ST Report: 10-Feb-95 #1106
From: Bruce D. Nelson (aa789@cleveland.Freenet.Edu)
Date: 02/18/95-08:40:56 AM Z
From: aa789@cleveland.Freenet.Edu (Bruce D. Nelson)
Subject: ST Report: 10-Feb-95 #1106
Date: Sat Feb 18 08:40:56 1995
SILICON TIMES REPORT
====================
INTERNATIONAL ONLINE MAGAZINE
=============================
from
STR Electronic Publishing Inc.
A division of
STR Worldwide CompNews Inc.
February 10, 1995 No. 1106
======================================================================
Silicon Times Report
International OnLine Magazine
Post Office Box 6672
Jacksonville, Florida 32221-6155
R.F. Mariano, Editor
-----------------------------------------
Voice: 1-904-783-3319 10am-4pm EST
STR Publishing Support BBS
* THE BOUNTY INTERNATIONAL BBS *
Featuring: * 45GB * of Download Files
Operating with * Mustang Software's WILDCAT! BBS v4.01 *
Fully Networked within the following Nets:
ITCNet 85:881/253 JAX HUB ~ FIDO Net 1:112/35
Prowl ~ USPOLNet ~ FNET 350 ~ Nest 90:301/3
Delivered via Subscriber List through Internet
904-786-4176 MULTI-NODE 24hrs-7 days
2400-115.2 bps V.32-34 v.42 bis 28.8
Hayes Optima 28.8 V.FC Data/Fax
USRobotics D/S Data/Fax 28.8 V.34 Everything
FAX: 904-783-3319 12am-6am EST
-----------------------------------------
The Bounty STReport Support Central .... 1-904-786-4176
FNET. 620 : Leif's World ................1-904-573-0734
FNET. 690 : PASTE BBS....................1-206-284-8493
FNET. 489 : Steal Your Face BBS..........1-908-920-7981
MNET - Toad Hall BBS.....................1-617-567-8642
______________________________________________________________________
> 02/10/95 STR 1106 "The Original * Independent * OnLine Magazine!"
"""""""""""""""""
- STR INDUSTRY REPORT - NEC CUTS Notebook $$ - Visio Visited
- Apple -> Censorship? - V.34 & V.FC viewed - ID Cheat Files
- HAYES UG OFFER - Invoice Store Review - People Talking
- Delrina NEWS - Frankie's Corner - Jaguar News
-* C-LAB FALCON MKII - $2m *-
-* COMPAQ PLANS NO APPLE CLONES *-
-* PENTIUM CLONE PRICES CUT! *-
==========================================================================
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/Fido/Internet/PROWL/USENET/USPOLNet/NEST/F-Net 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 1:112/35, Crossnet Code is #34813,
and the "Lead Node" is #620. All computer enthusiasts, hobbyist or
commercial on all platforms and BBS systems are invited to participate.
==========================================================================
CIS ~ DELPHI ~ GENIE ~ BIX ~ FIDO ~ ITC ~ NEST ~ EURONET ~ CIX
USENET ~ USPOLNET ~ CLEVELAND FREE-NET ~ INTERNET ~ PROWL ~ FNET ~ AOL
==========================================================================
SOFTWARE CREATIONS BBS is proud to distribute Silicon Times Report
STReport International OnLine Magazine
--------------------------------
With more than 130 Lines of PCBOARD access, Internet, Telnet and
X.25 local access in every major city world-wide through SprintNet
Software Creations delivers the files!
--------------------------------------------------
Silicon Times Report joins names like Apogee Software, Borland,
id Software, TriSoft, Interactive Gaming, PC Techniques, Coriolis,
Fastgraph, PC Information Group, and many more.
--------------------------------
Real-Time Credit Card Approval and Membership Upgrades
The Software Download Store - for on the spot
purchase/approval and download ability!
--------------------------------
Call 1-800-4SWCBBS (479-2227); Fax 1-508-365-7214 for more information!
-----------------------------------------------------
So, Get the latest releases from SOFTWARE CREATIONS BBS
"Home of the Authors"
* Software Creations, Voted #1 BBS for 1993 & 1994 *
1200/2400 V.42/MNP Lines : (508) 365-2359
2400-14.4k HST US Robotics Lines : (508) 368-7036
2400-16.8k V.32/V.42bis US Robotics lines : (508) 368-7139
14.4-28.8k V.32/V.42bis/V.fc Hayes Optima lines: (508) 365-9352
14.4-28.8k V.32/V.42bis/V.32terbo/V.fc US Robotics lines: (508) 368-3424
========================================================================
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!"
""""""""""""""""""""""
First, an update on my two sons who were in the industrial
explosion.. Ralph, the oldest, is back to work. He has bee assured by
the doctors that there will be no scarring on his face or neck. His hands
will show little or no scarring also. (Great news) Victor, who was
standing behind and somewhat to the left of Ralph when the incident
occurred suffered lesser injuries but... There is always that infernal
but. Victor has no visible scars at all. He does however, have a
definite hearing loss. It seem the explosion caused a blood vessel to
burst and fill his inner ear canal with blood. The doctor has made
mention that this too could very possibly pass but he added, since he
could not see the affected areas he would wait for the blood to clear out
before making a final decision and course of action if any. Needless to
say, Victor is not back to work yet. I wish, on behalf of my two sons, to
thank each and every one of you who sent cards and E-mail it was really
wonderful. My heartfelt thanks to all and especially to the good Lord for
having watched over my boys.
Now, on to the high tech, hi-Jinx of the gaming world. Most of the
major game machine (console) manufacturers are at the "big 16/32/64 bit
junction" in the rise of power for the machines. Slated for this Fall are
no less than three sixty four bit machines with high speed CDRom support.
One company, a trailblazer, Atari Corp. has had a sixty four bit machine,
The Jaguar, available for quite some time. Truly ahead of its time, the
Jaguar is now waiting, and waiting and waiting for some real powerhouse
games and a number of third party devices that seem to be in an endless
loop of morose delay. In fact, while the Atari Jaguar literally lead the
way in the unique technology department, it lost all the lead time to the
incessant delays and broken release dates. Atari's Jaguar had a wonderful
window of opportunity for what seemed like forever. Yet Atari blew the
big jump away and as a result, the Jaguar suffered a lack of; sizable
market penetration, enthusiastic development of superior game carts and
true national advertising and distribution. In a very recent OnLine
conference, one of Atari's most powerful competitors has made it quite
clear they have their "sights" set on the 64bit marketplace and are fully
prepared to deliver and ..deliver in big quantities. While Atari may have
"opened the gates" of the sixty four bit gaming consoles, they are, unless
they go into high gear, about to have their doors blown off by the
competition. It will be a very interesting market to observe as it
evolves.
In this issue as part of the Hayes Usergroup Offer, is some very
valuable information about the new, 28.8bps V.34 and V.FC categories we've
all been hearing and reading so much about. Hayes presents the detailed
information in a clear, easy to understand format. Don't miss it.
Ralph...
Of Special Note:
----------------
STReport will be branching out further to Internet's userbase in the
very near future. We've received numerous requests to receive STReport
from a wide variety of Internet addresses. As a result, we're putting
together an Internet distribution/mailing list for those who wish to
receive STReport on a regular basis, and we'll UUENCODE each issue and
mail it to you.
If you're interested in being added to our mailing list, please, send
your requests to either "dpj@delphi.com" or, RMARIANO@DELPHI.COM. Look
for mailings to begin by October first. We are also considering a number
of Internet ftp sites in which to post our issues for as well. Whatever
we can do to make STReport available to you. we'll try it!
""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""
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 Paul Guillot 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:
""""""""""""""""""""""""""""
Dominick J. Fontana 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 Tim Holt
Patrick Hudlow Tom Sherwin
Please, submit letters to the editor, articles, reviews, etc...
via E-Mail to:
CompuServe................... 70007,4454
Delphi......................... RMARIANO
GEnie......................... ST.REPORT
BIX............................ RMARIANO
FIDONET........................ 1:112/35
FNET........................... NODE 620
ITC NET...................... 85:881/253
NEST........................ 90:21/350.0
America OnLine..................STReport
Internet.............RMARIANO@DELPHI.COM
IMPORTANT NOTICE
----------------
STReport, with its policy of not accepting any paid advertising, has over
the years developed the reputation of "saying it like it really is". When
it comes to our editorials, product evaluations, reviews and over-views,
we shall always keep our readers interests first and foremost. With the
user in mind, STReport further pledges to maintain the reader confidence
that has been developed over the years and to continue "living up to
such". All we ask is that our readers make certain the manufacturers,
publishers etc., know exactly where the information about their products
appeared. In closing, we shall arduously endeavor to meet and further
develop the high standards of straight forwardness our readers have come
to expect in each and every issue.
The Staff & Editors
"""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""
> STR INDUSTRY REPORT LATE BREAKING INDUSTRY-WIDE NEWS
"""""""""""""""""""
IBM/POWER-PC/PC SECTION (I)
===========================
Computer Products Update - CPU Report
------------------------ ----------
Weekly Happenings in the Computer World
Issue #06
Compiled by: Lloyd E. Pulley, Sr.
******* General Computer News *******
>> Oracle Expanding on Internet <<
Software publisher Oracle Corp. says it will aggressively expand its
services for corporate customers on the Internet.
Reports are that the products will be a new server kit that can
translate database information such as catalogs, store inventories and
airline reservations schedules; development tools; a text-search
technology that can allow users to search databases by theme, and
security software to repel computer intruders.
The company said demand for services such as translating database
information onto the Internet has greatly topped expectations with more
than 100,000 people downloading Oracle database software in the last 30
days.
The products are an update for Oracle, which last month unveiled the
Workgroup/2000 product family to provided access to the products on the
Internet through the multimedia World Wide Web.
>> Fuji Launches Apple Tie-in <<
A project to design, manufacture and sell microchips for communications
gear has been launched by Tokyo's Fuji Film Microdevice Co. in a tie-in
with Apple Computer Inc.
The Jiji Japanese press service says the wholly owned subsidiary of
Fuji Photo Film Co. will jointly develop chips for multimedia equipment
with Apple.
"The technology allows real-time transmission of images and voice
data and enables users to link personal computers freely with
peripherals, such as audio and visual systems and printers," Jiji
reports.
>> NEC Invests $2M in U.S. Firm <<
SunDisk Corp. has received a $2 million investment from Japanese
electronics giant NEC Corp. for a joint project to develop computer
flash memory cards. The firms expect to start mass production of the
cards in California soon.
In a statement, SunDisk officials also announced Seagate Technology
has increased its equity investment in the firm to maintain its 25%
stake.
In the Japanese partnership, NEC Vice President Hajime Sasaki said in
the statement, "We continue to believe that the SunDisk/NEC relationship
for the joint development of 256MB flash memory represents a very
important strategic alliance for NEC and are pleased to be able to make
this investment."
>> Pentium Clone Prices Cut <<
NexGen Inc. has reduced prices on all members of its Nx586 micro-
processor line.
NexGen says the new prices reflect an average reduction of greater
than 25% and provide it with a price advantage of 15% to 27% relative to
available Pentium products at comparable performance levels.
Effective Feb. 1, the per- unit prices of Nx586 CPU models in 1,000
unit quantities are: P100, $569; P90, $399; P80, $269; and P75, $239.
The chip maker says the price cuts are the result of a significant
pick-up in demand and an accelerated ramp-up in production volumes,
combined with the company's strategy to accelerate the penetration of
its fifth-generation, x86- compatible microprocessor into the PC
marketplace.
The Nx586 microprocessor, which entered volume production in
September at four performance levels, is the only Pentium microprocessor
clone currently in production and shipping.
>> Compaq Plans No Apple Clones <<
During a visit to London, Compaq Computer Corp. CEO Eckhard Pfeiffer
said this week his company has no plans to make clones of Apple Computer
Inc.'s Macintosh computers.
Pfeiffer is quoted as saying, "We see such a strong customer
infrastructure today for the existing X86 (Intel-compatible) architecture
... and that's where we're focusing our resources."
As reported, Apple launched its licensing strategy last year and
signed its first clone-maker, Power Computing Corp., in December.
>> Silicon Graphics Buys Two Firms <<
Silicon Graphics Inc. has entered into a merger agreement with Alias
Research Inc. and Wavefront Technologies Inc. in a deal valued at $500
million.
Edward McCracken, chairman and chief executive officer of Silicon
Graphics, said he expects the company to record a one-time charge in its
fiscal fourth quarter of about $25 million to $35 million for its
purchase of the two software companies. However, he forecast the new
software subsidiary formed by the merger will generate over $100 million
in revenues in fiscal year 1996.
Wavefront and Alias develop software for digital media and computer
graphics that is already popular in the entertainment industry and
operates on Silicon Graphics workstations. McCracken said the new
subsidiary, which SGI has yet to name, will develop software tools to
create the "digital studio for the 21st century."
He added, "The merger will create a wholly-owned subsidiary to sell
existing tools to the rapidly growing creative community. With their
help, these tools are igniting a revolution in the way people work."
McCracken said the new subsidiary will team with Silicon Studio, a
unit formed last year to focus on the entertainment market and to
develop software tools that will be used by film makers, game developers,
and other entertainment authors to create interactive titles from
original source material.
>> One-Third of U.S. Homes Have PCS <<
Increasing by some 3.8 million since last summer, the number of home
based personal computers now is put at 31% of U.S. households, up from
27% last July.
The findings are based on a random phone survey of 1,500 households
conducted by Odyssey LP of San Francisco in January after the big
Christmas surge in PC sales. The 31% figure is below the PC ownership
figures provided by many other research firms.
The Odyssey survey found:
-:- About half the consumers who owned their current PC for six
months or less bought it as a replacement.
-:- Overall, about 58% of PC owners have had a computer two years or
less.
-:- Among all PC owners, 30% said their machine is equipped with a
CD-ROM player, up from 25% in July. That means about 9% of all
U.S. households now own a multimedia PC, up from 6% in July.
-:- About 7% of households said they belong to one or more OnLine
services, up from 6% last July.
>> New Drive Diagnostics Readied <<
Compaq Computer Corp., Conner Peripherals Inc., Quantum Corp. and
Seagate Technology Inc., are in the final development stages of a new
disk drive diagnostics specification. The technology, when used with the
appropriate systems software, will allow hard disks to predict and alert
customers to certain types of failures, thus preventing the loss of
critical data.
