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=========(((((((((( ==========((( ==(( ==((((((( ==(((((((( =========== ================(( ====(( ====(((( =(( ==(( ==========(( ============== =============(( =====(((((( ==(( (( (( ==((((( =======(( ============== ==========(( ==========(( ====(( =(((( ==(( ==========(( ============== =========(((((((((( ==========(( ==((( ==((((((( =====(( ============== Z*NET INTERNATIONAL ATARI ONLINE MAGAZINE August 2, 1991 Issue #91-32 Publisher/Editor: Ron Kovacs Editor: John Nagy Z*Net New Zealand: Jon Clarke Z*Net Canada: Terry Schreiber PD Editor: Ron Berinstein ======================================================================= * COMPUSERVE: 75300,1642 * DELPHI: ZNET * GENIE: Z-NET* ======================================================================= CONTENTS THE EDITORS DESK.............................Ron Kovacs ZNET NEWSWIRE.......................................... MIST ATARIFEST SHOW REPORT...................Bob Brodie GENIEUS UPDATE.............................Announcement Z*NET NEW ZEALAND WORLD TOUR - Part 1........Jon Clarke LYNX NEWSLETTER...........................Press Release BRACE ATARIFEST SHOW REPORT..........Staff - Bob Brodie CPU UPDATE................................Press Release ATARI 8-BIT OWNERS UPDATE.....................AtariUser LEXICOR/CIS ONLINE CLASSES................Press Release INTERVIEW WITH BOB-BRODIE....................Ron Kovacs DIGIFLY...................................Press Release Z*NET SOFTWARE SHELF.....................Ron Berinstein ======================================================================= THE EDITORS DESK ---------------- by Ron Kovacs ======================================================================= This week's issue was released 12 hours late for another problem. After completing the issue, I started to feel very ill and in a matter of 20 minutes, I was located in a local hospital. By my side was my son Adam, 3 years old, also sick. The two of us had eaten some bad food, as the doctor said, and it felt like it. I am home again with my son and will attempt again to release the issue. Apologies for releasing the issue late, but some things can't be controlled! Last week's editoral was focused on the possible pirate activities that are taking place in FNET. If you remember, FNET is a network od BBS systems running FoReM BBS software which communicate daily with the purpose of transferring message bases and conference file transfers. I want to apologize again here for the poor editing I actually did on the piece. I was in a two hour race to get out the door last Friday and paid little attention to the structure of the comments. Well, to save myself possible work next week, I will leave you with appreciation and thanks for the support of Z*Net. Have a great week! ======================================================================= Z*NET NEWSWIRE -------------- ======================================================================= ATARI BACK IN KEYBOARD Atari is back advertising in Keyboard magazine, the most widely read professional musician's magazine in the country. In the August issue (with Yes keyboardist Rick Wakeman on the cover), Atari has taken co-op ads with C-Lab (Notator, Creator) and Dr. T (numerous editor/librarians and sequencers). The Atari logo is large and clearly seen in both ads. There will be an Atari/Dr. T ad in Electronic Musician this month as well. Bob Brodie of Atari says "We've also done similar things in PC- related magazines with some of our Portfolio developers." ATARI CANADA PROMOS Four promotions were announced this week by Geoff Earle at Canadian headquarters in Markham Ontario. Package One (BTS Mono) includes a 1040STE, SM124 Monochrome monitor, Star NX1000, First Word Plus and HyperPaint II. Package Two (BTS Color) inlucdes a 1040STE, SC1224 Color monitor, Star NX1000, First Word Plus and HyperPaint II. Package Three includes same products except a Mega 2STe in place of the 1040STe. The final package #4 (MIDI) includes a 1040STe, SM124 Monochrome monitor and Super Librarian. DAMARK UPDATE As previously reported in Z*Net, Damark has purchased a number of Atari SX212 300/1200-baud Hayes-compatible modems. The latest Damark catalog (September 1991), shows a reduced price of only $19.99, a full $10 off their earlier price. Shipping and handling is an additional $5.50. (A large picture of the modem appears on page 5 of the catalog; while the word "Atari" had been difficult to read in the previous catalog, it's quite legible now.) Damark's order lines are open 7 days a week, 24 hours a day: 800 729 9000. When ordering, purchasers will be asked to supply the item number for the modem (B-375-181504) and the "Damark Code" on the catalog (B-375-2006). ST-REPORT'S MARIANO IN CONFERENCE The August 3rd Conference in conference room 5 is a GO. Join Ralph Mariano of ST Report and AABCO fame in talking about current events in the Atari market. Be there at 7pm western - 10pm eastern time THIS SATURDAY. COMPUTER FAIR ANNOUNCED The Atari Special Interest Group (SIG) of the McDonnell Douglas Corporation Recreational Computer Club (MDC-RCC) in St. Louis, Missouri, will be holding their fourth annual Computer Fair at the North County Recreation Complex in St. Louis on August 31, 1991. This will be a general-interest show, with many different kinds of computers represented (not just Atari). The Fair will open to the public at 11:00 a.m. CDT and close at 7:00 p.m. For more information contact: Ray Perry (GEnie address R.PERRY6) MDC-RCC Atari SIG Director. ISRAEL AND ATARI Plans to build a plant in Israel are nearly gone. Atari is alledged to be attempting to borrow money from the Israeli government for building the plant. Talks on this have failed and it looks like Atari will be searching for another area. As previously reported, Atari has been closing plants in Taiwan and sub-contracting work to other manufacturers in the United States and abroad. SONY TO MAKE PORTABLE PCS FOR APPLE A Sony spokesman said this week that it will produce notebook-size personal computers for Apple. However, an Apple spokeswoman denied the article, saying that although Apple deals extensively with Japanese firms, no contract has been struck with Sony or any other company regarding the production of its computers. COMPACT DISC RECORDERS HIT MARKET This was the week to snap up three of the first compact disc recorders to be marketed in the United States, each of them having a pricetag of $20,000. The Denon DN-7700R CD recorders, which can record music onto blank compact discs, went on sale at Dow Stereo in La Jolla, a San Diego suburb. The blank discs for the machine are available at $40 apiece. Sony is expected to introduce a recordable CD, dubbed a Mini Disc because it is half the size of the standard 5-inch disc, late next year. SEARS TO SELL TOSHIBA Sears and Toshiba announced that Toshiba's T1000LE and T1200XE notebook computers and accessories will be available in about 350 more Sears Brand Central departments beginning in early September. The laptop computers currently are available in 22 Office Center at Sears departments. Sears was the first national department store to sell Toshiba laptop computers. LOGITECH THREE-DIMENSIONAL MOUSE Logitech announced a new breed of mouse pointing device for a variety of applications and hardware. The Logitech 3-D Mouse is a five-button pointing device providing input capability for applications and hardware supporting multi-dimensional, spatial graphics, such as CAD/CAM and virtual reality workstations. It also works as a conventional Microsoft /Logitech- compatible three-button mouse. ======================================================================= MID INDIANA ST ATARIFEST SHOW REPORT ------------------------------------ by Bob Brodie, Director of Communications, Atari Computer Corp. ======================================================================= For the last two years, a small gathering of Atarians has met in Bloomington, Indiana. The groups have used the gathering as a chance to have a swap meet, and attract a few small developers. MIST is an association of three users groups that has shared members, and needs over the past few years. The groups that form MIST are ASCII- located in Indianapolis, BLAST- located in Bloomington, and PAUG- located in West Lafayette on the campus of Purdue University. Their goal has been to share information, ideas, make new friends. In making the move to Indianapolis, the members hoped that they would share the burden of putting on the event a little bit better. This years show was put on at CADRE, Inc, a local CAD firm. The show area was a comfortable seminar area at CADRE, with carpeting, air conditioned, and easy access to hotels and local eateries. The wide open seminar room was laid out logically, so visitors would have an easy path in making their way around the show. Exhibitors at