SPACE Newsletter - August 1986

August 1986

AU GU ST

1985

(

FRIDAY, AUGUST 8, 1986 SPACE FRIDAY, AUGUST 15, 1986 MAST-SIG At the Falco n Heig hts Comm unity Cent er · 2077 Larp enteu r Ave. W.

Bob Bruc e Haug ... Pres iden t 774-6 226 Bob 442 537-5 Jim Schu lz ... Vice -Pres Bob 774-6 226 Fran k Haug ... Disk Lib. onal ucati r/Ed Pape .... Jim Sied e

by the St. Paul Publ ished usias ts (SPA CE), Enth uter Atar i Comp tion with no niza orga nt ende an indep with Atar i n iatio affil busi ness is issio n Perm ted. rpora Inco gran ted to any simi lar orga niza tion exch ange s SPACE whic h with new slett ers to repr int mate rial in We do, howe ver, this new slett er. ask that cred it be to the auth ors and to SPACE. Opin ions expr essed are thos e of the arti cle auth ors and do not nece ssar ily refle ct the of SPACE, club offic ers, view s memb ers, or Atar i Inc.

222-3 593 Rhod e .... Edit or 982 489-3 r sure Sied e .... Trea 627 487-2 etary Secr Floy d .... 982 489-3 Libr arian

In this issue : MIO SPECS

page

TIPS ON THE ST

page

FLASH! Revie w

page

2 NEW COLUMNS

page 10

***P LUS *** A spec ial story

page 11

By Jim Schu lz

SPACE

AUGUST,

1986

This months meeting is about the end of sum~er. Then in two weeks it's STATE FAIR time, and school begins - so I'm going ta Miss this ~eeting, and go on my last Camping/Fishing trip of the year. That does not mean i iorg□t to make arrangeraents for the MEETING 1 This month we will demo PRINTSHOP COMPANION - complete with sample printouts. I will1 have the samples ~ade up. Jim Schulz will de~o STAR RAIDERS ll - if he dosn't wear it out by meeting ,1me. The Sept. Oct. ta: Nov. meetings are all planned; pi ea:;e let ~e know what you would like for the Dec. Jan. &Feb. time frar.e! It takes planning ii we want a REP from a major 2quip1ent or software firn; y~u do not call the!\ today and they come tor.crow : Even ii ! 'm not president next year I tmw IS THE Tll'IE to start planning sor.:e interesting winter meetings.

ffffftfffffflffffffffftffftff 1 -

PLEASE PATRONIZE THE - • DEALERS WHO ADVERTIZE -

DO!'! news !=rank tiaug

BYTES from THE f'RES

1 -

PAGE

* - - IN OUR NEWSLETTER - - * * - - - THEY HELP PAY - - - 1 t - - - -F□R PRINTING - - - * ftfffffffflffffifftfff.fltttff

THE PRES

Hello again. Apparently the VTlOO em;;lator on last !llanth's

dis1 didn't Nork .•• This aonth we have a 4orking CD?Y CI thinkl. Sorry about that. Please, ~e ~eed do~ations and if you think you're sick of hearing and reaaiog about it, guess who's sick of saying it. I'd liKe to thank two ~eIDoers wno did nelp me out. Ne need to rub it in ..• they know who they are. Thanks for the VTIOO fi~ aoa fer the PD programs. if there are any other Si users who have PD software for the 8-b1t just lying around, please donate it to the club. 'Nuff said. ~hew••• now on with the good stuff. The second Print Shop Graphic disk ■ill be at this meeting. These are -~raphic shapes far use iiith Print Shop.

Now, the DOM for August 19Bb l.ESCAPE - A very r.ice ter.t adventure. 2.MORSE800 - A raember approached me a wnile ago about a mcrse code program and i found this o~e, sc here it is. Ka·,·e fun witt, it.

3.STARS - Shoot the shooting stars. Use spacebar or trigger. 4.CRASH - An interesting game for two picyers. Each player ha~ er is a baseball. Tne eastalls move towards a wall and blackout on the way. Hit t~e trigger ta stop. Closest w/o crashing wir.s. 5.BACKGAM - 8ackqa:raon for :ko players. Uses input an~ draws hoard ... al ·::a rolls the dice. I haven't played it iar enough to see if it knows who ~ins. 6.VT!OSQ - A fixed VT!OO emulator. 7.VTlOO.DOC - Oocuil:entation for \JT!i.lSf:l

8.CASSLAB - A cassette laoel-r.aker. Makes a uaper cutout to fit in a case.

9,CASSLAB.3CC - Docuie~tat;o~ for CASSL~B. 10.INSTRUCT - A doc viewer, :a printer or screen. If you want past OOns cail me or let me ~now at the meeting. I w1li have a current Listing at the m!eting. Thee The ihee Thats ail folks.

V 0

ATT: 8-oi t 400

BOO OWNERS

Chips $5 each; whole chip sets $25 (J M!O-TEK Electronics 'have sent a copy of our Newsietter with a note to send us appro,. 10 copies of their price list so that we could mak~ a GROUP purchase. THE PRES

PRICES EFFECTIVE AUGUST MEETINGS ONLY!!

SPACE

AUGUS T,

1986

PAGE

Second, Star Raiders II nas just come out. The long awaited sequel to our favorite 900 ga,1e is now available.

V.P. Notes By Ji1 Schulz NeNs in the 8 bit Norld is a bit slia again this 1onth, but ! do have a couple of things to talk about. First, this past ■onth SPACE Mas the receiver of a large number of old Atari cassette prograas froa User Friendly. The prograas Nhich Ne received include: Statistics I, Energy Czar, Mailing List, Touch Typing, European States and Capitals, States and Capitals, Hangaan, Space Invaders, Invitation to Progra11ing I, Writing Prograas I !Invitation II> and Writing Prograas II We also received a nu1ber of De1on Attack !Invitation III). I aa currently in the process of converting all cartridges. these cassette prograss to disk foraat. When complete, all the prograas except Space Invaders and Deaon Attack Nill be placed Space Invaders and Deaon in the Paper/Educational Library. 1e1bers, probably at the all to off raffled be Nill Attack Now for your help. None of the cassette September aeeting. programs cue Mith docuaentation. Docuaentttion wo11ld be nice if you would like to run these progra■ s. !So I ask the aeabers, if you own any of these prograas, could you please bring the doc~1entation to the aeeting??? I will coov the docu■entatian and return it to you by aail within a week of receiving it. Tnank you for your help.

r am

going to pick up ay copy tomorrow, so expect a review next month and possibly a demo at the meeting. Third, soaewhere else in this month's newsletter you Nill find an article or specification for the new ICD Multiple I/0 board which was shown at CES. I obtained the specification off Co1puserve and, based on the interest for this new product I thought I would pass this information along. Fourth, it has come to my attention that some of the early copies of Print Shop do not coaoletely suoport the 850. To fix this proble■, insert the Print Shoo Sraphics Disk 12 and press the letter •u• to load a progra1 found on the Graphics Librarv 12 disk to update your Print Shop disk. I have ,ot tried this; so I don't if it works. Give it a try and let ae know. Fifth, those of you who are owners of Perco1s, repairs of Perco1 drives are now handled by: STS Co1puters 1073 W. Broad Street Falls r~urch, VA 22046. <7031237-0iSS. i.'ell. that's it for this 1onth. Until the SPACE meeting, happy coaputing.

