Z*Net: 12-Apr-91 #9115
From: Bruce D. Nelson (aj434@cleveland.Freenet.Edu)
Date: 04/16/91-10:35:54 PM Z
From: aj434@cleveland.Freenet.Edu (Bruce D. Nelson)
Subject: Z*Net: 12-Apr-91 #9115
Date: Tue Apr 16 22:35:54 1991
Also thanks to: Todd C. Miller.
Please note: #9114 was skipped.
==(((((((((( == Z*NET INTERNATIONAL ATARI ONLINE MAGAZINE
=========(( === -----------------------------------------
=======(( ===== April 12, 1991 Issue #91-15
=====(( ======= -----------------------------------------
==(((((((((( == (c)1989-1991, Rovac Industries, Inc.
EDITORIAL STAFF
Ron Kovacs...........................Publisher/Editor
John Nagy...............................Senior Editor
Terry Schreiber...................Z*Net Canada Editor
Jon Clarke.........Z*Net New Zealand/Australia Editor
Michael Schuetz..................Z*Net Germany Editor
Ron Berinstein....................Contributing Editor
Dr. Paul Keith..............Special Assignment Editor
Keith Macnutt...............................Columnist
Mike Mezaros.........................Assistant Editor
Mike Brown..........................ZNS Correspondent
CONTENTS
EDITORS DESK.....................................Ron Kovacs
Z*NET CANADA................................Terry Schreiber
EYEWITNESS CEPS REPORT - PART ONE................Mike Brown
Z*NET NEWSWIRE.............................................
CEPS PRESS RELEASE - PART TWO.................Press Release
Z*NET PUBLIC ACCESS REPORT.................................
CALAMUS TUTORIAL - PART VIII..................Geoff LaCasse
Z*NET NEW ZEALAND................................Jon Clarke
Z*NET SOFTWARE SHELF.........................Ron Berinstein
KEYSKINS......................................Press Release
PUBLIC DOMAIN UPDATE..........................Keith Macnutt
=======================================================================
EDITORS DESK
------------
by Ron Kovacs, Publisher
=======================================================================
Thanks for downloading another GREAT issue of Z*Net Online. We are
pleased to include an eyewitness report from the CEPS show courtesy of
Mike Brown, a longtime friend and supporter. Thanks Mike!!!!
New Jersey readers and BBS callers take note that our area code has
changed and takes full effect on June 1, 1991. Central New Jersey will
change from 201 to 908. The way it works now, 201 will be specific to
Northern New Jersey, 908 to Central New Jersey and 609 to all Southern
points of the state. Call your local phone company if you are not sure
of the area changed. We were given a map by NJBell detailing the
changes, hmmmm, perhaps a VIDI pic is in order?? You can still use the
201 area code until June 1.
AtariUser Magazine is NOW shipping to over 30,000 readers today! Some
of you will be seeing it this weekend and during the week ahead. Stay
tuned for the latest information on this new Atari SPECIFIC publication
right here in Z*NET!!
You may have noticed this is issue #91-15?? Any release from Z*NET
will now be in sequence order. Last week we released INDX9114.TXT which
is an index of issues available on GEnie in Library #25. GEnie is the
only online service containing ALL of the "Z" releases.
Thanks are also being sent to the staff of this publication for the
continued support and great articles. I appreciate the assistance and
look forward to continued success!
=======================================================================
Z*NET CANADA
------------
by Terry Schreiber, Assistant Editor
=======================================================================
Atari Canada announced the Mega 1 STE a cut-down version of the Mega 4
STE. The Mega 1 was said to be the exact same as its big brother minus
the harddrive, host adapter, math chip and 3 megs of ram. It was
presented as this by most dealers and advertised as such but something
new has developed. The Mega 1 STE has a new harddrive cover that is
louvered as to inhibit the install of a harddrive. The cover was
completely re-designed in comparison with the Mega 4 STE with no
mounting holes and louvers that will have to be cut or dremeled out to
allow a harddrive to even fit.
This does not take into account a way of mounting it as the mounting
holes that were on the Mega 4 STE are missing on the Mega 1 STE.
Reasoning behind this manoeuvre totally escapes me as Atari stated that
the ICD Mega host adapter could be purchased and a harddrive added in.
This cover couldn't have been designed for re-enforcement could it? If
it was surely the better idea people at Atari could have included 2
plastic cross-members that would have accomplished the same in the
original design, after all the monitor doesn't sit on the harddrive
cover. Could an optional cover be offered for people at a later date?
Upon further contact with Atari there will be an upgrade offered from
them with either a 40 or 80 megabyte drive, host adapter, mounting rails
and of course the new (old) cover. No cost comparisions were available
at press time but Z-Net will post the prices as soon as they are
announced.
=======================================================================
Z*NET SPECIAL REPORT
--------------------
EYEWITNESS CEPS '91 REPORT
by Mike Brown, Z*Net Correspondent
=======================================================================
Atari's Professional Systems Group show their stuff.
This past week (April 8-11th) Chicago's massive McCormick Place
exhibition center played host to the best and brightest that Computer-
based publishing has to offer in the annual Corporate Electronic
Publishing Systems (CEPS) trade show.
Atari chose this exhibition to introduce "Direct To Press", a complete
and comprehensive array of pre-press publishing solutions. Direct To
Press is more than a hastily assembled "bundle" of an Atari computer
system with a popular page layout program, it includes tools for every
phase of pre-press work from document processing and design, to photo
retouching and imagesetter film output.
Although my time at CEPS was limited (I have bills to pay too), I will
try to cover the items showcased at CEPS that make the Direct To Press
system such an attractive package for demanding vertical market
segments.
To be sure, the "engine" that drives this sophisticated system is the
Atari TT030/8 consisting of 8mb of RAM, an 80mb HD, and a TTM194 19"
1280 by 960 monochrome monitor. This powerful computing platform
performs at the high level shown at CEPS in concert with an array of
very innovative software and hardware developed by Atari's international
and domestic business partners.
The Direct to Press solutions offered by Professional Systems Group
generally follow one of three complementary approaches: Soft-Logik's
PostScript based PageStream 2, Calamus SL with tms Cranach Studio family
of high-end publishing applications (including proprietary SoftRIPs for
specific models of typesetters and imagesetters) and the Retouche/Didiot
family of digital lithography, line art, and page layout tools (using
proprietary software technology to create raster images of pages within
the host software, eliminating the need for a raster image processor,
and uses specialized hardware to greatly enhance output speed and
quality).
In addition to showing the current versions of Calamus, and Calamus
Outline Art, ISD Marketing were showing Calamus SL (albeit, with German
menus and help text). I was impressed by the color handling capability
of SL, especially when shown on the PTC1426 14" color monitor. Users
can specify colors either by simple RGB mixing or an external module
such as pantone. Calamus SL will create the necessary four films per
page for color separations.
Calamus SL's programmers seem to have paid attention to the critics that
have said that the Calamus learning curve is too steep. I found SL more
intuitive, and generally easier to use, although old Calamus hands will
slip it on like a comfortable shoe. One of Calamus' strong suits has
been the manipulation of text around irregular objects, and SL continues
this tradition by allowing text and graphics to be rotated through a
full 360 degrees.
Although the Linotronic equipment had not arrived the day I visited
CEPS, Klaus Garms assured me that a special version of Calamus SL
incorporates "SoftRIPs" to allow connection directly from the TT030 to a
Linotronic or AGFA Compugraphic 9000 series imagesetter. The AGFA booth
was nearby, and I'm here to tell you that the ProSet 9800 by AGFA is
capable of generating some very eye-popping 200-line screen color images
(at very high speeds). The downside of this is that imagesetters are
very definitely professional level machines, and have proportionally
professional prices.
