Net? There's plenty of other places to go to read blasting. This editorial fits criteria #1. We feel that our position has not been explained sufficiently until now. In the case of the article that was recently uploaded and released as "the file Z*Net refused to run", the story was about the author's personal difficulty getting satisfactory printing with an Atari laser printer. He then discussed what he felt was a lack of support from Atari. Then he bridged into a multi-point list of what he felt customer service should be, and then called and rated some Atari developers against his list. Why didn't Z*Net run it? First, because it read like the angry item it in fact was. Next, because it contained extensive pure editorial information -- what this writer says a company SHOULD DO for technical service. Finally, it rated companies based on their responses to a request for technical service, but without regard to the differences between a sole part time developer like Branch Always Software and the large PC development houses who presumably meet the author's measures. No account or quarter was given in the article of what and where the principals were during the "test period." The period spanned the Glendale setup and show, a time when Brodie and many developers were away from home, providing a service to a different crowd. We felt that this made the conclusions unfair and not representative of what users can "normally" expect. Sure, when a person has a problem with software X, it does him little good to know that the person who is X-MAKER CORP is busy doing something else, no matter what. But we felt that the realities of the small ST market need to be part of an analysis, and they were ignored. The article had significant merit, but not as written. It didn't go in Z*Net. Finally, we are most often asked to be more vocal against Atari policies. Why should we? If Atari was about to be changed by the force of words in the existing media, don't you think it would have happened by now? We report what is really happening, in a manner that tries to tell the whole story, and let the reader form their own opinion. To preach the endless liturgy of doom only accomplishes the spread of dismay for those who would otherwise be using their Atari to their satisfaction. Worse, rather than to "wake up" the management of Atari to what the writer wants them to do, Atari bashing is more likely to cause those same officials to discard the entire message as well as the messenger. The more severe and/or consistent the criticism is, the more Atari insulates itself from anything meaningful that might be somewhere in the message. In Category 18 (Flames), Topic 22 on GEnie, a former Atari zealot is currently torching everyone while he leaves for MAC country. One of his weapons: reciting the story that Atari fired their UNIX guru as their typical reward for a job well done. The source of this? We can guess it came from an online magazine that headlined the "revolving door" whose latest victim was the head of the UNIX project. Yep, that treatment, in what the editors concede is the "rumor and Inquirer-like" section of their mag, certainly got the predictable (and probably desired) fist-waving reaction from the crowds. But while the basis for the story was true, the presentation lacked detail and allowed inference of a firing, when the reverse was the case. David Plummer was hired under contract for the sole purpose of doing the UNIX kernel for Atari. He finished it, gave his notice, and is moving on. Less drama there, to be sure. The full story won't get the troops inflamed. But should they be? NO! The full story holds the happy fact that the project is complete! But the writer in Cat 18 has found the reality he has been led to expect by what he read and the pervasive negative tone of the messenger: Atari is stupid and fires all the good people. No matter what the actual truth is, he is now dutifully spreading his reality -- apparently backed up by a major online magazine's story -- to everyone he can. Perhaps MANY current and potential Atari owners will be needlessly swayed to further discontent by this man's story or their own conclusions after reading the "confidential" report. Just another in a series of proofs that 3/4 of a truth can equal a lie. I'm not suggesting that everything Atari does makes sense to me. But aren't things bad enough without creating new and fictional disasters, all for nothing more than the pleasure of being a firebrand? Z*Net feels that innuendo has no place in presentation of news. It incites far more than it informs. We hope this will help our readers understand why Z*Net consists of the NEWS and helpful features whose purpose is to increase the pleasure of using Atari computers. Our magazine won't partake in the pointless whining or mob-mentality rabble rousing. I bet you like us this way. Besides, you always can find plenty of the other kind of treatment if you want to. Just not in Z*Net. ======================================================================= * TRACKER ST VERSION 3.0 Press Release ======================================================================= Step Ahead Software 496-A Hudson Street, #F39 New York City, NY 10014 Contact: Nevin Shalit 212-627-5830 STEP AHEAD SOFTWARE RELEASES TRACKER/ST v3.0 Step Ahead Software, Inc. is pleased to announce version 3.0 of Tracker /ST, the leading mailing list/mail merge program for the Atari ST, STe, Mega Ste and TT series of computers. Version 3.0 represents a major upgrade to Tracker/ST, with many exciting and powerful new features. Tracker/ST v3.0 will begin shipping on October 12th, 1991 at the WAACE Atarifest in Washington, DC. Some of Tracker/ST v3.0's new features include: One-click telephone dialing (modem required), duplicate-name warning when adding names, the ability to copy a single name from one database to another with a simple keyboard or mouse command, completely unlimited filtering, and a powerful new report which prints out Tracker/ST's unique Long Notes for as many people as the user requires, with one single command. "Telephone dialing, duplicate-name warning, and moving names between databases were the top three requested features for Tracker/ST," says Nevin Shalit, president of Step Ahead Software. "For example, many of our users work with two files, a 'Leads' file and a 'Customers' file. Tracker/ST v3.0 lets you copy a name from the Leads file to the Customers file in an instant, with no retyping whatsoever. It's the ultimate in convenience. Similarly, the duplication warning system prevents you from accidentally adding a name that is already in your Tracker/ST database." Unlimited filtering is another major addition to Tracker/ST v3.0. In previous versions only simple filters--such as people from the state of California--were permitted. Version 3.0 of Tracker/ST lets you set any imaginable multiple filter for reports, mailing labels, and mail merges. Says Shalit, "This feature allows the Tracker/ST v3.0 user to target mailings and reports with unlimited precision." Other new features in Tracker/ST v3.0 include the ability to export names in any format (for use with WordPerfect, WordUp, WordFlair II, and virtually any other word processor or database), expanded default settings, and the ability to retain Tracker/ST's extended Long Notes when doing an export and import within the program. Of course, Tracker/ST v3.0 contains all the original features that have made it the leading program of its type for the Atari, including the ability to store an unlimited number of names in an unlimited number of separate files, label printing to all printers including laser printers and the Hewlett Packard Deskjet, and the world's easiest single-click mail merge system. Tracker/ST's only requirements are 1 megabyte of RAM and a double sided disk drive. The program is not copy protected and installs easily on any hard drive system. Step Ahead Software is also making a special introductory offer for Tracker/ST v3.0. Until the end of this year, Tracker/ST v3.0 will be available for the same $79.95 price as earlier versions of the program. On January 1st, 1992 the retail price of Tracker/ST v3.0 will rise to $99.95. Registered owners of Tracker/ST v2.0 and greater may upgrade to v3.0 for $25 ($30 after 1/1/92). Users should not send in their original disk, but must include their completed registration card with their upgrade order if they have not already done so. For more information about Tracker/ST v3.0 please call Step Ahead Software at 212-627-5830. ======================================================================= * PERUSING THE INTERNET Compiled by Bruce Hansford ======================================================================= Date: 24 Sep 91 00:47:48 GMT >From: microsoft!darekm@uunet.uu.net (Darek MIHOCKA) Subject: Emulate? What about the other way. CATHRYN@bdt.COM writes: >How about an ST emulator card which would fit into a slot of a PC >clone. So I could run old ST software and clone software without >having computers take over the house! Yes, why emulate CGA graphics on a slow ST when you can run ST software on a Super VGA. GEMULATOR (Son of Xformer!) is in the works and I hope to have it ready by next summer. It is a 68000 emulator for 386/486/ based PCs. My latest benchmarks of the 68000 emulator are giving me .3 MIPS on a 386/ 20 and .9 MIPS on a 486/33. In other works, 900,000 68000 instructions can be emulated on a 486/33 per second. An 8 Mhz 68000 can at best execute 2 million instructions per second, but that's an ideal number. Typically, most software executes at about .5 MIPS. So you can see that software-only emulation can be done on a 486 or a fast 386 can be done at real time. GEMULATOR is a 32-bit protect mode program, so it cannot run on a 286 or 8086. If you need any more info, send me private email. - Darek Darek Mihocka. Quick ST 3 for the ST/TT. All views expressed are my own. Branch Always Software, 14150 NE 20th St. Suite 302, Bellevue, WA 98007 ----------------------------------------- Date: 24 Sep 91 00:59:55 GMT >From: darling@arizona.edu (Thomas Darling) Subject: What to buy next... cmm1@cunixb.cc.columbia.edu (Christopher M Mauritz) writes: > Atari was (and is to a lesser extent now) THE machine to own for MIDI > use. The built in ports (but not MIDI thru) and a wealth of relatively ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^ Irrelevant. Nobody needs MIDI THRU on their