The companies note that the specification will help customers,
especially those with networks of desktop computers, greatly reduce
computer downtime.
Compaq says it has been developing the new specification in cooperation
with the participating hard disk manufacturers, each of which has adopted
the specification and is currently developing new hard disks with
prediction features. The computer maker is also working with other
industry leading hard disk manufacturers to implement the specification in
their products.
Once the specification has been finalized, Compaq plans to make it
available to the storage industry for incorporation into standards being
developed by appropriate industry groups. It is anticipated that the new
specification will be available for release to the industry during the
second quarter of 1995.
>> Stratus Starts New Computer Line <<
A new line of high-performance systems called Continuum has been
launched by Stratus Computer Inc., which says the computers will deliver
up to four times the performance of its existing XA/R series fault
tolerant systems.
Stratus Chairman/CEO William Foster told a news conference in Boston,
"With Continuum, more critical applications will be put on OnLine
because their users can now afford true fault tolerance."
Stratus said the new systems line, priced in a range of $98,000 to
$890,000, is designed for continuous use and to protect data against
systems failures.
The company says the Continuum series "incorporates the industry's
most proven and reliable microprocessors, PA-RISC from Hewlett Packard."
>> Intel May Change Computer Circuitry <<
The computer accessory circuit board may soon be a thing of the past,
as Intel Corp. this week will show industry executives ways to move
audio, video, and communication functions from an accessory circuit
board to the main circuitry of the machine.
Reports are Intel hopes its development work will not only eliminate
the accessory circuit boards that can only be added now by taking a
computer apart, but also create smaller and faster PCS.
Intel figures the best way to sustain demand for its chips is to
encourage creation of machines that don't intimate users. The company
said today's confusing variety of technical designs for accessories
prevents most people from using the computer for anything except writing
reports or crunching numbers. Using the computer for video or telephone
calls is beyond most users' capabilities, but by integrating these
special uses into the main circuitry, they become easier to access.
"We've hit a barrier as an industry," said Craig Kinnie, director of
Intel's Architecture Development Lab, one of the company's four research
arms. "If you're going to make media and communications work on the PC,
we needed to take a next step." He added that Intel engineers are trying
to give the PC more of the integrated qualities of a stereo or
television set.
>> Two-Thirds of Schools Not OnLine <<
Only about 35% the nation's public schools have some access to the
global Internet system -- usually in computer laboratories or media
centers -- and only some 3% of actual classrooms are connected.
In a written report, Education Secretary Richard W. Riley said. "Only
a small fraction of our classrooms have access to new technologies that
are becoming so central to the rest of our lives."
The survey of 1,500 schools found:
-:- E-mail is the most available resource for the schools that have
access, followed by Internet newsgroups and resource location
services.
-:- About two-thirds of schools with Internet offer access to
teachers and administrators but only half allow student use.
-:- Main reasons for not having access are limited money and lack of
equipment.
-:- Three-fourths of the schools surveyed have computers capable of
communicating with the Internet if they had access.
>> NEC Cuts Notebook Prices <<
Costs have been cut by up to 12% on NEC Technologies Inc.'s Versa P,
Versa M and Versa V notebook computers, a move officials say is meant to
maintain price competitiveness.
NEC cut:
-:- $300 off its Versa P series with the cost of a Versa P/75C
falling to $4,999 from $5,299.
-:- $400 to $550 from its Versa M series with the price of a Versa
M/75D decreasing from $3,619 to $3,219 and a Versa M/75TC
dropping to $4,349 from $4,899.
-:- $500 to $160 from its Versa V. A Versa V/75C fell to $3,599 from
$4,099 and a Versa V/50D fell to $2,499 from $2,659.
>> Apple Accused of Censorship <<
Censorship is being alleged in Apple Computer Inc.'s reported decision
to drop a Voyager Co. CD-ROM from computers sold to schools because the
software publisher refused to eliminate the disk's discussion of
homosexuality, birth control, and abortion.
Voyager spokesman Braden Michaels said, "They can say that it's
business, but they are bowing to a special interest. To me that's
censorship."
Of course, Apple doesn't see it that way. Spokeswoman Stacey Byrnes
said, "Apple as an employer and a corporate citizen has a well documented
history of supporting diversity, and we continue to do so. This is not an
issue of censorship."
At issue is Voyager's disk called "Who Built America?" which Byrnes
says has been the subject of customer complaints since December when
Apple began bundling it with computers it sells to elementary and
secondary schools.
The disk, based on a book of the same name, looks at the United
States during the late 19th and early 20th centuries. It includes film
clips, music and illustrations of the period as well as first-person
accounts. Among them are an 1882 letter in which a gay man recounts his
emigration to America and a recorded interview with a New York woman
recalling her 12 abortions.
Voyager officials said Apple told them last month it had received
complaints about the disk and asked Voyager to make a version without
the topics but the company refused.
Michaels said Voyager offered to send schools that object to "Who
Built America?" any CD-ROM from its catalog and suggested that the disk
be limited to high schools. However, he said, Apple turned down the
compromise and decided not to include the disc in its models for schools
anymore.
Reports say that Apple is disputing that version of events. Said
Byrnes, "To date Apple has neither formally notified Voyager or ... made
a decision regarding the content of future versions of the bundles."
She added, "As of today, Apple continues to distribute" the disk and
that the computer maker routinely reviews customer response and uses it
to help decide what programs to distribute.
__________________________________________________
> Delrina Echo Lake STR InfoFile
""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""
DELRINA EXPANDS PRESENCE IN HOME CONSUMER MARKET
WITH
ECHO LAKE FOR WINDOWS
Exciting new software for capturing and sharing life stories
SAN JOSE, CA and TORONTO, ONT -- February 6, 1995 -- Delrina Corporation
(NASDAQ: DENAF, TSE:DC), acclaimed for its award-winning animated screen
savers, communications and electronic forms software, today announced its
first interactive multimedia consumer program, Echo Lake, designed to be a
special place on the home computer where people can capture and share
family memories. The product will be available this spring on CD and
diskette.
Echo Lake is a high-quality creative package that takes full
advantage of multimedia technologies supporting a photo-realistic and
inviting 3-D interface. The program presents several ways in which
individuals of all ages can create vivid accounts of their life
experiences and prepare copies of their personal "books" in print, or in
electronic form to share with others on diskette or through on-line
services.
"Very few home PC software titles captivate and sustain consumer
interest," said Mark Skapinker, Delrina president. "There is tremendous
potential for a product that can redefine the way families use their home
computer, taking its use beyond games and financial planning. Echo Lake is
an engaging program that appeals to the widespread interest in nostalgia,
recording our lives and experiences for ourselves and generations to come.
It+s a product that brings people together."
Echo Lake's flexible format allows individuals to write any number of
stories, and add voice and sound clips and other media to enhance them. It
also works with a wide range of complementary products and services,
ranging from scanners, digital cameras and video capture cards, to Kodak
Photo CDs, giving users the option to add photographs and video to further
bring to life their personal and family memories.
"Delrina's Echo Lake software presents the user with rich visual
imagery right from its first screen," said Paul McAfee, director of
worldwide Photo CD marketing at Kodak. "The program invites its users to
include pictures of their lives. Because Delrina has included simple
access to Photo CD images, users of Echo Lake software will find it easy
to enrich their life stories with their own photos."
"Within the last three years, I have evaluated over 500 software
titles," said Gary Kinsey, Entertainment Evangelist at Creative Labs. "In
my opinion, Echo Lake is a truly ground-breaking product, with the
potential to fit into every household. It also gives consumers a wonderful
reason to learn more about how to use multimedia capabilities such as
sound and video."
According to Dataquest, a market research firm in San Jose, CA, it is
estimated that over 35% of US households currently own a personal
computer. Dataquest predicts the home PC market will show a compound
annual growth of 21%, while the rest of the US computer markets will grow
at 8.9%. It has also recently reported that 2 million of the 5.6 million
personal computers shipped in the United States during the fourth quarter
of 1994 were for the home market. Echo Lake will enable these computer
users to maximize the enjoyment of their investment in multimedia
computing.
"Echo Lake is a first-of-its-kind software program that makes the
computer truly personal," said Greg Long, Delrina product manager and the
creator of Echo Lake. "We think it will draw family members and friends
together at the computer to recall, recreate, laugh, cry and reminisce
about their
experiences."
Although aimed at home computer users, Echo Lake will also appeal to
students, schools, clubs, and other organizations seeking to create
stories and capture history. The diskette version will enable these
groups, as well as others who do not own a multimedia PC, to enjoy Echo
Lake to create journals using text, graphics, and photos.
Press Contact:
--------------
Meredith Mansfield
Connors Communications
(212) 995-2200
Delrina Corporation designs, develops, markets and supports innovative PC
software products and services in the fax, data and voice communications,
electronic forms and consumer software markets. Founded in 1988, the
Company is ranked in sales among the top 15 software publishers in North
America and is recognized as the worldwide leader in PC fax and electronic
forms. Delrina employs more than 600 people with headquarters in Toronto,
Canada and offices in San Jose, CA; Kirkland, WA; Washington, DC;
Lexington, MA; the United Kingdom; France; and Germany. Delrina can be
contacted at (416) 441-3676.
- ### -
Microsoft is a registered trademark and Windows is a trademark of
Microsoft Corporation. Kodak Photo CD is a Trademark of the Eastman Kodak
Company. All other trademarks, trade names, or service marks are the
property of their respective owners.
_________________________________________
> Invoice Store STR Review
""""""""""""""""""""""""
THE INVOICE STORE DELIVERS FOR YOUR BUSINESS
============================================
Software Review by Susanna K. Hutcheson
Software Store Products has come out with another winner with The
Invoice Store 3.1 for DOS. A business-management tool, The Invoice Store
is an easy-to-use invoicing program thatgoes head-to-head with more
expensive and hard-to-learn accounting and database applications.
The Invoice Store is a contact-management and point-of-sale tool that
includes Invoicing, Receivables, Reporting and Database Maintenance.
One thing I personally hate about accounting software is setting up a
chart of accounts. I also detest journal entry. I think most business
people have very little time for things of this nature.
So I was pleased to see The Invoice Store doesn't demand that you set
up a chart of accounts and it doesn't use a general ledger. About all you
have to do is to enter information.
I also appreciated the fact that the software easily produces the
information needed to prepare the Sales Tax report. It gives the total
amount of sales tax collected, total taxable sales and total non-taxable
sales for the sales tax period. In addition, you can assign a different
sales tax rate to each customer in your database. You can even override
the sales tax rate at invoice time.
Invoicing is a snap. When you add the sale amount to a customer (or
cash-sales) account you can print the invoice on the spot. And you can
design your own invoices and reports or use the program's generic forms.
Invoices can be printed after creation or added to a batch for later
printing. They can also be printed to a file for use in other programs.
You will also have complete audit trails for easy tracking of all
your important transactions. This is a feature that even some of the most
expensive programs don't have. This is really handy because it allows you
to track a transaction from the time of entry. When you take your records
to your accountant, he or she can quickly see how and when that entry was
created. This means you'll have more control over your records. And if
you ever have the unpleasant experience of facing an IRS officer in an
audit you'll know how valuable an audit trail can be!
The reporting module is great. Reports can be run for various time
periods -- from daily to yearly. The Invoice Store tells you when to
reorder and how much product inventory is needed. This gives you real
control over your business. You never have to guess.
Inventory reports can be sorted by product code or description.
Summary reports can be generated by invoice or payment date. Totals are
extended on any report. In addition, your statements will show all of your
customer activity for any period.
The Invoice Store contains databases of customers or clients,
inventory, sales personnel and vendors. It's very easy to set up to your
own personal specifications. . And it has an integrated database
management tool that will keep your databases running fast and accurately.
Negative amounts can be entered for credit . . . something
impossible to do with some programs. Unit and cost prices are accepted,
up to four decimal places. And you're alerted when items are oversold. In
addition, the program recalls invoices and records payments. It even voids
payments when necessary.
The Invoice Store lets you generate predefined and customized
reports. You can also create mailing labels and reports from your database
information. The built-in word processor lets you easily create letters
and merge with your database. This program truly has just about everything
a small business can ask for.
Although the 185 page manual is handy, the context sensitive online
help is about all you'll probably need as you navigate the program. In
addition, technical help is free when you need it. One of the finest and
most enjoyable parts of the program is the database query capability. It
is far superior to many similar programs. You can ask it to tell you just
about anything about a client or your inventory or anything else you have
in your database and bring that information up quickly.
If you need to know how much a client spent last year you use the
Boolean operators to build your query. You can ask it virtually anything
and extract that information. That is most useful when you want to know
exactly how well a specific product is selling in a certain part of the
country, for example. There are many ways this feature can be used. And it
can prove quite profitable to you.
The Invoice Store 3.1 is a business tool that you will find
easy-to-use and invaluable in your day-to-day operations. It can not only
save you money by keeping excellent financial records but it can make you
money by giving you all the information you need to understand your
business . . . every facet of it. And in business, understanding your
business and your customers translates into profit!
Highly recommended.
Software Store Products Inc.
P.O. Box 562
Oakdale, NY 11769
1-800-232-8561. Price: $95.00
___________________________________________________
> Frankie's Corner STR Feature
""""""""""""""""""""""""""""
Radio Active: The Music Trivia Game Show
========================================
available on CD-rom for Windows and Macintosh
retail approximately $25
for all ages
from
Sanctuary Woods
1825 Grant St.
Suite 410
San Mateo, CA 94402
IBM Requirements Macintosh Requirements
---------------- ----------------------
CPU: 386DX/33 CPU: 68030/25
RAM: 8 megs RAM: 8 megs
Video: SVGA Video: 13" color monitor
CD-ROM: Double-speed CD-ROM: Double-speed
Hdisk: 1 meg Hdisk: 1 meg
OS: Windows 3.1 OS: System 7.1
Sound Blaster or compatible required
by Frank Sereno
Sanctuary Woods' has produced an entertaining and toe-tapping game for
the Baby-Boomer set. Radio Active features interesting trivia questions,
puzzles and great music. This game is sure to challenge and delight those
who love the music of the 60's, 70's and early 80's.
The game allows up to four players to compete against each other. Games
can be played for a predetermined time limit, point total or until the
players can't take any more. Players choose from sixteen humorous
stereotypes to represent them on-screen. The player simply chooses a
character and then types in his name.
