Floppyshop 2/Floppyshop - 2.zip/Floppyshop - 2.iso/diskmags/3565-4.665/dmg-3657/znet9309.txt

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 Z*NET: ATARI ONLINE MAGAZINE oo Copyright (c)1993, Syndicate Publishing
     Volume 8, Number 9    Issue #493    March 7, 1993   File:93-09

 -----------------------------------------------------------------------
 oo Publisher/Editor..........................................Ron Kovacs
 oo Writer............................................Michael R. Burkley
 oo GEnie Online Editor........................................Ed Krimen
 oo CompuServe Online Editor............................Michael Mortilla
 oo Contributing Writer.........................................Len Stys
 oo Contributing Writer........................................Bob Smith
 oo AtariNet Coordinator\Telecommunications...................Bill Scull
 oo Contributing Editor...................................Dr. Paul Keith
 oo Z*Net News International Gateway - New Zealand............Jon Clarke
 oo Z*Net News Service\AtariUser Magazine-Publisher\Editor.....John Nagy
 -----------------------------------------------------------------------
 GEnie..............Z-NET  CompuServe....75300,1642  Delphi.........ZNET
 Internet...status.gen.nz  America Online..ZNET1991  AtariNet..51:1/13.0
 -----------------------------------------------------------------------

                                 CONTENTS


        |#|  The Editors Desk..........................Ron Kovacs
        |#|  Dateline Atari! With Bob Brodie.....................
        |#|  Kansas City AtariFest '93...............Announcement
        |#|  Perusing CompuServe.................Michael Mortilla
        |#|  GEnie Roundtable News...................John Hartman
        |#|  PMC Update..............................Announcement
        |#|  Perusing GEnie.............................Ed Krimen
        |#|  Z*Net Computer/Events Calender............Ron Kovacs
        |#|  Falcon030 Memory............................Len Stys
        |#|  The Unabashed Atariophile............Michael Burkley




 ######  THE EDITORS DESK
 ######  By Ron Kovacs
 ######  ---------------------------------------------------------------


 We are back after a short vacation.  This year Z*Net will be taking
 a few weeks off and NOT publish during the selected week.  However, at
 the present time there is NO planned date or timetable, but I will do
 my best to let you all know before hand.

 Next week:

                             AtariNet Update!
                         Z*Net Newswire Returns!
                    Z*Magazine Special Edition Coming!
           Maybe an Article from Bob Smith and Paul Keith......
                 .....The Invisible Z*Net Writers!!!!!!!!

  We'll see you next week!!




 ######  DATELINE ATARI! WITH BOB BRODIE
 ######  Transcript Courtesy of GEnie ST RT
 ######  Copyright (c)1993, Atari Corporation
 ######  ---------------------------------------------------------------


 (C) 1993 by Atari Corporation, GEnie, and the Atari Roundtables.  May be
 reprinted only with this notice intact.  The Atari Roundtables on GEnie
 are *official* information services of Atari Corporation.  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 XTX99437,GEnie
 and hit RETURN.  The system will prompt you for your information.


 Special Edition Friday Night Real Time Conference     March 5, 1993

 Dateline Atari! with Bob Brodie
 Special Guest - Eric Smith
 Host - Lou Rocha


 <ST.LOU> Once again it is my great pleasure to welcome Bob Brodie,
 Director of Communications for Atari Corp. to our monthly edition of
 Dateline Atari! We also have the added honor of a special guest - none
 other than the original author of MultiTOS, Eric Smith!  Welcome to both
 of our guests.

 This is a special night for Atarians for another reason.  Tonight we
 expect to hear the long awaited news of Falcon030 shipping plans and US
 prices.  For several months we have followed the saga of Falcon
 production and related software development.  Last month we got an
 excellent preview of Atari Works, the integrated wordprocessor, database
 and spreadsheet.

 Tonight we will hear about the long awaited (almost legendary) debut of
 MultiTOS - Atari's multitasking operating system.  Without further ado,
 let's have the opening comments from Bob Brodie.  <Bob told me there was
 a TON of info, so settle back and enjoy> Go Ahead, Bob!  Lou and the
 rest of the gang here at the ST Roundtable!

 <BOB-BRODIE> Once again, I'm delighted to be here for our monthly
 gathering at Dateline: Atari!  This month, I'm pleased to offer
 something a little bit different from our normal fare.  I've asked Eric
 Smith, from the Software Engineering Group here at Atari, to join us
 online to discuss MultiTOS.  I know that you're all very anxious to hear
 as much as possible about the capabilities of MultiTOS, and Eric is just
 the man to answer all of your questions about MultiTOS.  As many of your
 may know, Eric developed a program called MiNT (which stood for Mint is
 NOT TOS).  Originally, MiNT didn't multitask with GEM applications, but
 rather gave users a multi-tasking environment to operate TOS
 applications from.  MiNT is now incorporated into MultiTOS, and has
 changed dramatically since Eric first wrote it.  Obviously, we were
 impressed enough with his efforts to offer him a position within Atari!

 Before we begin with the MultiTOS portion of our CO, I'm sure that you
 are all very interested in the status of the delivery schedule for the
 Atari Falcon030 here in the US.  We have had a small setback in the
 manufacturing of the unit.  One of our suppliers is running about 10
 days behind in providing us with a couple of components that we need for
 the US machines.  This means that the machines will probably arrive in
 late March to early April.

 The reception that we've had for the machines has been nothing short of
 sensational!!  The phone has been ringing constantly, with many people
 interested in signing up as Atari dealers.  As you might expect, the
 main interest is coming from the music field, as few other computer
 systems can match the digital sound capabilities of the Atari Falcon030
 right out of the box!!  We have enough orders in hand that we expect to
 be sold out quickly.  This is the same type of reception that the
 Falcon030 has gotten in the rest of the world, for instance in Germany,
 where it was literally sold out in a matter of hours!!!

 Much of our efforts here in Sunnyvale over the course of the last month
 has revolved around finalizing plans for dealer agreements.  It is our
 hope that we'll be able to restore the value of an Atari dealership, and
 help the dealers be able to be more profitable.  We will be soon going
 over the new arrangements with all of our current dealers, as we release
 the pricing, and other sales related information to our current dealers.

 Now, we'd like to tell you a little bit about MultiTOS!  While this file
 is a little bit long, it will give you a pretty good idea of what the
 capabilities of MultiTOS are.

 MultiTOS provides your Atari computer with multitasking, the ability to
 run more than one application at a time.  Since your computer spends
 much of its time waiting for user input, multitasking makes more
 efficient use of processing power--when one application, say, your word
 processor, is waiting for input, the rest of your computer's attention
 is turned to other tasks.

 MultiTOS includes several important features that make multitasking
 reliable and efficient.  Adaptive prioritization gives the most
 processing power to the most important program running--the word
 processor you're typing into receives higher priority than the processor
 -hungry compression program running simultaneously in the background.
 Memory protection prevents one program from interfering with another
 active program's data in memory.  And if one program quits unexpectedly
 or "crashes," MultiTOS protects other applications, which continue to
 run; only in the most extreme circumstances will you need to restart
 your computer.

 MultiTOS runs existing, correctly-written TOS programs--as many as your
 computer's memory allows.  Some programs are already being upgraded to
 take advantage of MultiTOS features, and more programs written
 especially for MultiTOS are on their way, from Atari and third-party
 companies.

 MultiTOS can run as many programs simultaneously as will fit in memory;
 GEM programs, Desk Accessories, and TOS programs can all peacefully
 coexist under MultiTOS.  You can move from one to the other, using
 whichever you need.  When one program is busy, you can set it aside and
 work on something else until it's done.  When you finish with a program
 and exit it, the memory it occupied is freed for other tasks.

 All running programs share the screen, each putting up its own windows;
 with several programs running, windows may overlap or be hidden
 altogether by one another.  The application that receives input, like
 keystrokes, from you is called the foreground or topped application, and
 other programs running simultaneously are background, or untopped
 applications.

 Unlike TOS, MultiTOS allows you to operate any window's gadgets to move,
 resize, or scroll the window, even if the window is not topped.  When
 you click within a window (but not on its gadgets), that window is
 topped, and so is the application that owns it.  The topped
 application's menu bar is displayed, unless it doesn't have a menu bar
 --in that case, the menu bar is unchanged.

 Running GEM programs under MultiTOS is straightforward: simply double-
 click the program's icon.  The MultiTOS Distribution Kit includes two
 simple GEM programs, "Clock" and "Lines." Double-click on CLOCK.APP, and
 an analog clock appears in a window, but the Desktop's icons and menu
 bar are still visible.  Double-click on LINES.APP, and a graphics
 demonstration appears in a window.  Resize the Lines window so that you
 can see the clock and some of the Desktop. Both programs and the Desktop
 are running simultaneously!  From here, you can run still other
 programs, or perform Desktop operations like file copies.

 Desk Accessories and MultiTOS

 As with TOS, you can access your Desk Accessories from the "Desk" menu.
 Unlike TOS, MultiTOS can load Desk Accessories as you need them.
 Double-click on a ".ACC" file to run it, just as you would another GEM
 application.  You may want to keep only the essential Accessories loaded
 at all times, and load others when needed.  You can do this by putting
 your ".ACC" files in a directory other than the root of drive C:\.

 TOS programs present a special problem for multitasking, because they
 usually assume they are the only programs running, and that they have
 the whole screen to themselves.  Since TOS programs don't know how to
 share the screen, MultiTOS does it for them, by giving them their own
 "screen," within a window.  When you double-click a ".TOS" or ".TTP"
 program, MultiTOS runs another program, "MINIWIN," which sets up a
 window in which the TOS program runs.  MINIWIN lets you select the size
 of the window TOS programs are given, and the font they use.  You can
 change this information by choosing "Configure..." in the left most menu
 when running a TOS program.  Note: TOS programs assume they're using a
 "monospaced" font, where all characters are the same width.  MINIWIN
 allows you to choose "proportionally spaced" fonts, where a "w" is wider
 than an "i," for example.  If you choose a proportionally spaced font,
 the program may look strange, but is otherwise fine.

 When several applications are running, the topped application presents
 its menu bar and receives your keystrokes.  The others are in the
 background, where you can still move and resize their windows, but you
 can't click on their menus or give them keyboard commands.  MultiTOS
 provides several ways to manage all the applications you may have
 running, and to choose which of them is topped.

 The leftmost menu in the menu bar is called the "Desk" menu, because
 that's what it's called when the Desktop is topped.  When another
 MultiTOS-friendly application is run, and the application has its own
 menu bar, the application's name replaces "Desk" in the menu bar--this
 is one way to tell which program is topped.  Some older applications
 will not do this, but will otherwise work fine.

 The Desk menu contains the names of all installed Desk Accessories and
 below, the names of all applications currently running, with the topped
 application indicated by a checkmark.  You can top another program by
 clicking on its name in this menu; its windows (if it has any) spring to
 the front, and its menu bar (if it has one) appears.

 You can run as many programs as your available memory allows, but there
 are reasons why you may not want to.  Often, there is very little
 difference in system performance with several programs running, since
 many of these programs are just waiting for input.  When programs are
 actively processing, or reading and writing data on a disk, they consume
 more of your Atari's processing power.  You may be tempted to leave
 things running in the background because it's so easy, but if they make
 too many demands on the system, performance will suffer.  It's best to
 shut down any programs you're not planning to use, just as you would
 exit them in TOS.  This makes the most memory and "computing horsepower"
 available for the programs you really need. Experiment, and see what
 combinations of programs work well together.

 Shut programs down with MultiTOS the same way you would with TOS: save
 whatever you're working on, then select "Quit," click the "close" gadget
 on a window, type "exit," or whatever.  This gives the program a chance
 to save and close any files it has open and exit cleanly, returning your
 computer to its normal state.  As always, it's best to save your work
 and exit from all running applications before restarting or turning your
 computer off.

 Occasionally, a program may "hang" in a state where it is no longer
 running correctly, but does not exit. When this happens, you can shut
 the program down from the Desktop.  Select "Install Devices" under the
 "Options" menu, then open drive U:\, and then the "PROC" folder.  This
 folder contains "files" that represent all the programs currently
 running under MultiTOS, along with parts of MultiTOS itself.  To stop or
 "kill" a program, simply drag it to the trash.  Be very careful with
 this technique.  Kill only programs which have not responded otherwise,
 or are otherwise behaving incorrectly.  Be careful what you throw away,
 because it is possible to shut down a part of MultiTOS itself, after
 which it can be difficult to recover without restarting.  If you aren't
 sure what something is, don't kill it.

 Although Atari has made every effort to accomodate even ill-behaved TOS
 programs, you may occasionally encounter programs that are not
 compatible with MultiTOS.  These programs may "crash," (exit
 unexpectedly) or "hang," (keep running without accepting input, refusing
 to exit).  Usually when this happens, MultiTOS continues unharmed, along
 with any other programs running at the time of the crash.  Sometimes, if
 a program crashes in an especially spectacular way, it can interfere
 with other parts of MultiTOS operation, or other programs.  If you see
 error messages on your screen, or if you notice peculiar behavior from
 other programs, save your work and reboot your computer.  Try to isolate
 the problem to the particular program and action that caused the crash,
 and report the problem to the program's authors or publisher.

 When you encounter a program which doesn't run under MultiTOS under any
 circumstances but you need to run nevertheless, you can temporarily
 disable MultiTOS, and restart your computer with TOS.  To do this, save
 any work in progress, shut down any running applications, and restart
 your computer.  You can use the Reset button, or hold down <Control> and
 <Alternate> and press <Delete>.  Immediately after restarting, hold down
 the left <Shift> key.  You will be asked, "Load MultiTOS?  (y)es  (n)o."
 Press the <n> key, and your computer will start up without MultiTOS.

 With the power of MultiTOS comes responsibility.  Since some older
 programs expect to be the only thing running, they may not guard against
 some things which can happen "when their backs are turned."  You can
 avoid these problems by not using one program or the Desktop to
 interfere with another active program.  For example, don't move
 configuration or open document files for your word processor while it's
 running; the program may assume the files are in their original place,
 and behave unpredictably.  Similarly, be careful with programs that
 manipulate disk data directly; don't run a hard disk defragmentation
 program in the background and save a file to the same disk, or the
 results could be unpleasant.  As more MultiTOS-aware programs become
 available, these problems will be minimized.

 That concludes our opening remarks about MultiTOS, Lou.  We're ready to
 take on all the questions that our guests might have tonight!
 Naturally, we're prepared to answer MultiTOS questions as well as almost
 anything else they might want to discuss with us.

 <ST.LOU> Thanks for the preview of MultiTOS. Several people have their
 hands /raised so let's get to them right away.  Our first question is
 from B.AEIN.

 <[Bman] B.AEIN> Bob, can you talk about new dealers, the Falcon 040, or
 the Jaguar?  Will there be coverage in mags like Popular Science?  What
 extras will be included with theFalcon?  MTos on ROM?  Thanks for being
 here Bob.

 <BOB-BRODIE> Hi Bman, we've gotten a number of enquirys from new
 dealers.  I expect to be able to expand our dealer network dramatically,
 and quickly as well.  Among the most exciting thing to the new dealer
 prospects is the fact that they will actually make MONEY selling Atari
 Computers, unlike the skinny margins that most clone dealers presently
 have to live with.  Re the Falcon040: Sorry, no comment about any 040
 products.  The Jaguar, our 64 bit game console machine is due out this
 summer.  The Falcon will ship with MultiTOS, Atari Works, Speedo GDOS,
 and the other 8 applications that we previously indicated.

 <[Dave] D.SHORR> Bob, what is the STatus of the dealer demo unit program
 and Atari's service agreement with GE?

 <BOB-BRODIE> The dealer demo program is going to happen, naturally
 dependent on the dealer accepting our new dealer terms and conditions.
 As for the GE program, there are legal issues that are impeding that
 event from going forward.  Unfortunately, I don't know when it will, or
 if it will happen.  However, the Falcon030 in reality only has about 6
 components to it:  The ram board, the floppy, the hard disk, the power
 supply, the keyboard, and ... the motherboard.  This makes it very easy
 for just about anyone to be able to service the Atari Falcon030.

 <S.MILLER58> Will MultiTos have the capability to open an individual
 application multiple time? And will there be a unix style command line
 capability?  Or is MultiTos far from being anything like UNIX running an
 x-windows type of envir.? and when it is going to be available?

 <[Eric Smith]> Yes, you can open applications multiple times (assuming
 the application supports this; most do).  You can use most of the
 available command line interpreters for the ST under MultiTOS, and they
 will run (like any .TOS or .TTP window) in a window.  Much like xterm
 under X windows, if you're familiar with that.  MultiTOS is going to
 ship with Falcons, and will be available for users shortly aftwerwards.
 (By "users" I meant "non-Falcon" users, obviously <grin>).

 <S.MILLER58> Will, MultiTOS support SLIP so that I can use my
 DECstation's graphics capabilities at home? err if I used the
 terminology correctly.

 <[Eric Smith]> We don't have SLIP support build into the OS, but people
 could add this on with easily, using MultiTOS's loadable device driver
 and file system features.

 <C.CASSADAY> Bob or Eric:  TOS and TTP programs sound like a pain.  How
 do programs like ARC Shell and XYZ shell work under MTOS?  Concerning
 the desktop environment while running several apps: Does the [B]ottom to
 Top feature of TOS 3.06 work on windowed applications like it would on
 normal directory windows?  Also, can you use the right mouse button to
 manipulate applications in the background in the same fashion?

 <[Eric Smith]> Older versions of ARC shell didn't work under MultiTOS,
 but perhaps there will be a new version that does.  The [B]ottom to Top
 feature works only on the desktop's windows; there is a new key (control
 -alt-tab) for cycling between applications.  Some applications (MultiTOS
 aware ones) will let you manipluate them while their in the background;
 for these applications you don't even need to hold down the right mouse
 button, it all happens automatically!

 <NEWDIMENSION> Evening Bob.  Has Atari decided on how MultiTOS will be
 distributed to owners of current Atari computers?  MultiTOS is running
 GREAT on our TT and Mega STE.  Congrats to Eric on a job well done!!

 <BOB-BRODIE> Jeff, it looks like we'll have to sell MultiTOS rather than
 ... upload it to the online systems.  We have an arrangement with... DRI
 that requires that we pay a licensing fee for the use of GEM on a per
 unit basis.  So we will be working on packaging and of course, pricing
 for MultiTOS in order to sell it to the user base so we can honor our
 contract with DRI.

 <J.VOGH> I have a MIDI question.  Is there any software which will allow
 the falcon to have the capabilities of a sound module such as the Roland
 sc-55?

 <BOB-BRODIE> James, I'm afraid that I'm not familiar with the
 capabilities of the Roland sound modules, and our music expert James
 Grunke isn't in the office at this time.  I'm afraid that I'm not up to
 speed enough to answer that.  My gut reaction is that it is possible,
 but I don't think that there is such an application at this time.

 <R.ALBRIGHT7> Eric, is there a feature in MultiTOS to allow minimising
 of running-program windows, and if so, what does it require of the
 program to allow this to happen.

 <[Eric Smith]> No, minimization isn't built in to the OS. However, we
 will be publishing a specification soon to allow programs to do this.
 Basically, your program should just make its window very small and move
 it to a corner of the screen.  There are calls to allow you to check to
 see if any other windows are at a spot, so that you can find an empty
 place.

 <JKUEHN> Bob, What is the current status of Atari Kodak and the Photo
 CD?

 <BOB-BRODIE> John, our contract is a done deal.  We're awaiting the
 final versions of the developer tool kit which is being ported to our
 platform by one of the developers from Germany.  We had expected to see
 something in about January time frame, but there have been delays on his
 end in getting the product finished.  Naturally, we're very anxious to
 see this completed.

 <JKUEHN> Also will the multitos package come with .XFS CD-ROM drivers?
 I Kodak developing the tool kit?

 <[Eric Smith]> No, the MultiTOS package will not come with the CD-ROM
 driver.  It will be available later as an add-on, I think.

 (Ed. Note - Due to a system problem, ST.LOU was disconnected and back up
  RTC sysop Mike Allen assumed RTC leaderhip.)