this event included: Atari Corporation MP Graphic Design Gribnif Software CompuServe AT/Com Electronics Clear Thinking Software Unicorn Publications Randall's Home Computers MegaType Electronic Spinster Graphics Mar's Merchandising Touch Technologies SKWare One Softlogik Computer Works ICD Cal Com DA Brumleve Apprentice Software One STop MS Designs Wiz Works also attending were a number of user groups: Milwaukee Atari ST of Milwaukee, WI Cin'tari of Cincinnati, OH STar of Belleville, IL Lake County Area Computer Enthusiasts, Waukegan, IL Eastside Atari Users Group, Alton, IL From the moments the door opened, the show was very, very busy. Show organizers were pleased with the turnout for Atarifest III! Once again, the combination of inexpensive tables for developers ($50 a table!) and low admission made this event a can't miss affair! While the turnout was great, and the crowd was active, I never felt like I was in a rush to get to the next person. Instead, I found people to be quite patient waiting for their turn to talk with me about what was going on in the Atari Community. I was quite surprised at the distance that some people drove to attend this event. Spotted in the crowd was Paul Plants of the WACO User Group from the Pittsburgh, PA area! Attending from Huntsville, Alabama was John Cole, ST Vice President of the Huntsville Atari Users Group. Other people told me that they had driven up from Kentucky, Ohio, Missouri, and Michigan. I met so many new faces, I'm sure that I've overlooked a number of people in this report. The MIST organizers set up the exhibition area in a large open area of CADRE's conference center. In addition, they had seminars set up in a room down the hall from the main area, which sat around 150 people. The entrance to the show was in yet another area, which also had a MIDI-Maze ring set up in it. Dan Ward from ASCII set up a large "white board" that he posted all door prize winners on. Nice touch, Dan! There was even a convenient Coke machine! A number of developers that couldn't attend this show demonstrated their support for MidWestern Atarians by sending along door prizes or advertising in the show program. Among them was ISD Marketing, which donated Calamus, Outline Art, The Calamus Font Editor, a copy of the Guide to Calamus Desktop Publishing. Current Notes, the Washington D.C. area based magazine offered a subscription to Current Notes, as well an ad in the show program. Fonts by Guber sent 3 PageStream font disk certificates. The show organizers kept trying to tell me that they only had 250 people or so that had shown up. I couldn't believe it, I've been to enough of these events that I just *knew* that the crowd was much better than that! Sure enough! During teardown the show officials acknowledged that they had miscounted. The attendance was 450+! Now there's a number I can believe in! The developers expressed great satisfaction with this event. Tricia Metcalf from Gribnif Software told me that sales were better than they had been at the Windsor Show, which was a two day event with much higher booth prices! ICD sold out of a number of items. Wiz Works was badgered by people all day that wanted to buy Migraph scanner modules to use with MVG, and I was one of them! Some of the user groups expressed disappointment with the sales of their PD libraries, while others did just great. The LCACE gang did a bang up business, and EAUG had a terrific looking booth. For me, one of the highlights of the day was the MARC Meeting. Under the leadership of Hank Vize, MARC (Midwest Atari Regional Council) is trying to make sure that all of the groups in the midwest stay in good contact with each other. This meeting was open to user group officers only, and had a fine turnout. MARC started in the St. Louis area. I visited them in late '89, and just kind of casually remarked to Hank that it was a shame that the local groups didn't talk more. He took the idea and ran with it, and now MARC has an e-mail list that goes from St. Louis to South Bend, Indiana! Keep up the good work, guys! Look for the gang from St. Louis to have a bigger role in next years MIST Show. Maybe they'll have to give the show a new name! Another bright spot was a tour of Purdue University. Professor Dennis Short of Purdue's Technical Graphics Department is an Atari fan! He's got a number of labs at Purdue that are crammed full of IBM/PS2's and Macs. But in his office, he's got an Atari TT, running DynaCadd and NeoDesk3! Professor Short is excited about the high speed performance of DynaCadd. He's proposed a lab of TT's to Purdue University, all to be running DynaCadd! Professor Short is faculty advisor to the Purdue Atari Computer Enthusiasts, and spent several hours at the show. During dinner on Friday night, he expressed sincere appreciation for all of the support Atari developers have provided him as he's learned the ins and outs of the TT030! Not without a fun streak in him though, I caught the professor taking a hard look at a Lynx! Hmmm, what that line about all work and no play? MP Designs is the Indianapolis based VAR that is servicing Purdue's Atari needs. I'm grateful to the organizers of the MIST Atarifest III for allowing me to participate in this event. Congratulations on a job well done! ======================================================================= GENIEUS UPDATE -------------- GEnie Annoucement ======================================================================= Hi there--me again. Your charming and delightful GEnie Users' SysOp, with word of a couple of Hot Summer Nights RealTime Conferences I thought you might be interested in. This Thursday, August 1st, at 9pm Eastern time, GEnie General Manager John Barber and VP Chip Chiappone will be our guests in the GENIEus RealTime Conference, in Room 3. If you have any questions about how GEnie is being run, what the plans are for the future or why things are the way they are, you can find no one better to ask than these two, I assure you. Plan to be there early, to meet GEnie's management staff and find out what's in store for GEnie in the '90s. And Saturday, August 3rd, we'll be hosting the GEnie programming staff in our regular Saturday Night GEnie-Jam! If you've ever wondered what kinds of computers GEnie runs on, or what language GE Mail is written in, or how the Bulletin Board software works, this is your best chance to find out. The conference is open to programmers and non-programmers alike. All you need is an interest in the code behind the node to enjoy this one. Again, that's Saturday night, at 9pm Eastern time, in RTC room 3. We hope to see you there, and in future Hot Summer Nights RealTime Conferences, movers and shakers of the online world. Remember to check in with Category 14 to find out what's going on, and mark your calendars for the GENIEus RealTime Conferences that most interest you! ======================================================================= Z*NET NEW ZEALAND ----------------- World Tour - Part 1 by Jon Clarke ======================================================================= Three weeks ago I was sitting in my office in Auckland contemplating popping onto the weekly GEnie RTC when in wandered my boss and said "what do you have planned for the next two weeks, Clarkie?" Checking the local diary (2 seconds later) I saw I had nothing on so I said "not much why?" What a silly question that turned out to be. "Well we want you in New York and when you have finished there we want you to pop into London, Germany and then head office in Hong Kong. "Getting my breath back I said "what, ok when?" To cut a long story short two weeks later and a few zillion phone calls, fax's, telexes, swift and email messages later I was on the plane jetting off towards Hawaii. I had by this time managed to contact a few friends and the Z*NET crew world wide to say I would be there in their towns and lets met each other for a social hour or two (or was that three or four). I had the pleasure or as I was later to discover the displeasure of flying on Continental Airlines. They are a little like their old adverts "We know the Pacific" "Yes sure, you have been in it enough" we always used to joke. For those of you (most of you) who have flown in an commercial airline you will have read the emergency information in the seat pocket in front of you (hmmm I am even sounding like a hostee) or seen the demonstrations where they show what to do if the emergency air supply drops down. Picture this if you will. A lovely winters Friday evening. We takeoff into the sunset out of Auckland on our first leg to Hawaii. I am sitting next to a MAC fanatic from a place called Christchurch. With all the formalities out of the way like why do you have a MAC and why do I use an IBM and a what, an Atari? We are half way down the runway heading for the big blue yonder. Now forced firmly back in my seat as the Boeing 747-400 tries to defy