Once all the players are entered, game play begins. Players will take
turns pulling a control stick which will cause a carousel to rotate. The
carousel holds markers for the different trivia categories. These
categories include five-year periods beginning in 1961 and ending in 1985.
The player can choose to answer an easy, medium or hard question. If he
answers the trivia question correctly, he can gain bonus points by
recognizing the music to a song from that era. Two more categories are
also available randomly. The Song Puzzle is a song divided into five
sections represented by notes. The player must arrange the notes in the
correct order to score points. The final category is the video puzzle in
which a music business celebrity talks about an artist and then the player
must identify the artist.
Radio Active is hosted by the jovial and hip Bobby Arpeggio. His jokes
keep the game lighthearted and humorous. He is aided by the off-screen
announcer, Nigel. Nigel also instructs players on how to play the game.
The graphics in Radio Active are very colorful and interesting. The
animations are slightly jerky even on a Pentium system but that does not
detract from the fun game play. The voices and theme song for the program
are very good. The songs in the trivia game are not those from the
original artists, but reasonably good facsimiles.
Radio Active is an excellent game to play on long winter nights and at
family gatherings. I must warn you that the game is very slow on a 386
machine and really needs a fast 486 or Pentium for good speed in the
Windows environment. But even on a slow CPU, the program is full of wit
and humor, and it will take many plays before the questions are repeated.
If you like music and have a sense of humor, you will love Radio Active!
___________________________________________
> DOOM, 2 & HERETIC CHEAT FILE STR FOCUS!
"""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""
ALL THE DOOM, DOOM ][, AND HERETIC CHEAT CODES!
===============================================
Compiled By: Geoffrey Geiger 75253,1416
DOOM Cheat Codes!
=================
IDDQD - Toggles the God Mode On/Off
IDKFA - Gives You All The Weapons, Keys, Ammo, and 200% Armor
IDFA - Gives You All The Weapons, Ammo and 200% Armor
IDBEHOLD + Following
S - Get Beserk Strength
V - Temporary Invulnerability
I - Temporary Invisibility
A - Get Full Automap(places not visited remain Grey!)
R - Get Anti-Radiation Suit
L - Light Amplification Visor
IDSPISPOPD - Toggles The Clipping Mode
IDCHOPPERS - Get The chainsaw and a Message!
IDCLEV - (Episode #) (Map #) - Level Warp
IDDT - Toggles Bet. Normal map, fullmap and Fullmap + objects
IDMYPOS - Displays coordinates and heading
DOOM ][ Cheat Codes!
====================
IDDQD - Toggles the God Mode On/Off
IDKFA - Gives You All The Weapons, Keys, Ammo, and 200% Armor
IDFA - Gives You All The Weapons, Ammo and 200% Armor
IDBEHOLD + Following
S - Get Beserk Strength
V - Temporary Invulnerability
I - Temporary Invisibility
A - Get Full Automap(places not visited remain Grey!)
R - Get Anti-Radiation Suit
L - Light Amplification Visor
IDCLIP - Toggles The Clipping Mode
IDCHOPPERS - Get The chainsaw and a Message!
IDCLEV & Map# - Level Warp (Ex, Level Nine would be: 09)
IDDT - Toggles Bet. Normal map, fullmap and Fullmap + objects
IDMYPOS - Displays coordinates and heading
IDMUS & Map# - Plays Music from Selected Level
Heretic Shareware Version 1.0 Codes
===================================
QUICKE - Toggles the God Mode On/Off
RAMBO - Gives You All The Weapons, Ammo, and 200% Armor
GIMME (a-j) (1-9) - Gives You One Of The These
a = Ring of Invincibility
b = Shadowsphere
c = Quartz Flask
d = Not So Nice input (REGISTERED ONLY)
e = Tome of Power
f = Torch
g = Bomb of the Ancients
h = Morph Ovum
i = Wings of Wrath
j = Not So Nice input (REGISTERED ONLY)
SKEL - Gives You All Keys
RAVMAP - Toggles Map Modes:
1 - Complete Map
2 - All Items/Track Monster Positions
3 - Revert to Normal Mode
KITTY - Toggle The Clipping Mode
ENGAGE (Episode #) (Map #) - Level Warp
PONCE - Full Health
SHAZAM - Toggle Weapon Power-Up (Tome of Power)
MASSACRE - Kill ALL monsters on the current level
COCKADOODLEDOO - Toggle The Chicken Mode On/Off (Enables Beak!)
IDDQD - Kill Yourself ..Suicide
IDKFA - Drop all Of Your weapons and ammo
Want More??? THATS ALL OF THEM!
- Anyone having Questions Regarding DOOM or DOOM ][ Contact Me for help!
If anyone in the 310 area would like to play me at DOOM or DOOM ][, send
an Email letter to me, and I will most gladly ring up a few more frags!
____________________________________________
> Visio Home 3.0 STR Spotlight
""""""""""""""""""""""""""""
Preliminary Report
------------------
Visio Home 3.0
Shapeware Inc.
520 Pike St.
Suite 1800
Seattle, WA 98101-4001
(206) 521-4500
by Doyle C. Helms Jr.
Staff Editor
Visio 3.0 Home is a drawing program for Windows that encompasses a
spectrum of drawing needs for the home user. Don t let the name Home
mislead you, for this program will more than suffice the small business
user as well. Visio Home 3.0 is easy to learn and contains over 900 master
shapes that will surely meet your needs. If the shapes (also called
templates) are not sufficient, the user can easily create their own
library of templates for later use. Artistic talent is not required to
produce smooth and professional printouts, just a need to communicate an
idea graphically.
The Shapes that you use within Visio Home is stored in what is
called a Gallery . The Gallery is always visible to the user and shapes
are simply dragged from the gallery to the drawing area and placed. Once
placed, Shapes can be manipulated in almost infinite ways such as scaling
and etc. Visio Home is also OLE 2.0 compliant.
Documentation for Visio is very informative and easily understood.
Especially about all the tools the user has available. Informative is
also a good word to use when describing the tutorials that are also
present in the manuals.
In short, if you need a simple to learn but powerful program that you
will not outgrow, purchase Visio Home 3.0 at your dealer today. I
purchased my copy of Visio Home 3.0 at Software Etc. For the very
reasonable price of $59.95. You can also Download a Demo copy from CIS in
the Shapeware Forum+ (GO Shapeware).
_________________________________________
> NEW CIS RATES! STR FOCUS! The Best just got BETTER!
"""""""""""""""""""""""""
COMPUSERVE'S NEW STANDARD PRICING PLAN
======================================
New Pricing Includes More Basic Services
(06-Feb-95)
CompuServe's new Standard Pricing Plan now includes unlimited access 24
hours a day to 100 basic services, including 20 that have just been added
and 10 that were added in 1994. Some of these are:
*PEOPLE Magazine's PEOPLE DAILY
*Reuters Variety
*AMG Classical Music Guide
*AMG Pop Music Guide
*National Syndicated Columns, including Joe Bob Briggs, Mikhail
Gorbachev, Cokie and Steve Roberts, News of the Weird, and more.
In addition to allowing access to more basic services, CompuServe's new
Standard Pricing Plan rates significantly cut connect-time and mail
charges, reduce U.S. and Canadian WATS-line charges, eliminate Western
European prime-time communications surcharges, and raise the monthly
membership fee by $1.
Effective 05-Feb, connect charges for access at 9.6 and 14.4 kilobits per
second dropped by 50 percent to $4.80 per hour. This is CompuServe's third
price reduction in connect-time rates in three years.
Under the new Standard Pricing Plan, members can send the equivalent of
90, three-page electronic mail messages at no additional charge, compared
to 60 previously. Electronic mail costs have been reduced by as much as 80
percent.
The monthly membership fee has increased by $1 to $9.95. The new fee
includes free access to the Executive Service Option, although ESO
surcharges for specific products continue to apply. In Western Europe, the
CompuServe network $7.70 per hour prime-time communications surcharge has
been eliminated. In the United States, Wide Area Telephone Service
surcharges have been cut by 31 percent to $6 per hour. The Canadian
WATS-line charge has also been cut by 41 percent to $20 per hour.
For complete information about pricing plans in your location, as well as
a list of all 100 basic services, GO CHOICES.
""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""
A T T E N T I O N -- A T T E N T I O N -- A T T E N T I O N
FARGO PRIMERA PRO COLOR PRINTERS - 600DPI
For a limited time only; If you wish to have a FREE sample printout sent
to you that demonstrates FARGO Primera & Primera Pro SUPERIOR QUALITY
600dpi 24 bit Photo Realistic Color Output, please send a Self Addressed
Stamped Envelope [SASE] (business sized envelope please) to:
STReport's Fargo Printout Offer
P.O. Box 6672
Jacksonville, Florida 32205-6155
Folks, the FARGO Primera Pro has GOT to be the best yet. Its far superior
to the newest of Color Laser Printers selling for more than three times as
much. Its said that ONE Picture is worth a thousand words. Send for this
sample now. Guaranteed you will be amazed at the superb quality. (please,
allow at least a one week turn-around)
A T T E N T I O N -- A T T E N T I O N -- A T T E N T I O N
""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""
: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 Services copyright 1995 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)
> HAYES USERGROUP OFFER STR InfoFile PLUS FULL OVERVIEW of V.34 & V.FC!
"""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""" ----------------------------------
HAYES MICROCOMPUTER PRODUCTS, INC.
USER GROUP SPECIAL OFFERS FOR HAYES PRODUCTS
Dear User Group:
It is my pleasure to take this opportunity to thank you for your support
and interest in Hayes products and encourage you to take advantage of
our expanded User Group Program offerings. While we have enjoyed
visiting with many of you at various functions, I wanted to make sure
that everyone is aware of the programs we offer for User Groups and
update you on the latest User Group special product offerings (see
attached).
User Group Membership Offer
In order for folks to take advantage of this offer, they must either be
a current member of your User Group or become a member of your User
Group. This offer is designed to 1) help your group increase its
membership while 2) encouraging your users to purchase Hayes products
and take advantage of the "Information Highway."
User Group BBS Offer
For those groups who have a BBS, Hayes would like to assist you in
upgrading your BBS to the latest in high-speed communications, OPTIMA
288 V.34/V.FC + FAX. Hayes would be interested in working with your
User Group on the possibility of exchanging advertising for a modem.
User Group Newsletter Advertising
Newsletter advertising is always important to Hayes. Hayes would be
interested in assisting your club in fundraising efforts in exchange for
newsletter advertising. If you are interested in this program, please
provide Hayes with a recent copy of your newsletter and an advertising
rate card, including the number of subscriptions your have for your
newsletter.
Product Reviews for Newsletters
Hayes is always interested in providing hardware and/or software for
evaluation for your newsletter. In exchange, it is extremely important
that Hayes receive a copy of the review, as this is a very important
measureable for Hayes User Group Program.
Education Program
Hayes is very excited about its new education program, designed to teach
the basics of communications. While the course is quite extensive,
Hayes is interested in identifying and recruiting a "Hayes Expert" in
each User Group to "teach" this education course to either the
membership-at-large, or at SIG meetings.
Event Participation
While Hayes would enjoy visiting each of your groups throughout the
year, we all know this is not possible; however, Hayes will provide
special offers for your meetings. Also, Hayes is interested in
participating in Regional Trade Shows through your User Group. If your
group would be interested in representing Hayes at a Regional Event,
such as a trade show, please notify us.
Product Information
Hayes latest product information is available on Hayes Online BBS at
404-446-6336, CompuServe, Genie, America Online, and GlobalNet.
Hayes Online BBS
Hayes Online is a valuable source of information, containing new product
information, User Group special offers, and technical notes. Current
Hayes User Group Program offers are available on Hayes Online BBS at
404-446-6336, under the User Group option.
Hayes FAX Response
Current Hayes User Group Program offers are available on Hayes FAX
Response at 1-800-HAYESFX, under User Group Program. Also available on
Hayes FAX Response is information on Hayes products.
Special Pricing
It is Hayes goal to offer special introductory pricing on new products
to User Groups. This information is posted on GlobalNet, Hayes FAX
Response, and Hayes Online BBS. These offers can be downloaded and
copied for your membership.
Hayes is committed to assisting User Group members by offering special
pricing on Hayes products. Attached is a special offer form on Hayes
products currently being offered as User Group specials. These offers
include Hayes ACCURA 144 + FAX144 (PC and Macintosh platforms), Hayes
Smartcom BBS Dialer, and Hayes newest communications software, Hayes
Smartcom Data/Fax Pro. As this is a limited time offer, please share
this offer with your members as quickly as possible.
Please complete the attached questionnaire with information about your
User Group and your groups interests and return it to my attention. If
you have any questions about Hayes User Group Program, please contact me
via e-mail at bmcelveen@hayes.com. I can also be reached via telephone
at 404/840-6816, or via fax at 404/840-6825.
I look forward to working with each of you during 1995!
Sincerely, Beth McElveen
User Group Relations Manager
Please, complete this form and send it to the address listed below or fax
it to 404/840-6825. Hurry! Offer is good through 30 June 1995.
Please send me: Price *Quantity Total
Hayes ACCURA 144 + FAX144 (PC) US$89.00 ____ ________
Hayes ACCURA 144 + FAX144 (Mac) US$89.00 ____ ________
Smartcom BBS Dialer US$14.95 ____ ________
Smartcom Data/FAX PRO US$59.00 ____ ________
Smartcom II for the Mac US$49.00 ____ ________
Tax: Residents of GA (5%) and CA (8.25%) must add tax! ________
Shipping and Handling ($10 per unit/hardware,
$6 per unit/software) ________
Grand Total ________
*LIMIT 2 PER ITEM
Payment (check one):
__Check __Money Order __VISA __MasterCard (US only)
________________________________________________________________________
VISA or MasterCard Number Expiration Date
________________________________________________________________________
Cardholder Signature (required for processing)
________________________________________________________________________
Name
________________________________________________________________________
User Group Name
________________________________________________________________________
Street Address
________________________________________________________________________
City/State/Zip
________________________________________________________________________
Daytime Telephone (required for processing)
Limit two per customer. Offer ends 30 June 1995. Offer valid in the US
and Canada only and void where prohibited by law. Offer subject to
product availability. (C) 1995 Hayes Microcomputer Products, Inc. All
rights reserved. The Hayes logo, ACCURA and Smartcom are trademarks of
Hayes Microcomputer Products, Inc. Other trademarks mentioned are
trademarks of their respective companies.