Stealing CEPS attendees from the Xerox (Ventura Publisher) folks in the
adjoining booth were Soft-Logik, with a preliminary version of
PageStream 2. I was assured that PageStream 2 will be out "real soon
now" for all of you devoted fans that are chomping at the bit.
PageStream 2 includes new support for Adobe Type I, AFGA Compugraphic
Intellifont industry standards, as well as the PageStream fonts that you
are familiar with. PageStream 2 now includes 18 free outline fonts (10
of which are Compugraphic hinted fonts) as well as the ability to use
any Adobe PostScript font.
Additional flexibility has been added to PageStream 2 with the support
for additional graphics formats such as IBM, Mac and EPSF EPS. The
internal drawing tools have been improved dramatically as well, but are
still no substitute for a good drawing program. Those of you who have
complained in the past about available page sizes can take comfort in
PageStream 2's new 1200 foot by 1200 foot page size "limitation".
Although it was hard to get at the booth- a very enthusiastic group of
young Europeans representing 3K-ComputerBild drew crowds all day to see
Retouche Professional; a full featured photo retouching program. The
interesting thing about Retouche, is that the "tools" used are purposely
designed to be familiar to those in the lithography trade: Pen, brush,
charcoal, stamp, copy pen, randomizer, sharpener, finger, water, eraser,
scraper and an undo function called the "restorator". Retouche uses
screen resolutions of up to 394 lines versus the 133 line limitation in
PostScript.
An impressive feature of Retouche is the ability to distort, project, or
transform halftone pictures on 3-dimensional Bezier surfaces. A
sophisticated "mask" tool used to select areas of the image combines
with professional level overlay techniques, such as addition,
subtraction, mean value, and evaluation, to produce virtually any type
of picture combination.
Virtual memory management enables Retouche Professional to
simultaneously handle up to ten pictures of up to 4096 by 4096 pixels
(16mb RAM required).
Retouche CD adds the dimension of color. It enables all of the features
and functions to allow processing of full color as well as halftone
images. Retouche CD can work with 256 colors from a palette of 16.7
million colors and includes facilities for color selection, correction,
and color separation for output to an imagesetter.
3K also showed a prototype of their "Image Speeder" which will be a re-
packaging of the TT030 specifically designed to connect to an
imagesetter. It uses the TT VMEbus to synchronize to the video port of
the imagesetter. It also contains some special hardware to assist the
software RIP in the Didiot, Retouche Professional, and Calamus line of
products.
The Image Speeder is packaged in a tower case to accommodate a larger
power supply and other peripherals such as a large capacity hard disk,
as well as the laser printer controller. Special raster image processor
hardware includes an Intel 82786 graphics coprocessor capable of
throughput of 50mb/second. The 82786 is equipped with 4mb of RAM and
has subunits for for a display processor for 1 to 8 bit pixels which
display up to 256 colors from a palette of 16.7 million. Monochrome
operations can run as fast as 30 million pixels per second; halftones or
256 colors can run at 4 million pixels per second. The graphics
processor provides hardware pan and zoom support.
Sherlook Professional is a high speed and highly accurate program for
optical character recognition that can process up to 12,00 characters
per minute. The program automatically recognizes different languages,
recognizes multiple fonts and point sizes on a single page, can be
"taught" to recognize special characters, and has a built-in spelling
checker.
Local CRAG usergroup member Randy Noak spent quite a bit of time showing
me SciGraph by SciLab. It is a high performance integrated graphing and
full featured vector drawing program that can display and manipulate up
to 256 on screen colors or greyscale levels and create a wide variety of
chart and graph types that can easily be converted into desktop
publishing documents.
I found SciGraph's 3-D graphics manipulation functions to be
particularly innovative. You have full control over the casting of
shadows, and their intensity, the perspective of the graph in relation
to the viewer, and other bits that can be played with almost infinitely.
Randy and I spent the better part of an hour making hundreds of
variations on just one set of 3-D data points.
Goldleaf Publishing was proudly showing Wordflair II; the integrated
document processor. I had my doubts about a program that claims to
combine word processing, calculations, graphics, page layout and a
simple database on a representation of a printed page. After a little
"cockpit time" I can safely say that if you need to produce short
documents in a limited amount of time, Wordflair II deserves more than a
casual look.
Wordflair's on-screen help was particularly impressive, as I snuck on
the package while Lauren Flanegan-Sellers and her crew were away from
their station! The on-screen help made operating the program a breeze,
even for a hardcore goof-up such as myself.
One of the more fascinating offerings was presented by TradeiT of
Germany. There was a little miscommunication sometimes with Thomas
Klatt and Michael Wagner manning the TradeiT area (mostly because I'm
not a graphic artist), but their fine Repro Studio Pro and Avant Vektor
products spoke for themselves. Repro Studio allows the hand scanner
owner functions that were previously reserved for those well-heeled
folks owning flatbed scanners.
Attendees were initially attracted to their "subject matter" (a stunning
Blonde), but the oohs and ahs were definitely for the functionality of
the product.
If you don't already have a hand-scanner, TradeiT offers several models
based on Logitech engines compatible with the ST/TT.
Overall, it was a pleasure to see Atari making a firm commitment to
their Professional Systems Group. The caption on the cover of the
handouts was: "Complete Publishing Solutions. No compromises", it is my
opinion that Atari put everyone else attending CEPS on notice that they
intend to be a player in the DTP market, and that they intend to do it
through innovation, not "me-too-ism".
The Atari personnel were most kind to take time out to answer my
questions and allow us to produce the VIDI pictures of CEPS that will be
available on GEnie shortly. I hate singling out people, but special
thanks to Greg Pratt, Bob Brodie, Mel Stevens and Bill and Joan Rehbock
for their attention, and patience with an insufferable pest (right Bob?)
such as myself.
If you have the slightest amount of interest in DTP and allied computer
imaging technologies, you owe it to yourself to make plans to attend
CEPS 1992. It is truly a showcase event that is meaty with ideas and
information, and lean on "fluff".
=======================================================================
Z*NET NEWSWIRE
--------------
Compiled by the Z*Net News Service
=======================================================================
BRODIE TO ATTEND MEETING (Press Release)
On Saturday, April 27, 1991, Bob Brodie, Manager of User Group Services
for ATARI will be visiting Southern California. Bob is a very dynamic
speaker. Before Bob came to ATARI, he was a User Group President. He
knows what it is like in the trenches. This visit is being sponsored by
the User Group, H.A.C.K.S., but attendance is open to all ATARI Clubs
and ATARI owners. H.A.C.K.S. has rented a 325 seat theatre for the
occasion. This meeting will be held at the Glendale Public Library's
Main Branch Theatre, upstairs. The meeting will start promptly at
10:30 AM and is expected to last three hours. The Library's address is
222 East Harvard Street, Glendale, CA. Take I-5 to the Colorado exit,
go East a mile to Louise Street, turn North, go one block. An
alternative route is to take the 134 FWY to the Central exit, go South
a mile to Harvard street, turn East, go two blocks. For more specific
directions refer to the L.A. County Thomas Bros. Guide, Page 25-E5.
Best of all, admission is FREE, but it is on a first come, first serve
basis only. As an added bonus The Computer Network, a local ATARI
Computer Store, will be having an Open House in honor of Bob Brodie's
visit. The store plans to have many developers, including, but not
limited to, CodeHead Software, Gadget's by Small and WuzTEK, displaying
their products. Store manager, Mark Krynsky, says to, "...expect
special prices and deals galore." The Computer Network is located at
1605 West Glenoaks Boulevard, Glendale, CA. The Open House will be from
2:00 PM to 7:00 PM, after Bob Brodie's lecture is over. If you have
specific questions about the Open House you may call Mark at 818-500-
3900. Remember, Bob Brodie's meeting will start promptly at 10:30 AM,
at the Library and the Open House will start at 2:00 PM, at the computer
store. Directions from the Library to the Store will be available at
the Library.