sequencer. > inexpensive software made it very attractive for this and many > professionals use Ataris exclusively. True, but not to the market specified. The best MIDI programs for the Atari have always been $300+ for sequencers, $100+ for editor/libs. And pros don't settle for built-in MIDI ports exclusively; they get multiple separate out systems like C-Lab's UNITOR. Pros can't make do with only 16 MIDI channels. > Well, that has changed. There are now many more MIDI adapters and a > lot of software available for Mac and PC clones. Well, the Mac, Amiga, and IBM are really competing for the hobbyist market, the person who already owns a computer and decides to get into music. In the U.S., there seem to be many Macs in pro studios, but not really any IBMs or Amigas. And for studios with heavy MIDI bandwidth (using simultaneous sync and poly-key pressure, etc.) the Mac is not even an option; the beast will choke and cause all manner of timing nightmares. For whatever reason, only the Atari seems able to cope with severely jammed MIDI data in a timely manner. The Atari has a specific niche in the market. It's not a big niche, but they're all alone in it. darling@cellar.UUCP \\\ Thomas Darling * record production * dance re- mixing uunet!cellar!darling \\\ Fact HQ Studio * The Cellar BBS:215/336 -9503 * FACT --------------------------------------- Date: 24 Sep 91 14:02:59 GMT >From: micro@ucbvax.berkeley.edu (Klaus Pedersen) Subject: ST Magazines (was Re: More Lies From Atari?) carter@cae.wisc.edu (Gregory Carter) writes: >They would probably look a bit more professional looking if they would >simply dump the crappy ST DTP software they use to make the mag with. >PM 4.0/MS WORD 4.0 make a great combination and a much more capable >feature list to make DTP easier and more fun to do. I don't know what you are talking about, but some of the best looking ST mags are produced on an ST. The list includes German TOS and the brand new Danish ST mag 'STT forum'. There is also the DMC show-off mag. 'Cicero' (??) which started as a separate mag, but it is now given away with ST-magazin. All these mags. are produced on ST/TT with calamus and then photoset. -------------------------------------- Date: 25 Sep 91 12:49:44 GMT >From: ggranger@arizona.edu (Greg Granger) Subject: What to buy next... Bob_BobR_Retelle@cup.portal.com writes: > >The Atari has a specific niche in the market. It's not a big niche, > >but they're all alone in it. > Unfortunately, the problem seems to be that not all the inhabitants of > this particular niche are aware of the fact that Atari "owns" the > turf... > A couple of years ago, I attended a live MIDI music concert as part of > the Summer Arts Festival at the University of Michigan... > The lady I was with looked in vain for Amigas on stage, and I did the > same for Atari computers... not a one was to be seen. The entire > concert was performed via Macintoshes and IBMs. > During the introductory talks by members of the School of Music > faculty, the word Atari was never even uttered. > Yes, I know Atari "owns" the MIDI market... but someone seems to have > forgotten to tell everyone else. I just received my copy of the MACE (Midlands Atari Computer Enthusiasts) Newsletter in the mail yesterday, and one of the articles goes as follows: "ATARI BACK IN KEYBOARD - Atari is back advertising in Keyboard magazine, the most widely read professional musician's magazine in the country. In the August issue (with Yes keyboardist Rick Wakeman on the cover), Atari has taken co-op ads with C-Lab (Notator, Creator) and Dr. T (numerous editor/librarians and sequencers). The Atari logo is large and clearly seen in both ads. There will be an Atari/Dr. T ad in Electronic Musician this month as well. Bob Brodie of Atari says, "We've also done similar things in PC-related magazines with some of our Portfolio developers." They also make mention that the CDAR505 will be shipped in September, and FSM GDOS will be shipped around Oct. 1 (I'll believe it when I see it!). Unfortunately for the CDAR505, "it won't even work on an ST machine as shipped. Instead of having the ACSI/DMA port and a SCSI port as announced, it will have only the 'pure SCSI' port that is the industry standard. It'll plug right into a TT or a MAC, or any computer that has a SCSI host adaptor. So ST owners will need to use an ICD or other host unit to access the CD player." --------------------------------------- ======================================================================= * Z*NET SOFTWARE SHELF by Ron Berinstein ======================================================================= 105 degrees has been the normal daily temperature around Los Angeles and the valleys here in southern California for the past few days. Lucky for most computer users that their equipment is usually installed in cool environments! I guess that proves that learning how to use your Atari will provide you a more comfortable style of living!... <smile> Here at the Software Shelf school we are finding it difficult to believe that summer has even left us. Knowing it has though, I have taken the liberty of providing a list of possibilities for you to choose from. So here they are, files to make a "cool" environment