The facts are in on the Epson UC-80 Printer. .... tact that the LX-80 ofllra. combination of value and perfonnance tar aJI your buaineu printing nNda. • Printa 100 charactera per NCOnd printhead speed; fut enough to turn out a typical buaineu Id• In under 50 MCOnda. • Dual mode operation tar high speed dratta OI typewrtt•atyte copiH. • Narrow carriage handles • wide range of small ID mediumaized oapia. • Seleclype tar an .._ of ~

• One yMI' ~

EPSON

Wizard's

·wor1<~ your home c:omputcr cmter Poll Haale SQulfw. CountY Ad II & 311h Awe No. Nlw Ho.- CNortft 54 ol Bld9 t

545-2136

\ SPACE

AUGUS T,

1986

PAGE

JULY "EETING MINUTES by Bob Floyd

JUNE MEETING MINUTES by Bob Floyd

The last SPACE meeting was held Friday, July 11, 1986. President Bruce Haug reported that NAST has purchased a 520ST and 2 single sided disk drives. The BBS is down, but will be up in 2 weeks with a 10 1eg hard disk. It will be located at Toi To■ is the new TAIG vice president. The BBS Green's house. Perco1 drives are dead. Bruce received an announce1ent on the new ST magazine from "Co1pute! 1 publications. Bruce announced that Gordy Landsmann of Wizard's Work will demo word processors at the October meeting and spreadsheets at the October ■eeting, In news/ru1ors 1 Vice President Ji ■ Schulz reported that Indus has been purchased by Future Syste1s. Indus is said to be the pre,ier disk drive for the 8-bit line, even featuring the CPM operating system built into the drives. Activision and :nfoco1 merged and purchased 6a1estar and Creative Software. The STs and XEs are being sold by Toys-R-Us. Predictions are that at ~mas time, the ije~ Commodore 64C will sell for $200 and the 65XE far less than SUO. It aakes you wonder. There are earrently some fantastit' ST oeals, such as $499 for a 1onochro1e New software on t~e horizon includes Star Raiders II system. JS~ Awill soon feature the 130XE as well as and Baudville. the 520ST in its mail order advertise1ents. Frank Haug, DOI'! librarian, reported that Bowling, Volleyball, Ping Pong and VTlOO e1ulator are on the disk of the illonth. Treasurer Bob Siede reported a balance of $919 after purchase of the club ST. Bruce Haug prepared tne current newsletter. Editor Bob Bruce asked for a volunteer to help Rhode was on vacation. in the newsletter (soaeone advertise1ents coordinate volunteered, but I didn't get his na1el. Secretary Bob Floyd apologized for not getting last month's ~eeting minutes into the newsletter, but explained that 1oving 1ad prevented getting the• ready. The Paper Library listing was re-written by Librarian Jia Siede and is available fer inspection at the 1eetings. "Trains• is still missing fro ■ the educational software library. The guilty party aust replace the program. In Old Business, the re-inker was reported "down• on the iarge Epson cartridges, but still OK for spools. New parts are on order. The club voted to buy Bob Floyd's re-inker, which can handle U-8(1 and Prowriter ribbons. It costs only '18.50 to add new ribbons t □ its capabilities. Chris iiggeaann reported that he has a 256K upgrade available far the 12001L with total 130XE coApatibility.

The June 1eeting of SPACE was held Friday, June 13, _1986. President Bruce Haug announced that SPACE would raffle off its TV set tonite and buy a second 1onitor in the near future. The 400 computer will be raffled off in a few months. Bruce also announced that the NAST sig will purchase an ST by next 1eeting. In news and ru■ors, Vice President Ji ■ Schulz reported on the NIO device from ICD. It combines a print spooler, 1 meg RAH disk, printer port, serial port, 80 column capabilty and hard SpartaDOS wili be on a cartridge that can be disk interface. piggybacked with other cartridges plugged in~c it, At CES, ATARI showed a crisp 80 column de'lice (with BK RAl'll that plugs into 2 joystick ports. The XI'! 1200 modem ($99) was shown for use with both XE and ST lines. Star Raiders II was shown and should ship soon. Silent Butler is shipping now. The new Epson co■patible printers for XE and ST are out now. Frank Haug, DOI'! librarian, showeg a graphic demo fro■ JACS (Jersey ATARI Computer Society) tnat originated in Germany. Other DOI'! programs included Hexpuzz:e and Seadog. Treasurer Bob Siede reported a baiance of $18i8. Agood share of this is fro■ the NAST sig at~ "~il be used for the club ST purchase. Dick Johnson, president of TAIS! reported that the shared SPACE/TAIS BBS will be undergoing some major changes. It will be 1oved to the new TAI6 VP's house and equip~ed with a hard disk and the entire club's Dul'! library. Steve Englesby will be the new TAIG president. Larry Vandenplas reported increasing business for the Phil Seifert of Wizard's Work de1o'd ribbon re-inker. "Hardball", a baseball game for the B-bit computers.

·1 got into the Post Office computer, but I'm eighteenth in line behind other

hackers.·

SPACE

AUGUST,.

1986

ICD Multi I/0 Board Specifications 6/21/86 This docuaent 1ay be reprinted without per1ission of ICD, Inc. as long as it is unaltered, GENERAL DESCRIPTION ihe ICD NIO Board is a 1ulti purpose parallel device for the Atari BOOXL and 130XE co1puters. It plugs directly into the parallel bus of the BOOXL and uses an adaptor for the 130XE. This adaptor also adds two cartridge slots which support either right or left cartridges. These are the only two coaputers the NIO will work with. The general functions this device can serve are: RANDISK, printer port, printer buffer, NODEN port, and hard disk interface. Configuration software is built in. The NIO is about the saae size as a HAYES NODEN and is available in 2S6K and 1 Theretai 1 price is fl 99 or $349 with !'leg versions. availability in August. RA/'!

The RAN is not user upgradable since we use special RAN chips without using sockets. RAN disk software is built in or can be accessed in tne fD600 area. The RAN can be partitioned into several RANDISKs and 1ay be reserved as printer spooler An external power supply 1aintains the 1e1ory (buffer) RAN. even with the co1puter turned off. PARALLEL PORT

Conputers 1040 ST Monochrome Color

999.95 1199.95

520 ST Monochrome Color

CALL CALL 149.95

130 XE

Hodens Multi Tech Avatex 1200 Atari XM301 Atari 1030

)I'-. ATARI

329.95 149.95 49.95 49.95

PAGE

This port is a 'centronics' parallel port to oe used wit~ parallel printers. The connector is the same as the P:R: Connection so you can use the same cable. SERIAL PORT This is also the same type of connector as the serial port Can be used ffith a serial printer P:R: Connection. a ori (supports XON/XOFF software handshake) or with the built in R: handler for a !'!ODEM. Built in software diverts P: to R: a~ desired for serial printers. PRINTER BUFFER Narks with either serial or parallel port as assigned. Allows PAUSE, RESUME, QUIT and NULTIPLE COPY functions, HARD DISK INTERFACE This allows the use of any SAS! □ r SCSI hard disk controller of any size. Controllers can be mixeci or matched or the sa1e interface with no limitations going between drives. SOFTWARE Configuration software assigns drives Di: through DB:. These drives can be FLOPPY, RANDISK, or HARD DISK. Partition: are set using starting and endinQ :ector nucbers for each drive !SpartaDOS, if used, supports 16 Neq per drivel. For exa1ple: a 40 Neg hard d~i~e could be partitioned as: D1: <16NE6l, D2: !l~l'IE6l and !D3:81'!E8l. D4: could be FLOPPY tl, D5: 7SOK RAl'IDISK~ O~i FLOPPY 12, J7: and DB: unused with 250K 1This: is just one example; configuration is print spooler. SpartaDOS 3,2d (optionall is the extre1ely flexible ) reco11ended DOS but anv JOS should work (but is lisited by the DOS's own restrictions.)