GRAPHTEC UNVEILS FIRST THERMAL PLOTTER
Graphtec Precision Image extended its line of thermal plotters by
introducing the TM1010 at the National Design Engineering Show earlier
this week. The TM1010 is an E-size thermal plotter with a 400 dpi
resolution and produces direct thermal and clear film output with black
and grey line imaging. For more information, contact Ronda Turner,
(415) 366-8900.
ASHTON-TATE SHIPS DBASE IV
Ashton-Tate announced this week that it has begau shipping dBASE IV
RunTime PLUS, a product that runs most dBASE IV version 1.1 applications
without modification on Apple Macintosh personal computers. Priced at
$195, dBASE IV RunTime PLUS gives Macintosh users access to thousands
of dBASE applications that were created in dBASE IV for DOS, UNIX or
VMS. More than simply a means of running an application, RunTime PLUS
gives developers the additional capability to create, modify or debug
dBASE code on the Macintosh. Registered users of Ashton-Tate's original
dBASE Mac product can buy dBASE IV RunTime PLUS for $75 plus shipping by
calling Ashton-Tate customer service at 800-2ASHTON.
POQET COMPUTER OFFERS LOTUS 1-2-3
Poqet Computer announced this week that purchasers of The Poqet PC will
receive a free copy of Lotus 1-2-3 (release 2.2) for The Poqet PC. The
software bundle applies to all merchandise purchased through Poqet
dealers from April 15 to June 30. The Poqet PC is a one-pound, portable
personal computer powered by two AA-size alkaline batteries and has a
suggested retail price of $1,450. For more information, contact Poget
at (800) 624-8999, ext. 1590. For dealer information, call (800) 624-
8999, ext. 1591.
UNIX OFFERS SYSTEM V RELEASE 4
UNIX System announced this week the availability of the UNIX System V
Release 4 Applications Binary Interface (ABI) for the MIPS RISC computer
architecture. AT&T Computer Systems, NEC Corp., Olivetti Systems &
Networks, Prime Computer, Pyramid Technology Corporation, Siemens
Nixdorf Information Systems, Sony Microsystems Company, and Tandem
Computers Incorporated, all have committed to offering MIPS-based
computer systems compliant with the UNIX System V Release 4 (SVR4) MIPS
ABI.
NINTENDO AGREES IN PRICE-FIXING CASE
Nintendo has agreed to give up to $25 million in coupons to customers
and pay $5 million to settle charges that it fixed its prices. Nintendo
did not admit to the charges, but agreed to partially refund people who
bought its 8-bit Nintendo Entertainment System video game consoles for
$99.95 from June 1988 to December 1990. Nintendo has agreed to issue
redemption certificates worth $25 million and guaranteed the redemption
of at least $5 million in certificates. Every purchaser of an NES
console during the 30-month period is entitled to a $5 coupon, good on
the purchase of a Nintendo game cartridge. Under the proposed consent
agreement, Nintendo has agreed to refrain from: Fixing the price at
which any dealer advertises or sells Nintendo products to consumers,
Reducing the supply of Nintendo products to dealers because of failure
to adhere to minimum suggested prices, Asking dealers to report other
dealers who offer Nintendo products below resale prices suggested by
Nintendo.
AT&T TO OFFERS FREE CALLS
AT&T will be offering the military three-minute long-distance telephone
calls at no charge to anywhere in the world on April 12-14. Military
personnel wanting to call a friend in Japan or Germany, for example, or
just check in with relatives back home can visit the AT&T exhibit at
Whidbey Island Exchange. At the exhibit, AT&T will allow military
families to make three-minute long-distance calls at no charge to any
location in the United States and to more than 270 countries and areas
worldwide.
IBM REPORTS FIRST LOSS
IBM, suffering from sagging business, unfavorable exchange rates and a
new accounting charge, announced this week a first-quarter net loss of
$1.73 billion, the first-ever quarterly shortfall for the world's
largest computer maker. The loss was due to a $2.26 billion accounting
charge against earnings to cover a new accounting standard that requires
employers to cover non-pension, post-retirement benefits - such as
health insurance - for current employees. Without the charge, net
income was $532 million, or 93 cents a share. In the first quarter of
1990, IBM earned $1.037 billion, or $1.81 a share. IBM last month
announced plans to cut its work force of about 373,000 by 14,000 this
year. IBM was founded in 1911 as the Computing-Tabulating-Recording Co.
The company changed its name to IBM in 1924.
=======================================================================
CEPS PRESS RELEASE - PART TWO
-----------------------------
Press Release
=======================================================================
This week we conclude reprinting of the Atari press release related to
CEPS. Last week we published Part One.
CEPS BACKGROUNDER CONTINUED
Retouche/Didot
The following group of Publishing tools has been developed by 3K-
ComputerBild and is published in North America by Goldleaf Publishing,
Inc. The products share a focus on providing tools to meet the
requirements of the most demanding lithography or typography
professional, and most of the products use a proprietary technique of
rasterizing the image within the application software, thereby removing
the need for a separate raster image processor (RIP).
Retouche Professional
Retouche Professional (TM) is a professional lithographer's dream come
true. A full featured grayscale photo retouching program, Retouche
Professional is a modular system of digital lithography tools for
creating, retouching and reproducing halftone pictures.
This sophisticated software features extremely high quality output that
results primarily from a unique method of screening that uses a library
of hand made (rather than mathematically generated) screens, can
manipulate Pixel shapes and patterns and uses screen resolutions of up
to 394 lines, as compared to the l33 line limitation in PostScript.
Retouche Professional's hand-generated screens resemble the screens used
with camera reproduction and are optimized for specific output devices.
Retouche Professional also features very fast throughput, again
resulting from the program's proprietary system of preparing and
transferring pictures for the imagesetter without requiring a raster
image processor.
Retouche Professional uses instruments that will be familiar to a
lithographer: pen, brush, charcoal, stamp, copy pen, randomizer,
sharpener, finger, wateraser, scraper, and a "restorator" that supplies
a local "undo" function with weighted overlay. Retouche Professional
provides ten different types of grayscale gradations to enable the user
to randomize away "steps" or "stripes."
An especially impressive feature is the ability to distort, project, or
transform halftone pictures on 3-dimensional Bezier surfaces. A
sophisticated "matool used to select areas of the image combines with
professional level overlay techniques, such as addition, subtraction,
mean value, and evaluation, to produce virtually any type of picture
combination.
Using vector paths as a graphics "macro" is a new conceptual approach to
picture processing. AlI of Retouche Professional's manual tools can
repeatedly fw vector Paths or different tools can be used along exactly
the same path. Vector paths can be easily constructed from straight
lines and Bezier curves or imported from a line art program such as
Didot Line Art. Alternatively, the font accessory enables outline fonts
to be used as vector paths.
Retouche Professional can convert color pictures that were scanned in
with a flatbed or camera scanner to good-looking black and white
pictures. It can alodify halftone pictures to improve their appearance
in print, including automatic gradations changes to compensate for the
inevitable loss of quality in the printing process.
Virtual memory management enables Retouche Professional to
simultaneously handle up to ten pictures of up to 4096 by 4096 pixels
(16 MB). Job-oriented management of scanned images, masks, type, and
art keeps files and work organized. Suggested retail price: $999.95.
Retouche CD
Retouche CD (TM) adds the dimension of color. It is a superset of
Retouche Professional and enables all of the features and functions of
that picture to work on full color as well as on halftone images.
