ST Report: 29-Jul-94 #1031
From: Bruce D. Nelson (aa789@cleveland.Freenet.Edu)
Date: 08/21/94-01:03:43 AM Z
From: aa789@cleveland.Freenet.Edu (Bruce D. Nelson)
Subject: ST Report: 29-Jul-94 #1031
Date: Sun Aug 21 01:03:43 1994
SILICON TIMES REPORT
====================
INTERNATIONAL ONLINE MAGAZINE
=============================
from
STR Electronic Publishing Inc.
July 29, 1994 No. 1031
======================================================================
Silicon Times Report
International Online Magazine
Post Office Box 6672
Jacksonville, Florida 32221-6155
R.F. Mariano
Publisher-Editor
-----------------------------------------
Voice: 1-904-783-3319 10am-4pm EST
STR Publishing Support BBS Network System
* THE BOUNTY BBS *
ITCNet 85:881/253 JAX HUB ~ FNET 350 ~ Nest 90:301/3
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-----------------------------------------
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FNET. 620 : Leif's World ................1-904-573-0734
FNET. 690 : PASTE BBS....................1-206-284-8493
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MNET - Toad Hall BBS.....................1-617-567-8642
______________________________________________________________________
> 07/29/94 STR 1031 "The Original * Independent * Online Magazine!"
"""""""""""""""""
- CPU INDUSTRY REPORT - Game Ratings Set - IBM to drop AMBRA
- Picture Publisher OPT - Crayola Micrografx - ALDUS U/G NEWS!
- Color Central 2.2 - ADOBE PREMIERE 4.0 - Photoshop 2.5.2
- Lotus Ships Smartext 3 - STR Mailbag - STR Jaguar NEWS
-* DIGITAL LOSES BILLIONS! *-
-* POWER PC SALES UP *-
-* PC PRICE WAR PREDICTED! *-
======================================================================
STReport 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 BBS, invites all BBS systems, worldwide, to
participate in the ITC/PROWL/USENET/NEST/F-Net/Fido Mail Networks. You
may also call The Bounty BBS direct @ 1-904-786-4176. Enjoy the wonder
and excitement of exchanging all types of useful information relative to
all computer types, worldwide, through the use of excellent International
Networking Systems. SysOps and users alike worldwide, are welcome to join
STReport's International Conferences. ITC Node is 85:881/250, The Fido
Node is 1:374/147.3, Crossnet Code is #34813, and the "Lead Node" is #620.
All computer platforms and BBS systems are invited to participate.
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CIS ~ DELPHI ~ GENIE ~ BIX ~ PROWL ~ ITC ~ NEST ~ EURONET ~ CIX
USENET ~ USPOLNET ~ CLEVELAND FREE-NET ~ INTERNET ~ FNET ~ AOL
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COMPUSERVE WILL PRESENT $15.00 WORTH OF COMPLIMENTARY ONLINE TIME
to the Readers of;
STREPORT 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!
"Enjoy CompuServe's forums; where information is at its very best!
""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""
> From the Editor's Desk "Saying it like it is!"
""""""""""""""""""""""
Windows (Chicago) is certainly causing a stir or two. Rightfully so
too. Almost everyone I've spoken to is impatiently waiting for its
release. Many, who've migrated from other GUI platforms are hoping for a
similarly reliable OS as they were once accustomed to. I hope their
wishes are fulfilled. My guess is that since its so new there'll be the
ever present "undocumented features" we've all come to lovingly know over
the years of computing. In any case it'll be a party getting used to the
new environment and getting all our goodies to "play nice together".
Ralph....
H A P P Y B I R T H D A Y to the PALMTOP forum!!
---------------------------------------------------
On Monday, July 25th, the PALMTOP forum will be 3 years old. On behalf of
the forum staff, we wanted to thank our members, supporters and section
leaders for all of the hard work they do.
Ron, Mike, Judy, Marty, Jeff, BJ, Lloyd, Mark and Dennis
PALMTOP forum Sysops and Section Leaders
""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""
STReport's Staff DEDICATED TO SERVING YOU!
""""""""""""""""
Publisher -Editor
""""""""""""""""""
Ralph F. Mariano
Lloyd E. Pulley, Editor, Current Affairs
Section Editors
"""""""""""""""
PC SECTION AMIGA SECTION MAC SECTION ATARI SECTION
---------- ------------- ----------- -------------
R.D. Stevens R. Niles J. Deegan D. P. Jacobson
STReport Staff Editors:
"""""""""""""""""""""""
Michael Arthur John Deegan Brad Martin
John Szczepanik Dan Stidham Joseph Mirando
Doyle Helms Frank Sereno John Duckworth
Jeff Coe Steve Keipe Guillaume Brasseur
Melanie Bell Jay Levy Jeff Kovach
Marty Mankins Carl Prehn Paul Charchian
Contributing Correspondents:
""""""""""""""""""""""""""""
Tim Holt Norman Boucher Clemens Chin
Eric Jerue Ron Deal Mike Barnwell
Ed Westhusing Glenwood Drake Vernon W.Smith
Bruno Puglia Paul Haris Kevin Miller
Craig Harris Allen Chang Dominick J. Fontana
IMPORTANT NOTICE
""""""""""""""""
Please, submit letters to the editor, articles, reviews, etc...
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> CPU STATUS REPORT LATE BREAKING INDUSTRY-WIDE NEWS
"""""""""""""""""
IBM/POWER-PC/PC SECTION (I)
===========================
Computer Products Update - CPU Report
------------------------ ----------
Weekly Happenings in the Computer World
Issue #31
Compiled by: Lloyd E. Pulley, Sr.
******* General Computer News *******
** Game-Rating System Unveiled **
The computer industry's new voluntary rating systems for computer
games and video cartridge games will involve symbols that depict software
content in areas of violence, sex and strong language.
According to an advance copy of the rating proposal, which is being
unveiled this week at a hearing of the Senate Government Affairs
regulation and information subcommittee. The ratings are expected to
begin appearing on games in time for the Christmas shopping season.
Ratings for computer games (those that come on diskette or CD-ROM
disks) include:
-:- A bomb, signifying violence.
-:- An eye peeping through a hand to indicate nudity or sex.
-:- An exclamation point to represent strong language.
Sources say, "The degree of the potentially offensive content is
given a rating of 1 to 4, with 1 being the most benign. This appears on
the label as a thermometer."
In addition, labels will carry a description of the content in each
of the three categories. "For instance a 2 rating for violent content,
would say 'destruction of living things.' A 4 rating would say 'wanton
or gratuitous violence; torture; sex crimes.'"
Meanwhile, video game cartridges are to be labeled for age
appropriateness, using the categories of early childhood, 3 and up; kids
to adults, 6 and up; teen, 13 and up; mature, 17 and up; and adults only,
18 and older. (A game labeled "mature," for instance, would carry an
"M.")
Content descriptions for the video games cover four areas: violence,
sex, language and "other," which could, for instance, say that the game
depicted gambling. "A game featuring mobsters gunning down people, would
carry the tag: 'realistic violence,'"
** Another PC Price War Predicted **
Industry watchers say we may be heading for another computer hardware
price war.
In fact, says Computergram International this week, it could be "a
repeat of the period in the mid-1980s when there were 30 or more
personal computer manufacturers saying they'd each be happy with 10% of
the market -- and ramping manufacturing volumes accordingly."
The newsletter notes IBM finance chief Jerome York has told analysts
the company now has sold or written off $480 million of $600 million of
personal computers left over from last year but previously undisclosed.
York attributed the oversupply problem to miscalculations and confusion
by customers over the proliferation of brands in IBM's armory.
"Now," says CI, "the industry is bracing itself for a fierce price
war this autumn, which could be exacerbated by users holding off from
buying in anticipation of much lower prices."
In addition, The Wall Street Journal forecasts multimedia machines
equipped with CD-ROM players and stereo sound will sell for less than
$1,000, with high-end 80486 machines selling for as little as $750.
"Demand in the U.S. is expected to rise only 12% this year, compared
with 27% last year, but some majors are building 50% more machines than
a year ago," the newsletter added.
Other CI observations:
-:- Compaq Computer Corp.'s inventory has risen to 90% of its revenue
in the second quarter, up from 63% a quarter earlier.
-:- Intel Corp.'s need to fend off the clone-makers "means that it
will be slashing Pentium chip prices to commodity levels, but the scenario
is very bad for almost everyone except users, since the customer will find
that complex work can be done much more cheaply on a personal computer
than on the workstation he was planning to buy, and it will be difficult
to charge a big premium for machines based on chips other than the
iAPX-86."
-:- It makes things especially hard for IBM's Power Personal Systems
division, which has already designed the first PowerPC desktops and,
says CI "will have designed them to a price point much higher than the
one likely to prevail when they finally ship."
** IBM May Drop Mail-Order Unit **
Word around Wall Street is IBM is thinking about closing its Ambra
mail-order personal computer business within 90 days.
Quoting unidentified executives familiar with the plans, The Wall
Street Journal reports IBM has decided Ambra's products will duplicate
new models the parent company will release this fall.
Insiders told the paper IBM will lay off some of Ambra's employees,
while others will get jobs elsewhere in the PC operation.
** IBM to Cut PC Unit Staff by 20% **
An expected consolidation in IBM's personal computer operation is
projected to eliminate up to 20% of the firm's job force in that sector,
or some 1,500 to 2,000 jobs.
Sources say the cuts will be announced this week and come as IBM
moves more of its PC offices and employees to Research Triangle Park,
North Carolina, its chief manufacturing site for desktops and laptops.
** Apple Says PowerPC Sales Up **
An Apple Computer Inc. executive says the company still is on track
to sell a million units of the PowerPC line by March, its first year on
the market, adding the firm has emerged from a difficult period in good
shape.
Apple Vice President Ian Diery said, "It's been a very difficult
transition period, but we still did very well. From that aspect we've
got our house in order."
Sources say Apple "surprised Wall Street" last week with stronger
than-expected operating earnings of 50 cents per share for its third
quarter, up from 9 cents in the year-ago period.
Diery says he believes that when consumers consider moving to
Microsoft's Chicago software, they also will look at upgrading to more
powerful computers as well, adding Apple expects many to consider the
performance of the PowerPC, which runs on a different operating program,
System 7.5.
Says Diery, "People will want to upgrade and a good proportion will
look at Apple. I see this as an opportunity, not a problem." He said the
number of "native" programs designed specifically for PowerPC continues
to grow rapidly, which is also helping to drive sales.
** Epson Unveils Flatbed Scanner **
Epson has unveiled a new color scanner for Macintosh, Windows and DOS
users.
The flatbed Epson ES-1200C Pro offers a maximum 4,800 dots per inch
(dpi) resolution (2,400 dpi for PC platforms) and is bundled with
support applications and cables.
"The ES-1200C-Pro is the market's first color scanning system that
offers the features and functionality of a $3,500 product for less than
$1,500," says Karl Seppala, manager for Epson.
The ES-1200C Pro is set to ship in August for $1,499, or $1,049
without the applications bundle. The system will covered by a one-year
warranty, extendable to two years by submitting a completed product
registration and warranty card.
** DEC Plans Internet TV Product **
A product called the ChannelWorks Internet Brouter, designed to allow
the Internet network to be transmitted via cable TV, is to be introduced
by Digital Equipment Corp.
Sources say the product will cost about $7,000 and will be sold in
about two months to cable systems, which can then arrange to offer
Internet to businesses and universities.
The Brouter -- named because it "bridges" and "routs" the data --
will not be the first such product on the market. Continental Cable-
vison, in Cambridge, Massachusetts, has been offering Internet via cable
to consumers since March by using a product by Zenith. Continental
charges residences about $100 a month and businesses about $2,500.
Speaking of the cable market, analyst John Aronsohn of the Yankee
Group said the phone systems, which currently carry most Internet
connections, are not wide enough to transmit data quickly, particularly
video and audio graphics, but that a cable TV system would be able to
transmit the data faster and cheaper.
** 3-D Superconductor Introduced **
A new supercomputer that promises the industry's fastest 3-D graphic
imaging capabilities is being introduced by Silicon Graphics Inc.
Reports say the new Power Onyx -- available next month in
configurations of two to 12 processors and costing $88,000 to $703,800 --
will be run with the MIPS R8000 processor, giving it a peak processing
power of 3.6 gigaflops.
A $6,500 triple keyboard option will allow three users with individual
keyboards and monitors to share one Onyx system.
** Motorola Cuts Modem Price **
The price of Motorola Inc.'s CELLect PCMCIA cellular/wireline 14.4
kilobits per second data/fax modem has been cut by $100 to $549.
Motorola officials said the firm cut the price to increase its pen-
etration into the large market of mobile professionals using cellular
telephones.
** IBM Unveils MPEG-2 Decoder **
IBM Corp. has announced a single-chip MPEG-2 (Moving Pictures Experts
Group) decoder for the full-motion digital video market.
The chip is the first in a planned family of MPEG-2 chip products
that IBM intends to market to users in the broadcast, computer and
consumer electronics marketplaces.
MPEG-2 compression enables the more efficient storage and
transmission of broadcast- quality full-motion video. The MPEG-2 decoder
processes compressed bit streams to allow high-quality video to be
displayed on television or computer monitors.
"With this announcement, IBM places itself at the forefront of the
emerging digital video electronics industry," says Frank Zurla, a
product manager at IBM's microelectronics division. "An increasing
number of applications today demand digital video techniques to display
high-quality full- motion pictures."
** Digital Loses Billions **
Digital Equipment Corp. today announced it lost $1.7 billion in the
fourth quarter and $2.16 billion in the fiscal year.
Reports put the fourth-quarter loss amounts to $12.64 a share, compared
with earnings of $113.2 million (or 85 cents a share) for the same period
a year ago.
** Sierra to Offer Option to Parents **
Reacting to calls to curb violence in computer games, Sierra Online
is taking an unusual step with Roberta William's upcoming Phantasmagoria
CD-ROM psychological thriller.
The publisher says in a statement that the game, due to ship in
October, "will come equipped with a special programming 'password'
option, giving parents the opportunity to choose or tailor the CD-ROM
for a less explicit version of the game automatically."
Says Sierra, "Phantasmagoria features an original story line in the
vein of Hitchcock movies, and is filled with terror, intrigue and some
mature situations. The tamer version of the game will tell the entire
story, while excluding the more explicit scenes and elements."
Williams, who also is co-founder of Sierra, said in the statement,
"As a family entertainment company ... Sierra feels a responsibility to
parents who don't want their children exposed to violent or graphic
games. At the same time, we want to offer young teens as well as adults
a cutting-edge game that incorporates film-quality storytelling and
production."
** NASA Statements Come Online **
The National Aeronautics and Space Administration has decided the
online medium is the smart way to distribute its news and press releases.
Starting this week, NASA is officially putting its releases on
CompuServe, Internet and on an automatic fax machine, but not in the mail.
NASA officials are quoted as saying they hope electronic distribution
will make information more widely available to schools, students and
others who never made it to agency's mailing lists.
On CompuServe, type GO NASA to reach the agency's distribution point.
On Internet, the releases can be found by using the ftp command to
reach ftp.pao.hq.nasa.gov (sign in as: anonymous). People who want
releases sent automatically to their e-mail address can send a message
to domohg.nasa.gov. In the text part, they should type: subscribe press
release.
** Sports Data Service Announced **
Data Broadcasting Corp., a provider of real-time financial market
data, has announced the launch of a high-speed sports news service.
The company's SportSignal service will deliver into desktop and
portable PCs scoring updates, sports news and the real-time nationwide
transmission of live odds from major casino sports books in Las Vegas.
The information will be transmitted over DBC's FM sideband, cable TV
and satellite networks and into DBC receivers linked to subscriber's
PCs.
DBC didn't announce the service's availability date or pricing.
** Lotus Ships SmarText Release 3 **
Lotus Development Corp. has announced the general availability of
SmarText Release 3, a new version of its electronic book technology.
New features in Release 3 include integration with Lotus Notes,
improved table support, enhanced customization capabilities and
multimedia support.
Lotus SmarText includes a Builder, which automates the conversion of
most popular word processor text files into hypertext-type electronic
books, and a Reader, which helps users read and navigate electronic
documents.
The Lotus SmarText Release 3 Builder costs $495. The Reader sells for
$99. Current users of SmarText Release 2.0 can upgrade one existing
SmarText Builder license and all existing SmarText Readers for $129.
** Couple Convicted of Computer Porn **
A California couple have been convicted of transmitting obscene
pictures over a computer bulletin board system, raising questions in an
age of international computer networks about a 1973 U.S. Supreme Court
ruling that defines obscenity by local community standards.