 <BOB-BRODIE> Well, let me finish up the question that John asked, and
 lets' try to keep a QUIET demeanor in the next few minutes.  John, in
 answer to your question about Kodak...They provide the source code to
 the Photo CD software system.  From the source code that they have
 provided, we port the code to our platform.  This is the very same
 procedure that is done with the port to  MS-DOS, and to the MacIntosh
 platform as well.  Mike, take it formal, please. :)

 <MIKE-ALLEN> Sorry folks - I don't have Lou's raised hand list.  I'm
 going to have to fake it for a while. hold on while I get a piece of
 paper Ok, I have Craig Servin with his had up as well as a few others.

 <C.SERVIN3> Is the new Desktop smart enough to deal with longer file
 names?  Also does MTOS give the 3D AES gadgets to TOS < 4.0 machines?

 <[Eric Smith]> The desktop doesn't deal with longer file names yet
 (future releases will, I hope) The 3D gadgets are built into MultiTOS
 and will work on all machines.

 <A.WARNER6> Thanks Mike, Good Evening Bob and Eric My question is : If
 delays continue to persist will the Multi-Tos and other New Atari
 programs ship?  Sorry I meant delays with the Falcon

 <BOB-BRODIE> MultiTOS is on the machines that are coming from the
 factory.  We indicated that in the beginning of the CO, sorry you missed
 it.

 <S.MILLER58> How much memory will I need to _realistically_ run multiple
 apps.?  The reason I ask, is I use PageStream a lot on my 4 meg TT and
 it seems to GOBBLE memory.  So, will I be looking at upgrading to 8+ to
 mt btw PS and other programs?  And does it look like any virtual screen
 programs are going to work with MT?

 <[Eric Smith]> Obviously it depends on the applications.  I would think
 that if you're already finding 4 megs tight, then upgrading to 8 megs is
 a good idea.  4 megs is pretty much the minimum for doing "serious"
 work.  And yes, most "virtual screen" programs work with MultiTOS.

 <S.DOUGHERTY1> Good Evening Bob & Eric, Does MultiTOS allow manual
 adjustment of the priority, and does it display the current priorities?
 Does the HD on the Falcon030's contain demos of software?  Lastly, do
 windows that are inactive still update?

 <[Eric Smith]> The priority can be adjusted "manually", but that isn't
 available on the desktop; I'm sure some enterprising developers will
 release software to do it :-).  Windows that are inactive can still
 update, yes.  Falcons ship with a variety of applications (which work
 both with and without MultiTOS).

 <BOB-BRODIE> Re the demo software... We will have a separate arrangement
 with our dealers to get them.

 <P.FORISTER> Bob, can you tell me a little bit about the surround sound
 capabilities of the Falcon?

 <BOB-BRODIE> Pat, most of that is not directly dependent on the Falcon,
 but rather on the specific application that is running on the Falcon.
 For instance, the Audio Fun Machine application that we ship with each
 Atari Falcon030 uses the DSP chip to create a surround sound type of
 effect.  This is a capability of the DSP that is documented, and
 available to anyone wanting to create those types of effects with their
 Atari Falcon030.

 <C.CASSADAY> I've been wondering about this particular question for a
 LONG time.  With MultiTOS, will it be better to run STalker as an .ACC
 or a .PRG?  Will the 'Favour Concurrency' option help at all?  For the
 new AES 4 icons features, is a new icon editor being written by someone?
 And finally, is it now realistic to think of a TT030 as a file server in
 a LAN using MTOS and Dragonware networking software?  Seems like a
 tremendous opporunity to sell Atari LAN set-ups with things like Atari
 Works to use in the office environment.

 <[Eric Smith]> I run STalker as a program.  It seems to work very well.
 (I'm not sure what difference the "Favour Concurrency" option makes; I
 haven't felt the need to try it <grin>.  I haven't tried out the
 Dragonware networking software, so I don't know whether it would work
 well or not.

 <J.VOGH> I have a lynx question When will Eye of the Beholder be
 released?

 <BOB-BRODIE> James, I don't have a specific date for it at this time,
 only that it will be available later on this year.  Sorry I can't be
 more specific for you at this time.  We do expect to have more games
 coming out for the Lynx at the rate of one to two titles a month through
 out the rest of 1993.

 <ARCHIVIST> Hi Bob and Eric! I have two qestions for you, not related to
 MultiTOS, as much as I'm panting for it.  Sounds like you've done a
 super job Eric, Thanks!  First Question, whats the status of MetaDos
 2.0? we had someone looking for it, and I know I'm eager to see it.

 <BOB-BRODIE> Charlie, I think it's a done deal, and we licensed it to
 ICD in order for them to release it with their HD utilities.  The
 problem on our end was that the Atari host adapter didn't support the
 full SCSI command set that was needed in order to be able to utilize the
 CD roms.  Since ICDs did, and their software/hardware is so popular, it
 seemed like a reasonable decision to make.  We'll have CD ROM drivers
 for MultiTOS.

 <ARCHIVIST> Oh that's what happened to it. I knew the Link handled CD-
 Roms but I thought there was an Atari program still pending.  Ok, second
 question, I have a nice idea for a semi-regional marketing thing.  Who
 should I contact to pitch this at with Atari Canada sonambulant

 <BOB-BRODIE> I'd approach a fellow Canadian who's residing here in
 Sunnyvale right now.  His name is Garry Tramiel. :) You can fax him at
 408-745-2088, or send Snail mail.  He won't come on-line.....YET.

 <T.WILSON14> Hi guys, ok, kinda a two parter - one, does Atari in
 general have plans for ethernet ports or options on their machines in
 the future, and how about sockets or tcp/ip in multitos.

 <BOB-BRODIE> Hi Tim, we'll both answer this one.  Re the Ether net
 ports, not on the current machine, although there are parallel and SCSI
 ethernet adapters that can be used with the Atari Falcon030.  All that
 is needed is for software to be created to know that it is there.  We've
 discussed doing such a project here, and there is of course, also the
 enterprising Chris Latham at Power Point Technology (PowerDOS) that is
 very capable of doing such a project.  I'll let Eric handle the TCP/IP
 stuff.

 <[Eric Smith]> As I mentioned, it's easy to add new devices or file
 systems to MultiTOS; they can be loaded at boot time.  I've heard that
 some people in Germany are in fact working on tcp/ip software using this
 mechanism; no doubt some other developers are too.  I don't have any
 dates or future details, though.

 <B.CARNAHAN> Eric, Can a GEM app running under Mtos switch screen rez
 without confusing Gem in using AES functions?

 <[Eric Smith]> No, because other applications that are running would
 still be using the wrong resolution.  We have published a way to cause
 a resolution change, but it requires shutting down all other running
 applications, so it's not really a "nice" thing to do.

 <D.A.BRUMLEVE> ST Format has recently reported that some 150 leisure
 devs in the UK are working on Falcon games.   Any truth to this?  If so,
 when will the first ones be out?

 <BOB-BRODIE> Dorothy, I cannot confirm the exact number of developers in
 the UK that are working on the games, that's more Bill's area.. and he's
 snuck of to his home for the evening.  I can tell you that at the last
 meeting we had, he did say that there were over 35 Falcon "capable"
 games, that would use DSP sound, etc, that were on target to be
 delivered in June of this year.

 <C.CASSADAY> Bob, so...  MTOS won't be available until after the Falcon
 is available?  I'm REALLY looking forward to purchasing MTOS.  (If you
 couldn't tell already.)  _Any_ idea of pricing on Atari Works, SGDOS, or
 MTOS?

 <BOB-BRODIE> Chris, at this point that is correct.  MTOS won't be out
 for the other users until after the Falcons hit.  I'm pleased to hear
 that you are so interested in getting it, though.  The pricing for Atari
 Works/Speedo GDOS is set.  The suggested list price for Works with
 Speedo GDOS and 14 Bit Stream fonts is $129.  The price on MTOS hasn't
 been set yet, but I'm sure that it will be under $100 US.  We will also
 be selling a HD kit for Falcon030 buyers that don't opt to buy the HD
 version as an original component, and that HD will come with MultiTOS,
 Works, and Speedo GDOS installed on it.

 <MIKE-ALLEN> Bob when/where can I get the AW/Speedo package?  I'd like
 to support my dealer and can I trade gdos 1.1 in <g>

 <BOB-BRODIE> Mike, it looks like we're about 30 days away from shrink
 wrap on Atari Works, and it will ship with the Speedo GDOS/font set up
 that I descriped previously.  It really does look great, and I'm sure
 that you will be pleased.  I've abandoned every other word processor
 that I ever used, I'm really, really happy with the capabilities of
 Atari Works.  We'll probably be having a CO with the author of Works,
 Pradip, in the next few weeks here on GEnie.

 <S.DOUGHERTY1> How do other applications see the U:\ directory, and what
 would happen if one attempted to load a task into say, Atari Works or
 1st Word?

 <[Eric Smith]> Drive U: looks to applications like any other drive.  If
 someone tries to load a process into Atari Works or 1st word, they would
 see a whole lot of garbage in their window :-). (Actually, a sensible
 word processor would pretty quickly figure out that this wasn't a proper
 document...)

 <BRIAN.H> Hi Bob and Eric!!!!  I have two quick questions.  A developer
 in the BBS stated that the TT is cancelled and this is the reason why he
 is not continuing with a product for the TT.  Is the TT gone???

 <BOB-BRODIE>
 Second, is the new developer contract out to dealers???  Thanks.  Brian
 we have only a few TTs left in stock at this time, and the amount of
 interest in the product has dropped dramatically  as the Falcon030 comes
 closer to the actual shipping date.  We would be very happy to continue
 producing TT030s, as long as we have enough interest to make it
 worthwhile to fire up the production lines.  If there isn't sufficent
 interest, then it doesn't make any sense to produce say, five thousand
 TTs.  Re the new developer contract to dealers, I think you mean the
 dealer agreement to dealers...we don't have any reason to send the
 developers agreement to the dealers! :)  The dealer agreement will be
 going out next week via our rep firms.

 <W.PARKS3> First off, Thank you guys for staying so late- Don't worry,
 though, there's not much snow on the roads :-) Will the Falcon ship with
 a) a VGA monitor adaptor b) a ST monitor adaptor c) both d) that's
 Bill's area :-)

 <BOB-BRODIE> e) or a composite adapter f) none of the above.  The video
 adapter is a separate item that will be purchased at the time of the
 sale by the customer, and HIS choice will depend on what he wants to do
 with his Falcon030.

 <C.CASSADAY> Just wondering...  Specifically, do Aladdin and PageStream
 co-exist peacefully under MTOS?  Seems like I could be doing a user
 group newsletter right now.

 <[Eric Smith]> Aladdin has a nasty habit of locking the screen; while
 the screen is locked you can't get to other applications.  But otherwise
 it works fine (i.e. there's no damage done, and once the screen is
 unlocked you can get to your other programs).  So I would say the answer
 is probably "sort of".  I haven't tried that particular combination yet,
 though.

 <MIKE-ALLEN> I understand that there is a version 2.0 of Aladdin coming
 that should be friendlier with MTos.

 <S.MILLER58> how will we go about getting MT?  I would like to get a
 copy _the_ day it is realeased, even if I have to drive to San Jose to
 get it.  It's only 180 miles from me.  And is SGDOS easy to set up and
 use?

 <BOB-BRODIE> We will be selling MultiTOS to our dealers, so you will be
 able to order it from your dealer with little problem.  Speedo is very
 easy to use.  There is a diskette with an install program that works
 just fine, and prompts you through about four disks to install your
 printer driver, and the .ACCs for the fonts and the printer drivers.

 <S.MILLER58> I have a dealer here in San Luis Obispo, but he told me
 just the other day he has had _NO_ contact with Atari Corp.  What about
 that kind of thing?

 <BOB-BRODIE> Who's the dealer?

 <S.MILLER58> Computer Logic

 <BOB-BRODIE> I have a feeling that he is buying everything from one of
 our distributors, Pacific Software Supply, which by coincidence, is also
 located in San Luis Obispo. :)  He'll probably be able to continue
 buying product like Works/Speedo from him.

 BTW, we had Travis Guy, our editor of Atari Explorer Online just run the
 PageStream/Aladdin combo.  Worked fine, as long as he ran Aladdin first.
 He said that PageStream likes to grab most of the ram right away. :)

 <K.RICHARD2> About optional HD will it be available in different megs?

 <BOB-BRODIE> Yes, basically it will be in 80 meg, 120 megs, and 200
 megs.  The price will vary according to market conditions on the HDs.
 Virtually all of the machines that have been ordered at this... point
 have been 4 meg/65 meg machines, so that's what the initial shipments
 will be.  Probably in April or May, I don't have a copy of the
 production schedule in front of me.  To be sure, we want to supply the
 users with the one meg machine as well, and also make it easy for them
 to get the HD kit in a sensible fashion.  BTW, did I mention that we're
 thinking of a Four Meg/No HD combo?  Some of our dealers have thought
 that it would be a good offering to have in the product line.

 <MIKE-ALLEN> How about a 14 meg no HD combo?

 <BOB-BRODIE> You can order the one meg machine and a fourteen meg ram
 board to get that unit, Mike.  We will have upgrade boards for four megs
 of ram, and fourteen megs of ram.  :) Then of course, you could order
 the HD kit with the 200 meg HD!

 <JKUEHN> Eric, What is the reason that MiNT Ver 0.95 and the ICDXX.XFS
 combination only reads Kodak ISO9660 Photo-CD disks?  Bob, ICD says that
 they are currently waiting for a fix from Atari for a problem with
 Metados 2.0. Comments?

 <[Eric Smith]> I haven't seen the ICD .XFS file system, so I don't know
 why it only reads Kodak disks.  Probably it's based on an older version
 of the .XFS driver (which was developed originally by the same developer
 doing Photo CD, so he obviously had a certain focus :-).  Also, MiNT
 0.95 is very old; the version going into MultiTOS is 1.04.

 <BOB-BRODIE> John, don't know...better check with Bill Rehbock on that
 one.

 <S.DOUGHERTY1> How much will the monitor adaptors cost (estimate okay),
 and do you need both for a multisync monitor?  Could you say if Alan
 Skaggs of A-Online Computing in Tampa, FL is a real dealer?  Sean, the
 monitor adapter go for about $15 if memory serves me correctly.  For a
 MultiSynch monitor, you'll just need to VGA.  A-Online in Florida does
 have an account with us, mostly he just buys parts, and does service.
 I don't believe that he sells new product, but I'm not 100% sure about
 that one.

 <S.DOUGHERTY1> Can you get the TV/ST resolutions on a MultiSync using
 the VGA adaptor?

 <BOB-BRODIE> I think that it depends on the monitor, not the connection.

 <BRIAN.H> Hi again. What does/can ATARI offer to user groups to promote
 the ATARI line of computers?  I believe user groups are the the most
 economical form of advertising for ATARI.  Do you have press kits,
 information packages, etc.?  What about lending of equipement for mall
 presentations, etc.  I am amazed at the number of members in the user
 group I am in, considering there is no dealer within 20 hours of
 driving.

 <BOB-BRODIE> Brian, in the past we have offered user groups a tremendous
 amount of support in the form of free equipment on loan for their shows,
 like mall presentations, etc.  We have not, as a rule,  sent out Press
 kits to user groups, because the material that we send to the public vs.
 the press vs. the dealers is all different.  For example, in Milwaukee
 every summer, we loan about 50+ systems to a user group for use at a
 huge gaming convention, and they also manage to make a little bit of
 money off of it.  I feel that in the next year, we'll be more inclined
 to do those things in conjunction with a DEALER as well as a user group.
 Often, we're much better off working through the dealer than just the
 user group.  The user group is always very enthusiastic about the
 product, but not always as sales oriented as we'd like.  For example, in
 Las Vegas this past COMDEX, we had (as we always do) a great group of
 guys from the Las Vegas groups helping us out with the Falcon030 set up,
 etc.  But they were really having a great time checking out the machines
 for *themselves* as well, if you know what I mean.

 <BRIAN.H> I agree Bob a dealer would be best. But in our case A show or
 proper presentation may attract a dealer. Thanks for the answers, I
 really appreciate them.

 <ST.LOU> Closing comments, Bob, Eric?

 <[Eric Smith]> You're very welcome.

 <BOB-BRODIE> Thanks again for a wonderful evening on GEnie.  I hope that
 it was as much fun for all of you as we had.  This time we had a total
 of four people online in my office for most of the night, and had a
 terrific time!  I'm looking forward to next month's CO already!  Thanks
 again, and goodnight!




 ######  KANSAS CITY ATARIFEST '93
 ######  Announcement
 ######  ---------------------------------------------------------------


 As we had a conflict of dates with two other long running shows, we have
 moved our show date to remove this conflict.  The new show date is
 listed below, we are sorry for any inconvenience this has caused.  The
 location is the same.

 The location for the show is Stadium Inn, 7901 E 40 Hwy.,  The date of
 the show will be June 26th and 27th.  Ticket prices at the door will be
 5.00 dollars each day.  Advance tickets will be 4.00 dollars each, for
 advance tickets, please send 4.00 dollars per ticket to: Kansas City
 AtariFest, P.O. Box 1653, Lee Summit, MO 64063 or if you belong to a
 user group please mail a request for a user group information pack.

 To make room reservations please call 1-800-325-7901, we are also
 working with a local travel agent to get special airfares for the show.
 You may call 1-800-874-7691 to take advantage of the special fares.  For
 more information please leave Email as follows; GEnie, B.welsch,
 B.Frazier2, J.krzysztow, for CompuServe, Leave for Jeff Krzysztow at
 74027,707, for Delphi, Bobtrow or you can call [phone], or mail to
 the address listed above.

 We hope you will join us to welcome the following companies; Cali-Co
 software, ICD, MissionWare Software, Fair-Dinkum Software, Systems For
 Tomorrow, New Dimensions Computer Center, Electronic Spinster Graphics,
 Compu-Seller West, ChroMagic Software, Paul's Software, The Codeheads,
 Clear Thinking Software, S.K.Ware, MegaType, Oregon Research, D.A.
 Brumleve, Muller Automation, and a lots more!!  Watch for updates to
 this list or check our Genie topic (cat 11 topic 11)

 Bruce Welsch
 KCAC Special Events Coordinator




 ######  PERUSING COMPUSERVE
 ######  By Michael Mortilla
 ######  ---------------------------------------------------------------


   Turning and turning in the widening gyre
   The falcon cannot hear the falconer;
   Things fall apart; the center cannot hold;
   Mere anarchy is loosed upon the world,
   The blood-dimmed tide is loosed, and everywhere
   The ceremony of innocence is drowned;
   The best lack all conviction, while the worst
   Are full of passionate intensity.

      William Butler Yeats [1865-1939]


 There is no hidden message or implied meaning I wish to relate with the
 above quote.  Simply a mention of the falcon (perhaps one of most
 famous).  There's no harm in repeating it, is there?

 But speaking of Falcons, we hope to actually see one this weekend at the
 open house over at Barefoot Software in LA. If so, you can be sure to
 read about it here next week.

 We'll skim over the philosophical news this week (between Yeats and last
 weeks article, we won't be needing much more abstract opinion for
 awhile).  But it should be mentioned that the thread concerning the food
 stamps and other public issues of welfare, etc, are still continuing in
 the Ataripro Forum.  And no one has lost their temper yet!

 The for sale messages in the Atari pro and arts forums appears to be
 increasing, albeit gradually.  It would appear that some of us are
 preparing our bank accounts for the arrival of the Falcon 030.  No one
 would actually be considering using a different platform, would they?

 The new lower prices on CIs are very much in the messages this week.
 Just which options to choose are a concern of the members, as well they
 should be.  SYSOP Keith Joins writes: "You can make the change anytime
 by issuing the command GO CHOICES.  However wait until the last day of
 the month or you will be billed the basic charge for February."  In a
 later messages he continues by saying "The final Saturday of each month
 is the end of the month as far as CIS' billing period goes so by waiting
 until after that you make sure you don't get charged for the current
 month." The nice thing is that you can change the option at any time
 your needs change.