Retouche CD can work with 256 colors from a palette of 16.7 million
colors and includes facilities for color selection, correction, and
color separation for output to an imagesetter.
The Retouche Professional method sends an entire rasterized page or
image to the imagesetter in a smooth flow, unlike the constant start and
stop created by a PostScript RIP. In stop and go mode, the mechanical
stress on the imagesetter film transport results in fine cuts in the
screening. Those cuts can create moire pattern problems. The smooth
flow means that Retouche Professional can produce results on an
affordable flatbed imagesetter that rival the much more expensive drum
imagesetters. Drum imagesetters use vacuum pressure for precision film
handling as the drum starts and stops. This quality advantage is
especially apparent in color work. Suggested retail price: To be
announced
Didot Line Art
Didot Line Art is a comprehensive vector graphics editor that can create
logos, headlines, and other art work. It can generate PostScript files
for any typesetter or complete page files for the Image Speeder, or CVG
files that can be imported into Calamus SL.
Didot Line Art can produce halftone pictures with 256 grayscale values
in TIFF or the proprietary ISH format. Thus, users can combine natural
looking material such as scanned photos with vector graphics, or
texturize vector objects with natural surfaces such as wood. Didot Line
Art can produce vector paths that can be exported and used with Retouche
Professional.
Part of Didot Line Art is an outline font editor with which users can
not only design their own fonts, but also change Calamus fonts and load
and use PostScript Type 1 fonts. (Type 1 fonts can even be converted
for use with Calamus.)
The vector graphics concept of Didot Line Art is closely related to the
PostScript methodology. All vector graphics are constructed of paths,
which consist of lines and Bezier curves. Line widths, fine styles, and
"colors" (one of 256 gray values) can be defined for each path. Paths
can describe surfaces as well as lines; a path can be filled with any of
256 gray values.
With these paths, users construct outline fonts (in the font creator)
and graphic primitives that can be grouped together to form complex
objects. Primitives and complex objects can be resized and reshaped, or
turned and distorted.
Text functions can also create complex objects: line text, path text,
and circular text. The program's help lines and grids are more
sophisticated than most. Magnetic snapping functions enable the user to
snap on a grid, a specific help line, a circle, or a Bezier point.
Horizontal and vertical snapping are available, as is the ability to
define a snap angle or a snapping radius. Suggested price: To be
announced
Didot Professional
A superset of Didot Line Art, Didot Professional (TM) is a complete page
layout and publishing package. It builds complete pages including piped
text across many columns and pages, as well as halftone or color
pictures of any size and bit-mapped images and vector graphics. Color
support covers the same 16.7 million colors and uses the same method,
including color separation, as Retouche CD.
Didot Professional is a page-oriented and object-oriented publishing
program. The program is focussed on giving the user extremely precise
control over page layout and works with objects, such as strips of text,
photos, or drawings. This differs from the typical method of working
with frames that represent the objects, and then importing the objects
into the frames.
All style and format information is specified and stored using macros.
Thus, if the user has tagged all subtitles, a change to the "subtitle"
definition of font and size will affect all of the tagged subtitles.
Suggested retail price: To be announced
3K Image Speeder
The 3K Image Speeder (TM) is a customized re-packaging of the Atari
TT030 that is specifically designed to connect to an imagesetter. It
contains a high speed scanner interface as well as an interface that
synchronizes the computer's VME bus with the video port of the
imagesetter. It also contains some special hardware to assist the
software RIP in the Didot, Retouche Professional, and Calamus line of
products. The Image Speeder is packaged in a tower case to accommodate
a lager power supply and other peripherals such as a large capacity hard
disk, or a Syquest removable storage media drive, as well as the laser
printer controller.
The special RIP support hardware includes an Intel 82786 graphics
coprocessor that is capable of a throughput of 50 MB/second. The 82786
is equipped with 4MB of RAM and has subunits for a display processor for
1 to 8 bit pixels which display up to 256 colors from a palette of 16.7
million, and for a true graphics processor for fast drawing and blitting
operations. Monochrome operations can run as fast as 30 million pixels
per second; halftones or 256 colors can run at 4 million pixels per
second. The graphics processor provides hardware pan and zoom support.
An essential part of the image Speeder is the special screening
processor developed by 3K-ComputerBild. Its function is to enable the
screening of halftone images with no delay at output. Several different
kinds of screening methods are supported. The screening processor can
apply an external gradation in real time. Suggested retail price: To be
announced.
Sherlook Professional
Sherlook Professional (TM) is a high-speed and highly accurate program
for optical character recognition that can process up to 12,000
characters per minute. The program automatically recognizes different
languages, recognizes multiple fonts and point sizes on a single page,
can be taught to recognize special characters, and has a built-in
spelling checker. Suggested retail price: $899.95
SciGraph
Developed by Sci-Lab, SciGraph (TM) is a high performance integrated
graphing and full-featured vector drawing program that can display and
manipulate up to 256 onscreen colors or grayscale levels and create a
wide variety of chart and graph types that can easily be imported into
desktop publishing documents.
For high quality presentation graphics, SciGraph can import data from
DIF and ASCII (CSV and TXT), and export table data to TXT, CSV, and
LaTex format. Vector graphics can be exported to GEM, EPS, PS, and CVG.
Once imported, the data can be converted to bar, line, area, and pie
chars of all types including 3-dimensional graphs. Suggested retail
price: To be announced
Wordflair II
Developed by Goldleaf Publishing, Wordflair II (TM) is an integrated
document processor, a single program that creates short, presentation-
quality, compound documents by combining word processing, calculations,
graphics, page layout, and a simple database on a screen representation
of a printed page. Wordflair II's integration enables the user to
easily manipulate text, data, and graphics without cutting and pasting
from separate applications.
It features fast text handling, a full built-in spelling checker and
thesaurus, layouts using up to 9 columns, and advanced on-screen help.
Table creation is easy in Wordflair II as is its sophisticated mail
merge function.
Page layout features include a graphics conversion utility that imports
many file formats, a snap-to-grid function, and an editable reduced
view. Suggest retail price: $149.95
For more information about Retouche Professional, Retouche CD, Didot
Line Art, Didot Professional, Sherlook Professional, SciGraph, Wordflair
II, or the 3K Image Speeder, contact:
John Fox
Goldleaf Publishing, Inc.
700 Larkspur Landing Circle, Suite 199
Larkspur, CA 94939
415-461-4552
=======================================================================
Z*NET PUBLIC ACCESS REPORT
--------------------------
Copyright(c)1990, US Government Printing Office
=======================================================================
(EDITORS NOTE: The information is presented as a special feature which
will appear from time to time. These announcements are pooled from the
online areas of CompuServe and GEnie and in the weeks ahead, we will
focus attention to these areas and the topics and files available.)
Prevention and Treatment of Alcohol Problems
Alcohol use is involved in nearly 100, 000 deaths annually and plays a
major role in numerous medical and social problems. The National
Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism (NIAAA) asked the Institute of
Medicine (IOM) to assess the state of knowledge about alcohol-related
problems and to identify the most important and promising avenues for
research into their prevention and treatment.
Alcohol use is associated with physical and social problems ranging from
disease, violence, homelessness, and unemployment, to marital problems.
Alcohol is involved in many injuries and deaths in the United States,
whether resulting from motor vehicle crashes, falls, drownings, or
fires. Yet it is difficult to prove that alcohol is a cause of
traumatic envents or to determine the magnitude of the relationship.
Although there is widespread belief that child abuse and neglect are
associated with alcohol abuse, this association is unproven and should
be investigated further. Studies also are needed on the influence of
alcohol on sexually transmitted diseases and sexual activity, including
early sexual activity and adolescent pregnancy.