Reports say that the trial was the first for computer BBS operators
charged under federal law with transmitting pornography featuring sex by
adults.
"This case would never have gone to trial in California," defense
lawyer Richard Williams said. The couple were tried in Memphis,
Tennessee.
The guilty are Robert and Carleen Thomas, both 38, of Milpitas,
California, who were convicted on 11 criminal counts of transmitting
sexually obscene pictures through interstate phone lines via their
members-only Amateur Action Bulletin Board System. Each count carries a
maximum of five years in prison and $250,000 in fines.
Robert Thomas was acquitted on a charge of accepting child pornography
mailed to him by an undercover postal inspector.
Subscribers to the couple's BBS paid $55 for six months or $99 for a
year.
The couple, who remain free on $20,000 bond while they await
sentencing, refused to comment. No sentencing date has been set.
Defense attorney Williams said his clients will appeal, arguing the
jury was wrongly instructed on how to apply the Supreme Court's standard
on obscenity.
How First Amendment free-speech protections can be granted in
cyberspace were among the questions raised by the trial that also explored
the emerging community of millions of Americans who use computers and
modems to share pictures and words of every topic imaginable.
________________________________________________
> Optimizing Picture Publisher STR Feature
""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""
WHAT IS THE OPTIMUM SYSTEM ENVIRONMENT
FOR
PICTURE PUBLISHER?
1. Large portions of RAM memory are the most desirable (and the most
costly) since this kind of memory will be the quickest for the computer to
process. (Note that use of PP4.0's Fastbits feature can make better use
of smaller RAM resources: see #4)
2. The largest permanent swap file is the best setup in most systems. Fast
harddisk controllers obviously will allow quick information transfer time
and will directly improve performance.
3. The memory settings in the EDIT\PREFERENCES dialog box should be:
Minimum free memory (Default is 1024KB in PP40) This setting reserves a
portion of memory for other Windows applications. Some systems may be
set up with a value lower so PP can utilize this memory.
Sometimes setting at 2048KB will eliminate some clipboard problems.
Free memory per image (Default is 75% in PP40) This setting is a
percentage that should be set high to avoid a double caching scenario
between the PPCACHE and the harddisk.
4. Other memory considerations should incorporate the use of Fastbits.
The Fastbits feature in Picture Publisher 4.0 can be used to further
manage your memory resources. Fastbits enables you to open a segment of a
TIF image, change it, and rejoin the changes back into the original image.
By bringing in smaller segments of an image into memory, processing within
RAM memory can be used.
Picture Publisher's Memory Handling
-----------------------------------
Whenever you edit an image, additional files are temporarily created. If
the sums of the size of these files are larger than the amount of RAM
memory there will be a noticeable performance degradation. You can get
optimal performance of your memory resources by understanding Picture
Publisher's creation and destruction of these temporary files.
How much memory does PP40 take? approximately 340KB PP3.x took 175KB
Pmagic takes 195KB
When does PP create a temporary file? Every time an edit takes place. This
also includes activities such as masking and copying.
All the modes no undo, manual apply, auto apply, operate the same way at
first. As an edit initially takes place (ie. airbrush a portion of an
image) a temporary file the same size of the entire image is created to
allocate a memory block. *Writing to a file without allocating the entire
block could be a better option if memory wasn't a consideration. PP40 now
grabs the allocated block first to assure the completion of the operation.
What is occurring when an edit takes place, given you are in manual apply
mode? As editing continues, the temporary file gets written with any new
editing changes. The advantage is that allocation takes place only one
time up front until the temporary file is destroyed. Another advantage is
that there is a pseudo multiple undo with this setting. When recording and
playing macros, this setting will also be the most advantageous. When
recording macros, remember to select no to any messages asking if you want
to save your changes so that no unnecessary memory activity takes place.
The disadvantage is that any undo will lose all the changes made to the
temporary file.
What is occurring when an edit takes place given you are in auto apply
mode? Every editing operation will require the allocation of a temporary
file to be created the same size of the entire image. In this mode, there
will be one level of undo which provides insurance by being able to go
back before the change was made. Within memory, every time a change takes
place, a temporary file is created and a previous file cleared out of
memory. The disadvantage is the allocation time required for each
operation that is more apparent when working with large images. If any
portion of the hard disk is used during these operations, performance will
degrade. Brush strokes will lag behind and disk activity will be apparent.
What is occurring when an edit takes place given you are in no undo mode?
After a change is completed, the previously stored file is cleared out of
memory. Note, that only until the completion of the change, is the
previously stored file cleared out of memory.
When is temporary file created? When there is any change to an image or
when a mask is drawn.
What sizes are the temporary files PP creates? All image temporary files
allocate a memory block as large as the image being changed. This is true
for image objects as well. A mask also allocates a block of memory. The
mask temporary file will be equal to the size of the image if it was in
greyscale. PP40 uses an 8bit mask channel so that special effects like
fading and feathering can be accomplished directly to the mask. In
addition, PP defaults to an undo mask so that there may be as many as two
temporary files (8bit) for the mask channel residing in memory. Please
note that presently there is no option to turn off the 8bit mask channel
to a one bit when working with lineart.
When does PP clear a temporary file from memory? After a change takes
place in Auto Apply mode or No Undo mode. Also, if you are in Manual Apply
mode or Auto Apply mode and go to the menu and select EDIT\MANUAL APPLY
the temporary file is cleared from memory.
What is a base image? The image on the desktop that is not an object
What is an object? An object is a floating image not combined with the
base image
What size in memory is a mask? The mask file will be equal to the size of
the image if it was in greyscale.
What is an undo? Option to return to a previously unchanged image that
resides in memory
What is a redo? Option to return to the changed image that resides in
memory.
_______________________________________________
> Crayola Amazing Art Adventure STR Review
""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""
Kids' Computing Corner
----------------------
CRAYOLA AMAZING ART ADVENTURE
BY
MICROGRAFX
by Frank Sereno
Crayola Amazing Art Adventure (for brevity I will refer to the
program as CAAA in the remainder of this article) by MicroGrafx is a
multi-media art program available for IBM compatibles with a 386 or
greater CPU running Windows 3.1. Other requirements are 4 megs of ram, 12
megs of hard drive space, VGA graphics and a mouse. MicroGrafx recommends
a Windows compatible sound card, Super VGA display and a Windows
compatible printer. Intended for children ages 3 to 6, CAAA teaches
object recognition, letter recognition, sets and subsets as well as
various art concepts.
CAAA comes on 6 high density floppy diskettes and includes a large
format 24-page user guide which is full of tips and hints and includes a
trouble-shooting section. Installation is done via an install program on
the first diskette which can be run from the Program Manager or File
Manager in Windows. The program then creates a subdirectory, copies all
the files to the hard drive, and then creates a program group and icon for
running the program. Run CAAA by double-clicking on its icon.
The program will begin with a welcome screen complete with some jazzy
saxophone music. Clicking the mouse will cause the "Who Are You" screen
to come up. New users type in their name at this point and begin the
game. After that, the user can click on his name each time to begin the
adventure.
The main interface for the CAAA is the Art Room. It is a picture of
a child's bedroom filled with colorful objects. Some objects will show
animations when clicked upon, other objects will lead to the various
games. CAAA has eleven activities available. The Crayola Beginning Paint
is represented by the easel. The remaining 10 activities are coloring
activity books which give the child a learning task to complete and the
option to color the picture with the Beginning Paint tools. Spaceball
Paint by Dot is accessed via the small spaceship, Jungle Adventure is
represented by the monkey, Circus Dots is symbolized by the clown doll,
Fun with Food Placemat Maker is illustrated by a hamburger, Coloring
Blocks is shown by a block picture, Sets & Subsets is represented by
sports objects grouped with carrots, Monster Mix-Up is denoted by a mixed
up monster, Monster Maze Craze is symbolized as a maze box, Dragon's
Birthday Hidden Pictures is entered via the birthday cake and representing
the What's Wrong with this Picture game is a toaster on a light fixture.
Also available to the user is an Art Gallery to view any pictures that
have been saved in the other sections.
The main interface is the standard point and click variety. Also
available is an adult menu which is accessed by holding down the Alternate
key and pressing A. The adult menu allows saving of pictures as Windows
wallpaper and setting printing, sound and brush size options. Most
disappointing is that no audible help is available. This program is aimed
at pre-readers but any help given is done with text.
Crayola Beginning Paint is filled with many tools, represented by
icons, to make creative and entertaining art. Paintings can be done with
crayons, water colors, markers or paint. Each tool has its own patterns
and styles. Fill in with paint allows the use of many patterns and
gradients. Water colors can be painted over with different colors to make
different tints. Crayons can be colored over and will not mix colors.
Marker colors can be combined like water colors. Solid geometric shapes
can be added with the shapes tool. 60 different animated toys can placed
on each picture. The exploding eraser erases the entire picture,
including any outlines. If you wish to remove a single mistake, the
bandage will undo the last action done by bringing out an animated
ambulance to remove that act from the screen. Magic effects will distort
images in the picture. 150 different stickers are available for placement
on each artwork. Text can be added via the talking keyboard which
pronounces each letter as it is typed on the screen. The user has the
option of many fonts and colors for the text. This could be used to make a
color illustrated book. And the gallery allows saving, printing and
viewing each user's masterpieces.
As an art program, CAAA is quite excellent. With patience and
practice, users can make beautiful pictures. I feel that it may be a
little too hard for younger users to use, at least in the sense of making
a "perfect picture." Many of the items which need to be colored in the
coloring books are so small that even with the smallest brush size, the
child will go outside the lines. Of course, many teachers and researchers
recommend that children color outside the lines. I feel that young
perfectionists may become a bit frustrated. Also, when trying to fill
objects, it can be difficult to fill the correct area because the pointer
is shaped like a can dripping paint. The proper technique takes a bit of
practice.
Now to highlight the coloring activity books. Each book consists of
8 outlined picture pages plus a title page. The book is a tabbed notebook
and clicking on the corresponding tab takes the child to that page. One
flaw in the design is there is no indication of which page the user is
currently viewing. Each book encourages the child to do a different
learning activity and to color the pages using the Beginner Paint tools.
The Jungle Adventure rewards the child with an animation surprise
when he clicks on the colored object on each page. Monster Mix-up allows
the child to mix and match different heads, bodies and legs to create over
4000 different monsters. Monster Maze Craze asks that the child use the
mouse to draw a path through a maze. This activity encourages growth of
problem-solving skills. Dragon's Birthday Hidden Pictures encourages the
child to find objects hidden within other objects in a picture. What's
Wrong with this Picture has objects which are out of place which will be
corrected when the child clicks on them.
The Spaceball Paint by Dot activity is accomplished by clicking on
the dots on the page. A portion of the picture is revealed as each dot is
clicked. Upon completing the dots, the background will be revealed.
Circus Dots shows a sequence of dots. The child clicks on the dots as
they turn green to draw the lines of an object. Sets & Subsets show
several related items and one which does not belong. Clicking on the item
which doesn't belong removes it from the picture. Coloring Blocks asks
the child to click on shapes containing a certain letter. Once each block
is correctly selected, it is colored in to show an object. Fun with Food
allows children to color and print placemats for your table. Fun with
Food is not accessible until you call the MicroGrafx toll-free support
line, register your software and give them the code number that appears on
your screen. The tech person will then give you a number to activate this
section of the software. This is an interesting method of registering
software and it is quite painless.
Graphics in this program are very colorful and cartoon-like. Some
animations are very fluid and life-like while others are very poor.
Sounds are very distinct and the music is quite entertaining. A bigger
variety of sounds and music would be an improvement in this area. I've
already mentioned several shortcomings in the interface area, but one
advantage is that MicroGrafx offers toll-free technical assistance to
registered users. Another short-coming is that the program is a bit slow
on a 386 machine. One annoying feature is the program generates a
digitized laugh while doing gradient and solid fills.
I believe this program has excellent play value. There are 80
different activity pages plus endless combinations of tools to use to make
original art. This program should keep young artists entertained for
years. Educational value is hard to rate. Encouraging interest in art is
certainly valuable and this program accomplishes this. Other important
learning concepts are taught as well. This program is available for $35
to $40 at many software retailers. Considering the many hours of
entertaining learning to be gained from this software, I feel it delivers
great bang for the buck. An improved interface, better animations and
more sounds would move this program near the top of the ratings.
Graphics ................ 8.0
Sounds .................. 8.5
Interface ............... 7.0
Play Value .............. 9.0
Ed. Value ............... 9.0
Bang for the Buck ........9.5
Average ..................8.5
STR and Kids' Computing Corner Educational Software Ratings
-----------------------------------------------------------
Software Title Software Company Rating
-------------- ----------------------- ---------
Alphabet Blocks Sierra On-line 9.67
Beginning Reading Sierra On-line 9.67
A.J.'s World of Discovery Sierra On-line 9.16
Early Math Sierra On-line 9.09
Busytown Paramount Interactive 9.00
The Tortoise and the Hare Broderbund 8.75
The Greatest Paper Airplanes KittyHawk 8.70
Crayola Amazing Art Adventure MicroGrafx 8.50
Just Grandma and Me Broderbund 8.41
Lenny's MusicToons Paramount Interactive 7.17
Math Rabbit The Learning Company 7.17
Mixed-up Mother Goose Sierra On-line 7.08
Word Tales Time-Warner Interactive 7.00
Snoopy's Game Club Accolade 6.83
Yearn 2 Learn Peanuts ImageSmith 6.50
Fatty Bear's Fun Pack Humongous Entertainment 5.25
If you wish to send ratings, comments, suggestions or just say hello, I
can be reached via e-mail at these addresses:
FidoNET: Frank Sereno, 1:2235/10
Internet: frank.sereno@uti.com
U.S. Postal Service
-------------------
Frank Sereno
528 West Ave.
Morris, IL 60450-1768
_____________________________________________
> ALDUS NEWS! STR FOCUS!
""""""""""""""""""""""
PAGEMAKER ENHANCEMENT PACK VOLUME ONE
-------------------------------------
PAGEMAKER 5.0
New Enhancement Pack adds filters, converters and updates to PageMaker 5.0
for Windows
SEATTLE, July 20, 1994-To help users maintain full compatibility with new
releases of popular software applications, Aldus Corporation today
released disk sets of the PageMaker Enhancement Pack Volume One for
PageMaker 5.0 for Windows. The package also delivers minor refinements and
utilities to PageMaker 5.0 to meet the most pressing needs of customers
between major version releases.
To be a continuing offering from Aldus, the PageMaker Enhancement Pack
components are also available on Compuserve, America Online and through
the Aldus Technical Support Bulletin Board System.
Included in the PageMaker Enhancement Pack Volume One is an import filter
for Microsoft Word 6.0 for Windows, which provides integration with the
popular word processing software; a utility to convert Ventura Publisher
documents to PageMaker's native file format; and an updated image library
that enhances compatibility with Aldus PhotoStyler and some
Hewlett-Packard printers.
An updated "UpdatePPD" utility and Addition further automates the process
of customizing printer description files. This utility lets users create
custom PPD files that contain additional information about their printers
that is not contained in the original PPD file. For example, users will be
able to determine the current amount of free virtual memory available and
the names of permanently downloadable fonts. These custom files can also
be edited, updated or newly created when printing requirements change.
The "UpdatePPD" utility and Addition also includes the ability to add
PostScript font names to the custom PPD file for the fonts that have been
permanently downloaded to the printer. Providing this information to
PageMaker speeds printing times by eliminating the need for PageMaker to
download fonts that may have been added, but not listed, in the original
PPD file.
"The interim releases of filters and other updates for PageMaker
demonstrates our commitment to be proactive in meeting our customers'
evolving needs," said Lori Birtley, senior product marketing manager for
Aldus. "The maintenance releases have been well received by our customer
base as evidenced by a high request rate for the Filter/Driver Pack Plus
released earlier this year. Through these offerings, customers are able to
use the new features in a timely and cost effective manner."
The PageMaker Enhancement Pack Volume One for PageMaker 5.0 for Windows
can be downloaded from Compuserve and America Online in the Aldus forum or
from the Aldus Technical Support Bulletin Board at (206) 623-6984. New
components will continue to be posted online in the future.
It is also available directly from Aldus for $9.95 (U.S.), which covers
the cost of shipping and handling. Customers should call Aldus at (800)
628-2320 to receive the PageMaker Enhancement Pack Volume One for Windows
disk set. For more information, customers can order an Aldus FaxYI
document by calling (206) 628-5737 and requesting document number 315002.