 With an increase of Atari "officials" online, it's important that we
 make them comfortable as possible <g>.  When Dan McNamee of Atari had
 some inquires, we all learned that it is possible to undelete an e-mail
 message!  Steve Ahlstrom, leaves these simple instructions:

 "GO EASY
 SET MODE COMMAND
 SET RETAIN YES
 SET  (you'll get menu here)
 Select option 1 (change your editor choice)
 Select option 1 (restore the editor choice to what it was before)
 Make the changes permanent

 After doing that, from now on you can undelete email that has been
 deleted in the last (approximately) 48 hours.  To do so, GO EASY, at the
 prompt type UNDELETE and you'll get a list of recently deleted emails --
 select the ones you want to restore."

 The final entry from the Ataripro message base is in the form of a
 riddle, and if ever there was a riddle for programmers, this is it!
 Toli Vavskos writes:

 "Hi all

 I know this is not the appropriate forum for a riddle, but I assume
 there are a lot of good thinkers among you. So here goes:

 You've got 12 balls.  11 of them weigh the same.  One of them has a
 different weight but we don't know if it's heavier or lighter than the
 others.

 You've got a balance that you may use three times only.  How do you find
 the different ball?

 This riddle puzzled me for quite some time and I still can't find the
 answer.  Reply if you know it.

 David D. Hagood replies:

 "The way you solve this is to realize that the scale divides the balls
 into three sets: those on the left of the scale, those on the right, and
 those that aren't weighed. What you do is assign each ball an "address"
 that is three trits (a trit is a trianary digit, analogous to a bit but
 it may take on three values).  Number the balls 1-12, the addresses are:

 ball #  t1 t2 t3    ball #  t1 t2 t3
  1      A  A  A      7      B  A  A
  2      A  A  B      8      B  A  B
  3      A  B  C      9      C  B  C
  4      A  B  A     10      C  B  A
  5      B  C  B     11      C  C  B
  6      B  C  C     12      C  C  C

 Now, do three weighings: for each weighing place the balls with A's on
 the left of the scale, balls with a B on the right, and balls with a C
 don't get weighed.  For the first weighing, use trit t1, for the second
 weighing, use t2, etc. For each weighing, record the result: A = left
 was heavier, B = Right was heavier, C = balanced.  Now, try to match
 that to a result in the table.  If you find a match, you're done (also,
 the ball is heavier than the rest).  If you don't find a match, change
 all the A's into B's and try again (and the ball is lighter than the
 rest).

 And leave it Mr QCIS, Jim Ness to find the bug! Jim writes:

 "David -

 >> "if you don't find a match, ...try again."

 But, if you've gotten to this point, you've already used up your max of
 three weighings."

 Let's give David the last word here:

 "What I meant was, take the address you generated with the three
 weighings.  Convert the A's to B's in that address, and consult the
 table again.  No additional weighings are needed.

 Incidentally, that is why the problem is stated as 12 balls: there are
 twelve "addresses" that are unique when you allow A's and B's to be
 equivelent.  If you knew ahead of time that the ball was light (or
 heavy) you could go up to 27 balls and determine the results in 3
 weighings."

 Brian G. at MacDonald Associates (the folks who bring you ST Informer,
 writes in the Atari vendor forum: " As of Friday February 26, 1993, Tax
 Wizard is shipping.  This years program is a tremendous improvement over
 the past ones, with a much nicer GEM environment.

 Call 1-800-800-2563 for more information." Just in time for taxes
 (ugh!).  Maybe you can save a bundle on accounts fees this year?

 As this article was being completed, news has just reached us that there
 ws an explosion at the World Trade Center in New York City.  There were
 at least 5 fatalities, and an explosive device is all but certain.  In
 the immediate area of the blast was the limosiene used to transport the
 President of the United States, who was due in the area (NJ) on Tuesday.
 We extend our deep sorrow to those who have lost members of their
 families and friends in this tragedy, and hope that the responsible
 parties will be apprehended quickly and brought to justice.




 ######  GENIE ST RT WEEKLY NEWS #3.1
 ######  Compiled by John Hartman
 ######  ---------------------------------------------------------------


 NEW DARLAH'S TREAT CLUBDEMO.LZH

 INFOworks presents Club Dominoes, the most authentic and realistic
 dominoes simulation available for ANY computer. If you enjoy playing Mah
 Jong, Ishido, Backgammon, Yahtzee or Cards, you'll like Club Dominoes!
 For ANY Atari ST/STe/TT w/512k, low or med rez, and hard disk
 installable.  Download from page 475 Option 9 for FREE!!!!!

 NEW DARLAH'S CLASSIC TREAT MJ30DEMO.ZIP Option 10 on THIS PAGE!!!

 This DEMO of Mah Jong solitare from Cali-CO. is a PLAYABLE demo that
 contains 3 layouts, 3 tablecloths and 3 tile sets.  All the layouts are
 winable, but they will all be the same!  The REAL version has MANY
 layouts, tile sets, tablecloths and ALL the Games are DIFFERENT!

 Last two month's RTC transcripts
 --------------------------------
 27777 CODEHEAD.ARC             X BRIAN.H      930218   16640    205  13
 27614 BRODIE5.ARC              X ST.LOU       930206   16896    520  13
 27339 IAAD_RTC.ARC             X BRIAN.H      930115   17152    140  13
 27268 BRODIE4.ARC              X ST.LOU       930109   17152    687  13
 --------------------------------

 Last Month's Top Downloaded Programs/Utilities:
 -----------------------------------------------
 27832 STZIP22.ZIP              X E.JOLLEY     930223  123648    380  40
 27568 CENTPED.LZH              X GRMEYER      930202   92416    331   8
 27737 DE102103.LZH             X ORA.TECH     930216  119936    324   2
 27634 MANDALA.LZH              X J.EIDSVOOG1  930207    5120    298  21
 27756 DROPOUT.LZH              X J.EIDSVOOG1  930217    4224    274  21
 27557 SAVERS12.LZH             X J.DILLENBURG 930201   71936    265  21
 27864 FLYSHP13.LZH             X CODEHEAD     930226    7168    235  21
 27669 NEOP302A.LZH             X GRIBNIF      930212  240256    229  21
 27829 PUZZLE.LZH               X J.EIDSVOOG1  930222    3840    227  21
 27697 STZIPMAN.ARC             X D.CLARK59    930213    5120    195  40
 -----------------------------------------------

 Last Week's Top Downloaded Programs/Utilities:
 ----------------------------------------------
 27832 STZIP22.ZIP              X E.JOLLEY     930223  123648    380  40
 27864 FLYSHP13.LZH             X CODEHEAD     930226    7168    235  21
 27829 PUZZLE.LZH               X J.EIDSVOOG1  930222    3840    227  21
 27873 FORTUN12.LZH             X CODEHEAD     930227   30208    152  21
 27830 SLAB11.LZH               X ROB-G        930223  252416    110  29
 27831 FIT_ACC.LZH              X V.REINA1     930223   15616    103   8
 27794 MOVPIC20.ZIP             X OUTRIDER     930221   13184    100  21
 27857 GROCRY21.LZH             X R.HOEKSTRA1  930225   35968     95   2
 27819 DRVSPACE.LZH             X D.PANKE      930222    5120     84   2
 27872 TRACE.LZH                X K.LORD       930226   62848     82  28
 ----------------------------------------------

 Last Month's New Demos:
 -----------------------
 27906 BBSXDEMO.LZH             X C.SANCHEZ2   930301  242432      7  10
 27856 TBX_DEMO.LZH             X ABC.SOLN     930225  164864     52  10
 27818 CLUBDEMO.LZH             X J.HANLEY4    930222   98688    458  10
 27799 PALMASTR.LZH             X CYBERCUBE    930221  110208     81  10
 27791 COPNROB.ARC              X V.VALENTI    930220   39168     40  10
 27703 FRAC_DSP.LZH             X J.ROY18      930214   30464     37  10
 27657 MT32EDT.ARC              X L.WHITE17    930210  123648     12  10
 27636 SOLUTION.LZH             X P.DUBE       930207  233856     19  10
 27608 MTW_DEMO.LZH             X BPENNER      930205   76672    107  10
 27529 MOUSEBT4.ZIP             X P.LEFEBVRE   930131   54528     59  10
 27520 PIANODEM.LZH             X J.COLLINS22  930131   53504     99  10
 ------------------------

 Last Month's Press Releases in the Library
 ------------------------------------------
 27893 LOGICBLK.TXT             X T.IHIRA      930228    3712     15  14
 27870 SERMOUSE.PR              X CYBERCUBE    930226    6272     66  14
 27869 PALMASTR.PR              X CYBERCUBE    930226    5504     58  14
 27868 M161280.PR               X CYBERCUBE    930226    3968     72  14
 27842 SHOWKC.ASC               X B.WELSCH     930224    1792     51  14
 27833 SACEXPO3.TXT             X A.STUDER1    930223    6656     41  14
 27828 TOAD393.ZIP              X TOAD-SERV.   930222   13824    193  14
 27771 CAF93_01.TXT             X B.GOCKLEY    930218    2816     66  14
 27768 TOADNEWS.216             X TOAD-SERV.   930218    6656    178  14
 27749 SINGULAR.LZH             X C.FLUEGEL    930216    3072     55  14
 27743 GEMUL21.TXT              X BRASOFT      930216    7680    121  14
 27658 SHOW2.ASC                X B.WELSCH     930210    1792     53  14
 27655 SHOWINF.LZH              X B.WELSCH     930210    3712     23  14
 27640 TOAD0208.LZH             X TOAD-SERV.   930208   10496    291  14
 27639 TOADBBS.TXT              X TOAD-SERV.   930208    1664     78  14
 27615 SACEXPO4.ASC             X M.WARNER8    930206    7040     79  14
 27609 MULTIWTR.DOC             X BPENNER      930205    3200    157  14
 27604 CTSWAPEX.TXT             X D.FINCH7     930205    5376     15  14
 27598 GLEAFNAM.ARC             X WORDFLAIR    930204    2944     57  14
 27565 CT_SWAP.TXT              X D.FINCH7     930202    2432     28  14
 ------------------------------------------

=========================================================================

Caesar, by Impressions, is similar to SimCity and Populous, two
popular 'God' games, but on a far larger scale. As the Decurian (one
step above a citizen, the working equivalent of a mayor) of the city
not only are you charged with bringing into existance a Roman city
complete with roads, businesses, militia, aqueducts, and the
ubiquitous Roman forum - order must be brought to an entire province.

With both provincial and city levels demanding your time, creating a
civilized province is much more involved than in many other games of
this genre. Not only are you building a capital city worthy of the
Roman Empire, but an entire provincial network of roads,
fortifications, clearings, and cohorts of professional soldiers must
be created and maintained to secure the safety and stability of your
population, and the trade they depend on to live. Even a well laid out
city will fail if the province in which it depends on is not pacified
and linked with roads. Your ability to construct buildings and pay
yourself a handsome wage is dependent on the taxes you raise from
these people, and naturally the more successful their ventures, the
more money your taxes will bring in.

Caesar provides a more realistic threat to your city and provinces
than just the natural disasters in SimCity. Barbarians are a constant
threat, but can be combated by your soldiers, organized in cohorts,
which you can base close to the trouble areas in your province.
Without these loyal troops, the chaotic hordes of barbarians will
enter your carefully planned city, laying waste to everything in
sight. A city police force is also a necessity and building garrisons
for these militia within the city will control rioting citizens as
well as the barbarians. Yes, your local citizens will rise up in
revolt if you neglect their needs!

=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=
//// Death and Taxes... and more death!
=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=

Your civic work force consists of slaves. While a distasteful method
of finding a labor pool, the nasty parts of slavery are glossed over.
The quickest way to obtain more slaves is to take care of the ones you
have, not by capturing men in combat, as was most likely what happened
in reality. Apply more money to their welfare, and you will always
have enough slaves to assign to combat fire, maintain the streets and
buildings, or to fight for you in a pinch.

Like every other political figure, you have councillors to guide and
advise on how well you are managing your governance. By clicking on
the Forum Icon, and then the appropriate advisor, you can check your
level of favor with Rome, and keep an eye on the economy of the
province.

Your success is measured by Peace, Prosperity, Culture, and Empire.
These goals are graphically represented by columns, metered from 0% to
100% These columns represent the level to which you have kept out the
Barbarians, supplied jobs, set up trade, and built things like
theatres, schools, hospitals, and arenas. Once the minimums for each
of these goals are met, a promotion will be forthcoming, sending you
off to a new province.

=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=
Impressions of IMPRESSIONS
=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=

Impressions UK has brought out several ST games in the past few years.
Caesar is also a successful title on the PC, and the first of two new
games by Impressions for use on the ST. Another game by Impressions,
Cohort, will be updated to Cohort II. Cohort II will allow you to link
up with Caesar and fight out those gripping battles with the great
unwashed in technicolor detail. As the default combat scenes in Caesar
are limited to choosing an overall tactic and the actual outcome is
reported in short text form, using Cohort in combination with Caesar
will make your fighting strategy just as interesting as working your
province.

Caesar is distributed on a double sided disk, and is not hard drive
installable. I have tested it on a TOS 2.05 Mega STe and everything
works as advertised. It did not load on a TT030, which we tried... but
some really good news! It did run on an Atari Falcon030! The gameplay
was a bit smoother, and faster, but not unplayable. A few of the
graphics were corrupted in some views, but the gameplay onscreen was
untouched. Everything there ran flawlessly, with only one or two icons
scrambled at the bottom. With the enclosed quick reference card,
anyone who had not seen the game before would still be able to play
the game without hinderance.

The graphics themselves are well done, animated people walk around
your city with a purpose, carrying out their tasks. Buildings
progress from tents to palaces - if you provide the necessities.
The animation is more complete than in Populous, and you have to
be careful that you don't become too busy watching the activity in
your city, and forget that you are there to build and create a
bigger city! There is no dearth of color, and the shapes of the
sprites on screen are well defined and easy to identify.

The only problem with the three-quarters presentation of Caesar is
that sometimes when you place a tall building in the city, smaller
areas behind them could be hidden, leaving empty space that you could
neglect to notice and could be better used with houses or other
buildings.

The variety of things that you can build far outstrip the meagre
selection in SimCity or Populous.  Fountains, markets, businesses of
all kinds, temples, arenas, hospitals, schools, and more can be built
by the enterprizing young emperor. Most of the game only needs to load
once, but with activities like repeated fighting, or consulting your
advisors the constant disk access gets a bit tedious. The manual is
complete, and teaches you exactly what you need to get started and a
handy reference card is included. If you are looking for a sucessor
for SimCity, this is the game for you! Now, if they could only get the
darn thing on a hard drive....

Graphics:    Good
Sound:       None in Game
Documents:   Good
Playability: Excellent
Overall:     Excellent

Ratings are based on a scale of Excellent, Good, Fair, Poor, Awful.
Overall is a subjective rating representative of the game as a whole.

The review copy of this game was kindly provided to AEO by a proud
Atari-only dealer, Steve Kipker of

   STeve's Software Sales
   5 West Street
   Woodland, CA 95695
   Info: 916-661-3328
   GEnie: S.KIPKER



                              --==--==--==--==--


---------------------------------------------------------------------------
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--                                                                       --
-- To sign up for CompuServe service, call (voice call) [phone].  --
-- Ask for operator #198. You will be sent a $15.00 value CIS membership --
-- kit for free.                                                         --
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---------------------------------------------------------------------------


                              --==--==--==--==--


 |||  Andreas' Den ................ Pass the beer and hand out the salsa!
 |||  By: Andreas Barbiero
/ | \ Delphi: ABARBIERO      GEnie: AEO.2
      -------------------------------------------------------------------

This week I have been busy working with MultiTOS and Atari Works, but
there was so much else going on in the Atari World that I had to find
some time to put this column together for ya'll.

The CodeHeads had a great CO on GEnie last month, and they have
released some new Warp 9 Extend-O-Save modules. They keep getting more
and more ambitious with these programs and the results are
outstanding. If you haven't upgraded or (God forbid!) are not using
Warp 9, GET IT! I used to think screen savers were a waste of time,
but as my son sporadically demands more attention from me during my
computer time, I was suprized to see that even with a 5 minute delay
set into Warp 9, Mandala (my favorite screensaver module) kicks in
more often than I thought it would! You can find these files on GEnie
or your local BBS.

Delphi, with its full Internet access, has been a clearinghouse for
some interesting Atari Falcon030 shareware. Included in this deluge is
a file stating that it can change the screen refresh from 60Hz to
78Hz, supposedly making the flicker less noticable in interlaced
modes. As with all hacks, compatability may be an issue. These files
should be making it to the other services, as well as making an
appearance on the BBS circuit. Many programmers have Atari Falcon030s
and are experimenting with the graphics ability of the machine. Higher
resolution and colors have been claimed, and we should have our
Internet correspondents investigating these claims and finding out
more about them.  Wouldn't we all LOVE to see 1280X960 in 65,000
colors??? MAYBE.

DAVIDSHORR on Delphi has written a little program called PoolTool, and
as he describes it, "PoolTool will allow any user of Atari's HDX 3.01
or greater to change the value of the OS Pool size variable located in
the Atari hard disk driver. This variable is used by the driver to
perform the same function as the separate FOLDRXXX AUTO folder
program; PoolTool will let the user set how many extra folders the
driver will allocate at bootup time. This eliminates the need for the
separate FOLDRXXX program; unfortunately, current versions of the
driver will only make use of this variable on TOS versions 1.00 and
1.02; later versions must continue to use the separate FOLDRXXX.

This program should not be needed on newer versions of TOS, as they do
not need FOLDRXXX, if anyone has any suggestions as to what can be
done with this program can contact the author at the above Delphi
address.

Many of you are have been interested in the release of AtariWorks, all
I can say is that the production team are hard at work and updating
it. The latest version I have is dated February 22nd! Every time they
get the thing to go as fast as I thought it could be made to be, they
make it faster!

Here are a few message about the new crop of Atari Falcon030's, an ever
increasing penetration of the computer market is taking place,
with distributors and developers getting primed for the March release.

>Newsgroups: comp.sys.atari.st
>From: [e-mail] (Torbjoern Ose)
>Date: 3 Mar 93 00:13:24


Since I'm in a good mood tonight I thought I'd share this little bit
of information with the rest of you guys. While reading the rather
more intersting Maus news from germany (compared to the recent stuff
on here that is) I came across this: (translated to english (well.. my
kind of english) for the benefit of those who can't read the official
Atari language):

Olaf_Mootz says something like: " I have just been on the phone to GE
Soft blah blah blah they are working on a card for the Falcon!!
Without second level cache but with additional FASTram (upto 32MB) and
using 32Mhz! To be displayed at CeBit"

This should cheer up those (including yours truly) who weren't too
happy about the speed of the Falcon.

Cheers,

 Torbjoern
--
 Torbjorn Ose - [e-mail] - "Things Take Time - Piet Hein"

And from the USA:

Conf : ST_HW_SW
Msg# : 68/68  Lines: Extended  Read: 6
Sent : Feb 16, 1993  at 9:22 PM
To   : All
>From : Dan
Subj : Falcon 030

A couple of notes about the Falcon and a little crow eating. First
off, there are two but they are identical and we saw no reason to have
them both set up. As it is, the other is destined for other parts but
we will keep the first. Secondly, the machine was not permanently
hooked up to the monitor that was there (I believe it was a JVC
SC1224), that monitor just happened to be handy. Thirdly, my speakers
we only working on one channel through the Falcon as I hadn't repaired
them.

When Dan was there we tried using the SC1224 in all resolutions but
the JVC failed to handle it. Today we hooked up a Goldstar SC1224 and
it worked famously, though the desktop flickered like an Amiga. Makes
sense, the 1224 wasn't designed to display that resolution (640 X
480). When Slidshow ran (RGB) version it supported overscan. This is a
giant leap forward for Atari display parameters.

The more I use the Falcon, the more I am impressed by it. I am still
getting used to it and am an absolute amateur with Multi-TOS (MiNT).
Speaking of MiNT, it is memory hungry. With the 4 meg version there
isn't much room (around 2 meg after MiNT installation) to run
anything. This isn't a heck of a lot of room to stretch about in. The
"nicest" program outside of the stuff we got for it in regards to
memory usage has been Sillouette. Nice program by the way. It will
leave about 1 meg free after running (I assume this would change when
large files are opened.) One thing, Sillouette must run in ST High
resolution.