There are many possible approaches to prevention research from the
vantage point of the individual alone. A fruitful area for further
research is that of the individual in the context of the environment --
both specific drinking milieu and the environment in which a person
grows, develops, and matures.
The single best predictor of alcohol depedence today is family history,
although not all children of alcoholics are at equal risk. The basis of
the differential risk is not yet understood. Research should continue
to locate the specific genes that predispose an individual to alcohol
dependence and to search for physiological indicators of susceptibility.
At this time, however, research has not progressed far enough to allow
health care providers to base their prevention efforts on this genetic
investigation.
Researchers should investigate the relation between alcohol
availability, retail price, and hours of sale and consumption. In
addition, studies are needed to assess the effect of changes in speed
limits on the number of alcohol-related crashes; the impact of server
liability statutes; and the relation between the workplace environment
and alcohol consumption.
Focusing on the environment influences that shape drinking behavior
leads naturally to the possibility of community-wide programs to reduce
alcohol problems. The growing evidence of the success of programs
involving mass media campaigns and education to alter community-wide
risk factors for cardiovascular disease, cancer, smoking, and adolescent
pregnancies indicates that such programs could be successful in altering
community risk factors for alcohol abuse. Programs need to be planned
carefully to involve formative evaluation, pilot testing, behavioral
analysis, and the critical review of research
Recent research on couples and family therapy suggests tht interventions
to improve the functioning of couples and families may enhance the
success of alcoholism treatment. However, only therapy involving
couples has been evaluated systematically; the effectiveness of therapy
with the whole family is unknown.
Since 1980, the focus on identifying and treating individuals early in
their development of alcohol problems has intensified. Effective,
inexpensive, early interventions still are in the early stages of
development. Whereas promising results have been reported from a few
programs, little rigorous evaluation and few studies have been conducted
on the behavioral processes that may underlie the effectiveness of such
strategies.
Alcohol abuse has diverse deleterious effects on health, including those
resulting from intoxication, the withdrawal syndrome, and many types of
organ damage. Multisite studies of treatments for alcohol-related
health consequences are essential because the low frequency of illness
results in insufficient numbers of study subjects. Alcoholic
hallucinosis, pancreatitis, and cardiomyopathy are examples of disorders
whose understanding might require multisite research efforts.
Controlled treatment trials of detoxification or research on ways of
limiting or reversing cognitive impairment could be carried out at
either single or multiple sites.
For a comprehensive discussion of this topic and other subjects, we
refer readers to the full report, available for $30, prepaid, from the
National Academy Press, National Academy of Sciences, 2101 Constitution
Avenue, NW, Washington, DC 20418.
=======================================================================
CALAMUS TUTORIAL - PART VIII
----------------------------
Copyright(c)1991, by Geoff LaCasse
=======================================================================
GXR Systems, Vancouver, B.C.
This Calamus tutorial series concludes with a three-part multi-page,
multi-column document. Topics include header/footer frames, page
numbering, flow-around graphics, and double-sided page layout. The
double-sided format, in particular, is poorly explained in the manual,
and needs to have a number of points clarified if you are to exploit its
potential for newsletters and other styles.
Discard your document from the last session. Your new document (go to
PAGE LAYOUT under the PAGE menu) should be letter size, portrait, and
DOUBLE-PAGES. Double-pages creates left and right master pages which
govern the layout for following pages. Each can then have its own
format which need not be the same. Books, for example, may have mirror
image pages with the page numbers in the bottom left and right corners
and a larger text margin (or gutter) to allow for the binding where the
pages touch. We will create something similar. Set the margins for the
left and right pages. Select LEFT PAGES, and change default 0.00 values
in Inner, Outer, Top, and Bottom to 1.25, 0.75, 2.00, and 1.25 (inches
of course). Click on RIGHT PAGES (default will again be 0.00 for the
four margins), and then on MIRROR MARGINS. Right Page values will
change to those for the Left Page. Go to the PAGE menu, and ADD three
pages to the document. Use the default values in this menu.
You can move through a document several ways. At the top-middle of the
screen--to the left of the X/Y COORDINATE box--are a number of icons
including left and right arrow keys, a number, and two small page
symbols. The number indicates the page presently on screen. This is
Calamus's numbering system (in essence, the first page of a document is
page one). Your numbering system may (and can) differ substantially.
Highlight the number, type in the number of the page you would like to
move to (up to four), and press RETURN. Alternately, click on the left
and right arrow keys to move backwards or forwards one page at a time.
If you have a Double-sided document, the page icons will change from L
to R and back to L as you move from page to page. When you move through
the four page document the page layout format (the guide lines set
above) changes position depending whether you bring up a left or right
page. Move to page four and back again to page one.
Create three columns for the document. Click on HELP LINES, then
AUXILIARY LINES FOR COLUMNS and set up one row and three columns.
Margins will be 2.00 top and 1.25 bottom, 0.25 between columns, 1.25
left margin, and 0.75 right margin. These match our values for Left and
Right pages--which need not be set when Auxiliary Lines for Columns is
used. Here, Left and Right Pages is useful to compliment the layout (as
we will see). When you now move through the document, the columns do
not match its Double-sided layout. Instead, the columns are properly
aligned on pages 1 and 3, but not on pages 2 and 4. I will look at some
solutions next session. For the moment, go back to page one. Click on
GENERAL FRAME FUNCTIONS.
Calamus handles complex documents poorly (time, effort, and
understanding is needed). In our example here, if our Left and Right
pages had an identical column layout, document page format would be a
simple process. With dissimilar layout, however, we need to employ a
certain amount of ingenuity. Next session we will deal with this point.
Header/footer frames are useful when creating common page elements, page
numbering, and the like. Click off SNAP TO AUXILIARY LINES. From the
LINES icon pad, create a 100% Raster, 10.0 point line across the page
approximately 0.25 inches above the top of our columns. The line should
reach between the two vertical guide lines. Above this, create a Text
frame (make it Centered, Swiss 50, 36 point) which should also stretch
between the guides. This frame will hold a common text element on each
page (call it Geoff's Newsletter or some such title). Make sure the
text frame is at least 0.5 inches from the top of the page (there should
be lots of room). Most printers (particularly Lasers and Ink-Jets)
can't print right to the edges of a sheet. Change the text value to 6
point, and text colour to white. Text colour is found at the bottom of
the FONT MENU icon pad. Click on 0 (white), rather than 1 (black). The
selected colour is boxed. Create another Text frame the length of the
line and place it on top of the line frame. The text frame should say:
Calamus for Everybody. The white text will show up against the black
background.
Create another line--2.0 points with a 50% Raster--below the bottom of
the column guides. Add a text frame (Right Justified, Swiss 50, 9
points, colour back to 1) just below this line, adjacent to the far
right column guide. This frame should be large enough to hold our page
numbering. Go to the PAGE menu, and select PAGE NUMBERING. Notice the
numbering options. Leave numbering at default, but change Start Number
to 3. Select the text frame, place a cursor inside, and click on INSERT
ACTUAL PAGE NUMBER--the upper left icon in GENERAL FRAME FUNCTIONS. The
number 3 will appear in the frame. Note that only the word [PAGE] (and
Style/Text ruler) if you open up the Text Editor. Calamus automatically
numbers the first page according to your scheme and start number. To
number pages 2 through 4, we need to create the header/footer frame.
A Header/footer frame may consist of as few as one frame, or as many as
memory allows. Go back to the FRAMES icon pad and bring up select
cursor (the hand shape). Holding down the SHIFT key, select each frame
--in turn--on the document page. The handles on each should be visible.
Click on HEADER/FOOTER FRAME (third row from top, middle icon). This
process is similar to Grouping, discussed previously. Once a header/
footer is created, no component frame can be modified until the Header/
footer is UN-GROUPED (again like Grouped frames). If we move through
our document, only odd-numbered pages (as Calamus counts) have the
header/footer frame. With Double-sided documents, we need to create a
separate frame for even-numbered pages. Next session.