Honitors Comrex Thomson

BMC (green)

179.95 179.95

BMC (amber)

70.00 79.95

Atari SC1224 Atari SM124

399.95 199.95

Largest Stock of Software and Accessories -1n Hinnesota

Printers EPSON Bomewriter LX-80 FX-80 FX-85 DX-10 RX-100 FX-286 LQ-800 LQ-1000 STAR NX-10 ATARI XMM801 SMM804 NEC PC-PR103A

User Friendly CoMputers 8461 Plaza Blvd. NE Spring Lake Park, MN 55432

786-8181 AUTHORIZED SALES AND SERUICE

249.00 279.00 249.00 549.00 299.00 279.00 799.00 799.00 1095.00 349.00 229.00 219.00 175.00

)I'-. ATARI

SPACE

AUGUS T.,

News from the Co-Chair By Jim Schulz It's that time again for another NAST meeting full of ru1ors, news, and plenty of new disks of the month. Just when I thought the computer show season had ended, Atari eKtended the season. Atari, in order to keep the interest high in the ST, is now sponsoring shows in cooperation with user groups across the country in order ta fill the co1puter show gap. Six shows have already been scheduled with Atari and a number of software S01e software developers planning to be in attendance. announcements product new making on planning even are developers One more su11er. news long a like Locks shows. at these We are birthday. happy a HAST wish to iike would l quickie. interest your ta due all fast, growing and old 1cnths six naw and support cf ST and HAST. Thank you. Now to the news ••• First, Atari has officially announced that they wiil be selling Microsoft Word for the ST. Hicrosoft Word will available in October/Nove1ber. This 1ight sound like just another word processor announce1ent, but the addition of Microsoft to the list of software developers for the ST will help the Si gain even 1ore credibility in the computer marketpiace. Second, also fro• Atari, Atari has announced that they are now shipping DB Kaster Cne and Joust far the ST. No more news is available at this ti1e. For those who would like a preview of Joust, check out the Narch 12 disk of the 1anth. Otner software news involves PenguiniPalarware software. Penguin has launched an •assault' on prices. Effective June 11 198b, all Penguin ST software is $19.95. B bit software is even Well, you might say, I just purchased a cheaper yet, $8.95. :opy af Transyvania far $39.95 and boy, this stinks. Has Penguin got a surprise far you! If you have purchased any af their software in the last six, yes six, months at the alder prices, send Penguin a proof of purchase, either their logo off the package or the instructions, and your receipt and they will send you a ~aupon for 2 software pac~:ages far the price of 1 at the ~ew lcwer prices. Nice touch. Their address is: Penguin/Polarware Software 2600 Keslinger Road box 311 6eneva,IL 60134. Next on this month's hit parade, I would like to announce :he opening of the second ST service center in town. Now, in addition to being able to have your ST serviced by the experienced people of Liser Friendiy, you can also get your ST s~rv1:ed by Sorjy from Wizard's Work, The next subject this month is disk of the month. I would :1~e t: thank Frank Haug for selling the disk for me last month i~a daing a very ;i~e job of 1t. Frank will continue to sell :he 1isks during the meeting, while I will sell the disk oefcre ;n1 af:er as time permits. I ~oulj alsa like to thank you as ~ell far your sJpport of disk of the Jonth. The one ncte wnich

1986

PAGE

I would like to make here is, please aon't ask Frank ior infor1ation on disk of the month. Frank's first chance to see the disk is when I give him the disks at the ~eeting. He knows just as 1uch about the disk of the month as 1 tell you at the meeting, If you have a question about disk of tne month, ask 1e either after I describe this month's disks, during the question and answer session or after the meeting. I will be more than willing to help you with your questions. I would like to announce yet another new column this month in the newsletter. This month's new column is Dis~ Notes. This colu1n will be written by me and Chuck Pur~ell, who has willingly hacked and documented some of least or non-documented disk of the 11onth programs. This month we wi 1i feature the documentation for the pre-release public domain version of the VTlOO emulator from Atari. I would like to personally thank One more point: Starting this month, Chuck for his help. picture files from the picture disk from this month will be running on the club ST during the meeting and music disks from this 1onth will be playing before the meeting. If you want de!c~ of the disk of the aonth, let me knew. Now, after ta! king about Chuck, I would again like to ·,ut out 1n appeal for help from the troops. A good ST group canrot :1e r•.n by ho or maybe three people. iiie need your help. lie Are the NAST meeting and the newslett=, need your input. I spend about three nights putting the you? to useful articles newsletter each month and get no the for together material response fro1 you. Last 1onth, I put out an appeal for help for the Software Updates colu1n and got one response. That's how much interest there is in the club! We need people to write articles, people to donate programs for the disk of the monthi and people to do demos. Bob 1nd I can't de everything, If you are willing tc help, let Bob or me know. i'm sure we can use your help. Enough said. Finally, it is that time again for Jim's scftwar-e pick of the month. And the winner is ••• The envelope please. Thunder! (Another program with an exclamaticn point) "Thunder 1 • is the new spell checking ?r □ gram frc~ Batteries Included. This program comes in two forms, ootn a desk accessory and a stand alone program. ihe desk accessory checks your spelling as you type in 6Ei'I programs and also has a macro expand capability to expand abbreviations. The stand alone versian will run on any text file and check as it goes. Expect a review in the months to co1e. r will new be running my ne!oisletter articles through this program so at least the spelling ~i11 be better. Typing at 2:00a; gets a little tiring after a ffhile. A couple cf final notes. First, dces anyone read these From month t □ month, 1 continue 1y mindless babble articles?' and hear no resconse. ~avbe r should o~olish a page out of a software owner's manual .3M see if anvcne ncti:es. Second, if you are a:-, authorized Atari ST develop2r (purchased the developer's kitl, bring suoocrt1ng 1 □ CJffientaticn of your our:hase and see Je at the 1eeting. Thir1, l as in the process cf getting a hc:d of 3 11: inch jisk lajeis that fit the disk perfectly. 1n order to get the~. I ~ad to purchase a very larg=