FAX YOUR ORDER FORM TODAY: 404/840-6825 or mail it to:
Hayes Microcomputer Products, Inc., User Group Special Offer,
P.O. Box 105203, Atlanta, GA 30348
HAYES MICROCOMPUTER PRODUCTS, INC.
USER GROUP QUESTIONNAIRE
President's name: _____________________________________________________
User Group's name: ____________________________________________________
Address: _____________________________________________________________
street address
_____________________________________________________________
city state zip
Contact's Telephone No.: _________________ Fax No.: _________________
Size of User Group: ____________________________________________________
Special requirements for membership: __________________________________
What Services are available for members? ______________________________
________________________________________________________________________
Do you publish a newsletter? [ ] YES [ ] NO
If so, please forward one copy to my attention.
Newsletter Editor: ____________________________________________________
Newsletter Editor address: _____________________________________________
How often are your meetings? __________________________________________
Does your User Group have a BBS? [ ] YES [ ] NO
If so, what modem do you use on the BBS? _____________________________
How many lines are on your BBS? ______ BBS Number ___________________
Please return or FAX completed questionnaire to:
Beth McElveen
User Group Relations Manager
Hayes Microcomputer Products, Inc.
P.O. Box 105203
Atlanta, GA 30348
FAX:404/840-6825
_____________________________________________
> HAYES LineUp STR FOCUS!
"""""""""""""""""""""""
Hayes Smartmodem OPTIMA 28800 V.34/V.FC FAX
-------------------------------------------
Hayes Smartmodem OPTIMA 28800 V.34/V.FC FAX (OPTIMA 288 V.34/V.FC +
FAX) is Hayes award-winning 28,800 bit/s modem that now implements the
ITU-T V.34 standard. In addition to supporting the ITU-T V.34 standard,
OPTIMA 288 V.34/V.FC + FAX implements the V.Fast Class (V.FC)
technology developed by Hayes and Rockwell to provide an interim
industry standard modulation for 28,800 bit/s communications prior to
the ratification of V.34. The product will operate at 28,800 bit/s with
Hayes and other vendors' products that implement the V.34 and/or the
V.FC standards. The product is also fully compatible with the installed
base of V.32bis (14.4 kbit/s), V.32 (9600 bit/s), V.22bis (2400 bit/s),
and V.22 (1200 bit/s) modems.
OPTIMA 288 V.34/V.FC + FAX is a powerful solution for multi-media,
remote access to a LAN, shared modem access from a LAN, and the transfer
of large data files. Using Hayes superior implementation of V.42bis,
the product transfers data up to 230,400 bit/s using data compression --
the fastest rate available from Hayes over dial-up phone lines.
Through 1 March 1995 Hayes is offering a free upgrade to OPTIMA 288 V.FC
+ FAX users if they purchase an additional OPTIMA 288 V.34/V.FC + FAX
modem. Customers who do not wish to purchase an additional modem can
upgrade their OPTIMA 288 V.FC + FAX modems for US$49 before the 1 March
1995 deadline.
OPTIMA 288 V.34/V.FC + FAX supports asynchronous and synchronous
communications and comes with Smartcom for Windows LE and Smartcom
FAX for Windows LE communications software.
OPTIMA 288 V.34/V.FC + FAX Advantages
-------------------------------------
Speed -- up to 230,400 bit/s -- More than 1 megabyte per minute
Compatibility
Other installed PC modems
ITU-T V.34 products
V.Fast Class products
Hayes Standard AT Command Set
Fax machines
Advanced line probing and renegotiation
Asynchronous, Synchronous, AutoSync 2
Bundled with Smartcom for Windows LE and Smartcom FAX for Windows LE
Software
Understanding OPTIMA 288 V.34/V.FC + FAX 230,400 bit/s Capability
-----------------------------------------------------------------
Hayes Superior Implementation of V.42bis - OPTIMA 288 V.34/V.FC + FAX
modem can achieve throughput up to 230,400 bit/s on highly compressible
files using ITU-T V.42bis. This increase in the maximum compression,
from 4 times to up to 8 times, is achieved by optimizing the
implementation of V.42bis. This superior implementation is not
proprietary and will operate with any modem implementing V.42bis.
Understanding the Modem Numbers
-------------------------------
V.34/V.FC 28,800 + data compression = 230,400 bit/s
V.32bis 14,400 + data compression = 115,200 bit/s
V.32 9600 + data compression = 57,600 bit/s
V.22bis 2400 + data compression = 9600 bit/s
V.22 1200 + data compression = 4800 bit/s
MODULATION
----------
ITU-T V.34 - The recently ratified ITU-T standard offering modem speeds
up to 28,800 bit/s. Also provides high-speed, full duplex
communications at speeds ranging from 28,800, 26,400, 24,000, 21,600,
19,200, 16,800, 14,400, 12,000, 9600, 7200, 4800, and 2400 bit/s.
V.FC - An interim industry standard developed by Hayes and Rockwell
offering speeds up to 28,800 bit/s. This interim industry standard has
an installed base of approximately one million units. Also provides
high-speed, full duplex communications at 28,800, 26,400, 24,000,
21,600, 19,200, 16,800, and 14,400 bit/s.
ITU-T V.32bis - V.32bis provides high-speed, full duplex communicatons
at 14,400, 12,000, 9600, 7200, and 4800 bit/s. Supports V.32bis
procedures for fallback to lower speeds during the initial connection,
and V.32bis rate renegotiation during online communications.
ITU-T V.32 - Provides high-speed, full duplex communications at 9600 and
4800 bit/s. Supports V.32 Automode procedure and EIA/TIA IS-63 for
fallback to lower speeds.
International Data Transmission Standards - In addition to ITU-T V.32bis
and V.32 compliance, supports V.22bis (2400 bit/s), V.22 (1200 bit/s),
and V.21 (300 bit/s) transmissions.
Industry Data Transmission Compatibility - Supports communications with
industry standard 103 (300 bit/s) and 212A (1200 bit/s) modems.
ITU-T GROUP 3 Fax Standards - Supports V.17 (14,400, 12,000, 9600, 7200
bit/s), V.29 (9600 and 7200 bit/s), V.27ter (4800 and 2400 bit/s), and
V.21 channel 2 (300 bit/s).
ERROR-CONTROL
-------------
ITU-T V.42 - Supports standardized, point-to-point error-control
communications using the ITU-T V.42 LAPM (Link Access Procedure for
Modems) protocol. ITU-T V.42 alternative protocol provides backward
compatibility with modems using MNP 2-4.
DATA COMPRESSION
----------------
ITU-T V.42bis - International data compression standard for use by
modems incorporating the V.42 LAPM error-control standard. Provides
compression capabilities enabling throughput to 230,400 bit/s.
MNP 5 - Provides a migration path to V.42bis data compression by
supporting backward compatibility with modems using MNP 5 for 2:1 data
compression.
Bi-directional/Uni-directional Optimization - Throughput is optimized
depending on the direction data is transmitted. During normal file
transfer operation, data thoughput is maximized since the transfers
occur in one direction.
TELEPHONE LINE INTERFACE
------------------------
Dial-up Line - Provides pulse or tone dialing out and auto-answering for
Public Switched Telephone Network (PSTN) operation.
Dial Modifiers - Provides the ability to support special residential and
commercial PABX features such as pause, pulse and tone dialing, wait for
second dial tone, wait for quiet answer, bong tone and hook flash.
Call Progress Monitoring - Provides information on the progress of a
call. Result code messages notify the user when dial tone, busy
signals, and carrier signals are detected, when connections are made and
when commands are accepted.
Monitor Speaker - Includes audio speaker for monitoring call progress.
Speaker volume can be set to three levels under software control.
Speaker can be set by software control to be always off, always on, on
until connection is established (including dialing), or on from
completion of dialing until connection is established.
Modular Connector - Standard RJ-11 telephone jack, with extension jack
for telephone.
MODEM CONTROL AND OPERATION
---------------------------
Advanced Line Probing and Renegotiation - Will renegotiate to the
highest possible transmission speed to compensate for network and phone
line performance.
Hayes Standard AT Command Set - Full support for this industry standard
enables the product to operate with the large installed worldwide base
of communications software.
Asynchronous Facsimile DCE Command Set - Controls modems which are
compatible with the "Class 1" fax modem command set. A user configures
the software through simple, on-screen selections which are then
translated into the appropriate commands that are issued to the mode.
Users can make maximum use of advanced fax modem features without
needing to learn specific AT Commands.
Hayes Patented Improved Escape Sequence with Guard Time Mechanism -
Patented technology allows the product to reliably escape from the
online mode of operation (receiving/transmitting data) to the command
mode (interpreting the Hayes Standard AT Command Set). U.S. Patent
4,549,302 was granted to Hayes on 22 October 1985 and Canadian Patents
1,186,080 and 1,186,081 were granted on 23 April 1985.
Nonvolatile Storage of Phone Numbers and Configuration Profiles - The
product stores up to four telephone numbers (36 digits each) in
nonvolatile memory. The product also stores two user configuration
profiles in nonvolatile memory in addition to factory configuration
profile.
AutoFAX - During handshake the modem looks for calling tone, and if not
there, switches to data mode.
Automode - Procedures defined in an appendix to ITU-T Recommendation
V.32bis that allow modems with V.32bis, V.32, and V.22bis modulation to
reliably interwork with other modems which have any or all of these
modulations, at the highest speed in common between the products. Also
in V.34/V.FC mode it will work with other modems supporting V.FC
modulation to connect at the highest possible speed.
Automatic Speed Buffering - Enables the product to communicate at
varying speeds with other modems, including non-error-control modems,
while communicating at fixed interface speed if required by its attached
DTE (mainframe, mini-computer or PC).
Flow Control - Supports three types of flow control: RTS/CTS (using
hardware circuits 106/133), XON/XOFF, and Transparent XON/XOFF.
Transparent flow control, when used with compatible software, permits
the transfer of binary files with any protocol while using XON/XOFF flow
control, on systems which do not support RTS/CTS flow control. Includes
the capability for software to test the modem cable to determine whether
or not RTS/CTS flow control can be used.
DATA TRANSMISSION MODES
-----------------------
Asynchronous Hardware Mode - Supports standard asynchronous
communications for dial-up access to value added networks, online
services, personal computers, minicomputers and mainframes.
Synchronous Hardware Mode - Supports SDLC, HDLC and Bisync synchronous
transmission for connections to mainframes and minicomputers. A PC
using a synchronous adapter card is also supported.
Hayes AutoSync - Uses the system's standard asynchronous communications
port for synchronus communications, eliminating the additional expense
of a synchronous adapter card for SDLC, HDLC or Bisync when used with
AutoSync or application software. This convenient feature brings both
asynchronous and synchronous data transfer capability to your system in
one communications device and provides substantial savings over other
methods.
Hayes AutoSync 2 - Eliminates the requirement of precise control signal
timing required by the original AutoSync. Precise control signal timing
caused the original AutoSync to be much more difficult to implement at
speeds above 57,000 bit/s. Both allow synchronous-mode operation of a
modem connnection to an ordinary asynchronous serial card. AutoSync 2
allows reliable operation at high communication speeds above 14.4 kbit/s
with multitasking operating systems, with intelligent serial ports and
LAN-connected modems.
SERVICE AND SUPPORT
-------------------
Technical Support - Applications consultants and technical support
engineers are available through Hayes Customer Sevice in the U.S. and
Latin America at 404/441-1617, in Canada at 519/746-5000, in Europe at
44 1252 775544, in Asia at 852 887 1037, and in Australia at 61 2 959
5544.
Electronic Support - Technical assistance is available elecronically
through Hayes Online, Hayes Bulletin Board System, throughout the
Americas Region at 404/446-6336, as well as Hayes Forums on CompuServe
and GEnie information services.
Product Warranty - Modem holds a two-year limited performance warranty.
Hayes guarantees that the product will perform as stated in the user
documentation specification and is backed by the Hayes return or refund
policy. A special offer by Hayes allows users to obtain a free
extension of the limited performance warranty to a total of five years
coverage when an OPTIMA product is registered within 90 days of purchase
by mail or by using Hayes Online, Hayes Bulletin Board System, in the
U.S. and Canada only.
Quality and Fast Service - Hayes Quality aims for the absolute minimum
defects in design and manufacturing. The company's emphasis on quality
results in extremely reliable products and outstanding repair service
should any be required.
GLOBAL AVAILABILITY
-------------------
Country-Specific Versions - Country-specific versions comply with the
requirements of each country's regulatory agency. Specific features for a
country's version may vary to the extent necessary to meet these
requirements.
International Distribution - Hayes products are available in more than 65
countries through a global network of authorized distirbutors, dealers,
m a s s merchants, VARs, systems integrators and original equipment
manufacturers.
Hayes, the Hayes icon, the Hayes logo, Smartmodem, Smartcom, AutoSync and
OPTIMA are trademarks of Hayes Microcomputer Products, Inc. V.FC and
V.Fast Class are tradmarks of Rockwell International Corporation. Other
trademarks mentioned in this summary are trademarks of their respective
companies.
The International Telecommunications Union - Telecommunications (ITU-T) is
the United Nations agency responsible for development of standards for
international data communications.
___________________________________________
> DELPHI ENHANCEMENTS STR InfoFile
""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
---------------------
DELPHI INTERNET
SIGNS STRATEGIC TECHNOLOGY AGREEMENT
WITH
NETSCAPE COMMUNICATIONS
Internet Standards-Based Strategy to Bypass Consumer Online Competitors
New Technology Direction Underscores Strong Commitment to Delivering
Innovative Services and Enriching Internet Access
CAMBRIDGE, MASSACHUSETTS * February 8, 1995 *
Delphi Internet Services Corporation, one of the nation's largest online
services and since 1992 a leading provider of complete Internet access,
today announced that it has signed a license and distribution agreement
with Netscape Communications Corporation under which Netscape will provide
client and server software to Delphi Internet.
This agreement with Netscape marks the first step in Delphi Internet's
plan to deliver the most accessible interactive content and services for
personal computer users. Through the licensing of Netscape NavigatorTM
and Netsite Commerce ServerTM software, Delphi Internet begins to
implement its plans to build its online service on a totally open,
Internet standards-based platform. Netscape Navigator and Netsite* server
software will bring secure communications, performance and advanced
functionality to Delphi Internet's new platform.