=======================================================================
Z*NET NEW ZEALAND
-----------------
by Jon Clarke, Contributing Editor
=======================================================================
Password Security. My Password and I would like to say:
--------------------------------------------------------
Ever since the dawn of modern man a password has been a means of
securing information. Weither on the battle front, for entry to a room,
in a faternity or just plain fun as children we have at some stage in
our life used one form or another of passwords. Now that more and more
people have access to on-line services (bbs's, System networks, Major
Online Services like GEnie etc) the password word as a means of
protection has become more important. Your password in most cases stops
other users from accessing your files or information you use on a
paticular service.
Passwords do not care what machine (read computer) you use or who is
using them. Password protection transends all machines and is only
looking for the _correct_ match. So to those of you who are reading
this issue of Z*Net International no matter what computer you use an
Atari, I.B.M , Clone, Unix Box, AS400 , or if you are reading this on
your local BBS, on a major on-line service or even in your User Group
News-letter this applies to YOU!
Have you stopped laterly and thought how many passwords you may use in
an average day? One, two, five or maybe more? Where do you use these
passwords? On a BBS, On-line service, at work, on your Hole in the Wall
Card, on the telephone? The list is endless and an average person can
have at leaste five passwords without even trying.
Have you thought laterly how many times you have either changed your
password or how many of them are all identical?
Well read on .... Below is a capture of several messages from STaTus
BBS where the subject arouse over the last few weeks. This is a sample
of some of the Questions and Answers given.
*/ REPRINTED with the Authors and STaTus BBS permission /*
*/ NB: Spelling and grammer have not been corrected /*
*/ Permission to reprint Murray Moffatts article are /*
*/ provided MURRAY_MOFFATT@PR1MEA.Prime.COM is intact /*
Message : 9359 [Open] 3-31-91 9:40am
From : Murray Moffatt
To : Jon Clarke (x)
Subject : #9344 hi
Sig(s) : 1 (General)
Speaking of passwords, I think it's probably a good idea that someone
should advise our new (and not so new) users on the art of picking
passwords. Anybody volunteer? Speak now or forever hold your peace?
No? Ok, I'll take it on myself to do this.
Your password is the only thing that stands between you and some nasty
haker-type person. Your username is common knowledge to everybody that
uses the system, so you must keep your password secret. This means not
telling people, or lending it to people, or writing it down and sticking
it to your screen, or anything like that.
It also means that you must choose your password carefully. Recent
experiements have shown that 25% of people choose passwords that can
easily be hacked. The method that is most often used to hack a password
is called the 'dictionary hack'. The hacker gets a dictionary and goes
through it trying each word as the password. Of course he doesn't do
this by hand, he writes a little prog to do it, and the dictionary is a
file of words. So, if you use a word that is found in the dictionary,
you'll be found out. Just stop for a second and think if any of your
passwords are words that are found in the dictionary?
So, how do you combat this? Simple, don't choose words from the
dictionary! But at the same time it's not a good idea to use dates,
number plates, phone numbers, etc. The best ways are to make us words.
Simply string two or more words together to form a new word. For
example, BLADE and RUNNER may be in the dictionary, but I'll bet that
BLADERUNNER or BLADE-RUNNER or BLADE.RUNNER isn't! You can also use
the initial letters from words of a phrase. For example, Three Blind
Mice Ran Up The Clock would translate to a password of TBMRUTC. Looks
like a nonsense word, doesn't it? But it means something to you, you
just have to remember the phrase.
Also, remember not to use the same password on different systems. I
know that this is a hard thing not to do, but try to have different
passwords on each board you use. And change the passwords regularly.
Where I work all the passwords expire after 30 days, and you're forced
to enter a new one. Some systems, like IBM systems, remember the last 5
or so passwords that you've used, and won't let you re-use them. They
also force you to have at least one digit in the password and other
things as well.
Oh, and one last thing. There are a whole lot of commonly used
passwords. These passwords are used so often by people, that the hacker
will always try these first.
Heres a list that I grabbed of Usenet that someone posted of the most
commonly used passwords:
alt/security/ 369
From: jsax@cdp.UUCP
Subject: Re: OVERUSED PASSWORDS
Date: 9 Jan 91 05:08:00 GMT
Nf-ID: #R:cdp:1159900002:cdp:1159900003:000:6649
Nf-From: cdp.UUCP!jsax Jan 8 21:08:00 1991
Cc: hfrederick
Subject: OVERUSED PASSWORDS
Taken from
'A Novice's Guide to Hacking- 1989 Edition'
by
The Mentor LOD/H
Password List
=============
aaa daniel jester rascal
academia danny johnny really
ada dave joseph rebecca
adrian deb joshua remote
aerobics debbie judith rick
airplane deborah juggle reagan
albany december julia robot
albatross desperate kathleen robotics
albert develop kermit rolex
alex diet kernel ronald
alexander digital knight rosebud
algebra discovery lambda rosemary
alias disney larry roses
alpha dog lazarus ruben
alphabet drought lee rules
ama duncan leroy ruth
amy easy lewis sal
analog eatme light saxon
anchor edges lisa scheme
andy edwin louis scott
andrea egghead lynne scotty
animal eileen mac secret
answer einstein macintosh sensor
anything elephant mack serenity
arrow elizabeth maggot sex
arthur ellen magic shark
asshole emerald malcolm sharon
athena engine mark shit
atmosphere engineer markus shiva
bacchus enterprise marty shuttle
badass enzyme marvin simon
bailey euclid master simple
banana evelyn maurice singer
bandit extension merlin single
banks fairway mets smile
bass felicia michael smiles
batman fender michelle smooch
beauty fermat mike smother
beaver finite minimum snatch
beethoven flower minsky snoopy
beloved foolproof mogul soap
benz football moose socrates
beowulf format mozart spit
berkeley forsythe nancy spring
berlin fourier napoleon subway
beta fred network success
beverly friend newton summer
bob frighten next super
brenda fun olivia support
brian gabriel oracle surfer
bridget garfield orca suzanne
broadway gauss orwell tangerine
bumbling george osiris tape
cardinal gertrude outlaw target
carmen gibson oxford taylor
carolina ginger pacific telephone
caroline gnu painless temptation
castle golf pam tiger
cat golfer paper toggle
celtics gorgeous password tomato
change graham pat toyota
charles gryphon patricia trivial
charming guest penguin unhappy
charon guitar pete unicorn
chester hacker peter unknown
cigar harmony philip urchin
classic harold phoenix utility
coffee harvey pierre vicky
coke heinlein pizza virginia
collins hello plover warren
comrade help polynomial water
computer herbert praise weenie
condo honey prelude whatnot
condom horse prince whitney
cookie imperial protect will
cooper include pumpkin william
create ingres puppet willie
creation innocuous rabbit winston
creator irishman rachmaninoff wizard
cretin isis rainbow wombat
daemon japan raindrop yosemite
dancer jessica random zap
----snip-----snip-----------
The Internet Worm used a lot of the above passwords in it's first
password pass. After that it just used the dictionary, etc.
It'd really be worth it to check this list when people change passwords.
That plus 1-2 month password expire is good security.
It's amazing how many people use SECRET or MODEM for their password.
Not to mention using their first name..
Jon "God hates me."
vector0!jon@sactoh0.SAC.CA.US "Hate 'im back, works for me."
...ames!pacbell!sactoh0!vector0!jon
alt/security/ 372
From: shipley@remarque.berkeley.edu (Pete Shipley)
Subject: Re: OVERUSED PASSWORDS
Date: 10 Jan 91 01:58:06 GMT
Organization: Processed People for a Processed America
In article <1159900002@cdp> jsax@cdp.UUCP writes:
>
>I received this from a respondent to my article on alt.security
>recently. Is your password on the list? (Tell me! Tell me!)