nature and become lighter than nature intended and become airbourne. When all of a sudden there is a row of oxygen masks in my face. Well I can not be called slow but I had the sucker on my face in a few seconds flat. Then I realised. Opps! We were the only ones with the Oxygen masks. Now either we were the only lucky ones or we had a fault with the aircraft and it spat them at us to make sure we stayed awake all the trip. I am lucky to say it was the later and after a quick whiff of recycled air (they did not work, YIKES) the hostess crawled up to us and said in a pleasant voice "Don't worry false alarm (in her best American accent)" We spent the rest of the haul talking about the new Macintosh packages and the new products they were about to release on the world markets and how great Spectre GCR is even if it is on an Atari. It was interesting to note the comments about the Atari from people I speak to and this conversation was no different. The chap next to me had seen, heard and used "A-MAX" for the (dare I say it) Amiga but was suprised to hear there was on for the Atari ST. I then informed him that Otago University, the largest MAC dealers in New Zealand and only a few hundred miles from his home used them. I guess this got his juices going as he was a principle of a high school in Christchurch. To hear the author of A-MAX was from Wellington my old stomping ground suprised him even more I think. (Wellington is NZ'z capital city) Well after another attack of the oxygen masks we landed at Hawaii. I guess half the population of Japan was on holiday (Vacation) this Saturday. There were 2000 of them along with our plane all trying to clear customs and immigration. I wonder who was looking after the country? Now as I said before we left home in winter . It was 10 degrees celsius at home and here we are in summer at 30 degree celsius (you work out the conversions to F.) so the old body suddenly rebelled and dropped 10lbs of water all over my face. We cleared customs and officially entered the USA. This all over we headed for the flights to Los Angles in another building via the local bus. Now a word of warning here for all confirmed smokers out there. This jolly flight from Hawaii to LAX takes five and a half hours and _NO_ SMOKING_ . Ah heck my body can handle three to four hours but five hours! Hmm so I took the easy way out I went to sleep for four and a half hours of the flight. For those of you who love statistics here is a good one for you. I arrived in Los Angles one before I took off from New Zealand. I arrived at 6pm on Friday night and I flow out of New Zealand at 7pm on Friday night. I always say you chaps are behind the times. While I was on the plane I meet several couples from NZ doing the same sort of trip I was so we decided as we had a six hour stop over in LAX (Air Port speak for Los Angles) we would go to one of the lounges we belonged to. We to cut a long story short we ended up in the Air America Lounge. If it was not for this oasis in the wilderness so to speak I would have gone nutty waiting in the Continental lounge for six hours. Heck these guys even had New Zealand and Australian beers. Well after a few hours and a quick phone calls later (Help I could not fly the phones.. grrrr) it was "here's Johnny time". I had arranged to meet John Nagy at the airport a few days earlier and low and behold here he was along with John King Tarpinian. John (which one there were three of us) Nagy mentioned Bob Brodie was going to try and get down to say hi. But I guess Bobs wife was swapping recipes with Nacy and Bob had to entertain Ronny, times are tough Bob. But thanks for the thought anyway. Now I guess it is an old American habit to take "care packages" for those from countries less fortunate than the USA. What John had with him was incredible. I must confess I had never seen such goodies, that most of you take for granted each and every day. John (yep the Nagy one) had a bag full of goodies, from the ATARIUSER magazine, to Licence Plate holder which say ATARI (these are now on my car John, thanks) to cups and hats with the Lynx logo's on them. We sat for a while over several beers talking about what was happening in the Atari world here in the USA and at home in New Zealand and the Pacific. My first shock was to find out the lack of retail outlets in the USA. When I explained to the John's that my countries population is 3.3 million (1/8th of LA`s population) and we have a total of 32 dealers throught both the North and South Islands. You see over the years I have come to believe as others have, that as the USA is the home of Atari Inc. all things that are Atari were to be found in there. I guess you could say alot of us out there think of the USA as the "Land of Oz" (like Alice in Wonder Land) for Atari computers. Well if nothing else this confirmed what I had read on all the On-line systems I use in the USA. Alice packed her bags and went to Germany, but more on this next week. All of a sudden I realised it was nearly time to catch my connection to New York so I said my farewells and was about to give some duty free cigarettes to John and John when I realised they did not smoke. So I guess by now they will have had a headache from the Scotch Whiskey instead. I would like to take this opportunity to thank John Nagy and John King Tarpinian for popping over to see me it was great guys. Next time we do it in Auckland or at the "Green Onion" down the road from LAX (grin). For those of you who have not read ATARIUSER yet may I suggest that you get a copy and read it. I am sure you will be more than suprised at the quality as I was. I had several copies I dropped off all over the world in the next fourteen days and the comments were the same everywhere, "great stuff" , and the most common remark was "where do I get from ?" So it was onto another flight to New York this time. Another four hours and yet again no smoking. Guess what? I slept all the way again. On Saturday morning the 20JUL91 (or 20/07/91 as we write it) I arrived at Newick airport. I am sure Dan McNee knew that I was flying into here and did a rain dance from the comfort of his home in California as I arrived to 12 inches of rain. Next week New York "What a neat city" to Germany . ======================================================================= LYNX NEWSLETTER --------------- Press Release ======================================================================= Cumberland, RI. July 8, 1991. E&M Publishing in cooperation with "Computer Zone" of North Attleboro, MA is proud to announce the shipment of "On Target", a newsletter devoted entirely to the Atari Lynx Portable Color Entertainment System. Published bi-monthly, "On Target" covers the world of the Lynx from software to accessories right down to secret playing hints. Each issue contains up to the minute news, reviews of the latest software and Lynx related products, previews of upcoming software, rumors about the Lynx, tips and hints to the latest games and much more. Subscribers around the world will be able to "Lynx Up" with other Lynx owners by posting their names in the "Lynxing Up" column where you can meet Lynx owners near you for the purpose of connecting two or more Lynx systems together to play multi-player games. Your first listing is free while non-subscribers will be charged. A sample issue costs only $1 ppd or a six issue (1 year) subscription for only $4. For more information or to order use the form below or call (401)-658-3917. Genie: R.Levetin Compuserve: 73267,101 ------------------------------cut here---------------------------- ___ YES, please send me a sample issue. Enclosed is $1. ___ YES, please enter my six issue subscription. Enclosed is $4. ___ NO, I do not wish to order but would like more information. Name______________________________________________________________ Address___________________________________________________________ City_______________________________State_____________Zip__________ Telephone_________________________________________________________ Send to: On Target 18C Boyle Avenue Cumberland, RI 02864-2306 USA ======================================================================= BRACE ATARIFEST SHOW REPORT --------------------------- by the Z*Net Staff and Bob Brodie, Director of Communications, Atari Computer Corporation ======================================================================= Saturday, July 20th was a great day in Asheville, NC. Atarians from all over the southeast came together once again to enjoy their hobby at the second annual Blue Ridge Atarifest. The event is co-sponsored by the Blue Ridge Atari Computer Enthusiasts, and the local Atari dealer, Computer STudio. Sheldon Winick is the well known owner of Computer STudio. This was the second time Atarians had come to Asheville for the Blue Ridge Atarifest. Last year was the first event, inspired by a visit from Bob Brodie of Atari. When