ST Report: 5-June-92 #823
From: Bruce D. Nelson (aj434@cleveland.Freenet.Edu)
Date: 06/07/92-08:18:49 PM Z
From: aj434@cleveland.Freenet.Edu (Bruce D. Nelson)
Subject: ST Report: 5-June-92 #823
Date: Sun Jun 7 20:18:49 1992
*---== ST REPORT INTERNATIONAL ONLINE MAGAZINE ==---*
"""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""
"The Original 16/32bit Online Magazine"
from
STR Publishing
""""""""""""""
June 05, 1992 No.8.23
==========================================================================
STReport International Online Magazine
Post Office Box 6672
Jacksonville, Florida
32205 ~ 6672
R.F. Mariano
Publisher - Editor
-----------------------------------------
Voice: 904-783-3319 10 AM - 4 PM EST
Support BBS Network System
* THE BOUNTY BBS *
* TURBO BOARD BBS SYSTEM *
FNET 350 ~ Fido 112:35 ~ TNET 100:2/0
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-----------------------------------------
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FNET. 350 ~ TNET 100:2/0 The Bounty *<Home of STR>*...1-904-786-4176
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FNET 1031 ~ TNET 100:1/0 <<< INTERNET - UK>>>.... 011-44-296-395-935
_____________________________________________________________________
> 06/05/92 STR 823 "The Original * Independent * Online Magazine!"
""""""""""""""""
- The Editor's Desk - CPU Report - PORTFOLIO NEWS
- MOUSEBOOT UPDATE! - COLOR NOTEBOOK - SPAR SYSTEMS
- SILHOUETTE 1.37 - LYNX RATINGS - ALAN PAGE RETURNS!
- ROCKWELL & HAYES - FONTGDOS?! - STR Confidential
-* GERMAN FALCON SPECS! *-
-* PRATT LEAVES ATARI!! *-
-* AUA -> THE SHOW GOES ON! *-
==========================================================================
ST REPORT INTERNATIONAL ONLINE MAGAZINE
The Original * Independent * Online Magazine
-* FEATURING WEEKLY *-
"Accurate UP-TO-DATE News and Information"
Current Events, Original Articles, Tips, Rumors, and Information
Hardware - Software - Corporate - R & D - Imports
==========================================================================
STReport's BBS, The Bounty, invites BBS systems, worldwide, to participate
in the Fido/TurboNet/Atari F-Net Mail Network. You may also call our BBS
direct at 904-786-4176, and enjoy the excitement of exchanging information
relative to the Atari and other computers worldwide through the use of
excellent International Messaging Networks. SysOps, worldwide, are quite
welcome to join the STReport International Conferences. The Crossnet Code
is #34813, and the "Lead Node" is # 350. All BBS systems are welcome and
invited to actively participate. Support Atari Computers; Join Today!
==========================================================================
GENIE ~ CIS ~ DELPHI ~ BIX ~ FIDO ~ FNET ~ TNET ~ INTERNET
EURONET ~ CIX ~ CLEVELAND FREE-NET
==========================================================================
COMPUSERVE WILL PRESENT $15.00 WORTH OF COMPLIMENTARY ONLINE TIME
to the Readers of;
ST REPORT INTERNATIONAL ONLINE MAGAZINE
"""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""
"The Original 16/32bit Online Magazine"
NEW USERS; SIGN UP TODAY!
CALL: 1-800-848-8199 .. Ask for operator 198
You will receive your complimentary time
and
be online in no time at all!
WHAT'S NEW IN THE ATARI FORUMS (June 5)
UPCOMING CONFERENCE
We are pleased to announce another real-time online conference! Please
join us on Thursday June 11th @ 10:00 PM Eastern Time in the Atari Arts
Forum (GO ATARIARTS) for our conference with John Trautschold of
MissionWare, the folks who bring us FLASH II! John will be happy to
answer your questions about the sequel to the popular telecommunication
software!
NEW IN ATARI VENDORS FORUM (GO ATARIVEN)
NEW FILES IN THE MAXWELL C.P.U. LIBRARY (LIB 6). Please download:
SILDEM.INF - Information file describing Silhouette V1.37, the two demo
versions offered (ST, TT versions), new features, future features and
purchase information.
S137TT.LZH - SILHOETTE VERSION 1.37 DEMO <TT VERSION>. Contents include
Silhouette, a help file readable from inside Silhouette (help key), and
information file.
S137ST.LZH - SILHOETTE VERSION 1.37 DEMO <ST VERSION>. Contents include
Silhouette, a help file readable from inside Silhouette (help key), and
information file.
NEW ICD HOST ADAPTOR UTILITIES, NOW IN LIBRARY 7
Codehead Technologies has uploaded a free patch program for WARP 9 owners.
See the file W9 UPGR.LZH now available in LIB 16.
NEW FOR THE PORTFOLIO
A Video Poker game now available for the Portfolio! Check out PFPOKR.ZIP
now in LIBRARY 4 of the Atari Portfolio Forum (GO APORTFOLIO).
THE ATARI PORTFOLIO FORUM ON COMPUSERVE
HAS BEEN DESIGNATED AN
OFFICIAL SUPPORT SITE BY ATARI CORPORATION
"GO APORTFOLIO TO ACCESS THE ATARI PORTFOLIO FORUM"
"""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""
> From the Editor's Desk "Saying it like it is!"
""""""""""""""""""""""
My goodness, the games people play, why all the smoke and mirrors when
a little truth would go a long, long way? It appears that there are those
concerned with the "summer slowdown" and thus are bent on creating some
action on the majors. But must it be done at Atari's expense? Atari has
enough to do without becoming involved in "favoritism" and other light
headed shenanigans.
A rather large number of our European readers have already expressed
their aggravation at the 'new exclusive rule' applied here last week in
the States. Many of these good folks are on either the FNET or subscribe
to Compuserve's European affiliates. The question most asked is "where do
WE get FontGdos from?" To the majority I responded that I only knew of
two other outlets for the files in question and directed them to nodes 706
and 593 in the FNET.
In my opinion, Atari should not allow itself to become involved in
this sort of nonsense. Before this business of exclusive was tendered to
the users... the ramifications, all of them, should have been taken into
consideration. Its obvious this was not done. While I have no problem
with the exclusive availability of Atari Explorer and its online edition
on GEnie. The manner in which the files from the ST Format magazine disk
were handled was atrocious. It has created ill-will for ST Format and
certainly has not won friends for either Atari or GEnie. Additionally,
the making _exclusive_ of system files is an outrage. Are people who have
been members of CIS, Delphi and BIX expected to DROP their memberships
with these services? I think NOT.
While I am aware that many people out there expected a vivid display
of outrage by myself and my staff over this, the latest "event". I feel
its better left alone as the actions themselves speak far more loudly than
any words from any of us. The userbase is quite capable of seeing through
the facade and distractive chicanery. Odds are, when the smoke clears,
the users will have made themselves heard from all point of the globe.
This is what needs to be done, nothing more and nothing less to be sure.
ATARI NEEDS ALL THE FRIENDS IT CAN GET. They must have the consumer's
support and positive response, else all is lost. Hopefully, they'll reign
in those who are unwittingly trying their best to alienate users.
On another front, Silhouette 1.37 is available and the demos are on
all the services at this time. Also included is a special TT version.
The software developers around the world are waiting patiently for
Falcons to arrive. Word has it that they beginning to arrive in developer
hands as we speak. Although not in large numbers, the machines are real
and arriving.
Ralph @ STReport International Online Magazine
"""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""
STReport's Staff DEDICATED TO SERVING YOU!
""""""""""""""""
Publisher - Editor
""""""""""""""""""
Ralph F. Mariano
PC DIVISION AMIGA DIVISION MAC DIVISION
----------- -------------- ------------
Roger D. Stevens Charles Hill R. ALBRITTON
STReport Staff Editors:
"""""""""""""""""""""""
Lloyd E. Pulley Sr. Dana P. Jacobson Michael Arthur
Lucien Oppler Brad Martin Judith Hamner
John Szczepanik Dan Stidham Joseph Mirando
Steve Spivey Doyle C. Helms
Contributing Correspondents:
""""""""""""""""""""""""""""
Michael Lee Richard Covert John Deegan
Brian Converse Oliver Steinmeier Tim Holt
Andrew Learner Norman Boucher Harry Steele
Ben Hamilton Neil Bradley Eric Jerue
Ron Deal Robert Dean Ed Westhusing
James Nolan Vernon W. Smith Bruno Puglia
Clemens Chin
IMPORTANT NOTICE
""""""""""""""""
Please, submit letters to the editor, articles, reviews, etc...
via E-Mail to:
Compuserve.................... 70007,4454
GEnie......................... ST.REPORT
Delphi........................ RMARIANO
BIX........................... RMARIANO
FIDONET....................... 112/35
FNET.......................... NODE 350
NEST.......................... 90:19/350.0
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> CPU STATUS REPORT LATE BREAKING INDUSTRY-WIDE NEWS
=================
Issue #23
Compiled by: Lloyd E. Pulley, Sr.
-- Zeos Unveils New Color Notebook
Zeos International Ltd. started taking orders this week for its new
color notebook computer. The notebook will be price at $3,295 and based
on the 25MHz Intel Corp. 386SL microprocessor and incorporating a
passive-matrix VGA color liquid crystal display made by Sharp Corp.
According to Zeos President, Greg Herrick, the Zeos notebook will be
targeted at competitors' similar offerings.
-- Apple Expanding Mac Sales Lines
Moving into more traditional retail outlets, Apple Computer Inc., is
launching a pilot program this summer to sell selected Macintosh LCII
and the Classic II computers in 56 locations of electronics chain Silo,
and in office product superstores Office Depot and OfficeMax. Last
month, Apple said that it will start selling some of its products at The
Office Center at Sears stores.
The selected Macintosh LCII and the Classic II computers have been cus-
tomized to include applications software and one year of toll-free
telephone support and one year of on-site service.
-- 'Sub-Laptop' Market to reach $54.4 Billion by 1998
Researchers at Market Intelligence are predicting the market for "sub-
laptop" computers will grow from $7.26 billion this year to $54.4 bil-
lion in 1998.
Researchers forcast that pen computers will be the fastest growing part
of the market with an annual growth rate of nearly 85% for the next six
years, with U.S. shipments of pen computers increasing from 97,900 this
year to 1.27 million next year and 12.2 million in 1998.
-- Motorola and Samsung to Join Forces
Combining Motorola's exerience in wireless communications with Samsung's
experience in PC development, the two companies have signed an agreement
to jointly develop by year's end a palmtop computer capable of wireless
communication.
The palmtop computer will use a pen to enter data instead of a keyboard,
which will offer users, especially those working in the field in such
areas as sales, deliveries and public safety, higher productivity.
-- Sun Hires NeXT Inc. Founder
One of the founders of NeXT Inc., engineer Guy "Bud" Tribble, has been
hired by workstation maker Sun Microsystems Inc. Tribble said he resig-
ned at NeXT to become a vice president of SunSoft Inc., a software sub-
sidiary of Sun Microsystems.
Last December, Sun hired Bob Glass away from Apple for the company's
"human interface engineering" team. Since then, it has added Bruce
Tognazzini of Apple, Annette Wagner of Apple, Frank Ludolph of Apple and
Xerox Corp., Hal Shubin of Digital Equipment Corp., and some engineers
from Hewlett-Packard Co. and small software companies that did business
with IBM.
-- Hayes and Rockwell Agree
Hayes has announced it has settled its dispute with Rockwell over the
use of the Hayes escape sequence -- +++ --- which is used in conjunction
with a one second delay at the beginning and end of string, to switch
modems into a local state.
Under an agreement announced this week, Rockwell has taken a license
which will allow users of modems incorporating Rockwell chipsets to use
the Hayes escape sequence with guard time without infringing on Hayes'
patent for the technology.
The Rockwell license is the latest step in a series of discussions
between Hayes and other modem manufacturers over the use of the patent,
known as the Heatherington '302 patent. The escape sequence first
appeared in Hayes' Smartmodem range of modems in 1981 and, since then,
has become a defacto industry standard.
Hayes caused a stir in the modem marketplace a few years ago when it
announced it was seeking patent fees from other modem manufacturers over
the use of the technology.