SPACE

AUGUST!II

I was wondering if anyone is interested in these type amount. of labels for about fl.50 per 100 labels. ihis pays for the labels plus a little bit of profit for the club. The price is not fira, though. It will either be this price or less. If you are interested, let 1e know. Well, that is it for this 1onth. BOY, AN I GETTING TIRED Please help. We will see you at NAST OF WRITING ARTICLES. August 1eeting for ■ore of the hottest news, ru1ors, software deaos and public doaain software. Words From The Co-Chair by Bob Floyd August, 1986 As usual, I don't really have too auch to say since I've been trying to .~01plete the house ~y aid-August; I'll again have to count on Jll Schulz to do the lion's share of the work. NAST no11 has a paper library, thanks to Paper L~brary: Neil 11ill handle the borrowing of volunteer Neil Palosarri. book~ fro1 the library. Club 1e1bers 1ay borrow for 1 1onth at It appears that there 11ill be a fe11 donations to the a tue. library right a11ay. Neil 11ill supervise further purchases for the library. Help for ne11 ST owners: Ji1 Schulz and I will be available after the 1eeting by the club ST for help to ne11 owners or anyone else who thinks we know how to help the■• Be sure to bring the progra1 along that you need help with. Club 520ST: _ SPACE/NAST now 011ns a 5205T. So, effective no11, the NAST disk of the month 11ill be reduced in price to $6,00 each. Ji1 Schulz's hard work and your willingness to buy ~ t grea:_ product helped us to buy an ST. Thank you -~ery iuch. ~1.h tn1s taJor purchase behind us, we can afford to reduce the club revenues a bit with a lower priced DON. _ Gripe of the Nonth: It's too late for so1e of us 11ho have airea~y bought VIP Professional, but I have a sneaky hunch that th:_ oEN ~ers1on of this progra1 will never be written (to 1e oftic1al t11ing of Narch '87 = neverl. __ I '11 afraid that VIP is concentrating on its Amiga version ana has all but forgotten the original ST purchasers, If REALLY STINKS THAT SOFTWARE CONPANIES DO THIS SORT OF THING, However, I still 1ust say that this is a good (but not great) clone of Lotus 1-2-3 and is currently the best spreadsheet program for the ST, but it is still riddled with bugs !I have the third release that "fixes all known bugs') and 1 _as a tortoise as co1pared to 1-2-3. Can you believe a 1~ s.ow fifteen 11nute wait to insert a row? I timed it once . There are other software companies guiity ~f the same ·~ lt!e buy an unfinished, buggy product? I ~ra•••c .·w·ny shou;.1 ~ .. ~: •·· ;erscna11y oc,·t enjoy paying for updates or trv1~g to figure :u: no~ tc patch programs. Try to find out about the ~ua!itv of • · l et· t'ne club know if you do h· y·u oroo_.riil!S be.;"re • e1. Hna suy •h u ~ t·11e very Ieas t the rest · 01 us At nr-g·aill end uo. ~ith a pc•r ·u " u , • c~n avoid it. 0

1986

PAGE

NAST NOTES Well, everything see~s OK at our S20ST SIG Neetings, but I'1 sure Bob &Jim could use a little nelp in planning de1os, etc. for the NAST 1eetings. Do you like the meetings? What do you expect to hear at the 1eeting? What can we do FOR YOU? I do not have anything to do with planning NAST 1eetings, but I do know what it is like to co1e up with new ideas that keep most of you HAPPY. Without you telling us what you want, we do what we think is best - and so1eti1es we miss the boat completely! No more Program Raffles at ST M~ST MEETINGS - We were given prograts free, and we bought some at ~hoiesale prices, fro ■ the dealers who sell at cur :eeting. We still did not 1ake 1oney! NO NORE CHEAP PROGRAMS

THE PRES July 11eeting 11inutes by Scott Hutchinson The last NAST meeting was held Friday, July 18 with Bob Floyd and Ji1 Schulz acting as co-chairs. The attendance was better than ever, with an estimated 60 people in attendance! Even tornadoes couldn't keep Atari enthusiasts fro■ the 1eeting! Bob and Ji• discussed many ne11 software releases, including dBNAN fro• Versasoft, OS-9 1ulti user multi tasking operating syste1 fro1 Nicrotrends, Iaagenet local area network for both STs and IBN PCs from B11B Compuscience and ,any, 1any other games, utilities and prograas. As an indication of the software available, Ji• had sixteen {plus or minusl disks available with public doaain software! Just six montns ago, two er three new Several club members noted both the disks was the rule! quantity and the quality of software available for the STs and the fast rate of new software produ:ticn. Jim discussed the fact tnat a demo disc for dBNAN was available far a nominal price. we have been using dBNAN for three weeks new and attest that it is a smooth working dBIII clone. The treasurers report stated that we are in good fiancial condition, due in large part to the bargain 1e1bers get in the disk of the month that Jim assembles. Fro1 a hardware standpoint, a fair amount of ti1e was spent discussing the "blitter :hip" hardware upgrade coming 'real soon now' and the Atari TT computer, ~hich has standardized on the Motorola 68020 processor and has :olor 1onitcr resolution of 1024 by 1024 pixles. Atari 20 Meg hard drives were reported to be shipping now in some parts cf the :ountry and should be anilable here sametil!le :n August. Further infor1ation was provided an the ~ac Eiulat~r. ~hich runs all Macintosh software. i;i closing, the last :~eet: 01~ 1,as the "biggest 'n' best• Bab an1 ii~ are «eep1~g ~AST an the path and the we've had. expertise cf the 1embershig nas becJme a real resource for all.

AUG UST ,

SPA CE Some Tips on the Si hy John DeNar

8y ,Ji• Scl'lulz

I, Part 4

This aonth·• reYlew fapular t ■ l ■ca••un1cat1on•

•••

scheduled ta be a review of th• -•11, available far th• ST.

~:~;:;!. ~~: b!:~•up~:;~:h.:n1t~1rrc~:.:~!.0j~d:!.!~: ~~:,:1 l"j!::d~!:. ::1;·;111 n:t ~u,~yrnl:un:.rr::!:~-~-~~:~.:! 1 h t•l•c::!.!. ~1c!:ton: •v,.c:~:~ .c 1~~ a~~-no;T~ bouto: •) ~::rry•~::: T~at 1 0 an:•1: :::".::~:: :; 1:::rc!a■ h•:r:c•FL~SH;ur:~: ••: •!~Q pro~~:~~~

■ oftw•r•

I ••• tn• l•t•at v•r•ion.

this proQr•• until

Sa wnat will I

FLASH!

by Antic another

l ••k•d •v••lf

ia the•••• quastton that

ona???

.:~:ina

t3) Tvpes of Prograss

ST arrived, I sat for three hours trying to 1ake the cursor appear Mith 4XForth fro■ The Dragon Group. Finally, I gave the■ a call and they talked 1e through it.,. install the progra1 as a TOS application! There are four types of prograas on the ST and here's a quick explanation of each: A GEN application is a progra■ Mith a GEN APPLICATION. ".PRG' type at the end of the filename. This type of progra■ uses the SEN interface or Mas Mritten to enter and exit appropriately Mith the GEN Desktop. GEN DESK ACCESSORY. A Desk Accessory is a progra■, usualiy smaller than a full application program, that loads into ■ e■ory when you turn on the computer. They remain in 1e1ory and are available at any ti ■e fro■ a GEN application through the "Desk• ihese programs, Mith a ,ACC file type, are really Menu. multitasking progra1s running in infinite loops when the ■ ain application isn't busy. A desk accessory ■ust be progra11ed as such. A regular application Nill NOT work as an accessory. NON-SEN PROSR~NS. Other programs that do not ■ake use of the SEN routines have a ',TOS' file type. They strictly use SE~~□ S functions and supply their oNn interaction with the user. Usually, a TOS program requires a blinking cursor, which is enabled automatically when the progra1 is run. 1 TTP PRQSRANS. Aspecial type of TOS prcgra1 has a .TTP" file type. These progra1s require a list of argu1ents for input If you are fa1iliar with CP/N or NSDOS, to the application. tr:ese progra1s are usually run by entering the name of the pragril as a co11and foilowed by the para ■eters. With the GEN CeskTop, these parameters are passed through a dialog window. A few "Command Processors• or "Shells' are available for the ST that give you a command-line environment siailar to Unix, CP/M TOS and TTP programs aay be used through those ar MSDG3. co~•and programs.