Bob arrived, he found an exceptional Atari dealership, and excited users. A total of about 150 people turned out for the inaugural Blue Ridge Atarifest. Most of the rest of the exhibitors at the first "show" were other Atari owners who enjoyed sharing their expertise in particular areas of their hobby. Included in last years exhibitors was a number of members from KAUG, the Knoxville Atari Users Group. Clifton Willard, a video professional, returned with the rest of the gang from KAUG for the second Blue Ridge Atarifest. No one has ever accused Bob Brodie of hiding a good thing! He was sure to tell one and all about the great impression Asheville's fine folk had made on him. This year, the show moved itself up by several notches! There were a number of other professional developers that attended the Blue Ridge Atarifest this year, and even more people! As before, the show was held in the lovely Westgate Shopping Center, in which Computer STudio is located. In a major switch from the norm of most other Atari shows, BRACE and Computer STudio made this event *FREE* to everyone! There was no charge for admission, and no charge to any of the developers that chose to display their wares in Asheville for the day! Computer STudio is a full service Atari retailer, carrying the full line of Atari products. On display in the store was the TT030, with 8 megs of ram, a Mega/STE with four megs of ram, 1040 STEs, Stacys, Lynx, and the Portfolio palmtop computer. Computer STudio is a well stocked dealer, with over 500 software titles available on the shelf. Folks from all over the southeast came to see this event. User groups were reported present from KAUG, the Knoxville Atari Users Group, the East Tennesee Atari Computer Enthusiasts, and other groups from North Carolina, South Carolina, Georgia, Virginia, and even Florida was represented at this event. Among the people that drove up to this southern style gathering was the colorful and controversial Ralph Mariano. Most Atarians recognize Ralph as being the publisher of ST Report, a weakly rumor column distributed primarily on the FNET. In addition to ST Report, Mariano also has his own hard drive business, ABCO Computer. The vocal Mariano, ever a curiosity to the end users and developers alike, elected not to take a booth to show his famous ABCO hard disks, but rather opted to try to mingle with the crowd at the event. Bob enjoyed an opportunity to meet Ralph's sons, who also came for the journey north. Hmmm, wonder if they read ST Report? The once influential journalist hosted his own seminar toward the end of the day entitled "Current Events". It was an event not to be forgotten: entertaining, humuorous, and unclouded by facts. D.A. Brumleve and her family took time out from their vacation to swing through Asheville. Dorothy had her KIDPRGs on display, and enjoyed speaking to the many new users that she encountered there. Unlike many of the booths at shows, Dorothy's is one that the parents can encourage their children to use the computer! No worries about lost data at Dorothy's booth. She's always glad to get the little ones up to the screen. It's usually not too longer after the kids get busy with the KIDPRGs that Mom and Dad notice that maybe their kid isn't too young to use a computer after all! Always a seminar favorite, Dorothy gave a session on "Empowering You Learners Through Technology". Located down the hall from his wife, was Dr. Timothy Brumleve, who has written his own librarian for a Kawai synthesizer. Tim hosted a MIDI seminar to demonstrate his K5/K5m Voice Librarian. Many of the great sounds heard throughout the Westgate Shopping Center this day were courtesy of Tim Brumleve! Along with Tim, Mike Cloninger was on hand from Dragon Studio to show off some his stuff, done with Cubase. GEnie was well represented by Darlah Pine, head of the Atari Roundtables on GEnie. Hooked up live to GEnie, Darlah showed how to get around the system to the new users. Most of them were impressed with Atari's official online service! Genie's Basic Services are an exceptional value! Darlah also showed the new subscribers how to locate the developers of their favorite programs, most of whom are probably online on GEnie now! Got a problem with a program? Here's how to send electronic mail to the company! Did you say that you were interested in public domain software? GEnie has simply the *best* online libraries around! Darlah remarked how wonderful it was to find so many new users at a show! It had been a long time since so many new folk had appeared at a show. John Fox of Goldleaf Publishing was on hand, his usual wacky self, to wow the crowd with WordFlair II. Word Flair II takes advantage of Atari's FSMGDOS, utilizing scalable outline font technology. A truly unique product, a document processor, Word Flair II let you integrate text, graphics, and data all on one page! Jeff Williams is a familiar sight to show goers as one of the syops from GEnie. Jeff has long been a fixture as the moderator of the Wed. night conferences on GEnie. Now Jeff is also with ICD, and ICD sent him to Asheville with an ample supply of host adapters, AdSpeed accelerators, and great deals on close out 8 bit stuff! Jeff displayed a STacy 4 with an AdSpeed up and running. ICD's products just seem to get better and better! Located inside the Computer STudio store, hidden behind a wall of people that constantly surrounded him was none other than Nathan Potechin of ISD Marketing. Nathan was showing off Calamus S/L on the Atari TT030 at Computer STudio. People were lined up three and four deep from opening till about 2:30 to speak with Nathan, and to see the power of Calamus S/L. Nathan also gave a seminar later in the day on Atari Desktop Publishing using Calamus. Always easy to approach, Nathan spent time with new friends discussing Calamus, Outline Art, DynaCadd, and the Independent Association of Atari Developers. Nevin Shalit of Step Ahead Software is the author of Tracker/ST. Tracker is a powerful application that offers a complete mail manager with a quick letter option, label printing and more. Nevin is one of the sysops of the SoftLogik Roundtable on GEnie, and also gave folks a look at the powerful new version of PageStream. Better known in some circles for his Rumor City column in ST Informer, Nevin proves every month that you can kiss & tell if you do it right! Everyone likes to keep up with the latest scoop on the Atari community. Nevin shares his rumors with little flash and no slash, and lots of class. Refreshing reading for everyone! Other pseudo journalists would do well to consider his approach! Nevin sold out of Tracker/ST at this show! In addition to Nevin, ST Informer was also represented by Brian Gockley. Brian and his lovely wife had great supplies of ST Informers' A & D Software, including the Universal Item Selector and the Universal Network. Down from Virginia for the Blue Ridge Atarifest came Don and Carole Terp. These longtime Atarians might be remembered by some for their writings in the Atari community. They started ST Business magazine, and then published their original material in ST Applications. Now under the name of Reed Mountain Press, Don discussed the business side of desktop publishing. Clifton Willard was again on hand from Knoxville to show off his fabulous video creations, all generated using an Atari computer. Those doubters that the ST's video capabilities should have been present. His creations are simply fabulous! While not showing an Atari specific products, author Ralph Roberts spent time discussing Computer Viruses...the topic of his book. He has also written a series of Leisure Suit Larry hint books. Ralph autographed copies of his book as a special bonus to show attendees. Although not exhibiting per se, any report would be remiss if it didn't mention the attendance of Bill Aycock, Compuserve Sysop. Bill was easy to approach, and quite open about discussing the current state of CompuServe. If your a Portfolio user, CompuServe has an excellent Portfolio forum! Last, but certainly not least was Bob Brodie of Atari Computer Corporation. Bob spent most of his time helping out Darlah Pine showing of GEnie, and meeting new friends from the south. Bob especially enjoyed being right across the way from Computer STudio. It made it so easy for him to refer people to a great store just a few feet away to have their needs met. Instead of having to suggest that a dealer *might* have what the user needed, chances are that Computer STudio would already have the product in stock. And speaking of Computer STudio, Sheldon Winick and staff were on the go from almost before opening the store to the very end of the day. Lines are the cash register were typically about 4 deep. Sheldon was all smiles by the end of the day. I'd bet that this day goes down in Computer STudio history as one of the best. Did you say *the* best? Could be! The many specials