A PageMaker 5.0 Enhancement Pack Volume One for the Apple Macintosh is
slated for release in Q3. Components expected to be included are a
ClarisWorks filter, a DOS/Windows WordPerfect 6.0 filter, and other
filters, drivers and converters currently under development.
PageMaker 5.0, available on the Microsoft Windows, Apple Macintosh and
Power Macintosh platforms, offers more than 100 new features and
enhancements developed to provide publishing professionals with the power
and functionality that they need in creative environments. As a leading
desktop publishing application, it offers major advances in precision and
control, integration with other software and hardware, and versatility in
the wide range of printed communications it can produce. Meanwhile, it
maintains the familiar pasteboard-based metaphor as its interface.
To extend the capability of PageMaker, over 20 Aldus Additions are
included with PageMaker 5.0. More than 60 Additions developed by third
parties are available through the Aldus Developers Cooperative, an
independent, not-for-profit, member-owned organization. Aldus also offers
its own separately packaged Additions: the InfoPublisher Database Addition
for database publishing on the Windows platform, and Aldus TrapMaker,
which adds trapping capability to PageMaker 5.0 for the Macintosh
platform.
COLOR CENTRAL 2.2
=================
Power PC & WIN NT
Aldus Prepress Division ships Color Central 2.2 for the Power Macintosh
and for Windows NT on Intel and DEC Alpha platforms
Marking another Aldus entry into client/server computing, the Aldus
Prepress Division (APD) has released Color Central 2.2 for the Power
Macintosh and for Windows NT on Intel and Digital Equipment Corporation
(DEC) Alpha platforms. Color Central is the leading worldwide OPI (Open
Prepress Interface) print and image server for the graphic arts market and
a key component of the Aldus desktop prepress line.
On these high performance systems, Color Central 2.2 yields significant
improvements in production throughput in a server environment that is
superior to a UNIX-based system.
"High volume and high performance mark the features that prepress
professionals require," said Jim Betlyon, general manager of the Aldus
Prepress Division. "Color Central 2.2 for both the Power Macintosh and
Windows NT delivers superior performance and unparalleled flexibility.
Now, users can freely use either the Macintosh or Power Macintosh, or move
to NT as their needs evolve."
Designed specifically for use by prepress professionals in color trade
shops, service bureaus, printers, newspapers, in-plant printers and design
environments, Color Central improves prepress productivity. It generates
low-resolution "placement" files from high resolution images in EPS, DCS,
TIFF, Scitex CT or Photoshop format for placement and manipulation in page
layout programs. These placement files are typically only 5 percent of
the size of the original, but appear exactly like the original when viewed
on the monitor. The small files are easier to place, crop and rotate than
their high resolution counterparts. This significantly reduces computer
processing "downtime" during production.
When the document is ready to be printed to an output device such as an
imagesetter, Color Central automatically replaces the low resolution
working files with the high resolution images using the Aldus-developed
OPI specification.
At the same time, Color Central automatically shifts the processing
burden from the individual workstation to the server, allowing the user to
work on another project.
Performance Gains On the Power Macintosh, generating a low-resolution file
with Color Central 2.2 shows a 500 percent improvement over one created
with Color Central 2.1 on a Quadra 800. Overall, Color Central 2.2 is 30
- 50 percent faster on a Power Macintosh than version 2.2 running on a
680x0 machine.
For Windows NT, Color Central takes advantage of the Digital Equipment
Corporation's (DEC) Alpha chip family, reported to be the fastest widely
available processor on the market. The chip's speed improves Color
Central's load handling and allows customers to easily run other
applications such as Raster Image Processing (RIP) software and databases
simultaneously with Color Central.
Feature Set Core features for both platforms include a graphic interface
for all server management; support for EPS, DCS, TIFF, CT and Photoshop
image formats; DCS merging for high resolution proofs, spooling to the
first available printer; automated low-resolution generation; remote
server administration; and Color Central ProPak add-on modules -- a series
of workplace- specific solutions that extend the basic functionality of
Color Central. Color Central ProPaks enable users to create software
environments that mirror individual production needs.
"Color Central was developed with an emphasis on user productivity," said
Doug Rank, program manager with the Aldus Prepress Division. "Color
Central can spool hundreds of megabytes of images in seconds giving users
more time to work on jobs instead of waiting for files to print."
Color Central 2.2 on the Power Macintosh
----------------------------------------
For the Power Macintosh, Aldus has included both the Power Macintosh and
the 680x0-based releases in the same package. The Color Central
application is written in fat binary mode, so the installer will always
put both the 680x0 and Power Macintosh code on the user's machine.
Color Central 2.2 for the Power Macintosh has been recompiled and
optimized to take full advantage of the superior speed of the PowerPC
microchip upon which the Power Macintosh is based. As a result, the
performance improvements stand to make a significant impact on high-volume
prepress environments in which production throughput is a significant
competitive factor. Users will also notice significant speed improvements
in the 680x0 version of Color Central 2.2.
Features specific to the Macintosh platform include image database
support, including Aldus Fetch; capability to manage up to six printers
through 16 queues; AppleScript support; and the Apple Colorsync color
management system and compatible systems, including EfiColor and Agfa
Fototune.
For the Power Macintosh, the recommended system requirement for Color
Central 2.2 is a Power Macintosh or Apple Workgroup Server with 16MB RAM
and a 1GB hard disk.
For 680x0-based machines, the minimum system requirement for Color Central
2.2 for the Macintosh is a Macintosh SE/30 with 4MB RAM and a 120MB hard
disk. The recommended system requirement is any Macintosh Quadra computer
with 16MB RAM and a 1GB hard disk.
Color Central 2.2 for Windows NT
--------------------------------
The Windows NT version of Color Central 2.2 supports both the Intel 80x86
and DEC Alpha machines. Windows NT is the next generation of Microsoft's
Windows operating system, the software that directs the basic functions of
a microcomputer. Windows NT is designed to take advantage of the 32-bit
microprocessors, which promise significant improvements in performance,
multi-tasking and networking capabilities for microcomputers. It is a
cross-platform operating system developed to run on both Intel-based
personal computers and Reduced Instruction Set Computing (RISC) machines
such as the DEC Alpha or the Power Macintosh.
In addition to the core product features, Color Central on the Windows NT
platform supports multiple processor machines at the operating system
level through the Windows NT Symmetric Multiprocessing (SMP) capability.
On a computer with two, three or four processors, all Windows NT
applications can be automatically divided and therefore executed in less
time.
Other NT-specific features include support for multiple processors; the
ability to manage 12 printers through 32 queues; support for additional
high resolution formats such as PC EPS, indexed color TIFF files and
indexed Photoshop files; and the ability to connect easily to both Windows
and Novell clients.
The minimum system requirement for Color Central 2.2 for Windows NT is a
80486/25-based PC with at least 20MG of RAM and a 500MB hard drive. The
recommended system requirement is a 80486/50, Pentium or DEC Alpha-based
machine with at least 48MB of RAM and a 1 GB hard drive.
Pricing, availability and support Aldus Color Central 2.2 is available
immediately worldwide for the Power Macintosh and Windows NT platforms.
In the United States, the list price is $3,995 (U.S.) for the Power
Macintosh and $4,995 (U.S.) for Windows NT.
Free upgrades will be sent to registered users of Color Central 2.1 for
Windows NT and to customers who purchased Color Central 2.1 for the Apple
Macintosh between April 1, 1994 and July 1, 1994. Upgrades are available
for $195 (U.S.) to registered Color Central 2.1 Macintosh customers who
purchased the product before April 1, 1994. Macintosh users may sidegrade
to the Windows NT version for $1,000 (U.S.).
The products are available from authorized Aldus Prepress Division dealers
and Value-Added Resellers (VARs) in the United States or directly from
Aldus by calling (800) 685-OPEN. Internationally, Color Central 2.2 is
available through Aldus Prepress Division distributors and dealers.
Color Central customers receive 90 days of free technical support from the
date of the first phone call. Upon expiration of the 90 days, users can
purchase Aldus CustomerFirst contracts for extended support.
The Aldus Prepress Division, formed in February, 1994, provides fully
functional integrated software systems and support services to color trade
shops, PostScript service bureaus, and to the commercial printing,
newspaper, magazine and catalogue markets. Other APD products include
TrapWise, PressWise, Print Central, OPEN and Color Central ProPaks.
Aldus Corporation (NASDAQ:ALDC), headquartered in Seattle, Washington,
creates computer software solutions that help people throughout the world
effectively communicate information and ideas. The company focuses on
three main lines of business: applications and services for the
professional publishing, prepress, and video markets; applications and
services for the general consumer market; and new software tools for the
emerging interactive publishing market. Aldus has subsidiaries in Europe,
Asia, and the Pacific Rim serving a worldwide network of dealers and
distributors.
ALDUS AND ALTSYS REACH SETTLEMENT
=================================
SEATTLE, July 13, 1994-Aldus Corporation (NASDAQ:ALDC) and Altsys
Corporation of Richardson, Texas, today announced that they have reached a
settlement of litigation pending in Federal District Court in Dallas,
Texas. The settlement with Altsys includes an amendment to the license
agreement between Aldus and Altsys with respect to Aldus' continued
marketing of Aldus FreeHand, an illustration and design software program
for microcomputers.
Those modifications which become effective upon the closing of the merger
between Aldus and Adobe principally provide that upon the termination of
the license agreement in July 1995, Aldus will transfer certain assets
relating to Aldus FreeHand to Altsys, including all of its interests in
the FreeHand name and documentation, foreign translations, and access to
the FreeHand user mailing list. Aldus also has agreed that for the
balance of the license term through July 1995, it will abide by certain
rules and procedures intended to assure Altsys that the marketing of Aldus
FreeHand will remain separate and distinct from, and competitive with, the
marketing of Adobe Illustrator, a similar program currently sold by Adobe.
After the license termination in July 1995, Aldus will not be restricted
from distributing a product which is competitive to FreeHand. The
settlement also contains terms with respect to the possible continuation
of the license in the event that the merger does not occur.
"The settlement is very fair and removes one obstacle to completing our
merger with Adobe," said Paul Brainerd, president of Aldus. "Our agreement
should provide for a smooth transfer of FreeHand to Altsys. In the
meantime, we intend to aggressively market and support FreeHand during the
remainder of the license agreement." "Altsys has been a pioneer in the
graphics software industry, as evidenced by our creation of Fontographer
in 1986 and FreeHand in 1987," said Jim Von Ehr, president & CEO of Altsys
Corporation. "We are pleased with the careful steps we have taken with
Aldus to ensure the smooth transition of FreeHand to Altsys. Altsys is
totally committed to the success of FreeHand, and we plan to keep our
worldwide customers very happy." Founded in 1984, Richardson Texas-based
Altsys Corporation is a world leader in font-editing and graphics
software. Altsys publishes Fontographer 4.0 for Macintosh and Fontographer
3.5 for Microsoft Windows, Altsys Font-o-matic for Windows and Macintosh,
Metamorphosis Professional and EPS Exchange for Macintosh, and Virtuoso
for NextStep and Solaris. Altsys has been the developer of Aldus FreeHand
since its creation in 1986.
Aldus Corporation, headquartered in Seattle, Washington, creates computer
software solutions that help people throughout the world effectively
communicate information and ideas. The company focuses on three main lines
of business: applications and services for the professional publishing,
prepress, and video markets; applications and services for the general
consumer market; and new software tools for the emerging interactive
publishing market. Aldus has subsidiaries in Europe, Asia, and the Pacific
Rim serving a worldwide network of dealers and distributors.
Aldus Corporation
411 First Avenue
South Seattle, WA 98104-2871
(206) 622-5500
Media contacts:
Brad Stevens (206) 628-2361
Altsys Corporation
269 West Renner Parkway
Richardson, TX 75080
(214) 680-2060
Media contact:
Melinda Conkling, Springbok Technologies (214) 480-9458
Aldus, Aldus logo, PageMaker and Fetch are registered trademarks and Color
Central, OPEN, OPI, PressWise, Print Central, TrapWise, TIFF are
trademarks of Aldus Corporation. Fontographer, Metamorphosis, and EPS
Exchange are registered trademarks of Altsys Corporation. PhotoStyler is
a registered trademark of U-Lead Systems, licensed to Aldus.
InfoPublisher is a registered trademark of PageAhead Software, licensed to
Aldus. Apple, the Apple logo, Macintosh and Macintosh Quadra are
registered trademarks and AppleScript, Power Macintosh is a trademark of
Apple Computer, Inc. Other product and corporate names may be trademarks
or registered trademarks of other companies and are used for
identification to their owners' benefit, without intent to infringe.
_____________________________________________
> WHAT IT IS?? STR Feature
""""""""""""""""""""""""
Suicide, Accident, or Homicide?
===============================
From the Internet
For those of you who were unable to attend the Awards Dinner during the
Annual Meeting in San Diego, you missed a tall tale on complex forensics
presented by AAFS President Don Harper Mills in his opening remarks. The
following is a recount of Dr. Mills' story...
"On March 23 the medical examiner viewed the body of Ronald Opus and
concluded that he died from a gunshot wound of the head caused by a
shotgun. Investigation to that point had revealed that the decedent had
jumped from the top of a ten story building with the intent to commit
suicide (he left a note indicating his despondency). As he passed the 9th
floor on the way down, his life was interrupted by a shotgun blast through
a window, killing him instantly. Neither the shooter nor the decedent was
aware that a safety net had been erected at the 8th floor level to protect
some window washers and that the decedent would not have been able to
complete his intent to commit suicide because of this.
Ordinarily, a person who starts into motion the events with a suicide
intent ultimately commits suicide even though the mechanism might be not
what he intended. That he was shot on the way to certain death nine
stories below probably would not change his mode of death from suicide to
homicide. But the fact that his suicide intent would not have been
achieved under any circumstance caused the medical examiner to feel that
he had homicide on his hands.
Further investigation led to the discovery that the room on the 9th floor
from whence the shotgun blast emanated was occupied by an elderly man and
his wife. He was threatening her with the shotgun because of an inter-
spousal spat and became so upset that he could not hold the shotgun
straight. Therefore, when he pulled the trigger, he completely missed his
wife and the pellets went through the window striking the decedent.
When one intends to kill subject A, but kills subject B in the attempt,
one is guilty of the murder of subject B. The old man was confronted with
this conclusion, but both he and his wife were adamant in stating that
neither knew that the shotgun was loaded. It was the longtime habit of the
old man to threaten his wife with an unloaded shotgun. He had no intent to
murder her; therefore, the killing of the decedent appeared then to be
accident. That is, the gun had been accidentally loaded.
But *further* investigation turned up a witness that their son was seen
loading the shotgun approximately six weeks prior to the fatal accident.
That investigation showed that the mother (the old lady) had cut off her
son's financial support and her son, knowing the propensity of his father
to use the shotgun threateningly, loaded the gun with the expectation that
the father would shoot his mother. The case now becomes one of murder on
the part of the son for the death of Ronald Opus.
Further investigation revealed that the son became increasingly despondent
over the failure of his attempt to get his mother murdered. This led him
to jump off the ten story building on March 23, only to be killed by a
shotgun blast through a 9th story window.
The medical examiner closed the case as a suicide."
""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""
:HOW TO GET YOUR OWN GENIE ACCOUNT:
_________________________________
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 Information copyright (C) 1991 by General Electric
Information Services/GEnie, reprinted by permission
""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""
___ ___ _____ _______
/___| /___| /_____| /_______/ The Macintosh RoundTable
/____|/____| /__/|__| /__/ ________________________
/_____|_____|/__/_|__|/__/
/__/|____/|__|________|__/
/__/ |___/ |__|_/ |__|_/____ Managed by SyndiComm
/__/ |__/ |__|/ |__|______/
An Official Forum of the International Computer Users Group
*** STReport available in MAC RT ***
ASCII TEXT
for ALL GEnie users!
MAC/APPLE SECTION (II)
======================
John Deegan, Editor (Temp)
> Adobe Premier STR InfoFile
""""""""""""""""""""""""""
VERSION 4.0 OF ADOBE PREMIERE
=============================
For the Macintosh Now Available
-------------------------------
Box Includes Deluxe CD-ROM and Floppy Disk Versions of Software
Mountain View, Calif. (July 25, 1994) (NASDAQ: ADBE) Adobe Systems
Incorporated today announced the availability of Adobe Premiere 4.0 for
Macintoshr, a new release of its industry-leading video editing
application that adds new features for video and multimedia professionals
and native support for Apple's Power Macintosht computers. Adobe Premiere
4.0 for Macintosh sells for a suggested retail price of $795. The package
includes application software for the Macintosh and Power Macintosh on
both floppy diskette and on the Deluxe CD-ROM.