Like a lot of programs that have run on the Falcon (Not necessarily
MiNT) they run in a "compatible" resolution. One exception was
Castles. This would execute in any Falcon resolution and transfer to
low res. Dooesn't exit so cleanly though.

I'm looking for more pictures that run on the Falcon slideshow. They
have a TGA extender and the theroy is that they are Targa Image Format
files but they have been modified in some strange manner (The Targa is
the leading Video capture board in the PC world and you could expect
to pay around $2000.00 US for a good setup.) The files in the slide
show are ALL the same file size. That is not possible unless they have
been fiddled with. They will load into Photo Styler on the PC but with
some distortion. (Actually they load into Photo Styler with the true
aspect ratio according to the file but some of them appear distorted
on thge PC while others looked squashed on the Falcon.)

Back to displays. The machine is now set up with a TT monitor that we
have temporarily. This will not last long I think though the display
is comparable to a Multi-sync monitor (It bloody well should!). We
also have a Viewsonic 6E in the store for a short time. This has so
far been the best display device for the machine that we've seen.

Inside the Falcon-first, there isn't a heck of a lot of room. The 4
meg memory card is about 2 X 4 1/2 inches and about half an inch high.
It sits bridged across the O.S. which now resides in a socketed
flat-pack (square) chip. Kind of like a small MMU. The drive is a 65
meg Seagate 2 1/2 inch IDE drive about the size of a pack of
cigarettes but half as thick. Nice drive. Chips are surface mounted
and the board itself appears to be a multi-layer board. What this
means is that service will be a board swap procedure. It will be
amusing to see how that is handled.  The board is surprisingly clean
for a one-of production run like this.  It is very likely the
production dyes and so forth existed, they just needed to find a home.
(Wanted: One (1) Falcon 030 production facility.)

Back to the memory, they are using 4 meg DRAM chips on this card and
it will be amusing to see the 16 meg board. I assure you that will be
a tight fit.

The Falcon does sport a fan, positioned just next to the mouse ports
(Still in their much-loved spot) and as close to the RAM as possible.
It is very quiet and the Seagate makes a bigger if still quiet noise.

In closing (for now) Paul Varn mentioned that there was a write-up
about the Falcon in BYTE magazine. I haven't seen it but it is
refreshing to see an Atari product get national press attention. Let's
only hope that the powers that be have the forsight not to screw it
up.

-Daniel
______________
Dan (no relation) Aylward
[e-mail]

In other news, we expect to have some of the members of the TOS
development team online on Delphi soon, for a conference, so get your
questions ready, they will be ready to answer them!

Atari Falcon030 interesting facts-

Out of the Atari Falcon030, Amiga 1200, and the Mac Performa 400, the
Atari is the only one with a floating point co-processor socket on
board, allows for the most memory to be placed in the machine, stock,
and the only one with stereo input and stereo outputs. Of course this
is in addition to the DSP, MIDI, SCSI 2, DMA audio....

Amberstar has a new relative... Ambermoon due to be released this
summer, this one sports smooth scrolling and a host of new quests and
a 800 by 800 map... a few times larger than the original!  In the
meantime we are waiting for Legends of Valor to hit the US shores...
it promises to be one of the best RPGs ever. Who says there's no new
Atari ST software available?

As a closing remark, I just want to say, if you have seen the recent
rash of 'no crossposting' with messages from AEO staff, this is not to
be stuffy or egotistical, but to keep people from using the messages
for personal reasons. I realize that 99% of you all are perfectly
content to ask questions and read what we have to say, and all this is
NOT pointed at you. Thank you for understanding, and any questions or
comments can be sent to me at AEO.2 on GEnie, or ABARBIERO on Delphi.
Feel free to use AEO_MAG on Delphi also, as it will send your comment
to the entire staff. AEO.MAG on GEnie will get right to Travis Guy,
your AEO editor!


                              --==--==--==--==--


 |||  A Beginner's Guide to UNIX and the Internet - Part 4
 |||  By: Timothy Wilson
/ | \ Internet: [e-mail]     GEnie: AEO.8
      ----------------------------------------------------
Chapter 4 - Usenet: The biggest, baddest message bases in the world.

Well, since I found out people actually read the first three in this
series, here is my final UNIX article.

"Usenet" is (from what I gather) set up much like Conf-Mail on fido-net
etc, but it has the benifit of being transfered on the Internet's
T1 and T3 lines, (100k baud to 1.5M baud). This means you get new
information almost hourly.

There are about 1500 or so 'newsgroups' that work sort of like a
GEnie RoundTable, or a Compuserve SIG. Each newsgroup has a name (of
course) and are grouped loosely into major categories. Each sub group
is delimited with a period. So lets take a look at a few newsgroups I
'subscribe' too.

rec.arts.anime
comp.sys.atari.st
comp.sys.atari.st.tech
rec.autos
sci.virtual-worlds

The original newsgroups were for discussions about 'educational' or
'scientific' stuff. Since every message thread seems to drift into
other things eventually, the 'other' newsgroups were invented.

Stuff like: sci. math. comp. were all the original technical or
educational groups. Since there was so much other chit chat, new
groups such as soc. rec. and alt. were created, supposedly to keep
that type of talk out of the 'real' newsgroups.

Well, it backfired. Nowadays, groups like alt.sex and rec.autos take
up most of the traffic!

some definitions...
 rec= recreation
 soc= social
 alt= alternative  (not always carried by all sites)
 sci= science
 comp= computers

alt groups get really wierd. Such newsgroups like:
alt.ensign.wesley.die.die.die
alt.kill.bob
alt.dragons_inn

There are other...er... stranger and oddball groups too. Some sites
don't want these alt groups since some are on the wierd/lewd/nasty
side.

Theres a newsgroup for just about every hobby or sport.
rec.basketball.college
rec.sewing

or computer system:

comp.sys.atari
comp.sys.amiga
comp.sys.mac
comp.sys.msdos

Like mail, the newsgroups can only handle 7 bit characters.
Files can be sent via mail or the Newsgroups, but it can get tedious
to extract them.

There are in fact, newsgroups just for files, they have 'binaries'
in the name somewhere.
like:

comp.binaries.atari.st

There is usually an accompaning 'sources' group too.

comp.sources.atari.st

Which have the raw C or asm code in the post.

In order to get files into a 7bit mail/news friendly format, a program
was made called: uuencode

uuencode takes an input file and changes it into a 7bit format.
uudecode takes a uuencoded file, and outputs what it used to be.

Some news sites or news readers can't support large files, so stuff is
sent in parts.

(the 'uu' means Unix-to-Unix, its a function of the UUCP system)

But hey.. why all this talk of news and file when I haven't told you
how to read it yet? Be patient. I will. Eventually.

If you see a posting with stuff like:


begin 644
table
!@#$%^&*()1234567890
M <----miscelanious garbage here---->
M  ""               ""              ""
etc.etc.


...its a uuencoded file, not a error.

Ok, now how to get at the goodies.

Here are a few popular readers: 'nn', 'rn', 'trn'

To use one, just enter it on a command line.

-----------
unix% nn
-----------

(nn means: No News is Good News, its the best way of viewing News/SIGS
I've ever seen!)

After executing one of the readers, it reads a file called '.newsrc'
Remember that files that begin with a dot are invisible to a straight
'ls' command.

The .newsrc (say: dot news ahr see) file contains all of the availible
news groups. Take a look at it and browse the groups.
It might look like:

alt.junk: 1-23
alt.somemore.junk: 1-2341
comp.sys.idiot.box!
comp.sys.atari.st: 1-2794
...

A colon means you are subscribed, and the numbers are the read articles.
a exclaimation point, (or 'bang' as somepeople call it) denotes a news
group that you are NOT subscribed to. (Like the C language 'NOT' of
course.)

If you are subscribed, then you will see any new messages from that
group when you enter your reader.

If you don't have nn, I would bitch at someone till you get it.
it's really spiffy.

rn is much like a standard bbs, you see all the messages, a page at a
time. There isn't an easy way to just read the articles you want.

I'll assume you have nn, it is growing in use, and should be around.

nn will set up a screen full of article titles, with letters next to
them.  press a letter, (a-s, lowercase!) and that corresponding
article is highlighted. When you are done selecting articles on this
page, press <space> and the next screen shows up, until you are at the
end.  Pressing <space> once more, and you get to read the first
article you picked. The articles are run through a 'less' type of
scroller, so you don't have to worry about ctrl-s/ctrl-q like you do
on most BBS'es.

nn also sorts all matching articles together and shows the 'depth' of
replies.

like:

b Ron Roase       >>>Falcon, where is it?
c abs6221         >>>>
d Apyx            >>
e Atari A Robot   Weekly postings to A.A.
f wilsont         >Multi-Tos and the Falcon.
g johnboy         -

So there are three articles, with the original title: Falcon where is it?
already, there is a follow up to a followup. And a followup to the fourth
power.

The dash '-' means that there was something wierd, and the sort failed.
actaully, the article 'g' was posted before mine, 'f'. But something
got wierd somewhere. 'g's article was the one I responed too, but
it somehow didn't get posted to the other sites as fast, and there was
a lag. Nothing's perfect.

Not an error, just don't be confused if you read the reply before the
real letter (doesn't happen very often).

At anytime, press '?' to bring up a help screen.

Some useful keys while selecting articles:

< back one menu page
> forward one page
Z (capital!) read articles NOW, return to selecting afterwards
Q quit
S save selected articles to a contiguous file. (follow prompts)
P previous newsgroup
G goto another group (type the name in when the prompt shows up)
, move cursor up
/ move cursor down
. select current article where the cursor is.

while viewing articles, it's pretty much like 'less'.
including:
n  next article
=  jump back to selecting articles again
/<regexp>  like 'less' , search for a regular expression
h  help...or is it '?', i don't remember. well, try em both.
R  reply to this article via mail
F  create a 'followup' article (continue the thread)



----I see a uuencoded file, I want it, but how do I get it?
part 2.

Save away all parts (it might or might not have multiple parts) into
one file, using 'S' in nn or using the merge function of your editor.
(can I get any more vague?)

then edit everything out upto the 'begin' and everything after 'end'.

save away the new file.

type:

------------
unix% uudecode <filename>
unix%
------------

Not much happened, but it's all done. You should have a nice binary
file in your directory now.

Most likely its a .arc or .zoo file too. Maybe even a .Z file.

Pretty simple, just remember to edit out the news headers that would
be in the 'middle' of 2 or 3 files merged together.

If you have problems. Mail me! I'll help!

Some atari newsgroups to read:

comp.sys.atari.st
comp.sys.atari.8bit
comp.sys.atari.st.tech
comp.binaries.atari.st
comp.sources.atari.st

Some fun stuff to read:
(in my opinion)

rec.humor.funny          (only funny jokes show up here)
rec.games.mud.announce   (telnet sites for muds)
rec.games.mud.diku       (diku's are the best kind of mud IMHO)
alt.galactic-bloodshed   (all about this great game)
rec.games.programmer     (tips, tricks)
rec.games.design         (game ideas in general)
sci.virtual-worlds       (find out where Virtual Reality is really going)
sci.physics.fusion       (fusion research)
alt.internet.access.wanted (find out where internet access is)
alt.ensign.wesley.die.die.die  ( a bunch of people who really hate Wesley)
rec.autos.sport          (sports cars, racing)
alt.internet.bbs         (bbs's with usenet access)


Yes, your Atari has the power to become a UUCP site. That means you
could get Usenet delivered directly to your Serial port. UUCP is Unix
to Unix CoPy - an established set of protocols that are still around,
though not much used by the larger sites. What you could do is set up
a UUCP program on your computer, and have it call a site with a 'feed'
and get all the updated newsgroups and mail that was delivered to you.
Your Atari would then have its own private adress (usually a branch
of the feed site) from which you could send and recieve mail. Of
course, a 14.4k baud modem comes in handy here.

Not a beginner's subject, but it exists if you ever wanted to do it.

Well I guess thats it. A lot of this might seem somewhat sketchy, but
I didn't want to insult anyone's intelligence, or bore you with every
last detail.

I hope, at the very least, you can mail me if you have a question.
Unix or the Internet is not any more complex than a bbs. Go ahead,
experiment... just don't do a rm *.* in your home directory!!

There are loads of files and information to be gleaned from the internet.
The internet is a world wide community, so don't be suprised to see
posts from germany, england or russia.

I think I'll wrap up with a few tips/pointers.

FTP at the sites night time hours.
Scan the .newsrc file for what interests you.
Man pages are your friend.
Mudding can be adictive, beware.
Use the source, Luke.
On Usenet, don't believe everything!
Watch any quota's you might have.
Use archie if you can't find a file.
Mail support@yoursite if you get into a problem.
Don't screw around with other sites, a trace takes a matter of
milliseconds.


Common keys:
Ctrl-R redraw screen
Ctrl-L  "      "
Ctrl-Z Suspend process
Ctrl-C quit program
Ctrl-\ Quick! kill it!
/<regexp> search for a regular expression
?<regexp> search backwards for regexp
h  move left
j  move up
k  move down
l  move right
ctrl-U  kill line (on SUN's)
<tab> complete partial file name.\______on the command line in most shells
<esc>  "       "                 /
your keyboard arrow keys might work in some situations


A typical login for me:

unix% elm
<read mail, reply etc..>
(5-45 minutes)

unix% nn
<read news>
(1 hour)

unix% ftp atari.archive.umich.edu
<look  at /atari/Newitems >
(5-10minutes)

unix% telnet archie.unl.edu
<look for a file that sounds interesting from newsgroups>
(5-10minutes)

unix% sz files......
<grab em>
(varible)

unix% telnet <a mud site>
<play my daily dose of mud!>
(1-1.5 hours)

unix% exit
<log off>


I'm what you call a 'net hound.' :)

If there are any things I left uncovered, mail me and I'll make up
a question answer chapter or something.

This has been the 4th chapter in the continuing saga of "An Atari users
guide to the Internet and UNIX"

As before, this sure as heck ain't professional! Its not meant to be.
so no flames, unless I'm hideously wrong about something.

=>B^P&
(flat top evil nerd with a bow tie sticking his tongue out)


                              --==--==--==--==--


 |||  Atari Users Online: Threads from the Internet
 |||  Compiled by: J.J. Lehett
/ | \ Internet: [e-mail]  GEnie: AEO.8  Delphi: JLEHETT
      -------------------------------------------------------------

This month's wrap-up of Internet seems to have something for everyone:
MSTe owners to TOS 1.2 and 1.0 owners; Spectre owners to Unix
Workstation folks; beginning C Programmers to the cutting edge of the
latest MiNT source code.

There is currently a proposal being discussed on the comp.sys.atari
groups of the internet to split-off a .advocacy group. The intent of
the proposal is to try to filter out a majority of the flame-wars and
'My computer is better than yours' posts from the main groups.
Hoefully, this will decrease the noise ration in the main Atari
newsgroups themselves, saving the casual newsgroup reader from the
time-consuming perusal of messages he might not be interested in.
Whatever your opinion, be sure to read and post your thoughts on this
to the news.groups area.

Feel free to email mail with any comments you may have regarding
this column.

=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=
//// Adding A Hard Drive to a MegaSTe
=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=

From: [e-mail]

   Anyways, I have a MegaSTe/4 with NO internal hard drive (just a
Megafile 30 sitting near it).  If I wanted to put an internal hard
drive in, what pieces of hardware would I need?  (host adapter, etc?).

----------

From: [e-mail] (Ed Krimen)

Atari sells a hard drive kit for the TT and Mega STE that includes
everything you need to install a hard drive in your computer. I think
the host adapter is already in your computer; you could probably open
up the bay and take a look for yourself.  In any case, the kit has
everything you need. (I hope Atari is still selling these.)

Talk to your dealer. If he knows nothing about it or gives you the
run-around, find another dealer. If you don't know of one, leave me
e-mail and I'll recommend a few.

Oh, BTW, Atari's kit doesn't include the hard drive mechanism itself.
Your dealer could find one for you though. I'd recommend a Quantum
drive.

Also, ICD is on the verge of releasing their SCSI Professional
utilities which don't require an ICD host adapter in the system to
use them. You might want to check into this package as well. I
prefer not to use Atari's hard drive utilities because ICD's have
more features. You can order the package now, and you'll receive
everything but the manual, which isn't finished yet. The package is
$50 and I've heard that it includes CleanUp.

=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=
//// Choosing And Learning A C Compiler
=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=

From: [e-mail] (Ho Ling Cherd)

I have Prospero C and Mark William C. Can someone tell me which of
this 2 and the GCC is a better C package to work with?

I am looking for an assembler also. Is there any public domain
assembler available?

Also, can someone please give me examplese of the case where using
assemmble language is better or necessary than using C or other high
level language?

----------

From: [e-mail] (Warwick Allison)

I can't speak for Prospero C or Mark William C (do they still exist?),
but GCC is an EXCELLENT compiler. The pros/cons are:

        1. GCC produces FAST code.
        2. GCC is slower at generating code.
        3. GCC is Free (ie. you get updates :-]).
        4. GCC is more correct (ie. follows ANSI standard more closely).
        5. GCC code is more portable.
        6. GCC uses LOTS of memory. 2M minimumj for GCC, 4M for G++.

GAS, the GNU assembler, is part of the GCC suite. You can also do
inline assembler with GCC (actually, this is the preferred technique
for me).

Assembler is very rarely necessary. Only cases are for writing
interrupt routines, since you can't say "RTE" in C :-).

Assembler is useful when used sparingly, and then only when you've
already written the code in C. I write everything in C, then for the
parts that I find are too slow (find out by using gprof, the GNU
profiling tool), I convert to inline assembler, with the C code
conditionally excluded. ie.:

void add(int a, int b, int* c)
/* Not that anyone would really do this :-) */
{
#ifdef NOASM
        *c=a+b;
#else
        asm("
                movel   %0,%2@
                addl    %1,%2@
        " : // No outputs
          : "d" (a),
            "d" (b),
            "a" (c)
        );
#endif
}

----------

From: [e-mail] (Rasmus Paetau)

I'd like to learn programming in C, but I don't know which C I should
buy. I have a 4 meg STe system with a color monitor and _no_ HD. What
ic GCC++ (or whatever it was called) like? I heard it requires 4 megs
of memory, I guess that means it doesn't fit on a single floppy disk?

At the same time I might as well ask what kind of books there are
available that I should consider?

----------

From: [e-mail]

You can use Sozobon C or Ian Lepore's version called 'Heat and Serve
C', they are non-ANSI C compilers which can be used conveniently from
a double-sided floppy drive. Our user group treasurer demonstrated
Pure C to our programmers' group on a double-sided floppy. I seem to
remember that Mark William's C (and probably a good number of other
commercial C compilers) worked well on a floppy only system. You can
always set up a 1-2 meg ram disk on your 4 meg system.

GNU C is not usable on a non-hard drive system. Forget about it until
you have a 20+ meg hard drive. Once you get a hard drive, you'll wish
you had more space, so I would recommend looking at 40 meg as a
minimum. I saw a nice "portable" hard drive with the ICD Link demoed
at our programmers' group meeting last night. It had a 40 meg Connors
mechanism, weighed less than the keyboard that I'm typing this message
on, and cost about $350 with the ICD Link included.

It's a matter of personal taste. There are, quite literally, hundreds
of books out there which deal with C programming. You might want to
check out C: THE COMPLETE REFERENCE (2nd ed.) by Schildt, and there's
always that old standby THE C PROGRAMMING LANGUAGE (2nd ed). by
Kernighan & Ritchie. Your best bet is to go to a local book retailer
and check out their computer section. You can also check out some of
the computer book clubs listed in magazines such as Computer Language
or The C Users Journal.

For Atari-specific programming, check out the Taylor Ridge books by
Clayton Walnum, or look for issues of ST-Log which had his C
programming column in them. Compute! magazine put out a series of
books by Sheldon Leemon which covered C programming of TOS, VDI and
AES. Bantam had, at one time, a fairly nice book about programming
using GEM. One of the comp.sys.atari.st FAQs has a list of
Atari-specific books.

----------

From: [e-mail] (Christopher Browne)

Nope. Not even close to a single floppy, even if you compressed it
using Zoo. GCC (the C compiler is called gcc, and the C++ compiler is
called G++, although I'm being VERY slightly misleading by saying
so...) requires a good few MB of disk space. No single one of the
major pieces would even FIT on a single floppy.