that were run were sure to please any budget, and developers seemed to be all aglow as well. Beyond a doubt, this gathering brought together a fine balance of buyers and sellers! Clearly, credit for this event must go to the Blue Ridge Atari Computer Enthusiasts and Computer STudio. How many other shows in recent memory offer to provide developer space for free, and *no admission* charge? Hmmm, sounds like a pretty REVOLUTIONARY idea to me! A show in a shopping center?? Even more REVOLUTIONARY stuff! Don Thomas would be pleased. And could there be any doubt that there will be a repeat performance? How could it go wrong! With free booths for the developers, the major cost that they will have to deal is more like transportation and hotels. What a pleasant change from other recent shows! Look for this event to grow into an even bigger event than the 500 people that attended this year. Look for the friendly people at Computer STudio to be host to *the* gathering point for southern Atarians! Sheldon told Bob that he is already in discussions with a major mall in Asheville to relocate Computer STudio there. Imagine how many non-Atarians will see next years show! Kudos to Sheldon and his fine staff, and the Blue Ridge Atari Computer Enthusiasts for putting on such a fine event! I'm looking forward to next year!! ======================================================================= CPU UPDATE ---------- Press Release ======================================================================= Lots of exciting news and information from Computer Publications, Unltd. this month. ST CONNECTION TO BE AVAILABLE FROM ATARI DEALERS STARTING IN SEPTEMBER It's getting close to press time and we're getting excited about our "new" publication. Each issue of the ST Connection will now be a minimum of 16 pages (we're shooting for 24 by the first of the year), include color on several pages, feature original artwork for the cover, include our new ST Link desktop publishing section and much more. In addition to all that, beginning with the September issue, ST Connection will be available on many Atari dealer shelves. If you can't find STC the next time you visit your favorite dealer, have him contact us at 303/423-6805 or get in touch with our distributor at 303/777-3883. If you've never seen our publication, we'll be happy to send you a sample issue if you just give us your name and address. CPU ANNOUNCES CREATION OF ARTISTIK DESIGN SOFTWARE LABEL CPU is trying to bring the 'power without the price' theme back into the ST arena with its new Artistik Design Software label. The first commercial release from Artistik is MAKE*A*DATE, a personal information manager written by Jonathon Carroll. Look for an offical press release on this excellent Scheduler/Phone Book/Notes/ToDo List package very soon as well as a demo version which will be available in the software library on GEnie. The projected release date for MAKE*A*DATE is September 1, 1991 and everything is right on schedule. Future products tentatively include the Border Design Set, QwikArt and WordWar! If you're a programmer interested in our new label, please don't hesitate to contact us via E-Mail or visit our new Category on GEnie (See below). ISSUE NUMBER 1 OF GAMEMASTER SET FOR SEPTEMBER DISTRIBUTION If you're a Lynx enthusiast you might want to leave us your name and address so we can send you a free sample copy of our newest publication, GameMaster. This newsletter will carry Lynx product release information, news, reviews, hints, clues and more. Subscription cost is $10 for 10 issues. 2ND EDITION OF ATARI USERS COUPON BOOK SET FOR PRE-HOLIDAY DELIVERY The deadline for our popular Atari Users Coupon Book is rapidly approaching. We must have coupon confirmation by August 1st and copy by the 10th of August. Users groups will be receiving the same amount of books as they did the first time around. If you need more (or less) than last time around, please let us know and we will adjust our database. Books will be distributed to users groups in time for October /November meetings. Copies will also be sent to ST Connection subscribers and will be available at several major Atari shows this fall as well. 1st ANNUAL PROGRAMMING COMPETITION SET OPEN TO ALL ST ENTHUSIASTS Get ready, all you programmers out there. CPU and Artistik Design have announced their 1st Annual Programming Competition. The contest is open to all ST users with a public domain/freeware division as well as commercial division competition. Cash and prizes will be awarded to winners in both categories. Complete information will appear in a future issue of the ST Connection and posted on GEnie as well. Stay tuned for more details... CPU OPENS CATEGORY ON GENIE - COME ON OVER AND VISIT! With so many different products to discuss, we've thought it was about time to make it easy for customers and interested ST users to get in touch with us and discuss the things we're doing. If you have any questions about any of our products, please drop by and discuss them with us. CATEGORY 15 - TOPIC 21 HOW TO REACH US: Computer Publications, Unltd. P.O. Box 2224, Arvada, Colorado 80001-2224 PHONE: 303/423-6805 GEnie E-MAIL: STCONNECTION ======================================================================= ATARI 8-BIT OWNERS UPDATE ------------------------- Reprinted from AtariUser Magazine ======================================================================= The following column is reprinted from the July 1991 ATARIUSER magazine by permission. It may not be reprinted in any other form or publication without specific permission of Quill Publishing Co. Information and subscriptions to AtariUser are available: 113 W. College Street, Covina, CA 91723, phone 800-333-3567. 8-bit ALERT: Are you a die-hard Atari 8-bitter, looking for an upgrade path with more horsepower? Check CATegory-16, TOPic-11, on GEnie, called "Turbo- Babbleware!" Ideas being kicked around include an 8MHz 1600XLE computer system design, which would fit into a baby-PC chassis, and have eight expansion slots. If 4 times the speed of a normal XL weren't enough, the processor mentioned is the 65816, the 8/16-bit version of the 6502, which means it would address a whopping 16Mb of memory. Trade-in deals are being offered by Atari Canada now, and soon from the USA too, to get 8-bit owners into ST's. Atari is ending their support and liquidating their stock of 8-bit items by year's end '91. The Canadian deal is $250 and an 8-bit Atari (any condition) in exchange for a new-old-stock 520STFM. US is expected to soon follow with similar terms. Of concern to some of us is "What will Atari do with all those perfectly good 8-bit computers?" THE 8-BIT STATE: Connectivity with your Classic Atari 400/600/800/XL/XE Connecting your 8-bit system to other computers provides exciting new possibilities for gathering and sharing information and programs. Ways to expand the communications capabilities of your system include modems, direct connection, and special diskettes. The most popular method used to connect 8-bit computers to other systems is the modem. Several models are available which were designed specifically for the classic Atari. The SX-212 from Atari features direct compatibility with the Atari 8-bit systems. The SX-212 features both the Atari SIO (the custom 13-pin Atari peripheral interface) and standard RS-232 connections. It'll allow connection between your Atari and other systems at either 300 or 1200 baud using standard telephone lines. While prices vary, you may be able to find the SX-212 modem priced as low as $18 to $40. "Baud rate" is the speed at which data bits are transferred. A higher number means your data will take less time to be moved from one system to the other. If you divide the baud rate by 11 that will give you a rough estimation of how many characters per second you can expect to be transferred. Systems like Compuserve, Delphi, and GEnie which are servicing hundreds of users at any given time will usually take longer to transfer files than a single user BBS. If you're using a standard (non-Atari brand) modem, you'll need an RS- 232 interface for your computer. These devices convert the Atari SIO signals to the industry standard RS-232 levels. There are several different types with varying features and costs. Some are small and simple, like the P:R: connection from ICD, Inc., or the 850 interface made by Atari. Both of these interfaces provide connections for RS-232 serial devices, and a parallel printer. If you have a few more bucks in your budget and own a computer with a PBI (600XL/800XL) or ECI (130XE) expansion connector, the ICD MIO or CSS Black Box interfaces provide not only the serial and printer ports, but also connections for hard drives. If you happen to own a PC, ST, or other computer with a standard RS-232 port, you can connect to your classic Atari directly. By using what is called a "null modem" cable, both