The first day

Ravi ■••

Software

Original article accompanied "ST-Talk" version 1,1, by John DeNar, distributed by Quantu1 Nicrosyste■s, Inc. Reprinted by permission of author and QNI. Volu■ e

PAG E

1986

■y

14l Pr0Jra1ming an the ST

/io matter which language you decide to progra11 in, you .,en ·t ge~ very far with a serious application without the Atari

The ST is a sophisticated hardware and Lev?l8pers· Kit. software syste11 t~,at requires do,:unentation and lots of effcrt

:·ve used 41Forth extensively an the ST II have serial

1t doe ■ purpo ■•• fairly wall. down1oadl n9 and co ■■unlcatlans ~ut 1 which •ill a ■ diacu ■ a ■ d next ■ onth, have tt ■ draNbacka , Nhat QOt •• int ■ r ■■ ted in FLAIIM! its probl••·· llv• with can d ■ inc• it ■ ~•ceiv ■ ha tt that pr••• toad of ••• th ■ larg ■ ••aunt 1 •:!:d•ar~ " wff1~:Qt ~!•i1!~:n a~:":~: :::~o~:. ■u::rr! tho■• •er■ ay initial r ■a ■an•• Alsa, t do an Tncr ■ dlbly lar9■ this proc■■•

:~: •:;::u~: !~~• :~;u::.1:: .~:•~!~:d!~1av::1.!"It:!"Y•n::~!.i:: Jn::rc:::~ fyFL:::!~ .,~:~ ~!;~;;'"!

~:;thaft: ~. a~~n::?;h l• 8ut valu• should be JudQ•d by it laok• •ven 11•1:tar. flip-flop DE1'-l>•••d • i• FLASH! pr-ice. aacro•, translatio n t•bles, tel•co••u. nicat1ons pack•e• with key dial-up directart ••• d ■ 4awlt para••t ■ r tables, and function talll ■•• 1 g:~~:~.e d,•~:;::~ : t~~~ fllp-~t~: !· Let•• ••plain type-in co. . and ■ or keyboard kay caabina~i ana. lt Dlacaunt•d tl'lan

......

:~~!:..-;. •·

.:~:c~

~~18H!·:.nd~:·:~!

,:u •:~!,t~ :a;:~o~~ t•t~!l~le ~:u.:!:.d :u::!: : :

select do•nla•d Fro■ here, you can • lEM ••nu fnt ■rface. type in tl'le naa• of tl'la file ta tl'l ■n X"QDE" and and option ■ ca ■aand tlne •ode for key INSERT the ■•• pr do•nlaad. ant•r

••t

t•al

,:~t f~:·:t=~:-t.:n:.:~ ·:h,,:a:.~~ ,~: fir:·n•=~yoir 'or p::: ta tnat you can use GE" flip-flap Th•~ f!k~-~~: availa~l ■• and t•ylto•.•d ••nus and all, ar you can co ■ aands

us ■

coaaanda,

co ■ binat&on•.

■ xt ■nstv•

FLA&H, su.ppor1:a an

"•era ■•

1~a• ■ ar

dial up

d ••era

~:;: n =~~:.d!~:~urrt -~:: l!~ ~ ;.'y . .: 8a~~u.;:~E !:;:~:::;.1::ddo.:r~ aonth =d~~e~ht s =~::rv

1 .::;: ··~• "for a-fter l u•• FLA8M! neact ■ ••ntioned hare i • ~h•t On• nice fe•tur ■ Nhlch ■ hauld bedit ••era ■ and th• oth•r bu1lt-Ln editor, ■ a to has • ~LASH! !tle;ou~n ~11:.~ro or~•f::~d d;~~t.::: :rto•:•~:. ::: f ehould t•k• saa• t i - to rather confu■ tn4 but ~••bl ■• :::or:o;f::~nticia:~r!r:~•ha■ a dialup directory r ■ad The ftl ■ ta run an connect. •hich allo•• for• startup co■•and d&alup dtr ■ctary can al ■ a be a■ l ■ cted throu9h th ■ l••~ Nlc ■ touch. buttan. for translatin 9 tncoaino FLA9H! sypport• t~•n•l•tia n tables This f••tur ■ saund• r ■ ally inter ■ atin9 and outooin9

tf•••

r~:,r~ ::.•::

::r1••n~:l

aou••

characters. 0 :h~: ;~.:N1 1~::,~!tt~:a:~~'a:• ~ou~!b1:!Y~~• 0 ¥~.h::.: tra~!1alta k•Y• and Doth have •••n red ■ ftn,nQ

1 ■

th ■

d■ l ■ t■

D•ckspac ■

previou ■ character . ,ncluding yaur dafault directory , ~•ra••ter s, Default ■ b ■ r of olh•r option• can D• saved and do•nload • ■ thod ana • nu d1alup by default. laadad ap ■ctally for each k•v• and you can r ■ d ■ ftn ■ ■ ach of th ■ function Finally. tn• ■• •ither •pec1a1 for ••ch sav• th ■ daf1n1tio ns and la•d u ■ in9 th ■ been nave l ! tup! ■ • of ■ Lat f•ult. ■ d dtalup or by 3 •••k• •ith no ■■ tup and tt •orka aDo~t na• for proera ■ up tn ■ ftl ■• to l kna• that I have to wall, r ■ lattv ■ ly us ■ it ■oat ■ ff ■ ctJve1y. ■ Ar purch••• J do Dk, •hould k ■ •P yau 9ue ■■ in9 until next aanth. J Maybe it.... 1'aylla ••• First, t f and coaplatnt s. Tn ■ r• are

to delete th•

but

••t

tn•r• proDleaa??? Purchastno it??? {a" a fe•. Prable•• a: .:a~i:: yi::t.;::~ s:~v::a:u :~~dF~: :a;::~n!.• t~:irat:~ ~~r:ha:: coupla adds and Du;• This fix•• all af the th• FLASH! h•• so•• prabl••· with ~rue ta FLASH!. of 0 ~:u1r~• ~T100 1;~:;~1::•r:p::1::~ro~=~Pl•for :~1ri:: :r:!n,L:; ~!:: thls po■t ■G, 1 hav■ a fix prob! ■•• runnlnQ at fix9600 b~t function nat hav• a FLASH~ desk acceaaory could • progr••· •1thin ;~p! !:!•.t:.:.k ~~{•1 :r~:: ::••PCprf~~=~Caa:a :~~:lt~n:r::r~~! cntl-8 and cntl-Q. kna•n

■anth.

n ■•

f ■ atu.r ■• 0

■ till da ■ •n·t Ca ■plaints. th ■

the

tn ■

NayD ■

beud.

probl ■•• do ■• u ■ •r-writt ■ n

far ■ at

fro ■

1 1•~~~1:• :u;::;t f~at1~Qd:t"f!.:•~:n:~.:•:s~: ::a,fu:"fii!., l have•~ of tn• aantn. and

the

■onth

futur ■

Aft ■ r

di ■ k•

ftli:i ■ •::Q~t ~-•!~! ~:~::nt~ :•:a:;. a :!::h:: :::.:~n:al ::ar::r1. of a flx ta wait saa ■

th ■

proble ■ e

■ entlaned

AbOV ■ e

■ i;ht D ■ returned ta PC lnterco■■ a• raally pl ■ &sed with Lt and have only ■d After an FLASH!. one• far• KERMIT tran ■ fer not •uppart wor~h the .t7~~,~~r ~pd=~~lo~ i~tA~~~ 1 hope to onth ■ Ne•t this Month. for it t ■ ••11, c0 ■ auntc•t10n• pra9ra••• revle• four of the curr ■ ntly avatlaale you ha• •now will I Fla•h• And "iTer• STTalk, lnterco••• PC l hope this Qiv•• you a up •e•in each other. they next ■ onth, ••• vau expect next

:::~Y•••;:::~t tnat all stack :;•:~.::.;~~:.to

~:Ntt.~~:~!Y

aonth.