For instance, the C compiler proper (gcc-cc1.ttp, I think it's called)
is about 800-900K in size; the C++ compiler proper (gcc-cc1plus.ttp?)
is about 950K; the library file GNU.OLB weighs in at about 800K, and
this ignores entirely the large group of .h header files, and other
utilities, and, and, ... You get the picture.

A minimal GCC configuration takes roughly 5MB of disk space.

I'd suggest getting HSC (Heat 'n Serve C), which is one of the
friendlier versions of the Sozobon C compiler. It's free, just like
GCC, and makes MUCH more modest demands on disk and memory space.
You'd be able to hold the ENTIRE compiler and libraries on a ram-disk,
and still have a couple of MB free for the compiler to run in. You'd
then put the source code on floppy, which is the safest way to do
things.

HSC isn't an "ANSI" C compiler, but rather uses the more classical
"K&R" version of C.

Look around atari.archive.umich.edu, in the directory
/atari/Languages. The file is probably called something like
hsc133.lzh.

For C programming in general? The two "famous" books are:

The C Programming Language, by Kernighan and Ritchie. Published by
Prentice Hall (I think). There are TWO editions - the "classic"
version that defined the language for the first generation. "K&R"
stands for "Kernighan and Ritchie," and is used about equally often to
refer to:

  a) The classical version of C defined in this book, or
  b) This book.

There's a new edition that describes ANSI C. I'm not sure which
version you'd want.

Harbison & Steele: A C Reference Guide

This book describes and contrasts features of both K&R C and ANSI C.

These are two of the top books; there's an OCEAN of books out there on
C.

My personal favorite is "Software Engineering Using ANSI C"; published
by Springer Verlag. The authors, whose names I don't recall (and the
book is on the bookshelf in my OTHER office) are on the ANSI
committee, and the book explains lots of tips & traps, particularly
those that relate to the common differences between C compilers.

I'd suggest looking for a GOOD computer bookstore; perhaps a
university bookstore, and browsing the various C books available.

There's a bunch of rather crummy books that are available at the
standard "shopping mall" bookstores; I'd suggest looking for something
better.

I'd suggest that if you're after more information that you direct
specific C questions to Comp.lang.c, as that's a more appropriate
forum. Or maybe Comp.sys.atari.st.tech, if it's Atari specific.

=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=
//// Combining AHDI AND ICD Formatted Hard Drives
=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=

From: [e-mail] (maximum entropy)

The Megafile currently boots with AHDI 3.01. I'd like to run it with
the ICD software instead, so I plan to boot with the Toadfile, copy
the contents of the Megafile onto a cartridge, format the Megafile
with ICD software, copy everything back to the Megafile, and then
reconnect the Megafile as the boot device. (Am I correct that the
first device in the DMA daisy chain is the boot hard disk?) The
question is, will my AHDI-formatted Megafile be accessible while I'm
running the ICD boot software, or will I have to do a backup/restore
to floppy to get everything copied over?

Also, will I have to diddle any switches to hook up both drives at the
same time, or does the DMA bus automagically figure things out from
the order in which they are cabled to the machine?

[...] Will I still be able to access the ICD adapter's internal clock
if the ICD adapter is second in the chain?

----------

From: [e-mail] when the prompt shows up)
, move cursor up
/ move cursor down
. select current article where the cursor is.

while viewing articles, it's pretty much like 'less'.
including:
n  next article
=  jump back to selecting articles again
/<regexp>  like 'less' , search for a regular expression
h  help...or is it '?', i don't remember. well, try em both.
R  reply to this article via mail
F  create a 'followup' article (continue the thread)



----I see a uuencoded file, I want it, but how do I get it?
part 2.

Save away all parts (it might or might not have multiple parts) into
one file, using 'S' in nn or using the merge function of your editor.
(can I get any more vague?)

then edit everything out upto the 'begin' and everything after 'end'.

save away the new file.

type:

------------
unix% uudecode <filename>
unix%
------------

Not much happened, but it's all done. You should have a nice binary
file in your directory now.

Most likely its a .arc or .zoo file to(Hartmut Bohn)

Hi,

I just read your question about Chinese on the ATARI ST. Yes, there is
a word processor called SINOTEXT which was made a few years ago at the
University of Bremen, Germany. There are both GB and BIG5 versions.

The input method is great - dynamic full word pinyin. However the
formatting capabilities are very poor, for the program was originally
designed as an editor for TeX documents.

If you only need a few CHinese characters in your text and have a word
processor which is able to handle graphics, you can also type the
characters with Sinotext (or some DOS Chinese editor which uses GB
coding), save the file and then use the PD program "VPCT" which
displays the characters in 24x24 pixels on the screen. Make a screen
hardcopy to disk and use the characters as graphics in your word
processor. I did this for my M.A. thesis and the result was quite
good.

There is another program called SIGNOPRINT which allows you to produce
mixed Western/Chinese text with the Signum!2 word processor.  But you
also need a GB editor like SINOTEXT.

SINOTEXT is available for 250.-- German Marks at the University of
Bremen - I can look up the full address for you if you want it.

Other CHinese programs for the ST:

VPCT (View and Print Chinese Text) and
CPREVIEW (Chinese Preview) can display GB coded files on
ATARIs with SM124 monitor. THey are available via anonymous ftp
from ifcss.org or ftp.kth.se (dir: /CJK/atari).

I also made a patched version of VPCT which displays traditional
characters instead of simplified.

SIGNOPRINT is available for DM 40.-- from Christian Riedel - I can
look up his address, too.

Then :-) there is CHinDEX, my electronic index to "A Chinese- English
Dictionary" for the ST. Get a demo from one of the ftp sites mentioned
above!

----------

From: [e-mail] (Hartmut Bohn)

Chinese/Japanese/Korean/Other East-Asian Software for ATARI?

A new ftp site is just being set up for Chinese, Japanese, Korean and
other East Asian Software at the "Leibniz Rechen- zentrum" in
Muenchen, Germany. I am supposed to take care of the ATARI
subdirectory.

While there is some Chinese software, I do not know about any
Japanese, Korean or other East Asia related software for the ATARI.

If you know about any such software, please contact me at

        [e-mail]
    or: [e-mail]

Thanks in advance!

        Hartmut

P.S. The ftp site is: ftp.lrz-muenchen.de  dir: /pub/culture/east-asia

=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=
//// 2 Chip AND 6 Chip TOS-Ready Motherboards
=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=

From: [e-mail] (Ted Rossin)

The two chip set will not work in your machine unless you add some
logic to drive the chip select lines during the entire address space.
You will also need to supply two extra address lines to the two chip
set.

----------

From: [e-mail]

A lot of machines have the logic fitted for both 2 and 6 chip sets,
some 2 chip machines don't have the Rom sockets fitted and some have
them the rong way around..

Board No. for machines...   Mega 2  C100501
                                 4  C100167

                                520STF  C070243
                                1040ST  C070789
                                1040ST  C103225

These are boards that have the 2-6 chip logic fitted...

=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=
//// Simultaneous Key Press Results
=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=

From: [e-mail] (Ho Ling Cherd)

While type this message, I accidentally press shift-sd and I got this
on my screen  ---  S<stuff that I stored for F-1 key>D I am using
Uniterm 2.0e. What actually happend? I have came across this a few
time with my 520ST and I thougth there were problems with the keyboard
but I am using a different keyboard/ machine now.

----------

From: [e-mail] (Howard Chu)

Kind of a bug in the keyboard mechanism. If you have not completely
released one key before going to press the next, you get the keycode
for a different key. So if you had typed S and reached for the D, you
get the F1 key if the S was still down when you hit D. This happens to
me a lot when I'm typing fast.

Actually, as it was explained to me, if you have any 3 keys pressed
down, and you examine the parallelogram that is described by those 3
points and a 4th point, you'll see that the actual keycode you get is
that of the 4th key. So, the reason you have this problem with S and D
is because you also have the shift key pressed at the same time...

=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=
//// MiNT Version 0.99
=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=

From: [e-mail] (Patricia Anne)

Is this an 'official' release?  Should I be using this?

----------

From: [e-mail] (Eric R. Smith)

The answer to the first question is "sort of," and the answer to the
second one is "that depends on how lucky you're feeling" :-).

I was in a hurry; zillions of people have been asking for updated
source, but I simply haven't had time to do a 'real' release. So I
threw together the files from my directory and sent them up. In the
process I left out asm.y by mistake; and the usual README file didn't
get written. Sorry about those omissions; I will try to correct them,
but it will be some time before I can get a real, organized release
including the Lattice and PureC support, plus docs. MultiTOS is
consuming an enormous amount of time; as with any software project,
the closer it comes to release the more urgent are the bug reports.

So consider this an "interim" release, for people who just can't wait
and who don't mind risking life, limb, and hard disk while testing
new software :-).

Also: as Mike pointed out in his message, this is also a source code
only release. Please observe this restriction. As beta software, MiNT
0.99 is suitable for use only by experienced programmers, and I
*don't* want people misunderstanding its status at all. Moreover, this
release contains Atari code as well as my own, so observing the
restrictions on distribution is doubly important -- how well people
respect the conditions will determine whether or not we will release
future versions of the MiNT source code to the general public.

=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=
//// MROS? What is it?
=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=

From: [e-mail] (Franck HERITIER)

Does someone know what is M-ROS for Atari ST ? What is the editor
of this multitask system ? Can you evaluate it ?

---------

From: [e-mail] (charles orville onstott)

M-ROS is the multitasking environment developed by Steinburg-Jones for
use with their MIDI software.(Cubase, editor/librarians, etc.) It
also, I believe, allows communication between various components of
Cubase itself and between Cubase an other programs that would be
running simultaneously. (Midi data exchange, triggering, events, etc.)

M-ROS works behind the scenes n when the prompt shows up)
, move cursor up
/ move cursor down
. select current article where the cursor is.

while viewing articles, it's pretty much like 'less'.
including:
n  next article
=  jump back to selecting articles again
/<regexp>  like 'less' , search for a regular expression
h  help...or is it '?', i don't remember. well, try em both.
R  reply to this article via mail
F  create a 'followup' article (continue the thread)



----I see a uuencoded file, I want it, but how do I get it?
part 2.

Save away all parts (it might or might not have multiple parts) into
one file, using 'S' in nn or using the merge function of your editor.
(can I get any more vague?)

then edit everything out upto the 'begin' and everything after 'end'.

save away the new file.

type:

------------
unix% uudecode <filename>
unix%
------------

Not much happened, but it's all done. You should have a nice binary
file in your directory now.

Most likely its a .arc or .zoo file to=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=
//// Floating Point Number Plotting...
=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=

From: [e-mail] (Marinos Yannikos)

I need a program, which can read floating-point numbers in ASCII
representation (eg. "0.333\n0.442...") and use them for plotting
functions (the numbers are the function values).  I need to be able to
display a 3d-height field (a function F: [0,1]x[0,1]->R) and a 2d-grid
with several functions plotted at the same time. The output should be
a GEM .IMG.  Does anyone know such a program? What about Gnuplot?

----------

From: [e-mail] (Tim Gallivan)

I believe the ST port of Gnuplot does everything you mention, except
output in IMG format. It does, however, have postscript output, which
can be printed or converted to IMG using ghostscript. Unfortunately
the axis labels and other text produced by gnuplot are not exactly
beautiful.

I have used Gnuplot on the ST a fair amount, and it seems quite stable.

=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=
//// Ctrl-Alt-Del Warmstarts on A Pre-TOS 1.4 Machine
=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=

From: [e-mail]

Hi, has anyone ever written a utility to add ctrl-alt-del warmstarts
to TOS 1.2 and earlier?

I'd like to be able to reset without the modem hanging up...

----------

From: [e-mail] (Marcelino Bernardo)

There is a hardware trick you can do, which I've been using with my
1040STf (I'm sure it has TOS 1.2). If you toggle the state of the
monitor sense pin in the monitor connector the ST reboots without
disconnecting the modem (I think it disconnects by turning the DTR off
during reset). Since I have a multisync monitor connected to my ST
with a homemade switch box, this is easy for me to do.

The other thing you might do is to set your modem to ignore the state
of DTR. In my modem, a Multitech, which is Hayes compatible, switch 1
in the 8- sition switch is used to force DTR on at all times.

=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=
//// No Floppies, No Sound, Now What?
=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=

From: [e-mail] (N. Richard Caldwell)

I have an Atari ST that boots up showing no disk drives on the
desktop. I have an old diagnostic cartrige and it says "No Floppies"
when I try to test the drives. It also fails to produce any sound
during the audio tests.

It's been a while since I've fiddled with these things. Does this
indicate a problem with the Western Digital chip or the Yamaha chip?

How much do these run and are their any good sources?

----------

From: [e-mail] (Auntie Tim)

The floppies are run partly by the sound chip (I _think_ it takes the
clock from it) so that's probably broken. Try tapping the thing a few
times... (Well, I've got a six year old STm and that's how I get it to
work :)

No sound suggests a dead Yamaha chip, which handles drive select
lines and other stuff for the floppies as well as sound.

-----n when the prompt shows up)
, move cursor up
/ move cursor down
. select current article where the cursor is.

while viewing articles, it's pretty much like 'less'.
including:
n  next article
=  jump back to selecting articles again
/<regexp>  like 'less' , search for a regular expression
h  help...or is it '?', i don't remember. well, try em both.
R  reply to this article via mail
F  create a 'followup' article (continue the thread)



----I see a uuencoded file, I want it, but how do I get it?
part 2.

Save away all parts (it might or might not have multiple parts) into
one file, using 'S' in nn or using the merge function of your editor.
(can I get any more vague?)

then edit everything out upto the 'begin' and everything after 'end'.

save away the new file.

type:

------------
unix% uudecode <filename>
unix%
------------

Not much happened, but it's all done. You should have a nice binary
file in your directory now.

Most likely its a .arc or .zoo file toell)

Thanks to everyone who responded to my question about my ST which
didn't recognize the disk drives and had no sound.

I suspected that it was the Yamaha chip since as someone pointed out,
it also provides the drive select lines.  I intended to heat up each
of the solder joints before replacing the chip but I figured I'd tap
around on it a bit first.  I had already reseated and tapped on
everthing else, the Yamaha chip is hidden under my memory upgrade
board.

A few taps on the Yamaha chip and the machine booted up just fine.
Sound and drive access is back to normal.  It sounds like I probably
have a poor connection to the sound chip so if the problem resurfaces
I'll just resolder it.

=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-
//// Transfering ST Files From a Unix Workstation
=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-

From: [e-mail] (Jan Snellman)

A few days ago, I posted a question about how to transfer files from a
UNIX workstation to my newly bought Atari. Thanks to the helpful
letters (and post) I received, I succeded in this venture. As
[e-mail] (M Ali) pointed out, the trick is to
transfer the files to LOW DENSITY (720k) PC floppies, which
appearently the Atari manages to read. I used Apple fileconverter to
do this.

An email from [e-mail] (Tom Fuegi) verified this, and he
furthermore recommended me to henceforth use my terminal program to
transfer files. I certainly will, as soon as I understand the Kermit
mode of UniTerm. He thought it wise to grap the file
/atari/starter.tos at atari.archive.umich.edu so that I should be able
to unpack files locally on my Atari; however I think I will use the
UNIX versions of zoo et cetera and do the unpacking on my SUN.

[e-mail] on the other hand pointed out a more
direct route. He said, I quote:

>If you can transfer information too a PC form your SPARCII then you
>can also transfer info to the Atari. Just insert a disc from the Atari
>into the SPARC and use your local method for mounting the floppy on
>the Sun. You will now be able to transfer data from the Sun onto the
>floppy. Un-mount the floppy drive when you have finished, then eject.
>Take the disk to the Atari, and with any luck you should have all the
>files you copied. When you move files from the Atari to the Sun using
>the procedure as above, do not forget to use the command `dos2unix'.
>This will make the files readable by UNIX.  The Atari uses the same
>format as the PC in placing `^M' at the end of each line..
...

>PS- my commands are
>1) to mount the floppy: mount-fd
>2) to unmount the the floppy: umount-fd
>3) to ejetc the disc: eject
>4) the floppy drive is : /pcfs
>5) just use standard UNIX commands to access /pcfs

I have not tried this, but the manual entry for pcfs says

DESCRIPTION
     PCFS is a filesystem type that allows users direct access to
     files  on  MS-DOS  formatted  disks  from  within  the SunOS
     operating system.  Once mounted, a PCFS filesystem  provides

...etc, and generally supports Chris's claim. I did not know this. I
thought the floppy was located somewhere under /dev/rsd0... You learn
something every time you ask ):.


                              --==--==--==--==--


 |||
 |||  Developing News: Important items from TOS platform developers
/ | \ -------------------------------------------------------------

=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=
//// Diamond Edge 1.03 Upgrade Patch
=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=

February 16, 1993

Oregon Research Associates has released a patch to upgrade Diamond
Edge 1.02 to version 1.03 on GEnie and CompuServe.

This patch is considered essential for all users of Diamond Edge and
Oregon Research Associates strongly urges all owners to upgrade
to version 1.03 immediately.

This upgrade provides two enhancements:  enhanced large screen monitor
support and a bug fix to Disk Medic.

The Disk Medic bug only occurs during certain severe directory
corruption causing all of the lost clusters to be saved into a single
file. This upgrade patch allows lost clusters to be saved as
individual files - increasing the possibility of recovery.

When utilizing Diamond Edge version 1.02 or earlier, if you receive a
report of thousands of duplicate files or corrupted directory
entries, the disk or partition has suffered severe directory
corruption. This problem is generally correctable, but attempting to
do so with version 1.02 or earlier may lead to additional corruption
of the data.

Version 1.03 fixes the bug in Disk Medic, thereby allowing correct
recovery of the data from the corrupted disk or partition.

It should be noted that this type of corruption is a rare occurance.


=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=
//// Straight FAX 1.07
=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=

Suggested Retail:  <<$69.95>>           Upgrade Price: $2.00

The release of version 1.07 of Straight FAX, by NewSTar Technology
Management and distributed by Toad Computers, will be released shortly.

To obtain the upgrade, send $2.00 and your original disk to Toad
Computers at the address provided below.  You may also download it from
the Toad Computer bulletin board free after requesting it from the
SysOp.

Registered owners of Straight FAX on GEnie whose email addresses are
known will receive the upgrade automatically.

For further information, contact Toad Computers, 570-F Gov Ritchie Hwy,
Severna Park, MD, 21146.  Technical support and upgrade requests can be
mailed to the address above or by calling [phone] or by FAX
[phone].

Online, a message may be left on the Toad Bulletin Board at (410) 544-
6999.  Inquiries and upgrades may be sent to TOAD-SERV. on GEnie; or,
on CompuServe, at 72470,1605.


=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=
//// A Day at the Races
=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=

Team Software is the developer of a comprehensive horse racing
simulation, entitled A Day at the Races (ADAR), with a wide range of
features.

Whether or not you are a horse racing fan, you can enjoy either single
or mulit-player race simulations.  With up to 15 players, you can play
the game "head to head", or amuse your guests during a party.

A Day at the Races requires a color monitor (or TV) and may be
installed on a hard drive since the program is not copy-protected.

The features of A Day at the Races include:
     o Racing information databases are appended and modified during
          play, including up to 50 jockeys, 500 horses and 15 players.
     o Each jockey and horse has their own distinct attributes, strengths
          and weaknesses.
     o Players may buy and sell horses through auctions, outright sales,
          purchases, and claiming races.
     o A racing session may be designed by the user, randomly by the
          computer, or in tandem.
     o A racing session consists of up to 9 races with up to 9 entries
          per race.

Their are several factors invloved when setting up for a horse race.
Some of these factors are:  the horses and the jockey's riding them,
the race type (claiming, maiden, allowance, handicap), race length, and
the type of special wager (win, place, show, daily double, exacta, big
exacta, quinella, trifecta, and jackpot).

As a new player, you start out with $1000 with two basic ways to
increase your funds.

The first is to own a horse; entering the horse in races and winning
one of the first four spots provides you with a share of the purse.
Although this can bring in a large amount of money, their are
associated expenses for owning, caring and racing a horse - including
stable and jockey fees.