computers will think they are talking via modem, when none is there. The big advantage is that you can transfer files at 9600 or 19200 baud (depending on your interface). Once connected in this fashion, each computer can access the resources of the other system. To support the connection between your 8-bit and either a modem or directly connected computer, you'll need a telecommunications program ("terminal"). A popular program, written by Bob Puff and called (strangely enough) BOBTERM, offers all of the popular file transfer features plus a few special ones. The option to translate ASCII to (and from) ATASCII (Atari's own version of text that includes graphics and inverse characters) during binary transfers is a useful and unique twist that only BOBTERM offers. BOBTERM is shareware, available from all of the services, most bulletin board services, and of course Bob himself. Another direct connect solution offered by Nick Kennedy, is the program SIO2PC.ZIP, a shareware offering. The nice thing about this package is that you don't use a terminal program with it, because it makes your PC look like a normal disk drive! You can access the PC's memory as a RAMDisk, or the PC's disk drives and Printer. Instructions are included on how to construct the custom cable required. It's a fairly easy project, only using a handful of readily available components. Nick also offers a pre-assembled cable, for a reasonable fee. Remember-- shareware is NOT free, so if you use it, don't forget to pay for it! Charles Marslett (author of A65 and MYDOS) has produced a unique program for the IBM type PC's to allow them to format diskettes which can be read by both the PC (using his program) and the 8-bit. This shareware program, MYDOSPC.ARC, is available on most bulletin boards and services. It features commands to format, read, write, catalog, and list files on the modified format disks. There is the option to automatically translate ATASCII and ASCII control characters as files are copied to and from the diskette. For those of you which own an ST computer (as your second system <grin>) get the shareware program ST-XFORMER by Darek Mihocka. This program will allow you to actually run, although slowly, many 8-bit programs on the ST, provided that they are written "by the book." The later versions of this emulator also support a custom cable which allows you to connect your 8-bit disk drive directly to the ST. This simplifies moving files to the ST, so make sure you get most recent version (2.55)! - Chuck Steinman Resources: ICD Inc., 1220 Rock Street, Rockford IL 61101, 815-968-2228 Computer Software Services (CSS), P.O. Box 17660, Rochester NY 14617, 716-586-5545 Nick Kennedy, 300 South Vancouver, Russellville Arkansas 72801 Darek Mihocka, 14150 N.E. 20th St. #302, Bellevue WA 98007, 206-885-5893 BIO: Chuck Steinman is one of those fellows which just will not let the classic computers die. Often snubbed by them sixteen/thirty-two dudes, he continues to support and develop hardware and software for the machines with the REAL hidden power. He can be contacted on GEnie, Delphi, and CompuServe. ======================================================================= LEXICOR/COMPUSERVE ONLINE ANIMATION CLASSES ------------------------------------------- Press Release ======================================================================= Fairfax, CA -- Lexicor Software, makers of the new Phase-4 animation products currently available on the Atari ST/TT computer, has announced the start of their online animation classes. The classes, which go into full swing on August 1, will be held each Saturday at 5 PM Eastern time in the Atari Vendor's Forum on CompuServe. The classes are open to the public, with no special fees being charged. Users of all computer systems interested in learning more about animation are invited to attend and participate. The classes are not Atari-specific and deal with concepts and information useful to all computer animators. The first introductory class is scheduled for August 1 at 10 PM Eastern. This class is merely to "get to know" each other. It is not essential that you attend this first class in order to participate. Formal classes begin on Saturday, August 3 at 5 PM Eastern in the Atari Vendor's Forum (GO ATARIVEN). Classes are currently planned to run from August to December. General categories for the classes are: August/September -- Animations Using Paint Programs September/October -- 3D Object/CAD Animations November -- Color and Animation December -- Putting It All Together Specific topics within these broad categories will be dealt with in- depth via lectures written by Lexicor's Lee Seiler, an EMMY award winning animator. At the end of each lecture, the class will be opened for a Question and Answer period. Actual homework assignments will be "handed out" after each lecture class. Picture files, CAD objects and animations necessary for each homework assignment will be provided. In order to give students ample time to complete each assignment, there will not be a lecture delivered during each and every class. Classes not containing a lecture will be used for Q&A and further discussion of the topic presented in past lectures. Prior to beginning a new lecture, students will be asked to "turn in" their homework to be graded. Some of these turned in assignments may, at the discretion of Lexicor's staff, be made publicly available so that students can download them as examples. All lectures, homework assignments, animations and picture files necessary for each class will be made available for download in the Lexicor Library (LIB 9) of ATARIVEN prior to the lecture. If you're a novice animator or just a user with an interest in computer animation, these classes will teach you the animator's "tricks of the trade." If you're a traditional "pen and ink" animator, these classes show you how you can use the computer in place of the traditional paper, pencils, film and paint. Regardless of your level of computer animation expertise, these classes should have something for everyone! See you there! ======================================================================= INTERVIEW WITH BOB BRODIE ------------------------- by the Z*Net Online Staff, and Bob Brodie ======================================================================= Z*Net: Bob, Atari has announced their first AEGIS Conference to be held in Sunnyvale this next week. What exactly is the intent of the Aegis Program? Some people seem to think it's the same as the old "Business Computer Center". Bob: Nothing could be further from the truth. The old BCC has nothing in common with the AEGIS Program. The AEGIS program is designed to aid, and train our dealers. Under the BCC program, dealers had to spend money to keep certain minimums on hand. Yet with the AEGIS program, we're charging them NOTHING for their involvement. All of the training is provided free of charge. Z*Net: Is training the dealers all that is involved with the AEGIS Program? Or is there more to it than that? Bob: I'm not at liberty to discuss all the details at this time, but I can assure you that it involves much more than just training the dealers. We have additional opportunities for the dealers that we'll share with them next week. It would be inappropriate for them to be shared with your readers before the dealers all hear the program. Z*Net: So, what about some of the other things people have been reading about? Like minimum sales orders, monthly volume, etc.? Bob: I've read some of those things as well. (Laughing) It's really kind of weird to be here, see the program developing and then read online what the program is supposed to be! All I can tell you is to consider the source of the information your reading. I don't have much to say to National Enquirer type of publications. Z*Net: Sounds like a reasonable suggestion to me! But does the Aegis program in any way slow down the process of signing up more dealers for Atari? Bob: Not in the least! Atari has returned to distribution with their products with the specific intent of making Atari Computers more readily available to any dealer that wants them! We are presently dealing with a number of distributors nationwide, including one that is a MIDI specialist! While it's true that the TT will not be in the distribution channel, we think that's an appropriate move. Customers who purchase the TT deserve the finest support that they can get, from dealers that really know the product. With the lone exception of the TT products, all the rest of our products are available to any dealer via distribution! That includes laser printers, Mega STE's, hard drives, 1040 STE's, etc. We've even invited some significant distributors to the AEGIS training seminar. Z*Net: Anything else about the AEGIS seminar our readers might be interested in, Bob? Bob: The AEGIS seminar is most assuredly NOT just an Atari program. We have also secured