Dennis Hayes, Hayes' president and co-founder, said that the licensing
deal confirms Hayes' position over the escape sequence. "When a major
corporation like Rockwell comes to the table and obtains the use of this
patent, it further confirms the importance of the technology to the
industry. By licensing Rockwell, we're making it easy for all modem
manufacturers to use this standard technology," he said.
Hayes said that the whole escape sequence affair, which has resulted in
legal action against some US modem manufacturers is a lot more than
merely an intellectual rights matter.
"Rather, it's an acknowledgment of industry standards and practices and
Rockwell's support for such standards. Our business charter is to enable
customers to build the very best products and this agreement is just
another step towards that goal," he said.
***********************************************************************
:HOW TO GET YOUR OWN GENIE ACCOUNT:
_________________________________
To sign up for GEnie service:
Set your communications software to Half Duplex (or Local Echo)
Call: (with modem) 800-638-8369.
Upon connection type HHH (RETURN after that).
Wait for the U#= prompt.
Type: XTX99587,CPUREPT then, hit RETURN.
GEnie costs only $4.95 a month for unlimited evening and weekend access
to more than 100 services including electronic mail, online encyclopedia,
shopping, news, entertainment, single-player games, and bulletin boards on
leisure and professional subjects. With many other services, including
the biggest collection of files to download and the best online games, for
only $6 per hour.
MONEY BACK GUARANTEE! Any time during your first month of membership if
you are not completely satisfied, just ask for your $4.95 back.
GEnie Announcements (FREE)
1. May '92 GEnie Billing Complete - To review your bill, type:...*BILL
2. Coming Soon...GEnie "Hot Summer Days".........................
3. Practice HAM LICENSE EXAMS - a new feature in.................RADIO
4. World Bowl II - Catch interactive football at its best with...QB1
5. ZOOM v.32 TURBO 12K BPS Modems ONLY $229 at................DIRECTMICRO
6. NEW--Find CONGRESSIONAL names, numbers, addresses FAST.......DIRECTORY
7. Keep an Eye on Your Credit Report with.......................TRWCREDIT
8. Discover Shareware Sales Secrets:Download new book...........HOSB
9. WordPerfect for Windows Interim Release news on..............WP
10. Icons and Clip Art and Fonts - Oh MY. Pro support for........GEOWORKS
11. We have a list of 1500+ BBS Phone Numbers all VERIFIED in....MUSTANG
12. Learn what clues may be found in estate records..............GENEALOGY
13. IBM drawing SHAREWARE PictureThis, now on the.................PSRT
14. Get ONE FREE HOUR with LiveWire Coupon in.....................TRIVIA
15. Explore strange new worlds in the adult space fantasy.........FED
From the Atari ST RT
New Files in Your Library
No. File Name Address Description
----- ------------ ----------- -------------------------------------
24371 MONU_DEM.LZH GRMEYER demo of Monochrome emulator
24370 JCLABEL3.LZH GRMEYER JC Label mailing label maker
24369 CRT0.ZOO M.DORMAN2 GCC runtime startup files.
24368 FREE.TXT JOHN.KING.T FREE MEMBERSHIP IN S. CA ATARI CLUB
24367 REMEMACS.LZH D.BROWN65 Remote Micro Emacs for BBSs
24366 FONTKILL.LZH TOAD-SERV. Removes unwanted TYPE ONE fonts
24365 PATTERNS.LZH SGUBER Wallpaper Generated Graphics
24364 MIST4.LZH D.WARD10 MIST Atari Fest IV Flyer (PGS)
24360 POPULOU2.LZH S.KIPKER Here is a DEMO/Sale for Populous 2
24359 NEWWMAUG.TXT D.SCARPA NEW INFO on Western Mass Atari BBS
24358 SPARPRS1.TXT D.HALL23 CalAssist. & PageAssist. upgrades!
24356 SIL137TT.LZH T.REYES SILHOUETTE DEMO OF V1.37 TT VERSION
24355 CM64SYEX.ARC P.PODESSER Roland CM64 MIDIEX effects commands.
24353 SIL_137.INF T.REYES PRESS RELEASE SILHOUETTE 1.37/DEMOS
24351 AUA.TXT E.LAMBETH AUA May 1 Press Release - Reupload
24347 JAMES12.LZH GRMEYER James the Desktop Butler desk acc
24346 GHOSTWRT.LZH GRMEYER Ghost Writer online text utility DA
24342 TX2_DEMO.LZH D.HOLMES14 DEMO of TX2 Text Processor 1.50
24341 FIND_ALL.ARC M.CAWTHON1 Find any string in a group of files
24340 M1SOUNDS.LZH M.MASTALER M1 BANK OF SOUNDS SYSEX DUMP
24339 D50SONDS.LZH M.MASTALER D50 SOUNDS IN MIDI SYSEX FORMAT
24338 SPIDSPEL.LZH D.A.BRUMLEVE Spider Spell, spelling game
24336 CONQUER.LZH S.KIPKER A Demo of Conquorer Tank Simulation
24334 RECIPE30.LZH A.WATSON6 Recipe Database
24333 X_SPECS.LZH C.SANCHEZ2 BBS Express! ST Specifications
24332 ET_13.LZH C.SANCHEZ2 Express Times Issue 13, 1 Jun 92.
24331 BBSX9206.LZH C.SANCHEZ2 BBS Express! ST monthly list
24329 EMPIRMAP.LZH W.HUBER3 Grand total of maps on Genie
24327 SED_DEMO.LZH OUTRIDER Soft-Sci Screen Saver Editor DEMO!
24326 STSAVER2.LZH OUTRIDER FUN Color/Mono Screen Saver!
24324 LMP244_M.LZH D.HOLMES14 Graphics for GEnie Lamp #2.44 (MONO)
24323 LMP244_C.LZH D.HOLMES14 Graphics for GEnie Lamp 2.24 (COLOR)
24322 LMP244.LZH D.HOLMES14 GEnie Lamp #2.44 (TX2)
Don't forget to look for bargains in the For Sale/Wanted Library (26)
Sale/Wanted is also available in the Bulletin Board Category 27.
Looking for an old message? Miss an RTC? Need an answer? Check out
the Atari Archives in Library 13.
GEnie Information copyright (C) 1991 by General Electric
Information Services/GEnie, reprinted by permission
***********************************************************************
> The Flip Side STR Feature "...a different viewpoint.."
"""""""""""""""""""""""""
A LITTLE OF THIS, A LITTLE OF THAT
==================================
by Michael Lee
This week we will start out with a quick post from Dave Small and then
visit the Productivity area of CIS. There was so much good information
in the CIS Productivity area, that I had to break it into two parts.
The second part will be next week.
----------------
From Cat. 4, Topic 44, Msg. 174 - from the ST Roundtable on Genie...
We at Gadgets have been closed down for two weeks plus. For those of
you who don't get over to the Gadgets RT, my son Eric was hit by a
car, and spent much hospital time with a broken upper leg. After
surgery, he is recovering fast -- they do at age 10! -- and is even
back in school, with a steel rod in his leg.
If you've been trying to get ahold of us, that is where we've been.
I'm sorry, but I needed to sleep down at the hospital, and here it's
been get-up-three- times-a-night type stuff.
Eric's up and around and with any luck it'll be a memory in a month.
We were very lucky.
Many kind people here on GEnie and elsewhere took time to send cards
and email to Eric; thanks to all of you who did!!
We're slowly getting back to normal here. There's an enormous pile of
incoming FAXes to fill, for instance, and the telephone messages...
sigh.
A large number of SST's are being built up now and will be shipped
shortly. We've discovered some rather nice things now that we have
experience with widely varied machines and all this helps the SST work
out quite well.
----------------
Guess who's back in the States and in the ST market? Alan Page, the
original author of Flash. The following are a few posts and comments
from Alan on CIS...
I spent a year in England and was out of touch with CompuServe for the
whole time. The company I was originally working for broke apart a
couple of years ago. The whole thing just fell apart. The company in
England fared a bit better, but just couldn't overcome the recession.
When they couldn't pay me a decent salary (not even enough to cover
rent) I bailed out. I have been learning to program Windows recently.
....I have signed a contract for a program on the ST, but I don't wish
to announce what it is quite yet, because the design is not yet well
worked out.
....It's been a rough few years. For a while, I was actually selling
the photo-mugs and t-shirts in a shopping center in England, cause the
company couldn't sell the systems and otherwise could not afford to
pay me.
...I am working on a program at the moment. Contract is signed. I did
apply for a job as technical support for a local PC software company a
while back, got an interview, but no job. I think they wanted a lot
more PC and MAC experience.
....I spent the first 3 months of this year learning Windows. I wrote
a couple of programs, one which I released PD and which was picked up
for inclusion on a multimedia CD-ROM 'magazine'. I have to tell you
that I find Windows far easier to program than GEM and a lot more
powerful.
Drawing in a window in GEM involves a lot of extra code to handle
overlapping windows, scaling and transforming coordinates, and hiding
and showing the mouse.
In Windows, just set the origin and scaling to what you want it to be
and draw to the window. Windows takes care of overlapping windows and
hiding and showing the mouse. And because it is done at a low level,
it is a lot more efficient than GEM. e.g. the mouse is only hidden
when it needs to be.
Windows user interface resources are easier to hook into and vastly
more powerful. Most user interface resources are actually windows in
themselves. In fact, you can create a powerful text editor, just by
placing a multi-line editable control in a window and adding a menu
bar. Windows user interface is also much more standardized than GEM.
In GEM, every program has a different idea about cursor keys and
function key. It's a real mess.
Windows has a powerful Help system with hypertext. Many Windows
programs use this to give you full help on using the program. By
contrast, few GEM programs have much of a help system at all.
Not to mention _far_ better documentation and software tools, object
linking and embedding, interprogram communication, multitasking,
outline fonts, and multimedia.
There are many more examples, but you will have to take my word for it
as someone with experience with both systems. GEM is like beating your
head against the wall. Windows is challenging because there are
hundreds of features to learn. Once you understand it, it is vastly
more powerful and yet still easy to use. All the nonsense that GEM
puts you through is done for you by the OS, as it should be.
Windows is not popular just because it is on the PC and is pushed by a
large company. OS/2 (original edition) is on the PC and was pushed by
a large company and it certainly didn't take the world by storm.
Why is GEM _not_ going to take the world by storm?
GEM is still largely unchanged. While the GEM desktop has had a number
of improvements, the underlying operating system has remained fairly
static. By contrast, Apple, Microsoft, and IBM have poured vast re-
sources into enhancing their graphical user interfaces with outline
font technologies, interprogram communication, multitasking, hypertext
help systems, device drivers, object linking and embedding, hyper-
media, etc.
I believe that software drives hardware purchases more and more now,
and not vice versa. I think there is a smaller percentage of hardware
junkies out there that will buy a piece of wonderful hardware and
worry about software later, or even write it themselves. A lot of
graphics and sound cards on the PC are being pushed because they
enhance Windows and Windows Multimedia. Just try to sell a sound or
graphics card that won't work with Windows. People who think that new
hardware from Atari (with the same old GEM) is going to sell like
hotcakes are putting the cart before the horse.
GEM is still sadly lacking in documentation. The GEM programmer's
guide in the Atari developer's kit is little more than a bare listing
of function calls with perhaps a few dozen pages that really deal with
programming.
The sample source code is pathetic. They are still using the original
DOODLE source code from DRI as an example. Can't they do a little
better than that? Tim Oren's GEM programming series probably has more
really useful information about GEM than the entire Atari developer
kit.
You can get dozens of books that lead you step-by-step through how to
program for Windows. And they include complete source code for a
number of useful applications.
....It's not that you can't write powerful GEM programs. But you have
to go through so much extra work re-inventing features that should be
in the operating system. And you have to do it with second-rate docs
and tools.
----------------
Question from Robert Aries...
A friend of mine is running a small business, and has been using an
Atari ST for mostly word-processing stuff. He needs to find some
software that will do payroll stuff for him (i.e.,keep track of a
small database of employees and print out checks). Also, he is using
Word Writer ST but wants to find another word processor- One that's
WYSIWYG but allows mail merge and has better reformatting
capabilities.
Any ideas, or are we going to watch another Atari owner bail?
Answer from Boris Molodyi...
I don't know about payrolls, but may be ST Accounts from ISD can help
here. I hope somebody will answer that.
As for WYSIWYG word processor with mail merge, there are a few. Major
players are WordFlair/WordFlair II, with WordFlair II having built-in
drawing, database and spreadsheeting features, and full FSM GDOS
(outline scalable fonts) WYSIWYG. You can use old GDOS fonts as well.