The second method is by wagering on races.  Just as in real horse
races, there are many things to consider when handicapping horses:
track conditions, post position, past performance, weight of the
jockey, length of the race, the jockey's skill, health of the horse,
class of race, and many more.

The actual race is presented in real-time, smooth scrolling animation.

A major part of the racing simulation is the abundance of statistical
information that is available.  Fourteen different reports may be
output to the screen or the printer.  Some of these reports are: Horse
Standings, Jockey Standings, Player Standings, the Racing Form, and the
Racing Program.

A Day at the Races also keeps track of a Hall of Fame list for players,
horses and jockeys.  As jockeys retire and horses go to pasture, they
are automatically added to their respective lists if they have enough
wins.

As a simulation of the race track, A Day at the Races makes a great
learning tool for horse racing enthusiasts just starting out.  The
program remains true to life in many of the racing aspects.  Included
in the documentation booklet are definitions of many of the words and
phrases used at the track.

ADAR is an entertainment product that may be enjoyed by a wide range of
users:  horse racing fans, people wanting to learn about the track,
sports fans, fans of simulations, users who want a game that can be
played at a party, and people who simply want a fun computer game.

For more information, contact TEAM Software P.O. Box 7332 Washington, DC
20044-7332.  Or, by phone, call [phone].  For FAX, (703) 538-
4598.  Inquiries may also be sent online, via GEnie to MLAKE; on
CompuServe at 73717,3174; or on Internet at [e-mail] uucp
...!uunet!media!irscscm!mlake or ...!uunet!mimsy!bogart!irscscm!mlake.


=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=
//// Maxwell CPU has moved
=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=

Maxwell CPU, creators of Silhouette, has moved. The new address for
the company is:

                              Maxwell CPU
                       1533 Meyer's Station Road
                           Odenton MD, 21113

                         Phone: [phone]

However, correspondence and upgrade requests for Silhouette should
now be sent to Toad Computers - see the press release below!

To contact Tim Reyes of Maxwell CPU, you may send inquiries to T.REYES
on GEnie or 75300,674 on CompuServe.  Alternately, you may leave an
inquiry on the Toad Computers bulletin board.


=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=
//// Silhouette Colortrace 1.5
=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=

Suggested Retail:  $119.95         Upgrade Price:  $25.00

Severna Park, MD - February 16, 1993

Toad Computers of Severna Park, MD has acquired exclusive worldwide
distribution and marketing rights to Silhouette Colortrace from Maxwell
CPU.  Extensive marketing in the United States, Canada and Europe is
planned.

Silhouette Colortrace, formerly known as Silhouette and developed by
Maxwell CPU, is a vector and bit mapped graphics package offering many
unique graphics tools for advanced users.  Now, besides monochrome
artwork, you can add color to the mix; creating original vector or bit
mapped graphics or edit existing graphics.

A new, upgraded, bitmap to vector conversion process supports color
graphics.  This new process is optimized to have reduced memory
requirements - taking less of your valuable RAM.  With the soon to be
released Speedo GDOS, standard Bitstream fonts can also be included in
your graphics.  Speedo GDOS text may be converted to modifiable vector
objects - a feature that allows for the creation of custom logos and
other text effects!

Silhouette Colortrace exports standard monochrome and color file
formats like Illustrator EPS (for use with Pagestream), GEM metafiles
and Calamus CVG.

With the latest version, color support in TT030 medium (16 colors)
resolution and Falcon030 16 and 256 color modes has been added.
Monochrome support exists in either 640 x 400 or 1280 x 960 pixel
resolutions.

Additional features of Silhouette Colortrace include:
     y Takes advantage of TT medium and Falcon 16 and 256 color
          graphics modes (even overscan).
     y Outputs to color GEM metafiles, Calamus CVG, and Illustrator
          EPS formats (for use with PageStream).
     y Color or monochrome bitmap to vector conversion with
          upgraded features and reduced memory requirements.
     y Import and Export Calamus vector CVG files.
     y Supports the Atari Clipboard for application sharing of
          IMG and GEM files.
     y Supports GEM 3 Bezier Metafiles.
     y Magnification of vector or bit images up to 16 times with
          grid and ruler systems.
     y Separate bit-image and vector windows with the ability to
          import bit-images into the vector window.
     y Allows warping of objects along a curve.
     y Advanced duplication methods allow control of object
          width, height, rotation, line width, gray scale,
          duplicate distribution. Use separate sizing and
          rotation reference points.
     y Supports printing through GDOS.
     y Supports Dr. Bob's ScanLite to allow direct scanning into
          the bit-image window.
     y Advanced drawing tools: lines, polylines, b-splines, beziers,
          polygons, stars, circles, ellipses, elliptical and circular
          arcs, spraycan, parabolas, round boxes (with adjustable
          rounded edges), rectangles, flood fill and more!

Silhouette Colortrace has a suggested retail price of $119.95.
However, for a limited time only, advance orders will be accepted at
$99.95 (including shipping).

Toad Computers will provide technical support and upgrades to current
Silhouette users via phone, mail and online - through their own
bulletin board and via GEnie and CompuServe.  To utilize the Toad
Computers BBS, call [phone].  The bulletin board operates at 300
to 14,400 baud with eight bits, no parity and two stop bits.

Registered owners of Silhouette 1.25 or higher may upgrade to
Silhouette Colortrace (version 1.5) for $15 + $3 shipping and handling.
Please send payment and your original disk to the address below -
making sure to add 'Silhouette Upgrade'.

Alternately, registered owners of Silhouette may obtain the upgrade by
calling the Toad Computers bulletin board (as mentioned above) and
download it.  In order to do so, you must provide a Visa, MasterCard or
Discover card account number and expiration date to the SysOp.  A
charge of just $15 will be assessed to your credit card.  You may also
download the upgrade after sending the same information to Toad
Computers on GEnie or CompuServe at the addresses listed below.

Please note that the upgrade price for Silhouette Colortrace will
change after April 20, 1993 to $25.

Silhouette Colortrace is expected to be shipped in approxiamately five
weeks.

For further information, contact Toad Computers, (if upgrading add
'Silhouette Upgrade'), 570-F Gov Ritchie Hwy, Severna Park, MD, 21146.
Alternately, credit card orders may be placed by calling (800) 448-TOAD
(448-8623).  Technical support and upgrade requests can be mailed to
the address above or by calling [phone] or by FAX (410) 544-
1329.  Please note that technical support will not be provided on the
800 line.

Online, a message may be left on the Toad Bulletin Board at (410) 544-
6999.  Inquiries and upgrades may be sent to TOAD-SERV. on GEnie; or,
on CompuServe, at 72470,1605.

=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=
//// SoundLab 1.1 Demo
=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=

SoundLab version 1.1 has just been uploaded to GEnie!  Damian Jones, of
DMJ-GIF fame, has recently upgraded SounLab adding many new features
that you should not be without.  These new features include:

               o GEM fileselector and accessory support.
               o DigiSound hardware support.
               o Automatic find for block start and end.
               o More sample formats - WAV, SMP, and others.
               o Faster edit routines.

You may download the unregistered version, try it and if it meets your
needs, register for just $20.  Registered users receive a full program,
the printed manual, and source code to play the music in the background
of your own programs in GFA Basic, C, or Assembly.  All of this on a
regular, unmodified ST - you don't have to own a STe, TT030 or
Falcon030 to take advantage of background sound.

Help support the shareware concept by registering today!  An guarantee
quality software's continued developement!

For more information, or to register, send mail to Damien M. Jones, PSC
8 Box 657, APO AE 09109.


                              --==--==--==--==--

 ######  PMC UPDATE
 ######  CompuCycle/CompuNews
 ######  ---------------------------------------------------------------

 CompuCycle (TM): Saving the Environment
  CompuNews (TM): Informing the Community

 Bellevue, WA - Purple Mountain Computers (PMC) has developed a recycling
 program for computer books, magazines and software.  Users can buy, sell
 and trade their unwanted items for ones they do want.  Trial testing of
 the CompuCycle (TM) program has been a success.  All computers are
 supported including PC, Mac, Amiga, Atari ST and 8 bit, Apple, Commodore
 64, CP/M, and others.

 Book topics include a wide range of subjects including programming and
 tutorials.  Our inventory includes over 10,500 computer books/magazines
 and 1,100 programs.  Wharehouses are located in Washington and
 California for quick delivery.

 We believe that everyone can benefit from this program.  Users will pay
 less for software and can turn unused programs and books into cash or
 wanted items.  And society will benefit from the utilization of our
 current resources, instead of wasting new ones.

 PMC publishes CompuNews (TM) which includes the list of available
 recycled software.  It also has current news and fascinating articles
 (the next issue includes an interview with members of the Floptical
 Technology Association).  CompuNews (TM) is free to anyone who requests
 it.

 Thousands of books are listed on disk to conserve paper; this disk
 catalog is available for just $1.  Software is listed in CompuNews (TM)
 which is free.  Users can make requests by contacting us:

 Purple Mountain Computers, Inc. (PMC)
 15600 NE 8th St. Ste. A3-412
 Bellevue, WA  98008  [phone]
 GEnie E-mail: PMC.INC
 CompuServe: 72567,302




 ######  PERUSING GENIE
 ######  Compiled and Edited By Ed Krimen
 ######  ---------------------------------------------------------------


 HERE IT COMES!!
 ---------------
 -=> In the "Atari Corporation Online" category (14)
 -=> from the "FALCON 030 - Help and Questions" topic (41)

 Message 89        Thu Feb 25, 1993
 B.REHBOCK [BILL@ATARI]       at 03:11 EST

 Curt, et al, March is looking good, I agree with James. March, but I
 don't know about the first week.  It would make me happy too!  The
 dealer rep thing is in full swing and we are finalizing our new dealer
 agreement and program right now.  Things are really looking up.

 Small announcement... now that things are starting to move with
 Falcon030 and SpeedoGDOS, MultiTOS, Atari Works are "products", Jack has
 requested that my attention now turn to North America.  To paraphrase
 Sam and Jack: "The U.S. is critical to our world-wide strategy; we want
 things to go right in the U.S. and the more hands available, the
 better."  The main point is that Jack and Sam are _really_ serious about
 this North American thing.  That's really good news.  I will be doing
 more computer dealer relations, as well as working on dealer and rep
 training with James Grunke.  This is in addition, of course, to the U.S.
 developer stuff that's on my plate now. :-)
 ----------
 Message 140       Tue Mar 02, 1993
 B.REHBOCK [BILL@ATARI]       at 05:32 EST

 The timeframe for Falcon's hitting North America always did work out to
 mid-to-late March (my Birthday is March 26th, BTW. :-)  Things are still
 looking good, but naturally, we're all sweating big time here in
 Sunnyvale, as having things scheduled to hit in that time frame means
 that if they come in too close to the end, and the last week of March
 being a half-week, doesn't give much margin for error, as the last week
 of March is the first half-week of April and we _really_, _really_,
 really, want this to hit "on time". :-)

 I spoke with the V.P. of Manufacturing today, who is just back from
 Taiwan making sure everything is "go" for the North American run, and he
 assured me things look great.  Let's keep our fingers crossed.

 Regarding monitors... The JVC, Samsung, Goldstar, and Phillips monitors
 all look great with the Falcon030.  I use a JVC everyday to play, er...
 demo and test Llamazap and Steel Talons.

 Brad: If your Hard Drive has a ACSI host adapter, it needs to be
 disconnected and you simply need the appropriate cable to go from your
 drives to the SCSI II connector on the Falcon.

 For instance, all I did was disconnect the cable from the H/A inside my
 ICD FaST HD/Tape box, then connect a SCSI II to C50 cable between the
 Falcon030 and the C50 connector that's on the back of the ICD box.

 -Bill@Atari

 Oh, the Falcon does work with SM124 monitors, also.
 =====================================


 WHERE'S THE STORM?
 ------------------
 -=> In the "Double Click Software" category (30)
 -=> from the "The STORM" topic (14)

 Message 105       Tue Mar 02, 1993
 T.MCCOMB [=Tom=]             at 00:52 EST

 What is the current status of Storm??

 I was really looking forward to it.

 -Tom McComb
  {12:49 am}  Tuesday, March 2, 1993
 ----------
 Message 106       Tue Mar 02, 1993
 POTECHIN [Nathan]            at 09:36 EST

 Once upon a time Alan had an arrangement with Double-Click.  Then Double
 -Click vanished into the twilight zone.  I heard that Neil at Atari
 Advantage got involved but not a thing since.  I am not certain, but
 sadly, I don't think Alan has heard anything either. :-( I will try and
 remember to ask him next time I see him or perhaps he'll drop by and say
 hi right here.

 Nathan@DMC
 ----------
 Message 108       Tue Mar 02, 1993
 J.NESS [Jim]                 at 18:54 EST

 Alan did not have a real job until just recently.  He is now working for
 a Canadian software company (Nathan's business partner, I think? or
 something similar) called Ditek.

 He has said he would not have time for awhile, to work on STorm, which
 to this point is a VERY nice telecom program, especially for MultiTOS
 users.

 He has said that, as soon as his Ditek work load settles down, he'll get
 back to STorm.

 -JN
 ----------
 Message 109       Tue Mar 02, 1993
 POTECHIN [Nathan]            at 19:05 EST

 Alan is indeed working at Ditek International.  Most people will
 recognize Ditek as the developers of DynaCADD!

 Has anyone heard anything from Mike Vederman or Neil Symms lately?  I
 did meet with Alan today briefly and I did ask.  He hasn't heard a word
 from them either.  Sigh.

 Nathan@DMC
 ----------
 Message 111       Wed Mar 03, 1993
 DITEK [David]                at 02:59 EST

 Close Jim... but no cigar. :-) Ditek and DMC are totally unrelated
 companies.  The workload at Ditek never seems to settle down. :-/
 ----------
 Message 113       Wed Mar 03, 1993
 SFRT-ASST [Kenne@SFRT]       at 22:36 EST

 For some reason "PAPERCLIP ELITE" just flashed in my mind...
 ----------
 Message 114       Wed Mar 03, 1993
 T.MCCOMB [=Tom=]             at 23:40 EST

 I wish another Dev would pick it up, it sounded dynamite.

 -Tom McComb
  {11:32 pm}  Wednesday, March 3, 1993
 ----------
 Message 116       Thu Mar 04, 1993
 SFRT-ASST [Kenne@SFRT]       at 19:53 EST

 I saw Storm at Glendale and I liked it a lot.  I thought it would end up
 like this, too.  So it goes.  When it missed the December 7th release
 date I started to worry.  When there were no more news updates on it I
 put it in my "it'll be nice if and when it happens" category.

 Maybe I'll start a topic called ANOTHER ONE BITES THE DUST.  Let's see...
 there was Paperclip Elite, TT tower, ST expansion box, the Amy chip, ST-
 Talk Pro (update), Zoomracks III, PC Ditto II... That's good for at
 least a few messages.

 Anyway, I saw STORM and it worked pretty well and Alan's efforts in
 Flash! were great so I'll look forward to BUYING the program when it's
 released.

 I haven't given up hope yet.
 ----------
 Message 117       Thu Mar 04, 1993
 SANDY.W [sysop]              at 21:21 EST

 I haven't given up hope yet.  Alan did say he intended to keep working
 on Storm, but absolutely no promises as to time frame.  The program does
 have a lot of potential.  Maybe some day.
 =====================================


 COUPLE O' TIPS FOR SL
 ---------------------
 -=> In the "ISD/DMC Product Support" category (16)
 -=> from the "Calamus SL" topic (20)

 Message 55        Wed Feb 17, 1993
 POTECHIN [Nathan]            at 13:17 EST

 Although the next version of Calamus SL released will contain an extra
 pull-down menu for selecting document windows, this is also possible in
 the existing version, albeit not quite so elegantly.  I have a feeling
 it is one of those undocumented features that we all missed. :-)  Try
 opening several document windows (7 is the maximum allowable) and click
 on the close-box at the upper left hand corner of the window, while
 pressing down the <CONTROL> key.  Calamus will not close the document.
 Instead, it will toggle between the existing document windows.

 In the same vein, but discussed previously, holding down the combination
 of <SHIFT> <CONTROL> <ALTERNATE> will interrupt a screen redraw.  A new
 redraw can be forced at any time by selecting the <CLR HOME> key.

 Nathan
 =====================================


 UNICODE FOR ATARI COMPUTERS
 ---------------------------
 -=> In the "Atari Corporation Online" category (14)
 -=> from the "MultiTOS" topic (34)

 Message 97        Tue Feb 23, 1993
 J.FRENCH2 [James French]     at 01:45 EST

 In the February 1993 issue of Byte I read about a proposed standard
 called Unicode.  Unicode would be a 2-byte standard for character sets
 that would "allow encoding of all the major world languages, including
 Chinese and Japanese".  Is Atari moving towards Unicode compliance for
 Multi-Tos?  As a customer I would certainly like to see this.  The
 article also implies that Windows NT will be Unicode compliant. (Byte
 Feb.1993, "Correspondence that Looks Good Globally", pg.220)
 ----------
 Message 98        Tue Feb 23, 1993
 B.REHBOCK [BILL@ATARI]       at 11:41 EST

 One of the reasons for going to the Bitstream Speedo font scaler was its
 inherent ability to handle 16-bit character sets.  The VDI already
 supports passing 16-bit values into the v_gtext and v_ftext calls.  As
 Unicode and the ISO-Shift Japanese standards pan out, we will be able to
 easily support them.

 -Bill@Atari
 =====================================




 ###### THE 1993 Z*NET COMPUTER CALENDAR
 ###### Schedule of Shows, Events and Online Conferences
 ###### ----------------------------------------------------------------


 ###  March 1993
 CeBIT, the world's largest computer show with 5,000 exhibitors in 20
 halls, is held annually in Hannover, Germany.  Atari traditionally
 struts its newest wares there, usually before it's seen in the USA or
 anywhere else.  In '93, the Atari 040 machines should be premiering, and
 this is the likely venue.  Third party developers also use this show to
 introduce new hardware and software, so expect a wave of news from CeBIT
 every year.  Atari Corp and the IAAD coordinate cross-oceanic contacts
 to promote worldwide marketing of Atari products, and this show is an
 annual touchstone of that effort.  Contact Bill Rehbock at Atari Corp
 for information at 408-745-2000.


 ###  March 5, 1993
 RTC in the GEnie ST Roundtable.  "Dateline Atari" with Bob Brodie.  This
 is a regular monthly conference held by Atari.  Discussions usually
 pertain to the latest Atari releases and updates.  Conference begins
 at 10pm EST.  Type M475;2 at any GEnie prompt to attend.


 ###  March 13-14, 1993
 The Sacramento Atari Computer Exposition is to be sponsored by the
 Sacramento Atari ST Users Group (SST) at the Towe Ford Museum in
 Sacramento, California.  A major two day effort, the SAC show is being
 held in the special events area of the Towe Ford Museum, home of the
 worlds most complete antique Ford automobile collection.  As an added
 bonus, admission to the museum is free when you attend the Expo.  The
 museum is located at the intersection of Interstates 5 and 80, just 15
 minutes from the Sacramento Metropolitan Airport.  Contact Nick Langdon
 (Vendor Coordinator) C/O SST, P.O. Box 214892, Sacramento, CA 95821-
 0892, phone [phone], GEnie: M.WARNER8, ST-Keep BBS (SST) 916-729-
 2968.


 ###  March 15-16, 1993
 Lap & Palmtop Mobile Computing Expo at the New York Hilton Hotel in New
 York City.  Exhibitors will show the latest in mobile computing,
 software, pen, peripherals and communications from the industry's
 leading manufacturers.  In conjunction with the exhibits is the Mobile
 Systems Solutions Conference series.  Featuring over 80 leading industry
 experts speakers, the conference provides vital information needed to
 build or improve your world of mobile computing.


 ###  March 16, 1993
 RTC in the GEnie HOSB (Home Office Small Business) Rountable.
 "Multilevel Marketing".  Conference starts at 10:00 pm EST.