the assistance of our developers in training our dealers at the AEGIS seminar. Only by the dealers understanding our products, and recognizing the *power* of the developers products will sales be generated. I've seen some comments online from some of the developers about their products in response to questions from new users. Frankly, some of their descriptions surprised me! It was some of the best presentations that I have seen on their products. Since we recognize that not all of our customers are online, it only makes sense to pass that information along to the resellers that will directly interface with the customer. That can best be accomplished by having the developers present at this event. Some of the developers that will at the AEGIS seminar include Nathan Potechin of ISD Marketing, Nevin Shalit of Step Ahead Software, Darin Kazmaier of SoftLogik Publishing, Lauren Flanagan-Sellers of Gold Leaf Publishing, Rick Flashman of Gribnif Software, Lee Seilor of Lexicor Software, and John Eidsvoog of CodeHead Software. Those are the ones that I can think of off of the top of my head. I'm sorry I don't have the list in front of me at the moment. James Grunke has arranged for some significant MIDI developers to be there as well, from Dr. T's and Steinberg Jones. Z*Net: This looks like a good mixture of products to me, Bob! Atari has provided a balance there between productivity packages, utilities, and MIDI. Certainly not just high end unaffordable applications!! Bob: This was exactly our goal. As always, there are people that wish they could have attended this event but could not. That includes both developers and dealers. The important thing to recognize is this is the first step! We're making some good moves with this, and it gives us a foundation to build on. We've considered the needs of *all* of our users, not just the high end ones. Z*Net: Thanks for taking time to speak with us, Bob! We're sure that our readers will appreciate this information on the Aegis program. ======================================================================= DIGIFLY ------- Press Release ======================================================================= SPECIAL ANNOUNCEMENT!! NOW YOU CAN PERMANENTLY GROUND THE MOUSE AND TAKE OFF WITH THE MAXX(R) CONTROL YOKE, YOUR ST/MEGA/STE AND DIGIFLY!! Are you serious about capturing that "FLYING" sensation? Then you must start flying with a flight yoke! Nothing else will do. After all, how many airplanes have you been in with "RODENT CONTROL"? Let's get serious about how to interface the yoke and your computer. DIGIFLY is the analog to digital interface that translates the yoke movements into signals that the computer can understand. DIGIFLY is powered directly by the mouse port and the yoke replaces the mouse. True smooth, proportional control is present at all times, not the jerky joystick action! The sensitivity of the yoke is fully adjustable, and DIGIFLY is extremely stable. There is no cursor wandering or other undesirable effects!! What about the kit assembly? A double sided plated epoxy pre-drilled printed circuit board will give years of service. The resistors, capacitors, integrated circuits and sockets are of the highest quality; and reliable interconnect cables are included in the DIGIFLY kit. PLEASE NOTE: THE MAXX(R) IBM CONTROL YOKE MUST BE PURCHASED SEPARATELY, IT IS NOT INCLUDED IN THE DIGIFLY KIT. If you know how to solder PC boards, then you can build DIGIFLY! If not, then contact an Electronics Tech for assistance. After 4-6 hours assembly and check out time, the final alignment is a breeze - only three internal adjustments are required. The illustrated manual with the extensive voltage check list ensures that your completed DIGIFLY interface will work perfectly! Just how good is DIGIFLY? The in-flight control and stability is top notch. Climbs, turns, landings and takeoffs have never been easier! DIGIFLY can run for hours on end and deliver maximum in flight performance. DIGIFLY and the yoke are a perfect pair with any type of driving game or other mouse controlled ARCADE program. Our fully equipped service department takes care of warranty and out of warranty repairs. DIGIFLY has been carefully designed to avoid component overstress and potential breakdowns. Join our world wide user base and EARN YOUR WINGS with DIGIFLY!!! ORDER YOUR DIGIFLY KIT TODAY WHILE SUPPLIES LAST!! *********************SPECIAL OFFER********************* ORDER DIGIFLY AT THE REDUCED PRICE OF $39.95!(was $74.95) (Calif. residents add 8.25% state sales tax) PLUS $5.00 SHIPPING and HANDLING ********************LIMITED TIME ONLY******************* | NAME __________________________________ | | ADDRESS _______________________________ | | CITY ______________________________ | | STATE ______________________________ | | ZIP CODE _______________ | | YES!! I WANT TO PERMANENTLY GROUND THE MOUSE | | SEND ONE DIGIFLY KIT IMMEDIATELY | | DIGIFLY KIT $39.95 | | (CA. ADD 8.25% TAX) ____ | | SHIPPING & HANDLING 5.00 | | TOTAL ENCLOSED $_________ | |PLEASE MAKE YOUR CHECK OR MONEY ORDER PAYABLE TO RASCOM | | THANK YOU. | | RASCOM | | 22128 NEWKIRK AVENUE | | CARSON, CALIFORNIA 90745 | |_________________________________________________________| ======================================================================= Z*NET SOFTWARE SHELF -------------------- by Ron Berinstein ======================================================================= Summer is the perfect time to clean up the house. After all when during the year do you host more cook-outs, have more guests over after having gone to the beach, host more parties, or, have more relatives visit? So... don't forget your computer! It is with great pleasure and pride that we at Software Shelf announce and bring you the "First Annual Summer Tune Up" edition! That's right, clean up that hard drive, attack those files that don't belong to anything anymore, check your filters, change your programs, and put your computer in shape! So it's been a while since you've done that? Well, to break the ice and to help you recognize those files that you don't, make sure you download WHATIS.ARC WHATIS 4.6 recognizes 84 types of files: ARCs, LHarcs, PRGs, pics, ACCs, animations, etc... no more "what is this one, did the kids use my computer again?" problems! It runs either as a .PRG or an .ACC, on your ST or TT and in any resoulution. WHATIS the new version's difference? It allows wildcards, and adds keyboard equivalents, plus covers data on Opus and Wordflair files. And now that you've identified those loose ends, why not download some new versions of those other programs you have as well. Remember this is Summer Tune Up! But, to do it you'll need to tune up your Arc Shell as well. ARCSH26A.ARC Following closely on the heels of ARC Shell 2.6 comes -- ARC Shell 2.6a! With a new feature that adds more configurability to the 'Quester Mode' switch. ARC Shell is shareware (remember to pay for it if you use it). Copyright 1991 Charles F. Johnson & LGF Software, and it makes downloading a real pleasure. If you have a desire to expand your computer's duties and maybe start a BBS, or if you just plan to talk to BBS's in order to find those new program files... OMNI_101.ARC For those of you who are future sysops, and you would like to investigate a Mutiline BBS program, you might download this file and see what it is all about. Prior to OMNI, I believe that there has been only two other multiline BBS programs written for the ST. This is a public domain release. UTERM2.TOS is UniTerm V2.0e a very good file transfer VT100 emulator. Works well if you have Vaxen in mind. Additional UniTerm utilities are in the ATARIPRO Telecom section on CompuServe. And while I'm on the subject of modem fun... TELEB1.LZH TELEBASE Version 1.61: NEW VERSION! Keep track of all your phone and fax numbers; plenty of room for notes with each number! Dial out through a modem! A variety of print options; features so you can remember appointments! V1.61 ADDS ability to control when or if modem disconnects (full modem config.!); more control of printer! (use any printer easily!) (c) but FREEWARE! POSTDE.LZH This file allows users of Flash 1.6 (Antic) to compose a message offline, and after they log on just hit F1 to go to the desired Forum and post the message. Desktop Publishers Alert! A FONT-Tain of SUMMER is at your beck and call! A lot of fonts, and things to do with them for some Font-Tastic fun, have been recently posted. DIANE.ARC is based on a Broadway type face called Dolmen. This font was created with the Calamus Font Editor, and it's soon to be released replacement called 'Type Art,' that will be available soon from ISD. TIEMPOLI.ARC TIEMPO LIGHT ITALIC are now added to the TIEMPO 2 font family, giving a total of 6 TIEMPO typefaces. A Calamus Font. FORMSSET.ARC Here is a collection of forms from business cards to work orders. Uses mostly Times and Swiss fonts. Complete