New editing features in version 4.0 add support that video and multimedia
professionals have been asking for, including a Trimming window; dynamic
previewing for working on many edits without waiting for a fully rendered
preview; and Construction window enhancements such as automatic insert
edits and improved ripple and rolling edits Version 4.0 enhancements also
include a pop-up tool menu; support for 29.97 frame rates (true NTSC frame
rate); better previewing; custom filters and effects; unattended batch
processing; temporal filters; gradient wipes, and Edit Decision List
enhancements.
"The time variable filters in Adobe Premiere 4.0 have proven to be a real
boon," said Greg Roach, founder and artistic director of HyperBole
Studios, a multimedia and CD-ROM title developer in Bellevue, Washington.
"Previously, you would have to go to extreme lengths to have filter
effects appear to change over time, but doing it in one stop is a very
nice feature. It seems simple, but its power is not to be underestimated.
"The preview and edit trim windows function really speeds up and
simplifies the editing process," Roach said. "With the refinements to the
Construction window and the ability to ripple delete and ripple insert, we
have found that cumulatively, over the course of the day, these
enhancements add hours of productivity. Add the performance gains of the
native Power Macintosh version, and the program seems more responsive,
more alive. Because those subtle, almost imperceptible delays between a
choice and the result on the computer screen are gone, the tools seem
more of an extension of the imagination."
The Adobe Premiere 4.0 for Macintosh program lets users create custom
effects in a variety of ways. Users can build custom transitions using the
Adobe Illustratort and Adobe Photoshopt program blend tools, or they can
write their own effects using image processing routines included in the
new Transition Factory and Filter Factory features. These effects are
compiled in real-time and can be saved as new, stand-alone plug-ins,
giving users more creative freedom.
Other new features include improved Project window and file management;
support for Adobe Illustrator 5.5 program files; time-lapse capture;
improved blue and green compositing; and a new range selection tool to
select and group items to which functions can be applied. Users can also
save common arrangements of all windows with a miniature representation of
the desktop. All windows instantly conform to new arrangements by
selecting a configuration from a menu or the Command palette.
Adobe Premiere 4.0 software runs in native mode in the new Power Macintosh
computers from Apple. This platform will deliver many performance gains,
particularly on movies that make extensive use of special effects,
filters, motion and compositing.
Version 4.0 ships with the Deluxe CD-ROM, and includes the application
software as well as such extras as multimedia tutorials on new features;
automated tips and techniques that demonstrate many features; QuickTimet
movie examples; electronic versions of key documentation; bonus content
and Adobet Acrobatt Reader software.
System Requirements
-------------------
Minimum system requirements for Adobe Premiere 4.0 include a Macintosh
computer with 68020 or greater processor, 4 megabytes of application RAM,
an 80-megabyte hard drive, System Software 7.0 or greater, and QuickTime
1.6.1 or greater (Adobe Premiere 4.0 for Macintosh ships with QuickTime
2.0). For optimal performance, Adobe recommends 6 to 20 megabytes of RAM
for the application, a color monitor, QuickTime capture card, 500-megabyte
or greater hard drive and a CD-ROM drive.
Price and Availability
----------------------
Adobe Premiere 4.0 for Macintosh is available immediately from Adobe
authorized retailers at a suggested retail price of $795. Registered users
of Adobe Premiere software can upgrade from version 3.0 to version 4.0 for
a special price of $79. Customers who purchased and registered version
3.0, either bundled or non-bundled, on or after March 14, 1994, will get a
free upgrade to version 4.0 with proof of purchase. Registered users of
versions 1.0, 2.0 and Adobe Premiere LE can upgrade to version 4.0 for
$129.
For more information, customers should contact Adobe at 1-800-833-6687.
Adobe Systems Incorporated, founded in 1982, is headquartered in Mountain
View, California. Adobe develops, markets and supports computer software
products and technologies that enable users to create, display, print and
communicate electronic documents. The company licenses its technology to
major computer and publishing suppliers, and markets a line of type and
application software products. Revenue for fiscal 1993 exceeded $313
million.
-----------
Acrobat, Adobe, Adobe Illustrator, Adobe Photoshop and Adobe Premiere are
trademarks of Adobe Systems Incorporated, which may be registered in
certain jurisdictions. Macintosh is a registered trademark, and
QuickTimeand Power Macintosh are trademark sof Apple Computer, Inc.
__________________________________________
> Adobe Photoshop 2.5.2 STR InfoFile
""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""
ADOBE PHOTOSHOP 2.5.2
FOR
SILICON GRAPHICS AND SUN WORKSTATIONS
Adobe Photoshop Upgrade Offers Significant Performance Increases for
Silicon Graphics and Sun Workstations Adobe Photoshop 2.5.2 Software
Compatible with Macintosh and Windows Versions; Free Upgrade for Current
Users
Mountain View, Calif. (July 26, 1994) (NASDAQ:ADBE) -- Adobe Systems
Incorporated today announced Adobet Photoshopt 2.5.2 for Silicon Graphicsr
and Sunt workstations. The new software is an upgrade to the popular image
editing program and offers increased performance and greater support for
communications with Macintoshr systems. The new version of software also
features support for Sun's multi-processor architecture and SX graphics
accelerator. Adobe Photoshop 2.5.2 software is designed for creative
professionals, service bureaus and other high-end users that require
extremely high performance. The software is expected to be available in
September. Current Adobe Photoshop users will automatically receive the
upgrade at no charge.
"We've built advanced SX imaging acceleration and multiprocessing
capabilities into every SPARCstation 20, which lets Adobe offer the
highest-performance imaging products possible," said Bob Pearson, director
of workstation marketing at SMCC.
"Silicon Graphics and Sun workstations provide outstanding platforms for
Photoshop users," said Steve MacDonald, senior vice president and general
manager, Systems Products Division at Adobe. "Both platforms incorporate a
wealth of Adobe technology which, when combined with Photoshop, deliver a
'printshop in a box' for professional users. Building on the multi-tasking
and client-server architectures inherent in the UNIX operating system, the
updated version of Adobe Photoshop provides a new standard of performance,
productivity and capabilities to our customers."
Adobe Photoshop software is available for Macintosh, Silicon Graphics, Sun
and Windowst computers. Files are fully binary-compatible and can be
shared via disk or network for true cross-platform compatibility.
New Features Enhance Performance The new version of Photoshop includes a
number of performance-enhancing features that save time and increase
computing efficiency for Sun workstation users. Adobe Photoshop 2.5.2
takes advantage of the POSIX thread interface in UNIX operating systems
and delivers dramatic performance increases on both single processor or
multi- processor workstations.
In single processor systems, the multi-threaded architecture provides
maximum CPU utilization and efficiency by overlapping I/O requests with
computational tasks. In multi-processor configurations Adobe Photoshop
provides near-linear performance gains for most operations with the
addition of each processor.
Adobe Photoshop 2.5.2 software takes advantage of the SX graphics
accelerator supplied in many Sun workstations. With this new feature,
Photoshop users will experience performance increases of two to eight-fold
during image manipulation operations such as rotating and resizing.
Display speeds and memory operations are also accelerated, resulting in
further performance increases.
With Adobe Photoshop 2.5.2, a variety of operations are faster on both
Silicon Graphics and Sun platforms as a result of general performance
tuning. For example, resampling operations such as image rotation,
resizing, skewing and distortion will run from 10 to 30 percent faster
than with previous versions of Photoshop on the same computer.
In addition to performance improvements, Adobe Photoshop 2.5.2 includes
enhanced support for Macintosh to UNIX third party file transfer. By using
various third party transfer products, including Partner from Information
Presentation Technologies, EtherShare from Helios, and K-A Share from
XINET, the UNIX file system will appear transparent to Macintosh users.
Availability, Price and System Recommendations Adobe Photoshop 2.5.2 is
expected to be available in September 1994. Registered users will
automatically receive the new software at no cost.
For new users, Adobe Photoshop licensing capabilities allow for the
license to lock the application to a particular workstation or float the
licenses over the network for as many right-to-use licenses as are
purchased. Pricing is as follows:
* Single right-to-use: $1,895
* Five right-to-use: $7,595
* Ten right to use: $13,495
Minimum system recommendations for Silicon Graphics' product line include
IRIX 5.2 or higher operating system and 32 MB of main memory. Minimum
recommendations
for running Adobe Photoshop 2.5.2 software on Sun workstations are the
Solarist 2.3 operating system and 32 MB of main memory.
Adobe Photoshop 2.5.2 software is available through Adobe authorized
Silicon Graphics and Sun resellers. For the name and phone number of the
nearest Adobe-authorized reseller call 1-800-83-FONTS.
Adobe Systems Incorporated, founded in 1982, is headquartered in Mountain
View, California. Adobe develops, markets and supports computer software
products and technologies that enable users to create, display, print and
communicate electronic documents. The company licenses its technology to
major computer and publishing suppliers, and markets a line of type and
application software products. Revenue for fiscal 1993 exceeded $313
million.
___________
Adobe and Adobe Photoshop are trademarks of Adobe Systems Incorporated
which may be registered in certain jurisdictions. Macintosh is a
registered trademark of Apple Computer, Inc. Windows is a trademark of
Microsoft Corporation. Solaris and Sun are trademarks of Sun Microsystems,
Inc. SPARCstation is a trademark of SPARC International, Inc. and is based
on an architecture developed by Sun Microsystems, Inc. All other brand or
product names are trademarks or registered trademarks of their respective
holders.
_________________________________________
> STR Mail Call "...a place for the readers to be heard"
"""""""""""""
STReport's MailBag
""""""""""""""""""
Messages * NOT EDITED * for content
-----------------------------------
Mention something favorable about Windows (Chicago) and what happens?
From all sides the rants the raves and the put downs come flying. I love
it! It really shows the folks out there are reading and actively
participating in the dialog. For example, I received this responsive post
via the Internet.
To: rmariano@delphi.com
Message-id: <19940724.71F8E70.FD64@shadowso.com>
Content-transfer-encoding: 7BIT
Dear Sir:
I do read your magazine and find it to be quite informative at times.
It's good that you give your opinions, I just don't agree with all of
them. For instance your opinion about Windows. I have used windows in my
386dx 40 megahertz. My opinion is that windows is a clumsy, slow, program
for users that can't figure out how to use dos. This is my opinion and I
might add the opinion of many bbs users conversed with by me. Chicago!
Even the dealers a wary of its potential. Current users of windows do not
feel the need for upgrade to chicago, but they did say the speed increase
would be nice but not worth the change. I don't know who you have been
talking or listening to but windows is not a great program such as you
have been touting. I guess that you are perfectly happy to stumble around
in windows. Remember this is my opinion and the need was felt to let you
know that alot in fact almost every user talked to dislikes windows. It
is a shame that you are touting such a program. Again, I enjoy your
magazine and appreciate you reading my response.
Sincerely,
dave cook
Jake
Dave;
For the record I too, at one time, disliked Windows and at times even
now find myself wishing for the OS to be in ROM and little more stable.
But in all honesty, I must say I am pleased with my overall productivity
the power of the system I use and the performance of Windows. I've been
told I have a fast 'pute but to me its the way it should be. Its an ISA
Bus machine running a 486 DX 50Mhz w/16mb ram (true). It sports a Stealth
Pro 2mb video card and believe me when I say Workgroups for Windows v 3.11
is fast believe me, its fast.
At the DOS level the speed is there too. The few games I really enjoy,
Doom and Links 386 Pro Golf are permanent residents on the HD! <g>
They're fast... very fast. The redraws in the golf game are quick and the
quality of the representations are top notch. A good deal of the
performance of the PC has, no doubt, a great deal to do with the machine
itself. But admittedly, Windows has come a long, long way from Windoze 2
and prior.
Another point.. many folks have written in complaining about Word Perfect
6.0 for Windows. The first thing I ask is if they have upgraded to 6.0a
its world of difference and the upgrade is free. Sometimes a small patch
or revision is the "racer's edge". I do like using WFW 3.11 and am having
great success with it. I also recommend it over the various niche and
"gimmick" machines. The bottom line is to recommend to the average user
where he will get the most "bang for his buck" with the added reliable
confidence that the platform will be in existence in the not too distant
future. I've simply got to go with Windows.
Thanks a bunch for writing in.. and most of all, for reading our humble
offering.
Ralph....
**********************************************************************
IMPORTANT NOTICE!
=================
STReport International Online Magazine is available every week for your
reading pleasure on DELPHI. STReport's readers are invited to join DELPHI
and become a part of an extremely friendly community of enthusiastic
computer users 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 20/20 Advantage Plan
20 Hours for Only $20!
-----------------------------
Advantage Members have always enjoyed the lowest DELPHI access rates
available. On the new 20/20 Advantage Plan, members receive their first 20
hours of access each month for only $20. If you happen to meet someone
online or find some other diversion, don't worry because additional usage
is only $1.80 per hour.
20/20 Advantage rates apply for access via SprintNet or Tymnet from
within the continental United States during home time or via direct dial
around the clock. Home Time is from 6pm to 6am weekdays. Access during
business time carries a surcharge of $9 per hour. These rates apply for
most services, but note that there are some surcharged areas on DELPHI
which are clearly marked with a "$" sign.
Who is eligible to take advantage of the plan? Any DELPHI member in
good standing. Applications are reviewed and subject to approval by
Delphi Internet Services Corporation.
It's easy to join. If you meet the eligibility requirements, you can
apply online -- at any time -- for membership in the DELPHI 20/20
Advantage Plan. Your membership becomes active at 4 a.m. Eastern Time on
the first billing day of the following month.
The $20 charge will be billed to you at the beginning of the month to
which it applies. Any portion of the 20 hours not used in any month does
not carry forward into the next month.
Advantage rates may be changed with 30 days notice given online.
TRY DELPHI FOR $1 AN HOUR!
For a limited time, you can become a trial member of DELPHI, and
receive 5 hours of evening and weekend access during this month for only
$5. If you're not satisfied, simply cancel your account before the end of
the calendar month with no further obligation. If you keep your account
active, you will automatically be enrolled in DELPHI's 10/4 Basic Plan,
where you can use up to 4 weekend and evening hours a month for a minimum
$10 monthly charge, with additional hours available at $3.96. But hurry,
this special trial offer will expire soon! To take advantage of this
limited offer, use your modem to dial 1-800-365-4636. Press <RET> once or
twice. When you get the Password: prompt, type IP26 and press <RET> again.
Then, just answer the questions and within a day or two, you'll officially
be a member of DELPHI!
DELPHI-It's the BEST Value and getting BETTER all the time!
************************************************************
ATARI/JAG SECTION (III)
=======================
Dana Jacobson, Editor
> From the Atari Editor's Desk "Saying it like it is!"
""""""""""""""""""""""""""""
As I think back over the past months, it seems like there's always
something going on regarding Mother Nature that keeps me complaining!
Well, let's omit the weather reports for one week; they're certainly
not worth mentioning again - nothing's changed for the better!
Being on vacation the past two weeks has given me the time and
opportunity to do a little online "channel-surfing" and see what's
available. Since Delphi has had Internet support for some time now, I
decided to finally check it out via the UseNet portion of it (I'm still
going to sign up for full Internet access before my vacation is up!).
It appears that many of the computing groups, as well as other
areas on Delphi, have some sort of UseNet feed depending on the focus
of each area. In the Atari area on Delphi, the UseNet area has 10
newsgroups set up, including a good variety of topics. Within each
newsgroup are a variety of message topics. Delphi users can read,
reply, and even start new message threads. Very interesting stuff, to
say the least. Also, the Internet is a good way to communicate with
online users from all parts of the world, regardless of whether or not
they are Delphi users or not. I've recently seen a number of users
whom I've only seen in places other than Delphi! If you have the
opportunity, check out the Internet sometime.
So, let's get to the rest of the issue!
Until next time...
Delphi's Atari Advantage!
TOP TEN DOWNLOADS (7/27/94)
(1) SYSTEM INFO CPX *(6) HEX MINES 1.2
(2) MOUNTAIN READER II *(7) STELLO 1.1
(3) NO LIMIT! *(8) JAGUAR GAME PICS
(4) CAIN NEWSLETTER #4 (9) LOCK CPX
(5) THE OCTALYZER V0.96 *(10) METAMORPHOSIS DEMO-NON FPU
* = New on list
HONORARY TOP 10
The following on-line magazines are always top downloads, frequently
out-performing every other file in the databases.