 ###  March 16-19, 1993
 Image World - Washington DC at the Sheraton Washington.


 ###  March 20, 1993
 Philadelphia, PA area group PACS is holding their 16th annual Computer
 Festival from 9 AM til 4 PM.  It will be a multi-computer show with
 Atari showings by the PACS Atari SIG's, NEAT, CDACC, and JACS clubs.
 The Fest is to be at the Drexel University Main Building, 32nd and
 Chestnut Streets in Pennsylvania.  Contact for Atari display: Alice P.
 Christie, 207 Pontiac Street, Lester, PA 19029, 215-521-2569, or 215-
 951-1255 for general info.


 ###  March 21-24, 1993
 Interop Spring '93 in Washington DC.


 ###  March 30 - April 1, 1993
 Intermedia 93 at the San Jose Convention Center, San Jose CA.


 ###  May 3-5, 1993
 Digital Video New York/MultiMedia Exposition at the New York Sheraton
 in New York City.


 ###  May 4-5, 1993
 The 3rd Annual Networks and Communications Show returns to the Hartford
 Civic Center.  Companies such as Intel, Microsoft, DEC, DCA, IBM, and
 MICOM will be exhibiting.  For more information, contact:  Marc Sherer
 at Daniels Productions, 203-561-3250; fax: [phone].


 ###  May 11-13, 1993
 SunWorld '93 exposition and conference, held in San Francisco at the
 Moscone Center.  The second annual event is the largest trade show in
 North America dedicated to the Sun, SPARC and Solaris industry.
 SunWorld '93 will feature a full day of in-depth tutorials, which are
 being developed in association with Sun Educational Services, to be
 followed by three days of conference sessions and an exposition.  The
 three-day exposition will feature more than 175 leading vendors in the
 industry including Adobe Systems, AT&T, Computer Associates, Hewlett-
 Packard, Informix Software, Insoft, SAS Institute, Solbourne, SPARC
 International, Sun Microsystems, SunPro, SunSoft and WordPerfect.  For
 more information about attending SunWorld '93 call Lynn Fullerton at
 [phone] or to receive information about exhibiting contact David
 Ferrante at (800) 545-EXPO.


 ###  May 22-23, 1993
 Pacific Northwest Atari show will be held in Vancouver Canada.  The
 Vantari User Group will be sending out developers kits in the very near
 future with more details and pricing.  The show will be held in the
 Metrotown Centre Mall, which is the 2nd largest in Canada with over 400
 stores.  The traffic in the mall is amazing!  In addition the Holiday
 Inn Hotel is attached to the mall as well so travel time is nil.  If you
 have any questions in the meantime leave email (G.Norton) on GEnie.


 ###  June 12-13, 1993 (NEW LISTING)
 CT Atarifest '93 at the Windsor Court Hotel in Windsor Connecticut.
 This year the Atarifest has relocated to a new hotel with excellent room
 rates ($35.00 per room), free and plentiful parking, easy access from
 Interstate 91, I-95, I-90, I-84, I-80, an in house Sports Bar, a bigger
 ballroom and is located just 1 mile from Bradley International Airport
 (free shuttle service for hotel guests).  Tentative commitments from A&D
 Software, Gribnif Software, Barefoot Software, Toad Computers, Computer
 Studio, Baggetaware, Derric Electronics, E.Hartford Computer Repair,
 MegaType Software, Wizztronics and GFA Software Technology.  For further
 information, call Brian Gockley at 203-332-1721 or Doug Finch at 203-637
 -1034.  E-mail can be directed to B.GOCKLEY or D.FINCH7 on GEnie or to
 75300,2514 or 76337,1067 on CIS.


 ###  June 22-23, 1993
 Lap & Palmtop Mobile Computing Expo at the Disneyland Hotel in Anaheim,
 California.  Exhibitors will show the latest in mobile computing,
 software, pen, peripherals and communications from the industry's
 leading manufacturers.  In conjunction with the exhibits is the Mobile
 Systems Solutions Conference series.  Featuring over 80 leading industry
 experts speakers, the conference provides vital information needed to
 build or improve your world of mobile computing.


 ### June 26-27, 1993 (DATE CHANGE!!!)
 The Kansas City AtariFest '93.  The location for the show is Stadium
 Inn, 7901 E 40 Hwy.  Ticket prices at the door will be 5.00 dollars each
 day.  Advance tickets will be 4.00 dollars each, for advance tickets,
 please send 4.00 dollars per ticket to: Kansas City AtariFest, P.O. Box
 1653, Lee Summit, MO 64063 or if you belong to a user group please mail
 a request for a user group information pack.  To make room reservations
 please call 1-800-325-7901, we are also working with a local travel
 agent to get special airfares for the show.  You may call 1-800-874-7691
 to take advantage of the special fares.  For more information please
 leave Email as follows; GEnie, B.welsch, J.krzysztow, for CompuServe,
 Leave for Jeff Krzysztow at 74027,707, or you can call [phone], or
 mail to the address listed above.


 ### August 3-6, 1993
 MacWorld Expo at the Boston World Trade Center, Bayside Exposition
 Center and sponsored by MacWorld Magazine.  This event is titled Boston
 '93.


 ### September 18-19, 1993
 The Glendale Show returns with the Southern California Atari Computer
 Faire, V.7.0, in suburban Los Angeles, California.  This has been the
 year's largest domestic Atari event, year after year.  Contact John King
 Tarpinian at the user group HACKS at 818-246-7286 for information.


 ### September 20-22, 1993
 The third MacWorld Expo, titled Canada '93 at the Metro Toronto
 Convention Centre, sponsored by MacWorld Magazine.


 ### September 21-23, 1993
 Unix Expo '93 in New York City, New York.


 ###  October 7-8, 1993
 Lap & Palmtop Mobile Computing Expo at the Chicago Mart/Expo Center in
 Chicago, Illinois.  Exhibitors will show the latest in mobile computing,
 software, pen, peripherals and communications from the industry's
 leading manufacturers.  In conjunction with the exhibits is the Mobile
 Systems Solutions Conference series.  Featuring over 80 leading industry
 experts speakers, the conference provides vital information needed to
 build or improve your world of mobile computing.


 ### October 27-29, 1993
 CDROM Exposition at the World Trade Center, Boston MA.


 ### October 27-29, 1993
 EDA&T Asia '93.  The Electronic Design and Test Conference Exhibition
 at the Taipei International Convention Center in Taiwan.  Exhibit space
 is still available.  For more information contact: Betsy Donahue,
 Chicago, fax: [phone].


 ###  November 7-10, 1993
 GeoCon/93, an international conference and showcase for software
 products developed outside the U.S. at the Royal Sonesta Hotel,
 Cambridge, Mass.  The conference program will include three days of
 workshops on topics of interest to overseas developers entering the
 U.S. market.  Workshop presenters will discuss such issues as how to
 negotiate distribution and licensing contracts, setting up a business in
 the U.S., manufacturing and fulfillment, technical support, packaging,
 research sources, and how to market through direct, retail, and catalog
 channels.  For additional information, contact Tom Stitt, associate
 publisher, Soft letter, 17 Main St., Watertown, Mass. 02272-9154;
 telephone [phone]; fax [phone], or Colleen O'Shea, director,
 Soft letter Europe, 2 um Bierg, 7641 Chirstnach, Luxembourg, telephone
 35.2.87119; fax [phone].


 ### November 15-19, 1993
 COMDEX Fall '93. Las Vegas Nevada.


 If you have an event you would like to include on the Z*Net Calender,
 please send email via GEnie to Z-NET, CompuServe 75300,1642, or via
 FNET to node 593 or AtariNet node 51:1/13.0.  Show listings are also
 published in AtariUser Magazine.



 ######  FALCON030 MEMORY -  Is 1 Meg Enough??
 ######  By Len Stys
 ######  ---------------------------------------------------------------


 The Falcon030 "personal integrated media" system was designed to be a
 contender in the home multi-media market.  Atari's engineers made the
 Falcon so that it is excellent at mixing high resolution graphics with
 better than CD-quality sound.  This is absolutely necessary for the
 system to have any chance of success in this area.  Multi-tasking is
 another important part of multi-media and thanks to "Multi-TOS", the
 Falcon030 now has this capability.

 The Falcon030 is also the first low-cost personal computer to have a DSP
 chip and port.  The DSP will allow the Falcon030 to do things that are
 impossible to do on other multi-media systems.  And lastly, at $799, the
 Falcon030 is priced as a mass market product to sell in large
 quantities.  Atari's management must have felt that the more systems
 that sell, the more market share Atari captures.  This is smart thinking
 since the more market share Atari captures, the more systems that sell.

 So, where's the problem?  The problem is that Atari's mass market Falcon
 030 at $799 only comes with 1 Meg of memory.  The Falcon030 with 1 Meg
 is pretty much the same as a Mega STe.  Programmers cannot really use
 the Falcon's enhanced graphics and sound with this amount of memory.
 Let's look at what it would take to make a video game in the resolution
 of 384x480 in "true color":

 To display a still screen:  384 x 480 x 16 / 8 = 368,640k (369k)

 Animation requires two screens to reduce flicker.  This is called
 "double buffering":  737k

 The computer already uses 737k of memory WITHOUT any game logic code,
 sprite data, sound effect data, and operating system overhead.  If all
 of this was taken into consideration, a video game in this resolution
 would need close to 2 Megs.

 Let's look at what it would take to make a video game in the resolution
 of 640x480 (PC games) in "true color":

 To display a still screen:  640 x 480 x 16 / 8 = 614,400k (614k)

 Double Buffering:  1.2 Mb

 Add the game logic code, sprite data, sound effects, and operating
 system overhead.  The minimum amount of memory needed to produce a game
 in this resolution with these colors would be 3 Megs.

 The only thing you could do with 1 Meg of memory in these resolutions
 and colors is display still pictures.  And even though a lot of people
 do this, I am sure most people would like to use these resolutions for
 other things besides viewing pictures.

 The Falcon030 with 1 Meg is also incapable of multi-tasking.  And as
 mentioned previously, multi-tasking is a very important part of multi-
 media.  On Saturday, January 23, 1993, Eric Smith, author of MiNT and
 programmer of Multi-TOS wrote in the "Atari Corporation Online" category
 (14) on GEnie:

 "Just to inject a bit more reality into this: even if MultiTOS is free,
 it still won't be on everybody's machine right away or even at all.  The
 present version of MultiTOS is loaded into RAM, and that means in
 practice that you need 2 megabytes of memory to use it (and 4 megabytes
 is a lot more comfortable).  Also, it's really targetted for the 68030
 machines; on a 68000 it will be somewhat sluggish and will also lack
 memory protection (i.e. it won't be as safe).  Eventually we hope to
 have a ROM version of it, but for now it *is* a memory hog."

 Atari's mass market home multi-media system soon becomes just another
 ordinary single-tasking, low-resolution, mediocre sounding, personal
 computer.  The argument that you can always add memory to take advantage
 of these features is silly.  Can you imagine a company selling a product
 for a certain purpose with intent that the consumer get it expanded
 before he or she can use it for what it was created for?  Besides, most
 of the consumers purchasing the Falcon030 will be people that are
 unfamiliar with computers.  How is a dealer going to explain to a
 consumer that the computer he or she wishes to buy for $799 needs to be
 expanded for an additional $200 before it can be used for multi-media?

 Let's suppose that most of the Falcon030 systems sold were the 1 Meg
 configuration.  We can assume that many of these Falcon owners will not
 expand to 4 Megs much like many 520 ST owners did not expand to 1 Meg or
 greater.  Most developers will write software for the 1 Meg
 configuration since they will want their software to be purchased by as
 many users as possible.  The developer may have to use a lower
 resolution or less sound then he or she wishes.  The software may not be
 fantastic, but at least it will run on a 1 Meg machine.  The developer
 then writes the same software for the Commodore A1200.  But since the
 lowest amount of memory that the A1200 is sold with is 2 Megs, the
 developer can use a better resolution or add some things not on the
 Falcon030 version.  A consumer looking to purchase a personal computer
 will see that the A1200 has better software and will purchase it over
 the Falcon030.

 What happens if developers ignore the 1 Meg Falcon030 computers and just
 write software for the 4 Meg machine?  The new computer user will find
 that most of the software for their computer will not work without more
 memory.  What do you think their feelings will be towards Atari for
 selling them a system that needs to be expanded?

 In order to find out what Atari users and programmers thought of the
 Falcon030 memory, I posted a questionnaire on the Usenet
 comp.sys.atari.st newsgroup.  There were 34 responses.  These are the
 questions and results:

 Do you believe there should be a Falcon030 without memory?

 No: 82.35%        Yes: 17.65%

 What do you believe should be the lowest amount of memory sold with the
 Falcon030?

 1 Meg: 17.65%      2 Meg: 17.65%     4 Meg: 64.70%

 Do you believe there should be a Falcon030 memory configuration between
 4 megs and 14 megs?

 No: 23.53%        Yes: 76.47%

 If so, how much:

 6 Meg:  5.88%      8 Meg: 64.70%
    No: 23.53%   Anything: 11.76%

 What configurations would you choose?

 Falcon030 1 Meg:          11.76%
 Falcon030 4 Meg:          23.53%
 Falcon030 4 Meg/65 Mg HD: 64.70%

 (Atari Works & SpeedoGDOS)
 Does the Atari Works package influence your decision?

 No: 29.41%        Yes: 70.59%

 Please note that the memory amounts between 4 Megs and 14 Megs were
 written in.  There were no answers to choose from.  Also, everyone that
 replied knows how to program computers.

 Many people felt that the Falcon030 should not be sold without memory
 because it would confuse new computer buyers.  But others commented that
 this may not be a bad idea.  If a user wishes to move from 4 Megs to 14
 Megs then he or she can just sell their 4 Meg memory board to a friend
 that just purchased a Falcon030 without memory.  This way, no memory
 boards are thrown away.

 Most people felt strongly that 4 Megs should be the minimum.  The
 reasons given were similar to what was said above.

 A large number of people felt that there should be a memory
 configuration between 4 Megs and 14 Megs.  The number that most people
 suggested was 8 Megs.  They claim that they could use more than 4 Megs,
 but would not need 14 Megs.

 Atari's marketing department seems to be making a smart move by
 including Atari Works and SpeedoGDOS with the Falcon030 w/4 Meg/65 Meg
 HD system.  This is because the addition of this software will influence
 70% of the people that responded.

 About half the people commented about the hard drives that Atari is
 including with the Falcon030.  A good number of these people said that
 65 Megs is too small for their needs, but they would consider buying a
 larger Atari hard drive if they included Atari Works and SpeedoGDOS.
 These are the sizes that were suggested: 65 Megs, 120 Megs, and 200
 Megs.  Though, Atari's hard drives would need to be competitively priced
 with other hard drives.

 The general feeling is that if Atari wants to sell the Falcon030 as a
 home multi-media system, the company needs to sell it with more memory.
 If Atari can lower the Falcon030 4 Meg version to $899, the computer
 will most likely continue to be a mass market product.

 As of now, there are no known Falcon030 1 Meg configurations on the
 market.  Maybe Atari's management has already thought of all of this.
 And if they haven't, maybe you will consider all of this before
 purchasing the Falcon030.




 ######  THE UNABASHED ATARIOPHILE
 ######  By Michael R. Burkley
 ######  ---------------------------------------------------------------


 Do you remember a few weeks ago I told you about how I often push
 against the deadline for this article?  I said that I often worked right
 up to (and past) the deadline before I finished.  That was when the
 deadline was on Thursday.  You would think, wouldn't you, that since now
 this article isn't due until Saturday night that I would be able to
 finish on time?  Noooo!

 Did you wonder why I didn't have an article in last Z*NET issue?  Well,
 Dave Small talks about (and succeeds) in "pushing the envelope" on the
 ST.  I guess I pushed a bit too hard and missed the deadline!  OOPS!

 So...this week I'm bringing over a few of the games I reviewed last week
 in the review which didn't make it into Z*NET.  I'm also going to
 mention most of the files I've downloaded this week.  Let's get on with
 the show!

 First, files from two weeks ago:


 CUDLEE is Cud Lee's Quest v.1.0 by Robert Dytmire (dated Feb., 1993).
 ------ This game is basically a platform game aimed at the younger (10
 years old or so) generation.  Use the joystick to move our hero, Mr.
 Cudd Lee, through four different worlds (of 25 screens each).  You move,
 jump, fight, and explore your worlds, trying to reach the exit and move
 on.  By completing the game you save the poor lit'l elves (they need
 your help!).  But wait!  This game is more than sheer entertainment.  It
 has an educational portion as well.  The game can be configured to ask
 you questions each time you open a door or move from one world to
 another.  It keeps track of your answers, too, and will return again and
 again to those questions with which you have difficulty.  You can use
 the simple addition/subtraction questions that are included or create
 your own questions on any topic you wish (R.D. uses it to keep up to
 speed on his Calculus!).  The game also has an Adult Mode, which
 increases the difficulty significantly.  Color only.  Docs included.
 SHAREWARE (and one which is going to cost me some money <sigh>).  ST--
 STE Compatible (at least).  512K RAM or more.

 DROPOUT is Dropout, another Extend-O-Save Module for Warp 9 by John
 ------- Eidsvoog.  Dropout randomly pops little pieces out of the screen
 and drops them to the bottom.  Then after all of the pieces have dropped
 out and a configurable length of time has passed with a blank screen,
 the original screen slides in from the top.  After another pause, the
 whole process starts again.  You can configure the module variables to
 your heart's content.  ST--TT, any resolution.  Docs included.

 INS180 is "The Inspector" v.1.80 by Daniel M. Wallin, Jr. (dated Feb.
 ------ 10, 1993).  This is a program designed to help diagnose problems
 that may occur during the operation of your computer.  Have you ever had
 your boot-up fail (again and again).  You suspect that it is an .ACC,
 but you're not sure!  The Inspector will tell you!  It will will display
 a report showing what was being looked for, where it was expected to be,
 and the current subdirectory.  It will also allow you to generate
 reports on your system continuously.  This allows you to monitor the
 operating system when it is reading or writing files, or other disk
 operations.  A special feature useful for debugging is also included
 that causes the operating system to totally ignore any desktop
 accessories (and this is without re-naming them in any way).  In the
 Information Age, this program gives you information!  Color or mono.
 ST--TT compatible.  Docs included.

 JCCAL03 is JC-Calendar v0.3 by John Charles (dated January, 1993). JC
 ------- Calendar will print calendar pages to HP DJ500 printers or to
 many 24 pin printers which support 360dpi. There is also a built in
 routine to allow the use of 9 pin printers.  This also includes a series
 of 12 Degas .PC3 drawings for use with your calendars (or you can use
 your own).  You can include two lines of text at bottom of each
 calendar, choose from three included fonts for text display (different
 for the title and dates, if you wish), choose between a number of
 different boarders, and shade the weekends to set them apart. Docs and
 on-line help included.  Mono only (or color with a mono emulator).  I
 really like this program.

 JCCFNVU1 is JC-CFN-View v0.1 by John Charles (dated Jan., 1993).  This
 -------- is a program that allows you to easily view all the characters
 in your Calamus CFN fonts which needs an ST running in high resolution,
 or with a mono emulator.  The fonts are shown in outline only but that's
 enough to see if you want that font or not.  It will only display non-
 encrypted fonts.  Excellent! Docs included.  Mouse controlled.

 JCLABL18 is JCLABEL v1.8 by John Charles (dated April, 1992)  It is a
 -------- SHAREWARE label printer which works with a color or mono
 monitor (the download description says mono only, but trust me, OK?).
 Suitable for single or double column labels of various sizes.  You enter
 up to 7 rows of 32 characters each.  Save, sort, and print your labels.
 Configure your printer and then print your labels using batch or single
 label printing.  There are spaces for up to 500 labels in a list,
 depending on how much free memory you have and what other programs you
 are running at the same time.  Includes lots of disk utilities within
 the program as well!  Mouse controlled.  Docs included.  A previous
 version of this program came to me with this endorsement: "Quite simply
 the best ever label printing program written for the ST.   Written with
 a 'Frontend (TM)' interface [3D buttons and great looks,], it has a
 whole host of features - database, cut, paste, etc etc - better than ANY
 commerical offering." This version seems even better!  ST/STe/TT
 compatible.