Then there is That's Write, as WordFlair it's distributed by Goldleaf.
It uses, currently, only bitmapped GDOS-like fonts, and has quite good
mail-merge features. Output on Atari laser is _very_ fast. And I mean
_very_.
And finally, Calligrapher family, distributed by CodeHead. The very
fact of CodeHead distribution says something. :-) This one has really
powerful mail merge, drawing, text bending, etc. tools. It uses hinted
outline fonts and standard GDOS fonts...From what I know, it's program
comparable with such as MS Word and latest WordPerfect.
Another question from Robert Aries...
Thanks for the recommendations, I've passed them along to my friend.
He tells me that the WP software he gets must be very simple to use as
his secretary is not especially computer-literate. Calligrapher looks
good but may be overkill for his needs. I suspect that something
similar to Word Writer but with better re-formatting would be just
fine. (I could never get the reformatting in WWriter to work myself!).
Reply from Boris Molodyi...
Well, I guess that Write On (lite version of That's Write) or
Calligrpaher Junior (if CodeHeads release it) could be OK. Then, 1st
Word Plus is a nice program (not too feature laden, tho ;-)
Seriously, I've seen Write On adverised for well under hundred bucks,
and if you do not need big spell-checker and index-building, it should
be just fine.
Reply from Ian Braby....
If you really just need something fairly simple, but which includes a
decent spell-checker, my money would be on 1stWordPlus. If you
_really_ want to go cheap - get 1stWord from a PD source (why not
here?!) and just forego the spell-checker. WordPlus does also add
mail-merge, of course!
Reply from Gary Gray....
Royal Software sells Payroll Master, 503-683-5361. I hope the phone
number is current. I or your local dealer can order it through Pacific
Software. 713-580-0133
----------------
From Craig Harvey at Clear Thinking...
The latest version of EdHak is 2.33. If/When the assembly version ever
gets done, it will be 3.0. Please keep in mind that I started the
assembly version almost a year and a half ago, so please don't hold
your breath for it or put off upgrading to 2.3 if you haven't done
that yet.
...A new spiral bound greatly expanded manual came out about a month
ago. It now includes index, table of contents, info on all the new
features since 2.0 (when the old manual was written), and some good
"novice hacking" reference info. The manual is available for $5.00 US.
If anyone who already has 2.30-2.32 wants the new manual, I'll throw
in a 2.33 disk for free. Otherwise the disk is also $5.00 to
registered users.
The changes from 2.30 to 2.33 are very minor, but from 2.25 to 2.3
they are major. Outside the US, please add $3 for shipping. Note that
if you have TOS 2.06 or 3.06, there is still a scroll bar bug I'm
chasing down with the help of a couple people who have 2.06 like Paul
Gee. I expect to have that fixed within a couple days.
----------------
From Greg Wageman....
I just recently installed the John Russell Innovations' "RAM+" board
in my 1040ST. This board can be installed in a 512ST, 1040ST or Mega
2. It uses up 4, 1 Meg by 8 SIMMs.
Installation is complicated, and not something I would recommend for
the faint-hearted. Since Atari produced a whole bunch of different
mother board revisions for the ST, there are a number of possible ways
the board can be installed. The JRI instructions cover them all.
Installation can require a moderate amount of resistor removal and
soldering of wires, even though the board uses a pair of ribbon cables
for most of its connections. One cable plugs into the shifter socket,
the other is tack-soldered onto an existing RAM chip.
Depending on your machine, upgrading the MMU may be required. I was
lucky; my 1040 had a socketed shifter chip and the preferred MMU.
Nonetheless, I had to remove one bank of the existing RAM chips
because of excessive buss loading.
On the plus side, this RAM expansion is small enough to fit inside the
existing RF shielding without modification. The documentation is
complete and clear. By adding a second shifter chip to the additional
socket provided with the expansion, you can get a 4096-color palette
(using the provided software patch).
Like my hard disk, I don't know how I ever used the ST without 4 Megs
of RAM!
----------------
Until next week.....
***********************************************************************
IMPORTANT NOTICE!
=================
STReport International Online Magazine is available every week in the
ST Advantage on DELPHI. STReport readers are invited to join DELPHI and
become a part of the friendly community of Atari enthusiasts there.
SIGNING UP WITH DELPHI
======================
Using a personal computer and modem, members worldwide access
DELPHI services via a local phone call
JOIN -- DELPHI
--------------
Via modem, dial up DELPHI at 1-800-695-4002
then...
When connected, press RETURN once or twice
and...
At Password: type STREPORT and press RETURN.
DELPHI's Basic Plan offers access for only $6.00 per hour, for any
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If you spend more than 200 minutes online a month, you'll save money
by enrolling in DELPHI's optional 20/20 Advantage Plan. You'll enjoy up
to 20 hours online each month for the ridiculously low price of just
$20.00! And if you go over that 20 hours, the rate goes up to only $1.20,
still 1/5th the price of other services.
There is no signup fee for joining the Basic Plan. There is a fee of
$39 when you join the 20/20 Advantage Plan, a one-time $19 signup fee and
your first month's $20 fee.
These connect rates apply for access via Tymnet or SprintNet (within
the continental United States) during home time (7 p.m. to 7 a.m. weekdays
and all day weekends) or via direct dial around the clock. Telecom
surcharges apply for daytime or international access via Tymnet or
SprintNet. See Using DELPHI online for detailed information on telecom
surcharges.
For more information, call: DELPHI Member Services at 1-800-544-4005
DELPHI is a service of General Videotex Corporation of Cambridge, Mass.
:IMPORTANT ANNOUNCEMENT:
DELPHI INTRODUCES THE 10/4 PLAN.
Effective July 1, 1992, all Basic Plan members will be upgraded to the
10/4 Plan and receive 4 hours of usage each month for only $10! For full
details, type GO USING RATES. SprintNet home time to begin at 6:00 p.m.!
Effective July 1, 1992, you may access DELPHI via SprintNet beginning at
6:00 p.m. local time without incurring a telecom surcharge. To find the
SprintNet node nearest you, type GO USING ACCESS.
DELPHI- It's getting better all the time!
***********************************************************************
> CLEVELAND FREENET! STR InfoFile Great Atari Support!
"""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""
CLEVELAND FREENET
=================
by J.J. LEHETT
I have been asked to expound on the topic of the Cleveland Freenet,
and I shall indeed.
The Cleveland Freenet is (as its name implies) a free system to the
general users sponsered by Case Western University. I live about 5 hours
from Cleveland, so as you can see, you don't have to be close to access it
what you need is the ability to telnet there. For anyone who has this
ability (usually easiest from a college computer lab) simply telnet to one
of the following addresses:
freenet-in-a.cwru.edu
freenet-in-b.cwru.edu
freenet-in-c.cwru.edu
I would reccomend the 'b' address as a first try as it is normally the
speediest, however if that address says that is has the maximum amount of
users, try the others. At peak times, all the nodes may be in use so you
may have to just keep trying to connect.
Once on, if you have never been there, signon as a visitor (it will
show you how), and take a look around, it has a fairly easy menuing system
to guide you. If you like what you see, apply for an account. You will
get an agreent in the mail to sign and send back, and in approximately 2
weeks you will have your very own freenet account. As stated, there are
absolutely no charge for this service.
What do you get once in? Well, quite a lot actually from USA paper
articles to numerous computer and gaming sigs to access to the usenet news
groups.
The Atari SIG is relatively small, but we do have a dedicated group of
folks on the system. We are currently undergoing a restructuring which
should make the SIG more intuitive that I hope will be complete within the
coming month. We have full information on the BART mail archive service
to the umich atari archives that many of you have heard about but may not
have been able to access. The postings as of late have been light, as the
users we have seem to be more of the news oriented types (we do have
fairly quick posting of any Atari developments, online mags and the like).
Our groups of sysops form a varied knowledge base that is always
available to attempt to respond to questions. If you have any questions
about access or in general feel free to drop me a line.
I'll stop now, don't want to turn this into a novel, but that in a
nutshell is a beginner's intro to the Cleveland Freenet, its not a
substitute for any of the pay services, but does indeed hold a special
place for a number of us.
Coming shortly after the restructuring will be scheduled real time
conferences also, last month our conference speaker was Jeff Wiener, the
maintaner of the atari archives and Umich... quite interesting.
Whew... I'm done for now.. honest :)
J.J.
_____________________________________________________________
> SPAR SYSTEMS STR InfoFile NEW Product Info
"""""""""""""""""""""""""
Effective Immediately
June 3, 1992
-------------------------
SPAR SYSTEMS
P R E S S R E L E A S E
FOR PRODUCT UPGRADES
-------------------------
CALASSISTANT the online helper for Calamus has been updated to support
Calamus v1.09N. The program interface and help files have been rewritten,
as well as the manual -- now 40 pages. Including:
* Print function. Used to output the help file to the
connected printer.
* The help text and image data are now displayed within a movable
GEM window. You now have immediate access to CalAssistant while
using Calamus!
* A few of the topics discussed in the rewritten 40 page manual
are: Calamus Frame Types; Calamus Frame Modes; Clipboards;
Working With Text; Text Macros; Master Pages; Layout Tips,
Special Design Effects; Layout Tutorial; Numbering Pages;
Automatic Attribute Pickup; Reverse Type; Initial Cap, etc.
* The manual includes an extensive index.
* The pop-up menus and program interface have been redesigned.
* Two text display size to choose from.
* Supports TT 640x480, TT 1280x960, ST 640x400 and Moniterm.
* Installs as a desk accessory or program.
* The help text and image files are indexed into two separate
data files.
* And much, much more!
The upgrade cost is $7.50 + $3.00 shipping, for the program diskette and
new manual. If you have mailed in your registration card, you will receive
a flyer shortly. If you have not yet mailed in your registration card,
when upgrading please mail us your master diskette and registration card.
The suggested retail price is still $34.95 + $3.00 shipping.
New Calamus users will find CalAssistant indispensable!
The online helper for Calamus SL is currently being worked on and will
debut soon.
~~~~~~~~~~~
PAGEASSISTANT the online helper for PageStream 2.1 has been updated to
v1.12C. The update includes some of the following:
* The help text and image data are now displayed within a movable
GEM window. You now have immediate access to PageAssistant
while using PageStream!
* The pop-up menus and program interface have been redesigned.
* Two display text size are available.
* Supports TT 640x480, TT 1280x960, ST 640x200, ST 640x400 and
Moniterm.
* A few help files have been rewritten.
* Installs as a desk accessory or program.
* And much, much more!
Registered users may upgrade to the new version for $5.00, plus their
master diskette. The suggested retail price is $49.95 + $3.00 shipping.
Check or Money Order Only
Mail to:
Spar Systems
381 Autumn Avenue
Brooklyn, NY 11208
Phone: 1-718-235-3169
Dealers we will exchange your existing outdated CalAssistant inventory for
the new package, free! You will have to pay the shipping cost however.
Please contact us for more information.
To our GENie users, we have not yet applied for a GENIE account flag, and
therefore, for additional product information please call our office. All
products are registered trademarks of their respective holders.
________________________________________________________
> STR Portfolio News & Information Keeping up to date...
""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""
THE ATARI PORTFOLIO FORUM
"""""""""""""""""""""""""
on CompuServe
Judith Hamner 75300,2161
Another new game has been uploaded this week. Look for SGP.ZIP which
contains a Starglider game for the Portfolio. MACPOR.ARC is a re-packaged
version of MACPTX.SIT and MACPOR.SIT files. This file is in ARC format.
The files describe the technique for connecting the Mac to a Portfolio.
BJ Gleason is conducting a survey. Drop him a line and tell him what your
favorite Port programs are.
________________________________________________________
> The UNTOLD Story! STR Spotlight PITTSBURGH.... Finally, the TRUTH!
"""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""
THE UNTOLD STORY OF PITTSBURGH, PA
==================================
by DC Signorini
(c) 1991, 1992, 1992
========
PART III
========
[This is part 3 of a 6 part story concerning the Atari arena in the
Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania area. You are encouraged to read all 6 parts
in their entirety. If you missed Part I or II, you are encouraged to
read these Parts before reading further.]