Until

this

SPAC E Dt ■ k

AUGU ST~

1986 · PAGE

of tne Month - Aue~•t ay Jla 8ctu"lz

~••t

b~t •• oat & 1 didn't v•t to •l••P for• •••k, For ■onth tho•• •ho our library. total of sixteen n ■• dt•k• far last ■ onth' ■ ay ■ t ■ ry dl ■ k• ••r• the dtdn·t ••k• tne •• ■ t1n1, of ST ian ■ v■r t ■■ ■at 4r Th• lat ■ st •nd 1.04 follo;{"•:W,,t _. couple of n ■• kno•n bue• fix ■ a and • all •1th -rtt ■ r

■n~•n~=~=nts.

:~:

about 32

A D•D type deep and

l ■v■ l ■

Thi ■••- i ■

• - converted fro• Uni•.

Tnclud■■ •

follow■

little dog which

you

:!::.r:~:r::.~:cc~~:h::•.~!~;•:,,t~~

~~~~=• y:1 !:~•u:~ !~: ~h•11un::•:r!•:•~=-=~~ r:1 ■.np~=s~::du::~.:==r::t:~.,~:::1~=a:~~cod■ are also avatlaDla.

TNO dtak ■ of ■o~rc ■ Praff - A t ■ xt-foraattln4 pro4ra ■ ■ t ■ tlar to NROFF Oft Untx to u•• and RND on DEC •Y•t•••· Tni• ~ro•r•• alla•• ;~:•• ::!tor 1 ~r1t:n:ou~ ••cond A code. eourc• •• docuaancatlon t• an the di•k a ■ ••11 dl•k ls also av•tlaDl• •1th ANTIC GEM P~ofesaional articl•s And •ourca cod• aK•tlPl•• in PROFF fo~••t. thl• •onth or 1 will not d ■ acri•• th ■ ath•r dl ■ k tn detail aut last ■ ontn th•r• Nill b• no roa• for thi• aanth·• DON n ■ N ■• •• had thr ■ e ■ tandard dl•k• of the ■onth, an ■ ANALOG disk, one

thi ■ t ■ for you.

iou 1r:cu:::t•r~~ou1: •;hf!::: v:=~PF~r••t:!~r

■ y ■ t•••

0 : : : ~~=t~r:.:•:::t,:::d :::~.~·•,..:i::;. ;~:1~::::.c:=·~:.a d~r=k ~:: "; ■quire you to awn th■ ANALOG polntfh:••=~=LQ; 1:::k•td!:!• disk have on All to u•• t

fil ■•

di ■ k.

th ■

1~aALg:c~~:~~t!1:~atf~i:•,nw:~;h.!;::,~:."·:r::·t~: ~:.da~~::p;~: do not la•t aonth and all dtak ■ a9aain ■•

ard ■r

futur ■

■

r ■ quir•

di ■ k ■

fro "u ■ 1c Th ■ r ■ Ls a ■ue,c you ta ONn Nuwtc Studio ta h■ ar th ■ aueic. that play ■ th ■ "w•tc Studio sanQa and diak th ■ pl•y•r on display• th ■ pictures so all you have ta dais click th ■ u ■ ic d a •or• coat1let• listinJ fro• pl•Y•~1::rrv~ " :::~:.:~dl:: :.:::t:,.::t::e -:: :!:~.::tb:r:~i =~=dl ::~1 No• on to thaa aanth •••• Jt out to you. dry, but I have• Th1• aanth, th ■ ••11 a9ain w• to ••• Sa thl• •onth. of Jnt ■re ■ tinQ provr••• ■ odpra9ra■ with a dlff ■rence. - Th& ■ is aaad ■• 1 ::~: p~:ir•:ur:=~ r~t•h~:•!: nav• to do ao•e hackln9 an,t fJnG. the n•c••••ry coa. .nd ■ ta ■ ake th1w pra4ra ■ wark. 4anat:~•P:i::1 1D:~:: of Expect ta ••·• th ■•• last •••ttn9. th ■ l'tia fliiant oa••

t:tty:~ck.:~t4•"l1te

::t,

n~•••r

another

I~~:,..::~~=.

forloaked pre~ty

::1r

hara

::~t:!~iatI:: ~~r:~··,

~:~~=rR::::t~o :.:::.-::r;h•:1::-~:.::.:

•~;i:~• ••:!::r:,":!:.t ,:: :!tt:~ ■ ts a pr•-r•l••·· on ••Y• Thi today. 1I •• .o.d 1 :: ::~! ::r:~rt~! :1if ft t~:!, ~::~rr~!. th 1:u l; !~~~!~:n•l~ Thi• ts a aasic ro•r•• which allo•• you to priceT::t

:~::!nod::::•:::~ ! r:~:• a nd oyna•½~· version a4

t=~i~::~ t~~ 4 ; . all that I will the vary popular oa■■

~•=~=~- -

■ ark ■ t

i•

Thar■ ls do t•Kt ca~tur•• ~•tne BT Baetc and t~• VTS2 ••ulator. l have not •nat~.w •ra1r•• which Nill •llaw •tnary c•pt"r••• 9 tftat alla•• you to t "al=~~:.;;t:~ :;:!: t•-t•=a:!:r:~ · !utT:~:y ■ in any d••r•• incr ■e ■ nt dra• squ•re• and poly9one, rot•t• the Very up to 180 deqr•••• in any dir ■ ctlon and aaout any c ■nt.r. a ■ourc ■ ta 9et • hold found Cada - 1 h•v• •■ ll of • lat of C source cad• for •a•• of th ■ bast utility pro9ra■■ !a~:~.•::d:~ "or ■ ts constantly co•tn1 That is what 1 have a ■ of today. 4

~:r?ity Source

th •

::s~i::•:il~yna:a ~-~~c:r::t.~~.~=•~:o~n~:111~: !~lt•=~•

•:~::t .:~th~•••tAf:~•e1di:rr1fu~; 0:.::rn:uat~f. ::~t~ 1

~:ur:~a~:~le:nt:~=•th:!Pth:!:•rta:1i! ~at: ~:du~~er! •anth'• at

;:::!r:nt disk Of th ■ •onth. Pascal an each l ■ a■ t two n ■ w if tnat ta not enouth, •• will nave ••11, ptctur• vt ■ N ■ a, • ~icture disk• packed with aver twenty psctur bath NED and DEGAS for ■ at. proqr••• and picture converter to p1cture di•k• Nill now b ■ avatlaDle in in ■ ono~hro•• Also

•11

.~:=~··!1Yt·~:-••11-~!~~l~~~ 1~•1eh:e. :~:~e~":1~=~ =~.e•r !~~~=t di•N• thia also hava n~•D•r of naw ca•••rc1•1 W• •111 Hara as this Th••• d••o• alone aften tak• a •hole disk. •antn. 1 th 1

de ■ a

Thi• i ■ self-runnlnQ d••a diaN fro• At•ri a4 •g:~:": proQr••• ~:.~t ST. Yau 9et aYAilaDla far features d■:0 80 ::dd::~ t:t.~:.•::u~ y~ou!ct!~~sltu:~:er!:~au ~:::.r"u:~c ST. on p•apla friande to oat •ha have brau:ht us SundaQ, FTL, FTL 0 0 0 ~~; ~·gQ~~=: :~::e:~t~":.:.~L:n~ =~~:::~ !1?~•t~ 1:::: ~!~:e!~ disk. Thi• d-a co••• Miera Cook•oak ta a cookbook •c•n••• 0

•

De ■ as

the■

•u ■ ic

th ■

and

th ■

noa• ■ d

th ■

tn ■

on th• features af this with • nu ■ Der of r•cip ■ s and •ho•• •o•• of include ■ tne C saurc ■ lt al ■ o new cookbook datab••• proQra ■• nd It drawinQ IT very • you •~are except that fully ca ■plete, te 1 1 3 0 1 i~ ~1:: :~1!: ::. i•v:ud::: created by other £••y-Draw owners. of PC PC 8aard D ■ eJ9ner - Thi ■ is a full ~unntn9 version It will not lat you etara your fro• aoard 0••1gner Na• you can try -••or ■ yow print th••• •ill but fll ■•, 0 3 t I •• in for tht• "~:r• you 14 search of the bwg-fixed veraion of HACK fro• l• ■ t ■ onth. vau with tt •••P w1ll I n••t dt•k orlQinal 1aur in ortnq Naw ta the new dlake1 the •••t1n9. •c =~~:!:~ f!l~~"a=~~:~t K:~:~~t f;a•Y•:~r!.~; :e of ,a hold aver fro ■ 1••~ •onth and ,nclwa•• the saurc ■ code. I wlll have it available this •onth. and takes up A whole disk. progr•• NhJcn h•• p•tnt D&•1c Th1s tw • very ST Doodle This GEN sine• t~• ST••• released. circul•tinq ~~~n A nice 1nclud ■• source code an the dis&. o•~•~ paint pra;r•• t •111 include out ho• ta pra;ra• a GEM interface. ••v to find • co~pl• of p,cturas an the Oiek to ~•t you •tarted. of ST l•••• ■ r n•xt 0Tf1cl•l the 1a Tnia 1.7 ST #rit•r 1nclu4•• n•• dacua ■ nt•t1an ftl•• ~nd tutar1•l• •• lt ~r1ter. It fro• l••t aon~n·• vers10n of ST Writer. n•• feae~r•• ••ll ao eaad t1•inq. 1a•t "A&T •••tlno. the ni~h~ of 1 wJll nave & rapl•ce 1.4. tn~• v•r•ion of ST Writer will coeplet ■ 11st of n•• f••tur•• at the ne•t •• ■ Cinq.

'2:~~!~r!! le! f1~1!hr ad:~:•