 JCVUE23 is JC View v.2.3 by John Charles (dated December 1992).  If you
 _______ remember, I reviewed this just a few weeks ago.  The author has
 gone and improved it tremendously, in my mind.  This is a clip-Art
 viewer and clip manipulation  program for the Atari ST which needs 1 meg
 of memory and only works in mono.  With all the standard drawing tools
 (and then some like clip rotation and resizing) you can manipulate
 loaded files and/or create your own, and add text to your pictures
 (using either the desktop font or a custom font [.fnt] of your choice).
 You can even print them out (9 pin, DeskJet and other printer drivers
 included.  It will load the following files: Degas *.PI3, Degas Elite
 *.PC3, STAD *.PAC, Tiny Stuffed *.TN3, Sticker *.ADD, Printmaster *.SHP,
 Macpaint *.MAC, Doodle *.DOO, Public Painter *.DOO, Public Painter
 Compressed *.CMP, Public Painter double Screen *.PIC, The Program's
 custom picture format *.JCC.  You can save your pictures as .DOO, .PI3,
 and now .IMG (Yippie!).  Docs included.  This is one impressive program.

 MDISK694 is M-Disk v.6.94. This is an excellent .ACC re-set proof RAM
 -------- disk.  Just uploaded but I've already heard several people
 commenting on how useful and bug free it is (they're right!).  It does A
 LOT!  M-Disk provides you with: a sizable removable multi-function
 ramdisk; a floppy disk copy program (with virus detection logic which
 Prevents viruses being transferred!); It will format _and_ copy a RAM
 disk to floppy in 120 seconds--which is as fast as most format options,
 and yet retains all verify features; a fast disk "wipe" option; a fast
 ramdisk load/save program; a harddisk backup/restore program; a PS/2
 compatible floppy disk formatting program; and a boot sector virus
 destruction program; a "reverse" formatter, starting at a high track #
 going down to 1 (this can save some of your data if you mistakenly start
 a format)  MiNT and MultiTOS (KAOS, too) compatible.  ST--Falcon
 compatible.  Extensive docs that do a very good job of explaining even
 the little details of the program are included.  I have now moved this
 file into the "boot up with" category.  Excellent!

 NEWPRTST is a new (dated Feb. 12, 1993) series of four printer drivers
 -------- for PageStream 2.x.  They are for the new HP LaserJet 4 (I wish
 I had one!), the HP DeskJet 55c, the HP DeskJet 500c, and any PostScript
 printer.

 NODDYS is the Noddy's Playtime demo.  This excellent program is designed
 ------ to encourage and enhance the creativity of any 3-7 year-old (and
 a 37 year-old reviewer can have a fun time playing it as well!).  It is
 a fully-functional demo of three of the ten programs available in the
 full commercial release (the limitation being that each game is limited
 to 4 minutes--and that not much of a limitation since you don't even
 quit the program.  You can just re-enter the game module and start
 again), the other being you can't save pictures from the drawing mode.
 The first game, which acts as a menu program for the main set is Noddy's
 Driving.  Using the joystick, keyboard, or mouse, you guide Noddy about
 ToyTown as he drives his little put-put car.  Build coordination as you
 negotiate the turns; see the police officer, the milkman, Boe Peep, and
 more as you drive around.  Pull into Noah's Ark and assemble jigsaw
 puzzles of animals (easy, medium, and hard difficulties).  Leave there
 and drive to a very nice paint program with many of the tools of a full-
 featured program, and yet tailored for little hands and skills (I really
 like the ability to paste numerous different characters straight on to
 your picture with a single click).  One problem with this section is
 that the fill patterns won't work on my STe (they will work on my TOS
 1.0 ST).  I like this program and will probably buy it if it ever shows
 up in the US.  Until then I recommend that any 3-7 year old play with
 this demo!  Color only.  Docs included.

 TERA_130 is Tera Desktop V1.30 by Wout Klaren (dated January 30, 1993).
 -------- The Tera Desktop is a replacement of the ST (and TT) desktop.
 This desktop offers many of the same features as DC Desktop, NeoDesk,
 and the Atari NewDesk (TOS 2.06 and above), and then some.  With this
 program you can place files and programs on the desktop as icons, and
 view files in a window.  Buttons in dialog boxes can be selected with
 the keyboard!  There are really too many features to be listed here.  It
 will work with any TOS and from a floppy or Hard Drive (Hard Drive is
 definitely recommended).  It can be run from the AUTO folder or from the
 desktop.  Color or mono.  Docs included (now program and docs are in
 English and Dutch).  This version is only for the ST line, TOS 1.0--
 2.06.  See TERA_TT for the TT specific version.

 VAULTPRG is Vault v.3.02 by Robert Fischer (dated March 14, 1992).  This
 -------- is an excellent program, much needed by anyone who has a hard
 drive.  Backing up your hard drive is a painful chore, but an important
 one.  Backups are like car insurance: you hope you never need them, but
 if you have a crash they are a blessing.  Vault allows you to easily
 back up your drives.  You can do full backups, incremental backups
 (based on criteria you select), partial backups of only the folders and
 files you wish, and more.  It takes advantage of setting the archive bit
 if you so choose.  Format floppies, wipe old floppies "clean" or append
 the backup to a current floppy.  This program has a pleasing interface,
 with very useful online helps and offline documentation.  Included with
 this package is a restore utility, but that's not really needed (except
 when Vault "splits" very large files over two disks), because Vault
 backs up to TOS formatted disks so you can always easily access your
 data.  This program has lots of options and is intelligently organized.
 If you don't have a commercial backup program, I recommend you give this
 a try (another nice backup utility is TURTLE by George Woodside, the
 author of Virus Killer v.3.84).

 And now on to the brightest and best of this week's downloads:

 93_CAL is a series of six Calamus .CDK files by Glenn Gorman that allow
 ------ you to print out a calendar for each month in 1993 (two pages per
 .CDK).  Don't worry about the year though, you can easily change the
 data on the calender for another year if you wish.. One file for every
 two months.  ie: 1_2Cal.cdk is for the months of January and February
 and so on.  I did it this way, so that all of you with only one or two
 meg machines, could still load and print this calendar.  You'll just
 have to do it two months at a time.  Compatible with Calamus 1.09N or
 SL.

 AGG_0293 is the February 20, 1993 issue of the Atari Gaming Gazette:
 -------- "The Lynx Specialists."  This Month's Issue - Operation ACT
 Now, Lynx Catalog, Gazette Newsfile, Batman Returns Strategy Guide -
 Conclusion, Could it Be?, Trade Publication Round-Up, Easter Egg
 Gallery, Lynx'n On The Line Adds GEnie Coverage, and Pit Fighter
 Reviewed.

 ATLAS is a .SEQ animation by Dan Bordonaro of the mighty Atlas holding
 ----- up the world as he spins through space with a galaxy, moon and
 nebula in the background.  Atlas was made with Cyber Sculpt and the
 animation with Chronos 3D.  It's viewed from a movie theatre with people
 looking on (and occasionally talking with each other).  Color only.
 Requires ANIMATE4 to view with one MEG minimum RAM.  Color only.

 AUD_CD15 is CD AUDIO v.1.5(demo) by Nima Montaser (dated February, 1993)
 -------- is an .ACC that allows you to play audio compact discs from a
 CD-ROM drive in the background while working at another GEM application
 (if you wish!).  The code for the Sony DCU541 and the NEC machines is
 already included, but you can now enter the correct SCSI commands for
 your CD ROM player just by using a text editor (you have to know what
 they are though!).  It will allow you to Play all, Choose the track to
 play, Pause, STop, and Eject your CD (gracefully, of course).  This demo
 is fully functioning, faster than ever before (but several delays are
 incorporated in this demo to urge you to register--only $12). GEM based,
 ST/TT MultiTOS compatible.  This program will work in all resolutions.
 SHAREWARE.  Docs included.

 CARYCASE is a a Degas .PC3 plan for his computer carrying case (drawing
 -------- and text included).  It allows me to carry his 14" multisync,
 1040STe, shoebox hard drive, hand scanner, Omniswitch, mouse, Sony
 SRS-17's, and a bunch of floppies.  I hope it works as well for you.  It
 is an ingenious and safe design to carry all of your equipment (you just
 won't want to carry it too far!).  In a self-extracting .ZIP format (it
 uncompresses to the directory from which it is run).

 CDPLAY is a program by Brian J. Grier that allows you to play CD's with
 ------ audio tracks on your Chinon 431.  This program has been designed
 to work like most portable CD players.  When you exit the program the
 current song will play to completion.  It will work on any ST/STe/TT
 with the ICD Host Adapter and software (at least v.6.0).  Color or mono.

 CLUBCEMO is Club Dominoes by INFOworks.  This game will run on any ST/TT
 -------- with 512k of RAM (or more) and in low and med. rez.  It is
 billed as the most authentic and realistic dominoes simulation available
 for ANY computer.  This game provides you with creative and competitive
 play (against the computer with three levels of difficulty) or against
 another player (via the MIDI port, null modem, or modem), three game
 variations (Muggins, Bergen, and Domino, excellent graphics, on-line
 docs, and much more.  Keyboard or mouse controlled.  Hard drive
 installable.  Limited in that you can only play Muggins in this demo.

 CONV_LDP is "Convert LDP."  This simple program will convert your LDP
 -------- files produced by LDW Power to an ASCII format delimited by
 quotes and commas, which will readily import into FirstGraph and other
 programs.  The conversion process strips all control codes and spaces
 from the input file.  Freeware from ABC Solutions.  Docs included.

 COPNROB is the Cops and Robbers II demo by Kevin L. Scott (dated Feb.,
 ------- 1993).  This is a two player game (there aren't enough of those
 out there--and this is a good one!).  In this game you and your opponent
 are both trying to get the upper hand.  As the robber you must find and
 rob five banks in the city.  As the cop, you must patrol your city
 looking for the robber.  The police officer has his/her radio and radar
 to help locate the robber, but robbers have resources as well!  The city
 is divided up into 32 city blocks consisting of 8 across and 4 down.  A
 complete city is provided for you to play with.  With the commercial
 game you can modify or create your own cities with a built-in editor.
 This game is a lot of fun, and only limited in ways that won't greatly
 hinder your enjoyment of it (rather that the full version enhances the
 fun!).  Color only.  Joysticks required.  Docs included.  I liked this
 demo.

 C_GINEER is v.5.02PD by Ph. Kraft (dated 1992).  This mono only program
 -------- is a 2D organic chemistry molecular structure modeler.  This
 interesting program is in English (but the docs are in German <sigh>.
 You can choose all sorts of structural parameters, display modes, and
 more.  Rotate your molecules about any axis.  Nicely done, and fast,
 too!

 DRVSPACE by Dan Panke (of ST PLUG--the exclusive distributor of Budgie
 -------- UK Software here in North America) is a simple GFA basic
 (compiled and GFA source included) program that will, when run, return
 the free space on all available Hard drive partitions.  Color or mono.

 FIT_ACC is a TERRIBLE puzzle .ACC!!  The name of the .ACC file is
 ------- HAVEAFIT.ACC and it's aptly named! It gives me FITS by providing
 me with twelve blocks representing the twelve possible shapes you can
 make with five square blocks (using all of them each time).  Then, by
 using your mouse you try to place these blocks in a 5 by 12 square grid,
 not leaving any space free.  It's impossible to do (I'VE never done it!)
 and yet...there are several TRILLION different ways of positioning those
 blocks so that they fit in that rectangle (I don't think I am
 exagerating here--I remember reading an article in "Scientific American"
 on the topic).  ST--TT compatible.  ST low, medium or high, but not any
 TT resolutions.  Don't try this unless you have LOTS of time available.
 Excuse me while I try it again...!

 FLYSHP12 is Flying Shapes v.1.2.  This is a freeware Extend-O-Save
 -------- Module for Warp 9 by Charles F. Johnson of CodeHead
 Technologies.  Flying Shapes simulates the movement of a line, box,
 polygon or triangle around your screen.  Many aspects of this module can
 be altered, for an almost infinite range of excellent animated graphic
 effects.  ST--TT compatible in all resolutions.  You won't want to touch
 your computer again after watching this for awhile!

 FORTUNES is "Fortune Cookie" v.1.0, an Extend-O-Save Module for Warp 9
 -------- by Charles F. Johnson of CodeHead Technologies (dated Feb.
 1993).  Fortune Cookie clears your screen and displays random one-line
 messages from an ASCII text file (and this includes almost 900 on-liners
 for your use or for your modification).  Fortune Cookie works in all
 resolutions with 80 or more columns and on all ST--TT machines.  Docs
 included.  (Editors Note:  There is an update available, Version 1.2,
 that now includes font loading.)

 INSECTA is Insecticide by Peter Hague.  This color only SHAREWARE game
 ------- is excellent!  Play this to find out what insects do in the
 winter when there's snow on the ground (they play Insecticide!).  Now
 you can join them!  Joystick controlled (fly your Ladybug about and
 blast away Watch out for those antimatter bugs!).  Excellent graphics
 and sounds.  Multiple levels, interesting confrontations, frightening
 diversions, and more.  It reminds me a bit of Llamatron, but less crazy!
 Requires at least one meg of RAM.  Docs included.

 MOVPIC20 is Moving Pictures v2.0 by Terry May (dated 93).  This version
 -------- is a DRAMATIC improvement over previous versions found in our
 catalog.  In the past you could select a ramdom picture to display as
 your Warp 9 background picture or when Desk Manager loads (Tiny format,
 .PNT, .PI3 and .SPC pics supported). This was handy to keeps things
 interesting, and it still is.  But NOW...you can randomize any file
 type.  Randomize Warp 9 background pics and Desk Manager boot pics (I
 think I said that!) Extend-O-Save modules (Warp 9 v.3.7 and above), data
 files for EOS modules, Beep samples, whatever!  Now this will _really_
 keep you on your toes!  Color or mono.  Docs included.  ST/STe/TT
 compatible.

 PAYX_V22 is the Payroll Expert v. 2.20 by Randy Blain. Payroll Expert is
 -------- a powerful GEM-based payroll program that provides you with all
 all the features neccessary to handle large or small payroll
 applications.  I am really impressed with the look and feel of this
 program.  Everything is accessed via the standard GEM interface, so very
 little instruction is needed in order to use the program.  Also included
 in this package is ACC-Time, his shareware time-clock accessory, since
 Payroll Expert allows importing of the time-clock data to facilitate
 easy payroll computation for all employees.  You can easily pay all of
 your employees without ever touching the keyboard.  Complete reports are
 available at any time to make all your federal and state taxes easy to
 compute and file (of course, it doesn't make them any easier to pay).
 It will allow you to print on any style of checks.  It also includes a
 perpetual calendar.  Up to 64 employees are supported in the registered
 version (only two in this demo).  Floppy or hard drive.  ST/STe (at
 least) compatible.  Any RAM configuration.  The author has worked hard
 on this program, often updating and improving it.  Color or mono.  Docs
 included.  SHAREWARE.

 POKERSQR is Bad Baud's POKER SQUARES by Joel Shafer (Dated Feb. 21,
 -------- 1993).  Adapted from an 8-bit program by O'Laughlin and
 Whitworth this STOS program pits you against a clock as you attempt to
 create the best set of poker hands on a 5x5 grid, placing the cards as
 they are dealt to you.  It's harder than it seems for making that
 straight in the vertical column might just ruin that impending full
 house in a horizontal column.  Your score is based on the ten poker
 hands you create (5 vertical and 5 horz.). Fast paced and fun.  Color
 only.  Docs included.  Not STe compatible.

 PUZZLE is the Sliding Puzzle an Extend-O-Save Module for Warp 9 by John
 ------ Eidsvoog of CodeHead Technologies. Sliding Puzzle divides your
 screen into little blocks, randomly blackens one of them, and then
 begins randomly sliding pieces around like the little "Sliding Puzzle"
 that most of us are familiar with.  You may select from 25--400 blocks
 to be displayed on your screen and the speed with which they are moved
 about.  ST--TT compatible with all resolutions.  Docs included.

 SAVERS12 is a set of SHAREWARE Extend-O-Save Modules for Warp 9 by John
 -------- Dillenburg.  Compatible on an ST--TT in all resolutions, these
 modules are excellent.  The modules are: FRECKLE - Draw dots; RANDLINE
 _ Random Lines;   RASHAPES - Random shapes;   ROAMSHAP - Roaming shapes;
 PYRODLX - DeluPyrotech Deluxe fireworks, and SYMMETRY - Symmetric
 fractals.   I have only heard good about these modules.

 SLAB11 is Sound Lab v.1.1 by Damien M. Jones (dated Feb. 1, 1993).  This
 ------ is a very fast and capable sound editor that allows you to take
 digitized sound samples and manipulate them to your heart's content.  It
 has plenty of features, and its edit functions are _very_ fast.  You can
 play and record samples from 5KHz to 30KHz, load and save in .AVR, .SPL,
 .SAM, .WAV, .SND,. and .SMP formats, and it's easy to use.  (Recording
 samples requires either the ST Replay cartridge or DigiSound cartridge,
 or a cartridge compatible with one of them.)  It also lets you add sound
 effects to your samples, like echo and fade, and more.  It uses a ZeST
 type 3D button interface that is a pleasure to watch and use.  Now you
 can access .ACC's, use the GEM fileselector (+ UIS or Maxifile), install
 as an application, and more!  LOTS of new features included.  Color or
 mono.  40 page ASCII manual included.  There's a nifty on-screen help
 system that takes you through the in's and out's of the program.  Watch
 the mouse move about all by itself!  ST/STe compatible.  You _can_ run
 this program with only 512k of RAM, but it's not advised to do so.
 SHAREWARE.  You get printed docs and updates with your registration.

 STZIP22 is STZip v.2.2 by Vincent Pomey (dated Feb. 12, 1993).  This is
 ------- one fantastic compression utility, and he keeps on making it
 better!  It is so much faster than LZH that it's not funny.  Most times
 it compresses more efficently as well.  It compresses and uncompresses
 .ZIP files, just like PKZip on MS DOS machines.  Use it with a command
 line or with the built-in GEM shell program (easy to use!).  This file
 includes a program that creates self-extracting archives, and a small,
 stripped down version that is accessed only through a command line
 interface. I highly recommend this program for any of you who deal with
 ZIP files.  Docs included.  Color or mono.  ST--TT compatible.  (Editors
 Note:  File compacted with ST_ZIP version 2.1 do not seem to extract
 with version 2.2.  CRC errors are present.  However, file compacted with
 2.2 do work satisfactory with 2.1.

 TBX_DEMO is tbxCAD demo version 2.2 by Tony Biasutti (dated 1993).  This
 -------- is a full-featured GDOS compatible two dimensional drafting
 package.  This package features an infinite drawing plane, wide range of
 drawing primitives, exact specification of locations, multiple layers,
 scaling, dimensioning, measurement and much more (I don't have enough
 room to tell about all the features--just to name one more-- Bezier
 curves).  The full program can print to Epson compatible dot matrix
 printers, or through GDOS, almost any other printer.  Included with this
 file are several demo drawings.  It also allows you to export GEM
 METAfiles (like Easy Draw creates) allowing you to import your drawings
 into a DTP program and thereby accessing a wide range of printers.  It
 allows you to import DFX format files.  Color or mono.  ST--TT
 compatible.  Docs included.  1 meg of RAM and a DS drive required.  This
 demo is save and print disabled.

 X_GINEER is v.5.41PD of a program by Ph. Kraft that allows you to
 -------- analyse structural data from X-RAY analysis of various
 crystaline materials.  Input the data and output possible structures
 (as 3D projections).  View them and rotate them about any axis.  A nice
 library of files is included.  The program is in English, but the Docs
 are in German.  Mono only.

 Well, I guess that's it for this week.  It's time to fire up the modem,
 send this file off, and then hit the sack!

 Take care, Michael

 All of these files can be found on one or more of the following on-line
 services:  GEnie (M.BURKLEY1), Delphi (MRBURKLEY), The CodeHead BBS (213
 -461-2095), Toad Hall (617-567-8642), and The Boston Computer Society's
 Atari BBS (617-396-4607) (Michael R. Burkley).  Drop me a line!


 Michael lives in Niagara Falls, NY.   He is a former Polyurethane
 Research Chemist and is presently the pastor of the Niagara Presbyterian
 Church.


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