AND THE SHOW MUST GO ON
-----------------------
Another example of the "bad feelings" that existed between the two
groups in Pittsburgh, Atari Elite and PACE, is concerning the annual PACE
show sponsored by that organization. The first show I believe was in
1988. PACE would not allow the Atari Elite to have a booth at the show
because they felt that Atari Elite was "competition" to PACE. Other
usergroups were invited, but Atari Elite was not allowed to be
represented. One of Atari Elite's members owned a retail computer store
and was granted a booth at the show providing that he in no way promoted
the Atari Elite. He agreed, and from what I understand, was forced to
sign an agreement to this extent. He paid for the booth, and attended the
show, while Atari Elite sat on the sidelines. The show was a success,
however, PACE complained that the mentioned vendor did in fact "allude to"
Atari Elite while at the show. The vendor denied the accusations, and
rightly so, but was banned from attending any future shows. Plans for a
show in 1989 hit the waves in Pittsburgh, again sponsored by PACE. This
year, the said vendor was prohibited from the show and a new restriction
was placed on the Atari Elite to further insure that they could not
attend: Only Atari recognized groups were permitted to attend. Atari
Elite was not recognized by Atari. Not because of their reputation, but
rather because John Karlovich did not see a need to do so. His philosophy
was that Atari had changed User Group coordinators so often, that once
Atari Elite filled out the necessary forms, they would have to do it all
over again for a new coordinator. I insisted to John at that time that I
would take responsibility for doing so, but the President of the group had
to be the one to submit the forms. Atari Elite went on un-registered.
So, an argument took place as to whether Atari Elite was recognized or
not. And, of course, because of all of the slander that had taken place
up until now, Atari Corp. had a really nice picture of the Atari Elite to
look at. This picture was unfortunately smudged a bit by un-knowledgeable
and selfish individuals. Atari Elite, nonetheless, sent PACE money for a
booth and awaited PACE's decision. PACE argued that because Atari Elite
was not recognized, and the fact that they had a software rental library,
they would not allow them to have a booth. Jim Laux, the treasure of
Atari Elite, and myself visited them at their board meeting one evening to
plead with them to let the Elite attend. Atari Elite had a lot of hard
working individuals who could help PACE with the show, yet PACE wanted
nothing to do with it. Jim and I left the meeting with a sharp "no" and
were very disappointed. Atari Elite were the "bad guys"
and could not play in PACE's reindeer games.
At the Atari Elite board meeting that month, we discussed ways of how
the Atari Elite could boycott the show. Should AE distribute flyers to
everyone pulling into the parking lot of the show site? Do a direct mail
to users and vendors? Plead to Atari for intervention? While our anger
was evident, we all elected that we should passively let this water flow
under the bridge and concentrate instead on building the organization
instead of wasting energy elsewhere. A few wanted to actively pursue the
"ninja" approach but it was voted down. Atari Elite would not attend the
show. Period.
The following is a re-print from the "Keeping PACE" newsletter that
appeared during this time frame. It was captured from the PACE BBS and is
believed to be presented here in its original form:
***** Written by the President of PACE in 1988 ****
Your comments on Monday night helped me sort out where I think
we should be going and I think you will be more comfortable
with following approach. Let me start out with a couple of
assumptions relating to the Elite and P.A.C.E., some of which
are different or modified from the thoughts I had on Monday
night.
I do not believe that the Elite are ever going to be taken to
court over the software rental. They will never be a big
enough to be worth the trouble. They are probably organized
as a corporation like we are but may pay out dividends. I
doubt that they are a partnership. As a corporation the
officers are protected. Their members are not at risk under
either arrangement. If they are unlikely to be sued we are
even less likely. We have already demonstrated that we are
separate from them and through our normal course of business
do enough to make that separation evident. We don't need to
disclaim affiliation for the purpose of limiting our liability
which makes any concerned that disclaimer would provide a form
of advertisement moot. The legality of software rental is a
matter of interest to the Atari community but talking about it
will not cause them rethink their position on rental. Talking
about the Elite is also an item of interest to the Atari
community. It should be limited to reduce its advertising
potential but need not be avoided. Our problem with the rental
of software is that it is not compatible with the vendors we
are trying to attract to the Show and has nothing to do with
its legality. We have many advantages and capabilities that
will always be attractive to a large group of users, if we keep
doing what we have been doing. The Elite will draw a certain
type of user but many people will be part of both clubs. We
may be able to draw some of their members to our club. We are
both going to be around. We are going to compete with each
other which will keep us on our toes. Nothing we do will make
them stop renting software or go away. We need to start
looking forward to the next Show and making plans to avoid the
problems we ran into at the last Show.
What this all boils down to is that the real problem we have
with the Elite is over the Show. Software rental is their
gimmick and the Show is ours. The Show and software rental do
not mix. They know that we can't have them at the Show and try
to use this situation to their advantage. As long as we do the
Show there will be a problem between the two groups at Show
time. Our Show has the potential to be a moneymaker, provides
tremendous benefit to Atari users and sets P.A.C.E. apart from
other user groups. It is strategically important for P.A.C.E.
to be able to put on this event. The only time P.A.C.E. and
the Atari Elite can not peacefully co-exist is at the Show.
We should find out whether we can expect to go through the
process we went through last April. If both groups know
sufficiently in advance that the Elite are not going to be
invited to the next Show and their and our members have time to
adjust and accept that fact, maybe the Elite won't be able to
stir the pot as effectively as they did. On the other hand,
if, for some reason, we can not exclude the Elite or if they
are likely to do things that will make the Show less likely to
be profitable for P.A.C.E. then we need to find out before we
get too committed and are unable to make needed adjustments.
We may as well see what their reaction to exclusion will be
while the last Show is relatively fresh in people's minds.
This is better than waiting until we are in the thick of trying
to do all the work for the Show and are least prepared to
handle it.
I have written some additional paragraphs to the President's
report that get us pointed toward discussing the next Show and
that we intend to we will exclude software renters again.
Regarding the response to Mark Spires, I would rather put
something in the newsletter than appear to ignore him or have
to answer him. What I have written is consistent with the
request he made and is better than reprinting his entire
letter. This also eliminates the need to for me to explain
what is inaccurate in his letter. Hopefully we can change the
focus from the last Show toward the next.
I think the "Software Rental" article should still be used. I
think it is timely with the activity on the BBS and might help
people understand some of the issues surrounding software
rental.
The following is what I propose be added to the President'
Report. Please give me a call if there is anything I
overlooked or even if there is something that doesn't sit
right. My trip was cancelled so I will be at the Monday night
ST meeting.
President's Report
(additional paragraphs)
Most of you know by now that we are planning on sponsoring
another Atari Computer Products Show in 1989 and perhaps as
early as February or March. In last month's newsletter I
pointed our that we were not as successful as we would have
liked in keeping an organization that rents commercial
software from having representation at our last Show. The
experiences of the last Show pointed out a few areas where we
will improve on the handling of this issue. First, we didn't
make our policies and rules well known to the members and
potential vendors early enough before the Show. Second, we
didn't provide sufficient incentives to those renting booths to
ensure that only authorized organizations would be represented.
There are many vendors who sell software and very few who rent
commercial software. Those who sell software are more
interested in attending a Show where there are no software
renters than in attending one that is open to all types of
organizations. We think we can get more software vendors to
our next Show by being overt about our policy of excluding
those who rent software. The sponsors of other Shows like
ours outside of Pittsburgh have found it desireable to exclude
specific vendors or certain classes of vendors like mail order
or businesses without a storefront. We hope to find out
whether similar restrictions in addition to excluding software
renters would also benefit our next Show. By setting the
criteria for booth rental and making this known to vendors,
user groups and other organizations interested in our Show, we
expect that we can get greater vendor participation and have a
better quality Show for local Atari users than we can if we
were to leave Show open to everyone. For the present the only
type of organization we will exclude are organizations that
rent commercial software and we will keep you aware of
additional restrictions.
In response to last month's President's Report, I received a
letter from Mark Spires on the subject of his booth at the last
Show. In his letter he said that he would appreciate it if I
would clarify his intentions in this newsletter. He stated in
the letter that he intended to gather names and addresses for
the promotion of his own business and that he did not intend to
promote the Atari Elite at the Show.
***** End of Reprint *****
Many of you may be wondering why the Atari Elite did not sponsor their
own show? Well, there were many reasons. The most substantial reason was
the fact that Atari Elite had very little operating cash. PACE had been
around for many years and had a substantial budget built up. Also,
revenues from previous shows were used and very little was derived from
membership dues. Atari Elite simply did not have this convenience.
Secondly, Atari Elite was already fighting a battle against the rumors
started by certain individuals in the Pittsburgh area. It was felt that
to overcome that would be difficult. And thirdly, Atari Corp. was
frowning upon the Atari Elite because of all they heard from third party
individuals. Without the support of the mother company, it would be
nearly impossible to pull off a successful show. So, Atari Elite
concentrated on internal affairs instead of show promotions.
====================================================================
Permission to Re-Print is granted as long as no part of this work is
changed in any way and credit is given to the Author and the AUA.
====================================================================
> ONE-SIDED? STR Feedback THE REAL CAUSES & NOW... THE CONSEQUENCES!
"""""""""""""""""""""""
IS THE AUA SERIES UNFAIR?
=========================
FORUM>Reply, Add, Read, "?" or Exit>
J38274 1-JUN 23:52 General Information
RE: STR (Re: Msg 38267)
From: BIBLINSKI To: DPJ (NR)
My only concern about all this is that we truly hear _all_ sides to the
story. If 'bad' things are printed about someone, that person should have
a chance to defend himself (or herself) in that same issue, if not the
same story. Even in an objective story, things can be skewed to show
someone in a bad light. It's all in how the story is told.
So far, the series has been one-sided. It's all being told by a single
person, whose credibility is unknown. And, for most of us, unknowable.
Should I really believe him when he says there was no piracy being done in
the Atari Elite? What proof do I have? What proof, besides his word, did
he give? Maybe some kind of validatable proof will be presented in a
future article. I hope so. So far, it all seems pretty straight, but
I've known enough bullsh*tters in my life to be a little skeptical. I
hope we'll read articles in future issues that will provide us with other
points of view. Developers who felt they were ripped off, Atari personnel
More? who were involved, disinterested observers... When I've heard it
all, I'll draw my own conclusions. But, until I hear it all, I won't
accept being told that the conclusion is obvious.
--Gordie
A REPLY FROM THE EDITOR
=======================
Gordie;
I can appreciate your observations but they lack the retrospect
needed in attempting to be fair and to understand exactly what is going
on. You see, this all began quite some time ago, first with the
accusations being made in a school kitchen during an impromptu
inquisition on a Sunday afternoon and second, with the public castigation
(without proofs) of the Atari Elite Usergroup by some rather prominent
individuals in the Atari community. Without a doubt, the current
presentation is a well informed rebuttal to everything that has been
presented publicly condemning both the AUA and the Atari Elite Usergroup.
To continue, shortly thereafter, it became obvious that certain
individuals found it necessary to hold the upcoming WAACE show "hostage"
(under boycott) until their 'demands' were met. Namely, the barring of
the Atari Elite Usergroup from attending! I am well aware that this
series of articles may _seem_ one sided but truly, all one need do is read
the entire accounts of the others as they were also present in their
entirety in STReport. The conclusions to be drawn are very obvious.
Should you believe him? Do you have any reason to NOT believe him?
Other than the unfounded and unproven accusations of those in this
community who seem to relish surrounding themselves in the "white robes"
of pure innocence, there is absolutely no proof of wrong doing on the part
of anyone in the Atari Elite Usergroup not now, not then, not at all. In
fact, they established quite a track record in regards to providing
excellent public relations for Atari Corp. with their documented multi
media expositions to various large business communities in the Pittsburgh
area.
Actually, the series of articles are meant to present Derek
Signorini's impressions of went on and how it effected the AUA. The
bottom line is that there is sufficient information to lend serious
credibility to his accounts. Especially where the inferences are made
that deliberate and calculated efforts were undertaken to torpedo the AUA
from the moment it was "assumed" to be part of the Atari Elite Usergroup.
Also, it should be known that Atari Elite Usergroup initiated a
number of legal proceedings relative to the unfounded accusations and
indeed did become the object of a great deal of animosity as a result of
taking a legal stand in protecting its good name and reputation. As an
aside, the legal aspects of the entire matter had sufficient merit to be
placed on the docket. However, due to the intervention of certain
concerned individuals in the Atari Community, the matter was resolved and
the lawsuits dropped.