"We are aggressively moving forward toward an open architecture * away
from the older, proprietary technologies of the 'big three' online service
providers," said Dr. Alan E. Baratz, Delphi Internet's Chief Executive
Officer. "By adopting an open system, we are ensuring that our delivery
platform will consistently incorporate the latest technology and that our
members and partners can instantly access the richest resources and most
innovative services that the Internet has to offer. At Delphi, we
understand and fully embrace the principles of openness and adherence to
technological excellence on which the Internet is founded, and bring that
same commitment to the development of our new platform."
"Delphi Internet's selection of Netscape as a strategic partner will give
online subscribers easy access to the vast resources available on the
Internet as well as to a broad range of other exciting information and
entertainment services," said Jim Barksdale, President and Chief Executive
Officer of Netscape. "Delphi Internet's online expertise and access to
unrivaled media content, combined with Netscape's easy-to-use,
standards-based secure software, will create a powerful platform for
delivery of online services."
Delphi Internet's "Third Generation" Interface Development
Delphi Internet is re-building its online service based on a sophisticated
platform that will readily accommodate the latest products and services
that are being developed for the Internet. The Company is developing a
"third generation" interface * one that will deliver on the promise of new
media types incorporating audio and video, as well as hyperlinking
capabilities * evolving from a first generation ASCII, text-based system
to leapfrog second generation proprietary, menu-based point and click
interfaces.
Delphi Internet's third generation interface will differ dramatically from
earlier interfaces because it will be built around emerging Internet
standards like TCP/IP, POP (for mail), Gopher, Worldwide Web (WWW) and
Hypertext Markup Language (HTML). "Because these standards are set by
public use and discussion, they evolve quickly and take into account the
latest technology," said Baratz. "Also, many complementary products based
on these standards are and will continue to become available. In addition,
because Delphi has been a 'Net citizen for a long time, we know that these
standards work, and are at the core of the explosive growth and utility of
the Internet. Basing our interface on these standards is the soundest
strategy for providing secure communications and solid performance to our
subscribers * now and into the future."
A News Corporation company, Delphi Internet develops and markets
interactive entertainment, information and communications services for
consumers worldwide. Delphi Internet is one of the nation's top online
services and a leading provider to consumers of comprehensive access to
the Internet, the data superhighway. News Corporation, led by Chief
Executive Rupert Murdoch, is one of the largest global media companies
with diversified international operations that include: TV GUIDE, Fox
Broadcasting Company, Twentieth Century Fox, HarperCollins Publishers,
Times Newspapers Limited, British Sky Broadcasting, STAR Television and
others.
Netscape Communications Corporation is a premier provider of open software
to enable people and companies to exchange information and conduct
commerce over the Internet and other global networks. The company was
founded in April 1994 by Dr. James H. Clark, founder of Silicon Graphics,
Inc., a Fortune 500 computer systems company; and Marc Andreessen, creator
of the NCSA MosaicTM research prototype for the Internet. Privately held,
Netscape Communications Corporation is based in Mountain View, California.
Contact:
--------
For Delphi:
Nancy Morrisroe
Delphi Internet Services Corp.
617/441-4532
nancy@delphi.com
Pam Hamilton or Gwenn Gauthier
Schwartz Communications, Inc.
617/431-0770
pamhamilton@delphi.com or gwenn@delphi.com
For Netscape:
Rosanne Siino
Netscape Communications Corp.
415/528-2619
rosanne@netscape.com
Delphi Internet is a trademark of Delphi Internet Services Corporation.
Netscape Navigator, Netsite and Netsite Commerce Server are trademarks of
Netscape Communicatioins Corporation. NCSA Mosaic is a trademark of the
University of Illinois.
**********************************************************************
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!"
""""""""""""""""""""""""""""
Talk about an over-reaction! No, I'm not talking about someone
reacting to something our publisher wrote! I mean, a week or so ago,
that big furry rodent was the portent of an early Spring; and a few
days later there were major headlines that claimed the northeast was
blasted by a 'Noreaster!! Okay, so it's been a calm winter with
abnormal temperatures and no snow. But, was a six-inch snowstorm in
the Boston area worth television coverage, ALL day, by all of the major
networks and a few independents?!? It must have been a really slow
news day...
Speaking of slow news days, there continues to be a drought of
Atari computing news lately. Maybe I'm searching in the wrong places,
or my reporters aren't fully awake lately (just kidding, guys!). We do
have some more CD ROM news from those busy guys at It's All Relative.
I have to really sit down and consider the possibilities of adding CD
ROM power for one of my machines!
We also have what appears to be the first of many announcements
from C-LAB, regarding their efforts with the Falcon. As initially
surmised, their first endeavor will be leaning toward the MIDI
userbase, but it does sound impressive, nonetheless.
Closer to home, I've been having a little fun playing with Spectre
lately (again). I thought that I'd explore the world of online
navigators and offline readers. Since there isn't much currently
available for the ST, I thought I'd see what was available for the Mac
which I could use under Spectre. My first attempts have been using
MacCIM, for use with Compuserve. It's an interesting program, so far.
My initial reactions are that it's more of a navigator to look around
and see what's available online while being able to read/reply to
messages and download/upload files. I've ordered MacNav to really
check out the OLR capabilities and benefits. As I play around more
with both of these products, I'll try to give you a report as I'm sure
many of our readers use Macs and/or Spectre.
Until next time...
____________________________________________
Delphi's Atari Advantage!!
TOP TEN DOWNLOADS (2/8/95)
(1) ONLY! VALENCY & WORLD (6) 2 COLUMNS, VERSION 6
(2) ERROR CODES AND BOMBS (7) BMP FILE VIEWER
*(3) ATARI E-MAIL LIST *(8) TRON-LIKE LIGHT-CYCLES GAME
(4) GENEVA SECRETS *(9) IDENTIFIES ASCI/SCSI DEVICES
(5) ATARIWORKS PAGE PREVIEW *(10) OFFICIAL DEMO OF APEX
* = 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 11.05)
ATARI EXPLORER ONLINE (Current issue: AEO: VOLUME 4, ISSUE 2)
Look for the above files in the RECENT ARRIVALS database.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
~ For those of you with ~
~ Internet access here on DELPHI ~
~ (and shame on you if you don't!) ~
~ we've just added three new Web ~
~ pages to the Internet Gopher's ~
~ WWW PAGES OF INTEREST menu. ~
~ Including Yak's Zoo! ~
~ Check them out! ~
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
> Photo CD System! STR NewsFile! - Photokina Disk Announced!
""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""
Photo Show Pro Photokina Disk
We are excited about this "first of it's kind" demo for the Atari platform
that combines 300,000,000 bytes of graphics and 200,000,000 bytes of CD
quality sound into an interactive presentation of the Kodak Photo CD
Portfolio graphics and sound system.
The Photokina demo can be played as a self-running looping demo of about
40 minutes long or explored in an interactive mode that allows you to see
what can be done with the Kodak Photo CD format.
The CD explains the Photo CD process and includes four sample scripts
created by professional media experts showing examples of presentations
they have created.
The Photo Show Pro Photokina Disk requires an Atari STe or Falcon with
1 meg or more of memory, color monitor, a CD rom drive capable of reading
Photo CD format, and ExtenDOS Pro by Anodyne software. The disk uses the
extended audio support of ExtenDOS Pro and will only run with this
version of the CD rom driver installed for CD audio on your system.
The Photo Show Pro Photokina disk is available for $5.00 to cover disk,
postage, and handling. We will include a free copy of the Photokina CD
with every order.
For those without ExtenDOS Pro, we will ship ExtenDOS Pro, the Photo Show
Pro Photokina Disk, and the free Kodak Photokina CD for $29.99, postpaid,
worldwide.
This is a MUST HAVE for all Atari CD rom owners!
Write It's All Relative, Randall Kopchak, 2233 Keeven Lane,
Florissant MO 63031 USA.
(voice) (314) 831-9482
GEnie or Delphi: GREG
Compuserve: 70357,2312
Internet: GREG@GEnie.geis.com
___________________________________
> C-LAB Falcon MKII! STR InfoFile! - New MIDI Set-up Ready to Go!
""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""
UY-y, the C-LAB FALCON MKII has been designed to offer advanced digital
technology to anyone who wants to produce music and audio in an easy
and cost-effective way as a turnkey hardware solution.
As the most music-ready of all current personal computers, the FALCON
MKII incorporates as standard the vital features for recording and
producing music in the digital domain: 14 MB of RAM, an internal 500 MB
SCSI hard drive, MIDI interfacing, 16 bit audio converters, Motorola
DSP chip etc. providing the perfect platform for professional MIDI
sequencing/hard disk recording programs such as Steinberg Cubase
Audio 16 (and many others).
For many years, Atari Computers have been renowned for breaking the
barriers of bringing workstation quality into a price bracket
affordable to home users. The FALCON MKII takes this even further,
running all MIDI data side-by-side with 16 tracks of digital audio as
well as many other musical applications. Just plug in your software
key...and play!
INDUSTRY-STANDARD SOUND QUALITY
Made to fit right into your digital studio, the FALCON MKII offers you
audio that's even brighter than the already remarkable quality you get
from CD. Technically speaking, you get eight 16 bit digital sound
channels, with a sampling frequency of up to 50 KHz for both recording
and playback.
The FALCON MKII comes complete with a stereo 16 bit A/D converter into
preliminary product information - C-LAB FALCON MKII which you can feed
any line level signal. To play back audio, the eight channels are mixed
by the DSP chip and then fed to a 16 bit stereo D/A converter.
Alternatively, you can use an 8-output expander, such as the Steinberg
FA-8.
Because the DSP is standard (and is a Motorola industry-standard), many
different effects algorithms (graphic or parametric EQ, Reverb, Chorus
or Delay) can be used simultaneously with the 8-channel mixing.
Alternatively, the DSP can be used to allow 16-channel operation (as
in Steinberg Cubase Audio16).
INDUSTRY-STANDARD MIDI
The MIDI interface on the FALCON MKII can be used as is with
industry-standard software such as Steinberg Cubase, Emagic Logic,
SmpteTrack Platinum and others, and at the same time as direct-to-disk
audio recording (with suitable audio software).
In short, it offers the kind of standard MIDI/ audio features not
available on other computer platforms as standard.
YOUR OWN HOME STUDIO
Whether you're a studio pro or a music buff, the FALCON MKII does more
than just make your life easier: it actually opens up vast areas of
creativity.
Atari, with its breakthroughs in combining computer and MIDI standards
have virtually rewritten the way in which composing and arranging is
done. The FALCON MKII takes all this even further. Naturally it still
has MIDI sockets, but what will really excite musicians is the DSP and
direct-to-disk capacity.
Direct-to-disk means that the FALCON MKII can store digital audio on
its internal 500 MB SCSI drive, and play back up to 16 channels in real
time.
Preliminary product information - C-LAB FALCON MKII
Now you will be able to record entire audio tracks (in stereo if
necessary), edit them and play them back simultaneously.
With the direct-to-disk system, you can edit in the same way as with a
MIDI sequencer, but with the added advantage that it works with any
acoustic instrument, even the human voice. The internal 500 MB SCSI
hard drive gives you as standard 46 minutes of linear stereo recording
at industry standard rates. This is equivalent to 12 minutes of
uninterrupted, unrepeated audio across 8 tracks. Using the DSP you can
actually have 12 minutes of uninterrupted, unrepeated audio across
16 tracks. External hard disks expand your recording time almost
without limits.
Another advantage of the DSP is its real time digital treatment of the
audio signals which means that it can be used to individually EQ up to
8 audio channels or add reverb, chorus or delay.
A COMPLETELY OPEN SYSTEM
The FALCON MK II allows every type of interfacing you might ever need:
The widely praised MIDI sockets that brought about the ST's success in
the field of music sequencing.
A 9-pin RS232C socket, with a 250K per second output (modems etc.).
A bi-directional parallel Centronics interface, designed to
connect all printers and all scanners on the market.
2 standard joy stick/mouse connectors.
A cartridge port (for software keys).
A stereo audio input at line level (-10 dbV).
A stereo audio output at line level (-10dbV).
Preliminary product information - C-LAB FALCON MKII
A video output for all monitors.
An HF video connection to plug directly into VCRs.
A SCSI-connection, able to support up to 7 additional peripherals
(SCS-1 or SCSI-2 standard) such as hard disks, Syquest drives or
CD ROM.
A DSP connector, opening the processor up to the outside world and
passing the eight sound channels in digital form (for S/PDIF
interfacing and 8-output expanders).
OPTIONS
C-LAB can also supply a paper-white 14" VGA monitor, ideal for use
with audio programs like Cubase Audio and Logic Audio. Of course, any
colour VGA, SVGA or RGB monitor can be used to fully exploit the
FALCON's unrivaled graphics and video capabilities (with programs like
DMC's Calamus or Titan Design's Apex Media).
C-LAB also produces a wide range of SCSI peripherals ideal for use
with the FALCON MKII, including 270 MB Syquest drives and a range of
fixed drives, guaranteed for audio recording.
RECOMMENDED RETAIL PRICE
The C-LAB FALCON MKII will retail under 3.000,00 US Dollars excluding
tax.
For further technical information please contact C-LAB Digital
Media GmbH, P.O. Box 700 303, 22003 Hamburg.
voice: 49-40-69 44 000 fax: 49-40-69 61 555 compuserve: 100434,3795
____________________________________
> STR FOCUS!
""""""""""
-/- Study Finds Internet Pedophiles -/-
A Swedish researcher says he has found that pedophiles exchange
hundreds of pictures a week through anonymous conduits via the global
Internet network.
Mats Wiklund, a researcher at Stockholm University's Institute of
Computer and System Science, told Associated Press writer Thomas Ginsberg
that during a seven-day period in late December and early January he
found:
-:- 5,651 messages or postings about child pornography in four
electronic bulletin boards listed in Usenet section of Internet.
-:- 85 percent of the messages about child pornography were fantasy
stories or tips on transmitting pictures.
-:- About 800 graphic pictures of adolescents engaged in sexual acts.
-:- At least eight pictures showing young children, possibly ages
8-10.