>
> These are passwords that were used by the Internet worm, and
>are included in COPS.
>
>
>aaa
I person would be crazy to admit there password is on that list, because
you will be able to crack that persons account in less then two minutes
using telnet.
Note that list is used my everyone, it is effective on non-educated
users but since every password checker written in the last five years
has this list (or the list the internet worm was built from) it is not
as useful as it once was for password cracking. I suggest aquiring a
list of female names, I have had the most sucess with those lists.
My 8mm tape collection used a list of common last names, female names,
male names, the worm list, /usr/dict/words (from SunOS 4.1) and the
word list from Webster's 7th Collegiate Dictionary, plus a list I put
together (contains default password some OS's come with).
-Pete
Pete Shipley:
-- Quip V1.3 (C) Murray Moffatt 1990/91
::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::
: ___ ____ : Murray Moffatt :
: / \ / \ : Senior Programmer :
: | O / | O O | : Eagle Technology Group Ltd :
: | \ | == | : Auckland, NEW ZEALAND :
: \___/ |/\/\/\| : MURRAY_MOFFATT@PR1MEA.Prime.COM :
::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::
Message : 9438 [Open] 4-04-91 5:20am
From : Deigh Davies
To : Murray Moffat
Subject : Hackers
Sig(s) : 1 (General)
Thanks for all that info Murray, now will you explain to a greenhorn
why it is so important that no-one knows my code? If I were paying for
phone calls etc I could understand the secrecy but the only thing that
comes to mind is graffiti where someone could get me a bad name. There
must be more important reasons than that!
Message : 9439 [Open] 4-04-91 7:46am
From : Murray Moffatt
To : Deigh Davies (x)
Subject : #9438 Hackers
Sig(s) : 1 (General)
If we were using a real system instead of this little BBS, then anyone
having your password would be able to log in as you and delete all your
files! And if you're reasonably powerful and have access to lots of
files (especially system files) then they could destroy your entire
machine (imagine someone deleting all your disks!)
As for BBS's, well, about the worst they can do is send lots of rude
messages under your name, and use up all your time. Then you'll come
along and say 'It wasn't me!' and most people won't believe you cos all
those nasty messages had YOUR name on them, so you will get a really bad
rep and people will call you a snivling little good for nothing toad.
How'd you like that?
Somebody resently hacked Graffitti Wall (guessing the sysop's password)
and deleted a lot of his files (including message bases!). Obviously
Craig didn't have tight enough security!
Message : 9443 [Open] 4-04-91 10:24am
From : Jon Clarke
To : Deigh Davies (x)
Subject : #9438 Hackers
Sig(s) : 1 (General)
I guess it goes alot deeper than that Diegh. While a hacker may find
your password and access an online service and remove your good name he
may also do the following.
Where do we have password? PIN number on your master card, visa, ATM
(Hole in the wall card) card. If you use the same one and the person
knows your codes you may be less a few dollars if they get your cards.
Or if you are in a job where you need passwords (we have about 30 odd to
remember (and they are all different)) a person who does not change his
passwords tends to be a VICTIM awaiting an accident.
Remember in certain areas your password is the same as your signature
(Well in my game it is in the Bank), so Password protection is a prime
thought Deigh.
---
[SIG : Practise safe computing. Change your passwords today ]
---
=======================================================================
Z*NET SOFTWARE SHELF
--------------------
by Ron Berinstein, Contributing Editor
=======================================================================
Ok, I checked with the Federal Government and the nice people at the 240
E. Washington Street address confirmed that there is in fact an extra
exemption that Atari Software users can take. Taking same could save
you a lot of money depending on how much you use your Atari, maybe even
a thousand dollars. Of course they noted that there are some exemption
criteria that you must meet in order to take advantage of the newly
written tax code. First, you must have an island address. Second, your
primary computer must be a Univac. Third, you must be fully qualified
as an elephant trainer. No doubt many Atari users will want to inquire
about this new way to save money on your tax forms this season!
Well, maybe we as Atari users can't save money on our tax forms JUST
because we are Atari users, but, if you use your Atari for business
purposes many expenses may well be tax deductible. And, with regard to
the software in this column you'll save money right up front because of
the either freely offered files, or the very low cost shareware ones.
Not to mention how much money you might save because Atari Computer
programmers have written plenty of fine programs that help us all daily
with our regular routines, keeping us organized and on time, and
allowing us to do for ourselves many functions that otherwise we might
have had to depend on costly others to perform.
LZH11318.LZH has been been uploaded this past week and replaces last
month's LZH11316.LZH, an optimized LHARC. For those of you who have not
heard about this file do yourselves a favor and download it. It may
well be the fastest "compressor" today. Very fast at extracting as
well..
HYPERCD.ULT "Hyper Screen" a 219K file that is a hyper test
implementation for the ST. You must use ULTRA.LZH to unpack it.
ULTRA.LZH A vintage 1989 packer/unpacker formatter etc. has been
uploaded again should it be needed.
Under the Heading: "What is the name of a file that combines three
totally unrelated functions?"
FAT_RATQ.LZH combines the ability to reverse your current screen colors
with the abitity to configure a mouse accelerator, and a way to boot up
your computer from DRIVE B! So, there you have it!
Under the Heading: "What Shell We Do Now?"
SHELL34.LZH (Shareware) replaces earlier versions of XYZSHELL. This is
version 3.4 of the shell that was designed to work well with Alex
Hamilton's XYZ 2.0.
HACMN115.ARC contains the new popular game HACMAN2! This version, 1.15
corrects 1.14's bugs, namely this version will work with single sided
drives. Other bugs, including some that caused crashes were also
eliminated.
CAPFUN.ARC (shareware $20) CAPITAL FUN! a program featured by Enque
Software was designed to teach second to sixth graders fundamental
capitalization. Designed according to Bloom's "Taxonomy of Higher Order
Thinking Skills" and Madeline Hunter's, "Steps of the Teaching Process."
Classroom tested. Unlike the previous version this one will run with
all TOS versions.
GEO_DEMO.ARC (Prg. cost $39.95) GEOGRAPHY TUTOR the only electronic
atlas for the ST! This is a demo of of the newest version. Same will
allow you to zoom in on any map, show the earth sphere in motion, print
to a file or a printer, and more. Personally speaking, I still prefer
the geography tutor that I had when I was in High School.. wow, did I
zoom in on her in motion! Of course, she may be retired now...
SUNNY.PRG a new demo for the STE was posted this past week. Uses
hardware scrolling for multiple layers. You might need a 60hz to 50 hz
video shifter program though.. CPANEL2.ARC will do for same.
GPRINTDMO.ARC a 75k file with the latest demo of GPRINT version 1.03.
GPRINT is one of my friend NORMW's favorite programs! Finally he can
print out Word Writer, First Word, First Word Plus, ST Writer, or just
plain ASCII files in fancy GDOS fonts. Plus it provides lots of
formatting options (Landscape print for spreadsheets, multiple columns,
true right justification, title pages, multiple proportionally spaced
fonts and more). Must have GDOS or G+PLUS, a printer driver, and fonts
to use this though.. This program so excited Norm that he was
contemplating leaving his computer desk for a moment or two so that he
could jog around the block! If you don't have GDOS or G+PLUS and don't
care to print your results, download GPRNT_OX.ARC.. neither is required
for this version of GPRINT which will let you try the program's features
and see a snapshot of your work.
Under the Heading: "IT's HERE, IT's HERE!"