~~~"~•t!::r ve~:~!~n:~a11!tt:. b~!.

nlca Lt Nill not let :r:: it

•~•c"•• let l~e :p:~1!~•=i•k•

aanth. First,

•anth,

1:f ,~:;•~r:9~:!d This

around

-•• pasted

the

pra9raa. .or

yo~

nu11ber 3 of 4XForthi and reco1111end it to an·,1ane, The H~D Forth from Mirage is not as profassional as 4XFor~h, and the price reflects that fact. If you just can't deal with Forth, ther2 are ~any other choices. ST BASIC is very c:cipiete and extens1··,e, Hcwever, I do not recommend BASIC for any serious progr3m~ing en tne ST. If you just want to learn a fe,. things, you have n:ithing to loose -BASIC is free! The same goes for LQSD. It's not a serious language for progra1 developnent but it· s a very ni ::e, powerful language far kids to use. In fact, many 1rade schools teach LOSO instead of

BASIC.

•c• is a favorite langauage for software developers on 11any computers, large or small. The At3r1 ~evelaoers· package comes with Alcyon C fro~ Digital Research. Alcvcn C is ac:eptable ~ut has many slow, intermediate steos in the :c,nolle process. Another C, from Ha~a 1 hasn't received very good revie~s because of its incampleteness, Yet inother C, from ~egamax, looks very ~ramising but isn't available ta tne general ~ubiic yet. The preli1inary copy that I purchased from ;-iegamax tHs some r:011 for i~prcvement, but is very fast and 2asy tc use, l '11 lacHng forward to the final version and I'm giacing my bet en this one. Mere implementations Jf •:• are ~ramised from ather companies, including Lattice C which is popul;r on many other computers. Pascal is finding its way or.ta tne 5T, but I haven't looked at any of them yet. Modula 2, a ianguage similar to Pascal, is available from TDI and seems t~ be fast and c~m;lete. 1 haven't l coked it aver ccmpletely, bat I know a ccaoie of people that are enthusiastic aocut it. I've notited that :t~er largaug2s proaised fer the ST inc!ade Fartran, Basic CJ~Oilers, a 9asi: in RJM catridge~ Cabal and a fe:; il!ore.

~ell, that's a,, ~er ncN·

!'ve intended to write these hcpe it's aseful tc

\ SPAC E

AUG UST. ,

1986

PAG E

Left Overs By Jia Schulz

Software Updates By Jim Schulz

Ves, another new colu1n this aonth. This column will update, correct and ijdd new information fro■ the last NAST meeting rumors and news diatribe. So let's get going. First, I would like to correct a price which I gave for Nark Williaas at the meeting. The price should be between $150 and $200, not $99.95. I a1 sorry far any proble1s this might have caused, but still that price for a coaplete assembler, lin~er, arch1·ver, 11icro-C shell with over 30 co111ands, Hke, a symbolic debugger, Nicroemacs with sources and 600 pages of docunentation with exa11ples is not a bad deal. [A.t that price, I'm tempted - and I don't even own an ST! -ed.l _ Second, Leader Board Solf. At this time I would be very leery of buying this progra1. The prograa, I hear, is very goad and highly reco111ended. The protection scheme, a dongle in the joystick port, is nonfunctional. The success rate is about 501 to get :: to run. I saw the proble1 in action last weekend. With thr dongle in the Joystick port it not only did not run the progra1, but it also locked the keyboard. So until they fix tr.eir pruh1P•1 I would suggest that you buy it at your own risk. When this problea is fixed, I will keep you updated. Third, a co■pany called Hired Hand Graphics is selling quick reference cards which slip jn your coaputer case right above your function keys. Currently they have two sets of cards The first set is bonus pack of both ST Writer and available. The second set is for FLASH! Each card includes a Si-Talk. ·:omplete comaand listing as well as function key definitions. Each set sells for $5.95 and are available directly from Hired Hand at: Hired Hand 5raphics 9!6 N.~. 10th Street Srants Pass, Oregon 97526. include $1,50 for shipoing. Tnis sounds like a neat idea, especially for FLASH 1 ~ith have not ordered these yet but i ail of its commands. 1 I will let you knew what 1 think probably will for FLASH • after I receive them. Fourth, if you are waiting for the Shanner disk drive advertised for the last six 1onths in our two favorite Atari 1agazines, you will have to wait at least two tore months. That· s what the secretary at Shanner is telling people who call and ~ant their drives. Now you know. Finally, Nirage Concepts has filed for Chapter 11 They have closed their offices and are out of ;r:tection. business. ~irage brought us the first wordprocessar for the ST ~r:~1 it came out as well as the H~D products, H~D Base, H~D Forth, and H&D Toolkit. Since the H&Dproducts were licenced :J t~em from E~g!and, expect to see them returning soon from a j:'f!rert saft~are cublisher. ~ell I now yau are up to date from JLly. Now I at off in s2~r=~ :f mere rLmcrs and news for August. See you at the

For this month's second software updates coiuin, I will tell you of fi•te new versions of popular COi!lfflercial software which is available, I had plans to start a monthly updated list of latest versions of public domain, shareiiare, and co1111erciai software, but this has ueen tabled until next month. I would sti 11 appreciate your don at i ans of the software versions of ali purchased softiiare and your favorite public domain software. Just scribble it down an a piece ct paper and give it to me at the meeting. The other day I saw a new versic~ of Jeg~s running Mith supposedly all the bugs fi,.ed and some new enhancements. I didn't even know Degas was b~ir.g :!pdated, I bet you didn't ihat is where this list might come in handy. If you either. want, aiso en the piece of paper you can scribble down any bugs that were fixed by this latest version if knciin or dacu■ented. Noii on to the updates. First and probably second this mcnth is ST-Talk. FHal'{ 1.1 is now available for all those owners of 1.0. All know1 bugs in 1.0 are fixed as well as ;ome new enhanceaents, For version 1. 1 of ST-TaH, send $2. 00 and your original pr ..~, 411 disk to: Gl1I