"The younger ones ... are not being shown in the act, but they are
being used as bait," said Wiklund, adding the actual number of postings
likely is higher. Wiklund said he surveyed just half the bulletin boards
dedicated to pornography and could not count private messages.
"A few messages offer telephone numbers or other instructions for
getting more pictures for a price, but most offerings were free," AP said.
Says Wiklund, "The Internet has become a channel of communication for
pedophiles. From their point of view, they've found a green technology.
You can be anonymous and still be reached." The wire service added that
authorities fear pedophiles can make contact with children by computer,
then try to lure them into a meeting.
Wiklund told the wire service he could trace the message origins only
as far as a large "server" computer in Finland.
Meanwhile, Finnish detective Sgt. Timo Laine told Ginsberg it is
unclear whether the country's laws apply to "electronic smuggling" by
computer and that did not know whether police would take action against
the computer owner in Finland.
"We've never had this kind of case before," the detective said. "If I
transmit this information through the Internet, is it considered
smuggling?"
____________________________________
JAGUAR SECTION
==============
New Titles Soon!
Cannon Fodder! Theme Park!
Syndicate! Double Dragon V!
Troy Aikman Football!
International Sensible Soccer!
Hover Hunter! Minter/Defender 2000
Iron Soldier Tips! and much more!
> From the Editor's Controller - Playin' it like it is!
""""""""""""""""""""""""""""
The games may be slow in coming out, especially since the
holidays, but they are coming folks. Atari has just released the names
of the next six games; what appears to be the beginning of a long line
of third party games - finally!
I realize that people are growing weary of hearing that we should
be patient; the games are coming. It's really tough being in our shoes
and waiting. Even though I occasionally have some advance knowledge of
things to come; not being able to put my hands on them (sometimes) is
difficult at times! I don't know what to tell you all, seriously. For
what it's worth, the Jaguar is the best system currently on the market,
in my opinion. Atari is not a Sega or a Nintendo with relatively deep
pockets. Things are going to happen more slowly with Atari than the
larger players. However, Atari still has some advantage provided that
they follow through on what we've all been told with regard to software
and hardware. This is the key. They haven't been perfect the past 18
months, but I have seen some positive changes that give me some reason
to be more optimistic than years past with other products. I see the
first couple of months of any new year as relatively slow. The
holidays are behind us now, as well as the Winter CES. It's my
impression/guess that March through May will see some major
improvements for new releases. I don't know why; it's just some sort
of weird premonition based on getting out of the winter doldrums, or
something!
We'll see soon enough, I guess. Winter is essentially over once
we make it through this month. Meanwhile, I have a better opportunity
to make it through all of the half-completed games I currently have
while waiting for those I'm looking forward to seeing next!
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 $69.95 id/Atari Corp.
JA100 Brutal Sports FtBall $69.95 Telegames
J9008 Alien vs. Predator $69.99 Rebellion/Atari Corp.
J9029 Doom $69.99 id/Atari Corp.
J9036 Dragon: Bruce Lee $59.99 Atari Corp.
J9003 Club Drive $59.99 Atari Corp.
J9007 Checkered Flag $69.99 Atari Corp.
J9012 Kasumi Ninja $69.99 Atari Corp.
J9042 Zool 2 $59.99 Atari Corp
Bubsy $49.99 Atari Corp
Iron Soldier $59.99 Atari Corp
Val D'Isere Skiing $59.99 Atari Corp.
Available Soon ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
CAT # TITLE MSRP DEVELOPER/PUBLISHER
CatBox $69.95 ICD
Cannon Fodder TBD Virgin
Hover Strike $59.99 Atari
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
Jaguar CD-ROM $149.99 Atari Corp.
> Industry News STR Game Console NewsFile - The Latest Gaming News!
"""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""
CONTACT: Ron Beltramo
Atari Corporation
408/745-8852
For Immediate Release
SIX OUTSTANDING NEW THIRD PARTY JAGUAR TITLES TO HIT STORE SHELVES!
SUNNYVALE, CA (February 7, 1995) -- Over the next 45 days, the first
major wave of third party software for the 64-bit Atari Jaguar will be
launched, marking another important step in the expansion of the Jaguar
library of software. Sam Tramiel, President of Atari Corporation,
stated, "We are very excited to see our third party partners coming to
market with these new titles for the Jaguar platform. This is only the
beginning of many great games that will be coming in the next wave of
releases from our third party partners."
"Cannon Fodder", expected in stores by February 24th, leads the pack of
six exciting new third-party titles to be shipped within the first
quarter. For the sports enthusiasts, Telegames introduces "International
Sensible Soccer" as an interactive game version of the fastest growing
commercial sport in the United States. Just following one of the most
exciting football seasons, Williams Entertainment introduces the Jaguar
version of "Troy Aikman Football". Electronic Gaming Monthly says of
"Troy Aikman Football", "...the Jaguar version is the best yet."
Saturday morning cartoon fans will recognize the fighting lineup in
eye-popping animated action with "Double Dragon V" by Williams
Entertainment. For those who prefer strategic challenges with intense
graphics and hypnotic animated sequences, Ocean of America delivers two
great titles, "Syndicate" and "Theme Park". In "Syndicate", you are an
executive in charge of a team of mind-altered Cyborgs and "Theme Park"
enables you to engineer the ultimate amusement park.
"These new titles give the consumer a new wider range of selection on
the Atari Jaguar Multimedia platform," said Mr. Tramiel. "The Jaguar
now has an excellent introduction of sports, strategy and general
interest software provided by some of the most respected publishers in
the industry with much more to come throughout 1995."
Here is a closer look at these great new titles:
"Cannon Fodder": War has never been so much fun. The first of a new
caliber of games published by Computer West, "Cannon Fodder" is a
product brought to us from the innovative people at Virgin. Command
your company through enemy territories and hostile environments;
jungles, swamps and frozen wastelands. Highlights of this whimsical
and entertaining approach to war are: Over 300 conscripts with
different skills, 72 phases of action, 24 different missions, an
animated introduction, an ambient soundtrack complete with the howling
of icy winds and a projected minimum of 50 hours to complete the game
by most gamers.
"...probably the most addicting game since Lemmings.", Electronic
Gaming Monthly.
"Troy Aikman Football": Troy Aikman's rendition of football on the
64-bit Jaguar may be the most intense pigskin action you have ever
played. Brought to the high-end gaming world from the ground-breaking
minds at Williams Entertainment, "Troy Aikman Football" breaks new
barriers in sports entertainment. Up-to-date with 1995 rules and
regulations, players choose among all 28 NFL teams, three season modes,
multiple difficulty levels, 54 offensive and 27 defensive configurations,
six field options, variable quarter lengths, and more... and that's all
before the excitement really begins! For 1 or 2 players.
"...the Jaguar version (of 'Troy Aikman Football') is the best yet.",
Electronic Gaming Monthly.
"Syndicate": There's a new kind of brutal reality amidst the sinister
underworld and only Ocean can take you there with 64-bit intensity of
the Atari Jaguar. Players assume the role of an ambitious executive in
the Syndicate. Your mission is to lead a team of mind-altered Cyborg
mercenaries to infiltrate opposing Syndicate territories. Your specific
objective is to gain as much control of the world as possible, street
by street, city by city, country by country, bit by bit.
"...ultra-cool ...better than the Genesis...", Game Players Magazine.
"Theme Park": You've been there just to visit, but now you will build
one from the ground up. Ocean gives you access to a virtual world where
you can design, build and operate your own amusement park. You choose
the land, hire staff, build the rides, manage the novelty shops, and
become solely responsible if anything ever goes tragically wrong.
"...anyone who enjoys designing things is gonna love this game.", Game
Players Magazine.
"Double Dragon V": Williams Entertainment has created an exciting new
fighting game based on the Saturday morning Amazin' Adventures Series
cartoon hit, Double Dragon. The Shadow Master is ready for battle.
After reading the character dossiers, players customize game play and
attributes to create fighting machines never before seen on any gaming
platform. For 1 or 2 players, there are multiple levels of game play,
10 different battle locations, 12 unique characters, and over a dozen
different musical scores.
"Smooth-as-silk graphics; kid's will love controlling their favorite
cartoon characters on the Jaguar.", Atari Explorer Online.
"International Sensible Soccer": Telegames has captured World Soccer
excitement in the most addictive soccer simulation ever. It is complete
with international roster profiles and fully editable teams. Select
between "Friendly", "Cup" or "League" simulations in 1 or 2 player head
to head competitions; all with 8 channel/16-bit sound to put you right
on the playing field. This game delivers a fast 60 frames per second
for smooth scrolling and crisp animation. This is a "must" game for
64-bit sports game enthusiasts.
"For some of the most intense soccer action on the Jaguar, try
Telegames' Sensible Soccer...one of the many exciting games for the
Jaguar system.", EGM2.
###
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Contact: Hyper Image Productions, Inc.
301/513-1783
HYPER IMAGE ANNOUNCES REVOLUTIONARY NEW JAGUAR GAME - HOVER HUNTER
COLLEGE PARK, MD, February 6th, 1995 -- The design team at Hyper Image
Productions has announced their upcoming debut game-release for the
64-bit Atari Jaguar platform entitled "Hover Hunter". Set in the not
so distant future, Hover Hunter is a lightning paced hovertank
simulator that allows players to fly through multiple missions filled
with fleets of enemy vehicles. Realistic three dimensional environments
are created using "Displacement Texture Mapping", an advanced rendering
technique developed by Hyper Image that takes current landscape
rendering technology one step further. Hover Hunter will also be among
the first Jaguar games with full network support allowing for
multiplayer combat over the CatBox's CatNet(TM).
Hover Hunter sets the game-player in the cockpit of a technologically
advanced hovertank fully outfitted with a wide choice of powerful
weaponry and computer features. Using advanced piloting skills and
devastating firepower, the player must do battle to protect and further
the interests of his employer, a powerful corporate-state bent on global
conquest and domination. Deadly foes sent by rival companies await on
each landscape as the player completes action-packed missions and
steadily advances further into the storyline of the game.
"I'm really excited at the prospect of showcasing our talented
development team and next generation gaming technology to the public,"
says Jeremy Gordon, president and senior programmer of Hyper Image
Productions. "Not only will Hover Hunter be a an absolute adrenaline
rush, but I think it will also demonstrate Hyper Image's dedication to
continually pushing the edge of gaming standards."
Slated for release in the summer of 1995, Hyper Image will be showcasing
their game at the E3 show in Los Angeles.
To go along with the official announcement of our Jaguar title, "Hover
Hunter", I want to personally invite anyone who's interested to check
out our world wide web page; http://www.hyperimage.com
(http://hyperimage.com works also).
There are some general tidbits that may be of interest, and also a whole
bunch of cool screen shots (grabbed via s-video by a really killer new
JPEG board).
The screen shots are also available via anonymous ftp to
ftp.hyperimage.com in the /pub/HoverHunter directory (again, ftp'ing
to hyperimage.com works too). Some small MPEG movies will be made
available really soon.
The game is still very early (about 35% complete in these shots from the
Winter CES) although we are counting on completion for the E3 show.
Look for a preview in the March issue of Video Games magazine, and maybe
a few shots in the March Die Hard Game Fan...
-jeremy
Jeremy Gordon
President/Senior Programmer
Hyper Image Productions, Inc.
(jgordon@hyperimage.com)
_______________________________________________
> Jaguar Developers STR InfoFile - Current Developer Lists & Titles
""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""
Game Title Date Game Type MSRP Publisher
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
Air Cars 1Q/95 Racing $59.99 Midnight Ent.
Alien vs Predator NOW Role Play/Adventure $69.99 Atari
Arena Football 1Q/95 Sports TBD V Reel
Assault 1Q/95 Action/Combat $59.99 Midnight Ent.
Baldy (CD) Action/Adventure TBD Atari
Barkley Basketball 2Q/95 Sports TBD Atari
Battlemorph 1Q/95 Flying/Action $59.99 Atari
Battle Sphere 1Q/95 Flying/Action TBD 4-Play
Battle Wheels 1Q/95 Racing/Combat TBD Beyond Games
Blue Lightning (CD) 1Q/95 Flying/Action $59.99 Atari
Brett Hull Hockey (CD) 2Q/95 Sports TBD Atari
Brutal Sports Football NOW Sports/Combat $69.99 Telegames
Bubsy NOW Action/Adventure $49.99 Atari
Burnout 2Q/95 Sports TBD Atari
Cannon Fodder 2/95 Action/Adventure TBD Virgin
Casino Royale Gambling TBD Telegames
CD League Bowling (CD) Sports TBD V Reel
Checkered Flag NOW Racing $69.99 Atari
Club Drive NOW Racing $59.99 Atari
Commando Action/Combat TBD Atari
Creature Shock (CD) 1Q/95 Adventure/Sci-Fi TBD Atari/Virgin
Cybermorph NOW Flying/Action $59.99 Atari
Dactyl Joust 2Q/95 Action TBD Atari
Demolition Man (CD) 1Q/95 Action/Combat $59.99 Atari
Doom NOW Action/Combat $69.99 Atari
Double Dragon V 1Q/95 Action/Adventure $59.99 Williams
Dragon:Bruce Lee Story NOW Combat $59.99 Atari
Dragon's Lair (CD) 1Q/95 Adventure TBD Ready Soft
Dreadnought (CD) 2Q/95 Adventure TBD Atari
Dungeon Depths 1Q/95 Action/Adventure $59.99 Midnight Ent.
Evolution: Dino Dudes NOW Puzzle/Adventure $49.99 Atari
Fight For Life 1Q/95 Combat TBD Atari
Flashback 1Q/95 Action TBD US Gold
Flip Out Puzzle TBD Atari
Freelancer 2120 (CD) Adventure/Sci-Fi TBD Atari
Galactic Gladiators Space/Combat TBD
Photosurrealism
Graham Gooch Cricket Sports TBD Telegames
Hammerhead Flying/Sci-Fi TBD Atari
Hardball Baseball 2Q/95 Sports TBD Atari
Highlander (CD) 1Q/95 Action/Adventure $59.99 Atari
Horrorscope 1Q/95 Combat TBD V Reel
Hover Hunter 2Q/95 Combat TBD Hyper Image
Hover Strike 1Q/95 Action/Combat $59.99 Atari
Iron Soldier NOW Action/Strategy $59.99 Atari
Jack Nicklaus Golf(CD) 2Q/95 Sports TBD Atari
James Pond 3 Action/Adventure TBD Telegames
Kasumi Ninja NOW Combat $69.99 Atari
Legions of the Undead Role Play/Adventure TBD Atari
Off Road Rally 2Q/95 Racing TBD TWI
Phear 2Q/95 Puzzle TBD Atari
Pinball Fantasies 1Q/95 Action TBD 21st Cent.