STREPORT (Current issue: STREPORT #10.30)
ATARI EXPLORER ONLINE (Current issue: AEO - VOLUME 3, ISSUE 10)
Look for the above files in the RECENT ARRIVALS database.
_________________________________________
> CAF '94 Update! STR Show News! - CT Show Rapidly Approaching!
"""""""""""""""""""""""""""""" Book Those Hotel Rooms NOW!
***********************************************************************
** O U R F O U R T H A N N U A L S H O W ! ! ! **
** /-----------\/------------/ **
** / / **
** / CT ATARIFEST '94 / **
** ,/ / **
** ,/ __________/|\___________/ **
** /__,/ ** BRIDGEPORT ** **
** **
** CONNECTICUT ATARIFEST '94 10 am - 5 pm Saturday 8/27/94 **
** August 27-28, 1994 at the 10 am - 4 pm Sunday 8/28/94 **
** BRIDGEPORT HOLIDAY INN **
** Bridgeport, CT Sponsored by **
** ACT Atari Group **
** (AUGOGH,CCCC,DBUG,FACE,MACH1,STARR & WMAUG) **
***********************************************************************
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
For More Information, Contact
Brian Gockley at (203) 332-1721
Make Your Hotel Reservations for East Coast's Biggest Atari Show
BRIDGEPORT, Conn. (July 21) - Luxurious hotel rooms are in store for
attendees who sleep over when they visit Connecticut AtariFest '94,
slated here on August 27 and 28. Organizers of the Nutmeg State's fourth
AtariFest say overnight guests will enjoy a stay in one of Fairfield
County's premier hotels, and will get a $20-per-night discount in the
process. In addition, thanks to a nationwide promotion by the hotel
chain, parents of children 12 and under can bring the kids for FREE!
Room reservations are being taken for the show, which will be hosted by
the Bridgeport Holiday Inn (formerly the Bridgeport Hilton). The hotel,
at 1070 Main Street, is easily accessible from Interstate 95 (Exits 27
or 27A), rail, bus, ferry and airline services. The 234-room hotel
offers fine accommodations, a restaurant, lounge, coffee shop, health
club and swimming pool.
The Holiday Inn has extended a special discount to all guests attending
the two-day Atari show. Its nightly room rate for CAF '94 showgoers is
$59.95 (double occupancy), $20 off its normal weekend rate. Atarians
with children are in for another treat: the Holiday Inn chain is
currently offering freebies for kids 12 and under who accompany their
parents. That means they stay and eat free of charge. Children 19 and
under can stay in their parents' room for free.
CAF '94 Chairman Brian Gockley says the show's return to the Bridgeport
Holiday Inn (the site of the first Connecticut AtariFest in 1991)
represents an improvement in quality over the accommodations provided
last year. The downtown hotel plays host to many conferences and
business meetings arranged by Fairfield County's Fortune 500 companies,
"so the level of service is a step above what we could expect from a
motor inn," Gockley explains. "We believe exhibitors and visitors will
see a big difference from this Grade A facility." Because the hotel is
located in southwest Connecticut only 56 miles from the Big Apple,
organizers hope more Atari users from the New York metropolitan area
will attend the show for the first time in recent years.
ACT Atari Group, sponsor of the computer show, also plans to maximize
its use of existing amenities. There is ample free parking for show
visitors in a secure hotel garage, and a prime-ribs buffet dinner is
scheduled for Saturday night of the show in the hotel restaurant. Inns,
motels and other lodgings designed to meet any budget are available
throughout the region, but the Holiday Inn will be the hub of show
activity and after-hours socializing.
Bridgeport area attractions and restaurants are within walking distance
or a short ride from the hotel. They include: The Barnum Museum, with
its exhibits focusing on P.T. Barnum and "the greatest show on Earth;"
Captain's Cove, a seaside boardwalk that features the H.M.S. Rose, a
working replica of a Revolutionary War frigate, and The Discovery
Museum, where the kids can join a computer-simulated Challenger space
mission. Other attractions include Beardsley Zoological Gardens,
Bridgeport Jai Alai, the Downtown Cabaret Theatre, and many more.
CAF '94 participants who are considering attending the show should make
their room reservations as soon as possible, urges Gockley. Reservations
and information are available by telephoning, toll-free, to (800)
HOLIDAY.
For more information about the show, contact Angela or Brian Gockley,
ACT Atari Group, 18 Elmwood Avenue, Bridgeport, CT 06605, (203)
332-1721, or Doug Finch at (203) 637-1034. E-mail the Gockleys at
75300,2514 on Compuserve, or 75300.2514@compuserve.com via Internet;
Finch via 76337,1067 on Compuserve, D.FINCH7 on GEnie or
76337.1067@compuserve.com or D.FINCH7@genie.geis.com via Internet.
(Consult your on-line service for proper E-mail protocols.)
______________________________________________
> MIST Show Report! STR Show News! - UseNet Report of Indianapolis Show
""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""
Indianapolis Show Report
From: -Booth,W.A. <trek@intgp4.ih.att.com>
My son and I just got back from the Indianapolis show. It was very
encouraging to me, an Atari owner and for vendors and dealers. The
vendors and dealers were generally pretty happy with sales from the
opening doors and the people that showed up throughout the show. I
didn't hear a final count of attendance but it was up significantly
from last year.
From a user's perspective it was really encouraging to still see
familiar faces and vendor names supporting the Atari line of
computers with software upgrades and some new releases. I was
surprised as I stood in line and I looked over the others standing
in line - ages really ranged from the fairly young, to the teens,
to the young adults, to us middle-agers, to the older generation. I had
never quite noticed such an age spread before.
A quick run down of the vendors (apologies to any I miss - and
especially to the other helpers in the booths that I did not talk
with nor mention below) This is from memory - so I hope I didn't
miss too much.
Dorothy Brumleve was there with her line of software for our
younger-at-heart users. If you are needing educational software
or software to enhance your young son or daughters experiences
with a computer, you definitely should contact Dorothy.
(Kidpainter, Multiplay, Kidpublisher Professional, Super Kidgrid,
and MathArt) Really outstanding products. Sure wish Jonathan
was either born later or Dorothy had gotten her start sooner.
Clear Thinking was there with an update for Edhak - sorry, Edit
Plus v 3.1 - as the program is now known. (It can be renamed back
to Edhak if you need to for QuickCIS.) It has added sorting and
encrypting modules and half a dozen new editing features. This
program just keeps getting better and better.
Dan of Gribnif was there offering upgrades to Neodesk 4 (taking
orders - for ship about 1 August), Geneva (immediate delivery)
Steno and Stalker (both of which haven't changed yet since the KC
show last year), Convector, Arabesque Professional and maybe
some other product of theirs that I missed. Both upgrade pricing
and show pricing were available.
Missionware was there offering upgrades and purchases of their
products like Flash II, all of Hutch's fine programs like
Cryptographer, Crossword Creator II, Cyberdrome).
Skyware was there with Seurat, Color Scan (a new beta version for
the Falcon which will be completed in the near future - registered
users will get a mailing notifying them of its availability when
it's ready) and Color IMGs (a viewing program) I thought I had
forgotten to take my disks with for Skyware since they weren't
on the vendors list posted last week. They gave me the beta
copy of Color scan to try out on my Falcon anyway. Later in the
day while digging through my disk boxes I did run across my Skyware
disks. Great to have the update anyway since I have moved to
a Falcon.
Toad was also there with their latest catalog and lots of products
for your Atari's. This is one vendor you all should know.
A vendor (apologies for not remembering who they were) was there
that was carrying among a myriad of other 8 and 16 bit software and
magazines, the line of Majicsoft software, including their newest
game - Nertz - a type of solitaire that you play with one to nine
users (max of two per computer - computers connected via midi or
modem or null-modem) It also supports adjustable computer players
if you want some competition. This one kept my son and I occupied
a bit while we were there. Great fun. They also carried Awarz,
Buttonwari, and MAGE, the Majic Arcade Graphics Engine - game
generation software. This game was addicting and my son and I
will be enjoying many hours of challenging fun, I am sure.
Mark from Mars Merchandising was there with his usual fine selection
of games and magazines for the 8 bit, ST/Falcon line, Lynx and Jags.
Any of you from the Chicago area surely know them from their store
in Villa Park. They really stay on top of the gaming area and are
predicting a very bright future for the Jag. Mars also had the
JagDapter available for connecting your jag to s-video, RGB monitors,
separate chroma/luma, SC1224 and left and right audio feeds.
Available now.
ICD was next with their line of hard disk adapters, complete drives,
ICD hard disk software, and The Link II. Upgrades were of course,
being offered - and Tom was there to discuss any technical issues
you wanted to talk about. ICD also had flyers and a demo unit of
their CatBox.
Randy Kopchak was there from It's All Relative. He had the full
line of CD ROM software, many CD Roms available, Genealogy and weather
forecasting software. His software is now able to handle Photo CDs
and Audio CDs too. ExtenDos is the de facto standard for handling
CD-ROM drives on the Atari. Randy also had the German CD Rom disks
for sale.
Systems for Tomorrow, another vendor of fine Atari products was
there with tables filled with delights for the ST/Falcon line.
I always drop a bundle at their tables. They also had the
Motorola-Inside t-shirts (the only intelligent choice) for sale.
Binary Sounds was there (I think I got the name right.) They were
offering midi and music software.
Lexicor had a video set up running demos of their software.
The booth was crowded so I passed it by, meaning to get back
to it but never did :^(.
There were many, many tables set up by user groups at the show. They
were selling their club PD disks and all sorts of used software, used
hardware - one SST and many fine monitors and harddisk systems, used
books and used magazines. I completed some of my library - that's
one way to avoid those high shipping charges on used magazines.
Many vendors donated great door prizes for the hourly drawings. My
son and I both thank them again for the nice door prizes we won
(Pianistics - a keyboard trainer/tutor and Edit Track 7.1 Platinum,
and a Motorola Inside t-shirt. You can bet I will wear that one out.)
Looking forward to the next time us Atari Users can get together
again - and thanks to the MIST organizers for pulling off the show.
My hats off to you on a well run show - may there be many more in
you.
__________________________________________
> ANSITerm Update! STR InfoFile! - An Old Favorite Is Improved!
""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""
ANSITerm 1.91 UPDATE
What's new to ANSITerm.
This text file describes what features have been added in ANSITerm 1.91,
which is the upgrade to ANSITerm 1.90. You may distribute this features-
list freely. The information below is taken directly from the
documentation for ANSITerm, and is therefore instructional, as well as
descriptive.
Note: Some features like Break, Hang-up, Connect-Log, and a few others
that access RS-232 control lines do not work properly on the Falcon, but
everything else does.
ANSITerm 1.91 is the REGISTERED version of ANSITerm, and the registration
fee is $15. Mailing address given at the end of this document.
AUTO-LOGON MACROS
The autodialer macros (F1-F3) have been modified to allow you to
program ANSITerm to automatically log on to a BBS. Three special
characters can be inserted into the macro (by pressing the corresponding
function key):
F10 - One second pause (not new to ANSITerm)
F9 - Marker
F8 - Link
When there are no Markers (F9) in a dialer macro, ANSITerm treats
it like normal, but if an F9 appears as the first character, then when
ANSITerm comes to that macro it will search for the string between that
marker and the next marker it finds. It will then respond by
transmitting what follows the second marker.
For example, if the login prompt of a BBS were "Enter user name: ",
and you wanted ANSITerm to respond with "Timothy Miller<CR>", then the
macro would be entered as "<F9>Enter user name: <F9>Timothy Miller<CR>",
where <F9> means to press the F9 key and <CR> means to press the ENTER
key (not RETURN).
When you first connect, ANSITerm starts with the first of the three
dialer macros (F1-F3) it finds that has an F9 as the first character.
As it finds and responds to each one, it goes to the next IN ORDER from
F1 to F3, then stops looking.
If there is a "look for" string in a dialer macro and you press
that function key to transmit the macro, all characters between the
markers will be skipped. In the above example, pressing F1 (if that it
where you put the macro) would cause it to send only "Timothy Miller<CR>".
The number of the string that is being searched for will be displayed
in place of the decimal point in 'ANSITerm 1.91' in the upper right
corner of your screen. I don't know how much ANSITerm is slowed down
by the search, and I have given no provision to stop the search. If
you find that, after ANSITerm has logged in for you, the decimal point
does not reappear, then you know that you did not setup the auto-logon
macros correctly.
LINKED MACROS
ANSITerm also now has the ability to link macros together so that
they transmit as one long macro. Linking actually inserts one macro
into the calling macro so that the calling macro continues where it left
off after the one it called is finished. To link, you would press the
F8 key, followed by one of the following characters:
1 to 9 - Shift-F1 to Shift-F9 macros (respectively)
A - Shift-F10 macro
X, Y, Z - F1, F2, and F3 dialer macros (respectively)
As an example, one might have a multi-line message tag that they
like to append to messages on a BBS. Here is an example of such a tag:
------------- Timothy Miller
------ Two Worlds Publishing
-- Processor Direct Magazine
This macro could be entered as:
(into Shift-F6), "------------- Timothy Miller<CR><F8>7"
(into Shift-F7), "------ Two Worlds Publishing<CR><F8>8"
(into Shift-F8), "-- Processor Direct Magazine<CR>"
There are other things that one could to, such as putting a commonly
used handle into, say, Shift-F9, and then placing <F8>9 into all of your
auto-logon macros that would need to send that handle.
Some notes: Link and One second pause only work for TRANSMITTING.
You cannot link a macro into the "look for" portion of an auto-logon
macro. Also, one sure way to crash ANSITerm is to link a macro to itself,
whether directly, or in a loop with others. This can cause serious
problems.
FAST SCROLL
If you use a high-speed modem, you may have noticed that ANSITerm
scrolls a bit slowly (compared to an MS-DOS based terminal program).
In my never-ending desire to improve ANSITerm's speed, I have developed
a novel TRICK to make ANSITerm scroll many times faster, as long as the
top and bottom margins are at their normal positions (lines 1 and 24).
You will notice, however, that due to the trick, a copy of the menu bar
will flicker faintly on the line just below its normal position while
scrolling. This is a small price to pay for such a drastic improvement
in speed. If you don't like the flicker, this option can be turned on
and off from the Optn menu.
CONNECT TIME
ANSITerm can now log your calls for you. When you click on the
Bufr menu, you will see "Connect Time" at the bottom. When you click
on this, you will see |Off|File|Buffer|. These will allow you to:
Off - Turn off call logging
File - Put connect and disconnect notices into a file
Buffer - Append all connect and disconnect messages to the capture
buffer
BREAK SIGNAL
Pressing Alternate-B will now transmit a BREAK signal.
END OF LINE WRAP
A minor modification has been made to ANSITerm to make it more
compatible with UNIX. Originally, when the cursor was at column 80 and
another character was received, the character would be placed in column
80, and the cursor would jump down to the next line. In this version
of ANSITerm, the character is placed in column 80, but the cursor stays
there unless another character is received. Then the character will be
placed in column 1 and the cursor in column 2. In most cases, this is
not noticeable, and it has essentially no effect on how text is displayed
on the screen, but the change allows you to use the VI editor properly
without having to have end of line wrap turned off, since many UNIX
programs require that you have end of line wrap turned on.
WHERE YOU CAN CONTACT ME
The GEnie address given in the documentation for ANSITerm 1.90 is
no longer valid. You can now reach me at the following addresses:
P-DIRECT2 - GEnie
millert@grad.csee.usf.edu - Internet
US Mail:
Timothy Miller
Two Worlds Publishing
7519 Winging Way Drive
Tampa, FL 33615-1519
For anyone who wants a copy of ANSITerm 1.91, they can send me a
registration fee at the above mailing address after their 30 day trial
period for ANSITerm 1.90 or earlier.
_______________________________________________
> StarBall! STR GameFile! - _THE_ Game for Pinball Wizards!
"""""""""""""""""""""""
[Editor's note:] I had started a review of this shareware pinball game
a couple of weeks ago, but hadn't finished it. Then, I was "channel-
surfing" in the UseNet and saw this "Tips" file on the game. Suffice
to say, the game is excellent! You've never seen a pinball game like
this other than in an arcade! It has its quirks, but it is well worth
it. Here is the hints/tips list just recently posted:
Starball Hints and Tips
Compiled by: Eric March
Revision 1.1, July 13th, 1994
Below are a list of all of the bonuses and the like that I have been able
to find in Starball. Some of these tips are also direct from the author
which I have specifically asked about.