In closing it should be made clear that the AUA is/was and will
continue to be an excellent organization. Its concept is fine, "In unity
there is strength", the whole idea being to give the USERS a unified
voice. Unfortunately there were/are those who feel such an entity is a
threat. Those individuals have made themselves very well known through
their continued efforts to muffle the 'questioning voices", the views of
"those who oppose blind complacency" and finally, those who refuse to
"follow the company line". The users are being shortchanged at every
turn, they DO pay the bills, they DO keep the platform going, the SHOULD
and DO deserve to have adequate representation in order to provide an
independent, respected and informative interface with Atari and the other
companies doing business in the Atari community.
IN SUPPORT, THESE ITEMS ARE PRESENTED:
From STReport # 4.18 05/04/90
- The Editor's Podium
The PACE show in Pittsburgh last weekend had many things that can be
said for it, most of which are not too complimentary. However, for now
lets look at a few of the more positive comments made and heard at the
show for the first time.
During the STReport seminar a strong indicator of things to come in
future was clearly illustrated. After polling the audience to see if any
realized just what the indicator was, (most had no idea) the indicator was
described. Atari has set a marvelous precedent with the STe. Not a soul
in the hall realized the outstanding significance of the STe. It is the
FIRST machine ever released by Atari (under the Tramiels) that is
upgradable in the field. And further, it was indicated that this was
designed into the machine at its inception. This landmarks the fact that
Atari is listening to the users and has indeed begun to positively
respond. Hopefully its not too late. The time is right for the userbase
to continue its valuable input to Atari Corp. Never, in Atari's history
have they been so responsive as now. Even though, the handwriting is on
the wall, if they don't get the product out to market NOW the developers
are not going to hang on to empty promises and broken dreams.
The course of current events is truly unbelievable at this time, the
software theft going on in the Atari arena is at what appears to be an
all time high or, in our opinion the level is the same, its the brash,
blatant manner in which they are going about their activities that is
making it all the more visible. The final analysis is that Atari has to
get off its duff and begin to ship machines in the USA ..in earnest. This
business of "talk with no action" has really gone far enough. The
userbase has, because of Atari's inactivity, received a far different
message than most of us who are in closer contact with Atari have
received. They feel that Atari has forsaken them and that its
"free-for-all" time. This is sad.
While a frustrated and deprived userbase is a very dangerous and
volatile situation Atari continues to seriously procrastinate. This is
now MAY 1990 and still NOTHING of note has hit the dealers. What the heck
is going on out there? Another dealer has sadly closed his doors right
here in Jacksonville, Fla. The userbase appears to be of the opinion that
Atari is "not interested in the USA market and they (the users) are going
to "get what they can" while the getting is good. This is Atari's fault
plain and simple. Sure, time can correct this situation, but really,
time is getting quite scarce. Five months into 1990 and we still wait...
Ralph....
- From GEnie Atari RT
Category 11, Topic 11
Message 95 Mon pr 30, 1990
BOB-BRODIE [AtariCorp.] at 19:21 EDT
Jeff,
The group in question did not have a booth. They did have members present
at the show, I am told. What was incredible was the blatant way they
discussed their practices *RIGHT IN FRONT OF THE DEVELOPERS*!!!!! They
had an obvious affect on the sales of software at this show. GRIBNIF sold
about 1/10th of what they usually do. An example: someone bought a new
paint program at the show from one of the software companies. About 45
minutes after making the purchase, he brought it back, requesting his
money back. The vendor was surprised, as he gave an excellent price on
the product, and it was still shrink wrapped. The explanation was that he
wanted to return it because "his friend knew where he could get one for
free."
As far a future show for that area, good luck. I can't go to Atari and
recommend we go back to that area. Word reached me before I got to the
show about what was going on, and I was angry when I got there. Angry
because these developers are my personal friends, angry because there are
complaints about Atari not having a dealer (and now we know why!), and
angry that the people at the show would be so cavalier in their attitude
toward the developers.
We all have to fight this type of activity any way we can. Here's what I
did: I had gotten approved a very nice selection of door prizes for this
show, a MegaFile 60, six sets of TOS 1.4, Gauntlet for the Lynx, Airball
for the eight bit, AtariWriter 80 and an XEP-80. Quite similar to what I
did for the MidWest Swapfest, except it was a 60 Meg HD instead of a 44
Meg removable. When I heard what was going on in that show, I decided to
return all of the prizes to Sunnyvale. It is a shame, as perhaps some
legitimate users might have won a nice door prize. But from what I saw,
we just would have helped the wrong people out. So, all of the product
came home with me, over $1000 worth of door prizes. I'm not going to go to
Atari and ask them to support a group/show that doesn't support the
developers and dealers that show upto support them. It just isn't right.
BTW, I was in Rochester the day before, and I did give away everything to
them that I planned to. They got the same prizes that I had planned to
give at the PACE Show. that... was on GEnie JOe! Much more national than
this! Wait to you read STReport this time around! The Elite MUST stop
rentals NOW!!! Atari is demanding it! Your comments will be sent to
Atari so they know whereyou stand......also, we are distributing the list
to software companies who plan to not support people that endorse piracy.
From STReport # 4.19 05/11/90
Dear Mr. Brodie (Atari User Group Coordinator),
I am from Pittsburgh, PA and I own a business that has supported
Atari since 1984. In 1982, I received my official Atari service training
from Atari Dallas when Atari had three Regional service centers and gave
diplomas. That was quite a long time ago. Since 1984, I have serviced
Atari computers in the Pittsburgh Area. I also have been a member of PACE
since 1984 and a member of the Atari Elite Organization since 1986.
I am telling you that you know very little about the Atari dealers,
the Atari User Groups, or the Atari people in the Pittsburgh, PA area.
For the record, I believe that you have publicly reacted and spoke
detrimentally about this area, and caused irreparable damage (of which you
could care less about). All this was done prematurely, before you really
could know the facts about everything. What you have verbalized to many
has been oblique, biased, and without neutrality.
The main reason why PACE's Atarifest show did not do well is because
there were only two Pittsburgh area dealers at the show (one music dealer
and one 8-Bit dealer). There has always been a lack of supporting dealers
in the Pittsburgh area. This has been because Atari can not HOLD any
dealers in this area. This problem has existed even years BEFORE any
"software library" existed. The lack of dealers is NOT piracy related!
I personally have known ALL the dealers that have come and gone. MOST of
the dealers have had disagreements with Atari and MOST of them have
discontinued their dealerships with Atari because of their problems with
Atari. These are facts that only I could know, because Atari has gone
through several corporate and personnel changes through the years.
Since 1985, I have had the ONLY listing for the Atari name in the
Pittsburgh Yellow pages (I have copies of all the ads). That means that
since 1985, NO dealer has even considered advertising for Atari a real
shame! Why? Because Atari can not consistently deliver product or offer
consistent policy towards their dealers! The dealers that sold Atari
computers are NO longer in business or supporting Atari. If there is
little or NO Atari hardware being sold, how do you expect any software
sales? There are NO software houses in Pittsburgh that sell Atari
software (such as B. Dalton's, Software City, or Electronics Boutique).
What is unreal, is the fact that most of the Atari computers in Pittsburgh
just simply change hands because people can not find software or anything
for their machines. I know that this is true because I continually get
calls from many people that own Atari computers, who ask me these type of
questions: "Where can I get rid of my Atari computer"? "Will you buy
my Atari"? Or, "Can you sell my Atari computer for me"? NO dealers means
NO new machines or dealer support. NO new machines or dealer support
means a DECREASE in the user base. And a significant DECREASE in the user
base in our area has meant a major DECREASE in the PACE Atarifest show
attendance and performance. The logic is simple and undeniable.
So who is to blame for this?!
Certainly not PACE, and I feel that you, who represent Atari to the
User Groups across the USA, have done an injustice to a good organization
by denying them of their PROMISED door prizes for their show. How dare
you punish a good User Group because you felt that the door prize would go
to a pirate! By now, I wonder how many of your previous door prizes have
been plundered by pirates in other areas of the USA. I hope that this
does not send the wrong message to all the other User Groups in the USA.
Your job at Atari is to SUPPORT the User Groups! I think that Atari needs
a more knowledgeable and educated user group representative.
Certainly not the Atari Elite Organization either. I have sold much
more software to members of the Atari Elite Organization than to PACE.
They are more aware of software availability due to their review library
and to the European magazines that I sell (I have the receipts to prove
this). I have been to most of PACE's and Atari Elite's meetings and I
have heard the presidents of both user groups condemn piracy (especially
the president of the Atari Elite, who in just about every other meeting
"preaches" against piracy). I personally know at least 90% the members of
both user groups and they are people of good integrity. Both groups are
Non-Profit and provide many good services to their users. The software
review library is a service that fills a software VOID in the Pittsburgh
area. The Atari Elite organization has done much to support the very few
local dealers in the Pittsburgh area and continually sends them customers.
Both Atari Elite and PACE do not practice piracy at any of their meetings
or condone it outside of their meetings.
I attended the PACE show both days and I personally knew just about
every one that attended the show. Every Atari Elite and PACE member that
I had talked to at the show had purchased software - because I took the
time to ask many of them individually.
So who is to blame for this?
If you want to blame people, then blame the pirates outside the user
groups that want to flaunt their piracy in front of the vendors. What
pirate that would have the gall to flaunt their bounty, would really NEED
a user group or vendor anyway (except for bragging purposes and checking
out the new stuff)? Pirates are everywhere, in and out of every user
group, in the Pittsburgh area as well as any other area.
If you want to blame a company, blame Atari for its inconsistent
dealer policies and lack of product for the US market.
If you want to blame one person, blame yourself for not supporting the
Pittsburgh area - by punishing PACE or blaming the Atari Elite.
I believe that you have made a serious mistake by blaming two of the
Atari User Groups that down through the years have supported the Atari
line of computers when others have not.
This message is my only message concerning this, and it will be left
by whoever will post it. Any person who posts this message is not
responsible for these views in any way. This message is free for
distribution anywhere and is not to be modified in any way.
Mark Spires,
At Your Service
Pittsburgh, PA.
AND THE OUTRAGE CONTINUES
=========================
AutoBoss\Atari Elite Bulletin Board Electronic Mail System
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Electronic Mail
Sent : May 8, 1990 at 8:00 PM
To : JOHN KARLOVICH
From : LARRY HACKETT MAGE
Subj : Pittsburgh Show
I'm a little more than discouraged about the reviews i've been
reading about the recent Pittsburgh show. As a representative of the
Atari Elite, would you care to make a comment on the allegations that the
Atari Elite actively encourages piracy and in fact rents atari commercial
software? Also, please indicate what parts of the coorespondence you
will allow to be posted on local BBS's in my area as well as Z-NET.
Please respond at your earliest convenience to LARRY HACKETT (not Larry
Hackett Mage, as I erroneously logged in as...) Please note that NO
response would be taken as a "no contest" to the allegations.
Thank You.
Larry Hackett
This message was sent to John Karlovich, President of the Atari Elite.
We have reprinted it here for all to see the sad state of affairs a
witchhunt can and will promote. While we do not for a moment believe that
our colleagues at Znet would condone such nonsense, we can find it very
easy to believe that an individual in search of the ever elusive "scoop"
could perpetrate such a nasty deed. On behalf of all of us in the press
corps. we apologize for the actions of this "overzealous" individual.
From STReport # 6.20 05/18/90
- RENTALS.. OK? STR Spotlight What's the story, Jerry?
===========================
THE BLIND LEADING THE BLIND
---------------------------
by Dick Biow
A few years ago, I got some solid information about the legality of
renting copyrighted software, as presented by the legal department of a
multi-million-dollar software publisher. I'd wanted to write a story on
software piracy for an ST-related mag. So I told the legal expert, "I
want to rent a copy of your software from a rental house. I'll keep all
records and turn them over to you. Then you take action against these
rental chiselers, I'll testify, let the government jail them, and we'll
accomplish some healthy goals."
My great journalistic crusade never got started because, as the legal
expert made clear, it was legal to rent software, just as long the rental
materials supplied were original docs and original disks. The procedure
is illegal *only* if pirate copies are supplied, which most renters are
too smart to do.
The publisher's legal staff that I contacted had hoped to lobby
Congress to pass a bill making *all* software rental illegal. I doubt
that such a bill has been passed by Congress, or every computer magazine
in the U.S. would have featured the resulting change in copyright law by
now. (I have not checked this recently with an attorney.)