Rage Rally 1Q/95 Racing TBD Atari
Raiden NOW Action/Adventure $49.99 Atari
Rayman 2Q/95 Action/Adventure TBD UBI Soft
Redemption (CD) Adventure TBD Atari
Robinson Requiem 1Q/95 Adventure TBD Atari
Ruiner Pinball Arcade TBD Atari
Sensible Soccer 1Q/95 Sports TBD Telegames
Soccer Kid 1Q/95 Sports TBD Ocean
Soul Star (CD) Action/Sci-Fi TBD Atari
Space Ace (CD) Space/Combat TBD Ready Soft
Space War 2000 1Q/95 Action/Adventure $59.99 Atari
Star Raiders 1Q/95 Space Simulation TBD Atari
Syndicate 1Q/95 Simulation TBD Ocean
Tempest 2000 NOW Action/Adventure $59.99 Atari
Theme Park 1Q/95 Simulation TBD Ocean
Tiny Toon Adventures 1Q/95 Action/Adventure $59.99 Atari
Trevor McFur NOW Action/Adventure $49.99 Atari
Troy Aikman NFL Ftball 1Q/95 Sports $69.99 Williams
Ultimate Brain Games 1Q/95 Puzzle TBD Telegames
Ultra Vortex 1Q/95 Action/Adventure $69.99 Beyond Games
Val D'Isere Skiing... NOW Sports $59.99 Atari
Vid Grid (CD) Puzzle/Music Video TBD Atari
White Men Can't Jump 1Q/95 Sports TBD TriMark
Wolfenstein 3D NOW Combat/Action $59.99 Atari
Zool2 NOW Action/Adventure $59.99 Atari
[Editor's note: Titles, scheduled release dates, and prices are
verified from Atari and Edelman Public Relations - all subject to
change]
_________________________________________
> Jaguar Easter Eggs/Cheats/Hints STR InfoFile - Solving Those Riddles!
""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""
From Compuserve, CIS Atari SysOp and STReport staffer, Jeff Kovach:
Time for another Iron Soldier cheat!
IRON SOLDIER Unlimited Ammo Cheat
At Options screen, type 2,7,2,8,3,7 ("CRATES" on a phone keypad)
Have a blast with it!
Jeff
__________________________________________
> Jaguar Online STR InfoFile Online Users Growl & Purr!
""""""""""""""""""""""""""
Jeff Kovach is still busy, surfing the net and finds these Jeff Minter
posts from "The Yak Zoo", Minter's WWW page:
Jeff Minter, the programming genius behind Tempest 2000 and the
upcoming Defender 2000 has set up his own World Wide Web page on the
Internet. In it, he devotes a section to providing updates to his
progress on Defender 2000. Anyway, here's the current version of his
update:
----------
Jaguar Developments
This page is where I am going to publish progress reports on my current
Jaguar projects - at the moment, I'm working on Defender 2000. People in
the newsgroups are interested to know how the progress of my llatest game
is going, and some of you may be interested in how the evolution of a
game as coded by the Yak goes... I'll try and keep this section updated
once a week or so, but don't hold me to that.
D2K at 04 Feb 1995
Classic Mode is pretty much finished, bar a bit of tweaking. It's
basically identical to original Defender, uses the same sound effects
sampled out of the coin-op; the main differences being that it keeps
60 frames throughout, and doesn't 'disappear' enemies due to the draw
loop getting overloaded - we've got a bit more horsepower (llamapower?)
than the original arcade game had, so the draw loop never gets overloaded.
There's a bit of tidying up to do - like the humanoid-fall noise sometimes
doesn't cut off when you catch a falling Humanoid - but that'll get taken
care of next time I do a spit-and-polish pass. At the moment I am
concentrating on getting Plus defined.
Plus is getting there. The idea of Plus is to keep the essence of classic
Defender, but re-do it with more detailed graphics, one or two extra
weapons, and some new bad guys. I've incorporated the Star Gate out of
the game of the same name as well. The Plus control mode is also the same
as it will be in 2K - if anyone has played Llamazap you already know it.
It allows you to fly your ship backwards at times - basically you can
apply 'retro thrust', which gives you more control over speed so you pile
into enemies less often, and means you can even back away from an enemy
while still firing at him - useful if you are attacking a shielded enemy.
Your first new weapon is the Llightning Llaser. You can think of this as
being a bit like the Superzapper out of Tempest, attached to your Defender
ship. When you hold down the LL button, lightning strikes out from your
ship and hits enemies one at a time, at a stroke rate which will probably
be able to be adjusted by powerups. Cutting it loose in the middle of a
crowd of Swarmers is pretty spectacular.
The LL has a special function if used to attack a Lander that's carrying
a Humanoid. It llocks onto the descending Humanoid freed up when you kill
the Lander, and acts like a tractor beam, dragging him towards your ship.
This makes it easier to gather a lot of Humanoids under your ship, which
is something that'll do you good in the gameplay for both Plus and 2K.
Graphically, all the classic Defender enemies have been redrawn as
animated true colour objects. The little Humanoids are particularly
cool - they run about in a nicely animated way and wave their arms in
distress when they're being hassled by the Landers. The mountains have
been filled in, with a dynamic plasma texture, which wibbles up and down
as you fly along and also colour-cycles. I call it the Llava Llamp
texture, and the folx at Atari really like it. I'll make this texture
change each level to provide variety.
I'm pleased with another touch to do with the mountains that I put in
last week. It's out of the Melt-O-Vision bag of tricks, and produces,
down behind the mountains, these kinda flames which flicker and dance as
you move around. Kinda like pale fire, or an aurora, or the soft rippling
fur of a llama clad in rainbows. It's pushing me right to the edge of my
60Hz FUR, but I'm determined to keep it, as it looks so cool.
It llooks like the Lissajous particle explosions may have to go, as
they're pushing me out of 60Hz when you have a bunch of stuff on screen.
I'll probably go for some version of pixelshatter instead that I can get
the Blitter to do instead of tying up my GPU.
Also, llast week the first Easter Egg went in...
At the end of last week I was working on the level warp - like in arcade
Stargate, if you jump in the Stargate with four or more Humanoids you can
skip levels. I had put in this kinda particle tube effect, made out of
the same routine for the Lissajous explosions, but although it looked
interesting I thought it wasn't really in your face enough. So, I wrote
this thing which does a tube made up of circles of colour, and by
scrolling the palette you get a nice rushing-down-a-tube kinda thang.
Then I stretched out the pale fire so it goes all the way up the screen,
so you can see the flames outside of the tube. I think I'd like to use
Object Processor interrupts on the GPU now to warp the overlay with the
tube drawn on it, so that the whole thing kinda shimmies around, I think
that'll look cool. That's what I'll do first thing next session. Then
I'll get busy with the new pixelshatter explosions.
While I was doing that tube I made this nice fast circle draw - god bless
Mr. Bresenham! - which I'm sure will be useful for something else as well.
We'll see what happens.
Llater...
\
(:-)
/
Back to Yak's Zoo
Here's some additional info from Jeff Minter's WWW page, providing some
background on how the Defender 2000 project came into being... Enjoy!
-------------
On A Mission From God
Many years ago, back in the early 80s, I used to be occasionally
visited in my lair in Tadley by a lad of 14 by the name of Jake Simpson.
He was learning assembler coding, and he'd come around and we'd talk
about coding the C64, and play the llatest games. I was pleased to
encourage another soul to get into the world of game programming.
Then, a couple of years ago, I got a call from the US, and it's none
other than Jake Simpson; obviously he learned his coding well, 'coz he
was now a coder at none other than Williams Electronics. They're based
in Chicago, and last year I was due to go to Summer CES in that city,
and Jake suggested that we meet up then, and maybe slope off for a beer
or two and talk about old times...
Anyway, I'm at CES, demonstrating the VLM to someone with the aid of
'The Division Bell' by Pink Floyd, when there's a tap on my back and
it's Jake. He says he's brought along someone I might like to meet...
There's this tall thin guy; very short hair, almost shaven; intense
intelligent eyes and a wicked grin. Jake sez: 'This is Eugene Jarvis'....
Now, everyone has their heroes; people who they respect and admire and
who have inspired them by the quality of their work. For me, I guess
the two people I most admire would be Roger Waters out of Pink Floyd,
for years of excellent music that speaks to the soul... and the guy who
designed what I consider to be some of the finest videogames ever made;
the man who invented the Smart Bomb and the Scanner; the designer of
Defender, the game which broke so much new ground in the early days of
videogames, and an all-time classic; Stargate, the awesome sequel to
Defender, perhaps one of the most intense videogames ever made, with
amazing particle explosions and in-your-face gameplay which would keep
you standing in front of the machine at 2AM sweating buckets; and
Robotron, with its innovative and distinctive explosions, more enemies
on screen simultaneously than just about any other game, and just one
of the finest all-out blastfests ever made. That man is Eugene Jarvis.
In my estimation he ranks somewhere above Grand High Immortal. And
finally, there in Chicago, I finally got to meet him.
EJ has been one of the main influences on my own work over the
years - EJ and an unusual love of beasties, anyway. His games are
always distinctive and he always manages to nail down that elusive
quality - playability. I've always aspired to one day produce a game
which is as playable and addictive as one of his great Williams
classics.
It was just excellent to finally meet this great dude, and hang out
with him and Jake for the afternoon. We toured around the CES, got
something to eat, and he got me a sneak preview of his latest game.
I'm pleased to say that he had seen and lliked Llamatron - I'm glad he
was not mortally offended at what I'd done to his game - and I have a
photo of the great man playing T2K on the Jaguar. He particularly
lliked my pixelshatter explosions in that game, which are clearly an
evolution of the explosions in Defender and Stargate. I mentioned that
I'd really llove to do a Jaguar version of Defender one day, and he
said yeah, that if anyone was going to do it it should be me...
Now, at that point Atari had no plans to do a Defender for the Jaguar.
But, over the successive weeks, the words of God reverberated in the
Yakly bonce... if anyone was to do Defender it should be me... and
finally I could stand it no more, and I sent a fax to John at Atari,
saying pleeeease could I do Defender, because if there's a game that I
llove even more than Tempest it's Defender, and I'm sure I could do a
wicked job, and besides, I'd be on a mission from God...
Atari said yes!
So it's happening... Defender 2000 is my current project, and coming
along rather nicely. For more information about the game, and regular
progress reports, read Jaguar Developments on my homepage. I'm having
great fun making the game, and it's kinda a natural progression for me
after having updated Tempest. Get your Smart Bomb fingers ready for
some Humanoid-rescuing, Mutant-blasting, Pod-opening, Scanner-watching,
Planetoid- exploding action... and remember... God told me to do it!
New Jaguar Promotion!
Watch your retailer and popular gaming magazines for a hot new Jaguar
promotion...
Qualified purchases of a complete Jaguar system made between
January 31, 1995 and before May 3, 1995 qualify for not one, but TWO
great FREE bonuses by mail.
First, gamers may pick either Wolfenstein 3D or Tempest 2000 as a free
cartridge. Secondly, gamers will also receive a free joypad controller
for two-player games.
This offer requires a legible and valid dated sales receipt of a
complete Jaguar game system, the UPC symbol from the outside of the
Jaguar box and the claim coupon. The in-store coupons and counter
displays are on their way now if not already in stores. Complete details
are available on the in-store coupons.
If you've been holding out on a Jaguar! Hold out no longer. Get a great
deal, PLUS be ready for the exciting release of the CD-ROM soon!
-- Don Thomas
Atari Corporation
_____________________________________________
> ONLINE WEEKLY STReport OnLine The wires are a hummin'!
"""""""""""""""""""""""""""""
PEOPLE... ARE TALKING
=====================
On CompuServe
-------------
compiled by
Joe Mirando
CIS ID: 73637,2262
Hello again friends and neighbors. Well, as you've no doubt read in
Dana's Editorial, we folks in the northeast got some snow last weekend...
To use an old punch-line: "Boy, are my arms tired". Being the first
real storm of the winter, I was "out of practice" at the whole shoveling
thing. But, as Niche said, "That which does not kill us makes us
stronger". We'll see.
I thought you might appreciate this:
A friend of mine, who now lives in Washington DC, is getting married in
May and asked me to be in his wedding party. In our phone conversation
he mentioned that he was going to look for a tuxedo rental place that
had shops in DC as well as here in Connecticut, so that the tuxedos
could be taken care of easily.
The first words out of my mouth were "Don't drive yourself nuts, Greg.
Just find a place to get the Tuxedos and the rest of us can go to local
shops, have them measure us, and send the measurements to you".
Greg said, "Well, I worry about how long it will take to get the
measurements through the mail".
"Greg," I said, "What's the matter with you? We're living in the
Computer Age! I'll send the measurements to you in e-mail".
"Cool," he said, "I didn't know you had an account on America Online".
"I don't," I said, "I'll send it to you over the Internet".
There was dead silence for a moment. Then he said, "Um, I don't have an
Internet account".
"Don't worry," I told him while chuckling, "neither do I".
"Well, if you don't have an account, you can't use the Internet then"
was his reply (but what did you expect from someone who doesn't use
CompuServe?).
"We'll see," I told him, "Let's do a test run tomorrow. I'll use
CompuServe and see if I can 'push' it through to you at AOL".
"Okay," he said, "But I'm telling you, it won't work".
Well, I simply dialed up my local CIS access number, went to the Mail
area, and sent him a note through the Internet. I got a reply from him
the following day promising to never doubt me again and to leave me
burnt offerings every so often (did I mention that Greg is almost as
twisted as I am?).
This is truly an age of miracles and magic... hey that reminds me of
another quote. This one from Arthur C. Clarke. To paraphrase:
'Technology, sufficiently advanced, is indistinguishable from magic'.
Well, let's cast a spell and conjure up some of the news, hints and tips
available every week right here on CompuServe...
From the Atari Computing Forums
===============================
Teresa Whittington asks about transferring files from her old Atari
8-bit to a DOS machine (yuck):
"I have been using an Atari 65XE for several years with the AtariWriter
word processor. I have a ton of writing projects saved on disk through
AtariWriter that I would like to transfer to floppies for use with my
Laser 386SX/3. Is there a translator program or utility that I could
use to easily transfer my files and programs?"