useable forms, customize them for your use. Perhaps you will at least find the business card form very useful. For use with Calamus! LASERCPX.ARC This is a new CPX file that checks your SLM's Status and ID# for you. It reports all ERROR messages and Status message and can come in handy when the Laser starts acting up. If the author feels that his program is being supported he will provide updates, including one for the Diablo Emulator. A good bet for Laser Printer owners. FONTS.DOC is a Pagestream 2 doc file of the Compugraphics fonts (39) just posted on Compuserve. These are PD fonts converted from the MAC. You must have 4 megs to print this file but a 2 meg machine can display the doc file. Pagestream users will find these converted fonts: ALBATR.LZH, ASHLEY.LZH [Ashley], CALIGU.LZH [Caligula], CARAWA.LZH [CARAWAY], CAS.LZH, CLASSR.LZH [CLASSICAL ROMAN], CRACKL.LZH, CRILLE. LZH, DAVYSR.LZH, DRGNWC.LZH [DRAGON WICK], EIRE.LZH, FAUSTU.LZH [FAUSTUS], FRANKT.LZH [FRANTIM], GOUDYM.LZH [GOUDYMED], GRAPHI.LZH [GRAPHICAL], GREECA.LZH [GREENCAP], HELENA.LZH, INKWEL.LZH, KUS.LZH, MANZAN.LZH, MES.LZH, MIAMIN.LZH, MIDDLE.LZH, MURIEL.LZH, NORDIC.LZH, NUS.LZH, PARISM.LZH [PARISMET], PARKHA.LZH [PARKHAVEN] PIXIE.LZH, PLAYBI.LZH [PLAYBILL.LZH], POLO.LZH, RHYOLV.LZH [RHYOLVER], RICHAR.LZH [RICHARD], ROOSTH.LZH, SAINTF.LZH, SANSSE.LZH [SANSSER], SHARKT.LZH, STYLE.LZH, TOULOU.LZH [TOULOUSE] WINDSO.LZH [WINDSOR], ZALESK.LZH MACTOI.ARC This program will convert a large percentage of Mac Type 1 fonts into IBM format which PageStream can recognize (PGS 2.0 and greater). Tested on a variety of fonts with about 75% success rate. It all depends on whether the Mac font has the correct files. If it does, you are in business. RECODEPS.ARC provides a sample of how to recode the ASCII mapping for a Postscript font in order to gain better compatibility with, for example, Pagestream. *** And voila! *** Why not consider printing Pagestream files out a little faster? <smile> FPPRNT.LZH <--- Put this program in your auto folder and it will speed up your printing with PageStream! ST_ENV42.LZH Demo of v.4.2 of the envelope program. Some bugs are fixed and a new option has been added. You can now choose the font and type style of the print for the labels and Envelope's, as well as all the other options in the old version. Another version is also planned. Now to update your Game files... BEYOND.ARC As the world was created there arose a sign upon the horizon. Slowly as one walked in that direction one could read that it was a billboard announcing TETRIS. Then it seemed with every new day another billboard became visible announcing another clone. And today is no different! Yet another clone! The object of this game is to keep the screen clear and build the highest score. WARSHIPS.ARC faithfully recreates classic ship-to-ship battles from the golden age of sailing. The first version of this game allowed for large fleet actions. It was accurate, but too slow and a single game could last up to six hours! Then it was decided to try single ship engagements. Try it and see.. JEPARDY3.ARC Here it is...the final version of jeopardy! (Yah, well time will tell!) Now included is a dispute key so you never get penalizied for an answer which is correct. Four new games to play are included. This is the ultimate game for jeopardy lovers. STARTREK.ARC 322688 bytes of Galactic Fun! You can guess the rest! And three ways to skin a cat... Choose your favorite... FRMD12C.LZH The FormDoIt! program replaces the parts of the GEM environment that handles the standard dialog and alert boxes that appear in most Atari programs. Enhancements that FormDoIt! offers include Keyboard Equivalents for dialog and alert box buttons and much more! This is version 12c. LETEMFLY.ARC A dialog box manager like Form_Do_It. It lets you drag around the dialog box (solid if you have a blitter). It also can turn off the grow/shrink boxes and a lot more. Plus it has a great configuration CPX for XControl. Freeware from Germany! FORMRN.ARC New version, adds key equivalents for buttons! Assembler source for a replacement form_do function. 100% compatible plus these features: definition of command keys for exiting the dialog, extended character entry allows any ASCII character to be entered in an editable field, up/down arrows can 'wrap around' first to last editable field. In a PRG, objects can highlight or exit when mouse pointer passes over them. Demo included, docs in the source. (v2.1) Fan response... NEW_WRK.ARC is another product from a Happy CodeHead Camper fan! That is a happy Hotwire user has put this together as an aid for other HotWire users. This set of programs were designed to minimize the work involved, and the possibility of errors, when changing from working on one program to another. Summer is a great time for Music! LOC_1_2.ARC is "Local Control" is a little utility written to access the "Local On/Local Off" modes of MIDI keyboards. By turning Local Off only note coming in through MIDI are played, and not notes played on the keyboard. This is very useful for keeping these notes from being triggered twice. Ver. 1.2 Mono, Low Fixed! MAPIT.LZH This is the first release of MapIt! It works with High and Medium resolutions only. It allows you to re-assign any incoming MIDI note on/off event to another Note / Channel. You can even set the velocity to be a constant, or to be passed through! Hence, now there is no need to buy an expensive mapper box. PANIC_09.LZH Version .9 of the "Panic Button" This small .ACC (.5k) sends an 'All Notes Off' command on all 16 MIDI channels. This can 'unstick' a 'stuck' note. This especially useful with a few PD algorithmic composers which get ocassional stuck notes, or any GEM MIDI program. *all rez* GFA .LST file included. JUKEBOX.LZH plays back Amiga MOD song files in the background while you do other things! It also lets you control the speed as well as the tone. This DA requires an STE or TT. Now for Summer School... Pretend you are a doctor, imagine this: Doctor Atari, Room 1040 STAT, STAT! Doctor Mrs. Processor has no heart beat what do we do? - Well, see how you react to this medical situation with: CODEBLUE.LZH Cardiac Arrest Simulator, Teaches you how to run a code. This is a fully working demo version that only will run for a short while then stop. (hopefully, not like Mrs. Processor's heart, though) AIDOCTOR.ARC Artificially Intelligent Doctor. Have fun diagnosing you and your loved ones illnesses using baysian logic in an expert system. Includes GFA source code and docs. Shell could be used for other expert systems by using a new data file, i.e. teach it to do something else. And for your Demo collection... SILODEMO.ARC is the DEMO version of Silhouette, version 1.0, a new commercial program for the Atari ST/TT. It is a bit-image and vector graphics drawing program with auto-tracing feature. ACCTS3.ARC V. 3.00 of the Hi-Tech Accounting Series including General Ledger, Accounts Payable and Accounts Receivable. This is a complete system with entry limited to 50 records per file, for evaluation purposes only. Includes extensive data management, lists, reports and much, much more. INVPRO.ARC is V5.75 of the popular Inventory-Pro from Hi-Tech Advisers. This is a complete working copy of the system with the only limitation being 50 records maximum entry. Provides complete inventory control, reorder lists, labels, many reports, etc., etc. And last, but not least.. BLRUT1.ARC contians Rasmussen's ST utilities - version 1.8 - 26 general .PRG and .TOS programs plus a doc file which describes each program - all are written in assembly language, and all are inter-active. The above files were compiled by Ron Berinstein co-sysop CodeHead Quarters BBS (213) 461-2095 from files that were either directly uploaded to CodeHead Quarters BBS, or downloaded from GEnie, Compuserve, and Delphi online services. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Z*NET Atari Online Magazine is a weekly publication covering the Atari and related computer community. Material contained in this edition may be reprinted without permission except where noted, unedited and containing the issue number, name and author included at the top of each article reprinted. Opinions presented are those of the individual author and does not necessarily reflect the opinions of the staff of Z*Net Online. This publication is not affiliated with Atari Corporation. Z*Net, Z*Net Atari Online and Z*Net News Service are copyright (c)1991, Rovac Industries Incorporated, Post Office Box 59, Middlesex, New Jersey 08846-0059. Voice (908) 968-2024, BBS (908) 968- 8148 at 2400/9600 Baud 24 hours a day. We can be reached on Compuserve at PPN 75300,1642 and on GEnie at address: Z-Net. FNET NODE 593 ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Z*NET Atari Online Magazine Copyright (c)1991, Rovac Industries, Inc.. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~