even cooler! First, files for the those of you in statistics class.. BSTAT241.LZH is a sophisticated graphing and statistical analysis program. B/STAT requires 1 megabyte and a double sided drive. When this shareware program is registered you receive an apx. 175 page manual explaining how easy it is to use! <smile> This is an in depth program, and it was designed for the serious user. STOCK32.ARC STock->Smart, the program's name, has evolved. With the addition of a portfolio spread sheet, up to seven charts on screen at one time, calculation of portfolio value with a single key press, automatic chart group loading, automatic chart updates from new data, very user friendly, and this is still a Shareware program! Graphic oriented, and is designed to use the Stock data available from GEnie. CHCKBOOK.ARC This is a newer version of the original. It includes some important error fixes and easier to use interface. This program is a checkbook program that sorts your transactions by date. It is easy to use and very functional! And for those with publishing majors... GRTCON21.LZH Converts ASCII files to 1ST WORD format. Also it receives ASCII files via the serial port, and either saves them as ASCII or converts them to 1ST WORD format. Those with Calamus that can import 1st Word format, as well as others, might find this program useful. LZH201d was used to compress this file. FONTEQ.ARC This is a modified FONTEQV.V2 file for Pagestream version 2.1. There is a DOC file in this arc. SPEEDS UP SCREEN DISPLAYS UP TO 60% !!! A must have for pagestream 2.1 users. READ THE DOC FILE FIRST. 24BIT.ARC is a short 24 Bit Color discussion contained in a few recent GEnie *PHOTO, electronic photography, SIG messages. Also a request for feedback - here is the chance to get Atari's capability in this area at least mentioned if you know something about it. If you like what you read here go back and get at least the rest of Sept's *PHOTO, Cat. 25 (all topics) messages. And for a BIT of confusion... another file with the same name! 24BIT.ARC will allow you to switch the TT to using 24 bit addresses. This lets some programs that would otherwise abort, run on the TT. However, normally it should not need be used. The majority of the programs it makes usable were compiled with older versions of GFA Basic. (Listed as 24bit_.arc on CodeHead) And for the knowlegeable user... PPUR37.LZH Prichard's Pursuer 3.7, PRG & ACC. Automatically handles all chores of using PC Pursuit. Calls up to 100 BBS's, tracks & logs chargeable connect time (avoid the 30 hour cap), links to your term program's scripts/macros/recordings. New features--uses key commands. *Shareware* LZH201d was used to compress this file. MDDPATCH.ARC This program will patch your copy of MultiDesk Deluxe from CodeHead Software, eliminating a couple of small bugs and updating it to version 3.2. Directions are included in the patch program. And remember -- CodeHead Software means support! RAMFILES.LZH This is a very nice ramdisk auto-loader. It can have configuration files and load in files from multiple drives/directories. It will also back them up with .BAK extensions added to the old files if you wish. UNCLEVOL.ARC provides help for those who are tired of formatting a disk just to change it's name..? This wee accessory\program lets you change a floppy OR hard disks Volume Label (aka Disk Label) at ANY time! And finally for this week, your astronomy teacher has asked me to assign you these files to explore. GNOMPLOT.ARC shows the stars at several limiting magnitudes & magnifications. *You can click on a star and have all the stars in the contellation blink on and off, great for learning the constellations!* Unusual projection scheme is designed for plotting meteor trails. You will like this planetarium program, it also generates nice stellar backgrounds for art. MOONCRAT.ARC is German, but highly useable. It shows the Moon with phase for any date, with over a hundred main craters and the Apollo, Surveyor, and Lunakhod landing sites. Use ARC602ST.TTP or other current ARC utility to extract. TESTED->TOS 1.0/1.4 MONO WORKS BEST COLOR MISSES SEVERAL FEATURES INCLUDES GFA BASIC RUNTIME PROGRAM. The above files were compiled by Ron Berinstein co-sysop CodeHead Quarters BBS (213) 461-2095 from files that were either directly uploaded to CodeHead Quarters BBS, or downloaded from GEnie, Compuserve, and Delphi online services. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ GENIE To sign up for GEnie service, call (with modem) 800-638-8369. Upon connection type HHH (RETURN after that). Wait for the U#= prompt. Type XJM11877,GEnie and hit RETURN. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ COMPUSERVE To sign up for CompuServe service, call 800-848-8199. Ask for operator 198. You will be sent a $15.00 free membership kit. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Z*NET 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 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 75300,1642 and on GEnie at address: Z-Net. FNET NODE 593 ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Z*NET Atari Online Magazine Copyright (c)1991, Rovac Industries, Inc.. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~