P.O. Box 179 Liverpool, NY 13088. For these of you waiting for version 1.2, rumor has it that it Mill not be released, but version 2.0 instead. ST-Talk 2.0 will be available August 1 and includes a full SEN interface with an 80x24 display within a 8EM window, loadable fonts, VT100 capability and auto-logon. This is only tne start of the new features available. ST-Talk 2.0 ~as comolet2ly rewritten from scratch and is now written 90% in assembler and 10% in Negamax C. For the new version of ST-Talk, send fl(;,(i() and the original program disk to the address above. Ql'\i says tnat a deso version of ST-Talk 2.0 will be avail3ble o.ny 1a.y now to allow users tc sample the new features. ~xpect it first on the MAST disk of the 11onth. Third this 1onth is Mi-Term from ~ichtron. Ni-iera 4.0 is now available with new features including a "decent• screen scroll even at 4800 baud and a new, easier to use preset ca111and In:luded in the update is brand new aanual language. documenting all of the changes. fer Mi-Term 4.0, send $10.00 and your original program disk to: Michtron 576 South Telegraph ?:ntiac, MI 48054 Attn: NI-TERM upgrade. From BBSs that I read, it SQunds like "i:htron's turnover en upgrades :oul d :e :ibaut -:i~e w2ei far those who are interested. ~aurth this mcnth is Hatawriter I! froi Haaa Svstems.

SPAC E

AUG UST,

Habawriter II is available for $10.00 and your original progra• disk. For Haoawriter II, send to: Haba Syste1s 6711 Valijean Avenue Van Nuys,CA 91406-5889. No inforaation is yet available on what is new and iaproved in Habawriter II. Fifth this 1onth is ST-Copy fro■ Cal Co■, Inc. ST-Copy 2.0 now backs up The Pawn, Tiae Bandit, Rogue, N-Vision, and Teaple of Apshai. They clai ■ to be able to back up all the ST software on the iarket. ST-Copy 2.0 also supports double sided drives. Updates are available to those who sent in their registration For ST-Copy 2.0 1 send $10.00 plus $3,00 shipping and :ards. handling to: CAL CON Inc. 6820-A Orangethor?e Avenue Buena Park, CA 90620. Please note: Inclusion cf this software update notice does not endorse copying of copyrighted software for illegal uses. Pra;ra1s like this should only be used to ■ake personal backups of your software. Support the software developer. Well, that's it for updates this ■onth. I will search out ;;are have the ■ ready for next month. Until then, see you at the meeti~g.

1986

PAG E

Electronic Warts, creators of tne Pa:hinka Construction Set and the Muzak Construction Set, announced development of the Drywall Construction Set far the Commode Jmega computer. Flip Bawkins, president of Electronic Warts, said tnat the system was ai1ed at Omega owners who found their expanding :01puter system could no longer be contained in their present living or working "The system supports nindoning and also dooring•, space. "With our optional foundation and roof-truss clai1ed. 6awkins flooring and roofing. The Set will be support can it modules, particularly useful to purchasers of the Gmega 3000 expansion unit 11ho need so1e place to put it." The basic Drywall Construction S1:t :or.tains 50 4' by 8' gypsua wallboard panels, 1500 board-fee~ af 2-by-4s, 20 lb, of ring nails, 1500 feet af crywal1 tape, 10 lil. of spackling compound and a nauer. The package ,::ntai ns CAii/C!\11 software which allows purchasers tc corf i gure their new c:mputer room to suit their needs. 6awkins said that the Drywall Construction Set would be shipping to Omega dealers within twc w~eKs and "both af the• will be cArrying it. The system will aiso be availibie at finer lu■b(ffyareis everywr.ere, I thin; i:.hii proves that we are behind the Cmega lOOOI'." -~arren Lorente

New Product Denounce1ents

Ca11ode Business Kachines today announced a new peripheral Omega caaputer. The O■ega 3000 expansion prcd~ct for the subsystem is a complete unit that allows Omega users to run a ~ide variety of IEN 370 mainframe software by performing !Bl'! 3G9:) eaulation. The compact 24' long K 6' high x 6' wide unit contains 128 ~B RA~ 1emory 1 the processor co■plex, the 3092 Processor C:ntroller, t~o 33i0 800 l'IB system hard disk units and two 3097 The 3000 subsystem per11its Poiier & Coolant suppl·y units. :o~iection of tne following IBN peripherals (or compatible 3278 Display Terminals (up to 90), 16 3430 Tape equivalents): Cri ve uni ts, 12 3380 Hard Disk Ori ves (2520 l'IB ea.) 1 six 3880 Disk Drive Controllers, three 4245 200 lines/ ■ inute printers and a partridge in a pear tree. The 3000 will run 181'1 system software including NVS/XA, vMiXA, JES2, JES3, UNIX, INS DB/DC, CICS, PL/1 1 APL, RPS, TSO, SPF, VTAN, VSAl'I, PDF, PDQ, LBJ, LSD and LS/l'IFT. The suosyste11 :~nnects to the Gaega CPU 11odule through the expansion bus and includes software which turns the O■ ega CPU, monitor and keyboard into an intelligent syste1 console. Commode Omega spokesmar. Rick 6eiger~ounter claimed the 3000 sutsyste11 was developed ta allow the ultimate in e~pandability !~j ~ower for the personal co1puter user and "t □ enaole Commode tc crish t~e competition 1n a single blow.• He indicated the ~n:t sno1ld te ready in ti1e for Christ~as. Price was not ;nr:jnced ~ut several irjustry analysts estimated that it nouid :~ ai unrelated an~cunce~ent, Geigerkounter said that verst:n 3:.415927 of tne Omega :perating system shoul1 ~e re:2ased ~eit week.

The previou s article is a work of fiction , and any relatio n the reader might draw betwee n it and someth ing in his or her person al ~xperi ence is strictl y in the SPACE mind of the behold er. and its member s cannot be held respon sible for any theme or underly ing though t the reader might perceiv e.

ONE MEGABYTE. FOR YOUR 520 ST.

JI\-ATARr

520ST™

COMPUTER • ONE DAY SERVICE • LOANER OR RENTAL 520ST • 520ST COLOR SYSTEM WITH 1 MEGABYTE RAM INSTALLED $979 (IN STOCK) • 520ST MONO SYSTEM WITH 1 MEGABYTE RAM INSTALLED $779 (IN STOCK) • 30 DAY WARRANTY • 1 MEGABYTE BOARD UPGRADE (INSTALLED) $199 • 1 MEGABYTE PIGGY BACK UPGRADE (INSTALLED) $1~9 • 2 OR~ MEGABYTE CUSTOM UPGRADE (CALL) • TALK TO DAVE OR SCOTT ~JAM - 9PM (VOICE ) 9PM - 9AM (DATA) (612) 777-6376 LR DATA, INC . (VOICE ALWAYS) (612) 770-2~~7

PAU L ATA RI COM PUT ER ST. PRE SID ENT BRU CE HAU G, HOY T AVE . 169 7 E. 551 06 MN, PAU L, ST. (612)774-6226

ENT HUS IAS TS