Sysop Bob Retelle tells Teresa:
"It's possible to transfer the files from one computer to another
fairly easily, but it's a lot more difficult if you have to try to read
the Atari disks on the IBM.
I believe we do have some utility programs that will help translate the
AtariWriter format into a form that can be used with a PC
wordprocessor..
Maybe someone else here who has used this kind of utility can jump in
with some ideas for you on exactly what you'll need to do this."
Teresa tells Bob:
"I still have my 65XE (It's not going anywhere <g>) and can use either
it or my 386 clone to translate the files if I find a utility that will
work. My IBM clone has DOS ver.5, so I need something that will work
with it.
I missed the conference about this from the AtaitGame forum, but I'll
be jumping over there to see if there is anything about it in the
threads. Hopefully, I'll be able to hook up with someone who's already
dealt with this. <grin>"
Bob replies:
"... also try posting a message in the Atari 8bit message sections on
the Atari Gaming Forum (GO ATARIGAM)... that's where all the most
knowledgable 8bit users hang out, and I just noticed there's a
discussion of exactly what you want to do going on there right now.."
Teresa tells Bob:
"Thanks... I missed the conference but I'm heading over there right
now. I'll let you know what happens."
Bob Caroles asks for help with a dead hard drive:
"I've a Megafile 30 and Atari STE. I've a feeling that the boot sector
on the Hard Drive was corrupted when the machine was booted from a
floppy containing an ICD boot routine. Is there any way I can restore
the boot sector and retain the data on the drive?
Thanks to anyone who can help and shed some light on a very dark and
gloomy subject..."
Simon Churchill tells Bob:
"I will assume here your Hard disk would normaly auto boot and would
use the AHDI software supplied by ATARI. I will also assume you can
boot up the drive using a floppy disk with AHDI on and read the data
contained on the Hard disk.
If the above assumtions match your set up then the only point I can
see here is the AUTO BOOT flag has been deactivated or the SYSTEM boot
file has been corrupted on the drive. If you can read files from the
drive without problems then the boot sector should be O.K.
To set the AUTO BOOT you will need to run one of the utility's which
come with AHDI. (Possably HDX.PRG) If you do not have the latest
version or any of these util's then the libraries hold them and the
current version in them is 5. Also it might be a good idea to install
the SYSTEM boot file, again a utility will do this and is part of the
AHDI set.
If and I hope this has not happened the offending program has damaged
the FAT or DIRECTORY structure then your data is alas probably lost.
If you can boot with a AHDI floppy and read files then the drive simply
need's to be told to AUTO BOOT itself.
I will be leaving the forum shortly (END OF WEEK) as the account is
not mine and any reply's WILL have to be sent by then as after that
time I will not see them on this number.
Hope this has shed some light on your Hard disk and your day becomes a
very bright and sunny one......."
Rob Rasmussen tells us:
"I got [an] Epson Color Stylus printer to try to use with Image Copy
and other programs. It came with drivers and instructions for PC and
Mac which doesn't do me much good, right? Falcon is all I'm using it
with, but if it is not possible I can take it back within 30 days.
I'm trying to get it to print some of my color pics (GIF, JPEG, etc.).
I ran the self-test on it, and it prints out lines of characters in
color just fine. When I run Image Copy 3.52, I load the driver for the
Epson Inkjet. There are various settings for CMY and CMYK color and
separation, DPI, and other things. I try different settings, but when
it prints the pic, the printer head just jiggles several times and then
prints a tiny pic of it in the corner of the page (on the special paper
for 720 dpi). Just as the Epson manual isn't much help (beyond initial
setup) with my system, the Image Copy manual doesn't offer any
solutions that I have found. So I don't know if I need to do something
different on the printer, or in the Image Copy program/driver.
I wanted to also print ascii text like from EdHak, but a similar thing
happens - it just prints a few random characters in the page corner. I
would think this printer would be Epson compatible! What should I do to
make it at least print text?
Image Copy came with a Stylus driver for doing 720 dpi prints, but in
the driver select menu stylus does not appear. That is strange. In the
Epson Inkjet driver screen I can select 720 dpi - maybe that accesses
it? Maybe its something obvious I'm not doing on the printer or in
Image Copy, but I don't know how to make it print a full page size of a
picture. Any suggestions?"
Steven Russell at Glacier Enterprises tells Rob:
"I checked my settigns in Image Copy 2 and at the printer options menu
the output device needs to be BIOS. I tryied a couple of settings
before and got similar if not more dramatic results, like strange
characters on the page, but the BIOS print option seems to work best.
Also, when you do a print, you have to specify what size you want the
image to print at in the main print dialog. That should give you some
better results, if this does not help, give me a ring again and I will
see what I can do to help you out."
Rob tells Steven:
"Like you said, I had to specify the size of what I wanted it to
print. It defaulted to 0 x 0 apparently, but I changed it, and the
printouts look nice! When I set the size in inches, this doesn't seem
to correspond with the actual size of the printed image on the page. Is
it supposed to?
I have always had the problem of some of my pictures, whether in
normal 256 color mode or true color mode, looking squashed or elongated
on my monitor (Magnavox svga). When I scan with Migraph's Colorburst
software, the resulting picture is always out of proportion and I have
to adjust it, by 'halfing' it, or rescaling it in Studio Photo. When I
get it just right, I can load it into True Paint and play with it and
it looks fine. But when I load it into Image Copy (in same video mode)
it is elongated. So I have to guess at the print scaling values to get
it right. I have Screen Blaster which can do several other video modes,
but I have never really known which one to use that would always make
the pictures look right. And if I don't use that video mode all the
time, the pics will look out of proportion. Any helpful tips on this?
In Image Copy, it can use the specific driver to work with my Stylus
printer, but when I leave I.C. and try to print text from the desktop
or text editor, the printer still doesn't understand."
Woody Windischman tells us:
"I don't know if any of you have heard this, but Apple has *finally*
started allowing companies to make Macintosh clones. Those of us who
know the ST are well aware that had Apple taken this position a few
years ago, Atari might still be a major player in the computer
business. The many folks who converted their ST's with the original
"Magic Sack" and the later "Spectre 128" and "Spectre GCR" products
surely got more out of their systems than the rest of us did.
Ah, the thoughts of "what might have been."
Jon Sanford tells Woody:
"Atari may be thinking about this even now. Dave Small aperently knows
more about the Mac than Apple does... With his cooperation ... it
staggers the imagimation!"
Bill Turczynski asks for help with using STalker (from Gribnif Software)
to access CompuServe:
"I know that I mentioned this before but I don't remember what the
answer was. I'm using STalker v3.03 but it did the same thing thing
with the previous version also.
If I access CIS with B-Plus as my download protocol, it takes over as
soon as I log on. If I remember right, that's normal but the screen
doesn't scroll or even clear, it just rewrites over the previous
screen. It's kind-of hard the read and I usally make mistakes inputing
something.
B-Plus is really fast compared to X-modem which is more like a trickle
for me but it's so annoying to use!"
Sysop Jim Ness (who is also the author of QuickCIS) tells Bill:
"VIDTEX and VT52 are very similar. It's possible that you have
STalker set for VIDTEX, but CIS set for VT52. I've done that and seen
the same results you described.
To change CIS for a temporary test, just type SET TERM VIDTEX at any !
prompt. Then, make sure STalker is also set for VIDTEX. You can also
use the SET command to change line length on CIS (SET WID 75, for
instance) and for a number of other things.
If that works, you can GO TERMINAL to set VIDTEX permanently on CIS."
Bill tells Jim:
"You were very close<g>! What I did have was the terminal set to
Other and STalker on VT52 which probably dates back to my 8-bit days.
Now after many years, I'll have to get used to a slightly different
acting screen.
Now using B-Plus for d/l'd is fun to look at not a pain as before.
Thanks for the input<g>."
Jim tells Bill...
"One other thing you should know is that CIS stores different terminal
settings for each modem speed. So, if you ever call in at a different
modem speed, you'll have to GO TERMINAL again.
Tomorrow, the new rates take effect, so I expect a lot more 14400
usage (all speeds will be $4.80/hr). 28800 service is apparently still
a few months away. It's been in beta test for 6-9 months, but they've
got to upgrade the local node equipment in the introductory cities."
Bill tells Jim:
"I was getting a SCREEN CLEAR after every msg since changing to VT52.
Funny, how one gets stuck in a groove! Sure enuff, there is an option
for that too<g>. My screen acts like before now!!
Ah, 14.4K baud! Does that mean that the lower baud lines will be able
to handle 300-14.4K baud? I had been using that 800 14.4K line for my
B-Plus d/l'ding and general msg. reading at 2400 baud. Well, really I
capture everything and read it off-line."
Jim gives Bill (and the rest of us) his thoughts:
"Long term, I expect all lines will be 300-14400, but for now only a
few are. I'm not sure where they'll fit the 28800 lines in yet."
From the Graphics Support Forum
===============================
On the subject of Unisys's decision to enforce their patent on LZW
compression algorithms, Tim Wegner posts:
"I phoned Unisys, described a situation where I had already written a
book that is in production, bundled with my own *freeware* program.
Unisys was neither reasonable nor fair nor understanding. The best
adjective I can come up with is insane. They want $.10 a book. This is
$1500 if the first printing is 15,000. According to my publisher, this
is a major hit."
Marc Reinig tells Tim:
"Sorry, to hear about the hit to your book due to a free piece of
software being included. This whole thing is ... I'm at a loss for
words."
David Hofmann interjects:
"I thought Unisys said they don't want royalties for freeware
programs? You are selling a book not the software!"
Tim tells David:
"See the clause about freeware bundled with commercial products. The
Unisys lawyer took an inflexible attitude about this, but Larry has
told me others at Unisys may be more flexible."
David tells Tim:
"I guess with this clause they want to prevent that someone writes a
commercial program without GIF support and add a freeware GIF add on.
Of course your case is completely different. I don't understand why
they don't realize that, but then there is a lot that I don't
understand about Unisys."
Diana Gruber adds:
"Come to think of it, I wrote a book recently and stuck on the disk
one teeny little demo program that included a GIF file.
My publisher is going to have a cow."
Dick Oliver has a thought:
"It's hard to believe from what your saying that UNISYS' real goal
isn't simply to kill GIF so they don't have to deal with the headache
of defending their patent, but can still say they defended it so other
more important software patents don't come into question. I mean, if
nobody can even write a book about free GIF software, GIF is gonna have
a hard time surviving long."
Getting a bit silly, Steve Rimmer tells us that...
"We're negotiating to hire some lawyers away from Unisys to work on
our secret submarine copyright project... we're going to copyright the
letter "A" and demand royalties on its use retroactive to the middle
ages. Just don't tell anyone for a while, 'til we can convince everyone
it's in the public domain and keep 'em using it."
David Mason tells Steve:
"...I'm afraid Unisys owns all of the vowels. (They were going to just
copyright U, I, and sometimes Y, but the Library of Congress was having
a special that week... they paid the extra five bucks and got the rest
of the vowels too.)"
Carl Barron asks:
"How many programs or operating systems do you know of that XOR a
cursor? That is/was a patented operation! There is plenty of
evidence that patents are not needed to protect software as
intellectual property. Development would not suffer, but thrive,
without the patent problem. This is a generic observation and has
nothing to do with the current problem specifically. Contact GNU's
'sister' organization, the name escapes me at the moment, for example.
There is also an article in Dr. DOBBS JOURNAL some time in 1990 there
was an article on this subject."
Terry Wilkinson tells Carl:
"Yes, Carl, in fact software is a written work and cannot be patented,
since software is a construct based on mathematics. If you could
patent software then we would all be using whatever the first product
in any category happened to be - and there would be no computer
industry! How far could things go if the best available product set
was a CPM version of Visi-Calc? How would people get by with
Wordhandler and MacPaint? Or their even more primitive predecessors.
Just as you cannot patent a mystery story, adventure novel, or
documentary - you cannot patent a software product *because it is a
written work, made of symbolic constructs (words and commands) that are
based on non-patentable materials (mathematics)*. This is why we have
copyrights. To provide authors (of books, software, whatever)
protection from people repackaging their work and calling it their own.
Now a chipset that has functionality that happens to be obtainable
through a software program built into it *IS* patentable - hence
patents on hardware products. The key is: Is it a written work? .GIF
is, a Unisys chipset is not."
Well folks, that's about all the enlightenment I can take for one week.
Tune in again next week, same time, same station, and be ready to listen
to what they are saying when...
PEOPLE ARE TALKING
""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""
STReport's "EDITORIAL CARTOON"
""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""
> A "Quotable Quote" A true "Sign of the Times"
""""""""""""""""" A CLASSIC!
September 18, 1990 -- Dan Quayle delivers speech on education, observes;
"Quite frankly, teachers are the only profession....
...that teach our children."
Dan Quayle, vice president under George Bush, announced yesterday 02/09/95
he was not running for President of the United States of America in the
upcoming elections.
Thank you Lord, THANK YOU!
""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""
STReport International OnLine Magazine
-* [S]ilicon [T]imes [R]eport *-
AVAILABLE WORLDWIDE ON OVER 70,000 PRIVATE BBS SYSTEMS
""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""
STR OnLine! "YOUR INDEPENDENT NEWS SOURCE" February 10, 1995
Since 1987 copyright 1995 All Rights Reserved No.1106
""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""
All Items quoted, in whole or in part, are done so under the provisions of
The Fair Use Law of The Copyright Laws of the U.S.A. Views, Opinions and
Editorial Articles presented herein are not necessarily those of the
editors/staff of STReport International OnLine Magazine. Permission to
reprint articles is hereby granted, unless otherwise noted. Reprints
must, without exception, include the name of the publication, date, issue
number and the author's name. STR, CPU, STReport and/or portions therein
may not be edited, used, duplicated or transmitted in any way without
prior written permission. STR, CPU, STReport, at the time of publication,
is believed reasonably accurate. STR, CPU, STReport, are trademarks of
STReport and STR Publishing Inc. STR, CPU, STReport, its staff and
contributors are not and cannot be held responsible in any way for the use
or misuse of information contained herein or the results obtained
therefrom.
""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""
-----------------------------------------
Return to message index