MAXI30DEM.LZH The Demo version of MAXIFILE 3.0, "THE SUPERTOOL!" It
takes the concept of file management several steps beyond ANY previous
ST program! MaxiFile sports an "awesome" text viewer, a graphic/numeric
display of disk space, an unparalleled file/folder search function, DUAL
DIRECTORY display, and much more!
MAX30_2.TXT describing further enhancements and MF_OFFER.TXT are both
associated files with the MaxiFile Demo.
This past week was filled to the brim with uploads that will interest
programmers and Serious ST fans.
MINT07B.LZH is a PD Multi-tasking program for use with TOS programs,
and it can work interactively with GEM as well. A new feature in this
version is that you can access/launch TOS programs while executing a GEM
program. For those of you who are downloading MINT for the first time,
you will need MINTUTIL.LZH as well. Same includes various utility
programs for MINT.
KSH_V04A.LZH is KornShell a shell modified expressly for MINT.
KSH_UTIL.LZH provides some utility programs for KornShell.
Anyone using the Laser C version 2.1 compiler should download the
following program. And all Laser C users may well be interested in the
additional three files that follow the first.
LCFIX.LZH. Same fixes a bug in the compiler that mistreats the |= and
&= operators when the destination operand is a register variable.
Source code has been included.
STRRCHR.C supplies the strrchr( ) in C source code form that is missing
from some compilers like LASER C. Also.. same is easily modified to the
function strchr( ) by reversing the direction of the search.
STFLEX.ARC is a lexical analyser with LASER C source code. Ported from
MS-DOS by James Patchel, and has the complete development log and
documentation on the porting code from an MS-DOS machine to an Atari ST
as well!
STGRAMMR.ARC provides the grammar for use with ST BISON (YACC Clone)
and ST FLEX (Lex Clone).
Note: Last week's software shelf reported that BISON.ARC had been
posted.. it had, but, shortly after press time the uploader requested
that it's name be changed to: STBISON.ARC. I hope that same hasn't
caused calamity.
The June/July issue of START featured PD UNIX-style text editors for the
ST. The five posted this week and include: MGEMACS.LZH, ELVISED.LZH,
MICRO EMACS, STEVIE, and GNOME.LZH.
Everything you wanted to know about YMODEM and ZMODEM is contained in
the following two posts: YMODEM.LZH and ZMODEMC.LZH (which also has
information on getting hardware independent C code)
3D22DX.PRG features a GFA 3.0 version of a 3D2 to DXF converter. Same
converts CYBER shapes to AUTOCAD DXF version 9 or 10.
CYBRUT.LZH will load PI1 pictures into CYBER CAD-3D backgrounds while
in record mode.
This Week's "FAVORITE PROGRAM of the WEEK" is one that might well save
countless hours of typing for folks that use database programming.
DELIMITR.ARC (shareware $5) will convert data in a listed ASCII format
(such as a BBS's file listings) into a delimited data file that can be
read into many database programs (INFORMER II etc.). So, if your
database program like many others can read delimited format files (those
separated with commas), but can't read SDF files, this program will
convert the SDF (Standard Data Format - i.e. just a text listing) files
into delimited ones avoiding the terror of retyping, and providing
easily a lot of information in database form, that just otherwise might
not be available.
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.
=======================================================================
KEYSKINS FOR ALL ATARI COMPUTERS
--------------------------------
Press Release
=======================================================================
PROTECTION FROM KEYBOARD DAMAGE 24 HOURS A DAY
KeySkins are CUSTOM made clear keyboard protective covers that stay
attached to the keyboard while you type. Made of SOFT ultra-clear
plastic, these type on protectors will keep dust, hair and even LIQUID
SPILLS from DAMAGING your keyboard.
You attach the KeySkin by removing the strategically placed double stick
clear tape sections and then attach it to the keyboard. What you get is
a CUSTOM fitting clear type on protective cover you type on. KeySkins
WILL NOT reduce or interfear with your typing speed.
Atari Computers such as the 520/1040 ST/STe, Mega ST2/4,and Portfolio
can now be protected... so just let us know what Brand/Type/Model you
have and we'll get your protection needs covered!
We fully GUARANTEE a perfect fit!
The retail price is $25.95 but we have been selling KeySkins to Atari
owners for $19.95 plus $2.00 S/H through ST publications.
FOR READERS OF THIS MESSAGE:
If you send us a note telling us you read about KeySkins here we'll send
you a KeySkin for ONLY $19.95 (WE'LL PAY THE SHIPPING/HANDLING !)
SEND $19.95 ($ US) Check or Money Order to:
Computer Supply House
BBS Ad
1112 Second Street
Kenai AK 99611-7210 Phone: 907-283-5837
Quantity discounts for Atari User Groups are available! Please write
for price list.
=======================================================================
PUBLIC DOMAIN UPDATE
--------------------
by Keith MacNutt
=======================================================================
LHarc 1.1318 - by Haruyasu Yoshizaki
LHarc is one of the most efficient file compression methods available to
the home user today. Up until 1988 the ST used mostly ARC and some PAK
format compression programs for the reduction of files for the purpose
of storage and transmission on phone lines. As time has passed there
have been improvements to one method or another to try and get not only
speed in compression but in how small a file they could produce. In the
late 1980's a new program arrived called LZH, and though it produced a
smaller file, it was definitely slower than the previous methods. Today
LZH still produces a smaller file, but it now is comparable to the best
methods available.
One of the biggest advantages to this new version of LZH is the ability
to do all the extraction and compression in memory. Not only does this
save wear and tear on hard drives but adds speed by not reading and
writing to the source and destination drives. What follows is a test I
conducted on two LHZ programs using a very,very large text file. Over
time I've found that text files take the most time to compress and
result in some of the smaller reductions.
File size = 1,279,998 bytes
COMPRESSION
LHA121 441,156 21 minutes 15 seconds
EXTRACTION 3 minutes 3 seconds
LHarc11318 COMPRESSION
438,239 15 minutes 20 seconds
EXTRACTION 2 minutes 39 seconds
As you can see, not all programs are created equal. Now, not everyone
will be dealing with files this large, but I used this as an example to
try and illustrate just how big the difference was between these two
fine programs.
When the program first came out, I tried to use it with CODEHEADS
ARCSHELL, but found that not all the features would work properly with
the present version. Well, CODEHEAD Software came to the rescue, and
included a feature in their latest release (version 2.4) that will work
with the new version and all the previous LZH type programs. It will be
interesting to see what all the other authors of LZH type programs will
do now that this new version has shown that the race is not over yet,
and that there still may be ways to fine tune the method further for
even faster and smaller output files.
AUTHORS LHarc v1.1318 Haruyasu Yoshizaki
LHA v1.21 Roger Burrows
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Z*NET International Atari Online Magazine is a weekly publication
covering the Atari and related computer community. Material contained
in this edition may be reprinted without permission except where
noted, unedited and containing the issue number, name and author
included at the top of each article reprinted. Opinions presented
are those of the individual author and does not necessarily reflect
the opinions of the staff of Z*Net Online. This publication is
not affiliated with Atari Corporation. Z*Net, Z*Net International
Atari Online, Z*Net Newswire, and Z*Net News Service are copyright
(c)1989, 1990, 1991, Rovac Industries Incorporated, Post Office Box
59, Middlesex, New Jersey 08846-0059. Voice (908) 968-2024, BBS (908)
968-8148 at 1200/2400 Baud 24 hours a day. We can be reached on
Compuserve at PPN 71777,2140 and on GEnie at address: Z-Net. FNET NODE
593. Z*Net Online Conference, Conference Code: 20448, Lead Node: 593
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Z*Net International Atari Online Magazine
(c)1989,1990,1991, Rovac Industries, Inc.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
-----------------------------------------
Return to message index