Note: Lines starting with the # character denote new since last revision.
* Main Play Area *
==============
Spider Level (Bottom)
---------------------
Objective
"""""""""
To get the ball into the spider's head to take you to to the Eggball
screen.
How to reach the objective
""""""""""""""""""""""""""
Each time you destroy all four of the coloured balls circling the
spider's body, they return as a new colour. Getting the ball into the
sink hole in the upper-left hand corner will cause something to happen,
depending on what colour the circling balls are.
Orange: First sink, bonus multiplier is increased.
Second sink, middle gate is opened for thirty seconds,
preventing the ball from being lost between the flippers
Light Gray: Middle gate is opened for thirty seconds. (see above)
Dark Gray: Bonus screen is highlighted. Get the ball into the spider's
head, and you will be taken to Eggball (See Below)
Bonuses
"""""""
* Getting the ball below "Jimmy Hill" (the mummified bust on the right
side of the screen) will give you a 100,000 point "Jimmy Hill Chin
Bonus"
* Getting the ball into "Jimmy Hill's" mouth while open will give you
whatever bonus you have accumulated.
* Surrounding each of the outlanes in the Starship level (see below) are
two pulsing balls. If you shoot your ball up one side and it goes
right down the other, destroying both balls, you will receive a
100,000 point skill shot bonus
* Shooting the left and right bumpers on either side of the flippers
causes them to get brighter. It will take eight shots to cause them
to explode, and this will activate the kickback for the outlane on
that side of the table.
Tips
""""
* Get your kickbacks lit for both sides
* Getting the ball into the spider's head when the bonus screen is not
lit will (seemingly at random) teleport the ball to the Slime level
(see below)
* Use the light gray bonus to your advantage; when you suspect that the
middle gate will open soon, and the circling balls are still light
gray, try and shoot for the sink hole; it will keep the gate raised
for another thirty seconds.
* The sink hole is most easily accessed by shooting the ball from your
left flipper and bouncing it off of the right bumper.
* Getting the ball up into the Starship level is most easily done by
shooting the ball off the right-hand flipper and bouncing it off of
the left-hand bumper.
Starship Level (Middle)
-----------------------
Objective
"""""""""
To build your starship.
How to reach the objective
""""""""""""""""""""""""""
Destroying all of the circling ships on this level will give you a
piece of your starship. There are nine pieces of the starship that need
to be built. Once the ship is built, the ball is shot into the entrance
located at the bottom of the ship between the flippers. This will take
you to the Invaderball bonus screen. (see below)
Bonuses
"""""""
* Shooting the lower-left sink hole will produce a random bonus, which
can be anything from 1,000 points to taking you to a randomly selected
bonus level.
* The upper-left sink-hole, normally shielded by an energy beam which is
destroyed by shooting it twice, docks you at a starbase. Each
successive dock gives you a new bonus:
Starbase 1: Gives you one more piece of your ship
Starbase 2: Adds 10,000 points to your bonus
Starbase 3: Bonus Held
Starbase 4: Destroys side guns
Starbase 5: Super Bumpers activated (Gives you 2000+ points every time
the ball hits a piece of your ship; different pieces of
your ship yield a higher or lower point total)
Starbase 6: Completes your ship
Starbase 7: Increases bonus multiplier
Starbase 8: Gives you 100,000 point bonus
Starbase 9: Takes you straight into a random bonus screen
Starbases roll around to start at 1 after you reach the 9th.
Tips
""""
* Do NOT shoot the top-right hand sink hole. If the side guns are not
destroyed, it gives them two more hit points. If they are destroyed,
it fixes them up with two hit points, and successive sinks will
increase their hit points again by two.
* Kill the side guns FIRST, as these have the ability to destroy a
piece of your ship should their missiles be allowed to hit it.
* Use the Super Bumpers bonus to your advantage; this can increase your
score very quickly.
* Destroy the side guns by hand first, because once you enter the bonus
screen, everything returns to normal and the guns reappear. THEN use
this bonus to kill them again.
Slime Level (Top)
-----------------
Objective
"""""""""
To destroy the monk figures circling around the female's face in the top
left of the screen.
How to reach the objective
""""""""""""""""""""""""""
# Destroy the monk figures until the face in the centre of the screen
# becomes completely messed up. This will cause two large creatures
# to appear. Killing them both opens up the bonus screen in the top of
# the female's head on the top left. Getting the ball in here will
# take you to Arkanoidball (see below). (Thanks to David Oldcorn for
# this one)
Bonuses
"""""""
* Shooting the rightmost sink hole produces a random bonus.
* Shooting the four coloured bumpers surrounding the slime changes that
bumper's colour. A bonus is given when all four bumpers are the same
colour:
Red : First sink, extra ball
Consecutive sinks (on same ball), 500,000 point "Big Bonus"
Blue : Increase bonus multiplier. (If multiplier is already at 9x,
a 200,000 point "Big Bonus" is given)
Green: Energise Ball. While the ball is energized, all points
(including your own bonus points) accumulated are multiplied
by 4x. (Thanks to David Oldcorn for the answer to this one)
* Shooting the leftmost sink hole on the right hand side will shoot the
ball into the area where the monk figures are circling.
Tips
""""
* This level has the most potential for racking up lots of points. Most
of all, go for the coloured posts, as they yield the biggest bonuses.
* Get the energize, as this multiplies all points you receive while the
ball is energised by four (including your own bonus points). This can
lead to lots of points.
* Bonus Screens *
-------------
Eggball
-------
Objective
"""""""""
Destroy all four quadrants of the egg, and any insects that emerge
from them.
Tips
""""
* Destroy three quadrants, and then spend time destroying the insects.
You will rack up more points this way.
* Losing the ball will give you half (?) the bonus you normally would
have gotten if you completed your objective.
Invaderball
-----------
Objective
"""""""""
Destroy all the aliens.
Tips
""""
* Just don't lose the ball.
Arkanoidball
------------
Objective
"""""""""
Eliminate all bricks.
Tips
""""
* Destroy all but one (or a few) of the bricks, and then spend the rest
of your time destroying the little creatures that roam about. This
will help you rack up more points.
Llamaball
---------
Objective
"""""""""
Kill everything that moves.
How To Get Here
"""""""""""""""
First, the "Secret BS Mode" must be enabled; this is achieved by
getting the ball back down the shoot lane once you've shot it out.
The easiest way to do this is when you're about to shoot the ball. Pull
back the plunger just far enough so that the top of the ball is nearly
touching the first band of light gray colouring, then let go. The ball
will travel up just to the opening, then back down again, enabling the
Secret BS mode.
Once this mode is enabled, you must then get the ball into the
rightmost sink hole in the Slime level (top), which is normally
designated the "Time Warp"; you will get a message telling you what to
do next, which is to get the ball into "Jimmy Hill's" Mouth. Once
you've done that, a Llama will appear on the bottom level. Kill the
Llama and you will be taken to Llamaball.
Tips
""""
* This is the "barking mad bonus screen" mentioned in the docs. It is in
two stages. After you kill the first set of creatures, you'll have to
contend with a second set.
General hints and tips
* Every time you exit from a bonus screen, everything is returned to
normal. This means the side guns return and your kickbacks are no
longer on. It's best to plan things ahead before entering a bonus
screen so that you can set things up when you exit. Generally this
means insuring that the bumpers on the Spider level are as bright as
they can be so that one hit will activate your kickbacks, and dock at
at the first three starbases in the Starship level, reading yourself
for the fourth docking that will destroy the side guns.
* If you are running the game on a stock ST or STE (non-accelerated),
switching into 50FPS mode (Hitting the "/" key) actually has the
effect of slowing the game down. This is good for beginners if the
game runs too quickly.
* Hitting the HELP key allows you to set the difficulty (gravity) of the
game. This feature isn't documented for some reason. The default
mode is Normal.
* Escape during a game will quit that game. (A second escape is
required to confirm your choice) This also doesn't seem to be
documented.
* Pressing "(" and ")" on the numeric keypad has the effect of changing
the Hz mode (50/60Hz). Also undocumented.
* Quitting the game and returning to desktop is achieved during gameplay
by hitting escape, and then hitting SHIFT+ESCAPE twice. (Undocumented,
and may not work on the Falcon)
Thanks to David Oldcorn for helping out with some of the hints and tips.
And, of course, for making this completely fantastic game in the first
place.
_____________________________________
> Industry News STR NewsFile - The Latest Industry News!
""""""""""""""""""""""""""
Atari/Edelman Press Release Date: 7/27/94
Contact: Marivi Lerdo/Laura Paden
Edelman Public Relations
415/433-5381
For Immediate Release
ATARI SELECTS EDELMAN PUBLIC RELATIONS TO
MARKET LEADING EDGE VIDEO GAME SYSTEM
SAN FRANCISCO, CA (July 28, 1994) -- Atari Corporation, the company that
created the video game industry, has hired Edelman Public Relations
Worldwide to help market the Jaguar, its 64-bit interactive multimedia
game system. Edelman Public Relations was selected because of its strong
heritage in general consumer marketing and its savvy in marketing
technology products to consumers.
"To succeed in the video game business you need great hardware, great
software and great marketing," explained Sam Tramiel, president and chief
executive officer of Atari Corporation. "Experts agree we have the best
hardware. We also have 150 developers, publishers and licensees creating
great games for the system," he added. "Now we have an award-winning
international public relations team on board to make this the year of the
Jaguar."
Edelman Public Relations, the sixth largest public relations firm in the
world, has 27 offices in the U.S., Canada, Mexico, Europe and the Asia
Pacific. The firm, which was named Agency of the Year by Inside PR
Magazine, provides public relations services in a full range of
specialty areas, including consumer product marketing, technology, health
care, business and industrial, travel and tourism, public affairs,
corporate and investor relations, the environment and event marketing.
Edelman's clients include Del Monte, The Ford Motor Company, Toys 'R Us,
Visa and others. The Atari account will be handled by consumer technology
specialists in the firm's Mountain View and San Francisco offices in
California.
"We are pleased to be working for the company that created the video game
industry and pioneered the use of 64-bit technology," said Richard
Edelman, president and chief operating officer of Edelman Worldwide.
The Atari Jaguar is the world's first 64-bit interactive multimedia home
entertainment system and is the only video game system manufactured in the
United States. Atari Corporation, based in Sunnyvale, California, designs
and markets 64-bit multimedia entertainment systems and video games.
____________________________________________
Jaguar Section
==============
> From the Editor's Controller "Playin' it like it is!"
""""""""""""""""""""""""""""
I think we're getting real close to the end of the calm before the
storm. More specifically, I believe that the Jaguar games drought is
close to over. Atari has received their second supply of Wolfenstein 3D
and they went right back out the door to their distributors almost as
fast as they came in. Reports are coming in from many who have
purchased the game. Fortunately, all of the reports have been very
positive - the game is a hit with Jaguar owners. For those of you who
are concerned about how the Jaguar version compares to the PC or other
game-console versions, the Jaguar version has been said to be the best
of all possibilities. And this is from people who have experienced
them all. Sounds like a positive endorsement to me!
Another clue that may portray the slow period is almost over is
the fact that I got a call this past week from a representative of
Atari's PR firm. The firm is currently compiling lists of publications
supporting the Jaguar in an effort to provide the means to set up
direct communications with these publications. What this means is that
STReport, among others, will be in constant contact with the firm (by
mail, e-mail, phone, etc.) to keep abreast of what's happening. These
steps are being taken now so that when games and information start to
explode on the scene, the groundwork will have been set up to feed all
of the news to us. And, another benefit of all this is that we'll
still have a direct line to Atari; something we've been fortunate to
have since we started our Jaguar coverage. Things are looking up and
we're excited that we'll be able to pass along all of this information
as soon as we get it.
We're expecting a review copy of Wolf 3D any day now, so look for
an extensive review shortly. We're also looking ahead to reviewing
Brutal Sports Football, from Telegames.
We also have some Jaguar developer interviews lined up and we're
putting the finishing touches up on those. Marty Mankins is also
finishing up on his "real-life" review of Dino Dudes - expect to see
that article next week.
Have you seen the Jag-Ware catalog yet? It's a catalog of Jaguar-
related items that you're going to want to own! Jackets, shirts, hats,
pens, mugs, sports bottles, and more - all with Jaguar logos and
designs on them! I'm anxiously awaiting my _first_ order and I plan to
make a few more purchases soon!! To get your own Jag-Ware catalog,
give Norscot a call: 1-800-653-3313.
A little further on in this issue you'll see details of the
"Promote the Jaguar Photo Contest" that we're conducting at the moment.
The notice has been posted all "over town" and the response has been
positive so far. Give it a good read and dig out your cameras and buy
a roll of film. We'll be giving away some nice prizes for the top 3
best photos!! I'll let you read on to see what we've lined up for
prizes! Get your imagination, Jaguar-style, going!
So, things are looking up at the moment. I realize that most of
us are an impatient lot, myself included, but the wait will certainly
be worth it from all I have heard. The summer is always a slow time of
year due to vacations and such; bear with it a little longer - you'll
be glad that you did!
Until next time...
___________________________________________
> Jaguar Catalog STR InfoFile - What's currently available, what's
""""""""""""""""""""""""""" coming out.
Current Available Titles
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
CAT # TITLE MSRP DEVELOPER/PUBLISHER
J9000 Cybermorph $59.99 Atari Corp.
J9006 Evolution:Dino Dudes $49.99 Atari Corp.
J9005 Raiden $49.99 FABTEK, Inc/Atari Corp.
J9001 Trevor McFur/
Crescent Galaxy $49.99 Atari Corp.
J9010 Tempest 2000 $59.95 Llamasoft/Atari Corp.
J9028 Wolfenstein 3D $59.99 id/Atari Corp.
Available Soon
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
CAT # TITLE MSRP DEVELOPER/PUBLISHER
CatBox $49.95 ICD
CatBox + $69.95 ICD
Brutal Sports FtBall TBA Telegames
Hardware and Peripherals
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
CAT # TITLE MSRP MANUFACTURER
J8001 Jaguar (complete) $249.99 Atari Corp.
J8904 Composite Cable $19.95
J8901 Controller/Joypad $24.95 Atari Corp.
J8905 S-Video Cable $19.95
___________________________________________
> Industry News STR Game Console NewsFile - The Latest Gaming News!
"""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""
-/- Sierra to Offer Option to Parents -/-
Reacting to calls to curb violence in computer games, Sierra Online is
taking an unusual step with Roberta William's upcoming Phantasmagoria
CD-ROM psychological thriller.
The publisher says in a statement from Oakhurst, California, that the
game, due to ship in October, "will come equipped with a special
programming 'password' option, giving parents the opportunity to choose or
tailor the CD-ROM for a less explicit version of the game automatically."
Says Sierra, "Phantasmagoria features an original story line in the
vein of Hitchcock movies, and is filled with terror, intrigue and some
mature situations. The tamer version of the game will tell the entire
story, while excluding the more explicit scenes and elements."
Williams, who also is co-founder of Sierra, said in the statement, "As
a family entertainment company ... Sierra feels a responsibility to
parents who don't want their children exposed to violent or graphic games.
At the same time, we want to offer young teens as well as adults a
cutting-edge game that incorporates film-quality storytelling and
production."
-/-Argonne National Laboratory To Link Thousands of Textile -/-
-/- Companies by the Year 2000 - Using the Jaguar! -/-
From Compuserve's SysOp Bill Aycock
I found this article in one of the magazines at work. It's especially
interesting because I work for a large textile manufacturer. Thought
folks might be interested...
From "Information Week" issue of July 18, 1994
----------------------------------------------
Interface Invaders
==================
Textile companies to go online with help from video-game technology
------------------
In the quest for an easy-to-use interface for business applications,
some computer researchers have turned to a $300 video-game system from
Atari Corp. Specifically, developers at the Argonne National Laboratory
in Illinois are using Atari's Jaguar system to create an experimental
interface for a proposed electronic commerce network that would link
thousands of textile and apparel companies by the year 2000.
Argonne researchers are contracted to explore data access tools for
the Demand-Activated Manufacturing Architecture (DAMA) network, a project
of the American Textile Partnership. They note that scores of textile
firms are tiny sewing or tailoring companies with limited computer
experience. To get such users on the network, the researchers reason,
why not harness video-game technology? It's easy to use and has the
graphics power the industry needs to view clothing and fabrics onscreen.
"The idea of a mom-and-pop company buying an expensive Silicon
Graphics machine simply won't happen," maintains Lucian Russell, director
of the advanced computer applications center at Argonne. "We're concerned
that if DAMA requires a lot of computer expertise, these people will
never join up."