What does this all mean? It means that a bunch of self-righteous
clowns have probably -- and most unfairly -- smeared members of a
Pittsburgh Atari association, whose providing of rental programs may well
be as legal as ambling across the street on a "walk" light. They've fed
one another's indignation with blatant accusations based on ignorance.
As a group, they owe apologies. As individuals, if they continue their
accusations, they have a bit of a cause to worry about playing the part
of defendants in slander suits. (I didn't have to consult an attorney to
write this article. But *they* should have done so before playing with
the possibility of slander.)
How do we prevent such folly in the future? Let's get our facts
straight before charging into the fray with loud allegations. If we feel
that software rental should be made illegal (as I most certainly do),
let's write letters to our Congressmen, not just to our favorite ST
publications.
We'll never gather supporters by raging at renters. And we'll
certainly never persuade the renters to stop renting by accusing them
unfairly of crimes!
- SEZ WHO? STR SOUND OFF "Let he who is without sin cast...."
======================
READER MAIL OF NOTE
===================
Dear Ralph,
I am not a particularly good writer, but I feel there may be some
facts that have been distorted a bit surrounding the Pittsburgh menagerie
that must be brought to light.
I have been following the messages and articles concerning the events
that took place in Pittsburgh the weekend of April 28-29 in your
publication and on GEnie and one very interesting comment was made in
error. You see, I attended the show both days in Pittsburgh and you could
say that I was in the right place at the right time to over hear a
conversation between Gribnif and the vice president of PACE. Let me set
the record straight, however, before I go on. I am not a member of either
user group in Pittsburgh. I was a member of PACE, a while back, but let
my membership expire for several reasons. I do however, have friends in
both groups, and have a good friend who is an officer of PACE. That's why
I ask that you not reveal my name.
Well, let me paraphrase a message that appeared on GEnie and in your
publication last week. It was mentioned that a certain individual had
been speaking with Rick of Gribnif Software and had a purchased copy of
version 1.0 of NeoDesk that he wanted to upgrade. Rick told him that the
upgrade would cost $20.00 and the gentleman was offended by the price and
stated that he could get it cheaper "somewhere else." Rick was taken
back by this because he knew that NeoDesk could not be purchased anywhere
for that price and immediately concluded that the individual was going to
pirate the software.
The funny thing about this is that all of the PACE representatives,
such as Phil Hanze, Bruce Markey, and Jeff Solomon and even Bob Brodie
have stated that this person was a member of the infamous Atari Elite
club. Well, let me tell you that these people where either 1)
Misinformed, or 2) trying to cover something up. The person we are
talking about here is the Vice President of PACE, JG Thayne!!!
Now, my question is this: What the heck is going on in Pittsburgh?
Is someone is trying to 'frame' the Atari Elite and pin this entire piracy
issue on that group when they can be no more accountable for the piracy
problems than PACE?! If PACE was aware that their Vice President goofed,
and I am told that even Bruce Markey, the President of PACE was aware of
this situation, then why have they turned this event up side down and
claimed that it was an Atari Elite member who made this comment???!!!
Does it not seem a little strange that this story got twisted by 4
different people, all of which are members of PACE and want nothing more
than to see the 'other group' go down in flames? Interesting is it not?
In closing, I feel that I must make a statement here to all of the
Atari people who have been following the events of April 28-29. Do not be
too quick to make a decision to condemn the Atari Elite group in
Pittsburgh until you have filtered through all of the facts and fantasies!
It appears that a lot that we are seeing message wise coming from PACE may
be a bunch of rubbish brought about to try to end a cross town rivalry
that has been going on now for 5 years! Time will tell, however, and we
will soon see who really is responsible for the deplorable situation in
this city.
Sincerely,
NAME WITHELD AT WRITER'S REQUEST
Donora, Pennsylvania
From STReport # 6.21 05/25/90
PITTSBURGH SPEAKS! STR SOUND OFF A different viewpoint...
================================
STReport Reader Mail Call
-------------------------
Item 4394729 90/05/22 19:43
From: J.THAYNE J. Gregg Thayne
To: ST.REPORT Ralph F. Mariano
Sub: My Response to Donora PA
Dear Ralph:
I would like to comment on the letter that you received from Donora,
Pa. in the last issue of STReport. I feel that I have to comment since
that he did not hear the ENTIRE conversation, and I want to set the record
straight, so that Pittsburgh can move on to the real problems at hand.
From now on, I will refer to the letter writer as Mr. X. While it is
true that I had a conversation with Rick from Gribnif Software, the way
that Mr. X paraphrased it left out a lot of the IMPORTANT things. Here is
what REALLY HAPPENED...
While at the North-East AtariFest I wanted to get my copy of NeoDesk
upgraded to a more current version, since I can't use it with all the
programs that I use. I went to the Gribnif table and talked to the
gentleman there, which happened to be Rick of Gribnif Software. I asked
him how much it would be to upgrade from version 1.x of NeoDesk to the
current version that they were selling and promoting at the show. He told
me that it would be $20.00. I ran back over to the PACE booth, where I
was 90% of the show, and got my original disk, then went back to Rick.
I said, "Here is my original disk, but I have the Docs at home, if
you need, I can bring them in tomorrow if you need them, now what do I
have to do?" He then informed me to fill out this card that he handed me,
and that they would send me my new version in 2-8 weeks. I asked him why
he could not just upgrade to the current version that they had there. He
told me "We don't do it THAT way." I then explained that my friend had
that done at a previous show within the last year, and he repeated the
above, but in a way that I did not like. His tone was starting to get
uppity.
Since I really wanted the program at that time, and that I use the
program often, I asked him if the $35 price was what they were charging to
buy it new, and he answered "Yes". I then brought up the fact that there
were several vendors there that had the product NEW and the new VERSION
for a lower price. He then told me in a very harsh tone, "You can't find
the program at a lower price." I then gave him figures from two of the
vendors at the show, and said that I could go over there and buy it new
for at least $5.00 cheaper than they were selling it new, and I would have
it NOW. Not to mention the fact that I could do what a lot of the show
attendees did, and tell the other vendor with the higher price that the
other vendor had it at a lower price, and they would then match or beat
the price, so I expressed that I could probably get NeoDesk for around
$25.00. That would only be $5.00 more than the upgrade, and I wouldn't
have to wait WEEKS to get the new version. After expressing my dislike
for his policies, I then DID say, "I will just get the program (NeoDesk)
at a lower price elsewhere."
Now the last quote was what I said, and if heard without the previous
conversation, it could be taken wrong, but if Mr. X was there for the
ENTIRE conversation, then he would not have been misled. One final note
about my experience with Gribnif is that while I was walking away from
the booth, after saying that I would get the program at a lower price, I
overheard Rick say a few nasty things about "that guy...", and I was not
pleased.
On to better things. I can understand the problems that the show had,
and even some of the good things that happened, but the REAL problem is
that we, as Atari Users, must UNITE and stop the petty wars, and get to
the heart of the problem, and that being Atari. How can we as users try
to gain new members when there is a shortage of Atari product in the
U.S.A.? I have talked to the latest Atari Dealer that we HAD, and his
reason for not supporting the Atari line of products anymore was "Problems
with Atari." It was not competition from local or mail-order places, but
it was the problems of Atari itself.
I feel that until the users can stop their bickering, and focus their
attention on the real problems, we will never get anywhere, and we may end
up as orphaned computer users. We must let Atari know that we want
SUPPORT, product and advertising. I can't remember the last time that I
saw an ad in a MAJOR magazine for a ATARI computer. We need to let people
know that Atari is more than just the game machine that they still think
of. Atari has to get off their duffs and get on the ball. Atari does
well outside of the U.S. but has problems here, I don't want to hear
about the FCC and how strict they are, IBM and other companies don't have
these problems when they sell their products both overseas and in the
U.S.
These opinions are my own, and in no way represent those of PACE, the
Pittsburgh Atari Computer Enthusiast. And another note, I am the PACE
Atari 8-Bit SysOp, and not ONE of the Vice Presidents. I was last term,
but that was before the AtariFest.
Thanks you for your time;
J.G. Thayne
Greentree, PA
PACE 8-bit Sysop
"""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""
Editor Note:
------------
Amazing, here we are June, 1992 and the complaints appear to be the
very same as they have always been! Guess it proves the old adage that
you can't teach an old dog new tricks. Aside from showing Gordie that
there was indeed very heavy coverage (there's much more than this in
subsequent issues) of the AUA/PACE/Atari Elite matter, the overall
complaints from the users seem to be the very same things we are hearing
today. Apparently, the new "wonder kinde" in Sunnyvale haven't done as
well as they'd have us believe. <sigh>
________________________________________________________
> SILHOUETTE 1.37 STR InfoFile
""""""""""""""""""""""""""""
Date: June 2, 1992
Demonstration Version of;
Silhouette Version 1.37
=======================
Thank you for your review of Silhouette, a powerful bit-image
and vector graphics program with auto-tracing function that
is offered at an exceptional price.
Silhouette Version 1.37 is an update version for any
registered Silhouette users with version 1.25 or higher. For
registered users on GEnie and Compuserve, update versions are
uploaded directly to users via electronic mail.
Two versions of version 1.37 have been uploaded to the
bulletin boards - an ST version and a TT version. The ST
version will run on any ST or TT machine, but the TT version
is for the TT owners exclusive use.
HOW SILHOUETTE RUNS
You must install GDOS at boot-up in order to run Silhouette.
If you already have a GDOS program installed on your computer
system, then Silhouette can share the ASSIGN.SYS file setup
that is available.
Place the files - SILOETTE.PRG, SILOETTE.RSC, HELP.SIL in the
same directory path. The last file is the demo's help file.
Silhouette will ask you if you want to load the file.
#### THE HELP MENU IS ENTERED BY HITTING THE HELP KEY #######
Read the start of the help menu to get going. It is important
to recognize that drawing functions are started with a single
left mouse click, the object is shaped with the mouse buttons
up, move with the left button down, and finished with a right
mouse button click. Furthermore, there are many exciting
features available through the CONTROL/ALTERNATE/SHIFT key
combinations and other keys as well. Read the help file to
learn them.
Silhoette runs on any ST or TT with 1 MB or more of RAM, and
in ST High or TT High Resolution. It will also run on the
Moniterm monitor. Two versions of Silhouette are now
available - an ST version and an exclusive TT version.
THE ST VERSION TAKES ADVANTAGE OF AN INSTALLED MATH
COPROCESSOR AND THE TT VERSION RUNS ONLY WITH A MATH
COPROCESSOR INSTALLED.
IMPROVEMENTS TO SILHOUETTE
Through the developer support system at Atari Corporation,
Silhouette's developer has acquired a TT computer. Silhouette
has now been thoroughly tested on the TT as well as the ST.
Also it has been tested in TT high resolution.
Many features have been added to Silhouette since the last
demo (version 1.07) was uploaded and many new features have
appeared even since version 1.25.
GEM file handling has been greatly improved. The creation and
editing of bezier curves has been totally renovated.
WITH SMOOTHING 'ON' AND SET TO 4 PT BEZIER, THE POLYLINE
FUNCTION CREATES BEZIER CURVES. DEPRESSING THE LEFT MOUSE
BUTTON AND DRAGGING THE MOUSE SETS THE END POINT AND CREATES
A BEZIER SEGMENT.
The use of Bezier curves in the auto-tracing functions has
been improved. 'Polyline Edit' edits not just polylines but
b-splines and beziers. Beziers, when edited, will have the
tangental lines of the control points displayed.
Graphics output is in the formats: SGF (Silhouette), GEM,
GEM3, EPS, DXF and IMG bit-image.
Graphics input is in the formats: SGF, GEM, GEM3 and
MacPaint, IMG, DEGAS, TINY bit-image formats.
Other New Features:
- Full FSM support including conversion of FSM fonts to
bezier curves.
- GDOS Print function directly from Silhouette.
- Conversion of Ellipses to bezier curves.
HOW TO PURCHASE
We are now shipping version 1.37 of Silhouette at a cost of
$94.94 for the ST version and $103.95 for the TT version,
plus shipping cost.
Silhouette $100
Arasbesque + Convector $250
Avant Vector $500
Silhouette is an american made product that continues the
philosophy of Atari Corp. - power at low cost. Current
registered users can upgrade for $9.00 to the TT version.
Silhouette is also becoming available through more Atari
dealers.
UPCOMING FEATURES
- Interface support for ScanLite. Scan directly into
Silhouette.
- A Silhouette + Drawing Tablet package at far less than the
cost of Avant Vector.
- Silhouette version 1.5 - CVG, EPS Illustrator format, new
advances in auto-tracing. Big improvements for just a
$15.00 upgrade fee for current users (V1.25 or higher).
For more information, assistance in running the demo program
or to purchase Silhouette:
Maxwell CPU
2124 W. Centennial Dr.
Louisville, CO 80027
(303)666-7754, M-SaT., 8AM - 5PM
_____________________________________________________________
> LYNX RATINGS STR InfoFile GAME RATINGS & REVIEW ANALYSIS
"""""""""""""""""""""""""
----------------------------------------------
STAR*LINX BBS 602 464-4817 | | | | |G |C | | |L |P P| |
GAME RATING & REVIEW SYSTEM | | | | |A |O | | |O P|A R| |
| | |S |M |M |M | E | |N L|C E| O |
--==May 3, 92 Standings==-- | | A |O |U |E |L | X | C |G A|K S| V |
| G | N |U |S |P |Y | C | H | Y|A E| E |
+------------------+ | R | I |N E|I |L |N F| I | A |T A|G N| R |
| 5: Outstanding | | A | M |D F|C |A D|X E| T | L |E B|I T| A |
| 4: Great | | P | A | F|A S|Y E| A| E | L |R I|N A| L S|
| 3: Good | | H | T | E|L C| S| T| M | E |M L|G T| L C|
| 2: Fair | | I | I | C| O|& I| U| E | N | I| I| O|
| 1: Poor | | C | O | T| R| G| R| N | G | T|& O| R|
+------------------+ | S | N | S| E| N| E| T | E | Y| N| E|
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|----|
Klax |4.5|4.2|4.9|4.3|4.5|N/A|4.2|4.7|4.3|3.8|4.33|
STUN Runner |4.6|4.8|4.0|3.2|4.6|N/A|4.8|4.8|4.4|3.2|4.22|
Qix |4.3|4.3|3.3|3.6|4.6|N/A|4.3|4.3|4.3|4.3|4.11|
Toki |4.4|4.4|4.4|3.6|4.4|N/A|4.2|3.8|3.8|4.2|4.11|
Shanghai |4.5|4.0|3.7|4.6|4.5|3.6|3.7|4.4|4.5|3.9|4.10|
Awesome Golf |4.5|4.2|3.7|3.2|4.7|3.5|4.2|4.5|4.5|3.2|4.00|
Checkered Flag |4.3|4.4|4.0|3.2|4.4|4.2|4.1|4.1|3.6|3.3|4.00|
Warbirds |4.1|4.5|3.2|2.9|4.4|4.7|4.1|4.1|4.1|4.2|4.00|
Slime World |4.4|4.5|3.5|2.7|4.1|4.5|4.0|4.1|3.9|3.4|3.90|
SuperSkweek |4.0|5.0|4.0|3.0|5.0|4.0|3.0|3.0|4.0|3.0|3.80|
Chip's Challenge |3.3|3.4|3.2|3.5|4.4|N/A|4.0|4.6|4.2|3.4|3.77|
Crystal Mines 2 |3.7|3.5|3.5|3.2|4.5|N/A|4.0|4.2|4.2|3.0|3.77|
Robotron 2084 |3.0|3.0|5.0|4.0|4.0|N/A|4.0|4.0|4.0|3.0|3.77|
Chess Challenge |3.6|3.3|2.3|2.3|4.3|4.6|3.6|5.0|4.0|4.3|3.70|
A.P.B. |4.0|4.0|4.4|2.9|3.7|N/A|3.8|3.9|3.5|3.4|3.66|
Blockout |4.0|4.1|2.8|2.8|4.2|N/A|3.4|4.2|4.1|3.4|3.66|
Zarlor Mercenary |4.4|4.1|3.3|3.1|4.0|3.4|3.8|3.7|3.2|3.5|3.60|
Road Blasters |4.0|3.6|3.6|3.6|3.2|N/A|3.3|3.7|3.1|3.6|3.55|
Blue Lightning |4.2|4.2|3.2|2.6|3.7|N/A|3.7|3.5|3.1|3.2|3.44|
Gates of Zendocon |4.1|4.0|3.4|3.3|3.6|N/A|3.4|3.5|3.3|3.0|3.44|
Viking Child |4.3|4.0|3.6|3.6|3.3|N/A|3.3|3.6|3.0|2.6|3.44|
California Games |3.8|4.0|3.0|3.4|3.2|3.8|3.3|3.5|3.4|2.9|3.40|
Xenophobe |3.8|3.8|3.5|2.6|3.3|3.3|3.4|3.5|3.3|3.4|3.40|
Electrocop |4.0|4.0|3.3|3.2|3.3|N/A|3.1|3.8|2.7|2.9|3.33|
Ninja Gaiden |4.4|3.9|3.0|3.0|3.1|N/A|3.2|3.5|2.9|3.4|3.33|
Scrapyard Dog |4.1|4.0|2.7|2.7|3.2|N/A|3.1|3.5|3.2|3.1|3.33|
Hard Drivin' |4.0|4.0|3.0|2.0|3.0|N/A|3.0|4.0|3.0|3.0|3.22|
Ishido |3.5|4.0|2.5|2.0|3.5|N/A|3.5|4.0|3.5|2.5|3.22|
PacLand |3.7|3.5|3.0|3.5|3.2|N/A|2.7|3.5|2.7|3.7|3.22|
Rampage |4.5|4.2|3.0|2.7|3.4|3.5|2.5|2.1|2.5|3.5|3.20|
Xybots |3.0|3.0|3.0|3.0|4.0|3.0|3.0|4.0|3.0|3.0|3.20|
Bill and Ted's |3.6|3.3|2.3|2.6|3.0|3.3|2.6|3.0|3.0|3.0|3.00|
Ms. PacMan |2.8|3.0|3.1|3.1|3.3|N/A|3.0|3.2|2.7|3.2|3.00|
Rygar |3.5|3.7|2.7|2.5|3.2|N/A|3.0|2.9|2.4|3.1|3.00|
Turbo Sub |4.1|3.5|2.6|2.5|3.0|3.1|3.0|2.7|2.4|2.7|3.00|
Gauntlet 3 |3.1|3.5|2.7|3.0|2.9|3.1|2.4|3.0|2.3|2.7|2.90|
Paper Boy |2.4|2.4|2.4|2.0|2.6|N/A|2.2|2.8|1.8|3.4|2.44|
Cyberball |2.6|2.0|3.3|3.0|1.3|3.0|2.0|2.0|1.6|2.6|2.30|
Robo-Squash |2.5|2.5|1.9|1.9|2.0|3.0|2.0|2.2|1.8|2.3|2.20|
----------------------------------------------
A tip for invincibility for Slime World, thanks to the folks at STAR*LINX
BBS:
At the title screen with the Slime World logo that falls with a crash, do
the following:
1) Press and hold Option 2
2) Press and hold Option 1 while holding Option 2 down
3) Move the joypad to the upper right, while holding down both Options
After that, release your fingers, and if desired, turn the music back on.
There is no indicator of your success, until you start playing. Things
behave very strangely in multiplayer mode tho, so be warned!
___________________________________________________________
> FONTGDOS? STR Spotlight Where... is the FULL FSM Package??
"""""""""""""""""""""""
FONTGDOS - GIFT OR NIGHTMARE?
=============================
From FNET's STReport International Conference
Date: 05/30/92
This message was posted on another service (GEnie) as a warning to
those who think they are getting a full and complete version of
FontGDOS. Be advised read this note below very carefully.
""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""
Hello, Folks, A quick warning, don't use the FontGDOS package within
Atari Explorer Online, issue AEO_9203.LZH. The DOCumentation file
does not describe how to set it up properly (it refers to a SETUP
program that's not included in the archive) If you try to set it up
by copying the new GDOS into the AUTO folder, then rebooting, the
system will hang up because of a missing EXTEND.SYS file. I did this
on my hard drive, and ended up having to boot from disk to get the
system back. I suggest waiting for the promised full version of
FontGDOS. (Or perhaps someone will tell us how to create the
EXTEND.SYS)
Jim Burton
""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""
Additionally, I might add the warning to NOT overwrite any previous
file you may have (WordFlair owners) that have the same names. You
may find that your existing versions of FSM may have some problems.
Ralph @ STReport International Online Magazine
From GEnie's Atari RT
Category 32, Topic 3
Message 78 Mon Jun 01, 1992
CODEHEAD [Charles] at 01:42 EDT
David,
No, there's absolutely no reason to switch from G+PLUS to FONTGDOS; in
fact, there are some pretty good reasons NOT to switch.
1) FONTGDOS does some really screwy things; without getting too
technical about it, essentially with FONTGDOS, Atari has abandoned their
own workstation structures. Information that was formerly placed in these
structures is now ... NOT placed in these structures. (This kind of stuff
makes me crazy.) As a result, since Warp 9 relies heavily on these
workstation structures, and the data it needs is NO LONGER THERE when
FONTGDOS is installed, Warp 9's acceleration effect is cut just about in
half when it's used with FONTGDOS. Argh and double argh. And there is NO
WAY to fix this in Warp 9.
2) FONTGDOS does not allow you to change fonts without rebooting your
computer. The CPX they call a "Font Manager" is really just an
"ASSIGN.SYS" manager -- all it does is manipulate the ASSIGN.SYS file. If
you change your installed fonts, you have to reboot to actually use the
new font setup. G+PLUS is _still_ the only GDOS replacement that lets you
change fonts without rebooting.
3) FONTGDOS slows down overall system speed by about 10%, which _is_
better than the old GDOS (although not by much). But G+PLUS slows things
down by no more than 3% ... so G+PLUS is _still_ significantly faster.
- Charles @ CodeHead Tech
Sunday, May 31, 1992 10:27 pm
------------
From Compuserve's Atari Forum
J#: 63330 S8/Hot Topics
02-Jun-92 11:04:03
Sb: #63323-FONT GDOS
Fm: CodeHead Software 76004,2232
To: bob wilson 72355,1637 (X)
Bob,
We've gotten several inquiries from people asking if they should now
replace their copy of G+PLUS with the recently released FONTGDOS. Well,
despite the comment in the FONTGDOS documentation about how much "better"
it is than the "GDOS clones" on the market, here's our perspective on
FONTGDOS:
There's absolutely no reason to switch from G+PLUS to FONTGDOS; in
fact, there are some very good reasons NOT to switch.
1) FONTGDOS does some really screwy things; without getting too
technical about it, essentially with FONTGDOS, Atari has abandoned their
own workstation structures. Information that was formerly placed in
these structures is now ... NOT placed in these structures. (This kind of
stuff makes me crazy.) As a result, since Warp 9 relies heavily on these
workstation structures, and the data it needs is NO LONGER THERE when
FONTGDOS is installed, Warp 9's acceleration effect is cut just about in
half when it's used with FONTGDOS. Argh and double argh. And there is
NO WAY to fix this in Warp 9. If you continue using G+PLUS instead of
FONTGDOS, Warp 9 will operate almost twice as fast.
2) FONTGDOS does not allow you to change fonts without rebooting your
computer. The CPX they call a "Font Manager" is really just an
"ASSIGN.SYS" manager -- all it does is manipulate the ASSIGN.SYS file. If
you change your installed fonts, you have to reboot to actually use the
new font setup. G+PLUS is _still_ the only GDOS replacement that lets
you change fonts without rebooting.
3) FONTGDOS slows down overall system speed by about 10%, which _is_
better than the old GDOS (although not by much). G+PLUS, on the other
hand, slows things down by no more than 3% ... so G+PLUS is _still_
significantly faster.
4) FONTGDOS is NOT compatible with "every program that uses GDOS" as
the documentation states. In fact, I've been reading messages on GEnie
complaining about _many_ GDOS programs that will not run with FONTGDOS.
FONTGDOS does have a couple of features that G+PLUS doesn't. One is a
new bezier curve drawing function (that no program currently on the
market uses), the other is a font caching mechanism (and all programs
that need this sort of thing have long since found their own ways to do
it). It simply isn't worth giving up the speed and compatibility of
G+PLUS just for these unused features. If you're a G+PLUS owner, stick
with it; you made the right choice when you bought it, and it's _still_
the right choice.