DAMA is being carried out by nine research labs in partnership with
Textile Clothing Technology Corp., a Cary, N.C., organization that does
applied technology research for the textile industry. Argonne
researchers expect to show a Jaguar-based prototype interface at a
textile trade show in Atlanta in September.
Serious Business
----------------
By enabling more data sharing "so that manufacturers produce more
of what's wanted that won't end up on the discount racks," DAMA's goal
is nothing less than to restore the U.S. textile industry's
competitiveness against low-cost producers in Asia and South America.
That's serious business--not a place where you'd expect to find
technology that's also being used by companies with names such as
Frankenstein Software, Electro Brain, and Spaceball Technologies -- all
Jaguar licensees.
But as business applications incorporate more aspects of multimedia,
business users are beginning to turn to unlikely sources for software
that combines jazzy graphics with easy-to-use information navigation.
"Microsoft Windows is not the interface that's going to provide all
this information to new users," says Peter Korp, an assistant scientist
at Argonne. "They need something easier." In the search to find what's
easier, Argonne says, let the games begin.
--Clinton Wilder
--------
Graphic: picture of Raiden game box, captioned "Atari redux: The Jaguar
game system is being used to build an interface prototype."
----------
-/- Times Mirror Backs Game Company -/-
Times Mirror Co. reportedly will consider paying some $5 million
for a minority stake in Palo Alto, California, software publisher
Rocket Science Games Inc.
According to the Reuter News Service, the plan calls for the
companies to jointly make nonfiction CD-ROM products using Rocket Science
technology and for Times Mirror to contribute a member to Rocket Science's
board.
Reuters notes Rocket Science develops games for the IBM PC, Sega CD,
future CD-ROM platforms and cable set-top boxes.
-----------
/-STR-/-STR-/-STR-/-STR-/-STR-/-STR-/-STR-/-STR-/-STR-/-STR-/-STR-/-STR-/-
* *
J The STReport "Promote the Jaguar" Photo Contest J
A Win a Jaguar tee-shirt _and_ A
G An Official In-Store Atari Jaguar Banner!!! G
* *
J ____ ____ ___ ____ ___ __ / J
A / / / / ` / / / / / / / ` / A
G / /---/ / __ /___/ / / / /__ / / G
* \ / / / / / / \\\ / / / / / / *
J \/ / / /___/ / \\\ /___/ /___ /___ \__/ * J
A \\\ A
G \\\ G
* *
/-STR-/-STR-/-STR-/-STR-/-STR-/-STR-/-STR-/-STR-/-STR-/-STR-/-STR-/-STR-/-
What would you do to promote the Jaguar? Do you have an idea that could
be expressed on film? STReport wants to see it. And, we're ready to
reward the person (or group) with the best idea, in picture format.
That's right, just send us a photograph of how you would promote the
Jaguar! You'll also need to send us your name and address, of course.
1st Prize will be an official Atari Jaguar tee-shirt AND an official
in-store promotional Jaguar banner!
2nd prize will be a Jaguar tee-shirt (identical to the one above).
3rd prize will be a "JAG RULES!" rubber stamp which is normally available
exclusively from Artisan Software!
Photographs will be judged and prizes will be awarded by the
Atari/Jaguar editor of STReport, Dana Jacobson.
All photographs must be received by September 20, 1994. The winners
will be announced in STReport online magazine, in the issue scheduled
to be released on Friday, September 23, 1994.
To be eligible, please submit a clear photograph (color preferred) of
your idea. Also include your name and address with the photo! All
photographs submitted will become the property of STReport; they will
not be returned to you. Contest is valid in the United States and
Canada only. Employees of Atari Corporation and staff members of
STReport or Amiga Report are not eligible to win. This contest is void
where prohibited by law.
Send your photograph, your name and address to:
Jaguar Photo Contest
STReport International Online Magazine
1121 Saratoga Street
East Boston, MA 02128-1225 USA
Again, 1st prize includes a Jaguar tee-shirt and a Jaguar banner! The
tee-shirt is 100% cotton. It's a black crew-neck shirt with the Atari
Jaguar name on the chest. On the back is the famous Jaguar logo. The
banner is the same as you've seen at your favorite Jaguar dealer. What?
You haven't seen one? Well, it measures 4 feet wide and 2 feet tall!
The Jaguar logo consists of those piercing yellow Jaguar eyes above the
dark red Jaguar, claw marks and all! These banners are collector's
items which are almost impossible to get anywhere! Rumor has it that
this one may have been discovered in a rare cache somewhere in the
bowels of Sunnyvale. And it can be all yours! Show it off proudly on
the wall of your room or fly it out your window! All of your friends
will want one, but only you will have one. It's awesome! JAG RULES!
The 2nd prize consists of the Jaguar tee-shirt, as described above.
The 3rd prize is the official "JAG RULES!" rubber stamp! Use a bright
red ink pad (not included) for a vivid 2.25" by 1.5" image of JAG RULES in
the impact of the Jaguar logo type style. Use it as an economical way to
advertise your enthusiasm of the Atari Jaguar. Stamp your letters and your
envelopes. Stamp your arm as a tattoo. Stamp your money. Stamp school
notebooks and post-its. Writing a letter to your favorite software
company? Stamp it! Sending a birthday card to your best friend? Stamp
it! Dropping a postcard to your brother at school? Stamp it! Let
everyone know you're a Jaguar gamer. After all, in the empire of high
technology entertainment systems, JAG RULES!
For an example of the JAG RULES logo, call the CATscan BBS. Dial
209/239-1552. Download file: JAGRULES.ZIP. File is ZIP'd and requires
PKUNZIP to decompress. Or, call your favorite online service to find it!
Need a tip to help you start thinking of some ideas? Drop us a line in
E-Mail to either DPJ on Delphi, 71051,3327 on Compuserve, D.JACOBSON2 on
GEnie, or Internet mail at dpj@delphi.com. Or, call us at Toad Hall BBS
at (617)567-8642 and leave a private message to Dana Jacobson.
Are you still here? Grab that camera and start taking some pictures!
One of them may just be the winner!
Credits: STReport and its staff would like to thank Atari Corporation
for its generous donation of the banner and tee-shirts.
_________________________________________________
> Jaguar Developers STR InfoFile - Current Developer Lists & Titles
""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""
-/- DOOM Updates for ALL platforms! -/-
From: Floyd@ott.hookup.net (Etienne Tasse) Newsgroups:
alt.games.doom,comp.sys.ibm.pc.games.action Subject: finger
help@idsoftware.com
Date: Wed, 20 Jul 1994 13:07:35 GMT Organization: HookUp Communication
Corporation, Ottawa, Ontario, CANADA Message-Id:
<Floyd.36.2E2D2197@ott.hookup.net>
[idsoftware.com] Login name: help In real life: help
desk Directory: /cthulhu/Users/help Shell: /bin/csh Never logged in.
Plan: Watch where you stick that!
Here you will find updated info on DOOM, DOOM][, and QUAKE. If there is
something else you would like to see updates on please send mail to
american@idsoftware.com.
>>>> IF YOU DON'T SEE ANY UPDATES THAT MEANS THAT THERE IS NOTHING
>>>> TO UPDATE YOU ON. I WILL TRY TO MAKE NOTE OF THE IMPORTANT ITEMS,
>>>> BUT I DON'T INTEND FOR THIS TO BE AN ID SOFTWARE DAILY JOURNAL.
-----------------------------------------------------------
Disclaimer: All of the stuff you read here could be a TOTAL LIE. I am
not going to be held liable for misinforming millions of people. I just
work here;)
--------------------------------------------------------------
Status of DOOM---Updated: Fri, July 15th 11:42am
The latest patch for Registered/Shareware DOOM is: 1.1 to 1.2 The latest
version of Registered DOOM is: 1.2 The latest version of Shareware/Beta
DOOM is: 1.5 The next patch for Registered/Shareware DOOM will be: 1.5
There is NO version 1.3. There is a 1.4 beta and a 1.5 beta. Version 1.4
is available from ftp.uwp.edu and infant2.sphs.indiana.edu. It is a
beta shareware version. There is NO PATCH to 1.4.
Version 1.5 is available from ftp.uwp.edu. It is a beta shareware version.
TEST THIS!!!
>>>1.5 Beta has been released.
Ok, there are still some bugs in the sound code of 1.5:( As soon as these
are worked out we will have a patch for everyone. We may just release
a patch anyway. We know that everyone is getting tired of the wait. It
should not be too long before I post something more solid here. It
looks like we are going to be up to a ver 1.6 (or 1.7) before this is
all finished.
> It looks like it will be sometime next week before we release
anything > new.
-----------------------------------
Status of DOOM ][---Updated: Fri, July 15th 11:45am
There are now about 32 levels finished.
The new monsters are great. The Archvile (the guy who BFGs you and walks
around waking up the dead) is working great. When he walks over someone
he makes this wonderful backwards gibs sound and they leap up from the
ground. Another new monster, The Undead, shoots homing rockets out at
you. These move a little slower than normal rockets, and have no blast
radius. If there are two of these guys after you, you don't have much
of a chance of living.
DOOM ][ will be available from a store near you in October. You do not
receive a discount for being a registered user.
-------------------------------------------------------------------
Status of DOOM ports---Updated: Fri, July 15th, 5:06pm
OS/2: Still working, no dates yet. IBM guys are handling this. NO CHANGE.
SGI Irix v5.2: Done. Dave will be demonstrating it at SIGGRAPH. It
will be released soon afterwards and included on the next IndyZone CDROM.
It is integrated with the latest DOOM versions and will be virtually
identical to the Linux version. It supports pixel-doubling, -tripling,
-quadrupling as well as 16-bit sound for clearer mixing.
LINUX: Same as Irix version. Out later, though.
JAG: Running very fast. Lighting is working now. This will be out
later this summer. We are doing this. There will be two new levels in
the Jag version. I am working on these next week. The graphics are
getting faster every day.
MAC: We have found a team to do this. There is no release date. No
development has begun. NO CHANGE.
WINDOWS: Still working, no dates yet. Microsoft guys are handling this.
NO CHANGE.
NeXT: There is a version 1.2 available from cs.orst.edu. There will be
a ver 1.6 available there as soon as we release the patch for the DOS
version. NO CHANGE.
If there is not a release date on one of the above that means it doesn't
have one.
-------------------------------------------------------------------
Status of QUAKE---Updated: Fri, July 8th 12:50am
This will not be out until sometime next summer. John Carmack is
currently designing the engine. You think DeathMatch is fun?? Wait
till you enter Quake with ten of your buddies and go after one REALLY
BIG, REALLY MEAN Romero type guy. This will be fun.
-------------------------------------------------------------------
> Jaguar Online STR InfoFile Online Users Growl & Purr!
""""""""""""""""""""""""""
-/- Wolf 3D Shipping, Again! -/-
Everyone,
Please be informed that the next BIG wave of Wolfenstein 3D is shipping
now. Atari Corporation is taking every effort possible to distribute
the carts fairly between the retailers.
Please help let people know to look for Wolf 3D before the retailers
run out. The suppliers are doing their best to catch up with back orders,
but the demand will absorb these pretty quick.
-- Don Thomas
Atari Corporation
-/- Ultra Vortex Update/Rumor -/-
(Incidentally, this looks like a good place to drop in the
not-so-great news: Beyond Games announced that Ultra Vortex is not
going to be out in September as it looked like last week -- it'll
be out in October/November. This has nothing to do with technical
delays. One of the main artists for the project, shall we say,
flaked out and they're having to replace him and bring the new guy
up to speed. <sigh> I hate these act of God kinds of things...)
> Jag Rules! Rubber Stamp! STR InfoFile! - "Don't Say It, Stamp It!"
""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""
JAG RULES!
Declare your support of the 64-bit Jaguar gaming system and get the JAG
RULES rubber stamp. This quality custom stamp is available exclusively
from Artisan Software. Use it as an economical way to advertise your
enthusiasm of the Atari Jaguar. Stamp your letters and your envelopes.
Stamp your arm as a tattoo. Stamp your money. Stamp school notebooks
and post-its. Use a bright red ink pad (not included) for a vivid
2.25" by 1.5" image of JAG RULES in the impact of the Jaguar logo type
style.
Writing a letter to your favorite software company? Stamp it! Sending
a birthday card to your best friend? Stamp it! Dropping a postcard to
your brother at school? Stamp it!
Let everyone know you're a Jaguar gamer. After all, in the empire of
high technology entertainment systems, JAG RULES!
The JAG RULES rubber stamp is available by sending a money order for
$13.99 (includes shipping and handling) to:
Artisan Software
P.O. Box 849
Manteca, CA 95336
The price within California is $14.80 and includes applicable sales tax.
For an example of the JAG RULES logo, call the CATscan BBS.
Dial 209/239-1552. Download file: JAGRULES.ZIP. File is ZIP'd and
requires PKUNZIP to decompress.
FYI,
The first wave of rubber stamps arrived today and are being shipped.
Those who placed orders are being fulfilled right away.
-- Don Thomas
___________________________________________________
> ONLINE WEEKLY STReport OnLine The wires are a hummin'!
"""""""""""""""""""""""""""""
PEOPLE... ARE TALKING
=====================
On CompuServe
-------------
compiled by
Joe Mirando
Hidi ho friends and neighbors. I'm really excited! I'm in the
process of setting up a BBS for my-own-darned-self. I always figured
that it would be really complicated or expensive to do, but Wayne Watson
made it both easy and affordable with "THE TRANSCENDENCE BBS", which is
available right here on CompuServe (and other Online Services as well).
The program is _FREEWARE_... that's right, its free! This is gonna be
soooo cool! Now, when someone asks me "Are you sysop Galaciwicz?" I
can say "YES I AM!" ... just like that beer commercial. (;^{>
Oh, for anyone who doesn't know, That string of characters at the end
of the last paragraph is sort of my online portrait. If you tilt your
head to the left, you'll see that the "(" is the top of my head, the ";"
is my eyes, the "^" is my nose, and the "{" and ">" are my moustache and
beard. I remeber back when I first started going online I thought
things like that were line noise.
Anyway, I have a new appreciation for sysops since I'm going to
become one shortly. If this sounds like something that you'd like to try,
just download transcendence from CompuServe (or, gack, gack, another
online service or BBS) and check it out. Maybe you'll soon be able to say
"YES I AM!". Thanks to Wayne Watson and David Brown (who originated the
program) for Transcendence, and thanks to the Sysops on CompuServe
who've set such a good example of what a sysop should be.
Well, let's get on with the show. Without any further adieu...
From the Atari Computing Forum
==============================
Helen Roper asks:
"...I have a friend who has an atari. Which modem is recommended for
it and which CIM (CompuServe Information Manager) software?"
Albert Dayes of Atari Explorer Online Magazine tells Helen:
"Any Hayes compatible modem (external) should work fine with the
Atari. I currently use the Supra v.32bis model and it works fine with
Compuserve. The closest thing to CIM-like software would be QuickCIS
which is available for download in one of the libraries in this forum."
Andreas Rosenberg tells us:
"I recently bought a Toshiba XM 3401 SCSI CD-ROM drive and would like
to use it with my Falcon computer. I've got a METADOS 2.3 driver but
I've heard that it does only run with a TT. I've already tried several
SCSI IDs, the SCSI driver already detected the drive, but the Metados
driver always tells me 'no drive found'. Does anybody know exactly
that this driver only works with a TT? Does anybody know a CD-ROM
driver that works with a Falcon?
My equipment: Falcon 4MB (no internal HD)
Syquest SQ3105 SCSI ID:0
Toshiba XM3104 SCSI ID:1
(I also tried 2, cause somebody told me that
CDROMS should have one free ID between the last HD)
AHDI 6.01"
Our local CD-ROM guru, Greg Kopchak of IT'S ALL RELATIVE SOFTWARE, tells
Andreas:
"MetaDOS does not work on the Falcon. You need ExtenDOS or the
MultiTOS XFS driver for use with the Toshiba 3401 drives."
Andy Schmidt asks:
"I recently purchased a used 1024STe. Is there any way I can upgrade
its CPU to a 68030?"
No one has replied to this one yet, so I'll take a shot... There are 3
68030 accelerators available for the ST series of computers: The
TinyTurbo 030 and its big brother the Turbo030 from FAST Technologies,
and the SST from Gadgets by Small (the wizards who make the Spectre GCR
Mac emulator for the ST series). All three have advantages and any of
them will speed up processing considerably. FAST Tech can be reached at
(508) 475-3810. I'm not sure about the number for "Gadgets" but it
shouldn't be too hard to find online.