________________________________________________________________
> FALCON!! STR FOCUS! MORE Falcon Specifications!
"""""""""""""""""""
BLACK with YELLOW Markings!
===========================
These are the Falcon Specifications found in one of last month's german
magazines:
CPU: 68030 @ 16-33 MHz.
RAM: 1, 4 or 14 mb configurations operating in page mode.
ROM: 512 Kb internal, 128 Kb cartridge port.
Ram: Cards 512k - 5 mb
DSP: 56001 @ 32 MHz, 32 Kwords (96 Kb) of 0 wait state private RAM.
DSP: connector to allow for modem/fax/voice mail/direct to disk,
JPEG/MPEG codecs. External Box w/software-9600bps, (100.00
approx) FPU: Optional (68882)
Internal direct processor slot for 386SX emulation, or other processors.
Super VGA : 640x480 256 colors.
True color 16 bits mode : 320x200 or 640x480, 65536 colors
Accepts external video sync. (Gen Lock & Multi-Media)
15-bit overlay mode for video tiling and special effects.
Programmable overscan
262144 possible colors
Hardware assisted horizontal fine scrolling and BLITTER graphics
coprocessor.
Independant 10 channel 16-bit digital audio DMA record and playback
channels with up to 50 MHz sampling rate. Stereo 16 bit DMA audio output
through a Bitstream 1-bit DAC, 80 times oversampling.
Stereo 8 bit DMA audio input.
RASCAL and SDMA audio signal coprocessors.
SCSI 2 port with internal DMA
High speed LocalTalk compatible LAN port.
Connector for RVB ST or modulator.
2 RS 232C serial port.
Bi-directionnal CENTRONICS port
Cartridge port.
MIDI in and out.
Stereo microphone input.
Stereo audio output.
Two joysticks ports.
Two 15-pin enhanced digital/analog controller connectors.
Integrated Keyboard
1.44mb floppy disk.
Internal 40-80mb (IDE) hard drive.
Anticipated retail cost 700.00 - 900.00
In ST COMPUTER magazine (Frankfurt) May 1992, there is a picture of the
Falcon computer. It IS in a 1040ST case, but black with yellow letters on
keyboard keys and NO external keyboard. Once again, Atari listens to its
customer's wants...... <sigh>
_____________________________________________________________
> STReport CONFIDENTIAL "Rumors Tidbits Predictions Observations Tips"
"""""""""""""""""""""
- Sunnyvale, CA ALAN PRATT LEAVES TODAY
-------------
According to our sources, Alan Pratt, the guru of Multi-Tos, worked
his last day at Atari today. Pratt long known for his programming
prowess, has accepted a positon with Taligent, the joint venture between
Apple and IBM. Ken Badertscher is slated to assume Pratt's duties with
Multi-Tos. Recent changes at Atari have shown some merit in planning for
the future. Congratulations to James Grunke! James Grunke has assumed
all of Don Mandel's responsibilities.
- Weisbaden, Germany Atari Germany Staff Reduced
------------------
Atari has reduced the size of the staff at Atari Germany comparable
to that of Atari Canada. Atari Germany, long the bulwark of Atari in
Europe, undersent the size reduction due to undisclosed reasons.
- Jacksonville, FL MouseBoot 3.5d Update Available
----------------
MouseBoot Ver. 3D.5E is a highly sophisticated and extremely
configurable Boot-up program that is second to none. Unique to MouseBoot
is the revolutionary graphical interface. Works in _ANY_ resolution and
is by far, the most eye pleasing presentation to date. Now TT030 ok, with
much greater flexiblity & power! Brought to you exclusively by STReport
International Online Magazine. ** EXCLUSIVE TO ALL ATARI USERS! **
""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""
STReport's "EDITORIAL CARTOON"
""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""
> A "Quotable Quote" "...of snake oil sales & shell games"
"""""""""""""""""
"Reasons do not make an action right....
they only make the wrong ones easier to live with....!"
....Doyle C. Helms Jr. (Original)
"""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""
> ABCO SPECIALS! STR InfoFile * NEW 1992 Prices! MORE Products! *
""""""""""""""""""""""""""" --------------------------------
** EFFECTIVE IMMEDIATELY! **
NOTICE: ABCO will BEAT OR MATCH * ANY *
Advertised or Invoiced price * WE WILL NOT BE UNDERSOLD!
ABCO COMPUTER CONSULTANTS
P.O. Box 6672 Jacksonville, Florida 32236-6672
Est. 1985
_________________________________________
Voice: 904-783-3319 10 AM - 4 PM EDT
BBS: 904-786-4176 12-24-96 HST
FAX: 904-783-3319 12 PM - 6 AM EDT
_________________________________________
HARD DISK SYSTEMS TO FIT EVERY BUDGET
_________________________________________
All systems are complete and ready to use, included at NO EXTRA COST
are clock/calendar and cooling blower(s).
*-ALL ABCO HARD DISK SYSTEMS ARE FULLY EXPANDABLE-*
(you are NOT limited to two drives)
(all cables and connectors installed)
- Available for all Platforms -
* ICD HOST ADAPTERS USED EXCLUSIVELY * OMTI HIGH SPEED CONTROLLERS *
* ICD ADSCSI+ HOST ADAPTERS * FULL SCSI COMMAND SET SUPPORTED *
* SCSI EMBEDDED CONTROLLER MECHANISMS *
* MAXTOR - SEAGATE - QUANTUM *
WE PAY SHIPPING & INSURANCE!!! >UPS!<
(Cont. USA)
VISA - MASTERCARD - NO SURCHARGE!
*** NEW!!! ULTRA MODERN "SUPER STYLE" CABINET ***
DELUXE 2 bay Cabinet W/65w Auto PS & Blower
*** 90 DAY LIMITED OFFER!! ***
- AT NO EXTRA COST! -
Cabinet & ICD ADSCSI Plus Host [Hard Disk Ready] $259.95
Model Description Autopark Price
==================================================
SGN4951 51Mb 3.5" Y 419.00
SQN1096 83mb 3.5" Y 519.00
SQN2055 120mb 3.5" Y 574.95
SQN1296 213mb 3.5" Y 839.00
SQN4055 340mb 3.5" Y 1310.00
==================================================
Standard "Shoebox Cabinet style is also available
FULLY ASSEMBLED SCSI DRIVES DEDUCT $60.00
ADD $35.00 for 4 BAY "SUPER CABINET" w/250+w PS
MODERN TOWER CABINETS AVAILABLE Call for Info!
PLEASE NOTE: The above is partial listing only!
Many other configurations available.
20mb - 3.5gb
NOTICE - NOTICE - NOTICE - NOTICE
"""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""
SPECIAL PURCHASE! * 83mb - 1345mb * Hard Disk Mechanisms
Call for SUPER PRICING!! Limited Time Only!!
FULLY ASSEMBLED SCSI DRIVES DEDUCT $60.00
ADD $35.00 for 4 BAY SUPER CABINET w/250+w PS
EXOTIC TOWER CABINETS AVAILABLE Call for Info!
PLEASE NOTE: The above is partial listing only!
FAST TECHNOLOGY ACCELERATOR UPGRADES AVAILABLE & INSTALLED
*****
>> ABCO proudly offers ATARI PRODUCTS <<
Call for ABCO's * HIGHLY COMPETITIVE PRICING! *
ATARI COMPUTERS * STILL THE BEST VALUE!
*****
Original Atari Mouse replacement: $35.00 NEW!
If you don't see what you want listed here, call us.
Odds are, we either have it or, can get it for you!
* GUARANTEED * AT THE BEST POSSIBLE PRICE! *
** 800-562-4037 **
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- ICD Utility Software - 3' DMA Cable
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(1) 44 MB Syquest Cart.
--->> LIMITED TIME SPECIAL! NOW ONLY __$ 579.00__ <<---
**** SCSI UNITS -> ONLY $489.00 ****
WE PAY SHIPPING & INSURANCE! >UPS!<
(Cont. USA)
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Cart and Utility Software Included!
EXTRA CARTS: $ 69.50
DRIVE MECH ONLY: $ 339.95
****** SPECIAL - SPECIAL ******
* TWIN SYQUEST 44MB REMOVABLE MEDIA DRIVES ... PROGRAMMER'S DELIGHT *
SPECIALLY PRICED ** $895.95.00 **
Includes: * TWO * cartridges!
* SYQUEST 44MB REMOVABLE MEDIA DRIVE AND HARD DRIVE COMBINATIONS *
- Syquest 44 Model [555] and the following hard drives -
** 50mb SQG51S $759.00 105mb SQG105S $959.00 **
Or, YOUR choice of Hard Disk Mechanism!
LOWBOY - STANDARD - DUAL BLOWER CABINETS
CUSTOM CONFIGURATIONS AVAILABLE
** ANNOUNCING THE NEW! -> ABCO CD-ROM! **
:Special Introductory offer:
ABCO CD-ROM $359.95 (limited time only)
Listed above are a sampling of the systems available.
Prices also reflect various cabinet/power supply configurations
(over sixty configurations are available, flexibility is unlimited)
* IBM - MSDOS - AMIGA - ATARI - APPLE - MACINTOSH *
ALL UNITS COMPATIBLE WITH --> SUPERCHARGER - AT/PC SPEED - GCR
LARGER units are available - (Custom Configurations)
*>> NO REPACKS OR REFURBS USED! <<*
- Custom Walnut WOODEN Cabinets - TOWER - AT - XT Cabinets -
Atari SLM 804, SLM 804PCV Laser Toner Kits
Memorex 2108, 5287
Oasys Laserpro 5287, 5308, Express 830, Express Series II
Silver Express, Gold Express
** $41.95 shipping Included **
Atari SLM 605 Laser Toner Kits
AT&T 593, CAF Laser, DSI Laser, DTP Systems, Epson EPL-6000
Facit P6060, Fontx Syslaser, Harris3M 2006, M-Tally MT905
Microtek Turbo PS, OAS Laserpro Executive, Packard Bell 9500
TEC LB 1305, Toshiba PageLaser 6
** $41.95 shipping included **
(TWO Toner Carts Incl.)
Panasonic Laser Toner Kits
Panasonic KX -P 400 series, Panafax UF-750 Facsimile
** $41.95 shipping included **
-- ALL TONER KITS * IN STOCK * --
* Toner Starter Kits-$62.95 *
* Replacement (804) Drums-$186.95 *
ABCO is PROUD to announce the acquisition of
the exclusive U.S.A. distribution rights for
** Bitblit Software's ///Turbo Board BBS. **
This fine Atari ST BBS system software and
user support is available through ABCO to all
Turbo customers in the USA. Call for current
pricing.
>> MANY other ATARI related products STOCKED <<
ALL POWER SUPPLIES UL APPROVED
-* 12 month FULL Guarantee *-
(A FULL YEAR of COVERAGE)
WE PAY SHIPPING & INSURANCE! >UPS!<
(Cont. USA)
QUANTITY & USERGROUP DISCOUNTS AVAILABLE!
_________________________________________
DEALERS and DISTRIBUTORS WANTED!
please, call for details
VISA - MASTERCARD - NO SURCHARGE!
Personal and Company Checks accepted.
ORDER YOUR NEW UNIT TODAY!
CALL: 1-800-562-4037 -=**=- CALL: 1-904-783-3319
Customer Orders ONLY Customer Service
9am - 8pm EDT
Tues thru Sat
ABCO is EXPANDING!! CALL FOR INFORMATION!
CALL FOR YOUR NEW ABCO COMPUTER HARDWARE & SOFTWARE CATALOG TODAY!
""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""
STReport International Online Magazine
[S]ilicon [T]imes [R]eport
Available through more than 10,000 Private BBS systems WorldWide!
""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""
STR Online! "YOUR INDEPENDENT NEWS SOURCE" June 05, 1992
Since 1987 copyright 1987-92 No.8.23
""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""
Views, Opinions and Articles Presented herein are not necessarily those of
the editors/staff, PCReport, STReport, AMReport, MCReport. Permission to
reprint articles is hereby granted, unless otherwise noted. Each reprint
must include the name of the publication, date, issue # and the author's
name. The entire publication and/or portions therein may not be edited in
any way without prior written permission. The entire contents, at the
time of publication, are believed to be reasonably accurate. The STR
editors, contributors and or staff are not responsible for the use or
misuse of information contained herein or the results obtained therefrom.
""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""
-----------------------------------------
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