On the subject of "Stupid Benchmark Tricks", Jay Craswell posts:
"Benchmarks (like statistics) are a great way for marketeers to lie to
the public. I think someday it would be nice to benchmark things like
how long does it take to format a disk or copy a 200K file. Or how
many times does the machine lock up when doing simple stuff. But,
<sigh> this is the real world and instead we will be given a number
that is supposed to tell us how "good" a machine is. Here are some of
the things I like about falcon. Except for added memory there is
nothing to add to get true colour, digital sound, DSP, printer, serial
ports internal hard disk. The bulk of the OS loads the instant you
turn the machine on or reset (WinDoze indeed!) and the software to
desktop pub, spread sheet, word process and Comm cost very VERY little.
It's small enough to pack the computer under my arm to go up to the
cabin (Course the monitor does weigh a ton but...) So in short I still
think Atari has a pretty grand little computer. Oh and last of all if I
need to buy a computer or recomend one to a friend who is not a guru
The falcon is easy enough to use that I know I won't be on the phone
all month telling them how to do everything."
From the Atari Vendors Forum
============================
Here are some tidbits from Rick Flashman at Gribnif Software, the
NeoDesk and Geneva folks:
"Applications/Programs in Geneva still place their drop-down menu at
the top of the screen. The menu changes to reflect the topmost window.
This is done for compatibility...
I definitely think you are better off running Maxifile as an ACC. It's
best performance is when run that way. If a program doesn't give you
the GEM menu, you should set it to singletask. This will make it easier
to manage. If it doesn't let you get to the GEM menu, then you can't
switch out of it (that's because the GEM menu in an indicator that the
program is supporting GEM "multi" events, necessary for
multitasking)...
GEM-View works great on the Falcon, and it will multitasking perfectly.
Heck, it will even load pictures in the background (letting you switch
to another application while it is loading a picture and calculating
it). This is actually where we got the idea for background
copying/moving/formatting in NeoDesk 4...
Since Neochrome is completely non-GEM based, this should work ok. Of
course, it only works singletasking (no GEM support)...
The problem with the ST is that you can't switch GEM to another
resolution without rebooting. That problem, does not affect non-GEM
programs (like NeoChrome), which is why the can switch inside their own
programs (we do the same thing when showing a picture in NeoDesk)...
If a singletasking program doesn't let you exit to another program
(because it has no accessory access) then there is NO need to limit its
memory. Examples of programs that you can't switch out of: NeoChrome,
many games, etc. Examples of singletasking programs you CAN switch out
of: Arabesque, Degas, DegasElite, etc.
Second, you ONLY need to limit the memory of a program if it tries to
allocate ALL AVAILABLE FREE MEMORY for itself. Flash is an example of
this. Most other programs, don't do this. They allocate memory as they
need it. Therefore, their memory does not need to be limited. In theory
NO program should need this, as proper GEM programming calls for
programs to only allocate the memory they need. But the reality is, as
usual, quite different...
Get XBoot III. It has a feature that allows you to customize the
renaming of a configuration file. Such as GEM.CNF. You can have as many
GEM.CNF files are you want, and choose which setup you want at bootup.
(P.S. if anyone knows if DESK MANAGER does this too, please let us
know).
Get NeoDesk 4 (not out yet, but in about 1-2 weeks). It lets you great
program GROUPS. You can open one, select its contents, and launch them
all at once. You can even write a macro to launch multiple programs.
Add the NeoDesk CLI and you can write a batch file (with menu and all)
to select what you want to run)...
Our Newsletter is *wicked* out of date. The description there would be
better for a version 3.5 or something like that. <grin>. Actually, as
soon as I finish the CompuServe email I'm off to finish the manual
index. That's how close we are to release (I'm one holding it up with
the manual...sigh)...
Hint/Tip: Active accessories do slow the system down (even on regular
ST systems). If you are running something that you want to run as fast
as possible. Open the Geneva Task Manager and put every desk
accessories to SLEEP. You will notice the system will start to FLY.
The accessories will come right back to life the minute you access
them. I usually don't bother to do this, until I do something CPU
intentive (like when I run STalker at 14,400 to connect to my local
UNIX system)."
HAH! How's that for a bundle of info? Everyone I know is waiting
breathlessly for NeoDesk4 and raving about GENEVA (I fit into both
categories!).
Meanwhile, back at the ranch, Stephen Baldwin posts:
"I'm seeking to send a finished newsletter over compuserve to a PC
environment. I attempted to use a service bureau in Ireland when I was
living there but their Mac environment could not translate my PC file.
Could you steer me through the process?"
Mike Loader of Soft-Logik Publishing tells Stephen:
"The following is from the PageStream3 manual so it is copyrighted
1994 by Soft-Logik Publishing. Although it was written for the new
Amiga version, it should answer your question.
----
Most service bureaus will be able to take your PostScript file and
print it on their imagesetter or printer. A few service bureaus are not
very computer literate and do not know how to print a PostScript file.
If you encounter a service bureau that does not know how to print a
PostScript file, you should consider giving your business to a
different service bureau.
The instructions for printing a PostScript file to a printer from
Windows and Macintosh are listed here so that you can instruct your
service bureau how to print your PostScript file should they prove to
be incapable of doing this themselves. Instructions for printing a
PostScript file from an Amiga are also included.
Windows: Exit to MS-DOS (Windows 3.x) or double click on the MS-DOS
Prompt icon in the program group Main. Type COPY FILENAME /B LPT1:
where FILENAME is the name of the PostScript file to copy. The /B
switch indicates that the file is binary and is required to print
bitmapped pictures. (LPT1: is the most common port. Change this to the
correct port if required.)
Macintosh: A program such as the Apple LaserWriter Font Utility or
Adobe Font Downloader is required. The first comes with Apple System 7
(but is not installed automatically), and the second is available from
Adobe Systems, Inc. To use Apple's utility, double click on the
LaserWriter Font Utility icon, choose Utilities/Download PostScript
File and then select the PostScript file to download. To use Adobe's
utility, double click on the Downloader icon, choose File/Download
PostScript File and then select the PostScript file to download.
----"
Rob Rasmussen asks CodeHead Extraordinaire Charles F. Johnson:
"I'm trying to use Desk Manager to boot the Falcon with Geneva, Warp 9
and a few more Auto programs. Geneva uses a GEM.CNF file when it loads
to tell it what programs to run from it's list which I can edit.
However, I don't always want these same programs loaded by Geneva, and
want to have several CNFs with different setups. Whichever one I select
would be re-written as GEM.CNF, similar to how Desk Manager lets me
have several INF files that it writes as Newdesk or Desktop.INF. It
needs to write GEM.CNF into the same folder that Geneva is in. Can Desk
Manager do this? I never understood about DM's 'custom files' feature,
but it seems like I might could do it with this. If so, how?"
Charles tells Rob:
"Yes, you can use Desk Manager's "custom files" feature to copy
different GEM.CNF setup files to your Geneva folder. That's exactly
the sort of purpose the "custom files" were designed to take care of.
The easiest way to configure your "custom files" is to use the Desk
Manager Preset Editor to create or modify your PRE files (Desk Manager
preset files). If you're creating a new preset, the Editor will ask if
you want to add any custom files when you've finished everything else.
If you're editing an existing preset, use the "Insert an Entry" feature
and follow the prompts."
From the Palmtop Forum
======================
Ken Halter asks:
"Is the Portfolio still being manufactured?"
Don Thomas, Atari's Portfolio guru, tells Ken:
"We are still meeting present demand; we have a lot of VAR accounts
that use the Portfolio in specialized environments.
We do not consider the Portfolio part of our primary product line and
have our focus on the 64-bit Jaguar game system."
Ken tells Don:
"Thanks for the reply - I just acquired a Port via an all Atari trade.
I am quite impressed with it. I will be replacing my Sharp YO-310 with
the Port. Anyway, I get support locally (DC area) through Toad
computers but I am wondering what applications, gizmos, etc are
available for it. I dont know enough to ask the right questions. Does
anybody do a memory upgrade? Are there any applications available?,
utilities? games? Is this the right place for info, or should I check
out GENIE?"
Sysop Judy Hamner, an STReport Alumnus, tells Ken to:
"Check the forum library. There are hundreds of files for the Port.
One good place to start is with BJ's PORT.FAQ. It will answer many of
the getting started questions."
Don Thomas, that Atari guy, tells Ken:
"In my opinion, this is a great place for Portfolio info."
I second that opinion! While GEnie does have a Portfolio section with
many helpful files, there is one thing that it doesn't have... Sysop BJ
Gleason. BJ has been one of the guiding lights in the Portfolio world
since... well, since there's been a Portfolio. He's bright, helpful,
jovial, and a darned good programmer... an online service for the
portfolio just isn't complete without him.
From the Palmtop B forum, Sysop Marty Mankins posts this about Newton
1 Meg RAM cards, which can be used in the Casio Z-7000 and Tandy Z-PDA:
"PC Zone (which is the same as Mac Zone) is 800-258-2088. The price
for each one is $45 (US dollars)."
Sysop Lloyd Wasser chimes in and tells Marty:
"By the way, these cards will work like a charm in the new PT-9000,
too!"
William Dell tells Marty:
"I have two of the Newton SRAM cards, and they worked fine for about a
week. Now the Zoomer won't recognize them for some reason. About the
only thing I did that might be out of the ordinary is that I tried to
read them in the PCMCIA slot on my desktop (which doesn't like them and
won't recognize them). I've come up with two possibilities: (1) The
slot on my desktop wasted the cards somehow; (2) The batteries were
very week when I got them and are dead now, after only a week or two of
use. I don't know how long the batteries in one of these things
usually lasts, so I'm not sure which problem it could be. Any
suggestions?"
The Big Kahuna himself, Sysop Ron Luks, tells William:
"It could be the batteries because you dont know how long these have
been sitting on the shelf. Unfortunately, you cant tell unless you put
in new batteries and that will destroy any data. Typically, an SRAM
battery should last about a year.
Regretfully, we've also heard that putting the cards into a desktop
machine can scramble the cards on occasion making them unreadable.
Sometimes the data can be recovered with a disk utility like Norton
disk utilities."
William tells Ron:
"I tried new batteries in the Newton cards... no dice. Apparently
trying to use one of these in a desktop reader (i.e. a non-Mac pcmcia
slot) is a mistake. A hard way to learn, but hopefully this will keep
others from making the same mistake.... I broke down and ordered one of
the 10 meg cards. At least I know the SunDisk cards are compatible
with both my PDA and my desktop."
When Ron Luks tells Doug Miller:
"The one comment I get most consistently about the Zoomer is "nice
product, but kinda sluggish, isnt it?"
Doug tells Ron:
"I think it has a lot to do with who you show the unit to. My dad,
who built our first PC when I was seven, and works with PC in a very
technical way every day, had a similar reaction. I think the
techno-literate will typically respond this way, and rightly so. It IS
a sluggish beast.
However, most of my clients think they're lucky if they're running a
'486sx or a three year old Mac. Heck, I've got one client, who happens
to be the largest supplier for their particular industry, that's
running an AS400 with software dating from the early '80's. To these
guys the Zoomer's speed isn't an issue. They don't want to use it for
a baby laptop. Most of 'em wouldn't even think of adding third-party
software. To them, the Zoomer is cutting edge, man.
I just think we need to remember, and that vendors like Casio and
Tandy need to remember, that our "state-of-the-art" is like science
fiction to a lot of these guys out in the trenches. There is a major
market here and everybody's missing the boat."
Ron tells Doug:
"Naw, I've shown it to people who have never used a computer (my
mother) and even she said it was kind of slow. YEs, computer literate
folks find it unacceptably slow, but in my experience, even folks who
dont use computers are "less than impressed with the speed."
Doug tells Ron:
"Different folks, different response, I guess <grin>. My partner, who
is about as computer illiterate as they come, thinks its the hottest
thing since sliced bread and bottled beer. We just upgraded him from
my old Wizard to a Z-PDA, and he thinks he's in heaven.
Part of it may also be my bias, I'd rather have the long battery life.
To tell you the truth, while I find it slow, I don't find it
unacceptable slow, at least not for the productivity increase I get
from it. Would I like it faster? Sure, as long as I didn't have to
change the batteries every four hours."
Ron replies:
"Every 4 hours would be too short, but focus groups commenting on the
Zoomer have almost unanimously stated they'ed accept a drop in battery
life from the current 100 hours down to 40 or 50 hours in exchange for
peppier performance."
Doug tells Ron:
"I'd buy that, and I'd agree that its a majority opinion. I still
don't think its the major barrier to more widespread adoption, though.
Of course, if I knew what the hell I was talking about, I'd be
manufacturing PDAs <grin>..."
Well folks, that's it for this week. I'm now going to go and finish
setting up my BBS... This is Soooo cool! Hey, maybe I'll call it "THE
BOUNTY:NorthEast"! We'll see. Tune in again next week, same time, same
channel, and be ready to listen to what they are saying when...
Or, maybe The Bounty II ...rfm
PEOPLE ARE TALKING
""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""
STReport's "EDITORIAL CARTOON"
""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""
> A "Quotable Quote" "So, What Else is New?"
"""""""""""""""""
"A PENDING BASEBALL STRIKE? WHY?
WAS SOMEONE SHORTCHANGED?
"THIS STRIKE COULD BE THE BEGINNING OF THEIR END."
.. Babe, Lou, Billy and the Guys
""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""
> DEALER CLASSIFIED LIST STR InfoFile * Dealer Listings *
""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""" ---------------
ABCO Incorporated
=================
P.O. Box 6672
Jacksonville, Florida 32221-6155
Est. 1985
1-904-783-3319
1994 SUMMER SPECIALS NOW IN EFFECT!
EXTENDED BY POPULAR DEMAND!!
---------------------
ABCO manufactures custom storage devices!
INTEL 32 BIT 486/66, VLB w/Math CoProcessor
8MB ram upgradable to 64MB 1MB SVGA VESA VIDEO CARD
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DOS 6.2 - Windows for Workgroups 3.11 Included
256K CACHE - 1.44/1.2 FLOPPY Drives, Mouse & 101 deluxe Keyboard
340MB IDE hd - 2 SERIAL, 1 PARALLEL, 1 GAME PORTS
250W POWER SUPPLY TOWER SYSTEM - 14" SVGA 1024x768, NI 28dpi Monitor
66Mhz, S&H Incl 1495.00 - 695.00 with order, balance COD
Other higher powered packages available or, design your own!
100Mhz - Pentium Call for value added pricing!
Call: 904-783-3319 Anytime, Voice Mail
=====******=====
Syquest Removable 44-105-270mb SCSI Drives(Priced Right!)
All Size Platters Available
One Platter included with each Drive free!
Bernoulli! Call for Prices!
Diamond Speed Star 24x/Pro SVGA/VGA Video Card w/1-2mbVRAM
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Diamond High Performance Sound Cards Available
Soundblaster Cards and compatibles 8 & 16 bit
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IDE Super IO cards & 16550 UART 2 & 4 Port Cards
SCSI ADAPTER CARDS & SCANNERS COLOR & MonoChrome
Call: 904-783-3319 Anytime, Voice Mail
""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""
COMPUTER STUDIO
===============
WESTGATE SHOPPING CENTER
40 Westgate Parkway -Suite D
Asheville, NC 28806
1-800-253-0201
Orders Only
1-704-251-0201
Information
FULL LINE COMPUTER DEALER
""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""
EAST HARTFORD COMPUTER
======================
202 Roberts St.
East Hartford CT. 06108
1-203-528-4448
FULL LINE COMPUTER DEALER
""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""
MEGABYTE COMPUTERS
==================
907 Mebourne
Hurst, TX 76053
1-817-589-2950
FULL LINE COMPUTER DEALER
"""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""
SAN JOSE COMPUTER
=================
1278 Alma Court
San Jose, CA. 95112
1-408-995-5080
FULL LINE COMPUTER DEALER
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CompuSeller West
================
220-1/2 W. Main St.
St. Charles, IL., 60174
Ph. (708) 513-5220
FULL LINE COMPUTER DEALER
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(DEALERS; to be listed here FREE of Charge, please drop us a line.)
""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""
STReport International Online Magazine
-* [S]ilicon [T]imes [R]eport *-
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STR Online! "YOUR INDEPENDENT NEWS SOURCE" July 29, 1994
Since 1987 copyright (c) 1987-94 All Rights Reserved No.1031
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